One Eyed G Re:birth
by HunterXKiller87
Summary: As a partial Amnesiac, one Nico lives a full life as a Spec Ops Agent of the Guild, visiting an old friend he hadn't seen for a while. That night, he and said friend witness something that'll send them on one bizarre adventure. OC X Harem but with a few twists
1. Chapter 1 - Enter Nico

**One Eyed Ghoul Rebirth**

The smell of blood filled his nostrils from every angle, originating from the figurative 'floor' of corpses around him. These corpses were once a large group of monsters that had been terrorising a nearby village, constantly raiding it for its supplies, killing any who stood in their way. Sometimes they would capture the female villagers there and bring them here… for purposes he'd rather not explain.

His eyes narrowed when there was a faint sound of breathing nearby. It was so quiet that if he were 'normal' then he wouldn't have heard it, as another monster crept up from below a corpse. However, a quick SCULUCK from one of his weapons put an end to the monster's life before it could even come out of hiding. "Fool…" he whispered under his breath, shaking his head at the stupidity of his most recent prey while he turned on his heels as he proceeded to head out. "You couldn't ever have surprised someone like me. The true monster of this world, the apex predator of man."

* * *

 **By now you're wondering who I am, right? Well let me enlighten you.**

 **My name is Nico, no last name. As a 16-year, old male in the world known as Gamindustri, I lead an interesting life, hunting down monsters, ripping them apart with my weapons and generally being a freaking badass. I get to hunt monsters because I'm with the Guild, or to be more specific a 'Spec Ops' Agent. The Guild is an organisation that is spread across the 4 Nations of Gamindustri, Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox. It receives and gives quests to those that are either partially registered or fully registered as Guild Agents.**

 **Those who are partially registered are the adventurers that you see around every so often. Depending on their skill level and resume, they can hunt a variety of different monsters and take on different quests. There wasn't much out this that was note-worthy though, the real juicy details reside with becoming full-fledged agents of the Guild. Now if one is a Guild Agent they have more responsibility to the Guild than just taking quests, they must take part in specific quests when called for, and have special passes that allow them to travel freely throughout the other nations. In a sense, they're just like extra-glorified mercenaries, and come in a variety of forms. Seriously there was one agent who looked like a kid but was in her thirties. Yeesh, never assume a girl's age right off the bat unless you want to be kicked where the sun doesn't shine.**

 **Finally, there's the 'Spec-Ops' agents of the Guild, and boy are they cool. If you wanna be a badass, fulfil the criteria, take the exams, and join these guys. They are the definition of badassery, not only can they do the same things as regular agents, but they can potentially access the weapons development department, who have them test out the prototype versions of the weapons they supply to the military. Usually they're grade A material, and those that are faulty don't impact the Agen't performance, unlike regular agents. Regular Guild Agents, adventurers, the like, anyone can take the exam so long as they meet the criteria to becoming a Spec Ops. Spec Ops Agents are significantly more skilled than regular agents, have better weapons, better armour, and can deal a whole load of pain to the enemies while taking on the phone. Seriously, this one guy in a red and black spandex fought off 100 of the fastest monsters around… while talking on the phone. That's the DEFINITION of badass.**

 **And I am one of them.**

 **Most Agents, normal or Spec Ops, have either weird titles or codenames, and I am no exception. My Codename is DEATHSTROKE, and I got it from this special deployable armour I have, given to me by the Weapons Development Department (WDD). This armour is made of a metal called 'Nth Metal' and underneath this armour there is an extra form of protection called chainlink mail, with extra armour plates over the body made of Promethium. Aside from my weapons, this armour is a favourite of mine, aside from a special Mask I can use, and it even has regenerative properties! How cool was that?**

 **When I haven't got my badass armour on, I merely look like a lean built male of 5 foot 8, with gravity defying red hair like a certain copy ninja from a certain village, and light blue coloured eyes. My attire is a black trench coat with a high collar and a red pulsating interior, a pair of black fingerless gloves on my hands, a grey polo shirt, a pair of grey coloured camp pants and black military boots. Strapped to my hips are a pair of black leather holsters, another one just below the back of my waist, and one last holster strapped diagonally across my back. On my forearms are a pair of grey wrist bracers which have their own functions, though when my Armour is deployed they merge with the forearm parts, so it looks like I have a pair of interfaces on my forearms.**

 **… Huh? What, you wanna know more? Haven't I told you enough? Let's just read the story.**

* * *

Nico arrived at Planeptune, the Nation that he had been his home for the last 4 years. The city was just as breath-taking as it usually was, and even now he could never get used to seeing it on the horizon every time he returned from a job. The buildings were tall and futuristic looking, with various pieces of tech floating about. Some of them had solar panels installed on the roofs, while the government buildings had holographic screens with adverts for various products on their sides. There was a mostly white with a little purple colour scheme going about, but Nico didn't mind.

The male Spec Ops Agent went to the Guild where he proceeded to hand in the quests he had taken for the day. Judging by the sun's position he had guessed that it was 5PM, he had only an hour left until he had to meet a friend of his. While he navigated the Guild, Nico scanned the surroundings, watching all the other agents, both normal and Spec-Ops, along with the Adventurers, mingling about talking with each other or doing their jobs like he was. An environment like this was something that Nico felt at home in, even if Planeptune wasn't his original nation, although he would get to that later readers.

Glancing to the clock, Nico saw that he had about 20 minutes before he had to head out to meet his friend. 'Man, I can't wait, that girl definitely knows how to cook. If someone ends up marrying her then breaking her heart I'll skin them alive to hell with the consequences…' he thought to himself about to leave the building. But before he could get to the door…

"Ugh, can you let me through please? I got stuff to do, so beat it!"

"Why rush about, little lady? Come with us and we'll show you how to really have fun."

Turning to the source, Nico was greeted by the sight of 2 Guild Agents standing before a young fair skinned girl. He couldn't get a good look at them because their backs were turned, but it was evident that these guys were harassing her, evident from their posture and the irritation rolling off the girl in waves. Nico groaned in disappointment as he saw this, "ugh, people like them give Guild Agents a bad name. I'll go in and see what's up, step in if necessary…" he muttered under his breath while walking to the commotion.

"I said no already, assholes, I'm just doing my job!"

"Whoa, this one is feisty! My favourite type of gal!"

"C'mon, come with us, I'll be a blast. You'll enjoy it way more than your boring old job."

Now he was sensing the urge to kill in the air, and it came from the girl. Her hands were twitching, and Nico could tell that she was seconds away from taking out whatever weapons she had on her at this moment in time and showing these idiots just what they were dealing with. Nico would have liked to see that those two now that he was close enough to get a good look were 2 of the 'troublesome' Agents that cause a ruckus with the female agents and adventurers. They're the kind of males that gave his gender a bad name, it made him feel like it was his duty to rein those idiots in and give them a much-needed reality check.

"Hey, degenerates!" Nico's loud voice boomed, catching the attention of the two male agents and the girl. He didn't bother getting a description of her as his attention were on her harassers. Said men, whom wore all black getups, turned and glared at him like gangsters as they marched up to him, "huh? Who the hell are you, punk?" one of them sneered, their hands in their pockets. They were at least 6 feet, a little taller than him, but Nico wasn't intimidated, not in the slightest as he stared them dead in the eye.

With a blank, emotionless voice, Nico spoke, "leave the girl alone, she doesn't have time to be babysitting a pair of frail apes like yourselves." His insult made both men angry as evident by their reddening faces, while the girl behind them just let out a small smirk. She was clearly amused by this, and that made him feel glad. Happy to help. Meanwhile, one of the men went to draw one of his weapons which happened to be a knife. "Wha?! What you say ya punk?! Say that again, I dare-!"

Whatever gibberish he was going to say next was cut off when, faster than a bullet, both of Nico's arms shot froth and grabbed them by their faces, slamming them into each other with enough force to knock them unconscious. The two men fell to the flop like sacks of trash, pained groans escaping their lips while swirl markings replaced their eyes signalling that they were out cold.

"Phew, that's over with…" Nico remarked, purging his gloved hands by wiping them on his open Trench Coat. Dealing with idiots like them wasn't always so simple, some of them were skilled Spec Ops agents who required effort to take down a peg, which went to show how there were always idiots everywhere. It's what made Nico so careful of who he associated with. 'Now to check on the girl…'

As Nico faced the girl he had helped, the male waved a single hand while the other was put in one of his Trench Coat's pockets, "yo, you alright Mrs…" he began, before his eyes settled on the girl and he took in her appearance. Her skin was, as previously stated, fair in skin tone, with brown hair that reached her waist in length. Her hair had many bangs that covered her forehead, and there was a green leafy bow within it. Her eyes matched the colour of her leaf bow, and she wore a blue Trench Coat with brown fur on the trims of the sleeves, as well as along the bottom. There was a ring of phones around the waistline, each a different colour and make. Several areas had white highlights, just like her matching dark blue tank top and shorts. On her feet, she wore a pair of boots that matched her Trench Coat.

"IF. And yeah, I'm fine. It's nice to meet you." She replied as the two shook hands. Casting a glance at the unconscious males, the girl, IF, spoke in a grateful tone, "thanks for the assist, but I could have taken them by myself." She told him. Nico nodded his head in agreement, his other hand going into his other pocket. "I know. By that KI I sensed before stepping in, I bet your pretty skilled." He remarked, before he recognised this girl before him. Her name, appearance and demeanour reminded him of a file he had once read, "IF, IF… could you by any chance be the 'Wind walker of Gamindustri?'"

At the mention of that title, IF nodded, practically beaming at being recognised, "yep, the one. I'm just a simple wind blowing through Gamindustri like a breeze." She replied, pride in her tone at her nickname. Nico smirked at this, he could tell she found her nickname to be a great source of accomplishment in, "heh, figured. I read a file a while back saying how you were on the top rankings for number of quests completed. Your record matches that of the Spec Ops, despite not being one." he complimented.

His compliment, much to his confusion, had caused the brunette to flush slightly in embarrassment. The girl chuckled while rubbing the back of her head nervously, "hehehe, feels kinda cool knowing the word's going around." She commented, her eyes filled with a sheepish gleam in them. Then, her eyes blinked as her arm fell to the side, her mind registering what he had said completely which resulted in her jaw becoming slack. "Huh? Is there something wrong?" Nico questioned, a sudden concern filling him as he saw what had happened to the brunette. Did she have a sudden surge of illness that he wasn't aware of? Was she reminded about something traumatic that happened in her past or on a previous guild Quest maybe?

The answer was revealed to be neither of those things when IF shot out of her stupor and looked at him like he was something she'd only seen for the first time, "hey your one of them aren't you? The infamous DEATHSTROKE, right?" she queried, a notable trait of curiosity in her words. The male found himself taken aback by this sudden change in demeanour, and it showed on his face. "Uh… yeah?"

His answer served to send her into a state of shock as she stumbled back, as if in disbelief over something as she put her hand over her forehead. "Oh geez, just what I needed. I get harassed after a difficult quest and now I meet DEATHSTROKE? Seriously? I mean, sure you guys are tough and all, but um…" she stammered, soon losing the ability to form words as she lost herself in her own little world.

Her eyes went into an expression of realisation as she quickly cleared her throat, regaining her composure with an embarrassed look on her face. "u-uh sorry ab-about that. Just had a hard day is all…" she stuttered, smirking embarrassingly. She could hear several Guild Agents chuckle quietly behind them, which only made her feel worse. She couldn't believe she had lost it like that, she should have been more composed than this. But what was worse was that she couldn't help it, this guy had caught her with her figurative pants down. She'd just finished a Quest that revolved slaying a ton of hard monsters and just now had to deal with several of the scum of the Guild. Why they still worked here was beyond her. Plus, with the things she had heard about this Spec Ops Agent, IF was inclined to feel a little embarrassed, although it didn't decrease her gratitude towards him for the moment.

"No need, I get it…" he replied, and really, he did. After all, being a Spec Ops meant more than just taking difficult quests, they had to take those quests daily, more often than a regular agent. Plus, with the way things were going with the monsters and how they were getting increasingly bolder with their actions, it would only be a matter of time before the Guild Agents would be called in more often than their contracts tell them too. Worse is, that the Contracts they sign state that in such cases of emergency they were obliged to work overtime, without extra pay of course. "It doesn't help that those guys are used to having Fangirls #shudder# around them like they're some sort of gods. One I can think of as worse is FLASH."

IF remembered that Spec Ops agent, and the fangirls he had all over the four nations. She had to repress a shiver as memories surfaced in her mind of when she had seen some of them in action. "Yeah, well most guys are idiots like that, but those fangirls don't exactly help matters any." Both shivered as horrible memories formed in their minds of their past experiences with the horror known as fangirls.

Idly, Nico's instincts made him glance at the clock, and boy was he glad he did because the time told him he didn't have much time to spare if he wanted to get to his appointment. "Shoot!" the male frowned as he turned to head out, "I have to go, I got an appointment with an old friend of mine." He told her, rushing to the entrance to the Guild Hall. But just before he could reach for the handle, the male stopped, and looked down for a second.

Turning to IF, the male gave her a small smile as he saluted with 2 fingers, "maybe we'll meet again someday, IF. I have a feeling you'll be going far in life, and I always trust my gut. Cheerio's for now!" he called out, before heading out to go meet his friend. He didn't wanna be late for his meeting with his friend, no sir not when he hadn't seen his friend for so long.

Back with IF, the brunette blinked to herself, momentarily surprised by the sudden exit, "Man, that was a hasty exit…" she commented to herself, "though through that conversation, he didn't once let down his guard. He was always ready to react the first sign of danger. I guess that's understandable considering who he is, assassins must like to target him, along with… fangirls. Seriously, why do they always have to be the bane of everyone's existence?" the girl wondered to herself, an irritated growl coming out of her throat.

IF didn't like how there were so many who would grovel at the feet of those who were popular, it looked so demeaning and insulative to both them and the fangirls themselves. She hoped that when her reputation as Gamindustri's wind walker finally caught on she wouldn't have to deal with that crap.

"But maybe he's right, maybe we will meet again someday…" she mused, pondering that thought for a single, brief, moment before she dismissed those thoughts and walked away, intending to just continue her day.

* * *

Nico travelled the streets of Planeptune, heading towards the outskirts which were also a residential are. His friend lived in that area last time he had checked, and according to his research Nico hadn't seen his friend move from that spot in the records. He doubted she would though even if there was a mass monster attack, considering how she had lived in that house since she was a little girl with her grandfather. Ever since her grandfather was put in a home, his friend had fought tooth and nail to remain here. She may be shy and timid, but she could be just as stubborn when she had something she wanted to do.

Compared to deeper within the City of Planeptune, the outskirts were much more urban, a lacking shop that sold the more sought-after items meaning that those who live here must go into the city itself. The outskirts, in comparison, were more of a residential area, disturbing of the nature around them. Some people preferred this kind of lifestyle, and Nico knew that his friend would be the same. After all, she had lived this kind of life since she was little, plus it reminded her of her childhood memories with her grandfather.

Walking down the dirt path, Nico glanced at the houses which had a more urban design than the futuristic buildings within Planeptune's centre. They retained the same colour scheme save for a select few, which were customised to fit the specifications of their tenants. His eyes shifted along each one till they landed on one house that sparked lots of memories in his mind.

It was a 2-story house, with light cream coloured walls, and a dark brown rooftop. The windows were a matching colour, with a nice garden filled with well-maintained flowers. There was a chimney on top that was releasing smoke, not too much like Lastation's factories did, and this smoke had a certain smell to it. The smell whiffed into his nostrils, and the male had to cringe to himself. The sudden urge to throw up rose in his chest, threatening to overwhelm his senses.

'Ugh! Looks like someone's been cooking…' he thought to himself. Barely he fought the urge down, regaining his composure enough to mask the inner disgust that the smell of food brought him. It was a sad fact, but a 'condition'; he had made him unable to eat human food. He didn't remember how it had happened, but one day he woke up, and when he tried to get a sandwich the moment it touched his lips he felt like he was ingesting someone else's vomit.

Fortunately, nobody knew about it, not even his closest friend whom he was visiting right now. He didn't have parents, though he did used to. His parents disappeared when he was young, and their will decreed that he be left with his friend's Grandfather since he was an old friend of theirs. The male had met the man's granddaughter when they were kids, and at first, she was too shy to get near him. But that all changed with a certain incident…

Before he could finish the thought, Nico found himself at the front door of the house. It was coloured a brilliant maroon, well maintained as if it had been made only yesterday. It accompanied the sensation of homeliness and family that no other house could do much more. A small smile crossed onto his face, a sense of joy and happiness to finally be here once again outweighing the mounting disgust in his stomach. 'Ahhh, it feels like it never changed at all since I last saw it…' he thought to himself, a sigh of content being released from his lips.

Slowly he reached for the handle at the top of the door, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. He hadn't seen his friend in a long time, and was wondering what had changed for her. He hoped that she hadn't changed too much, Nico had always liked his friend for how cheerful and kind she had been when she was a kid. Although, he didn't miss the times she would try to give him his… #shudder# shots. It wasn't he shots themselves that scared him but the syringe that she used. I was both her medical appliance and her tool for fighting, fortunately she kept it well cleaned throughout her time using it otherwise she wouldn't have been so well-off as she had hoped to be.

Once he had gathered his courage, Nico muttered to himself, "be a man, Nico, be a man. Your DEATHSTROKE, its below you to be afraid to see the friend that you haven't seen in 4 years. You can do this…" he told himself, but still the nervousness didn't go away. He guessed that was to be expected honestly, considering how long it had been since they had seen each other. While he had kept in contact with her, boy would he ever drop the contact he had with her, Nico never directly saw her for those 4 years.

Finally, Nico grasped the handle and rattled it for a few seconds. He knew that SHE was home, considering the disgusting aroma that normal people would find delicious, so he wasn't worried about not seeing her. Shortly after, a bright smile formed on his face when he remembered a high pitched, yet still girly tone from a voice that had yelled out "coming!" before footsteps were heard.

'this is it boy, time to meet your childhood friend…'

The door's knob turned from the other side as the door itself opened. When he saw, who was on the other side, his breath was literally stolen away from him. There, standing in front of him was a fair skinned girl with cream coloured hair and eyes, a black headband with a C logo on top of her head holding back her hair from getting into her face. She wore a woolly sweater with detached sleeves that were rolled backwards at the wrists, exposing her shoulders to the world. She wore a red checkered skirt around her waist with a hip purse that had the same logo as her headband, black stockings with a pink love heart trim and woolly low-heeled boots that matched her sweater in colour.

'holy shit, she looks fucking gorgeous!' Nico thought to himself in awe. The girl took one look at him and gave a gasp, holding her hand over her mouth in her shock. There was a short silence between them, one that Nico found awkward, especially with how the girl was. "u-uh… he-hey Compa, it's me, Nico. How are you doing?" he asked with an awkward smile, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

His comment seemed to snap the girl he called Compa out of her funk, as her body language suggested, before her eyes began to glisten. "N-Ni-Ni… is that you?" she stuttered with shock and disbelief. She looked like she wasn't even believing that he was here, which Nico sort of understood but it did hurt a little inside. At least she remembered his old nickname she had given him when they were kids. 'Though how she came up with that name I'll never know. Compa wasn't ever good with names that had more than a few syllables, especially names. Though this has been a debate between me and her grandfather…' he thought to himself.

"NI-NI!"

Nico almost fell onto his back when the full weight of Compa's body fell onto him when she rammed him. Her arms flew around his back as she pressed her face into the base of his neck, squealing happily while repeatedly jumping up and down girlishly. His arms had instinctively wrapped around her back, one going to the back of her neck while the other was firmly attached to her waist. Fortunately for Nico he was strong enough to remain stable and not fall over. "It's you, you're really here! I thought you would no-show like a mean guy would breaking a poor maiden's heart!" she said through her squeals.

Hearing this, the male sweat dropped as he looked down at the girl in his arms. "you've been watching too many romantic dramas haven't you…?" he remarked with an unamused expression on his face, only to be rewarded with no response as the girl squealed some more. When she had calmed down which took a few seconds, Nico smiled warmly at her, a smile that he reserved only for those he was truly close to. "It's good to see you again, though Compa."

Looking up at him, Compa's face practically beamed as bright as the sun. it was almost blinding how much happiness she was radiating right now, he almost had to look away as if he were being blinded by her happiness, "yes, it's so good to see you too, Ni-Ni!" she replied cheerily. Then, her face became stern as her grip on him tightened, and for a girl of her size she was damn strong, Nico noticed. "Your late, mister!" she pointed out to him. Bringing one of her arms back around, she poked him in the chest with a finger, "it's important to keep on top of your appointments! That's what I learned first thing when I entered nursing school!"

'yeah, sorta figure, though things rarely go to plan…' Nico thought as he winced, remembering several times some of his Quests turned sour. Compa merely mistook it for something else though, so she didn't catch on. Quickly changing his expression so she wouldn't wise up, Nico chuckled nervously as he patted the back of his head, "yeah well, I would have gotten here sooner if I didn't have to do some things." He told her, remembering IF and how he had helped her out with those punks.

"What kind of things?" now curious, Compa tilted her head while asking that question with such a face that made it hard for Nico to resist her. She always had that 'Moe' factor down pat ever since she was a little girl. Hell, that was how she was able to get away with taking one extra cookie from her grandfather's cookie jar, her puppy dog eyes and pleading expressions mixed together was something that could cause 'death by cuteness'.

Barely though, Nico managed to regain control of his vocal faculties as he went to formulate a response, soon though he noticed that it was getting a little chilly. Not enough to warrant a shiver, but enough to allow his sensitive senses to notice it. He decided to use that in his response, "things that held me up, ya know like getting lost on the road of life, helping old women across the street…" alright now he could see the pouty face Compa was having, so Nico quickly salvaged what remained of his confidence, and spoke "so um, it's getting kinda chilly so can I come in?"

His question took a few seconds to register in Compa's mind, her brain working overtime to process what he was asking. When it was done, she quickly nodded with her cheery attitude returning to her face, "sure, come on in! I was just finishing off dinner, it's your childhood favourite: baked potatoes with veggies and gravy." She told him while turning on her heels and walking back inside the house. If she had remained a second longer she would have seen his grimace at the thought of his old time favourite meal. 'If I didn't have my condition, then that would have made my heart soar with joy…' he thought to himself with a bitter smile. Shaking his head to clear it of those thoughts, Nico went inside, closing the door behind him.

After entering, taking off his shoes and coat before hanging them on the rack beside the door, Nico and Compa were eating at the table in her Kitchen. Well, only Compa was eating while Nico himself struggled to keep himself from throwing up at how disgusting the food tasted to him. 'If I was normal than I'd have to admit that Compa was a wiz at cooking now. It only makes sense considering that she lives alone now… okay, that's slightly sadder than I intended, so I'll stop there.' He thought to himself.

Looking to Compa. Nico saw how happy his childhood friend was, and couldn't help but smile as well. In his mind, Nico felt glad that he could bring some measure of happiness to Compa's life tonight. Throughout the last 4 years the only time they had heard each other's voice was through phone calls, which wasn't as good as live conversation. They may have texted each other a lot to make up for the times where he couldn't call because of a Quest, but the best type of conversation was face-to-face.

On the off chance, Compa looked up and noticed that he was smiling at her. She sheepishly smiled back, 'Ni-Ni always has a nice smile…' she thought while starting a conversation, "something on your mind, Ni-Ni?" she asked him, taking a piece of a chopped potato from her plate with her fork and sending it into her mouth. Compa chewed several times and then swallowed the food, marvelling at how good it tasted. Food tasted better with good company in her opinion, and nothing beat eating with cherished friends especially ones she hadn't seen for a long time.

The male blinked when he registered his friend's question, before regaining his mental focus as he replied, "u-ugh, yes, well um, it's good to see you again, Compa. Work's been a real chore these last few weeks." He remarked with a frown.

Compa's face became troubled as she looked down at her food, remembering the recent crisis that was threatening Gamindustri not just Planeptune. "You mean the increased monster attacks, right? Because of them, school had to be closed down because the students kept getting taken during monster raids and eaten." She asked him, memories surfacing in her mind.

It was a source of concern for everyone, the recent rise in Monster activity. Gamindustri always had monsters, ever since the world first started, which was a time that nobody remembered due to it being trillions of years ago. However, it was only recently, as in the last few years, that Monster activity spiked drastically and they began to adopt a dangerously aggressive behaviour. They now attacked trade routes, convoys, minor settlements even the major city of Planeptune was sometimes targeted by the more dangerous of monsters. Because of the danger they posed, many things had to change to ensure public safety like the closing of schools and the promotion of indoor entertainment so kids didn't leave their houses to visit their friends, only to get munched on by a visiting monster.

The same events flashed through Nico's mind too, prompting him to clench his fists and grit his teeth in frustration and anger, "yeah, that about sums it up. The Guild's running the Spec-Ops Agents ragged with dangerous quests, at least B Rank and above Quests, sometimes we must hunt monsters which SERIOUSLY deviate from the norms. Some of them Compa give even the strongest of us nightmares." He explained, sending Compa into stunned silence as he remembered fighting such monsters. Even now just thinking of them sent chills down his spine.

"I see…" the cream haired girl mused, taking a cup of tea, she had poured and bringing it to her lips. "That's why you stopped calling and messaging me for 2 weeks. I was worried you had forgotten about me…" she muttered before sipping her tea with an expression of relief, worry and dejection all mixed into one heart wrenching package.

Hearing that Compa had thought that sent Nico's mind into overdrive, as he slammed his hands down onto the table with a furious expression on his face, "don't ever think that!" he yelled, shocking the girl as she let out an "eek!" in surprise, almost jumping out of her seat. "I would NEVER forget about you Compa, your one of the few good damn things I have, I could never do that to you, ever!"

After saying his piece, Nico was reduced to some heavy breathing, his body slightly fatigued from all that shouting. He didn't know why he had snapped like that, but it didn't change the fact that he was insulted that she would even think that he would forget about her. Though, Nico guessed he couldn't blame her, after all she didn't know just how much seeing her face, reading her texts, even hearing her voice brought a smile to his face every time he was out in the field. She was one of the few reasons why he fought as a Guild member at all.

Then, he came to the realisation that he had just yelled at his childhood friend, and his eyes became horror-struck as he quickly bent low into a bow, "I'm s-sorry, Compa, forgive me for yelling at you like that!" he stuttered in a panic. He didn't want one of the few reasons he fights hating him over something he had done by accident. It would have destroyed him otherwise.

Fortunately, Compa didn't seem to take offense to his actions, as she just waved her hands in a placating manner, "I-it's okay, really Ni-Ni. I shouldn't have doubted you for a moment. In any case, it's actually relieving that you yelled like that." She told him. This made Nico look up at her in curiosity, what did she mean by him yelling at her was relieving?

It seemed that she knew what he was wanting to ask, because she continued, "I mean, ever since we were kids you were always passionate in what you did, what you believed in. you protected me from bullies when they'd make fun of me for my timidness…" she looked down, blushing at the memories in her mind. "So, its relieving to see that you're still the same as you were back then."

Hearing her compliments caused a tinge of pink to form on Nico's cheeks, as he quickly turned his head to the side to avoid looking at the beaming Compa. 'goddamnit, that smile, that innocence! She's so bright, Compa's too bright!' he screamed in his mind, embarrassment flooding through his system like a flood. But what made it even worse was that her statements rang true, when they had met Compa had always been a shy, timid little girl who was scared to open her heart to others. At first, she wouldn't go near him when their parents were together, and he couldn't figure out why.

But then, when he discovered one day how she was always picked on because of her timid nature, that was when he flipped his lid. Nico had put a stop to those bullies, and kept doing so throughout their time together, always being there for Compa either as a shoulder to lean on for comfort, or to help her when she needed it. He supported her like a good friend would, though remembering it now made him feel so embarrassed, like any typical boy would. Though, Compa remained oblivious to his thoughts and dramatic reaction.

* * *

When Dinner was finally over, Nico excused himself from the table and left the kitchen. Once he was out of Compa's sight however, his movements made a complete 180, Nico quickly rushing up the stairs with a hand over his mouth, careful not to make a sound as to worry Compa, and went to the bathroom. Once there, like an animal in a panic, Nico swiftly dashed towards the toilet which was located on the opposite wall when one came into the bathroom, and fell onto its thankfully raised lid. The urge no longer could be contained, and as a result, Nico threw up the food she had cooked for him. it came out of him like a flood, making splattering sounds as it impacted the water and would likely leave a sickly smell when it was over. Though, Nico would make sure to clean up after himself so nobody would notice. It didn't take long, but it was a rather discomforting process that left him completely drained afterwards.

'Ugh, gross! I'm glad I held it in there, who knows what would have happened if I couldn't keep it together…' Nico thought, heaving heavily while his hands gripped the sides of the toilet. His eyes were wide, with his pupils shrunken to the size of dots as he struggled to recover from that nasty experience. Eventually, he weakly raised his arm to flush the toilet, not being able to stomach the sight of the vomit anymore.

Once it was gone, Nico slowly shifted till he was sitting on the ground with his back touching the tip of the Toilet, his breathing was ragged, coming in and out through drawn out gasps of air that his lungs clawed desperately for. the residue feeling of vomit burned at the back of his throat, yet he didn't feel like getting up from his position to get a drink of water to relieve the feeling. Honestly, with the things he'd seen and done, Nico felt that this feeling was oddly fitting for someone like him.

His head was looking down with his hair shadowing his eyes. Slowly, his breathing became even as he endured the feeling at the back of his throat. Nico then saw a brief image of Compa's happy, smiling face on the ground, before it vanished, a hallucination, he realised, making an empty chuckle escape his lips.

'it's okay… Compa… you don't need to know… THIS side of me… and I hope… you never do.'


	2. Chapter 2 - Falling from the Sky, yo!

**Hi, HunterXkiller87 here.**

 **If anyone hasn't noticed yet, by the lack of images and a profile, this is my first story. I have read a lot of fics on this site, and every Hyperdimension OC Harem focus seems... bland, to me. So, I decided to give it a shot, and hopefully make a story that is interesting and eye-catching. Thus this was born. I had the idea when I was listening to my favourite song, Unravel, the TG Opening that went viral unlike what producers thought.**

 **There will be romance and adventure, no doubts there, but the romance won't be in your face like a lot of harem fanfics. Instead, it will mostly be action, hopefully good plot, and lots of OPness. Yes Overpowered OCs are a thing, true enough, but I don't plan on just OPing my OC, in fact nearly everyone will be upgraded in some manner to compensate. Plus, those who have seen my writing style, you know I am very descriptive with some instances, so look forward to that.**

 **When I published this chapter, I feared nobody would give it a chance. It was late at night where I am, so I stayed up later than normal fretting. However, if I already have a review, some favourites and some follows, then I have at least done something right.**

 **Now, lets reply to them, shall we?**

 **Zergface - Thanks for the first comment, don't know what you mean y the second. I'll take it as a compliment, but if not please let me know.**

 **To followers - Thank you for giving my story a chance. Makers my day when my content is decent enough for that response.**

 **Now that that is done with, the annual disclaimer!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia, save for my OC's. Anything referenced or used belongs to their rightful owwners.**

 **There, now let's start this, shall we?**

 **Chapter 2 - Falling from the Sky, yo!**

After his little 'episode' in the bathroom, Nico made sure to clean himself up so that none of the vomit that lingered on his mouth was visible. He made sure to take a few breath mints as well, wiping down his face, neck and the tops of his clothes. This one was worse than normal, considering how much human food he had stored inside of him, but it wasn't anything that Nico couldn't handle. He couldn't let anyone figure out his secret, at least nobody that he couldn't trust. Compa especially couldn't know this, because she would ask questions that he didn't have the answers to. It hurt, having to keep this a secret from her, but it was necessary.

For this secrets depth demanded the utmost discretion.

Soon he returned downstairs where Compa was washing the dishes. He smiled at her as he approached from the entrance, "hey there, need any help with that?" he offered, gesturing to the dishes beside her. It didn't look too big, the pile anyways, but she did cook the meal herself, so it was common curtesy to offer to help with the dishes.

Compa turned to look at him, smiling before shaking her head, "no need, I can do this by myself. It's kinda fun actually, gives me time to clear my head after a stressful day." She told him while cleaning the plate she had used with a cloth that was white with a pink boarder and had a love heart pattern a lot like her stockings.

At that, Nico could relate. He too found it relaxing to do menial chores like dishes or vacuuming to clear his head. Shame he never got around to them often considering his profession. It usually involved him facing tough opponents on the front lines, leaving little time for him to wind down. Fortunately, he had the option of hunting in some of the weaker Dungeons to vent whatever stress he had, or things REALLY would have gotten ugly.

Seeing that there was no changing the girl's mind, Nico relented to her will. It was her house after all, so it was her rules. As the saying goes, 'when in Lowee, do as the Loweans do.' He wondered if that was a reference to something, but dismissed it with a nonchalant shrug. "alright then. Is there anything you would like for me to do? It wouldn't feel right if I just lazed about while you do all the work." He asked her.

Pausing her current activity, Compa looked up while placing a finger on her chin, becoming immersed in thought. "hmmmm… well, most chores have already been taken care of, and it's getting pretty late, so… oh! I know!" an idea sparked in her mind. If he was crazy, Nico would have sworn that he had seen a light bulb switch on above her head. Turning her head to face him again, Compa showed him her excited face, which consisted of her being starry-eyed while grinning widely. "Stargazing! We can stargaze like we did when we were kids!"

As he heard those words, Nico's eyes widened when he remembered those times. 'Oh yeah!' he thought, fisting his open palm like he had just realised something major. 'We used to gaze at the stars a lot when we were little after a particularly stressful day of school, bullies and nagging parents…' he chuckled mentally at the address he had used there. That was how many kids viewed their parents whenever they tried to tell them what to do. "Sure, I guess that's good. Where should we star gaze? On the roof?" he asked her.

The cream haired girl nodded quickly. "Hmmm! That'd be perfect, Ni-Ni! The roof is the best place to star gaze, and it just so happens to be a clear night tonight. It's the perfect scenario for some star gazing!" she proclaimed. With that confirmed between them, Compa suddenly turned back to the dishes and began washing them with a new intensity that wasn't there before. Nico swore that there were flames dancing in her eyes as she did them. 'Whoa! Girl must REALLY want to gaze at the stars if THIS is what hypes her up!' the male thought.

* * *

Once the dishes were done, the two retreated to Compa's bedroom, one of the places where they could get up onto the rooftop the quickest. The two teens didn't mind that they had just entered a girl's room since they had known each other for years now, so they were quite familiar with each other and trusted each other well enough with this lack of space between them. Nico had vaulted onto the rooftop from the window first, then helped Compa up onto it.

The two sat side by side, gazing upwards at the many twinkling stars in the night sky. They could also see the full moon as well, something one doesn't see every day in Gamindustri. "Ahhhh, they look so pretty…" Compa said with joy in her eyes. They were literally sparkling with awe at the beauty that the stars possessed.

Nico agreed with his childhood friend, the stars were beautiful tonight. They had done this together many times when they were children, but no matter how many times they did, it always had a certain kind of magic that Skills and spells used by Guild Agents, adventurers and the Lowee citizens, who specialise in that field, lack. Nico always found himself in awe of how big the world was, not just Gamindustri, but all the worlds out there. He knew that they couldn't be the only race in the world, it just didn't make sense otherwise. After all, the universe was said to be ever expanding, right? So that meant they had to be other races out there, perhaps even alternate dimensions.

Something came over him that moment, but left again at the next second, which confused him.

'Why do I feel like I'll be getting an up close and personal experience with something? Oh well.' The male thought before dismissing it. Perhaps it would be one of those things that the Author uses to refer to future stories that he may make in the future…

…

…

Wait, what?

Before he could think on that, Compa started a conversation again. "Hey, Ni-Ni?" she began, turning towards him with a look in her eye. Nico looked back at her, becoming confused at the way she was staring at him.

"What is it, Compa?"

"It's been a long time since we first met, and I know I asked you already, but you never answered me… why don't you give me any cute nickname?"

Now THAT was a question that Nico never expected to hear from that girl's mouth. His eyes widened in surprise when she asked it, and the male looked towards her with a gobsmacked expression on his face. "Wh-why do you ask this so suddenly? I mean, it's not like we need to refer to each other by cute nicknames, your name's only 2 syllables same as mine." He replied, embarrassment filling his voice at the thought of giving Compa a nickname like she did him.

"W-well…" looking down, the girl timidly poked her index fingers together, refusing to look up at him. "I call you Ni-Ni, but I always wanted to be referred to as a cute nickname, but you never do. I was just curious as to why?" she elaborated. It was true, no matter how many people she met and was nice to, nobody gave her a cute nickname. She hoped that would change one day, and couldn't wait till it came.

Normally, a guy in this situation would say something randomly to get this embarrassing subject dropped and move on regardless of how the female takes it, but Nico could see that this was very important to his childhood friend. He was surely embarrassed at the question, but his desire to see Compa smile was more powerful. "Hmmm… I guess it's because it's hard to think of one with your name… I mean, Compa is so easy to pronounce that it's essentially a nickname alone. I could go with Com or Compy, but they seem lazy to me." He explained, his thumb scratching the side of his jaw while he refused to look at her gaze.

"Muuuu! I wanna have a cute nickname…"

Turning his head back to her when she said that, Nico was greeted to the sight of a Compa with slumped shoulders, her head hanging low with a depressed aura around her. Now THIS made him feel even sicker to his stomach than eating human food, seeing how sad his childhood friend was. It infuriated him that the world can make such a sweet girl feel sad about herself like that.

'Well, not if I have something to say about it!'

"Compa, look at me." He spoke sternly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. This was something Nico couldn't allow to continue for a second, not just because she was someone important to him, not just because this was their first face-to-face meeting in 4 years, but also because he hated seeing girls sad like this. Nico may have lost his parents potentially, but they did install something in him that most guys in Gamindustri today lack: respect for the female gender. Perhaps it was also because of her grandfather being a good man who respected women and treated them fairly, due to being from an era much different than their own, but Nico always felt that he had to treat women with the utmost care and respect, especially those who were insecure about themselves. It grinded his gears to think that girls who could be super beautiful have such shyness about their appearances. And then there were those who feel they have no way out and…

It was obvious that Compa was startled by his sudden action, judging by the "eh?!" and the rapidly blinking eyelashes he saw. When she looked up at him, her eyes were full of shock and confusion. She had been so depressed that his actions had completely thrown her off guard, "N-Ni-Ni?" she stuttered as a red-hot blush formed on her cheeks. 'wh-wha?! What is-I can feel his chest with my hands…!' she thought as her hands had landed on his chest area. Nico, while not a massive body builder, had a solid build of his own honed through a history of combat. It was enough to make any girl find him attractive enough to do… lewd things to.

"Nicknames may be something of importance, but there's something even more so." Nico told her, not caring for her question before. She needed to hear this and she needed it now, at least in his mind anyways. Nico hoped that he wasn't being too arrogant like some of the assholes he knew were in the Guild. "The memories you make with friends can be the most important thing of all, when it comes to making bonds. Nicknames can be important, but memories are more so. Even if you don't get a nickname, at least you'll be able to remember the faces of those you're close to."

At the end of Nico's speech, Compa's eyes widened with shock and disbelief… until seconds later when she began feeling touched that he would say such sweet things to cheer her up. The cream haired girl's eyes glistened for a moment as they filled with tears, tears that made Nico fear that he had said something wrong. He just meant to cheer her up, no make her feel worse!

Luckily for him that was not the case as Compa quickly embraced him with her face dug deep into his chest. "You know exactly what to say to cheer me up, Ni-Ni, just like when we were kids…" she muttered. Nico's senses picked up the smell of something wet, and he quickly realised that they were in fact, tears. The male's arms wrapped around her, gently hugging her back with one hand on her back, gently drawing circles on it while the other was on the back of her head. "I try…"

"and you succeed…"

The two just stayed like that, loving the tender moment that they were having together. Nico mentally congratulated himself on cheering his friend up, it felt like a huge weight off his shoulders now that he had done his task right. Meanwhile, Compa had felt warmth sprinting like an Nelympic runner through her body at the kindness that her friend showed her. She was lucky to have met such a nice boy when she was little, as most boys tended to be mean and pick on her because of her timid personality. And even now, amongst all the perverts that roamed Gamindustri, Nico had not once fell to their level which earned him more points with the female population. Though he likely didn't realise it considering how oblivious he was. 'The best ones always turn out to be the densest…' Compa recited her grandfather's words in her mind, knowing now that they held a lot of truth.

After a short while, they pulled apart, Compa wiping her eyes to get rid of her tears while Nico watched with a small smile. When she was done, the girl looked up at him with an amazing smile. "Thank you for that Ni-Ni." She thanked him, sure she was done with her tears this time. "I'm so lucky to have a friend like you."

The male shook his head in denial of this claim. "Nah, not really." He replied, chuckling as he looked back up at the skies, the star's allure starting to tug at his mind as he finished his response to the cream haired girl. "It's just that your such an amazing girl, so amazing in fact that anyone who doesn't like you is as bad as all the murderers and rapists out there." He stated firmly, and he believed that with every fibre of his being. He'd punch anyone who'd talk smack about her for those reasons alone, not just because she was his friend.

"Ni-Ni…" Compa muttered with a beaming smile. She had been giving those a lot recently, she realised, and she didn't mind one bit. Just as she was about to comment again, something caught her attention. "Hm? What's that?" she muttered, catching Nico's attention.

He repeated his friend's question. "Huh? What's what Compa?" while tilting his head curiously. That was when his right Bracer began making a beeping noise, drawing his attention to it, alongside that of his childhood friend. "Now my Bracer's acting funny. Let's see…" he quickly began pressing a few keys on the Bracer, which soon displayed a holographic map above its screen for him to view. The map displayed Planeptune at first, until He began zooming in with his index finger and thumb.

Compa watched with baited breath. "Wowee… that's some neat gear you've got, Ni-Ni." She complimented with awe. She really shouldn't be so surprised, considering his position in the guild. Nico was bound to get access to some top-grade technology. She knew of his codename DEATHSTROKE, one of their best Spec-Ops Agents to date, but still amazement filled her as she watched him get to work on whatever was triggering his Bracer.

Nico smirked at this as he adjusted the Map till the blue hologram displayed a specific Dungeon, one of the weaker ones called 'Virtua Forest', where there was a red dot deep inside with several red waves emitting from its centre. The male frowned at this, concern written over his features. "Hmmm, judging by what my Bracer is telling me there's a strange energy signature coming from Virtua forest. I can't pinpoint its exact signature, but I can get its exact co-ordinates." He explained to his friend.

"I see… then we should go investigate." Compa stated firmly, much to his surprise. Did he just hear that correctly? Did she just say she wanted to go with him? Nico wasn't sure that was a good idea this Dungeon may be weak compared to the ones he usually fought in, but monsters weren't as easy as one might think. Plus, there was one monster out there that he did NOT want to go anywhere near Compa, not even the most dangerous ones.

But when he saw his friend's face, he knew there was no stopping her. When Compa had, her mind set on something then she would do it no matter what the obstacle is. With a reluctant sigh, Nico relented towards her demands. "Alright, but you do have a weapon on you, right?" he asked her, only for the male to go bug eyed, eyes becoming completely white, when he saw Compa pull out from her Inventory, a trait most Gamindustrimen and women possessed for some reason, a huge syringe that could be held in 2 hands. 'Oh gods, that's terrifying…'

"Yessie! I'm always ready to help those in need! Now let's go see what's up!"

With that, Compa went back inside, finding it much easier than getting outside, before heading for the door. Nico took a moment to regain himself, before he quickly deactivated the Bracer's map display and vaulted inside to follow her.

* * *

Later, the two had walked outside the City and headed towards the Dungeon known as Virtua Forest. Nico constantly checked his Bracer's Holomap of Planeptune to see if there were any signs of monsters in their vicinity. Sometimes they would attack party members in the form of Random Encounters and in most cases, they were underprepared leading to either heavy injuries or death. That wasn't going to happen to him, not on his watch, and even more important Compa was here to, which lead to him being extra vigilant.

Fortunately, no monsters came to them this time.

When they were at the entrance to Virtua forest, Nico and Compa wondered which way they should go. This Dungeon was, despite being full of weaker monsters, quite large and thus had multiple routes. This was usually the case for a lot of forest Dungeons, plus some Cave ones and Mountain ones.

"Hmmmm… looks like if we take THIS path." Nico began, pointing at an entrance to the Dungeon on the Holomap and then the same entrance to their right. The entrance looked like a large country path with a metal futuristic gate that monitored the number of people who entered and left the Dungeon. How the workers had constructed these gates without attracting the monster's attention he would never know. "Then we'll be able to swiftly get to the source of the energy signature."

Compa nodded in acknowledgement at this as she proceeded to walk into the Dungeon entrance, Syringe in hand. "Alrightie lets go, Ni-Ni. We got a mystery on our hands." She said, turning around and waving him to come over. 'Is she making a reference to something like a kid show? Whatever…' Nico thought to himself before heading on over, walking deeper into the Dungeon with Compa at his side.

For some reason, Nico and Compa didn't get attacked by any monsters. Hell, none of them were even around right now, but the male looked up at the night sky and assumed that they were sleeping or something. Even monsters need to sleep, he should know, Nico had hunted some of the more dangerous monsters and killed them while they slept. Compa though, remained curious and didn't realise the reason for it.

Because of the lack of 'distractions' both teens made it to where the source of the signature was. It was a large crater which had replaced a large arisen dirt platform, much to their disbelief. "Damn, wonder how much it could cost to fill in a hole that size…" Nico muttered with dismayed eyes, not noticing how Compa blushed at the partial innuendo he had unknowingly said.

But then, they saw what lay within… and both sweat dropped. 'You've gotta be kidding me…'

If there was a time where someone would say that something like this would happen when he would reunite with his childhood friend, Nico would have called them a crazy psychopath and decapitated them. But seeing it in front of his very eyes made him rethink this. In the middle of the crater, there was something sticking out of it in a slight diagonal angle like a spear, or a certain sword that made a King of a country. From the looks of it though, it wasn't a weapon at all, no it was …

A person.

'Okay, this is GOT to be one of the weirdest things of my life. Weirder than that time where that one monster lost the lower half of its body revealing white shorts with poker dots and short skinny legs.' Nico thought while sliding down the side of the crater and then jogging over to the person. Compa soon followed suit with a worried expression on her face, how typical of her. Considering her scary Syringe Nico was aware that she was a Nurse in Training, so it wasn't a surprise to see her worried for a stranger's wellbeing.

"Oh no, that person can't breathe! Help me, Ni-Ni! She'll die of suffocation if we don't do something!"

Compa quickly rushed on over with an urgency in her steps, finding herself at the back of the person, she grasped both legs and began to tug, but the person, apparently, it was a girl, was lodged tightly into the ground. To the point where Compa was having difficulty pulling her out.

Nico jogged over and placed his hands on her ankles, making note that the person was a skinny petite little thing as they both managed to successfully pull her out the ground, falling flat on their asses in the process. 'Gah! Ouch, that smarts…' the male thought, cringing as he rubbed his backside, which slightly ached from the sudden collision. However, IT soon took care of it, and by IT he meant something else that was part of his 'condition'.

Before he could address anything though, Nico opened his eyes and was greeted by a sight that he did NOT see every day. There was a dirt covered face before his own, eyes closed so he couldn't tell who it was, but something DID tell him that this person was the same one they just pulled out. Now that he got a closer look at the girl, Nico began to analyse her appearance and condition.

The girl had fair skin for starters, which was blemished by the amount of dirt on her, with sort lilac coloured hair that flared outwards, messy bangs covering her face. She had a pair of D-pad Hairclips on top her head, covered in dust from being in the dirt for so long. Her apparel consists of a choker around her neck with a light blue D-pad symbol on it and short-sleeved mini hoodie with blue and purple lining around the sleeves and the hood. The hoodie is closed by a button emblem with a large N in the middle and has two strings that look like controller plugs. She wore light blue and white striped thigh high stockings with frills at the tops and her shoes are purple and blue with an N on them.

Now, any normal guy would be singing that they had a cute girl land on top of them and push them into a… compromising position now that Nico noticed. However, the male's first thought popped into his head, and it WASN'T what one would expect, '… how have her D pad clips not been damaged by the impact?' he wondered, looking at her hairclips. Now that he was looking at them, aside from them being covered in dirt from the earth they looked relatively unharmed, which confused the hell out of him.

That was when things… got a bit heated.

The girl on top of him began to shuffle about, rubbing herself on him with her arms wrapped around his body, rooting him in place. Nico gasped as his eyes became white and his face turned scarlet red. 'Wha-wha-wha, what the hell is going on here?!' Nico screamed in his mind, struggling to break free but to no avail. Unlike what her petite appearance suggested this girl was still very strong, just like Compa was. His blushing intensified when he felt her grinding against his neither regions, and Nico struggled even more to contain both the urge to moan in pleasure at the sensation, as well as the animalistic urge to go and…

'NO! DO NOT LET THAT URGE OUT! YOU DON'T WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR A PAIR OF DEATHS!'

Fortunately for the Spec-Ops Agent, it wasn't long before his friend regained her bearings too, getting to her feet before noticing what her friend had been put into. "e-eh?!" she exclaimed rushing over and pulling the unconscious girl off him, flipping her over her shoulder like a fire fighter. "N-NI-NI, you didn't do anything to her, did you? Your supposed to go on dates first before any M rated stuff happens." She asked him with worry… and a slight edge of jealousy, though Nico didn't notice as he was too busy trying to defend himself against Compa's accusations.

"N-N-No! she just fell on me, nothing happened at all I swear!" the male stuttered with an embarrassed look on his face. Nico couldn't believe that Compa thought something like that would have happened between someone who was freaking unconscious and him! Seriously while he knew some who would have jumped at the chance he at least had standards! And besides, it wasn't like he was attractive or anything. He usually got weird and creepy stares from them instead of affection!

The slight moaning of the girl brought their attention back to the task at hand: getting that girl to somewhere where she could rest and clean up. "W-we can worry about that later! Let's get her to your place Compa, by the time we get back most of the Hospitals will be closed for the day, so your house is the best option." He told the Nurse in Training who quickly nodded to forget what had just happened. After Nico managed to get onto his feet, the male quickly followed her as they left the area with the girl in tow.

Later, the two returned to Compa's house, Nico having forced himself not to think about what had just transpired with that girl in favour of keeping watch on his Holomap. It looked like luck was on their side yet again, considering how they didn't get attacked by any monsters yet again, something that Nico grew suspicious about. Then again, monster behaviour has been out of whack lately, so this could be another example of that.

They both entered her house and went upstairs into Compa's bedroom. Nico excused himself though as a gesture of respect for the two girls and their privacy. He moved down into the living room and sat on the sofa, taking the remote that lay on the Armrest and flicked on the TV. He watched the news reports on monster activity, as well as what was going on with the other Nations.

Apparently Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox were handling the monsters better than Planeptune thanks to their leaders, the four CPUs of Gamindustri, returning from the heavenly realm known as Celestia to the mortal world. However, there had been no sign of their CPU, Purple Heart, which worried the citizens greatly. The Basilicom, which was the place where the CPUs directly communicate with the people of the lands they oversaw, had been quick to try and persuade the citizens to remain hopeful, but the question remaining was: how long can they keep it up?

Nico frowned as he looked at the TV screen, switching it off with the remote. 'how far things have fallen…' he thought to himself, thinking about the situation brewing in Gamindustri. Unlike most of the world Nico didn't believe in any Goddess, never mind the CPU of the Nation he was born into. After fighting for so long, and witnessing what he had, Nico had come to one conclusion: you can't rely on the Goddesses for everything, to truly live in this world one had to fend for themselves when the Goddesses couldn't. they were merely four individuals, so they couldn't be part of everyone's' lives. It was pathetic and arrogant to think otherwise.

That was what he had stuck to, and still he had survived the toughest of battles that few other Agents of the Guild could on their own.

* * *

An hour or so later, Nico heard footsteps come down the stairs as Compa emerged into the living room through the entrance from the Hallway. "How is she?" the male asked as she sat next to him, having taken off her boots at the entrance to her house. He had done the same with his boots and coat, too. He referred to the unconscious girl above them, who was likely sleeping in Compa's room right now.

"Oh, she's alright now. Nurse Compa cleaned her up and put her to bed. She should be resting now." Compa explained to him, snuggling up to him. If anyone were to look at them they would think that they were an old married couple, and the two-mentioned people would vehemently deny it with massive blushes. They had just known each other for so long that they were cosy with each other and showed each other affection.

The male nodded at that, smiling to himself. "Good, hopefully she will wake up soon enough that she'll tell us why the hell she was there." He mused, getting a giggle from the cream haired girl.

Looking up with her eyes, a theory popped into her mind. "I saw her when she was falling from the skies, so maybe that has something to do with anything?" she asked him, to which Nico began mauling it over in his head. That did seem like something of note, no normal person would just come falling from the skies. And they say that the other CPUs returned from Celestia, so could it be merely a coincidence? Nico wasn't sure, so he decided not to think about it.

Fatigue soon assaulted and won over his resistance in a short bout for dominance. Slowly, his eyelids closed, and the male fell asleep, with Compa soon following suit. The sweet sound of oblivion came to them both, with silence being there to usher them towards it.

* * *

The next morning, Nico awoke from his slumber, momentarily forgetting where he was until he remembered, before heading out to go to do his usual Quests. Nico hadn't wished to leave Compa alone like that, but he had work to do, so he left a note for her telling her where he was and that he would be back. Although, he never said when because being who he was meant that things could spiral downhill all too quickly.

Fortunately, that didn't happen as throughout the entire morning all he had to do were fetch quests. Locating the correct items via his Holomap, finding them and sometimes fighting monsters that dropped them when defeated, and he was good. In the afternoon, Nico only had a couple hunting quests, which were also easy to do considering their low levels and his skills. Though, Nico was slightly saddened to not see IF at all today, she must have been on a long-term quest or perhaps she had moved on to a new Landmass. Likely Leanbox or Lowee as Lastation seemed to have a problem with its economics. All in all, it was an easy day today which didn't happen often.

Which left him time to go back to Compa's house.

Upon his return, Nico found himself surprised when he didn't see Compa in the living room or the kitchen. 'huh? Where could she be? I saw her boots at the front there, so where… Wait, I hear noises above me…' Nico looked up and heard noises coming from Compa's room. The only one in there was that girl, so… 'okay, let's see what's up.' He thought before heading upstairs.

Soon, the teenage Guild member had gotten to the door to Compa's room. The sounds had gotten progressively louder the closer he had gotten to them, which confirmed that they were coming from his friend's room. When he was close enough to the door, Nico placed his ear on the door and listened in:

"Urrgh! H-Hold on! Can you make it a bit loose? It's getting tigh-!"

"You don't want it too loose or you'll trip. Just be patient now."

STRETCH!

"Ugh! I can't breathe… my back! Ahhhh-! Ah…"

"Nep-Nep? Are you okay? Please come back! Nep-Nep? NEP-NEP?!"

Okay, NOW Nico was concerned as he quickly barged into the room. "Compa, what happened?! I heard-PFFT!" the male began, fearing that something really bad had happened like a murder. However, he was forced to do a spit take at what he was seeing, his face soon sporting a massive blush at the sight. Any normal man would be like 'awwww yeah!' while singing the merry go round anthem, but Nico didn't. he could barely comprehend what was happening before him correctly without his brain short-circuiting.

Before his eyes, Nico saw both Compa and the girl they had just rescued. The latter was completely naked, save for a series of tightly wrapped bandages that barely covered her modesty. She had fallen onto the bed with her face a mix of blue and purple, looking like she was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen. Compa kneeled beside her, staring at him in shock like a deer caught in the headlights.

That shock soon faded, allowing her to speak, and not completely stutter free, either. "N-Ni-Ni, what are you doing?!" she cried out in alarm. "this is a serious operation I'm doing here!" the male didn't answer her in favour of helping the poor purplette. he ran to the side f the bed, after grabbing some Scissors, and with a flurry of motion managed to cut some of the bandages that limited her breathing.

The girl took a large breath of air almost immediately, her eyes shooting wide open. "Air! How I missed you!" she bellowed dramatically. she did this while kneeling on one leg while raising her arms to the heavens like she was talking to the divine. Nico idly noted that they were a darker shade of lilac.

"There, now that that's done…" Nico began… before turning on his heels and hightailing it outta there, closing the door behind him with an Audible THUD that made the girls jump at thee volume. "Compa let the kid do the Bandages, or bondages in this case!" he bellowed while going downstairs. "I'll be downstairs when it's done, so Text me on my Phone."

"Got it! And they're Bandages, Ni-Ni!"

* * *

Moments later, Nico was texted, and the message told him he could come back up to the room again. Whatever THAT had been about, Nico didn't wanna have a repeat of it, he so hoped that wouldn't happen again, he had almost had a heart attack at how she had done all that. His mind just couldn't comprehend the fact that something as simple as Bandages had led to THAT kind of situation.

When he finally decided to gather his courage, Nico stood up and went upstairs, soon entering Compa's room. To his relief, the situation looked to be resolved as the girl had dressed herself properly and had bandages that weren't trying to squeeze her lungs out her orifice. She was sitting with her legs crossed like an X on the bed with Compa standing not too far away, looking down in shame as memories of the same situation flashed through her mind.

"Th-that was close…! I was an inch away from entering… the light." She said, pausing a few times to take a breath while at the end a bit of drama could be detected from her tone of voice. She then looked to Nico, her eyes scanning over his form as she held her chin like an inspector.

It served the purpose of making Nico uncomfortable though, as he shuffled nervously at her gaze. "Uh… you need something? Is there something on me you don't like?" the teen questioned, trying not to wilt under her stare. The way she was looking at him sent his nerves onto edge, something that he found discomforting for several reasons.

When it ended, the girl's expression became the exact opposite. She gained a grateful glint in her eyes as her face softened into a bright smile. "Thanks again buddy, ya know, for saving ma Nep hide there! I would have had a bad end if you didn't step in." she thanked him with a thumbs-up sign. She stuck her tongue out childishly while doing this, which made Nico smirk at her childishness.

"No problem, girl. I'd feel rather like crap if I let you die. Though Compa here did help heal you despite the... incident. Anyways, the name's Nico, Spec-Ops Agent. Nice to meet you." The male introduced himself with a bow.

This made an amused grin form on the girl's face as she hummed to herself, a hand on her chin as she processed this formal introduction. "hmmmm, a formal introduction to a character huh? Interesting, not very common in this Franchise. Alrightie, my name is Neptune. Nice to meetchya." She greeted with a salute. While Nico was confused on what she meant by "character" and "Franchise" he nonetheless ignored it, figuring that it was part of her personality or something like that.

"Meh, anyways, I assume Compa's already intro'd herself?" he asked, turning his head to face the Nurse in Training, who nodded happily, inwardly glad that they weren't commenting on what had just transpired anymore. "Alright then, let's get down to business. why were you-"

Before he could say any more, a loud groaning sound interrupted them, sounding like a bear's mating call. Nico's eyes shot open wide in surprise at this as he looked around for the source of the sound. 'Whoa! The hell?! Why do I hear bears this deep within Planeptune? I'm pretty sure they aren't kept as pets…' he thought, before his gaze narrowed down onto the now flustered looking Neptune who was rubbing the back of her head in a sheepish manner and looking like a criminal guilty of a crime. "… that your stomach?"

"Hehehe, yeah, I'm kinda hungry, to be honest…" the girl replied, causing Nico to face fault. 'Seriously? That sound almost made my hairs stand up on end.' He thought in amazement while Neptune turned to Compa who was looking thoughtful at her. "Hey, um, Compa? You have anything I can eat?" she asked her pleadingly. Whatever had happened to her must have drained her quite a bit if her stomach had made its desire for food known like that.

Thinking hard about the question, Compa soon concluded what she needed to say as she went towards the door. "Food? Well, I don't have much, but how about some pudding?" she offered the purplette.

Said girl just tilted her head in confusion, it was like she had never heard of Pudding before, "Pudding? Um, what's a pudding?" she questioned, drawing surprised looks from the other two occupants of the room. They didn't expect this, well, that wasn't completely true, as Compa was unsuspecting while something was brewing in Nico's mind about the situation. But he didn't say anything about it just yet.

"How about you wait and see. I'm sure you'll like it."

* * *

 **There, that's a wrap!**

 **Chap 3 is coming soon, don't worry about that. Make sure to review, follow, fav, and all that good stuff. I wish too make a fic that is enjoyable and doesn't have too many clichés in them. Constructive critique is appreciated, but no outright hate please. That does nothing for both the readers and the authors but annoy them.**

 **HunterXKiller 87, peace!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Virtua Forest, ladies!

**Chapter 3 - Virtua Forest, ladies and gentlemen!**

Once Compa had left to go get some Pudding, something that Nico remembered seeing in the fridge one time, Neptune turned her head to face him, her expression of curiosity and wonder made her look… cute, if he could describe it. Though Nico wasn't sure what constituted as cute for her. "Say, you look like your all wise and with the know-how, you know what a Pudding is?" she asked him.

"It's a desert meant for after a big meal." Nico answered, shifting on his position on the ground so that he was in the same position as Neptune. To be honest it looked much cosier than standing, and something told him that formalities weren't an issue with this girl here, not like with his superiors in the WDD or some of the other Guild Agents. "Anyways, do you have amnesia by chance? Your apparent lack of understanding about Pudding makes me suspicious about that." He asked her, while mentally adding 'And a whole load of other things…'

What he meant by that was that his senses were going haywire just by being near her. It wasn't like they wanted him to end her, although he suspected that would solve the immediate issue, however they did tell him to be extremely cautious around her. This had happened many times before when he was out in the field, where he would feel his instincts go wild as if they were a child throwing a temper tantrum. This happened only when he was faced to face with a superior predator, be it a strong monster or someone of high standing. Nico referred to it as his instincts going into a 'trigger event'.

If this event was happening around Neptune, then…

"Amnesia, huh? Well, I guess so… huh..." The girl mused thoughtfully, before she continued after a short silence. "Well, aside from my name and some generic things I don't remember much else. It's all a blank from this noggin'o'mine. I guess it's a start, what do you think, Nicky?"

Nico was contemplative until the end of her sentence, where he gave Neptune a deadpanned expression, clearly he was not amused by the nickname she had just used on him. "… Nicky? Really, Neptune?" he asked her with a sigh. Something told him that she was like Compa, when she gave someone a nickname, it stuck no matter how hard one tried to change it otherwise.

"Yeppers! It's cute don't you think?"

Called it.

'Something tells me ignoring my instincts will be harder than I thought…' Nico thought while lamenting the fact that he had such a nickname on him now. While he could deal with Compa's 'Ni-Ni' because she wasn't good with remembering names, having Neptune on top of that… ugh, it was a dark day for DEATHSTROKE. "And I thought I was done with Nicknames… #sigh#, whatever." He muttered under his breath, before looking up at Neptune with a weak smile. "In any case, thanks for answering my question. I'll return the favour by telling you how you got here."

But before he could, Compa returned, entering the room with a cup of pudding for each of them, much to Nico's dismay, as she explained that she thought it was fair for everyone to have some. 'Oh shit, I was so obsessed with getting information about Neptune that I forgot about the Pudding!' he screamed mentally while outside he gratefully excepted the pudding she gave him. It was put on top of one of her teacup plates due to its size with a spoon beside it. 'Alright, alright dude, chill the fuck out! Just do what you did before then wait till an opportunity to go to the Bathroom arises.'

Calming down internally, Nico switched his gaze to the impending horror in his hands, towards Neptune to see her reaction to the sight of the supposedly 'sweet desert'. He wasn't disappointed, hell Nico even chuckled at her inquisitive face as she experimented with the Pudding in her hands. "So, this yellow thing is called Pudding, hmm? Whoa! It wiggles when you touch it!" she exclaimed when she poked the side of the desert with her index finger, giggling at how it wriggled about until it settled back into its standing upright position.

"Nep-Nep… did you lose your memory of food too?" Compa asked, clearly concerned about the girl's mental health. Nico could see it in her eyes as she watched the preteen Amnesiac play with her food which she normally would have scolded her by now if she wasn't so concerned.

So, deciding to let Neptune have her fun, Nico went and filled her in on what had happened when she wasn't in the room, Neptune's amnesia and his preparation for giving her info on how she wound up in her room. Compa too expressed her concerns, showing her profession's background with her thoughts and expressions. Nico had to assure her that Neptune was doing okay, and that Amnesia usually is only temporary.

"Well! Here I go! #Chomp#"

While they were discussing her amnesia the purplette had enough of waiting around and took a bite out of her pudding. This drew their attention, Compa and Nico awaiting her reaction. The instant she took a small bite, her eyes went wide open, almost forming stars as she quickly devoured the rest in a single second. Nothing remained of the pudding that was once on her plate. "The tantalising sweetness just melts on my tongue! This is the best!" she proclaimed in shock and awe, looking down at the plate as if it were the personification of a goddess.

'Well, she really likes it then…' Nico thought to himself, swiftly eating his Pudding in one gulp. The second his tongue connected with it Nico had to hold himself back from throwing it up back onto his plate. 'Ugh, how revolting! It tastes like dog shit being thrown into an oil reserve!' he thought, barely holding himself back from tearing as he swallowed it all in one bite not wanting to have its taste in his mouth for very long. 'Alright, just grin and bear it, just grin and bear it till you can vomit it out later…'

"Really…?" Compa asked, completely mystified and happy that Neptune had liked the pudding she had brought her.

The purple haired Amnesiac nodded in response, her eyes beaming with joy that hadn't been there in such quantities before. "This has to have been made by the Pudding gods themselves. There is no other plausible exception to the amount of love I give to this Pudding." Neptune proclaimed, grinning widely. It was a complete contrast compared to Nico, whom instead had been disgusted when the food was still in his mouth due to his 'condition'. "Where can I get more?"

"Well, I actually made it myself."

'And there goes Compa's skill in cooking…' Nico thought to himself. 'It must have been a while since I last tasted her cooking and liked it, I think it was… before I had this 'condition' which was around when I…' he paused his thinking when memories came back to him, memories that he hadn't been thinking about in a long time.

Nico had been dropped off at Compa's Grandfather's house when he was 11, which was when he had lost a large portion of his memories. His time from when he was 6 up to 11 was nothing but a complete blur, and that time was likely when something had happened to his Parents, because even with Nico's photographic memory whenever he tried to remember the faces of his parents his head would suddenly feel like it was tearing itself in two. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong except for partial amnesia, something he didn't expect to happen to him.

After he had been dropped off by the authorities under request by his parents, supposedly since Nico had no way to be sure with his partial amnesia, Nico had spent a year with them, quickly bonding with the two-sole people he could recall with perfect clarity. At least, those after he hit 11, beforehand someone else could be remembered, someone whom he had spent the last 4 years with.

But that was for another time it seemed, for something part of Neptune and Compa's conversation caught his interest. "Well, I wanna know what happened to me, so I'm gonna go back to where I was found." Neptune commented, several cups of pudding that were empty littering her sitting space. Nico assumed that she must have asked for more when he was busy with his internal monologue.

"Ooh! Then me and Ni-Ni will take you." Compa said happily while glancing to Nico. The male looked back at her, mentally debating what to do. On one hand, he could just let them go by themselves, but then they could get ambushed by a pack of Monsters, particularly THAT kind. And he never wanted to see something like that happen, especially to his closest friend. On the other hand, however, he could go with them and find out just what the mystery surrounding Neptune was.

In the end, his desires to both protect Compa from THEM and the desire to unravel the mystery surrounding Neptune won him over. "Aright, yeah sure we'll take you. Who knows maybe we'll have some form of surprise encounter… or something." He mused to himself, although right afterwards the male suddenly got te feeling that he had just jinxed them. Frowning mentally, Nico shook it off, tough it did get recorded by his brain, so he would be on guard the whole time.

"Yippie-dippie! This is gonna be so totally rad you guys, our first adventure together as friends!" Neptune cheered with her arms thrown into the air. She hopped up and down and quickly ran towards the door to Compa's bedroom, throwing it open and rushing out faster than they could blink. Both Nico and the owner of the house stared at the space she was at behind the door, until her head popped in from the side, her expression one of impatience. "What ya waiting for slowpokes? Chop-chop, daylight's burnin' ya know!"

And with that, Neptune ran down the stairs. They could hear her footsteps fading as the distance between them increased. Nico looked at Compa, who had done the same, for a few seconds before sighing and shrugging his shoulders. "Well, looks like the hyper girl's a calling, let's not keep her waiting." He mused with a small chuckle, walking out the room after the excitable preteen amnesiac... after making a quick trip to the bathroom.

Compa merely giggled at the term of events as she soon went after them.

* * *

After they had caught up with Neptune and had gotten themselves ready, Nico, Compa and heir new excitable companion went out of the house and made their way towards the main city. It was a rather short walk, shorter than usual with Neptune's usual antics. But it did give Nico and Compa insight into Neptune's character. It seemed that she was an excitable, dim witted person who liked making jokes about the situations she got herself in. it was like she was this self-sufficient ball of energy that would keep on humming through the rest of time.

Compa herself really seemed to hit it off with her, and not in the sexual way if any readers with perverted thoughts are reading this. She and Neptune seemed to share the same mentality, often engaging with her antics to create random scenarios. One time they were literally walking on their hands because Neptune said it would be a 'rush to get there' in her words. The male had to avert his eyes as gravity did its thing though regarding Compa's skirt. Neptune didn't have that much of a problem since she didn't wear one, only her tight hoodie.

However, Nico still had his doubts about the girl. She seemed very open about her feelings, but was that a ruse? Was it an act to fool them into helping her along? Did she have some ulterior motive? Along with her mysterious past, it made it hard for Nico to place his trust in her. He had seen many people in his life with the Guild, some of them were exactly like this. However, they later revealed themselves to have been putting on an act to fool others into thinking they were harmless… when they were anything but.

Soon though, the three arrived deeper within Planeptune, exposing the sights to the young Amnesiac who was like a child walking through a store he/she had never seen before. Her eyes darted around in innocent wonder, sparkling with curiosity and awe. "Wow! This place is SO huge!" Neptune exclaimed, throwing her arms to the air then arching them down as if to showcase how large the City was. She quickly turned on one heel, almost looking like she was about to fall when she perfectly balanced herself on one foot as she looked to Compa. "So Compa, what's this City called?" she asked excitedly.

"This is Planeptune, the city that Lady Purple Heart presides over." Compa replied with a hand enclosed om front of the space above her breasts.

A flicker of something appeared in Neptune's eyes the moment the word 'Planeptune' exited Compa's mouth, something that Nico caught onto. 'Oh? Does she know that name?' he wondered, still in doubt on if Neptune was really faking them out. He couldn't decipher more because of two reasons: one, Nico saw that it had vanished as soon as it came.

The other? Was because Neptune Vocalised it, "Planeptune… Planeptune, Planeptune…" the girl murmured to herself, an index finger on her jaw as she closed her eyes and made a thoughtful expression. She seemed to be thinking hard to herself about something, likely the name of the city she was in. "That name sounds oddly familiar…" she mused, leaning her body from side to side.

Compa gave an eye smile after she said that. She assumed the familiarity came from something else, not her past, "it sounds a lot like your name, Nep-Nep." She remarked, and Nico had to admit to himself that she was right. Take away the 'Pla' from 'Planeptune' and you get 'Neptune'. Already Nico's suspicions were increased regarding this girl. Her name sounds like the Nation they were in? What an incredible coincidence…

"It does, huh?" Neptune nodded her head in agreement, taking a few more seconds to ponder what this meant before changing the subject as she skipped over to them and leaned forwards, giving them her big eyes and pursing her lips together thoughtfully, looking goddamn adorable with her hands behind her back. "So, where we going? Do I need to bring something with me?" she asked them.

Before Compa could reply, Nico grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it, drawing her attention to him. "What is it, Ni-Ni?" she questioned while tilting her head in confusion. His expression right now was one that he made when he worked with rookie Guild Agents in the field, one of grim and uncertainty. She didn't like it, not one bit, but she guessed that he had a reason to make that face. Nico never did anything without a reason, that she knew thanks to their long period of knowing each other.

"Since it's the day, it's likely that Monsters have infested Virtua forest, so we should probably look for a weapon for the girl. She may need one to fend the monsters off." He told her. While the monsters in that Dungeon were weak as fuck, they could still be dangerous to rookies, he had seen one get eaten alive by a plant-like monster before because he arrogantly assumed they weren't able to hurt him.

It seemed that his point got through for Compa's expression gained a light of realisation, before she turned to Neptune, who was slightly caught off guard by her serious stare, "Nep-Nep, do you have any experienced in fighting? Because where we're going, you may need a weapon." She asked the purplette.

Neptune hummed to herself, wondering if she did have experience fighting… for a millisecond. "Of course I have EXP in fighting, I'm the main character of my franchise after all!" she beamed with a wide grin. Both slightly jumped at how bubbly she sounded, like se didn't even have a sense of danger in her body. something then caught her eye, prompting her to go. "Just a sec!" to them before heading towards, and jumping into and rummaging through a nearby dumpster. Only her lower body, from her shoes to her butt, were visible as she kicked the air slowly while a humming tune could be heard within. Nico turned away because the angle would reveal her underwear, which he didn't want to see.

"Nep-Nep, what are you doing, rummaging through the garbage?"

That was what Compa had asked her, completely befuddled as to wat the preteen's intent was. Nico himself was also puzzled, but he dared not speak lest he draw attention to himself, and he REALLY didn't want that because it would be… kinda awkward for him to explain why he wasn't looking at Neptune right now.

Fortunately for him, this didn't last long, for it seemed Neptune had found what she was looking for as apparent by the "Aha!" that came from the garbage dumpster. She then pushed herself out with her spoils in hand, shaking herself to get rid of the gruel she had accumulated in the dumpster before walking towards them with an up-beat spring in her step. "Look what I found, Compa! A sword!" she proclaimed like a happy child, smiling happily as she presented the weapon to her.

Well, it could hardly be called a weapon, considering that the sword was made of wood. But Nico wasn't surprised because of that alone, what surprised him was the fact that Neptune thought that was the standard view of what a weapon looked like. 'Seriously, what the hell's this girl thinking? All she could do with that against a monster would be either break it or give the monsters blisters.'

"Well, it is made of wood, but hey it's a sword!" Neptune even unknowingly voiced some of Nico's thoughts, which made him wonder, was Neptune a psychic? Compa looked just as befuddled as Nico was, in fact it could be said she was even more confused. Her brain couldn't process what was going through the purplette's head either. Judging by her happy face and her slight leaning from side to side, Nico assumed that she wanted to be complimented for her find, sort of like an animal looking for attention from its master, or in the anime and manga industry: a 'Notice me Sempai' character.

Regardless, Compa decided to voice their thoughts on the matter in a polite way as to not offend the girl, "Um… that's great Nep-Nep, but what do you plan on using it for, anyways?" she asked her, blinking several times beforehand as if to shake away the confusion she was feeling. However, it persisted much to her internal dismay.

"Um… LARPing?"

Apparently even Neptune didn't know why. No, it was more like she just thought, ''Hey! Sword! Weapon!" that was what Nico was thinking, at least. A small, awkward silence overtook them, one where Neptune began to feel more and more uncomfortable by the second. This was evident by the fidgeting she was doing that was becoming more noticeable as time went by.

Finally, Compa broke the silence before te preteen could die of discomfort, "um, okie-dokie Nep-Nep…" she said, bringing the male out of his thoughts as he shook his head, he probably shouldn't question much of what Neptune did to preserve his sanity. That was what he was getting from this incident here.

With that, the trio continued their journey.

* * *

Walking along to the Virtua Forest this time was QUITE different compared to the last time. The reason for that: Neptune was ogling Nico's Holomap, the item he was using to make sure they didn't have any random encounters. Since she had amnesia, Neptune likely had never seen the type of equipment Nico sported on an everyday basis, which meant that he had a lot of explaining to do about what he had, how they were the prototype versions of weapons that were made for military use. This included other equipment as well, which led to some interesting reactions from the purplette.

He didn't tell her about the Guild or much else about where he worked though, that stuff would be revealed to her soon enough anyways, if Compa had any say in the matter. Also, it was theorized that Neptune would likely attract a LOT of attention in the future given how many stares she received during the walk out Planeptune. He had to give them glares though to warn them not to try anything funny. Especially with Compa.

Anyone who tried to do anything funny with Compa deserved to have their balls crushed.

After a couple hours of walking, they finally reached the same entrance to Virtua Forest as the one that Nico and Compa had travelled into to fetch Neptune's unconscious self. The said preteen looked around, taking every single sigh in while examining her surroundings. "So, this is where I was elegantly lodged into the ground, right?" she asked, tuning towards the two.

"I wouldn't say 'elegant' but…"

Nico began only to notice the pouty glare that Neptune suddenly gave him for his remark. "#scoff# rude! All pure maidens have elegance in their veins, it's a natural part of our anatomy. Right Compa?" Neptune scolded Nico for his 'arrogance' before turning to the cream haired girl again.

Said girl smiled weakly while sweat dropping. "Well… I'm not so sure about that…" before this strange conversation could continue the girl decided that Neptune's question from earlier needed to be answered lest it be forgotten. "This isn't the place, it's a bit further back, but…" her eyes widened as worry took over her being. "Oh no…" she muttered, concern and worry overcoming her.

Nico quickly checked his Holomap, and when he did the male sighed deeply, "I knew it…" he muttered, face palming before shaking his head. This was bound to happen eventually, but fortunately they all had weapons, otherwise this would have been a lot harder. 'All my weapons are set and ready, so I'm set. Compa has her Syringe due to her being a Medic. She'll be our healer, and Neptune… Neptune is a wild card, depending on how she fights she'll either be a great help or a great hindrance to us.' He thought, plans and calculations forming in his head.

"Huh? Compa? Nicky? Your both acting so weird, what's up?"

…

…

…

And again, Neptune's lack of a danger sense shone through, breaking the atmosphere the two had set up into a million pieces, never to be made whole ever again. Though, perhaps that was part of her charm as a person, her lack of danger meant she had the guts to do things normal people wouldn't dare to. He could only hope that was the case.

"Remember when I explained my Holomap to you, Neptune?" Nico began, pressing a few keys on his Bracer to activate said function. A live hologram of Virtua forest appeared over his Bracer, displaying countless red dots throughout their course that weren't there last night. He showed it to her, and Neptune oooh'ed over it like she did before. "This shows that there's been an influence of monsters, this area has been taken over. Fortunately, they're rather weak, so we should be able to handle them. But don't let your guard down, there's plenty of monsters that have some tricks hidden up their sleeves.

Neptune didn't quite get it, but her brain processed the serious looks on their faces and concluded that things were getting serious, although she didn't know why. "Monsters?" she asked while glancing about. Soon, what looked like a 'monster' hopped out of the wilderness into the middle of the path they needed to travel. "You mean that blue dog-like jelly thing over there?" she asked, pointing to the creature.

The moment Nico's eyes landed upon the creature, his eyes lit aflame with anger, his fury coursing through him and threatening to take over his instincts to make him utterly smite it off the face of the earth. "Y-Yeah… like that." He stated, trying to keep his voice level and calm, masking the venomous hatred that he felt for THAT species.

However, it must have failed because Neptune had noticed, so did Compa as they both felt chills crawl up their spines like a dog hounding a piece of meat. "Brrr! What is with this scary bloodlust that's sending warning signals to my brain? Hey, dude? You okay? You look like your about to throw a fit." Neptune commented, looking rather worried about the male who was still glaring at the monster ahead of them, not even motioning to let them know he had heard her question.

"N-Ni-Ni you okay? Your scaring me…" Compa asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. That seemed enough to snap him out of his rage, as his eyes widened, and he gasped, quickly suppressing the emotion he felt to that species as he shook his head, holding the side of his forehead.

"Ugh, y-yeah I'm good, just don't like this species very much. I've got some bad experiences with em."

That was taking it lightly, Nico was aware of their true potential, especially when these creatures, which were called 'Dogoos' according to the Guild Bestiary, were around young girls/ he had heard all sorts of bad rumours about them, and with the few experiences he had with them Nico was willing to believe them.

Once he had regained significant control over his emotions, Nico looked to Neptune and spoke, "these weren't here the last time we were here because back then it was night-time, so they were likely sleeping. During the day, they are most active." He explained, nodding towards Compa, "that was why I was most persistent in giving you a weapon, Neptune. you'll need one if you wanna dispatch them, even if they're weak."

"Oh? Ohhhh, right I see…" Neptune said while realising what he had meant back in the city. His words tang through her mind like a hammer smashing through the armour of a monster, **"Since it's the day, it's likely that Monsters have infested Virtua forest, so we should probably look for a weapon for the girl. She may need one to fend the monsters off."** Those were the words he had told Compa before she had inquired as to her ability to fight. Now it made sense why he was so worried about her.

Turning to their resident Medic, Neptune had one last question before things would really get rolling. "So, this world has monsters running over it like any RPG, right?" she asked, referring to game logic. Another point the two had discovered about her, Neptune liked making references to games, or game mechanics. It fit her personality, how she saw the world as a game meant she didn't have much fear of things like certain death.

"I guess so, the monsters have been around for as long as Gamindustri itself." Compa replied while thinking hard. It looked like she was having trouble with that due to how red she was getting, there was LITERALLY steam rolling off the top of her head. Any more and the other two feared she may pass out.

Nico quickly intervened placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey lemme handle it, okay Compa?" he asked her gently. Compa looked up into his eyes, about to protest about it when she saw his intense gaze. It made her heart skip a beat as a red hue formed over her cheeks. Slowly, she looked down, so she didn't see his gaze, muttering a near-silent okay in response.

The male sighed in relief, unaware of the effect his gaze had on her. 'Geez, this on can be such a handful sometimes… I wonder who's the more mature of the two, Neptune or Compa?' he idly wondered, before dismissing such thoughts. He had a job to do, and Nico was going to do it. "Well, like Compa said we've had monsters for as long as we can remember, but lately something has happened, and their population spiked. Its led to some… difficult problems." he explained, mentally shivering. By problems, he meant large raids on settlements, people being slaughtered and eaten, intense security measures taken, a whole load of changes had to be made so that the people of Gamindustri were safe.

"I see… in that case!"

In a single moment, Neptune's entire demeanour changed. She swiftly got in front of the two, drawing her wooden sword and held it in front of her in an offensive stance. Her entire body was on alert, her eyes sharp and a confident grin formed on a face. "Let's go on and grind some easy XP while we're at it." She proclaimed boldly, her mood a surprising change to the male and female behind her.

"Nep-Nep, what's up? You seem excited…" Compa asked, not sure how to take such a change, nor was she aware of how she could change mood so fast. Was she bipolar? 'What the heck is with this girl? I was right, she really does have no danger sense. That could indicate that she has some form of reckless battle style. Still, I must be cautious until I know enough about her to judge her fighting capability' Nico thought to himself.

Glancing behind her with the turning of her head Nico and Compa saw an excited smile forming on Neptune's face as she clenched a fist in front of them. "Well, I am the heroine, right? So, I figured I gotta beat up some monsters." She explained, once again showing off her gaming logic. When in doubt rely on the logic of the game to save the day, was what she was getting at.

Compa didn't know how to reply to that, but she did her best anyways, the brave girl. "I suppose so… but can you really fight?" It was understandable that she would ask that, Compa didn't have the observation skills that Nico possessed, neither was she a fighter by nature so she couldn't identify the stance that Neptune was using, one which indicated experience in battle. She was a lover, not a fighter. Even so, even Compa was aware of how bad it was bringing a wooden sword to a monster battle it was like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

To respond to her concerns, and to show that they were unnecessary, Neptune gave her a thumb up. "Of course! With my trusty wooden sword (wood)" she rested her wooden sword onto her shoulder in a manner that lead most to believe that she wasn't on guard, though Nico wasn't fooled. "And skills with me! It'll be a piece of cake!" she boasted afterwards before turning her attention back to the Dogoo. During their conversation, the Dogoo had seen that it was outnumbered and thus had called upon reinforcements to help it, for now there were 30 Dogoos blocking their way.

'Ugh! Dogoo are like wolves, they are primarily a pack-based monster, so it makes sense that these guys are a pack…' he thought to himself while getting ready to fight. "Hey, no stealing kills, ya hear?" the male asked while jumping to Neptune's side. He pressed a space on his chest, and suddenly, the male was engulfed in a white cocoon of what looked like pure data.

Both girls gasped at the sight, while the Dogoos all got on guard. They didn't know why, but their instincts just SCREAMED at them that they were in some deep shit right about now. When the cocoon vanished into individual streams of data, Nico stood there in his full armoured glory. His body was covered in black chainlink mail, from under his chin to the toes and feet of his hands. There were also brown armour plates on his body: the chest, the arm and legs. His hands were armoured gauntlets with the bracers merged into them, while his legs below the knee were armoured boots, and on his shoulders, were large shoulder guards, all these plates being orange in colour. On his face was a mask that was black on the right side and orange on the left, with a single eyehole that showed his left eye. The holsters he had before were on the same places as before, the armour having only pushed them back.

"It's annoying when someone steals another person's kill and takes all the credit."

His words were deeper and more menacing thanks to the Mask, but both girls blinked when they realised that Nico had spoken. A look of intense jealousy had formed in Neptune's eyes as she whined. "Aw, 'c'mon, the male OC of this fic has armour as cool as this? And from a Supervillain, too? No fair!" she stomped on the ground several times like a whiny kid, slightly irritating the male but it mostly amused him, though she couldn't see it thanks to the Mask.

"Hey, I earned this Armour, and my Codename alright? In this armour, I'm known as DEATHSTROKE, and don't you forget it." He told her, before turning back to the enemy and raising his arms. Both gauntlets briefly glowed a purplish white colour at the wrist joints, before several streams of light burst out, lacking any solid form for a millisecond. Afterwards, they stabilised and hardened, lengthening till they were the same length as a human forearm from the hand to the elbow joint, forming a series of 5 purple Scythe blades in the form of energy claws.

'My Plasma Claws, able to cut, burn and cauterize wounds more effectively than many weapons out there. Unfortunately, people found these to be too terrifying for use based on their appearance, so I have the only Prototype.' Nico thought as he eyed the Dogoos with a predatory gleam in his eye, his dual Plasma claws gleaming menacingly as he scraped them against each other, sparks flying off them and illuminating his Mask with their glow. A dark smirk was hidden from view, but it was there. "Now then, boys… lets show these ladies a good party, shall we?" Nico said with a sinister, almost demonic, undertone, his eye intently focusing its gaze upon the Dogoos, whom were now sweating profusely. They could feel the overwhelming KI radiating from Nico, who wanted to rip into them already.

Compa watched the two fighters of the party and, feeling a sense of bravery envelop her senses, took a firm stance as well. "I'll help fight them too! A nurse's job is to protect people, you know! Just lemme get this out…" she said, trailing off as she pulled from out of nowhere her Syringe. She held it like it was a to handed assault rifle, ready to fight.

Both Neptune and Nico shivered at the sight, one of them only voicing their complaints in their minds. 'By gods, I ever get used to that scary Syringe… even my weapons don't have the same effect as that…' Nico thought, sweat dropping at the weirdness of Copa's weapon, although he had seen it several times before already.

Neptune however hadn't and thus… had a more verbal and physical reaction.

"Ngh! C-Compa? What is that huge Syringe?! Wait! Where the hell did it come from?!" she cried out, flailing her arms about non-stop, almost hitting Nico with her sword. "Ooops, sorry-dorry, my bad Nicky!"

Unaware as usual of the reason why Neptune was so panicky, Compa gave a sweet smile, which completely contrasted to te scary image she was projecting as she held the Syringe close to her chest. "This? Well, I use it to fight. Where did it come from? That's a Compa secret." She explained to them.

'My brain knows what it is, but the 'how' and the 'why' can' be explained for some reason.' Nico thought to himself, his bloodlust momentarily forgotten. Neptune had said something like what he was thinking, judging by her befuddled expression mixed with a sense of disturbed realisation. "And you know how cliché it is carrying around a huge weapon, right?"

"That's nitty-gritty info! Let's just beat the nasties and go on."

That was a signal if he heard any. Nico and Neptune charged into battle, each taking 15 Dogoos each. While the male was worried that she would eventually suffer THAT, but Neptune seemed to be telling the truth when she said she was able to fight. Her moves looked like they were all brawn but no brain, and yet she seemed to fit that kind of style. He was also very nimble, able to dodge attacks and, combined with her strength that especially drew his attention, dish out just as much pain.

His assessment over with, Nico turned his attention towards his own prey. His Plasma Claws crackled with energy as he charged forth, both weapons digging through the ground with their tips. "Like Ryan Reynolds-Sempai once said…" He swung at one Dogoo, the Plasma Claw tearing through the Dogoo's face and body like warm tofu, the creature vanishing from existence a second later. He swung his other claw downwards towards another, much faster than before as more Dogoos attacked him, only to meet the same end as the first. "… MAXIMUM EFFORT!"

He spun and kicked a Dogoo that tried to hit him from behind, before jumping into the air to avoid a series of Dogoos trying to dogpile him. Spreading his arms aside, a magic circle appeared behind him, his eye gleaming with malice as he activated a Skill of his that he liked doing, "PHANTOM BLADES!" from the edges of the circle, dozens of large blades that looked almost transparent were fired like machinegun fire, impaling and destroying the Dogoos by the dozens.

Skills were a major part of Gamindustri's fighting norms, if one didn't have skills then they were basically fucked when fighting larger monsters. There were battle skills, support skills, buff skills among many others. The more Skills one had the more likely they would be contracted to face some of the deadlier monsters in Gamindustri. It was also important to have a wide array of Skills to suit the situation, especially if one wanted to be a Spec-Ops Agent. Since they usually got the harder assignments unlike regular Agents, they needed large and varied Skillsets to come out on top.

Landing after executing his skill, Nico turned to see that they had defeated most the Dogoos. The ground around them was covered in slime thanks to Neptune and Compa's weapons not burning and cauterising their wounds like his Phantom Claws did. In contrast, the ground around him was practically bare. This was why he liked plasma-based weapons, they dealt damage, kept the area clean, and made those who had healing factors take longer to heal thanks to the wounds being cauterized.

The remaining Dogoos were focusing on Neptune and Compa, but he could see that they were holding their own, so he decided to wait and see what happens. Neptune made a battle cry as she slashed several times, and the Dogoo vanished into particles, fading from existence. Several more tried to jump onto her shoulders but Compa provided cover fire knocking them down for Neptune to stomp with her right foot.

After several more kills, the Dogoos were exterminated.


	4. Chapter 4 - I'm falling!

**Chapter 4**

"Whew, that was some exercise…" Compa mused breathlessly while wiping her forehead with her forearm. She let loose a slow exhale as she calmed down from the rush that adrenaline born from a fight gave her, while Neptune herself was the exact opposite. She was bouncing up and down energetically like all their fighting was just a slight workout for her.

Said preteen turned to face both Compa and Nico whose armour and claws were still active. It made him look a lot more dangerous and badass, and Neptune really liked this new look on him. "Wowee, Nicky who knew you had this kinda cool equip? you been holding out on littl' old me?" she asked him. "adopting the look of a well-known M*r*el supervillain, eh? What you a fan?" she asked him.

Nico crossed his arms in front of his chest as he tilted his head at her. "Really? Your making old school jokes right now, Neptune? I bet people hardly even remember the comics you know, it's all about the internet now." He retorted, briefly remembering something and continuing before the purplette could respond. "But since you asked, this is my deployable armour. Its served me well, got me through some tough binds way back when and is self-regenerative, basically it can repair itself in case its damaged." He explained, looking down at his Armour fondly, one could tell by the look in his eye, considering how the Mask he wore covered the rest of his face.

"Wooow, is this the armour that you told me about when you left?" Compa asked in awe, reaching forth and rubbing her hand on one of the shoulder plates. She remembered when Nico had left to become a Guild Agent, later becoming a Spec-Ops Agent, how he had been stoked about getting this new armour for battle. Armour wasn't used as commonly as one might think in a group of Mercenaries like the Guild, or even adventurers in general, because it slowed them down, wasn't comfortable or other reasons like that, stated by their users of course. It was a pleasant surprise to see something different for a change.

Nodding to his friend, Nico smirked behind his Mask. "Yes, yes, it is Compa. Like I said, this baby's been with me for some time, she and I are practically siblings-in-arms at this point." He explained, before turning to Neptune and forming a look of approval in his eye as he spoke his evaluation of her skills. "Despite your lack of a proper weapon and rough movements, you did good out there, Neptune. Looks like your body remembers some form of combat skills." He complimented. The Mask split where the black and orange colours meet, the plates sliding to the sides of his head and revealing the small smirk on his face.

Neptune grinned at him, throwing him a thumbs-up sign. "Yup, all in a day's work." She said, before jogging off. "C'mon guys, my hole's a waitin'!" she proclaimed as she got further ahead of them. "Hey, monster! #SLASH# there it goes. Okay, NOW we can move along, soldiers!" a monster had tried to jump Neptune from the side while she ran past some bushes, but she saw it and slashed it several times before it vanished out of existence. She had then turned to them and gave them a wave, standing on one foot and leaning sideways on it, looking kinda like a goof.

Both teens shared a look with each other, silently having a stare down, but Nico was the first to speak. " That girl... she doesn't realise the implication of that last bit, does she?" he questioned, frowning. Compa only shook her head with a small blush on her cheeks, making him sigh. "We should follow her, so she doesn't wind up in a Nest of Dogoos. She seems like a rookie that would make that basic mistake." He told her before jumping after the energetic preteen.

Compa watched the male get further and further away for a moment, before she smiled weakly and sweat dropped. "Well… I'm not sure falling into a nest of meanie Dogoos would be a rookie mistake…" she muttered, before she realised that the distance between her and the others was growing fast. Panic washed over her as Compa ran like her legs had never ran before to catch up. "Wait a minute, don't leave the healer behind you two!"

* * *

The trio, after catching up with Neptune whom had, much to Nico's amusement, got caught inside a tree by jumping too far and too fast, travelled deeper into the dungeon. They fought various monsters, although they weren't as numerous as the Dogoos were the first time they had fought. Nico had seen more of Neptune's fighting style and compared it to that of a caveman, or woman in this case. It held a large amount of barbaric, reckless movements but somehow, she made them spin together in a way that worked for her. Her endurance seemed to compensate for her battle style as despite her petite frame she could take a lot of damage and give just as much. How much damage she could take was still in question, but Nico didn't want to find out.

But honestly, fighting these weaker monsters should have been boring for him, due to fighting so many more powerful ones in stronger, freakier dungeons. But Nico surprised himself when found it oddly calming with a side sense of nostalgia. Seeing those girls fight like they did, with Neptune in the front lines and Compa at the rear, reminded him of when he was a young rookie in the Guild. True he was still a teenager in a physical sense, but inside Nico felt older, much older with the experiences he had gone through, the feats he had under his belt. Also, it was calming that none of these monsters posed a threat to him, gave his nerves a chance to cool off from the constant onslaught that was warning him of any specific dangers.

Finally, though, the trio reached the edge of the crater where they had found Neptune. The crater was still as large as Nico remembered it, but with the daytime being upon them he could see things that he didn't before. For example, there was a hole in the centre of the crater, its size and shape determining that was where Neptune had once resided. Cracks ran along from the hole to the surroundings, not being very long but they did set off warning bells inside Nico's head. 'Oh boy, I can tell that the direction this is going is bound to be, as a certain lazy ninja in a certain village says, troublesome…'

Unaware of his thoughts, Compa stepped forwards to the edge of the crater, before spinning on her heels and turning to face them. She addressed Neptune though. "Here we are! This is where me and Ni-Ni found you, Nep-Nep." She said, pointing to the hole in the crater below. The cream haired girl hoped that this would spark some form of memory from the purplette, for both her and Nico's sakes. She knew that he would get frustrated easily if he didn't get the answers, or some form of answer, soon enough.

Neptune took one look at the Crater and her eyes turned white, becoming round. "Whoa… that's a big hole right there…" she muttered, both in awe and in disbelief. In a sense, it shouldn't be that surprising, after all it was the norm to break the laws of space and time physics, just look at Nico and Compa. One carries a Syringe that can be used as an assault rifle, and the other has deployable Armour he can take off at any time. Yeah, PHYSICS is largely ignored…

Moving forward.

Compa turned to the resident nutter of the group, concern written over her face when she saw how intently Neptune had begun staring at the hole, it was as if she were trying to burn a hole through it. "Nep-Nep, does this make you remember anything...?" she asked her, letting her worries infect her tone and show through her eyes.

Unfortunately, she didn't get an answer, which increased her concern as Neptune looked at the Crater intently. Silence passed by as she did so, with a silent breeze blowing past them. Through every second, Nico started to feel uncomfortable, his instincts told him something was wrong, and like a good warrior he listened to them, "um… Neptune, you alright? Don't tell me your memes and references have run dry…" he spoke, hoping that a jab at her personality traits would snap her out of this focus she was in.

This time they got a reaction out of her. "Hmmm… she mumbled, her eyes narrowing sharply as her brows furrowed. Neptune went as far as to cup her chin like a detective deep in thought. 'Okay, 'NOW I'm getting worried.' Nico thought while sweat rolled down the sides of his forehead as he stared at the girl, 'normally Neptune wouldn't be thinking this hard, not from what I know about her. She usually is the one who hits first and asks questions later… kinda like a lot of people these days. If she's really thinking this hard I fear her brain might overheat.'

"Mmmmmmm….!" The mumbling got worse the more Neptune stared at the crater. She started shaking slightly with her eyes turning big, white with black outlines, a sign that frustration was beginning to build inside of her like lava in a volcano about to erupt. "Hey, uh, Neptune you okay? Your brain hasn't fried yet has it?" Nico asked worriedly, tilting his head with what he was feeling inside evident in his sole uncovered eye.

Finally, after moments of agonising tension, the volcano known as Vol Nep erupted.

Neptune made a frustrated sound as she held the sides of her head, digging her fingers into her scalp. "Ah-! I can't remember a thing!" she exclaimed in frustration, scratching her scalp while groaning in irritation. She was also bent over in front of them, so caught up in her problems that she didn't realise she was flashing them her panties, which were the same pattern as her stockings.

Nico noticed though, but mentally he assured himself that there were more important things to do than to listen to any perverted tendencies. "Whoa their girl, hold your horses!" he said, quickly jogging over and placing a hand on her shoulder. Surprised by the sudden contact she was, to which she showed it when she looked up into his eyes, which were peering down at her with a gaze so intense it slightly made her flush in embarrassment. "You'll remember it in time, so don't force it. Amnesiacs who try to do that often suffer problems later down the line, so wait for a bit, you'll remember when you're ready." He told her, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

She was silent for a moment, taking in his words of encouragement. But that was shattered when she noticed that he was still holding her shoulder, and a teasing smirk formed on her face. "Hey, not bad. You put the smooth moves out there onto this pure maiden, are you trying to unlock my route? I'm not gonna make it easy on you flirtsman!" she said with a mischievous undertone.

Her comments had the intended effect when the male went red, quickly withdrawing his hand from her shoulders as he stuttered, trying to deny what she said. 'Goddamnit, she knows my one weakness!' he exclaimed mentally in frustration and embarrassment. Nico may be a Spec-Ops agent, but to him he never felt that he was any good with the ladies, sure he was respectful and friendly towards them, even helped them when need be, but that was just him being a nice person. He didn't think any woman would have a slightest amount of interest in him, he just couldn't see it.

Seeing his reaction caused Neptune to burst into giggles, "Hehehehehe, aw that's so cute! The big strong male is embarrassed by a bunch of cute girls wanting the booty." She commented, riling him up even more. Even Compa had signs of a smile on her lips, though she tried to hide it. In the end, she may as well not have even tried since he saw it right away. 'Goddamnit, not you too, Compa!'

"A-Anyways, let's get back on topic! We have a serious situation here!" Nico said, though it sounded more like a shout. He was thankful that his Mask and chainlink mail covered most his face, or they would have seen just how red he really was with those teasing comments. Their only indication had been the darkening of the skin around his eye that the Mask's eye showed. Taking a few calming breaths to get his composure back, Nico turned to Neptune and crossed his arms in front of his armoured chest. "Neptune, you think you might have dropped something? I mean, you were literally spearing the ground when we found you, and it was night so maybe something fell out and we didn't notice?" he suggested, cupping his chin halfway through his suggestion.

Chuckling nervously, Neptune rubbed the back of her head when she replied awkwardly, "I wish, but you know, kinda have no memory here…" she remarked, reminding them of her amnesia. Nico mentally facepalmed, realising she had a point. 'That's right she has no memory of her life beyond waking up in Compa's room. Her fall must be the cause, landing face first in the ground is bound to damage one's head. It only makes sense that she forgets if she had valuables or not.' He thought to himself.

A light gasp pulled Nico out of his thoughts as he looked up, seeing Neptune with a look of shock and realisation on her face. A surge of hope filled him as he inquired as to what had caused this action of hers. "What, what is it Neptune? Do you recall something?" he asked her. 'Finally, a possible lead to the truth!' he exclaimed mentally as an afterthought. Let it be known that Nico had an impatient side to him.

"I-I do remember something I'm missing!" Neptune exclaimed in shock and slight amazement too. She had a big grin on her face with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. While Nico felt happy that she was remembering something, a part of him told the male to be prepared. 'I'm happy for her… so why am I getting a bad feeling from her?' he wondered in his mind but didn't voice it out loud.

Perhaps if he did then the next moments may have happened differently.

Compa, ever the oblivious yet excitable one, asked with eagerness. "Really? What is it?" with an excited gleam in her eyes. She was leaning forth, towards Neptune while awaiting what she was going to say next with baited breath. She didn't expect however, what would come out of Neptune's mouth at that moment.

"Well, that's obvious…"

"Obvious…?"

"My memory!"

…

…

…

BONK!

"Nepu!" Neptune clutched her head as she bent down, curled into a standing ball with a comical bump on her head that was as large as the fist that Nico had used on her. It seemed to be glowing red one second, then stopped the next before repeating the cycle while Nico's fist was steaming.

The male's expression showed his irritation with the girl before him, as he shook his fist with a tick mark on his forehead. "Neptune this is no time for jokes!" he yelled angrily, scolding her like a parent would their child when they did something naughty and they needed to be lectured about it. "This is a real serious situation here."

Compa nodded her head in agreement with her friend. "He's right Nep-Nep… jokes aren't really effective in this type of scenario…" she said while taking a few pauses between her sentence as she gave Neptune a deadpan stare. Normally it would be humiliating for someone to get that stare, but somehow Compa made it even worse just by doing nothing.

With slight tears in the corners of her eyes, Neptune looked up at them while nursing the bump on her head, which comically was pulsating still. "You mean it wasn't funny? I'm sorry, I just thought you guys were joking when you asked if I remembered anything!" she protested, though she didn't get much leeway with the combined stares that Nico and Compa were giving her, much to her embarrassment.

This lasted for a few more seconds before Compa shook her head, deciding to get back to the situation at hand. "Joking aside, let's look for some clues." She suggested, getting nods of agreement from the other two as Neptune stood up once more, the bump fading back into her head as if it were never there in the first place. She was back to her normal self soon too, much to Nico's surprise. He guessed the girl's durability was better than he had given her credit for.

With that commotion aside, the trio began to search for any clues as to Neptune's identity. Nico remained weary though when he had analysed the stability of the ground with his right Bracer, which told him that the ground was prone to collapse at any second with the weight of 3 people on them. Hell, he once thought that with how much Neptune would eat she would weigh much more than she was showing. He knew this judging from how much pudding she ate back at Compa's house. She likely was a food-person, though he wondered if she would go obese if she did eat so much.

Fortunately, none of these thoughts left his mouth. He didn't wanna get killed just yet.

To him: one can get along fine with girls if he stuck to these rules:

Make sure you treat them with the respect they deserve, which meant no peeping on them in the shower or trying to look up their skirts. A lot of male pervs did that and they got punched for it.

If a woman was feeling down and depressed, helping her through it or even just talking to her will get you on their good books.

NEVER, not even under the dire of circumstances, EVER comment on their chests or weight if you didn't want to be crucified alive. Seriously he had seen that one happens before…

Women were scary… if you pissed them off, that is.

While he was thinking of this, Nico became broken from his thoughts when he suddenly heard cracking. 'Huh? What was… uh oh, this is not good!' his eyes widened in horror and dread when he realised what that sound signalled as he glanced at his Bracer, which had the hologram of a screen with a massive exclamation mark on it, beeping constantly as a warning. He needed to get outta here and fast.

"What was that just now?" his head snapped to the others, shit he forgot, Compa and Neptune! Both girls were looking around, unaware of what the danger was as cracks formed on the ground. 'Oh shit, shit, shit! If I don't do something those girls will be goners!' he screamed in his mind. A small flashback was triggered in his mind, not any particular scene, but a shadowy figure that he recognised as a senior Guild Agent, saying: 'The top 3 priorities of a spec ops are as follows, kid: 3, protect the interests of the government. 2, make sure the city is safe from any threat against its walls. And number 1, most important: PROTECT the civilians whenever you can!'

As the male recalled this, his choice was made clear.

* * *

"Ouch, ouch-ouch… my bum is protesting to this recent abuse its suffered…" Neptune moaned in discomfort, sitting on her backside which had screamed in protest. While her eyes were closed with a grimace on her features, Neptune tried soothing the pain by rubbing her hand on it.

Several seconds later the pain dulled down enough so that she wouldn't be as uncomfortable. Neptune then opened her eyes and looked around, noticing a peculiarity about her surroundings. "Huh? I'm in… the forest still?" she muttered in confusion. She didn't know what had happened, as it all went down so quickly, but the last thing she could recall as a large… appendage grabbing her and flinging her into the air. The faint screams of surprise from Compa's lips were another thing she recalled-

Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she recalled the other person she was with. "oh crud, Compa! Compa, are you okay? Can you hear me? Respond to the sound of my voice!" she called to the surroundings, hoping that her friend was okay. It'd be really sucky for her, the main protagonist of the Neptunia franchise, to lose her first friend ever.

"I-I'm okay, Nep-Nep!" Compa's voice came back to her much to the relief of the purplette. It sounded like she was close too, which meant she should be within eyesight. "Can you tell me where you are? I'm gonna get to you, so don't worry! This Nep is on the job!" she proclaimed, quickly pulling out a magnifying glass from… somewhere, and got onto all fours, moving along as she pressed the magnifying glass to her eye.

"Nep-Nep, I'm up here!"

An exasperated tone entered Compa's voice, one that Neptune responded by looking up. Her eyes became big and white when she saw where Compa was though, and she couldn't help but comment. "Eek! Compa, what are you doing at a time like this?! This isn't the time to be stretching awkwardly!"

Indeed, Compa had somehow found herself amid a series of tree branches, and her position was very… suggestive. Her arms were trapped on a branch above her head with the same happening to her feet, only the trapping branch was behind her making her look like a stretched out 'C'. Not a very nice position to be in for a long period of time.

Apparently Compa felt the same way, "I-it's not like I wanted to! Please, help me get down! I can't reach my syringe like this, so I'm stuck!" she cried, her face beet red at the situation she found herself in. like Neptune, she too had no idea how she had gotten into this position, but it was not like she liked it! She didn't want the wind to flutter her skirt and show her undies! That would be really embarrassing even if they were both girls!

After Neptune managed to get herself to her feet, she quickly climbed up the tree with all four limbs, though it proved to be a struggle,. "Ugh, guh, gosh darnit, I can't get up this way!" she whined in defeat, pouting as she dropped down to the ground. Tree climbing was a skill she had yet to master it seemed. That may have to change if this had to happen again, she decided.

"Um, any time now Nep-Nep…!" Compa called out when she saw Neptune doing nothing but standing there in a thinking pose. This position was quickly getting uncomfortable and was starting to hurt right now. She shuffled about, trying to numb the pain her body was starting to experience from this position, but it wasn't like she could do much.

Fortunately, she didn't have to endure it much longer because Neptune had gotten an idea. A figurative lightbulb went off in her head as she snapped her fingers that were once on her chin, "I got it! Hold on Compa, I'mma comin'!" she called out as she readied her wooden sword. She got into a stance that indicated she was going to use a Skill, one that she had just learned from one of their battles in this Dungeon.

Before Compa could ask what, she was planning on doing, Neptune struck fast:

"CROSS COMBINATION!"

The girl made a mighty dash forwards, planting her feet onto the ground to propel herself into the air. Usually the skill involved her flying to her enemy and giving them a slashing bashin', but with this situation she had to tweak the skill a bit, so that she could cut both the branches that Compa was trapped by. "Hyaaaa!" she unleashed a battle cry as she unleashed her skill, slicing the branches restraining her friend to bits.

Her skill ended with a success, as Compa was now freed… freed to fall to the ground below though. 'Oopsies, my bad…' was all Neptune could think as the cream haired girl could only squeal in fright, flailing her arms and legs until she hit the ground backside first, moaning in pain at the impact. Landing beside her right on her feet, Neptune walked on over and played it off as if it didn't mean anything. "Whassup, Compa? You okay? You're not being stretched, anymore right?"

"Ooouchie… that really hurt my poor girl booty…" Compa moaned, feeling aches in the joints in her arms and legs. "I-I'm okay, Nep-Nep… still though, could you have gotten me down any easier?" she asked her friend while getting to her feet. Remembering some of the skills that had been taught to her at Nursing school, Compa pressed her hand to her leg joints, a faint green light appearing around both her hand and the injury. She pulled it away moments later, finding that the pain was gone, before moving on to the other owwies.

The preteen had the decency to look embarrassed as she laughed lightly while rubbing the back of her head. "Hehe, sorry, sorry Compa. I just couldn't think of any way to get you down other than just 'cutting loose'…" she said, grinning at the 'clever' pun in her eyes. However, when she saw the deadpanned look from her friend, the girl gave a sigh of dismay, "… too soon?"

"Too soon. Anyways," Compa decided to change the subject when she had finished healing her wounds. She gave Neptune a confused look as she pondered on how they got into this situation. "What just happened before? One minute we were standing where me and Ni-Ni found you, and then we were…" her eyes widened as she trailed off, not finishing her sentence as she realised that they were short one member.

Their single male member.

Blinking owlishly, Neptune at first didn't get what she was taking about, but then her mind clicked and came to the same conclusion as she did. "Nepu! Compa your right on target, our Nicky isn't here! What happened to him, did he get hurt?" she exclaimed in worry. She then gasped as, in a rare show of intelligence, her mind placed the pieces together. "Oh snap, Nicky must have heard the cracks on the ground we did and got us to safety, but not before failing to save himself from the fall!"

Compa became pale at the thought. Horrible scenarios of her friend being trapped in wherever that collapsed hole lead to filled her mind as she quickly made to head out in search of an alternate entrance. "Oh no! Nep-Nep, we should hurry! Ni-Ni must have fallen to wherever he is now. He could be hurt for all we know!" she exclaimed in dread and fear. She didn't want to think what would happen if Nico were hurt right now, especially if he had gotten hurt keeping them safe. The guilt would be horrible on her, and since he was a cherished friend of hers it would be even worse.

"You betcha, Compa! Let's go find another way to wherever that hole in the ground leads, I'm not gonna allow a party member, even if he's a guy, to get a bad end this early in the story."

"Huh? You said something in the middle there, Nep-Nep…"

"Oh, it's nothing, don't trouble yourself, Compa."

"Hmmm…. Okie dokie."

* * *

Meanwhile, as he had managed to get the girls out of harm's way, Nico unfortunately was left to fall down the large hole in the crater alone. The male cursed as he fell down a large chute, chunks of rubble falling around him that were likely once part of the ground above. 'Tch, fucking shit! I hope to goddesses nobody saw what I just did. It was an impulse, but I had to use THAT to get them outta there in time!' he cursed in his mind while looking from side to side to find a way to slow his fall. At the rate he was going, Nico wasn't sure that his armour would be able to protect him from every bit of the impact.

WARNING!

LOSS OF CENTRE OF BALANCE DETECTED

FREEFALLING TOWARDS HAZARDOUS AREA

FREEFALL SPEED: CRITICAL

ESTIMATED TIME TILL LANDING: 4.67 SECONDS.

A Message appeared at the side of his vision, born from his Bracer's HUD, Heads Up Display, which was another function his Bracer had. It showed him that he didn't have long before landing, so he had to make sure that he had a measure of slowing himself down. He glanced around, and saw a large piece of rubble, which sparked an idea inside his brain. It was a longshot, and Nico expected a significant decrease in his combat capabilities if he pulled this off, but it was either that or instant death. And he wasn't quite ready to die just yet, so option A was quite appealing currently.

With that in mind, Nico twisted his body so that he faced the rubble piece. He then raised his legs and planted them onto the rubble piece, launching himself from it to the side of the chute, where he deployed his right Plasma Claw before stabbing it into the earthen wall. The weapon grinded away at the wall, leaving a series of glowing claw marks going down it. Sparks flew from the weapon as he shoved both feet into the wall to help slow his descent even further while he looked down, eyeing the approaching exit from the Chute. All the while his HUD displayed error messages about his descent.

Finally, Nico reached the end, his form falling out the bottom of the chute to a platform below. He quickly adjusted himself for a landing, his Plasma Claw dragging itself out the side of the chute when he passed its exist. Flipping forwards several times, the male landed on the platform in a crouching position, his left hand on the ground with his Plasma claw flared to the side.

Like an animal, Nico's eyes darted about, inspecting the terrain around him for any signs of hostile entities. Whenever one enters an unfamiliar terrain it was usually considered a good idea to keep tabs on your surroundings, which was what Nico did every time this happened to him. And by goddesses, this did happen a lot on his many adventures doing quests as a Spec-Ops Agent.

Seconds later the male breathed a sigh of relief seeing that he was alone. His senses picked up monsters, but they were in the far distance considering how faint their scents were. While there were monster scents lingering everywhere, Nico had learned how to narrow his senses to spot their source from a fair distance. His Bracer then activated, displaying a hologram in the form of an orb structure, lighter blue coloured pulses continuously expanding from its centre. This was his Radar function, which activated whenever he didn't have a holographic map of a Dungeon in its database. It tracked enemies down by motion sensors, which made it good for keeping aware of threats when his Holomap was useless.

Always good to have a failsafe.

Standing upright, Nico deactivated his Plasma Claw, a faint 'TSSSH' sound being heard as the weapon disappeared. Looking around he decided to evaluate his surroundings. The male seemed to be in some sort of cave, though it wasn't one he recalled being in before. It was like several other Dungeons he'd been in with the layout, the glowing blue crystals dotted about to illuminate the Dungeon, and the futuristic platforms built likely by hand, but if his Holomap was useless then he had to be wary. While a lot of Dungeons had similar layouts, it was wrong to suspect them of being the exact same. Many rookie Guild Agents made this mistake, and that usually costed them greatly.

'What the heck is this place? Its layout looks like previous dungeon's I've visited, but if my Holomap has no blueprint for its database, then I'm almost walking blind while I search for an exit.' He thought, panic beginning to settle in. however, Nico took a few deep breaths and punched himself in the chest, forcing himself to calm down. 'Alright, calm down dude, take deep breaths. You aren't cardless, you still have tricks to play for this situation. First thing to do is activate your Left Bracer, have it scan the Dungeon's layout to get an idea of where the Exit is. Using it on your right one will disable its other functions, which would be unwise in this situation.'

With one final breath, Nico raised his left Bracer and began pressing several holographic keys on it. The screen on the Bracer flared brightly for a moment, before it died down to show a single bar that was slowly being filled, the amount of it being filled being displayed as a percentage beside it. 1%, 2%, 3%... that was how it went. 'Now that I'm scanning the Dungeon, I should probably look around for the Monsters, get an idea of their power levels so I can send a field report to the Guild. If they send Agents here they must be of a sufficient level, under levelled Agents would only get themselves killed if this was a high-level Dungeon.'

Adopting a professional demeanour did wonders in calming his nerves. He felt like he knew what to do and how to do it, which was a big help in situations like these. Nico had experienced being trapped in surprise dungeons several times before, and the first time he had, well… Nico didn't want to remember it because it was embarrassing, so he'll stop thinking about that and pushed those memories to the back of his mind, never to be thought of again.

Hopefully. Nico noted never to bring it up with Neptune around. Girl was a trouble magnet.

Though most of the time he found Neptune's antics amusing, especially when the situation was appropriate. Though if he was on a short fuse when they didn't get any questions answered like earlier, then it could become annoying. Nevertheless, from what he could tell that girl just didn't have it in her to be evil, it was like she just was a curious child wanting to know everything around her. While he still had his doubts about her past, getting to know her current self wasn't that bad.

She was literally a ball of excitable energy on a sugar rush, the way she always spoke with enthusiasm and innocent wonder. Thinking back on it, Nico wondered if he was simply being too paranoid about her, as so far, she seemed to have a remarkable set of qualities that were alike with Compa's. both were cheerful, naive in a sense, possessed a hero's complex and an intense desire to help others when in danger. Also, they had a powerful innocence about them that made them all the purer. Together, they complement each other's antics and make some humorous situations. It was seriously hard for him to imagine why someone would hate Neptune, and let's not get him started on Compa.

Seriously, anyone who disliked Compa was an asshole no questions asked.

Shaking his head, Nico pushed those thoughts away just as a beeping noise came from his left Bracer. Bringing it to his face, he saw that the Bracer had finished scanning the Dungeon he was in and had downloaded it to his Holomap on his right Bracer. A small smirk formed on his lips. 'Good, now I have a means of getting out of here and regrouping with the girls. Compa will likely be worried sick about me, while Neptune stays the positive member of our little trio. She does seem like the comedy of our group.'

Neptune aside, Nico began his trek through the Dungeon after looking through the Holomap on his right Bracer, using the left for his Motion tracker. But before he could get far Nico gasped when he nearly tripped on something. "Whoa, whoa, whoaaaa!" he exclaimed, flailing his arms as he hopped several times, trying to retain his balance. He succeeded in his attempt, planting both feet on the ground, electing a sigh of relief from the male. "Whew, that was a close one. good thing nobody saw that otherwise it could have been much worse…" he shuddered at the thought of the humiliation if someone like Neptune saw what just happened. She would have never let him hear the end of it if she saw that he had almost fell over like a certain klutz he knew.

Though, it begged the question of what he had managed to trip on.

Turning around, Nico looked down to the ground to see what had nearly caused him to fall and act like his friend did. he kneeled onto one knee peering downwards. His eye widened in surprise at what he saw, as it baffled him on what it was. 'This… what the hell…?' a faint red glow could be seen from what looked like part of a crystal, so Nico deployed a Plasma Claw and cut the pieces of earth away to let him get a better look at the object.

When he had sufficiently chipped away enough, Nico was greeted to the sight of a crystal, its colours and aura constantly shifting so it had no definite colour, lazily laying down in the earth like a businessman on the beach for vacation. His eyes were drawn to it, unable to look away as he gazed at it, almost reverently as his thoughts ran wild. 'Whoa… this thing, whatever it is… its actually kinda cool… it looks like the button on a Console actually.' He thought as he reached out and plucked it from the confines that once restricted it.

The moment he picked it up, the aura around the crystal swayed slightly, flickering as if responding to the fact that it was being touched, likely for the first time in ages considering how much dirt there was on the crystal. Raising it to his face, Nico looked closer at the crystal, checking to see if he could find out what this thing really was. The shape of the crystal reminded him an awful lot of the CPUs of Gamindustri, who had power button symbols in their eyes instead of pupils. He knew this because of the depictions made by the more… fanatical, of the Basilicom workers.

His armour began to scan the Crystal, and unlike a Dungeon this process was significantly quicker. However, that proved to be useless as there was barely anything his armour could get out of it, scans didn't know what to make of this crystal. The material it was made of registered as an unknown, while there were unusual energy readings coming from it. His eyes narrowed at the crystal, his mind breaking free from staring at the 'beauty' that it had as he pondered what to do with it. 'Whatever this is, it'd be best if I take this to the WDD, they have a sub division focused on researching if I recall correctly, they can look at whatever this is.' He thought, making to pocket the crystal.

However, that was stopped when the crystal's glow began to increase in intensity. A series of warning alarms blared from both Bracers, making Nico jump in alarm, his hand releasing the Crystal. 'Whoa, what the fuck?! What's happening these energy readings are off the scale!' he screamed mentally, seeing the readings both Bracers presented him. Looking up at the crystal, the last thing he saw was it shooting towards him like a bullet before he knew only darkness.


	5. Chapter 5 - Screaming like a Banshee!

**Chapter 5 - Screaming like a Banshee**

In another part of the cave, there was an entrance to the outside world, one that was located on another path through the Virtua forest. This entrance, was the one that Neptune and Compa had found after some backtracking and a lot of searching through the wilderness. It showed through more on Neptune than Compa though, as she looked to be in a state of exhaustion, slightly swaying from side to side as she walked.

"#huff# #huff#… Never… I'm never going through so many bushes again…" she muttered in fatigue, looking down as she raised her hands to her face. They looked to have seen better days, with scratches made from passing branches, dirt from searching through muddy areas, hell there were even several leaves sticking out. And let's not forget that this extended over to her attire and the rest of her body by the way, her hoodie dress had several tears down the arms and waist, with leaves sticking out of her hoodie. Neptune had obviously had better days than this.

Looking over her, Compa could only smile weakly as she remembered Neptune's 'mad search routine' through their search for another entrance to the Cave-like Dungeon. "Nep-Nep, you have only yourself to blame, your search places were, sometimes, pretty insane…" she commented. She had searched through, trees, mud puddles, bushes, even looked down a pair of rocks to see if there was a 'hidden lever' in Neptune's words.

In response to Compa's comment, Neptune turned her head to look at her, a pouty expression on her features as she made to defend herself. "B-B-But Compa, you never know! Developers can put levers in some pretty weird and insane places to throw the player off their grove." … By utilising a mix of gaming and fourth-wall breaking logic. Don't judge, it was her fall back for any sticky situation she found herself in.

Compa's weak smile steadily got weaker. "Anywho," Neptune began as she decided to change the subject before things got any worse for her, and her near non-existent sense of shame. Looking around at the Dungeon, Neptune adopted a confused expression as she asked her friend. "You know where we are? I mean, you're the one of us that has her memories, so…" she ended off. It was true, sad but true nonetheless, that she was the only one of them who still had her memories as Neptune didn't, so it was only natural for her to assume that Compa had an idea of where they were.

However, that proved to be a negative as Compa shook her head, placing a hand on her chin as she looked around, trying to figure out what exactly this place was. "I don't really know, Nep-Nep. I haven't seen this dungeon before. I never really went out on quests involving these kinds of scenarios, just stuck to the ones that involved healing sick and injured." She explained, before looking up at the ceiling and furrowing her brows. "Although, if I were to guess I'd say this Dungeon was located underneath the Virtua Forest. It feels like so, anyways…"

Her answer made Neptune hum in thought as she pondered this new information. In her mind, this was like one of those secret corners in videogames where the player can find secret treasures that'll make the MC totally broken later. "Huh… that DOES feel like what this is… but the 'how' in that eludes me, it does." She mused to herself, once again spouting references.

"Oh yeah, Ni-Ni did tell me once," Compa gasped suddenly, her eyes widening as she remembered something, getting Neptune's attention after she practically jumped at the loud tone Compa had used. It was only made louder thanks to the soundwaves reflecting off the Cave, creating a repetitive echo. It vanished after a few moments, but its effect had maintained. "When a new Dungeon is discovered the most important thing is to locate any monsters within the Dungeon and evaluate them, get an idea of their strengths. You don't know what to expect when in situations like this."

It was always important to know the lay of the land, to know what your enemies were so that you could strike them down quickly, efficiently. That was the first thing Nico had told her when she and him first exchanged texts, born from a nearly-botched mission that almost took his life. It was only accomplished thanks to Nico and his comrades working together to survive. They were stranded in unknown territory with a mission to collect several types of special ores, and had to fight their way to an open space where they could get evacuated to safety.

One could imagine how she reacted when she found out.

After recalling the words that he had said to her after he had spent 2 hours trying to calm the worried Nurse-In-Training down, a worried expression formed on her face. "Nep-Nep… um, maybe we should find Ni-Ni as soon as possible and get outta here. This place gives me the creeps…" she said, shuddering while wrapping her arms around herself, as if attempting to seek warmth that only her own body could provide.

When Neptune saw this, she walked up to her quivering friend and rested a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner, "hey, cheer up, kiddo. Nobody likes to have cry-babies around. And besides," her expression morphed from stern like it was before to a cocky smirk, the kind of smirk that she would make before delivering a joke, which in this moment felt like it was necessary. "When you're being bullied by somebody you don't say 'why me?' instead you say, 'try me'! so bucker up, girl! We got a party member to save."

Her words struck a chord in the cream haired girl, and suddenly, a huge load of confidence swelled inside of her stomach, pooling there and refusing to stop even if she wanted it to. There was just something about the words that Neptune had said that reminded her of her friend, she could see similarities between the two.

Both were courageous

Both were strong-willed

Both were willing to stick their necks out for their cherished ones.

A bright smile formed on Compa's face as she nodded eagerly, a "Hm!" being made within her mouth that made a matching expression form on Neptune's face. "Alrightie, Nep-Nep, let's go rescue Ni-Ni!" she shouted with motivation and determination. The speech given to her had worked its magic in settling her fears for the moment. She pulled her Syringe out and held it at the ready, ready for a combat situation.

There was one special perk that all adventurers and Guild Agents had, and that was called the 'Inventory' which was a portable sub-dimension hotwired to their users' brains. It allowed them to store many items, weapons, accessories, outfits and armour that they either find outside in the wilderness, loot off the carcasses of fallen monsters, or at item stores. Usually though there are few who carry armour around, because it is generally made for the military which focuses more on defence and endurance, while the adventurers rely more on attack, speed and agility. It varies from adventurer to adventurer, Agent to Agent, but nonetheless that was how it worked for them.

With her friend's confidence restored, Neptune turned to head on out, clenching a fist with a confident look on her face. "Alrightie then let's do it like a dude and Go-go-go-huh?" a glint of metal caught her attention near the end of her sentence, turning her expression from one of confidence to one of confusion. She went to where the glint originated from and saw something that was of great intrigue to her. "Huh? Oh hello, what do we have here?"

Compa watched her friend walk to a pedestal which seemed to have something of interest that caught her attention. Whatever it was the young girl wondered what it was, but couldn't see it thanks to Neptune being in the way. "Nep-Nep, what is it? Have you found something?" she questioned instead, hoping that the purplette would let her in on whatever it was she had found.

Neptune turned around and walked back to her, her gaze never leaving her new find which she held in one hand, her other one on her chin as she furrowed her brows while staring intently at it. The object was what looked like a piece of some puzzle, but it was hard to tell, thanks to the continuous silverfish-white glow that it had. When she looked up at Compa, Neptune realised she had asked her a question, and deduced that it was about her item. "Dunno, but I found it on that pedestal over there. It's gotta be some sorta plot device used to appease some king from another land or something." She remarked as she handed it to Compa, who took it back and looked down at it intently, her lips set in a deep frown. "Have you seen it before?"

"Hmmm…" Compa hummed as she looked over the item. The glow felt warm to the touch in her palm as she turned it over multiple times to get a look from different angles, as if that was the key to solving this mystery. However, she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. In the end, she shook her head negative as she handed it back to Neptune. "No, I've never heard of something like that. Maybe Ni-Ni might know since he's been around the 4 Continents." She suggested, drawing Neptune's attention.

The girl blinked multiple times as she regarded her friend with curious eyes. She placed a finger under her chin and hummed. "While we're on the topic, who is this Nicky guy anyways? I mean, I've met him, but can you explain to me what your relationship with him is?" she asked, for the first time since they'd met realising that she hardly knew much about them, both Compa and Nico.

Blinking, Compa smiled happily more than glad to be talking about her friend and possible crush. "Ni-Ni and I are childhood friends, Nep-Nep. We met when he was dropped off by the Planeptune government at the request of his parents, since they knew my grandfather. He spent a year with us before he left to join the Guild and do mercenary work across all four Nations. Or well, actually he had joined the guild part time, but then he became a Spec Ops after he left." She explained some of her friend's backstory, though she then recalled one detail that would REALLY snag Neptune hook line and sinker. "Also, he has partial amnesia."

"Say whaaaa? He's like me?!"

While she giggled at the shocked look on Neptune's face, the Nurse in Training shook her head, her hair swaying softly behind her. "No, it's not like yours Nep-Nep. His starts from age 6 to 11, when he first met us. He can't recall anything between then, and ever since his parents had disappeared, leaving him to be taken in by my grandfather. It's always been a priority for him to find out what he had forgotten, to possibly learn about his parents. It's what drove him to become the Agent he is today."

Dull, was the expression that was on Neptune's face. That stuff was deep, deeper than she expected. "Sheesh, he really has it rough, I mean, while I have no memories, he still has some memories leading to unanswered questions, it must be hard for him." She remarked, thinking between their situations. Since she had no memories, she didn't have anything tying her down to the past, which made her easily able to form new memories.

But Nico on the other hand, still had some memories of the past he had unknowingly, maybe even unwillingly, left behind. They must constantly haunt him when he slept, never resting until they were cleared up, which could only happen if he discovered the truth. Neptune had the advantage of not remembering anything at all, which wasn't a luxury he had.

The Nurse in Training nodded sadly, looking down at the pavement and kicking a pebble away. "Yeah… anyways!" Seeing that things were getting awkward real fast, she quickly changed the subject to an immediate concern, though it was still about their missing party member. "We should head on in and find Ni-Ni, he may be hurt and surrounded by meanie monsters. We gotta help him!"

right on, Compa! Let's go get our comrade!"

#ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!#

Their happy atmosphere was instantly shattered, broken beyond recognition without mercy when they heard a massive and loud roar echo throughout the Cave. It sounded like a mix of a roar and a shriek upon closer examination, made only greater by the volume of its intensity. The volume was great enough that both girls had to cover their eardrums to protect them from the overly loud roar, but even then, it was next to useless as the roar felt like someone honking a horn right in their ears.

"Ouchies, my ears!"

"Holy screamers! What Nep is with this awful sound? My eardrums feel like they're gonna melt! Is this one of those high-level boss event triggers?"

Both Neptune and Compa cried out their comments, barely hearing each other thanks to the ringing in their ears being as intense as all hell. Both closed their eyes in hopes to further block the sound, though it was evidently fruitless. Their hearing was so bad right now, that they failed to notice something approaching them, growling with primal anger and… HUNGER, bloodlust bleeding from its very essence.

Luckily, Compa had good instincts, which made her look upwards where she felt the bloodlust originating from. All the colour drained from her face as her eyes turned big, circular and white. "Watch out, Nep-Nep!" she cried, diving down while taking a startled Neptune along with her. She had let out a gasp and an exclamation of her signature 'Nepu!' while this happened, but it was what saved them, for the source of the bloodlust had lunged down from the top of the Cave, slamming into the space where they had once stood. The impact force had sent them further back however, delaying their recovery by a few seconds.

If they thought that they were safe for those seconds, then they were dead wrong. They couldn't see the monster, but it had already started on its offensive, sending something they couldn't see to attack them. They continuously attacked the girls from above, trying to skewer them alive before they could recover.

By the time Neptune had recovered, she had over 10 near death experiences under her belt as she stood up and glared at the enemy, slashing at whatever was trying to attack her to give Compa time to do the same, "Oi! What gives buster?!" she cried as the smoke began to disperse and whatever attacked them receded into the smoke. "It's against the rules to attack outside a battle event! Your cheater, poo eater, belly dancer-WHAT THE NEP?!"

At first Neptune had been all mad and eager to kill what was attacking them, but when she saw what was concealed in the smoke in its full glory her eyes shrunk to dot size as she lost all colour, just like what Compa had done before, quickly changing her tune. "Huh? What is …it…? OH, MY GODDESS, THAT'S NOT WHAT I THINK IT IS, IS IT?!" Compa looked to her friend and noticed her quivering state. Confused, she looked towards the direction Neptune was while asking a question, which soon die in her throat when she saw the monstrosity before them.

If they thought that all monsters would be either cute or weird looking, then they were soon proven wrong as their opponent glowered at them. It had a head the shape of a Moth, with many small beady red eyes with black scarlea staring down at them. It had a mouth fill of razor sharp teeth which was drooling, but not saliva. Actual blood fell like waterfalls from its maw, meaning that it was hungry… for blood. its body looked like that of a moth's as well, with 2 large reverse jointed legs covered in purple armour plates and ending in twisted looking Talons. The plates didn't cover everything however, and what looked like neurotic flesh could be seen underneath. A similar scheme was applied to its 2 muscular arms that ended in lethal claws which looked sharp enough to cut through reality itself.

Lastly, its wings, oh gods, its WINGS! They looked like they were made from the flesh of over a thousand other monsters, many eyes, mouths and facial features dotting them, each wing having 4 larger eyes like the ones on its head, all of them having the same bloodlust-filled expression that the main ones did. In the end, it looked hideous, and both of its prey were quick to voice their complaints.

"Ewww, gross! What the heck is that ugly thing?"

"It looks so slimy, and gross! I think it's one of those 'Banshees' that Ni-Ni told me about!"

Compa and Neptune both grimaced as they turned their heads away from the sight, unable to stomach its grizzly appearance any longer than necessary. Some gagging sounds could be heard from them as well while they made sure their disgust was well known. Its body emitted a scent that nearly made them throw up. Never had they seen such a disgusting monster, both Neptune and Compa had the strong urge to just leave and never come back. The fact that Nico was here and his state being unknown was the only thing keeping them here.

"Banshees?" Neptune looked towards her friend with a curious look starting to break through the disgust, making an unholy combination of the two. It was a far cry better than having just disgust though, and for that she was grateful to her friend. If Compa hadn't said that tad bit of info, then she would have had to deal with that disgust in some other way. "What's a Banshee, Compa? And how the heck does Nicky know em?"

The Nurse in Training dared to look back at the creature before them, which was glowering as it flexed its claws, prepping to attack them at any moment. "Ni-Ni told me about them after one of his quests that involved running with one. He says they prefer close combat and like to overwhelm with numbers. What it did before was signalling to its comrades, so we'll be facing more soon."

"NEPU, there's more?!" Neptune wasn't sure whether she would be frightened or disgusted by that knowledge, that there were more than one of these ugly monsters out there. Her stomach was filled with bile, ready for her to throw up at the best moment of opportunity. "Great, as if we didn't have enough on our plates. The plot really is getting heavy right now and we're not even through the first Arc yet."

Before Compa could scold the amnesiac by saying this wasn't the time for her to be joking around, the Banshee shrieked as it pounced, flying towards them with its claws flexed to rip its prey apart. Both girls cried out as they dove to opposite sides, the Banshee's claws just skimming past them, barely nicking and cutting several of their hairs. The Banshee flew past them and circled upwards, roaring at them as it flared its wings. The flesh of its wings began to bubble, many sounds like stretching flesh being heard from them.

That was their sole warning, before what looked like Tentacles burst out the wings, lunging towards them with the intent to spear them. They were large enough to rival the size of a bus Tire, which made them large. Neptune and Compa screamed as they quickly began dodging like their lives depended on it. The Tentacles retracted after their initial attack failed, as the Banshee shrieked again.

Before they could recover in time, the creature once again went on the offensive, flaring its wings, but this time from their dead flesh there came a barrage of long, hardened spikes, designed solely for the purple of impaling through flesh and bone. Compa and Neptune once again tried to get out of the way, however one of them was not so fortunate.

A scream caught her ears, making Neptune's eyes widen in horror and dread as she turned to the direction it came from. "Compa! Are you ok-" quickly she shut her mouth, or rather, it would be more accurate to say that she was forced to stop talking by the sight before her very eyes. Compa had fallen to her knees, tears of pain streaming down her face while her eyes showed just how much pain she was in. one hand clutched around her shoulder, which had one of the Banshee's Spears imbedded in her flesh. Blood gushed from the wound in her bare shoulder no matter how much she tried to stem the bleeding, even though she was quick to activate her healing magic. In her pained state, Compa forgot she had bandages in her purse, so that was why she had gone straight for healing magic.

Seeing this lit a fire of anger inside her as Neptune turned to face the Banshee, her earlier disgust now being overwhelmed by her anger as she glared at it. "Dude, I know I'm a comic relief character full of jokes and memes, but right now this oversized bug is seriously pressing the 'Nep rage' meter to maximum!" Neptune shouted as she glared at the Banshee, which flexed its claws, sharpening them by scraping them against each other. What the girl didn't notice was the faint purple aura that was slowly forming around her. Pulling out her Sword from her Inventory, Neptune held it in a battle stance, while her aura covered the blade.

Compa was the only one of the group consisting of her, the Banshee, and Neptune herself, who noticed the aura around her. Her eyes widened as she summoned her Syringe from her own inventory, while also pulling the Spike out to finish her healing. The weapon fell to the ground with a clutter, her blood staining its tips. 'Something's wrong with Nep-Nep… her Aura… it feels different than before.' She thought, concerned for Neptune's wellbeing. She had no clue what this aura thing was about, but right now, in this situation, anything would be a help.

SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG!

Blows were traded rapidly between Neptune and the Banshee, her wooden sword holding out surprisingly well against the lethal sharp claws that the creature had. The two circled around each other, neither of them backing down or giving each other any room to even breathe. Both were giving each other killer looks, wanting nothing more than to end the lives of each other. Neptune had foregone her usual cheery personality at the sight of her friend being injured badly, while the Banshee never once let up on its assault on her being.

Compa, having just entered the final stages of the healing process of her Skill, was sitting down by the edge of the wall, watching the battle play out. She knew she wouldn't be of much help right now, especially with her wound. But even if she was at full strength Compa doubted she'd be able to keep up with the speed that those two were going. She could barely keep track of them with how fast they were going. Their rapid swings created a near-constant sound of clanging that vibrated through the air, able to be heard for miles at the rate this fight was intensifying.

'Woooooow… Nep-Nep and the monster are moving so fast…' she thought as she watched the fight. She felt both in awe and afraid as she watched, in awe at the fact that Neptune was someone who could keep up with the Banshee, whose race had the advantage of flight to help increase their speed. However, she was also afraid of the unknown power that Neptune was showing. It had an inhuman feel to it, like it was beyond her and anything humanity could ever hope to create.

Finally, after what felt like hours of sword and claw swings, the two pulled back. Neptune then made a mighty cry as she reared her sword back, the aura around it becoming a spiralling vortex as her eyes began to glow the same colour. "Haaah! Take this!" she yelled, swinging her sword and releasing a mighty energy wave from the tip of her weapon. The attack sailed forth in a diagonal formation, churning through the ground while it surged towards its target.

Said 'Target' utilised the one advantage it had over its prey in this battle: It's Wings. It flared them as the attack neared, and just before it could collide with it, the Banshee flew upwards and found itself above it. The Attack, now missed, vanished just before it could hit the wall behind them, lest it damage the Cave and cause it to collapse, killing everyone inside it including the one that had launched it in the first place.

However, it couldn't rest easy just yet, as Neptune appeared above it with her sword raised for an overhead slash, her aura amplifying the next swing to a level that was unlike what she used before. She gained a small smirk as she brought the sword down on it, sending the Banshee down to the ground before it could have blocked her strike, causing a large cloud of dust and smoke.

Landing in a crouching position to negate some of the impact from her fall, Neptune stood up and put herself into a ready combat stance, her smirk now bigger and in much more prominence over her face as she stared at the cloud. "Heh, you're not so tough without your buddies to back you up, are ya?" she mocked, before her eyes hardened and her smirk vanished as she glared at the enemy. "Your gonna pay for hurting MY party members, ya big bug!"

Peering into the cloud of smoke, Neptune wondered what was taking it so long to come out. The answer soon arrived however, as a swarm of Spikes suddenly flew out of the cloud at her intending to turn Neptune into a pincushion. "Zoinks!" Swiftly, the girl began to roll, jump, duck and slice away at the Spikes that would have hit her, relying on her instincts to protect herself from the brunt of the attack. "Just like a bullet hell game, just gotta keep dodgin'!"

Even when she was angry and serious Neptune appeared to love making references and memes.

When it finished, she had several long gashes on her body, and she was breathing heavily. Being a newly woken amnesiac, Neptune didn't have that much time for an exercise regimen, and she was a newbie adventurer so she had little stamina to begin with. Nonetheless, Neptune looked as though these injuries she had sustained were a minor hindrance, like they were beneath her notice. A fierce fire was in her eyes, the fiery desire to make sure her friend Compa wouldn't be hurt any more by this Monster.

Soon enough the Banshee roared as it flew towards her, and as such Neptune charged back, intending to cut its face off. However, just before they could collide the Banshee flapped its wings, giving it a sudden increase in height that made her sword slash harmless against it. Her weapon practically sliced nothing but empty airspace while the Banshee flew over her. "What the Nep?!" Neptune exclaimed in shock, turning to see where it was going to find that it had switched targets.

From her… to Compa.

The said Nurse in Training paled when she saw the Banshee heading over to her, intending to slice her head off. She quickly grabbed her Syringe, which had fallen to her side at some point in the battle, before raising it and firing blasts of purple energy at the enemy at the speed of a Machine Gun.

As the blasts collided with the body of the Banshee, the creature fell back, launching a series of spikes that Compa began running to get out the way of. She jumped as one of them nearly impaled her leg while she took a page from Neptune's book, shooting down those that would have hit her otherwise.

"Hey, keep your hands, er, claws off my friend!"

Neptune intervened before the Banshee could charge forwards, sending it flying when she performed her CROSS-COMBINATION Skill. The Banshee screeched as it flared its wings, launching a series of Tentacles, these ones being long but thin which made for them to be fired with greater numbers. Neptune and Compa scattered to dodge them doing a series of parkour stunts to help them avoid their tips from embedding into their feminine flesh.

They were good enough to endure up to this point, but they had little ways of defeating this adversary and both knew it. This foe had them out matched in speed and strength, even with Neptune's mysterious power up, so they had to find a way to knock it out long enough for them to escape and find another way to rescue Nico.

However, fate was a cruel mistress.

"Kya!" Compa screamed when she was cornered by the Tentacles. They had embedded into the ground where she was running to, forcing her to change direction only for everywhere else to be impaled. The Banshee snorted amusement in its many eyes that blinked rapidly while it began to drool even more than it did before. "Oh no! its caught me! I have to get out before it's too late!" she cried, stabbing into the Tentacles around her. However, her Syringe was practically useless as its tip couldn't even pierce their flesh. Even if it looked dead, it was harder than it looked. Compa… was trapped, like a rat, with the Banshee being about to capitalise on this like she was its prey.

Neptune witnessed the situation her friend had become invested in, and quickly ran to her aid. However, the Banshee was proven to be quicker than her in the end, for it had raised several Tentacles into the air, moulding them together into a bigger form that was ready to stab into Compa from above, ending her life. "Like I'd let you!" she yelled, running at the Tentacles Compa had tried to break with her aura condensing around her legs and her sword.

'Neptune's attack…'

Her sword hit with the force of a jackhammer aided by the impact of a dozen or so bullet trains. However, power was next to nothing if one didn't use it correctly, and this fact was proven terribly clear when Neptune's sword began to crack from the energy surging through it. and when it hit the Tentacles hard flesh, it just couldn't take anymore and thus, shattered into a million pieces. "Oh no!"

'… was completely useless.'

The feeling of being ticked off spiked inside her, but this time not at the Banshee as she yelled out in an indignant voice. "Hey, who keeps making commentary on my dialogue?!" she stamped her foot on the ground in anger, but when she looked up again, a surprise awaited her. Her surroundings seemed to have lost all colour, like the life from them was drained away instantaneously. The ceiling, the walls, the ground, the crystals, heck even the blood coming from the Banshee was now a dark greyish colour. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was frozen in mid-air after coming out of the monster's mouth. "Huh? What the heck?"

'Do not be alarmed, I have merely slowed down time to a fraction of a second, you will have time to save your friend after we are done here.'

After hearing the mystery voice say that, a sigh of relief filled Neptune as she spoke with a cheery smile, her original attitude now completely restored. "Oh, thank Neps. I thought Compa was a goner there. Anywho, I feel like we've met before, somewhere? Have we?" she asked while looking up at the ceiling. Neptune felt like wherever the voice was speaking from, it would be wise to consider that it was speaking from somewhere above. Seriously whoever heard of someone speaking from within the ground? That was just weird.

'… yes, we have indeed been acquainted before, Neptune. I am Histoire. We met once before in your dream. Do you not remember me?'

The voice's words jogged Neptune's memory as she realised who the voice was. "Hey, its Histy-Histy! How have ya been?" she exclaimed, beaming happily. If it were a comparison contest then her smile would be as bright as the sun itself with how much joy she was exhibiting at meeting an old friend. Then, the sight of the Tentacles, albeit in their frozen state, and the situation she was in right now returned her from her musings to the present. "wait, got no time to chit-chat Histy, a friend needs my help! I gotta save her, but my weapon broke!"

'Indeed, you are facing a formidable adversary, one which humans have gained specialised soldiers known as 'Spec-Ops' to handle. Our world has evolved new monsters thanks to a war which should not have happened. However, that is a story for another time. I assure you Neptune, if you just use Hard Drive Divinity, you will be more than a match for the Banshee.'

Upon hearing the name of the Guild Agent Classification that a certain male party member of hers belonged to, a surge of intrigue welled up inside Neptune. However, unlike normal she didn't voice this opinion and instead focused on another, more confusing, aspect of the voice known as 'Histoire' or Histy as Neptune called her. "Hard drive wha?" she questioned with a dulled stare. Whatever that meant, it was an alien concept to her. She spoke while scratching the back of her head dumbly. "Hhhhhhh, Histy I don't think you know this but my minds' kinda blank. No memories whatsoever, so couldja take it step by step?"

'I see… that explains why our conversation was so all over the place back then. This complicates things, if you have no idea how to use your strongest weapon, this situation seems to be all the grimmer. This leaves me with only one option: we must force run Hard Drive Divinity (HDD) for now. Doing so will-'

"Aaaaaalllrighty then!" Neptune proclaimed, throwing her arms up to the frozen and grey ceiling. "Let's get to it! Compa's in need of the help of mwah, so the risk is worth it! I gotta save her, so please help!" in Neptune's mind, memories of their short time together with Nico flashed through her mind, their first meeting in Compa's house, the unfortunate 'bondage' session that Neptune had experienced, all the way till the moment that Nico bravely sacrificed himself to get them to safety while he just fell down alone. He had been so brave doing that, and learning of it moved her just as much as it concerned her. 'If Nicky can do it, then so can I!' she thought in her mind, a fiery determination blazing to life.

'Ufufufu, how brave of you. This 'Nico' character seems to have inspired you, Neptune. Very well, let us begin. Are you ready?"

Histoire didn't even need to ask as a floating Disk manifested in front of Neptune, a series of glowing lines appearing on her chest, almost creating a port the size and shape of te Disk. Neptune swiftly grabbed it as she made a pose, grinning eagerly with a new level of confidence. She didn't know where she got this confidence from but she didn't mind at all, in fact she gleefully welcomed it. "Ready and willing!"

Instantly information poured into Neptune's mind, information she didn't know way but she felt like she knew about it for some reason. Was it something to do with her lost memories? No matter, she'd figure it out later. The Disk began to glow a light lilac colour as she pressed it into her chest, right where the symbol on her chest was. And in that moment, the process began.

* * *

Deep within another part of the Dungeon's depths, a dark, almost void-like part of its depths, a pair of red eyes opened wide, as if the owner had been awakened suddenly from a long sleep.

This energy…

It knew this energy…

It had to go,

it had to go,

it had to go!

* * *

Back to the battle, Compa could only blink at the sight that was being presented before her.

One second she had been having a near death experience with a Tentacle belonging to a Banshee about to impale her like one would do with a stick and some pocky. It was true what they said about how when one's life was about to end they had flashbacks of everything they did up until their current moment. A whole mybrid of emotions had passed through her at that moment, too many for her to properly process in her shock. But there were several emotions she could clearly make out amongst the swirling vortex that swirled inside her gut:

Sadness: she was about to die without seeing her friend, without telling him something she had been keeping secret for a long time.

Resentment: she resented the creature that was about to take her life right at that moment.

Resignation: she resigned herself to the fact that the hands of the reaper were going to claim her soul today and take it to the other side.

Worry: Neptune was still out there, Compa didn't know if she would be able to make it on her own.

Those were some of her emotions, and all of them dominated her mind, making her senses even more aware of what was going to happen than they usually were. The Tentacle, her body, everything moved in slow motion as Compa tried to move, even though she knew that it wouldn't work.

Though, with what happened next, she didn't need to.

In an instant, everything changed when a bright coloured stream of energy seemed to slam into the Tentacle, cutting through it like it was Tissue paper. The Banshee roared and shrieked in pain at the sudden severing of the Tentacle, which flailed about like a helpless chicken which had lost its head before receding into the Banshee's wing. The stream then flew at it, slamming into the Banshee's body with the impact force of a large freight train, sending it flying backwards and into the side of the Cave.

Because of this, Compa saw the Tentacles around her get jerked out the ground as they receded into the Wings that spawned them. The Banshee growled ferally, slowly taking itself out of the hole shaped like its body it had made in the cave Wall and floating to th ground. Its body had been dealt several wounds in the form of large gashes, most of them through its large Wings, which grew long trails of flesh that knitted it back together.

Looking up, the Banshee's many eyes narrowed as it caught sight of what it was facing.

Compa looked on in awe as the stream slammed into the ground in front of her, dissipating from existence to reveal a figure kneeling like a samurai on the ground, what looked like a sword in its hands. The figure stood up, and the light from the crystals dotted around the Cave revealed the figure's form to them both.

'… who is… that?'

That was what Compa thought when she saw the figure. The figure was a buxom adult woman, with her hair being a dark lilac colour and held in twin braids that reached her waist, with several messy bangs hanging over her forehead. On top her head were a pair of black pieces with blue 'X's that looked like the tops of screws. Her eyes were a bright blue, matching that of the skies looming over the world of Gamindustri, which also had glowing white symbols that replaced her pupils. Strangely enough they looked like the power button for machines.

Her attire consisted of a black and purple skin-tight one-piece swimsuit with some light blue areas here and there. The hands were encased in clawed gauntlets that had purple armour plates where the bones would be, while the feet were mechanical, like a machine' her legs up to her thighs were covered in a thin black material, probably stockings or some form of leg armour, with the trim being made of many +'s, black being the prominent colour with traces of dark purple. Out her back was a set of 4 digital wings, the upper ones bigger than the lower ones. There were black and purple armour pieces floating above the screws of her head, the shoulders, feet, and the sides of her waist.

In her hand, was a sword the same length as her height, which was five feet 4. The sword was shaped like a Katana, with a dark purple blade that turned black at the base, with multiple light blue squares lined at the base. The hilt and straight guard were almost mechanical appearance, and the weapon itself had an ominous dark purple aura covering it like a shroud.

The woman gave a glare towards the Banshee, before her eyes blinked several times as she looked herself over, her eyes losing their fierce look and replacing it with a sense of wonder. "What… is this? This power… I felt it before when I was angry, but… now it's on a whole other level." The woman commented in amazement, raising her hands to her face while examining herself, like she had never seen herself before.

When she said this, Compa looked at her weirdly, tilting her head in confusion. What was the woman talking about, was she one of those people who were messed up in the head like how others called them, only with crude words? The girl's eyes went to the hairclips in her hair that looked like screws, which were screwed on tight. So, she didn't have a 'screw loose'…

'Did Nep-Nep infect me with her puns? That one sounded like one she'd make…'

'This is your true self, and your true power. It is only expected that you be surprised, Neptune.'

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Hey guys! how's it going?**

 **Now, I guess some people may be wondering how I have these chapters uploaded so quickly. The answer to that is that while this is my first story, its only my first time ever PUBLISHING my stories. I've been writing stories for years, but only recently have I made my Fanfiction account. In actuality, this story has over 50 Chapters ready for editing and publishing. I have plenty of other stories waiting in the wings, but I'll be focusing on this one first, I know how it feels, reading a fanfiction and waiting for months on end to get another chapter. No offence to other authors though, I understand completely how life can be demanding at times.**

 **like, fav, follow, even review, please!**

 **HunterXKiller87, peace out!**


	6. Chapter 6 - HDD Time!

**Good morning, y'all!**

 **Okay, I did NOT expect to see my story leap from just under 490 views to nearly 590 overnight. Holy crap, that was insane! I guess you guys really liked the action sequence, or at least I did something right. Its good to see, since chapter 6 and 7 are going to be uploaded today, ad you should know King Carlos, that I am good with my word. For those of you who don't know, this is a reference to a PM discussion me and this guy/girl had.**

 **Anywho, more reviews! Now to answer them.**

 **Jeitron - Thanks for the review and honesty, there. Don't worry, you'll be seeing plenty of characteristics from Nico that'll change your opinion of him. I'd rather not make him too... single-minded I suppose, if he was all like 'all about the mission, all about the mission', I bet it would get boring real fast. Hopefully with what I have planned, you'll change your views on him.**

 **King Carlos - Don't worry its not overwork, I simply have wrote a LOT, like over 50 Chapters, of this story ahead of time. Like I said in the last AN, I've been writing for a long time, ever since I started high school. Since I'm in my second college, that's like... wow, lots of story writing.**

 **Now then, let's get this party started!**

* * *

 **C** **hapter 6 -HDD time!**

Neptune floated in the air before Compa as she looked herself over. Histoire had just told her that this form she was in, which was both different in terms of power and appearance, was what she really looked like, as if her other form was merely a disguise, a fragment that she could discard easily. Now that she thought about it, this form did have a distinct 'feel' to it that her other form didn't have.

"Huh… Nep-Nep, is that you? Whoa, your glowing!"

Turning her gaze towards Compa, the purple haired woman smiled at her. "Yes, it is me Compa. I apologise for not being able to get here sooner." She told the Nurse in Training, who just shook her head while standing on her feet, as she had fallen onto her backside when Neptune had started her surprise attack. "A certain someone told me that this is my true self, what I really am. I don't know everything that's going on right now, but I promise, we'll find Nicky and get out of here together, as a party of 3."

The Banshee made to attack them while in this conversation, but Neptune didn't make the same mistake twice. She turned her head and glared at it with the same steel she had before. "That won't work." She said simply, flexing her left arm towards the Banshee. From the airspace to her left, multiple purple coloured blades made from pure energy manifested from nothingness. They shot forth faster than bullets fired from the fastest rifle, impaling and pinning the monster to a wall, much to its anger. As it tried to break free, the swords dug deeper, only worsening its suffering.

"Compa." Neptune spoke without looking to her friend as she threw her left arm towards her. The girl eeped when she saw a purple energy barrier form around her, the ground she stood on being covered with a large digital panel. The barrier crackled with energy on the outside, not harming the cargo it contained on the inside. "You stay in that barrier for now. I do not wish to worry about you throughout this fight."

As she listened to that request, Compa made to protest when she saw the look in Neptune's eyes. Maybe it was the new form she was in, but her personality seemed to be a lot different than before. Before, she seemed like an air-headed childish girl with jokes and memes always coming out her mouth. Now though, that personality had changed into that of a seasoned warrior, wanting to limit the casualties of battle. It made her want to follow this woman's orders no matter what they were.

Charisma. That's what it was.

"O-Okay, Nep-Nep! Beat that meanie monster really good, okay?!" Compa yelled out as she sat down in the Barrier, dismissing her Syringe back into her Inventory. She wouldn't be needing it anytime soon, something told her.

Neptune smiled in gratitude, feeling like a weight was pulled off her shoulders. "thank you. I am grateful. Now leave this one to me." She said, turning to the Banshee which was using its Tentacles to pull the blades out, but with considerable difficulty. The area of the Tentacles that were touching the blades seemed to be burning, like just the touch alone was painful and could harm the Banshee. That was noted inside the warrior Queen's mind as she held her sword, going into a Kendo stance. "get ready!"

She then thrusted her blade forwards, sending a massive purple energy arrowhead flying towards the Banshee. Said creature hissed as it finally pulled the Swords out and rolled out the way, its wings too damaged for sustained flight now. Regeneration started to kick in, but to its dismay it was a lot slower than before, which Neptune noticed. "Looks like your healing isn't as good when I use my energy blades. I shall capitalise on your weakness, monster! CROSS COMBINATION!"

With the usage of her first Skill, Neptune flew forwards, her wings making her go much faster than she would have in her human form, and she closed the distance between them in seconds. Her sword came down upon the enemy in a black and purple blur, with the Banshee parrying each strike with its claws. Well, each ground strike anyways, when Neptune managed to send it into the air, she flew up after it and sliced through its back multiple times, earning a shriek of agony for each one before she ended the attack by slamming it down to the ground.

In her human form, Neptune would have assumed the fight was over by now and lowered her guard. But in this form, that was not the case as her instincts told her. A powerful adversary like this one wouldn't be killed by just one Skill. Her purple aura swelled around her body, coating her along with this ethereal white glow which originated from her skin, while she landed before the smoke generated from the Banshee's impact. She floated into a combat ready stance, holding her sword in two hands while pointing it at the location of her enemy.

Said enemy indeed had a few more tricks up its sleeve, proven when from the ground below her, a series of large spikes made from dead flesh erupted, threatening to impale her multiple times over. Neptune acted on instinct, twisting and slashing at the Spikes so they wouldn't enclose her like the Tentacles had done to her friend earlier. The Spikes were sharp and relentless, causing Neptune to suffer more than a few injuries in the form of gashes on her stomach, arms and one on her cheek.

Then, they stopped as the Banshee flew towards her, its wings having regenerated to a point where flight was possible, but they looked damaged still. The Banshee roared as it swung its right claw at her head, only for Neptune to block it with her sword. She did so with the next few slashes, the two trading blows like they did earlier at the beginning of the chapter.

SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG! SWISH, SWISH, CLANG!

They traded blows every millisecond, at least that was what it looked like in Compa's eyes, but in truth they were going way faster. The two circled around each other like lions in a territory fight or a dispute for whoever got the opportunity to lead the pack, until Neptune clashed with the Banshee, sword vs Claws, and then smirked. "I think I'll borrow this from that one orange haired black wearing reaper…" she muttered before energy began rolling off her sword in a large mass.

The Banshee couldn't react in time and was hit with an explosive energy attack, shrieking as it was sent flying backwards to the ground. it landed on its back with a massive thud that echoed throughout the Cave, screeching and cawing as it struggled to regain its bearings for a second. It then flapped its wings to shoot back and planted its limbs into the walls, shifting its body so its back was facing Neptune, who was readying her own attack.

"This is the end, monster!" she bellowed while raising her sword to the skies. The weapon once again was coated in flaming purple energy, roaring like a furnace newly fuelled by the emotions coursing through her body. "Haaah!" she yelled, bringing the sword down and releasing it as a powerful energy wave towards the enemy, the attack leaving a destructive trail through the ground in its wake.

As the attack neared its target, the Banshee… barely dodged it in time by jumping into the air from its perch on the wall, swooping down on her like a falcon and raising its claws for a double slash. These attacks were blocked, but that was proven to be a costly error when it flared its wings to release a dozen thin Tendrils that lunged at her from all sides.

Neptune's eyes widened in surprise at the offense, and when she tried to move her sword to destroy them, she found that it had been caught within the creature's claws, leaving her unable to pull it free in time to destroy the Tendrils. 'Oh shoot! I've been cornered!' the woman thought, letting go of her sword's hilt and taking to the air above them to get out of the situation.

This left her without a means of attack, and the enemy could tell. It threw the sword away, the weapon clattering against the ground when it impacted. It then flared its wings and lunched its Tendrils at her, coming at her from multiple angles which Neptune began to fly about in the skies to avoid them. However, the Tendrils didn't chase her mindlessly, they constantly slashed and stabbed, trying to goad her into a corner to finish her off. Fortunately for her, she had kept ahead of them, lest she become a humanoid pincushion.

'This is not good, I do not know how much longer I have with my power… it feels like its dwindling on me already. If I don't do something soon, I…' her thoughts were broken as she hurriedly dodged the lunge of a Tendril attacking from the front. She then did a full circle to avoid several more, before noticing that she was close to where her sword lay, anxious to return to its mistress. 'If I can just get to my sword…'

"Nep-Nep, look out!"

Unfortunately, Neptune's moment of pondering would cost her greatly, an eruption of Tendrils had burst out the ground, shooting towards her in all their twisted splendour. Before she could move to dodge them, Neptune was caught hen the Tendrils grabbed her by twisting and coiling around her feet, slithering up till they reached her thighs. "Ugh, get off me!" she yelled, anger and embarrassment overtaking her. Neptune raised a fist, empowering it with her energy before bringing it down on one of the Tentacles. It shivered and unwrapped itself, only for several more to get her arms, holding them out with her legs making her look like a star.

The situation had shifted dramatically back into the Banshee's favour, and it knew it. The girls however, had no clue of just what it planned on doing to them, an act that would be worse than anything that any pervert, murderer or rapist could do. It was a fate that not even a dog deserved, and that was barely scraping the iceberg to what horrors it would unleash.

As she struggled in vain to break free from this situation, the Banshee snorted at her, and the woman got the feeling she was being insulted somehow. She gained a tick mark over her forehead as she aimed a glare at the Banshee, struggling even more thanks to the adrenaline her rage provided her. "Your insulting me just now, weren't you?! Don't try to deny it, I know you did!" she yelled, only for a snort from the creature to confirm her thoughts by doing its imitation of a chortle and pissing her off even more. "Just you wait, once I get out of here, I'll-!"

Before she could finish though, Neptune suddenly gasped when her body began to glow an ominous purple colour. She cried out as the glow went down the Tendrils and into the Banshee's wings, making it howl with delight as it hungrily sped up whatever process it was doing. Neptune's cries were ignored as it did its thing, and the glow began to get brighter on the Tentacles. Soon, it became apparent that Neptune was weakening, as her efforts to break free began to dim.

"Nep-Nep, you have to get outta there! The Banshees have a Leeching ability that steals the energy of their prey! they use it to immobilise then capture!" Compa cried upon seeing the ability at work. She remembered Nico telling her about it one time during their talk about the subject over the phone, when he had said he'd found a settlement overrun with a Banshee infestation. The horrors he had seen there weren't fully disclosed to her, but what she had heard was enough.

With this knowledge, Neptune once again resumed her struggles to break free, her energy being leeched off her continuously by the Banshee. It saw how she was attempting to resist and growled, its many eyes darting about in a frantic manner as it increased the suction rate of its ability. This continued for a while, before Neptune began to feel her consciousness slipping away, her energy draining too fast for her to do anything as her movements began to slow.

'N-No… this can't be happening… we're the heroes, we're supposed to have an easy victory…'

With her weakening body, Neptune felt the energy get sucked out of her at last, and in a bright swirling light her body was back to its preteen self, and because the transformation was stronger than her human body, Neptune felt the effects of the leeching even greater than before, making the battle to remain awake that much harder. "U-Urrgh… no fair… what is with… this crazy monster…?" she muttered under her breath as the Banshee, sensing its victory nearing pulling her towards it. She couldn't see what it was doing and thanks to the Tendrils neither could Compa, which made her impending death that much more terrifying. Worse was, she had no energy left to resist her inevitable fate, a fact that made frustration well up inside her. "I-Its… the author's fault… for making this scene so different… from the original rebirth series…"

Compa could only watch as she saw her friend near her end, her eyes wide with horror and dread, a deep pit of nothingness invading her stomach as she placed her hands on the barrier. With the weakening of Neptune, I had grown unstable given the amount of areas of it that were growing static. It was like how small pieces of a serpent's old skin fall off when shredding. She tried banging on the barrier to break through and help her, but despite its state the barrier had remained strong enough to keep her inside. "No, this can't be it, the story can't end this way! We barely got started on our adventure together! We have so many people to meet, monsters to fight! We can't end it like this… NEP-NEP!" she cried out, tears falling down her cheeks like waterfalls, and she didn't bother stopping them. Her mind was in chaos as she watched her friend about to get eaten by the Banshee.

She was always an optimistic person, it was her nature to be so. She had been raised with the belief that in the end, everything would work out, that things would be fine. Many called her weak for thinking that way, that she was too soft-hearted to think like that and it would only get her killed. Back then she didn't care, she didn't care what people thought of her as she would just smile and wave it off. Even though there was someone good like Nico whom had been there to support her when insults really hurt and people started getting physical on her. But now, for the first time in her life, Compa had no idea how this could work out.

"No… not like this… anything but this… someone, anyone… please… NEP-NEP! NI-NI!"

Her cry caught the Banshee's attention as it paused whatever it was doing to Neptune. The Banshee noticed that her defence had been weakened considerably, and launched several more Tendrils from the Wings, ones which quickly smashed through the barrier and grabbed her by the neck, wrists, waist and legs. Compa cried out in horror and fear, trying to resist it but it just raised her into the air, letting her feet dangle over the ground, before bringing her over to itself, right alongside Neptune.

The Tendrils then began to squeeze them by their necks, cutting off vital air supply for the two as it cackled evilly, a sick, twisted grin forming from its fanged maw, or as best as it could with how its head was built. Because it was grinning, more blood could be seen pouring from its maw, making it look like the Banshee was drooling a waterfall of blood. slowly, it leaned forwards, its maw now open wide to expose the interior of its mouth to the two horrified girls, how there looked to be rows upon rows of long, sharp teeth just waiting to tear into their flesh and rip it asunder.

'Th-This is… this is it… we're going to die here…' Compa thought, a lone tear sliding down her cheek as the maw neared the flesh of her right shoulder, Neptune struggling to break free so she could stop it to no avail. She tried to call out to her, to warn her only for a Tendril to shove itself into her mouth like a gag, making her attempts as moot as someone being unable to speak without their vocal chords.

Just before she could lose her consciousness however, what could be considered as… monstrous intervention happened. It could have been considered as divine intervention, but the only thing that threw that off was the appearance and nature of what happened next. A loud roar sounded throughout the cave, and only seconds later did the Banshee detect something heading its way.

WHAM!

Something slammed into the Banshee just after it detected its presence with a frenzied roar, which also sounded like a mix between a roar and a scream. The two girls fell abruptly down to the ground, the Tendrils holding them in the air having been sliced to bits by unknown means. Well, they would have hit the ground had they not been suddenly caught by something, something cold and metallic, like armour.

The girls recognised the feeling of armour as they attributed it, despite their weary, weakened states, to the armour belonging to their mystery comrade. Both weakly raised their heads using what little strength they had left in them still, hoping to find out if it were Nico who had saved them, but their eyesight became blurry just now where they could have seen the face of whoever had rescued them.

"U-ugh… h-h-how careless of me… the main character… to… ha…ve… lost, so… eas…ily."

"Nep…Nep… we aren't… in a… ga…me…"

Both girls fell unconscious at last, with the hope that whatever had saved them wouldn't eat them alive. But the last thing they had heard before they fell, was the loud roar of the creature that had saved them as it charged at the now scared Banshee.

* * *

Now, there were few things that terrified Histoire more than anything.

One of those was the deaths of the CPUs, and the resulting fall of Gamindustri. She would do whatever it took to defend the home and people she loved from people who wanted to see the world burn just for their own amusement. Even if those people happened to be people she had once knew. Her general role was to record the History of Gamindustri, but there was nothing that said she couldn't develop goals of her own. Histoire was fortunate that her goals weren't so sinister with this freedom of development, something that her creator, the former Goddess of this world, had given her. Even with this freedom, she was not all powerful, as her creator had put limits on her so the information she possessed wouldn't be misused.

But what she had just recorded happening in the Monster Cave was something that sent constant chills of raw, primal and unrestrained TERROR through the spine of her book self. Not only did Neptune and her friend Compa lose their fight with the Banshee, even with Neptune rediscovering her power to transform, but they had almost been forced into a fate that she would never wish on anyone, not even the worst of the worse amongst both humanity and non-humans.

Yet, it was WHAT had saved them that scared her senseless.

It was a creature that had long since been erased from history, a being that could very well be the darkness to the light of the CPUs. The CPUs may be non-human, but they were brought about by the natural faith of those of the lands they oversee. Demonic entities had not been seen IN Gamindustri, but they did once exist before time. What happened to them was a mystery not even she knew of, as their time was long before she was even brought into being.

This creature, though… was something else, a foul force of nature that was the result of corruption yet with intentions for good, created during a time of great hardship and tragedy, only to become something horrifically twisted and brutal, a monster that Gamindustri would NEVER be ready for, not in several thousand millennia. The last time this being existed, what happened could not even begun to be described with words, it was that bad. What that boy had done was bestow upon himself an even worse fate than what he had already, and if someone didn't do anything he would soon fall to madness.

That is, if anyone could help him at all…

* * *

He was lost, there was no way around it. it was also the only thing he could use to describe the situation he was in. Nico looked around at his surroundings, watching the endless black void that he floated within endlessly, his body apparently being bathed in some sort of white paint that illuminated the area around him, not that it did much. The darkness seemed to devour all forms of light around him, not letting even a spark reach him. Hell, his light was the only source of light there was.

"What the hell…?"

Nico knew where he was however, he'd been here more times in the past than he could remember, starting from the first day after he had been taken in by the Planeptune Government to be put into Compa's grandfather's care. Currently, only one person knew about these instances, and that person was…

His eyes widened when the whole setting shifted, and he was submerged under a red lake, his breath stolen from him as he tried to swim to the surface. However, it was fruitless, a heavy weight formed on top of his shoulders, which began to burn with the stress the were under. Something was slowly pushing against him, keeping him submerged, but he fought against it, his eyes wide with fear and dread as the sinister presence he felt below had noticed him. He needed to leave, he had to get outta here, before-

Just before he could get to the surface, something shot forth past him and grabbed the hand that was just about to grace the tip of the surface water, beginning to drag it back down despite his resistance. Soon more of that something grabbed his other hand and his feet, turning him so that instead of the escape known as the surface he was facing the abyssal depths of the ocean below.

And that was way worse.

Because of the lack of light, he was unable to see what was holding him, but Nico didn't need to, he had an instinctual feeling of what they were, and that information did nothing to aid his emotional state right now as he frantically tried to break free, bubbles escaping in large groups from his mouth as he gasped, only for water instead of air to shoot down his throat. He couldn't even cover his mouth with his hands anymore, and yet, the burning pain assaulting his body refused to let him fall unconscious, it kept him alive like a patient in a torture chamber.

Then, glanced down into the depths… and saw something that, no matter how many times he witnessed it, shook him to the core, stripped him of all his bravery and fearlessness and left him with a shell of fear and anxiety. A pair of large eyes opened in the darkness below, eyes so full of predatory rage, desire, of HUNGER and INSANITY mixed together to form one of the cruellest, bone-numbing gazes ever created by… well, anything. When he had first saw that stare, Nico realised that nothing else would come close to scaring the living daylights out of him more than this stare.

His eyes widened in sheer dread when whatever had grabbed him began pulling the male down even harder towards the pair of eyes, a jagged, twisted maw slowly becoming visible while he was pulled closer and closer, bit by bit. The maw was illuminated by a red interior, steam being released from within to show how hot it must be within there as it slowly opened, a searing heat penetrating the coldness of the lake and right onto his body. it felt like as though he was being burned alive by the fiery heat of the sun itself, but he managed to suppress his desire to scream at the sensation. It wasn't like he had any other choice, water would go down his throat otherwise.

"YOU... CANNOT...ESCAPE...YOUR FATE!"

A dark, murderous and sinister voice whispered both into his ear and through his mind, like it came from outside and inside respectfully. Nico tried to resist its words, refusing to believe them even though he knew deep down that it was telling the truth. It, along with the Guild, had proven its point to him many times before, that his body's condition was permanent, that there was no way for him to go back to being a normal human.

He was doomed to be this way… doomed to walk a path not even a dog deserved. The path of the monster.

* * *

Nico's eyes shot open with a startled gasp, quickly shooting up so his upper body was straight. His eyes were wider than saucers while the irises were no larger than dots. The male panted heavily, a hand clutching his chest while sweat trailed down his forehead. His heart pounded rapidly from the adrenaline surging through his system while his breaths came out as shaken gasps.

'That dream… no, that was no dream, I know EXACTLY what that was…'

The male tried to calm his pounding heart, his heart that was currently about to burst from his chest with how erratically it was beating. But despite his efforts the images of the dream he had plagued his mind, constantly making his efforts useless. Still, he tried hard to regain his composure, to regain some sense of normalcy which he so desperately desired. 'But… if I had that dream, then something must have happened… something that made me drift from my path…'

Instead of forcibly calming down, a moment later he decided to think on the reason why he had that nightmare. It did seem to work however, as he felt his breathing steady, his heart rate calming down to a steady rhythm while his eyes returned to normal. After he took a few breaths, Nico closed his eyes as he pressed an index finger and thumb to his forehead as he tried to recall what had happened to him. The last thing he could remember was touching that strange crystal, and then… blank, he couldn't recall anything after that.

His eyes widened at this revelation, 'okay, something about that crystal must have sparked a divergence, if it was able to make my nightmare return to me. The gap in my memory worries me, but it's not like my amnesia, no it feels like the memories are there, it's just… argh, yep like I thought. Looks like something was stressing me out at the time to the point where my mind blocked the experience, including my memories, out. That must be the divergence. ' He thought, analysing every bit of information he could gather from his experience.

The male then felt a chill come over his body, a shudder being its natural response. Looking to the left Nico saw why: a window was open, which had let in the breeze that caused him to shudder. This led to the next question that popped into his head: where the hell was he? His eyes glanced around as he examined his surrounding at last, and found that to his surprise and relief, that he was inside Compa's bedroom. At least the settings were familiar to him.

'Though how I got here is a mystery I'd like to have solved. I best go and… wait, Compa and Nep! Where are they?! I hope to god they're alright! If someone has hurt them, I swear to the Goddesses I'll rip them to pieces!' Nico shouted in anger through his mind, his eyes filling with a mounting fury. If anyone had touched those girls that he had sworn to protect the smiles of, then they would face his wrath.

Before he could go down that route any further, something white and purple below him, just out the bottom of his vision, distracted Nico from thoughts of bodies hitting the floor in mangled messes, and when he looked down, Nico breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar hoodie dress wearing female appear in his vision. 'Whew, so Neptune's right here… that's a fucking relief, I can imagine the hell I'd have unleashed if something bad had happened to this innocent soul…' he thought while a smile of relief formed on his lips as he ran his hand over her head, ruffling her hair in a cute manner.

It earned him a happy moan of pleasure from the girl, whom leaned into his touch unconsciously making his smile widen. She was so adorable, that was something he had learned about her from the first time he'd seen her, though at the time Nico was focused on other matters to notice, like pulling her dirt-covered self out the ground she had impaled.

As he stared down at her sleeping form, another question popped into his head, one that replaced his relief with a mounting terror once again. 'Wait, why the hell is she in bed with me? Ooh gods, did I do anything while I was sleeping?!' his eyes widened to their previous state when he woke up, the horror of that realisation sinking in faster than ice scream exposed to the heat of the sun.

The male's fears became more founded when he noticed that his upper torso was bare, exposing his thoroughly-trained soldier body. His body had the appeal of a six pack, maybe an eight, but it was usually covered by his clothes, as well as his armour when he deployed it. It was also because of his 'condition' that he had this body, heavy, intense training had transformed his body from what it once was, a thin, scrawny stick-like body, to his slim but powerful build. 'Oh gods, please tell me nothing happened! I don't want to be responsible for hurting her like that! I'll kill myself, consequences be damned if that happened to her without her consent!'

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how one viewed it, Neptune chose this moment to wake up from her beauty sleep on top of the male's lap. She sat up while stretching her arms with a 'munya' sound from her mouth, making her look even more adorable than she already was. "Ahhhh, man that was a great nap. This Nep's Nep-gauge has been recharged to full for the rest of the day." She mused to herself with a happy smile as she lowered her arms to her side, then raised one to her mouth to stifle a yawn.

Afterwards she opened her eyes to the sight of Nico staring with disbelief at her, and for a moment the two stared at each other. That is until the still groggy preteen gave a sleepy smile and tilted her head with a weak wave of her hand. "Hey there, Nicky, g'morning." She greeted with less than her usual energy output. It made sense considering how she had just woke up.

"Uh… good morning Neptune… but um, how are you so sure its morning?" Nico hesitantly asked her, trying his best to keep his face as calm as possible. He didn't want to show how nervous he really was about the situation he was in. Nico in his spare time, usually after being forced to by his fellow Spec-Ops agents, had watched a few playthroughs of some romance based Visual Novels, like the one about where the player is a young man in debt with the mafia, but saves a young girl with red hair and white uniform which results in him being accepted into an all girl's school that's choosing whether to go co-ed.

His fellow Spec-Ops Agents, when not in the field, could be either humorous or very annoying, for example how they would

And in those Novels, this situation had the potential to spiral out of control VERY easily. Though, what he learned from those Novels was how NOT to act in certain situations, how to think, plan, calculate and showcase one's cunning. He didn't learn any emotional lessons from it like what his fellow agents wanted or teased him about, hell Nico sometimes doubted he had any emotions left. At least… positive ones.

At those moments, he thinks of Compa's smile, one of the few things he has in this horrid twisted world.

"Huh? Of course, its morning, what else would it be? I mean, I wake up, the sun is shining, the day is bright and…" the male watched as Neptune went on about how one could tell it was morning, chuckling at her antics. She may be a bit slow in the uptake, but he didn't hate her for it. In fact, it reinforced Nico's desire to keep Neptune safe from any harm that comes to her. Even though he had only known her a short time, Neptune had shown him that she was quite like Compa, and that alone put her in his good books. Good people like Compa… they had to be protected, if their future were to be a bright one.

Soon, Neptune's little speech came to an end, "… and that's why pudding gods are real!" the male had to raise a brow at that, an amused action, but an action nonetheless. Since when did their conversation spiral down to the debate of pudding gods being real? Nico shook his head at her childish antics. Though they did do the job of making him forget about his previous problem for the time being.

It was then that Neptune's brain finally began to catch on to something as her expressions became ones of confusion, "… Huh? Nicky?" she muttered, before looking at him. Nico stared back, knowing what was about to happen and bracing himself for the inevitable. Neptune's eyes widened… before her body slammed into him with her arms wrapped around his back, her head buried into his chest, "Nicky, your awake!"

"Ufufufu, little slow there, aren't we Neptune?" Nico asked her with a smirk, amused at how she had taken more than a few seconds to realise that he was awake and talking to her. He almost gave in to the urge to laugh, but didn't. A: it seemed mean in his head to laugh at the girl for somethings he likely had little control over, a part of her personality, and B: with the way, she was holding him right now told him that she had been worried about something, so laughing at her right now would be like a slap to the face.

Looking up at him, the male's theory was confirmed when he saw her face. Nico had to admit it pulled at his heartstrings, seeing those small tears building at the corners of her eyes as she glared at him. "Don't ever worry me like that again, buster! You have some nerve, scaring this pure maiden when you threw us away from that crater!" she chided him, pounding his chest with a fist.

The male let her do that as payment for making her worry. He was surprised though that she cared that much despite not knowing him very well. Perhaps it was because he was close to Compa that she saw him as an extension? While that did hurt a little, Nico could understand that logic. Nico rubbed the back of his head nervously, not meeting Neptune's gaze right now. "Yeah well, you girls didn't notice it until it was too late, and I was worried so…" he tried to say, but for some reason he felt worse for trying to defend his actions.

Nevertheless, Neptune stopped pounding him with her fist. With his build and endurance, it didn't hurt him in the slightest, but still the look on her face reminded him of a kicked puppy, which made him feel all the guiltier. "I was worried you know… you and Compa are the only friends I have right now. No memories are in my brain, for whatever reason, so you guys are the only thing I have, to stop me from being lonely. So, promise me that you won't do that stuff again, ya hear!"

Seeing the look on the preteen's face get even more depressed and lonely made Nico want to rip his heart out and stab it for making Neptune feel like this. In a way though, he could see where she was coming from, both him and Compa were the first 2 people to ever show her any kindness after her amnesia, they didn't throw her aside like some others would, they stuck by her even through her antics when other people would have given up on being around her. So, the thought of losing one of her friends must have been hard for her to take.

Looks like the joker has a soft side after all…

"I… can't do that Neptune." He replied sadly, this time facing her gaze directly while rubbing the tears out her eyes while he continued. "It's part of the Spec-Ops code for me to do what I did. there's several rules we follow: protect the interests of the government. Make sure the city is safe from any threat against its walls. And number 1, most important: PROTECT the civilians whenever you can. I was doing my duty as an Agent, there isn't anything wrong with that."

Neptune made to respond to that, and judging by her face it would likely be accompanied by a raised octave, but he stopped her by continuing. "Still, since your worried that much I can promise you this: I will do all that I can to survive any crazy stunts I pull in the name of duty. I'll survive and make my way back to you guys. I swear on my pride as the Guild's DEATHSTROKE." The male told her with utter seriousness, interlocking the hand she had used to hit him with, using one of his own. There weren't many times where he could keep a promise, many times he had to tell people he couldn't keep any because of the nature of his duty. However, this one he had every intention of keeping no matter what. The fat that someone was worried, someone CARED enough to worry… well, that was something eh treasured deeply.

His words had softened the girl up, evident by the slight bashful look on her face as she drew her gaze to the side, "wow… that was quite romantic there, bud…" she muttered with uncharacteristic shyness. The male nearly blanched in surprise at that, "trying to pull the smooth moves over this pure maiden, are we? Hah, I see your plan my naïve little bro! this Neps route won't be achieved so easy, even if you have the makings for a harem protag!" she proclaimed with a fist pump.

An eyebrow twitched as Nico frowned while closing his eyes. While he was glad that Neptune had regained her usual personality, he was a bit insulted at some of her remarks. "I'll have you know, I have ZERO talent for a harem, seriously I'm usually awkward around girls in normal social norms, hell I have no charm whatsoever." He told her with finality, firmly believing in his words. He wasn't as well-known as other Spec-Ops agents so it was a given that girls would go after them and not him.

In a way, it was a relief, considering his condition…

Neptune however, remained unconvinced at his words. "Nah, that's not true." She waved him off as the male made to counter her again. However, she stopped him by continuing, "I mean, you already charmed one of us already, who knows maybe you'll charm more gals without even realising it! Man, a dense anime harem protag who doesn't look generic at all! I wonder how the author's gonna pair us all up with you. There's been many who've tried for us."

The male now had no clue as to what the girl was talking about, and this feeling of obliviousness he was feeling right now… 'She reminds me a lot of THAT guy, with her ability to break the fourth wall while spouting references and memes 24/7…' he thought to himself, chuckling at her antics. Still though, thanks to his… association with THAT guy, Nico had some idea of what Neptune was saying, stuff about charming one girl already. He wondered who he'd managed to charm without realising, so he could apologise for doing that to her and maybe steer her towards someone worthier. After all, someone like him had no chance with the ladies.

Before his thoughts could spiral any more into depressing territory, they both heard someone knock on the door. "Nep-Nep! Are you up yet? I'm coming in to change Ni-Ni's bandages!" called a familiar voice. Nico had only a second to register the fact that he had bandages on his upper body, which surprised him as usually his wounds would have been… dealt with, by now.

The door then opened, and in stepped a certain cream haired Nurse-In-Training, carrying a med kit filled with medical appliances for treating those who had been wounded in battle. When she looked at te bed and saw what was happening, her body froze as she dropped the med kit. "E-Eh…? Ni-Ni?" she gasped after a moment of silence. Then, tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she blurred forwards faster than a certain blue hedgehog. "NI-NI!"

"Guh!"

Nico gasped, feeling the air getting knocked out of his lungs when the girl's body collided with his, her arms wrapped around his back as she buried her head into his chest. "Your awake, your awake, your awake! I'm so happy to see you up and about, Ni-Ni!" she exclaimed, her voice slightly inaudible thanks to her face being in his chest. Her grip was like iron, difficult to break free. Unlike what her frame suggested, Compa had experience transporting unconscious people from place to place, making her very physically fit and powerful, yet still retaining her femininity.

The male felt his cheeks heat up once again at the contact like they had when Neptune had done it. he wasn't used to physical contact like this, and had to speak his mind before this got any worse. "Uh, thanks Compa. Sorry for scaring you and Neptune, but could you get off me? I have to get dressed since I'm KINDA topless right now."

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whew, what a doozy! I remember writing this from scratch so long ago, ahhh good times.**

 **Anyways, before I go into full reminiscent mode, chapter 6 will be uploaded tonight, so make sure to keep an eye out, fellas!**

 **This story's gonna be completed if it's the last thing I do!**

 **see you next chapter (WAVING ARMS FRANTICALLY)**


	7. Chapter 7 - Prep, time, ladies!

**Chapter 7**

"And now, we finally get started on the next part of this arc. Man, that part was much longer than the original rebirth series, huh guys? Oh wait, I forgot Nicky here isn't in the original, since this is a fanfiction. My bad, sorry-dorry." Neptune commented while sitting on the side of Compa's bed, kicking the air with her legs.

It had been a few minutes since Nico had asked Compa to remove herself from him, pointing out how despite the bandages were there, he still was topless. Compa had, at that moment, realised what she was doing to him and blushed bright crimson, quickly detaching herself from him and repeatedly apologising for her conduct while bowing. Nico was quick to assure her it was okay as the crimson faced girl went to get his upper body clothes: his Trench Coat, Polo shirt and holsters. She had also retrieved his boots, since it was unhygienic to sleep with them on in bed. One could get dirt on the bed, and as a Nurse, albeit one in training, Compa couldn't allow that.

As a result, both her and Neptune had their shoes and boots removed too, leaving their individual stockings on.

"Nep-Nep, what are you talking about?" said Nurse-In-Training asked her while Nico had just finished putting on his Trench Coat after his polo shirt, and was now strapping on his Holsters. He was also listening to their conversation, and had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at Neptune's comments. Really, she was so much like THAT guy it was crazy. He wondered how it would turn out if her and THAT guy were to meet. It would be likely an entertaining, yet mentally taxing, show at least.

Said fourth wall breaker merely waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, Compa poo. Just letting the readers know that the next part of this arc is the last before the next arc begins! Yaay!" Neptune responded, raising her arms into the air and jumping to her feet, repeatedly jumping on the spot. Her energetic self was enough to make both Compa and Nick smile and chuckle at her antics.

Once he had gotten his Holsters back into proper place, Nico looked at them both, remaining silent for a moment, debating on whether to ask this or not. Since they needed answers though, he decided to do so. "So, uh… any idea on how the hell we got here? Last thing I recall is when we were in that new Dungeon." He asked them both while stretching his arms above his head, groaning in satisfaction as he felt the weariness leave his arms. He lowered them right after, letting them swing idly from front to back before they settled at his sides.

"Uh, we don't have much of a clue either, Nicky." Neptune replied for both her and their resident Nurse-In-Training. "When we woke up a couple days ago, we just found ourselves here. You weren't waking up though, and you had lots of injuries on your person, way more than what me and Compa had, heck you were even worse than I was when I fell from the skies." She told him, huffing with her cheeks puffed in annoyance. "So not fair…"

Compa shook her head while smiling weakly at Neptune's admittance of being jealous that Nico got a more realistic amount of injuries while she didn't. "Nep-Nep, its not like Ni-Ni wanted these injuries, you know. Nep-Nep's weirdness aside, it's just like she says Ni-Ni. We don't know who or why, but when we came too we were back in my room. I checked the time when you were asleep, and according to my calculations… along with the use of your bracer, it had been about 3 hours since we went to the Dungeon in total." At the end, she gave an apologetic bow to the male. "I'm sorry we used your equipment without your permission, please forgive us."

The male waved her off, not minding really, especially in these circumstances. "No worries, Compa, I'm impressed that you thought to use it at all." He said, complimenting her idea. He was telling the truth there, if it were someone else he'd likely be pissed off and try to spear them with a Plasma Claw, but Compa was someone he trusted, hell, he'd likely trust Neptune a little with it, just not with the Plasma Claws. "Moreover, this just confirms that one: I was out longer than you two, and with these injuries, in which case…" the male paused as he quickly ruffled under his clothes, gripping the bandages around them and pulling them off him. "Looks like they've healed already."

"Eh?!" Compa cried out in surprise. What happened next caught even Neptune off guard as she walked to him and lifted his shirt up, ignoring the exclamation and embarrassed shouting of the male she was forcibly undressing. She looked at where she had wrapped the bandages around his body, and found her breath being stolen from her when pure, unblemished skin was what she saw as a reward. "Huh…? Why have they healed so quickly? You would have had to be in bed for a week at least with the injuries you sustained!" she exclaimed, before realising what she was doing after a few moments.

Her face flushed even more as Compa backed away, letting Nico straighten out his clothes with a noticeable blush of embarrassment on his cheeks. "S-Sorry! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I swear! I was just checking your injuries!" she exclaimed, trying to push down her blush but the images of what she saw were burned into her mind. Compa had been to the beach several times in her lifetime, and thus she had seen naked men, or at least partially naked and topless men, before to the point where she didn't mind it all that much.

However, compared to the build that Nico had, those men were like ugly sacks of flesh to her. Thanks to his training to be a Spec Ops Agent, Nico's body was like a sharpened blade, each muscle, each cell, was geared towards nothing but battle. she wouldn't be surprised if it was apparent that they could grate cheese on his abs or something of similar proportions. It wasn't meant to make him look attractive, no, it was more on the practical side. it was the type of body that got the job done as efficiently as possible.

"Aw, the Comco ship's starting to sail already!"

"Nep-Nep/Neptune!"

Both teens screamed the name of the one that had teased them with an evil snigger, her face that of what would be known in the future as her 'troll face' which would appear whenever she would be joking about at the expense of others. And right now, Compa and Nico were her unfortunate victims. Jeez, where was that lack haired tsundere when you need her?

In another land, a black-haired girl suddenly sneezed, though she had no idea why.

Back to the main cast, after they recovered from Neptune's teasing, they made to continue their discussion, when suddenly they were joined by an unexpected visitor.

'Perhaps I could be of assistance.'

"What ho?!" Nico shouted in disbelief, stumbling back in shock as he looked around frantically, searching for the source of the voice, however his eyes didn't play tricks on him for there was nobody about "Whose there?! Show yourself!" he exclaimed, activating his Bracer's radar only for it to register only Neptune, Compa and himself in the immediate vicinity, which baffled him even more.

The same could not be said for the two girls however. Neptune beamed happily at the voice with a gleam of recognition in her eye, "Heeeeey, hey, hey! Its Histy again, how ya doing? Thanks for that awesome tip on how to use my super special HDD ability." She thanked the disembodied voice, giggling happily, "helped me save my friend Compa when I needed it."

Compa nodded her head, smiling brightly while having her eyes closed as she greeted the voice for real this time, since the last time they heard it Nico was MIA and they were fighting for their lives. The young teen couldn't imagine a better time for the voice to have spoken to them, than being almost near a bad end. "It's really nice to meet you, Histoire. Can I call you Histy too? It's a bit of a mouthful for me…"

'It is very nice to meet you for real, Compa. Yes, you may call me Histy, for it is unimportant in the grand scheme of things. As for you, it is nice to meet a Spec-Ops agent, young Nico.'

Nico's mind rebooted from the temporary bluescreening it had done when it registered the fact that Compa and Neptune had known the identity of this strange voice while he was left in the dark. Perhaps they learned of this feminine voice while they were separated? It was the only plausible explanation, but with how Neptune was acting it was likely she was the first one to know of this voice while Compa was a close second. If he had to guess, he'd say this was the third time Neptune and 'Histoire' had communicated, with Compa on her second experience and him experiencing this for the first time.

'…Ufufufu, its always interesting to record what you are thinking, young Nico. You have observation sills and detective ability unseen in many a man in Gamindustri.'

Nico blanched at the voice's words. How the fuck did she know what he was thinking? And recording them even? Nico had a lot of questions about this situation, perhaps too many for this type of talk, but for now he had to start with the basics. He took a few deep breaths, calming his nerves and his instincts which were telling him to do… a lot of bad things to the area around him. But this was Compa's house, so he resisted the urge. "I have so many questions, but let's start off with the important stuff first, who are you and what is it you're doing here?"

'Agreed, this is not the time to be idle, especially with what you three have uncovered at that Monster Cave. For now, Nico, call me Histoire, I am the Tome that records all Gamindustri's history, there is next to nothing that I do not know. As to why I am here, it's to ask you three a favour or two.'

"Uh, is this something to do with that dream I had where you asked me if I could save you?" Neptune piped into the conversation between them, drawing Nico's interest immediately when he heard the last bit. Histoire asked Neptune to save her? Did that mean that she was in danger and had to ask for help to get out of whatever it was? That was suspicious, if it was something like getting out of a drug ring, then…

'I assure you Nico, it is not a drug ring. I am sealed away in an unknown location. This has been so for several centuries, which have caused radical changes to form throughout Gamindustri. For my first favour, Neptune and Compa found a small object in the Monster Cave yes?'

This time, it was Compa's turn to respond, as her eyes widened in realisation as she pulled the object from within her purse, having put it there for safe keeping. "Oh! Do you mean this Histy?" the girl asked her, presenting the object to the space In-between the three people.

'Yes, you have found what is called a 'Key Fragment.' Only one is not enough, but if all four are gathered together, they become a key to release me from my seal. There is one in each Nation, so if you chose to accept this request, then you will have to travel between all four nations. This is my first request, can you please free me?'

His eyes narrowed at this while Neptune gave a frown of her own, memories of the Banshee resurfacing in her mind that gave her the chills. "But, if we do, we'll have to fight monsters, right? Isn't that… dangerous?" she asked the voice. If they could see her right now, they bet that Histoire would be frowning at the question.

'… Unfortunately, yes. Your life will be in danger, especially with how the monsters have been evolving to more dangerous forms. However, I am certain you three will be able to handle it. We have Neptune, who has her HDD to fall back on when situations become dire. We have Compa, a medic who has an arsenal of healing skills. Even if her bandage fetish is a bit weird. And finally, we have Nico, the Spec-Ops agent who has a variety of experience and knowledge to contribute to the team.'

While the trio flushed red at the mention of Compa and her usage of bandages, they did admit that Histoire had a good point, the three of them alone had some unique skillsets and abilities, so if they partied up they would likely stand a chance against the monsters, both the new and the old ones. If they were to encounter the stronger, scarier ones, they had the OP Spec-Ops agent and HDD wielding Neptune to deal with them while Compa remained at the rear. And it wasn't like Gamindustri was void of other talent, their party would probably grow in number as their journey went on, something that Nico partially dreaded for reasons.

'I understand that, despite this I am asking a lot of you three, to trust someone you haven't even met yet. To face the new horrors that are plaguing our world and threaten to reduce Gamindustri to ruin. However, I shall offer something to the three of you in return. I will restore your memories, Neptune, Nico, for that is within my power.'

Now THAT caught their attention, especially Nico and Neptune. 'Whoa, whoa, is she serious?!' the male shouted within his mind in shock, his eyes wide with surprise at what Histoire was offering. 'She's literally offering us the one thing I want more than anything, the returning of my memories! I'll have the answers both myself and the Guild have been seeking for the last four years!' let nobody say that wasn't a tempting offer. And if these girls accept this quest then he would be going too, no matter how much it may make him regret it, because he'd feel even more of a jackass by letting a pair of girls go around the world without him. Plus, this sounded like it would be quite interesting.

"Really?!" Neptune cried out, her face exactly like what his feelings were right now: happy, hopeful with a brief instance of surprise. It must have dawned on her as well, the implications of what Histoire was offering them. Nico had to admit, Neptune may be more logical than people give her credit for.

'Really, really. And anyways, I really do need you to get your memories back, Neptune, as well as yours Nico, for you were correct to assume that they hold the answers to many questions.'

The male felt a stab of pride flow through him at being told he had been on the right track, by the literal embodiment of Gamindustri's history no less. It was after that thought though, that he realised something about this situation, something that most likely wouldn't even consider, "uh, hey Histoire? If you're the tome that records all our history then couldn't you just tell us what we need to know?"

'I expected you to ask that. Unfortunately, both your tales are long, too long for me to explain with what time I have left. In addition, I may be the tome of Gamindustri, but with my current state I am unable to access every piece of my knowledge. Neptune's memories are an exception, but yours are not, so I feel it unfair to you if I did that. Lastly, like I hinted at earlier I have a time limit, which I am slowly reaching right now, so I'll hurry and ask the second favour: I want you to go back to the Monster Cave.'

At this, the two gaped at the space above their heads, their eyes white and circular even Nico's were like that. A small silence passed, and when their brains rebooted, they gave a collective shout that may as well have startled half of Planeptune, "EEEEEHHHHHHHHH!?"

'E-Eek! That was one surprising outcry. Let me explain before you jump to conclusions. Nico, you would agree with this when I tell you that there's a Banshee infestation there that threatens to destroy Planeptune.'

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Nico screamed like the monster that had been named, his eyes now filled with even more horror and dread than he felt before when she told them to go back. That name, it sparked a LOT of memories, memories of his previous encounters with those twisted abominations. They were worse than the normal kind of monsters he hunted either alone or with fellow Spec-Ops agents! Just hearing their names sent even the toughest of generals into a cold sweat for goddess's sakes! "ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?!"

'Sad to say, but it is true. I wish it weren't but that is not the case. Worse still, is that since you were unconscious and Neptune and Compa were taking care of you, they have had ample time to become a threat. The Guild have recognised that there's a threat there, but never got any details of what that threat was, therefore…'

Oh gods, things were worse than he thought, if what Histoire says was true… Nico quickly activated his Bracer and checked the news section of the Guild's website, which showed little of what they were doing at certain times. One such article caught his attention, and when he skimmed through it, his face reddened with frustration Nico had couldn't resist the urge to curse. "Son of a bitch! damnit, this is bad! This is very bad!"

After he deactivated his Bracer, Nico looked up at the ceiling again. "Alright Histoire, you got yourself a deal. I'll take out the Banshee infestation and get these fragments for ya. Those bastards in the Guild have no idea what they've done, sending normal agents into that hellhole, it's like lambs to the slaughter!" he bellowed, officially signing himself up for this quest. It would be the longest one he had yet, but Nico didn't care about that. All he could think about was destroying the Banshee infestation in the Monster Cave. Everything else was secondary in comparison.

"Hold the phone you guys!" Nico and Histoire, after being so deep in their bone chilling conversation, remembered that there were 2 others in the room. Both gave the speaker, who turned out to be a seriously annoyed Neptune and a pouting Compa, as the former spoke again. "You're leaving us outta this, and that's mean! Please explain so we and the readers can understand!" she cried, Compa nodding in agreement.

'The Banshees are an infernal race, you girls. They are an unholy mutation born from two other monster species, with a Hivemind mentality and ability to drain energy from their foes, effectively paralysing them. But that is not what makes them so terrifying that they are rated higher than S class monsters, a rating where only Spec-Ops or the CPUs themselves would be able to fight them.'

Nico soon followed suit from where Histoire left off, his face set into a grim scowl as he raised his hands to his face and clenched them, unclenching them as well as a form of distraction from the horrific truth he was about to reveal to them. "What's most terrifying is how they breed." He told them, lowering his hands with resignation. "When they breed, they… do it differently than normal. They're an all-female race so they can produce eggs internally, and they fertilise each other. This is shown when they drool blood, its meant to show that they have been fertilised by another Banshee. When fertilised, they find a third host. They leech their energy till they can't move, drag them to a secluded area, then…"

The teen took a slow, shaky breath, his body shuddering at the thought of saying what he would say next, but he had no choice. The girls were paying rapt attention now, but nothing would prepare them for what he said next. "Implant their eggs inside the host. They hatch into larvae that eat away at the weakened host, muscles first, vital organs last."

A pair of mortified gasps rang out in the room, the source being 2 thoroughly fear-filled girls. "NEPU! That's messed up, and totally sick! Why the heck is a monster like that in this normally goofy, funny franchise!" Neptune exclaimed, trying not to show how sick that knowledge made her feel. Her efforts may as well have been in vain though, for her face nearly turned a lizard green colour at the images in her head. "This is really dark and depressing territory we're getting into here!"

Compa could hardly make any words come out of her mouth. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out as she closed it again. She was rendered speechless at the horror she had just been told. She remembered when she had asked him about Banshees over the phone, and recalled how hesitant he had been about doing so before changing the subject. Now she knew why, and all her curiosity about them had evaporated faster than liquids exposed before the sun's surface.

The male looked at them sadly for a moment, depressed that he had to tell them that. He felt like a real jerk, scaring them like this, but it had to be said so they knew the scope of what they were getting into. "I get that your scared, so I won't hold it against you. My first time wasn't so either, so I understand if you don't want to-"

"We'll do it!"

When he heard that, Nico gasped, completely caught by surprise when he heard Neptune proclaim that she would help, along with Compa nodding. Both looked scared, but there was a strong determination in them. In that moment, he saw that despite their fears, they were willing to do this, including releasing Histoire from her seal. "Alright, then. Looks like you got yourselves 3 rescuers, Histoire."

'Are you certain? I am aware that Nico would have no problems with accepting my requests, but…'

Both Neptune and Compa nodded their heads, looks of powerful determination burning in their eyes. It was a seriousness that was rarely showed by either of them Nico noticed, which made seeing it more inspiring. "Nep yeah, those meanie monsters tried to use us to breed the last time we met, remember Compa?" Neptune asked while turning on the bed to her friend, who nodded strongly. The fear was more evident in her eyes than in Neptunes, but still she put on a brave face. Nico mentally applauded her for her noble actions, but waited for them to finish while trying not to have a heart attack at what they just admitted. "We gotta stop them fast, swat those bugs with a bug swatter, as payback!"

The two girls made a unified cheer, inspiring morale within each other which put a small smirk onto Nico's face as he pressed a hand on his chest, deploying his Armour. Clenching his fists, he deployed his Plasma Claws, their light illuminating his Masked face as he spoke. "Well girls, I'd try to stop you, but with the way you are, and this rage burning inside me I'm not gonna bother. Now then, let's go on a bug hunt, ladies."

"Yeah!"

'I wish you three the best of luck. May I advise that you make quick preparations before heading out, as while Neptune may have her HDD, her human weapon is… not very practical for this kind of work. plus, it was destroyed during that previous battle, rendering it useless.'

Nico nodded his head in agreement with Histoire's words. First, they would have to pay a visit to a weapons shop to get the preteen amnesiac a proper set of equipment for this kind of work. Spec-Ops work and regular Guild Agent work had major differences in difficulty levels, so things had to be more serious in the former's line of work. Fortunately, he had a few more options than to just go to the shop and waste time deciding what to buy.

"No need, I have that covered." He told Histoire, piquing her, Compa and Neptune's intrigue as he pressed several keys on his Bracer. Which opened what looked like an Inventory Screen. While most would rely on their Inventory, which was native to all Gamindustrimen, Nico himself preferred the large storage capacity of his Armour, which allowed him to place many items such as weapons and armour modules inside. He called it 'Void Storage'

He pressed a few more keys as he searched for the weapon he had in mind for the girl, keeping in mind her fighting style and skills. She focused more on fast and powerful attacks, with decent defence, with her evasion being her weakest area, though that wasn't much of an issue with her endurance. 'Hmmm… let's see, I know it's here somewhere… aha!' his eyes widened with a grin slowly forming on his face. "Finally, I found you…" he muttered, his grin widening.

Neptune pouted while puffing her cheeks out in annoyance, she didn't like waiting long and was beginning to get Impatient. "Oh come already Nicky! Don't keep me in the dark here!" she whined, only for the male to give her a raised brow as if to say, 'hold your horses' girl, I'm getting there.' He then pressed several more keys before stretching his hand out, a flurry of particles manifesting above his hand.

They soon gathered together and formed the weapon he wanted to give to the girl: which was what looked like a mechanical Katana. Its sheath contained a rifle mechanism with a magazine loaded and a trigger located below the sword's hilt. Neptune's eyes widened as she began ogling the weapon before her with a look of awe and wonder. "Ooooh, what is this classy looking sword?" she asked as he grasped it by the sheath below the rifle mechanism.

"This my friend, is an experimental High Frequency blade called 'Murasama'. HF technology allows electric currents to pass through the blade continuously so when they slash, the weaken molecular bonds, potentially allowing them to slice through anything. This bad boy was given to me by the Guild as a reward for a Quest long ago, and I think it's the ideal weapon for someone like you." He explained as he handed the sword over to her.

Grasping the Katana in its sheath, Neptune once again ogled the weapon in her hands. She was amazed at how detailed it looked, and how it seemed to fit in her small hands. She so wanted to take it out, and when she sent a questioning glance at him, he responded with a smile and a nod. "Draw it, but slowly, and see what happens." He said, gesturing to the blade's hilt.

With his permission, Neptune eagerly grasped the handle as she held it out in front of her, taking a stance with her legs spread apart. Slowly, she began to grip the blade's hilt, before pulling it out at an agonisingly slow pace. It was worth it though to see the small arcs of electricity arcing from the blade itself, the whining sounds made by it. The electricity illuminated her face when it crackled close to it, and combined with her expression that was comparable to a child opening a present on Christmas day to gasp in awe and joy at the contents, made his smile widen even further.

Usually Nico wouldn't do this, usually he would test the weapons himself before reporting to the WDD about it for them to make the necessary adjustments before shipping the final designs for mass production. However, in his eyes this was like killing 2 birds with one stone, HF Technology was one of the newer technology but the potential it had was staggering. It came from one of the companies in Lastation, MG something or whatever, but it was scrapped early on due to the developer's having a lack of experience with sword gameplay. On one scouting mission in the last war with Lastation, that technology was found and adopted by Planeptune engineers, and since has shown lots of potential for another technological revolution.

Shame Lastation didn't know what it missed…

Back to the topic at hand, Neptune held the Katana as she examined the blade from multiple angles, marvelling at the crimson blade that crackled with electricity. "I have a feeling that a certain tsundere in the future will go ballistic when she sees this…" Neptune had to remark that and, if she were near a certain black-haired girl she would be doing that.

"Now that we're all equipped with weapons…" Nico brought them back to attention again, Neptune swiftly sheathing the Katana while Compa looked on with envy. She felt jealous that Neptune had a super techno gadget like that Katana and she didn't, but didn't fault Nico for it. heck, it felt like he wasn't finished prepping yet judging by how he was rummaging through his Bracer's void storage. "Time to give you girls some armour."

Both girls went wide eyed at that, their mouths hanging open as they looked at him. "A-Armour? But, um, isn't armour…" Compa tried to say, but stopped when she realised that her sentence would have sounded rude no matter how she tried to word it, and she didn't want to be rude to her childhood friend, plus he was only looking out for her.

However, Neptune had none of the restraint her friend had shown as she blabbed her thoughts out before her brain could process them, "um, buddy we don't need armour, I mean it's so stiff and tight! We'd be sweating before we'd even get to the dungeon, and I like the windy feeling I get under my hoodie dress." She admitted with no shame whatsoever.

The cream haired girl flushed crimson at the implications, while Nico had a tinge of pink on his cheeks as he tried to get the… stimulating images out of his mind. "Believe me, if these were ordinary monsters then I'd agree that you wouldn't need it. no comment on the last part though. But don't worry about sweating, what I have in mind will solve that issue… aha! Here it is!"

Pressing on the image of the item in his Void storage, Nico held his hand out as 2 objects appeared in his hand. The objects formed from the same manner as the Murasama did, and when they looked at the objects the two girls saw that one looked like a dark purple circular lense inside a black metallic piece with many legs jutting off it, sort of like a spider. The other object was similar, only it was varying shades of cream colours.

After he grasped the two, Nico handed them to the girls, purple one gong to Neptune while the other went to Compa. "The Guild has been thinking of ways to solve the 'weight problem' that armour possesses so that more will use armour for protection, and so these two are their first successes. They're both form fitting and light weight, but can pack a wallop in the defence stat. Go ahead, put them on your chests and you'll see." He told them, gesturing to their chest areas, or at least the area above the chest.

Neptune beamed as she went all, "okay, I'll trust ya, buddy. Feel grateful that this Nep likes you so." Before doing what, he said and pressing the device onto her chest within her hoodie, Nico turning away out of respect for her modesty. She didn't notice the look that Compa had sent her as the device activated as it latched onto her chest, digging its legs into her skin which made her wince a bit. However, it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, in fact it was only there for a second before vanishing.

Instantly afterwards she was encased in a cocoon of Datastreams from the device's purple piece, just like Nico's armour. It lasted a good 1 second, before it vanished to reveal Neptune's new look.

"W-whoa, Nep-Nep! You look… so cool!" Compa gasped in shock as she held a hand over her mouth while her eyes widened at the sight before her. What she was seeing certainly looked beautiful and cool, yet there was a tone of intimidation with it, womanly intimidation. Nico was right in that it fit her frame to a T, covered everything about her at least.

The armour's colours were black and purple like her HDD form, but with no blue. The helmet covered Neptune's head with black armour, with 2 elongated ears extending behind her head that had purple plating on the interior. The faceplate consisted of 2 purple plates aligned forwards in an angular appearance, with 2 lenses within that showed where her eyes were. Her main body was had black slim armour over it with bits of purple where the fractions were to outline parts of her body, like the breasts. On top her shoulders were a pair of large engines with purple glowing interiors, extending behind her, while her arms were covered in black armour down to the hands, which had purple knuckles and nails, while the elbow joints were larger metallic structures that functioned both as joints and… something else. Around her waist was a black 'skirt' made from long spike extensions, while the legs were black armour with purple at the joints, with the kneecaps being the same as the elbows and the feet were shaped like Neptune's shoes.

Looking herself over, Neptune instantly had a similar reaction to it as her friend did. "Holy moly! What the heck is this, this can't be me, can it?!" she shrieked in shock, but no fear. She then did some shadow boxing, finding how well the armour moved on her skin as well as the mechanical whirring's within the armour sounding like music to her ears. "This is BEYOND cool! This reminds me of that one queen with 'Dark' in her name, who has such a delicate looking butterfly form while hiding away the sinister badass robot side of her for when she really needs it for deep plot reasons!

Nico watched this with a pleased expression on his face as he grinned and crossed his arms under his chest. He was pleased that the girl liked it so much, it really seemed to fit her… in a weird way, but meh. "Something you two should know, these armours are not only form fitting, but once it was deployed the first time they become ID locked to that person, so only he or she can remove them." The male explained while his grin remained on his face, watching Neptune began to do the hula dance on top Compa's bed. It made him laugh a bit inside seeing a dark, intimidating figure doing something so childish, so… Neptunish.

He had a feeling she would be developing a lot of names to do with 'Nep' in the future.

As she watched her friend play about with her armour, Compa looked at her own device, which rested in the palm of her hand. For some reason, she felt like… well, like it was meant to be with her, like it was calling her before she even put it on. Compa doubted Neptune would have noticed this with how she acted, but she got the feeling that this armour was mad e specifically for hr design. She gained a determined look on her face while placing it within her sweater and on her chest. "Right, if Nep-Nep and Ni-Ni can do it, then I can do it to! A Nurse must be at her best to help her patients! Let's go!"

Soon, she too was enveloped by a cocoon of Datastreams, and when it faded, Compa looked herself over to see what she looked like now. Her eyes widened when she did though, and her breath was stolen from her, not to be returned for a long time. Her armour had the colours of light cream, red and white, with the helmet covering her jaw in reddish armour, with the faceplate covering all but her left eye, shaped like a fattened creamy white 'C' with a bit of her face exposed. The helmet had the rest of the red armour extending backwards, making it look like it was elongated and cylindrical. 2 white 'horns' protruded from the sides and pointed forwards, level with her ears. Her main body had cream coloured armour with red fractions, a red 'H' emblem designed into the centre, and elongated white shoulder pauldrons that almost looked like Scythe blades. Her arms had various pieces of red down them, with the forearms having several fractions in that looked like compartments, while the hands were crimson red armour, clawed as well. Her upper arms had a pair of red spikes curving towards each other protruding out of them, making makeshift 'C's. Her waist had a red skirt that reminded her of her normal one, while her leg armour was cream coloured and her feet were reminiscent of red stiletto heels.

Both Neptune and Nico paused in what they were doing when they saw Compa's armour. "Ooooh, neato Compa!" the girl complimented, her voice deepened by her armour as she bounded over to her faster than the eye could blink, her new equipment not hindering her in the slightest. She began to look her over from different angles sometimes poking her in the red areas. "Wow, this thing feels like a darker, more battle-ready you. It's like I'm looking at 'Compa: Battle Mode!' or something, Hehehehehe." She remarked, giggling cutely into her hand.

The Nurse-In-Training beamed at the praise, before striking a pose. "Thank you, Nep-Nep! Leave it to me, I'll blow them away with my supper death beam!" she exclaimed, giggling like a high school girl while engaging with Neptune in some random antics, showing just how much, they liked their new armour.

Meanwhile, the male Spec-Ops Agent watched them fondly. He almost didn't want to break their moment of happiness and innocence with the grim news that they needed to get going quickly, but the male had no choice. The Banshee infestation had to be quelled before it could cause countless casualties, civilian lives were on the line here. He had to stop them, no matter what, then Nico would go about the four nations to find the rest of these 'Key Fragments'

"Alright you two, settle down now…" he finally spoke, stopping their hyperactivity by placing both his hands on their heads, applying just enough weight to stop them from bouncing up and down. "Remember we have to use these to stop those Banshees from harming the innocent, you didn't forget that, did you?"

Both girls blinked as they remembered that titbit of information. Their eyes narrowed as they nodded in unison with determined stares on their faces. "Yeah, I remember! I'mma not letting those bugs get one step into this pudding land! I'll fight em all on my lonesome if I have to…" Neptune proclaimed, raising a hand to her face and clenching it into a fist with various clinking sounds made by her armour following the motions. Memories of the last time she had fought against those things she had her backside handed to her on a silver platter. She wanted to even the score with them.

Compa nodded in agreement with her hands raised to her chin with the same motions as Neptune, only with both her hands, remembering those same memories but from an outsider's POV, which was what she had been. She recalled how helpless she had been when she watched Neptune get hurt bad by the Banshee she had been fighting to rescue her as well. Compa didn't like that feeling, and wanted to dish out some good old payback for it. "That's right, those meanie monsters nearly hurt my friends. I can't forgive them for that!" she proclaimed, showing an uncharacteristic amount of anger towards the Banshees.

Although with what they learned, could anyone blame them?

With their opinions set, Nico gave them both a hard look, a hand resting on his hip as he judged their stares. None of them backed down, letting an intense staring competition take place between the three. A heavy atmosphere infested the room, dropping onto them like a 1000 KG weight. But neither of them let up on their staring, they all wished to showcase their resolve to do what they had to do, to make the necessary plays to save the lives of countless innocents.

That is… until Neptune sneezed. "Gosh Nepit, I blinked first!" she cried out, breaking down the atmosphere developed between them into pieces like she usually did. she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as the other two looked at her, making her feel the awkwardness beyond 99%. "Hehehe, looks like I uh, kind don't do well with serious stuff, huh?"

Compa shook her head, resisting the urge to giggle at Neptune's antics. "Oh Nep-Nep…" she muttered under her breath while holding a hand on her shaking head, "What are we gonna do with you…?" at this, she received nervous laughter from the purplette amnesiac, who felt the awkwardness increase to levels that were… OVER 9000!

…

…

…

Okay, let's stop with that.

While he was annoyed that the atmosphere was broken yet again by the preteen, Nico couldn't help the smile that emerged onto his lips as he pressed a hand on his chest and deployed his armour as well. It also served the purpose of hiding his smile from the two girls, much to his relief. "Yeah, kinda should have expected that, right? I mean, Neptune is Neptune after all." He remarked with an amused chuckle under the Mask of his armour.

"Yeah, you got it buster!" Neptune proclaimed with a thumbs-up directed at him while unsheathing her Katana and holding it like a stand. If she were in her unarmoured form right now, he had no doubt she'd be doing a girly wink as well, it was just in hr nature to be playful and make jokes and memes every chance she got. "I'mma the protag of protags and all! Even if the take of this take of the rebirth series is all dark and depressing, I still gotta keep on getting my game on. Who else can perfect the role of comic relief character other than mwah?"

'Goddamnit Neptune, stop breaking that poor fourth wall!' Nico cursed inside his head. 'It's bad enough I know one breaker of the fourth wall, I don't need another! #sigh# guess it can't be helped I guess. On the flipside, I guess she could be good for comic relief or breaking th ice, sometimes people need to have a little less tension in their lives. Now, if only Neptune learned the 'when' for her jokes then we'd be set.' Seriously, I this kept up he'd likely have a brain aneurysm from trying to understand what the heck Neptune was talking about. Perhaps if he just didn't question it whenever it came up, he could preserve some of his sanity? Seemed legit.

"Jokes aside, let's go get those Banshees, lets show em what happens when you mess with Planeptune!" he cheered while raising a fist to the air as he gave that moral inducing shout. Both girls cheered while doing the same as him, Compa with her right hand and Neptune with her left, making him smile. Their morale was good, they looked pumped and ready for action right now. It almost was like looking at 2 potential Spec-Ops agents from the other Agents at the Guild, ones he'd keep an eye on to see if they had potential to be great or not.

Putting those thought aside for now, Nico turned on his heels and made for the entrance to Compa's living room, with Neptune and said Nurse-In-Training following suit. Together, they left the safety of Compa's house and put themselves onto the path towards the Monster Cave infested by Banshees. Nothing could have prepared them for the horrors within, however.


	8. Chapter 8 - Banshee Nest

**Yo, everyone!**

 **Despite the lack of reviews, the Views just keep on rising. This story must be one of those 'silent yet gaining popularity' types, huh? I believe it'd be called an underdog. Not being arrogant here, just stating an opinion. You guys can do the same, honesty is great for improving content.**

 **As a reward for so many views, I'm adding a few chapters during this next update. Believe me, you'll enjoy the action fest that's about to follow.**

 **With that out of the way, let's begin!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 -Banshee Nest**

The trio walked through the Countryside for what felt like hours, when really it was only one or two of them, and finally found the secret entrance to the Monster Cave that Neptune and Compa had used to get into the Dungeon to rescue Nico the previous time they were here. The entrance looked like a Cave of sorts, built deep into a tall cliff that led into the underground dungeon below. There was a small garden sized clearing before the entrance, one filled with grass and various plants that could have been collected for making new items, but none of the trio were focusing on that.

"So, this is the entrance you guys used?" Nico questioned as he activated his Bracer's Holomap. He cross referenced the map of the Dungeon they were seeking with the geographic layout that the Virtua Forest possessed, finding that this was the truth, before he closed it and looked back at them. "Looks like you girls were right, I was worried for nothing when we diverted from the original path and through all that wilderness."

Compa giggled softly, her giggles sounded strange to her right now since all three were in their armour, but she figured they'd get used to it soon enough. they always did after all, especially with Neptune's randomness. "Yep, I as worried we'd have to go through some more fanservicey type scenes again, those were really embarrassing…" she remarked, not realising that she just partially broke the fourth wall. Nico instantly knew she had been influenced slightly by Neptune's fourth wall breaking habits, and mentally gave a sigh. His friend was being corrupted by the preteen, and she didn't even realise it.

If they could see Neptune's face behind the plates that made her faceplate, they would have seen her sheepishly grinning as she laughed, pumping a fist in front of her chest. "Yeah, you said it, the author's not very good with non-scripted fanservice scenes. He tries to get inspiration to support the game's demographic, but when it comes down to it, he's a big softie that likes seeing us maidens get treated right, ya know?"

"Yep-yep, such a softie."

"Fourth wall jokes aside, we have a job to do." Nico broke the easy atmosphere without shame, no sure how long he would have maintained his rationality while hearing that stuff, as he activated his Bracer's map of the Monster Cave, as well as the entry's that had been happening. He gave a curse of disapproval at the results he found. "Tch, looks like it's as I feared, they've been sending in too many Guild Agents to their deaths, unknowingly making them lambs to the slaughter. Normal Agents can't last long in there, so we better be careful." He told them before deploying his Plasma Claws.

Both girls paled at that, the amount of lives that were lost from these creatures would have been severely high then, if what Nico said was true. So many people dead, lives ruined because of these creatures. Histoire was right to have been urgently requesting them to do this, they realised. Well, they sort of had gathered that it was bad when Nico and Histoire had described the Banshee's to them, but right now this was the first time that their threat levels had truly sunk in.

This needed to end, no matter what.

Swiftly, Neptune drew her Katana, which sparked with electricity as she spoke. "Well then, let's not keep those fellas waiting, charge gang! LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEENNNNNNNNKIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSS!" she bellowed, rushing in with no thought to strategy or planning, much to the horror of the other two.

"Nep-Nep, come back, you can't just go off on your own!"

"You girls, stop! Ugh, I'll say it once again though I have a feeling it'll be ignored, goddamnit Neptune!"

* * *

After the two caught up with the excitable preteen and scolding her for running ahead, which she had countered that the readers wanted to see some humour mixed with horror or something like that, the trio continued their way through the Dungeon, utilizing Nico's Holomap and Motion Tracker to keep themselves aware for any monster attacks. There was silence between them as they looked around, anxiety coursing through the two girls, before Neptune decided to try and break the ice again. "So um, Compa, couldja tell me a bit about how Quests work? I mean, we should visit the Guild in the future, right? In the original, we did that first before coming here, so…"

"That's true, at least. Well, the Guild's this big organisation that is full of people who do requests for other people for a living, from basic work like saving a cat from a tree to fighting hard monsters, they do it all. it's actually a large source of income for Gamindustri." Compa replied as she explained about the Guild to her, Neptune humming in thought. She could see what Compa was saying, as monsters were a large problem for Gamindustri folk, had been for a long time according to them.

Finally, she summed her opinions up with her next sentence. "I see, huh… then that means that they get all the good stuff with relation to monster hunting. They must have lots of books about specific monsters! Oh, speaking of minsters, I wonder what the Queen looks like, I mean Nicky here is in his super try hard mode so I doubt he'll tell us anything…"

At the mention of Nico, the said male looked up at them as his eye bore into their own. "It's been a while since I fought a Banshee Queen, but make sure to commit this to memory: Banshees alone are tough enough, but their Queens are nightmares on the battlefield." He told them gravely, clenching his fists while his Plasma claws seemed to increase in intensity, as if the armour was responding to his emotions.

As they contemplated this knowledge Nico had given them, they both heard a shrill scream in the distance, aa scream of pain and torment. This shocked the trio out of their stupor as Neptune became the first to comment. "What ho, a person?! Sounds like they're still alive let's go get em!" she called out, rushing forwards to the source of the scream. Compa and Nico looked at each other, gave quick nods, before taking off after their ally, hoping that they could at least save one life from the horrific fate that so many have experienced before.

They soon came to an enclose clearing, one that was shaped like a 'C' and led on to a series of platforms ahead. There, the trio came face to face with an old man on the ground, screaming in agony and despair. His eyes were white and tears of sadness and pain streamed down his face. "There he is, we have to help him!" Compa cried out, making to run over to tend to the elderly man only for Nico to stop her by grabbing her shoulder. Gasping, she turned her head to look at him in disbelief as she cried out "Ni-Ni what are you-"

"It's too late for that guy. My Motion Scanners detect that he's been infested already. Look, see for yourself."

His words silenced her protest, as did the look of morbid terror on his features, including his paling skin which was visible around his sole eye. Desperate, Compa looked to Neptune, only to see that she was in a similar state despite the armour covering up. She turned to the man once again, hoping that for once, Nico was wrong, that they could still save him from a fate that not even a dog deserved. Alas, not everyone gets a happy ending, for the man kept screaming as something… or rather multiple something's, were moving through his limbs at a rapid pace, savage sounds being made as many limbs burst out to hold the man down as their wilders proceeded to devour him whole from the inside out, the man screeching like the namesake of the monsters that now lived here.

In mere moments, the man was no more, every piece of him having been devoured by what looked like overgrown brownish coloured worms, and they looked hideous. Their bodies were covered in the blood of their host, their heads being nothing but a pair of red beady eyes and a circular maw with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth. They had several limbs made from neurotic flesh, reminiscent of the Banshee the two girls fought earlier.

They sensed that they weren't alone, and looked to find the trio standing there. They all hissed and roared in unison, before slithering off into the walls, digging through them to who knows where.

Now that they were alone, the trio could feel the silence that they had before they came onto that sight… only it felt more like a danger was thrust into their hearts and being wrenched tightly into them. If they had their armours off, then it would be possible to see their mortified expressions, with Neptune and Compa going a little green with the urge to throw up in their systems. Nico wasn't as bad, but he was still disgusted with having to see that, as well as what must have happened to the man for him to suffer that fate. He'd seen that before too, and it wasn't pretty.

"That… was gruesome…"

"How horrible…I can't unsee that…"

Both girls made their comments and by extension their opinions, known about the matter. Nico stepped forwards, kneeling before where the man used to be. Nothing had remained after the devouring had finished it was the way that the baby Banshee's did things. They eat the host they're in starting with the muscles first, then the vital organs last. This was one of the many sights he'd seen in his days as a Spec-Ops Agent of the guild, and it wouldn't be the last either.

* * *

After making a quick prayer for the deceased, Nico stood up and turned to them, his expression mostly hidden thanks to the Mask his armour wore. "We gotta keep moving, the Banshees may swarm us at any moment now that they've been alerted to our presence." He said, remembering how the baby Banshees had roared like they did. it was a special kind of roar, one that signalled to the rest of the Hive that there were intruders upon their home turf. He wouldn't be surprised if a group of Banshees came calling thanks to that.

The two girls, eager to get away from this area since it reminded them of what they've seen, nodded while trying to hold in their lunches, as they walked on with heavy hearts, now knowing just how sick it was that so many had experienced the fate they just witnessed.

Walking deeper into the dungeon, the party once gain remained silent. The memory of what they just saw was still haunting their minds, how that poor old man met an end more gruesome than anything they had ever encountered before. Neptune realised that this was going to be way heavier than many other fanfics out there, though she kept that to herself instead of telling it, while Compa was still trying to recover from the possibly traumatising experience. Being raised in the safety of Planeptune's walls made her innocent to the horrors of the wild, so seeing something like that, and had no way to help… well, it didn't feel too good for her. In fact, she felt horrible, like the scum of the earth. The only reason why this wasn't worse was because they had been mildly prepped for it by their friend Nico.

There was a decreasing lack of light as they went deeper, since there were fewer crystals about and they were getting smaller as well, which prompted Nico to raise his claws up for they generated a light from their plasma based appearance. Nevertheless, it wasn't perfect though, much to his chagrin, but it was better than nothing.

Finally, Neptune couldn't stomach it anymore and decided to start a conversation, anything to get her mind off the horrific sight they had just seen. "It gets darker the deeper we go…" she muttered, looking around in worry. She hoped that they wouldn't be caught off guard by any Banshees like this. They'd be at a huge disadvantage otherwise…

Soon, Compa's voice rang out, but it was too dark to see where she was. "Nep-Nep, where are you? It's so dark, I can't see you Nep-Nep." She spoke in a soft, quiet and hushed voice. She too was aware of the danger they were in and wanted to keep a low profile.

Neptune decided to try and lighten up the situation with the usual Nep-banter as she smiled behind her helmet. "Oh lighten up Compa, it can't be that bad. Still though, it could be dangerous, so be careful. No telling what's ahead of us."

Almost as soon as she said that however… WHAM!

"Wha-?!"

The sound of something colliding with her rang out, startling the girl and the thing that she had bumped into, making both Nico and Compa stop in their tracks. Both heard something falling to the ground unceremoniously like a heap, with the sounds echoing throughout the Cave. Nico winced, hoping that didn't draw any unwanted attention to their position. Banshees did have very good hearing after all, despite their namesake being because of their loud screeches.

After an unsettling moment, Compa tried to call out to their comrade. "Nep-Nep, are you okay? If you fall into a pit it'll be game over…"

While slightly concerned for his friend's mental health when she said that last part, Nico nonetheless shook his head and raised one of his plasma claws to get a better look of what was ahead of them. It also allowed him to see that Compa was standing just slightly behind him, much to his relief. He didn't want to imagine her being exposed in a creepy place like this.

With her safety assured, Nico looked ahead at what could have collided with the purplette, hoping it wasn't a baby Banshee otherwise this would suck. He couldn't see much, but what he saw could only be described as… fanservice, so he quickly turned his head away to avoid the sight. But from what he did see, it was that apparent that Neptune had bumped into someone, stumbling down on top of them in a rather… intimate position. He counted his lucky stars she was wearing armour right now, otherwise he could have getting a peak under her hoodie dress, and wouldn't THAT be mentally scarring. Plus, the humiliation of having unintentionally peeked while he himself hated perverts with a passion, would be devastating.

"I… I think somebody bumped into me…" the girl moaned, holding the side of her helmet. It was fortunately she was in her armour otherwise the collision would have left more than an aching head. She couldn't say the same for whatever she had bumped into though. "Anyways, its dark so be careful." After warning the others, Neptune looked down at what she had bumped, only to find a surprising sight.

"Ow… watch it, girl."

Nico's eyes widened, as did the other girls, although his were more of realisation than surprise, even though it was still there. 'Holy shit, can it be?!' he exclaimed in his mind which was stunned whole trying to process what was happening before his very eyes. 'I didn't expect to meet HER in this place of all places! It doesn't seem like she's infested either, my motion detectors haven't detected movement within her body. wait a minute, how did this happen when my Motion trackers didn't detect anything?' he wondered with confusion, before deciding to form a hypothesis. 'If my tracker didn't track her, then she must have not been moving at the time of collision, it's the only possible explanation I can think of.'

As the person they bumped into, rubbed her head wither hand, which was pounding like a drum thanks to the collision with Neptune's armour, she opened her eyes and gasped, her face going red as she realised the position they were in. "Hey, couldja get off me already, your armour's super uncomfortable!" she yelled out in irritation, which made Neptune's brain kick in at last as she hurriedly got off her while trying not to hurt her with the blades her armour had.

The person then stood up, groaning at the new headache she was sporting, before she gave them all looks of annoyance, then confusion began to settle in when she noticed who they were. "Huh? Wait, what are kids like you guys doing here? You may be wearing armour, but your still kids…" she remarked and asked at the same time.

The male Agent then stepped forwards, taking a bag of ice cubes from his Armour's Void Storage to hand it to her. "Here, you should take this for your head. It'll help, I guarantee it." he offered, to which the girl smiled in appreciation while taking the bag and pressing it against her head, moaning in content as the pain seemed to dull down, replaced by a calming coolness. "Anyways, it's good to see your alive here, IF. I hoped I'd find someone who survived this nightmare."

"Huh?" the girl blinked out of her pleasure-induced stupor and looked at him, suspicious. "How do you know my name when I never gave it? wait…" her eyes widened after momentarily staring him down as she noted the armour and thought of only one person who could have used such equipment. "D-DEATHSTROKE? Is that you?" the girl asked breathlessly, her eyes like white circles. At his nod, the girl released a heavy, relieved sigh, one that indicated just how happy she was, and smiled at him. "Phew, what a relief. You have no idea how good it is to see a familiar face right now. I guess I should have expected it to be you since you're wearing your signature armour. Things have just been a bit hectic for me, is all." She then chuckled a bit as she remembered their last conversation. "Looks like your gut was right, as usual I'd suspect. I just wished our next meeting would have been a bit better."

At this, Nico nodded in agreement while his plasma claws glistened brightly, illuminating the ground around them. "No worries, with what's happening here it's understandable. Nevertheless, you'd be right girl. Let me guess, you saw them?" he asked her, getting a nod from the girl in return. Although she was hesitant to, as a disturbed expression had formed on her face as she remembered what she had seen when she first came to this hellhole of a dungeon.

"If this is what you guys deal with daily I can see why you would be considered elite." She remarked, shaking her head and removing the bag when she felt her headache subside. "I came here with a group of other Agents, the Guild said this quest had to be considered like a dungeon raid with how many people go in, but are never seen coming back out again." IF explained, before she looked down, her eyes darkening with sadness as she shuddered, rubbing her hands up and down her forearms as terrible memories surfaced in her mind. "We were ambushed when we got in, and I was the only survivor of the force. I saw what those things did to the others… and my god… it was awful."

Neptune, Compa and Nico frowned behind their helmets as they regarded the brunette with sympathy. The two girls knew that it was not a sight to witness, being infested and the end game, they themselves had only seen the latter, while IF had seen the former and the latter, many times over. Such a sight would have scarred them for life, while this girl looked like she was getting better at handling it.

"On a related topic, Nicky, you know this girl?" Neptune asked as she tried to change the topic. They didn't say it, but the three were grateful for the change, they didn't want to think any more about that horror lest they throw up, and with their helmets on that would be EXTREMELY uncomfortable.

The male nodded at the girl's question. "You could say that, her name's IF, and I met her when some of my fellow agents were being assholes and harassing her. She travels around working with the guild." He replied, shrugging his shoulders while memories played in his mind.

"Oh, I see…"

"Okay, I can see why you would be here DEATHTROKE, but why would you bring these kids along? Doesn't seem like the smartest idea to be honest." IF asked him while glancing around for any trouble.

Nico quirked his sole visible brow in her direction, gesturing to the girls in their Armour. "Well, they're stronger than they look, and have experience fighting a Banshee. Plus, they have some new tricks up their sleeves, more with their armour. Also-" before he could finish, his motion tracer alerted him, and when he raised his left bracer instead of is right one, which still displayed his Holomap, his eye narrowed when he saw a group of 5 red dots heading their way at a high speed, indicating they were either flying or moving really fast. Looked like they were about to be greeted by the welcoming committee.

* * *

2 tri pronged blades slid out from within the confines of her coat's large sleeves, and IF grimaced as she got into her combat stance. "Tch, looks like they're here again." She muttered while glaring at the direction the roars came from. "They really are just pests, in every sense of the word, too."

"Eh? That comment… seems like there was a story behind it, Mrs eager to cut."

The Guild Agent nodded in confirmation at Neptune's words. "You'd be right, kid. And don't make me sound like some psychotic killer." She said, scowling at how she was depicted by the purplette. "Anyways, these things were tough, but I noticed that they're weak to fire, so I resorted to gathering them into groups and blasting them with fire magic. Drained a lot out of me, but I was able to lessen their numbers."

As he heard this, Nico nodded in his assessment of IF's strategy, bobbing his head up and down in approval. "Good tactic, these guys prefer dark and cold areas like caves and mines, because of their high vulnerably to the sun's UV output. If we were to drag one outside it would shrivel up and die in seconds." He explained, lifting a finger up as he did so, sounding a lot like a professor giving a lecture. He then glanced at his motion tracker, his eye narrowing into a dark glare as he did so. "I'd love to say more, but sadly it seems we have some party crashers."

Right after he said that, the group saw the same number of Banshees emerge from the ceiling, gripping it with their claws and talons as they moved on all fours. Their wings were smaller than the adult one that Neptune and Compa fought earlier, with their limbs being slimmer. Nico was the first to comment about this. "They're new-borns, not fully mature. Odds are that they are the ones that we encountered from that old man." He said with a scowl, holding his Plasma claws for slashing. That man would be avenged today, if it was the last thing he did.

And then he'd move on to the Queen.

Neptune nodded as she flexed her arms, and the structures that her arms had for elbow joints seemed to shift slightly, splitting apart at the centre in a vertical formation to allow 2 long curved blades to slide out. They were shaped like the blade of a Scythe, with many long talons on the edges for increased slashing power. These talons, along with the edge of the Scythe blades, were made from plasma energy which crackled intensely. She looked down at her new weapons, marvelling at their design. "Ooooh, sweet! These baddies look like they mean business. Hey-hey, Nicky they look like your claws, don't they? They do, right?" she asked him, gesturing to the edges and talons of her Scythe blades.

"Yes indeed, these suits were designed based off data collected from previous battles I had. It makes sense that they model some of their weapons after me. Oh, and for reference, they're called 'Armblades'."

While the two had that exchange, the five Banshee hatchlings landed before them and screeched, charging at them with the intent to kill. Compa cried out, instinctively raising her right arm to punch one as it got close. It intended to dodge her sloppy attack, but then the compartments on her right forearm opened, and a cannon shaped like a small Syringe rose to take their place, quickly firing a stream of Plasma Needles from its tip. The Banshee cried out at that and fell back, much to the girl's shock. "Amazing… these suits are amazing!" she cried out again, this time in joy as she fired more and more Needles at the Banshee.

Nico smirked as he saw this while also parrying the claws of 2 Banshees at once. He then flipped over them and stabbed his claws into their backs, electing howls of pain before he tore them out gorily, letting fragments of their flesh fall to the ground while the wounds were burned and cauterised. He then slashed off their wings in a flurry of motions, his form a blur as he readily dispatched them with ease, ending at a decapitation for the pair of them. "Well done Compa! Those're called Armcannons, good for ranged attacks, which is your specialty if I'm not mistaken!"

"Thank you! And yeah!"

Neptune ran at the enemy with her Armblades deployed, IF soon following suit with her own blades. "Hey, why you not wearing armour, girlie?" the purplette asked as she jumped into the air, flipped forwards before coming down in an overhead slash with both blades. The Banshee below her jumped back to dodge them, instinctively aware that those Armblades would be trouble. only for IF to jump after it with a slash aimed towards its head that it blocked with its claws.

Having not heard or ignored the question, IF then made several kicks at its head while still in the air, ones that it parried before reaching to grab her left leg. IF saw this coming however and flipped forwards, landing a heel on top of its head to send it slamming into the ground. she then slashed at the exposed nape, only for its wings to act as barriers to block it. "Tch, even as hatchlings these things are a pain in the ass…" she grimaced in annoyance. In her short experience with these creatures, IF had discovered that not only did their wings act as an offense, but also as a defence through their flexible nature. She guessed she shouldn't be surprised since the Tendrils these things generate were also very flexible, and were more like extensions of the wings than anything. Defensive capabilities were within the limits of the wings, as versatile as they were annoying.

Its buddy ran at her on all fours, shrieking as it went to claw at her side, only for IF to spin and block its strike with one blade, then block the next one with the other. She did this multiple time, before the Banshee jumped into the air and slammed both claws down on her, only for IF to respond by swinging her blades together. The two attacks collided, and under the intense weight being suddenly forced on her without much warning her legs began to buckle, shaking continuously with no signs of being able to be stopped.

Fortunately for her, IF didn't have to endure it long because she was saved when Neptune came in and kicked it in the head, sending it tumbling aside while the first Banshee got up and launched several Tendrils at her. Because of it being young, it didn't have as many Tendrils as the one she fought before, but they were still fast enough to keep Neptune on her toes. She quickly sidestepped, rolled and did other evasive manoeuvres to dodge them, while also slicing their tips off with her Armblades.

The Two Banshees regrouped, hissing and growling at their opponents who also regrouped, readying their respective weapons. "Kid, you may be good but you don't have the experience fighting them like I do. I fought these things when they were adults, so listen carefully. I want you to distract them while I get a Skill ready. It'll take time to gather the energy though, so be wary." IF instructed her, glancing at her new companion. She had seen how she fought earlier, and while it was undisciplined and almost barbaric, it seemed to work for her, allowing to deal lots of damage while being able to take it too. If she could sum it in some words, it'd be 'can't take the head, stay out of the kitchen' as Neptune's tactics only worked because she could take what she dished out.

Said girl got peeved though at the referral to her that the Guild Agent used for her. "Hey, the pot's calling the kettle black, missy! The name is Neptune, believe it!" she retorted, before readying her Armblades. "And with your talk earlier, I'll take care of em, no prob! You won't even heave to do-"

Before she could finish, the Banshees flared their wings and unleashed a barrage of spikes towards them, forcing the two to scatter. It appeared they had forgotten how that the Banshees weren't like regular monsters that waited for dialogue between fighters to finish before attacking.

"It would help if you stay in the game, girl!"

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know, Iffy!"

"I-IFFY?!"

"Yeah, it's much cuter and easier to say than IF."

The two landed in kneeling positions, and the Banshees took their opportunity to strike by flying towards them. At the rate they went, Neptune and IF wouldn't be able to dodge, so the bubbly preteen in armour quickly dashed forwards, her Armblades at her sides in a diagonal angle. When she was near them, she slashed both Armblades at their faces, for the Banshees to retaliate with their claws.

Their limbs no longer usable thanks to her efforts, Neptune looked up and saw their wings about to sprout Tendrils again, and had a flashback to what happened the first time she fought a Banshee. "Nope, not this time meanies!" she bellowed, quickly shifting her Armblades and flicking them upwards, quickly pushing te Banshees' claws away from them and exploiting an opening by slashing them several times on their main bodies. The Banshees shrieked and cawed in pain as they stumbled back from the blows dealt to them, blood dripping from their wounds.

They tried to retaliate by launching their Tendrils anyways, but Neptune had other ideas as she crossed her Armblades together and activated a Skill. "CROSS COMBINATION!" she bellowed, her body moving at higher speeds than before thanks to her Skill's activation. When moving with a Skill in play, the body was much faster thanks to the energy the skill used enhancing its abilities, giving rise to the potential that the skills possessed.

Thus, it went without question why her attack caught the hatchling Banshees off guard. They were just new-borns, powerful ones, but new-borns nonetheless. They had little experience through the world compared to adult monsters, which would prove to be their downfall. With 2 weapons for her, Neptune's skill caused double the damage as she slashed with one and then the other in a unified manner, like they were extensions of her own body, ironically enough.

Kicking them into the air, Neptune jumped up after them, but instead of slamming them down to the ground again, she repeatedly slashed at their bodies while blurring around at high speeds, the hit count numbering at 20 before she raised both blades up, empowering them with the energy she would normally use to power her HDD form, making purple silhouettes of her Armblades cover them to make them look bigger, before she brought them down and engulfed them both in a large purple explosion.

Both Banshee Hatchlings cried out in agony, their wings only able to shield them from the brunt of the attack, ending up disintegrated down to the bone as a result, hindering them greatly as they crashed to the ground. But their troubles were not over yet as IF stood before them with a smirk on her face, holding up a hand which was coated in a crimson-orange energy shell. "Heh, you guys were at least a little bit of a challenge, but not enough for me, now take this! DEMON FLAMES!"

From below them, a large pillar of fire rose to the ceiling, engulfing the downed Banshee Hatchlings in its embrace. They cried out their last as the flames licked away at them, hungrily devouring their flesh in an ironic manner, for their species was known to do the same to their host. They lost their muscles first, then their vital organs, which was in a sense, deep blue sea karma.

* * *

After the attack finished, it disappeared to leave behind a pair of charred corpses, frozen in their screams of horror for until they shattered into piles of ash. IF grinned at the sight, feeling like she had avenged someone's unfortunate demise. However, this didn't last long as a wave of fatigue crashed onto her shoulders like a boulder falling on top of her, and IF fell to one knee, holding herself up with her arms on the ground, supporting the Guild Agent.

"Yay, we won! Don't underestimate the powers of the Protag- huh? Eh? Iffy, are you okay?" Neptune began to cheer, having gained a sense of closure from defeating those Hatchling Banshees. Now, all they had to do for complete closure was to defeat an adult Banshee and the closure would be complete. But when she saw the Guild Agent's state, how she sweated profusely while looking like she'd ran a marathon around the entire Landmass, she grew quickly concerned before jogging over, retracting her Armblades.

IF grumbled as she felt the purplette raise her up with an arm wrapped around the back of her shoulders, allowing her to put more of her weight Neptune. "Ugh, I'm good… just been doing that Skill a lot and it's been taking its toll. I bet I'll only be able to use a couple more of those before I fall unconscious."

This was said while Nico and Compa walked up to them, the male having finished off his 2 foes while Compa had blasted the third one, which had been looking for a way to sneak attack which showed it was the smartest of the five, in the head while it wasn't looking, ending its life quickly. When the male heard what IF had said, a frown formed on his features, "that's not good, IF, you should really make sure to carry ample supplies with you for this situation."

Before she could respond, the male swiftly pulled out a bottle of 'SP charger' from his Void storage, before handing it to her, "here, this should help. I have more than a few energy and health recovery items in my void storage for emergencies, but I'll let you have that one." he told her. IF sent him a grateful look, as without her most powerful skill currently, she would be severely weakened when she faced more of those Banshees.

After opening the drink and downing its contents, IF felt rejuvenated, her energy rising by a large margin. With a grateful smile, the girl looked towards them all, "Thanks for the assist you three, I honestly thought I was a goner down here…" she remarked, scowling as she looked down at the ground. she gritted her teeth at the memories of how her comrades had been infested then eaten alive by those monstrosities.

"Don't sweat it, sister." Neptune began while putting her hands on her hips with her legs spread apart as she puffed her chest out in pride. "The Nep-girl has got your back. Together we can end those meanies and save Gamindustri from their terror!"

Compa hummed in agreement with a nod. "Yep, alone we're not so tough, but with each other we can stand a chance." She remarked while clenching a fist in front of her face. If she didn't have her armour on, they would have seen how confident she looked, confidence born from Neptune's words of encouragement to the brunette.

Said Brunette could only chuckle in amusement. "Looks like you got yourself a colourful pair of subordinates, DEATHSTROKE." She remarked, smirking at Nico who smiled awkwardly behind his Mask, rubbing the back of his head nervously. Her eyes then focused on the preteen amnesiac, the time was just right for her to make a query about something that had been bugging her the whole fight. "Oh yeah, and while we're on this topic, Neptune, right? You really called me 'Iffy' back there?"

"Yup!" Neptune nodded her head in response, confirming IF's words. Nico gave her a look, quickly realising that she was giving out nicknames again like Compa did. Perhaps her and Compa were rubbing off on each other, not just one over the other. That was an… interesting thought, in a weird and thought-provoking way. "IF = Iffy. Like I said, sounds cuter, doesn't it?"

IF mauled it over in her mind, her face looking torn between accepting the name or just denying it outright. It was a complex expression she was sporting, one that made it hard to tell what she was thinking when she had that face on. Nico commemorated this trait to memory as he watched this situation unfold, waiting for his chance to interject. "Iffy…"

The way she said that word caught the preteen's attention as her face shifted from its default bubbly look to one of concern, like when someone saw a stray cat on the streets and wanted to do something about it but had no idea how. "Wait, you don't like it? oh, were you teased by kids with that name?" she asked hoping that she hadn't stepped on a landmine with that one. she didn't like the thought of new friends growing to hate her because of what she called them bringing back bad memories.

Her fears were dashed however, much to her relief, when IF shook her head in denial with a small upturning at the corner of her mouth, "No, I wasn't teased with my name before, girl. Call me whatever you want." She told her with a hand on her hip. Nico had to admit that she had taken the nickname thing rather well, he knew that a lot of people wouldn't be satisfied with those that called them funny and demeaning nicknames, especially if it's from a girl's mouth. She must not truly mind that much, and it intrigued him.

Hearing that it was okay, the nickname anyways, Compa beamed happily as she smiled with her eyes closed, hopping on the spot as she spoke, "really? Yay, then I'll call you iffy too! It's such a cute nickname, don't you think?"

"I-I guess so…"

Nico saw her reaction to the energetic Nurse-in-Training and figured she hadn't been used to someone like her before. It looked even weirder with the fact that they had armour on. It did look weird now that he thought about it, 2 badass looking armoured warriors with weapons that could kill you if you ever so much as looked at them wrong, behaving like little school girls, even if that was what they were like underneath. It showed that Neptune had little regard for how people thought of her antics, and Compa was just adding to the randomness.

Deciding to step in, the male walked up and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, getting her attention, "don't worry about it so much, once those two come up with a nickname for someone it's impossible to convince them otherwise. They like giving nicknames to people." he said with a reassuring tone of voice, before he remembered something from the previous battle, "oh, and you don't have to keep calling me DEATHSTROKE, just Nico will do."

IF nodded at that as she tested the word on her lips, "Nico huh… yeah, I guess that's okay. I mean, it feels a little overwhelming that I'm getting so chummy with a Spec-Ops agent. Oh, the fanboys and girls will be for my head when this gets out." She muttered, sighing in depression at the end.

He could only console her for a few moments, knowing the hard truth of that statement.

Then, Neptune thought of an idea, and decided to bring it up with the others barely containing herself at the prospect. "Now then why not come with us, Iffy? Birds of a father flock together after all, and it would be really coolios if we had 2 pros on our Party." She suggested while tilting her head with an index finger on her chin.

Nico raised a brow at this, but didn't find anything wrong with the idea. "Not a bad idea, Neptune, not bad at all. It would be best if we stuck together as a group, especially since we're in the middle of the enemy's territory, it's only a matter of time before more try to swarm us." He said, reaching forth and patting the girl on her armoured head rubbing it in an affectionate manner, though it would have been better if she wasn't wearing her Armour. Neptune hummed in approval as she tilted her head to be petted more by the male, happy that she had been complimented by her companion. He didn't notice Compa pouting in jealousy for a split second though, but IF did.

Said Guild Agent didn't need to think for a second on what she wanted to do, since the choice was obvious in her eyes. "Sure, why not? As they say the more the merrier, right? Also, Nico's right that we'd best stick together if we wanna survive this hellhole." She remarked. Also, there was something else, it was rare that a party consisting of a mix of people: adventurers, Guild Agents and their Spec-Ops counter parts, would be formed like this. The potential from all 3 working together… well, it was almost unpredictable how much potential that kind of party would have. And with the way things were, the world would greatly benefit from such a union.

"Yay, awesomesauce!" Neptune cheered as she threw her arms up into the air, Compa mirroring her actions as she jumped over to IF and got close to her space, "I hope we can be best friends, Iffy!" she cheered. Grabbing her hands and bouncing up and down.

IF could only smile at the hyperactive preteen in armour right now, ignoring the strangeness of the situation since she figured that based off the expression of amusement Nico was wearing it was a common sight for him. She could only imagine the antics these three would get into, but instead of annoyance, IF found herself intrigued at the thoughts. "Sure, looking forward to it."


	9. Chapter 9 - Banshee Nest PT 2

**Chapter 9 - Banshee Nest PT 2**

Later, after they had successfully recruited IF into the party, they began to venture deep into the Monster Cave, with IF having brought out a torchlight for lighting. With the newest addition to their ranks, the two energetic girls of the group walked in front with their armour still on, talking like the girls they were like they were instead of keeping their guard up. While Nico would have reminded them of the situation they were in, he couldn't fault them for trying to find some form of normalcy here. It was what kept them happy, and he liked seeing them smile. It was much better than seeing them sad, he would readily admit that to himself.

Not sure if he would say it out loud after all.

"Say, how did you come to meet those two anyways?" IF asked while she walked beside him, eyeing him curiously. She had figured that he was the one who supplied those two with the armour and weapons they possessed, but was curious on the 'why' more so than the 'how' currently, although she was curious about a lot of things about him. Out of all the Spec-Ops agents she had heard of, Nico codename DEATHSTROKE was the least known amongst them, very reclusive and stuck to solo missions. There was a time when he had done group operations before, but usually they were because he had little options in the matter. "It's hard to imagine those two constantly fighting on the front lines, I mean, look at them. They're taking this like an everyday walk in the park."

The male regarded the brunette, wondering what to tell her. She had just happened them and he didn't know much about her. Usually his instincts told him to be tight-lipped about such matters, as more than a few times he had spilled the beans to some people, only for them to do something sinister and betray others in the end. It wasn't an uncommon practice, Guild Agents betraying and killing each other off while saying that monsters had killed them instead. It was always a power struggle with them, wanting fame and fortune from the Guild and recognition by the CPUs. It was why he hardly associated with anyone other than a select few.

Glancing at the girls ahead of them, Nico made a choice, before looking back to her as he replied. "Me and Compa go way back when. She and I first met when I was 11, and a first she was shy and timid around me, but eventually I got her to warm up to me. Now, we're really close with each other." He explained to her, remembering how he had met the girl for the first time. 'She'd been so shy back then, hiding behind the leg of her grandfather when I was first brought to her household.' He mused mentally, chuckling mildly at the memories in his head.

"As for Neptune, well… when I first saw her she looked like a human Excalibur kissing the ground, literally." He began, recalling how he and Compa found the amnesiac buried head first into the ground. "We got her out, treated her, and by the time I arrived back to check in on them, I saw Compa giving Neptune some…" he had to clear his throat at the awkwardness that those memories brought back, "bandage care, though it looked more like… something else."

At the tone, he used at the end, IF raised a brow in surprise, before looking at Compa warily. "Sounds like a colourful group of people there. Though I'm not sure what I should feel with that last bit…" deciding to not think about it, IF shook her head and moved on. "Well, you brought them here, so they're your responsibility." She told him firmly, getting an equally form nod from him.

"Hey uh guys, I was just wondering…" the sound of Neptune's voice broke them out of their conversation, as they turned to her to see that she was regarding Nico curiously, her head tilted with an index finger on her jaw. "I get that we have to find the queen and all, take out the leader of the mob and the rest are easy Pickens, basic gaming 101. But wouldn't it be helpful if we knew what it would look like?"

After she asked that, there was a short silence as they contemplated the question. Finally, IF hummed to herself. "Huh… not a bad question, Nep, which is surprising coming from you." She remarked thoughtfully while cupping her chin and looking down, deep in thought.

"Heeeeey, there was an insult there, wasn't it? don't try to hide it, lord Nep-Nep has her eye on you!"

"Huh? Did you say something, Nep?"

"Grrr!"

Nico watched the teasing that IF was giving Neptune and her responses to it with an amused twinkle in his eyes. It looked like IF was getting along well with them already, and that made her a decent person in his books. Neptune and Compa were the epitome of innocence in his mind, so those who wished them harm were nothing but scum to him. He was happy that IF wasn't like those people, that his instincts about her paid off.

Neptune was pouting deeply at the brunette who was smirking back at her, a complete opposite reaction to her words. But then, she noticed something that stopped her pouting in its tracks, changing her expression to one of curiosity and confusion, plus a little dosage of surprise. "Hold on a sec." she hummed in thought as her brain tried to process the words IF had said to her, and after a few seconds it hit her. "I just noticed this now, but… is Nep, me?"

The brunette rolled her eyes, while Nico merely covered his smirk with his hand while stifling his chuckles. 'About time you noticed, girl. A little slow on the uptake there, Neptune…' he thought to himself, finding her 'slow-on-the-uptake' quirk to be quite humorous. Nico didn't know why but something told him that he wasn't the only one who thought that. (Looking at you Neptune fans.)

"You call me Iffy, so why not? Anyways, your right that we would need an idea of what this thing looks like, but even more so we need a plan for how we're going to fight it." IF told her, before switching her gaze to their sole male member who was already searching through his Void Storage through a Holographic screen. "Something tells me you have an idea of how to proceed though."

After finding what he wanted in his Void Storage, Nico looked up and smirked at them. "Why yes I do. I like to be prepared for any situation when going on Quests like these. Banshees don't like fire or light, so I brought some flares and various materials to make fiery bombs. We can use them to trap and weaken the Queen enough for a few of your Demon Flames spells to finish it off. If that doesn't work we always have the old-fashioned way." To further empathise his plan, Nico raised a hand to his face and deployed one of his Plasma Claws. The glow of his weapon illuminated his Mask, with his sole eye set into a firm stare which pronounced an intimidating appearance.

The girls shuddered at the sight, but more important than that, they felt their fears of the Banshee Queen melt away slightly, knowing that they had a plan for dealing with it. "Alright that solves one problem," IF noted down verbally. While this was happening, they had reached a large chamber deep within the Dungeon. This Chamber was darker than the other tunnels, which made vision difficult. Several scents whiffed into Nico's Nostrils, scents that quickly put him on high alert. "The next issue is what the hell this thing looks like. Hey Nico, what are you doing?"

After finishing her second query, IF had noticed the male manipulating his Bracer. The male answered while also pulling an item out of his Void Storage, holding his hand out as the item manifested into it. When the item fully manifested, the brown-haired Guild Agent quickly realised what it was, but before she could speak Nico beat her to it. "A Sonic Grenade, meant to make an explosion of sound, nothing that affects humans but it's extremely lethal to those with enhanced hearing." He explained, internally adding 'good thing my armour protects my ears from these things, had to make mods to it when I first tried these out.'

"The Banshee Queen won't be affected as it has special coating over its ears to protect it but this isn't for her, this is for her royal Guard."

Pulling the pin, Nico quickly threw into the centre of the chamber, as well as pulled out what looked like a flashbang and threw that in for good measure. The two handheld grenades exploded, a mix of sound and light encasing the entire rom. The flashbang seemed to act as a flare, giving them enough light to see where they were going. While the Banshee Queen would be weak to light it was also able to hide away in time having used the Hivemind to get info ahead of time. The royal guards who protect her though weren't so lucky.

Screeches and shrieks filled their ears as several creatures dropped down from the ceiling, hissing and screaming in agony while motioning like they were covering their ears. Thanks to the light they could see that the creatures looked like Banshees, only they had long tails that had ended in blade-like Tipp, their arms were encased in chitinous armour, along with their heads. Their wings didn't have the scattered facial features that their brethren had, but they did have portable mouths still.

"Be wary guys!" Nico yelled as he deployed his Plasma Claws, getting into a combat stance. "Even disoriented, these guys are a heckova lot stronger than the Banshee Warriors that we faced earlier!" he told them while the creatures, numbering at 5, regained their bearings and growled.

IF looked at Nico and asked. "Why do these guys look slightly different from the others? They look tougher than the average ones." She pointed towards them, or to be more specific, the slight differences in their appearances.

As a Spec Ops Agent, Nico had an answer on standby. "They're called B. Banshees. B stands for Beta, which is just below the rank of Alpha which belongs to the Queen!" the male snorted as he said this like it was venom. "It's their hierarchy, the Queen's the Alpha and the rest are like Betas."

They couldn't talk further, for the Beta Banshees all attacked them at once. The party was forced to scatter, 2 going after Nico since he was the one that had forced them out of hiding and the rest going after the girls, 1 each. Nico parried the claws of one Banshee and ducked under the Tail swipe of another he swung his claws in fast swipes, trying to get a hit on them but they both expertly blocked and evaded his attacks, countering with their own.

Fighting these Beta Banshees was like fighting expert martial artists, they excelled at close combat and were efficient at dealing with prey with their claws. Their tails were also extremely deadly, for they could use them as stingers to inject fertilised embryos into their prey when they were defeated. They were far superior to their lesser Banshee counterparts, who may have similar combat styles, but these guys had the advantage of Tails, they didn't.

IF flipped back to avoid a claw swipe, landing in a one-handed kneeling position while sliding to a halt. She swiftly switched out her free hand's weapon, her Qatar sliding back into her Sleeves while a pistol slid out into her hand. She began firing at the enemy in their faces, which was difficult thanks to their armoured heads. Fortunately, her opponent made a mistake an ended up getting a couple shots in some of its many eyes, electing furious screeches from them as they flew at her from an angle.

To counter, IF got into a one-handed handstand, pushing herself with great strength into the air to avoid a claw that would have stabbed her from the head downwards. The claw harmlessly stabbed into the ground, and IF quickly fired on its wings a few times, before coming down in a continuous flip and slamming both her feet into its head. She then bounced of fit, flipping once before her landing, which lasted only for a second while she charged forth, intent to cut its head off with her remaining Qatar. However, the creature curled its wings in front of it, blocking her strike much to her chagrin.

After it forced her back by pushing its wings outward with a shriek, IF saw its wings beginning to bubble, a clear indication that it was about to fire something. It was only for a millisecond though before she found herself having to flip about erratically, trusting her instincts like they were her lifeline as she avoided a barrage of Shards from them. When the barrage ended, IF looked herself over and found several scratches and minor injuries over her person, some of them going through her coat, top and shorts. "Tch, a tenacious bastard, aren't you?" she remarked with a small smirk, before switching her Pistol for her other Qatar as she charged again.

Going to Neptune, she and Comp had the bright idea to team up, Neptune keeping them away from Compa by attacking them both with her Armblades while the Nurse-In-Training kept them at bay. The purplette in armour panted heavily as her arms hung at her sides. "Phew, these cool blades take some getting used to…" she mused, looking down at the Armblades, more specifically the plasma edge and talons. "Still feels cool though. I feel like that black-haired swordsman who-"

"Nep-Nep above you!"

Her monologing was stopped when an alert from her friend made her look up and cross her Armblades together, like an X. This allowed her to block an overhead claw slash from a B. Banshee while the other tried to whack her with its Tail. However, she sidestepped it and allowed her first enemy to fall to the ground, clashing with her second enemy while the first was hit many times from Compa's forearm mounted Armcannons.

Neptune and the B. Banshee swiftly exchanged blows, the creature mixing its Tail into its attacks while the preteen amnesiac parried and slashes with her Armblades. "Take that! And that! And that! Hah! She exclaimed, making battle sounds during each slash. "Oh, didn't see this coming!" Neptune the ducked under one swing and tripped the B. Banshee up, and before it could stabilise itself with its wings Neptune swiftly kicked it away, the enemy rolling across the ground.

Spinning around, she saw that the first B. Banshee had gotten closer to Compa despite her launching an endless volley of Plasma Needles at it. Not wanting it to get to close to her friend, Neptune charged in from behind. "Hey, ya big bully!" she yelled, getting its attention a she jumped and aimed a flying kick at its head. "Dynamic entry!" her attack hit the side of its head, sending it tumbling sideways away from the Nurse-In-Training, who could only sweat drop with a weak smile.

"Thanks, and all, Nep-Nep… but did you have to reference that guy in green with bushy eyebrows?"

Back to Nico, the male rolled his eyes at the references Neptune was making. 'Even in combat Neptune likes to make references and memes. Well, makes her an interesting person to fight with, at least…' he thought while blocking a slash to his head. He then pushed the B. Banshee back and jumping into the air. Its partner jumped at him as well, intending to cleave him in too had Nico not spun into a roundhouse kick, hitting it in the side of the head and sending it crashing to the ground.

The B. Banshee below quickly spread its wings intending to fire Spikes at him, however Nico acted first, swan diving down at it and raising his right Plasma Claw. Bringing it down, he managed to cut through both its right wing and its arm, the sounds of its screeches being his company as he deactivated his right Plasma Claw, slamming it into the ground and pushing into the air again, allowing him to flip into an upright position before landing once again.

Turning to see his Handiwork, Nico grinned as he saw the wounds he'd made on the B. Banshee, wounds that had already burned and closed, keeping any possibility of healing from happening. He wasn't sure if these guys had healing or not, these creatures always had unexpected mutations that threw off the Guild Researchers, but that wasn't important right now as he reared his left Plasma Claw back and charged, going in low while dragging his weapon through the ground, making sparks fly as he generated a powerful energy charge from his actions.

When he was close enough, the male raised his Plasma Claw for an upward swipe before the B. Banshee could recover, slicing it right up the middle. The creature gave one last dying shriek, alerting its brethren of its demise as it fell to the ground, dissipating into Particles. Its partner shrieked in anger, its Tail swaying wildly in response to its anger at him for killing its sister.

Nico turned to face it once again, his mouth smirking behind the Mask of his armour. "Alright, next?" he asked, making the 'come here' gesture with one finger. The B. Banshee shrieked, taking the challenge as it ran towards him, making slight stomping sounds as it ran at him with the ferocity of a berserk Ravager. And yeah, those were a thing at least in THIS Gamindustri. Not so sure about the Cannon Gamindustri or the other Fanfiction made ones.

The male charged back as well, activating his right Plasma Claw to go along with his left. The two met in the middle, colliding in a furious bout of claw swipes. Each was blocked, dodged or parried at a speed that surpassed that of the battles the girls were having. Raising a claw to diagonally block a strike to his shoulder, Nico thrusted a claw to its chest that it swiped to the side, the male using the momentum to spin into a knee to its abdomen. It responded by doing the same as him, using its Tail which had the same reach as his leg, the two colliding with a mighty shockwave released into the air.

Breaking off, the B. Banshee fired many Spikes from its wings, making him jump into the air. It flared its wings and took off after him, soon parrying several claw swipes from the male before using its Tail to swipe at his stomach. Nico however, twisted his leg like it was a wheel in front of him, hooking it around the Tail as it neared him, before flipping forwards and flinging it down to the ground.

His chance presented itself and Nico quickly activated one of his Skills. "PHANTOM BLADES!" he spread his arms out, and the magic circle appeared, launching the Phantom blades at the B. Banshee while it was down. The creature tried to move out the way, but dodged all but the last one which impaled one of its wings, exploding and taking the wing with it. the B. Banshee shrieked in pain at the loss of its wing, slowly getting up and gripping the stump to try and lessen the pain somehow. Though it was a wasted effort.

With his landing where the enemy once lay, Nico pivoted around to charge at the enemy, his Plasma Claws poised to strike. The B. Banshee noticed him just in the nick of time, and quickly parried both of his attacks, the two trading blows faster than the eye could see. The male was slightly impressed at this. 'Heh, I must admit, if this thing can fight like this even with the loss of a wing, then it must have received 'that' from the Queen.' He thought to himself. 'However...'

"Your wide open!" Nico suddenly launched a scissor kick out of nowhere, ending up hitting it in its mouth which sent it back a few steps. Nico then followed up with another Skill, a Magic circle appeared under his feet, which began to pulse with a faint purple aura. His eye narrowed into a deadly stare. "You like to have fangs, right? Well, how about these then?! PHANTOM WAVE!"

With the calling of his Skill, Nico made a kick in a diagonal angle like kicking a football, and from it a large crescent wave of plasma energy was unleashed from his foot. Faintly one could see the silhouette of a Shark bouncing out from its hiding place behind him into a large open mouth lunge. The attack hit the B. Banshee head on, making it shriek in agony as it was ripped apart from the attack.

Lowering his leg as the skill ended, the Magic Circle vanishing, Nico chuckled darkly while he turned away from what remained of the creature as it vanished. "Heh, the fangs of a monster outmatch anything else." He remarked while flicking his arms downward to disengage his Plasma Claws.

"That's a… unique one liner, Nicky." The sound of Neptune's voice with the teasing undertone made Nico look up, seeing that the girls had come over to him having dealt with their enemies already. "You think that one up all by yourself?"

The male shook his head while chuckling behind his Mask. They couldn't see it, but he was impressed with them. "Meh. Anyways, good job fighting those things, shows that you've all got the skill to fight things matching a Spec-Ops Agent. However," his eyes narrowed when a rumbling sound came from below them. He knew what was coming, this had only been a part of the hell they were experiencing. "It's far from over yet, the main guest is going to arrive soon."

* * *

Ever had the feeling that you would meet something worse than one's worse nightmares could create? Well, that was the feeling that the girls were getting right now. The Banshees alone were scary enough, enough to give even experienced war veterans nightmares for days on end, but what they were feeling right now coming from, what they attributed to the Banshee Queen itself as it began heading towards them from… somewhere, made that terror seem as small and mild as an ant in comparison.

"Um, is it just me or does the air feel colder for some reason?" Neptune asked with a shudder, fear and panic slowly rising within the deepest pits of her stomach… and those were deep pits in themselves, so if she could feel it from down there then it must be serious. "Cause I'mma getting the hibbejibbees…"

Compa shook her head in denial, shaking her head as she clenched her fists. She needed more comfort than that so she gripped her forearms instead, trying to find solace in the armour that was fitted around her frame. "I-I-it's not just y-y-y-y-you, Nep-Nep…" she stuttered with a similar shudder. "I-I-I-I feel it, t-t-t-t-too…"

Shaking her head at the two, IF focused on her surroundings. "Keep on guard everyone," she yelled to the group, all of them save for Nico going back to back. The male wasn't worried right now, since he'd faced foes much tougher than this. "We don't know what will happen once your highness comes over, so be prepared!"

In that moment, a hand burst out the ground. The flare that Nico had launched earlier was beginning to wear off, so he took another one and threw it into the air, reigniting their light. The second afterwards another hand burst out as they slammed into the ground, digging into it as they pulled the rest of the new arrival out of the earth, revealing its form to them all.

"Oh… My… Neps…"

"Holy Goddesses…"

"Now that's… a big bug…"

Neptune, Compa and IF all made their comments in that order once they faced their new enemy as it shook off the dirt from its body before it glowered at them. If they thought the Banshees from before were ugly, then this thing looked like an abomination. It stood at 12 feet tall, with a pair of long, bipedal legs that matched the appearance of the Banshees earlier, only they were slimmer and more… feminine. Its main body was reminiscent of a humanoid, but with a skeletal appearance. Scary thing was, that its chest was decorated with many deformed faces, all frozen in screams of agony and varying in size.

The arms were thin and weak-looking, but they all knew it was nothing but a mask to hide how much of a wallop they would pack. Especially with the Banshees they have already fought. The hands were just, hands, matching the arms in appearance, but with short-sword length talons. Out of its back were, unlike the regular Banshees, a pair of tattered wings that had multiple wing talons with opposable thumbs. The top half of their webbing was black like most of its body, but closer to the bottom specs of purple can be seen. Out the base of the spine was a long tail that looked like the extension of the human spinal column, ending in a long blade-like stinger. Finally, its head was reminiscent of the regular Banshees, but with 4 antennae coming out the top of its head and a full twisted chitinous crest.

"Okay, that's… a monster." IF commented, she'd never fought something like this before. Usually the monster she'd face weren't all that threatening, heck she would be the first to say that they looked more adorable than threatening… plus their weirdness discounted any fear they might have generated with their reputation. But this, THIS looked like a real freaking monster. Was this what Spec Ops agents went through daily? Challenging opponents like this? She could see why they would be so techy then, and how they would need to be the best of the best in terms of their skillsets.

Compa shook slightly as she held her Syringe. Just before she could open her mouth to say something however, the beast reared its head back and let out a mighty shriek/roar sound, making everyone save for Nico cover their ears. When it stopped, the creature began to run at them, its feet making moderate booming sounds as it stomped towards them. "Eh?! It's like the others, it doesn't wait for the battle to begin!"

Its first target was, low and behold, the Nurse-In-Training herself. Compa eeped as she tried to roll to the side to dodge, only for the creature to be too fast, and thus managed to slam its claw into her stomach. The armour she wore stopped it from being a fatal blow, but it didn't stop it from hurting like a thousand volts of electricity. She screamed while being sent flying away, finally slamming into a section of the cave wall with enough impact to create a large indent in it. "Kya!" she cried out.

The Banshee Queen roared as it ran towards her to finish it off, when suddenly it sensed danger and swiftly jumped back, avoiding a Plasma Claw slash to its face. The wielder, a very pissed off Nico, landed in a crouching motion while his comrades attacked in his stead. Neptune went and slashed at its feet only for its Tail to block her attempts, while IF made to activate her DEMON FLAMES Skill.

Heat began to gather below it, and the creature gave a hiss as it rolled to the sides, avoiding the Skill and everything associated with it, much to the girl's shock. "What?! How can it avoid my Skill like that?!" IF screamed as it got up and flicked its Tail in their direction. From it, a series of Spikes were launched, flying with the intent to impale and kill. The Girls barely managed to get out their way in time, but the places they landed in became small craters from the impact. "Monsters' can't move like that, it's almost like it predicted my Skill's activation!"

"Likely it did!" Nico's voice rang out as he ran at the beast, avoiding its slashes and going for its legs. It twisted itself out of danger though, and made to spin its Tail into a Tail swipe to his back. Nico could dodge this by jumping into the air and back flipping over the Tail, stabbing one of his Plasma Claws into it. The Banshee Queen shrieked in anger as it swung its Tail about to get him off, but his Plasma Claw stuck to it like glue. "Banshee Queens are usually the most intelligent of their species, they have to be so they can lead their Hives effectively. It likely analysed us though our previous battles with her children and learned of our tactics!"

Hearing his words, Neptune groaned in dismay, not too fond of an enemy that could plan like they could. "Well ain't that just chipper?" she remarked with heavy Sarcasm, her Armblades scratching the ground when she dragged them across it. "Then what shall we do about it?" she yelled back before they quickly jumped away to avoid an overhead Tail smash.

Using this, Nico flipped off the monster's Tail and back pedalled to Compa, the Party regrouping as they faced off against the Banshee Queen, which hissed in challenge as it stomped towards them, Tail swishing behind it. "I have a plan, but for it to work I need to be the bait for it to focus its attention all on me, while you girls hit its openings." Nico said.

Compa turned her head to look at him, and if she weren't in her armoured state Nico would have seen how displeased she was with the idea. "What?! Ni-Ni, that's crazy!" she protested, the preteen amnesiac nodding in agreement, but before she could continue her protest she felt a hand clasp onto her armoured shoulder. "Eh?" turning her head, Compa saw that it was IF who grabbed her, and she was giving her a level stare and a shake of the head. "Iffy?"

"DEATHSTROKE's got the right idea, the way I see it he has the most experience fighting monsters like these, more experience than even me… Though it's hard to admit that." She said, grimacing at the last part. She didn't like admitting to another that someone was stronger than her, but in this case, she had no other option. She could tell that this creature had her outclassed in both strength, speed and stamina from their short collision earlier, so any plan that DEATHSTROKE, a Spec Ops Agent who was more equipped for this situation, would be one she would adhere to.

The cream haired girl wanted to protest further, but she stopped because now that she thought about it, IF had a point. Nico had more experience in these types of situations, more so than IF who may have been a Guild Agent longer than him, but she handled only the normal monsters, the ones that Nico fought were on a whole different level, both in abilities and in horror. A defeated sigh escaped her lips before she looked to him, her eyes forming a determined gaze behind her helmet, "Just make sure you don't die, Ni-Ni, I'll never forgive you if you do!"

At this, the male chuckled in amusement, before giving her a smile. "I'll try, Compa." Was all he said, before looking to the Banshee Queen which was close to them, about to raise its claw for an overhead slam. Nico swiftly activated his PHANTOM BLADES skill, sending the blades at it to stop its progress and make it stumble back. "Sorry bitch, but you're gonna get owned." The male snarled with his lone eye narrowing darkly. "Have a PHANTOM WAVE!" he swung his leg like he was kicking football, sending the wave of purple energy into the creature, further stunning it.

With that done, Nico took his chance and charged at it. His mind raced with options for what kind of weapon he would use on this thing as his Plasma Claws wouldn't cut it. True most of his arsenal was Plasma Based, but he needed something with a big amount of force behind it. 'Hmmm, usually blunt weapons would work best here, its shoulders are the weak spot when using blunt weaponry, but they're not my forte so I don't use them… hmmm… wait, I know!'

Using all his experiences with his Armour, Nico activated the Void Storage ability on his right Bracer, swiping his other hand across the holographic inventory screen, swiftly selecting the weapon he would need to use to emerge victorious, while flipping over the creature's claw swipes and Tail smashes as he lured it away from the Girls, who split off into multiple directions. His Plasma Claws were disengaged as he swiftly reached behind him for one of the Holsters on his back, the diagonal one, a purple stream of data swirling into a vortex inside his hand as the weapon he chose took physical form.

Just as the Banshee Queen had jumped into the air and tried to stomp on him when it came down, his weapon was fully formed and he used it to deflect the attack, causing the creature to fall onto its side from the lack of balance. The male jumped back and landed in a crouch, one hand on the ground to slow his movement to a halt with his weapon now in hand. It was revealed to be a massive Claymore with a heavy double-edged blade, notched on both sides near the tip. The pommel was a plain one, with a plain grip, but the guard is skeletal, with a skull-design on each side leading to the rib cage from which the blade emerged; on one side of the blade, the skull is that of a human, while the other uses a horned demon's skull. Lastly was the cross guard that was folded inward against the Ribs of the blade.

The blade had a static aura around it, HF Technology having been outfitted into the blade itself to give it an increased damage effect. Both its edges were constantly crackling to enhance its dangerous appearance. Plasma energy canisters were located on the bottom of the grip to supply it with more Plasma Energy. Nico grinned behind his Mask as he got into a Stance, muttering to himself. "Hello Rebellion, been a while since I drew you. Looks like it's your turn to play."

Rebellion was a special sword, a magical sword that was not made by any military or the WDD. This sword was found by Nico himself one day when travelling back from a mission to the Guild. He'd been stressed out at the time because of the things he'd seen on that mission, but when his Bracer detected some ruins nearby, he had gone and investigated them, leading to him finding the sword buried within the crypt of someone who had long since passed.

The moment he saw it however, the blade seemed to thrum with life, as if it were calling to him. When he'd touched the blade, Nico had not been expecting for what seemed to be a message to be burned into his brain. It was: 'To whom may pick up my blade. I name you the successor to my will. Heed my words, for this sword, Rebellion, contains the strength of over 1000 demons, slain by my hand. Wield it well, and its power will be yours to command.'

Boy was the message right, as not long afterwards he'd been faced with dozens of living skeletons, demons and other Monsters as he fought with Rebellion, understanding what it could do, and what the message was trying to tell him. When he'd returned to the Guild at last, he had asked to study the blade and have it outfitted with HF technology, before adding it to his lethal arsenal. It was a pain, they said, for the blade seemed unusually... resistant, to the changes, until he watched it during the fitting. It seemed to be... settled with him nearby, so the researchers were convinced that it had some form of sentience. Though he didn't mind, as the blade seemed to see him as a worthy wielder, and that was enough for him.

The Banshee Queen screamed with rage as it got up again, glaring at Nico with utmost hate as it launched a series of spikes at him. The male's hidden grin only widened as he reared Rebellion back and swung sideways, cutting the first of the deadly spikes, slashed the opposite way a second later, then sidestepped the third one. He saw several more coming his way, so Nico pressed a button on the Claymore's hilt, and the static around the edges began to decrease in stability. "Heh, time for a little CHARGE!" he yelled, swinging sideways and allowing the energy to launch itself as a wave of static.

His attack shattered the Spikes coming his way, and headed towards the Banshee Queen. It barely rolled out the way in time, having sensed the danger that the wave possessed and instinctively tried to avoid it. Then, when it was on all fours while trying to get up, it was forced to put its Tail before its face to stop a slash from slicing through its head. Nico grunted as Rebellion was pressed against the Tail, its HF Blade constantly grinding against it. The Banshee Queen groaned and growled as it saw the Tail slowly being sliced through by the blade, its pain receptors screaming at it in notification.

Before he could slice the Tail off, the Banshee Queen screeched as it took to the skies, pushing the blade in a harmless direction as it tried to get some distance between them. The creature then made to dive at him with the intent of skewering him with its talons, only for a barrage of thin Plasma Needles to hit it in the sides. It screeched in anger and looked to the source, finding Compa having aimed her Armcannons at the enemy with a deadly steel to her tone. "Stop trying to hurt my Ni-Ni!" she yelled with several tick marks over her head.

With fury in its eyes, the Banshee Queen roared as it charged down at her, intending to cleave the girl in two. However, someone else had jumped up and slashed at one of its wings, knocking it off course and to the ground. It stumbled to its feet, glancing at its damaged wing to note that it wouldn't be useful for a while if it survived this encounter. It looked to the one responsible, and saw that it was Neptune with her Armblades empowered by her HDD energy.

Another Shriek came from its lips as it made to charge at her, only for something to happen that stopped it. The Banshee Queen froze, no longer being able to move. Confused and now a little scared along with its anger, it looked down to see a purple Magic Circle under it. Identifying the colour to the wielder, it turned its head to see Nico stabbing Rebellion into the ground, his lone eye gleaming with malice and dark amusement. "Sorry bitch, like I said, you were going to get owned, now to show you how. CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!"

From the Magic Circle, purple coloured Chains of pure Plasma Purple Energy burst out, wrapping around and restraining the Banshee Queen, halting any mobility it had earlier. it couldn't even move its Tail, which was its only source of ranged offence it had since unlike the Banshees it made, its wings were designed more for flight than combat.

With the creature Bound, Nico pulled Rebellion out of the ground and ran towards the enemy, with Neptune following suit when she realised what he was planning. The two quickly sped up into a blurred motion, dashing past the Banshee Queen continuously while leaving countless cuts and lacerations across its body. first its arms, then its shoulders, back, tail and lastly its legs. It was screeching and roaring in agony as it tried in vain to defend itself, only to fail each time.

'It's weakened enough for the final blow!' the Spec Ops Agent thought while turning towards the brunette. "IF, now!" the Guild Agent nodded in affirmation before activating her DEMON FLAMES Skill, bombarding the Banshee Queen with fire based damage. By the time the Skill ended, the creature was horribly charred and damaged beyond recognition, with its wings reduced to soot, its Tail burned to nothingness down to the base and its body full of cauterised holes.

Deciding to hold off on using his explosive bombs, Nico chose to jump towards the near-dead Banshee Queen's head with Rebellion dangerously crackling with electricity all the while. By the time he was at its face, the male was glaring into the many eyes it possessed, while the Banshee Queen did its best to glare back. Even now when its demise was immanent, it would not falter before its enemy. 'Well, the bitch is a leader till the end, at least…' the male thought to himself before raising his Claymore and bringing it down, ending the beast's life when his blade cut its head clean in half through the middle.

The body fell limp onto the ground, motions ceased forever as it, like with all other monsters, disappeared in a flurry of white particles, signalling the battle to be over. The male stumbled back, heaving a sigh of relief before he stabbed Rebellion into the ground and using it as a makeshift stand to lean back on when he fell onto his backside. Lifting one leg to his chest, the male murmured with relief, his helmet splitting open in its usual manner. "At last, the threat is vanquished…"

"Yay! Yippee! Huzaah! We did it guys, we beat the meanie monsters!" Neptune cheered as she dismissed her armour form, revealing her true appearance to the Brunette who hadn't seen it yet. "all because of our coolness! We're unstoppable!" she cheered as her friend Compa did the same.

When her armour was gone, the Nurse-In-Training looked at everyone with concern. "It's over, so I need to ask if anyone's hurt. Nurse Compa will fix you up good, no matter how many owwies you have." She said happily, while everyone gave her wary looks. The way she said that with such casualness and a big smile on her face was… creepy, almost scary.

"Well, at least the enemy's gone. We can report to the Guild that the mission's complete now, maybe make a recommendation for Guild Agents to watch out for any stragglers." IF mused in thought. She was not going to be fooled into thinking they killed all the Banshees, some of them must have fled into Virtua Forest or other Dungeons. It never hurt to be too cautious after all.

She then turned to the armoured male, who was now closing his eyes to catch a small amount of rest. "Before you go to blissful sleep, Nico," she called out, making him open his eyes and turn his attention to her. "There's something I'd like to know. What was that skill you used? I've never seen such a skill be used before, usually Skills end up in large explosions for massive damage. True some leave status effects, but yours focused solely on binding."

The male sighed, rolling one of his shoulders as he looked up at the ceiling. He figured there'd be no harm in telling her, after all it wasn't uncommon knowledge or anything too major. "Your right there, IF. It's a Skill I developed myself. Many Spec Ops Agents have their own unique Skills meant to counter the erratic behaviour of these stronger monsters. We even have a codename for them: 'Abnormal' due to their behaviour, appearance and abilities being so unlike the average monsters. CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS: A Skill that focuses on Binding the enemy, and can work on practically any foe I meet. The only problem is that I need to magically 'mark' them for the Skill to work, and to do that I need to touch the enemy." He explained.

A light of comprehension entered IF's eyes as she digested this information. "Huh, I see… it makes sense to have these skills on hand, since these Abnormals don't follow the norms of Gamindustri Monsters." She admitted, cupping her chin in thought. With the success of this Skill, despite its flaw, she may have to see if she could learn some herself. They seemed to be filled to the brim with uses, uses that could possibly save her sorry hide in troublesome situations.

All in all, she could realise why Spec Ops were well sought after.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Now, I'm sure you're aware of the significance of the Sword that Nico pulled out, right? Well in case your not, it is the sword Dante from DMC uses as his main weapon. Nico's moves are going to be formed from a mix of both DMC and one other franchise I won't mention yet. This is why I didn't make this fanfiction a Crossover, because so many anime references are being added to this.**

 **You can count on the fact that Abnormal Monsters will be similar though, I intend to make the Monsters more dangerous and significant to the story, but I won't outright discard the normal Gamindustri Monsters. I'll likely use them for some form of humorous scene. While I want a dark and serious version of this story, I'm not going to keep it like that. Seriously, Neptune's character makes it impossible to keep a tale like this dark for long time periods.**

 **Now, as for the power balance, because of these changes I intend to upgrade everyone, IF, Compa, Neptune, the other CPUs, everyone will get buffed up so the power balance is better in this version of Rebirth 1. Badassery and intense action scenes are going to be the norm around here, so be prepared. I get the feeling people like the action scenes anyways, hehehehehehe (devious laughter)**

 **Now, I must be off. The rest of the story is calling me, and as an author, I must answer!**

 **cheerios!**


	10. Chapter 10 - You fudged up

**If you all liked my previous action scenes, you're going to LOVE these! ;)**

 **Chapter 10 - You fudged up**

"Hey, um, Iffy? Nicky? I picked this up before we fought that thing, and um…"

Turning to Neptune, both Nico and IF raised their brows when they saw Neptune walking over to them, holding something in her hand. They couldn't see what it was until she handed it over to the brunette Guild Agent, who looked it over and showed it to Nico who was still on the ground, in his armour. The object looked to be a purple Disk-like object, and while it looked harmless, something about it just seemed… off. "It looks like a Disk…" she mumbled in confusion, before glancing upwards from the Disk and to the one who gave it to her. "Nep, where did you pick this up from?"

"I dunno." She replied simply, shrugging her shoulders. Everyone face faulted, and before anyone could scold her about not looking where she would find things, Neptune pointed behind them where the platform connected to a chamber-like section of the Dungeon. "It was hanging on the wall over there."

Nico looked to where she was pointing, and indeed saw something being held in the air by chains. His eyes narrowed at the something and then at the Disk in IF's hands. 'It was just hanging there, and my Scans didn't detect it? that alone seems to be a bad omen… if my scanners didn't detect it, it must mean this Disk is of foreign make, not of this Dungeon or maybe not even of this Landmass. The only other Nation I could think of with this technology would be Lastation, but with what I've heard from some sources there, the situation there has been detreating…'

While the male was lost in his own thoughts and worries, IF gave the preteen a doubtful stare. She had trouble believing the bubbly girl, and it showed on her face. "Hanging on the wall? This Disk?" she asked dubiously, waving the Disk in front of her for empathise. "You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

'While I would agree with you, IF, you failed to notice the same things I did.' Nico thought with a sigh when he broke out his thoughts and heard what she said, knowing what was about to happen given the looks forming on the faces of the two girls… plus his own experiences with them. 'And, those girls will also be…'

"What? Iffy, you don't believe me?" Neptune cried out in dismay, before she was on all fours with a cloud of depression over her forehead. "After all that we've been through…" she wept dramatically, causing sweat drops to form on the foreheads of the brunette and the red-haired male. Neptune immaturity level: over 9000!

…

…

…

Yeah, let's not use that overused cliché meme.

Compa puffed her cheeks as she glared at IF, who jumped at the intensity of the glare but maintained her composure. "You're so horrible, not believing Nep-Nep." She scolded, before walking over and comforting the depressed amnesiac. She was patting her on the upper back with a 'there, there' coming out of her mouth.

Seeing this, all IF could do was sweat drop even more. Really, how did someone as renowned as Nico deal with these people before she came along? She was surprised he was still the voice of reason with these girls, with their antics. 'If I had to stay with these guys, I don't know how I would have coped… maybe I would have taken a lot of aspirin…' she remarked to herself. It was like looking at a pair of toddlers whining about how they didn't get their way.

Just as he predicted, Nico saw how the situation began to spiral away from its once quiet, serene self which would be ideal for recovering after a vicious battle like that one, to the usual chaotic atmosphere that usually followed after Neptune's random antics, only encouraged by Compa's addition too the dynamic. 'I just realised, I forgot to use some of the items I said we could use before the battle started. Damnit, I should have known better, but hey, at least we've managed to defeat it without them.' Ever said you were going to do something, but then did something else?

This was one of Nico's moments. Even he made mistakes, he was a sole man after all.

Suddenly, Neptune snapped out of her depression and stood up, glaring at IF with multiple tick marks around her head, her fists held in front of her chest and her eyes replaced with X's. How that could happen Nico didn't even bother with anymore, he'd learned to just roll with it at this point. "I know your name makes you question everything, but show me some love here!" she protested.

Glancing to the male, IF gave him a stare that basically screamed 'and you deal with this all the time?' He nodded as well as responded with an even stare that stated 'Yep, and you too.' The brunette raised a brow and spoke with her stares again 'You have my condolences.' And he responded with a thankful stare that screamed 'thank you!' The two girls didn't notice this interaction though because of… reasons.

Turning to the immature girls, IF grinded her teeth in irritation at the purplette after their stare down. She then released a breath, knowing that this girl had the maturity of a child, before she responded to those accusations. "That's not what my name means." She said, before opening her eyes and giving them a pointed stare. "And we only just met a short while ago."

What she did NOT expect was Neptune to switch tactics. She literally closed the distance between them in a second, nearly catching both her and Nico off guard with her speed, before she gave a pleading look combined with girls' strongest weapon: the puppy dog eyes! Heck, there were even sparkles in Neptune's eyes, making them even deadlier. "Iffy…" she droned, adding to her cuteness feel.

Eventually, the fortress known as St IF collapsed as she gave a sigh of defeat, knowing that she wouldn't stop this tediousness until she did. "#Sigh# Okay, okay, I got it. I believe you." She relented, although a small smile was present on her face as she said that. It was more like a whimsical smile, one that a parent would make when giving in to their child's demands.

Instantly, Neptune's happiness metres went through the roof! "Now that's my Iffy!" she cheered while stepping back a few times. She then cupped her cheeks with her hands and began wiggling her body around with various love hearts appearing around her head like rain, "Iffy has got to mean "I Feel for You!" That's love!"

Compa then interjected into the situation, once again being drawn into Neptune's antics like a moth to a flame. "How about we call you "AI" instead? That's Japanese for love!" she suggested, hands together as if praying with love hearts in her eyes as the two girls stared at the Guild Agent. "Why not spell it in lower case, like "ai"? it's way cuter, too!"

'Okay, what the hell is going on here?' Nico wondered in befuddlement. There was only so much one can take before the questions start popping out, and right now was the breaking point for him. 'When did this conversation go from looking at the Disk that Neptune apparently found when we didn't, to discussing the meaning of IF's name? what is up with these girls and their conversations?' the male questioned, giving an irritated groan while pinching the bridge of his nose. This was happening. This was REALLY happening.

Apparently, IF shared his sentiments, especially with how she responded. "Whoa! Hold your horses, both of you! You're getting way off track!" she yelled with a pissed off look in her eyes… but was she blushing right now? This was the first time he saw IF blush, and it seemed to originate from embarrassment. Nico made a mental note of that for the future.

When Neptune saw that face however, she grinned like a Cheshire cat, with her eyes locked on to her like a predator capturing their prey… the eyes of a genius teaser. "Awwww, Iffy, are you blushing or are you blushing?" she spoke in a saucy manner, getting right up in her personal space yet again as she loved the reactions she got from the brown-haired woman. Said girl was stuttering even more, with her blush increasing and Neptune's grin widening as a result.

Just as the Guild Agent was about to go down a spiral of embarrassment, something else happened that stopped all thoughts of embarrassing her further. Nico perked up when he noticed it first, and decided to inform the others. "Huh? Uhhhhhh, girls, you might want to look down at the hand holding the Disk." He suggested, pointing down at the Disk. It was starting to radiate a bright purple glow. In the centre, there seemed to be a blackish sludge that was slowly gathering, a single red eye peeking out.

His words caught the girls' attention and they all looked to see what he had seen. "Wha-?! Wait… The Disk… It's shining!" Neptune exclaimed, thank you captain obvious. Startled, the amnesiac dropped the Disk and the three-skedaddled backwards, far enough away from the Disk. Slowly, the black sludge began to lunge upwards, forming a mouth that hissed and screeched as the… thing, tried to break free.

"What's going on, Iffy?!"

"H-How should I know, Compa?! I've never seen this before, either!"

Compa had asked IF, who was the one who had the most experience dealing with monsters' due to her nomadic, mercenary lifestyle, what the heck was happening, assuming she'd seen this before. However, the Guild Agent hadn't seen this before either, and had made sure that the Training Nurse was aware of that. Neptune huddled close to Nico, to his surprise and confusion. "Uh, Nep, what the fuck are you doing?!" he exclaimed.

"I'm scared, Nicky! Shield me like a hero should for the Heroine!"

"How'd you get that idea?!"

Their comments were interrupted when a loud roar came from the sludge thing. It finally separated from the Disk, landing in front of it before it began to take on solid form. It finished the process, and it took the form of several Ghost-like creatures, some with bows on their heads to indicate they were female, while others didn't. there were 2 fat-looking ones with patterned shirts, pants and shoes and looked like human sized boggle heads. He glanced at his Bracers and used the left one to bring up the Guild Bestiary, finding the picture of them ad looking at their names: Clydes, Mrs Clydes and Super Otakus.

They were Normal Monsters, not classed as Abnormals in any way, much to his relief. 'I bet the Author's getting a bit tired of writing intense action scenes for the previous chapters...' he thought with amusement, before his eyes widened in realisation and he face palmed himself. 'Of Course, those two, THAT guy and Neptune, have to corrupt me to be breaking the fourth wall like they do.' He thought to himself, groaning in dismay. He didn't realise his helmet was open because of this.

Meanwhile, said fourth wall breaker stared in shock at the development before her. "What?! Monsters came out of the Disk?!" she exclaimed while she got into a battle stance. The others soon did the same, Neptune deciding to forgo her armour form and instead opting to test out her Murasama. She summoned the sword in its Sheath, before slowly drawing it out and getting into her normal stance, the Sheath having disappeared into her Inventory. Compa got her Syringe out while IF did the same with her Qatars.

Nico stood upright, groaning to himself while reaching for his Sword's grip. He then grasped it firmly in his hands, pulling it out and pointing it at the enemy. "Whelp, looks like we have some clean-up to do." He remarked, smirking as the Mask plates closed together again to form the Mask. With that, the monsters charged at them and the party responded in kind.

* * *

For once Nico was glad to be fighting normal monsters this time around. They went down quick and easy, no need to overexert his large arsenal of weapons and Skills. Hell, he didn't even need THAT to defeat them, and that was something that he was immensely thankful for. There were some Abnormals out there that Nico needed to use THAT to win, though sometimes he had to make sure his companions, if he had any, weren't around to see THAT in action. It was a big secret he kept hidden after all…

Once the last Super Otaku fell before Rebellion's blade, Nico released a breath from his chest's confines. "Whew, a short workout, that was." He remarked, Mask splitting open again as he wiped the sweat off his brow. Turning to the others, he saw that they were finishing up as well, so he decided to call out, "All clear!" while strapping Rebellion to his back. The weapon vanished the moment it was secured into its Holster, like it was meant to.

"Same here, Compa called out as the others defeated the rest of the monsters. She released a sigh of relief, before falling onto her backside again, "we've made Gamindustri peaceful again." She said happily, which prompted a small smile from the male's features. He knew that she loved Gamindustri deeply, much more than anyone even the Goddesses, in his mind anyways.

Neptune didn't comment on this, instead she turned to IF with an accusing tone in her voice, "That was a surprise. You should have told me Monsters came from Disks." She said with a pointed gaze, huffing as she summoned the Sheath of her Murasama and strapped it to her waist, sheathing the HF Blade within it.

In response, IF stared pointedly at her like she did, huffing as she crossed her arms and shook her head. "How the hell should me or Nico have known? Nobody knows where the monsters come from-…" as she tried to refute the preteen's claims, it hit her just what happened here.

Unnerved by the Guild Agent's silence, Neptune was prompted to ask her what was wrong, and thus she did, "Iffy? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Neptune waved her hand in the girl's face, but unlike what she expected the brunette didn't respond to her actions, much to her shock as she realised that she was in deep thought. "Holy, she's so deep in thought it reminds me of Nicky. She's a female Nicky!" she exclaimed with shock and awe.

Said male's brows twitched in irritation at her comments, feeling like his manly pride had been hit there. "Hey, I resent that statement you know!" he defended himself, but looked to IF and indeed saw she was deep in thought. As he stared at her with the others, even he had o admit that they had a point as he hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with one hand. "Though I do admit you have a point, this does look what I look like when I'm thinking about things."

As if his words were the trigger, IF's eyes lit up at the realisation. She swiftly walked to the Disk, making sure not to touch it in any way that suggested that would be the trigger for activating it again, and then picked it up, gazing at it intently. "So this is where the monsters came from..." She then spoke with awe as she showed them the Disk with an excited gleam in her eyes. "This is amazing!"

Compa nodded her head in agreement with the brunette, "yessie! I think this is a super discovery!" she cheered, getting a nod of the head from IF as the two gushed about what they had found. She then turned her head to Nico, who didn't look as excited as they were, much to her confusion. "What's wrong, Ni-Ni? You look tense, this should be a happy moment for us."

The male looked at her after coming up with a response that suited his thoughts on the matter, "Indeed this is an incredible discovery. We've never found any evidence as to the origins of the increase in monster numbers. However, I'm just thinking of the applications. Also, this just adds more questions than answers." He gestured to have the Disk in his hand, and IF gave it to him. The teen looked it over, before continuing his response. "This Disk looks to be Man-made. My Armour scanned it while you were talking just now and it seems that someone did artificially place it here. How the Banshees came here is still a mystery as well as the identity of the one who put this in here. The how and the when, there are still many questions that need to be answered. In addition, this does not mean that the Abnormal Monsters also come from the same Disk, although it is suspicious and a possible lead. Therefore-"

"Hahahahahaha!"

Before he could continue, a woman's laughter rang throughout the Cave Dungeon, enhanced with a loud echo and instantly putting them on guard. "I came here for my Queen, but I didn't expect to meet you here, Neptune!" the womanly voice spoke again, but the source was nowhere to be seen.

Her words quickly set off alarms in Nico's mind however, his eyes narrowing dangerously as KI spiked around him. Did this voice say what he thought he said? That she came here for her Queen? Did this mean that the voice knew about the Queen or more importantly, brought it here in the first place? Whatever the case may be, Nico told himself to get the answers he sought. However, there was one problem: where was the voice coming from?

Soon enough though, Nico got his answer. Beeping sounds came from his Bracer, and Nico opened his Motion Tracker to see what was wrong. Someone was coming to them, according to what was being presented on the Motion Tracker, from the sole entrance to this area. 'What the hell? How is it that this person evaded detection for so long?! And how dare she interrupt my monologuing!' Nico thought with narrowed, angry eyes. It took lots of thinking to form the theories he did, so to have that work insulted like that was grounds for a beating, no matter who it was who did it!

"Whose there?" Neptune called out with nervousness and anxiety. She held the grip of her Murasama as a form of comfort while she looked around for the source of the feminine voice, until she noticed something she hadn't before. "What's with that melodramatic laugh?" she asked with the same tones as before.

From the entrance to the Chamber, someone entered to make themselves known to them. It was a woman, that Nico could tell right away. She had a gothic appeal, dressing in black with hints of purple. She had grey-white skin with whitish hair styled akin to Neptune's, and blood red eyes, slightly slanted like a cat. She had dark makeup around her eyes and lips and a very big witch hat with a golden leaf and thorn Purple rose spiralling around. Her outfit was very flashy in terms of design, consisting of a bustier like top with thick bands/strings going up the centre to hold it together, along with unattached sleeves and very noticeable clawed nails.

In her right hand was a multi-pronged Glaive, something Nico tensed at.

"Who are you calling old?! Mocking people as usual. You've not changed a bit." The woman snarled in anger with a tick mark. It seemed she hated being called old for some reason, but then again that trait was shared by a lot of people, both male and female. She gripped the shaft of her Glaive tighter at the insult, before forcing herself to remain calm.

Slowly, the party turned towards Neptune with various expressions on their faces. They were concerned more than a little bit for Neptune if this was the company she kept around her before her amnesia. "Is this a friend of yours?" Compa asked dully, with a tint of concern for the preteen underneath.

This made the petite girl shake her head furiously, finding herself repulsed just by the idea of being associated with this woman. She didn't know why but something rubbed her the wrong way about that insinuation. "Of course not." She denied, shaking her head from side to side. "I don't know any old lady who wears that much goth makeup." She reassured them, much to the woman's irritation at being insulted once again.

Sadly, for her, it just kept coming, in the form of a relieved sigh from the Nurse-In-Training. "That's good to hear." She said through her sigh. It relieved her that despite how oblivious Neptune could be she still had standards. She'd have been more worried than she'd ever been before about her if that wasn't the case.

Nico would have scolded the two for being so rude to the older woman, however the fact that she had something to do with the Banshee Queen quickly abashed all sympathy he felt for her. The male folded his arms in front of his chest, nodding in agreement with a small smile on his face, as he decided to make the woman squirm so it would be easier for him to interrogate her. The fact that he was experiencing a Trigger Event was noted by his brain, but otherwise forgotten. "You said it, Compa. If Neptune did hangout with old ladies like her I'd have taken her to an asylum to get her head examined." He remarked. He could visualise the trip in his head, Nico dragging her by the back of her hoodie into an asylum, Neptune trying to say she wasn't wrong in the head.

IF finally spoke her piece, and it wasn't the kind of answer that would calm the fuming woman down. "Yeah." She began, nodding her head in accordance with their opinions on the woman, before delivering her own. "If you were friends with her, I'd have put in my resignation."

Looking at the woman with the others, Nico noticed her face literally red with rage, multiple vein marks on her face, hands and forehead, her teeth grinding together so hard he swore he heard them crack under the pressure. Instead of regret, he was nothing but amused. It increased when Neptune made the fatal blow. "Sooooo, who are you, Missus?" she questioned.

That was the last straw and the woman exploded with anger. "How dare you! Saying whatever you want in front of me! I'll get rid of you all!" she bellowed as she got ready to fight and possibly end their lives.

"Look what you've done, Nep. Now you've made the lady mad!"

"Wait? it's my fault?!"

* * *

The mystery woman glared hatefully, her red eyes lighting up like crimson flames. She then gripped her Glaive and charged fright for them, momentarily catching everyone, even Nico, off guard with her speed. Her Glaive sparked with black lightning that she used as a blunt weapon, whacking Neptune upside the head with when she was close enough. "Guh!" she grunted, the impact and force of the blow sending her flying through the air and into a section of the Chamber's wall.

Compa cried out in alarm at the sight, which unfortunately made her the woman's next target. While shooting towards her like a bullet, the woman backhanded an attacking IF to allow her to deal with the Nurse-In-Training herself. She closed the distance and began thrusting rapidly at her, her Glaive crackling with Lightning. Compa did her best to block and evade the blows and was lasting well, but then she made an error in her footing which proved costly, the cost being the woman's Glaive as it smelled into her gut and released a large static charge, causing her to scream in agony. She went even further and did a snap kick right to the Nurse-In-Training's jaw, sending her stumbling back before the woman simply flipped into the air like a sausage and slammed the back of her right heel into her head, Compa's head meeting the hard ground with a THUD!

As she fell to the ground, her body being kicked roughly in the side by the woman's foot, IF regained her bearings and tried to strike her from behind while her guard was down. "Take this!" she yelled as she tried to go for a reverse slash to the back of her neck. The moment her Qatar was about to meet her flesh though, her eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips. The reason? A panel-like barrier, the size of her neck, appeared and blocked her weapon from reaching its intended target. "W-What?!"

The woman huffed at the attempt to attack her, "Hmph!" she then remarked about the human female as she spun around while the Guild Agent knocked her back, "To think a lowly human would try to damage someone above them." She scoffed, before losing the distance and launching a barrage of slashes before IF could recover, each of them hitting their mark. She then spun into a reverse upward swing, sending her flying into the air. The woman followed suit with a smash of her Glaive overhead, onto the back of IF's head, making her gasp as she was sent crashing into the ground, her body bouncing into the air again. The woman finished her handiwork with a sharp side kick to the side, sending the damaged Guild Agent tumbling across the ground.

"Neptune! IF! COMPA!" Nico cried out before realising that the woman was right in front of him. With a grimace, the male swiftly blocked her Glaive, the lightning around it acting as a shield against the HF Current Rebellion possessed. Nico growled behind the Mask, which had closed itself when he was attacked, as he was locked into a deadlock with the woman. He growled in fury, livid at how brutally this woman dispatched his comrades. 'This bitch is going to pay for this… but this does show that despite her old appearance, she is quite formidable.'

The woman herself also had an opinion on the boy before her, especially when she noticed the Claymore sword he was wielding. 'What? THAT has been taken from its resting place? But the only ones that could do that are…' the woman trailed off as she looked at the boy closely, like a researcher eyeing something of interest. "… Where did you get that sword, boy?" she asked while pressing her Glaive harder against him to force him to buckle.

Nico glared at her, the attempt she'd made failing as he stood his ground, sparks flying off their weapons as the two struggled to overpower the other. "Why would I tell you that, bitch?" he snarled back, and with a force of strength managed to break their deadlock and spin into a reverse slash. It was blocked by her Glaive, so he went for a series of strikes to various parts of her body, in rapid succession. "I'm not a cliché hero who'd give away all his secrets!"

The woman growled in anger at him, barely blocking his admittingly fast attacks, each one having some impact behind them. "While I despise that disrespectful tone, brat." She began, floating backwards. The male realised just now that she moved like the HDD form of Neptune, which made him suspicious of this woman's background as she pointed her Glaive at him, "It is impressive you were able to last this long against me while your pathetic friends did not."

"Yeah well, I have a lot of training." Nico bluntly stated, before swinging Rebellion and sending a static slash at her. The Slash flew towards her and the woman responded swiftly, knowing that it wouldn't be something she could trifle with. She got into a stance with her Glaive pointed behind her, Lighting sparking violently as she waited for the right moment. When the time came to strike, she swiftly swung her weapon into an uppercut swing, slicing the wave in half.

But that was only a distraction for Nico's real attack, the male having jumped into the air while the woman was busy prepping to slash his Plasma Slash in half. "You stopped one, but how about multiple?! PHANTOM BLADES!" he yelled, unleashing his blades from the Magic Circle behind him. They all came raining down upon the woman's position, whose reflexes proved surprising even for him.

Her weapon became a flurry of motions when she slashed and stabbed at every blade that would have hit her had she tried to block. She slashed one, stabbed another, backhanded another, and repeated these motions until the Skill had deactivated, leaving the woman mildly winded but otherwise unharmed. A smug grin shot onto her face as her opponent landed before her. "Hmph, is that all? I was expecting something more from a Spec Ops Agent." She mocked, holding her Glaive in a ready stance.

While he was surprised at how she could handle his Skill like that, Nico still was furious as he realised she was insulting the Skills he'd spent years developing. He had just the right response for her, and that was to dash forth, quickly closing the distance between them before rearing Rebellion for a horizontal slash. He slashed at her neck, but she blocked it with her Glaive, an arrogant smirk on her features. "Hoh, looks like that's really all you-" she began to say, only to notice that his right leg was glowing purple, a sign that he was activating a Skill. he kicked upwards with a yell of "PHANTOM WAVE!" before launching the specified attack at point blank range.

The woman had no time to evade or block, thus the attack hit and she was sent flying with a gasp of pain as a result. With a roar of fury, Nico readied Rebellion before dashing towards her at high speeds. "Not even close, bitch!"

* * *

Meanwhile, as the two duelled viciously like two lions competing for territory, IF and the others slowly regained their bearings from the harsh beating they had endured. "Geez, that woman is definitely one angry old bag…" she remarked to herself, wincing as she held her head from when she was hit by the mystery woman's Glaive. It still stung a bit, but at least it wasn't as bad as before. She swore she'd seen some bright light earlier until she regained her consciousness. "I guess judging books by their cover is a bad idea. Tch!" she cursed when her head throbbed from where she was hit, holding a hand on the injury as if too lessen the pain. "She hits hard."

Neptune was the second one to regain herself, and she looked mad at the woman as she stumbled out of her indentation in the Chamber's wall. A few tick marks were present on her forehead as she pointed an accusing finger at the mystery woman who was still engaged in combat with Nico. "Hey! This lady is too strong for being an early stage boss! I call cheat!" she whined, although the said woman was too busy with Nico to pay attention to her words.

Finally, Compa rose to her feet, moaning and whimpering as she held her head which throbbed like it was hit by a herd of angry bulls. Tears were in the corners of her eyes at the pain she had suffered, and every now and then her body would spasm slightly because of that Static Charge the mystery woman had unleashed onto her nerve system. "Ooooh... that mean old lady... she put a shock to my system..." she moaned in a pained voice, grimacing as she begun to use her Healing Magic. "FIRST AID!" she called out the name of the Skill she wanted to use. Her body briefly lit up in a green aura as she felt the damage begin to vanish thanks to the Skill's effects. She also repeated the process for Neptune and IF as well.

To them, they all realised that one couldn't judge a book by its cover. Especially old ladies in witch costumes.

Neptune looked and saw that the woman and Nico were engaged in a vicious dance of blades, the male Spec Ops Agent having little difficulty keeping up with her attacks. "And the Overpowered OC is holding his own in a battle that generically we couldn't win at the beginning." She remarked dully, before a frown formed on her face. "Hey ladies, is it just me or are any of you gals pissed that we were thrown around like ragdolls while Nicky was not?"

"It's not just you, Nep." IF replied as she growled to herself. "Then again, Nico is a skilled Agent, he likely has a few tricks up his sleeve to even the playing field. In a sense, he has the bite to keep up with his bark." She realised, although it didn't do her pride as a fighter any favours to admit that someone else was way better than her.

Compa shook her head and looked pleadingly at the others, "You guys, we can feel sorry for ourselves or we can go help, Ni-Ni's done a lot for us already, we can't just rely on him all the time." She pleaded with them, readying her Syringe. Something clicked in her mind and she decided to go and switched from her Syringe to her deployable Armour. When it was formed, she stood with her Armcannons ready to fire.

IF frowned for a moment, while she wasn't in the party for very long, she did have to admit for the short time that she was, that Nico was the spearhead of the group and the reason why they were able to emerge as victorious as they did. Like her, he too was level-headed and observant, as well as carried a vast arsenal of weapons and equipment, not just one weapon and a bunch of Skills. In the end, she realised that Compa was right, they had to prove their worth somehow, otherwise Nico would unintentionally make them look bad. "Alright then, we need to have a plan if we wanna win. That woman is no joke in close combat."

"You got it, Iffy!" Neptune exclaimed eagerly, grinning as she saw Nico and the woman go back to back the male blocking several side swipes from the Woman's Glaive, before elbowing the woman's back and spinning into a diagonal slash before she could recover, getting a shriek of anger from her and a Glaive swing which he jumped back to dodge. "Good thing I can go Super-mode again otherwise this fight would be even tougher on us gals. Alrighty let's do this! GOOOOOOOO!" with that, Neptune was bathed in a bright pillar of light.

* * *

Back with the two battling fighters, Nico's eyes widened when he sensed the energy coming from Neptune, and had to hold back a smug smirk which threatened to appear on his lips. "Looks like the girls are back up." He remarked as he glanced to them, noticing the pillar of light envelop Neptune which hindered all his attempts to hide his smirk. 'And she's went and activated HDD, too. Good on ya, girl.' He thought, impressed. He was glad that she and the others were okay, when he saw those wounds being inflicted upon them the way they were, he had almost lost it to his rage and attacked without thinking. That would have been a bad idea, so in a way he was grateful that the woman chose to attack first. it gave him a means to vent his anger on her without losing himself.

On the other hand, the mystery woman was not so pleased, in fact it was safe to say she was pissed judging by how she scowled in the transforming Neptune's direction. "Tch, damnit…" the mystery woman muttered under her breath as she backed away from Nico. She was cursing constantly for a few moments, almost crushing the Glaive she was using. "I should have stopped Neptune from transforming first."

'Yeah sucks to be you, huh lady?' Nico mused in his mind, chuckling darkly while he swore he felt something shake in Rebellion. 'You lost yourself to rage and thus made a callous mistake. A rookie's error, but still an easy one to make.' He mocked her further in his mind. He then took a sniff through the air, and noticed that something was odd about the woman's scent. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, while it was a hunch, and there was more than one piece of evidence towards it, he just had to confirm it first. "You wouldn't happen to know how the Banshees even got here, do you?"

The woman glared at him as she charged forth, avoiding a PHANTOM WAVE that he shot at her before swinging a reverse swing towards his head. He blocked with Rebellion though, and the two reached a stalemate, sparks flying from their electrified weapons. "Why should I tell you anything, you brat?" she snarled, spit flying from her words.

In response, Nico released one hand from Rebellion and made a bird-like pose with it. He then brought it down on the woman's dominant arm, the impact making her lose balance slightly before he raised it and viciously struck her under the chin, making her head snap backwards. He then gripped her chin with the same hand and kneed her in the stomach, making the woman gasp and cough saliva at the force of impact. Nico gripped her by her hair and raised her head, before smacking it into the ground with enough force to create a human sized crater. "Well for starters, you smell of various herbs used to make Banshee bait, something that's classified as illegal in Planeptune. You seem to also smell of a drug that's classified as a A-class Drug, due to it being for the purpose of camouflaging yourself from Banshees or other Abnormal monsters at the cost of mental degradation."

At the end of the speech, the woman managed to break free and knock him back, jumping away to get some distance. She landed in a floating position, sliding just above the ground to a halt. Raising herself to an upright position, the woman coughed a bit of blood into her hand, making her grimace and wipe it off her left thigh. "Tch, alright, the truth then." she muttered, before her lips curved upwards into a bloody smirk, her eyes gleaming with malice and sinister intent as she pointed her Glaive at him. "You're right, I did use a combination of drugs and herbs to lure the Banshee Queen here. Why I did that is none of your business, boy. It's of no concern, for you are going to die here."

Nico scowled, biting back the urge to go all full nelson on this bitch's ass. Fury roared within him like a raging furnace at her words, his grip on Rebellion's shaft increasing tremendously. 'How dare she... she's responsible for tons of lost innocent lives... so many lives ruined, families gone... loved ones will never see each other again... life has been defiled and she has been the cause... because of her, tragedy has befallen countless innocents... that woman...' he thought, clenching his teeth harshly behind his mask. "... You're so going to fucking PAY, BITCH!" He roared, and if he were a dragon he'd be spewing flames instead of cross words. Raising Rebellion, Nico got ready for round 2… for the girls at least, he was still in round 1.

* * *

When the pillar died down, HDD Neptune was ready and willing. She had her sword out and a confident smirk on her face. "I'm ready now." She commented. Her body, thanks to the Transformation, had healed her previous wounds so she was fighting at 100% capacity right now. Another feature she noticed was the black and purple futuristic Sheath that was strapped to her Waist, which also had a rifle mechanism on it. A curious smirk formed on her lips as she regarded this change. "Oh? Does HDD affect my weapon of choice in human form? Interesting…"

"Wha-?! What the hell, Nep?!" IF exclaimed with saucers for eyes as she pointed at the girl, though her quivering finger soon pointed at a… certain pair of melons as she continued. "Your like, huge! Like all over!" she exclaimed with shock, disbelief… and was there jealousy in IF's voice? Her finger was trembling at Neptune's melons, so maybe she was…

Nah, that's unlikely.

Compa was the first one to respond, though she felt a little sheepish that they hadn't told the Guild Agent of Neptune's ability earlier. "Surprise! Nep-Nep can change forms!" she proclaimed like an announcer, nervousness could be heard in her voice but there was a rising confidence in it as well, born from the fact that both Neptune and Nico were at their best against this woman. Seeing that the male was as strong as he was, and that HDD Neptune was close to his power level, it filled her with hope for the battle. "She becomes super strong and serious in this form."

"This form is what I used to fight my first Banshee. Still think I was kidding?" Neptune asked, her deeper voice having a tint of amusement at the flabbergasted expression on the brunette's features. She did feel a bit miffed during that battle when IF had expressed her doubts about fighting those creatures, but seeing her reaction to her transformation was satisfying enough.

Still in disbelief, IF could only nod dumbly. "Well, how can I not? It's harder not to believe at this point." She remarked, before quickly shaking her head and reminding herself of the situation. This was no time to be ogling Neptune's new form, or to be more specific her 'growth' this was combat and DEATHSTROKE would benefit from their help. "Anyways, what's the plan? Even with super-Nep here, we can't go in recklessly or we'll just get in Nico's way."

"I've got a plan." The womanly Neptune replied as she readied herself for an attack. "I'll keep the foe's focus on myself and Nicky, you girls attack from the Flanks, keep her off guard. It'll be hard for her to fight on so many fronts." She advised, before she flew forwards and joined the battle with the woman. The two human fighters looked to each other before nodding and joining too.

Then, they saw IT.

* * *

While they had been discussing their plans, Nico had resumed his clash with the mystery woman. "HA! Almost got you there, bitch!" the male snarled, and after several parries he spun into a back-elbow strike to her gut then swung his leg in a high kick to her head. 'Payback for treating the girls like that!'

The woman gasped at the brutal display of attacks, floating back to get some distance before pointing her Glaive at him. The Lighting gathered at the tip, and a basketball sized ball of black darkness with a sinister purple outline formed. It then was launched into a beam at him, but the male could dodge it at the last second, quickly closing the distance with Rebellion swinging towards her face.

Hurriedly, she raised her Glaive and blocked the strike and aimed a kick to his side, which was blocked by his Sword when he angled it differently. She made to thrust her Glaive at his stomach, but the male pivoted around it and swing at her Neck. Like before however with IF's weapon, a panel appeared before her neck and blocked his strike. "A barrier huh? one that blocks strikes to vital areas I'm assuming."

Hearing his analysis, the woman smirked arrogantly, hefting her Glaive over her shoulder like a gangster would with a blunt weapon like a pipe or a baseball bat. "You'd be right, boy. Your observation skills are indeed commendable. Feel honoured, for no other human has made me work this hard for my victory." She spoke, before she thrusted her Glaive forwards without warning and launched a blast of energy shaped like her weapon's tip.

Nico made to block it with his Rebellion, and while he did do it, the male's eye widened when he noticed that the woman had vanished and KI could be felt behind him. 'Oh shit, so that's what she was intending!' the male muse while trying to deflect the attack so he could move out the way…

Only for a second blast to be fired his way and go right through both his chest and stomach. Not even his armour was able to block that one.

Everything stopped as the male fell to one knee, thin strands of flesh and muscle being the only thing holding his body upright, but that wasn't for long as he fell to the ground with a THUD! The thud seemed to be louder than normal for some reason, likely because the shock would enhance the senses. His armour had already vanished out of existence, the module that spawned it having been destroyed thanks to the sneak attack. It would not be coming back, not with the fate both it and it's master shared.

IF gasped, momentarily shocked to silence as she struggled to not vomit at the brutal sight, turning her head away and closing her eyes. Although this only succeeded in keeping the outside images out, her mind disobeying her by firmly burning the image of the male's remains on the ground into her very being, which only made it worse. "Ugh!"

Compa and Neptune took it way worse than she ever did however. For a moment, they couldn't believe what they were seeing, no, they refused to believe it. they assumed it was a trick at first, that Nico had something in mind like he always did. However, seconds passed and the reality of the situation had fully sunk into their minds, hearts and souls. Their faces became pale, void of their previous skin tone as tears gathered in the corners of their eyes. Finally, their hearts couldn't take it anymore and they yelled in synchronisation, "NI-NI/NICKY!"

The mystery woman noticed their expressions, and couldn't help but let out one of her signature laughs. "Hahahahahaha! Looks like that boy's finally bitten the dust! Serves him right for challenging a being above his stature! At last, I'm one step closer my goal! Oh? What's this? Did you care that boy? Was he a toy for your own fantasies?" she remarked with a raising of her eyebrow. "How amusing, someone like you taking an interest in a lowly mortal. Though it boggles me how he managed to get his hands on that sword, but it does not matter in the grand scheme of things."

She made to gloat some more, but then something slammed into her stomach, making her gasp as she was sent flying. The woman barely got herself together in mid-air and landed on a panel that formed beneath her feet. Looking up, she barely had enough time to raise her Glaive to block A sword from slicing her in half. She almost winced at the force of the impact when their weapons clashed. 'What? Where did this kind of power come from?'

Her answer came in the form of a thoroughly PISSED Neptune. Her eyes bore into the woman's own while angry tears fell down her cheeks as she pushed the woman back and went into a spinning slash, purple energy coursing through her sword and if it were her normal one it would have shattered under the immense strain. However, her HDD weapon was made for that type of strain, so that wasn't an issue. "How dare you… take Nicky away…" she growled, her eyes gaining a haunting purple glow around them.

"Now… THIS MEANS WAR!"


	11. Chapter 11 - Vengeance, Baby!

**Chapter 11 - Vengeance, baby!**

Ever been in a moment where your like 'oh shit' and you feel like you've made one of the worst mistakes you've ever made? A literal 'It was at this moment that Gavin knew, he fucked up' moment. Well that was what the mystery woman was feeling as she was getting the shit knocked out of her by a furious Neptune. She constantly swung her sword in wide arcs, not giving her any time to recover from the last one. she couldn't even breathe without flinching at each attack which only increased in speed and in ferocity. Plus, with the energy imbued in them she was finding it difficult to keep her guard up.

Eventually she managed to kick Neptune away and get some distance. Her mind raced with thoughts on how this came to be, most of them cantering around the uncommonly rise in their power. 'How is this possible? Did losing that boy trigger something in Neptune's power? It's the only explanation for this increased strength. No matter, with the way she's acting right now she should wear herself down eventually, I'll endure for now then I'll-'

"Take this!"

"Nani?!"

Before she could finish her thoughts, a cream coloured blur appeared in front of her, revealing itself to be one very angry Compa. Her expression, which was now exposed thanks to her helmet having dispersed, was a mirror image of Neptune's angry blaze in her eye, tears running down her cheeks, the works. She was wielding her Syringe in one hand, using it as a form of club. "You're a meanie! How dare you take Ni-Ni from me!" she cried, pouring energy into her free fist and throwing it into the mystery woman's face with the force of a 1000 Megaton jackhammer. "Taste my sorrow, you Ni-Ni taker!"

The fist went flying in and hit its target dead centre, causing the mystery woman to cry out as she was sent flying by the force of her punch. Compa didn't finish there however, as she quickly donned her Armour and aimed both her Armcannons with her Syringe disappearing into her Inventory. She soon went and peppered the 'Ni-Ni taker' with rounds from them without limit, completely focusing on something that contrasted heavily with her usual nature as a Nurse-In-Training:

Rip, that bitch, apart.

As the woman tried to get up from the barrage, forming a Panel in front of her to block it, a shadow loomed overhead. The woman expected it to be Neptune considering the circumstances, however when she looked up she was proven wrong when she saw it was the Guild Agent IF, and she too looked pissed enough to kill. "You're paying for that one, bitch. An eye for an eye, as they say." She said with a fierce glare as she raised her foot to stomp through her face.

Quickly, the woman rolled out the way, and when IF's foot hit the ground it caused a large crater from the force alone. The woman was gobsmacked as she quickly got back into position and readied her Glaive. 'This is getting ridiculous! How can one mere human boy get such a reaction out of them with his demise?!' she shrieked in anger and confusion in her mind. 'Whatever the case may be, this battle won't be as easy as I'd hoed., with them in this state it'll be a long, painful endurance lesson, but if I hold out I'm sure I'll win in the end.'

The woman soon snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed that they were attacking once more, and readied herself accordingly. in her eyes, they looked like they were the hounds of hell coming to eat her soul.

In their eyes, she was the demon who had taken their party member from them.

* * *

"Ugh… where am I…?"

Nico never expected to wake up after what just happened, but when he opened his eyes it felt like they were still closed, as all he saw was darkness. He couldn't move anything save for his head, so he looked down to see how his body fared after taking that attack… and couldn't resist the urge to grimace. "Yeesh, that looks nasty…" he muttered, seeing the empty space where his chest and stomach was.

"Still… I must admit, I didn't see that coming. That bitch should die for what she did…"

Something clicked in his mind once he finished that sentence. Could he be… dead? Was this the afterlife? He'd heard varying opinions about what happens after death, even researched it himself during his free time out of either boredom or curiosity. The cases were numerous: out of body experiences, the land of the dead, and even Celestia itself were such examples. He'd never believed them though, finding it pathetic that people thought that the CPUs would let the dead reside in their world when they died. Now that he WAS dead however, Nico would have liked it if he did go SOMEWHERE other than this dark, empty void.

"Heh… so this is how DEATHSTROKE ends, huh…? getting killed by an old lady while protecting his comrades…?"

It seemed almost ironic that someone like him, who respected women, to have been killed by one. True the male knew that there were some evil women out there just as there were evil males, hence why he had gone along with the jokes at that woman's expense. However, the latter was greater in quantity so that was why he didn't like guys as much as he did girls… that was a weird way of phrasing it, but basically, he respected women more than he did men. Therefore, it left a bitter taste in his mouth the way that he died.

"No… not like this, I can't die like this… there's still much I have to do!"

His eyes narrowed however as a sensation of anger and determination rose within his non-existent chest. He couldn't die yet, there were so many things he wanted to accomplish! Too many for him to die like a dog here! He had to help Neptune find out who she was, he had to aid her in her quest to gather the Key Fragments! He had to help Compa achieve her dream of becoming a full-on Nurse! He had to help the girls find people they could call their significant other, if they wanted, be there at their weddings and possibly help raise their families! All that, and he still had the goal of finding the truth about his own past!

He couldn't die like this! No, he wouldn't, even if there was no way back, he'd MAKE one! Nico codename DEATHSROKE would not die in this pathetic manner! He'll make that woman pay for this, he'd kill her for trying to take away his everything! And if the god of death himself tried to stop him, then he'd simply go rip his head off! Nothing would stop him from returning to his companions!

Gotta kill... illKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKillKill!

 **'H** **ehehehehe hahahahahaha! Good, you still have the fire in you!'**

Nico's eyes nearly flew open when suddenly, his surroundings, the darkness, the void… it all caught fire, becoming a blazing inferno that was so intense that he tried to shield his eyes. However, with his lack of ability to move, and with his body the way it was, covering his eyes was practically impossible. "Whoa, what the hell?! What's going on, I thought I was dead! Is this… hell?!" he exclaimed, before he heard a booming laughter that sent chills up his spine.

 **'H** **ehehehehehe hahahahahaha! Fool, you never made it to the God of Death's domain in the first place, you are too powerful for that! You are merely in limbo, the space between!'**

In an instant, the flames in front of him started to morph, forming sockets and slanted edges, and in no time at all there was what looked like a deformed face staring him down, its mouth, a void-like interior with sharpened spikes made from the flames to act as teeth, grinned at him. There was something about that grin that sent his nerves into overdrive, something unnatural, something… demonic.

 **'** **Do you seek to return to the world? Even if you must pay the price of losing your remaining humanity? To become the world's sole truest monster?!'**

The face asked him this question, its voice echoing across the burning Void. Nico first felt scared of the face, but the moment it had asked him that al his fears and doubts were cast aside, and his eyes gained a gleam of determination and resolve. "Hell yes! I already walk the path of the monster, so fuck the thought of stopping now! I'll gladly return, even if I become so twisted that they would hate me forever, I will always, ALWAYS return to my comrades!"

His shout echoed just as much as the face's voice did, and was it just him or did the flames suddenly intensify? The answer came in the form of several trails of fiery embers that went to where his chest and stomach once was. They gathered in that space, growing into a shape that mimicked his destroyed anatomy, until they connected with his neck, shoulders and hips. A searing pain assaulted his senses as this process worked, but Nico didn't scream, he kept it in and endured it. if this pain was what kept him from returning to the others, then he'd laugh like a madman.

When he saw the flames connect to the rest of his body, he thought that would be the end of it, but no, the flames spread onto his remaining anatomy including his head. Before he could shout what the hell his entire body was ensnared into a cocoon, more Trails emerging from the inferno around him and latching onto the cocoon. While it watched this, the face's grin threatened to tear it in half, twisted glee in its sockets.

 **'** **Yes… yes, yes, yes! Hahahahaha! I knew you'd be better than the others! Few who gain this power ever have such will to live as you! They were nothing but beltway pansies who couldn't even hold themselves before me! Use this power well boy, for what's left of your humanity is gone! Ascend, boy, ascend into what you are truly meant to be! Take that side with you into the great beyond, and you will have power that none of your brethren had before you! Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hahahahahahahahaha ahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'**

* * *

They were still fighting when they noticed it.

"Um… guys' is it getting hotter in here?" IF asked them as a strong heat seemed to fill the air. It seemed to take away most of the oxygen in the room, making breathing difficult for the rest of them. A heavy pressure could be felt, a pressure that threatened to pin them to the ground and never let them go for the rest of their lives. The sensations were enough to snap Compa and Neptune out of their anger-driven states as they too felt the effects of this new change in the atmosphere, sweat rolling down their foreheads as their breathing became laboured. Though for some reason Neptune wasn't affected as much as the two human fighters.

Meanwhile, the woman, whose body was repairing itself from numerous slashes and lacerations, lost what little skin colour she had as she recognised this pressure. Worse still, she felt it in even greater effect than the girls did, and she knew why. 'Im-impossbile! Can it be?! Has one of THEM returned to this world?!' she thought in horror, and for the first time in a long while, the woman felt the chills of fear crawling up her spine, gripping it with a temperature as cold as ice intensified by 1000. 'No… if one of THEM has returned then it'll be a threat to my plans!'

Both sides felt it, and in a bid to know what it was, swiftly searched the Chamber for the source. From the outside POV, it looked like they were frightened rabbits desperately looking for signs of the predator that was hunting them. Their eyes landed on it soon enough, and the source… was Nico's remains. His remains were radiating a strange crimson aura, the pressure erupting from it and saturating the air. From the ground around the remains, dozens of fiery trails of orangish red flames burst out, slithering through the air like Tendrils before they curved back down and began wrapping around the male, forming a human sized cocoon. All the while, waves of dust shot across the ground, being blown away from the pressure that was being excluded from the corpse.

When this was complete the pressure skyrocketed, swift and sound as the cocoon slowly rose to an upright position, the flames that made it spiral around like they were caught in a vortex. Power radiated from the cocoon, power that felt like the opposite of Neptune's. While her power felt almost godly in nature, this power felt dark, sinister… demonic. It was like she was seeing her darker counterpart, and it sent chills up Neptune's spine.

This lasted several intense moments, the cocoon eventually growing more and more volatile, until finally… BOOM! It exploded into a mass of embers and flames, causing a massive shockwave to spread across the Chamber, knocking down those on foot (IF and Compa) and forcing those that were floating (Neptune and the Mystery Woman) to cover their eyes or shield themselves with panels. The explosion also generated a large dust cloud, shielding what was inside from view.

On their side, Neptune, Compa, IF and the Mystery Woman all got up to their feet, dazed and disoriented. "Ugh, my head hurts… how many times will my head hurt today?" Compa while, nursing her throbbing head as she recalled how she'd taken several hits there in a short amount of time today. She feared she might lose brain cells at this rate, which wouldn't be good for her dream.

"You and me both Compa, you and me both. Man, what's up with these things today, first Nep transforms, then Nico's... body, goes 'flame on!'." IF moaned, grimacing as she planted her feet firmly on the ground and pushed herself onto a sitting position, then stood up straight. She was a bit wobbly at first thanks to the disorientation, but shook her head as it began to fade away. She then looked to Compa and saw how she was still getting up, so she offered a hand and helped her to her feet.

That done, they group of females then looked to where the cocoon was, and when the dust settled, they could honestly admit they were NOT prepared for what they saw.

A grown man replaced the spot where the teenage Nico once stood. The man's hair was a charcoal black colour, with his eyes a crimson red with the same power button symbols Neptune possessed, only these were abyssal black. The man was standing at roughly 8 feet, covered in orangish red armour. The head of his armour covered much, save for his eyes, which were seen through empty holes in the helmet, and his mouth. The helmet had a large crest-like shape, with the muzzle AKA the mouth bare to expose his mouth. The chest, shoulders, arms, legs and waist were all completely armoured, everywhere else being covered by a fleshy skin-tight suit. The armour had an orangish red sheen to it, with the hands being shaped into clawed Gauntlets with spikes coming out the elbows. More spikes protruded from the shoulder guards and the knees. On the chestplate there was a glowing yellow core of energy, as well as matching veins that spread across the man's body. Out the back of the man's tailbone, was a long, segmented crimson red tail, the same length as his height. Out his upper back was a pair of flaming wings like a Phoenix's, shaped like the namesake, and reached down to its feet which had several long talons protruding out of the front, 1 extra from the heel.

From his body, the man radiated an aura of pure power, like a fiery inferno constantly blazing through the Monster Cave. The aura repelled anything that got close, even the air itself was not safe from its defence. it was literally sizzling when in close proximity to the man's form, making breathing near him nigh- impossible. In the man's right hand was one of the most intimidating weapons they'd ever seen, it looked like a giant sword with demonic crimson flesh filling the blade's blunt side. At the base of the hilt, there was a yellow slitted eye with one side of the sword featured an enlarged, metallic blade edge.

The man looked around, his eyes like blades as they pierced through everyone, before they landed on the Mystery Woman who quickly raised her Glaive to defend herself. Her instincts told her what was coming. "You…" the man mumbled, his voice deep and sounding like two people speaking at the same time. His eyes narrowed with a dark, sinister gaze, causing the woman to tremble as she held his gaze. She was right, one of THEM had returned to this world, one of them HAD come back and now he would likely try to hinder her plans. She had to make sure that this doesn't happen otherwise everything she'd worked for would be in vain.

In an instant she was attacked, the man's wings having spread to their full wingspan of an impressive 10 feet before the man took off towards her. He raised his Sword and slammed it down on her, the force and impact of the weapon making the woman's legs buckle under the weight as a large crater formed on the ground below her. The weapons were locked together, sparks of black/purple lighting and demonic reddish orange embers flying off them while the two pushed against each other. It also created a large shockwave, one that blew away everything that wasn't nailed down from their general vicinity.

He then raised the massive blade again and brought it down on her ass. The woman barely dodged it though, knowing that from that last strike, this one would have cleaved her in two if she hadn't dodged. She tried to fire another lighting blast, but the man appeared before her and rammed the bottom of his sword's hilt into her stomach, making her bend over with a loud gasp. He then did a backward, reverse uppercut sending the woman crashing to the ground with a loud THUD before raising his sword and prepping to stab her through the gut. "Revenge hurts, doesn't it?"

The woman barely rolled out the way in time, quickly getting to her feet to try ad get some distance, only for once again to be attacked by the man's monstrous blade. 'I've read many myths about these beings, but seeing them for myself makes them look like children story books! Their power is greater than I imagined! Their power... the literal opposite of Share Energy... I should have killed him when I had the chance, before the boy could transform!' the woman thought, sweat dripping down her forehead like waterfalls as she struggled to parry and block his blows, each one coming in with the force of a bullet train going at maximum speed. it was a surprise that her bones hadn't shattered from the strain they were being put under, although she suspected they would be aching for weeks if she survived this.

Finally, with a large exertion of force, the man pushed her back before pointing the tip of his Sword at her. "Burn to ashes. Do it… Soul Edge." He spoke under his breath. From the eye of his Sword, a series of fiery trails spiralled out to the tip, forming a large fireball there. It grew, and grew, and grew as well as its intensity, the flames becoming more and more unstable. When it was big enough to rival the size of a human torso, the man thrusted his Sword slightly, a motion that launched the Fireball into the air and towards the direction of the Mystery woman.

Said woman quickly rolled out of the way of the attack, feeling the intense heat from the following explosion when it hit the wall behind her. Getting up, she turned her head and her eyes, along with Neptune and Co, were wide with shock and disbelief. A huge burn mark had stained the wall as well as the ground, a trail of scorched dirt and small flaming embers left in its wake. "Holy… that could have been me." The woman muttered under her breath, awe and fear at the display.

Her head snapped back to look at the man who was readying his Sword, Soul Edge as he called it, for an overhead swing, fiery trails having coated the blade's edge which could only mean trouble. She gritted her teeth, before quickly generating a blast of Lightning shaped like the end of her Glaive, launching it at him.

While it didn't do a thing to him directly, it did cause him to waste his charged attack to slash it in half. "Tch, you may win today, brats! But mark my words, I will be back! Hahahahahaha!" she exclaimed before kneeling on one leg as a pool of darkness gathered below her feet. The man's eyes widened when he saw this, and he quickly made to attack by flying towards her. He jumped into the air and came down in a wide sweep, trying to decapitate her. However, the woman sunk into the pool that vanished into thin air before he could, leaving his attack to only hit air when he landed.

"Tch, she got away…"

The man grumbled deeply at the fact that his enemy had gotten away, embers rolling off him in waves to respond to his irritation. He then stood straight before turning to the girls, who could only watch what happened without saying a word. When they saw he was looking at them, they tensed, fearing that they were next. The man simply regarded them for a short while, and it was one of the tensest moments the girls ever experienced.

Heck, this man had just formed from the remains of their dead party member, Neptune and Compa still couldn't accept that he was gone by the way, and had literally curb stomped that woman when she was able to hold her own against them for a while. And he just forced her to retreat after a few attacks, sure they had weakened her but with the way that she recognised this man, it seemed that she would have fled regardless of if she fought them or not.

Just when the man was going to make a move, his body was encased in a fiery cocoon, reminiscent of the last one, but this one lasted only a second before it dissipated, revealing a familiar sight. "NI-NI/NICKY/NICO?!" the girls cried, seeing their comrade standing without his armour but alive and well. Aside from some minor injuries, the boy looked relatively alright, no signs of being impaled as bad as he was before. Soon however, he began to fall forwards, only for Neptune to race to him and catch him in her arms.

He was already out like a light.

* * *

"Okay this is the second time I find myself here." Nico remarked with annoyance, crossing his arms under his chest as he stared at the familiar black void. At this rate, he was sure that it would be a reoccurring event or something, the last time he was here was when he'd 'died' after foolishly blocking an energy attack instead of something like ducking under it. He'd been here for a while, he didn't know how long exactly since he couldn't tell time and for some reason he didn't have his Bracers.

That was a big impact on his state of calmness, Nico never left anywhere without them. Without them, he felt almost naked. It was like when someone forgot to take some sunscreen to the beach and got some sunburn on their privates. Yeah, that can happen. His Bracers were just as important to him as his armour was, they had helped him get through more tough scrapes than he'd care to mention.

Another problem was his armour. The last thing he could recall was how the attack obliterated it down to the Armour Module, meaning that he'd likely never ve able to remake his previous armour again. That fact was a major blow to his self-esteem, as he'd spent so long with it, that it was like an extension of his body. And there was the fact that he had made so many mods for it to suit each situation he had found himself in. Without that armour, he might as well have lost his identity as DEATHSTROKE.

'Ugh, I knew that one day this might happen… just wish it didn't.' the male thought in depression she looked downwards, or he thought he did, Nico couldn't tell, the void having no solid laws of space or time.

'Ah, you are here. At last, we may speak.' A familiar voice echoed throughout the void, and Nico's eyes flew open in realisation. He knew who that voice was, and man was he glad to hear someone familiar or what? A sigh of relief escaped his lips, exiting into the air or… something, of the void around him.

Looking upwards, Nico decided to extend the courtesy back to the voice he knew all too well. "Is that you, Histoire? Man, it's good to hear about a friendly face. Are you talking to me like you did with Neptune, supposedly in her dreams?" he asked the voice. Nico didn't know if she was up there, but Histoire didn't seem to mind Neptune doing it, so why not him?

A small, quiet giggle came from Histoire's voice before she answered. 'Yes, yes I am young DEATHSTROKE. I came here to discuss important matters concerning your recent battle. To be more specific, the power that you used to come back. I do not have long however, so I will be brief.'

Power? Nico furrowed his brows as he made to figure out what she meant by that like a certain famous detective. Soon enough the light of realisation shot into his eyes when he remembered the battle he'd fought the mystery woman in when he… died… "Wait, you serious? Well, I do have some questions about it, so go ahead."

'Thank you. That power you used belonged to what is known as a Demon Patron Unit (DPU). It is a power that is a contrast to the powers of the Goddesses, and is usually more prominent when male Candidates contact their physical forms. You remember that crystal that you touched? That was what is known as a DPU Memory Core. It implanted itself inside you before slowly integrating its power into you, turning you from a normal person into a godly entity.'

Nico's eyes bulged at that. Demons? Godly entities like the CPUs? Something told him that there was a LOT more to this story than meets the eye, but he remembered that Histoire had little time for this communication, so he held his tongue as he let her continue. 'The process to transform into a DPU is called Demon Drive Demonica, or DDD for short. This power is the dark counterpart to Share Energy, as it uses what is known as Demonic Energy. It is gathered both from the surroundings, as well as produced within the cores themselves, giving you a large supply of power for it. This power was feared by many however, and has been since lost to the annals of history for generations. You, young man, are the first DPU to be recorded in a VERY long time.'

That was a lot to take in, Nico realised, as he felt his breath leave his body. He was stunned as evident by his expression as he stumbled back, before kneeling on one leg to try and get to grips of what he was being told. One part of him was shocked that he had become something akin to a demonic god, an entity not seen in many years if what Histoire was saying was correct. Another part of him was angry, angry that his humanity had been completely taken away by this power, his humanity was something he treasured deeply.

However, he remembered his talk with the flaming face, and gave a sigh to let out all his anger, feeling a sense of acceptance fill his being in its place. He had agreed to this, Nico realised. He had agreed to becoming a monster in exchange for his chance at life once more. Well, he'd always been a monster, especially in battle. Now he was a monster in every sense of the word.

No matter. He said he would come back even if he did as a monster, and the power followed through. Now he would follow through on his word. And if Nico valued one thing above anything else, it was his word. Nico always, ALWAYS, made sure to keep his word to the best of his ability. The problem was it was always dangerous making these promises because of the usual risk of death that is involved with his occupation. "I see… so is there anything I should know that you can tell me now?"

'Yes, like the Goddesses, you too will experience personality changes whenever you transform. I would advise you to train on your new powers before you head over to the next landmass. As you are no doubt very aware, power is next to useless if you cannot control it regularly.' On that he could agree. There have been several examples on his travels as a Spec Ops Agent where that lesson needed to be learned. Too bad that many people just ignore it, and they pay the price.

Histoire's tone soon turned grave at her next sentence, which told Nico to pay extra attention to her words. 'The Key to using this power is strong will. If you hesitate even for the slightest moment, the power shall attempt to devour you. Believe me, there is little else that can rival the power that a DPU holds, not even Goddesses can hold a candle to them when they fight at full power. It is said that they can literally rip entire continents to shreds with their powers. Demons, entities closely connected to DPUs, were well-known beings that took the place of monsters in current society. There were many, each with their own unique appearance and abilities. Furthermore, they were well known to promote Cannibalism in legends, and unfortunately that legend was true.'

The male frowned at her words, but didn't feel too rattled by her revelations. The price for this power was the risk of being devoured by it, huh? well, he knew one other power that could contend with that. A power he had zealously made sure to keep a secret no matter what. "I see… so that's the downside I was looking for, huh…?" he mused under his breath, keeping quiet so Histoire wouldn't hear him.

'I am sorry.' Histoire apologised, and if she could be seen, he would have seen her lowering her head in sadness. 'This power was originally lost to the annuls of history, never to return to our world. However, with things as they stand, this power would have resurfaced into history eventually. I only hope you have it in your heart to forgive me for not stopping this.'

With the way she said that, Nico felt that she had a lot more connection to this power than meets the eye. Almost after realising that the male bopped himself on the head. 'Well duh, she said she was the tome that records history, right? No idea how she does it, but she does, so there must have been a time where this power ran rampant… I'll not ask her the details just yet, I'll instead focus on training with this power.' He thought to himself, before going to douse her worries. "It's alright, Histoire. I know what I'm doing. I resolved to come back even as a monster, and that's what I plan to do. Even as a monster, I will not change who I am as a person." He told her firmly, his eyes burning with resolve. He already walked the path of the monster before, so to hell he was stopping now.

'… I only hope you are prepared for the trials you will have to face along your journey, Nico. But rest assured, I will be there to make sure your tale does not fade into the annuls of History. Now, I believe it is time for you to awaken. Neptune and the others are worried about you.' Histoire said after a moment's silence, before everything went white.

* * *

Slowly, Nico's eyes opened as he returned to the land of the living. His eyes immediately deduced that he wasn't in the void anymore with the influx of girly colours. In the next second, Nico deduced he was in Compa's room, and when he looked around the male found that he was right. The male saw his Trench Coat hanging on the back of the door, with his footwear beside it and his holsters were on the table next to it. Looking at his arms made him sigh, relieved when he saw that his Bracers were still on. He'd have to thank Compa later for not taking them off too, he would feel more naked than he would without clothes on otherwise.

His eyes darkened when he thought of his childhood friend, she must have been scarred heavily by such a brutal end to his life. Compa's mind wasn't as exposed to combat as he was, so she would be severely scarred by such an experience. If she hadn't snapped already, but she was a strong girl, plus he was alive now so hopefully that would negate the damage, somewhat. He would have to apologise when he got the chance to her, also to Neptune. Despite her cheerful nature, he knew she was just as innocent as Compa was, so seeing something like that was bound to rattle her.

As he made to sit up, Nico found something didn't let him, a weight pressing down on his chest. 'Huh? what the hell?' the male wondered as he looked down, before sighing softly with his lips twitching ever so slightly. On top of him was a familiar bob of purple hair, arms wrapped tightly around his torso as if afraid to let go for even a second. 'I see… so she's been here for a while…' the male mused in his mind noticing the wrinkles on her clothes and how she looked to have been in that position for an extended time.

A flash of guilt went through his heart at the sight. He didn't want to ruin the image, but he needed to get up and inform the Guild of what happened at the cave, minus a few details. With what he learned about this DPU power, Nico felt it best to keep it to himself for now. It would just cause unnecessary panic amongst the Basilicom staff, whom the Guild is a close associate of. Not to mention all the stuff he'd have to go through to see if he was still 'liable for work' as they say, when really it would be just experiments to replicate the power. He wouldn't lie, there were a lot of corrupt people in the Guild, not just the Agents.

"Neptune, Neptune girl, time to wake up." He whispered soothingly, softly nudging her with his right hand. Several moans were all he got in response as the girl refused to wake up, moaning about '45 more minutes, I need pudding' or something along those lines. The male paused with a sigh, before wondering how else he could wake her. An idea popped into his head as a side of him was awoken by this display, his playful, prankster side. A side that was infamous when he and Compa were kids. An evil grin slowly, like a slow-moving plague, spread across his features as his eyes gleamed with sinister intent. Slowly, biting his lip to avoid chuckling at the idea he had, Nico pressed a few keys on his Bracer's holographic screen.

In the next second, he had a loud speaker attached to his Bracer, which he placed right before Neptune's face, balancing it on his chest to get the best angle. He then manipulated his Bracer and found the 'music' section, quickly finding the song he wanted. It was harder to hold himself back from laughing at this. 'oh this'll be good… and it's be vengeance for nearly getting herself killed at the beginning of the Dungeon.' He thought evilly. Pressing a button on his Bracer. Nico grinned while biting his lips to watch the show.

Slowly a small tune began to play, getting higher and higher until at the climax Nico amped the volume to max, the Speaker making it louder. The sudden shout of the word 'FALL!' echoed throughout the room, startling Neptune awake. "NEPUUUUU!" she screamed, while jumping into the air, flailing her arms slightly before falling to the ground with a THUD! She landed on the ground chest first with her arms sprawled out in front of her and her legs hanging over her head.

Conveniently, the music stopped at this time.

The sound of laughter reached her ears as Neptune's brain began to wake up from the… loud wakeup call. Laughter that came from Nico as he held his gut, laughing so hard he was gasping for breath. Shooting to her feet, Neptune glared at him while puffing smoke out her nose. "Nicky, you're a meanie!" she shouted, the male not ceasing his laughter. "I was having the greatest dream about swimming in a pool of pudding, and you just HAD to ruin it!"

Nico's laughter slowly decreased till it was reduced to mere cackles. Even so he found it difficult to breathe, let alone formulate his response. "S-Sorry Neptune #chuckles# b-but you w-w-were #laughs# not getting up so #cackles# I-I needed to use… more ex-extreme measures." He said between his muffled laughs as he cupped his mouth with his hands. Oh, how good it felt to be able to do that again, it had been too long since he was able to let loose his playful side like that. Usually he would be the calm, level-headed Spec Ops Agent, but deep down he did have some humour in his playful side. It was just heavily repressed.

Nevertheless, his answer didn't quell the girl's anger any less. "Mou! Nicky your still mean… wait a sec, Nicky?" her eyes widened when she realised that the male was awake, sitting on the bed in his polo shirt and camp pants. Her eyes slowly shrunk to the size of a fingertip, her body shaking uncontrollably. At first the male had no idea what was wrong, until his earlier thoughts kicked in and he braced himself for what would happen next.

"NICKY!"

"OMPH!"

In an instant, the girl has blurred forwards and jumped on him, pinning him down to the bed again with her head buried in the crook of his neck. The male had been startled by the force this girl had, and her grip was even stronger than before. not enough to cause him any discomfort, but enough to get the message across. With that, Nico let a soft sigh escape his lips as he wrapped his arms around the girl, one hand on her back and the other on the back of her head.

"Hey-hey-hey, it's alright, it's okay…" he mumbled soothingly in her ear when he heard her start crying. He softly shook her from left to right, holding her close as she cried into his chest. "It's alright, I'm right here, shhh-sh-sh-sh-shhh…" he whispered soothingly as he repeatedly assured her that things were okay. He had an excellent idea of why she was like this after all, and the teen expected to do this a second time, too.

Lifting her head so he could see her teary eyes, Neptune glared at him. "No it nepping isn't! you worried us sick, you heartless bastard!" his eyes widened when he heard Neptune uncharacteristically swear like that. For all the time he'd known her, Nico never once made her swear. She must really be upset with him for what happened, he realised. 'Jesus, this is worse than I thought…' he thought, feeling guilt pierce him like a sword to the heart. 'I really must have scared her when I got myself killed like that…'

Unconsciously, Nico tightened his grip on her back, frowning to himself. 'Damnit, now I feel like a jerk. Seeing these tears… I don't like it, they don't fit the Neptune I know. She shouldn't have to worry about a piece of shit like me.' He growled to himself before burying her into his embrace once more. "You… your right, Neptune. I should have seen that attack coming, so I'll do the man thing and apologise for worrying you like that…" he whispered into her ear, rubbing the back of her head and feeling her hair go between his fingers. "I'm sorry… sorry for worrying you like I did."

"Yeah, you better be!" Neptune proclaimed as she managed to reduce her tears to sniffles after a moment's worth of effort. She then bopped a fist onto his chest, and while it didn't hurt him he could feel the emotion behind it. "First you worry this innocent maiden, then you make her break character like that. You're the worst…" she muttered, but despite her words Nico felt her grip tighten around him, so he in response did the same. "But still… you managed to return, so you kept your word to me… to us." She mumbled, both remembering the vow that Nico had taken to make sure he would return to them whenever he did something reckless or stupid. And what he did back there, taking on that woman alone was in that category.

The male nodded his head, his eyes brimming with seriousness as he gazed down at the preteen in his arms. "You know it… like I said, I keep my word. Remember I vowed it on the name of DEATHSTROKE." He stated. His eyes then looked to the side, sadness and nervousness mixing in those light blue orbs. "It's just difficult to know if I can deliver on my word. When one makes a promise… they should keep it otherwise they're the scum of the earth. I don't want to end up like those lying, cheating assholes in the world, I want people to be able to trust me when I give my word." He explained, sighing to himself. There would be people like that in the world, it was just human nature. It was like in that one song 'If everyone cared', this world would be a better place.

Silence soon fell onto the two, silence that was not completely comfortable, but not too discomforting either. Soon enough the two untangled each other, and Nico gave the girl a concerned look as he decided to inquire about her state of being. "You okay now?" he questioned.

Neptune slowly nodded as she wiped the last of her tears away. "Yah, I'm good…" she replied, breathing in and out methodically for a second. Afterwards she aimed a small chuckle towards him, rubbing the back of her head nervously. "Hehehe, man wasn't that a rush? I mean, the Nep of this franchise, breaking character like that? Man, the fans will be swarming this series if it ever gets published." She remarked.

'Ahhh, I've never felt happier to hear her meta jokes than right now… shows she's making progress to recovery.' The male thought with a smile of his own. He knew that it would be a while till she fully recovered though, that kind of damage couldn't be healed in a few hours. Placing a hand on her shoulder, the male aimed a stern stare into her slightly widened eyes. "Neptune, if your ever in pain, just letting you know that I will be there. Remember my views on my word? Well, I'll give you my word that I'll try to help you through it, or just be there for you, got it?" he told her firmly, making sure she heard every word. Nico fully intended to keep that promise, like with any he makes. Its why he doesn't hand his word out willy nilly.

To only promise something he knew he could keep... it was a risky move, but one that was necessary at this time.

At the male's words and actions, Neptune felt a heat rising on her cheeks, and several things that made her question herself. 'Huh? what the heck is this? This feeling its very weird…' she thought to herself, and before things could continue down this road, Nico and Neptune heard the sound of the doorknob to Compa's room turning.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Wow, that ordeal was a total rush! From Nico dying to coming back as a DPU, whatever that is, to pranking Neptune and to a bonding moment between the two. Just so you know, the Planeptune Arc is nearly over, the next one will tie it up and move into the Lastation Arc! Hehehehehe, what surprises will I have in store for you guys? Whelp, you'll just have to wait and find out!**

 **Chow for now!**

* * *

 **Special Event: Bieber parody - Set while Nico is unconscious:**

Clad in a woolly dressing gown with matching fluffy slippers, Compa walked downstairs to make breakfast for the herself and her only still awake guest. Nico was still out of it from whatever had happened to him, so they couldn't make much progress on their she had to admit, Compa didn't expect to have such excitement happen in her life when she first opened her door to see her childhood friend/crush standing before her, nor when she and him helped bring Neptune back to her house for medical attention.

Her thoughts were broken though, when she glanced off-handedly towards the living room. She stopped mid stride, one foot frozen in the air before it could take another step, at the... weirdness, that was going on before her.

"Huh...? Nep-Nep, what are you-?"

"Shhhhhhhhh! Its there, Compa, it's right there!"

There, huddled in a ball with a massive blanket over her, was Neptune. Her head poked out of the massive cover which shook like it was in fright. The girl's expression matched it as well, her eyes wide and shaking with fright, much to Compa's concern. She hadn't seen the girl this scared of anything in the short time they had together, usually she would be trying to make meta jokes to calm the tension. Not this time, it seemed.

"What are you talking about, Nep-Nep? What-?"

"Look, just look at the TV!"

Neptune thrusted an arm out and pointed at the TV in the room's far corner, which Compa hadn't noticed was switched on until now. The arm receded back into the covers of the blanket, which quivered like a shaken rabbit. Compa looked up at the screen herself... only to freeze at what was on screen.

 _Ooh whoa, ooh whoa, ooh whoa_  
 _You know you love me, I know you care_  
 _Just shout whenever and I'll be there_  
 _You are my love, you are my heart_  
 _And we will never, ever, ever be apart..._

Compa screamed as she saw a young boy of 12 on the TV screen singing about love, before she quickly shut the TV off and bolted straight inside the ball-like blanket with Neptune, increasing its shaking tremendously as the two girls tried to get over the recent cancer they just saw.

"It was right there, Compa! It was everywhere!"

"Shhhh, its okay Nep-Nep, the TV''s off now... we don't have to hear it anymore..."

"... Let's stay in here for a while, I need to bleach my brain from those images.

"Y-Yeah..."


	12. Chapter 12 - Rnr, training, Lastation!

**Chapter 12 - RnR, training, Lastation**

"Nep-Nep, me and Iffy are back with the shopping… NI-NI YOU'RE AWAKE!" As Compa made a replay of what Neptune done previously, Nico sighed to himself. This was an eventful morning, to say the least.

After he'd managed to comfort Compa enough that she wasn't crying anymore, then enduring the scolding that came after, Nico looked like he'd been through hell and back, ironic considering his new power is based from demonic entities. IF had watched the whole thing by the door, leaning on its frame with her arms folded and a smirk on her features. "Man dude you must have low stamina if this is what it takes to run you dry."

Even with his weakened state, Nico, who was now sitting on the ground against a wall leaning on it, gave her a weary yet playfully mad look. "Hey, consoling upset girls is tougher than it looks. In fact, I'd like you try it and see where it gets you. Trust me, dealing with crying girls' is a lot more difficult than it looks… though I do recall other Agents having 'physical' means of consoling them." He mused, knowing what kind of reaction it would get out of them.

At the words, he used and the images in her mind born from said words, IF's face turned red and she looked away, huffing. "Pervert." She retorted, refusing to look at the male as she tried to quell the blush of embarrassment on her face... as well as the thoughts of what those 'physical' 'consoling' methods were. She thought that would help her situation, but with how the images only appeared with more clarity in her mind, some of them involving… her… it only made things worse! Her blush slightly increased at the ones with her in them, no matter how many times she tried to stop herself.

Nico raised a brow at her, too tired for his usual responses to being called a pervert. "Says the girl whose likely imagining fantasies right now." He remarked with a small, knowing smile. Even as tired as he was, Nico was still able to notice the blush and quickly deduce what could have caused it. He couldn't help it, this girl seemed to be the type who is easy to tease. He bet that when the time comes, Neptune would begin teasing her just like he was.

If her red face was any indication, then his words and opinions must ring truth.

"Sh-Shut up!"

After a moment, IF released a breath and focused on a topic that was worth discussing. She did want to question Nico about how he survived that experience, but this had to come first. "All that aside, I couldn't have imagined the monsters coming from the Disk." She remarked while summoning the Monster Disk from her Inventory. She looked it over while making sure not to activate it. she was sure that the Nurse-In-Training wouldn't appreciate a monster running loose inside her house.

Nico's expression turned from weary to serious in an instant, his eyes narrowing sharply at the Disk. "You can say that again, IF." He agreed with a nod. He then cupped his chin and became thoughtful. "I guess that these can be the cause of the mass spike in Monster populations, but the possibility of them making the Abnormals is still a mystery. I mean what we found is that these summon the usual monsters, not the ones I fight daily."

The Brunette had to agree with him there. If these Disks summoned normal monsters, then the mystery of the newer monsters, the Abnormals, was still at large. Also, it was well known that Normal and Abnormal Monsters behaved drastically differently from each other, and it had been recorded that the Abnormals could breed... just in their own ways while normal monsters just spawned... likely from these Disks.

Meanwhile, Compa, who sat on the bed to calm down and wipe away her left over tears, soon added her opinion to the conversation once her eyes were completely dry. "Yes. But now the monsters won't be coming out anymore." She said happily as IF placed it back within her Inventory. They planned to destroy it at the earliest convenience, which would likely be before they go to the next Landmass. It would be problematic if they were found with it when the Basilicom checked them over. "If we beat all the other monsters, everything will be back to normal again."

"I'm not so sure about that, Compa." The Spec Ops Agent spoke, getting her attention along with the others. Nico stood up from his spot on the ground and walked over to an empty seat. He pulled it around so he could sit on it and put one leg onto his thigh, before he continued. "Even if we destroy the Disks, chances are the monster population may be unaffected, after all even if the Disks are their origins, they aren't any different from normal monsters. They have reproductive systems, which means they'll breed to keep the numbers as high as they are. Furthermore, if someone made those Disks, chances are they can make more to scatter to the areas we've been to, so the monsters will keep on rising. What we need to do is find out more information, then we can determine a proper course of action." He explained, gone was his playful side, now it was the Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE that was talking.

A hum came from the brunette, which drew gazes from Nico to her instead. She didn't seem bothered, in fact she did it intentionally as something came to her regarding the topic of discussion. "About the Disk… how about we call it an "Enemy Disk"?" she suggested. It would be too tedious to keep calling them 'Disks' all the time, the term was too generic, and it would cause confusion if they were talking about one type of Disk while meaning another.

Compa did the same thing IF did, humming as she tested the name out on her tongue, "Enemy Disk…" she mused, holding an index finger on her chin while looking up at her ceiling. The name sounded alright, in her mind, though she didn't know why IF suggested this. Let's just say she wasn't the brightest tool in the shed and leave it at that.

IF nodded, "While we need a name for these things to give them proper terminology, Nico here is right. If the Disks are around, we'll keep getting more monsters until we can't handle them all." She explained, which caused frowns to spread onto the faces of the others, Nico's being the worst of them all. The danger the Monsters posed was no less real now that they had discovered their origins, in fact it seemed to have more weight on it' shoulders than ever. If the monster populations kept rising like they were, then the entire Nation may be overrun with them if they decided to attack in mass, and by that point even the Spec Ops Agents may get overrun.

"That's not good…" Compa said with worry, to everyone's agreement. They were all aware of the danger to the world these monsters and the Abnormals posed, hell, it was expressed with perfect clarity back at the Monster Cave, a shudder travelling down her spine at the thought of the horrid Banshees. Their appearance, mannerisms and breeding cycles disgusted her more than anything she'd ever seen. She knew nature could be brutal, but that fact could never have prepared her for what she saw down there. In her heart, Compa figured that Neptune and IF would agree with her on this.

If that was one of the enemies Nico and other Spec Ops Agents fought... then just else do they fight daily?

Seeing his friend worry, Nico stood up and went to her, patting her on the shoulder in a comforting manner. "Don't worry Compa. We can plan against the monsters with what we know now." He told her, easing the girl's worries slightly. It was true after all, they had more information than they did before about how to get rid of more monsters than they did before, which would be a huge help to Planeptune and by extension, Gamindustri.

Their short moment of silence and seriousness was utterly shattered when Neptune came back into the room, having gotten some pudding from Compa's fridge and eating it up while the three were talking about the serious matter she didn't get. "Mmm! Pudding after work really hits the spot! Um, you got more, Compa?" she asked, bounding up to the girl with various love hearts coming out the top of her head. 'What the hell? Nah, I'll not question it, its Neptune after all…' Nico thought, sighing at how the preteen had busted the atmosphere entirely. She'd literally came in like a wrecking ball. The image of Neptune on a ball swinging into a building while singing with some black shades over her eyes came to mind, making a small smile of amusement form on his lips.

The others though, they remained silent as they glanced at each other, one looking like they were embarrassed of something, (Compa) and the other had a look that just shouted 'really?' on her face (IF). Soon Neptune noticed their stares and Nico having hidden his smirk behind a hand, and her face morphed from happiness to confusion. "Hm? What's the matter? Why so serious?"

IF's face morphed to one of irritation as she face-palmed herself, shaking her head at Neptune's idiocy and her lack of any awareness at the situation at all. "Are you kidding…?" she mumbled under her breath. Seriously, Neptune should be at least a little concerned about the situation, it was threatening the lives of every person in Gamindustri after all. Plus, se was their party leader, that wasn't a position where you could just be a lazy bum. Why wasn't Nico the party leader again? That would make much more sense than Neptune at least.

Compa, seeing the brunette's distress, offered a small smile of comfort as she went and patted her on the back. "Um, Iffy? Nep-Nep gets a little tired after she changes, so can you let it go?" she requested, while also doing a pleading face which looked extra adorable on her features.

Looking up at her, IF saw the sight and felt all her resistance crumbling away. She twitched her brow in annoyance when she heard the snickering of Nico behind her, but she didn't say anything to him as she was busy being held by Compa's pleading face. Eventually, she released a breath and let it go for now, Neptune did seem a little less energetic than she did before, probably from the 'consoling' (another blush as images resurfaced) that Nico had to do for her. "#Sigh# If you say so, Compa. I'll let it go, this time."

A relieved sigh escaped Compa's lips, and after a quick thank you from her, she returned to her seat on the bed while Neptune had taken a beanbag on the floor, happily doing her own thing like the child she was. It seemed that Nico's consoling had worked wonders more than he had expected, much to his surprise. Perhaps he'd done something right and he hadn't known it?

Soon enough the next topic IF brought up took his attention away from that instantly. "Going back on subject, I'm more interested in that lady. Who was she?" she wondered, frowning as did the Spec Ops Agent. He had not forgotten that woman who wore that witch outfit. He had not forgotten how she nearly took him away from his comrades forever with those energy attacks, so he wanted payback when he saw her next.

"Looked like she was connected to the Monsters, she did say she was looking for her Queen when she surprised us like that." Compa suggested. she frowned when she remembered what she and Nico had been talking about as they recovered, the fact that she had attracted the Banshees to the Monster Cave still caused a firestorm of righteous fury to rise within her. "Do you think she might have been looking for the Key Fragments like we are?"

This made Nico's frown turn into a scowl. "In all honesty I believe so, with how she used the Banshees like she did, but I can't help but think that there's more to it than that. she didn't say her motives for her actions, and if she didn't have any it means she's much more dangerous than any Abnormal. Someone that deranged would cause cataclysmic damage to the world if left unchecked.. We can't be the only ones looking for these Fragments, whoever sealed Histoire away in the first place must want to keep it that way, thus is searching for them too." He reasoned after a moment's worth of thinking it over inside his head.

It would make sense that the person who sealed Histoire away for so long had not wanted her to be set free, as well as very powerful to seal away an entity like her, he figured. Then, there was the fact that whoever sealed her may have taken precautions to set up traps and the like to drive people away from where the Key Fragments were. They would have to be careful if they wanted to get them all, he figured. 'Maybe I can record the signature the Key Fragments have to let my Bracers track them on the radar?' he wondered, before falling into a state of contemplation of what to do for the future.

While Nico would be temporarily out of it thanks to his new thought process, Neptune, who had now been paying attention while she sat on her bean bag, hummed in thought before beaming brightly, bouncing up and down on her little resting place. "Well then, if that's the case, then we better act quick before she gets them." She told them all. Everyone did have to admit that she had a point, which was rare for someone like Neptune. It was best that they got moving as quick as possible. Whoever was searching for the Key Fragments, if someone even was looking for them, would likely have access to more information about them than they did, thus it would be best if they got moving soon.

Compa nodded to them all, just as eager as the rest of them to get started. "Yes. Let's go get ready right away." She exclaimed, walking to where she had put her Syringe. she then placed it in her inventory, while everyone else got ready to head out. "Oh, I' suggest we go to Lastation, next. Sadly, the other Nations are inaccessible for the time being, so Lastation's our only call." she added on as an afterthought. Apparently, monster attacks had escalated, and thus the mentioned Nations had withdrawn access into their borders for the time being.

Just before they were all ready for a journey. however, a familiar male voice suddenly broke the silence that had filled the air in Compa's bedroom. "Hold on you guys." Nico began, standing up as he stopped them from doing what they intended. Both Neptune and Compa looked up from their positions, Compa about to reach for the door while Neptune made to head outside to get her shoes. Both had confused looks on their faces, so Nico went and elaborated. "We can't go yet, I mean, I do intend to join you guys on this Quest but there's some things I have to do beforehand." He explained. "First thing is this: we need to get you girls trained."

"Eh? Why do we need to train, we have that awesome gear you got us, Nicky." Neptune question as her mind tried to process where he was going with this. To her, training wasn't something she did thanks to this being a gaming franchise with cute girls, weird monsters and levelling systems. She could understand EXP Grinding, but actual training sounded like a foreign concept to her.

IF's eyes narrowed as a hint of what he intended entered her mind. She stood by the Desk Compa had while thinking back to the battles they had together. "Ah, you intend to make us more aware of our abilities than we already are, enough so that we could fight Abnormals more effectively, right?" she questioned knowingly. That was what he got from her gaze, anyways, like she had figured him out.

While she did hit the bull's-eye there, that wasn't all that Nico intended for training the girls. Before he could elaborate, Compa beat him to it as she tilted her head cutely, a look of blissful angelic innocence on her features. "Um, you sure training us would be a good idea? I think we specialise enough traits to cover our behinds." she questioned him with mild concern.

The teen quickly elaborated on his point, seeing as Neptune and Compa hadn't gotten it. "Back in the Monster Cave I watched you girls fight, and while you weren't bad, there are many areas that you need to improve in. Also, Neptune, remember when you said you had your sword disarmed from you?" he asked her, directing his gaze to the preteen who nodded in response. "What did you do then? You went for your sword, leaving yourself vulnerable to the enemy. Its a problem I've seen with a lot of adventurers these days, that they rely too much on their weapons. Abnormals, as you have both undoubtedly seen, are way too different from normal monsters to be classified as such. They are stronger, faster, and way less predictable, making them deadly opponents on the battlefield. Also, they will show you no mercy if you give them the opportunity, and with your current Skills, that will undoubtedly happen. Thus, training is required, and I shall be your instructor."

His words stunned the girls into silence. They tried to think of something to rebuke him with, but thinking back on it, their past battles with the Abnormals was won either due to Nico, or weapons and armour provided by Nico. IF had her DEMON FLAMES Skill to take large groups of Banshees out, so her Abnormal Kill Count was the second largest out of their group. However, even that wasn't a full-proof plan of attack since A: it drained her to use it constantly, and B: Because they were there to back her up. But, what happens if they had to fight Abnormals alone? With nobody to back them up? While teamwork was a good skill to have, individual Skills were just as important, and right now they were lacking when compared to average Spec Ops Agents, who fought tough Abnormals on a daily basis.

Looking at their faces, Nico quickly deduced that they had seen his point, and when he saw them reluctantly nod in acceptance, he knew that they had agreed to his training. "Also, Neptune, Compa." both girls perked up when they heard their names mentioned. "You both want me to do better to protect myself, right? Well, there's another motivation to train. No mater what, I'm not stopping my crazy stunts, especially if they result in saving your skins, so why not become stronger so you can stand on your own two feet? That way I won't have to resort to drastic measures to protect you both."

Now THAT got their spirits raised, the thought of Nico not having to do more of his crazy stunts making them much more eager to train. What he said had merit, if they trained so that they were strong enough to warrant him not going so far for them, then they could sleep easier at night. They could also tell why he hadn't included IF in that moment, since she was the newest member of the Party, thus she didn't know them very well. The only one she had a semblance of knowledge on was Nico, and even then it wasn't that much.

The male gave them a comforting smile as they beamed at the prospect of him not risking his life, before his lips dropped into a frown as sadness seeped into his eyes. "I also must inform the Guild about my armour."

Hearing about the armour caused saddened reactions from the girls. Neptune and Compa especially since they could tell how precious Nico's deployable Armour was to him. He'd explained how it had been with him for a long time, since the start of his career even, so seeing that it was gone was like saying goodbye to an old friend you'd never see again. A warrior's weapon and armour was like his soul, his livelihood, his history, the chips on the armour, the areas where painting was scratched off, showed a long history of Combat that made the warrior wearing it feel proud of himself, his accomplishments, and his mistakes, for they were etched into his very being so that he would be reminded of them and the lessons they taught. To lose something so precious, so important... it was like taking away Neptune's pudding or Compa's dream to be a nurse.

IF looked down at the ground as she frowned, before looking up at the depressed male. "Well, you don't have to actually, when we brought you back here after you fell unconscious, I returned to the Guild and informed them what happened. Save for the fact that you apparently transformed and beat that woman to a pulp." She explained, before giving a pointed stare towards the male. He knew what that meant, he was going to have to explain what that was and how he'd come back to life.

But for now, he focused on the fact that she'd informed the Guild about their Mission. "Eh? You said you gone to the Guild, so… how long was I out?" he asked her, for the woman to hold up 4 fingers. at first, he didn't know what she meant so he guessed the time she was referring to. Minutes, no Hours, no. Days... weeeell... yeah. His eyes widened when he realised this was the answer. "What?! You mean I was out for 4 days?!" he exclaimed in shock. Four days?! How the hell did that happen?! A calmer part of his mind told him it may be an aftereffect of using his DPU form for the first time, which lowered his panic levels slightly, though not by much.

IF nodded, sighing as her face took on a weary expression while remembering what happened. "Yeah, though I must admit when I called the WDD head, I didn't expect her to go all mother hen on me. I almost thought she was going to reach trough the phone like those cartoons you se on TV and throttle me. Anyways, I told them that your armour module bit the dust," she grimaced at the memory while the other girls shook a little, not liking that encounter. "And that you would need a new one. Luckily for you, however, it seemed that when you were at the WDD last, they'd made an exact replica of your Armour in case that you would break your own. They will have to transfer the data of your modifications to it though, so it won't be ready for a while yet."

After she said that, an idea popped into Nico's head and he checked his right Bracer. He manipulated it when he saw a letter icon on the top right corner of the screen, till it showed a holographic list of messages. He pressed on the newest one, and a smaller screen appeared in front of the list. He read the message:

 ** _From: Guild WDD head manager_**

 ** _To: DEATHSTROKE_**

 ** _Greetings DEATHSTROKE. We have heard about the recent Banshee Infestation at the Monster Cave, and deeply regret the loss of your armour. It was a fine piece of equipment; thus, it will be dearly missed. However, we were fortunate enough to have another Module on standby for situations like this. We will require time to customise it to your specifications, fortunately for us you made sure to keep your mods updated on your profile. We will make it so that the Armour will be just like your last one, with all its scars from previous battles._**

 ** _Come to the WDD section when we tell you to, then we shall refit the Module to your body. Until that time, we suggest that you refrain from fighting Abnormals unless necessary, restricting yourself to ordinary monsters. Notifications have been made to the Guild Roster managers that you will be on temporary suspension from Urgent Quests, furthermore your co-workers have been informed of your status._**

 ** _Good luck, and may the path you walk on be fruitful._**

 ** _Yours sincerely,_**

 ** _Helena Dawson WDD Head Manager._**

 ** _PS: MY BABY! Oh, I'm so-so-so-sorry about your beloved Armour! I will make sure it is returned to you, post haste! You know me, I'm always a woman of my word, hehehehehe! Maybe I'll put in some upgrades I've been thinking about, you never know... tee hee._**

 ** _PSS: Please call me, I'm dying to hear from my beloved little boy, gimme loads of hugs and kisses through the Camera, please! Mwah, Mwah!_**

Nico finished reading the message, and gave a sigh as he closed everything with his Bracer. He then fell back onto his seat while rubbing his temples with his thumb and index fingers. "That woman... ugh, she's so dramatic, I swear..." he muttered under his breath. The girls gave each other confused looks, from the beginning to th end of the message, Nico had shown a variety of emotions. From professional calm, to anger, to relief, then embarrassment, and finally exasperation. It seemed whoever sent him that message was someone who was... extreme, sort of like Neptune. "Whelp, looks like you were right, IF. Thanks for that, I really appreciate it." he told her with a small smile, despite the grimace he had done earlier.

The brunette nodded with a small smile, glad that she had helped one of the Spec Ops get back on his feet. "No need for that, we're fellow Mercenaries, so it was the least I could do. Plus, you did help me twice now, once with those scumbags and twice with the Banshees. Consider this partial repayment of that debt." She said with a small smirk. Nico nodded, his smirk rivalling hers, it was good to see someone within the Guild that had a moral code like he did. it was a refreshing experience.

Her smirk fell soon after, though, and her eyes gave a pointed stare towards him. "Now that we have a chance, why don't you tell us what exactly happened back there. How the heck did you come out of that attack like you did? and what the heck was with that transforming ability you have?" she asked, but it felt more like a demand really. Though he couldn't blame her, he was still trying to grasp the reality himself.

During the time he was unconscious, IF had grilled the two girls for details about Neptune's HDD, learning of the encounter they had with a single Banshee. She had been stunned that Neptune almost lost to one, as that transformation looked pretty badass and powerful when she first saw it. However, as she thought about it, with the fact that Neptune apparently was an amnesiac, it made sense if this was the first time she transformed without any memories of it. Also it seemed to her that she had awakened the ability through a life or death situation, something used in a variety of anime and manga. When in danger, humans tend to exhibit increased power levels as a basic fight of flight response.

This just seemed like an extreme version of that.

Neptune and Compa both perked up at this. Both had their own opinions about that kind of power, as it had left a profound impact on them. "Yeah, it was like my transformation, but darker… and scarier." The former said, trembling slightly while holding herself as memories of the form Nico took filled her mind. When she felt that power for the first time, she felt like she was facing a final boss of an epic-level difficulty game, with only beginner's gear and little health remaining. In essence, she had never felt like a cornered animal until that power literally filled her senses with its being. While her powers felt calm, warm and sorta fuzzy inside, Nico's power felt raw, primal, animalistic and bloodthirsty, like a psychopath on steroids. Scary as all hell.

Compa didn't say anything, but her face, plus the way she gripped her knees with her shaking hands, said it all.

Seeing their looks almost made him not want to tell them for fear of scaring them all. But his pride as a truthful Spec Ops Agent, no his pride as a male, would not allow that. Thus, he began the tale, explaining his experience in Limbo and then what Histoire told him just now in his dreams. At the end, Nico finished and gauged their reactions to the unveiling of his DPU Powers.

Neptune was stunned, too much so that she didn't have any comments which was unlike her. Then again, when one realises that their companion has a power that is the exact opposite of your own, it's hard to form a response that doesn't involve swords and hurtful words. Compa looked scared senseless, scared FOR him not OF him. She seemed to be focusing on the fact that if he doesn't control it his power will end up devouring him like a cannibal. The imagery would haunt her for days to come, he figured. And IF? IF was looking… surprisingly neutral about all this, she didn't seem too okay about it, but not too disturbed either. "Your taking this particularly well." He remarked to her.

IF shrugged her shoulders, a nonchalant expression on her face as she crossed one leg over the other. "Yeah well, with what I've seen today, plus the day I've had, I doubt much will scare me in the future. Maybe if we encounter any demons or something along those lines, but I won't hold my breath."

The male DPU nodded, thus they began prepping to go outside. If Nico was going to train them, he would train them hard, just so that they had the strength to fight against Abnormals and he wasn't around. He planned on training them for at least a week, for by then they will have had tremendous upgrades in stamina and combat capabilities. In fact, since he had already fought with them several times, Nico had a good idea of how to make them better, but those will have to wait till they were outside.

As they got ready to move out, Neptune went over to the brunette and asked her a question. "Hey Iffy? Wanna come with me, Nicky and Compa to look for the Key Fragments?" before the Guild Agent could respond, Neptune continued while the other two got their gear together, Nico taking slightly longer thanks to him having more gear than Compa. "We can have fun together, and it'll be safer, too!"

'Pretty sure that Nico will be strength enough for safety, Nep…' IF thought to herself. Even without his armour, Nico was a formidable opponent you did NOT want to meet on the battlefield. Looking at the girl though, IF decided to not say her thoughts and shrug her shoulders. "Sure, why not?" she replied, getting out of her seat. She'd taken the only other seat since Nico had taken the other one during their chat.

"Really? Yay!" Neptune cheered as she went and did a happy dance. She was humming a tune to herself as well, glad that she had another party member.

Compa meanwhile, went and took the role of the mature one and asked if it was alright with the brunette. "Are you sure, Iffy?" while asking this, Compa deposited her Syringe into her Inventory and made sure her armour Module was in place. She got the feeling that she would be needing it a LOT for the battles ahead, so she wanted it to be on her at all times, as well as making it a habit to keep it on her person so it could form her Armour at any time.

The Guild Agent nodded to her, a lopsided smirk forming on her lips. "Not like I have an Agenda, so I might as well tag along for the ride." She replied, as she noticed Neptune nearly fall over during her dance, for Nico to swiftly catch her in his arms and make it look like he was dipping her, much to her embarrassment and Compa's sudden jealousy. A small sweat drop formed on her features while she saw this. "I'm not so sure leaving you two alone with Nico there is a good idea anyways…"

* * *

Nico Guided them out of the city, and spent about an hour walking to a desolated field-like area. Planeptune was well known for its vast fields and lush wilderness, though it paled in comparison to the land of Green Pastures known as Leanbox. The name of said Nation said it all, but in case people don't get the memo, green pastures indicates the nature there is pure, something that Leanbox definitely proves.

Once they were at the field he wanted, Nico stopped moving as he stood at the centre, turning to face the girls. "Alright, we'll train here." he told them, raising his right Bracer and activating its Motion Tracker. There was nothing around them, making a smirk form on his lips. "Looks like we won't be getting some passer-byes eyes, perfect."

A collective shiver fell down their spines, and for some reason, looking at the male Spec Ops Agent made the feeling all the more noticeable. "Uhhhh, is it just me, or does this Nep feel a sharp sense of danger coming?" she questioned the others. Compa and IF looked towards her, their expressions speaking volumes about how they felt right now. A sweat drop formed on her head as Neptune made a strained smile, chuckling in a manner that matched her expression. "Oh, good, its not just me then..."

"Alright, our first lesson's going to be simple sparring." Nico began, ignoring their previous conversation as he used his Bracers to set a time limit. "The time limit is 5 minutes. Try to hold out until then." he told them, his mouth slowly forming a small smile. It was harmless, just an innocent smile, yet that smile sent shivers of terror down their spines. Why did a smile so small, so cheery, scare them so? Was it how his eyes seemed to darken behind his hair, or how he was right now getting ready to attack them with his bare hands? None of them knew, but what they DID know, was that they were about to be fighting for their lives.

The next thing they know, Nico had dashed towards them, jumping into an aerial spin kick to Neptune's head. By reflex, she managed to summon her Murasama, draw it from its sheath, and block in time, but the impact sent her sliding backwards. "You need to widen your stance, bend our legs upon impact Neptune! That way you can divert some of the impact from your body!" he instructed her while running towards Compa. While she was a Nurse-In-Training, and his childhood friend, Nico would NOT let those feelings distract him from teaching them valuable combat skills.

Compa eeped as she closed her eyes and raised her Syringe to swing at him, however Nico sidestepped at the last second grabbing her by the shoulder while placing a foot behind both of hers. With a push, he knocked her off balance and onto the ground. "Your opponent may not be a monster, Compa, but do not close your eyes during a battle, that's just begging your enemy to give you a harsh beat down." Nico chastised her, although he seemed more tolerant of her than he was with Neptune. Likely because he knew she had little combat skill and experience due to her dream of being a Nurse. As a result, she was expected to work in hospitals and not on the front lines, like she would if she travelled with them.

His instincts told him to duck and he did, avoiding a Qatar swing to the back of his head before Nico thrusted his right arm backwards, elbowing IF in the gut to make her bend over, before grabbing her by the neck with the same arm and used her momentum against her, throwing her over his shoulder. Before she could hit the ground however, Nico dashed forth and launched a vicious straight kick, hitting her in the abdomen exactly where he had elbowed her earlier, getting a gasp of saliva from her.

While she slid away from him, Nico heard the sound of an Armour Module being activated, suppressing a pang of sadness as he turned and tilted his body to avoid a diagonal slash, coming from an Armoured Neptune who had chosen to use her Armblades instead of Murasama. The male smirked as he constantly dodged her slashes, much to Neptune's frustration, before he found an opening and exploited it, gripping her arm with one hand, her shoulder with another, before delivering a savage head-butt, making her gasp behind her helmet. The force used on that attack had been enough to damage her even with her armour on! What the Nep?! "Always make sure to use every piece of your body to your advantage! Make unpredictability your best friend, because she will be on that battlefield, goddamnit!"

Gripping Neptune tightly, Nico spotted IF trying to activate a Skill. His smirk only widened as he spun around, taking Neptune along for the ride. he ignored the cry she gave as he threw her into IF's line of sight, her body colliding with hers and knocking them out. "Skills are powerful, yes, but some have longer time delays than others! Your DEMON FLAMES is one such Skill, IF! Do you think Abnormals will just WAIT for you to charge them up? Huh? What happened during your first attempts at fighting Banshees?"

"Ugh... my head, feels like I go kicked by a horse..." Neptune moaned painfully, the three girls barely getting up at all from the rough pounding that Nico gave them, their legs sore from the experience. That sounded weird, but none of them focused on that for the time being. Neptune looked around for Nico, only to find that he was gone. "Eh?! Where's that meanie go?!"

"Right here!"

The universal 'never look up' had happened until the last second, where the girls all dove out the way of Nico, who came down from above with an overhead kick. When he struck, the land below him broke from the impact, showing how much force that he had put into the blow. If any of them had stayed around and let that hit them, the damage would have been extreme, even for Neptune. The guy wasn't pulling punches, and this was only the first lesson!

Obviously, this didn't sit well with them.

"Nepu, what gives, buster?! Its only the first lesson, hold back a little, why don't ya?" Neptune cried out in annoyance, raising her Armblades. From her previous experience she figured letting her guard down for a single second was probably the worst mistake she could ever make right now. His hits stung, and it didn't look like he was showing any mercy towards his 'students'.

Turning towards them, Nico got into a fighting stance as he gave them a cold glare, one that rivalled stones with how little emotion they could see from him. "Do you think an enemy might show you mercy? I don't think so, remember that woman? She literally wiped the floor with your asses, leaving me to fight her myself. In fact, I think you're lucky. Do you know what my instructor did to me?" he questioned, continuing before they could even think a response. "She took me to a couple hundred feet tall cliff and threw me off it, telling me to climb back up. I did, and she repeated her actions... for 6 whole weeks. She would maker me balance myself on a thin spike while bending about to dodge projectiles she'd throw at me from afar, while drinking coca cola. She would leave me stranded in Abnormal infested areas to force me to adapt to survive, giving me nothing but the clothes on my back and any warnings she bothered to give... which were NONE! There's so much more she did, but I'm not going to scar your little minds. So tell me, who do you think got the blunt end of the stick there?"

His words shocked them into silence, their faces once again losing colour as they pondered Nico's insane training regimen. This instructor of his sounded worse than Nico was being to them, alright, way worse. They all thanked every deity in existence that Nico was not doing most of those things that his instructor had done to him, that sounded like freaking torture! Compared to his training, theirs felt like a cakewalk in comparison.

"Now then, we've literally got all day here, so lets get the warm-up out of the way, shall we?!"

"THIS IS A WARM-UP?!"

* * *

The week passed, and by the time the end came, the girls were all cursing the male's name, albeit in their minds as they recovered from the brutal training he gave them. Not only did he force many combat techniques into their minds, but he thoroughly crushed and obliterated any shred of pride in their own strength the held without mercy. It was like being trained by demons from the depths of hell itself, with how he brutally and bluntly told them what they did wrong and hammered his points into their skulls in the most literal sense possible. He was more like a drill sergeant from hell than a person, something that filled them with dread whenever their training was about to begin.

Their sole respite would be the breaks for the 3 meals a day, he wasn't that cruel. Hell, during those breaks Nico would buy them large portions of food and tenderly heal them of their wounds, taking it upon himself since Compa was being trained just as much as the others were. While he was indeed brutal and strict in his teachings, Nico did at least do them some favours and take some precautions in return, like buy Neptune a whole load of Pudding for her troubles, make sure their injuries were treated himself so Compa didn't have to worry about expelling her Healing Skills, as well as make sure to never touch IF's Phones, telling her to place them in her Inventory so they wouldn't be destroyed accidentally.

Also, they couldn't really complain about their instructor from hell since his methods did indeed produce results. While IF and Neptune had more affinity for close combat than Compa did, they nonetheless had now become somewhat decent in it, enough so that if they were indeed weaponless, they wouldn't have nothing to defend themselves with. They also learned how to create openings with their Skills, mixing them in with normal attacks to minimise the chances of the enemy reacting in time.

They each gained their own improvements too. Neptune for example, learned to use Murasama better, her skill almost rivalling that of her HDD form. The fact that her weapon and Skills were affected by her transformation interested her teacher, but he told her to refrain from using it for now as he had seen her HDD form's skills for himself, judging that she needed to have her human form's power be upgraded first. She once commented how this was feeling like a Shounen fanfiction with all the training that they would be doing, only for Nico to roll his eyes and ignore her. She also learned how to utilize her Skills with her Armour's Armblades, apparently they would do much more damage than with a single blade, with way more chances to hit as well. Nico should know, he counted them as he dodged them with nothing but instincts guiding him.

Compa learned to shoot more accurately with her Armcannons, using their Plasma Needles to enhance her strikes in close combat. She didn't have a lot of power, thanks to the prior established fact of her lack of experience, but she managed to compensate with her Armour's Plasma Needles. Her Syringe was large, but also slow in firing, so it wasn't ideal when facing groups of fast monsters, or even single fast monsters, which made her Armcannons much more useful. Mentally, Nico had noted to find some way to get her a weapon upgrade, as he didn't have any Syringes to give her.

As for IF, she already had close combat down, due to her Mercenary background giving her plenty of experiences where she had lost her weapons. She had quickly adapted to his ruthless fighting style to form counter attacks, even though none of them actually hit him thanks to his honed instincts. She learned that using her Skills alone wasn't enough like it would be with everyday Monsters, as well as figured out how to cast them quicker, much to Nico's joy. He didn't show it, but he was overcome with pride for how they progressed in such a short time-frame. They may still have a long way to go, but for now they were strong enough to fight Abnormals on their own IF NEED BE. Needed to stress that, he did.

All in all, the training was a major boost in their strength. They could see why Nico told them he would be training them.

* * *

Finally the day was here, the day they would leave for their next destination: the nation known as the Land of Black Regality: Lastation.

Nico stood in the living room, looking down at his right Bracer which was raised to his chin level. Several screens were floating above it, each one presenting different statistics and calculations that only he understood. The male was frowning, his eyes troubled as he struggled to come to grips with his recent 'handicap'. He loved his Armour, it had helped him through more scrapes than he'd care to mention. Hell, he practically had a hand in its development, so in a way it was his baby. So, to realise that it was gone, at least for a while, was a huge blow to him.

'Mark my words, I will bring you back, my dear...' he thought to himself, growling under his breath that sounded strangely more like an animal. It was as if his fury was mixing with his bloodlust, creating a dark sensation that surpassed both of them, like hybrid vigor. 'I swear to you, I'll find that woman... I'll make her pay, then I'll...'

"Um, Ni-Ni?"

"Whoa, ho jesus!" Nico shrieked, almost feeling his heart leap out of his chest. he took a few calming breaths, with a hand on his chest to help calm his pounding heart, before looking to the cause. It was Compa, standing behind him with Neptune and IF close behind her. "Oh, its you girls... you all ready to go?" he asked them with a small smile, one that hid just how surprised they caught him. He didn't know why, but part of him wondered if that was intentional or not.

His childhood friend nodded happily, a hand over her chest as she opened her eyes to look at him. "Yessy! we're all ready and willing!" she cheered, making Neptune frown at her however.

"Heeeey, Compa, you stole my lines from the original rebirth 1!" she whined, flailing her arms about. The sight made everyone chuckle, save for IF who hid hers while rolling her eyes, until Neptune continued onwards. "Hey uh, Nico, before we go, can I ask ya a question? What's a Spec Ops Agent?"

The male, who had just made to close the last screen his Bracer displayed, stopped just before he could close it, like it was all a second away. His eyes wide with surprise, the teen turned his head to look at her, before remembering that Neptune hadn't really gotten an explanation about Spec Ops Agents. 'I thought she'd have gone all meta on us and read it in a previous chapter, or whatever.' he thought to himself, before deciding to answer. "A Spec Ops Agent is an elite section of the Guild. While mercenary-like in nature, the Spec ops are like the soldier-mercenary mixes, their love child you could say. We're the soldiers that fight the battles that normal adventurers never could. We are people who fight for our own selves, nobody else's." he explained, mentally adding in his mind. 'Not even the CPUs...'

"Wooow... that sounds so dark and gritty..." Neptune mused while everyone else had already left the house and was waiting for them outside. "That must be a tough job, I guess. I mean, they take on so many mean monsters, meaner than normal ones, anyways, all for the same rewards Guild gents get?"

Nico shook his head as he turned fully to face her, his eyes stern as his gaze bore into her own. "There's a saying we Spec Ops Agents follow, down to our cores: 'There are things you can't fight. Acts of the Goddesses. If you see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you're a Spec Ops Agent, suddenly, you can fight the Hurricane. You can win.'"

Neptune gaped, her mouth hanging open as she absorbed the deep saying that he just told her. Her protagonist instincts told her that was a reference to something that was considered extremely badass, but she chose not to comment in a meta way. It just didn't seem to do that quote justice, so instead, she went with pure honesty. "Whoaaaaa... that sounds super awesomely cool." she whispered, then shouted the end in excitement.

"Yup, and it's true. I once fought an Abnormal in the midst's of a massive storm. Didn't even get bothered by the weather thanks to my armour." Nico explained, puffing his chest in pride as he remembered that memory. While a pang of pain exploded within at the reminded of his loss, Nico didn't let it distract him as he turned on his heels and began walking towards the door leading to the outside. "Anyways, let's go. We can't keep the others waiting, can we?"

"Nope, lets' go, yo!"

* * *

After leaving Compa's house, Neptune and the party ventured out to Planeptune, intending to get to the Planeptower, where they would be able to use the Sky Harbour. The Sky Harbour was the only means of getting between the nations of Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox from Planeptune. However, there was one small detail that became VERY apparent shortly into their little trip…

They got lost.

"Um, Neptune, you sure this is the right way?" Nico asked while sweat dropping. They had been wandering the streets for what felt like hours, and still they were no closer to finding the Planeptower. He would have tried to find the right path but Neptune had not given him the chance, just literally pulled him by the sleeve of his Trench Coat out the door with Compa and IF following suit.

Made for a fun ride, that's for sure.

Neptune waved him off dismissively. "Pft, of course I'm sure, Nicky. I'm all but certain that it's this way!" Nico looked to where she was pointing, then recalled the trip they had made thus far and face-palmed, it was the same direction they had been taking the last 5 times, meaning they'd been walking in circles.

"I think we've been walking in circles." Compa stated bluntly with a weak smile and a sweat drop on her forehead. She looked to be slightly winded from all the walking, but not too much. After all, she had been fighting for the last couple days, so her body should only naturally be in the beginnings of increasing its endurance and stamina.

They all looked to IF, who was still pressing buttons on her phone. When she noticed their gazes, she looked up at them and looked at them incredulously, "… you serious? We haven't gotten there yet? I've just been following you, I've just stayed in Planeptune, never did venture outside much. And even if I did, I wouldn't be able to remember how." She explained, before she looked towards Nico with a raised brow. "what about you, Nico? Surely the Guild sometimes lent you and other Agents to the other Nations."

"True, they did." Nico nodded in admission, crossing his arms. "I was lent a lot to other nations, but sadly it's not the same way everyone else does it. we're usually para dropped from an aerial transport right where we need to be, with everything explained to us along the way. So, I'm unaware of how civilians and Guild Agents nation hop. I would have used my Bracers to find out, but…" he held up his Bracers, and true enough they seemed to be busy downloading something. There was an ellipsis in the middle of their screens with a bar above and the word 'Downloading', the bar slowly being filled. "They're downloading information now, info about the layout of the other nations to be exact, plus their dungeons and bestiaries. It's taking all their processing power, so I'm a dud."

Seeing that even he was useless, despite how much it pained him, IF gave a groan as she sighed in defeat. "Alright, lemme check…" she began before beginning to use her phone. As time passed though, her expression turned more and more irritated by the second, until she snarled through gritted her teeth. "C'mon, work you piece of crap!" eventually she gave in, sighing loudly as she pocketed her phone with a grumpy look on her face. She then looked at them all apologetically while pocketing her phone, "Sorry guys, my phone's internet connection fuzzed out. Looks like we'll have to ask around." She admitted reluctantly.

The Spec Ops Agent sighed in reluctance as well, this was a setback to their plans. if anything, he had learned that unexpected things happened and thus they had to just deal with it. "Although I don't want to, I'll have to agree with you there. Let's look around see if we can find someone. Someone who looks trustworthy, we don't want to run into any criminals. #shudder# not making that mistake again…" the male shuddered when he remembered his days as a Rookie in the Guild, when he too got lost and couldn't do much but ask someone. Turned out he had run into a couple thugs so he had to beat them up, which wasn't easy back then, and turn them in. He'd met another Agent by chance and they told him where to go.

"Hmm? How about her?" Neptune asked as she pointed to someone, a female it looked like, in the distance, sitting by a bench minding her own business. the female turned out to be a small young girl, sitting next to some… weird ball thing with feline features, Nico noticed. She was a light brunette, with dusty yellow-brown eyes, her hair long enough to reach down her entire body, wrapped into two large pigtails, held together by small yellow bells. She wore some sort of school uniform, which surprised Nico since he didn't expect schools for young children to be open right now. It consisted of a white top, a red bow, a green skirt, and black flats with green socks. What REALLY intrigued him were her cat ears and tail.

Nico evaluated her in his mind, calculating and processing the pros and cons, leading to a tension in the air… before shrugging his shoulders and dispersing it with a "She seems legit." Without a care in the world. Turning to the others, Nico noticed their dumbfounded expressions, and tilted his head curiously."What? Do you know what gender commits the most crimes?" he asked before pointing to himself. They soon got his meaning. "Asking a girl is safer than a guy, trust me. I may be a bit sexist there…" he muttered the last part under his breath, so nobody heard. But the girls all thought it, though they didn't comment on it.

Moving forwards before people sue for sexism...

And so, Neptune was the one who went to ask for directions, although the others did protest but Nico shot them down by saying it was Neptune who saw her first, and since she wasn't all that threatening it would be easier to get the info they needed. They couldn't argue with that, and silenced their protests before watching her leave.

Over at the bench, the girl was leaning back with her hands on the bench, eyes closed and basking in the sunlight that showered her body. "It's a nice and warm day again, Nyu…" she muttered in satisfaction. Her little… ball thing meowed in agreement with its mistress's words, adopting the mannerisms most cats have when basking in the sun. "A nice cup of bitter hot tea would hit the spot, Nyu."

Her ears picked up footsteps and a shadow loomed over her, making the girl open her eyes to see Neptune standing there with a nervous yet polite expression on her face. "Hello…" the girl greeted awkwardly, before rushing to continue her question before the greeting could be responded to, "Can I ask you something?"

"What Nyu?" the girl replied with a question of her own as she sat up straight, keeping her head turned to face the new person who had walked up to her and disturbed her sun-bathing… with clothes on. "Is there something you want with Broccoli, Nyu?"

The moment that the girl heard the name of the small, er, smaller girl, her previous anxiety was dispersed into the winds as a pair of stars replaced her eyes as she ogled the younger girl. "Oh, your name is Broccoli? That's so cute that I wanna call you "Puchiko"!" she gushed like a typical fangirl when she was in the presence of, or talking about, her crush.

It seemed that the other girl, Broccoli or 'Puchiko' as she had been called, didn't like the second name and made to correct her with a face that seemed derisive. "It's not "Puchiko" its "Broccoli" Nyu." She stated in defence of her name.

Unfortunately, Neptune didn't seem to care about that right now, as she simply waved it off dismissively, "Let's not split pears, okay?" she responded, showing Broccoli that despite her attempts, anything she tried to do to stop her from calling her Puchiko was useless.

Thus, she gave a blunt statement that hit like a tongue of bricks. "You're terrible at listening, Nyu."

The insult and the statement it was in went in one ear of the head of Neptune and out the other, completely harmless, much to the brunette's chagrin. "Anyway, I wanna ask you, Puchiko, how do I get to Planeptower? I'm supposed to go there, but, um, I don't know where it is…" she ended, some of her nervousness revealing itself once again although she did a very good job at hiding it.

Deciding not to bother with the Puchiko comment and respond to the girl's question, Broccoli smiled and pointed down the direction of a street that Neptune had never noticed before. Unlike most of the streets, this one seemed to be increasingly busy, busier than the ones that she and the others had travelled on. "Well, Nyu. Just head down there and you'll see a sign for it, Nyu."

Now that she had a better idea of where to go, Neptune's happiness meter skyrocketed as she pumped a fist. "Sweet!" she exclaimed happily, before quickly turning and making to leave. "Thank you! I've gotta run now, bye-bye!" she yelled, looking behind her at the small girl while waving as she retreated.

Broccoli watched her leave and group with some girls and a guy. She was surprised to see a guy with a bunch of cute girls, but soon got over it. If they were comfortable with him then it was okay, plus it wasn't any of her business anyways. The way he looked and how he moved though, intrigued her. It looked like he was some sort of soldier or a Mercenary, or some other position that involved lots of combat, which wasn't uncommon in Gamindustri but usually they were next to useless. That guy however, seemed to be the opposite. "Who's that boy with them, I wonder… now that I think about it, Hm, I think I've met her before, Nyu… let me think for a bit, Nyu."

...

...

...

...

For a moment, her face was redder than cherries as steam rolled off her head. random civilians walked by and gave her curious and slightly concerned stares, whispering things like 'where's that girl's parents?' or 'Is she sick? she should be at home, resting' although these comments were nevertheless ignored in the grand scheme of things. One child even asked his mother who that girl was, only for the parent to hurriedly usher the child away while telling him to ignore the crazy people.

A gasp tore from her small mouth as her eyes shot open wide in recognition, the redness and seam vanishing instanty. That purple hair, that hoodie dress, that annoying nickname she gave her upon seeing her, it all made sense. Only one person could have those traits. "Oh, that's right! that was Nep, Nyu!"

After getting the directions from that bystander that Neptune said was 'Puchiko', although through means he would not say Nico knew her name was Broccoli and that Puchiko was a nickname she didn't like that Neptune had forced onto her, the group of four found themselves where they needed to be.

The city had disappeared behind them and they were left in front of a large building. The area behind the building was a white-yellow gate with a fence spreading to both sides. Behind that was nothing but air, air and clouds that is. 'So, this is what the civilians use to travel between nations, huh?' Nico mused as he cupped his chin and thought to himself. 'Judging from what I'm seeing, the building here is for those who want to pass it, there must be people inside who specialise in travel like a travel agency. Although how they actually get across is still a mystery…'

Unaware of the sole male party member's thoughts, Neptune looked around and got herself lost in her own little world. "The ground. its split open!" she exclaimed, pointing to the edge of the Landmass behind the gate and fence with awe in her eyes. She then turned to where the others were, her eyes filled with childish glee. "This must be where the Ancient battle must have ensued! A battle where a Goddess and an Evil God seal each other with their weapons!"

'Pretty sure that's a reference there, Neptune…' Nico thought, holding a hand over his face, but NOT face-palming. She may be random, but he was slowly getting used to it. He surprised himself with how easily he had grown fond of the preteen, her innocent outlook on life plus her quirky personality seemed to just suck people in, even if they were the scum of the earth.

Meanwhile, IF grew frustrated, if the groan she let out at Neptune's antics was any consideration as she looked over to Compa. "What is she talking about?" she asked/whined. It was like she was having a mental breakdown from trying to understand the gibberish that came out of the preteen's mouth.

Their resident Nurse-In-Training gave a weak smile as she tried to support the Guild Agent, "Nep-Nep says a lot of random things, but you'll get used to it." she said in a comforting manner. unbeknownst to the others, Nico was desperately holding back a snort, Neptune did say random things, but because of his experiences with another fourth wall breaker he knew they were references to different forms of media. Though, he was still getting used to her randomness, and he had known her longer.

"If you say so…" IF reluctantly adhered to Compa's explanation, but had to make a comment of her own about the purple haired amnesiac. "But still, for losing her memory, Nep sure knows a lot…"

All Compa could do was laugh weakly. At that moment, the awkward atmosphere was shattered when Neptune called out, "Oi, Iffy, Compa! The view from up here is awesome!" Nico looked to her when she said that last bit and when he noticed where she was, well… if he had been drinking something he would have spat it out from the shock he was in. "Oh wait, are you scared?"

"Neptune what the hell are you doing up there?!" Indeed, Neptune appeared to have somehow gotten on top of the Gate itself and was using it as a lookout post. She was close to the edge, dangerously so, and without his armour Nico feared he wouldn't be able to catch her if she fell. Neptune looked over to him with a head tilt, confused on why he was yelling so much. "Why you yelling, Nicky? Wait, could you want to join me? Come on then, the view's great!" she cheered, beckoning to a space beside her that looked terribly unstable for someone to sit on it.

Before the male could respond to that, Compa decided to inform them of what this place was, Neptune because of her amnesia, and Nico because he used another form of transportation, usually. "Nep-Nep, Ni-Ni, this is a "Sky Harbour". Its where we go to get to the other lands. The lands aren't connected, so we need to go through here." She explained pointing at the Gate.

'She didn't say HOW we get across, maybe I should- oh wait, looks like Neptune's about to speak.' Nico thought, before glancing at their party leader to see she was about to open her mouth. "Uh, how do you get across?" she asked unknowingly voicing the male's thoughts to his pleasure. Then, her mind started forming ideas with a splice of her… randomness. "I know! Jump, right? like while saying "wahoo"!"

Nico rolled his eyes at this but didn't say anything since IF did it instead. "Why not grow a moustache and jump then?" she spoke half-heartedly, if she knew Neptune like she did, then the preteen might actually do that, just for the LOLs. She looked to the building beside the Gate, before turning to the rest of the gang and continued in a more serious voice with sharp, blade-like eyes. "We need to go to the Basilicom. We fill papers there and once we get approval, we can go across freely."

This made the male raise a brow. He had to know how she knew this procedure. But he didn't even have to ask because when IF saw his face she must have figured out his intention and spoke to him, "The Basilicom is one of the highest-ranking powers in any nation, just under the Government. They control the Sky Harbours, so it's only natural we get their permission. Now stop dragging ass and head on over."

* * *

The party made their way to the entrance of the Basilicom, and when Nico was about to open the door himself, Neptune suddenly pushed past him and kicked them open, yelling "HELLO-!" as she did so. The interior of the Basilicom looked like a massive hallway, with golden frames and pillars, multi coloured glass window as well as an altar at the back. There were multiple men in white and purple robes in various places, talking to each other. Though this ended for some when they heard Neptune's… entrance.

Gritting his teeth, Nico bonked her on the head with a tick mark on his forehead, "you idiot, why do you have to shout like that?! This is a sacred place to many you know!" he yelled at her as he took the role of a scolding parent. The others could only sweat drop when they saw them somehow change into a chibi version of themselves, Neptune in the Japanese sitting position with crocodile tears falling down her cheeks, hands on her lap in fists and a rising bump on her head. Nico had stood over her with his arms crossed, his eyes narrowing down at her as he ranted off about manners and other stuff.

Compa could only smile weakly while sweat dropping, "Ni-Ni's acting so much like a parent to Nep-Nep…" she stated with a nervous chuckle. This reminded her of a few times in her childhood when Nico would catch her doing something she shouldn't, and would proceed to scold her afterwards. Her grandfather, in one of his moments, allowed it because Nico showed himself to be mature for his age.

IF nodded, but unlike the Nurse-In-Training, she was doing better at keeping her emotions in check, although she did have some irritation on her face as she scowled at the two. "They don't realise that they're drawing attention to themselves, do they?" she remarked, watching as several staff members were looking at them weirdly. She didn't know how much more she could take of this humiliation, though.

However, it was fortunate that she didn't have to find that out as soon enough one of the staff members walked up to them, unperturbed by the sight of the two. "Welcome to Planeptune's Basilicom." He greeted, which was enough to stop the two's little episode, and make them look over to the man with their forms restored… fanfiction logic. "What brings you here today?"

Instead of Nico or Neptune who answered, IF did, thinking that those two had done enough for their reputation. "Could we get crossing approvals to go to Lastation?" she asked, adopting a formal posture and tone of voice, which was the norm for situations like these. Nico watched her with an impressed look on his face. While he was slightly embarrassed about losing it like that, he was glad someone had the sense to rein in their emotions like that.

"All three… no, four of you to Lastation, correct?" the man asked. He had been about to say three, until he noticed the male of the group. Nico got the feeling that the man didn't like him the instant he saw him, and not just because of the fact he had started something in the Basilicom. Nods of affirmative and a "Yessy!" from Compa were their responses. The man nodded before walking to a nearby cabinet and taking out a form and pen. He walked back and handed it to them, "Very well, then. Please fill out this form and sign right over here." He told them, to which IF began the procedure. It would be a list, that was for sure.

* * *

Half an hour later, the form was filled in. There was some fine print to read through, much to Neptune's dismay, but once that part was finished all they had to do was place their names on the paper and place it back in the hands of the Staff member. Once he had the form back, the man looked it over for any details missed while recounting what they saw. "So, Ms. IF, Ms. Compa, Mr. DEATHSTROKE," he nearly shit his pants when he realised who that was, much to Nico's amusement. He wouldn't look down on him anymore, that's for sure. Was the difference between his human and armoured form really that great? "and Ms. Neptunia, correct?"

'Oh Goddess… another person who can't pronounce Neptune's name…' the male Spec Ops Agent thought in dismay. Hand? Meet Palm. It's nice to meet you, shall we meet often? At this rate, he was sure his hand would have an imprint on his face and he'd have to wear his Armour, once he got it back, forever to hide it.

It seemed that he was not the only one annoyed though, as Neptune looked at him with said emotion as she put her hands on her hips with her legs spread apart, an angered expression on her face. "Hey mister, my name is "Neptune" not "Neptunia."" She spoke, correcting him for the mistaken terminology. Although, that was the name of the Franchise, so...

The man blinked for a moment, before realising his error. He sweated lightly, a light blush of embarrassment crossing onto his features at what he had done. He then tried to apologise to the affronted amnesiac. "Oh, my bad. How awful of me, mistaking such a loli-cute girl like you…"

'Uhhhhhh… am I supposed to raise the 'stranger danger' flag? Because he looks like someone you don't want to meet in the night with that face…' Nico thought, feeling a sense of disturbance in the way that man looked to Neptune. His eyes swiftly gazed over her form before focusing back to her eyes, his smile carrying a touch of something he would rather Neptune NEVER be exposed to. 'Back… away from him… slowly, Neptune.'

Composing himself when he saw the glares from both Nico and IF, the staff member cleared his throat awkwardly, though the preteen and Compa were the only ones who didn't notice, before looking down at the form in his hand. "Let's see now…" he began, skimming down to the bottom before finding Neptune's name and attempting to correct his earlier mistake. "Neptuune… Neptyu…toon…"

It was clear though that he was failing miserably, and it was leaving Neptune in down spirits. "Ah… is my name really that hard to say?" Neptune asked with a pouting face, which made her look even more adorable in the older man's eyes.

Though it took one glance towards Nico, whose eyes the man swore looked like skull sized flames for a moment, to make him snap back to attention. An ashamed look crossed onto the Basilicom Staff member's face as he tried to smile comfortingly at her. "Oh, no, no! Not at all! I'm just having a bad day, that's all." He tried to say, only for it to make the situation worse when the petite amnesiac looked even more depressed. Well, it wasn't a good comeback, anyways.

While the Basilicom staff member left to get the forms through the right processes, IF shook her head at the man's inability to say such a simple name. 'Seriously, Nico can say it, so he's alright, but this guy? C'mon, seriously…' she thought to herself with a mental groan. She then perked up before turning her head to Compa. "By the way, Compa? Can you say "Neptune"?" she asked her hopefully, anything to get Neptune out of her funk.

Unfortunately, Compa also formed an apologetic smile on her face as she remembered their first meeting and her inability to say Neptune's name right after she introduced herself. "Well, I couldn't, so that's why I say "Nep-Nep"" she explained, giving her a short version of their first meeting.

"Then can you say, "Planeptune"?"

Now Compa took on a confused face, simply uttering the word "Planeptune?" as IF had just done.

This earned a groan from the Guild Agent, she couldn't believe this. "I don't understand why you can't say "Neptune" when you can say "Planeptune."" She remarked, before getting a hand on her shoulder from behind. She felt it and immediately realised who it was, her saving grace. Turning her head, IF saw Nico with a shake of the head, telling her to let it go as one of those mysteries that may never be solved. Sounded like a plan, so let's do it!

Once she nodded to him, Nico went to the depressed Neptune, who had taken her depression out on a seat by deflating herself vertically over it. the male then grasped her shoulder, shaking it to get her attention. Looking up at him, Neptune saw Nico give her a smile of reassurance, trying to cheer her up. "Don't worry Neptune." He said, stressing her name to further pronounce his point. "Even if nobody else can say your name, I will. I'll always call you by your real name, Neptune."

Her eyes, which were depressed earlier, filled up with life at the sound of him saying her name correctly as she jumped onto him, wrapping her arms and legs around him as she tried to crush him in her embrace. "Eeeeeeek! You really know how to make a girl feel happy, Nicky, you smooth talker, you!" she squealed happily while burying his face into her chest.

"Hey, get off Neptune, what are you doing?!"

* * *

After a short while of Nico trying and eventually succeeding in pulling the girl off him, although he needed IF and a Jealous Compa's help, the Staff Member returned to them, no forms in his hand this time as he gave them a polite smile. "Sorry for the wait. You're all ready to go." He swiftly gave a pointed gaze towards Nico while his attention was elsewhere, before it returned to the girls. "You should be able to travel between Lastation and Planeptune freely now."

"Thanks." IF said simply, though she had notice his staring at Nico. 'He's just jealous that Nico's able to travel with a bunch of girls. Perverted bastard can't hold a candle to that guy…' she thought, glancing to the male who was making sure that Neptune and the Staff Member were unable to get close to each other, though really only the latter wanted to be closer despite his professionalism. The difference between the two was clear as day, Nico was exempt from IF's usual opinion of guys, his actions and his dedication to making sure Neptune and Compa, and a few times herself, were happy and smiling, was proof enough of that.

Neptune then remembered something and quickly went to ask the man just as he was about to leave them. "Oh, mister? I wanted to ask, but is the Goddess around?" she asked him.

When hearing her question, the man paused mid step and turned back to them. Walking over to them once again, the man aimed a slightly smug smile at Nico for being able to spend additional time around Neptune the 'loli-cute girl' he referred to her as. He then turned his attention to Neptune and answered her question. "I think Lady Purple Heart is up in Celestia. She hasn't come back down here yet." he explained.

At the mention of the name of the Planeptune Goddess, Nico's mind raced into overdrive as pieces fit into a puzzle in his mind. 'Transformation, similar name to Planeptune, HDD [Hard Drive Divinity] the opposite to my demonic DPU powers which would be divine… oh shit, could Neptune be….? I guess it's more than likely since no normal human could survive falling out of the skies…'

"I see…" Neptune responded with a disappointed look in her eyes. "I thought that maybe the Goddess would be around. Shucks…" she whined, before sighing.

'If you are who I think you are, Neptune… then that statement is very ironic.' Nico thought to himself trying to keep a straight face. Years of wearing armour that had a Mask helped him greatly in this, so he kept his emotions in check this time. Meanwhile, the Staff Member tried to assure the girl about their Goddess. "Well. I heard that the other CPUs have appeared to protect their lands… I hope Lady Purple Heart is all right…"

Hearing this, IF frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Maybe something happened in the Console War?" she offered up a suggestion. It could happen, no matter what religious folk try to say otherwise. After all wars were unpredictable, and the Console War between the CPUs was no exception, so who knows?

In a typical manner befitting of a devotee of the Planeptune Goddess, the Staff member vehemently shook his head in denial. "That can't be." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Lady Purple Heart would never lose to the other Goddesses…" he said, putting his entire being into that sentence. It was a plus that he believed in his Goddess so highly, everyone would give him that at least.

"Um, hello? What's this about a Console War?"

Everyone looked at Neptune incredulously, until Nico remembered that she had no memory and mentally face-palmed at his neglect to inform her of such an important event… well, at least to those in the religious department. 'Ugh, I forgot to tell her. She just seems to be so knowing with those fourth wall breakings that I got distracted. Tch, and I call myself DEATHSTROKE…' he scolded himself in his mind.

Unaware of his thoughts, and not at all perturbed by the question, the Staff Member supplied the information she requested. "It's a battle that started in eons past for rulership of Gamindustri. It's said that the last standing CPU will become a God to rule Gamindustri." He explained. It seemed that he was used to answering that question, which meant he had likely said it many times to small children who had asked… Nico suddenly shuddered, hoping that man wouldn't go THAT far for his loli fetish.

"So, the CPUs have been fighting for years in Celestia." IF summarized, seeing that Neptune was beginning to look confused, her childish mind not comprehending the amount of information told her about something that didn't seem to interest her. She had only asked because of small curiosity that quickly faded into nothingness when the response began.

Nevertheless, even with a lack of interest, Neptune still formed a perplexed expression as she looked down in thought. "Not sure what's so great about beating each other up. Why not be friends?" she wondered, a little bit of sadness in her tone that Neptune didn't even realise she was expression, with the look on her face being any indication.

Nico nodded his head and crossed his arms, "They've been fighting for hundreds of years, Neptune. For them, they likely know no other way." He explained, before his face turned to one of melancholy, "all the weakness in this world is due to lack of ability…" he muttered, a lost look in his eyes before he blinked rapidly, his focus coming back to him. "Huh? what did I just say…?" he wondered, not noticing the looks on the others faces, even the Staff Member was confused.

"What Nico said was true, the first part anyways…" IF began, shaking her head to push those suspicious thoughts to the back of her mind. She'd ask him when they were alone or something. "But with how long they've fought, I guess there's no turning back. Anyway, let's get going. Off to Lastation we go."

"Okay then. Well, see you again, Mr. Nice Guy!"

"Thank you, and you be careful, now."

* * *

With that, Neptune and the others left for Lastation, to find the second Key Fragment. After the doors closed, the Staff Member left to go pursue his own matters for the day. While walking down a corridor by himself, the man let out a perverted, and slightly creepy, smile. "That Neptune girl was so small and cute… I hope she comes back again." He remarked dreamily, before his face morphed into a jealous scowl. "Preferably without the company of that brute with her." The man then began to wonder about her, and not in the perverted way he did before. "…I'm pretty sure I've seen her before… Hmmm…"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **GODDAMN, that was a long ass Chapter! I edited it so much, added new content and made grammar checks, and when I looked at the word cunt my mouth nearly dropped. Longest chapter to date, people, so enjoy!**


	13. Chapter 13 - Lastation-Goddamnit!

**Hi,**

 **Little shorter than my usual Chapters, but with the last one I bet it'll be a fair trade.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 13 - Lastation-Goddamnit, Neptune!**

'Huh? what the heck, am I tripping just now?' Nico wondered. Just before he and the others went to the Gate after leaving the Basilicom and that rather creepy man, the male had frozen, well, his body did while his mind… he didn't know. He blinked, and found himself inside some blue futuristic-looking room. It gave him the impression of a cage however, something that didn't sit well with him. He had no idea what this was, nor if it was real or not, but didn't have time to ponder because he heard footsteps. 'Oh shit, gotta hide!' the male thought, paling. One of his special mods to his armour was a Cloaking Module that gave him the ability to camouflage with his surroundings, allowing him to merge with the environment and not be seen.

Without that, he didn't have a lot of options, until he noticed the ceiling and swiftly jumped upwards, flipping his body around and embedding his hands and feet into the ceiling. It was not a second too soon, for the source of the footsteps entered the room and walked to where there was a pedestal, although he couldn't see what was on top of it due to it being blurry.

His eyes soon narrowed however, when he noticed the familiar witch hat on her head and the ghostly skin. 'Its… her… that woman, who nearly killed me…!' he thought, rage overtaking him. His teeth gnashed heavily, his hands gripping the makeshift grip on the ceiling tightly while veins popped over his forehead. However, he didn't move yet, despite his instincts telling him to go down there and shove Rebellion down her throat, another part of him told him to wait and see what she was doing.

"It has been a while, Histoire." That part finally won him over when he heard the woman talking to the blurred space. More specifically when he heard the name in that sentence. 'Histoire? These two know each other?' Nico wondered, his anger replaced by curiosity. He wouldn't hesitate to admit that this new information intrigued him, enough to suppress his rage against the woman for a moment.

Histoire, the name of the voice that had asked them for help, told him about his DPU powers, knew the woman known as Arfoire. That alone raised some serious questions about the relationship between the two, and if anything Nico was observant. Thus, he decided to wait and see what he could learn about the two of them with this encounter. Hopefully, none of them would sense his presence up here, or things would become awkward faster than Neptune devouring Pudding.

His eyes widened in realisation as he remembered the other girls. It looked like he wasn't anywhere near them for now, so what the heck happened? Were they alright? Did they know where he was? Were they coming here? So many questions pounded away at his skull, almost giving him a migraine. However, he made sure to push them aside in favour of learning all he could. Information was power, something he learned early on in his days as a Guild Rookie.

The blurred space, in which he guessed Histoire would have been if he could see her, seemed to thrum with contained energy. "Arfoire…" she said, and it was said so neutrally, meant to hide emotions from those the user is talking to. "No matter how often you come, I have no intent to help you."

'So, Arfoire is her name, huh? And she has been trying to get Histoire's help before? why wouldn't she give it? Sure that woman's a bit of a psycho with a bad fashion sense…' Nico thought, grimacing. While he respected women in general, this one seemed to rub him the wrong way, especially after what she did to him and his comrades. The fact that she had been responsible for the Banshee infestation was another point deducted from her in his books.

If he expected her to be annoyed by this information, Nico was wrong when the woman known as 'Arfoire' simply waved it off like it was of no importance. Odds were whatever she was planning required Histoire in some form, but with how she was things wouldn't progress to the stage she wanted, he guessed. A part of him wondered if they should be collecting the fragments at all if that's the case. "I know. I came to ask you about Neptune."

That caused the space to jump for the briefest of seconds, but both Nico and Arfoire noticed. "Did you… meet Neptune?" she asked with slight hesitation, but it was enough for him to realise she was nervous. Nervous about whatever plans Arfoire had for Neptune. The mere thought of this woman hurting one of his comrades in the future was enough to incite his rage again, to the point where he was one step away from activating Demon Drive Demonica to ascend into his DPU Form and ripping that bitch to shreds.

Unaware of the observer, Arfoire's tone took on a sinister, more evil tone while her eyes narrowed darkly. "So, it was you after all…" she said as if she had a hunch about her actions all along. Nico's eyes also narrowed, but for different reasons. "You're the one who's been guiding her."

Despite seemingly being found out, Histoire still did her best to sway Arfoire from the truth. "What can I do?" she asked, hoping she would believe her. Nico fully believed her attempts would be futile, especially with the way this woman acted. 'Despite what she may seem, she seems to be a tactician of sorts, a planner. She tries to tackle problems with one plan while having several backup plans. A final villain if I take words from Neptune…' the male mused in his mind. "I am sealed and unable to do anything."

Like he thought, Arfoire didn't believe her one bit, though she didn't do anything to her. She turned away from the blurred tome and spoke "Hmph. What a liar." She then began to walk away toward the exist she used, slowly. Before she could leave for good however, the woman turned her head back to face the blurred form of Histoire, an ominous, twisted malice in her voice when she spoke. "No matter. I will defeat her, and that boy toy she has, another time."

It got harder and harder for him to not go down there and beat her to a bloody pulp. He was NOBODY's boy toy, damnit! She was lucky he was curious about her connection to Histoire otherwise Nico would have shredded her to pieces even without his Plasma Claws! Soon enough, she was at the entrance, her voice fading into the distance, as well as his mental consciousness. "The Goddesses are in my control. They shall fight by my will! Hahahaha!"

* * *

With a Gasp, Nico's eyes opened wide when he felt himself return to the real world. He stumbled back, clutching his head with a groan while trying to make sense of what just happened. "Ugh, my head…" he moaned in discomfort, feeling a pounding sensation on his skull. 'What the hell was that just now? Was it some sort of vision?' he wondered with bafflement, despite the lack of comfort he was in.

Nevertheless, there were more important things to think about, for example Arfoire's last sentence. The Goddesses are under her control? What did that mean? Did she have some form of connection to the CPUs? Whatever happened revealed to him a truck-load of information, information that Nico was unaware of beforehand which needed serious thought put into. This possible connection to the other CPUs sounded dangerous, and if that were the case then they might have to fight them all one by one or even together in the worst case scenario. That thought alone troubled him, as even with the powers of a DPU and CPU on their side, they would be hard pressed against 3 deity-class enemies.

His actions did not go unnoticed by the girls, however. "Hey, um, Nicky, are you alright?" Neptune asked with worry when they turned to see what the sudden groaning was. Compa walked up to him, her concern even greater because it was combined with her instincts as a Nurse-in-Training. "Nicky, are you feeling okay? Do you need some shots?" she asked worriedly, though Neptune paled when she realised just HOW she would give those shots to him if he said yes.

Fortunately for her, and for him, that wouldn't be the case, as Nico looked up after his pounding had subsided, a small smile on his face as he rubbed her head affectionately. "Yeah, I'm good." He replied. "Just got lost for a moment there." He wouldn't tell them what he had experiences just yet. hell, he didn't even know himself. All Nico was certain was that they needed to find the Key Fragments before Arfoire did, and FAST. It seemed like she was a skilled planner, so they had to be careful. The only one who remained suspicious was IF, though she didn't say anything as they continued their way to Lastation.

* * *

Finally, the party of four reached Lastation's Capital after they left its Sky Harbour. When they arrived, they saw that Lastation was QUITE unlike Planeptune, its complete opposite one would say. 'Huh, so this is Lastation… still as grey as I remember from my last mission outside Planeptune…' Nico thought with narrowed eyes. 'Although, the people seemed to be sadder than they were before, what happened?' he noticed the looks on the locals faces as they passed by. It was hidden, but Nico could see that they were in various states of depression, and that unnerved him.

The last time Nico was in Lastation, the people had been in joy when he left, so what changed?

Neptune, ever the oblivious one didn't notice as she was too busy going starry eyed as she looked around at the new sights. It made sense, with her lack of memory this would make it her first (?) time seeing another city from Planeptune. "Wow, this place is all steampunky! Iffy, what's this place called again?" she asked, turning towards the brunette who was still on her phone.

When asked that question she looked up and smirked when she saw how excited the preteen looked. "Lastation, ruled by CPU Black Heart. Its obscured by various industries." She explained before glancing to their sole male member who was lost in his thoughts again. "Got something on your mind."

He answered without stopping his thinking, in laymen's terms he did so on instinct. "Yeah, but I'm waiting for more solid evidence before I form a solid opinion." He replied vaguely. It was enough to rouse her suspicions, though not of him. She doubted someone like him would make something up unless it was for a good reason.

"So, um, does the "theme" of each Land match with the Goddesses preference?" IF, now that she had her thoughts interrupted for the second time although by now she kind of figured it would happen a lot on this journey, turned once again back to Neptune who had asked her another question.

Raising a brow at her, IF shook her head after reminding herself that even if she seemed all-knowing, Neptune still had amnesia. "No. The CPUs are here to protect us. It's us humans that shape the Land." She explained, before she heard a scoff from Nico. Turning to him, she saw that he was out of his thoughts for now, but with an irritated scowl on his features which looked intimidating even when he wasn't in his armour. "What's with you?"

"They say they're protecting us, but they don't deal with the Abnormals." He replied simply with his arms folded in front of his chest while growling. His hands clutched his forearms tightly to express his irritation. "Humans formed their own means of survival in the form of Spec Ops, formed by people who didn't wait for the divines to protect us, we saved ourselves."

Neptune looked at the two as she took their opinions in. While slightly worried about Nico's apparent hatred of the CPUs, she also took in his thoughts and gave a look of wonder as she placed an index finger on her chin. "Aw, that's so realistic. Compa, what are your thoughts on this land?" she asked, turning towards the sole party member who hadn't spoken yet.

Turned out she wasn't as happy as Neptune had been when they first entered the new Land. She turned to her and smiled tough, not wanting to sound glum. "These factories and chimneys remind me of an industrial revolution." Her smile then faltered slightly as she continued. "But, I'm not into this kind of thing."

'Yeah, Compa never was one for all this… I remember when she was young that she would always like to bask in the warmth of the sun in the Garden with either her grandfather or me.' the Spec Ops Agent thought, glad that they had moved on to a different topic. People say the CPUs were their protectors, but those in the Spec Ops have done more than they ever had thanks to them fighting in Celestia for so long. He hated when their hard work was undermined by religious fanatics, it felt like they were being cheated.

IF shrugged her shoulders, not minding Compa's statement in the least as did the others. "It's not for everyone, but I think it's nice. Now, let's go to the Basilicom." She told them, they had to get on track for the mission. The others nodded their heads in agreement before they began navigating the streets to Lastation's Basilicom.

Just 10 minutes into their journey however, Nico noticed that Neptune was no longer with them. When he looked around, the male tried to find her but there was no sign of her within the vicinity. A spark of worry formed in his chest as he hurried to inform the others. "Oh, shit guys, we've lost Neptune!" he called out.

Compa and IF looked around after pausing to make sure they wouldn't run into someone. Looking around, the latter remarked to herself, "Wait, you serious? Damnit Nep, what are you thinking getting lost like this? Are you a kid that needs to hold onto their parent's hand every time?" she asked with frustration, before she blinked owlishly, realising the truth before doing a mix between a sigh and a groan as she palmed her forehead. "Nevermind, this is Nep we're talking about."

The former looked around, noticing how crowded the streets were. "Well, it's kinda easy for Nep-Nep to get lost here, since the crowds are so big." She pondered, trying to defend Neptune's actions, though it did sound weak.

With a sigh of frustration, Nico began stepping away from them, "Alright, you girls wait here. I'll go see if I can find her." He told them before bolting through the streets like nobody's business. He could hear IF calling out to him, but ignored it in favour of finding Neptune.

* * *

Making his way through the crowd was proving to be a chore to the male. It wasn't because of his lack of skill, Nico could have just breezed his way through if he wanted to, but right now he was on a strict time limit, and Neptune could be anywhere. It would make sense for Nico to be extremely worried for the preteen. She acted so childishly for goddesses' sake, anyone would try to take advantage of her!

These thoughts plagued him constantly, until he eventually decided 'screw it!' and jumped onto the side of a building before leaping off onto a rooftop. He landed in a crouch and ran along the edges, looking down the streets from above to see where he could find any blob of purple.

He did this for what felt like hours, and every time he came up short Nico's panic increased bit by bit. One time however, this panic proved to be his undoing as he misplaced a step, thus he fell off the side of the building he was running along the rooftop of, and fell towards the ground. 'Whoa, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!' he cursed repeatedly. His instincts quickly acted as he flipped himself to the right position and he landed in a crouching position, one hand on the ground while a small circle of dirt was released from the impact.

"Kya!"

What Nico didn't expect was for a feminine cry to sound out, breaching through the shockwave and reaching his ears. Reflexively after cursing a storm, Nico snapped to attention by shooting forwards and grasping the owner of the voice, homing in on her through sound, and grabbing her to stop her from falling. "Whoa there, sorry about that, you alright?" he asked with worry.

The girl he had just stopped from taking an unfortunate tumble to the ground and likely getting a concussion was fair in skin tone like his companions. She had very long black hair about waist length, worn up in long pigtails with two-piece black and blue ribbons. Her bangs were neatly combed, framing her face and she had very noticeable red eyes. It was obvious that this girl paid lots of attention to her personal image.

She wore a fancy dress consisting of dark blue, white, red, and small amounts of gold lining and buttons. The dress part covered a red with black spiked lining cloth while the breast part was white, along with the multi-layered skirt which had black lining on both layers. Behind her skirt was a blue bow, matching a smaller one worn around her neck attached to a black and white collar. In the centre was a gold piece. On her legs, were a pair of thigh high boots with silver medium heels, as well as a pair of white stockings connected by a Garter Belt that went inside her Skirt.

This girl also had been staring at him in anger and embarrassment for more than a few seconds. "I'm fine, so would you get off me already?!" she shrieked, and he quickly complied, swiftly pulling her into an upright position and stepping back a few paces. Once she had regained her balance, the girl had taken a few breaths to calm her racing heart before she glared at the male in question. "What the heck were you thinking, jumping down like that?! What if someone got hurt?!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Nico exclaimed in embarrassment. He wouldn't behave like this normally, but right now he was in a panic and struggling to form decent sentences. He didn't have enough time to recover from the accident he nearly caused. "It was an accident I swear! I was looking for someone in the Party I'm in using the rooftops, but I mis-stepped and fell!" he hurried to explain.

After hearing his explanation, the girl huffed and crossed her arms "Hmph, not like I care or anything, your friend must be stupid to get lost in this crowd, it's rush hour after all, and this is a residential area." She told him, gesturing to the vicinity. Now that he looked about, Nico realised that indeed there was a significantly less amount of people about and the buildings looked more like homes than business shops.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop him from gaping at the explanation 'So THAT's why! I've been looking in the wrong area! Shit, what is wrong with me?!' he cursed his carelessness. This wouldn't have happened if he had his armour on, it always had a calming effect on him. The thought of being protected from most conventional attacks always calmed him down when he was in a panic, or at least helped. He missed it so much…

"O-Oh, thank you Mrs, you've been a major help to me." The male thanked her while lowering his head in a bowing gesture. He may be in a hurry, but Nico never forgot manners when in front of a lady, and he could tell this was a lady. He then stood up and asked her, "I know I'm in a hurry, but I can't let a debt go unpaid, so is there anything I can do for you in return?"

Her mind registered those words, and the girl jumped slightly in surprise. She had been expecting him to just run off, leaving her in his dust. However, this was not what she expected. "I don't need any help from you! But, um… if you're asking then could you tell me if you've seen any Basilicom staff parties near here?" she asked him, making the male raise a brow in curiosity. Why was she fleeing from the Basilicom? Did she and the Basilicom not get along?

Before he could ask her or before he could do anything even, Nico heard a bell ringing, and looked down at his Bracers. Both were still downloading data, but the right one had a notification on it. 'Huh? what's this?' he wondered, before he tapped the notification. A holographic screen popped into existence above the Bracer, floating there for him, and it read as follows:

 ** _Downloading of Lastation data complete._**

 ** _Data assembled into Bracer Database._**

 ** _Continue? Yes/No_**

 ** _Note: if no, then the downloading process will pause,_**

 ** _and can be set once more in the settings menu._**

A wide grin spread across his face, things were looking up again! 'Pause the download? Hell yes! It may take some processing power, but it's better than nothing!' he thought to himself before commencing his actions. Pressing the 'No' on the message, a smaller one appeared in front telling him that it was paused before the two messages vanished with a BLIP! He then saw both Bracers return to their normal screens, nearly making him squeal like a fangirl.

"Uh, what are you so happy about? And what's with the Bracers?" the girl asked, having remained silent as she watched him. From annoyance to happy borderline gleeful, she had seen his emotions on his features. It was like he was a child getting a new toy for Christmas or regaining the use of one when it was taken away.

Blinking, Nico almost didn't catch her question, however he did and thus he nearly face-palmed once again for losing himself, in front of a stranger no less. 'This must be what it's like to go without my armour!' he screamed mentally, almost losing it right there and then. Fortunately, the male distracted himself by responding. "Oh, these babies have a variety of functions, ones I lost access to when they began downloading Data about the other Nations. They have quite the processing power, but this is still a lot of data to swallow, even for them. One such function is a Map." He explained.

The girl remained silent as she watched with slight fascination as she saw him manipulate the screen to show a holographic Map of the Landmass Lastation was on, before Nico zoomed in on the capital city, then to the area they were in. There were several white dots around the street hologram, while Nico himself was a blue dot. The male looked at the street thoughtfully for a moment, before his gaze shifted back to her. "Whelp, from what I can see it seems that there's no Basilicom parties within the vicinity." He told her, much to the girl's relief if the deep sigh is anything to go by. "Why are you avoiding the Basilicom, and why would they send parties after you? You a political figure they want to keep close or something?"

That was the best reason Nico could think of for why the Basilicom would want to keep a lady like her under watch. Her state of dress looked posh and expensive, indicating that she had a lot of money, which also indicated she was either rich or in a high position of power. If that was the case, then he could understand the need for secrecy, though he wondered why she would think they'd go so far. Nonetheless, it wasn't his business so he wouldn't pry, plus he was in a hurry. At his question, the girl sweated slightly with nervousness. She turned away from him while scratching the side of her jaw. "Well… something like that, but don't be fooled! I'm plenty strong, I just don't want any unnecessary conflicts on my way outside!"

With that out of the way, Nico nodded in acceptance. "Yeah, I'll go with you on that one, women tend to have more guts than most guys anyways. Anyways, I gotta hurry, if I don't find my friend soon I worry for what may happen to her." He told her before quickly leaving the area.

"H-Huh? hey wait!" she tried to call out for him but he was too far to hear for her. The girl pulled her arm back and frowned in thought. "Wow, that guy was fast… though it's not like its impressive or anything, he'll likely get into another accident and in the end, it'll be for naught." She remarked. The girl then realised something that she had neglected to inquire of him. "I didn't even get his name back there… well, not like I'll see him any time soon. I better go, the Basilicom might have already noticed I'm gone, although thanks to that guy I know they haven't caught on yet." Confirming that to herself, the young woman continued her way to the outside of Lastation.

* * *

Nico jumped over the rooftops, now a lot calmer than he was before. The fact that his Bracers were working again was a major boost to his state of mind, calming him immensely. With them active once more, he could search the City more thoroughly, due to the dots varying in colours to represent different people. The white dots were civilians, blue was himself, red were his enemies, and green were the other party members. It didn't take him long to use the Holomap to navigate the city and find Neptune's location, he figured out where she was based on where there was a lone green dot in the middle of so many white ones.

Soon enough, the male landed on a street that was crowded significantly, yet nobody seemed to bat an eyelash to him jumping from a tall height. That was a source of concern for the male, but he didn't pay it heed for long. His eyes searched through the area until, at long last, his eyes laid their gaze upon the person whom he'd been searching for this whole time. "Neptune!"

Upon hearing her name, Neptune, who had been seated at a café eating what appeared to be some form of candy, looked up and saw him. A bright grin formed on her face as she waved at him merrily, "Hey there Nicky! How ya doin?! These candy snacks are delicious ya know, so hard and crunchy! Wanna have some, I have several!" she offered, oblivious to the ominous aura that the male was wearing.

She had vanished… leaving them to worry about her… caused him to get into an accident… for food?!

He uttered her name again in a low tone of voice, the anger unmistakable in it as well as in his eyes. It was at this moment that Neptune saw it, and that moment Neptune knew, she'd fucked up. A nervous sweat rolled down her features as he advanced towards her, sounding more like a giant than a human. "Ahahahaha, uh, you okay there, Nicky? Your face, it's scary." She asked him worriedly.

Once he reached her, Nico's hand shot forth like a blur and grasped onto one of her ears, pulling it roughly as he glared down at her. "You little missy, are in a LOT of trouble. when we get back to the others, you're getting scolded!" he scowled at her, before proceeding to drag her out of the café area not caring about any eyes that were drawn to them. He didn't give a shit about any of that, just wanted to get back to the girls and give Neptune a proper scolding once the time was right.

"Owww, owowowowowowow! Nicky, your pulling to hard, my ear!" Neptune complained as she struggled to free herself from her companion's grip. Any struggling she made however only made him pull tighter though, while he remembered the way he had come from but applied the knowledge of the streets to recall where Compa and IF were. They were going to want to hear this, so first finding them. Then head to the Basilicom, find a hotel then give Neptune the scolding of a lifetime.

"Owowowowowow-huh? No, my caaaaaaaannnnnnnnndyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"Too bad, Neptune! Think of it as part of your future punishment for making us worry!"

"NEPU!"

Bystanders could only watch the situation as the male dragged Neptune by the ear and out the shop. They could only think to themselves: what the fuck was that about?


	14. Chapter 14 - Nico flips out!

**Chapter 14 - Nico Flips out**

After retrieving Neptune once he had searched the city, gotten into a near accident with a beautiful lady, Nico brought her back to where IF and Compa were waiting. They had some choice words of their own to say, when they learned that Neptune had vanished from their sights when she had smelled something good and went off to investigate, losing interest in their primary goal. Once that was over with, and by god it took about a couple hours along with bonking's on the head and threats of getting shots from Compa's Syringe, IF had explained that they had met someone named Falcom, who had told them where to go to get to the Basilicom.

Falcom, was a name Nico recognised from his adventures in Lastation. She was a travelling Adventurer who liked helping people and was genuinely a good person. He'd met her a few times as well, and while she was pretty decent with a blade, Falcom had nothing on the one who trained him. Plus, it didn't exactly help tat she tried to stay out of the Abnormal's way whenever they were reported on the Guild Website, something she frequently visited to plan her next journey. If she had the confidence to fight them, then things for her would get a whole lot easier. It wasn't that she had no confidence in er abilities, it was just that there was a big difference in strength and prowess between normal Gamindustri Monsters and Abnormal Monsters. She knew this because she had almost died when fighting an Abnormal that ambushed her, and she would have had Nico not been nearby hunting the Beast down. Thus, they met.

Since she told them about where to find the Basilicom, Nico had no complaints about talking to strangers, so off they went.

* * *

When they were at the Basilicom, Neptune, now sporting a red ear curtsey of Nico who still looked mildly irritated at her, made to kick the door down like she did the last time. However, she felt chills roll up her spine and KI from behind her so she didn't. She didn't want to have her other ear suffer the same fat, gosh Neppit! Instead she strolled up and opened the door wide like a semi-normal person. It was the best that they could get from someone like Neptune who could be considered a 'rebel' in multiple forms.

Inside it looked much like the Planeptune Basilicom, only the golden colours were replaced with silverfish grey, and there was black everywhere else. It gave off a very… different vibe. While the Planeptune Basilicom gave off a sense of friendliness and comfort, this one had the complete opposite. The Lastation Basilicom felt cold, stiff and formal, a lack of friendliness about it. it was more like a military camp than a place of worship.

'Okay… something is SERIOUSLY wrong, here…' Nico thought, instantly on alert. His instincts were screaming at him in the form of an Event Trigger, telling him that this was not a good place to be. 'Basilicoms can be stiff and formal at times, especially when I was briefed with my fellow agents, but this… this is almost suffocating. It's more like there's no sign of human life at all, like these staff members…' he glanced to the Basilicom Staff people he could see scattered, though there weren't as many as in the Planeptune Basilicom, how they moved and how they acted. '… It's like they're drones or something.'

"Um, 'scuse me! I came to meet Lady Black Heart, but is she around?" Neptune, bless her oblivious soul, called out to get someone, anyone's attention. Perhaps it was because she got such a positive reaction the last time, although that guy was a closest lolicon in Nico's eyes. But nonetheless, this time he had a hunch that Neptune would get a completely different reaction to her presence.

His hunch was proven to be true, when one of them walked on over from one of his colleagues, who looked equally as pissed as he did, as he waved his arm around like it was fly repellent. "Who are you kids? This isn't a playground. Scram!" he yelled in fury.

The girls were all taken aback by the instant hostility, but none more so than Neptune herself. Hot rage flowed through Nico's veins as he gritted his teeth when he saw the hurt look in her eyes. Her hurt look then melted away, and was replaced by anger as she puffed her cheeks out while placing her hands on her hips. "Hey! that's no way to treat your guests!" she shouted back just as hotly.

While the man's face was starting to redden with his anger, while Compa tried to play peacemaker to stem potential conflict. "We really need to meet the CPU. We're trying to get Nep-Nep's memory back." She explained, calm and smiling like an angel. Only a true asshole would dare ignore this and treat her bad.

As she pouted and grumbled at the man, Neptune, who was wondering what the heck was wrong with the meanie staff in this Basilicom suddenly had a burst of inspiration. A light bulb switched on in her head as she raised a hand, formed a fist, and fisted her palm. "Oh, I know! This must be an event flag where I have to name myself first." She said, thinking that game logic will be able to solve this matter.

'I'm sure that'll fail epically, Neptune…'

She walked up to the man, Nico watching her every move like a hawk. She then raised a hand as she went and 'triggered the event flag'. "My name is Neptune!" she introduced herself, before going behind Compa, IF, then Nico, placing her hands on their shoulders and peering out from behind them. "This is Compa, and Iffy and Nicky!"

"Stop Rambling! I don't care who or what you are. Now, get out of here!" The man roared, his face now red with rage that quickly crushed the preteen's spirits with zero mercy.

'Called it.' Nico thought, though he wasn't happy about it. his instincts were screaming and roaring in anger, demanding him to soak his hands in this man's blood. His eyes widened however, when he realised what he was thinking. 'What? When did I… I've never been so vicious before. True my fighting style may be brutal, but with the thoughts running through my mind… if this hunch is right I'm in deep shit.' He thought as an idea formed inside his head.

Finally, IF couldn't stand to remain quiet any longer. Her hands were in her pockets as she levelled a stern glare at the Basilicom Staff member. Recalling the Planeptune and Lastation variants, she felt like she would prefer the former despite his little loli fetish. "Wow, so much for civility from the Basilicom…" she remarked snidely, pissed off just as much as the girls were. A small smirk then formed on her lips as she decided to give the man a taste of his own medicine. "They say the clothes make the man, bit I guess the CPU isn't all that great."

'OOF! Sick burn!' Nico thought while trying to hide his gleeful grin. He liked the snarky attitude the Guild Agent possessed, it made for some interesting conversations. He checked to see if the Man looked any more insulted, hoping to get an amusing reaction for the words she said to him.

However, he was sorely mistaken as the man's anger disintegrated and became one of dismissal. "Say what you want." He said with a callous wave of his hand like swatting fly, much to the surprise of the others at how carelessly he just dismissed the insult, to his own CPU no less! That should be grounds for heresy according to the ways of the fanatical, but when they looked to the others they didn't even bat an eyelash. It was safe to assume they felt the same way as this guy, which begged the question: why did the CPU bother keeping them around? "I could care less what Black Heart is being called."

…

…

…

…

Silence. IF could not even speak right now as she stared with a gobsmacked expression on her face. She did NOT expect her words to have so little an impact on this guy, weren't Basilicom Staff members supposed to act, you know, pissed when someone insults their CPU? Something was off here and she didn't like it.

Meanwhile, Neptune pouted at the man, not liking how callously he was treating his supposed 'Goddess'. She just had to speak up against this, thoughts she didn't know why it ticked her off so much. "Hey! You've got a group of cute girls here pleading. C'mon, let us meet her!"

However, her words had no effect on the man as he glared at her, and then it spiralled even further downhill when he raised a hand to smack her across the face. Neptune's eyes widened when she saw it coming, but before she could react a certain someone grabbed the offending arm by its wrist, holding it steady in place.

"Now that…" the one who acted began, and when they looked the girls saw that it was Nico, and boy did he look pissed. "is not a way to treat a girl." He said with a scowl, clenching the man's wrist in a progressively tighter grip. The Basilicom Staff member gritted his teeth as his struggled to break free, yelling at him to let go. However, Nico didn't even make any notion that he'd heard him as he swiftly pulled the man close before grasping his neck and hoisting him up into the air.

His feet dangled above the ground while the man swayed himself in the air like a fish caught on a hook. "You tried to hurt someone I consider a comrade, you raised your hand to someone who was considered an honoured Guest in your Basilicom…" Nico recounted, looking away from the man for a moment. His free hand flexed its fingers into a shape that resembled claws as he slowly lifted it up. The man's eyes widened with horror at the rising KI, he realised what the guy was planning to do next. But what made it worse was the boy's eyes. They were no longer the eyes he held before, no these eyes were… almost inhuman. the coldness in his ice was worse than any snowstorm, and the KI made him feel like he was staring death in the face as Nico readied himself to 'discipline' this man for the first, and last, time. "That alone warrants some punishment, don't you think? Only… you'll never walk from this again."

"Nico, stop!"

The sound of IF's voice snapped him out of his glare and his eyes lost their intensity. Glancing behind him, he saw that the brunette had her hand on his shoulder, the one that had the hand clutched into the claw formation. Her eyes bore directly into his own as her grip on his shoulder remained rigid. It was a stern stare she gave him, one that while he did return, there was something briefly in her eyes like a flash, that he saw. Fear. She had panicked.

Glancing behind her, Nico almost winced. The two girls behind her, Neptune and Compa, looked absolutely mortified right now. And when their eyes landed on him, they both flinched, looking away from him. That hurt like a stab to the heart for the male, as he realised that they were afraid of him, afraid of someone who they had called comrade.

"You don't have to go that far." IF's voice made his attention snap back to her. He could see her sternness still, but the more he considered her eyes, the more Nico could tell that she was nervous. The hand on his shoulder shook slightly, and no matter how much she tried it refused to stop. "He's not worth it, let's just go and find some other way."

The two stared each other down for a moment, and for the duration of that time the atmosphere was thick with tension, to the point where you could cut it with a knife. IF gulped slightly, but didn't break her gaze from him. What she just saw right now, was something she had never seen from Nico before, a side of him that took her by surprise. Though, she wouldn't say she wasn't a little bit scared because that would be lying. She was glad her knees weren't shaking as bad as her body wanted them to. The Guild Agent could only imagine what kind of emotions were flowing through the two girls behind them though.

Finally, the male's eyes looked away from her in a sign of defeat, his muscles relaxing as he calmed himself down. With one last glare to the Basilicom Staff Member into one of the pillars, before he turned his head back to her and nodded. "Alright… I'll not…" he relented, much to the Guild Agent's relief.

Afterwards, the three left the Basilicom, but not before giving the shaken worker one least death glare.

* * *

Deep within a forest, far from the main city, there were sounds of combat filling the air. "This is the end!" a loud, womanly voice full of confidence yelled out. The sounds of metal meeting flesh and the cries of agony from a monster signalled the end of the battle. The womanly voice then huffed, and if one could see the owner, they would tell that she was smirking cockily. "Well, that was easy. What a fool to have faced me." As the monster that was locked in a deadly battle fell to the ground and vanished into particles, a bright flash took over the area, and when it died down it was revealed to be the same girl that Nico had nearly fallen onto.

She looked to have been fighting for a short amount of time, with her clothes having wrinkles in multiple areas, and light scratches adorned her body. they weren't anything major, certainly nothing that she couldn't handle. She exhaled a sigh of relief as she saw the last of the monster disappear. "Whew… I didn't expect so many monsters to be spawning in the land."

It hadn't been long, but the girl had easily noticed that the populations for monsters have been spiking dangerously, to the point where settlements would get fearful of attacks. The cause was still unknown however, which only made it worse, so the only option she had was to go and take the monsters down herself.

Not like anyone else would do this.

This attack, was said to be one of the nastier ones, a horde of monsters commanded by what the Guild said was an 'Abnormal' was actively ambushing caravans and attacking the minor villages dotted around Lastation's Landmass. Abnormal Monsters were new, so the Lastation Guild had little solid information on them due to how unpredictable and varied their behaviours, mannerisms and actions were, so they had designated them as Abnormals. This kind of behaviour hadn't been observed before by the Guild until a couple years ago, so it was only natural that they would panic. So, the girl decided to go out and take care of it herself, as the Guild's Spec Ops Agents, a matter she had discovered that the humans had designed themselves while the CPUs were in Celestia, were out on other missions to keep the monsters at bay.

Unfortunately she hadn't much time on her hands, what with recent issues and al, to look into the Spec Ops Agents further. As days passed, more and more Monsters were seen trying to gather others under their control to attack settlements. The first few days there were one or 2 packs to deal with, then 3, then 6, then 9... yeah, the problem was clear. However, the Lastation military could do little to hold them off completely, their only secure defence being the Spec Ops Agents. While she had little on them that was concrete, the girl had formed an opinion of them from what little rumours she had heard. To her, Spec Ops Agents were a double edged sword, they fought for their own beliefs, and not towards that of another Goddess, which practically undermined the entire society they lived in. It was a wonder why nobody charged them with heresy yet, though they were under the Guild's jurisdiction, so they could believe whatever they wished to believe. After all, the Guild was filled with people who may live in one Nation, but worship the CPU of another.

"Well," the girl started before flicking a hand through one of her long pigtails. "The area is cleansed. This was the last pack of the day, so I better head back to the Basilicom." The girl mused, her smug smirk on full blast. However, it fell once the word Basilicom registered in her mind, or rather, the situation that revolved around it, becoming a solemn, reluctant frown. "Basilicom…. #Sigh# I really don't want to go back there." She grumbled with reluctance. It was especially sad that someone like her, who held pride over progress and that of her own Nation home, to not wish to return to it. However, she had no other option if she wished to keep up her attempts at retaining the peace.

And so, with that the girl begrudgingly began her trek back to the Basilicom in the Capital, each step feeling heavier than the last.

* * *

With the main Party, they had relocated to a deserted park area that was close to a hotel. Alter Nico had used his Bracers to look up the cheapest hotels with still decent service, they had stopped at a park area which happened to be near their hotel choice. Although this didn't help the atmosphere around them. Not only did it seem thick and heavy, but the cause of it was walking behind them, refusing to look at anyone's gaze. They weren't sure they would want him to, though, especially with what they've just saw.

Right now, they were sitting in the Park, along several benches. Nico had opted to take a separate bench so the girls didn't have to risk being near him, while the girls huddled up on one bench to discuss what had happened. "Well… that was eventful…" Compa started off awkwardly as she held her elbow with her hand, memories of what transpired in the Basilicom filling her mind, even the parts that scared her. Worse still was that those parts consisted of her friend Nico in them. No, he was the centre of them.

"You can say that again…" IF agreed with a nod, her expression troubled. She, along with likely the rest of the party, had never seen Nico act like that. True he would scold Neptune whenever she did something wrong, her leaving them for food being a prime example, but what happened back in the Basilicom was way more than just irritation. It was straight up murderous bloodlust. Such killing intent, the ferocity he had in his eyes even when she tried to stop him… she had never seen something like that from him before, and to be frank, she was more than a little bit shaken from the experience.

Heck, even Neptune, the normally funny, joking type of person who tried to make comedy to lessen the atmosphere no matter if it was appropriate or not, was silent as she tried to recover from the Killing Intend that Nico radiated. If someone like her was rattled to the levels she was by something, then that something must be dealt with. IF did not like the subdued look on her face right now, it just… didn't fit the girl that she had come to know as a pudding addicted idiot.

To get to the bottom of this, IF then turned her gaze to the source of the problem, who looked as depressed as hell. His hair hung over his head, shadowing his eyes and keeping them from sight. His hands hung over his kneecaps by the wrists and he had a defeated aura around him. Slowly, she stood up and walked over to him, careful not to make a move that would only startle him and make things worse.

Standing opposite him, IF frowned as she placed her hands on her hips. "Alright Nico, spill it. what the heck was wrong with you back there? You normally conduct yourself better than that. I mean, you practically would have killed that guy, not that he didn't deserve it," she had to admit that to herself, before she continued. "If it were a thug or something like that I wouldn't care much, but what you did potentially made things impossible for us to get to-"

"I know, I screwed up, okay!" Nico finally couldn't take it anymore and lashed out, causing IF to jump and shut her mouth as he looked up at her. "I get it, okay, IF? But still, you have every right to be mad at me. I… I just couldn't handle what that man was going to do to a comrade of mine. It rubbed me the wrong way when he was about to hit her for just being cordial despite his treatment." He spat, fury laced within his words although it wasn't as bad as before. "Still though," he then did a bitter, empty chuckle as his eyes showed no mirth at all. "I bet you 10 puddings that he didn't even have a wife or something."

While that prospect did succeed in making IF twitch her brows, it was still a heavy atmosphere. Nico sighed as he looked down at his right Bracer. "I sent a message to the Guild back in Planeptune about a hunch I had on why I was acting that way, and just a couple minutes ago when we entered the park, I got an answer." He explained, and this time both Neptune and Compa gave him their attention, despite their earlier fears.

"Remember my armour? When I said that it was an important part pf my arsenal, turns out it was a gross understatement. The piece that is usually on my chest, you know, the armour module?" he asked, patting his chest for empathises as he turned to them. At the nods of confirmation from the girls, he continued. "Well, turns out that it was also acting as a suppressor. It constantly injected me with self-replenishing drugs designed to suppress and control my instincts. Apparently, my instincts are more powerful than the average person, and twice as impactful on my emotions. Thus, I feel things like anger, bloodlust etc more easily. Therefore, they had the armour designed to act as a suppressor… it would be more accurate to say a limiter. And now that the limiter is gone… the beast was unleashed in the worse way possible."

Comprehension lit up in IF's eyes as she out the pieces together in her mind. "And when you lost that limiter, you began feeling your instincts in their entirety?" she asked, getting a firm nod from the male. The brunette looked down, eyes wide with disbelief as she held her forehead with her hand. she remembered what he was like just before they left for Lastation, how he growled like an animal. She should have guessed it right then and there that something wasn't right with him. She groaned to herself while palming her forehead and shaking her head with a hand on her hip. "Jesus, this is serious, Nico. Why did the Guild not do something while they were making the armour, like give you drugs or something? It's pretty irresponsible to leave someone like that to their own devices, literally anything could be enough to set them onto a murderous blood rage."

The male nodded his head in agreement with the brunette, he too was displeased with the lack of conduct from the Guild there. "You'd be right on the money, IF. However, they couldn't for one reason: the drugs that are used to help me with my instincts are difficult to maintain, not to mention with how the monsters have been attacking supply routes, makes it even worse. The soonest they can send me some replacement drugs, which are said to last a day at most, will be in a couple days, time. Until then, I'll be on my own." he explained.

"And why did they neglect to tell you of this?" she questioned again. This was an important matter, to leave someone alone to deal with their instincts like tat was NOT something the Guild should have done. they should have at least found a way to make it easier on him, but that wasn't the only thing that IF was pissed at. She was also pissed tat they didn't bother to tell him about something so crucial. If she hadn't been around, that guy would have lost his life to Nico at that moment, and while she wouldn't mind personally, it would make their quest for the Key Fragments IMMENSELY more complicated.

For a moment, he didn't answer. Soon though, that changed when understanding shone from his eyes as Nico motioned the same as she did, minus the hand on hip part. "Because the Drugs work better when I'm not aware of them. The Drugs would work if I was, but my body would show signs of rejecting them if that happened. Thus, they were placed without my knowledge, altered so that they cloaked' from my body's senses so they could work properly. My body is host to some powerful antibodies, forged from adapting to extreme conditions. It would take the strongest of poisons to affect someone like me, but that also applies to drugs." Nico explained.

What he didn't say was that it was because of his condition that drugs and poisons wouldn't normally work on him, as normally they would be purged before they could affect him.

"I see…"

Now that the girls were aware of the situation from Nico's perspective, they felt a stab of guilt enter their beings. They knew he was telling the truth as Nico always held his word in high regard, he always kept his promises which made him trustworthy. But it didn't help them feel any less guilty for fearing him. It wasn't his fault that his instincts were powerful, and heck, thinking back on it they had already seen glimpses of their power and influence before whenever Nico fought. Even suppressed, they were still strong enough to warn him of any danger, and usually were correct in deductions. They also enhanced his reaction times, making him a difficult opponent on the battlefield.

"Anyways, I'm… I'm sorry I scared you all. It was not my intention, and if you would like I will leave the party and act on my own. you wouldn't have to worry about someone as unstable, as fucked up a piece of shit, as me being around you. I bet the demographic for this franchise would be accepting of that sort of thing anyways…" he began, making to leave the Park and find somewhere else to stay for the time being. It would be for the best if they didn't spend too much time about him, that was what he was thinking right now. He had to find a way to keep a lid on his instincts, otherwise he... wasn't sure what he might end up showing them. For the first time in a long while, Nico felt depression hang over him like a cloak of darkness. He could feel that voice in his dreams laughing maniacally as skeletal hands clawed away at his mental defences, trying to reach him, to pull him into the madness...

However, the feeling of arms wrapping around him by the waist from behind stopped him in his tracks just after he had taken 4 steps. His eyes widened and Nico swerved his head around so he could see who it was that hugged him, to find that it was both Compa and Neptune. their heads were buried into his back, so he couldn't see their faces, but Nico didn't have to, for their grips were enough to show him their response to his suggestion. "No, don't go Nicky…" Neptune began as she looked up at him, his eyes shrinking to the size of dots when he saw tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "We don't want you to leave like that."

"Nep-Nep's right." Compa added, nodding in agreement. She too was in a state akin to Neptune's, which shocked him more. Weren't those two girls fearing him earlier? Why the sudden change of opinion? Surely, they didn't value him that much, did they? "It's not Ni-Ni's fault, you weren't aware of how much you needed the armour. That meanie in the Basilicom is also at fault, he shouldn't have acted the way he did."

His awestruck expression was on full power as he regarded the two girls before him, then he looked up at IF, wondering what her impression was going to be. At first, he expected her to be like he had assumed, all hateful and wanting of him to leave the party and never to go near them again, however he was proven wrong when his eyes laid upon the compassionate smile on her lips and the kindness in her gaze. "Yeah well, I can't argue with them there. While I'm not saying we aren't completely over it yet, we're not going to blame you for it. We'll just have to work around this problem, like a real party should." She said, showing her decreasing fear by grasping her shoulder. He could feel the lack of tension on her hand, which showed him that her words were more than just empty promises and compliments, that she meant them.

Hearing their words and feeling their grip, Nico felt helpless to resist them. He didn't even want to resist, why would he? The people who he had assumed didn't want him around showed him the compassion so few showed others these days, and for a Spec Ops Agent like him, who had seen so much shit in his career that led to him becoming jaded in the ways of the world, that meant more to him than even all the credits in the world, or a harem of the most gorgeous girls ever brought into this existence.

Slowly, the male's arms shakily rose, heading towards their backs. They were only slow because he feared they would still be scared enough to tense, but they never did. Finally, his body just went 'fuck it' and embraced the three tightly, though not enough to be uncomfortable. "You three…. You're freaking angels, you know that?" he whispered under his breath, but the gratitude he was trying to express could be felt as clear as crystal. In fact, he didn't think gratitude was enough of an adjective to showcase the joy flooding him right now.

The three girls blushed, IF not so much as the other two, whereas Compa was bright red the same as Neptune. They felt their hearts skip a beat not only at the embrace, which gave them a good feel of his developed yet slim six-pack body, but also the pure honesty in his compliments. Girls liked to be complimented, sure enough, but they liked it even better when they are truthful and sincere.

And those words were very much so.

"Aww geez!" Neptune exclaimed as they all broke the hug. She wrapped her arms around herself while wiggling her hips to stem the growing flustered emotions within her. "You're bold Nicky, trying to increase the points with us to get our routes unlocked." She told him in a teasing manner. Meanwhile Nico tilted his head in confusion, wondered what the heck he was talking about.

Turning to Compa. Nico would have asked her what the heck Neptune was talking about when his questions were silenced by what he saw. Apparently, Compa was in a similar state to Neptune with her eyes darting around and a blush on her face, never meeting his gaze. "N-Nep-Nep's right, Ni-Ni, that was bold of you…and very sweet… so, I wouldn't mind it…if you complimented us more…" she stammered, getting redder and redder.

IF put a hand on her hip, thankfully not as flustered as the others though a small smirk was present on her features. "Man dude, you have got to be some ladies' man with flattery like that. You say that to any girls you meet, or what?" she teased him, amused and more than a little flattered by his words.

The male flushed slightly in embarrassment and looked to the side, trying to keep his cool but failing miserably. "N-No, I don't do that. And what do you mean ladies' man, I'm one of the l-l-lesser known Spec Ops Agents in the force." He stuttered, trying to deny her claims of him being a lady's man, which resulted in the girls chuckling at him in amusement. It was bad enough that he'd seen how a lot of males treated women as objects for sexual pleasure, but the few that he'd seen form harems…. Don't exactly treat them with the respect they deserve. They only think of the pleasurable side of the arrangement while not giving a damn about the emotional aspect.

Men can be stupid. Period.

* * *

After chuckling at the embarrassed Nico's expense, the party began to move on to other matters. Or rather, they moved on to the matter of the Basilicom and its staff members. "Well I never!" Neptune exclaimed, fists shaking as she held them to her chest. She looked really pissed off when she remembered the rest of that incident now that she wasn't scared as much from Nico's behaviours. "Nicky flipping out is one thing, the Basilicom is another, but Iffy, you're the hat trick! Why'd we leave?!"

"Aside from Mr rage quitter over here, didn't you notice? He didn't show any respect at all towards their CPU." IF replied, while glancing at the male when she mentioned the first part. The said teen blushed while scratching his jaw. Now that they knew about his instincts, Nico would need to be careful. When he said they suppressed and controlled his instincts, it wasn't a lie, but he didn't tell them everything just yet. These instincts were all part of a package he had been burdened with, a package he wouldn't want anyone to have. Though, if they kept proving themselves like this then he'd tell them once he got his memories back.

The moment he heard the CPU part however his face morphed into one of heavy suspicion.

"On that we can agree, plus trying to hurt your guests when they just want to meet the CPU? Now that's a low blow. Such acts in Planeptune would be considered heresy and the offender would be kicked out the Basilicom forever. Yet the others didn't even bat an eye." He said, expanding the point further than the brunette did. Looking down, Nico kicked a small pebble away from his foot as he tried to think of ways that could explain this.

"Ni-Ni's right, they didn't treat the Goddess' name with respect. That's weird…" Compa added in support, a stern glare on her face when she thought about how callously he degraded the name of his own CPU. Being raised around people who loved their CPU, she couldn't fathom the idea of someone like him who would do that.

Hearing Compa's words, Neptune's anger dissolved and a confused expression took its place on her face. "What's so weird? Maybe they're all like buddy-buddy and talk super casual." She suggested while stretching her arms behind her. They were feeling a bit stiff from their lack of use.

Rolling his eyes, Nico destroyed Neptune's suggestion almost immediately. "Well, by buddy-buddy you mean nearly hitting guests, insulting the CPU when she's not even around, not following the standard rules for a Basilicom, then maybe they are." He remarked with heavy sarcasm. It was like a drug, and he had taken an overdose of it.

"Well, while Nico does have a point," IF began before Neptune could refute his logic. The Guild Agent did admit to herself that Neptune's idea was certainly stupid, especially after what they just experienced. She was thinking that Neptune was likely a scatterbrain when she fell out of the sky. "There's no way people in the Land would call their CPU by name. remember the person at the Planeptune Basilicom?"

'Oh yeah, that closet lolicon who regarded Neptune a little too much to be professional…' Nico thought to himself, sitting on the ground as everyone else had done the same after him nearly leaving the Party. IF and Compa were on the Bench with Neptune sitting on the dirt. So, he had sat opposite her. "That guy and this guy… if I were to choose between the two I'd go with the former." He remarked while cupping his chin in thought. In his eyes, the former was the lesser of 2 evils, otherwise he'd go with neither.

IF nodded her head at Nico's words, knowing that they were true and knowing that the other two idiots wouldn't have any idea of what he meant. "He was weird, but he still respected the CPU by addressing her properly." She explained. Nico had to admit, that was true. Despite his closet lolicon fetish, and the fact that he seemed to not like Nico for some reason, he still was a better man than the one in Lastation's Basilicom. At least he didn't insult the CPU and treated the guests with kindness… maybe a little too much.

"But here," IF's brows furrowed and her eyes darkened. "They're just treating the CPU with scorn. That isn't normal." On that the male and her could agree, again. Usually people revered the CPUs, almost to the point of being fanatics. There was hardly anyone who had something negative to say about them even with them fighting a war for hundreds of years. So, to see people who were supposed to worship a CPU act in such a blatant disrespectful manner, contributed to the behavioural term as 'not normal.'

Compa frowned before an idea came to her, one that revolved around the Guild Agent when she remembered what the brunette did for a living. "Iffy, you were travelling all over the world, right? Do you know something?" she asked. Compa had the right idea, for someone who supposedly travelled around a lot, they would know more than others about the situations in different lands.

Unfortunately, that seemed to not be the case when IF shook her head no. "Sorry, Compa." She apologised with a guilty smile, saddening the Nurse-In-Training. "I've mostly stayed in Planeptune, so I don't have any info now." she explained further. Though it didn't seem to elevate Compa's mood upwards, to her dismay.

'Ouch, IF. Looks like you haven't travelled as much as I thought…' Nico mused to himself, though he didn't say anything since he didn't want to offend her. After all, she had done well in other areas like helping him endure these girls' antics.

Though his efforts were soon turned into vain ones in the next few moments. Just when things couldn't get any more embarrassing for the brunette, Neptune saw a prime time to make it worse. With a grin only a Cheshire cat could have, the girl commented on what they just heard. "So much for the "adventuring" character, eh Iffy? But don't worry, we won't kick you out just because you faked your resume! Even if your level is low, we'll still be together, even in the next story sequel."

The other three gave Neptune deadpanned stares for her comment, though she didn't seem affected by it. IF gave her a growl though as she crossed her arms and retorted with her usual snarky comments. "Kind of ironic coming from someone who lost their memory, eh?" she shot back. She then huffed while sternly glaring at her.

This made the preteen laugh nervously realising that her attempt at teasing had backfired when she finally noticed everyone's reactions. "Ahahahaha, sorry." She apologised while trying to stem the tension growing throughout the vicinity.

While she did want to hammer the one who had teased her like that some more, IF knew that had bigger fish to fry like the Basilicom and the mystery behind it. So, with a sigh she calmed herself down and became the signal for the rest to do the same. "Anyways, back on subject. I propose we do some quests, but how about it?" she suggested.

Neptune raised a brow at this, finding it confusing that they would have to do quests so soon. "We have money, right?" she asked, getting nods from everyone else. "Why do we need to do quests now?" her eyes widened with shock when her brain processed an 'idea' as to why they would have to quest so early. "Oh wait!" she raised her right arm and quickly pointed it accusingly at the brunette. "did you use up all our funds for your own pleasures?!"

'Where did she get that from? IF isn't the type of person who would do that.' Nico thought with confusion, but didn't say anything as he was opting to see what IF's reaction would be. Said woman frowned at the accusation, but something in her eye sparked, which caught Nico's attention as did everyone else's. "No. we have plenty of pudding. It's not like I sneak out to buy pudding like you, Nep."

Now THIS caught the male's attention hook line and sinker as he quickly checked their, founds on his Bracer, before levelling a strong glare at the preteen. "So, not only do you sneak off for food, but you steal money from us, too?! Prepare for a BIG scolding when we get to the hotel, young missy!"

Nevertheless, Neptune didn't hear him as she was too busy caught up in the fact that IF had found out about her little 'secret' and had called her out on it. she stepped back and moved her arms as if she was trying to protect herself like in those classic horror movies. "Wha-? Y-y-y-you knew?! Nepu!"

The Brunette nodded with a glare at her, or rather an incredulous stare at the preteen, disbelieving over the fact that she didn't realise that she had been onto her little escapades. "Dead Obvious. You make loud footsteps in the night which I 'think' are your attempts at being quiet. You thought I didn't notice?" she remarked, making the culprit squirm under her gaze.

"Um… yup?"

"… Anyway, remember the Key Fragment that was with that Disk in Planeptune?" IF changed the topic, mindful of the fact that if she kept this up then she would have eventually tried to wring Neptune's annoying neck. She flushed her anger away and continued. "Don't you think it'll be the same in Lastation, too?"

Nico shook his head as he finally interjected into the conversation. "Not exactly." He spoke, getting everyone's attention as they looked at him. "For one, we're on a different Landmass, which means a different geography, different Dungeons, different monsters, and back in Planeptune there wasn't a heretical Basilicom that'll likely try to hound us every step of the way. I'd guess that we'll have a LOT more trouble with the Key Fragment here than we did in Planeptune. Hell, we weren't actively looking for it there, so now that we are looking for one, it'll likely be harder to find. Things usually are."

Neptune beamed at the two opinions of the 'smarter' members of the party. "You two are geniuses, Nicky, Iffy!" she cheered, getting the two to look at her. She then jumped onto Nico before he could react, wrapping her arms around his neck and hanging off his side. "You're definitely the brains to my brawn, Nicky. Though your bite is as vicious as your bark." She said, referring to Nico's instincts. The male blushed at this, and the close contact he had with this girl, a rare occurrence in his life.

Fortunately, this didn't last long as she let go of him, dropping to the ground before jumping onto IF faster than she could blink. The brunette tried to get her off, but in the end Neptune succeeded in glomping her, hanging onto her from behind. "And I'm sorry for thinking you were useless earlier, Iffy!" she said, rubbing her cheek against hers.

While IF struggled to get the girl off her even more intensely than before, Compa aimed a concerned look towards the preteen as she spoke awkwardly with a sweat drop, for the first time during this topic. "Um, Nep-Nep, I don't think you needed to bring up that last part…"

Nico watched this interaction with mild amusement. While he was still going to scold her for what she had done before, Nico couldn't help but smile at how close Neptune was becoming with the Guild Agent, though if it was returned was yet to be seen. She was just that kind of girl, showering her friends with affection. Though in his mind, he did think that calling IF useless wasn't very nice. 'She's going to have that added to the 'naughty list' of crimes she has to pay for when we get to the Hotel…' the male thought while hiding his frown behind a smirk. One could tell when they considered his eyes that he planned to have his own 'vengeance' against Neptune in a way that she would come to fear.

* * *

 **Special Event - Solid Nep.**

It was time.

The mission was to begin.

Nothing would stop her from achieving her goal, not Compa, not Nicky, not even Iffy or that scary wool monster hat hides in cute girls bedroom closet.

Clad in her professional black eyepatch, covered by the badassery known as the cardboard box, Solid Nep crawled along the corridor of their hotel, intending to sneak out in the middle of the night to get some more of her pudding fix. Without the others knowing of course.

They could never understand, pudding was love,

Pudding was life,

pudding was... JUSTICE!

Solid Nep noticed that some stairs were blocking her way, making her hiss in irritation. "Shoot! Enemy obstacle, one flight of stairs. Exercise evasive manoeuvre codename: tip toe!"

Getting on her tip toes, Solid Nep lightly tapped each stair as she tried to make as little noise as possible. She tested the first one, and thank Goddesses that they didn't make much of a creaking sound. She didn't want anyone getting any ideas and try to impede her for getting her Pudding Goodness.

She made it down the first stairway with little issues, but she couldn't celebrate just yet for she heard footsteps from patrolling hotel staff guarding the building from thieves echoing from the corridor's right. Solid Nep quickly shifted to the closest wall and lowered herself, pretending to play dead as a hotel guard walked by. He took one look at the box beside the stairs, scratched his head curiously while muttering something about 'who leaves a box by the stairs?' before continuing on. Not like anyone would trip on it, since it was out of the way, he thought.

Once he was gone, Solid Nep let a low sigh of relief escape her lips. "Threat averted, continuing mission."

Making her way down the floors once more, Solid Nep didn't encounter many more guards, having made sure that things were quiet before making her move. Nothing would stop her from getting her dosage of heaven known as Pudding. Especially that one strawberry flavoured one she wanted to try at that store before that meanie Nicky took her away by force.

Finally, her hard work paid off as she now found herself at the registration room. The room's lights were on, but there was nobody in sight. She paid extra attention to her hearing so she could hear the breaths of any others in the room. Fortunately, she heard nobody's aside from hers, making her believe that she was the only one in the room.

Yes, finally, she could go get some pudding!

That shop should be open still, she could still get a chance!

Now, tip-toe, tip-toe, tip-toe...

ZZZZZT!

"...Eh?"

Solid Nep didn't know why, but suddenly her vision was bombarded with light, making her sole eye go wide as she fell into the fatal position. "Argh! My eye, my eye! s this a flash bomb? Enemy ambush?! But how? The Cardboard box should have been enough!"

Standing above her, looking down at Solid Nep while shaking her head in disappointment, one annoyed, tired, and irritated IF held Solid Nep's Cardboard box above her head. "... You're not pulling that one on me, Nep. Me and Nico heard your mad scrambling out of the room as clear as day." she told Solid Nep, whose eye shot open wide with shock when she realised who it was.

"... Servant Iffy? What are you...?"

BONK!

Unconscious land greeted Solid Nep as IF bonked her on the head, a tick mark on her forehead for the 'servant' comment. "I'm nobody's servant, you idiot." she scowled. Normally she would have kept her col with her antics, but right now IF had had it up to hear with the brat. Thus, after apologising to the receptionist who had been there the whole time, just kept her breathing utterly quiet in a fit of panic, IF dragged the unconscious Solid Nep back to their room. She'd even discarded the carboard box.

MISSION FAILED!

WE'LL GEET EM NEXT TIME!


	15. Chapter 15 - Reminiscence

**Chapter 15 - Reminiscence**

The night came rolling by, and by the time they did the group had reached the hotel that Nico had recommended them. The male had suggested that they get some rest before going to do any quests, as they all had a trying day, physically and mentally. On that, they could agree wholeheartedly even Neptune didn't have any complaints, and that was coming from someone who had a hyper streak to go by.

So, when they entered the hotel Nico walked up to the Clerk who was seated at the Desk typing away on the computer. The layout of the reception room had a black tiled floor with white lining between the tiles. The walls were a silver-ish colour with black sword designs into the wallpaper, with a fully black ceiling. There were various portraits lined up on one side of the wall, some of Scenery around Lastation most likely, and others of a white-haired woman taking down monsters with a sword matching the designs of the ones on the walls. At the back of the room, was the Desk of the Receptionist, with a door to the desk's right that led to the upper floors. The clerk herself was a woman in her late 30's wearing a black uniform with gold lining, and a silver choker around her neck. Nothing else could be seen thanks to the Desk hiding it from view.

"Ooooh, so this is a Lastation hotel huh?" Neptune commented, looking around in awe of her surroundings as she soaked everything in like a sponge. Her eyes were practically twinkling like they were filled with outer space as she looked at one portrait of the white-haired woman taking on several shadowy figures, one of them oddly resembling the HDD form that Neptune herself used. "This is so different from Planeptune."

IF nodded her head in agreement, though she couldn't help but comment. "Of course, it would be, Lastation's known for being the Land of Black Regality, so it's only natural to see that theme around." She also felt the need to point something out, "The fact that the hotel shows respect to the CPU with those portraits means that what happened earlier isn't the common norm."

Soon enough, Neptune ran back to join the others as Nico walked up to the receptionist, who looked up at him when she detected his presence. "Yes, Welcome to the Regality. How may I help you today, sir?" she greeted politely with a smile. Her eyes glanced over him and then went to the others in the room, her smile never wavering. "And I assume those ladies are with you?"

Nico nodded with an equally polite smile. "Yes, they are, Mrs." He answered, before inquiring. "I made a reservation for a room online, it should be under N…" he started, before the woman turned to the Computer, bringing up the information that he said to her. The sounds of typing filled the room as the girls waited for the result of this conversation.

The woman's face changed from its intent expression which she used while she was looking up the list of reservations on her computer, back to her previous smile. "Ah yes, Mr Nico, Mrs IF, Mrs Compa and… Mrs Nep, is that right?" she asked getting nods from the male, who smiled back at her.

"Hey, he used my nickname for the booking, why is that?" Neptune asked when she heard this, though it was under her breath as she leaned over to IF's ear and whispered it. She even had her hand over her mouth to make it quieter. She didn't think he was doing it without knowledge of his promise to her about always being the one to call her by name.

The Guild Agent responded in a similar manner to Neptune as she placed her mouth by her ear, her hand beside her mouth as she replied, "It's because he believes your name being misspelt would be universal, so he's stopping that train before it starts." Her eyes then rolled around the top of their sockets as she continued. "Don't worry about that promise, Nico isn't the type of guy who'd break his word."

A low hum off realisation escaped Neptune's throat as she began to comprehend what Nico was doing, though she felt a bit flattered at the curtesy he was showing her. It was accompanied by a sigh of relief at IF's explanation. "Your so wise, Iffy…" she praised with a beaming look on her face. "How did you get so smart for someone so young? Who by the way faked their resume when joining this party."

"You won't let that go, will you?" IF remarked while rolling her eyes again, doing her best not to shout in indignation at Neptune's jab at her previous blunder. "And even if I stayed in Planeptune, it's a large landmass so it's only natural I learn things. I know way more than you do with your memory loss, you know." She pointed out with a smug smirk, liking the scandalised expression Neptune had with response to her snarky comments.

Before Neptune could counter the attack on her fortress by the army known as Iffy, Nico broke into the conversation while walking back to them with a card in his hand. "Alright, we got the room. Just so you guys know, the room we got was a three bed one, so well have to bunk up." He explained, frowning while trying to rein in his embarrassment. It largely succeeded if his face being only a twinge pink was any indication. "Sorry I never brought it up earlier, I was distracted with… other matters." He admitted shamefully.

This earned a few blushes from the girls as they realised that, with the arrangements, one of them would have to sleep in the same bed as a guy, something that usually was reserved for couples, married or not. Though they didn't blame him for not saying anything sooner, after all the 'other matters' Nico said were definitely distracting enough. This was spoken from personal experience.

"W-Well, I wouldn't mind if we did it, Ni-Ni…" Compa suggested, indirectly volunteering to be the one Nico slept with, much to the surprise of the other girls. Seeing their disbelieving looks, she hastily explained why, "I-I-it's nothing, me and N-Ni-Ni used to do it all the time when we were k-kids…" she stuttered with her blush getting darker and darker red with each second that passed.

IF, whose blush was the weakest compared to the rest of them, tried to make a point she saw with that arrangement. "Th-that's when you were KIDS, though Compa!" she then looked to Nico, who was trying not to look at them, then at Compa or to be more specific her… melons. She blushed a bit harder, "you two are not kids now, so won't it be a bit awkward…?"

At this, Compa shook her head firmly, her confidence only matched by the blush she was sporting. 'N-No, not for me. I don't mind, Ni-Ni would always let me when I pleaded with him. He couldn't resist my cuteness." She said with a beaming smile, reminded of memories from the past. While she looked like she was embarrassed, maybe a little nervous, it was matched by stubborn determination, determination to reconnect with her childhood friend on s deeper level.

The male in question rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, the power of a puppy dog eyed Compa was something to be feared. "W-Well, you'd usually come in when a storm hit Planeptune, you never liked the thunder." He explained, just in case the girls got the wrong idea, seriously they were just kids back then! Why would anyone think they would do anything indecent?

"Aww, I'm picturing a little Compa in my head, and it's so cuuuute!" Neptune squealed at the images in her head, girlishly giggling while holding her hands over her cheeks with her blush now at the image of a smaller Compa and not… the other thoughts in her mind. Though they were enough for her to ignore the part of her that was emitting an ugly feeling of jealousy in her heart. She wondered why she would be jealous of Compa, seriously it wasn't like she had any interest in that kind of thing, right? … right?

Getting tired of this banter, IF decided to get the ball rolling by returning their attention to the task at hand. "We can cross that hurdle when we get to it. Right now, we should just get to the room, we have a lot of stuff to think about in the meantime." She said, to which the others nodded as they calmed down from their previous embarrassment. With that, the Party passed through the door to the upper floors in single file.

* * *

Later, after they took multiple staircases and walked down multiple corridors, they found the room that they were looking floor and went inside. The room itself was pretty, with a black caret rug over a whitish silver floor, black wallpaper with white circular designs on them adorning the walls. The ceiling looked plain in comparison, with a pair of doors to the left and a single door to the doors on the left had black painting on them, with golden frames and a silvery-white handle. This likely meant those were the bedrooms, and the white painted door on the right was a bathroom. At the back-right corner of the room there was a black and silver TV on a matching stand, with a series of black and silver Consoles lined up neatly under a shelf of Games with multiple Controllers.

"I'm tireeeed, so maaaaany staaaaaaaiiiiiirssssss!" Neptune whined, looking like she had become a zombie. She swayed left and right as she stumbled into the room, groaning and moaning before she fell onto one of the sofas in the centre. She began to snore almost the second her head met the soft material the sofas were made of, out like a light.

Compa giggled at the sight with a hand on her lips, although she herself was getting tired too as evident when she stifled a cute yawn of her own. "Nep-Nep's worn out like a pair of used undies. She needs her beauty sleep." She pointed out, watching the girl like a mother hen would her chicks.

Nico chuckled at the maternity that he was sensing from his childhood friend. Sometimes, Compa and Neptune were friends, yet other times their relationship became more like a parent and child. Since Neptune behaved like a child, and there was little known about her like her family or relatives, she sometimes took the roll of a parent for her, keeping her in line yet also coddling her. It was always an interesting sight to see, yet also it fit her character well, to him at last. Compa had always been the maternal figure, even in childhood as she would carry a massive Syringe and try to take care of her grandfather. Heck, she'd even tried to give him shots, although Nico would always convince her that he was alright out of fear of that massive syringe.

"Man, you really outdid yourself with this Hotel Room, Nico." IF remarked with an impressed look on her face as she observed the room breaking the male out of his thoughts and drawing his attention to her. It was rather spacious, with a small kitchen to the side that nobody had noticed before. The sofas that the preteen currently was using looked comfortable, with the wooden table at the centre of the sofas. "I'm amazed, I didn't expect you to go all out."

The male smirked at the praise, it boosted his pride that their resident Guild Agent, who was likely the hardest to impress, had shown her amazement at how far he had gone to earn their forgiveness. "Thanks, though what's so surprising?" he remarked, hands dug into his Trench Coat's pockets. "I mean, through my stay with the Guild I accumulated a fair amount of funds. I just used some of them for our benefit."

He could have sworn he heard the sound of a record played on a music box suddenly stopping, resulting in a scratching sound as the brunet twirled to face him. "Wait, you used your OWN funds for this?!" IF screeched, spinning around to face him when he said that. Her eyes were all that he needed to see to know what she thought of that, if her gaping jaw didn't convey the message enough. "You didn't have to do that, we have enough credits as a party, you know."

Her words earned him a stern look as Nico's head swung towards her faster than Neptune devoured Pudding. "Yeah, no." he stated bluntly, catching the brunette off guard. She had almost jumped at how intense he suddenly got over this, it was like staring into the fire of hell itself. Kind of ironic considering what he was now. "I will NOT allow the party's credits to be used for something so mundane. It should be better focused on supplies, and besides," he paused his speech while activating one of his Bracers, making a few typing motions. "If what I investigated was true then we would have been swindled by any other Hotel, apparently the economic state for this land isn't as good as it should be."

IF gazed at her companion's eyes, and as shocked as she was, plus how grateful she was to him for getting them decent lodgings, she couldn't help but feel that there was more to it than that. It was only a few seconds later when she figured it out. "You wanted to repay us, didn't you? For scaring us like that." While IF did ask, it felt more like a statement between the two of them. While they were having this conversation, Compa had left the room to take Neptune to one of the bedrooms, it wouldn't be good for their leader to be out of shape when they began their questing tomorrow.

With the look on his face right now, the woman knew he wouldn't even try to deny it, and her thoughts were proven with his next words. "You could say that. I've always held my comrades-in-arms in high regard, until they betray or try to kill me. You girls? It's hard to imagine any evil exists in you. True none of you are perfect, but who is? Anyways, I'm getting off track. Point is, your fear cut deep, and this was the least I could do to make it up to you all."

After he said his piece, Nico turned his head to the side, closing is eyes to avoid the gaze that the Guild Agent was giving him. He expected her to be disgusted with him, or angry for some reason that he hadn't thought of. What he DIDIN'T expect, was to have a hand placed on his cheek, forcing his eyes to shoot open in alarm. It took all his willpower not to skewer the person touching his cheek until he recognised the hand and its owner. 'W…What…?'

Slowly, his eyes turned their gaze over to IF, who had a small, soft smile on her face. None of her normal snarkiness or amusement was present in this smile, it was a genuine one filled with kindness. This made his heart skip a beat, his cheeks becoming a tad pink as the woman spoke to him. "Like we said before, you have nothing to be afraid of. Nor do you have anything to be sorry for. it wasn't your fault, got it?" she asked, her question accompanied by her expression morphing to that of a stern one. "If you have problems controlling these instincts of yours let us know and we'll do what we can we can get your drugs, until you get your armour back. You can trust enough to do that, can't you?"

Nico stared at her in awe for a moment, completely flabbergasted by her words and her actions. Was it just him, or did IF just get even hotter than she usually was? Also, why was the temperature so high in here? It took a while for him to realise he had gotten lost in thought again, so he hurriedly covered his mouth with a fist and coughed into it, looking away for a second before meeting her gaze. "W-Well, when you put it like that, it makes me feel like I have nothing to worry about. I'll hold you to that bet, IF. Don't be a chicken now." Nico said while smirking at the end, one that IF mirrored.

Removing her hand, the brunette placed it on her hip as she kept her smirk level with his own. "You bet your ass I won't chicken out. Have you seen me chicken out of anything before? if I can fight against the Banshees like I did until you three came along, I'm pretty sure your instinct problems aren't gonna be a problem." They both had to chuckle at that, finding humour in the truth that IF had just stated. The horrors that the Banshees can dish out, seem to make his instinct problems feel tame in comparison.

Looking to the clock behind him at the wall his back was facing, IF saw the time and judged that it was getting late. "Anyways, we should head to bed. Nep's probably going to be asleep already, and I have the joy of sleeping beside her." She remarked with a grimace. It wasn't like she didn't like the preteen, but she just got the feeling that she was a chaotic sleeper. It was just her opinion, and tonight as her first night as part of this party, she was going to find out for herself.

'… I suddenly feel lots of pity for IF…' Nico thought as he watched her make for the bedroom she and Neptune would be occupying. He could have offered to switch beds for her, but he didn't for two reasons: One, her gut instincts with Neptune's sleeping habits were spot on, and two: Compa would throw a gasket if she learned he switched out with another girl. She was an angel most of the time, but was super scary when she was angry enough to act. Thing is, when Compa got angry, she didn't really show it in her expression, she always had this pleasant smile on her face, but instinctively one is aware of her emotional state just by that smile alone. She could make someone feel at complete peace, or shudder in fear as if facing the reaper himself. He'd seen the aftermath of that first hand…

It wasn't pretty.

* * *

Once she was inside the room, the door having closed behind her with a CLICK, Nico went and did the same as her, approaching the room he and Compa were sharing tonight. He raised his knuckles and knocked on the door with the back of his hand, a sign of respect. "Hey Compa, you decent?" he asked her through the door. Leaning close to the door, Nico listened for her response.

"Um, just a sec, I'm almost done changing!" Compa's call came back, along with the sounds of shuffling and something sliding into place. Nico figured she was in the middle of changing, and wisely showed considerable restraint, backing away from the door and leaning against the frame, waiting for his companion to be ready.

While he waited, Nico activated his right Bracer and checked on some of the documents he had been devising, research notes he'd gathered while nobody was looking. They were brief and small considering he had just started, but the notes were of what he had observed of Lastation's economy and the reactions of the people. Unfortunately, the small amount of research he had done served to paint a severe, bleak and negative picture of the situation overall.

'This is not good. The economy seems to be plummeting day by day, and there seems to be much civil unrest within the populace.' Nico thought, narrowing his eyes at the Documents, which were presented to him as holograms which he moved so they were in front of him and he could manipulate them with both hands. 'These events... that started shortly after I left back then... THAT group seems to be the culprit, as according to these documents they began to pull an overhaul on the economic market. This reminds me an awful lot of a Parasite, eating away at its host organism to feed itself. But once the host dies, the parasite should die off too. However...'

His right hand clicked its fingers and a holographic Pen formed in the hand, allowing him to make a few key notes about his observations on a separate screen that floated in front of him, with the other screens surrounding it and forming an arch behind it. His eyes occasionally glanced away from the main screen to the other documents for brief instances, likely looking through certain pieces to record through his own research. 'If events continue to spiral down this path, then this land may be done for… one of the unknown factors is the CPU and what she is doing. If I could get an audience with her, I would have asked her what she was doing to counter these problems, however with what I saw in the Basilicom… something tells me there is little she can do. With their disrespect for her, it isn't unlikely that they would ignore her. If that's the case-'

"Alright, I'm ready Ni-Ni!" the sound of Compa's angelic voice cut him from his thoughts as Nico deactivated his Bracer, the documents swiftly vanishing out of existence as the power supplying their holographic forms was cut with the deactivation. It was likely going to be a reoccurring thing for him, losing himself in his thoughts for the girls to break him out of it. If they weren't around, it would likely take him hours to snap back to reality, unless he was in a battle. Slowly, Nico grasped the handle and turned, opening the door and pushing it forwards. There, he saw Compa having rolled back the covers to get in, before she turned to look at him and smiled, albeit a nervous one.

When was the last time he saw Compa in her PJ's? when they were kids she dressed in a cream coloured gown that went to her knees, with a small teddy bear she would hug along with whoever she was sleeping with (not that way) at the time. Now? she wore a simple pair of creamy yellow bottoms and a top, both with white outlines and white frills on the cuffs. Her feet were bare, and there was no sign of her teddy bear anywhere. Guess she grew out of it though Nico didn't know how to feel about that. "What happened to your teddy, Compa?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I couldn't take Mr Paddington with me, he'd be destroyed on our adventures." She replied with a pout before getting into the covers. "Are you coming in already? It'll get cold if you don't." she asked him, prompting Nico to sigh in nervousness, before he activated his left Bracer and in a few moments, his clothes were replaced by a matching set of PJs' as Compa's, although his were black and red instead of creamy yellow and white.

IF did have a point, he thought, as he started walking towards the bed, his mind imagining things that he tried his hardest not to think about. He soon stopped thinking about it when a flash of... something appeared in his mind, sneering laughter accompanying it making him mentally wince. This was way too different from when they were kids, back then they had this young, naïve innocence about them, an innocence that resembled a simple snow field. White would be all that could be seen through the distance. However, right now, that snowfield was tainted with crimson red, and on one side as well, while the other remained pure. That snowfield was no longer completely pure and white, half of it had been tainted, twisted by the horrid sins that had been committed, the bloodshed that had scarred that half.

They used to do this, but 4 years is a long time, nearly too long, for this to be the same as it once was. No, nothing shall ever be the same as it once was back then, nothing... nothing at all.

With a gulp, he crawled into the bed and they both folded the covers over them so only their heads were visible. Sleep followed afterwards, quickly for Compa, not so much for the troubled Spec Ops Agent.

* * *

Waking up the next morning next to Compa was the first thing Nico noticed when he opened his eyes. Momentarily, he froze in horror, thinking something bad had happened before memories of the previous night returned to him. Nico sighed in relief when they did. 'Whew, I didn't do anything untoward to her… that's a whole load off my chest.' The male thought with a small smile on his lips as he gazed over at Compa's sleeping form. Glancing behind him, Nico found an alarm clock on a small set of draws, which told him it was 7:45.

'Neptune doesn't get up until 10 AM, while IF gets up at 8, so I have some time to get ready…' he thought to himself, before glancing back at Compa to gauge her sleeping face. It just looked so adorable and child-like that he couldn't help but get sucked into it. 'Awwww, doesn't she look like a puppy right now, or what?' Nico fanboyed as he gushed at her peaceful face. 'She truly is one of the greater gifts to mankind… I wonder if I'll be given hate mail from any of the perverts if they found out about this… heh, like they'll ever know.'

As he stared at her sleeping form, Nico lifted his upper body upwards while using a forearm as a support. He had deposited his Gear: his Bracers, Holsters etc, over to the table on the opposite side of his bed so it wouldn't be far to go to get them. One of his favourite features that his Bracers had, was connected to his Void Storage, where he could group a set of clothes together into a single outfit and then deploy them whenever he wished. His basic attire was what he wore under his… armour… though he had various other sets saved into his Bracers' Database. His PJ's, base attire, hell even his armour counted as a Set.

Though he preferred his Basic Spec Ops outfit because he used it the most, and it looked awesome.

In addition, the Void Storage gets rid of any bacteria, resulting in the clothes being fresh and ready for use when they are deployed once again. This was one of his most useful skills, and because of this Nico valued his Bracers highly, like with his beloved Armour. Right now, however, without his Armour he was slightly nerfed with regards to his capabilities, but nothing too severe that it would cause him to be too unreliable to the girls.

Sounds of someone moaning broke him out of his musings, and Nico looked down to see Compa beginning to stir. He let a small smile form on his face as he greeted her good morning, "G'morning sleepyhead, how was your nap?" he asked like a parent would to their child.

Compa giggled at his antics, lifting herself up as her hair fell over her shoulders since nothing was restricting it as of right now. "I'm good, Ni-Ni. That was the best sleep I've had in a long while…" she admitted, blushing slightly as she realised what she just said, memories of last night playing in her mind. "We… haven't slept like that in ages…" she whispered, poking her index fingers together to show how nervous she was about that revelation.

It was no less true however, Nico and Compa hadn't slept like this since they were kids, and that was four years ago. They could still remember the first time Compa came into his bed to sleep next to him. Her grandfather was out on business for a few days, and wouldn't be able to make it back. One night, there had been a large thunderstorm that rocked Planeptune, which was one of Compa's worst fears. She didn't like thunder and lightning, and since her grandfather wasn't around to comfort her, she had gone and chosen the sleeping Nico to hold her for comfort. It made for one INTERESTING morning…

"Yeah… I can agree with you there…" Nico trailed off as those same memories played out in his mind. A small smile tugged at his lips when he reminisced, until he noticed that the time was 7:55 Am. "Whelp, looks like we have to get up soon, IF'll be up soon If I'm not mistaken." He said, before making to get out of bed.

However, an arm shot out of bed and stopped him, pulling Nico back into the bed. Its owner and his assailant, pouted with puffed cheeks, her stare focused intently on the male Spec Ops Agent. "Mou, can't we stay a little longer… I wanna enjoy sleeping with you a little more, Ni-Ni…" Compa whined as she tried to pull him back into her embrace.

The male knew though, that if he adhered to those demands, she would likely stay like that the whole day. It had happened before, and was not something he'd be comfortable doing again. At first it had been pleasant, but as his energy pent up Nico had to struggle to break free from Compa's hold that day. She had been in a huffy mood for the next few weeks afterwards. "Sorry, Compa, you know I can't do that, you would keep me here all day and we have stuff to do today." He tried to reason with her while resuming his attempts to break free.

Compa's cheeks didn't die down, nor did the intensity of her stare. "Mou, but still…" she tried to counter him, but trailed off when she found she didn't have anything to say. This left a depressing cloud over her head as her grip began to weaken. "Ni-Ni doesn't want to sleep with me…" she mumbled in depression.

Nico sweat dropped at her childish antics. Sometimes she was as bad as Neptune was. Right now, he could see the similarities as he manoeuvred himself around the opposite side of the bed and hugged her from behind. "You know that's not true, Compa." He whispered into her ear, his breath trailing down to her nape, electing several shivers and a red hue on Compa's lips. "Now come on, we must look after the others, and see what the heck's going on with Lastation."

The Nurse-In-Training was silent for a moment, and for a time he thought his attempts had hit rock bottom, until he felt her grip loosen and Compa mumbled something he couldn't quite make out. "Atta girl…" he praised just barely above a whisper, reaching out and affectionately rubbing the side of her head before making to get his Bracers and holsters. He soon slapped them on before heading into the Bathroom, proceeding to do his morning routine.

Meanwhile, Compa sat up and stretched her arms towards the ceiling. She groaned in satisfaction as she felt the tension leave her limbs, until she lowered her arms down again with a sigh. She then looked outside, noticing to her disappointment that the grey clouds overhead blocked out the sunlight. She liked getting up with the sun on her face in the mornings, it filled her with her daily dose of joy. So, not having it was a big downer to her mood.

Then, she remembered what she and Nico did the previous night and her happiness meter returned to normal. Really, while he didn't know it, Nico really did give great hugs, especially when asleep. When she had seen him lash out like that, Compa had never felt so scared in all her life. It made her feel horrible that she feared someone who was, for all intents and purposes, her first crush, and still was. Nico had done a lot for her, and what did she do in return? Get scared of him when he lost it.

When he explained about his Armour and what it really meant, her guilt had increased tenfold, like the already heavy weight on her chest multiplied by 1000. In the end, it wasn't completely his fault, it was a combination of the Guild and the Basilicom Staff Member's, although she was certain the latter wouldn't care. The Guild was at fault for not telling him of the Armour's function to suppress and control his instincts, and that man shouldn't have acted like he did.

Yesterday when they reached the hotel and Nico stated that they had to bunk up, Compa had seized her chance and volunteered to do something they hadn't done in so long. it was a way to show herself that despite this new information, it was still Nico in there. Now, she knew it had worked, when she felt her heartbeat when she thought of him, no longer did she feel any fear from him, not even when she remembered his actions. It thoroughly pleased her, it did. Now it was both Neptune and IF's turn. She felt that the brunette didn't fear him as much as they did, seeing as she had fought things like the Banshees and lived as a Mercenary most her life.

But Neptune….?

Compa wasn't a fool, especially when it concerned the heart of her childhood friend. She had an inkling that Neptune was beginning to develop an… interest, in Nico, a similar interest to her own. in a way, she couldn't blame her, Nico did his best to differentiate himself from other males, he was kind, humble, and understanding. He was also supportive from what she could tell when she heard Neptune tell the story of what happened when he woke up after the loss of his Armour.

"I'm done, Compa, you can use the shower now!"

The sound of her childhood friend's words and their volume broke her out of her musings. Turning, Compa felt a brief flash of disappointment when she saw that Nico had dried himself off and was now wearing his base attire. He looked refreshed and new, ready for the day. Flinging off her disappointment, Compa smiled at him as usual and replied. "Thank you, Ni-Ni, I will!" before she went into the Bathroom to begin her normal routine.

* * *

When the duo exited the room, chatting about what they were planning to do with regards to questing, they were greeted to a… rather odd, sight

"Iffy?"

"What the hell? IF why the fuck is this?"

Sprawled out on one of the sofas, using her coat as a makeshift cover while her clothes were scattered around the sofa, a dishevelled mumbled incoherently. They didn't catch what she said, but Nico didn't need to when he glanced at her, then at the room that Neptune was using, an idea popping into his head and a grin forming on his features.

"Lemme guess, Neptune's a chaotic sleeper?"

He had asked this, though it was really a rhetorical question. The brunette's response? Was to mumble something else, but this time Nico was able to hear it, "and a big snorer. Seriously, did you guys not hear it?" she slowly raised her head to look at them, and they noticed the bags under her eyes. Both winced, while Nico also had a hidden smirk of amusement tugging at his lips.

"Nope, but I had my suspicions. Thanks for confirming them for us, you were a loyal test subject." He said teasingly, earning a glare from the brunette as she flipped him the bird, too tired to bother with anything else. Nico chuckled even more at her response, not offended in the least.

Compa pouted at him, her eyes filled with scolding like a parent would to their rebellious child, akin to what Nico did to Neptune. "Ni-Ni, don't be mean. Iffy had a long night with Nep-Nep and now she's resting from it."

"Sorry, sorry, but I couldn't help it. Slight innuendo aside though, we should get something to eat before we head out for questing. Something tells me we'll need a lot of aspirin though." Nico mused while holding his chin. Looking to the brunette, he gave a sigh at seeing her state, before he pulled from his Void Storage a bottle of ice cold water. "Here, IF, this should help you wake up when you're ready. Sleep for now, me and Compa will see to breakfast."

The brunette caught the bottle in one hand when he chucked it to her, almost dropping it with how cold it was. "What the hell, was this made in Lowee or something?" she mumbled, but didn't care too much right now. she did send a grateful look to Nico though. "Thanks for the drink. Now let me sleep." She said bluntly, before falling back into slumber.

"Iffy is super rowdy if she doesn't get much sleep…" Compa commented, stating the obvious while smiling weakly. She had only seen this once before during their time together, and it wasn't easy to handle, yet Nico handled it like a pro.

Said male waved it off dismissively. "While true, it's nothing I haven't seen it before. Some Agents I worked with in the past were like that. Anyways, shall we make breakfast? Neptune will want pudding, as usual." He remarked dryly at the end there. Compa giggled awkwardly at the correct statement, while IF rose her head to glare at him.

"Don't talk about her right now…"

"Don't talk about who and what now?"

They turned to the door to the bedroom that IF had been using, to see Neptune, refreshed and ready to go. She had a beaming smile on and was fully dressed, ready for the day. "Hey guys, G'morning!" she cheered while raising an arm and waving at them. "You guys ready to take some quests and ick monster booty?"

"While Iffy seems to have trouble in the mornings, Nep-Nep seems to be the opposite…"

"Meh, I bet it's because she had a stash of pudding or something."

"Nepu! How's you find my deepest, darkest Nep-secret?!" Neptune cried out in dramatic shock, causing Nico to twitch his brow irritably. However, he didn't do anything thanks to the stare from Compa. Knowing what she wanted him to do, he held his tongue just this once. "Nepu! Now I hafta try harder to hide it… eh? Iffy what's with you? Why are you glaring at me like that? Did I do something?" she then asked, noticing the brunette glaring at her.

The brunette the released a frustrated groan as she slowly rose to her feet, though Nico made a point to turn away to hide his red face as well as to preserve her modesty since she had nothing but her bra and panties on underneath her coat. "Looks like Nep won't let me get any more sleep. Ah hell, I'll just get up now. this drink of water'll helps." She mused, bringing the water in her hand to her lips and taking a swig like someone who was downing alcohol. Removing it from her lips with a sigh, IF moaned in satisfactions she felt the drink cool her body and wake up her senses. "Man, this water is good…" she mumbled, before noticing that Nico wasn't staring at her for some reason. her tired gaze shone with a mixture of annoyance and confusion towards the male as she decided to investigate his behaviour, not realising the truth herself thanks to er fatigue. "Hey, Nico, what's up? Why are you looking away like that?"

Neptune and Compa shared a look, before the preteen let out a giggle that only a prankster could have. She then gave a Cheshire cat grin as she gestured to her body. "Oh nothing much, just that Nick's trying to protect what little modesty your hot bod has left. I mean, damn girl, you fine!" she exclaimed, making a wolf whistle at the end while Compa blushed at the tone she was using. She knew Neptune was only teasing, but still…

The brunette looked down at her body, wondering what the problem was, until it finally clicked in her brain after a couple seconds. Her face turned bright red as she cried out "Kyaaa!" before she quickly grabbed her clothes and ran into her and Neptune's bedroom, yelling, "Don't look, don't look!" over and over.

As the door slammed shut behind her, it was quiet for a moment, before Neptune doubled over, holding her gut while laughing hard. "Ahahahahahaha! Now that was some interesting sights!" she exclaimed through her laughs as her stomach threatened to burst from her activity. Not that she cared right now, the look on IF's face when she realised she was 'flashing the goods' was priceless. She glanced to Nico and aimed her next sentence at him, "Good job on playing the straight man of the group, Nicky. By any chance are you gay or something, It'd explain why you wouldn't wanna see that hot bod."

Why did Nico get the feeling he'd be dead if he didn't answer correctly? He swore he felt KI emitting from somewhere but he didn't know where it was. "N-No I'm not gay!" he retorted his face red as he turned to face the grinning preteen. "I-I just didn't want to offend her and get myself bitch slapped for seeing something I shouldn't!" he stuttered, which made Neptune have a difficult time buying it.

"Nep-Nep." Compa began as she proceeded to scold the lilac haired girl for her conduct. "Ni-Ni doesn't do that to girls, when have you ever seen him willing try to peek at us when we change or go into baths, or do anything perverted in general towards us?" she asked her.

Neptune brought a hand to her chin and thought for a moment before sighing in defeat and replying. "No…" she groaned. When she looked at Compa's eyes and saw them shift slightly in Nico's direction, she took a moment to get the message. When she did, Neptune turned to him and lowered her head in apology. "Sorry Nicky, I shouldn't have assumed anything."

While he had no doubt that te bubbly girl would assume such things in the future if situations like this came about, Nico nevertheless calmed down and smiled at her, forgiveness in his eyes as he rubbed the top of her head affectionately. "No biggie, Neptune. I know you were just playing around as usual." He said as his hand ruffled her hair.

To Neptune, it felt weird at first, to be petted like this, but that didn't last for long. Soon, she found herself shyly looking away from him with a tinge of red on her cheeks, 'Nicky's so good at making me feel weird…' she thought absentmindedly. She didn't notice the jealous look that Compa sported while she received this treatment.

* * *

Once IF had properly dressed herself, coming back to the group with a flustered look on her face, they decided to have something light for breakfast. Compa went and made pancakes for everyone, none of the girls being aware of the dread within Nico's stomach at having to eat human foods. Fortunately, he managed to endure it till they finished, when he promptly excused himself and went to the Bathroom in his and Compa's room, making sure to keep the vomiting quiet so they didn't get suspicious. Afterwards, he'd cleaned himself up and drunk some water to get the taste of Vomit out his mouth and freshen his breath.

After they got their breakfast done, the group began talking about what they would do today. "I say we have some chill out time!" Neptune suggested with excitement, kicking the airspace by her feet under the table they all sat at while raising her hand like a student wanting to answer a question to the teacher. "I wanna sample some of Lastation's games, the Nep needs her games and her pudding!" she proclaimed further, before pointing to the corner of the room. The stand that everyone had seen with the TV, consoles and controllers was still there, and thanks to the resting they had, the Party felt that the games looked much more inviting than before.

Nico made to interject on this decision, until Compa beat him to it. "Well, since I'm in charge of item accounting, I noticed that we're a little low on supplies. I think we should go to the groceries to get some, though not too much since things don't look so good here." she suggested, a concerned frown on her lips. Compa had seen several shops during their short stay in Lastation, and sometimes she had managed to get a short visit to them into her schedule. the prices here were way higher than what Planeptune had to offer, so she wasn't sure that they would be able to last for long time periods since items and other supplies were more expensive. Not even Nico disagreed with her there.

IF pondered this, a hand on her chin as she crossed one leg over the other while her other arm reached for one of her phones, taking it out and flipping the screen upwards. "Well, you do that, Compa. You're right though, we need to watch our supplies, the economics in Lastation are way worse than Planeptune. Something bugs me about these prices, but a more important matter is a source of income. I'll check the Guild Website to see if they have any Quests available. I'm sure something will pop up." she stated, already logging into the Guild Website through its home page.

At this point, Neptune had practically flew over to the games, choosing one and inserting it into the Console, the 'L-station 3' as it was called when she saw the top of its roof. She chose a game that seemed to be about two rivalling factions riding dragons and fighting each other, even though they worshipped the same god and had other similarities to each other. Seeing that they each had something in mind, Nico gave a small sigh, but kept a smile on his face. This was perfect for him too, since he could get some more research into what had happened to Lastation since his last visit here. With that in mind, Nico opened his right Bracer and resumed his research, letting the outside world fade away as they spent their morning in relative peace.

Shame that peace would be the LAST thing they would have for a while after this, huh?


	16. Chapter 16 - Avenir, what Assholes!

**Chapter 16 - Avenir, what Assholes!**

It was in the afternoon that the Party decided to stop having fun and get some work done. It was obvious that things were getting worse by the day, whatever those things were, so they needed a source of income and information about what was going on, fast. Unfortunately, the Basilicom was acting really strange, they would not let much information leak onto the local websites that Nico and the others visited. By others, that meant him and IF, since Compa and Neptune weren't the types to do extensive research on a subject. Neptune would complain that research was boring while Compa wouldn't understand the technical stuff, in her eyes anyways. it was still a marvel how she couldn't say simple words like Neptune, but spell out complex names like Planeptune, arachnophobia, and Pneumonia.

Whenever people tried to upload things onto their vlogs, profiles etc, it was always erased moments later, like someone actively wiped their accounts clean. Thus, Nico and IF couldn't get much information other than general facts like the economy going to shit and the political changes this brought. That alone brought them serious questions, questions that they wondered if they would get answers from the populace. If people would give them answers, then things would be much easier, but with the sense of dictation in the air, that possibility didn't have a realistic chance of succeeding.

Though, none of this was on their minds at the moment.

"... Okay, i'll bite. Why is Nep looking like she ate something sour and it won't go away?" IF couldn't help but ask as they walked down the streets towards the Lastation Guild. While the Basilicom had not given them much of a positive opinion, they hoped the Guild wouldn't be so terrible. Nico hoped this for his instinct's sake, so he didn't lose control again. What she was talking about, was that through the entire journey Neptune had been keeping her head low enough that only her lips were seen as she crossed her arms under her chest. her lips were set in a pensive scowl as an aura of aggression radiated from her presence.

While Compa had been concerned for the preteen, Nico on the other hand had nothing but amusement and self-satisfaction on his features. The teen paused what he was doing before, which was looking through the holographic Screens on his Bracer, to the brunette and answer her while smirking. "Well, remember the last chapter? I said i'd get revenge on Neptune for worrying me like that, so I did a little something when she wasn't looking..." he explained, though the vagueness in this left them wanting to know more.

"... He... took my Pudding..."

Neptune mumbled this to the others while refusing to look up at them, grumbling in dismay while huffing. One could see the puffed cheeks and indignant red on them even with the awkward angle. It was clear though by how the agitated aura she sported swayed in the winds that she was visibly upset by what Nico had done, and yet she couldn't refute him because he had a just reason! This... blows!

Both IF and Compa turned to Nico for an explanation, seeing how the teen was struggling to keep himself from laughing loudly as he regarded them. When he saw their questioning looks, the male explained further seeing as Neptune wasn't talking much right now. "I simply took her puddings and placed them in the Hotel's incinerator, burning it to a crisp. Neptune was only aware of it when she smelt it from the window." he explained, finally allowing a chuckle to escape his lips.

At this, both girls sweat dropped at his behaviour, making sure to take several steps away from him. With what he said, Neptune's actions and his lack of worry for them made a whole load of sense. Both of them had to admit though, while brutal in execution, it fit their opinion of the male. While he was usually stern and serious, born from his duties as a Spec Ops Agent, he had a hidden prankster side and had a strong desire to get even with someone. This had been shown when he fought that witch-like woman back in the Monster Cave when he learned of what she did with the Banshees.

Still, it didn't mean they didn't physically react if the unified flinches and grimaces were anything to go by.

"Ouchies..."

"Damn, dude... that was brutal..."

Compa spoke first, whimpering a bit, while IF finished with a slightly exaggerated voice. Nico just shrugged his shoulders, what could he say? when someone messes with him, he liked to get even. As the saying went, 'payback's a bitch'. Maybe now, Neptune would learn not to worry him like that again, for the sake of her Pudding's. Plus, they weren't technically hers since she bought them with money she stole from the group's budget. One could say this was just Karma at it's finest.

Before Nico could respond, they arrived at the Guild, and quickly headed inside. Now, Planeptune's Guild Hall had a futuristic theme going for it, with blue tiles on the floor, creamy walls with white boarders, and a creamy coloured ceiling with pillars throughout the room that had holographic screens circling around them. These screens showed important news updates on certain quests, with the quest counter at the back. There were 2 counters, one for Guild Agents and adventurers, while the other was specifically for Spec Ops Agents.

Lastation's Guild Hall was the same, only with white tiles, black walls with silver boarders, white ceiling and silver coloured pillars. Everything else was the same as Planeptune's. The basic structure of the Guild halls were the same in each nation, it was just the colours that were different as a means of supporting the CPU of the Nation they were in.

Looking around the room, Nico's eyes sharpened while his lips twisted into a frown. "Hmmm, this is strange, when I was here last this place was constantly teaming with Agents. what the hell happened here?" the male wondered. What happened last time may have something to do with it, what with all the casualties and all, but still this was worse than he thought.

"No idea." IF answered the male, without looking at him as her eyes zeroed in on the Quest Counter. "In any case, tis won't stop us from doing what we came here for, right? Let's find some work to do so we can get an idea as to what was going on." she suggested to him, the male nodding his head as the Group made their way to the Counter. They chose to go to the one that gave the normal Quests, as the male's Spec Ops Agent privileges wouldn't work thanks to his little 'suspension' thanks to the loss of his Armour.

Walking up to the counter, Nico and the others noticed that the clerk that was offering the Quests was a young woman, in her mid 20's with plain brown hair and eyes. She wore a black maid-like dress that reached her thighs, with the frills being silverfish instead of white. Because of the counter, they couldn't see her footwear, but they suspected it was something to do with heels. Right now, she was looking at some paperwork on her Desk, but when she heard their footsteps, the Clerk looked up and adopted a professional smile on her face. A far cry from what the Basilicom was like. "Welcome to the Lastation Guild. How may I help you today?"

"Howdy, lady! we'd like to see what quest's we can do, please!" Neptune responded. Apparently, the thought of doing Quests or something just as productive was enough to send her out her depression. Good to know. Or most likely, s e planned on getting Nico back for his actions later, and what did he have to say to that? Bring. It. On. The Clerk politely nodded, keeping her smile on as she put her paperwork to the side for the time being, seeing as she now had Quests to bring up.

Twisting on her Chair, the woman typed on a Keyboard behind the Desk, and in a few moments, several holographic screens popped up in front of her, each of them listed with titles, descriptions ad images. "We have a Quest shortage today, so there isn't that many. However, I'd like to recommend this one, which involves helping a factory owner with some of her jobs. It's continuous, so you wouldn't have to worry about lacking work, with how important Lastation's factories are, there will be plenty of work available to you." she advised, holding a palm under the Screen showing the Quest.

As he read the quest details while listening to the Clerk talk at the same time, Nico's mind switched on when he noticed the name of the Factory owner, and the Factory itself. 'Wow... I'm surprised SHE is still in Lastation after what happened... well, I guess I'm in for an unexpected reunion.' he thought to himself, how funny fate could be. This would be the second time he and this Factory owner would have met, so things should be interesting. Also, this was a boon for them since he knew this owner, they went way back to his previous visit to Lastation, ad he knew that she would give him the inside scoop tat the public seemed to be denied to outright.

"Alright, we'll take it, ma'am." he stated curtly, the Clerk nodding as she pressed a few keys on the Keyboard. a ringing came from his right Bracer as well as IF's phone, a message icon having appeared on them. It was the quest details they saw when opening the message, making smiles form on their faces. "Because of the nature of this Quest, there is no set time limit. Thus, you can take as long as you want to, alright?" The Clerk explained, getting nods of understanding from the Party.

With a quick thank you, they left the Counter and headed outside. Once the cold afternoon air hit their faces, Nico and IF brought the Quest details up and looked them over, their eyes like hawks as they scanned the details thoroughly. "Looks like we have to wait by the park for this person, it says we'll be meeting her at 6:00 PM sharp, and considering that it's 4:30 right now we have a couple hours to kill." IF deduced, pocketing her phone after flipping it shut. Nico wordlessly nodded his head in agreement as he shut down his Bracer.

Neptune bounced up and down on her feet, excitement shining in her eyes as she turned towards a certain direction. "Whelp, what are we waiting for?! To the park, ladies and gent!" she proclaimed, before dashing off towards the direction she had chosen.

"Uhhhhh, Neptune? that's the opposite direction you're meant to take!"

"... Huh? Oh! I uh, I knew that!"

* * *

Later, it was 6:00 PM, and the Party was at the Park where they were meant to meet their client for the job. Nico and IF had spent the time talking about what they had seen at the Guild Hall, worried looks on their faces while Compa and Neptune re-enacted a scene from an action movie. It was an... odd sight that people would see, two people being serious while the other two were being dorks. Just another day in their lives, would be what they would say in response to that. By coincidence, although Neptune snorted in disagreement at this, was the same park where Nico had explained about his instincts.

Finally, all that came to an end when Compa noticed someone walking into the park. The way she was dressed looked unlike the average citizen, no she looked more like someone who worked hard wioth heavy materials and mechanical items like machines, drills and other tools. She was a blue haired woman with goggles on her forehead standing where the meeting point was said to take place, wearing a red jump suit that was open at the chest, exposing a white under shirt and a white bandanna around her neck. Stopping her re-enactment for the moment, to the dismay of Neptune as she exclaimed that they were getting to the 'good part', Compa pointed towards her while looking to her comrades "… Is that her? The one who wants us to fight monsters?" Compa asked.

Once she had calmed down from her little rant, Neptune looked her up and down, looking surprisingly bewildered as she scratched the bottom of her jaw with an index finger. "She's kinda small… I was thinking, like a big burly man or something." She commented, remembering the Quest flyer that they got from the Guild Board. Though if she had to choose, she'd chose this any day over a big, burly old man with likely a rotten attitude. She was thinking that would be the norm around here, but fortunately she was proven wrong.

The male of the group regarded Neptune with a dry gaze. "Let this be a lesson to you, Neptune: don't count your chickens before they hatch." He said to her before looking at the woman standing at the meeting point. He then checked the profile of the woman in the Guild's archives, usually Clients must fill in forms before they can submit requests, so they can be contacted again for either the money and items or other stuff. After glancing at her and the person on the profile, Nico nodded in satisfaction, deactivating his Bracer. "Looks like she's the one alright."

Apparently, their combined comments must have drawn her attention to them, as the woman had turned her head and spotted them. "She's staring at us… now she's waving… I think she's the right person as well, Ni-Ni." Compa commented as the two parties began to walk to each other.

IF had to comment on this development as well. "I suppose she's come to the same Conclusion about us." She said, as they met up in the middle of the Park.

The woman looked the girls over, her dark yellow eyes sizing them up in her mind. "So, it's you girls? You're gonna take the work I ordered? Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked them doubtfully. Although it was soon changed when she noticed Nico with them. "You… by any chance, would you happen to be Planeptune's DEATHSTROKE?" she questioned curiously, looking him up and down. "If so, what happened to your armour?"

"Yes, you're correct Ma'am, I am DEATHSTROKE." The male replied evenly. He then brought up his ID on his Bracer and showed it to her, his lips curving into a frown when he made to answer her second question. "Furthermore, my armour was… damaged, during a recent battle to cleanse a Banshee infestation. It will be a while before it is repaired." He explained. His tone had taken a formal, professional quality, befitting of someone of his skill level and rank as a Spec Ops Agent of the Guild.

The woman grimaced at the mention of the Banshees. "Yikes, those things are nasty. Nearly died by one's hand a while back." She remarked, clutching her right arm as if in remembrance of that day. She then shook her head to push the memories and looked at them. Her tone wasn't doubtful anymore at this point. "Well, if DEATHSTROKE is with you, I'm sure you guys are the real deal." She remarked.

"We'll be more than the real deal." IF responded just as professionally as Nico did. She had more experience than them at dealing with doubting Clients since she's been at the Guild for longer. She placed a hand on her chest as she made both the standard greeting and an introduction. "Pleased to meet you. I'm IF." She then gestured to Compa and lastly Neptune. "This is Compa, and this is Neptune." Afterwards, her arm lowered back to her side.

The woman nodded her head at them, and with one quick glance at them all, she relented. "Well, I guess that you wouldn't take it if ou weren't okay." She admitted. It was more towards herself than them though, Nico noticed. Does the state of Lastation have anything to do with it? Most likely. "My name's Chian." The woman introduced herself with a manner akin to IF and Nico's. "I run a small factory called Passé." The woman the n turned on her boots and began walking towards the exit, turning her head to call out to them. "Now, no use standing around here. Follow me."

* * *

While the party followed Chian to the Factory that she owned, it was silent. That is, until Neptune twirled to look at the male while walking backwards, her hands behind her back while her lips were set in a firm line. "Alright buster, spill it. You and that lady seem AWFULLY chummy back there. What's the deal, are you two secret lovers or something? I-" she began, only to pale when she saw the death glare Nico had sent her way. "Wh-Whoopsies! My bad! My bad!" she exclaimed in a panic, backpedalling as if that would save her from his wrath.

However, Nico saw that Compa also had a curious look on her face at the question, and there was something.. else in those orbs of hers, something dark that sent chills down his spine even though she looked like an innocent angel. Compa could make even innocence look like a slasher smile if she was mad enough. "I'm curious too, Ni-Ni. How do you ad that WOMAN know each other? Please tell me please." she asked him wit a sweet smile. Why was there an ominous shroud of darkness forming a silhouette of something with piercing red eyes behind her?

The male groaned to himself as he restrained the urge to throttle the preteen for, once again, suggesting something both rude and inappropriate and making things worse for him. Nevertheless, Nico answered curtly while putting his hands in his Trench Coat's pockets, his eyes becoming distant as old memories washed through his mind. "Several of the missions I took were requested by an associate of Chian's, I believe. His name escapes me right now, but he was close to her and her father, the apparently previous owner of Passé. I do not know why she is the owner now, but I will not question her as it is not my business. However, I do not believe that Chian was appointed the successor to the factory under happy circumstances."

The girls nodded in acceptance for that, each for their own reasons. IF wanted to know more about the history the Spec Ops Agent had with other Nations. They were idols to many Guild Agents after all, herself included. She could still remember what she had almost been like when they first met, much to her humiliation. How she had almost lost it in front of him and made herself look like an idiot. She'd rather not be like a second Neptune, thank you very much. Though she was thankful that Nico didn't see her as some generic fangirl he should avoid, but a reliable companion who was a strong, independent woman. Neptune and Compa's reasons matched each other's, both wanted to know more about the boy that they adored. They wanted to learn more about him as a person, not just the Agent that he made himself to be as.

* * *

Finally, the party arrived, but not at a factory-like setting, but at a Cafeteria one.

There was a bar at the back lined with Barstools, with multiple tables aligned for easy passage through them to the bar with adequate spacing between them that even those who were… obese, would be able to get past. the place had a restaurant feel to it, yet it also felt... homey as well, like a parent's touch had turned it into a place to raise a family. Though considering the types of drinks that were stacked in cupboards and fridges they could just see behind the Counter, it was obvious what kind of customers this place usually got. IF looked around for a moment before she gazed back at Chian with a frown. "Didn't you say you ran a factory? This looks more like a cafeteria." She asked her.

Chian nodded as she made her way to the Counter while flexing her hands, as if getting ready for something. "Yeah. My Parents run the Cafeteria. The Factory is next door. I usually help out here so I'm allowed between both." She explained while entering the space behind the counter through a lever-like doorway at the side, going to the centre. She then turned to them from the counter after looking through the selection of drinks. "You'd rather speak in a cleaner place, right? Take a seat." She said, pointing at the room around the Cafeteria.

Neptune instantly shot forwards with a massive grin on her face. "Dibs on the barstool!" she shouted, quickly sitting on one and beginning to spin around like a wheel, whooping in delight with a matching expression on her face. Everyone either chuckled or smirk at her childish antics, especially when they saw Neptune stop spinning by grasping the edge of the counter, swirl marks replacing her eyes as her head swayed in dizziness. She soon shook herself out of it, before looking to Chian. "With this cafeteria, you could order a heck load of parfaits and puddings."

Laughing a little, Chian shook her head at the childish dreams of the preteen amnesiac. "That's not gonna create Revenue, you know?" she had to reply to her with that as she raised a brow at her, smirking in amusement. She could see that the preteen would be good company to have for a laugh, something that she sorely missed these days. During times like these, a few good laughs could work wonders, which was why she liked the girl's attitude.

'…Neptune, you might be adept at this after all…' Nico thought with an appreciative gaze as he watched this spectacle with a knowing look in his eyes. 'Usually, hiring professionals like me and IF can cause unrest with the citizens, they don't know how to act around us. Neptune's fun-loving, carefree attitude makes a near-instant connection with those she meets. It's hard not to smile when she's around.' This had happened a few times in the past when Clients were rather put off by the attitudes of some of the stronger Spec Ops Agents, though it wasn't their fault either. Some of the things they see daily warrant such behaviours.

"The factory isn't enough, so we make do with the Cafeteria too." Chian turned her head and explained why her family had two sources of income instead of one, not just that but sources that were closely tied together like the Café and Factory. "With the economy the way it is, having one job isn't enough anymore. It's stressful, but the bills have to be paid somehow." she remarked, though this was with heavy with bitterness and frustration.

Now THAT caused alarm bells to ring in the male's mind. 'I remember looking up the economy in my research, it seems that more than a few people have to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet, unlike years ago when stability was assured for the citizens.' He thought, frowning to himself as he digested this information. Before, Lastation had a pretty stable economy, enough so that the citizens could live happily and comfortably. What changed to have such an impact on their lives as to make them have more than one job? Not everyone had the stamina for that kind of lifestyle, something which made him worry for the citizens here.

Meanwhile, IF decided to bring them back on track, otherwise this would take longer to get done than she'd like. "Sorry to intrude, but could you tell us the details to the work?" she requested politely. She knew that Neptune's attitude would rub off on them, but sometimes it would work too well and they'd lose track of what was really important. Plus, with Nico losing himself to his thoughts again, she couldn't exactly count on him to keep the conversation focused, so it fell to her.

Momentarily blinking, Chian regained her composure at the question and nodded to them, both. "Sure." She then walked out the Bar and towards them, a map in her hands of Lastation in her hands. She then placed it on one of the tables and showed them a red line that went through one of the Dungeons to the main City. "I need you to take care of the monster around this trade route. It used to be safe, until a large monster appeared out of nowhere. With the route unsafe, all trade has halted." She told them. They remembered the flyer on the Guild Board, how it specified a picture of what looked like a bird monster. Though the details were vague for some reason, and the flyer had said to go to the park to meet with the client there. Usually everything was put on the flyer and the Client wouldn't have contact with the agents taking the work.

'It looks like the Monsters here have advanced deeper than I thought, to be able to affect trade routes like this…' Nico thought in worry as he looked the map over. The map looked familiar to him, and after a moment of searching through his memories, he realised that it was West Wind Valley, a valley that many companies used as a trade route for various supplies they got from underground mines. He remembered having to hunt a particularly vicious Abnormal down there, one that took him 4 full days to finish off thanks to it always retreating and hiding from him, forcing the male to track it down. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any Abnormal activity there, but Nico wouldn't hold his breath. Hope for the best, expect the worst and take what comes.

Meanwhile, IF grinned as she crossed her arms and spoke in a confident manner. "Bingo." She said with a fist pump. Finally, some action. She had been wanting to test some of her new techniques out on those Monsters that Nico had shown them during training. "This may be the work we're looking for. We'll take that order." She said to the Factory owner.

Said owner sighed in relief. "Good. With Avenir killing the market, we don't need any more problems." She said, a large surge of anger swelling in her tone when she mentioned the word 'Avenir' as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

She wasn't the only one though, as Nico's eyes widened and his face lost all colour. "What?! Are you saying Avenir is responsible for everything?!" he exclaimed in shock and anger, his eyes like fiery pits of hell itself that demanded a sacrifice to fuel its hunger.

Chian looked over towards him, momentarily surprised by how he knew the name, and his response to them, but nonetheless answered his questions with no less bitterness than se had when she started this conversation. "Yeah, that's right. After what happened, those guys took a sudden boost of power and this is the result." She explained with a grimace, much to the Spec Ops Agent's anger.

Compa grew concerned when she saw the looks of intense hatred for this 'Avenir' thing they were talking about. to hermit looked like he was about to have a stroke from how much red was on his face. his teeth were gnashed and his fists were clenched so tight she could see veins bulging from them. Wondering what it was, she asked them. "Um, Chian? Ni-Ni? What's 'Avenir'?"

The question made both Nico and Chian snap out of their anger and turn their heads to the Nurse-In-Training, momentarily forgetting that they were not alone for that brief moment. Nico realised the problem and sighed at his error in judgement while Chian looked at her in surprise and disbelief. "What? You don't know Avenir?" she asked, making sure she heard correctly.

"Yes. We just arrived into Lastation today, so we don't know this "Avenir"." She explained, before she glanced to Nico who was scowling at the error in judgement as well as the name Avenir. "Though if Ni-Ni doesn't like them, then they must be people who are bad."

Chian rolled her eyes, ignoring the nickname that she had called the sole male of the group as she addressed a much bigger issue. Their lack of knowledge. "Avenir is a major company that is pretty much ruling Lastation. They make everything from goods to weapons, and is controlling the Market. People like me can't compete with them, so our products don't sell well. And it's not like they create work. I know a few who have closed shop already."

Now that she knew more about this company, Compa felt just as bad as Nico and Chian did with regards to this Company. "That's terrible! It goes against Anti-trust laws!" she exclaimed with anger. She didn't think that the situation could be so bad, but unknown to her it was about to get worse.

"Worse still," Nico began, getting their attention as he leaned against the side of a Table with his arms folded over his chest. "Is that they have been trying to branch out into the other Nations. They want to spread what they're doing to Lastation to Planeptune, Lowee and Leanbox as well." He explained, trying not to explode from the sheer amount of anger flowing through him. His fingers twitching and how veins were pulsating from his rage were a great indicator to the girls that his instincts were acting up.

However, he managed to repress it enough to speak as his gaze fell to the ground. "To them, they see it as helping make the richer rich and the poorer people poorer. Their actions are akin to a disease, spread across one land till all its life is snuffed out, then find new lands to infect." He explained, struggling to contain himself so he began taking deep breaths, trying to think of the happy smiles of his companions to calm himself down.

While he was doing that, the girls saw that he would be occupied for a time and took in this information. If they thought it was bad before, what Nico had said only made it worse. IF shook her head in disbelief, how could something like this happen? How could the leaders of Lastation, more importantly the CPU, allow this? "Didn't you try talking to the CPU? It's hard to believe she would let this go." She asked the woman.

Chian made to answer her, but the male, having managed to finally calm down some although the rage was still present in his light blue orbs, beat her to it. "Remember what we got when we first went there, IF? It's obvious that somehow Avenir anticipated Lady Black Heart's return and acted before she could do anything. They cut the beast off at the head before she could do the same to them." He told them.

"DEATHSTROKE's right. Myself and a few others tried. But Lady Black Heart was away for too long…" Chian continued as they turned their attention towards her again. She looked down at the ground as she remembered the time she and several other company owners tried to see the CPU. To tell her what was going on. "Avenir placed their goons in the Basilicom. Now they pretty much own it. Such a waste, since Lady Black Heart just returned from Celestia… Avenir won't let us near the lady at all."

All this information made the party sad and angry at the same time. The injustice they were seeing before their very eyes seemed not too different from when the Banshee Infestation plagued the Monster Cave by that witch-like woman's hands. Both of them didn't care about the lives they ruined, only interested in their own goals. Even Neptune looked affected from what they were told as she remembered what their reception at the Basilicom was like. "So Avenir IS bad! Everyone is suffering because of them, right?" she questioned, though her eyes held a burning fury in them. The others looked a little alarmed at his, save for the angry Nico. It was rare that Neptune got legitimately angry, she was usually a fun-loving, happy girl. But when she thought back to that Basilicom Staff Member, she thought of how he made Nico go crazy, and that just rubbed her the wrong way.

Chian's eyes filled with rage once more as she remembered those bastards, in her and the rest of the minds of the oppressed people anyways. "They're not just "BAD"! They're monsters!" she bellowed, growling. It looked pretty darn obvious that she did NOT like these guys, and for good reason. "Not only do they monopolise the market, but they demand harsh taxes for their services. For example, many companies have to rely on their machines for protection against the monsters while the military and Spec Ops Agents do their best to hold them at bay. As a result, we have to pay overpriced charges just to keep our backsides covered. If a company can't pay, then overnight they turn bankrupt and the people inside it are left without a job, making things even worse in the long run." she explained, both her and Nico barely restraining themselves from going berserk with how much fury they felt. Though, Nico's was far greater thanks to his condition.

"I see…" IF mumbled, frowning as she thought back to their earlier reception. It made sense now why they acted that way. "So that explains the treatment we got back at the Basilicom." in hindsight, she should have suspected as much, those men hardly behaved like followers of the CPU. They looked more interested in other things rather than what they were supposed to be doing. It made her blood boil just remembering it, while she found Black Heart to be alright with what she preached to her followers, she wasn't as angry as she would be if the CPU she DID follow had that happen to her. Though, with things being as they were, some part of her installed dread into her hard drive by commenting that something might have happened to her already.

Compa looked to the others in concern. She could sense how they were feeling, as well as see it in their eye none of them attempting to hide it one bit. She didn't like it either, thus managed to voice her concerns to the conversation. "So, I guess we can't meet the Goddess through the Basilicom then, can we?" she questioned with worry. If they couldn't see the Goddess through normal means, then how could they see her at all? They would have to find a way soon otherwise they wouldn't be able to ask her about the Key Fragment here in Lastation.

Despite her fury, Neptune perked up when she thought of an idea, one that stemmed from a recent videogame she played about Assassins fighting these religious fanatics known as tem-something. "How about we barge into where the CPU Lady Black Hearth lives?" she suggested, getting everyone's attention. "We could get info on the Key Fragment AND help Chian! What a bargain!" she shouted, grinning at her 'brilliant' plan while puffing her chest out in pride and holding her head high.

Like most times, Compa agreed with the reckless plan that Neptune proposed. "Okay, Nep-Nep! Let's go stealth and stand by Lady Black Hearth's room!" they soon made to run out and gather some equipment… somehow, when they realised that they weren't actually moving yet their legs were running. It looked like they were running along the ground but weren't getting anywhere.

"Hold on you two." Nico and IF's voices cut their attempts and the two looked behind them at the Guild affiliates. They each had one hand on their shoulders, their grip strong and effective enough for stopping them from moving. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Chian watched this with slight amusement, stifling a chuckle at the scene, but the seriousness of the situation was still dominant. "Lady Black H-E-A-R-T, not Lady Black Hearth." She said with a raise of an index finger, correcting their use of spelling the Goddess of her Nation's name. She then went and addressed another flaw in that plan, one that only IF and Nico had been aware of since it's forming. "But if you don't know where the Lady lives, the guards will just spot you."

"Well, we have to try, right?" Neptune countered confidently while Nico refused to relieve her of his hand. Compa had since stopped though and thus IF released her. "I'm more the type to try and fail instead of trying at all." She proclaimed, sending the room into silence. She then latched onto the male, electing a jealous stare from Compa. "Plus, Nicky here can use his super cool gadget thingies to track down her room no probs."

The foreign feeling on his arm was NOT something Nico was used to, and he didn't appreciate the suddenness of it either. Nico pulled his arm out her grip with an annoyed twitch of his brow. "That plan has too many flaws for it to work, and if it doesn't we'll never meet with the CPU, and then it'll make our search harder." He told the purplette. if he could, Nico would have brutally reprimanded her for her flawed plan, but right now they had more important things to worry about instead of pointless bickering.

"Also," IF continued, hands on her hips as she stared at the childish amnesiac. "If what Nico says happens we'll harm Chain and the folks more than they need. Let's focus on Chain's order first. Let's take it in steps, okay?"

Who was she kidding? Taking baby steps with someone like Neptune? She'd have just as high a chance if she tried to make her stop eating Pudding.

* * *

With their goals set in mind, the Party began their journey towards the Dungeon that the monster was said to reside in. The Trade route would be safe enough without its presence, and with regards to the small monsters Lastation Caravans were outfitted with automatic defence turrets. They were strong enough to handle the weaker monsters, but the stronger ones like this one or like the Abnormals would be too much for them. The Dungeon itself seemed to move along two sides of different mountains, with various uphill's, paths and futuristic bridges that connected them to form one long route. Of course, Nico had checked the Monster Bestiary when they were walking, so he knew what to expect and how to counter them. He had also checked for any Abnormal activity with his Motion tracker and Holomap, only to find that their luck had held out since there was no Abnormals within a 500 mile radius from the Dungeon.

However, they had little time to waste on the small fry, so he decided to bring out some mass crowd damage dealers.

"We're here!" Neptune announced, her voice echoing across the Dungeon as she bounced up and down at the entrance. She then twirled mid-jump and landed so she was facing the others, her fists raised towards her chest as she did little jumps to show her excitement. "So, this is where that monster thingy is going to appear?" she then made a motion of snapping her fingers. "Well, no monster will beat me! I'll just snap my fingers and blow 'em up!" She then noticed that IF and Compa were trailing behind her, and her impatience began to rise. "Hey-! Iffy-! Compa-! Hurry, hurry!" she called out, putting her hands in a circular motion around her mouth.

Compa heaved heavily as she trudged up the path towards the purplette, she wasn't used to mountain climbing so her stamina wasn't as great. "#HUFF# #HUFF' Nep-Nep, wait… I'm so tired…" she tried to say between her heavy breaths. IF looked down at her friend as she finally made it to the top, falling onto her hands and knees to catch her breath while lifting her heavy right arm to wipe the sweat off her brow. "#SIGH# With Nep this excited, she'll lose her spunk when we need it." she remarked.

"Who needs a last-gen yellow stamina bar?! I've got infinite stamina! Let's just wipe out the monsters in the area and report back to Chian!" The brunette rolled her eyes at the preteen's antics. Looking around, she then noticed that one of their party members was missing, the sole male of the group was nowhere to be seen. "Hang on, where the heck has Nico gone off to? I never saw him with us when we climbed up here."

"You were calling, IF?"

(Play AC DC Shoot to thrill – 3:06 TO 3:24)

They could hear some strange music in the air as a figure jumped into the air from a high mountain tip, doing a series of flips in the air before swan diving towards the ground. He landed on the ground with a loud BOOM, making a large smokescreen from the impact. It faded away to reveal the said missing party member kneeling on one leg, a small crater around him. Slowly standing up, Nico hands were occupied holding new weapons. The right one was in front and the left was behind it.

(end song)

"Hello ladies." Nico greeted with a smug grin, his eyes shining with glee at the entrance he had just made. He lowered his arms and made a two-finger salute on his forehead. "How's your trip?" he asked while moving in a slick manner towards them. Glancing over to Compa, his smirk turned to a knowing one as he walked towards her, offering a hand. "Judging by how Compa's acting, I guess it took a while."

A nod came from the brunette while she watched Nico help the panting Nurse-In-Training get to her feet. "You could say that." She answered, before her brows furrowed. "On that note, where the hell were you? How'd you get up here so fast that not even this one," she gestured to Neptune behind her. "Could see you?"

Nico made a circular motion with his 2-finger salute before he pointed towards the mountain side. "I used my parkour skills to jump from tip to tip, ending up on that top one over there. Then, it was just a waiting game for the rest of you. I originally intended to just slide down and greet you normally, but I guess Neptune here's rubbing off on me." He remarked, smirking at Neptune before he pulled an ice-cold water bottle from his Void Storage and handed it over to Compa. "Here, take this. It'll help."

Recognising it as the water that he'd given IF this morning, Compa eagerly accepted the drink and downed it, moaning in pleasure as the drink quenched her thirst and cooled her body from the sun shining above them. It felt even better with how much walking she had done, and when she finished the bottle Nico got it back before disposing it into his Void Storage.

"OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!" Neptune shrieked as she bounded over to him and stopped when she was right in front of him, starts twinkling in her eyes as her fists were in front of her chest. "Where'd you get that badass music from Nicky?! That entrance with it was freaking cool!"

The male laughed a little and rubbed her head. "Well, let's just say I felt like taking a page from your book and went a little meta. Helped calm down my instincts too." He explained with a grin, before taking his hand away earning a groan of disappointment from the preteen. She liked the feeling of his hand in her hair.

"Not to point out or anything, but let's address the elephant in the room." IF began, getting their attention as she pointed at his occupied hands. "What are those and where did you get them?"

Holding his hands up, Nico glanced at them. "Oh these?" he asked, referring to the two objects in his hands. They looked like a pair of Semi Automatic Pistols, both different and yet similar to each other. They sported Pivot-type triggers, customised sights for better aiming, ported muzzle compensators for less recoil with the barrels extending through them and ported to match the cut in said gun part. Both used reinforced slides, as well. They had bolted forward rails, double stack magazines with slam pads, golden plated releases, hammer safety switches and triggers. One however, was black and had a holed two-handed trigger guard while the other, which was white, had a rounded trigger guard. "These girls are Ebony," he raised the black coloured gun in his left hand, "and Ivory." He then lowered Ebony and raised the white coloured gun in his right hand. "Both are my standard dual handguns, they haven't let me down yet. In fact, these guys were found in the same ruins as Rebellion." He explained, before a flash appeared behind him. "Huh?" confused, Nico turned his head to look behind him and saw the hilt of said Claymore on his back. His eyes narrowed at this development. "That's new. Is there something wrong with the Void Storage transport system?"

Putting both pistols into one hand, Nico pulled the Claymore sword out the Holster and inspected it. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, as he and the girls laid eyes upon the sword. "Umm… my blade seems to have changed." He stated like captain obvious as he gazed at the blade in awe. Meanwhile, when the girls saw the blade again, their eyes nearly flew out of their sockets at the sight, and only one reaction seemed the most appropriate for this situation.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

Indeed, Nico's Rebellion did indeed have several changes from it. The cross guard had extended into a V shape instead of gripping the ribs. The skull, instead of being half human half demon, had turned into a demonic horned screaming skull. The spike crown at the bottom of the hilt had split open into separate like a makeshift crown. Fortunately, the HF technology seemed to have remained, something that made him sigh with relief. HF tech was useful, but expensive too. Lots of his arsenal was HF based, making it clear how much he had spent on it.

"Okay, now THIS is interesting." Nico muttered as he examined the blade. The Claymore's skull stared back at him, and for some reason the feel of the weapon gave an instinctive, sinister feeling, like it would eat you alive just by looking at you. The entire weapon radiated power that it didn't in its previous form. Memories flashed in his mind, memories of both his DPU form and the time he was learning about Rebellion in the ruins. "Well, I guess this is because Rebellion's a magic sword. A DEMONIC Magic sword. When I transformed back at the Monster Cave, this sword must have somehow tasted the energy and unleashed its full power." Nico hypothesised, remembering several glyphs in some of the ruined rooms he'd visited and fought various creatures in.

Apparently, this Sword and the other weapons that he had found there were demonic in origin, as the glyphs on the walls foretold anyways. They wouldn't be able to use their full power unless their wielder had demonic energy or something, which considering how he had been a normal human at the time, was pretty major. Still, they had bound themselves to him for some reason, and only now did the male think that maybe they saw his potential for being a demonic energy user. Nevertheless, looked like he could use Rebellion at full power now, something that sounded VERY promising for the future.

With that out of the way, the male strapped Rebellion to his back to send it back to his Void Storage, before reequipping his Dual Pistols Ebony and Ivory in their respective hands. The sounds of growls and snarls were heard behind them, and past him the girls could see that there was a mix of 'Cardbirds' which looked like carboard boxes with small legs out the bottom with small wings out the sides, red and gold crowns, and facial features, as well as 'Sunflowerys' which were sunflowers that walked on 2 legs and had smiley faces on their cores.

"Whelp, looks like we got ourselves a welcoming committee." IF commented as her Qatars slid out her sleeves and into her waiting hands. She held them in her signature stance, ready for fighting. "We'll deal with these guys then head to where the monsters supposed to be, got it-"

Before she could finish and the others could get their weapons out, Nico aimed his pistols and fired without even looking where he was firing at. The bullets flew fast and true, hitting all the monsters in their heads with deadly accuracy, each one having their heads implode from the impact. Several flashes occurred behind him as he spun Ebony and Ivory around his index fingers by the trigger-guards before sliding them into their holsters. They didn't disappear back into his Void Storage though. "There, problem solved."

The male then turned on his heels, walking deeper into the Dungeon while missing the slack jawed expressions from the other girls. Sensing that they weren't moving, Nico turned his head and tilted it so he could see them. "C'mon girls, we gotta get moving that monster ain't gonna kill itself." His words snapped them out of their dazes as he turned back to continue his trek into the Dungeon.

"is it just me or are those Handguns OP?" Neptune asked as she shuddered. The shudder was of excitement not fear though, as she saw what he just did to be freaking badass. Though considering the fanfics that this was, she guessed that it was to be expected. She kind of liked the badass OC's, since in cannon the ladies were all badasses in their own way, so it felt good to see a male OC have that same level of epic going for him.

She wasn't the only one who had that opinion though, as the young Nurse-In-Training made apparent as she gazed at the male's back with an admiring shine in her eyes. "Ni-Ni's always so cool when he fights. He doesn't even realise he's being cool sometimes." Compa commented at his behaviour. It was honestly very manly whenever Nico made himself look cool at least, in her opinion. He surely had a flair for the dramatic that went with his prankster side, and seeing it like this made Compa one very happy Compa.

IF rubbed her face with her hands. Nico was quickly becoming as childish as Neptune was, although she couldn't help but admit that it did look pretty cool. "Well, at least he saved us some time. Though if he keeps this up he'll get all the EXP." She remarked, much to Neptune's horror as she turned to the others. "C'mon ladies, lets catch up, Nico's not going to show us up, is he?"

"Nope!" both girls replied in Unison as the trio dashed off to catch up with their resident male Badass, who was already engaged with several 'Pal Shells' which were basically open Seashells with blue crystals between them, a pair of claws floating beside them and a pair of beady yellow eyes peering out. Though they were dealt with swiftly by his Pistols.

* * *

Fortunately for the girls, Nico didn't do that ALL the time, when they caught up to him, the male had switched to using Skills like his PHANTOM BLADES and his PHANTOM WAVE. Neptune had commented once that he was an overpowered badass, and that the author was doing a good job of making his OC badass, much to the confusion of the others though they attributed it to Neptune's randomness and paid it little mind. Though they did have to admit that Nico had the badass theme going on.

While they walked along a path leading to a large open area platform ahead, Nico felt just about ready for anything. Ebony and Ivory were perfect for clearing out smaller, weaker Monsters, though the girls had told him to leave some for them so they didn't feel useless, which was understandable considering they were supposed to be a party.

"#HUFF# #HUFF# Iff…y… W…ait… So… tired…" A voice made him pause mid stride. Using his foot, Nico pivoted around to see that Neptune had slowed down considerably compared to the rest of the group. Unlike in the beginning of their dungeon raid she was no longer as confident as before, now slouched over and dragging her Murasama across the ground, the weapon creating sparks along the ground. she was heaving and panting like an old man who had the unfortunate pleasure of walking through a Sahara Desert without water. A small, smug smirk formed on his lips at the sight, 'Heh, you're eating those earlier words, aren't you, Neptune? Looks like IF called it.'

The rest of the party stopped to turn and see Neptune in her sorry state. IF released an irritated sigh at the sight while Compa looked more sympathetic towards the preteen. "You've got to be kidding." She muttered while shaking her head at the ground. raising it high again, she aimed a frustrated stare towards her. "I thought you said you had infinite stamina!" Now resorting to using Murasama as a walking stick, Neptune reached the top of the slope she was traversing, heaving even harder. She stopped to catch her breath, before looking dully towards the brunette. "Well, yeah, but… there's too many slants and slopes here…" she complained.

"Hmmmm, you DO look tired there, Neptune..." Nico commented thoughtfully, a hand on his chin as he innocently gazed at te preteen, said preteen looked at him like he was a god, which was technically true. That is, until a second later when his innocent façade shattered to reveal the devilish smile on his lips, his eyes gleaming with sinister intent as he looked upon the preteen. "Maybe I should increase your training when we get the chance, huh?"

"NEPU!"

It looked like IF was near her breaking point with the excuses that Neptune pulled out of her ass, but before she could blow up on the poor girl, Compa fell onto her backside and used her arms as support. They ached, but not as much as her legs and feet did. "My tootsies hurt." She whined, looking down at her feet while sighing as the weight was taken off them. her eyes then looked back to the brunette Guild Agent with pleading in them while she let out a slight whimper. "I can't take a single step anymore. Iffy, let's take a rest."

At this point, IF couldn't take it anymore as she released a frustrated groan from her lips. Seriously, how bad were these girls? If Nico training them increased their stamina, she would happily let him do it so this idiocy didn't happen again. "Oh, come on, you girls can do better." she spoke with an exasperated tone, her arms crossed under her chest as she gave them disapproving glares. "Hasn't Nico's training done nothing for you? Do you girls WANT him to go harder on your asses?"

If she realised what she said, she'd see how that could be taken out of context very easily. But thanks to her irritation and their exhaustion, none noticed or cared.

Looking at the Nurse-In-Training, Nico felt a pang of sympathy explode inside his gut. Compa hadn't had the need to travel as much as he had, nor did she travel as much as IF. The total amount of distance she was used to was between her house and the Nursing School in Planeptune. She could stretch it to the Virtua Forest, but her limits were non-push-able beyond that point, especially so soon into the journey. He gave a sigh as he too decided to take a break, though for their sake since he had stamina to spare. "They're both exhausted, and they're civilians IF. Despite becoming adventurers, they haven't the experience you and I do, so let's humour them for now. Plus, we've covered a heck load of ground so we can afford one."

His reasonings served to be the last attack on the walls known as Fort Iffy as she gave a reluctant groan. She could see his points there, they had cleared a lot of monsters at this point at a quicker pace than expected thanks to Nico's Ebony and Ivory. If anything, he was the one who deserved a break since he had done more work than even herself. "#SIGH# Oh well, let's take a break then."

Hearing that they were going to take it easy, a surge of joy swept through the two girls. "Rest… finally… ya…y…" Compa tried to cheer, but she was too spent as she fell onto her back and began to rest her weary body. An idea shot into Neptune's head as she fell to the same position as her friend. Sitting back up, she put her hands in front of her and crossed her legs like a child sitting on the floor listening to a teacher telling a story. "Ooh! Since we're resting, let's have a snack! I got pudding!" she proclaimed, pulling out said sugary treat from the pouches of her hoodie. She held it up towards the sun like it was a gift from the Goddesses. "I bet the pudding will taste perfect with the wilderness around us!"

Nico chuckled as he saw this, it was to be expected at this point for Neptune to sneak pudding onto a Quest. She must have had some in her Inventory before he went and incinerated the rest. He mentally noted to learn how to hack into Inventories next time he had to exact righteous vengeance, but for now, he'd let her have this one. A part of him wondered if she planned this whole thing in advance, bu he soon denied it. Neptune and planning hardly fit together. Just when him and IF were about to join them… "

SQUAWK! SQUAWK!"

The sounds of squawking could be heard in the distance. More squawks were heard, each one getting louder and louder. This meant that the cause was getting closer and closer to them, while Nico's Motion tracker quickly went off to alert him to the beast's location. Both Nico and IF stood up and spun towards the direction the sounds came from, her Qatars drawn and his Rebellion unsheathed. At first, IF thought that it was just another minor monster, but then she looked about the area. She hadn't done so before now, and the geography looked oddly familiar to her. "Wait… wasn't this the place where the monster Chian described appears?" the brunette questioned.

"Huh?" Soon enough, a creature landed before them, jumping into a hovering motion. The creature looked to be a cross between machine and bird, a Phoenix to be specific. It had a metal body, with several tail feathers and 2 long tendrils coming out the back. It had robotic legs, feet, wings and metallic armour over its head. The rest of it was feathers and flesh. the male identified it as a 'Hraesvelgr' based off the bestiary and Chian's request.

While Nico, IF and Compa were surprised by these turn of events, Neptune could only stare dully at the monster. She did this without uttering a single sound, blinking twice, then again like an owl. Turning to the brunette with the speed and motions of a robot, ironic considering where she was, she spoke in a low, but disbelieving tone. "Um… Iffy? This monster with the Non-colour variant design is…"

"Yes, it must be the monster Chian mentioned."

While IF did confirm that with a nod, Neptune however, didn't or didn't want to think so, so she shook her head while laughing. "Oh, come on, Iffy! You think I'd fall for your tricks?" She remarked, thinking his was a joke and even laughing at the supposed 'joke'. Sadly for her, at her thinking it wasn't real, the monster squawked angrily, flapping its wings rapidly while kicking the air with it's claws.

AT this point, the brunette had had it with the preteen's babble as she went over and smacked her upside the head. "Nep, stop your denial. This is the monster Chian asked us to get rid of." IF said, all amusement gone from her voice and replaced with utter seriousness. Her annoying habits were grating on her nerves and she wanted to get his over with quickly. She was surprised Nico had held out as long as he did with these two. How had he done this while remaining sane?

Compa moaned in protest, not wanting to get up yet. In a bid for hope, which was sad if one thought about it, she looked to the monster and addressed it as if it were a person. "Mr. Monster? Can you wait? We were trying to take a break here…"

'I'm sure that'll not work…' Nico thought while readying his demonic Claymore, which thrummed with HF Electricity as well as red crackling demonic power. 'I'll test this baby out, see how it goes and what it can do…' Nico added as an afterthought. Neptune slowly got to her feet, her grip on Murasama's hilt tightening till her fist was white. Her hair shadowed her eyes as a faint purple aura manifested around her. "And Just when I was about to bite into this tasty pudding…" She was then engulfed in a light pillar as she activated HDD. When it vanished, a livid-looking older Neptune took her place. her HDD sword was unsheathed with the sheath at her waist, both radiating an intense aura of malice and KI towards the beast. "You shall pay! Feel the wrath and agony deserving of tainting pudding time!"

"Nep-Nep looks really angry. And it looks worse now that Nep-Nep's changed." Compa remarked, watching the livid Neptune face off against the Hraesvelgr. "It looks like anything pudding related can jolt her. Good, she's ready." IF commented like a mad scientist, smirking in eagerness to get this done. "Well, pudding doesn't make me ready. I'm still tired…" Compa informed, still feeling the drain from earlier.

Turning towards them, the transformed Neptune cried out. "Compa, Iffy, Nicky!" Stop talking and let's beat the hell out of this monster!" her words thundered through the surrounding areas, showing the passion and rage within them. "So… tired… #sob#" Compa muttered as she heaved her Syringe into a combat position.

Now IF was starting to feel bad for the girl. She began to realise what Nico's earlier words meant to the Nurse-In-Training. "Come on, Compa. Let's finish this and get rested after, okay?" it took a short few seconds, but the teary Compa nodded as they charged in unison.


	17. Chapter 17 - DPU Power, bitches!

**Chapter 17**

The Hraesvelgr struck first by going for Compa, lunging to slash at her with the talons on its feet. It could smell the sweat and fatigue rolling off her in waves, and thus chose her to be its first target for a meal. The rest would come later once it had its fill. The tired girl barely rolled out of the way in time, and when she got up the creature was already attacking her again, lunging forth with its Beak. She raised her Syringe and blocked it, the beak trapped and unable to clamp down on her Syringe's form.

"Ni-Ni, guys! Its singling me out for some reason!"

Nico grimaced, its senses must have told it that she would be the weakest thanks to her being the most tired. Neptune had her HDD to rejuvenate herself, however Compa was not so lucky. She was only human, thus had little to help recover her stamina, and in a dog-eat-dog world like this, that was grounds for quick killing. Quickly, Nico turned his head towards the others and alerted them to this problem. "Everyone, make sure Compa takes the least bit of damage! With how exhausted she is she'll be an easy target!" Rearing Rebellion back, Nico flipped it so that he held it by reverse grip. Its demonic energy gathered around the blade, an energy aura manifesting around it. 'Here goes!'

When the energy was sufficiently charged, Nico swung the blade in a down-to-upwards arc. The blade dug through the ground and when it was released into the upwards park, the energy was released into a crimson energy wave akin to his PHANTOM WAVE Skill. He repeated the motions, changing hands for the second energy wave before spinning into a third horizontal launching.

The Hraesvelgr was quick to react, dodging the first two by sliding left to right and vice versa, but the last one managed to cut into its chest area, causing it to howl in agony. It flapped it wings wildly in response to the massive amounts of pain that coursed through its veins and systems from the attack, never having tasted the power of demonic energy that tore away at its being. A massive wound was left across its chest, hollowed out and crimson red in colour, smaller red cracks spreading from the wound.

Seeing the results of the demonic energy Rebellion can use, Nico whistled in appreciation, looking down at his weapon which crackled with HF electricity. 'Nice, and with the HF tech in it, this sword has become even deadlier…' he thought with satisfaction, pride swelling in his chest at his weapon. This was one of his strongest weapons, though it wasn't his iconic Plasma Claws. Anybody with a brain could tell this sword had immense bloodlust, just like its wielder.

"Nico, get your head back into the game, its coming!" IF's words made his eyes widen as Nico swiftly did the splits, going under the large bird monster as it flew overhead, rising into the air before circling around for an aerial strike from above. Sliding back to a standing position, Nico spun around and fuelled Rebellion with more demonic energy, increasing its aura and began sending more energy waves at the creature in greater numbers and increased ferocity.

Up in the air though, the creature had a greater chance of seeing and dodging the fast and strong energy waves, which it demonstrated by acrobatically avoiding each one. It then swooped down from one of its flips into a dive, heading for Compa again. This time, when it raised its Talons to grab her, it was blocked by a furious Neptune's sword, which she pushed energy into and made a diagonal slash, sending it flying back. "Iffy, try it now!" she yelled to the brunette who was already prepping her Skill.

"Got it! DEMON FLAMES!" Her skill was launched from hand, and while it did connect to her opponent, the attack barely did any damage to the monster. "Tch, it didn't work!" she called to the others. It was only a glimpse, but when she glanced at the Hraesvelgr from the corner of her eye she saw how it snorted, as if amused at her attempts to injure it despite the purple and red slash marks on its body. A tick mark formed on her forehead at the gall of this monster. "You're kidding right now, this thing's making fun of me?!"

Compa looked and saw it about to make a move. Lifting her Syringe into position, she aimed at its face before firing rounds into the said area of the Monster. The rounds hit home, peppering the Monster to distract it from making a move on the Guild Agent. "Iffy, follow your own advice!" she called to the brunette. "You can call the meanie names when we're done!"

Nico looked at the monster and analysed its movements. The slash marks on its chest were impeding its breathing slightly, but enough to decrease its stamina, and by extension how long it can move before taking a breather. It seemed to move primarily by flight, which relies on its wings to function. In that case, he had an idea. Turning to where Neptune was, the male shouted over to her. "Hey, Neptune! I'll distract it, you go for the wings!" he shouted, before dashing off instead of hearing her reply.

The monster saw him coming and made to charge at him. However, Nico pulled out Ebony in his left hand and fired on its face, each bullet causing it to turn its head forcefully, its body jerking with the impact the bullets made. Thanks to it being stronger than the average monsters, the bullets didn't destroy it in one shot like it did before, but that wasn't what he wanted. instead, his actions provided him with the distraction he needed, as he holstered Ebony and grasped Rebellion with two hands. Once he was close enough, Nico jumped and swung his Claymore down in a diagonal slash from the right shoulder to the hip.

To stop this, the creature Squawked while jumping at him, launching its Talons to grapple with Nico's Rebellion, which was once again coated in demonic energy to protect it from the sharp talons. As the two battled it out in a contest of strength, Nico reached out with his senses, and felt a Presence beginning to move from above. 'Yes, Neptune's got it!' he thought to himself. He beamed happily on the inside, while on the outside Nico barely restrained a smirk from his features. "Looks like your all out of tricks, birdy."

While the creature tilted its head in confusion, momentarily pausing in its contest, it soon got its answer when Neptune flew down from above, her Sword ready. With a mighty battle cry that only ones who were scorned could give, Neptune brought her Sword down on one of the bird monster's Wings, the energy she poured into it enhancing its cutting power and slicing through the wing in one clean swing.

Pain erupted from the Hraesvelgr from lacking its Wing as it fell to the ground, its ability to fly greatly limited thanks to its lack of the severed Limb. It doubled over onto its back and tried to get up, only for Nico to jump onto its back and swing Rebellion onto its other Wing, severing that limb as well.

IF and Compa seized this opportunity when they saw the Tendril-like protrusions begin to loom over Nico's head. The former raced forwards and jumped at the left one's base, slicing through it with her Qatars and landing behind it in a one-legged kneeling position. Compa followed up by aiming her Syringe and blasting the right one to pieces.

"Like I said, you're out of tricks." Nico remarked… before hopping off the monster as he finished his sentence off with a two-fingered salute, Rebellion being sent back into his Void Storage. "Bye-bye, birdie."

While it was confused for a moment on the meaning behind that statement, the Hraesvelgr soon got the answer to its puzzlement. It was in the form of a rising KI it sensed, and when it looked, it began to lose its colour as it saw a furious Neptune flying at it with her energy enhanced sword poised to end its life. "This is the end, foul Monster! Taste the wrath of interrupting my pudding time!"

With that, Neptune released a battle cry as she stabbed her sword hilt-deep into the creature's head. It gave one last weak caw before it began to disperse into particles, signalling that the battle was over.

Once it was completely gone, Neptune stood straight as she wiped the sweat off her brow, her sword now sheathed inside is waist-strapped sheath. "Whew…" she muttered, turning to the others as she floated over to them. "That was some fight."

"Really? It was rather quick because of you and Ni-Ni, Nep-Nep." Compa said. She remembered that Nico had given her the opening to deal the fatal blow, likely so that Neptune could have her 'vengeance' for her interrupted break time.

Nico soon joined them and, unknowingly, confirmed Compa's thoughts. He had his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants while he looked about the area, before his gaze landed on the transformed Neptune. "While usually it drives people mad, rage can be a powerful motivator." He said, frowning when he remembered how some Guild Agents attacked monsters in a vicious rage for one reason or another, only to get ripped apart and eaten alive. "Just glad that this time it's not the case. I'm just glad that Neptune here got her vengeance."

He would have said more, but something was detected by his Motion Tracker. he quickly glanced down at it, and his eyes narrowed in thought. 'Huh...? Looks like we have some company...' he thought to himself. Was this new arrival working with Avenir? or did they have their own agenda? Only time would tell, that is, if the person hiding didn't show themselves.

* * *

Hiding away a fair distance from the party, there was a single feminine figure. Upon stepping out to get closer to them, it was revealed to be the same girl that Nico had nearly hit in an accident. She had a deep look on her face as she observed the group as they had celebrated their victory. She then released a sigh and paused her movements before hiding behind a rock. "I've come as fast as I could but… I didn't expect them to be in a battle. I lost my timing to show myself…"

Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at the ground, trying not to move as she sensed Neptune's energy. "I rushed here, but now that I have the chance to cool myself down…" she then shook her head as she confirmed it for herself. "…Attacking her now is too low for me."

"Still, it does make sense to fight so that I could regain my position…" the girl admitted, cupping her chin as she thought back to events that had occurred in the past. This happened for a short moment, before the girl shook her head to get rid of those thoughts as another addition reared its ugly head. "I can't lose my Shares… I won't be able to win the Console Wars like this… but fighting Neptune now isn't like me as a Goddess. I sure wouldn't enjoy my victory… And my pride wouldn't let me."

She had to admit to herself, fighting Neptune as she was would be far different than before. not only did she have her memories gone, but also, she had allied herself with a bunch of humans, two girls and one boy, though that last part was unbelievably rare. Usually, guys were either weak or useless, or were evil and wanting to dominate the world.

The one difference here? That boy was a Spec Ops Agent. She had done some research into his identity, and discovered this fact as well as his track record. She'd even watched some footage of him fighting the 'Abnormal' monsters in the world. It was almost scary how powerful he was. Though, for some reason he wasn't using his armour, something he never went without in a battle, which both intrigued and relieved her. Intrigued because she wanted to know the reason why, and relieved because without it, Nico, or rather his codename DEAHSTROKE, would be easier to defeat in battle, that was what she was thinking. Turned out that despite the lack of armour, DEATHSTROKE remained as skilled as ever.

Then, there was this strange power she was sensing that was radiating around him, even when in his human state. It was powerful, even though she couldn't sense all of it, and for some reason, the girl felt that energy was something she didn't want to be used against her. It felt like the opposite of Share Energy. Instead of divine, it was sinister, dark, yet ready to be unleashed whenever its wielder chooses it. Someone like him… will be a large problem in dealing with Neptune.

"Then there's that human boy Neptune is travelling with… He seems like a nice guy, which is rare, but how the heck did Neptune find someone like him? He even bothered enough to try and make it up to me when he nearly caused that accident… not many guys would try and do that, I'm sure." She said to herself, feeling her confidence stagger slightly.

Memories assaulted her as she remembered the problems in her home, and her eyes sharpened, and her resolve re-strengthened. Even in her current state, she had to do this despite how it'll hurt her pride. Though traces of regret could still be seen in her eyes. "Sadly enough, with my position now, I guess I've got no other choice…" after she said that, she called upon her power, and it came.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the party, an idea popped into IF's head as she regarded Neptune and the male before them, the two people in their group that could transform. "Hey, wouldn't it have been faster if Nep and Nico in their TRANS-AM modes flew us here?" she asked them, while sneaking a glance at Compa. If they had done that then not only would Compa have not been as tired as she was now, but also the fight with their target monster would likely have played out differently.

Unfortunately, Neptune with her HDD personality, refused that notion vehemently. "No. there's no way I could carry you both. This is quite tiring, you know?" she explained. In her mind, she could imagine carrying one piece of cargo while Nico in his DPU form did the same with the other. Both would be exhausted to fight for a short while, and without their two main powerhouses, the party would lose most of its fighting strength. Seriously, IF's attack had little effect on the monster, so what else would she have done to save Compa?

"Also," Nico began as he also had the same opinion as Neptune did, but for different reasons. "I am still unskilled in my ability to transform, and I don't know what effects it might have on me. Whether I change like Neptune does or something else, I don't know. I'd rather train for a while in it before I can even think of using it as commonly as Neptune's HDD."

His explanation served to pacify the two human girls, as he did have good points in there. Not only did he not have much experience doing Demon Drive Demonica, but also, he had not transformed since the battle with Arfoire, therefore he wouldn't know about its effects, whether it changes him or how drastic it does so. "Alright, that seems legit." IF nodded reluctantly. Though she didn't know why she was reluctant to allow Nico to carry someone, even if it's her.

"Ni-Ni aside, we still have Nep-Nep's super mode." Compa pointed out before turning to the dark purple haired sword maiden. She already had an offer she was sure would work on her. "How about being our Taxi for one pudding each direction?" she proposed with her ever-bright smile. She then sweetened the deal even further. "This is no ordinary Pudding. I'm taking about the super-premium one."

'Whoa girl, that's some major power right there!' Nico thought, eyes wide with shock when he heard Compa's words. Damn, girl must be wanting a transport bad. Well, he couldn't blame her, since she was tuckered out when she first came to the Dungeon. Neptune speeding ahead forcing her to run all the way here to keep up probably didn't help. 'Still though, would it affect HDD Neptune like Neptune herself? Let's see…'

The older Neptune looked like she was pondering it, her face flushed at the thought of that much pudding, even making false direction changes so that she could get more. "Ah…" she barely brought her voice out as she pushed her fantasies to one side, something that she wouldn't have been doing in her human form. "Th-That's enticing, but I'll have to pass."

'Holy shit, hold the freaking phone! Neptune able to resist pudding?! What madness is this?!' Nico exclaimed in pure disbelief, almost doing a double take as he regarded Neptune cautiously. "Ok, who are you and what have you done with Neptune?"

"What are you talking about, Nicky? I am still me, be it my other form and this one."

While the two were talking about if she was who she claimed she was, Compa pouted in disappointment, her fantasies now crushed by the harsh hand of reality. She deflated at this as her shoulders sagged and she became hunched as she looked down. "Aw… That's too bad. It would have been so easy if we just flew instead." She whined.

Now Neptune had enough, and it showed on her irritated face. Both the questions by Nico on her identity, and Compa's pleading for her to be their living transport carrier. "Enough on this already. I'm changing back." She told them as she slowly closed her eyes, about to change back to her normal hyper self.

However, If's eyes sharpened as she glanced to the side, like when an animal suddenly sensed danger lurking nearby. She twisted around to face the source, throwing an arm to the side in a sudden manner that caught everyone but Nico off guard. "Wait a second, Nep. Don't undo your transformation just yet." she called out to the womanly version of her companion.

"Looks like we have some unexpected company. Come out, we know your there!" Nico said before Neptune could respond, though now she didn't need to since she was now on guard, her Sword being pulled out its sheath with HF electricity crackling along the blade.

A faint chuckle could be heard from nearby, and the party were able to trace it to a large rock near the entrance to the platform through the way they came in. "I didn't expect you to notice. Well done." A womanly, mature voice that drenched in bloodlust. Then, the voice's owner walked, or rather floated, out of hiding and approached the party.

'Oh, my goddess…' Nico thought as he looked at the person before them. It was a woman, and if he was a pervert he would say she was smoking hot just like all the girls in his party. But he wasn't, so he focused on her appearance. The woman had a fair skin tone, and a mature face. She had pure white hair that was worn down to her waist with a few inches cut off and her bangs messy. Her eyes were a glowing teal, with the same power button symbol as Neptune and his own. She wore a black turtleneck leotard with a cleavage window at the chest. Everything else, the arm and legwear, was akin to Neptune's only the arm armour was detached from her leotard, with a mix of black with a secondary colour of silver. In her hand, she wielded a large sword, shaped like a broadsword unlike Neptune's Katana based one, and his Claymore Rebellion or his giant greatsword Soul Edge. It was mainly black with a glowing silver edge that went into the diagonal tip. Its handle had a circular guard around it with a matching edge to that of the main blade.

Whoever this female was, something told him she would have the pants when it came to a relationship with another. She seemed like the aggressive, dominating type. Especially with how she looked at them right now like a predator about to corner its prey, well, it was mostly aimed at Neptune for some reason. However, there was one thing for certain in this encounter. And that was that this woman, regardless of her identity, would likely prove to be a foe in the upcoming moments. He prepared to summon Rebellion, when an idea struck him… one pertaining to the conversation just moments before.

'While I would like to train in that ability... it would be beneficial to see if I can use it at all...'

Silence spread through the area, dominating everything ese in the vicinity. The air was thick, the party was tense. This new woman who had just complimented IF for noticing where she was hiding was floating before them, sword in hand. The aura round this girl, the silvery white aura, had them on edge, especially Nico. It had a greater effect on the male because of his use of demonic energy, which caused him to become suspicious on who this girl was. 'Whoever she is, by her posture and how she was holding that large sword, I can tell she is a formidable fighter.' Nico thought in calculation, planning how to defeat her with the skills and equipment he had available. A part of him wanted to go Ebony and Ivory for support roles, but that would be counterproductive and waste his Skills. In Layman's terms, he preferred to be in the thick of the action.

However, Nico also had a part of him that wanted to match her, power for power.

Finally, after moments of silence and staring deep into Neptune's eyes as if they were the only ones in the room, the new woman smirked as she stabbed her sword into the ground beside her. "It's been a while, Neptune. Of course, you probably don't know me now…" she said, causing Neptune's eyes to widen when she realised something, something about this girl that was familiar.

"Iffy! Is she…?!" Neptune asked her friend as she turned her head to face her. Her eyes showed the brunette what she wanted to ask, but she couldn't find the words to do so. She wanted IF to confirm to her what she had noticed as she was the closer of her and the Spec Ops Agent.

The brunette went and confirmed it, an eager smirk on her lips. "Yes… she does look like you in that form of yours. That form and eyes… I think she probably knows something about you, Nep." She hypothesised. 'If this girl can look like this… then odds are it's a transformation as well. That means that this transformation isn't limited to Nico and Nep. Whoever she is though, has to have a reason to transform before meeting us.' She thought to herself, but didn't say. The fact that she knows Nep's got amnesia is a bit suspicious, though. 'Man, Nico's observation skills must be rubbing off on me.' She glanced to the said male to consider his eyes and find that, to her, he was thinking similar thoughts.

Once again, the woman confirmed it fully when she placed a hand on her hip and gestured to the dark purple haired sword maiden. "Indeed. I know Neptune very well." She explained, her tone slightly more drawn out when she said the last part, which further proved that she did indeed know Neptune from her past lost memories.

"Really?! Then tell me, who am I?!" Neptune exclaimed in shock, joy and relief. If she were in her childish self, she would have been bouncing up and down on her feet with joy at the new revelation of someone who had known her. She may not show it, but she was eager to learn about who she once was, before she became who she is today. The fact that she had finally found someone who knew her before she lost her memories was a source of great excitement for her.

Strangely enough, at least for them, the woman placed a gloved palm on her forehead and laughed, bending backwards slightly. "Ahaha! Being asked for help by Neptune! Very well, let me tell you…" she spoke after her little laughing fit. The tone she used lowered into a dangerous one under the pretence of talking.

'I'm sensing a 'but' here…' Nico thought. That facial expression was one he had seen before in the eyes of many Guild Agents. When female agents were giving the male ones a taste of feminine fury when they tried to peek on em in the changing rooms. With that in mind, Nico slowly reached deep within himself to the reservoir of demonic power within him. He had been channelling it into Rebellion, merging it with the sword's own demonic power to form its shockwaves, but when he touched it with his mental presence, it was like he'd only took a glass of water from the ocean. There was so much left to spare!

"Really?!" Neptune cried out in joy, so happy with the knowledge that she would be getting answers to her long-time questions about herself to notice the change in her tone. Unlike the male Spec Ops Agent, she didn't seem to notice the approaching danger.

Compa, was another to not notice the change as she, in a moment of blissful ignorance, blissfully beamed at her purple haired friend. "That's great, Nep-Nep! We finally met someone who knows you." She exclaimed, sharing in her friend's joy. She was one of the few that could see through the cheery façade that Neptune often wore, and she could tell that this was a big deal for her.

"But, it's on one condition." The new woman spoke while slowly reaching for the handle of the sword she had impaled into the ground earlier. She tugged it lightly, and the blade burst free, allowing her to wield it although she hadn't made any moves yet. her posture slowly turned increasingly threatening, KI gradually rising from her being.

'Called it.' the male thought as he readied his power. His eyes gradually gained a faint red tint, not enough to be noticed, but enough to signify that the change was about to begin. 'Looks like I'll get to test my DPU Form out again. I can only hope nothing bad will happen that'll scare the girls… I have the distinct feeling I jinxed myself.'

Neptune blinked, her joy from earlier now mixed with caution, her mind registering the danger vibes that the new woman was radiating. "Condition? What's that?" she asked while her hand slowly reached for her sword. The tension in the air was thickening by the second, and at this point even Compa had managed to realise that something was wrong and that she should be ready.

"Do you have to ask…? Defeat me in battle!"

* * *

Right after she yelled that, the white-haired woman flew at Neptune at speeds that caught the sword maiden off guard. She made to block, but before the woman could connect with her sword a blur slammed into her side, sending her tumbling away although the woman used her momentum to get up into a sliding motion, using her sword to slow her movement to a stop.

Once she stopped completely, the woman looked up, furious at who had interrupted her. "Who did-" she began, before she froze, her muscles tensing as she felt a burning heat in the air, causing a light bead of sweat to roll down her forehead.

Nico was the source of both it and the kick that he had slammed into her side with, his body radiating a thick layer of demonic energy, his eyes glowing crimson and looking like they were about to form power button symbols. "Hey, Neptune. Remember when I said I haven't transformed in a while?" Nico asked as he turned his head to look at the purple haired sword wielder.

Said wielder nodded at his words, too surprised to speak at te moment. This was only the second time, but she wasn't used to the oppressive nature of the energy roaring within him. It looked like he was about to burst, too.

The male then turned his head back to the surprised woman who had gotten back to her feet and resumed her floating position. "I think now is the time to change that, don't you think?" Neptune didn't answer, but her face said it all. He nodded, and with that. His transformation begun.

Unlike the HDD Transformation, DDD started by unleashing orange-red flames from a ring underneath his feet, forming a cocoon around him. It lasted a second before it exploded into embers, a much less volatile explosion than the first time in the Monster Cave. And like before, the man that Nico became soon took his place, his fiery bird wings spreading out as he kneeled on the ground.

Slowly rising to his feet, the transformed Nico opened his crimson eyes to show his power button symbols, getting a jolt of shock from the white-haired woman while he summoned his Sword Soul Edge. "Wh-What the hell?! Why can you transform?! There should only be four of us!" she yelled, pointing at him while trying to ignore the chills gnawing at her spine when she saw the sword manifest in a vortex of flames.

Nico stared emotionlessly at her, holding Soul Edge in one hand as he wordlessly pointed the tip at her. The flames from the sword gathered at the tip and fired a series of large fireballs her direction, faster than a bullet fired from a rifle.

She barely dodged it in time by strafing to the side. "Not going to talk, are you?! Fine, then!" she cried before she flew towards him from his right flank, going for a cut to his neck. It was blocked by the grotesque looking sword. She went for a series of slashes to different areas, each one being blocked expertly by the sword's massive form. It was just as large, if not larger, than her own, plus it seemed to have much more power than it let on. The woman found it… disturbing, especially when the eye on the blade would move wherever she went, like it was watching her.

Just as she was moving back, the woman was attacked by Neptune, who came at her from above and slammed her sword into her. The woman barely blocked in time, the shock from the earlier revelation slightly decreasing her reaction time. "It appears you have been caught off guard. Interesting. I'll remember that if we have to face the rest of you." Neptune commented as she flipped backwards, landing 25 metres away and sliding to a halt.

"And don't you forget about us!"

"We won't let you hurt, Nep-Nep, meanie!"

IF and Compa roared as they charged at her from multiple angles. The brunette went first, going in for a series of kicks and slashes to the chest, while Compa went for providing fire support from afar. One of her kicks connected, and IF exploited the opening by raising her right Qatar and bringing it down on her stomach.

The woman gritted her teeth while hook kicking the arm away from her, using the momentum to spin into a reverse back kick to knock IF back. She then reared her sword back as a purple aura formed around it. "Try this on for size then! VENOM FENCER!" she yelled, thrusting rapidly at the brunette. While she was able to dodge the majority of the attacks, IF got hit by the last one to the stomach, poison seeping into her as she was sent flying away.

"Iffy!" Compa called out to her friend in alarm, seeing her go down like that. She began to race towards her friend, only to find the Woman already before her, sword poised to strike at her. "Focus on your enemy instead of your comrades, girl!" she yelled, bringing it down on her.

However, before she could strike the Nurse-In-Training down, her sword was blocked by the tip of Soul Edge, Nico having gone on the offensive at the sight of Compa getting attacked. "Stop playing around." He said emotionlessly, his dual voice equally disturbing the girl as he pushed her back. Nico then flew forwards, swinging at her head which she blocked. The male broke away and went for a reverse spinning slash to her chest, which the woman ducked under and made to launch another VENOM FENCER at him. His wings flared however, and he ascended into the air, avoiding the Skill easily. "Useless."

"What?!" the Woman called out, infuriated with the veins sported on her forehead being an indicator of what she felt from that statement. "I'll show you useless!" she flew upward after him, the male rearing back before he swan-dived after her. The two clashed in the middle, sword against sword creating deadly sparks from the friction between the two weapons.

Eventually, the two separated the Woman vanishing into thin air, to the untrained eye anyways. Nico's eyes flashed as he spun around and blocked a strike that would have decapitated him. No fear, happiness, joy, or any emotion was present on his face as he wordlessly parried the Woman's attacks from every angle, not giving her a single inch of an opening.

'Tch, this guy's defence is flawless.' The woman thought as she backed away from him. Big mistake as the male raised his sword, fiery trails erupting from the eye, almost like it was crying tears of flames, before condensing around the metallic edge of the blade. He then brought it down, and the edge launched a dozen or so beams of fire at her. "Oh shoot!" she cried, quickly going about and flying in erratic, complex arcs that almost seemed akin to a dance routine. The beams chased her down wherever she went, homing in on their target without question. Some of them hit their brethren and detonated into fiery explosions, while the rest sought their target.

As she flew, the Woman gasped when she saw Nico appear before her, raise his sword and bring it down. She quickly stopped and raised her own, blocking the attack from hitting her, but the resulting force and impact sent her crashing into the ground with an explosion shielding her from view. The flaming beams soon followed her, colliding with her and resulting in several explosions accompanying the first one.

When the dust settled, the woman was revealed to be standing still, however she was not undamaged. Her body was covered in burns of varying degrees, her hair was singed in multiple places, and her sword looked like it had seen better days. Some wounds began to heal with a silverfish energy being applied to them, while the woman looked up and glared at the male, who responded with an emotionless stare, not even phased by the fact that she'd survived his attack.

She couldn't move after him though because Neptune already took his place, charging in from behind. "You should focus on more of us, not just him." She commented while swinging her sword in multiple arcs. The Woman blocked most of them, however one of them left her open for a kick to the face by Neptune, sending her back. The purple haired sword maiden then went for a sausage flip and exited into a knee to the top of her head.

However, the woman jumped back and got some distance. She needed to think of a plan before going in again. Her previous plan of overwhelming Neptune was failing epically on multiple factors. One, she didn't expect her to have strong company, sand two: she didn't expect one of said company to be able to transform like they could! Was he one of them and they didn't know, or what?

The woman focused back on the battle and went for Neptune. She would deal with the questioning later once she emerges victorious from this battle. 'It doesn't matter if Neptune has help, I'll still win!' she thought as she decided to activate a Skill. "PARALYSE FENCER!" she called out, her sword becoming covered in electricity.

When it was thrusted her way, Neptune wisely decided to dodge the blows so that she didn't suffer the same effects as IF, or akin to them as she was poisoned and currently being treated by Compa. She then activated a Skill of her own when she saw an opening after the Woman's attack ended. "CROSS COMBINATION!" Neptune rushed forwards, dealt a series of slashes before kicking upwards and knocking the Woman into the air. She jumped after her, and swung downwards.

All but the last slash connected, so the Woman didn't take too much damage, however Nico then stopped her from attacking by going on the offensive, Soul Edge radiating demonic power that he used to amplify his next attack. "Be sliced in half." He said emotionlessly, and the woman strafed sideways like her life depended on it, to avoid the demonic sword as it hit the ground instead. A huge line of fire erupted out from the blow, rising to 30 feet in the air.

'That attack could have killed me!' the Woman thought in shock and horror as she got into a defensive stance. Nico had already beset her when she did this, and she was barely able to block his sword in time. The next strike came towards her side, so she spun around and went for his back with a reverse slash, only for his wings to act like they were living beings and reform themselves into a shell behind him, blocking her attack. "What?!"

"Useless." He stated, his Tail whacking her as his wings reformed while he spun around and slammed his Soul Edge into her chest, the Woman screaming as demonic energy raced through her from the impact. Her earlier hunch was right as she felt like her body was being shredded apart from the inside out, literally going through a paper shredder. It was not something she had ever felt before, and that alone was enough to scare the living daylights out of her, despite her pride attempting to force it down. She was sent flying into the cliff face of the mountain with a large CRASH sound accompanying her, the impact being enough to make her cough up blood and saliva in a horrific mix.

Her body felt weak, her power was spent healing from that last attack. there wasn't much left of it now, she realised. Before she could fully grasp the situation, she was in, Nico was already floating before her, Soul Edge's tip pointed at her throat. Her eyes widened and her body tensed, a sense of fear rising within her gut. It mixed with the pain she was experiencing, creating a truly uncomfortable experience she did NOT want to feel again. "This can't be… even if I was outnumbered… me? Lose? What is going on? Or, is this my power…? No, I won't believe it!"

Shakily, her head moved up to gaze into the eyes of her killer. She didn't have any thoughts that she would survive this, her mind was in too much shock from the experiences thus far to come up with any decent strategy to escape the… nightmare before her. His eyes were full of nothingness, like a void, like he was nothing but a shell of what he once was before his transformation. That power he displayed seemed to be in direct contrast to the divine, she realised, a power that had the direct effect of being like poison to people like her.

Just… what the heck is this… thing?

The eye of Soul Edge began bleeding flames again, the flames moving to the tip to form a fireball. This time though the fireball slowly increased its size to that of the woman before him, its heat being so large that the Woman could hardly stand looking at it and had to look away. Though, she still felt like she was being boiled alive thanks to the infernal heat it was emitting.

"Tell me, woman… do you know why you did not win today?" Nico asked her, his eyes and face remaining the same as before. it was like he had only asked the question because he had no other option, which confused the Woman. Why would he talk about something he obviously had no interest in? ignoring her confusion, the male continued. "It is because one: you lacked variety in your abilities. Your skills focus too heavily on one aspect of combat. Unlike myself, who specialises in multiple fields. Thus, your defeat was eminent. Now…" his eyes gained a tint of malevolence to them as the flames began to intensify. "Burn to ashes."

The flames became so intense that she didn't think looking away would shield her eyes from being reduced to glass anymore. A lone tear slid down the corner of her eye, unseen to anyone because it was hidden behind her nose. 'All this… for Lastation… and now, it all comes to an end…' she thought, sure that this would be her end as she closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable impact of that monstrous blade that belonged to the transformed male.

However, a loud CLANG! Was heard, and the flames were extinguished.


	18. Chapter 18 - DPU vs CPU!

**Chapter 18 - DPU vs CPU**

"That's enough, Nicky." Neptune spoke sternly. She had quickly stopped the male from firing that fireball by disrupting its energy flow with her sword, thrusting it under the blade and flicking upwards, sending the fireball away from its intended target. It had been a close shave, if she had been a second later the fireball would have been released and the woman that likely had the answers she sought would have been burned alive.

Not a fate she would wish on anyone, lets just say that.

If the male was surprised by this action, he didn't show it as he stared soullessly towards the downed woman's face. Said woman's face was frozen into one of pure, unfiltered FEAR as she stared at the Soul Edge's tip, as if it would suddenly make another fireball and launch it before Neptune would be able to stop it. Those thoughts constantly circled her mind, making her realise that she had just had a near-death experience. That was enough for her to remain silent and watch the two for the time being It was almost as if he didn't even register Neptune's presence even if her sword was what was responsible for stopping him from killing the downed Woman. "There's no need to kill her. We need her to tell us about me, remember?"

The male remained silent, and it seemed like he didn't hear her. he just stared blankly, his crimson eyes having a slight fiery glow about them as he held Soul Edge just below the woman's chin, its tip an inch away from her throat. His wings radiated embers that fell out around him, calmly, yet dangerously. Neptune made to speak again, when Nico's eyes shifted to her direction, showing a flash of… something, she couldn't tell because it disappeared as quick as it had appeared. His Wings began to shift, the flames that they were composed of swaying strangely. They then split apart, reshaping and longing themselves into a set of 20 long, fiery Tendrils.

10 of them lunged towards the downed woman, making her close her eyes again, but she felt nothing. Opening her eyes again, though this time it was a lot harder to do so, she saw that, to her shock, a purple Panel had appeared before her, blocking them from hitting her. She looked towards Neptune to see that she had been the one to generate the Panel, though she was more focused on her companion than her at the moment. "You…"

(Play Metal Gear Rising OST: Red Sun)

"Nicky, what are you doing?!" Neptune yelled, ignoring the downed Woman as she stared fiercely into Nico's red orbs. The Tendrils pulled back and readied themselves, his sword hand gripping Soul Edge firmly. "What are you doing, Nicky, stop this!" she called out again, but he didn't listen. He just stared at her for a moment, his stare cold, empty and dark, like the void that in which they talked to Histoire in.

Then, in an instant he was charging at her, his eyes lighting up as orange flames surrounded them. He swung Soul Edge rapidly, his Tendrils lashing towards her in place of the large swings. Neptune deflected each swing with a grunt of effort, sidestepping to avoid the Tendrils. She didn't want to have that demonic energy coursing through her like that Woman and the Hraesvelgr.

Seeing that this attack wasn't working, Nico opted for a different tactic, slamming his Tendrils into the ground and propelling himself into the air. Pointing Soul Edge at her, he unleashed a barrage of Fireballs at her like rainfall. Neptune quickly put up a Panel to block it, the shower slamming into it with reckless abandon. "Nicky, stop this! We're your teammates!"

Again, Nico didn't listen to her as he lashed out with his Tendrils, smacking through her guard and walloping her in the face, making her give a startled grunt as she was sent flying into a wall. Neptune gasped when she hit the wall, only to quickly regain her bearings when she felt a strong heat near her position. She quickly flew upwards to avoid a swing from Soul Edge, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge the 20 Tendrils. Neptune growled in pain when she felt a Tendril grab her by her right ankle, wrapping around it and forming a tight grip, the flames that composed it licking away at her flesh. The Tendril made a single, harsh tug and dragged her downwards, smacking her into the ground. It raised her back into the air and repeated the process, each slam having more strength than the last.

SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM!

At this point, Neptune was struggling to maintain her consciousness. her sight was blurry and much of her body had been heavily damaged by the pounding that she had just received. She barely managed to cut through the Tendril before it could continue its relentless pounding, flying away from his position. Her head ached terribly from the beating as she groaned and held it in one hand, quickly turning around to face him, had the male not already gotten to her and was swinging Soul Edge at her. Neptune cursed and raised her blade, pumping it with energy to help it endure the pressure behind the much larger sword. The two had a short battle of strength, trying to overpower the other, until Nico's Soul Edge was engulfed in flames of a high temperature, making Neptune gasp in horror as she realised what was about to happen next. "Oh no...!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A large eruption of flames rose from West Wind Valley from Nico's attack, shooting to the skies above, almost trying to burn it to ashes. The fames were hotter than most flames on Gamindustri, reaching UP TO 2000 Degrees Celsius, only half as hot as the sun itself. From the middle of the eruption, Neptune shot out, strafing backwards while trying to get her breathing normal. She was gasping heavily, a trail of blood going down her forehead as well as sporting a diagonal slash across her body. The slash reeked with demonic energy, which was now coursing through her system, making Neptune constantly cringe as it ran rampant through her, tearing away at er from the inside out. 'What... is this...?' she managed to think barely through the pain she was in. It was excruciating, like being melted inside an incinerator, so she wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else.

'Is this... Nicky's energy...? Why is it so goddamn painful?!'

She only barely managed to notice the 30 fiery homing rays launched from within the eruption. "Oh no!" she gasped, quickly pushing through her pain and began the process of flying erratically throughout the airspace, trying to lose the homing rays. However, they kept chasing her, not slowing down for a bit which caused her panic levels to increase tremendously. It was like she was fighting for her very life here, if she didn't do something soon...!

A ray got too close to her behind for her liking, so Neptune swerved around so she flew on her back before slashing down with her sword, cutting through the Ray. 'Well, at least I can cut them...' she thought, panting as she stopped flying away from them. She held her sword through the pain in a basic Kendo stance, closing her eyes and perking her ears. She listened to the air currents, heard the flames of the homing rays as they advanced on her, intending to burn her to a crisp. When they got close to her however, her eyes snapped open as she quickly began slashing about, channelling her energy into her arms for better mobility. She constantly slashed through each homing ray, twisting her body about to face them beforehand as the rays circled around her.

'This is-is bad...! If I keep it like this, I'll...!'

Neptune gritted her teeth, the pain from having to move so much in her current condition almost mind-numbing at this point. Fortunately she got the last ray before she could lose herself to it, which allowed her a short moment of respite as she hunched over, her arms feeling heavier by the second due to lack of strength. 'This energy... it's like a cancer, damaging my body slowly before going for the killing blow...' she thought to herself, trying to regain her breathing. Her eyes then narrowed, and her fist gripped the hilt of her sword with newfound strength as a fiery will too survive roared within her. 'If that's the case, then I'll have to...' she closed her eyes and allowed her power to spread through her body, calling more of it than she ever had before. She had it pump through her form, which caused a purplish black aura to swirl around her along with the pain to lessen, as she felt the energies within her contesting for dominance. '... Purge it!'

Her aura swayed, and that was her only warning before Nico appeared before her, his wings now back to their original forms as he raised Soul Edge for a diagonal slash. Gritting her teeth even more than before, Neptune took some of her power used to purge his demonic energy, and formed a Panel before her. The blade hit the panel hard, attempting to break through and cleave through her flesh. However, the panel held firm as Neptune constantly reinforced it with her power. This also had the added side-effect of raising the pain levels she had to their previous state, albeit slowly. Neptune was really beginning to curse her luck as the protagonist, for the first time ever in this franchise, even!

'Tch... Nicky!'

* * *

Down below on the ground, the three girls that were left behind watched the battle, or more precisely, the one-sided beat down as Nico whirled on Neptune with merciless swings one after another, showing no signs of stopping nor slowing down. "What's going on?!" IF cried as she sat up, her body having been finally treated from the poison though her strength was too low for her to do anything. She was quick to notice how Nico was now attacking Neptune with reckless abandon. She looked to be holding her own, but if that Woman couldn't handle Nico's power then how long would Neptune fare? "Why's Nico attacking Nep, we're on the same side!"

Compa looked as well, and had no idea what was happening. She couldn't bring herself to look away for a single moment as fear and dread warred within her. She felt these for both Neptune and Nico, for something had went wrong, from what she could tell, and now Nico couldn't recognise friend from foe. Why he attacked Neptune first instead of them was anyone's guess, really, but these thoughts mattered little to the Nurse-In-Training. "N-No idea, Iffy!" she answered as best she could, shaking like a leaf. "Ni-Ni doesn't do this!"

"Then explain what I'm looking at right now!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Neptune she could feel her power being depleted quickly. Maintaining this form, she was in plus the effort to keep this panel up while Nico constantly smashed away with it was draining her reserves rapidly. "Nicky, pull yourself together! We're your friends, why are you attacking us?!" she yelled, pain and confusion filling her voice like a bacteria spreading across a piece of used food. However, like the other times, attempting to reason with Nico was proven absolutely useless.

'I was afraid of this.'

Histoire's voice cut in, and Neptune's eyes widened when she heard the voice of the one they were supposed to rescue in her mind, echoing like a distant lover calling out to her partner to tell them that she was having a child. 'H-Histy?!' She mentally shrieked, before wincing as she fell back. The pain had been diminished thankfully, but much energy had been spent doing that. Maintaining the panel was no longer a viable option either as Nico chased after her. The two pulled a constant figure 8 in the air, clashing repeatedly with their weapons before beginning their ascension higher into the skies above.

'I do not have much time. My presence here is anchored by your HDD form, thus the drainage is increased. You have only one shot, Neptune. Strike the centre of his chest where the yellow spot it. It is your only chance to win.' Histoire briefly explained before she vanished from Neptune's mind, her presence which hung over her head like a cloak now gone.

However, her words did not. They lingered in her mind as her eyes glanced over Nico's form while they flew about. She noticed the yellow centre on his chest, and her eyes narrowed at it. She could see it to be glowing fiercely like a raging inferno, constantly pulsating like a living heart inside a being's body. 'Does she mean the core on his chest? Is that what I need to strike to win? In any case, I can't doubt Histy now, not with Nicky like this.' She thought with a determined fire brimming in her eyes. 'Hang on, Nicky! I'll end this!'

Waiting for the right moment, Neptune saw an opening present itself. 'There!' after quickly erecting a panel to block a slash from the rampaging male Spec Ops Agent, the purple haired Sword Maiden slashed his Soul Edge away from her, the male's grip on the demonic weapon loosening enough for her to kick it out of his hand. His words about how overreliance on a weapon would be costly, and just as she predicted the out-of-control Nico quickly slashed at her with his Tail before diving to get his blade, his form coated in his flames to make him look like a giant, humanoid flaming meteor that was bout to crash into the ground and wipe out an and all life on it. However, just as he was about to reach it, he let out a silent gasp when he felt several explosions impact him on his back, stopping him from gripping Soul Edge's hilt. Looking up, he saw the cause to be Neptune as she dove at him with her aura swirling around her like a vortex. "Haaaaaaaaaaaa!" the woman called out a mighty battle cry. She then rammed into him, knocking both him and her to the ground with a mighty crash.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

(Red Sun OST: end)

Their impact caused a large explosion to erupt from the epicentre, forcing IF, Compa and the mystery girl, whom had been watching the fight with both fear at the boy's power, and awe at Neptune's attempt to fight him off. They quickly began coughing though when smoke entered their lungs through the wrong wind pipe, forcing their bodies to try and forcefully eject it from their systems. Compa had her hands over her mouth while coughing as IF swiped her hand in front of her, dispersing the smoke before her as she got her act together. "ACK! Ack! Ugh, damnit, that Nep. She's always gotta be like this crazy." she shouted, although it was more of annoyance than of actual anger towards the transformed preteen.

"B-But Nep-Nep may have done something to stop Ni-Ni." Compa spoke, attempting to try and reassure the brunette Guild Agent. She may not have seen enough of the fighting above them, but she knew that Neptune in HDD form always did things for a reason, and wasn't like her preteen self who acted recklessly and charged ahead.

Grudgingly, IF had to admit that she was right, since she had noticed the same personality traits that the Nurse-IN-Training did. "Alright then, lets go see what Nep has done this time, maybe we can get some freaking answers as to why Nico flipped out on us. I'm pretty sure there was a chapter named after him flipping out moments ago!" IF shouted in frustration. Maybe hanging around Neptune was a bad influence on her, but now IF had just gotten as meta as her and Nico. The poor fourth wall will be shattered beyond redemption by the time this story was done, she predicted.

Just after she said that, the smoke began to clear up, allowing them to see the epicentre where Neptune and Nico had impacted with the ground. By the time it was completely clear, the girls saw that, to their surprise, Neptune's HDD form was now straddling Nico by the waist with her sword stabbed into the ground beside his neck, one hand grasping his wrists and pinning them above his head, while the other was on the core on his chest, gripping the space around it tightly. Various purple energy blades had pinned his wings down to the ground, sticking out like the famous sword in the stone. If this were any other time, this position may have been interpreted deeply, but considering the situation right now, this fact was largely ignored.

"Don't worry, Nicky, I'll stop this!" she called out, swiftly taking her hand off the core and then forming a fist, plunging it into the yellow core-like piece on his chest. Swiftly, the male's body froze, his eyes, which had that same blank stare, shooting open with a shocked expression, the first change in his expression that had happened since his transformation. The fiery wings, which had been about to morph into Tendrils that would circle around the swords, breaking them before proceeding to impale her from above and behind, stopped just seconds before they could complete their transformation. His Soul Edge, whose eye was impaling the ground next to them coincidentally enough, made the indication of being frozen in place just like its wielder.

For a moment, nothing happened. A tense silence covered the area as everyone watched Nico's motionless body with baited breath, waiting for something to happen. They hoped that something would signal that the male wouldn't attack them anymore, since they wouldn't be able to stop him even if they went all out. If they couldn't touch him in human form, then in DPU form they had NO CHANCE.

Then, the Wings fell to the ground, extinguishing themselves as the male's body burst into flames, becoming cocooned for a few moments. When it vanished, it revealed Nico's form, his eyes closed to show he was unconscious, while her fist was touching his chest... but not penetrating it. Neptune didn't notice nor care about it, as she let go of his hands, took out the ground and placed her sword to the side before leaning down and pressing her ear to his chest, to see if there was a heartbeat.

BA-DUMP, BA-DUMP, BA DUMP

To her relief, she could hear his heart beating, meaning that Nico was still alive. Memories came to her during the battle, memories of Nico telling her and the others about his powers, and the risk that comes with using them. Now that she thought about it, Neptune felt a little guilty, not only about having taken him away from the Landmass of Planeptune without giving him the time to train in his abilities, but also distracting him from training them, by agreeing to his demand to train THEM. If she hadn't been so focused on that, as well as their mission to go collect the Key Fragments, this wouldn't have happened. Nico would have learned about his powers and how dangerous they truly were, how to control them, and wouldn't have lost it like he did. It was fortunate that she was able to stop him this time, but what about the future? She was sure the time will come when he'll have to transform again, and at that point what'll happen would be anyone's guess.

"Nep/Nep-Nep!" Looking up, the purple haired Sword maiden gazed upon her two friends IF and Compa as they ran over to her and their unconscious party member. Both girls looked startled and fearful, even the ever-composed brunette. That was how scared she was of what Nico had just done, the fact that he had almost killed one of their own fresh in her mind as she gazed at his unconscious form. it was like she was uncertain if he would just come up and suddenly stab them somehow, but when she saw that he truly was unconscious, the brunette looked upwards at her transformed companion. "What the hell, Nep, what happened just now?!" IF shrieked, looking over the two's forms again. She had no time or patience to notice the compromising position they were in.

Neptune closed her eyes and sighed. She then opened them again before looking at the two. "It is as Nico told us, back in Planeptune. His power relies on control, control he didn't have. Thus, he went on a rampage. I had to stop him from killing himself, for as long as he was like that his power would have devoured him till the person he once was no longer existed." She explained painfully. Now she could see the seriousness of the power he now wielded. Her other form may just swipe this under the rug, but for now that will not happen, not while she's in this form.

She could now TRULY understand why Histoire had said how terrible this power was. When she first transformed, Neptune had been amazed at the sheer power that flowed through her veins. it had felt war, comforting and confidence-building, which was something she revelled in. Seeing what Nico's power did to him if he wasn't careful made her feel ultra lucky, for his power was much more potent and wild than hers, according to her senses. Hell, her senses even told her that Nico hadn't even exhausted a quarter of his power in that fight, meaning that he had not been at full strength. The purple haired sword maiden looked around the battlefield, her eyes gazing at the thoroughly charred section of the dungeon. Trails of smoke rose from several high points, and in the distance she could see more of them, probably were stray homing rays had landed. There were even craters from where she had been slammed into by those fiery Tendrils of his. That was both a blessing and an ominous omen. If Nico could cause that much devastation, what would happen once he reached full power?

The girls both remembered the same thing as Neptune did, and felt their heartbeats quicken at the thoughts of Nico losing himself to the power of the DPU within him. If that was what it was like, then they feared what would happen when he would have to use it again. Not if, WHEN, because there will likely be a time on their journey where Nico would HAVE to use it again.

A groan broke them out of their musings, and drew their attention to the male below Neptune. Nico's eyes scrunched up as he groaned, slowly rising to a sitting position but in a diagonal angle and a hand on his head, the other arm used a support by pushing off the ground. "Ugh, my head… feels like it was boiled alive…" the male uttered, shaking it to get the pain to die down. He then looked up and saw everyone's faces. "Uh… guys, what happened?" he asked them.

The girls looked to each other, debating with their eyes whether to tell him or not, when Neptune decided to do it as she looked back at him. After explaining what happened, Nico groaned again, this time in dismay. "I am so sorry for that…" he mumbled under his breath. "If only I had trained a bit beforehand…"

"No, I am the one who should apologise." Neptune stopped him by interrupting his words. She lifted a finger up and placed it on his lips to silence any response from him. "it was an error on my part to move to another landmass right after you told us about your powers. A grievous error, I might add. So, I must yet ask you this." Her eyes turned from apologetic to stern within seconds, though her guilt was still there. It didn't make him feel any better though. "Please, only use that power as a last resort until you can control it. Could you do that for us, for me?" She asked that last bit under her breath, but Nico heard it, to his confusion. "I may have been able to stop you this time, but who knows what will happen next time."

Nico thought about it, and decided to agree with her demand. While he wished he could train with this power to control it himself. Nico didn't want to worry the woman any further than he already had. Hell, he felt guilt gnawing away at him when he saw the fearful look in Compa's eyes. Nico never wanted to be the cause of such pain, not to her, or the girls. Looking down when he felt something warm against his waist, the male flushed heavily as he finally noticed what Neptune had unknowingly done. "U-um, N-N-N-Neptune, could you by chance g-g-g-get off, please?" he stammered.

Confused by the question, Neptune looked down, following his gaze, before she too began to blush when she realised what he did about their position. However, instead of getting off like he had requested, and secretly pleaded for her to do, Neptune glanced at his eyes and smirked sultrily, her eyes gaining a seductive gleam to them that only an expert seductive temptress would have. "Why Nicky, if I weren't here right now, I wouldn't have noticed, but you wouldn't happen to be… aroused, by chance?" she asked with a tone that matched the nature of her smile.

If it were possible, Nico's face just got redder as he tried to stammer a reply, however nothing would come out his mouth as it repeatedly opened and closed. A girl was on top of him, giving the look that many women give their partners when they are about to rock their world. His mind was still trying to deny that possibility however, resulting in an all-out war within his body.

Unaware of his inner battle, Neptune's smirk only widened when she saw that he didn't answer her, and she leaned in. "Come on, there's just so much that I want to ask you, shouldn't you just… focus on me?" she whispered like a succubus would on her victims in their dreams as she placed her hands on his shoulders. His blushing face was just adorable and it took all her effort not to go full power on him.

Fortunately for Nico, not so much for Neptune, an irritated IF pulled her off with little effort, though that was because an equally irritated Compa was helping her and that her power was running low. "Enough teasing him, Nep. Let the guy breathe." The brunette scolded the purple haired sword maiden. Before she could lose her temper completely with her, IF pointed to the downed Woman, who was watching the display with both embarrassment and confusion. "Back to the subject, don't you have some interrogating to do?"

For a moment, Neptune had no idea what she was talking about, but when she thought on it, it came to her like a sudden spark. "Your right, Iffy! I have to get information on my past!" she exclaimed as she got off Nico, much to his relief, and went over to the white-haired Woman.

'I guess that even in her transformed state, Neptune doesn't completely lose her original personality…' Nico thought to himself, trying to quell the embarrassment inside his heart. Shifting a bit, the male got to his feet, still flustered from what had just happened. He didn't know why Neptune suddenly tried to do that, but damn did she know how to incite reactions like that from a guy. Seriously, whoever she would take as her mate or boyfriend would be uber lucky.

Noticing his state, Compa puffed her cheeks out in jealousy as she stared at him with red cheeks. "Ni-Ni… do you like big-boobies…?" she asked him, breaking the male from his thoughts. Before he could reply though, she threw herself at his right arm, wrapping her arms around it and pulling it into her own chest. "Because mine are big too!"

It wasn't unnatural for someone to call Nico a tomato right now as steam rolled off the top of his head when he felt the breasts of Compa on his arm. His form froze, too tense to do anything as he once again tried to form a response. Sadly, his mind had blue-screened, and would take time to reboot.

"Aw, geez…" IF groaned as she face-palmed herself. "Nep and Compa totally KO'd Nico…" she muttered behind her hand. She then looked down at her chest, before quickly shaking her head at the thoughts running around like toddlers laying in a playground in her head. 'Damnit IF, don't think those thoughts! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts!'

While the three had their antics, Neptune floated over to the whitehead, contemplating on why she did that. 'What has gotten into me? I mean, sure Nicky is handsome and all, but it can't have gone that far, right?' she wondered, masking her confusion behind a face of seriousness. Despite how she looked like she had been in control earlier, even Neptune was stunned at what she had done to the male. She couldn't explain it with words exactly, but when she saw how adorable Nico looked when he was blushing, she didn't-se couldn't help herself. It was like she had lost all sense of self-control and turned into an expert seductive temptress, willing to control the situation to make him do anything she wanted. It didn't even matter that Nico had almost killed her, either, since she knew beforehand what the cause was and that Nico had little control over his actions.

True, he could have waited till another time arrived that was worth testing his powers on, but how was he supposed to know that he would be like that when he transformed? True, Nico had been made aware of the dangers behind it, but still he was one of her companions, one of her party members. Thus, his actions were also her responsibility, she was just as at fault for making him like that as he was. No doubt Nico would feel insanely guilt for what happened as well. Hopefully though, he would be able to push through it, and if he needed help, then Neptune would be there for him. She was the only person in their group that could transform after all.

In the end though, she couldn't focus on it for very long, not with current matters to attend to.'No matter.' She shook her head, pushing those thoughts aside for now. 'I'll deal with that later. For now, I'll focus on the task at hand.'

When she was floating above the downed Woman, Neptune put a hand on her hip and stabbed her sword into the ground beside her. "Now that I have won, tell me what you know about me." She demanded, while inside her head she did admit that Nico did most the work there.

Her words snapped the Woman out of her previous stupor as the realisation that she lost to the purple haired swordstress settled upon her mind once again. "Don't think you won just by downing me!" she spat with venom, glaring up at her opponent, but with her current state it wasn't very effective at intimidating Neptune, making the Woman even angrier. "And it was that guy that transformed who did all the work, you guys were just in the way!"

"I admit that we did outnumber you, and that comment of yours about Nicky doing most the work has merit, but still, a win is a win." Neptune countered calmly, a stark contrast to the fuming woman below her. It was apparent that her face was a light shade of pink, not by embarrassment, but by rage as she glared even harder than before.

She then shook head in fury, denial laced in her words. "No… No…! I won't accept this!" she yelled, and in a burst of power she created a shockwave that knocked Neptune back. It lasted long enough for her to get into a kneeling position and take to the skies, flying off into the direction of the exit to the Dungeon.

"Wait!" Neptune called out, but it was too late.

This action roused the others from their previous antics as they rushed over to her. IF was the first to speak. "Go after her, Nep!" she commanded. The purple haired swordstress nodded, preparing to take to the skies again to chase after her. Unfortunately, things got even worse for her as just when she was about to take off, she was engulfed in a purple light. When it died down, it revealed Neptune had transformed back to her human self.

"Whoa, what?!"

"Nep, what are you doing changing form, now?!" the brunette cried in shock and anger. Shock at the fact that she had changed so suddenly, and anger that she decided to do it now of all times, just when their target for information about her own past was getting away!

However, the girl looked like she could hardly stand. She looked to be incredibly tired, worse than when she was complaining earlier about the slopes and stuff before they got attacked by that monster. "I'm sorry, Iffy, I used up all my juice already, and Nicky was no help either. I'm sooooo tired…" she whined, her body slouching as her arms hung in front of her, dangling like crystals on top of a cave.

IF, however, was having none of it as she grabbed Neptune's hand and began pulling her along. "No time to be tired! Let's go! She's our chance to get info on you!" she shouted like a military instructor, before she looked around and noticed the absence of a certain party member. "Compa, where the hell did Nico get to now?!"

Momentarily startled by the loud question from the brunette Guild Agent, Compa fearfully stuttered an answer. "N-N-Ni-Ni went a-a-a-after Mrs. White sword poison lady while you t-t-t-t-two were talking." she explained, IF nodding as she and the girls began running off after the Spec Ops Agent and to catch the white-haired girl who had all their answers.

* * *

Up ahead of them, Nico had gained significant ground in the chase for answers. He was flying practically, even without wings, through the Dungeon as he pursued her. His mind had recovered finally, from the… embarrassment of that moment he woke up earlier, and was now focused on locating the target. 'Tch, damnit all, why the hell did she have to run like a coward like that?!' he raged mentally. 'She should have just accepted defeat like a real fighter would, defeat sometimes can be more important than victory!'

It was an insult to him that the Woman had just up and left like that when he had gone and transformed to show her what kind of mistake she made by challenging them when they were in a group. True his power had gone out of hand, and he had curb stomped her to the ground, but the point was that she was outmatched and she ran like a coward. That was the kind of people Nico despised, they were nothing more than bullies, and he hated bullies. True the weak are devoured by the strong, it's the law of the jungle, which applies in every battlefield, but only scum would flee a battle and break their word. Nico valued his word, and to see someone just toss it aside like that grinded his gears.

His thoughts however, were halted when his nostrils twitched, a scent reaching them. His eyes widened in sheer horror, no longer angry as the scent took up his thoughts instead. 'Oh no… is that what I think it is?! It's been a while, so I completely forgot! If one of THEM has come here, then that woman, weakened as she is, won't stand a chance!' he thought as he sped up his running to the point where he was a blur. His instincts were running at full capacity, to the point where he had almost forgotten just how powerful they really were. It had been a while since he'd felt them this way, something he'd hoped to never feel again. 'Please, just let me make it there in time…!'

* * *

Further towards the exit of the West Wind Valley Dungeon, the black-haired girl who had been spying on the party as they fought the Hraesvelgr, was walking towards the exit. Or rather, she was limping. One of her feet dragged behind her as she moved on her other foot, which didn't feel too good either. Her entire body burned like a furnace, with numerous wounds over her body as she clutched her right arm with her left. Blood ran down the arm as well, making her situation even worse.

A pained sigh came from her lips. "Lost to Neptune and my Hard Drive Divinity is off now. Oh, what a day…" she mumbled in despair as she whimpered at the pain burning through her system. Hard to believe, but this state was better than the state she was in before. When she changed, it released a pulse of energy to heal some of her wounds, enough for some mobility, and right now the rest of it was focused on healing her body.

It was that sinister energy that boy commanded that was at fault. Whatever it was, it did horrific damage to her body internally. She dreaded the thought of what would have happened if he was able to finish her off.

The girl moaned in pain as she decided to let her body heal a bit before moving again. She leaned against a cliff wall before sliding down to a sitting position, a hand draped across her stomach while her legs bent backwards as she tried to curl into herself. "I can't believe a lost to Neptune… and a stranger on top of that!" she whined like a spoiled baby, gazing down at her thighs. She then winced as there was a spike in the burning in her gut. "Well, it was 4 on 1, so... I bet if it was 1on 1 I would've…."

"Ooooh, now this is a surprise…" Her eyes widened as she realised someone else was here when she heard their voice from close by. Her head almost cracked as it turned in the direction of the voice. 'What?! Why didn't I notice anyone coming?! I must have been damaged heavier than I thought!' she cried in her mind. If she were at full strength she wouldn't be so panicked, but right now she was injured and in a Dungeon. Any surprise encounters in such a setting almost never ended well for the weaker party.

When she looked to the source, the girl saw that the voice came from a middle-aged man who had been standing atop a tall hill, looming over her in a… disturbing manner. His upper half was bare, while he wore a pair of black trousers to cover his neither regions. The girl tried not to look at the upper body of the man because she found it inappropriate, as well as because of embarrassment.

His form was rather… scrawny, for lack of a better term, like he hadn't eaten for a while or something along those lines. There was some point where she could see his veins. Even so, there was still some muscle on the guy, so it looked like he did get some exercise. But that wasn't what drew her attention. That achievement belonged to the smile that the man sported.

Usually smiles brought people happiness, ease, relief. A Smile was something that indicated that the person's attitude was positive. It was something done a lot in society, to the point where it was one of the basic expressions the human face could make. In a sense, she was glad that Goddesses were moulded to appear human, so they could act and live human lives. Just imagine how difficult it would have been otherwise? Like if they had animal parts instead of human ones? They would be considered abominations!

This guy's smile… didn't promote anything like that.

His smile inspired negativity to her. It looked creepy, disturbing even, to her. It made chills go up her spine, which only hurt her even more thanks to the strange energy running rampant through her body now. Worse. Was that it seemed to hide something underneath it yet unseen, like it wasn't a true smile. At least, one that was supposed to be honest. This one scared her, though she did her best not to show it.

"Wh-who are you?! What are you doing here?!" the girl asked him, no commanded though she cursed herself for stuttering at the beginning. Not like she could have helped it, this guy caught her while her pants were down, figuratively. She had the right to be on guard here!

Though, it didn't seem to bother him as the man hopped off the hill and landed in a crouch… the fall being from 13 feet in the air. That made the girl's eyes bulge to the point where they nearly burst out their sockets. How the hell could a human survive a jump like that without losing a few bones? Something was wrong here, she could just feel it. Her instincts were screaming at her to run and hide so that this guy wouldn't find her, but it wasn't like she could move right now. That thought scared her most of all: her ability to act.

Losing the ability to act was a terrible thing. It meant that one's own fate could no longer be handled by them, it was no longer in their hands, but in the hands of lady luck. And like fate herself, lady luck can be a divine goddess or a cruel mistress, completely unpredictable and acting out on whims alone. That was what made her so scary yet beautiful at the same time. Today seemed like she would be the latter if the girl's instincts were to be believed. The girl didn't doubt she'd deserve it after what she has done, and not just what she did to Neptune either.

The man chuckled as he made his way over to her, either oblivious or uncaring about how she tried to shuffle away from him. "I was just here taking a stroll. Some of my usual meals are unavailable for some strange reason right now, so I'm pretty hungry." The way he said hungry disturbed her instincts even more, increasing te intensity of the girl's chills. Her heart pounded heavily against her ribcage, threatening to burst out her chest as her breathing grew increasingly hangered. "Much to my joy however…"

In an instant, everything made sense, why her heart was pounding, why this man seemed so disturbing and why her instincts told her to run like the Goddesses were on her heels. The man was instantly in front of her, hands around her wrists and pinning them to the cliff wall behind her. She gritted her teeth when the burning intensified from the sudden movement, the pain her arms' pain receptors reported to her doubling from the grip this man had. She tried to break free, but that ended in failure. The man's grip, despite his frame, was exceedingly powerful. 'I-Impossible… has my power lowered to such a level…?!'

The man grinned down at her, and if she thought his smile was creepy, his grin made it way worse. Especially when he had revealed his teeth. There were several red bits sticking out, bits that she couldn't make out if they were meat pieces or something else, but the stench they gave off made her want to throw up. What stopped her from upchucking the contents of her breakfast was the man's whole face, how it took on a disturbing, borderline madness-inducing expression with one eye narrowed and the other widening with a gaze of pure psychotic intent. His eyes were also a major point, for they were no longer the black orbs that had been gazing at her, no leering at her. They were a crimson red with a black sclera red veins spreading across the sides of his head.

"YOU ARRIVED, MY LOVELY."

Swiftly, the man leaned forward and snapped his jaw shut. The thing he snapped it shut on? The girl's arm. She screamed out in pain, feeling the teeth dig into her damaged shoulder with more blood oozing from the attack. She felt something slimy licking away at it, which made her eyes widen when she realised that it was his tongue. She was literally getting tongued by this man, and not in THAT kind of way.

It lasted for a short time, thank the Goddesses, but it didn't make it any less painful. She gasped as the man tore his head back, pulling a decently sized chunk of her shoulder out within his jaws. He reared his head towards the heavens and gulped, swallowing what he had ate whole in one move. Her wound burned, tears filling the bottom half of her eyes as she closed them to keep the tears in. Tears of pain and despair mixed together, forming a pair of ugly rivers that ran down both slopes that were her cheeks.

On the other hand, her assaulter was faring better. The man released a low, euphoric sigh, his breath foul with his recent intake of flesh. "Ahhh, SO DELICIOUS! A DELIGHT! DELIGHTFUL, MY LOVELY!" He exclaimed, laughing like a maniac before standing up and yanking her to her feet. With skill, he manoeuvred her so he was carrying her on his back like a sack of potatoes. The thought of food made the image of the man swallowing her… flesh, manifest in her mind and she had to do what she could not to barf.

"What are you doing?! Unhand me this instant, you brute!" she cried out, using what little strength she had left to pummel his back with her fists. Though this did little else but annoy him, as he grabbed her by the sides and slammed her against the ground by the back of the head. She gasped as a sharp wave of pain assaulted her senses and she began to see the edges of her vision turn black, sending a new wave of pain through her system. 'N-No… not like this, I can't let this happen… but still… my body feels really weak…'

Satisfied with his handiwork, the man lifted her up onto his shoulders once again and began walking off to wherever. The girl's vision began to darken, but she could still make out the image of tools tucked within his backside pockets, which filled her with dread at what this psycho had in store for her. The last thing she saw however… was a black blur racing towards them with speeds that would make the fastest bullets jealous.

* * *

By the time she regained consciousness, the girl gasped and her eyes shot open, wide and filled with panic. She expected to be in some creepy room with that man looming over her with some of those tools she saw in hand, ready to do all sorts of unspeakable things to her.

However, much to her relief that was not where she found herself at. Instead, she was back in the West Wind Valley Dungeon, leaning against the cliff that she had been at before. Her eyes blinked, confusion filling her crimson orbs at the… peculiar situation she found herself in. "What… was that…? A nightmare…?" she wondered, blinking her eyes several times. She groaned as she attempted to rise to her feet, which she suspiciously found easier to do than before. "But, it felt so real… I could have been delirious I suppose, since I was losing a lot of blood… wait!"

An idea struck her, and she decided to check for any injury on her arm, or anything at all to indicate her receiving of that bite from that psycho. However, when she looked down at her shoulder, the girl's confusion increased when she saw that her shoulder didn't seem to be as damaged as before, no, it was still damaged just without the hole or bite marks in it. 'what…? Was it really just a dream…?'

Slowly, she took a few strides, noticing that, while lacking full mobility, her limping leg had healed significantly. If she were dreaming while she lost blood then her remaining power reserves would have worked double time in healing her. That thought slowly became more and more appealing as seconds passed, and a relieved sigh escaped her lips. "Whew, I guess it was… Jesus though, that was scary…" she muttered, before chuckling without mirth. "I guess that I HAVE been overworking myself late, some hallucinations and blood loss would definitely screw me over."

WHAM! Her musings were interrupted when something came flying from behind and barrelled into her, wrapping a pair of arms around her chest with an insanely strong grip. "Gotchya!" a feminine voice cried out in victory. It sounded like someone who had run a marathon and had finally reached the end of the track.

However, that was not important to her right now. "Waaaaaaaah?!" a shrill scream ripped from her throat in shock, surprise and embarrassment. She was shocked at the sudden gesture, and that there was a gesture at all, surprised that she had not gotten any indication of someone being there in the first place, and embarrassment for her reaction. At least it didn't seem like it was in her dream, a part of her figured.

"Gotta catch 'em all!"

"Wh-What?! Like, wait! What?! Why?!"

"I'm not letting you go until you spill everything you've got." The speaker said with confidence. The speaker, who was a certain purple haired Amnesiac, had her head shot up and when she saw into the girl's eyes, expecting the teal eyed ones of the one she was hunting, she found that it was NOT who she was intended to catch. "Huh? Wait… I've got the wrong person!"

The girl noticed that Neptune's grip had loosened and she quickly shook herself out of it, taking a few steps back to calm her racing heart as panic spread through her system. "Wh-Why are you here?!" she cried while raising a hand and pointing it accusingly at the preteen girl.

Said preteen nervously laughed as she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Ummm, I'm looking for a girl… did you see anyone come by? She's black, shiny and flying. I figured she'd be really easy to spot." she replied anxiously. The fact that she had gotten the wrong person by accident was still fresh on her mind so she didn't notice anything else, like the girl's injured state. Let nobody say that, in her human form, Neptune had much skill in observation. She should really get to that, huh?

"Hey, I heard that Author! Activate mute!"

You can silence me, but you can't silence the tru-

BLEEP!

"The description reminds me of an insect pest…" the girl muttered under her breath, feeling insulted for her comments, while also ignoring the meta comment Neptune had made towards whoever. The urge to hit her in the face for that remark was strong, but the girl held it off. One, she was too weak to last another round. Two: she had just woken up from a horrid dream so she was still a little shaken. Three: it didn't seem that Neptune had realised who she was yet so hitting her would only rouse more suspicion on her end.

Remembering that Neptune had asked her a question from the curious yet impatient expression on her face, the girl pointed in the direction of the exit. "Well, there was someone going down that direction. Like, really fast." She explained with a hint of pride in her tone.

Though it went unnoticed by Neptune as she sighed in dismay and defeat. "Oh shucks." She groaned, kicking the dust away from her feet. "She was my important hint and all…" Neptune bemoaned, before shuddering. "Iffy and Nicky are so not going to like hearing she got away…" While the girl fretted over the possible retribution that the two Guild Agents in her party would deliver onto her, the girl remained silent, watching her closely and seeing how Neptune was lost in her own little world. She had this… perplexed expression on her face as he witnessed this spectacle, something that someone like her was not used to.

Soon enough however, Neptune came out of her delusions when she finally noticed how the blackette was looking at her with a face that asked, 'are you some sort of crazy person?'. If she had asked that, Neptune would have replied, 'just ask the developers', and that would have made her sound crazy. "Whoops. Sorry, just talking to myself there." She apologised.

It was then that the question she should have asked popped into her head. "By the way, why are you alone here?" she questioned, before looking her up and down and noticing that the girl was not in the best of shape. She did a double take in response to this. "Hey… your all scraped up!" Neptune exclaimed while pointing at her just like the blackette had done to her. Said blackette's response was a simple one. "Huh?"

"Yikes… you're really badly hurt." Neptune said with shock, fear and concern as she noticed all the injuries the girl she had bumped into had. She felt guilt shoot up her spine, if she had accidentally done all that… another possible idea hit her, one she was much more comfortable with. "I know! You were attacked by a monster! I'm here now, so no worries now." She said in a comforting manner, trying to 'cheer up' the blackette.

The purplette thought she heard the girl mumble under her breath. "Hmm? Did you say something?" Neptune asked, thinking she had heard something, but soon shook it off as it wasn't that important. "Anyhow, your wounds look bad, but you okay?" The blackette looked herself over, before turning her head to the side. She then flicked one of her ponytails, both of which thankfully being untouched by the chaos. "Oh, it's only a bunch of scratches. Nothing to bawl over." She said humbly, trying to downplay the injuries. 'The one I'm concerned with was that energy your FRIEND used…'

Still, the purplette looked unconvinced as she looked her up and down. "But it isn't good to assume your fine without a professional opinion." She protested. Neptune wanted the girl to be sure she was fine, but without outside help that wouldn't be a given. A light bulb went off figuratively in her mind. "I know! My friend is an expert in medicine, so let's have her check you!"

"What? Wait, um. No, really, it isn't a big deal…" the blackette waved her hands in front of her, trying to deny the validity that was a professional check-up. She didn't need something like that when her energy was already healing her wounds, and it was her stubborn nature also at work.

However, Neptune was not having it. "Oh, don't worry! We won't charge you! No strings attached, trust me." The purplette pressed on with her ever-so-dorky smile. Ignoring the exclamation of 'That's not the point!' made by the blackette, Neptune spun around and made a call while clapping her hands and bending her knees. "Compa-! Where are you, Compa-! Here Compa, come here!"

The blackette's eyes turned to a deadpan at the sight of Neptune's antics. Right now, she was too tired to note that she hadn't yet sensed how weak she was, which was a reliever on her end. She didn't think that her plan would work though, and was quick to voice her opinion. "I don't think calling as if calling for a dog will work..."

However, that proved to be the opposite case, when Compa emerged from behind a rock. "Did you call, Nep-Nep?" she asked, with Neptune and Nico, whom the girl flinched at, emerged with her.

"You're kidding me…" Seeing her surprise, Neptune hmphed, hands on her hips and chest puffed out. "Surprised? I am, after all the heroine, I have 108 skill styles, y'know!" she boasted. However, like usual, IF was quick on the draw to call out Neptune on her antics. She groaned and had her face meet with her palm once again. 'I bet Nico and my hands will get along well… wait, what?' the woman thought, shaking off some… unsettling thoughts before she looked back at them. "Stop lying, Nep. We just caught up to you right when you were yelling." She explained to them all, clarifying the situation.

'An amazing sense of timing if I do say so myself…' Nico thought as he looked the blackette over, his eyes landing on her shoulder… the same one that got bitten. His eyes narrowed as something briefly passed through his eyes, although nobody noticed it because it was gone just as fast as it came. His thoughts continued down onto the morbid, ominous route they had travelled. 'Who knows what would have become of this girl… if the timing was any worse…'


	19. Chapter 19 - Return to Lastation

**Chapter 19 - Return to Lastation**

The situation before them was one of comedy, but it didn't last for very long, as there were more important to attend to. Compa looked over to Neptune when she remembered that the preteen had been calling her name for a reason she didn't know yet. "By the way, do you need anything, Nep-Nep?" Compa asked her.

Realising the same thing, Nico looked over to the blackette again, this time at her injured state. 'Hmm… those wounds seem suspicious… and why do I detect demonic energy within her?' the male wondered, and after a few seconds something was sparked in his mind and his eyes widened briefly by a slight margin. 'Oh shit, if she's who I think she is… then it also gives my final piece as to who Neptune is as well!' he realised, remembering what he had thought when they were at Planeptune's Basilicom. While he frowned at the thought of that pervy worker, it was also the place where he had formed the 80% complete theory of who Neptune truly was.

Now, it was practically 100%.

Unaware of his thoughts, Neptune nodded over at her friend. "Yeah, she…" she began, pointing at the blackette and was about to say her name… when she realised that she didn't even know it. an embarrassed look crossed onto her face as she bopped herself on the head for the blunder. "Um, oh, right. I haven't gotten your name yet." she then patted herself on the chest. "I'm Neptune." The hand she put on her chest moved to the rest of the party, with Nico last. "She's Compa, that is Iffy, and the black wearing stud muffin there is Nicky." Neptune ended, smirking with her 'troll face' on as she remembered what she did to him in HDD form earlier.

Nico blushed as well, obviously catching on to what the purple haired amnesiac was thinking. "It's Nico, not stud muffin, Neptune!" he shouted, trying to not get any more embarrassed at the memory than he already was. Goddamnit, he was acting stupid! He wasn't Y##ki R#t# for goddesses' sake! He didn't have that kind of luck, did he?!

Note to self: Commit seppuku if it was proven that his luck was like that guy's.

IF rolled her eyes at the teasing that Neptune was doing. If her landing on him in HDD form was enough to get him, then the guy would have a hard time with her from now on. Especially when Neptune transformed again. "And that's IF. Nice to meet you." She said after rolling her eyes. And once again the brat hadn't introduced her right, this was why she did it when they were with Chian in the beginning.

Turning over to the blackette, Neptune finally inquired as to the name that she had. "What's your name?"

The blackette mumbled a little something under her breath while looking away from the preteen. "…re."

"What?"

Now the blackette looked a tad more pissed as she glared heatedly at Neptune, though her red blush didn't seem to help the intimidating factor. in fact, it made her look cuter in their opinions. "Noire."

A glint shone in Neptune's eyes that only the party recognised as when she was going to try to make a joke that obviously wouldn't be funny. Nico groaned as he got himself ready for what the preteen was going to do. 'This is so not my day…'

"Noire?" Neptune repeated as she tested the name on her tongue, pronouncing the 're' bit with more stress than the rest of her name. She hummed thoughtfully, an index finger on her chin as her eyes looked upwards. Soon she waved her hand before letting it drop as she continued with her gaze directed back at the girl known as 'Noire'. "Fancy name, I bet you don't have any friends and stuff." She said with an innocent, bright smile with a sunny background behind her.

"Wha-?!"

BONK!

"Owwie!"

Nico glared at the preteen's form which was now in the fatal position, cradling her head which had a pulsating lump on top of it. his fist was steaming, the culprit behind the act that resulted in Neptune's cry as it shook in anger, tick marks on Nico's hand and around his forehead while his eyes were an angry white. "Neptune, why would you say something like that?! That's not what you say to someone when you meet them the first time!" he yelled.

"But I was just trying to be funny here!"

"What part of that was being funny?!"

The others watched as a Chibi Neptune holding her head with the bump on it, crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks with X's for eyes as she was scolded by the chibi Nico who had multiple tick marks around his head, said facial expressions still apparent. They could only sweat drop as the blackette or Noire had to speak on what she was seeing. "Is this… a common thing, between you guys?" she asked them unsurely as she turned her head to face the other two girls. While her anger at Neptune was there, it seemed that guy... she let out an involuntary shudder at the sight of him, was somewhat of a caretaker for her antics. It was... somewhat relieving and ye somewhat concerning at the same time. Seriously, considering what kind of power he had in his possession...

Compa nodded, smiling as she interpreted the sight in her usual manner. "Nep-Nep and Ni-Ni are such close friends. Ni-Ni usually scolds her when she is doing something silly, so we're used to this."

IF nodded her head in agreement, crossing her arms under her chest. "You can say that again. He worries about her a lot, hence what he's doing… although right now I think there's a grudge somewhere in there…" she said, before muttering the last part to herself when Nico produced a folded fan out of nowhere and whacked Neptune over the head when she said something stupid that they didn't hear. She thought Nico was maybe enjoying giving Neptune the torment. "Nep does need to learn the "when" in being funny, though." She then turned away from the spectacle towards the Nurse-In-Training. "Compa, will you?"

Already knowing what she was asking, Compa summoned from her Inventory her medical kit. Her eyes were positively glowing with the chance to use it again as she hopped up and down from one foot to the other. "All righty, leave it to me!" she exclaimed joyfully as she sat the black-haired girl, who had given up on resisting at this point, before beginning to treat her wounds.

Neptune, noticing this, escaped Nico's lecture and glared over at IF. "Hey! Iffy! You took my line!" she whined in disappointment, much to the brunette's irritation. She was going to say that when Nico was done with his lecture, but IF stole it from her!

Said girl released a tired groan, but when she was about to say something, a looming shadow behind her made IF pause. A small, slightly evil and sadistic, smirk formed on her lips as she wordlessly pointed behind her. Neptune paled when she felt the KI, before Nico grabbed her by the shoulder. His grip was as strong as solid steel, with Neptune shaking like a leaf as she silently pleaded with him for mercy, which was not given as he went and pulled her back into his 'lecture from hell'. While that was happening, IF shook her head in amusement, part of her cheering at the girl's plight. "Leave it to you, and we'll never get things done…" she commented though nobody heard her since they were focused on their own things.

* * *

After treating Noire's injuries, although she didn't say how she was still hurting internally thanks to the energy Nico used still running wild within her, and IF carefully watching for how many bandages Compa used on the request of the remaining Planeptune natives, everyone was back into the group discussion. "Here you go! All patched up." Compa cheered as she presented the treatment of the wounds Noire's body had sustained. "I just cleaned the cuts and bandaged them." She said. It didn't seem that she had done anything about the internal damage though, probably because that would heal itself in time.

Nevertheless, Noire was indeed thankful for the help. Since her outside injuries were treated, she could feel her power focusing more on her internal damage done by that foul energy. Remnants of it still lingered, but most of it was dispelled by her own energy. "Thank you, this helps a lot." She thanked her truthfully. She tried to think of who she was from the intro Neptune did, and it came to her a second later. "Ah… was that, Compa? Are you… Neptune's friend?"

The Nurse-In-Training nodded happily with her bright smile on full blast. "Yes. We've been best friends since Ni-Ni and I fund her speared to the ground!" she cheerfully responded, causing a sweat drop to form on Nico's forehead as he remembered that time. Plus, with how Neptune unconsciously acted back then… perhaps he should have expected that flirty behaviour, based off those actions.

"That's not even the half of it…" he remarked carefully. He had long since finished his lecture from hell and was now standing with the others, feeling much better than he had in a long time. Perhaps Neptune's antics had gotten him gradually more stressed each time she did them. Nonetheless, the male felt better, plus he got Neptune back for her previous teasing's, both in human and HDD!

IF then went and got things off track when she realised there was one detail that hadn't been considered yet, one that Neptune had already asked but didn't receive an answer. "Speaking of… Noire, what were you doing in this dangerous place?" she asked the girl, who tensed up at the question.

"And, all scratched up!" Compa added with an expression of concern and a stern tone to match the graveness of the situation.

The girl remained silent, trying to come up with a believable answer without revealing the truth. She couldn't tell them that yet, they would figure out things she didn't want them to. Though if she didn't hurry up and think of something to say then they would become increasingly suspicious, and eventually she would blow her cover! 'This is so not my day!' she screamed in her mind.

"Something's fishy here…" IF frowned as she waited for an answer with a 'you better answer or die' look on her face. She could tell Nico was thinking similar thoughts if his face was anything to go by.

Knowing that her time was short, the girl tried to form a response, however her brain was blank on what to say. "Well, um…" her mouth moved to formulate a response, but like previously mentioned her mind couldn't think of a proper excuse without sounding like a complete total idiot. Her pride was also a factor, as was the rising panic building in her chest as seconds passed.

'Hmmm, she's not formulating a response…' Nico thought to himself while watching Noire's reactions. 'Well, this all but confirms it. This kind of behaviour means that she has something to hide. Something she doesn't want us to know. Add in the wounds and the fact that MY Demonic energy was inside and it's all but confirmed who she is. Now, the only thing left to find out was her motives, though I can pretty much guess what they were with the pieces that have been put in place.' he mused mentally.

That was when Neptune went and made things… difficult, but hey, who would she be if she didn't, right? "What? Then… you're…" it looked like Neptune of all people was about to call Noire out on her identity! Nico would have felt proud of the girl… "a fellow amnesiac?!" if she didn't indirectly offer the girl a way out of her situation.

'#SIGH# Neptune… you just don't get it, do you? Well, you're not the brightest tool in the shed, I guess…' Nico groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. If this girl was who he suspected she was, he wondered how Planeptune had survived so long.

"Huh?" Noire blinked for a moment, but that lasted only a second before she latched onto the escape route that Neptune, bless her oblivious soul, had provided for her. "Oh, oh yes! That's right amnesia! I can't remember a single thing! It must have happened when I was attacked." she quickly hurried, laughing awkwardly.

Both Nico and IF gave her dull stares, as if they would buy into that bullshit. "Way to make it real there…" they both muttered under their breath. Nico wasn't fooled in the least, and judging by the gaze that IF gave the blackette, she wasn't buying it either. Were they the sole members of this party who were sane? Well, IF was probably of the sanest mind when compared to him, with what he does sometimes.

"Uh oh…" Compa moaned with dismay, concern in her eyes as she easily bought the obvious lie fed to them like a sponge soaking up water. "Then how can we get her back home?" she asked the rest of them.

Neptune nodded in agreement, standing like a wise sage while she spoke, "I know how you feel, Noire. It must be harsh without your memory." She said, recalling the difficulties that she had to deal with herself. True she had her friends Nico and Compa when she was found with Amnesia, but this girl didn't seem to have anyone, which earned her sympathies.

"Wait, we're believing her…?" the brunette exclaimed. She saw the two girls turn to her and nod, as if it were the most instinctual thing to do. Now it was IF's turn to pinch the bridge of her nose. 'How did Nico last so long with these idiots?' she asked herself. How many times had she asked herself that question, also? She would need some aspirin for the headaches these two idiots cause.

Ignoring the brunette, Neptune bounded over to Noire, stopping right before her so their faces were inches apart. Noire blinked before pushing herself away, but couldn't get far when her hands were grasped and held tightly within the preteen's own. "I know! I'll help you! Like, I've been without my memory longer than you." She said, eyes full of sympathy that was not necessary at this point. But hey, they were buying the bold-faced lie that Noire was an amnesiac, so hey.

"Plus," the preteen then shifted one of her hands away from the pair of hands she was holding and pointed at Nico, who raised a brow at the gesture. "Nicky here is also an Amnesiac, he can help too!" she proclaimed, looking at him with a wide, dopey smile that would melt the hearts of many. "Isn't right, Nicky?"

The male Spec Ops Agent furrowed his brow in mild irritation as he folded his arms over his chest. "While I know your happy, Neptune, I'd like it if you didn't broadcast our… condition nationwide." He stated with a low growl, before he forced himself to calm down. He would let her have this moment, because it would be rare for Neptune to find one person with amnesia like her, but 2 would be like finding a legendary item by just walking about.

Said black haired 'amnesiac' looked like she was having trouble coming to terms on what Neptune was talking about, but she did say something with an awkward manner. "I… guess that helps." She managed to say in the face of how energetic the preteen was being. Though, the fact that their male party member had amnesia just like Neptune had was news to her. She would look into that when she had the chance, as it seemed to be a personal matter for him.

Compa then brought the conversation forwards by asking the next topic question. "So, what should we do with Noire? How can we help get her home?" she looked around at them, seeking an answer to this admittingly good question.

"Well…" IF began, crossing her arms and proceeding to think of a plan. An idea came to her, one she shared with the rest of the party. "Why not take her to the Basilicom? They should keep her safe in custody."

His head sharply turned to her so fast that it almost snapped off. Nico couldn't believe what the brunette had just said, if he had heard her correctly. "IF, that is a stupid idea." He started bluntly, idly making note that Noire had tensed when they mentioned the Basilicom as a possible option. "Remember the treatment that we got? I'm pretty sure that those assholes wouldn't think twice about doing something nasty to Noire here. And nobody would come to her defence since the Basilicom holds all the power."

Noire glanced at the male member of the party. When she saw him first, she had thought he was a decent person, at least. He helped her by confirming that there were no goons from the Basilicom who had caught wind of her activities, and when she saw him transform her opinion of him decreased to that of a brute. A silent brute that was willing to torch her to ashes with his grotesque sword. Seeing him now however, made her regain some of the respect for him that she lost. It seemed that whatever happened back there was not something he intended, no it seemed more like an accident or an unforeseen consequence. Perhaps she could find out what that power was some time? It would be important for the future if she were to face Neptune again.

"Not over there!" Compa shook her head vehemently as she agreed with her childhood friend. "Ni-Ni has a point. Those goons wouldn't know how to handle a girl right!" she declared with a passion. IF momentarily got taken aback by how fierce those two shot down her idea. Although now that she thought about it, her idea did seem kind of stupid. It also wasn't a good idea to bring someone like Nico there, whose instincts would goad him into acting out like he did before.

Another idea came, this one from Neptune's mouth instead. "I know!" she exclaimed after thinking for a moment and having the idea come to her in a flash. She then grasped Noire's arm and brought it to her chest like she was dragging a toy the size of a human around a toy store. "Why not just have her tag along with us until her memory returns.

Caught off guard by the gesture that the preteen made, Noire briefly failed to register what she had said. Though, she couldn't help but sigh in relief. 'Th-That was close… if they took me back, my cover would be blown, and I would look bad, too. I better just do what Neptune says and tag alon…' before she could finish the thought, something clicked in her mind as it fully registered what the preteen said. A cry off surprise tore from her lips as she broke free of Neptune's hold, some of her strength having returned. "Wha-?! Tag along?! As in, together?!" she cried out in shock, her face flustered.

Seeing her reaction, Neptune grew concerned as she feared she might have overstepped her boundaries… again, regarding her antics. "You don't like it?" she asked sadly. "But, we are memory loss buddies, so let's stick together!"

"Well, I guess it's better than the alternative." Nico reluctantly admitted to the idea. It was the best one they had aside from taking her back to the Basilicom, something that he would venomously refuse to do unless no other option was available. After all, what happened the last time was still fresh in his mind. 'Also, it'd make us look like scumbags for dragging her to that place with the way it was right now, plus if Noire remains away, I can talk to her privately about my theories, see how she reacts.' He thought after saying his peace.

Compa beamed happily, she could support the idea of Noire travelling with them. The more the merrier, as her grandfather would say! "Yes. It's safer than being at the Basilicom. It's fun with more friends, too!"

Noire stammered as she tried to form a reply. While she wasn't opposed to the idea, well, she was slightly since it meant being close to someone she detested, but the offer had caught her unawares. It wasn't often that someone would show such charity. "Um, ah, it's not like I don't like it, but... Ah, I was just… surprised." She finally managed to say without sounding like a complete idiot.

Neptune's previous sadness disappeared into the winds at the blackette's response. She felt happiness course through her being that she got to travel with yet another amnesiac buddy! "I'll take it you don't mind, then! Again, nice to meet you, Noire!" With the addition of Noire, Nico and the others returned to Lastation.

Throughout the journey, Nico was occasionally teased by Neptune for his reactions to her body. she would do it in either her human or HDD forms, amusement shining in her eyes whenever Nico would get embarrassed around her. During those times Compa would glare in jealousy, sometimes she would stop Neptune whenever she went too far, which made her teasing manageable in Nico's eyes. Noire and IF remained out of it though, not wanting to get into that can of worms.

Meanwhile, Nico would think to himself, 'why me?'

* * *

When they reached the capital of Lastation, the party walked through the streets to Chian's factory/Café, slowly to give Noire the chance to look around at the scenery. Since she had 'amnesia' as she claimed, Noire seeing this should spark some memories for her. At least, that was the plan.

The silence was then broken when Neptune, who had somehow climbed onto a lamppost, stood tall with her arms spread out as if waiting for an embrace from the city itself, before she intake a massive amount of air. She then shouted at the top of her lungs. "Lastation, I'm home!"

"Nep, what are you doing up there?!" IF yelled up towards her, her hands around her mouth as she called up to the preteen. Neptune laughed uproariously as she hopped down, doing several flips in the air and landing in a kneeling position. With a quick cheer to herself, she looked up and saw everyone looking at her dully. "You just tried to copy Nico's entrance, didn't you?" the brunette asked rhetorically while shaking her head, as did Nico himself considering how bad that looked. "And one more thing. Could you quit with that creepy smile of yours?"

A laugh came from the preteen amnesiac as she walked up to them again. "Well, I felt something shining on me. Like, I felt I was back "home."" She explained, although it proved to make them even more confused. Neptune's attitude turned more energetic as stars danced across her eyes. "But didn't you think Nicky's entrance was way awesome! I wanna be just like that." She commented, remembering how Nico came to them in the West Wind Valley Dungeon.

Turning from the party to Noire, who had stood back while they did their usual antics, Neptune's next question was aimed at her. "Noire? Do you remember anything? Does this place spark a light in you?" she asked while placing her hands behind her back and leaning forwards slightly.

Glancing around for a bit, Noire's gaze fell upon Neptune's as she shook her head no. "No, nothing at all." She said carelessly… a bit too carelessly but only Nico and IF noticed.

Neptune pouted in dismay at this, still wrapped in the idea of Noire being an amnesiac like her. "This place was close to the dungeon, so I figured you were from here…" she whined as she voiced here complaints about her idea being wrong, again. Though this time, it had a sense of logic to it. Since Noire's clothes reminded them of Lastation's designs, it only made sense for her to be from somewhere with those designs. And the Capital was the closest spot to the Dungeon with the smaller cities and villages dotted too far from the Dungeon's entrance to make them viable candidates.

Noire glanced to the others, before her gaze fell back on Neptune after lingering on Nico for a moment longer than the rest. "You said you lost your memory, but are you okay?" she asked her. She was gesturing not just her memories, but also how she felt about being amnesiac, questioning her desire to regain them. She could tell from Nico's attitude that he cared deeply about his lost memories, and wanted to regain them as fast as possible. There was a drive to him that accompanied that, and there was the attitude he displayed when Neptune told her about his amnesia, how he treated it as something deeply personal.

On the other hand, Neptune was none of that. She didn't look like she cared at all, just went with the flow and hoped everything worked out in the end. Her cheerful, happy-go-lucky personality didn't seem affected by her lack of memories one bit, which made her wonder if she even cared about her memories like Nico did.

Her answer came when Neptune laughed, though it wasn't her usual laughs. This one was filled with bitter mirth, her eyes closed as an awkward bead of sweat rolled down the side of her forehead. "Heh, well, not that great, really." She admitted, scratching the side of her chin as she tried to put on a fake smile.

A smile that the others saw through though.

'I guess even Neptune's affected by her memory loss. When she normally acts all funny ad goofy, it hides away that deep down, she does have feelings just like everyone else…' Nico thought with a solemn gaze in his eyes. He felt a bit bad by wondering if she even cared, not seeing past the façade Neptune put up. No, it wasn't a façade per say, it did seem that Neptune was naturally like a 14-year-old kid, but there was lurking darkness inside her mind, darkness she pushed aside to be funny and break the ice.

Ice that was broken once again without hope of ever being repaired by her next sentence. "I know!" her solemn gaze vanished and her usual cheeriness returned to her face. It was like she had never lost her happy face for a second. "Let's bang our heads! I'll try it on a pillow and you try a wall!"

If one could hear it, they would swear they heard a Disk being played by a DJ suddenly scratch to a stop after Neptune cheerfully said those words. A small silence erupted between them, before the Noire bomb exploded. "Wha-?! Why do I have to do that?!" she shrieked with an angry red hue on her cheeks as she stomped on the ground and thrusted her arms downwards. Then, another realisation crossed into her mind as she asked another question with an even louder volume. "Wait, why the pillow for you?!"

Another laugh came from the purplette as she tried to explain her reasoning sheepishly. "See, I'm really delicate," she began, hugging herself as if to further pronounce her point. She then pointed a finger towards the blackette, "and you seem hard-headed, so I figured…"

Now Noire's anger meter had skyrocketed, even more than when gamers rage quitted as her face lit up like a flame. She was grinding her teeth like a paper shredder, sparks flying from the friction. "Figured what?!" she shrieked, before she noticed a pile of pillows nearby. A dark smile formed on her lips as she didn't question the reasoning why a pile of pillows was just conveniently lying on the street. Grabbing some from the pile, Noire turned to face the object of her ire. "Oh, here, let me cover your face with a pillow instead." She suggested with a sickly-sweet smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Neptune's face began to lose colour as Noire advanced, holding the pillows in her hands with an ominous aura around her, giggling like a crazy person all the while. "Ah?!" she cried while stepping back every time Noire stepped forwards, looking like a cornered mouse. "Oh, come now Noire. I'm just joking. Your eyes… they're scary…"

Unfortunately for her, every plea passed through one of Noire's ears and out the other, completely ignored as she began pacing even quicker. "So, stripes or plain?" she asked with her smile becoming increasingly frightening. "I'll at least let you choose your demise… design." She corrected herself, though she shouldn't have bothered.

"W-We're not simulating a murder scene here! Help me, Iffy, Nicky, Compa!"

The three-said people stayed out of this one, watching Noire try to choke Neptune to death with a set of pillows, running after Neptune when she began to hightail it away from her wrath. Compa gave an innocent smile as she saw the spectacle. "Oh, Nep-Nep is already friends with Noire…"

"I'm pretty sure Noire's trying to Murder Neptune, though. Well, we'll let Neptune handle this one, she dug her grave this time so she should find her way out." Nico said while shrugging his shoulders. Although if one looked, there was hints of a gleeful glint in his eyes. Served Neptune right for all the teasing she gave him! Was it wrong for him to find amusement of a dark sort in this?

…

…

…

Nah, probably not.

IF then brought up another topic as she felt a small grumble within her gut. "Speaking of pillows, I'm getting a bit tired, and hungry." She informed them. All the drama of today had given her a small appetite, and had worn her down as a result. Though nobody could blame her, this was one exciting day.

Compa hummed for a moment as she thought of what to do about this new dilemma. An idea popped into her head after a few seconds, that she shared with the others. "I know! Let's have dinner for Noire! We can have a pillow fight afterwards!" she cheered, images of them having pillow fights in their PJ's entering her mind.

Glancing at Nico, who was too busy watching the show to notice the pillow fight comment, IF turned over to her friend and decided to shift the topic away from that. She didn't know if she would be able to survive or not against people like Neptune, the male Spec Ops Agent, the blackette or the ever innocent Compa. "Pillow fight aside, dinner sounds good. Let's go."

* * *

It took them 2 hours to finally settle Neptune and Noire down, and as a result, the party was mildly hungry. Well, all but one, though that person wouldn't show it. They then continued their journey to Chian's, thankfully with no more interruptions from their resident purplette Troll and their new member. Noire however, glared at the girl all the while, who shivered at the amount of Ki that she was radiating towards her.

When they got back to Passé, Neptune took charge and swiftly kicked open the door to the Café. "I'm back!" she cheerfully called out. She then switched to a pose with 2 fingers in a V shape over her eye with said eye winking. "I beat up that monster real-good!" The rest of the party followed in at a normal pace, in contrast to their leader's energetic one. they were giving her looks tat basically boiled down to 'I can't believe this girl…'

Chian, who had been in the middle of cleaning a glass, nearly jumped at the sudden exclamation, but when she saw who it was that made it in the first place she let out a sigh of exasperation. She then opened her eyes and smiled widely at her, joy filling her up inside as she registered what the preteen had said. "Really?! That's great! Now I won't have to worry about the supplies."

IF smirked as she put a hand on her hip. "I guess our first assignment in Lastation is a success." She commented as she looked to the others of the group, who nodded in agreement with her. There were 2 exceptions though, Noire and Nico. Noire because she was an amnesiac and Nico because he had already undertaken missions in other Nations before, Lastation being one of them.

It was then, that Chian looked at them and noticed that they had an additional member standing beside Compa. "Hm? Looks like you've got someone new there. Who is she?" she asked while gesturing to the blackette.

"She's Noire. She was hurt and lost her memory, so we brought her with us." Was the Guild Agent's reply as she gave a summary of what went down in the West Wind Valley Dungeon. She mentioned about how they beat the monster, then as they walked back they found Noire in an injured state so they helped her and brought her back to Lastation. She didn't mention the white-haired woman because that would lead to territory that was inappropriate for their professional relationship with the mechanic.

At the end of it, the said mechanic hummed in thoughtfulness as she held her chin while looking the girl up and down. "Is that so…?" she muttered under her breath, before her eyes narrowed. "Wait… I've seen her before…" a second later her eyes shot open in shock and disbelief as she recognised the girl before her, something that Nico noticed. "C-C-C-Could it be…? Lady Black Heart?!"

Shock ran through the party as gasps of surprise rang through the Café. 'Yikes!' Noire thought to herself, horror and dread mixing together to form a sensation akin to her gut-wrenching within her. Shoot, someone who knew her by appearance!

"Noire… Lady Black Heart?"

"What? News at 10: "The girl who lost her memories was actually the CPU?!""

Those were Compa and Neptune's comments and opinions on this new revelation, in that order. Compa had a stunned expression as she tried to take in what this was meaning for them, while Neptune had that 'Troll face' on while a gleam of sinister intent sparked in her eyes.

'Huh, so that's her response to that scenario…' Nico thought while giving the blackette a stiff gaze. His eyes were filled with caution as he made to predict how Noire would react to this. If she did what he thought she would, then it would be confirmed to him in all but words, her identity that is. And that would lead to the confirmation of his other ideas regarding both her and their party Leader.

Quick to act, Noire hastily tried to deny their claims of her being the Goddess of Lastation. "No, wait! What are you talking about?!" she cried while waving her hands in front of her. "I'm, uh, into cosplay and, um… I totally love Lady Black Heart, so…" she began to say, while struggling for her next sentence as she tried to deny anything relating to her being the Goddess. However, even she could tell that her words were sounding pathetic. 'This is just getting worse…'

Much to her fortune however, Chian seemed to take the explanation well, as she exhaled a breath as her gaze fell to the ground. "Is that it? no wonder you were wearing clothes just like Lady Black Heart." She then levelled a stare towards her as she admired the 'cosplay outfit' that she wore. "You had me fooled there. I seriously thought you were the lady in person."

A twitching brow was on Nico's forehead as he stared at the scene before him. 'Normally I would be questioning their sanity at this point… but Lady Black Heart has a seriously large fanbase that like to cosplay as her and various other characters from different media. Still doesn't detract much from my theories though.' He thought to himself. Nico knew this to be true because on one of his Missions in Lastation he had to track the target down to a Cosplay Convention. The target was a criminal that had been threatening the Nation's safety and had been too much for the military to handle.

Then again, with how pathetic the military was these days, that was of no surprise.

Compa pouted with disappointment at the fact that the revelation earlier was false, and that Noire wasn't the CPU of Lastation. She had her lower lip stuck out as she whined at their misfortune. "Too bad. If Noire was Lastation's CPU, I'm sure Chian's prayers would be heard." She complained as her dreams of this situation being over already shattered like glass.

In addition, Neptune herself looked a little disgruntled at this fact, but once she noticed that the 'spotlight' was on her she instantly brightened up and patted Noire on the back. "Oh, you, Noire. Causing all this ruckus." She said with a teasing undertone that nobody didn't detect from her tone.

Noire was too busy feeling relief though, especially in her mind. 'Th-That was close…' she thought to herself. A part of her did feel guilty though, because it looked like Chian had really hoped that she was the Goddess, and that would mean that the times would be easier. It looked like things were bad for her people after all… something Noire mentally frowned upon. Was this the extent of what happened to her Nation when she was in Celestia? Or were there even more horrors she had yet to uncover. The raven-haired girl almost didn't want to find out.

"But, someone like you cosplaying like a Goddess all the time is, well, kinda creepy." hearing Neptune's voice, Noire turned her head to look at her. She saw how her smile seemed to be faltering as a mild look of being disturbed mixed with Neptune facial features.

An embarrassed hue took over her cheeks as Noire fought verbally to defend her pride… and her activities, from Mt Neptune's vicious offensive. "Wha-?! Don't call me creepy! I can't help it, I have my reasons!" she shouted, stomping on the ground in anger. This elected a humour-filled laugh. The rest rolled their eyes at the duo's shenanigans. Neptune just seemed to love teasing Noire, and Noire got a rise out of it every time. It was like Neptune was trying to make the girl ease up from a hard day's work by acting like a mischievous gremlin, and Noire being the unfortunate victim.

Fortunately for Noire, someone else saw fit to stop anything from going further. IF stepped forwards as she pushed the two away from each other. "Now, now, you two. This isn't the place to argue." She told them both, giving a stern look to Neptune first and then the raven-haired Amnesiac. After she settled their dispute, the brunette turned to look back at their client for the Quest. "Chian, we're going to be leaving now, but is there anything else?" she asked her. The Guild Agent wouldn't miss the chance for extra work they could possibly do to make more credits, as it seemed that work was scarce in Lastation right now with the way things were.

Chian frowned when she heard that they were about to leave. "So soon? Let me at least treat you all to some good eating." She offered. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Nico tense at the word food, which made her eyes narrow at him for the briefest of seconds, before returning to the girls.

Everyone seemed to be on board with the idea, since they were hungry. Neptune's stomach growled like a lion, which elected a nervous laugh from her and sealed the deal with the Party's next choice. Unknown to them however, Nico was feeling dread in the pit of his stomach. Eating meant food, and food meant that he would have to go to the bathroom thanks to his condition. 'Oh boy, I hope I can survive this...'

* * *

 **Special Event - Nico - Foodgasms**

While Chian went off to go prep the meals, Nico gave an uncharacteristic shudder of intensity, something of which IF noticed. "What's up dude? Why do you look so nervous?" she asked him.

"Let's just say that in the time I've known Chian from past missions, she tends to cook her food so good that she can make people experience the phenomenon known as 'foodgasms'."

The males shuddered when he said that last bit, causing IF to give him a dull look at what she thought was something stupid. "Foodgasms? Really?"

He then gave her an intense look that startled the brunette."I kid you not, girl. I have half a mind to think that one of her ancestors, a shy, timid person who helps a red haired cook with some of his more disgusting recipes, went to that competitive cooking academy to get that ability." Nico answered her with such a deadpan that IF... may have gotten a little bit nervous.

"And considering Nep's overall personality, plus Compa's naiveté..."

The teen nodded, his eyes shining with seriousness at the potential danger. "Yep, you'd be right, IF. Now that I think about it, there were times when some of my colleagues would challenge Chian to Cooking battles, shoku-something or other, can't recall the name. That's where te cooking intensity usually resides."

He could remember it well, a combination of flavours battling each other, cookware worn down to their very foundations, and steaming hot plates filled with the life's work of every chef involved. That battlefield may not be the one Nico was used to, but it was just as intense and life-threatening. Especially for someone like him.

At hearing his words, IF glanced over to the two girls, more specifically their own resident 'cook' who had the job o healing them when in dungeons. "Let's pray Compa doesn't know this."

"Oh believe me, I've done everything in my power to hide this from her. And she must never know, IF... EVER."


	20. Chapter 20 - Revelations

**AN - Okay, It seems this story is growing faster than I expected, with up to 3K views when it had only recently hit 2K. This story must be doing something right here.**

 **Now, in my reviews I noticed one person named Zergface, an author I admire, critiqued this story and showed me a few things. I'll no go into detail, but I am nonetheless thankful to him, since it gives me the inspiration to ask you all: What do you think of Nico as a Character? Is there anything you could think of to improve him? This is my first time publishing my stories onto the internet, and I'd like to make them at least decent.**

 **Thanks once again, Zergface, for your review. Maybe when this story is near completion, I'll take a look back to Chapters 1-3 with your considerations in mind.**

 **Now that that's out the way, let's get started, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 20- Revelations**

It was late at night when the food was prepared. It hadn't taken long, but they did spend most of the afternoon walking Noire around Lastation to see if anything sparked her memories before coming to Passé. Unfortunately, nothing happened, much to their displeasure.

But all that was thrown out of their minds once they noticed all the food that Chian brought to one of the Tables, laying it all out across the table like a five-star full-course meal. Dozens of foods were laid out before the party, whom could only watch in amazement. They were seated around it with Compa and Neptune on one side, with Noire and IF on the other.

Neptune made the most noise as she scarfed down everything she could in a hurry, eager to fulfil the needs of her stomach. "Urmghbrug! Sof Derifosh! #GULP#... ah, Chian, this burger is jaw-dropping!" she praised the mechanic after swallowing her load as she had taken a big mouthful of the burger in her hands, which were now covered in juicy liquids from the bite she had taken from it.

Her sentiment was shared by Compa, who had just sipped some of the soup that she had decided to have. The spoon left her lips as a pleasured moan followed suit, like two children running off together, laughing merrily when they were let out of school for the holidays. "The soup is so tasty! I feel all warm inside."

The mechanic grinned in praise from another table, having taken a small bit of food and some coffee with some papers in her free hand. "It's my mother's home menu! Happy to know your all enjoying it." she commented before taking a sip of her Coffee as she looked over the papers in her hand.

There was only one person who wasn't eating, and that was Noire. She looked like she was fidgeting in her seat while doing her best to not look at the food around them. "It's really lavish, but are you sure I can join in as well?" she asked the woman in concern. She wasn't part of the group yet Chian had made a portion for her as well. She was thus, a little reluctant to accept the charity. Chain waved off her concerns with the hand holding her papers as she crossed one leg over the other. "Just dig in and enjoy. After all, food tastes better with more people." she urged, smiling happily before looking back down at the papers.

IF smirked in amusement at the expressions on Noire's face. She could tell this girl didn't have much experience with eating and socialising like this. "Yes, enjoy it. Oh, but it doesn't come with a "Pillow Fight" though." She told the girl, her smirk widening slightly at the sight of Neptune deflating slightly over the fact that there would be no pillow fighting.

Looking around, Compa made to ask a question, when it died in her throat when she saw no sign of the one she wanted to ask the question to. "Um… where's Ni-Ni, Miss Chian? I thought he was still with us." She questioned the mechanic, frowning in concern.

At this, the woman waved off her concern once again, before she explained. "Don't worry about it. DEATHSTROKE said he'd be away for a bit, said he had some stuff to investigate regarding Avenir." After explaining that, Compa nodded as she once again dug into her meal. This made her unaware of how Chian's smile morphed into a sad frown, though. 'Poor kid, looks like he still hasn't told them yet. I'll respect his decision, but still, it's not right to keep something this big all to himself. Sooner or later, the cat's gonna be out of the bag…' she thought to herself, worry creeping up inside her about Nico's fate. After all, what she said wasn't a lie, but there was more to it than that. So much more…

Unaware of the topic just discussed, Noire looked down at the food once again, taking a small gulp as she hesitantly began to dig in. "Th-That's Neptune's fault. It's not like I want to do anything to her." She mumbled at the end, before she stabbed a fork into some sausages and took a bite. Her eyes widened as a delicious mix of flavours rolled down her tongue. "Wow, this is good…" she mumbled, now agreeing with the previous two about the cooked meal before them.

"Sure, whatever you say, I understand." IF remarked with her usual snarkiness.

Later on, Neptune discovered something that, to the surprise of many, she DIDN'T like and instead abhorred with a passion. Her face twisted to one of disgust as she pulled out the offending food from her plate. "Bleh… who added these Eggplants? They deserve to die!" she proclaimed to the heavens.

Compa looked over to the preteen with concern on her face. "Nep-Nep, do you not like Eggplants?" she asked her. If that was the case then she had to make note of it whenever she would make dinner for the Party in the future. She was a Nurse-In-Training after all, and thus it was her job to cater for her patients.

Neptune turned to her and looked like she was gagging, before she hung er tongue out and pressed her teeth against it, shaking her head in revulsion. "Not like? More like hate! How can you eat these purple husks, Compa?!" she shrieked while trying to pass them onto Compa's plate. Then, she had another idea involving the blackette of the party. "I know! Food can sometimes help jog memories, right? Let's have Noire eat it!"

At hearing her name and the context it was applied too, the said blackette's head shot up faster than a bullet before glaring at Neptune. "What?!" she shrieked, but the girl tried to pawn her Eggplants over to her anyways, leading to a small scuffle between the two.

IF sighed at the preteen's childish desire to not have her Eggplants as well as her antics towards Noire. "Nep, you're not a small kid." She sternly lectured as she proceeded to help Noire's side win the mighty Eggplant war! "Stop being picky and eat!"

Stunned by her actions, Neptune hurried to refute her, she was not losing the Eggplant war by her pride as a mighty freedom fighter against the tyrannical Eggplant menace! "What are you saying, Iffy?! Forcing food can sometimes be dangerous! If my delicate body ate these…" Neptune fell off her seat and wriggled along the ground, holding herself while imagining various scenarios in her mind, scaring her all the more. "Oh, the horrors, the HORRORS!"

A tick mark formed on her forehead as IF's patience wore thin with the purple haired Amnesiac. She had just about had it up to here with her whining, so with a sadistic gleam in her eyes, IF grabbed one of the remaining Eggplants. "Well, you shouldn't be giving them to others, then! Now, just EAT!"

WHAM!

"Um?! I-Iffy… st-sto… Urm!"

"Hey, maybe the food will jog your memory, too?"

"Urghmurgh! I-Iffy, please… st…op…"

Noire could only watch in silence as IF, with eyes growing increasingly sadistic each second as she tormented the poor girl by stuffing an Eggplant into Neptune's mouth, the said preteen's eyes tightly shut while she was forced to swallow it, her arms flailing wildly as she tried to stop the brunette's actions only to get her insidious cackles as a reward for her efforts. She literally had no words to say on the sight, looking utterly bewildered.

Compa noticed the silent blackette and felt that she needed to say something. She didn't want her to have a bad impression on the group with their antics, plus she knew that not all people liked the antics that they got into. "I hope we're not being too loud here." She said cheerfully, yet with an undertone of nervousness, to which Noire looked to her and shook her head.

"Not at all." She assured with a small but polite smile as she returned her gaze to the spectacle. At this point Neptune was flailing on the ground like a fish, her limbs nothing but blurs of motion with the merciless IF paying no heed to them as she forced Neptune to eat more of the food that she didn't like. "It's just that I never had such a lively dinner before, so…"

At this, the Nurse-In-Training hummed in thoughtfulness. Noire did seem like the type to not have much experience socialising with others, at least in her mind. "Is that so? Well, you're going to be with us, so this won't be your last."

Noire looked at the cream haired girl, frowning as she realised something. These girls, plus the absent Nico, had done a lot for her, and she had yet to repay them. She couldn't allow that, her pride refused to. "About that, could I help you with anything?" she questioned. Hearing her words, Compa blinked owlishly in confusion. "Noire? Help us?" she repeated in a simplistic manner, making sure she got what she heard right.

They hadn't thought of that honestly, it sounded a bit too surreal to them, having someone they just found in a Dungeon, all beat up no less, help them with their work. Needless to say, many shared concerned thoughts about the idea of Noire helping them. Nothing bad towards her, but wit what they had seen, it was a bit... risqué to have her along if she had been damaged that badly while in a Dungeon full of NORMAL monsters. If she fought an Abnormal Monster, what would happen then?

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who heard as Neptune, whom had managed to break free after IF had enough of tormenting her for now, bounded over to them to be part of the conversation once she heard about Noire joining them. "Aah! So, is Noire going to fight with us, too?" Though unlike them, Neptune looked like she was all for her joining them. Perhaps it was due to her desire to make lots of friends, or she saw something within the blackette. Who knows?

IF, who had walked over to them as well, also added in her two cents to the idea. "Okay. We'd be happy, too, if you could help us." She said with a small glance over at the blackette, checking her out in her mind to see if she had any fighting experience. When she saw how Noire reacted to her sudden declaration of agreement, IF made to explain with a tired, lopsided smirk. "I'm getting a bit tired of holding off the randomness these two generate. Nico would say the same thing, and he's done it for a lot longer than I have." Glancing towards the two girls Neptune and Compa, Noire released a breath as she got an idea of what that meant. "I kind of know what you mean…"

Ignoring those last few remarks, Neptune hopped up and down like an excited girl on a sugar rush. "A party of 5 already? Well, we're in a lot of chapters already and we're still on the Lastation arc, so I guess it's to be expected." She remarked thoughtfully.

Chian then stood up, noticing that everyone had finished their food as she walked over to them with her papers in hand. "Well, if you're having a decent start, mind doing one more job for me?" she asked them. "Can you use my weapon that I'm going to exhibit at the Technology Expo?"

Compa had a dumb look on her face, the unknown terminology going right over her head. "Technolo-what? Is it a like a festival thingy?" she questioned. This earned her a nod from the blue-haired woman as she proceeded to explain it to them. "The Expo is held in Lastation, with companies showcasing their tech. There's also a tournament where the winner can get a trophy from the CPU!"

Compa's eyes brightened as she heard the word 'trophy' come out of Chian's mouth. "A trophy? What an achievement!" she exclaimed to show her amazement. "So, can we take down Avenir with a Trophy?"

Chian chuckled at the question, and the innocence asked behind it as she shook her head. "No. We'll go for the win, and meet the Lady to tell her what is going on!" Chian explained with a passion burning bright in her eyes. She truly believed that it was a good idea, to use the Expo as a means of getting contact with the CPU to inform her of Avenir's wrongdoings.

"I see." Compa said, nodding in understanding. She then made to ask another question linked to the first one. "So that's why you're going to participate?"

The Mechanic nodded her head in conformation, answering the cream haired girl's question. "Right. That's why I need you to test out my weapon I'm going to exhibit." Neptune bounced up and down eagerly, this seemed like an easy task for them to do! And a crucial one at that! Killing two birds with one stone! "Easy-peasy! But what exactly do you need us to do?"

With that question, Chian walked to the Bar and reached over the Counter. This was for several moments before she pulled something out of a hidden compartment, a hilt of some sort, before closing the compartment and walking back to the girls, the object in hand. "Just use this weapon and give me feedback." She instructed, handing Neptune the weapon.

The weapon's bladeless hilt soon ignited when Neptune examined the weapon, a beam of energy shooting out and stabilising with a SCHING! Sound coming from it the moment the blade was deployed. "Ooooh! This thing looks like one of Nicky's Plasma Claw thingies!" Neptune remarked, noticing an uncanny resemblance to Nico's Plasma Claws that were a part of his armour. She then turned her head back to the blunette, beaming happily as she deactivated the blade. "Is that it? Sounds simple enough."

"We can do this with other Quests too!" Compa added on.

It was when they were almost finished, when she looked to Chian. "Oh, by the way Chian, I know why you would hate Avenir, but why would Nico hate them more? I mean, sure he's taken missions outside of Planeptune, but it's still hard to imagine why he would have so much hate for them." It always bothered her how extreme Nico's reaction had been to the revelations Chian had made to them before they had set off for West Wind Valley, but she never got the chance to ask him. For one, he wasn't here due to reasons she had overheard the mechanic say to Compa, and for another, things had been too hectic for her to get a chance to ask him. The fact that it seemed oddly… personal, to him, also was a factor.

Chian paused for a bit at IF's question, and that was enough to draw everyone else's curiosity, especially Noire and Neptune's. 'Nico went crazy when he learned about Avenir? Why? It's not like he has been here long like the average citizen, right? So, what made him flip his lid like that?' Noire wondered, her interest piqued at this new information about the male.

"I had a feeling this was going to come up. I didn't want to have to explain it with DEATHSTROKE around, so I guess this is a good a time as any." The woman mused, before placing her cup, papers and plate down on the Table beside her and shifting in her seat so she was facing towards them. "Well, for starters, I should tell you that Avenir's hold on Lastation, it hasn't been this way for long, only about 5 years or so."

* * *

Nico himself, was frowning. The male had arrived at an abandoned factory, one far in the southern regions that were part of Lastation's continent. It looked like it had been abandoned for a long length of time with how rusted the metal was and how there were no signs of power being channelled through the building. Also, it looked like there had been a major battle here, for pieces of the factory lay across the ground, large holes only formed by explosions dotting its frame. When he said he had some business to take care of, Nico hadn't just done this as an excuse to get away from having to eat, no, he had a few suspicions in mind, and for the first time in a while, he donned his professional demeanour as a Spec Ops Agent. Whenever one had suspicions, it was best to clarify them in case they were right. I they weren't, then good, he could continue his day normally. But if he was right...

The male used his Motion Tracker to see if he had any company, but fortunately for him there was nothing to be concerned about. There was no Monster signatures here, or anywhere near here in fact. This didn't calm his nerves at all, though, instead it only made his instincts sharper than before in caser of an ambush attack. Like he had said before, the gear he had was of the prototype variety, so there were bound to be bugs in them at some point.

After closing the functions down, Nico stood from his kneeling position atop a fallen pillar that overlooked the abandoned factory. He then jumped down from it, landing in a crouch before making his way inside, having summoned Rebellion into one of his back's straps, but didn't draw it just yet. It was a precaution in case of an ambush, for the previously stated reasons. He stuck to the darker areas though, as his training taught him that staying out in the open was always a bad idea. One could perfectly snipe him from afar if he wasn't careful, plus this factory also brought some... irritation-inducing memories back to him.

'Now, if I remember correctly...' Nico thought as he went through a corridor. He then checked his Holomap, looking over the schematics that once showed where everything was in the factory... at least, if it was still in working condition. With it's current state, the male doubted they'd be as accurate as they would normally. With the lack of power going through, there would be problems getting to the areas he wanted to get to, but thanks to that he could just blast through it al without much care... though not much considering he didn't want the place falling down on his head.

Making his way through the corridors like a silent wraith, Nico finally found himself before a door, one that had the sign 'TOP SECRET - Authorized personal only' with the capitals in blood red colouring. The male slowly, cautiously, reached for the handle and felt it was unlocked, before opening the door and stepping inside. The area was dark thanks to there being a lack of light, and the night sky was of little help. However, his eyes had adjusted to the dark, so he could still make out the things inside.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of the room that he had found himself in. It looked like he was right after all, which left a deep pit of darkness inside his stomach, as he gripped his fists tightly while struggling to keep his instincts under control. Perhaps he should think about wearing his armour less once he got it back, so he could train himself to control these instincts better. Nevertheless, what he had confirmed still had top priority in his mind, as it carried worrisome, as well as ominous, premonitions about the future. 'This is not good... not good at all. From the looks of things, I can safely guess what Avenir is planning... and if I don't do something soon, THAT will once again happen and Lastation will likely fall, especially with the military being what it is.' he thought, stepping deeper into the room to continue his investigation.

* * *

Compa frowned at this information. "5 Years? I remember a time 5 years ago when Ni-Ni wouldn't call me for a long time. I was worried something had happened to him, but when I got a call from him at last he sounded normal. Did something happen back then?" she asked the older woman. The thought of her childhood friend not calling her for that long without giving an explanation hurt deeply, but something had told her it was best not to pry at the time. His messages lacked the warmth they usually did, which had meant at the time that Nico wasn't himself. She had always wondered why, and now she was about to learn why. It was a bit nerve-wracking to be honest.

"You bet your ass something happened. You see, for 50 years, there were two top Corporations in Lastation, both suppressing each other from growing too big to where they would be a threat to the Goddess. They were Avenir, whom you all are aware of, and the other one was called Umbrella, a major international player in many markets; including pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. They would keep each other stable, if one tried to rise to power the other would intervene and bring them back down. It was a stable balance." Chian explained, sighing as she remembered those times.

Noire furrowed her brows at the mention of this 'Umbrella' corporation. 'I distinctly remember hearing that name a few times when I went out to keep the peace from several citizens, and all of them sounded slightly bad.' She thought, feeling a sense of dread seep into her being. The things she had heard about that corporation were vague and sketchy at best, however none of them were friendly. If what Chian was about to tell them, plus her facial expression, was any indication, then this Umbrella Corporation was possibly even worse than Avenir ever could be.

Soon, her feelings were unfortunately confirmed, as Chian continued with an even graver tone. "You could say that they were two-faced bastards. One of them was a benevolent side that operated by selling various products like cosmetics and foods. The other side was a much more malevolent one, experimenting and researching top-secret operations utilizing genetic engineering and biological weaponry. Basically, they were making viruses and diseases into weapons."

That got a response from the girls.

"WHAT?!" a collective shout came from the girls, but out of all of them, Noire and IF's were the largest. "Are you kidding me?!" IF shrieked in anger, growling as she thought of all the laws that broke. That was, in a sense, way worse than what Avenir was doing. She could only imagine the types of things that Umbrella had been doing. "What kind of assholes would do something like that?!"

Compa looked like she had seen her worst nightmares come to life. "That's so horrible…" she murmured, shaking like a leaf. Neptune was no better, her eyes were wide with shock, fear and outrage. "That's a load of no-no!" she proclaimed, her brows furrowed as she angrily shook her fists. "Why the heck would someone do that?!"

Chian nodded her head, completely agreeing with them on this front. "Yeah, I hear ya, girls. Things only got worse though, when one of their projects, called the T virus, was accidentally released and it reached one of Lastation's medium sized cities: Racoon City. The outbreak that followed… well, one could consider it a nightmare come to life. Most of the populace were infected and killed by the virus, but worse… they didn't stay dead. They rose up, some as Zombies, others as… more grotesque monsters that attacked the civilians."

Unable to stop herself, Chian shuddered, which gave the girls a clear indication of how bad things must have been back then. "The morning after, the Lastation Basilicom had the city limits bordered off using the military, whilst they began an investigation into the matter. However, if that wasn't enough, Umbrella saw this as an opportunity, or rather a 'testing ground' for them to send in their other projects, known as BOW's, which is an abbreviation for Bio Organic Weapon, into the city to attack civilians and soldiers alike, to test their 'Combat efficiency'. The Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) was sent in to evacuate civilians, whilst "Monitors" installed within the four Delta Platoons gathered the combat data, sacrificing their comrades to save their own lives, where they would receive a very generous sum for their data."

Now Noire couldn't stay silent any longer. "The NERVE!" she shouted, she was absolutely livid that something like this had been going on while she was none the wiser. It was a major blow to her pride, hearing that one of Lastation's cities was affected in such a horrible manner. "Those bastards! When I get my hands on them, I'm gonna…"

"No need for that, Noire." Chian said, and when Noire levelled a glare at her, Chian made to explain. "A group of Agents from Planeptune were sent in to neutralise any major threats within Racoon city, and to help evac the citizens. Those agents soon got more than they bargained for when they faced onslaught after onslaught by various BOW's. One of which was an experimental "Tyrant" codename THANATOS, was sent outside to kill UBCS personnel attempting to claim it. Then there was other BOW's, like the other Tyrants and Hunters. In the end though, Racoon City was proven to be unsalvageable and had to be blown off the map by nuclear warheads."

* * *

His investigation hadn't gleaned much information beyond confirming his suspicions about 50%, but that was all Nico needed. He had a good idea of what Avenir had done, and what it was about to do, based off both assumptions and previous experiences. It would be bad to act on just those alone though, he needed some good solid evidence to subject them to his suspicions. Nevertheless, this trip had not been a waste, either, in fact it had almost been a trip down memory lane, considering what happened.

He could imagine it now, how horrible it had been back then. For a moment, his surroundings changed as he remembered what Racoon City was once like, a once quiet and peaceful city with good security and decent people. Then, it became wrought with the infection, buildings had holes in them that were bathed in flames, smoke rising into the heavens while sounds of civilians fleeing in terror from the abominations that they once called friend filled the streets. The military came when they were called and alerted of the situation, but at that point the situation was nearly unsalvageable. When Nico and several other Agents were called in from Planeptune for assistance, they had very nearly given up on the city itself. He could remember how it felt back then, the frantic action, the dread and horror as he saw people getting eaten alive, seeing some of his comrades being slaughtered by those abominations, all these memories came back to him in a flash.

As he exited the factory, Nico walked towards the nearby hills, intending to get back to the others. He had already documented his research and finings back inside the abandoned factory, so he had to make sure to get this information to Chian so she could help prepare for the potential calamity that would soon befall Lastation. History is doomed to repeat itself if people don't learn from it, that was a lesson he had learned the hard way, back during his rookie days as a Guild Member.

After the tragedy had come to pass, all Planeptune Spec Ops Agents were sworn to secrecy, not to talk about what happened to anyone. He couldn't even tell Compa, which had torn away at his heart strings whenever she had left him a message or seen her missed calls. It had taken him almost 5 days to work up the courage to call her and let her know he was alright, that he had 'just returned from a long mission' though he didn't say anything else. It was best to lie based off the truth, right? Well, lying at all was something that left a sour taste in his mouth, he hated lying with a passion. Yet, he understood the necessity for it, especially with things this big. Right now, the four nations were in a tense, uneasy truce with each other due to the threat of the Monsters and the Abnormals, so they wouldn't be striking each other like they did in the Console Wars. However, if secrets had been spread from one country to another, it could be considered grounds for more war, which was not what they needed at this point.

There was little doubt in his mind that Chian would tell his comrades about all this, unlike the Spec Ops she wasn't sworn to secrecy about it, she wasn't too dangerous that they had to, honestly. Unlike them, she was a resident of Lastation, so her talking about the events was well within her rights as a native to the nation that suffered this tragedy in the first place. Still though, he had hoped this stuff had been out behind them back with Racoon City, looked like he was wrong.

History would repeat itself, but he'd be damned if he didn't do something about it.

* * *

Silence reigned supreme after Chian finished explaining the gruesome tale. A Tale that very few knew of or paid attention to nowadays as they were so caught up on their own suffering and placing their faith away from Lady Black Heart. The girls had no idea that something so horrific had happened to this Nation right under their noses. If the CPU was here then she'd be furious at how horrid those people were, and have made measure to utterly disband them for crimes against humanity.

"Something so terrible… no wonder Ni-Ni never spoke of it…" Compa whispered, lowering her head in sadness. She had remembered asking him why he hadn't called her for so long during that time, only for Nico to give her the cold shoulder by saying it was 'Classified'. She had felt hurt that he didn't tell her, but from his tone decided not to press the subject. Now that she knew however, she felt bad for prying into it, something like this… there was no way someone could explain the horrors they would have witnessed in that nightmare.

IF frowned and crossed her arms, thinking over this new information. She knew that there had been something wrong, the whole Planeptune Guild could feel it back then. None of them knew why, save for a select few Spec Ops Agents, but they had been sworn to secrecy on the subject. However. one point eluded her. "You said that Planeptune Agents were dispatched to Lastation to help evac the civilians during the Outbreak, right? Does that mean that…"

Chian nodded, sipping some more of her coffee, though she wished it were liquor. She hadn't gone with a more alcoholic drink because she had extra work to do tonight which would likely lead to an all-nighter. "Yeah, your friend DEATHSROKE was one of the agents that was sent there. He saw things that no human should ever see, he fought BOW's, Zombies, saw his fellow Agents get massacred before his eyes, and despite all that deduced that Umbrella had somehow got a connection to it and managed to gather the evidence needed for them to be disbanded by orders of the Lastation Government." She explained, groaning when she realised that she had finished the last of her coffee.

Afterwards, she continued since there was more to tell. "His disbanding of Umbrella, would later serve to be a double-edged sword. Because the CPU still wasn't around, people looked to its rival Company Avenir, who had donated massive amounts of supplies to the soldiers to help fight the Outbreak. They began to put their faith in it, and it didn't take long for Avenir to become able to usurp its rule across Lastation. In a way, we were better off with Umbrella than without." She finished grimly, walking to the Bar counter and grabbing a glass to poor out some red wine.

"That's… wow, I can't even form any comments on that…" Neptune muttered, completely dumbstruck that she couldn't form any response to what she learned. The fact that Nico, one of her friends, was indirectly responsible for Avenir's new monarchy over the Nation fizzled her brain out to no end. She knew it wasn't his fault as Nico wouldn't have been able to foresee something like this, even with how careful he was. There were just some things one can't predict. Then, she blinked as something else came to mind. "Wait, how come you know a lot about this, Chian? I don't think an Engineer would be privy to this stuff."

Said Engineer nodded as she took a sip of her Wine while putting her papers on the table. "You'd be right, and it also ties into why I recognised DEATHSTROKE. I wouldn't have known any other Agent, but him, because he saved me during that time." Chian explained, and once again the girls were stunned from the implications their brains were telling them.

"Then, you mean…"

The older woman nodded in confirmation. she gripped the handle of her coffee cup as memories came back to her, memories that were obviously hard for her if the way she shook was any indication. "Yeah, like him I too am a Racoon City survivor. Few survived the Outbreak and those that did paid real close attention to what would be the aftermath, hence why I know a lot." She told them, shifting uncomfortably. The girls noticed this and decided to not pry for any more details. The woman looked downtrodden enough as it was.

The sound of the door opening made them turn to see Nico entering the room, closing the door behind him. His head was hanging down, but when he looked up and saw the girls and their expressions, his eyes hardened as he glanced to Chian. "So, they know then?" he asked her softly, his eyes softening slightly as he saw the woman nod.

Compa looked at him with teary eyes as she barely managed to speak without choking. "I'm, sorry I tried to pry that day, Ni-Ni, I didn't realise it would be so bad." She whimpered, a whole new wave of guilt crashing down on her.

A pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled Compa into what felt like a masculine chest. Her tear-filled eyes widened as she looked up and saw a caring expression on Nico's face. His eyes had lost some of that hardness she had expected from a soldier, softening into the eyes she had known and loved. He raised a hand and wiped the tears from her eyes, his smile as comforting as she remembered it from when they were young. "You have nothing to be sorry about. That information was kept strictly classified by the Planeptune Guild so even if I wanted to I wouldn't have been able to talk about it." he whispered soothingly, stroking her back with his free hand till Compa began feeling slightly better about the situation.

He then looked up and saw the others. "Now you know why I'm willing to do anything to take down Avenir. If I had foreseen this happening, I would have planned something ahead of time. This is my sin, my mistake, so I'll correct it no matter what." He stated with resolution. His eyes burned with determination, which was so bright they would have mistaken it for the eyes of his DPU form.

Noire however, shook herself out of their combined stupor first. "It's not your fault, Nico. Nobody's perfect, even you. EVEN SO," she glared at him when he made to refute her statement. Seeing her glare, Nico wisely shut his gob, knowing how stubborn that this blackette could be even if he had only known her for a short time. "We do have to work together in this. Avenir can't be allowed this kind of dominance over Lastation, or the Nation will come to ruin."

Everyone nodded in agreement at that. They couldn't allow Nico to handle all the problems that they faced, they had to have some of it too. They were a party, and like it or not, Nico and they would have to work together. He wasn't a Solo Agent like he once was, something that he had mixed feelings about.

"But what can we do?" Compa asked them, bringing their attention back to her. "What can we do to beat those meanies? Nep-Nep's stealth plan is out of the window by popular opinion, so what now?" she asked them all. It was all well and good that they had a goal in mind, but without a method to act upon it might as well be fruitless.

It was a small silence that followed them as the party tried to think of an idea to employ. They couldn't afford to be reckless, Avenir had a large number of cards to play, so they would have to act fast. If someone found out what they were doing, then their plans here would be grinded to a halt real-fast.

Eventually, Noire got an idea that she hoped wouldn't blow too many people away, as well as set Nico off. She had a good idea of what happened when Nico got truly angry, she thought, shivering as images of that other form he took entered her mind. "Well then…" she began, getting everyone's attention as they all looked at her expectantly. "How about doing some work for Avenir?"

Everyone became taken into bewilderment with what Noire had said, especially Nico and Neptune. Noire just suggested that they help their enemy advance towards their goals, and if they weren't sure about her head being alright, they definitely thought she had some screws loose now. It was the preteen who spoke first however, and her facial expressions plus her words soon proved she did not like that idea. "What?! They're the bad guys! No way, no how am I going to work with them!" she proclaimed, refusing to entertain even the notion of the idea.

Everyone else had similar reactions, however, one of them was the exception to the rule. "Wait… that's a great idea…" IF mumbled as she thought it over in her mind. This drew the heat towards her instead of Noire, much to her relief. She felt their gazes were a bit too intense for her liking at that moment. The brunette didn't mind the stares, hell she was practically ignoring them as the idea ran through her mind, causing her gaze to lower as she cupped her chin.

Seeing her face, Nico at first thought that IF had finally lost it, her sanity after having to deal with Neptune too much. But the more that he thought about it, the more that Nico's rational brain kicked in, and he began to realise just what the brunette was thinking about. "Now that I think about it, a covert operation seems like a good approach." He stated, humming thoughtfully getting an agreeing nod from IF and Noire. Though Neptune sent him a stunned look as if she couldn't believe he was going along with this.

"What do you mean, Ni-Ni? Iffy?" Compa asked, confused, what were those two thinking about? It got her curious and judging by their states it was natural for her to assume that they had an agenda that they could discuss with the rest of the party.

That agenda soon came to light, when IF brought herself out of her musings and turned to look at them. "Avenir must have had problems getting materials like Chian, too." She began. Nico glanced to the woman for confirmation on her words, getting a nod from her to signify that her words rang truth.

"In addition, that means that they will be looking to hire people from the Guild to take care of the Monsters, which would mean getting close to them and possibly, depending on the client, an inside look." Nico further explained the topic, and soon the light of comprehension appeared in Compa's eyes. However, Neptune remained unconvinced of the method behind this madness, even though she usually generated this madness with her antics, sometimes dragging the Nurse-in-Training into it.

This allowed Noire to smirk as she continued their explanation. "So, depending on the work, we might find out what they are going to exhibit." She explained to the party. Her face turned thoughtful, while in her mind, she expressed an opinion she would rather keep to herself, her other motive for suggesting this idea. 'And I'll use this to find out what the Basilicom knows of Avenir…'

"Hmm… Still, it doesn't feel right…" Neptune remarked with reluctance. It looked like she was in turmoil over what she wanted to do. On one side, she knew that Avenir was a group that did terrible things to the market, thus causing the people of Lastation to suffer needlessly. However, on the other side she was starting to see why they would think that working with them would give them insights as to what they were going to exhibit for the Expo. That knowledge would be invaluable in the right hands.

IF nodded her head, she could understand her reluctance on the matter. "Well, I don't like Avenir either, but it's good to know who we're up against." She admitted while showing her hidden distaste for the idea. True she could see the benefits of the idea, but it didn't mean that she had to like it.

"In battle, it's either one rises or falls. Especially against monsters." Nico added while leaning against a wall, his eyes turning melancholic as he remembered past battles. "One has to be willing to do things they wouldn't normally do to gain an advantage over the enemy. In our case, it's getting close to the enemy to learn their tactics." Unlike the girls, Nico had little qualms with the idea of infiltrating Avenir this way. Learning about the enemy was a certainty to gaining the ability to defeat them, brain over brawn. Logic over emotion. That wasn't to say he didn't like the idea, but he was more willing to do so because he did it in various forms every day when fighting in foreign territories, evading enemy organisations, and sometimes infiltrating them to bring them down from the inside.

A Spec Ops' path was not an easy one.

"Let's bear with it, Nep-Nep." Compa suggested with a consoling smile as she placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. She could tell that the preteen was in war with herself, and it was getting close to deciding a victor when she heard IF and Nico's joint words. They were both saying, in their own way, that they would have to do this in order to get intel to use on Avenir in the future. It wasn't an easy concept for anyone, especially anyone of Neptune's level of maturity.

In the end, the preteen gave a defeated sigh, knowing she would have to accept this task no matter how much she disliked it. "Hmm… Well, if you say so, Compa."

"Sure, just ignore me." Both IF and Nico muttered under their breaths as they glared at the sorrow-stricken preteen who wasn't even acknowledging them. In a way, it was her own childishness that was acting up, but it still didn't make it any easier to handle.

Noire regarded them both with a pitying smile spreading across her face. She had to admit this to them both while they still had the time. "You have it rough…"

Both turned to her in unison, the suddenness of the gesture being enough to make Noire jump slightly as both spoke like drones, devoid of any emotion. "You have no idea…" the way they spoke made them sound more like robots than people, which sort of worried the blackette. She feared for their mental health at this rate.

After they had their plan, the Party decided to retire for the night. Chian had offered to let them stay in the upstairs floors of her parents' Café for the night, as the room that Nico had booked them was for a single night only and with the addition of one more Party Member, they would have had to look for another Hotel anyways. It was already late enough, so the group all agreed to the idea.

With that, Chian showed them to their room, unfortunately they would have to all share a room considering there was only one room available. Every other room had been taken by the workers at Chian's Factory, much to Nico's dismay. He would have tried to find somewhere else to sleep and Noire would have agreed that he should him being a guy and all, however Neptune and the others, even IF much to the blackette's shock, agreed that Nico should stay in the same room as them.

Noire nearly lost control over his gob, which had fallen open, at this decision, and upon asking why they had admitted that Nico had been much of a gentleman to them already, making sure that they got their privacy and never once tried to do anything perverted to them. He looked at them like they were people, not as objects to be desired. In addition, if someone as innocent as Compa still retained it even after they slept in the same bed together as kids, then the male's restraint had to be considerable, and thus his points with them, according to Neptune, raised even higher.

Of course, the blackette's doubts were finally erased when she saw how Nico became adamant about refusing and sleeping somewhere else, even opted to take out some Camping equipment from his Void Storage as proof that he had his own sleeping arrangements. Though this was shot down by the girls with Compa and Neptune as the spearheads, reasoning that Nico deserved as much rest as the rest of them did.

Eventually, he lost the battle and finally adhered to their desires, although he did bring out some parts of a Tent to act as makeshift Dividers so they still had their own privacy which the girls agreed with. Though if Nico was any saner, he would have sworn he had seen something flash through Neptune and Compa's eyes… disappointment? Maybe? Whatever it was, it was gone faster than Nico could confirm it, so the male put it to the back of his mind.

Right now, the male had started getting changed into his PJ's, the pieces of the Tent he had enough to cover the bed and a small space around it, making it as though the bed had been swallowed by the Tent. He Glanced outside when he heard showering sounds, and realised that the girls were taking a shower, likely one at a time. 'I'll calculate how many times the showers are turned on and off, along with how many times the doors are opened and closed to judge the safest time to wash.' He thought to himself.

Moments later, Nico concluded that everyone had finished getting dressed and was now in bed, though he doubted they would be asleep still as he could see the lights were still on. Before he could leave the Tent, someone came up and lightly patted it with their knuckles. "Hey, Nico, you go in the shower next?" IF asked, waiting outside for his answer.

"Yeah, I'll be heading in soon, wanted to wait till everyone's done."

After that, IF gave a confirmation to him and relayed it to the others. Nico then left the Tent and headed into the attached shower room, which he used to shower himself off, brushing his teeth and doing his evening routine. By the time he was done, Nico had finished washing himself, drying himself, and had changed his clothes to his PJ's. he returned to his Tent, making sure to not attract too much attention, before entering his Tent and closing the Zip.

When he did that, Nico turned to head into bed, when his eyes caught sight of something that made him nearly have a heart attack. "Whoa, what the hell?!" he exclaimed in silent shock, so he didn't rouse any attention. Though, with what was in front of him, Nico knew that he never would want this to be brought to light. In his bed, Neptune herself, clad in white and purple PJ's with some shorts instead of long bottoms like him and Compa's, was sitting on his bed, grinning like a Cheshire cat while kicking her legs in the air. "Neptune, what are you-?!"

"Shhh!" the preteen shushed him by placing a hand on his mouth while making the shushing gesture with her other hand. "Don't want to get caught, now do we? Anyways, we're sleeping together!" she proclaimed quietly, her grin widening as she tried to resist laughing at the white, gobsmacked look on the boy's face. "No, not like that, silly boy! I just wanna cuddle you like you did with Compa. She told me about how good your hugs are so I wanna see what it's like for myself." She explained, and she was glad that the Tent had little light to show her slight rosy cheeks.

Nico quickly shut his gob, and when he tried to speak again Neptune stopped him by pulling him into the bed, her strength catching him off guard. She may be stronger than Compa, and that was no small feat considering how Compa can carry multiple bodies worth of weight. "Don't worry 'bout the others, Nicky. I'll take care of it, just leave it to good ol' Nep-Nep." Feeling like he had no other choice in the matter, that and Neptune would likely cause a commotion that would result in a drop in his reputation, Nico gave a resigned sigh as Neptune cuddled into him and fell into slumber.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **There, now this Chapter took some work to edit. There were things I needed to add in, but overall I like this particular chapter.**

 **Chapter 21 will come later tonight, my schedule shall remain 2 chapters a day, so I can keep giving you guys quality content. (Or at least, I Hope so)**

 **Anyways, if you haven't already realised it from Neptune's fourth-wall breaking, I do plan on making this a series, and unlike a lot of Neptunia fanfics I intend to complete this goal. While I understand why people don't update, you know life and stuff, it's frustrating as a read to see good stories no longer get updated. Then again, the wait makes each chapter that does come a welcome sight, something I will happily admit.**

 **Anyways, leave a like, comment, review or any of the previous ones! See ya'll in the next chapter!**

 **Peace out!**


	21. Chapter 21 - What Nico does privately

**Chapter 21 - What Nico Does in his free time**

The following morning, Nico awoke with a tired groan. The first thing he noticed was that Neptune was no longer in his bed, which filled the teenager with relief. She kept her word and didn't cause any mischief that would damage his reputation, much to his surprise. Usually Neptune would like to troll people for her own amusement, wonder what was different this time?

Deciding to not think about it too much, male got up and out of bed, throwing the Covers off him. He looked down at one of his most prized possessions: his Bracers. He had so many fond memories of these things saving his life countless times. As such, he never went anywhere without them, hell he even slept with them on.

Reaching down, Nico pressed a few Keys and brought up the time in Hologram bubble writing form. 'Hmmm, 8:45 AM, just like yesterday…' the male thought to himself, remembering the previous night when he and Compa shared the same bed. How long had it been since they last did that? How long had it been since he last saw her sleeping face as she dreamed in ignorant bliss? Nico didn't know, and that bothered him immensely. It had been a while though, that much was for certain, and to him that was already too long. He was majorly happy that he got to see her beautiful face again, Nico would give an arm and a leg to see it once more. It was one of the few things he saw as beautiful in the world.

Then, memories of last night came to him, and his brows furrowed as images of Neptune sleeping beside him began to surface. Last night, Neptune had taken Compa's place, sleeping next to him through the night. Yet, her face… when one sleeps with a girl, especially like how he did, usually one face is all they can remember, for a sleeping face like that would be the only thing they would pay attention to. But when he thought back, Nico could picture both their faces with perfect clarity, his mind not forgetting a single detail.

Why was that? Nico knew now that another thing those two shared was their similar facial expressions. They resembled that of sleeping angels, having worked long and hard through the day and now were resting their weary wings. It surprised, confused, and flattered him that they would do that to him. To show him such beautiful expressions. When a girl who trusted you enough to sleep by your side without going into… intimate territory, they tend to show things that would make any man's heart heat up inside. Just the gesture alone was an honor, one that many took for granted, and Nico had seen two girls give him that honor.

He wouldn't say he was lucky as that would indicate signs of arrogance and possessiveness. Arrogance for thinking that they would only do that for him when they would likely do it for anyone they trusted. Possessiveness for wanting them to only do that for him. Nico wouldn't be either of those things for one reason: he didn't want to lose their trust. That was a great fear he had, the fear that one-day Nico would lose their trust and never get it back.

Thus, Nico would do right by them, he would make sure to treasure those girls' and their trust in him.

His eyes hardened, Nico stood from his bed and decided to go take a morning shower. When he opened the flaps and stepped out however, a person was waiting on the other end. "You had fun there, dude?" the voice of IF broke him out of his silent musings, making him look up at her. She was still in her PJ's surprisingly, but she looked like she had some sleep unlike the previous night in that Hotel. She wore her Tank top and shorts, but her Coat was hanging by the bottom of the bed, alongside her Boots and phones. It looked like she was in between changing when she had noticed him exiting his tent and had walked over to him.

"Huh? Oh, morning IF, and what do you mean by fun last night?" the male asked her, stifling a yawn in his hand as his brain didn't quite catch up to the situation yet. Which was to be expected of course, he had only just woken up after all. Though if he was awake, he would have seen the knowing gaze the brunette directed at him.

The brunette rolled her eyes at seeing him in this state, resting a hand on her hip and leaning on one leg. "Um, duh, I mean your night with Nep, Nico." She told him, further clarifying what she wanted to know from him as she looked him up and down.

NOW his brain was fully awake, just from the realisation alone that Neptune and his night together, no matter how bad that sounded, had been realised by someone. A million questions rang though his mind, but the male pushed them aside for the most obvious ones. "Did Neptune tell you about it? I mean, she wasn't in when I awoke, so…" he asked her.

"Yeah, she was REALLY happy when she woke up this morning, nearly knocked Noire out of bed had she not woken up in time. The two were chasing each other around last time I checked." IF replied as she remembered the sight herself. Fortunately, she had the foresight of plugging her ears with earplugs this time, so she could get a proper night's sleep. She was mildly surprised that Nico had gotten sleep at all, with how Neptune snored and was a chaotic sleeper, but she pushed those thoughts away in favour of trying to get the answer out of him. "Anyways, you didn't answer my question. You had fun with Nep, last night?"

Okay, Nico could now sense a slight edge in IF's voice as she asked him the second time what happened to Neptune and him for her to be so happy this morning. The male's eyes narrowed as he glared at her, his heart pounding as a wave of indignation washed over him. "I did NOTHING of that sort, IF." He spat, insulted and offended deeply. "Honestly, you think I would do that to someone as pure as her? To any girl without her permission? FYI, we just cuddled together, that's all. Like me and Compa did back at the hotel. Come on, gimme some credit here. What happened to what you said last night to Noire?"

IF looked at him critically, and a tense atmosphere took over… before her lips twitched and she formed a smirk on her face as her eyes danced with amusement. "Hey, chill dude, I was just teasing ya. I knew you wouldn't try that with her even if Nep made the first move. The fact that you don't smell of the stuff is a bonus. Anyways, I'm not mad I'm just curious. Nep and Compa seemed really happy whenever they get hugs off you. What's with that, are you holding a magic hug skill or something?"

With the atmosphere now light-hearted instead of tense, Nico gave a small smile of his own, his eyes filled with mirth as he shook his head. "Nope, nothing of the sort." He said, before his gaze landed back on her. "They say I give good hugs for some reason, though I don't know why."

"Huh, maybe I should try it sometimes." IF mused, before shaking her head to get things back on track. "Anyways, Noire's gone out on an errand, Nep's outside playing tag with Compa and Chian's working away in her factory. I'm going to be on some quests soon, so I won't be back until the afternoon."

The male nodded his head in understanding. Seemed that everyone had something to do for the day. "Alright, you do that, I have to go do my morning routine." He said, gesturing to the Shower room. IF nodded and stepped aside, allowing him to walk towards the shower room, open the door and step inside, closing it behind him.

* * *

Moments later, Nico emerged, showered, teeth brushed, face rinsed and dried. His attire was that of his Spec Ops Agent as he looked around and noticed that he was alone in the room. 'Alright, looks like I'm alone. IF said she was going on some quests, Neptune's occupied with Compa, so wha should I do? I could always go see if any Abnormals have appeared and hunt those, but I'd rather wait till my Armour has been finished for that to happen. Hmmm…' Nico thought to himself while moving back to his Tent and beginning to de-build the Tent to its individual pieces before putting them back in his Void Storage.

Afterwards, Nico sat back down on the bed and held his Bracers in an 'X' formation on his lap. An idea came to him as he tilted his head, reaching to one of them and opening his Void Storage once more. Nico saw the list of items in it, and navigated though them till he found the one he wanted, before selecting it and holding his hands out. In a few Datastreams, the item manifested out of the Void Storage dimension into the physical plane of existence: revealing itself to be a Laptop.

The Laptop was an 'Asus' make, which was based in Lastation but had branched out into Planeptune recently. Nico had been requested (read: FORCED) to buy one and some games along with it to have some downtime whenever he found that he had nothing else to do. The Laptop had a mix of red and black colours in scheme, two of his favourite colours alongside orange and yellow, which had attracted his attention when he found it on sale.

It's not uncommon to see companies that should be supporting their Nation's Goddess branching out to other nations to make a profit. It used to be frowned upon by the Basilicom fanatics and there was high tension between them and these companies in the past. Now however, it's an accepted practice, and it played into how the total shares in each Nation were calculated. For example, Planeptune had many Shares from its populace, but thanks to the Guild and other Companies, there were Lastation, even a few Lowee and Leanbox shares detected there. These Shares were added to their respected Nations, thus making the total sum. It didn't matter where the Shares came from in current times, as long as there was faith flowing into the Goddesses, people wouldn't mind it's origins.

With the Console War however, there aren't as many as there could be for fear of retribution by the Basilicoms. While it was allowed, it was neither encouraged nor frowned upon, rather it was treated in a form of middle ground and heavily regulated. The Guilds of Gamindustri had many Agents who lived in one Nation but believed in the Goddess of another, so those who had the tech of different nations generally were them.

Nico himself? Well, he had made his opinions on the CPUs clear already.

Opening the Laptop and logging in, Nico looked through the Apps he had on: Word, Chrome, etc. Usually he would use his Laptop for research purposes, recording evidence from his Bracers in them, but often he would focus on playing the games on it. the list of games he had on this Laptop were as followed:

Halo 3

StarCraft 2 – all expansions

Four Goddesses Online

Right now, Nico wasn't feeling like playing any MMO's, but what he did feel like playing was an RTS game. StarCraft 2 was one of the well-received titles in Leanbox that even got some servers in the other Nations. Nico preferred the Leanbox server, though, as homage to the Company that made the game, Blizzard he thought it was. They were based in Leanbox, but had branched out to Planeptune and Lastation. That was how he heard about the game, and after a few hours playing its Demo Nico bought the entire game, with every Expansion.

He learned more about the StarCraft Universe, like the lore, the history and the events of the previous game and its expansions, as well as the business side of the series. Apparently, it took them 10 years to push out the Sequel to the original game, putting in tons of money, manpower and development time into it. In his opinion, the game was well worth the wait.

Opening the game up with a few clicks, Nico saw the opening screen and grinned to himself, his light blue eyes shining as he went onto the Online Multiplayer there, selecting for a 1v1 matchup. Fortunately, this place had Wi-Fi, and StarCraft was free to play when downloaded unlike Four Goddesses Online.

The matchup was formed and the loading screen followed. The players were as follows:

BlackDEATH675 Vs LadyGH

(Nico – Zerg) (Terran)

The Username of his opponent caught Nico's attention in seconds. He knew that player all too well from Four Goddesses Online. Apparently, this player's gaming time was so great that nobody else could match it, her/his hours, he wasn't naming genders here since he didn't know this person IRL, were insane, to the point where Nico suspected the person had no sleep playing it. The person's prowess was nothing to scoff at either, this player was almost godly in how he/she played, and whenever he/she went on Dungeon raids it was always guaranteed to be a success, even if his/her party members were under-levelled. This person was that good. Of course, Nico made a point not to lose against her, and his Avatar in four Goddesses online had special Mythical class equipment and abilities derived from long hours' worth of grinding, research and perseverance.

For someone like that to be playing an RTS game…

The screen fully loaded and Nico found himself staring at his home base, the default number of Drones already hard at work collecting his minerals. Just before he could play, he got a message from LadyGH.

 **LadyGH: Hello again, Black DEATH675. It's a pleasure to finally meet you on this game.**

 **BlackDEATH675: Okay, did NOT expect someone who plays MMO's to be in an RTS game. Nice to meet you BTW.**

His eyes narrowed as he quickly began building his base, morphing Drones to some defences while quickly setting up some better spawning by making an Evolution Chamber and Spawning pool. He wanted to keep his base safe from any quick rush attacks from the enemy, and this one seemed to have the goddess of gaming's blood running through their veins.

While the male thought of a plan, their chat was as follows:

 **LadyGH: Yes, I decided to make a change for once, since Four Goddesses Online is running maintenance today. I purchased this game a while ago, gave it a shot, and found you here.**

 **BlackDEATH675: So, you're just starting out? Heh, be ready, these games can get quite competitive, there's a lot of pro players on these matchups. Someone with your skill? Definite pro-player material.**

 **LadyGH: My, you flatter me. Such a gentleman, or woman. Though with your Username I feel that you're a male.**

 **BlackDEATH675: Not admitting to anything.**

 **LadyGH: Aw C'mon, dearie, we're friends in Four Goddesses Online, why not here?** **?**

 **BlackDEATH675: Well, you KIIIIIINDA forced me to after you tried to fight my Avatar in PVP… and lost, spectacularly, if I might add.**

 **LadyGH:** **ಠ** **ಠ**

 **BlackDEATH675: LOL beware, in RTS I show no mercy!**

 **LadyGH: I accept your challenge. However, lets spice this up a bit.**

 **BlackDEATH675: Oh? Do tell, ehehehe…**

 **LadyGH: How about a little Wager? If I win, then in Four Goddesses Online you and I will exchange wedding vows, becoming husband and wife.**

 **BlackDEATH675: (O □ O) Okay, w** **hat the heck?! You still on that marriage stuff? Didn't I tell you no the first time you asked me to marry your Avatar?**

 **LadyGH: A wife never gives up on her Husband dearie, you should know how stubborn I am.**

 **BlackDEATH675: Well, you got a point there… #Sigh# very well, but if I win that doesn't happen, alright? You already forced me to become friends with you, and I barely escaped joining your Guild.**

 **LadyGH: Once again, terms are accepted. Now, ready yourself, for you will be mine.**

 **BlackDEATH675: Hehehehehe, oh man, you just don't realise what you've unleashed.**

And then they were off. During that chat Nico had been building his first and second bases, with a third one on the opposite side of the Battleground with moderate defence. His Main was highly defended against air attacks since he knew Terran players tended to use those Medivacs to surprise the enemy, and with LadyGH as well as his dignity as a free Avatar in Four Goddesses Online on the line, he was taking no chances. The Gaming Skills of LadyGH were insane, as he had previously mentioned, but in RTS Nico could truly show his battle prowess! Strategy formation and changing plans on the battlefield taught him many lessons, which were used to make him one of the best StarCraft Players that hadn't played in Pro tournaments yet! LadyGH would regret challenging the DEATHSTROKE on this matter!

The gaming was intense.

For an accurate comparison it would best be considered as hot as a pool of lava, with the tension radiating through the battlefield, out of the computers and into the rooms that the two players were in. So much intensity was in the air that it would have made lower-ranking players lose their ability to breathe. This was what a game between pros was like, they would lose themselves to the game and enter a world that only they could see. Their senses were heightened, their cells were alert, everything was stacked for them to exploit.

In the beginning, the Zerg played defensive while the Terrans dropped their forces throughout the map, trying to cut him off from expanding too much with the Creep since it sped up Zerg Forces. However, before that plan implemented several Drones had already escaped to the opposite sides, becoming Hatcheries and Lairs. Zerg were spawning there without the Terrans Knowledge, at least until the Terrans launched a radar scan to all four corners of the map, revealing the horrors that lay within.

The Terrans were immediately startled and an aerial attack force was deployed to destroy the Zerg bases. They were beset by random attacks with Zerg structures and anti-air units designed to slow them down, and by the time that they arrived a full-scale battery had been set up and was lying in wait. The battery managed to severely damage the aerial fleet, quickly forcing the Terrans to retreat. They thought they were safe, with their base defences on high alert, ready to strike down the attacks the Zerg had coming.

They were ever so wrong.

It happened without warning, the Zerg came in masse, streaming across the ground and flying from multiple sides. Another Zerg Hive base had been set up at another corner as supply, generating the income for one big wave of Zerg. Zerglings, Roaches, Hydralisks, Mutalisks, Corruptors and Brood lords descended upon the Terrans, who fought valiantly to defend themselves.

In the end however, there was only one winner…

* * *

Satisfaction rushed through him as Nico stretched his arms above his head, his grin so wide that it threatened to split his face. The Laptop on his lap showed him the Victory screen of the Zerg, their symbol in purple with the battlefield in the darkened background, a purple light coming from the centre with the words VICTORY in big bold white writing.

Once again, Nico had shown his battle prowess as BlackDEATH675, also known as the 'Gaming Reaper' as he put an end to many people's gaming careers with no mercy given. Much like in battle where he fought against monsters that wouldn't hesitate to bring him down by any means necessary. It taught him that in battle you must be ruthless, to be willing to do what you can to strike down your enemy. It had also taught him patience, cunning, planning and calculation.

Made him one of the damn near worst people you could cross.

Many Players feared him on multiple different games, whenever someone would find him as an enemy, Nico could practically feel how they would stain their pants. The reaper would give no fucks as to who his opponent was, all he would do was fight, and fight to win. In this case, LadyGH may have been a formidable adversary, but the Reaper always gets his prey. This time was no different.

After he went back to the main menu, another chat opened, curtesy of his defeated adversary.

 **LadyGH: Aw, poo. I lost.** **ಠ** **ಠ**

 **BlackDEATH675: Hehehehehe, I told you. You should never underestimate the Reaper lest you find yourself impaled on his Scythe.**

 **LadyGH: Why is it that you are great at these games, better than many of my top-ranking Guild Members?**

 **BlackDEATH675: Probably because I put skills I learn on active duty to use in Gaming, being a Spec Ops and all.**

 **LadyGH: OMG! You're from one of those branches?! You must be very skilled indeed!**

 **BlackDEATH675: You could say that, though I make it so I'm not well known for one reason #shudder#... fangirls.**

 **LadyGH: …I can see the appeal of that, yes, I do. If those fangirls lay a hair on your head let me know so I can… visit them, for a bit.**

 **BlackDEATH675: Uhhhhhh, down whatever gender you are.**

 **LadyGH: Hehehehehe woof!**

 **BlackDEATH675: LOL, so anyways, now that you've lost no marriage for you. #Grin#**

 **LadyGH: one of these days I'll get you, dearie. #Insert evil witch cackle here# Maybe IRL if we ever meet.**

 **BlackDEATH675: Oh, gods let's not let that happen, I fear for my chastity.**

 **LadyGH: oh? So, you have never dated before, have you?** **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 **BlackDEATH675: I'm not answering that.**

 **LadyGH: Awwww…**

 **BlackDEATH675: Anywho, how's life treating you?**

 **LadyGH: Fine, I suppose. The Basilicom's being a pain with how it always tries to interfere with my business, though my ranking within it makes them unable to do much but swarm around me like flies.**

 **BlackDEATH675: sounds to me like you don't hold them in high regard.**

 **LadyGH: Oh, it's not that I hate them or anything, they're good people, it's just that they're mostly boring old men who are too stiff and formal for my tastes, even if I'm sort of like that myself.**

 **BlackDEATH675: I see… well, do your best and stick to whatever path you see fit, LadyGH, don't let anyone tell you different.**

 **LadyGH: Oh, I will, thank you for the advice. I am serious though, I really want to meet you IRL. When do you think you'll come to Leanbox?**

 **BlackDEATH675: Not sure, maybe soon. I'm in Lastation with a Party right now, and things here are looking more fucked than the last time I was here. I won't say what happened that time, cause its classified by the Guild.**

 **Lady GH: I see… Very well, I hope that you resolve your business at Lastation. I must go now, it looks like Four Goddesses Online is back up now. speak to you later, my dearie. #Wink#**

 **BlackDEATH675: Yeah, me too, pleasure playing with you again** **!**

With a grin, Nico shut the game down and then his Laptop, closing it before putting it in his Void Storage. The male, despite the weirdness that their conversations generated, found LadyGH to be an interesting player to know. While she did force him into friending her and joining her Guild, he did admit that it was a heathy experience to play with someone who was considered his equal. He may be the reaper, but someone like her, with her Goddess Level Skill, was someone he saw worthy of respect, and he wasn't being funny, but Nico somehow felt that she felt the same way about him. Though why she wanted him to marry her in Four Goddesses Online was a mystery in of itself.

The marriage system worked as such that the two players shared inventory space and had increased healing buffs whenever they hit each other with support abilities. His Avatar's class was an all-rounder with decent stats, skills and weapons to use, though he preferred the use of Scythes, with his black and purple mythical skeleton armour, his nickname as 'the Reaper' was well earned.

When he had fought LadyGH in PVP, Nico had made the mistake of underestimating his opponent in the beginning, which had costed him dearly. Never making that mistake again, Nico had learned from it and played defensively, gauging his opponent and calculating how much damage could be done by LadyGH before going for the fatal blows. Afterwards, the two had talked and before he knew it, Nico had been friended and recruited into LadyGH's Guild: The Goddess Core Knights.

Time passed, and as they talked, becoming closer and closer to the point where Nico could call this player a friend, LadyGH had dropped the marriage bomb on him, much to his shock and surprise. It hadn't taken him long to refuse of course, due to having a reputation as a Solo Player to keep up, even if he was in a Guild. While he had been nearing the limits of what a solo player could accomplish, Nico wouldn't let himself lose what remained of it. The Reaper must roam. Ever since though, LadyGH had been repeatedly nagging him about marrying in the game and meeting him in IRL. If this person was a guy, being married in the game would make Nico feel a little awkward since he didn't swing that way. But if it was a woman, well… Probably awkward as well.

The sound of the doors to the Café opening and closing alerted him to someone coming inside. So, Nico decided to see what was up, standing from the bed and leaving the bedroom.

Noire stood in a separate room, another guest room to be precise. She had snuck in here without anyone noticing, neither Neptune nor Compa had seen her when she came in. Although that might be because they were too busy in the Café talking about random things that Noire didn't pay attention to.

She walked to where a human sized mirror was leaning against a wall, and from her Inventory she summoned a package she had gotten from her 'errand'. She knew that her clothes, form and mannerisms would give her away, so change a bit of her and the disguise is perfect! At least, that's what she was thinking.

The girl brought the package up to where it was level with her chest and reached for the lid, pulling it off to reveal an object underneath. A big smile slowly spread across her face, an excited gleam shining in her eyes as she put the object on them, her hands concealing the object from view. "Ta Da! I bought Eyeglasses!" she cheered, lowering her hands to reveal a pair of red rimmed Glasses on her face. "If I wear these, no one can find out who I am."

"Now let's give these a try. Let's see… mirror…" she mumbled, leaning towards the mirror to inspect her new addition to her outfit. She tiled her head into multiple angles to get a better impression of them, until she hopped back with a bright smile and a giggle she wouldn't let anyone catch her sporting. "Hm…. Not bad… in fact, I think I look pretty good in these." She remarked to herself in a moment of self-evaluation.

The Glasses did indeed add to her appeal. They gave her the look of someone intelligent, and combined with her outfit it made her look even more professional than she did before. It was like she was a CEO of a large business firm, which was ironic considering her position. "I should be able to hide my identity with this." The thought had occurred to her late last night, when she was getting ready for bed. It would be problematic for her if Avenir recognised her like Chian had, and she didn't want her cover to be blown like it almost had before.

Thus, Noire had gotten up before the others, showered, dressed and snuck out of the Cafe to get some Glasses. She had experience in clothes stores from her…hobbies, that she wouldn't let anyone know she had under pain of death. The shops hadn't been open when she got out, though, so she had to wait till one of them opened, preferably at the earliest time so she could solve this issue as soon as possible. Now, she had her Glasses and was feeling pretty good about herself.

"I never really tried eyeglasses on before, but I think I can handle it." Noire remarked to herself as she once again checked her new accessories in the mirror. Fashion was an important part of a girl's routine, something only girls could understand just like how boys understood things only they could. She made several faces, ranging from stern, to focused, to scolding etc, until her face settled on happiness as she hummed happily to herself. "I got that "I can do anything!" look to me. Pretty cool. I should put them on when I work at a desk or something. Heh-heh."

The blackette grinned to herself while a chuckle escaped her lips at the thought of her wearing eyeglasses while signing documents behind a Desk. With how she liked to do everything in a professional manner with her no-nonsense attitude, Noire could totally see herself doing things like that. An idea sparked in her mind, one that she blurted out without thinking. "Oh, right. I should show this to Neptune and Nico…"

Blinking several times, Noire's brain registered what left her lips after a few moments, and her face lit up like a candle as she held her cheeks with her hands. "Wait, why am I getting cosy with them?! One of them tried to kill me!" she exclaimed, slapping her cheeks to try and stem the redness on her face. Though this only made it worse as the blush soon became from the pain instead of the embarrassment.

Soon, she managed to get herself under control. Her face returning to its original colour. A stressed sigh escaped her lips as the girl moaned in fatigue. "It isn't good for me to get close to Neptune…" she mumbled to herself, her gaze aimed at the ground. "And that Nico guy… judging from what I know, that form he takes is one he's unable to control, which means what happened was an accident. If I got too close to him I bet I'd be killed, too…" she mumbled, before some of her embarrassment returned. "N-not like I wanna get close to him or anything! It's just that he's done a lot for my Landmass when I was up in Celestia! Yeah, he has!"

Memories of what Chian told her about the Racoon City Outbreak resurfaced, and her embarrassment faded away into a scowl that scrunched up her otherwise flawless features. "Of course, how could I forget that? Such a horror took place in MY Landmass, with MY people. what kind of C-no, what kind of leader lets something like a Console War get in the way of keeping them safe? Especially from a nightmare like that? Someone like Nico shouldn't have had to come from Planeptune to stop this… and yet he did… the more I hear about him, the more I admire his courage…"

"Noire! Let's go eat some pudding!" A feminine, childish voice suddenly shouted right from behind her. Noire shrieked in shock, completely caught off guard as she nearly fell forwards. After she regained her balance and stopped herself from falling over, the blackette turned to glare at the source of her ire: a mischievously grinning Neptune. Said girl realised what had happened and sheepishly laughed while rubbing the back of her head. "Whoops, did I surprise you? Sorry." She apologised awkwardly.

Anger flushed all other emotions from her mind as Noire made to yell at the preteen. However, it soon turned into dread when she began to wonder what Neptune had heard from her. "You… didn't hear what I was saying, right?" she asked with fear in her voice. She didn't want to have blown her cover so easily, then her pride would never be able to recover!

Neptune's face turned to one of confusion as she stared at the panicked blackette, her mind unable to register what she was talking about. "Huh? what do you mean?" she asked, her previous energetic mannerisms now stale.

This showed Noire that the preteen was not aware of what she had been mumbling to herself about, which wiped out her previous emotions and reinstalled relief into her systems. This was shown by her lacking defensive posture and how her shoulders slumped in relief. "Oh no, Nevermind. I was just mumbling something embarrassing to myself." She vaguely explained in a manner that suggested that it wasn't important.

Though she would soon come to regret that as Neptune suddenly jumped over and wrapped her arms around the blackette's neck, hanging off her like a leaf on a tree branch. "Oh, now I wanna know! Aaah! What kind of embarrassing thing could Noire have been saying? Maybe she was singing a song she had made?! Oh wow, that would be embarrassing!" she exclaimed with excitement. Hearing some embarrassing gossip about one of her friends? Why the heck not, she liked having gossip, you could say she was the 'Gossip Girl'. She was an energetic carefree girl, it was her nature to gossip. Like in the anime when she blabbered something on the internep and got scolded by characters that haven't made their appearance yet!

At both the closeness and the insistence Neptune sported, Noire's face went aflame with a mix of embarrassment and anger as she tried to pry her off. "Wh-What are you saying?!" she shrieked during her attempts. However, let it not be said that Neptune didn't have a strong grip, her grip was like iron, and Noire had trouble prying her away from her. If a certain male Spec Ops Agent were here, he'd be seeing a familiar sight happen to someone other than him. "Who would do such a stupid thing like that?!"

Eventually, with the help of a Crowbar she found by the side of one of the beds in the Guest room, Noire managed to stick it between themselves and push the girl away, much to her protest. Once it was done, the preteen crying crocodile tears while proclaiming how mean Noire was, the blackette exhaled a breath before she gazed at Neptune's form, which was curled in the fatal position. "Anyway, you were here for something else, right?"

At her question, all of Neptune's depression suddenly vanished out of existence, her attitude turning a complete 180 as she shot up and took Noire's hands in hers. "Oh yeah! Here you go!" Neptune shoved something into Noire's hands, and when she looked down she saw that it was a cup of Pudding. Noire mentally blanched, she realised now that this was Neptune's favourite food. But why was she giving some to her?

The answer came to her soon enough, as Neptune continued where she left off. "Pudding!" she cheered, raising her arms high. Noire idly noticed that she had some Pudding as well, in her right hand where does she get this from? "It's really good!" she then got to the point seeing the confused look that Noire held on her face. "Um, I got some pudding from Chian, so I wanna eat with you!" she said simplistically, like that was the key to her plan all along.

However, she was shot down by a blunt "No" from Noire as she shoved the Pudding right back at her. "Why don't you eat it by yourself?" she asked coldly while making to leave the Guest room. She had to distance herself from Neptune, she couldn't afford to get close to her at this rate. Many people depended on her for their survival after all.

She didn't get far though, as Neptune jumped onto her back, eerily similar to what she did before, still with that wide innocent smile on her face. "I wanna eat with N-O-I-R-E! C'mon!" she proclaimed, like it was a mission given to her by the Pudding gods or something along those lines. Her wide eyes full of joy and childish nature annoyed the black-haired girl, although part of her told her to accept the offer.

Unfortunately, Noire crushed it with no remorse and shrugged Neptune off. "#SIGH# I'm not nice enough to spend my precious time to be with you." She stated with annoyance at the preteen. She then pinched the bridge of her nose, before aiming a glare in Neptune's direction. "I'll say it again… eat the Pudding by yourself. I'm stepping out." She said with no room for argument.

"Huh? where are you going, Noire?"

"I'm going for a stroll. I want to be alone." Afterwards, Noire left the Guest room, leaving Neptune alone.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Fairly normal chapter compared to the last few, but don't worry, things will be heating up real soon. ;)**


	22. Chapter 22 - A proper disguise

**Chapter 22 - A proper disguise**

The rest of the day was spent in relaxation, since the job requests for the Guild hadn't included anything from Avenir yet. By 'relaxing' they really meant training, and as usual Nico showed no mercy in his 'brutal beat down' that he called his training, leaving them bruised and battered. However, his teachings did start showing results, since they were able to last longer than before at least. Hell, Neptune even transformed to see if the power of a Spec Ops Agent would rival that of a HDD user.

It had attracted the attention of the rest of the party, even Chian herself was intrigued enough to pause whatever she was working on to go watch. In the end, there was no clear victor as the sparring matches ended in a draw, though that was what the two decided on. They concluded that Nico and Neptune were equal in terms of power when she transformed. Neptune was just slightly faster than him thanks to her mobility advantage, however Nico compensated with absurd reaction times and his wide arsenal of Skills plus his weapons, though he only used Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory. It wouldn't be unexpected to call them the two main powerhouses of the Party.

Afterwards, once they were treated from their injuries, IF and Compa went to gather some supplies for their group as Neptune kept on hogging all the Pudding. Since the economy was so bad, the prices they had to pay put small dents in the Party's budget, and they couldn't afford to go onto the Abnormal slaying jobs considering they weren't Spec Ops Agents, and the only one they did have was registered as 'on leave' by the Guild's archives. Which meant that what authority Nico did have was useless until his Armour was restored.

Chian had went to a meeting with other factories in prep for the Expo. Lots of skilled craftsman were going to help make an item that would beat Avenir's, whatever that may be, in order for them to go meet the CPU to tell her what was happening to Lastation. Their drive amazed Nico when he heard this, it showed to him that these people were dedicated to their task, and while he was slightly annoyed that it was for the sake of their CPU, he would let it slide since they weren't part of the Spec Ops.

Noire spent the afternoon strolling through Lastation, frowning and contemplating to herself about her current situation. With Avenir destroying her Nation like this, she knew that if she were to engage Neptune again she would certainly lose. Even more so if she had Nico with her, and it wasn't like she could take that guy down either with her low shares. Hell even if her shares were higher she doubted she'd win against that guy. He seemed to be someone who specialised in fighting beings above him in strength, stature and the like. Then there was that uncontrollable form he took when he fought her, the Demon Drive Demonica as she had learned it was called from Neptune.

To her, Noire had never expected to find someone who had another version of HDD, one that was more primal and animalistic than the CPUs transformations. She wondered why nobody had heard of it, as she had spent ample time in the library before her strolling to conduct research on this DDD. Next to nothing was found however, which irritated and frustrated her with her lack of information on it. The only person she could ask would be Nico himself, as he was the one who most likely knew the most about it. At least, those that she knew of. She wasn't sure how he got it, the only thing Noire was sure of was the fact that it was powerful and had just manifested one day during a mission to annihilate a bunch of Abnormals that were causing trouble.

Lastation's Shares were declining by the day, which limited her power greatly. A part of her feared she may lose her ability to transform with the remaining Shares focused on keeping her… around, shall we say. Worse still, was the fact that her military was suffering budget cuts thanks to the Basilicom, these cuts transferring credits and funds to Avenir's projects. Those cuts should have remained with Lastation's military, that was her decree when she had formed the legislation controlling the budgeting for it. However, someone must have found loopholes around it to exploit the budget. If things went on like this, her military would n't be properly equipped to deal with the Monsters on so many fronts.

It was made even worse when she remembered the many monster Packs that were forming these days, more and more packs were assaulting the various cities under Lastation's banner, cities smaller than the Lastation capital, with trade routes becoming inaccessible thanks to them as well. It was mostly thanks to the Spec Ops, Guild Agents and Adventurers allied with the Guild that they still had what they did, but even then the Monsters were slowly pushing forwards, taking more lands and more resources for their own.

Despite all of this, Noire knew she couldn't do much, and resolved to steel her mind and soul for the time being. She would just have to bide her time till the right moment. Perhaps this time, she could have Neptune help her with Avenir while maintaining her cover. Since she had been doing a bad job of that so far, Noire needed to step up her game. If she wanted Avenir to be stopped, she shouldn't have allowed all those close calls. For now, she'll focus on maintaining her image and taking out Avenir.

Neptune and Nico will have to wait.

* * *

The following morning, Nico and the others were getting ready for their job… their job working for Avenir that is. IF and him had received notification by the Guild on their devices, her phone and his Bracer, that a job request for them had opened up. It only made sense that they would, as even they would be affected by the monster attacks. Thus, they were prepping to head out. Nico was putting the finishing touches on his outfit, straightening his Trench Coat before moving on to his gloves, when he looked up and found his gaze on Noire. Or to be more specific, her Eyeglasses. The male twitched his brow at this. 'Are you freaking kidding me? Is this what I think it is?' the male thought in disbelief, refusing he urge to pinch his nose. "Hey, Noire?"

"Yes?" Noire asked after disposing of the case for her Eyeglasses back into her Inventory, before turning to him to see his disbelieving/stern gaze focused intently on her. "Wh-what is it?" she asked again, stuttering a bit at how intense his gaze was. She didn't know why, but that gaze of his looked quite intimidating right now.

Slowly the male walked over to her before stopping and raising his hand, pointing at her Eyeglasses. "Don't tell me that's your attempt at changing your look." He stated with an undertone of disbelief, like he couldn't believe that she thought this would be an ample disguise, all the while shaking his head in disappointment while lowering his hand.

Noire huffed at his obvious disapproval of her attire, crossing her arms and turning her head away from him. "So, what if it is? People won't recognise me even if I did a change as minor as this. It's enough to make most think I'm not the CPU of Lastation." She explained hotly, trying to defend her choice of disguise.

On that, Nico could agree. Most people who follow the CPUs can be dim-witted at times, to the point where a flimsy disguise like this would be enough to fool them into thinking she wasn't a CPU. Nico however, wasn't fooled one bit, though. He was not like the rest of Gamindustri, so reliant on the CPUs for their protection. Therefore, it stood to reason that he found this sort of thing a mockery of all attempts at a Disguise.

The male rolled his eyes before, faster than a bullet, he grabbed her by the hand and began dragging her out of the room. "Wh-What are you d-doing?! U-Unhand me this instant!" Noire screeched, trying to break free of his grip while also digging her heels into the wooden floors. However, those attempts were futile as Nico's grip was as solid as steel.

"If you want a disguise so bad you're going to have to go to a professional. And lucky for you, I know a guy who can help with that. Don't worry about the others, I've messaged them and said we're taking a small detour and will meet them before we go to the Quest's meeting point. Now shut up and follow me."

His sharp, blade-like retort stopped Noire cold in her tracks, making her tense as her eyes widened and her hands become rigid. This satisfied the male, as they didn't have much wiggle room for this little... detour. In his eyes, Noire's disguise was atrocious, a major insult to those who made disguises anywhere. While it would fool the common folk into thinking she was a civilian, a rather well-dressed civilian at that, it would do practically jack shit to those with a brain, something that Nico feared Avenir would have much of with how they managed to get this far in their plans. This had to be rectified at all costs, and he knew just how to do so.

However, there was a problem. The male knew two places that he had already briefly scouted out during the day. The first was a simple clothes shop that had been doing well recently, since they weren't part of the Lastation Tech Expo due to the nature of their wares. They did well thanks to civilians always needing new clothes thanks to their old ones being shredded whenever they run from monster attacks. This was, regrettably according to his research, quite a common occurrence, something he had heard rumours that Avenir may expand to after the Expo. This shop sold a variety of outfits for many a profession, be it a simple worker, an adventurer, Guild Agent, even Spec Ops Agents use it to buy various items of clothing they like. One could say that it was a successful clothes shop, he believed it was called 'Boohoo' or something.

The problem was location. They were hard-pressed for time and if they went to this clothes shop then they would likely be late for the meeting, which would damage their reputation with Avenir, make them think twice before hiring them again, and thus make their task of finding out their exhibit plans much harder. Not to mention it may discredit them in more ways than one in the future, which had to be avoided at all costs. They did have an online ordering service, but the problem there was time, something they didn't have a lot of. Plus, Avenir's actions meant that the prices would be higher than if they bought the items personally, what with the shipping, distributing, and checks that the Basilicom under Avenir's control now imposed, so that was a no go.

In addition, even if they went and gotten an outfit that suited their purposes, Noire would stand out regardless, especially with her face. As much as he loathed himself to admit it, Noire's natural looks would attract LOTS of attention from... unsavoury individuals. She was indeed a pretty girl with a mature face and the right body balance, even someone like Nico could admit that, though he kept such thoughts to himself. Her personality would be a trigger for people, too, Neptune did call her a 'tsundere' once, and many people are fans of that emotional trope. The bottom line was, her face would not be covered by anything, and thus Avenir may become suspicious regardless. One can tell lots about a person from their facial features, it was why Criminals resorted to wearing facemasks to hide their identities when they commit their deeds. Facial recognition was a great way to identify a criminal or a suspect, as Capital cities, even normal cities, had many a high civilian population count.

The second Option was another familiar shop to him, one that Nico had used several times in the past. It was a Mask shop, and like it's name implies it sells Masks, even custom makes them too. A Mask can be a deadly tool when used correctly, able to hide the identities of the most sinister of criminals, like murderers, rapists, paedophiles and full-on deranged psychopaths. A Mask suggested that they would have something to hide, true enough, but it also showed people that those who wear Masks were serious about their... darker business, yet refused to do it as their true selves, opting to hide that self so they could still lead normal lives.

He should know, he'd seen it before.

Unfortunately, it still meant that Noire would have to go in her current apparel, and while there was nothing physically wrong with it, it gave her the appearance of someone who belonged to a high class side of society, someone who was important or someone who was involved heavily in how Lastation was run. Given how he had practically figured her out already thanks to prior submitted evidence, that was indeed the case. The only reason Nico hadn't confronted her sooner was because she hadn't tried anything yet, plus she seemed more focused on helping the Nation than killing her enemies at the moment, thus he would keep a watchful eye on her for the foreseeable future.

It didn't take Noire long to realise any attempts at escape from Nico would end in futility, so with reluctance she stopped struggling and allowed him to pull her out of Passé. She was glad that the others had went ahead of them, as Neptune would no doubt use this moment to try and tease her in some manner, making some big misunderstanding that Noire would have to clear up.

* * *

Once they were out of the streets, Nico let go of her hand. She didn't try to run from him as it would prove no point, he would be able to catch her and likely make her go through something even more humiliating. She was sure he can do something like that, too, especially when she looked into his eyes when he let go of her hand. They were filled with caution, a gleam that came with being prepared to act if necessary. She got the impression that he would do things when they were necessary, the impression of a Soldier.

It made sense when she thought about it, Nico was, for all intents and purposes, a Soldier.

However, there were certain differences between him and the average grunt. For one, Soldiers fight on behalf of their Nations, their Goddesses. However, Noire got the impression that Nico didn't fight for anything like that, which begged the question, what did he fight for? She never got the chance to ask him though, because by the time she thought this the male's voice was heard. "We're here."

Blinking owlishly, Noire snapped herself out of her little funk and looked to where Nico had dragged her out to. She saw that it was a shop, a Mask shop that was titled 'Anime Skrillex'. Noire looked at the display windows and saw various Masks on the mannequins, Masks that served to look various forms of intimidating. It made her feel a little hesitant on going in, if she were honest with herself. 'What is this place? I've never been here before, and from the looks of things this place looks well-maintained, which indicates a decent budget. Kinda strange, considering Avenir's influence on the Market…' she thought to herself.

"C'mon Noire, are you coming or not?" Nico's voice once again snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked at him and saw him by the door, which had been halfway pushed open when he had looked and saw her once again lost in her own thoughts. His expression indicated that he was mildly annoyed, yet a flicker of understanding flickered through his gaze.

Shaking her head, Noire groaned to herself before giving an annoyed look to him. "Do I have a choice? Let's just get this over with." She sighed before walking towards him, Nico nodding as he pushed the door all the way this time and entered the shop. The doorbell rung when they stepped in, and in a second Noire began looking around the interior of the shop.

Masks. Everywhere she looked, the blackette could see Masks. They were on the walls, on long isles of shelves, some were on small stands at the corners of the room. There were some which were covered by a white cloth, which likely meant they weren't ready for display. There were wooden floorboards beneath their feet that creaked and groaned when they moved along. Noire had to admit though, despite never hearing of this place before, the Masks here were well made. There were so many that she could see, all different from the others.

'So many shapes and sizes… maybe I should visit here more often, buy some of these for some costumes…'

Once again, Noire shook those thoughts away as the two looked around. Although she swore she saw a knowing gleam pass through Nico's eyes when he separated from her after saying to look around to see what tickled her fancy. Moving along the isles, Noire examined each Mask, a sense of wonder about her as she gazed at some of them, and shivered at some of the more… sinister and insidious looking ones. Whoever made these certainly had a creative flare for the horror and intimidation genre, that's for sure. There were various demon Masks, Masks taken after various monsters, legends like the Kraken, so many creatures. Hell, even the cuter ones like a Bunny Mask she saw had a disturbing feel to it.

The whole damn shop was like that!

Soon, Noire came up to a stand covered by a tablecloth, which likely meant that something wasn't meant to be on display yet. However, Noire had been captivated by curiosity's allure, and wanted to see what was underneath. However, as the saying went, curiosity killed the Cat, which was more than apparent here with what happened next.

When she approached the tablecloth-clad stand, Noire slowly reached down for it, a gulp sound coming from her as she prepared herself for what may lurk underneath this Stand. If it were following the theme of the rest of this Shop, then…

"Boo."

"KYAAAAAAA-!"

Nico's brow rose as he heard Noire's startled cry, before a sigh escaped his lips. 'Looks like he's at it again…' the male thought while moving from the Mask he was examining to look over the scene that followed. Noire had fallen onto her backside, her legs curled towards her chest while someone had kept the tablecloth raised when she screamed and fell, showing that it was a man bend in the fatal position on top of the stand.

It was a tall, lanky man with black hair, styled into an undercut. Various tattoos cover his arms, and a sun tattoo covers his entire left pectoral region. He wore a grey tank top underneath a black wrap sweater, along with harem pants and black sandals. He also wears a black necklace with round, white gems hanging from it. His eyes were crimson red, with a black sclera with multiple piercings on his ears, and his lower lip. One could find that his appearance was quite… scary, at first glance.

"Scaring Customers again, I see..." Nico remarked with his hands in the pockets of his Trench Coat, a knowing look crossing onto his face as he regarded the man while he stepped off the Stand, allowing the Tablecloth to fall onto it. Judging by his expression, it was clear that Nico had suspected something like this would happen, and when he looked at Noire's face, it was all he could do to stop a smirk from forming on his face.

The man glanced at him, looking a child who did nothing wrong as he responded. "Everyone needs a scare now and then…" he said this while glancing down at Noire who scrambled up to her feet, glaring angrily at him. The man however, looked like he wasn't the least bit scared of her one bit as he looked her from top to bottom. "… she's cute." He said simply, yet it sparked an… amusing reaction.

Noire's face changed from anger to embarrassment in the blink of an eye. Her face lit up with a light reddish colour as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. She clenched her fists tightly which were shaking from thein inquiring gaze that the man was giving her.

"Her reaction is interesting…" the man remarked once more, humming thoughtfully as his gaze shifted from Nico to Noire, and then back again. A light shined in his eyes as a look of realisation and understanding crossed onto the man's face while he fisted an open palm. "Oh, I see. You two are boyfriend and girlfriend."

Noire's expression just got worse at that insinuation. "WHA-?!" she squeaked, stepping back from him at the shock of what he just said, and he didn't look all that bothered about it either. "What the heck-No! we're not b-b-b-boyfriend and g-g-g-g-girlfriend! Stop thinking those thoughts this minute!" she screeched, pointing at the man with a furious gaze in her eyes. Although it didn't help that she was blushing from embarrassment, which sorta toned down the danger factor.

Seeing her flustered state, the man looked at her with doubt, before looking over to Nico for clarification. Noire did the same, and if looks could kill, the glare she was sending his way would have burned a whole in his head like a laser. "No, we're not a couple, Uta." The male said while pinching his nose. This was so not what he needed before a difficult quest. Not because of how tough the Monsters were, but difficult in how he'd have to fight his instincts to rip Avenir's representatives apart at the meeting point. "You know I'm not the dating type, I've said it over a million times with my fellow Agents."

"Right, right. Sorry…" The man known as Uta waved a hand apologetically, although both knew that it was just a formality. Uta then twirled around and sat on the Stand, though this time he didn't go into the fatal position like he did before. "What brings you to my shop? If I had to guess, I'd say it's about that girl." He asked, nodding his head to the blackette's direction. Said blackette had regained her composure, a bit of pink remaining on her cheeks though that would soon vanish, since the conversation had moved forwards from her… dating… someone.

A nod came from the Spec Ops Agent as he gestured to her without looking at her. "Yeah, you'd be right. She's in the need of a Mask." He explained. His eyes rolled from one side to another as he continued. "She thought wearing some Eyeglasses would be considered a 'perfect disguise' for her jobs."

Hearing this, the man raised a brow, as if to say 'Seriously?' before looking towards the girl in question. Noire flinched under his gaze, knowing that Nico was telling the truth. In hindsight, maybe she should have bought something better than eyeglasses, but hey it's not her fault most people are too gullible to see past something like that! "Well, I can agree that would be a pathetic disguise." He admitted thoughtfully, but not giving any condescending looks to the girl, much to her relief. "Well, you're in luck, I think I have the perfect Mask for something like this. Oh, and I have your custom order ready as well."

Nico raised a brow at that, surprised. "Really? Wow, you work fast. I thought it would have taken longer for my order to be ready." He remarked with an impressed tone while they walked to another section of the Shop. He spied Noire glancing around at the Masks she hadn't seen yet, flinching at some of them, until they came down some stairs to a basement-like room. It only had a couple light bulbs for light, and to the side was a counter with a series of cupboards above it.

"It was almost too easy for me." Uta replied as he went to the back of the counter and kneeled. Sounds of shuffling could be heard from below while Noire and Nico went to the opposite side. The man then stood up, having pulled from below the counter a medium sized box, which he then placed on the table. The Spec Ops looked at him and Uta nodded, "go ahead, see for yourself." He urged, gesturing to the box.

Nico opened the box one piece of the lid at a time. The lid was soon open, exposing what lay within the Box: A Mask. Nico brought it out the Box and looked it over. The Mask covered the lower half of the human face. Being black in colour with a leather-like feel to it. it had a lipless mouth which was frozen into a maniacal grin, befitting someone who had been to an insane asylum and back again. The Mask's eyepatch attachment was of the same material and covered the right eye, with a band that when it was on, it would be like it was part of the Mask. On the sides of the Mask where the Jaw would be, there were a pair of bolts, like the tops of screws.

The male looked it from front to back, an amazed gleam in his eyes with his mouth slightly open. At Uta's urging, Nico put the Mask on, making sure the Eyepatch attachment fit snugly on his right eye before adjusting the Mask to make sure the rest was the same. When he was satisfied, Nico turned to Uta who held a mirror out before his face, allowing him to see his masked reflection. The lone eye that was visible was filled with appreciation for the new accessory, he really liked it, for it felt oddly… fitting, for some reason. "Wow, this is excellent work Uta. Once again, you do your skills proud." He praised.

Uta nodded, neutrality on his face as he began put away the storage equipment he had used for the Mask. "Like I said, it was easy and simple to make for me, your requests were taken into consideration for it. I liked the idea of you having one eye exposed like that Armour you always wore. Wat happened to it?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side during his work.

This prompted a solemn gaze from Nico, and Uta didn't ask for any more information. He knew that look already, it told him all he needed to know. "I see… well, then, as for your friend here…" Uta began, steering the conversation from that topic towards something more… fruitful. He saw out the corner of his eye, how Noire tensed up at seeing the Mask, and had to fight a chuckle to himself, knowing how easy it was to scare some people with his designs.

Once again, Uta kneeled and brought a small box out, standing upright to put it down on the counter. "This one was made recently, but it's no less the same quality that you would expect." He explained briefly, taking off the box's lid to show another Mask. Noire then looked at the Mask, and found that like the others, this one was also sporting an intimidating, sinister presence. And yet, for some reason, this one felt… different from the others. She couldn't quite explain it, though judging by the expressions Uta and Nico gave, she didn't even need to. They knew already, and that slightly worried her.

Was she going insane?

* * *

Once they left the Mask Shop with their purchases in hand, Noire and Nico journeyed to where the other girls would be waiting for them to go meet their Client. The male had gotten the location from the brunette member of their Party, shortly after Noire's first… introduction to Uta. It still made him have the urge to smirk smugly thinking about it.

"Well… that was something." Noire tried to say after a moment's worth of awkward silence, well, to her anyways, Nico was more focused on the upcoming Quest for Avenir than anything. Though, her words did serve to make him shift his focus to her as he turned his head to look at the blackette as she fumbled about with her new Mask.

Her Mask covered the entirety of her face when she put it on. It was the same colour and material as Nico's, but had a mix of demonic and dragon to it. it had four eyeholes, each one having black and red lenses to simulate the same eyes as Uta had. Its lower jaw extended downwards into a V shape, giving it a pointy edge. 3 horns protruded outwards from both sides of the Mask, making it look like a 6-horned, 4-eyed demonic dragon mask.

Nico nodded his head with her in agreement. "Yeah well, that's Uta for you. He does care about his customers, though he can be a bit weird about it. First meetings with him are always a sight to see when he scares the newer and more arrogant of the recruits to the Guild." The male mused, putting an index finger on his chin as his eyes rolled upwards, memories of the last few times he'd heard about how the recruits depicted the Mask maker, none of them friendly.

Narrowing her eyes at him, Noire frowned as she realised something. "You sure seem to know about one of m-I mean, Lady Black Heart's citizens. Who is he?" she asked him, while also nearly blowing her cover once again only to barely stop her slip up. 'Shoot, I can't do that! Nico isn't like Neptune, he's going to notice if I behave oddly!' she scolded herself.

The male did indeed notice her slip up, but paid it no heed for now. It would not be wise to interrogate her in the middle of the street like that. So instead, he decided to answer her. "That was Uta, he's a Mask maker, provides his services to anybody. Guy's also part of a group called the Clowns: a group of information brokers, though they have had hands in various events throughout Lastation's history. Remember Racoon City?" Noire nodded her head with a grimace. How could she not? That horrible incident would haunt her for a long time. "Well, they're another factor that lead to Umbrella's downfall."

That new titbit of information intrigued her. If they were part of that corporation's downfall, then they were worth knowing about in her opinion. Though she was not foolish enough to think they were good people just from that. After all, they were information brokers, from what Nico said. It was likely that they sold information to anyone, even bad people. they were just doing their jobs if that was the case. "Huh. I see…"

"Though that doesn't mean they're afraid to get tough." Nico remarked with a small chuckle. The two were just outside the city when he had said this, which meant they wouldn't have long till they were at the meeting point. "Their members usually operate independently, but if a group of them come together their teamwork is considerable. They're the sort of people that many Spec Ops Agents, myself included, would rather not go head to head with them if we can help it."

Now THAT got her attention. If someone like Nico, who had the codename DEATHSTROKE, would rather not fight these Clowns, then these guys must be either dangerous, or tough as nails. "Really? That's a little hard to believe, though I guess I'll take your word for it." she responded dubiously. She'd believe that if she were to see them fight, since what he was saying sounded a little difficult to take in now.

Seeing her hesitation, Nico shrugged his shoulders discreetly while rolling his eyes in a similar manner. It wasn't like he could convince her, Nico wouldn't force her to change her opinion on them that would be just evil and tyrannical. Plus, Compa would literally ram that giant syringe up his ass if he tried. Girl was seriously way scarier than she gave herself credit for.

"Anyways, we should focus on getting to the others. Neptune probably won't like it if we're tardy especially the one who suggested this in the first place." Nico commented, getting an agreement from the blackette. Neptune tended to be impatient on the best of days, so it would stand to reason that they would need to hurry.

* * *

"Though it is quite unfortunate, let's start working for Avenir…" a depressed Neptune unenthusiastically moaned as she stared at IF and Compa. They were standing at the entrance to a forest, where the meeting point for the Avenir Quest was going to happen at. This meeting point had the feeling of isolating people from prying eyes, and with the Monsters roaming about it would make for an idea place to talk without fear of being observed. People didn't like monsters, and for good reason.

Looking at the deflated preteen, IF twitched her brow, quickly glancing around to see if their client had appeared yet and heard that. Fortunately, that was not the case much to IF's relief as she turned on Neptune with a frantic look on her face. "Please don't say it out loud." She requested with frustration and annoyance. She knew Neptune didn't like this, but she was still acting like a kid about it. she'd been doing this the whole trip, and it was starting to grate on her nerves.

Compa smiled awkwardly, feeling the tension from the brunette rising by the second. "Nep-Nep doesn't really have a zipper for her mouth…" she remarked, trying to ease the tension with fact. It was a sad truth that the preteen tended to say what she was thinking without thinking of the consequences. It was both an endearing and annoying trait of hers, that much was certain.

The sound of bushes moving could be heard, and the trio tensed, thinking that it was time for their meeting with the client. However, they deflated when they heard a pair of familiar voices, although something seemed… off, about them.

"Looks like this is the place…"

"Sure does. Neptune and the others are already here. #CHUCKLE#"

"What's so funny?"

"Looks like she's still not with the idea you suggested, Noire."

"Well, I don't like it either, but you don't see me complaining about it!"

"She's a childish one."

"True."

From the bushes, came a pair of familiar faces… well, that was what they thought, as Neptune bounded over to them. "Hey, hey-hey, Nicky, Noire! What's sha-aaaaaaaaah! What the Nep guys, what's up with those Masks?!" Neptune waved as she cheered, however her eyes were closed. So, when she opened them and saw two intimidating looking Masks on their faces Neptune's face shifted to shock and slight fear as she backpedalled back to her non-masked friends.

Said friends were also caught by surprise. Compa's face turned white at the sight and she barely resisted the urge to run away and hide. Though a squeak did come out of her mouth which sounded oh so adorable. IF's face lost a little colour, but she remained composed as she looked upon the two new arrivals. If she hadn't heard their voices beforehand, IF would have readied her Qatars already. Even now, she barely restrained herself from flicking her hands out to get them into their proper places. There was also the fact that they wore the same clothes as Noire and Nico.

"Huh? oh!" Nico's lone eye widened in realisation as he pulled the Zipper on the mouth's side and pulled it across, revealing his mouth before lowering his hand to his side once more. "These are Masks we're wearing. This one here, thought it would be good to use mere Eyeglasses as a disguise, so I took her to a Mask Shop I know. The rest, well, you can see the results yourself." He explained to them.

Seeing that they now had answers, the girls all sighed with relief, realising fully that this was indeed Nico. They looked to the duo's Masks and visibly shuddered. Both Masks served their function to be as intimidating as possible, in their opinions. "Well," IF began as she examined the Masks the two wore, "aside from the clothes thing, which I doubt many people will look at, you got the disguise thing down."

Compa nodded her head up and down so fast that nobody would be surprised if it came off. "Yessie!" she bellowed, pumping her fists and pulling them close to her chest. "You two give off the feeling of 'if you come near me, you will feel the wrath of my sword!' or something."

Neptune herself hummed as she got over her fear and let the inquisitive side of her take over. The male nearly jumped when she suddenly was before him, leaning towards his face. He was glad that the Mask hid his blush though, memories of her as her HDD form still in his mind. Goddamnit, why couldn't he forget about that?! "Hmmm… Nice Mask there, Nicky! Nep approves!" she proclaimed with a thumbs-up sign, her tongue out the side of her mouth as she winked at him. "horror mixed with a sense of badassery that only a true main protag would have! Sensei Nep is positively impressed."

The male grew flustered as he rubbed the back of his neck, shuffling nervously under her praise. Meanwhile, Noire huffed and turned to the side, getting Neptune's attention. "Awwww, is Noire sad that I didn't compliment her?" the preteen teased with a wide grin. She then proceeded to glomp her from behind, her arms wrapped around the other girl's neck as she hung her head over her shoulder. "Don't worry my young Padawan, Nep approves of your Maskie too!"

"E-Eh?! I-I mean, it's not like I care about your opinion! And get off me, I'm not your Padawan or whatever!" Noire shouted as she tried to pry the preteen off her. However, like glue Neptune stuck to her, wrapping her legs around her waist much to the dismay of the blackette.

Nico watched this with no small amount of amusement. He glanced around to find out if they were being watched, and found nothing, not even on his Bracers' and their tracking systems. Thus, Nico snorted as he held back the urge to outright laugh at the playful nature of the preteen. "Hehehehehe, well Noire, you do seem to be like a tsundere, so…"

"Shut it, Mr Spec Ops!" Noire's shout only served to make Nico's efforts turn out to be more in vain than before, he was starting to bend over to hold in his chuckles as Neptune kept playfully teasing the blackette. It looked quite… off, seeing a girl with a scary mask on her face acting like a schoolgirl being hugged by her crush.

Eventually, though, IF had to return the Party's attention to the task at hand when she looked at her phone and noticed the time. "Okay, stop it right there." She commanded them, and with strength nobody expected was able to pull Neptune off Noire by force alone, dropping her onto her backside like a sack of potatoes. "You can continue after our work is done. Let's go." While Neptune grumbled about how rough IF was with her, the Party travelled deeper into the forest for their meeting with their Client from Avenir.

* * *

They travelled down the path till they came towards a small clearing, and they were not alone there. Two men stood there patiently waiting, men who had been conversing in hushed whispers until they came along. They were easily recognised by their formalwear as Avenir employees, and the Party was recognised by the two men. Nico hid his Scowl behind his Mask; the Zipper having been closed when they travelled into this place. 'Man, something about these guys puts me on edge, and NOT just because they are with that damned company…' he thought, noticing one of them looking at him intently.

The first of the two, as well as the one who was looking at him funny, was a very well-groomed man with a neat appearance. He had brown hair, brown eyes, light skin, and was also dressed in a suit. Underneath was a white dress shirt and a green tie, while on his feet were a pair of polished dress shoes.

As for the second one, he had well combed brown hair with matching eyes, seemingly middle aged while the first one looked to be in his twenties. He wore a smart red suit, white shirt with gold buttons on the collar, dark blue tie, and black shoes. The way he looked at them indicated distain or reluctance, like the very air they breathed was an offence to the Goddesses. Though this was well-hidden, so nobody but Nico noticed it. 'I have a feeling he will be trouble in the future…'

While they approached, the purple suited man stepped forwards and extended a greeting towards them. "Nice to meet you. We've been waiting." He then looked them all over, his gaze lingering slightly on Nico, IF and the Masked Noire. "So, you're the folks who will be handling our orders?"

"Yes, and you're our client… Ganache?" IF replied while asking for confirmation. She was no fool, she knew that look. While Chian did it out of concern that they were weak, the brunette could tell that it was different with this man. He had a different fee to him, one IF wasn't sure she liked.

The man nodded in confirmation. He then leaned his upper body forwards with his arm swept across his front, hand in a chopping position at his shoulder. "Yes. My name is Ganache, and I work at the Avenir Company." He introduced himself, before standing up straight like he did before. he then turned his body slightly to address the man beside him, pointing his chop-ready hand to him as he introduced him. "This here is our representative, President Singe."

There was no response from the man, but Nico noticed the hidden distain, mixed with impatience, at their presence. 'the feeling that these two are trouble… it's getting stronger…' Nico thought to himself, making double the effort to remain composed. He was slightly surprised that these two, Ganache and Singe, didn't fret over his and Noire's Masks. Meanwhile, Noire was scrutinising these two intently behind her Mask. 'So, these two are Avenir's top officials…'

Unaware of their thoughts and opinions, IF remarked with a hand on her hip. "It's rare to get work from your ranks. Or is it we're just that important?" she asked them. While it came off as slightly arrogant, IF was actually trying to goad them into giving something they could use. She thought that since they were high ranking members of Avenir, they would know something about what their project they would be presenting at the Expo might be.

Though it didn't serve to rattle the two like she had expected, unfortunately. "Hahaha. You're suck a joker." Ganache commented with a light chuckle. Finally, Singe spoke while having his hands behind his back in a formal, tall pose as he regarded Ganache from the corner of his eye. "Stop the unnecessary prattle here. I don't have time to spare.

The way he spoke indicated how long he had been president of Avenir, his mannerisms, his speech patterns, they all had a strong, dominating presence that commanded underlings to obey him. The voice of a leader. "Oh, my." Ganache turned to face him and lowered his body like before, his eyes closed behind his glasses. "I am so sorry." Singe didn't answer, so Ganache stood straight and turned back to them, his polite smile ever present. "Very well, then. Here is what I would like to order from you."

Neptune struggled to keep herself from bouncing up and down, so she lightly hopped in a manner that could be considered discreet. "Let's hear it!" she stated with eagerness. She may not like Avenir, but the chance to fight monsters always got her blood going. That, and the money for Pudding. 'Ahhhh… pudding…'

"We are planning to construct a new plant around the area here." Ganache began as he procured a small handheld device from the confines of his suit. He pressed a button on it and a Holographic Map of what looked like a forest Dungeon manifested. He then closed in on a part of the Forest that looked like a red circular area. "But, we are having problems with a certain monster around the area."

'Hmmm…. Interesting, they don't give us much detail on the monster's physical appearance, but they do give its general area… suspicious, yet not unreasonable. Depends on the problems, but I can see people not being able to see the full form of the monster.' He thought to himself, cupping his chin in thought as calculations raced through his mind. 'This Dungeon seems familiar, like I've seen it before… I'll investigate it when we leave.'

Noire finally spoke, her voice deepened by her Mask. "I see. So, you need us to exterminate the Monster?" she asked them, trying to keep her tone level and free of her usual haughty attitude. Despite wearing a Mask Noire knew she needed to remain professional lest they learn of her identity.

Ganache nodded his head in confirmation while Singe remained motionless. "Exactly. We will be inspecting the area, so we need it cleared out." He explained. "If the place is cleared, I could care less what you all do." Singe spoke, his impatience seeping through like water trying to burst through an unstable dam. Though Neptune didn't bother with the apparent hostility that Singe displayed as she said her own thoughts on the matter. "Is that it? that's a lot easier than I thought. I was thinking we were going to have to do office work and stuff."

Compa nodded her head, voicing her agreement and reliefs that they weren't doing anything complicated or something they hadn't done before. "I'm glad too, since I'm not very good with detailed work. I used to work placing belladonnas on food, but I was even bad with that…"

Turning to look at her friend with a weak smile, Neptune voiced her opinion. "Yeah, you don't seem good with that, Compa. And yeah, I can relate… wait a sec. what kind of job is that?!"

'And she's training to be a Nurse… Goddess, I fear for Planeptune…' Nico thought while pinching his nose and putting a hand on his hip. IF rolled her eyes at the misunderstanding caused by the Nurse-In-Training. "For the record… Belladonnas are lethal. Those were probably edible orchids." She informed the group. Seeing as things were getting out of hand, Nico saw that Ganache was about to say something, figured out what it was, and beat him to it. "Alright ladies, we have a job to do, so let's gossip later. Alright, let's roll out!"


	23. Chapter 23 - The Frenzy Virus

**Hi guys, second update of the day!**

 **Anyways, if you have played the games, you'd agree with me when I say that Noire's disguise, along with Vert and Blanc's, sucks ass. Avenir was still able to recognise them in the end thanks to how Ganache knew about her when he trapped them, and while I get it was a humorous tool I still feel that disguises should be taken seriously. Obviously, Nico would be the one to do this by giving her a Mask to wear, another reference to the same Manga if you can guess what it is. As he said back in the last chapter, there were multiple factors that tied into outfitting Noire's disguise like time, location and urgency. The reason why Nico didn't do anything beforehand was simple, he didn't know, otherwise he would have gone and taken Noire to get a better disguise.**

 **Anyways, enough of that stuff, lets get started with the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 23 - The Frenzy Virus**

The Party left the meeting area and began heading through the forest out to the Dungeon that they were going to be fighting in. From the request details sent to IF's phone, its name was 'Thelad Sanctuary' according to the data on Nico's holographic Bracers. The male had a list of Monsters that were recorded in that Dungeon in Hologram form, and the only one he could see that had the potential to cause so much trouble for Avenir would be the 'Phoenix' or the 'Slash Dog'.

A beeping came from his other Bracer as they ran through the Forest, one that he made sure only he could hear. Pressing a few keys on the Interface, Nico brought up a Screen that he looked at while running, dodging trees and obstacles like he could sense them. What he did was place a small Recon Drone, which looked like those circular Bit robots one would see in Lastation, but the size of a human finger, by a Bush and had it listen to the two men without them realising. This Technology was new, and he had been waiting for a ripe moment to test it for the Planeptune Guild's WDD.

Data from the conversation appeared, with text being written by itself like one was playing a Visual Novel, with a portrait of the person speaking and their name above the text, both the first and the last ones in white bold writing. Nico sweat dropped at this, technology may be improving but the theme of gameplay was still apparent, it seemed. 'Oh well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, like they say.' The male thought as he looked at the screen:

 **Ganache: Sir President, about those Mask-wearing duo…**

 **Singe: Did you notice, too?**

 **Ganache: Yes. For being a cosplay, she looked very similar. However, she's too prideful to wear a Mask, and that boy with her… if he's the same as the one from before…**

 **Singe: She has been missing for the past few days, and reports said a black wearing individual stirred trouble prior to her disappearance, right?**

 **Ganache: Yes, so it is quite possible that those two are who we think they are. What shall we do?**

 **Singe: Nothing. We can't do anything without positive proof. But be sure you keep watch of them…**

Nico saw the data stop transmitting and the 'Return' icon flashed at the corner of the screen. The male sighed as he typed in orders for the Recon Drone to return without anyone detecting its presence. 'So, it appears that even with my efforts they still have their suspicions about Noire… I fi ad known about that pathetic disguise beforehand I could have done more. However, them talking about me worries me slightly… what could they be planning should they figure out what I did at the Basilicom? Why am I on their radar to begin with? Something tells me this goes far before my little outburst…'

"Nicky! Yo, Gamindustri to Nicky!" Neptune shouted into his ear, getting a startled yelp as Nico, so distracted by her shouting, lost his balance and fell towards the ground. instincts saved him however as he slammed his hand onto the ground and propelled himself into a front flip, landing on the ground, rolling forwards before getting to his feet and running along once more, like he hadn't even been affected.

The male turned and gave her a glare to show his dissatisfaction with that stunt. "What is it, Neptune?" he asked her irritably. He vowed to get her back later, he thought in his mind, resisting the urge to chuckle darkly.

While shivering for some unknown reason, though she had an idea as to what, Neptune nonetheless answered with a concerned look on her face. "You looked like you were thinking pretty hard there, Nicky. So, what's going around that noggin o'yours anywho?" she asked him.

The male thought about answering her, but eventually decided against it for now. He didn't know if there were Scouts in the Forest planted by Avenir, this was info best shared in private. "Don't worry about it, just focus on the mission." He told her.

However, like a whiny little brat, Neptune didn't relent on her game of questions as she slid slowly closer to him while they ran. "Awwww, now I'm dying to know! C'mon, you can tell littl' ol' Nep, surely…"

"Neptune, you will stop right there or I will take away all your Pudding for a month."

That shut her up faster than that one cartoon where there's a wolf trying to catch a bird that ran fast. Memories of how Nico put her Pudding stash in an incinerator plagued her mind, making her once again mourn her beloved dessert. It wasn't fair, not fair at all she says! With that, silence resumed as the Party made their way to the Dungeon with a strong desire to finish this mission.

* * *

The journey to the Dungeon was rather uneventful for the most part, save for a small debriefing Nico gave the others about what type of monsters they would likely be encountering, plus the ones that were most likely to be the ones causing Avenir trouble. While he did so, the girls thought to themselves how good it was that someone like him was on their Party. A non-perverted, helpful and independent guy who knew how to use his first head more than the second head. If he were not with them, things wouldn't go as smoothly as they would with him here.

Neptune even went all meta and thanked the author for making a unique OC with great use in a Party. Even if h has flaws like any other person did.

When they finally made it to the Dungeon, Nico saw that the entrance looked remarkably like that of the Virtua Forest, just with several differences. The male looked at the Holomap on his right Bracer, glancing up and down a few times, before deactivating the function and turning to the others. "Looks like this path is the one where Ganache said the Monster is apparently located." He said, pointing to the path on the left.

He then wondered if there were any Abnormals nearby. There didn't seem to be any before when he briefed them, but a fair amount of time has passed since then, and Abnormals were way too unpredictable to leave this to chance. It was how rookie Spec Ops Agents met their end before their careers could even skyrocket. Thus, the male raised his Bracer and activated the Holomap, a 3D Hologram of the Dungeon appearing above his Bracer. He looked it over, checking the routes carefully and with an owl-like gaze. Finally, his lone unmasked eye settled on something that made it narrow, changing from an owl's to a Hawk's. "Be warned everyone, looks like my Bracer's detected some Abnormal activity in the area."

The others nodded with grave seriousness. Abnormals were never a good sign, and now that Nico hadn't got his Armour, he was more likely to get injured or worse, killed, when fighting one. With the direction given, everyone began making their way inside, the chirps of the birds and the faint scurrying of animals. "Hmmm…" While they were walking, Neptune pouted and crossed her arms, her cheeks puffed as she displayed her disappointment. "I guess it isn't that easy to find out what Avenir is gonna exhibit." she mused, remembering the men from said company.

She had thought they would be assigned to guard something at some unknown, secret facility, so they could at least sneak a peak at what they were planning. Then, they could see their plans, report to Chian and presto! They'd make something truly able to contest with Avenir's weapons! It was a solid plan... at least in Neptune's mind. Plus they could have gotten lots of pudding as a reward! This sucks!

Already having an idea as to what she was thinking, Nico rolled his eyes at her logic. He felt some cold logic was in order here, and decided to spare no mercy in dishing it out. Then again, when was the last time he showed mercy? "Did you really think it would be that easy? We're a couple strangers, paid mercs at that. It's obvious they wouldn't trust us at first sight. In their eyes, we're likely just cannon fodder, pawns that can be tossed aside at the drop of a hat." He told the preteen who puffed her cheeks out some more, but didn't say anything to counter his point. It was the truth, she knew it, and it made sense. It would have been foolish if they did just say everything to the strangers they employ on their first assignments.

IF frowned as he told Neptune those words. "Still, it's too bad. Oh well," she then shrugged her shoulders, knowing that there was no point in moping about it, or crying over spilled milk as the saying went. Plus, there was a silver lining here that many had forgotten at this point in the game. "At least we get to test Chian's weapon out."

The preteen pulled the weapon out from her hoodie, beaming happily that she had managed to grab it before they left. "Got our weapon, right here!" she proclaimed, swinging it about like a child playing with a toy until Nico told her to stop as to avoid a potential accident. Afterwards, she turned her head towards the blackette of the party, as a question sparked in her mind. "Speaking of, Noire, you'll be fighting with us, right?"

Noire nodded in response, giving a haughty huff that... didn't fit with the Mask she was wearing. "Yes, that's right." she retorted rhetorically. It was obvious she intended to fight, they had already discussed this.

"If that's the case, Iffy…"

The moment she saw the face Neptune was making, the brunette gave an irritated, weary groan from deep within her throat. IF knew that look, it was the look Neptune got when she was going to pull off one of her practical jokes. Ones that usually end with Neptune getting bonked on the head by either her or Nico. Though, even with this fate it was foolish to try and stop her, the only thing one can do is watch the fireworks. While mentally preparing herself for what was going to happen, IF responded. "What is it, Nep?"

If anything, Neptune's grin widened even more to the point where it rivalled a Cheshire cat's, which was added with a snicker while her fingertips were over her teeth, her expression practically screaming 'I'm a mischievous gremlin, please spank me!'. "There's some monsters here, so let's fight one to see how good Noire it." That… sounded like a good idea. For a moment, IF feared the worst there, she thought Neptune was going to throw Noire to the wolves or something. It would make sense considering the teasing comments that Neptune played on her in the past.

At that moment, several monsters jumped out of the wilderness and barred them from going any further. Looking up the Guild's Bestiary and going to the Thelad Sanctuary section, Nico saw that they were 4 'Spiders' and a pair of 'Boss Lizards'. The Spiders looked like 3 to 4-foot-tall white armoured Spiders, while the Boss Lizards looked humanoid with obese-looking armour, an axe and shield, a pair of small dragon wings that hardly looked big enough for flight, and a small tail. They had dark green skin and beady red eyes.

Noire overlooked them all and huffed, already having judged them in her mind as weak, before summoning her Weapon from her Inventory: a sword with a straight and narrow blade: A Rapier, and getting into a battle stance. "You underestimate me, but fine…" she remarked, huffing to once again to display her haughty nature. "Take a good look with those eyes of yours." In her mind, Noire added with a smug smirk. 'These things are nothing compared to the Abnormals...'

'Hmm, so Neptune and Noire are going to be at the forefront while we follow from behind, eh?' Nico thought as he reached down to his hips. He already had summoned the weapons he wanted, and from his holsters, he pulled out Ebony and Ivory. Nico once considered switching to another weapon, but decided to stick with what he had. Hopefully Avenir had not gotten much intel on him and Noire.

While IF and Compa readied their own weapons, Neptune decided to raise the stakes with her grin now in the massive category. "Hey, to make things fun, why not bet our Puddings? Winner takes all!"

Noire rolled her eyes behind her Mask at the preteen's fixation on the sweet desert, but couldn't help but let her competitive streak take over. "You're on. Not much of a bet though, since I'll win." She remarked with a hidden grin.

Neptune's grin never faltered, and was it just him, or did Nico detect a brash of devious in her eyes? It probably wasn't if the dismayed groan from their resident Brunette was any indication. "I dunno. I'm not planning to lose, you know? Transform!" in an instant, Neptune turned herself into her HDD form, her wide grin now replaced by a confident smirk. And was it just him again, or did Nico hear her whisper something like 'and not in front of him' before? This time, judging by the lack of reactions from the others, Nico thought that it was the former. "Time to get serious…"

Seeing this, Noire nearly lost her balance as she did a double take at the tactic that the preteen had used. "What the?! That's not fair! No transforming!" she screeched, stomping her foot onto the ground and pointing an accusing finger at Neptune.

Said woman just retained her smirk. "Well then, why don't you transform, too?"

"Wha-?!"

Nico's eyes widened when he heard that. 'Hey, am I hearing things? Did Neptune just call Noire out on her amnesia bullshit? Seriously?' he shrieked in his mind, but a part of him hoped that was the case. Neptune WAS smarter in her HDD form, so it made a lot of sense for her to call Noire out on her amnesia lie, but still this was Neptune. Though another logical side of him said that with the possibility of Avenir watching, talking about this subject wouldn't be the best move.

Unfortunately, Compa unknowingly shot down his hopes and dreams with her words, as she sternly scolded the transformed girl while waving a finger. "Nep-Nep, a normal person can't transform like you."

IF sighed while rolling her eyes, though she did have a small smirk on her features. "Random as usual…"

Back to the blackette. Noire heaved a sigh as she once again regained her composure and looked back to the monsters. Though her thought couldn't help but be centred around what just happened. 'Th-That surprised me… I thought for a second she found out who I am.' she thought in relief, and she pretended not to notice the pointed glare that Nico sent her way.

Shaking her head, Neptune hummed as she readied her sword. "Well, a bet is a bet. I won't let you go easily." She taunted, her smirk widening into a competitive grin. It was a grin that matched Noire's as the two faced off against the monsters.

Compa sweated slightly as she saw this sight before her, and couldn't help but comment on the obvious. "Nep-Nep gets so serious when pudding is on the line…" nobody answered to her comment though as the battle began.

The Party charged forth, Noire and Neptune leading them. Those two neared the Spiders who lunged at them, before together they jumped on top of them, using the Spiders as springboards to jump towards the Boss Lizards. Nico and the others went and fought against the Spiders, keeping their attention off the two competing girls as they fought their main enemy.

To Nico's slight disappointment, the fight didn't last long, especially since IF and Compa worked together to get the Spiders close together before peppering them with DEMON FLAMES, forcing Nico to follow suit with PHANTOM BLADES. It took care of the Spiders easily enough, plus these WERE normal monsters, so they turned to look at how Noire and Neptune were doing.

They were just in time to see the two deal with their own opponents. "Take this!" Neptune called out as she and Noire dealt the final blow to their foes… at the same time. As the Boss Lizards screeched their last dying screech before vanishing out of existence, Neptune hummed in pleased satisfaction, heaving her sword on top of her shoulder like it was a baseball bat. "I won." She declared.

That did not stand with their resident blackette though as she turned to glare at Neptune behind her Mask. "What are you saying?" I won first." She roared, pointing her Rapier at where her defeated enemy once lay.

However, Neptune shook her head in denial, lifting her sword from her shoulder before pointing at the spot where her own enemy lay before it disappeared like every other monster here. "No, I was 10 frames ahead of you." Even in her transformed state, Neptune still had her fourth wall breaking streak, it seemed.

Nico however, had discreetly recorded the fighting with his Recon Drone, only showing it as if it were a video instead of a bunch of Text on his left Bracer's interface, and saw that the 10 frames comment actually applied to Noire. 'Should I let them know? Hmm… that's a negative.' He thought, wanting this to be over with quickly so they could move on.

Apparently, IF shared his sentiment as she stepped forwards and grabbed the two by their shoulders, pushing them aside. "Okay, stop it. You both dealt the final blow at once. So, it's a tie, okay?" she told them, glaring at the two to get her point across. Really, it's like she's seeing a pair of toddlers fighting over a stuffed animal not mercenaries.

Sadly, these two were still heads up in their competition, too deep in fact that IF's words brought instant refusal to their minds.

"No way!"

"That's right! No way I could be even with Neptune!"

Both shouted at once to the brunette, refusing to back down towards each other. They then glared at each other, sparks flying between their eyes. IF looked at them and face palmed, an irritated growl escaping her throat. Really, did these two lose all their senses when in competition? Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Ah, you two are so stubborn!"

"YIKES!"

Both Neptune and Noire stopped their glaring and jumped in synch at IF's loud voice. It even left their ears ringing a bit as they stared fearfully at the brunette, who had an aura of rage behind her accompanied by her stern glare. Her eyes shone with suppressed anger at the two as she clenched her shaking fists.

Worse still, Compa joined in the fight, looking just as annoyed as IF was, and that didn't happen often. "If the ref says it's a tie, it's a tie." She commented with a firm, no backtalk kind of voice. Her eyes reflected the tone she was using as well. "If you don't like it, me, Ni-Ni, and Iffy will take the puddings away."

Now THAT snuffed out their fighting spirits, replacing them with the horrid sensations of dread from the pits of their stomachs. "Please, no!" they cried in unison. Nico watched in surprise at their reaction, sure he expected Neptune to be like that towards pudding but Noire too? Maybe pudding is a favourite for every girl, just like chocolate.

'Iffy and Compa look like a pair of parents and the others are the scolded children right now…'

Compa instantly lost her stern face and returned to her normal self. With a bright smile once again, she stated. "Well then, you have to be friends." Though her face was back to normal, the tone she used plus her eyes told them both to accept it or something bad may happen. Both nodded at the same time, tears in the corners of their eyes. Both now knew, that an angry Compa was a scary Compa. It was always the nice ones that turn out to be the scariest.

Nico watched this and couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. He knew how scary Compa could be, having seen it several times in moments where Compa aimed bursts of confidence from seeing him do something. Anyone she got angry at instantly shrivelled with terror, for it was like a demon possessed her body to install the feeling of death into their souls. 'Never make Compa mad, kids, it's extremely dangerous…' he thought, turning to the child-like readers of the audience before going back into the story. 'Oh wait… goddess damnit, I'm becoming more like Neptune! It's her and THAT GUY's fault, they're corrupting me! All my sympathy for her has gone now…' his narrowed gaze sent chills up the transformed girl's spine. However, before they could move, his Motion tracker detected something heading their way, something… different.

It was nearly instantaneous, but something came flying down at them from above. Nico quickly acted, grabbing Compa and IF's hands before jumping back. Neptune and Noire barely got out the way as their newest visitor crashed into the space that they once occupied, sending them flying back. 'Holy shit, what was that?!'

The Party landed in separate spaces, the dust from the explosion swiped away by their visitor. It turned out to be something that Nico tensed at, his eye widening to the size of dinner plates while sweat rolled down his forehead. 'Oh shit… not now, not now! it's one of them!'

It looked at them, growling and groaning at its missed surprise attack. its form looked like a large Panther, with a pair of wings protruding from its arms which ended in clawed paws. The wings were sharp, and looked like they could either be used as blades or as a means of gliding or limited flight. It had a long tail protruding from its tail bone, with many flattened spikes around it needle-like chitinous tip. Its eyes glowed a deep purple, with a faint Smokey aura around it of matching colour.

The creature glared at them, hunger and bloodlust in its eyes as the Party all reeled in surprise at the creature's appearance. But none more so than Nico himself, his horror was reaching new heights as he knew EXACTLY what this creature was.

'It's an Abnormal!'

A tap on his shoulders made Nico break out his thoughts as he turned to Compa, finding her to be blushing slightly. "Um, could you, um, let go of our hands?" Looking down, Nico saw that he was indeed holding their hands still. With a quick stuttering of apology, he let go of them.

The brunette, who was a little pink herself at the gesture, waved it off. "Don't worry about it and focus on our new guest here." She commented as they all regarded the creature with caution. There was something strange about this creature, it didn't look like anything on the Guild Bestiary that Nico had brought to their attention either.

"This is a new one." Neptune commented, before she too came to the same conclusion as Nico did when she glanced at him and saw his state. Her eyes narrowed as she held her sword in a defensive stance. "It appears we have an Abnormal Monster on our hands." She remarked, getting everyone on the defensive.

IF frowned as she readied her Qatars as she scanned the creature. "Looks like one. you think that this will be the thing that's causing Avenir so much trouble?" she asked the others. However, she never got a response as the creature's Tail suddenly whipped in her direction, sending a series of Spikes her way. IF let out a quick "Crap!" before rolling to the side to avoid the Spikes. "Okay, definitely an Abnormal. Attacking while we're in our dialogue moment confirms it."

The others quickly assumed defensive positions as the creature turned its attention towards them. It let out a panther's roar before rushing towards them at surprising speeds. It first went after Compa, swiping one of its claws at her for Compa to roll underneath it and emerge at the base of its right hind leg. When she turned to stab it in the butt with her Syringe, the creature twisted its body to slam its tail into her, sending her flying across the area they were in.

"Compa!" Neptune shrieked as she and Noire charged at it from multiple flanks. It growled and jumped back to avoid Noire's slash and sent a series of Spikes with a whip of its tail towards Neptune's direction. With her mobility advantage, Neptune was able to dodge it and close the distance between them. She swung at its head and it blocked with one arm, this defence repeating itself for the next few slashes until she kicked it in the chin.

Spinning around, Neptune made for a reverse horizontal slash, only for the creature to lunge forwards faster than she could react and knock her down to the ground. It wasted no time pinning her arms to the ground with its paws before leaning down to bite her head off. Unfortunately for it, a hailstorm of bullets was introduced to its face, curtesy of a pissed off Nico.

"Neptune, get out of there, I'll distract it!" he yelled, unloading on it with Ebony and Ivory. The monster stumbled back, trying to cover its face from the barrage while Neptune rolled back into a flip, getting some distance between them as she landed close to the ground and slid to a halt. She then formed a Panel behind her, using it as a spring board to launch herself forwards at it with her Skill activating. "CROSS COMBINATION!"

When Neptune's skill landed, the creature blocked every slash on the ground with its paws, before catching her leg in its mouth and holding tightly, causing her to grit her teeth in pain as it shook its head around like a dog when it caught its prey.

It then hurled her in the direction of a charging IF, who managed to flip out of the way and get in close without looking behind her as Neptune bounced several times before coming to a stop. "Take this you oversized brute!" she yelled while slashing several times at its face. These attacks did nothing but anger it though, as it bashed her with a head but then swiped its right paw down at her from above. IF barely rolled out the way in time, slashing at the paw to leave her mark.

Noire took charge this time, and saw that Nico was coming in from another flank. She quickly closed the distance, dodging a wave of Spikes hurled her way as she made several rapid thrusts and swings of her sword. Her Rapier started to glow a slight silvery colour, an indication she was going to activate a Skill. "LACE RIBBON DANCE!" she called out, making a slight jog towards it while it was stunned by her previous attacks. When she was close enough, Noire backflipped, her foot kicking it in the chin as she landed into a crouch. She then jumped again and double kicked it before bouncing into the air again with a horizonal slash that left an energy slash mark over its body.

The Skill apparently did moderate damage to it, as the Abnormal let out a shriek before it jumped back to get some distance. Now it was pissed, as its purple eyes glowed even brighter while its fur covered body gained a slight purplish tint to it. When it let out a panther's roar, it instantly leapt forwards at speeds that were significantly higher than before, startling the group slightly but it lasted only a millisecond.

Its wings were uncurled as it used them like elbow-mounted blades, swinging them wildly with ferocious tendencies, something only an animal or a being with intense bloodlust could match. Its target was Noire who flipped back and forth, sliding a few times to dodge them. "Guys, a little help here!" she called out, gritting her teeth as she slid under another slash. This one just barely missed the tip of her nose as the Abnormal sailed overhead, landing behind her.

Its Tail swayed 4 times, releasing 4 waves of Spikes in their direction that the Party avoided. With its speed and ferocity, this Abnormal's spikes were easy to dodge. That was what they all thought when a squeal from Noire caused heads to turn. Although, Nico turned away as soon as he could while thanking the Goddesses (ironic, right?) that his Mask hid his burning cheeks.

The reason why Noire squealed? Because several spikes tore at her clothes. Her skirt was missing several pieces to show two bands belonging to her panties, the white material on her boobs had been shredded to where only the nipple was covered, the middle of her outfit was gone, her arm sleeves now only covered her forearms, and lastly various rips were present over what was left. Her undergarments were the least damaged fortunately, as were her stockings and heeled boots, but that did nothing to quell the embarrassment and humiliation she was feeling.

Instantly, her face went red as she fell to her knees, curling into a ball while holding her arms, teas in the corners of her eyes. She forgot nobody could see behind her Mask, but it may as well have been off with how transparent she was being, in that they could tell what her expressions were. All the while, she was screaming 'Don't look, don't look!' over and over to try and preserve her modesty. The monster tried to attack once again, however Nico managed to hit it with a PHANTOM WAVE to temporarily stun it.

"Ufufufu…" Neptune chuckled at the sight, finding amusement while Noire turned and glared at her. "I see, so it appears that Noire likes to have fanservice shots of her in battle. Who knew!"

The blackette stood up, forgetting about her current state of dress as she glared angrily at the purplette. "Shut up you! I will so hit you!" she shrieked, before squeaking when she felt a draft where she shouldn't have felt it, quickly receding back to her previous curled state. She looked up and glared again at Neptune, who was still struggling not to laugh while everyone else bar Nico who was trying to remain the gentleman by not looking, gave her looks of sympathy. "This is no fun for me at all, who would find something so perverted fun?!"

Neptune lifted a finger and spoke in an informative manner, akin to a secretary informing her boss about their daily quota. "But we managed to avoid those spikes, which are easy to dodge by the way." She explained, causing Noire to become speechless. She didn't have a counter to that which wouldn't lower her pride any more than it already did. this made Neptune smirk in victory as she won this argument.

Behind her Mask, Noire whimpered as she held herself. "I can't get married now…" she moaned in despair. The pure humiliation that Abnormal had put her through was immense. Bad enough her clothes were in tatters, but Neptune's teasing made it all the worse. Her shoulders shook as she tried to make herself look as small as possible, smaller than even ants.

Just then, something warm was draped over her shoulders, and her body stilled. Behind her Mask Noire gasped quietly when she felt the sensation, and her hands reflexively grasped onto it, feeling a soft leathery texture. Although there was something underneath it that's he didn't quite grasp the identity of, it mattered little to her. She soon realised it was a Trench coat, and her mind registered the fact that only 2 people had Trench Coats as part of their wardrobes: IF, and…

"N-Nico?" she stammered, looking up at him knowing the Mask would hide how red her face was and her embarrassed tears. Like she thought, Nico had taken off his Trench Coat, his various sheaths and Holsters having been tightened somehow to fit his form now that he didn't have one article of clothing. Said clothing had been draped over her, covering her from her neck downwards to conceal her body from view. She didn't dare to look at his body as without his Trench Coat, much of what was hidden was now in plain sight, even with the rest of his outfit covering it. "Wh-what are you…?"

The male silenced her when he spoke. "Keep that on, it'll have to do for now until the battle is over. In the meantime," Nico glared at where the Monster was located, having identified it in the Abnormal Monster bestiary during their moment of shock. It was a 'Nargacuga', a creature based off another Monster known to habit the mountains of Lowee called a 'Tigrex'. "I believe it's time we give this fucker the ol' what for, don't you think?"

Getting over her shock enough to stand, Noire saw how his Coat was large enough to be fastened over her frame and still offer unrestricted movement. She slid her hands unto the sleeves and felt it snugly fit onto her body without limiting her mobility. She almost opened her mouth in awe at ho good the coat felt, until she turned to the male to do something else instead. "Th-thanks…" she nodded to him, before turning to the Nargacuga with a glare only a scorned woman could achieve. "You'll freaking pay for that, those were my favourite clothes!"

"Yikes, Noire looks really mad." Compa stammered as she jumped at the sudden raising of her voice.

IF rolled her eyes as she commented on this development. "Well, I don't blame her. Those clothes looked expensive and this guy just shredded most of them. Good thing the Gates installed on each dungeon magically repairs damaged clothing." She remarked. It was a design upgrade that was introduced not long after the Gates creation, since the Guild Agents were more female than male. Often girls found that the Monsters, mostly the Dogoos and their variants would target their clothes, ruining them and making them buy more from shops to store away. The Guild changed this though so they didn't have to worry as much, installing a function in the gates that allows them to regenerate damaged clothing atoms, though the injuries are still retained for some reason.

Noire made a mighty battle cry as she charged forth at the Nargacuga, and instinctively everyone stepped back as the enraged girl went to town on the creature, which also didn't expect the girl to gain a sudden power boost. The way she fought and some of the things she did to the creature made them cringe slightly, others making them lose some of the colour in their faces.

"Okay, that was hardcore."

"I don't think a Rapier should be used that way."

"Is it just me, or is anyone else feeling a sense of doom here? Oh, so it's not just me."

"Noire re-really doesn't like losing her clothes, does she?"

"You said it, Compa. You hit the nail on the head."

Nico, Neptune, IF and Compa each commented on their opinion as they watched Noire brutally torment and maim the Nargacuga in ways that would make sadists orgasm. Seriously, she looked more like a psycho achieving his fix on an unfortunate victim right now and it was starting to unnerve even Nico.

By the time Noire was done venting her 'feminine fury' on the Nargacuga, it was barely recognisable, little more than a crumpled heap on the floor. Its body was littered with slashes, lacerations, stab wounds etc. it lost one of its hind legs, an eye, its wings were shredded down to their bones with bits of webbing torn off, and half its Tail was gone. Still though, the Abnormal was alive, though not for much longer as it gave a dying screech before vanishing out of existence in a flurry of particles, purplish black ones.

Turning on her heels, Noire began walking back to the group, looking thoroughly relieved, with a happy smile on her features and a small skip in her step. Her smile turned to a confused frown when she saw the looks being directed at her. "Huh? What's wrong, you guys? You look like you've had nightmares." She asked them.

"Noire, you look like a serial killer right now." Nico answered bluntly, seeing as nobody else had the guts to say it after what they just saw. The blackette looked down at herself, noticing that indeed she had the look of a serial killer, with monster blood drenched over her and her hand twitching like it was holding a butcher knife. Only an insane grin would have completed it, and unbeknownst to her she had once got that smile onto her face when she was killing that monster, adding in some maniacal laughter as well.

The girl began to deflate in shame about going so wild with such a creature, and ruining Nico's Trench Coat. Her guilt doubled at that fact, especially when she remembered how caring he was when he gave it to her. She had noticed that when he gave her it, he had made sure not to look where he shouldn't be, respecting her privacy and whatever dignity as a woman she had left. Clutching the sleeves of his Trench Coat, Noire mumbled an apology. "S-Sorry about that, Nico. I-I got your coat drenched in that Abnormal's blood."

At this, Nico waved her apology off while swallowing some saliva in his mouth. "No biggies, just make sure to return my Coat when you have your clothes repaired. It's one of my favourites after all…" he didn't say that it was also the only Trench Coat he had. Like previously mentioned his Clothes in Void Storage are maintained so that when he equipped them they would feel like they hadn't been used before.

After that scene, the girls, after Neptune returned to human form again, made to continue their journey into the Dungeon, IF reasoning that the Nargacuga may not be the only threat or that it may not be the monster they were looking for. It seemed to have only just arrived at this Dungeon, from what the brunette could tell. However, Nico stopped them when he noticed that his Bracer beeped. "Hold it, I just got results from my scanning of the Abnormal." He told them.

"Huh? When did you get the time to do that, Nicky?" Neptune asked, voicing everyone's confusion on the matter. During that battle, there wasn't much time for even breathing properly let alone scanning the creature.

The male didn't answer until he finished reading, muttering something under his breath that they couldn't hear before looking up at them. "I did it before I gave Noire my Trench Coat. Anyways, it looks like my suspicions were confirmed. That Nargacuga, well you were right IF, it wasn't meant to be here, in fact it was drawn here and infected with what is commonly known as the Frenzy Virus. It's a special kind of virus that spread through the air, or through injuries. Fortunately, we didn't get any, also the host this time wasn't the original host otherwise we would have been affected just by breathing. In any case, it usually enhances the host's abilities but affects their mentality, making them go berserk, more so than normal. Usually the hosts don't last long as their bodies deteriorate faster as a side effect of the virus. As for humans, when it enters our bodies, unless we have a sufficient dose of adrenaline in our bodies by the time the virus settles into our bloodstream, it will severely weaken us and make us increasingly susceptible to elemental attacks. Should that condition be met though, it will strengthen us to superhuman levels."

"Huh, that doesn't sound so bad. But then again, I don't wanna get debuffed like that, so I'll pass on getting infected." Neptune remarked as the girls digested this information. It was surprising to take in, but slightly easy to comprehend. A boost for monsters at such a cost? With everything they've learned so far, something like this seemed almost fickle in comparison.

Nico nodded in agreement with the girl. As someone who had experienced the Frenzy virus himself multiple times, the male knew that if an Abnormal infected with the Frenzy Virus was here, then the cause must be somewhere nearby. Though he wouldn't be able to go after it since he hadn't received his armour yet, and he'd rather have it with him when he fought the cause. It did help him resist the Virus's effects after all. "Yeah, I can agree. I've experienced both sides of the virus, and let me tell you, the pain you go through with it on both accounts is horrendous enough that I wouldn't recommend it, even with the power boost it gives. Whatever made the Virus here must be nearby, but I don't think we should worry about it yet. It'll likely relocate for now, since it never stays around for long." he explained, knowing EXACTLY what caused this virus. "Now then, we should get moving. If one Monster's infected chances are that there are more. So, let's get to it, soldiers!"


	24. Chapter 24 - MAGES the Mad Magician

**Hey guys,**

 **Just so you're aware, I'm currently having Wi-Fi Problems over here, so updates may be affected. Not sure yet. It's getting fixed, and I'll be able to update at College, so don't worry there.**

 **Anyways, just wanted to let you know. Now, on with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 24 - MAGES. the Mad Magician**

Traversing this Dungeon was way more stamina draining than the others, based off the sole fact that Nico was right. Many monsters had come their way, their eyes and bodies radiating the same purple aura that the Nargacuga had to show that they were indeed infected by the Frenzy Virus and were in their Frenzied forms. Unlike with the Nargacuga though, they all saw that the skin tones of the monsters had darkened, like they had cast a shadow over themselves, and their irises had tints of red in them amid the purple.

They were also much more annoying to bring down. At least Chain's weapon got a workout.

"Ugh, goddamnit that 'Terits' was freaking insane. I swear it was trying to jump me with that weird mouth of its." IF complained, flicking her Qatars to get rid of the Monster blood on them. Behind her, a Terits, a creature made from multiple purple building blocks, a pair of eyes and big red lips, lay defeated before it had dispersed into Particles. The Frenzy Virus had changed its colour scheme to a sinister shade of purple, its eyes glowing like purple flames, while its mouth had formed purple fangs.

They were on a large circular platform, having had to drop down to it to continue with their journey. There were multiple levels they would have to go to if they wanted to get to the other side, and since their sides weren't completely traversable, they would have to search for stable portions to climb up on. However, before they could do that they had been ambushed by Monsters infected with the Frenzy Virus, which explained their recent battle.

Compa patted the Guild Agent in comfort, her body sweating slightly as well since she too had fought off a Frenzied Monster that refused to go down. "Don't sweat it, Iffy." She said soothingly. "The mean Monster is gone now, so we can cheer up."

The brunette took a moment, but eventually she calmed herself to a point where they would be able to continue. Though she did have something to say about all this. "It's a wonder why they haven't went on a rampage and attacked any Settlements. I'd fear for the citizens safety if that were to happen." she remarked, huffing as she returned her Qatars to her Inventory. It was true though, she was indeed worried about the possibility of these things having to attack settlements near the Dungeons. While it wouldn't be as bad if it were just Avenir, she couldn't assume that they wouldn't just target them. They behaved like they were a horde of wild anime fans going on a rampage, not something one would want to deal with.

Noire huffed, sticking her chest out with her hands on her hips. "Hmph, like these things would be a challenge for us!" she proclaimed arrogantly, a matching smirk on her features. However, this lasted precisely... 10 seconds, before her mouth twisted into a frown as her form deflated, a sense of fatigue overcoming her. "... is what I'd like to say, but to be honest, with Avenir and the Basilicom's budget cuts, Lastation's military cant afford to maintain their standard equipment. They're doing well so far, but how long that'll last is beyond me."

'That's not good...' Nico thought, his frown also appearing as he formed a face matching one who was troubled. Troubled deeply, he was, if this was true then the military may need more support than he originally anticipated. 'I do recall a few people within Planeptune owing me favours for helping them in the past, maybe I could cash them in... it'll be tough, and I'll have to act quickly, but it should be possible. Though, it would help if Noire and Neptune got along better.' The teen thought, a hand on his chin. The male's gaze fell upon both Neptune and Noire, both of whom stood close together as they were debating something between them. What it was, he didn't know, but nonetheless it was getting heated.

Before he could step in, Compa pulled on one of his sleeves, making him look to her. Out the corner of his eye, the Spec Ops Agent noticed IF storming over to stem the argument. "What is it, Compa? You need something?" he asked her, raising a brow in her direction.

"Um, Ni-Ni... do you like those two?" Compa asked, much to his surprise. The male barely stopped himself from doing anything over the top, stilling himself. Good thing neither girl noticed as they were too busy being scolded by IF, who pretended not to hear their discussion. "I mean, you were staring at them intently, so I was curious..." she added on.

The male made to answer, but then he noticed something, something different about Compa. Her face looked innocent and curious enough, but there was something about her eyes... there was a glint of something deeper in them, something that was dark in nature. Given the nature of the question, Nico assumed she was feeling something dark towards Noire and Neptune, but his mind never managed to figure out what that was. 'Is Compa... wary of Neptune and Noire?' he wondered. 'While I agree that Noire's lie about her amnesia's as clear as day, I'm pretty sure Neptune's in the clear from that part... everything else though... Anyways, she should have nothing to fear...'

Let it be known that Nico never did understand the wiles of the ladies, like any other man out there.

"Uh, they're my comrades, Compa, like you, what are you talking about?"

"You sure...?" Compa pressed on, her eyes increasing slightly in intensity as they bore into Nico's own. He had no doubt that if they were lasers, they would be burning a hole through his skull with how intense they were. The male wordlessly nodded, and for a moment Compa retained her stare. Thankfully for him, the Nurse-In-Training finally relented with a beaming smile and closed eyes. "Okay!"

While that happened,Neptune hummed in thought to herself, catching the male Spec Ops Agent's attention as he turned to her, quirking a brow at her. Neptune never usually thought much about anything, nevermind as intensely as she was now. "Hm? What are you thinking, Neptune?" he asked her, expecting it to be about the mission they were undertaking or IF's comments.

Though that expectation was shattered when her words came out her mouth when she looked at him. "I was just thinking if there was a Pudding monster out here." She replied, making Nico roll his eyes at her love for the Desert. It sounded like her, thinking something so random, but in a way, he liked that about her. Kept him on his toes and kept him active in trying to understand her way of thinking. While that action was usually a death sentence for his brain cells, Nico had to admit it was a good way to keep his senses sharp.

Nevertheless, they had a job to do. Thus, with that, the journey continues.

* * *

Afterwards, the Party continued their way. Though their silence was soon destroyed when Neptune brought up another topic. "Speaking of, what's this monster we have to beat?" she asked them all. It was a good question since Ganache didn't give them many details on its appearance, just that it was large.

IF took out her Phone, deciding that Neptune's query warranted investigation. She brought the quest details up on her Phone as she ran her gaze across the description. It would not be unexpected for IF to have te appearance of a librarian how focused she looked right now. "It looks like it's a large-sized monster." She commented, reading the fine print. When she had pocketed her phone again, her mouth became a frown at the lack of detail.

She wasn't the only one that noticed it either. "Anything else?" Noire asked her with her arms crossed and her gaze focused. At the start of another conversation, the rest of the party stopped to watch the conversation unfold.

"Nothing. That was pretty much all that the documents had in them." The brunette's reply deeply unnerved the male. Lacking information could very well be the difference between life and death. He could think of a FEW examples of such a case, the Banshee incident and this one being at the top of the list.

Noire apparently agreed with him, but didn't want to offend the Guild Agent with her next comment as she gave her a dull stare. "Not saying anything bad to you, bit that's quite lacking in information…"

On that, IF nodded, her frown deepening into a scowl. "Yeah, no argument there. I can think of several instances on this journey where information could have been helpful…" she remarked, thinking about the Banshee incident primarily. She remembered the sight of those creatures, and what they did to her fellow Agents. It still gave her nightmares to this day.

Compa tried to bring up a brighter side of their situation, being the optimistic person, she was. "Well, we can ask someone when we need more information." She suggested, the rest of them agreeing. Although deep in their minds, they were all wondering if they would encounter anyone else in this Dungeon, as not many would be foolish enough to do so if they either weren't with the Guild or had some other means of protecting themselves.

"Not like there's someone who would know this kind of information, you know." Noire commented.

'Noire, not to be rude to you by saying what we're thinking deep down inside, but I get the feeling that you just jinxed us.' Nico thought while sweat dropping behind his Mask.

And as if to make Nico's thought a reality, or in Neptune's words drive the plot forwards, an unknown feminine voice spoke up from the silence of the wilderness around them. "My, my, to see known faces here, although one is not…" Everyone, surprised by the turn of events turned to the source of the voice, to find a woman standing… on top of a rock. She hopped down from her perched and walked towards them, a staff with a curved top in hand that she used as a walking stick... although it appeared that was unnecessary.

The woman had denim blue hair that reached down to her waist, a pair of indigo eyes and a mole that sat just below her left eye. Her bangs had a slant cut to them. She wore a brownish witch hat with three gears; the top two criss-crossing each other around the crown, a white overcoat with brown details and a brown dress beneath it with a red tie. She also wore grey thigh-High stockings and black heels with silver laces crossing over each other.

"… Who are you?" Noire asked the obvious question while everyone regarded her curiously, though internally she was trying to fight her embarrassment at having jinxed the party. She knew Neptune wouldn't let her live this down without some teasing, she was sure of it.

That Cheshire cat grin she was aiming her way all but confirmed her internal thoughts.

Stopping before them, the woman tilted her head in response to her question, before nodding in affirmation to herself. "My name, you ask? Yes, of course…" she twirled her staff and stabbed it into the ground beside her, and an unknown wave of energy washed over them. "You can call me MAGES.."

'MAGES…. I believe I've heard that name before…' Nico thought to himself, frowning in contemplation behind his Mask. The name rang a bell within his mind, and yet for the life of him he couldn't place where he had heard that name before. 'Perhaps it'll come to me later, for now I'll listen to this conversation.'

"Mages?" Neptune asked as she pronounced the woman's name, and apparently she failed if what happened next was any indication.

A frown marred the woman's lips as she regarded the confused preteen. "That's "MAGES." With a period." She said in a correcting manner, pointing her staff at Neptune as she said this.

The preteen sweat dropped at the name this woman possessed, a weak smile on her lips at the strangeness of it. Though really she wouldn't be one to talk since her name and IF's wasn't exactly normal either. "Um, I don't think that makes verbal sense…" she remarked, before shrugging her shoulders and deciding the best thing to do with this situation, something that a answered a lot of hijinks they got into. Roll with it. "Well, okay. MAGES. it is!"

"Hm, you said something similar the last time, too." The woman mused, closing her eyes as she rested a hand on her chin in a thoughtful manner as she had her Staff lean on her shoulder.

Her statement however, caught Nico's attention. 'Hm? That statement sounds off… does she imply that she is like that white-haired woman who knows Neptune? If that's the case I better prepare myself for an offensive. She hasn't struck yet, but that woman didn't strike right away either. And she has a weapon.' The male thought with a narrowed eye. Fortunately, his Ebony and Ivory were already summoned from his Void Storage into his Holsters, ready to be drawn.

Fortunately, it seemed that Neptune's brain was working today, as she too caught on to what this woman, MAGES., said. "Huh? Wait, are you someone I know?" she asked the blue haired woman.

Compa beamed happily as she turned from the weirdly dressed MAGES., to Neptune. "This is great, Nep-Nep. You finally meet someone who knows you." She said, glad for her friend.

Nico finally spoke, getting their attention. "Compa, remember that white-haired woman from before? she knew Neptune, it's a fact since she talked and acted like she knew her in the past. Also, remember she looked like Neptune did in HDD, making any claim for her to be acting a flimsy defence at best." He reminded her, noting that Noire had tensed slightly at the remembrance of that day.

While Compa sheepishly giggled at her forgetfulness, MAGES. looked to the preteen and evaluated her, running through what had been said before coming up with a response. "From the way it sounds, it looks like Neptune lost her memory." She deduced, and she found that her deduction was right on the money based on her shocked and awed expression.

It soon turned to amazement though as Neptune hopped up and down on her spot. "Exactly! Wow, how'd you know?" she asked in awe.

MAGES. smirk widened as she puffed her chest out in pride at the looks of awe she received from the preteen. "With my expertise, I can extract the truth from mere words. Unfortunately, though, I may not be of much help to you." She explained, but then her tone turned grave at the end.

"What do you mean?" Compa asked her in concern. Why would she not be able to help?

This prompted the woman to answer while waving her Staff in an arch above her head, a strange glow of energy arching from the tip. "To put it simple, I came from another dimension. As such, the Neptune that I know is not the Neptune in front of me."

Her answer only caused confusion to pool in Compa's eyes as several question marks could be seen floating above her head. "What do you mean? I'm starting to get confused." Compa asked, pouting at not being able to grasp what she was being told.

'That's right, Compa's someone who understands things when they're plain and simple.' Nico thought to himself as he palmed his fist in realisation. "Oh, I get it! You're saying that you came from a dimension like our own, but the Neptune you are accustomed to is not the one we have right now." he explained.

His explanation was aided by a blunt question made from the brunette known as IF, though it also felt like a statement of fact as well as an observation. "So, MAGES. came from another world and not here, right?"

The woman regarded the two for a moment, before she settled for a look of an impressed teacher who was proud with his or her student's progress. "Hm, I see. As sharp as usual, IF. Your guy friend also has keen senses as well." She praised. She was glad that those two could grasp what she was saying, it made things easier for everyone in the long run. For a moment, she had her eyes linger on the male, as if gauging him like he had been doing to her, before focusing on the rest of the girls.

"Thanks." Nico replied, happy with the praise. Though, he did notice her gauging expression when she looked at him. It appeared that he wasn't the only one who was acting cautious. Nico figured that it was his own fault for this, since he was being so paranoid, but he didn't really mind. It meant this woman had good instincts to be wary, and instincts were a necessary tool in his line of work. Those who had good instincts had a tiny amount of respect from him no matter their affiliation.

Before things could possibly go down a different path, and so they could save time, IF began to speak when she saw Neptune about to open her mouth. "Aside from you knowing Nep, I want to ask you something. We're looking for a certain monster here, but do you know anything?" she asked, while ignoring the pout that the bubbly amnesiac aimed her way while she mumbled something incoherently.

At this, MAGES. nodded in confirmation. "I do, but it is in exchange for other information." She told them both, now holding her Staff like a walking stick once more. She looked them over and settled her gaze on Nico, though her eyes were unreadable to the male.

He wasn't thinking about that though; his thoughts were centred on her words and not her posture. 'Well, that's fair, at least. Equivalent exchange as I recall.' The male mused within the confines of his mind.

Meanwhile, IF nodded in acceptance. It was a fair trade, although she wasn't sure what she would want that would be useful from them. "Okay, but I don't have info on how you can return to your dimension."

Fortunately, her fears were unfounded as MAGES. shook her head. "No, Not that. I want to know where I can buy Doc P." she requested with a certain gleam in her eyes. A gleam that reminded them of how Neptune would get when she was near a cup of Pudding or a really large supply of it.

All the Girls look at each other, questioning looks on their faces. This was their first-time hearing of this Doc P, thing, so none of them had a viable idea as to what it was. Even IF had no clue, and she had been a Mercenary for longer than Nico had been a Spec Ops Agent. Eventually, a dismayed sigh came from the male which drew their gazes to him. "Really? You girls haven't heard of it? It's an abbreviation for Doc Tear Popper, a drink." He told them in disappointment. How the heck could they not have heard of such a common drink? He himself had tried some, and while his body was unable to digest it, Nico knew of the beverage.

His words however, had a major effect on the blunette that happened instantly. "You mean that you know of it?! do you know where I can find some?!" MAGES. exclaimed as she bounded over to him in a similar manner to Neptune, with her hands grasping his and stars twinkling in her eyes and her Staff being hooked under her right arm's tricep.

'Whoa their girl, that's some addiction to that beverage you got there. Move back, you're getting too close to me for my liking!' the male screamed in his mind, thankful that he had his Mask on. There was a thing called personal space, and this woman just violated it with no fucks given! She should be thankful he didn't draw Ebony and Ivory on her ass! "Well, if you let me have my personal space, I can send you data to your Phone on where they sell the stuff. I've been around the Nations from my job, so I know my way around. Here." Nico replied as he raised his right Bracer and began pressing his fingers on the Interface.

In excitement, MAGES. brought out a blue framed phone, telling him what her number was so that she could receive the data. None of them noticed the jealousy-filled stares that Neptune, Compa, and to a lesser extent IF and Noire were giving them. By the time that they were finished, the blue haired woman was practically seconds away from bouncing up and down on the ground like a hyper schoolgirl as she held her Phone like it was a gift from the Goddesses themselves with an orgasmic expression on her face, crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks as she held it in the air. "At last, I have found a lead to the drink of the chosen! The Organisation has not destroyed evidence of Doc P in this Dimension, yet!"

Shaking her head to stave off that sudden uncomfortable feeling, Noire brought MAGES. down to earth by pressing on with their questioning. "I don't know who you were speaking to, but can you answer our question next?" she requested with an urgency in her tone.

This urgency was enough for the woman to snap out of her blissful stupor and regain her composure with a clearing of her throat. "Yes, I shall repay the gesture your friend has given me. What would you like to know?" MAGES. replied as she pocketed her Phone like it was a sacred jewel shard.

Now that they were getting down to business, Noire finally asked the question the entire Party needed to know for their Quest for Avenir. "Do you know the whereabouts of a large-sized monster here?"

The woman did a slight double take, blinking several times at the simplicity of the request, before she returned to normal, and spoke. "Hmph. Is that it? I actually saw one just a while ago."

"Really?"

MAGES. nodded her head in confirmation for Compa's one-worded question. She then pointed her Staff in a direction that led deeper into the Dungeon, which looked like an elevated platform that led higher to more platforms. "It is easily identifiable with its visual difference from the others." MAGES. explained.

"Thank you, that helps a lot." Noire thanked the woman. She may be a bit odd; however, it didn't stop her from being thankful and showing her gratitude for helping them.

MAGES. nodded her head in acceptance of this gratitude with a pleased look in her eyes. "I assume you will now be hunting the Monster down? I would like to help, but I have an urgent matter to attend to."

Noire waved it off though, they could take care of things from here. What MAGES had offered was more than enough for them. "Don't worry. We're fine with just the information."

At this, MAGES nodded once more. "I see. I bid you farewell, then." She said, before turning on her heels and walking towards the way the Party had come, intending to leave the Dungeon to go to one of the places that Nico's data sold her beloved 'Drink of the Chosen.'

After they watched her leave, Noire turned to the others, her pleasant expression changing into one of grim seriousness. "It looks like the target is near, and if its anything like what MAGES. said, then we'll likely have a large fight on her hands if its infected and in its Frenzied state. Let's hurry before it gets away." The others nodded in agreement with Noire's reasonings, as to them even though the one that gave them info was a bit of a… unique case they at least had a legit lead. With renewed determination, they ventured deeper into the Dungeon to get their prize, to get this Quest over with so they could report to Chian.

* * *

After their little 'talk' with the oddball known as MAGES., the Party reached yet another clearing, this one being like where they had fought the Nargacuga in. Noire would grit her teeth with twitching eyebrows at the memory of the creature that damaged her clothes as badly as it did, much to the amusement of Neptune, whose playful teasing was even worse in human form.

Fortunately, the preteen was saved from death by strangling when Nico pulled up the Holomap on his Bracer and checked the area with the details of the Job. His eyes narrowed as he mumbled incoherently under his breath, before closing the Holomap and the Quest details down and looked to the others. "This looks to be the place, guys. The Large monster Avenir wants us to beat seems to be within this vicinity."

Compa hummed as she looked around, the area was quiet, almost too quiet, which was an unnerving concept to think about. "Um, you guys, I don't see anything…" she commented worriedly to the others.

Just in case of an ambush, Nico and the others drew their weapons, Noire's Rapier, Neptune's Murasama, Compa's Syringe, IF's Qatars, and Nico's Rebellion. They would be ready for the likely ambush now. Just after they drew their weapons, something pounced out the wilderness, heading straight for Nico, knocking him down. The girls all gasped at this, but before they could move in to help the male, said male managed to use the momentum of the fall to his advantage, lifting his legs and pressing them against the stomach of his assailant, pushing upwards to throw the attacker off him.

Both rolled across the ground before getting up on their feet. Turning, Nico saw that it was a 'Slash Dog', one that was, like a lot of Monsters in this Dungeon, afflicted with the Frenzy Virus. The creature's skin was a mix of dark blue, borderline black, with its talons glowing an ominous purple. Its head was a dark bluish colour with a large mane, a pair of hollow purple eyes bearing down on them with intent to kill while a purple gas leaked from its maw of sharp teeth. On the back of its hind legs were a pair of glowing purple metallic blades, likely for defence.

"Iffy, is it that monster over there?" Neptune asked, pointing at the monster. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt an extreme hatred for it, hatred that was much more than simple 'man vs monster' hatred. It took her a moment for her to realise that it was using the colour purple, which seemed to be a large part of her character, for sinister purposes, something that felt, to her, like a slap to the face.

The brunette looked at the monster closely, while Compa commented on the observations made about the creature. "It is a lot bigger than the others."

Nodding her head in agreement with the Nurse-In-Training, IF responded to them both. "Bingo." She said with a victorious smirk as she got into a battle stance." I think we've got it. let's go everyone!" she called out as she ran at the Slash Dog, which of course made the Party follow suit.

As it saw them coming, the Slash Dog reared its head back, a dim light escaping the confines of its maw which served as their only warning. With a quick shout from Nico and IF, they scattered when the creature released a large stream of purple flames where they once were, leaving behind a scorched trail along the ground.

'Holy, looks like the Frenzy Virus ups the Monster's abilities like that, huh…' Nico thought to himself before pouring energy into Rebellion and launching a few energy slashes at it. The Slash Dog dodged them by hopping to the side, before beginning to run towards him. Nico smirked as he jumped back, evading the Slash Dog's claws to its rising fury. With the virus increasing its bloodlust and savagery, it was moving like a mindless drone, unable to comprehend intelligent thought any longer.

"Hey, ya big bully!" Neptune's war cry caught its attention as she ran up to it from the side and slashed its right hind leg, the blade of her HF Murasama slicing through the flesh as easy as pie. "Try picking on someone your own size!" she called out before doing the spits, literally, to dodge a claw swipe that would have decapitated her. She raised her sword and blocked its other claw when it was brought down on her, before spinning into a helicopter kick that knocked the claw away from her and she slashed it, making the creature howl as the HF blade dug through its flesh.

Rolling backwards and getting to her feet, Neptune looked at Nico while IF and Noire attacked it from behind, distracting it for them while Compa stayed back, providing fire support. They both had a unified thought of how they were going to deal with it. They then ran at it together, while the Slash Dog's other opponents fell back to make way for them. It looked around and saw the approaching two, and roared at them, rearing back before pouncing.

"I'll go first, Neptune!" Nico called out as he slid under the Slash Dog and his companion rolled to the side. The blade rebellion began to spark, indicating one of Nico's skills was Activating. "Alright you, let's see how you like cutting edge technology! PHANTOM EDGE!" Nico roared as he made a single horizontal slash. When the slash was complete, the attack made an eruption of purple energy, one that sent the Slash Dog tumbling away across the ground. While it was recovering, the male followed up with a PHANTOM BLADES skill, though it was barely able to dodge most of them.

Neptune's cue came as she ran towards it, her eyes focused as a smirk tugged at her lips, one that seemed oddly like her HDD form's. "Nicky's not the only one with new skills, readers! CRITICAL EDGE!" Neptune yelled as her sword was engulfed with her energy. She swung her sword downwards, which slashed through her opponent's shoulder before bringing the blade upwards again for an upward slash. The attack was strong enough to send the creature into the air, much to the surprise of the onlookers, and when it came down again Neptune raced past it with a high-speed reverse slash, doing large amounts of damage to it.

"Damn, Neptune, where'd you learn that trick?" Nico mused as he held his own Claymore sword before him in one hand. "PHANTOM EDGE just coats my blade in plasma purple energy and releases it as an explosive energy slash when I attack." he remarked, explaining his newly revealed skill.

Seeing how bewildered Nico was wither new Skill, Neptune beamed proudly as she puffed her chest out, angling her chin upwards with her hands on her hips in a 'high and mighty' pose. "Why, you're not the only one who needs to be badass, Nicky. I mean you've been hoggin' the spotlight for a lot of battles, then there's Noire, you guys never give mwa the time to shine she needs!" in the end, she leaned forwards and waved her finger in his face. "You may be an OC, but I am the main character here in this franchise."

At her words, Nico rolled his eyes. He knew that Neptune would keep that ideology about her meta jokes in her head for eternity, so there was no point in arguing. Glancing behind her, he noticed that the Frenzied monster was getting up, and swiftly moved past her almost like he was gliding across the ground. "Well while you were playing meta, the Monster managed to heal. So, lets finish it off."

"Righto!" Readying his Rebellion, Nico and Neptune charged forth towards the Slash Dog, which began to breathe fire at them. However, Nico was the one who got in front and with a quick notification of, "I got this!" he bent his legs, twisted his hips to the side with his arms mimicking the motion of drawing something from its sheath at the left side of his waist, all the while Rebellion almost groaned with how much energy was coursing through it, both his normal purple and the crimson red mixed with black of his demonic energy.

With a mighty roar, Nico swung sideways when the fire stream got close to him, and the sword released a mighty slash of both energies, which flew out the blade and raced through it, cutting the fire stream in half as it sailed through the air towards the Slash Dog. When the Attack hit, the monster howled in pain as it felt the burning of the energy as its mouth suffered tremendous damage. It hacked and coughed while stumbling about, looking like a drunkard on the streets.

'If that thing wasn't enhanced by the Frenzy Virus, then I would think that attack would have obliterated it.' Nico thought as Neptune jumped over him and came down on the enemy. She slashed down its mane, then spun into a slash to its side. Noire ran in afterwards and sliced through its other side with the tip of her Rapier, before activating LACE RIBBON DANCE to further spread the wound further.

The Slash Dog growled in anger at the attacks on its frame. Flames licked at the wounds in its mouth, and after pushing through the pain in its jaw it breathed another fire stream towards IF and Compa who were next to attack. They had to pause their running and roll to the side to avoid it, although IF did not escape unscathed thanks to her Coat being caught at the bottom.

Quickly rolling to her feet, the brunette did all she could to douse the flames, until they were extinguished leaving the bottom of her coat reduced to charred ashes. "Ugh, goddamnit, this was my favourite coat!" she whined, her shoulders dropping before she pulled a 180-personality shift, her head lifting with a bright fury in them as she raised her hand and activated DEMON FLAMES. The Skill landed as the Slash Dog suffered more burns on the outside of its body instead of inside like with Nico's strike.

It sensed danger coming, and quickly raised its claw to block a strike from Neptune, who smirked at the attempt as their weapons locked together. "Heh, psyche, buster!" she proclaimed while jumping into a spinning slash. The attack broke through its defenced and left multiple gash marks on its body, much to its fury as it jumped to the side that Neptune was at. "Oof!" she exclaimed as the beast rammed into her, sending her flying through the air. Fortunately, she managed to right herself and land in a crouch, using her blade to slow her movement to a halt.

Seeing its chance, the Slash Dog roared as it reared its right hand, a purplish aura forming around it while a matching coloured circle formed under it. Nico's eyes widened when he saw this. 'Wait a sec, that's not something I saw in its list of skills!' he thought, but couldn't react in time before the creature scooped its claw through the ground, hurling what looked like a flaming meteor from the ground towards her.

"Nepu!" Neptune saw the attack and couldn't help but make her verbal tick in shock and fright. She jumped into the air, transforming into her HDD form all the while, to use the ability of flight to fly over the large attack. "That was unexpected…" Neptune commented in surprise, her heartbeat jackhammering through her chest as she watched the attack hit the trees behind her former position with her eyes wide. "To think this beast was capable of such a thing…"

Looking back down at the Slash Dog, she saw the purplish aura having persisted after its attack finished, all its wounds beginning to regenerate much to her chagrin. "Now that is just not fair." She moaned in depression, monsters usually don't have regeneration that fast, save for the ridiculously overpowered ones like the Abnormals. Knowing she didn't have time to stop it fully healing, Neptune encased her blade in energy as she flew down towards it like a falcon, her eyes now sharper than daggers. "I'll slice you in half! CRITICAL EDGE!" Landing before it, Neptune swung her blade down on its snout, then brought the blade upwards to send it into the air.

"Hey Neptune, cover me!" The purple haired swordstress's eyes widened when she saw Noire rushing forwards while her Skill had activated, much to Neptune's disbelief. The glow around her Rapier indicated that she too had a skill activated as she kicked the creature into the air once more. "Noire, what are you doing? My Skill is active!" she called out while pausing her CRITICAL EDGE.

"What do you think, we're Chaining skills of course." Noire replied while rolling her eyes. Chaining skills like the way they were was not something as expected for citizens of Gamindustri. Under normal circumstances there were combination skills involving 2 people, which were only usable if the people involved had fought together for a long enough time. What Noire had suggested was Chaining multiple different skills together, basically when one skill is activated another is also done in the middle of the previous one, like a chain, hence the name.

After Noire's second double Kick, a PHANTOM WAVE launched from Nico came in and exploded right beneath it, the one responsible rushing forwards at bullet speed with his Rebellion reared for a reverse horizontal slash, the blade coated with purple plasma energy as he slashed across its underbelly, stopping behind it to hear the explosion of energy that signified the completion of PHANTOM EDGE.

"Noire came up with the idea, Nep, and honestly it's a refreshing one, if a bit hard to comprehend." IF explained, having to raise the volume of her voice since she wasn't next to the purple haired word maiden. She too activated DEMON FLAMES once more, and after the attack ended she decided to follow suit with a new skill. "Time to unload the big guns, today. LA DELPHINUS!" IF did made the motions of what she would do when activating DEMON FLAMES, but instead of explosions followed by a pillar of flame, a large pillar of pure light energy burst out from beneath the Slash Dog, causing it to howl in agony as its regeneration barely kept up with the onslaught of attacks, burns spreading across its body.

As a follow up, Neptune groaned to herself. "I can comprehend it just fine… anyways, let's just roll with it." she mumbled under her breath, not that anyone was listening as she made the finishing slash for her CRITICAL EDGE. She charged forwards and in a flash, appeared behind the Slash Dog with a massive energy slash appearing on its body. "Nonetheless, it is an… interesting experience, so I'll indulge." Twisting around with a bloodlust-filled smirk, Neptune activated CROSS COMBINATION right after activating her other Skill, flying forth towards it to unleash her slashes, then she kicked it into the air and jumped after it, bringing her sword down for the final blow.

At this point, even the regeneration of the Frenzied Slash Dog was being overtaxed, since its wounds weren't healing as fast as before. However, sadly for it the assault didn't end there as a pouty Compa activated her own sill for the first time since joining this Party. "I have skills too you know! COMPA LOVE HEART!" A bright glow illuminated the cream haired girl as she drew a massive love heart in the air, its size being a couple heads bigger than her body. She then thrusts her Syringe forwards into its centre, and the love heart was sent sailing through the air, crashing into the Slash Dog.

The resulting impact created an explosion of energy that finally did the beast in. Rearing its head back, the creature let out a defeated, weak howl as its last sound in this world before falling to the ground, soon vanishing into Particles like the rest of its kind. Although, the particles this time were like the Nargacuga's, a deep purplish black.

"Huh… I assume that the Frenzy Virus affects them down to their individual cells…" IF mumbled as she saw this spectacle. Mumbles of agreement came from the rest of them. Having chained skills like that together had left them moderately drained. Performing Skills like normal wasn't too draining, however when Chaining Skills one had to be wary of so much more than they would otherwise, plus when Chained together, these Skills increase both in power and energy consumption, so it made sense for the Party to be moderately tired from using this technique.

Raising her head to look at the others, Neptune spoke towards Noire's direction. "That was some trick, Noire…" she complimented with a small smile of approval, sheathing her Sword into her futuristic sheath. She then transformed back into her human form, and the bubbly Neptune took her place as she raced towards Noire's position, much to her surprise. "That was awesomesauce, Noire! Where'd you come up with such an idea? It was a blast!"

While mumbling something about HDD and stupid personality shifts, Noire responded to the enthusiastically asked question. "It was spur of the moment, kind of thing, really. I noticed small gaps of time when we use our Skills, so I figured 'why not?' turns out this technique could use some work, but still."

"On that we can agree with you there." Nico commented as he examined Rebellion for a moment, before placing it back into its sheath which teleported it back to his Void Storage. "While increasingly draining, it's still a powerful technique. Good for those in a party who would be the weakest link otherwise to combine their strength with the others to achieve greater results. I'm impressed, Noire, good job coming up with an idea like this in the heat of battle." The male praised with a beaming grin in Noire's direction.

Neptune grinned at what had just transpired as she decided to add in a little teasing of her own to the mix, even though Nico's words weren't meant to be a tease. She couldn't help herself, Noire was perfect for this stuff! "Heh-heh. Nowa got praised by Nicky."

Said blackette felt a blush at both the compliments and the blinding grin the male was sporting. Seriously that grin was infectious as it provoked grins from the rest of the girls. "I-I don't care what you think! It was just a suggestion, s-so there!" she stammered, turning away from him and huffing, much to the male's amusement, though he did smile weakly with a sweat drop. She then glared towards Neptune as she realised that the preteen had called her by something other than her actual name, although her blush increased in potency. "Wait, wha? "Nowa"?! Why'd you shorten my name?! No wait, I wasn't praising you!" she stammered, quick to deny any way that she could be teased more.

After she thought the same thing as the rest of the party, IF watched as Noire tried to strangle Neptune once again for teasing her with that nickname. Although there was a lack of tensity in the air unlike when Neptune teased her in the past. In fact, things felt… lighter, between the two. "It looks like those two are getting along better now." she remarked in observation.

"Enemies one day, friends the next!" Compa chirped happily while her childhood friend rolled his eyes. 'That can some up some anime fights in a nutshell, now that I think about it. An enemy gets punched by the protag, and they're friends afterwards.' Nico thought to himself in wonder and amusement.

IF nodded her head in agreement with the cream haired girl, before checking her Phone. "Well, we got the weapon data that Chian needed, so let's head on back."


	25. Chapter 25 - It's time to talk

**Chapter 25 - It's time to talk**

After completing their job, the Party returned to the meeting point where they informed Ganache, who was alone this time as Singe had seen fit to return to their HQ, his words being 'I have no time to indulge in the flawed capability of humans.', that the site was clear for them. After they received their reward, the Party returned to Lastation's Capital to report to Chian about what they found out so far on their first mission.

Plus, like before, as well as in true Neptune fashion, the purplette threw open the doors to the Café, yelling "I'm home!" with a hand in the air and a beaming grin on her face while the rest followed suit. Nico would have scolded her for her behaviour, but decided not to, considering this was a familiar place and it would be pointless to scold her here, where Neptune's antics were accepted as part of the course. "Chian! We're done with the weapon testing!"

Chian, who had been checking some papers by the Counter, looked up and saw that they were back, a grin slowly forming on her features as she waved back at the purplette. "Hm? That was mighty quick." She remarked, still grinning at the sight of the excitable girl as she handed the Armas Test Model along with a paper filled with notes on how the weapon functioned, made by their sole male member since Neptune's handwriting was atrocious. It could hardly be called letters just a bunch of scribbles. "And, how about Avenir?"

"About that, it didn't work as planned." Noire replied, sighing a deep sigh as she held her arms below her chest in her usual classy manner. She had taken off her Mask before entering as well, as to not scare Chian, depositing it into her Inventory. Although that would not be the last of it, Heck, even when this business with Avenir was over she still had some plans for that Mask… enough said. "What we do know is that Avenir is making a new plant."

The weapon mechanic tensed when she heard what the Party had learned, her skin losing some of its colour as she regarded Noire with a look of incredulous disbelief. Soon, she opened her mouth and spoke, though it looked like she had difficulty finding the words. "Another one?!"

IF frowned suspiciously at Chian's reaction, quickly concluding that there was something wrong yet they didn't know what. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Is it that much of a surprise for a plant to be made?" it was a surprising reaction from Chian, businesses making plants isn't that uncommon nor would it be that surprising, especially in a Nation like Lastation.

Chian turned her gaze over to the brunette after she asked her that question. Her eyes looked like that of a professor teaching a class as she left the bar from the side and walked over to one of the walls that made up the Café. Said wall seemed to have a map of the nation, but what was interesting was that many areas were filled with red splotches, splotches that looked to serve some form of purpose. This was enhanced by the red pins on their centres, and when Chian pointed to a few of them. "You may not know, but all those plants are ruining the nature around them." She explained, a thin layer of disgust under her educational tone. "We've lost countless forests because of them!"

"Okay, now that is bad." An unmasked Nico stated while cupping his chin as he analysed the map like a General would to prep for battle, devising strategies to beat the enemy with the least number of casualties. 'Planeptune may be a technologically advanced nation, but it doesn't sacrifice the wilderness throughout the Landmass. Me and Compa used to sometimes take walks along the parks with her grandfather, both for fun and for exercise for the old man.' He thought to himself with his scowl going deeper and deeper each second. "Not only would that damage the economy in the end, it could potentially ruin Lastation."

Indeed, while it was good that they were expanding business with these plants, it was ruining the environment the Landmass provided, the grey skies around Lastation being perfect proof. He could hardly recall the last time Lastation saw the full sun because of all the pollution in the air. If the land was destroyed too much, then it would become counterproductive since people wouldn't want to live there, and that would lead to Lastation's downfall.

Plus, judging by what he'd been secretly investigating, Nico knew they wouldn't stop there.

"Well if that's the case," IF began, frowning at first as she thought of the stakes that were now higher than they ever were before, "let's go back to Avenir." She suggested. If this was what they would have if they failed to stop Avenir soon, then it was best that they keep going. Possibly take a small break when they could so they could regain their strength.

Noire nodded her head in agreement with the brunette, her lips curling into a confident smile as she held her hands on her hips. "Yes. Even if it didn't work this time, we have the next." She added in, furthering IF's idea through the Party's minds.

Then Neptune had to go a little extreme with her addition to what they should do. "Aaaand we can do some sleuthing, too!" she grinned evilly, holding Murasama like a serial killer would which, combined with the occasional electric spark from the current flowing through the HF blade, made for an intimidating sight.

Fortunately, Chian was quick to douse such notions, and the sight of an intimidating Neptune worked far more than it should have… and not in a good way. "Hey, hey. Nothing over-the-top."

* * *

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the Party were being monitored by a Recon Drone, and not one that operated for their resident DPU either. The Drone, upon receiving orders to return to its master, turned and floated away, not making a single sound as to alert the people being observed of its location. The Drone floated down the streets, making several turns till it came to the entrance to a dark alleyway, the sun having cast shadows over it so that nobody would be able to see if anyone was there.

The Drone floated in and its form was patted gently by a hand, a masculine hand with a tuff of what looked like a suit. The man held a remote in hand, one that had a screen that displayed a recording of the conversation between the Party and Chian. The screen illuminated the man's face, revealing it to be…

A smirking Ganache. And a smirking Ganache was not a good thing, for this smirk lacked his previous politeness, replaced by a sinister, ominous demeanour that would send chills down the spines of those that knew him as a polite businessman. "Oh my, how interesting. Their conversation is quite intriguing." The man said as he reviewed the recording, repeating the action multiple times to make sure he got every detail committed to memory.

Nico, or rather DEATHSTROKE as Ganache knew him as, wasn't the only one with access to Recon Drones. Ganache knew of DEATHSTROKE, how could he not, that boy was someone who was responsible for the downfall of its rival corporation Umbrella. It was well within reason to suspect that he would make Avenir his next target considering what he did to one of their rivals.

Their conversation was also very interesting, revealing a lot of information to the man. The fact that they planned to take them down while achieving work from them was an ingenious plan that Ganache doubted the purple haired one, who he had checked out and found was the leader of the Party, would concoct on her own. He was certain that it was either DEATHSTROKE, the brown-haired girl, or the girl in the Mask that suspiciously looked like Lastation's CPU. Since the recording wasn't a visible one but the same as the one DEATHSTROKE uses, he didn't know of the blackette's identity, but that didn't matter.

Now, how should he, Ganache, the Founder of Avenir, deal with these troublemakers?

An idea crossed its way onto his mind, and his smirk widened into an evil, almost psychotic grin that threatened to split across his face. If anyone saw him, they would swear that his right eye flashed a bit in the darkness, but it was gone as fast as it came. "Let's see. Maybe I should make them taste what it is like to go against us."

* * *

The rest of the day passed by, and the Party filled it in with Quests and training. Unfortunately for them, Avenir wasn't offering any more jobs yet, so their return to that detestable corporation wouldn't happen as soon as they'd hoped, as weird as that sounded in their minds. Therefore, they did any Quest that they could, sometimes crossing Monsters afflicted by the Frenzy Virus. Those creatures proved to be more trouble than their normal counterparts, which meant they had to exercise much more caution till they take them down.

One good thing came out of their emergence, and that was an abundance of monster slaying quests by the Guild. Seeing as the Frenzied Monsters were causing as much trouble as the Abnormals, though compared to them the Frenzied Monsters were much weaker and easier to deal with, the Guild had assigned Quests specifically detailing that certain monsters needed to be taken down. Those quests proved to be more rewarding not in terms of Credits, but in terms of items and 'EXP' as Neptune once referred to as, considering that they were tougher and dropped different items on their defeat. The cause of the virus was still unknown however, meaning that all they could really do was keep the Frenzied monsters at bay.

As for training, it was proven when Nico sparred with Neptune that training was a majorly effective way for the Party to learn new Skills. Neptune using CRITICAL EDGE was the proof since she told them how she had learned she could use it after one of their sparring matches. Therefore, it would continue, with the girls sparring against Nico or each other. Compa remained out of the sparring as her expertise was geared towards healing and support, therefore Sparring wouldn't be a good way to have her Skills develop. Instead, she would be on the sidelines, using her Healing and support Skills to better aid the girls in their sparring, while Nico wouldn't let her help him because unlike them, he had much more experience in combat than they did, IF being an exception. His skills still though, were superior because he had fought so many Abnormals in his lifetime that his body didn't need as much training as the others did.

In an RPG, they would be low-to-mid-levels while Nico would be the high level mini boss.

None of them, not even Neptune in her transformed state, could get an injury on him, which showed how big the power difference was between them. It also showed that both they lacked experience in fighting human opponents, which would become a major disadvantage to them, as well as how much he held back during their Monster Hunts. It was during those training sessions that the girls truly understood… what made Nico a Spec Ops Agent, the one known as DEATHSTROKE. Even without his Armour, Nico was a beast in battle.

Another aspect that attributed to Nico's training was the demonic energy of the DPU within him. Using it in such short bursts like in Skill activation or just empowering himself with it would allow him to better control it if he ever does try to transform again, although he never truly did turn into his DPU form, much to everyone's relief. They didn't think that they would be able to scratch him if he did. if they couldn't do so when he was in his human form, then the DPU form was way off, like a small star compared to the Sun itself.

Plus, the male was also preoccupied making preparations for when Avenir would make their moves. His rage had been quelled from its previous raging orange flame that potentially consumed him, to a low, cool yet bright blue flame, one that gave him purpose and direction. His mind clear, his purpose doubtless, Nico made sure to make ample preparations for the time that they would strike.

Though, something interesting DID happen between him and a certain Tsundere...

* * *

In the afternoon, Nico sat on one of the tables, his expression focused as he gazed at his Bracer, which displayed a holographic screen. The details on the screen were held in a way so that only he could see them, but they were notes and calculations of his plans for Avenir's inevitable strike on Lastation. He had investigated several secret facilities once owned by Umbrella, under the cover of darkness with his Mask on to conceal his identity of course. Through these secret outings, Nico learned much. There were certain facilities that he hadn't touched during the events of Racoon City's destruction. Back then, the male had been more focused on confirming their existence rather than investigating what they were doing. That would have been enough to prove Umbrella guilty back then, but now he needed to know more. Thus, he had gone deeper into these facilities, using the blueprints he got from scanning them with his Bracers to find hidden areas and secrets Umbrella had hidden. These investigations revealed to him that Avenir had more than one hidden dealing with the corporation before it fell, because some of the areas he'd found looked like they were ransacked before te authorities even got there. Considering what he knew, there was only one culprit responsible, at least in his eyes:

Avenir.

Sneaking into one of their facilities would have been beneficial for him, had he not gone with their plan of working for them and getting data from within. Nico knew that on his own, he'd be able to achieve this goal of attaining information, no problem. Hell, despite stealth missions not being his forte, he was fairly adept at them, so he could have snuck into one of Avenir's bases with little trouble. However, Nico didn't because he was worried for the girls, that they wouldn't know how to cover for him since they had no idea of what he had been secretly doing. Secrecy was a norm for Spec Ops on covert missions, and his instincts told him to follow that logic here. In addition, Nico also wanted to know more about Noire, part of him had been suspicious about her allegiances to Avenir, a small part of him at least. However, that part of hi m was smashed out of existence by the rest of his being when he saw how they interacted. Nico knew the stages of how to tell when someone's lying, plus his Condition gave him enhanced senses, and both sides showed no signs of false acting between them. Then, there was her true identity...

"What are you doing Nico...?"

The male's thoughts were shattered, just like his illusion of perfect silence, when he heard the voice of the exact same person he was thinking about from by the cafe's entrance. 'Speak of the Devil and she will appear...' the male couldn't help but remark with a slight exasperation in his mind, although his face remained neutral as he closed everything down and slid off the table. "Good afternoon, Noire." he replied evenly, letting out a small smile as he placed his hands in his pockets. "Just going over my research notes on a project." he explained, before looking from side to side as if searching for something. "Where's Neptune and IF? I thought they were with you?"

Noire huffed as she flicked one of her ponytails, placing the hand she used on her hip. "Neptune and IF went off to go get some more Pudding. Or rather, Neptune dragged IF across to the Pudding store. I swear, she's just a head full of Pudding sometimes." the blackette girl remarked, tiredly. After their training and treatment, IF, Neptune and Noire had gone out for a stroll trough Lastation's streets. The first two intended to see the sights, since they never got the chance to beforehand, while the third wanted to spend some time alone but got dragged into their antics. Or rather, Neptune's antics. "Anyways, Compa's gone to get more bandages, so its' just... us in the Café."

The blackette slowly trailed off as she suddenly felt very nervous around the male right now. For as long as she could remember, they never actually got the chance to talk to each other privately like this. It was always with Neptune and the others, so this would be their first chance to finally talk, and while she did have some questions for the male that she would like to have asked alone, she couldn't help but be afraid for what he might ask. After all, she did notice how different he was compared to the others. Neptune and Compa were blissfully ignorant idiots, though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, and IF was like the middle ground between them, trying to keep their antics from going overboard. Nico on the other hand, was like a hawk. When he had his eyes set on something, you can bet your entire life he would not stop till he achieved his goal. She knew that he was no fool, and that her attempts at covering up her identity may not have worked on him... like, at all.

Meanwhile, Nico felt just as awkward as she was right now, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Yeah... I guess so." he responded, though he did curse himself for how meek he sounded. Yet, he couldn't find anyways to say it other than like that. After all, he had many questions he would like to ask her, but never got the chance since they usually only were around each other when the Party was together, not separately like this. Problem was, he had been so focused on Avenir that Nico never thought he'd get a chance like this to talk to her. 'Plus, there's the fact that under that arrogant, boastful and tsundere shell of herds, lies a really attractive lady. I'm surprised she hasn't found someone as of yet.'

While he would say most men were perverted pigs out there who didn't know how to treat a lady, he had to admit that Nico was biased in his views. Mostly because that was mostly the kind of guy he had been accustomed to. True, he had seen some guys who actually treated their ladies well, Compa's grandfather being a perfect example. However, those instances were so few and far in-between that he almost forgot about them. He could think of a few people whom he could admit treated girls much better than the average male, some of whom were his fellow Comrades in the Spec Ops Programme.

For a while, the two just stood there, an awkward silence about them as the two struggled to think of something to say. For the time being, these weren't two beings that had special beings, there was nothing like hidden agendas or TechEd out secret agents, just two teenagers who weren't very sociable around others, struggling to find ways to break this awkward tension in the air. They needed somebody like Neptune to break the ice here, or someone like her who wouldn't try to do so by teasing the hell out of them. They could indeed imagine Neptune laughing while saying something idiotic about two 'lonely people' finally finding companionship or something like that.

Finally, the sound of a Kettle screeching filled the air, making both of them jump in surprise at the sudden sound. The Kettle was located by the counter next to the alcoholic drink cupboards, as Nico cleared his throat with a flustered set of cheeks. "Oh, um, that's me. I was making myself some Coffee while I was planning my Project." he hurriedly explained, electing a nod of understanding come from the blackette as he walked to the Counter. He finally got to the Kettle, mentally thanking it for ending the awkwardness. As he made to reach for the cupboard that housed the cups, an idea sparked inside his mind as he looked up at Noire. "Would you like some?" he asked her.

Surprised ad caught off guard by his sudden gesture, Noire quickly responded with an affirming nod. "Yes, please, thanks. I'd like mine with 2 sugars in please."

With a nod, Nico pulled out two cups, placing them on the counter. He then went and pulled out a container filled with Coffee Beans, before beginning to brew some Coffee. While he did so, Noire sat at one of the tables, ironically the same one that Nico had been using earlier. She crossed one leg over the other and lightly tapped the table with her index finger, looking down at her other hand and finding it very interesting at the moment. Both sides struggled to get their thoughts in order while the Coffee was being brewed, a sweet aroma filling the air and sending pleasurable chills down their spines.

After a few moments, the Coffee was ready, so Nico poured it into the cups, one being all silverfish white while the other was a light purple colour. The Coffee filled them up and was still steaming when he was finished, so he chose the one that represented Lastation's colours for Noire's, putting 2 teaspoons of sugar in it before mixing it together. He then walked back around the counter and brought her coffee to her, getting a soft 'thank you' from the tsundere as she looked away from him, blushing slightly. Nico nodded at this, blushing a little pink too, as he sat opposite her.

This time, the silence was short lived as Noire, after tasting the Coffee, had to admit that it was quite good. "Wow, this Coffee is splendid." she remarked, surprise evident over her features, before looking to him and tried to regain some form of pride... by acting like a tsundere. "I... I guess you can have some praise for this." she stuttered, turning her head away from him.

The male smirked in pride at her praise, despite her attempts to cover it up. "Thanks, someone I respect highly taught me how to do this. He actually lives in Lastation, owns a Coffee shop and everything." he explained, smiling fondly. He forgot the awkwardness as he immersed himself in some of the few good memories he had in his lifetime after leaving Compa's house all those years ago. "He was, in my opinion, a Coffee wizard, since he could make anything Coffee based taste great."

"You sound like you admire him a lot..." Noire mused, thoughtfully. Though, in her mind she was surprised at how open Nico was being right now. She figured he'd be al stiff and try to interrogate her, her refusing, and leading to an intense argument. Surprisingly, that wasn't happening, instead they were having a civil conversation. While it was only the beginning, Noire had to admit, if this held up, she would like to talk more like this in the future. "What kind of Coffee Beans did you use for this?"

Nico waved a hand dismissively, taking another sip of his Coffee. This was the only thing he could have aside from THAT, thanks to his Condition, but nonetheless he loved having a cup of Coffee in the morning. Even in the afternoon. "Just the standard Coffee Beans, nothing special." he stated bluntly, much to Noire's surprise.

"You're kidding..." she muttered, this time not trying to hide it as she looked down at her drink, taking another sip and pleasantly moaning at the liquid going down her throat. "You must have used a special trick or something, there's no way standard quality Coffee Beans could taste this good."

A wry smirk tugged at his lips as Nico shook his head at her. "Nope, nothing special. Just normal Coffee Beans. The man I told you about, he run's a Coffee Shop in Lastation. He told me something he believes to his very core: "My own private philosophy... is that the most important thing, even more than where beans are from, is how you approach each of them. Your approach must vary, depending on the bean. Just because some beans are expensive, if you brew them without care, they will not turn out well. The opposite is also true. Even cheap beans can become flavourful, if you carefully brew them to bring out their special qualities."" he quoted, remembering that lesson well. That philosophy was something that Nico had learned long ago from him, and it wasn't just applied to Coffee Beans. If it weren't for him, Nico doubted he would have made i this far.

"He sounds like an interesting person..." Noire had to admit, that this guy sounded like someone she could talk to. Just from hearing his words, Noire felt that a lot of her questions regarding Nico were answered. This philosophy could explain why he only stuck to the prototypes of mass-produced Planeptune Gear, or how he still tried to learn how to control his DPU powers. Time and effort to bring out their best qualities... she found that she liked that ideal, very much so. It fit in line with Lastation's motto: we only do everything, in a weird, yet pleasant way.

The male had the decency to nod. "Yep, sure is. He should be doing alright, last time I heard from him was after the..." at this, the male's gaze fell as he recalled the last time he had seen the man. "... After the Racoon City incident."

Noire had to admit, she had winced on that one. "Yeah... I've been thinking about that, actually. I'm sure that, if she got the chance, then Lastation's CPU would thank you for your help, personally." she remarked, refusing the urge to chuckle bitterly. Here she was, hiding in plain sight, pretending that she was someone else, someone she knew she was. It was weird, and very ironic. "People like Umbrella... they really disgust me, you know." a frown marred her lips as a sour taste formed in her mouth, both from the rumours she heard, and what she learned from Chian. It was deplorable that someone in her Nation got the idea to do something so horrid. "Makes me question whether or not this world should be destroyed is really a bad thing."

If such people outnumbered the good in this world, then what's the point of trying to protect it? Noire had often wondered that, even before everything went to hell with her and the Basilicom. She often wondered what was the point in protecting people if they were just going to destroy themselves in the end. She came up with an answer, and that was how twisted and fucked up the world truly was to allow such unfairness to thrive in humanity. "This world has become so messed up... and it's people like Umbrella, like Avenir, who mess it up in the first place."

"... Not exactly, Noire."

Nico, who had remained silent for a while, spoke softly and with melancholy, like this had happened before. "Huh? What do you mean that I'm wrong?" Noire asked, surprised before narrowing her eyes intently at him. "You better have a good reason why you think that, or..."

Despite her threat, Nico didn't feel any desire to defend himself. Likely this was because he knew he could take her down with or without DDD. He still hadn't shown his full arsenal yet, just so you know, readers. "I mean to say this: It's not the world that's messed up. It's those of us in it." he told her, placing his Coffee, which was 3/4 finished, down on the Table, before standing up. He then walked to the window, placing his hand on the glass as he looked outside to the city, eying the people that passed by. "Yes, there's many who walk paths that leave death, destruction, tragedy and sorrow in their wake. However like anyone else, people can chose to change altogether. Although most do not. There's a lot people have to learn about each other, this applies to anybody, including the CPUs. Yeah, especially them." the male mused, before turning to her and looking as if his stare could pierce right though her very existence. "They need to stop fighting and start talking, because when it comes to the state of the world, you can't point your fingers at anyone else, for we're all to blame."

Those words. Nico felt a tightness form in his throat when he finished saying those words, despite having that Coffee hydrating it. Those words were spoken to him by his adoptive mother, and he could see the truth in them. People were so quick to put the blame on others, saying things like 'its not our fault' or 'if only you didn't do this'. In the end though, there wasn't one group that was responsible for the world's problems, but all of humanity. These problems could be solved simply by doing one thing: Co-operation, the co-operation of all of humanity. Unfortunately, that was it's biggest weakness, the ability to talk and learn through mouths, words and actions.

To say that Noire was floored by his words, as well as the power behind them, was an understatement. Nobody had an ideology like that before, she had never heard such a powerful belief in her many years of living. Coming from Nico though, it made somewhat sense as to why he would believe that. As a Spec Ops Agent, he wouldn't believe in any CPU, so thus he wouldn't be blinded by religion and fanatical faith like an average person would. This would give him a unique perspective that hadn't been seen in Gamindustri's history. 'It's us and not the world... huh...?'

He could see that his words had an effect on the blackette, and not the negative kind he had been dreading. Nico knew that despite their great success, Spec Ops Agents were still looked down upon by the fanatical believers in the Basilicoms. It was only natural after all, given how they had different ideals compared to the rest of Gamindustri's residents. They fought not for religion, but for their own ideals, something that most don't do very often. Thus, he had feared that Noire would be like them, all too caught up in her beliefs to see what was really happening to Gamindustri. But seeing how thoughtful she looked, how her lips were pursed together as she sipped on her Coffee, almost trying to seek an answer from it, assured him that she wasn't angry with him at all.

It was actually relieving to be honest.

A beeping came from his Bracer, and Nico soon realised that he had stuff to do for his plans against Avenir. "Well, I have to be off, I've got some more things to attend to." he spoke, finishing th last of his Coffee before walking to the counter's sink and putting it inside. He then made his way to the door, his coat flapping dramatically when he turned. Just before he left however, his hand about to reach the door handle before freezing in place, Nico turned his head back to Noire and spoke a final piece. "Anyways, if you want to take anything from this, then if Neptune once again tries to get you to spend some time with her, do so and talk. After all, it may answer some of your questions." he told her, before finally leaving her to her thoughts.

* * *

The Night finally fell on Lastation, darkening it slightly more than the day would thanks to the grey clouds covering the Skies like an ugly, murky blanket. The citizens would be in their homes, performing their indoor activities. Children would be playing videogames, businessmen working late while the women, single or otherwise, would be engaged in their own activities.

Meanwhile, the Party had purchased a room at a Hotel, one that was unlike the one that Nico had purchased for them back when they first arrived in Lastation. At first the male had protested that he could just purchase them a room with his own funds, but IF reasoned that it would likely make them more of a target for Avenir. Taking less expensive lodgings meant they would be able to hide within a crowd, something that Nico could see happening. Admittingly the lodgings he would buy were fancy, but they were also lacking in security now that he remembered the brochure on the site he had checked out. That would not do now, as unlike now back then they didn't have to worry about a corrupt organisation such as Avenir breathing down their necks. Therefore, Nico reluctantly agreed to the brunette's reasonings.

The room they had chosen was a large room, with a set of four beds with a boiler at the back of the room which connected to a series of pipes. It wasn't a bad looking room, if Nico had been honest, rooms Spec Ops Agents use have little security because their very presence hinders all thieves from getting in since they don't want to get owned. Since there were five of them, it would have been a problem though fortunately Nico had always got his Camping gear in his Void Storage. Easy to set up plus cosy within the heat of a room.

Right now, though, there was only one occupant in the room, and that was Noire, who was sitting on her bed and was contemplating the series of events that had transpired since she first joined Neptune's group. She was mumbling to herself with her head hanging low, too deep in thought to notice anything else. "I'm finally getting to know what's going on in Lastation."

She remembered what she had learned about her home, and her brows furrowed. Things were worse than she thought, not only was the business market being destroyed, but with the recent revelations she'd learned, Noire knew she couldn't be careless. Things had to change, pronto. However, there was a sour note that she didn't like to admit to herself, fortunately she was the only one here now, the others had their own errands to do. Compa had left to do some grocery shopping since the hotel food wasn't as good as her cooking, Neptune was doing whatever, Nico was out with Compa as a form of protection, though, they knew he was worried about her, and IF was likely talking to Chian about their plans for Avenir. "I hate to admit that it is because of Neptune and her friends, though…"

However, this posed a dilemma, a dilemma that she was unsure how to solve. For the first time in a long time, Noire was torn. She knew that she had to defeat Neptune, it was what all those years had been meant to be for. However, seeing the damage that Lastation had suffered during her absence, Noire had begun to wonder: was it really all worth it? Was fighting the others really what would be best for this Nation? If she hadn't been where she was, maybe she could have stopped Umbrella from doing what they did and perhaps that tragedy would never have happened. But she had spent so long fighting the others that she, well, because she didn't know any other way. She thought so anyways, but… ugh! Her head was a jumbled mess!

The words that Nico had told her rung in her head, not letting any help reach her, either.

After scratching her scalp in frustration with both her hands, Noire huffed to herself, letting her hands fall onto her lap once again. "… Still, something doesn't make sense." She mumbled, her eyes narrowing as she once again dove into her thoughts. "Spurring business growth makes sense, and I would have said so myself." She then thought of what Chian said, about the nature being destroyed by Avenir's plants which left a sour taste in her mouth. "But, at the risk of destroying the environment is going too far. If no one can live here, it defeats all purpose."

Lastation and Planeptune always had a massive rivalry, more so than the other Nations. One, the land of Purple Progress and the other the land of Black Regality. Both strived to progress, to grow and prosper. Both had their own ways of doing so, and the results speak for themselves. However, with the way Lastation was going and how Planeptune was still thriving without having to sacrifice nature, something surely went wrong.

And she knew what that was, now.

"Avenir…" Noire almost spat the name of the organisation that was responsible for so much suffering in Lastation, the reason why most of the citizens had stopped believing in Lady Black Heart, even though Chian's faith was powerful. It didn't match up to the faith of the entire Nation. "I wonder what they're planning. At this rate, there's no time to go back to the Console War."

The Console War… even as confused as she was about the subject now, Noire was glad that she came back when she did, otherwise this would have been a whole lot worse. She could have come back to watch Lastation's final days before it fell to ruin, a future that scared her more than her own death.

Images of Neptune flowed into her mind, another subject Noire was conflicted over. "And as much as I don't want to admit it, Neptune isn't a bad person…" Neptune. Someone Noire indeed knew very well, someone she had despised for so long. She had never seen the side of her that was outside of battle, the happy-go-lucky, energetic, meme spouting side of her that was her human form. Noire had known her for a while, and she had assumed she would be as arrogant and power-hungry as she was back then… but… Another sigh escaped her lips. Noire's head hung even lower as a depressing yet oddly relieving revelation dawned on her. "There's no way I can fight her now knowing this…"

More images flowed into her mind, images of the sole male party member that both intrigued and unnerved her… though something else was slowly brewing inside her at the thought of him. "And then there's that guy… Neptune's friend, Nico… or rather the Spec Ops Agent known as DEATHSTROKE…" once again, Noire sighed depressingly as she thought about the male. "Like Neptune, he isn't a bad person, unlike a lot of guys these days, and he's quite insightful. I bet that he would have been a fine soldier if he were born in Lastation…"

When she first met him, Noire hadn't thought much of him, he just seemed like an idiotic man who had almost gotten himself killed. However, that changed once she saw him turn into that psychotic side of him, the DPU form as he called it. Demon Drive Demonica, a power resembling Hard Drive Divinity in a way. However, the two couldn't be any more different. That power… it scared her even now, though she would never admit it. Noire had never felt such fear as she felt when facing that monstrous blade, the blade that almost ended her had Neptune not intervened, and even then she almost fell. After she had learned about it though, Noire had been filled with more questions than before.

Who was this guy? Where had he come from? Had he any agendas with regards to the CPUs and their lands? Travelling him had only answered a few of those questions, but raised even more. she had learned of his occupation, past-history with her land that she, to her dismay, hadn't been even aware of and his… decent personality. Plus there was that conversation they hand this afternoon, something she found very insightful. He was just an enigma like Neptune was…. "In the end, I bet that he too would be a good person to get to know…"

"Noire! Let's go eat some pudding!"

"Wha-?!" A hyper shout from behind her, right next to ear, made Noire cry out in surprise, completely startled and caught unawares from the sudden intrusion. Noire fell off her bed but managed to roll into a one-legged crouch, glaring at the cause of her fright which, like last time this happened, turned out to be Neptune.

Said girl was beaming from ear to ear, unfazed by Noire's startled response. "Déjà vu?" Whoops, did I surprise you? Sorry there." The preteen apologised as she laughed nervously. She had knocked and entered, but Noire never answered her so she had figured that she was alright with her coming in.

'This part of her I don't like though!' Noire screamed in her mind as she stood up and glared at the preteen. "Why you…!" she began to say, before she quickly closed her mouth and clenched her fists, trying to keep her anger under control. It wouldn't do for her to lose it within a hotel room, of all places. Once she had calmed down enough, Noire sighed to release the remains of her anger and aimed an annoyed stare at the preteen. "… Now what?"

Seeing as she hadn't heard her question earlier, though Neptune didn't mind since she had admittingly caught Noire off guard, the girl raised a hand to show her bag that looked to be filled with something, although Noire had an idea as to what it was. "Ah, I brought some pudding, so I was wondering if you'd eat some with me." She requested. Since they had gotten onto better terms, Neptune figured she'd try to take another chance.

Though, it seemed like it would end the same as last time as Noire did another sigh, as she gained an absent-minded expression while turning away from her. "I'm sorry… I'm just not in the mood." She denied her request, trying to keep her guilt from seeping into her voice. Why was she feeling guilty so suddenly? If anything, she should be annoyed at Neptune's persistence.

Neptune stepped back, a dismayed look on her face as a groan escaped her lips. "Whaaaat?! You too, Noire?!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Iffy said no when I asked her, Compa's out with Nicky, so that left you! Now who am I supposed to eat with?!" she whined sadly, hanging her arms in front of her with the bag dropped to her feet when she had made the earlier exclamation.

"How about yourself?" Noire responded coldly, turning to look at the preteen. She had her hands on her hips, with that 'I don't have time to deal with you' look on her face as she regarded Neptune with annoyance. Seriously, how did she have so much love for pudding and teasing people.

Still not giving up though, Neptune stood upright as she once again regained her happy demeanour. "You still don't get it, do you Noire? Pudding tastes better eating with others. Like, a lot better!" she explained, finally telling her the reason why she had been so persistent on sharing pudding with someone. One could say it was a bonding experience, one she wanted to share with her friends considering they're doing so much for her. Neptune may be slow on the uptake, but she could tell that they had better things to do than to help her with her memory. Yet they still did, Compa, Iffy, even Nico. She wanted to be as close to them as possible, because they were truly good friends to stick with her like they have.

Even if the preteen had admitted this though, Noire still wouldn't budge on the issue. "Well, even so, I won't eat before I sleep. I'll get fat. I'm sleepy too." She added on at the end. All that thinking earlier, combined with how much Neptune had been pestering her, had drained her stamina quickly.

"Awww…." Neptune whined, her joy now evaporating as her eyes turned to ones of dejection. In an instant, Noire didn't know how this was possible, but Neptune was curled in the fatal position at the wall, with a depression cloud over her head while she doodled on the ground. Though this sight was a little comical, the despair in her eyes was real, which stopped any amusement being born within the blackette.

Nevertheless, Noire pushed her sudden guilt aside as she made her way towards her bed. She had been dressed in her PJ's a PJ top and a pair of shorts, both black with silver detailing as she pulled out the covers. She then slipped into the covers and rested her head on the pillow, before glancing at Neptune. "Got it? Well, good night then." She said with a tone that spoke volumes. This conversation was over.

"Awww."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, don't worry, I guess it's my fault for asking so late! But… it wouldn't have been great to eat with Noire…"

This time, her dejectedness was even stronger, and the depressing aura around her grew bigger. Hell, Noire could hear faint sounds of tears rolling down the girl's cheeks. Neptune may not show it, but she did like her friends a lot, and considering that one of them, though they hadn't known each other long, refused to eat with her felt like a stab to the heart. She then remembered what Nico told her about taking to her if she got the chance, plus his whole speech about co-operation.

It was this revelation that made the guilt unbearable for the blackette.

"…Well…"

"Hm?"

"If you REALLY want to eat with me, then why not?"

There, she had done it. Noire could no longer resist Neptune, not with what she knew and what she had seen of her. It felt like hurting a little kid when she saw Neptune sad, and if she was honest with herself, Noire didn't find that idea appealing at all. Even if Neptune was an annoying little brat, she had this way with people that many others lacked.

"Really?!"

"Like I said, if you REALLY want to eat with me."

All of Neptune's despair had vanished in the blink of an eye as she shot up and hugged Noire with so much strength that they nearly fell off the bed. Noire had just threw off the covers, too, when this happened, so the two had rolled to the opposite edge of the bed. Their position looked… weird, and if anyone came in right now they'd assume they were lovers. "Yay! I love ya, Noire! I knew you'd come through!" Neptune cheered, laughing with happiness as she nuzzled Noire's cheek with her own.

Now THIS was pushing it for the other girl as she gaped at what the preteen was doing. Soon though, she found her voice again. "Huh?! Wait! Stop hugging me!" she yelled, grasping Neptune to try and push her away. Although the preteen had a tight hold over her. 'Neptune's hugging me so tightly… I wonder how Nico's would be-No! Bad Noire! What the hell are you thinking?!'

Unaware of the panicking girl's thoughts, Neptune realised what she was doing and let go of her, rolling off the bed and landing in a standing position as she laughed a little to clear the awkwardness in the air, the awkwardness she had caused unintentionally… for once. "Oh, sorry. I was so happy so I got out of hand there." She tried to defend herself, flustered slightly though her beaming smile from before remained. Though unknown to Noire, Neptune's thoughts also shifted to the male of the group. 'Wow, when I hugged Noire, a pic of Nicky appeared in my mind… what the heck was with that? Man, this is so weird…'

* * *

After getting changed and meeting Neptune outside, Noire and said preteen ventured out into the City, walking till Neptune lead her to a peaceful part of the residential district, where they sat at a hill that led to a small rocky pathway down below and beside that was a river, one that ran out of Lastation and into the wilderness around it.

"So, why do we have to be outside to eat the pudding?" Noire asked the cause of her being out here. She and Neptune had their own cups of pudding with their own spoons, hers being a chocolate one while Neptune had an egg flavoured pudding. The plastic bag she had with her before was at the side, ready to be used by the two girls.

Neptune chuckled as she spread her arms to the sides as if gesturing to the world around them. "Heh-heh. You may not know, but pudding tastes better outside, too! See! And the Sky is nice and pretty!" she exclaimed, pointing towards the skies above.

Like Neptune had said, this night was one of the few nights where one could see the night sky, with the clouds abating thanks to the lack of factories operating at night. Some areas were darker than others thanks to some factories remaining active, but hey. The stars twinkled in the night, almost as if they were dancing a beautiful melody. There was no moon in sight, but that didn't take away the beauty factor that the skies possessed at this moment.

Noire had to admit that Neptune was right indeed, although a part of her growled at this. "Yes… it's so beautiful…" she mused, staring up at the skies with a lost expression on her face, losing herself to the beauty of the night.

Seeing this, Neptune beamed happily as she took a spoonful of her pudding. "I told you! I just found out when I was eating outside the last time." She explained, making Noire flinch. She remembered that time well, and now that her emotions were different from that time, she did admit that the feeling of guilt intensified at the memories.

"Ah… about the last time I didn't eat with you… I'm sorry." She muttered, looking away and not meeting Neptune's gaze as she thought about that time. An uncomfortable feeling settled in her gut which came from her newly conflicted emotions. Well, new wasn't the right word to use exactly. She'd been slightly conflicted at that time, but back then she had been of the opposite mindset that she was on now. Now that she had a different mindset, her conflicting emotions had levelled up.

Neptune, seeing as how Noire looked like she felt bad about that situation, waved it off without much of a care. "Oh, don't worry about it! I was kinda pushy, too. And Nicky was there to scold me for it afterwards." She admitted sheepishly. She remembered that time well, as Nico had scolded her for trying to press Noire into doing something she had no desire to do, making herself look to be more like a dictator than a leader. Nico never minced his scoldings, not just because they worked, but because he knew she could take them. It was something she could see as a positive whenever he scolded her.

The blackette did not know that. "I see…" she mumbled in surprise, her gaze falling to her pudding. Though, should she be surprised? After all, Noire had observed Nico and whenever Neptune did something overly stupid he would scold her like a teacher punishing his rebellious student, or a parent to their disobedient child. "And anyway, I'm eating with you now, so everything is good!" Neptune chirped happily, after a moment's silence as she contemplated that time, plus the times that followed. The conversation and atmosphere around them lightened considerably from its earlier heaviness, much to the job of the blackette.

She then decided to use this chance to ask Neptune a question, one that she had been fighting herself to ask for so long now. "Neptune… Um, can I ask you something?" she began to speak, trying to keep the hesitation out of her tone as she turned her head to face her. While curious about her question, Neptune couldn't resist cracking a joke in this situation. "Sure, as long as you don't ask what my account balance is."

Her timing seemed to be right, considering how Noire's turned upwards slightly for just a mere moment, before her lips settled into their previous stern and serious state. "If you were a CPU… what would you think of Lastation? Between the Land and the Console War, which would you choose?" she asked her finally.

Now THAT was a question that made Neptune blink owlishly, it was one she didn't expect to be asked in a situation like this, but she did see that Noire was serious about this question, so she tried to think of an answer for her, an honest one otherwise Noire would likely hate her again. "Hmmm… I'm not a CPU, so I'm not really sure." She mused, holding a finger under her chin while turning her head upwards.

Noire waved it off with a hand, knowing that Neptune would likely not get it. Both her gesture and the context of her question thanks to her amnesia. "I'm just hypothetically asking "What IF…" With that in mind, Neptune continued to think about the question. "Hmmm… I would like to help whoever is in front of me first. And what was that again? The Console War? Even if that goes bad… I'm happier seeing the people's faces who I saved! … And pudding." She added on at the end. Pudding was an important part of life, don't judge!

"Neptune…" Noire whispered, her eyes wide with surprise as she stared at her. Had amnesia changed her so much, or was this what Neptune was really like and they had never noticed? That sounded so much better than just fighting in the Console War. Neptune probably wasn't aware of it, but she had just made Noire realise something. The Console War had too much selfish reasonings behind it, and if there was any good to it, it still wasn't good for the Nations they ruled if Racoon city was any example.

Noticing the surprised expression on her face, Neptune grew concerned if the expression shifting on her face was any indication. "Hm? What's the matter, Noire?" she asked, tilting her head in worry. Eyes blinking as Noire snapped out of her thoughts, the girl shook her head in a negative manner as she turned away to look at the city around them. "No, nothing… Nothing at all." She said, before glancing to Neptune's pudding as an idea formed in her mind to get Neptune distracted from their previous conversation. "By the way, your egg pudding looks good. Do you mind if I take a bite?" she asked her.

Instantly the previous conversation left Neptune's mind, like Noire intended, when the mention of pudding was made. "Okay! Let me try your chocolate pudding, too!" she responded as Noire nodded in acceptance. Said girl took a spoonful of pudding as she hovered it closer to the ever-growing impatient Neptune. "Sure. Open your mouth wide…" she mused as the spoon finally found its way to the confines of Neptune's mouth as she chomped down on the tasty treat. Her face scrunched up in delight as a large flavour bombarded her senses, almost like how a drug addict moaned when he got his fix. "#CHOMP# Aaah… The bittersweet flavour! Pure ecstasy!"

Noire smirked at the joy that Neptune was experiencing, she was feeling excited about this herself now. Was this what it felt like to have friends? In that case, she liked it. "Hey, now it's my turn. Come and slip one into my mouth…"

…

Neptune smiled weakly as Noire unknowingly said something that… could be interpreted in various ways. "Uh… that didn't sound good, but… okay." She shrugged it off though, deciding it was better to not think about it too much as she repeated the actions that Noire had done to her previously.

The moment that Noire tasted Neptune's pudding when she chomped on the spoon, a moan of delight escaped the confines of her lips. "#CHOMP# Mmmm… Nice and sweet!" she exclaimed after swallowing the treat. A massive grin formed on Neptune's lips at seeing someone else enjoy pudding as she did. "See? I told you it'll taste better eating with someone else." She told her like a professor lecturing her student, though her face remained as cheerful as ever.

The blackette looked at her, before a small smile came from her as she chuckled in amusement. "Hah, you right." She admitted, feeling much more refreshed than she had felt in a long time, like a massive weight was removed from her shoulders. And to think, if Neptune hadn't dragged her out here she would have been pondering this topic, which now that she had the answer she felt kind of stupid for overthinking it so much. "Um, Neptune…? Thank you…" the smile on Noire's face when she said this was the most grateful one she had made since she had joined the group on their adventures. She didn't feel too bad that Neptune didn't get it thanks to her emotional high. 'Lastation or the Console War. My answer was always there in front of me…'

On her end, Neptune couldn't help but be confused over the sudden mood change from the blackette. She didn't know what she did, but if what Nico once told her was true, then Noire no longer had as much 'baggage' on her shoulders. "Huh? I don't know what I did there, but okay! Oh yeah, Noire while we're here, I gotta ask. What's your opinion on Nicky?"

Now it was Noire's turn to be caught by surprise at the unexpected question, the conversation shifting to their male party member. "Eh? Why ask me that? Whatever well, I guess I can say he's alright… not at all what I expected of a guy." She had to admit that Nico was at least decent, if a bit odd with some of his… mannerisms. A laugh came out of Neptune's lips at the response she was given. "Yeah, your right. I only asked because you guys seem to be… tense, when you're near each other. He's giving you that look, and you are thinking to yourself, 'I'm so screwed.'" She explained, chuckling while Noire looked to the side.

"He's not THAT bad… but, well, I get the feeling like he's thinking hard about something to do with me. If I know anything at all about him it' that he's observant." She admitted, pondering on what to say about a guy she only knew for a couple days. When she said he was observant, she meant how he would have good insight into solving problems, case in point her Eyeglasses. Buying a Mask like he did for her was, admittingly a better way of disguising herself than a pair of eyeglasses.

On that, Neptune had to agree with her. She beamed as she remembered everything she experienced with the Spec Ops Agent. "Of course, Nicky is, he's a cool dude, badass too. You don't see many of those nowadays. Not even in the generic OC insert fanfics. There's a few exceptions though, but still."

Rolling her eyes at Neptune's usual joking mannerisms, Noire decided to inquire about Neptune's opinion of the male. She seemed very fond of him, and from what little she knew of him... Noire began to feel the same. Not that she would admit it though. "Meta jokes aside… what's your opinion on Nico. What kind of guy do you think he is?"

Blinking owlishly, Neptune pointed to herself with her spoon. "Huh? Me? Well, I'd say he's someone who has a mix of me and Iffy in him. No, not like that, geez get yer head outta the gutter, Noire. Such a perv. Anyways, he's got the stern, no-nonsense demeanour that Iffy does, but he's also playful like myself. Don't get me started on his fighting skills, you've seen how much he wrecks in battle. Plus, he's kinda protective of Compa, I mean, sure their childhood friends, but the definition of 'protective guardian angel' could have his face written beside it. In the end, I think he's a really cool guy to talk to and get to know."

After hearing Neptune's opinion on the male, the blackette hummed to this as she felt a sense of relief fill her inside. She had felt a little unsettled whenever Nico would stare calculatingly at her, like he was thinking about the best way to kill her. Hearing that he was just being protective of an innocent girl put her mind at ease. "I see… thanks for telling me this, puts my mind at ease…"

"Huh? whaddya mean?" Neptune blinked in confusion, unable to grasp the meaning of what Noire had been saying this whole time. She assumed the blackette would explain it to her, but her hopes were dashed when Noire mischievously smirked and looked away from her, back at the skies above but with a noticeably lighter gaze in her eyes.

"Oh, Nothing, nothing at all…"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Wow, long ass chapter! Pretty sure those who want to see chemistry between Nico and Noire are going to be pleased with this one.**

 **Though I do admit, I think that the whole Console War is pretty stupid, at least in the first game and the original. There are so many good games out there, games made by collaborating between multiple companies. Imagine what it would be like if they could pool all their knowledge and resources together. That would be great.**

 **Also, you get to see more into Nico's character, as well as Noire influenced by him to talk to Neptune. In the game it happened naturally but in here I wanted Nico to not only score some points in Noire's eyes, but also to help them further their bond of trust. With the future events, this will be needed heavily, I assure you.**

 **Anyways, review, leave a like, fav, follow, the good stuff. pretty sure part of that is only for youtubers, but whatevs, eh?**

 **Peace!**


	26. Chapter 26 - Beginning's of Hell

**Hi guys, good news and bad news, today.**

 **Good news: the Wi fi is back up, yaaaay! Now I can upload again without having to use my phone as a Hotspot!**

 **Bad News: I'm moving in a couple days, so I may have to focus on that for a bit, which could impact my updates.** **Just letting you know now, so you know if you see any irregularities with my normal schedule, you know why.**

 **anywho, enough about me, on with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 26 - Beginnings of Hell**

The next morning, everyone woke up to the alarm set by IF the previous night. Nico and the Nurse-in-Training had returned to the Hotel only to find Noire and Neptune acting like they were close buddies, no signs of their earlier awkwardness or tension. The two had glanced at each other, shrugged, then continued with their night thinking that Neptune had somehow wormed her way into Noire's heart.

Which wasn't far from the truth really.

Mentally though, Nico couldn't help but do a mini celebration. If he wasn't underage and had less morals, he would have popped open some alcohol to celebrate their new bonding. Seeing how they were slowly but surely coming to terms with each other, more Noire than Neptune since the latter made friends easily given her personality, was surely a heart-warming sight to see. It was also just in time, too, for his preparations were practically completed yesterday. He just had to make a few phone calls yesterday and everything would be set. Now all he had to do, was tell the girls what he'd been doing.

Despite everything going well, there was one thing that still bothered him, though. Avenir used to employ WAY more manual Labour than what they do today. To make a comparison, their manual labour was 80% higher than what it was in current times. In addition, those who were from companies that couldn't pay their outlandish taxes were unheard from afterwards, as if they just up and left overnight. No signs of sabotage or kidnapping from their homes. He had interviewed several of their families, but they all said that their family members, husbands, lovers, friends, fathers etc., never came home and they had no idea why.

When he discovered about Avenir's taking of Umbrella tech though, a small part of him suggested something he hoped to any deity in existence was wrong.

Right now, as the girls got dressed after showering, Nico swiftly going in when they began to change, IF pulled on her Shorts and glanced at one of her Phones. She saw that a message Icon had popped up and so, after putting on her green bra and tank top, she reached down to the Phone on her bed and picked it up. She opened her phone, got to the messages tab, and narrowed her eyes.

"What is it, iffy? You looking at a newly blocked vid on your favourites list?" Neptune asked, popping up behind her in nothing but her underwear. She had seen that IF was staring at her phone intently, which had drawn her curiosity further so she had decided to come on over. Likely, IF hadn't noticed her coming so she'd likely flip out.

Surprisingly, the brunette only sighed in annoyance as she glanced over her shoulder at the preteen. "Hi, Nep." She greeted in annoyance, before her gaze shifted back to her phone. "Looks like we have another job for Avenir. They've sent the co-ordinates for the meeting point, but…"

Compa, who was also in her undies, walked over while donning her usual skirt, drawn to the conversation that the two girls were having. "What's wrong, iffy? You look worried about something." She asked with concern, getting the brunette to turn to her and show her the message she got for Avenir.

IF frowned further as she explained the cause for her ire. "These co-ordinates point to an abandoned Factory west of Lastation. A couple hundred miles, if I'm not mistaken. I'm just suspicious on what they would have to gain from meeting us there." She replied, before bringing her phone back to her and beginning to text a reply. "Remember the last mission? The meeting point was close to Thelad Sanctuary, but there's next to nothing like that at these co-ordinates. Seems kind of odd and suspicious." She explained. It was practically a remote, isolated area, which didn't do her instincts any favours. Alarm bells rang in her mind, despite her attempts to stoop them.

Noire soon joined them, looking to have gotten further with her clothes as she wore her white skirt, stockings and boots, while her boobs were covered by her light blue bra. She crossed her arms under them as she thought about what this could mean. "Well, we'll just have to find out, won't we? It won't do us any good just sitting here, we need to find out what Avenir is presenting at the Expo." She reasoned. Even if this did turn out to be a trap which she doubted because they'd kept most of their activities secret, they should keep up appearances.

The others nodded in agreement with the blackette. If they didn't go to this meeting point then Avenir would become suspicious about them, also they wouldn't be able to find out what those guys were planning. What's more was that IF also had a point, they could be wandering into a trap, which was worrisome. But what choice did they have? They can't run away, that would be counterproductive. There was no turning back after this.

"Well, we could leave someone behind to guard the City in our absence." Nico's voice shouted from within the bathroom. The male had gone in there, taking his Bracers with him since they had the link to his Void Storage. The male had gone through his routine during the girls' talking so he had opted to switch from his PJ's to his normal getup, getting rid of the time it would take to put clothes on.

Seriously, Void Storage had many uses.

IF hummed as she considered this. "That could work. It'll give us a sense of peace since someone would be here to defend Chian just in case this turns out to be a trap. However, Avenir's seen all of us and they've requested all of us, so we must show up to keep our image, otherwise we'll lose credibility." She explained, sighing in disappointment as her shoulders sagged at this revelation. It was a good idea too, shame that it wouldn't have worked since they didn't have anybody that Avenir didn't know about.

"Actually, I have a way around that. Remember, I'm a Spec Ops Agent." Nico responded as he was busy adjusting the collar of his Trench Coat. He raised his right Bracer and activated the interface, quickly scrolling through his options before finding the tab called 'Contacts'. "I've been setting up backup plans in case this does prove to be a trap, if it happens to be so, we won't have to worry as much. Multiple eyes are on those assholes right now, so we can rest easy while we go do our job."

The brunette had never felt so glad that they had a Spec Ops Agent on standby than she did now. She aimed a proud smirk at the bathroom door as she slipped her Trench Coat on, alongside her phone covered belt and boots. While she found it suspicious how Nico seemed to be on top of things recently, she couldn't help but admit that it was a good thing he did. The brunette had indeed noticed that Nico seemed to leave them fairly often, so she had been wondering on what he had done by himself. "Dude, your a lifesaver. I'd rest a whole lot easier if we had some of them notified early on though. Rather not have these contacts of yours be caught unawares. Could you get on that?" she asked him, getting a "Righto!" from the male as he went to work. IF then turned to address the girls, her face setting into one of confidence as she held a hand on her hip. "Well, while Nico's doing that, we should focus on getting ready. Avenir's not going to take lightly to us being late."

* * *

After a few moments, Both Nico and the girls finished their appointed tasks. Nico had finished contacting his comrades in Lastation, comrades he had also mentioned were Racoon City survivors like himself, telling them that these comrades would keep an eye out for any suspicious activity from Avenir, the notify the rest of them if they found anything. Meanwhile the girls had finished changing and had called the male out the bathroom, telling him it was safe for him to do so.

Before they left the Hotel room, Noire then glanced to the preteen as a question sparked in her mind. "By the way, Neptune, I can't help but notice the sword you use in your human form. Where'd you get it?" she asked her, remembering the crackling crimson blade Neptune had in her possession.

Hearing Noire's question, Neptune hummed as she pulled Murasama out of her Inventory, holding it horizontally in its sheath. "You mean, this? Nicky got it for me back at Planeptune. He called it a HF something or other, said it was something I could use instead of a wooden sword." She explained sheepishly.

Noire gave her a disbelieving look, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "How could someone wield a Wooden Sword in their battles? That sounds like they're begging to be slaughtered." She remarked dryly, making Neptune laugh a bit more, though it was increasingly forced as seconds passed. She then looked to Nico who had finished deactivating his Bracer, probably doing something with one of its functions. "You gave that blade to her, right? Where'd you get it?"

Looking up at her, Nico responded swiftly. "It's called a High Frequency blade. Murasama was originally a simple Katana, however one of Planeptune's raids yielded us a technology Lastation's engineers deemed hopeless, one of their greatest errors in my opinion since HF Technology's one of the best technologies around. Anyways, Planeptune engineers perfected it and applied it to many of the military's weapons, Murasama being one of them. I gave it to Neptune so she didn't get herself killed." He explained, gesturing to the weapon, which was now unsheathed and occasionally crackling with electricity.

Noire found herself perplexed as she looked at the blade. On one hand, she was ticked off that Planeptune stole a Technology that Lastation built, but on the other hand she felt proud that such a useful idea was not simply left to rot in the backburner. From what she had seen, it worked wonders. A surge of jealousy rose within her as she looked at the blade, and she mentally cursed Lastation's engineers for throwing away such a useful technology to the wolves.

Seeing her reaction to the story, Nico sighed as he once again checked the Void Storage. He knew that what he was looking for was in here somewhere, and while Noire's Rapier was a decent weapon, it had nothing on a HF Blade. Plus, seeing as she was from the Nation that made this tech, he felt it was only right. Soon enough, his mouth turned into a smirk, his target finally found. "Aha, found you." He muttered, much to Noire's confusion as he selected whatever he did on the Interface, before holding out his hand as a weapon materialised in a sheath.

It was a sheathed blade, but not any old blade… a High Frequency Blade.

"Here, this should belong to you." Nico said, handing the blade by the sheath over to the blackette, whose eyes widened as she gingerly grasped the weapon. As she brought it to her chest level to examine the blade, her eyes filled with awe as she felt the electric current even through the sheath itself.

The sheath was slim, thin but long, coloured a metallic grey with a black hilt sticking out which was made from leather. Reaching for the hilt, Noire slowly unsheathed the blade, bluish white arcs of electricity sparking from the slowly released blade. When she pulled it out, Noire saw that the blade was a Katana's length, but with a straight edge, a curved tip like a diagonal angle, with a blunt backedge. A low hum could be heard as Noire gave the blade a practice swing, then another and another, making sure not to harm anyone.

"Your giving this to me…?" Noire asked him when she finished testing the blade, sheathing it before depositing it into her Inventory. She'll keep her Rapier in case she would have to rely on it if she ever lost her new Blade. Nico nodded to her, adding to her confusion. All this time she had seen how he calculated in his mind whenever he looked at her, which made her think he saw her as someone suspicious and dangerous, especially when she heard from Neptune about his protectiveness over Compa. So, why was he arming her like this? It just didn't make sense.

Nico, sensing her confusion, figured out what her thought and made to explain his actions. "Originally this technology was of Lastation's make. Its only through ignorance and stupidity that it was lost to Planeptune. Since you're from here though, it stands to reason that you should fight with one." he explained his points. One reason though that he wouldn't mention was that the male had figured out who and what she was a while ago, having done ample research and investigated those leads. This was his way of helping her prepare for battle in a sense.

Neptune glanced from between the two, her head moving faster than a blur, staying on one of them for a moment, before glancing to the other. She then had a flash of inspiration, and she began to chuckle in prankster-type evil that only IF realised. "Oooh, looks like Nicky plans to show Noire his 'sword skills' if ya know what I mean."

"Wha-?!"

"Oh, Goddamnit, Neptune!"

"Tee hee-hee!"

Just before Nico could show her what Rebellion could do, IF groaned and pushed the red-faced duo as well as the grinning preteen apart. "Enough guys, we got a job to do. Avenir's waiting for us and if we show up late, we'll be held accountable later. So, let's move it, people." she told them sternly, almost like a mother scolding her children for being rude as she finished getting changed, walking out of the hotel room.

Grumbling and cursing, both Noire and Nico gave in to the brunette's demands, though not after bonking Neptune on the head to elect an "Owwie!" from her, much to their satisfaction, before they dismissed their weapons. the Party then left for Avenir, hoping that it wouldn't end up being a trap.

* * *

"And so, Nep and family have arrived at a closed factory for Avenir's work!"

Neptune spoke while grinning as they arrived at the front of, as she had described it, a factory. It looked pretty run down, like it hadn't been used in a while. There were various holes in its infrastructure, and the factory had this dark, creepy atmosphere that would better match a haunted mansion. For some reason though, the now masked Nico felt that this was familiar… like he'd seen this somewhere before. 'Hmmm… I'm getting a suspicious feel of familiarity here… wonder why?' he mused in his mind.

Unaware of his musings, Noire, who now wore her Mask to cover her face, sighed deeply at the preteen's meta antics. "Your happy, as usual." She remarked snidely, she was getting tired just from listening to how happy this girl was. How she remained happy like that was anyone's guess.

Turning to the blackette, Neptune began to sway from side to side like she had just achieved freedom for the first time. She hummed a merry tune while addressing Noire. "Hey, when you don't have your memory, you can do whatever you want." She said in a sing-song tone. Though it also felt like guidance, from one amnesiac to another.

"I sometimes admire your free nature…"

'That makes two of us, Noire…' Nico thought to himself as he regarded the two closely. 'Seems like they've gotten onto decent terms, then. Glad I was able to talk Noire into it, who knows when she might have come around otherwise. Maybe then that will make the future confrontation proceed smoothly.' he mused,, a frown on his lips that was hidden by his Mask. He may have made ample preparations for Avenir, but even he knew that things can go wrong any time, and that nothing truly goes to plan. While he was thinking this, Nico turned to address IF, when his mouth closed as soon as it opened as he saw Ganache walking up to them, his usual pleasant smile on his features.

"It's been a while, folks…" the man began, his tone level and calm, not betraying any sign off aggression. "I'd like to have work done again from you." He informed them with his hands behind his back. For some reason, his instincts were telling him to be cautious, like they have been telling him about Noire and the first time that they met Ganache and his boss, Singe. He'd been able to keep a tight lid on his instincts so far that it wouldn't affect his daily life, though thanks to his mind actively trying to suppress their activity Nico hadn't been able to fight at his full potential. Hell, when he had transformed Nico had done all he can to quell both his instincts and the demonic energy, two chaotic sensations that ultimately overwhelmed him on in the end.

Neptune, ever the oblivious one, raised an arm high and waved at him in a cheery manner, not bothering with the fact that he was from the Organisation she had wanted to 'sleuth' previously. "Hiya there! You must work a lot. Don't get burned out, you hear?"

'Never thought I'd hear Neptune showing concern for an Avenir worker…'

Ganache tilted his head as he looked himself over, his mouth set into a pensive line. "Do I really look that bad?" he asked them, not getting an answer as he continued before they could give him one. "I have been taking my breaks quite liberally." He assured them all, though the way he was looking at Neptune set off Nico's instincts even further. What was it with this guy that set off his Instincts so much? Why did he have the sudden urge to kill this bastard in the worst manner possible?

IF glanced at him and noticed subtle shaking in the male's arms. She instantly figured out that he was repressing his instincts and got on guard herself. Powerful his instincts were, and they seemed to hone in on the slightest chance of someone attacking them. That man in the Basilicom was a good example, but the extremities that Nico would go to when under their influence worried her. So, she made sure to ready herself in case he loses it.

Compa hummed in jealousy, not noticing the exchange between the two as she thought of what that must be like. "I wish I could take breaks whenever I want, too." She remarked, sighing wistfully. Being a Nurse-In-Training was hard, and one wasn't allowed to have much time to relax. This was mostly because Nurses had to be ready at any point in the day or night, in case an emergency patient came for treatment. Though with the way things were, part of her missed that lack of time to herself. It kept her busy, gave her purpose.

"Well, most of our work is handled by machines, so things are easy." Ganache explained once he saw the girl looking all pouty. It explained a lot of things about Avenir's methods though. Chian said that they didn't create jobs when they monopolise the market, but didn't say why. Now they knew, if their work wasn't handled by humans then there would be little need for manual labour. It also explained how Ganache could be so lax with his work, considering that most of it was handled by other methods. Thus, there was little reason to be jealous, at least in his mind.

Sensing that things had changed from what they should have been, the brown-haired man cleared his throat and the atmosphere once again became one of formality. "Now, getting back to business. Let's get right into the subject." From his suit's left pocket, Ganache pulled out a device before gesturing to the ruined factory. "As you can see, it has been years since this facility was in operation."

"So, what are we doing here?" IF asked him. If this factory hadn't been used for so long, why would Avenir have any interest in this place? Whatever it was, she doubted it was good, and that was further proven with their friend's state.

Ganache then held the device out, not minding the impatience in his fellow brunette's tone. He pressed a button and the device lit up, before a holographic screen appeared before them showing what looked like a piece of ore. It constantly circled around with a list of statistics, as well as a series of labels and data around it. "We want you to find it and bring it back to us."

'Sounds fishy… Why would they want this item of theirs now of all times? Why not before? What isn't he telling us?... and did I just make a reference to that guy in the suit of armour? Damnit those guys are getting to me.' Nico thought seriously at first, before resisting the urge to facepalm again. One, he didn't want to look stupid right now, and two his head needed a break from that punishment. He didn't know how may skin cells perished with each attempt, and wanted to keep his face normal thank you very much.

Neptune blinked momentarily. That sounded easy enough, in fact it sounded like they were getting better and better. She began to hop up and down in excitement as she spoke. "Is that it? Wow, it sounds even easier than before."

The man had to chuckle at the eagerness showed by the purplette. It was most amusing to see from the little ball of energy in human form. "It does, doesn't it?" Ganache mused, before his face became serious once again as he delivered another piece of news. "Well on the contrary, there's monsters there now." he told them the device showing the interior of the factory being swarmed by various monsters. One type consisted with Dogoos… with Tentacles.

If it was difficult staying in control, it was nearly impossible to resist now. Nico hated that species with a passion, more so than any abnormal. Their normal versions were enough, but these guys were worse. 'Those fuckers better get ready, because the reaper has come for them…' he thought darkly, gritting his teeth so hard that they could potentially crack under the pressure.

"I see." IF hummed in acknowledgement. Killing monsters was something they did daily, so they weren't too worried about these guys. They looked like cannon fodder monsters, compared to the Abnormal Monsters like the Nargacuga, several of which they have now encountered throughout their Quests. The Frenzied version may have been stronger than them, but without the virus taking away most of their mental faculties they could make use of their high speed and mobility, which made them painstakingly hard to kill. "So, you need us to go in and take care of that, too." IF then looked to the holographic screen, which had flashed back to the item they apparently had to find. "So, what's this thing we need to recover? It sounds important."

A nod of confirmation came from the brown-haired man before them as he proceeded to close the device down and pocket it. "It is a certain ore. We call it the "Lastelite." Just on gram holds enough energy to power a game console for ten thousand years." He explained to them.

Okay, NOW Nico realised what was going on, and what his instincts were trying to tell him. 'This guy, he's lying to us. I can tell because A: I've never heard of such a thing and out of all of us I'm likely the most versed in the four Nations considering I've been to them. B: come on, powering a Console for that long? There's no way such an ore exists. The possibility of this being a trap is growing steadily.'

"The excavation of it is difficult, so we'd like to recover what we have."

The Guild Agent raised an eyebrow in suspicion. No doubt she had come to the same conclusions as Nico had done, and she was thinking similar thoughts to him. "I've… never heard of such an ore before. If it's that great, I would at least know about it…" she remarked slowly, not believing the man.

""Lastelite" …I've never heard of it, too." Noire added, it seemed that she too was thinking with her brain as she too wasn't convinced of such an ore.

Ganache nodded, having expected them to be doubting of his words as he proceeded to explain why they wouldn't have heard of this ore. "Well, of course, we held monopoly over this ore. We did not disclose it for the sake of holding full control of it." he explained, and while it was a good enough explanation for two of the party members, it wasn't enough to fool IF and Nico, the latter of the two noticing a brief flash of victory in the man's eyes. It sounded too ludicrous to be true, and who would fall for something as obvious as… oh wait.

"Well," Neptune drawled as she became quick to believe the story that Ganache had told them. "If it's that super, do you mind giving us a small wee bit?" she asked, looking at the man with a pleading expression on her face.

'… Of course, SHE would be the one to believe him. And now, Neptune's dug us into a hole.' Nico thought to himself with a dismayed grunt, the male's eyes focused on the preteen as IF had told her to stop fooling around, only for the preteen to counter with how such an ore would be a haven for gamers everywhere, with how much power it could grant. The passion and intensity of how she spoke managed to cut off any rebuke that IF had in mind, completely flooring her with no chance to argue back.

Then, Ganache sealed the deal in Neptune's mind as he offered a hand. "Well if you would like some, I can certainly spare a small bit." He suggested with a smile, although it didn't reach his eyes which IF and Nico noticed, Noire soon following suit as she clenched and unclenched her fists. Something was wrong here, something was very wrong here.

"Really?!" Neptune exclaimed with joy, zooming up to the man with massive stars in her eyes.

The man, surprisingly having not been too affected by her sudden movement, nodded in response as he proceeded to explain. "Yes. We managed to work efficiently because of your work the last time. If you keep this a secret, I don't see any harm sharing a bit."

Hearing his response, Neptune began jumping up and down before entering a dance routine as she celebrated this little reward for their Quest. "Yay! I thought Avenir was kind of bleh, but Ganache saved the day!" she cheered, while not realising how offensive her comment could have been taken by their employee.

Fortunately for her, the man waved it off as a child's comment. "I'm happy to know that. Now, we don't want to waste time here. Please take care of the order." He turned to the others while saying this, his eyes turning from polite to serious once again in a matter of seconds.

The purplette saluted Ganache as she bounded over to the entrance to the Factory, which was slowly opening to reveal a darkness inside, the lack of lighting being the cause of it but fortunately there was sunlight outside so they could use that to navigate. "Okay! Leave it to Captain Nep and her friendly crew!"

IF rolled her eyes at the dramatic response Neptune gave to the businessman, and she swore she saw him sweat drop a bit as well. Though she didn't think the term 'friendly' described all of them very well, especially not their Spec Ops Agent with the way he was right now. "Sure, Captain. Lead us to the depths of the ocean…" she remarked sarcastically. None of them noticed the flash of something…. Sinister in Ganache as they entered.

* * *

As the Party entered the Factory, Nico quickly accessed his Bracer's motion tracker. He checked to see if there were any monsters within the immediate vicinity. 'Looks like we're safe for the time being… wait a minute.' His instincts set themselves off as his ears twitched. 'Why do I hear sounds of electric currents? Power should have been cut off when the factory was abandoned… unless…!' his eyes widened after that thought as he quickly whirled around facing the door. "Shit!"

His sudden behaviour caught everyone off guard, everyone nearly falling to the ground and ending up in some... weird looking poses. "Wh-Wha-?!" Noire cried out before she righted herself and glared in Nico's direction. "Nico, what's up with you, shouting like that!" Noire shouted, facing the same direction as he did. She soon saw what got him all riled up however as the doors to the factory had shit just as they had turned around. They were both made from metal, and looked to be firmly shut with no way of opening them from the inside. "What?!"

IF was the next one to comment on what just happened to them. "Why did the entrance close behind us?! Ganache, what's going on?!" she shouted from the other end. However, if they were expecting a response from the cool, polite man that they knew before, then they would be dead wrong, for that was NOT what they got by a long shot.

A chuckle came from the other end, and it was COMPLETELY unlike what they had heard from the man in their earlier talks. It sounded like someone who had achieved their master plan and was trying not to laugh like a hysterical maniac. Soon, Ganache spoke in a fake surprised voice. "Oh, my bad. I must have pressed something." He remarked, before chuckling again, and this time the sinister intent could be heard as clear as day, sending tense vibes through to their side. "…Well, that's not quite true. I shout it for my convenience." He explained, before saying in that same polite tone from before, though everyone could tell how forced it was from the words he spoke with. "I'd like to ask you all to satisfy the hunger of the monsters there."

The Party collectively gasped, save for Nico who growled in anger and tried to smash the doors with his fist. Unfortunately for him, all that resulted was a small dent and a red, battered hand which made him flinch and Ganache to chuckle even more at the attempt. Despite his anger increasing, Nico tried to rein in his instincts as it seemed that at any attempts to smash the door would be futile.

"Wh-What do you mean?!" Compa cried out in dismay, horror and fear in her eyes as they stared at where Ganache had been standing where they had entered this factory. The power had simultaneously been activated throughout the factory, although the controls for the door were on the outside so they wouldn't be able to activate it to escape.

Neptune stomped her foot the ground as she growled in anger at the man. She stomped over and began banging on the door. "Hey! What?! Why?! I'm not gonna get your precious ore if you do this!" she yelled out, thinking that was what they wanted.

However, the reaction she got was far from what she expected as Ganache finally let out a full laugh. And it sent chills down everyone's spines, even Nico's. Iff they thought his chuckles were sinister, then his laughter would be described as maniacal borderline psychotic. The laughter lasted for a few moments before it finally settled with Ganache wheezing. He was likely rubbing tears out of his eyes as he regained his usual composure. "I'm surprised you've actually believed what I said. Of course, there's no such thing as an ore that can house that much energy."

"Yeah, while Ganache's a maniacal douchebag, I kinda see his point. You fell for it hook, line and sinker Neptune." Nico commented, still glaring at the door. If looks could kill, then the door and the man behind it would have been melted by his stare alone, it was THAT intense.

His words, along with the smug chuckle from Ganache, made Neptune growl even more at being trolled like this. She couldn't believe that this was happening! She was supposed to be the troll character here, not this one-game antagonist!

Noire stared in bafflement at the door where Ganache would have been. "What? You tricked us?! But why?!" she screamed from the top of her lungs. Even her Mask couldn't hide the shock, confusion and anger in her tone.

"I already know you are assisting Chian of Passé." Ganache began, sending them into stunned silence. The guy had known what their end game was all along! "I assume you were trying to get information on our exhibit plans, no?"

With this new information, the party's leader turned to IF with a look of horrified realisation on her face, sweat rolling down her forehead as she exclaimed. "Iffy! They knew all along!" the said brunette gritted her teeth at the situation they were in, her hands clenched into fists as beads of nervous sweat rolled down her forehead. 'I can't believe they knew about this…' If Avenir had known all along about their plan, then they had been playing right into their hands, with all the work they'd done! Everything they did, and this was what they got to show for it.

"We would win regardless, but I'm the careful type, you know." Ganache explained as he began to walk away, judging by the sounds of footsteps. "Now then, I don't have much time, so I need to go. Farewell. Oh right, one more thing." Ganache's footsteps halted as a text message came to Nico's Bracer to say hello. "When I said there were monsters here… I was half-lying."

'What?' that was what the male thought while accessing the Message on his Bracer. His eyes widened and his face lost all colour at what he saw. 'No… No, he didn't… tell me he didn't do what I'm seeing!' he screamed in his mind, horror and dread filling him to the brims of his very being. Ganache may have gone far in trapping them here, but this… this was pushing it worse than Umbrella did!

Seeing his horrified face, Neptune frowned in nervousness. She knew that Nico was a serious person most of the time with a playful side that's exposed now and then. However, to see such a look on his face was deeply unnerving… and wrong, on so many levels. She knew that the others would feel the same thing, even Noire. "Um, Nicky, what's wrong? Your face is losing so much colour."

Ganache chuckled darkly, they may not be able to see him, but they could hear the amusement in his voice. "I may not see it, but it appears that my little message has rattled you, DEATHSTROKE. You are aware of what happened at Racoon city, yes?" he asked him, getting a furious growl from the mortified male. "Well, we decided to give your friends an honorary experience, if you will, as to what happened back then. This place is not filled with monsters, but something you are no doubt intimately familiar with. Have fun with that…"

The footsteps began again, and IF quickly ran to the damaged doors. "Wait, Ganache!" she called out, but got no response. He had already left them, much to her ire. She kicked the door that was trapping them, and winced at the pain that shot up her spine because of her actions. She had to bite back a whimper and make a Tch noise as she stepped back, wincing at the possible bruising that would form in a while.

Noire sighed as she saw that, despite the efforts of Nico, Neptune and now IF, that they were well and truly trapped. "Well, looks like the way out is sealed tight." She noted, eyes gazing across the doors. It didn't seem that they had any means of breaking that door down. Though, what Ganache said about Racoon City had rung alarm bells in her mind., but she didn't say that part. Things were already bad enough as it was, they didn't need that right now.

Compa turned to the brunette as she returned to the Party, kneeling before her foot as she began activating her Healing Skills to heal the damage. She spoke in a pensive, nervous voice as her brain ran wild with scenarios of their future… none of them were pretty. "Iffy… what's gonna happen to us?" she asked her, worried.

"Um, well…" IF tried to find a response that would calm Compa down, but the truth of the matter was, she couldn't. She had to remain strong for her, but IF didn't know if they could make it out of this one. She had no idea how to get out of this one, because seriously back in their room they had once occupied the idea of this being a trap, but none of them had given any thought as to what they would do about it if it was, which it was.

It was clear that this was getting worse for them, and that nobody had any ideas as to how to get out of it. This situation had been brought up, but back then they had little option to follow other than play along, and this was how they ended up. In the end, Avenir had played them for fools, no, they had played themselves for thinking that they would have been fooled into thinking they were harmless. Of course, they should have expected this, they were a large corporation, in addition they sat at the top of the 'throne' so they were basically like Kings, so they were bound to be cautious of others. It was natural to think that way, many leaders fell from grace from this method.

As the facts rained down heavily upon their shoulders, Noire's shoulders slumped as she hunched down, head hanging low in guilt as she realised that none of them would have gotten themselves in this situation if it weren't for her idea. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault." She apologised sadly, fists clenched in anger, sadness and frustration in one unhealthy mix that resulted in a horrible sensation in her gut. She wanted that sensation to go away, but a large part of her was thinking 'whelp, karma for us girl'. "If I didn't suggest taking Avenir's work, this wouldn't have…"

The depressing air was enough to bring tears into Compa's eyes as the mood of the party went downhill. She realised now that the situation they had found themselves, while their own fault for falling into it, was also something they likely wouldn't get out of alive. Ganache and by extension Avenir had got them, and they got them good.

Neptune looked around and saw everyone's depressing faces. She puffed her cheeks and balanced herself on one leg, flailing her arms about to get their attention. "Oh, C'mon, gals! What's the matter? This isn't like us! It's not like we can't get out. Let's just try to look for another way." She suggested to them, before standing straight as she noticed one other party member who was still active. She then raised a hand and pointed at that party member, it should be obvious who that would be. Just look at Nicky, he's playing it smoothly and still is ready to kick some monster booty."

Nico, whom had been walking down the path that was open to them, looked back at them after pausing mid stride. His eyes were firm, set in stone with a lack of despair in them like Neptune. "For once, I agree with her. We're in a hard spot right now, but when did we expect anything different? This kind of work is what we should have expected when we signed up for this adventure. Like Neptune said, we should focus on what we should do next, not wallow in our own grief."

"Ni-Ni… Nep-Nep…" Compa breathed in awe, watching them both with amazement and admiration in her eyes. She could tell they were feeling eh pressure of the situation as much as any of them did, however unlike them, these two were focusing more on how they were gonna survive this, to look for a way out. They pushed past their fears to look for a possible solution. She was right back then at the Monster Cave, Neptune and Nico shared the same trait of being brave and fearless.

Soon enough, the rest of them had begun getting their courage back after seeing those two acting so calm and collectedly. If those two could do it, if they could keep it together like that, then who's to say they wouldn't be able to do so too? They began to feel hope return to their beings, seeing their party leaders in action. Yeah, they didn't just see one leader here, they saw two of them, and that right now meant twice the confidence boost. Neptune the Amnesiac who cracked jokes and memes 24/7, and Nico the Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE, full on badass and soldier.

Watching the girls gain back their courage, Nico couldn't help but crack a small smile as he walked back to them. What he didn't tell them was that their journey would be harder than ever before. They may have some speculation on this fact, but they had no idea, no idea of the horrors that now lay within these walls. Sure, they could look for a way out, but he highly doubted that they would make it out of this with everyone alive and well.

'No, DEATHSTROKE, stop that!' Nico scolded himself just after thinking that. 'You must focus on keeping them all alive by the end of this! Unlike Racoon city, you haven't got to worry about civilians, just your teammates! This won't end like last time, not if you have anything to say about it!' No, things would not end that way, not if he had anything to say about it. This wouldn't end like it did with Racoon City, mark his words.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Now that's out of the way, it's time for this story's first descent into madness, hehehehehehe!**

 **You all are in for a treat, because with what I have in mind, things are going to become a doozie. Not only has the party been trapped inside the Factory, but Ganache rattled even Nico with his little warning. Hehehehe, no normal monsters will be plaguing THIS Party tonight.**

 **Anywho, tat's enough of that, review, fav, follow, all that good stuff, please! It keeps me going, it gives me purpose!**

 **Peace!**


	27. Chapter 27 - Swords good, Guns great

**This Chapter is honestly one of my favourites, I was practically shaking when I wrote this one, not only does it have cannon elements to it, but my personal twist made it all the more epic!**

 **Now let's see why, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 27 - Swords good, guns great**

Now that their morale was back, IF and the others began making their way through the Factory, going along the only path available to them. According to the Holomap on Nico's Bracer, the path they were going down led to a large open area ahead of them, this path they're on being like a straight line. Along the way, Noire had disposed of her Mask back to her Inventory, it wasn't needed right now so it was pointless keeping it on. Nico kept his on his face, though.

The whole desolate and empty impression that it gave off did well in showing how disturbing it was. It showed on their pensive expressions as they looked around for any sign of monsters coming to attack them. They were in an unknown area so they had no clue of the dangers that awaited them, but it wasn't like they had any other choice right now.

"Say Nicky," Neptune began as they walked down the corridor. There were multiple windows to help sunlight get into the factory's interior, but they were barred from the outside so they couldn't use them to get outside. Now that they were inside, the Party could admit to this being akin to a prison. She had her hands on the back of her head in a bored manner, once again showing how fast her mood could change. "When Ganache said an "Honorary experience of Racoon City" you think he was just bluffing?"

Nico turned his head to look at her, his gaze level before he shook his head. "No, he was serious. I investigated Ganache after we finished our previous mission for him, and found out that he was the founder of Avenir, which means he must have a cunning mind. Someone like him would definitely not joke about something as dangerous as Racoon City." He explained darkly, gritting his teeth behind his Mask. He could only hope that Ganache hadn't gone as far as he thought he did with regards to that topic.

From behind them, IF looked to the back of the male's head, her eyes filled with resolve, yet underneath there was a nervousness that ate away at her resolve. She may not have been at this incident, but just from the posture of her companion, the brunette could tell that this was serious, more so than Ganache having betrayed them. "How bad was it back then?" she asked him.

"Well…"

BEPP-BEEP-BEEP!

The motion Tracker went off as dozens of red dots appeared on it. Nico's lone eye widened in horror as he realised what just happened. "Everyone, stop!" he called out, getting the girls to halt suddenly. Because of how sudden his shout was, or perhaps it was lady luck toying with them, Compa tripped on a piece of risen ground, a squeal escaping from her lips as she tumbled into Noire, officially starting a game of dominos that resulted in them forming a dogpile on the ground.

'Ugh, if this was Racoon city…'

As they all got to their feet, each rubbing sore spots on their bodies, they all gave him looks of varying emotions. Before anything could be asked like the reason why he had disrupted their leisurely walk, why they would think that with the situation like this being up for debate, their answer soon arrived… in the form of many hands bursting out the ground.

"Kyaaaaaaa!"

"Oh no! it's the apocalypse, Compa! The apocalypse is upon us! I blame you for this Noire!"

"Shut it Neptune!"

The girls, save for IF, glared at each other before they returned their gazes towards the hands, which had already began bringing their bodies out of the ground to leave holes in it. In moments, their indignation was replaced with horror, when they saw a horde of 40 humans standing around them, each of them groaning and snarling like animals. There was an immediate discoloration and rotting of the skin compared to normal people, causing them to look grey and dying, some of them even showing what looks like bruising or skin damage. Their eyes were a pale green, with a bright red colouring around the outer edges of the iris. Each one wielded a weapon, some wielded Fire Axes, others wielded Cleavers while a rare few wielded Assault Rifles.

"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-what is THIS?!" Neptune shrieked as they all got their weapons ready. She had to use Murasama to block one of them from belching a large spit, which hit Murasama's blade. Electricity constantly sparked from the weapon, originating from where the spit had latched onto the blade. "Eh?! My blade is electrifying!"

Nico cursed, gritting his teeth as he pulled Ebony and Ivory out of his hip holsters once they appeared there, crossing them in front of him as he began firing at the Zombies as they shambled and stumbled towards them. "Everyone, back-to-back! These ones seem to have the ability to utilise their basic instincts!"

Everyone quickly obeyed his order, seeing as he was the most experienced of them when it came to these Zombies. They each turned their backs together before stepping back till they formed a Circle in the middle of the path. The Zombie Horde advanced, groaning and snarling like vicious vipers. "Anything else we should know about these guys?!" IF called to Nico from her spot in the circle.

"1: Don't let em grab you, it's hard to get loose otherwise. 2: Don't let them even scratch you or you'll become one of them. And 3: Best way to kill them is removing the head or destroying the brain." Nico replied as one of the Zombies wielding a Cleaver suddenly lunged at him, for Nico to bash it on the head with one hand, before firing Ebony into its skull, blowing it to bits.

Compa hummed at this information as she gulped back some of her saliva. "Okie-Dokie, Ni-Ni!" she called out as she fired on several Zombies, keeping them away from her. One of them managed to get close however, so she batted it away with her Syringe before firing on its head. 2 more jumped at her, but she ducked under them, stabbing one through the chest while elbowing the other. They were then swiftly dealt with when Nico aimed Ivory over his shoulder and blasted their heads off.

These short battles incited the horde into a frenzy, their groans and snarls becoming screeches and roars as they ran at the group from all angles. They were like a human herd of bulls, stampeding across the ground thunderously towards them, eager to rip them apart and feast on their entrails.

Neptune puffed some air out her nostrils as she transformed, becoming her HDD self as she readied her sword to face the upcoming horde. "So basic rules for Zombie killing then, got it." she commented, swiftly decapitating one of them before kicking another in the side, knocking it down. "CROSS COMBINATION!" Neptune quickly activated one of her Skills, aiming each slash at the head of the Zombies. Much to her surprise some of them had the foresight to sway out of the direction of her Sword when it came to them, though she managed to decapitate a few regardless. "It appears they have intelligence. Intelligent Zombies… that's new."

"Something tells me that Avenir has a hand in this, if what I fear is true." Nico commented from his side as IF and Noire kicked and slashed away at their adversaries.

The blackette's instincts made her suddenly duck to avoid a shot fired at her by one of the Zombies, which lazily aimed its Assault Rifle in a swinging arc. Noire growled as she ran towards it. "LACE RIBBONS!" Activating her Skill, Noire swiftly dealt with the Zombie, the end slash decapitating its head. She found it easy to cut through them with this HF blade, which both amazed and irritated her. Amazed because of how lethal it could be on the battlefield, and irritated that it took Planeptune's theft and developers to complete the technology.

IF quickly double kicked one, twirling around to block another from slicing at her with its cleaver. She then jumped to the side to avoid another as it swung a Fire Axe, hitting its brethren instead. Neither of them reacted, it didn't even look like they had noticed at all. "Tch, these guys may be easy to kill, but their numbers are proving to be a real annoyance."

More beeps came from his Motion tracker, making Nico curse even more. "Well, get ready IF because your gonna wanna strangle Avenir. We have more company." He told her from his side as, through the shambling Zombies, more began to rise out the holes, groans and moans turning into mad screams and roars. It was honestly grating on everyone's nerves, though some of them focused more on other things than their obvious annoyance.

"Uh Oh, more of them are coming!" Compa cried as she quickly activated her COMPA LOVE HEART Skill, decimating multiple Zombies at once. She spun around and batted another away, before a call from Noire told her that she had nearly been pulled out of their defensive circle. "Whoopsie." She eeped as she jumped back, firing on nearby Zombies that tried to grab her.

Neptune took to the skies above, glaring at the reinforcements as they joined the main horde. "Worry not, Compa. I shall deal with these creatures myself." She proclaimed as she took a stance. Though there was something… familiar about that stance that the Party couldn't help but notice.

'Neptune, did you…?'

While Nico and the others thought that, the zombies seemed to collectively look up with 'o' shaped mouths like they were trying to go 'huh?'. The purple haired swordstress either didn't see it or ignored it as a grin spread across her features. Her blade's edge became coated in purple trails of energy from the base of the blade, much like a certain massive eye-sporting sword in a certain someone's possession. "Tastes some bullet hell, you monsters!"

With her weapon fully charged, Neptune swung it downwards in an overhead arc. During the swing to the end of it, dozens of long, small energy rays exploded outwards., spreading across the air before falling onto the Zombie horde. They never knew what hit them as every time a beam met them their bodies were vaporised, with nothing left of them behind. Everyone gaped at the use of such an attack, as it reminded them of one other time when they saw that technique being used.

"Hmph! Surprised?" Neptune remarked while heaving her sword onto her shoulder, her smirk widening slightly at the astonished looks on the faces of her Party. "Well then you'll love this." Lifting her sword off her shoulder, Neptune reared back before thrusting it forwards towards a large portion of the horde. She watched as the energy trails shot from her blade and hit the space between the Zombie horde. They gathered quickly, forming a spiralling sphere the size of an average adult, before it exploded into a flurry of purple winds, completely shredding through the Zombie masses.

One tried to aim its Assault Rifle at her, however Neptune quickly noticed it and evaded the rounds that were fired at her with impeccable reflexes. She then gathered energy into her hand and thrusted it forwards, shooting a large energy sphere towards the Zombie, which vaporised it like her energy ray attack earlier.

"Iffy, those attacks…" Compa whispered, turning her head to look at the brunette with shocked realisation on her face as she remembered the last time she saw such attacks.

It seemed that IF had figured it out as well, considering how her eyes lit up in understanding and narrowed. "Yeah, they look like Nico's attacks when he's in that DPU form." She analysed, thinking about the homing ray attack that Neptune did. "Although I never saw him do it, I bet that Energy Sphere thing, as well as that explosion of winds, were based off his attacks too, attacks Nico never used in that battle." She remarked as she tried to figure out how Neptune could have learned such attacks after seeing them only once.

Noire shuddered as she remembered that battle, that battle where she saw for the first time how destructive and deadly Nico could be when he transformed. "Yeah, I can see that happening." She remarked, while she also stared at Neptune with… melancholy? 'Neptune… in that form, she always did have keen insight and battle prowess. Seeing attacks like that in HDD would be like her reading up on something. It makes sense that Neptune can perform such attacks after seeing them once. Though this time she's expanded upon it.' Noire thought as she reminiscence on old memories.

Nico saw this, and his eye narrowed. 'Looks like that talk will be happening soon…'

Finally, they managed to deal with the rest of the Zombie horde, which didn't disperse when they were defeated so the girls got a full exposure to the horrid smell of rotting corpses and decaying flesh. "Ewww, so gross!" Compa cried as she covered her nose with her hand. Noire and IF were better off as they just cringed or grimaced at the smell, both for their own reasonings.

Neptune, after returning to human form, hopped up to them with a pair of tissues in her nose like when one would suffer a nosebleed. "What? What you guys cringing at?" she asked, tilting her head in an innocent manner. both IF and Noire glared at her while Compa pouted, puffing her cheeks out. Neptune was lucky to have those tissues, otherwise they would have done the same.

Nico however, didn't focus on any of this. He was too busy staring down at the corpses that they had just killed. Well, the ones Neptune didn't vaporise that is. 'This… this is a tragedy… a tragedy I swore not to let happen again as long as I lived…' he thought, gritting his teeth behind his Mask and narrowing his lone eye. Nico bit back a curse, knowing that cursing wouldn't solve the issues that had aroused inside his mind, issues that plagued him currently. 'What I don't get is how these guys used weapons. albeit not very good, but still it shows that they retained their intelligence…' he thought as he began scanning the Corpses with his right Bracer.

'What's more, their movement patterns were different compared to those at Racoon City. The running wasn't something the T-virus Zombies could do, at least for as long as these ones did.' he thought while kneeling before the corpses. He then remembered what had happened to Neptune's Murasama. 'And that acid ability is also a new one. My hunch that Avenir is involved with this is getting stronger…'

* * *

Sounds of groans and moans could be heard in the distance, making the Party dread having to go through there as Compa moaned in dismay. "Aaah… There's so many monsters here…" she whispered under her breath with a whimper. There was going to have to be lots of fighting soon, she could feel it.

Neptune went and applied some meta logic. "They keep spawning like some military game!" she groaned in annoyance, her Murasama still covered in some remnants of that acid, though the electric currents were dealing with it. She wasn't as worried as the others, albeit she was still worried. However, with the use of those techniques she learned to replicate from Nico's usage of DDD, Neptune felt confident about their chances. She then hummed and put an index finger under her chin as she mused thoughtfully. "But, um, spawning from the ground's a new one. never seen something like that before."

IF hummed as she pondered this information. Like Nico, she too was suspicious about the number of monsters that were in this Factory. "Odd… Even if this was a monster's nest, this is way too many." She told the group as they neared the end of the path. Fortunately, they stopped and hid behind a pillar, seeing that the open area it led to was teaming with moaning and groaning Zombies, each of them shambling about like soulless husks.

'That could be a problem…' Nico thought to himself as he observed the Zombies. There were a couple new ones that he could see there, some of which he had recognised from the Racoon City Outbreak. One of those would be the Doberman-based creatures called the 'Cerberus'. He saw them as Doberman breed dogs, with necrosis on parts of their bodies, showing the muscle and bone beneath the flesh. Their eyes were pure white, because the virus had destroyed their ability to see in exchange for sharpening their other senses. Fortunately, the groans of the Zombies masked much of their presence from them.

Another type he saw was a really… obese one, but no less horrific. It had the same skin tones and general appearance of a Zombie, but its body was larger, and fatter, than the others. It moved slowly, groaning with its bloated head and various patches of blood on its body. Nico had no idea what that was, but for now he'd designate it as a 'Whopper'.

There was also one type that could be considered enormous. It stood at 30 ft tall, with a bipedal humanoid appearance. It had disproportionately long arms, and an overdeveloped bone structure; seen in its legs, hips, and jaw. Nico also noticed that there was a large, rod-like device that likely went to its internal body structure and protruded slightly from its back. 'On basic observation, this thing may possess impressive strength. It'll likely employ a wide range of crushing attacks, from stomping, smashing, or accidentally falling on its targets. That's what I'd think anyways, as for a designation, 'Ogroman' would be appropriate since it has a large height and stature associated with the fantasy-like ogre species in fairy tales.'

Like the other girls, Noire shivered in revulsion at the Zombies, particularly the Whopper and Cerberus ones, while she sweated slightly at the thought of dealing with the Ogroman. "Could it be possible Avenir gathered them here to finish us?" she asked in a hushed whisper, so that the enemy wouldn't notice their presence if they didn't notice while they were slaughtering all those Zombies.

"Yeah, I think that's very much the case." Nico responded, his eyes fixated on the Ogroman as he drew confused looks from the others "These creatures aren't like the ones I fought in Racoon City. Either someone upgraded the T-Virus, or this is another Virus altogether, one much more dangerous. My scanner's almost done, but I can still recognise some of these creatures. Remember, Avenir had a rivalry with Umbrella, so it would make sense to steal some of their tech especially when they were about to be disbanded.

The thought that Avenir had dug its hands into Umbrella's viral research was not a comforting one, especially if it was full of manipulative assholes like its founder Ganache. And if that was the case, how much would Avenir have taken? Likely they took everything they could before the authorities could claim it, for whatever reason they didn't know yet. They would believe Nico's word as he was not one to make stuff up, and he had good points to put across.

Turning back to the open area, IF scrunched her face in disgust. "Even if that was the case, how? How can you herd monsters of this number?" she asked them, stressing some parts of her sentence as she gestured to the large number of creatures there. However, when she saw the face their resident male member was making, IF felt like she didn't want to know the answer, as a particularly disturbing train of thought was formed in her mind.

"I guess so…" Noire muttered, although she too was thinking along the same lines as IF and Nico. Just entertaining that thought was enough to make her want to throw up her lunch, but she refrained. For one, it would alert the monsters to their position, and two it was unladylike to do so. But still, this didn't change the fact that she was going to destroy Avenir after this.

Neptune hummed in thought at this information, though she didn't think the same as the others considering her lack of experience in situations like these. Though when she looked down, Neptune noticed something that made her eyes widen in recognition. Quickly she picked it up and grabbed IF by the shoulder, swiftly pulling her a safe distance from the end of the corridor. "Hey, Iffy. Look what I found! This isn't what I think it is, is it?"

While slightly miffed about being pulled around like some cart carrying some baggage, IF had to admit it was a decent idea since they didn't want to be detected by that horde. It was larger than the one they fought earlier by a wide margin. So, she pushed her feelings aside and looked at what Neptune was literally shoving into her face. "This is… an enemy Disk! Where did you get it?!" she shrieked with a hushed tone of voice. How the hell did Neptune find something like this, when they didn't, again?!

The preteen pointed to a wall, where a suspicious looking indentation had been made. "Oh, I found it in that wall. Do I get a prize for finding it?!" she asked her excitedly, almost forgetting to be quiet though Nico's glare was a sure way to remember. "I'll take… Ohhhh… 10 puddings!" she decided after crossing her arms and closing her eyes to think about what she would want for her 'prize'.

"Um, no."

As IF mercilessly shot down the Nep Plane, sending her into a pouting mess, Noire looked at them in interest as she saw the Disk that they were talking about. "What are you two talking about? What's this about a Disk?" she asked them. Something old her that she had been missing something important, and for someone like her that was not something she could ignore.

Turning to her, IF held up the Disk, though not shoving it in her face like Neptune had done to her. She was not that petty. "This looks like a normal Disk, right?" she asked the blackette, getting a confused nod from her. IF's smile widened slightly as she shook the arm holding the Disk lightly. "Well, it's a monster generator." There, IF dropped the bomb on Noire.

And Noire exploded, right on cue. "What?! Seriously?! If so, that's an amazing discovery!" she exclaimed in shock, awe and amazement as she took the Disk herself and examined it like a Scientist would a new specimen. Her eyes shined with intrigue as she did this, making her look akin to a curious child examining a new toy.

Compa watched her examine the Dis, and couldn't help but frown in confusion at such a reaction from the blackette. When they had found one the first time, their reactions hadn't been as… extreme as Noire's. they were extreme yes, but not as much as Noire's was. "Is it really that amazing?" she questioned.

Noire looked up from her examining of the Disk and stared at Compa like she had asked something stupid, as in Neptune's level of stupid. "Yes. It's been 3 years since the Monster Population spikes started to happen. Each Land is trying to figure out the source, but none found one yet."

After explaining it to them, Neptune thought of something, something that made her eyes shine with many small stars in them. They knew that look, it was the look she got when she was thinking about something drastic. "If we disclose this, could we be famous?! Can you imagine all the Paparazzi storming in fore picture shots and stuff?! We'll be rich! I'll make a pool full of pudding! Mmm… pudding…" Neptune ranted, wild fantasies invading her mind as she was left as a drooling mess at the thought of her favourite desert.

This girl had an addiction, Nico swore this to himself mentally. 'I'm getting worried for her sanity…'

"Nep-Nep, you might want to wipe that drool from your mouth…" Compa said with a weak smile and a sweat drop at Neptune's behaviour. Even knowing her for as long as she had didn't make her immune to Neptune's antics. She doubted she'd ever be fully immune to it all, since Neptune was just that way. She was so random at times, that one could never predict what she might do next.

Noire then put her hands on her hips as she gave them all a stare. "Did you let Lastation's CPU… no, the Basilicom know?" she asked them. This was ground-breaking knowledge here, it may not explain the cause for so many of these creatures since they were far from the norm, akin to Abnormals, however it would explain the monster population spikes that have been happening.

Unfortunately for her, she forgot one crucial detail about the Basilicom, one which IF reminded her with her dry response. "We were going to, but we were pretty much kicked out without a chance." She explained, remembering that day well. She supposed that it was a twist of fate, that moment had not only defined a bit of Nico's character, but also started this mess with Avenir in the first place.

A part of her wondered what would have happened if they didn't go to the Basilicom, but scrapped the idea.

Noire paused, before scolding herself for forgetting the state that the Basilicom was in right now. If Avenir was running it like they were, then they wouldn't have gotten a chance to explain it to the CPU in the first place. "I see…" she muttered, trailing off as she thought about this information. 'They did say that an unruly bunch had arrived at the Basilicom asking to meet with the CPU, but still…'

"Iffy, what should we do with it? I can crush it in slow-mo if you'd like." Neptune offered to the brunette as she gestured to the Disk, which had been handed back to her by the blackette before she lost herself to her thoughts.

IF levelled a stare to the purplette. "This isn't a music video or anything…" she remarked, before shaking her head and deciding what to do quickly. "Let's just hurry up and break it." she stated bluntly, with a tone the indicated no argument would sway her. Not that they would want to anyways.

Unfortunately, just as IF raised her foot to break the Disk after she threw it to the ground, a bright flash came from it as several monsters, 2 Bits that looked akin to the Recon Drones Nico used, and a larger robot that had the shape of an ice-cream cone and a series of wings behind it, appeared before them. Fortunately, the flash didn't incite the Horde's wrath, which meant they would have to deal with this quickly.

"Oh, how cliché. Monsters appearing just when we're going to break it." IF remarked with a scoff, before switching her Qatars out for her Pistols. She quickly took out from her inventory and put silencers on them, much to the confusion of the preteen which prompted her to explain before she could give one of her random comments. "It's a silencer, we don't want the Zombies ahead to hear us, do you?"

Neptune hummed in understanding, seeing the logic behind that move. Then, she gave her a disappointed glare as she gestured to the Monsters. "See, Iffy? What you said prior must have triggered a flag!" Just then, more Monsters appeared, and these one looked like Dogoos with Tentacles on them, much to Nico and the girls' unified ire. "Oh great! Now we got some other odd-looking ones here!"

Noire released a frustrated groan as she summoned her HF blade. "This is going to be a pain handling all of them." She remarked snidely, giving an accusing glare to the two girls who'd been about to break the Disk.

Compa got an idea and turned her head towards Neptune. "Nep-Nep, now's the time to transform!" she called out. In her mind, Compa thought that in HDD mode, Neptune would be able to deal with the monsters quicker. This thought was shared by the preteen, who nodded her head furiously before making to transform, when….

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

5 Gunshots rang out, each one hitting the Monsters that had gathered before them and blowing them up on impact. Everyone looked to the source of the shots, seeing the dual Pistols Ebony and Ivory to be steaming at the tips. Their wielder, Nico, put one of them at his lips and blew, extinguishing the steam before repeating the process with the other one. He then noticed the stares that the girls were giving him, making him raise a brow. "What, it got rid of em, didn't it?" he responded incredulously.

His words snapped them out of their reprieve as Neptune became the first to comment on what just happened. And like in true Neptune fashion, it was childish and dramatic. "Oi, what gives Nicky! This was supposed to be where I become all cool-looking and take care of the enemies in one turn! Stop stealing my spotlight, Nicky!" she whined, flailing her arms about while looking mad that she couldn't transform anymore. Well, it was more like she had no reason to do so now, since there were no more enemies and fighting in HDD was more taxing on her stamina.

"Nep's logic aside, what Nico did, did do the job of destroying the monsters without getting the Zombie's attention, plus Nep isn't exhausted after transforming, so I'd say that should count as a win." IF explained to the others, trying to placate the preteen with hard facts. Though it served to calm her down, IF could still see that she was annoyed still. This made the brunette huff as she turned back to Nico. "Anyways, you have an idea how to take those things out?"

At her question, Nico looked at the Zombie Horde, then back down the way they came. It seemed to be straight and narrow, and those holes could serve as means to slow the enemy down if utilised correctly. Also, that big one would have to remain behind since the roofing was lower here than in the open area, so that would be where it would have to be fought. Soon, a plan started to fold together, and with a quick check on his Void Storage, he discovered that they had everything they would need. "Alright, here's the plan…"

* * *

The Zombie Horde was doing its own thing. The Cerberuses were sleeping at the back of the walls, the Whoppers were stepping about like the standard Zombies, while the Ogroman was looming overhead like a prison warden watching his charge. This ominous, oppressive atmosphere was like a stained-glass window, which was shattered into tiny pieces by a grenade, a basketball sized one with dozens of smaller grenades and shrapnel strapped to it, thrown into the centre of their ranks. They only had seconds to go 'huh?' before the grenade exploded, followed by a trail of explosions that sent the shrapnel flying, shredding through the Zombies like tissue paper and damaging the Whoppers. The Cerberuses, while not in range of the blast, jumped awake with a startled manner, howling in displeasure at being awoken so rudely.

They realised though that explosion meant there was flesh nearby. Flesh meant food, and food meant hunger.

In an instant, the horde turned into a wild frenzy of limbs, maws and shrieks as they charged down the corridor that the grenade had come from, the Cerberuses quickly taking point in front of the horde. Not a ¼ of the way though, did something go wrong.

BOOM!

Several Cerberuses fell victim to landmines, their paws clicking on them and triggering their explosions. Their forms were splattered everywhere, some hitting other Zombies causing them to fall to the ground. Some missed other Landmines, others were not so lucky.

Up ahead though, they could see something in the distance. It did not take long for them to realise it was man-made, which meant the living were near. Their hunger bolstered, the horde began to advance, running in without a second thought and thus resulting in the detonation of more landmines. As they crossed the Corridor, they didn't notice the heap of fallen Zombies ahead, so when they tripped and fell, more Zombies were killed by their own kind, having been flattened to the point where their brains were reduced to mush.

It was then, that the final barrier came into being, as up ahead the thing that they had spotted was not just a manmade object, but a barricade. And there were the girls plus their sole guy member, standing strong and using the Barricade to support their guns. But not just any old guns, no sir…

These… were MINIGUNS!

All of them were lined up, using the Barricade as a means of cover and support for those who didn't have that much physical strength. By the time that the Horde had begun to recover from their unexpected topple, the Miniguns were spinning around, loud whirring sounds filling the air which filled the Zombies with a sense of dread, even though they didn't seem fazed by te sensation.

And then, with a victorious grin behind his Mask, Nico pulled the trigger of his Minigun first. "Alright ladies, let's bring the pain!" at once, a hailstorm of bullets came flying at the Zombies who had no time to react to their sudden offensive. They got shredded, turned into paste by the constant onslaught of bullets from the Miniguns. Limbs went flying, blood was splattered everywhere. It was a bloodbath.

The Whoppers made to take point, considering their obese appearance they should have been able to endure so many bullets. However, even they were unable to truly endure the bullet hell that had descended upon them for long, their forms stumbling back before they fell to the ground with dozens of holes in their bodies, their brains nothing but shredded remains as they groaned their last.

"This is freaking insaaaaaaane!" Neptune shrieked over the sounds of their Miniguns revving it up to maximum. She had chosen to use the Barricade as support while standing on top of a crate she'd found, while keeping her legs spread apart for better balance. "DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA-!" She kept imitating the sounds made by what she was firing with a massive grin on her face. Clearly, she was enjoying being a badass with a Minigun. When the hell did she find and put on a pair of gangster shades while she was at it?

Must have been one of Neptune's 'Neptunisms': basically little quirks the Preteen had. And she had a LOT of them.

Laughing over the gunfire, Nico shouted over to her. "Insane is fun, Neptune! Less DAKKA and more pulling that trigger, missy! Hahahahahaha!" Nico exclaimed. He had chosen to stand at the side with his hands perfectly holding the Minigun without need for support. The girls had opted to use the Barricade for support since they weren't used to the weight of these babies. Like any proud male, Nico had a thing for some big guns. He never got the chance to use them though because Neptune, no matter how outlandish she was, was still the leader. She would charge in with sword in hand, with them following suit, so he never got the chance to use them lest he want to cause friendly fire.

"Where the hell did you find all this?!" IF shrieked over the gunfire. She had meant everything from the Landmines, to the Miniguns they were using to reduce the horde to nothing but smears on the ground. While she was never really one for guns, favouring her Qatars hence why she only had a pair of pistols as secondary weapons, she did have to admit the feeling of mowing down her enemies with a barrage of hot lead, felt just as satisfying as cutting them down a peg.

Noire had to admit as well as she filled the enemy with lead. "It does seem like an odd coincidence that you have all this gear! Where the heck did you find it all?" she yelled as she watched the Zombies' demise. The sound of gunfire practically near melted her eardrums, but fortunately for her Nico had supplied them with some earplugs to drown out the noise.

"You'd be surprised on what loot you can get when you visit Monster Nests. Now, let's finish them off then go for the big boy!"

* * *

After they had finally finished killing off the Zombies, the girls stopped firing their Miniguns, their weapons slowly grinding to a halt, steaming through constant use. Some of them had been overheated during the barrage, but fortunately they had been able to get around that problem by switching up who made the barrage and covered for those that were cooling down.

"Whelp, that's the last of them." Nico mused while manipulating his Bracer, sending every item still in play: the Miniguns and their ammo, the Barricade pieces, any Landmines that were missed, as well as the earplugs since they didn't need those right now.

Afterwards, the male looked to his left Bracer, and saw that the scanning of the Zombies had been completed. "Huh, looks like the scan's done. Alright, let's see what we got… hmmm… Okay, girls remember when I said Avenir likely has been tampering with the virus? Well, here's proof." He told them.

IF held a hand up, stopping him from speaking. "We can discuss that after we take care of that big guy, can't we? It's likely not gonna take this defeat lying down." She reasoned, making the male pause and think about her words. He soon realised she was right, and nodded in acceptance about her reasoning.

With that out of the way Neptune flipped into the air, rolling through it like a dive bomb, before landing perfectly like an athlete would after a high jump before turning to the others. "Alright ladies, and Nicky, we gotta job to finish, we did well so far, so let's keep it up! Lllleeeeeeets get ready to RUUUMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEE!"


	28. Chapter 28 - A light in the Darkness

**Chapter 28 - A light within the Darkness**

"Hmmm…" a voice hummed as the owner stood atop a tall building in Lastation, overlooking the surrounding streets below, which were abuzz with commotion. What were once civilian-filled streets, now looked like they were ready for war on a large scale. Barricades dotted the streets in strategic positions, buildings were fortified to make them look like bunkers, with their occupants being soldiers who wore black combat gear with silver highlights. They were armed with various assault rifles submachine guns, as well as side arms that included combat knives, pistols or shortswords. The ones with shortswords had medals on their uniforms, signifying their ranks as higher ranking officers of Lastation's military.

More soldiers, operating in squads of 6 with a single commander patrolled the streets, with a Tank escort. These Tanks had black colours to signify their CPU, but with silver highlights like the Officer's combat gear. These Tanks would patrol the streets with squad escorts around them, ever vigilant against this looking threat they were about to face.

If anyone else had sent them the warning, then they would have laughed it off. However, because it came from HIM, their response was different.

Lastation's military remembered HIM, and what he had done for them in the past. Officially, he was one of many Spec Ops that aided them in that hellish time known as Racoon City. Unofficially, he was a well-worshipped war hero, nearly as popular as the CPU herself. Although with Avenir around, they only worshipped him in secret. That was why when HE came to them with a warning of an impending attack, well, they were quick to respond.

The owner watched all this happening from it's perch on the building, overlooking the streets. The owner was shrouded by the shadows of the sun, so whether it was male or female was up for debate. However, the tones and sounds of the owner's voice was a giveaway to the femininity of the person. The person looked like she was looking at her phone, holding the bottom of something strapped to her waist. "It appears that DEATHSTROKE was right." she muttered, her voice softer than silk, but like roses, it had a deadly set of 'thorns' behind it in the form of an icy chill in it's undertone.

 _"_ _You know, its sorta weird, why didn't we expect those Avenir assholes to be any better than Umbrella?"_

A masculine voice spoke through the intercom that was placed in her ear. The voice was slightly droned thanks to the intercom, but one could tell that the voice's owner held distaste for the company that they were discussing. _"Though, I guess I can't blame the guy for not realising this sooner, since things back then were… complicated."_

The womanly figure hummed again in confirmation as she looked out towards the direction of the factory Nico and the girls were sent to. She could understand the masculine voice's frustration all too well, for she too despised the outcome of that horrible Outbreak. Mentally, she had prepared herself, or so she hoped, for the possibility of a repeat performance. "I do believe we agree, FALCON. What is your report?" she asked him. Her voice once melancholic and calm, turned cold and hard in an instant, like an experienced war veteran.

 _"_ _Yes ma'am, an unidentified target is approaching the North-Western District, the same District Mrs Chian's factory is located. Its moving slow though, because it's got Ganache with it. He appears to be giving orders to the robot while talking on the phone."_ The Masculine voice on the other end of the com channel replied, his voice just as cold and hard as the womanly figure's. that tone meant they needed to be professional, and if anything, they were excelled at being professional while on the job.

Pondering this information for a moment, the woman then requested of him. "Can you get a better visual of what it is he is transporting? We should know what we're dealing with."

 _"_ _Roger that, moving into position. I cannot get too close, otherwise that thing could detect me. It looks like it has long-range sensors, unfortunately."_

A simple nod was all she responded with. With that, the womanly figure raised her hand to her ear and pressed on the intercom, disconnecting from the channel. She then lowered her hand and looked out into the distance, now in the direction of the North-Western district. She had no illusions about being able to defend it completely, judging from what her scout had reported to her earlier, this would be an amount to a full-scale assault. Likely they already have a cover story ready for the fallout afterwards, organisations have the tendency to do that.

The hand on the item strapped to her waist clenched tighter on it, a sense of tension filing her that matched the unease in the air. She knew that this would end badly, civilians may have been evacuated to the underground shelters, but that didn't make any illusions of their safety form in her mind. She knew well from experience that plans don't tend to go the way you want, and something in her gut was telling her this was one of those times. It was fortunate that the Military was able to occupy this much of Lastation, what remained had been on the Basilicom's payroll, thus they would only follow their orders. Right now, Lastation's military was at... 40% efficiency. They would have limited air support, the soldiers here were low on morale given that they were protecting goons like Avenir and the Basilicom, whom had been terrorising them for several years.

Nevertheless, she had been in worse holdouts.

Her hair was blown back by the wind that brushed past her, hitting her face with its breeze. Although this didn't deter her in the slightest. There would be bigger fish to fry, and things would be much worse, hellish even, soon enough, making the wind out to be some minor inconvenience. Fortunately, the rest of her team would arrive soon, and then they would aid in Lastation's defence.

'It's been a while since we saw each other, though. Ever since that mission in Deep Heaven we've been busy with our own assignments.' The womanly figure mused thoughtfully as behind her calm façade lay an underlying excitement to see an old comrade… and possibly something else, again. Unseen by anyone, a small smile crept onto her lips. 'Nico… we'll meet again soon enough. I can feel it.'

* * *

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!"

"Tell us something we don't know iffy!"

BOOM, CRASH, SMASH!

"Well, how about this fucker's getting on my nerves!"

"Less talking more fighting, ladies!"

Back at the Factory, Nico and the others were busy focusing on taking down the Ogroman, which was proving to be a migraine-inducing affair. The Ogroman was not only strong, but its size was considerable and it seemed to have great defences. Whenever bullets would hit it, they would just bounce off it like they were hitting reinforced steel, clattering uselessly onto the cold, hard, and unforgiving ground. They likely had the fact that it had overdeveloped skin to thank for that.

After Nico launched a PHANTOM WAVE, the male watched as his attack was swatted away like someone hitting a file with a fly swatter. 'Tch, looks like this guy knows how to play.' He thought. As an offhanded note, the male had the picture of this creature in a rugby uniform scoring tries by the dozens.

Neptune cried out as she quickly rolled to the side to avoid the creature's stomp. She got back to her feet using the momentum and glared angrily at the Ogroman, which ignored her as it focused on slamming its palms on her party members. "Oi, what's the dealie here?! Why the heck are we having so much trouble with this boss?!" she whined, before rushing towards the back of the enemy's heel. "We're the good guys, right? So shouldn't we have some kinda easy mode for our first time?"

IF managed to jump back to avoid a palm slam, then ran to it and jumped onto the back. The Ogroman didn't like that as it swayed its arm about like one who just got their finger caught in a mouse trap and was trying to shake it off. Only IF was the Mousetrap. She barely clung onto the hand as she was shaken about like a ragdoll. Eventually, she was thrown off with a cry, falling to the ground and landing on the nape of her neck, bouncing back several times before she stopped on her front. Groaning, the brunette struggled to her feet, while the looming Ogroman stomped to her and tried to pin her under its foot.

However, Noire managed to dive for her and grab the brunette, knocking both aside and out of its foot's way. As they got up, the two girls looked over to the ranting Neptune and growled in irritation. "You know you COULD help us, you know, by TRANSFORMING?!" IF cried out at the purplette with multiple veins visible on her head. "You were complaining about not being able to transform before, what changed?"

"Huh? oh, right! Whoops, sorry! No attacking while I'm-"

Before Neptune could turn into her HDD self, the Ogroman, seemingly in a surprising show of intelligence, managed to grab Neptune, shake her about a bit, before slamming her into the ground. It roared as it raised its fist to smash her, and Neptune wouldn't have been able to react in time had it not been for a series of demonic energy slashes from a certain Claymore. "What are you doing, Neptune?! This thing doesn't follow the norms of Gamindustri Monsters, you know!" Nico yelled from his position, before he jumped back to avoid a fist that would have crushed him under it.

Neptune made no notion that she had heard her fellow party member as she stood up, now thoroughly pissed off as she wordlessly transformed, becoming her HDD self, which flew up above the creature while it tried to fatten her again. "You will pay for interrupting my transformation sequence!" she yelled in anger, quickly focusing energy into her blade and swinging, firing a barrage of homing energy rays at the Ogroman. Each ray hit it on the mouth, torso, legs and shoulders. She followed up with a CROSS COMBINATION and a CRITICAL EDGE, chaining them together for higher damage.

The Ogroman roared in agony, stumbling back as wounds began to appear on its body where Neptune had cut it. Her eyes widened when she realised what this meant as she turned to the others. "Everyone, Chain your Skills, it seems that's the only way we can beat it!" just after saying that Neptune had to ascend suddenly to avoid a mad hand swipe from the Ogroman. Neptune then summoned several purple energy swords, a trick she hadn't used since the fight with that Banshee, before hurling them at it's face. They collided against the creature's cheeks, under it's mouth, and barely grazed it's forehead, almost like a set of rocks falling on top of it. She swiftly formed a few slashes and attacked its arm, seeing the skin manage to block her sword. Like she had said, it appeared Chaining Skills was the only means they had of damaging it.

"Even better, try to target that red rod-thing on the back of its neck!" Nico called out, pointing at said part of the creature's anatomy. It seemed to be the only area uncovered by the defensive skin, remaining nothing but a rod made from the flesh underneath the Skin, an apparent weak spot. However, the creature's height made it difficult to get to it without risking injury.

An idea sparked in his mind, and Nico nearly face palmed himself at his stupidity. 'Of course, how could I have forgotten that?! The Banshee Queen died from it, so we should do that too!' he thought to himself before breaking off into a sprint. The Ogroman was distracted by IF, Compa and Noire who attacked its lower body with their respective Skills while Neptune flew through the skies like a blurry bug, slashing through its upper body while trying to get at its weak spot, which it kept swerving about to keep it out of their warpath.

When he was close enough, Nico clenched a fist, focusing on his palm before jumping to the back of its right calve, slamming his palm on it before landing and using the momentum to roll away. He then had to side flip to avoid a foot when Neptune and Noire did a combination attack that sent it stumbling back, though it didn't fall over. Jumping back several times, Nico grinned in triumph behind his Mask as he raised Rebellion and stabbed the ground with it, forming a familiar Magic Circle. "CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!"

The Chains sprang forth, quickly restraining the creature which shuffled and struggled to break free. The Chains never slackened their grip though, just tightened instead. The Chains dug deep into its flesh, opening its wounds from the other attacks as it tried to break free to no avail. This lack of movement finally forced it to remain idle and exposed the weak spot they had been targeting. "There you go guys!"

"I thank you Nico." Neptune said, the purple haired woman smiling fondly down at him from her spot in the skies. She then raised her head and glared towards the direction of the chained-up monster. "Now leave the rest up to me." With a firm grip on her sword, Neptune crouched as she formed a panel below her feet. This panel propelled the woman forth in a burst of speed as her sword became engulfed in her energy, signalling the activation of her Skills.

She flew towards its face with her form akin to a bullet, and in one last ditch effort to stop her from getting at its weak spot, Neptune saw it lunge its head forwards, trying to get a bite out of her. However, the serious warrior queen spiralled her body out of its maw's path while it passed harmlessly by. She used the momentum to continue her journey towards its weak spot, and when she was close enough reared her sword back to unleash her strongest Skill right now. "CRITICAL EDGE!"

Her attack landed, and the monster roared in absolute pain as its body coursed with damaging energy. The energy travelled through its system, burning away at its insides till they were nothing but mush. The red object on its nape was destroyed by the hit, and the creature fell to its knees, motionless for a few moments, before it finally got toppled by its own weight and fell to the side, a loud THUMP being heard on its impact.

The battle was over… they had won.

* * *

As she saw the creature's dead form, Neptune slowly lowered herself to the ground, and by complete coincidence Nico was right beside her when she was just above the ground. She gave a weary sigh, slumping her shoulders in fatigue. "There. It is done… fighting that thing in this form is tiring…" the woman mused before she was engulfed in light, and a near-dead Neptune took her place. "Haaaah… I'm beat…" she muttered before slumping onto the male for support, said male quickly catching her in his arms.

'Damn, she must have expended a lot of energy in this fight… maybe we should give her some pudding…' Nico thought as he held the girl in his arms. She seemed to like the contact, given how she was snuggling in to make herself more comfortable. A soft smile was on her lips as she held him tightly with a dreamy sigh escaping not long afterwards. The male barely held in the heat that threatened to burst from his cheeks. He may be a badass Spec Ops Agent, but not even he was immune to the warmth of contact with another person. Humans naturally desired such contact, and he, while a DPU, still had the body and instincts of one, so he was no exception.

"… did someone say Pudding…?"

Hearing her words made the male blink in disbelief down at the girl in his arms, who seemed to be trying to get even closer to the warmth his body radiated if that were even possible. '… Did she read my mind? Glad then that she's too tired to figure out it was me otherwise she'll do stuff I don't even want to think about.' He thought, shuddering at what Neptune might have done if that was the case. She was random yes, but she could also go to extreme lengths when Pudding was involved.

The fight with the Hraesvelgr is one such example.

Compa pouted in jealousy at the preteen as she clutched onto her childhood friend. She didn't like seeing her so close to Nico, but she couldn't go over there and pry her away because, unlike before, she looked legitimately tired. So, she pushed her jealousy aside for the moment and patted the preteen on the head. "Good work, Nep-Nep, you were really great back there." She praised, before switching her gaze towards Nico, her eyes brightening at him. "You too, Ni-NI. You both were really cool."

After hearing her words and the embarrassed chuckle from the Spec Ops Agent, Neptune broke away from him and smiled goofily, grinning at the cream haired girl while suppressing the surge of disappointment inside of her at the lack of the warmth Nico's body provided. 'Man, this feeling sure is strange… usually this franchise is about cute girls only, this dynamic isn't something we're used to. The Author must be trying to make his Fanfiction unique if he pulled a near all-nighter trying to create new OC Designs that may pop up in a few chapters.'

"Heh-heh, really? Well, now I have another reason to transform."

IF rolled her eyes at the sight. To her, Neptune nearly looked like a rocket with how her ego was being stroked. She may blast off into space and never come back down again. "Compa, don't flatter her too much. It'll get out of hand." She warned with a playful smirk, though her eyes cast a brief glance to the preteen as she noticed the slight tension between them. 'Huh… well, I guess this is a long time coming.' She thought, not saying anything.

Neptune turned and huffed at the girl while making a superhero pose. "Oh, come on. I was MVP back there, so go ahead, praise me." She bragged as she remembered dealing the fatal blow to the Ogroman. "Or you could pamper me if you don't want to praise me. I can take either."

Nico rolled his lone eye at her attempts to make herself look cool. "Stop that, Neptune, if anyone was the MVP it'd be me. Who was it that came up with this plan? Who set up the proper equipment? Who restrained that thing so you could finish it off?" he asked her rhetorically. There didn't need to be an answer since everyone saw it, even the boaster herself.

The preteen made to respond, but no words came out. She tried to form one, but the points hit her in her head and made her realise that Nico was right. Neptune did the only thing she could think of at this moment, pout like a kid. "You're a meanie." Her pouty face combined with how adorable she looked made Nico chuckle in amusement, his eyes filling with mirth as he rubbed the girl's head.

"Well to be fair, you did take the monster down in the end, so props to ya on that one, leader." He told her, making the preteen beam happily as he rubbed her head affectionately. Was it just him, or did Neptune suddenly grow cat ears and tail while meowing like a cat?

"Hehehehehe, I got praised by Nicky."

"Your just like a kid in the strangest places, aren't you?"

"Hehehehehe…"

Before he could ponder this any further, IF changed the topic back to something important. "Anyways, I'm surprised Lastation had a monster infested place like this. Heck, those guys are still here." She remarked pointing a thumb behind her to gesture to the corpses that they had left behind. "Even that guy's here still, these monsters aren't normal. Even Abnormals vanish into Particles like normal monsters do."

It was truly a bizarre sight for those who grew up in Gamindustri. They are used to Monsters dying in a single manner, no matter the circumstances or the types of monsters that are encountered. Die bu disappearing into Particles, that was the norm in Gamindustri. However, these creatures, they defied that norm, which was honestly worrying the heck out of her.

"That's because they're not monsters, at least not in the typical sense."

All eyes were drawn to Nico when he said that. The male's face, from what the Mask didn't hide, looked grave, graver than normal as he brought up the information he had gained from Scanning the Zombies earlier, that he had been unable to share because of the circumstances. Is face honestly unnerved the girls right now, if something could unnerve someone like Nico, who had seen a lot of shit in his line of work, then it must be something pretty messed up.

"What do you mean, Nicky? Your face looks like its seen the nine levels of hell up close and personal." Neptune spoke, her face now losing its previous cheery persona, now replaced with a slightly nervous one as sweat rolled down her forehead. She wanted to make more random comments to lower the tension in the air, but the combined stares of Noire and IF told her not to.

Taking a deep breath, one that they noticed shook slightly, Nico calmed his racing heart enough to explain the situation to them, a situation that was likely more than they ever realised. "I scanned the Zombies earlier. They were made not with the T Virus, but another one that had greater control over the infected created. They are left with minor parts of their intelligence intact, enough to use various weapons like any normal person. But the hosts, they had to come from somewhere, right? Look at them, where do you think they come from?"

IF and the others glanced back at the Zombies, and it took them a moment to realise what he was saying. And Nico was right, judging by their expressions of horror and revulsion, that this revelation was more than they expected alright.

"Wait-wait-wait, hold on! Your saying that…"

"You're kidding…"

"Eh? Iffy, Noire why are you so shocked suddenly? Ni-Ni said that they had to come from somewhere, so… oh no… oh my goddess…"

"Eh? Eh? Come on gals, don't leave me hangin, what's the big reveal? I don't get it so say it in simple words for me, will ya?" Neptune exclaimed, now feeling utterly out of the loop. She didn't know what was going on anymore, having lost her train of thought when Nico didn't finish his sentence.

Neptune's simple-mindedness caused Noire to release a loud irritated groan as she face-palmed loudly, the sound echoing across the factory. "Neptune, those things were once people, not monsters! They didn't disappear because they were once normal people like in the games!" she yelled out, releasing her stress on the preteen.

"Eh? ... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

"Yeah, remember in games were the person dies, then gets brought back by a virus into a Zombie? Well, this is that, only in real life." Nico confirmed grimly, his mouth set in a firm line behind his Mask as he gripped his fists. Neptune could only stare at him with the matching expression of horror on the faces of the other girls, now she could realise the gravity of the situation. "Only, instead of Racoon City's T Virus, this one improves them in a manner that makes them unlike other Zombies. You could say that, in RPG logic, they levelled up."

The purplette's mouth opened and closed rapidly, her eyes blinking as she tried to regain her composure with her heart racing a million miles an hour. "G-Geez, this is getting really dark, real fast. Glad this is only a fanfiction not a real part of the franchise, critiques would be all over this." She remarked in the best way she knew how, making meta jokes. She then turned to the Ogroman, and saw that like the Zombies, this thing wasn't going bye-bye, and pointed at it. "What's the dealie with this one then? It doesn't look a thing like a human, but it's not going."

"Aha, good point, but easily explained. I assume Chian referred to the BOW's when she told you about Racoon City, yes?" he asked them, getting nods from the girls as they remembered the haunted look in Chian's eyes when she told them that story. Only, it was no story but a fact, a true tale that had reduced one of Lastation's Cities to mush. "Well then, it'll be simple to explain. This, girls, is a BOW. Apparently, it's a newer variant in this time of bioterrorism, but I guess we can call it an Ogroman due to its size and strength. This thing was made somewhere secret, and then kept here to be used for whatever means its masters saw fit." Nico explained, glaring down at the corpse. "I think we can all guess what that purpose was, huh?"

Everyone nodded, none of them had any words to say to that. They didn't need to, they were all on the same wavelength. This was their first time experiencing a fight against Zombies, creatures that don't disintegrate when they die. For the first time in their lives, they were glad that the monsters they usually beat died in the manner as they did, because killing these zombies had much more of an impact on them.

If this was what it was like in just a small factory, how could Racoon City have been? The horrors that the people had seen… suddenly, they all realised just how traumatic that must have been, it hit them faster than a bullet train. This horror, this carnage… Avenir had to pay, it had to pay dearly for what it had done here. Not only did they commit crimes violating anti-trust laws, but they performed some of the worst acts possible, not including human experimentation.

'One thing about this does still bug me though.' Nico thought through the silence that the Party was experiencing. ' I mentioned this once in a previous chapter, but back when Racoon City was still… around, there were lots of people working for Avenir, workers, janitors, engineers, among others. Now, work is done by machines and they still function at the rate they did normally. Machines are good and all, but how could they just fire so many people without it leaking to the internet? Something like that would have…'

A small pause came over him as an idea entered his mind. It was an idea he hoped to goddesses that wasn't true, but if it was, then Avenir was worse than Umbrella ever was. He barely stopped himself from becoming green at the horrific thoughts in his mind, and hoped to every deity in existence that what he was thinking hadn't happened.

If it had...

Meanwhile, the girls were going through some roller-coasters of their own. Compa and Neptune had similar thoughts, though, considering their mentalities being alike. They both had thought this would be a happy-go-lucky adventure, where they would meet people, fight bad guys and save the day, the typical plotline for this Franchise. This time however, things weren't so simple, things had gotten dark, darker than the dark night that took the skies every 7-8 hours.

IF had been a travelling Mercenary for a long time now, and she had seen some weird stuff in her life. From the oddest monsters, around to the people she associated with, IF had thought that she had seen enough to make her open-minded to anything. However, what she had just learned, what she now knew, it turned out to make the world seem a whole lot darker. She realised just how twisted and dangerous the world really was. She thought it was hard before, but now… now she was scolding herself for even complaining about it all.

Back then things were bad, but now… things had gotten a whole lot worse.

'This… this cannot be happening… is this what happens when humanity is left unchecked for so long?!' Noire frantically thought to herself, barely keeping herself from screaming everything to the world and sounding like an utter psycho, though most of her didn't seem to care at this point. 'We have fought in the Console War for hundreds of years, leaving humanity to its own devices for the most part… and this is what happens? I may have thought that the Console War was important, but now that opinion has greatly weakened! All but diminished!'

Noire had always prided herself on her ability to lead and protect this Nation. It was in her blood, it was her job and her passion. She had thought that by fighting the Console War that she was doing the right thing to her people, that she was helping them. Now though, that belief had been utterly crushed beyond hope of salvation. She felt bitterness creeping up her throat just thinking about the times when she was conflicted with herself in choosing Lastation or the Console War.

Stupid war seemed so trivial considering these horrors.

"If…" Everyone's eyes turned to Neptune, whose expressions looked oddly subdued, though they couldn't blame her. After what they had learned, they were barely holding it together themselves. "If there were so many monsters here…" She had her head hanging low, but when she trailed off the second time, she looked up at them, and they saw that her face was uncharacteristically serious. "You think they might be keeping something important here? Like a Key Fragment?"

IF cupped her chin, thinking about those words. Part of her wanted to hug and kiss Neptune right now for giving them something to distract from those recent revelations. "Hm, that could very well be possible, Nep, very much so." She said, nodding her head in confirmation.

Hearing the unfamiliar term, at least to her, Noire tilted her head in confusion. "Key Fragment? What's that?" she asked them. She hadn't heard of this item before, was it something important? Something told her it was, hence her inquiry.

Neptune looked at her surprised for a moment, until she bopped herself on the head as she realised something. "That's right, we didn't tell you yet, Noire. So sorry." She apologised, lowering her head in a bowing motion. She missed the weirded out face that Noire had made while she procured the Key Fragment from her Inventory, the item fitting snugly in her hand as she held it out before the blackette. "It looks like this… Noire, have you seen one before?"

Staring down at the item in her hand, Noire rummage her brain for any ideas as to what this was and if she had seen it before. However, she came up empty and shook her head negative before looking back into the preteen's eyes. "Never have… Why? Are you collecting these?" if someone like Neptune was interested in these, then they had to be worth something. Neptune wasn't the kind of person to go on wild goose chases willy nilly.

Neptune made a laugh like one who had successfully lured someone else into a trap. "Hahaha…! Glad you asked! It's to revive Histy and to save the world!" she proclaimed like some massive and holy adventure, which in a sense it was. Girl didn't need to be so dramatic about it though.

…

…

…

…

…

Noire stared for a long moment at the preteen, her eyes showing her thoughts about her right now before she turned to IF and asked what was on her mind. "Ah… um… IF? Is she… okay?" she questioned while raising a hand and poked herself in the noggin a few times.

The brunet heaved a sigh at this and remarked with a dry undertone. "A little too late at birth, I suspect." She said, tiredly. Although with the recent revelations IF couldn't blame the girl too much. She may be acting like she normally was but IF could tell by how her hands were shaking that she was still disturbed by what they had learned.

This obviously didn't sit well with Neptune as she glared at the two for insulting her mental state. "Hey! How rude! Even the docile me is angry now!" she bellowed with multiple tick marks as she made to stomp on over there, but Compa held her back resulting in her looking like a flailing mass of limbs.

Watching the girl for a few minutes in that state made a small smile break out onto IF's face as she gave an amused chuckle. "I'm just joking, Nep. We need them to release a tome named Histoire…" she told the blackette.

Nico then followed suit as he added on to her explanation. "Apparently, this Tome's job is to record history with the Goddesses, but has been sealed for a while. She asked us though some form of dream telepathy to help set her free by gathering these Key Fragments." Even now, Nico still had trouble getting rid of his doubts about the disembodied voice though. He likely would keep them until they see her for themselves, tough with someone like him who was cautious around normal people, it would make sense for him to not completely trust Histoire.

Noire digested this information, and almost instantly found this information to be suspicious and difficult to believe. She hadn't heard of this Histoire person before, and if she hadn't then the others likely hadn't either. That brought more doubt on the claims this 'Histoire' person's identity. "Who is this 'Histy'…? How does this person know more than me…?" she mumbled under her breath. She had put a fist under her chin and her other hand under her elbow, looking like she was thinking hard about an issue, which she was.

The knowledge that someone out there had more information than she did, knew more than she did, didn't sit well with her. Especially someone she didn't know about until just now. Nico said that this time had been sealed for a long time, which would make sense then as it would explain why they hadn't heard of it. However, her doubts didn't start there, but with the apparent connection with the Goddesses. None of them had heard of this tome before, and even if they did they likely wouldn't have thought much of it due to fighting for so many years.

"Hm?" She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Neptune skip over to her and wave a hand in her face. "What's the matter, Noire? You got a bug in your mouth?" she asked her, moving to check her mouth.

However, Noire snapped out of it in time and batted her hands away before they could pry open her mouth. She wouldn't want someone's hands there, or anywhere else on her body. "Huh? Ah, no, I'm just mumbling to myself. Don't let it bother you." She waved it off, though inside her mind these thoughts still lingered. She mentally pushed them aside however, this wasn't the time to be pondering such information. That could come later when things weren't so chaotic.

Neptune hummed at this information, seemingly thinking hard about it while staring at Noire's face trying to put a hole in her brain. It made Noire shift uncomfortably, but before she could react Neptune bounced back with her usual happy grin on her face. "Oh, I thought you went nutty in the head with all the pressure, Noire. Well, if that happens, don't worry, I'm sure psychiatrists can help."

"You're the one who needs help in the head!" Noire shrieked as she began chasing a laughing Neptune to and fro. The others only stood there and watched the two squabbling like a bunch of kids, some of them, AKA Nico, having Popcorn out to share with the others. Although he made a note to visit the bathroom soon after this. Eventually, Noire stopped chasing her after she ran behind a sweat dropping IF, who stepped aside to show the preteen grinning still, like a Cheshire cat. She released a sigh while holding a hand over her forehead. "#SIGH# I can't believe how lax you're approaching all this…"

Compa giggled cutely, causing the black-haired girl to look forth in her direction with a raised brow, silently asking what was so funny about this situation. A question she was more than willing to give an answer to. "You're so friendly with Nep-Nep, Noire."

Her little observation quickly dissolved what little calm state of mind Noire had built in that short timeframe, her face quickly sporting a blush as she frantically denied what was said. "Wha?! Me? Neptune? Of course not! You've got to be kidding!" she screeched while waving her arms in front of her.

Nico watched her with a brow raised and no small amount of amusement in his eye at the girl's response. 'Girl, you're just digging yourself a hole, you tsundere…' it was times like this though, that the randomness that Neptune generated within the party was a blessing in disguise. Already he could sense that they were calming down from the recent revelations. The tension that he had created with his words had all but vanished as the mood lightened up considerably. It was one of the things he liked most about her.

Speaking of antics…

"SHOCKER!" Neptune stumbled back as if struck by lightning, an utterly shattered look falling onto her features at Noire's words. She placed her hand on her chest as if clutching a newly opened wound as she looked away from the blackette. "Ouch… I thought we were like war buddies and all. Friends above friends." She moaned while wiping a tear from her eyes. She gave off the impression of a heroine who had suffered a tragic fate in some form of love story.

In an instant though, her face morphs to one of realisation as she snapped her fingers like something had just came to her. "Wait!" She was then in front of Noire, leaning forwards with her hands behind her back, smiling cutely at her. "Maybe your affection towards me is one notch higher…" she put a pondering finger on her chin and hummed for a moment, before looking back at her with a victorious smile. "Like Love?!"

Afterwards, she bounced back and began holding herself while wiggling like a worm, refusing to meet anyone's gazes as she closed her eyes. "I, ah, didn't know… Um, I appreciate the feeling, but ah…" Neptune drabbled on, unaware of the reddening face of the blackette or the muffled snickers from Nico as he tried to suppress them by biting on his knuckles. "You know, I'm a girl, you're a girl… You know what I mean…"

'Not touching this one! Hehehehehe! Goddamnit Neptune, you just love teasing people, don't you?!' Nico shrieked in his mind as he struggled to contain his laughter. Now, while he could have just been a prude and told them to focus on getting out of this hellhole, Nico felt that would be too much of an asshole thing to do to these girls, so he had opted to remain quiet. Plus, his inner prankster was loving this scene before him, it reminded him of the times THAT guy would troll other people just for giggles, and when they would come to blows he would curb stomp their asses.

"But, if you REALLY want me, I guess I can… accept you."

"Pft!" Nico snorted as he lost the battle against the urge, and began chuckling hysterically as Noire's face was turning from rage to one of dread and horror at the thought of doing… that, with another girl. Especially when Noire went "BLEH!" while sticking her tongue out in disgust, shaking her head and shivering at the images of them doing that kind of thing. That was so wrong in her mind that she doubted millions of cold showers would be enough for it.

She then gave Neptune a rage filled glare as she shouted. "Are you stupid?! Love?! I don't even LIKE you!" she roared like a banshee, figurative flames spewing out her mouth which made Noire look like a she-demon or something. And they were literal Abnormals, too, scary creatures that reside in Leanbox. Hellish, and nightmarish to fight even for Spec Ops Agents like him.

Her words had little effect on the preteen though as she carried on her teasing of her. "Oh, come now. No need to be shy. You're so "Tsundere" and all."

Maybe she overdid it a bit as Noire got in close, pulling a page from her books and grabbed the preteen bu the scruff of her hoodie, glaring down at her as she pointed to her lips while the preteen showed no signs of being caught off guard. "Read. These. Lips. I don't like you!" she yelled in her face. "In fact, I think I hate you now!" upon seeing her face, Noire realised that her efforts were indeed pointless, and harshly released her while holding a hand to her forehead. She swore she was getting a migraine from all of this. "#SIGH# Why am I even arguing with you?! You three! Some help here?! And stop laughing!" she yelled at the spectators, before noticing what Nico was doing.

Compa smiled happily, and Noire thought that she would take pity on her for once. Those thoughts were soon dashed however, when her words came out. "Oh now, you really do like Nep-Nep after all."

IF rolled her eyes, both at Noire and at Nico's childish actions. "It's almost as if you two were meant for each other. Yin and Yang."

Finally, Nico managed to stop himself from laughing as he held his stomach, feeling a bit dizzy from the lack of oxygen in his lungs. "Sorry, sorry about that, but IF's right you know, you two seem to get along perfectly." He remarked, wiping a few tears out the corner of his eye.

Noire gave him the evil eye, making him turn his head away and whistle like a child trying to hide the fact that they had done something naughty, much to her provocation. Before Noire could act on her impulse to strangle the male, which would end badly for her, IF turned on her heel and began making for the opposite side of the area. "Well, let's find a way out. You girls can do whatever you want at the hotel."

"H-H-H-HOTEL?!"

"I-Iffy?!"

"Whoa girl, did not know you were into that stuff. You know what I'm not touching that one!"

"?"

The brunette's comment had multiple reactions to it, and not in the good kind. Noire's face literally became a furnace as images raced through her mind, images… not suited for children and would likely give grown men nosebleeds since they were into that sort of thing. Steam rose from the top of her head, as Noire's face did a fantastic job of operating like an oven. Ironically, her body was frozen stiff, unable to move because her brain was too scrambled trying to deal with the other issue first.

Neptune's face was akin to Noire's as well, red like a tomato as her normally cheerful teasing face became that of a lobster, images rolling through her mind at the insinuations that IF had unknowingly made. Her mouth opened and closed a second later, no words coming out to express her emotions right now.

Nico himself, backpedalled like he was close to an Abnormal, his posture defensive as he held an arm out in front of his face protectively. He tried so desperately not to think of Noire and Neptune in THAT kind of hotel. 'Goddamnit girl, now look what you've done, not only did you make a sexual innuendo, but you also made it look like we're going to a love hotel!' he shrieked in his mind while fighting off the… stimulating images in his mind as he became lost in between feeling aroused at the thought and being so utterly mortified by the woman's words.

And Compa, poor, sweet and innocent Compa remained clueless. Turning around, IF's face showed she was confused as she examined the Party. She saw their reactions to what she said and for a moment became concerned for their health, the idea that they had caught a cold not sitting well with her with the situation being as it was. Though she did take solace in the unlikelihood in which that scenario would be a thing, seriously how can 3 people get a cold at the same time? "Hm? What's the matter?" she asked them.

…

Her eyes soon became saucers however when she replayed what she said and gauged their reactions to it, realising that she had said something entirely different to what she meant. "… Huh? … Oh…no… No! Don't misunderstand me! I didn't say "do" whatever at the hotel in that sense! No, not at all!" she exclaimed, flailing her arms so fast they were like blurs, while she became flustered like they were as she tried to clear up the misunderstanding that was happening before her. 'Oh god, why did I say that?!' her thoughts became chaotic thanks to her flustered state.

IF's state made Nico come out of his stupor first as he cleared his throat awkwardly, looking to the side and not meeting IF's face right now as he didn't want her to see his red cheeks, he was sure they could be visible even with his Mask on. "Sorry girl, too late for that. Please, since we know what you like, find someone consenting and do it when we're not around."

"I know you're a guy, but you two as well?! You three have your minds in the gutter!" IF shrieked. Finally, Neptune snapped out of it and saw an opportunity, a golden one that her prankster instincts refused to ignore. The same grin she had for Noire formed on her face, this time aimed at another target. "Oh Iffy." She gushed with her hands over her cheeks as her eyes twinkled while they stared at her. "You're so C-U-T-E, blushing and all."

Noire, having snapped out of her stupor at the same time as Neptune, saw the situation and made to take advantage of it, as well as get some payback for her humiliation earlier. "Yes, you really are C-U-T-E." she teased with a small smirk, but the amusement in it was just as great as Neptune's grin. Compa, the sweet innocent angel that she was, didn't know what was going on before, but she could see why Noire and Neptune found IF's flustered state adorable like that, so she went and voiced her two cents. "Yes, C-U-T-E."

"Come, come now girls, it's not cute what IF said…" Nico began as he received a thankful look from the brunette. Noire and Neptune made to argue with him about the opposite of that, but they saw a gleam in his eyes that made them close their mouths and evil grins form on their faces. They realised what was coming, but IF didn't not even until it was too late. "It's KA-WA-IIIIIIIII!"

Before, IF's face was like a furnace, now with Nico's teasing grin and how his words caught her when her guard was down, made her face heat to supernova levels as she gave them betrayed looks. "You too, Nico and Compa?! S-Stop teasing me already!" she stammered, making her words seem weaker than they already were. She turned and ran off faster than they could track, which was likely her plan so she could forget about this incident forever, but not before grabbing the Disk from Noire and shattering it under her boot. "Th=The di-disk is already borken… no! Broken! Le-Le-Lets's g-g-goooo!"

After she ran off, leaving a smoke trail behind her, the quartet began laughing at the new side of IF that they had seen, it was so out of character for her that they couldn't help but find it hilarious. Nico's pretend rescue then merciless tease was just icing on the cake. Neptune regained her composure and wiped tears from her eye. "I didn't expect to see the cute, bashful side of Iffy there." She remarked, stifling a few chuckles. "I guess the plan worked fine, getting that side out. Nice work, Noire, Nicky!" she complimented the two while giving a thumbs up sign.

As expected, a Tsundere reply came from the blackette as she huffed and turned away. "I-I didn't do it for you or anything, you know?" she retorted, but couldn't help but smile in amusement at the memory of IF's face. It felt good that's he was not the only one Neptune teased anymore.

She would soon come to regret her words however when, to her horror, Neptune picked up on something, made some form of connection, and put on her troll face. "Ohoho?" she laughed like a dirty old man. "So, was that talk back there Noire's true desire…?" Now she was cursing that she had joined in on the teasing as she hurried along after the brunette in a manner that was akin to her. "Stop it already! Stop Joking and let's move on!" she yelled at them as her voice faded into the distance.

"Hahahaha, sorry. You're just fun to tease!" Neptune called out while waving at her as she turned a corner. A hand clasped itself onto her shoulder and she turned… only to gulp when she saw that Nico had unzipped the mouth of his Mask to show the evil smirk on his features as he spoke. "Well Neptune, could the same be said for you, too? You and Noire have been awfully close these last few days." He remarked teasingly, and watched with no small amounts of amusement as Neptune ran off without a response, though he did catch her face reddening like cherries.

Compa watched this go on as Nico laughed, zipped his Mask up before walking leisurely off after the girls, with a light spring on his step that indicated that his mood had significantly increased after this. "Nep-Nep and Noire are really great friends after all." She mused, before walking after him. "Ni-Ni too, it looks like he's loosening up, and letting his true self out a bit more."


	29. Chapter 29 - Backstories and Discoveries

**Chapter 29 - Backstories and Discoveries**

After catching up with the others, the party travelled through the Dungeon and came to a 2-way crossroad. One lead left, which went to another corridor, and the other lead to another room which looked to be a storage area. At first everyone wanted to go to the Corridor to check it out, but Nico requested they check the storage area. His reasons were that they might find something out that would explain more about how these Zombies came to be and what kind of virus was used to make it.

He wanted to know what they had dealt with, because there was a high likelihood that more of them could have been developed in secret, thus if they new how they came to be, they could not only defeat them quicker, but also deal a decisive blow against Avenir, weakening their hold on Lastation long enough for Chain and the others to get their shit together and find a way to combat them themselves. In addition, if Avenir had gone this far, what else had they done behind closed doors? A full on carnival of horrors had been unleashed on their asses when they first discovered Umbrella's secrets, so this would be no different, he assumed.

In the end, the Party decided to do so, so that they could get a better idea of what is going on in this place. They entered the storage room, which seemed to rival the open area where they fought the Ogroman in size. There wasn't much in it, save for a series of crates on the left side of the room as they made their way in.

"This place… it has a different feel to it than outside…" IF noted, she looked around, her eyes gazing across the room. Something about this place felt… off, disturbing even. Her instincts told her that something bad had happened here, especially since there were dozens of markings on the walls and the ground. Those markings… they looked like claws and fangs, which gave her a sense of unease that didn't go away.

Compa hummed in agreement, worriedly searching the area with her eyes but in a frantic manner not like IF's careful gaze. She looked like a frightened rabbit that was aware of a dangerous predator nearby but unsure as to its position. "Y-Yeah… there's this eerie sensation here… reminds me of when I'd visit my parents' graves with my Grandpa…" she mused, shuddering at the memories of her parents.

"Oh, I didn't know that… I'm sorry about them, they must have been good people." Neptune gasped, a hand over her mouth with wide eyes as she gave a sympathetic gaze to the saddened Nurse-In-Training.

Compa turned to look at her, her usually bright eyes slightly dimmer as she remembered her parents. "Well, I didn't know them all too well. My momma and papa died shortly after I was born from monsters attacking the hospital. My momma was too weak to move, so she was killed shortly after the attack begun…" she paused to take a deep breath, shaking as she remembered what she had learned about that particular incident. "Momma had placed me in a protective cloth and hid me where she could, making sure to have it so the monsters would eat her and move on, not minding me. She did it by… taking pills that would make her irresistible to the monsters by heightening her pheromones… limiting their senses to her only… she got eaten alive to protect me."

By this point Compa was struggling to breathe as she tried to retain her composure. Neptune quickly realised how bad it must be for er to remember this information, and quickly placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort as she spoke with an urgency one wouldn't expect from her. "Whoa there, girl, no need to get all sad and miserable recalling the past. You don't have to tell us anything." She said with more seriousness than normal. Her eyes held comfort and sympathy for the girl before her, knowing that this was difficult for her to recall.

"I-it's okay, Nep-Nep, I'm a big girl, s-so I should get it out of the way… a-anyways, Papa managed to fight them off after momma died, bringing my infant self to safety. Though just when he managed to hand me to the doctors to put me in a safer place, a m-m-m-monster pierced him through the chest from behind. H-He was barely able to kill it in time, but… he didn't s-s-s-s-survive."

At this point Neptune embraced the grief-stricken girl as she began to sob, remembering what had happened. "Hey-Hey-Hey, shhh, it's okay, girl, here…" she muttered softly, holding her close and being the supportive friend for once, much to the surprise of IF and Noire. While they had been willing to help the girl, hell IF had been about to do the hand thing before, but Neptune beating them to it and showing this side of her was not what they expected to see on their agenda.

After a few moments of silent tears, Compa took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down from digging up bad memories. "Th-thank you, Nep-Nep… I needed that." She said, sniffing while summoning some tissues from her Inventory to deal with her runny nose before wiping away the tears in her eyes. "G-Grandpa told me about my parent's deaths when I was 14. He wanted me to at least know who they were and that they loved me even though they didn't get the chance to raise me. I'll always be grateful to my grandpa for telling me, I-It was something I wanted to know about for a long time." She ended finally, smiling in a sad yet beautiful manner as she thought about her deceased grandfather.

Nico overheard them as he searched through the confines of the Crates, doing his best not to how furious he was. Nico remembered that case well, it was one of the Cases that he himself had volunteered for. When he had heard what had happened to Compa's parents that day, most of him was livid, livid at the tragedy that had befallen her before she had even reached a day's age.

However, a small part of him couldn't help but be doubtful. The Hospital that had birthed Compa... he knew which one that had been because he'd checked her birth certificate, had been knee deep within Planeptune's main city, well within the defences of the walls. He'd Investigated the reports and had found that no damages had been done to the gates, no signs of them even hitting it. it was like one second they weren't there, and the next they were. No matter how much he tried though, Nico never got to the bottom of the case. He'd been chasing leads on it for years, but always came up with a dead end.

Everything about him screamed that that incident was a setup of some kind, but he could never prove it. Not with how dead and cold the leads were.

Nico's thoughts halted when, while searching through a crate, he stumbled across something amid the old looking documents, something that quickly caught his attention. "Hey girls, I think I found something." He called out to them as he brought the items he'd found in the crate out of it and turned away from the mess he'd made.

"Eh? That was quick…" Neptune remarked, before she sweat dropped when she noticed the mess that Nico had left behind. It looked literally like the remains of a site where a bomb had detonated, crates were split apart, documents were thrown everywhere and empty shards of grass littered the ground around the crates. "… Nevermind, so anyways, what did you find, Nicky?"

Everyone walked up to him, crowding around to look at what the male had found while Compa had told them about her parents and their… demise. The items that he'd found were a couple files that had the words CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET written in blood red lettering while there was a vial filled with a strange liquid in his other hand. Nico had already begun Scanning it with his Bracers by the time their minds registered the appearances of the items in his hands.

The male answered them without looking up, using one hand to open one of the files while the other files were held in-between the fingers of his other hand. "Hmmm… well, this confirms it, Avenir HAS been digging into Umbrella's research. Judging by what I'm seeing, this has been so for a significant amount of time." He remarked, using one of his fingers to point at a specific part of the File. It had a list of dates and times deliveries were made, deliveries between Avenir and Umbrella. "From the looks of it, they've been secretly trading their research since... 4 years before the Racoon City Outbreak. Makes sense, considering the complexity of this new virus can't have been made in a month, or even a year."

Using his right foot, Nico flicked it back to catch an open crate, bringing his leg around to bring the crate to his side so he could toss the file onto it. He read the next file, and his eye narrowed darkly as he realised what this was. "… this seems to be a file containing the results of their experiments. Hmmm, let's see… "Results on the Chrysalid "C" Virus, have been largely successful Subjects exhibit reactions and tactics that confirm that they have retained their baser intelligence, as opposed to the subjects of the T Virus. Future experiments prove to be promising."" He read the file, his tone indicating how his disgust was rising each second.

He wasn't the only one either, as the girls were steaming from what they were hearing, and not from embarrassment. "Now this is just evil!" Neptune huffed while her nostrils released two trails of steam, her fists raised to her chest level as she glared at the file like it was a farm of eggplants. "Avenir have just gone from Bleh to URGH, in my professional opinion."

None of them disagreed with her there, as they were thinking similar thoughts themselves. Nevertheless, Nico flipped the pages till he found something else of noteworthy intent, having already began scanning the files with his Bracers and saving what he found in their Databases. "Ah, here's some more info on this C Virus…" he muttered under his breath as he and the girls read the file, though only Nico read out loud. "Chrysalid Virus, abbreviated as the 'C' Virus, is a result of merging the enhanced version of the "Veronica virus" with the "G-virus" variant within Spec Ops Agent Sherry Birkin's blood. Experiments show that the hosts retain some intelligence, enough to operate firearms like rifles or pistols."

"The method for producing common Zombies is gas related, as it can spread through the air, however the range of the spread is determined by how much is released initially. To spread further, the virus is transmitted from one host to another, through the conventional methods of physical contact with fluids. However, an incident happened during testing that was nor foreseen by our original predictions: the J'avo." Alongside this info was a few pictures of the J'avo, and none of them looked particularly friendly.

Once again flipping the pages, Nico continues. "These J'avo are proven to be superior to the Average Zombie, able to take on moderate sized BOW's for a significant time length. This takes effect almost immediately, causing rapid increase in the subject's strength and speed and causing the subject to develop several eyes. These Fully-intelligent humans infected with the C-Virus can cause spontaneous regeneration and mutation. However, tests show that if the subject is injected with a more advanced strain, subjects injected can immediately enter a Chrysalid state before erupting into a Complete Mutation. These mutations can vary, but have been classified as the following results: Napad, Strelats, and Mesets. Other mutations are listed below."

Pictures were attached by pins to the side of the file page, showing the pictures of the creatures mentioned as well as various statistics that weren't worth mentioning. Nico and the others could only stare in appalment and disgust at what Avenir had been doing. Preaching about humans being weaker than Machines, but behind closed doors they're doing this?!

Flipping through the files, another noteworthy subject caught Nico's attention. "... Hello..." he muttered, stopping on a page that contained even more information. "BOW Research has been going slower than this year's estimated inquiries from our analysts. More and more BOWs are failing to defeat the weakest of Spec Ops Agents..."" Nico bristled at that, and the girls couldn't blame him. Considering how he was one, this felt like seeing his own kind being treated as if they were cockroaches. ""In the field. Attributes allocate these failures to be due to dwindling intelligence within the BOWs brains. This is likely to do with how we administer the virus, however modifications to it will be too costly to be an effective solution. To accommodate this unexpected development, we have been investing in tamed BOWs, BOWs who can control themselves such as...###### and Sherry Birkin." One name seems to be ineligible. That, or they managed to scratch his or her name's out of their records for some reason."

"A tame BOW? Can such a thing exist?" Neptune questioned, getting the others to think about it hard for a moment. From what they had learned, BOWs may have greater powers than normal, but it came at the cost of their intelligence, for they relied on their instincts alone like animals. It should be impossible for the C Virus to make BOWs that can control themselves like that... but then again, this was Avenir they were talking about. They would likely keep trying anyways, sacrificing an untold number of lives to do so. One thing was firmly burned into their minds:

Avenir had a LOT to answer for.

* * *

After they had learned about that… admittingly horrific information about the C Virus, what it did, how it did it, and the creatures that were born as a result from it, Nico and the others made sure that the information would be stored in his Void Storage. This Evidence would not be enough to Condemn Avenir, but given enough time they would have enough to grind them to a halt for good. Hopefully the CPU of Lastation would see reason once they have enough facts.

Several beeping sounds alerted them to the Bracers on the male's forearms, which were showing the data that they had gained from scanning the Vial. Raising the date to his eye level and glancing down at the Vial for a few moments, Nico hummed in satisfaction before lowering his arm and facing them all. "Whelp, my Bracers tell me this is a sample of the C Virus, apparently an enhanced formula. When this place was abandoned for whatever reason, Avenir must have forgotten this while they were packing up." He theorised before disposing the Vial into his Void Storage.

"I guess that would be considered sloppy of them to leave such information in this place." Compa mused, frowning. It didn't seem like these guys would leave this behind if they could help it, it wouldn't make sense. This information may not be able to do much to them on its own, but still it was worrisome that they would just leave it here to rot till now.

IF pondered this while rubbing her chin, turning her head to look at the area once filled with the living dead, before turning back to them as a theory formed in her mind. "Well, they may not have needed to, this place had so many of those things, right? They must have been a major deterrent to snoopers, and anyone stupid enough to get in there… well, they'd likely never come back out again."

The vagueness and ominous meaning of her words there was not lost on the Party as they all looked where IF had before. If the horde had been that size before, then it would make sense for those that would have tried sneaking into this place to meet such a horrific end. Noire finally shook her head, she was done with this place and all the horrors that they had to uncover, she wanted to get out NOW. "We should continue on to find an exit guys, we can think of our next plan of attack afterwards."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they began to leave the area to find an exit to this hellish place.

Not seconds after the recent revelations that had been made to them, the group were heading down the corridor that they had discovered previously, though it didn't take long for one of them to fall to the ground in exhaustion. Guess who that was? If you can't, here's a hint, purple hair, likes pudding and fourth wall breaks.

"Iffy, are we there yet?" Neptune moaned as she fell face first onto the ground, twitching randomly as she took a breather, a heavy breather at that since her breathing was laboured like she'd been run ragged at a slave camp. "My legs are like jelly…" she complained as she kicked her legs in the air. Even that action seemed weak and sluggish, giving point to Neptune's claims.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one though as Compa fell onto her backside shortly after Neptune did, using her arms as support as her Syringe cluttered on the ground beside her. The sound echoed across the corridor although it was only them now with the other habitants being… dealt with. "I'm tired, too…" she moaned weakly and in protest, heaving and heaving while placing a hand on her chest to calm down her heart beat.

The others, hearing their complaints paused their walking and turned around to face them. It was IF, who sighed in dismay at the familiar sight, who responded to their comments first as she gazed at them with disappointed in her features. "This again? You girls really need to exercise or something." She remarked to them, earning dissatisfied looks from the duo on the ground.

Though in her mind she couldn't blame them for being exhausted so much. She felt mildly winded herself, considering the events that have transpired today, although she still stood by her point. She looked at them both, and saw that like before, they seemed to be genuinely tired.

"Exercise?" Neptune ran the word over her tongue like it was a foreign concept to her, earning raised brows from IF until an idea came into her mind. "Well, I play games, so is pushing buttons exercise?" she asked the Guild Agent hopefully.

However, her hopes were mercilessly shot down when IF stated in a sharp, stern tone like it was a blade. "Stop being stupid and be more active like Noire and Nico." She said, pointing over to the blackette and Spec Ops Agent… who were examining one of the walls ahead of them curiously, like they had just found something interesting.

"Everyone, can you come here for a bit?"

"You guys may wanna listen to her, this is weird."

Following the duo's words, IF walked on over while Neptune and Compa, groaning and moaning as they heaved themselves back onto their feet, walked over to stand by the brunette's side. "It's unusual for both Nicky and Noire to be calling us. I wonder what's up." Neptune wondered as they walked closer to IF's rear flanks. She had to admit, that if something could spark the interests of both Nico and Noire, two people who had the auras of someone who'd seen a lot, could be very interesting.

Once they had all caught up to the brunette, IF looked over at Noire with a small apologetic smile on her face. "Kept you guys waiting there. What's up?" she asked them with a hand on her hip.

Noire turned away from her and pointed her right hand at something that looked to be pinned to the wall by something from the opposite side. "This on the wall… isn't this the Disk you showed me…?" she asked them.

Getting a proper look at it, the girls realised that it was exactly the Disk that they had indeed shown Noire earlier, but this one wasn't theirs, not by a long shot. "You've got to be kidding… Two in the same location?" IF whispered with a disturbed look creeping onto her face as a trail of sweat rolled down her cheek, showing how nervous she was feeling right now at this new piece of information.

Neptune, surprisingly although she had been surprising them a lot already, had a similar expression to IF's as she soon realised what this meant. "So that means there's more around?!" she shouted in alarm. She remembered the monsters that spawn regularly, and their numbers were usually very high with one Disk. For there to be multiple Disks in the same location… "Planeptune had one and Lastation has two. That's not fair!"

"While I don't think the second point is relevant, this does pose a problem for us."" Nico remarked thoughtfully as he gazed intently at the Disk, his eye moving over it with the gaze of a Hawk. "If there's more than one Disk in the same location, then the amount of Monsters here could very well exceed the military's power to suppress. They could be overwhelmed potentially."

Leave it to Nico to come up with a logical, yet scary, scenario like this. Compa made another realisation as she looked worriedly at the Disk in the wall. "No wonder the monsters don't go away." She added into the conversation. Like the masked male said, the numbers were bad with just one Disk, but multiple Disks in the same place would spike Monster Populations beyond the Military's ability to suppress them.

"Well, no use leaving this as is." IF admitted thoughtfully, before flicking her hands out as her Qatars slid into place. She then began advancing predatorily towards the Disk, the lights above the Corridor reflecting light off the blades to make them both gleam menacingly and showcase what she had planned for the object. "Lets's break it."

She made to break it, when suddenly an exclamation from Neptune broke her concentration harder than a ball. Neptune literally 'came in like a wrecking ball' and smashed the tensity in the atmosphere. "Oh, oh, oh!" she bounced up and down and raised a hand to the skies, as if trying to get the teacher's attention in a classroom full of rowdy children. "Wait, Iffy! If we're going to break it, can I?" she then began shuffling nervously, closing her eyes with her hands behind her back. "I always wanted to break a Disk, but I don't want to do that to my music CD's. but if it's this, then I can have fun breaking it."

"Um, Neptune since when do you own Music CDs? If anything, its Compa or myself who own them?" Nico pointed out. Neptune was an amnesiac, so how would she know about CD's or know she had any?

However, Neptune ignored the male, making him growl in annoyance as she stared pleadingly at IF, said Guild Agent feeling a twitching in her brow. 'I can tell this is going to give me a migraine.' She thought while rubbing her temples with her thumb and index finger, before giving an annoyed stare to the preteen as she tried to remind her of what the situation was. "This isn't supposed to be "fun", you know."

"Yeah, but all work and no play makes Nep a dull girl, and we've deviated from the usual action/adventure genre of this game long enough if ya ask me. So, C'mon, I can have fun breaking it, right?"

"… sometimes I have to doubt your actions…"

While Neptune and IF quarrelled, Nico glanced at Noire for a moment, and when he glanced at the others, he realised this could be a prime opportunity. 'Noire may not be comfortable talking about this in the open, so I'll get her to come with me to somewhere private where we won't be heard. Originally, I would have done something sooner, however Noire hasn't done anything hostile to us since she joined this group, and it feels like whatever weight she had been bearing up until last night has been lifted from her shoulders. Now would be the time to get her alone so we can talk.'

His goals set, Nico walked over to the blackette, who had been silently watching the exchange between the two so she didn't notice his approach. When he was close enough, Nico tapped her shoulder, getting her attention. Before she could show her sudden shock at him being so close to her, Nico made the 'shush' motion with his finger before mouthing 'we need to talk privately' to her.

Curious on what he wanted to talk to her about, Noire took a glance to the trio of girls, who were completely absorbed in their own little worlds with regards to the Disk, before looking back at him and nodding. Together, they walked back down the way they came, making sure that nobody noticed that they were gone which was easy considering the way that the girls were squabbling with regards to who should break the Disk.

* * *

The two walked till they were back at the original Corridor they had been trapped in when Ganache locked the doors behind them earlier. Noire grimaced as she saw the corpses, but thankfully her nose had gotten used to the stench by now. She wasn't sure that was a good thing though, getting used to the smell of the dead. Turning to the male, she saw he was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed below his chest, his lone eye narrowed at her to show how serious he was. With a sudden surge of nervousness, she couldn't place, Noire started this off. "So, um, what do you-?"

"You can drop the flimsy act now, I know who you are now Noire, or should I say Black Heart?"

Noire jumped in a startled manner, and when she made to deny his words like she had done with Chian, the male raised a hand to silence her, something which made her bristle inside a bit, before he continued. "Before you try to come up with those weak excuses, I have evidence to this conclusion. There were many things that gave you away, for example your knowledge of the Land while claiming to be an amnesiac, and hell your disguise was flawed even then. Your state of apparel was also an indicator, you were dressed like someone of high class. That cosplay response you made would have been convincing, however your actions when making that response didn't douse my suspicions in the least. But the major thing that tipped me off to your identity was when we met for the first time. You got injured with my demonic energy, remember? That energy was still present when we encountered you for the second time in West Wind Valley."

Slowly, Nico stepped away from the wall and stepped towards her, placing one foot on the back of a shredded Zombie torso. "Finally, your wounds were the same as the white-haired woman's when we fought her before. Don't worry, I doubt the girls know, not so sure about IF for reasons akin to my own, though. I never said anything since you haven't had any intent of attacking Neptune after we clocked you. So, you best come clean because I'm pretty sure nobody's in the mood for lies right now."

Noire tried to open her mouth, raising a hand to correct him when she realised that she didn't have anything to counter with. He had several good foundation points that he has literally shoved into her face with blunt force and zero tact whatsoever. She had nothing to get herself out of this situation, something she hadn't expected whatsoever. Although, now that she thought about it Noire should have realised that this would have happened, as Nico wasn't as foolhardy as the others. No, that would be an insult to him, Nico wasn't foolhardy one at all. He had caught her, exposed her, though he had done so without letting Compa and Neptune more importantly realise what was going on, something she was thankful for. Though, part of her felt that she wouldn't want this secret to be kept so for long, anyways.

Therefore, with a resigned sigh, Noire gave him a hard look as she was engulfed in the light that came to HDD, with the place that they were in the light shouldn't be seen by Neptune or the others, which made her realise why Nico had brought her here. When the light faded away, it revealed the white haired swordstress known as Black Heart, CPU of Lastation, staring at him with a fierce glare on her features.

"Alright, I'll admit the disguise was flawed from the start. In hindsight, I should have expected you to figure it out." She reluctantly admitted, both to Nico and herself as she remembered the flimsy excuses she had made back in the past. She should have realised that Nico would figure it out swift enough. "Now that you know this, I'd like to know something." She then raised her large sword, the blade gleaming darkly as she pointed the tip at the male. "What will you do now that you know the truth about me? Will you finish what you started in that form of yours? Will you rat me out even after all we've been through?"

As she expected, Nico never even flinched at the sight of her sword poised to strike him down. Not even with how he didn't have his weapons out. "You already know the answer to that, Lady Black Heart." Nico replied as he stepped forwards, while Black Heart tightened the grip on her sword but made no move other than that. "I said I've known this entire time, yes? The fact that nobody has called you out on that, hell even my attempt to better hide your identity helps you get an answer to that question of yours."

He then released a sigh as his shoulders slumped and his body relaxed from its tense state earlier. "But if it'll help you get some form of closure then I'll say it: I have no intention of selling you out to the Basilicom, Avenir or any shit like that. The fact that A: you've obviously been trying to do all you can even by sneaking around, and B: haven't attacked Neptune since that time to instead focus on helping your people by learning what's going on, and C: found a way to come to some form of common ground, makes my respect for you increase by leaps and bounds."

As she heard his reply, Black Heart's face remained the fierce gaze of the warrior queen she was, and when Nico was finished, she held it for a moment. It then crumbled into a resigned sigh as she lowered her sword from his face and looked to the ground. "Your loyalty to Neptune surprises me… hmhmhmhm, it's almost impossible to believe that someone like her got someone like you as an ally." She chuckled, but it was without mirth, without anything, just an emptiness. She looked up at the ceiling and made a sound that seemed like a mix of a sigh and a groan. "Look at her, she has next to everything, friends, warmth, happiness, and what did I get for my insolence? A Nation that has lost faith in me, an Organisation harming my people, and a life of a caged bird." Once again, she chuckled, but this time it sounded like she was close to breaking even though she wasn't crying. "I guess its Karma for me, huh. Thinking only about something so selfish as being the True Goddess, ignoring what had happened while I was away…"

"True, I'm loyal to Neptune, but not because she's a Goddess. Probably don't realise this, but I hold no faith towards any Goddess." Nico interrupted her, causing Noire to look at him in bewilderment as if what he said was spoken in a foreign language. "We Spec Ops Agents hold faith in nothing but one thing: our own abilities. It may seem narcissistic, but many of us have suffered to the point where the only thing we can believe in was ourselves. We only work because we have no other path we'd like to walk on. We don't wish to live normal lives, but a life on the battlefield, for its our way of coping with what has happened to us."

As he said this, Nico closed his eye and remembered his fellow Agents, Agents who had their own baggage on their shoulders and dealt with it on their own. They, including him were the first and probably last showcase of human perseverance. Everyone else believed too much in the CPUs to be classed as an individual. After pushing those thoughts back, Nico looked back at Black Heart. "My point is, Comradery is an important role in our culture, and any who break it are the ultimate scum in our eyes. I consider Neptune my Comrade in arms, along with IF and Compa. They are good people, people I wish to see alive when this is all over. I would do anything for them, even something as cliché as risking my life for them… that includes you too, by the way,"

"E-EH?!" Black Heart shouted when she heard that part. "R-Risk your life for me?! Because of comradery?!" she exclaimed in shock with her eyes nearly bulging out of her sockets. She almost did a double take at that having not expected something like that to come out of Nico's mouth. "You're saying that if I was in danger, you would pr-protect me?!" his determined nod combined with how he looked at her with a fondness only someone would with a brother-in-arms, made traces of pink form on her cheeks. "W-well, don't! I can protect myself, you know!" She said this… but when one looked at her face, her true thoughts were seen on her abashed expression and the small smile tugging at her lips.

As he watched Black Heart react to his words, Nico thought about what he had said. Nothing would make him take those words back, for Nico treasured his word highly. It was something that made him feel like he was different to all the lying, cheating and deceptive scum of Gamindustri that he had been used to seeing for so many years. It was his code of honor that had garnered him the trust of most of the female population, as since he always kept his word when he gave it, showed no signs of treating them unlike how they should be treated, made him a secret popular favourite within the Guild.

He wasn't lying when he talked about the Spec Ops Agents and their values on Loyalty, either. Most, if not all, Spec Ops had their own burdens to carry, their own reasons why they forgo the life of a citizen or even a Guild Agent, to commit themselves to an eternal battlefield. Because of this, though, they all learn the value of true comradeship while fighting. Most saw each other as brothers and sisters in arms, fellow fighters and warriors. There were a select few who didn't see it that way, and they were usually shunned upon for it.

Neither was he lying about their beliefs, but that was for another time.

With this confrontation over, another flash almost blinded the male had he not closed his eye in time, and when it died down, Noire once again stood in the place of her Goddess Form Black Heart. 'Huh… I just realised that the CPUs have names for their HDD forms… if Noire's is Black Heart, then the others must be Purple, Green and White Heart respectively. Then… should I name my DPU form as well? Maybe, I'll have to think on this later…'

Dismissing those thoughts for another time, Nico looked to Noire, and found himself caught by surprise. He'd been honest with her, but Noire looked like she was having a fever as she shuffled around nervously, her eyes flicking to him then going away even faster. He made to ask her what was wrong, when she beat him to it as she yelled out. "D-Don't think I was touched by those words! Th-they're just words after all, they don't mean anything on their own, I-Idiot!" she cried, eyes closed as she turned away and began making her way back to the others.

Rolling his eyes at this, Nico realised the problem almost instantly. 'Ah, the typical Tsundere trope. Best not say it to her face though, girl looks like she's struggling enough as it is.' He thought as he soon followed her, gazing fondly at the back of her head. He wasn't lying about being willing to help her either, Noire had done the previously mentioned things, plus been the bigger person by talking to Neptune instead of killing her when she had the chance. Those things earned her his respect, he could tell she would be a fine leader.

As they were making their way back, both jumped when they heard sounds of lasers firing and explosions ringing out in the distance. They came from where Neptune and the others had remained arguing over the Disk, according to Nico's Motion Tracker. The two, who stood side by side, glanced at each other… and face palmed in unison. "10 Credits says Neptune was the one who did it." Noire challenged him. Nico groaned at this, he realised that, With Neptune's personality she was practically guaranteed a win here, before he got an idea.

"20 Credits says your right, now let's go."


	30. Chapter 30 - Oh shit, back to Lastation!

**Chapter 30 -Oh shit, back to Lastation**

The two returned to where Neptune, IF and Compa were at, only to see them fighting against what looked like a four-legged black and blue futuristic robot-like Monster, its main weapons being its twin Cannons mounted on top of it. Neptune, whom had taken on HDD form, was zipping through the space above it, raining down energy strikes from above while Compa provided fire support and IF was remaining close to keep its attention from Neptune.

However, the Machine was fast, its four legs allowed it to be very agile and fast, making it difficult to attack for someone like IF. It would jump about, using the walls to its advantage to keep her away from it while it bombarded Neptune with energy lasers from its cannons. "Hey would you look at that?" Noire mused, smirking smugly at her friend. "I was right."

"Yep, you were..." Nico remarked as well, hiding an evil snicker as he realised that Noire had fallen for his trap. Sometimes, he thought that Noire liked being teased, to the point where even he couldn't help it. The teen then adopted his 'game face' or what could be seen thanks to his Mask. He then began walking forwards, intending to join the battle as he summoned Rebellion to his back's sheath. "Anyways, let's lend these ladies a hand, shall we?"

* * *

"This one seems to be the evasive one, isn't it?" Neptune remarked in light annoyance as she clicked her tongue, sending a barrage of homing rays at it. However, like before the Machine would blast them out of the skies with its cannons before jumping to another section of the wall to avoid an attack from the brunette.

Said brunette growled in irritation. "You could say that again. We haven't got time for this nonsense, where the hell is-?!" she began to say before noticing Nico and Noire heading for them. Her irritated scowl deepened at the sight of them. "And THERE you two are. Where the hell have you guys been, we've been getting our asses beat here!" She shouted at them, pointing her Qatar at the enemy, which didn't take that too lightly when it blasted at her position.

Fortunately, Nico reacted in time, his Instincts saving the two of them as he quickly grabbed her by the waist with both arms and jumped backwards, preventing the beams from attacking her. The beams hit, making a large crater to showcase how much power they held when firing from their Cannons. "Well, I'll just say we talked a bit about ourselves, we never got that chance before. Anyways, what happened, who activated the Disk?"

At his question, IF gave him a dry look, like she was dissing him just for asking that. "Who do you think?" she responded, gesturing to the transformed woman above them. Noire and Nico shared a look, both of thinking the same thing. 'Called it'. Noire then smirked at him as she held a hand before him, but then Nico smirked back, much to her confusion. She looked at him oddly for a moment, wondering why he was smirking at her like he had won some sort of great battle against her or something, before her eyes lit up with horrified realisation as she realised what he had said for their bet.

IF could watched as Noire glared at him in anger for playing her, before reluctantly bringing out 20 Credits and handing them to him. "uhhhhhh, am I missing something?" she asked them to make the two face her. "Why you giving Credits to Nico, Noire?"

"Let's just say I lost a bet, alright? Now let's hurry up and beat this monster."

Drawing her HF Blade, Noire growled at the Monster, getting its attention as it aimed its Cannons at her. When Neptune made to warn her, she realised she was too late when the weapons already fired on her ass. Swiftly, Noire dodged by sidestepping to the side before she ducked under another blast. Noire's agility allowed her to perceive and dodge the attacks with relative ease, much to everyone's surprise.

"Noire's movements are so elegant and graceful… she's like a ballerina." Compa commented in awe as Noire swiftly swung her HF Blade and cut a few lasers in half, each one being reduced to sparks that flowed past her harmlessly. Her eyes remained clear and focused on the target as she closed in.

An idea then flashed through her mind as Noire raised her HF Blade when the monster began charging a more powerful blast within its cannons. The interior was slowly glowing blue to indicate this, and everyone wondered what Noire was doing. Compa tried to tell her to move, however she remained firm in her stance.

When the blast was fired as a continuous stream, Noire held her sword and blocked it, being forced back a few metres before digging her heels into the ground, stopping her movement. "What comes around goes around…" Noire mumbled, her eyes closed before they opened into a fierce glare, one that Nico recognised from earlier. "Let's see how you like it you techno freak!"

While angling her sword, the beams bounced off the surface and she moved it so that the beams wound up slicing through the Monster. She saw the beam slice it clean through, severing two of its legs and causing it to fall to the ground. Her HF Blade steamed from the heat that the attack had given it, but otherwise it was fine.

Seeing Her chance, Noire ran towards the robot, intent on finishing it off herself. "This is the end for you!" along the way, her sword began to glow as she activated her Skill LACE RIBBON DANCE. When she was close enough, Noire backflipped, her foot kicking it in the chin as she landed into a crouch. She then jumped again and double kicked it before bouncing into the air again with a horizonal slash that left an energy slash mark over its body.

Once her skill ended, the robot made several noises that indicated malfunction, before the sound of something deactivating was heard as it slumped onto the ground, defeated as it began to vanish into particles. Noire turned to them, huffing as she flicked one of her ponytails at their awed expressions. "Of course, I won. What do you expect?" she boasted haughtily with a matching smirk to boot.

'Wow... Noire has a right to brag, that was good. And since she's the CPU I guess that's to be expected, although I feel that she's holding a lot of her power back.' Nico thought to himself as he studied the girl closely. Noire obviously noticed that he was studying her, and couldn't help but feel weird with his gaze on her like that. Luckily for her, it wasn't long before Nico saw that she was becoming uncomfortable under his scrutiny, to which the teen quickly stopped and made an apologetic face towards her, getting a forgiving look back.

Sometimes, he thought about trying to minimise that habit of studying people... but then remembered how many people he'd saved by doing so.

* * *

Landing beside them, Neptune caught the looks that the two were giving each other, and her eyes narrowed as something disconcerting rose within the pits of her stomach. 'What is this? Those two are looking at each other strangely? Why do I feel weird when I see them this way? I don't like it, not one bit.' She thought to herself.

She didn't know why, but seeing Nico acting so familiarly with another girl, made her feel really bad inside. It was like her gut was clenched in an agonising manner, and she felt like something was ripping itself in two inside. What the heck was going on? Even in HDD form, Neptune still didn't know what these feelings revolving around the male were, and that was something that frustrated her greatly. she was supposed to be more intelligent in her HDD form, so this sucks balls!

What she didn't realise was that Compa was looking and feeling the same way as she was.

Quickly pushing her thoughts aside for the moment, Neptune looked to where the monster lay before and smirked cockily. "Looks like it was merely a grunt that should've come in numbers." she boasted, holding her hands over her hips in a manner that eerily resembled that of her human form, a triumphant expression forming on her face. It distracted her from those other thoughts, so that was something at least.

'I'm not so sure about that, Neptune…' Nico remarked in his mind while glancing at her and then at Noire. He was sweat dropping the whole time, as well, at the thoughts running through his mind about the HDD form of the preteen he called comrade. 'You had trouble taking it down until Noire intervened…'

Compa meanwhile, didn't know who to thank out of the two of them. Thus, she went with the next best thing, she praised both Neptune and Noire for a job well done, patting them both on the back. "Yay, Nep-Nep, Noire! You were really cool!" she exclaimed, stars twinkling in her eyes to show her admiration for the two ladies.

Seeing as she didn't need to maintain her transformation any longer, Neptune returned to human form in a brief flash. When they saw the human Neptune take the place of the purple-haired sword maiden, they saw how she put her hands on the back of her head while beaming at the Nurse-In-Training. "Well, nothing that I can't handle, you know?" she boasted, before sweating bullets under the glares of both Nico and Noire. "Oh, and Noire too, I guess."

* * *

Now that the monster had been taken care of, it was time for them to do what should have been done long before this mess ever had the chance to start. IF turned to face the wall-mounted disk and walked towards it with the intent to kill in her eyes. This thing had caused them a lot of trouble, so destroying it sounded freaking therapeutic right about now. "Okay, lets break this Disk already." Just when she was about to slash it though…

"Wait!"

A sudden weight fell on her back as something wrapped around her arm and gripped her hand to stop her from moving it. IF had made a startled sound when this happened, only to regain her balance before she could fall to the ground. The culprit? A pouting angry Neptune as she glared at IF's head from behind her. "I thought I said I wanted to break it! No fair!"

IF looked behind her and met Neptune's glare with an annoyed glare of her own as she responded with. "You just told me to break it a while ago."

'That must have been when I took Noire away to have our little talk…' Nico thought while searching through his memories for that little titbit of information. He glanced a Noire, who gave him a knowing look to show that she agreed with his thinking. Looking over to Compa, Nico opened his mouth to speak. "Did something happen before? I wasn't around before."

Compa looked at him in confusion, obviously wondering what he had meant by that. She didn't notice that Nico had left with another member of their party since she was so focused on the squabble that had occurred between IF and Neptune. Deciding that wasn't important right now, she went to answer his question. "Nep-Nep and Iffy were arguing over who broke the Disk, when that monster came out. Nep-Nep transformed and said that in that state, she said the transformation cooled her down a bit so that she didn't care anymore."

"Okay, that must have been painful to watch…" Noire muttered with a sweat drop. Nico had to agree with her there, if he saw that Nico didn't doubt he'd be scolding Neptune's indecisiveness.

"Well, but that's me transformed. Different persona, right?"

"Not this again…"

The argument between Neptune and IF gained their attention once again. None of them opted to go in and solve the issue as they didn't want to get swallowed up by Neptune's crazy antics. Though, Noire looked like she wanted to explode right now, something which only Nico noticed.

Unaware of what was happening behind them, Neptune spun around so she was in front of the Disk, preventing IF from going further. "So now that I'm my old self again, I wanna break the Disk!" she would have just continued trying to persuade the brunette to let her do what she wanted, but the sound of something shattering into pieces reached their ears, stopping her rant. "Huh?"

Surprise crossed onto IF's face too as she looked to the source, only to find that the object they were arguing over, and a certain someone had already broken it with a fist, since she was the closest one to it and her fist was just leaving the remains of the Disk back to her side. "Ah…"

Looking back at them, Noire huffed as she crossed her arms under her chest and turned her head away. "I broke it. No way I want to fight more of those again." She said before turning to walk onwards.

Everyone watched her with surprise, too much shock running through their systems to register what she was doing so they could follow. A short distance later, Noire realised that there hadn't been any footsteps and turned to see what the problem was. Her gaze fell upon the others, who were staring at her in a mixture of surprise and deadpan. Nico and Compa were the surprised ones, while the other two were the exact opposite. "Wh-What's with that look in your face?!" she asked the purplette.

She got an answer when Neptune spoke with a dull, disappointed tone of voice. "Wow, Noire. Way to break the Disk and the mood there." She held a hand over her forehead and sighed in disappointment.

And if Noire thought Neptune was disappointed, she wasn't going to expect the disappointed look on IF's face either. "Yeah, that was… not cool."

"What?!" Noire shrieked as she stared at the two in bewilderment. She couldn't believe these two, why were they giving those looks to her when she had solved their petty argument? "I'm in the wrong now?! You girls are the ones who were arguing!" She retorted, defending her actions, although she was confused on the notion why.

IF closed her eyes and shook her head, her face becoming one of someone who was conflicted as she stared with perplexed eyes at the blackette. "Yeah, but…" she began, but didn't say anymore.

Neptune went and finished off her sentence. "Still, that wasn't cool, Noire. Maybe that's why you don't have friends."

Noire's face reddened as she heard their comments. She took a breath and, like a certain teacher at a certain academy in a hidden village, her head enlarged to ten 10 times its size. "I-I have a lot of friends! Okay! I'm S-O-R-RY. There. Satisfied?!"

Neptune and Noire continued the squabble, much to everyone's confusion as Compa looked to the brunette to see she was hiding a small smirk under the sleeve of her Coat. Her eyes widened as it clicked in her mind what she had done, before a giggle escaped her lips. "Oh Iffy, you're horrible." She said in between giggles. Nico raised a brow, before looking to see the same thing Compa had seen on the brunette's features which made him roll his eyes.

IF, noticing that the two had figured it out, lowered her sleeve and smirked evilly back at them. "Heh, I kind of enjoy seeing them argue, so I just went with the flow." she explained as they turned and watched the two girls argue with one another.

'Well, honestly if they were serious I would have to agree with Noire on this one. However, since they were joking about and teasing her like usual, I'll stay out of this one, this time. Though, there's a lack of intensity in Neptune's teasing, and the threats that Noire gives out have lost their edge to them. I guess Compa had a point, that these two were warming up to each other. Heh, bet that they, or at least Noire, never thought that they'd get past this point.'

It was true though, these people, opposites of each other in personalities, styles and mannerisms, have progressed a long way from what they once were, from being in a love/hate relationship as strangers at first, to eventually developing a mutual trust and friendship like this. It just didn't happen very often, even with the saying 'opposites attract' which doesn't happen often.

Sometimes fighting isn't always the answer, sometimes people should stop fighting, and start talking.

'… Huh? What?' Just when the male had thought that, a surge of something flashed in her chest. It was hot, piercing him through like a blade, before it vanished as soon as it came, leaving him baffled and confused as to what it was. Nico didn't know why, but for the briefest moments, the male had thought he'd sensed something within that sensation, something he had felt before… familiarity.

In the next moment, it was gone, the male blinking as his surroundings returned to the Factory like what had happened hadn't happened at all, like it was some form of illusion conjured by his frantic mind. However, Nico was too observant to think that, he noticed that his body's reactions were the same as the other times he would have such dreams. Or rather, Nightmares considering what they were usually about.

Why was that? Was that just now… something that reminded him of his forgotten past? Before the male could ponder any further, a call from IF reached his ears. "C'mon, Nico, we're moving on! get your butt moving or we'll leave you behind!" she yelled, getting Nico to shake his head to stop his thoughts as he ran after them.

* * *

"Yay! We're outside!" It was over, at last. Relief spread through the Party as they finally made their way outside through a backdoor in the factory. The door had been locked tight like the other door, however unlike that one there was a control console which took a bit of Hacking on Nico's part to get the access codes to open it. Once the doors were open, it was Neptune who first jumped out and landed on the ground outside, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays bearing down on her petite body. it was a surprising thing to feel relief over something so trivial, and yet having just spent some time in that horrid place, the sun's rays felt like the best thing to grace her skin ever, like swimming into a pool of Pudding.

Following suit was Compa, with Noire, Nico and IF following suit. The cream haired girl hopped along until she was a little ahead of Neptune, basking in the warmth of the sun. Like Neptune, she too dearly missed the warmth of the sun, especially after that ordeal. "Being under the warm sun feels so good…" she swooned like someone immersed in pleasure. "Perfect for taking a nap!" Neptune exclaimed while tilting backwards and letting gravity do its job, landing on her back with her arms and legs spread apart, a relieved sigh escaping her lips as she felt the tension leave her body. She and Compa, who had done the same as her, looked at each other, before exploding in a fit of giggles.

Compa grinned dreamily after the giggling fit as she looked up at the skies above. She could see that the skies weren't as cloudy right now, so the rays of the sun were much better than normal. She mentally was surprised that she found this normal, attributing it to having stayed in Lastation for so long that she had grown used to it. Though she knew, that once she returned to Planeptune Compa would visit all the picnic spots she could think of, she missed the warmth of the sun that Planeptune allowed her to have.

Nico watched them as they basked in the sunlight and the joy of finally escaping the abandoned factory, having used his Bracer to seal the door shut behind them so they wouldn't have to look back. Joy filled him at seeing their happy smiles back on, as back in their while their smiles contained happiness, there was a certain intensity that accompanied them, born from their situation. Even Neptune, the one who provides the comedy for the group, had it though she had hidden it well from the group. It was only due to having experience in those situations multiple times that Nico could see it.

The minutes passed, and the girls all began to enjoy the basking of the sun, enveloping themselves in the relief of having escaped that awful factory. They didn't bother thinking about anything right now, just focused in basking in the sensations rolling around their bodies right now, expelling the built-up tension in their bodies.

Unlike them though, IF wasn't so happy, or rather, she was looking thoughtful about something as she held a hand under her chin while cupping the bottom of that hand's elbow. "Hmmm…" she hummed thoughtfully with an intense, downward gaze that drew Nico's attention.

Though before he could inquire as to what was bothering her, Noire beat him to it. "What's the matter? You've been quiet." She remarked. It was true, while Neptune, herself, Compa and Nico were sitting down and resting, IF was still standing, having not joined them as she pondered something.

Looking up from her pondering, IF looked to see that they were all giving her curious and confused looks. She had been pondering something that had been bugging her for a while, but given the antics that they had gotten into, she hadn't much time to think on it. Only now did she have the time to do so, but she should have expected someone like Noire or Nico to see that's he wasn't enjoying the sunshine like they were. "I was wondering what Ganache was trying to accomplish." She finally admitted to them.

It was strange to her. Ganache had trapped them in that factory, but for what purpose? Obviously, he knew, or rather assumed that they wouldn't be able to escape that horde of Zombies and that Ogroman, and even If they did they would have had those other Monsters spawned from those Enemy Disks to think about. However, something in the back of her mind kept nagging at her, something that she hadn't paid much attention to in all that drama.

Sitting up with his arms behind him as support, Nico frowned behind his Mask as he processed IF's words. It was true, there had to be some goal to taking them down with that horde of Infected and monsters, but what? The first thing he came to was a distraction, to keep them from stopping him from doing something, something big most likely. "Now that I think about it, IF's got a point." He began, cupping his chin in thought. "Ganache is a smart individual, so he had to have had other motives."

Noire gave a raised eyebrow at the two Guild affiliates. "You mean about trapping us there?" she asked them, getting nods from the two.

"Yeah." IF replied as she looked back at the Factory, remembering everything that had happened back there. "Was it really to get rid of us?" she wondered, her suspicions rising through the passage of time. Something was screaming at her that something was amiss, that they had forgotten something crucial. An image flashed though her mind, one of the Enemy Disks, the first one that Neptune found and the second one that was encroached into the wall. "With the Enemy Disks there, maybe there was another motive…"

Nico agreed with his fellow Agent's theory. "That would make sense, not just for the previously stated reasons, but there being multiple Enemy Disks in the same place… felt more like an insurance policy than anything. I get the feeling that Ganache was trying to keep us there for an extended time-period." He told them, the atmosphere having turned to one of deliberation not enjoyment. This had caused Neptune and Compa to sit up and listen to their conversation with frowns on their faces. They didn't get involved since they had no idea what to contribute.

"Another motive…" Noire mumbled, trailing off as she soon got the same suspicions as the two Guild affiliates. Now that she thought about it, their points made sense. Ganache had to have had other motives for trapping them there instead of just simply killing them when they least expected it. he could have after all, when they were entering the Factory, simply pull out a gun and shoot. They likely wouldn't have expected it and would have gotten killed by it. Though with Nico's instincts she doubted he would be killed by something like that. She thought back on it, and for some reason she got the feeling of being noticed when she remembered that man. 'It seems like he knew who I was, so it was probably meant for me… and with his words, Nico as well.'

That realisation dawned on her shortly after the first. While she was stunned that Ganache had found out her identity as Lastation's CPU most likely, it baffled her to learn that he was treating a non-CPU with the same mannerisms as her, like he was just as much of a threat to them as she was. It made her confused, and more than a little concerned for Ganache's motives, motives she wouldn't have thought much of in this situation since she would be too focused on the fact that they had escaped that Factory with their lives. Still, even with this, the fact that she had gotten them involved with her affairs made guilt soar through her body like an aeroplane through the air. 'I have to apologise to everyone later for getting them involved…'

Finally, Neptune saw her opportunity to jump into the conversation and took it. She crept up behind her and then draped herself over her, head on IF's shoulder as she rubbed an index finger on her cheek teasingly. "Oh, Iffy, you're such a worrywart. You're thinking too much…" she said, getting an annoyed stare from the brunette for violating her personal space, though it wasn't as strong as before since she was getting used to Neptune's… clinginess too others. "We came out in one piece, so all is good!" she then stood up and walked towards the direction of Lastation's Capital city. She got about 20 steps before twirling around on one leg and flailing her limbs about lazily. "Let's just go back to Chian."

'Chian… Chian, Chian… oh… OH SHIT!'

"Wha…?! That's right, Chian! She's in danger!"

Both IF and Nico bolted to their feet with matching expressions of horrified realisation, their faces turning pale as skin colour drained from them. The sudden urgency from them startled the others, Neptune jumping a bit, Noire gasping and Compa squeaking as she nearly fell over, recoiling at the loud volume and intensity of IF's shout.

When she recovered enough to speak, Compa asked while holding a hand over her accelerating heart. "What do you mean, Iffy?" She quickly stood up with a concerned look on her face, a tightness swelling in her gut at the intensity on IF and Nico's faces.

IF turned to her before pointing at the Factory with the back of her thumb. "Remember what Ganache said when he trapped us?" she asked them, causing them to think back to that moment where Ganache had revealed his true colours as a manipulative bastard, and betrayed them.

* * *

"I already know you are assisting Chian of Passé. I assume you were trying to get information on our exhibit plans, no?"

"Iffy! They knew all along!"

"I can't believe they knew about this…"

"We would win, regardless, but I'm the careful type, you know. Well, I don't have time so I need to go now. Farewell."

* * *

"He knew we were helping Chian. That means she's the next target!" IF revealed, growling as she cursed herself for being so foolish not to see it earlier. Ganache wasn't trying to kill them, he was going for keeping them from helping Chian with whatever he had planned for her. Nonetheless, while they didn't know what they were, everyone knew that they weren't going to be good. Noire gasped in shock and outrage. "What?!"

Nico gritted his teeth. "Shit, shit, this is bad. If Chian's the target, she won't stand a chance if we don't get there first!" he cursed, before looking in the direction of the Factory. His instincts were on haywire, thanks to this new information. He didn't know if his plans had worked in time, and that worried him. However, he had to focus on the fact that he wouldn't know for certain until they got to Lastation's Capital.

Neptune released a burst of breath from her nostrils, looking seriously peeved now. "Well then, we need to get back to her, pronto!" Everyone nodded in agreement at that, if Chian is in danger, then it was their job to go help her. They had been helping her, so it was partially their fault if anything happened to her. Noire growled, her rage at Ganache and Avenir soaring to new heights. "What's he thinking, targeting civilians just for the expo?! Now I'm mad! I won't let Ganache or Avenir get away with this!"

The level of intensity in the blackette's words was enough to send shock and fear into their spines, even Nico was caught off guard by the level of fury in Noire's words. Though he could understand why, since this was her land, seeing civilians under her care get used like that would piss her off big time. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Now Noir is REALLY mad!" Neptune shivered, taking several steps back from the fuming blackette lest she take her rage out on her.

Compa was the same as she hid behind the quivering Neptune. Noire's rage was that intense that it reminded her of when her grandfather got pissed whenever she did something wrong, which wasn't often. She could feel the phantom pains on her backside from when he'd put her over his knee and repeatedly spanked her. "Noire… you're scaring me…" Either Noire didn't properly hear them or just didn't care for it beyond the fact that they were talking instead of running, Noire turned her fiery gaze over to them and pointed a finger at them. "You girls, stop with the jibber-jabber! Lets's hurry and save Chian!"

"Y-Yes/Yessie…!" They resolved to get back to the City as quickly as possible, but there was one problem. Transportation. "Well, we wanna get there as soon as possible, so we're gonna have to have some form of transport." IF said to the others, stopping them from making a run for it like they usually would when travelling from place to place.

Travelling from Dungeon to Dungeon, as well as from a peaceful city to a Dungeon, had many perils involved, not just any Random Encounters which the Party had found themselves stuck in more than once on their Journey. The travel distance alone wouldn't be recommended for normal civilians as it is great enough to wind even professional athletes become winded. Not to mention the fighting of the Monsters there, normal people would have been too tired to fight them effectively, hence why only those involved with the Guild or the Military travel those distances. Compa and Neptune were special exceptions, one having Amnesia so there wasn't a way for them to see if she was affiliated with the Military, and the other was a Nurse-In-Training therefore she would be expected to work with them.

"Oh yeah, we could use that. Then we wouldn't have had to walk all those times…" Compa moaned wistfully, sighing. She would have loved it if they had their own forms of transport, then she wouldn't have gotten exhausted so much. Before, Compa never had the need to travel that far as often as they did, only to and from the Virtua Forest to get items there that she used for her daily routine or to take a walk in.

Neptune padded the girl on the back with her energetic smile on full force. "Aw, lighten up Compa! Even if we sweated a lot, we got something out of it, right? Muscle!" she proclaimed, flexing her arms to show her arm muscles… which were barely there. This did serve its purpose of cheering her friend up however, as a smile formed on her face and a chuckle escaped her lips.

As he saw this, Nico gained a conflicted expression on what was visible of his face as he began to ponder on something, which IF noticed. "Hey Nico, something wrong?" she asked him, getting silence for an answer. She glanced to Neptune and Compa, then back at him, before remembering what they were talking about and felt her eyes bulge as she connected the dots. "Wait a minute, don't tell me…"

Looking back at her, the Masked male gave a nod of confirmation as he raised his Right arm to begin interacting with the holographic Interface. "Well, I wouldn't say its conventional, it's still in the prototype stages of development, and I haven't received confirmation about its use for military purposes yet… but there is one thing we can use." He told her while accessing the Void Storage to select the item he was going to bring out.

Everyone looked to him in confusion, except Neptune who was jumping up and down in excitement. "Ooooh, goody-goody! Nicky's gonna show us some more super cool gadgets again!" she cheered merrily while raising her arms joyfully. Compa, realising what she meant quickly followed her example.

"Eh? Am I missing something?" Noire asked them impatiently. She wanted to get to Lastation quickly, and here was this situation developing before her. "Why are Neptune and Compa so excited all so suddenly?" turning to IF, she sought an answer from the brunette seeing as out of the girls she was the most level-headed, while Nico was too busy doing whatever he seemed to be doing.

The brunette smirked as she crossed her arms and watched the scene with barely concealed anticipation. She could understand the feelings that Neptune and Compa were having right now. "Nico is more than just a Spec Ops Agent, he's a beta tester for the Guild's WDD, allowing him to field test prototype weaponry for development for the Planeptune Military. Sometimes he gets to keep the prototypes if they work well enough, so he has a lot of gear for different scenarios."

Humming in acknowledgement, Noire found her interests piqued as she turned her head back to the unfolding scene before her. Nico apparently found what he was looking for, if the smirk on his face was any indication. And from the Void Storage, several vehicles appeared before them, causing the girls to gasp in awe.

IF, Neptune, Compa and Noire lost their breath when they saw what had been brought out of Nico's Void Storage and into reality. Lined up before them, were a series of high tech- looking Hover Bikes, each one adjusted to fit their sizes. Each one was coloured black, with silver frames and polished sheens. What was interesting about these Hover Bikes was that they had specialised armour plating over their bodies, with long pincer-like blades coming out the sides of their elongated 'noses'. They moved through seemingly nothing, since nothing touched the ground as they floated in place. two engines could be seen behind them, facing backwards and constantly spewing small flames. Out their backs, they could see 2 back-mounted Missile Launchers beside several long metal protrusions, while the top of the noses had some Gatling Gun turrets.

"Ladies, may I introduce you to some customised Vulture Bikes." Nico introduced while walking to the one in the centre. As he sat on one of the Bikes, or Vultures as he called them, armour plates slid out onto the handles, wrapping around them and going up to his elbows. More plates slid out of the sides and formed a protective shell over his lower body. "Based off the previous models used by older generation raiders and mercenaries, which lacked the missile launchers and gattling guns, these babies have been weaponised for attack squads who want to employ hit and run tactics. They're fast, offer protection, have similar systems to my Bracers, and come with various weapons."

A chorus of "oooh"s and "ahhhh"s escaped the girls, mostly from the preteen, as they each boarded their own Vultures The Hover Bikes bobbed up and down lightly when the y did, but nonetheless they didn't suffer any damage. Neptune certainly seemed excited, and when she saw the armour form on her body, she Turned her head to look at him. "Hey, I'm getting all armoured up! What's this about, Nicky?" she asked him with excited glee.

"That's just a safety feature installed into them. The Bike makes sure to keep the pilots in their seats, and when they wish to get off they just should think it and the armour would recede into the Bikes once more." Nico replied, already revving the engine which prompted the others to do the same. What he hadn't said was that these models still had the same problems as the ones they were based off of. The bikes can catastrophically fail if the repulsors freeze up, or the fuel cells begin leaking radioactive material. Also, destabilise the reactors inside, and they explode. Normally, Nico wouldn't have suggested using this dangerous technology, however they were pressed for time and they had no other options available.

A quick tutorial was given to them by the male on how to operate these vehicles, their weapons and navigational systems. Most of them took the knowledge in like a sponge, save for Compa and Neptune who needed a bit more help to understand certain parts. Though through Noire's insistence, the tutorial would finish along the way to the City. And so, once the girls were fully mounted on their respective Vultures, they revved the Engines and proceeded to head back to Lastation's Capital with an urgency that their previous visits to it lacked, hoping that they weren't too late.


	31. Chapter 31 - Top of the Food Chain

**Chapter 31 - Top of the Food Chain**

Riding the Vultures was now a newfound favourite for the Party. Not only were they fast, but they were also easier to handle than normal bikes. With their hovering technology, the Vultures easily made it across rocky terrain without loss of traction or speed. It made for great escapades down cliff faces, something Neptune did quite often, nearly giving Nico a heart attack every time. It helped that their sole male member was a decent coach in how to utilise these new vehicles. He had explained that they weren't ready for practical use yet, meaning that this was likely going to be a one-off until he had received permission from the WDD in Planeptune to utilise them with the same freedom his other Gadgets had.

Still, even if they were riding Vultures, this didn't stop them from being randomly attacked by Monsters.

These random encounters were the bane of every adventurer out there, even Guild Agents found them deplorable at times. Fortunately, their Vultures had weapons on them, and under Nico's instruction they could fend off the attacks without losing much of their momentum. Usually Random Encounters took a while to deal with considering the Monsters tend to be stronger than the prey they were actively hunting. However, the Vultures were an equivalent to a mid to high levelled boss, making them last little more than 10 to 5 minutes. Much shorter than otherwise.

Neptune and Noire both liked the Gattling Guns the most, the former remembering the strong 'DAKKA-DAKKA-DAKKA!' they had back at the Abandoned Factory. it would take a while before she would forget that one, it was freaking fun! The latter liked the Gattling Guns because, while weak in attack strength, their rapid fire capabilities more than made up for it in her opinion. It helped that she was kind of starting to develop a thing for rapid firing guns, the way they easily shredded through monsters like weak tissue paper was a real stress reliever to her. It honestly felt like therapy, by this point.

IF and Compa preferred the Missile Launchers though, mostly because they required less control to use for their missiles locked onto targets. IF liked them for their destructive capabilities, trying to hold her snickers back that she thought the others didn't notice. The others did though, and it explained a lot actually, like how IF didn't object much to the use of Miniguns to shred those Zombie assholes apart.

Someone was a pyromaniac, huh?

* * *

By the time they arrived at Lastation's Capital however, their worst fears were realised. They arrived at the gates, which looked to have been broken from the outside since they were in pieces, with scratch and explosive markings on them to signify the damage that had been done. They parked just before them, their faces pale with horror and morbid realisation as they overlooked the carnage taking place in the Land of Black Regality.

The buildings were either toppled, reduced to piles of rubble, or slanted with their supports damaged significant. Their windows were cracked, their walls had holes in them, and dozens of scratch, scorch and bullet markings gave a full history as to what was going on here. In the distance, they could hear the screams of the dying, the groans and growls of the already dead, and the sounds of conflict raging throughout the entire District. Fires roared in twisted brilliance as smoke rose to the skies above, darkening them to the point where they blocked out of the sun. The Scent of blood, guts, gore and death filled their nostrils. Moreso, the sounds of gunfire and tank rounds could be heard in the distance, soldiers barking orders and others dying at the hands of the source of the growls, shrieks and snarls.

It was a nightmare.

"The City…" Compa whimpered, tears in the corners of her eyes as she tried her best to suppress as scream of horror and revulsion, seeing the corpses of both Zombies and humans. "It's in ruins…"

IF growled, her feelings of disgust undermined by the rage she felt towards the one who started this mess. She'd rather feel rage than anything else now, for it gave her purpose, something to focus her mind and energy elsewhere than the gore fest around them. "This must be what Ganache meant when he said he didn't have long. He must have been planning this from the very beginning."

Neptune's eyes shrunk to the size of dots as she shook, and it was so noticeable that even a blind man could tell how much revulsion was coursing through her system. "Dude… this is messed up. Seriously, like urgh!" Neptune stuck her tongue out and pinned her teeth on it, making an expression of 100% disgust. "Avenir's 'bleh' rate has gone through the roof! It's reached MAXIMUM!"

Her opinions were shared by the rest of the Party as Nico glanced around at the chaos and destruction. It seemed so much like Racoon city that he felt a sense of nostalgia, looking at the toppled buildings and decomposing corpses. Some of them he could recognise as fallen Lastation Soldier patrols however, which sent a small wave of relief through him. It meant that they had heeded his warnings after all, and judging by the sounds they could hear in the distance, Nico realised that the fighting was escalating, yet not completely swallowing the City into a vortex of war, pain and death.

Quickly, Nico used his Bracer to look up the local news network on the Guild's website, and found some information that caught his attention. "Hmmm, judging by this news report its confirmed that we have a mix of BOW's, Zombies, and J'avo here. Reports also say that a pack of Abnormals have used the chaos as a chance to invade the southern district. The Spec Ops Agents of Lastation Affiliation have begun to engage them, so we should leave the Abnormals to them." He explained to them all.

There was something else as well, something just as important to the situation at hand. "It appears that the Military and the infected are fighting fiercely, but have contained it mostly to this section. The rest of Lastation have already been evacuated to the underground shelters, which means that civilian casualties will be minimum from this." While he said this, the sounds of artillery being launched and detonating resounded in the distance, unholy shrieks and roars of pain echoing throughout the battlefield.

The girls looked at him, momentarily stunned by the lack of disgust on his masked features, but soon stopped that when they remembered that he was a Racoon City survivor, stuff like this would have been bound to have happened to him a whole lot. It only made sense that he would have gotten used to it, although that was not a positive thing to get used to. They each felt their own emotions on this information about their sole male member, but pushed them aside to focus on the task at hand. "What about the Soldiers? Please tell me that they're alright…" Compa pleaded with him, her tears just seconds away from falling down her cheeks. Wit how her hands were occupied by the armour and handles of her Vulture, she wouldn't be able to stop them from falling if the news was bad.

"Well, while a lot have been killed and added to the Zombie horde, it seems that The Military's holding it's own so far, they've fortified positions early, and are holding back the infected horde, guarding the underground Bunkers, built to survive atomic attack." he explained to her after looking up the safety measures that had been taken. Despite everything, Nico couldn't help but smile underneath his Mask at how, while things did look bad for the City, it could have been a whole lot worse had the Military not heeded his warnings. The entire city could have been swallowed, and this time there would be no Nukes to save the day. "The boarders have been sealed to limit the chaos to the southern District as well. With these out of the way, the Lastation Military will be able to take the fight to the enemy."

That didn't seem as bad as she thought, but it wasn't the ideal news she wanted to hear. However, Compa was aware of the harshness of reality, she was aware of it since she had lost her Grandfather. While her heart broke for those that had been unlucky enough to have fallen victim to the Zombies, Compa also felt relief flood her system that there would be survivors of this tragedy.

Up ahead, the Zombies were prowling the Streets, shambling, groaning, moaning and hissing in a passive manner. Their senses wouldn't be able to detect them in time for them to attack since they were on their Vultures, but they weren't what caught their attention. Amongst the Zombies, were several additions that they remembered seeing from the Files they had taken from the Factory.

They were mostly human at a distance, though upon inspection their faces were horribly mutated. Their skin tones were heavily discoloured and faint, blue-violet veins were seen coursing through their faces. Their teeth appeared uneven, jagged and discoloured. The most notable mutation they had was their large, rounded eyes with small pupils. The irises were filled with tiny specks of colour, and ranged from an off-white or pale yellow to a darker yellow or brown.

These creatures had more than two eyes, scattered along their faces and foreheads. These eyes appeared in different patterns, positions and sizes such as large vertical eyes or clusters of four smaller eyes. The newly formed eye-sockets from their mutation caused the skin around these areas to appear ruptured and bleed profusely. Some had covered up parts of their faces with bandages while others wore decorative ceramic masks to cover their faces.

With this information, it was easy to realise their identities as the 'J'avo' that the File had talked about.

"Looks like we have some new friends to play with." Nico remarked, before the sound of engines being revved was heard behind them. His eye widened when he realised that one of the Vultures was being operated once again. It didn't take him long to realise who it was when a black blur drove off through the masses. "Noire, what are you doing?! Get back, it's dangerous!"

His yell made her look back at him while driving the Vulture, its blades and Gatling Guns coming online as they began doing their thing. Any Zombies near her were shredded to pieces while their buddies were filled with many bullet holes. "Screw dangerous, Ganache is nearby I'm sure of it! I'm not letting him get away with what he's done here! Don't try and stop me!" she yelled, before doing a wheelie as she drove off towards Passé.

A Tsk came from Nico's Lips as the remains of the Zombies and J'avo ahead turned to them, noticing their presence. "Tsk, that idiot! C'mon ladies, let's go. Mrs suicide wants to play the heroine today." He remarked, his tone thick with distaste for Noire's actions. While he could understand why she was like this, it was foolish to just ride off ahead like that! It was likely going to get her killed, Goddess body be damned! Revving his Vulture, the male activated the Missile Launchers and launched a large volley at the remains of the horde.

Missiles came crashing down on them, blowing the Zombies to smithereens upon impact. Their remains were sent flying through the air, while some of the J'avo managed to survive the initial attack, only to be gunned down by the Gatling guns. This provided the opening for the others to rev their Engines and follow suit. Just before they could leave, Neptune bellowed out. "ho Silver, away!"

"… don't ever do that again."

"Hehehehehehe. Sorry."

* * *

Driving through the streets showed the Party just how badly the District was damaged. There were countless Zombies and J'avo wandering the streets. The streets were a warzone, with a mix of military and Zombie/J'avo on the streets or in the buildings, guns blazing and bullets flying. Soldiers made a mix of war cries and shrill screams as they fired upon the undead monstrosities. Tank rounds flew by, some almost hitting the Party as they travelled the streets at high speeds, hitting larger undead abominations like the Whoppers. The soldiers up inside garrisoned buildings provided fire support, taking out the regular Zombies while trying to avoid the J'avo's counterattacks.

Some of them had gotten the idea into their heads to take over several Garrisoned Buildings, and for the undead masses that was a major plus on their ends, considering how the J'avo in those buildings were able to take pot shots at the soldiers in the other buildings. This led to the Military being weakened with the increasing lack of supporting fire from their soldiers in the buildings, whom had to change targets lest they get brutalised by the onslaught of J'avo rounds.

Said monstrosities aimed weapons from rifles to missile launchers at them when the Party entered their line of sights, however they managed to make quick parkour stunts to dodge their attempts to blow them up. "WHOO HOO, do a double flip!" Neptune cheered as she bounced onto the top of a toppled vehicle, to get some air time, doing multiple spins before landing on top of a Zombie, smashing its brain to dust. She then slid to a low slide, knocking down a line of undead.

One J'avo managed to fire a rocket launcher behind one of her Tires, the resulting explosion sending Neptune flying like a wheel. "Woaaaaaah!" the preteen screamed as she tried to regain some form of balance. Planting both tires onto the ground, Neptune swerved widely for a second before she managed to regain her balance, much to her relief.

"Stay focused, Nep!" IF called from ahead of her, gunning that J'avo down with her Gatling Guns while slicing 2 Zombies with her blades. The sounds of flesh being torn and the clatter of bullet shells filled her hearing, making it slightly difficult for her to hear Neptune's dismayed exclamation.

Up ahead though, a Whopper stumbled out on to the streets, carrying a large Axe. Everyone paled when they realised what it was going to do when it raised the Axe to slam down on them. "Shoot it shoot it before it can act!" Nico shouted as they went and focused their fire on it, a bullet storm of Gatling gun rounds flying into its body. The Whopper stumbled and groaned in pain from the wounds, but it persevered enough to rear its Axe back and swing just when Nico was close enough, him being at the front of the Party.

The male saw the Axe coming, and in a flash his instincts took over as he balanced his Vulture on its nose and spun its backside towards it, spinning the rear like it was a chainsaw blade to catch the Axe and deflect it away from them. The male spun around and slammed the backside back down, before speeding forth and jumping towards the Whopper's body, the nose smashing into it with enough force to knock it down. With a quick burst of Gatling gunfire to the head, he managed to finish it off before moving on.

"Nice shooting, Texas!" Neptune praised as she and the others rode past the Whopper, Missile Launchers peppering the Buildings with their payloads to keep the enemies inside from attacking them.

'For some reason, I'm thinking of a famous wrestler's theme playing with a picture of Noire wearing some black shades as if she were a gangster…' Nico thought to himself, sweat dropping at the reference he and Neptune had made. Shaking his head to push those thoughts from his mind, the Masked male gave her a raised eyebrow, earning a sheepish grin from her. If his face wasn't mostly hidden, she would have seen his matching smirk.

Sounds of gunfire in the air made them look up, and they soon noticed that the skies were as silent as the war-torn streets. There were various creatures, likely created from the mutations that the J'avo underwent, flying about while dominating the skies above. Missiles flew through the skies, fired from anti air weapons soldiers had as well as the Tanks that remained, causing explosions to be heard throughout the District. They could even hear gunfire from Soldiers in squads scattered throughout the city, trying to take down the Zombies.

"Oh Goddess… this is a shithole…" IF murmured, dumbstruck as she realised just how messed up and chaotic things had become thanks to this attack. everything just seemed to be moving so fast that she had barely any time to process what was happening.

Things would get even more hectic soon enough, when a series of blurs suddenly rammed into them from above and their left flanks, knocking them down with their bodies still attached to the Vultures. Neptune quickly detached from her ride and flipped through the air multiple times, getting rid of the momentum she had gained. Her actions were mirrored by IF and Nico, while Compa flew with a girly scream, flailing her limbs like they were flails. Fortunately for her, Nico managed to catch her before she could hit a tilted sharpened pipe.

They soon recovered enough to see what had attacked them. Their attackers turned out to be A group of 10 J'avo, each of them wearing Hockey Masks to cover their faces. Each of them howled and growled, looking at each other before making a series of hand gestures to each other. IF's eyes widened in recognition at this behaviour. "They're making use of conventional warfare tactics, using hand signals! These guys ARE intelligent!"

"No time for that right now, IF! Contact ladies, Contact!"

2 of them moved back with their Rocket Launchers, 4 of them carried Machetes so they went in front while the remaining 4 took cover with various pieces of wreckage. They were quick to act, with the last four sporting Rifles and firing upon them with the Machete wielders acting as support by sticking to defence.

The Party was quick to respond, IF quickly taking out her Pistols to return fire, while Compa hid behind some wreckage to do the same. Neptune rushed forwards with Nico, which prompted the charging of the J'avo wielding Machetes. The two sides clashed, Nico staking on 2 while the same applied for Neptune. The former her jumped into a double kick, slamming into two of them while Neptune just charged normally.

* * *

On Neptune's end, she wielded Murasama and clashed with one. J'avo #1 swung rapidly at her, trying to cleave her head off only to be parried or blocked every time. She eventually saw #2 try coming at her from behind, but she ducked under her swing and tripped him up, spinning into a backhanded slash that sent #2 flying away before blocking #1's sword. "Urgh! These guys have some fight in them!" she cursed, jumping back to get some distance.

Her sword began to glow as she Activated one of her Skills. "CROSS COMBINATION!" she charged forwards and unleashed a barrage of fast slashes. The enemy before her could keep up with them all however, much to her shock. "What?!" #1 then hopped back to avoid the kick she would have used to launch him into the air, and raised its Cleaver to block her overhead slash. "Oh, come on! these guys are too OP! well then, how about CRITICAL EDGE!"

Once again, Neptune swiftly activated a Skill, her CRITICAL EDGE was stronger too so it should have more of an effect on this enemy. J'avo #2 however interrupted her before she could make the first move and shoulder tackled her, knocking Neptune to the ground making her gasp as she was forced to deactivate her Skill.

Quick to react, Neptune flipped onto her hands and pushed, propelling herself backwards to avoid #2's Cleaver. Bullets fired from J'avo #5 and J'avo #6, who were hiding behind the middle of a destroyed car, flew at her left flank, but at that moment Neptune was still moving so she merely flipped again, time slowing down as the bullets went between and outside her legs.

"Hey, no switches, wait your turn like in a normal Neptunia game!" Neptune yelled with an angry pout although she was aware it wouldn't do anything to them. #1 and 2 moved in for a cross slash, one coming from the left and the other from the right. For some reason Neptune got a surge of de ja vu as she jumped into the air just before they could bisect her and splatter her guts everywhere.

* * *

Across the multiverse, Neptune fans sighed in relief, some even hugged their human sized Neptune body pillows while kissing the areas which would have been her cheeks. Their Goddess wouldn't be dying today!

* * *

Back to the story, we shift over to Nico's side, where J'avo #3 and 4 had been hard pressing him with hit and run tactics. One of them would attack him from the front, then would switch with the other to circle around and attack from behind, the partner speeding to wherever he moved next. Add in how he had to dodge gunfire from J'avo #7 and 8 as well, and he was in a particularly big bind.

'HAHAHAHAHA NOW THAT WAS HILARIOUS!'

Oh no, not that, anything but that. Nico's eyes widened as he felt something within him change. He knew what that was, he so knew what that was, but he didn't at the same time. He had first heard that voice through his nightmares, his hallucinations of images he did not understand. But there were times, times where this pounding in his skull, pounding that felt like something was trying to rip his head in two, would manifest in the real world.

A cold, dead hand grasped his shoulder, its grip both strong and painful to him, yet Nico did not turn around. He didn't dare, or need to as he already knew what it was that was behind him. Its icy breath raced down his neck, accompanied by the chills that went down his spine with them.

Normally there would be little that he would be afraid of, and that didn't include all the shit he had dealt with in the past. There were few things that he feared, but none of them would be what one would expect. His body's physical abilities were well known to the others, true enough, but there were others that weren't know, nor did he ever want them to know. This was his deepest, most zealously guarded secret, a secret that very few know about him. That circle did NOT include Compa in any way, ad if he had any say she would never know this secret he hid, for it tied to his inability to eat human foods without throwing it up later.

'COME ON, WHY SO GLUM? ALL THIS MAKES FOR A BORING SHOW, YA KNOW. WHY WOULD YOU WANNA LIMIT YOURSELF TO THESE PEONS' LEVELS?'

The headache gradually got worse, and he could see that his enemies were heading closer to him. He pushed the headache aside and barely blocked one Machete with his Rebellion, while directing it away from him by tilting his blade to a diagonal angle. He then spun around to try and deflect the second attack, but a sudden spike from his headache made Nico wince, which stopped him from intercepting the second attack on time.

As a result, Nico got hit across the chest by the Machete, being send flying backwards to a piece of debris from a fallen building. Nico groaned in pain and discomfort, though not from the external damage but the damage the headache was inflecting on his mind as he held it in a vice with one hand, Rebellion in the other as the J'avo advanced on him.

His instincts, which were already clawing their way out of the chains he restrained them with, briefly took over and made him summon Ebony in his left hand, his free hand which had been holding his head to try and somehow stem his headache, and blast most of the two J'avos' heads off. This looked like a good shot to him at first, until he saw what looked like Tendrils and flesh seeping out of the wound and beginning to restore the head to its previous state. 'Tch, their regeneration abilities are on point, eh? What else have they got under their sleeves…'

Just as he thought that, many grotesque sounds began to resonate from J'avo #3's left arm while #4's right arm became the origin of its own sounds. These arms, they soon began undergoing an… admittingly disgusting, warped transformation. For #3's arm, the arm exploded into a gory mass, extending between the joints in a sickening manner, causing the length to increase greatly as the hand mutated into a crude and brutal sickle. The result was a limb that greatly resembles the arms of a praying mantis in the way it folds.

#4's Arm has a different transformation, but no less disgusting. The arm ruptured and split apart as additional organic material grew, covering the gaps from where the sections of the arm extended. The outside of the limb became covered with layered pieces of armouring, resulting in a human sized armoured shield.

Nico cursed as he realised what just happened. The enemy had undergone a mutation, which had been said in the files regarding their regenerative abilities. Apparently, they were so whacky that they had a chance to undergo specific evolutionary changes to make them stronger, and they could go through more than one. stronger ones could even mutate at will.

'WHY RESIST IT? LET ME OUT ON THESE JACKASSES! SHOW THEM JUST WHO THEY'RE MESSING WITH…. WHO IS IT THAT IS MEANT TO BE ON THE HIGHER PLANE ON THE FOOD CHAIN, AGAIN?'

That did it, the headache was too much for the male as he swiftly dismissed Rebellion and Ebony back to his Void Storage and ran towards #3. It brought its sickle-like arm down on him but Nico sidestepped to dodge it, then twisted his body to hook his leg around the limb before pinning it to the ground with his calves, kneeling on the limb and pressing against it tightly. #3 screeched and roared as it struggled to remove its limb from his grip, for its efforts to be in vain.

#4 saw that its buddy was in anger and ran to its aid, thrusting the shield forwards like a bashing tool for Nico to rear his fist back and throw a punch… a punch that sent #4 down to the ground from the strength and impact. It fell to the ground with a grunt, quickly rolling to its feet again.

Nevertheless, Nico twisted his lower body and ripped the limb clean off the creature's body. #3 screamed in agony as it stumbled back and flailed about, its regenerative ability kicking in immediately to repair the damage, to regrow its sickle arm. Nico wouldn't let that happen though as he swiftly raced to its position, smashing his fist through its chest with little to no resistance against it.

The sudden sure of strength that Nico was showing caught the transformed J'avo off guard and it showed from the bewildered expression on its face as its many eyes darted around, looking for support. A hailstorm of bullets found their way to Nico's position, but to its horror… the bullets merely bounced off his skin. He didn't even flinch or make any notion of noticing the bullets as he grabbed the regenerating creature by the head, lifting it to the air and then crushing the head within his fist.

Not stopping there, Nico made sure it wouldn't be able to regenerate by repeatedly throwing his punches, piercing through the shoulders, stomach, and what remained of his legs. In the end, there was barely anything left, and the regeneration ability would no longer work to heal it. Thus, J'avo #3 was killed.

The male didn't bother looking down upon the dead creature as he emotionlessly gazed at #4, which had grabbed its Machete from the ground, having dropped it during its mutation. It then shrieked as it raced towards him, using its Machete to swing at his head. Nico caught the offending limb wordlessly in his hand, his expression blank as he glanced idly towards what he had caught. #4 grunted and snarled as it pulled and tugged, trying to break free from his grip. However, like its comrade these efforts proved to be futile.

Nico then scoffed, before wordlessly gripping the J'avo's shoulder, giving one mighty tug and tearing the arm from its body. While it shrieked and screamed like a banshee, Nico swiftly pried its Machete from its hand, discarding it wordlessly before stabbing the creature straight through the brain… repeatedly.

STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB!

Finally, the creature could endure no more, and at that point its head was so full of holes that not even its regeneration could take care of it. it fell backwards, landing on the ground dead with a THUD!

The THUD served to snap Nico out of his trance as he gasped and began breathing heavily, clutching the centre of his chest tightly as he hunched over, eye wide with stunned dismay. What had happened to him, well, it was something that couldn't be described with words. Hs instincts were powerful, yes, but they weren't what he was most afraid of. Something else, something that is determined by instinct, clung to it, that was what he feared. No, that wasn't right, what he feared about it wasn't it itself, but what would happen once his companions would do when they saw it. It was a dead giveaway to his identity, and everything he tried so hard to keep hidden from the world.

Fortunately, when his instincts took over here, only bits and pieces of it were used, not enough for a full manifestation but enough for enhanced physical abilities, something that wouldn't be too suspicious since he had already shown that he was capable of a lot of shit. While it favoured him today, luck would eventually run out, a part of him said, and when that time came…

He didn't want to think about it.

'PFT! PATHETIC, YOU WORRY ABOUT THOSE WEAKLINGS? WHAT A TRULY SICKENING NOTION.' He heard the voice scoff inside his mind, the headache greatly lessened. Thanks to him using THAT he had managed to satisfy it for a while, and if he did so discreetly he could still maintain his secret. 'NEVER FORGET, BRAT, YOU ARE AT THE FOOD CHAIN'S PEAK, AN APEX PREDATOR. YOUR INSTINCT IS TO KILL AND DEVOUR YOUR PREY WITHOUT REMORSE! THAT'S YOUR FUCKING NATURE, SO ACCEPT IT ALREADY! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE YOUR FATE!'

'Shut up!' Nico shouted in his mind, and the presence gave a dark, twisted chuckle that sounded like grating pipes in his ears as it retreated to the shadows of his mind, where it had resided within him since when he first woke up with amnesia. Always there, waiting. Waiting for the time to come out whether he wanted it to or not.

Now that he had that problem dealt with, Nico looked to where Neptune was, and saw that she had her situation in the bag so he decided to take to the supporters behind the cover. He smirked behind his Mask, lone eye narrowing into a predatory gaze as he took out Ebony and Ivory, before jumping into the air and coming down in a bullet frenzy.

* * *

Back on Neptune's side, the preteen parried a Machete and kicked its wielder's brethren away from her. #1 and 2 swiftly shrieked and cawed at her, anger at them not having killed her yet. Bullets hit them in their faces, curtesy of a supporting Compa while her allies dealt with the remaining rifle wielding J'avos.

Their staggering was enough for Neptune to get the drop on #1, jumping at it and slamming her body into it with enough force to send it off balance. The J'avo she had hit screeched in alarm as it fell onto its back with Neptune straddling on top of it. 'I'd much rather do this with Nicky, but hey.' She thought in her mind, too into the fighting to realise what she had just admitted to.

Before it could react, Neptune had raised her Murasama and sliced the top of its head off, not giving it a chance to regenerate as she slashed at the rest of it to stop it from doing so. 3 minutes later, she was sure she had done it, so she stood up and observed her handiwork for a few seconds, considering that #2 was already charging at her. She caught the sight of its head being in shambles and the body laid motionless, a sign of its death.

Stumbling back when the creature collided with her, Neptune pushed it back when she got her balance right before jumping into the air, and with a battle cry came down with a slash to its head. The enemy managed to block the attempt with its Machete, but not for long as the combined attacks from every slash from Murasama had weakened it to the point where it broke, allowing Murasama to pass freely and slash through the creature.

"Hah, I did it, I won!" Neptune cheered as she stepped back, watching the wound cut right through the enemy's head. The creature began to fall backwards, looking like it was defeated much to the preteen's joy. However, that would not happen as its right leg stomped on the ground, restoring its balance and kept it from falling.

Slowly, its hunched over, its head already regenerating from the damage it had taken. Neptune turned and saw this, her happiness now replaced with annoyance. "Oh, come on, really! You guys are like those annoying enemies' players wish the developers hadn't put into the Game's software!" she complained, heaving a heavy groan of dismay at the sight before her.

Things got worse though when the J'avo began to undergo a transformation, just like the ones Nico's foes had done. This time the transformation started at the head, unlike the arm ones. The head seemed to erupt in a mass of gore and red, before it began to regenerate. However, as it did so, it changed the head into something else, something that resembles what could be considered some form of twisted larvae that split the torso and back skin apart, forming a twisted looking membrane with legs and a mouth, which held a web shooter. It took only seconds to complete, but it looked no less revolting.

"Ewww, gross!" Neptune shrieked, stepping back as she tried to rein in her bile, her face turning slightly green at the sight. "Now that's one bug I haven't got a zapper for!" That seemed to tick it off as it raced towards her with bloodlust radiating from it. It spewed what looked like webbing at her, and Neptune had seen enough to know that getting hit by that was a bad idea so she swerved to the side.

Afterwards, Neptune barrel rolled to the side, all the while discarding Murasama back to her Inventory and patting her chest, activating her Armour Module. The black and purple armour formed around her as she got back to her feet, by which time she was fully armoured with her Armblades sliding into position. They gleamed menacingly thanks to the light from the flames on the sides of buildings around them, almost making Neptune look like a sinister demon to the enemy. "See if you like these apples! CROSS COMBINATION!"

Activating her Skill, Neptune closed in before it could retract its web shooter within the safety of the larvae-like head. She repeatedly slashed it, dealing wounds that were unable to be healed quick enough before she knocked it into the air and slammed it into the ground. Neptune landed before it and ran towards the transformed J'avo, intending to finish it off. With a feminine war cry, she jumped into the air and fell on it, slamming her elbow into its head.

This succeeded in dazing the creature long enough for Neptune to get up and activate CRITICAL EDGE, which allowed her to finish it off by slicing it vertically in half. The remains fell to the sides, facing away from each other as Neptune stepped back and heaved a mighty sigh of relief. "Whew, that was a surprise. I thought for sure that I had beaten it the first time. Good to know." She remarked, retracting her Armblades while placing an index finger on her chin and looking up at her forehead.

Sounds of something burning reached her ears, and when she noticed a pair of rockets coming at them she quickly screamed "RPG!" before getting into a stance and re-deploying her Armblades. One RPG round was nearing her position so she quickly jumped at it and slashed it in half, letting the two halves fall behind her harmlessly after she landed. The other had went to her allies, but they managed to dodge it while during their own battles.

* * *

Compa looked and saw that the rounds came from a pair of windows on the opposite street. She could faintly make out a pair of shadows moving behind cover, obviously reloading their weapons. The time was now, she had to act before they had a chance to reload. It was like what her childhood friend/ crush had told her back during their training, that you had to expose and exploit every opening your enemy made if you want to win. She went and acted, rolling out of cover and aiming her Syringe at one of the Windows, firing off a single round... in less than a second.

If Comp was a markswoman, she'd be dangerous.

The timing allowed her to shoot one of the RPG sporting J'avo in the face right when it was leaning out to aim at them, causing it to fall out the window after it got hit in the head. It was killed the instant it hit the ground by the fall. As for the second one, it managed to avoid being hit but hid behind the safety of its window, to which Compa tried to aim at but was beset by rifle gunfire.

She hid behind her cover again, prepping to fire on the other 'J'avo when the sounds of blades meeting flesh were heard in their general direction. Her eyes blinked for a moment before she looked up and saw that IF had sneaked behind them, unnoticed by the enemy, and had dispatched them with her Qatars. Their forms lay on the ground, headless while the brunette swiped her Qatars down to the side, cleansing them of most of the blood they had shed. "Wow Iffy, that was so cool!" Compa praised with a beaming grin as she gave a thumbs-up to the brunette.

* * *

IF smirked, drinking the praise as she gave a thumbs-up signal back to the young Nurse-In-Training. Stealth wasn't something often used in Gamindustri, it was usually just go up to the enemy, smack them around and then there's a happily ever after. there was little intensity to the battles in the original games, unless you're under-levelled in which case you played yourselves there. But here? In THIS Gamindustri, Stealth, Sabotage and actions performed in the shadows were going to be used to their fullest. She'd made use of the debris to hide from the enemy while she moved to get into a better position, the sounds of combat to conceal the sounds of her boots against the damaged ground, as well as their focus on her allies to ambush them swiftly.

The Last J'avo peered out and saw that its buddies were killed, and a feral snarl escaped its deformed lips. It knew the situation for it was bad enough, alone and only with one round left to take someone out. If it was going down however, it'll make damn sure to take the one who took down its brethren with it! It opted to get revenge for their deaths by aiming at IF and firing its RPG round at her.

Her ears twitched as her mind registered the round being launched, the shrill scream of smoke echoing through the vicinity. The Brunette promptly responded, and swiftly rolled out of the way while Compa managed to get into position and fire a round of her own. It passed the RPG round and hit the shooter in the head, making it meet the same fate as its partners.

With all 10 J'avo dealt with, the Party regrouped together as they looked to their rides, the Vultures. "Tch, those bastards. They damaged our rides." IF noted as she examined the many markings on them, markings that damaged them too much to be used by them again. Their armour plating was badly damaged, and the following fighting had ruptured their fuel canisters, the fuel now spilling out onto the ground and staining it a tar-like black. The handles were cracked, and the blades looked to have been snapped off. They really had taken some serious damage, it wasn't surprising that they would no longer be usable in a fight. She went to one of the fallen J'avo and kicked it in retaliation, knowing that while it wouldn't do much it still felt satisfying to do.

Nobody messes with her beloved toys, damnit! Whoever did this was going to get her boot up their asses!

"We can't use these anymore, what'll we do now?" Compa asked the others with concern. Seeing the amount of damage the Vultures had endured didn't fill her with good spirits, and she was sure that the others felt the same. Nevertheless, despite feeling greatly saddened by their disabling for the rest of the battle, this wasn't what Compa feared the most. "Noire is probably at Chian's Factory right now. she'll need our help so we gotta get there soon."

Neptune nodded her head with puffed cheeks. "Yeah, we gotta pay Ganache back for what he's done to Lastation!" she agreed, her mouth forming a frown when she said the name of Avenir's founder. She considered him the bottom of the junkyard for doing all this to the city.

Nico ran through their available options in his mind, before coming up with a solution. "We'll have to hoof it from here sadly, ladies." He told them, scowling as he pressed a few keys on his right Bracer's interface. The damaged vehicles then disappeared back into his Void Storage, he would have some work to do when he had his status as a Spec Ops Agent back to normal. "Fortunately, we still have some tech we can use to get us to our destination quickly." Making the same motions, he brought out his Recon Drone and sent it out into the streets. "This'll check our route to Passé, see if its clean enough to proceed. If not, we'll find an alternative route."

Neptune hummed to herself as she thought about what they were doing. "Ya know, this feels awfully like a military op. Don't you think?" She remarked thoughtfully. She remembered playing several games with this scenario back in that Hotel they got from Nico's funds. That was where the familiarity she was feeling came from, at least to her knowledge. She had amnesia, so she could have felt this before but didn't remember it.

"You could say that." Nico responded. He had to admit, the preteen had good instincts since this indeed was a military op now. A whole district was now under quarantine to suppress an undead horde, this was about as military op as it could get. He'd seen his fair share of battles as a Spec Ops Agent, and Nico knew what a war zone was when he saw one. This barely counted as a skirmish, honestly, and he should know. Compared to Racoon City, this was barely a walk in the park for him.

A beeping came from his right Bracer and he checked their route. His frown deepened, showing that his words would be bad news to them. "Unfortunately for us, our route has been blocked off by debris from all the fighting, either that or Ganache is a paranoid bastard which I'm not having trouble believing." None of the others did either. "Good news, we have another route. It's a longer one, and it'll take us through some intense fighting, but we'll be able to get there in time."

Everyone crowded around the projection of Lastation. Some of the buildings had beeping red areas to show flames, while more areas like that covered pieces of the ground throughout the District. There was a highlighted path that led to the Factory Passé, and Nico was right when it was said to lead them into a lot of fighting as many black and red dots could be seen clashing with each other. What was worse, was that the route seemed to be the only way that Noire could have taken to get to Chian, something that worried them greatly, Nico especially since he knew of her identity and her situation.

There were also blockades formed from rubble, ruined buildings which meant the path had to go through some back alleyways, some of which would make ideal ambush spots for the enemy. The main streets were just as bad, as well, meaning that their trip to Passé would likely be a long, painful and annoying one. Nevertheless, the Party would do it, if it meant they would get to Chian quickly then they would do anything.

With a small Tsk sound, IF turned on her boots and began walking down the street after she examined the Holomap with the others. She took a few footsteps before she stopped. When she heard no footsteps that weren't hers, she turned her head to look at them all while gesturing to the streets ahead. "Well, what are you guys dragging ass for, let's get going immediately, Noire won't like being kept waiting." She urged them, getting everyone to follow.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whooo! Thing's are getting steamy right now, if you know what i'm sayin'! The battle for Lastation has begun, and luckily the military weren't complete idiots and actually listened to Nico's, warnings. Well, you all knew this already since you saw it in a previous chapter. Nevertheless, carnage came to Lastation and stayed for dinner, casualties are rising and they hadn't even reached the Factory yet. In the original rebirth games they would have arrived by now!** **Here's a shoutout to Zergface, I tried to edit this part, and the rest of the climax, to suit your reviews. Hope you can read this, and thanks everyone for all the support your views give. It's great knowing my Content is being received positively by others.**

 **Cheers!**


	32. Chapter 32 - Who called in the Cavalry?

**Chapter 32 - Who called in the Cavalry?**

Moving on foot through the hellish streets was much worse than driving through it on their Vultures, everyone realised. The reason for that was because they were constantly surprise attacked by a mix of Zombies, J'avos who would sometimes mutate into various other forms to slow them down, even a few old BOWs that Nico recognise from the Racoon City Outbreak, implying that Avenir had samples of the T Virus in their possession.

Yet another crime that they had to answer for.

"Ugh, these things are pests!" IF cried out as she pushed back what Nico had referred to as a 'Hunter' which was a BOW developed by Umbrella for the Racoon City Outbreak. Back then they had been all over the place, killing humans wherever they went. When they got out of hand they began killing Zombies also, displaying newer evolutionary traits like increasingly advanced healing when they cannibalised Zombie flesh, meaning that they grew stronger by eating other infected.

Hunters were human/Amphibian hybrid creatures that walk on 2 legs. They move with a Hunched back, and their bodies were covered with dark green reptilian scales, their undersides being a lighter green shade. Their main weapons were their hands, feet and mouth, as they had spiked ridges going from their heads down their hunched backs. Their eyes were yellow and slitted like a cat's, with their mouths filled with sharp triangular teeth. Their hands had 3 fingers and opposable thumbs, each ending in an elongated, curved talon. Their feet had 3 toes each and they had the same Talons.

They had found themselves within a barricaded park that had once been a small military outpost, but it was recently abandoned when a horde of Zombies overwhelmed the place. They were easy enough for the Party to dispatch, a few DEMON FLAMES Skills with some PHANTOM BLADES and COMPA LOVE HEART Skills later, they were cleared out. Though after that they were attacked by a bunch of J'avo with sickle arms and Zombies. This next fight had been slightly more difficult, but mostly because the J'avo were co-ordinating their attacks with the Zombies, taking advantage of their mindless, shambling states to use them as either shields or projectiles to throw them off their game.

They had been busy fighting them off when a pack of 30 Hunters ambushed them, taking the party while allying with the infected.

Those were what had attacked IF right now, causing her to spout that curse and insult. The Hunter growled as it jumped at her, trying to pin her down to the ground however she managed to roll out the way in time so it only hit air. She entered a spin and went for a slash to her opponent's back. However, her Qatars merely bounced off its scaled body like they were stones being thrown at a brick wall.

A small part of her wondered what would happen if she had better weapons and powers to fight these monsters?

"Go for either the heads or the unscaled areas! Those are their weak spots!" Nico had informed them before being beset by 6 Hunters and 2 Sickle-armed J'avos. Neptune had gone to help him though, as she didn't like the odds he was facing. She had even made to transform, when Nico yelled at her saying that he would handle it so she should focus on protecting Compa from any close ranged threats.

It took a moment of convincing, but Neptune finally agreed and ran to where Compa was fighting off a group of J'avo. She and Neptune took the rear left corner of the park, while Nico, the Hunters and their J'avo support took the opposite. The rest was IF's territory, and she wasn't doing so well. Quickly activating her DEMON FLAMES, she breathed heavily as the attack killed a large group of Zombies. However, the J'avo in that attack survived and began to regenerate, only to mutate their second arms into their shield forms much to her dismay. "Oh, Goddamnit!"

Her instincts detected danger from behind, and reflexively IF managed to duck under a claw before she aimed a Pistol at the bottom of the Hunter's jaw, pulling the trigger. The attack hit it in the jaw, sending it stumbling back but not for long. another Hunter charged at her and tried to slash her arm off, only for IF to swerve out of the way and slash diagonally at its exposed armpit, making it howl in pain as its brethren jumped over it to attack her from above.

This time she couldn't react in time due to both her fatigue from using DEMON FLAMES so much, and the fact that it had hidden behind its friend before pouncing. The brunette gasped as she was knocked down, pinned by the Hunter's feet. She tried to break free, but the Hunter wasn't having that so it intensified the strength its foot was placing on her, causing IF to grit her teeth and struggle even harder.

Unfortunately, her efforts were in vain as her strength wasn't enough to overpower the Hunter, and it knew it. Rearing its right claw back, the Hunter prepared to finish her off with a jab to the head then a decapitation, but the brunette wasn't known as Gamindustri's Windwalker for nothing. She swiftly aimed one of her Pistols and fired at its right eye, the socket exploding in a shower of red.

The Hunter shrieked and roared with pain, swinging its claws wildly. The distraction was all she needed though as IF smirked, rolling out from under the creature's feet and sweep kicking it, sending it crashing to the ground back first. She then pushed herself into a back flip to avoid a Sickle arm from a J'avo, one that barely missed her back as she repeated her motions to get some distance.

When she stopped, IF noticed that a J'avo with the sword/shield combo in the form of mutated limbs had ran at her and tried to slash her head off. However, she was barely able to bend back in time and sidestep the incoming shield bash She jumped back to avoid an overhead smash by the sickle-like limb, knowing that thing would shatter her Qatars like they were nothing but tissue paper, then tan forwards to strike at its head. However, it adjusted its stance and blocked with its shield, bashing her to knock her back then it backhanded her with its Sickle arm, sending her to the ground.

IF gasped as she felt pain shoot up her back, but she had no time to acknowledge the pain because she had to avoid an overhead swing that would have sliced her in two like Neptune had done to a J'avo earlier. She got to her feet and ran towards it, jumping into a kick t its face to stagger it, before falling into a handstand that she used to her advantage by using her legs to grab it by the head then toss it behind her.

Seeing this as a prime chance and not willing to waste it, IF moved herself back into a backward flip, soaring through the air before slamming into the J'avo, stabbing one of her Qatars into its head, ripping the head clean off. Blood scattered across the ground and stained her Qatar, the brunette making note to clean her weapons after this.

Looking out, IF cursed as she saw the numbers of enemies moving to attack them from both sides of the streets. 'Tch, this is getting us nowhere fast! What the hell is Nico doing over there?!' the brunette raged as she glanced at the male to see him using Rebellion to parry the sickle arm of one J'avo while another had the mutated shield form to use as a sword/shield combo. She winced to herself when she saw this, it looked like to her that Nico was having just as difficult a time as her.

If things didn't change soon, then they would be too exhausted to fight Ganache or whatever mechanical menace that he has with him since he seemed like the type to let others do the dirty work for him. Proof was in how he had used them to advance Avenir's goals before trying to trap them in that Factory.

"Target sighted. Engaging."

* * *

"Target sighted. Engaging."

A masculine, deep-voice suddenly shouted, cutting through the sounds of combat like a hot knife through butter. IF blinked in surprise at both the nickname and the fact that a guy's voice other than Nico's was herd, but before she could ponder or do anything a hailstorm of rockets slammed into the ground, blowing apart Zombies and knocking others down. The Hunters also took a hit, reducing their numbers to 15.

The cause soon stopped moving and hovered above the battlefield, attracting everyone's attention. The attacker was revealed to be a young teenage male, with a tanned skin tone. He had dark coloured hair and eyes which were staring down at the battlefield, his hair having a sharp bowl cut.

He wore military gear over his tight black shirt which shows off his slim but trained build, a pair of grey camp pants that are tucked into his black military boots. He had black fingerless gloves with armour plates on the back, wearing a futuristic Backpack on his back, from which a pair of metal wings shaped like a Falcon's protruded out. On top of his head was a pair of goggles that were intricate with his Backpack. On his hips were a pair of holsters which had a pair of 357 Mangum Pistols, while on the tops of his shoulders were a pair of sheaths which hold military grade Combat knives in reverse position.

Noticing the Zombies, the teen pulled out his Pistols and dove down at them, spewing bullets faster than they could see, sometimes shredding through multiple Zombies and J'avo at the same time. The man then ascended to the air and dodged several RPG rounds fired from windows, so he blasted them with his Pistols.

While watching the teenager worked, IF felt her mouth form an 'O' shape. Who the heck was this guy? That question was everywhere on her mind, but more importantly was the sensations she felt when looking at him. He reminded her of a professional and skilled solder instead of a mercenary. Not only that but he gave off the same vibes that… that Nico did. Did that make him a Spec Ops Agent, too?

Her attention was drawn back to the battle when she saw a Zombie lunge at her, making her jump to the side then slam the back of her right heel into the back of its head, sending it down to the ground. That bit of action was what reignited the conflict in the Park, the sounds of groans, snarls and roars resounding through the battlefield.

Nico grinned behind his Mask as he scissor-kicked a J'avo from him before spinning and punching another through the face. The male then slashed the creature apart with Rebellion, damaging it too much for it to repair itself. The male knew who tat guy was, he knew all too well. 'And if he's here, then the others must be as well.' He thought to himself, barely containing his gleeful excitement. Finally, some good news! After having to say so much shit today he had been hoping something good would change things.

Looks like Lady luck hasn't given up on them just yet.

Compa eyed the boy as he flew through the airspace above them, sometimes shooting more Missile Barrages to lessen the numbers of the enemy both on the ground and in the air. She had her mouth slightly agape as a question formed in her mind. "Um, who is that strange flying man up there?" she asked, not expecting an answer since everyone was busy with their own battles.

Neptune nodded her head in agreement as she too wanted to know who that person was. "Yeah, who called in the Cavalry, that dude's Nicky-level badass." She chirped, earning a look from Compa as she questioned the girl on her choice of words. Her looks were comparable to a confused child wanting to know what a big word meant and had asked their professor at school.

"Nicky-level?"

The preteen nodded her head intently at her friend as she elaborated on her reasoning. "Of course, Comp! There's badassery in action hero movies, and then there's Nicky! Hence, Nicky-level." She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Her words were sort of enhanced when they saw Nico jump onto a Hunter's head and twirl around, stabbing Rebellion into the back of its head and twisting it, making it howl in pain as it ran around, trying to get him off while also attacking its fellow Hunters plus the Zombies. One Hunter lunged at him directly, but Nico side flipped off his little 'Mount' and the two crashed into each other, only for a marker to appear on their bodies and a Magic Circle to appear beneath them, the CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS soon restraining them. Bisecting a few Zombies with Rebellion, Nico charged it with demonic energy and sent a large wave at the restricted BOW's, slicing them both in half at the same time. "See?"

While Compa questioned Neptune's choice of words out there, she did admit that Nico did have a level of badass in him that only he seemed to be capable of, a specific type of badassery that was starkly akin to action movie heroes.

"Yeah, Nico does have that feel to him, doesn't he ladies?" Another voice that was an unknown, this one being feminine in nature, spoke suddenly, grabbing their attention. The source of te voice burst out a formerly cracked but intact window, kicking the Shards in mid-air so fast they couldn't see them, into the heads of several Zombies and J'avo. The cause flipped through the air and landed in a crouch before them, slowly getting to her feet while grinning at them and doing a salute. "Sup."

"Who are you?!" they cried in unison, staring in absolute bewilderment at the new arrival. This arrival was a well-endowed young woman with a height of 5 foot 9 and pale skin whose breast size is comparable to Compa's, which sort of made her look down at her own chest briefly before shaking her head, chanting to herself over and over that this wasn't the time.

She had Crimson red wavy hair that fell over her petite shoulders like water and charming red eyes. She wore a black choker around her neck with a crimson red rose on the centre. She wore a of black transparent gloves that reached her triceps with matching bands on her wrists that have white frill trims, the gloves having several bands that wrap around her upper arms to keep her in place. On her upper body, she wore a Corset with red frills and white beads along the edges, a rose sitting comfortably between her cleavage. She wore a black tight skirt that goes down to just above her knees, a slit on the side exposing some of her thigh for better mobility, with a pair of black nylon stockings and black stiletto heeled boots.

In her hands, were a pair of cleavers that serve as her primary weapons. They have brown hilts that have vine-like patterns going down them, and human arm-length blades. Their blades are segmented down the middle, each ending in curved spikes that were longer than the 18-inch-wide blades.

The girl gave a sheepish chuckle at them as she smiled kindly. "Hehe, the name's Lucy, vice leader of Team RAIL of Planeptune's Spec Ops, nice to meet you ladies." Lucy introduced herself with a curtsey… before jumping into a split kick that staggered a pair of Zombies, before she landed and swiftly decapitated them with her Cleavers. A Hunter rushed at her from behind, but she swiftly turned around and slashed at its jaw with one Cleaver, following it with a slash across its chest and arms with the next. Before going into a flurry of slashes that left it filled with gashes and serious injuries.

She finally ended with an upward slash that split its head open like a banana, the now dead BOW falling on its side with a THUD, before she turned back to them. "I gave my name, only polite you give your own." She said sweetly, as if that had just not happened at all and they weren't looking at someone with two bloodied Cleavers for weapons.

Both girls slowly took step back from her, making appoint not to let the girl know this by answering in the best normal manner they could. "Nice to meetchya Lucy, my name's Neptune, protag of all protags!" Neptune introduced herself with a matching salute, aa childish grin and a wink.

"My name is Compa, and though I'm a Nurse-In-Training I swear to do my best so everyone can be healthy!" Compa chirped as she held her Syringe as if to signify her promise.

Lucy nodded her head at the two, her polite smile ever present, as she nodded slightly to the before spreading her arms out. "A pleasure. Perhaps we can exchange conversation after we deal with this mess, shall we?" she suggested to them, reminding them that they were exchanging conversation in the middle of the battlefield.

Both made expressions as if to say 'oh, right!' before they brandished their weapons and gave might war cries, charging back into battle. Neither of them noticed the analytical look that Lucy had given to Compa and Neptune's blade. 'Hmmm, looks like they may be acquaintances of dear Nico. Raven's not gonna like that. And did she say Compa? Would that make her the infamous childhood friend?' she wondered while doing the same as the two girls.

* * *

Elsewhere, the male that Lucy had been talking about noticed her helping Neptune and Compa while grabbing a fallen pole piece from a toppled lamppost and shoving it into one Zombie, before stabbing it into several more behind him, decapitating all three with Rebellion. 'Heh, there's Lucy, and if she's here then Raven must be nearby. I wonder how long it's been since I last fought with them.' The male thought to himself.

Nico then had another thought while he flipped over a Hunter, time briefly sowing down when he was in the middle of his flip, before resuming at its normal place when he landed and charged at the creature from behind. Just when it turned to face him, Nico empowered Rebellion with demonic energy and stabbed it through the head, killing it instantly since the sword pierce its brain and the energy burned its insides to mush. 'Now wait a sec if Raven isn't right here, Lucy and Aiden are, then that leaves…'

"Look out below, motherfuckers!"

A Wry grin crept onto his face behind his mask as Nico, when surrounded by Zombies, dive rolled to the right. Just in time too, for something slammed into the ground where he once stood, a large shockwave knocking down the Zombies who cried out in shock at the sudden surprise.

The male slowly got to his feet and eyed the one responsible for the surprise attack. the new arrival was a male with brown hair that reached down to his jaw, with blue eyes. His build was moderately muscular, with indications of various martial arts disciplines. He wore a black lightweight tactical suit, complete with a face mask and goggles that give him an intimidating appearance. He wore a fingerless combat glove on his left hand as well as military boots, with sheaths on his legs that store knives for hand-to-hand combat. Most notable about him though, was a bionic right arm. One that was a major indicator of who this person was.

"Hey CYBORG," Nico greeted while walking to the male and silencing the downed Zombies with a newly summoned Ivory that he deposited back into his Void Storage once he was one with it, using the male's Codename since they were in conflict right now as they fist bumped each other. "If you three are here and SAMURAI isn't then she must be somewhere else, right?"

CYBORG nodded, his Mask and Goggles hiding his reaction to his greeting. However, with the words he said back plus his returning of the brio fist made the male realise that he was smirking back at him. "Got it right on the money, bro. Old SAMURAI's at Passé right now, told us to come back you guys up." He replied, tilting his head at the other male as he patted Nico on the shoulder. "Best not keep the lady waiting, you know how she gets when your tardy."

This made Nico shudder, remembering the last time he had been late in having a meeting with her and her Team. For a SAMURAI she was insanely scary, scarier than manty Sadists out there. He groaned and face palmed himself, "Don't remind me. At least I have these as an excuse." He gestured to the battling Zombies, J'avo and BOW's around them. "Say, you seen a black haired, Tsundere-looking girl-?"

"Yeah we found one." CYBORG replied. He even acted in a manner akin to Nico earlier, arming his Bionic arm at a charging J'avo. It then split apart, rearranging itself to form what looked like a cannon that was shaped like a Tesla coil replacing his forearm and hand. It charged up a round and blasted a high voltage blast of lightning, incinerating the J'avo and several Zombies behind it. "She was hysterical, demanding to be let through so she could get to Passé. We figured she was with you so we told her to wait, fortunately we saved a squadron of soldiers beforehand so we left her with them. She was reluctant to, but she did comply in the end thanks to a 'look' from Lucy."

After saying that, both males shuddered, trembling at the image of a certain 'look' that Lucy would give to someone who earned her ire. Usually that was either annoying people or a guy trying to get into her pants. Team RAIL did have a notorious reputation amongst the male population, the two women being the major causes of said reputation. The expression 'bitches be crazy' matched them perfectly.

"Enough chat about who has the pants, let's go clean this mess up, like old times, shall we?" CYBORG suggested, his Bionic arm switching from Cannon Mode to a Murakumo MDL 1 Blade, outfitted with HF technology giving it increased durability and cutting power: an idea CQC weapon. Like the Cannon Mode, the Bionic Arm's Blade Mode replaced the forearm and hand.

Seeing this made a dark chuckle that sent shudders down the spines of every enemy in the vicinity, feeling like they now had the eyes of death upon them as Nico responded while hefting Rebellion onto his shoulder. "Dude, you always seem to read my mind. After you, Madame." He stepped aside and made an 'after you' gesture, prompting a chuckle from the black clad male as they both joined the battle.

* * *

With the addition of the three newcomers, Nico and the others managed to defeat the rest of the Zombies, BOW's and J'avos. It really wasn't that difficult, but there was one thing that did unsettle the girls about these three. They moved with such finesse and skill that made them feel like a low-level player fighting alongside a bunch of high ranked ones. The guy that flew in the air like a bird was quite into using his wings, showing how he knew how to use them whenever he would block or deflect attacks from the enemies that he faced, when he wasn't shooing them with his Pistols or launching missiles that is.

Then there was the other guy with the transforming Bionic arm, not only did he seem skilled in Hand-to-hand combat, with his arm and glove whish seemed to use electromagnetic pulses to generate shockwaves from the impacts of whenever it is used for a punch, increasing their strength. The male seemed to have other fields of expertise like Knife handling, in addition to hoed reflexes, strength, agility, stamina. It felt akin to what the flying guy gave off, a trained soldier ready to do battle.

Lastly there was Lucy, the sole female of the group, and she was just as deadly as the others. She looked like some form of hostess, but that opinion of her was shattered when they saw her combat skills. She seemed to be able to keep up with the three males in combat, blurring about slashing through BOW's, Zombies and J'avo with ease. Her Cleavers caught the girls by surprise when they saw them change into Gatling Guns that spewed bullets like a baby blowing raspberries at his or her parents.

Obviously, these guys were pros and good ones to be able to fight so well.

Furthermore, Nico was fighting on their level as well, utilising his Skills like a pro. While that wasn't anything new, the way he fought with them felt freer, less restrained. It made them feel like they were holding him back from unleashing his strength, which wasn't something they enjoyed. It made them feel… inadequate.

By the time that the horde was dealt with, the group was surrounded by sliced apart corpses, the smell beginning to settle in. Fortunately, they were used to it a little better thanks to having smelled it before back at the factory, but the quantity was larger so they were still affected like they were back then.

"Ugh, this stench…" Neptune complained as she held her nose to block the smell out, though she could still smell it a bit much to her dismay. She waved her free hand over her nose to wipe the smell away, although it was a fruitless effort.

Compa, understanding Neptune's plight pulled out what looked to be a pair of pegs that one would use to hang clothes on a washing like. One of them was on her nose too as she walked over to the purplette. "Nep-Nep, use this. It'll help keep the smell out." She stated with a helpful smile.

The purplette beamed at her, joy in her eyes as she grasped the Peg and placed it on her nose. "Whoohoo! Yay, now I don't have to smell that stench anymore!" she bellowed to the heavens while kneeling like a knight would to a king, making Compa giggle at her antics, though she hid it behind her hand.

"Nep's new discovery aside," IF began, not minding the stench as much as the girls though her face showed a little green, as she looked around the battlefield. "Looks like that was the last of them. We should be good to move on for a while." She observed. Though they should probably get a move on, the smell might attract more of those guys and she wanted to get out of here before that happened.

Then, she noticed the other three that had helped them when they were in this bind. "Thanks for the assist you guys, we likely would have taken longer to beat them without you help." She thanked them with a polite smile. That smile turned into a contemplative frown as she continued her speech though. "But you guys don't look like you're from around here. Who are you exactly?"

At that question, Nico stepped forward, gesturing to the trio. "Allow me to answer that. They're fellow Spec Ops from Planeptune, team-" he began, but was interrupted. Though not by any verbal means, or rather, not by verbal means alone.

Lucy, who had been at the front with the two men beside her, the flying man to her left flank with his wings retracted into his backpack and his Pistols sheathed in their holsters, and the male with the Bionic Arm to her right flank with his Mask lowered and his Goggles raised to his forehead, smirked as she waddled up to him, swaying her hips seductively as she placed a hand on his chest, "Hey there handsome, it's been a while hasn't it since our last encounter. Why did you not call, I was getting lonely…" she whispered into his ear, making the male cough and splutter incoherently with his face reddening as he backed away from her.

"I-pum-ndodlafnaflakdsc-pfdfdfbleffcia-!"

This did not go unnoticed as Neptune and Compa both glared at her with fire in their eyes, Neptune's being a bright orange while Compa's being a light bluish colour. "Heeeeey, whatchya doin' to my- I mean, OUR Nicky, making him blush like that?" she questioned hotly while throwing her arms to her sides.

Pausing her ministrations, the redhead turned behind her and addressed the girls. "Oh my, how silly of me, I forgot you girls were there. My apologies for that." The duo bristled at the callous way she referred to them, while IF lightly sighed, rolling her eyes at the trio. 'Looks like Nico here has his admirers just like every other Spec Ops Agent…' she thought to herself, before glancing at the male in question as he tried to recover from the attempt at seduction. 'Although he doesn't seem to find this all too appealing… then again, I have to admit it's amusing to see him react to sexual teasing…'

Stepping away from him for the moment, much to Nico's relief as the other males snickered in amusement at his plight. Though, the backpack-clad teen made his subtle while the other one did it openly much to Nico's chagrin, the redhead once more introduced herself. "What Nicky-dear here was saying was that we're Team RAIL, a Planeptune Spec Ops Team assigned to work together for the tougher of the Abnormals. My name is Lucy, Codename VERONICA, vice leader, while these are Ivan and Aiden Codenames CYBORG and FALCON respectively. Nicky-dear here called us just before you guys left for your job, telling us to watch out for any activity from Avenir with the military."

After hearing her response, the girls had a flashback to this morning when Nico had said he would have contacts that would keep an eye out for Avenir activity that wouldn't be too beneficial for the City. IF glanced around at the damage and gave a frown. "Well, looks like you had everything under control then…" she remarked with slight sarcasm.

Lucy looked around and sighed, her eyes glancing downwards as she knew what IF had meant. "Yes, this is indeed a… less-than-ideal situation. Ganache came and released some form of aerial gas, which spread through the southern District and turned lots of good soldiers here into Zombies. Those that survived tried to fight back, leading to a stalemate between them. Civilian casualties are at an all time low though." She explained, scowling as she remembered what had happened. The earlier teasing that was in her eyes had been snuffed out now, replaced by seriousness equivalent of a soldier.

Her teasingly seductiveness returned a moment later though when she caught Nico's gaze. "Though I will admit, seeing my Nicky-dear's face again is a blessing to me. Maybe we should take some time to… catch up, if you catch my drift." She suggested with a flirtatious wink, causing the male's cheeks to redden again.

Before Nico could respond however, Neptune suddenly jumped onto his back, glaring at Lucy from behind his right shoulder. "Hey, missy, leave him alone! Only I can tease him like that, Nicky's mine!" she boldly claimed while nuzzling the side of his neck with her head.

Next to her, Compa grabbed hold of Nico's arm and pulled it into the bounds of her chest. Nico's face turned even redder when he felt her breasts pressing against his arm, his mind now completely blue-screened with steam rising out of his head. "That's right, Ni-Ni's not to be played with-Nep-Nep!" she began to say, only to blink when she realised what Neptune had said and turned to scold her. "Ni-Ni's not someone you can play around with, you'll hurt his feelings!"

Watching the two interact like they were, a realisation crossed into Lucy's mind as she gave a ladylike giggle behind her hand. "Ohohohoho, oh me oh my, it appears that Nicky-dear has gained a couple more admirers. Ohohohoho." She remarked between her giggles. "My, was a lucky stud you are, to have so many cute girls around you. I may be getting a little jealous." She teased, although there was a slight edge to her voice while she said that. Despite this neither Neptune nor Compa let go of the teen, who looked like a human oven at this point.

"Now, now you three, settle down." A hand pulled Lucy back while Neptune and Compa were suddenly pulled off the male to their surprise. They didn't even have time to react to the sudden sensations. They looked behind them, and saw that Aiden, much to their shock and disbelief, had somehow gotten behind them without any of them noticing, and had pulled them away from Nico with ease like he was picking up a pair of feathers. Lucy turned to look behind her and saw that it was Ivan who had pulled her back, making her pout in annoyance. "Oi, Ivan! What were you doing, I was just defending my territory!" Lucy whined to him.

The male gave her an apologetic smile as he gestured to the direction of Passé. "While we usually enjoy seeing you tease Nico like that, Raven told us to keep an eye on you lest we 'lose what makes us men' remember? What would she think when she learns you tried to one-up her?" he asked her as if it were a rhetorical question.

Lucy looked at him for a moment with the same pouty face, until she reluctantly accepted his answer. "Pft, fiiiiine." She whined like a certain purplette. She knew that, if she learned this, no, when she learned this, Raven would have a little 'talk' with her and those 'talks' usually resulted in some… collateral damage. And she rather liked Lastation, she wouldn't want to be another factor in the destruction of a large portion of it.

Hearing that she would stop, Nico exhaled a large sigh of relief, the tension in his body evaporating like water when exposed to the sun. "Th-Thank you, guys. Th-that was nerve-wracking, I didn't know how much longer my heart could have taken that." He thanked them with a nod of his head while holding his chest, feeling like all his breathe had been stolen and returned to him in one second flat.

Ivan raised a hand and gave a thumbs-up sign. "No problem, bro. You know how those two get, Lastation doesn't need more collateral damage." he remarked, smirking deviously. His eyes twinkled in amusement as he stared at the male who had been the (un) fortunate target of teasing yet again. It was like they enjoyed seeing how flustered he would get when a girl flirted with him, if their reactions were anything to look at.

Nico rolled his eyes at the jabs at his rather… flimsy defences when it came to girls flirting with him. Or rather, teasing him as his mind put it since there was no way that they would want to flirt with someone like him. At best, they would just like to tease him since Nico wasn't boyfriend material. He was a fighter, a soldier who fought not for flags, but because of ideals. It was the same with every Spec Ops Agent, none of them held specific loyalty to CPUs or governing bodies, oh no what they held loyalty towards was their own ideals, it just so happened they could do mercenary work for the lands that tickled their fancy. In the end, one could say that unlike the normal Guild Agents, they were truly Mercenaries.

"Going back on topic," the male shook his head and pushed those thoughts from the back of his mind. "You told me you guys had found Noire, right? Where is she?" Nico asked him while raising a brow and giving an inquisitive stare.

Now THIS got the girls' attention faster than Neptune devoured pudding. They all turned to Lucy with stares akin to Nico's own, though theirs held a sense of urgency in them that Nico's lacked. Instead, there was a rationality in his eyes that was only there through experience and calculations. If they had to go through all this trouble just to get this far, chances were that Noire couldn't have made it to Passé yet.

Seeing as the topic had moved on to something else, Lucy went and answered Nico's question with a mild indication of annoyance in her eyes. "Yeah, we found one girl with that name, tried to be full of heroism and take on a Zombie horde all by herself with nothing but an HF Blade and no backup. Sure, we managed to rescue her, if we hadn't we'd have gotten here sooner. She tried demanding us to let her pass, saying that she needed to Passé, so I made 'sure' to keep her quiet."

Let it be known that on this moment, Nico felt the chills of death crawling down his spine when Lucy smiled at him, but this wasn't an ordinary smile. No, this was a smile only someone who enjoyed tormenting others, AKA a Sadist, could make. Lucy may be a seductive, teasing temptress, but any who annoy her were usually dealt with by a swift punishment… and she would enjoy every second of it.

As if by instinct, Lucy sensed Nico's apprehension and raised a hand as if to say, 'calm the fuck down, bitch'. "Don't worry I only gave her a look, and she quietened faster than Aiden when he's near a drinking booth." She ignored the glare that Aiden, who had been silent for most of the conversation, shot at her. She knew it was true, the rest of Team RAIL and Nico could agree to that, whenever Aiden was near a bar or drink that was alcoholic… it tended to not last very long. Fortunately his Piloting suit would filter out any harmful chemicals that would come from what he ate or drink, making him immune to poisoning or getting drunk.

"Okay, well that's a relief." Nico admitted, sighing in relief that the blackette wasn't hurt… physically anyways. Her mind, or rather her pride, would likely be another story that he was not looking forward to hearing anytime soon. "Could you take us to her? We kinda need to go to Passé so we can fry Ganache's keister."

"Sure, we'll lead the way."

* * *

The trio of Team RAIL lead Nico, IF, Compa and Neptune wandered down a nearby street, one which according to Nico's Holomap would have lead them to Passé, until they came to a small checkpoint. This checkpoint was guarded by several Lastation Soldiers, their Captain in the middle and talking to someone, someone who looked to be the second in command of the Squadron. There, standing by a metal fence beside the gate with her arms crossed and a troubled look on her face was Noire. She was leaning against the fence with one heeled boot on it with the other on the ground. "Noire!"

Everyone minus the Team RAIL Members rushed over to her, their eyes filled with relief at seeing that the blackette was alright. For an instance back there, they had feared the worst when they had been beset by all those enemies. Seeing so much death coming to her people would have made her act irrationally and cause her to get herself a date with the grim reaper.

Upon hearing them again, Noire blinked, her troubled face momentarily replaced by shock before she looked up, noticing the others coming at her with Team RAIL behind them. "E-Everyone, you're…!"

Neptune jumped at her when she was close enough, and Noire expected to be crushed by another hug of hers so she made to defend herself. However, a "Kya!" broke out of her lips when Neptune bonked her on the head with a fist. "Moron, what were you thinking?!" Neptune cried with a pissed off look in her eyes. "Don't try and get yourself killed like that again, ya hear?!" for a moment, Neptune looked almost like a leader, even to Nico and Noire. But that was soon shattered by her next words. "I mean, we're a party, we gotta stick together so I can get the spotlight again!"

Everyone stared at her and sweat dropped at her words. Even the members of Team RAIL were smirking weakly with sweat drops on their foreheads. Before any of them could comment on Neptune's weirdness, Nico stopped it by speaking up. "Well, Neptune's randomness aside, we gotta head on, ladies. Passé ain't gonna wait to be saved, ya know."

"You all heading to Passé?"

They turned to see the Captain of the Squadron and her second walking up to them, their rifles held in ready positions while the rest of the soldiers kept watch. Once they saw Nico, the two saluted him by raising their left hands and placing them over their foreheads. "Sir, it's good to see you once again. I'm Captain Ryouko Kusakabe, and this is my sergeant, Sergeant Origami Tobiichi." she said, gesturing to the silvery-white haired girl with light blue eyes. They lacked any emotion whatsoever, making her gaze more than a little creepy. At least, in Neptune's eyes.

"Hello."

"Woooow, not only does she look weird, but she talks all drone-like, too-"

BONK!

"Nepu!"

Neptune held her head, which was steaming from Nico and IF's fists, two lumps forming as she kneeled in the fatal position. They didn't bother scolding her for now, since they had bigger fish to fry. "Nice to meet you two. You have an update on the situation?" Nico questioned, not once looking in Neptune's direction as he focused his gaze upon the Captain.

Said Captain nodded her head as she began to explain. "We've isolated this area to battle the infection directly. Our Tanks are our only bet against the larger monsters, and the aerial ones pick away at our standing forces. Still though, if we had access to 100% of our military strength, we would have curbed this before it could even begin." She muttered that part under her breath, although with his enhanced senses Nico heard it loud and clear, as if she hadn't tried to hide it. "Me and my forces were cut off, the Zombie hordes hit us in our fuel depots while we were doubling back for fuel. They had some of those weird, eyeball guys leading them, and while we managed to hold them off we were unable to save our Tank. We were cut off from the others, so we would have died had it not been for Team RAIL over here." she explained, gesturing to the three new arrivals.

Aiden nodded wordlessly.

Ivan grinned in pride.

Lucy gave a satisfied smile.

Nico nodded in her direction. It appeared the Military wasn't faring too good, but it could be worse. They did manage to quarantine the Southern District, limiting the amount of hosts the virus can infect. Their tanks seem to be their lifeline, thus making the J'avo a bigger threat at the moment thanks to them co-ordinating attacks on the fuel depots. It seemed that these Tanks had to be refilled regularly with fuel, which presented a major weakness to their offensive, one that the J'avo utilised just now. Who knows how many squads were pinned down out there?

Nevertheless, the male still had a few ideas in mind.

"Alright, then you guys go and gather as many squadrons as you can, have them retake any stolen fuel depots you've lost. Re-establish contact with each other and only then can you focus on eradicating the infection. Me and my comrades here..." Nico spoke, gesturing to Neptune, Compa, IF, Noire, Lucy, Aidan and Ivan, while saying this. "We're going straight to Passé, we'll hit the big guy where it hurts then come back to you."

Ryouko nodded in acceptance. "Roger that. Alright ladies, let's move! We ain't got all day here, quit dragging your fat asses!" she barked, quickly moving to issue orders to the rest of her Squadron while Origami followed suit, being told to scout the paths ahead of them for any sign of ambushes.

"You think they'll be alright?" Noire asked the others in concern, watching them head off down the corpse-ridden streets. It honestly looked like a biblical depiction of hell at this point, and that was enough to worry her. Her own people, her own subjects, were being torn apart by these undead abominations, which were once her own people as well. This was very... perplexing, for the several Century old CPU.

Nico nodded his head in response, quickly looking into his Bracer and activating it's Holomap to check their route to Passé. "Yeah, they can handle it. Soldiers with eyes like them can go far in life. I should know, I've seen more of them than anyone else here." he told her, before his eyes hardened as he addressed the entire Party. "Now then, let's follow their example and haul asses, people! Chian isn't going to wait for our lazy behinds to get into gear! Let's go, go, go!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **A new story, a collab between me and Zergface whom you've likely seen in the Reviews, has been posted. Its' called "Rules of Engagement" and i'd really appreciate it if you go and check it out.**


	33. Chapter 33 - Well, that escalated quick

**Chapter 33 - Well, that escalated quickly**

With the retrieval (And slight scolding by Neptune) of Noire, the party was free to advance through the streets towards Passé, aided by the three members of Team RAIL. They had to fight through more enemies than they did before, almost like the enemy had known that the Party had some powerful, albeit temporary additions to their ranks. Sometimes though, Lucy would flirt with Nico in a subtle manner, much to his chagrin and embarrassment.

Obviously, this did not sit well with Compa or Neptune, who was still confused on why she was feeling this way around the older woman. These strange emotions she held within her towards the male of their group had been plaguing her for a while now. she couldn't tell what they were, describing them to herself as only 'the weird thing'. And really, who could blame her? Seriously, she was an amnesiac and while she could remember some general things, things like what she was feeling right now was not one of the things she remembered. In fact, she doubted she had any experience in this matter even before she had lost her memories, which didn't help her situation. Her means of teasing Nico both in human and in HDD form were the result of her indulging on these unknown feelings.

Compa meanwhile, knew what was going on, EXACTLY. She knew now, that Nico had attracted the attention of multiple girls, not just Neptune, which made her feel annoyed, but also amazed. She may be an airhead who didn't; understand complicated matters, but she could tell matters of the heart well. Though sometimes it would take some time for her to get any traction. She felt annoyance that Nico had apparently attracted more than one girl to him, though with the way that most guys were nowadays she couldn't help but think this was to be expected. Someone who goes out of their way to treat women with the respect he feels they deserve, treats them more like people than sex toys?

Who wouldn't want someone like that?

She could also feel amazement, amazement at Nico's ability that he wasn't even aware that he had, the ability to charm girls into befriending him. That didn't mean that she was willing to give up on them though, as Compa was a stubborn girl, and when it came to her childhood friend she was more than stubborn about him. She was his personal Nurse after all, and a Nurse never gives up on her beloved patients!

* * *

Finally, the party plus Team RAIL reached Passé, only to do a unified cringe at what they had seen.

"Tch, looks like we were too late."

"Looks that way."

"Passé… it's in ruins…"

"Holy Nep, this looks bad, like, really bad. It looks bad, doesn't it guys?"

"Now is so not the time for your drama Neptune, we need to find Chian!"

Those were IF, Nico, Compa, Neptune and Noire's reactions in that order, while scowls were present on the three Team RAIL members' faces at the sight of the destroyed Café. The Café attachment was reduced to rubble, and the main Factory building looked to have taken a beating. There were holes in certain areas, fires burned in some of them making large smoke trails that rose to the skies above. The sounds of burning chemicals filled the air, giving off a scent that made the girls cringe. Though Neptune and Compa didn't as much since they still had pegs on their noses.

Scanning the area, Nico searched for any sign of the blunette mechanic with his eyes. His other senses were also active, the power of IT rushing through his veins. If he used 'IT' in miniscule amounts in a constant enough manner, Nico theorized that he wouldn't have to hear that mind grating voice that lurked in the shadows of his psyche. His eyes scanned the area intently, until they spotted a tuff of blue hair amidst some rubble which looked like a pile that had fallen on top of something. Horror crossed onto his features once he identified faint sounds of breathing even with his sense of hearing. "Oh shit, Chian!"

The male quickly began jogging over to where he had found the pile, with the girls looking at each other before following suit. At first, they were confused, but when they saw the faint tuff of Chian's hair they quickly changed their tune and began helping Nico pull the rubble off the downed mechanic.

When they had pulled enough rubble off to pull the woman out into the open, horrified gasps escaped them when they saw how much damage Chian's body had taken. Her clothes were shredded above the right knee, left thigh, the stomach and the arms, each of those areas having multiple wounds like cuts and lacerations. Her right arm and left leg were bent at unnatural angles while her forehead had a trail of blood going down it.

"Compa, quick let's get some medical attention to her!" Nico ordered, the Nurse-In-Training quickly nodding with a shout of confirmation as she kneeled opposite the male and began to work. They first reset the bones in the arm and leg, making it so that they were at least back in their proper places. They then began applying bandages to Chian's damaged limbs, Nico making sure only the proper amount was applied. One of his skills as a Spec Ops Agent was first aid, a necessary skill to have on the battlefield when there wasn't a medic around.

Once many of her injuries were tended to, which took about 30 minutes in total, the woman began to stir, her eyes tightening as a pained groan broke free from her lips. Slowly, her eyes opened as she gripped the ground as a reflex, as if she needed the comfort that she was still alive. "I'm… alive…?" she muttered in confusion, though she looked slightly delirious. She then weakly raised her head and noticed that she wasn't alone, her eyes brightening considerably even with her injured state. "Y-You guys…! Y-Y-Y-You're safe…!" she tried to say, but her voice broke several times and she had to cough to expel some saliva clogging her dry throat.

"Hold on, Chian, don't talk." Nico urged gently, quickly taking out a bottle of water from his Void storage, uncapping the lid and putting the end in Chian's mouth. "Here, drink. It'll make your headache go away." The girls watched in concern as Chian wordlessly complied with his request, though she treated it as a command and drank from the water bottle. It looked like a baby being fed by its parents on a warm afternoon within the comfort of a home.

Once Chian had finished half the bottle, Nico pulled it from her lips, cleaned the top before screwing the life back on and sending it back to his Void Storage. Slowly, Chian rolled over, groaning in discomfort thanks to her wounds as she fell onto her back. "Chian? Are you okay?!" Chian looked towards the frantic Noire who had asked her that question. She didn't have her Mask on, so she could see Noire's face, but she did have her Eyeglasses on.

After another cough, Chian managed to clear her throat before responding with a pained smile. "W-Well, th-thanks to you guys, I am. It all happened without warning, but I'm glad that you all are alright. A-Anyways, you have to get out of here, it's too dangerous!" she urged them, starting to sit up, but she began to cough afterwards much to the concern of the others.

"Shhh, save your strength, Chian." Compa urged her quietly as she lowered the mechanic onto her back again. "You need some time to heal your injuries, you're in no condition to walk right now." she said, her face stern and serious, with the eyes of a professional Nurse evaluating her patient's body.

Nevertheless, Chian still; tried to get up. She held a gleam in her eye that Noire recognised, making her eyes widen in recognition and a warm feeling spread through her chest. "Lady Bl-Black Heart always said that… Lastation is… only the best at everything… how can I call myself a citizen of such a Nation… if I didn't push myself to become better?" she remarked, chuckling briefly before wincing at the pain within her body, for it had spiked the moment she tried to chuckle. "I-I need to go… I gotta report to the Basilicom, hopefully they'll listen to me this time and let me see the CPU."

Those words shook the blackette to the core as memories flowed through her mind. Memories old and forgotten by the Ancient CPU. She remembered saying that at the founding of her Nation, when it was just her and a handful of followers, followers who were long since dead. She remembered saying that Lastation's pride was being able to excel at anything they could put their mind to, it was their motto, their way of life. For a while, Lastation had been just that, a beacon for those who truly wished to become successful. Those who didn't work hard for their future wouldn't have the success they craved. Even Noire took that motto into her being, though she did make a few wrong choices with the Console War.

Ironic that her land was called the Land of Black Regality when Planeptune was referred to as the Land of Purple Progress. Progress being the Keyword there.

However, ever since she had returned, much of that life, that want to be better, that desire to excel, had been snuffed out by Avenir. What once was a nation full of people dedicated in their work, enjoyed it to the fullest, was now full of people who were almost lifeless, dull even. They no longer took joy in their jobs, only solitude and loneliness. It filled her with such sorrow, resentment and rage at seeing what her Nation had been reduced to, and she had been unable to see the corruption in time to stop it. Noire knew she was at fault for being away for so long, but that didn't help matters for her, not one bit.

Yet now, yet now she was seeing that spark, that life, blooming within Chian like a late blooming flower in the Springtime, having weathered conditions in the winter that were far harsher than it was used to. She saw the desire to be the better, to be the best, in Chian's eyes, after so long of not seeing it at all. Noire never realised just how much she had missed that from her people.

Such desire... such resolve… How could she continue this charade with this show in front of her?

"There's no need for that, Chian…" she whispered, her hair shadowing her eyes but her voice was strong enough for the woman to hear her. Slowly, Noire kneeled beside her, and glanced to Nico. She gave her request through her eyes, to which the male caught on to what she planned to do, as well as realised that she was taking the risks that would be involved with this. The male nodded and looked up, his eyes telling the girls that they needed to give them some privacy.

No more words were needed as the girls and Nico stepped back, giving Noire and Chian the privacy that she wanted. Moreover, it gave her the chance to reveal to the woman who she really was. This may be a risky move, however since Avenir knew who she was anyways, and that Chian had shown the same ideals the first few citizens of Lastation had all those centuries ago, she would reward this woman with the hope she so desperately wanted.

Raising her hand to her face… Noire moved it down her face, revealing her eyes that radiated what looked like a faint power button symbol in them.

Upon seeing them, Chian's weak eyes opened fully for the first time since she woke up. Shock raced through them, as well as confusion, but there were hints of a rising joy in them that made Noire feel warm inside. "L-Lady… Black… Heart…?" she whispered, the joy lighting up in her eyes as time passed.

Noire nodded, her smile filled with both happiness and sadness as she slowly got to her feet. "I'm sorry for hiding my identity from you Chian, but I couldn't stand not knowing what was going on anymore. I had to do something about this, even as extreme as going under cover." She apologised to the woman, lowering her head and closing her eyes with her face twisting in guilt.

Chian shook her head in dismissal of Noire's apology, not caring about it in the least. If she could, she would make a dismissive wave as well. "No worries, here… my Lady… the fact that… you were trying… is enough for me…" she said with a soft smile on her lips, which made Noire open her eyes and smile in gratefulness back at her. She truly was relieved that the woman didn't hold what she had done against her, but what happened next really brought it home for the black-haired CPU.

"Take my faith, my Lady… and fight on."

The mechanic rose a hand and clenched a fist, offering it to the CPU standing before her. Noire was at first confused on what she was doing, but then remembered seeing Chian do this to one of her workers one time. A form of respect, kinship between two people. Her smile widened even more at the implications behind this gesture, and Noire made a fist to bump it against hers.

In that moment, her eyes widened when she felt a spark ignite deep within her very being, a small flame manifesting there and filling her with energy, energy she knew all too well. 'Is this… is this Share Energy?' She wondered in shock, before looking down at the woman below her, who had fallen unconscious from her injuries once more. 'Chian… you put your faith in me… knowing that I lack the power I once did…' Noire thought, clenching her fists and shaking slightly. She then released a calming breath, feeling her body become relaxed once more, as a determination that came with the old energy returning to her flowed through her system.

With renewed resolve, Noire levelled a glare towards the one that was causing all this carnage to her Nation: Ganache.

* * *

Said man was in the distance, standing before a large robot that he seemed to be in control of. The robot looked like it was locked in battle with someone, and this person she was more interested in. She had learned from Lucy of Team RAIL that their leader had arrived at Passé already and was busy holding Ganache off. That was likely the only reason Noire, in her current state, even bothered to notice her presence at all.

The leader, she assumed, stood on top of a single-story building, before jumping down with what looked like a long Katana primed and ready to strike. The robot made a swing at her but she deflected it with a single swing, landing on the ground before rushing towards the enemy and jumping past it, several slash marks appearing across the robots' sides.

Her movement had allowed them to identify her appearance. She was a young woman who looked to be 18, 2 years Nico's Senior. She had fair skin and black hair, blacker than night itself as it went down to her backside, worn loosely with a cowlick sticking out at the top. Her eyes were a crimson red, like a demon's which gave her an intimidating vibe. She wore a shallow cut black dress, five necklaces with an assortment of beads, a red girdle-belt, and a pair of matching gauntlets. She wore black gloves over her hands that tightly fit, offering better grip for weapon handling. An object that looked to be made from feathers hung from the right side of her skirt. She also wore thigh high black stockings attached to a pair of garters, and a pair of black stiletto heeled boots with metal replacing the toes and heels that reach just beneath the rims of her stockings. Her face was covered right now, covered by a Mask that had appeared over her face, being primarily white with red detailing as a secondary colour. It has four slits, which enhances its inhuman, demonic appearance.

'That's the leader, SAMURAI I think they call her…?'

Noire watched the woman as she battled the robot, which thanks to her shock she now was able to note its appearance. It had a body built from refined black metal, with the upper body of a bulky man, and the lower body of a serpent, its lower body being a serpentine segmented Tail. In its left hand was a massive Mace while in its right was an equally large Axe. It had a single ocular red lense that glowed in the shadows of the darkened sky, adding to its sinister appearance.

And yet, the woman had faced off against it with what looked like a single Japanese themed Odachi which she carried by its sheath on her waist. The sheath had a rotatory chamber filled with various elemental cores, Noire noticed, likely to enhance her blade with elemental affinities. Judging by the length of the blade, Noire assumed the blade was telescopic which, according to her knowledge, allowed it to be twice the length of its sheath.

'… She must be either really brave or really arrogant… but still, I have to admit she does good work.'

Shaking those thoughts off, Noire began making her way over to Ganache with a fury that could only come from a scorned leader in her eyes. Behind her, Nico had wordlessly glanced to Ivan, whom nodded his head in acknowledgement. It may not be his leader's orders, but Ivan respected Nico for his skills on the battlefield, and his code of honor. Wordlessly, he went to Chian's motionless form and scooped her into his arms, deploying his wings and taking to the skies, heading off took the nearest hospital to deposit the young mechanic.

"Looks like Chian's no longer in harm's way…" IF noted as she watched the man fly away, a relieved smile breaking ono her face. Now that Chian would be getting medical help instead of just first aid, IF felt much better about what would happen next. She knew there would be a lot of damages to pay for after this, and didn't want Chian too close to the destruction that would follow.

Compa nodded in agreement, sharing the concerns of her friend as she let a relieved sigh escape her lips. "Phew, goodie. Mrs Chian's gonna be okay…"

"Wonder what Noire talked to Chian about?" Neptune hummed in thought. She had wanted to snoop in on their little chat but both IF and Nico had stopped her, silently telling her with their glares to give them some space. Under pressure from both sides, she had relented. Still didn't stop her from being curious however.

IF rolled her eyes at the nosiness that the preteen was displaying, finding it to be just like her. "Alright nosy parker, focus on the real issue here. Ganache is just there, so let's go say hello… before we knock his lights out for what he's done here."

* * *

"GANACHE!"

While watching the battle between RAIL's leader and his robot, Ganache blinked several times when he heard his name from someone he didn't expect to hear it from so soon. Slowly, he turned around to see Noire and the others storming over to him, giving him death glares that, if looks could kill, he would have died several times over. "Oh, it's you girls." He remarked, though with the tone he used it was clear that he didn't really care that they had survived his little death-trap. "And your boy toy, too."

Nico bristled in anger at that, but refrained as he focused his mind on something else about him. "Huh… looks like someone got a different wardrobe." The male mused, and the girls finally noticed something different about the businessman. He no longer wore a purple suit, opting for a different getup: a black turtleneck sweatshirt, black trousers and leather Trench Coat over his turtleneck, as well as black leather gloves. His eyes were concealed by a pair of black Shades, giving him more of a villainous appearance and less like a Businessman.

More like an assassin or a mid to high level boss in Neptune's language.

"Dude, when did you try a different getup? You look like an assassin, or some final boss in a long game series of horror games!" Neptune exclaimed in shock at the man's new look. Despite being angry at him, the others were quick to realise what Neptune meant, and became confused on why he had changed his wardrobe.

Ganache looked himself over before straightening the collar of his Trench Coat with his gloved hands. "Why, thank you. I was going for a more intimidating appearance than that lousy suit. Such restriction, lack of mobility…" He remarked with distain, remembering the stuffy purple suit he used to wear. This getup was far more comfortable and badass in his opinion. "In any case, 1, 2, 3, 4… I'm surprised, you all made it out alive. That must be a big relief for you DEATHSTROKE."

Another glare from Nico came at him, while Noire gave a smug smirk, flipping her hand through one of her ponytails as she formed a fist from that sae hand and put it on her hip. "Did you seriously think some braindead brutes would be able to beat us?" she remarked casually, though on the inside she was bristling when she remembered that annoying Ogroman and he things she learned about the virus that was being used to harm her city. Ganache as going to get his due, but not yet. it wasn't time yet.

Ganache chuckled in amusement, his eyes and smirk filled with condescension as he admitted to them. "Well, I guess you're right. Of course, they did buy me the time I needed, yes?" Ganache responded, lifting his arms and gesturing to the destruction around them. "With that time, not only was I able to demonstrate our newest weapon, but also advance our more "discrete" research." When he said 'Discrete' Ganache formed 2 fists with his raised arms and bent the two middle and index fingers, making quotation marks before lowering them. his smirk never decreased either, showing his confidence about the situation.

"I will admit that you friend DEATHSRTROKE came prepared. He had Team RAIL, a large Eyesore to our rival Umbrella back then, stationed in this district should anything happen to him or you girls, as well as warned the Military that an attack was incoming. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't have listened, but since it was one of Racoon City's survivors, a whole new ball game. You should thank him, because if it wasn't for him none of you would be here at this point." While they didn't want to admit it, for it sort of wounded their pride, Ganache did have a point. If they had gone with their usual strategies against that horde, not prepping for them beforehand, they would have undoubtedly lost to them and joined the Zombie masses.

"You… Fiend…!"

The man's smirk widened slightly at Noire's insult, her previous smug look having replaced itself with the enraged look she had on earlier. "Fiend?" the man questioned, never losing his smirk. He then took on a more sinister sneer, speaking with a degree of mocking to her "Well, even if that is true, what are you going to do about it?"

Before Noire could respond, Ganache raised a hand and held his index finger upwards. "For one, you have lost most of your power to Avenir, making you weak now. Surprised Chian even placed her beliefs in you in the first place." He idly mused at the end, placing the same index finger on his chin while looking upwards. This lasted a moment before he resumed his previous posture, condescending smirk and raised hand and all. "You must be aware of that fact at least, or are you some lazy Goddess who can't even do her job right?"

* * *

On her side, Neptune blinked, and for some reason, felt a spark of indignation and the sensation of being insulted. "Hey, why do I get the feeling I've just been dissed…?" she muttered under her breath, before glaring heavily at Ganache. Her cheeks were inflamed while angry red adorned them. "I'm slowly losing what restraint I have left now."

* * *

Back to the conversation between Noire and Ganache, the man continued. "If anything, you should only blame yourself. Hardly anyone in Lastation reveres you anymore, their faith is now placed within us instead." Another thought sparked in his mind as Ganache quickly made to assure her of something. "Oh, but I do appreciate you. You did make it easy to take over the land."

Noire closed her eyes and remained silent, and Ganache took that as a sign that he was winning, so his smirk widened into a sinister grin. "Hm? Nothing to say against my logic?" he sneered, and everyone wanted to rip that smugness right off his face right then. He assumed that the CPU had reflected on his words and saw no way to deny them, that her spirit had been broken thanks to him. He figured that he had broken her so much that's he would now stay silent, and be easy enough for them to control as the ruled over Lastation. In essence, she literally would be a pinned, pretty little wallflower.

However, something Noire said stopped those thoughts cold.

"So, what?"

"What?" the man blinked, surprised and Caught off guard, losing his smug smirk with his mouth forming a faint open 'o' expression, his eyes widening behind his Shades, they could see that from the raising of his eyebrows and his posture.

Noire, whose expression had become smug once again, with an underlying determination beneath it, responded to Ganache's question. "Who cares about power and control? If you think I'm here just to mete vengeance you're dead wrong." She explained, her smug smirk widening slightly at the bewildered expressions Ganache was making. He did not expect this kind of back talk coming from her.

'Neptune, although you probably don't realise it, you helped me in more ways than one in this little adventure of ours.' The blackette thought to herself as she glanced behind her at the preteen, but it was only for a brief millisecond before she levelled her gaze back at the black-clad man. 'This is my new pledge, my new resolve! Make sure to see it all with your own eyes, Ganache!' she roared within her mind, while her mouth solidified her thoughts into words. "I'm here for the people who believe in me!"

Yes, that was the answer that Noire had come to on that night with Neptune. It had been even more engraved into her brain when Nico unravelled her identity as Black Heart, and with Chian's help as well. The people were more important than the Console war, especially right now. How could she call herself a leader when she didn't actually lead? Like a smart teen with a special eye power once said: If the king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?

Also, this was no longer about fighting. She would stop fighting the CPUs of the other Nations, at least if they weren't intending to attack her, and start talking.

So, caught off guard, Ganache opened his mouth to try and speak, but nothing came out. He was caught completely by surprise by the blackette's speech and determined gaze, not what he had expected from the weakened Goddess. He had expected her to fall into despair over the loss of most of her power to them, by her own doing no less. However, instead all he had gotten was a determined Goddess who was fighting to help those that still believed in her.

Before he could respond however…

"Iffy…? Can I speak now? I don't like the seriousness right now."

"Just be patient and let them finish what they're saying."

All eyes turned to Neptune and IF, whom was groaning in dismay at being heard while the preteen looked like she was about to explode or something. She had been silent for most of this conversation, and for her that was a stretch.

As proven when she began waving her arms up and down in a cute, bashful manner as she made a pleading face with the brunette. "But Iffy, I'm at my limit already. I need to talk to breathe, ya know? And our readers don't wanna read big paragraphs no more…"

A fist flew onto and hit her head, a loud BONK ringing throughout the air as Neptune made a startled and pained cry while holding her hands over the forming lump. The cause was an irritated Nico who was glaring at her heatedly through his Mask. Looming over her like an evil villain would to the downed hero. "Neptune…! You really don't know how to keep a lid on it, do you…?" the male growled, before his eye gleamed menacingly as an idea struck his mind as he began cracking his knuckles, an ominous aura around him that made the purplette pale considerably. "Should I give you the appropriate punishment…?"

He then glanced to Compa, nodding at her as if that was a signal for her to do something, which she recognised and brought out… some pudding? "Nep-Nep, if you don't be quiet, you'll not eat your pudding snack." She said. It was…s lightly disturbing how she said that with an innocent smile on her features, like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

'Note to self: NEVER piss Compa off or else…'

While Nico thought that with a slight shiver and a sweat drop, Neptune paled when she saw the girl slightly tip the pudding cup over, prepping to drop it to the ground. "N-No! I'll do my best to keep my mouth shut!" she pleaded with the two, her eyes brimming with unshed tears as panic overflowed through her being. "Just don't make it seem like Noire can hear us!"

When Neptune said that, several tick marks formed on Noire's forehead as she clutched a shaking fist, a vein protruding out of it as she tried restraining herself from killing the preteen. "I can hear everything!" she yelled much to the horror of Neptune. "It's a BBIT pointless if you are making noise on the subject of quiet! And now look what upu've done! The entire mood is gone!"

Compa's smile widened a little at that… before she completely tipped the pudding over. "And Nep-Nep's pudding scores a double whammy! Gone!" she remarked cheerfully at the horror-stricken look on the preteen's face.

Time seemed to slow to a torturous pace as the Pudding fell towards the ground. Neptune tried to move, but Nico had restrained her so she couldn't do anything, doing this by hooking his arms under her armpits and holding her in place. She struggled in vain, right until the last moment where she froze at seeing the pudding go SPLAT when it hit the ground.

"A-Aaaaah! My-My Pudding! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

While Neptune dove at the pudding after Nico let her go, crying into the remains of the delicious treat, Team RAIL, save for the leader who was still fighting,could only stare awkwardly at the scene unfolding in front of them. Ivan, Lucy and Aiden who had returned shortly before th scene began, sweat dropped in unison as they turned to IF, their stares speaking their unasked question.

The brunette crossed her arms and nodded at them. "Yeah guys, this is our usual. Nico tries to keep Nep in line, but sometimes he's sucked into it." she explained, releasing a depressing breath. She really was glad that Noire was here, as while Nico did have good intentions sometimes he would get sucked into Neptune's antics. It was relieving to have another sane member of the party with them.

A sound akin to the clearing of one's throat interrupted them, drawing their gazes back to Ganache, who looked like he was mildly irritated as he held his closed hand over his mouth. "Are you done speaking with your friends?" he asked impatiently. "I'm a busy person, you know."

Before Noire could respond, Nico saw his chance and took it. "Just one question before we send that pile of junk of yours to the scrap heap, Ganache. We know of the C Virus and your dirty dealings with Umbrella before their fall." He began, getting stunned looks from those who weren't present at the factory. That was basically Team RAIL in a nutshell, and Ganache. "But what I don't get is this: before Racoon City, Avenir had tons of human employees, they didn't rely too much on machines. But afterwards up till now, even, you guys are all about them at this point and there's little sign of human presence in your company. What happened to all those workers, did you fire them or something?" he asked the man, sweating slightly behind his Mask. Nico had an idea as to their fate, but was prying to every deity he could think of, which was a hard thing to do considering his opinions on religion, that he was wrong.

However, it appeared to be worse when Ganache gave a mocking, sick smirk that indicated what he was about to say next. "Why, we did what you think we did, we wouldn't want any witnesses that would blabber their gobs after being unanimously fired for no reason. I do believe they're in a better place by now, though, don't you think?" he remarked, his smirk twisting into a demented manner. "Of course, one of them just happened to know a certain person at Passé, which meant that he had to share the same fate."

...

...

...

Silence.

That was what spread through the area as Nico's eyes filled with horror and realisation, which was soon followed by the rest of the group. Team RAIL didn't know the full picture, but they could guess what was happening based off of what little they knew. And it was a HORRIFFIC picture. Then, Nico's face contorted into one of pure fury, a vicious snarl escaping his lips as his fists clenched so tight they would have bled. "You… fucking psycho…!"

Ganache waved off his insult dismissively, caring little for it. "Even though it's true, it's not like you can do anything about it. In fact, you, among the rest of Racoon City's survivors, were also big factors to making it easy for us to take over. You're all as much to blame as Noire for us taking over so quickly." He mocked, chuckling evilly as he recalled wat had happened after that devastating Outbreak.

"Now then, if you're done, shall we get down to business? I have tight schedule, after all-" The man didn't get a chance to finish as he raised a hand and blocked a sudden kick from DEATHSTROKE, a large shockwave blowing past him making his Trench Coat flutter in the breeze. The male growled, fury in his eyes as he glared fiercely at the other man, who looked nonchalant at him.

* * *

It happened nearly instantly, so fast that Nico almost didn't realise what had happened. Ganache suddenly threw his leg into the air and slammed his foot into his stomach, the amount of strength put into that blow sending him flying through the air. The girls cried out in a startled manner at seeing this, but sighed in relief when the male landed on the ground on all fours, sliding to a halt. His expression no longer had just anger, but also confusion and surprise. "Wh-what…? How did you…?"

Ganache chuckled, before breaking out into laughter. This laugh was demented, insane even, and it sent chills down their spines. When it finally stopped, Ganache released his hands from holding his stomach before raising his right hand to his Shades. "Well now, DEATHSTROKE, shouldn't you have guessed by now…?" he mocked while his hand gripped the side of his Glasses lowering them so that they saw his eyes. Nico, Team RAIL and the girls all became stunned when they saw that his eyes… were glowing a crimson red and his pupils had become slitted like a cat's. "That I would not engage you… without an insurance policy?"

Taking off his glasses, Ganache swiftly threw them at Nico, just starting to break into a run while doing so. Nico caught the glasses, and momentarily wondered why he did that, before his eye widened in realisation as he swiftly tilted his head to the side, avoiding a punch to his face.

The male went for a punch to the Solar Plexus while jumping into a spinning kick, only for Ganache to block the Punch and deliver a haymaker to Nico's kick, grabbing it and flinging him overhead and slamming him into the ground. Gripping the ground, Nico flung Ganache over him, the man righting himself in mid-air and landed in a crouch.

"Nep-Nep, transform!" Compa called out to her friend as IF pulled out her Pistols from her Inventory, quickly unloading bullets on the man. To her shock however, Ganache moved, tilted, and swerved out the way of her bullets like they were slow as ants, while in her eyes he was moving faster than a blur. He soon closed the distance and delivered several punches on her, before launching a vicious scissor kick to her jaw and then grabbing her by said area, lifting her into the air before slamming her into the ground headfirst with enough strength to cause a mini crater. He then kicked IF away into the wall of a nearby building.

"Transform!" Ganache turned only to see a pillar of light engulf Neptune, and when it faded away her HDD self was taking her place, floating there with a purple aura around her, glaring heatedly at Ganache. "Ganache, you went too far. Feel the pain Chian and the people endured!" she yelled, drawing her sword from its futuristic Sheath.

Said man would have reacted in startled fear at seeing her… if this were another situation, that is. "Oh? For you to be here is quite the surprise… not that it matters." The man remarked, before he blurred forth and palm thrusted Compa in the chest, sending her flying through the air and into a wall. He then turned to Noire, grinning mockingly at her. "How does it feel Noire, to work with a sworn enemy of yours to undo the mistakes YOU caused?"

As he said this, Nico appeared above him after flipping, bringing his heel down on the man's head. Said man vanished from under him, making Nico land on the ground after hitting nothing. Nico then stood straight and blocked a blow to the head, for Ganache to spin into a reverse elbow strike to his back, sending Nico staggering forwards before jumping in to a spinning kick that landed on the side of Nico's head, sending him spinning through the air and to the ground.

Noire glared at him for that, growling as she spoke with a sneer. "For those who believe in me I'll do anything Ganache—anything!" she responded before doing something she once had mixed feelings about doing again. That doubt had long since passed however. "Haaaah! Access!" She bellowed as she too went into HDD, becoming Black Heart once again. The Sword maiden of Lastation now floated in all her gory, with a silvery aura around her as she glared at Ganache with the same venom as Neptune did.

Said sword maiden gave a stunned response when she looked upon Black Heart's form, remembering it from when she last fought her back in West Wind Valley. "Noire?! That form?!

Black Heart turned and stared at her for a brief second. "Details later! For now, let's deal with this asshole and his contraption!" she yelled before flying towards Ganache while he dealt with both IF and Nico at the same time.

Neptune wanted to ask questions, both about Noire and her identity, and about how she knew about her, but she could tell this wasn't the time for those. She turned to look at the members of Team RAIL, about to address them when she saw they weren't there. Looking around to find them, she saw that they were with their leader, helping her fight the Killachine on top of a building. "Looks like they're easily handled…" the womanly Neptune remarked with a slight amused smile, before turning to glare at the battle before her. "Now then, time to do my part! Hah!" Neptune made a war cry as she few into the battle herself.


	34. Chapter 34 - Wrath of the BOWs

**AN: Hey guys**

 **Now, if any of you are concerned about the changes I made to Ganache, let me explain.**

 **The character I turned him into, basing his skills off of, and Ganache himself seem like they were alike to me. They both are manipulative assholes, who want to do large scale genocide. One does it in the name of religion, and the other has a god complex that drives him. Now, these differences make them separate people, but if these were set aside, I can honestly see these people working together to achieve their goals. Or manipulate each other like the assholes they truly are.**

 **Also, this stuff has been foreshadowed since the beginning of the Lastation arc, remember Chain explaining about Avenir and Umbrella? Since then, and it's been hinted at throughout the arc. So, it's not completely out of nowhere.**

 **Just a heads up for you all.**

 **Now then, let's go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 34 - Wrath of the BOWs**

Ever get the feeling that you were outmatched 10 to 1? Like you were a small platoon of soldiers trying to stop a bigger, more equipped army from levelling your town?

Well, that was what Nico and the others were feeling as they fought against Ganache. While he apparently wasn't using any flashy Skills like they were, Ganache was more than capable of keeping up with, and even outmanoeuvring, the Party even with the CPU of Lastation in her HDD form, plus Neptune's HDD self, assisting them.

"Come on! I thought you were going to 'deal' with me and my so called 'Contraption'!" Ganache mocked as he flipped over a slash from IF's Qatar, landed behind the female and grabbed her by the back of her head, flinging her towards Compa when she was prepping to use her COMPA LOVE HEART Skill. The two girls cried out when they collided, bouncing along the ground before stopping next to each other.

The man turned and caught a fist from Nico, using his other fist to backhand him, although that one was also blocked. Ganache launched several kicks with one leg, which were countered before he jumped and twisted into another kick, the twisting adding to the power behind it and forcing Nico to stumble back. Ganache jumped at him and double kicked him while he was off balance, sending Nico to the ground.

Ganache would have continued had he not sensed danger and leaned back to avoid a sword slash from Neptune, then ducked under a swing from Noire before grabbing the two' by their weapon arms and flipping them onto their backs. The girls gasped when they hit the ground, and Ganache made to do an aerial stomp on the two of them had they not managed to roll out of the way in time.

Noire got up first and rushed in, yelling "PARALYSE FENCER!" as her blade was coated in electricity. Noire thrusted repeatedly at Ganache who used his insane speed to dodge each one, before kicking Noire in the gut, forcing her to bend over with a gasp at how much strength he packed into the kick. Ganache then backhanded her, sending her flipping through the air to the ground with a SLAM!

Sensing danger behind him, Ganache stepped to the side, avoiding a slash made by Neptune, before he grabbed her by the arm that held the hilt of her Katana as he spun her around, making her good and dizzy so she couldn't defend against his next move. Once he was sure she was ready, Ganache jumped and pulled Neptune into a savage kick to her face, her motions making her body swing upwards into the air as she fell to the ground, gasping as she landed headfirst.

He reared a fist back to strike her down, before his senses told him to move as he dodged several bullet barrages, made by Nico who had drawn his Ebony and Ivory Pistols, running around him while trying to fill him full of holes. Ganache however had different plans as he dodged each bullet, plucking them out of the air and pocketing them. He did this for a few moments until Nico saw how his pockets looked slightly bigger than before, soon realising why as Ganache pulled out bullets faster than he could see them, flinging them at him like his arms were two machine guns. The male had to release some of his Demonic energy to enhance his body to both dodge and block the rounds from hitting him.

IF noticed a broken pipe on the ground next to her. She picked it up and threw it at him, hitting Ganache in the back of his head. Although that did little as he used the momentum to twist into a one-handed handstand, dodging another slash from Noire. He gripped her with his feet, having slammed them into both her stomach and her back, before flipping her overhead and slamming her headfirst into the ground. I was only through her CPU body that she managed to survive that one, but it still left her dazed.

The brunette cursed as she ran in, swinging her Qatars at his arms to try and cut his tendons. She hoped that without them Ganache would be easier to bring down than he would be with them, but those hopes were dashed when the brown-haired man swiftly ducked under her swings, planted one hand into the ground then kicked her, pushing his hand to propel himself upwards into the air with her as he kicked her down to the ground, flipping forwards to bring his heel down on her chest before she could react.

While IF cried out at the injury, Ganache rolled to the side and noticed Neptune flying at him with her sword glowing. "CRITICAL EDGE!" She brought her sword down and Ganache crossed his arms to block, jumping back to avoid her second slash and then dashing forth, ramming an arm into her face like a lariat. Neptune's body spun though the air several times like a wheel before she fell to the ground with a THUD!

'This is insane!' Nico roared in his mind, swiftly summoning Rebellion in place of Ebony and Ivory as he rushed towards Ganache. "PHANTOM EDGE!" he yelled, swinging down on him. Ganache however, decided not to block but instead vanish, making his Skill useless since the energy hit nothing but air. He spun around and blocked a punch to the face from his adversary, who had that little upturning on the corner of his lips this entire fight. 'How the hell is Ganache doing this? His Profile said he never did any Guild Work or Quests, so how is it that he's this good?!'

The two broke away, and the two opposing sides stared each other down. A long silence passed by them, before Black Heart decided she couldn't take this one-sided beatdown and shouted while pointing her massive sword at the Avenir founder. "Okay, what is going on here, Ganache?! How do you move with such speed, you're just a normal human!" she yelled in absolute fury and confusion.

"Noire… I don't think having slitted red eyes like a demon is considered normal…" Compa muttered weakly, pain coursing through her as her wounds ached like no tomorrow. With a quick healing Skill though she was able to speak better and stand straighter as she stared at the man that was responsible for them.

Ganache chuckled mockingly at them, he loved their expressions of confusion and frustration, though it looked like only Nico was sporting a look of slight comprehension. "Well, I'm not like a cliché villain who explains everything, but I will say this: There was a specialised virus strain meant for people like me, and it made us able to go toe to toe with even the CPUs theoretically when we practiced in simulations. Judging from our recent pow-wow, I'd say those predictions were correct." Ganache replied, smirking in amusement at their frustrated and puzzled faces. He made sure his gloves fit comfortably on his hands, before slowly walking forwards towards them, a confident, borderline godly, air about them.

'Wait, back at the factory there was something about controlled BOWs...' Nico thought, his eyes wide with realisation after a few moments of pondering. 'That's right! Though, I didn't check to see if they had any successes or not, shit should have looked into that. I guess not even I can make things go completely according to plan...' It was a difficult pill to swallow, but Nico could only blame himself for not realising this possibility in his calculations. If he knew this was a thing, then the male would have made some revisions to his tactics, so that they wouldn't be caught off guard.

The man then stopped talking and began to attack once more, blurring forwards and going for the injured Compa. Nico barely got there in time to aerial roundhouse kick Ganache in the face, stopping him from hurting the Nurse-In-Training as Ganache stumbled back, holding his face in what seemed to be pain.

This made hope bloom in the group, thinking that they had a chance to win now. Noire and Neptune flew at him from opposite angles, their blades filled with their energy as they both activated their own Skills.

"CROSS COMBINATION/LACE RIBBON DANCE!"

When they were within striking range however, Ganache lowered his hands slightly, exposing the two-glowing red demonic eyes he possessed, making Nico realise that it was a fake-out. Before he could warn the girls, though it wouldn't have worked regardless as their Skills were already activated, Ganache constantly tilted his body to avoid their strikes, jumping back to get out of that spot then dash forwards, grabbing them by the necks with his hands and jumping into the air, landing back first and dragging them down with them.

As Ganache got up, the man swiftly made to deal with Black Heart first, but then he sensed danger and sidestepped to avoid a PHANTOM WAVE from Nico. The male gritted his teeth behind his Mask and made several kicking motions, launching multiple PHANTOM WAVE's at the man.

Said man grinned as he sidestepped the second, twisted around the third, then flipped over the fourth before jumping at him and grabbing him by the shoulders, using Nico to do a handstand before he flipped off him and kicked him in the forehead. "Guh!" Nico cringed, feeling dazed from the hit as he held a hand over his face. A pair of leather-bound hands grabbed him by under the arms and a knee slammed into his gut, making him gasp once more, before an elbow strike slammed into his back then an uppercut rammed into his jaw, sending Nico flying into the air.

Before he could go too far though, Ganache grabbed his boot in one hand and slammed him into the ground, using him like a hammer and bashing him repeatedly against it before flinging him at an approaching Neptune. The two flew backwards, and a foot belonging to IF landed on their sides to allow the brunette to jump higher into the air as she landed in front of the man. "CHAOS EDGE!" She yelled, doing a back flip to kick Ganache in the Jaw, then spun into a double slash that he managed to parry, then did a front flip to bring her heel on top of Ganache's head that he leaned back to dodge, before finally bringing both Qatars down on Ganache's exposed stomach.

She thought she had him with her CHAOS EDGE, however she was proven wrong when Ganache used the momentum to proceed into a back flip, kicking her Qatars out of her hands before rushing in and grabbing the back of her head, pulling it into a rising knee. She gasped as blood squirted out her nostrils from the attack, before Ganache lifted her into the air by her head and slammed her into the ground repeatedly like he had done with Nico.

Glancing to the side, Ganache swung IF into a charging Noire, sending them both toppling to the ground as Neptune flew overhead. "Take some of this, Ganache!" she yelled, making an overhead slice that released a barrage pf purple homing rays. Momentarily, Ganache was caught by surprise by the attack, and that was enough for the attack to land successfully, every homing ray hitting and causing an eruption of purple energy that concealed the man from view.

"Yes, you scored the first direct hit, Neptune!" Nico cheered, grinning behind his Mask as his lone eye lit up in glee. Before, IF had thrown a pipe to hit him, but it had only helped Ganache out, so that didn't count as a direct hit. Plus, none of their attacks had worked so far thanks to Ganache's superhuman agility. This was the first real hit that they had landed on the man throughout this whole fight, and it felt better than it probably should have.

Neptune smirked as she took in the praise, landing beside Noire as they all peered into the smoke, expecting to see the man's charred remains. They thought they had made progress, they thought they had been ready.

However, they were soon proven wrong.

"Not bad, not bad at all, I see." Everyone's eyes became saucers as Ganache casually strolled out of the smoke, his boots stomping against the ground as he adjusted his gloves fitness on his hand and adjusted the collar of his Trench Coat. He looked like he had taken no damage from that hit at all, not even a scratch was on his features. Even his shades, which he had retrieved shortly after throwing them at the start of the bout. "Unfortunately, it was not enough."

'Im-Impossible…!' Noire shrieked in her mind, her irises shaking and her power button symbol having dilated to the size of a dot. That attack was the same one that Nico had used in DDD, and its power was enough to heavily damage a CPU, she should know since she WAS that CPU! If a CPU were to use it, surely it should have had the same effect on a human like Ganache, even if he had something empowering him!

'How…?! How did he… wait! Could it be that…?!'

Neptune gasped when Ganache appeared before her in a blur, grabbing her by the neck and pinning her against a wall, kicking Noire away so she couldn't intervene. The man peered into her half-open eyes as she grippes his hand with both of hers, trying to pry it from her neck however it was a tigh grip, making her efforts useless. "I was surprised that you used such an attack, but you should have realised that it wouldn't have been as effective as if you knew its name."

Nico felt like slapping himself after those words were said. He had forgotten a simple fact about Skills, and it had costed them dearly. Skills had their own names, and usually they said them out loud as they performed them. The reason why this was, was because names have power, and if one knows the name of a Skill, its power is doubled. While Neptune had copied one of his DPU form's attacks, it was next to useless in comparison to the real thing, for only by transforming would Nico have learned the name of that skill. And the last time he had transformed, Nico had lost control over himself, so learning the name of those Skills was impossible back then. Ever since he had not transformed, so he never learned the names of his Skills. 'Shit! We've been had! If I had only learned to control this power already, then we wouldn't have had this issue! Now Neptune has a Skill she doesn't know the name of, which is akin to having a pebble thrown at a rock wall.'

"While that is true for Neptune…"

Black Heart's voice made Ganache glance behind him, only to be hit with a backflip that sent him into the air. Mid flip, Noire righted herself and reared her massive sword back. "That is not the same for me! DROP CRUSH!" with that, Noire swung downwards, sending Ganache crashing down.

While he got to his feet, Nico saw his opening and took it, dashing towards him with Rebellion poised for a reverse horizontal slash as the blade began to glow purple. "PHANTOM EDGE!" he called out, slicing across Ganache's back. The energy within the slash erupted seconds later, sending him into a stagger.

They wouldn't let him recover though as Neptune closed in and performed a CROSS COMBINATION, one that actually succeeded in hitting the man as he was knocked into the air again and then slammed into the ground.

IF went next, summoning her DEMON FLAMES and then a LA DELPHINUS. The explosions cut off any access to escape routes while keeping Ganache off balance before the pillar of flames rose upwards, encasing him in fire. The second attack came right after, so Ganache never had time to breathe as he was hit with a pillar of light akin to the light of an HDD.

Compa, while not usually one to get even with someone in a violent manner, opted to make an exception for Ganache and made sure to get payback for her friends, herself, and everyone Ganache had hurt in his desire for power by hitting him with a COMPA LOVE HEART to the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

Finally, it was Nico's turn, and boy was he going to make this last. He ran up and kicked Ganache in the side, sending him into the air before slashing with another PHANTOM EDGE, which used its explosion of energy to send Ganache higher into the air, before he turned around and kicked sideways, launching a PHANTOM WAVE at him. It hit, sending Ganache crashing into a wall which he used to pin him there with a PHANTOM BLADES Skill.

The barrage was over at last, and Ganache fell from the wall like he was peeled from it, crashing to the ground with a THUD, making a light circle of smoke from his landing. Nico and the others watched, their breath baited while their weapons were ready. Ganache had likely taken lots more damage than he did with Neptune's nameless attack, which likely meant that he would show some form of injury from all those Skill attacks.

A low chuckle came from Ganache's motionless body, that chuckle soon increasing to a volume where everyone could hear it. It pissed them off and confused them at the same time. "What's so funny, Ganache?! Afraid that we're gonna beat you or something?! You should be!" Noire yelled at him, but the man just shook his head as he got up. But it wasn't in the normal manner, not at all, for it looked like some invisible force had pushed him up and Ganache had completely surrendered to it.

When he stood straight it was shown that he… had taken no damage... again.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shrieked as they became stunned with shock and horror at the sight of Ganache having taken no damage from that barrage of Skill attacks, named ones too. The man was dusting off his Trench Coat by patting it down with his hands, totally nonchalant about the recent beating he took like it was all a bunch of children's slaps to him.

Once he was done, Ganache looked up at them, his glowing eyes visible through his Shades as he adopted a businessman-like posture. "It appears that your combined might isn't enough to overcome me. A pity, I was hoping to test my body a bit more, however if this is the limits of your capabilities then I will have no more use for you." The man remarked, before he noticed the brunette and an idea popped into his mind, a sick one as well. "Actually, forget I said that…"

He suddenly blurred forwards, grabbed IF by the neck before she could react, and reappeared back at the wall where he had been slammed into before. Everyone gaped at the speed Ganache had shown just now, they couldn't follow with their eyes or their senses, he was just that fast. Had he been holding back this entire time? While cliché for the villain not to take this seriously, it was still no less aggravating to them.

"You, I still have use for."

Nico glared hatefully at the man as he held IF by her neck, the brunette struggling to break free. She could have kicked him, or cut him even but she had lost her Qatars when she had been grabbed and Ganache's body was too tough to be affected by a kick in this situation. Nico couldn't make any sudden moves, just like the others, or risk their companion's life, and that irritated him immensely, his instincts screaming at him to be let loose on this guy. "Put her down, Ganache, IF has no value to you!"

Ganache looked at him like an idiot for once, in response to his words as he raised a hand and waved his index finger from side to side. "Tut, tut, tut, how little you understand, boy." He began, before reaching into the interior of his Trench Coat. "Yes, I will admit that Avenir has been in close cahoots with Umbrella for a while, now. We have since made plenty interesting discoveries for these viruses, but the C Virus is special in that it's creations can retain intelligence more so than the average monster. The J'avo are a direct example of this."

Finally finding what he was looking for, Nico and others gulped as Ganache pulled out a Syringe. When it was fully revealed to them, their faces lost all colour when they saw the liquid inside of it, the same liquid that they had discovered back in the Abandoned Factory. "No… no, don't do it Ganache!" Nico yelled, no, pleaded for the first time in a long while. Fear gripped his heart as deep down, he knew what was going to happen next. "Don't do what I think you're gonna do…!"

The man merely smirked while IF's struggling increased, clearly, she could tell what Ganache planned on doing with her. "I see you're aware of what this is, DEATHSTROKE. Yes, this is an enhanced C Virus Formula, developed by Avenir with the express purpose of turning a test subject into a BOW capable of annihilating entire cities, infecting them with their virus. IF here has been shown to have remarkable affinity with the virus, something we predicted when you were fighting those Abnormals for us. So, let's see what happens…" The man plunged the Syringe into IF's neck without warning, injecting the virus into her. The liquid sunk down, flowing trough the tip and into IF's body, soon completely entering her bloodstream through the artery that Ganache had hit.

"Gyaaaaaa!"

The brunette screamed in pure agony, flailing about in Ganache's grip like a fish before the man let her fall to the ground. The brunette rolled from side to side in agony, feeling the virus flooding her bloodstream like a raging furnace in her gut. She held a hand on the injury she had received from the Syringe, thin green cracks travelling out the space her hand had covered. Ganache chuckled in amusement at her state of distress, before kicking her in the side, sending IF tumbling across the ground to the rest of her friends.

"IF/IFFY!" Everyone cried as they rushed to her side, kneeling around them while Ganache stayed back and watched the show. 'Fools, now that the C Virus is in her system she will undergo a chrysalid state and emerged as a mutated monstrosity. I'll use my powers to control her, and she will kill the very friends she fought beside.' The man thought with his smirk ever the more sinister.

Compa held IF's hand as the brunette writhed in agony below her. "Iffy, iffy, are you alright, please speak to me!" she cried, tears building in the corners of her eyes as she saw her friend screaming in pain. There was nothing she could think of to settle the pain or treat the wound. The virus had already spread into her system, so it would not be long before the mutation takes hold of her.

"How do you THINK she's feeling, she is so FAR from okay!" Black Heart shouted, gritting her teeth as she kneeled oat the opposite side. She, like the others, could sense that the virus was fast-acting, spreading through her system like a bottle of water spilling out onto the floor. She didn't want to admit it, but this would be it. The virus had no cure to their knowledge, and if there was Avenir would have likely destroyed it by now. Plus, there would be no time for them to get it, for the virus would mutate her before they could get to it.

"Oh, I should probably mention…"

Everyone looked to Ganache with livid expressions, even the normally timid Compa had enough rage in her eyes to kill a person. She wanted to tear him open, spread his organs across the floor and watch the life bleed from his eyes. Thanks to her mental state she didn't care about her previous morals as a Nurse-In-Training, all she wanted was Ganache's head on a pike. "There's no antidote conceived when we made this little beauty. We wouldn't want anyone developing a cure from it. Now watch, as your friend's life is diminished from her eyes as she becomes a mindless animal! Hahahaha-!"

Nico appeared before him and spin kicked him in the chest, sending him into a nearby building. He couldn't take any more of that man's bullshit for today, or ever after what he had done, and it felt majorly satisfying to kick him like that. But there were bigger things to worry about as he turned and ran back to their friend, kneeling beside her head and grasping her other hand in his. No longer did he care about the fact that he was holding a girl's hand, his comrade needed the comfort of her friends, her comrades-in-arms, her family.

"It-it's gonna be alright IF, Ganache could be lying, I mean he's seriously an asshole, so it's something he would-" he began to say, but IF shook her head while groaning, getting his attention and easing his rambling. Her body had already started to turn a slight greyish colour, starting from the injury to her neck, before starting to go down her chest.

When she felt she could speak a little, the brunette looked up at him. "D-Doubt it, do you remember back at the Factory? We never saw anything about an Antidote there, and even if there was I doubt Ganache would let us leave to look for it. Al-" she coughed up some blood which fell onto her top. the greying skin had took over her chest, and her arms were starting to follow suit. She took the time to clear her throat before she continued. "Also, it seems this bastard in me won't lemme make it very far. It-it's all I can do to slow it down."

Neptune gripped her friend's shoulder, trying her best to hold back the wave of tears that were threatening to spill from her eye sockets. Sorrow swelled within her as their times together flashed before her very eyes. "I-Iffy…" she choked, her shoulder shaking slightly as she sorrowfully stared into the brunette's dying eyes. "It's been an h-honor fighting by your side. I only wish we had spent more time together…"

The Guild Agent smiled weakly, but still it was a smile, and that was a fact that they all desperately clung to for dear life. "B-believe me nep, you're one handful of migraines…" she began, chuckling weakly as she remembered all the antics Neptune got into in the time that they had spent together. "There were times where I just wanted to strangle you for your idiocy… but it was interesting while it lasted, at least you never made things boring."

At this point the virus had already neared the halfway point, IF's skin started to gain a greenish tint to it while her breathing became laboured, her eyes heavy and her voice weaker as if she were choking on air. Still, she had one last thing to ask, and she could only ask of one person here, one person out of this whole group. "N-Nico… could you come here…?" she requested of him, no longer able to form complete sentences without pausing to take a breather.

"S-Sure, IF, whatever you say…" he muttered, the guilt and sorrow in his gut making it difficult to speak. Is throat tightened to a level he had only felt when he was truly sad, and that was something he had a lot of experience with. Lowering his head, Nico tilted it so she could whisper into his ear. Placing her hand on the closest shoulder to her head, IF whispered something into his ear, something that made the colour drain from his face as he looked down at her in horror. "No, you don't mean to tell me…!"

IF nodded her head in confirmation. Her eyes were slowly going unfocused thanks to the virus, but she still held her determination. "Y-you're the only one... I can trust to ask of this... Ni...co. Nep and... the... the others… I doubt they'd... be able to do it... so I can only... look to you." She told him, shifting her head to look to the skies above. Only a second later the pain intensified and IF had to bite back a groan, closing her eyes tightly and gritting her teeth as she tried to dull it, to no avail.

Nico watched his friend as she slowly began showing signs of undergoing a chrysalid state, 'She…IF… IF told me that if I don't act now, she'll become a BOW, then I'd have to… No, I won't let this happen! I won't!' he wouldn't let this happen, he wouldn't lose another comrade to them, especially a piece of shit like Ganache!

While his mind said this, there was still one problem that stopped him. Nico couldn't think of anything, he was stumped on what to do to prevent this! If things were to progress like this, then the male would have to oblige IF's last request, which was… to kill her before she could mutate into a BOW monster, something he didn't want to do until there was no other option. After all, who would want to do such a thing? SIF knew that he had killed BOW's before, some of them trustworthy Guild Agents, but Nico never took pleasure for it. However, upon pondering the situation, he realised that there were barely any suitable options besides that.

It was almost mind-breaking to bear, until…

'Perhaps I could be of assistance?'

A familiar soft, feminine voice spoke from within the recesses of Nico's mind grinding his thoughts to a halt. He swore he heard the sound of tyres suddenly screeching to a stop in his mind, but paid that little heed as he was focused on the bigger issue here.

'H-Histoire?! Is that you?!' Nico exclaimed. Quickly, his eyes darted around to the others, who were too absorbed in their own sorrows to notice, making him realise that it was indeed Histoire that was contacting him, and that nobody else would hear them. 'Wh-what are you doing here?!'

'Recent events have been recorded in History, however this incident was not expected, so I came to lend my aid. I have a suggestion, and it may be the only way to save IF's life… in a manner.'

Nico's heart thrummed with hope at the thought of a method that was possibly able to save his comrade's life that didn't involve killing her. 'Histoire you are a godsend! Please, tell me what I have to do! Anything to make sure IF gets to live her life!' he pleaded with the tome. It may sound pathetic, but right now he didn't care. He'd seen too many fine soldiers perish at the hands of the Viruses engineered by Umbrella and Avenir, and didn't want to see another victim he had known be added to the kill count.

It was silence that was his response for a moment, before a sigh from wherever Histoire was located informed him that she was still there. 'Very well, I shall tell you. However, be warned, for IF's humanity may not survive this procedure, for it is very dangerous. It could kill her faster than the C virus could.'

When she received no response, Histoire sighed once more, realising that Nico would do anything to make sure IF got to live her life. 'Alright. This requires 2 things: the use of your DPU energy, and the Vial that you appropriated from that abandoned Factory.' She told him, making Nico blink several times in befuddlement, before he quickly nodded and made to bring the necessary item out of his Void Storage. He didn't know what Histoire was planning, but he wouldn't question her when his companion's life was on the line.

His movements however, drew the attention of the girls enough to snap them out of their depressed stupor's. "Hey, Nicky, what are you doing?" Neptune asked him, barely stopping herself from choking back on the tears she had been fighting so desperately to keep from falling from her cheeks.

"Hopefully something that may save IF's life." Was his simple reply as he followed Histoire's instructions to the later, pumping the Vial full of demonic energy. Histoire had warned him that using so much of it would result in a forced transformation, as his human form wasn't meant to handle such large quantities of demonic energy, thus it would activate DDD as a safety measure, but Nico had his response for that.

'I don't give a fuck if I lose control again, right now! one of my comrades who I've shed blood, sweat and tears with is lying before me, dying because of a virus that I could have stopped if I had only been a little smarter. Therefore, if this method of yours is able to let me save IF's life, then I'll gladly take that risk!'

Histoire remained silent, and if she could be seen right now, they would she how stunned she was by his resolve at that point, and could only remain silent as Nico poured reddish orange energy into the Vial, trails of it erupting from his shoulder and spiralling down his arm before reaching the Vial and entering it, going for the liquid within. Nico's breath became laboured as he struggled to control the energy, gritting his teeth as he felt a slight heat inside his gut, the premonition to his ascension into his DPU form beginning to activate... though he fought against it with everything he had.

Let it be said that Nico did NOT go down without a fight.

Emerging from the rubble that he had been kicked into, Ganache stumbled out while holding onto one of the pieces of debris while he caught his breathe. Once he was composed and relaxed again, Ganache looked up and saw the spectacle of Nico channelling energy into the Syringe that contained the C Virus he had appropriated. 'Hah, what does he plan on doing, injecting her with more of the thing that's killing her?' the man thought with a scoff. 'Pathetic, that would only result in the virus spreading quicker.'

"You won't succeed you know." The man spoke as he approached the group while Nico raised his arm, the arm holding the Syringe. "All you'll be doing is making the virus spread faster though your comrades' body. Believe me, I'm aware of its affects since I was one of the people who supervised the project."

His words hardly reached them as the girls awaited what would happen with baited breath. Their minds told them that this was futile and that they would likely have to watch as one of their companions bit the dust early, but in their hearts, they were hoping that, by some stroke of luck, that the boy that had become part of their lives would be able to pull something off without killing the brunette. Although faint glimpses of worry flashed through their eyes when they felt the heat and the oppressive nature of DDD slowly manifest, even while Nico attempted to retain control while also doing whatever it was that he was doing.

In moments, Nico's eyes had changed to that of his DPU form's, with his body constantly pulsating with the power of said form. He looked like he was one second away from fully transforming, when Histoire's words broke through his concentration. 'That is enough, Nico! The process is finished! Quickly, daw your energy in and inject IF with the virus!'

'…Histy?!' Neptune shrieked in her mind, while everyone else was blinking in confusion between her and the male, wondering what the heck was going on. Only the dying IF and Compa knew what was happening, the brunette looking like she was seconds away from entering her chrysalid phase.

Not minding, or even noticing the stares, Nico slammed the tip of the syringe inside the opposite side of IF's neck, injecting the demon energy enhanced virus into her bloodstream. The brunette cringed, unable to hold herself back as the pain in her body suddenly intensified by the thousands. It felt like she was constantly getting daggers stabbed through her body yet she was unable to pass on into the next life.

That was when it happened, a hellish burning sensation that topped the one she had been feeling this entire time overwhelmed her entire body, not leaving anything untouched. No cell was unaffected, her bones screamed in protest while her muscles ached like no tomorrow. With a loud cry, IF suddenly burst into flames, knocking everyone back as her body was forced onto all fours. The flames spread quickly, covering her body from view. This lasted several seconds, before this dark greenish substance completely covered her body, pouring out from her back, neck, calves and feet, completely freezing IF in place.

Silence reigned supreme once this process finished, everyone stared in momentary shock and horror at the state that had taken over their friend. That silence was broken by Ganache's laughter as the man doubled over, clutching the sides of his stomach at the sight before him. "Hahahahahaha Ahahahaha! Now this is golden! See, what did I tell you? Your efforts only served to make your friend turn faster, you literally doomed her to the life of a BOW!"

While he laughed hysterically, falling onto his backside before rolling across the ground, everyone stared at the cocoon, which housed their friend. What would happen now, now that Nico's method had apparently failed. The male in question looked to have gone into shellshock as he stared at the chrysalis that had taken his comrade from him. 'I… I failed… I couldn't save her in time… I failed, I failed…' he repeatedly chanted the words I failed over and over as he stared at the chrysalis, his arm falling to his side while his transformation reverted back to human with the lack of Demonic Energy being drawn from within and dropping the syringe to the ground. The sound it made when colliding with the ground seemed to almost be louder than it really was, though they still didn't notice or care as it rolled away somewhere, forgotten.

IF, their comrade, their friend, one of the people who helped keep Neptune in line when Nico would end up falling into her antics at times… was gone, completely gone.

'Y-you're wrong, it DID work! Look!'

Histoire's voice suddenly broke him out of his musings, alongside the audible cracks that formed on top of the chrysalis's back, cracks that spread like something was pushing against it. Sounds of something tearing and groans could be heard within as… whatever would come out of their friend's remains.

In an instant, something did come out… or rather, it burst out by jumping high into the air, high enough to reach the sun which blinded them from seeing what it was, before landing on the ground on all fours. When it did, the group plus Ganache, whom had stood back up and dusted himself off in a rather classy manner, looked to what had come out… and felt themselves stiffen.

What came out… looked like an exact identical IF: hair colour was the same, with a greyish green skin tone and her eyes being unseen thanks to her hair shadowing them. There was also the fact that she was naked, something which Nico quickly took notice of and tried to stare at her hair instead of the rest of her body.

Slowly, she stood up, looking at Ganache and allowing her eyes to be shown. They were eyeless sockets, so her emotions couldn't be seen from them, but Ganache wasn't worried though, instead he felt ecstatic, "Ufufufu…" the man laughed as he stepped towards the differently skinned IF, slowly reaching for her hair. At the moment, he had completely forgotten the rest of them, as he made to examine the creature that IF had become, the creature he would use to kill off her former friends. "I must admit, this is a bit surprising, seeing that you retained your human appearance, though that is of no consequence. We can just give you a few tweaks when we take you back with us to our labs-"

"Who said…?"

"Hm?"

POW!

Ganache's eyes flew open from their sockets behind his shades, when a fist flew into the side of his face, the force and impact sending him flying through the air faster than a bullet train into the ruins of Chian's destroyed factory. The man collided with some debris, causing a large eruption of smoke to form at his location.

The cause for his sudden flight had a steaming fist, some cuts having appeared on the knuckles and fingers although they closed up in a second or two, thin Tendrils layering themselves over her wounds and letting new sin cover them. Bringing her fist to her face, the brunette noticed the healing ability she had, but she didn't pay attention to it for long. The mutated IF looked like she was glaring with her now returned green eyes, though the scarlea had turned slightly grey. Her teeth were clenched, and her body seemed to almost… morph, in a way with a new skin tone, one that was reminiscent of her original tone, swiftly layering itself onto her from her chest to the rest of her body.

When it was complete, IF looked like she did before her infection, completely human. Save for the lack of clothes, though she didn't seem to notice yet. throughout this process, all IF had done was stare at the place where she had punched Ganache with cold fury in her eyes, clenching her fist and shaking it in his direction, veins pulsing beneath the skin. "Who says you could touch me, fucking retard?!"


	35. Chapter 35 - Killachine Round 1

**IF is alive! Yay!**

 **I know it seems weird at first, maybe it impacts the dark themes of the story, but don't worry. IF's new body does come with some pretty messed up powers, something that's a constant in all BOWs, regardless of form or not. I had intended for her to be this way from the start of the fic, actually. Everyone is going to be OP'd in their own ways, so as to not upset the balance of things, Neptune and Noire have some additions planned out, Compa I haven't worked on this arc, but rust me, I have plans for her. IF, well, I figured this would be a good boost for her.**

 **Now then, on with the show!**

* * *

 **Chapter 35 -Killachine Round 1**

'Holy… fucking… shit!'

Everyone was staring with jaws agape at the brunette that they had assumed was dead after she was infected with a virus that SHOULD have turned her into a freaking monster of mass destruction. However, here she stood before them, alive, well, and not a mass murdering monster. They were frozen in disbelief at the sight of their friend like the way she was… until they realised that she was naked.

"Everyone, quick, cover Nico's eyes, we must keep his innocence!" Neptune exclaimed, Compa already on it as she covered the male's eyes with her hands, much to his shock, though he didn't 't resist as his face was already reddening. He didn't want to seem like a pervert so he let Compa do her thing, it wasn't that IF was ugly, far from it, he just despised the idea of being considered a pervert by his comrades.

Turning, IF noticed them acting weird, and raised a brow in confusion. "Huh? what the heck are you guys doing now? something idiotic I presume." She asked them, holding a hand on her hip. The girls refused to answer as they looked away, looking uncomfortable with the thought of answering the brunette, until a wind blew through the area.

The wind made a chill crawl up IF's spine as she shivered under the sudden cold. "Whew, it's kinda chilly huh? Maybe I should get a bigger jacket…" she began, chuckling to herself when she looked down and noticed for the first time her sate of undress. Her eyes widened and her face POOFFED with a red hue, her mouth falling open at the sight... before she let out a girly scream to the heavens. "KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

Deep within the interior of the Southern District, chaos was echoing through the streets. Soldiers released mighty war cries, firing Assault Rifle rounds to the Zombie and J'avo masses, while the enemy side shrieked and roared as they tried to get close. Fortunately, that was easier said than done since the soldiers had gathered several Squadrons together to form a massive group. They held up on a crossroad section that led to multiple Fuel Depots, with buildings Garrisoned by soldiers armed with Sniper Rifles, RPGs and other firearms taken from the corpses of fallen J'avo.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Ryouko snarled, quickly taking out a Grenade and pulling it's pin. She then tossed it from behind a piece of rubble she was using for cover, hearing the sweet sound of its detonation and the screams of several Zombies. "There's just no end to these fuckers!" She then leaned out and provided covering fire. The attacks were getting fiercer by the minute, with a majority of the fighting being centred around this crossroads. The J'avo controlling the Zombie masses must have been drawn by the large abundance of 'fresh meat' here, just as they planned.

If they would have gotten to the blockades around the District, they would have been overwhelmed since they didn't have nearly as much weapons and ammo as they did. Knowing this, she and the other Captains of different situations had hatched a plan, to use themselves as live 'bait' to draw the enemy back into te Southern District, then gun them down as they came. Fortunately, when not using their freaky morphing shit, the J'avo used conventional weaponry like RPGs, Grenade Launchers and other gear, so they had small scraps to work with instead of nothing at all.

Still didn't explain how they got there though.

"Captain." the smooth, calm voice of her Sergeant reached Ryouko's ears as she turned to the direction it came from. Origami Tobiichi came jogging towards her, her rifle in hand as she stopped before her superior. She then gave a salute, before initiating her report. "5 Squadrons have made it back to us. They have brought their Tanks with them as well, and are presently setting up their defences." she stated.

Ryouko nodded in confirmation, mentally thanking the CPUs that they still had some Tanks left. Those Whoppers tended to take a lot of ammo to take down, which was why they brought Tanks in the first place. They had intended to take out the bigger threats first, neutralise the strength of the Infection. It was a lesson they had learned from Racoon City, even though she hadn't been there at the time. Some of her girls were, and what they described to her made her glad she wasn't.

However, they had been unprepared for Ganache to suddenly release a toxic gas from his body, which had turned a large portion of their forces into undead. Many Tanks had fallen during the initial chaos, either by the infection or their own forces in their panic. There had been so few Tanks left, at least 8 to 9, when they were rescued by DEATHSTROKE and his comrades.

Things took a turn for the worse however, when they heard several bestial roars in the distance, making Ryouko pale. While Origami didn't look like she was affected, if one looked carefully they would have seen light beads of sweat on her forehead. "Oh shit, you've gotta be kidding! Hunters, really?! This day just keeps getting better and better!" Ryouko snarled more like an animal than a human. She quickly pressed a finger against the earpiece in her left ear, leaning out and firing upon several advancing J'avo, who quickly fell back to let some Zombies take the fall instead. "Support teams, where the hell are those Hunters?!"

Just then, before she got an answer...

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Everyone, including the enemy Zombies, J'avo and mutated monsters, all covered their eardrums at the shrill, Banshee-like shriek that had erupted from out of nowhere.

"What the heck?!"

"What's with that scream?!"

"It sounds awfully like a girl's scream, do you think...?"

Several female soldiers commented to each other about the shriek they heard, their instincts telling them that the screamer was female. It was almost universal to know whether a scream was male or female in Gamindustri. Ryouko scowled as the ringing in her ears subsided. Whatever made that scream was definitely not human, that was what her gut told her. A feminine part of her somehow felt a flash of sympathy for some reason, although he quickly quashed it to relay orders to her troops. "Quit your lollygagging and reinforce those defensive lines! We've got a checkpoint to defend, or have you forgotten, ladies?!"

"No, Ma'am!"

* * *

Back with Nico and the others...

In an effort to preserve her modesty, IF curled up into a ball while remaining on her feet, wrapping her arms around herself to cover what little dignity she had left. "What the hell happened to my clothes?! Why the hell am I naked, of all things?! And, WHERE THE HELL ARE MY GODDAMN PHONES?!" she shrieked at them, before narrowing her teary eyes at Neptune and glaring at her. The brunette's face was red, either out of embarrassment or anger was difficult to tell at this point, but they weren't able to ponder on that for long. "This is your doing, isn't it, Nep?! You just wait, when I get something on I'mma…"

Her words were cut off, when she saw what looked like dark greenish black sludge suddenly burst out her shoulders, cascading down her shoulder s and her body. startled, IF stood up and stepped back as the sludge spread over her upper body, save for her neck, before splitting when it reached her waist. The two pieces fell to her feet, while the main piece sprouted what looked like the bottom of a coat.

After a couple seconds had passed, IF now had an outfit identical to the one she had on before, save for her belt of phones.

"Eh-whoa… what the hell happened just then…?" she wondered, blinking in awe as the girls, seeing that IF now was no longer naked, let Nico see again. When he noticed she was clothed again, Nico released an audible sigh of relief, which prompted IF to look at the male in question. "Uh, Nico, do you know by any chance, what's going on here?"

At her question, the male remembered what had happened in the last few moments, making him blink in confusion as well. "Honestly, I haven't much clue. I just used the formula that we found in the Factory on you, enhanced it with demonic energy, and here we are." He replied, frowning as he cupped his chin. His eyes gained a sorrowful glint in them afterwards as he looked back at the shocked brunette. "I-I'm sorry IF, but it was the only way I could save you, I…"

Seeing what he was about to do, IF raised her hand, silencing him and stopping Nico from making any further attempts to apologise. "You don't have to say sorry, Nico. While I admit I'm a bit peeved that you used the Virus on me, I don't seem to be… you know, acting like a normal monster. In fact, I look s human as I could be." She remarked, looking down at herself. "Although, I do feel a little different. Honestly. I feel… stronger, and there's like, something in my gut that's just… siting there, waiting for something, I'm not sure."

Everyone's brows furrowed as they contemplated what had happened to the brunette. She was indeed infected, that was a fact. The chrysalis that was made from her body was proof of that fact, something IF had only noticed just after she had explained what she was feeling within herself. However, the fact that she was talking, looked like a normal human, had the mind of one, as well as the fact that she just generated clothes with some sort of mass, meant that IF had indeed become a BOW, one that retained her mental faculties unlike let's say the Ogroman.

"Please, allow me to explain."

Everyone blinked when the piece of the Key Fragment they had in their possession appeared before them, shining brightly with the voice of a certain tome spoke through. "Histy!" Neptune exclaimed again, surprise in her tone as she regarded the Key Fragment.

"So, this is Histoire…" IF mumbled in comprehension, eying the glowing fragment with rapt attention. She, along with Noire, hadn't been around when the Tome had talked to the party before, so this was the first time that they had spoken to each other. The fact that she had information on what had just happened to them was also a bonus, she had seen Nico's facial expressions change erratically for seemingly no apparent reasoning as well, despite her vision being slightly blurred at the time, which likely meat she had been discussing something with him alone. Thus, she was quite eager to hear what she had to say.

If they could see her, the girls knew that Histoire would be smiling politely. "It is nice to finally speak with you, Lady Noire, IF. The last time Neptune and Nico here heard my vice was back in West Wind Valley. I could only speak to them due to anchoring myself to Neptune's energy. As for your current condition, it is due to Nico's demonic energy changing the virus's genetic code. One of the DPU's abilities is to control diseases down to the cellular level, as well as spin them from within their beings. DPUs would use these viruses to empower their worshippers, turning them into monstrosities that equal the Abnormals in strength." She explained.

"Histoire? You're the one Neptune is rescuing? Anyways, nice to hear from you too, and what do you mean by DPUs? It sounds like there's more than one of them." Noire interjected with a frown. She was sure she was missing something here, something to do with the transformation that Nico had apparently underwent during their first meeting.

Histoire hummed in acknowledgement, a pulse of light releasing from th glowing fragment. "Indeed, there was a time where DPUs existed as much as regular monsters did, although that time has mostly been lost to darkness. However, that is a story for another time as I do not have long, this Fragment has exhausted most of its power already. Please ask Neptune and the others for more details, Noire. Now then, as for you IF, I told Nico to imbue the Virus strain he had with his own energy, changing it down to the molecular level to allow you to retain your mental faculties. The fact that you're human in appearance is a fortunate stroke of luck."

IF hummed as she struggled to take all this information in. "So, you're telling me that you helped Nico learn more about his powers and save my life in the process? Well, thanks I guess. Though I'm not sure how I feel with being a BOW now…" she remarked, before trailing off sadly at the end as her eyes lost their shine from before, looking down dejectedly as she realised a brutal fac. She wasn't human anymore, she was now something akin to a monster, something that should not have existed, but yet it did at the same time.

Seeing her state made Nico act out of instinct. "Look at me, IF." The male said as he approached her, grasping her shoulders firmly which made the brunette look up at him in shock and surprise at his bold move. She was speechless, which allowed the male to continue with a firm, steeled tone and a strong gaze. "Whether you're a BOW or human does not matter, do you understand? You're you, and nobody else has a right to say differently. Find someone who does, then beat the living hell out of them… and maybe even call me to I could give them a piece of my mind, too." He smirked at the end, amusement yet with hints of seriousness dancing within his light blue irises.

Blinking momentarily, IF struggled and eventually regained her wits about her, before smirking back as she pulled away from him, chuckling at him in amusement. "Heh, you seem to know wat to say to a girl, NICKY." She remarked with a snarky tone. "One has to wonder if you say that to every depressed damsel."

Nico mirrored her smirk with his own, though his eyes held a slight defensive gaze as he replied with. "Hey, that's not nice, IFFY, I'm no ladies' man. I was just trying to comfort someone I trust with a problem she was dealing with, nothing else about it." he then gestured to the others, his smirk widening into a grin. "Though now that you say that, judging by what you said earlier back at the Factory I can assume you swing that way, Mrs C-U-T-T-E?"

Remembering that little event caused IF to flush in embarrassment, as well as the hits to her sexuality. "Ugh, you win this, round… #MUMBLE# #MUMBLE#." She grumbled under her breathe, which made Nico laugh in amusement. IF responded by punching him slightly on the chest, though there was no strength in it and she had a slight smile on her face.

That smile vanished and was replaced by shock when her little 'love-tap' managed to send Nico flying a total of 40 metres, the male quickly righting himself before landing on the ground, sliding to a halt. "Whoa! Dude, I'm sorry, I guess I just don't know my own strength!" the brunette apologised while running up to him. She guessed the transformation had altered her body completely, enhancing her physical abilities beyond that of an ordinary human. IF knew he was alright, considering Nico had fought worse than that, but still she felt a spark of guilt for knocking him bac like she did, albeit accidentally.

'Ufufufu, it appears that your situation has been resolved. Unfortunately, I must go now, there's not much power left In the Key Fragment, so I must wait for it to recharge before speaking to you all as a group again. Farewell.' Histoire spoke, her presence soon fading away as the Key Fragment vanished back into Neptune's inventory. Though while she was indeed gone, for now at least, her help had been greatly appreciated, especially by Nico and IF. IF because she could now live her life free of the horror of being infected, as being already infected with her faculties intact would have its perks, and Nico because he didn't have to kill a comrade.

Their moment of bliss however, came to a sad end when Ganache, much to their annoyance, had come back from his little visit to the debris and was dusting his Trench Coat off, glaring slightly at the brunette. "It seems that you have gained some form of divine luck, Mrs IF, for you to have survived such a transformation with your mentality unaffected." He remarked, though to them it felt like almost an insult. With her mind intact, it would be practically impossible for him to usurp control over her, as his controlling abilities only worked on those who have weaker minds than he did.

"Aw, don't be jelly Ganache." IF replied with her snarky attitude on full blast, smirking cockily at him. "I know you just jelly that I got something you couldn't." she taunted back, and her taunts seemed to work as Ganache went rigid at her words, making them snigger in unison. It was true, IF's power, enhanced by her viral rebirth, could be felt across the battlefield, and it easily surpassed Ganache's power which was likely due to the C Virus being more prominent than whatever Virus used on Ganache.

Ganache, after regaining his wits, glared at them and growled, all form of business demeanour gone as he snarled. "Well, we shall see about that. It is fortunate that we managed to pack a spare of these in case one of them was dealt with. Come, Killachine Mk 1.5!" he bellowed, pulling out a remote and pressing a button on it. Afterwards, a flash of light appeared before him, forcing the others to cover their eyes.

When it died down, another Killachine appeared before them, only this one was slightly different. For one, its weapons were a pair of oversized sickles, with the matching colour scheme of the robot's, and the tail was significantly longer, looking twisted and horrifically jagged. Its sole crimson lense focused down on them and in a moment, it raised its sickle, as if trying to issue a challenge to them. Basically, a robotic way of saying 'bring it, bitches!'

"Cocky little guy, aren't you?" Nico remarked, his mood skyrocketing at having saved one of his comrades, to the point where he didn't mind his playful side creeping to the surface in this situation. "Sure, you don't wanna tussle with us yourself? I mean, you took us to the cleaners before, so we owe you a favour." As he asked this, Nico raised a newly summoned Rebellion and pointed it in a similar manner to the Killachine at Ganache's face, hoping he'd take the bait.

Sadly, no dice, as the man shook his head while waving him off dismissively, much to Nico's annoyance "Like I said before, I am a busy man, so I do not have time to indulge in petty conflict." Oh yeah? What was with that fight earlier, then? Nico remarked to himself silently while Ganache continued unawares. "Therefore, I shall continue our research with this Killachine since the other one is being dealt with by your friends."

BOOM, BOOM, CRASH, BANG, BANG!

"Don't you mean "has been" old fart?!" A yell came from the distance where the battle with the first Killachine had been raging. From that direction, Team RAIL, along with its leader, dropped from the rooftops while one of them, Lucy, was carrying the destroyed head of the Killachine they had been fighting… all with an innocent smile on her face. She then tossed it, or rather flicked it, towards Ganache who swiftly roundhouse kicked it into the air, allowing the other Killachine to slice it apart.

Afterwards, Ganache lowered his leg and dusted his leg off, as if what had happened didn't just happen. "I will not dignify that claim with a response. However," he pointed upwards at the Killachine as it loomed over them. "If you think that this one will be anything like the last, then you will be in for a nasty surprise."

"#COUGH# stereotypical villain bullshit #COUGH#" Nico pretended to clear his throat while placing a fist over his mouth in a poor attempt to hide it, although his true intent was visible in his eyes. At some point, he had discarded his Mask, placing it back in his Void Storage. It had been getting a little too stuffy from being worn through so much action, with how much sweat that was released from all this drama.

Compa was the only one to hide her smirk of amusement.

Nevertheless, the Killachine groaned as it launched its Tail at them, making the group scatter to the sides. Nico landed first and went on the offensive, imbuing his Rebellion with demonic energy to send an upward energy slash at it. The Killachine deflected it with one Sickle while hurling the other like a Boomerang. Nico managed to dodge it by ducking under it, and when it came back to hit him from behind Nico back flipped over it, leaving no trace of him on it as it returned to the Killachine's hand.

Raven and Ivan went next while Compa distracted it with a COMPA LOVE HEART. The woman unsheathed her sword, the blade having a glowing blue edge unlike the crimson one from before. She jumped at the Tail and sliced through it in one clean cut, resulting in an explosion of ice particles erupting from the wound. The Tail shuddered and smashed itself on the ground, breaking the ice while Ivan switched his Bionic Arm to Blade mode to slash at the open wound.

The material seemed to be stronger than the last one though, because both of their weapons hardly made any dents in its armoured Tail, which thwacked at them both. Raven used the Tail as a means to jump back while Ivan managed to flip multiple times to get the distance he needed, switching his arm to Cannon mode opting for some lightning bolts to try and slow it down.

"Team RAIL, enemy has upgraded armour, weaponry and who knows what other shit it has." Raven said, pressing her finger against the ear piece to activate a Com channel shared by her team, handing out instructions like a proper leader. "We'll implement containment, CYBORG is gonna keep it dazed with his lightning bolts. We've got FALCON up top, he's going to help CYBORG keep the pressure off us. Me and VERONICA, we're going in close combat. Alright team, you got your orders! Move out!" a unified chorus of "Roger that" came from the rest of her Team as Raven nodded in satisfaction, readying her blade.

She then began charging forwards, noticing that Nico was beside her with his blade at the ready, having prepped a skill of his own. "You wanna go first, or shall I?" she asked him, smirking behind her Mask as Nico responded in kind, nodding at her to tell her it was alright for her to go first. Raven nodded, showing that she understood as Nico hung back while she took off.

"HYPER SLASH!"

Energy matching the colour of her blade's edge crackled along the blade as she dashed past a slash from the Killachine, cutting through one side in a single slash, before dashing back and cutting through the other side. She then jumped into the air and brought her Katana down on the robot, making a third vertical slash on its body, all three exploding into energy that dealt significant damage.

Nico grinned as he saw this side of her. The male loved fighting alongside Team RAIL for one reason, and that was because they were almost as badass as himself. Almost. And that was not him being arrogant, they had the potential to be as badass as he was, but they weren't as reckless as he was. Plus, they didn't have powers they couldn't control, unlike him.

Seeing that her attack had ended, Nico went in with his own before the Killachine could recover. "here, take this, PHANTOM EDGE!" he yelled, running up to the Killachine and jumping at its chest. He reared Rebellion back while FALCON and CYBORG kept it distracted with bullets and lighting blasts, before slashing it diagonally. The energy slash erupted seconds after, making the Killachine stumble slightly in its hovering.

When he landed, the creature made to slam one of its Sickles onto him, but the male managed to roll out of the way, getting back to a standing position until he had to duck under the second horizontal swipe. He then jumped back to dodge the third overhead strike that left the Sickle embedded into the ground. Nico smirked darkly, his eyes gleaming menacingly as he reared Rebellion back and fired a PHANTOM BLADES Skill at its chest, knocking it back a couple metres.

Groans came from within as the Killachine stumbled again, much more noticeably this time. This filled the party with hope as Neptune and Black Heart flew in from above, diving down towards it like 2 fighter jets about to launch their payloads.

"You ready for this Noire?!"

"Hmph! I was born ready for this!"

The two girls gave a mighty battle cry as their blades, each one crackling with energy, were swung in unison. As their blades were swung, their energies combined together, forming a silvery purple slash that was sent roaring towards the Killachine, impacting on its head and making it groan in pain, if that were even possible since it was a machine.

It fell onto its back, before the shoulders opened up and launched a volley of 50 Missiles… from one shoulder each. Neptune and Noire gasped at this, knowing that they were coming too fast to avoid in time. But before they could land a hit, a familiar metal winged man came swooping in, floated in front of them, and generated a smokescreen by negating the missiles with his own.

Turning his head to them, he finally spoke. "Keep a weather eye on your surroundings, lest you end up dead." The way he spoke was cold, harsh, and lack any warmth one might expect from a human being. It was like he was more of a soldier than a man at that moment, something that sent chills down the girls' spines. Nodding in satisfaction, FALCON took to the skies and once again began raining fire upon the Killachine.

Down below, the Killachine got to its feet as Lucy ad Raven walked up to it, their bladed weapons ready for combat. Instead of the former, it was the latter who went first, her Cleavers glowing Brightly as she picked up speed and went into a dash. "Hehehehehe, looks like you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, dearie. JACK THE RIPPER!" she cackled evilly, almost borderline psychotically as she began dashing back and forth, cutting into the Killachine wherever she could, before jumping into the air, and coming down into an X shaped slash, finishing the Skill off.

Then, Raven went next, gripping the Odachi as she sheathed it the rotating cylinder switching to a yellow colour. When she pulled the blade out once more, the edge matched the colour change as lighting constantly sparked from it. "The hands of hell shall engulf you. DEMON CLAW!" Gripping her sword, the energy around it flew off it, forming several new blades above and below it, making it look like she was holding a 'claw' of blades as she charged at the Killachine. The Killachine tried to block her with its left Sickle, however she slashed it aside and jumped to its chest area, spinning into a diagonal swing to its chest, making several claw marks through the metal.

After she landed behind it, she immediately jumped away to avoid the Tail as it slammed down on her position. The Killachine's eye narrowed, as if it were annoyed as it began smashing everything around it with its Tail, forcing everyone to be constantly moving. Though several people, Black Heart. Neptune and FALCON, had no problems considering they could fly.

'Those guys are freaking lucky they can fly…' IF gritted her teeth in annoyance, glaring jealously at the ones flying above them, raining fire upon the Killachine's Sickles with bullets or energy slashes. That was when something began to change within her, and her right arm began to tremble. The same sensations assembled at her upper back as well, making his groan and moan in pain and confusion. "Wh-Wha-?!" she tried to say, but the pain shooting through her stopped any words from coming. The Tail's next strike came down upon her, however when it was about to hit, something blew it back, sending it crashing into the wall.

"What?!" Ganache yelled as the reason why this happened was made apparent. IF looked to her limb and felt her jaw dropping. It would have fell to the floor if it weren't connected to her face. Her arm, well, now it looked nothing like an arm but a set of insectoid Tentacles, their thickness rivalling that of an average bodybuilder. They numbered at 6, and had sharp glowing orange tips. Each one protruded from her shoulder, having replaced her entire arm up to the shoulder socket.

When everyone else saw her mutation, they too were flabbergasted at what they saw.

"Holy…"

"… well, this is indeed quite the surprise."

"Neptune, I can agree with you there."

"Iffy has… Tentacles…?"

Those were the reactions of Black Heart, Neptune, Nico, and Compa respectively. They knew that while she did survive, IF was still a BOW now, so she was bound to have some mutation. This apparently was it. To them, it looked akin to the mutations J'avo underwent, only much more drastic and deadly.

IF's eyes were bulging while she tried to rein in her stunned awe at the limbs she had formed unconsciously. "Whoa… neat…" she muttered, before looking at the Killachine and deciding to test these guys out.

The said Machine made to slam a Tail strike into her gut, but the Tentacles lowered themselves before flicking upwards, deflecting the strike towards the harmless sky. They then lunged, spearing the Tail at 6 different points, before tearing themselves free and ripping the Tail apart, piece by piece.

Several sounds of skin tearing were heard from behind her, as several more appendages burst out her upper back. When she looked behind her once she felt that the mutation was complete, IF saw, once again to her shock, that she had wings: 4 dark green reptilian wings made from her flesh, the lower ones being shorter than the upper ones.

Instinctively, IF tried moving them, and something must have been triggered in her brain because they shifted slightly, but did nothing else. IF made to try again when the Killachine launched another volley of Missiles at her. The Tentacles reared back as they began slashing or deflecting the missiles, thrashing about violently while IF began to run around the Killachine, keeping mobile to keep ahead of the hounds and to allow her weapon to deal with the missiles safely.

While she distracted it, Nico closed in with Lucy and Ivan beside him, the teen swiftly jumping onto its back and placing a marker on it. "Heh, I got it! CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!" he bellowed, jumping off just as the magic circle and chains appeared, restraining the Killachine and stopping it from harming IF any further. Lucy and Ivan followed up with a JACK THE RIPPER and a barrage of Lightning Blasts respectively.

Landing, Ivan switched his arm to Blade Mode, which began to glow blue as he activated a Skill. "Heh, you're done! CHIDORI!" instantly his blade became covered in a layer of lightning, sparks flying off it. Running at the Killachine, Ivan saw that the robot had raised its right Sickle to slash down on him, but before it could attack a series of missiles hit it in the arm, stopping its attack. Looking to the source, he saw Aiden giving him a confirmation nod, getting a thumbs-up from Ivan as he ran at the base of its Tail and sliced while dashing past it. The attack erupted and sparks coursed through the enemy, dealing significant damage.

Not done yet, Ivan spun around and returned his arm to default mode, the parts rearranging themselves back to a normal arm. Both his arms shined in a bright blue light as he activated another Skill of his. "Like I'm through with you, bitch! 1000 PUNCH CANNON!" Rearing his fists, both human and machine, backwards before unleashing a vicious flurry of punches, punches so fast that it looked like he had multiple fists flying forwards. Each punch created an energy sphere of blue colour when thrusted forwards, and by the time he had done a thousand punches in a couple seconds, Ivan punched forwards with his human arm, which launched the Spheres at the Killachine.

Each hit knocked it back, until the last one finally made it lose balance and fall to the ground, lying on its back. As it tried to get up, Aiden flew overhead, his eyes narrowed behind his Goggles which had its lenses narrow slightly at the enemy. "Prepping to attack. Make way." He spoke robotically as he flew down low like his codename's sake. When he was close enough to its chest, Aiden righted himself as his wings began to glow a greyish colour. "Taste the power of a furious storm. STORM BLADES."

Each wing gave a single flap, and the energy in those winds was released as a single salvo of 40 long blade-like feathers that rained down upon the downed Killachine. But Aiden wasn't finished as he circled backwards in a Vertical manner, before coming back and righting himself with grey energy trails pouring from the top of his wings to the space above his head, forming a large spiralling sphere of energy. "The power of the storm compels all to follow in its wake. PROTON BEAM."

The sphere was then launched as a large beam of grey energy, and when it hit the downed Killachine, it was sent sliding across the ground, by about 20 metres before an explosion concealed it from view.

The non-Team RAIL members watched their efforts in awe, amazed at the display of power from these guys. It was like seeing a bunch of Goddesses fighting together against a single enemy, something that they hadn't seen before, or entertained the idea of since the Goddesses usually were fighting each other in the Console War.

"Okay, I will admit that these Spec Ops Agents are more than just for show…" Black Heart muttered, barely concealing how impressed she was with their skill in combat. The way they worked together was fantastic, and their experiences together allowed them to know what each other was thinking without the need to fall back on their Earpieces. She had thought that Nico was one of the special ones, with how overpowered he was, but seeing this, she was starting to think that was just the norm for all Spec Ops Agents.

Every one of them was freaking overpowered.

Neptune also had something to say, regarding Team RAIL. "And here I thought that we wouldn't see any other Agents than Nicky in this fanfic. I guess the Author was struggling to come up with ideas for their designs, so he just mixed a bunch of ideas into them,"

The girls glanced at Neptune with weary eyes, seeing that she had gone and done a meta joke in her HDD form. "Nep-Nep, joking in HDD form feels… kind of weird…" Compa remarked with a weak smile.

"Well, I guess that Nep will always be Nep, no matter what form she's in. Though you're right Compa, it does feel weird seeing her joke like that when she's in serous mode." IF remarked with a light smirk, showing that she wasn't as annoyed as she should be. That was likely because she had some of her attention diverted to her mutations "Now, finally I can see if I can get these to work…"

With that said, IF closed her eyes and reached into her mind, trying to locate the new instincts for her winged appendages. For a few seconds, she couldn't grasp them fully, and her wings would shift slightly in response on the outside. But finally, after grasping them for so long that she had gotten used to the feel of them, firmly clutched those instincts with her mind, and opened her eyes to see that she had took to the skies. "Yes! Finally!"

Glee filled her as IF flew in a circle through the air, circling her companions as she did so. "Heh, is this what you guys feel when you fly?! Have to admit, never knew what I was missing!" she called down to the two transformed girls. She then righted herself and hovered in the air, looking to her Tentacles. "Hmm, now how would I return my arm to normal…" she mumbled.

Almost as if on command, the Tentacles shortened till they were back at an arm's length, merging together and reforming into IF's normal arm. Right down to the tiniest Cell in her limb. The brunette blinked owlishly at this. "That was weird…." She then shrugged her shoulders, not caring at this point. "Well, I'll just roll with it."

Soon, the party re-joined with Team RAIL, Aiden's wings retracting into his backpack, while Raven sheathed her Odachi, Lucy returned her Cleavers to her Inventory, and Ivan set his Bionic arm to default mode. "That was amazing, you guys! You were all really cool!" Compa praised, her eyes sparkling with admiration towards the four.

"Hehehe, well, thanks." Lucy replied bashfully, rubbing the back of her head. "We're glad we could help, ya know." She then noticed Nico among them, and her bashful look changed to one of seduction, like the one she had when they met back in that Park-turned-battlefield. "And I'm more than willing to help you in plenty of… other, physical means, Nicky-dear." She whispered sultrily appearing before him while doodling on his chest.

Once again, as with all attempts at the M RATED FLUFFINESS, Nico lost his composure and his face reddened to th shade of cherries. "I-I-I-I U-um…" he tried to speak, but no words came out of his orifice. He was quite literally tongue tied at the moment.

The girls glared jealously at Lucy, not liking how close she was getting to the male of their group. Neptune and Compa made to intervene on their friend's behalf, however that was soon proven unnecessary when a sharp Killing intent pierced the back of Lucy's head like a dagger. "Lucy…"

Her face losing colour a little, Lucy slowly turned her head over to Raven, whom had discarded her Mask to reveal her face, which was arguably insanely beautiful. Well-developed and womanly, as well as contorted with silent anger as her eyes gave this demonic crimson shine that scared the other girls, save for Lucy, senseless. "What do you think you're doing…?"

Compa squeaked in fright at the sight of the furious Raven. "e-eek! Mrs SAMURAI is scary…" she whispered while running behind Nico for comfort. The male just sheepishly chuckled as he struggled to think of something he could say.

Eventually, he was able to find something. "Um, Compa, her name is Raven…"

Nevertheless, Raven continued to glare at Lucy with an ominous 'I'll kill you' stare, of which Lucy held her hand over her mouth to hide her amused grin as she looked away innocently, wiggling her booty from side to side. "Why, I'm not so sure what you man, fearless leader…" she began, only to see her glare increase in intensity. "I'm just giving our friend here some of my gratitude for letting us know of this beforehand."

"And you have to put yourself over him like a slut to 'show your gratitude' do you?" Raven remarked, stepping forwards while flicking her Odachi slightly put of its sheathe. "You've got a lot of gall, doing that while I'm here and while we haven't met with Nico in a while."

While the girls were stepping back away from the furious team leader, Luc was not scared in the least as she lowered her hand to reveal a dangerous smile as she summoned her Cleavers, slowly taking steps towards her leader with her Cleavers gleaming menacingly. "Fufufu, I don't get what you're so upset about, seriously, shouldn't we be smothering him with our attention since we haven't seen him in so long? you know he likes it, so why fight it?"

At this, Raven glared even harder at the redhead, gripping her Odachi and drawing it halfway, the blade's edge being its default Crimson. "We're not all slutty skanks like you are, slut. Some have dignity, unlike you." She retorted, noticing the twitching of Lucy's brow which made her smirk, knowing her insults were getting through as they neared each other. Their bodies were literally radiating the desire to utterly maim each other until there was nothing left but mangled corpses.

Just before they could come to blows however, Aiden and Ivan pulled them back, the former going for Raven while the latter went for Lucy. They had their arms coming under their armpits and pulling them against their chests, their hands on the backs of their necks. "Hold it ladies, we just got through multiple fights at once here! No need to go ape shit and deal more damage than necessary to the city."

"Lemme go, Ivy, I gotta kill her! I gotta turn her to mush!" Lucy whined, flailing her legs shamelessly, unintentionally flashing the guys with what lay under her skirt. Fortunately for Nico and Aiden, they were able to look away with their dignity as men intact, they didn't want to have their manhood damaged after all.

Though, the spectacle did make Raven struggle harder in Aiden's grip. "As your commanding officer, FALCON, I order you to let me go this instant, let me get that hussy and show her where her place is!" she yelled, trying to play on the fact that Aiden was a hardened soldier.

However, the male remarked with his ever-stoic expression. "Do not misuse your position of power as an excuse to beat up your underlings." He told her, before glancing to the side towards Nico and the girls. "Especially when we have company that is not affiliated with us."

When he said those words, Raven's eyes widened and she finally noticed the Party. While anger bubbled within her at Lucy, she forced herself to calm down and clear her throat awkwardly. "Oh, well, why didn't you say so earlier?" Aiden wisely gave no answer as she stepped around him and walked towards the group having sheathed her Odachi. "A-Apologies that you had to see that unruly business. it most have been most unpleasant."

"Tch, unruly she says…"

Ignoring her vice leader, Raven lowered her head in a bowing manner as she introduced herself. "We have not officially met, but I am Raven, codename SAMURAI, leader of Team RAIL. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She then gestured to the others, starting with Aiden who was now leaning against a broken lamppost. "This is Aiden, codename FALCON, our combat scout." Her finger shifted over to Ivan, who gave a polite wave and lowered his Mask to show his grin. "This is Ivan, Codename CYBORG. Heavy hitter. The last one isn't worth mentioning (HEY!) but her name's Lucy, codename VERONICA, our vice leader."

Recognition flashed in IF's eyes as she finally figured something out. She clicked her fingers while this happened before pointing at them with the same hand. "Hey, I remember now. I heard there was a Team of Spec Ops Agents in Planeptune, brought together to better make use of their skills. Their strength alone is capable of rivalling the CPUs, so this is you guys, huh?"

At this, all of Team RAIL looked sheepish as they looked to the sides, even Aiden. "W-Well, we wouldn't go that far, but I'd say we were plenty powerful." Raven admitted with modesty. Modesty was mostly rare these days, since most go arrogant with the amount of praise for their skills they receive. Raven then heaved a breath as she got her composure back. "I assume then that you girls are with Nico on some job, then? That's the only explanation why we haven't seen him around for a while."

"You would be correct, Nicky here is-"

WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Everyone jumped, spinning around to face the Killachine as it once again started up. But the thig was, that all its damaged areas began to repair itself, metal spreading like it was living tissue, the Tail restoring its pieces to their original state, till it was back to full power. Only one thought entered their minds when they saw this. 'You're shitting me…?!'


	36. Chapter 36 - Round 2 and revealing

**Chapter 36 - Round 2 and Revealing**

Nico cursed as he hastily summoned Rebellion back to his hand from the Void Storage. The smoothness of the weapon's hilt did little to calm his nerves however, plus his raging Instincts weren't helping. It was all he could do to remain in control for the time being. "God fucking damnit!" this wasn't good, not at all. He could feel his instincts screeching, breaking the restraints, he had placed on them at the notion of an enemy that could take all teh punishment he could give it like this one.

Ivan patted his friend on the back of his shoulder, a sympathetic expression on his face as he got his Bionic Arm ready for battle. His Bionic Arm shifted to Blade Mode as he gave a small grunt. "You and me both, bro, you and me both." He remarked with irritation, thinking that Nico's irritation came solely from the fact that their foe still wasn't finished after all the damage they had dealt to it. His actions did serve to help Nico calm his instincts, the fact that he wasn't alone in this situation was able to assure the Instincts within that things would be okay, that they would come out of this alive.

Aiden hummed as he cupped his chin, no longer leaning on the lamppost as he slowly deployed his Wings in preparation for battle. He swiftly glanced to the Spec Ops Agent known as DEATHSTROKE, and his eyes briefly showed understanding before they resumed his usual blank, emotionless demeanour. "It appears that the enemy has been holding secret weapons back from us. It appears Ganache's words from earlier were not for show." He summarized thoughtfully before informing the group of his deduction.

Lucy groaned as she turned her head to level a face that basically said 'Really, captain obvious?' on it. She threw her arms into the air with her response. "Geez, ya think Aidy?!" she shrieked, sarcasm laced within her tone. She then pointed to the Killachine with her right hand, the said monster already having armed itself with it's Sickles, and it's Tail good as new. It was like their attacks hadn't even hit it at this point, not something that helped calm their nerves.

The stoic male levelled a stare towards his vice leader, as he spoke with a slight sense of annoyance and deadpan. "I must once again insist that you refrain from nicknaming me as such."

With the girls, Black Heart was groaning in displeasure all this drama was getting to her head. She needed a break, and a large one. Though, she knew that wouldn't be possible in the short future. "Jeez, I normally refrain from using obscene language, but this guy's already pain in the ass to deal with before, now it can regenerate?! Load of bull!" she yelled at the end, holding her head in frustration not realising that she still held her sword in one of her hands. It nearly hit IF, but she managed to avoid it in time with her new instincts.

The purple haired swordstress nodded her head in agreement with the white haired one, knowing her feelings all too well. This was often something she would see in an Abnormal so she figured the Killachine before them was one such monster. An Abnormal Boss monster, what a combination. "I must admit, I too agree with you, Noire. Maintaining this form after repetitive battles like this is exhausting." she said, rolling her shoulder as if to stretch several muscles that hadn't been used yet. Her power wasn't at full anymore, most of it had been used too take Ganache out, even though she failed in that mission.

Compa had teardrops in the corners of her eyes. She was so tired from all that running, jumping, rolling, dodging and ducking from earlier, abut with this she knew that there was more to come. She didn't like that, not one bit. "More fighting… muuuu!" she looked about ready to cry at this point.

IF, seeing this, patted her friend on the shoulder, careful not to apply too much strength into it since her strength as a BOW was greater than that of a normal human. "Easy, Compa, save the tears for AFTER we kick this thing's keister." She suggested, trying to help her. Though, in her mind IF was slightly glad the fight wasn't over yet, because she still felt that her powers needed some more testing.

"Hehehehehe, surprised?" Everyone turned their heads to see Ganache walking towards them from behind, a holographic data pad in his hand that showed the statistics of a certain programme within the Killachine. "I said this is the 1.5 version. We're still working the kinks out, but we did give it the ability to regenerate fully when in critical condition. Only works once though."

When Black Heart heard that, and glanced at the Killachine which once again loomed over them menacingly, she aimed a smirk in Ganache's direction, amusement and excitement dancing within her eyes as she spoke. "So, all that means is that we can beat it up some more so it won't recover." She summarized, lowering the doubts of her comrades who gave her relieved looks, then some smug ones to Ganache.

Said man retained his condescending smirk however, something which slightly surprised the group though they didn't show it. "Oh really? Well then, how about you get a taste of something else we've been meaning to test?" he asked it, but it was really more like something else when he pressed a few times on the data pad.

Afterwards, several mechanical whirring's sounded from within the Killachine as its eye seemed to enlarge slightly, then grew larger, and larger. Nico was the first to realise what was going on, and his face became pale as a result. "Oh, shi-!" he gasped as he listened to his instincts and jumped into the air. This was mirrored by IF, whose BOW instincts told her to get the fuck outta there just before a massive yellow beam was launched from the Killachine's eye.

The party had little time to react, and while Team RAIL's Lucy was able to move out of the way in time, the rest weren't so lucky, and were suddenly paralysed with constant yellow sparks flying from their bodies. The trio that survived the initial attack landed on opposite sides of the street they were on, staring with shock at the sight of their incapacitated comrades who fell to the ground, unable to move. Out of all the startled exclamations, Black Heart's was the loudest. "What is going on here, why can't I move?!"

At Black Heart's startled cry, Ganache burst into hysterical laughter. "Hahahahahahaha Ahahahahaha! Oh, that is just GLORIOUS!" he placed a hand on his chest and calmed his breathing down to normal, taking deep and slow breaths till his breathing was stabilised. "Whooo, wow I did not expect today to go like this. Anyways, it's just a special little eye cannon we've invented that paralyses foes on impact. Doesn't actually hurt them, but it shuts down their ability to move by overloading their nerve systems in the legs. Great for capturing pesky little brats, but not for outright killing them. It's still in the test phase, but it's making progress if it can paralyse a CPU." The man then pressed more on his Data pad. "Now, we haven't got all day, so I'll be making our Killachine finish you off now."

What remained of their party stiffened when they saw the shoulders of the Killachine open, to reveal its next salvo of missiles. Lucy cursed as she readied her Cleavers, she knew this would end up being bloody, especially with so many of them unable to dodge this attack. "Damnit, we were careless, let our guard down!"

IF did the same thing as the vice leader of Team RAIL as she flared her arm to the side and morphed it into her Tentacles. It was fortunate for her that she had listened to her instincts that time, otherwise she wouldn't be able to do this right now. "I can stop the missiles, but I'll be at risk if I don't move… but that'll leave the others wide open till the effects wear off… hopefully." She didn't want to entertain the notion that this effect would last the whole battle, but the thought just wouldn't leave her mind.

Nico, Nico was cursing up a storm in his mind, the same worries IF had coursing through his mind on an even greater scale. He knew this was because of his instincts going haywire, hell he could feel IT about to burst out of him and onto the surface, despite his attempts to suppress it. At moments like these he truly appreciated what it was like to have his armour. He missed it, he missed it dearly, but this was not the time to be sentimental, since his comrade's lives were on the line… again!

A brief flash of heat roared within his chest, and a gasp tore from his lips.

There... There was only one way he could think of due to the stress and anxiety this situation was causing him that could save the others: Transform into a DPU. It would keep IT under control as using DDD seemed to suppress IT better than his mental efforts ever could, likely due to the quantity of demonic energy rushing through his veins whenever he uses DDD. However, the possibility that he could lose control again was there, and it caused him to hesitate. 'I… I have to do it… but, what if I…?'

His mind was at war with himself as Nico struggled to conclude on what to do, searching for any other way than to transform and risk losing control again. However, he couldn't find any other way out of this. The Killachine's strength and defence was amazing, able to remain intact even after all that damage they had given it before. But unlike then, they didn't have a full party since most of them were paralysed. They wouldn't be able to help, hell, they'd just be a liability at this point, even though Nico loathed to admit this to himself, there was no other way to describe them at this point.

'I… is there really no other way… can I only just transform and…?'

All this hesitation was really starting to get on his nerves. He shouldn't be hesitating like this, he was Nico, the Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE! One of the best in the Guild! He shouldn't be hesitating at all, it ruined his image and reputation! Even without his beloved armour, the name still stuck to him, it was his title, it was HIS! This wasn't like him, not one bit.

While he thought this, Nico remembered the first time he transformed to battle that white-haired woman in the Monster Cave. At the time, he didn't even notice the change in his power, as his mind was only focused on one thing, and one thing only. What was it? what was it that drove him back then that he didn't have back at West Wind Valley?

It hit him like a bunch of airliners falling on top of him. Goal! He had a goal in mind, one that he wanted to do so badly he didn't even think of anything else. He remembered what he had said that time when in that inferno, how he had said he wouldn't care if he came back as a monster, he would come back to the people that he gave a damn about. He couldn't let them die back then, and he most certainly didn't want to now.

But there was more to it back then, there was something even greater that he had lacked back at West Wind Valley. Back then, there had been the tiniest amount of concern for his power, since he hadn't used it before and didn't know much on how to control it. Nico soon realised what that was after seconds of pondering, resolve. He had the resolve to transform, not caring about anything else but to do what he wanted to do.

'I… I get it! I get why I lost control earlier! The resolve to do what must be done, the goal that was important enough to warrant not thinking of anything else… that's what I need!' Nico thought as he closed his eyes and returned Rebellion to his Void Storage. He slowly kneeled and placed one hand on the ground, and began to call on the demonic energy. 'Back then, I was more focused on my goals, but back at West Wind Valley, I didn't have a set idea in mind, which made my DPU form harder to control. I guess I'm not ready to use it without a goal in mind yet, but...'

* * *

Histoire gasped when she felt it: Demonic Energy surging forth like an unstoppable flood. She quickly checked history's events, and through them, saw how Nico was going to transform once again. However, this time it appeared he had come to a conclusion on how to control the uncontrollable power. A small, yet relieved and happy, grin formed on her features. 'Yes... that's the way, Nico! The power of a DPU is controllable, but only by a strong mind. It respects power, and so long as it knows your top dog, then you will be guaranteed it's obedience as its wielder.' She thought, an odd sense of excitement filling her up inside.

She had been looking into what little she had on the DPUs ever since Nico first transformed, and what little she came across wasn't good. In fact, it was safe to say that it was terrible, atrocious even. These DPUs were truly heinous creatures when in their prime, however there was one redeeming feature they had. That was the fact that they each held a warrior's Spirit, and thus they each had a special code of honor.

Plus, there's how Nico wasn't like his ancestors. He had people who wouldn't let him descend to their level. She could only hope that this time, the DPU didn't make the same mistakes they did.

Only time would tell.

* * *

A faint red aura formed around him, the air around the street slightly becoming heated as a result. Not everyone noticed this, but some of them did, one of them being a confused Lucy. "Um, why is the temperature getting hotter here?" she wondered in confusion, muttering to herself.

Neptune and Black Heart both recognised this power, and turned to Nico in horror as they saw the aura forming around him. "Nicky, what are you doing?!" the former yelled in panic, she realised that the situation was bad, but to warrant transforming?! Since she was paralysed she couldn't stop him if he lost control either!

"What she said, stop it Nico! Don't do it, you know what'll happen if you do?!" Black Heart yelled as she tried to get through to the male while struggling against what paralysed her. However, her efforts on both fronts were fruitless, no matter how much she struggled against them.

Raven and her Team looked to the girls, seeing their horrified faces and felt like they were out of the loop on something, something big. And when it concerned their friend Nico, Raven and Lucy would pay rapt attention to it. "What? What is Nico doing over there?!" they yelled, but the girls were too nervous to hear them.

* * *

Meanwhile, the heat emitting from Nico increased in intensity in a gradual manner. The male had his head hung low so nobody could see his closed eyes as he focused, feeling the chaotic demonic energy rushing free from its confines and beginning the process of his transformation.

However, unlike before, Nico didn't feel anything from it, he felt nothing but energy, no fears, no doubts. No, that wasn't quite right, while a part of him was nervous about transforming again, that part had been pushed aside and later snuffed out, replaced with determination and willpower. He couldn't afford to be nervous now.

'My goal… my goal is… well, it's not something a cliché harem protagonist would think like 'I'm going to protect my friends!' or anything like all that cliché bullshit you'd see in anime, movies and manga's. I'm nothing like them, but I do need a goal… and that goal… well, it's in 3 separate forms: FIGHT, PROTECT, and above all… SURVIVE!'

* * *

Ganache laughed as he saw that nobody was doing anything, not moving one muscle as the missiles were ready to be launched. "Giving up so soon? Oh well, I suppose it is inevitable. Great power always baffles the minds of the primitive and the gullible." He mused to himself. Before looking up at the Killachine and making a single order. "Finish them off, Killachine 1.5!"

The Killachine moaned as it unleashed its Salvo of missiles which prompted IF to get in front of the others readying her Tentacles. She may have some experience with her new powers, but not enough to use them with confidence. Nonetheless, she had to try and make it so they would at least get a fighting chance. She had cheated death with their help once before, so why not make a remake? 'Hehe, looks like Nep's rubbing off on me. Facing death in the eye and what do I do? Make a meta joke on the franchise's rebirth series.' She thought, an absent-minded chuckle escaping her lips.

Just when the missiles were about to hit her first Tentacle however…

 **(Play Blue Dragon Ost - Determination)**

IF's eyes widened and her breath left her when she saw Nico jump in front of her, his body radiating a familiar heat that came with his transformation. Before she could ask him what the hell he was doing, Nico was engulfed in the flames of his DDD, flames that knocked away most of the missiles with their eruption, similar to the roar of a dragon, while IF's Tentacles managed to thwack the rest away, making them explode AROUND them instead of ON them.

Ganache's face lost colour when he saw this scene as he did a double take. He was forced to cover his face from the flames, a raging heat surging through the air that made breathing very difficult. "Wh-what the hell?! What is this?!" he shrieked, shock and fear rising in his vocals when he saw the transformation. There was a powerful sense of danger from that transformation, if it was even that, he realised. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, his palms began to sweat beneath his leather gloves, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep calm.

Flames roared as they circled around the Cocoon that had entrapped the male inside, ready for his transformation. Trails spread across the ground and the air, some even arching upwards into the skies above, as if trying to scar the very heavens themselves with their presence. The heat in the air was almost too much, for the air itself seemed to be melting before them as sizzling sounds echoed throughout the vicinity. Pieces of rubble born from the conflict were already starting to melt.

For the girls of Neptune's Party, they could only watch in awe at the sight. Despite their fears for their male Party Member's safety, they couldn't help but admire the spectacle before them, it was almost memorising in a way, the way the flames swayed and arched about like they were alive, like living breathing organisms. The way that their orangish red colours meshed with the dirty brown colours of the earth and the metallic blacks of the buildings around them. Hell, if Neptune were in human form, she'd comment about the music suddenly playing in the background.

The rest of Team RAIL watched on, flabbergasted when they saw this new transformation, just as much as Neptune, Compa and IF had been when they first saw it back in the Monster Cave dungeon. "What the… Nico, what did you…?" Raven breathed, her eyes wide and her jaw dropping slightly before she glanced at Lucy, knowing about 'that' side of her. 'Lucy must be losing her mind right now… to see something that…'

When the flames died down, there Nico stood, in his full DPU glory. His eyes, which were closed, slowly opened to reveal their dark coloured power button symbols, sending chills down everyone's spines. The male's adult body was now encased in his usual fiery aura as his reddish orange armour gleamed menacingly, his pointed gaze enough to scare even the most battle hardened of war veterans. The impression wasn't helped by the insidious appearance of his primary weapon: the sword Soul Edge.

His appearance certainly set Ganache into a dazed stupor, even the Killachine seemed taken aback by the twisted, demonic appearance Nico now possessed. "wha-where-how-why…?" he tried to form a sentence, but his mind refused to form the words that he would need to do such a thing.

 **(OST Ends)**

Ignoring Ganache, Nico looked himself over, something that instantly caught the attention of those that knew what this transformation was. This was new, Nico hadn't done this the last few times he had transformed, it was always 'stare silently while hacking away everything in sight'. obviously, something changed, they hoped that it was something good. They didn't want to deal with an out-of-control Nico, while paralysed, in the middle of a civilian area. If they did have to...

The results would be cataclysmic.

Their hopes were realised, much to their joy and awe, when Nico spoke. "Hmmm, so this is what I look like in DDD? Wow, this actually… feels kinda badass." He remarked, his eyes blinking in amazement. The fact that his face was morphing slightly into different expressions, as well as the fact that Nico spoke like an older version of himself, meant that Nico had done it, he had achieved control over his DPU form. Or at least, learned how to not lose control so easily judging by how he randomly twitched occasionally. Glancing at them, any doubts they would have had were vanquished when Nico floated over to them, making sure to rein in his power so they weren't bothered by the heat, and spoke. "I wish to apologise for how I acted the last time I transformed."

He then turned to Black Heart, who flinched slightly at his gaze, though it filled with surprise when Nico's own gaze became downcast with sadness, and guilt. "Especially you, Bl-Noire." He corrected himself before the others could hear what he said. Though, he had forgotten that she has transformed in front of them before. The male then turned around and hovered back to his previous position, getting into a battle stance with his Soul Edge gleaming sinisterly, eager to battle with its master. "To that end, I shall right my wrongs by burning this fool to cinders, sending it to oblivion."

Compa eyed the transformed Nico in awe. "Looks like Ni-Ni's alright, he's still in control!" she exclaimed with shock and, later, joy. Now that he was in control, Compa didn't feel as frightened by his new appearance as much anymore, in fact it was quite the opposite. She eyed certain parts of his armour that didn't hide the developed body of Nico's older, adult self. 'W-Woooooow….'

"Heh, hard to believe, but the dude pulled it off. I was honestly worried for a moment there." IF admitted with a bashful smile, her remaining hand on her hip as her instincts, which had been screaming at her to run when Nico had looked at them, settled down upon the realisation that he was in control and wouldn't attack them.

Neptune heaved a relieved sigh, although it was difficult considering her current condition. "It is relieving to me as well. Now, I am not the only one who can transform freely." She said, enjoying the realisation that she wasn't the only one who could transform anymore. While Nico had the portable armour at one point, it still didn't feel like an actual transformation. With it gone after that battle the male had nothing at all that could relate to her, save for that uncontrollable transformation. Now that he had control over it, Neptune didn't feel as lonely anymore.

Her thoughts were halted when Black Heart, while sharing their feelings, brought them back to the reality of their situation. "We can feel relieved later, right now we should focus on trying to escape this paralysing thing were on." she urged them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ivan was cursing to himself as he tried to break free from his paralysis. This was the case, until he saw Aiden drinking a Paralaxin with his mouth, making him gape at the other male. "Dude, when the hell did you have the time to get some Paralaxin out? Didn't we run out of those when facing those Genprey back in Leanbox?" he asked him.

"I had some left on me that I failed to notice during my previous rundown of my equipment. A fortunate mistake, for it shall serve us well in this situation. Be patient while I recover from this and I'll get to the rest of you."

Aiden's answer bewildered Ivan as he sweat dropped, chuckling weakly at his fellow male. "How the heck did he forget something as important as that…?" he wondered, but didn't say it to a point where the others could hear him since like Aiden had said, it was a godsend for them. "Now, if Nico can just hold that thing off, then…"

* * *

 **(Play Blue Dragon OST - The Earth Shark is Comno)**

Back with Nico, the male struck first by taking to the air and slamming his Sword down on the Killachine which blocked with one of its Sickles. It struck diagonally with the other one, but Nico generated a panel, akin to the ones CPUs use except this one was red and shaped like a slitted eye with a circle made out of fiery embers around it, that blocked the attack. He then raised Soul Edge to the skies and allowed fiery trails to emerge from the eye at its hilt, covering the blade's metallic edge. "This attack was nameless once before. Its name had not yet been learned, hence why Neptune's version of it was weaker than it should've been. That will change now, however. ATOMIC INFERNO."

Swinging Soul Edge, Nico sent the 30 fiery homing rays down towards the Killachine, which despite its best attempts to defend and dodge, was overwhelmed with the amount that had been launched. The resulting impact made by the rest of the homing rays caused a spiralling pillar of flames to erupt into an explosion, filling the area with intense heat.

Heat that wouldn't bother the others thanks to Nico's will over the power he wielded.

So far, he could feel himself remaining in control for the time being. He didn't know how long though, because he could feel it trying to wrestle free, to be free to do what it wanted. Nico wouldn't allow that, so te male resolved to end this fight quickly, while also learning how this power of his worked. Now that he had successfully retained his mental awareness and not allowed the demonic energy to overwhelm him, Nico could now learn how his powers worked properly, instead of small bursts unlike before.

Slowly, the male descended to the ground till he was floating just above it, his Soul Edge held at his side. The male then raised a hand, and the hand suddenly erupted in flames which condensed into a large gauntlet, 4 times larger than a human arm. With a single swing from Soul Edge, the smoke was dispersed to reveal the Killachine, mildly damaged but still kicking. Its laser was charged up and fired on him without a moment's hesitation.

"Nico, no! Get outta there, its dangerous!" everyone cried out, telling him to move out of the way lest he get hit, only for Nico to not listen and rear his fist back. "Good grief." He muttered under his breath. He then felt flames wrap around his Gauntlet like a second skin, forming a larger, fiery version of itself, before thrusting the flaming gauntlet forwards. "Take some of this... FIRE FIST." The fist contacted the beam, and instead of the beam passing through it like everyone would have expected, the two forces began a pushing contest, sparks flying from the point where the two attacks collided.

Nico grunted, but made no other indication that he was putting effort into pushing the beam back. "It appears that cannon is highly charged, which means that the power source must give large amounts of power to maintain it for this length of time." He mused, running his eyes over the beam with a critical gaze in them. "However,"

His face, or what can be seen of it thanks to his helmet, darkened while he thrusted his fist upwards, deflecting the beam in the same direction. He twirled into flapping his wings and talking off towards the Killachine's head. "That will not be able to defeat me." when he was close enough, Nico reared his fist back and punched through the side of the robot's head.

Sparks flew off the exposed side of the Killachine's head, exposing the gears and circuits within. But Nico wasn't done as the FIRE FIST dispersed into dying Embers as he raised Soul Edge to the skies above. Just before he could finish though, an idea struck him, and he lowered his Sword. "It may be best to finish you off above the city, so it does not get damaged." he mused, making Black Heart sigh with relief. She didn't want her city to be too badly damaged for savaging and repairs, where else would her people live? Though, she wouldn't mind if Avenir was destroyed, for everything they have done.

With his new idea in mind, Nico raised a hand like he was holding the bottom of a glass of water in his palm, fingers gripping the sides for support. From the air itself, fiery trails manifested and lunged towards the Killachine like a pack of wild Vipers. The Killachine tried to move, but it was soon proven to be futile, for the flames quickly wrapped around it in a cocoon, their bottom reshaping itself into a large fiery hand shaped exactly like Nico's gauntlet covered one.

"Whoa, now that's neat..." Neptune whispered in shock and awe as she watched the hand form. She hadn't thought of trying to control elements like this. She knew she could control flames too, but not on this scale she didn't think. her control over fire felt more like I was meant to be used to enhance her strikes. The same could be said for Black Heart too, who was literally forming a castle door's shape with her open mouth right now. Everyone else had various reactions of shock and awe at the power that was being displayed here. May be cliché, but they hadn't seen anything like this before. If a DPU empowered Nico could do this, what else could he do? The thoughts alone were terrifying enough.

With his 'cargo' secured, Nico flared his wings and ascended higher into the skies, embers falling like rain below him. The fiery hand soon began to ascend after him, taking the captive Killachine with it. The flames didn't burn or injure it, no, they were meant to contain it's movements, the male having mentally ordered them to do so. His power over flames seemed to be quite versatile, he noticed when he did his previous actions. There was only testing those limits now, but that would be saved for another time. A time where he could actually control this power fully and without a goal like he was right now.

When he felt that they were high enough, at this point they were right beneath the clouds, Nico looked down at the Killachine, which was still struggling to break free. He surprised himself as when he looked at it, the male didn't feel much at all, ono remorse, pity, happiness, joy, anything. He felt... nothing, inside. Like an abyss or a black hole, and if he was in human form he would have worried about that. Fortunately, he could still make expressions though, which meant he could still feel emotions, but maybe it was not the same as his human form.

Nevertheless, the time to end this battle had come. Nico gave a blank stare to his prey, raising Soul Edge to the skies. "Time to test one last finisher: FIRE SCORCHER." Fiery trails burst free from the eye of Soul Edge, which was literally on fire right now, as well as his fiery wings, pooling together in the space above the massive sword's tip. The trails combined, mixing and merging into what looked like... a giant flaming meteor the size of a multi-story building.

In one swift movement, Nico then pointed Soul Edge down at the Killachine, which sent the massive meteor down towards it.

If a robot could feel fear, then it would have seeing as how it was facing a giant freaking meteor made to reduce it to ashes. The Killachine made a desperate attempt to launch its missiles and paralyser cannon, sadly it failed to realise 2 things: one, the Missiles couldn't be launched as programming dictated they would have to be ready before use, and two, the attack from before damaged it badly enough to stop it from using its cannon so it couldn't damage its circuits more than they already were.

The Meteor crashed into it, creating a supernova sized eruption of fire and molten rock, this time hitting the girls hard with how much heat it had generated, even from where they were compared to the origins of the explosion. It forced them to cover their faces, both the paralysed and the non-paralysed ones. Well, the latter could only close their eyes due to lacking any body movement.

"What the heck is with this heat...?!"

"Ugh, what I wouldn't give to not be paralysed right now...!"

 **(OST ENDS)**

* * *

When the heat died down and the pillar of flames vanished, there was a shower of embers falling around him… as well as a pool of melted metal on the ground, having fallen there after the attack died down. Nico floated down till he was just high enough to loom over it. His black power button symbol-sporting eyes leering down at the puddle of goo. "At last… the enemy shall not regenerate, even if it could use that ability more than once. I made sure that it wouldn't." he spoke dryly, watching the remains glow brightly before vanishing into particles. He then floated away, and landed before his companions.

A brief red flash blinded them, and when it died down there Nico stood before them, silent at first before he groaned in fatigue as he fell to one knee. "Nicky/Nico!" they yelled, rushing over to him. At this point the paralysis had either been cured by Aiden's spare Paralaxin or Compa's healing Skills, or it had worn off naturally.

"With the two of us, it was easy… is what I'd like to say, but we wouldn't have been able to do anything if Nico didn't go DDD." Black Heart admitted with reluctance, it hurt her pride to admit that she wouldn't have been able to defeat the Killachine back there, but even she had to admit that situation had been dire. She did feel a bit better when she saw what remained of the machine though before it vanished like every other Monster that threatened Gamindustri.

As she looked around, Black Heart noticed that there was someone missing, someone very important. A certain black dressed businessman, which made a curious scowl form on her features. "Hm? Where's Ganache?"

Neptune looked around as well, before concluding to herself. "Seems like he got away."

"Must have slipped away like a serpent while I was in DDD…" Nico suggested weakly, taking some breaths to get his strength back. Using that form and maintaining control had taxed his mental fortitude greatly, so he wasn't exactly 100% right now. He made to stand up, but the energy he had used for DDD drained him to the point where he almost fell over had Neptune and Compa not caught him in time.

Both girls levelled concerned stares at this. "You mustn't strain yourself, Ni-Ni, it's bad for your health." Compa lightly scolded him, holding Nico by the shoulder with one hand and the other around the back on his neck and on his opposite shoulder.

The purple haired sword maiden nodded her head in agreement, her eyes serous as she held him by the chest and his back. "Compa is correct, Nicky. I can sense your weariness, for that energy was trying to break free during your time transformed. You should focus on regaining your strength, don't do anything too strenuous." she lightly chastised him. This didn't distract her enough however, thus she managed to get a good feel for his body, and feeling it made her cheeks redden slightly, especially when she felt his pecs. 'So… this is what it feels like to touch a guy's body… I never noticed back when I was in human form, at least not much, but Nicky has a well-defined body… wait, why am I thinking of this now?' she wondered, shaking her head to get those thoughts out of her mind.

Meanwhile, Black Heart growled in frustration, crossing her arms under her chest and looking away in the direction of the Basilicom. She was clearly not happy about Ganache getting away from them like this, and it wasn't like they could sue him since Avenir had most if not all the power of government now. "Well, no matter. He'll get what he deserves the next time!"

"Speaking of next time, could you guys answer a few questions of ours?" Nico and the others looked to Team RAIL, who looked completely lost. They all realised that these newcomers were in the dark about what they had been through, as well as what Nico's powers were. Thus, it would be reasonable for them to want to know about what was going on.

* * *

It took them about a half hour before Team RAIL was caught up to speed about what they knew so far. They learned about Histoire, the Key Fragments what Histoire meant to the world, and most importantly what Nico's powers were and his current history with them. To say that Team RAIL was stunned was an understatement, Ivan had his jaw hanging open, Lucy and Raven looked like they had been smacked across the face by someone they cared about, and even Aiden had a slightly surprised expression over his features.

"So lemme get this straight, you're saying that Nico here has some cool powers he just now learned how to safely tap into, for the most part, that makes him even more of a badass than he usually is?" Ivan exclaimed with shock, awe and no small hint of jealousy. The girls nodded their heads in unison, confirming their claims. Ivan's response: his shoulder slumped as he sighed in despair as he hung his head low. "Damnit, now he's even more overpowered…"

Nico rolled his eyes at his fellow male's (in his mind) overstatement. "Pssh, I'm not overpowered…" almost immediately after he said that, everyone gave him looks that spoke otherwise, making the light blue eyed male shift in discomfort. Why did he have the feeling that he was in denial about something? Shaking her head at the male's obliviousness, though this time it was not at anything romantic, Neptune then looked at Black Heart and decided to address a new issue, switching the topic of conversation away from Nico, much to his relief. "Speaking of, Noire. That form of yours…"

"You look just like Nep-Nep transformed." Compa added with equal confusion. Black Heart sighed, her anger evaporating into reluctant acceptance. She knew this was coming ever since she had been discovered by the DPU in the abandoned factory, but it still didn't prepare her for telling her mortal enemy her identity. "You mean this form?" she asked, gesturing to herself from top to bottom before speaking again in a haughty tone that befitted her of her stature. "Well, of course. I'm the CPU of Lastation."

'Heh, so the truth's finally come out…' Nico thought to himself, feeling satisfied for the first time in a long while. Not only did he have at least partial control over his powers, but Noire had finally told them of her identity as the CPU of this Nation, although she did just tell it to Chian earlier. Team RAIL had figured this out already, and they had been told of Neptune's amnesia so they refrained from saying that they knew who she really was as well. Now to watch the show with some popcorn… oh, wait…

"What?!" Neptune shrieked in surprise, her mind boggled by the revelation. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, she wanted to ask so many questions, the most important one being why Black Heart would hide her identity like that.

However, the CPU stopped her from speaking by speaking first. "I had my reasons, but first off, I'm sorry for hiding my identity." She apologised humbly, before she stared straight into Neptune's eyes as she proceeded with another thing she found difficult in admitting. She had a lot of those today. "That said, thanks for your help. I couldn't have won without your help." When saying this, Black Heart glanced to Nico and Team RAIL as well, to let them know she was also thanking them. This made them smile in gratitude, liking that this leader was one who acknowledged everyone instead of a select few. Many leaders were like that.

When she finally found her voice once more, Neptune sighed lightly as she closed her eyes and held her forehead, trying to keep herself from falling due to dizziness. If she were standing normally she would have noticed that her legs were wobbly thanks to the revelation. "I didn't expect Noire to be Lastation's CPU…" Apparently, Compa was on the same boat as her friend as she regarded Black Heart in a new light. "I'm just as surprised as when Nep-Nep transformed."

The third one, IF, however, looked like she had expected this, if the knowing smile and gleam in her eyes were any indication as she waved a hand dismissively. "Not me… I knew all along. Nico did too, by the way." She revealed, getting stunned looks from the girls.

"No way!"

IF's face then dropped into a dismayed one as she face-palmed shaking he head at the while haired CPU. "Seriously…" she muttered under her breath, but it was muffled by her hand so they had to strain real hard to hear it. She then lowered her hand and gave Black Heart an incredulous look. "Was that your best, hiding your identity?"

At the jab at her acting skills, of which she couldn't deny unfortunately, made lack Heart become even more frustrated and embarrassed. The humiliation was strong in this one. "Great! Nico, I can understand, he's more observant than any guy I've met and that's saying something, and he did say you would likely have known, but still! All this hiding my identity was for nothing, then!"

A hand fell onto her shoulder, clasping it firmly. Black Heart turned to look at the owner, and saw that it was Nico and his face looked stone serious. Despite the fatigue he was under, Nico still got the strength to confront the CPU. "Now don't start scolding yourself just yet, missy. You may not have fooled us, but you did fool most of the populace. Not sure if that's a compliment or an insult, but I'll see it as a compliment since it allowed you to snoop on Avenir without them catching on… for a while." He told her with a steel that made his words much more meaningful.

Aiden opened a notepad he had gotten from his Inventory when Ivan gave him a look, one that spoke volumes about how he felt about this situation. When he stared writing down on the notebook, Compa noticed and gave them a curious stare. "What are you writing in that notebook Aid-Aid?" The Spec Ops Agent looked blankly at the cream haired girl in response to the nickname that she had given him. "… I am unsure as to which nickname I am more uncomfortable with. Aidy or Aid-Aid. I suppose though you must have bad luck when it comes to names. Nico informed us of this trait you possess previously."

"E-Eh?!"

"Yeah, us and Nico go back a few years, when our team was first formed actually. The first one he met back then was Raven, and like a lot of women these days she had great passionate hate for males. She thought that he would be like the others, but he soon proved her wrong. Lucy had been a Spec-Ops Agent for a lot longer than him, but he even got her to warm up to him when they went on a few Quests together. We were only introduced when we were selected to form Team RAIL with Raven as leader." Ivan explained to the girl.

Compa hummed in acknowledgement, Nico had told her once that he had met and indirectly became responsible for the formation of one of the best Spec Ops Teams the Planeptune Guild had to date. Though she refrained from telling them that praise while opting to ask her question again. "I see, but um… why were you writing in that notebook, again?"

This time, Aiden was the one who answered as he held the Notebook out for her to see, there was a list of names… female names much to her surprise, ones she recognised. "Well, CYBORG expresses jealousy whenever DEATHSTROKE is with the ladies, so we made a list of those that show interest in him, cause DEATHSTROKE's obliviousness is almost blonde-haired-knuckleheaded-ninja level… according to many male Spec Ops Agents, no idea what it means though."

At this, Compa sweat dropped weakly… as well as blushed heavily at the implications. That meant that they knew that she had a major crush on the red-haired male, her name had been on the notebook underneath Lucy's and now above Neptune's. Much to her surprise though, there was now another name added: Noire. "Why is Noire added?"

Now it was Ivan who answered her, and in a voice that no doubt belonged to someone who lost the will to live. "Because the damn lucky bastard always managed to charm women of high positions of power… and he doesn't even realise he's doing it. He's THAT oblivious to it, and it makes the ladies wanna eat him up…. In a physical mean, due to his purity and honesty. It's always the dense ones that are the most honest." He whined in despair at the end, falling onto all fours. The two swore there was a tragic theme playing in the background with a white stage light on his form.

Neptune sweat dropped at the sight, though she didn't hear what was said to make Ivan that way. She then looked to Noire, and saw how red she was getting at both the consoling words Nico had said as well as the expression he was giving her. She had to admit, she felt both the ugly feeling from earlier… as well as hot at the expression. The former was likely because she wanted to have that look directed at someone else… someone like h-noooo! Her hot feeling, well, she didn't want to get into that, so she struggled to think of something else.

She soon found something when she remembered what happened at West Wind Valley. "That's right!" she shouted, clicking her fingers as she got everyone's attention. Ivan's little display was no longer there, and Black Heart looked both relieved and slightly annoyed, though she tried to hide it. "You know who I am right?" she asked, pointing at the white-haired CPU. "Can you please tell me?"

On her end, Noire was feeling a conflicting series of emotions. On one hand, she was annoyed with the purple haired swordstress, for she ruined the atmosphere that had appeared around her and Nico. But on the other hand, she felt relieved because she didn't even know why she was annoyed in the first place, it wasn't as if she liked him, even if he was one of the most decent guys she'd met in her many centuries of living, right? Nevertheless, she decided some teasing was in order, so she pretended to think about it with a smug smirk on her features. "Hmmm… What to do…?"

Obviously, her teasing was working, as when it came to Neptune's memory, even her HDD self, got impatient. "Come now! I'm serious here!" she whined, almost falling to the urge to stomp on the ground below in frustration, though it would have looked like her foot just stopped above it with her floating.

IF rolled her eyes, knowing what Black Heart was doing as she addressed the two floating girls. "Well, it's not much of a secret, so you might as well say it." she remarked casually, not really minding the tension in the air, since she had figured it out already.

Nico nodded, sharing IF's sentiments and expressions as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "Amen to that, IF, amen to that." He said like a sage to his pupils, getting a thumbs-up from the brunette.

Compa stared at the two in bewilderment, not believing what she was hearing. Did they know this whole time and not share it? "Iffy? Ni-Ni? You know who Nep-Nep is?"

The brunette nodded in response for both her and the male Spec Ops Agent in question. "Yes. Once I saw Noire transform, and Nico here knew earlier." She explained.

With that knowledge, it only took a moment but finally Compa could connect the dots as a light of realisation lit up in her eyes. "Huh? … That means…you can't mean? Wait? Really…? Nep-Nep is…?!" she exclaimed with her jaw dropping.

The fact that Compa, someone who wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, managed to figure out what was happening before she could, irritated Neptune to no end. That urge to act like a child was getting insanely strong now. "Huh? Now Compa knows? Really? Compa?! Come on, just say it already!"

Alright, Black Heart Concluded, her amusement gone and replaced with seriousness. The time for teasing was over, so she should just cut to the chase and say what everyone else had figured out. "All right. Neptune, you're the CPU of Planeptune. You're Purple Heart."


	37. Chapter 37 - Awkwardness and confessions

**Chapter 37 - Awkwardness and Confessions!**

It was once again silent in the aftermath of Nico's first 'real' DPU Transformation. The area was devoid of any sound after the revelation of Neptune's true identity. IF and Nico hummed to themselves, satisfied smirks on their faces as the truth they had figured out ages ago finally came to light. Compa gaped, her jaw unhinged as her eyeballs almost flew out of their sockets at the revelation. She tried to get her jaw back under control to speak, but sadly both her body and mind were resisting her at the moment.

As for Team RAIL, they didn't seem too surprised. They had seen the transformation and quickly put two and two together, Raven had her usual cold expression on as she fingered the hilt of her sheathed Katana. Aiden mindlessly fiddled with one of his combat Knives while Ivan shared the same look as their resident Nurse-In-Training.

Lucy meanwhile, was eyeing Neptune and Noire with an intense stare... a suspiciously intense stare at them. To be more specific, she was staring at their eyes, the power button symbols in them shining brightly. 'So... these are the CPUs...' she thought to herself. Honestly, she had a mybrid of emotions on right now, too many to properly process so she missed the looks that Nico, and her comrades, were sending her.

Back with the girls...

Neptune, or rather Purple Heart CPU of Planeptune, stared in disbelief at the serious Black Heart for a while, or at least what felt like a while to her, until she blinked several times to break herself out of her stupor. She looked around, expecting looks as if to say that she was joking, but all their looks pointed at the fact that she was telling the truth. Thus, Purple Heart looked back to her fellow CPU and came up with one response. "… Seriously?"

Compa eyed her friend's bewildered state, once she had gotten over her own shock, and once more stated the obvious. "Nep-Nep's in shock over her own self." She stated with a weak smile. Something in her feared that this situation could potentially spiral downhill if not handled with the perfect amount of tact. Though, it wasn't like anyone here had that tact in them, most of them, yes even Nico, were more blunt, direct ad serious.

Her words seemed to jumpstart Neptune out of her funk as she suddenly felt a powerful weight slam into her shoulders, metaphorically. Looking around, her eyes landed on IF and Neptune floated over to her with a quick questioning and a slight pleading in her tone. "Iffy, what should I do? Me? A CPU? Planeptune? Really?" her eyes shone with her disbelief, with a slight undertone of panic.

The male sighed mentally to himself. 'Well, I guess this was to be expected. This reaction... she seems to be in denial, slightly.' Nico supposed he could see where she was coming from. For so long, she had wondered who she was and what kind of stance she had on the world. But, hearing the answer from someone who knew her first hand... it wasn't what she expected it to be. She likely expected to be some form of Guild Agent or a soldier, an admit tingly childish soldier, but a soldier nonetheless. She did have a viable combat set, so it wouldn't be surprising if she was.

Though, the HDD was a big giveaway.

"Why don't you change back first?" IF suggested, gesturing to her form with a hand while she made to touch hr belt where she kept all her phones, but unfortunately, she remembered that they were all destroyed during her chrysalis mutation. She tried her best to hide the irritation she felt inside at having her beloved phones taken from her, hell, she was almost hysterical, however she was keeping focused on the task at hands so she wouldn't worry about it.

'Wait, why would you say that, IF?' Nico wondered in confusion as he glanced between the two. 'Wouldn't it be better if little Mrs CPU here remain in a form where she would be able to comprehend this information?' his point was that in HDD form, Neptune's personality switched from fun loving and easy going, to serious and determined, akin to a leader. Thus, he didn't understand why IF would suggest she change into human form. However, he remained silent since Purple Heart would likely give an answer.

"O-Okay." She stuttered, taking a breather and releasing it in one fell swoop. Her nerves were on shock right now, so she was feeling quite uncomfortable. This, unknowingly to her, answered Nico's queries as he mentally scolded himself for not realising that sooner. "I can't show my variety of expressions in this form anyway."

"Not like we're going to use your entire repertoire of expressions…"

Neptune was already in process of her transformation while IF spoke that with her usual snarky sarcasm. With a bright flash, Neptune took the place of CPU Purple Heart, making Black Heart the only one left who hadn't returned to human form, though she would likely not be returning to human form for a while yet. When everyone saw her features, they clearly knew what she was thinking about in relation to her being the ruler of an entire nation. She made a groan of distaste after this. "Uh, but really, is me… being me, okay with everyone?"

"Who expected you to be the CPU of Planeptune?" IF remarked with just as much dissatisfaction as Neptune felt. In all honesty, she had hoped it wasn't the case, that Neptune was just a girl with the ability to transform. However, fate had played a cruel hand in denying that possibility. She wondered how Planeptune had managed to stay strong for so long, knowing how this quirky girl was. In any case, it was a miracle that human organisations hadn't overthrown her yet.

Compa then brought up another point, one that confused her for a while now. "What is going on, though? All me and Ni-Ni did was see Nep-Nep fall from the…" her eyes widened in realisation. "The sky!"

IF nodded with a satisfied smirk forming on her lips, glad that Compa had figured it out. "Did you finally notice?" she remarked, a slight snarkiness entering her tone. "Everything around Nep isn't humanly possible." She explained before glancing to Nico who was contemplating some things in his mind. "Something tells me you have more things to point out, so just say a few, Nico."

Hearing her words and realising that they were being directed at him, Nico roused himself from his previous thoughts, before responding. "Well, the fact that Neptune's name is akin to her Nation is one, kinda fits with her slightly narcissistic quirks and large ego." He began, ignoring the indignant "Hey!" from said preteen. "Plus, it's not exactly common for someone to be able to transform like she can. Me, I'm an exception since I wasn't born with the abilities I now have."

Black Heart cut into the conversation after he said his piece, drawing their attention back to her. "For the record, falling from the skies isn't normal even for a Goddess…" of that she was sure, especially with how Neptune even got in that situation in the first place. She felt a stab of guilt hit her gut, but repressed it, knowing this wasn't the time for a pity party.

Neptune soon asked again, this time her anxious, nervous expression was increasing and there was a tightness in her gut that made her increasingly uncomfortable. "Um, just to make sure. Are you SURE I'm okay as CPU of Planeptune?" she asked, shifting in discomfort. she held her right arm with her hand wrapped around the bicep, in an attempt to stem the shaking she was under. This was most unlike her, but come on, give her some slack! She had just found out her life was far more important than she ever imagined. How could she NOT be a little shaken?

"Not "I'm okay", you ARE the CPU of Planeptune. Don't worry. We won't fight now. I need to first rebuild Lastation."

* * *

Later that night, the party was once again in a hotel akin to the one that Nico had bought for them when they first arrived here. They had decided to hold up there for the rest of the day to rest and recover from their ordeal. Noire wasn't with them though, as she had immediately set off to help with the repairs to Lastation's Southern District, cleaning up the undead monsters as well as organising the funeral for those that had perished in this attack.

Like they had suspected deep down, Avenir had a cover story that kept them out of the heat, much to their fury and annoyance. Their cover story was that one of their competitors, a company that they had been dealing with since before their arrival, stole one of their weapons and made it go rouge to blame them for the disaster. What they didn't expect was that robot to set off some chemicals in a chemical shop that was destroyed during the attack which combined into a toxin that spread throughout the district, turning the civilians into undead.

Their little attack had been planned and helped them on their path to ruling Lastation.

What they didn't foresee was that Team RAIL had posted footage of Noire in Black Heart form having appeared to help destroy the robot and help the civilians that were still alive, several random pockets having been found along the clean-up. Thus, Noire would have some degree of faith back from the citizens, which she was more than happy for according to her.

Speaking of Team RAIL, they had decided to hold off on returning to Planeptune, for a variety of reasons. One of them was that they didn't feel like proper Agents if they left this land in shambles, that wasn't their intent. Normally thy wouldn't care, but this was a foreign nation so they had to act cordial for the people. Although that didn't stop Raven from nearly castrating a few males that tried looking at her funny while Lucy just gave them her 'stare' that kept them men away from her.

Aiden and Ivan were the restrains though, so no injuries were life threatening.

In addition, it had been a while since they last met each other, so they wanted to catch up and maybe have a few spars to keep their muscles primed and fit for duty. Active sparring was both effective and highly encouraged within the Spec Ops community, as it focused their efforts on keeping their skills to tip-top shape as well as built bonds of comradery within their ranks. It built bonds of respect for each other's Skills as an Agent, and helped them understand one another when words failed.

Chian had managed to secure a temporary hotel for her when she would be released from the hospital. Her injuries were moderate thanks to Nico and Compa's medical treatment, but she would have to remain there for the next few days. Nico had made a mental note to keep a Recon Drone nearby in case Avenir tried anything again. Even if they weren't in the red they were still under investigation from the authorities, although those authorities worked for them so it was just a formality.

* * *

Right now, Nico was sitting in the hotel's main room, the living room, on his Laptop as he repeatedly typed keys and mashed the mouse he had attached to it. The male was playing some more StarCraft 2 against some random player online. They were good, but like he said to LadyGH, the reaper always finds it target. However, his mind wasn't fully focused on the game, not enough to impact his performance, but enough to be noted by someone else in the room.

That person soon noticed and took a seat next to him.

"Penny for your thoughts?" the familiar, tomboyish voice that he knew reached his ears, making Nico blink owlishly to return to the real world as he just finished off the enemy play with an Ultralisk and Hydralisk Rush. Turning to his left, he saw that it was IF, having just crossed one leg over the other while looking at one of her new phones. One of the things that he had done after the battle was to get her phones replaced with the most updated ones he could find. So, while there were the same number of phones on her belt, IF had a lot of work to do to get them back to what her previous ones were. A job that took most of her time today.

Finally, he spoke after staring at her for a few seconds. "Not much, just going over what happened today…" he responded trailing off as he remembered everything that had happened on this very day. From the abandoned factory, to the last battle with that Killachine, he remembered it all. Nico was surprised he wasn't tired yet, but then again, he had a lot on his mind and excess energy to burn off.

IF looked up at the ceiling, those same events playing in her mind. "Yeah, I hear ya. Woke up this morning prepping for another job, did not see this coming." She remarked, chuckling to herself as she remembered her infection and transformation into a BOW. That was the most crucial thing on her mind right now. Now that all the hectic stuff was dealt with, IF had begun to realise the true gravity of her situation. She was the first BOW with her humanity intact, ever. That was likely to turn more than a few heads when they got back to Planeptune. This right here was not the break that the Party was taking, not that would be reserved for when they left for Planeptune where they didn't have to worry about any assassination attempts from corrupt organisations.

Shaking those thoughts aside, IF turned her head to look at him, seeing how deeply concentrated his face was. "Still, I must admit, you did a good job in saving me, so I guess I should thank you for that."

Hearing her say that, Nico looked up to face her as well, his eyes were filled with conflicting emotions, ones that made IF frown in realisation. "You're feeling guilty, aren't you? Guilty about me, I mean." It was more of a statement than a question, but this didn't make her words less impactful.

Nico hummed as he looked down at his Laptop, the screen showing the match results and the cursor hovering over the orangish coloured box that said to play again. "Yeah, you caught me. I know Histoire helped me save you from becoming a mindless monster, but still, a part of me can't help but regret not being able to stop Ganache in the first place. You should have remained a human and lived a happy, peaceful life. Now, you'll likely be upgraded to a Spec Ops Agent on necessity, not actual achievement. Us Spec Ops, we pride ourselves on our abilities, they make us different from the common masses, they make us the beings that we are. Having been made one by necessity wouldn't give you any points in their books, as it makes you look like you're desperate, which is a big no-no in their book."

To become a Spec Ops was something that required hard work and determination. Their exams were so difficult, even the CPUs would break a sweat to pass them. Those that did succeed in becoming Spec Ops were proven to be truly unique and spectacular among their peers. One might think they would become too arrogant and full of themselves, however, the Exams took care of that possibility by absolutely grinding harsh lessons into their minds, bodies and souls. The most important lesson was that arrogance and cockiness will get you killed, and if a candidate did get those qualities, they would not be helped if they were to get themselves in trouble.

Yet, there was still arrogance inside the Spec Ops Programme, and that was not on the Examiners. Instead, it was the fault of the rich politicians and Noblemen, who would strong arm the higher ups to let their children become Spec Ops without worry about the Exam. Being one of their ranks was seen as a high privilege, no matter the Nation you look at, so naturally people try to claw their way into them for glory and prestige. These dirty dealings weren't normally uncovered, and even if they were, they were each too well woven leaving nothing that could be done.

In IF's case, she would be joining in without passing the exams, since she would be a BOW. This will likely incite resentment and mockery from the other Agents, who are aware of how those snobby types got into their ranks. They will see her as someone who wasn't here for anything but her own reputation, to seek prestige for being a Spec Ops Agent. Maybe it would be lighter if he was the one recommending her, but there will still be discrimination against her. Plus, Nico wouldn't be able to do much, since it would be a show of favouritism and pity, which wasn't part of the Spec Ops way.

Sometimes, humanity can be worse than the monsters...

IF took this all in, and had to admit that he had a point. She would have liked to join their ranks from achievement alone, but necessity was something as well. She couldn't help that, but she could see where he was coming from. She knew that Spec Ops Agents respect skill above anything else, so she would have a lot of work ahead of her if she wanted to earn their respect. It wasn't that she cared about what they, a bunch of strangers, would think of her, but it would make things easier in the long run.

"Well, I do admit you have a point there…" she began to say as Nico's eyes became further downcast. "However!" to her satisfaction they returned, surprise showing within them, to her eye level once again, allowing her to continue. "It still doesn't change the fact that you saved my hide, Nico, I'll always be grateful for that instead of blaming you. Don't think about it too hard, I'll get by, it's what I've done for a long time." She told him.

Her smirk widened into a broad grin. "Plus, being a BOW isn't all that bad, feels kinda awesome… especially the lack of being a mindless beast part." She mused as she looked down at her hands. She could see veins moving cross it into places she wanted them too, and it felt quite cool. The fact that she had the ability to control her body down to the molecular level, as that was what she had concluded about her mutation, was something that many would be jealous of.

She had been experimenting with her new abilities during the clean-up process today, seeing what she could do, and had concluded that her mutation allowed her to shapeshift and control her body down to the very Cells that made up her being. One time, she managed to stretch her arms to insane lengths, almost like they were Tendrils themselves, to reach for a piece of wood for house repairs... from over 20 feet away. Another instance would be how she managed to catch a falling piece of debris by enlarging her right hand to the correct size to catch it.

The brunette had to admit, she was liking these powers, even though Avenir was partially responsible for her changing.

At this, Nico slightly upturned his lips into a small smirk. Much of his conflicting emotions was now gone, replaced with a mounting relief that IF didn't blame him for what had happened to her, nor did she seem that mad about it. It rose his spirits back to normal as a light laugh escaped his lips. "Hahaha, thanks IF, I really needed that. Glad that you don't blame me for what happened." He then turned serious and looked at IF directly in the eye. "If you need a sparring partner, let me know and I'll happily oblige."

"Geez what's with you so suddenly?" IF remarked, turning her head away from him. She felt a little caught off guard by the sudden changes in Nico's mood and it was starting to wear her down. "First you seem so depressed ten you're happy and now you're super serious what are you, bipolar? You have multi personality disorder or something?"

'You have no idea, IF, no idea…' Nico thought, chuckling as he knew she was saying this in good humour. She really did have no clue about how right on the money she was just now, and it was best that she didn't. After all, some secrets were meant to be kept hidden for a reason.

The two shared a brief laugh together, and with his spirits risen, Nico started a new game for his StarCraft, before deciding to start another conversation while he was waiting for the next player to be found and the next game to be loaded. "Say, while we're on the topic of today, I was thinking."

IF couldn't help but jab at him lightly with her next words. "Oh, is this another prank on Nep I hear?" she teased him, making the teen roll his eyes. She had learned of what Nico had done when he woke up with Neptune sleeping on top of him and the song he played, and she had to admit it was a hilarious thing to imagine. There have been sometimes afterwards where he would prank Neptune again, mostly to get her motivated to do stuff since she was a lazy bum who liked lounging around playing videogames. She did try to prank him back, but those often ended in failure or she would end up caught in her own pranks.

Dude was a prank radar.

Hearing her words, Nico chuckled while shaking his head. "Nope, not this time, although I have been meaning to test that new Duct tape that's been advertised…" at the look that the brunette had given him, Nico quickly rose his hands and shook them in front of himself as if to say, 'stay back!' "No, no, I'm not… #SIGH# anyways," he sighed and went on to explain what he was thinking. "I was wondering what I should call myself in DPU Form."

"Eh?" IF blinked, momentarily surprised by his words. While she had expected that prank remark, she didn't expect him to be thinking about that as well. "Now that I think about it, Nep and Noire both have alternate names for their CPU forms, huh. Well, I guess with the personality changes it would be appropriate." Yeah, the CPUs did experience personality shifts, she remembered. Oh, how she remembered. The more prominent of the two was Neptune, and even now she still had a little trouble believing that they were the same person.

Nico nodded his head in agreement with his fellow agent, as he glanced at their game for a brief instance to see that it was still searching for players, before his gaze returned to the partner of his conversation. "Quite. Now, I was thinking something that fits the demonic theme my DPU self exhibits, yet something that's the opposite of the CPU's Divine's opposite is demonic after all."

IF hummed as she cupped her chin, now having switched her position as she now was sitting up straight while she thought. "Hmmm… how about Crimson Soul? The Crimson part refers to your hellish-looking armour, while the 'soul' is the opposite of the 'heart' yet similar in a manner. Two sides of the same coin?" she suggested after remembering the image of Nico's DPU form. Well, it wasn't exactly something one could just forget in a night of drinking oneself into a mess.

The male blinked as he registered the name in his mind, mentally going over it. Seconds later, Nico began testing the name on his lips, running a finger over his chin in thought. "HMMM… Crimson Soul… hmmm… well, I like it. feels badass and rolls off the tongue." He finalised after a few moments. "Plus, it seems like the opposite of the four Goddesses who have 'heart' in their HDD names. Makes sense since these powers are opposites to each other.

At this point, a sound came from his computer to say that the players have been matched and that the game was loading. Nico looked down at the screen and it showed his username with his signature Zerg against a Protoss player. 'Tch, these guys. They're an annoyance to deal with, but hell, the reaper always finds its prey.' Nico thought to himself, cracking his knuckles as he made himself ready.

His screen had one other onlooker, and that happened to be IF, whom he momentarily forgot about. "Hey, isn't this StarCraft, a Leanbox based game?" she asked him in surprise. "I didn't expect you to be a player." She remarked, looking at his username. The Pic and the username he had one with sent chills down her spine for some reason, as well as the urge to never let herself be on the opposite side of the battlefield against him. She almost felt sorry for the poor sod on the other side, as she knew Nico, and she knew he'd incorporate his Skills in real life into gaming. That sounded like his character, to her.

Once the game loaded up and begun, she soon realised how right she was.

"Okay dude, that was SO overkill."

"Well, that's how the reaper takes his prey."

* * *

After seeing one of the most brutal gaming styles she'd seen to date, IF had lost most of her facial colour and looked to Nico in almost mortification. Said male was just calmly leaning back and scratching his nails, polishing them and briefly blowing on them on occasion as he made the pose of someone who had class. The screen showed the Zerg symbol and a large VICTORY in the centre, but everywhere else there was just nothing but Zerg creatures. Poor Protoss never stood a chance. "Yeah well, I got my rep as the 'gaming reaper' to protect. Shame though, while the player was skilled, he didn't even last long enough for me to unveil my hidden Scythe."

"Hidden Scythe?"

"Yeah!" Nico replied happily, moving the cursor to the top right corner of the screen which said, 'slaughter mode'. The sight of it didn't help IF's nerves at all. "You see, with the Scale Mod you get double the unit spawn counts, Units that you can only encounter in the campaigns otherwise, and an experience that totally makes you rethink your perceptions of the StarCraft Universe. These benefits apply to both players on the battlefield, but it takes a real reaper to manifest the Zerg the way I do. My 'Hidden Scythe' is my best unit: the Leviathan, with maxed out abilities and buffs, combined with its imposing form and ability to spawn Mutas. Makes it a complete monster."

IF sweat dropped when she saw the image of a Leviathan on the Laptop screen after Nico did a search on Google. She saw the image of a leviathan. and had to admit that it's grotesque appearance, which was reminiscent of multiple Zerg creatures with their abilities rolled into one being, made her shudder. "Remind me to make a note to never encounter you on the opposite side on the battlefield, please?"

"No promises, hehehehehehe!" Nico laughed, hiding it behind his hand with a creepy gaze in his eyes. The way he looked right now made IF slightly scared, although she wouldn't admit that for the world. Her, scared? Hah, that'd be the day!

... Why did she get the feeling she had just condemned herself?

"Creepy laugh aside, I'd say you have the reaper thing down pat. Anyways, could you do me a favour?" When she asked him this, Nico looked at her in curiosity, stopping his mildly disturbing evil laughter. It would have sounded even worse if he had his DEATHSTROKE armour on, but luckily for her that wasn't the case. "Could ya look for Nep, please? She went out to get some more pudding after I sopped her trying to steal credits again, but that was an hour ago. I'd look for her myself but I gotta stay here to protect Compa."

Something about that didn't seem right, something told Nico that wasn't the sole reason why IF wanted him to go, and it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she had seen him as the gaming reaper. Nevertheless, Neptune being out alone didn't sit well with him, to the point where he pushed his questions aside and shut his Laptop down, placing it back into his Void Storage with the other gear he had out for it. "Alright, I'll head out and find her, she can't have gotten too far." IF nodded with relief as she watched him leave through the door to go look for Neptune.

* * *

Tracking down the preteen CPU was not as difficult as it was the last time that he had to do so when they first arrived in Lastation. For one, there weren't as many people right now, they were either in the shelters still till their homes would be repaired or they were in their still intact homes trying to forget about what had happened. Though, that'd be a bit difficult with how much indication was outside. This hell, this tragedy caused by Avenir, would be remembered for a LONG ass time.

The night sky was slightly shrouded by dark clouds, but if one looked hard enough the moon and the stars could still be visible. The sounds of construction work, which had been running throughout the city for the entirety of the afternoon, was now eerily silent. The workers had taken the night off, exhausted after the events of the day to do night work. Noire had let them go so that they could rest their weary bodies... and perhaps mourn for those they lost to this tragedy.

He had used the Holomap of the City to track Neptune down, and in moments he came to a hilltop that was beside a river, the fresh smell of water reaching his nostrils. He hummed in approval, finding it much more relaxing than standing in the midst of human crowds. Nico never did like crowded places, it drove his instincts wild. It also made retaining his 'condition' that much harder, a it was only through sheer effort and determination that Nico had kept it a secret for so long. He feared the day when he would have no choice but to unveil his true self, his true nature as the apex monster of this world. The CPUs, they thought they were on top of the food chain, but no, there was one Abnormal species that fit that bill way better than they ever could.

While walking along the top of the hill, discreetly looking down at his Holomap floating atop his Bracer, and also glancing down the slope, the male saw the preteen at last. The moment he did though, Nico's instincts told him to be on high alert that something was wrong, very wrong, his feet immediately ceasing all movement as a tensity overcame his body.

He could sense it, his instincts could sense it, he could feel it the instant his eyes fell onto her frame. A small breeze blew through the area, and yet, Nico remained focused on Neptune's form, sitting on the side of the hill. She looked so… subdued, as she held her legs close to her chest and her eyes hidden by her stocking covered knees. She reminded him of a bird locked in a cage against its will, and was struggling to break out.

'What... what is going on here?' Nico wondered, his mouth becoming a thin line as no small amount of concern welled within his being. Neptune may be a pain in the ass to deal with, but that was something he found to be an endearing quality of hers. Especially with his previous conceptions of the CPUs. They had been slowly changing with the longer he knew them, changing for the better at least. So, seeing her like this just felt... wrong, abnormal even. 'Oh, how ironic, me using the word Abnormal to describe something that wasn't a Monster...' he thought with a small amused chuckle.

The male soon stopped his chuckling however, re-assuming his prior frown. Slowly, he proceeded to walk towards her, though it seemed that his attempts at being silent were for naught, as without looking up Neptune addressed him in a tone that matched the feeling he got from her. "Hey Nicky, …how's you?" she asked him.

Nico stood beside her, unsure as to what to say as he had no idea what was causing her to be like this. awkwardly, the male looked downwards to the side, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I'm good, but I'd be even better if you tell me what made you think coming out here was a good idea." He replied, his awkwardness giving away to his mounting concern as he lowered his hand and gave her the look. The look that one got when they were abut to et scolded by their parents unless they gave them a viable answer.

For a moment, more silence passed, and somehow this silence felt heavier than the last. There was this... foreign feeling in the air, which only seemed to intensify the silence's weight on his shoulders. When Neptune didn't respond, Nico got increasingly worried, he didn't like this side of Neptune, not one bit. Had it been here this whole time and none of them, not even himself, noticed? Or did this come out recently?

An idea popped into his head after that last thought, and a wave of embarrassment overcame him. How could he have forgotten that part of the day? When Neptune found out her identity as a Goddess? And he called himself observant… Nico felt humiliation course through his body as he mourned his ability to see the inner thoughts of others. It was obvious now that Neptune would have some gripes with what she was, just think about it. She was practically a 14 year old kid personality wise, wanting to go on adventure and generally have fun. So, realising that she had so much responsibility on her shoulders that's he had unknowing been bearing, well, kind of put a damper on her spirit.

Shaking his head, Nico sat down beside her, one leg raised to his chest with the other lying down the slope. He had one forearm on his raised leg, with the other touching the ground. "Lemme guess, it's the fact that you're a CPU?" He asked her although with how bluntly he stated it, it could hardly be called a question. Nico had a feeling that, if she heard his thoughts and somehow he figured she did using some meta trick, she would agree with him.

"Yeppers."

So, it was then, goddamnit. Sometimes Nico cursed his ability to be observant, for sometimes his words come out with a coldness that he didn't intend to put there. He partially blamed his Spec Ops lifestyle for this, as being cold an calculating was a major part of the course. It saved your skin from enemy attacks, as well as betrayals from within the ranks. It made for a poor approach to consoling distraught civilians, though. "Well… now that you know this, what do you think?" he asked her. Honestly this was some deep stuff, unknown territory and if his experiences taught him anything then, despite it not being within his comfort zone, it was best to handle those situations with as much tact as possible.

In any other circumstance, Nico would say it blunt, brutal and honest. In a sense, he was indeed a 'brute' as he had heard IF describe his mannerisms. It wasn't like Nico was dense to feelings of despair, in fact it was safe to say that he could sense despair much easier than most emotions, save for rage and jealousy. However, Nico had been in the life and mind-set of a soldier for so long that, well, it changed him, in more ways than one. But, this was not a normal circumstance, Neptune wasn't some distraught civilian, she was someone he called Comrade, and he valued that highly. If he hadn't joined the Guild and became a Spec Ops, retaining his childhood self, then Nico would more than likely would have clued into Neptune's despair much sooner than this.

Neptune slightly raised her head so that her eyes were visible as she stared down at the water below. They were darker than usual, a layer of depression having put itself over them as she gazed towards it. "Well… honestly it's a bit overwhelming… this Nep brain didn't expect this, and…" she tried to say, but she came up short every time. It was like she was trying to say something from the depths of her soul, but the words refused to form in her mouth. "Well, I guess its..."

Nevertheless, Nico understood, if the gaze he had in his eyes was any indication as he glanced at her hands. Hands that have held a sword for much longer than any human who walked this earth. "Yeah, I guess it does feel that way..." the male admitted thoughtfully, his gaze shifting to the water below as it became one of melancholy. "Suddenly finding out that you're not human but a Goddess, and ruler as well. Not something you'd see on the 24-hr news." He remarked, chuckling a little in an attempt to lighten the mood. Even in her depressed state, Neptune managed to have a chuckle, although hers was weak.

After a long silence, Neptune muttered something.

"I...n't...anna...a CPU..."

It was something that not even his senses could pick up completely, and because of IT they were heightened to the point where they could be considered animalistic. That was a testament to how low she had said those words. "What was that, Neptune? I could have sworn I heard you say something." He asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder, leaning closer so he could hear what she said again. Even if he didn't hear it, Nico was aware enough to hear something at all.

He was not prepared for what happened next.

The preteen looked up at him, and much to his disbelief, Nico saw something that had sent him into complete shock. He was literally flabbergasted at what he was seeing before him.

Neptune... was crying.

No, not just crying like a few teardrops in the corners of the eyes, but multiple streams of tears falling down her cheeks, her bottom lip in an upward arch too expose her lower teeth, and most importantly, her eyes a clear mirror to how much sorrow and anguish she was feeling. It was like looking into a whirlpool of emotions, so much turbulence in those deep lilac orbs that Nico could only compare it to the force of a raging hurricane. He could only imagine the chaos warring within her heart right now.

"I said I don't wanna be a CPU! I... I don't wanna be away from you, Iffy, or Compa! I don't want it if it means I've gotta leave and stop having fun with you all! No! No-no-no!" before Nico could react the preteen was enveloping him in a hug, the male's arms automatically wrapping around her frame.

If this were any other time and had different circumstances, Nico would be a blabbering mess with a crimson face right now. After all, his close contact experiences with girls like this was practically non-existent. However, his concern for the preteen on his chest outweighed his embarrassment. "Hey, hey! Come on now what's this about leaving? What makes you think we'll have to never see each other again?"

"Wh… When Noire told me that I was a CPU, I got flashbacks, short and brief though, of my past…" Neptune began as she buried her head into his shirt, clutching the sleeves of his Trench Coat. Nico could feel wetness staining his shirt, and he knew what that meant. Neptune's tears were going onto his outfit, and while this was the only outfit he wore for his Spec Ops duties, he couldn't find it within himself to care at this point. "They were pretty vague, and for a moment I didn't know what they were… but they came back later, with increased clarity. They were of fighting in the Celestia place… so much fighting… no friends, no happiness… that's just hell! It's lonely, it's not nice, its horrible! It's a wonder why I didn't leave sooner!"

'Oh goddess, this girl's been shaken roughly… has she been holding this in since that time?' Nico wondered, shock and horror filling him up as realisation dawned on him. He didn't even realise it until a few seconds later, but his hands had wound up clasping her shoulders. Damn, even if she acted like an idiot, a pain in the ass and an annoyance, or maybe even all three, Neptune still had a heart that can be hurt inside huh? She looked like someone who didn't get fazed by anything, she would just laugh it of and make meta jokes.

But, like anyone else, this was a Mask. A Mask she uses to hide her true feelings. Everyone wore Masks to hide who they truly were inside for fear of rejection, for fear of being ousted from society, like wolves banished from their packs. Humans were primarily socialistic creatures by nature, so it was only natural that they seek companionship, and fear what may happen if they lose it. It was comparable to walking along a long, thin tightrope with countless dangers from all sides, trying to get you to slip. When one slips, they find it almost impossible to keep their balance, and because of that, they plunge into an abyss known as 'hell' full of scorn or discrimination.

However, In Neptune's case, it was not to hide anything ugly. No, Neptune's Mask was more for hiding away her own pain, her own sorrow, anguish and rage at anything that hurt her. She hid it behind a smile and laugh, reinforcing it with Meta jokes. In her words, she was the 'comic relief' character, so she had to hide her own pain away, making herself out to be the martyr so others could be happy. Whenever she was hurt, she would hide that pain behind her Mask, laugh it off and move on, not bothering to empty the gauge, not even when she was alone.

In a sense, she would rather hurt herself than hurt others.

However, all that was rendered moot, as something bigger replaced those emotions as he looked down at the crying girl in his arms: respect. He respected her ability to keep it together for so long without even letting someone like Nico catch on to what she was feeling. He also respected her when her Mask broke like this, for it showed that even a CPU had the ability to feel like a human, that they weren't emotionless deities only concerned with their own agendas like a lot of Spec Ops Agents assume.

As he gazed down at Neptune, Nico pieced together what he had learned from both Neptune and Noire, though a part of him was a bit miffed at her for leaving Neptune with these unanswered questions, the rest of him argued that Noire likely was as fooled as they were by her Mask. If it could fool him, then it could fool just about anyone, huh? Eventually, he came up with a response, an honest opinion for the situation that they were in. The teen figured Neptune could use something like that right now. "Honestly Neptune, you don't have to worry about that."

"Huh?" When he saw her shift her head so she could look up at him, her eyes bloodshot from crying so much. Heck, he could spot a large wet stain on his shirt, but ignored that for the moment. "I mean, seriously you guys can come and go from Celestia, right? Noire being here is proof, you too. That means you guys have the option of living in the human world, likely at the Basilicom. Once we save Histoire and thus the world, it's not like you won't see us around, hell we could exchange numbers and keep having private conversations. I remember chatting with a fellow agent while battling a nest of Banshee's once…" Nico paused as he nearly lost himself in old war stories.

That mission was a fun one, if he recalled correctly. It was one that took place in Leanbox, and he was with a group of other Agents, Spec Ops obviously. With the exception of... one, the mission was quite intense, as the Banshees had them surrounded on all sides to make it a full on battle royal. One big ball of combat a fight for their very survival. It was one of the few times that Nico truly felt worried for the possibility of defeat. Death honestly didn't scare him, but the thought of leaving his life behind, of leaving Compa, his adoptive mother and his queries of te past behind, did.

By the time he realised what he had almost did, shook himself out of it, he found that Neptune was giggling with mirth, and she didn't try to hide it. heh, progress! "Ehehehe, and you say you're not overpowered…" she remarked slyly, getting a deadpanned stare and then a flick to the forehead from the male's index finger. "Ouchies!"

"Behave. Now, where was I? Oh right, anyways you wouldn't lose sight of us Neptune, you're a leader so whatever you say goes, you know. I'm pretty sure you'd be able to have lots of parties and the like with your friends when you're the leader of your own country. Who knows maybe you'll have a doting relative and a noisy secretary to make life more interesting, who's to say?" Nico realised that he was getting off track a little there, so he quickly got to the bottom line. "My point is, even when this adventure is done and dusted, it's not going to be the end for us. One journey's end is the start of another."

After saying this, the male softly smiled as he began patting her on the back of the head, ruffling it between his fingers. This little act of affection prompted Neptune to blush in a bashful manner, making her look adorable. If anyone were to look at them now from an outsider's point of view, they'd assume they were a couple. "So, don't worry about it Neptune, and stop with those damned tears! You're much to gorgeous to behaving these kinds of thoughts or these tears, damnit." He praised her and commanded her at the same time.

His grin, which had turned mischievous and teasing, softened to an affectionate smile, kindness shining in his eyes as he put an index finger on the tip of her nose. "Also, stop putting up this Mask you've been using to hide it from us, your sadness that is." Her eyes widened and a muffled gasped escaped her lips. He saw in her eyes her curiosity and shock, mixed with bewilderment and disbelief. He could tell she was wondering how he saw this, and thus decided to answer. "You should know I've got a LOT of experience with wearing Masks. Hell, you've SEEN me wear one myself. So I can see past your petty little Mask like it was childsplay." he remarked with a lopsided chuckle, remembering his beloved Mask which was still in his Void Storage, actually. "We're all going to be here for you, and if you don't believe that, then believe in ME. You can keep it up I you feel like you have to be this goddamn 'comic relief' shit or whatever, but when we're alone, its okay to drop the Mask and let your feelings come out. I'll listen to every one of them, you have my word as DEATHSTROKE."

Boy, how did the guy not realise he was making smooth moves here? The dude practically gave his word, something that was practically sacred to him, that he would be there for this girl when she needed to vent. If that wasn't some loyalty to her, then I don't know what is. Anyways, if she was blushing before, then she was red faced now. "Y—you're serious? Y-You really mean that? And you just called me p-p-pretty, ya know. Are you trying to make me fall for you, mister?" she started bashfully, before switching to a teasing tone as her usual cheery gleam returned to her lilac irises.

Though it was at his expense as Nico turned his head to look away from her, trying to stop her from seeing his reddening face. Now that she was getting better, Nico was more conscious of the fact that he was holding beautiful girl in his arms, something he had little experience with until this journey of theirs began. "W-well of course, I mean have you looked in the mirror lately? Oh wait, no, forget I said that- I-uh-ahhh-um-bleh-blah-bloh- bluh!"

Soon enough, Nico's tongue got tied up as he tried to formulate words, but the hormones within weren't letting that happen, no sir! Even if he hated things perverted, his body had the reactions of a healthy young male his age. Plus, with the way that the situation was, and the position they were in, only made his hormones harder to repress. Seeing him acting like this made Neptune laugh even more, turning into a merry laugh that he could feel from the depths of her chest, what with their chests being so close together and all. "Hahahahaha! Aw, don't be so shy, Nicky! You're just as much fun to tease as Noire!" she remarked with her troll face on.

Wisely, Nico chose not to rise to that obvious provocation. "All right, all right, let's get back on topic here before you make me faint. Seriously, that can happen. You feeling better now? Now that you got some teasing in?" he asked her as they sat up, Neptune sitting on his lap with his arms wrapped tightly around her still, her hands resting on his shoulders.

The preteen nodded as she nuzzled the crook of his neck with her face, her hug almost superhumanly tight, which wasn't a surprise considering who and what she was. "I feel tons better now, thanks." She replied softly, but she didn't need to. He could feel the gratitude oozing off her aura and relaxed posture in waves.

A satisfied smile escaped his lips "Don't worry about it, I'd do anything to get you smiling Nep... just glad you came back to your old self before I resorted to tickling you to death, I'm sure that Compa has told you of those times where I had to 'discipline' her, yes?" Neptune paled and Nico grinned devilishly, remembering those times with fondness. Yeah, he could be sadistic when he wanted to be.

"One last thing before I forget." Blinking as her face regained its colour, Neptune listened to what he had to say. "Don't confuse yourself, yeah sure you're a Goddess but you're still Neptune either way. You might work me ad IF's nerves every now and then but I bet you that she'll agree with me when I say that we wouldn't change you for anything."

Afterwards, the male made to get up, knowing that it was late and they needed to get back. But before he could though…

Chu!

Neptune's lips quickly found themselves on his own for the briefest of moments, although to Nico it felt like an eternity. His eyes shot open wide and his form went completely still. He didn't say a word or even think a thought, he had literally blue-screened himself when Neptune gave his lips that kiss. He couldn't escape even if he could move his body, for Neptune's arms had secured themselves around him, holding him in place. By the Goddesses, she had a strong grip. Kind of ironic, considering what she was, huh?

Pulling back, Neptune looked at him and laughed at how much of a fish he resembled right now, although her face was rosy red as well. "Ehehehe, making my heart go all fluttery like that, suffer you smooth talker, you! You just earned yourself another maiden, Nicky! Stuck with Neppy for lifey now, hubby!"

Nico took nearly 5 minutes to regain his bearings, his mind rebooting as he looked down at the grinning preteen who soon shot tot her feet with the energy she usually possessed. "Aaaaaalllrighty then!" she bellowed to the heavens above, before walking up the slope like a soldier would as she made her way back to the Hotel. "Let's a go, hubby! We gotta get back to Compa and the others for some Nep-action, baby!" she cheered, making Nico yell "Oi, Hubby?!" in dismay which added to her laugh.

Yet, that laugh felt much lighter and happier than he had ever heard her laugh before. It was almost like... she had let herself go. Like she was allowing herself to be free. That thought made Nico decide against pranking her for this, and instead formed a slight smirk as he began to chase after her.

* * *

Oh geez, my heart can't stop pounding!

Mou! That Nicky, pulling all those moves out of his behind like that!

Now I get why Aidy and Ivy have such reactions to him unknowingly being a ladies man.

Such a smooth talker he is, he knew just what to say to cheer me up.

First he assures me that things will work out between us as i'm apparently a Goddess.

Then, he goes further by breaking through my 'comic relief' character trait to what I really feel inside!

He even warms that up with his words, too!

This Nep can't even resist, at this point!

Guess this is what those magazines I saw on the internet call 'love' huh?

Guess this is also what I've been feeling for him for a while now. I wonder where it first began?

Bah, I can think of that later.

Well, good thing this isn't cannon, but fanfiction, so I can go ahead and claim him for myself!

Nicky, you don't know what you've unleashed, boi!

This Nep's playing for keeps!

* * *

'... Oh boy, you can tell this is going to end badly...'

This wasn't good.

So, so not good.

Nico could hardly believe what he was seeing, and it was all he could do to repress a groan as he held his nose's bridge with his right hand's index finger and thumb. This was one thing even he didn't see coming, and it was likely going to bite him in the ass later on. He just knew it. What was he doing, wasn't he supposed to keep people away from him so he could keep his secret safe? Yet, he's been doing the exact opposite, helping girls with their problems and cheering them up. Nevertheless, he couldn't back out now, so he had no choice but to see this through. Hopefully, things wouldn't be too crazy... oh, who was he kidding? This was Neptune they were talking about.

He'll be pranking her after all!

"So yeah, he's my Hubby now, we're at the hip!" Neptune cheerfully proclaimed to the others when they finally returned to the hotel room. Nico followed her, heaving slightly as he held himself up by having his hand on the door frame for support. Neptune had gotten impatient partway through the journey back and had all but pulled him along with her to the Hotel. He felt more exhausted than he did after his first 'true' transformation, and that was saying something.

Unfortunately for him, things predictably did get worse, as Neptune had spent one second in the room before boldly proclaiming them to be 'Hubby' and 'Wifey' whatever that meant. It seemed that the girls knew however, and they had the shock of their lives. "WHAT?!" IF was gaping at them, her jaw unhinged from her mouth which was wide open, same with her eyes. It was obvious that she planned for Nico to cheer Neptune up, but it was also obvious that she didn't expect this outcome.

Compa, oh Compa, she looked a mix between shocked and devastated. For some reason, Nico felt that this was more hurtful to her than the brunette. Said brunette would only feel a blow to her pride as a tactician, while Compa… well, for some reason she acted like this was a personal blow to the gut. She looked like she was going to break into a rage and cry at the same time, not a nice look on her, seriously. He didn't like that expression she was making, not one bit, however Nico had no idea what to do to solve it. "Hey, it's not like that, I have no clue where Neptune's got this stuff from, I swear!" he tried to say, holding his hands up defensively.

Unfortunately, trouble wasn't letting him go that easy, as it's champion hooked her arms around his right one with a beaming grin on her face. "Aw, don't be silly, Nicky!" Neptune cheerfully chirped patting Nico on the back. She knew it wouldn't have the same affect that it would on her girlfriends, as unlike them, Nico somehow had the ability to endure her superhuman strength, whereas she had to tone it down for Compa and IF. "Nicky here was a knight in shining armour, saving the beautiful maiden from the beast that is depression! Now we're gonna become hubby and wifey, the meta gods deem it so! Ehehehe, wonder what I should wear for our M rated scene."

While Neptune lost herself into her fantasies and Nico nearly fainted at the things she was mumbling out loud, IF looked to Compa and saw her state. She could tell that this wasn't easy for her, and saw she looked like she was ready to have a breakdown. Walking over, IF raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder, getting her attention as Compa turned her head to look at her. "Hey, you gonna let this slide? Nep there's making a move on your man, so are you gonna cave in or are you gonna defend your territory?" she asked her with a cheerful, knowing smile.

Compa blinked a moment, momentarily caught off guard by what she was saying, until a wave of determination fell onto her shoulders and she nodded resolutely. Memories of her childhood spent with Nico played in her mind, furthering her resolve. "Your right, iffy, I'm not gonna take this lying down!" she huffed, pumping her fists in front of her chest like it was some sort of preparation for battle.

Turning, Compa lowered her head, hair shadowing her eyes as she walked forwards towards the male, who only noticed her when she was within a few paces from him. "Huh… Compa? Uhhh, what's wrong, it's not like I did anything, I swear I'm innocent!" he tried to justify himself, thinking that she would hit him. Not like it would hurt physically, but it would emotionally.

"Ni-Ni… I've decided that I'm gonna defend it…" she told him, not moving her head. When Nico tilted his head with a confused "huh?" she raised her head and almost knocked him back with how determined she looked. "I'm gonna defend my turf!" she proclaimed getting Neptune's attention just as she went and kissed him… on the lips!

Goddamnit, this was the second time!

'Whoa, what the hell?!' Nico shrieked in his mind since his lips were caught in the kiss that Compa gave him. IF nodded her head in approval, grinning as Neptune strolled over and pulled them apart, a look of childish anger over her as she and Compa declared war over the confused Spec Ops Agent. 'What the fuck is HAPPENING?!'

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **By GODS, this chapter took a while to edit.**

 **Seriously, I have a whole new respect for those who take a while to upload their content. There was just so much I wanted to add to this word count that it's insane.**

 **Now, I say that this is a Harem fanfic, but what I don't like seeing is the same cliché stereotypical bullshit in harem animes. the relationships are developed too fast for my opinion, and I sometimes don't get why some girls like this one guy. Plus, there isn't much reason for the male harem protagonist to be likable, they're either dense or overly perverted. (looking at you infinite stratos Ichika and Issei from Highschool DXD) Although I do admit they have their redeeming qualities.**

 **What I want to make is a harem fanfic that tries something rarely used in harem anime, something Highschool DXD's protag touched upon briefly, though I won't elaborate for those who haven't seen it. But basically it's psychological in nature, and that's what I want to see more of. What the male protagonist is thinking, how things affect him psychologically and emotionally.**

 **Also, I try to develop the romance SLOWLY, like there's a foundation for it before things kick off. That is why the romance between Neptune, Nico and Compa only truly starts 36 chapters in. This relationship, as well as the others, are going to have character development and fleshed out traits for them, I can promise you that.**

 **Now, hope you all have a great day.**

 **PM me if you have any questions, if not just leave a review, follow or fav!**

 **peace out!**


	38. Chapter 38 - Relaxing and stuff

**Okay... what happened while I was sleeping?**

 **Last chapter got more views than most the other chapters when I first uploaded them. It was uploaded at least at 3AM, and 7 hours later when I awoke, it's already at over 60 views? What the heck?**

 **And why is it that last time I checked this fic was at 8100 or so views, now its over 8600? Jesus Christ! You guys must like my fic or something.**

 **Well, this chapter's going to be mostly relaxing, as the chapter says. The last chapter was more on the drama side than I would have liked, but at least it wasn't action packed like the last few chapters. So, consider this and the last chapter a little break from that stuff.**

 **Now then, on with the show!**

* * *

 **Chapter 38 - mentality, relaxing and stuff**

That night...

Nico's eyes shot wide open, a low gasp escaping his lips. His eyes glanced from side to side in a mounting panic, realising that he wasn't where he remembered being before he fell asleep. The space he was in, was a blue sky, with a mirror-like floor down below. The clouds in the sky were reflected off the floor's surface, and the male happened to be sitting on a chair, the only thing that was in this wide, open space. There was literally nothing else as far as the eye could see.

This wasn't the bedroom he was in, no, this place wasn't that at all. Where was he? Last thing he could remember, was him falling asleep in the Hotel room, and next thing he knew, the male was here. There was no breeze, there was not even a single spec of oxygen in this space, so how was he breathing? His lungs acted normally, taking in something imaginary and still functioning perfectly.

Looking down at his hands, Nico saw that they were still normal, that there was nothing wrong with them, He could faintly make out the metal straps that held his bracers over his arms from within his Trench Coat... wait a minute.

Why was he in formal wear, when Nico was in his PJs when he went to bed? He was certain he had changed before falling asleep!

'Ugh, so many question, so little things to answer them...' the male groaned, holding the side of his head like a drunkard having a BIT too much alcohol. All these questions were giving him a headache, it would be best if he tried to stop thinking so much for a moment to get his head on straight. Last thing he needed right now was his brain trying to burst out his cranium.

Lowering his hand, Nico closed his eyes and tried taking deep breaths. In... out. In... and out. Nico repeated this process, his mouth forming an 'O' shape as he repeatedly inhaled and exhaled. It felt a little weird, doing this in a place where there was no oxygen and not dying of suffocation, but hey, since when has Neptunia fics ever tried to adhere to physics?

Wait... physics?

Suddenly, the answers became clear to him, making a reluctant, yet relieved sigh escape his lips. 'A... A dream. This is a dream. But... I don't usually have dreams, unless...'

Now there was a small panic in his gut, a rising sense of fear and dread. Now, everything didn't look the same in his eyes. Nothing changed about the 'Mirror World' as he was now dubbing it, but how he perceived it did. He suddenly saw this world as a reflection of himself, a face behind the Mask. This world, this Mirror World, it felt so... familiar, to him, like he had been here before... No, he HAD been here before... he just didn't remember where. For the life of him, he couldn't freaking remember!

Damnit, why were dreams so annoying?

"You shouldn't be doing this..."

The sound of a soft, child-like voice spoke to him. The voice had a hint of cracking within it, like it was one step away from breaking into a sobbing fit. The male turned around, his eyes furiously looking for the source of the voice, but there was next to nothing around him. Nothing save for that chair...

That suspiciously NOT empty chair.

'Okay, what the hell?' Nico wondered, stunned as he lay witness to someone sitting on the chair that he once occupied just a couple seconds ago. It was a child, a young boy with blood stained red hair, almost like he had come out of a horror movie. He couldn't make out his eye colour just yet, but for a moment, he swore he saw a flash of dark, cold blue in there for just a brief moment. They were a shade darker than his, but that may be to do with his age, it has been proven that 10 to 15% of those who are of Caucasian descent have a chance to change their eye colour. This is due to them usually having lighter eye colours. Though if eye colour changes were to happen drastically, medical assistance was advised, as eye colour changing can be a warning of certain disease. He read up about that once when he found one of his clients to have two different eye colours.

The male cut himself from that train of thought before he lost himself to that train of thought. He had to focus on the current issues at hand: the Child, and this Mirror World. Slowly, he walked over to the child, whom was curled into a ball on the chair oddly reminiscent to how Neptune looked when she was brooding about her being a Goddess. Legs tucked into his chest, arms around them, head buried into his legs, the works. Yet somehow, THIS felt different than back then... like way worse, and way more impactful.

"You shouldn't be doing this... have you forgotten, already?"

He heard the child speak, his words muffled by the fact that his head was buried, but to Nico, those words were as clear as crystal, like they were something that he had burned into his brain at some point. His eyes watched with wariness as he observed the child more closely. The child wore loose clothing, well, more like what USED to be clothing. Judging by the white colour marred with greyish stains, Nico figured that his clothes were once that of a standard patient's clothes in a hospital. However, they had lost that freshness, that purity, for some time it seemed. It was almost like this child never changed his clothes, yet remained stink free.

How odd.

"Uhhh... not quite sure what you mean there, kid." the male spoke slowly, not sure what to say at first. He wasn't sure why, but something told him that deep down he should know this kid from somewhere, like he should have always known. He didn't know what it was, and it was starting to mildly irritate him, all these questions and so little answers, and yet, it also felt like he KNEW already, that he was just deluding himself. "What is it that I'm supposed to not be doing?"

"... You do not remember us, do you?"

This time, Nico blinked owlishly, confusion etched onto his features as he watched the child slowly raise his head. It gave him chills, for while the child moved, there were these cracking sounds coming from his neck, like he had stayed in that position for so long that it ad been frozen onto him. The child aimed it's cold blue eyes at him, his mouth set into a deep frown, one of confusion and... disappointment?

"You do not recall the oath you swore... on their graves...? No, we do not remember, yet we are constantly reminded of it. We need to remember, we need to remember... remember... NOW!"

In an instant, everything became warped. Blood suddenly seeped into the skies, spreading across them as the clouds darkened to an abyssal black. The floor below suddenly began to churn, becoming the surface of a chaotic ocean during a massive hurricane. The ocean began to bubble as the chair was no longer anywhere to be seen, as if it had been swallowed by it. The waves roared like anguished screaming civilians with a mix of animalistic shrieks of outrage, before dozens of long water trails instantly erupted from deep within the ocean itself, rising up around him and restraining the male.

"Gah!"

Nico gasped as he struggled to break free. He tried to reach for his Bracers, but the trails kept them apart. He tried to don his armour, but the trails stopped that too. Plus, for that moment, he had forgotten that he had lost it in the battle against Arfoire.

'No... I'm being...!'

Still, his instincts guided him as he struggled in vain to break free, the trails slowly sinking into the water. Ever so slowly, Nico's struggles began to quicken, his heart pounding within his ribcage as panic settled into his mind. Yet, despite everything, Nico was pulled into the waters below...

Never to come out again.

* * *

The following morning was an… interesting one, to say the least.

#GASP#

Nico's eyes shot open as a silent gasp escaped his lips. His breathing laboured, his forehead sweating profusely, Nico panted heavily as he tried to calm himself down. He slowly got his breathing back to normal, enough so that the weights on his chest were not disturbed ad once again retook their places on his abs...

Wait, what?

The male did his best to look downwards, and saw that, to his slight dismay, both Compa and Neptune had slept on top of him through the night, both of their heads on one of his pecs. "Gah! Wha-wha-what?!" he shrieked, trying to move his arms. However, not only did they have their legs entangled with his own, but they also lay atop him in a manner that made his arms numb, with little blood pumping through them,

'What the hell?! why the fuck are these guys sleeping in my bed?!'

This, this must have been a continuation of what happened before! Holy shit, he had hoped he had dreamt it, that Neptune and Compa HADN'T kissed him like they did. Turned out, that hope was a false reality, and the true reality was that it had happened.

As if to make things even more complicated, the male had to tense, freezing every inch of his movement when he felt the two girls begin to stir, his ears picking up their strained grunts and groans as their consciousness awoke from their slumber. Compa was the first to wake up though, as Neptune just slumped back onto her previous spot. Luckily for his arm, he had managed to move it out the way so that she wouldn't constrict it's blood flow again.

"Mmmmmm...umph... oh, is it... morning, already...?" the sleepy Compa droned, rubbing one of her eyes as she shifted so she was sitting beside him. She threw her arms into the air and stretched them, making a 'munya' sound as she felt the pent up stress from sleep leave her body. "Ahhhh, that feels so good..." a low moan escaped her lips as she did this, unaware of the male below her. It didn't last long though, because Compa lowered her arms and had her eyes opened, glancing down to notice him. Instead of blushing or getting flustered like a normal girl would in this situation, especially someone in her position, Compa merely smiled merrily and waved. "Hi there, Ni-Ni. Good morning!"

Nico, who was still flabbergasted about what just happened, took a moment to make a response. He blinked several times, just to get his head screwed on tight, before he levelled a stern gaze towards her. "Hello, Compa. Mind telling me why you and this idiot are in my bed?" he asked her, pointing to the purplette with his freed right arm. She was still in the process of sleeping, having fallen back into slumber. Now, she was also drooling too. The nerve of her!

Glancing towards the preteen and seeing how Neptune was now snuggling onto Nico's chest with a dreamy, dopey grin on her face with a spec of drool coming out her mouth, the young Nurse-In-Training couldn't help but sweat drop awkwardly, chuckling in a similar manner. "Well..." she began to say, only to find that even she didn't know the full details. "It was all quiet and peaceful when I snuck in, so I'm not sure..."

Was it wrong to be nervous when she openly admitted to sneaking in with no shame whatsoever?

"You really should have worded that differently..." Nico stated dully with a deadpan expression. If one wanted to imagine his expression better, it would be the 'l_l' emoji, getting a sheepish giggle from the Nurse-In-Training. In hindsight, he should have expected something like this, because when they were little, Compa made it a habit to sneak into his bed almost every night, especially when there was a thunderstorm outside. It made for some pretty... eventful mornings for the first few times, then he had gotten used to it.

Now that they were teens though, it was a completely new ball game...

Their conversation soon was enough to throw Neptune out of her slumber, a displeased moan escaping her lips as she stirred. "Ugh, what's with all the racket? Can't I get 13 more hours of bliss here?" She whined to nobody in particular, electing sweat drops from both Nico and Compa. The two watched as she lifted herself upwards, going into a sitting position as she rubbed her eyes away. She let out a small yawn, putting her hand over her mouth before stretching in a similar manner to Compa. Only, she didn't do the 'munya' at the end.

When she lowered her arms, Neptune noticed that she was the target of several stares, making her blink for a moment to get herself into composure. "Huh? What's with the stares you guys?" she asked them in confusion, before she noticed that one of them belonged to a certain displeased Spec Ops Agent. Neptune gave a drowsy smile, having just woken up could do that to you. "What's up, Nicky? Have any wet dreams about me?" She then looked down, and noticed something else, something that made her smile widen to a mischievous level. "Ohhh, is that your morning wood there? Lemme see, lemme see!"

Nico's jaw dropped as he saw Neptune attempt too pull the covers off him to see his... well, stuff. "Oh no, you don't young missy!" he yelled quickly snapping to action as he slapped her hands off the covers and pulled them onto him again. This displeased the purplette, resulting in a tug of war with the covers being the quilt, both of them giving it their all. It was amazing that the cover hadn't been torn yet, with the amount of stress it was under.

"Lemme see, Nicky! It's a wifey's job to look after her Hubby's needs!"

"Like hell it is! And what's this about me being your 'Hubby' crap?!"

"Of course you're my hubby! Hubby is Hubby!"

"How the hell does that make any sense?!"

Compa tilted her head, she was absolutely confused and didn't know what was going on anymore. She just watched them fight for the cover, or to be more precise, the sight of Nico's Manhood in the morning, like an innocent child. "Huh? Nep-Nep is more lively this morning than normal. Huh, Ni-Ni must inspire her..." she muttered under her breath. However, her mind fully processed that statement and quickly set a competitive fire in her. "No way, Nep-Nep! I'm not letting you see Ni-Ni Jr!" she yelled, quickly glomping onto the purplette.

"Awww, come on, Compa! Don't tell me you're not at least a little curious!"

"Yes, thank you Compa!"

"Besides, I've seen it myself, so I'm fine!"

"Yeah, she's- wait, what?!"

"Ohoho?! Looks like I need to one up my rival, huh? Well then, Nep it on!"

This would be one eventful morning, huh?

* * *

After that whole issue was settled with Nico declaring that they needed to get moving, Compa and Neptune eventually, albeit reluctantly, agreed and left to get changed, teasing him and pointedly glaring at each other with sparks flying, though Nico had been able to stop them from going to blows, they each made their way to the hotel Lobby, where a smirking IF was waiting for them. When she noticed them approaching, she closed the Phone she was using and put it on her belt, before walking over to them with her smirk showing just how much she knew of what's going on. "Had fun, you three?" she asked them, noticing Nico's weary movements while Neptune and Compa looked more energetic in comparison.

"Yeppers, I was fun sleeping with him, I'll say." Neptune replied cheerily, much to the shock of the male in question as he flushed furiously at what she was implying.

Compa pouted as she grasped onto one of Nico's arms. "Nep-Nep, we didn't do anything like that, we just slept together with him." She explained, although her words weren't that much better as they meant technically the same thing. This caused Nico to become a furnace as several spectators, mainly males, gave the male dirty jealous looks.

"Compa, you're just making it worse when you say it like that!"

While watching those three was an entertaining sight, IF new that this wasn't the time or the place. She quickly pulled the two off him, mentally thanking her BOW powers for enhancing her physical abilities. "Alright, settle down you two. I already know what you mean, I saw you guys this morning. Anyways, we have most of the morning and afternoon to ourselves, but in the evening we have to go see Noire at Chian's Café for dinner. I got a text from her, one that says she'll meet us there once her work is done for the day."

Compa tilted her head in confusion and concern at the message, it worried her that they were taking advantage of Chian's place for their meetings, and she made sure the others knew her thoughts on the matter. "Are you sure we should be taking advantage of Chian like that? She's in the hospital and we're using her Café…" She trailed off into silence. It didn't feel right eating the foods of someone who was recovering after being injured. To her, it was like stealing the foods of one of her patients, something that was a major no-no to her.

IF, however, waved off her concerns as she proceeded to explain. "No worries there, Noire said she had paid Chian a visit, and besides checking up on her she got us permission to use the Cafe. Now then, let's go before Nep's stomach roars." She told them, turning on her heels and making for the doors to the outside.

However, just before she could reach the door's handle, IF and everyone inside the lobby heard a Lion's roar for a moment, making a small panic as they feared a monster was nearby. However, Nico, Compa and IF knew the source, and aimed dry looks at Neptune who was rubbing the back of her head and laughing nervously. "Ehehehe… looks like my tummy agrees, Iffy. Onward, to Passé! If we have breakfast there, we don't have to worry about paying bills!"

'We're gonna have a drop in our credits, aren't we?' That was what both Nico and IF thought in unison, unknowing to them, as they all left the Hotel to go to the Café that they had saved from Ganache's little, 'attack'. If Neptune did drain the supplies for food down, they would have to fork over Credits to refill the stocks.

* * *

Wandering the streets, Nico and the others looked around to see the damage that the Southern District of Lastation had taken. The buildings were in ruins, some having collapsed during the clean-up. Civilians made sure to stay away from those areas as construction workers worked to clean the streets and repair the buildings. Diggers and vehicles rode through these sites, filling the air with the sounds of their motors and clanking metal. These were also accompanied by the sounds construction workers made with their tools. it would no doubt be taking a while for the city to recover from this tragedy.

"These people… things look even worse than when we first came here…" Compa noted sadly as she glanced at a pair of children sitting on a Bench, both looking like the whole world had crashed down on them. Literally. Their eyes looked lifeless, like all the joy that should have been there had been snuffed out as they hung their heads and leaned on each other for support. Looked like they needed it too. Their bodies were covered in grievous wounds that looked like they came from something fallen on top of them. There was a pile of rubble nearby with many workers surrounding it, so the picture became grimly clear.

Very grim indeed.

IF nodded in agreement, scowling at the sight as... unpleasant memories flowed back into her mind, memories that she would rather have kept buried within her past. "Yeah, I feel you, Compa. These people... they look like they're just fractions of their former selves. It doesn't help that the culprits will have escaped justice... this time, at least." she remarked, scowling when she remembered the broadcast that happened shortly after the Infection was silenced. When she first heard it, she had thought she would smash her phone to pieces on the ground in a blind rage. It was a major show of the injustice plaguing Gamindustri, as well as the things she hated about people in general. How they use the nation for their own game, and use others as their scapegoats, pinning blames on them when they themselves were the true culprits. Fortunately, Nico had requested that her Phones be equipped with reinforced cases, for her BOW strength.

The mood had, which was once happy and delightful, decreased when the Party saw the children and how they had likely been just rescued from certain death. But with the absence of the parents, it looked like death would have been preferable to them. It was even worse for them since they knew the cause behind the tragedy they were seeing, and it didn't escape them that this may be the same for more people, people who had lost their families, friends or lovers.

"Man, this is definitely not in the main rebirth series." Neptune said as she gazed around at all the sorrow-filled expressions everyone had on their faces. Although she couldn't blame them, Neptune had to make sure something was done about all the doom and gloom was dealt with… somewhat. "They need some more pudding!"

IF shook her head at the preteen, seeing some of the passers-by giving them weird looks as if to say, 'is that girl alright or something?' she was mildly glad that they hadn't said it out loud, otherwise this would have been even more humiliating. "Nep, not everything revolves around pudding you know. Everyone's lost something import to them here, it's not the time for jokes."

Nico stared at them for a moment, before turning his head to face the direction they were walking in. his teeth gritted tightly to the point where they would have cracked under the pressure with his fists clenched tightly. "This tragedy shouldn't have happened… after the Racoon City incident I'd vowed to never let this happen again…" he cursed himself, looking down at the ground with pure fury boiling inside of him, almost threatening to roast him alive. It took him a minute to realise that his hatred was affecting both IT and his demonic energies, for which he tried to calm down to keep them in control.

Help came in the form of IF patting him on the back, getting his attention. When he looked to her, he saw that she had a serious look to her that fit the usual IF he knew, although behind her serious façade Nico could see that she was angry too. "This isn't your fault here, Nico. You did what you could to prep the city for this disaster, you made sure casualties were minimal. Those that died fought well, but their deaths will not be in vain. This is Avenir's fault, and they will get what's coming to them." She told him, her hand clenching his shoulder with a comforting squeeze.

With her words repeating themselves in his mind, Nico forced himself to calm down. Both his Demonic Energy ad IT returned to stability, much to his relief. He had just gotten control over one power, he didn't need the other one to act up, especially since nobody in his group knew about it. With a final exhale, Nico found it safe to speak. "Well, I guess… at least we can take solace that the outbreak was only limited to one District. Though I guess that makes sense since Avenir doesn't want to end up like Umbrella."

Now that their male party member had calmed down, the Party resumed their walk to Chian's Café.

* * *

While they were walking, Neptune and the others were looking around the mostly destroyed southern District, taking in what they could to reaffirm themselves of their goals to bring Avenir to justice. It wasn't that hard, considering all the loss, anguish, and desire for retribution they saw everywhere they went. Unfortunately, they couldn't do anything right now, since Avenir had practically covered all its bases for now, but the silver lining was that they would have to be careful for the time being, since Avenir still was pending investigation by the military. Some people had reported Ganache being seen with a Killachine causing chaos in the midst of everything, and while those people had strangely 'disappeared' the damage had been done.

"Hey guys, um, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Compa grabbed everyone's attention, and when they saw her pointing in the direction of something, they looked to see what it was. To their surprise, it looked to be a small restaurant, one slightly smaller than Chian's Café, called 'Black Sanctuary'. They each had their own little chuckle at the homage to Lady Black Heart, or in their case Noire, there. It would be seen for a while, since Noire helped in the defence efforts and the clean-up after the attacks were stopped.

"Oooooh! a Karaoke bar!" Neptune cheered in excitement, deciding to drop the matters of Avenir for a moment. She bounded over to the observation glass and planted her face on it with her hands on either side of her head. Peering inside, the purplette examined the interior of the Karaoke bar, excitement and joy shining like searchlights in her eyes.

It was only moderately filled, with few seats remaining. Fortunately, there was one set of seats that they could use near the back, as the room was set up where she could see everything as if it were a vertical line. On one side was the seats, with multiple people chatting away, while on the other was the bar-like counter with the Karaoke box at the back of the room.

Turning to look back at her friends, Neptune skipped over to them with her smile never faltering in the slightest. "We should go in! C'mon, please? Pretty-pretty please?" she begged, extending the last part of her sentence with her hands pressed together as if for a prayer. "The readers are going to want some down time before we start the action rolling again, so why not? We deserve a break every now and then."

Nico had to admit that she did have a point. The last few days were rather hectic for them, and thus they didn't get a lot of down time. Nevertheless, he wasn't totally convinced that this was a good idea, to be taking it easy when lives were still at stake. "I'm not so sure..." he tried to say, only to trail into silence as he awkwardly rubbed the side of his jaw with an index finger.

Compa pouted in Nico's direction. While she didn't like working with a rival for Nico's heart, she did agree with Neptune's point of view. Plus, she was also quite tired of having to work so hard without breaks. She joined Neptune, standing beside her and mimicking her poses. Her eyes shined with pleading lights towards the teen, who nearly recoiled at the sight. "Please, Ni-Ni? We've worked so hard over the last few days, a break will surely do some good." she protested, trying to drag the point home.

Still though, Nico remained unsure. He looked to IF, wondering what she would be thinking about this, when he noticed she had been on her Phone. Fro the looks of things, she was checking the Guild Website, most likely. When she noticed everyone's gaze on her, IF rolled her eyes and placed her Phone back on her belt. "I checked the Guild Quest board online, and it says Quests will not be issued for most the day, so Guild Agents can focus on helping repairs." she told him, and then she pointed to the Karaoke pub. "So, this looks like our best bet for the day. I'm in."

It looked like they had won this argument, so Nico eventually relented with a sigh, shrugging his shoulders and pocketing his gloved hands inside his Trench Coat. "Alright girls, you win. Lets have a little break, you all have earned it for surviving the last few days." he then gave them a small, but pride-filled, smile which matched the look in his eyes. "I'm so proud of you all."

"Yaaaaaaay!"

* * *

Entering the Karaoke bar, Neptune and the others took seats that were available. They were all seated together, on one table since there was only 4 of them at the moment. They hadn't ordered food or drink yet, as they wanted to settle in first before anything like that could be done. Compa looked around at the people that were talking, each of them talking like they had no worries in the world. "Wooow, everyone here looks so happy." she couldn't help but comment with awe. It was like the tragedy didn't affect them at all in some way... she didn't know how to feel about that.

"That's because they're civilians, Compa." IF spoke, crossing her arms over her chest with one leg crossed over the other under the table they sat at. "They're just trying to pretend that nothing happened, that everything was all a bad dream. It's their way of coping." she explained, before giving an irritated scoff in their direction, though they didn't hear it. That, or they were ignoring it. "Doesn't seem right to me, but hey, its not my call."

Neptune hummed in thought as she processed this information. This was likely her first time in a Karaoke bar, and with what little she knew of her former life that was probably the case. She wondered what she was supposed to do here, since she had no prior experience with this beyond what the internet says. "Huh, that's so realistic..." she remarked unknowingly parroting what she had said when they first entered Lastation. Turning to the brunette, Neptune decided to voice her mental questions about this place. "Hey Iffy, what do you do at places like this?"

IF, who had been on her Phone as usual, looked up and raised a brow in her direction. "What, you've never been to one before?" she questioned, before continuing without letting her respond. "Wait, stupid question, sorry about that. Anyways, it's just like any other pub, restaurant, bar etc. They sell food, drink, and no not Pudding Nep. Only, there's a Karaoke box that lets people sing instrumental versions of various songs. Some places make you pay to sing songs, though that isn't a common practice." she explained, getting an 'ooooh!' from the preteen, before she looked back at her Phone. "I checked this place's web page, and it looks like we don't have to pay, we just have to let the staff know we'd like to use the box, and get up on that small platform just there."

She pointed to a small, elevated silver coloured platform, shaped like a Hexagon with various flashing lights of a multitude of colours, not just black and silver. It was connected to the Karaoke box by wires, which went behind it and supplied the platform with power. The platform looked like it could fit two people at once on it, which was something that the Party noted in their minds, especially when it came to a certain Spec Ops Agent.

Speaking of said agent...

"Already ahead of you on that one, IF." Nico's voice called out, grabbing their attention. The male walked over to them from the counter, holding a set of Mics in one hand and the other in a Trench Coat pocket. "I already requested we sing a few songs and got the staff's approval. We just have to chose which song to play, and then step on the platform. The speakers," he paused to point at the various speakers, built into the four walls that made up the Karaoke bar. "Will do the rest."

At this point, Neptune was grinning widely, reminiscent of a Cheshire cat as she bounced up to him. "Well then, what are we waiting for, Nicky?!" she exclaimed, before grabbing him by the arm that had pocketed his hand, and skipped over to the stage. "Let's get singing already!"

"Uh, Neptune, I can't sing! I've never sung!" Nico tried to protest, digging his heels into the floor. However, they must have been recently cleaned because he couldn't get a good enough grip to stop the purplette Amnesiac. The male had to bite back a curse at this, it wasn't like he hated music. No, he quite liked it, there were a few bands he was into, some of their tracks were recorded into his Bracer under the 'Music' file. However, he had never sung them himself before, focusing more on the adrenaline rush they gave him.

His words fell on deaf ears though, and when he shot a pleading gaze to the others for help, he was met by one of indifference from IF, and an intense gaze from Compa. She must be wanting to hear him sing as well, which shot down any hope of escape. Worse was how the rest of the patrons were now looking at him and Neptune with interest, the males giving the purplette... interested looks, and that was putting it mildly. He had to give them fierce glares to make them back off, assholes.

Thus, with a sigh, Nico resigned himself to the humiliating fate that was to sing in front of an audience. In essence, it was similar to giving speeches to nervous Agents about the battle they were about to head into. That formula would have to be adapted here, the male decided, if he wanted to perform at a level where his dignity wouldn't suffer anything severe.

It was Neptune's go to choose a song, and fortunately she didn't chose any love songs. Nico wouldn't have been able to cope with the mental trauma, if that had happened. From the looks of things, she chose 'Knight of the wind' by Crush 40. 'Not a bad choice, I must admit. Fits Neptune's personality since she likes heroes and stuff, sometimes she acts all noble like a knight. Plus she describes herself as a 'maiden', so...' Nico thought as he stood alongside her on the Platform. Since this was Neptune's song, he'd only be singing at certain parts. He would be sure the Author would distinguish them, so he wasn't worried.

The music began to start, a holographic screen appearing before them and the Lyrics began to rise to the screen's top:

(Neptune - Normal, Nico - Bold and Underlined, Both - bold, underlined and italics)

Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!

Hey all **(hey all)**  
Welcome to the greatest storm  
I know **(I know)**  
You have waited much too long  
And I **(and I)**  
I will be your shining star  
I'm here **(I'm here)**  
Here to conquer near and far!

 _ **Like the sun, I run**_  
 _ **Into the heat of day**_  
 _ **Like a knight, I'll fight**_  
 _ **Until the fight is won**_  
 _ **In a rage, I slay**_  
 _ **Each and every, each and every**_  
 _ **Each and every one**_  
 _ **Till this war is won!**_

And I live to rule  
 **By the sword**  
Slashing through the every inch of the power  
The power in you  
As I sit and I stand  
By the table I command  
My kingdom  
 _ **I'm the knight of the wind!**_

Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!

It didn't take long, but soon enough, both Neptune and Nico lost themselves to the song, no longer paying attention to their surroundings. People stopped their chatter and looked, drawn to the singing which, in their ears, sounded almost like a professional singer. The two hit the song's notes well, keeping their voices in tune with each other, and there were few cracks in their voices. Of course, this was their first time singing, but the two pulled it off extremely well, almost like they were made for it.

Hey all **(hey all)**  
Welcome to the end it's near  
I know **(I know)**  
I will bring you pain and fear

From the ground to the sky  
Faced with you and I  
In a flash, I'm gone  
Holding your crown high  
In a rage, I slay  
Each and every, each and every  
Each and every one  
Till this war is won

And I live to rule  
By the sword  
Slashing through the every inch of the power  
The power in you  
As I sit, as I stand  
By the table I command  
My kingdom  
I'm the knight of the wind

The knight of the wind...  
I'm the knight of the...

 **My castle is a massive force**  
 **A stronghold of power**  
 **My armor stays unbreakable**  
 **In battle every hour...**

(Instrumental)

Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!  
Wo-oa-oahh!

 _ **Like the sun, I run**_  
 _ **Into the heat of day**_  
 _ **Like a knight, I'll fight**_  
 _ **Until the fight is won**_  
 _ **In a rage, I slay**_  
 _ **Each and every, each and every**_  
 _ **Each and every one**_  
 _ **Till this war is won!**_

And I live to rule  
By the sword  
Slashing through the every inch of the power  
The power in you  
As I sit and I stand  
By the table I command  
My kingdom  
I'm the knight of the wind...

The knight of the wind!

At last, the song ended, and the screen vanished. For a moment, there was silence, everyone looking at them intently... before applause erupted from within the Patrons. People were clapping, howling and wolf whistling in their direction, much to their surprise. They didn't think their singing was THAT good, this was their first time!

"Awesome! That song was badass!"

"The singers were amazing! Not pop star levels, but still amazing!"

"She's so freaking cute! I wanna ask her on a date!"

"Hey, no dice dude! I'm having her! She needs a good lover in bed anyways!"

The Spec Ops Agent glared at the males who made those last two comments. Nobody was tainting Neptune's innocence with that stuff, nobody. It slightly pacified him, when he saw Neptune giving them the finger, as if telling them they had no chance to begin with. The two men gaped, before huffing like a pair of spoiled brats, making Nico chuckle in amusement.

Though, what he didn't pay attention to were the female patrons who were eyeing him with lust.

"Oh my god, that guy's voice was rad!"

"I know! And he has that 'I'm super serious and badass!' vibe going on."

"Meow, I'd like to grind something on those abs of his."

"Hey, cut it out, girl! Besides, I bet he must be great at... certain activities."

Those comments were picked up like warning dots on a radar by a certain pair of girls. Those that spoke those dangerous lines were quick to be on the receiving end of Neptune and Compa's combined KI, much to their shock and horror. IF had to admit, these comments, while inappropriate, were actually kind of amusing, especially with Neptune and Nico's individual reactions. She snickered to herself as she discreetly held her phone in their direction, a mischievous gleam shining through her green eyes. 'I'm SO going to record this...'

After she was sure those hussies were not snooping on her territory, Compa stood up and walked to Neptune, her eyes clear as she proclaimed. "Nep-Nep, its my turn now! Lemme sing, please!" Now, before, none of them had paid attention to when Neptune and Nico went onto the stage, until they played. But when the guys saw Compa's... assets as she moved onto the Stage where Neptune was, plucking her off it like taking a twig from a tree and placing her on the ground, their eyes glued to them. This earned them disgusted looks from the women in the Karaoke bar, and even the staff were mildly disgusted, though they tried to remain professional.

Once she had the mic in her hands, Compa hurriedly chose a song, giving Nico a look that basically told him 'You don't move from that spot, mister!' causing him to sigh. What did he do to deserve this? 'Whelp, at least this isn't boring.' He admitted in his mind, chuckling softly as Compa chose the song she wanted. Unlike before, she would be the lead singer, and he would be behind her, watching the show from a VIP seating. This time though, the teen didn't see what she had chosen, so he didn't know what to expect until the screen and lyrics appeared.

(My Treasure - Miku Izayoi)

Since that time, I always chase after the sparkly stage of light

I stand with the shower head as the mic  
Resonating in the bathroom, la la la la la la, I sing

The sound echoes somehow so special, I am glad of it  
Even now, the feelings that time, always felt inside properly

Let me sing you a song & let's sing along  
I likely named each one of the stars in distant  
Let me sing you a song & let's sing along  
The thing God gave me is the best gift

(Instrumental)

The night in the park, I sing silently, in a bit dear stage

I step by the staircase of stone  
With the moonlit as my spotlight, la la la la la la, I sing

I'm happy as peoples who saw me are happy  
I will protect this place, where I give happiness to peoples

Let me sing you a song & let's sing along  
Those stars twinkling in the skies are like the ones I saw after my birth  
Let me sing you a song & let's sing along  
What God told me is an unforgettable landscape

It is fine even though this is not a perfect song  
I want to sing this very song of mine, the song that shakes hearts, Ah

Let me sing you a song & let's sing along  
I will sing until my voice hoarse, as long as it reach the peoples who were listening somewhere  
Let me sing you a song & let's sing along  
The thing God gave me is the miracle that won't happen again

It wasn't as long as Neptune and his, but still, Compa sung with an amazing, beautiful voice that melted the hearts of everyone watching, both male and female. Well, it wasn't surprising, Nico mused as he placed a hand on his chest to calm his pounding heart - hey, even he was affected, alright?! - since Compa always did have a good singing voice. Plus, she poured a lot of emotion into that song, he could feel it as it swept across the room like a flooding river, drowning them in it's embrace. The slow, soft and, dare he say it, slightly romantic piano music helped wonders.

The next thing they knew, there was an even greater applause than before, both patron and staff member alike hooting and howling with joy at the amazing song that Compa had sung. Some even were wiping tears from their eyes at the sheer beauty that the Song possessed, plus the power that she put behind each word. It felt like the girl was singing towards someone, but Compa hadn't given any of them looks so they weren't too sure.

Neptune was though, and she wasn't pleased. "Mou! She got a bigger response than me!" She exclaimed, pouting while huffing on her seat, acting like a child upstart. "No fair!"

IF chuckled in amusement, rolling her eyes at Neptune's behaviour as she made sure the recording was still working. She wouldn't be singing, she had made that clear as they entered the Karaoke bar. It just wasn't her thing, so she was going to let the others go at it while watching from the sidelines. 'I didn't expect for Nico to be enjoying this, though.' she mused mentally, eyeing said male who was now starting to prep for his own solo. She listened in as he talked to the Nurse-In-Training, congratulating them and saying he'd be singing two solo songs next. 'He didn't seem like the type to enjoy this stuff. Well, the more you know, as they say.'

Back with the two singers, Nico grinned as he turned to the Karaoke box and approached it. He reached out and began to navigate the songs listed on the Screens, there was two Songs here he'd rather sing alone, and they were both songs he had listed in his Bracers' Music file. They were quite cool to sing, and they fit aspects of his personality quite well, allowing him to pour every spec of emotion into them. Soon enough, he found the first one, Crush 40's 'Fight the Knight'.

Standing atop the platform, Nico raised his Mic to his lips and began to get ready as the screen appeared before him. The audience soon began paying him attention again, more the women than the males, which earned them irked glances from both Compa and Neptune, much to IF's amusement. This was like watching a humorous soap opera to her.

Finally, the song began to play, and he began to sing.

My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight

Will to fight in a world inside its right and I'm alive  
On my own from a world that seems alone and I'm alive  
Will to survive

(Instrumental)

My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight  
Will to fight the knight

Face the knight in a world of evil light and I'll survive  
On my own, overthrown, yet not alone and I'm alive  
Will to survive

(Instrumental)

My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight

Will to try, I will meet you eye to eye and I'll survive  
Dead of night, feel the power, feel the might and I'm alive  
Will to survive

(Instrumental)

My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight

Will to fight in a world inside its right and I'm alive  
On my own from a world that seems alone and I'm alive  
Will to survive

(Instrumental)

My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight  
Will to fight the knight

Face the knight in a world of evil light and I'll survive  
On my own, overthrown, yet not alone and I'm alive  
Will to survive

(Instrumental)

My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight

Will to try, I will meet you eye to eye and I'll survive  
Dead of night, feel the power, feel the might and I'm alive  
Will to survive

(Instrumental)

My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight  
My will to fight the knight

The first one ended, and just as Nico expected, the Audience looked stunned, their eyes wide and their jaws agape. None of them moved a muscle for a good 5 minutes, the power and will that he poured into that song had THAT kind of effect. Eventually, applause came calling as everyone began to cheer for him, clapping merrily. Even the ones that hadn't been too fond of him had to reluctantly admit that Nico had a decent singing voice. The women though, now he noticed their reactions to his song as they gave him cat calls, throwing pieces of paper into the air that had the words 'Call me!' and a number on them. The teen had the decency to blush in embarrassment at that, to which it only incited the women even more with how cute it looked seeing him all bashful.

'What the heck is wrong with those women?! Don't they have boyfriends already or something?!'

* * *

After he managed to get himself hyped up for the second song, of which he had to ignore the women of the Bar, Nico went to the Karaoke box and selected the next song. Now this song, this song held his heart by its arteries. It held his pride, his manhood, his everything. This song had him in ways that no other song could. There's songs that are quite good, and he would like them, maybe even love them, and then there's this one. The one song that he felt fit his current situation to a T. It focused more on the theme of Masks and Reflection, of how people wore them to integrate with normal society.

See the correlation, there?

Anyways, Nico selected the song in a manner different than the others, but only Neptune and her friends actually noticed. The way he moved his hand to select it... almost reminded them of Basilicom Workers worshipping their CPU. He selected it slowly, and with the reverence only a religious person could see. "Huh? What is Nicky doing?" Neptune wondered, tilting her head in confusion.

"Ni-Ni looks like he's been waiting for this for a long time... Ni-Ni must love this next song." Compa suggested thoughtfully, although she was just as confused as her friend was. The way that Nico looked during that moment... its suggested that this next song... would be the most powerful one of them all. More powerful than her My treasure, more impactful than his Fight the Knight, and certainly more powerful than the Knight Of The Wind he and Neptune sung.

She just got that feeling.

Finally, the song began to play, and the moment they heard him sing, it felt like their lives had stopped:

(Unravel - Kyoumi Lyrics)

Oh, won't you tell me? Please just tell me.

Explain how this should work.

Well now who could it be, that lives inside of me?  
I'm broken, lying helpless, shattered  
Surrounded by the world

And yet, you're smiling bright  
Completely blind to life

My ruptured lungs; they were left this way  
For once, I'm out of breath.  
The truth I seek, never felt so bleak but,  
I maintain my depth

Freeze

I'm breakable;  
Unbreakable  
I'm shaking yet,  
Unshakable  
Until the day that you find me.

I'll stand here,  
Existing and feeling wretched* existence  
Consuming life-force till I grow distant  
Don't bother searching for somebody like me.  
A fading no one.  
I don't want to hurt you, It's not my nature.  
A monster born from dusk to dawn can't be your saviour  
Remember the 'me', the way I used to be.

As who I still should be.

Nico almost felt like he was choking on his own spit as he felt emotion swell in his chest. This song... this song got to him in ways no other song had. From the moment he heard it, the main one as this was a Cover he found on the Karaoke Box, shout out to the one who made it by the way, this song held 'power' over him like no other. This song was always filled with the pain and emotion from the singer's POV in his opinion. There could only be this one song that could do this to him, no other song could have a bigger impact on his mind than this one.

This song spoke volumes about his feelings and situation that it was basically screaming it to the rest of the world, a world ignorant to the suffering those who truly appreciate this song go through. This song was aimed towards people with tragic backstories, backgrounds so twisted, so fucked up that they needed something like this song, Unravel, to speak to them. Nico paused his monologue as he began to sing once more since the lyrics were appearing again.

The isolation spreads and tears  
Those happy /days, pierce into me  
These lonely memories cease to care  
They spread throughout my history

I'll never move  
I'll never lose  
I'll never move  
I'll never lose  
I'll never move  
I'll never lose you.  
Unraveling the world

At once, I start changing,  
Yet everything's remaining  
These lives I felt would join as one,  
They fade away before they've begun.  
I'm breakable; unbreakable  
I'm shaking yet, unshakable  
Until these hands "contaminate" you

I'll stand here existing and feeling wretched existence  
Consuming life-force til I grow distant  
Don't bother searching for somebody like me. A fading no one.  
This lonely space, held into place by someone crazy  
Shall melt away like dawn to day as things get hazy  
So please think of me, the way I used to be.

As who I really should be

So don't forget me,  
You can't forget me  
You won't forget me  
Please don't forget me.

With changing inside I'm completely paralyzed  
Remaining corrupt as I wish for paradise

Remember the 'me', the way I used to be.

Oh, won't you tell? Oh, please just tell…  
Well now who could it be, that lives inside of me?

Finally, Nico finished his song, and there was nothing but silence. The Karaoke Box became silent, as did the crowd. There, he had done it. He had sung the one song that he had always wanted to sing from the moment he first heard it. The sheer weight and emotion put behind that song was something that nobody could truly comment on without feeling like dicks. They could feel the pain that was brought about from that song, a mix of pain, agony, despair and desperation. It was like he was experiencing his nightmares born from his deviations, something he had yet to think about actually. He'll get to that when he had the time.

The silence was truly deafening. Not even the sound of electricity pumping through the building dared break this silence. Either that, or they didn't pay attention to it. Who would, hearing a song sung so... powerfully, like that? True, there were songs that hit people right in their feels, but there was just something about the way Nico sung this one. Something that indicated that this was more than just a song...

At least, to him anyways...

* * *

The rest of the time was spent singing and eating with the Party. Nico was near-constantly grilled about the last song he'd sung before, Unravel, and how amazing it was. Compa even asked him how he got so powerful an emotion into the song, to which he had explained how it was all to do with the theme of Masks and reflection. She quickly understood that, remembering a few times that Nico had indeed spoken about his views on Masks, even Neptune got it when she recalled how he figured out her tick back when she was moping that night.

Finally, it was late in the afternoon, and the party arrived at the Café. The Café looked like it had been shaken a bit, with some pieces of the building having crumbled off, with various cracks on the walls and a few more on the windows, but aside from that everything was alright. That brought the Party some much needed relief. At least there was something for Chian to return to once she returns from the hospital.

Upon entering, Neptune was the first to speak up as she burst through the door. "Good morning, Noire! It's a new day, the sun is shining, and Ahhhh…" slowly, Neptune's words trailed off when she opened her eyes and noticed something peculiar. Noire, who sat at the same table that they had sat at when eating their meal after the first quest from Chian, wasn't alone.

Raven, Ivan, Aiden and Lucy were with her too.

The two girls sat together on one side, while the boys occupied the other with Noire sitting on the end that was between them. Looking up from the table towards the preteen, Noire huffed as she responded, it's not like you to be late. You must be getting tardy Neptune. If I planned on fighting you right now I wonder if I'd win…?"

"Ummm… Noire, did you invite some new blood to the party?" Compa asked her once the others noticed that Team RAIL was with the black-haired CPU. They all sat around the table, with Raven and Lucy on one side, and the two boys on the other. Raven had one leg crossed over the other, same with Lucy. Ivan sat like he was meditating, much to te irritation of the three women at the table, while Aiden sat normally. She didn't know what to think when she saw this, it was quite surprising to see them here of all places. There were many cafes throughout Lastation, they should know Neptune sometimes raided them in between quests for food, food that Nico would return along with dragging a flailing Neptune back to them to be scolded later.

Noire, noticing the baffled expressions being directed at them, rolled her eyes and spoke with an incredulous tone while flicking one of her ponytails. "I met them and invited them along. What kind of CPU would I be if I didn't reward the people who did their best for my nation?" she asked them with a sense of rhetoric in her words. Neptune made to answer, but a glare from Noire silenced her as she shut her mouth. Sometimes, she could be scarier than an abnormal.

"W-Well, I guess that makes sense…."

The group all sat at the table, which had already been filled to the brim with breakfast foods… as well as pudding. "I'm surprised, Noire." Nico began as he sipped some coffee. He had taken some coffee and some bread, though not much else with the excuse that he didn't need to eat a lot. 'Come to think of it, my 'medicine' has been running low lately… I should probably contact the WDD head, Helena Dawson.

Helena Dawson… someone whom Nico found great at mentoring him. Not only was she a skilled researcher, but she was also once a Spec-Ops Agent like him, with the codename of VALKYRIE. However, she forsook that life for a life of science when she married her husband who was a simple Tavern owner. She and Nico held a great bond, one of mother and son, while her husband was an uncle figure for him. She had helped him learn how to be a Spec Ops Agent, only mere 8 months after he had first joined the Guild. Before she came he had been learning the ropes alone, and would have achieved his goal in 8 to 9 years had she not taken him under her wing. It was also on her authority that he had his licence to test and sometimes keep their prototype gear.

He had a lot to be grateful to her for.

Before he had left for Lastation, she had given him some 'medicine' via Email, as an attachment to the one she had sent about his armour. He'd made sure to keep that part hidden from the others though, having opened it and moved the package to his Void Storage before they could notice. This package was insanely important to keeping his secret, the same secret he so zealously guarded from the girls.

While he was sure to get strange looks for only drinking coffee, he felt he could at least calm their suspicions by taking some loafs of bread. As he glanced down at the bread, Nico had to bite back the urge to grimace. He knew this would be hell for him, but he had to make an appearance somehow, or the others would get suspicious. 'Ugh, I bet it'll taste like sandpaper with specs of wood cast on top of it.'

Unaware of Nico's plight, the girls continued to exchange pleasantries between each other. "Wow, this food tastes quite good. A lot of effort has been put into this, I'm sure." Raven commented. Her Mask was placed beside her, while the Sheath holding her Odachi was leaning beside her chair.

"Of course!" Noire nodded with a triumphant smirk as she boasted about Chian's Cooking. "Chian had some cookbooks around so making something as simple as this was nothing for me." she explained haughtily.

Ivan looked at her in surprise after downing his drink of orange juice. "You made this yourself, Noire? Wow, you must be a great cook." He complimented in awe, much to the pleasure of Noire's ego.

Aiden nodded his head in agreement with his friend, classily chewing on some toast.

Unfortunately, her happiness was short-lived when Neptune went and shot it down like a hunter shooting birds out of the sky. "Yeah well, breaky's probably all she can do, since she has so many helpers back at the Ba-BLURGEH!" she made to say until IF slammed some bread into Neptune's mouth… bread that came from Nico's plate. He secretly thanked the heavens and praised IF in his mind so much that if he said it outright she would go crimson with the praise. IF did have a cute side after all.

"Ease up on her, Nep. She does have some trying days ahead." IF scolded the preteen, while giving Noire a knowing look which made the black-haired CPU release a tired sigh. She wasn't exactly tired physically per say, but the thought of how much work she would have to do to restore the city was enough to drain even her workaholic nature. And this was just from a part of the city being destroyed, she couldn't imagine how much paperwork would be for Racoon City's destruction. "Anyways, it's nice to officially meet you Lady Black Heart. With all this drama, you never got the chance to properly introduce yourself."

Noire blinked rapidly for a moment, momentarily confused by IF's words, until realisation dawned on her and she gave a sheepish smile. "Yes, well, I guess it is time I do a formal introduction." She mused, getting up and walking to the side of her chair. She then changed her tone and expression to one of formality as she gained a mystical air about her, something which drew in the other's attention like moths to a flame. "I am CPU Black Heart, ruler of Lastation. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Though please, all of you can call me Noire. We're past the point of formalities, anyhow."

Everyone nodded in response, sharing her sentiment with various greetings from them. Afterwards, Noire sat down and the group continued eating the food that she had cooked using Chian's cookbooks. It was a short 10 minutes, but after that they were finished and the dishes were taken away by some of the workers that still wanted to be active. This left the party in silence as they decided to move onto the next topic.

"Well, it seems that the city could use some money from foreign sources. You thought of asking the other nations for help?" Nico asked the blackette, leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms under his chest while giving Noire a flat look.

Said CPU shook her head, negatively with her Ponytails swerving every time she shook it. "No, Lastation needs to recover on its own. I can't rely on another Nation's help, not when foreign powers have done a lot for my Nation already." She replied, before turning to Team RAIL. "As CPU of Lastation, I thank you for your service in helping my people, Team RAIL."

Raven's response was curt and to the point. "It was of no problem for us. Our comrade DEATHSTTROKE should take some of the credit, for if it weren't for him then we wouldn't have been as effective as we were. Not to say we wouldn't have been any use, but the lack of information would have limited what we could do in this surprise situation." She explained.

"Well, all that aside, there's something I'd like to know about." Nico began as he made to push past his involvement. It was because he didn't like being kin the spotlight too much, he much preferred being a lesser-known person as opposed to the fame and glory one would receive if one did take the credit. One could say that it was an act of humbleness, but to him, it was both that and his desire to keep the attention away from him and possibly his secret.

He then looked directly into Noire's eyes as he asked her his question. "Could you tell me what the other Spec Ops Agents of Lastation are up to while their home city is being repaired?"

"Ah, of course." Noire replied as she internally sighed in relief. She'd feared that he would ask about her reasons for hiding her identity from them, so she was glad that wasn't the case. "The other Agents, according to reports are in various towns and villages around the continent, dealing with the Abnormals there. Reports say that they're increasing in number, which worries me."

Aiden raised a brow as he inquired to something. "You say 'reports'. Does that mean you have had more access to Lastation since this event?" he questioned flatly.

Noire nodded in response to FALCON's question, a satisfied hum escaping her lips. "Yes, ever since what happened, people's faith in me has slowly come back. It's not much, but it gave me more power than Avenir would like, thus I'm able to access things I wasn't earlier due to lack of power."

Compa frowned in concern. "More Abnormals? That's bad…" she muttered, and it was true. Abnormal Monsters were tougher than normal monsters to deal with, she and the others could attest to that. One of the mitigating factors though, was that they were fewer in number compared to normal monsters. The thought that their numbers were on the rise was enough to be worried about.

Noire nodded, although she had even more bad news for them, news she had discovered before coming here to Chian's Café. "It gets worse, there's been reports of entire Dungeons spawning out of nowhere, filled to the brim with Abnormal Monsters. Luckily, we have only one or two in Lastation, but the fact remains that these creatures potentially could become the new 'normal' for us."

Now this had their attention, and raised their worries considerably. Abnormal monsters were bad enough, but entire Dungeons filled with them? Dungeons usually were classified as places for Monster [populations to gather together for attacks on the surrounding areas, or forming new Dungeons with more powerful versions of themselves. Abnormal Monsters however, operated alone and preferred their random behaviour rather than remaining in one place at any given time.

It was as oire had ominously foretold, the Abnormals may become Gamindustri's new 'normal' if this kept up.

"How many Abnormal Dungeons are there?" Raven asked, her voice having a stern edge to it as she rested a hand on the top of her Mask. The rest of Team RAIL has equally serious expressions, even Lucy and Ivan whom had been silently playing with the others. They knew that look in Raven's eyes as well as her stiffened posture. It meant that they would be going on missions soon enough.

Sensing their tension, Noire responded with an equally stern edge to her voice which slightly impressed Raven although her demeanour hid it well. "There is one that we know of, a port town to the south called 'Carnival of Horrors'. Rather ominous in my opinion, though it is indeed justified. The reports have classified Dungeons like these as Abnormal Dungeons, thus only those with a Spec Ops Agent in their party or Spec Ops Agents themselves can go."

"Aw man…!" Neptune whined in dismay as she deflated onto the table. "And here I was hoping we'd get some more juicy downtime, even an M rated scene, today." She pouted cutely with air-filled cheeks. "This, sucks!"

... For some reason, Nico felt he should thank the Abnormals for this development.

Compa stood up and walked over to the downed preteen and patted her on the back. "There-there, Nep-Nep. It's alright, don't cry…" she said in a soothing voice as she consoled the deflated purplette. Kind of strange, if one thought about it. they were rivals in love for Nico's affection, and yet they were acting like this. Neptune moaned as she leaned into Compa's touch, which felt really-good right now.

"No rest for the vigilant, Nep." IF commented plainly, although internally she was as dismayed as the other two, but for different reasons. "Judging by that look in your eyes, I assume you're going to go, Nico?" she remarked once she caught the determined gaze in Nico's eyes as he gazed at the table like he was about to slice it in half.

Looking up at the girls, Nico judged their facial expression to tell what they were feeling. Neptune's eyes told him that she didn't want him to go, she just wanted to laze about doing nothing. Compa looked like she was nervous yet accepting of his choice, if her slight knowing smile and the worried glint in her eyes was any indication. IF looked like she was the most accepting of what he wanted to do, although he caught a faint glimpse of worry within those green orbs of hers.

In the end, Nico nodded as he gave his answer. "Got it in one, IF. Even if my profile says I'm on leave, I can still enter Dungeons and fight Abnormals. Something like this will not be a problem for me. Besides." He then glanced down at his right hand, which was sprawled out on the table as he remembered seeing the twisted gauntlets of his DPU form. "I do have to test out my new powers, so what better way to do so than these new Dungeons?"

On that, they could see the logic, especially the Spec Ops Agents. To have powers untested would be like bringing a badly maintained knife to a gun fight. The lack of knowledge on how to maintain it would cause it to break, leaving the fighter vulnerable to a fatal blow. It was a poor tactic for war, too. To not maintain your gear could mean a life-or-death situation for those on the battlefield. Only the stupid and foolish went to war without making sure their equipment functioned at 100% efficiency.

Unfortunately, not all of them saw it that way as Neptune hugged his right arm in a blur of motion. "Aww, but Nicky, you're supposed to stay with me, you're my hubby after all." She whined with a pout.

"Nep-Nep, I thought I explained it to you yesterday, Ni-Ni's not a hubby it's a love interest!"

While Compa said that, the two males of Team RAIL stiffened. The reason: a tense cloud of KI spreading from both Raven and Lucy. The two women had instinctually knew something was amiss with those two, as they acted slightly worrisome, to them anyways, around the red-haired male. Now that they have seen this, it was confirmed on their radars: two new rivals.

"Oh my, it seems that Nicky-dear's charm has struck again."

"Ugh, while I hate men for their perverted minds, seeing how oblivious DEATHSTROKE is…"

Both their male teammates could only sigh in defeat at seeing the two acting up. They'd make sure the two would do their jobs without killing each other it came to it, but that didn't mean they weren't dismayed at how once again, Nico found himself within the antic s of the girls around him. "No fair, how come he gets all the ladies…?" Ivan whined as Aiden patted him on the shoulder, wordlessly offering his support to his comrade.

It took a good 30 minutes to calm the girls down, and when they did enough for him to talk. "I'll go and take them on, guys. It's part of my job and I've done it longer than any of you guys put together. I'll be fine, even without my armour." He reasoned as he made to placate the girls before him. Neptune and Compa stood before him, both requesting that he take them with him to fight these Abnormal Monsters.

That he couldn't allow, not this time.

"Besides, I need to be sure that this place has some protection. Because of Avenir's stunt the defences in the southern district are in shambles, like a chink in the knight's armour. And Abnormal monsters can categorize on opportunities like this, so it'd be good of people who weren't Spec Ops yet had experience in dealing with them are here to keep them out." He reasoned further.

The girls tried to argue against this, that the male was not letting them have the spotlight like they did usually, however their words seemed to die in their throats before they could voice their opinions, all because they could see the logic that Nico was trying to imply, even though they were stubbornly refusing to admit it.

He then decided to bring up the topic of his DPU powers. Nico was no fool, it would be foolish if he didn't know the limits of what he could do. That was what he tried to say with the girls before him. "Also, I need to find some foes to test my new powers on. What better foes than the Abnormals right? Plus, I may feel like I have control, but there's no telling what could happen unless I figure it out myself."

As he said this, Neptune and Compa both sighed in dismay, knowing that he was trying hard to let him do this. In a way, this should have been expected as while they could fight Abnormals when it came down to it, they weren't trained for it like a Spec Ops Agent was. They weren't given the knowledge, the training and the prep time needed to hunt one down effectively. Nico had that training though, so he should use that knowledge to his full advantage. He'd been playing this game a lot longer than them after all. Finally, the girls gave in to his request, with a dropping of their shoulders as Neptune vocalised their reluctant acceptance of it. "Fiiiiine, we'll stay and protect the city while you get to have all the XP…"

"Okay, we got it… Ni-Ni says we should stay here so we should stay here…" Compa added, equally as downed as Neptune was. She had just gotten the courage to move a step forward into claiming her childhood friend's heart, and now he was going to head to another battleground, on where he may not come back from.

Seeing their sorrowful expressions made a pang of guilt explode in his heart. Nico did his best to suppress it though as he knew that this was something that had to happen. He didn't want to risk going crazy when learning about his powers and threatening these girls. Team RAIL were battle hardened veterans, soldiers, so they would be able to hold their own if that happened, but if Neptune and the others were in the vicinity…

What happened at West Wind Valley… was a fluke. Plain and simple.

While his memories of the incident were foggy at best, Nico could still remember how Neptune in HDD, had surprised him to the point here he didn't react quick enough and she stabbed him in his sole weak spot. That attempt only succeeded because he didn't expect it, a surprise attack that threw his mental state off the rail. Nico knew, instinctively he knew, that things wouldn't be the same a second time. The male wouldn't let a second time happen, he'll learn more about these powers, how to harness and control them without even aa shred of a chance of them gaining control like they did back then.

However, those expressions did succeed in making him think of a way to make it up to them. An idea crossed onto his mind when he remembered the BOW powers that IF now possessed. If he played his cards right… "Hold on, I'm gonna heck something." He told them, getting confused looks as Nico activated his right Bracer and began looking up various websites. From the Guild to the Basilicom's blogs for any signs of what he wanted.

It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, if the grin that slowly crept along his face was any indication. "Aha! Found it!" he exclaimed joyfully before interacting with the interface for a few seconds. A Beeping sound came from one of IF's phones, prompting her to trace it the source and pick the beeping phone out of its place on her Belt. Opening the phone, she saw that she had a message, titled 'training spots' which got her intrigued.

"What I just sent, was data on hot spots for stronger monsters, monsters that have been growing stronger with the threat of Abnormals in the area. If you want to train with them there, then you can. After all, one needs to keep their skills sharp, yes? Plus, I'm not the only one that has abilities that need to be trained." He explained, giving a pointed gaze to the brunette, who nodded as she placed her Phone back to show that she had gotten the message.

With that done, Nico raised both hands and patted the girls on the heads with a small smile of affection, a kind look in his eyes as he spoke. "Now then, be good you two, and don't give IF too much grief, will you Neptune? She has the strength to give you that overdue knuckle sandwich, you know." His words made Neptune pale as she remembered IF shaking her fist at her multiple times through their adventures, while a sinister grin crept across the brunette's face.

She might just give her that sandwich anyways…

"Now that the festivities are over," Raven began as she stood from her seat, placing her Mask on and strapping her Odachi's sheath to her waist. Her Team followed suit, knowing that the time for combat was nigh. "We shall head out to this place ourselves. We'll meet you there, DEATHSTROKE." She informed them, walking past the male and giving him a pat on the shoulder.

While walking past him though, she muttered something that only he could hear, well, him and Lucy anyways since the latter was close behind her. "I'll see you there, Nico… it's great to see you again." If he could see past her Mask, Nico would have seen how her cheeks had a tinge of pink on them, as she went out of the door with her Team following her.

Seeing this as his cue, Nico went and gave IF a bro fist, something she reciprocated, "Good luck out there, girl. How about we spar after we come back from our respective hunts, see how far we've come?" Nico suggested to the brunette.

Said Brunette nodded in acceptance with her smirk matching Nico's own in shape and in eagerness. Their eyes shined with th intent to do battle with a worthy adversary. "Can't wait, be prepared to eat the dirt, Nico."

"Heh, I doubt that, IF."

* * *

After saying goodbye to the others, Nico left the Café and walked through the streets, taking the slower route since h had other things on his mind not just the Dungeons and his powers. He soon found himself at a deserted ark, which was perfect for him.

Taking a detour, Nico walked to the centre of the par and then looked around to see if anyone was there. The male was soon satisfied that he was alone as he raised his right Bracer and opened his Void Storage, the signature holographic screen manifesting above the accessory. Nico searched through his Items for the one he wanted. He soon found the Medicine that he had been given before coming here. Nico's eyes narrowed as he saw the amount that was left for him. 'Hmmm, not much left, I should make sure to ration it so that I won't have to take more… drastic measures.'

The thought of having to take those 'drastic measures' as he referred to them in his mind, deeply unnerved the teen. There were multiple reasons for this, one of them being that it could likely give IT the chance it would need to usurp dominance over his mind, guiding him into doing acts that he wouldn't normally do. IT had great psychological impacts on the mind, sort of like HDD and DDD with the personality shifts, however this effect was much more sinister and deadly to those around him.

In addition, it had a likelihood of exposing his secret to the world. If he had lost himself to what IT would do, lost his mind to the monster, the beast inside, and then one of his companions in a stroke of horrible luck and timing, happens to walk along on their way only to find him… in that state, well, he was sure that they'd be too horrified to react, and then…

Thirdly, and he made sure to focus on this fact as Nico finished checking his supplies of equipment, was that it would rouse suspicion regardless, if not the first time then the next few times. It was a relief that he didn't have to eat very often as his body, thanks to IT, had a slower metabolism than normal people's. Thus, he found that he only had to eat once a month, and even then, it's a bit of a stretch. Only when he had taken significant damage would that cycle change, and so far, there hadn't been many instances where he had sustained that kind of damage, save for some instances like Ganache.

While wandering down a street, Nico suddenly tensed, his eyes widening as his form stiffened. A smell assaulted his nostril, a sweet, pleasant smell that filled every fibre of his being. It reminded him of Compa's cooking when he could still taste it, it was THAT good… that tantalising.

However, Nico was filled with horror when he smelt it, not daring to indulge in the pleasurable scent for a second.

'Oh no… no, this is NOT good!' Nico thought in dread as he used his sense of smell, thanks to his animalistic senses, to track down the source of it. He moved like a hound in the shadows, blending into them like he was made for them. He moved through street, through alleyway, with nobody being the wiser. Throughout this little detour which was significantly longer than the last one, something within Nico began to change. His movements became more feral, wild and beastly, some drool escaped his mouth which was resisting 100% the urge to crack a deranged smile. Although his eyes shone with that same emotion as he sped forth towards the source of the scent.

* * *

Finally, he found himself at the back of what used to be a bar, until the attack had hit of course. He came in through the back gate, making sure to conceal his presence as he heard sounds of chewing, as if someone was eating in the back of a destroyed bar. Not an ideal place, that's for sure, but if this was who he thought it was, then the time or the place wouldn't matter. All that mattered was the delicious, sweet taste of the best, most delectable food he had ever had, h-

'Oh no you don't, DEATHSTROKE!' Nico stopped himself from going down THAT train of thought, using his Codename instead of his real one to help snap him out of it. This smell was making him go insane, he had to put an end to it before it completely overwhelmed his senses. 'Don't you fucking dare, do you want to risk letting your secret get out?! You've controlled IT for a while now, don't screw it up!'

Quickly, Nico placed his back against what remained of the ruined building's wall. He then slid slowly, not making a single sound like a silent wind through the coldness of the dark night. When he reached the end of the wall, Nico hid himself so his body was just behind the end, as to not alert the one he was stalking to his presence. His animalistic instincts were on high alert, as was every cell in his body, like a predator stalking its prey, deadly and silent.

In contrast to his quick actions from before, Nico slowly leaned forwards, peering out into the back yard to see what the source of the eating was. However, he already had a GOOD idea as to what it was: a creature, an Abnormal that was abnormal beyond others, a creature that even the Goddesses should fear. Out of every Abnormal in the world, this one was the most terrifying, and the biggest reason why Nico was, and still is, hesitant on seeing the girls of his Party fighting the Abnormal Dungeons. They could encounter one of THESE, and with their levels right now…

They'd be massacred… no, they'd be RAPED, defiled in every manner possible, then slaughtered in a vicious manner.

Peering out into the yard, Nico saw that most of it was covered in dirt or rubble, pieces f the ruined building all over what was once a well-maintained back yard. There was a water fountain in the middle, with circular moat or what would have been a moat, around it. There was a damaged hedge behind the yard that likely warded off intruders with its thorns and deadly branches, but it looked like it had seen better days. However, what caught his attention was in front of the ruined hedge.

Lying sprawled on his back, a crimson puddle of dried blood around hi m mixed with still hot blood, was a corpse. It looked to have once been a man in his mid to late 30's with a big scraggly beard and a simple set of clothes to indicate how much wealth the formerly alive man didn't have. The looked like he had not taken good care of his teeth since most of them were gone, but there were some areas that looked like they had been forcibly ripped off. Rather messily too.

The culprit was on all fours, kneeling over the corpse with the head mostly covered by a mop of scraggly blonde hair. Though, he didn't need to see the culprit's face to know that it was female, with a slim figure, moderate bust, and from what he could smell, feminine pheromones as the woman seemed to have buried her head into the crook of the man's neck. That was where the chewing sounds originated from, and in a few seconds the female had pulled her head back, exposing her bloodied mouth that was dripping with the blood and entrails of the corpse below her, revealing that there was a moderate sized hold in the man's chest. She then looked around, exposing her messy mouth as well as her eyes: void-like black with crimson irises, veins spreading across the sides of her face. Before she could spot him, Nico shot forth in a blur of motion, pouncing on his unsuspecting prey.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Officially. Longest. Chapter. Ever!**

 **15K Words, longer than chap 12! Jesus Christ!**

 **By Gods, was it difficult to find appropriate Songs for the girls to sing. Neptune's attitude made me thing Crush 40s's "Knight of the wind" fit her personality. She calls herself a "pure maiden" which is practically archaic in modern culture. Plus, she has this warrior side to her along with a noble side in her HDD form, which is befitting of a knight.**

 **Compa's My Treasure was a song depicting her feelings to Nico, although it doesn't seem that the male noticed. He just found the song beautiful, and he explained why before.**

 **And Nico's... Oh, how I LOVED writing his thoughts and feelings about Unravel. That song speaks volumes about his character, I believe. It shows us what he goes through to maintain his secret, how he is suffering because he has become something he doesn't want to be, yet doesn't want them to 'look for him' as in to try and delude themselves to seeing him for what he once was.**

 **Lots of Character development here, and more is on the way for Team RAIL. We take a break from the Nep cast, and start diving into Team RAIL and their connection to Nico. Believe me, these four have bigger roles to play than just mere support characters. Two of them are also in the harem, and as for the other two...**

 **Well, aside from that, I do believe single pairings for them are possible. Just have to see, won't we?**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy, fav, review, etc.**

 **See you later guys!**

 **Peace out!**


	39. Chapter 39 - The Carnival of Horrors

**Hi guys**

 **Stress from setting in after moving, and fatigue, were why I haven't uploaded recently.**

 **But I'm back now, so let's get started.**

* * *

 **Chapter 39 - Carnival of Horrors**

Overall, things could have gotten way worse.

That was Ganache's thoughts in a nutshell as he sat at a café table, inside a restaurant in a different District than the one that had been... unfortunate enough to house that Passé Factory. It was a nice afternoon, and since he had little to do, he thought he'd spend it outside the boring, hot confines of Avenir's facilities. Even though he was the founder of the company, he was still a lowly worker, so he always had little to do.

Ganache had foregone his suit as well, that thing as wholly uncomfortable, itched like crazy in places he'd rather not mention. In addition to being unpractical for movement, which for his new... condition, could be life threatening. He would still wear it for formal meetings and such, but only for those times. Right now, he was wearing his black getup that he fought Nico and the others in.

His table was an inside one, so he could look out of the window he sat next to towards the outside saw the people going on about their days, thinking that everything was normal. He watched as some started talking about the CPU with his enhanced hearing, making him chuckle slightly as he sipped some of his coffee. In his lap, there was a newspaper, and its main title was thus follows:

CITY ATTACK - AVENIR POSSIBE SUSPECT?

Lastation attacked by new monsters. Is Avenir the cause or is it something else?

A pity. Those fools thought that they could make them out to be the monsters to the public just because the CPU was with them? As well as that damned Spec Ops group? What folly, Ganache could hardly contain himself with glee. Those fools must now know the true power of "ruling" now that Avenir deflected the blame onto several unimportant companies that were becoming an eyesore. They had spent years going from a small time company to one of the largest in Lastation, of course they were going to have plans for something as large a scale as this.

'Still though...' The man's arrogance faltered as a pensive frown formed on his lips. Things were close, and not everything had been achieved that day. True, their main goal, to test the Killachine's abilities for future development was a success, however the fact that he had gained powers from some of their more... secret project was not meant to have been revealed. At least, not before the Expo. However, Ganache had little choice in the matter, even though it didn't look like such from an outsider's perspective.

There were 2 main reasons why Ganache had to unveil his powers, and one of them was Nico himself. Nico had been recorded and documented in their Archives and research as being someone with a very acute sense of smell, sight, hearing, touch and mental processing. Not to mention his instincts. From the moment that he first made contact with their operatives in the Basilicom, he figured out what was wrong. He probably didn't show it back then, due to his secretive nature, but Nico's prior experiences with their corporation must have tipped him off. Then, he began investigating the fallen Umbrella corporation bases, bases that had long since been abandoned according to... reliable sources, and quickly deduced that they had been dealing with them behind the scenes, thus began warning the Military of an impending danger. He KNEW that they would attack Lastation's capital, even if he didn't know the goals for such a thing. That made him one of the biggest threats to Avenir's plans for domination at this time, a threat Ganache felt more than eager to deal with himself.

Though, careful planning and preparation would need to be taken, considering his new... abilities that he demonstrated during that battle.

Speaking of said abilities, Ganache had never seen such abilities before, and in a world which uses Skills with OP effects and broken damage limits, that was saying something. Those abilities he saw felt so much like a deity's, like the CPUs. However, he was certain Nico was NOT a CPU. His energy, those abilities, hell even his appearance suggested anything but that. He felt much more... devilish, demonic even. Like a complete counterpart to the CPUs. This posed a problem for the man, not to mention his company. If a deity with power that rivalled that of the CPUs was present, whose full power was yet to be revealed, then their plans could very well be ruined before they could truly take off. Ganache just KNEW Nico hadn't showcased that power's full potential just from the reactions of his friends alone, and then there was the power itself: it felt awful, wild, uncontrolled, like a monster on a blood rage.

The second reason was another member of that little group... Neptune. She was a CPU of a foreign Nation, and quite similar to Nico in many ways. Both had the backings of others, one being a whole organisation while the other had an entire Nation. Should anything happen to her that Lastation was found to have been the cause of, then Planeptune would go to war with them. Ganache was no fool, he may seem arrogant, borderline psychotic, but he wasn't blind. He knew that with Lastation being as it was, Planeptune would curb stomp their asses. While it would forward his OWN plans, not Avenir's, greatly, Ganache didn't want that to happen just yet. Things still needed to be done here, and for that, Lastation was still needed.

He had heard from a 'client' that she had fallen from Celestia, the other CPUs turning against her, and had lost her memory. That meant she had little access to those possible connections, anyways, so her threat level had been reduced, making Nico the primary threat. However, during several battles recorded without her knowledge, Ganache had noticed that she wielded Spec Ops weapons and armour. Weapons that could only come from her Spec Ops Guild Branch. That meant that she was aware of such a branch, and now that she found out from Noire that she was a CPU, she could access that Branch with her standings, as well as the rest of Planeptune, making her a true threat once more.

Though they weren't as threatening, their skills were commendable, so Ganache did have to factor in Team RAIL. Those four were each Racoon City survivors, just like Nico was, although back then they were separate Spec Ops/Guild Agents back then. They were formed into Team RAIL only recently, about 6 months ago. That team was made out of some of the more successful Agents that Planeptune had to offer.

The Leader was a woman named Raven, codename SAMURAI, 18 years of age and the eldest of the group. She had a massive hatred for the male gender, any who tried hitting on her ended up beaten within an inch of their lives, some of them even castrated with one swipe from her Odachi. According to Ganache's research, it came from something her father had done, something that made her hate males in general. She showed exceptional potential when she joined the Guild at 14, which was when she was recommended for the Spec Ops Programme by Nico. As for why she didn't seem that way towards him, Aiden and Ivan, three males, was still up for debate since he couldn't find that answer out.

Aiden and Ivan, codenames FALCON and CYBORG respectively, intrigued Avenir as a whole. The former was an Orphan who had lived on the Planeptune Streets. His parents had financial problems, so they couldn't afford an Abortion, so when they gave birth to him they had put him in an orphanage. He spent 2 years there, before he was left on the streets when the Orphanage closed down. He grew up on the streets, alone and cold, surviving by sheer force of will and following his own set of rules. With his two hands, he made his own life.

Then, he was found by Nico as a 14 year old pickpocketer. Nico then took him to the Guild where he was registered as an Agent, though he quickly joined the Spec Ops Programme, passing with flying colours. His talent for combat was not to be underestimated. He was able to master combat at an early age thanks to monster raids, and when he joined the Guild he had access to martial arts teachers which helped expand his Skillset. Nico was also there for him, solidifying a powerful bond of comradery with FALCON.

The latter, CYBORG, was another interesting case due to his cybernetic enhancements. When Ganache learned that through his research, it raised his intrigue in him rapidly. He was once an ordinary citizen of Planeptune, just another one of the mindless masses, except for his unique aptitude for military games. Then, a monster raid happened that Nico himself had been a part of, and at the time Ivan was 13. During the raid, his family had been hiding in their house when a stray attack destroyed the building's roof, making it collapse on top of them.

While most of the family made it out of there alive, they died during transportation to the hospital. Ivan was the sole survivor, but only due to cybernetic enhancements being implanted into his body to help accelerate his body's healing. These enhancements also enhanced his physical abilities, and with a desire to prevent Monsters from causing more tragedies like that, he had become a Guild Agent. Though soon after, he applied for and passed the Spec Ops Exam, getting the codename CYBORG. He met Nico afterwards, took missions with him and formed a bond akin to the one FALCON has with him.

Lucy, codename VERONICA was another unique one, for the fact that most of her profile was classified beyond anything Ganache had ever expected. He had tried hacking into the Planeptune Database, but his efforts were rewarded with failure, Planeptune security was way more advanced than Lastation's thanks to their technology advantage. From what he could find though, was that Lucy had appeared from literally out of nowhere and was ushered into the Spec Ops Programme at 17. She earned a reputation as a tease, a flirt, yet an exceptional soldier.

She had just as big a distaste for males, like Raven did, although her distaste was hidden. She had quite a fanbase back in Planeptune, with many men trying and failing to get her. Once, she even tried to seduce Nico, but the details on that were suspiciously vague, and ever since she has been trying to get his attention like she had all the others. It was like she lost interest in those men and focused solely on Nico himself, much to the male's dismay Ganache could imagine.

Ganache had quickly clued in on one similarity these people had, and that was a connection to Nico, codename DEATHSTROKE. It was both suspicious and intriguing, which prompted Ganache to look more into Nico's profile, and what he had found only added a slight sense of disturbance to him. That was something, considering recent events, Ganache knew this which was why he found his feelings on the matter ironic. Nico's armour had bee outfitted with special drugs, drugs that lowered aggression and regulated his instincts.

In addition to that, there was something... off, about his anatomy, physical abilities that were better than normal humans, his senses unusually acute, and on occasion displays of animalistic behaviours like growling, snapping his jaws, and a gaze that only hungry predators could make. For some reason, his body was unable to digest human foods, he would just forcibly expel any attempts like it was vomit if he tried. When Ganache tried to look into why that was, he was met with the good old 'classified' trope. In fact, much of Nico's history and profile was under 'classified' which obviously meant one thing:

The Spec Ops branch, maybe even the entire Guild, was trying to hide something about him from the public.

A bell rung to signal someone else had entered the restaurant, pulling Ganache from his thoughts. He checked his black leather watch, and found that it was time. "Looks like she's here..." he mumbled under his breath, looking up towards the entrance. Aside from relaxation, there was a business element to coming to this place as well. Though he still wore his black getup because of the lack of formality behind the request. It was a meeting between him and him alone, with the Client.

Their 'Client' who requested them to do the things they did in the first place, had asked him to report here for a meeting, a meeting to do with recent events revolving around Lastation, Noire, Neptune, and Nico. At first, he was surprised and partially suspicious about how this client was aware of those people, seemingly knowing more than she let on, but didn't voice these thoughts. After all, that would be bad for business, and with who this client was, that possibility was even more severe than it would be if it were a NORMAL Client.

"Ah, just in time! I was beginning to think you wouldn't show..."

"Oh please, you know I wouldn't call you here without reason. Now then, let's get started..."

* * *

After dealing with that little… mishap, Nico continued his way to the co-ordinates provided by Noire. He made sure to double time it, since those last couple detours took away valuable time he could have used for sparring or training his body. The male sped through the countryside, heading south with the speed that IT was known for. After that little 'incident' where Nico had slightly lost it to his instincts, the male had made sure to clean the mess behind as well as inform Helena through Text about what happened, requesting a resupply of 'medicine' afterwards.

One upside came though, his body felt better than it had in a long time. His reflexes were honed, his senses were on high alert, and he had no felt this… ALIVE, in a long while. It was like he had been reborn, a new-born infant in the vastness of the world. This feeling, this euphoric sensation… it both amazed and scared the male at the same time. Sure, it FELT good, but it promised more pleasure if he had continued more than he needed, like a drug making him addicted to the feeling. The Species that Abnormal was drowned themselves in pleasure, fulfilling their perverse fantasies in sick, disgusting ways that made him want to throw up.

Fortunately, Nico didn't have to ponder long, because he managed to get to the Dungeon's entrance, which looked like a wooden gate to a carnival, in time. The entrance was located around a small grassy clearing, out in plain sight. There wasn't much to hide this entrance, making it extremely easy to locate. That was where the danger lay though. If they could easily find it, ordinary civilians could DEFINITELY find it... and get munched on just as easily, which meant this problem had to be dealt with soon.

Team RAIL was already there, everyone looking ready and waiting for orders. Aiden had his Goggles on his eyes while checking his equipment, same as Ivan with his won goggles, and his Mask covered the lower portion of his face. Lucy looked like she was sharpening her nails while leaning against a large rock, however if one looked at her posture they'd see she was just as alert as the others. Raven meanwhile, was staring at the Gate, her Mask over her face.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, had to take a few detours."

Upon his words as he walked up to them, his own Mask now on, the four raised their heads and looked at the new arrival. "Good." Raven replied simply, before turning to face him. "We were about to head in without you." She then rested her hand on the bottom of her Odachi's hilt, twisting on her heels once she saw his rolling of the eye while summoning Rebellion from his Void Storage. Although he didn't draw it… yet.

His mirth soon vanished and Nico's eye became stone cold, seriousness radiating from him as he looked to the entrance to the Dungeon. "What are we looking at here?" he asked them. If a new Dungeon were to pop up, normally scouts would have gone in and returned, sometimes with fewer numbers, but they'd return nonetheless, with information about the Dungeon's monsters, their weaknesses strengths etc so they knew who to send if those Dungeons became a problem.

There were instances where Scouts DIDN'T return though, so if this was one of those...

"We sent in a Recon Drone while we were waiting, curtesy of our fearless leader here." Lucy replied as she walked up to him, her face never dropping the cold edge that a soldier would have. What she must have seen must have been something if she hadn't tried to tease him already, something Nico noticed. Whenever they met, she always tried to tease and seduce him, Nico never figured out why. "We got some info, and believe me these Abnormal Dungeons deserve the name. What it brought back freaked us the hell out. Here, watch." The woman looked to Raven, who nodded as she brought the Recon Drone back out from her Inventory.

The moment he saw how banged up it was, a sight that usually happened when it was sent into new areas, Nico couldn't resist the urge to grimace. There were numerous dents and claw marks on the robot, showing that it had taken a beating before coming back. Its lense began to glow as a holographic projection was shown before them.

It showed the Carnival alright… just not what Nico had expected.

"Holy shit…" that was all he could say as he watched the footage of the Recon Drone as it flew about the Dungeon. The wooden planks that made the ground had these large black twisted looking protrusions piercing them, some going through buildings and wrecking rides. The skies were a crimson red, akin to the blood of the innocent with an ominous crimson fog.

There seemed to be a straightforward pathway through the Dungeon, though it seemed to be larger than a regular Dungeon but that was to be expected. This was a Dungeon for ABNORMALS after all. There were some circular areas that seemed like they would be perfect for combat. It all lead to this larger open area that Nico guessed the final boss would be at.

Then, the robot encountered some Abnormals… and what a sight they were. There were multiple types that it encountered: The first were these humanoid creatures made from robotic shells, with glowing yellow lenses, with extra armour plating made from… some sort of sludge-like substance. Their most promising feature though were those razor blades attached to their arms by the wrists, about half the length of their arms. The Recon Drone came with the name 'Lesser Stygian'

The second creature the Recon Drone encountered was a cherub-looking thing with a shield and a crossbow, which fired explosive arrows according to the footage. It looked akin to the Lesser Stygians, only standing at 1 to 2 feet tall, making them look tiny in comparison. The Recon Drone classified it as 'Bathos'.

The Recon Drone took too much damage avoiding those creatures so it had to return, and when it crossed through the gate, or what Nico thought was the gate when it looked like this big black spire of similar appearance to the protrusions sticking everywhere, it returned to Ravens side.

Once the footage stopped, Nico noticed that he had some new data sent to his Bracers Database, and when he looked it up he saw it was map data, a map of the new Dungeon. Looking up, he aimed a grateful look to the quartet, knowing it was their doing. "Thanks. Seriously, that shit… you don't see it every day." He remarked, inwardly glad that he had convinced Compa and the others to stay back at Lastation. Stuff like this would give them nightmares.

Carnival of Horrors indeed.

"Alright, so we have our enemies, but nothing on the Boss of the Dungeon. Whelp, we can deal with that when we get there, so you guys ready?" Team RAIL nodded in unison, each of them readying themselves so that they could quickly draw their weapons. If this was an Abnormal Dungeon, then they had to be prepared. Abnormals sometimes preferred to ambush travellers and other Spec Ops, sometimes they would even succeed. Those were the lesser intelligent ones, others were... well, let's just say they eat well and leave it at that, shall we?

"We were born ready, now let's get down to business, shall we?" Lucy questioned rhetorically.

* * *

With that decided, the group approached the Gate and made to pass through it. Raven went first, and Nico saw that when she did, it was like she was passing through a pool of water as ripples spread from her through the air around the space inside the Gate. Once she was inside, they couldn't see her anymore. Nico and the others gave each other looks and then followed Raven's example. They each took turns heading inside, until Nico was the last one.

He made to jump in after them, but then, an idea popped into his head, one that had to do with his inner desire to be like Leroy Jenkins. There were just times when Nico loved to make an entrance, not to show off, though. Sometimes he did them to surprise the enemy and get a good hit in. A surprise attack, one could say. The male smirked as he took a few steps to get a head start, before dashing towards the gate and jumping right in.

Turns out his little stunt saved his life. Nico's expression morphed from smug excitement to shock and surprise in an instant, faster than the speed of which Neptune ate her pudding. 'Oh shit!' he thought seeing the horizontal side of a Trailer being sent at him. That was one way to be greeted when at a Dungeon, made a change from the 'silence-then-get-swarmed-by-monsters' kind of thing.

Quickly he straightened himself like a sausage, twisting so he could slide trough the, thankfully, open trailer's door. While inside the trailer Nico's perception of time slowed as he looked about, seeing the various items that were held in the air. Food, clothes, female undergarments, male undergarments... wait, what? He forced himself not to choke on his own spit at the sight. 'Whoever owns this trailer must be a bum…' he thought to himself.

Thankfully for his sanity, time sped back to normal when he exited the trailer, falling through the air as he landed in a barrel roll before getting to his feet. "Okay, what the hell?" He yelled as he fixed the collar of his Trench Coat. He was about to say more when he noticed the silence of Team RAIL. They were silently staring at something ahead of them, something he saw not a second later.

It was a massive creature, resembling an excessively large primate with gangly proportions, dark grey skin, and black fur. A deep scar ran down the centre of its face, and its nose was completely gone, with only a large, open nasal cavity remaining. It wore a metal harness over its torso, and has a strap on its right leg to hold a grappling gun. Its limbs were long, and ended in large hands and feet, with a brown mane over its body to act as a Cloak, giving it a predatory appearance. Its eyes were hollow and white, while it had a maw of small, but sharp dagger-like teeth. There was something hidden under its mane, though, what that was Nico couldn't see, and he doubted the others could see either.

Nevertheless, it had a hideous vibe to it as it clung to the side of a particularly large rock formation. It glared at them with hate, roared and then jumped down into the crimson fog below.

* * *

'Okay, I can assume this is a Boss monster. If that's so, then why is it… well, Noire did say this was an Abnormal Dungeon, so it makes sense that the boss monsters don't stick to their spawn zones.' Nico frowned as he observed this behaviour. He did this while walking up to the group. They didn't make any motions that they noticed his presence, their eyes glued to where the monster had been, but Nico knew that they noticed him just from instinct alone.

"It Appears we will be encountering that boss, for it is employing hit and run harassment tactics." Aiden commented thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb. His eyes then narrowed behind his Goggles as he deployed his Wings to take flight. "In addition, our enemy has ambushed us."

The reason for his words and soon became apparent when they saw several bubbles of sludge suddenly grow out the ground and explode, a horde of 50 Lesser Stygians manifesting from them. They all revved their wicked razor blades, glaring heatedly at them like the Boss Monster they had just encountered.

"Whelp, here's the welcoming committee." Ivan chirped happily as his Bionic Arm switched to Rifle Mode. He got into a battle stance, reminiscent of a Boxer with the machinations of his arm whirring to life. "Let's show em our appreciation, eh?"

Everyone else had already drawn/manifested their weapons, Rebellion for Nico, Dual Cleavers for Lucy, Odachi for Raven, and Dual Pistols for Aiden. Nico had forgone the idea of transforming into Crimson Soul for the time being, at least until they got to the Boss Monster.

Raven nodded as she got into a combat stance. "Yes, lets."

* * *

The battle began with Aiden unloading a Missile Salvo on the enemy's asses. Aiden stuck to the air since it seemed they could only strike ground targets, providing air support for the rest of them. Some did try to jump at him to strike him with their Razor Blades, but Aiden either shot them down or unleashed a barrage of kicks to keep them away. Raven and Lucy charged from the front while Nico bounced through their ranks, demonic energy fuelling his movements. The sounds of combat, frenzied shrieks, battle cries, flesh being torn and blood squelching rang through the air, mixed with razor blade whirring.

Nico flipped through the air, bisecting a head from one Lesser Stygian and landed on top of another. The creature shrieked as it tried to get him off while is buddies jumped at him to cleave him with their razor blades. Nico jumped into the air at the last second though, saving him from being sliced to ribbons. The one had had landed on though wasn't so lucky, as it got shredded instead by its comrades. He landed on solid ground this time, before beginning to observe the enemy with a critical gaze.

'Considering my newfound control over my demonic energy, I should probably use it to form new Skills. I was able to think of a few to try out actually while I came here…' he thought to himself as he began to circulate demonic energy. His earlier thoughts had referred to his journey to this place, where he had found out some new Skills had manifested within his psyche and were added to his list of Skills, skills that relied on his demonic energy instead of his natural energy.

Came with the territory of having multiple energies within him.

"Alright, taste this!" He yelled, landing on the ground with a smash, kneeling like a knight. Nico then stood up, holding his Rebellion out which thrummed with crimson demonic energy, a new Skill activating as the energy got to work. "DEMON SAW!" The energy erupted out of the blade and transformed Rebellion into a massive Sword, one that took the form of a long pole connected to a guard less Katana Hilt, with 6 saw-toothed patterned black blades, resembling a shark's saw-like teeth.

Grinning devilishly, Nico felt the power make his eyes glow a fiery crimson, like the gates of hell itself as he swung the blade all around him in a full 360-degree arc, slicing through many of the Lesser Stygians around him before bringing it down on the one in front. The ensuing explosion was enough to rival the height of Lastation's Basilicom.

The Skill didn't damage the environment, he didn't want it to so it didn't, but that couldn't be said about the Lesser Stygians, whom were all burnt to a crisp with their cries being the last uses of their voices in this world. Nico watched as the sword shattered like glass, exposing Rebellion once again, before raising the blade to his eye level to look at his reflection. The eye transformation had gone, but he could still feel it, the rush of demonic energy surging through him. It was wild, free and unrelenting as it coursed through his veins, spiralling with his natural energy reserves.

'This energy… before, it always felt slightly difficult to control, nothing's changed about that.' He thought before becoming beset by more demonic-looking Lesser Stygians as they tried to avenge their comrades. Raven and the others were doing their bit, Ivan keeping back to offer fire support while batting away any who got too close to him. Thus, he didn't need to worry about those guys, they had this stuff in the bag. These ones seemed to have come from their side, thinking that he would be an easier target. Vengeance still shone in their eyes, however, so his earlier thoughts still had credit.

His eyes narrowed as he channelled the energy through Rebellion, slashing and blocking when he needed to, as well as using agile footwork to avoid their Razor Blades. 'However, now that I have control over the DDD transformation, something… something's been added, like an extra layer to it. I don't think it's anything bad, but, it doesn't hurt to notice these things. I'll keep an eye on it for now until I can examine my energy when I'm alone-'

He had to pause his thoughts to roll to the side, avoiding the Grappling Gun's hand that had dug into the ground behind him, forming some form of hand from blackened rock to grab him. The Grappling Gun retracted its claw back to its owner, the massive demonic monster from earlier which had landed on top of a larger rock formation. How it had gotten there was a mystery to Nico, however that wasn't what was on his mind right now.

What was, was that he had to take a chance.

Quickly, Nico reached for his hip holsters, Ebony and Ivory manifesting in them as he drew them and fired rapidly at the creature's face. The bullets, empowered by demonic energy, flew true and would have hit the creature… if it cared at all for them. It just let them hit its face while snarling, with a hint of a smirk tugging at its mouth.

The teen cursed, quickly seeing that is demonic pistols were having little effect on the enemy. It reared its Grappling Gun back, and Nico instinctively looked to his allies, seeing that they were still fighting the Lesser Stygians. His mouth opened and moved on instinct as he shouted. "Guys, c'mon we gotta move! Our friend's back!"

Team RAIL glanced to Nico who pointed upwards, so they turned to see the creature about to fire its Grappling Gun. Their faces twisted into snarls, some of them hidden, as they quickly batted their foes away and took off down the wooden path down the Dungeon. Nico followed suit, and so did the Lesser Stygians, until he twisted around and fired a PHANTOM BLADES Skill at them. Each blade impaled one Lesser Stygian, exploding on contact to kill them.

Turned out their choice was the best one as the grappling gun fired its claw right at the spot where the wooden path of planks connected with the circular platform, beginning to rip it apart from there. Ivan, Raven, Lucy and Nico ran for their lives along the path while Aiden tried to distract it with bullets from his Magnum Pistols. Along the way, pieces kept getting blown off, debris fell onto the path which they had to jump, slide or sidestep to avoid while running like the reaper was on their tail.

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck-fuck, shit-shit-motherfucker-" Ivan cursed up a storm in a constant manner as he repeatedly switched his Bionic arm from Rifle to Cannon Mode to blow debris from rock formations, fallen trailers etc out of their way to make sure they still had some path left to use to travel to the other side. "The fuck is this shit?!"

Lucy growled in frustration as she repeatedly sliced through objects with her Beyblade, before she gave a fierce glare to the cursing teen. "Less cursing more running, idiot!" she yelled over to him before they sped up after glancing to the space behind them. The grappling claw had made a hand that was quickly chasing them, smashing things and making more obstacles to hinder them from progressing into the Dungeon.

Up ahead, they could see the next platform, which was built into larger platform supports due to there being more on it, like stands and attractions etc, as opposed to wooden supports like the last platform. "Guys, let's move, we can make it!" Ivan called out, expressing much needed joy in the knowledge that they were almost out of this new life-or-death situation. That joy was soon extinguished however when a sin decker buss suddenly fell on top of the last bits of the path they were on, the wooden planks collapsing to the fog below. "Oh, Goddess fucking damnit!"

"Shut it, Ivy, and use those legs instead of ya gob!"

Team RAIL plus Nico increased their speed, pumping energy, both kinds for the DPU, into their legs and lungs. The bus looked like it could be used as a substitute to the pathway that they had lost, but that wouldn't be the case for long. The Bus was slowly tilting downwards, the pieces of the wooden planks it was connected to shattering under the weight. The urgency was as plain as day as they jumped onto the Bus's roof while it began to fall, running up it before making a single unified leap to the other side.

They each landed with finesse, save for Ivan ho tripped and fell onto his face. Raven landed with her knees bent before casually striding forth, same with Nico and Lucy. Aiden landed beside them, the only one who hadn't been affected by the collapsing path like they had thanks to his ability to fly, much to Ivan's dismay and jealousy. "What the hell, man? Why'd you not help us when we were literally close to our deaths there?!" Ivan yelled as he pouted at the flying male.

Said male regarded Ivan with his usual blank stare. "It was merely confidence in the abilities of my comrades. Lack of faith in that would hamper the team's effectiveness." As usual, Aiden answered calmly and emotionlessly, as opposed to the emotional Ivan who looked like he wanted to tear his hair out in frustration with his near robotic teammate. Although that was ironic considering Ivan was the one with a Bionic arm and Cybernetic enhancements.

"Moving on. it appears that the enemy tried to kill us prematurely by collapsing that path from under us." Traven spoke as they turned behind them seeing the creature standing on all fours as it retracted its grappling gun's claw before putting it into its holster, glaring at them before releasing a snort as it jumped into the fog below.

None of them were under the illusion that this was over. They figured that it would come and harass them till they got to the end of the Dungeon, where the REAL boss fight would begin. They had to admit, tactics like this was only common with Abnormals, they had seen it before when they fought against Banshees or other Abnormals. The ways they come up with to be regarded as different from the nom were both creative and disturbing at the same time. This was just one of the many deviances from the norm that the Abnormals showed.

Good thing this was part of their job description. If they weren't prepared they'd have died already.

"I hate these guys…" Ivan moaned in deflation, his shoulder slumping as he dropped his head to gaze at the ground. He hated the Abnormals for many reasons, one of them being their erratic behaviours when compared to normal monsters. They were so varied and unpredictable that it made fighting them a real hassle. Even if they were trained specially to combat these creatures, it was still annoying whenever they fought these beings.

Raven rolled her eyes behind her Mask as she made to address the situation, give the team some of its morale back, but her words never left her mouth because several creatures burst out the fog below and floated up above them. Judging by their appearances they were Bathoses that the Recon Drone had sighted. They didn't have as great numbers as the Lesser Stygians, about 30 or so. Though this was soon rectified when the enemies they'd fought before, which they'd assumed were dead when the whole collapsing thing happened, came out of the woodworks, literally, from black sludge like the first time. Their numbers had dropped to 15 though, a far cry from what they had before.

Guess some of them really did perish that time.

Now at this moment they would have gotten ready to attack and fight them off, like they had done before. The group had their weapons out, with Raven being about to charge forth into the fray with the idea of ripping them all to shreds for what they had almost made her Team go through…

"… you know what, I've had enough of this."

But then, they got the surprise of their lives at Ivan's dully made remark, which lacked the energy and life that he would usually have whenever he opened his mouth as he switched his Bionic Arm to Cannon mode and aimed at the mob of enemies. The male said nothing as he charged up a basketball sized blast and unleashed it on the enemies, ripping through them and the environment which reduced their number to the single digits. This allowed Aiden to finish them off with a Missile Salvo, the airborne male knowing that his companion was just about done with all this bullshit.

After lowering the arm and switching it back to default Mode, he gave the others a silent stare before he moved on, walking around the hole, which was still steaming with residue electricity sparking every now and then, deeper into the Dungeon.

Landing beside them and retracting his Wings into his Backpack once more, Aiden was the first to point out the elephant in the room. "it appears our companion is fed up with this Dungeon in a remarkably short time. Shorter than previous encounters with the Abnormals."

Nico could only sweat drop as an awkward chuckle escaped his lips. "Honestly, I kind of agree with him there… once we get to that Boss battle and I transform, I'll make sure to put it down quick and easy for him…" There was only so much one could take before they would go and say, 'I'm done!' and just leave, even for him. It appeared that Ivan had reached his threshold already, though it was understandable since he had expected the day to be relaxing and helping with the repairs in the city.

"Back on topic, we must move." Raven stated bluntly as she began walking forwards in the same direction, hopping over the 6-foot-wide hole in the oath made by Ivan's blast as she continued to venture deeper into the Dungeon. "We must get moving. Ivan may get swarmed if he is on his own, in addition that creature may be back soon."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement when the leader of Team RAIL said this, and they continued moving forwards, since they couldn't go back yet thanks to the Pathway being destroyed. Not like they would however, they had a bone to pick with that monster.

* * *

After that eventful encounter, the group traversed the Dungeon. The path ahead had unfortunately been blocked off by the stone protrusions, but luckily, they had found a backward path through several attractions they could have used. If they hadn't, they'd have had to resort to sing FALCON and Crimson Soul to carry them to the other side, something that they were reluctant to do so because Crimson Soul was still a new form, untested with a lot of unknown territory surrounding it. They didn't know the limits of Nico's abilities when he did transform, plus there wasn't much guarantee that the personality he would adopt when changed would be thrilled with the idea.

In addition, FALCON would only carry one person at a time, which meant that the ones on the other side would be vulnerable while they waited for FALCON to bring the rest of them across. Plus, FALCON himself would be vulnerable since it would tire him considerably, plus the strain on his Wings would likely destroy them, further inhibiting his combat potential.

Though, with the way they chose to move they weren't privy to avoiding the Abnormals in the form of Lesser Stygians and the Bathos. They hounded them when they passed through a small spinning attraction that looked like one for children, attacking from the ground and air. They managed to take them down of course, but the idea that they would sully the fondness of a children's ride was fucked up in their minds, and gave them more incentive to defeat this Abnormal Dungeon.

"Hmmm, it appears the intensity of the attacks have increased." Nico noted as he stood up, plucking Rebellion out of the corpse of a Lesser Stygian as it disappeared into Particles. He wiped the blade to clean it of blood on a nearby rock, before turning to the others and informing them of his observation.

Raven nodded her head, agreeing with the male's analysis. The intensity of these attacks on them had increased, not enough to be called drastic, but more along the lines of gradual. It seemed that the Abnormals intended to slowly bleed them dry until they were ripe for the picking. This 'harassment' was not something she favoured, not one bit. "Agreed. I too noticed that they seemed to gradually come at us in larger groups."

Lucy hummed in thought at this information. "Hmmm. Well, Abnormals are known for their random behaviours, so intelligence like this isn't that surprising, really." She remarked, shrugging her shoulders as she turned to Aiden, who was holstering his Pistols after landing just now. "What's your opinion on the matter, Aidy?"

Once Aiden had finished his little task, he glared at her for calling him by that nickname instead of his codename like professionals do. However, her question was repeated inside his head which stopped him from forming his usual response to it. With that out of the way, Aiden thought about what his companions were saying, and concluded the same as they did. "I also agree. It appears the enemy is attempting a mix of hit and run and chipping tactics. That creature must be leading them."

"How do you figure that?" Ivan asked as his Bionic arm thrummed silently. "I mean, it's not like we've actually fought the guy, so we can't know how it fights." That was true, through their repeated encounters with the creature, not once did they have a direct fight. It was more on the lines of it sending minions after them to whittle them down while making their days harder for them by launching sneak attacks.

Not a cool move, in his opinion.

Raising a hand, Aiden touched the side of his Goggles and a holographic projection formed from its right lense. Nico remembered that Aiden's Goggles were like his Bracers in terms of functions, with several combat ones added in. "I made sure to record the previous encounters with our elusive enemy, and have concluded these tactics based from the evidence acquired. It is not a stretch to assume that this being has intelligence rivalling that of a human's. For example, it knew how to use its Grappling Gun to destroy the path we were on to stop us from progressing, as well as to likely kill us by dropping us into the smoke, out fates being unknown currently." He explained as the projection showed the footage of the enemy destroying te bridge they were on.

"Not sure I like seeing my own embarrassing moments, but sure."

"Enough, CYBORG. Continue, FALCON." Raven commanded sternly, her hand resting on the bottom of her Odachi's hilt. She eyed the projections with rapt attention, paying attention to every detail. Like his namesake, FALCON's Goggles captured every tiny detail when it recorded, which made recon missions as well as detective missions where they had to hunt down Bandits and other criminals much easier.

Spec-Ops did more than just fight Abnormal Monsters. While that was their primary task, they also were tasked with making sure that any lawbreakers were found and brought to justice. In truth, Team RAIL excelled in catching criminals, for every one of them had experiences with the horrible and the corrupt in various ways. These experiences were the drive they were fuelled by to do their job to their fullest potential.

These thoughts were also in Nico's mind as he calculated what he had seen in the Projections. 'It seems that this thing acts like a Hunter, and we're its prey… evidence includes the way it moves, hiding in the shadows as well as behind tall rock protrusions and buildings, to how it manoeuvres its Grappling Gun for surprise attacks. In addition, now that I'm looking at it like this, I can see that it has a dagger, which is also a common tool for Hunters…'

"Furthermore, as I am fully aware that DEATHSRTROKE will have realised by now, that this Abnormal has the movements and attack patterns of a Hunter, and we're the prey. I estimate that this creature's constantly harassing us to break down our energy until it could deal the fatal blow. We should avoid prolonged fights until we reach the boss area where we can fight it on our own terms, for right now we are akin to fish in a barrel."

Raven nodded in acceptance as Aiden once again turned the projection off by pressing the side of his Goggles. "Very well, good work FALCON. Make sure to record anything you can on this creature. I want to know everything about it, from how it moves to how it breathes." She ordered him, getting a confirmed soldier-like nod and salute before Aiden deployed his Wings once more and took to the skies to act as their lookout.

Afterwards, she turned to the others and began addressing them while walking along the wooden path, which led further along in a straight line. "In the meantime, you tree will accompany myself as we get to the Boss area." She instructed, getting nods of acknowledgement from the other three, even Ivan as he knew not to mess with her when in this mood, as they continued their trek into the Dungeon.

* * *

Their walk soon was short lived however, when an incoming message came from their lookout through their earpieces. "Incoming Abnormal 5'o'clock." Their eyes widened in unison as they turned in the direction Aiden had said the enemy was, to see the creature from before suddenly jump out from its hiding place and land before the bottom of a Ferris Wheel.

With the look, it was sporting as its arms reached for it, Grappling Gun in its holster, Nico quickly figured out what it was going to do next. "Everyone, we gotta move, NOW!" He yelled in a panic, getting everyone to run forwards with him trailing behind them.

No sooner had he made his exclamation, the monster had gripped the railing of the Ferris Wheel with strength that would make wrestlers blush, before lifting it slightly and throwing its arms upwards, sending the Ferris Wheel rolling towards them to bury them alive.

"Oh hell, I SERIOUSLY hate this fucker!"

"Less talking more running, Ivan!"

Nico shouted towards his companion as the Ferris Wheel closed in on them. When it was about to flatten them, the group responded by doing their own stunts of Parkour, ending up jumping onto and over pieces of the metal that made up the Ferris Wheel, until they could jump to the side from within, landing in various positions. Raven had landed in a crouch with one hand on the ground and her Odachi sheathe moved across her back, Nico landed on all fours after flipping backwards through the air like a badass, and Lucy along with Ivan landed in a handstand before jumping back to their feet.

Seeing that its next attempt to kill them, this time by burying them alive, had failed, the monster snorted in anger as it jumped down into the smoke below to plan its next attack. Not seconds after a bunch of Lesser Stygians and Bathos manifested from the ground and air, glaring at them with the intent to kill. Nico made to ready Rebellion, when an idea popped into his head. "Hey guys, I'll deal with the ground units, you get the air boys!" he called to the others.

"What you thinking, Nicky-dear?!" Lucy called back with a flirtatious wink, making him blush in embarrassment before he shook those thoughts away. Giggling, she switched her Cleavers out for her Beyblade, spinning it over her head in prep for a throw. The others soon were doing their own ranged preparations, with Aiden being the one to attack first when he dived down from his lookout spot like his namesake, slicing through the Bathos with his dual military grade combat knives, which were improved with HF Technology like Nico's demonic sword.

Said male just grinned as he called upon his demonic energy once again. He felt the power respond to his call as an orangish red aura appeared around him. "Just this! HELLGATE OBLIVION!" he roared as above him, a portal made from orangish red energy formed from thin air. The portal was large enough to pull in even a full-grown adult of average to above average height. From the Portal, dozens of long arms, each made from Magma and sporting pieces of volcanic rock along their bodies, grabbed the Lesser Stygians in one fell swoop, dragging them into the fiery portal with them kicking and shrieking all the while. When they were all pulled in, the portal erupted in flames, which burned the contents alive within seconds, before it vanished in a vortex of flame.

By this time, the others had already dealt with the Bathos, and were just in time to witness the end of his Demon-based Skill. Lucy's jaw was the only one who dropped since it wasn't covered by a Mask or anything, but if their faces weren't then Raven and Ivan's faces would have been the same. Even Aiden was surprised, shown through the slight opening of his mouth in a faint 'O' shape. "Whoa dude, how'd ya do that?!"

"Heh, came up with a few Skills while on the road. Anyways, we can talk later because it looks like we have company." Nico's words, and how he pointed Rebellion forwards towards the direction of the path they travelled upon, made Team RAIL look and see that, in the distance. The hunter-like monster had returned, and it was pissed. They were starting to think that was its usual expression.

Ready for round two… three, four, whatever, it was ready for another attempt at weakening them. It aimed it's Grappling Gun at them and fired, the claw embedding itself into the ground and forming a massive hand, made from the earth itself, which rose out to grab them. Fortunately for them, as while its size was impressive, it was also easy to read and predict, thus they managed to jump/roll out of the way.

"This Fucker's going to DIE!"

Ivan made to shoot it with his Bionic Arm in Canon mode, however Aiden descended till he was at least a couple feet off the ground and placed his hand on the top of it. He pressed downwards, getting his comrade's attention. "That will not work. This creature's body is immune to bullets and all electricity will do is stun him, which does not satisfy your need for vengeance." Aiden stated as the two jumped in opposite directions, dodging another earth hand from the creature's Grappling Gun.

Rolling to his feet, Ivan made to shout at Aiden when the male continued his speech like that incident hadn't happened. "Therefore, it will be best if I distract the enemy while the rest of you proceed through that haunted house." He said this while pointing to an old-looking house, which had various dolls and limbs sticking out. The Dolls had this creepy stare on them that made the group feel lightly disturbed, although they hid it well. "Do not worry, I have made my calculations on its movements, thus I will be able to stall it for the rest of you. We'll rendezvous at the Boss area."

Lucy made to interject to possibly deny this plan, however Raven stopped her by speaking first. "Very well, we shall follow this plan, FALCON. However, I must warn you…" her eyes narrowed into a deadly glare behind her Mask, which only added to its intimidation factor. "Fail to survive and I'll revive you only to discipline you myself."

Aiden nodded his head as he wordlessly took off towards the monster, distracting it with a Missile Salvo while the others managed to get inside the Haunted House.


	40. Chapter 40 - Haunted House Activities

**Chapter 40 - Haunted House Activities**

The group of four, with one of their members now gone, managed to get inside the haunted house, with Aiden having managed to blow up the entrance behind them so the creature couldn't follow.

Dust had been kicked upwards into the air thanks to the entrance collapsing like it did, making the remaining four cover their eyes with their forearms. When the dust died away, these four lowered their arms to see what had become of it. The entrance now looked like nothing more than a pile of rubble, which was something that peeved the monster off greatly at the fact that it had lost most of its, to the point where its attention shifted from his companions to Aiden himself. Said male had been more than ready for it, if the sounds of furious roars, explosions and conflict outside were any indication.

"Damnit, that bastard…!" Ivan cursed as he glared at the rubble like it was his most hated nemesis. He looked absolutely furious that Aiden had done what he did, but that wasn't all of it. He had a glint of worry for his comrade, hinting at the emotional turmoil he felt for his brother-in-arms as he clenched his fists and restrained himself from blowing the rubble apart to get out there and rescue him. Hell, his Bionic Arm had shifted to Cannon Mode thanks to his emotion-fuelled mental commands. "If he dies on us, I'll go to hell and kill him over and over myself…!" he yelled, his yell echoing throughout the Haunted House.

Lucy frowned, gripping the sides of her skirt to shake off her own worry for the male codenamed FALCON. She may not have much of an interest in him as she did Nico, but they had done many Missions together so it was impossible for her to not feel anything but concern for his safety after this stunt. Seeing the state Ivan was in however, made her push her worries to one side for the moment as she went up to him. her heeled boots clicked against the ground, but Ivan made no motion to indicate he had heard her coming, likely too focused on his rage/worry for his comrade. "Don't worry, Ivy." She whispered in a soothing voice, reaching forth and placing a hand on his trembling shoulder. "I'm sure FALCON knows what he's doing." she told him truthfully and sincerely. With a bit of mirth, she added on at the end. "It kinda comes with the job of being king of the skies."

Yes, Aiden had that nickname in the Spec Ops Community. 'King of the Skies', it came from how he dominated the skies whenever he took flight, a lot like a certain Abnormal that lived in the forest regions in Leanbox. His skill in the air was his specialty, which made scouting and aerial battles a cinch if he was around. Aiden's soldier-like mentality helped in this as well, as being aware of your surroundings was a major requirement for aerial battles, more so than the ground. This was due to the fact that there were more directions to be attacked from in the air, added on to possible threats from the front, back, side, and above. One had to look out below, literally, as well, especially if one was flying and there was an anti air weapon presence in the vicinity.

Aside from all of that, Lucy waited for her comrade to respond. She hoped she had comforted him somewhat, although Ivan likely would remain worried about him till they reunited with Aiden. Her words and actions combined served their purpose, and managed to calm the male down significantly, enough for him to think straight as he sopped the whirring's of his Bionic Arm to shift it back into Cannon Mode, the sounds of it powering down resounding through the area they were in.

Speaking of which, Nico had activated his left Bracer's Scanner the moment they were inside. It wouldn't be long till a map of the area was in its Database as the male looked around. So far, the entire atmosphere fit that of a haunted House, with a long dark corridor with multiple doors on both sides. In the distance, Nico could see a horizontal corridor which lead to both left and right. There was a faint red light in the distance, which made the darkness of the Corridor much more realistic. He got the sense of eeriness from looking at it, and felt slightly creeped out by this appearance. There was just something about this place that made him want to ruin for the hills in fear. "Well, whoever made this place knew how to scare people, that's for sure." He commented flatly as he looked down at his left Bracer, which showed the number 75%.

Not long now.

Turning to him, Raven spoke in a clear, commanding voice befitting of someone of her stature. "What is the progress on your Holomap, DEATHSTROKE?" she questioned, her arms crossed over her chest. To the normal eye, she looked completely composed and proper, befitting a leader. However, if one looked at her hands, they would see that she was clenching the clothing on her arms tightly, indicating her worry for her subordinate. She may have a hate for men, but Aiden and Ivan had served with her for a long time, enough to be called close comrades on the battlefield. One couldn't imagine NOT being concerned for them if they ever got themselves hurt.

Nico looked back at her and responded with an equally military-like manner. He knew that Raven was someone who didn't take shit from anyone and would rather be given it direct. It annoyed her immensely when someone tried to skirt around the issue, this he'd learned when he first met her… back when she had a massive hatred for men in general and saw him as no exception. "The scanning process is at 75%, I estimate that it will be 6 minutes before the process is complete and we will have a route out of here."

"Very well." Raven nodded as she came up with a plan, based off the information that Nico had provided for her as well as the other factors. "We should not let FALCON's departure deter us from our goal. We'll do as he says, and rendezvous with him outside. In the meantime, let us traverse this Haunted Mansion. That bastard will likely still try to hunt us even with FALCON's interference." she instructed them.

Everyone nodded in agreement, that was the best they could do at this point, considering what their situation was. They needed to find another way out of this Haunted House in order to proceed onwards. Aiden would be distracting the Monster for them while they traversed the Haunted House. Hopefully, they'd be able to regroup with him when they found the exit to this forsaken place.

* * *

With that, they began making their way through the corridor, heading over to the end where the light was visible. Lucy looked ahead and saw that Raven was at point, so she looked to Nico and gave a small mischievous smile. Slowly, she shifted closer to him, matching her pace with his as her heels clicked against the ground. Finally, she looped er arms around Nico's left arm, hugging it and pressing it into her chest. "Awww, Nicky-dear…"

The male tensed, his eyes widening and his face becoming red at the seductive tone that she was using. "u-u-uh-um-uhhhhhh, wh-wh-what is it, L-L-L-Lucy?" he stuttered, trying to keep himself from fainting as heat rushed to his head. 'Goddamnit, why does she have to be such a tease, and at a time like this?!' Lucy always was a flirt, even if she didn't hold men in high regard. This wasn't due to their perverted nature, no sir, she was sort of perverted herself. She had... dealings with many men in the past. The reason why she held them in so little regard was due to something in her past, a past that Nico wouldn't want for anyone else.

"I was wondering when you were going to accept my offer, remember? You… me… alone… hot… heavy…" she whispered, leaning up so that her lips were next to his ear. The offer she was making wasn't too different from the one she made much before that, one that Nico had practically burst into steam with the amount of embarrassment that he had felt at the time. And with the way she was rubbing herself on him, it was clear that was what she was thinking.

Up ahead, Raven paused mid stride when she heard her vice leader's words. Her form shook slightly, with her fists clenched as she turned around and stomped towards them. "VERONICA, what the hell are you doing in the middle of a tense battle?" she asked, no, demanded as she pulled Lucy off the male, much to his visible relief. She crossed her arms and levelled her angry gaze on the red-haired woman 1 year her junior, her aura visible from her rage and her posture akin to that of someone about to go on a murderous rampage. She even had a hand wrapping around the hilt of her Odachi. "You do know we are in the midst of hostile territory, do you not?"

Both boys tensed at this, knowing the dangers that the pissed off Raven posed, especially to males. There was a time where Raven, in this state, would attempt to, and sometimes succeed, to castrate a guy's dick just for looking at her wrong when in this mood. She wasn't as bad now, but her hate for males with Nico being the exception, although she saw Aiden and Ivan as neutral, was still there.

"You are so fucked, dude."

"Me? What the hell did I do?"

Lucy however, looked unperturbed by the furious gaze directed at her, and giggled into her hand in a ladylike manner. "Ufufufu, my, I'm just inquiring as to what Nicky-dear's response to an earlier offer of mine. It's not like I'm harming him or anything." She said while giving the male a wink, much to his embarrassment.

However, this just irritated her more. Raven gritted her teeth behind her Mask as she stepped forwards, her heels clicking against the ground like Lucy's had done before. "Quit acting like you're innocent, VERONICA." She spat, her aura increasing as she gripped her Sheath, flicking her thumb to partially push her Odachi out while she increased the intensity of her stare. "DEATHSTROKE does not have time for idle chitchat or to be a part of your sick games."

"My, but who says I'm playing around, leader?" Lucy retorted with her ever present smile, although this one contained an edge sharp enough to rival her Odachi with a twitching brow to represent the dwindling calm façade. The faint trace of light in her hands showed that she was going to summon her Cleavers as the two advanced towards each other. "After all, don't you think you're being a bit arrogant? You like keeping Nico all sweet and innocent, but I bet that you want him alone with you in a room just as much as I."

It looked like they were about to come to blows, until an irritated Ivan stepped in and pushed them away from each other with both his palms. "Alright, retract the fangs, girls, Aiden's out there fighting that monster while you guys have your usual spat over Nico's D." he said, ignoring the indignant "Hey!" from said male as he glanced to the two of them, switching between the two as he continued. "Since Aiden can't come to the phone right now due to the certain disease known as 'monster-trying-to-kill-him', I'll take his place in keeping things straight here."

This was one of the few times Ivan dropped his cheerful personality for that of a trained soldier. Nico knew he had a close friendship with Aiden, even with their opposing personalities. One was like the sun, hot, fiery and emotional, and the other was the moon: calm, insightful and patient. Two opposites, yet also similar in a way. In a way, those two had a bond akin to brothers-in-arms, a bond born from many battles together, where they had to place faith in each other to get the tough jobs done. Whenever Aiden wasn't around, Ivan would gladly keep the girls in line for Nico, as he didn't want his friend's efforts to go to waste.

Plus, in a way, while Ivan was jealous of Nico's popularity with the ladies, though the lucky bastard didn't realise it. Though he did have to admit that he did share Raven's feelings somewhat about him, not the romantic ones for any Yaoi shippers out there. He was straight. Ivan just didn't want Nico to lose his innocence to the ways of girls, or rather, girls that would use him like a plaything then discard him like he was nothing to them. Poor guy deserved a break from that crap, with the shit that he'd seen, just the thought of what little Ivan had learned from Nico himself one day was enough to give him nightmares, and he hated the thought of him having to have more stress added to his plate.

Then there was the fact that he and Aiden were among the few who... KNEW of Nico's secret.

Huffing, the girls calmed down from their little spat, momentarily caught by surprise at the sudden change in tones from the usually joking, cheerful member of Team RAIL. They had forgotten that despite his playfulness, Ivan did take things seriously. After all, with what happened that resulted in him getting Cybernetic Enhancements, it was only natural. All the while, Nico chuckled awkwardly, already used to the antics that these three generated. Although he didn't realise it at the time, but unconsciously Nico had sent a grateful look towards Ivan, whom nodded in response back briefly, so briefly that nobody noticed it.

* * *

Afterwards, the group reached the next corridor. The right-side lead to a dead end, while the left lead to another corridor, one that had a mirror at the end. The walls though, disturbed them with how many portraits of wide open eyes, which seemed to be staring deeply at them as if they were gazing at their souls. "Which way should we go from here?" Ivan wondered in confusion, scratching the back of his head.

"We'll head to the mirror." Nico replied as he glanced down at his left Bracer, which showed that thanks to that little incident the Scan was complete, and a Holomap of the Haunted House was available to them. "This Map shows the mirror at the edge is fake, there's a path behind it. We should be able to press forward if we go there."

Raven nodded in acceptance at the male's logic. Truthfully, she was glad that they now had some sense of direction. She didn't want to be in this freak show any longer than necessary, though as Team Leader she had to lead by example, so she kept her emotions hidden from the rest of them. "Very well, since you have the Holomap, DEATHSTROKE, you lead the way." She told him while stepping aside.

With a nod, the male began walking towards the mirror on the left side of the corridor. The others trailed behind him, all of them keeping on guard in case of a surprise attack by Abnormals. As they were halfway towards the mirror, though, Ivan noticed something, something that quickly made him suspicious. "Hey, um guys? Is it just me or…"

"Or what?"

"Or has there been a lack of attack rushes from the enemy since we got here?" Now that he brought it up, Raven, Nico and Lucy realised that Ivan had a point. This place would be perfect for staging surprise attacks, like from the darkness of the ceiling, the shadows etc, but they had not once been targeted by Lesser Stygians or Bathos. Did they clean them all out earlier and they didn't realise it? or were they hatching some new form of attack plan?

Their money went to the latter.

Before anyone could say a thing, the mirror ahead of them suddenly shattered, the hunter-like monster's head poking through and string right into them. The shock and suddenness of the entrance had caused them to stiffen as they made to raise their weapons. However, the monster was faster at utilising its opportunity to attack them and jumped towards the group, drawing its Hunting Dagger with the intent to impale at least one of them on it.

However, their salvation came in the form of Aiden, whom had burst in from a hole in the roof, which was likely how the creature got in without them knowing considering its size and the rubble where the light hit the floor of the Haunted House. The male had flown in with his body in the position for a shoulder tackle, his body encased in a grey coloured aura that acted more like a cloak shaped like him, lightning and winds dancing around him.

Everyone recognised that Skill, one of Aiden's buff Skills called STORM DRIVE. Gave the user the power of a Storm's Core, increasing their attributes to levels beyond that of human limitation. There were many versions of this Drive Skill, each one unique to the people that use them, although their base function was the same. In a way, it was like Nico's CHAIN'S OF HEPHAESTUS, in that it was created specifically with the desire to combat Abnormals on their own turf in mind.

The male had slammed into the monster's side, knocking it off balance and causing its Dagger to pass by them harmlessly. The two bounced across the Corridor, the monster slamming into the corridor's wall on the opposite side, going through it and making the new entrance collapse into a new exit. The sounds of combat once again reigned supreme outside, which made the others hasten their escape the area lest it come back for another bout.

They searched for a while, looking around for an exit, until finally they came to a room. The room was filled to the brim with various Coffins hanging from above, with the rest of the walls filled with inactive Sawblades. Rails were along the floor, a significant amount of space between each one. These likely served the purpose of transporting Sawblades across from one side of the room to another.

That was when they finally saw another Lesser Stygian, one that was alone as it waddled towards them with its razor blade spinning its spikes like a chainsaw. The Group stared at it silently, frowns on their features. "Something's wrong here, these guys seem like they are only a threat in groups, so why is there only one left?" Lucy questioned, rubbing her chin thoughtfully."

"You're right, it doesn't make sense…" Nico added, nodding his head in agreement as he tried to calculate what this creature's aim was, or rather, what its master's aim was. While the Boss seemed like it had above average intelligence, the same couldn't be said for the others, whose intelligence seemed to be on the levels of the lower ranking normal Monsters. Normally that wouldn't happen since Abnormals were far stronger than Gamindustri's monsters, something that was noted by the Guild ever since the Spec Ops programme first launched.

Their answers soon came however, when it seemed to step on a switch, one that looked like a big red button on the ground. Looking down in confusion, the creature lifted its leg to see what it had stood on, only for it to experience more confusion for its last moments when a Sawblade spun across, slicing its head off since it was bending down at the time.

"Whoa!" Ivan exclaimed more Lesser Stygians appeared while the rest of the Sawblades came alive. Some lowered themselves on the metallic arms that supported them over the exit, barring their path as a group of 15 Lesser Stygians appeared before them.

Raven then stepped forward, her irritation as clear as day. "Allow me to clear a path. I will not have someone who's not a Team RAIL member outshine us here today." She said calmly as she drew her Odachi. The edge this time was a dark blue, a sign that the element she had chosen was Ice.

Readying her sword for a reverse horizontal slice, one hand on the hilt and the other on her Sheath, Raven began channelling her energy into a Skill, the blade beginning to glow an ominous transparent colour. "1000 POUND CANNON!" she bellowed, swinging with so much force behind her slash that a shockwave shaped like the round of a cannon was launched at it, creating a fissure along the ground that was left in the Skill's wake. The Skill hit the middle of the group of Lesser Stygians, reducing them to nothingness which left only 4 to 7 remaining.

Nico had to whistle in amazement. 'Wow, Raven's gotten a lot better at handling those Skills she has. Last time we met she had been experiencing troubles in controlling their output, but now however…' he didn't finish his thoughts when more Lesser Stygians arrived, reinforcements to replace the ones they had lost in the initial attack.

This time, they didn't let them have any breathing room since they charged straight at them, seeing them as a major threat to their master. Raven held her Odachi in a two-handed stance as she got ready to fight. She charged at them, jumping and slicing through one of them as it disappeared into Particles.

She went to slash more, but saw Lucy come in as well, her Cleavers ready as she flew towards a group of Lesser Stygians. Her Cleavers oozed with purple Sludge-like material as she yelled out "POISON SLASH!" as she slashed at everything in sight, enjoying the carnage to the fullest. Raven sweat dropped at the sight, finding it weird how her vice leader liked fighting as much as she liked doing 'it' with any man she had seen.

That was… until she came across Nico.

Her thoughts about the past were interrupted when said male came down with Rebellion in a double slash, like an X, that cut a Lesser Stygian to ribbons. It brought her focus back to the fighting as she blocked a blade slash to her torso, then rolled aside to dodge a pair of strikes from above. Back on her feet, Raven parried the slashes of 2 Lesser Stygians until she saw an opening and dashed past one, cutting its arm off before spinning and slicing its head off faster than it could reaction. She double kicked the other one in the side of the head, dazing it to allow her to slash it in half.

Elsewhere, Ivan slammed his Bionic Arm's Blade mode into the head of one Lesser Stygian, pulling it out and spinning to face another while its brethren vanished into particles. His Bionic arm switched to Default mode, a sly chuckle escaping his lips as he charged at it. "Heh, you think I'm just a weapon's expert?! Lemme show ya just how wrong that is!"

When he was close enough, Ivan launched a flurry of punches after dodging the initial slash. Each punch would have seemed normal or below average for a man who had a robotic arm, however each punch delivered fierce shocks through the system of his unfortunate victim, sparks of electricity flying from the fists while they pounded the Lesser Stygian into oblivion. The male ended the creature's suffering by sweep kicking it off its feet and then spinning into a vicious haymaker that ripped through its head.

"I'm much more diverse than that, buddy. Remember that in the afterlife…"

Nico himself slashed through enemies with a single swing of Rebellion, enhancing its blows with demonic energy like they seemed to do with their blades. He then got an idea, he wanted to test 1 of 2 more Demon Skills that he'd developed along his journey to this Dungeon. Seeing a pair of Bathos appear in the air above them, Nico decided to test this Skill on them. Sheathing Rebellion on his back but not dismissing it to his Void Storage, the male threw his arm to the side as he Activated his Skill. "ABYSS BREAK!"

Demonic energy poured out of his shoulders, spiralling down his arm to his hand before combining inside his hand. The next second, Nico had a Bow made from what looked like volcanic rock in his hand, about as tall as he was. He aimed at the Bathos in the air, pulling the string back to its maximum which allowed an arrow made of the same rock to manifest into place. He then shot the arrow, which flew at high speeds towards the enemy. One of them managed to dodge the arrow, but the other was not so lucky, for the arrow to impale it down to the halfway point.

The next thing he saw was the arrow exploding, killing its target and sending a wave of sharpened shrapnel through the air and slicing through the other Bathos, dangerously weakening it. Nico finished his Skill with dismissing the Bow and redrawing Rebellion, just in time to launch a Demonic energy slash towards several Lesser Stygians.

'Whelp, looks like ABYSS BREAK works too…' Nico thought as he looked to his remaining opponents: 2 more Lesser Stygians. The rest were being dealt with by the three Team RAIL members, so it wouldn't be long before they would be able to proceed. These two would be his to deal with, and he had a good idea of how to do it. 'I guess I can test this last one, its Drive Skill that I used with Demonic Energy, but still it should be superior to normal Drive Skills. Now to see how it works…'

"DEMON OVERDRIVE!"

In an instant, Nico's body erupted in power, his body becoming covered in a crimson red aura with an orange outline. It flared around him like a raging inferno, arcs of white and orange lighting dancing across his biceps occasionally. The amount of power he could feel was staggering, like he was constantly on the highest form of drug-induced high as possible while still maintaining his sanity. The Lesser Stygians, seeing the new power that their enemy was using, looked like they were becoming fearful.

A lethal smirk tugged at his lips. "Sorry boys… all out of mercy, better luck next time." With those final words, Nico bent his legs and dashed forwards, the ground below his feet breaking under the weight and impact of his empowered body as he moved like a bullet, sealing the fate of his unfortunate prey.

* * *

The battle was over soon after Nico's DEMON OVERDRIVE Skill, with him finishing them off in one fell swoop. The Lesser Stygians vanished into Particles just as Raven, Lucy and Ivan finished up with their foes as well. "Whew, I have to admit that I didn't expect this when I woke up this morning to seduce Nicky-dear." Lucy commented as she waved a hand in front of her face like a cleaver, just as her enemies had vanished into Particles. All this fighting was a massive workout for her, and she'd brought out a decent sweat from the experience.

She ignored Raven's glare at her for her seducing comment, though she smirked in amusement at Nico's blush.

"Yeah well, I'm prepped to be over and done with this hellish place." Ivan groaned deeply, he really didn't like a Dungeon for Abnormals. Not just because they were annoying as hell, but because he was used to dealing with only one Abnormal at a time. Dealing with them in groups that constantly harassed them like this took a toll on his nerves. He just wanted to go home and try to flirt with girls again, goddamnit, was that so much to ask for? Unlike Lucy, he shivered and whimpered when Raven aimed her glare at him instead, like she knew what he was thinking.

Damn girl was a radar for thoughts that demeaned her gender.

"The exit's up ahead, and it seems the Saw Blades that were blocking it have moved out of the way." Nico observed as he deactivated his Drive Skill. His body ached slightly, but that was due to having never used a Drive Skill before so it wasn't used to the strain it put on him. Fortunately, he had IT and his demonic energy to take care of that issue.

They looked to the exit, and saw that true to Nico's words, the blades had indeed moved out of the way, although the rest of them now were constantly making obstacles for them to get past to reach the exit. It now had the appearance of an obstacle course... you know, an obstacle course that can chop you in half or kill you in other brutal, horrific ways.

Ivan gulped nervously as he stared at the obstacles which consisted of the sawblades on the walls extending forwards, or downwards for those on the ceiling, while blades constantly rolled from side to side on their rails. The male didn't want to get near them for fear of becoming ribbons, but there seemed to be no other way across. "So, um, what do we do now again?" he asked them, trying to keep his anxiety out of his voice.

"We take turns, one of us at a time must brave the obstacles and reach the other side." Raven responded as she eyed each obstacle critically, already calculating how to proceed in her mind while she continued. "If we were to go together, chances that we would be sliced to pieces by those Sawblades is much higher. That cannot be allowed, thus we will take turns. As leader, I will go first."

Everyone looked to her and saw her getting ready to run. But before the woman could do so, Nico just sighed as he broke into a run before her. "What are you doing, DEATHSTROKE?! I'm-" she began, only to halt when she saw Nico slice every Sawblade apart with Rebellion as he passed them, as well as multiple wall and ceiling mounted ones, until he reached the exit.

Turning to face them, Nico sheathed Rebellion on his back but didn't send it back to his Void Storage, he could just keep weapons he pulled out of there on his person, but in some Nations, that wasn't allowed by Law. Lastation and Lowee were two such Nations, and while it isn't frowned upon it wasn't encouraged either. A good thing really, since wo would want to see kids playing with real live light sabres trying to cut each other to ribbons? Nevertheless, Nico spoke in a simple manner while shrugging his shoulders. "Or we could just say 'fuck it' and blow up the hindrances to proceed."

As he watched this, a shit-eating grin spread across Ivan's features as he gave the other male a thumbs-up and a loud laugh. "Hahahaha, yeah, you go dude! Way to show all those mangy blades where to stick it!" he then turned to the others, his posture filled with more excitement that they had seen of him in a while. There were some traces of his earlier annoyance of the situation, but they were overshadowed by his joy at not having to risk his life… and his manhood… to get out of this hellhole. "C'mon guys, Aiden won't wait for us forever, ya know! Let's get this mission a Rollin'!"

They nodded in unison, and before long the group had walked through the exit.

* * *

Outside, the group found themselves back onto the path that the creature had blocked them from taking before. In the distance, they could see that there was a large open area, likely the area where they would fight the boss monster if this was a normal Dungeon. "Looks like we've made it out okay." Nico commented as he rubbed his chin.

"Yeah, looks like we did-OH SHIT, LOOK OUT!"

Ivan's outcry quickly made them react, the urgency improved using vulgarity in his curse words. Everyone jumped forwards just in time to avoid a large dagger, a familiar large dagger that circled around them, moving like a wheel before returning to the one that threw it: the monster that had been chasing them. It grasped its Dagger and made to advance towards them, intending to attack again.

However, before it could take a total of 3 steps, a Missile Salvo came down from above and bombarded it and the area around it, making it stagger and roar in agony. The cause, revealed to be Aiden, flew down from the skies with his Backpack steaming slightly from the number of Salvos he had fired.

"Aiden! Man, it's good to see-WHOA! Dude, you look like you've been through hell!" Ivan began, but quickly made an exclamation of surprise and horror, same with the rest of them, when he noticed the state that Aiden was in. The male's body was covered with lacerations and bruises, some of the leaking blood. His right pants leg was shredded up to the knee, with the boot in tatters. The left pants leg looked little better. As while it was still more or less the same length, the end was tattered and there was no boot. His upper body clothing had been destroyed save for his straps for his combat knives and backpack. His head had a trail of blood going down the side, and it looked like he was breathing slightly haggardly.

Regardless, Aiden responded curtly. "The monster has a vicious attack pattern, I was fortunate to last this long with the state of dress I am in. Nonetheless, we must hurry. It will not take long for the beast to recover." He explained, before raising a hand and pointing in the direction of what looked like a large open space. "Over there, is where we can fight it on equal footing. We should make it there with all haste."

Lucy looked him over, and while a part of her appreciated the eye candy, she knew that there were more important things to look at right now, like the wounds on his body. "Are you sure you'll be alright? You look like you just got put through a paper shredded." She made the facts bluntly honest, it didn't look like Aiden would be able to last much longer without proper medical treatment.

"I am fine, I will make sure to apply first aid during the mission."

"We may not have that much time, and it's not like the enemy would have let us heal you. Thus, take this." Nico pulled some Healing Pods from his Void Storage, giving them to the damaged teen. Said teen gave a curt nod of gratitude, before wordlessly downing the contents of the first healing pod. Already they could see the effects of the beverage kick in, with most of his lacerations closing in seconds, though there were a few that remained. There was also the fact that the pod didn't, or rather it couldn't, restore all his lost blood.

Nevertheless, he couldn't down another one because a loud roar told them that the creature was getting close to being able to attack them again. Everyone quickly and unanimously chose to nod and rush over to the space where they would end up fighting the monster that had been harassing them ever since they entered the Carnival of Horrors Dungeons.

* * *

And thus, they began running for it like their lives were just short of being snuffed out like candles about to die out. As they began to run however, everyone became taken by surprise when rock formations suddenly shot out, slicing though bits of the path, vehicles fell from the skies while there were attacks from the Abnormal monsters coming at them from areas where they couldn't strike back from.

"What the fuck?!" Ivan shrieked as he dove forwards to avoid a falling piece of rock, rolling back to his feet and keeping his running going. He nearly fell a few timed when spikes burst out the ground in front of him, trying to slow him down.

This wasn't limited to him though, which was made apparent to him when Lucy slid under a massive stone fist that tried to punch her lights out. It was apparent that the monster had attacked her with its Grappling Gun at that moment, but the next attack came not from it, but a protrusion coming up from below. She quickly flipped into the air, rolling forwards and then landing in a crouch, before she forced herself to keep on running so she didn't get left behind. "This Dungeon! It's-It's like it's come alive!" she shouted in alarm.

"Truly a bizarre development…"

Out of all of them, only two of the group maintained a calm air about them, one of them being Aiden as he flew just above them. His Wings were large enough that they had a high chance to get damaged to a point where he wouldn't be able to use them anymore, so he was quickly taking the healing pods that Nico had given him to heal his damaged body. He felt better about 4 minutes later, and landed in a barrel roll, flipping through the air and using a piece of falling rock to jump through the air and land into a run.

Meanwhile, Nico was the second person who was not freaking out, though now that he was looking the male noticed a third person: Raven, not being affected by this new development. "This is an Abnormal Dungeon, just roll with it and keep moving those legs!" he yelled to the others as he twirled around a rock formation that erupted in his path, then jumped onto another one to jump further ahead. A falling rock piece almost crushed him, had he not slid under it, flipping into the air to avoid the Grappling Gun's stone fist attempting to grab him.

While their situation was bad, it didn't stop a coy grin from spreading across Lucy's features as she glanced at the red-haired male. "Oh? I can think of something else I'd like to ride… #WINK#" she said with a suggestive wink while her eyes glanced downwards towards his… little Nico, while its member resisted the urge to stammer in embarrassment.

Although, this finally broke Raven's calm façade as she yelled behind her at them with a tone that suggested she was quickly losing her temper, much to Lucy's amusement and the fear of the three boys. Even Aiden didn't like seeing Raven when she was pissed. "LESS PERVERSION, MORE MOVING!"

* * *

Finally, the group managed to reach the boss area without losing too much of their strength. Despite the bizarre development of the Dungeon seemingly trying to bar their passage to the back of it, they had still gotten there in one piece. When they did though, they were greeted to the disturbing sight of the carnival stands there being… lifted into the air by some form of telekinesis, held in suspension while planks were forced upwards, forming a moderately-sized wall.

Freaked Ivan out to no end.

They ran through the area, till they reached the centre before sliding to a stop, although Ivan lost his footing and fell, bouncing across the ground several times before sliding to a stop, muttering a curse word every time he bounced. Fortunately, Aiden was there to pick him up again, much to the cybernetically enhanced male's embarrassment. "Man, that must make me look terrible in front of the ladies…" he whined, his arms hanging in front of him.

"I have no idea what you are trying to imply, CYBORG, when there are no female spectators within the vicinity." Aiden commented, tilting his head in confusion. The winged male then felt some annoyed KI directed at him, which made him look to the source to find both Raven and Lucy giving him irritated stares, although the latter was smiling. There wasn't anything comforting about that smile though. "… the shivers rolling down my spine seem to believe the conrotatory, thus I shall believe it."

Nico rolled his eyes at the four, before they all saw the monster land before them on all fours, growling in both anger and anticipation, its eyes scanning all of them with a sense of hunger, like it wanted them in its belly already. They each got their weapons out, Raven with her Odachi, Lucy opting for her Beyblade, Ivan switching his Bionic arm to Blade Mode while Aiden pulled out his dual Pistols.

Finally, Nico made to draw Rebellion once more, his hand about to grasp the handle, until he remembered something which made it pause at the last second. 'Since I came to Lastation, I haven't used THAT in a while, have I? Well, I guess now would be a good time to test it, since it's been a while since I've used it.' With that thought, Nico quickly raised his racer and accessed his Void Storage, searching for the item he wanted and bringing it out.

Datastreams akin to those that he would have when donning his armour spiralled around his back, soon forming into a new weapon. He grasped it before pulling it from his back, holding it in a battle stance along with Rebellion. It was a large broadsword rivalling Rebellion in size and length. It had a guard with a dragon head with two wings biting onto a golden blade. The hilt had a swirling pattern leading to skulls at the bottom with a spike pointing out.

'The demonic sword known as Alastor… a sword that generates Lightning whenever I use it.' Nico thought as he gave the blade a quick rundown with his eyes. This blade was a troublesome one at first. He'd discovered it not long after he did Rebellion. It had been impaled to the ground, but when he had gotten close to it the male had heard its 'voice' which declared its intent to enslave him. Before he could react, Nico was pinned to the ground by the sword, but he refused to let it dominate him. No, nobody would dominate him like that, he wouldn't let it. Thus, Nico had forcefully pulled it out and… well, it just bonded with him, he didn't know how he knew, but he just did.

Afterwards, he'd learnt of the sword's Name and its abilities to augment itself with Lighting, making the usage off HF Technology unnecessary, as well as how it would possess those who try to take its power for themselves as a 'test' to see if they were worthy. Those that don't were driven made by power and become twisted demonic entities that were confided to these very ruins, but those who pull it out successfully… they were regarded as 'chosen ones'.

Well, looked like he was one of them.

Dual wielding demonic swords and imbuing them with his demonic energy, Nico got into a battle stance. It consisted of Rebellion in his right hand and Alastor in his left, the former held above his head and pointing downwards while the latter was held in the opposite way, making them look like half an X. His right leg was behind his left, with his back arched forwards and his eyes focused on the enemy.

When his energy had entered Alastor, an aura of purple lightning had erupted around it, coating it like a second skin. Whereas Rebellion had the same sinister red aura that came with things imbued with his energy. The monster growled, as if it noticed the blades for the first time as it charged towards them. "Oh, I almost forgot." Aiden began as the monster drew closer to them by running on all fours. "I believe the name: Seeker, fits this boss's movements and attack strategies well."

"Uh, not exactly the time for that, but at least we know what to call the future corpse." Nico responded dryly, sweat dropping while they got ready for the long-anticipated fight.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **A mainly action-oriented chapter this time, ladies and gents. You get to see some of the Skills and antics Team RAIL have to offer, as well as some of the new Skills Nico has gained thanks to his demonic energy being unleashed back in Lastation when he transformed.**

 **Now, when I stated that I was going to OP every member of the cast to keep things balanced, I was honestly ignorant of the fact that one character, in particular, hadn't been thought about as much as the others. Neptune's a CPU with stronger Skills, IF's a BOW, Nico's a DPU, so who does that leave?**

 **Compa.**

 **Now, I did have my own ideas for her that will be shown in the Leanbox Arc, however an Idea was sent to me via PM by "King Carlos" and that was to give Compa a "certain Item" from a certain series about a guy making girls fall for him to protect the world. Its an interesting concept, and it actually can tie into this franchise fairly well, especially with what I have in mind for Lucy. You'll see why during the later chapters of the Leanbox arc, but the point is I'm likely going to take this suggestion and tie it into my story, as after all I HAVE written over 60 chapters of this already, just been uploading them quickly with edits being thrown in. Include a few ideas I wanted to add into the chapters like the Karaoke Scene.**

 **Speaking of uploads, I have been thinking about a possible change to my upload schedule, as the last few days have been very tiring for me. Personal stuff, nothing for you guys to be concerned with. I'm thinking about changing my schedule to 1 chap per day, and the chaps may be larger. It's still in development so far, though, and will likely be finalised after the Leanbox arc and before the beginning of the Lowee Arc.**

 **Until then, read, review, fav, PM me for any queries and ideas, or have a good time, dudes.**

 **Peace out!**


	41. Chapter 41 - The Seeker-who?

**Chapter 41 - The Seeker-who?**

The first thing the party did for the fight was to jump to random directions when the monster, or rather the 'Seeker' unsheathed its Dagger to try and stab them from above. The moment the blade touched the ground, it created a large dust cloud, as well as a shock-wave, one that blew them back further. Winds whipped through the air as pieces of debris flew away from the point of contact.

Aiden was the first to recover as he flipped backwards, Wings deploying from his Backpack mid-flip to allow him to float in the air afterwards. "It appears this enemy requires more firepower; average firearms will not get through its skin…" he muttered under his breath as he aimed his Pistols towards the Seeker.

The Pistols then began to shift, their barrels elongating with a circular ammo canister coming out of the bottom, handles coming out from behind as well as other pieces. In moments, his Pistols had transformed into large Grenade Launchers, ones he fired at the Seeker in the face.

It had little time to react, and thus got hit in the face, large explosions being triggered once the rounds made contact. The Seeker screamed and groaned in pain, holding its face with its hands while stumbling backwards. Loud booming sounds echoed from its feet, almost piercing their eardrums with their high volume. This little demonstration showed them that high speed, and high impact rounds are enough to damage its bulletproof skin. Seeing this, the group of Spec Ops Agents felt a rising hope swell within their chests,, like gushing water from a fully turned tap rapidly filling a sink. Before, when Nico had shot at it with Ebony and Ivory, its face took no damage, and it had seemed to snort in amusement, as if it were making fun of him. Now though, that fact had changed.

Now, they had a shot.

Their leader quickly regained her wits, her hard expression returning behind her white mask as she glanced to her comrades. "The enemy has been weakened, focus your attacks on its face!" Raven announced to the others, noting that its face now had a weak spot: a vertical tear that ran down the middle of its face and exposed both muscle tissue and innards. She then turned towards Nico, her eyes glowering over his form. "DEATHSTROKE, transform immediately! You said you wanted to test that form out, didn't you?!"

He didn't hear her however as Nico was already attacked by the Seeker, which had both recovered quickly as well as sliced diagonally with its Dagger upon reaching him. The male jumped onto its other arm and used it to propel himself towards its face, swords poised to strike. "Alright buster, take some of this!" he exclaimed, raising both blades and going into a flurry of slashes, one slash after another like a chain.

The repeated attacks on its face made the Seeker stumble back, dazed but not too badly. Lucy came running in when it lowered its hands from its face, her Beyblade already being hurled towards it. the weapon cut through the back of its legs, before it came back to cut them again as it returned to her hands. Lucy then jumped at its legs and swing the Beyblade, cutting through them a third time as she slid to a halt on the opposite side.

Before the creature could recover, Ivan and Aiden charged in from both the ground and the skies, the former swinging his Bionic arm in Blade Mode through the air and cutting through its right thigh, landing behind it and spinning around to point the arm, which was now in Cannon Mode, and released several blasts towards its exposed injuries. "Hah, how'd ya like that, bastard!?"

Rolling his eyes, the winged male swiftly flew overhead, peppering the creature's body with Grenade shells. He then opened the back of his Backpack and fired a Missile Salvo down on it. Each one hit it, some in the weakened, exposed areas, covering it in a cloak of explosions from them. The missiles, combined with its now weakened legs, made standing a failed attempt and thus it lost its balance, crashing to the ground.

Nico chose this chance to capitalize on its weakness, speeding forth like a blur and unleashing hell with his blades by imbuing them with as much demonic energy as he could supply them, which was a helluva lot, before unleashing more slashes on the Seeker's face. He spun into a double slash, then a double X slash, before twisting into an upward slash with one sword before following up with the next. He then brought both blades down in a double downward slash, damaging the creature even more.

Before they could damage the Seeker any greater, it quickly flailed its limbs about like someone who was having a tantrum, knocking them all away from it as it managed to get back to its feet, before jumping into the air. It landed on top of a tall rock protrusion and pulled out its Grappling Gun. It aimed and fired at the group, the claw embedding into the ground to make a stone fist to grab at them.

However, Raven appeared in front of them and Activated another Skill, one that she hadn't used since coming to this Abnormal Dungeon. "ZANGETSU!" Her blade shined brightly, before being coated in black flames with a crimson red outline, giving it a sinister, dark appearance that didn't differentiate from the demonic shit that Nico and the Seeker were used to.

With a single horizontal swing, the flames were released in a mighty black and red crescent energy wave, cutting the stone fist in half. The Grappling claw retracted back to the gun it was fired from, but Raven wasn't finished as she quickly barked orders. "FALCON, now! Shoot it down!"

Wordlessly, Aiden nodded as he raised his Grenade Launchers and fired a series of 10 rounds at its face, hitting the target dead on in an almost beautiful display of explosions. With the its sole ranged weapon, the Grappling Gun, out of commission for a bit, the Seeker had no defense against the rounds, thus the attack went on unimpeded. It didn't take long for the Hunter to go down, the creature quickly losing its footing thanks to the impact of the Grenade Shells.

Screaming, the Seeker fell to the ground, landing on its side. The time was ripe, so Nico Activated his DEMON OVERDRIVE to get the speed boost he wanted to close the distance between them and unleash hell, quickly slashing even more at its face. This repeated itself for a few seconds, until the Seeker eventually pushed him away.

As it slowly got onto all fours, a barrage of attacks came its way, starting with a pissed off Ivan who jumped into the air before he came back down with his Bionic arm, now in Blade Mode, raised to the heavens as it began to show signs of a Skill Activating. "Here, have some of my RAIKIRI!" he bellowed, slashing it across one of its arms, sending bolts of electricity through its system. The Hunter roared in anger and pain as it tried to slam into him with its right palm, however Ivan managed to jump back to avoid it, flipping through the air.

While this happened, Lucy and Raven both charged in, the latter taking point as she pulled her Odachi back for a two-handed horizontal swing from her left hip. "ZANGETSU!" she yelled, activating the skill that she had used earlier to save her squad mates. Black and red flames enveloped the blade as the Seeker made to slash at her with its Dagger. However, instead of launching the attack right away, Raven slid under the arm while she noticed Lucy jumping over it and into the air above. Rising via a twirling spin, Raven jumped into a rising spiralling slash, releasing the flames within the blade to give her more speed by adding the pressure from the released flames.

The Seeker stumbled back, clearly showing signs of being damaged by the prey it had chosen to harass. However, that wasn't the end of its troubles as Lucy came down for her shot at it, her Beyblade now glowing to indicate that she too was activating a Skill. "Here, you need a shave, so I'll shave away your life! BEYBLADE ONSLAUGHT!" She bellowed, throwing the Beyblade at it.

While the weapon sailed through the air, it suddenly flashed in a bright light, and when it faded there were 8 identical Beyblades spinning faster than the Sawblades that were in the haunted house. Each one sliced through the Seeker's limbs, despite its attempts to parry them with its Dagger. Noticing that its current position was in jeopardy, the Seeker made to jump to a safe distance, however the Beyblades were not having that.

They then combined back together, but this time forming a larger version of the original Beyblade. To scale it's size, imagine a single decker bus's size. It then flew towards it once again, aiming to cut it in half. The Seeker landed on the ground after its jump, turned, and just barely raised its Dagger in time to block the attack from cleaving it in two. The two sides contested in strength for a few seconds, of which it was helpless to endure the blasts of Lightning from Ivan's Bionic Arm's Cannon Mode, as well as the constant slashes made on its legs by Nico and the Missile Salvos made by Aiden.

Eventually, it managed to adjust the angle of its Dagger and send the Beyblade to the side, letting it harmlessly impale the ground before it before the weapon could do what it intended and finish the Seeker off. Lucy tsked in irritation at this as she called her Beyblade back, unintentionally letting her guard down.

That would prove to be her worst mistake ever, since the Seeker saw this and capitalised on her weakness. It snarled in victory, making her eyes widen as it hurled its Dagger at her like a wheel, the weapon flying towards her with speeds that, for her, she wouldn't be able to escape unscathed, a limb loss at the least. "Ugh!"

Fortunately, help arrived in the form of Nico, the male Spec Ops Agent managing to get to her side in time, empowering his body with Demonic energy to the point where a forced transformation was only a step away from occurring, on top of his DEMON OVERDRIVE, to get to her defence quick enough to swing both Alastor and Rebellion in a single horizontal arc, sending the Dagger back to the Seeker. "Stay focused, do you want to end up dead?!" He yelled, looking behind him at the sheepish looking vice captain.

"S-Sorry, I let my guard down!"

* * *

The Seeker caught its dagger in its hand, before gauging the enemies before it. It had expected them to have fallen by now, so it was an unpleasant surprise to see that wasn't the case. With a demeaning snort, it reared its head back, prepping something that would help turn the tide into its favour. What that was the group didn't know, however they would be prepared to strike when the opportunity arose.

Nothing could have prepared them for what followed.

In an instant, the Seeker opened its mouth and breathed out, releasing a large smokescreen from within it that spread across the entire area, taking away their ability to see. "Oh shit, what the hells with this fog?!" Ivan exclaimed as he swung his hands in front of his face in a vain attempt to clear it. Afterwards, he released a tsk in annoyance, before waiting for an answer to his question.

An answer that came from the ever-calm Aiden, who rubbed the bottom of his chin with his index finger and thumb as he floated down till he was right above the party members. "It appears to be some form of dense fog, dense enough to conceal an area from the outside and render sigh meaningless." He had tried to break out by flying up into the 'roof' of the Fog, however the winged male Spec Ops Agent had felt like hitting a brick wall when he did, leading him to believe this tactic was used to ensnare victims, capturing them to deal with them decisively.

It was a tactic that should have been expected from a Hunter-like creature like the Seeker, which specialised in hunting prey with both its getup and movements. While they had done some damage to it, Aiden had felt that they only did a slight amount of damage to its hide, thus this fight felt like it was going to be a long, drawn-out battle. And while they didn't show it, the group hadn't entered this battle at 100% power either.

After all, through the constant harassment by its minions, the near-death experiences and all the running, Aiden was sure that they had lost a significant portion of their collective stamina. While they had healing items in their Inventories, it wasn't like the Abnormal would give them a chance to use them, and while they may heal their physical injuries, their stamina was a different story altogether.

Thus, they were in a rather tight situation.

Before he could ponder on things further, they were greeted by the sight of the Dagger being thrown at them in a horizontal manner from within the darkness, the orangish sheen made by the wheeling motion being the only sign of life that they used to realise that it was there. "Evasive manoeuvres!"

Everyone quickly did just that, Lucy and Raven jumped to one side, Ivan jumped to the other, Aiden ascended into the air while Nico slid under the wheeling Dagger. The weapon circled around them, having missed its target before so it went back for a second shot. As it flew towards them, it chose to aim itself at the recovering Lucy, her back completely exposed to the Dagger's blade as it neared her. It even shifted so that it was moving vertically instead of horizontally.

Luckily for her, she managed to see it in time and react accordingly, side-flipping to avoid its attack. "Whoa, nearly broke a nail!" she exclaimed after righting herself and checking her ruby red fingernails. She then gave a glare to the wheeling Dagger as it circled around for the third strike. "You bastard, you're gonna pay for nearly damaging this perfect body that's gonna seduce Nicky-dear!"

Even with the situation as it was, Nico couldn't help but blush in embarrassment at the words the older girl was saying while everyone else just groaned at the one-track mind that Lucy possessed. "Ugh, and you see why I call her a slut..." Raven remarked, palming the front of her Mask and shaking her head, before she looked behind her to address the other males.

Said males refused to say more, both because they didn't want to start another catfight and the fact that they were still in the danger zone here. Lucy took a few preparation steps backwards, and when the Dagger was about to impale her the older girl launched a high-speed snap kick, her heeled boot connecting with the side of the blade dead in the centre against all odds. She had literally kicked a spinning Dagger by the centre of its blade when it moved so fast it gave the impression of a rotating sawblade.

'Badass… even if she's a bit weird with her desires towards me/Nico, she's a badass too…'

The three boys looked at each other as they thought this, before turning their attention back to the fight. Say what you like about Lucy and her… disturbing insistence on seducing Nico, Lucy still was the vice leader of Team RAIL for a reason. She may not look it, but she had earned her spot and her reputation as a powerful Spec-Ops Agent. Any who tried to force themselves on her usually suffered treatments that would make all man-haters proud, even Raven.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Seeker raised its hand and caught the Dagger, the fog dissipating which allowed their vision to return. The foog gave way to the errie red sky, and the slight foggy air, of the Abnormal Dungeon known as the Carnival of Horrors. The group sighed in relief that the darkness was gone, before the growling of the Seeker drew their attention to it once more.

Its Dagger was in hand, and it looked at them like they were going to be skewered in the next few seconds. The Seeker snarled, standing on its feet as it got into a defensive position. It then let out a loud roar as a massive red aura emitted from its body, pouring into the air and filling the area with a mounting pressure.

Team RAIL and Nico recognised this sign, and none of them were happy about it. "Shit!" Ivan cursed as he switched his Bionic Arm into Cannon Mode. "It's gone berserk! It was bad before, but with this state it'll be 10 times worse!" He quickly aimed and fired a Volley of Lightning blasts to the creature, knocking it back and sending it flying away from them.

"In addition, it appears that we have not done as much damage to it as we had initially suspected." Aiden noted, his voice calm but only barely, as he observed the areas where they had been damaging this whole time. They looked like they had closed quickly, implying that this beast had a slight healing factor. They could detect a rising tension in his voice, a tension that showed them that the winged male was feeling the pressure of the stakes in this battle. It took a lot to unnerve Aiden, due to his soldier-like personality, but when he did lose his composure even if it was slight, then they knew that the situation was dire.

Lucy groaned at this, throwing her arms up into the air, almost hitting Raven and Nico with them. "Aaaaah! Goddamnit, this sucker's annoying!" she exclaimed, before she realised what she had almost done to the two when they gave her annoyed glares. "Oops! So sorry, Nicky-Dear!" she chirped, hugging the male from behind while childishly sticking her tongue out at Raven, who was glaring even harder.

Aiden then hovered behind her and pulled Lucy off the squirming Nico, much to her dismay as she flailed her limbs about like a child. "VERONICA aside…" he began, quickly subduing the flailing girl as he continued his suggestion. It hadn't taken him long to come up with their strategy, but it had risks to it, risks he knew that everybody would see. They may be weird personality wise, but they weren't stupid enough not to see it. "It appears that our best option is to use our Drive Skills to their maximum potential. Our bodies are already exhausted after that harassment; thus, we will have a limited time to deal with the enemy in front of us."

Everyone stopped and pondered it, even Lucy who now ceased her struggles in his grip, prompting Aiden to release her. What Aiden said was true, the Drive Skills, while powerful in that they enhanced the body beyond their usual limits, were also very taxing on them. Usually they had their own records for how long they could keep their Drive Skills activated, however their optimum times were shorter now with their decreased stamina reserves. Stamina and energy were required to properly harness the Drive Skills, and both of those were in short supply for the moment.

It was then, that Nico remembered what Raven had yelled at him during the beginning of the battle when he first used his Dual Wielding talents after so long of not doing so, solving the puzzle of whether he had heard her or not. "Wait… you guys use your Drive Skills, I got something better." He told them.

At first, they all blinked in confusion, not knowing what the teen was talking about, until Raven's eyes widened in surprise as she realised what he meant, everyone else soon catching on. "Yes." She confirmed with a nod, an approving hum coming from the back of her throat. "That would indeed be a viable option. You go ahead DEATHSTROKE, we'll buy you the time to transform."

With that said, the four members of Team RAIL turned their backs to Nico as they all activated their Drive Skills.

"POLLEN DRIVE!"

"STORM DRIVE!"

"CYBER DRIVE!"

"SAMURAI DRIVE!"

* * *

Several things happened after that unified cry made by the four. First, Aiden was enveloped in his grey coloured aura, sparks and winds dancing around him in a volatile manner, akin to a furious storm, thanks to how much energy he was channelling into the Skill.

Second, Lucy's body was encased with a poisonous green aura, her eyes glowing matching colour while her aura took the shape of a living flame, faint markings shaped like vines and flower petals appearing on her cheeks, shoulders and both sides of her neck. Energy leaves fell from the sides of her aura like a constant rainfall.

Third, Ivan's CYBER DRIVE coated him in an aura that looked like it was made from blue digitised data, turning his Bionic Arm into that of Data as well. His skin gained a metallic sheen to it, as if it were just a robotic body in disguise.

Lastly, Raven's SAMURAI DRIVE coated her in crimson energy, shaping itself into a Japanese themed Samurai with its energy sword coated around her Odachi, making it increasingly intimidating and ominous. Her eyes became a hollow crimson red upon its activation, while her lips turned a faint purple colour.

These were the Drive Skills that were possessed by Team RAIL, and seeing all four activated like this was a sight that one rarely got to see. Nico counted this as his third time seeing it however, since he'd been with them on mission's prior when only one or two of them used their Drive Skills. Seeing all four in effect at the same time was a rarity, and used only as a last resort due to the high costs to their stamina that the Drive Skills demanded.

To recount, Drive Skills were specialised Skills that were meant to act as single Buff skills, like the everyday buffing Skills that Adventurers and Guild Agents used. These were meant to be used for Spec Ops, to make them more diverse and powerful, so that they had something to use in critical situations. The first time one used a Drive Skill was about 50 years... after the completion of the Spec Ops Programme. Which took place centuries ago when Abnormal Monsters appeared for the first time en mass. However, what nobody would have expected, was that these Skills had the capacity for so much more, which was only made apparent 80 years after their first use.

They became able to enhance every physical trait that a person had, sort of like a mini HDD, making them into pseudo CPUs. Problem was, like HDD, the consumption of energy when a Drive Skill was used was massive, to the point where they couldn't be used in prolonged battles. Nevertheless, despite this problem these Skills succeeded in saving Spec Ops Agents numerous times over the years, to the point where they were considered a necessity for them. Some still chose not to develop one though, and for a while, that was heavily frowned upon. It was only through time that those displeased feelings died away through the generations, to the present day where Drive Skills were considered highly useful, but not to the extreme like in the past.

'Wow… no matter how many times I see them… those Drive Skills are still a sight to see…' Nico thought to himself, momentarily lost in awe at the sight before him, until he quickly shook himself out of it. 'No, not the time to be ogling their Drive Skills. You have to transform into Crimson Soul, no ifs, buts or ways around it.' he scolded himself, while also psyching himself for the transformation as he repeated the process that he'd done back at Lastation.

In an instant, his energy exploded as he was encased in flames, flames that dissipated to reveal his DDD Form: Crimson Soul, to the world.

Looking himself over, Crimson Soul flexes and clenches his free fist, looking down at it while doing so. "Hmmm… it appears in this form I don't change very much. I can feel the demonic energy writhing within me at full power, however because of my usage of it in Rebellion and Alastor I have little left. That explains why I feel so in control over it at the present time. I must finish this quickly, before I run out of power. However,"

Crimson Soul closed his eyes and remembered his time in this form in West Wind Valley, or rather, the part with his wings. "I must also experience this form's abilities, so in the future I can gauge my strength to better improve myself. Back in West Wind Valley, I could shift the forms of my Wings, thus I should be able to do the same here." He stated, before looking up at the fighting Team RAIL and the Seeker.

His eyes narrowed as he focused his will upon his Wings, feeling them respond to his will. Their forms shifted slightly for a moment, until they deformed into masses of flame. They then split, forming 20 Tendrils of pure fire, each one lunging forwards. 10 Tendrils slammed into the Seeker, ramming into it with so much force that it was sent flying, rolling across the ground. It tried to get back up several times, only for 1 set of 10 each of the Tendrils to keep it rolling, rolling till it was a fair distance away from them. This process repeated itself until it slammed its hands and feet into the ground to slide to a halt. It had just knocked Team RAIL back with a shockwave-inducing scream, when it had been cut short by the Tendrils.

A set of 10 Tendrils each wrapped around the four Team RAIL members by their waists, stomachs and torsos, their flames hot but not burning them upon his command. Obviously, they were caught off guard and indeed tried to struggle, but when they noticed who they were connected to their worries were dispersed as Crimson Soul brought them back to him, the free 10 Tendrils that had attacked before switching to defensive postures.

"Are any of you harmed?" Crimson Soul asked, not breaking his stare down of the Seeker as it got onto all fours, glaring him with bloodlust. Its berserk state made it look more like a rabid animal than before. All of them looked at each other, before shaking their heads, surprise and awe at the transformation.

Ivan was the first to say something regarding Crimson Soul as he looked him up and down. "Hmmm… I know this is our second time seeing it, but DAMN, dude you've got abs!" he commented, looking at his pectorals and comparing it to his human form's. While Nico was good looking for his age, even Ivan and Aiden admitted to this while they weren't homos, this older version would make both genders look at him with appreciative stares.

Also unlike his human self. Crimson Soul remained impassive as the Tendrils holding Ivan raised themselves higher, before slamming him side first into the ground. "I do not take kindly to perverse comments, and unlike my human self I won't hesitate to punish you for it, regardless of gender or relationship status." He stated coldly, glancing towards Lucy when he said this in which she got the message. Her skin slightly paled as she shut her mouth before it could say something that would result in her meeting the same fate as the now unconscious Ivan. "You all should pay more attention to this battle. That is what I would like to say, however it appears your bodies have expended too much energy." Crimson Soul observed, looking at each of them individually. Well, that was what it looked like, when he was gauging how much energy they had left.

Raven was the next one to speak, and unlike Ivan and Lucy, she was managing to control her urge to drool over this older version of the male. "W-Well, you would have a point there, DEATHSTROKE. Our energy has been spent keeping that thing off your back while you transformed."

"In this form, call me Crimson Soul, SAMURAI." The older version of Nico stated his gaze switching to her when it had been staring at the paling Lucy. "My human self-discussed it with Mrs IF yesterday, thus it will be my identity in this form."

While he looked at the form Nico had taken, Aiden couldn't help but feel that there was something different about it this time. Before, it looked like Nico struggled to control this power of DDD, but now it looked like he had perfect mastery over it. Aiden knew that this wouldn't have been possible, there was no way that Nico could have mastered it so quickly. Even if he was a fighting prodigy, the Spec Ops Agent knew that Nico had his limits, and this power seemed to push those limits. Aiden glanced to the Seeker, and saw something that made him speak with a slight raising of his voice to indicate urgency. "This talk will likely have to wait, for the enemy has started to attack." he warned, making Crimson Soul look to see that the Seeker had indeed started charging at them, its Dagger poised for a reverse strike.

The DPU merely stared blankly at it, his Tendrils lowering the four to the ground behind him while the rest got ready. "You all must wait here to restore your energy." He stated, gesturing behind him while not even looking in their direction. "I have procured a multitude of items from my human self's Void Storage that will hasten your recovery." When they looked, they noticed that there was a varied supply of items arranged neatly on the ground, from herbs to potions that they could use to heal themselves.

Their unified thought was: 'when the hell did Crimson Soul do that?'

Nevertheless, while they didn't want to admit it, the DPU did make a good point. They were exhausted, their usage of their Drive Skills worsening their condition considerably. Thus, if they were to try and help Crimson Soul, then they would more likely be a liability to him. Thus, to save their pride, they all nodded in unison, a rare thing considering the personalities that they had, and decided to quickly heal up so they could get back into the fight.

* * *

With his companions taken care of, Crimson Soul's Tendrils reformed into his wings as he parried the Seeker's Dagger with Soul Edge. Momentarily, Crimson Soul felt the strength behind the blow, but unlike in his human form, it didn't push him back. It made sense, as even if he was strong in human form, his DPU self was better in that regard. The Dagger and Soul Edge pushed against each other, grinding at each other in a battle for dominance.

That battle reached an end when Crimson Soul poured energy into Soul Edge, feeding it and feeling its strength increase, allowing him to push the Dagger back. The Seeker was open, so the male quickly swung his massive weapon across its stomach and then use the momentum to jump into a spinning slash to its face. He raised his weapon to the heavens before bringing it down to try and cleave its face in half, but the creature blocked with its Dagger.

'It appears its physical strength is greater than I predicted…'

Noting this in his mind, Crimson Soul unleashed a shockwave made from his demonic energy to push the Seeker back. He then raised Soul Edge, pointing the tip of the massive sword at it while channelling energy into the demonic blade. The blade began to glow a crimson colour with a mix of orange, indicating the activation of a Skill. "MAGMA SHOT." He whispered under his breath, though it still echoed whenever Skill names were announced on the battlefield.

Fiery trails exploded from Soul Edge's eye, which converged in a star formation around his blade. Each trail spiralled in on itself, and in a second Crimson Soul had 5 large fireballs floating around it in a star formation. Soul Edge pulsated with power as it launched the fireballs at the Seeker.

Said Seeker tried to slash them with its Dagger, however the last one hit it on its chest, the force and the impact sending it flying into the air and onto its back. Crimson Soul took his chance and quickly activated another Skill, ATOMIC INFERNO. Flames coated Soul Edge's… well, edge, and soon Crimson Soul swung horizontally to release the 30 Homing Rays that all converged on one target: the downed Seeker which made to move out of the way. However, it couldn't move in time and thus was hit with all the Rays, causing it to roar out in pain as it was set alight.

Constantly rolling across the floor was how it put out the flames, however the damage had been done. What wasn't covered by its fur cloak and harness had horrible burn markings, some areas even exposing the muscle and bone along with the burns. The creature's breathing was laboured and heavy, and it looked like it was rattled with pain.

Something that showed that Crimson Soul was making progress.

It swiftly pulled out its Grappling Gun and shot it's claw at the space in front of him, forming the stone fist that tried to grab him. However, Crimson Soul raised Soul Edge into the air before bringing it down on the space between the middle and index fingers, and the fist was reduced to tiny pieces seconds later.

As the claw retracted back into the barrel of the Seeker's Grappling Gun, Crimson Soul frowned as he held Soul Edge in a combat stance. 'This foe… speed would be a suitable option to taking it down. My demonic energy empowered Soul Edge is easily capable of puncturing its hide, if those wounds from my blade are any indication.' He thought eyeing the places where Soul Edge's metallic edge had met the flesh, leaving moderately deep wounds behind. 'If I wish for speed, then something liked dual swords would be preferable. My human self was smart to train in various styles of combat, for it allowed him to change his kills for various situations.'

The image of Rebellion and Alastor appeared in Crimson Soul's mind, the weapons that he dual wielded in human form. They appeared in perfect clarity, right down to the tiniest detail, almost like they were projecting themselves through his mind's eye. While it was strange to be dual wielding 2 2-handed swords like he did, his human form had made that skill one of his specialties, mastering that path as well as the path of the two-handed sword, Axe, claws, Scythe and other weapons.

Almost instantly after he had these thoughts, Crimson Soul began to feel something off, something was wrong with the weapon in his hands. Looking down, Crimson Soul's eyes narrowed while the spectators had bulging eyes, as Soul Edge deformed itself, deforming a mass of flesh in his hand. The mass looked like a mass of flesh and eyes at first, with bits of metal sticking out occasionally.

The mass suddenly separated, the second piece flying into his other hand which reflexively grasped onto it. It felt soft, squishy like the feeling of jelly in his fingers. Crimson Soul almost blanched at the discovery and the comparison, remembering how disgusting jelly had tasted to him when he had first tasted it in human form. It had tasted like eating other person's vomit, vomit that was still alive and wriggled about within the confines of his mouth.

Quickly, Crimson Soul pushed those thoughts away before he could throw up in favour of looking down at the squishy things in his hands. However, while he had been struggling with his thoughts whatever had been happening was finished already, and when he looked down, Crimson Soul was greeted to the sight of 2 swords, both the same in appearance, and 1 in each hand.

Both swords had the same fleshy grips, with handguards that had human skulls built in, their heads sporting curved demonic horns that curved around the fleshy hilts. Above the skulls were wide open eyes, akin to Soul Edge's large sword-like form. The sides of the handguards were crimson chitinous fingers merged together to form a pair of demonic wings, with the main blades protruding from the base of the Skulls' chins. Each blade was an identical length of a sword, composed mostly of crimson metal but had fleshy interiors.

While its form may have been different, instincts told Crimson Soul that this was indeed Soul Edge, just as he had wished it to look like for that brief instance. "Interesting… this sword can take on a multitude of forms depending on what I desire…" he mumbled, his stare mostly the same. However, there was a slight widening in the eyes which showed that he was impressed with the new capabilities he had discovered from his weapon. Said weapon seemed to vibrate in both of his hands, as if they were proud that he had gotten their ability right.

Looking up at the Seeker, Crimson Soul got into a battle stance that resembled the one that his human form had done earlier, only both swords were pointed forwards and not like an X. "Very well. Let us test your abilities: Soul Edge." He whispered to his blades, feeling his mouth turn upward slightly when he felt a chortle from deep within his being, proving that he and this weapon were linked on a deeper level than most beings were with their weapons.

The Seeker roared, its berserk state inhibiting its mental faculties to a single thought: kill. It ran at him, its feet stomping on the plank-made floor which made mid-level tremors. These tremors kept Team RAIL from getting up since they couldn't regain their balance enough to lend any assistance.

It reached him within seconds, and swung its Dagger in an overhead slash. Crimson Soul raised one sword and blocked it, feeling the impact of the weapon for a brief instant before swinging his other sword to push it away. He used the momentum to spin into a double horizontal slash, bringing his swords into a downward X slash right after. He then flew up to its face and made a double upward slash, before switching to a pair of reverse grips and spinning slashed it in the forehead.

These attacks succeeded in dazing the Seeker, but not enough to topple it. Crimson Soul immediately went to rectify this by going into a downward descent and cutting away at its legs. He made several cuts on them, before the Seeker jumped into the air and came down with a lunge to his head with its Dagger. Crimson Soul responded by flaring his wings and strafing back, the resounding impact of the Seeker creating a large shockwave and a tremor. Fortunately, him floating like a CPU managed to protect him from the majority of both, but he was still pushed back by it.

An idea crossed into his mind, and Crimson Soul got back into his battle stance, his Wings quickly reforming into 4 long fiery arms which ended in 3 fingered, 1 thumbed slim hands. 2 slammed into the ground and propelled him forwards as he imbued Soul Edge with his energy, the dual swords mode it was in erupting into flames. These flames weren't the orangish red flames that he had been using before however… but pure crimson flames with a black outline, opposite in colours to the flames produced by Raven's ZANGETSU Skill.

This fact was ignored for the time being, as Crimson Soul's warrior mentality forced him to focus on the next attack. As he closed the distance between them, the DPU used the other 2 arms to grab the Seeker by the shoulders, gripping them tightly to stop it from moving as he raised both blades to the air. He then brought them back down on it, causing another massive explosion, one that was larger than the ones that the Seeker had made previously.

The intense heat that was produced by the attack was enough to force the members of Team RAIL to cover their faces with their arms, and even then, they felt like they were still being burned alive by the heat. "What the hell-this heat is incredible!" Ivan exclaimed as he and Aiden came together to shield each other from the heat. Aiden had the advantage of his deployable wings to act as shields, and thanks to them having been built with fire residence in mind, as the winged male would be closer to the sun above, heat like this was no problem for them.

Once the heat died down, Team RAIL lowered their arms, trying to peer out to see what the result was. In the end, the smoke cleared and they were privy to the sight of Crimson Soul hovering before the head of the downed Seeker, which looked like it couldn't battle anymore. Its body was covered with serious burns, burns that made even Raven wince at their severity, feeling a pang of sympathy for th creature… only a minuscule amount though, as it did try to kill them the entire way here.

Hovering before its face, Crimson Soul looked to Soul Edge, which reformed itself back to its default massive sword mode. He gave the creature a flat stare, gauging its wounds and deciding to finish things now. Just when he went to raise Soul Edge for the killing blow…

"Champion… of Sparda…!"

For the first time in this entire battle, Crimson Soul's face showed an expression other than his default monotone and slight surprise, to one of shock and confusion. "That name… I am not aware of it, but why does it feel familiar to me…?"

Ignoring him for the moment, the Seeker, knowing its life was about to end, made its last words known to the DPU about to slay it. "You… have been found… the time has come for… our return… you… you are dead. Just like… that whore human… Just like… your whore mother…"

Momentarily, Crimson Soul felt a brief flash of rage spark in his being, but that spark belonged to his human self which was taking a backseat right now. The DPU cast an expressionless gaze towards his fallen foe. "Whore mother…? I do not know my maternal guardian, however if you are calling me a… son of a bitch… then you would not be the first, nor the last." And with that, Crimson Soul brought the blade of Soul Edge down on the Seeker's head, the metallic edge cleaving through its forehead and brain, ending its life.


	42. Chapter 42 - Biko

**Chapter 42 - Biko**

After the defeat of the Seeker, the group decided to depart the Abnormal Dungeon. The way Dungeons usually worked was that they were hot spots for monsters to gather and, under the orders from a boss, stage attacks on nearby settlements. There were cases where monsters that didn't go to dungeons would wander too close to a human settlement to cause trouble, it was quite common in the world of Gamindustri.

An Abnormal Dungeon would be way worse than a normal Dungeon, however. For if an Abnormal Boss Monster gathered a series of other Abnormals to its presence and told them to attack these settlements, then the chaos and destruction would be much greater than the Average monster. Normal Adventurers, Guild Agents, even the military. They wouldn't be able to handle these kinds of monsters, monsters that could even take a CPU down. An example would be that Banshee which tried to eat Neptune, and would have succeeded if it weren't for some... timely intervention.

Thus, thanks to them killing off the Abnormals in this Abnormal Dungeon, they should be okay for the most part… at least for a while. Who knows what kind of behaviours an Abnormal Dungeon would exhibit in the future. Fortunately, Raven had made a few calls to the Lastation Guild branch, and they had said they would spare a few of their Agents to keep an eye on it for any future developments.

Travelling back to the Mainland never felt so good to them than after that mission. Ivan had practically swooned when they had first left the Abnormal Dungeon, something that, while not as extreme, was shared by the rest of the group. That place was taxing on both their nerves and their instincts. They had just finished a fight against a hard boss like Avenir, they didn't need to go through what they just did.

However, like previously stated: no rest for the weary.

* * *

It was the night before they returned to the capital of Lastation. Their movement speed had decreased significantly thanks to the exhausting battle they had. Thus, they had not gotten back before it was dark. Fortunately, Nico had been prepared for situations like this and had gotten his Camping equipment out from his Void Storage. He wasn't the only one either as everyone else had their camping equipment ready as well.

Of course, that was to be expected, they were trained field agents, not some ragband group of cute girls going around on adventure… wait, that summed up Neptune and her friends to a T. Huh…

Anyways, the group had retired early for the night, all of them asleep in their own sleeping bags with a camp fire in the middle as a source of heat. They had their own tents up around them to help further shield them from the elements, nobody liked it when suddenly they were disturbed from their sleep by some rain while camping.

However, one of them was NOT having a sleep… not one bit.

* * *

Nico blinked once.

And again.

Again.

Again.

'Okay, when I went to sleep tonight, I did NOT see this coming…' he thought to himself, frowning in confusion. He looked around, finding himself not in his sleeping bag in the comfort of his Tent with Team RAIL, but standing tall, bare footed, and in the middle of a desert. Not the kind of thing one would expect to wake up to. He was sure that, if Ivan had woken up here he'd say something like 'how much drink did I have last night? and did I have a hooker?'

The dude would say something as random and inappropriate like that.

Nevertheless, this wasn't the strangest thing about this situation, Nevermind that he was in the middle of a desert somehow. The sands that made up the desert weren't their orange colour… but a crimson red, reminding him of a river of crimson blood. It was an unsettling sight to say the least, but since he had spent countless times in battle with monsters that scared him much more than this, he wasn't as freaked out as he should have been.

In addition, the skies were a dark orange, akin to the time of a dawn or a sunset. Usually at those times only the skies surrounding the sun would reflect the light rays and turn orange, but right now the ENTIRE sky was orange, like the rays had been reflected by the entire planet.

It was both bizarre… and a little concerning.

Where the hell was he? More importantly, how did he get here? Nico was sure he'd have known if someone were to try and move him, he'd trained his instincts to react to even the slightest bit of hostile intent to protect him when he slept. There was no shortage of instances where assassins paid by either high ranking officials or other Agents who wanted to increase their standing would try to take his life. Though, he kept this info to himself, not telling it to Compa.

It was true that he valued honesty and loyalty highly, there was no doubt in his mind that they were some of the most important things in his life. However, the male had seen lots of treachery, betrayal and all around fucked up psychotic shit that he had become… jaded, in a sense, to the thought of trusting others. While he did trust Compa and the girls he, as much as he hated to admit it, didn't trust them completely. The fact that he hadn't told them his deepest, darkest secret yet was proof enough.

Having seen the absolute worst people for so long… perhaps it affected him for the worse? Whatever the case may be, Nico knew he had trust issues. He remembered when he first met Neptune and how she said she had amnesia. Most of him vehemently deduced that as a lie and thus promoted caution about her. Hell, the fact that she had contacted one of the few people he had that made living worthwhile was another factor. This had died down after a while, and all but evaporated when they had that conversation the night she declared him to be her 'hubby'…

He still was flustered plenty about that.

Now that there was little to distract him, thoughts about his recent nightmare cropped into his mind, like a gremlin crawling out from the deepest recesses of his mind to plague his thoughts once again. That nightmare... it may not have happened entirely the same, but it was indeed the same one he had before. As well as all the other times. It must have been caused by a divergence from his path, the path of the monster. This time though, Nico had a crystal clear idea of what caused that nightmare to resurface.

It was Neptune, Compa and the others. They were making him divert from his path. Their antics, their personalities, just being around them was causing him too want to... to be like them, to be someone who could fit in with society. To be someone who was normal, to be someone who could laugh, smile and enjoy life with them.

But that... was an impossible dream.

Nico was aware of this fate, he was aware of it down to the depths of his being. Nico knew that he would never again be a normal person, even if he somehow got rid of IT, he'd still be a DPU. Even though the DPU seemed to be able to live like a normal person, as well. Instincts told him that being a DPU would be just as bad as being THAT, he would still be considered a monster regardless. In the eyes of society, people like him would always be an outcast, an exile that didn't belong. Who would want to be close to someone like that?

Wait… why the hell was he getting all sentimental now of all times? He should be finding a way out of here!

Shaking his head to get his head screwed on straight, Nico pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. This was no time to be thinking about that crap when he should be focused on finding a way back to the others before they woke up, if they had woken up when he was taken from the Camp.

Nico hummed thoughtfully as he cupped his chin, looking down at the sandy desert under his feet. First, he needed to figure out how the hell he got here. For one, whoever got to him must be super silent, like a quiet breeze, because he'd been with some of the most careful Spec Ops Agents in the Planeptune Guild other than himself. If a bird landed on him or anything near them, they'd be ready to strike at a moment's notice. Whoever managed to grab and take him must have struck fast and quiet, quiet enough to fool even Team RAIL, something that was not that easy.

"While I do like your thought processes, the truth is much less complex than that…"

His eyes widened when suddenly an old, masculine voice sounded behind him. The voice spoke in a tone that just screamed that the owner was well experienced and had a fountain of knowledge. Nevertheless, this old voice's owner had sneaked up on him and that caused him to panic. 'What the, when did-?' he began to think while twirling around to face the upcoming threat, about to summon Rebellion from his Void Storage… however, when he felt nothing but the clothing on his forearm, not a shred of an interface, Nico looked down and saw that, much to his horror… he didn't have his Bracers.

"Worry not, Nico, you do not have anything to fear from me. You are safe." The old voice stated, and when Nico looked back at the speaker, the male became stunned as he nearly did a double take. The sight of the speaker had thrown him a loop as he gazed upon it.

The speaker… looked like HIM! Or rather, a middle-aged version of him, possibly around 40 or so. His light blue eyes looked duller than his own, having lost some life through the years, yet gained a large amount of wisdom in return thanks to paying attention along the way. His crimson red hair that Nico had usually seen as a gravity defying style, now fell normally down his head, a few white hairs being visible to show signs that he was no longer in his prime.

His attire consisted of a blackish brown leather Trench coat. With a simple white shirt underneath that had a large belt strapped diagonally from his left shoulder to his right hip. He wore a pair of fingerless black gloves with armoured plates on the back, meant likely for defending against attacks in unarmed combat. His legs were covered with some brown leather pants, pockets on the thighs, tucked into a pair of black lace boots.

Even if he looked much older than him, instincts told Nico that this older him looked like he could still kick the asses of those who tried to cross him, his muscles looked trained and honed like a sharpened blade, a sign that he had kept with his training even if he was no longer in his prime. Though, even with these observations, Nico still felt one thing from him: that this man was even more dangerous than his appearance suggested.

"It appears that your instincts have not failed you, if your calculating gaze is to go by. Very good, you will need that to survive the trials ahead. However, that is for another time, as we must address the more… immediate concerns of yours." The man said, staring at him blankly… a lot like how Nico did whenever he activated DDD.

While mildly anxious that the man before him had somehow read his state, Nico remembered that he had to remain calm if he wanted to think of a way to get back to the others. "A-Alright then… while every fibre of my being tells me not to trust you, a stranger… You're my only source of conversation in wherever this is. The fact that you haven't restrained me leads me to suspect that this isn't a hostile kidnapping of some kind, it would be a different story if you had." He theorised, looking the man over for any signs of a response.

The man before him didn't lose that monotone voice nor the blank face as he stared at him. "No, this is not a kidnapping… not in that sense. Also, this place should be familiar to you, as it is a part of you. Look around you… tell me what you think this place may be." He told him, flicking his hand to indicate the surrounding area.

Raising a brow at the oddity of the man's response, Nico looked around at the desert, his eyes scanning it like a hawk, looking for any details he'd missed. For some reason, now that he was slightly calmer and less confused than before, something about this place did feel familiar to him. He didn't know why, but this place… it felt homey to him, like it had been with him his entire life and only now was he able to get back to it.

Soon, Nico looked back at the man, his confused eyes prevailing for a moment, until an idea popped into his head when he remembered some details that he hadn't noted in his search. "This place… could it be inside me by chance?" The man waited for Nico to continue to explain his question, and explain he did. "I mean, I usually wear my Bracers to bed with me, and I know I went to sleep not too long ago. The fact that they aren't on my person would mean that someone was able to remove them, or that I'm somehow inside of me. Normally I wouldn't hesitate to label the second one as absurd, but with the shit I've seen in the last few chapters, I think I'm willing to go on a little crazy idea rides."

After he finished his explanation, Nico focused his attention on the man once more, who didn't look outwardly different expression wise, however there was a slight gleam in his eyes, a gleam that Nico identified as relief. "I see… the second idea is the correct assumption, as this is your inner world. The you that is here is your subconscious, akin to when that Tome contacts you through your dreams. Your physical body has your Bracers, but your consciousness does not, hence why you do not have them on you presently."

Nico's eyes narrowed at the man's words. Inner world? What the hell was an Inner World, some sort of world within a world? How the hell did that make sense? Well, logic had flown mostly out the window ever since he joined with Neptune on her journey along with Compa and IF, so something like this shouldn't affect him as much as it would have if it happened in different circumstances. Although, that explanation about his consciousness did help somewhat. It made sense, if it was true, as it would explain why he didn't have his most prized possession on his person. Although, without it he did feel kind of naked… but at the same time, he didn't. Weird.

"Okay… so why am I here? I mean, there's gotta be a reason why I'm in this place when I never came here before." Nico questioned the man, looking around the Desert-like Inner world of his or so this guy says. Well, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that the man was right, since the familiar feeling kept welling up inside his stomach. He didn't know why he was getting this way, but for some reason he didn't mind it. turning back to the man, Nico asked yet another good question. "Also, who are you? You must have some connection to me since you look like an older me, but what that is I have no clue."

The man nodded, he knew those were legit concerns that should be answered. After all, there was a reason why the boy was here, and thus he would have to tell him. "Straight to the point. Very good. However, I believe names are a non-optional social norm, are they not?" Nico had to admit that he was right there, he sorta did jump the gun a bit with his demanding of answers before introductions were given. "I do not have a true name; however, you have named the form you use from the power I personify."

At this, the boy's eyes sharpened as he gave a pointed stare at the man, his mind working overdrive to figure out what that cryptic message meant. This message lasted only a couple of seconds against the intelligence Nico possessed as his eyes bulged and his jaw dropped. "You mean to tell me… you're Crimson Soul?" he asked him, but then remembered something else the man had said. "No, wait, I'm wrong, you're the personification of my demonic energy. You said that I 'named the form I used from the power you personify' and that energy is the only suspect here."

Nodding once again at the younger version of him, the man responded. "Indeed, though I believe Crimson Soul should stay an identity on its own, so I shall be known as… Biko." Nico raised a brow at the name that his demon energy's personification had chosen itself. It sounded eerily akin to his own name, just replace the first letter with a B and you get Biko. Although, he knew that this would make sense since Biko was apparently that integral to his being, another part of him, it still felt a bit weird to see someone with a name so closely resembling his own.

At least though, they wouldn't be called something like Nico and Niko. How strange would that be?

"…Alright, Biko." Nico tested the name on his lips and tongue, still finding it strange to say and hear, but he figured he'd get used to it. "I may come off as rude, just warning you, but you didn't answer my question of how I got here." He reiterated his previous question, remembering that there had been 2 questions asked, one of them nearly distracting him from the other. Fortunately, that no longer was possible now that he'd steered the conversation back on track.

He'd warned the man, but it didn't seem to have been necessary as Biko waved it off, not caring about the insult in the slightest. "Think nothing of it, for your words ring truth. I have not answered your second question. That will have to change." He responded, assuring the other male that his words weren't taken offensively. "The reason why you are here being because of several reasons: one of them being that I brought you here to finally meet you face to face."

Now THAT threw him for a loop as Nico stared at his demon energy's personification with a befuddled gaze. "You… brought me here?" he asked, getting a confirmed nod as Biko crossed his arms under his chest. "Why? Couldn't you have spoken through my mind or something? I mean, if you're who you say you are it shouldn't have been too hard." He questioned further.

"Yes, that would have been possible, however that is only possible after our first meeting. You see, your body wasn't strong enough for me to reach you, thus you had nobody to help you with your demonic arts. In addition, I wouldn't try to strain myself to reach you because if I did so, then your mind wouldn't have been able to take the strain and would have collapsed as a result, turning you into a mindless beast. I am sure you know what kind I am talking about, yes?"

Oh, Nico did. he knew EXACTLY what Biko was referring to. Nico was aware that there were some savage creatures in the world, most of them being classed as Abnormals. However, only ONE of them truly scared him more than anything. Didn't stop him from hunting them, in fact his fears only strengthened his resolve to kill them. However, it also didn't stop him from fearing them… or rather, of people finding out about his connection to them.

Seeing the recognition and panic in the boy's eyes, Biko's gaze softened slightly, before it hardened once more as he continued his explanation. "However, now that you have gained sufficient skill and control over the DPU form, you have met the requirements needed for me to bring you to your inner world. Once you wake up, we will be able to retain a psionic link through demonic energy, allowing me to speak to you. You may only think your responses, as it will be difficult to explain to your companions why you are talking to yourself. I may not be knowledgeable of human norms like you, but I am certain you do not want to sound like a, how do they say it, ah yes a 'crazed lunatic'." He explained, making weird hand gestures to further pronounce his points.

Nico nodded his head in agreement, he found the thought of conversing with a voice that WASN'T trying to drive him up the wall… refreshing, in a way. It felt like he had some form of anchor, a way of maintaining his sanity within the madness that was his head. They say that nightmares would only happen when you dream, but that wasn't the case with him. Perhaps Biko's help might keep him in check.

"Alright, I follow you so far… so what did you wish to talk to me about? You didn't ring me here just to meet me, I can tell from how you look at my body like someone whose checking out the competition in a fighting contest." He asked the man, who tilted his head at the question, or rather, some of the words that Nico had said.

Soon enough, he put his thoughts into words. "I do not know what a 'fighting contest' is… however, that is not important. What is important, is the other reason I called you here: we train you in your abilities as a wielder of demonic energy."

"Eh?"

The Spec Ops Agent blinked owlishly, caught off guard by Biko's response. Of all the things he would have said, Nico didn't expect something like THAT to be the reason. "Um, train me? Why? I mean, not that I don't appreciate the help, but I thought I had good usage of the demonic energy already?"

Biko shook his head, for the first time showing distain since they first started talking. "While your control over the DPU form is admirable, it is far from perfect. Your body's movements in that form were sluggish and unrefined, in addition to the various other weaknesses that were noted during my observations of you using your powers. I even made a list of them." Reaching behind him, the man pulled out a scroll, holding it in front of him. While Nico was curious as to why he was using such an outdated means of writing stuff down, those thoughts soon grinded to a halt when he saw the Scroll roll down to the ground, continue across the desert sands and reach the tips of his feet.

Wow… this guy had done his research fully.

"While you have much to learn, do not think this as you not getting anything right. The fact that you have discovered as much as you have is impressive enough. The DPUs before you took much longer to get to where you are today, it took some even centuries to gain proper control over their true forms." Biko explained, now sporting a pair of eyeglasses that had appeared from seemingly nowhere… also reminded Nico of Noire's pathetic attempt at a disguise. Fortunately, he knew that the difference here was that Biko was using them to look more professional and not as a flimsy disguise.

However, when his words fully registered in Nico's mind, it halted like screeching tires. "Say what? You said other DPUs just now. does that mean, that I'm…"

Momentarily pausing his reading of the Scroll in his hands, Biko looked up from the Scroll at the stunned redhead male, whom had been stunned by the revelation that Biko had dropped on him in the most casual manner possible. Raising a hand, Biko calmly pushed his glasses up onto his face and responded with a firm nod. "Indeed. I am a demonic personification, and from the DPU Core that you absorbed to turn into a DPU, I gained memories. Memories that are fragmented at this point, but memories nonetheless. They tell me that you aren't the first DPU in existence… but they do say there hasn't been one for some time, millennia in fact."

Nico gripped his chest, feeling a deep pounding in it as he tried to wrap his mind around this new revelation, a revelation that shook him down to his core. He wasn't the first… he wasn't the first! For a while, he had conflicting thoughts about this topic, there hadn't been any records on DPUs before other than what Histoire had told him. And even then, there wasn't much, though he could hardly blame her. Still, Nico had been curious for a long time about the DPUs, what were they like? What was their history? Were there more? how long have they been around for? So many questions that he had wanted to ask Histoire, which was one of the more… selfish reasons why he had agreed to tag along on this journey.

However, to hear that while fragmented, memories containing the answers were right before him… it was a lot to take in. "These memories… will they be repaired, or will they be like that forever?" he asked, with some difficulty. Nico was almost scared of the answer, for it represented te possibility of him getting the answers sooner than he'd expected or not. The tension was killing him inside at the thought of learning more about himself. Knowledge was power, true enough, and Nico right now craved for some truly powerful knowledge.

Biko didn't answer right away, and the other male couldn't read his expressions to find out what he was feeling considering how he always had this monotone look about him. Fortunately, this didn't drag on, and Biko responded. "The memories… they have been designed into the DPU Core to be repaired… through your training. How or why is unknown to me, however what I do know is that the answers will only come if you are strong enough to wield them."

Hearing his response gave a feeling akin to frustration, yet not quite, to Nico's gut. While he felt annoyed that he wouldn't be getting the answers he wanted, the male rationalised that there was a faster way to acquire them. There was also another reason why Nico felt compelled to the training though, and it was to do with his DPU powers.

That reason: Biko was indeed right about him having much to learn, Nico had felt it whenever he became Crimson Soul. There was so much power in that form, so much knowledge and techniques that he wasn't aware of. There was only so much he could learn by himself and while he had done a decent job at learning about the abilities he did know, Nico was sure that compared to the DPUs of old he must have looked like a pathetic ant learning to walk for the first time. They were unpolished, unrefined, and mostly unknown to him. This was unfamiliar territory, territory that he hadn't had the chance to explore as much as he'd liked due to the other matters that him and the Party had to attend to.

Idly, his mind noted that the name of the Crystal that he'd absorbed was called a DPU Core…

Fitting.

All his thoughts paused however when a new thought entered Nico's brain, processing itself before being brought for attention as he addressed his demonic personification. "Um, I may have found a slight hiccup with that plan. You want to train me in these powers, I get that and I'm all for it, I really am. But there are time constraints and appearances to think about, so…"

"You need not worry about time constraints, Nico." Biko began, finally dismissing the Scroll after he rolled it back up. The Scroll vanished in an explosion of embers, the same thing happening to his Eyeglasses as he addressed the issue that Nico had brought up. "the passage of time is different in the Inner world compared to the outside world. For example, 10 hours in here, will be like 10 seconds in the outside world. Thus, we will have ample time to train in your existing abilities, as well as get to know one another better. We are connected down to your soul after all, thus it would be fitting that we not be strangers to each other."

Biko then turned around to face the direction of what looked like the setting sun. He began to make his way there, and soon Nico realised that he wanted him to follow suit, so he did.

* * *

"One question, before we begin..." Nico began while they walked through the dunes, the man before him not breaking his emotionless stare. However, if one looked very carefully at the random twitches his body went through, one would be able to tell that he was indeed curious about the question Nico was going to ask. "What exactly are you? I know I said you were a manifestation of my demonic energy, however I feel like there's more to it than that. My instincts tell me there is more to you than meets the eye."

The man looked behind himself, at Nico as he eyed him up and down, and for a moment, retained his silence. Nico stared at him intently, waiting for his answer to his question. A silent breeze blew through the desert-like landscape, churning up a brief cloud of sand. After a moment or two, the man's mouth opened as he made to speak, turning his head back so he was looking forwards. "Like I said, I am a manifestation of your powers, you could say that I am your powers given form. Your powers are sentient, but not enough for them to form a willpower or mind of their own, did you not notice how your power behaved seemingly erratically?"

Nico did indeed notice that. His powers sometimes seemed to be way harder to control at times when he hadn't been using them at all. On days when he had used them in small chunks, like when fighting monsters, they seemed a lot more tame. He had always suspected something was... different about them, like they were alive, this just proved it. Now that he had evidence, Nico had a few ideas for how to proceed, but he kept silent.

His silence was taken as a means to continue, and so Biko did. "Your powers, they wish to be used, to be let loose within your body or outside. However, since you lack experience, you have been bottling them up inside, which led to their inevitable overwhelming of your mind. DPUs of old let their energies flow around their bodies to give them freedom, as well as to manage the excess energy, but since you didn't do that they created me to guide you."

The man then pointed backwards with his thumb, towards his right hand, the hand that when in DPU form, held his demonic sword Soul Edge. "Did you not notice? The sword that you call Soul Edge is like me, a form created by your powers. It has all your untapped potential stored away inside of it, which is why the eye bleeds flames when your skills activate. This is so that you don't lose control and become a power hungry psychotic berserker. It may want to be used, but your powers don't want to be ended prematurely. Once you have fully unlocked your full potential, Soul Edge will become just another form your powers will take, an empty vault if you will."

Glancing down at his right and, Nico hummed in thought. He could almost feel the phantom sensations of a hilt, the hilt of Soul Edge as he gripped it for battle. Those words explained a lot actually. The sword known as Soul Edge was a sword manifested from his powers, huh? That would explain how it could shapeshift like it did in the battle with that Seeker. It didn't have a proper form to call its own, but that meant it could change its form to suit its need. A very handy ability if he did say so himself.

Also, about it being a 'vault' that contained his yet-to-be unlocked powers. Nico did admit that he hadn't expected that. He also didn't know how the hell that was even possible, but then again this was deity stuff. Most of the tales people hear about deities and their interactions with mortals were weird at best. Like turning into a swan to have sex with someone? Vomiting baby gods? Birthing beings from the mind?

Yeah, deities were weird.

But still, this would be a blessing to him. From what Biko told him, as long as he kept his training, these powers would likely transfer over to him from Soul Edge. At least, that was what he suspected, Nico had no official answer as the two trudged through the Dunes. However, his gut told him that he wasn't wrong, and he trusted his gut highly. It HAD saved him more times than he'd care to mention.

* * *

The walk took what felt like hours to the male, although he didn't complain. Long walks like this were the norm for adventurers, let alone Spec Ops Agents who were out in the field potentially for months on end. Depended on the Quests and missions that they had undertaken for the Guild. They walked and walked, until they reached a building that Nico had spotted in the distance during their travelling.

When they got close enough, the male saw that, to his awe and amazement, that it was a large Stadium-like building. It reminded him of the Coliseum building on a special floating Island in the middle of the islands the four Nations resided on. It had an ovular design, made from wood, bricks and stone to give it an outdated appearance, and yet it also had a vibe that screamed how much history this building contained. "What is this place, Biko? It feels ancient, but… that's not all… I can't explain it, but somehow this place feels like its… alive."

It was difficult to describe as Nico had said, to describe the feelings he was getting from this place. However, if he could best describe what he was looking at, then he'd say that it was like looking at a living breathing heart from the outside. This place thrummed with life and energy, more so than the buildings that he was used to in the four Nations. It was like this place had something that they didn't: life, life that was sentient and intelligent. It was like he was staring at an intelligent creature and not a construct made from natural resources.

Biko nodded his head, fully agreeing with Nico's sentiments as they went through the side entrance, the shade that the shadows made by the setting sun blocking out the heat for them which made Nico breathe out in relief. It felt good to feel the heat subside for a bit… even if it was for a short while. "This is one of the few buildings that represent fractions of your soul, Nico." He began to explain as they travelled down a tall corridor towards the main arena section of the Stadium. "Each building, each representation, is scattered around this vast desert as a means of keeping people who have special mind abilities from prying into your secrets, and if they can navigate through it the dunes have more defences, defences that didn't activate for you since you are the original maker of this world. The Coliseum represents your desire for combat, for training, and the ability to grow through life-or-death experiences."

Humming in thought, Nico nodded his head at the explanation, looking around the Coliseum with increased interest. To be honest, this was the LAST thing he had expected to find when he fell asleep tonight, the ability to come into a world made by his soul as a consciousness, meet a being that represented the energy that he used, and learn more about himself than he ever thought possible.

Something that was both unexpected… but also intriguing too.

Sure, beat the normal dreams he'd have.

* * *

Finally, they stopped when they reached the centre of the Coliseum's Arena, where Biko turned to face him with his eyes still as level and flat as when he'd met him. It was such an unnerving spectacle to witness, and yet he couldn't complain. Was this how people saw him when he turned into Crimson Soul?

Seeing that Biko was about to speak, the physically younger redhead paid his full attention to him. "Here, we shall train in your abilities, your human and demon based arts. For as long as you get stronger, we can trigger a 'Power Transfer.'" Biko told him. He then looked to the side, his eyes gaining a slight distant look to them amidst the blankness of his normal expression.

Power Transfers were what he called the moments where Soul Edge bestows on Nico some of his latent abilities. As long as he kept training and developing his mind, body and soul, he would become strong enough to handle his own full power. Heh, being a mortal-turned-deity wasn't a walk in the park, Nico had to admit. There was just so many issues that one had to go through, learning about their powers, how to control them, and to train in order to use them properly. Let alone mastering them.

This was the case for several minutes, before he turned back towards Nico and continued. "As for the other buildings, you will know where they are as they have been downloaded into your consciousness when you first came here." Biko explained as he threw his arm to the side. From his hand and forearm, energy trails burst out and spiralled together in the space above his palm, their colours not unlike the colours his energy took.

Idly, Nico noted that he DID know where the other buildings were, like Biko had said. It felt bizarre to him, knowing where something he hadn't seen before was located. However, he didn't ponder on it for long due to the fiery trails having finished combining to form a weapon: Soul Edge in one of the blades that it took the form of when assuming its Dual Blades form.

He guessed it made sense, considering that Biko was the personification of his demonic energy, thus manifesting the forms that Soul Edge took when he wanted it to shouldn't be much of a problem for him. Pointing its tip towards Nico, Biko began to speak once more. "For your first lesson, we shall focus on honing your existing abilities in your DPU form, including the use of your tail, your wings and Soul Edge. Your human arts have a lower priority at the moment, considering you refine them every day, for the majority of your lifetime. Come, transform into Crimson Soul so that we may begin." He ordered, a slight intensity in his voice that made his tone different from his usual one. It made him feel more like a military general than a mentor…

And the male wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yes Sir!" Nico bellowed with a salute, quickly calling on the demonic energy to allow him to transform. He was momentarily fearful that being in his Inner World and not in the outside one would hinder his transformation, but his fears were proven to be unjustified since his form was encased in his fiery cocoon, soon enough dispersing to reveal Crimson Soul in all his glory. His fierce eyes gazed at Biko as he readied Soul Edge, flaring his wings slightly for a lunge. "I am ready for combat training, instructor."

Biko nodded, before flames erupted from his back, forming a pair of fiery wings as well. Crimson Soul noted that unlike his bird-like ones, Biko's wings were comparable to that of a stereotypical devil's, only that they were consisting of the bones of a devil's wings. They hung downwards behind him, before unfurling slightly in a ready stance as he pointed his own Soul Edge towards him. "The first lesson: Wings. As you know, they can shapeshift into various forms, however what you do not know is that they can do so much more. Observe."

The older man swiftly flapped his wings and took to the skies above them. Crimson Soul held Soul Edge readily, eyeing Biko for whatever attacks he may try. However, he almost didn't see what he did next thanks to the setting sun, however what he did see was a series of 40 silhouettes, which soon were revealed to be missiles, missiles made from the flames of his wings, erupt from the flames in his direction.

Crimson Soul swiftly responded, flaring his wings and taking flight, flying in a circle as he avoided the missiles. The male noted that they seemed to be moving in a specific direction, which was further proven when his mentor seemingly turned slightly to keep the barrage going, almost like the barrage was chasing him. 'So, those wings can launch missiles, can they…? An ability I did not foresee.' he thought with a calculating gaze. His eyes flared with a red light as a weakness dawned on him. 'However if it cannot hit me, then-'

"You are open!"

Eyes widened when Crimson Soul saw how Biko spun a full 360 degrees while still firing those fiery missiles, making it a wide spread attack instead of just a mere one directional one. In this state, the attacks suddenly became twice as fast, almost like blurs through the air. The male hurriedly stopped his flight, sliding across the ground to morph his Wings into a large shell, floating in front of him that was as big as he was tall and connected to his back by trails of fiery energy. The shell contacted some of the missiles, but held firm with the initial barrage.

By the time that the volley had ended, Crimson Soul noticed that the Shell looked like it was beginning to fall apart, much to his surprise as he morphed it back into his Wings. This allowed him just seconds to raise his blade in time to block the slash to his head made by Biko's sword. The DPU form of Nico gritted his teeth, the strength that was behind this blow was considerable, surpassing the Killachine and the Seeker by a wide margin. This fight seemed to be, in Crimson Soul's opinion, the first true fight he had in his short existence.

Plus, while these new abilities his wings had were impressive, it still wasn't enough to break through his defences.

This thought process however, soon was stopped cold in its tracks. The cause: Biko's lips twisting into a sinister grin, the first time he'd seen him do that this entire time that they had known each other. No matter what form he was in, the male was sure that Biko didn't express emotions very much. "You believe your safe do you…? Well then, I believe I should change that."

Crimson Soul gasped when he felt the fiery bone-like demon wings suddenly shift, before they enlarged and wrapped around him, sealing his movements like his Wings had done to the seeker when they had gripped its shoulders. His eyes widened even further when he felt energy and fire beginning to gather within them, concentrated to a single point. The wings began to flare in an unstable manner, alarming Crimson Soul and informing him of what was going to happen next.

"Oh no…!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A massive, and that was an understatement, MASSIVE explosion of fire and smoke erupted when the energy within the flames was released in its concentrated state, the smoke rising to the skies and tainting its orange colour with its blackish grey. Small flames fell from the explosion, landing on the spectating seats and the main floor of the arena, though they didn't burn it.

Both Crimson Soul and Biko emerged from the side of the explosion, strafing sideways while regarding each other. One of them looked like he had been through hell with lots of his armour gone, several burn marks on his body and laboured breathing, the other being completely fine.

One could guess which was which.

"Th-Those wings…" Crimson Soul breathed heavily. While his armour was mostly damaged by the attack, he had barely morphed his Wings into a complete shell around him in time to negate some of the damage. He hadn't expected that attack to be so powerful though, which explained why he took more damage than initially predicted. "N-Not only can they shapeshift… but they are also conductors as well…!"

Biko nodded as he floated down to Crimson Soul's level, which was just above the ground. "Indeed, a DPU's wings are incredibly versatile, not like a CPU's wings which change depending if they have different processors or not. Not only do they shapeshift, but they count as both offensive, support or in your case defensive weapons by themselves. I say support…" Biko paused his speech while pouring energy into his wings. The flames that made up the Wings suddenly enlarged, losing their form slightly as Biko took off towards him, his speed so great that Crimson Soul barely blocked in time.

"Because they can enhance our speed and other stats when energy is put in them as well!"

Their two Soul Edges collided in a flurry of slashes and parries, lasting for a few drawn-out moments until they became deadlocked in a stalemate. Their wielders seemingly ignored this in favour of staring into each other's eyes, not breaking eye contact for a second. This lasted much longer than the initial clash… until Biko raised a brow when Crimson Soul suddenly smiled. "What is amusing about your situation, Crimson Soul?"

"Merely a realisation… one that helped me with seeing how those wings of yours worked…"

Biko's eyes narrowed at this information, then they shot open wide when the Wings Crimson Soul had erupted, releasing a large heat wave that forced him back. He then had to strafe from side to side to dodge several volleys of fiery missiles. A shadow loomed overhead, and Biko looked up to see a massive fist made from orangish red flames, bringing itself down in an overhead smash. Biko swiftly wrapped his Soul Edge in flames, rearing it back for an upward slash, before doing that very motion. The flames making up the hand were slashed in half, the two halves dissipating into tiny embers. This however, made a brief moment of respite, before he raised Soul Edge and blocked the larger blade of Crimson Soul, whose Wings shined brightly with the amount of energy being put in them.

"I see... so your DPU form enhances your learning capacity as well. Not only does it enhance your physical power, but your mind as well. It is more in tune with your body than any HDD transformation." Biko commented, grinding his sword against the enemy. Crimson Soul however, felt a tugging sensation in his gut, one that came with the usage of a certain ability he possessed. Flames erupted from the ground, rising upwards and forming a series of long arms. Each one grabbed onto his body, before pulling him down to the ground and slamming him into it.

The demonic personification grunted slightly, briefly hissing as pain shot up his spine. A fiery heat meeting his face, brought his attention to Crimson Soul however, who was gathering power into his wings. His eyes widened while the DPU's narrowed, the energy condensing into a sphere above his head, one large enough to rival a double decker bus.

Crimson Soul raised his Soul Edge and slashed in Biko's direction, hurling the sphere down at him. the Sphere shot towards him, its speed surprisingly comparable to that of a bullet. Its scorching heat roared from it like a raging lion, heating up the surroundings. Outside of his gaze, Biko noticed that the stands were slowly melting from the massive heat emitting from the Sphere.

Gripping his own Soul Edge, Biko stood up as the sphere made its way to burn him to ashes. He then raised the weapon to the air above, and in an instant he was engulfed in a fiery pillar that reached the inner world's skies. The heat from the pillar roared with just as much intensity as the sphere's, and when the two attacks collided, both fought briefly for dominance like a pair of animals trying to rip each other apart.

Finally, Crimson Soul's sphere gave in under the built pressure, and imploded in on itself, becoming an explosion of fire that rivalled that of an exploding star. Heat shrieked and roared in a mad frenzy, engulfing the stadium and the surroundings 400 metres in every direction. It looked so hot that even a blind man would have his eyes burned to ashes just by looking at it.

In time, the explosion died down, and was soon swept away to reveal the two fighters... without a single burn mark on them. "Our bodies are resistant to demonic energy, as well as normal energy. Attacks like this are nothing for us, it would take no less than a thousand star eruptions to even dream of damaging us... that or another more powerful DPU." Biko explained as he and Crimson Soul floated before each other, their auras swelling around them like wild beasts. Lightning sparked and danced occasionally around them, showing just how erratic and volatile the demonic energy within them truly was.

However, instead of being dismayed or stunned at the apparent learning ability Crimson Soul possessed… Biko simply smirked once more, which was mirrored by his opponent. He raised Soul Edge, prompting Crimson Soul to do the same as they got ready to continue. "Excellent… most excellent, Crimson Soul! This training will improve you yet!" Biko bellowed, before he dipped forwards and charged with the speed of 3 bullet trains combined together. "Now come! Let us continue this bout, shall we?!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **New Poll on my profile, go take a look if you want!**


	43. Chapter 42 point 5 - A Tsundere Outing

**Chapter 42. 5 - A Tsundere Outing**

Stress.

That was what Noire felt coursing through every fibre of her being right now.

The blackette groaned into her pillow as she lay on her bed, already dreading having to get up and complete her daily routine. It had only been two days since Avenir's little scheme with the BOWs and the Infected, and already she was exhausted. Not only did she have to listen to the government's squabbles about who should be blamed for this incident, but she also had been helping restore the City from the damages that it had suffered. The latter part of her work was fairly straightforward, if a little tedious. She would just transform into Black Heart and do what needs to be done, like lift heavy objects, chop up wood for the new frames that would be used to repair the damaged buildings with her sword, and assist in management. Someone like her, who excelled in leadership and the business side of things, would find the management part to be the easiest, and most familiar, for her. Aside from that, the physical labour only stressed her out physically. It made her sweat, took lots of her stamina, and generally exhausted her body. She didn't mind though, because she owed it to her people, to help right the wrongs she had committed against them. To be the CPU she was meant to be, not some crazy warmonger.

What stressed her more was the mental aspect: basically listening to pointless complaints made by the two factions in her Basilicom. Because of the recent incident involving the infected, her Basilicom staff which were once completely loyal to Avenir, had split into 2 warring factions: the Pro CPU and the Avenir factions. Like their names suggested, one was on 'her side' for what she did during the incident. Noire didn't like them regardless though, as most of them had been workers who had treated her unfairly back before the incident. They saw her as nothing but a monument, a figure that they could decorate and expect to stay in their control, which severely ticked her off. Nobody controlled her except herself, damnit! But, even she had to admit that it was good that they had, since their efforts resulted in giving her back more of her shares.

As for the other faction, it was the faction trying to make Avenir out to be the victim in all this, that it was all Umbrella's fault and that there was some 'Neo-Umberella' out there causing problems. This would have been believable, they even tried to supply them with fake documents to try and convince them. However, Noire had seen right through it and had her soldiers, the ones that were still loyal to her, burn the documents while she clarified that they had been indeed faked. Neither faction was happy about that, for obvious reasons.

They also had the audacity to try and make Noire out to be the villain, for making it so that Umbrella's experiments were unleashed upon the people once again after what happened at Racoon City. They brought up how Noire had never even lifted a finger to help them during that time, so why should she have the right to claim to have helped them this time alongside several others? Including a well-renowned war hero who had done the CPUs job for her back at Racoon City. Noire had to admit they had a point there, that she had indeed failed at being there for her people when they needed her back then. However, she had responded with how things had changed since then, how she had recognised her previous mistakes as a leader and was going to correct them from here on out.

When confronted with what Avenir had been doing for the business economy, by becoming the 'top dog' in the business market the economy had boosted in its ratings. However, Noire had brought up how even though they were indeed successful as a business, competition was what drove businesses to be better. If Avenir had continued to advance like it was unchecked, they would be unmotivated to make better wares fairly soon, as they had nobody to rival them. The drive was what was important for running businesses, and that was something Avenir didn't have. She had tried to have Avenir disbanded, however that was overruled by the majority of the Basilicom. They had reasoned that if the Avenir corporation, a corporation responsible for funding military fees, were to be destroyed Lastation would be overrun by Monsters. That, and combined with their 'standard taxes' did much for Lastation's security, of which the 'conveniently' ignored the budget cuts from Lastation's military when she brought it up.

Thus, Noire decided that while Avenir would not be disbanded, yet, they would be investigated thoroughly while the budget cuts on Lastation's military would be admonished. Of course, the Avenir supporters tried to overrule the idea again, fighting tooth and nail to retain what control they could over the Land. She may not have her full power, thus she couldn't regain complete control until that happened. However their combined effort was met with failure this time, thanks to the majority of the governing bodies agreeing with that course of action. They were also silenced by the dark, evil glare that Noire had sent their way. She was tired of all their, excuse her language, bullshit. No more, no more would she tolerate such attitudes towards her country, her people. From now on, she was coming back, bitches!

...'Oh goddess, that sounds like something SHE would say...' Noire thought to herself as she tried to bury her head in the pillow she used as a hugging pillow. She didn't know why, but this hugging pillow emitted a warmth that made a silent giggle escape her lips.

That combination of matters she had to attend to was what stressed her out at the moment. She was going to need a LOT of aspirin for the days ahead.

Still, she had a long way to go. She was just starting to regain the people's faith, and right now she could tell that it was under intense scrutiny. she could feel her powers in her body again, but they were flickering, unstable and not solid like they once were. She had a LOT of work to do before her powers were completely restored, but the journey would be worth it. She would get to learn more about the people she had left for the Console War centuries ago, as well as herself. It actually sounded sort of exciting for her. What would await her in the next corner? What kind of adventured could life bring her?

"...e."

'I mean, of course I'm probably going to get daily migraines, that's to be expected. I have a lot of work to do, but that will not stop Noire, CPU of Lastation!' she thought to herself, her arms wrapping around her 'hugging pillow' tighter. 'But, for the first time in a long while, I'm actually feeling... more alive, than I have been in the last few centuries.' she had to admit to herself, fighting so constantly for as long as she had, while she would never admit it be it in human or CPU form, slowly become a chore. If she had been a bit more level-headed, Noire would have left for her Country a lot sooner. Unfortunately, she was competitive, aggressive and dominating in HDD form, and even a little in human, so that wouldn't have happened.

In addition, Noire's thoughts wandered to the Spec Ops Agents. Agents that were way better than normal Agents. After the incident, she had immediately looked them up in her personal study in the Basilicom, gathering files, papers, reports and surveys gathered in the last few centuries about them, before sitting down and getting in some long overdue research. The piles upon piles of paper she had made herself go through reached the top of her ceiling in height, and she finished that amount of work in an afternoon.

Let it not be said that Noire was a hard worker.

"...re."

From her research, Noire had unearthed information she could never have guessed beforehand about the Spec Ops Programme. The programme was about 500 years old, as in that time there had been what Gamindustrimen had called the 'Monster Cataclysm'. This event in history detailed the sudden surge of monsters from an unexplainable reason , like a great tide that swept through every pore of Gamindustri. Some emerged as much more dangerous breeds, breeds that didn't follow the norms Gamindustri monsters did, and their behaviours were equally as bad. These, were the Abnormals, and their power dwarfed that of the original monsters by leaps and bounds.

They overran settlements, reducing them to a sea of flames, ruin and devastation. They destroyed battalions of military troops that were sent at them, men ad women were separated from their families never to return whenever they embarked on a mission with even a small Abnormal presence, and if any survivors were found they would only describe their experiences as insane babble, spending the rest of their lives . Whenever Guild Agents had been sent to take them down, they were always sent in large parties of 10 or 20, way more than the usual party of 4 that was used in common days, and whenever they would return from those missions, their numbers would be in the single digits... with more dying from their injuries right after returning.

It was a hellish time indeed. Noire had to pause her research to take in what she had heard, leaning back on her desk while putting a hand over her forehead, her eyes wide and her jaw set in an 'o' shape at the time. She couldn't help the shiver that ran up her spine like a child parading across a beach at that moment, the sheer horror and dread that rolled within her stomach at each description, each report she had read, made the Abnormals of that time seem truly like monsters. They made the Monsters she was used to look like cute little pets in comparison, and the ways they were reported to kill, with most of the breeds still around to this day, made her want to throw up, run away and hide in the darkest corner of Gamindustri, praying for her soul. CPU pride be damned.

Yes, they were THAT terrifying.

"...oire."

It eventually, after about 3 years, reached to the point where humanity had neared the point of extinction. Towns were desecrated, refugee camps dotted the entire landscape in what few large cities remained from the constant attacks. Soldiers had little morale , ammo, weapons, equipment and numbers to fight back the incoming hordes. Faith was mostly blind at this point, which at the time Noire figured was the reason why the CPUs didn't notice that they were in danger. As long as they had an ample supply of Shares within them, Noire doubted they would have noticed this terrible event happening. It made her sick to her stomach, just thinking about how oblivious she had been thanks to being so into the Console war, that she couldn't have noticed something so dreadful happening to her country, her people.

Just how many prayers went unheard? Just how many lives could she have saved if she had just kept an eye on her Nation? Noire would always tremble at the thought, these thoughts constantly plaguing her mind like an eternal judgement being cast upon her. She would remember this incident, even if she wasn't part of it. She would never forget the burden that she had brought on herself, the one she must carry for the rest of her life.

Finally, when people had lost all hope, one man, his name unfortunately being lost to time, had decided to 'fuck the old ways' and began devising a programme with the remaining Agents. The Man would forego the old ways of the CPUs, the overreliance on their power to the point where they wouldn't save themselves. He created a set of regimens for the remaining Agents, at least, the ones that felt the same as him. Back then, the faith in the CPUs, despite the times, was still borderline fanatical, so the outcome of someone trying to change this belief would... not exactly give him any favours. In fact, it was said in the documents she read abut the Monster Cataclysm that he was put under heavy scorn by the Basilicom, by everyone in Gamindustri save for the ones that agreed with his ideals. Even then there were only a handful who did.

Pity and respect swelled within her at the thought of this mystery man. While she didn't know his name, the documents did call him the 'first progenitor' which was likely a title that they gave him at some point. Noire didn't like the fact that he was discriminated against for his beliefs, not one bit. Even if he had lost faith in them, he still tried to save his fellow man. In essence, all he was doing was something that all Spec Ops Agents seem to believe: fight for something OTHER than blind faith. Still, to keep going like he did, in spite of everything that had happened to him, Noire had to admit she had gained a begrudging respect for the human. If only there were more people like him, willing to take the initiative and do what was necessary to survive. Perhaps then things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand.

Despite everything though, his efforts resulted in a group of Agents that, when the first horde of Abnormals attacked the city they were stated in, they were able to destroy tem by the dozens, using new weaponry, skills and tactics to their advantage. Their tactics were unusual, they planed traps for the tougher Abnormals, they were able to use Skills previously unheard of to wipe out swarms that came their way. They also wielded unconventional weapons, like explosives, firearms, and more, and despite their slow start, things soon turned out that they were far superior to the average Agent. Their success had stunned everyone who mocked him for his ideas, and as these Agents stopped more and more Abnormals, it became clear to them that these Agents, were the type that they needed to survive. With this in mind, the man had shared his knowledge with the rest of humanity, and they managed to retake their former territories from the Abnormals.

Thus, the Spec Ops Programme was born.

Over the centuries, the Spec Ops Programme swelled with both popularity and scorn. People still looked to the old ways, and thus considered the Spec Ops to be an affront to the CPUs. They believed that when they needed the CPUs the most, that they would have come and shown their divine wrath to those Abnormal monster scumbags, and thus looked upon the Spec Ops with distaste. They couldn't do much about them however, as their accomplishments, love from the public, and the amount of people wanting to join them kept anything negative from happening. Even if they were narrow-minded fools, they weren't stupid. They didn't want to lose the love of the people, so they just bit their tongues and waited, waited for the opportune time to dispose of the project... a time that never came.

"Noire!"

Her eyes shot open wide as a frightened gasp escaped her lips when a loud, masculine voice broke her from her thoughts. It was like a loud saxophone ripping through her eardrums when she had let her guard the most down, such as the shock she was put under. "E-Eeeek!" she shrieked, her eyes frantically looking about as she tried to locate the one that had broken her peaceful slumber, ruined her resting and good mood. "Wh-whose there?! Show yourself this instant!" she yelled, her arms tightening their grip on her hugging pillow.

She had been about to grab it and throw it wherever the voice originated for ruining the peaceful atmosphere that was meant to ease her stressed mind, when the voice called out to her again... and this time, she found that, thanks to her recovered senses, that it came from... above her? "Um, well, It's me Noire, but uh..." the voice sounded so familiar to her, yet for some reason there was a significant portion of hesitation and... embarrassment? Yeah, that was it. there was embarrassment and hesitation in the voice's tone. Noire identified it as masculine, offhandedly.

"E-Eh?"

Slowly, Noire looked up, and to her surprise, a pair of light blue eyes, shining with concern and a noticeable fluster in them, met her ruby red ones. Those eyes belonged to a face tinged with crimson red, like blood was just under the surface of the cheeks and trying to get out onto the surface. Her eyes wandered upwards, from the light blue eyes to the crimson red hair, which was in a familiar gravity defying style as it lay against the pillow... wait, what?

Now, Noire was confused. Wasn't she holding a pillow in her arms? It did seem unusually warm for some reason. Slowly, her eyes trailed downwards again to her arms, which she soon saw were wrapped around something, something large. Noire blinked owlishly, momentarily befuddled at what was going on, until she realised that it was a torso.

Not just any torso, though. It was the Spec Ops Agent, Nico's torso.

She was hugging Nico's torso like a hugging pillow.

Hugging a pillow...

Hugging Nico...

Hugging... a guy... in the same bed as her.

...

...

...

...

...

...

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Whelp, took her long enough to get it through her thick skull, huh?

In a fit of panic, embarrassment and anger, Noire, whose face was redder than a tomato, acted faster than an Olympic runner going at maximum speed. She unwrapped her arms from Nico's torso, put her hands on his chest and, with an exertion of force only a startled young maiden could accomplish, pushed him away from her, electing a surprised gasp from the male. Her eyes were closed as she refused to look at him, to see what her actions would result in.#

The male, while startled by her actions, acted reflexively as well. He rolled off the bed and landed on the ground with a THUD! He then rolled to the opposite side of the room, to which he used the momentum to spin around till he was doing a reverse handstand, of which he jumped into a flip and landed on his feet directly facing her. 'Whoa, now that was a doosy...' Nico thought to himself, holding the side of his head as dizziness plagued his brain. He looked a little wobbly for a moment, until he shook the dizziness away and regained his composure. Looking up at Noire, Nico grimaced as he resisted the urge to yell 'fuck my life!' right now. 'Goddamnit, now to deal with this...'

"Wh-wh-wh-wha-what are you doing in here, you perv?!" Noire yelled. she clutched the bed covers over herself as if in a protective manner, attempting to preserve what little modesty she could after losing most of it to this guy. She glared at him with her cheeks a burning crimson, tears in the corners of her eyes as she gritted her teeth. How humiliating, she had been hugging a guy in her sleep! What the heck?! How did that happen, she was sure she was using a pillow as her source of comfort! "I made sure to lock my room door!"

Her intense rage, plus his desire to retain what little manly dignity he had left, made Nico hastily raise his hands in a sign of surrender. "Girl, your door was NOT locked, I know this because I checked!" he yelled, throwing an arm to the side and pointing to the door behind him. He stepped aside, allowing her to see that the lock had indeed been unlocked hence proving his claim.

"How do I know you didn't do that yourself?!"

"Hell to the no! I promise on my honor as DEATHSTROKE that I had nothing to do with this! I swear, i'm innocent!"

All this was making Noire's head hurt from how annoyed and frustrated she was. Combined with her embarrassment and indignation, and the fact that Nico was making a conscious effort not to stare at her, made her mood more sour than a bunch of lemons. She couldn't admonish the guy since he seemed to genuinely make an effort not to look, hell he was practically looking like a frightened little toddler right now, and he had shown that the lock was already undone by the time that he had arrived at some point, so yelling at him wasn't going to do much good.

Glancing down at herself, Noire half expected herself to be naked. After all, she was in her bed and generally when one was in their bed they would generally be either naked or clad in PJ's. She couldn't remember changing into any PJ's, so she had to assume that she was naked... 'Eh? I'm not?' Noire could only blink, here embarrassment soon fading away and being replaced by confusion. She saw that, instead of being in the nude, she was actually still wearing her own clothes: dress, boots, skirt and all. She was safely covered and not like what she had thought.

Why was she clothed, when she should have been naked? Not that she was complaining though, it saved them a lot of dignity, at least.

Memories assaulted her mind, memories to do with the previous night. With how hard she had been working, Noire had been plenty stressed and tired. She didn't want to return to the Basilicom to rest, since it reminded her of all the political bullshit she had endured, plus the squabbling Basilicom Staff which irritated her to no end, thus she had returned to Chain's damaged Cafe, which had recently gotten its living quarters renovated, to sleep. She practically forgot the thought of changing and just fell asleep on the closest bed she could find. 'Well... I guess that explains why I'm still clothed...'

Seeing as she had, fortunately, managed to retain her pride as a girl and a Goddess, Noire gave a sigh of relief, a hand on her chest that felt her pounding heart calm into a steady rhythm. "Whew, that's a relief..." she muttered under her breath. She did NOT want to have to deal with any embarrassment so early in the morning...wait, what was the time? Noire's eyes glanced to a clock on a set of drawers next to the bed. It read 11:00 AM, which meant it wasn't as early as she would have liked. "Oh..."

She didn't think she would have anything to do with meetings till the late afternoon, so she could prep herself for that. Though, she could also spend some time doing some Quests. While there were few Quests available for her, she knew that there were at least some still open at the Guild. Plus, since Abnormals were still a major threat, she could take care of those as well. Those Quests were usually reserved only for Spec Ops Agents, or those in a Party with them, but as a Goddess, she too had access to them. She knew this because she had checked it out with the Guild.

Just then, she glanced towards Nico and saw that he still wasn't looking at her, thinking that she was naked under the sheets. A surge of pity swept through her, as she gave an annoyed scoff while turning her head to the side and crossing her arms under her chest. "You can look now, Nico. I'm fully dressed already." she told him with a mild irritation bleeding into her tone. Though, she couldn't really blame the guy for being like this. He had almost gotten a fist to the face just now for crying out loud.

Nico slowly, hesitantly turned his head and opened his eyes, still cautious about being hit. When he fully opened them, the male witnessed the sight of a fully dressed Noire, making a huge sigh of relief escape him. "Oh, I'd say 'thank the Goddesses' if I wasn't aware of how ironic it would be for both parties." he remarked, smirking nervously. It would have sounded strange, coming from someone like him who didn't believe in any CPU. Plus, there was who he was talking to, which would double the irony.

His remark broke some of the tension in the room at least though, of which he hadn't completely intended since it just came out that way. Noire gave a brief smile, one that carried both her understanding and her awkwardness as she shuffled on the bed. "Yeah, you could say that..." she responded, before she decided to move the conversation along. the sooner the better in her eyes, and something told her that the Spec Ops Agent before her would agree too. "Anyways, I'm sure I unlocked the door before I came in, so..." she began, quickly examining her vague memories of last night. She remembered locking the door, if a bit vaguely, but she was certain of it. That just made this situation all the weirder. "So, how did it come undone?"

Nico frowned, curious about that himself. When he had returned from his mission with Team RAIL, they had parted ways when they returned to Lastation. They had other matters to attend to, and he wanted to visit Chian's damaged Café to assist with any additional matters. He didn't expect to have been bombarded with hugs and tears from both Neptune and Compa though, and IF had given him a look that basically said 'this is your fault, so you deal with it'. When he had asked them what was wrong, they had tearfully responded with their worries about him, how they had finished training by killing those Abnormals he had recommended, but he hadn't shown up yet so they had gotten worried. It had made him feel like a prick, honestly, so he had resolved to spend the rest of the day with them instead of training like he had initially planned.

They spent that time visiting what hadn't been destroyed, even ventured to the other Districts. One such place was the sweet shop Neptune had gone to when she vanished from their sights upon their arrival. He hadn't destroyed her hopes and dreams at the time, since this was something he was doing to pay them back for worrying so much. Nico had been stunned with how worried they'd been though, it was the first time a girl would worry about him like this. He kind of figured Compa would, since they were childhood friends, but Neptune? Someone he didn't know for nearly as long? That was something that blew his mind.

Looked like those two were more similar than he realised... that fact, quickly became something Nico cherished like a religious person would a holy relic.

That night, they had decided to forego going to a Hotel again and just slept in the Guest rooms of Chian's Café. IF had called the owner and she had given them her permission. When asked if she was sure, Chian had stated that they more than earned it for what they did for the people, which filled their beings with pride and joy. At least they had been able to help SOME people back then, that was a thought that passed through all their minds. Seeing so much tragedy around them, from the corpses of the fallen to the depressed faces of those left behind, it was like a light within the darkness, something everyone desperately needed from all this.

Which lead to the following morning.

"... Hold on, I have to make a call." Nico spoke, his tone suddenly shifting as his eyes hardened and his voice stiffened into one of a stern lecturer about to unleash a verbal lashing on his rebellious student. Noire stiffened at such a voice, remembering the first time she had heard it. Back at West Wind Valley when she first met them... in human form, of course. In his mind, he was thinking one thing, and one thing only. 'I believe a certain someone owes me some answers... and a little bit of payback.'

As she watched him activate his right bracer and manipulate the holographic screen that appeared, Noire couldn't help but quench her curiosity as she began making her bed. "Uh, who exactly are you calling?" she asked him, watching as a holographic headset appeared on his head. He never answered though, and while that did annoy her, the look of intense concentration, anger and promise of retribution on his face stopped any thoughts of repeating herself. There was the sound of a dial coming from it for a few seconds, before the signal reached where it wanted to reach.

Noire soon got her answer, when a chipper, girlish voice spoke from the other side, a voice that Noire knew all too well. It also caused her brow to twitch in annoyance, quickly figuring it out herself. 'Oh boy, if this is what I think it is, then she will have brought a terrible fate upon herself...' she thought, shaking her head in both disappointment, and irritation at the receiver of the call.

"Heya, Nicky! Whassup?"

"Don't "Heya Nicky" Me, Neptune, young missy." Nico hissed angrily as he began pacing back and forth from one side of the room to another. "What the hell kind of stunt were you trying to pull here? Sending me into Noire's room while she was sleeping? Really?" he asked with just as much irritation as she was feeling. "She very nearly socked me! If we hadn't come to our senses in time, we'd have been traumatised for the whole day!"

Briefly, Noire felt a spike of indignation at the exaggeration that Nico was showing just now. The way he was making it sound made her think he saw looking at her naked as a crime. 'Although, he is kinda on point, that would have been both embarrassing and humiliating for me on a whole new level...' she reluctantly admitted to herself, fighting back the urge to blush at the thoughts racing through her mind. 'It doesn't matter if he's a great guy or not, I hardly know him! And there's steps to take before that kind of stuff happened!' While she would admit that she had a fair amount of attractiveness, Noire still would have agreed with Nico on this one.

A laugh came from the other end of the call, a laugh only a prankster whose plan had succeeded epically, as Neptune responded while trying to hold back her mirth. She may as well have not even tried, since they could tell just by how she sounded when she spoke. "Aw, don't tell me you didn't like it, Nicky!" she said in a mischievous manner. "Did seeing Nowa in the nude get you all hot and bothered? Well, you're a lucky dog, cause I'll be riding that D when the time comes!" she remarked cheerfully and without shame.

She had the intended effect.

"GODDAMNIT NEPTUNE!"

Both couldn't help but yell at the preteen, even though she wasn't even in the room, as their faces heated up in milliseconds, one out of embarrassment and the other out of anger. The innuendo she was saying was clear to them, and they didn't appreciate it in the slightest, nor did they like the thoughts that plagued their minds thanks to it. Noire finished making her bed only to flop right back on it to hide her face, as Nico restrained himself from storming off to wherever Neptune was and giving her a harsh lecture.

"Hehehehehehehehehe!"

Whatever Neptune was going to say was cut off when Nico cut the call, the holographic headset dissipating into nothingness to reveal Nico's madly twitching brow. His eyes shone brightly with intense rage. "That little midget... I swear, I'm so getting back at her for this..." he muttered while clenching a shaking fist, a fist which was raised to his chin level while sporting a few veins. His eyes closed, Nico made a smile as he tried to contain his rage, but the vein covered fist gave everything away.

Noire could only sweat drop, now sitting in the Japanese sitting position on her bed as she watched him plan his 'vengeance' against Neptune. 'I'm pretty sure this is Neptune getting him back for that incinerator incident... though judging by that innuendo...' she thought to herself, fighting off the blush that came with remembering what Neptune had blatantly said she would do to him. Her gut told her she wasn't lying either, that girl had little to no shame when it came to Nico, unlike the angel known as Compa. As she heard his muttering though, another equally sweat drop-inducing thought came to mind. '... Sometimes, Nico can be just as childish as Neptune. Seeing him like this... they do work well together.'

She looked down at herself and, from a slight hunch, sniffed herself and had to bite back a wince. She smelled, and she didn't like it. Her clothes were covered with her sweat and scent, which wouldn't bode well for the day. Since yesterday was so sweat-inducing, today may prove to be just as sweaty, too, something she was NOT looking forward too. 'I'll take a shower then change, I should have some spare casual clothes lying around. I had a small stash just in case something were to happen, just didn't think I'd use it so soon...' she thought to herself.

"While I would like to listen to your revenge schemes..." Noire began with sarcasm dripping from her words, cutting Nico from his ramblings. "I'd like to take a shower, so could you wait outside please, I'd be very grateful."

He didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Half an hour later, Noire emerged from her room's shower room, her body clad in a towel while she used another one to dry her hair. Since she didn't have it in her usual twin tails hairstyle, her hair fell down and reached her knees in length. "Whew... I'm glad that the water was restored in this place, I would have had to return to the Basilicom drenched in sweat..." she muttered with a relieved sigh, before a shiver went down her spine at the thought of her followers seeing her stench-tainted body. Most would likely be disgusted by it, while others...

Well, there were sickos in the world.

It wasn't long until she opened a hidden compartment in her bed, one she had discovered not too long after Chian had let her have this room for the duration of her stay, and pulled out a set of clothes. Once she did that, Noire changed her clothes, putting her expensive dress, skirt, boots and the rest of her attire into a nearby wash basket. She'd wash them later when things weren't so chaotic.

She now wore a more... casual outfit: a tan coloured tube top that exposed a bare minimum of cleavage, with a pair of dark blue tight jeans that hugged her legs. They were held in place by a black belt with a silver buckle, while on her feet were a pair of high heeled brown sandals. Her hair was no longer held in the two tails style, but rather allowed to flow down to her knees. She even had put the ends into a set of swirls to complete her look.

Noire looked herself over at a nearby mirror, checking herself for any lacking details. She knew she had a... well-desired body, it was as obvious as Neptune's true identity. In her normal clothes one would definitely say she was insanely attractive, she did receive stares of THAT kind a lot whenever she went out. Plus, she had dealt with a few more... inappropriate clients several times during Questing, so Noire had a low opinion of males in general. There were few exceptions however, Aiden, Ivan although he definitely had an appreciation for the female body, and... Nico. So, in a casual outfit like this, Noire wondered what would happen if Nico saw her like this. Would be his usual self or act like most of the other men she had encountered?

Time to find out.

Once she had found her look satisfactory, the blackette CPU turned her head to look towards the Door. "You can come in, now!" she yelled towards the door, and Nico soon entered, closing the door behind him. She hadn't noticed before, but Noire had never once seen him change his attire. He always wore that black getup, the only time a change in his attire happened was whenever he donned that creepy Mask. Although, Noire had to admit, it did fulfil its role well. It was like he was entirely themed around Masks and reflection, how people hide their true selves behind facades. She had to admit, she liked that philosophy, she saw it practically every day ion Avenir, the Basilicom, even herself.

'... Huh, so this is what Noire's room looks like...' Nico thought to himself. He admitted that it was a little plain, there was little changes made to it by the blackette but he figured that she didn't have that much time to even attempt to personalise the room. It looked like the standard room, with a red carpet over the floor, light green walls with white frames, and a black ceiling. There was a light in the middle, and at the back was a window. Before it, was a bed with black bedding, with the wooden frame pained a silvery white colour. Opposite the bed, was a human length mirror that stood tall, next to a set of draws and a wardrobe next to the entrance. There was also another door by the wardrobe that led to the shower room, which judging from his senses had been recently used.

His eyes cast their gaze on Noire at last, and he soon realised that she wore a different outfit. His eyes momentarily widened in surprise, before he realised what was going on. 'Oh yeah, that's right. Noire's outfit probably wouldn't smell too good so she's wearing a different one.' he thought to himself. For a moment, eh had hardly recognised her, since she changed her look so much. This was the first time he'd seen her with her hair down like this, and he had to admit, she looked good like that. 'Best not say that out loud, otherwise I may look like a fool...' he thought to himself.

Instead, Nico hummed thoughtfully as he glanced to the washing basket that was next to the wardrobe. "Just curious, but when did you get a new outfit, Noire?" he queried to the woman before him. Nico never saw her visit any shops while she was with them, so he assumed that she had gotten them on her own time.

If the expression she was making was any indication though, Nico somehow felt that she was annoyed with him for some reason. "I got some after we parted ways after that Killachine incident." she explained, flicking a strand of her hair before checking her red coloured fingernails. "Figured that I could do with some more casual outfits so I didn't stand out as much, what with Avenir likely going to gun for me from now on." While that was one reason, another reason was that she wanted to try something new True she looked professional in her original attire, but in these clothes she felt more like an ordinary girl. It was something she had never experienced before, and she wanted to try it. "Anyways, where's everybody at? I would have figured that I'd wake to Neptune trying to bounce on me or something like that."

Nico resisted the urge to chuckle at that, finding that to be something that Neptune would do. The teen then pondered her question for a few swift seconds, walking to one of the walls and leaning against it. The male then responded with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, his features set in a relaxed posture. "Neptune's with Compa right now. She's gone and dragged her out on a shopping spree, likely for more Pudding since we don't have any here. Kept on whining about it being the end of the world since there was no Pudding." Both teens rolled their eyes at this mannerism, it was so... Neptunish, to worry over something like Pudding in such an exaggerated manner.

The male then put his thoughts on the brunette, his relaxed posture faltering slightly. Noire took this as a sign that this was a less carefree topic, and she got th feelings he knew why. "IF's at the Guild right now, she's busy applying for the Spec Ops Exam. Since she's from Planeptune, she'll have to have her initiation there, but she decided to get the process started early. Said she wanted to have as much prep time as possible before the exams take place to hone her abilities." He then checked his Bracer for any messages, his eyes cast their gaze over the newly-appeared holographic screen. He found that there were no messages received from anyone, before deactivating the Bracer. "I did recommend her, so she's practically a Candidate already, which won't go well with other Agents. They will see her as someone who can't take care of themselves, and if she reveals her reasons for joining that hate will likely increase. Thus, she's applying for it in the old fashioned way to make it easier on her." he explained to her, and to Noire it sounded more like he was telling her his worries for his comrade.

"Huh... I see..." the blackette muttered under her breath.

'You idiot, why aren't you saying anything about my outfit? Not that I particularly want you to or anything, but it'd be nice to have an outsider's opinion!' she shrieked in her mind. When he had said what he did, Noire couldn't help but feel a pang of irritation at him. Irritation for not commenting on her outfit, not like she wanted to impress him or anything. She just wanted to know more about this boy that Neptune had taken a liking to. Then again, she had to admit to herself, not that she would to anyone else, that she was indeed curious.

Curiosity, a desire to know more about something that prior to the experience, one wasn't aware of. Noire was curious about the Spec Ops Agent, more so than she was about Neptune and the others. She was curious because out of all the people in the Party, Nico was the one she knew about the least, yet held the most gratitude for. Aside from Neptune, he had given her deep insight to how useless the Console War truly was, and also inspired her to talk to Neptune face-to-face, instead of just killing her when she got the chance. Noire knew that he was an accomplished Agent, she had looked up his profile and mission records, but what she didn't get was that many of those missions said that he played a lesser roll in clearing, handing the credit to other Agents. It was like he wanted to remain out of the spotlight for some reason, and Noire wanted to know why.

Not just that, but she was curious about him as a person, as well. Not just as a Goddess wanting to know about a mortal who didn't put his faith in any deity. Their talk in the Café had enlightened her to the knowledge that Nico had a lot to tell, both his adventures and his character. He was someone who got things done, he made sure that they were prepared for any bad encounters that came their way, and most of all he was someone who didn't use his... second head... very often, if at all. It made her curious about him...

It made her want to know about Nico.

Who was he? Where did he come from? How did he see the world? How did he become the way he was? So many questions pounded away at her mind, threatening to burst out her skull if they weren't answered. Yet, Noire wasn't really sure how to ask him about these things. She wasn't used to guys talking to her on a level like this, she was more used to politicians and businessmen trying to earn more favour in her eyes. Aside from them, there was the other CPUs at the time, too, and they were all girls, so her interactions with guys was fairly limited. Not to mention how grateful she was to him for making sure her city suffered the least amount of casualties as possible. Someone like him... he had her attention, and her interest.

But how should she go about it?

"Hey, you alright?" Noire almost eeped when Nico's voice, which sounded WAY closer to her than it had been before, broke her out of her musings like she had been shaken down by a earthquake. She jumped slightly and looked to him, noticing that Nico had walked till he was about 6 feet away from her with his eyes showcasing worry and curiosity towards her. "You were staring at me oddly just now, so I wanted to know what was wrong."

A stream of embarrassment coursed through her at that, and in response, Noire fell back onto a certain way of thinking: the thinking of a Tsundere. "-I wasn't looking at you! No way, don't get ahead of yourself!" she shouted, huffing while turning her head sideways as she crossed her arms under her chest, unknowingly pronouncing her boobs in front of him. However, Nico didn't notice as he tilted his head in her direction, not at all believing her.

"Uh, yes you were."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were."

"No way, I wasn't!"

The two bickered back and forth, and it no longer looked like a Goddess talking to a mortal, but two teenagers arguing about daily matters. The atmosphere, which was previously awkward and slightly tense, had died down and now had a less formal, and more casual, tone to it, something that neither of them noticed in their heated debate.

Eventually, Nico just gave up and decided to move on. "Anyways, enough of that, pretty sure that we have other things to do than just argue like children." he stated, sighing in frustration. He felt like he was getting a migraine, and those were usually reserved for annoying people... and Neptune. There was the annoying ones, and then there was Neptune who took it to a whole new level. Yet, he couldn't find it in him to hate her for it, she just was too likable to hate. If that made any sense whatsoever. yes you were."

"Yes, I do agree that that would be best." Noire replied with a scoff, while internally she was sighing in relief that she had gotten herself out of that situation. Awkward would have been an understatement if she were to describe what the situation would have been like if she admitted what she had thought of him just then. "Well, I'm going to be busy with Quests today, meetings will be held late in the evening so I have time to help the people."

Nico nodded in understanding, before he stepped towards the door. "That's good, I was about to do the same thing. Staying cooped up inside a city like this just isn't my style, I'd rather be out there making myself useful. Mind if I join you?" he asked her, turning his head behind him to look at the CPU, who was looking back at him with a mildly surprised expression on her face. Like she didn't expect him to ask her that. "It'll make the Quests easier with more people, then you could prep more for those meetings."

Now this wasn't something Noire could have foreseen, however she didn't discard this opportunity. She could use this as a chance to learn more about the Spec Ops Agent. Get a feel of his character and personality, and maybe find out why Neptune was so taken with him. She had to admit to herself that was also something she wished to know ever since Neptune had proclaimed it so loudly to her over the phone one time. "Humph, very well. I supposed I can let you tag along with me, just don't get in my way." Noire responded haughtily, a matching smirk on her face as she held her head high.

The male just rolled his eyes, much to her indignation, and remarked a dry "Sure." before exiting the room, Noire following suit.

* * *

Walking through the streets, Noire and Nico headed towards the Guild Building. Noire had checked on their website and found a Quest, a Spec Ops Quest, and wanted to take it. Unfortunately, since she wasn't an Agent of the Guild, like Nico was, she had to travel there herself to get the Quest. It paid well to be a Spec Ops, as well as a normal Agent.

Unfortunately, all was not well with the two, or rather, to be more specific one of them was regretting their life choices right now.

'Uuuuu...!'

Noire mumbled inaudibly as she glanced about, shyly trying to avoid the stares directed at them by Lastation citizens as they walked by. Sure, the looked like a normal pair of teens, albeit one was over hundreds of years old, however the scene they presented could have been interpreted as another situation entirely. Plus, people loved gossip, gossip about anything if social media was anything to go by. Noire was sure that people would be spamming messages about her walking alongside a guy like this all over social media, they loved things like this.

'People are talking about us in a hushed manner... That can not be a good sign...!'

Rumours would be bound to spread, and that wasn't something Noire wanted out of this. She knew that her situation's delicacy rivalled a fractured glass object, on the verge of shattering. Thus, she didn't need any... suspicious rumours about her. In addition, Avenir would likely try to slander her reputation with those rumours, using the media as a weapon to discredit her. That would result in a much harder, more uphill battle for control over Lastation, something she did NOT need right now.

Also, what would happen if the other Nations heard of this? Planeptune she felt was alright, since she was getting along with its CPU now, if only barely, but the rest...

"Uh, Noire?"

Said CPU nearly jumped out of her skin, when she heard the voice of the male beside her. Looking up at him, thanks to his height of 5 foot 8 being superior to her 5 foot 2, Noire couldn't help but feel like a small child under his gaze. Said gaze was a mix of worry, concern and a gentle softness that came with someone who wanted to know if their companion was alright. While it would have soothed a normal person, Noire couldn't help but curse herself for revealing her state of distress so visibly, if anything Nico was insanely observant. Once he caught onto something, like Avenir's potential threat to Lastation after hearing about the current events, he became hooked on it, his gaze that of a Hawk's. "You alright? You looked like you were spacing out there."

"U-Um, ye-yes, I'm fine, really!" Noire stuttered, her cheeks aflame as she turned her head away, refusing to meet his concerned gaze. 'Its no use, I won't be able to deflect the question like this!' she shrieked in her mind. The stares, combined with his gaze, were making her lose her cool gradually. Yet, she could feel the mental damn breaking bit by bit. If she didn't do something and soon, then... she didn't know what would happen, and that scared her more than anything. The Unknown was something normal people may get skittish, perhaps even a little afraid, about. It was only natural to fear something you didn't know anything about, though humanity's response to this situation can... vary, at times, and most of those times they don't respond positively.

But for an immortal Goddess like her, the unknown was two things: a source of interest, and an absolute hellish nightmare. She both feared and liked the unknown, for various reasons. As an Immortal deity, she was supposed to be aware of everything going on within her Nation. She had once learned that the former Goddess once ruled all of Gamindustri, which meant that the workload she had was way bigger, much to her sympathies. Both cases revolved around knowing everything in a situation, having all the variables to make an equation, sort of. To not know even one Variable, would result in lives being put at risk, and no matter the outcome, it would always be the leader's responsibility in the end whether lives were saved or lost.

Yet it was also the unknown that drew interest, the desire to venture into unknown territory and learn something she wasn't aware of, despite the dangers. It was similar to the dangers based off the fact that, thanks to being immortal, she was supposed to know much, more so than any human ever could. To learn that there was much more that she didn't know, or was even aware of, was like a breath of refreshing air that travelled down her spine and made her insides tingle with life. It energised her, made her realise that there was still more to life that she could learn, it almost felt like a childish glee inside the pits of her stomach.

It made for a... complex series of emotions warring inside of Noire right now.

Deep thoughts with Noire aside, she still had to find a way for Nico to drop the subject, but the blackette felt tongue tied at the moment, her mouth refused to form a coherent sentence while opening and closing repeatedly. She was embarrassing herself at this point, she could tell immediately. Yet, what could she do? Nico was too observant and he would likely keep a suspicious eye on her after this, which isn't what she wanted from this at all. Noire tried to think up something, anything, to get Nico off her back, but thanks to her panic and the tension she was feeling, nothing came to her.

Eventually, Nico made to ask again, much to her mental horror, but then she was saved by an untimely event. A loud grumble echoed throughout the street, silencing all whispers. Everyone but Noire and Nico looked around, curious on where the sound came from, while the blackette CPU cast her gaze to the ground, her face redder than blood as steam rose from the top of her head. Nico raised a brow in her direction, curious at her mannerisms. "Huh? You hungry, Noire, is that it?" he queried, frowning pensively for a moment. His expression morphed to one of understanding after a few moments. "Alright then, why didn't you say so? I know of a place nearby, it's reasonably cheap and thanks to your actions back in that incident, they've all been converted back to believing in you." the male stated with a cheery smile.

Mentally however, his thoughts were of a different sort. 'Looks like the stomach isn't all Noire is thinking about, but I have a good idea of what that is already. A shame she couldn't admit it to me face-to-face though...' Nico was no fool, he could tell just from watching her and hearing the hushed whispers the citizens made what was bothering the blackette woman. He didn't think that they would be much of a problem though, for reasons he intended to explain to her when he got the chance. This Café break actually could work in his favour since, like he said, every member of staff and visitor are now loyal to Noire. That meant they didn't have to worry about being snitched, betrayed or anything to do with Avenir.

Noire breathed a sigh of relief, making sure that (in her eyes) that Nico couldn't hear it. "Whew, that was close..." she muttered under her breath. She didn't know why, but for some reason Noire didn't try telling him of her troubles, something that would likely have resulted in her getting some good advise from him. After all, he'd done that before when she was conflicted about Neptune. Maybe once she knew a bit more about him, then she could open up a little to him. A part of her wondered why she wanted to open up to him in the first place, a question that remained unanswered in her mind as she followed the male to this 'cafe' that he was talking about.

* * *

The Café Nico had told her about, 'Black Regalia', really was nearby... like a corner away from them. Noire had to admit that there was some strange convenience at work here, but her rumbling stomach pushed those thoughts out her mind. The smell of food whiffed into her nostrils, making a pleasant moan escape her lips as they entered. The doorbell rang when the door was opened, signalling their entry, before closing behind the two.

It had a horizontal layout, with the bar counter at the back with stools lined up beneath them. Most were in use, though, either by large-looking men or women. They looked like they had been construction workers who wanted a break from the stress their jobs packed onto them. there were 4-seat tables aligned on both the left and right sides, most being occupied by citizens of varying appearances.

Noire noticed that the Café was chock full of people, all of various age groups. She could see middle aged men and women, teenagers, young adults, etc. Some even looked like couples, much to her chagrin. Nevertheless, Noire remained silent, trying to ignore them as the blackette followed Nico to an empty table. When they reached it, the two sat on opposite sides, the male straightening his coat before sitting down. It wasn't long before they took a menu that was on a stand and began looking through their choices, either. The sooner they satisfied their individual needs, the sooner they could get this quest done.

Still though, all these people about didn't help sooth Noire's nerves. In fact, they just made them worse, in her opinion, something that Nico noticed quite quickly. "Yu alright, Noire?" he questioned, although he had a fairly good idea of what was bothering her. Still though, he would rather it come out of her out than his right now, sine it would mean that she at least trusted him a little. Trust and Loyalty were rare these days, and because of that he valued them highly. "You look like you're about to jump and defend yourself from an unknown attacker."

"E-eh?!" Noire blinked as she jerked at his question. Nonetheless, despite his extreme analogy, she had to admit she kind of felt that way at the moment, something that she felt ashamed of for some reason. "N-No, its not that, its just..." she tried to say what was on her mind, but her mouth refused to listen to the orders her brain was giving her. Likely it was because she... why was she doing this exactly? Oh yeah, she wanted to get to know Nico better, but wasn't that a two way street? If she wanted him to be open with her, shouldn't she be the same with him? But, there was no guarantee that he would be open with her at this point, since they hardly knew each other. But they HAD fought as allies, so they sort of had some manner of trust going...

In the end, Noire decided to go for it. It may have went against her usual responses to deny things about herself, but right now she wanted to know more about Nico more than her desires to hide things. "W-Well... I'm not exactly used to... this sort of thing." she remarked, her tone becoming lower and lower until it was barely audible, sort of like a mix of a mumble and a whisper.

'Well, its not what I wanted... but its a start...' the male Spec Ops Agent thought to himself, though there was no sarcasm in his thoughts regarding the CPU. To be honest, he didn't really blame her for this, since he wasn't really a social person himself. If the girls hadn't suggested it, he probably wouldn't have gone to that Karaoke bar, either. His place was on the battlefield, which was why he got along with Team RAIL so well. Plus it helped that he knew them as individuals beforehand, so he could be a person around them... when not on missions, of course. "No worries about that, trust me. I'm the same way, not exactly a people person."

The blackette couldn't hide the 'really?' look on her face as she heard him say that. "Serious? Then how is it that you seem so calm right now? You practically look like you've been here all your life." she asked him with a slight challenging edge to her words. From what she could tell, Noire had the impression that Nico wouldn't really visit these kinds of places, and what she just heard had contradicted that hypothesis.

Nevertheless, Nico remained calm and responded in a easy manner as he began to explain. "When on missions, I sometimes visit these places to meet up with contacts. I learned to tolerate the masses this way, otherwise I'd rather sort out my stuff at a private hotel room or something similar in terms of privacy." he told her, and she had to admit that was a believable response.

Thinking back, Noire remembered everything she could about the male. It wasn't much, as she was more focused on Neptune at the time, but she did remember how anti social he was, sometimes disappearing for long time periods for no apparent reason, then returning late at night. She hadn't known what he was doing back then, didn't really care, but looking into it made her learn that he had been prepping for the inevitable attack by Avenir. Thus, that showed her that when he wanted something done, he got it done. There was no lollygagging, no hesitation, nothing. It was a working mind-set that Noire rarely found outside of Lastation, and it was something that admittingly drew her attention all the more.

Nonetheless, none of those times involved him going to a public place like a Café for social reasons. That time with the Mask Shop (she'd already bookmarked it on her phone) was an exception since it was more for her sake, which made her realise something. Nico only did these things because the girls wanted to, not because he found enjoyment in it. In fact, the blackette was sure that he didn't find joy in things like this, instead he would find joy out there in the big wide world, fighting monsters.

Could he be one of those battle maniacs? Or someone with similar tendencies?

Before she could lose herself to those thoughts, Noire noticed that a waitress had headed over to them, clad in a conservative maid outfit. Noire didn't know if this was one of those Cosplay Cafe's, but if it was then she might have to visit more often. "Greetings, welcome to the Black Regalia. What can I get you?" The Waitress asked them both, holding a notepad and pen.

Nico put down the menu, he'd seen that his usual order was on the menu still, so he didn't exactly need it right now. "A simple coffee, please Ma'am." he responded politely, getting an affirming nod from the Waitress. The male then let himself get lost in his own thoughts, thoughts of how his training was going to pan out for the future and that of the girls. They may be stronger than average Adventurers right now, maybe even more so than the average Guild Agent since they could fight Abnormals, but that was only because they worked together.

The power level for these three classes were as follows:

Adventurer

Guild Agent

Spec Ops.

The Adventurers were considered to be the weakest, as their abilities were trained by themselves and nobody else. They had their own styles which usually were self-taught, and their weapons were mass produced. Thus, there wasn't much remarkable about them, with few exceptions. However, there were lots of them about, their numbers were the highest of the three classes thanks to people taking to self-training. In fact, if she weren't a Goddess, Neptune would be considered one officially, though in terms of power that would be seen differently. Same with Compa, she'd be considered officially an Adventurer.

Guild Agents were stronger than the average Adventurer, with access to Skills, weapons, and resources that the Adventurers didn't. The Guild Agents weren't as numerous as the Adventurers though, but only slightly. They could be considered at least better versions of 'foot soldiers' in military terms. While their access to weapons were similar, a Guild Agent has the pro of making their own weaponry from scratch, something that wasn't so accessible for Adventurers. Guild Agents had access to the smithing facilities within the Guild itself, something that the Adventurers lacked.

Spec Ops Agents were stronger than both by far though. The difference in strength between them would be as clear as the distance between the sky and the earth that people walked on. They had full access to the Guild's WDD, so they always had the latest tech and access to a larger variety of resources for their needs. They had access to newer, deadlier Skills that Guild Agents wouldn't, and generally were more specialised than they were. Unfortunately, compared to the other two, their numbers weren't so great. Each nation only had a small number of them compared to Guild Agents and Adventurers, mostly due to their economies not being stable enough to support more thanks to the Monster attacks. Of course, a certain Nation had politics involved with the Spec Ops Programme, but that was another issue entirely.

As for Neptune and the others, in terms of power, he'd rate them as in-between Spec Ops and Guild Agent, even Compa who was arguably the weakest link in the party thanks to her being a Nurse-In-Training. However, her Armour and Spec Ops Training, delivered to her by yours truly, had that mostly covered. As for Neptune, her powers as a CPU helped her get up there even with her lack of proper fighting style. Brute force and devastating damage was what she specialised in with her Murasama, which combined with her Armour also elevated her beyond an average Guild Agent.

Out of all of them though, he'd consider IF to be the closest to a Spec Ops Agent's power, thanks to her transformation into a BOW. She may not have showcased much of her powers, but it was enough for Nico to formulate an opinion of her skills. While she has kept her Qatars and Pistols for the time being, her BOW powers more than enhanced her already unique Skillset. She didn't seem to proficient in Magic, but that was to be expected since she was raised in Planeptune, which specialised more in combat than magic. Lowee earned that reward, and the only reason why they had magic books to begin with was because of raids on Lowee.

Many Nations raided each other in the past, getting some pieces of technology from the other. Those pieces weren't used to their full potential, usually, since the Nations wouldn't understand how they worked. However, that was where Planeptune's futuristic technology gave it the edge. There was a reason why it was the most well-off Nation out of the four, and even it still suffered as much as the other Nations.

While Nico was lost in these thoughts, he didn't notice the stares he got from the Waitress, something that Noire did notice however. 'Wow, I can see why those guys in Team RAIL comment about Nico the way they do...' she thought with a sweatdrop. Seeing how Nico could easily lose himself in thought like this, made her realise a bit clearer why guys were jealous of him, he loses himself in thought and girls take the opportunity to stare like horny rabbits. Even Noire had to admit, deep within the recesses of her mind though, that his thinking face was quite... cute, in a way. A word she NEVER thought she'd use to describe him with. If she ever uttered it out loud, Nico would likely say 'I'm a badass, not cute!'

Yeah, that sounded a lot like him...

* * *

Finally, Noire gave the waitress her order: a simple lettuce sandwich and a glass of water. She wanted to eat light so that she had enough energy for the Quest, yet also enough so that she wouldn't have to worry about throwing up when, not if but WHEN, she would engage in combat.

Once the Waitress was gone, Noire shuddered as she felt some of the stares that she got from some of the men in the café. It wasn't something she enjoyed in the slightest, like some girls did. She would rather, if someone WAS wanting to talk to her, to just do so and not be a creep about it. Fortunately, she was able to start off a conversation to put her mind off those lecherous stares. "Hey, Nico?" she began, bringing him out of his musings. Another personality trait she observed was how he got lost in thought so easily, but was just as easily pulled out of them. It was likely that the male developed this habit so that he could think on things, but be ready in case a surprise attack comes his way.

"You want to know more about me, am I right?"

Her eyes widened and a small gasp escaped her lips, to which Nico raised a brow while fixing her with a knowing gaze. How did he know? Nico had spoken with such surety, such certainty of her goals, that made her think he knew them. But how did he figure her out? She was sure to have kept the perfect poker face on the entire time they were together! Well, embarrassing moments were an exception, but still!

Seeing her confusion, Nico decided that it was time to come clean. With a sigh, the male leaned forwards on his seat so he could cross his arms on the Table. "It wasn't so hard to figure out, girl. It was as easy as deducing how uncomfortable you were with the hushed whispers from those civilians. In an effort to ease you, I brought you in here to a more relaxed environment. You were worried about possible rumours that could be used against you, am I right?" he questioned her, although with how he looked at her, Noire figured that he knew perfectly well how he'd hit the bullseye.

"I-I uh..."

Nico rolled his eyes as he saw how she was unable to form a coherent sentence. "Don't worry, you can speak your mind." he assured her calmly, but Noire didn't look like she believed him. Thus, the male glanced to a set of civilians on another table. "See those people there?" he asked her, prompting her to look in their direction. There wasn't anything noteworthy about them, they looked like ordinary civilians enjoying a day out. Thus, she didn't see what Nico was trying to show her to calm those nerves of hers. "See the fractured 'L' on their shoulders? That shows that they are loyal to Lastation's CPU. Its a system that was recently implemented by Lastation's Oracle some time ago. Only now, thanks to your slight retaking of the Basilicom, has it been implemented and more importantly, people are openly displaying their loyalties towards you."

The Blackette CPU furrowed her brows at that information. She didn't like the thought that her people were now separated like this, instead of one union. Some support her and the others support Avenir, likely. Part of her bitterly remarked how those that supported them were likely all businessmen and rich members of the community, while the ones supporting her were the lower ranked citizens. However, her mind screeched to a halt when she heard the mention of a certain word from the male's lips, although she managed to wait till he was finished when her brain finally rebooted. "Hold on, the Oracle? Kei? But I thought she..."

"Was on Vacation?" Nico finished for her, a wry smirk on his lips at the notion of that woman taking a break. "Please, even if you forbid her, that woman will still be committed to her work. Her loyalty to you actually kept several companies inspired to support you as well, Noire. Even on Vacation, your Oracle remains loyal to you, and that isn't something you can simply dismiss." he explained to her.

Not that she would, but Noire distinctly remembered giving the Oracle a Vacation. It hadn't been long after she returned from Celestia, but when she did, she had seen how ragged and stressed her Oracle, Kei Jingugi had been. Thus, she had immediately told her to go on Vacation and leave the management of Lastation to her. Kei had protested for what felt like hours, but in the end her fatigue, stress and own desires along with Noire's stubbornness had won the argument. She should have figured that Kei would not take 'having a break' as an excuse when the Nation was in peril. If she had been a betting woman, then Noire would have said her break was barely a day's length... at best.

Oracles were basically the direct assistants to the CPUs. They have been so for the last few centuries, helping govern the lands in the CPUs Absence. Like the Spec Ops Programme, the concepts of Oracles was only established several centuries prior to current times, although they weren't very well known outside the Basilicom right now. Hopefully, once this Console War was over and done with this status quo would change for the better.

Right now though, Noire had no time to be thinking about that. Instead, she was more focused on how Nico had seen through her despite her attempts to hide it. "I guess you are... you say that these people are loyal to me and not to Avenir?" she asked him. He gave her and nod and wordlessly gestured to everyone in the building, making Noire look at them carefully. Now that she was looking for it, Noire noticed that everyone wore the same fractured 'L' symbol on their clothes, the location varying.

That meant that, according to his word, that these were Pro CPU supporters in this Café, including the Staff. Suddenly, Noire realised why Nico had taken them here of all places, this was a place where they could talk like normal people and not be criticised for it, and when she processed this fact Noire felt like a large weight was lifted off her shoulders, which slumped from the lack of tension as she gave a small sigh. "Ugh, I see... I wish this was all over with, already..." she almost whined at her complaint, but right now she didn't care.

"Believe me, you and I are on the same page there." Nico admitted, glancing to the side with a scowl on his features. Avenir wouldn't be in control of Noire's nation, not for long anyways, not while he had any say in the matter. That much he could guarantee. However, now was not the time to be planning that, so Nico turned his head back to her. "Anyways, you wanted to know about me, right? So how about we ask each other questions, then?"

Noire blinked at this, but soon understood where he was coming from. Thus, the questions began.

Seeing as she was the one who agreed, she decided to go first. "So, what's your favourite colour?" she asked him, eyeing his clothes. She figured that since he dressed darkly, that he was a fan of dark clothes, which was kind of cool in its own right. He and her had that in common, she figured.

Turned out, Noire was right as Nico leaned back and, with a grin of self-pride, gestured to his clothes as he responded. "Black, baby. Black is the best, nothing beats it. Other dark colours are cool too, but black's my guy." Nico LOVED the colour black, for it was not only stylish for him, but also practical. Who could hide in the darkness at night when you wore colours that practically shone like sunlight? Not him, Nico loved the darkness, he was all about that stuff. Hell he listened to things like Skillet and Starset, both bands sing dark songs that resonate with parts of his inner soul.

Now it was his turn, and Nico already had a question on his mind. "I've always wondered, but... are you a Cosplayer?" he questioned, making Noire stiffen. He had always been curious, ever since Noire tried to use it as an excuse to hide her identity. While she was bad at hiding her cover, Nico HAD noticed an odd sense of passion and embarrassment when she spoke, like she both liked it but refused to admit it.

In response, Noire looked down, shifting in her seat. She rubbed her hands together on her lap, and fidgeted, biting her lower lip as she gazed down at the table. At first, he thought she wasn't going to answer, but then he heard it. A muffled "Yes..." under her breath combined with the most shy, adorable look on her face that he had ever seen.

'Holy shit... I just discovered why the Lastation Fanbase exists...'

With how she was acting right now, Nico felt it wise to not pry too much, but he couldn't help but comment about her hobby. "Hey, no need to be shy now, you hear." he told her, firmly. Looking up at him with surprised mixed in with her expression, of which Nico nearly felt his heart burn at the cuteness, he nonetheless continued. "Doing something you enjoy is NOT something to laugh about or mock. If you like Cosplay, don't let people tell you any different. I know a few Agents in the Guild who like that sort of thing, so don't worry about it." he told her, smiling a kind smile at her and having total honesty in his eyes.

This was something that made her blush worsen, yet there was a sense of joy and relief in her eyes, shining like sparkling stars. She had always feared what people would think about her if they learned she liked to cosplay, and before Noire would never have admitted to it. But, somehow, Nico was able to not only drag it out of her, but assure her that it was alright, that he didn't mind that she liked it. Maybe they could do it together sometime in the future, where things weren't so crazy.

It took her a while to calm down from how happy she had felt when he said that, and when she did, Noire decided to query on something that had been bugging her for a while now. "Well, I guess it's my turn now." she muttered, before gathering her courage. this was getting easier and easier as time went on, a part of her noted. "So, what do you have as a favourite weapon? Normally people stick to one, yet you have a sword, a pair of guns, and from what I've been told a set of claws and armour. Which one's your favourite?"

"Honestly, I have no favourites, Noire." Nico replied, and that surprised her. She had assumed that he would pick either his sword or Plasma Claws, according to what she had learned from Neptune. He had seemed to favour those weapons highly, above the others apparently. Hearing him say that he had no favourites threw her off. "I may like some more than others, but I wouldn't call any weapon I have a favourite of mine, because they all have helped me survive up to this point. When one fights with a weapon, they tend to form a bond with them, and that's what I did with my weapons." Though, if he were to say which one he would be the best at using, there was one weapon that he felt could fit the bill... and it wasn't any of the weapons in his Void Storage or an Armour-built one. Not even Soul Edge or DDD would beat this weapon.

Shame he wouldn't use it around others.

While she pondered this, and thought about her own HF blade, about how attached she had become to it, Nico decided on a question of his own. This one was based on several onlookers though, all of them curious about their interactions. Perhaps he could silence all possible scandalous rumours and also install faith in Noire at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone. "What do you feel about yourself as a Goddess?" He asked her, causing Noire to stiffen in surprise at his question.

Did anyone notice how each question was being increasingly detailed, she wondered. Nevertheless, Noire had an answer ready, one that she had made based off interactions between her, Nico and Neptune. IF and Compa were more like acquaintances compared to those two. "Well... In the past, I probably would have said I was the best Goddess ever..." she started, frowning deeply as she recalled how she was like in the past. Thinking back on it, with what she knew now, made her almost want to laugh mockingly at her past self, a self who never even realised all the horrible atrocities being committed within the Nation she was proudly promoting to be the 'best'. "But now, with what I know I'd happily say that was a, pardon my language, but a fucking fantasy. I was blind as too the suffering my people were gong through, and I know I can't do anything to change that."

The admittance of that... didn't feel as heavy as she had suspected it would. Maybe it was because she was talking to someone she knew wouldn't judge her for it, someone who had convinced her to change, but whatever the case was, Noire was nonetheless grateful. "But, even so I still intend to retake Lastation. I intend to make amends for my past mistakes. That is my pledge, my oath sworn on my pride as a Goddess of Lastation." she said, her tone having shifted from is previous solemn to one of undying resolve. Her eyes shone with the determination bridled within her, a clear sign of her pledge.

Seeing this side of her made Nico smirk in satisfaction, but what made his smirk widen all the more was the pleased muttering of the Customers and staff that had listened in on them. It looked like their faith in Noire was growing, and by the time the day was done, he bets he would feel a significant rise in power from their faith. Normally, he would have frowned upon them from putting their faith in a deity instead of their own hands, but this was an exceptional exception. Before, he never knew the Goddesses on a personal level. Before, he hadn't seen how they were capable of change.

In his mind, various exclamations of 'about damn fucking time!' and 'Fina-fucking-ly!' ran rampant.

After calming down from her brief verbal pledge, Noire looked back at the male with a thoughtful expression on her features. "Its my turn again." she commented bringing his attention back to her. "What do you think of the girls?"

"Huh?"

"I mean Neptune, Compa, IF, Raven and that Lucy girl. What do you think of them?"

"Oh." Nico blinked, momentarily surprised at the question. He never expected her to ask him that question, his train of thought had predicted her asking him what life as a Spec Ops Agent was like, but this could be interesting too. Nonetheless, Nico opened his mouth to answer, but then the Waitress returned with their orders. They politely thanked her and she gave him a much more noticeable glance this time. This one, made Nico shudder, something Noire noticed but didn't comment on, before the Waitress left and Nico responded to her question. "Well, I think Neptune's a bit bipolar, to be honest."

Noire raised a brow at the description he gave her. It sounded a bit vague, so she asked for clarification. "Bipolar?"

The male nodded, leaning back while taking his coffee and bringing it to his lips. "Yeah, I mean, one time she can be cute, innocent and a major pain in the ass, but the next she can be a bit... grabby, I think that's the way I can put it." he shuddered, remembering several events in the past where Neptune did attempt to get... frisky, with him. For whatever reason he couldn't comprehend. Then, the incident that made her name him her 'hubby' came back to his mind. "Other than that, I do find her fun to be around, even with her quirks. She doesn't let anything get boring, and jokes about a whole hell lot. She does have this charismatic charm to her too, but I guess that's to be expected from a CPU. Still working on processing that, even now..."

A chuckle came from the blackette. With how Neptune was, it always did seem difficult to believe that she was a CPU. Thus, she could understand his bewilderment, even if he figured it out already. In fact, it would have been worse for him since he knew her for a long time before her identity was revealed. So he was used to thinking of her as an adorable brat, or something similar.

"Still, can't really hate her for it, in fact, one could say I'm rather fond of her. Anyone who hates Neptune gets my boot up their asses." Nico stated, and if she knew him as well as she thoughts he did, Noire felt that he would carry out that threat. "If anyone harbours even a shred of negativity towards her, or even goddess forbid Compa, then they are scummy assholes. For Compa, she is one of the purest, most kind people I have ever known. She is innocent, a bit ditzy as well as clumsy. Plus the way she tries to use sayings that actually have weird context to the conversation is all part of her charm. She has this gentleness that makes you wanna hug her and never let go. Oh yeah, she absolutely LOVES hugs and affection from her friends. It always puts a big grin on her face."

The male had to cackle at the memories. He remembered one time when he'd held er in his arms when they were watching a scary movie. Poor girl couldn't even look at the screen for a few seconds before burying her head in his chest. Nico had watched it the whole way through though with a big smile. He always did like horror and gore movies, much to his childhood friend's dismay. Though, the plus came from how he'd hold her and whisper softly into her ear a series of comforting thoughts.

"While those two make me feel like I can defy the world, IF's the level-headed one. She helps me stay grounded, and is quite easy to talk to. She's got this tomboyish vibe going for her, even though she's definitely feminine. Sometimes though, I get the feeling she wants to strangle me sometimes whenever I get sucked into the previous two's antics one time, then laughs at others. She's also someone I can talk to about my hypothesises and actually discuss them in detail, which I'm really grateful for."

Not to mention the fact that she was Spec Ops material, Nico mentally added. He was sure she possessed the brains, the brawn and the guts to pass the exam with flying colours. That exam was tough, tougher than anything she would ever go through, Nico just knew it. Nevertheless, Nico had every confidence that she would be able to pull through, she was just that good. Whether or not she passed the biggest of all his tests had yet remained to be seen, though.

"As for Team RAIL, well I'll talk about them both in this paragraph since this is getting to be a long ass chapter. Raven and Lucy are like two sides of the same coin. One is calm, serious and cold, while the other is wild, bold and sunny. They were like the sun and moon in that respect, complete opposites. Yet, they trust each other despite their differences. As for them individually, I'd say that talking to Raven is much easier than talking to Lucy since she and I are similar in terms of serious personality traits. On the other hand, chatting with Lucy always feels like a wild ride, you can never get enough of her. She has that way of making people want to talk to her, though she uses it in ways that... don't give her the best reputation."

That was putting it mildly, Nico thought. He wasn't unaware of how Lucy had flirted with and bedded nearly every Agent in the Guild, then moved on from them. But, he knew WHY she did that, why she only engaged in 'physical stress relief' as she called it, so he didn't really judge her for it. The rest didn't though, since she had pleaded with him not to tell anyone, that she didn't want what she had right now to be taken from her. Thus, he had complied and kept his mouth shut. As for Raven, there was also a story of how they met, one that was the reason why she tolerated his presence, as well as Aiden and Ivan's, respectively.

Noire listened to how Nico described them, listened to how he spoke, the expressions he made by talking to them, as well as the words he used. She wanted to know how he FELT about them, because it was clear as day that both Neptune and Compa were rather smitten with him. IF didn't seem as interested in him, but she could almost feel that something was about to change with her. The way he described them, it was a bit of a mix really. He saw them as close, at least, but there was something else, a... wistfulness about it all. Like he wanted something but he couldn't have it. Nonetheless, while it wasn't clear if their feelings were returned, it did seem that a friendship wasn't the only thing he saw in them.

That meant they had a chance, at least...

Their questioning took place like this, and soon enough the two were absorbed into their conversation, looking more and more like two people having a good time... and becoming closer for it.

* * *

In the end, they talked so much that the entire day passed by without them even realising. They had been so engrossed in each other's conversation that they hadn't even realised that the shop was about to close until one of the staff members informed them that they were closing. Seeing as how it had gotten late, Nico and Noire decided to head back to Chian's Café. Despite the fact that they didn't get to Quest today, Noire and Nico both felt this sense of fulfilment and satisfaction. The sense that something interesting had indeed been accomplished today. Both knew what that was however, so naturally they didn't talk for the entire walk home.

Once they returned to the entrance to Chian's Café, Noire opened the door to the Café part, and then turned to Nico. "Well, looks like we talked so much that we lost track of time..." she remarked, refusing to meet his gaze as she shuffled mindlessly. Having talked to him as much as she did, Noire had accomplished her objective of learning about the male. Of why she had seen so many girls fall for him as hard as they had.

In the end, she could definitely see why.

"Yep, looks like. Apologies for that, I didn't expect to be so into that conversation..." Nico apologised humbly, lowering his head in a means to bow to her. As far as he was concerned, Nico had never truly submitted to anyone, and he was determined to keep it that way. Nevertheless, he did feel the need to apologise to her for keeping her from Questing today, he didn't expect to be so engaged in conversation with her like that. In fact, it made him see Noire in a new light, as instead of just a Goddess, now Nico knew her as a fellow fighter, a warrior queen, and a potential equal. While they talked, Nico had asked her what she liked most of all, and while she did comment a bit about Cosplay, albeit in a nervous manner, she also said that she felt a warrior's spirit was part of her, thus she would always seek the thrill of a good fight, a fight against a worthy opponent. This was more prominent in her HDD form though, but he didn't care about that.

To him, he had found a fellow warrior.

Said CPU however dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. "No problems, there'll be plenty of times where we can Quest later." she remarked offhandedly. While no Quests were done today, there was always the next day, in her mind anyways. There was always going to be requests made to the Guild, problems that need to be addressed, things to do and people to protect. That would always mean that the CPUs, the Spec Ops, and the Agents of the Guild would be needed. She could take solace in that.

Now came a hard part, something she had been thinking about for the majority of their walk home. Noire looked down, avoiding his gaze as she put her hands together, playing with her thumbs. "Hey, um, Nico...?" she asked him hesitantly. She didn't need to look up to see that he was gazing at her right now, a gaze of confusion about her mannerisms changing significantly.

"Hm? What is it, Noire? You alright, or-"

CHU!

Nico's eyes, and mouth, flew open wide as he suddenly tensed. The reason, Noire had practically closed the distance between them instantly and gave him a peck on the cheek. His brain refused to work for that one instant, his body paralysed by the shock coursing through his system. There was literally nothing he could do right now, for at this moment, he was at Noire's mercy thanks to her actions.

'Is... Is she...?!'

Before he could resume his thought process, Noire pulled away while casting her gaze to the side, her cheeks, along with the bridge of her nose, a healthy pink as she put her hands behind her back. "That was... for showing me a nice time. Its kind of relieving, you know..." she began, before chuckling with mirth, raising one of her hands and scratching her cheek awkwardly, an action influenced by how embarrassed she was at what she just did. "I mean, its not often I got to talk to someone like that, not even Neptune could hold a conversation like you, so... thanks..."

Her tsundere personality then returned with a vengeance however, as she gave an angry glare at him that... didn't have the intended effect of scaring him as much as it should have. "But don't you even think of telling this to anyone, you hear?! Especially to Neptune!" she demanded of him. By the Goddesses, Neptune had the biggest blabbermouth she had ever seen, several examples of this appearing in her mind like her casual insults to both her and Avenir. The potential humiliation she could cause with this was something that gave her shivers.

Fortunately for her, Nico understood her intent immediately. "Girl, my lips are sealed." Even he understood that Neptune wasn't the best at keeping secrets, a time when she tried to blurt out the fact that she was a Goddess on social media came to mind, only for Nico to wind up next to her in a major show of plot convenience. Girl was dangerous even if she didn't want to be.

With that said, Noire turned to go inside for the night... before turning back around and giving him a brief hug. She then finally went inside, closing the door behind her and leaving Nico outside.

'Wow... Noire definitely acted differently today...' Nico thought to himself, before turning away and walking into the night. He had things to do still, before he would return to the girls. IF had texted him a message saying that they had found a Hotel for the rest of their time in Lastation, so they wouldn't have to worry about constantly booking rooms.

Though, he hoped they didn't buy one that would significantly affect their Credit savings...

'Wait a minute... could this be considered...? Nah, that wouldn't make sense, she just wanted to know more about me. Nothing like that at all...'

* * *

Back at Chian's factory, everything was mostly silent to the blackette. There was no indication that Chian had returned yet, which was something she was both relieved and saddened for. Noire leaned against the door, looking downwards as she thought about what she did just now, to Nico. Her cheeks made a digivolution from pink to burning red as she thought about how his cheek felt on her lips. 'Oh goddess, why did I just do that?! I literally pecked him, sure but that was all! a Peck! He deserved it for taking me out like this, not that I liked it or anything!' she screamed within her mind.

While the intention was to get to know him better, talking to him like that made Noire wonder. Was that all she wanted from that encounter? She had expected to be pissed off beyond recognition about not being able to Quest for the day, plus she could just read up on what happened at the meetings, but for some reason Noire had felt more satisfied with today's events than she would have if she'd done those things.

Why was that exactly?

With those thoughts running through her mind, Noire let loose a huff as she walked up to the living quarters Chian's factory had. She would think more of this later on, but for now she had sleep to get. After all, tomorrow was going to be extra busy thanks to today.

She thought she'd feel annoyed by this...

She didn't...

And that's how the Tsundere evening went.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **THERE!**

 **Goddamn that was a long ass chapter! Longer than my last long one, which was over 15K!**

 **Thankfully I've done it, readers! I've made a new chapter focusing on Noire and Nico!**

 **We get his thoughts on the girls, and while he doesn't have insanely high romantic interests, I feel that Nico's character is in a steady position. Noire's also staring out, but it'll be slow. This harem will NOT be rushed, Compa has the childhood friend card so she is safe, and Neptune has had several arcs so far. Plus, we've seen a bit of Vert in this Arc if you haven't noticed, and I do have plans for Blanc.**

 **Also, what would you say to special scenes like in those games? Little tidbits that aren't too important to the story yet have an insane amount of references.**

 **let me know with reviews, PMs etc.**

 **Hunter signing off**

 **Peace out!**


	44. Chapter 43 - Back to Planeptune

**Chapter 43 - Back to Planeptune**

"Huh, Nowa isn't coming with us?" Neptune asked, surprise and confusion in her tone as she looked at the blackette CPU before her. She, along with the rest of the Party and Team RAIL were standing by the entrance of Chian's Café, and Noire had just admitted that she wouldn't be joining them. IF had suggested they return to Planeptune for now, as the lack of work for them thanks to Avenir's little stunt had destroyed the prospect of job offers. There was little work to do in the first place aside from Abnormal monster hunting but at this point the girls were done with that for the time being.

It had been a couple days since Avenir's attack, and things were progressing smoothly. Noire had been helping people with repairs in both her human and her CPU forms, though she didn't let anyone know that the two forms were linked. The only exception had been Chian, and even then, the circumstances were… different at the time. At first, Chian had been unsure as to how to behave around her, but the blackette had been quick to assure her that she would rather be called Noire by her and her companions. She didn't want there to be formalities between them, especially after what they had gone through together.

Furthermore, IF and the girls had been, as implied earlier, hunting Abnormal Monsters that Nico had recommended for them. The Abnormals were tough, tougher than the usual versions they had been fighting, which had prompted Compa to deploy her Armour, something she hadn't done since arriving at Lastation, and Neptune to activate HDD before they would go out, so they could get an edge on the enemy. IF meanwhile, experimented with her new powers as a BOW, learning a lot about herself. She had been operating on her own for a long time now, ever since she was a young girl, so self-teaching was nothing new to her, which allowed her to progress further than Nico had done with his DPU powers. At least, before he had gained a mentor in them.

Speaking of which, Nico had been spending his time helping with the repairs, sometimes coming across Noire while working which lead to them talking a bit more. The Tsundere outing still had its imprint on their minds, especially their ending, which caused some manner of awkwardness between the two. Although they both agreed to keep up a mask of normality when Neptune and the others were around. It would be a pain to explain, and once they did Neptune was likely going to grill them with teasing. Teasing like that innuendo...

People would say that the girl was 'thirsty'.

Fortunately for them the awkwardness didn't last that long, as thanks to helping with the repairs and training they got a lot more instances to talk. Ever since, their relationship improved drastically, the two getting to talk like they were close acquaintances. Usually, when in public they didn't talk about anything personal, mostly just stuff about their plans for their next adventure. However, whenever they were alone Noire would talk to him about her secret hobby of Cosplaying, telling him about the various outfits she made through sewing ans crafting. Meanwhile, Nico would talk about his war stories and offering advice to certain situations. Though, he did express some interest in joining her for some Cosplay when this was all over, and the four CPUs were at peace.

In training, Nico was just as vicious and unrelenting with Noire as he was with Neptune and the other girls, perhaps even more so thanks to her being a Goddess. Before, Noire rarely joined their sparring sessions, since she felt like she wouldn't gain much of anything valuable, but none time when Nico whooped her ass during a time when Neptune and the others convinced her changed that pretty quickly. She didn't want her pride to be tarnished by the fact that she couldn't even beat one human. Thus, she joined every sparring session she could, while making time for other matters. Se refused to let the fact that he whooped her ass stand, not for long.

Though, she never did manage to beat Nico, though she was closer than the other girls.

As for his training with Biko, him and Nico would train for what the real world recognized as a couple hours, but it was really tens of hours in the male's inner world, improving on his existing abilities like his swordsmanship with Soul Edge, its shape-shifting abilities, as well as its other powers. By that, he meant that he'd found a way to use his mind to control the weapon and make it attack enemies on its own. It would serve him well if he wanted to attack one enemy while focusing on another, or keep multiple enemies off his back while using other abilities.

In addition to that, his Wings had been improved in their morphing abilities, becoming any weapon, he desired. Usually it was either Tendrils or massive clawed arms, but sometimes he would make them form weapons like claws, blades, drills or axes. As for the detaching and releasing of projectiles, Nico wasn't as confident at using them fully yet, but slowly he was getting there. Him and Biko predicted that in a couple more days he'd have that skill down pat, and then there would be training to refine it to a suitable level for usage in actual combat.

Last of his known abilities would be his Tail, which Nico had largely neglected most of the time he activated DDD. The Tail that was prehensile and could defend his rear flank when needed. It also had the ability to launch long, sharp talons from when it flicked itself in a certain direction, talons that would detonate on contact. In addition to that, when demonic energy was added to it, it could fire a constant stream of Talons, as the energy would replenish the cells it used to generate additional Talons after the old ones were fired from the spaces between the segments that made up the Tail.

Aside from training in those four things, Nico would spar with Biko in DPU or human form, putting his skills to the test. Now he knew what the girls felt when they couldn't get a hit on him, as Biko would always guard against his attacks no matter what he tried. Nico supposed that the man got stronger as well by training, which would explain how he would keep up with him. It didn't help that Biko was just as brutal, if not more so, than he was, though thankfully their training in his inner world didn't affect his real body too much, as he only returned to a body with minor aches, and even then hiss regeneration took care of it.

Through their training and breaks, Nico discovered that the demonic personification shared many traits to his DPU form's personality, strong willed, serious, determined, calm with a hidden sense of bloodlust. In addition to that, he had a great amount of knowledge and wisdom, born likely from the fragmented memories that he possessed. Biko and Nico also regularly conversed through their mind link, either about topics coming up in the male's daily life, or theories on topics like the DPUs. One such theory revolved around Ganache and how he managed to look so young while being the founder, which meant he was over 50 years old. Biko suggested that the virus in Ganache's system was the cause, as it stopped him from aging, or at least slowed it down to a snail's pace.

It was a decent theory, one that they were willing to follow for now till they could ask.

"Don't call me Nowa! It's Noire!" the blackette yelled in response, shaking a fist towards the purplette.

Said purplette was unperturbed by the hostility being emitted from the blackette as she waved her hand dismissively, rolling her eyes at her. "Oh, come on. You can call me Neppy, if you'd like." It didn't really bother her what she was called, be it her normal name or a cute nickname, although she did like the latter. Thus, she pressed on with the goal of making Noire cave in, although the gleam in her eyes showed that she was just messing with her. Like she said, Noire was fun to tease.

Huffing, Noire crossed her arms and turned away in a classic classy manner. "No, I won't…! No wait, why would I?!" she then shouted towards the now chuckling Neptune while everyone else just stayed silent and watched.

'And we get a daily dose of the Nep-oire drama commercial…' Nico thought to himself, rolling his eyes with an amused smile spreading across his features. This had been happening for so long now that he was used to seeing her tease the blackette. Plus, with how much work Noire had done he figured she could use the teasing to lighten her up.

 **'** **Indeed, I can sense that her tension has decreased every time the CPU of Planeptune has tried to tease her. On the other hand, she may wish to tone it down for a while, if she does not wish to deter their friendship back into hatred.'** Biko commented, and Nico could hear the contemplative frown that he was sporting. While he could agree with Biko there, the male felt that Neptune would be aware of that, despite what her appearance might suggest. The reason he thought this was simple: that night she cried in his arms. It showed him that, just like everyone else, Neptune had problems that she had trouble expressing.

Now that he had completed his first visit to his inner world, Biko took to conversing with him mentally on different subjects. Most of them pertained to things like Quests, daily life, and his training, but he didn't speak too much. While he could hear him, the girls could not. Which made sense, but it did make him look less sane than he really was.

Shame Biko couldn't stop his nightmares, which began happening more often now.

 **'Apologies, it appears your mental state isn't as healthy as a normal person's.** ' Biko commented within his mind. He didn't sound too apologetic though, but Nico didn't blame him for that. He was simply stating a fact, one that Nico was all too aware of for a long time. He always knew his sanity... wasn't as stable as a normal person's, just look at how brutal he was with training the girls. **'In addition, I have observed these 'nightmares' of yours, and I do believe they have a heavy implication on your mind. I will need to commit more research before I am certain.'**

'You do that, Biko...'

It was unlikely that Biko would find anything that Nico didn't already know, since his amnesia wasn't like normal amnesia. He had been tested and the doctors said that his mind was suppressing the memories by force, like it refused to accept them within his psyche. These nightmares, they were more of a coping mechanism to deal with them, as well as a means of helping his m ind recover from whatever drove him to suppress those memories.

While taking a breath to calm down, Noire remained oblivious to the male's thoughts as she gave a small smile towards the purplette, knowing what she was doing. "Well, you were sleeping when the others found out, but… I still got things to do here." It was left unsaid that she would make sure to keep Avenir from causing another tragedy like this again. The people of Lastation would be seeing more of her, much more now that she had a mission to do.

Still didn't stop Neptune from being disappointed though. She looked down in disappointment, slouching with her shoulders dropped and her arms hanging before her. "Awwww…. And here I thought we were going to be best buddies…" she whined. She wanted to not be the only CPU in their Party, as the loneliness would be there. While she was a playful prankster girl, Neptune did have feelings as well. Something Nico had seen fit to bring into the light.

She still couldn't get the thought of that night by the hill out of her head. Its seemed on the surface like a textbook romance scene in a visual novel. However, if one looked a little deeper, one would find there to be much more hidden meaning behind it. There was so much about her that she had always kept hidden for her fun-loving personality. She hid away her pain, her sorrows, her loneliness, everything. for a while, nobody had realized it, her mask had fooled practically everybody. They didn't eve notice how conflicted she had been when she discovered her identity as a CPU.

But then, when she was at her lowest that night, Nico came.

She hid away the blush that threatened to form on her face as she remembered that night. That night, she could understand a little better what he always said about Mass and reflection. He showed her that it was alright to wear a mask, to make people think your happy when your not, to make people think your easy going when your stressed. But, when the time comes, one must remove the Mask to show their real selves. People can't grow too attached to their Masks, otherwise they wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and they'd become their Masks. But Nico, he managed to see past it and give her the comfort she needed, not wanted, NEEDED.

How could she NOT want to thank him the way she did?

Just before Noire could respond to that statement, Compa walked over and patted Neptune on the back, as if to say 'there-there' to her. "Now, now Nep-Nep. Let's not bother Noire." She then thought of a way to cheer the girl up, knowing that she would be like this for a while yet. "We still have to find the Key Fragment in Lastation, so we can come back."

IF nodded her head in agreement with the Nurse-in-Training. She had her phone out as she was checking the times for their trip back to Planeptune. It wouldn't do if they made it to the Sky Harbor but couldn't travel there for hours upon end. "It's true. We'll be back here." she stated, blunt and direct, just the way she liked it, before resuming her research.

Nico then jumped into the conversation, deciding to say something to help cheer the girl up. "They're right, Neptune. Seriously you think we'll be gone forever? We still have things to do, we're taking a break, is all." he reminded her. They still had to find the Key Fragment here, and kick Avenir's ass for what they've done to the blackette CPU's home. Why wouldn't they return? Even if they couldn't at the moment, eventually the cry for vengeance shall be answered.

Finally, the last one was Noire who smiled as she spoke, her tone indicating pleasantries, but the more observant members of the party noted that she too seemed reluctant to see them go. "I'll be sure to greet you all with open arms, then."

Their combined words, thankfully, managed to lift the preteen's spirits, as her eyes brightened and regained their energetic glee. "Aww geez, you guys are the bestest of friendsies for worrying about littl' old Nep. #SNIFF# #SNIFF# I'm so proud…" she responded, making fake sobbing and sneezing sounds, while dramatically rubbing them away, though it didn't fool the others.

While watching the preteen, Noire rolled her eyes before she remembered something she wanted to say to Neptune for a while now. her eyes narrowed as her posture took on a rigid, serious position. "Before I forget, Neptune? Don't go around saying you're a CPU, you hear? I'm not sure about the other lands, but each has their own problems."

"Huh?"

"Noire has a good point, Neptune." Nico agreed with the blackette CPU, already his mind and that of Biko's were forming theories and plans for research on the other Nations. Even if they didn't have their own issues, which was highly unlikely if assholes like Avenir have control over Lastation, it wouldn't be good to proclaim you're a CPU in enemy territory. That would just be like screaming that you want to have a target painted on your back.

Unknoingly, IF summarized what the two were thinking in a nutshell as she spoke, drawing Neptune's attention when she formed a confused expression, not getting the danger that her identity could bring when in a foreign nation. "That's right. If they find out, who knows what might come our way."

Now that they explained what they had meant, Neptune hummed in acknowledgement, before grinning with confidence as she planted a fist on her chest and another hand on her hip. "Oh, I'm not that dumb, Y'know." She proclaimed with her head held high. "Don't wanna trouble anyone like that, it'd give me a bad end…" she then aimed a teasing grin towards Nico, something that Compa frowned at, knowing she was about to tease him again. "If that happened I'd never get a chance with little Nicky jr."

The male paled when she said that, quickly covering his groin while glaring at her with KI flaring all around him. "Hey, stop that Neptune!" he yelled but his angry blush didn't help him much.

Compa nodded her head, pouting in annoyance. "Ni-Ni's right Nep-Nep!" she proclaimed fiercely, fiercer than usual thanks to having gained confidence from her confession of her feelings for Nico. The male gave her a hopeful glance, thinking she was about to save him from the embarrassment known as Neptune's teasing. "We need to get a few dates out of him before getting Ni-Ni's jr!"

Only to face fault with red spreading across his features when Compa unknowingly made the situation even worse for him. Slowly getting to his feet, Nico held his red face behind his right hand, groaning in embarrassment. "Ugh, goddamnit, Neptune…" he bemoaned, glaring through his hand at the preteen. "Now look at what you've done…" his eye caught Noire's slight smirk of amusement at his plight, and his glare increased tenfold. "Not another word from you, Queen of the Tsunderes."

"Q-Queen of the Tsunderes?!" Noire's amusement quickly became replaced by a shocked and embarrassed face as she glared at the male, just as red-faced as he was. The male merely smirked back at her as if to say, 'feels bad, doesn't it?'

Watching their interaction, the perpetrator laughed as the two had their silent glaring contest, holding her belly. "ehehehe, something tells mwa that the teasing material won't go away any time soon. Better prepare your body, Nicky, cause it's in for a wild ride!" she bellowed, before looking towards Noire and ignoring the male's glare. "And anywho, don't worry Noire, I just have to reveal my identity at the last scene, right?"

Compa beamed as she made a comparison between Neptune's words and somethings he had seen in the past. "Just like in a theatre! Oh, then I want to come out at the encore call!" she bellowed with excitement, excitement at something that most likely would not happen in this lifetime.

"Oooh! Good, good Compa! And we'll have Iffy and Nicky pull curtains backstage!"

As they watched the two girls bicker merrily about the 'theatre' they were imagining in their heads, Noire gave a tired sigh, already feeling her head start to ache at the preteen's antics, as well as how gullible Compa was. She held her head with her left hand, before lowering it, shaking her head, and giving the two other members of the Party a stare that had a mix of fatigue and sympathy. "IF… Nico…? Are you sure you're going to be fine…?"

 **'** **I believe you and I will be alright, as we can talk to each other, however I am unsure as to IF's predicament…'**

'On that, we can agree. Say, you can sense diseases, right? You told me once after a sparring session. Can you see what IF's body's like?

 **'** **If you're wondering if she'll get a tenant like me, do not be alarmed, her body's mutations won't allow that to happen. At best, her mind will form some barriers against mind-control based abilities.'**

'Got it, thanks.'

 **'** **You're welcome.'**

While unaware of the mental communication between the two demonic energy beings, IF released a tired sigh just like Noire did, looking like she was 30 years older than she was in truth. She then aimed a smirk at the blackette CPU, brimming with confidence. "I'm fine, I have Nico with me to keep my sanity… though even him might not be enough." She glanced to the girls, and saw how they were now acting out a certain tragic love tale, with Neptune on the ground and Compa beside her reciting lines in an archaic fashion. she groaned and held her head with a hand. "I'm already getting a headache."

Sweat dropping at the site as well, Nico walked up to her and offered a bottle of water. "Here, IF, maybe this might help." He suggested while also offering one to Noire as well. "They're ice cold. So, they'll stem the headache a bit…" he advised, watching the two and their antics. This was the CPU of a Nation, and an aspiring Nurse-In-Training... He was beginning to fear for Planeptune's safety.

"Thanks, Nico." Both girls said at the same time, taking the bottles and pressing them on their foreheads, quickly moaning in pleasure at the cool sensations they experienced. Those bottles came from his Void Storage, so they were extra cold thanks to the lack of heat in there. Nico never really minded the heat, but the cold never really bothered him anyways.

… why the hell did he feel like he made a reference right there?

Unfortunately for them, trouble arrived when their moans attracted the attention from the two acting girls, whom quickly dropped what they were previously doing in favour of becoming annoyed at receiving Nico's attention when they weren't looking. Both quickly stood up and stormed over to them, angry pouting faces on full blast. "Heeeeey! No fair, are you guys trying to be Nicky-hogs or something? Not cool, Iffy, not cool!" Neptune exclaimed as she pulled on IF's sleeve to get her attention. Like her annoying mannerisms wouldn't be enough.

Compa also had an angry pout on her face as she too pulled on someone's sleeve, and that person happened to be Noire. "Nep-Nep's right, Ni-Ni's ours, stop trying to hog him all to yourselves!" she whined.

This caused the other two girls to step back, taken aback by the sheer intensity of the two girls stares. "Wh-Wh-What are you saying?!" Noire shrieked, finding her voice first as her face reddened in embarrassment. "I hardly even know the guy, we only spoke a few times after we beat Avenir's Killachines! There's NO way that we'd be l-l-lovers!" she stammered, trying to look convincing however the girls didn't buy it.

Nico would have intervened on the girl's behalf; however...

'DOES NOT COMPUTE! DOES NOT COMPUTE! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN IMMINENT!'

His face was that of a microwave oven right now and his mind had blue-screened, forcing Biko to begin restarting his mind with demonic energy.

Seeing as she was the only one who could make coherent sentences, IF cleared her throat and levelled an annoyed glare at the two girls. "Now cool your jets, kids. Nobody's trying to 'hog' Nico here, he was just giving us some water, it's not like he mean's anything by it. Look, you've knocked him out." She scolded, gesturing to the motionless male.

Both girls looked to where she had gestured, and when they saw what Nico had been reduced too, they both freaked out. "Oh no, our Nicky's malfunctioned! Quick, someone get the defibrillator thingy! We gotta restart his heart for us!"

"Nep-Nep, he's not dead we just have to take him with us! C'mon, we gotta hurry back to Planeptune, the scenery will jog his system back up!"

Both Compa and Neptune quickly ran towards the direction of the Basilicom, carrying a frozen Nico like a log of wood. IF watched them for a moment, sweat dropping at their handling of the male, before she turned to Noire and gave a small smirk. "Whelp, there they go. I gotta go catch those idiots before they end the poor guy. Feel sorry for him already. Anyways, see you later, Noire." She spoke, extending a hand.

Noire looked at it for a moment, calming herself down before smiling pleasantly as she took the hand, the two hand-shaking firmly. "You too, IF. Good luck keeping those two in line." She remarked with amusement.

The brunette nodded her head, knowing what the blackette CPU was referring to. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't kill the poor guy. Hey, you idiots! Get back here!" With that, IF ran off to chase them down, Noire watching them as they left for the Basilicom.

* * *

"So… there they go…" Noire mumbled to herself, the light in her eyes dimming slightly as she watched the lively Party go. Now that they were gone, the CPU of Lastation was alone in the streets. Team RAIL had to return to Planeptune ahead of them, seeing as they were needed for multiple Abnormal Monster hunts. Planeptune Abnormals were rising in numbers, Raven had said, so their group was usually very busy. They couldn't afford to be in another nation for too long.

Even so, now that they were gone, she began to realize… she kind of liked the excitement that group brought. Neptune's antics, Nico and IF trying to keep the peace only to fall victim to her randomness, and even Compa's gullibility which led to Neptune's antics getting all the more uncontrollable. She just now realised that, with their absence, how much she had gotten used to it.

Now that it was gone...

Shaking her head, Noire made to leave the area. There was still lots to do for repairs, and things would have to change thanks to the information she had learned. Just when she turned though, she heard the crinkling of paper, and looked down to see that a piece of paper had fallen out the pocket of her Skirt. It landed on the ground harmlessly, the winds almost kicking it up and carrying it away.

Curiosity got the better of her though and stopped that from happening, as she grasped the paper gently, to avoid damaging it, before she brought it to her eye level. "Huh? what's this? I never put something in my Skirt there…" she wondered, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "Was this Neptune's doing? Ugh, that girl, seriously… she always knows how to grind my-"

She stopped mid speech when she opened the piece of paper, revealing it to contain a list, a list of numbers. But Noire quickly realised that they were not a list of random numbers, but a list of PHONE numbers. Each one had a chibi face next to it, ones she recognised as members of the Party she had just been with. "Eh? What is this…? Wait, there's a note down at the bottom."

Noire looked down in surprise at the note, and when she got to the bottom she would never admit it, but her cheeks had gained a slight hue to them:

"These are for you, Noire.

Just in case you wanted to talk to us, they're our phone numbers so you don't have to worry about networks. No, this is not Neptune's idea, but my own. Hope this brings you comfort.

Your companion, Nico DEATHSTROKE."

PS: now you can say you're no longer 'Lonely Heart' as Neptune put it ?

Below, there was a drawing of a Chibi Nico giving her a thumbs-up and a happy smile. Noire stared at the drawing for a bit, her eyes mystified by what she was holding. "Did that guy seriously… give me everyone's Phone Number…?" she wondered, shocked in her system. She remembered one of their conversations where, while she told him she'd castrate him if he told anyone it, but she would miss them when they were gone. He'd said he'd do something about it, and while Noire knew that Nico valued his word highly, a part of her still suspected he would forget… To think, that he remembered and fulfilled his promise…

The blackette CPU stood there in the middle of the streets, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, until someone came up to her from behind, tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, Noire, what are you standing out here for?"

At the voice's sudden presence, Noire almost squealed in fright as she jumped, twirling around and just barely stopping herself from summoning her HF Blade. She soon relaxed when she saw that it was Chian, who looked surprised at her panicked response, before she leveled an indignant gaze at the mechanic. "Chian, what did you do that for?!"

"You were standing here in the street, smiling widely for some reason. Honestly reminded me of a schoolgirl getting asked out by her crush." Chian replied honestly, shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes widened in realization and a smug smirk formed on her features. "Lemme guess, someone caught your fancy and he asked you out, girl? Do I have to get the dresses out?"

At the woman's implications, Noire blushed bright red as she hurriedly declined them. "Wh-Wha-?! N-No! That's not it at all, there's no way I'm happy at all or anything! Nope, not one bit!" she stammered, flailing her arms up and down so fast that they were like blurs.

It didn't do a good job of convincing the mechanic, if the expression of doubt on her features mixed with a knowing one was any indication. "Riiiight…" she drawled. She then decided to inquire onto something else, knowing she wouldn't get a straight answer if she asked directly. "So, what got you in such a good mood there, Noire?"

Noire stuttered, her face red as she tried formulating a response. However, her mind was too preoccupied with… other thoughts to entertain the notion. Eventually, she just gave up and huffed. "Hmph! Like I need a reason to be in a good mood! Coma along, Chian, Lastation won't run itself you know!" she demanded, quickly strolling past the blunette woman while crossing her arms behind her back… having folded the paper back up and hidden it in her hands.

Her thoughts went to the one that did that: the redhead male member of Neptune's party, and her previous smile slowly came back to her face, along with a pink hue on her cheeks. 'That guy… he's really nice… When he gets back, I'll make sure to thank him by having Lastation better than ever, for sure!'

* * *

Neptune flopped onto the back of the bed of Compa's room. The party had returned to the cream haired girl's house, Nico and Compa having commenced the cleaning. Since nobody had been around for a while. Nobody had been able to properly maintain the house. At first Compa had been insistent on doing it herself, but Nico eventually wore her down to the point where she accepted his help. "Whew." She heaved a relieving sigh, feeling her body relax on the bed. "This place really is "home"."

When they had returned to Planeptune, the familiar scenery really did serve the purpose of knocking Nico out of his stupor and bringing him back to reality. He'd been flustered like nobody's business when he learned what they had did, carrying him like a sack of potatoes the entire journey back. The thought of so many people seeing him like that, giving them, weird or disbelieving looks made Nico want to disappear into the cold yet isolated hands of oblivion. It had taken a major portion of his pride as a male, and took the entire journey back to Compa's house to get him back to normal.

"The bed is comfy, games all over, and pudding's stocked in the fridge!"

Now that she said that IF, who was looking at her phone while sitting on a chair at the Desk, one leg crossed over the other, glanced up with annoyance clearly visible in her eyes as she regarded the purplette. "Great way to start the next segment of this Chapter, slacking off and all." She remarked with heavy sarcasm, one of her arms resting on top of the chair's back thanks to her sitting sideways on it.

Neptune responded to IF's comment by rolling so she was on her side and facing the brunette, an equally annoyed expression on her features with one arm lifting her head off the bed with the other sprawled out across it. "You're so serious, Iffy. We did a lot at Lastation, so give me a break." she whined, before flopping back down onto the bed back first.

Once again, IF had to roll her eyes at the laziness that the purplette CPU was displaying as she made her second snarky comment. "Give you a break? Well maybe if the break wasn't over a week already." It had been a week, like IF had said, since they returned from Lastation, and at first, they were all for taking a well-deserved break from the craziness that happened there. From Avenir to the many crazy occurrences with Noire/Black Heart, plus the viral outbreak that occurred, some rest and recovery was definitely in order. The only problem was that Neptune's definition of a 'break'… didn't exactly fit with IF's version, though the brunette partially expected this due to Neptune's laziness.

"C'mon, now's my only chance to get cosy with the puddings, you dig? Whose gonna kick back now? It's me, yo!"

"…Really? SHE's the CPU for Planeptune?"

The door opened before the conversation could go any further down that topic, and destroy what remains of IF's patience. The cause was revealed to be a beaming Compa, who was also carrying a large bowl of pudding with a single spoon in hand. "Nep-Nep…" she called out in a long, drawn out voice as she walked into the room. "I made some tasty-tasty milk pudding!"

Like a bloodhound attracted to a scent of meat, Neptune's head shot up as she flipped off the bed and made a beeline for the Pudding in Compa's arms, which she put on a small table in the middle of the room. "Yay! Pudding! Milk Pudding! Milky-milk pudding!" she cheered merrily, also sounding like she was singing a national anthem as she grasped the spoon which had been left sticking out the side of the bowl and began digging in.

Seeing this didn't elevate IF's irritated mood in the least, in fact it only made her more exasperated as she levelled her gaze towards the cream haired Nurse-in-training. Neptune may be lazy, but what Compa was doing only seemed to promote it, and IF made sure that she knew this. "Compa, you really should stop treating Nep like a Queen." A certain male would have wisely cracked that it should have been Goddess, and not Queen, but that male wasn't present at the moment.

The girl turned to her, her eyes glistening with joy that remained after watching Neptune wolf down the treat she so loved with her being. "I know," she spoke with a tone that indicated she was aware of why IF was saying what she did, before she took the pose a schoolgirl would when eyeing something adorable. "But seeing Nep-Nep melt away with my pudding is just so cute!"

IF had little to argue with on that front, as Neptune finished off the pudding with a look of ecstasy on her features. "Compa! This pudding is the BOMB! Can I get more of these morsels?!" she exclaimed, shooting to her feet and handing the bowl over to their gracious hostess. Her eyes shined with an intensity that wasn't there earlier, due to having some pudding stored within her system.

Gently taking the Bowl and spoon from her hands, Compa giggled at the cuteness that her friend was showing. "I'm happy you like them, Nep-Nep! More coming right up!" she chirped happily, turning on her stocking clad heels and making for the door. Since she had her hands full, Compa closed the door behind her with her feet while on her way to the kitchen to get more of the Pudding that Neptune wanted.

Once again, IF watched this spectacle which had become a common sight this last week, rolling her eyes as usual. A sigh escaped her lips at the hopelessness she felt with those two. "#SIGH# these two…" she muttered shaking her head with a palm on her forehead. She then lowered it as she sat back in her original position on the chair, looking down at her phone to resume what she had been doing earlier. "Well, I guess it's better than being in peril. I supposed it isn't too bad to enjoy the moment. Whelp, let's pick up where we left off…"

* * *

Walking down the stairs to the Kitchen, Compa hummer merrily to herself as she went to get more pudding for the preteen. Even if they had acknowledged each other as love rivals, they could still be friends as well. After all, this was a world which was once a world full of cute girls and lots of ecchi scenes with hints of a Yuri fest, so it's good that the straight romance isn't taking anything from the main genre.

'There we go again, Nep-Nep's logic is rubbing off on me…' Compa thought, giggling again as she entered the Kitchen and began making another batch of pudding, using fresh utensils so Neptune wouldn't get any germs.

While cooking, Compa began to reflect on everything that had happened since she first met up with her friend/love rival plus her childhood friend/ love interest. So much had happened since those two had come into her life, filling it up and turning it into an energetic experience that left no time for feeling bored. Back before they came, Compa's life had been rather mundane and boring in routine: get up, morning ritual, breakfast, do chores, watch TV, play some games if she felt like it, make lunch, more TV, and then dinner before going to bed. She hadn't gotten the chance to go to Nursing School thanks to the Monsters, leading to her living a boring lifestyle.

Thus, she was ever grateful to Neptune and Nico for bringing some excitement into her life.

Now that she was filled with people she could call friends, she found her life to be much more enjoyable than before. she had friends to laugh with, her childhood crush had come along for the ride, and was the most respectable gentlemen plus a total sweetheart at that. He'd earned the trust of Iffy, someone she had learned was rather skeptical about guys due to their less than stellar reputation, whatever that meant. Her Ni-Ni was trustworthy, anyone who says otherwise would get their shots from her big Syringe.

Unbeknownst to her, many people suddenly cringed for no apparent reason.

Though, with her Ni-Ni's shyness, pure honesty and his innocence in the field of romance, it was only natural that he touches the hearts of other girls. He just had no idea of the effect his 'purity' had on other girls, which was commonly known as density. However, while unaware of romantic actions, the denser guys can be, then the better they are as boyfriends as they tend to be the most honest and trusting, looking at girls with sincerity and not lust, well, mostly.

When Neptune had proclaimed that Nico was her 'hubby' Compa had felt devastated and heartbroken, thinking that her chance had slipped by thanks to her reluctance to confess how she felt to the male. However, when she saw how Nico had reacted to the girl's words, a part of her realized that he meant it when he said that he didn't know what was going on with her, or why she said the things she did. It was typical Nico behavior, something that quelled the heartbreak in her being.

And when she kissed him right after, with some help from Iffy of course, she had literally taken the first step towards winning Nico's heart, the male having been reduced to a stuttering mess in the aftermath. It had only been made worse by Nep-Nep's kissing him on the lips as well as if to say, 'bring it, girl!'

Thus, the vying for his affections began.

She was sure that Nico was unaware of what was going on, even with those kisses on the lips they'd given him. This was to be expected, she had realized, since Nico had been a Spec Ops Agent for longer than he had been a teenager, and her grandfather never did manage to give him the birds and the bee's talk. Compa blushed crimson when he'd done that to her, give the 'talk' that is. It had been the most embarrassing thing she'd ever heard from him, even if it gave info on the feelings she had developed for her childhood friend at the time.

The point was, since he had spent more time with his job and little time socializing outside of it, Nico had become… somewhat socially inept. The way he became embarrassed or flustered when girls made moves on him was a good indicator, but he wasn't completely unable to socialise since he was able to exchange playful banter just like the rest of them. This though was mostly suppressed by his serious Spec Ops side, the side that was most dominant.

Again, not unexpected give what he had done for 4 years straight. While he may be the most experienced in the four lands out of all of them, even Iffy as much as she doesn't like admitting it, Nico was also sadly lacking in some social skills. He preferred to be around people he knew, and those he didn't Nico tended to revert to his DEATHSTROKE persona. He only let his guard down when around them, something that both flattered and saddened her at the same time.

A wave of resolve washed over her as she resumed making the Pudding with gusto, this time with thoughts of her childhood friend in mind. 'Ni-Ni's been working really hard to help us on our journey, and we've had a lot of close calls that he prevented…' flashbacks to their first Banshee, the Banshee Queen, that woman who attacked them afterwards, Avenir and the infected creatures popped into her mind as she thought this. 'It has to change, we won't be dragging him down like we have before! Nep-Nep and I may not be the smartest tools in the shed, but we're passionate when we put our minds to something! I'm sure Nep-Nep feels the same way.'

At this point, the pudding would be done in a few hours, so Compa left it alone as she went into the living room to watch some TV. The male she had been thinking about was at the Guild, the last time he'd texted her, saying he had business there. She had a sneaking suspicion that finally, after a whole arc, the part of him that Nico had lost before, would finally return to him. Something that was an integral part of who he was as a person. Something he lost when trying to fight for them back in their beginnings as a Party.

DEATHSTROKE would rise again.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Whelp, not much happening this chapter. I'm honestly thinking of making separate chapters that focus more on Neptune and Compa's relationships with Nico, since there's supposed to be a week-long timeskip. Maybe, not sure. But hopefully they won't be as long as that last point 5 tho.**

 **Anywho, thanks for reading, fav, follow, review, etc. Maybe give me and Zergface's collab story a go. His storytelling meshing with my action-based styles, it'll be great!**

 **peace out!**

* * *

 **Special Event - Neptune's toothache**

"Oooooooooohhhhhhhh...! Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh..."

"Alright, I'll bite." IF, whose brow was twitching rapidly as she glanced to the preteen. Said preteen was on the ground, sprawled over it like a murder case victim. She had a hand over her mouth, with tears in the corners of her eyes while her form trembled like she was the source of an earthquake. Nico and Compa were out right now, each doing their own thing, which left her to deal with this little bundle of irritation over here. "What the heck are ou doing, Nep?"

"I don't know, my mouth was fine at one point, but now it aches something fierce!"

That was what she thought Neptune had said, but it did come off as some form of inaudible babble. Or Morse code, whose to say? Nevertheless, the brunette walked across the bedroom to the quivering preteen as she kneeled down and gripped her chin in one hand. she forced Neptune to open her mouth, and got a look into her mouth. Her eyes narrowed after a few moments, the conclusion becoming apparent to her. "Looks like you've got yourself a toothache, girl. Looks like your pudding thing has finally shown its fangs to you."

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:

PUDDING HURTS THE TEETH!

"Huh?! Hey, that's not my gimmick in this game!" Neptune shouted, bolting upright as she waved away a text box that had appeared in her face. "That's someone else's who'll be in a future story!"

Ignoring the preteen, IF checked her phone for the time. Her eyes stared intently at the screen as she mumbled to herself. Eventually, she spoke clearly so that the preteen could hear her. "Well, looks like we have some time. I know a dentist nearby, they should be able to give you something for your toothache."

"But don't you have to go for an appointment, first?!"

"You do. I just guessed, with my powers, when a toothache was going to happen and booked one ahead of time." IF stated nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders as Neptune gave her a disbelieving stare. "What, manipulating Biology has its perks, you know."

"Yeah, I get that, but me thinks you were invading privacy a little there, girl..."

"What, and you don't whenever you try to et into Nico's bracers? He hasn't not noticed, he's going to get you back for that."

"Urk!"

The brunette smirked, finally some amusement. She wasn't lying either, which was the best part. Nico had known that Neptune had bee trying to get into his Bracers for some time now. Whatever the reasoning was, he planned on getting her back in the near future, and IF would be there laughing her ass off when it happened. Before then though... "Come on, we're going to be late as it is, and I have a feeling you don't want to have Nico see you like this."

"Bu-but-but-"

"No butts! Let's go!"

* * *

By the time Nico and Compa returned from their errands, the latter being to visit some people she went to school with while the former was a Quest that needed to be cleared, both came back to her house to find Neptune sitting at the table. All life looked to have been drained out of her, a depression cloud having formed over her head as she drunk from a large bowl of... was that milk?

Nico looked to the side, seeing IF sitting at a chair not far from the preteen. She had this expression on her face that clearly indicted that she liked what she was seeing. The male glanced to her, then to Neptune drinking milk, and a swear drop formed on his forehead. "Lemme guess, tooth ache?"

"Yep. Nep was prescribed some stuff, and recommended not to eat pudding for at least a week. So she's taken to drinking milk to speed the process up faster."

"I see..."

The teen couldn't help but think that Karma had finally paid Neptune's door a visit. That's what you get for eating so much of something.


	45. Chapter 43 point 5 - A Nep Date

**Chapter 43. 5 - A Nep Date**

The following day soon came rolling, shining its sunny rays down upon the world known as Gamindustri. Down in Compa's house, Nico slept in one of Compa's guest rooms, his face buried in the large fluffy pillow. His face lay buried within the warmth generated by the soft, fluffy pink pillow while the large blanket covered the rest of his half naked body. He wore his black and red PJ's and boxers right now, with his clothes safely tucked away in his Void Storage. Only his Bracers were clad on his arms right now, something that was as natural to him as breathing. Nico never went ANYWHERE without these babies, they were as important to him as his beloved Armour. His mouth was slightly open, soft snores escaping from within. To the casual onlooker, there was nought a trace of the hardened mentally damaged Spec Ops Agent in sight, instead there lay the face of an innocent toddler getting much needed rest for the day.

In simple terms, Nico had a cute, childish sleeping face.

The Guest Room was much smaller than Compa's bedroom by far, but it was still comfortable to stay in. Her entire house had that warm, family feeling to it, something that he absolutely adored about her home. Even after Compa got it from her grandfather as per stated in his will upon his passing, it still felt as homely as he guest room, if one looked at it from a bird's eye view, would be like a 'P' in shape. There was a short walkway that had a small shower room installed at the right side. At the back there were some cream colored curtains covering a matching sized window, while before that was a simple single person bed. It had a wooden frame, with a bright pink mattress and a fluffy pink blanket cover. At the wall to the bed's left, was a small Stand, which had a similarly small TV and a planeptune game console stashed neatly underneath it. There was a controller and a few games, too, while on the wall opposite the bed was a tall wardrobe, filled with various clothing.

It had been in many of his fantasies, coming back from a stack of tough, brutally difficult missions, all stressed and depressed from the things he'd seen, to this place of warmth, solace and comfort. One could say this place was like the light to his darkness, a single slice of heaven in a world full of nothing but sheer hell. This was a place Nico would love to return to every time he felt the weight of life battering him to pieces, of that he was certain. Not to mention the company he'd have here, an angelic, heavenly house like this deserved a matching owner, and his childhood friend was that in a nutshell.

Compa... Just by muttering her name within the depths of his subconscious brought a small smile to his face. Back in Chapter 1, she did comment on how she was worried that he'd forgotten her, thus his initial lashing out. He could NEVER forget someone like her, not even for a little bit. For so long, she had been the reason why he stayed alive for so long, he would stay alive so he could just survive and then return to his childhood friend. Then, they'd sit down and enjoy themselves for the rest of the day, chatting, joking and laughing without a care in the world. It honestly reminded him of the days that they spent as kids, laughing and chasing each other in the yard without a care in the world, nor a care for the dark, cruel world around them. For so long, he always thought that Compa was one of a kind, an angel among angels.

Now though: He'd found another.

" GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOORNINNNNNNNNNNNNNNG NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCKKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Eyes shot open wide when his instincts screamed against him. Without thinking about it, Nico pushed himself into thew air from his former all fours position, flipping like a sausage to avoid the white and purple missile that suddenly slammed into his bed. "Whoaaaaaaah!" the said 'missile shrieked, panic laced within her voice as she was rebounded off the bed and into the wall beside the window. Slowly, she slid down to the bottom, before flopping down to the ground, landing on her side.

An abrupt THUD signaled her landing, combining with the one Nico made when he landed on all fours in an almost musical symphony. The male, who'd landed almost like a cat, spent a few precious seconds catching his breath while trying to push the haze from the early-morning wake-up call. "Huff, huff, huff... Man, that's one way to wake someone up..." the male muttered under his breath, before closing his eyes and clearing his thoughts. He brought the storm of emotion within his mind to a standstill by willpower alone, which took a few moments before he opened his eyes and stood up, arms crossed before his chest as he looked down sternly towards the culprit behind this act. "What the hell are you doing, Neptune?!" he asked her, his voice slightly louder than his expression would allow.

Hearing the question/demand from him, the missile unraveled herself on the floor, revealing it to be a sheepishly laughing Neptune, who was only dressed in her hoodie with her stockings and shoes vacant. Did she just get up or something, Nico wondered in his mind. "Ahahahaha... Mornin', Nicky! Your wifey just came to wake ya, is all." she told him with a bright grin, shooting up to hr feet in a flash. "This Nep's a-whoaaa, whoa-whoa!"

Apparently, she'd gotten up too fast, for the purplette soon looked dizzy, holding the side of her head as she swerved dangerously on her spot. Just when she was about to fall over though, Nico shot forwards and caught her, his eyes now showing urgency and concern instead of his previous sternness. "Easy, easy girl. You got up to fast from your little stunt just now..." he muttered showcasing the emotions in his eyes as clear as crystal. Nico quickly made sure that the preteen Goddess was alright, that she could stand on her own two feet, before his sternness from before reared itself again. "Now then, care to tell me why you just did that, young lady?"

"Eeeeh... Hehehehe." Once again, Neptune laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head as she shamefully remembered what had just happened to her. "First my morning entry scene messes up, and then I almost hurt myself a second time? What, is there a hatrick being aimed for here?" she remarked, obviously trying to be meta in order to defuse the situation. However,the look in Nico's eyes told her that she had better answer him or something horrible, like the loss of her Pudding rights, might befall her. "Okay, okay, fun's over, I get it." she said, taking a breather before she opened her eyes again and focused on him. "Compa said she's making breaky for us all, so she told me to come and get you."

"And you thought dive-bombing me was a good idea?"

"Yeah... not one of my best plans, but hey at least the scene was interesting!"

 **'I do believe this was an attempt at a reference, Nico.'** Biko commented within his mind, making the teen sigh. It was just like Neptune to try and replicate a scene from an anime, and if that was the case, then he had a good idea of which Anime she was trying to reference. It's been referenced several times during the story, so hopefully the readers can catch the anime reference.

Leave it to Neptune to use memes and references to defuse the tension.

"In any case, I'll be down in a moment, I need to get changed, first." Nico told her, after face palming and dragging his hand down his face. He turned around and made to raise his bracer...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

However, the preteen made no movement to leave, much to Nico's confusion/irritation. He turned to her and aimed a glare that showed just how much he was feeling those two mentioned emotions, a brief spike of demonic energy swirling within his gut. "That's your clue to vacate the premises, y'know." he told her, his the indicating heavily how he wanted her to leave.

Though, in typical Neptune fashion, the preteen remained where she was as she put her hands behind her back and leaned forwards, stepping towards him with a dopey grin on her face. "Awww, what's the rush? Can't you lemme stay for a bit?" she asked him with her version of a 'cutsey face'. This one involved Neptune's face being inches away from his own, with her eyes large and wide and upturned lips. Nico stumbled back slightly, so she stepped forward and pressed onward. "I mean, we've slept together many times by now, so we should be comfy with seeing each other naked."

Nico's brow twitched visibly as he recalled the few times he had woken up and seen Neptune and Compa in the same bed as him. That's probably what she was talking about, he assumed. Nevertheless, it didn't mean that he would be okay with seeing her freaking naked of all things! That was a MAJOR no-no in his book! "Have you developed some of your HDD personality into your own or something?" he remarked, his lips dripping with sarcasm like i was venom, only to earn a slight smirk from Neptune for his troubles.

...

...

...

In an instant, Nico was behind her, the door having somehow been opened so fast Neptune couldn't see it, and then Nico kicked her up the backside, launching her flying through the air. "Ahhhhh-awawawawawa-oof!" Neptune shrieked, flailing her arms wildly before she landed face first on the wooden floorboards. Her lower body arced above her, making her look like a 'C'.

"Wait outside like a normal person, Neptune!" Nico yelled with several tick marks on the top of his forehead. This girl gave him migraines, she actually gave him migraines. With that done, Nico slammed the door behind them, allowing him some privacy at last.

* * *

Later, Nico had gotten dressed in his usual Spec Ops attire, and decided to go down to meet Comp for Breakfast. The male took the walk slowly though, since he kept gulping nervously while trying to make it look like he was as nonchalant as possible. Internally though he was nervous as all hell. It had been done many times before, him eating alongside other people, but all those times he always had a stream of nervousness coursing through his veins. Nico literally walked on a tightrope every time that he agreed with these little meals. One small misstep, one tiny mistake could clue them in that there was something wrong with him, and thus they would try to investigate. True he had that excuse in mind, but how long would that last?

'EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE, AW, ISN'T THIS JUST DELIGHTFUL?!'

Nico's brow twitched, his foot freezing mid step as he tensed. His form quivered slightly, hair shadowing his eyes as he clenched his fists hard. Gradually, they began to turn a ghostly white with how hard he was clenching them as Nico forced himself to focus only on the pain. The pain, that was the only thing real right now, the pain, pain, pain...

'YOU DON'T THINK THAT WOULD WORK ANYMORE, DO YOU?!'

The surroundings distorted, and everything became a white hazy space. The space was large, ever expanding and all consuming like a never-ending hunger for everything around it. There was no sign of the warmth Compa's house radiated,. nothing of the sort. Instead, there was this coldness, this dark emptiness that deeply contrasted the pure whiteness of the surroundings. Behind the shadows of Nico's hair, the male's eyes were wide and sported many crimson veins, a look of pure insanity coming from him as horror and fear roared within him, battling for dominance as he struggled to maintain control. He couldn't lose it, no, not here, not now, not ever! He had done it once before and... wait, what?

'HAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, NOT RECALLING EVERYTHING N THE CORRECT ORDER. THIS IS YOUR FAULT YOU KNOW. YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THIS, YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY YOU ARE NOW.'

Suddenly, Nico felt something icy grip around his neck, making him let out a silent gasp in a desperate struggle for air. He couldn't even feel his windpipe anymore, as a numbness quickly settled in over his neck, spreading throughout the male's body thanks to that horrible, bone chilling, blood curdling touch. Yet, Nico did not dare scream, he didn't want to egg this thing on, he knew what it liked, he knew what it wanted. He had... always known... but the thing would not get what it wanted, not while he had any say in the matter.

'YOU THINK THEY WILL ACCEPT YOU FOR WHAT YOU ARE? ARE YOU THAT BLIND, OR ARE YOU A STUPID LITTLE RABBIT TRYING TO CLING TO SOME SENSE OF FALSE HOPE? NO, THEY WILL...'

A chilling breath ran down the back of his shoulder blade, sending shivers up Nico's spine. His eyes shook violently, like they were on the verge of falling onto the depths of oblivion while black dots danced across his vision. He could hear them, the cries, the screams and the psychotic laughter of the twisted ones, echoing through his mid and his very being. He felt a painful weight settle o his chest while slowly being dragged backwards, the voices growing louder and louder. Fear and panic filled him, while all the while the mad ones laughed in higher and higher pitches till they resembled hyenas on a sugar rush. He tried to raise an arm, but several more grips latched onto his limbs, holding them in place while the presence behind him edged ever closer, creeping forth from within the deepest depths of his mind, like a deadly wraith in the darkness of the shadows. Here to bring him back to that twisted neither that it had once came from, back to that place, that place. No... no-no-no, no! He will not, he will not go back!

No, not there!

Not back there!

Nevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernever-!

BADOMP!

It all ended. Nico gasped as the surroundings returned to that hallway in Compa's house. The warmth of the heating, the warmth and comfort of a familiar place, almost rushed back to his senses and enveloped him with their presence, calming down his panicked mind. Nico gasped again, taking heavy breaths as he fell to one knee hands firmly on the ground as he greedily soaked up the familiar sensations. The icy chills he felt on his limbs and neck were gone, like they had never been there in the first place, while his heart pounded away within the confines of his rib-cage painfully, like a jackhammer. Familiarity was good, familiarity was great. not familiarity was bad, not familiarity was horrible. That was the only thing that ran through his troubled mind as Nico tried to regain his bearings, utterly shaken down to the core from what just happened.

'AHHHH, LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE NOT READY YET.'

That voice, that goddamn, insufferable voice that was worse than anything Neptune could come up with, remarked with complete nonchalance, like it saw what happened just now as a minor pebble along a cobblestone road. Nico didn't remark to it though, because it was right, alarmingly right at that. Nico could remember every time something like this happened, and most of the time he had managed to break free before he had truly lost it. Though, there were times that he didn't and well... let's just say nobody was around to witness what usually happened next.

There were only a select few exceptions to this though..

'NO MATTER, I'M SURE YOU'LL COME AROUND, KING! AFTER ALL, THE THRONE OF THE KING IS YOURS BY RIGHT, IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THAT YOU RETAIN IT. EVEN AFTER EVERYTHING, YOU SEEM TO REMAIN FAZED... SAVE FOR WHEN I'M TROUGH WITH YOU.'

The voice chuckled, its twisted, eerie echo resounding through one ear and out the other like a painful sound wave. Nico forced himself not to flinch in response. He'd heard it so many times that he had honestly gotten used to it, to the point where instead of shrieking like a child that had a jump scare, he just flinched. Kind of fucked up if you think about it, if one experiences something enough, they tend to build a tolerance to it. This was the law of things, adapt and survive or stay still and die. In his case, it was learn to tolerate the voice's corrupt presence, or have it take over his sick, fucked up mind beyond repair.

'I'LL LET YOU HAVE THIS ONE, KING! BUT KNOW THIS, YOU CAN BE A KING OR A STREET SWEEPER, BUT IN THE END EVERYONE DANCES ALONG WITH THE GRIM REAPER.'

Finally, much to Nico's immense joy, relief and satisfaction, the voice's presence vanished, or rather, receded back into the shadows of his mind from whence it came. By no stretch was it gone however, oh no, Nico would NEVER be rid of this affliction. No, this was permanent, otherwise he would have tried to cure himself of it the moment he realized what he had become.

'Damnit... looks like I'm having hallucinations now...!'

If things could get any better, Nico heard the voice of his demonic personification echo through his thoughts, bringing his full attention away from the experience, if but for a short moment. **'Nico, are you harmed? Your mind looks like it has taken a severe beating from itself.'** Biko questioned. While his tone sounded apathetic, non-carting even, with the short amount of experience that he had with him made the Spec Ops Agent able to detect the molecule of concern within.

'I'm good... i'm good...' Nico responded, slowly picking himself up and wiping away the sweat from his brow that had formed from his little... gave a low exhale, his mouth shaped like he was using a whistle as he glanced about, using his enhanced senses to see if anyone was within the immediate vicinity. He had hoped this would have been a private thing, and to his good fortune, it seemed that it was. 'Looks like... I'll have to go hunting soon. I guess I can't rely on their rations for the time being.'

Biko didn't say anything for the moment, he didn't need to. He had been a witness to the male's mind almost tearing apart the chains that bound it just then, chains that it had placed there itself. He knew exactly what that thing was, and deep down, he knew that Nico did too, at least on an unconscious level. That thing... from the moment he was first birthed by the demonic energy reserves within the male, Biko instantly became aware that the demon energy user had never been fully 'normal' to begin with. Most of his body was human, down to the simplest of cells.

Then, there was this non-human aspect of him, something that shouldn't have been there. From what he could tell, this aspect of him had been around Nico for a long time, thus it made destroying it practically impossible. The Crystal had sensed this upon the merging with its current master/host, whatever is preferable, thus had ordered the energy not to tamper with it to avoid the risk of destroying its host completely. The result was a DPU, but not exactly a full one. Instead, there was a Hybridization of one, a DPU and... whatever this thing was. Whatever it was, it, along with several other factors unknown to Biko, were the cause of Nico's misfortune, his tragedy and burden.

Whatever it was, Biko knew that there was only one way he could help his host...and that was to support him in these trials, as well as the ones that would come.

* * *

After that little incident, Nico managed to regain his previous composure after a few moments... and the prodding of one particularly persistent purplette who had suddenly appeared behind him. He had almost gotten a heart attack that time, nearly unleashing IT upon reflex, however he had barely controlled it n time. Poor girl didn't even realize just what kind of horror she had just avoided, something that passed through his mind rather quickly when Neptune began pushing him down the stairs to where the Kitchen was.

Scents that would have smelled wonderful to a normal human, whiffed into Nico's nostrils and he had a horrid time pushing back his urges to scowl in disgust. Out of all the three meals, Nico found breakfast to be the worst. Anything cooked for breakfast always tasted like rotten rice in his mouth, sticking and turning into garbage that had spent years under a landfill. Lunch foods tasted like baby shit while tea foods tasted more like dog shit, though these descriptions were hardly the only ones he had for them.

Nevertheless, he managed to mask his disgust while sitting at the table, where IF was also sitting with one leg crossed over the other. She was looking at one of her phones, making the male roll his eyes at her behaviour. "You do realise its rude to have your phone out at the dinner table, right?" he asked her, a slight teasing smirk tugging at his lips, begging to be let out in full.

His question earned him a dull look from the brunette Guild Agent, who rolled her eyes back at him. "Hah, yeah thanks DAD." she snarked, electing an amused chuckle from him which got a small smirk from her. The two exchanged quick chuckles, before Neptune ruined it by suddenly appearing behind the male and wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"Heya, Nicky! Ya miss littl' ol' me?"

"Hey, get off, Neptune!"

"Daaaw, you know you like it! Hubbies like it when their cute little wifeys hug em."

As usual, Neptune proclaimed how he was her 'Hubby' despite the statements to the contrary. Nico grinded his teeth as the two began to argue about how he was her hubby and just in 'denial' as Neptune put it with a shameless grin on her face. IF, now unable to focus on what she was doing earlier, looked up from her phone with an annoyed scowl at the two. "You two should really keep it down, or at least get a room." she remarked to them.

"That's not the problem, here!" Nico tried to protest, however the look that the brunette Guild Agent gave him made it seem that she didn't believe him, a statement he figured to be truthful considering what he knew about her. The male gave a groan a few moments later, it was just barely morning and already he wished he could go back to bed. But, he had stuff to do today, so that wasn't an option. He had a backlog of quests to complete, 40% of them revolving around Abnormal activity which was rising at an alarming rate. Settlements and villages were getting increasingly worried for their safety, according to his browsing of the Guild Website. "Anyways, moving on, what do you have planned for today?"

It was the preteen who answered after a few seconds of silence, as she threw her arms into the air with her lips curled into a large smile. "I wanna just laze about, play games and eat pudding!" Neptune proclaimed cheerfully. Already she could imagine herself surrounded by pudding cups. A little slice of heaven I her mind, she would happily proclaim from the tops of the twin towers!

Now, if only she could get Nicky to call her 'wifey'...

While ignoring the sudden shudder Nico showed for some reason, though she had a feeling that a certain purple haired idiot Goddess was involved, IF rolled her eyes as she gave a response to what she would be doing today. "Well, Nep's response was expected. Aside from that," she took a small pause to scroll down her phone's screen, before looking back up at them. "I gotta head out as well. Like Nico, I've got things to do. Quests have been piling on, so-"

"Wait, I changed my mind!"

Her sentence stopped in its tracks, and IF swore she heard the sound of tires erratically screeching to a halt for a moment, before she shook it off and glared at the perpetrator. Said perpetrator was now, in a show of strength, trying to pull Nico out of his seat, of which the male was currently trying to resist her. However, his efforts were nevertheless rendered moot, for the strength the grip had was much greater than he had anticipated, although IF did notice that, for a brief moment, Nico had looked... relieved, for a moment. Why that was, she didn't know. "Ugh, I swear, you're so random, Nep..." the brunette commented.

"Thanks, Iffy! You'll get more love points like that!"

"I don't want any 'love points' like that, and that wasn't a compliment."

Her eyes saw signs of an impending argument, thus in an attempt to play peacemaker and not have Skill attacks flying all over the place, Compa broke into the conversation while wearing an apron. "What do you mean you changed your mind, Nep-Nep?" she questioned, curiously.

Turning her head to look at the Nurse-in-Training, Neptune answered with a shining gleam in her eyes. "Why, I'm gonna have a date with Nicky, silly!" she cheered, pumping a fist in front of her with a resolved light in her eyes.

...

...

...

...

...

Silence reined supreme across the entire house. Hell, even the landscape around the house was silent, as if everything within a hundred mile radius had heard Neptune's declaration, while the three could only just stare there, blinking dumbly every occasion. This went seemingly for forever, as if everything else was no longer relevant compared to the bombshell that had been planted by the beaming preteen.

Finally though, the bomb detonated in a blaze of glory

"HUH?!"

All three occupants cried out in union, staring at the preteen like she had grown a second head. When did she get this idea that a Date would be something she wanted to do? Moreover, choosing to go on a date when she had more character-esque things to do like play games and eat pudding? That was what she had said she was going to do originally, so what the fuck changed?

Apparently she sensed their confusion like a sonar scanner, as Neptune spoke, after of course discarding this strange set of sonar detecting technology she got from... somewhere. "Well, didn't Noire go out with him on chapter 42? Well, I had an epiphany: That should have been mwa, the main heroine of this franchise!" Neptune proclaimed, before puffing her cheeks out in irritated frustration, bobbing her fists up and down in front of her. "I'm supposed to be in the OTPs of every fanfics out there, but this one's different! I can't allow that, so pucker up Nicky, cause the Nep's about to establish our territory!"

Before Nico, or anyone else, could come even close to regaining their composure enough to shout their denials about such an idea, IF for how ridiculous it was, Compa for... well, jealousy reasons since she wanted to date him first, and Nico for the same reasons as IF, Neptune acted swiftly and dragged Nico by his neck out of the house. Her yells reverberated throughout the house.

"Don't worry Compa, pretty sure the Author's gonna give ya a turn, but not before the Nep's! Mwahahahaha!"

* * *

"Ugh... this is not how my day was meant to go..."

Nico had to curse himself as he held his palm over his face. He stood in front of a sweet shop, one that sold Pudding as part of its menu. He recalled sneaking looks at receipts Neptune had discarded, seeing them as 'useless' and found out something interesting. This was a branch of the same shop that was in Lastation, the one Neptune had visited when she ditched them. This was another example of companies branching out to different nations. It was a difficult process, he'd heard, but people do make a profit this way. Plus, whenever Neptune brought huge stacks of pudding to the Party, everyone had initially feared the worse for their Credit reserves. After all, with how bad Lastation's economy was, and with the quantity of Pudding Neptune brought over, it was only natural to fear for their collective wallets.

However, those fears had been put to rest one day when, out of a stroke of curiosity, Nico had examined some of the Receipts that came with these excess purchases, expecting the numbers to be massive. Much to his surprise though, while the numbers were large, larger than average for Pudding, they weren't as large as he had initially calculated. In fact, Nico almost assumed Neptune had changed the receipts somehow, but found no signs of tampering when he scanned the receipts with his Bracers. That meant that what he had seen was legit.

In the end, it became apparent that, after a bit of digging, it had been revealed that Neptune had been purchasing Puddings at a specific shop, all the time. She didn't visit many other shops that sold similarly baked goods, and the reason why had been because this particular shop had them on sale every so often. Thus, Neptune made sure to buy enough that could satisfy her hunger, but only when that sale was on. It surprised him at first, until he realised that Neptune DID listen to what he and the others said, despite looking like she didn't.

Looked like she wasn't as dumb as people thought she was... she was just lazy.

"Heeeeey, Niiiicky! C'mon, hurry uuuuup!" Neptune's shrill shouting cut Nico's thoughts off like they were on an execution platform. The male looked and saw that she was standing by the entrance to the shop, bouncing from one foot to the other while holding her hands close to her chest, clenched into fists. She had this urgent, impatient expression as she looked at him.

Rolling his eyes, Nico slowly started making his way to the Pudding shop, dreading the thought of having to consume so much human food. "Alright Neptune, I'm coming, I'm coming!" he yelled to her, his hands placed within his pockets, as if that could hide away the unease he felt deep inside his gut.

* * *

Once inside the metaphorical 'scent cage', Nico's nostrils almost hurt with how many nauseating smells that hit them. They passed through his nostrils like a disgusting plague trying to tear him apart from the inside out, but nevertheless Nico remained impassive, not even a twitch out of place as he moved to where Neptune sat, which to his well-hidden dismay, was by the closest table to the counter.

The shop's interior reminded him of a hallway with its layout, with tables arranged down the left side, and the counter on the right. There were cakes, sweets, and of course Pudding, displayed within pieces of transparent glass, each one proud and unblemished, like finely cut jewels in an exquisite jewel box. Checking their prices, Nico mentally smirked in satisfaction, his mind almost screaming with relief at having something to focus on instead of the protesting signals his nostrils were sending him. 'Heh, seeing the prices like this, it makes me almost pity Lastation. If their economy were not hit like it had from Avenir and Umbrella, I don't doubt their wares would be similarly priced.' he thought to himself, walking over to where Neptune sat.

 **'Nico, I do not understand why you force yourself to go through this. I do understand why you don't tell them your secret, but surely this cannot be the ideal situation for you.'** Biko questioned within the confines of his mind. Nico figured he was sensing what he was, considering that he was a part of him now. He likely had access to his five senses so he could see through him to the outside world. After all, how else could he comment on things with near perfect timing? It was the only answer Nico could think of. **'An answer that is correct. I can access your senses to see the outside world. It is how your energy repairs you along with that... thing... unfortunately, it includes feeling what you are ignoring.'**

'Sorry dude, don't worry though, I'll make sure we don't stay here too long...'

Said Preteen kicked the air under the table joyfully, tilting her head from side to side as if listening to a mental tune in her mind. She was even humming to some imaginary lyrics, something that made this experience a little less unbearable. The little things, the ticks and actions, of Neptune and the others never ceased to set his mind at ease. Good thing for Biko, since the lessening stress impacted him as well.

Sitting opposite her, Nico decided to get straight to business. He wanted to spend as little time in this place as possible, outside it wasn't so bad, but once he was inside Nico had never felt the urge to skedaddle as powerful as he did at that moment. "So you've brought me to this place, eh?" Nico questioned, raising a brow in Neptune's direction. "Why, though? Why not just play games?"

"Mwahahaha! How little you understand my young, sweet, little Nicky." Neptune responded, chuckling merrily as her playfulness shined through her lilac coloured eyes. "We're going on a date, didn't I tell you? A date is where a guy, and a girl, who are-"

Quickly raising a hand, Nico cut her off as he spoke sharply, leaning forwards on one elbow what a date is, Neptune." he told her.

"Really? I thought you'd be as dense as a pile of bricks since you act like a harem protag from time to time."

'... hold in the urge, Nico. Hold I the urge to lash out at her, you're better than that...'

 **'Even I must admit that this train of thought would be satisfying, but its worth is being brought into question...'**

Nico would have done more, but he knew Neptune, and knew from her behaviour that thinking about this would get him nowhere. Thus, he just decided to move on. From what he could assume, Neptune seemed to want to go on a 'date' with him, for whatever reasons she had. Nico didn't understand why though, Neptune hadn't seemed like the person who would be into going on dates, maybe in HDD form, but not her human self. Thinking back on it, Nico realised most of her advances were done in HDD form, when she had the confidence to back her advances up. His eyes narrowed as a particularly... disturbing thought came to mind. 'If THAT's her angle...'

Since Nico wore Masks often, he'd gotten good at reading people, sort of 'looking behind the Mask' if one would. It was a Skill he found handy, especially with how twisted and fucked up people could be. It helped him in more situations than he'd care to mention, saved him from some pretty tough scrapes in his time as a Spec Ops. In his eyes, everyone wore Masks, facades to hide their real feelings and personalities. Someone could appear nice and sincere on the outside, but behind the façade there could be someone who gave no fucks about shooting someone for the hell of it. In contrast, someone violent and seemingly sociopathic could actually be someone who was just hurting inside and was looking for someone to trust. Anyone could hide behind a Mask, it was a common thing to do in order to fit in, lest they be outcasted by the rest of humanity.

Apparently, this included the Goddesses, too, then.

"Say, Nicky..." Neptune began, getting his attention and breaking him from his thoughts. "What do you usually think about?" she asked him, looking intently at him from her side of the table.

The male almost looked away from how intense her stare was. There was nothing negative about it, nothing of the sort. In fact, it was just that, a stare, but behind that Nico could see a powerful fire in her eyes, a resolve to do something even if it meant going drastic to achieve it. It was something that normally, he would see in her HDD form, but instead it was on her human self. Another sharp contrast to what Nico usually saw from her. Nevertheless, Nico answered her question with honesty. "I'm just surprised, is all." he admitted, scratching his jaw thoughtfully as he met her gaze with his own. "I never expected you to be so... well, brazen I guess, with taking me like this."

"Why's that?" Neptune's intense stare changed, instead of what it was before, it now became a curious frown, mixed with confusion as she tilted her head in a manner that made her look absolutely adorable. It was at this moment that Nico felt that he could understand a bit why Neptune had so many fans in the Basilicom, her petite frame and cute mannerisms made the hearts of many swoon and almost fizzle out with heartburn, leading to death by cuteness. "Its my shtick, ya know? Bold, brave and completely fearless!" she proclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head upwards like those comic book superheroes.

Ironic he was making a comparison like that when his armour resembled that of an infamous comic book supervillain, huh?

Moving forwards, Nico paid attention to her body language, her tiny movements and other micro-expressions. He peered through the cracks behind her Mask, having ample experience with hers. It had always been easy to tell that she hid her feelings from the world, he'd seen it as clear as day when they travelled together, but after that first time that night when she dropped the Mask completely, it was almost second nature. "Yeah, I can see that." He remarked, before deciding to play along. He made a matching pose and spoke in a deeper, more pronounced masculine voice, imitating an announcer. "Captain Neptune, here to save the innocent, and protect all Puddings from evil!"

The Preteen gave a mad bout of laughter at his rather silly performance, holding her sides as she made no effort to conceal it. "Hahahahaha! Yeah, you got it in one, hubby!" Neptune proclaimed as she regained her composure and pointed a finger at him. Her grin was so wide that it practically split her face. "Captain Neptune and her sidekick/hubby, Nicky! Here to provide truth and justice for the people of Gamindustri!"

They both laughed like little school kids, sniggering and covering their mouths to suppress the laughter that slammed repeatedly against their mouths. After a while, the two slowly but surely calmed down, and let out long, drawn out breaths. Both even slumped backwards on their seats, looking up at the ceiling with dazed eyes... while still in synch.

"Man, that was interesting... and exhausting..." Nico muttered under his breath. He didn't mind though, because it helped him forget about the smells that were in the room. There was no waiter, so people had to go to the counter to get their treats. They didn't because there was a large queue, so they had taken a seat to wait till the queue died down.

It was then, that Biko made his own comments about what happened. **'Your emotions have stabilised greatly, as has your mind, Nico. I sense that you are far more relaxed than you have been in a long time.'** he spoke, every word oozing with truth like it was a sludge. Nico even felt that, if he had a body that he could see right now, Biko would be crossing his arms and nodding in confirmation.

'Yeah well, that's a thing I like about Neptune. She always has this sense of cheeriness that brightens anyone's day. Honestly, I don't think this party would be complete without her...' he thought back to the demonic personification. Then, a sense of foreboding hit him deep in the heart, as if what he just said was a premonition of things to come, which worried him slightly but not enough to make it show on his features. 'Why do I get the feeling that I've just jinxed us?'

No response came from Biko.

"Hey, Nicky, Nicky-nick."

"Eh?"

"I guess #o#e l#v# likes you, since your name goes with 'Nico Nico Niiiii!'"

"... Goddamnit, Neptune."

"Tee hee hee!"

* * *

...

...

...

Ugh, can't believe Neptune did that.

That was the first thought that came to Nico's mind as he once again had a palm over his face, the cheery preteen walking next to him as they walked along the streets. Neptune was happily chowing down on some Pudding, her face set into a face of mystic-level bliss. When the queue had died down after that... jab, at his name, Nico had gotten Neptune one of their Puddings, with her recommendations of course, and then they left. Paying of course, they weren't criminals.

 **'Nico Nico Ni? I get a feeling she is using an overused meme of sorts...'**

'Yes, yes she is, and please don't talk about that ever again. I swear to the Goddesses that will not become a running gag. It must NEVER become a running gag...'

After telling, or rather DEMANDING, that Biko forget about that moment of cringe for the rest of eternity, and even that sounded too short, Nico and Neptune now were walking through the streets, basically sightseeing. Since the 'date' was so spontaneous, there hadn't been any time to prepare. Fortunately, Neptune was one of those quick-to-adapt kind of girls, so this was basically no problem for her. Neither was it a problem for him, either. In fact, he liked this kind of date, nothing planned, and the wonders of the city to explore.

That thing with Noire was merely a small outing, at least in Nico's mind it was. There was hardly anything remotely akin to a 'date' thanks to Noire wanting to know more about the man that helped protect her Nation. Thus, Nico felt that this, was his first ever... actual date with a girl. EVER. Usually, Nico never had any interest in these kinds of things, opting to remain socially distant from those who wanted one from him and focusing more on his Training and Quests as a Spec Ops Agent. Thus, Nico had... little experience in the world of dating, in fact, something like this would have been awkward as all fuck... if it weren't for the date being Neptune. It was for that reason, that Nico felt that Neptune hid more than she let on, like she planned this all out in her mind, just to get a date out of him in a way that other girls would NEVER have succeeded in.

Now, now he was on a so-called 'date' with a cute girl, and Nico felt that... he didn't really mind. That was the bad part though, he couldn't afford to get any closer to the girls, Neptune, Compa, even IF and Noire. It was too dangerous, for both them and him, so it would have been better if he went and searched for the Key Fragments himself... only to find that, much to his surprise, he didn't.

Instead, he remained with the girls and stuck by them, through thick and thin without any regards to his secret. No, that wasn't quite right, he was aware of his secret and the risks of it being found out, but he didn't give it as much thought as he used to... only a slight fraction less. Fr some reason, a part of him was pleading for them to tell the girls the truth, that they were indeed trustworthy. It reasoned that if they could handle his intense... instincts, then surely they could handle the rest.

Unfortunately, that part was squashed by everything else.

"#SWOOOP#"

"Huh?"

Looking down, Nico felt something touch his arm. No, not just touch it, coil around it like a serpent, encasing it in a firm, yet not uncomfortable, grip. At first, he feared that it was something to do with his... hallucinations, but then he felt the heat coming from it. That was no hallucination, usually they were cold and dead, a lot like his mind when in that state. But this, this felt warm, inviting even... as well as very familiar.

When he saw the white and purple colours around what was coiling around his arm, he soon realised why, and looked up to the side of Neptune's head, She was way closer to him than she was before, and had linked her left arm with his right. "Uhhhh, Neptune...? What are you doing?" he asked her slowly, uncertainly. He took a slight gulp as he stared down at the petite beauty, her scent and the feeling of her flesh on his was... mouth-watering...

'No! Don't you DARE think of that bullshit, Nico! She is NOT like THAT...!'

"What, isn't it normal for couples to hug like this?" Neptune asked him innocently, looking up at him with massive, wide eyes. There was no mischievous smile this time though, just an expression of pure, childish innocence that only someone who had never experienced dating before could pull off. Neptune didn't look particularly shy about the gesture, instead she looked like it didn't bother her in the slightest, not one bit. Surprising... if one didn't know how to look underneath the underneath.

Before Nico could remark about it, though, the male noticed that they had found themselves walking by a park, one that was filled with a significant amount of people. There were young adults, teens, middle aged and even some elderly people just being there and enjoying the day. But what connected these people the most, and what sent a surge of dread mixed with embarrassment through his spine, was...

All of them... were couples: either holding hands or making out.

'... you have got to be shitting me...'

 **'My calculations show that this is indeed reality.'**

'Not helping, Biko!'

If there was any way this could have gotten worse, this was it. Nico began to sweat bullets as he eyed the many couples, some being a bit more... vulgar, than the made sure to not look at those. "Uhhh, looks like we have a crowd here, Neptune." the male remarked, before he made to walk away. "What do you say we head on out and-"

"Nope!" Neptune quickly and decisively shot him down with no mercy, quickly proceeding to drag him into the park. "We gotta be like a couple on a date, ya know. That's what this whole thing is about!" Her grip tightened on him, and just out the corner of his eye, a dismayed Nicocaught a smug, self-satisfying grin etching itself onto her features.

He quickly realized that this was karma for training them brutally all those times.

'Goddamnit Neptune... I'll definitely get my revenge!'

And thus, began their little walk through the park.

* * *

Walking along this pathway, surrounded by trees, wilderness and people, Nico glanced about nervously as Neptune hummed a merry song, snuggling into his arm like it was a soft pillow. In contrast to his nervous, agitated demeanor, she looked like she was having the time of her life. 'All these people here are couples... if the other Agents caught wind of this i'll never hear the end of it from them...' the male thought to himself, pale with fear and dread at the ensuing shame of such an event. It was no secret that many of the more popular Spec Ops Agents were trying to get him a girlfriend or two, or at least get him laid. He could imagine it now, him sitting in the fatal position with the silhouette of a female standing by him with a ladylike posture, and so many silhouettes with the words Spec Ops on them giving him cheers and congratulating him on 'becoming a man'.

Out of everyone in the Guild, Nico was one of the few bachelors n their ranks. It made for some... various awkward moments when he would be set up with someone else from the Guild, be it a fellow Agent or a member of staff. Nico had this the worst though, as even though he wasn't as well-known as the other Spec Ops, there were still plenty of females who desired him, either for a sex night or to have as a cute little servant. He'd lost count of how many times his colleagues tried to hook him up with someone for each attempt to end in failure thanks to his desires to work outweighing needs for physical human contact. Plus, team RAIL helped out there, keeping the horny ones away from him.

He wasn't some damsel though, so this behavior often got annoying. But he could understand why they would do it.

"Hey, Neptune..." this time, Nico had broken out of his thoughts of his own accord. The reason being, that there was something he wanted to know concerning the preteen. When he received a sound of questioning from the preteen, Nico looked down at her while they passed a couple making out behind a tree. their wet slopping sounds, indicating the level of passion they were enthralled by, flew over their heads as he asked her his question. "Why the heck do you still call me Hubby? We're not even married."

That was something he had been wondering about for some time, why would Neptune call him something like that and give people the wrong idea? True, Neptune could just be messing with him, she did already have a cute nickname for him after all. However, it was something that plagued him endlessly, promising no respite until it was resolved. Hence, why he had asked her now.

Neptune, after hearing his question, looked away and hummed to herself in a thoughtful manner. she placed an index finger on her chin, looking upwards towards her temples and pretended to be deep in thought... for a few seconds. She then retook her position on his arm, her smile ever wider as her eyes shone brightly with her happiness. "Why not? Its a term f affection, hubby. Plus i like doing it." she stated. "We're a part of a harem of cute girls after all, so why should we not use terms of affection?"

"Okay, one:"Nico, whose eyes almost flew out of their sockets, looked down sharply at her while raising an index finger. "We're not in a harem. I'd never treat girls that way, you know me. Plus, nobody would want someone like me anyways." He saw that Neptune was about to speak, likely to say something stupid, when Nico continued as he raised his middle finger. "Two, we're not even married, so Hubby doesn't count as a token of affection." he sated bluntly, making Neptune pout in his direction.

"Meanie."

"Yup, you know it."

"I'll just have to tickle you till you submit then then!"

"You try, and I'll make sure you cannot eat Pudding ever again."

"Eeek! Not the Pudding!"

Nico grinned as he outwitted the preteen. It may have seemed a bit cruel to threaten her pudding, but he did NOT like being tickled. It reminded him of his adoptive mother's attempts to do so herself... she ended up usually being thrown into a wall for her troubles. He'll make sure to buy Neptune some more Pudding later as an apology though, since he didn't like that flash of sadness in her eyes when he denied her that.

Before he could comment any further though, the duo passed into a small clearing where a couple sat on a log together. They looked quite happy, with the woman leaning her head on his shoulder and sighing in soft bliss. The woman then spoke in a tender, caring manner that shone volumes about the love she had for her boyfriend. "I love you..." she said, looking up at him with twinkling eyes. The man, whom was smiling back at her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer. He muttered something under his breath, and then whispered into her ear. The woman blushed crimson, and gave a fan-girl-like giggle.

This made Neptune detach herself from his arm, and gush over the couple with stars shining brightly in her eyes. No it would make more sense to say that they had literally become her eyes at this point."IIEEEEEEEEE! How adorable! Those two really must be close for that kind of Lilly rank!" she exclaimed joyfully, somehow not interrupting the two lovers.

Nico looked at the man, taking a few sniffs. The man;'s scent seemed... odd, it smelled of the woman's perfume, he could tell. In fact, it was drenched over him, an obvious sign that the woman and him have been... 'active' in that sort of sense. However, there was also something else... something underneath that which DIDN'T belong there. It wasn't like what he feared deep inside, Nico realized, much to his relief. However, there definitely was something off about that man.

Then, he caught a few twitches near the man;'s eyes, twitches that signaled that he was quickly glancing at something before returning his attention to the woman. Nico's sharp eyes caught it however, unlike Neptune who was too absorbed in the scene to notice. The male trusted his instincts, and they told him he was up to something sneaky. Glancing downwards in the direction the man;'s eyes had flickered for a nanosecond, Nico caught sight of something sticking out of his pocket, something black and rectangular.

'A... Phone? Why would he...?'

A mental frown marred itself in his mind, confusion etched onto the teenage Spec Ops' features for a brief instance. He then narrowed them into a steely gaze as an idea hit him harder than one of Biko's attacks, if this was what he thought it was then... shaking his head, Nico took a larger sniff, inhaling the two scents radiating from the man to better distinguish the two. One was perfume from the woman, he realized, and the other... was another perfume, from another woman. After all,men don;t wear perfume, so it became PRETTY obvious what this dude's angle was.

 **'This would be what is called in human culture 'two-timing' would it not?'** Biko questioned, his tone neutral, but... Nico wasn't sure, but there was something off about his tone.,. Not that he paid much attention as Nico's thoughts were mostly dominated by his anger. Anger at the man for what he was doing, and anger at how Neptune was being deceived by this asshole.

'You would be right, Biko... bastard, this is why I hold other people in such low regard...!'

Compa's grandfather was a man of honor. He was from a generation that knew how to treat a woman with respect and affection.. It was how he had met his dearly beloved wife after all. He didn't know much about her other than the fact that she was once a Basilicom staff member before she retired to start a family with him. Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact that her grandfather was Nico's role model of how a guy should act around women, and Nico did his best to follow such an example... too bad that when he looked at how the current generation was, he saw nothing but forms to be disgusted at. This was just one example, and even then this was, ironically, one of the lesser things he'd seen that defiled his grandfather's example.

He knew there was no such thing as a perfect couple, but... if Compa had met and dated such a person... Nico didn't want to think of what he would do to that scum for daring to break her precious heart...

Glancing towards Neptune, Nico made to get her aware of the situation, however the words refused to leave his mouth. The blissful look on Neptune's face looked just too good to taint with a negative situation like what he was concluding from the man. Plus, he didn't want to clue her in on his secret either, though considering his thoughts right now, that prospect had taken a backseat for the moment. 'I'll stay silent for now, but I bet if that is what I think it is, then that man's about to be exposed to a bunch of a little thing called karma.' He thought, staring at the man with a slight pang of irritation and anger.

Those feelings soon left him when he glanced to Neptune again, a soft smile forming on his features as he examined her blissfulness. She seemed top be lost in a daydream right now, imagining something that likely involved her and Nico in some fashion. Hopefully, it wasn't anything too perverted, otherwise he'd probably die of embarrassment. Being fantasized about in public? Not something he'd want people to know about, lest it damage his reputation.

"Hey, Neptune!" he eventually called out after letting Neptune embrace her bliss for a good five minutes. He could hear the clicking of high heels in the distance, and judging by the sound and impact of them the wearer wasn't too happy. They seemed to be advancing towards their position too, making Nico mentally grin evilly. "Let's get a move on, shall we? We got this walk to finish off!"

His words did their purpose, and snapped Neptune out of her delusions with an audible SNAP sound echoing across the area. Although, it only seemed that him and Neptune heard it for the Couple made no motion of hearing it themselves. She whirled around to face him, throwing him a salute while winking at him with her tongue sticking out. "Aye-aye, sir! Autoneps, lets roll out!" With that, Neptune turned to the road ahead and began running, bouncing like a kangaroo all the while. He swore he could hear her going all "I'm a Kangaroo!".

The sounds of heels getting closer made Nico start walking at a high speeds, hands in his pockets and a smug smirk etching onto his lips. Nico could hardly wait to listen in on the commotion that would await that man.

Serves him right.

* * *

By the time they exited the park, Nico couldn't help but use his enhanced hearing to listen to the park behind them. He couldn't contain his gleeful grin when he heard the sounds of feminine fury and screams of agony from within, a notion that Biko shared with him. 'Looks like the bastard has been dealt justice by those two women...'

 **'I feel a sense of satisfaction,** **knowing** **that this two-timer got what he deserves.'**

Nico nodded his head as he responded to Biko's mental comment. 'You and me both, dude, you and me both...' There was just something hilarious about experiencing what happens when you scorn a woman you were in a relationship with. Feminine fury seemed more amusing when you weren't on the receiving end of such things.

"Whew, that was a doozy, huh Nicky?" Neptune proclaimed gleefully as she stood tall and stretched her arms above her head. She gave a groan of satisfaction as she worked the stress from her arm joints, feeling the tension leave them like a waterfall. She then lowered her arms and turned to look at her date, noticing that he was deep in thought about something. "Hmm? Hubby, you ok? Your sadist side is coming out there." she asked him, sweat dropping slightly. The face Nico had on, well, she could only compare it to the expressions he made whenever he trained with them, and it was NOT an expression that filled her with ease.

It took a moment, but Nico eventually heard the slight worry in Neptune's query, and quickly snapped out of his thoughts to bring himself to reality. "Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking how wonderful Karma is." he replied hastily, making Neptune give him a weird look. Where the heck did something like that come from? Why would Nicky want to think about Karma? "If you wanna know, use your fourth wall powers. Pretty sure that's how you go all meta on us all the time."

Neptune thought about it for a moment, mulling it over in her mind, before she eventually shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe later." she said, before linking their arms together with him once more. Only this time, thanks to the lack of couples looking around Nico didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable as he did before. This felt... more private, like it was their own little thing going on and nobody could compare. Honestly, Nico preferred it this way, it made this feel more... unique. "Right now, there's only one place left I wanna go, Nicky. You'll love it, trust this little Nep."

Before Nico could respond, the male was dragged away by the preteen once more. How many times was he going to be dragged along like some sack of potatoes, he wondered. Though, no answer came to him.

* * *

They spent 45 minutes, according to the time on Nico's Bracers, walking through the streets and outside of Planeptune. Outside, the male had made sure to engaged the Motion Tracker in case they were to get a random encounter, until they arrived at the place that Neptune wanted to show him. The preteen had literally began pulling him along when they were 3/4 of the way there, having seemingly lost her patience and began to hurry the journey along, going all meta and exclaiming that their chapter needed to be done quickly.

Finally, the duo had arrived, and what Nico saw took his breath away, his eyes widening and his jaw hanging loose. If it had not been connected to his skull, it would have dropped to the floor.

'Holy... shit...'

 **'This... This is...!'**

The two stood before a tall hill, one that had a single large tree at the center. The hilltop offered a great view of the surrounding plains, as well as the plains in the vast distance. One could even see silhouettes of the other Nations, Lastation, Leanbox and Lowee if they looked hard enough. The tree's branches were ripe with pure, dark green leaves which eagerly sucked in the sunlight from the sun, filling themselves with rich vibrancy and life. Because it was late in the afternoon, practically approaching evening, the skies were beginning to turn an orangish peach color, with tints of pink to them while the sun set on the horizon.

"Whoa..." Nico gaped, utterly flabbergasted at the sight. He had been all over the four nations, but Nico hadn't heard or seen this place before. Then again, this didn't come as a surprise as he never really stopped to take in the local sights when he was done with assignments, just returned to the Capital city, turned in his Quests, got paid and spent the night at a hotel or something. Now, though, Nico began to wonder what else he had been missing. Such a sight right before him was, in one word... glorious.

Grinning at the male's expression, Neptune bounded till she was right in front of him, the sunlight shadowing her form in his eyes."You like? C'mon, the view's great from up top!" she proclaimed,grabbing his hand and proceeding to pull him up the hill. She didn't have to, honestly, because Nico was already jogging up the hill with her.

When they reached the top, Nico and Neptune stood beneath the tree, watching the surrounding plains as well as the sunset with awed gazes. The sun illuminated the orangish peach sky, almost twinkling as they spotted some stars vaguely start to appear from behind it's light. It was almost mesmerizing to witness, enrapturing the duo with its brilliance.

"Compa told me that the Sunsets in Planeptune were sights to behold. Though, they were second only to Leanbox's for some reason, I don't recall why." Neptune spoke after a small silence.

The male nodded wordlessly, barely hearing her. He did find the logic in that statement though, this was an amazing sight to be sure. However, Leanbox, known as the land of Green Pastures, had the best nature of the four Nations. Planeptune only came second due to how much futuristic technology they possessed, since it had merged with the local nature, with Lowee coming in third since their nature was mostly a blanket of snow with icy lakes and even colder mountains. Lastly was Lastation, but that was almost common sense, given their situation. Though, even before all that nightmarish stuff happened, their lands were heavily polluted by the smoke produced by factories.

"I can honestly see that..."

"Yeah... so, um, Nicky...?" Nico looked away from the sight, albeit reluctantly which was shared by his demonic personification, to the one who showed him this incredible sight. He instantly regretted it when eh saw how nervous and... subdued the preteen looked. She looked downwards, refusing to meet his gaze as she nervously poked her fingers together.

Almost immediately, Nico's brain kicked into overdrive, analyzing everything that had happened today and swiftly came to a conclusion. This was a case f Masks once more,. Neptune had hidden intentions for this date, and throughout the entire thing she had been masking it. 'Whelp, time to follow up on my promise, then...' the male thought to himself, Biko agreeing as his mouth began to open. "You want to talk about something, Neptune? Go ahead, drop the mask and i;ll listen to anything you have to say." he said to her, a kind smile on his lips.

Finally, Neptune looked up and gave him a thankful nod. "Its just... you probably realized this already, but I did have a reason for this date..." she muttered, shuffling nervously. "And its, well... uh what I meant to say s, um..."

"Hey, how about we sit down?" Nico suggested gesturing to the base of the tree. "You look like you want to get something off our chest. Perhaps sitting down might help."

Neptune swiftly nodded her head in acceptance, the male going first and sitting at the base of the tree's trunk. the soft wind blew by, making his hair rustle as if it were grass. That didn't register to him though as he offered a place on his lap, the preteen soon sitting on his lap like she was a baby and he the father. Her feet swayed from side to side while Nico placed his arms at her sides, the two feeling heat from each other warm their bodies from the cold the ind provided. "So, what's been bugging you, Neptune?" he asked her softly, barely above a whisper. "You looked like you really wanted to talk to me alone about something."

"Well, lets see..." Neptune began, but then took a pause to think of a way to say it. Nico did say that she didn't have to keep up a Mask around him, that she could be open with him about anything she wanted. "Well... what do you think of us? Me, Compa, and Iffy?" she finally blurted her question to him.

When she saw how confused he was, the preteen rolled her eyes, before elaborating as she leaned her back against his chest, looking up at the leaves above them. "I mean, I've been thinking about it for a while, now. Honestly, I think I've always known, but still I just didn't pay it much thought till after Lastation, but... icky, you were basically strong-armed into this Quest. You, someone who wasn't meant to be involved in all this, were sadly dragged into my mess in my quest to find my lost memories. Compa, too, but I already talked to her. she says she didn't care that she was always in constant danger on this journey, she said that her friends were just as precious as her home was to her, if not more so. But you, Nicky you aren't like that. You don't spew out friendship stuff like we do, you don't do things the same way do. Honestly, it feels like even if we;re in the same party, we couldn't be more apart, like the skies and the ground."

Wow, pouring out her true feelings was harder than it looked in the movies. Neptune realized this the second she began, as she had trouble forming her sentences. Well, this wasn't exactly unexpected, since she was someone with amnesia, and even before this it seemed she wasn't someone who had lots of skills in this brand of talking. This was a massive first for her, both as a Goddess and as a girl. Nobody had ever told her it was okay to take off her Mask before, nobody had told her they could let her bear her soul out to them like doubted many fanfic writers chose this path for her character, either.

Nobody... but Nico, that is.

"So... what do you think about all this? YOUR reasons, not standard ones like duty or whatever. I mean, you practically didn't need to go along with this, and I know i'm a pain to you, but I-"

Her words were paused when she let out a surprised squeak. The reason? Nico's arms suddenly wrapped around her stomach, gently squeezing her in an attempt to get her to be quiet. His chin was on her shoulder right now, but she couldn't see his eyes. Well, not completely. She could see them out the corner of her eye, and when she saw honestly stunned her into silence.

Resolve, determination, fondness and affection, all mixed together to form the gaze Nico had on right now.

"Stop right there, Neptune." he demanded, his voice soft, yet with an undertone of firmness that all but shattered any attempts to speak from her. "I get it, just from that alone can get where your coming from." he whispered into her ear. He gave her stomach a gentle squeeze, his hands moving on their own to entangle within hers, heat radiating from them that filled her with a mounting warmth. In any other circumstance he'd be a blushing mess for touching a girl like this. But right now, much like when Neptune first dropped her Mask, Nico knew that her comfort was more important than her embarrassment.

Now that he had her attention, Nico continued. "You do not have anything to worry about. Like I said back in Lastation, yes you can be annoying. Your antics can grate on my nerves... but not ONCE do I regret coming along with you. To be honest, I probably would have gone with you even if it wasn't anything important. This Quest, while important, is only secondary to me. You remember what I said to you and the others back in Lastation? That you were freaking Angels? Well I meant every letter, and I intend to show it to you all throughout this journey. You girls don't properly realize it yet, but people can be the worst monsters out there, yet there are some exceptions to this trait. You all are some of those exceptions, so why would I not want to fight beside you? Yes, I don't spew out friendship power and that other bullshit. That's more your shtick than mine, anyhow. However, if there's one thing my ideals and yours have in common, its that the innocent must be protected and the guilty punished. Guild Agents, Spec Ops, adventurers, we're all defenders in a way. We just go about it differently."

The male made to continue, when he remembered something from way back when, and closed his eyes. "I remember a while back now, at least a couple years. There was this group of people who wanted the world to change. They wanted humanity to stray away from the old ways, the ways of the CPUs, to a more... modern way of warfare. While their goals were the protection of humanity, the way they went about it was wrong. Because of their actions, their cause, innocents were wrongly hurt, people needlessly lost their 's why they had to be stopped." he explained to her, remembering that can of worms with a mix of fondness and anxiety. Those were troubling times indeed, and many lives were affected by it. It was fortunate that things turned out the way they did, as Abnormals in that time were stronger than ever.

"If you want to take something from this, then there is one thing us Spec Ops, Guild Agents like IF, and adventurers like you, Compa, even the other CPUs like Noire have in common. Our top priority is to protect the innocent, to fight for the ones who can't fight on their own. We are the ones who endanger ourselves so that others don't have to. We're the truly 'strong' not like the 'strong' that pray on the 'weak'. This quest we''re on, is like that on a larger scale, so why would I regret coming along for the ride? If anything, I should be commending you and the others for these efforts." Nico gave a brief chuckle, moving one of his hands away from her own and using it to ruffle her hair gently, caressing it tenderly.

He then began going into the nitty gritty stuff, remembering everything they'd gone through up to this point. "Also, why would I not like you? You have your quirks, but honestly you make sure that things never are boring around here. I'll definitely say you can make me laugh easily with how you are. Same for everyone else you meet. Its practically impossible for us to hate you, get annoyed maybe, but definitely not hate. So don't you worry that little head of yours, Neptune. You just focus on your stuff. After all, you're our leader, aren't you? Can't have captain Neptune losing her cool, can we?"

...

...

...

You know, it shouldn't even be surprise at this point. That thought constantly rung inside Neptune's mind as she regarded the male whose lap she sat on. Her eyes gazed into his own, searching for any signs of deceit or stuff similar to that. However, there was nothing but pure honesty shining in his eyes like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm. It shouldn't have surprise her that Nico would say that, but it did. However, that was what she liked about this guy, he was a major help to her, someone she could consider precious. Just like the rest their group of misfits.

Way back when, she had been satisfied. Even without her memories, Neptune had already amassed a group of friends with Compa, IF and Nico. A group that would surely grow with time as they progressed through the story, but hey. She had been sated with that, as long as she had her friends, her video games especially her Super secret HDD collection, and Pudding, then Neptune had what she wanted out of life. While she didn't know what she was like in the past, Neptune had an idea from what little she DID know from Noire and her own brief flashbacks, and from what she had seen, there wasn't a lot of fun. No, there wasn't any fun at all.

That was why she had been satisfied with her current state, even with her desire to regain her memories... until these weird feelings popped up.

Neptune may joke or tease Nico with sexual innuendos or perverted remarks, but like normal girls, Neptune had no experience in the romance department, aside from manga and visual novels. Even then, she didn't really anticipate her being in this situation, what with having feelings for a guy, to come up so she didn't really clue in on the whole romantic relationship part. Even in the past, she doubted she had any romantic relationships before, so all these sensations, like her gut overrunning with butterflies or how her heart's rate shot through the roof, were practically foreign to her.

It wasn't something she liked to admit, to be honest.

Her, the protag of all protags, behaving like an insecure schoolgirl over her first crush.

It totally wasn't like her, and yet, that was the best analogy Neptune could come up with.

This stuff was whole new territory for her, territory that she had never expected to come across in her lifetime. This was one of the few times Neptune had felt so... vulnerable, like a child seeking answers about a subject she didn't understand from her mother. Her hear sometimes felt like it would rip in two whenever she pondered these thoughts, a heavy aching sensation assaulting her chest all thew while, robbing her breath away. However, she didn't exactly hate it. She didn't know many things about love, romance or any of that stuff, and in a sense, Compa was ahead of her in their quest to get his affections.

She had been harboring these feelings for a long time, way longer than Neptune ever had. The only time Neptune had realized what these weird feelings were was when she first dropped her 'Mask' in front of Nico after all that crap in Lastation. She understood these feelings, and Neptune didn't. But, there was one thing that they both shared in common with each other, and that was hesitation to truly act on those feelings. Ironically enough though, that had changed when Neptune had claimed him as her 'Hubby'. In truth, that action had surprised even Neptune herself, like it was something that she just felt was right to do in that situation. Maybe a bit extreme, like Nico constantly said, but hey, Neptune ALWAYS went to the extreme.

She knew that things like this, wouldn't make this relationship she sought with Nico any easier. In fact, she could almost feel how hard it would be for their adventure. With so many twists, turns and dangers around the corner, there could come a time where she might lose him, as much as it pained her to admit. Neptune wasn't all powerful, nothing like how the Basillicoms depicted their Goddesses. They could love, sure, but they could also lose love, too. That scared her more than anything, losing those she was close to either from battles, or by time, since she was immortal and would eventually outlive her friends.

But, what Neptune WAS sure of, among these whirlpool of uncertainties and nervousness, was that she indeed wanted to be with Nico. These feelings, while difficult at times, were indeed real.

Neptune gave a sheepish chuckle, a slow, but content, grin spreading across her face as she shifted in her makeshift seat, so she leaned on her side against his chest with her head buried beneath the crook of his neck. "Hehehehe, Nicky... you really do know what to say to cheer a lady up, don't you?" she remarked, chuckling with mirth as she trailed a finger over his torso. "You lady-killer you."

Briefly, Nico huffed in indignation, before he scoffed and looked away from her. "I'm no lady-killer, Neptune. I'm just a normal guy with his own views." he stated, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing crimson. With how Neptune seemed like she wasn't so worried about his thoughts anymore, his embarrassment about being so close to a girl returned with full force.

"Yeah, sure, 'normal'..."

"I get the feeling your trying to imply something."

"Nope, nothing at all, hehehehe..."

"Your laugh isn't exactly reassuring..."

Their short conversation died down, as the two spent their time overlooking the sunset, bathing in its warm glow. Most of it was gone by this point, with the sun having only a quarter of its form visible and the sky having grown mostly dark, with few stars emerging from the night. Nevertheless, these two didn't really care about that. Neptune hummed in satisfaction, trying to get as much of this warmth that Nico radiated as she could. While she may have lingering doubts, fears and insecurities, same as every girl who just enters her first relationship did, they didn't need to be expressed. Moments like these, moments filled with affection and comfort, washed all those away. If this was what it was like to have someone in your life...

Maybe now, Neptune could understand couples better.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Finally! This thing's done!**

 **Goddamn, this thing was difficult to write. I mean, its hard to keep Neptune in** **character** **with her canon self, what with her lack of** **experience** **in the romance department. But then, I** **realized** **something. I could actually make use of that with the way i've characterized her in my fanfic.**

 **In my fic, she is her usual self, but she disguises her negative feelings with a Mask. I'm sure people have noticed** **already** **, but for those who haven't my story has a theme going and that's 'Masks and reflection'. How people hide their true feelings behind a facade. In Neptune's case, she's a Goddess whose been around for centuries and most of that time she has spent fighting the other CPUs. Nevermind her amnesia. Thus, things like romance isn't something she has experience in. Thus, she hides her insecurities behind her Mask, which Nico can obviously see through, and even comforts her about them. Friendships are easier for her, but relationships are a whole new ball game.**

 **Personally, I like this chapter, even though it was hard to write with my lack of experience in romance. It didn't help that I had problems getting into my account for a time. I feel it establishes how both Nico and Neptune feel about romance, with Nico fearing what would happen if someone got that close to him, and how** **inexperienced** **Neptune is. IMO, this is a realistic date between these two characters, and the way I depict them is something that isn't done quite often.**

 **To all those who see anything cliche about this chapter, remember that couples who are new to relationships have these kinds of concerns, these doubts and lingering** **insecurities** **. I myself have never had a** **proper** **relationship** **before** **, so I can't speak from experience. However, this is my best means of interpreting what one would be like.**

 **This almost reminds me of highschool drama, only... not at the same time. Its weird, but hey, Neptunia IS weird, both plot and humour wise.**


	46. Chapter 43 point 5 2 - A Nurse's Time

**Chapter 43.5 #2 - A Nurse's Time**

The time was noon, exactly 12 AM, and the day was just as good as it was 2 days ago, when Nico had that date with Neptune.

Said male currently lay on his bed, resting after a morning filled with intense training in his inner world. Biko had once again run him ragged the entire morning, teaching him how to better control his wings and their shapeshifting powers. He truly meant what he said when they were one of the most versatile weapons a DPU had, far different from a CPU's Wing Processors which had to be changed for different appearances and boosts to their stats. The male groaned in comfort as he held an arm over his forehead, looking up at the ceiling. His Trench Coat was hanging on a small white peg that was attached to the Guest room's main entrance, leaving him in his grey polo shirt and camp pants. His military boots stood proudly at the bedside, ready to be worn once he got his strength back. His gloved hands flexed and relaxed occasionally as he thought about his training... as well as the date he had.

Ever since that date, the preteen had been exceedingly hyper, grinning so brightly that she looked like a human lightbulb while completing quest after quest in rapid succession. It was like their date had lifted this seal on her true potential, which was now being shown to the world. It honestly amazed him how hyper she really was when nothing bothered her. It was like she had jumped onto cloud nine for some reason and had never come back down to earth for a break. Neptune completed quests until the late afternoon when she would proceed to train in the front yard. With Compa's permission of course, as long as she didn't damage her beautiful garden. This change, it happened because of him. Nico was sure of that.

Mask reading allowed him to see that Neptune, despite her apparent confidence, had her own worries and fears just like anyone else. That she was just a person, bot a merely just a Goddess, an all-powerful deity that everyone can look up to. This showed him that Neptune, and possibly the other CPUs as well, each had their own feelings, which lead to the speculation that each of them had their own problems as well. It, oddly enough, humanized them in a weird way. Even though they wouldn't ever be truly human, there was enough there for them to properly be counted as humans.

They thought.

They felt.

They can talk.

'But...' his thoughts turned to ones of worry and anxiety. His hands clenched into fists as he pulled his arm over his eyes, closing them to lose himself within his thoughts. 'Even with everything that's happened... Is it really okay for me to be with them?' he wondered, his lips set in a firm line. Nico was no fool, but even so, he couldn't tell why it was exactly that the girls had their current attitudes towards him. Point him at an enemy? Sure, give him a moment and it'll be dead. You want hostages rescued? Sure, give him the right info and they'd be rescued within the hour. But dealing with girls? No, while it looked like it, it wasn't actually his forte.

Then, there was his secret, the secret he protected almost fanatically from others. It was a relief that he hadn't been found out yet, much to his confusion since IF was one of the more observant of the female trio. She should have caught on to his trips to the Bathroom, but she made no indication of being aware of it at all. It was honestly quite unnerving, although he pushed past that in time. As long as she didn't call him out on it, he would be under the assumption that he was safe from her. Still though, the fact remained that while he was with these girls, his secret would always be under threat of being discovered. By his own choice or not, and that could NOT be allowed to happen.

Yet... he didn't want to leave them either.

Nico firmly believed what he said to them in Lastation, how they were goddamn angels for accepting him even with his intense, animalistic instincts. They probably felt flattered by their reactions, but they likely didn't realise the full scope of what he meant, nor the scope of how much meaning their reactions had for him. How could they, when he never showed them or told them his secret? They didn't know a lot of things about him, Nico had to admit. The male had kept most of what he had seen and done in the past a secret, tightly wrapped in chains and buried within history, where it was meant to stay forever. The things that he had seen had been what had caused his deep-rooted mistrust towards others.

SNIFFLE... SNIFFLE, SNIFFLE

It was quiet at first, but Nico's senses eventually picked up a gradually rising sniffling sound. His eyes shot open, his arm moving to his forehead before he sat upright and looked around, eyes swiftly glancing throughout the room. He thought he was hearing things, but soon the sniffling sound came again, and this time there were small sobbing and wheezing sounds mixed in.

Crying... someone was crying. Judging by the sounds, a child was crying.

'It sounds like its coming from outside...' Nico thought, after closing his eyes and listening carefully. His ears told him this, thus he muttered it under his breath, though to a casual observer it would be nothing but inaudible babble. Quickly, Nico stood up from his bed, sliding his feet into his boots as he swiftly tied the laces together before dashing outside.

* * *

Outside, Nico glanced from left to the right side of the corridors. His eyes frantically searched through everything within his field of vision, while also moving in fast, long strides as to avoid any unnecessary attention. Yet, despite his efforts, Nico couldn't pinpoint the location of the sniffling child, much to his dismay and confusion. 'What? Why the hell can I hear where this child is? Ami hallucinating again?' the male wondered, now finding himself at the end of the hallway. In the distance, Nico could hear the echoing psychotic laughter of IT from the deepest recesses of his mind, IT's presence clawing its way to the surface of his psyche to try and get his attention. Already, he could feel himself slipping into the madness, the sounds of sniffling slowly being drowned out by the presence trying to invade his thoughts, movements and, more importantly... actions.

'No... Its not there, pretend it isn't there, Nico...' the male chanted in his mind, kneeling on one leg while placing one hand on the ground. He took long, heavy breaths, keeping his mind and psyche focused on that and drowning out the psychotic presence in his mind. Though, in the end, it would probably be regarded as wasted effort... by both parties, as eventually he could hear it so loud that he thought his ears might go deaf from all the chaotic, downright demented laughter that echoed through every thought, laced itself within every miniscule action.

'N-Not good... the headaches...!' Nico thought, gritting his teeth as the sensation of his skull splitting open tore through his senses like a wild beast, ravaging all in its path. 'They-They're... getting worse! At this rate... I'll go crazy!' fear laced through his mind like string, knitting itself through every cell in his body, fear, dread, panic, everything that could describe the emotions roiling within his gut ran through his mind like children screaming as they fled from abusive parents. He could hear the laughter crystal clear now, along with various sounds of sniffling, sobbing and screaming. It was like a song, a chorus, a noise-filled symphony that threatened to make his senses bleed out till there was nothing left, and even then it wouldn't stop.

It would NEVER stop.

What's worse, was that through all the noise, the headaches and the intense agony he was under, Nico still managed to hear mere snippets of voices talking, voices talking inside his head that is.

"-ease, don't!"

"-ou don't mind if I give you company, do you?"

"-onster! Monster!"

"DIE, DIE, DIE!"

"Ni-Ni?"

Wait, that last one... it sounded like it was coming from reality. Nico's eyes, which were previously closed tightly due to the pain, shot open wide as he turned his head faster than a certain blue hedgehog. There, standing behind him, was Compa. She stood there with a look of extreme worry and concern on her features, staring down at him.

This... was real, right?

Not one of his hallucinations...?

 **'Calm yourself, Nico...'** Biko's voice echoed through his ears, and in moments the previous sensations all but vanished. He could feel the anger and frustration IT was feeling as it was forced to the back of his mind once again, much to Nico's relief. **'You were hallucinating once more. I believe that-'**

'One moment, Biko, lemme address Compa first. Alright? Then we can talk.' the male thought, interrupting his demonic personification while standing up and facing the Nurse-In-Training. Said girl looked at him with ever present concern on her features, clearly she had seen him during his... moment. Whelp, time for damage control. "You alright, Compa? You look like you went through a nightmare." he asked her.

"Eh?" Compa blinked, momentarily caught by surprise at the question, until she caught her composure and reined it in with a fishing rod. She then spoke, her voice riddled with her worries for him. "I should be the one asking you, Ni-Ni. You were muttering to yourself just now like crazy, and you were gripping the floorboards so tightly, and-"

Before she could continue, the male stepped forwards and placed a hand on her head, ruffling it gently to get her attention. She soon stopped speaking, looking up into his light blue eyes. "I'm good Compa, really. I just had a brief headache just now, so I decided to get some water." he told her, while in his mind he mentally preyed that she didn't prod any further. It wasn't really a lie, he was just understating what happened with his mind and hallucinations. He was damaged goods, dof that Nico was certain, but he refused to allow the others to fall into the same pit of madness as him.

As long as he was hurting alone, then things were okay.

'AHHHHHHH, HOW HEROIC! ITS HONESTLY SICKENING TO MY STOMACH, HEARING YOU TALK THAT SHIT.'

Nico ignored the voice in his mind as he looked at his childhood friend. Said childhood friend immediately went into overprotective mamma bear mode, something she did whenever she saw her friends evens slightly injured. "A headache?! You're alright, right?! You don't need any bandages, do you?!" she exclaimed as she began looking him all over, searching forant signs of him needing some 'bandage care'.

Suddenly, Nico got chills crawling up his spine, getting the sensation that something terrible was about to happen to him... and he had a perfect idea of what that was.

"A-Ah, I'm good, Compa! Really!" the male stammered, quickly taking a step back from her while holding his hands up in a placating manner. "I just need a drink of water and I'm good!"

 **'I do not understand. Why is it that your thoughts are centring towards not letting this human near you?'** Nico cursed under his breath. If there was a time where he didn't like Biko's lack of understanding human mannerisms, it was right now. It had already become apparent, but due to him being born from demonic energy, Biko had... well, a limited understanding of humanity's culture and mannerisms. Thus, he couldn't understand why it was a BAD idea to have Compa treat him in her own unique way. **'As a DPU, she will not be able to harm us, our energy will purge any harmful toxins from our systems, and if she tried to hurt us in other ways our body has means of defending itself from her.'**

'Let's just say that this is something only humans can understand, Biko.' the male replied. 'Trust me, its good for your health if you don't venture down the forbidden path.' He heard the demonic personification's muttering, which sounded accepting to him much to the teen's relief. With that land field out of the way, the male opted to push the conversation between him and Compa along before she got any... crazy ideas, like that one time when she tried to kidnap him when he was resting after a Quest one day back at Lastation to 'change his bandages'. The experience left him several bandages shorter, lots of healing items depleted, and a new wariness of Compa's nursing skills. "A-Anyways, is there something you need? You look like you have something on your mind."

Nico hoped beyond all hopes that Compa would just let the issue slide for the time being. If he were a Basilicom staff member, he would have even prayed to every CPU in existence, but fortunately the male hadn't gone that far. Luckily, his prayers were answered when Coma lowered her arms, entangling her hands together in front of her stomach and bobbed her head. "A-Ah, yeah!" she exclaimed, smiling bashfully before she looked to the side. Her entire demeanour shifted at this point, shifting from realisation to that of a flustered schoolgirl.

The male watched as she shifted uncomfortably on her feet, hands now behind her back as she refused to meet his gaze. Her eyes shifted from side to side, trying to find something that wasn't him to look at. "U-Um, I was wondering..." she began to say, the nervousness and timidness in her expression, on her face and radiating from her body made her look almost insane on the levels of the 'cute' meter. "W-Well..."

'Wow... is this like one of those highschool love scenes when the girl asks the guy to spend time with her...?' Nico wondered, shock and surprise coursing through his system... before the realisation dawned on him. He swore he heard the sounds of thunder clapping above him, but there were no clouds in the clear blue skies today. 'Wait, WHAT?! Oh shit, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!' he shrieked, his thoughts going erratic like he was having another hallucination. 'Neptune was alright since she's so readable, but Compa? She'll be an even more difficult obstacle to overcome! If she asks me to go out, there's a 0% chance I'll be able to resist her!'

Sadly, his worst fears came true when Compa, who looked downright like a flustered, shy schoolgirl at this point, finally got what she wanted to say off her chest. "U-Uh... If you like... could we spend the day together? You know, like when we were kids."

'FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!' Nico bellowed mentally, in his mind there was a chibi Nico trying to pull all his hair out while screaming bloody murder to the heavens. One outing with Neptune was enough, he had barely escaped having his reputation questioned when they were at that park! It was a stroke of good luck that they didn't encounter anyone from the Guild that day. He would have rather stayed back in his normal routine of Questing, training and more questing, but it looked like fate was determined to mess with him for a second time. Using his childhood friend no less. "O-Oh? What do you have in mind then...?"

Her eyes, for the first time since this request, glanced at him, and Nico saw that they were filling slowly with hope. A hint of a smile had been gradually breaking onto her face like a pair of opening curtains, quickly silencing much of the urge to deny her request, which died like a dying scream as it fell into the hazy, empty void within his mind. How could he deny this girl the chance for them to spend time together? Originally, that was what he had intended before this entire adventure even started. If things hadn't happened the way they did, Nico was sure they would be having picnics, eating together, and doing things normal people did... well, aside for the countless trips to the bathroom in that case.

"Well..." she started, and there was a noticeable rise in volume within her voice. There seemed to be an increasing confidence brewing within her, probably due to his lack of refusal as she found her voice once more. "I was thinking we could, um... go to the groceries and get some things I need for dinner. Nep-Nep eats a lot, so we need lots of yummy foods ready for that big belly of hers." she remarked, a coy giggle escaping her throat. She could imagine Neptune swallowing large platefuls of food every second or 2, while asking if there was any Pudding left over... with her mouth full of stuffed food.

That... sounded alright, at least better than going outside, a sarcastic part of him quipped as he pondered the request. Nico hid the distasteful frown that escaped his lips at the prospect of going outside and eating human foods. Even though he could hide his discomfort behind a Mask with expert Acting Skills, the male nonetheless hated the thought of swallowing human food. Hunting Monsters had kept IT under control for the most part, so he wasn't completely worried about IT getting out of hand. However, eating foods made by human methods usually left him weakened afterwards. If he didn't have his... diet, then his strength would have been affected much more negatively.

This wasn't good, not one bit. Nico should never have agreed to going out with Neptune or Noire those times. Because of his actions in those situations, Compa must have felt left out, his childhood friend. That should have allowed her a chance to hang out with him, but most of the time they were either questing with the rest of the party or how he accompanied her sometimes on her grocery shopping. She must have felt some form of frustration and jealousy at that. He knew Compa usually wore her emotions on her sleeves. She didn't have to wear a Mask to hide how she felt, because her innocence itself was a great way to mislead people. She didn't wear a Mask in the same manner as say, him or Neptune, but because of her innocent, klutz-like personality, they were often deterred from figuring out her true feelings.

Innocent bliss, indeed. So... How could he?

On another standpoint, Nico didn't have it, he didn't have the heart to deny her this request, even with what he knew about his 'limitations'. He just couldn't bear the thought of losing one of the things that kept him grounded in this world, kept him motivated to keep going just with her presence alone. Slowly, the others had been developing the same effect on him, but it was Compa who gave him the strongest effect out of all of them. Thus how could he deny her this request? Nico may be a many things, a brutal instructor, a vicious fighter on the battlefield, a person who'd see way too much shit for someone his age, but he wasn't enough of an asshole to deny this girl a chance to spend some time with him.

Also... there was this teeny, tiny part of him that wanted to do this, that wanted to spend some time for her... to regain something he had lost a long time ago: his childish innocence. A piece of himself he had long since discarded as useless. In this uncaring, merciless, twisted world, there had been no room for something as minor as innocence. He hadn't even been sure that he even had it before waking up, either. It didn't feel that way, so hey, maybe he did lose his innocence and he didn't even remember the experience!

"Um, alright, sure. I'll go with you."

Compa's, if possible, shone brightly like the sun as a joyful gasp escaped her lips. "#GASP# Really?!" she shrieked with a hopeful tone. Upon seeing him nod with a shaky smile on his face, all Compa saw was grey as she glomped him, wrapping her arms around her childhood friend's torso. "Yaaaaaaay! I get to spend time, with Ni-Ni! Hehehehehe! I'm so happy!"

On the receiving end, Nico blushed as he felt a pair of hot, circular things pressing against his chest. "Wh-Whoa, calm down Compa!" he exclaimed, although it was useless to even try. She was just too far gone in her joy that all his words were rendered moot. The next few seconds passed, before Nico's body lost its original rigidity, and he gave a relaxed sigh through his nose. Slowly, his arms wrapped around her back, resting on both the upper and lower sections as he tenderly hugged her back.

It lasted for several minutes, though to both it felt much longer. Compa, and to some extent Nico although he wouldn't admit it, but they both LOVE hugs. Maybe even more so than other affectionate things like kissing and coitus. To them, hugs were a much more direct way of displaying affection, as well as warmer and easy to do without feeling too embarrassed. In hypothetical terms, say that they were out in public, like going out on a street or to the shops like they planned to after this. They wouldn't do either of those two things as it would be too embarrassing for them to do so, given their personalities. Compa's meek innocence and Nico's aversion to perverted activities was the source of this.

However, to hug someone was an acceptable form of affection in both of their books. To hug someone didn't seem as 'expressive' of affection as a Kiss in a direct sense, more of an underlying sense. It was a hidden display of affection that only certain people could truly understand. Most passer-by's wouldn't give them as much attention as they would if they were making out or engaging in coitus. Instead they'd just make a mental or verbal remark about them and move on. Hugs for them was something they loved doing, and not just to display affection.

It was what started their friendship after all.

* * *

After ending the hug, Nico waved Compa off as she headed downstairs to wait for him while he returned to his room. Closing the door behind him, the male swiftly got ready, having been mostly in his PJ's when he first began searching for that sobbing hallucination.

He swiftly changed his outfit with his Bracer, heaving a relieved sigh. 'Man, I'm glad that I escaped that trap unscathed...' the male thought to himself. 'Who knows what her reaction would have been if she saw that whole thing...' he could only shiver at the thought.

 **'Indeed. According to my analysis, she would not take it well.'** Biko commented within his mind. It nearly made Nico jump, he had almost forgotten about his mental tenant. If Biko was insulted by this, he didn't show it as he continued on with no changes in his tone or any remarks about it. **'Shall I give my conclusion on these recent events in your mind?'**

'Yes, please do.'

 **'According to my research, it appears your mind has seen that your nightmares are not enough to 'keep you on your present course'. No matter how many times they come, you have stayed your present course and have diverted from what it wanted you to do. It see's that despite its warnings, you seem to continuously experience moments that divert you from your original path.'** Biko explained.

Nico pondered this information as it was being told to him. That did make sense, considering how he had been repeatedly getting closer to people. Lately, in a way, anyhow. No matter how many nightmares Nico had, he always seemed to try to get close to the girls, either through training them, or helping them with their problems. Its possible that his mind could be trying alternate forms of keeping him along his original path. 'So, its shifting tactics, now starting to make me hallucinate now?' Nico questioned.

 **'Indeed.'**

Biko's blunt response made the male face palm into his right gloved hand, an irritated groan seeping out of his lips as he gritted his teeth. 'Damnit, this is fucking messed up. My own mind is trying to tell me something by tormenting me.' he whined, almost falling to the ground in a lamenting fashion, though he remained standing upright. It truly was a twisted thing, having his own mind acting against him. He couldn't rely on it to stop with these hallucinations, and even now he could feel IT's presence more clearly than before. Likely this was an effect of not having the drugs pumped into him from his armour for so long.

 **'While on the subject of... IT.'** The teenage Spec Ops lowered his hand as he listened to his demonic personification. Had he discovered something about it that he didn't already know? Or something speculated by them several times already. **'I have run ample tests, and have determined that a constant flow of demonic energy through your body will help keep IT in check. It will be active like a sustained ability in the original #r#go# A#e, limiting your demonic energy reserves, though not by much. In addition, I have discovered that IT has grown adapted to the drugs, having used cells from your body still infested with them to form a resistance. Not an outright immunity, due to the drugs' lack of presence in your system. However, be sure that they will NOT work as effectively as they used to in the past.'**

* * *

Downstairs, Nico noticed that Neptune was sitting on a pink beanbag in the living room, playing on some games. IF, to his surprise, was beside her, the motions he saw her arms doing indicating that she was playing a game with her. Glancing to the screen, Nico realised they were playing one of Planeptune's more popular racing games: Virtua Racing. 'Huh... I haven't seen that game in years. Didn't that game get a "3rd Most Influential Racing Game Ever" award a couple years back?' The male wondered.

Seeing that the two were too deep into the game, Nico decided not to disturb them, and headed for the door. Compa was standing there waiting for him, wearing something new over her normal outfit: a pink Padded Belted Buckle Neck Midi Coat. "Huh... that's a new coat, isn't it?" Nico questioned as he stopped beside her. The male also noticed that she was carrying a set of unused grocery bags in her right hand, but he didn't feel the need to comment on that to her verbally.

The Nurse-In-Training nodded happily, a light bounce in her step. "Yep, I only got it a day before you came back. I was going to show it to you, but um, you know..." she blushed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as she remembered the day that Neptune dive-bombed, literally, into their lives. How much had been changed by that lovable purplette's appearance into their daily routines was something she didn't even try to consider, even if she was good at math.

"Yeah, I know..." Nico replied, a sheepish chuckle escaping his lips as he thought of the purplette. Out the corner of his eye, Nico noticed a faint slice of white, and when he glanced discreetly towards it, he found that, to his sock and dismay, that it was the same child as the one he saw in that dream in the Mirror World. The child was looking at him, his gaze empty and emotionless, as he sat in a fatal position deep within the shadows.

Glancing away from the child, Nico did his best to ignore it as he opened the door for his childhood friend, smiling along the way. "Since they are somewhat occupied, though I doubt IF'll hear my future Text saying where we are, lets get going, shall we?" The male suggested, noticing that the child had vanished to his relief. So his next sentence was much happier than before. "We don't want that dinner of yours to come too late, otherwise Neptune might raid the fridge again."

"Yep."

* * *

Leaving the house, Compa and Nico walked together in double file, down the countryside-like outskirts to the main city. They took it slow and began chatting on random topics, like they used to in the past. If anyone saw them, they would just see two people walking side by side while enjoying each other's company. There was also this peaceful serenity in the air around them, like the two were at peace with each other and were ignorant of the chaotic world around them. Such was the innocent bliss that blossomed between them.

When they finally arrived at the city, Nico looked about and frowned in concern. "Hmmm, looks like we picked a bad time to leave the house..." he remarked, eying the streets. The reason he said this was because the streets looked quite crowded. Men and women of all ages, some of them couples and others with children, walked back and forth through the streets, either going to work, school, or doing their own thing. It created this constant chattering sound which made the male wince in his mind, feeling his sensitive ears ache slightly from all the sounds being processed. There was a downside to having enhanced senses, and that was how acute they were, which made them... a slight problem in crowded areas.

Luckily for him, Nico got used to it after a few moments.

"I heard that today's a special Sale at the supermarket, Ni-Ni." Compa informed him, her eyes gazing across the crowded streets with just as high a concern as her companion. "I heard that they're trying to raise funds for the military so they can continue their task of pushing monsters back from our territories. Its a really big deal."

'I've heard about that...' Nico thought to himself, feeling a sense of familiarity within the Nurse-In-Training's words. He took had noticed the odd increase in military personal at the Guild, whenever he went through the streets, and sometimes leaving the City to travel to other settlements. The Planeptune Military seemed to be getting a rush of funding from the Government, and according to the Articles he read, this was due to the military getting successive victories against the monsters, be it normal or Abnormal. Although it was more against the former than the latter, as the latter involved minor casualties. So far, they had been retaking mining caves, old power stations, and other essential territories that humanity had abandoned in their fight for survival. "Huh. Interesting. Looks like the Military's finally getting its shit together, huh?"

Looking up to her companion, Compa tilted her head curiously. "Huh? What do you mean?" she questioned.

The male glanced down at her for a moment, seeing the inquisitive stare in her eyes before he looked back into the streets. "Basically, the Planeptune Military has been subject to... various difficulties in the past. They've been suffering one defeat after another constantly, losing ground in a gradual manner to the Monsters. Towns are abandoned, Mines become overpopulated with Monsters. and military garrisons are overrun constantly. People began losing faith in them, and with a lack of faith morale dropped too."

Compa gave a frown, understanding and sympathy for the military dawning on her features. It must have been tough for them, having to endure all tat hardship. Compa could only imagine what those brave men and women had to endure, losing so many of their strongholds, their friends, their livelihoods. Their families would be devastated, she would imagine. Yet, Compa felt that what she was thinking was merely an understatement compared to the real thing. She was only a Civilian after all. an Adventurer true, but still a civilian in terms of the military. They must see things far differently compared to people like her. The only kind of people she could think of who could come close to understanding their way of life would be the Spec Ops Agents, since they both saw similar sides to the Monster attacks.

Adventurers usually see the weaker sides, they don't usually see how dark, cruel and twisted their world really was. They only saw the thrill of the adventure, and usually consisted of people who want to be heroes and have all that cliché happy ending stuff. However, Spec Ops and, to an extent, Guild Agents see a more realistic version of things It made quite the rift between these three classes, something that saddened the Nurse-In-Training. She didn't like it when people fought amongst themselves, why she didn't like fighting at all. It didn't mean she wouldn't fight, especially when they were endangering her crush, but still.

Seeing that the crowd was too large for this street, Nico swiftly raised his right forearm and activated his Bracer. A Holomap of SAGA soon formed on top of it as he examined it intensely. "Hmmm... Looks like we can't use any other streets to get to the Market, practically all of them are massively crowded." the male mused to himself. He couldn't transform into Crimson Soul, either otherwise he'd draw way more attention to himself than he'd like. However, if he were alone, this wouldn't be much of an issue, Nico could pass through crowds as silent as the winds when he had to. But that was the problem, he WASN'T alone...

And he'd be damned before letting Compa go off on her own. She'd probably end up somewhere completely different to where she wanted to be.

Thus, his next course of action was clear, although he didn't necessarily like it. Nico tried to fight down his blush as he swiftly grasped Compa's hand in his own, electing a surprised squeak from her. 'Its only to guide her, its only to guide her...' Nico constantly chanted inside his mind, his eyes shadowed by his hair so that he didn't have to notice both her expression... and the group of childish figures wearing hospital clothes in the fatal position around them. 'Ignore them, they're only hallucinations, they aren't real...'

"Its alright, Compa." he told her, getting her attention as she looked up at him. Her eyes couldn't see past his hair as Nico started to walk towards the crowded streets. "Its just so that we don't get separated. I'd hate to lose you in that crowd..."

The combined factors of Nico fighting his blush, his shadowed eyes, his refusal to look at the (in his mind) scandalised expression on Compa's face, made him oblivious to how she had froze upon hearing the 'hate to lose you' part of his sentence, as he pulled her along through the crowds. Her eyes landed on their interlocked hands, and a small, dreamy smile formed on her features. 'Ni-Ni's hand... its been a while since I've felt it on my own...'

* * *

It took them a lot longer than previously expected to get to the supermarket. Thanks to the number of people on the street, instead of a 45 minute walk to the supermarket from her house, it took them a full hour. They almost lost each other even while holding hands several times, but both managed to pull through, and in the end, they managed to reach the Supermarket.

It was a massive, white building with a purple stripe wrapped around its top. There was bubble writing set in an arch over the front entrance, saying 'Nep's Gamarket', the name of the Supermarket as well as the Company that owned it. 'Gamarket... Why do I get the feeling that's also a reference to something Hyperdimension related?' Nico wondered, but shook his head to clear those thoughts from his mind. 'No matter, we're here so we should focus on gathering the supplies we need...' The male then looked down towards his friend, who looked to be deep in thought about something, something that must be big considering the conflicted gleam in her eyes. "Hm? You alright, Compa?"

"H-Huh?" Compa blinked several times like an owl as she returned to the real world. She soon realised though, that Nico had asked her question, and thus she responded with a flustered manner, pulling her hand from his and waving both in front of her. "O-Oh, its nothing, Ni-Ni, r-really!" she stammered, blushing furiously. "I was just having a but of de ja vu, is all..."

The male watched, eyebrow raised, as Compa shyly poked her index fingers together, while looking at the ground below. 'Uhhhhh... I'm not sure what to say about this...' he thought to himself. Eventually, he decided to get this outing going again, after a short moment of awkward silence. "I see... anyways, we have some shopping to do, right? We better move otherwise Neptune may accidentally start the oven and burn the house down." He remarked, thoughtfully, placing his hands in his pockets before he began making his way inside the Supermarket.

His words eventually snapped Compa out of her trance, and soon she paled at the thought of Neptune destroying her house on accident... worse, she could imagine it, too. "H-Hey, wait, please don't let Nep-Nep destroy my house, Ni-Ni!"

* * *

Now inside the supermarket, Nico grabbed them a trolley to help them with the bags and gathering the items. Looking over to his companion, who stood by his side while he pushed the trolley along the walkway between the isles, Nico decided to inquire. "So Compa, what's on the menu today?"

"Well..." Compa paused, reaching into her hip purse with a concentrated look on her face. "I'm sure I put it in here, at the bottom of my nurse pouch..." she muttered under her breath.

The male couldn't help but sweat drop as his enhanced senses picked up what she was muttering. He knew that being a Nurse-In-Training was a demanding job that required you to carry a dozen or so items, but seriously. That hip purse of hers must make finding items within it difficult. 'She should seriously think about getting a better organisation for her items...' he couldn't help but admit in his mind. He didn't dare try to say it out loud, as that would be rude.

Finally, her eyes brightened as she found what she was looing for. "Ah, here it is!" she exclaimed, pulling out from her hip purse,, a neatly folded piece of paper. The male watched as she unfolded it and looked the contents over, naming them as she did so. "Alrightie, we need some beans, peas, apples, oranges, bananas..." she began, going down the list till she reached the bottom.

Once she did, the Nurse-In-Training looked over to her friend, who hummed to himself as he cupped his chin with his left hand. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... Ah, I see!" he exclaimed, fisting his right palm as a metaphorical light bulb went on above his head, understanding flashing through his eyes. "You made it so that we have to visit every isle along the Supermarket, instead of just randomly searching through them." Every item Compa had listed, and by the Goddesses there was a long list of them, had been neatly arranged so that they didn't have to waste time backtracking to isles they had already passed. Saved them time, something that was good since they doubted IF would be able to handle Neptune on her own for an extended time period. The Guild Agent didn't have the patience Compa had for Neptune's antics.

Compa happily nodded, glad that Nico had understood her plans for this shopping trip. 'Although... Ni-Ni probably doesn't see it this way, but...' the girl looked to the side, eyeing the other shoppers in the vicinity. For a while, she had seen mostly couples shopping for stuff to buy, and with so many around them... 'This... makes us look like we're a couple in a relationship...' There was a reason why she chose TODAY to make a shopping trip, and to take specifically Nico along for the ride. It was a day where she had observed couples having the highest numbers in the market. With all the Monsters roaming about, Couples usually made trips to Supermarkets like this one to stock up on supplies. On days like this, when Monster activity was reported to be less than its usual quota, Couples took the opportunity. Plus, since Neptune didn't have as much awareness of the stock market as she did, she wouldn't be able to do much to stop them from enjoying today with each other.

Quite a devious scheme for our Nurse-In-Training.

It also helped that she and Nico used to help her grandfather shop when they were kids. They would run off together, search for the items her grandfather would place on the shopping list, argue over which would be the better deal (something she was proud to admit she won quite often) before bringing the chosen items back to their grandfather, who would laugh boisterously at how they decided which was the best. They were bright kids for their age, but Compa usually excelled better since she was so good at maths, made item accounting a specialty of hers.

"Whelp, the sun's not going to stay up forever..." Nico's words snapped the young girl from her musings, alerting her to how he was already starting to head down the isles. "So lets get what we need and then head back." Compa nodded with an affirmative 'HM!' before bouncing along with him, a slight skip in her steps as they made off to get the items they need.

* * *

A while later, the Nurse-In-Training stood beside the trolley, Nico having left to go further down the isles to get something. He didn't say what it was though, something that caused her to pout in annoyance. "Mou...! Ni-Ni's real stingy when it comes to his secrets..." she remarked, her pout making her look absolutely adorable. Several males who passed her by actually looked like they died of heartburn at the cuteness Compa radiated unknowingly, much to their female partner's ire. Several yelps and whimpers followed them when their partners either pinched them or threatened to make them sleep on the couch.

Closing her eyes, the teenage girl decided to lose herself in memories, memories of the first time that they went to the Supermarket...

 _ **(FLASHBACK)**_

 _ **"Stupid head, stupid head, stupid head!"**_

 _ **An 10 year old Compa pouted with puffy cheeks, much like her older teen self, stood by the supermarket entrance as she crossed her arms and looked down at the path, refusing to acknowledge anyone right now. She had muttered several childish insults towards her sole friend, Nico, as she brooded over her recent experience. Before, she and him had a bit of an argument about which sweets they should buy, and it had lead to her storming off when his stubbornness refused to co-operate with her.**_

 _ **'Stupid Ni-Ni! Why are you so stubborn, those sweets were WAY out of our average spending funds, those other sweets were of the same type and deliciousness! Why didn't you see it?!' She thought with annoyance as she remembered the absolute refusal that shined in her childhood friend's eyes while he stubbornly refused to accept her reasoning's. His stubborn streak rivalled hers, and the look on his face and in his eyes, as if he knew he was right and she was wrong, despite the contradictory evidence, did little to improve her mood.**_

 _ **Hopefully, her grandfather would knock some sense into that noggin of his when they get back-**_

 _ **"Hey look, its the crybaby!"**_

 _ **Her eyes shot wide open, her body tensing as she felt her heart sink down to her stomach where the dread originated from. 'Oh no, not now, why now of all times?!' She cried in her mind, desperately trying to fight away the tears that threatened to spill from her eye sockets. In front of her, she could see 3 shadows, 3 familiar shadows, belonging to some kids that she knew... she knew all too well.**_

 _ **Against her better judgement, Compa slowly lifted her head to look up at her tormentors, seeing that they were 3 older looking boys wearing hoodies and shorts of varying colours. All of them had arrogant, mocking smirks on their faces as they ganged up on her, blocking any exit and sealing her fate. The leader stepped forward and leaned downwards, being a head taller than her. "Aw, what's the matter crybaby? Too much of a wimp without your precious grandpappy? Heh, what a loser!"**_

 _ **His two lackeys laughed madly at her, the left one speaking in-between laughs. "She-She probably can't even do anything right by herself, since she's such a klutz. She can't even do a proper job at carrying boxes!" the speaker was an overweight boy with pudgy cheeks, and a few teeth in his gums. A reminder that this kid got into fights quite often. "Everyone at school calls her the 'Klutzy kid!'" he added on after a moment's laughter, escalating it further.**_

 _ **The other lackey, a thin, lanky boy with multiple piercings in his lips, ears and nose. He looked like a stereotypical gangster just starting out as he pointed to her and looked to his friends. "Heh, she can't even make proper friends, like us, can she?! If she did, then we'd have her do our homework for her whenever we pleased, so we could play games all day! Not even go to school!"**_

 _ **Their leader laughed in joy at the thought, grinning widely at them. "Heh, yeah! Hey, you know what, that gives me an idea!" he exclaimed, much to the surprise of his lackeys, and to Compa's growing dread. "Why don't we make her obey us right now? There's nothing stopping us, plus our dads are in the police. Who would try to snitch on us?!" he suggested, and his friends soon followed his train of thought.**_

 _ **Horror, dread and fear ran around inside Compa's gut, going on a merciless rage as she cowered before the three boys. They soon began to advance towards her, hands in their pockets to try, and succeed, to intimidate her as much as possible while she fell to the ground, curling into a ball. . Thoughts of being used as nothing more than a slave to these horrible boys plagued her mind, like a never ending nightmare she would not awake from. Because of her meek personality, Compa never had the strength to stand up for herself. She didn't like fighting, she never did. That was why she wanted to be a Nurse, so she could help people heal from their boo-boos when they come back from a whole load of fighting. She liked helping her grandfather and her sole friend when they get an owwie, even though they usually tense whenever she mentioned the word 'bandages'.**_

 _ **Nevertheless, none of these thoughts would help her now, nothing more than distract her from the fear born from whatever these boys were going to do to her. She didn't know what, but if the dark looks in their eyes were any indication, she didn't want to know what they were planning for her.**_

 _ **However, just before they were at arms distance...**_

 _ **"Oi, looks like you bozos haven't learned your lessons either!"**_

 _ **The sound of a voice that brought great relief and joy through her, and made the three boys pale in fear, rang throughout the entrance to the Supermarket. The Voice's owner came from their right, and when they looked, there was a young boy about Compa's age, running at them like an angry bull with an utterly livid facial expression, with bared teeth and furiously clenching fists. One could even see veins pulsating from them as he made his way to Compa's defence. The boy had crimson red hair, and furious light blue eyes while wearing a simple high collared shirt, with tan shorts, black socks and shoes.**_

 _ **"N-Ni-Ni...?"**_

 _ **"Oh crap, bro, its the crazy kid!"**_

 _ **A cry came from the pudgy kid as 10 year old Nico jumped and planted a foot into his face, sending him crashing into the ground. "You assholes just LOVE to get beat, don't you?!" He yelled, giving them a vicious snarl that was reminiscent of a wild animal. He reached forth and grasped the arm of the lanky kid, pulling him down so he could head-butt him. The leader tried to swing his fist at him from behind, but the red haired boy simply grabbed his offending limb and tossed him overhead. "Hah, looks like you forgot! I've taught myself how to fight you goons! To help make my friend smile, I'd even become a monster!" He bellowed.**_

 _ **Though his form took a 180 in terms of outward expressions as he landed in a crouch, slowly standing up as he hung his head, speaking in a barely audible volume, yet one that sent chills down their spines. "Maybe I should give you all the 'centipede treatment' shall I?" Nico queried, stepping in front of Compa and lowering his hair. It shadowed his eyes, but not the sinister, slasher smile that he was sporting.**_

 _ **Despite their initial fear of the boy, their leader did his best to act tough in front of his lackeys, putting on fake composed look with a matching arrogance as he sneered towards the red haired 10 year old Nico. "Hah, things won't end the same way as they did before, you bastard!" he boasted, cracking his fists as he prepared for a beating, though this was just an act to get his lackeys composure back. It seemed to work as they followed his lead, but when the boys made to gloat further, their words died in their throats at what happened next.**_

 _ **An aura of thick, heavy, and dense KI radiated from Nico's prone form as he spoke that last sentence. It filled the three boys with fear and dread so intense that they could literally feel their breathing go erratic just to keep the same amount of air in their chest. Their heartbeats pounded like jackhammers, sweat rolled down their foreheads like waterfalls, and their whimpers could be audible from their quivering mouths. But that, compared to everything else, paled in comparison compared to what happened next...**_

 _ **From that thick cloak of KI, a silhouette manifested, circling around Nico's frame. Its form could be seen as clear as crystal to the boys, whom were whimpering with increasing amount of trembles in their forms. Its form may be shrouded in darkness... but there were some things that the fearful boys could make out blood dripping from its maw, like saliva as hungry beady crimson red eyes stared down at them, an intense desire to feed shining forth from within them**_

 _ **Judging by its shape, it could only be one thing... a Centipede**_

 _ **Despite themselves, they tried to remain tough on the outside, although this failed miserably considering their violently quivering forms. It gave a loud hiss at them... then reared its 'head' back... before it released a loud shriek at their faces that was louder than a Banshee's, prompting them to scream like frightened toddlers watching a horror movie, and then run away with their tails between their legs.**_

 _ **"Good riddance..." the boy muttered under his breath. "Those boys need to be taught a lesson... maybe I should do something in the future..." Compa thought she heard him mutter something like that, but quickly dismissed it. It sounded too quiet for her to hear, so she didn't press further. Disabling his KI for the moment, dismissing the silhouette in the meantime, Nico turned to face his friend, eyeing her shaken form with a concerned gaze. "You okay, Compa? Those creeps didn't do anything to you, did they?" he asked her, kneeling before her shaking frame.**_

 ** _Weakly, Compa managed to nod, the events of the previous moment still taking their toll on her mind and body._** ** _"Uh... Uh Huh..." she muttered, holding her hands in fists under her chin while her legs dug deep into her chest._**

 ** _Nico's eyes gazed down at the girl, his gaze that of a concerned parent for their child, but just for a brief moment. He quickly stuffed that aside as he huffed and put his fists on his hips, looking to the sides. "Honestly, this is what happens when you run off like that. You had grandpa worried sick, ya know."_**

 ** _Now, Compa got all defensive, her eyes hardening as she shot to her feet. She aimed an angry pout at him, her cheeks inflamed with red while being puffed to the max, teardrops in the corners of her eyes as her earlier frustration kicked in. "Hey, that's not very fair, Ni-Ni!" she protested, stomping her foot on the ground. "If you weren't so stubborn, I-"_**

 ** _"Oh yeah, we chose that item you were talking about."_**

 ** _His words stopped the girl cold, momentarily sending her into a daze. That moment, drew itself for a while, silence dominating the two kids. A small breeze blew by, ruffling their hair for a brief moment, and it was Nico's grimacing as he complained about the wind that snapped her out of her funk. "E-Eh?! Huh? Ni-Ni, what...?"_**

 ** _She tried to speak, however her words failed her. It was a mix of both what happened before, as well as the thing Nico had casually admitted like it was just the weather forecast. Did he... Did he just admit what she thought he did? The younger Compa opened her mouth several times, trying and failing to find her voice._**

 ** _Her efforts turned out to be unneeded as Nico seemed to notice what she was trying to say. "Yeah well, I brought them to grandpa and asked, he says you were right. I tried to protest, but, well you know what happens when I try that..." he began, scratching his cheek while looking to the side awkwardly._**

 ** _Silence passed by them after the boy admitted that. Both of them thought of how her grandfather got whenever they tried to protest something. Her grandfather may not be in his prime, but he could be scarier than even an Abnormal. They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but that person never met her grandfather._**

 ** _"He told me 'A man must never make a woman cry no matter what, otherwise he will be regarded as scum of the earth with no hope of redemption'. I think he meant that I should do my best to make sure you smile, but uh, I don't get why he would say that, since I always try to make you smile, eh?" the male remarked, a sheepish chuckle escaping his lips._**

 ** _While his chuckle conveyed how awkward he was being, there was also a sense of endearment and cheeriness to it. The cheerfulness behind that chuckle though, did succeed in making the girl giggle, forgetting her earlier fears as she felt the warmth of his ensuing grin seep over her. "Hehehehe, that's true... when you're not being a stubborn meanie." she remarked through her giggles._**

 ** _The boy blinked in surprise at her for a moment, and made to defend himself, until he realised that he really did do that just now. "Uhhh, yeah, sorry 'bout that..." he apologised, grimacing deeply at the humiliation. Goddesses, how humiliating. That was what the boy thought, judging from his expression, Compa theorized. He must have let his stubborn pride take over back in the supermarket... He had to find a way to fix this stain, but how?_**

 ** _Oh, an idea!_**

 ** _An idea popped into his mind, making his eyes widen in realisation as he began rummaging through his pockets. Compa paused her giggling when she saw him doing this with such an intense expression in his eyes, but before she could inquire as to what he was looking for, Nico's eyes shone with glee and relief. "Found it!" he exclaimed cheerfully, a wide grin stretching across his lips as he pulled the object he wanted out of his pockets. "Here Compa, take this!"_**

 ** _"Eh?! But that's..."_**

 ** _In Nico's hands, was a pendant, connected to a thin black chord. The pendant itself was shaped into a glittering, beautiful crystal blue snowflake. Its points looked well maintained, refined, and the entire thing glittered in the sunlight when its waves reflected off the snowflake pendant's surface. The pendant swayed left and right from the residue forces acting upon it, while Nico presented it towards the awestruck Compa. "Here, it's yours! Gramps said I could buy it for you, so here!"_**

 ** _"E-Eh?!" she exclaimed, shock rushing through her system at what he just said. "Grampa let you buy it?! But this must have been expensive!" she tried to say, but she had already taken the pendant, tenderly, in her tiny hands. She couldn't help but marvel at the beauty the snowflake pendant radiated as clear as day, she literally couldn't take her eyes off it._**

 ** _The boy just laughed in pride as she pushed his chest out, wiping the bottom of his nose with the bottom of his finger. "Heh, its no biggie, like gramps told me, 'a lady's tears demand a heavy price to be sated'. I don't get it myself, but that Pendants some form of custom in Lowee. Its said that if one gives one half to the other, then waits for a time to get the next piece, then its a guarantee that they will be together forever." he explained. "Though, I haven't a clue what it meant."_**

 ** _Unlike him though, Compa's instincts told her EXACTLY what this meant. She knew what this was, she had seen it several times in the past few trips they had made to the supermarket. It was meant to be a Lowee custom to help someone become a couple with someone they have a romantic interest in. The first piece was supposed to be a promise of friendship between the two, no matter what happens to them. That they would always think of that person, of every minute, of every hour, of every day. The time period was meant to symbolise the life trials that is thrown one's way, and the last piece was a show of love towards the other, that despite the trials thrown at them, they would always be together, in both body and soul. The first piece was cheaper than the second piece, as a test for the couples involved._**

 ** _Nico could never have known at the time, but he had just gotten her one of the greatest gifts a girl could ask for. She may be from Planeptune, but the Snowflake Charm was something every girl in Gamindustri knew about, and it had been well known to bring couples together for life. Her little heart fluttered beyond imagining, a searing hot warmth spreading through her chest. She almost choked at the emotions welling up inside her, tears coming from the corners of her eyes once again while she clutched the pendant tightly in her hands. She made sure not to damage it though._**

 ** _When he saw this though, Nico immediately assumed the worst, his face morphing into one of panic as he stepped backwards, waving his arms frantically. There was little logic to that last part, it was mostly done out of adrenaline and instinct. Safe to say, he looked kind of like an idiot as he frantically stammered out a sentence. "Wh-whoa, wha-wha-wha?! What the heck, why are you crying?! I thought this was a good thing, on Gramps is going to kill me-!"_**

 ** _Whatever he was about to say was stopped when the young Compa barrelled into him, embracing him tightly while thinking him for the gift over and over._**

 ** _(Flashback: END)_**

Opening her eyes, Compa smiled fondly at the memory, feeling warmth spread through her chest just by thinking about the innocent gesture Nico had made. He had been so clueless back then, it had been super cute and adorable. Even her grandfather and some of his friends had agreed with her when she told him about it. Much to the boy's humiliation, his face had never bee so cherry red before as people cooed over his sweet gesture, Till this day, Compa knew that Nico didn't understand the significance of that gesture, even now. He was never someone who was into all that lovey-dovey stuff, in his eyes. Nevertheless, she always kept the Snowflake Charm in a secure place in her bedroom, where not even Neptune won't find it.

"Yo, Compa, I'm back!"

Blinking owlishly several times, her thoughts left her as Compa turned to the source of the familiar voice, to find the male Spec Ops Agent walking back to her, waving slightly with his right hand with the other in his pocket. "Hey there, Ni-Ni! Did you get what you wanted?" she asked him with a slight hop, while the male stopped before her with a nod of confirmation.

"Yep, it took me a goddamn long time, but I finally got what I wanted." he responded, chuckling for a brief moment before glancing down at the trolley. "Looks like you've already got most of the stuff we need, so shall we make this a speed run?" he suggested, wincing as he shook his hands, though the mirth in his eyes showed her that he was faking it... kinda. "Ugh, pushing this trolley has been killing my hands recently."

A sly giggle escaped Compa's lips at how childish the male was acting with her. Nico never did like pushing the Trolley like her grandfather did, it was why that job always fell to her or her grandfather. The fact that he had went this long without complaining was an achievement in itself. "No we're not doing a speed run, Ni-Ni. I'd be one sad Compa if Ni-Ni got all injured while being reckless like that." she told him with a slight scolding in her tone. Nico merely stepped backwards and raised his hands in surrender, oddly enough resembling his 10 year old self having a panic attack.

After that little display, Nico and Compa continued their shopping.

* * *

Once their shopping had been concluded, the two proceeded to head back home. Both of them carried two bags each, well, Nico had a third around his back from the front so it made breathing easier. The two were constantly talking about random topics, though most of them did have to do with Neptune or the other party antics that they had seen throughout their journey so far. "...Hehehehehe, And then there was that time Neptune almost looked like a murder victim when IF stuffed her face with eggplant pudding that one time after training." Compa remarked, smiling widely at the memory.

Nico cackled to himself. He remembered betting with the brunette that the purplette would make that kind of over-the-top reaction, and managed to win 200 Credits from that Bet. "Yeah, Neptune can be an amazing actress. Can you imagine it, her on a stage in a play like Romeo and Juliet? In that death scene at the end of the play..."

The two continued to talk like the childhood friends they always were, walking down the street in the direction they had come from earlier. One difference though, was that the street wasn't nearly as crowded as it had been in the morning. It was early afternoon right now, so those who were going to work would be well into their jobs by now. Those that still roamed the streets were likely either doing what they just did with the shopping, or going out for walks or to perhaps just enjoy the greatness of the afternoon sun.

'This... how long has it been since we last did this?' Nico wondered, laughing on the outside. Inside though, he wore a pained frown, and if he could right now, he'd clutch his chest in a pained manner. In his eyes, everything had been replaced with a beautiful yellow background while he and Compa were their 10 year old selves, laughing merrily without a care in the world while running back and forth. Playing like the innocent kids they used to be. 'I can't... I can't remember the last time... I just spent the day with my childhood friend, like this.'

While he thought about the past, Biko suddenly quipped from within, breaking his thoughts to pieces. **'These outings with your friends... I do believe they are helping your mind, somewhat, Nico.'** he commented. **'I can detect signs of significant recovery from it, to the point where the damage that IT has caused before has mostly been repaired. However, it is also a double-edged sword. Your times with these girls are indeed soothing your troubled mind. However, they are also making you diverge from your original path. Thus, you will suffer hallucinations and nightmares, thus damaging your psyche... perhaps, forever.'**

'Thanks for the mood-ruining talk, Biko...'

Biko didn't respond to his thoughts though, but Nico knew that his demonic personification was right. Despite enjoying this outing with his childhood friend, she and the others were basically both helping and hurting him at the same time, just by being around him. Their happiness was contagious, and it made him want to experience their happiness with them. That was not allowed however, according to his mind anyways, for whatever reason he did not remember yet at the same time, refused to remember. Like, it wasn't time for him to remember just yet.

Nico never did understand why, but his lack of searching for his lost memories really bothered him. He didn't know why he didn't entertain the thought of regaining them, they were basically a large portion of his childhood and, if his hunch was correct, had answers to a lot of his questions, questions that plagued him through day and night. Yet, Nico made little headway in searching for them, why was that?

All he could tell was that... something was stopping him from remembering. Something was stopping him from trying to delve too deep into the dark.

That 'something' seemed to be his own mind, blocking him from even thinking of trying to regain his memories, while at the sae time rebuilding itself little by little. Thus, Nico deduced that it was to do with trauma. Something happened during those times that made him want to forget about those particular memories, memories that at the time, must have been horrific enough to warrant such an action. They say wounds of the flesh were deadly, but in his eyes, damage to the mind, to the psyche, was way worse than physical damage ever could be. Physical damage could be repaired, especially in his case, but mental damage was something else, something completely different.

* * *

Finally, the two made it back to Compa's house. It was slowly getting dark out, with the sun setting behind them and some stars becoming visible despite it not being completely night up in the skies. It honestly surprised the two as they headed towards the door. "Wow, who knew that we'd take most of the day going to the groceries, huh?" the male mused, adjusting the bags' handles in his hands as well as the one around his neck. He'd be all too glad to get rid of these as soon as possible.

"It must be all the talking and stuff we did, Ni-Ni." Compa responded, wearing a cheerful smile. She didn't sound like she minded that they spent more time together than expected, nope, not the least bit dismayed. Nico couldn't help but sweat drop though. Why did he get the feeling she was trying to one-up someone? Particularly a certain Amnesiac?

Shake your head, Nico, shake your head. Girls, do NOT try to understand them.

'Author's lame yet wise advice aside, I'd better not open that can of worms...' the male thought in contemplation. He soon shrugged his shoulders, deciding to drop the subject. It wasn't likely that Compa wanted to one up someone, otherwise she would have tried to do so in Nurse School. They texted each other a LOT in between his missions, so he knew how she, um, 'felt' about certain people. When Compa got mad she could be scarier than the True Goddess, something he had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing one time.

His thoughts were broken once again, when Compa put her bags down before the doorway, and then twirled around to face him. "Thank you, again Ni-Ni, for coming with me today. I had a whole lot of fun." she thanked him, bowing her head as well.

"Now, now, no need for that formal bowing in front of me, young missy." Nico commented playfully, smirking while shaking his head in mirth. He heard her laugh lightly at his comment, which just made his smirk widen. "Anyways, aside from that, I had fun too, some of those arguments we had about item prices were like old times, eh?"

"Yeah... they were, huh?"

'Okay, now what's up?' The Spec Ops Agent wondered while his smirk turned upside down, becoming a deep frown when he saw Compa's mood darken considerably. He didn't know why she had just did that, but referring to their past together, instead of filling her with joy like it used to, just seemed to make her sad, the exact opposite. "Uh, Compa? You alright?" he asked her in worry.

The young Nurse-In-Training, whom had been looking to the side in an awkward manner, slowly looked up to him, facing his concerned gaze with her own. "O-Oh, its nothing, Ni-Ni... really." she tried to deny it, but Nico did not get fooled in the slightest. Something was troubling her, something that has been there for a while, just hidden away from the populace. What it was, Nico had no idea, but he was determined to find out.

Seeing that he wasn't convinced, Compa frowned as she looked back down towards the ground, her hands put together while her fingers interlocked with each other. "Its nothing, I just... I just worry..." she started to say, before pausing. She took a few breaths, broken, shaking breaths as she formulated what she wanted to say. "I worry... We've had so much fun today, it made me feel like we had never been apart. It was so fun, and while II enjoy our times with Nep-Nep and the others, I enjoy our personal time much more. Its just... when will it be the last one?"

Nico's eyes widened at that, his breath catching in his thought. Did she ask what he thought she asked? Did she just ask when they would be together last? Pondering it in a few seconds, along with calculations that no human mind would be able to comprehend, made Nico realise what she was implying. "Compa, were you...?" he began to say.

However, the young girl cut him off. "Yes, okay?!" she shrieked, finally releasing it all in one big outburst. She couldn't stop now, though she didn't want to. Her words flowed out like an overwhelming flood, as did the emotions swirling painfully in her chest. "I'm scared, okay?! We go off on adventure and adventure, and nearly every time we almost lose each other! We nearly lost you that time in the Monster Cave, when you lost control, during those Spec Ops missions, I worry that next time might be the last time we get to see each other! Is that so wrong, is it really so wrong to want t just spend time together like when we were children, back before any of this stuff happened?!"

While this happened, the poor guy had nothing to say. The male's wide eyes gazed at the Nurse-In-Training, his jaw open in an 'O' shape, the male too flabbergasted to speak properly at what he was seeing from his childhood friend. For the first time since they had started this journey, Nico saw Compa break down. She had glomped him, wrapping him tightly in her embrace as if afraid that if she let go then she would lose him forever. It was obvious that, due to the shaking shoulders and the wet feeling that was staining his shirt, that she was crying.

That's essentially what she was afraid of: Losing people she cared for, or worse him, in their adventure. True going on adventures was something that was meant to be fun, resulting in new friends and memories made. It can make people stronger than they were originally, teach them lessons in was that only an adventure could. It could easily be one of the best things that could happen to a person.

On the other hand however, there was a darkness to going outside one's comfort zone, like a rose an adventure can have hidden prickly thorns just waiting to claim their next victim. Adventurers can be dark, twisted, and full of danger. If one wasn't prepared enough, they could quickly find themselves at death's door with the Reaper there to usher them to the other side, leaving behind nothing but grief, agony and loss to their loved ones. An adventure can be a cruel mistress, it can teach people in harsh manners, like taking their comrades away from them, or give birth to tyrants when they see so many horrible things in the world, and none of the good.

What scared Compa was that darkness to the term 'adventure', Nico realised as he just stood there while Compa held him like he was a stake of wood in a violent storm. She remembers the close-calls they had together, the quick brushes with death they had, and fears for the future if they were to keep getting into these situations. Nico couldn't blame her, things like this didn't really scare him that much, not so much as what would happen to those that he left behind anyways. However, Compa was a normal civilian turned adventurer, who aspired to become a Nurse.

A Nurse specialises in preventing death as much as possible, even if they fail sometimes. She had been taught that death was the worst thing to have for a Patient, and that A Nurse was supposed to be able to prevent death through medicine. To see a patient die... well, it was equivalent to failing their duties as medical professionals. Even though they were supposed to be accustomed to the thought of failing, using it as a reason to get better, it can still be taxing on the mind. She must have felt so useless, not being able to help her comrades, him when he practically died that time against Arfoire, when IF almost died to the C Virus which was now under her control, and when they almost all bit the dust back in the abandoned factory.

She was a civilian, so she had limits on how much of this she could take. Apparently, she had reached hers.

"Listen.. Listen to me, Compa..." The male began, after a moment of letting Compa vent her pent up stress from worrying so much. He gently grasped her shoulder and nudged forwards, making her look up at him. He eyes looked puffy, and had redness all around them from her crying. "I get it, I really do Compa. You're worried whether or not we'll all make it out of here alive. Worried about if this fun we had may be our last. I get it, an adventure is both a time of joy and great anxiety, you never know what's around the next corner."

His words succeeded in making sure her attention was on him, something he wanted right now. She gazed into his eyes uncertainty shining within them as she tried to figure out where Nico was going with this. She wasn't sure her voice was going to be useful right now. "However, we must brave that unknown, Compa. We've come a long way, and there have been dangers laid out before us. I don't doubt there will be more of them, but you know what, I don't care. No, that's a lie, I do care, because I have comrades to look after. You've done so well in handling this so far, you can't quit now Compa. In fact, you have no idea how PROUD I am of you, having done so well for a civilian. In my eyes, if you wanted to you could be a Guild Agent right now. I'd definitely recommend you." he explained, grinning at the end as he patted her on the shoulder.

Her eyes had started to regain that light to them, that light he adored so much. However, if she thought he was done, she would be in for a rude awakening. "Do not EVER think you're useless, either young lady. I won't have it, Neptune won't have it, hell the entire Party won't have it. Whether you're partaking in our dork of a leader's antics, or on the battlefield, there is plenty of use for you with us. We all would rather have you than any other Nurse out there, even if you failed your Nursing course."

Now THAT got her attention, a surprised squeak escaping her lips as she tried to form a reply. However, the male shushed her while placing a hand on her lips. "Ah-ah-ah, lips closed, missy." he stated teasingly, a matching smile on his own, making Compa pout at him before he continued. "Of course I've known about that all along. You can't hide things from THIS Spec Ops, Compa. Who cares if you failed your course, that's only for official reasons anyways. How many battles have ou partaken in where you had to heal your friends of their injuries? How many times have your healing talents saved our skins? The correct answer is thus: more times than we'd care to mention. You are FAR from useless, Compa, don't EVER forget that."

The light in her eyes shone brighter, and her lips were curling upwards ever so slightly. Her grip on him tightened, and Nico could tell that she was slowly making it to a full recovery. There was one thing he could do to take this baby home, and he mentally cheered at finally being able to do this. "Oh yeah, I also got you something." he told her, igniting a curious 'huh?' from his childhood friend. "I still don't get it, even though I asked around. Apparently, it must be something good because people kept calling me a 'lucky sod' or 'goddamn bastard' in a jealous manner for some reason." he remarked, sweat dropping as memories passed through his mind.

Reaching into his Pocket, Nico pulled something out. Whatever it was, had been concealed purposefully, so Compa couldn't make out what it was. He hung his hand out before her, before unclenching his fist. Time seemed to slow in Compa's perspective, her eyes slowly becoming saucers as her jaw fell open, everything within her freezing in shock. There, dangling from his middle finger in a crimson chord...

Was a Charm: the other half of the Snowflake charm.

The Charm looked just as beautiful as the other piece Compa had from all those years ago. It glittered like a divine object in the last few rays of the sun behind them, like an old lover whom had just returned to his family after a long journey. Its shine lured her in like an angler fish did with her prey, not letting any of her attention slip from its grasp. Slowly, Compa's right hand retreated from its previous perch on Nico's shoulder to tenderly grasp the object into its grasp, holding it like it was the most fragile piece of equipment she had ever taken.

"Looks like you like it..." the male mused, smirking in pride as he held his fists on his hips, putting his chest and nose out there with his head held high. "It took me a while, since apparently it only works after a prolonged time period, but I managed to get the other half of that Charm. I think its supposed to bring you luck, but I'll go a step further." The male's expression then morphed, his eyes becoming stern and intense like a pair of bonfires. He straightened himself out, looking more like a gentleman as he pointed towards the Charm. "That there's all the proof you need. Proof that whatever happens in the future, I'll always have a reason to survive, a reason to keep on living. As long as you hold onto that Charm, when its complete of course, I'll be making sure that I live. To come back alive, so we can have many more fun times in the future." he told her.

 **'That is... a very deep claim there, Nico.'** Biko commented, and was it just him, or did Nico detect some form of surprise in his voice? Nah, it couldn't be. **'However, are you sure you can live up to those words? Its not like you to make a promise you can't keep.'**

The male mentally responded firmly to his mental tenant, his tone filled with resolve and determination that shone though their bone like a roaring furnace. 'Yeah, I'm sure. My mind may say otherwise, but whatever happens I'm going to do my damn best to make it back to her. I mean, come on, its practically what 've always done these last 4 years. I'm only officially stating it now.' Yeah, that was truer than anything else in this world. Nico had been in plenty of tough situations over the years, situations that would have killed a normal person. However, there had been only one reason on his mind, one reason that to him was more important than even protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty: returning to his childhood friend alive.

She may think he did much for her, but she didn't realise just how much she had done for him just by existing.

In Compa's mind, her thoughts slowly came back to her as she held the Charm close to her chest, right where her heart was so she could feel the warmth and effort Nico had poured into getting it. She had not been disappointed as the warmth was intense enough to burn away her worries with nothing remaining. That was what it felt like tough, she figured she'd always be worried for their future, at least until the day things settle down and they could resume their normal lives once more. However, right now, the sweetness and innocence behind this gesture, a gesture that spanned over 4 years in the making, filled her with so much joy that she just couldn't contain herself. This was the reason why she loved Nico so, and she would show him that with what she did next.

CHU!

Nico could not have predicted that Compa would do what she did next. In one second, her lips were crashed against his, her arms coiling around him while her left hand held on to his coat for support. Her right hand moved around his neck while clutching her new Charm, and her body looked like it was trying to merge with him, to get as close to his hear as possible while her breasts pressed into his chest. Nico's eyes, while frozen in shock at first, slowly closed in time as he put one hand on the back of her head and the other on the middle of her back.

The two looked like star-crossed lovers, kissing each other in the sunset.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **There! The Compa Chapter is DONE!**

 **Goddamn, this took a while to write.**

 **Over 14K words and a serious Chapter. I hope you all like and appreciate what I've done with Compa's relationship development with Nico. This harem will be developed like hell if its the last thing I do! I will make this Harem as unique as the characters in Highschool DXD. Good harem anime, characters have their own backgrounds and the protagonist is very relatable, especially in the Light Novels.**

 **In this Chapter, I was showing just how much Nico and Compa care about each other, and the depths of that care. I made the charm thing up, but there are charms on the internet that do symbolise deep love and commitment. I believe that the romantic, innocence in these charms is an accurate representation of the bond these two characters have. Compa is a largely innocent character, even when she doesn't sound it. This is the foundation o the relationship between them as Nico see's that innocence as the light in the darkness, drawing him to her like a moth to a flame.**

 **If you have questions, let me know in the reviews or PM's. I look forward to hearing from y'all, so until then:**

 **Peace out!**


	47. Chapter 44 - Planeptune time!

**Chapter 44 - Planeptune Time!**

It was about 10 in the morning within the land of Purple Progress, Planeptune. The civilians under the protection granted by its CPU, Purple Heart, were just starting to get out their houses to go to their jobs, do shopping or whatever activities they did during the day. To them, the day would go on like any other, the threat of monsters attacking ever constant, the growing power supplied to the Military, among other topics racing through the papers. Adults went to do their daily jobs, both the single and the taken ones, there was no distinction. Some would even play mobile games while donning classy suits, while occasionally they would see patrolling Militiamen across the streets by the hour. Teens would either go to College, high school, or would be shut in nerds chatting with others from within their dirty rooms on social media while their families worked their asses off.

But at Compa's house, things were about to take an interesting turn.

* * *

"Whatchya watching Iffy? Some Neptuber on a sugar rush? Some lovable pervert who likes big titties and cute butts?" Neptune's sudden question brought IF's concentration on the video that she was watching on her phone. It had been a nice, relatively quiet morning in the house, something of a rarity considering the house's occupants, and the brunette had been watching her video in relative peace, while Neptune had remained doing her own thing.

Sadly, for her anyways, that seemed to be over now.

Looking up at the preteen, IF noticed that she was standing right beside her, looking over at what she was watching like a curious child. She gave an irritated scoff at having her personal space violated so blatantly, and moved away from her, eyeing her warily. "Nothing like that, Nep. It's just the footage of our last few battles with the Abnormals in Lastation." She replied, showing her phone so Neptune could get a better look. Indeed, it was the footage of herself, Neptune and Compa battling an Abnormal, one which according to Nico's notes that he'd given them, was called a 'Quadriga': a massive creature that looks like it was a mix between human, horse and tank. It had the lower body of a mechanical horse, with the two front legs a set of Tank treads. The front of its horse body had a face-like cartridge that opened to fire missiles. It had a skeletal upper body, with a skull for a head. On the back was a large disk-like structure, with several wing-like protrusions coming from the sides. On the back of its horse body, were a pair of rectangular missile launchers.

It was something that could be considered an Abnormal, both in its defence and its offence. Not even Neptune's HDD form could easily pierce through its armour, which spoke volumes about how powerful it was. Heck, Compa's armour was hard pressed to dent its armour with its rounds. They had a real difficult time dealing with that particular Abnormal, and when they had returned to gloat to Nico about their success, he just casually shown them his own record for beating that particular Abnormal. He beat one on 6 minutes, while they took over 30.

That shut them up, quickly.

"Ohhhh… that guy…!" Neptune pouted, remembering how difficult that monster was. She made a sour face afterwards, unwanted memories coursing through her mind. "That meanie kept shelling me with missiles…" she groaned, shoulders dropping as she felt phantom pains in several parts of her body. "Not to mention how long it took to break its armour… muuuu! Why ya watching this, Iffy? Ya like seeing me get beat or something?" she asked her. While Neptune wasn't fond of getting beat, she could tell that IF would like it, since she did get annoyed over her antics. Seeing her beaten would likely be a way for her to relieve those stress.

IF looked back at her and smirked deviously, a twinkle in her eyes that all but confirmed her earlier thoughts. "Maaaaaaaybe…" she began, her smirk widening as she saw Neptune begin to groan in dismay, shoulders dropping and her arms hanging in front of her sides, until she decided to get on with it. "Hehehe, just kidding. Anyways, I'm looking it over see how I could improve on my BOW abilities." She told her, becoming more serious and dropping her smile for a firm line. It was how she usually was when discussing how to get better as a Guild Agent. As she said that, she looked down at her phone and saw the moment when her video self, mutate one of her arms into a weapon she was intending to create to suit the situation.

Within the video, her video self's limb twisted, moulding itself with grotesque sounds ringing throughout the speakers, however she was so used to it now thanks to having heard them so many times. She vaguely noticed Neptune grimacing and shuddering as she heard the sounds, but she ignored it. In IF's eyes, Neptune would have to get used to such things with her new... status.

When it was complete, the arm looked normal down to the elbow, save for several Tendrils made from flesh wrapping around it and going into the shoulder. Below that though, was a long, large organic shaft, as large as a bodybuilder's arm. At the tip, there was a large Axe blade, about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. The blade was double tipped with a large crescent edge, a single notch next to the bottom tip. That same tip of the Shaft had a large shell-like structure, meant for bashing and crushing. One could call it a Hybrid of Axe, a slashing weapon, and a Hammer, a crushing weapon.

She had hence called it: an Axammer.

The Axammer was an idea she had been pondering for a while. Before, her body was built for speed and agility, with only a moderate amount of strength. Thus, she wasn't very good with large weapons that dealt massive damage. She had been more of a speed-type, dealing rapid barrages of blows that were both weak yet occurred so fast that if they were tallied, they'd equal out compared to the rest of them. She had not been a powerhouse like a few of their members, like Neptune or Nico, so she had to maximise her skills with dual wielding, either Qatars or Claws. She had only a few Skills that helped her offence further, which was the limit she could reach.

Now though, thanks to the power of a BOW, she had noted down many changes to her physical ability. For example, one time she had tested her strength by asking Neptune if she could hold her weapon. A CPU should be the only one who could hold her weapon, it was designed that way by their own essence, any who tried to wield them other than their divine asters would find them as heavy as an atomic bomb. Neptune had done so, to her confusion, and when IF grasped her HDD Form's Katana, she half expected to drop to the floor since Compa had once tried only to fall flat on her face, and everyone knew that her strength had been impressive for a human. Both Nico and Neptune could attest to this.

However, to her shock as well as Neptune's, she had only slightly dropped, her knees bending before she got used to the grip and held it in a manner akin to how Neptune's HDD form handled it. She'd even managed to swing it a few times, though not nearly as fast as Neptune's swings. Turned out that her physical ability, while it didn't look like she had any with her... petite, frame, had actually been heavily augmented. Nico and her had done some additional experiments and found out something quite interesting...

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **"Alright, IF, I think that's enough." Nico's voice rang through Compa's back yard, where IF had just finished testing her strength by having a 15 feet tall pile of junk strapped to her back. The male watched her as the brunette simply discarded the pile, without making it collapse by the way, to the ground beside her, before looking over to him and nodding.**_

 _ **The male nodded as he opened his Void Storage and pressed a few keys on the holographic screen, the junk pile vanishing into it. "Alright, it looks like you have indeed been altered in the strength department. While I observed you walking about like an old hunched hermit..." Nico smirked as he tilted his head to the side, avoiding an annoyed stone throw that would have given him a mild concussion, curtesy of an annoyed Guild Agent. His expression then turned serious as he opened up another holographic screen from his right Bracer. "I did a little Scan on your body, and thus discovered something interesting."**_

 _ **This drew IF's attention like a moth to a flame, whenever Nico had that look it was usually something significant, so she wanted to know what he was thinking about. She walked towards him with her hands in her pockets. She didn't even care that, thanks to her clothes literally being a part of her now, thanks to her BOW powers, that she was putting her hands inside herself. At first, she did care, but after a few days she got used to the idea. "Oh? What did you find, Nico?"**_

 _ **"That your body is a literal definition of 'survival of the fittest' right now."**_

 _ **... Huh? What was he talking about? IF had to think that as she aimed a confused look to the male. What did he mean by survival of the fittest. It sounded like it was a big deal, especially with how serious he looked right now.**_

 _ **Seeing that she was not getting it, Nico swung his free hand in a circular motion, and the screen swerved a full 180 degrees, so that its display was now pointed at her. "If you look at this here..." he began, pointing to the display, which showed IF's own body, bare of any clothes since it was a digital 3D Model, with her arms spread like the angel of the North in Lowee. He made the zooming in motion with a finger and thumb, so the image focused into her stomach area.**_

 _ **When IF looked, she saw that some of her cells looked like they were... consuming, consuming the other cells, cells that tried to fight back but their attackers proved to be too powerful. That was what IF thought she was looking at, and Nico confirmed it when he pointed to the sight. "As you can see, your cells are killing off the weaker cells, then promoting the growth of the stronger ones. The newer, stronger ones then eat the older cells, and thus the cycle repeats. This is basically survival of the fittest, the rule of the jungle. Now this is happening on a microscopic level, over hundreds of times a day, thus it does explain your ability to shapeshift. Essentially, your powers potential may be limitless due to this, and I'm basing that off personal experience."**_

 _ **IF gaped, her eyes like saucers as she went on pondering on what he said as Nico continued. "Back in Racoon City, one of the Tyrants I fought was a 'Hypnos T-type' which was a special Tyrant. It had a special gene called the Hypnos Gene embedded into it. This gene killed off weaker cells then grew the stronger, better cells. That, combined with its other abilities, made it a dangerous foe to combat. Your body seems to have a similar trait to constantly reinforce its cells with the strong and destroy the weak cells. In addition with the fact that you're in control over your powers, you can literally guide your own evolution, give yourself powers that could rival or even surpass the CPUs, even my own."**_

 _ **After he told her this, Nico closed the Hologram, letting the brunette digest the information. When he saw how stunned, disbelieving, and outright nervous she looked, the male gave a sigh. This would likely take a while.**_

 _ **(Flashback: END)**_

With the discovery of her strength being augmented by what they had henceforth called the 'Chrysalis Gene', IF had tested out her other physical abilities, which she theorised were also changed, to be proven right. She managed to run 20 laps around the entirety of Lastation and Planeptune's capitals, before getting mildly winded, she shot herself with one of her pistols at point blank and a distance, dodging both faster than a second, jumped onto a single-story building's roof, and lastly her instincts had become much sharper, allowing her to detect things that normally she wouldn't have been able to detect. It showed that not only her body, but salso her mind and senses had been affected by the C Gene.

Next was her apparent regeneration: Upon having her arm blown off by a stray missile fired from the Abnormal, IF had found out her body reproduced cells faster than normal to give her a healing factor, proven by when she slowly regenerated the arm back to full capacity. Thanks to her clothes also coming from her powers, she managed to restore the sleeve of her trench coat as well, much to her relief. So far, the perks to being a BOW were quite promising, much more so than the cons. She knew there was more to her healing ability, however she didn't have enough time to further test it as back then it was close to the time where they would have to return to Planeptune.

Nevertheless, the Chrysalis, or the C Gene, had definitely vastly improved her body's abilities.

"Well, I guess it's better than what we talked about last time, eh Iffy?" Neptune remarked, a sly grin spreading across her features as she elbowed the brunette in the side, getting an annoyed scoff from her. "What, with you being a stalker of Lady Green Heart and all."

This earned an elbow to the stomach, with an exasperated "Guh!" escaping from Neptune's lips as she doubled over on the floor, holding her stomach with her arms and thanking every deity she could think of that she didn't throw her pudding up. The perpetrator scowled as she crossed her arms under her bust, something she had noted hadn't changed from her transformation to her displeasure, while tick marks formed over her forehead. "Sh-Shut up, Nep! And it's not like you're going to win that bet anyways!"

What IF was referring to was an earlier conversation that had taken place in the morning, where Neptune had found her going through a blog, but not just any old blog, but Green Heart's blog, the CPU of Leanbox. This alone would have caused her merely a minor headache, as while Neptune now was aware of her identity as a CPU, she still had amnesia so she wouldn't know that out of the four Goddesses, only Green Heart had a Blog. Though, that headache was mixed with a sense of disappointment at Neptune's pettiness when she suggested teasing Noire over her entries, but fortunately that wouldn't happen because only Green Heart blogged.

However, things went downhill for her when Neptune discovered a hidden link to Green Heart's private diary. Let it not be said that IF quickly lost her composure at the thoughts of reading the CPU she idolised more than the other three's diary, though Neptune quickly made a teasing remark about how she would do so later. She tried to push past the issue, but deep down, she had made a note to mark the page down in her phone.

Upon examining its entries, they discovered that Green Heart had a lot of… hobbies to do with the otaku genre. Of course, IF believed firmly that the CPU of Leanbox wouldn't be into anything like that, while Neptune thought the opposite. Thus, a bet between them had been born. The bet was that whoever was right would get 1 weeks' worth of the loser's pudding. IF could already see it now, Neptune bawling her eyes out while watching, while Nico held her back, as IF smugly ate her pudding for a whole week, feeling more satisfied than she had been in her entire life.

At that point, Compa and Nico had returned from their activities, Compa with her groceries and Nico with training his powers and taking a load of quests from the Spec Ops Quest board. He'd gotten a message that his armour was nearly complete, with a few set changes, thus his vacation status was removed so he could partake in Spec Ops Tier Quests again, plus all those privileges he'd lost with the status change were restored as well. They'd came just in time to hear them betting about the CPU of Leanbox, making them realise that Leanbox would be their next destination.

"Anyways, I gotta head out. There's a Phone sale that's starting soon and I don't want to miss it." IF stated, standing up after checking the time on her phone. What she meant was that there was a special sale where she could get higher quality phones than the ones she had. She then headed for the door, opened it and closed it behind her, leaving Neptune all by her lonesome, giggling to herself.

Not long afterwards, the door was opened and Compa walked in, carrying a new bowl of pudding. She had this confused look on her face as she glanced down the corridor she had come through, where she had brushed by IF who was looking own at her phone at the time, before she went downstairs, put her boots on, and headed out. "Um, Nep-Nep, where is Iffy going…?"

"Oh, nothing much, just some sale or whatever, I didn't listen to the finer details since they seemed boring."

"… Nep-Nep, Iffy would throttle you if she heard that, and Ni-Ni would help."

* * *

IF wandered through the streets, heading towards the centre where the sale would be. She had her phones out and was scrolling through Green Heart's blog, looking at the 'regular' updates instead of the ones that she discovered from the hidden link. To her, it felt like she would be acknowledging that Neptune was right about the Goddess that she worshipped, and that was not something she wanted to ponder for long, if at all.

Just imagining the stupid dopey smile that formed on her face when she made those insinuations grinded her gears like no tomorrow. 'That little… I'm so gonna enjoy taking from her pudding stash.' She thought in anger and irritation. She was so affected by her emotions that she almost crushed her phone had she not noticed in time. Quickly, she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She was known as the level-headed one in the group, at least aside from their resident Spec Ops Agent.

The thoughts of the male were quick to calm her nerves down. While she may not be as… into him as Neptune and Compa were, IF could say without a doubt that Nico was a good looking young man, she had seen many of those types around, and usually they wind up being good partners… for a time anyways. Then they reveal their true colours which revolved around 3 things: money, sex and pleasure.

May sound cliché, but according to her experiences, true.

Thus, she was always cautious around guys and preferred working with female colleagues at the Guild. When she had first heard of DEATHSTROKE with his reputation, she did have her doubts about his skills and competence. He wasn't as well known as the other Agents, even now he wasn't, so she didn't exactly have much of an opinion on him at the time. However, with time and how he had supposedly done things he had slowly made her realise those rumours were not just rumours.

Despite being her junior with how long they'd been with the Guild for, IF recognised him as a high-level Agent.

Plus, and this was her feminine side that she usually repressed talking, Nico… wasn't exactly the worst to look at, quite the opposite in fact. Like previously stated, she found him to be easy on the eyes, though not to the extent that Compa and Neptune saw him. To her, Compa knew him the longest while Neptune, well, she assumed that the pinkette liked him because he'd done what nobody else had done, noticed what others didn't and did something about it. Despite his shy nature, Nico did have a gentle side to him, of that IF was aware of.

"Hey IF, what are you doing wandering around here?"

The sudden masculine voice abruptly cut her out of her thoughts like a knife through glass. IF practically jumped in shock and fright at the suddenness of the voice, and would have reacted in a violent manner until she spotted the familiar red hair and light blue eyes that were looking at her with obvious confusion. When she reacted the way she did though, the eyes widened and became filled with frantic panic. "Wh-whoa, s-s-sorry about that, I didn't wanna startle you, you just looked like you were lost or something."

IF blinked as she calmed herself down, placing her hand on her chest and taking a deep breath to settle her nerves. "I-it's okay, Nico…" she wheezed afterwards, eyes closed for a few seconds before they opened allowing her to face the male's own. "I was just in my own thoughts, is all. Anyways, what's up? I thought you'd be out questing or training, like you've been doing all week." Unlike a certain someone who she didn't have to name, Nico took this break and spent it productively, training his powers and learning how to harness them to their full potential, a lot like what she'd been doing.

Though unlike her, Nico had also thrown himself into his Spec Ops Quests. Apparently, the other Agents had left him a sizable chunk of them for him to do while he was away, thinking that with him gone there was no need to work as hard, at least that was what she heard from a few colleagues. The thought had sent her through a bout of silent rage at the other Agents, how could they just leave such important work to just one person, and then just go galivant off like that?! At least Team RAIL helped, they were just as workaholic as Nico was, and it was thanks to them that the male had finished the Quests as fast as he did, even he readily admitted that they were a big help.

It added too her high opinion of the male.

There were few times when he couldn't do those things though, and the two reasons that were, were Neptune and Compa, who did what they could to spend time with the male who had garnered their interest. Though, despite this, it seemed as though Nico enjoyed himself all the same which, to her, showed that the girls had chances with him.

"Well, I just finished today's quota and was convinced…" when he said convinced IF mentally reworded it to forced. She could imagine several of his colleagues telling him to take a break when he got through his workload and began taking work from them as well, the hypocrites. Although she was furious at them, she could understand that even he needed a break at times. "That I needed to take some time to do my own thing, and since my training's proceeding well I thought I'd take a wander around Planeptune. Even if people don't make quests for them, crime still thrives where you least expect it." he explained, before sighing dramatically and muttering about 'not needing any breaks' under his breath.

IF just chuckled at his eagerness to work. "While I get where those hypocrites are coming from, you do need to take some breaks occasionally. That was what this should have been, but you spent it in a more… productive manner." she remarked, getting a sheepish look from him in return.

When she had said that, Nico had no response to give other than that, so he decided to just move on. "Well, while I was 'being productive' I noticed that you were walking by looking at your phone for some reason, looking like you were troubled by something so I came over and… well, you know the rest." He finished off nervously, tilting his head to the side in a manner that reminded the brunette of a certain Nurse-In-Training. "So, is something bothering you?"

'Those two really are childhood friends…' IF thought, sweat dropping at the similar mannerisms the two displayed. They may have only known each other for a year before separating, but still it was surprising how well they knew each other's quirks. When her brain registered his question, her eyes widened as she remembered her previous engagement. "Shoot, Its nearly time! Ugh, I gotta go, a phone sale's happening, and I don't wanna miss it. the time window is short thanks to the updated models being so high in value."

She made to leave the male alone, when something he quipped stopped her in her tracks. "Uh, you mean a phone like this, right?" Nico asked her, reaching into his Void Storage and pulling out what looked like a black phone with purple frames. There were several lines going through the back of the phone, making it oddly resemble the colours of Neptune's HDD form.

IF's eyes almost flew out her sockets when she saw the device in his hands. "Ah!" she exclaimed while raising a hand and pointing at it dramatically. "Y-Yes! That's the one! how the hell'd you get one?!" she shrieked in shock and dismay. "Phones like these are not only worth a fortune but people almost instantly buy the entire stock before the second hour hits, making these guys extremely rare!"

Nico did a double take at the intensity in IF's voice as she gazed at the phone like Neptune did her puddings, eyes shining like stars with a bit of drool on the corner of her lips. The male sweat dropped as he held the phone in his hand in a wary, sceptical manner, slightly afraid that IF would try to jump him to get to the Phone. "Well, I guess it's a combination of luck and circumstance, you see the shop owner was someone I helped out a while back, his kid was being bullied by his peers so I gave him the confidence he needed to stand up to himself, plus I happened to be in the area so he just reserved one for me." He tried to explain. Nico remembered that incident and knew the story involved a lot more depth like psychological and emotional issues, but it looked like IF didn't care much for that, so he shortened it as much as he could.

Still though, the look on IF's face was priceless, and it nearly made him chuckle in amusement, though he managed to suppress it into a smirk instead. IF's eyes were shaking with her jaw agape as she tried to form a coherent sentence. However only single letters and sounds came out, rendering her attempts useless which caused her to release a defeated groan. "Ugh, you Spec Ops get all the good stuff, I swear…" she mumbled in depression, her mood decreasing significantly. "Odds are the sale is over by this point, I spent a small portion looking over the footage of my training, so its likely that they've sold out of these already."

The sight of a downtrodden IF was something that Nico wasn't used to, nor did he like it. It felt wrong, like he was placing a perfectly usable piece of equipment into a junkyard for petty reasons. He knew IF to be a cool, calm, composed and snarky character, someone he could have logical conversations with. It was something to be admired, especially with a group like theirs. There had to be something Nico could do to salvage this situation, but what? An idea soon came to him, though. Looking down at the phone in his hand, the male quickly concluded to help elevate her mood, and stretched his hand out towards her in a silent offer.

Her face once again became stunned with what she was seeing as she stared at the phone with shock and disbelief. "Seriously?! You're just giving me this?!" she shouted, for Nico to give a nod in return. "N-Not that I'm complaining, but why?! I mean, these things function 10 times better than average phones, can play games that are usually only on consoles thanks to their graphics cards, and last twice as long!" she exclaimed, listing the pros of the Phone being given to her on her fingers.

"Yeah well, I don't need something like that when I could just update my Bracers." Nico replied, simply shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. He didn't see why IF would be so surprised at his gesture, seriously she knew that he would have done something like this, it was in his character. Was it really that surprising? "Plus, I know you like phones, so I figured 'IF likes phones, so why not give this to her?' Like I said, not like I have any use for them." he remarked, remembering that train of thought.

While not particularly caring about the newest phones when his Bracers could just be updated, Nico never did not see the uses in them. One of which was making his comrade glad to be around him. He didn't think Compa would want one and Neptune didn't care much for phones unless it was for a mobile game or something… or if it had to do with pudding. She was weird like that, but it was endearing. Thus, IF was the best choice to give this to.

Slowly, IF reached out and grasped the phone, feeling its weight and taking it from his hand. She felt that it was a bit heavier than normal Phones, but she didn't mind it especially with her physical enhancements. "I… I don't know what to say, dude." She said breathlessly, barely above a whisper she was that stunned at his gesture.

At that point Nico felt insulted. "Just a simple thank you would suffice for me." He responded, keeping the irritation from his voice as she may take it the wrong way. Now that he thought about it, IF probably had some form of grudge against males. When he first met her back at the beginning of the story, Nico had seen how much KI she had radiated when being harassed by those guys. Sure, she said it was because she had a stressful day, but something in his gut told him that the amount of KI she held within her was larger than what one would make in those circumstances. It was becoming more likely with her reactions to his gesture, something that troubled him slightly.

Looking up at him, IF weighed her options. While she would aay thank you, it just felt a little lacking for her tastes. She would feel like a thief if she didn't do something to repay him, something that DIDN'T revolve around anything lewd. She'd seen a few people do things like this only to want a good time afterwards, and didn't want to be like that. Plus, Nico wasn't that kind of guy especially with his reactions to Neptune's teasing and flirting.

An idea hit her, one that she got the inspiration for when she remembered something she'd seen out the corner of her eye whilst walking along the street behind her. "Well, thanks Nico. Though I' feel shitty if I at least didn't take you for coffee or something. I know a place nearby, so how about it?" she offered him, feeling an odd sense of anxiety for some reason.

'C'mon girl, it's not like you haven't done this before? It's just with a colleague instead of a client whose grateful to you for whatever reason. No need to be shy about it.' she scolded herself as she waited for his answer. IF had been with a lot of people in her lifetime, mostly on business terms. She never forged lasting bonds though as in her line of work you could die at any moment. Thus, this was her first time asking someone for a coffee as a friendly gesture, and she felt a little nervous because of it. Perhaps this was what happened when you worked with detached emotions, perhaps this was the toll it took on one's psyche.

On his end, Nico hummed in thought as he considered her offer. While surprised that she offered him this, Nico was also quite happy. After all, aside from their adventures and planning to fight Avenir or planning their next moves, him and IF never really talked outside a business environment. That time where he discussed the name of his DPU form with her came to mind, but even then, it still had a formal business air about it. When he thought about how she forgave him for his slip-up in the Basilicom, it made him glad that she considered him to be… well, above normal business colleagues at least.

Also, it wasn't like she would learn anything dangerous about him if he went with her, as opposed to if she asked him to go to a fancy restraint with her. For his body, Coffee was easily digestible, one of the few things made by people he could use as sustenance. It always made his day when he got a good cup of coffee in the mornings, but he didn't get the chance to go to a café very often with the nature of his job, thus he had to resort to buying and making his own Coffee which he kept in a silver canister, like the ones people who want to camp would take.

In the end, he decided that the pros outweigh the cons, and gave her an appreciative smile. "Sure, I'm down for some coffee, haven't got anything better to do anyways." he replied while shrugging his shoulders.

IF smiled, feeling glad that he had accepted her offer. "Great." She turned on her boots and began walking to the Café she had seen, which was back the way she came. In addition, there was a notable ease to her strides that Nico noticed, but didn't delve very much into. "The Café's back this way, so follow me. I'm paying by the way."

"Oh c'mon, lemme pay!" the male exclaimed in dismay, making IF laugh in good humour as he quickly jogged after her.

* * *

It was a short walk to the Café that IF had recommended to them, and when they arrived there Nico saw that it was titled 'Little Nep Coffee Stand'. He remembered hearing about this place one time from some colleagues after returning from a Quest. They said it was a charming little coffee shop with a few token stools that serves delicious coffee in a paper cup. They said that the friendly owner will be more than happy to engage in conversation with visitors while roasting quality beans and serves single-origin drip coffee along with the typical espresso-based drinks, which are prepared on a Synesso machine.

"Hmmm, this place seems quite homely… As expected of Gamindustri's Planeptune." He remarked thoughtfully as they entered the Café. He could feel the warm, informal atmosphere that the place generated, how the few customers here were enjoying their coffee while chatting away merrily, as if the problems of the outside world were of no concern to them.

IF nodded her head wistfully, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah, I hear ya. Anyways, let's go find us a table, don't wanna be standing around here like idiots, now do we?" she remarked, already walking to a table with Nico silently agreeing and following suit.

The two sat down at a table and began waiting for the waiter to arrive to request their coffee. While they waited, Nico glanced at the menu along with the brunette. 'Hmmm… Well, the choices are a normal blend of coffee, a quick drip, or an Iced Coffee.' He thought, looking through the menu before running his options through his mind. 'Well, since I've been working a lot I should probably cool my body of with some iced coffee. Whelp, that's me set.'

Closing the menu, Nico placed it in the middle of the table as did IF not long after. "You set?" the male asked, getting a smile and a nod from the girl. "Well I'm for Iced Coffee, what about you?"

"I'm going for the quick drip. I like my coffee without any lumps in it. Sticks uncomfortably to my throat for the entire day unless I get some water." IF replied, shuddering a little as she remembered that sensation the first time she had some coffee.

Nico grimaced, he had experience with that feeling, so he could relate. Thing was though, it wasn't with coffee that he had that sensation but… something else, something to do with the secret that he kept hidden inside.

Soon enough they were approached by a waiter, who was a tall woman in a black overcoat, white shirt, long knee length skirt and heels. She had a notebook and pencil in hand as she held it like a journalist ready to write. "Welcome to Little Nep's Coffee Stand, may I take your order?" she asked them with a polite smile, one that seemed like she'd practiced for a long time, indicating how long she had worked in this business.

"Iced Coffee for me please."

"Quick drip for me as well, please."

The woman nodded as she noted down their sugar intakes and if they wanted any milk or not. After they confirmed the order, the woman left to get it prepared, leaving them to wait till it was done. While they waited, IF looked over to the male and noticed that he was scrolling though the holographic interface of his right Bracer. "You are looking something up there?" she questioned him.

Looking up from whatever it was he was doing, Nico nodded as he proceeded to explain. "Yeah, just trying to make sense of these Quest ratios. Apparently with my absence, there have been increasing Abnormal attacks, and they're getting bolder every time. Newer ones we haven't seen before are cropping up, coming out of the woodworks you could say." While explaining this, Nico was looking at some video feeds that the other Spec Ops Agents had sent him to look through when he had the time. "It kinda explains why the Militia have been getting better and better, they're trying to show they were not obsolete in the Guild's wake."

"Sounds like things are getting worse. You still plan on staying with us on our journey?"

"Yep." Nico replied with another firm nod. "I'll return if they need me, but they do have other capable Agents besides me. Plus, there's Team RAIL, they have more to offer them than just single old me." He elaborated further, holding an index finger up in the air.

A thought came to him, and Nico paused the feed he was currently looking through to turn on his seat, which he had been sitting on sideways since this conversation began, so that he could face her with a quizzical look on his face. "I've been curious actually, how has your training as one of them been doing?" the way he said 'them' indicated the BOW's but he said it that way because A they were in public, and B it wasn't a well-known fact that a Planeptune Agent had become a BOW but remained mentally sane. It was almost as big a secret as Neptune being the CPU of Planeptune, as there hadn't been a BOW that was sane before.

It made her a rare commodity, one that people would kill to get their hands on.

"It's going well, got a few ideas I wanna try out sometime, but I gotta say, with things as they are right now, I'm actually better off than I was before." She mused, mauling over her many hours of training in fights with the Abnormals. While tough, it gave her new ideas to experiment with her ability to manipulate her body. The only downside she could think of would be that she had to perfectly imagine the weapon she desired, right down to its specs for the first time. If there was so much as a shred of doubt, the virus mutation would fail, and other unforeseen mutations could occur. One time she messed up and grew a third eyeball on her forehead.

Fortunately to compensate this weakness applied itself only once per mutation. Once she had the idea down, all she had to do was think of the ne of her mutation in her head and she gets it instantly. Made complex mutations like her Axammer much easier to attain, that's for sure.

"Since we're on this topic, what about you? How's your questing doing? You look like you've been working like hell." IF asked him after a moment of contemplating her mutations and training.

Nico hummed in thought, patting his chin with his index finger as he made to think of a response. "Well, not much to go on other than the rising Abnormal activity. Feels good to be Spec Ops questing. Lemme tell you, to me, not being able to quest is like Neptune losing her rights to have ANY Pudding for a couple weeks."

IF rolled her eyes at his slight exaggeration. While a part of her paled with dread at the thought of Neptune without her favourite desert, the carnage that she'd unleash in that situation, she didn't think Nico would go quite as far. "Huh, well then, I guess it's a good thing your back on duty." She mused.

Before they could continue, the woman from earlier returned with their orders, placing them on the table before them. After they gave their thanks, the woman nodded politely and walked away to continue serving customers. IF discreetly noticed that she had looked at Nico a little longer than necessary for the profession, something which made her scoff lightly.

Looked like Nico had another fan without him realising it.

"Say… have you noticed?" Nico's words brought her out of her musings as she made to blink owlishly a few times, before directing her attention towards the male. The said male was thinking deeply while looking at her intently. It was honestly a little nerve-wracking which showed on her features as she averted her eyes from him. "U-Uh…What exactly?"

The male, either unaware of her discomfort or ignoring it, continued to stare at her lost in thought. "Well, I think this might be the first time you and I have really talked since this journey began. We've usually been focused more on the Goal of the Key Fragments or Avenir, so we've never really talked that much, huh?"

After he said that, IF pondered on it and to her surprise, she realised that he was sporting a good point. There weren't as many times where they themselves talked where it was just the two of them. Usually Nico and IF would talk mostly about business-, matters like how to take Avenir down, or about the Key Fragments. Whenever they were talking it was usually with Compa and Neptune nearby, so this could be considered a rare occurrence for them. "You do have a point…" she mused, agreeing with the male until memories flashed in her mind. "Although, if you wanna be technical, I guess you'd sat this is our second personal talk. The first one's the time where we debated over THAT form's name."

Nico paused to ponder this, before realising that like him, she too had a point about her argument. "Ok, I see your point there…" after he said that, the two relapsed into silence, drinking their beverages while pondering on their own little issues. This silence lasted for a few minutes, about 10 in total, when they finally finished their beverages and put them to the side.

Eventually, IF began the next topic. "How about this then, we take turns asking and answering questions about each other. We can get to know more about each other so we're not totally strangers or if we're somehow separated from the others we don't have to act all awkwardly around each other. Sound good?" IF proposed to the male, who nodded in acceptance. "Alright then, ladies first. '#AHEM# So, Nico, where the hell did you get so good with so many different weapons?"

That was her first question, IF had seen many Agents in her lifetime, but most of them usually were fit for a couple different fighting styles, weapon or non-weapon, maybe three but four at max. Not only did Nico blow that number out of the water, but he also had way more skills, maybe even too many, to count. She'd always been curious when she saw his Weaponry about how he got so good.

Nico hummed at the question, this one was an easy one for him to answer. While he had a question of his own to ask her, the male played by the rules and replied. "It's nothing too great, I mean, I trained a bit before I joined the Guild, that was in hand to hand combat. Next thing I trained in was Claws, how to use these, and by the time I joined the Guild I had the claws mostly mastered. I'd been a Guild Agent for only a few months before I moved into two-handed weapons, and while I was training in them I came across the head of the Guild's WDD: Helena Dawson."

"! H-Helena! As in, THE Helena! Codename VALKYRIE?!"

The male nodded, smirking in amusement at the stunned face that IF was sporting right now. "The very same. She'd retired from active duty and became the head of the WDD after she married her husband, a simple Tavern owner. She took me under her wing, helped me gain all sorts of skills under her guidance. Her only catch was for me to beta test the equipment the WDD develops, even allowing me to keep some for myself for my troubles. She's a major reason why I'm as good as I am, and I could never repay that debt to her." He explained, turning serious and stern near the end, his eyes swimming within a whirlpool of emotions.

IF gaped at him, amazement in her eyes. "I'd heard that VALKRIE was renowned for her skill in many fields, but I didn't expect her to have a student. I guess I should have though, since you two have several similarities in your combat forms." She mused under her breath, a frown etched onto her lips.

"Yeah well, what can you do. My turn, so anyways I've been wanting to ask but how did you join the Guild, IF?" Nico questioned as he leaned forwards on his seat.

The brunette blinked, momentarily caught off guard from the question until she sighed and responded while brushing some hair strands behind her ear. "Well, I guess you'd say I was born into the role. My dad was a freelance mercenary and my mom was a simple fashion designer. I was the result of a one-night stand, but my dad kept me anyways, taking me on his jobs when I got old enough to fight while my mom stuck to her job of designing clothes. He taught me how to fight, survive in the wilds, as well as other skills I'd need to have on the battlefield." Her eyes glazed over as she remembered memories she hadn't thought of in a long time. Mostly because she was too busy to do so, but even then, they were as clear as crystal. Her father wasn't exactly the sociable sort, he was more of a stern, serious mentor than a father. However, there had been moments when, once they ad a relative safety guaranteed them before his jobs, where he'd drop the act and become an attentive father.

But all that did come to an end, though, something that IF still felt sad about to this day. "One of his jobs got him in the end though when I was 8, and I decided to follow in his footsteps and become a mercenary." She explained, shifting in her seat in discomfort as her eyes darkened into pools of sadness.

Of course, Nico noticed this and attributed it to be an uncomfortable memory for her. It only made sense since it was her paternal guardian that had passed away "I see. Well, let's not go deeper into that territory, since we're supposed to be getting to know each other better." He spoke smiling at the relieved expression IF shot him for his decision. Her shoulders slumped, indicating a decrease in tension as she mouthed a thanks to him.

Once she was confident she could speak properly, IF began to think about something she could ask him. No, that was a lie, there were several things she wanted to ask him, things that she had noticed from his daily activities and questions that she'd been harbouring about his plans for how he did things. In the end, she decided to go with one, shifting in her seat while crossing one leg over the other. "Well, I was always wondering, but where did you get those Bracers of yours? They seem high tech, more so than standard equipment."

"Yeah, it is." Nico replied, his tone starting to sound smug as he placed his hands on the table so he could look at the Bracers adorning his forearms. "These babies were my first earned prototype gear from the WDD, with my Armour following suit. You probably don't know this, but one of the things that makes me... unique, amongst the Agents is that these Bracers, and my armour? The armour is made from a supervillain like Neptune pointed out one time, while many of the others have armour from famous Superheroes."

IF DID notice that actually. Many times, when she'd been in the Guild in between taking jobs for pay, she had seen a few Spec Ops Agents, some with their #shudder# fangirls, and some of them deployed armour that looked similar to the attires famous comic book superheroes had. When she noticed Nico's Codename the first time, she had the image of not a superhero, but a supervillain, in mind. It was only confirmed in her mind when she saw his Armour in the Banshee Cave.

Taking a sip from his drink, moaning at the soothing feeling of the liquid going down his throat, Nico took his turn to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while. He idly noted, when he asked his question, that some of the male customer's peeked over at their table, hidden interest in their eyes. "Now that its my turn, I'll go with this: Are you a Lesbian?"

"HUH?!"

IF gaped at him, shock and disbelief in her wide, plate-like eyes as she tried to process what she had just heard, and why the hell he had asked that. "Hey, its not like I'd condemn you for it, though." Nico hurried stated, waving his arms in a panic before quickly getting to his point lest she try to get psycho on his ass. "I mean, you seem to have lo opinions on guys, thus work with girls, so I was just wondering if they were to your preference."

Hearing his explanation, and admitting to herself grudgingly that he had a good point, IF took slow, deep breaths to quell the urge to just throttle the guy, somehow feeling a sense of irony fill her gut inside. "I see... Well, for you information, I'm NOT a lesbian, I'm straight thank you!" she stated hotly, unable to hide the pink hue on her features. She didn't notice it, but some of the customers seemed to slump in their seats, crestfallen about her declaration.

Heh, sorry fellas... not.

An awkward silence took over them, the two sipping their drinks for a moment of intense silence. Nico flinched and made an awkward face, trying to endure the irritation rolling off the Guild Agent in waves. She didn't show it, but just from her posture, aura, and how she subtly gripped the handle of her Coffee cup, made Nico aware of how irritated she was at him.

Well, he guessed he kind of deserved that one, considering he had just blatantly questioned her sexuality, and in public no less! She had every right to be mad at him, so the male decided to endure the discomfort. He'd let her glare at him all she wanted, to let her see him squirm under her oppressive aura if it'd give her at least a little satisfaction back. It was the least he could do, in order to appease the brunette before him.

In her mind, IF was restraining herself once again, this time from pouring her drink over him like a waterfall, damaging his clothes, pride and his beloved Bracers. She hadn't ever felt so... insulted, maybe? Nico did base it off observation, so it wasn't like his question was unfounded, but still it was the principle of the matter. She made sure that, while looking calm on the exterior, her irritation and annoyance would be palpable internally. Judging by how squeamish he looked, she figured he realised this as well and was not saying anything in favour of opting to take the 'punishment' she had for him.

After a few, intense, awkward moments, IF finally relented, dismissing her oppressive aura after seeing him squirm so much. It'd felt good at first, pleasurably satisfying even, but through time passing she had begun to feel more and more like SHE was the villain here, since he wasn't trying to apologise and make her forgive him. She let loose an irritated sigh as she looked down at her coffee. "An apology would be nice, you know." she stated bluntly, breaking the silence between them.

"I guess it would, and while I do apologise for my rudeness, I just felt it better to punish myself by enduring your irritation, if you know what I mean." Nico quickly replied, like a nervous army recruit in boot came and in the presence of a ruthless drill instructor. "If you'd like, we could go on a Quest as my way of making it up to you, or do something you'd like..."

IF sighed once again, the guilt rising intensely at how he looked like a frightened child rather than the Agent he really was. "Hey, don't worry you don't have to do that. I'm just as content with us just talking like this." she told him, but it didn't look like he truly believed her. His eyes were still panicky, but there was a hint of understanding slowly overcoming them. It resulted in a conflicted expression forming on his face, which made IF roll her eyes once more. "Seriously, its good. Lets just move on from this, and forget it ever happened, shall we?"

For the sake of their dignity, Nico wisely chose to agree with her.

Aside from that, things gradually eased up between them, and once again the two began to talk. They talked for what felt like hours, until the woman informed them that they were closing for the day and thus, they paid and left, soon returning to Compa's house. They then were met with two very irritated girls, and had to spend the rest of the night convincing them nothing had happened.


	48. Chapter 45 - Here's Momma!

**Hi guys**

 **Now, I was playing this game called Ys VIII: Lacrimossa of Dana, and I gotta admit something real quick. I... HATE that ending. Everything else about the game was great to me, the story, the gameplay, the development of the characters, everything. But that ending... god, it made me very depressed. I even stopped doing stuff related to my love of writing to deal with how freaking depressed I was. Hell, I probably can't even continue the game because of that Ending, that's how affected I was.**

 **It also gave me the idea of making my own fanfic in the future of that game, only crossed over with A Prototype Fic I had worked on in the past. That one'll come first, since it would explain my OC's backstory, but If I ever got down to it (and these are all just Ideas BTW, still sticking to one or two stories at a time, don't worry!) i'd make it so that this OC makes goddamn sure that ending is avoided at all costs.**

 **Anyways, now that that's off my chest, lets get this chapter started, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 45 - Here's mamma!**

The following morning, Nico and the girls were having breakfast, well, the girls were while Nico had coffee. They were in the middle of her bedroom, which had officially been designated as their 'meeting room'. Neptune was on a seat of comfy beanbags, having her daily dose of Pudding. Compa sat on her bed with a plate of toast and a glass of water in hand. IF sat on a chair beside a Desk, sitting sideways instead of forwards, while Nico sat on the ground, leaning against a wall. Both weren't that hungry so they had something light: some juice for IF while Nico had his coffee.

"Next stop is Leanbox right?" Neptune asked them while crossing her legs on the beanbag, plopping a spoonful of pudding into her mouth. Taking a gulp, she finished that piece of pudding before speaking up once again. "So why haven't we transitioned to the next arc's beginning like in the game yet? I mean, I get this is a fanfiction, but still."

IF rolled her eyes at the preteen while plucking out one of her phones from her belt, flicking it open with her fingers skilfully, showing how long she had done this trick before looking down at the screen. "It's not that simple, Nep. Because of the Abnormal Monsters getting bolder in their attacks, the Basilicom has only authorised departure to the other nations in the afternoon, meaning we still have a LOT of time before going to the next Nation." She explained, her phone's screen showing the times for the next opening of the Sky Harbour.

She'd found this out just before they made their way out, the departure times had been moved from the entire day to just the afternoon. And considering that this was just morning still, it meant they had some time to kill. Though, she'd be lying if she said she didn't share Neptune's sentiment, albeit without all that meta nonsense. She did want to get a move on to Leanbox, it irked her to no end that they couldn't. If only to win that stupid bet she had made with the preteen about the CPU there being a... #SHUDDER# Gamer. It just didn't fit the picture IF had of her, having a hobby like that. 'I'll show that scatterbrain!' She vowed mentally. 'Lady Green Heart is dignified, refined, and a proper Lady of class! Unlike a certain idiot I know, she excludes the elegance a CPU should have!'

Not to insult Noire or anything, but unlike her, Lady Green Heart's Nation was NOT under the rule of a tyrannical company and economically unstable.

Neptune however, didn't let up in the slightest as, after she carefully deposited her pudding to a safe distance... which was about 20 meters away, how she did that nobody even wanted to question, she then began to flail her limbs about like a whiny brat having a tantrum. "But Iffy, I'm booooorrred! Can't we just get to the other Nation already so we can see that Lady Green Heart is a Gamer already? I want to sample Leanbox's Pudding!"

"Well deal with it, the times say what they say, there's no helping it. And Lady Green Heart isn't a Gamer, Nep!"

While the two girls went to bicker once more about their little bet, Compa and Nico watched them with varying levels of amusement. The former scratched the underside of her jaw with a sweat drop going down the side of her head. "Iffy and Nep-Nep are going at it again. You have to admire the tenacity that they show." The Nurse-In-Training remarked with a sheepish grin.

Nico nodded his head in agreement, also sweat dropping at the sight of the Brunette and the purplette amnesiac going at it. It reminded him of to squabbling siblings, in all honesty. Maybe those two got along better than people thought, it did make sense considering their personalities conflicting like this. Like magnets, their personalities fit together to create this dynamic they were seeing. "When it comes to Lady Green Heart, she dances to Neptune's tunes, huh? Huh, I'll remember that…" the male mused, before noticing a message icon on his right Bracer. "Oh, hold on guys I got something…"

Everyone paused what they were doing, Compa looking at the two squabbling children, while IF and Neptune looked to be frozen in a wrestling position, with the brunette trapping Neptune's head in a headlock while pushing against the hand on her face as her body was used to hold Neptune down. The trio turned their attention to where the male was sitting, as he began to open his Bracer's holographic message display from the interface. Before he could open the message however, Neptune was suddenly beside him, having muscled her way out of IF's grasp, leaning on his shoulder with her hands on his arm, trying to perch herself on him like a parrot would. "U-Ugh, hey N-Neptune!"

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, I wanna see it already, Nicky! Don't mind little ol me!" Neptune cheerfully replied, not minding how she was literally over him right now. It was a wonder how they had kept a fair balance between them, with how she was focused mostly on one side. Her eyes then gained a seductive glean as she hummed in his ear. "If you'd like I'd even get closer to you…"

Let it be said that if Neptune wanted to, she could be a major seductive temptress even in her human form. It was like all the talks that she had with our male protagonist helped her self-confidence in a way that he couldn't have predicted, leading to her teasing him with jokes and innuendos... although, if she actually meant some of her jokes was a whole new can of worms nobody wanted to open. Nico's face reddened at the close-proximity the girl had with him, and made to push her away in his flustered state, until he felt another weight on top of him. Looking to the side, his eyes widened into saucers when he saw that it was Compa, whom had sat on her knees next to him with his other arm trapped in-between her cleavage. "C-Compa!? You too?!"

The Nurse-In-Training shyly nodded, looking like she was about to go nuclear, but put on a brave face regardless as she stared intently into his eyes. "I-I won't lose to anyone, Ni-Ni! Let's view this thing together, like we should!" she proclaimed passionately before leveling an intense stare at Neptune, who returned it tenfold.

He thought about pushing them away, but the girls had strong grips on his arms so that plan went out the window. Plus, Nico didn't feel like he had the heart to push them away like that. He looked to IF, his eyes pleading for her to help, but she just looked away although he did catch the faint traces of an amused smirk on her features.

'Traitor.' Nico couldn't help but think to himself while scowling. That is, until Neptune Tugged on his sleeve to urge him to get to the message quicker. It was a little difficult with the two girls clinging onto him like they were, however Nico managed to pull it off. The Message appeared on a holographic screen in front of a bigger one that listed his messages, and displayed itself before them. It read:

 ** _To DEATHSTROKE;_**

 _ **We are delighted to inform you that the new Armour module has been prepped and is ready for usage. You will have to return to the Guild Weapons Development Department, and report to the head's office at the designated times below this message for your refitting.**_

 _ **Due to the last suit you had experiencing that unfortunate accident, we have seen fit to modify this Armour ourselves adding new capabilities to its arsenal. This is the Last Module we have currently, as the supplies for it are indeed difficult to come by. We look forward to your refitting. DEATHSTROKE. It must have been difficult for you not having that Armour.**_

 ** _Yours sincerely,_**

 ** _Helena Dawson Head of the Guild's WDD._**

Below the message was a series of times that he had to follow to be able to get his Armour. The message didn't have any PS's, or anything to indicate the informality of her previous message.

"Hey, why doesn't she have any funny comments?" Neptune whined, pouting from her perch with her lower lip puckered out. "No far." She would have hit something to express her frustration, but she didn't feel like abandoning her 'post' at the moment, or ever if she had anything to say about it.

They all looked down at these times and it was Compa that spoke first. "Hmmm, that time's…" she looked up at the clock on the far side of the room, calculating it in her mind until she got the answer. "... 2 hours from now. We still have some time before then though, but at least we have something to do before we depart for Leanbox."

IF crossed her arms as she looked at the message from beside Compa, having moved there while they were reading the message. "Sounds interesting. I'm curious as to what changes they've made to your Armour. Though I'm not so sure you need them, given your um, skill set." She remarked, sheepishly mentioning indirectly about his DPU powers. They were just as dangerous as Neptune's CPU identity, considering their nature. Like her identity, if word got out that a Spec Ops had power that could rival the CPUs, even surpass them...

Damn, that would be one hell of a fallout.

"It's not just about the Armour, it's also what it represents, IF." Nico replied as the girls finally let him stand up, stepping back as he stood straight and patted the dust off his Trench Coat. He adjusted its collar to the right position, before turning to look at the brunette and continuing his explanation. "It represents who I am as an Agent, that I am DEATHSTROKE. It's a part of me, and a part that I treasure dearly, that's why even if I don't use it as much as I used to, it's still there as a piece of me that's irreplaceable. To me, my Armour is like your phones." He then gestured to Neptune without looking at her, keeping his gaze level with IF's surprised one. "Or Neptune's pudding."

At the mention of the word 'pudding' Neptune instantly became alert, looking around for any sign of the delicious treat she loved. "Pudding?! Did someone say pudding?! Where, where, where?!"

IF rolled her eyes at this behavior, having expected Neptune to go crazy over the desert. "There's no Pudding here, Nep." She stated bluntly causing Neptune to deflate in depression, like a balloon being popped. She shook her head and redirected hr gaze back to the Spec Ops Agent. "Anyways, it's surprising that you're so attached to that Armour… it's quite interesting. Usually in RPG's, people switch out and discard useless items without a second thought. Not you, though."

Nico shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Well, what can I say, it's been with me for so long it's become a part of me. It's like my partner." He explained, smiling in remembrance as he recalled the many times that he had fought in that Armour, the battles he had barely escaped alive even with THAT healing him from the damage.

To him, his Armour was like a part of his soul, as much a part of him as his DPU side was. It was practically an essential piece that made up the whole that is the Spec Ops Agent known as DEATHSTROKE. The name didn't have the same meaning without the Armour, thus it had been only natural that he develop a fondness for it. In addition, it, unbeknownst to him at the time, had helped him suppress his instincts, and by extension, THAT, which was another plus in his book.

"Mou…. Pudding…!" Neptune whined ore and more about her Pudding. "Where's the Pudding, this Nep=-mouth needs its sustenance!" she basically began throwing mini tantrum as she demanded to know where the Pudding was, thinking that some was being kept from her.

IF groaned, holding a palm over her face as she tried to suppress the irritation with the girl that was growing within her chest. Sadly, for her that failed miserably so she growled an answer for her. "There isn't any Pudding, Nep! He was just making a comparison!" she then turned to the male, who was scratching his cheek nervously. "Nico, tell her!"

"Yeah, sorry but there's no Pudding, Neptune. It's like IF said, I was only making a comparison with our talk." He told the preteen in an apologetic manner, with a matching smile to boot.

His words served to calm the preteen down, which was what he had intended, however it had a different side effect. Neptune grew depressed as her shoulders slumped, her arms hanging at her sides as she adopted the expression of a kicked puppy. "You mean… there's really no Pudding? My life is…" she mumbled, soon devolving into incoherent babble as a cloud of depression fell over her.

"Uh oh, Nep-Nep is getting depressed…" Compa stated, looking at her with worry for a moment. Whenever Neptune got depressed, she REALLY got depressed. One time she even caused a tidal flood with how depressed she was. Maybe it was the fact she was a Goddess, but Compa didn't want her bedroom to have to be remade from a flood. Thus, she turned and gave a pleading stare to the only two that she thought could save her beloved room. "Iffy, Ni-Ni, please do something before Nep-Nep causes more flooding."

Both sweat dropped, both at Neptune's dramatic behaviour and at Compa's pleading expression, knowing that she didn't want to have to fork over so many credits for repairs done by one of her friends. IF looked at the male who looked back at her. With their eyes, they had a silent conversation, one that only they could track.

IF = 'What the hell should we do? If we don't stop this, hurricane Nep will happen all over again.'

Nico = 'You're asking me? A Guy who has little experience with social interactions between girls like this?'

IF = 'Good point, but counter point, she's into you for whatever reason, so it's your job to pacify her.'

Nico = 'Neptune's just attached to me, she's NOT into me… that way at least. #SIGH# fine, I have something that'll cheer her up.'

IF = 'Well, go get em, dude.'

Rolling his eyes at the blatant dismissal of the conversation they had, Nico stepped towards the depressed Neptune, who looked about to be soaked by the amount of rain falling from the depression cloud. He then opened his Void Storage and took something out, something which quickly caught Neptune's attention.

With reluctance, Nico presented the item he took out to her, and almost immediately her tones changed. Her clothes instantly dried and the cloud disappeared, her cheery mood returning to full power much to everyone's relief. In his hand was… a pudding cup, complete with a spoon. "PUUUUUUUDDDIIIIIINNNNNGGG! My precious!"

Neptune blurred forwards and snatched te treat from his hand, quickly using the spoon to begin wolfing down the Pudding. Her face scrunched in ecstasy te moment the treat went inside her mouth, and was it just him or did Nico see several cat appendages appear on her? "MMMMM-! It's not as good as Compa's, but its way up there! The treat melts wonderfully on the tongue, filling the mouth with the sweetness and texture of a desert delight! Where'd you get this one, Nicky?!"

The male shrugged his shoulders, looking to the side to hide his reddening cheeks. "We-Well… I honestly made it myself." He told them, sending ripples of hock through the group. They each responded with their expressions. IF had dropped her jaw into an 'O' shape with her phone falling to the floor and her eyes like saucers. It was similar with Compa but she didn't have anything to drop. Although, if she did have something to drop then it would. Neptune had even stopped eating the Pudding in her hands.

Slowly, Neptune raised a shaky hand and pointed it at him, her eyes filled with her disbelief at the words that the male had said. "H-Hold it a sec, d-d-did my ears fail me? D-Did you say you m-m-made this delectable delight?" she stuttered.

Now the male was feeling insulted at the disbelief in her tone, worse than the looks he was getting from the others. Was it THAT weird that he would make some Pudding for the preteen? The male blinked owlishly, before a realization dawned on him. It made sense that they would doubt him, after all they had never seen Nico eating anything other than Coffee or water. They had been curious and sometimes questioned him about it, but Nico wouldn't say a word about it, just avoided the issue.

Nevertheless, hesitation rose within his gut, and pretty soon everyone noticed it when he spoke. "Uhhh…. Yeah…?" he answered with uncertainty. He hoped that he didn't ruin something between him and Neptune, she did proclaim that he was her 'Hubby' in front of the party, well, except Noire who wasn't even around, but still.

...

...

...

"… MARRY ME, HUBBY!"

Turned out he had no reason to worry, though it depended on who was answering the question, as Neptune quickly scarfed down the Pudding and jumped at him before he could react. Her speed had taken a sudden increase, catching Nico off guard as she glomped him, arms around his neck as she begged him to marry her right ow while crying anime tears.

"Wh-Whoa, what the hell?!"

That was Nico's startled reaction as he almost fell over. Fortunately, his reflexes kicked in and he retained his balance, his hands instinctively grasping her shoulders to push her away, however she stuck to him like glue, refusing to let go. "Ya just made me wanna forego all this foreplay and just have ya, Hubby! Make me Pudding like this and I'll have no choice but to let my feminine wiles take over-!"

Before Neptune could capitalize on her words with a kiss aimed towards his lips, Compa stomped over with a pouty expression on her features. When close enough, Compa grabbed Neptune and, with strength that Nico was stunned that she possessed, pulled Neptune off by force by grabbing the back of her hoodie. "Nep-Nep, you're being rude, Ni-Ni's privacy and purity is very delicate!"

The male made a complicated expression on his features as the two girls bickered once again about who he was going to marry in the future, with a mix of confusion added in as well. 'Uhhh… I'm not sure what point Compa is trying to make, but I'll take it.' he thought to himself, sweat dropping with a weak upturning of his , he kind of doubted that he was 'pure', his past deeds, his bbrutality and THAT spoke for themselves. He looked to IF for assistance, only to find her not paying this situation any attention whatsoever.

'Ugh, traitor! Well, I guess I shouldn't say that while making it I nearly vomited a few times from the smells…'

* * *

Later, the Party were walking to the Guild Building, leaving the house 30 minutes earlier so that they could make the deadline on time. It was time to go get Nico's new armour from the WDD, the armour he had lost originally against that white-haired woman with the Glaive. Not to be confused with Noire in her Black Heart form since she was their friend now, at least in Neptune's eyes though.

"I wonder what the eggheads at the Guild's WDD did when they said they messed with Nicky's armour." Neptune hummed in thought, her head tilted slightly with a finger on her chin while her eyes were facing her eyebrows, lost in thought so she was speaking out loud. She was positioned at Nico's left side, with Compa on the opposite side. "You think they added some more cool new gadgets to it to make it look cooler and more awesome?"

IF, who was walking behind the preteen, looked at the girl and said her piece. "It's likely they didn't do too much to it, remember this is Nico we're talking about." she reasoned, remembering the battles they had fought together, even the ones when Nico wasn't using his DPU powers.

Compa frowned though, she had a different opinion with regards to Nico's armour being modified. "I hope they didn't change it too much. It Ni-Ni's armour, so it's very precious to him. Changing it too much may upset him." Her concerns held merit, as the male had said many time that the Armour he had was important to him, so if they changed it so drastically, she feared that he may end up reacting rather negatively to it. she'd probably do the same if she was in his shoes.

Fortunately for her, she wasn't, and that was more of a good thing than she realised at that time.

Nico held in his response until he felt it was the right time, which happened to be after Compa had spoken, since nobody else continued. "I doubt that, since they say they made a few modifications, it likely means they used better versions of the alloys used to make it, among other tiny details. It's been in the works for a while, improving my armour I mean. However, thanks to me never shattering the module like in that battle, those upgrades were halted until I would lose the armour. In my opinion, at most they'll change a few of the specs or install a couple new weapons, nothing major."

Everyone looked at him weirdly when he said that last part. Did he just say that him getting more weapons was nothing 'major'? When he had a freaking arsenal already? In their minds, they imagined him loaded chock full of various guns and other weapons, the phrase 'AMERICA, FUCK YEA!' hanging overhead like a proud display. When he noticed their looks, and gave a raised brow one in return, it was all the answer they needed. They each had a unified thought: 'Whoa step back, we got a badass over here!'

* * *

Finally, they reached the Guild building and went inside, Nico holding the door out for the girls before Neptune could kick it open, much to her dismay. It wouldn't be good for them if they acted childish, especially at times like these. After they all were inside, Nico closed the door behind him and began walking ahead of them. "You know where you're going, right Nico?" IF questioned him, raising a brow.

The Guild Hall looked... lively, that was the best way they could put it. Because of the recent successes by the Military, there were a significant number of security guards posted throughout the Guild Building. Each of them wore the Planeptune soldier uniform: a black one piece suit with multiple flaps on the chest, thighs, and waist for carrying items. Dark purple Armour encased them in the form of chestplates, arm gauntlets. knee high boots, shoulder guards, an armoured 'skirt' around their waists, while their heads had dark purple helmets shaped like various monsters.

Each of them had the standard equipment set: a Combat knife strapped to their left thigh, a Katana strapped to the right side of their waists, while their main weapons were either Polearms, or other two handed weapons.

"Yep, yep I do. Follow me and stay close. The others will know you're with me." He replied simply as he went to the direction of a wall. Seeing that he was apparently walking towards a dead end in their eyes, the girls glanced weirdly at each other.

It was Compa who spoke the question on their minds first. "You think we should follow?" she queried, uncertainly filling her words as she glanced about, searching for any obvious signs of... well, anything.

Neptune huffed, tossing her head to the side while putting her shared sentiments with the Nurse-In-Training behind her cheerful facade. "Of course! Its Nicky for Goddesses sake, so I trust him! Why wouldn't I trust my hubby? Also, when has he ever lead us astray?"

Now that did make sense to the others. They had to admit that, while he did have his weird, silly moments on their adventures, Nico never lost the serious attitude he would display when the situation called for it. This point served its purpose of easing their doubts, but not outright erasing them like Neptune had originally intended.

"While I'm unsure about the hoodie part… you make a good point. Let's go."

With their debate over, the girls made their way over to the male's location, not wanting to get left behind. Said male raised his left Bracer and pointed the screen at the door, his eyes calm and his gaze intense. His mouth was etched into a firm line, giving him a tensity to is demeanor. Then, what looked like a port opened on the all, barely big enough to fit one's index finger through, and from it a single lens opened, a bright light shining from it onto the Bracer's Screen.

SCANNING, SCANNING..

While the Lens seemed to be doing something with their male Spec Ops Agent, Neptune glanced about and shuddered in unease, not liking the new atmosphere that the Guild Building had. "Brrr! Its so cold, and formal, in here." she remarked, rubbing her arms like she was actually int he middle of a cold climate. "What happened to all the fun, playfulness and general happiness that used to be here? I thought we'd left that stiff junk back at Lastation." she whined.

IF put a hand on her hip, glancing to the surroundings as well. Unlike the preteen though, IF didn't look discomfort at all. If anything, the brunette seemed to be completely at ease, if the slight upturning of her lips was anything to go by. "Actually, I kinda like it. Makes this place feel more like a place of work than before." she remarked, much to Neptune's dismay as she openly gaped in disbelief at her. Nevertheless, this didn't last long as IF's lips curved into a frown, a contemplative look forming in her eyes. "Though, Nep has a point. This kind of radical change mustn't have happened overnight, so what the heck is going on here?"

"Um, well..." Both girls drew their attention towards Compa, who had begun to speak but then flinched under the combined intensity their gazes radiated. "You see, I think its due to the military's recent successes. They've begun getting more and more funding with the rise in Abnormal activity. I heard a rumour that they have placed men here to show an example to the... lesser experienced of Agents. To make them strive to achieve their full potential." she explained, earning a hum of approval from the Guild Agent. Though, Neptune deflated at the thought of being in such a stiff environment all the time. That was Noire's schtick, not hers!

This soon changed however, like a complete 180 when Compa continued on. "I also heard this isn't going to be a regular thing, as the military wants all its personal fighting to regain the territories we lost to the Monsters. This should be over in like, a week or 3."

"I see..." IF remarked, frowning in contemplation as she held her chin in her left hand. 'I remember getting a notification about that one time when we returned to Planeptune. Though, I didn't check it because at the time we were too tired to do anything else but sleep...'

ID CONFIRMED: S RANK AGENT: DEATHSTROKE

ACCESS GRANTED

A robotic voice had spoken while the light shone on Nico's Bracer, until it finally stopped as the hole was closed. It served the purpose of bringing the girls attention away from their own thoughts. Nico and the girls watched as the wall seemingly split apart, several purple lines appearing from within to show that it was a doorway. The door split down the middle, both pieces sliding to the side, revealing an elevator.

Neptune could only look on in awe at this technology, her eyes like that of a curious toddler experiencing something for the first time. "Ooooooh, a super-secret elevator! This reminds me of those secret agent hideouts with their fancy gadgets they use to protect the earth from the scum of the universe." She mused, grinning in excitement.

That excitement was halted when IF grabbed her by the sleeve of her hoodie dress and began pulling her along into the doorway's passageway. "You can be impressed later, right now we gotta follow Nico to wherever he needs to go to get his Armour back."

"Again!" Neptune shouted, flailing her remaining arm as she huffed. "It's always the hoodie. What, is it 'Pick on Neptune's hoodie dress day' or something?" she didn't get an answer as they entered, the door closing behind him and disguising itself once more, like nothing had happened the entire time.

* * *

Soon, they began to descend, prompting the girls to feel like their skin was leaving their bodies. "Whoa, where'd this feeling come from? I feel like I'm about to lose my flesh." Neptune wondered in shock and surprise, looking down at herself to make sure that she wasn't losing anything important, especially for her 'wedding night' with her Hubby.

"Nep's simplicity aside," IF began, ignoring the preteen and her "Hey!" of indignation as she stared at the back of Nico's head, the male having kept to himself the entire time they had entered this place. "I'm more interested to know the theme behind this place. There doesn't seem to have any Goddess's colours here at all."

Now that she had mentioned it, Neptune and Compa realized that IF had a point. After they had gotten into the Elevator, they had not seen anything besides varying shades of silver or grey through their descent down the floors to wherever they were being taken. Likely past a department solely for Spec Ops. While Noire's CPU form had silver or grey as a secondary color, the shades used by her weren't used right here. It gave the feeling of neutrality, a sense of freedom that few buildings have nowadays thanks to the CPUs ruling over the world.

Nico once again confirmed their thoughts by speaking without turning back to look a them. "You'd be right there, IF. As I've said in the past, we Spec Ops Agents don't believe in any Goddess, we fight for our own selves. Thus, we have our WDD lack any Goddess colours to symbolise our lack of faith. It's the same for all the Branches in the other nations. We fight only for our own beliefs, our own ideals, not religious faith towards a divine entity." He explained.

Afterwards, Neptune began feeling a bit uncomfortable, as shown when she began to shift oddly as her eyes glanced around nervously. She tried to hide it behind a nervous chuckle though. "Ahahahaha, I see. Well, uh, I'm not so sure they'll like me then, since, ya know…" she trailed off, knowing what she wanted to say didn't need to be said. After all, they knew what she was talking about, and they agreed with her reasoning. A Goddess entering a place that doesn't believe in her isn't something that incite sunshine ad rainbows.

"If you're worried about whether they'll attack you, don't be." Nico began, glancing at Neptune from the corner of his right eye. "We may not believe in the CPUs, but even we can see the necessity that they bring. It's because of them that most people can live normal lives. Thus, we've learned to tolerate it. Although I will warn you, there'll be a minority that WILL try to hurt you if you let slip your identity. Those people were directly hurt by the lack of help by the CPUs, thus they carry hostile feelings for them."

Neptune shivered at the thought, feeling like she was about to walk into a Lion's den with a bunch of large meat pieces strapped to her body. She had been calmed when Nico had told her what the Spec Ops thought of her kind – she still felt it weird to call the other CPUs 'her kind' even now – but hearing that last bit set her worries up once again. "Look, just don't say anything that'll make people think you're the CPU and you'll be fine. Us Spec Ops are not like other Agents who'll fawn over cute girls, although there are some who have fan clubs." Nico shivered at the thought, and IF did the same.

Compa and Neptune however, blushed at the indirect compliment that Nico had given them, the latter having a happy smile accompany her blush though while the former had a wistful smile.

* * *

They didn't get to converse more because the elevator doors opened once again, revealing a long corridor completely devoid of any color, along with a series of Doors on the walls, each one a varying shade of silver or grey. At the far end was another door, that one having the words 'H. Dawson Office' above it.

"That must be it, then, this lady person's office." Compa state, gripping one of her arm's nervously. She was about to meet someone whom had been with her childhood fried for the four years she hadn't seen him for. It was a little nerve wracking to be honest, she hoped she wouldn't make a fool over herself.

Neptune however, had NONE of those reservations as she eagerly bounced out of the elevator and clung to Nico's arm. "Alrightie then, let's go get Hely's blessing, Nicky! Then we can have our traditional wedding then skip to the good stuff."

While Nico reacted like normal, blushing crimson at the close contact, Compa pouted as she and IF followed the two from behind, the elevator doors closing behind them. "Nep-Nep, you're rushing too fast, Ni-Ni's not getting married so young, you know."

Like before though, Neptune ignored the logic being thrown at her as Nico managed to break free from her hold. "Guys, please focus, we're in the middle of the workplace here." The male stated to them, frowning despite his embarrassed blush. Though, thanks to it his gaze wasn't as intimidating as it usually was. Maybe he should bring his Mask out, that'd show them how serious he was AND hide his embarrasment. "So, no funny business, you understand?"

"Kay…!" both Neptune and Compa droned in unison, sighing depressingly that they were being scolded by Nico of all people. Usually they wouldn't have been as effected as they were now, but there was a certain tensity in his voice that made them feel like they HAD to listen to him, otherwise something bad may happen, and they didn't want that, surely.

IF watched this interaction with a surprised gaze, having pocketed her Phone that she had been handling before to watch the spectacle. "Wow, did not expect to see you take charge there, dude…" she remarked in surprise, before a smirk of amusement went across her lips as she gazed at the male. "Something special about this occasion for you, or what? Normally you'd have kept quiet unless Nep did something truly stupid then you'd go all lecture mode on her."

Nico sighed at her words while Neptune flinched, rubbing the top of her head. She could still feel the phantom pains of whenever Nico would hit her on the head with either his fist or… other things, when in lecture mode. He had a strong fist, that's for sure. "Yeah well, I have a reputation as DEATHSTROKE to uphold here, so I cannot afford to have these guys see me get whipped by the girls. They'd never let me live it down."

'There's also the fact that my mother will never stop with her teases if she does see it...' The male thought, a shudder travelling down his spine. His adoptive mother, well, she was a nice woman, but she definitely had some... quirks, to her personality. Quirks that were best seen instead of described to give people that impression of her.

Shaking his head, Nico gathered his wits and strode forwards in long, confident strides. "Anyways, enough about that, we have a task to do, and then we have to head to Leanbox. Those Key Fragments won't find themselves."

This walk was short and set, yet it also had an added dose of tension. They were going to be meeting someone not only of high rank, but was also responsible for helping make Nico the badass Agent that he was. That had to mean that she too was equally if not more so, badass than him. The thought of meeting that kind of person, someone who could give the CPUs a run for their money, sent them waves of trepidation.

Just as the party neared the door, Nico's instincts suddenly went haywire, screaming at him that something bad was about to happen. 'What? The only time my instincts would activate in situations like these would be… oh shit!' Nico quickly sprang into action, grabbing the two closest girls he could, Neptune and Compa.

Both girls gasped at the unexpected move, and before they could respond to it, IF's instincts sent her into overdrive as well, making her twirl to the opposite side of the door. Only a millisecond afterwards did the reason why become apparent.

The door was thrown open with a violent slamming sound hitting the side of the wall, the cause being a man being sent lying through the air and down to the ground outside. "Whoa, that just got knocked the #### out, he needs some milk!" Neptune exclaimed. Was it just them, or did she somehow manifest a censor band put it over her mouth when she was about to curse?

Chalking it up to Neptune's weird habits, the group looked to see who it was that got thrown out of the room so suddenly. The man looked plain, with simple leather clothes under a silver chest plate with shoulder guards, forearm guards, knee guards and foot guards. When they had questions about his weapons, they were answered when a pair of shattered weapons flew out of the door, landing beside him in a clatter.

That sound roused the man from his pained grimace as he squealed in fear, like a pig about to be beheaded, before quickly grabbing his useless weapons and running away screaming like a girl. Nico and IF's senses also picked up faint traces of Urine, and they couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. They couldn't help but find it funny how a grown man was screaming like a little girl, even though they had several little girls in their party.

"He just ran off like a scardy cat… awwww, he looked so sad…" Compa frowned, her concern as a Nurse-In-Training already starting to show as she looked in the direction that the man had run off to.

'Compa…' Nico thought as he tried his best to restrain his chuckles by holding his fist over his mouth. The jokes that Neptune made at the guy's expense weren't helping in the least. 'You've once again proven you're a saint amongst us corrupted souls.' It took him a couple minutes, but he managed to regain his composure and exhale a breath. His face morphed from amused to serious in an instant, his mind and body preparing themselves. He knew what was going to happen once they stepped inside, and had to make sure he was ready for the hell that was to follow. He remembered a phrase a character from that one show would say whenever a troublesome situation arose. "Yare-Yare."

With nervous glances exchanged, the party went inside the office, taking in the sights as they did so since they didn't have the time to do so beforehand. The office was a decently sized one, with a slanted roof that was made from transparent glass, allowing one to look outside to see the dirt that showed that they were underground. There were white frames around the glass for support, while the walls were a silver colour, the side walls having portraits of detailed-looking art, pictures of battles fought in the past it seemed.

In the middle of the room, there was a wooden Desk, matching the room's colour scheme. Behind it, there was a black chair made from soft leather, one that could swerve around a full 360 degrees. In front of the Desk, there stood a woman with her back turned to them, muttering incoherently to herself. However, thanks to their enhanced senses, Nico and IF could hear what she was saying, and had to curb stomp their embarrassment at hearing so many curse words uttered in a vicious string of vulgarity. It looked like the man from earlier had pissed her off somehow, and for them that likely wasn't a good thing.

Glancing behind him, Nico looked at the girls and whispered under his breath, his eyes sending a piercing gaze into them to show how serious he was. "Stay back there, girls. I've got this." While they wanted to respond to him, they didn't want to risk the woman's wrath falling onto them as well. Neptune had made to speak louder than necessary, but IF managed to stop her in time by clasping her hands over her mouth.

With the knowledge that they wouldn't try anything stupid confirmed, Nico nodded with a slight smile, trying to relieve them in a manner so that they wouldn't be as worried. Turning his head back to the cursing woman, Nico stepped forwards a few times before clearing his throat, and preparing himself for what would happen next.

One second, the woman tensed up, her form stiffening as she realised that she wasn't alone. The next thing they knew, the woman had turned around and threw something at them, something fast, sharp and metallic. Nico wordlessly caught it just before it could impale the preteen's face, getting an "eep!" from her like a frightened dog.

The woman didn't let up seeing this however, as her form was covered in Datastreams that were reminiscent of Nico's portable armour, soon vanishing to reveal her body to be covered in light blue coloured armour. The armour covered her legs from her knees down to her feet, her elbows to her hands, shoulders, torso and head. The helmet covered the top portion of her head and had bird wings coming out the sides, which were slanted backwards. The shoulder guards were pointed sideways, while her gauntlets had sharpened nails and her boots had a single pointed tip each. Everywhere else was concealed by a skin tight black suit with pale blue digital lines running along the sides.

Instantly, the woman burst forwards, a weapon manifesting in her right hand that Nico quickly realised its identity as he Summoned Rebellion from his Void Storage. It and the woman's weapon clashed in a deadlock for the briefest of seconds, before the two blurred out of existence, vanishing without a trace.

Neptune, Compa and IF watched the face-off between the two with varying expressions of shock and awe, both at Nico and the woman's skill to be able to keep up with him. At one time they're in one place, then another in the next. It was difficult for even Neptune to keep track of them, and she was the energetic one in the bunch!

Sounds of combat raged through the room for an intense few minutes. To the trio, it felt much longer than that, as during the whole time there was enough KI in the air to make them feel like they were constantly held at sword point, even though there were no weapons directed at them. The intensity reminded them of a furnace, and they were smack dab in the middle of it.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity to them, the two stopped moving and wound up in the centre of the room, the same position they were before the fight began. The woman raised her weapon, which was a greatsword with a hilt wrapped with brown leather and a cross light blue guard. The blade itself was a double-edged blade with a V shaped tip. "Wait, you seem familiar… your fighting style seems so familiar…" the woman whispered, eyeing him slightly.

Her eyes then widened as her armour and sword vanished, replaced by her previous attire: a white lab coat over a purple blouse, knee length black skirt and high heels. Her previous anger evaporated into joy as she beamed and hugged the male like a girl hugging a stuffed animal. "Ohhhhhh, it's been so long, Nicky-Nick! I've missed you so!"

While she hugged him, her strength caused his face to start losing its normal complexion as he felt his windpipe getting crushed. "Pl-Please… y-you're ch-ch-choking…!" he tried to say, using his weakening strength to pat her shoulder for emphasis.

The trio of girls now were watching with confusion at the two, whom had been about to rip each other apart, now were acting like they were long lost relatives separated ins some grand twist of fate. "Um… I'm confused… I don't get this at all…" Compa whined, pouting while rummaging her brain. She tried to make sense of the situation, but let's just say she failed epically.

"Me too Compa, me too…" Neptune muttered under her breath, scratching the top of her head in confusion. "Before they were all 'grr, imma kill yo ass!' and now they're all huggy and kissy like they haven't seen each other in a long time."

The woman heard their words, and realised that they weren't alone in the office. She looked up, thankfully easing up on her hug much to Nico's relief. She looked them over, her gaze causing the trio to shift in discomfort. Why did they have the feeling they were being assessed like a bunch of Guinea Pigs in a test for a new drug? "These girls… are they with you by chance?" the woman looked down at the male in her arms and asked him that question.

Nico managed to pry himself free from the woman's grasp, taking several intakes of air to get his lungs going again, before responding as he rubbed his slightly sore neck, Rebellion back in his Void Storage. "Yeah, they're with me. They're Neptune, Compa and IF respectively." He introduced them.

Humming, the woman eyed them cautiously, and the girls felt those orbs digging into their beings for a long few moments. The girls shuddered under the scrutinizing gaze that the woman had on while she eyed them up. Neptune normally would have made a joke about stranger danger at this point, but for once she followed the mood and kept her gob shut.

However, it vanished next to instantly as a warm smile graced her features, replacing her hard visage with the kindness only a mother could possess. "Well then, it's nice to meet some of Nicky-Nick's friends. I am Helena Dawson, head of the WDD and Nicky-Nick's adoptive mother. But please, call me Helen."

* * *

 **Special Event - The Talk**

It was 10 minutes before they were going out to the Guild to see Nico's mother. Everyone was in the corridor to the entrance to Compa's house, going over their items and checking if they had everything. "Alright, last minute item call, IF?"

"Everything's checked out on my end."

"Good. Compa?"

"Yessie, everything's A-OK!"

"Excellent. Neptune?"

"..."

"...Neptune?"

Everyone looked to the preteen, who looked like she was thinking hard about something. She was staring intently at Nico, a hand cupping her jawline while rubbing it with its index finger. "Hmmmm... Hmmmmm..." a low, thoughtful hum escaped her lips as she regarded the male, who slowly began to inch away from her with a disturbed expression on his features.

"Uhhhh..."

The brunette of the group face palmed as she shook her head. "Ignore her, the idiot's been like this since you announced that we'd be going to the guild. Not even Pudding snapped her out of this trance." she told them, getting wide eyed looks from Nico and Compa. Neptune ignoring Pudding? How the hell did that happen? was the Apocalypse here and they just weren't noticing it? Did hell suddenly freeze over?

Finally, the preteen snapped her fingers as a look of realisation spread across her face. "Ah! That's right!"

"Whoa!" All three shouted at once, caught off guard by the loud proclamation.

Neptune ignored it however as she bounded over to the shocked Spec Ops Agent and gripped his hands, holding them in hers. "Hey, Nicky, its been bugging me so II gotta ask ya something."

"Uhhhh... ooooookay?"

"Did ya mom give ya the talk?"

...

...

...

...

...

Silence passed between them as Neptune's question flew around their heads. Tempoarily, their brains were overclogged from what just happened so they couldn't process the question fully. But, when they did... lets just say pandemonium was the result.

"EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Compa shrieked, pulling Neptune away from Nico as she shook her back and forth. "Nep-Nep, why would you ask such a personal thing?"

"whuh-whuh-whuh-Compa-whuh-whuh-!"

Neptune tried to speak, to explain why she was asking this, but thanks to Compa's shaking she couldn't get much of her words out thanks to the dizziness that assaulted her mind. It didn't look like the Nurse-In-Training was going to let up either, or that se even noticed what she was doing.

Fortunately, IF managed to intervene by separating the two so that Neptune wouldn't barf all over their Nurse-In-Training. She pulled them apart with an annoyed expression on her features. "Alright you two, calm your horses." IF stated irritably, glancing to Compa. "Shaking Nep like a rag doll won't get the answers we want, Compa." The said girl blinked owlishly, before realising her folly. She couldn't help but giggle sheepishly, with a quick apology about how she jumped th gun there. Wit that, IF turned to Neptune who had already begun recovering from her recent experience. "As for you, what gave you the idea to ask something like that, Nep? Pretty sure someone gave Nico the talk."

"B-But I was just curious...!"

"#Mumble# #Mumble# #Mumble#"

Their argument got cut short when they heard some inaudible mumbling coming from nearby. The trio of girls looked for the source, and found that it was a certain badass male Spec Ops Agent... curled into a ball on the floor and muttering incoherently under his breath. His eyes looked like they lost all life, a slight trail of saliva escaping his lips while a cloud of depression formed overhead. "Heeeeey, Nicky!" Neptune shrieked, bounding over to him and shaking him by the shoulders.

He didn't respond except with more babble, but this time they could faintly hear some words escape those lips of his. "... #Mumble#... Mom... talk... #Mumble# #Mumble#... very... detailed... whip... out... great... force..."

He descended back into inaudible babble after that, but the girls got a message from what he had been able to say. "Looks like his mother did give him the talk, Nep." IF stated, crossing her arms under her chest as she stared with worry over the male's condition. "But it looks like it wasn't a 'normal' talk..."

"Whoooooaaaaaa..." Neptune muttered as a slight fearful look crossed onto her features. "I wonder what Nicky's mom is like to have made her son go like this when the talk is mentioned."

"Well, we'll have to wait thanks to you, Nep. I don't think Nico is in any condition to leave now."

"Yeah... sorry about that."

"Its okay, Nep-Nep. We can just inject him with my Syringe and it'll all be-"

"NO WAY!"

"... Biggest meanies ever."


	49. Chapter 46 - Reunion

**Chapter 46 - Reunion**

It was a rather… unique atmosphere in the meeting room right now. Just moments before, the girls had seen this woman stressing about something to the point of muttering barely audible foul language, language that proper ladies wouldn't be caught dead in saying. The next thing they saw her do was rush at their sole male member with a suit of Armour, and him in kind, in one of the most intense quick battles they had ever seen, before she changed her tune and hugged the life out of him.

Talk about… bizarre.

The only one who WASN'T as perturbed as the rest of them was Compa, Neptune being second to follow as she was only mildly perturbed by the scene. "It's nice to meet you Miss Helena! My name is Compa." She greeted casually waving merrily with a massive smile on her face before she bowed humbly.

Her actions served to snap the party out of their funk, prompting Neptune to follow suit as she beamed a happy, if slightly unsure, nervous and somewhat concerned, grin at the woman who could possibly defeat them all in a few moves before they could even blink. "Heya, Ms, Neppy here to report for special Nicky delivery!" she announced like a grand announcer in a fighting ring, appearing besides an annoyed Nico and throwing her arms like half of an X to showcase him, a rather… silly pose, indeed.

BONK!

"Ouchies!"

"I'm not a package, Neptune!"

Once again, Neptune and Nico began to quarrel, bickering back and forth like she did with herself and certain Tsundere. The atmosphere turned several shades lighter at the sight of them doing this, reminiscent of a pair of kids playfighting each other.

"Should they really be fighting each other?" IF wondered, glancing curiously and cautiously towards the woman watching them. She couldn't get a proper read on her, and that alone spoke volumes about how powerful this woman was. It was like she was trying to get across a tall wall full of spikes as an inexperienced climber: a futile effort "I mean, Mrs sword happy is watching us right now…"

Pausing his little argument with the preteen, Nico turned his head and directed his gaze towards the concerned Guild Agent, a placating smile on his features. "Oh, don't worry about that, IF, she's not going to attack us now that she recognizes me." He spoke with a reassuring smirk. He then glanced to the woman, before returning his gaze back to the brunette, his next words spoken with a slight ominous edge to them. "If she really wanted you all dead, you'd have lost your heads the second you walked into the room."

"Wow, way to be reassuring, dude…"

The brunette spoke with a heavily sarcastic tone of voice, one that just got her an amused smirk from the male. IF suspicions remained for a few more moments, before a quiet giggle escaped the woman, Helen, as she directed a smile towards her. "Now-now dear, do not be worried. What Nicky-Nick says is true, he even informed m of your arrival with him before he entered." She explained, before sheepishly laughing as she rubbed the back of her head. "I just happened to have had one of THOSE kinds of meetings with some arrogant jackass Guild Agents who thought they were fit for the Spec Ops Exam."

Hearing her words, both IF and Nico had to wince, both for different yet similar reasons to each other. "Ah right, I forgot to mention to them that you were also a Spec Ops instructor and in charge of the Spec Ops exams…" Nico commented, sweat dropping at his forgetfulness of such an important fact. His adoptive mother may not be a Spec Ops Agent anymore, but she had taken on the duty of being an instructor for new recruits, teaching them and passing on her skills to the next generation.

Unfortunately, it must have been a universal thing for teachers to be sadists, since she didn't have that many students. Nico was just one of the few that survived her training regime and live to tell about it. Just thinking of the things she made him go through made 3 things happen: Nico shuddered, Biko hummed in curiosity and the other thing shut up.

Most silence he had in his mind for a while.

IF had similar thoughts as she looked the woman up and down, like a warrior evaluating another's strength for battle. 'I can't get a proper reading on her. Her guard has dropped, but there's no opening in her posture…. it's like she's always ready for battle whenever the time is called for it…' she thought to herself, gulping with recognition at the woman. 'So, this is a Spec Ops Agent retired, huh…?'

What she didn't know was that, under her polite demeanor, Helen was also evaluating IF thoroughly from her stance to her build. 'Hmmm… it seems she has gone through some decent training, likely from her old man. Her build suggests she's a fast hitter but lacks damage output, but if what Nicky-Nick told me briefly during our last phone call was true then her appearance is the ultimate deception.' She thought, remembering what Nico had told her about his companion.

It had been a couple days ago when she had received word about her from him, telling her that he was recommending her for the Spec Ops Exams, though he didn't fully specify why. At first, Helen had been stunned, not believing that someone managed to get Nico's approval enough to take the Exams. She knew well how distrusting he was of most Guild Agents, it was his caution borderline paranoia that helped her select the proper applicants to be a Spec Ops Agent. To get his recognition and approval was not something that was easily attained, nor did she brush it off either.

Now she could see why Nico was so interested in her.

"Don't be sorry, Mrs Helen." Compa softly assured the older woman who directed her gaze towards her instead of the Guild Agent. "It must be tough for you to handle that work alone. You could use an assistant to help lighten the load." She rationalised, wincing cutely at the amount of paperwork the poor lady had to do daily. Her work must make the Nurses in hospitals pale in comparison when regarding workloads.

Helen softly giggled behind one of her hands, which was held over her bottom lip. "Hahahaha, not to worry my dear, its nothing that this retired Spec Ops Agent can't handle. I may not be on active duty, but I still keep myself sharp." She reassured the younger girl, before her eyes gazed at her with calculation, looking her up and down and humming in acknowledgement. "You must be Compa, then, am I right? The one that Nicky-Nick spent so much time texting and calling these last 4 years." She summarized.

The young Nurse-In-Training blushed at the woman's words. The way she spoke, she made it sound like they were a loving couple. While she was willing to enter that kind of relationship with the male, Compa knew that she wasn't the only one who wanted the same thing from him. "I-I yes, w-we talked a lot on the phone, Mrs Helen." She stammered, refusing to meet anyone's gaze as she found the floor to be suddenly very interesting.

"Heeeeey, Lady!" Neptune whined, drawing Helen's attention as she hopped onto Nico's back, much to his surprise and Helen's too. "Why'd ya leave me, the main character, for last?" she whined like a child, clinging onto the male who desperately struggled to get her off. Her arms were secured around his neck while her legs were around his waist. "No fair, I should call OC Police for Plot fraud!"

Helen blinked several times, momentarily caught off guard by the purplette's whining, until something clicked in her mind. A groan escaped her lips as she facepalmed and shook her head, her free hand supporting the elbow of the hand on her face. "Nicky-Nick, this girl… is she…?" she almost didn't want to ask, such was how intense the reluctance was in her voice. However, her mind already knew the answer, no matter how hard she tried to deny it.

Nico nodded, sympathy radiating off him as he finally managed to pry Neptune off him. How he did that was nobody's guess since they weren't eyeing him at the time. "Yeah, she is. She's one of THOSE like THAT GUY." He replied solemnly, soon matching her posture and groaning in dismay. "She's like a female version of him, save for the red and black spandex, the dual wielding, and general skills."

"Hey! I just got dissed, didn't I?!" Neptune exclaimed in shock. She had been thinking it was a compliment that they were making about her, so she had drunk it up with pride, only for the words to kick in and she spat out all the drink she had metaphorically taken. "Nicky, you're a meanie! You're supposed to be on your future wifey's side here!"

Compa pouted as she saw Neptune latch onto Nico's arm and try to aim the puppy dog eyes technique that all women were universally famous to have mastered. She was trying to get him to cave, but Compa wouldn't allow that as she tugged on his other arm, aiming a pouty jealous glare in Neptune's direction. "Nep-Nep, Ni-Ni isn't you're Hubby here! You haven't even gotten engages yet, you need to go on dates and then he has to propose for that to happen!"

Thus, their usual antics begun as the two girls squabbled over Nico, much to the male's dismay. IF stayed behind and watched this happen, she was too used to it to care anymore at this point. "Well, that escalated quickly." She remarked with a tilt of her head at her dry mannerisms. "It's really gotten out of hand fast." When they showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, IF had enough and stomped on over, applying her power into her limbs and grasping the two from behind, Neptune byte back of her hoodie and the back of the sweater for Compa. "Alright kids, settle down before mommy has to punish you with 1000 spankings."

Nico sighed in relief as the two girls were pried off him by force, Neptune flailing her limbs all the while as she tried to get him again, but IF wasn't having that. "Well, mom, this is what I've had to deal with…" he tiredly sighed as he looked towards the woman, who had an abashed look on her face as she watched the spectacle. "How is it that the other Agents like this sorta attention?"

Looking back in the teen's direction, the woman made to answer, when an idea popped into her mind. A Teasing smirk that sent shivers of dread down Nico's spine formed on her red lipstick-covered lips as she crossed her arms under her bust line. "Why I'm not sure. But I do have to admit, Nicky-Nick, I couldn't help but notice you having a small smile on your lips when she jumped on you. Looks like you're developing a harem, my boy!" she then fake-wept as she pulled a handkerchief out and began dabbing it on her eyelids. "Your father will be so proud when he finds out. Now all we need is a wedding night and we'll finally have grandkids!"

"MOM!"

* * *

It took a grand total of 30 minutes before everything started to calm down, the longest being Nico for recovering from his adoptive mother's teasing. He always knew she'd want grandkids, and whenever she saw him with a female colleague she would always tease him about it, hinting that they would marry and give her grandkids already. Even Raven and Lucy were no exceptions, much to the chagrin of one, the amusement of the other, and the embarrassment of both.

"So, uh, you're Nicky's mom, right? Got any cute baby pictures to show and tell?" Neptune asked with excitement, ignoring the fierce glare that Nico sent her way for asking that question. Though its lethal effect was numbed thanks to the embarrassed red on his cheeks.

 **'** **I must admit, I too am curious as to what you were like as an infantile human. It would have been… interesting, to witness.'**

'Sh-Shut up, it's not that important!'

'OH, I BEG TO DIFFER, THERE, KING!'

'N-Not you, too!'

Unaware of Nico's mental argument with his tenants, one of whom was laughing maniacally while the other gave blank humming sounds, to the male's irritation, Helen giggled in amusement at the sight, before smiling apologetically at her. "As much as I would like to have some, I don't. A true shame, I heard that Nicky-Nick was super cute back when he was a toddler." She replied, making Neptune go "awwww!" in disappointment. "Also, I said it before, but I'm his adoptive mother. But we can spend some girl time later, right now you all came to see DEATHSTROKE get his Armour, am I correct?"

At the mention of that piece of equipment, all eyes widened when they remembered why they had come here in the first place. With what had happened up till this point, their original reason had slipped their minds, swept away by the flood of hilarity that was the antics that the Party got into daily. "Oh yea, Ni-NI'S Armour's done, right? Can we see it? Please-please-please?" Compa begged, clasping her hands together and doing the best expression of a puppy dog as she could.

Now while Neptune looked cute when doing that face, when Compa did it made her look tame in comparison. She just had this ungodly adorableness that made resisting her nigh impossible. The proof was shown when Helen… squealed like a little girl and encircled her arms around the younger female, trapping her in a hug and rubbing her cheek against hers. "Awwwww, you're so adorable! So cuuuuuute! Awwww, I just wanna hug ya to death!" she exclaimed, stars literally dancing over her head.

However, what she didn't realize was that she was unknowingly crushing the poor girl in her grip. "U-Um…. Mrsh Ha'en… can't… breashe…" she tried to say, her face slowly shifting color due to lack of air.

Fortunately, Helen realized what the problem was before it was too late, and hurriedly let her go, detaching from her and taking a step back while raising her arms in a placating motion. "O-Oh my, I am so sorry. I just got carried away there. A-As you can tell, I'm a hugging woman. I love me some hugs." She tried to explain, laughing nervously. Awkwardly, she cleared her throat and tried to move on while Compa heaved heavy breaths, trying to intake as much air as possible to fill her lungs back to full. "Anyways, you lot came here at a good time."

She turned on her heels and made her way around the desk, her heeled feet clicking against the floors as she did so. When behind her Desk, Helen bent over and opened a compartment hidden from their view before pulling something out and closing the compartment. She held it in such a way that they couldn't see what she was holding, but sight wasn't needed. They each held an idea of what it was she was holding as she walked back around to them, more specifically towards Nico. "The Module was just dropped off by that Guild Agent earlier, he'd been asked to by his superiors while on his way to apply, but he assumed differently. Got his comeuppance, though." She explained smirking in amusement at the end.

Nico's eyes narrowed at that, his mind conjuring up an idea as to what he had assumed. It didn't take him long to conclude on a scenario, and it made him bristle inside. 'Bastard, thought that Armour was for him!' he growled in his mind, but didn't ponder on it for long because he felt his DPU Powers respond to his anger. Biko had explained to him that his DPU powers were enhanced by negative emotions, anger, sorrow, loneliness, despair. Most of all, though, rage was the primary emotion. Too make a comparison, everything else was like a short ripple in a pond made by a small pebble. However, rage was like a massive boulder crashing into the pond's surface, creating large waves of water that spread long distances. Thus, he had to keep his anger in check for the foreseeable future.

Once he was calm enough, the teen reached out and gingerly took the object she had held into his hand, feeling the familiar weight grace his skin. A grin slowly swept onto his features, his emotions replace by a gradually rising excitement that filled him to his very core. He looked giddier than a child on a sugar rush or Neptune in a room full of pudding. Yeah, it was that powerful.

The object starkly resembled the objects that he had given Neptune and Compa that formed their armors: with the lenses being orange in color with a black outer piece and the legs being black. The sight brought back so many memories, both good and bad. In the end, those memories shaped this Armour into the Armour that was well known for its wielder: DEATHSTROKE. To lose his Armour was losing a part of himself. It was like a CPU losing her HDD, they lost something integral to what they were, as impossible as that sounded.

… why did Nico get the feeling he'd just jinxed himself?

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, Nico gripped the device by the sides of the black piece, fingers in between the legs that now sprang to life, as if prepping to grab onto something. "Whelp, let's see what's new about you, shall we buddy?" Nico whispered lovingly to the object, as if it could speak.

He then placed it on his chest, and was enveloped by the familiar blue Datastreams, feeling a process apply to him that hadn't been applied in a long, long time. The process felt a little longer than they remembered, but when the Datastreams finally left him, Nico stood once more in DEATHSTROKE's Armour.

(Play Deadpool theme – Marvel vs Capcom 3)

The Armour had minor changes to its appearance compared to the last time they saw it. The Mask now looked more like a helmet, with one side orange, the other side black, and the back black, with the eyepiece remaining the same. There was a leather black bodysuit that covered what the Armour didn't cover instead of chainlink mail, and an orange band fell from the back of the helmet. The Armour on the arms now covered every part of it, with small gaps between them to show the sit underneath, ending in black and orange gloves. The leg Armour also now covered the entirety of his said limbs, up to his waist which now had a silver belt around it, ending in metallic segmented boots. The chestplate now looked connected with the shoulder guards which went down the arms instead of going outwards like before, concealing more of Nico's form. Brown belts and straps adorned his form, including the various holsters that Nico normally wore. His gauntlets still had the bracer Interfaces on them, but now they came with a lid made from the Armour, so that they had some protection whenever he got attacked in those areas.

"… Whoa…" Nico gaped in awe behind his ma-no, his HELMET, as he examined his Armour, looking down at his body, then up and down his limbs. He would flick his arms and as if by command, the lids would flip open, showing the Bracer Interfaces underneath. His breathe had been completely stolen from him at this point, but the Armour wasn't done impressing him yet.

He fumbled about with the Armour a bit more and 2 things happened: The first thing, the shoulder guards lifted outwards to reveal a hidden compartment, where 2 cannon-like barrels suddenly slid out, pointing their tips forwards. They were black in color with orange rims, a purple glowing interior indicating what they were meant to fire.

Secondly, from beneath his wrists a pair of blades made from purple volatile-looking plasma energy shot out, being about 12 inches in length. They had come out with a near-silent SCHING sound, the faint sounds of crackling reaching his ears. If he could barely hear it, then the girls would likely not at all, Nico realised.

The male quickly brought up his right forearm, flicking open the lid to manipulate his right Bracer into bringing his Armour's new schematics onto the holographic screen. It appeared above the Bracer and he quickly checked these new weapons out. The shoulder mounted guns were called 'Plasma Cannons' that were fueled by Plasma Cells located at the center of the Armour's back, while the blades were known as 'Hidden Blades', fueled by more Cells hidden within the Gauntlet, both cells being protected by the Armour.

He also noted a brand of new weapons added to his Void Storage upon donning his Armour, with images and descriptions:

Plasma Chains - Chains made from Plasma and sporting sharp spikes along the sides, in addition to the tip, launched from the gauntlets that can function like grappling hooks or whips. Best used to pull enemies in for Close Combat or to travel short distances.

Plasma Launcher - A grenade Launcher that fires Plasma based Grenades. Manifests from within the Void Storage. Upon manifestation, cables from within the right shoulder socket shall connect to its canister to supply Plasma Cells for its ammunition. Grenades are explosive, so friendly fire is advised when handling.

Force Busters - A set of Plasma Knuckle busters that are best suited for hand to hand combat. Can deliver shocking electric bursts upon impact that can numb the enemy's nerves, slightly hindering their movement. Caution is advised.

Shields - A thin, shield of plasma layered across the entire Armour. Whatever hits it shall disintegrate before it touches the Armour, protecting it from harm. This shield however, cannot endure everything, and will vanish to recharge once its reached its limits. The shield specs are listed further through this link.

"The Hidden Blades, Plasma Cannons, chains, the launcher, Force Busters and Shields are new additions to your Armour. We felt your Plasma arsenal wasn't big enough, that you weren't making full use of this energy, so we decided to further research it, resulting in these new changes." Helen explained as everyone ogled DEATHSTROKE's new Armour. Even the male himself who was barely holding back he urge to jump up and down like a someone on high. "If you check your skill box you should see a few new additions to your Skills, as well. These Skills rely on your Plasma Cells, so be wary about how much you use them." She explained, her eyes hard and her face serious. Although if one could see past this face, then they'd see her pride at seeing Nico enjoying his new Armour.

Nico did just that through manipulating his right Bracer. The screen switched to a screen showing his list of Skills, ones that included the Demon ones much to his surprise and slight concern, but it didn't seem like Helen had noticed them, hopefully. She did have a falcon's sight after all, metaphorically of course. There were some new Plasma Skills here, ones that he looked over the Specs of and felt his grin go so wide that it started to hurt his face:

PLASMA BLAST

GIGGA BLADE

PLASMATIC OVERLOAD

· PLASMA BLAST was basically his Plasma Cannons firing 2 larger-than-normal beams of said energy, constantly damaging the enemy for a few seconds before making a massive purple explosion.

· GIGGA BLADE was where his Hidden Blades enlarged themselves from their simple spike like forms to the size and height of a broadsword's, allowing him to deal additional Plasma Damage to his enemies.

· PLASMATIC OVERLOAD worked by releasing the limiters placed on the Armour's Plasma Cells, making them run beyond those limits. This enhanced his Plasma based attacks, at the cost of them not being able to be used at the end of the Skill, which was a total of 10 seconds at this point. The Specs said that the more he used it, the longer the duration and the quicker the recharge time.

A Spec Ops Agent's Armour was not just for protecting them from danger, they could also be technical marvels too. Nico's Armour is a prime example, for it had installed within it specialized packs of pure plasma, condensed into cellular forms. These were hidden deep within the module itself, connected to circuits that the Module interwove through the Armour itself, and considering that the Armour forms over the Modules well, it basically means those Cells weren't going anywhere anytime soon. These Cells helped power his plasma based weaponry, like the Plasma Claws.

Before though, this technology had only been recently developed, thus the full potential of Plasma-based weapons hadn't been tapped into. It was mostly used as a substitute power source, albeit a unstable one at times. More than one record existed of Plasma Cells detonating when exposed to the right conditions, killing everything within a 20 mile radius. This made them a dangerous tool to be used on the battlefield, where anything could go wrong. Hence, why Nico had been one of the few who operated with them. Nevertheless, Nico had heard rumors that the technology was still being researched for its potential as a viable weapon against the Abnormals and other Monsters. Bad thing for most, good thing for him, that was how he saw it, anyways.

It looked like the fruits of that labor were to be bearing fruit soon.

With all these new upgrades, combined with the Powers his DPU side gave him, Nico felt like he was on top of the world, and there was only one way for him to respond to this. The male turned around, his lone eye shining with joy and appreciation, as he blurred forth and tackled Helen into a hug, his arms wrapped around her back tightly. "Thakyouthankyouthankyousomuch mom!" he squealed happily, hopping up and down energetically like he was 4 years old again.

Helen, unlike Compa when she got this hug, could breathe still as she giggled and wrapped her arms around him, reciprocating the hug. "You don't need to thank me, dear. I'll look out for you anytime." She whispered soothingly while rubbing the back of his head with her right hand.

The girls cooed at the bonding moment between mother and son, even if by adoption. "Awww, that's so sweet!" Compa squealed, trying to keep her hype on the down low as to not disturb the two.

IF made to agree, even she could find some joy in seeing this family moment between the two. Throughout the times she had known him, Nico had never once smiled like that with such a childish joy in his eyes. What was bizarre in her eyes was that he looked like a final boss in an adventure game, and yet he still acted like an innocent toddler. She would have spoken this when she felt something on her leg. Looking down, she saw that it was Neptune, hugging her leg with crocodile tears in her eyes. "Nep, what the heck are you doing?"

"#SNIFFLE, SNIFFLE#... it's just so beautiful, Iffy… the bond off mommy and son…"

"Whatever you think it is, could you NOT get snot on my boots?! Get off, already!"

After a moment, the two pulled away, now being aware that they were being observed by an outside party. "Now then, Nicky-Nick, it's time that you get that Armour tested." She told him, seriousness replacing the earlier softness that she displayed before. Nico, knowing that he needed to rein in his joy right now, nodded in equal seriousness as he took a few calming breaths.

"I've uploaded the co-ordinates into your right Bracer, there should be something there for you to test it on. Be wary, this part of Planeptune is still largely unexplored thanks to the influx of Abnormals in the surrounding lands. Make sure to stock up plenty of potions and healing items, and above all, take care of that Armour we don't have enough materials to make another, you got me?" Helen sternly spoke sounding more aggressive at the end, her eyes flashing dangerously.

With resolution, Nico nodded several times, saluting the woman afterwards. "Yes ma'am! Heading to the co-ordinates now." he responded like a soldier, knowing that glint in her eyes. It was usually reserved for the rebellious few in their group, if they disobeyed her commands, that glint would come before… some harsh punishment, even for hardened Spec Ops Agents, would be put into place. With that, Nico turned on his armored boots and walked out of the Office, intent on testing his new armour out.

(Theme end)

* * *

When the girls all agreed with glances to follow him, Helen stopped them just when they took their first steps, by calling out to them. "Wait, could you girls stay for a bit please?" she requested, her hands now in her pockets as she shifted from a Head of a well-recognized department, to a simple mother. "I'd like to get to know the types of people accompanying my beloved son, if you would please."

The girls looked to each other in concern, slightly nervous. This was especially so for Neptune and Compa, as their feelings for the male were… different from that of IF and, maybe, Noire's too. Also, Nico tended to be slightly reckless occasionally, and it was trough them that he got out of it mostly unscathed, mostly because he lacked his signature Armour at the time. "Uhhh… are you sure? I mean, Nicky is…" Neptune tried to say.

However, Helen quickly assured the girls that their worries were pointless. "It's alright, dear. That armour is stronger than the one Nicky-Nick used last, so it should take more punishment than his old gear. He'll be fine, and like I said, a mother needs to know whose company her son involves, you know."

The girls glanced towards each other, then at the door, then back at Helen. While parts of them still worried for their male party member, it didn't seem like they could have had the heart to deny a mother her request to know the type of people her son associated with. Plus, more than few of them wanted to ask her a couple things about her son, things that Thus, they reluctantly chose to stay with her and listen to what she had to say. What was the worst that could happen to Nico, eh?

* * *

Meanwhile, the male was now running through a large forest, south of the Virtua Forest. This wasn't a Dungeon, he'd realized when checking his Holomap of the Nation, but a normal forest. Thus, his curiosity about what could the WDD be so interested in here was piqued. If his adoptive mother was so interested about it, then it had to be something good.

The details downloaded into his Bracer, along with the co-ordinates to this Forest, had followed as thus:

 _Unknown Anomaly detected_

 _Anomaly suspected to be the cause of increasing Abnormal Activity_

 _Abnormals Sighted around target Anomaly_

 _Investigate and suppress any hostiles encountered_

 _Search and Destroy_

'This must be the reason why the Military has been getting more and more focus recently.' Nico suspected with a thoughtful hum while he ran. If monster activity was starting to change as drastically as it had done before, then the Military would need to step up its game as well. That meant they needed better weapons, better Armour, better equipment, intelligence and above all, support from the Public. He only assumed that the Basilicom only agreed to this because it was necessary for their survival, and that their deaths would negatively affect Purple Heart's divine powers. Those recent victories the military had been reported to have might have caused this Anomaly, that was one of the theories circling around his mind.

Though, these thoughts were overwhelmed by the sheer ecstasy his Armour's return brought him. There were of course, stark differences to it, but it still had the 'heart' that allowed him to identify it. It fit snugly against his frame, a feeling of protection and safety overcoming him that he had not felt for a long time. Nico hadn't had the chance to ask her why there were some secrets about the Armour that were kept from him, or about how they helped control his instincts, but those questions would be asked in time. After all, he didn't really mind that they were there, just that nobody told him about it.

Even now, he could feel his instincts acting up, but in a more… controlled manner, not wild and untamed like they were back in Lastation. Perhaps that was why Noire had been so hesitant on talking to him whenever they were alone or near others. There was always this… intensity about him, something that was derived from his powerful instincts keeping him on guard. His suspicions about Noire's identity probably didn't help matters either.

 **'** **Hmmmm, this** **Armour** **does seem well-crafted, I must admit. It may not be made from a DPU, however the engineers who made this have my praises for their design.'** Biko suddenly spoke, breaking his mental concentration. Nico was used to it at this point though, so he didn't show any outward reaction to it.

He decided to answer his demonic personification's statement with his own. 'Of course, it was crafted with my mother directly supervising it. She was a Spec Ops Agent herself once, plus she trained me, so her experiences and recommendations were considered highly when it was being forged.'

Then, the OTHER voice, the crazy, borderline psychopathic one, spoke up, and it was not pleased in the slightest. 'AW. MAN! I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE TIME GETTING TO LET LOOSE! IT WAS THE MOST FUN WE HAD IN A WHILE, WASN'T IT KING?! CAN'T YOU TAKE IT OFF?'

The male vehemently shook his head, not liking that idea even more than the voice's displeasure. 'Hell no! I'm not letting myself go crazy and go on a murdering spree, you fucker! I control you, not the other way around!'

'TSK, PARTY POOPER…'

That voice's presence soon faded from his mind, leaving Nico alone with the presence of Biko instead, like they had intended. **'It appears that IT is getting stronger. With the lack of suppressants on your instincts, ITS power is growing considerably.'** Biko said, and while his tone was flat, the topic he was discussing did cause immediate concern for him and his master's safety. **'Are you sure it is wise to not inform the females of your party? This situation seems like something thy should know about-'**

'No!' Nico flat out shouted through the mental link. His emotions slightly changed from calm and resolute to panic and frantic in less than a second. This caught Biko off guard slightly, but enough to stop him from responding as Nico continued. 'They won't know! They can't! I… I would rather that they didn't know, even if I die from HIM. I just… I can't…'

 **'** **Very well… but know this, the power of a bond is greater than you** **realize** **. If they're truly close to you, then they will not care about what you are.'** Biko said, and with those words, his presence vanished back into his inner world, leaving the forefront of his mind.

* * *

By that time, Nico noticed that he was arriving close to his destination, as proven when he checked his Bracer and saw a red arrowhead on top of a piece of the Forest map he'd downloaded, and his own location indicator nearing it. 'There's a clearing at the end of this path, so I should slow to a stop when I get out.'

The time he was thinking of soon approached as the dense wilderness began parting ways along his path, and soon enough Nico hopped and then did a mighty leap, jumping through the air and emerging from the wilderness. He landed in a kneeling position, riding out the waves of his landing before slowly standing up.

Looking around, the male saw that the clearing was admitingly rather small, not exactly the ideal place for a fight, which was likely why the Guild sent him in the first place. Not everything took place in conveniently large areas, usually those kinds of battles rarely happened, which was why Spec Ops Agents usually count their blessings in those battles. The tighter the area, the more difficult the fight, really.

However, the tightness of the clearing wasn't what Nico was focusing on right now, in fact he hardly recognized this as an immediate problem. His attention was on what was standing at the center of the clearing. 'Whoa… never seen something like this before…' Nico thought to himself, his sole uncovered eye gazing up at the large, imposing image of what looked like a rectangular, 20 feet tall Obelisk structure. The black color of its metal contrasted heavily with the greens of the wilderness around it, giving it the impression that it shouldn't be here.

There were ghostly black Tendrils, some sporting yellow Veins that slithered across the Obelisk's surface, many slimy sounds being heard as they did so while the Obelisk released a faint yellow glow from its centre. That glow, along with everything else about it, just screamed 'unnatural' to the male who shuddered. 'This thing… I don't know what I is, but something gives me the creeps about it…' Nico thought to himself, feeling his sweat come out his forehead, and then be absorbed by his Armour.

'This thing… I don't know why but something feels off…' he thought, swiftly bringing up his right Bracer to eye level, flicking open the lid and manipulating its interface to display the Quest details on a holographic screen. The Details manifested seconds later, and he read the passage over once again.

We were patrolling the forests, wary of new Dungeons being created by the Abnormals, when we came across something we've never seen before. Its huge, and black, and creepy! Could someone check it out please, I'd much appreciate it!

'Huh… Well, those Scouts do need to learn to give more precise info to the guys risking their necks to go out here for them.' Nico made to move forwards when a shot from Biko caused him to stop abruptly. ' **Stop! Do you not sense it?!'** Biko's words caused Nico to stop his reflexive retort before it could even begin and instead he blinked in confusion. It was only a second later did he realist that his senses were acting up, his demonic energy senses anyways. **'This structure… it reeks of demonic energy. It feels so similar to us that its driving our power crazy. I would advise you to transform if you wish to get closer.'**

Biko's words rung with truth, transforming into his DPU form, Crimson Soul, felt like the ideal move to make, however his mother's word as and desires for him to test the Armour she'd made for him also had a pull on his mind. It caused him to become conflicted on what to do, be cautious or take the risk and come out potentially with better Armour than he did before.

And yet, before he could reach an answer a pulse of demonic energy reached his senses, making Nico turn to where its's source was, until he came face-to-face with the Obelisk again. But this time, something was different, something his eyes traced to the centre where the yellow glow was.

That something was soon revealed, when the glow suddenly spread up to the top and bottom parts of the Obelisk, sliding sideways and making way like a door opening. 'Oh shit, this thing must be a portal or something!' Nico thought in alarm, reflexively summoning and Drawing Rebellion and Alastor.

Good thing too, because not a second later, something big and burly blasted its way through the opening in the Obelisk, rushing straight towards him with an explosion of murderous intent. 'Whoa!' the male quickly ducked under what he felt was a swing of a weapon, something large he guessed and sharp like a blade but with enough strength behind it to make the sharpness of the weapon a real problem.

After the wave of air passed by the male's head, Nico swerved his upper body so he could twist and get into a defensive stance while also facing whatever it was that had launched a surprise attack from nowhere. His lone eye narrowed, and then widened when he gazed upon the creature that had attacked him, or rather, the energy radiating off it in waves.

Demonic energy… just like his DPU Form.

 **'** **Be wary, Nico. I believe this creature is more than it seems.** ' Biko informed the male as they eyed the creature before them warily. The creature looked to be a muscular, bulky large man. The man-shaped creature wore a pair of leather pants held by a marge metallic belt around its waist, its feet being encased in matching leather boots. Bits and pieces of Armour could be seen on them, making them protected from most attacks that otherwise would have sliced through them. Its upper body was bare, showing off large muscles and imposing physique. Its eyes and mouth glowed a hollow yellow colour, with sharp teeth in its mouth and a cowl was worn on top of its head.

But that was when the human similarities seemed to fade away and the signature monster features took residence. It's left arm was longer and larger than its right, with fat-looking dark bluish crystals growing out of the shoulders and down the arm, which ended in a large claw with its fingers made from the same material that the crystals were. Its right arm in contrast, looked significantly slimmer and slightly shorter than its left, while it held onto the shaft of a Massive Axe-like weapon.

The Axe's shaft was wrapped in straps of leather, up to the base of its blade that had 3 glowing yellow eyes with slits for pupils, arranged into a vertical line up the base of the blade. Most of the blade was made from some organic material that matched the color of its skin, with a double ended metallic edge protruding out of the organic growth. Out the top of the weapon's blade were the same bluish crystals that grew out its left shoulder and arm.

'Ok… I've heard of Abnormals being wacky in appearance, but this is just ridiculous…' Nico thought as he saw the creature glaring heatedly at him, before letting pout a loud roar as from its back, a surge of black masses exploded outwards, blood and black tar landing on the ground with a splatter as it morphed into a series of long, thin-looking Tendrils, each one making grotesque, disgusting slithering sounds as they swayed back and forth behind it.

 **'** **I do not believe this is any Abnormal, Nico. While they are bizarre, none of them seem to possess any demonic energy of their own. Their presence however, does seem familiar to me, but I cannot put a finger on the reason for this. This creature however, is completely different, it has power that could give a DPU a run for its money, its demonic power is considerably formidable.'** Biko said, hastily denying the option of this being an abnormal and reasoning that because this thing ha demonic energy like he did, it couldn't be any Abnormal monster.

Before Nico could respond, the creature roared at him again, a mixture of a monster and a man's roar escaping its mouth, making Nico curse as the creature jumped at him.


	50. Chapter 47 - Talks and The Defiler

**Chapter 47 Talks and The Defiler**

"Huh? Well, where should we start…?" Neptune asked the woman before them. The girls were now seated on chairs in a semi-circle formation at the centre of Helen's office, said woman having opted to move her own chair to the front of her desk and placing her backside on it. They were all feeling a collection of anxiety, considering how they were about to be grinded for details of their adventures by someone who was the adoptive mother of their male party member, so yeah, a little nervousness was justified in their minds.

Even more so with te fact that she was the head of an important department, a former Spec Ops Agent, and they had seen her power first-hand. If Nico had revealed his demonic energy and transformed into Crimson Soul, maybe she wold have lost however she had more experience on her side so Helen would likely be able to keep a level head and prepare for whatever Nico would throw at her in that state.

"Perhaps it would be best if this young lady, Compa, was it? Goes first." Helen suggested, already sensing the nervousness the girls were facing While it was amusing to her, she also wanted to know wat company her son kept with him these days, so she had to hurry things along before they grinded to a halt. "I've heard a lot about you from him you know, makes me wonder what kind of relationship you two have."

Helen eyed the young girl before her with a pleasant smile, yet her eyes held a firmness that didn't match her smile. She was being the imposing mother that was concerned for her son, and was doing it masterfully. She'd eagerly waited for this day to come, where girls would show interest in her son to the point of partying with him. Not like that fangirlism that male Spec Ops Agents seem to love so much, but genuine romantic interest. She did want to see her son happy after all, so fangirls were a bit no-no. 'If any of them hurt my son, nothing will save them from my wrath...' she thought darkly to herself, already imagining the various tor-punishments, she corrected herself, punishments she would inflict on them. And from what she could see, she could tell that this girl had that in spades.

Though, why did she seem so familiar...?

The said Nurse-In-Training blinked, unaware of the hidden meaning that the woman was making which was not missed by the other girls. However, they didn't say anything in fear of getting Helen mad, something they did NOT want to do at this point. "Eh? Well, we're childhood friends, have been for a long time, and uh…" Compa fumbled about, playing with her hands to keep herself calm and avoiding the calm gaze the woman was sending her way. "Ni-Ni's always been there for me… helping me when I need it, be it through text, comforting calls or confronting bullies when I couldn't… I really like him for that…" she stammered, her face as red as the hair of her childhood friend/crush's. "And, with the things I learn about him… well… it makes me like him even more…" Somehow, she managed to gain a wave of confidence into her body as she looked up and firmly gazed into Helen's eyes. "and I wanna help him however I can."

There was a short pause, as everyone took in the feelings that Compa had shown them, though at the cost of her becoming redder than a tomato. Still, the bravery that she showed in admitting to these feelings to her crush's mother of all people was admirable, and it spurred the others on to do the same. If someone as shy and innocent as Compa could do it, then so could they.

If there was such a thing as motherly satisfaction, then Helen would call the emotions she was feeling towards the young Compa that. She could tell it was difficult for her to admit, due to her shyness. Helen had pegged her as a shy, timid individual from what Nico had told her of his childhood friend, and sometimes through the phone calls she would listen into for the sake of 'motherly protection'. What, a woman had to make sure her son isn't falling into the grip of perversion, you know!

"You go, girl! That's my rival for Nicky's love!" Neptune proclaimed, quickly getting Helen's attention as a surprised look crossed onto her face at how blatantly she had just said that. The others all collectively looked at her with startled, disbelieving gazes, just as stunned as the adoptive mother of Nico, how the hell did Neptune figure that would go over well, especially with how she just threw it out there?

"Nep-Nep!"

Neptune ignored Compa's cry and turned towards the shocked former Spec Ops Agent. "Yeppers, you heard that right, Mrs Nicky's sorta mom! Nicky's my Hubby, as of a week and a few days ago! He's been a good guy to me for so long now, that at that stated time I decided to become his wifey! Poor guy's super shy about it though but that's what makes him so charming, hehehe!" Neptune then sighed wistfully, her eyes glazing over slightly as she spoke again, her smile being one of a maiden in love with her crush. "Nicky's been there for me since day one with Compa. I have amnesia, ya see, so I was kinda lost and had nowhere to go, but he and Compa took me in. Ever since, he's done a lot for me, ya know? Gave me Armour, helped me fight bad guys, looked after me on my Quest to get my memories back and all that stuff. Then when I found out something kinda big, Nicky helped me through it all like a sweet Hubby! What's not too love about 'im?"

The preteen shot the woman a wide grin, her eyes beaming with positive emotion that she held for the male. It was positively blinding, to the point that it rivaled the light of the sun. 'What the heck is with this girl, saying that so confidently? And with such honesty, too!' Helen thought, restraining herself from showing her emotions to the girls to keep her imposing mother image. She needed it still to get their true feelings for her beloved son, if adopted, out into the open. Still, she couldn't help but be amazed at how honest Neptune had been, and from the looks of things, her feelings had been developing for a long time, just like Compa's. Only thing was, that Compa's were developed over a total of 5 years, while it seemed that Neptune's took considerably shorter top develop, but still within the boundaries of romantic feelings.

However, there was something else, something that she didn't say in front of the other girls, Helen noticed. She wasn't dumb, she'd been the one to hone Nico's observation skills, and thus, she noticed that Neptune was hiding something. The way her eyes shone brightly were like lights, deterring those from looking too deeply into them. But Helen wasn't deterred, and when she looked into them, the woman saw that there was something else... something greater than her previously stated reasons. Something powerful, possibly life changing, that had helped her conclude she had feelings for her son. Whatever it was, she wouldn't question it for now, but maybe in the future...

She remembered hearing about what happened at Lastation from Team RAIL, as well as what they had learned from Nico and the girls upon questioning them after the incident settled down. It seemed that her son had gotten himself into quite the situation with these girls, going over the four Nations to help one of them recover from Amnesia. It was somethings he expected of her son to do, but it didn't mean she wouldn't worry like hell if he was okay and eating his food properly!

Oh wait…

Finally, it was the last one, IF she believed her name was, to speak her feelings for the male. Looking at her, Helen could tell that while she wasn't there yet, IF did indeed see the male as someone she could trust. When one was as experienced in both reading people and in romance as she was, they would be able to tell whether the signs of a developing 'interest' in the opposite sex were there or not. It seemed that they had recently had some time to get to know each other, as her body showed signs of the interest developing, but it was just starting out. She got the impression IF wouldn't be daunted by any rivals for his affection either, something that she respected in a woman.

She respected the kind of women who wouldn't be deterred from a challenge. If one was a real woman, they would do what they could to triumph over their rivals. If they wanted someone to settle down with then they would do it, not letting anything get in the way of what they wanted, that was the type of woman Helen wished to see more of. Not these dainty damsels in distress types that wait for some handsome prince or princess charming, depending on their sexuality, to rescue them from their problems. After all, that was what she had been like when she was seeking her future husband's attention. 'Ahhh, the days of old, its good to be young...' she thought wistfully to herself, a reminiscent look on her face.

"Well, guess it's my time to shine, huh?" IF remarked with mirth to bring Helen out of her thoughts, trying to keep the unease she was feeling from showing. She held her hands in the pockets of her Trench Coat as she crossed one leg over the other, trying to keep up the image of someone confident as she spoke her words. "Well, I guess unlike those two over there, I'm the newest when it comes to knowing your son, Mrs Dawson." She began, but it was really a means to stall for time to get her thoughts together.

When she felt she got everything right, IF finally spoke after exhaling deeply. "Well, I guess you could say I knew of him before meeting him personally. Rumours spread fast, you see, even with the lesser known Agents like Nico, so when I heard of him I was skeptical at first. Sounded like a glorified jerk who'd captured the hearts of fangirls, though if his skills did prove accurate I would agree to respect the guy. You could say I don't have much of a good opinion on guys for… reasons, that are personal." IF's face contorted into an uncomfortable look, but the girls didn't get a chance to ask what was wrong since they got the face that said, 'don't ask or you'll get hurt' from the brunette. Thus, they decided to leave it alone for the time being.

While everyone was paying attention, the brunette looked up at the ceiling, losing herself in the memories that she had of their first official meeting. Her face twisted to one that was a mix of irritation and respectful as she spoke. "When we first met for real, I was being harassed by these assholes who wanted a quickie, and after a hard day's work as well. I was just about to deal with them the hard way when Nico intervened, showing them just how stupid they really were. I didn't recognize him at first, but later that changed, and since then I thought that maybe the rumors I heard about him were true."

Helen listened to her words, committing them to memory as she eyed IF for any bodily reactions that might prove more informative than her words. Not like she was lying, but she wanted everything from this woman. Until the end, she would wait to form an opinion, as out of the three girls IF was the one she had the least information on. She did remember several Agents receiving harsh punishments for misconduct at the workplace, punished by being suspended for 2 weeks, and her words seemed to correlate with that subject.

"I met him again when on a group raid in a Dungeon that, unknown to me at the time, was infested by Abnormals called Banshees. I don't want to think what would have happened to me if Nico, Nep and Compa here didn't show up when they did, I was the last survivor though so the picture isn't great. Though after he helped me I joined their group, been with them ever since. I must say though, that while some of the rumors were a little exaggerated, most of them were right on the money, the ones on his skills and social interactions at least. So, I must say I admire the guy for that, he showed me that he wasn't like most of the common pricks out there that just want a woman for select things. If you want to know what kind of relation we have its battle partners and, perhaps even friends. Guy can generate a decent conversation, not something I can say is shared with many other guys out there."

Finally finished with her response, IF took a deep breath and exhaled just as deeply, closing her eyes for the whole process. She then opened them and checked Helen's eyes for any reaction. She hoped she had done satisfactory in how she had responded to her, she'd tried to be as honest as she could with how she felt regarding the male, several times she had feared Neptune and Compa would jump in and interrupt her, only for that to not happen, much to her relief.

It didn't help that all this emotional shit wasn't exactly her expertise. Like she told Nico, growing up she had learned how to be a proper mercenary from her father, so she didn't really have that good a social skill. Heck, that was what led her to have difficulty working with others, and how she quickly gained low opinions on the male gender. Feelings and all that mushy stuff was more up Compa's alley than hers. Maybe Neptune's too, though more o the side of 'lemme give it to ya straight so I can eat my pudding!'

That sounded like something Neptune would do.

Meanwhile, Helen was eyeing IF with well-concealed scrutiny. With her story, she found that she was being truthful for the most part. She'd seen a flash of hesitation at one point, which was the last bit. There had been something she was reluctant to share, but it didn't seem like it was anything malevolent towards her son. Then, there was the 'personal' issue that she vaguely hinted at, it had surprised her more than she cared to admit, and with that, plus her appearance and mannerisms, especially that annoyed look on her fact whenever had to chastise Neptune and Compa for their antics, meant that…

In any case, she had heard their responses and needed to conclude on their worth. It was a few tense moments of silence, something that Neptune found to be dreadful. She hated serious moments like these, she wanted to crack a joke, make a few memes or at least annoy someone, just to lighten the atmosphere or something! Unfortunately for her, she remembered what happened the last time she broke a serious atmosphere like this, the loss of her beloved pudding haunting her dreams for days afterwards. It made her repress her urges for a time, she didn't want any additional Puddings to suffer the fate of not being put in her mouth!

…wow, that sounded almost as bad as Noire's 'Come and slip one into my mouth' Comment…

Moving on.

The woman remained silent for a long time, and for a moment they thought that she would be angry at them for their responses, something they rather dread. Images of her short fight with Nico appeared in their minds, reminding them just how much can of whoop ass she could unleash on them at any second. However, those thoughts flew out of the window when Helen gave a small giggle, smiling in satisfaction while she gazed upon them. "Well, looks like I didn't have to worry one bit. I had heard my son had some interesting female company and acted as any mother would."

Hearing this, the girls sighed in relief, glad that they were safe from being harshly dealt with by Helen's hand. "Whew… we passed that hurdle…" Compa spoke amidst her sigh. She held a hand over her chest to calm her beating heart. She thought it was so loud that the woman would have easily picked up on it with sharp senses.

Neptune looked, like Compa, to be in the same boat, with both hands over her chest while she took several calming, if a little exaggerated, breaths. "Yep, must agree with ya there, Compa. I thought I was about to pass into the next life with that stare of hers…" she remarked with a shudder. Some parents can be scarily overprotective of their kids, especially that one father in that anime about alchemists trying to find the philos-whatever. She could just imagine his face, with his gun cocked, staring down at them intimidatingly while quoting his line: "Listen up boys, if you try anything with my daughter, you will answer to me."

That was almost TOO literal!

IF gave a glare to the purplette for her words, making her way over to her as she quickly and harshly spoke with a hushed voice into her ear, to not potentially upset Helen further. "Hey Nep, don't insult someone like her when she's right in front of us!" Neptune's eyes widened as her face lost colour, horror and dread seeping into her stomach at the thought of the overprotective mom trope coming out.

However, to their relief, Helen merely waved it off with her smile showing nothing but amusement as she crossed one leg over the other, just like IF had done earlier. "Please, don't fret over that, dear. After all, I do admit I pressured you all a little to get what I wanted. If anything, I should commend you for answering honestly like that. Most would have become spluttering messes when I become the 'big momma bear' like that." She then sighed wistfully, crossing her arms under her bosom, which much to the chagrin of the girls, was much more developed than theirs easily a D cup, bigger than even Compa's.

The woman then looked to Neptune, her smile soon turning sly as she idly noted Neptune's jealousy in her eyes when staring at her chest. "I also know you're the CPU of Planeptune, Neptune, or should I say Purple Heart." Now THAT sent them off the deep end, causing Neptune to nearly fall off her seat with Compa doing the same while IF merely stiffened, her body tense as if ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

"E-EH?!"

At Neptune's outcry as she popped her head out from behind her chair, a noticeable bump on her head she didn't notice, Helen gave a giggle, holding a hand over her mouth with her posture that of a proper lady. "No need to worry so much, dear. I knew ever since you stepped into the Guild the first time. It has scanners that read a person's energy to determine their levels, and yours were too high to be a normal human without any signs of training. Also, there's scanners along the corridors you all traveled that identified you as Purple Heart."

Neptune gave an embarrassed laugh while rubbing the back of her he'd nervously with her right hand. "Hahahaha, wow, this is awkward. I can't believe I was found out so quickly. Well, to be honest it would be more shocking if I hadn't found out who I was at Lastation. Amnesia, how I loathe ye." She quoted like a certain English writer while deepening her voice at the end to make a masculine voice come out, although she didn't sound very good at it.

Everyone sweat dropped.

Then something clicked in her mind, and Neptune quickly slammed a fist into her palm. "Oh right, I wanted to ask ya something, Mrs Nicky's sorta mom!" she exclaimed, ignoring the way that Helen's brow twitched at the way she was addressed in favor of hearing what this perky preteen had to say. "You know anything of the Key Fragments or Histy? I mean, if you knew I was a CPU, you gotta know things most don't. And these Spec Ops seem like they're more knowing of strange things than normal folk, so…"

Helen's eyes widened at the mention of the Key Fragments, to the point where she lost interest in how she was addressed earlier. "Did you say Key Fragments? And by Histy, I assume you man Histoire?" she asked her for clarification. At the preteen's surprised look, the woman signed in recognition, lowering her head and leaning back on her chair. "Well, I do know a bit about Histoire, the [World Tome]. She records the History of Gamindustri, and was once close to the Goddesses, however something happened and somehow, she disappeared. She hasn't been seen in centuries though."

"...EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?!"

All the girls got thrown for a loop at this information, or rather, the fact that someone outside of their group knew about Histoire, in ways that not even Neptune did. And she was the one who was in the most contact with her, other than Nico! They all expressed their shocked expressions towards the woman, questions racing through their minds as fast as cheetahs. For example:

How did she know about Histoire?

Did these two meet before?

How much does she know about Histoire?

In the end, the logical female of the group regained her wits first. "If that's true, then how you know her is my next question, Mrs Dawson?" IF questioned, still trying to get over the shock that Nico's mom in all but blood somehow knew about an entity that nobody else on Gamindustri knew of. It didn't make sense to her, someone who had been trapped for a very long time shouldn't have been heard of by anyone she hadn't been able to contact.

Helen nodded, her eyes conveying that she understood IF's questions. Heck, her expressions were shared by the rest of the girls as she responded to IF's inquiry. "You'd be right to be shocked. I had intended to get Nico alone and tell him this when I got the chance, but seems that he's got himself sucked into this the same as I have on his own. Anyways," she stood up from her chair and walked around her Desk, stopping at the window before placing her hand on it. She remained silent for a moment, taking a slight intake of breath, before she turned to them again and spoke. "I know of her because like the CPUs, I was able to hear her in my dreams."

Gasps rang throughout the room, and for a moment she remained silent, until she found that silence once again took hold of the room so she continued. "It was a couple weeks before the reports of the new Monster Cave Dungeon came in. I had fallen asleep during one particularly long afternoon, and woke up in a void-like space. I heard her voice back then almost immediately."

"Hey, that sounds exactly like how I first heard Histy!" Neptune exclaimed s she heard that bit Memories of er dream she had before waking up in Compa's room came to mind. She had thoughts he was the first person Histoire had spoken to back then, asking for her help. Apparently, she was wrong on that part, which made her wonder what else Histoire had done that she didn't know of.

Nodding in agreement with the younger female, Helen continued her story. "Yeah, I was stunned too. I was reluctant to believe her story about being held captive for a time until she told me that at a certain point in time I'd had a top secret meeting the details of which are classified. She proved to me that she was the [World Tome], and afterwards she asked me to provide any aid I could to a certain Goddess when she would return from Celestia her words indicated that it would be soon too." She explained, humming in remembrance.

That was before she began gazing pointedly at Neptune. "Looks like she meant you, Neptune." She stated, her arms falling to her sides before moving into her pockets. "Though, I guess I didn't need to do much since Nico seems to have you well taken care of." She remarked, before smirking in a teasing manner. "In more ways than one."

The implications were not lost on the purplette, nor IF and Compa, as Neptune laughed nervously with a cherry red blush on her face. "Yeah, I kinda see what you mean there…" she mused, trying to suppress the embarrassment she was feeling. She then did so by focusing on another subject, pertaining to Histoire the 'World Tome' as Helen had called her. "Um, I hope I'm not being a brat, but could ya tell me more about Histy? She doesn't call very much and whenever she does I never get a chance to ask her. Probably due to bad phone lines or something."

Her request was granted when the head of the WDD nodded in response, her eyes shining with satisfaction. "I'm glad you're thinking of these serious things, Neptune. I guess if it pertains to your friends you can handle the seriousness, eh?" she remarked with a chuckle, gaining more nervous laughter from her, plus a beaming smile from Neptune that was assisted with small smiles from Compa and IF, who were listening intently to the conversation without interfering. "In any case, after I had that dream, I was driven by the instinct to do more research. I had entire parties of Agents search for any places I could do research with regards to the [World Tome], uncovering several ruins across Planeptune that had some hidden libraries in them. Lots of the books were outdated though, so deciphering them was difficult, however I managed to glean a few things from them."

She then cleared her throat as she wetted her throat with her saliva. All this talking was making her throat dry. "I learned that long ago, the Previous CPU was the one who created Histoire as a means of repentance, repentance for what I wasn't able to deduce however. But what I did was that she was created with the intention of keeping the future CPUs from doing the same mistakes she did. Histoire's primary goal was to assist the CPUs in ruling their nations, with all the world's history written into her for her to use. However, there are limitations to how she can use this information to prevent misuse of it, who knows what could happen if such info fell into the wrong hands, am I right?"

They could all agree on that. It sounded like Histoire was a fountain of knowledge and information that was not recorded in Gamindustri's records, which made sense and made her title the [World Tome] much more understandable. Such a large amount of information would be terrible if in the wrong hands, so they managed to grasp why there were limitations to that kind of power.

"Well, she was originally supposed to help the CPUs, but for some reason she disappeared long before the CPUs would even know of her existence, as she was around during the time they were in their infantile stages. If she had remained around till they could remember her, I'm sure that the Console War would never have happened, as with her guidance the CPUs would have been better rulers than they are today, perhaps making the Spec Ops Programme unnecessary." At the end, Helen sighed sadly, her eyes darkened with negative emotion.

Everyone in the Party was speechless as they listened to the woman's explanation about the one they were meant to save, how important a role she played in Gamindustri's lifestyle. They did agree with her that Histoire's disappearance was a huge factor in how the CPUs would end up ruling Gamindustri, if she had not disappeared then perhaps so many lives wouldn't have been affected the way they were, like the citizens of Racoon City. A lot of tragedies they learned that had happened through the course of the Console Wars played out in their minds, tragedies that could have been prevented with better leadership.

The thought that, if she had stayed, potentially could have rendered the Spec Ops Program a needless asset though, sent complicated feelings through them. True, it had been born from people who'd lost faith in the CPUs, and thus if their leadership was better it likely wouldn't have happened. However, it still had the accomplishment of saving humanity when they needed help the most.

Though, none of them could believe that Histoire had disappeared by her own accord, especially not Neptune. It just didn't fit her, she may not have been able to help them very much, but there had been times where, without her help, they would have been in a real bind. The Banshee had been one such example, while another was when Nico lost control or when IF had been on death's door. She had helped them when they needed it, so it didn't make sense for her to just disappear like that.

They'd ask her what was up with that when they found her at last.

Finally, Helen shook her head and moved back to her seat, retaking her previous position on it except for her hands wrapping around the front of her kneecap instead of her cleavage, something that the girls were secretly grateful for. "Now back to what I originally kept you for. Thank you for taking care of my reckless little boy, Nicky-Nick tends to get himself into situations that make me have a heart attack sometimes. It's good to see people like you have befriended him since I saw him last." She remarked, chuckling at the last part. However, unlike the previous times her chuckle carried little mirth, almost sounding… bitter, for some reason they didn't get at all.

This bitterness soon vanished when Neptune shot up off her chair, glad to be up and about as her bum had started going numb, as she threw her arms into the air and bluntly asked a question that threw everyone off. "Now that we got ya approval, Hel, could ya let me keep going out with your littl'n, Nicky?"

The bluntness of her question, joined with her innocent look shattered the tension and serious atmosphere that was built yup like a glass mirror, wiping it away like it was never even here, as well as made IF and Compa go bug-eyed at her while Helen merely gaped in shock at her. Compa was the one who recovered first, but instead of scold the preteen for her immediate conduct, she instead pouted in jealousy ad stood beside her, her hands over her fists in a typical fangirl pose, although her expressions were anything but. "Nep-Nep, you don;t just ask that so bluntly, that's the childhood friend's job! Hel-Hel, can I keep going out with your son, too?" she asked, turning her head with a hopeful gaze towards the woman.

Aside from them, IF could only sigh while her right hand spread and slammed into her face with an audible 'smack' sound echoing across the room. "This just makes me wish I wasn't even associated with them… idiots…" she mumbled under her breath.

It was a few moments before the adoptive mother of their male party member regained her wits after the curveball she had been thrown her way. She then laughed at the quarrelling girls, getting their attention as she slapped the top of her knee. "Ahahaha, of course you two kids have my permission to go! Make sure to jump him nice and good and give me lots of grandbabies ya hear? I wanna hear him moan across the all of Gamindustri!" she responded with a massive grin and a thumbs-up.

POOF!

This elected cherry red blushes, as well as some far-off looks, from Neptune and Compa as their minds wandered into forbidden territory, while IF just gaped at them.

"My son sure has come a long way, to have girls like you three at his side." Helen remarked, breaking the two out of their daydreams that would remain unspecified, just in case some underage readers were reading this. "Although..." the woman's expression, like a balloon losing its air, deflated as a sorrowful sigh escaped her lips. The atmosphere soon became tense, and the girls all wondered what happened to make her this way. "You may find this to be an extraordinarily difficult task."

Neptune frowned at the woman's words. She didn't like the sound of that, neither did Compa and, if she were honest with herself, IF didn't like it either. "What's that mean, Nicky's mom?" she asked in concern.

The woman looked down at the ground, her eyes unfocused. Neptune would have questioned again until she snoticed the 'don't interrupt' look that IF had shot her way. Eventually, Helen sapped herself out of it before gazing their way, her eyes pools of sadness and sympathy. "I mean, with his lack of trust and faith in others, I thought he'd wither away into an old man and die without knowing any true companionship, even after he got his memories back, a sad fate for any man."

Now THAT got their attention, breaking their thoughts about any suggestive themes without hope of returning to them for it was THAT shocking. Did they hear that right? Did they hear her say that Nico had little trust and faith in other people? "Why would you say that, Hel-Hel?" Compa asked her in concern. "Why would Ni-Ni not have much trust in others? He seems so friendly and happy around us, so I don't get it." Neptune nodded her head in agreement, and even IF looked like she was concerned for the male. This was news to her, too.

They remembered what they had seen from their male party member throughout their travels. He had shown that he was a, mostly, serious person with a sharp mind inside that skull of his. He showed how observant he was, as well as teasing and humorous. There was that time when he was always suspicious about Noire's motives when she faked her amnesia to get close to Neptune, as well as his paranoia about Ganache and Avenir which led to his actions, which turned out to bore fruit in more ways than one. But, even so, why did Helen say that Nico would have trust issues? Issues that he wouldn't tell anyone? They were a Party, they could trust each other!

At least, that was what they thought.

Hearing their concerns, Helen's gazed downwards, at her hands which now were spread flat on her lap. She thought for a moment, looking like she was fighting within herself to say something, before she eventually looked back up at them again. Now, there was a mix of seriousness and sternness unlike her motherly facade before. This seemed on a whole new level of intense, which sent chills up their spines. "Those last four years you 2 didn't see each other, Compa dear, thanks for the nickname by the way… were not so easy for him. Nico saw a lot of horrible things those four years, far worse than fighting Abnormals." She commented gravely, and they could hear the irritation and fury in the woman's tone. The girls were quick to realize that this was a deep subject, and much to Neptune's dismay they would be in for another discussion she couldn't make jokes in.

"What… did Nicky see, Hel? What would make him distrust others like you say?" Neptune asked reluctantly. Normally she would be trying to break such a serious mood before it could begin, especially after what they'd already discussed, but like Helen had said, when it came to close loved ones of hers, Neptune would bear any kind of tensity for them. This was just one of those times where that trait of hers kicked in.

"People, Neptune… Nicky-Nick saw people… and not the good kind, either."

* * *

Nico was having trouble, for the first time in a long time, he was being dominated during a fight. His breathing was labored and his chest heaved and fell heavily, very visible even with his Armour on. His Armour had been destroyed in several places, but unlike his previous set this one could restore itself at higher speeds, making it so his Armour would regenerate near instantaneously. It was a blessing in this fight, Nico knew it, but it didn't help that this thing was FREAKING TOUGH!

He had his Plasma Claws deployed with the Plasma Cannons as a ranged attack, which were teaming heavily from firing so many blasts of purplish white Plasma at the enemy, of which he and Biko had called the 'Defiler' due to what things were left like whenever its Tendrils touched them. Not only had they not yet dealt any significant damage to it, but the creature had also proven to be an extremely tough adversary, like they had first said in that first paragraph.

Firstly, it possessed immense strength, especially in its deformed left arm, with which it could deliver crushing blows. An example of this was when it slammed its arm into the ground and black Tendrils erupted from underneath Nico before he could react, binding him long enough for it to close and grab him, to proceed to smash him repeatedly against the ground before throwing him away.

Second was its durability, it was INSANE. One time, Nico had combined his Swords' energies into one powerful blast of demonic energy infused lighting to catch it by surprise. The damn fucker didn't even flinch when the attack struck it dead in the chest, just threw its Axe in a motion that, if it had hit, would have decapitated Nico in one swing. Fortunately for him, Nico had managed to dodge it just at the las second, only for the Tendrils on the Corruptor's back to retrieve the Axe in mid-air and pull it back into its waiting right hand.

With regards to the Tendrils, those things weren't very friendly, especially when they left this black substance behind that seeped into plants and other forms of wildlife, twisting and morphing them into grotesque forms that would make even seasoned generals from Lastation's military have nightmares for months, if not years after seeing them. It was worse for Nico as he had seen what they were like BEFORE the Tendrils got to them. Thus, he and Biko had to call this ability it had 'Corruption' which had helped them give it its name earlier.

Worse still, that thing REFUSED to give him enough time to transform. It was halfway through their battle that Nico had to transform like Biko had said to stand on even ground against it. No matter how badass he was as Nico, Crimson Soul was more so, Crimson Soul had advantages that Nico didn't, and that pissed him the hell off for a while until he came to terms with it. Like that form, Nico could do things only he could, like use this Armour, while Crimson Soul couldn't.

It was like the creature KNEW that he could use DDD, and was preventing that from happening. Thankfully his Plasma shields had helped keep him alive up until this point, but right now they had been depleted and were currently recharging.

Nico had to stop his internal monologue when the creature threw its Axe forwards to cleave him in half vertically. 'Whoa!' he barely dodged it by pivoting to the side, only for a Tendril to both smack him aside ad grab the Axe at the same time, returning it to its owner. Nico slid across the ground and noticed several masses of Corruption being sent his way, evident by the large black mases slithering cross the ground at him at high speeds. The male quickly jumped through one of the gaps in them, resulting in them exploding into pillars of mass behind him, as he shot towards his enemy.

The Defiler roared as it raised its Axe for an overhead slam, one that Nico raised his Plasma Claws and deflected to the side, quickly slashing away at its stomach. The Defiler roared again, sending a Kick to his face to knock him back, however Nico jumped to the side and aimed one of his Plasma Cannons at the Tendrils on its back. He released a few purplish white Plasma Blasts at them, only for the Defiler to block them with its Axe and send more Corruption masses towards Nico.

At this point, Nico knew that he was going to have to get in with a better weapon than his Plasma Claws, so he switched his weapons, Plasma Claws retreating into his gauntlets while his Plasma Cannons receded into his shoulderguards. He then summoned his Plasma Launcher, the weapon appearing over his hands from his Void Storage. Gripping it in two hands, the male smirked to himself, seeing several cables come out of his shoulder to connect to the Grenade Launcher's Canister.

Aiming, Nico fired several purple Plasma Grenades towards the masses. As expected with Plasma weaponry, it outright destroyed them, burnt them to nothingness from their ensuing explosions. The male noticed that one of them had sneaked around and was closing in from his left flank, so he thrusted his left arm out and shot several Plasma Chains, each one connecting to the Defiler's chest faster than it could react.

While the creature tried to grab them and tear them off, Nico hopped and pulled the chains back, flinging himself towards the Defiler like a round fired from a slingshot. Nico grinned behind his Armour's helmet, lifting his legs to his chest level before thrusting them forwards when he was close enough. His legs slammed into the creature's face like a battering ram, the satisfying sounds of bones breaking resonating in Nico's ears as he saw the Corruption Mass nearing them.

Using both his position and Chains as leverage, Nico lifted himself so that he stood atop its shoulders, ripping the Chains out of the creature in a savage, violent manner. The Defiler roared in anger, pain laced within as it tried to grab him only for its limbs to be met with Plasma Launcher Rounds. The Corruption Mass got close enough to detonate while this happened, something Nico foresaw and used this opportunity to flip off it and land on the opposite side.

BOOM!

An explosion of black mass hit it, enveloping it within its dark embrace. Nico panted heavily as he fell to one knee, grimacing at how damaged he felt. True his demonic energy and THAT were healing him, making breathing a little easier, but neither of them could replace the stamina he'd lost. Only the power of a good rest could do that, something he doubted he'd be getting any time soon.

His reprieve, as expected, was short lived when the Defiler suddenly jumped out of the explosion, screaming bloody murder as it raised its Axe for an overhead slam. Nico reacted by lifting his Plasma Launcher and firing several blasts at its legs, destabilizing it long enough to roll out of the way. The Defiler landed in a heap on the ground, harsh burn marks on its legs that it tried to recover from. Fortunately for Nico, those hits had hit home, thus it would take time to recover, time it may not have.

Unfortunately for Nico, it hadn't been completely helpless, as one of its Tendrils managed to grab him by the foot, lifting him into the air. Instinctively discarding his Plasma Launcher back to the Void Storage, Nico swiftly deployed his Hidden Blades, cutting the Tendril around his ankle off and setting him free. As he fell towards the ground, more Tendrils tried to impale him, for the male to adjust his body's angle in order to slash each one, landing on the ground kneeling like a Knight.

Standing up once more, Nico observed his enemy, which roared once more as it got on all fours. The damage to its legs already looked like it had healed somewhat, enough for movement and combat at least. Plus, the Tendrils had regrown what they'd lost, much to his irritation. 'Goddamnit, this thing's pissing me the fuck off!'

 **'I agree, let us end this quickly. This beast cannot be allowed to remain amongst the living.'**

With Biko's words, Nico decided to use some of the Skills that Helen had said were part of his Skill List. There was one Skill he had in mind, though, as he jumped from side to side to confuse the Defiler while making his way towards its left flank.

It saw his trajectory though, and made to punch him with its massive arm, for Nico to slide underneath it and then go underneath the creature's legs, spinning so he was facing its back. His Plasma Cannons deployed from within his shoulder guards, and began to shine purple, an indication of a Skill involving them being activated as Nico snarled at his enemy. "PLASMA BLAST!" he bellowed, 2 large balls of plasma being gathered in front of the Canons' barrels. They were then released in the forms of 2 high-density beams, like lasers, and hit the Defiler in the back as it made to turn to face him. The creature however, had turned in that which its left arm would face the incoming beams, so it raised the arm to try and defend against it.

The beams collided with the arm, and continuously damaged it like a constant stream of hot sun rays. Burning sounds could be heard from the beams as they impacted repeatedly against the creature's skin, until finally a massive purple explosion as triggered, engulfing the Defiler completely.

Nico gasped for breath as he fell to one knee, heaving heavily as his lone eye was shrunken and dilated, gazing down at the ground until he lifted his head to gaze at the purple explosion that he had created. The explosion looked more like a neon purple mini supernova than an actual explosion, the amount of heat radiating from it being so intense he thought he'd be burned just by looking at it. His mind told him that it was dead, but his instincts told him to remain on guard as he regarded the explosion.

Nevertheless, despite his inner conflict, Nico still kept his heavy breathing as he looked down towards his supporting hand, his mind racing with thoughts regarding his newfound power. That Skill had been untested and untrained, so it had taken more power than it normally would have, according to the Specs he had learned about it on the way here.

'Do… you think that did it?' Nico asked his demonic personification as he struggled to regain his level breathing. Sweat rolled down his body until his suit absorbed it, keeping him from feeling itchy and uncomfortable within it. His body had been run ragged during that fight, more so than it had in a while. Perhaps the adrenaline combined with the glee of getting his Armour back got to his head a little, as well. That certainly didn't help matters. Slowly, he stood up, weakly raising his legs so that he could stand tall on both, with his Plasma Cannons having returned to the compartments within his Shoulder guards which once again settled on his arms.

 **'…** **No, it's not dead! This creature managed to endure the Skill till the last moment, throwing up a wall of Corruption to shield itself!'** Biko informed, much to Nico's horror as he looked back to the Explosion's core where the creature he'd been fighting had been standing.

Before the smoke faded, Nico instinctively rolled to his side, avoiding a large Tendril as it tried to impale him from above with speeds that would make bullets jealous, making a massive crater when it did so. The smoke faded, to reveal the creature with a damaged left arm, damage as in severe burns all over it, but other than that it was completely fine. The bluish crystals glowed eerily as the Defiler roared at him with its man/monster mix roar.

Now, something different was afoot with that roar. Nico could tell this because the Tendrils behaved differently. Whereas before they only swayed calmly behind it, like what it was facing wasn't worth their interest while occasionally jerking from one side. However, right no they were jerking constantly, slashing and whipping themselves erratically while black sludge came out of the creature's body, splattering across the ground as if tainting the very earth that made Planeptune's floating landmass.

Soon though, that change became apparent when the creature began to enlarge itself. It was slow, gradual at first, but it soon speedup and with it, the demonic energy Nico was sensing within it skyrocketed to new heights and power. Now, he felt like he was choking on the energy as I saturated the air surrounding it. The trees, ground, plants and wildlife that were afflicted with the Corruption began to twist and contort, as if responding to the massive power spike in their own ways. It made for an… intimidating sight to behold.

One thing was clear to the Spec Ops Agent known as DEATHSTROKE as he gazed at this monstrosity that had passed through that Obelisk. This creature, it was no Abnormal, it couldn't be. The Abnormals were stronger than average monsters and behaved differently, yes. However, they were still just that, monsters. They could still be slain using similar methods to the usual monsters no problem, especially by those who were trained in fighting their wide variety of forms.

This creature however, was something else something arguably… WORSE than anything they had encountered before something that could possibly be out of human's ability to fight directly. Its very presence oozes demonic energy, energy which corrupted the land around it like a miasma of disease, rotting the life around it. This thing, it had to be stopped, it had to be destroyed, it just HAD to!

When the changes stopped the Defiler stood at well over 18-foot-tall, towering over Nico with the intent to kill, its mouth twisting into a vicious grin as best as it could, what with its mouth structure not having any lips or jaw bones akin to that of a human's. It then raised its Axe and Nico's eye became saucers when he felt a massive surge of demonic energy within its form gathering around the tip of the weapon, which now began to glow with a crimson aura. 'Oh shit!'

Oh, shit was right, as when the Axe was brought down, a large explosion of earth and dirt was released upon impact, as well as a shockwave that blew Nico off his feet and sent him flying through a couple trees. The Defiler readied its Axe for another swing, when suddenly it stopped, freezing in place as its attention shifted elsewhere. Where, Nico wasn't exactly sure as he lay within a Tree's trunk, groaning to himself as he pulled himself out of it, until he opened his eye and saw that it was already on the move, running through the forest with its feet making large indentations on the ground.

'It's running away?!' Nico shrieked in his mind, panic making his heart pound like a jackhammer as he made to chase after it. However, just as he ran through the small clearing, which had been cleared of most of the wilderness by that last strike, something grabbed him by his foot and tripped him up, making him fall flat on his face. Nico growled in frustration, before looking to see what had gripped him.

His body tensed at what he saw: several black masses rising out of the ground, one of them forming a hand to grab him with, until they began to shift and shape themselves, turning into wat looked like Golems with their bodies covered in yellowish brown stone armour, their actual bodies being skeletal in shape and thickness. They wielded large clubs for weaponry. Each Golem looked to be made from hardened black mass, corruption, and all were glaring at Nico, despite not having any eyes on their stone heads, with the intent to kill.

Seeing that they wouldn't be letting him leave so easily, Nico cursed under his breath as he thought only one thing while he readied his Plasma Claws: 'Fuck my life…'


	51. Chapter 48 - The Defiler PT 2

**Chapter 48 - The Defiler PT 2**

"People…?" Compa blinked as she registered what the older woman had said. She felt confused on the meaning though, even though a part of her told her that's he may not want to know. She had to know though, as it was about her crush. "What do you mean, Hel-Hel?" She didn't like the vagueness of the answer, and wanted something to elaborate on it.

Helen gave a sombre sigh as she leaned back on her chair, uncrossing her legs then folding the other leg over the one that had been on top of it for so long. "Well… I… you have to understand, normally this world is full of cute girls, action, adventure and fanservice, yes?" she aimed a careful gaze towards them, getting nods from the girls at the mention of the dynamics that they faced on their adventures. "Well, this isn't that world anymore. Not with what Nico saw."

That didn't sound ominous at all, in fact, it succeeded in increasing the tension in the room. It was like a 100KG weight had settled on every spec of atom inside the room, making it difficult to breathe. It didn't help that Helen had this haunted, remorseful look on her face as she held her arms for comfort, possibly scarring memories going through her mind. "You see, while Spec Ops Agents and Guil Agents do essentially the same thing, there's wone thing Spec Ops do that dGuld Agents don't: and that;'s Human-based quests." she told them.

Compa blinked, and so did Neptune at the unfamiliar term, while IF's eyes flashed with realisation. "Human? Human Quests?" the two girls asked her, getting a nod from the older woman.

"I've heard of those." All eyes turned to IF, who now looked as irritated and concerned as Helen looked as she spoke those words. When she saw that they had their attention focused on her, the brunette continued her speech, never losing her troubled expression in the slightest. "Human Quests, while classified as Spec Ops Quests, are reserved for them ALONE. That means that only they can take them, so if they were in a party with other people that weren't Spec Ops, he or she would have to ditch them or hand them another Quest instead. Spec Ops normally fight monsters like the rest of us, but on the off case..." she trailed off, not wanting to continue anymore as she gritted her teeth. 'I think I know where Ms Dawson is going with this... and I don't like it.' she thought afterwards.

She then stood up, walking around while dragging her chair behind her until it was back before her Desk. She sat down on it once again, leaning forwards with her arms on the Table, with her sombre look never ceasing the entire time. "You would be correct in your assumptions, IF the four years, Nico saw little goodness in people… and a lot of how corrupted they are. Murderers, rapists, child molesters, and all the scum of humanity was what his world was immersed in. He'd been trapped in a world unlike yours, a world full of criminals down to deranged psychopaths that weren't above committing crimes worse than you could even imagine A truly dark, twisted world."

The girls gulped, not liking the sound of that. Those words alone brought many images into their minds, images on a graphic gore level of the Banshee Nest, no matter how much they tried to fight against it. Adventurers, Guild Agents, they didn't deal with the criminals and scum of humanity, they usually dealt with the monsters that threaten their species as a whole. Thus, they usually believed humanity was more of a peaceful race that didn't deserve to be destroyed by the Monsters.

Apparently, they were wrong on that assumption.

Seeing their responses crushed Helen's heart inside, to have to tell them this truth, however it had been necessary. Helen did all she could to convince herself of this, which wasn't much. Years of experiencing such a life made it a little easier to bear, although she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Getting used to the fact that humanity was filled with scumbags and horrible criminals, that wasn't something one should get used to. But there were those that did, well, those people usually ended up becoming worse than the people they hunted. Although, Helen sometimes doubted they were people at al with the things they did.

Looking at the girls, Helen saw slight comprehension in their eyes, probably thanks to Ganache and Avenir's actions at Lastation. However, they seemed to think that it was only because of them that criminal activity ha been happening. Time to crush that hope, she thought with slight bitterness. She reached under her desk, pulling out a draw that had a series of files in them. She pulled the files out and placed them on her Desk, quickly searching through them till she found the one she wanted. "This is just one example of some of the twisted shit Nicky-Nick has seen. Aha, here it is." She found it at the bottom of the pile, pulling it out and opening it, but not showing it to the girls. She didn't want to give them nightmares for the foreseeable future. "This is a case, one that was released to the public by the way, revolving around a serial killer known as the 'Hidden Nepper'. He was a serial killer that targeted people that even remotely resembled the Planeptune CPU, and as you know, there are a LOT of people who aspire to be like you, Neptune."

The girls gasped at the information they had received, while IF's eyes narrowed darkly as the name struck a chord in her, a familiar one. "I've heard of that case. Some nutcase had decided to go off the deep end and kidnapped many young girls resembling nep here." She said, frowning as she summarised the case in her mind before voicing it so that Neptune and Compa understood. The former was losing colour in her features fast at the thought of such an atrocity. As for the latter, she was shaking in her boots as she remembered hearing a news report about that person. "You're saying that Nico was involved with this case?"

Helen shook her head, confusing the girls until she spoke again. "No, not just involved, he was the one to stop the murderer. And to do so, he had to track the bastard down to his hideout. He found it easily enough, kid has a nose for this sort of thing, but wat he saw in there was enough to scar anyone for life."

Compa shook with her face almost ghostly pale. She was sure she didn't want to know what that was, but her mouth moved without her brain's permission as if it was going against her on this. "What…. Wat did he see?" she barely got the words out without losing to the urge to scream till her throat was hoarse.

Wordlessly, Helen pulled out a remote from another drawer on her desk and pressed a button on it. From the centre of her Desk, a single holographic projection shot out and formed in front of her face, though they could still dee the disturbed look in her eyes as the screen showed pictures, pictures of what Nico had seen in that hellhole that was the murderer's hideout.

If they thought it was bad just hearing about it, seeing it was way worse. The girls gasped again, holding their hands over their mouths to suppress the urge to scream out the top of their lungs. Even IF got taken aback by what she saw, and it was one o the most gruesome sights she had ever witnessed. The pictures showed some disgusting sights: young girls no older than Neptune's preteen age, girls who likely had friends, families and loved ones… horrifically slashed and cut along their bodies, some of their body parts having been forcefully removed and put on the walls behind them, while their bodies were impaled and strung on top large circular Disk-like devices. Their eyes were rolled back, but their expressions said it all: they had died horribly, likely screaming for someone to help them, only for help to arrive far too late.

"Oh… my… Goddess…" IF gasped unable to showcase just how much she was disgusted and deeply disturbed by the sights of the images. Her teeth were clenched and she gripped the sides of her chair tightly, shaking in both horror and rage at the sight. "That's just… I don't even have the words…"

Neptune moaned, trying to stop herself from throwing up at the revolting sights before her. "G-Geez… that's just dark, yo." She tried to get her words out, but every word became harder to say as the urge to vomit her lunch rose in power. It was worse for her, since those girls likely aspired to be like her, hell, they even loo0ked similar to her save for things like height, bust size, etc. To see them killed in such horrible ways, well, she didn't SDSEE how they died, but the wounds spoke for themselves. She had to turn her head away, unable to stomach the sight anymore. "Th-that's just freaky!"

… Does anyone need an in-depth description of Compa's reaction? It's quite clear what hers would be at such a horrific sight.

Helen sighed at the reactions that the girls had. She may not have wanted to cause them nightmares, but something told her that it would have happened either way. She decided that enough was enough and swiped her hand across the screen, the images vanishing as if they were wiped clean from existence. This was relieving to the girls as they didn't want to look at those images any more than necessary. "Yes, those were my thoughts exactly when I first learned of this. But it was worse for Nico as he saw and had to document it afterwards. Even worse still, was that some of those victims… were young orphan children. Their treatment was arguably worse." Helen revealed, horrifying the girls further.

They were glad that the images weren't of children with that treatment, they would no doubt be traumatised by the sight alone. None of the girls could forget what they saw though, the looks of hopelessness and despair at not being saved in time, those were firmly ingrained into their brains. Having nightmares may just the tip of the iceberg to the traumas that this might cause. "That wasn't the only case Nicky-Nick was involved with. He's solved numerous cases like this alongside his regular Quests, cases that resulted in him seeing the worst of humanity, and little of the best. I'm talking about betrayal, murder, rape, discrimination, the works. So much darkness and so little light."

Putting the files away, Helen focused her hard gaze back at them. They didn't look like they were bothered by it anymore, compared to what they just saw. "As one can imagine, this fucked with Nico mentally. He lost faith in humanity, in people. He began to suspect people of committing crimes just by looking at them, becoming more and more aware of his surroundings. While he didn't openly accuse them, it didn't stop him from not letting them get too close to him. On some cases he made acceptions, though I had to prompt him too... and they didn't exactly work out. In the end, he barely showed any emotion back in the day, he was more like a machine than a person: but when it came to criminals..."

The trio witnessed to the woman shuddering, as if recalling something possibly traumatic, worse than what they were thinking about when seeing those images. "You've bee with him long enough, so you all should understand how brutal Nico can be right? Well, imagine that brutality, amplify it by 100, then add the rage of an Abnormal overwhelmed by bloodlust with the mental state of a psychopath, and you get what levels he went to when he got his hands on those criminals..." Now THAT got them to shudder, faces losing all colour as they could imagine Nico EASLY flipping his lid whenever he caught a horrible criminal. "Well, for a while, I've noticed how tempered its become, something I dido believe you girls are the cause of, so I must thank you."

"But, there's something I don't understand, Ms Dawson." IF began, getting a look from the woman. "I mean, why would anyone allow Nico to go as far as you claim? Not that I don't believe it, but it sounds as if he was a powder keg waiting to blow up any second." It just didn't make sense to the brunette. Planeptune, like all of the 4 Nations, had laws when dealing with criminals, from low ranked ones like muggers and other mild crimes, to the truly sick ones out there. With what Helen described, it made it hard for IF to imagine the people up op to be okay with behaviour like this.

Helen nodded her head in understanding, releasing a tired sigh from her lips. "You'd be right, IF... had it not been them who sanctioned Nico to act that way in the first place." she told them, adding to their shock. When wold they stop getting shocked over things like this? Probably not for a long time, as far as any of them were concerned. "You see, they wanted to use Nico's brutality as a means to deter future criminals from pursuing their goals. It mostly works, but there's always a select few that try anyways... and then the hound is on their asses, leading to an end that not even dogs deserve."

"But that's..."

Compa tried to say something, anything, to express emotions she hadn't felt in a long time: utter revulsion and utter disgust. She had never felt these so strongly before now, with how sick and twisted the way her childhood friend was being treated as by the governing powers in Planeptune. She hated the fact that they used him like he was their dog, but what brought confusion into the mix, was why Nico allowed his brutal tendencies to be used that way? It was a question she quickly answered when looking at the facts though.

Nico was someone who believed highly that a person should act like her grandfather did. To him, her grand father was an idol, a link to a better generation than the one they currently had. Back in her grandfather's time, criminal activity had been at an all time low, as everyone was focused more on staying alive from monster attacks than acting out on their own desires. But, that time had long since passed, and it seemed that Nico had to accept this the hard way. To him, it was time to deliver some serious karma, to satisfy the needs of the wrongfully damned. Nico had told her many times during their calls that he would became the 'avenger that protected the innocent' and 'punish the guilty' for their transgressions, something she didn't quite understand at the time.

Now though...

"Fortunately, there's a silver lining, hence why I am so fucking grateful to you girls for being with Nico like you have.2 Helen told them, giving them a smile that seemed much larger than it actually was. It was the first of its kind that they saw from her through this whole ordeal, and it succeeded in lowering the tension in the atmosphere if only slightly. "There were 2 things he held solace in, 2 things that kept him sane and stopped his mind from breaking down upon the revelations he had at that dark time."

The woman held up two fingers as the holographic screen shut itself off. "The first: what few signs of comradery and companionship he could find within the Guild's ranks. There was much corruption in the Guild's Agents, still is unfortunately. Team RAIL, they each have a connection to him, a history if you will, that brought them together recently. That is no coincidence, for they may consist of people he's managed to help, but in truth they were the ones who were saving him, saving him from the hatred that burns in his heart for others, limiting it to distrust and paranoia." she told them, smiling fondly as she remembered those four.

Only two f them knew this though, the truth of Nico's mind and soul, but nonetheless she could tell just by looking at those four for the first time that they all held Nico in extremely high regard. They just didn't realise how highly he regarded them as well. She quickly cleared her thought s of them for the moment. now was not the time to dwindle on the past since she had a point to deliver. "And the second thing?"

When the woman paused, the trio leaned forwards in eagerness for what she was about to say. Now, her solemn look had been replaced by a small smile, a smile of comfort that sent comfort into their beings too, when she pointed towards Compa. "You, Compa."

Said Nurse-In-Training blinked and made an "eh?" sound while pointing a finger to herself. "Huh? Me?" she asked, stunned. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were filled with confusion at the woman's words as she tried to figure out how she would have a factor in all of this.

Realisation slowly dawned on her though, just as Helen spoke next. "Yes, you Compa. You were there for Nicky-Nick through your phone calls and Texts, you were unknowingly there for him when he needed you the most. I'm sure that because of that you have a firm place in his heart for that kind of act, an act that he cherishes more than you'd ever realise." She explained, praising Compa with a sigh of melancholy as she remembered times when a rare smile would form on her son's lips during that time, which was whenever he would be on his Bracer talking to his childhood friend.

She was literally the light to his darkness.

Compa had no idea. She felt her heart swell with joy and sadness at the same time, resulting in this complicated feeling in her chest. On one hand, it hurt that she was literally the only person besides Team Rail, and the few camaraderie sigs within the Guild, that Kept Nico from losing himself completely. It hurt her to think that he could trust others so little, but it also made sense. Nico always did have that cautious air about him since they reunited. And when she hugged him for the first time when he showed up at her door, she got the feeling that he missed her just as much, if not more, than she missed him. It was like a child finally letting go of the negative feelings in his heart to the one he cared for the most.

On the other hand, it made her squeal with joy on the inside, to know that she had a large influence on him, that he considered her so highly to be someone that would keep him sane through the madness, a voice to guide him to doing the right thing. It made her feel like a guardian angel sitting on his shoulder, something that made her almost giggle with giddiness. It warmed her immensely to know that her childhood crush had such intense feelings for her, and it also filled her with hope, hope that maybe someday, those feelings could become... something else, something, more.

This didn't sit well with Neptune however, and it showed through her annoyed expression as she crossed her arms behind her head. "Mou… Compa-poo is already ahead of me in th race… if Nicky is like this for her, then…" she mumbled under her breath, her cheeks puffed out in irritation. She had always expect ted that Nico would have such a huge place within Compa's heart, and vice versa, but seeing it with her own eyes kind of dampened her hopes for the future, as well as set alight the flames of jealousy within her. Se just had the comfort of knowing that their bond was also as unique as his bond with Compa, more o her end, but still.

An idea hit her though, and her previous expressions evaporated faster than a Kangaroo jumping at max heights, a grin slowly crept onto her features. "I know! I'll deepen my bond with Nicky, right now!" she bellowed, startling everyone with how loud she suddenly became. Before anyone could stop her, Neptune already turned tail and ran out the room towards the lift once again.

"Wh?! Nep-Nep, where are you going?! Wait, you're not getting the wool over my eyes! Wait for me!" Compa yelled, as she put the pieces together in her mind. 'I'm not letting Nep-Nep show up me in Ni-Ni's eyes! Its game time, Nep-Nep!' she thought and with resolve, she took off after them.

Meanwhile, the brunette could only sigh while face palming her face, shaking her head left and right at their antics. "Ugh, what'll I do with those two? They have it bad for Nico, but he just doesn't realise it." she despaired.

Helen also chuckled, a bead of sweat falling down the side of her head as she smiled weakly, giggling awkwardly. "Yes, while I love him to bits, my boy is incredibly dense. Hopefully he won't be as dense as that one guy in a school full of girls that pilot mechas." She remarked. Even if she loved her beloved little boy, Helen would freely admit that Nico had a dense streak going for him. She'd tried many times to help him hook up with a couple female agents, but he would never have the mind to go further with them, sticking to friends and not noticing whether they would want more from him or not.'

A brief flash of sadness erupted in her heart as another thought entered her mind. 'Though, with what he's gone though I can see why he would be dense. With all the shit he'd seen, its no surprise that he doesn't see much good. Its like he's been cloaked in darkness to the point where he can't see the light that's in front of him. He probably doesn't even realise that these girls want to have abeautiful relationship with him, something that can prove to be more illuminating than anything he's ever dealt with. I can only hope their hearts will illuminate the darkness staining him, letting him open up tot hem at last. Who knows, if he shares his secret with them, and they accept him, maybe... Anyways, enough of that. The ones that hadn't given up were Raven, Lucy, and now Compa and the CPU. 'Although, I didn't expect the CPU to fall for him of all people. And if I know my boy's luck, he'll likely attract more girls. Maybe one of them can finally break through that thick skull of his.' She thought hopefully, before her eyes landed on IF. 'Speaking of Girls and Nicky-Dear…'

"Mrs IF, may I ask you, are you willing to take the Spec Ops Exam?"

Upon hearing her question, IF turned from the corridor where she could faintly make out the forms of Neptune and Compa as they tried to get the Elevator working, so she could afford to spend a little more time with the former Spec Ops Agent. "Well, I'm pretty sure that it's the best course available to me. I mean, I'm sure that Nico told you of my condition, right?" she asked, getting a nod from the woman before her.

"Yes, he was very specific on the details of your new… nature." Helen replied, frowning as she stood tall and walked up to her. "I'll not mince it and say you'll have a hard time ahead of you, many of our ranks frown upon relying too much on others. We're meant to be the strongest of our force, the best of the best. We do not take kindly to relying on others to do the dirty work for us. If you keep this in mind, then I see no problem with you taking the Exam." Helen explained sternly, her gaze and tones making IF aware of how serious she was being.

Though judging by her determined gaze, the woman felt she didn't have to say any more.

After a short moment of silent staring, Helen gave her a small grin as she brought out a Smartphone and pressed on its screen a few times. One of IF's phones on her belt vibrated, indicating that she had received something. "There, I've sent you the details of Nico's current position. You kids should find him easy now." she explained before the Guild Agent had a chance to look at the Phone.

The brunette gave her a short, but grateful, smile in return, shaking the woman's hand. "Thanks, and for what it's worth, it's good to meet a legend like yourself." She commented, much to Helen's amusement, before IF turned on her heels and began walking leisurely out of the room. Although it soon turned to a sprint when she saw the two having gotten the elevator open. "Hey, wait up you two knuckleheads!"

Helen watched this, before she shut the door to her office and turned around, her expression neutral… until a massive perverted grin crept onto her features as her cheeks turned red, a blood trail coming out her nose while she giggled erotically. "Ufufufu, momma's so proud of you, Nicky-Dear! You're everything a young male should be, now keep attracting more girls! I wanna have grandbabies already, gosh damnit! It's way later than normal for men your age to lose their V card!"

* * *

Back with Nico, a sudden chill escaped his spine as something told him he had been talked about… and not in a good way, at least for his manly pride. 'Why do I have the feeling some stalker's eyes are on me right now?' he wondered, lowering his weapons, which was right now his Hidden Blades as Rebellion was resting in his Void Storage.

 **'** **Nico, watch out!'**

The male's eyes widened as his face morphed into an 'oh shit' expression. Swiftly, he dodged one of the 'Construct Warriors' as he decided to call them, as one tried to smash him with its Club. The rest soon ganged up on him, each one doing a series of swings to keep him off guard. 'Whoa, these guys don't mess around!'

He heard some maniacal cackling within the back of his mind after thinking that and while ducking under a Construct Warrior's Swing and kicking it in the head, getting some distance. 'HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE, WHAT DO YA EXPECT, KING?! THEM TO LET YOU DANCE ABOUT LIKE A FREAKING BALLERINA?! USE IT, THAT'LL SHUT EM UP, REAL-GOOD!'

That could not be allowed, no way, no how. Nico quickly flipped to the side to avoid another Construct Warrior's club, using another one that tried to attack him while in mid-flip as a springboard to enter a spinning slash with his right Hidden Blade. The plasma-based weapon cut through the Golem's weapon arm, making the limb fall to the ground as Nico twisted in mid-air, landing on the ground and sliding to a halt. He refused to back down though, as he swiftly charged back at it to slice its legs off with one wide swing and then spun around to decapitate it with another. The Construct Warrior's form fell to the ground with a thud, vanishing into black vapour.

He hardly had time to celebrate as the rest were already one him. 2 attacked from the front, the male raising his Hidden Blades to block their Clubs from smashing his head in. More came at him from behind, numbering at 6. There'd been 9 in total, and he'd taken 1 of them out already. This fight had lasted for over 30 minutes, which in battle felt like a REAL long time. It was a testament to how tough these things were, add in the fact that they kept him on his toes after catching him off guard.

When they were about to attack him once more, Nico felt their bloodlust and decided to activate one of his Skills to help get away. "PHANTOM WAVE!" he raised a glowing leg and kicked sideways… behind him, launching the Skill at the enemies from behind and using the momentum to break the stalemate between the clubs and his Plasma-based weapons, swinging them at their heads. One of them was beheaded while the second one managed to get out of the way in time. The ones behind him barely survived the Skill, it seemed, since they had severe burns over their bodies which limited their movements.

Nico saw his chance to finish them off, and poured demonic energy into his legs, which enhanced his jumping abilities when he jumped 30 feet into the air. "Alright ladies, I have to finish up here so let's end this, shall we? PHANTOM BLADES!" He yelled as he spread his arms, a large magic circle appearing behind it. From it, large blades that looked almost transparent are fired like machinegun fire. They cascaded down on the rest of the Construct Warriors, impaling them in multiple places and finally ending their lives.

Landing in a crouch, Nico looked up and raised a brow behind his Armour's helmet as he watched them vanish in a manner that was unlike normal monsters. "… That's new. Normlly monsters disperse into Particles when defeated, even Abnormals share this trait." He commented to himself before shaking his head and switching focus back to the task at hand. "Ponder that later, right now we got a Defiler to take down."

 **'** **I believe that now will be a good time to transform. It appears that Crimson Soul has the best attack power against the Defiler.'** Biko commented within his mind. Plus, judging by the maniacal, borderline psychotic cackling reverberating within the shadows of his head, Nico guessed IT surprisingly enough, agreed with him.

 **(Play Blue Dragon OST - The Earth Shark is Comno)**

Nico agreed witht them nonetheless, though, and began to start the transformation process. In a moment, Crimson Soul's eyes opened as the cocoon of fire dispersed into Embers. Soul Edge was strapped to his back, so he drew it and spread his phoenix-like wings to take flight. "I sense the Defiler's demoic energy… in this form, its energy output is equal to my own. I believe a sound strategy is in order."

 **'Agreed, however we mustn't dawdle, Crimson Soul.'** Biko's words reverberated within his mind, making the DPU nod as he prepared to take flight. **'I sense that creature's power is getting stronger, in addition there seems to be something growing from wherever it touches ground. Likely something dangerous, thus we must stop it quickly be before this phenomenon overtakes the entire forest'**

'Of course, we must make haste. Let us go at once!'

With that, Crimson Soul narrowed his crimson eyes as he took to the skies. His form becoming a blur of red and orange as he performed a near-complete circle and flew off after the Defiler.

* * *

"It appears that we have made it." Purple Heart commented with a sigh of relief as she landed at the entrance to the forest, the same one that Nico had entered previously. She had taken on her HDD form after learning of the location from her party member IF whens he was outside Planeptune, and in a show of energy flew the entire way here. While it did strain her stamina, it wasn't as major as it would have been if she had carried her Party members with her.

Speaking of said party members…

The sound of feet patting against the ground grabbed Purple Heart's attention as she turned behind her to see IF and Compa running up to her in a mad sprint, attempting to keep up with her. By the time they got to her, the two girls were panting heavily, Compa nearly falling to her knees. "Nep-Nep… slow down next time… we almost… lost track of you." Compa tried to say between pants, although her pants were more like wheezing thanks to how heavy her breathing was as her lungs got rid of the lactic acid in her body and drunk in all the oxygen they had missed.

IF looked up and glared at the purple haired swordstress. "What the hell, Nep? Why'd you go all god-mode and fly all the way here? Isn't it taking your crush a bit too far?" she commented, wiping the sweat from her brow and standing tall. Thanks to her BOW status, she was able to recover more quickly than Compa was, plus she could keep up easier with the transformed CPU when she flew away from them without warning.

Purple Heart gave a small smirk as she held her Sword overhead, like a Gangster would with his baseball bat or pipe. "Come now, Iffy, you heard what Hel said, Compa has a big spot in my Nicky's heart. I have to make sure to close that gap somehow." She replied as if it were the most obvious answer in the word. Her brow then furrowed as she thought of something. "Now that I think about it, Hel isn't a good nickname for her… sounds an awful lot like Hell for my tastes. I'll stick to Helen then. It's not that hard to say anyways."

IF rolled her eyes at Neptune's reasoning. "Of course, you do…" she decided to let it pass, as she knew that whatever form or identity she had, Neptune would always be Neptune. "Anyways…" she then glanced into the forest, and her instincts quickly told her something was wrong. "I don't like the looks of this forest. Feels kinda sickly, if you get my meaning." There was just something about tis first that didn't sit well with her, and thus she would have to remain vigilant. Who knows what had happened ever since Nico first arrived here.

"Yes…" Compa nodded her head in agreement, an unsettling look forming on her face as she worriedly gazed at the forest. To her, it seemed to be towering over her, the sole human of the party, and she didn't like it. There was also this oppressive feeling about it, something unnatural to the normal peaceful serenity it used to offer. "I always loved strolling through forests with my grandpa and Ni-Ni when I was small, but for some reason this place gives me a real-bad vibe." She remarked, a shudder travelling up her spine.

Purple Heart made to respond to those comments, when her instincts snapped to attention and her eyes darted about, wide alert. Something was coming their way... and it wasn't friendly, thus she alerted her comrades swiftly, like a seasoned general leading her troops on the battlefield. "Everyone, be ready. I think we have company." She told them, Compa nodding as she deployed her portable Armour. She then deployed her Armcannons, ready to fight a possible ambush.

IF made to summon her Qatars, when she decided against it at the last minute. She then focused on her right arm first, picturing another mutation she had developed during training. Her arm rippled and trembled violently, the Guild Agent gritting her teeth as the arm went through a particularly gory transformation.

The transformation lasted a moment, and when it was done, IF now had a only one half of her arm that was still human, the inner half of the arm. The outer half, plus the hand, had completely been changed, becoming a mass of crimson flesh and bone armour, shaped like a ribcage that was a full forearm longer than her true arm. Its shape resembled an overly muscular limb, with the point after the hand being where he limb shifted its shape to a broadsword-like shape. It had a single metallic edge from the point where her hand used to be to the tip, the edge straight for the most part till it curved into a diagonal tip.

This… was her blade mutation.

Swinging the blade a few times, IF got the hang of it quickly enough, before she applied the same transformation to her other arm, favouring dual wielding over single wielding since that was what she was trained in. Not a second afterwards, several beings jumped out the wilderness at high speeds. Compa reacted the slowest and was taken down by one of them with a startled scream. She was lucky her armour could protect her against the claws that went against her Skin otherwise she would have been shredded.

Remembering some close combat lessons Nico had taught her, Compa was able to kick the offender off her and roll to the side, standing up while peppering it with rounds from her Armcannons. The Offender jumped back to get some distance and to stop the barrage, landing on all fours and glaring at the group with its brethren around it.

The attackers were revealed to be large, hideous-looking creatures that were the stuff of nightmares. They were easily taller than a human, about 14 feet tall. They had slim lower bodies concealed by pitch black armour, their feet ending in 3 large curved talon-like toes. They had mostly bare upper bodies that were larger than their lower halves, making them look like they were permanently hunched, with chains dangling from their shoulders, looking like they had been dug deep into their brownish flesh. More chains wrapped around their wrists, while their large hands were sporting dual wrist-mounted claws. Their heads had large horns coming out the sides of their heads as well as tusks jutting out the bottom of their jaws. They had lipless mouths filled with fat fangs, with crimson red eyes filled with hunger and bloodlust. Several earthen protrusions were attached to its back, almost like pipes.

"Wha-wha-wha-what are those?!" Compa shrieked behind her helmet, her face pale as a sheet of paper as she held her Armcannons at the ready. She'd seen plenty of freaky looking Abnormals back in Lastation, more than she'd ever thought she'd see in her lifetime, but to her they just seemed to get more and more grotesque every time they fight them.

IF got into a guarded stance, glaring at the enemies as she counted them off in her head. "Looks like there's 3 of them. We should be able to take them down with relative ease." she told them. She then quickly ate her words when more creatures, different from the ones that had attacked them before, jumped out the wilderness and surrounded them. "Okay, I take that back… we may be in a bit of trouble here."

Neptune remained undaunted by the sight of these creatures. The second type that had surrounded them moved on all fours, their limbs almost like sticks with regards to thickness, with large shoulders indicating disproportion. Long spikes grow out their acks, going down their spines and ending at the base of their long Tails. Their heads resembled human skull, with heavily deformed teeth and no eyes, although she could tell they could see and smell even with the lack of nostrils. "Remain calm, they will fall like all the others, but do not underestimate them. They could have a few tricks hidden up their sleeves." She said while drawing her sword from its Sheath.

"I remember, the Co-Ordinates also specified several Abnormals from the Planeptune Database. These are recent additions to their books, though, so not much is known about them. The small ones are called 'Flamecallers' due to their orangish skin tones and their hellish appearance, and the big ones are 'Traumas'." IF commented, and no sooner afterwards the creature, both the 3 Traumas and the 6 Flamecallers all charged at them, roaring for blood.

Neptune launched an offensive first, slashing at several Flamecallers while a Trauma made to strike her in the chest. However, she flew into the air after executing a swing, avoiding the limb before she brought her sword down on its head. It raised its Claw to block and the weapons collided, grinding against each other.

IF charged in from a moment of inspiration, charging at another Trauma that tried to gang up with its friend on Compa, who had fired on a couple Flamecallers. She hopped into the air slightly before throwing her blades to the sides, spinning like a spinning op. Her blades cut through the Flamecallers, slicing through their shoulders but not killing them unfortunately, and impacted against the 2 Traumas, which both blocked with their massive claws. One then tried to grab her, but IF kicked off their laws and got some distance, landing with a crouch before she rose to her feet.

Compa watched with awe as IF, using her enhanced speed and agility, moved around the Traumas' and their attacks, nicking them a few times with her blades. "Wow, Iffy is really getting the hang of her powers, huh…?" she remarked, blinking several times before she ducked under the lunge of a Flamecaller and then rolled to the side to avoid 2 more. She aimed one of her Armcannons and unleashed a volley of Plasma Needles, rounds which impacted the Flamecaller that had attacked her first. The Abnormal screamed in agony as it was impaled, before it jumped into a spin while curling itself into a ball as it sent itself hurling towards her. Compa barely had time to react, but couldn't get away as the creature slammed into her, knocking her onto her backside.

Neptune managed to push her opponent backwards, before she noticed the Flamecallers closing in on the downed Compa, who had yet to recover from her little date with the ground. "Compa, watch yourself! CRITICAL EDGE!" Neptune cried as she quickly activated a Skill, slashing one Flamecaller into the air before slicing it in half, lowering the number of them to 5. She noticed the other 2 coming at her and swung her sword in a manner that was akin to Crimson Soul's ATOMIC INFERNO, releasing several beams of purple energy from the blade's edge that hit the other 2 Flamecallers, disintegrating them into nothingness to lower the number to 3.

While they were fighting on that side, IF managed to jump over one of the Traumas' attacks and swung her blades to deflect the claws of its partner. The first then stabbed its hands into the ground below it, before with a mighty tug, it pulled a large chunk of the ground out into the air, holding it with its arms. IF paled as she realised what it was going to do, and swiftly began evading the incoming attack. However, she was unable to avoid it completely, her instincts told her this when the projectile was launched at her. It was too close for her to avoid, so she had to do te next best thing:

Pull a black swordsman skill and do a scissor slash, cutting the projectile into pieces.

The Trauma's weren't too happy about that, and with furious roars they launched a vicious offensive on her, keeping IF on the defensive. Their claws swung with great force, for IF to parry them or deflect them with her blades. Whenever they tried to smash her head in, she would dodge out of the way like she'd seen it coming a mile away, before they even thought of it themselves even.

Even so, the strikes were coming without a limit, and IF was worried that her enhanced Stamina might not hold out. She had to finish this NOW, before that could happen. An idea hit her as she slid below one claw thrust and jumped upwards, her blades tearing through the arm up to just below its shoulder. Blood squirted over the ground while the Trauma screamed, holding its stump as it stumbled about, unaware of IF Before it was too late. She reared her left arm back, the mutation switching from her blade to her Tentacles. Each Tentacle then lunged forth and impaled it, from the head, shoulders and the remaining 3 slicing off its remaining arm for good measure.

Outraged at the death of its comrade, the other Trauma rushed at IF as she landed, te body of her victim suddenly being set on fire a lot like how she had turned into that chrysalis. It then turned into a liquid that flowed into the Tentacles, and immediately afterwards she felt a large influx of energy rush through her, as if she'd drank a dozen or so Nep Bulls at the same time.

This was yet another power she had discovered about her BOW powers. They had the ability to 'liquify' the cells and/or atoms of whatever they are in contact with before absorbing them, adding the liquified cells to her own cellular makeup to make her stronger. She called it, Cell Absorption. She used it to enhance her potent regeneration abilities.

She looked and saw the partner f the creature she absorbed the Cells of racing towards her in blind fury. She rolled her eyes at the predictability of these monsters, and used her Tentacles to block and restrain its limbs, spreading them apart so she had a good angle, before thrusting her remaining blade-arm into the Trauma's face. She repeated the process on it too, burning and liquifying its Cells before absorbing them into herself through her Tentacles.

Without even looking, she used her Tentacles to block and slash apart the remaining Flamecallers, which had tried to attack her from behind. One of them had lunged at her while the other shot like an aerial ball at her. Both met the same fate: being caught in 3 of her Tentacles each before they met their end via Cell Absorption. 'Gotta admit, being a BOW isn't as bad as I thought. If I was like before, I'd have had far more trouble fighting those things.' She remarked to herself, impressed as s hooked at her blade-arm, the mutation reversing itself so that she had her normal arm again. Just like how her Tentacles retracted to the length of her original arm before moulding together to reform it.

With the battle over, the trio regrouped and discussed what had happened just now. "That was an ambush, made by Abnormals…" Compa muttered, shuddering. As she crossed hr arms around herself and spoke in a softer, meeker voice that just oozed how disturbed she was. "One could call it a surprise encounter: Abnormal style."

"I'm not so sure those were Abnormals…" Neptune commented, getting the two girls' attention as she sheathed her Sword back into its futuristic sheath. "I don't know how, but I could sense demonic energy within those creatures, energy that is similar yet different to Nicky's own. If he has encountered them, and I am sure he has, I don't doubt for a minute that he hasn't noticed."

Indeed, unknown to them Nico had INDEED noticed the fact that there were others who had similar energy signatures to himself. Also, unbeknownst to Nico, Neptune had honed her senses to be able to sense demonic energy, so she had just about as much information on this new development as Nico did.

After a while of pondering, IF huffed as she placed her hands in her coat pockets, her Trench Coat having been repaired thanks to her powers. She turned on her heels and made her way into the forest. "More importantly ladies, one of ours is in that forest, likely fighting alone against those things. I don't know about you, but I'd feel like a crappy party member if we didn't at least lend some aid to our comrade. Now let's get moving, Nico might need us."

* * *

Back with the male, Crimson Soul was flying, following a trail of destruction that led deeper into the forest, towards its centre if his guesses were accurate. Wherever the Defiler had gone death and destruction was left in its wake. It would seep its corruption into the land, covering it in this black material that would form webby entrails on certain areas, sometimes forming more Construct Warriors to slow him down. It must sense his large energy reserves and was trying to whittle him down. Unfortunately for it, the Defiler didn't realise that he could fly, having never seen this form during their last battle. Not only that, but Crimson Soul's Wings were weapons in their own right, launching Tendrils of fire that impaled and vaporised the Construct Warriors before they took their first breath.

Eventually, he came to the end of the trail. The centre of the forest had a huge moat around a circular platform the moat being filled with Corruption-based waters. He had no clue as to what that would do, but something told him that it wasn't going to be good for the creatures here. There was a single ground-made bridge to connect it to the main forest.

The Defiler was suspended in the air by its Tendrils, looking up at him with narrowed eyes in a predatory manner. It released a snarl while forming its Axe once again. "Champion… of Sparta…" it spoke, much to Crimson Soul's surprise. He quashed it however, in favour of staring blankly as he descended to the opposite end of the platform, hovering just above the ground like a CPU.

"You speak? It appears that my earlier estimates of you being a mindless beast were for naught. Interesting…" Crimson Soul replied, pulling Soul Edge from his back. He held it in a diagonal angle, just above the ground, to send the message that he wasn't going to attack yet, but would defend himself nonetheless.

Another snarl escaped the creature's lips as it glared at him, lowering itself so that it stood on its two massive feet while its Tendrils swayed behind it. "It appears… that you have not yet realised the depth of what you are… good. That just means that once I defeat you, I'll take your soul for my own! I'll use your power to make this world ours once again!"

While Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes at the creature for its plans on dominating the world, something else caught his attention with regards to what it had said. "Ours? Do you mean that there are more of you?" He questioned. If tahat was the case, then those Obelisks may just be gates to wherever the hell these beingc that have similar energies to him, and maybe even this power as well, came from. He would have oto inform the Guild's authorities when he got the chance.

"Of course!" the Defiler yelled, looking like it was affronted for some reason. Best not to say anything, Crimson Soul thought, so he could learn more. "We, the Demons, were once masters of this world! Now, we will return to claim what is rightfully ours!" with that proclamation, the Defiler raised its Axe and slammed it into the ground, creating a long trail of Corruption that formed a series of deadly spikes jutting forwards, aiming to impale him.

This could not be allowed, so Crimson Soul aimed Soul Edge and released a large fireball from its tip, destroying the spikes at the front. The rest he avoided by strafing to the side, before he levelled a glare towards the Defiler. "I see… so then, I assume from what you have told me that you plan on destroying everything n this world and rebuilding it in an image that it had once been to you, before something happened in the past that changed it to what it is now." he commented. It was a statement, not a question as he already knew the answer. Types like these were something that Crimson Soul's human persona was used to, thus that nonchalance was extended to his current self as well.

People like this guy were the ones responsible for his distrust in others. They were nothing but pathetic pieces of shit that deserve to face the eyes of death itself before being cast off into oblivion. The world would be much better off without them. While some of the things this being, a Demon as it called itself, intrigued him, he would not hesitate to rip this beig apart. His warrior honor demanded that it be satisified by killing this monster, protecting the innocent from the scum of the Guilty.

Flames danced over Soul Edge, the massive sword seemingly quiveriong in his hand. Crimson Soul knew that this meant it was hungry, hungry for battle and desiring to feast on the blood of the enemy before him. And he would let it soon enough. What Criuimson Soul didn't notice was that the flames that he was generating were slowly changing colour, from their usual orangish red to an abyussal black, with a crimson red outline.

"In that case…"

The male raised Soul Edge and brought it down, sending a stream of shifting coloured fire towards the Defiler. It erected a wall of Corruption to block it, but the wall didn't survive the collision as the flames gingerly sucked and devoured the mass in front of it, before expiring when the wall was completely gone. This had been Crimson Soul's plan all along however, as he dashed forwards and swung in a reverse horizontal seeing. The Defiler raised his Axe to block it, but the impact and strength behind the swing was enough for it to be sent flying backwards. It dug its Tendrils into the ground to slow its movement, allowing its feet to get a foothold once again as it stopped moving altogether.

That done, the Defiler looked up and glared at the enemy before it, only for it to notice something off. The flames had completely changed, no trace of their original colours remaining while they coated Soul Edge, its eye surrounded by crimson fire with the rest of the blade becoming blacker than night thanks to the rest of the transformed flames. Crimson Soul scowled at his enemy, unaware of these changes as he focused solely on it. Raising Soul Edge, he pointed it towards the Defiler, who shuddered when he felt the ominous KI radiating from the flame-covered blade. "You must be punished, and I shall be your executioner."

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 **Whew, another chapter done!**

 **This one is a doozy of mine, considering it tackles something that A lot of Gamindustri fics don't really consider. I'm taking about how criminals exist in the world that do things just because they can. Its not something seen very often, which is kind of disapp9ointing, since its an interesting concept to ad to the reality of a fic, to make it more engaging to us as readers. Well, now this fic has some of that at least.**

 **I know I'm not the best writer in the world, my grammar and spelling errors will see to that, but I do try to keep my stories interesting. Also, if anyone thinks that the Demons coming into the scene was too random or some shit like that, I shall tell you that this has been foreshadowed since the end of the first Lastation arc, heck even to the point where Nico first learns of his DPU powers. The demons will be mostly from a mix of Darksiders, a fantastic series by the way, and the DMC series.**

 **Give both a go, you won't regret it.**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter, and leave a review, like, follow, all that good stuff. Views are still climbing, soI know that atleas tsome of you like this story.**

 **Now, I'll see you guys at the next angry-nope, wrong internet show, shit!**

 **Peace out!**


	52. Chapter 49 - A Defiler's end

**Chapter 49 - A Defiler's end**

It was a powerful, tense moment of silence between them as Neptune, Compa and IF journeyed through the forest, making sure that they didn't get ambushed by the monsters, using the third girl's sensing abilities to navigate around the areas infested with Monsters. They didn't want to face any more distractions like that one just outside the Forest, in their minds all they were thinking about was getting to their comrade.

Those monsters they fought though, they just seemed to really like them for some reason because the more they ventured into the forest, the more they popped up, and in greater numbers. It was only thanks to a combination of Neptune's sensing abilities as well as IF's assimilation powers that kept them from getting overrun. Not only that, but these monsters, they seemed to possess a heightened form of intelligence, or rather, more intelligence than the average monster, This had been made apparent when they encountered an ambush party while going through a narrow walkway, a pack of 13 Flamecallers had ambushed them by using the trees as hiding spots, masking their presence with the wilderness. It was only through IF's quick reaction speed that the trio hadn't lost their heads during the initial attack.

"How much further, Iffy?" Compa asked the brunette who was leading the charge. Neptune had returned to human form to save power, on IF's reasoning that the enemy that Nico was fighting would be very powerful and she'd need all the energy she could get to help him fight it. she yelped when a branch swatted her in the face, holding her bruised cheek which was starting to redden. "This route isn't exactly the best one, honestly." she continued with a slight whimper, but composed herself afterwards.

She was a big girl now, she could deal with a little pain...

IF turned to look behind her at the Nurse-In-Training, her eyes hard at first, until they softened at the sight of her injury. She had to admit she had a point, this wasn't the main path and they'd been through a lot of wilderness already. Leaves stuck in their hairs, scratches from branches adorned their bodies, and their clothes had small tears through them. "It shouldn't be long now, guys. I sense that Nico's energy has skyrocketed, likely because he's transformed." she informed them.

The other two frowned at that. The fact that Nico had activated DDD meant that whatever he was fighting was something serious. It would take a powerful foe to for him to use that power, they knew this due to having fought alongside him for so long. Usually he would rely on his demonic weapons, or in recent events his Armour and its functions, to fight. If one were to force his hand, or the enemy was too strong otherwise, only then would Nico turn into Crimson Soul.

Power corrupted those who foolishly used it, that was a lesson he'd learned the hard way. That had been why he would only use it when necessary. "That's no good, we gotta get over to him, pronto if that's true." Neptune pouted as she swiftly summoned Murasama, drawing it from its sheath before proceeding forwards to cut through the wilderness. "C'mon guys, this is faster!"

Both girls looked at each other, before agreeing with Neptune's plan. It may seem barbaric at first, but when it came down to it, this idea did succeed at what they wanted. IF shifted her right arm into her Tentacle mutation, using all 6 to swiftly cut through the dense wilderness and carve a path for them. "Alright, I'll use my BOW powers to clear a path, you make sure Neptune doesn't get slashed." She told the Nurse-In-Training, who sweat dropped with a weak smile while the brunette continued cutting.

"Why do I get the feeling you wouldn't care if they did hit Nep-Nep accidentally?"

* * *

They took 5 minutes, but they eventually found themselves on a path… but not the kind of path that they were expecting. "Huh...? Do Paths… always look like a large meteorite drove along them?" Neptune muttered as they observed the area. The path they were on looked like it was the middle of a fissure, with steep sides that lead into the forest. Remnants of some strange black liquid were scattered throughout the fissure, with pieces of solidified black material scattered elsewhere.

"No… but I don't doubt that Ni-Ni was here." Compa responded with a frowned. She eyed several areas that looked like they were melted by something as hot as molten magma. That wasn't all, the Nurse-In-Training noticed that there were several faint flickers of this orangish red energy, something easily identified from Nico's DPU form. She pointed at one off these areas and continued. "Ni-Ni's fire in his DPU form kinda seems hot enough to do things like that."

IF noticed it too, and while she wondered what could have happened to make him resort to something like this, there was a more important issue at present. "Well we can sit here and twiddle our thumbs all day or we could go find Nico. I sense his energy is in that direction." She said, gesturing to their left where they could see faint traces of smoke in the air. "So, let's get moving people!"

The other two agreed, and joined IF in jogging through the fissure, Compa being the klutz she is tripping over her own two feet several times on large rocks, as they advanced towards their comrade's location.

* * *

Crimson Soul dodged a swipe from the Demon's Axe by the skin of his teeth, flipping backwards to get a kick into the Defilers jaw to knock him back. He then engulfed his sword in flames, swinging horizontally and unleashing an ATOMIC INFERNO on its ass. The Defiler Spawned Tendrils of Corruption from the ground that swatted the rays away, but they were too heavily damaged to try and attack him afterwards, thus they receded into the ground.

Seeing an opening, Crimson Soul poured energy into his wings, the limbs blazing brightly as he charged forth, circling around so he could attack from its right flank. He raised Soul Edge and slashed to its neck, but it used its Axe to block him. The male then kicked off it, back flipping and landing on a panel erected below him, a panel made out of his demonic flames. He slid backwards about 4 metres, before raising Soul Edge and blocking a slash from its Axe.

Him and the Defiler became locked in an intense power struggle, one that constantly generated sparks from their weapons as they tried to overpower one another. The Defiler had the advantage of a greater, bulkier frame, which allowed it to put more strength into its Axe. However, with a bit of demonic energy reinforcement, Crimson Soul evened the playing field, resulting in a stalemate.

'This is going nowhere fast...' the male thought to himself, before an idea formed in his mind when memories of his fight with the Killachine came back to him. 'That could work!' He gathered his power of flame into his being, and clenched a fist. From his side, a large fist easily the size of the Defiler, made from his flames manifested. It was pointed towards his enemy, and when Crimson Soul thrusted his limb forwards, the fist made to punch the Defiler in the face.

His attempt succeeded in breaking the deadlock as the Defiler tried to shield itself with its Axe, reinforcing it with that Corruption it seemed to favour along with its Tendrils. This attempt mostly succeeded, as it was merely sent sliding across the ground by 8 metres. However, the flames did leave their mark as the corruption shattered from its Axe, its Tendrils flailing about wildly behind it to get rid of the flames. However, they refused to go out, like the flames of a certain Sun Goddess in a certain Anime. In the end, it resorted to another tactic: detaching the Tendrils and leaving them to be consumed by the flames.

Swiftly, Crimson Soul called upon his flames once more, gathering the ones from the burnt remains of the Tendrils and forming another hand from them. This one floated beside him, clutching itself like a claw which mimicked what he was doing with his right hand. He then reared the arm back, the fire fist mimicking his motions, before thrusting it forwards to send the fist at his opponent. The fiery hand raced towards his prey, leaving a scorched trail beind it as well as residue flames.

Now knowing not to get hit by that attack, the Defiler roared as it made a mighty leap, easily scaling over 20 metres high to jump over the large hand, before sprouting more Tendrils to replace the ones it lost. With a loud roar, the creature reared them back, and then launched them at him with their tips aiming to spear every vital organ.

Crimson Soul formed a fiery shell with his wings, blocking the Tendrils from hitting him. He saw it land before him and start running, dragging its Axe behind it. He recognized this move quickly enough, having seen it used multiple times in their bout. Just before it reached him, Crimson Soul formed his wings into a pair of large fiery arms, ending in large clawed hands, before punching it in the face with one. He then upercutted it with the other, used both to grab its legs, before finally slamming it onto the ground hard. He did this several times before it managed to break free of his hold and jump backwards, getting some distance as it landed in a crouched position.

Their combat had been heavy hitting, high speed frantic action for the past 10 minutes, and it was beginning to show on their faces. Their bodies were sweating profusely, though both didn't pay this much heed as they kept their focus on each other, neither breaking their focus for even a second, for they both knew that, if they did, tHe other would open a can of whoop-ass on their asses.

On one hand the Defiler's use of Corruption was versatile, more than once did Crimson Soul get foolish and accidentally wander into some of his Tendrils that latched onto him, stopping him from moving to let the Defiler get in close and pummel the hell out of him. Fortunately, his demonic energy repaired the damage enough for him to continue fighting.

On the other hand, Crimson Soul managed to even the playing field by morphing his wings into weapons throughout the fight while swatting stray attacks with his Tail. He would make sure to keep the Defiler on its toes, constantly on guard even if it thought he was down. Not only that, but he was just as cunning with his traps, setting up fiery bombs beneath the earth that exploded when the Defiler got close.

In the end, they reached a stalemate, facing off against each other. The Defiler's body was covered with small cuts and burns, curtsey of Soul Edge. Its Axe was sporting several notches in its blades, while the fleshy bits bled black blood in some areas. This black blood was apparent from the rest of the cuts as well, the ones that weren't cauterized by Soul Edge's flames.

Crimson Soul was no better though. His form's Armour was shredded in certain areas, like the right shoulder, left side, right side of his head. His thighs could be seen, with the right one sporting a long gash that dripped with blood. his left knee was also bare, with similar smaller cuts visible on most of the exposed skin. Soul edge had multiple cuts on its fleshy parts, with the metallic edge sporting holes along the blade. The main eye was closed shut with blood coming out of it.

Both parties channeled their energies, restoring and regenerating their bodies. While that was being done, the Defiler gazed upon its adversary. Frustration and anger had bee prominent from this creature for a while now, from the start of the battle before back at the Gate, up till now. But right now, there was something else taking its place gradual: a reluctant respect for his opponent. "I must admit, within the last 4000 years of my life, I have not fought against anyone with the strength you possess. Even the other DPUs do not match it."

The Defiler's words caught Crimson Soul's interest as he held his sword defensively, Soul Edge shredding the black and red flames that covered it to reveal its mostly healed body. "Others? I assume then that you mean to say that there are more of my kind?" he asked it, though he didn't expect an answer to come from the Demon.

Much to his surprise, to the point where it was slightly visible on his facial features, the Defiler nodded as it began to explain. "It was long ago, when the humans did not have CPUs to believe in, when we Demons and our Gods, the DPUs, ruled Gamindustri. At that time, it was a far cry to what it is today. There were many more humans than there are now, and the floating islands were once part of a greater continent on the ground below the clouds. Back then, the DPUs were the supreme rulers, and we Demons their subjects. In today's era, these monsters you face are barely anything resembling what thrived in that era. What you call 'Abnormals' are more closely resembling of them. It was because of DPUs that monsters were first born."

This information piqued Crimson Soul's interest, but he had to make sure the Demon wasn't lying. **'You do not have to be concerned with it lying, Crimson Soul. '** Biko's voice rang through his mind, for the first time since his transformation. **'I can sense no lies in its voice, nor any changes in its heartbeat. It is telling us the truth. Also, as It talks, I've noticed that the Fragmented Memories are coming together faster. They confirm what it is saying.'** Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes at that, if what this thing and Biko were telling him was true, then there was a time when Gamindustri was ruled by his brethren, fellow DPUs.

Unaware of this conversation, the Defiler continued. "Back then, there was only one rule: the stronger you are, the more respect you were given. This applied to both humans and Demons, as while Demons were formidable, it was not impossible for a human warrior to arise that could fight them. One such human challenged the DPUs himself, their fight lasting weeks. While he was soundly defeated, the DPUs gained an awareness of human's potential, thus extended their rule of 'might makes right' to them as well."

So, this time this demon was talking about was a time when DPUs ruled, huh? It confirmed one thing for him, and that was the fact that he was not the first of his kind. For a while, Crimson Soul had wondered why he was the only DPU in existence at the current time, why weren't there others. Why was he the only one around? Histoire had told him once that the powers of a DPU were dangerous and had to be handled with caution. That meant she had known about them for a while, but didn't tell him for unspecified reasons. Why that was, he had no clue, but tat didn't mater. He would get his answers from her when they met in person. "What happened then? What changed for the DPUs to be gone and the same for the Demons?" Crimson Soul questioned. It sounded like these beings held power that was above that of the CPUs, so why did they disappear from history? Why does nobody remember them?

The Defiler scowled as he looked at the ground, keeping his Axe steady as it regenerated the last of its damage. "Unfortunately, while the DPU Leader, Sparda, was unaware of it, the Demons and several DPUs were abusing their power, causing chaos across the lands. These few believed that humans should not be allowed to achieve their full potential, that they would one day undermine out rule. They lead extermination campaigns on the humans, of which Sparda caught wind of. He took his remaining followers and fought them, leading to a bloody war that decimated both demons and humans alike. It was during the apex of this war, that the first CPU, Odyssey Heart, appeared."

Odyssey Heart? That sounded like the original CPU. There were faint records of her existence within the same ruins that Rebellion and the other demonic weapons in his possession were found. They described her as a being of power unlike any other, whose might and light was enough to rally a large human support that seemed to increase her power. The more followers she gained, the stronger she became as opposed to the DPUs who drew their strength from training and hard work.

"She, along with Sparda and his faction, vanquished the corrupt DPUs and their conspirators, finally putting the bloodshed to an end. Unfortunately, the damage that the war left behind was severe, too severe. Humanity was but a shell of its former size, and much of the land was no longer habitable thanks to demonic energy destroying it to the foundations. Thus, the agreement was made."

Crimson Soul remained quiet, while inside his mind was racing with this new information. He had no idea that such a war existed, nor that the floating landmasses were once part of a larger continent like this Demon had said. He would have liked to see what their home was like, but with what the Demon said about the Continent, there was likely nothing to find down there.

He recalled that there were attempts to descend beneath the clouds by several interested parties across the Nations, but they usually returned with disappointment. This was probably why. "The agreement was that Odyssey Heart and her followers would remain in Gamindustri, while Sparda and his forces, including the humans that wished to remain by his side, would leave Gamindustri for the Underworld, the Demon realm. There, they would thrive on their own, until such a time where they would be needed once again. The humans were given demon blood, eventually becoming demons themselves, and our civilisations thrived."

"… Alright, if what you are saying is correct, then why are you attacking Gamindustri now? It seems like Sparda would not allow something like this to happen." Crimson Soul questioned. While the Story was interesting, I didn't make sense that Demons would attack Gamindustri like this.

The Defiler responded while heaving its Axe over its shoulder. "It is simple, when the two worlds were separated, both Odyssey Heart and Sparda sacrificed themselves, losing their power and dying as a result. Odyssey Heart had already gotten a successor to her will, which would make the line of CPUs. As for Sparda, he left what power he could spare in the form of a DPU Core and hid it from the world, till such a time when it would be needed once again. Unfortunately, as time passed, the truth of the matter was spun into a web of lies, some of his followers were traitors in secret. They spread their word around, convincing everyone in the Underworld to follow them. Unfortunately, they couldn't return to Gamindustri right away, for the barriers between their worlds were too great. However, things have changed, and now we shall reclaim what its rightfully ours."

At this point, the insane gleam in the Defiler's eyes, which had dimmed significantly during the conversation, returned with full force. The corruption that the Demon used throughout their bout seeped over his body, restoring its Tendrils and making it even larger than it was before. The Defiler gave a loud roar, which sounded oddly like multiple human and inhuman voices mixing together. It raised its Axe and prepared to strike.

Crimson Soul knew at this point, that there would be no more talking. He could tell that this Demon was a mighty warrior, a being that was above his usual prey as a Spec Ops Agent. However, it appeared that it cared not for the lives it took. After hearing its story, Crimson Soul frowned to himself. This Demon, it was one of many that would care little for killing humans and causing chaos. He figured that it had only told him this because it was sure of its victory, as well as uncaring to such an extent. It only cared about destruction of life, and for that, he had to put it down.

Raising Soul Edge, Crimson Soul prepared to make the final move. However, just before he could do so, several things happened at once: A set of 6 Tentacles shot forth from behind him, past him, and slammed into the Defiler's chest before it could react, the impact enough to knock it onto one knee. The second thing was for a stream of Plasma Needles to hit it in the shoulder, electing sharp yelps from the Defiler as the needles dug into wounds that were freshly healed. Lastly, a purple and black blur slammed into the creature's side, knocking him over and with a cry of "CRITICAL EDGE!" destroyed a portion of the creature's body.

"IF? Compa? Neptune?"

Indeed, the three girls he had called the names of jogged up to him after they had managed to knock the defiler down temporarily. "Hey there, Nicky, it is good to see you're okay." Purple Heart commented, smiling in relief. She'd launched a sneak attack when she saw him in trouble, fearing that he had been injured. Her eyes narrowed in concern when she noticed the state of his energy reserves. "Are you alright? Your power seems to be running low."

The DPU nodded his head in response, heaving Soul Edge onto his shoulder. "I am fine. This enemy is a formidable one, it has me using more power than I have used previously against our past enemies. There is more, but we must save the talking for later." He then pointed Soul Edge at the enemy. "The enemy, codename the Defiler, has already recovered from your attack."

Hearing his words prompted the girls to turn to face the Defiler, their eyes narrowing at it while it's wounds began to close. The damage from Neptune's CRITICAL EDGE took the longest to heal, though, but it healed like all the others. "This Monster… it did have a large power level when I sensed it before, but it has greatly weakened now." Purple Heart remarked as she reached out with her senses. She figured that this thing had been weakened from fighting Crimson Soul in single combat.

"Well, then let's finish it off ladies. And you Nico, nobody forgets Nico." IF commented as she switched to her Blades. The others nodded in agreement, all taking formation before their enemy. Compa remained at the rear, with Crimson Soul and Purple Heart at the front with IF between them.

The Defiler roared as it began running at them, its feet leaving indents on the ground thanks to its size. It launched several Tendrils at them, making the party scatter top avoid them. IF was the first to move forth, dashing at the Defiler's newly healed side and jumping into a Disk spin with her blades outstretched. She angled herself into a manner that allowed her to slice through its arm, letting the limb fall to the ground.

A roar of pain was her reward as the Defiler stumbled back, Tendrils coming out his shoulder and slithering towards the arm. She knew what was going to happen, but didn't let it. "Oh no you don't buster!" she yelled, switching her left blade for her Tentacle set. She launched them at the Tendrils that were almost reaching the arm, a smirk forming on hr lips as the Tendrils were sliced to pieces by her Tentacles.

Anger filled the Defiler as it turned and rushed towards her, intending to pummel IF a new one with its remaining arm. However Purple Heart and Crimson Soul intervened, the former coming in from above while the latter came from the side. Crimson Soul wrapped his wings around himself, morphing them into a battering ram that slammed into its legs to trip it up. Purple Heart flew towards its face, her sword glowing brightly to indicate a Skill activation. She performed A CROSS COMBINATION, then chained in the skill CRITICAL EDGE for added effect.

Compa aimed her Syringes and fired several Plasma Needles at its face, making it growl in anger and pain at the injuries being shed upon it. It launched its Tendrils at her, and as Compa fired upon them with her Plasma Needles, IF sent her Tentacles to impale them from above, pinning them to the ground for Crimson Soul and Purple Heart to sever with their blades.

The Defiler stumbled back, its size shrinking to its original height when it first walked through the Obelisk. It gave another roar as Tendrils shot out faster than IF could react, embedding themselves into its severed arm and pulling it back to its socket, reconnecting it with a few squelching and bone snapping sounds. It readied its Axe once it got feeling back in its arm again, before raising it and bringing it down to the ground. It sent a long trail of Corruption that formed deadly spikes, spikes that were aimed at Purple Heart and Crimson Soul.

Both avoided by ascending into the air. "Iffy, give us an opening, we'll inish it off!" Purple Heart yelled, getting a confirmation from the brunette as she ran towards the Defiler, ripping its Tendrils in half in the process. While the brunette engaged the Defiler witrh Compa providing fire support from the rear, Purple Heart turned towards her fellow flying companion and addressed him. "When Iffy gives us the signal, we take him out with one fell swoop got it?"

"Very well."

While Crimson Soul was momentarily caught by surprise when Purple Heart began to issue commands like a real tactician, he rationalised it with the fact that her HDD form was more battle-prone than her human self who loved lazing about and wasn't that good at combat as she was in HDD form.

Down below, IF kept the Defiler away from her with her Tentacles, skilfully commanding the while dodging stray attacks from its Axe. She waited for her opening while Compa provided fire support firing Plasma Needles towards its regenerating Tendrils. She finally got her opening when it made a horizontal swing, sending a wave of Corruption her way. IF poured energy into her legs, before jumping high into the air and launching all 6 of her Tendrils. Each one embedded the tips into its chest, shoulders and stomach, keeping her from going too high.

"Alright buster, taste my…" she began as the Tentacles pulled her forward. She reared her blade arm back, like she was about to clothesline it. The blade shifted so it would cut its intended target, which was what happened when the Defiler was hit in the chest, a massive gash spreading across it that oozed black blood. "Lariat!"

The Tentacles ripped themselves free as IF landed in a crouch, then they smacked it from behind, cutting its legs to make it fall forwards onto all fours. Its Axe fell to the side, clattering against the ground. Looking up, it made to reach for its Axe, when something drew its attention upwards.

Only a second after it did so, did it see Purple Heart coming down like a falcon, landing on the ground before it with her Sword poised to strike She ran forwards, executing a CRITICAL EDGE. Once she dashed past it and cut through its body once more, Purple Heart turned and gave a wordless nod to the male of the group.

Crimson Soul dove down next while the Defiler was still recovering from its wounds, its healing factor gradually weakening with the lack of demonic energy and the strain put on it from healing its previous injuries. "I shall end you swiftly, Demon." He muttered under his breath, too low for anyone to hear him as he landed on the ground before it, his Wings having morphed into bladed whips that slashed through its shoulders, leaving them useless. "INFERNITY EDGE!"

The male dashed forwards, with his sword engulfed in his transformed flames as he dove past the enemy, leaving a massive flaming gash behind from the strike he made. The flames were then fed from his Wings as he turned and jumped above it, bringing Soul Edge, which was now twice its size thanks to the flame coating, down on it to cause a fiery implosion.

Finally, the damage became too much for the Defiler, which started to disperse into Particles. Crimson Soul landed behind it, kneeling at first before he stood up and dispersed the flames. As he stared at the defeated enemy, he saw it turn its head to look at him, the insanity-filled look having lessened to what it was when they were talking. It spoke lowly, so only they could hear it. "You have bested me… well done, young DPU… heed my words, I may be defeated, but others will come. Some through the Hellgates, others through other means. You have placed a target on your head, I hope you will… be… re…ady…"

The last of the Defiler's body was disintegrated, dispersing into Particles. Crimson Soul made no notion that he was celebrating his victory though, as he was pondering on what the Defiler's last words were. 'Hmmmm… the way he said that made it seem like the Underworld has more Hellgates, scattered across Gamindustri. Then there's the 'other means' part… I believe we will have our work cut out for us, Biko. Not just with the Key Fragments, but to stop these Demons from taking over Gamindustri.' He thought to his Demonic personification, who hummed in agreement.

 **'** **I agree, but for now I suggest you focus, you have females incoming.'**

'What? What do you-Oof!' Crimson Soul grunted when he felt Compa suddenly embrace him from the front with Purple Heart doing the same from behind. He was barely able to keep himself afloat as they hugged him. "Ni-Ni... I-I'm so glad to see you alive!" Compa cried, burying her head in his chest armour. Her tight grip on him showed him exactly how worried she was.

"Compa's right, Nicky." Purple Heart scolded, but there was little edge to it, and he could sense a mix of relief and sorrow from her, showing that she was just as worried about him as Compa was. "You should think next time, before worrying us like that. I know you were sent here by your mother, but still…"

The DPU stared at them for a moment. For that moment, he had no clue as to how to approach them. 'It appears that DPUs in DDD do not handle emotion too well. Perhaps I should switch back…' he thought, and it seemed like a good idea since he was running low on power already. However, before he could revert to human form, Biko contacted him once again. **'I wouldn't do that just yet if I were you, Crimson Soul. I know you haven't forgotten that Hellgate back there. You should destroy it.'**

Crimson Soul frowned as he remembered that object. From what the Defiler had told him, it was a Hellgate, a gateway to the Underworld, a portal that worked both ways. If left alone, it could spawn more Demons into this world. That couldn't be allowed at any cost, so he had one last job to do before returning home. "I would apologize, but our work is not yet done. There is a Hellgate where I first fought the Defiler, it told me that more will come after it when I defeated it just now, and I am inclined to believe it."

"Eh? More of them?" Compa squeaked, what could be seen of her face thanks to her Armour quickly draining of color as she thought about there being more demons. One of them looked scarily tough, and it was only through Crimson Soul's power that it was weakened when they arrived. The thought of there being more to come was NOT something she wanted to think about.

IF frowned at him. "How could you be so sure? I man, it could be lying to you." She commented.

He turned to her and addressed her firmly, gesturing to where the demon once lay. "I detected no lies in his voice when he told me. There was a lot of things he told me, however, we do not have the luxury of time now. The longer we take getting there, the greater the chance for there to be more Demons to vanquish, and my power is running ow enough as it is."

It was silent for a moment, until IF finally relented and nodded her head at him. She had little reason to not trust the guy especially with all he'd done for them. "Alright, then lets head to that gate of yours. It'll be good if we destroy it anyhow before we go back. Pretty sure we've missed our flight to Leanbox though."

"Do not worry, I believe we can get to this Nation in 2 days' time if we have missed it. Now then, let us be off before we have more Demons to deal with."

The Party ran down the Fissure that Crimson Soul admitted to causing with his Wings, IF laughing at this as she realised Compa had called it. Neptune did as well, although she wasn't too happy about a rival of hers knowing Crimson Soul better than she did. Though, she was his human form's childhood friend, so this was to be expected.

* * *

4 minutes later, they were at the Obelisk. Its tall, imposing nature was indeed intimidating to the girls, who shuddered at the sight of it. "So… this is the Hellgate you were talking about?" IF questioned as she looked the structure up and down. "Gotta say, I can see why it would be called that."

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, I-I-it sure d-d-d-d-does seem that w-w-w-way…" Compa stammered, shaking like a leaf in her armour as she looked at the top of the massive structure. The feeling she got from that thing was not good, not good at all. She felt sick just looking at it, like it was something that she would be having nightmares about. Add the Defiler, the Trauma and the Flamecallers to the mix and you get one hectic day.

IF noticed the stammering and commented on it first. "Well, I kinda see why you'd be scared Compa. This thing does give bad vibes. Hey, think you two can sense any Demon activity?" she asked, turning to the two inhuman beings in their group. On the way here, Crimson Soul had told them about the Defiler's tale, about it being a Demon from the Underworld and the story behind Sparda and the original CPU Odyssey Heart. It had been a large pill to swallow to be sure, but if they could stomach Neptune being a Goddess, then this wouldn't be too bad either.

"There is none in our surroundings, and since it hasn't been long since it was last used, I doubt there would be anymore coming soon." Purple Heart responded. She had told him during their jog here that she had learned how to sense demonic energy, as well as IF though she was only coming into the ability, something that honestly impressed the DPU. If someone else in their group was attuned to demonic energy then if something happened to him then they could still detect any demonic entities near them.

Crimson Soul wordlessly nodded in silent agreement, before raising Soul Edge to the heavens. "Get clear, this will be a big attack." he stated bluntly. They could sense the power that was gathering within Soul Edge, and didn't need to be told twice. As they quickly made for the wilderness, Crimson Soul gathered his energy and formed a Hellgate sized fireball on the tip of his weapon, before flinging it towards the Hellgate. The attack made contact, and engulfed the Hellgate in a fiery explosion.

Minutes later, the explosion was reduced to smoke that died when he swung Soul Edge to clear it. There was nothing left of the Hellgate, not even ashes, much to his satisfaction. "There… it is done." He commented, before being engulfed in flames and reverting to human form.

When he was done, Nico took his alternate self's place. He didn't even take one step before a heavy weight landed on his chest and fatigue washed over him. Nico grunted as he fell to one knee, much to the alarm of the girls as they jogged up to him. "Ni-Ni/Nicky/Nico!" they yelled in unison.

"I'm alright girls, I'm good… just a bit tired… used so much power before that I'm not used to the output." He replied, trying to smile reassuringly at them. IF pulled some Nep Bull out of her inventory, telling him to have it so he could get his strength back. He nodded in gratitude, he had been so tired that he could barely lift his head, let alone reach his Bracers. Downing the drink, he felt his fatigue get washed away in seconds, like a cool river flowing through him once again after being drained for an extended time. "Ah, thanks IF. That was just what I needed."

IF shook her head. "No problem. Anyways, I'm not sure if you've noticed but what happened to your flames, dude?" Nico looked up at her in confusion. This prompted her to explain, one arm under her chest and the other beside her head, waving its index finger at him. "I mean, your flames were usually orangish red, right? Well, they've turned black with a red outline like that one guy with orange hair and in black Japanese robes."

While surprised that IF had pulled a reference out of her backside like Neptune did daily, what she said was what caught his attention the most. Now that he thought back to it, he did recall his flames being a different colour, plus they felt much stronger than before. Why was that exactly? **'It's your Hellfire, Nico.'** Biko cut through his thoughts to get his attention. **'It took some doing, but your Hellfire powers have fully awakened. Those flames you used before were an incomplete version of Hellfire, and now that you've fully woke them up you won't have to worry about seeing that orangish red fire again. Next time you come in your inner world, we'll train in its usage as well. Make sure you're ready.'**

Mentally thanking his demonic personification, Nico looked at the girls and relayed the information to them. While they were curious as to who was telling him this information, they were content with the answer that information is ingrained into his mind during his transformation. Nico wondered if it was a good idea to tell them about Biko, but decided against it. it could potentially lead to something he didn't want to get found out by these girls.

He swore he heard IT cackling within his mind at that thought.

* * *

After they had finished their job here, the Party began walking back to Planeptune to inform Helen of the job's completion.

"… So, the Armour was a success?" After returning to Planeptune, Nico made his way back to Helen's office, telling the girls to wit in the Guild Hall. Neptune had complained about that, but he had reasoned that he could only take them with him before because he had express permission. IF was only a candidate, not a proper Spec Ops, and the girls were not even Guild Agents. Fortunately, he wasn't attacked this time and there was no arrogant Guild Agent being tossed from the office when he had approached, making this visit to her more peaceful than the previous one. As it was his mission originally, Nico was the one to tell her what had happened and the results of the armour.

"Yep, a success alright. Though these Obelisks making these powerful monsters is kind of worrying." Nico replied curtly. This wasn't the time to be so informal with his adoptive mother, and she could tell this from his eyes. She shared his concerns when he told her about the monsters that he had fought calling them Demons. He had told her about the Demons and their plans for conquering Gamindustri, but skirted around the parts concerning his DPU form, including the history reveals he'd gotten.

Helen nodded her head in agreement with her adoptive son. "Yes, it is fortunate that this time the Hellgate was in a remote area. If one was in a Monster Dungeon or worse an Abnormal one… the reason why I told you to go on this mission wasn't just to test your armour, but to also check to see if you could handle yourself against these monsters." Helen told him. When he raised a brow at her, she elaborated. "These Hellgates… they've been sighted in larger numbers throughout both Leanbox and Lowee. Not to mention the increased Abnormal activity there, including THEM. If you and those girls go there, you'll surely run into more Abnormals and Demons… maybe even some of THEM as well."

Nico scowled, he knew EXACTLY what kind of species she was talking about. The species that was connected to his secret, the secret he zealously guarded from the girls. If they were too encounter them… well, things wouldn't end well for them. They may not look as intimidating to them at first glance, thanks to the Demons making contact, but they held power that is comparable to the Demons, making them a formidable force to be reckoned with. "I see… I'll make sure to be careful then. If I encounter any of THEM, I'll make sure to take them down."

The older woman nodded as Nico confirmed his resolve in front of her. "I know you will." An amused smirk formed on her lips as she held her hands on her hips. "I mean, I DID train you MYSELF after all. It'd be a waste if you lost to those small fries."

A chuckle escaped the male's lips, and their formal atmosphere was replaced with a lighter one. Yeah, Helen did train him, and he would never forget what she put him through. Though, like all good things, this feeling came to an end. This one just did that a bit more subtly than one would expect. The atmosphere then turned sombre as Helen smiled sadly at him, holding her arms as she sat on the edge of her Desk. "Nicky-Nick… are you really going to not tell them? They're your friends, they deserve to know." She asked him, softly, worry shining in her eyes.

Slowly, Nico turned away from her, after being momentarily surprised by her question. His hair shadowed his eyes as he looked to the ground. His reply was equally as soft, but the firmness and resolution could be felt in droves from his words. "You know what the answer to that question is, mom." His lower lip trembled slightly as he continued, though she couldn't see it. "I can't bring myself to. What happens if they reject me, when they find out what I am? Neptune and Compa are freaking angels, but I doubt they would be able to stomach that secret. IF's a Guild Agent, soon to turn to Spec Ops, so she'll encounter and gain a hate for THEM too. Plus, with what happened… I can't-I just can't, not now, not ever."

"But Nicky-Nick, I'm sure they-"

"Please, mom. Don't make this harder for me. I'll make sure they never know, that they'll live a life of ignorant bliss while I scream in agony. That's only fitting for a piece of shit like me." His words were sharper than before, like a finely-honed blade that cut through her own without mercy. Knowing that he had caught her off guard, Nico began to head for the doors once more. His boots made loud noises, showing his guilt and remorse for what he had said and how he had said it to his adoptive mother, one of the few that knew his secret and didn't hate him for it. Out of everyone he knew, only her, maybe Chian, Aiden and Ivan knew his secret, nobody else did but them and him. The reason why they knew was because had had no other choice at the time, plus they had experiences that helped them understand him a bit better, though not completely. His mom was the one who first discovered it since she helped him get dropped off at Compa's grandfather's house all those years ago.

Now at the doors, Nico grasped the handle, opened the door and stepped out the office, his hair shadowing his eyes all the while. The door closed behind him, leaving Helen alone in her office. The woman stared silently at the door for a few moments, her eyes darkened with sorrow and depression, her face looking like it was suddenly 20 years older than it was. A sad sigh escaped her lips as she stood from her Desk and walked around it. "Nicky-Nick, those girls care for you. I can see it in their eyes, they all want to be your friend, but you keep pushing them away. You can't think that everyone's the same as all those other fuckers out there." She scowled angrily at the end.

While she didn't like the way her son thought, she couldn't help but understand why he thought the way he did. Like she said to the girls, Nico's faith in people had been near-completely smashed to bits, shattered beyond repair. To him, the world was too cruel for weakness. To him, the world would break him apart if he showed any signs of vulnerability in any shape or form. It tore her heart to shreds thinking about how lonely he must feel inside, the only monster among people. The secret he kept so heavily wrapped, and for good reason... it was slowly killing him on the inside. Nico must have known this, but didn't do anything to stop it. Like he said, he considered himself a 'piece of shit' despite what people thought. These thoughts just made his tale all the more tragic in her eyes. 'Nicky-Nick… just how could things end up this way…?'

There were so many times when Helen had asked herself that. More prominently back before Nico reunited with Compa. she could never stand seeing him the way he was for long, not when he looked so... empty, emotionless, like a broken record. He hid it well, but those facades were something Helen could easily see through. Few others could see through his Masks, but to those who did, well...

Nico always said stuff about Masks, he just took it to a whole new extreme.

Sitting on her chair, Helen reached down and pulled out a drawer, which was containing a single photograph. She pulled it out and closed the drawer behind her, looking at the photo with both fondness and despair in her eyes. This, like her Armour, was a sacred treasure of hers. It was somethings he wouldn't dare give up, no matter what.

The photo was of 4 people, one of them being a younger Helen. The other 3 were a woman with crimson red hair to her waist and purple eyes, a man with black hair and blue eyes, and a young boy with the hair of his mother and the eyes of his father. A sad, lonely smile crept onto her features as a single tear rolled down her cheeks. 'Joseph… Marina… If only you were here… you two would know what to do…?'


	53. Chapter 50 - To Leanbox!

**Alright boys and girls, it is finally time to start the Leanbox Arc. Boy I have been wanting to do this for SO long, you have no idea. Now in this arc, I plan on several things: More about the History between the DPUs and Gamindustri. If you've read the other chapters you can tell i've been building them up in small pieces, like the Carnival of Horrors, the Demons emerging from the Hellgates, etc. Nico is going to have his work cut out for him, and not just with these issues either.**

 **More about the Prejudice towards the Spec Ops Program will be brought up here, to showcase how a religiously devote world like Gamindustri still refuses to completely accept them. While some are allowed, the majority of Spec Ops share the fact that they don't worship any CPU with the followers of a certain deity. That alone won't do them any favours, and then there's the prejudiced assholes in power at the moment, they will not be making it easy for these Agents.**

 **Not only that, but its time for the Harem to be updated +2: Vert and IF.**

 **Now, IF has been hinted at throughout the story, with small moments between her and Nico. These have been intentional to set up the foundation for her addition into the harem, but it will take time. I'm thinking she could have a bit of a heartbreaker's personality, like once she knows what she wants she's not going to be shy about it, she's going to be a real woman and nuke her rivals in the dust. Even if one of them happens to be the beloved Gaming Goddess. She just strikes me as someone who wouldn't lose her cool in situations like those, even with that cute side of hers. Also, to do with her cute side, I've seen many fics that use this cute side as a means of getting her into romantic situations, so I'm going to do something different with her character.**

 **In addition, there's Vert, the Gaming Goddess. Now, Vert has already been hinted to have a past history with Nico in the Lastation Arc, if you think back to it you'd have noticed there was a segment where Nico is gaming on his Laptop. There's a reason for that. It'll be a little difficult, but I think I have a good, realistic way for getting Vert into the Harem, as well. Remember, my Harem fic is aimed towards a believable manner, and so far I feel like i've delivered on my promise so far.**

 **Anywho, lets do something I haven't done for some time now: respond to reviews:**

 **TheReginS1 - Thx for the compliment, hope you keep reading.**

 **CPU-BLANC-WHITE HEART - You'll have to wait on those plans till the Lowee Arc, my friend. These arcs are going to be long, detailed with good plot (hopefully) and decent character development.**

 **Kamencolin - Same as ol' Regin above, thanks for the comments and keep reading**

 **ARSLOTHES - Now you, my good sir, are going to LOVE this Arc, since you've said on several of my stories you want some IF action. Seems kinda 'iffy' to me... k, bad pun, I know.**

 **Now that we have that out of the way, just a quite note: the Poll is still up, so please put your votes in. It'll end after the Leanbox Arc, so get voting!**

 **With that out of the way, let's continue, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 50 - To Leanbox**

At long last, the Party was now at Leanbox. Nico had informed them that the Guild had put the Sky Harbor on hold for them as a favor to them since they'd done a Quest without getting much of a reward. Speaking of which, the male had returned to his normal self by the time he returned to the girls, and after a glomping from Neptune and Compa, IF had asked him how the talk went. He had responded that it went swimmingly, though she noticed a flash of something in his eyes, something that said that he was hiding something. She would have pried further, but they had an appointment with the Sky Harbor to meet, so she put it aside for now.

"Here we are, Leanbox at last!" Neptune cheered, throwing her arms up in the air as she and the others stepped out of the Sky Harbor. She then spun around on one leg, like an ostrich now that the Party thought about it, and faced them with a wide smile on her face. "The Author sure took his time getting this update on Fanfiction, didn't he/she? At least compared to earlier chapters."

Once again, Neptune went and did her fourth wall breaking, making the others sweat drop at her antics. Meanwhile, passing by civilians gave her weird looks, the kind of looks that on got when people wondered if they came from some insane asylum. Some children looked to their parents with curious looks on their faces, asking about her only for the parents to usher their children away from the 'crazy lady' in their eyes.

"Putting the Meta on hold for a moment," IF began, ignoring the pouting expression on the preteen's features as she looked to the rest of the City. "This is Leanbox, Land of Green Pastured, ruled by Lady Green Heart. This Nation, unlike the previous too, has the best quality touring spots. There;s countless resorts, water parks, and other activities to do here so people often come here on vacation or for retirement. It helps that the nature here is the purest of the four Nations." she explained to them.

Compa eyed the clothes people wore in Leanbox, curious and intrigued. Being someone from Planeptune, which consisted mostly of people who wore casual outfits, she wasn't used to seeing the kind of dress code Leanbox had. The people here seemed to wear mostly conservative clothing, like dresses, gowns, large hats to conceal their faces among other clothing types. Every Nation had their own dress code, or fashion culture as part of their history. Planeptune's casual, easy going, laidback attitude reflected its clothing choices, same with Lastation's stiff, formal clothing and now Leanbox's stuffy, conservative clothing. "The people here must be afraid of sunburn if they wear such large, stuffy clothes."

Nico chuckled, amused at Compa's intake on their clothing. It didn't seem very surprising to him, due to him having been in Leanbox on multiple Mission assignments back in the day. "You comment on their clothes NOW Compa? What, not when we saw so many suits in Lastation?" he asked her, a light snicker escaping his lips which made Compa chuckle sheepishly. Lastation's citizens, to suit their formal, rigid nature, usually wore formal outfits as their standard dress code, like overcoats, dress pants, shoes, among others. Yet Compa hadn't even commented on that when they were there. It was a show of how... selective, she could be, something that Nico always did find amusement in.

"You guys!" Neptune whined, jogging up to them with a pout on her face. She looked like she was annoyed about something, and when prompted to explain why, she did so with gusto. "No need to leave me outta the fun stuff, geez!"

IF raised a brow in her direction, a hand on her hip as she regarded the CPU of Planeptune. "I'm honestly shocked that you would have an interest in fashion, Nep." she commented, surprised. "You typically don't pay much attention to clothing trends... or anything that doesn't involve games or pudding." as if to prove her point, the brunette raised the hand that wasn't on her hip, and pointed to a nearby store. "We've been here for a few minutes now, but you haven't even looked at that Sweet shop there."

Her words made the preteen blink owlishly several times, temporarily confused on what she was talking about. "Eh?" she muttered, before following the direction the brunette's finger was pointing towards. Her eyes then lit up like search lights at seeing the Sweet Store, for the first time since they arrived in Leabox. "Ooooooooh, Leanbox Candy! Gimme, gimme,Gimme!" Neptune exclaimed, stars in her eyes.

She made to run forwards, not realizing that she would have to run by Nico to get to the Sweet Shop. This would prove to be her undoing, as she didn't see the male roll his eyes as he put a foot out. The result? Neptune tripping over his exposed foot, falling to the ground with her arms sprawled out in front of her. "Ouchies, what did I trip on, a rock?" she wondered, before looking behind her and seeing Nico's outstretched foot. She then looked at him with puffed out cheeks, irritated as she shot up to her feet. "Hey, what's the big deal, Nicky?! Hubby's don't trip their soulmates up like that!"

Nico rolled his eyes once again, before lifting a closed fist and holding out an index finger. "One, since when was I your soulmate or Hubby for that matter? Pretty sure you decided that without even consulting me, Neptune." he commented, before extending his middle finger alongside his index one. "And two: remember hat happened in Lastation? You think I'd just let you leave like that again?" Neptune pouted even more, opening her mouth to say something, but then closed it when she realized he was right. Seeing her defeated pout, Nico nodded in self-satisfaction. "Thought so. Anyways, I know a cheap yet decent Hotel nearby, so lets check there first. Leanbox's economy so far seems unlike Lastation's, so we should be able to afford a multi-room stay without dipping into my Credit stash."

* * *

After checking in to the hotel Nico recommended, the Party spent a good 4 hours napping, not bothering to do anything else. Neptune and Compa didn't show it, but they had been exceedingly tired from fighting such a tough enemy as that Defiler, while IF herself needed only a light nap, basically half an hour of rest, to restore her depleted energy reserves. Only Nico remained awake, and during that time he had done maintenance on his equipment. Overall, a boring time that didn't need much exposition.

Once everyone had rested and had something to eat via the Hotel's room Service (IF had to keep an eye on Neptune so she didn't go overboard with their orders) The Party decided to head out to the Basilicom. Now that they had a Hotel to stay at with fairly decent prices, they didn't have to worry about Questing so much, unlike in Lastation where they had to keep on top of Quests just to make ends meet.

* * *

While they were walking, Neptune and Compa chatted away with each other with IF and Nico behind them. The two were looking at the people that walked them by. Many of them wore loose, leather made clothing, with some even going to various tailoring stores. These stores looked to be doing well with each other, and there were sometimes people in more extravagant, posh clothing. Overall, the economy in Leanbox seemed much better than that of Lastation, putting some of their worries to rest. Most of their color schemes were a white with green as a secondary color. "Looks like Leanbox isn't declining like Lastation…" Nico remarked, having leaned towards his companion and whispered into her ear.

She did the same and responded with an equally hushed tone. "Looks like. Not that it's any surprise of course, Lady Green Heart would never allow corrupt assholes like Avenir to dominate her nation." she stated, smirking with confidence and pride in this Nation's CPU. Her eyes shined with twinkling stars of adoration, something only a devotee to a specific deity would have.

Noting the passion in her voice, a small smile found its way onto the male's face. "You really respect Leanbox's CPU, don't you?" he commented, getting a incredulous look from the brunette as she put a hand on her hip.

"Of course, I do. She's strong, smart, beautiful and everything a Goddess should be." She explained, puffing her chest out in pride. She then gave Neptune's head a dismayed gaze as her other hand palmed her forehead as she shook her head. "Which is why it's still surprising that Nep is a Goddess herself."

On that, he had to agree. A sweat drop formed on his head while his smile faltered. "Yeah, I kinda get what you mean. Anyways, here's to hoping Leanbox's issues won't trouble us further." He stated, although in his mind Biko was frowning. He could tell Nico was trying to act normal, but in truth he was very tense. The words that Helen had spoken to him, not just about his secret either, had shaken him up heavily. He feared the times they would encounter THEM highly, as not only would they be under prepared for them, but they would be closer to finding out his secret even if they didn't realize.

The demonic manifestation could only hope that things worked out well in the future.

* * *

Finally, the Party reached the Leanbox Basilicom. Unlike Planeptune's futuristic styled one, or Lastation's steampunk theme, Leanbox's opted for an older design, using wood and bricks as its structure. It was decorated with white and green coloring, with various statures of the CPU in both her human and her HDD form. Though, it was suspicious on how they got the forms so detailed, Nico noticed, a frown etched onto his lips. 'I bet a lot of perverts exist in Leanbox…' he thought in dismay.

Perverts were some of the people he hated most, more than murderers, rapists and pedophiles. Perverts treat women as nothing more than toys for sexual pleasure, demeaning the female gender to a level that it didn't deserve. While there weren't as many guys as there were girls in Gamindustri, most of them acted this way which didn't do them any favors. Him, Aiden, and Ivan despite how jealous and teasing he got sometimes, were few exceptions to this rule, and he hoped that there were more. This was due to past experiences and overall circumstances.

Compa looked up and around at the Basilicom, marveling at its design. She was also nervous, but with the last time they went to a Basilicom, it was to be expected. "So, this is Leanbox's Basilicom?" she questioned, turning to the others for confirmation.

Neptune nodded her head with her arms crossed under her chest and her legs spread apart as she evaluated the structure, as if trying to sense any evil within it. "It looks like it. Hope we don't get treated like back in Lastation." She commented, the Nurse-In-Training nodding in agreement.

"I hope so, too…"

"That shouldn't be the case." Their eyes turned to Nico who had his hands in the pocket of his Trench Coat as he looked upon the Basilicom with an even gaze. "I went ahead and did a little research on Leanbox's current affairs, and so far, I haven't seen any signs of corruption within its government. Also, the Guild's Spec Ops Branch is fairly small compared to Lastation and Planeptune's, which is a problem considering that I learned from my Mom that Abnormal and Hellgate Sightings are high in this Land." He told them, his gaze hardening slightly at the mention of the low Spec Ops numbers in Leanbox.

While concerned for the male's words, Compa didn't make any attempt to comment as she noticed IF fiddling on her Phone. She'd been doing it since they got near the Basilicom's vicinity, and it was drawing her curiosity. "By the way," she began, drawing attention to the brunette. "What is Iffy looking at on her Cell?"

Hearing her name being mentioned, albeit her nickname, IF paused whatever it was that she was doing and looked up, lowering her Phone as she did so. "Lady Green Heart's blog. There was just an update, so she must be here."

With that response, a slow but teasing grin fell upon Neptune's features. "Hahaha, no it can't be." She waved the comment off dismissively, her grin never faltering. "I'm pretty sure someone else is doing the blog entries." She continued in a jovial tone, waving her hand left and right with an index finger extended.

In response, IF just groaned in dismay, quickly growing irritated at Neptune's continued attempts to tease her over hr faith in the Leanbox CPPU. "Don't ruin my image any more than you need to!"

While detecting the edge in her voice, Neptune didn't seem very effected for it as she backpedalled a couple times with her hands raised in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry, but I didn't expect you to be so into Lady Green Heart's blog."

"Well, sorry for being a follower…"

Now that he thought about it, Nico wondered how her faith would fit with the other Spec Ops Agents when she finally joined their ranks. After all, while the Guild does allow for members to believe in whoever they want, the Spec Ops were well-known for their complete LACK of faith in the CPUs. Her faith was still strong, so he wondered and soon became a little worried. If she kept it to herself, then she'd be alright but if some of the more hateful Agents found out, then things could get messy. 'Maybe I should call Helen and see how that would go… warn her just in case… I'll do it later, since she's likely still reeling from what we talked about.'

Unaware of his thoughts, Compa shook her head at the preteen's trolling antics. "Oh Nep-Nep, stop teasing Iffy already. Let's go inside." She suggested as they reached the main entrance.

Seeing that they had no more time for casual talk, Neptune put her arms behind her head and whistled nonchalantly. "I wouldn't mind playing with iffy a bit more, but I guess I'll do it later." She commented, making IF groan at the thoughts while Nico gave her a glance of sympathy. Neptune was merciless when it came to teasing people. At this point, Nico was just used to it now, since it was part of her personality.

With that though, the Party went inside, Nico opening the door first and letting the girls go in, being a gentleman of course. He then walked in after them, closing the door behind him.

* * *

The Basilicom it seemed to match the colors seen outside, green and white with some areas being black. There were lots of workers wearing black robes wit green highlights, a tribute to the CPU no doubt. This was to be expected, considering that Lastation and Planeptune Basilicoms mirrored the Goddesses color as well in a form of respect to them for taking care of the Nations.

'Though, the idea of this one managing a nation actually makes me shudder with dread.' Nico thought as he glanced to Neptune, the preteen stepping forwards as she announced their presence, yelling that they were here to see the CPU. Although it was considerably lower in volume than the last time they were at a Basilicom, Nico noticed.

Soon enough, one of the workers, an elderly man with an aged face and a grey beard with matching hair, parted from some other workers he was talking to before walking up to them. He gave a warm, welcoming smile, which was a contrast to how they were treated back in Lastation. "My oh my, what a lively group of young ladies we have here." He commented, as his gaze fell on Nico. "As well as a strong young man as well." Nico barely resisted the urge to scowl at the man, since he was being cordial. He knew who this man was, and while the girls didn't see it but there was a slight disgust in them briefly when their eyes locked. "My name is Yvoire. What brings you here today?"

"We came to see the CPU. Is she around?"

After Neptune asked her question, Yvoire's face morphed to one of reluctance. "How amazingly unfortunate. Meeting time with the CPU is done for today." He told them, before gesturing to a board that hung on a wall beside the door. It stated the times where the CPU would accept visitors to talk to her, and from the looks of things they had just missed their opportunity. By a whole hour.

"Aw, come on." Neptune deflated, her shoulders slumping as she gave the man a puppy dog eyes technique. It made her cuteness level skyrocket and many of the workers look away while trying to hide their expressions. Nico glared at them while this happened. "She's here, right? Just a little peak. Only a little." She pleaded.

However, her pleas were for not as the man shook his head.

'Well, it's kinda our fault for being late, we did take that long nap after all.' Nico thought as IF stopped the preteen from humiliating herself further. Though, she did glare at some of the workers who were less… discrete about their bloody noses and red hues. "Nep, it's our fault for being late. We'll come again tomorrow."

Though it seemed Neptune wasn't quite finished yet as she shifted her attention to the brunette Guild Agent. "Giving up so quick?" she asked, throwing her arms down to the ground. "I thought you were all over the Goddess?"

IF began to stutter, her composure decreasing as several Workers looked at her in interest… though not the kind she would like. "Wh-What? M-Me? Y-Yeah, but this isn't the right place to say such a thing!" she stammered, though the look in her eyes told the others all they needed to know about how she really felt.

"Innocence is so cruel…" Compa remarked as she saw this spectacle.

Nico nodded his head sagely, kicking some dirt with his feet. "Yeah, I agree with you there, this is almost painful to watch…"

Yvoire aimed one assuring smile towards the brunette after giving a stare of condescension towards Nico, something the Spec Ops Agent was aware of. "As one who serves the Lady, I can't be happier with your admiration." He then gained a tone of regret as he continued. "But rules are rules. To add, the Lady has matters to attend to."

Compa had to sigh, seeing that there was no way that they'd be able to see the CPU for today. "Well, I guess we can't help it, then." She remarked with disappointment. They still had a lot of day left though, so what could they do to fill in the time?

Good thing that answer came from Nico himself, who had an idea. "Well, we can look for the Guild, see what Quests are available. I'm interested to see what the Abnormals here are like now." he commented. What he didn't say was that he wanted to go see these Hellgates, but the girls didn't call him out on it. much to his relief.

Of course, Neptune was all for it as she gave him a thumbs-up. "Sounds like a plan." She then made a small sound of realisation, before turning back to the elderly worker. "Oh, um, Mr. Eviler?"

"That's Yvoire to you, young lady."

 **'** **I get the feeling that she is just trolling him like she does to Noire…'** Biko commented within his mind. It was merely an observation, nothing too harmful. Nico had long since learned that his demonic personification had little emotions to express, due to demons not having much emotion beyond bloodlust and combat. Biko on the other hand, was more of a cold, stone-faced warrior that was skilled in keeping any emotion he did feel to himself.

Still didn't stop them from casual banter though. His warrior personality made him great for blunt remarks. He resisted the urge to smirk back at the demonic personification mentally. 'Honestly, I also think she's doing it on purpose, Biko.' He responded, before bringing himself back to the conversation, feeling Biko doing the same. It felt good to have a fellow guy to talk to about these things. One guy in a group of girls was taxing on the sanity department.

Neptune then asked the question, likely not even hearing the older man's response earlier. "Do you know anything about a Key Fragment?"

Yvoire made to answer, when he realised what had happened with the preteen. "Wait, did you really get my name?!" he questioned, while Nico barely hid his chuckles at the girl's way of trolling him. This earned him a discreet glare from the man, but he didn't give a damn about him. There was a reason for this behaviour, and it had to do with a certain detail about the man that hadn't been revealed yet. all in good time, readers…

Their hidden contest was interrupted by the innocent words from one angelic Nurse-In-Training. "it would help a lot if you knew something Mr. Evilest." She said, unknowingly adding to Neptune's joke about his name.

"Did my name become worse?!" he wondered with slight increase in tones. The man then glared harder at the lone male of the group, doing his best to retain the secrecy, while Nico remained hiding his snickers as his shoulders bobbed up and down.

Before this could continue, Neptune continued with her question, bringing their attention back to her. "And just in case it looks like this." She said, looking to IF with a knowing expression as the Guild Agent relinquished the Key Fragment they found in Planeptune to her. She then held it in her hand before the older worker. "Have you seen one before?" she asked, not even bothering with the name stuff.

IF raised her arms and stepped back, totally done with this situation. "I'm not getting myself involved in this mess…" she muttered, while getting an agreement filled gaze from Yvoire.

"I see what you mean…"

Slowly, impatience began to grow within her as Neptune leaned from side to side, putting weight on her left leg, then her right before repeating the process. "Mr. Evil-whatchamacallit, do you know anything?" she questioned again, trying to keep her eagerness from her voice.

While he wanted to object, Yvoire decided not to. It seemed like a lost cause, the conversation anyways, so he looked down at the object in his hand. The white glow around it was almost mystifying to him, illuminating the bottom half of his face. He could only speak in awe as he viewed this object. "70 years of my life and I've never seen one like that before." he spoke in a breathless whisper, before handing the Key Fragment back.

Disappointment welled within her chest Neptune pouted, giving the Key Fragment to IF who placed it back in her Inventory. "Shucks"

Yvoire, despite how she got his name wrong, pushed it aside when he saw her disappointed look. To him, it didn't suit her in the slightest, and he hardly knew this girl at All! Neptune had that effect on people, even with her trolling ways. "But the lady may know, she was around for hundreds of years, after all."

His words sent Neptune into a state of shock at the apparent age of Leanbox's CPU. "Hundreds?!" she exclaimed, while making some counting motions with her hands, before giving up after counting to ten. "So that means Lady Green Heart is an old ha… urgh?!"

Before she could finish her sentence, which would have caused a major commotion if it was successfully uttered, IF clasped her hands over her loud mouth, a twitching brow over her right eye with multiple tick marks. "Okay, that's about it, Nep. Don't say a single word you were about to say."

"Urghmurgh!" Neptune tried to speak, but the hands on her lips wouldn't let her. She struggled to break free, flailing her arms fast enough that they were blurs. It was clear that she wanted to respond to IF's comment, but the brunette didn't trust that motormouth of hers for a second. Didn't help that she knew EXACTLY what Neptune had almost said, and it filled her with anger just thinking about it.

'… She was going to say old hag, wasn't she?' Nico thought to himself as he watched the scene. He had deduced what she was about to say, and while he was aware of the political fallout that would have cased for those who believed in Leanbox's CPU, many of whom were in this room, a small part of him had hoped that he could have seen the look on Yvoire's face.

Yeah, he didn't like the guy, stat.

 **'** **I believe that was what she intended. Young IF managed to stop her just seconds before a catastrophe would have occurred.'** Biko commented. Oddly enough, he seemed… disappointed.

Raising a brow mentally, Nico decided to pry him for answers. 'What got you so sad, Biko? Something clicking or what?' he questioned.

Biko hummed within the back of his mind. **'While I do not share the desires of our race, the Demons, or the… psychotic tendencies that HE possesses… I do admit, I feel a little down that we did not get a chance to rip that man limb from limb.'**

If he wasn't so good at keeping is composure, Nico would have blanched at the hostile tones that Biko was using to describe Yvoire. He knew why he hated him, so why did Biko hate him so much? The answer soon came to him, and he commented flatly. '… You read my mind, didn't you?'

His mental partner was back to his normal blank tone as he responded to his claim **. 'Indeed. I looked up information you possess on this man, and I find him to be most undeserving of his position. Someone like him would be classed as lower than dirt in the eyes of the Demons.'** While he didn't like the Demon race for what it planned to do to Gamindustri, he had to admit that Biko had a point. If what the Defiler said was true about their past, then the Demons would smite Yvoire down if they ever met him.

Watching all this, Compa couldn't help but smile weakly. She could tell what would have happened if the brunette hadn't stopped Neptune at the last moment, it wouldn't have been pretty. "Iffy, before Nep-Nep says something bad, I think we better head out." She suggested.

IF looked over to the Nurse-In-Training and pondered her suggestion for a second, before a nod was given. "You're right Compa. It'll be a disaster if Nep muddles things up." She stated, agreeing with her reasoning while ignoring the angry pout the preteen had been giving her.

She'd get her revenge in the form of merciless teasing later.

Compa then turned and lowered her upper body, her head hanging low as she addressed the older man. "I'm sorry. We'll come back tomorrow, then." She told him, before standing up and turning to leave with Neptune and Nico at her side, said boy giving the man a glare.

Yvoire shuddered at the glare, but did his best to remain composed and professional. "Yes, I'll be waiting." He spoke softly, hiding his disgust for the male in the group.

IF then did the same as her friend. "Good day, sir." She then turned on her feet and began walking to the exit with her companions ahead of her. While she did so, someone else entered the Basilicom through the main doors just as she did. IF didn't notice in time, this she bumped into the new arrival, startling both. Quickly, IF made to apologise. "Oh sorry. Are you okay?"

The unknown person was a woman wearing dark robes, with a veil that covered the top portion of her head but didn't conceal the dark violet hair she had. She gave a small smile of reassurance to the brunette. "No problem. I'm sorry for not paying attention too…" she said, entering the Basilicom while IF left it. She didn't notice though, the devious smirk forming on her lips as she went inside.

* * *

Outside, IF walked back to her companions, who were waiting for her outside. Compa gave her a smile in greeting, before she noticed how she rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. "What's the matter, Iffy?"

The Brunette waved her concern of with a flick of her hand, a dismissive nature in her response. "Just bumped into someone."

A frown found its way onto Compa's face as she heard that. "You should be careful iffy." She lightly chastised the Guild Agent.

Said Guild Agent scoffed at her, rolling her eyes in mock hurt as she spoke. "Yes, but at least I'm not as bad as Nep." She resisted the urge to smirk at the clumsiness that the Preteen Goddess possessed. She could literally stumble and fall on some random building. She knew this because she'd been there a few times. Neptune's clumsiness can be infamous, almost as much as Compa's when she sometimes trips and falls on Nico.

"Compa. Iffy. Let's go, or Nicky says we'll leave you behind."

"Okay, we're coming, Nep. And don't make-up things about Nico, alright?"

"Wait up, Iffy."

* * *

Back inside the Basilicom, Yvoire was thinking to himself, his face wrinkled with irritation that he had suppressed from the outside world. 'This is not good… the presence of DEATHSTROKE will once again rally potential Spec Ops Agents to the cause of mercenary work…. Which will in turn take followers away from the lady… I cannot allow that to happen. Whose goddamn idea was it to make such a heretic program anyways?' he wondered, making sure he was alone with his thoughts. Most of the workers had gone elsewhere, leaving Yvoire by himself.

Worse still, he had the gall to come here with a bunch of foreigners, so he couldn't act as he usually would, civil but with a condescending gaze, towards him since it would look bad on his Lady in other Nations. Lady Green Heart welcomed followers with open arms, no matter their nationality. The Spec Ops Program was an affront to that, as well as the other CPUs, for their lack of faith in them and only in their own strength. While their power was indeed formidable, they were nonetheless heretics and should be banished if he had his way.

Unfortunately, that was not the case, as legislation prevented him from doing anything too drastic without just cause. In addition, despite being Heretics, they were still proven useful in keeping the Abnormal monsters at bay. They were better than even Leanbox's own military, a sore point for him since he oversaw much of the Nation's military matters.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of footsteps. Another Guest? Well, this was a surprise, he didn't expect to have to entertain more guests today. Putting on his grandfatherly smile, Yvoire turned and walked to the centre of the hallway, where he would see te Guest. When he saw her, he identified her as a woman, cloaked in black robes and a veil, likely for religious reasons. He quickly felt something was off about her though, but nonetheless kept the kind smile on his face. "Oh, a guest? How may I help you?"

The woman stopped walking when she was within talking distance. A civil smile formed on her lips, though he couldn't see her eyes thanks to the veil. "My name is Conversation." She introduced herself in a formal bow, one that Yvoire recognised as a custom from the land of white serenity, which was confirmed moments later. "An Evangelist of Lowee." She procured a badge from within her robes and showed it too him as a means of confirmation of her job role.

An Evangelist? This piqued Yvoire's interest as he regarded the woman. Evangelists were meant to spread the faith of the CPU they believe in through other nations to obtain extra followers. It wasn't a tactic Yvoire found to be particularly tasteful, though he dared not question the methods of the divine. "How unusual…" he mused, stroking his beard with his right hand, before it fell to his side as he gave a curious gaze to the woman, Conversation was it? Why the odd name? Of course, he never said that out loud, that would be rude. Instead, he spoke something else. "And what brings an Evangelist of Lowee here?"

Conversation sensed the suspicion in the question however, and made to reassure the man that she was not here to cause trouble. "Please do not be alarmed." The began, raising a hand placatingly towards him. "I did not come to Leanbox to spread the word of Lady White Heart."

"Then the reason is aside from evangelizing?" Yvoire questioned further. He was even more suspicious of this woman's intentions now that I wasn't that of her job description. Usually those types were never up to anything good, and if there was anything Yvoire had learned in his 70 years of life, it was to keep your guard up when around those types of people.

The Evangelist nodded her head in response, before she responded. "Yes, I have come with information from our lady herself."

Yvoire raised a brow at this. "Information, you say?" he queried, his interest piqued while his gaze remained mildly suspicious. In his mind, he was pondering what the CPU f Lowee would have to gain from telling him this possible information. It was well known that Lady White Heart and Lady Green Heart often quarrelled for some reason, the reason having been lost to time. Thus, the willingness to part with such information was something he couldn't wrap his mind around.

"Yes." She replied. Her features, the ones he could see anyways, turned grim as she continued onto a topic that he himself tensed at. "It is regarding the worship of the Overlord."

The Overlord, Overlord Momus. Yvoire had heard pf this deity. It has been said that the Overlord is the one who will bring great change to the world of Gamindustri, returning it to what it once was. Yvoire found this to be utter nonsense, but even he was not stupid. He knew that there was a rising cult of citizens in every Nation trying to spread word of their Overlord, to gain the followers from other Nations and their CPUs. It was something he did not like admitting, but they had been growing in numbers even with his actions to stop it.

Thus, this information may prove useful, even with it coming from another Nation. "Yes, I have heard of this Overlord. In the past, people only believed in one of the four Goddesses. That was the way of things. However, with the appearance of Abnormal Monsters, as well as the formation of the Spec Ops Programme, the weakening powers of the CPUs allowed the emergence of a new deity: The Overlord. These cultists work by exploiting weaknesses and turning people to the side of the Overlord. The Abnormal monsters do not attack these Cultists, which further proves their outrageous claims." Yvoire's eyes narrowed at the woman with his tone gaining increasing edge. "you believe that Leanbox is threatened?"

"I don't believe so. With the increasing Abnormals, your Spec Ops are too busy fighting them to be of any threat to the Nation. Also, because of their small number, a lot of people may not support the CPU, but they do not support the Overlord either. The advantage for them is that the Spec Ops may be fewer in number, but they are more well-known than in the other Nations."

Conversation then turned tense as she made her next point. "However, suppose that people from afar came into Leanbox… this may disrupt the unsteady balance between these forces."

All this made sense to the devotee of Lady Green Heart. As much as he didn't like admitting it, what she said rang true, at least about the Spec Ops Agents here. They were fewer in number than the other Nations, but they were more well-known and loved by the populace. They were strong, skilled and had power to take out a variety of Abnormals. Even with their low numbers, the peace in Leanbox had been maintained by their hands. But what Conversation said last troubled him. "… And evangelise, as you…?"

"No." the woman shook her head firmly, indicating how offended she was at the very thought of such a thing as them evangelizing like she did. "They, like the Spec Ops you hold distaste for, are heretics and do not evangelize such as myself. Instead, they use the fear of the Abnormals and force people to swear to the Overlord. Because of the unsteady balance however, their growth rate is small. However, they do have ways of changing that from afar…. For example, the young girls and their sole male companion you have met earlier… They are Heretics… Followers of the Overlord, Momus."

Yvoire raised a brow again as he felt his breath catch in his throat. "What?! That I hard to believe, especially from those feminine youths such as them… as for that boy, DEATHSTROKE, I do not find it easy to believe h would cease to believe in his own strength to follow the Overlord. I have met him before, and his conviction, while in the wrong place, is very powerful."

The woman nodded in understanding, especially with DEATHSTROKE. She too was aware of his reputation in the Spec Ops community, one of the strongest yet not as well-known as the other ones, preferring to operate outside the spotlight. "As proof, they appeared in Lastation, where the Goddess Black Heart had lost many of her Shares… and summoned monsters, inciting fear and destruction to the city." She then pulled out an orb-like device, not unlike the Recon Drones Nico used, and pressed a button on it. "See for yourself."

She lifted it, so it was at waist level between them, and a large holographic screen appeared before the man. The screen showed a distraught looking an in a purple suit sitting in some form of interrogation room. Yvoire lost his breath when he saw how devastated the man looked. Smudges of blood on his chin, his eyes filled with despair, and his clothes torn in several places. He looked like he had seen hell and came back from it to tell the tale. "I can't believe what I saw, but it was real. The girl called Neptune summoned the monsters, destroying the city."

The man shuddered, his eyes shaking wildly as h held his head with his hands, digging his fingers into his scalp. "And that boy… DEATHSTROKE… he was the worst of them all, slaughtering everything in his path with nobody to stop him. Even some of our Spec Ops Agents fell to his blade. It was a surreal sight, seeing the young children laugh amid the chaos they had caused." He then held his waist as he shuddered. "Just remembering it brings me the shivers. Brrr…"

The woman then cut off the transmission, especially when she saw the signs of the man beginning to change character and didn't want her story to sound suspicious. "This is Mr G of Avenir. Since joining, he worked heard, earning rank among the Company. His outstanding background is proof he is one to be trusted."

Yvoire nodded his head in agreement, his doubts persisting though. "His background does speak words, yet…" He shook his head to erase his doubts. "I cannot believe such innocents could do such a thing… Especially with DEATHSTROKE, he is not one to act in the manner of killing citizens without just cause. Everyone he has killed has been proven to be a criminal, be it murder, rapist or worse."

At this, Conversation nodded in acceptance, as if understanding his reluctance to believe the things she was telling him. "Very well." She then turned on her heels, of which Yvoire noticed were dark purple and were attached to some stockings, as she began to make her way out of the Basilicom. Just before she could reach the door, Conversation turned her head and Yvoire got the sense she was looking at him. "Once I get further proof, I will be back again."

* * *

The door was opened and closed shut behind her, leaving the man to his thoughts once again. Yvoire frowned as he saw this, and began mulling things over. From what she said, it sounded like something was going on with those girls. Even if they weren't worshipers of Overlord Momus, they did seem to be the center of some attention, what attention that may be could either be good or sinister for Leanbox. As a worker with direct ties to the Oracle, who was given a leave of absence recently for her work, Yvoire had to oversee these matters as well as the military ones he would normally have.

What also troubled him was that the rise in Abnormal activity reported by scouts happened near instantaneously, like they were trying to hide something behind their large numbers. Whatever that could be he had no idea, but reports from Evangelists in Lastation told him that there were entire Dungeons filled to the brim with Abnormals. That alone seemed terrifying enough, with all this crap with Overlord Momus it made things all the worse.

They may need their Spec Ops more often than ever…

'No, we must not get those heretics any more power and love. If we do this, we will do it in a way that limits or even decreases the amount of credit the Spec Ops Programme gains.' The man thought firmly. It had been hard keeping the Spec Ops Programme suppressed in Leanbox, if things allowed them to gain any more publicity then all those years halting their progress would have been wasted and the Heretics may attempt a revolt against the Lady. That could not be allowed to happen, no matter the cost.

But how could he go about this? After all, the Spec Ops Heretics hadn't done anything that could be used to fabricate any crimes against them. If he didn't have anything to base it off, then it'll become more easily see through. The possibility that DEATHSTROE would do what Conversation said he did in Lastation seemed like the only option he had right now, but even then, he wasn't a Spec Ops Agent for Leanbox, but Planeptune, a foreign nation. It would be foolhardy to instigate anything against him as Planeptune may retaliate with force, and between the two Planeptune had the greater chance of winning in a military struggle. All that he could do was bide his time for the right opportunity to present itself.

This fact made Yvoire grit his teeth in frustration, his eyes flaming with rage and contempt as he headed off to continue the last of his duties. 'Those damn Heretics… how dare they swell in number like this. Why do they not see the light that is the divinity the CPUs possess? It boggles my mind that people would not believe in our Lady, or even the other CPUs.' He thought, clenching his fists.

Very few believed him for his claims that the Spec Ops Programme was the abomination that it truly was. The CPUs would have no trouble dispatching the Abnormals, it was only a matter of time when they would return to deal with the threat with their swift and divine wrath. Abnormal monsters are an issue only to be handled by those above them, that was what he firmly believed for all his life.

For there to be a program that allows HUMANS, normal mortals to achieve the power needed to fight them on equal grounds was unacceptable. Worse still, since Leanbox was the start of it all. It only added insult to injury in his eyes. It was only through luck that he had kept them suppressed in Leanbox as much as he did. he feared that his efforts would be in vain however, for the Abnormals would grow too strong and then Spec Ops Agents would be needed more than ever. That had to be avoided at all costs.

* * *

 **Chapter end.**

 **Alright, now we get into the nitty gritty of the Spec Ops Program, and how Leanbox's officials view it. As you can see, Yvoire doesn't favor it very well because of how it takes faith away from Lady Vert. To me, with what we know about Yvoire from the Rebirth game and the original Hyperdimension Neptunia, he seems like a man who is both practical with a hint of racism. I was trying to portray him in that manner, while he hates the Spec Ops Program, he understands that it is a necessary piece to Leanbox's Military. He is the one who oversee's Leanbox's Military, and in the case of what he did in the games, the fact that he's involved with the military makes sense, since it gives him access to information that most people wouldn't know. It gives grounds for him to look into people he wold find suspicious or threatening to Leanbox's safety.**


	54. Chapter 51 - Tekken

**Next chapter, coming up boys and girls**

 **In this Chapter, We will be looking into some upgrades for Compa, upgrades that were both mine and one other. A shout out to King Carlos for suggesting a future power-up for Compa to me. I like it and I can fit it in with my Backstories for Team RAIL.**

 **Also, remember when it was stated how some Spec Ops Agents got their posts through... less honorable means? Well, that'll be shown in this chapter. Originally I was going to pull a reference from Fate/Stay Night, but in the end I decided to switch the character out for another more despicable character. Not because they were written bad or anything, but he was generally an asshole, jerk and overall not someone anyone would want anything to do with. Enjoy that part, everybody!**

 **Plus, we get some Leanbox Abnormal action, or a prequel to it at least. It'll probably be as clear as crystal what franchise those creatures will be from once you get to it, but if not look at the AN at the bottom of the chapter... after reading through it, don't be lazy!**

 **Without further ado, lets' start the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 51 - Tekken**

After leaving the Basilicom, Neptune and the others travelled to the Guild, their goal to search for any Abnormal-related Quests. With how severe the situation sounded, they wanted to see proof before their very eyes, before choosing how to proceed next. While most of them were apprehensive about it, Neptune was the complete opposite, bounding p and down as she ran ahead, before jogging back to the others.

She repeated this process over and over, until Nico relented and questioned the girl with an irritated sigh. "Okay Neptune, what's got you so hyper. Did you take some sugar while we weren't looking? You look like a hyperactive kid on a sugar rush."

Neptune hopped and landed before him, her face inches away from his on much to Nico's surprise. Startled, he jumped back a bit, as she responded without being aware of what happened. "Hey, I'mma bit excited alright? Who wouldn't, new land, new monsters to beat up, new foods to try, heck the puddings here are gonna be delish!" she cheered, throwing her arms up into the air.

IF scoffed at the preteen, but couldn't help but smirk at her enthusiasm. "Well, while we can do that stuff, its only gonna be AFTER we complete some quests, right Nico?" she asked the male, who nodded his head in agreement. In all honesty, IF wanted to see these Abnormals for herself, and test her BOW powers against them. She had felt the C Virus within her grow in power, forming new mutations based off old ones and store them for use in combat. Thus, she wanted to try them out to see what they could do.

"Yep, right on the money, IF. Plus, I took stock of our supplies." Nico began, lifting his right Bracer. Instead of opening his void storage, Nico had selected an icon that looked like a file, titled 'group inventory'. It opened several more files, each one being titled Inventory with the person's name at the bottom, then a Group inventory on the bottom. He selected that last one and viewed everyone's Items. "Looks like we need to restock our supplies before we go anywhere near the Abnormals, and I do recall a Shop next to the Guild that sells Items and equipment there. Maybe we can get a better Syringe for Compa or something."

Compa tilted her head in confusion as she summoned er Syringe and looked it over. "Um, why would you want to get me a new Syringe? This one works fine, doesn't it?" she questioned in concern, holding it against her chest like a mother would when protecting their child from danger.

Nico looked at her for a moment, mentally choosing his words with extreme caution. He knew that Syringe was a Syringe given to her by the Nursing School, she had been overjoyed when she told him about it over the Phone. Thus, hearing that she would have to use a different weapon permanently wouldn't sit well with her. "Don't worry, you can keep the Syringe Compa. I know how important it is for you." Compa's body noticeably relaxed at that, so he continued with a soft smile. "It's just that Leanbox is known for its weapons. While Planeptune has cutting edge technology, Leanbox excels in weapon crafting, as their society is an older version. I believe it's called the middle ages, huh…" he mused, glancing to the civilians who were wearing older fashioned dresses and suits.

Before he could get off track, he returned to the topic at hand. "When I was here last, I overheard rumours of a new weapon in development for the Medical teams, a weapon that I do believe should be massed produced by now. It's a Multi-Purpose Combat Syringe, one that has multiple cartages filled with different liquids, from elemental liquids to status ailment ones. It honestly reminds me of the Odachi my friend Raven wields, you know how her Odachi can strike with different elements?"

"I do remember that…" IF hummed as she cupped her chin and looked down, thinking bac to when she saw how Raven fought in battle. Her Odachi could use different elements depending on what cartridge she uses, the colour of the blade changing to reflect the element. It was an ingenious weapon, in her eyes, and she could only imagine the use it could have if formed into a Syringe for Compa. Syringes for Nurses don't do much damage on their own, but the liquids stored within were their trump cards. They could be elemental, or could cause status ailments like poison or paralysis.

It appeared that realisation dawned on Compa and Neptune as well, making Nico smirk in satisfaction. "Yep, that's right ladies, such a syringe was developed in Leanbox. The technology was originally Planeptune's, but Scientists from Leanbox managed to replicate the technology after capturing a piece of it during one of the many battles in the Console War. We should be able to get one for Compa, maximising her potential on the battlefield as both a healer and a supporter." Hearing that she could potentially do more on the battlefield made a big smile form on Compa's face. Out of everyone in the group, she was the weakest. IF had her BOW powers, Neptune had her HDD, Nico had his DDD, and all she had was her Armour.

By the time this conversation was over, the party had reached the Guild building. It looked like a medieval castle with white and green colourings. There was a small shop beside it, with a big bold banner that said, 'Children of war', naming the shop. Nico smirked to himself while everyone else commented their confusion about the name choice. 'Leanbox is usually hit the hardest by the Abnormals with the lack of Spec Ops Members, but those few they do have are known to be the toughest, most vicious warriors around. The shop's name reminded him of a few encounters he hadith Leanbox's Spec Ops Agents, none of them being pretty but all of them shared one common interest: they were every bit as deserving of their reputations.

The Party entered the 'Children of War' Guild store, and quickly Neptune began marvelling at the number of weapons stacked on the shelves. "Whoooooaaaaa! So many swords, guns, axes, heck scythes?! How can Scythes be used as weapons?!" she exclaimed seeing the Scythe section.

"With skill, Neptune, with Skill." Nico replied, grinning widely with pride as he looked at the Scythes. He remembered fighting some excellent Scythe wielders back during some missions in Leanbox, and boy were they fun. Scythes were a difficult weapon to master because of both their size, and their design. They were originally made as garden sheers in the past, however someone had the bright idea of weaponizing them. Hell, the reaper's signature weapon was his Scythe.

Compa looked around with awe and amazement shining in her eyes. "So many weapons…" she whispered under her breath. She may not be a weapons nerd, but she could appreciate how useful a weapon could be. After learning of Leanbox's reputation with weapons, she could believe that it deserved it with how polished and refined each weapon looked. "This is my first time being in a Guild Store like this. I usually did volunteer work and brought my own items with me."

IF smirked knowingly as she looked at the Qatars section, seeing various new designs she would have liked to try out if she was still human. "Yeah well, only Guild Agents and those affiliated with them for a number of years have access to this kind of hardware. This is because these Stores sell completed versions of the weapons designed by the WDD." she explained, watching as Neptune swooned over some of the Longswords and Katanas. She then looked up and noticed Nico looking at the Scythes with adoration, and couldn't help but comment on it. "Thinking about buying another weapon, Nico?" she asked, getting his attention. "You got so many others, I don't think you need any more."

"I already have a Scythe, among other weapons I haven't used yet."

His response sent her into stunned silence. Heck, the silence was greater because of how casual he sounded about it, like discussing the weather in contrast to how he sounded so eager and joyful to see them earlier. "EH?! You do?!" she exclaimed with a comically baffled expression on her features.

The male turned to her and nodded, grinning as he opened his Void Storage and showed her an Icon shaped like a Scythe. "Yeppers. She's one of my favorites, more so than Redemption and Alastor. Like lots of my weapons, it is demonic in origin, and can leave deadly scars behind in its wake." He explained.

As her mind registered this little fact about the male, the brunette could only look at him dumbly for a few seconds, before she noticed something she decided to inquire on. "You seem to have a lot of affinity for demonic weapons. Aren't they supposed to bring bad luck or kill the wielder or something?" she questioned him.

"Yes, that's usually the case, but I discovered my affinity for them long ago." He replied while looking back at the weapons. "Also, these weapons are called Devil Arms, weapons that are supposedly manifestations of demonic beings that were slain in the past. I didn't believe this at first, but with what we know now I'm starting to reconsider. There has been a case where a normal human has shown a will powerful enough to use them without these drawbacks, but I don't know much about him."

* * *

After this discussion, the Party walked to the clerk Desk, where the shop keeper was busy polishing some weapons behind it. the shopkeeper looked like the stereotypical old man with a beard, wearing a green shirt, leather pants, and a lighter green apron with the word 'Leanbox' in black bolt arched lettering on the front.

Hearing their approach, the man looked up and greeted with a kind smile, one that showed his weariness based off old age. "Why hello, young travellers. How may I help you?" he greeted, placing the weapon he was polishing to one side before grabbing a cloth and cleaning his hand as he walked to the front desk.

"Hello, Sir." Nico started as he stepped forwards. The girls backed off, letting him handle this one. Even IF would readily admit that he was more knowing than them of this situation. "We're looking to buy a specific weapon type." He told him, electing a curious hum from the man.

The said man responded with a knowing gleam in his eye. "Would at weapon be the new multi-purpose Combat Syringe?" he asked him, surprising Nico as well as the other girls. When the male gave him a look as if saying 'explain' the man did so. "Many people have been buying them as of late, they've been a huge hit with the Leanbox Field Medics. They're as useful as they were when designed, exceeding the creator's expectations." The old man's eyes narrowed and a tense aura came from him. It looked like he was troubled by something, something that was confirmed moments later. "Unfortunately, there's a small problem."

The teenage Spec Ops Agent recognised that look, and bit back the urge to sigh in drama, "Let me guess, is it monster related?" he questioned, getting a nod from the old man. Nico bit the inside of his cheek in irritation. "Of course, with the rise in Abnormals the normal monsters may be getting a larger foothold."

"Yes, well, this is an Abnormal-related issue, and considering your posture, gear and tones, I assume you're the Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE?" the man asked, getting a nod again from the teen. "Splendid! Let's just say I'm a fan. If its you, then this problem will be solved. You see, my problem is that I lack the necessary components required to make the Syringes now, the source, MS Mountain, has been overrun with Abnormal Monsters which makes mining the materials there impossible. I filed a Quest only recently, but none have taken it yet."

Nico cupped his chin with his left hand. The fact that a Quest hadn't been accepted, and with the way this man was behaving, it must have been a while since he posted the request. He sounded like he had gotten desperate, so why the hell hadn't anyone taken the job? No, he had a GOOD idea why, and it gave him more reason to hate Yvoire. "I see… any idea as to their nature?" he asked the man, who nodded in response.

"Yes, they're Abnormals called 'Necromorphs'."

The sound of tyres screeching to a halt resonated through the room, cutting any other sound from existence. At the name, Nico tensed, with his eyes widening and skin paling with his jaw hanging open slightly. His arms fell to his sides as he leaned forwards and shouted. "The Necromorphs?! Are you sure?!" he saw the old man nod and pull from his Apron a Smartphone. He then showed it to him, and Nico saw a picture of the Dungeon, MS Mountain he believed it was called, infested with creatures you could only see in a horror movie, creatures that he recognized near instantly. This time, he couldn't help but curse the situation. "Shit!"

With the way he reacted, it was no surprise that a tense atmosphere would overtake the room. Compa then raised her hand, like a student in a classroom. "Um, Professor Ni-Ni, what are these Necro-thingies exactly?" she asked him innocently, tilting her head with an expression that sent the power of cuteness into the two males spines.

"Okay first, Compa you don't have to ask me like I'm your teacher, alright? Second, the Necromorphs are mutated and reanimated corpses, reshaped into horrific new forms by a recombinant infection. The resulting creatures are extremely aggressive, and will attack any uninfected organism on sight. They each answer to a Hivemind, akin to Banshees in Planeptune."

The mention of that Abnormal sent chills down their spines, memories of their first encounters with the beasts returning to their minds, although they didn't want to remember those hellish times. Hearing of a species that had similarities... They could understand a little more why he looked like the life had been sucked out of him. "Uhhhh, hey Nicky, they don't like, you know… breed the same, right?" Neptune asked nervously, shifting on her feet with discomfort. She could barely imagine one race like that, she didn't want to think there was more like them.

Nico sighed, seeing their nervous/ scared expressions. Even IF had one, and she was normally the cool-headed one of the bunch besides him. "Honestly, Neptune? The way they breed can be considered just as grotesque. If not, WORSE. They kill a potential host, then transfer special fluids into the corpse, which is then reanimated into another Necromorph. The resulting creature depends on the dead body, as well as the fluids used to reanimate it. Thing is, the Banshees are lot tamer than the Necromorphs, as while Banshees actively gather things for the sake of reproduction, the Necromorphs only have one purpose: to acquire more bodies to convert and spread the infection."

He then let out a derisive snort, his next words full of irritation and discontent. "They are believed by some to be the heralds of humanity's ascension, but that's a load of religious bullshit to me. Also, unlike Banshees, the Necromorphs target ANYTHING not just hosts big enough to feed their larvae when hatched, but anything that can be turned into a corpse, including monsters as when killed by a Necromorph, they don't immediately vanish into Particles thanks to the Necromorphs having ways around that."

Now the party could understand why Nico was so tense when hearing about the Necromorphs. They sounded like a real piece of work alright, more so than many Abnormals they'd faced in the past. While some stuck to small groups, the rest usually were on their own so it made it easier to deal with them. Now however, there was an Abnormal that stuck as a small army. How abnormal (mind the pun) can these things get?

"Geez, these Abnormals really know how to get under your skin, huh? …Whelp, guess which Quest we're gonna be doing today?!" Neptune finally spoke after a short, but heavy silence. "I mean, isn't it obvious now? The plot demands we do this quest to get Compa her Gear's upgrade! We can't let those meanie Abnormals hurt the folks here, now can we?"

Despite knowing the situation, Neptune remained as bright and cheery as ever. No, it wasn't that, Nico realised after observing her. She did seem affected, but wasn't showing it so the others wouldn't worry. It proved infectious as it inspired the others to feel the same as her. Compa beamed as IF smirked, holding her hand on her hip. "Heh, well Nep, guess you can motivate people with your words when you try. Let's go to the Guild, with Nico with us we should have no problems taking the Quest."

"Yep, now let's get to it, ladies! Those Abnormals won't be lazing about, waiting for us!"

* * *

Entering the Guild, the Party observed how different it was compared to Planeptune and Lastation. The color schemes were one thing, plus the Quest Clerks were on the back while Planeptune's was at the center and Lastation's were on the right. On the opposite side were another set of clerks, wearing black and green robes to indicate that they were the Spec Ops Quest Clerks.

"There's the Spec Ops Clerks. Hmm, they seem to be fewer than in Lastation or Planeptune, what's up with that?" IF remarked, narrowing her eyes at how there were a smaller number of Spec Ops Quest Clerks than the normal ones. She caught a quick glance towards Nico's direction, and saw his subtle twitching. He was suppressing something, anger most likely, which made IF even more suspicious before she decided to drop it for now. This wasn't the time for a confrontation, anyways.

They made their way to the Spec Ops Desk, going to the clerk at the bottom left side. The Clerk looked up, sensing someone was coming, and almost jumped in surprise at what she saw. "Oh, hello there. How may I help you today?" she greeted. Nico noticed it though, the way her eyes gazed at them, him specifically. It was well-known that the Spec Ops Program was frowned upon by the higher-ranking members of the Basilicom, who were more fanatic in their beliefs. However, they were still loved by the general populace for their service. For this woman to be happy to see people coming here meant that things were bad, maybe as bad as Helen had told him about.

"We'd like to look at the quests please." IF requested as Nico showed her confirmation of his identity as a Spec Ops Agent via a holographic screen showing his record. The Clerk looked like she was on cloud nine when she saw his track record as she eagerly brought the amount of quests available onto a holographic screen before them.

The Party gaped in unison at the amount of Quests available to them. "Whoa, so many! The literally fill up the entire screen!" Neptune shouted in awe and amazement, eyeing the many quests while choosing in her mind which ones she would like to do.

On the other hand, the Spec Ops Agent couldn't help but feel troubled by so many Quests. There were way more Spec Ops Quests issued than in Planeptue and Lastation combined, which worried him. 'So, it's as Helen said, things in Leanbox are getting dire. What could be done to improve this would be to get more Spec Ops Agents recruited, but as long as Yvoire is in power he will likely oppress that notion even as the nation burns around him.' Nico thought, biting back the urge to scowl at the thought of the man.

Quickly regaining her composure, IF swiftly chose the Quest that involved the MS Mountain Dungeon. She went as far as to check the client to make sure it was the one they wanted, before she told Nico to go and accept it. He did so, while also noting how she gave him a knowing glance, like she had figured something out. He didn't doubt this, as IF can be perceptive.

He'd have to prep himself for a confrontation later.

While he was signing them up, a masculine voice rang out, on that made Nico, as well as the Clerks scowl in irritation. "Hoh, looks like a prissy is trying to play with the big boys." Nico and the girls turned around to find a young man walking towards them, an air of arrogance and mockery about him.

The young man was a tall, imposing figure, like a delinquent. He had slicked back brown hair with black pupils for eyes. There were multiple piercings in his ears, one under his right nostril, and some on his lower lips. He wore a black jacket with green highlights, with a green undershirt beneath it. His hands were covered in black gloved with matching elbow guards, green shoulder pauldrons on his shoulders. He had a pair of green pants with black army boots on his feet. On his back, was a large Trident, its form twisted and intimidating, but ultimately more for show than anything.

"Saizou Komiya…" Nico greeted curtly, his gaze even as he stepped before the girls. They didn't miss this subtle gesture, he was implying that he wanted them to stay back and let him handle this. While he knew they could handle themselves, Nico would rather deal with this troublesome person himself.

This guy, he was one of the Agents Nico despised the most. He was one of those who got in without taking the Spec Ops exam, thanks to the officials being bribed by his parents. Money was a great incentive to keep people quiet, unfortunately. It corrupted, and with the right manipulation money could even tear down a civilisation. Saizou's parents were high ranking political officials in Leanbox Politics, so it was only natural that they use the Program that was frowned upon to try and hog what little glory the Spec Ops Agents were allowed to have. It was also a measure to demean the program, with Saizou's violent, aggressive personality. With someone like him in the Program, people would think all Spec Ops were like that, something that pissed him off more than people would realise.

Assholes like him, didn't know one bit about what it truly meant to be a Spec Ops.

At the mention of his name, Saizou rolled his eyes. His hands were in his pockets as he tried to look as tall as possible. A gesture that didn't make Nico flinch in the slightest. "Good day to you, Nico. Oh, sorry I should call you by your codename since you're so special, but no I don't want to, so sue me." He spoke as he angled himself so the sun's rays, which came through a nearby window, shone on his Trident, making its blade glint menacingly.

It only served to make Nico roll is eyes though, much to Saizou's irritation. A tense atmosphere formed around them, as the other Guild Agents kept a wide berth between them, not wanting to get any closer to the inevitable fallout. Those two never got along, or rather, Saizou was always jealous of Nico's strength and reputation. The fact that Nico apparently was also a ladies man, even if he didn't realize it, was another thing for Saizou to hate his guts over. Thus, he always tried to annoy and demean him whenever they met.

"What do you want, Mr Komiya? As you can see, I'm busy working." Nico asked, doing his best to not show how this man was pissing him off every second he looked at him. Formalities would help, but something told him he'd snap at some point. It didn't help that he could feel his demonic power reacting to his anger within him.

 **'This person... he reeks of arrogance and weakness.'** Biko spoke from within, humming in thought. However, Nico could tell that his demonic personification was not happy to be anywhere near this asshole. **'He is not fit to be** **among** **Spec Ops.'**

'You and I agree on that, though I figured you'd do so when seeing him...'

Saizou scoffed at him, rolling his head and glancing to the side. "Heh, yeah right, like you would know what hard work even is." He said, before grinning arrogantly and pointing a thumb at himself. "After all, you have someone like me whose stronger than you in every way." He even ended in a 'heroic' pose with his teeth showing. Arrogance dripped off him, and it slowly unravelled Nico's dwindling patience. "Women come to me in droves for my D, like the bitches they are. I have money, power, and prestige. I am clearly superior to you in every way."

The man then dropped his pose and tilted to the side, seeing Neptune and the girls. They all frowned when he did, as he gave them a leer with his eyes shining with lust and want, especially when he noticed Compa's… assets. "Oh? Now what do we have here, a bunch of hot gals at your beck and call? I guess you really are 'working' huh?" he questioned the red-haired male who was now gripping his fists, desperately trying to keep his face neutral and ending up having an intensity burning in his eyes. "Of course, I guess you're into washboards then, sounds a lot like your career, doesn't it Nico."

Anger swelled within Nico's stomach, and a hot red aura was slowly becoming visible around him. Hell, even the girls were glaring at him, covering their chests as they quickly named him a pervert and an asshole in their minds. Even Neptune and Compa wanted to rip out his entrails and use them as hanging rope. Now they could see why Nico hated those who got into the Spec Ops Program without passing the exam. If they were typically like this, then no wonder he did.

Of course, Saizou smirked at this, knowing that he was getting under Nico's skin. At this point, some brave Guild Agents were watching them, anticipating another showdown between these two. It was a common thing to see, whenever Saizou and Nico were close to each other, one of them, usually the former, would do all they could to antagonize the other. "How about this, then in exchange for some of my sacred items, how about you let me have those bitches? I mean you hardy do anything with the opposite sex, you shy little virgin, you."

That was the final straw that broke the camel's back. Nico's aura exploded, and KI enveloped the room. Nico's fury was burning brightly like a crimson inferno, his eyes practically flaming with rage as he gave an open snarl. The level of rage he was seeing made Saizou pale slightly and take a step back. Nico took a step forwards in response to this. "You touch them, and you will die. First by castration, then by spine being ripped out through your mouth." Nico spat with venom dripping from his words. The intensity and firmness of his tone indicated he would do it, without hesitation.

Saizou's face lost more color at the horrific image in his mind, before he gulped and tried to maintain his composure, if he hadn't lost it already. "Heh, and what if I did? You can't hurt me, it'll be grounds for war with Planeptune, and you know we will win. I mean, which one of us has their CPU back from Celestia, hmm?"

Nico had to admit, through his anger, that Saizou had a point Leanbox had its CPU back while Planeptune's didn't. Unfortunately for him, Planeptune's CPU was right here in front of him, so if she wanted to, she could gut him like a fish and he couldn't do anything about it. Even now, Nico could feel his demonic power rising, begging to be brought to the surface so it could transform him into Crimson Soul, whom would then show this mongrel just who was at the top of the pecking order. Hell, even IT wanted in on some of the action, and he was partially willing to just lt IT run wild on this guy's ass. That just went to show just how angry Nico was.

Just before he could retort however…

"Hey, no saying mean-things to Nicky, ya hear?!"

GLOMP

The teen, along with Saizou and everyone watching, gaped when Neptune suddenly jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around Nico's neck and glaring pointedly at Saizou from behind his shoulder. The blue-haired man stepped back, stunned from what was happening as Nico's anger vanished thanks to her sudden entry. "We're perfectly alright staying with Nicky, buster! I don't know about you, but I'd never even go near you with a 12-foot pole, with your rudeness." She spat with just as much anger as Nico did earlier, before looking down at the male she was on and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. "Oh, BTW, who's this guy again, some nobody who doesn't know the tip of a sword from its base?"

Neptune's words prompted responses to come from the other girls, Compa going first as she pouted angrily, glaring heatedly at Saizou as she jumped onto Nico's back as well. "Nep-Nep's right, we're perfectly fine with Ni-Ni, thank you. You wouldn't know how to treat a girl right if it slapped you on the face." She belittled a baffled Saizou before doing the same to the other side of his neck's crook as Neptune did. "So, uh, what Nep-Nep, said, Ni-Ni, who's he again?"

Finally, IF leaned on his side, arms crossed and scowling with deadly eyes on the other man. "If the alternative is you, I'd rather stick with the decent one here." She snarled. "Nico's 1000 times better than you, asshole, so scram. You probably have some sort of AIDs if you talking about us 'bitches' was any indication, not really appealing." She then gave him the bird, making several Guild Agents go 'ooooh, roasted!' under their breaths while others snickered, even the Clerks did so despite trying to remain professional.

While baffled, Nico regained his composure as he responded to the girls, questioning in a hushed voice. "Yeah, this guy isn't very important, just someone wo talks big but is all bark. You don't need to remember him." He spoke, before his voice took on a more irritated tone. "Also, why the hell are you acting this way? I thought I clearly made it clear that I'd deal with this."

"Play along, Nicky." Neptune replied in a hushed voice, and while her lips weren't visible, Nico could feel their Cheshire cat grin. "Let's mess this guy up a little, shall we? Plus, pay him back for that washboard comment…" she said that last part under her breath, but thanks to IT, and their proximity, Nico heard it. A grin of epic proportions spread across his lips as he directed his gaze back to Saizou.

Said person's face looked like a cherry from how much anger was showing.

Let's drive the knife home, shall we?

Quickly changing his posture to one of nonchalance, Nico spoke with a fake sad voice. "Oh well what would you know, looks like these ladies are wanting me and not your ugly mug. SO sorry for that." He pretended to be dramatic as he turned his head with a hand on his forehead, as if he was in a woe about something. "Guess the 'great' Saizou Komiya can't even get a girl to like him, let alone a group of them. Looks like he hasn't got any charm at all, oh, how it wounds me so."

Nico then shifted back to a bored persona as he waved an arm dismissively. "It doesn't at all, now shoo the big boys are trying to work here." He spoke, though there was clear amusement hiding behind his irises, the other girls mirroring his expression as they jumped off him.

At this point, Saizou was about to scream with rage and primal bloodlust, his eyes bloodshot from these emotions which made him look more like an animal throwing a tantrum. The girls and Nico grinned mischievously, liking the sight of this arrogant asshole squirm. There were judging gazes being cast at Saizou, and he was aware of this. "Why don't you run along now, Mr Komiya? It mustn't be doing your reputation any favors for you to be here like this."

Saizou's expression settled on murderous anger, with a mix of his childish tantrum earlier still on there, as he glared hatefully towards him. "You fucker… don't get cocky!" he yelled, drawing his spear. As he felt the weapon's shaft in his grip, his face turned to one of madness as a sick grin spread across his face. "I'll make you regret getting in my way of getting laid, you wimp!"

DEATHSTROKE's eyes narrowed darkly as he sensed a fight incoming. The male slowly stepped forwards, his Armour deploying over him, when it was complete, only one of his glaring eyes was visible, but the glare nonetheless retained its sharpness. "Well then, come and get me, scumbag."

A loud war cry escaped Saizou's lips as he charged at him, intent on shoving his spear down Nico's throat. However, before he could make it even half way, a feminine voice cried out. "Um, excuse me, coming throooooooouuuuuuuggggghhhhhh!" everyone turned to the source of the voice as someone literally came flying through the front doors, crashing into Saizou... by ramming her head into his family jewels, and sending him flying into a wall.

"Gah!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

From the impact, a massive indent formed as Saizou gasped, coughing up blood with his eyes white, signifying his lack of consciousness. His form then fell off the wall like a banana peel, falling to the ground to be forgotten by the crowd till someone bothered to remember him.

Meanwhile, everyone was too busy watching this new arrival, who had fallen onto the ground in a heap, to notice. The said person slowly got to her feet, rubbing her head which was forming a lump over it when she had hit the unconscious Saixou. "Owwwwie, that hurt…"

The male could only stare at this peculiar individual before them. The person was a girl with the appearance of someone in her mid to older teens. She has a slender body with modestly sized breasts and a slight tan complexion. She has red eyes and long dark grey hair that reaches half-way down her back.

Her outfit looked fitting for someone who practiced martial arts, which the male believed she did judging by her appearance and her… interesting entrance. It consisted of a red and black strapless sports bra, and torn blue gi pants that has a red flame design on the bottom of the left leg. They were tied to her waist with a red and black martial arts belt. Her pants were ripped to where the right leg was only covered mid-thigh and there were several tears that showed the orange inside with one on her right leg revealing her blue and white striped panties. She didn't wear shoes, but she did have a pair of silver bracelets on her right ankle. She also wore black fingerless gloves with red cestus gloves with six silver spikes on each hand. As an accessory she wears a silver charm, saying 'Tekken' in all-caps attached to two chains as a necklace.

'Okay, first thoughts on this one is that she must fight with CQC. Possibly some related Skills as well…' the male's battle instincts kicked in, telling him that this person was not your ordinary Adventurer. He caught a few stares of lust from both males and females, surprisingly enough, at a certain part of this female's anatomy, and it WASN'T her boobs. Deciding to see what was up and move along, before this got any creepier, Nico walked up to her and kneeled, his armour Vanishing. "Are you alright? Do you want a helping hand?"

The girl looked up at him, mentally registering his presence, before looking away shyly. "N-No, I'm okay! I'm totally fine, really!" she spoke timidly before shooting to her feet faster than a bullet.

Seeing that she was okay, though he debated that in his mind with the lump on her head, Nico stood up and placed a hand on his hip. "You fell through the entrance at a high velocity. Mind explaining why that is?" he questioned.

Neptune nodded her head in agreement, popping up from behind her and startling the girl. "Yep, yep! She came flying all the way in like a human bullet! Kinda weird if you ask good old Neptune over here, the specialist on human projectiles!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at the top of that noggin of hers.

While IF pulled Neptune back, the shy girl looked up at him finally, having seemingly taken a moment to gather her courage and explained. "Oh that, well, I was training in the forests outside Leanbox when I heard about there being a powerful Spec Ops Agent here, and I wanted to get here quickly, so… I had one of my friends chuck me here."

…

…

Now everyone gave her incredulous looks, and wondered if this girl was alright, you know, up there. "You had a friend who chuckled you from the forests, a good 20 miles from Leanbox, and ended up crashing right into the centre of the Guild Building? I'd call that BS, but…" the male used his senses, the senses provided by IT, the only thing he could use of IT without drawing attention to himself and keep IT in check, to listen to her heartbeat. No irregularities to show she was lying. "Anyways, why'd you go through the trouble to come here, then? Surely, you've seen some Spec Ops Agents before, right?"

"Of course!" the girl replied, nodding firmly with her fists clenched at the sides of her head. "I'm a martial artist, and I've been looking for someone strong to fight. The Spec Ops seem like good sparring partners, but all of them have been busy keeping the monsters under control, so I can't spar with them."

His eyes lit up in understanding when she explained her story to him. She did confirm she was a martial artist, too, a pat on the back for him. "So then, you heard of this new Spec Ops arriving from a foreign land and decided to ask him for a Spar, am I right? But you had to get here fast otherwise you'd miss your chance, hence the unique entrance." He deduced, getting a beaming, shameless smile from the girl.

With the girls who were watching this, they all were sweat dropping at the extreme measures that the martial artist girl had gone to get a spar. "Wow, that's kinda rough, there..." Neptune commented dully.

Compa nodded, a frown of concern on her lips. "She should regard her health more carefully than that, it's a big no-no to be chucked so far so fast." She stated in disapproval.

IF crossed her arms under her chest as she regarded the young girl before them. "I'm more curious as to who could throw her so far. They'd have to be pretty ballsy to do something like this." She commented.

"Maybe it's an ogre! They have monstrous strength, much like Iffy and her beliefs!"

"You're walking on thin ice, Neptune…"

While they had their discussion, Nico pondered on what to do next. While he could accept the request to spar, refine his CQC Skills, he did want to get that weapon for Compa. In addition, the Necromorphs were a serious threat, and if nobody responded to them, then they would be in serious trouble. 'Hmmm…. Ah ha! That'll work…!'

An idea popped into his head, one which made Nico grin. "How about this, instead of just a spar, you join me and my Party on hunting some Necromorphs. They're stronger than the average monsters, and have more abilities to boot. Afterwards, we could have a small spar if you aren't tired by the end. Having a Spar in the middle of Leanbox wouldn't go well with the citizens, and the Spec Ops Programme has enough grief from the Basilicom here as it is. At least this way, we both get what we want. You get your spar and I'll do my job."

The girl hummed, pondering the offer. She didn't think that the Spec Ops Agent would be already engaged in business the moment he arrived at the Guild, but what he offered was indeed tempting. She had fought some Abnormals when she had no other options, many of them were quite the scary badasses. That only made her respect and admiration for the Spec Ops Agents increase even more, for being able to fight them on even terms. She didn't know much about them though, since she usually stuck to the wilds to train and hone her skills.

However, one thing she did know for sure, was that Spec Ops were needed very badly, not just in Leanbox, but in other Nations as well. The Abnormal Monsters were growing stronger and deadlier by the day, with so many dangerous ones existing that adventurers and Guild Agents would die left and right when they went to fight them. If even one of them were occupied, then a tragedy could happen, a tragedy that could have been avoided if they weren't doing whatever it was that kept them from their duties. Such was the case here.

Therefore, in the end the girl decided to accept the offer. With a big smile on her face, the girl bobbed her head up and down. "Mmm! Okie dokie then, I'll help! It'll be good experience fighting Abnormals. I'll be under your care, alight boss?" she tilted her head while giving a childish salute, much to the male's amusement. "Oh, the name's Tekken, by the way. It's nice to meet you, mister!"

Nico nodded with acceptance, smiling in acknowledgement. "Nice to make your acquaintance, Tekken. Call me Nico, Codename DEATHSTROKE." He offered a hand, and the two confirmed their new, temporary alliance. They both knew this wouldn't last forever, no, it would only last after they defeated the Necromorphs.

Still though, both had made their impressions on each other. That was an indisputable fact, everyone acknowledged it.

"Great! Looks like we have a new friend! Nice to meetchya, Tekken!" Neptune chirped, bounding over to them and waving over to her. "I don't know if ya heard me earlier, but I'm Neptune! This is Compa, and this is Iffy!" she introduced with the others walking up to them.

Tekken nodded with a giggle at Neptune's entrance. "It's nice to meet you, too!" she exclaimed, while in her head she was thinking. 'Looks like… even in this world, Neptune, IF and Compa are friends… this Spec Ops stuff, the Abnormals and Nico are pretty new, but still, it's much more fun with so many strong baddies to beat!'

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **There, another chapter done!**

 **Now, if you read the AN up top, then I'll tell you that I originally had planned to have Shinji from the Fate series be the antagonistic Spec Ops Agent here. However, after some consideration I decided to scrap that idea, mostly because while Shinji does seem like an asshole, he isn't a complete one. Saizou Komiya from the Rosario Vampire Manga and anime however, is an asshole through and through. Deinquent, rapist, sexual deviant, many things could be used to describe him, and he'd probably be proud of them. That kind of asshole fit the role I wanted to use Shinji for much better, so he took his place.**

 **Rosario Vampire's an interesting Manga. It may be unlike the Anime's second season, but its still a worthwhile series. Underrated, too, which is honestly a little disappointing.**

 **The Karma at the end tho, with Saizou's balls being headbutted by Tekken like that... it honesty made me chuckle. Hope it gets similar reactions to you, viewers. Anyways, thanks for reading, review, follow, fav, also check the poll out. Haven't gotten many votes, so please vote! It'll end at the climax to the Leanbox Arc.**

 **Lastly, the Necromorphs from the Dead Space series. I got the idea since their games were played on the Xbox primarily, or the PC. These creatures seemed like great additions to the Abnormal ranks. Don't worry tho, the Demons shall return, and when they do, they'll make the Necromorphs look like cuddly toys in comparison. Anyways, now I gotta go. I got some other work to do.**

 **cheerios!**


	55. Chapter 52 - Abnormal Guests

**Chapter 52 - Abnormal Guests**

With the addition of Tekken, the party acquired the Quest involving the Necromorphs and MS Mountain. Afterwards, they headed out for this Dungeon, taking a couple hours to get there. Along the way, the girls were asking questions to Tekken, getting to know her better. If they were going to be an alliance, it would be good to at least know the one helping them, that was their thought processes. Tekken was more than happy to answer, as she got more comfortable with being around them.

"So, you see I'm kinda... from another Dimension." The girl began as they walked down a country path. IF walked from the rear, with Neptune and Nico in front, while Compa was to Tekken's left. The young Martial Artist had been questioned by the curious Nurse-In-Training about where she came from, but had been thinking about how to answer. In the end, she decided to just go with the truth, even if they didn't believe her.

IF raised a brow at this as she hummed thoughtfully, a hand cupping her chin as she pondered her answer. "We met someone like that before, in Lastation. She said she was from another Dimension, too." she remarked. "So its not surprising ad much to see someone else from another dimension."

Hearing this, Tekken quickly turned her head to face the brunette Guild Agent, her eyes twinkling with a hope that honestly caught IF off guard. Se had even grabbed her hands and was holding them close with her own. "Was it MAGES.? Was it a girl with blue hair and a witch hat?!" she questioned, leaving forwards slightly as she pestered IF with one question after another. "Please, tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Whoa girl, calm down!"

"Oh ho-ho, what do we have here?" IF mentally groaned, knowing what was coming, when she heard a familiar voice as well as the teasing undertone behind it. Looking over to the front of the group, she saw that Neptune was standing there looking at them with a Cheshire cat grin on her face, eyes twinkling with mischief while Nico stood not far off, raising a brow in curiosity. Meanwhile, Compa looked like she was an embarrassed schoolgirl hiding her red face from something perverted, but making a small hole with her fingers to peep through. "Is this a declaration of love for our dear Iffy? Is there a new ship being set to sail in the future?"

Already, IF felt a headache coming on as Neptune once again got a bad impression of what was going on. "Shut it Nep, its not like that one bit! I hardly even know this girl, plus I'm straight!" she yelled, pulling her hands away from a sheepish Tekken, who was smiling in apology towards her while laughing nervously. Seeing this caused her temper to calm down somewhat, but only towards her for her accidental slip-up. Neptune remained as on thin ice as ever, and this wasn't even Lowee. "Anyways, yeah, we met with MAGES. before. Why do you ask, do you know her?"

"Um, well, uh..." Tekken made to say something, when she soon got this awkward expression as she shifted uncomfortably. "Not personally, no, but she and I attended this science convention back in our home dimension. She wanted to present this new teleportation device that would help soldiers transport their troops to the battlefield, an wanted to test it at a Convention first. Lots of officials were there, so word would have spread fast about it, you see?"

'Interesting...' the lone male of the group thought while already getting a picture of what had happened next. He had heard there was a similar incident at a Technology Expo in Planeptune one time, but it was way before he was even born, about 30 years ago if he remembered correctly, so he didn't know all the details. "Let me guess, the machine malfunctioned and you were teleported here?"

"Eek!"

Tekken jumped slightly, startled when the male spoke. Everyone looked at her in surprise and confusion when she did this, for the martial artist to soon realise what had happened and once again chuckle nervously. "Oh, s-sorry, I just forgot you were there. You were so silent that, well..." she began to say, scratching her chin while the male in question sweat dropped. He wasn't that silent, was he? Maybe he should think about looking into that. "A-Anyways, there's a bit more to it, but that's basically what happened in a nut shell. I don't remember much, but when I woke up after the machine malfunctioned, I was in a forest surrounded by animals. I didn't mind what happened though since it would help me grow as a Martial Artist." she explained, beaming at the end.

 **'That squeak just now... something tells me she has little positive experience with the opposite gender... or at least a phobia of them.'** Biko commented, much to Nico's ire. It wasn't at his demonic personification per say, but more at the fact that he was the one to cause Tekken discomfort, even though he was someone who she wanted to spar with. He didn't say anything though, just let the conversation go on. It was probably for the best that way.

Everyone hummed in understanding at this, from what she told them it seemed that MAGES.' slip up was responsible for her becoming sent to their dimension. Thus, it would make sense that Tekken would try to find her to see if they could somehow get back. However, one of them remained confused if the expression on her features was any indication. "Um, this is all very confusing to me..." Compa muttered sheepishly. "I'm not good with hard stuff."

"Don't worry about it, then." Tekken said in a consoling manner, smiling in comfort at the Nurse-In-Training as she gave a thumbs up and a confident grin. "Just take it as 'I'm here and ready to kick some butt!' or something along those lines. Anyways, I stayed with the animals in the forest, honing my Skills until one told me about Spec Ops Agents, so I wanted to see what they were like, possibly spar with one."

After overcoming his initial annoyance, Nico formed a small smirk on his lips, pocketing his hands as he kicked some dirt lightly with his right foot. "Well, I have to admit, you're one badass girl, Tekken. That entrance you made at the Guild Building was priceless. You really made my day with that one." He then gave her a thumbs up of his own, his smirk widening with amusement dancing within his eyes. "So thanks, thanks for that."

"Hehehehe, no problem! Happy to help, even though I don't know what I did to help!"

Neptune, despite what happened before, skipped merrily towards the young girl and hugged her from behind, a large grin on her features. "Hehehe, well what happened isn't a biggie, so welcome to the party, Tekken! We'll kick loads of bootie together, for sure!" she proclaimed, fist pumping the air space above her. Everyone just rolled their eyes at the preteen, already used to her antics. Tekken didn't look like she minded, either, so with that the group began walking once more. That Dungeon wouldn't be fixing itself, you know.

Meanwhile, as the group of girls questioned and got to know their temporary new member, one of them hung back and shut himself off from the conversation. Nico kept himself silent, outside anyways, while inside he began to converse with Biko on... special measures. 'So, Biko, you said that Demonic Energy works well with the drugs in keeping IT suppressed?' he questioned.

 **'Indeed. Those cells and the demonic energy your DPU form possess repel each other, like magnets of the same type. Thus, if we keep a constant flow of energy circulating through you, it should limit the activity IT would have within you.'** Biko replied.

'AWWWWW, TRYING TO GET RID OF ME ALREADY, KING?!' once again, both Nico and Biko mentally grimaced, at the sound of that aggravating voice as it echoed through their link. Even the mostly stoic Biko didn't like the way the voice spoke, as if every syllable that escaped its mouth was for the pleasure of seeing Nico suffer intensely. 'TOO BAD FOR YOU, YOU CAN'T EVER GET RID OF ME COMPLETELY! YOU'RE TOO FUCKED IN THE HEAD, NOBODY WILL EVER LOVE PIECES OF SHIT LIKE US! ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU THINK WHENEVER HOT BITCHES TRY TOO GET NEAR YOU?!'

'You stay the fuck away from my comrades, asshole!' Nico yelled, not noticing how his face was mildly twitching in irritation. He didn't deny what IT had said though, because in the end, IT was right. That was EXACTLY what he would think when girls tried to get too close to him, along with thoughts like 'Oh shit, oh shit, danger, danger!' The frenzied laughter IT made when he thought that was also NOT very helpful, it never was, bu hey, he couldn't do much about it, like IT had said. A 'King' can't force their subjects opinions to change, otherwise they would be a tyrant.

As much as he hated IT, he had to admit that even while psychotic and insane, IT did say the things Nico tried so hard to deny. IT understood him more than anything else in this world, not even Compa, Biko or Helen could understand what it was like to be in his shoes, to see the world the same way as he did. Biko may have come the closest due to circumstances, but IT was the closest by far.

After all, he and IT were intertwined to the bone, so it only made sense that IT was the one who understood him the most, right?

* * *

Finally, they reached the base of the mountain, not the actual Dungeon itself. They would have to walk up a steep, winding path through the Mountain to get there. But even as they got to the Mountain's base, concern overcame the girls when they saw that there was this strange fleshy tissue covering much of the path. It sometimes shifted unnaturally, and just radiated danger.

Compa shuddered as she watched the tissue. She clung onto Nico's arm for strength while asking him a question, fearful of the answer regardless. "Um, Ni-Ni, what's with this s-s-stuff on the ground?"

"Yeah, I'm getting some real-bad vibes from that stuff. It's kinda creepy, disturbing, and reminds me of that monster we fought in Planeptune, you know the one with all that gooey stuff that made monsters for us to fight?" Neptune questioned as well, holding his other arm as to not lose to the Nurse-In-Training. Though she too was curious about the strange tissue on the ground, and nervous too. IF was the same, but she kept her composure and didn't lose it like they did. Tekken however, was giving it a curious look, with a slight dose of fear as well.

Nico sighed as he pulled his arms to get them free, only for their grips on them to tighten. "It's called Corruption, and unlike the variant the Defiler used, this stuff is basically an encrusting mass of Necromorph tissue typically found wherever there has been an outbreak. While no threat directly, its texture and surface slow prey down when treaded upon, making them easier targets for other Necromorphs. It has also been documented to remove free oxygen from the atmosphere and metabolizing it into unknown poisonous gases in conjunction with Necromorphs called 'Wheezers', posing a long-term threat to those that step on it. Prolonged exposure usually results in things like blindness, heart failure, or in the worse case scenario, death."

IF scowled at the information, while the girls looked slightly more scared than before. "That's not good. Well, we better destroy these Necromorphs and fast." She stated, much to the others agreement. "Also, stop pulling his arms, girls, you need to get your weapons out." She quickly formed her blades while saying this. Tekken jumped back, startled by the sudden transformation. However, she didn't ask questions about it since it wasn't her business.

With groans of disapproval from the two girls, they reluctantly pulled away and summoned their weapons. Neptune quickly shook herself out of it though and stepped in front of the group, pointing Murasama towards the path with her body set in a heroic pose. "Alright ladies, let's bring the pain!"

"Pretty sure that's my line, Neptune…"

"Hehehehe, sorry just wanted to say that line at least once. The protag of protags gotta look cool, ya know!"

* * *

With that, the party made sure to hasten their way through the path up to the beginning of the Dungeon. Nico spoke the truth about the Corruption slowing them down, they could feel their bodies being sluggish and more rigid the longer they stayed on the corruption. Neptune made her complaints for it all the way, much to the irritation of IF and Nico, the latter eventually bonking her on the head.

While walking up the path, the party turned a corner and cme upon a sight that the girls weren't used to: a corpse. Compa gasped and covered her mouth to suppress a scream at the sight, while the others shuddered intensely. The corpse was fused with the corruption on the Mountain side, consisting of only the torso with no arms, nor legs, just a torso and a bloodied, skinless head. The abdomen was split open, the ground being showered with its intestines. "Tch, Guardians. Things just keep getting better…" Nico snarled with sarcasm.

"Guardians?" IF questioned, just looking at that thing made her uneasy. Even a BOW like her wouldn't look like this if she could help it.

The male nodded. "Yep, the Guardians are a variety of sessile Necromorphs. They are anchored onto walls, their flesh fused together with The Corruption. As a result, they cannot actively hunt for prey, but serves as, true to their name, guardians to areas important to the infestation, or simply as hindrances." He explained, before pointing at the Guardian before them. "This one looks to be an immature one, just recently been made if I had to guess. At this stage, the newly formed Guardian is extremely weak and lethargic, easily dispatched and is incapable of performing any kind of lethal attacks. At the very most, they will play dead until approached, or otherwise alerted, when the Corruption will attempt to cause damage by flailing out the host's intestines over which the host has no control."

Now Tekken was in a similar state as she eyed the Guardian warily, clenching her fists in trepidation. "Are they um, you know… Alive?" she asked with a quivering lip. She hoped that she was wrong, because when she looked at the eyes she could see some flickering of them, as if someone was still using them.

"Yes." Nico replied gravely, his fists clenched. This caused the girls to look at him with wide-eyed horror, almost to the point of wanting to stop him from speaking as that was enough to give a horrific picture to them. However, their bodies refused to move, allowing him to continue. "Despite the severity of the body's condition, the host is still clinging onto life, still wailing in pain and agony. This fact further establishes the notion of a symbiotic relationship with the Corruption, as it would be not otherwise possible for a Human being to live for so long having sustained such extensive damage."

IF nodded, her face slightly pale as she digested this information. She was pretty sure that she was the one handling it the best out of the rest of them, since she had seen gore and fought gory monsters for longer than the rest of the Party, save for Nico. "I see. Well then, there's only one thing to do then." With that, she morphed her left arm into her 6 Tentacles and had them curve round before spearing the corpse, going through the head, twice in the torso, and four times in the arms, 2 times each. "Best put this guy out his misery now, not like he'd survive if he was freed."

The male nodded in agreement with her assessment. "Yes, that was the best decision you could have made IF. Without the Corruption, this poor soul's body wouldn't be able to survive sine it has been damaged so heavily. Be warned though, mature Guardians are vastly different. Their appearances change to the point where the human characteristics and the Corruption no longer distinguishable from each other. While the Guardians do continue to scream and moan, suggesting that at least some part of the human brain is still functioning even at this stage, their transformation is otherwise very drastic."

Raising his left Bracer, Nico tapped on the holographic screen a few times before a picture appeared in full 3D view. "This is what they would look like should you encounter them." He explained, showing them the image of a mature Guardian. The girls gave varying looks of disgust and revulsion at its grotesque appearance, and had to agree that it was completely different from the stage they saw just now.

The first thing they noticed was the apparent increase in size compared to the previous stage, a result of the fusion with the Corruption's biomass. Moreover, the human arms, that were a characteristic trait of the premature stage, had disappeared, likely atrophied or otherwise consumed by the Corruption, as they served no purpose. Alterations could also be seen on the head of the host, with the lower jaw and part of the neck completely missing, exposing the trachea and leading to a wide-open thorax and a newly created sac where the abdomen used to be. The latter two are two body structures that have been re-purposed and created, respectively, to accommodate with the Guardian's functions.

It's thoracic cavity now serves as a place for the newly created tentacle appendages to rest, as Nico told them when they asked. The creature has two kinds of said appendages. The first kind, are the appendages that are used to further anchor the creature on their spot and are instantly drawn out once the Guardian has spotted a hostile in their vicinity. The second kind of these appendages however is a single scythe tipped tentacle that serves as the creature's only means of attack in close quarters and is what makes the Guardian extremely lethal.

The sac looked more like an orifice that served as a canal for the Corruption to spew out embryonic spawn, known as Pods when they asked Nico about it, which will aid in attacking and keeping detected threats at a distance.

After dismissing the image and explaining, Nico turned on his heels and began walking up the path again. "There's likely going to be more Guardians up ahead, along with who knows how many variants of Necromorphs. We should get going, killing the boss monster here will destroy the Corruption as it cannot live without its master." He told them as the girls began to follow him, digesting this information. One thing was for certain though, they now could understand that these creatures needed to be destroyed, just like the Banshees back in Planeptune. This wasn't a matter of choice anymore, this HAD to happen. That was what they swore to themselves, even Neptune and Compa.

With these thoughts in mind, the girls strode after him, a sense of purpose in their steps that wasn't there before.

* * *

They arrived at the entrance to the Dungeon, after having to kill several more premature Guardians along the way. The Dungeon layout was simple enough, starkly akin to the layouts of West Wind Valley at Lastation. There was a wide path that went through the dungeon, but ended a quarter of the way, before connecting to a bridge that led to another path on the opposite side. It went forwards, up a medium steep hill, before repeating the process to connect to another path on the left again. Left, right, left, this path leading up a second steep hill, ending at a circular platform.

Everywhere, they could see corruption, it covered literally everything, even the bridges, making them look twisted and demonic. The entire Dungeon had 10 times the intimidating factor that normal dungeons did. "Man, this is messed up…" IF muttered, wide-eyed as she stared at the surroundings. She remembered what the Corruption made by the Defiler looked like, and when compared to this... it made her never want to see this sight ever again. Though, considering the nature of their adventure, she likely would. "Never expected a Dungeon to turn out like this."

"The Necromorphs must have infested this entire Dungeon. We'll have to keep our guard up, who knows what could show up at any moment." Nico stated, swiftly summoning his Armour and deploying his Plasma Claws. Inside the shoulder pods, his Plasma Cannons clicked into place, ready to be revealed and unleashed at a moment's notice. The girls nodded as they began making their way through the Dungeon.

Not a few steps into the Dungeon later though, did they get a surprise visitor, or rather, multiple ones. The Corruption opened in several spots around them, almost like mouths, spitting out what looked like creatures numbering 20, which landed around them, hissing dangerously. The creatures all looked the same, showing that they were one type of Necromorph. They looked mostly humanoid in shape, with some human characteristics, but that was where the similarities began to wane.

They stood on 2 feet, which looked horrifically deformed with only 2 toes that allowed it to walk on an unstable gait. Its upper body had a hunchback-like shape, with the ribcage visible underneath the skin. They had 2 long arms protruding out from the top of the shoulderblades, each arm hanging downwards with a single blade of bone protruding out the palms of their bloodied hands. They had a secondary pair of arms, smaller, slimmer and spindly, hidden within the lower abdomen cavities. Finally, their heads only possessed 1 upper jaw, the lower half completely gone.

In short, they looked horrifically grotesque, and the Party recoiled at the sight of them. "And these things are?" IF asked the male as they got into battle stances. Compa quickly donned her armour while holding her Syringe, not using her Armcannons just yet. Neptune donned her armour as she held Murasama. Tekken held her fists up in a martial arts combat stance.

"Slashers, the most common Necromorph. Weak alone, strong in groups. Die via dismemberment. Get ready ladies, we got some fighting on our hands." Nico replied as he held his Plasma Claws at the ready. The Slashers each gave several shrieks and snarls, before quickly charging at them with the intent to kill.

IF acted first, slashing one Slasher through the chest with her right blade, her left arm still in its Tentacles form being used to keep several more at a distance. She saw Neptune jump onto one's head, stabbing it with Murasama before flipping through the air and landing behind another. It spun around to slash her with a reverse horizontal slash, but Neptune blocked it, sliding back slightly before jumping at it and slicing off one of its arms. The headless one kept moving at her while the armless one fell to the ground, unmoving as it dispersed into Particles. Looking back to the others, she saw that they too were engaged in battle and shouted over to them. "He's right, dismemberment kills them!"

"Got it, Iffy!" Compa yelled back for the rest of them as she rolled away from a Slasher's attack. she rolled back to her feet, turning around and firing at one of the Slasher's arms. It managed to get out the way in time though, thanks to the Corruption slowing her down enough for its slow reflexes to kick in. Compa pouted as she repeatedly tried blasting it, only for its limbs to move like counter weights and block her shots. "Mou! You're a big meanie!" she whined, jumping back to avoid its slash at her jugular, only for several more to attack her from behind. Compa barely ducked under them and blasted their arms off with her Syringe, going for one first, then the other.

Both fell dead as Neptune and IF worked together to keep the Slashers on their toes. The brunette would keep them at a distance, while only letting some get in close for Neptune to quickly behead then dismember with a few quick-time slashes. IF looked up and saw a Slasher jumping into the air and fall towards the preteen as she was dealing with one of its brethren. She quickly scoffed while sending a Tentacle to pierce it through the chest and fling it towards several of its buddies.

Sounds of shrieking from behind made her turn around to see another Slasher racing towards her, swinging its arms to keep its balance. IF ducked under one slash while kicking its feet out from under it, causing it to trip over, falling to the ground before her. She then stabbed it with her blade, swiftly applying her powers to it for Cell Absorption. The creature was set alight, shrieking in agony as its body was reduced to a liquified mass, which was absorbed into IF's body, filling her with power.

Meanwhile, Nico was severing limbs left and right, blood flying in any direction his swords were swung thanks to his moves. He moved like a blur, his DEMON OVERDRIVE Skill in full effect to counter the Corruption's effects as he darted throughout the battlefield. Dealing with Slashers came easy to him, just like it did fighting any kind of monster. This was what he lived for, this was what warriors like him were made for. He may be someone who can at least hold a conversation with someone, but he truly shined whenever he was on the battlefield with his life on the line. He was a warrior and a warrior's calling will always be battle. After bisecting a Slasher in a reverse slash with his left claw, he jammed the right into its head, deploying both Plasma Cannons to fire into it, and watching in satisfaction as it exploded into a gory mess, killing it instantly.

He twisted around, firing a PHANTOM WAVE Skill at a bunch of approaching Slashers. 2 of them had the right idea of dodging to the side while the rest had their arms and heads sliced through, their forms dissipating into particles. Nico charged at them before they could recover, severing the arms of one of them before jumping into a spinning disk top spin towards the other.

The two collided, blades against purple claws as they fought for dominance. Nico deflected them downwards and away from him, before delivering a vicious snap kick to its face, knocking it back before slashing with his left claw, decapitating its head. He wasn't done yet, as he sausage flipped into the air, before coming down in a double slash that sliced through both its arms.

Power flowed through him, and he enjoyed every second of it as he bisected and slaughtered every Slasher that came his way. Most of them now saw him as a threat, greater than the girls thanks to how many he had been killing, but that was fine. He would aggro them, so the girls could take out the stragglers. A good strategy to survive in this infested hellhole.

The sounds of a female war cry reached his ears as Nico looked and saw Tekken charging at a Slasher. He saw how she moved, how she fought, and judged that she used a Boxer's stance with a variety of martial arts techniques. She dodged a Slash to her head, then the ones that followed it, until she saw an opening and launched an elbow strike to the face, knocking the Slasher back before she went on the offensive, delivering several strong punches.

Each one caused a loud BOOM on impact, as well as a slight shockwave through the air, making Nico's lone eye widen, the bloodlust of a warrior within it dulling for the moment. 'Whoa… she has obviously been training viciously for that kind of strength to be under her command…' he thought to himself, watching as she trapped the Slasher in a headlock, before twisting and tearing the head clean off. She then pined it to the ground front first, before grabbing one of its arms and heaving, using one foot on its back for balance. The arm was torn off, and the creature dispersed into Particles.

... was it strange that Nico found a cute girl tearing a monster's arm off to be kind of scary...? And... what was that slight longing look when she did so?

3 more slashed at her from behind, only for her to duck under them, grab one of the offending limbs, and toss the owner into the other two. She then clenched her right fist, and a torrent of wind suddenly encased it, swirling around It into a volatile twister. "FUJIN FIST!" she bellowed, dashing towards the pile of Slashers and delivering a hard uppercut. The winds knocked them high into the air, slashing through them all and reducing them to little pieces.

Landing, Tekken turned to another Slasher as it went for an overhead slash aiming to impale her shoulders with its blades. However, Tekken expertly weaved through them and launched a series of kicks to its face. She then reared a fist back, which became covered in lightning. She then delivered a powerful punch to its chest, releasing Lightning into the creature's body, yelling "RAIJIN FIST!" the Lightning surged through its body, ripping the Slasher to shreds.

Nico was so transfixed on her fighting, that he almost didn't notice that he was being surrounded. Fortunately, he did notice, and thus acted appropriately. 'Alright, enough dilly dallying, time to focus!' he chided, before vanishing in a burst of DEMON OVERDRIVE enhanced speed.

* * *

A moment later, the slashers were defeated, and they could continue. After they regrouped, the party continued their way to the end of the Dungeon. Nico and Neptune were at the front, with Compa in the middle, and IF and Tekken on the rear. They kept the healer in the middle, so she could heal them as best as possible, and so they could protect her from all sides.

"Geez, those guys are not nice. they made me ruin my favourite hoodie dress…" Neptune complained, puckering her lips in a pout as she gazed down at her hoodie, which had several tears through its material. Hell, even her stockings were torn in several places, which didn't sit well with the young Goddess. Her armour had been damaged in those places by the Slashers when she had gotten too overconfident, and their blades managed to rip through the clothes underneath, too. She had only noticed this after the battle, hence her complaining.

Hearing her whining, IF rolled her eyes as she snorted. "We just faced a horde of deadly monsters made from dead corpses, and you're complaining about your clothes?" she remarked with incredulity in her voice as she shook her head at the preteen's priorities. Though, this was Neptune, she was the living personification of randomness. That lesson should have sunken in by now, but sometimes IF couldn't help but comment on her randomness.

"Well, I think it makes Nep-Nep loads of fun. It's exciting to guess what kind of comments she'll make next, don't you think, Tekken?" Compa had the opposite opinion than her brunette friend as she gazed at the young atrial artist. She liked Neptune's comments, though she would admit that they could come at bad times like back in Lastation before they fought the Killachines.

Tekken grinned as she pumped her fists. "Neptune really does have a flair for the humorous, but that's what I like about her." She explained. Being new to the Party's dynamic, at least in this world, Tekken had feared that Neptune would have changed a bit compared to the one she knew, however it brought a smile to her face to see that she was wrong. Despite the differences in this world, Neptune's quirky demeanour was a constant, and that was enough to brighten anyone's day.

With the way things were in this world, some quirkiness may be what everyone needs to push forwards.

* * *

The party made their way to the first bridge, where the path on the other side had more corruption on its side than on the ground. They could see faint specs of round as well, which of course Neptune commented on. "Eh? What's up with that? The freaky stuff isn't on the path as much as here."

"For once, I don't know, Neptune, no clue at all." Nico replied, frowning. "Whatever the case, having to not need my DEMON OVERDRIVE skill on will be a blessing to my reserves, plus I bet you girls are getting tired of being as slow as turtles, huh?" Nobody could argue with him there, as the girls did indeed share his opinion.

As they made to cross the bridge however…

Alarms rang from Nico's bracers, making him reflexively jump back. "Everyone, back!" he yelled, and it was the intensity of his yell that inspired the girls to do the same. It was a good thing too, because no sooner had they done this, a large form suddenly jumped out from below the deep cavern below the Dungeon and landed in front of the bridge.

The creature stood before them on all fours, growling and groaning in anger and defiance. This creature looked more like it was born from an animal than a human. It was almost entirely encased in an armoured, spiked exoskeleton made from bone and calcified skin. Its posterior was relatively unarmoured, though its structure indicated it was hiding something within. It moved on all fours, like a gorilla, and had only half the human head with the lower jaw missing. There was no doubt in their minds that this was a Necromorph.

"Okay, this sucker's not like the others, what is he?" Neptune questioned, sweat dropping from her forehead behind her helmet as the group readied their weapons. Nico had switched to his Plasma Claws while IF returned her blade arm to normal, favouring her Tentacles. Compa also switched weapons, from her Syringe to her Armcannons.

Nico was the one who answered her as they got ready to fight. "It's a Brute, large, made out of multiple corpses, and is quite literally a 'brute' in combat, with 'brute strength' being its greatest weapon."

IF gave the male a look from the corner of her eye. "I can't help but think you were making puns there… and not very good ones, either." She remarked casually, making Nico scoff and look away from her like a child disappointed in his parents thinking that e wasn't doing anything good when he was. "No matter, we gotta get through this thing otherwise we can't move on. let's go, girls!"

The Brute gave a loud roar, glaring at the with raw primal fury as it bounded towards them. Despite its size, which was easily bigger than any Gamindustri Citizen by far, it was also quite fast they all barely managed to avoid its initial charge by rolling sideways as it turned its attention on Tekken.

It gave another roar while rearing a fist back to punch her. She did the same and the two fists collided, a sharp shockwave rushing through the air from the point of impact that sent the other's skidding backwards. Tekken gritted her teeth as her limb trembled, same with the Brute's limb as they tried to overpower each other. "Heh, you're a strong one, aren't you?" she remarked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "But sheer strength alone will not beat me! RAIJIN FIST!" She encased her other fist in lightning and delivered a fierce uppercut to its jaw, then landed on top of it and used it as a springboard to jump back.

As she landed in a crouch, Tekken looked to see if she had done any damage, but unfortunately no dice. Her eyes widened as the Brute just looked more pissed than before. her face lost a little colour when she had to side flip to avoid another fist, then did a back flip to avoid the second fist. "Uh guys? Need a little help here!"

Help arrived in the form of Neptune who ran at it from behind and tried to slash its rear. However, that did little damage to it as it kicked her away, like a fly being swatted. It then turned towards her, before running at her with the intent to ram into her. Neptune slid to a halt, glancing behind her to see a large rock formation. Looking back at the Charging brute, she got an idea and back flipped onto the rock formation, bouncing up and down and waving her arms at it. "Hey, hey! Buddy! No need to be so broody about everything, you can't get a girl that way!"

Her taunt served to irritate the Brute further, and like she thought it rammed into the rock formation. This turned out to be a mistake as she jumped off at the last second, letting the formation fall on top of it. Landing on the ground, she slid to a halt before looking up, seeing that she had landed bedside Nico who had been eyeing the monster heavily. "Ya got any ideas, Nicky? My Murasama can't get through its armour, which is bogus considering what it does."

"Yeah, sever its arms. There's some weak spots in its armour, if we hit those then we can sever the thing's arms from its body. Necromorphs are universally weak to dismemberment, you see." He replied, looking to IF who had jumped onto a small rock and was kneeling on one leg like a knight over it. "IF, you find a way to hold it down, me and Neptune shall try to get at its arms!"

The brunette nodded in his direction, before the Brute burst out the rubble, roaring in absolute rage towards them. It looked at the one responsible for it being buried in the first place, who merely shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'what, your fault you have a sort temper, dummy.' It began to charge at her once again, rushing at her with reckless abandon.

This was what they wanted though, as Compa suddenly stepped beside her friend and aimed both her Armcannons, firing a barrage of Plasma Needles at its face, making the Brute slide to a halt as it tried to cover its face from the barrage. "Iffy, whatever you thought, now's the time!"

IF grinned as she nodded, rearing her Tentacles back. "No prob, thanks Compa!" she yelled her gratitude as she thrusted what little remained of her mutated arm forwards, launching the Tentacles towards it. the Tentacles secured its limbs and held them down, others wrapping around its body to further immobilise it. "Alright guys, do what you need too! Tch, can't hold him for long!"

"No need, I got this remember?! CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!" Nico bellowed, dashing towards his prey. His hand began to glow as he placed a marker on its head and jumped back, a magic circle appearing under it to wrap its chains around the Brute's form. He then jumped onto and off the creature's back, twisting into the air and diving towards one of the arms.

Neptune had already been running at the other arm at this point, so the two shared a grin behind their respective helmets, and severed both limbs from the creature's body at the same time. Plasma Claws had dug through the bonds, easily severing and cauterizing them, while Murasama's HF enhancements cut through the bonds like swiss cheese.

The two landed on opposite sides as the Brute gave one last cry, weak and feeble, before it fell to the ground and dispersed into Particles. "Alright, we won!" Compa cheered as she and the others regrouped before the bridge. They each discarded their weapons back to their respective storage places, while those who had armour kept it on.

Nico's helmet split down the middle from te forehead down to the lower lip, the two plates sliding to the sides of his head to expose his face, a feature that was integrated into the new armour. "Looks like. There'll be more ahead though, so let's not get too complacent here."

Neptune gave the male a dry look, her earlier happiness at the Brute's defeat heavily diminished, which she was not happy about. "Mou! Nicky, no need to ruin the moment with serious talk every time we win, ya know. At least let us bask in our victory for once." She whined, making the others chuckle in amusement at her antics.

"Nico's right Nep." IF began, getting a betrayed look from Neptune that she promptly ignored in favour of continuing. "We may have won these battles, but until we fight the boss it won't be over. Let's just keep going until we get to the last boss."

The preteen groaned in dismay, but eventually relented to their words. Even she could tell they were right, considering the freaky stuff they had to put up with this time. It made what they went through in Lastation look like a cakewalk in comparison. That included Zombies, massive monsters, government agendas and past tragedies. "Oh, fine. Let's keep going and clobber more baddies…"

"Just wait Nep-Nep, I'll make you some fine pudding when we get to a Hotel."

Compa's words rung trough Neptune's mind, fading into silence like an echo. It served to refuel her up to 110%, a massive grin spreading across her face behind her helmet as she turned around and bolted across the bridge. "Come on you monsters! Face me ere so I can go get some delicious Pudding!"

Everyone sweat dropped, bribing Neptune with Pudding seemed to be the best way to get her butt moving. Though really, it shouldn't be a surprise anymore. With those thoughts in mind, the rest of them ran off after the preteen before she could get herself killed. Nobody would want that, now would they?

* * *

Unbeknownst to the Party, they were not alone, they had attracted the attention of two forces. One of those forces was watching from high atop the mountainside, hidden from view so that they could not be seen. "There they are… those little brats, thinking they would be safe in a Necromorph Infested Dungeon? They'll be monster chow by the end of it, not that I would care." The figure spoke, snarling in annoyance. "However, I must make sure they survive this, so I can deal with them myself. If Neptune or that boy were to die prematurely, their powers will be lost to me forever, and that is not allowed."

The figure, by the sound of the voice used being a woman, raised a slender, slim hand and procured a Disk, one that looked suspiciously like the Enemy Disks that the Party had found back in Planeptune. However, this one had several stark differences that made it quite unlike those Disks.

For starters, this Disk instead of being the normal whitish blue colour, it was completely black. Blacker than the void that those who vanish out of existence return to. It had a crimson centre, as well as a black button in the middle of it that actied more like a pupil. The Disk had been glowing with this crimson aura around it, filling the surroundings with a sense of dread and despair. A nearby insect was crawling along the mountain side when the aura from the Disk reached its senses. The Insect panicked, thinking that it was about to be attacked by a vicious Predator, and scurried back into the cracks within the mountainside from whence it came.

This made the woman chuckle, knowing that this Disk would bring about the end of those brats, either them or the Necromorphs, whichever it would be. "Now that I think about it, it would be best to set this loose on the Necromorphs ahead, so it can gain additional power alongside what I provided with it. Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Now Neptune, you along with that boy toy of yours will meet your doom, and I will once more reign over this world, to bring Gamindustri back to what it once was! Ahahahaha hahahahahaha!"

* * *

Deep within Nico's inner world, Biko was standing in the middle of the vast desert, frowning in concern.

This was bad.

Very, very bad.

He had sensed the rising amount of power that IT was gaining, not even the Suppressant Drugs in Nico's armour would be able to suppress it for much longer. The Drugs right now were only suppressing about 15% of IT's full might, and if things continued the way they did then Nico would only have a week at most before IT would be able to take over. Both he and Nico knew this, thus they had been having intense discussions about what to do about this.

On one side, they could stop suppressing IT and learn how to tame IT without the girls knowing. Alone IT was no threat at all. In fact, IT was easy for him to control for the last few years, to the point where once he had seized control over IT, Nico had sealed IT away, using both mental seals and special suppressants to limit ITS activity as much as possible.

However, the problem was that ever since he began this journey with Neptune, Compa and IF, IT was starting to break free. Nico didn't have the time to suppress IT as much as he used to, especially without drawing attention from the girls. He had already felt ITS power return to him in the form of his senses and instincts. If this kept up, then he would get not only ITS full power back, but also all the… urges, that came with IT. these urges, these terrible, terrible urges would hit Nico full force, with the impact of a bullet train. Biko feared that even with the training Nico was undergoing, both physical and mental training, that he may not be able to endure such overwhelming urges, thus he would lose the battle in the end.

NOBODY would want what would happen next to come into being. The consequences had already been witnessed once before…

For now, all they could do was train in the use of his DPU powers, the demonic energy that circulated though his system enhanced the Drugs that kept IT in check, as well as restrained IT by itself. He had a constant stream of it always flowing so IT couldn't regain ITS power that IT had lost when Nico sealed IT away. Hell, even sealing IT away didn't get rid of all his problems, for IT had bonded to him too deeply. His body was left a twisted shell of what it once was, things he could do before no longer possible for the current him. In a sense, Biko could understand why Nico would want to keep this secret from everyone, including Neptune and the others. It was a burden that not everyone could carry, but a champion of Sparda like him was more than Qualified for the task.

"AWWWWW, WHY THE LONG FACE, BUUUUUDY? AREN'T YOU HAPPY TO SEE ME RETURN?"

Biko looked behind him, his face impassive as he showed nothing to indicate the storm of conflicting emotions he was experiencing. Fromm behind him, a black mass rose out the desert sands. The mass rose till it was the height of a person, before peeling away like banana peels, revealing a humanoid figure standing before him.

The figure was Nico… or rather, a copy of him. This Nico however had several stark differences compared to the original, with his body mostly pale white, like a corpse. His fingernails were blacker than charcoal, as were his teeth. He wore a white trench coat with a high collar and a black pulsating interior, a pair of red fingerless gloves on his hands, a black polo shirt, a pair of black coloured camp pants and white military boots. Instead of the many straps Nico had, this copy had one belt strapped diagonally over his left shoulder to his right hip, and he had no weapons on him. But the biggest difference… was his eyes.

While Nico's were light blue coloured with a white scarlea, this Copies couldn't be any more different. They were blacker than the void of nothingness, with crimson irises and small black pupils, red veins went across the sides of his face, like cracks in a mask showing the true monster hidden within.

"WHAT, NOT GONNA SAY HELLO? THAT HURTS… NAH, IT DOESN'T AT ALL. THAT BOY MAY THINK HE IS KING RIGHT NOW, BUT SOON THAT WILL NOT BE THE CASE! SOON, I SHAL BE FREE, AND I SHALL RETAKE MY POSITION AS KING, WHERE HE WILL BE THE PET HORSIE I GET TO KICK AROUND FOR MY PLEASURE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Another chapter, ladies and gents!**

 **Now, this one may seem intense and action packed, but that will be nothing compared to future chapters, believe you me. Also, I believe some of you are going to be wondering about IT that I keep mentioning. At least, at the end here I gave you all a look into what IT looks like, at least in Nico's mind. Hopefully this can help you figure out what it is that Nico is hiding, although its still ways away from being official.**

 **Anyways, I gotta go, the next chapter needs editing so I'll catch you all later.**

 **Cherios!**


	56. Chapter 53 - Graverobber Surprise

**Chapter 53 - Graverobber surprise**

Fighting through the Dungeon was as difficult as Nico had predicted. Once they had crossed the first bridge, the Party had been bombarded with wave after wave after wave of Necromorphs. From Slashers, to Brutes and even a few variants that the girls had never seen before but Nico explained to them afterwards:

The first variant was called 'Leapers' and they ambushed the Party from atop the mountainside. They were made from single human corpses, with the host body's modifications serving to give the Necromorph vastly increased mobility. The musculature of the upper arm becomes more developed, and the fingers becoming bladed claws for climbing and slashing, and with the hands becoming dislocated along with the thumbs moved to the back to create animal-like paws. Their more noticeable trait were their long Tails which were made from both the victims legs, as well as their intestines.

If they thought that was fucked up, the 'Pregnants' quickly slapped those thoughts away. Pregnants were created by a single human corpse, albeit one that has been radically mutated. The skull's lower jaw had been detached, and what appeared to be tentacles hung from the mouth. These creatures sport two massive arms coming out from their backs, each ending in a large bone scythe, used to slash and rend an opponent in the same manner as Slashers did. The host's human arms were fused into the massive sac that had developed on the torso. Tekken had close hand experience with this, but the sac part hosted smaller Necromorphs inside it. When heavily damaged, Pregnants would claw open their own abdominal sacs to release their spawn, to ensure their victim's demise. To accommodate its great weight, their legs were short, to balance the creature by lowering its centre of mass, and the overall leg structure had been altered. As a result, although their weight hinders their speed, they can move at a brisk enough pace to out-walk their target when they are determined.

Finally, after surviving those death-traps, the party was ambushed by 'Stalkers'. Stalkers were easily the most annoying of the three variants, though they weren't as disgusting as the Pregnants or the Leapers though. Still, they were ugly and disgusting, along with possessing a pack mentality that messed with the Party's heads. Stalkers were heavily altered Necromorphs, like the Guardians in their mature stages, bearing little resemblance to their original human forms. Their long arms were equipped with long talons ending in sharpened tips. While not efficient at slashing, they can still impale, knock down, and rend their victims. The ribcage was displayed wide open, though as with most Necromorphs, there was a lack of any digestive organs, and only vestigial remains of previously vital organs.

Well-formed musculature in the back lead to a reinforced spinal column and neck capped by their most distinguishing feature: A massive, eyeless, three-pronged head with only traces of original human bone structure. Their skulls were largely exposed, sporting a thick cap covered in bony protrusions to aid in crushing and bashing. The upper jaw and nasal cavities are left largely intact, while the cranial dome is squashed down to provide a more even, durable striking surface, which is further supported by the cheek bones. Unlike many Necromorphs, this highly mutated skull is the hardest point on the creature, and is immune to dismemberment.

At this point, the girls were under the assumption that these Necromorphs were some of the most brutal, grotesque looking monsters they had ever seen, none of the other Abnormals or normal monsters held a candle to them for scares and nightmare-inducing appearances. The girls, especially the weaker minds of the group, would be having nightmares for weeks after this.

As for Nico, he just took this in stride, moving on like he had seen this type of horror before. In his case, he likely had, considering how long he had been in the Spec Ops Programme. If someone like him had been unfazed by the appearance of monsters like these, then what could it take to scare someone like him? The girls weren't sure they wanted to find out the answer to that can of worms any time soon, if at all.

* * *

In current times, the party had arrived at the second half of the Dungeon. But even after taking a few steps they knew that there was something amiss. "What the hell is going on here? What are those things trying to pull…?" Nico muttered under his breath as he surveyed the area around them.

They were on a large platform, one that led to 2 directions. There was a steep hill going downwards, while to the left was a futuristic bridge leading to another area. The hill ended at another platform that led to another Bridge on its side, connecting to another path. However, there was a stark contrast to the first area. There was… no Corruption. There were no signs of life however, like all life had been sucked out of this Dungeon's section. It was like a valley for the dead, something that didn't belong in the mortal world.

Then again, the mortal world WAS quite fucked up currently.

"This is weird. I was half expecting there to be this gigantic towering mass with tentacles to be the last boss, or something." Neptune pondered thoughtfully, humming to herself. "Well, it was either that or a whole load more Necromorphs, and I for one don't wanna see those again."

IF nodded her head with a wince. "You and me both, Neptune. Those Pregnants were pretty nasty pieces of work." She held back the urge to shudder as she remembered fighting those things. It made her desire to procreate diminish heavily just thinking about what that human host had once been. Nico had said that it was once a female who had been pregnant, and that thought alone would haunt her nightmares.

Tekken felt a shiver go up her spine, and not the pleasurable kind, either. "Those things were really scary… but the pain felt oh so good…." She muttered the last part under their breath, but only Nico heard it. The male shuddered, but for a completely different reason than one would expect.

'HEHEHEHEHE, MY, HOW MUCH FUN WE'D HAVE WITH HER, EEEEEEH?'

'You shut up!'

"Still… something about this feels weird…" Compa commented as she looked around the surroundings with worry on her face. It was concerning that they had been pelted with Necromorph attacks since coming to this Dungeon, with the Corruption not helping things much given its abilities. "The area looks like any other Dungeon, but…"

She tried to say something to finish her sentence, but she came out blank. Nonetheless, nobody called her out on it. Finally, Nico had enough thinking for one day and began to move forwards. "Well, one thing's for sure, we won't find any answers just standing about. Let's go, but stay on your guard. Who knows what we're going to find out there."

"RIGHT!"

* * *

The party decided to go see what was to the left first. Something told the two Protagonists (Nico and Neptune) that there was something there that could be a help to figuring out what was going on here. Walking over the bridge, they stopped at the other side and began looking around.

On her end, Compa gave a shudder as she looked at the plant-life, seeing how it looked like all its vitality had been drained out of it. "I don't like this… everything seems dead…" she remarked.

"That's what happens after the Corruption leaves." Nico stated bluntly as he surveyed the side of a mountain. He was looking at various holes in the mountainside, running his hand over a few and identifying hem as placements for Guardians. Or rather, they were. Whatever happened here was sudden and happened without warning, judging by how these holes looked. "Usually life is recovered after the Corruption is destroyed, all life it takes returning to the land around it. However, that only happens if all of it goes at once, which only happens if the Boss is defeated. Unfortunately, it was only partially destroyed, so the life here will not return as quickly."

IF frowned at this information, but Tekken who was beside her looking at some remains of some insects, though Tekken stayed near a twisted and demonic looking tree, spoke first. "How awful… these Necromorphs are truly dangerous if the damage is this bad."

Nico nodded his head in agreement as he stepped away from the former Guardian locations and stepped back to the others. His hands would have gone into his pockets, but his armour was on, so he couldn't. 'They couldn't put on some pockets, could they?' the male ranted to himself. "Agreed, they're almost as bad as their sibling species the Xenomorphs. Most of their traits are similar, they create various forms depending on their hosts state, only if they were able to fight each other, the Xenomorphs would win."

"Why's that, Nicky?" Neptune questioned, turning her head to look at him as she kneeled with her arms around her legs.

The male looked at her as he replied with an explanation. "I'll put it simple for you Neptune, since your brain's likely hurting from all this seriousness." He rolled his eyes when a loud exclamation of "heck yeah it is!" came from the preteen, with a small chuckle as well. Then, he returned to his serious demeanour. "For one, they breed like Banshees do, due to them being an endoparasitoid species. Implant an embryo into the host, embryo turns to this thing called a 'Chestburster', its purpose self-explanatory…" the girls shuddered, knowing what that meant. "And grows into an adult based off the hosts traits. Second, its blood. the blood of a Xenomorph is highly acidic, and can melt though the toughest of armours like a hot knife through butter. When facing them stick to ranged attacks and Skills, otherwise your dead."

While he was explaining this, IF glanced to the last part of the alternate path, before walking up the hill to see what was there. Her instincts had told her there was something there, and her BOW enhanced nose could smell fresh blood over there. Her senses had been filed with the stuff ever since she came here, almost making her throw up had she not been in Lastation throughout the aftermath of Avenir's little 'experiment'.

When she was at the top, her eyes widened in horror and shock when she saw what she did. Quickly turning her head as Nico finished his explanation, she called out to them. "You guys! Quick, come here! You're gonna want to see this!"

Everyone snapped to attention when they heard IF's cry. They quickly jogged up the hill, rushing to her to see what had the Guild Agent/Spec Ops Candidate so worked up. When they were beside her and looked at the platform, all they could see why she was so stunned.

Corpses.

Monster and Necromorph Corpses, littered the platform.

They were sprawled all over it, their forms missing vital organs and limbs. The Vital organs applied only to the normal monsters, Necromorphs had no need for them since they were made from dead tissue anyways. The Necromorphs had lost their limbs in dismemberment, the limbs either uselessly on the ground or missing. Blood pooled over the platform, like a crimson lake with some of it dripping over the side of the platform, though it had quickly dried thanks to the scorching sun.

"What… what is this…?" Compa asked, barely above a whisper as she covered her mouth with her hands. Tekken did the same, while all the girls lost most of the colour in their faces. It drained away from them, making them look like they were ghosts. Hell, even Nico looked affected, though his Helmet had hidden most of his reaction from view. Neptune and Compa were fortunate to be wearing armour so their expressions were hidden, although the previous observations of their reactions were still applicable despite them being hidden.

How long had it been since he saw something like this?

Neptune was the first one to react. "Whoa… the M Rating for this fic is really not kidding. Just imagine if all this was cannon, we'd have a VERY different opinion of us circling the internet these days." Neptune commented, shuddering. Though, whether it was from the sigh or her fourth wall breaking was anyone's guess.

IF rolled her eyes as she gave an incredulous glare to the preteen CPU. "Really, Nep? You make jokes NOW of all times?" that was what she wanted to say, but she only got to speak the first question, the rest was said in her mind, as she hadn't the will to say it. She would have normally, had she not realised something. Neptune breaking te tension with jokes was part of her nature, her personality, and she could tell that Compa and Tekken needed something to lighten the mood.

"This is terrible…" the young Nurse-In-Training whispered, somehow finding more strength in her voice as she eyed the horror-fest before her. Perhaps it came from the fact that she had seen gore like this before when fighting the Zombies in Lastation? Who knew. "Who could have done this?"

Tekken frowned, before shaking her head as she looked at the corpses. "No clue here, I've never fought that many Abnormals, just stayed out of their way mostly." She remarked, remembering her past experiences with the Abnormal monsters, how she would hide from them with her friends in the wilds. Normally she wouldn't be like this, as it was in her blood to fight and become stronger. Hell, it was her desire to get stronger as a Martial Artist! However, every cell in her body warned her that the Abnormals were too tough for her current being to beat.

Nico meanwhile, was coming to terms with things of his own as he stared with his lone eye at the devastation. It wasn't the fact that there was corpses and blood all over the place, that wasn't what troubled him. No, it was upon closer inspection of the nearest corpses that deeply unnerved him. The corpses, the ones that were of normal monsters, had certain markings on them where they had lost their organs and/or limbs. Booth marks, meaning that whatever did this was something that feasted on other beings to survive…

And he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

'Looks like you were right, mom…' Nico thought, closing his eye as he remembered what his adoptive mom had said to him before they arrived at Leanbox.

* * *

 ** _"_** ** _If you and those girls go there, you'll surely run into more Abnormals and Demons… maybe even some of THEM as well…"_**

* * *

Opening his eye, the male pushed his conflicting emotions to the side and focused on the Corpses. "Looks like these were recent kills. Whatever did this may still be nearby, so we should probably keep our guard up." He advised. The others nodded their heads in agreement, something that can do something like this was NOT something they would wat o get ambushed by. Just as they returned to walk back down the hill…

RRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Neptune and Compa screamed, holding each other while a loud, ferocious roar echoed through the area. It chilled them to the bone, sending dread down their spines and fear into their minds. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" With the amount of stresss and tension in the air thanks to the sight of the corpses, their fears had been up through the roof, so when the roar came out of nowhere, the girls lost control.

Nico quickly whirled to the cavern below, looking down it to see a hulking form rapidly climbing up the surface. "Everyone, get away from the eddges!" Nico yelled, flipping away from the ledge himself. The girls didn't need to be told twice as they all got away dfrom the ledge, as well as jumped down the hill to the lower platform.

Just in time too, for if they were later by a second, they would have witnessed the mass jumping onto the ledge, land on one of the corpses and hungrily devour it before moving onto the rest. They didn't need to be there to know that though, the gory squelching sounds made it clear what it was doing. While it was distracted, Neptune, IF, Compa, and Nico summoned their weapons while Tekken raised her fists and got into a combat stance.

In a moment, the sounds of corpses being eaten stopped, the mass began to move over to the edge of the hill, letting the party see what the heck it was in the first place. Then sun shone brightly on it, covering it with shadow, but they could tell that it was as large as a car. The shadowy form jumped from the hill and landed before them, allowing them to finally see its full glory.

As well as all its horror.

The form before them was that of a creature that moved in a bear-like stance. It possessed three jawless heads and pincers. The creature's entire upper torso is composed of dead bodies, most of which have been visually absorbed partway into the creature's flesh. It also had large, Slasher-like blades, coming out the top of its back. A long, fleshy tongue comes out of the central head, while two giant mandibles or tusks comes out of the heads on the sides. The body was akin to a Brute's in that it has several armour-plated regions on its body, forming a ribcage-like pattern along the length of its torso. Its hands and feet were clawed as it snarled menacingly towards them.

"Hmmm, looks like we got ourselves a Graverobber." Nico mused as he checked his Void Storage for the weapon he would use. Graverobbers were very powerful Necromorphs, as well as highly resilient. The last time he fought one of those, his Plasma Claws could barely put a dent through its hide, forcing him to use his demonic weapons, as well as IT, to slaughter it once and for all. If this was going to be like the last time, then...

He remembered how he told IF he was a Scythe Wielder, and began to ponder drawing his Scythe out. 'It's been a while since I used it last, believe the last time I used it was 8 weeks ago when I was fighting a horde of Frenzied Ancient Dragons.' He mused mentally. Plus, this would distract him from the other problem at hand.

IF looked to him, pondering whether to ask him how he knew that or not, but decided against it since it wasn't that surprising that he knew. He was a Spec Ops with knowledge of tons of Abnormals, this was no different. "In any case, looks like ugly here's not gonna let us leave without a fight. Get ready girls, here it comes!"

The Graverobber roared as it struck, lunging at them and swinging its Slasher Blades at them wildly. The girls dodged them when they were attacked, while Neptune managed to get behind it and slashed at one of its legs. Unfortunately, the damage that she managed to do was minimal, and what damage she did do was regenerated near instantaneously. "What?! Aw, come on, Hax I call Hax!"

Tekken charged in and punched one of the heads with a RAIJN FIST. Lighting sparked through the creature's body, but the Graverobber just growled, furiously headbutting the girl and knocking her down. "Ouchies! That hurt… but it felt so good, too!" she moaned, but luckily the others didn't hear her since they were focused on the battle.

When the Graverobber made to pounce and devour her, its jaws open wide, Tekken swiftly rolled out the way, going into a rising helicopter kick while empowering her legs with Lightning. She succeeded in tripping and making the Graverobber fall on one side, before flipping back to dodge a Slasher blade.

This made way for IF to jump into the fray, moulding her Tentacles into one long Pillar-like form that she rammed into the Graverobber's underbelly, making it cry out as it slid across the ground. It dug its claws into the ground to slow its movement while using the momentum to get back on all fours. It then roared as its tongue less heads opened, an inner orange glow forming in their mouths.

"Guys, watch out! Projectiles!" Nico warned as they as the Graverobber fired a pair of large ball-like projectiles at them. They dodged them, but when they hit the ground they melted through it like butter in a frying pan, leaving a large crater behind filled with orange liquid. Steam rose from it accompanied by a sizzling sound, indicating all too well what would have happened if any of them touched it.

The male growled in anger, feeling demonic energy rising within him as he channelled it through his being to increase his power. He sped towards the Gaverobber, with Neptune coming in from the other side as she prepared to activate CROSS COMBINATION. The Graverobber however, batter her away with oe of its blade s before she could finish preparations and lunged towards him.

Sliding beneath the Graverobber Nico summoned and drew Ebony and Ivory from his Void Storage, unloading on its torso as he slid beneath it. The Graverobber shrieked and fell to the ground. it slowly rose to its feet, shaking its head to clear its dizziness, before turning to see Compa unload a barrage of rounds onto its face, 4 in each of the eyes its side heads possessed.

Seeing their chances, the group each began activating Skills of their own. IF went first, going for a DEMON FLAMES. The flames erupted and covered the Necromorph, making it howl in agony as the flames licked away at its flesh, which regenerated just as quickly.

When the flames dissipated, its eyes opened to the sight of Neptune in its face, her eyes livid as she swung her sword with a cry of "CROSS COMBINATION!" While she didn't knock it into the air, due to the creature's weight being doubled thanks to devouring those corpses, she was still able to complete her Skill. She then added in a CRITICAL EDGE for good measure, ending up behind it.

Running in from the left was Nico, and he as activating a Skill of his own. "PHANTOM EDGE!" he yelled, his weapon, which was Rebellion, becoming coated in his energy as he dashed past it, leaving behind a long gash that erupted with energy, damaging it further. He then twisted a full 180 degrees, kicking in its direction to launch a PHANTOM WAVE that sent it onto its side, rolling several times as it did so.

Next up was Tekken, who ran up to its faces and did a double spinning drill dropkick, both feet slamming into the centre face and dazing it. She then landed on her hands, flipping into the air and landing on her feet before dashing forwards. Both fists were enveloped in Lightning, the signature form of her RAIJIN FIST Skill but on both fists, as she delivered a series of punches with them. She delivered 20 punches in 8 seconds, before spinning into a helicopter kick that collided with one of its side faces, sending it to the ground.

Compa followed with a COMPA LOVE HEART, forming the attack in front of her with her Syringe before thrusting her Syringe at its centre, launching the large love heart into its face, causing a large pink explosion. However, she wasn't done yet with this monster, her eyes shining brightly with a purple aura gathering around her. "I'm not the weakest one here, anymore! BREADCRUMBS!" she called out, twisting around into a whirlwind spin while pointing her Syringe forwards. As this happened, dark purple petals gathered around her, forming a makeshift circle around her and preventing anyone from getting close. A few seconds later she fell on her backside, her Syringe's tip releasing a purple laser into the air. It reached about 20 feet, before coming back down as a shower of lasers, bombarding the Graverobber like a round of heavy artillery.

Smoke covered the area as Compa got up, panting heavily from her attack. The others were giving her stunned looks, as if doubting that she was the same person who had been training with them. "Dude!" Neptune gasped, giving Compa a look of awe with stars shining in her eyes. "That was freaking AWESOMESAUCE, Compa! I didn't know you could do that!"

In response to the sudden attention, Compa could only let out a nervous giggle, rubbing the back of her head shyly as she used her Syringe as a Cane. That attack had taken a lot out of her, Nico had noticed, no matter how powerful an attack was it always had the drawback of energy draining. Fortunately, they all had high reserves of energy, so they could pull Skills off without fear of losing too much. Compa on the other hand focused more on refining her control over her healing Skills, not increasing her overall reserves. Thus, a large-scale attack will drain her significantly.

"I'll admit it was cool, but looks like you got tired after one use. You might wat to train your reserves when you get the chance Compa." IF advised sagely, the Nurse-In-Training nodding in agreement as she barely managed to stand straight without using her Syringe as support.

"Yessy."

While the girls were commenting about Compa's ability Nico checked his Holomap, trying to see if there were any life signs for the Graverobber left. He pulled up his HUD and checked the surroundings… his eyes widening when his HUD detected life signs within the smoke. "Oh shit, everyone, be cautious! This thing's still alive!"

His warning came just in time as the Graverobber suddenly jumped out the smoke towards Compa, who eeped and tried to dive out the way. However, one of it claws nicked her on the side, clawing her armour off and exposing the flesh underneath. She managed to escape injury though, and her armour was already restoring itself as she landed on her side.

"Compa! Hold on, the Neps a comin'!" Neptune yelled as she rushed forwards, Tekken soon following suit. The two distracted the Graverobber which slashed with its blades, blocking their attacks but allowing Compa to get some distance. Unfortunately for her, she left her Syringe by the leg of the beast in her haste to get away.

"My Syringe!"

Nico noticed this and quickly realised what would happen if the Graverobber would step on it. While the girls distracted it, the male dashed forwards, activating DEMON OVERDRIVE to increase his speed. He became a blur, ducking under a stray right claw and sliding long the ground. Switching Rebellion for Ebony, Nico reached with his right arm out to the Syringe, grasping it by the middle of its tanker before pulling it to his chest and getting to his feet. He even managed to shot a few rounds into the Graverobber's right hind leg, distracting it long enough for IF to get in a good solid smash to the face with the pillar she had for an arm.

The male then flipped back multiple times, the third flip being his biggest as he slid to a halt next to the Nurse-In-Training. When he stopped, the male stood tall and turned to his comrade, holding the Syringe out in one hand and bowing slightly. "Special Delivery! One trusty Syringe for one pretty Nurse-In-Training!"

"Thank you!" Compa beamed, oblivious to the slight slip-up Nico made, the male thanking that his helmet hid his blushing features, as she took her Syringe back.

Grinning behind his Helmet, Nico gave a two-fingered salute, making a clicking sound with his tongue before bolting back into the battle with IF and the others. Compa looked at him for a moment, one could see her thinking hard as several black dots appeared over her head. Finally, something finally clicked in her mind. "Did he just call me pretty…?"

Back in the battle, Nico and IF joined forces to parry the Slasher blades that the Graverobber was using. Nico used Alastor, while IF had morphed her Tentacle pillar into her Axammer. The two could do this with no issues, even as the Graverobber put more pressure on them by the second. "Alright, so a Skill rush didn't work, got any other bright ideas?" the brunette questioned the male.

"Well, I noticed that its body seems to deflate slightly whenever it heals its body from our attacks, makes me think that it uses Biomass to heal. Those corpses were fresh, so it has an ample supply, or it did until we Skill rushed it. If we do the same again, we might just finish it off." Nico replied, pushing the Slasher blade back as he switched his weapons out once again.

When the transfer was complete, Nico held his new weapon in both hands: his Scythe, at long last. The weapon was enormous, bigger than Nico was in terms of height. The Scythe had a jagged, wing-like blade with multiple spikes coming out the main edge, its colour was black, with the wing-like blade being black where the fingers were and red where the 'webbing' would have been. "Heh I liked to call this baby, HARVESTER!"

Swinging the Scythe about to regain a good feel of the weapon, Nico cackled in anticipation, and the Graverobber soon began to shudder when hearing that cackle. Every bon in its body told it that it was facing the Grim Reaper when it saw that Scythe. It felt like gazing into said entity's eyes when it's gaze landed on that Scythe.

"Is it just me, or is that Scythe haunted?" Neptune wondered, quivering a little, although she wouldn't admit it. She had had enough jump scares for one day, thank you. Nonetheless, that Scythe bugged her in ways she couldn't quite explain. She swore she could hear faint moans and groans of agony coming from that wicked, demonic looking weapon.

Nobody answered her as Nico dashed towards the Graverobber, which swung its blades in his direction. The male deflected the first blade while flipping over the other, landing with his back to it as he made a reverse horizontal slash. The Graverobber screeched in agony, searing pain exploding from the cut across all there of its faces. The male followed up with several more slashes, 1 diagonal, 1 vertical and the last one being horizontal.

The male jumped into the air and delivered a rising spinning slash, cutting up more of the Graverobber's flesh before throwing Harvester in a vertical spinning motion. The Scythe dug into the monster's back, as Nico landed beside it and flipped off, landing behind the monster and grasoped the Scythe's shaft, tearing it out the creature to leave a deadly wound behind.

"There, I' ve weakened it! Take the shot, ladies!" Nico called out to the girls, all of them nodding as they readied their weapons. They each activated their own Skills, and made to finish the enemy off…

When something else came into the picture.

* * *

A mad laughter echoed throughout the area as a figure jumped out from his hiding place. "Hahahahaha YOLO!" the figure yelled in a masculine voice. Before anyone, even the Graverobber, could react a massive pillar of flesh suddenly slammed into the Graverobber from above to create a loud BOOM, crushing it to dust. The fate of the creature was shown as several white particles escaped the Pillar.

"Whoa, what the Nep?!" Neptune shrieked in shock. The others were of like minds as they stared at the pillar, which had crushed the enemy they were fighting like it was nothing. "What's going on here, who's the one kill-stealing! Cheater, belly eater, kill stealer!"

"Hahahahahaha! That would be me purple!"

The Party turned to the source, finding the figure that had leapt out before, landing atop a small rock formation as the figure stared down at them. The figure had a masculine frame, leading them to believe he was male. He wore all black, black spiked boots, a black one-piece suit like those secret agents would wear, black gloves on his hands, and a black cowl over his head that covered the top portion of his face. Though, it didn't cover the large grin he was sporting, and that grin was enough to give them chills. For some reason, they couldn't help but feel intimidated by this man. Perhaps…

It was because the pillar was coming out from his back.

Speaking of the Pillar, the Pillar had risen from the spot it had smashed, leaving a massive crater where the Graverobber had once been. The pillar receded back to him, all the while it began to unravel, revealing that it was made from a set of components. Those components receded into the man faster than the eye could see, faint crackling sounds emitting from them, so the group didn't see what they were.

 **'** **Nico… this man is…'**

The teen nodded in response to the demonic personification's comment. Nico shuddered, feeling the man's gaze focus on him and him alone. He knew that gaze, and he knew EXACTLY what it was that the man had used to kill the Graverobber. 'Yeah, he is… you can feel it too, can't you? You're a part of me, so you should feel what I am.'

 **'** **Yes… this feeling… I couldn't ever forget it…'**

What Biko and Nico were referring to, was the feeling of quivering excitement, the feeling of every cell in his body being wide awake. The power of IT, which he had been suppressing save for brief uses, now was breaking free from their combined restraints and heightening his senses. This was simply survival instinct, something that only happened when one of THEM showed up.

The atmosphere intensified upon this man's entry into the scene. Everyone cold feel chills going up their spines as the hairs on the backs of their heads stood on end. Ever got the feeling that you were a mouse being cornered by a hungry cat? That was what they were feeling right now, and only one of them knew why.

"Who are you buster, why did ya steal our kill like that?! That's all kinds of low, kill-stealing!" Neptune, being the fearless leader, put on a brave face despite the helmet having hid her fearful expression. She had raised an arm and pointed towards the grinning man, who's grin could only widen at her display.

The man took a long sniff, releasing a euphoric sigh that only disturbed the girls even more. "Ahhhh, I can smell the fear from these girlies…" the man whispered in a hoarse voice, slouching forwards with his arms hanging in front of his chest. His grin was equally disturbing as he cackled. "It smells… so goddamn good…!"

... The way he said that so sensually even creeped Tekken out. "You guys, I really don't like this guy... he's creeping me out..." she called to the others. While they didn't answer her, their various postures all indicated that they each shared the same opinion on the man before them.

Not only did he give them creepy vibes, but whatever he had done easily smashed the Graverobber to pieces, something that was done with so much ease compared to their efforts. It stung their pride a little, but that was soon replaced by the sense of impending dread filling their lungs, making their breathing a bit uneasy. Worse still, was the man's scent. The man had a... unique scent alongside his natural one, a scent that even those with bad noses could have noticed:

The scent of blood... lots of it.

IF finally found her voice as she growled, stepping forwards and forming her blades. She pointed one at the man and snarled. "Okay, that's enough. who are you, and what are you doing here?" Despite her bravado, it was clear that she was unsettled by this man, if how her forehead was drenched in sweat ad how she tried to keep her body from trembling was any indication. If this man could make someone like her, whose body was a living breathing weapon, tremble like a meek little girl then they were extremely bad news.

Judging by how amused the man seemed to be, it was apparent that he knew what she was thinking. "Awww, how cute. You girls really care cutie-pies, aren't you? You must get off on each other huh?" the man mused, a finger to his chin as he looked like he was deep in thought. For a moment, his creepy, disturbing demeanour was gone, like it had never been there in the first place.

This only made their dread heighten however, it was like this man was a pro at being creepy and disturbing. This fear they were feeling in their guts, it wasn't the fast pace, all-consuming fear that seeing grotesque Abnormals like the Necromorphs or the Banshees, or even the infected monsters back in Lastation had.

No, this fear was different, it had more of its own distinct… personality, one could call it, its own devious plans for those that feel it. It was more of a slow, gradual fear like a monster slowly and deliberately toying with them, creeping ever so closer to them till it could strike at their very beings without mercy.

In the next moment, the creepiness returned when the man smirked, suddenly sliding across the ground and stopping right before Neptune, their faces inches apart as he cupped her chin, making her look at his shadowed eyes. "Why, it almost makes me wonder about you… but enough of that, do you know what the best thing about this world is…?" he asked her.

IF and Nico struck first, swinging their respective weapons at the man while he was so close to one of their comrades. The man merely jumped back however, landing on all fours like an animal. His head turned back and forth, cracking sounds emitting from his neck as he slowly, unnaturally stood up, like he was merely a puppet on a string.

"Um guys…?" Compa timidly spoke, hands clenched around her Syringe nervously. Even in her armour, one could tell just by listening to her voice that she didn't like being anywhere near this guy. He gave her the chills, and if Compa got that reaction then one could tell this guy was bad news, especially if they missed the way IF acted around them. "I don't like this guy… he's really creepy, can we just go?"

The man tilted his head after she asked this, as if confused by it. "Go? I think not. After all, we aren't done here…" he spoke, lowering is head as he slowly got into a standing position, his arms hanging loosely before him with his head doing the same. Faint crackling sounds could be heard coming from him, bu as time went on they began to get louder and more pronounced.

 **'** **Be ready, Nico! It's coming!'**

'I know, Biko!'

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS'LL BE FUN, KING! OH, HOW FUN IT WILL BE INDEED!'

The man's form slouched over, exposing his back where they could see a black fleshy mass gathering at the back of his waist. Finally, the man lifted his head to look at them, and they saw at last his eyes. They were crimson red with a blackened sclera, red veins flowing through the sides of his face like cracks in a mask. His mouth twisted into a shark-like toothy grin, hysterical laughter escaping him as the mass exploded outwards. "AFTER ALL, I HAVEN'T TAKEN YOU ALON A DATE, RIPPED OUT YOUR INTESTINES AND GOBBLED YOU ALL UP WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLE!"

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **There you go, another chapter.**

 **Now, I've been thinking about those special events that take place in the games. Bits of things that happen in between the main plot that showcase the comedy element of the Games. Do you guys want me to write some of those events, they'll likely be either canon or my own make, into my story? Let me know in the reviews or PM me.**

 **Anyways, that's all for now folks!**


	57. Chapter 54 - Fights and Hidden Agendas

**Chapter 54 - Fights and Hidden Agendas**

In one instant, they all reacted quickly, avoiding the initial attack the man launched as a large smokescreen was formed. They couldn't see what had attacked them, save for Nico who was gritting his teeth behind his helmet while jumping into the air. IF had done the same, along with Tekken while Neptune and Compa had jumped to the side. "Whoa, that was fast!"

"Quiet, Nep!" IF yelled as they all landed, herself Nico and Tekken further back while Neptune and Compa were on opposite sides. A flash of something moving caught her attention, and her instincts screamed at her to be ready. "He's coming!"

True to her word, the man suddenly jumped up into the air from the smoke, several appendages visible from behind him. They were darkened by the sunlight, so visibility was low. But that didn't stop the party from dodging those limbs as they tried to cleave their heads off.

By the time the man landed, the party had regathered together, and were facing off against him. This time, his appendages were clearly visible, but by no means were they not shocked by them. From the back of his waist were 4 long, black scaled Tentacle, each one pulsing with some form of inner greyish black light.

"Ooooooh, you dodged my first and second attempt. Not bad…" the man mused, his Tentacles swaying behind him in excitement as he gave a hungry gaze towards the group, more specifically towards Nico. It was like he was singling the male Spec Ops Agent out of all of them for a specific reason. He licked his lips, as if savouring something as he did so. "Though I guess it's to be expected for such a fine meal… least you'll be more entertaining than those other pansies."

Tekken blinked as the party registered those words. "Eh? Um, what do you mean by that?" she hesitantly asked the man, although she felt she wouldn't like the answer. "What do you mean by 'Pansies?'"

A chuckle escaped the man's lips as he raised his arms, gesturing to the Dungeon around them. "What, you think all this happened all willy nilly? Nope, those things were just my appetisers, and they weren't even that tasty, either. Think expired dog shit combined with garlic and cement."

Nico cringed at the thoughts, while everyone else tried not to lose the contents of their stomachs at what those words implied. 'Tch, I know that feeling, all too well… feels like tasting Compa's coking sometimes…' he thought to himself, clenching his fists around Harvester. This was EXACTLY what he had hoped to NOT have to deal with. At least, if it had then he could have done so when the girls weren't around. However, one had appeared when they were together, and despite their Party having... quite a few power-ups, he knew, he freaking KNEW, that they stood no chance against this being. Out of all of them, IF would last the longest thanks to her BOW side allowing her to adapt on the fly, but in the end she would likely fall all the same.

"Y-You… You mean you…" IF began to say, for the man to let out more hysterical laughter. He held his stomach while bowling over, heaving and gasping between laughs. His Tentacles reacted to his laughter, flickering wildly behind him. Some even chopped up dirt waves while others thwacked the empty space around him. The brunette gave an irritated glare towards the man, and made to morph her left blade into her 6 Tentacles. She then launched them towards him, only for the man to continue laughing as his own Tentacles smacked hers away with higher speeds than hers. "What?!"

Neptune jumped at the sight of the man's fast moving Tentacles, her eyes in a comically shocked expression. "Whoa, hold the Nep! Those things just went all 'nope!' on Iffy's Tentacles!"

"Quit stating the obvious, Nep!"

Soon, the man's laughter died down, his grip on his stomach lessening as he hung his arms from his side again. "Whew that was a loud one, haven; laughed like that before." he remarked thoughtfully, before he gave the girls a sinister smile. "Yeppers, I did! Those Necromorphs were foul and disgusting, but I chomped them all up! Heck, I ate so much I got dribble spilt on my clothes! How annoying is that having to change clothes out here?"

While green in the face, Neptune hummed in thought as she tried to keep the mental images out of her head. "W-Well… I guess I can see that. I-I mean, it would likely be a pain to change in the middle of a D-Dungeon…" she stammered, slightly. Although she was glad that's he had barely stammered at all, as she feared she'd be a stammering mess by now. So many horrors had come out of the woodworks today.

"Aw, thanks little purple…" The man cooed as he gushed over the girl, adopting the pose of a typical fangirl. The girls shuddered, even Nico ad the same reaction seeing this. Seeing that pose, along with a wink and the love heart that came from it, on a grown ass guy looked just so wrong, on so many levels. The group shuddered at the sight as the man dashed towards them, his eyes wide and his jaw open with drool dribbling from his jaw. "LEMME REPAY YOU BACK FOR IT IN FULL!"

His Tentacles lunged forwards like bullets, heading straight for Neptune with the intent to impale and destroy. However, she managed to get out the way in time by doing a barrel roll, the Tentacles slamming into the ground beside her as she got back to her feet. "Hahahaha! You're not so tough, those things are easy to dodge so all I have to do is-"

SQUELCH!

…

SQUELCH!

SQUELCH!

SQUELCH!

It happened instantly, shutting the girl up faster than Pudding ever could. Everyone gaped when they saw how the Tentacles moved through the ground and resurfaced behind her, spearing Neptune through the back and out the chest. They lifted her high into the air, almost 20 metres, with their master laughing like crazy all the while as her blood dripped down the appendages. "NEPTUNE/NEP-NEP/NEP!" they all cried in horror.

The man meanwhile, cackled like a schoolgirl while his Tentacles wrapped around their prey, who was still in shock over what happened. "Hehehehe, now then, let's have some fun little purple!" he bellowed, twisting his Tentacles so her head was facing the ground. He raised them a little higher, before slamming her repeatedly into the ground, each time resulting in an ever-expanding crater.

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

Eventually, he ripped his Tentacles out of her and smacked her away with 2 of them, sending Neptune crashing into a wall.

That was enough to make the party jump into action after snapping out of their horrified shock. IF and Tekken rushed in and began engaging the man in combat, who kept them at bay with his Tentacles while Compa and Nico raced to their downed friend's side, and when they saw the state she was in, their horror was only amplified as the colour drained from their faces.

Her body was indented into the crater, her eyes wide and shaking as she struggled to breathe with the four holes in her chest. Her body had numerous cuts and blemishes on it, a mix of lethal and minor. All of them had the common factor of oozing blood out of them though, which was beginning to pool around her frame and stain her clothes red.

"Nep-Nep! Oh, goddess there's so much blood! You're gonna be okay, Nep-Nep! I'll heal you, right now! FIRST AID!" Compa called out as she kneeled beside her friend, putting her hands on the wound and beginning to use her healing Skill. The blood began to recede into Neptune's chest. However, with the rate the skill was working there wouldn't be enough time to save her, for she would die due to blood loss and lack of necessary organs.

'Her lungs and liver have been shredded! Her heart managed to survive, but barely!' Nico thought as he gazed at her form, checking the injuries as Compa pushed as much energy into the Skill as she could. Sweat formed in beads on their foreheads as they did their best for her. Since Compa specialised in healing Skills, Nico pulled out a bunch of Healing Pods from his Void Storage, quickly getting Neptune's mouth to open so he could shove their contents down her throat. However, with the holes in her chest she was quickly coughing and spluttering the liquid out before it could get a chance to repair her damaged body.

"This isn't enough!" Compa cried out as she noticed how slow the recovery was. With the way things were going, they wouldn't make it in time to save their leader. Heck, even the slight healing factor her being a Goddess gave her wasn't working fast enough, and if that was the case then things were seriously bad. "I'll have to risk it. COMPA'S EMERGENCY KIT!"

This Skill was a Skill she had acquired recently, a high-speed regeneration Skill that could heal even the deadliest of wounds. Life threatening injuries? No problem, this Skill could handle that and still have enough power to spare. Wounds like this should be a cinch for her. However, it leeched so much energy from her that with how much she had left with her reserves, she might just die instead. However, Neptune's life was on the line here, so she had to do the same for her. Her calling as a Nurse-In-Training demanded it.

Her hands began glowing with greater intensity, neither of them looking away as the blood receded faster, the sounds of flesh being torn resounding from her chest as Neptune's organs began to regenerate. Her heart regrew itself from the basest of Cells, with her lungs repairing the fractured holes caused by the Tentacle attack. Her body was working much quicker to heal itself now, and thus Nico's Healing Pods were finally beginning to help.

Just when things seemed to go better for them... the other side began to suffer.

* * *

A scream came from behind them, and Nico looked behind them since Compa was too busy healing their downed comrade, to see that it came from Tekken as she was sent flying from a Tentacle smack. IF gritted her teeth as she parried the man's other Tentacles with her blades, morphing them both into 6 Tentacles each so she had 12 to counter his 4 larger ones.

Turning back to the girl's body, Nico saw that her wounds were soon going to be healed, and turned to Compa. "Compa, that's enough, I'll take care of the rest from here! you just-" he began to say, only to find how his friend had her eyed closed as she fell to her side, her face pale and her breathing laboured. "Compa!"

'Tch, damnit!' he cursed as he lifted her head onto his lap while applying more healing items to the two. They wouldn't wake up for a while at least, that was something he could tell for certain. Their wounds may have been healed, but the strain their bodies had been under, healing items forcing them to adapt under pressure, was great. They would need their rest and right now that wasn't exactly a safe thing to do.

'AWWWWW WHAT'S THE MATTER, KING?! FEELING A LITTLE USELESS, ARE WE?!' The voice of IT laughed in his mind, making Nico grit his teeth. Hs didn't muster any response, knowing that the voice wasn't done yet. 'ITS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST TOLD THEM TO HEAD BACK AND LET YOU TAKE CARE OF THAT ASSHOLE, AT LEAST THEN THEY WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN HURT THE WAY THEY DID. ITS YOUR OWN FAULT THAT THEY'RE LIKE THIS, SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR WOORTHLESS LIFE? LIKE I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE USE MY POWER? THE POWER YOU SHOULD BE USING?!'

Before Nico could respond, the male heard something crashing into the ground. Eyes wide in horror, Nico looked to see IF having been sent crashing into a wall. Fortunately, her BOW powers afforded her regeneration abilities as her wounds began to heal, but it didn't look like she would last much longer. "IF! You alright?!" he yelled in concern.

Weakly, IF nodded with a bitter chuckle, slowly dislodging herself free from the indentation she made on the wall. "Y-Yeah, I'm good." She replied, before she grimaced as she reformed her Tentacles into blades as the man already got onto the offensive, rushing towards her with his Tentacles lashing at her with high speed and velocity. "Bu-but it's not going to be that way for much longer! How's Nep, is she doing okay?!"

"Yeah! She's been stabilised thanks to COMPA'S EMERGENCY KIT, but its knocked her out as well. Unless Tekken is still with us, it's just you and me!"

The brunette looked to the martial artist, who was sprawled out onto the ground with swirling whirlpool marks for eyes. She shook her head in frustration, groaning loudly. "Well, that's not happening, so it's Just us two then! Damnit, if only Nep transformed when this battle began this would have not happened!"

Transforming… that also applied to him as well. He could have become Crimson Soul and blasted these enemies to pieces before the girls could have gotten hurt. His power was much greater in that form than his human form, he had to admit. Though, if he ever used IT in human form, then the power balance between the forms was equal. 'No way am I using IT though, I will not let the others figure out my secret! If I use IT then they'll get curious, and things will eventually fall apart.' He thought with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

Still though, he had learned of their existence in Leanbox before, he was warned of them by his adoptive mother. He should have prepared for it, so why did this happen? How could this have happened? Before, Nico would have planned like crazy for this stuff. He would have left nothing to chance, he would have hunted this creature down and shown no mercy. Hell, back in Lastation that was just what he did. The moment he heard about Avenir, he had gone crazy with his investigation, leaving nothing unexplained before choosing the right course of action.

So... what changed? What caused him to be so lax in his hunting's?

'YOU STILL DON'T GET IT?! YOU'VE BECOME SOFT! YOU'VE BEEN SOFTENED, DULLED, BY THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE OTHERS, YOUR SO CALLED 'FRIENDS'! YOU RELY ON THEM MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY, AND THUS YOU END UP WEAKER AS A RESULT! PAH, WHAT A PATHETIC FARCE! YOU'VE ALLOWED YOURSELF TO DULL, YOUR CLAWS HAVE BEEN BLUNTED BY YOUR WORTHLESS FRIENDS! WHY REMAIN THIS INCOMPLETE EXISTENCE, FOR IT IS THE REASON WHY YOU HAVE BEEN WEAK!'

A growl tore from his throat as Nico tried to push IT's mental presence back, however the presence wouldn't be swayed. He could feel IT pushing through the suppressants from the Armour as well as the demonic energy. 'No, no that can't be true! Even if I'm with a party I still manage to stay as effective as ever! There's no way that I've grown weaker!' He roared back to IT, only to hear a derisive scoff in response.

Just before they could continue, a yell of warning came from IF as the male looked up, quickly rolling to the side to avoid a Tentacle slamming into him from overhead. The male rose to his feet only to cross his arms as the man appeared before him, kicking at his face. Fortunately, he had blocked in time, however Nico was sent flying across the platform, ending up right next to the bridge.

"Stay focused, Nico!"

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know, IF!"

The man laughed madly as he jumped towards them, launching his Tentacles in a ruthless volley. They came down upon the two like a thounsand dark whips, forcing Nico and IF to dodge them like their lives depended on it. IF flipped over a Tentacle and quickly slashed another, while Nico crossed his arms and blocked a strike to his face, this time keeping his balance and enduring the strike.

All the while the mocking taunts and laughter of IT ran through his mind.

"Too slow!" The man called out as he closed the distance, swiftly elbowing IF in the gut before she could react as his Tentacles knocked Nico away. He the gripped her head in one hand, before slamming it into the ground with the force of a Jet liner, making IF gasp and cough up a load of blood. He then rushed towards the bridge. Slamming IF's head into the railing before running across it, dragging her head through the bridge's railing before throwing her into the opposite wall.

Turing around, the man crossed his arms in front of him, with his Tentacles mirroring this action as Nico came in slashing with Harvester, repeating the action several timed before flipping into the air, coming in for a downward slash at the man's head. However, his strike was deflected by a Tentacle, and when Nico saw a Tentacle lunge towards him, he swiftly dodged it by tilting his body around, before grimacing when another slammed into his side, sending him bouncing across the ground.

While in mid bounce, the male righted himself and stabbed Harvester into the ground, slowing his movement to a stop. He then looked up to see a Tentacle, much larger than the ones that the man had used before, loom overhead for a smash. 'Tch, I won't be able to dodge this in time!' he cursed himself.

BOOM!

"AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Finally, that hindrance is gone! Now I can help myself to some…" the man exclaimed, before turning to the barely conscious IF, who was now sprawled across the ground clutching her head, which was already starting to regenerate. He began to lick his lips in a sinister, lustful and crazed manner. "… Delectable meat."

He twisted on his feet as his Tentacles returned to their default forms, hands in his pockets as he stepped towards her downed form. As a response, IF snakingly tried to get to her feet, but the constant damage to her head had left her disoriented and her nerve system shot. She couldn't move very well, and that was about to become a great hindrance to her. Reaching forth, the man grabbed her by the top of her head, lifting her off the ground.

2 Tentacles jammed into the ground, lifting both him and his prey into the air while the other 2 remained on standby. He held her close as she struggled to break free, though with her disorientation that was proven to be quite difficult. Seeing that his prey was sill struggling gave the man an idea, and his lips curved into a sick, demented smile as his stand-by Tentacles lunged forwards. A hellish mix of a shriek and scream blasted from IF's throat when she felt them slam into her Clitoris, multiple times even, with the force of several sledgehammers. Leaning forwards, the man took a whiff of her hair, around the area that was healing still. "Hmmmm, you smell… wonderful. I was right to save you for last… well then, bon Appetit!"

IF's eyes widened when she felt the man's tongue cress her head, to be more specific the injury that was regenerating. She winced as a sharp pain jolted down her spine from the contact, shivering in disgust. Though, that feeling was underwhelmed by the sheer terror that she felt inside. For so long during this journey, she had felt that she wouldn't fear anything anymore. It wasn't anything that didn't make sense, since she had seen dozen different grotesque, disgusting fuckers.

Now, she realised just how wrong she really was.

While she struggled to break free from the man's hold, down on the ground Nico was struggling to get to his feet. Most of his reserves had been depleted through these constant battles, and the fact that he had spammed DEMON OVERDRIVE didn't help. He had made sure to conserve energy, but still that last attack took a lot out of him. He didn't know if he had enough energy to transform, at this point.

'AND THERE YOU ARE, LIMITING YOURSELF. HOW PATHETIC, HOW FAR YOU HAVE FALLEN, KING. BECAUSE OF YOUR OVERRELIANCE ON YOUR FRIENDS, YOU HAVE BEEN SEVERELY DULLED, YOUR INSTINCTS BLUNTED, YOUR CLAWS RUSTED. WHEN WILL "YOU" RETURN, KING? THE "YOU" YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE? IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RELY ON THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A POWER, SO… NOW THERE IS ONLY ONE DOOR.'

'No… I refuse... I refuse to use IT! I won't! I won't I won't I won't!' Nico shook his head vehemently, trying to push those thoughts out of his mind, to try and figure a way out of this. Despite his best efforts however, the thoughts of IT weren't going away. They slowly, gradually began to dig into the male's mind, filling it with their presence like they had wills of their own. Gritting his teeth, Nico clutched the ground, Harvester teleporting into his Void Storage as he kneeled on the ground, head hanging low as he struggled to maintain control. That battle, was one he was gradually losing.

 **'** **Nico, this looks bad. There is only one way you can stop this! If you don't want THAT to be known, you must trust me!'**

Nico heard Biko's voice penetrate through the thoughts of using IT like a blade through flesh. He noticed that the demonic personification sounded tense, urgent and nervous at the same time. It was the most emotion he had ever seen from him, but none of that mattered more than what he had just told him. A possible way out of a dangerous situation? Hell, to the yeah, he would take it! Consequences be damned! 'I TRUST YOU, Biko! Do what you must!'

 **'…** **Very well. Now then, entrust… your heart… to me.'**

Those words, which sounded strangely ominous to the male, were the last thing he heard before a surge of fatigue hit, and darkness soon followed.

* * *

Just as the man was about to sink his fangs into the delicious treat he had ensnared within his claws, his instincts went haywire. His eyes widened and some of his skin lost its colour, or whatever colour remained. Something was wrong, something was VERY wrong. In his short hours of existence in this world, he never felt something so… dark, so evil it was onb borderline demonic levels. His Tentacles shuddered as if they were terrified of what was coming, and it took all his willpower to keep them in line.

When he felt a reasonable level of control over his Tentacles, the man looked behind him at the source of this sense of terror and unease. His face showed shock at what he saw, and from his shoulder, IF, who was barely able to see thanks to her current state saw it too. "N…Nico?"

She soon rectified the name of the person she saw in her mind, as it wasn't Nico that was kneeling right now, but Crimson Soul, his transformation having not been as flashy as before. Perhaps that was because he had a lower energy percentage than normal, since all CPUs and apparently DPUs had flashy transformations when they entered their true forms. However, there was something… different about this transformation. It felt… dark, scary, and above else, evil. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, when he had first used his DPU powers consciously against Noire when she was in her CPU form back in Lastation, Nico at least gave the feeling of a rampaging predatory, a silent rampaging predator. Now? He felt like a freaking demon… with intelligence.

Considering she had fought mindless demons before on this journey, that thought was a scary one.

 **"** **Young IF…"** the brunette gasped when she heard Crimson Soul say her name. His lack of any familiarity in his tone worried her, although she hadn't the ability to respond right now. **"If you do not wish to die today, then break free of his hold while you have the chance, and get your companions as far away from here as possible."**

'H-Huh? what is he…?'

 **"** **You there… the one that calls himself a Cannibal…"** Crimson Soul spoke as he lifted a finger and pointed it towards the man. His movement made many cracking sounds, like his limb was about to snap at any moment. The sounds sent chills up IF's spine, even though she knew that she should have gotten used to such grotesque sounds thanks to how her mutations activated. She doubted she could ever truly get used to them though, not with how she associated with them.

"Yeah, that's me, born Ghoul, proud Ghoul! What of it?!" The man, who called himself a Ghoul, yelled back in a crazed manner, trying to show none of his internal emotions with his usual maniacal grin. His black and red eyes zoned in on the transformed Nico who just, floated there, an ominous orangish red aura surrounding him as his head hung low. His head then lifted, more cracking sounds accompanying it, and they both were greeted to the sight of his closed eyes.

 **"** **You have made a grave error… and now you must PAY!" **

His eyes quickly opened after his sentence, and at that moment the aura surrounding him EXPLODED, blowing away anything that got too close. In his haste to not share the same fate, the Ghoul covered his face with his arms and remaining Tentacles, dropping IF and letting her fall away from him.

The brunette managed to get a grip and land on her feet though, her injury having finished healing as she immediately adhered to Crimson Soul's warning. Something big was going to happen, and she could tell it wasn't going to be pretty. Yet, she didn't feel like leaving Nico alone with this thing was a good idea, those Tentacles of his could hit harder than anything she had endured before. She had almost blacked out when she suffered those hits to the clitoris, even with her regeneration kicking in. The Chrysalis Gene will likely have its work cut out for it, reinforcing the damaged cells with stronger ones.

Nevertheless, her instincts told her this fight would only escalate now that Nico had transformed... plus these kids were knocked out cold, so they'd be a hindrance right now.

With that in mind, she formed a decision. It wasn't easy, but she managed. On the battlefield, one had to make choices and live with the consequences. No matter the cost. She quickly formed her wings and Tentacles, before shooting the Tentacles outwards and making them grasp the unconscious forms of her comrades by their waists. She made sure that the Tentacles had a good hold on them, she didn't want to drop them mid-flight, even with how annoying Neptune could be. Quickly, IF spread her wings and took flight, moving out of the dungeon as fast as her wings could carry her.

Glancing behind her as she fled the area with her friends, IF muttered something under her breath. "Crimson Soul…. Nico… I hope you know what you're doing."

* * *

Back to the two men, the Ghoul stumbled backwards as he fell onto his backside, gobsmacked at the amount of power he was sensing from the male DPU. "No…. no, it can't be… what is this power, where is it coming from? Where-where-where?!" he shrieked with incoherent babbles mixed in, quickly getting onto his feet and setting his Tentacles to a defensive position.

Black blotches started to appear over the DPU's body, which was also starting to increase in bulk. Muscles were enlarged, bones were strengthened, and a twisted transformation was being applied to the body of Crimson Soul. Even Soul Edge was undergoing a transformation, being a part of Crimson Soul's being. Certain body parts began to rearrange themselves, while others changed completely.

The aura shadowed his form from view, leaving only his dual red eyes visible to the Ghoul who felt like he was being stared to his soul by a thousand hungry faceless creatures, eager to devour his entire essence. His eyes were the size of dots as he desperately tried to repress the trembling his body was doing, to no avail. It was impossible to keep calm when he saw the sigh before him, his lips quivering as he gripped his fists so hard that they bled. "Th-This isn't real, this can't be real… no, no-no-no! NO!"

At long last, the aura dissipated, revealing what lay hidden beneath its DARK embrace. It peeled away like a curtain, revealing a hulking armoured beast that once resembled Crimson Soul. Black replaced orangish-red, like an abyssal black. His form had expanded in muscle mass, a lipless mouth with long teeth shown in place of an empty mouth socket, and his eyes had become a beastly yellow. His hands no longer were normal hands, but a pair of giant claws that had palms which were functional mandibles. His wings, which were once that of a phoenix, now looked much larger and more like a fiery angel's, becoming a crimson red in colour with embers constantly falling from them. The feet were now more knight-like, being composed of boots rather than talon-clad feet. The Tail had changed to the shape of a human spine, with long talons protruding from both sides and ending like an arrowhead.

Despite this change, the mandibles didn't hinder any ability to sword-wield in the least. Speaking of swords, Soul Edge had changed from its previous form, and this one looked a whole new level of demonic. It was still a massive Greatsword, but it lacked any eyes, and had 2 edges with the middle being a row of long, pointed teeth. It had a semi-circular guard around the hilt that was shaped like a talon, with a shorter version opposite it.

In this form, Crimson Soul's eyes narrowed into a deadly glare, a bloodthirsty gleam shining from them as it let out a loud roar, releasing a shockwave that blew everything before It backwards. It was only thanks to his Tentacles that the Ghoul had managed to keep his footing since they had jammed half their bodies into the ground. "What the hell?!" he yelled in shock and horror. 'This shockwave… just by screaming it generates this much power?!'

One second Crimson Soul was bending his legs, prepping for a charge, the next he was right behind the shocked Ghoul, Soul Edge raised for a diagonal slash. The Ghoul instinctively ducked, pulling his Tentacles out and rolling away. The slash missed, but following its direction a massive fissure was formed, leaving a trail of smoke and debris in its wake. 'What the….?! Such strength! What is going on here?!'

The Ghoul had no time to ponder any of this as Crimson Soul let out a frenzied screech, spreading his large wings and taking off after him. The Ghoul curved his Tentacles in front of him, just barely blocking a slash that would have decapitated him, but instead it sliced through some rock formations behind him. 'The amount of strength this guy has is unreal…! But why did he not use this power earlier?!' The Ghoul, in a surprising show of intelligence, wondered to himself.

Hey, he was a psycho, not stupid, baka!

Still though, this wasn't the time for jokes as Crimson Soul was already on him with a tail slash that led to another swing from Soul Edge. He managed to deflect the first strike, but the second one he had to jump back, not trusting his Tentacles to be able to take any more hit from that monstrous blade as it crashed into the ground, making a loud and large explosion from the impact force.

'I… might be a little in over my head here!'

* * *

While the two beings fought each other in a battle to the death, a spectator watched the carnage take fold from atop a mountain, cloaked by shadows and concealing her energy so that nobody, especially not the beast that Crimson Soul had turned into, could detect its presence. The figure was the same one watching the party from earlier, and the figure did not like what was being shown.

"That form…! His powers have grown that much already…?!"

The figure released a Tsk, frustration evident as she watched the beast rampage against the Ghoul she had released into the world, like so many others before him. "This Rinkaku Ghoul may not be enough to defeat this monster…! This beast is more powerful than any normal monster, hell even Abnormals will have trouble beating it! From the looks of things, it is rampaging without any thought to its actions, meaning that it isn't being controlled by its user."

As she looked at the beast from her vantage point, the feminine figure hummed as she pushed her anxieties back and focused on evaluating the creature, which would prove to be a difficult obstacle to beat on her own. "There isn't a trace of demonic energy in its reserves… all of it has been added to Crimson Soul's physical strength, therefore altering his physical appearance as well as overwhelming his mind with bloodlust and rage. There was still so much of it left even after so much use of DEMON OVERDRIVE… and to think, he is still getting stronger, getting accustomed to the power his predecessor left behind… it goes to show just how powerful Sparda, the King and original DPU, was in his time."

With the power she was sensing and witnessing, the figure began to debate with herself, pondering on what her future for this being would be. "I shall not fight it myself. I… as much as I loathe admitting it, even with the powers of all four Goddesses, that beast will be able to beat me without breaking a sweat. By the time I got those powers, it shall have reached even greater heights than what I would… Neptune should be considered a secondary threat for the time being, at least until this beast is taken care of."

Indeed, Neptune may be a threat to her plans, an Amnesiac Goddess who had been gaining power and faith wherever she went, even if she didn't realise it, was a major threat to her. She had already lost to her group ponce before, but even then, it as only possible thanks to that brat DEATHSTROKE and his DPU powers. It should be worthwhile investing in ways to get rid of Nico once and for all.

She had some good ideas, one of them being the more short-term of the bunch, and it focused primarily on convincing the old man Yvoire in the Basilicom. She would have to have evidence of her claims against Neptune to prove them, but perhaps she could sway him further by bringing evidence of this boy's threat to Leanbox.

A dark grin spread its way onto her lips, as she pulled out a Camera from within the shadows that were her robes right now, before raising it to her eye ad taking some photos of the destruction being wrought upon the Dungeon. The way she took them painted Nico in a demeaning light, anybody would see that even that old fool Yvoire. Once he saw these, she as sur he would be happy to be a pawn in her schemes. She didn't need to worry about Neptune though, since she had already done her part there and sent a pawn their way, with explicit orders to be followed to the latter.

One she felt she had enough evidence for her next few claims, the figure placed her camera back within her robes before resuming her watching of the chaos. "Hmmm, as for the long-term ideas… it would be best to enact them right away. If I know DEATHSTROKE's reputation, and I do, this plan will not likely end in my favour. I will have to resort to going THERE, braving its obstacles, and head to HIM. HE can help with DEATHSTROKE while I deal with Neptune… hahahahahaha!"

* * *

If there was ever a time Biko felt regret, it would be now.

His worst fears had come true as he stood on top the stadium of Nico's inner world, which had gone through some radical changes since the transformation. Now, the skies were abyssal black, with many red stars shining brightly, complimenting the darkness, and the desert sands which were once barren and silent, now were filled with twisted looking demonic entities that were fighting each other. The sounds of screeches, shrieks etc rung through the area, filling his ears with noise that Biko didn't appreciate. One could even see trails of dust being kicked into the air by stampeding beasts as they struggled to overpower the others.

Hunt,

Kill,

Consume,

Evolve.

That was the creed these creatures had. The transformation into the current form Nico has now was driving them crazy, the bloodlust and rage influencing his mind doing the same to these creatures as well. Before, they had just slept, lying dormant until there came when the DPU could call on them for battle. However, this newest transformation had forcefully awoken them all in a fit of rage and bloodlust and a lack of higher brain functions, resulting in them killing each other.

It was a gamble, one that Biko had unfortunately lost. When he had suggested leaving things to him, he had hoped that the amount of energy would be enough for Nico to barely retain control of his mental faculties during this transformation. This form he was in took all his demonic energy and converted it into physical power, merging with every cell in his body. Unfortunately, that includes bloodlust as well, and with enough of it the bloodlust can overwhelm the mind and reduce it to that of a rampaging beast, like it did now. Worse, was the fact that despite all his training, Nico still hadn't been ready for this power yet, and thus was would be harmed both physically and mentally by this. The clincher was that he was only alive at this point because of IT right now.

Speaking of IT, a hysterical, mocking, demented hollow laughter echoed behind him as the white version of Nico manifested itself in the same manner it did previously. This time tough, he had a weapon on his back: an inverted colour version of Soul Edge, something that irked the man though he didn't show it. "LOOKS LIKE YOU FAILED IN THE END, OLD MAN, JUST LIKE I KNEW YOU WOULD. KEEPING HIM AT THAT PUNY LEVEL OF TRAINING WILL HAVE COSTED YOU DEARLY, I SAID…. AND NOW LOOK, I WAS RIGHT!" He mocked, his shark-like grin on his face. "YOU COULDN'T EVEN CONTROL THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY THAT FORM GAINS FROM THE CONVERSION! HOW WEAK MUST YOU REALY BE?!"

"you know I cannot do much when it comes to controlling Nico's powers. Only he can do that, I am merely a personification of it, I cannot control it." Biko responded calmly, keeping his stoic demeanour as he turned to the white Nico. "Besides, you aren't here just to mock me, I can sense you have a greater purpose."

The White Nico chuckled again, although this time I sounded more… genuine, and amused, as he spoke again. "I MUST ADMIT, I'M THANKFUL FOR THIS. THIS'LL JUST HASTEN MY USURPENNCE OVER YOU EVEN MORE. BUT FOR NOW, I THINK I'LL ENJOY SOME CARNAGE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The white Nico laughed like a madman, before jumping off the stadium into the conflict below.

While watching the chaos, Biko frowned his thoughts being only one: 'What will happen now?'


	58. Chapter 55 - Abnormal Intervention

**Chapter 55 - Abnormal Intervention**

IF grunted as she dropped her friends to the ground, landing outside the Dungeon known as MS Mountain, more specifically at its base. Her wings remained out while her limbs returned to normal, and in the meantime IF turned her head to look at the Dungeon. She figured by the intense sounds she was hearing that the fighting was beginning to escalate. 'Geez, I get the feeling that we were just holding Nico back if the fighting's this intense…' she thought with a sour gaze.

"Ugh, my chest…" a feminine groan reached her ears, and IF turned to the source to see that Neptune was coming too. Her eyes opened groggily as she placed her hands on her chest. "Feels like I got kicked by a horse…anyone got some tress relieving Pudding?"

When her eyes were fully opened, Neptune looked around and saw IF. Her eyes brightened as she perked up upon seeing her friend. "Iffy! How ya doing, girl? Geez." She then winced upon noticing the state IF was in. While her injuries had regenerated, she still looked a little rustled from the constant fighting and flying. "You don't look so hot."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Nep." IF remarked sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. She then placed a hand on her hip and began to explain. "Had to get our asses out of there since we would only be collateral damage that Nico doesn't need." She felt a pang of irritation stab at her pride for not being able to help, but smashed it down. If she were to follow her pride and go back there, chances were that she would be killed. Even with healing, it wasn't good to be reckless.

Shaking her head, IF then focused on the preteen, to be more specific the chest area where she had been impaled by those Tentacles of that guy's. 'Wait a minute, I heard that guy called himself a 'Ghoul' before, right? Is that the name of an Abnormal monster? Surely seemed different from the other's we'd fought…' she remarked as she spoke. "Anyways, all that aside, how you feeling, Nep? You took a pretty bad hit there." She then pointed to the unconscious Compa, who was sprawled nearby. "Compa ran herself ragged trying to heal you, used up lots of energy too."

At first, Neptune was all calm, with her arms crossed, eyes closed and head nodding away. She had raised herself to a sitting position while IF had spoken, as well. "Eh? Ohhhh, I see…." However, that soon changed once she registered everything that IF sad, or rather, most of it. "Wait, Compa?! What happened, is she alright?!" Neptune cried, shooting to her feet while getting in IF's personal space, much to the Spec Ops Candidate's annoyance.

"Settle down, Nep, like I said before, she's alright just needs to rest and recover her energy." IF stated, pointing to the downed Nurse-In-Training. She watched ad Neptune raced to her side, quickly reaching into her Inventory and pulling out some SP Chargers, special potions to restored one's energy. She began to make Compa open her mouth by sticking her fingers in and forcing the girl's mouth to open, which prompted the brunette to act. "Hey, easy, Nep. You might choke her! Here, this'll help."

Seeing that the preteen looked so determined to their resident medic, IF sprang into action as well. Her energy hadn''t completely run out ye, and she cvould feel her body recovering from the recent experience. The C Gene felt like it was hard at work using the experience to create and promote stronger cellular growth. Putting that aside for now, the brunette went behind the two and kneeled, sitting Compa upright to allow Neptune to open the SP Charger and put it inside Compa's mouth. She lifted it upwards to let the liquid pour down her throat, the unconscious girl automatically beginning to drink the liquid. Once the liquid had been emptied into her, they pulled the empty bottle out of her mouth, allowing Compa to cough ad get some air back into her lungs.

"#COUGH# #COUGH# Ugh, what happened? I feel like someone tried to suffocate me with water…" Compa drowsily spoke, slowly opening her eyes. She closed them and repeated this process several times, before they finally opened for real and landed upon both Neptune and IF. "Huh? Iffy, Nep-Nep?... Nep-Nep, you're alright!" the girl exclaimed, tears gathering in her eyes as she lunged forth and glomped the girl, hugging her tightly. "I'm so glad you're alright!"

What she didn't realise was that she had put too much strength into her hug as Neptune flailed about, her face turning into a mix of blue and purple. "C-Com…pa…! C-Ca…n't… br-br… breathe!" she tried to say, but it came out as inaudible blabbering.

Luckily for her, before Compa could unknowingly suffocate the poor girl, IF intervened by pulling them apart with her BOW strength. She had to even resort to amplifying her arms with Biomass to do this, a testament to Compa's strength. "Whoa there, girl, ease up. You don't want to kill her, do you?" she questioned the young girl, eyebrow arched. 'She just woke up from a pounding, and she's that strong already? Geez...'

For a moment, Compa stared at them, blinking in confusion. "Wh? What do you…" However, this wasn't to be the case for long as realization shone in her eyes. "Oh! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"Air! How I missed you!" Neptune bellowed to the heavens, kneeling on one leg while her arms were spread like a preacher with her head tilted towards the skies. When she registered Compa's comment, she turned and stood straight, laughing nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. "Hehehehe, sorry about that Compa… anyways!" deciding that a change of topic was the best way to move past this little awkward moment, Neptune decided to probe IF for information. "What happened, Iffy? Where are we and where's Nicky? You didn't leave him to rot, did you?" she asked worriedly, before gasping in horror. "You did, didn't you?! You took his little jr and left him back there, didn't you!"

Compa covered her mouth with tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "Iffy, you're so cruel! Why would you do that to poor Ni-Ni?" she asked with quivering lips and a sad pout.

The brunette groaned, punching the bridge of her nose with the hand that wasn't on her hip, eyes closed as she fought off the migraine these girls were giving her. "Nep, stop making up stories. Anyways, no I didn't leave him to rot, he told me to leave the area and to leave the enemy to him. He had transformed while saying this, so I wasn't about to argue. You guys were defenceless back there, why would he want you to be collateral?"

At the brunette's rhetorical question, Neptune and Compa calmed down, sighing in relief that their assumptions were wrong. "Oh, that's what happened… I see… that's a relief…" Neptune remarked. "If Nicky was left to rot, his favorite Nep would have to go save his booty from that meanie."

"Nep-Nep, you're our only Nep-Nep…" Compa commented with a sweat drop, but was ignored by the preteen Goddess. Turning to IF, Compa decided to shift topics again. "Oh right, Iffy, did he say anything about that guy? Ni-Ni has a lot of know-how on the really bad monsters after all."

The brunette nodded as both girls paid rapt attention to what she would say next. "Yeah. Before I got your asses out of there, I heard him call the guy a Cannibal, then the guy said he was a 'Ghoul'…. I think I've heard of them before, but I can't remember where." IF explained with a frown.

Ghouls, the moment she had heard that name the first time, a surge of familiarity had welled inside her chest. She vaguely remembered hearing of them once before, along her travels throughout Planeptune, but she couldn't for the life of her remember where. It was probably in passing if she couldn't recall it, but IF swore she had heard that name before. She would have to get some answers through her contacts and her own research. The best way to survive was through knowledge of the enemy, it was what she did to get as far as she did as a Guild Agent when she was on her own.

* * *

None of them could ponder this for long, though as a man walked up to them. He wore strange black robes, not showing any colours belonging to the four nations. He had a cowl on his head, covering most of his face, but dressed himself with ornaments t show that he was of a religion. "You folks there. Hello. Can I speak with you for a moment?" he asked them, walking over.

Neptune regarded the man for a moment, before tilting her head in a questioning manner. "Are you hitting on us?" she queried, before giving an easy chuckle. "No can do, though. I already have over one gajillion fans." She then pumped her fists in front of her chest as a dreamy expression fell over her features. "Plus, I already have my hubby."

Compa pouted and glared at Neptune, jealousy shining in her eyes. "Nep-Nep, he's my hubby first…" she whined, but like usual Neptune ignored it.

"The people who see me are pure in heart, so I don't want to let them down."

The man frowned, looking weirded out by the preteen before dousing the notions she was spouting out of the blue. "Um, no, I'm not trying to hit on you folks. I just want to talk." The man replied, to which the girls calmed down from their previous assumptions. Well, Neptune, but you get the gist.

"Talk? Talk what?" Compa asked curiously, wondering why some random stranger would want to talk to them.

IF didn't say anything, but her suspicions about the situation were obvious, especially in her eyes as she gazed at the man before them with doubtful intent. 'Something about this guy feels off… No random civilians would just come up to us like this, and this timing is also off…' She knew it was unwise to be suspicious of everyone you met on your travels, as it made you overly paranoid and tuned you into a douche, however she just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off here. Maybe Nico was rubbing off on her, who knew? The Guy was paranoid, and his mother said he had trust issues, but unlike her he obviously had lots of experience with unsavoury people.

"Do you folks believe in Overlord Momus?" the man asked them, getting straight to the point. Well, that was at least one point in his favour, IF wasn't a fan of beating around the bush.

Neptune hummed in puzzlement, a finger on her chin. "Mammary?"

The man shook his head at the mispronunciation, before clarifying it for her. "No, Momus." He said, stressing the second part of his sentence so she wouldn't make the misconnection again. But if he had experience with Neptune, he would have realised that his efforts would end in vain.

"Overlord Mammary? I've never heard of it before… Have you, Compa?"

This time it was IF who got it wrong, earning a slightly irritated look from the man, who spoke once more but this time to her. "Um, Momus. M-O-M-U-S."

"I've never heard of Overload Mustard before, either." Compa replied, either ignoring or not having heard the man, as she responded to IF's query.

At this point, the man released a groan as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Not 5 minutes in and he was already suffering a migraine. "I don't know where to start…" he mumbled under his breath, before proceeding to correct them the THIRD time. "That's M-O-M-U-S. And its "Overlord"."

The three girls looked at him in confusion for a moment, before Compa shook her head and decided that the name wasn't important. Since they hadn't heard it before, it likely wasn't, at least in their opinion. "… Anyways, what does Mr. Overlord talker person want with us?" she asked him, and above her head were question marks, each one popping in and out of existence.

Deciding to get this conversation going along and ignoring this phenomenon, the man answered the girl's question while flashing a badge within his robes. "I am a Messenger of Momus and I'm here to spread the word of the Overlord." He then raised his arms preacher style, like Neptune had done earlier. "We want everyone to know the joy of coming to know Overlord Momus."

His answer, while it did satisfy Neptune and Compa, only heightened IF's suspicions. She knew that this was a rather strange place to spread the word of an Overlord whatever, that would be better done in a City or other populated areas. One near a Dungeon where the only residents were monsters or Agents killing those monsters was unusual, if not wrong on so many levels. She had met a few messengers of other Goddesses in her travels, and out of all of them, none took place near a Dungeon.

Finally getting a chance to speak, IF moved in front of the other two before they could do something stupid, and pushed them back lightly. "Well, you may want to stop already. We're not interested." She stated bluntly.

"Yes." Compa nodded her head in agreement, smiling sweetly with a sense of apology in it as well. "I believe in Lady Purple Heart." She explained, while also stating who she believed in. If Nico was here, she bet he could say that as a Spec-Ops, he didn't believe in anything but his own strength. He had already made his opinions on religion clear about that. She then turned to Neptune, who was ironically the Goddess she was talking about. "Speaking of… how about you, Nep-Nep?"

Pointing to herself, Neptune tilted her head and responded. "Me? I believe only in myself." She said, and she wasn't unaware of how Nico-like that answer sounded. She then did a nervous laugh as her friends gave her looks. "… Just joking! I must have sounded narcissistic there a bit!"

The man stepped back in surprise, starting to sweat a bit which made IF's eyes narrow. Her BOW enhanced ears picked up sounds of rapid heartbeat, which indicated he was panicking. Neptune noticed too, and gave a disbelieving look at him. "Oy? Did I do it again…?"

"Well, just hear me out a bit." The man began, his hands raised as if trying to placate something. "Overlord Worship is actually really fun."

He would have continued, but then IF stepped forwards with a sweet smile, although her tone had a dangerous tint to it. "I thought I told you, we weren't interested." She said, and strangely enough the man felt the eyes of death looking down at him from above her, like he was in the presence of a serial killer about to go on a murderous rampage.

Nevertheless, the man quickly gathered some courage and began rummaging his robes for something. "Here, let me give you this! A Special "Overlord Momus Limited Set"!" he proclaimed, pulling out several well decorated Boxes. They were small, their size good enough to be held in one hand, though they still were long enough to be considered rectangular.

IF sweat dropped as the man literally forced them to have the Boxes. "You don't give up, do you?" she would admit, this man had guts, though she knew one who had more guts than this guy ever did.

"Oh, come now. Just take it. You'll love it!" Again, the Messenger for this 'Overlord Momus' wasn't having any of their refusal. He then moved his hand in a whirling motion, and the box IF was holding was opened, much to her surprise since she didn't see any sharp objects in his hand. He then reached in and pulled out at first. a white Mug, with the words OVERLORD MOMUS in black bold letters around its side. "See, here's a mug with the Overlord's logo. Coffee tastes like love in it!" Next was… what looked to be an… image of a cell phone. "This laser die-cut cell image is hand-numbered as the 666th!" Next was a set of cards. "Also included is a set of [Overlord Trading Cards] made just for this set!" Next item was a book. "The illustrations are also in this art book that's included!"

After that was a Disk, and at that point everyone was getting creeped out by the man's blatant Selling out, Neptune, IF and Compa sweat dropping as they watched this. "Oh, and what's a set without an Overlord BGM CD? Perfect when you want to have an ambient background to your gaming! Of course, it was recorded to provide maximum excitement and tension!"

He then held the Disk in his hand like it was a holy relic, and was there crocodile tears streaming down his cheeks? "A special Disk to make you feel like you're near our Overlord!" If they thought he was done before, then they were proven wrong when the man pulled out a phone from his robes and opened a website, before showing it to them, not aware that the screen was so small that it was difficult to even see the webpage. "Also, buy our Overlord items online store to get Overlord Stamps!" he manipulated the site a bit before showing it to them again. "Collect enough stamps and you get this life-sized Overlord hugging pillow!"

At this point, a certain someone exploded! One guess as to who that was. Clue: purple hair, amnesia and a talent for fourth-wall breaking. "Hold it! You're using my script Space! I'm gonna let the author know!" she yelled, tilting her upper body forwards with her fists clenched at her sides. She had several tick marks on her forehead to show she was infuriated by the man's actions.

Said man stepped back with his hands raised as a gesture of surrender. "Oh, now. I only appear here in this story. Let me go and this pin is yours." He offered, pulling out a Pin that was purple with a black O on it.

Now, IF was pissed. She trusted her instincts and gave an angry growl. "Pins and all this other stuff is just junk to us. Take it all back." She spoke, barely retraining her limbs from mutating into Tentacles and impaling this person before them.

While not showing anger like her friend, Compa never the less pushed the unopened box in her hands towards him. "My grandpa taught me nothing is free, so you can take them back."

"No strings attached. You can have them." Like a shrewd businessman however, the man didn't take them back as he began to run away, yelling over his shoulder at them. "Well, I have to go now. Take care!"

* * *

The girls tried to stop him, but by the time they moved he had already fled the area, vanishing into the distance. He had been a fast runner, that was for certain, something that befuddled the trio of girls.

Seeing that they couldn't give them back now that the messenger was gone, IF looked down at the box she was holding with the items inside it. She grunted as she tossed them to the side. "… What are we going to do with all this?" she wondered, addressing the others with her question.

Compa frowned at IF's disregard for merchandise, even if forced onto them they should still treat it with care. People worked hard to make these after al. However, she couldn't blame her either, since IF was not one for these kinds of items. It would be rude to belittle her for something she didn't even want in the first place. Nevertheless, Compa gave her honest answer. "We can't leave them here, so I guess we have to take them with us."

IF gave a frustrated sigh, seeing the logic Compa had. She knew when she saw the temporary scolding face on her that Compa wasn't amused with how she casually discarded the items, but since she didn't say anything, IF assumed that she understood why. Still though, she couldn't help but moan in complaint. "Why do we always get the strange ones?" Compa nodded in agreement, placing a hand on IF's shoulder before patting it with said hand, a "there, there." Coming from her. Out of the corner of her eye, IF noticed a certain someone near the merchandise, her brow quirking at this. "Hm? Nep, what are you doing?" she asked.

Neptune, who had moved to the boxes that they had discarded, though Compa had put hers down gently, began rummaging through the boxes, having opened them with Murasama which lay at her side. "Well, since we're resting, I wanted to see what else was in here." She explained, although how she assumed they were resting boggled IF's mind.

However, a rest did sound good right about now. Her muscles were still aching from having to carry 3 unconscious people out an entire Dungeon. Along the way, she had seen how the Dungeon no longer had any of the Corruption on it, meaning that the Graverobber was likely the boss of that Dungeon. Why it was somewhere else other than its designated spawning area didn't really register in her mind considering it was an abnormal. Just thinking about that Necromorph filed her mouth with bile that she refused to upchuck, as it would waste Biomass.

While she was contemplating this, Neptune rummaged through the boxes and found something that gleamed in the sunlight. Thinking that it may be some jewels or even a platinum Pudding, Neptune excitedly pulled the object out. "Oh, hey, here's the BGM CD he was promoting… Wait a minute…" her eyes focused as she stared hard at the Disk, finding something strange about it. it looked familiar to her, like she'd seen it somewhere before…

"What's wrong, Nep-Nep?"

Neptune turned her head behind her to see Compa and IF walk up to her. Standing on her feet instead of the kneeling position she was in earlier, Neptune faced them and showed them the Disk. "Doesn't this BGM CD look oddly like that Monster Disk thingy?" she questioned.

As the two looked at the Disk for a moment, it became clear to them that it indeed looked like an Enemy Disk, just stuffed with decorations to hide its true nature like a wolf in sheep's clothing. "What?!" IF shrieked, horror plastered on her face as she quickly held a hand out to her. "Hand, it over, Nep." She urged

However, it was too late as Neptune's fingers accidentally wandered onto the activation button, which made it begin to glow. "Aaaaaaaaah… It's… starting to shine!" Neptune shrieked, quickly flipping backwards and gripping the sheathed Murasama. She then flipped into the air and landed in a ready stance, with Compa and IF doing the same. The former summoned her Syringe from her Inventory while deploying her Armour, and IF mutated her arms into blades.

More lights began to shine, reaching IF and Compa's visions. Their faces paled in horror as they realised what this meant. "The ones in mine and Iffy's set are starting to shine too!" The young Nurse-In-Training exclaimed.

IF cursed under her breath. "Of all the… Guys, back to back, now!" she yelled, the two girls nodding and quickly getting behind each other, with IF doing the same. They formed a triangular formation with their weapons at the ready, the brunette growling as she realised what was going on. "That guy! He tricked us!"

The flashes stopped, and just as they feared a ring of Monsters had surrounded the three. Thing was, they were a mix of them, as in…. normal monsters AND an Abnormal.

From the Leanbox bestiary that IF had gained from the Guild, they realised that there were 12 'Lightbulb Angels' which looked like the Contracted Angels in the Monster Cave, well, they would have been there had the Banshee Infestation not happened. There was also 12 'Boomerangs' which looked like small humanoids with large heads, clad in orange suits with white gloves, boots, horns, long noses like a certain living puppet, and yellow visors.

As for the Abnormal, this one dwarfed EVERYTHING in sight. It was easily at 20 feet in height and length, with a brown colored furry body, which was reinforced with stone Armour on the back of the hind legs and shoulders. Its claws were merged into stone gauntlets, while its snout sported a fiery red mane. It had an equally fiery red bushy tail the length of 2 people on top of each other. Overall, one could consider it a wolf-like Monster, which growled at them as it reared its head to the heavens and unleashed a loud how.

Turning to her friend, Compa's eye hardened behind her helmet. "Its transformation time, Nep-Nep!" she bellowed, getting a salute from the preteen.

"Aye-Aye, sir!"

A bright pillar of light enveloped Neptune as her transformation into the Goddess of Planeptune, Purple Heart, completed. When it vanished, Purple Heart took the preteen's place as she unsheathed her Katana sword, holding it in 2 hands. "Let's hurry and get rid of them and report back to the Basilicom. It would be a disaster if these were placed in the city."

The others nodded and the battle begun.

* * *

Getting rid of the normal monsters, the Light-bulb Angels and the Boomerangs was easy, if a bit annoying since the former liked to heal each other and the Boomerangs, while the Latter kept using ranged attacks. Fortunately, IF had grouped some together and used DEMON FLAMES to burn them to ashes, demoralizing the others which made them easy pickings for Neptune and Compa.

However, dealing with the Abnormal 'Garm' wasn't.

The Leanbox Bestiary was also specific on Abnormal monsters, and IF had looked and seen what this one was called before the battle. Its abilities were fire based, so ice attacks were the key here. Unfortunately, none of them had any Ice related abilities yet, something they would have to change in the future if they survived this. The Garm was proven to be a difficult opponent, as expected for an Abnormal Monster. It not only had strength, but it had the intelligence to use it.

As for Tekken, she had managed to remain out of the loop till the monsters showed up, and had helped in destroying them from the outside. The martial artist however, was taken out of the fight immediately by the Abnormal via claw to the face, sending her crashing into the side of the mountain, out cold. Although thy thought they heard a moan from her lips at the damage when she did, but the battle's intensity was too much for them to care.

Purple Heart groaned as she missed another strike, the creature having leapt over her. The Garm landed behind her and made to swipe a claw under the ground at her. A fiery ring appeared around its feet, before it swiped. Its claw dug into the ground and the ring turned an otherwise normal boulder into a fiery meteor. It was oddly reminiscent of FIRE SCORCHER, a Skill belonging to Nico's DPU form, but nonetheless, Purple Heart managed to dodge it.

"Eat this, bastard!"

The Garm turned to see IF rearing her right arm, which had shifted into her 6 Tentacles, back. She then sent them at it, the Tentacles slamming into its gauntlet. The brunette cursed, having been intending to get its side not the gauntlet, which endured the impact of her Tentacles. The Garm then lunged and bit onto the Tentacles, making IF cry out as it pulled back, taking her with them before using them to slam her into the ground before it.

"Iffy!" Compa yelled when she saw the Garm jump into the air and come down with its claws set aflame. She knew that it would make a massive fiery inferno around it if it dug those claws into the ground, having seen it before when it tried to do the same thing to her. "COMPA'S LOVE HEART!" She quickly activated her sole offensive Skill and aimed it at the space in front of the Garm, launching the attack there.

The attack hit the Garm in the face as it was about to burn IF alive, making it howl and veer off course, crashing into the ground 10 metres away from her. The flames burned the ground around it, charring the grass and reducing everything around it in a 6-metre radius to soot.

Using this opportunity, IF quickly got to her feet and jumped away, getting some distance between it and her. "Okay, that was too goddamn close for my liking." The brunette whispered under her breath. She quickly patted her coat down before deciding to use a different mutation. Her arms returned to normal as she switched to one of her more… defensive mutations.

Unlike her previous ones, her whole body began to shake uncontrollably, many crackling, flesh tearing and bone- snapping sounds coming from her as she gritted her teeth, enduring the pain this mutation brought as her body was modified from it. Black liquid shot out her shoulders, stomach, chest and legs, covering everything from her toes up to the lower half of her face.

When the mutation solidified, IF had her own set of armour clad over her body. The armour was black with a slight shine to it, with fractions decorating its form. There was a black mask that covered te lower portion of IF's face, from her jaw to the bridge of her nose. IF had also applied another mutation to her hands, which were a set of grey metallic claws forming from her wrist and consisting of 3 fingers that were about 10 inches long.

IF grinned behind her half-mask as she dashed towards the enemy at speeds that exceeded what she did before by far, her form like a blur as she clawed away at the Garm as it tried to get on its feet. It raised a gauntlet claw and brought it down, but IF managed to dodge it by jumping onto its head. Rearing her right claw back, the girl grinned under her half-mask, her eyes widening with glee and bloodlust, Biomass coursing through her. "Alright buster, let's see about those eyes, shall we?!"

With that battle cry, IF drove her claw into the creature's eye, which caused it to howl in agony as it thrashed around, trying to shake her off it. Eventually, IF jumped off it, landing in a perfect crouch before twirling around and crossing her arms in front of her, blocking a strike to the face from its Tail. She slid backwards several feet before coming to a stop, in which he lowered her claws.

Her handiwork was shown when they saw that the Garm's eye was shut, a trail of blood going down the side of its snout. The Gram gave a feral growl, clearly it was infuriated with the damage the brunette had done to its eye, and would be coming for revenge. It gave a loud howl as it ran at them, bringing a large claw down on them with the intent of crushing them under it.

However, IF dodged by jumping backwards while her companions went to the sides. "I got this!" Neptune told them, dashing forwards while activating her Skill. "CROSS COMBINATION!" the Skill empowered her sword and she went into a vicious barrage of slashes, her sword a blur of motion as it dug repeatedly into her opponent's side. The Garm jumped into the air before she could complete it, but she jumped after it and aimed the slash at its head, sending it crashing down to the ground.

When she landed opposite it, the creature quickly scooped up a boulder and turned it into a meteor, sending it at her. Neptune however, pushed her free hand forwards and formed a large purple barrier in front of her, blocking the Meteor from hitting her. The attack was burned out of existence the moment it contacted the barrier, much to her amusement. "Is that all you have to offer?"

Her taunt served to provoke it as the Garm howled in anger rushing towards her with the intention of taking a chomp out of her flesh. Unfortunately, it soon learned that was a bad idea as Neptune disappeared in a flash before it could clamp its jaws around her flesh. Above it, she reappeared with her sword pulled bac for a horizonal slash, the Sword glowing brightly along with her blue eyes. "Here's a Skill I learned from a friend! ATOMIC INFERNO – PLANEPTUNE EDITION!' She yelled, swinging her sword and sending 30 purple energy beams down towards it. they hit it in the back, causing the Garm to fall to the ground with a yelp.

Seeing that its underside was exposed, Compa quickly activated her Skill COMPA'S LOVE HEART, sending the attack towards its exposed area. The Garm, sensing the attack, managed to recover and flip pit the way in time, much to the girl's announced as she pouted with puffy cheeks. "No fair you were supposed to let me hit you!" she whined, flailing her arms dramatically.

The Garm didn't respond as it swung its claw at the ground, sending another meteor in her direction. Compa gave a squeak of fright as it closed in on her, with the rate it was going, and the distance between them, she knew that the meteor would be unavoidable, thus could only prey that her beloved armour was going to be durable enough for her.

"COMPA!" IF and Neptune called out to their friend as they rushed to her aid. While they were running as fast as they could, Neptune flying thanks to her floating, neither of them would make it in time to intercept the Meteor in time. Yet, they kept going, nothing but adrenaline fuelling them at this point.

SSCCCCCCCCCCCCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

A Loud shriek was all they heard before something crashed into the Meteor and caused a massive explosion, like a miniature supernova.

BOOM!

The resulting shockwave was great enough that the girls were flung away from the Nurse-In-Training's vicinity. "Kyaaaaaaa!" Compa screamed out as she fell onto her back, sliding across the ground till she stopped. Fortunately, her armour prevented any serious damage to her clothes and her flesh.

IF managed to land on all fours, growling as she looked up. "Ugh, what the hell was that?!" she shrieked, before looking to where the meteor once was. However, the smoke made it hard for her to see what was inside, so she looked to Compa. "Compa, you okay?!"

"A-Okay, Iffy! I'm still alive and kickin'!" Compa replied, sitting up and giving IF a thumbs-up sign, beaming behind her Mask.

"Okay, then… not so sure you should say that with a happy tone, but whatever."

The brunette could only sweat drop at her response, before looking towards Purple Heart, who was floating back into position. "Hey Nep, you okay too? You were the closest to that thing." She asked her.

Purple Heart didn't answer right away as she placed a hand on her head, her mind filled with dizziness from tumbling so much. She shook her head and forced the dizziness away, before looking up and glancing towards the brunette. "I-I am unharmed, Iffy. I managed to reduce the brunt of the impact with my powers. Anyways, what was that? It came so quick that I-"

SSCCCCCCCCCCCCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The girls quickly gasped and covered their ears, an ear-piercing shriek echoing from within the smoke as well as pained growls and yips. The sounds of blood being shed, bones being crushed, and flesh being torn could be heard from within the cloud, the action keeping it up like a barrier that concealed what was inside.

They shuddered at the sounds, as well as the ones of tortured agony coming from the Garm that they had been fighting. Whatever had saved Compa had gone after it, and for some reason they got the feeling they didn't want to get involved. It was like they were following the instincts of prey, hiding from their predator. Tat cloud they faced was looking more and more dangerous by the second, even though they knew that it couldn't hurt them.

"Um, Iffy…?" Purple Heart asked her friend as they regrouped, watching the smoke warily as if whatever was inside would come out at any moment. She made sure to speak quieter than usual so that whatever was in there wouldn't notice them. "What do you think that is? It sounds tough…"

"If I knew that Nep, I wouldn't have asked that the last few times!"

The sounds of combat began to die down, until an uneasy, tense, eerie silence replaced them. The smoke began to die down, following the lack of motions within to indicate something was happening.

That is, until they began to hear some strange sounds, sounds like flesh being torn, but no dust was being kicked up, so the one making them wasn't moving about. "What is that sound? Something squelching?" Purple Heart wondered, frowning. she raised her sword in a ready stance, she didn't know why, but her instincts were screaming at her to be ready, that she was in danger.

"I Don't know, but it sounds creepy…" IF muttered under her breath, her eyes narrowing as she tried to peer through the smoke. She then widened them when she began to see a vague silhouette. "Look, the smoke's clearing."

Indeed, the smoke was beginning to clear, to the point where they could see a vague silhouette within. But as time passed, the silhouette gained a proper defined shape. It looked like there was something before their opponent, which was sprawled on its side motionless. There was the faint flicker of something swaying in the air, but it wasn't visible yet to the naked eye. It looked like a… tail, though.

Finally, the smoke cleared completely… though they soon wished it hadn't.


	59. Chapter 56 - Return to Leanbox

**Chapter 56 - Return to Leanbox**

Before them, the Garm lay on its side, dead. But it didn't vanish for there was another creature near it, at its underside. The creature's head was buried into its underside, gripping the underside with what looked like a pair of maws on its claws, with a bulky humanoid body. its long, spine-like Tail swayed eagerly behind it while its giant claws and mandibles tore away at the flesh that they gripped, with the crimson angelic wings lightly flapping occasionally. Sounds of flesh being torn with blood dripping from where the head should be, falling to the ground, gave a perfect indication of what it was doing.

SQUELCH, SQUELCH, TEAR, TEAR, TEAR, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP, TEAR, SLURP, CHOMP SQUELCH, SQUELCH, TEAR, TEAR, TEAR, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP, TEAR, SLURP, CHOMP SQUELCH, SQUELCH, TEAR, TEAR, TEAR, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP, TEAR, SLURP, CHOMP

This new creature… was EATING the dead Garm.

"Oh, my goddess…" Compa whispered, breathless while holding her armored hands over her mouth in horror at the grotesque sight in front of her. Seeing something like this, while she had seen gory sights before thanks to the Banshee infestation, she had still hoped beyond all hope she would never get to see a monster savagely take down another monster and feed on its corpse. She at least wanted to preserve that piece of her innocence! She could feel the vomit welling up inside her gut, and she didn't like it one bit!

IF had similar thoughts as she regarded the sight before her. She however, had seen sights like this several times, being a Guild Agent meant you had to see some pretty nasty shit sometimes, so she had a better constitution for it. Nevertheless, a sight like this was way more brutal than usual. Monsters that hunt other monsters usually attack them when they were in an enclosed space, with nobody being the wiser. When they were defeated, the Particles then go into the other monster, rejuvenating it. It was their own unique way of 'feeding' and it also applied to humans as well. When a human was fed on though, the process was usually 1000 times more painful than just being eaten alive, something she never wanted to witness.

Apparently though, Compa's comment was all it took to get the creature's attention, as it turned to them to show the guts and gore dripping down its mandibles. It then swallowed what was in its mouth, licking its maw while the Garm vanished into particles, particles that went inside the creature. It then threw its right arm to the side, which began to bulge and tremble like IF's would when mutating in to weapons.

TREMBLE, TREMBLE, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, RIPPLE, RIPPLE, RIPPLE.

Gory sounds echoed through the area, originating from the trembling arm as... something, seemed to be travelling down the beast's arm from within, going down it like a slide towards the limb's hand.

The mandible at the end of the arm opened wide, wider than what should be physically possible, before the tip of a blade could be seen sticking out of it. pretty soon, the rest of the blade followed suit, then the hilt which the maw grabbed onto and held in its fangs. In the end, it held a massive brown sword with teeth going down the center of the blade, and a circular guard. It was quite wet and slimy on the surface thanks to where it came from, but the beast took care of that by practice swinging it several times. It soon shone brightly in the sunlight, all slime and other liquids driven from its surface as the beast held the sword before it, seemingly inspecting it until a grunt came from its maw, one that signified satisfaction.

It's glance in their direction was their only warning. In the next second, it was on them, swinging its sword at IF first. She quickly raised her Claws to block it, but the swing was too powerful, and it sent her flying over 30 metres in the air. Just before she could hit the ground, IF gasped when she saw the creature appear parallel above her, grabbing her in its free left claw's mandible by the side of her hip. It then raised her into the air before slamming her into the ground, hard, causing the ground below to form a crater.

"Gah!"

"Iffy!"

The brunette barely opened one eye in time to see it already over her, to her shock as she saw its sword already raised. When it brought its sword down to finish her off, Purple Heart quickly flew forth and swung her sword, blocking it from reaching IF's prone form. The brunette used this opportunity, shifting her right arm and left into their 6 Tentacles, before sending all 12 at it to pierce its Armour. However, the creature was fast, and managed to dodge it by vanishing and appearing at their left flank.

Before it could strike, Purple Heart flew towards it with her sword facing downwards, before she stopped went and slashed at its waist. The monster blocked with its sword, as well as the slashes that followed. There was a horizontal slash, a diagonal slash and then a thrust to its face, which it pivoted to the side to dodge. It made to bash her with its free claw, but Neptune pivoted around it as well, mirroring its earlier actions, and slashed at the fleshy suit underneath. Unfortunately, her sword didn't do much damage, and what little damage it did do, which was in the form of a small cut, was repaired instantly.

"So, it can heal…?" Purple Heart muttered, before she strafed back to avoid a swing from its massive sword. Though she may as well have been hit by it as the shock wave sent her flying backwards the same length that IF had flown earlier. 'And that sword...! It can generate powerful air blasts from its size alone...! This battle will not be easy.' She quickly got out of the way of a massive slash that would have severed her in half vertically before shooting into the skies. She glanced behind her, and saw the beast flare its flaming crimson wings to take off after her.

While that happened, said brunette quickly sprouted her Wings from behind, turning her head to Compa while they formed. "You stay down here, Compa. Me and Nep will keep this thing in the air." she ordered.

The Nurse-In-Training nodded her head firmly as she readied her Syringe. "Right!"

With that out of the way, IF nodded as her wings fully formed. They flapped a single time, to launch her high into the air towards the other two, which were already starting to do battle. IF growled at this as she charged in. "Hey, you guys forgot about me!" she charged at the monster while its back was turned, launching her Tentacles at its back.

However, the creature managed to deflect them from it with its Tail. It then shot its Tail towards hr, only for IF to retract her Tentacles and quickly catch it, stopping it from moving. She grimaced when she felt the talons try to rip through her thin Tentacles, but held them strong nonetheless. "I got it, Nep! Now's your chance-!"

Before she could finish, the creature shrieked, its Tail raising itself into an arch before flicking in her direction, ripping itself free and allowing it to slash through several of her 12 Tendrils, reducing them to 6, 3 for each arm. The monster then blurred out of existence, much to their shock, before appearing behind her with its sword raised.

A series of rounds peppered the creature's arm before it could bring the sword down however, coming from Compa who held her Syringe like a Sniper Rifle. "You're a meanie! leave my friends alone! Big bully, you!" she yelled, and for once she looked genuinely angry, though her angry face just enhanced her adorableness, that was something Purple Heart's human form would say.

Unfortunately, that garnered her the attention and irritation of the monster, as I gave a blood-curdling shriek before flying down towards her, leaving behind a trail of embers. It closed the distance and swung its sword, but Compa managed to dive to the side. The sword's arc made a large fissure on the ground going in the same direction the sword was.

Compa made to get up, when she saw the Tail seconds away from slapping her on the face. She eeped and barely ducked her head in time to dodge it, side flipping onto her feet and aiming her Syringe, firing at its head. The monster swiftly flew towards her like a bullet, intending to cleave her head off with one swift flying strike.

However, both Purple Heart and IF managed to get there in time, the former blocking the sword with her own while the latter rammed a pillar made from her remaining Tentacles into the side of its head. Thanks to the impact of this combination attack, the monster was sent crashing into the ground, causing a medium sized explosion with a low booming sound resonating through the air.

"This thing is persistent, that's for sure." IF commented while reforming her arms back to their human forms. Her Armor form restored its claws as she sharpened them against each other. "It took a lot outta me just to recover from those few hits." She mentally checked her Biomass reserves and winced: things didn't look so good for her, she would only have a few mutation shifts left before her powers would need to feed to recharge. Since they hadn't fed on the monsters earlier, she had to be running on fumes at this point.

Purple Heart nodded her head in agreement. That, and her warrior-trained eyes picked up the subtle signs of IF's powers running dry. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, she didn't want this battle to last any longer. If IF was running low on power, she would have to take the brunt of the damage herself. That Garm and those monsters didn't exhaust her powers as much as she had expected, so she could fight a little longer. Plus, there was something she wanted to test out. "I agree, this adversary is quite formidable. The Armour it possesses is strong enough to defend against a CPU's weapon, which means it is very dangerous."

"Yeah, I hear that, sister. What should we do?"

While the two flying women were discussing about the creature they were fighting, Compa hummed as she stared at the smoke cloud generated by the creature's harsh landing. She didn't know why, but there was something about that monster, the way it moved, the way it fought. It seemed to strike a chord in her, a familiar one that she didn't know the reason as to its being struck. "Um, guys, don't you think that thing seems… familiar?"

Upon hearing her words, Purple Heart and IF looked down at her, confusion on their features before they looked to the smoke cloud. For a moment, it seemed that they didn't get what she was saying, until a few moments later when Purple Heart raised a brow. "Now that I think about it…" she whispered, cupping her chin thoughtfully in her free hand. "I do find something odd. The way it fought resembled a fighting style that someone else we know uses…"

IF nodded her head again in agreement with the purplette sword maiden. Something about this creature was different, different than the other Abnormal Monsters. Was it even Abnormal, or even a Monster at all? "It moves intelligently, going after the middle link and weakest links first. It went after me, then chose Compa. Now that I think on it, through that entire exchange, it hasn't gone after you at all, Nep."

That too was strange, usually monsters would be attracted to the strongest of a Party first to take them out before they would destroy them. Kill or be killed could best describe their behavior. Though for Abnormals their behavior is too unpredictable to have this method count. This behavior however was applicable too normal Gamindustri Monsters, as they would usually go for Purple Heart or her human form, or even the people in her party that were equal or stronger than her. For a monster to act like this was weird, suspicious too.

They couldn't think on it for long because the creature shrieked once more.

SSCCCCCCCCCCCCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

They were getting used to it slowly, so they didn't cover their ears this time. Though they did wince at the volume the creature roared. "Why Don't we call it a screecher? Things got a loud voice, for one." IF suggested with a snarl behind her half Mask. She shifted her right arm into her Axammer, readying her free claw as the beast charged towards them from within the smoke.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Iffy. Even I think that is a bad choice for a name... although it does have an annoying shriek." Neptune chastised, but IF never got the chance to respond as the beast was already at them, swinging at their heads intending to cleave them off. Just like before though, it went after IF's head first, they noticed.

Both dodged by side flipping into a vertical dive, shooting towards the ground. The beast roared and swooped downwards after them, giving chase. It looked determined to not let its prey escape, though that wasn't their goal. As the ground approached them, and the beast neared their flanks, the girls suddenly pulled up at the last moment, leaving the beast unable to stop itself as it crashed into the ground.

Floating back upwards, both girls looked down at the creature's impact area, their eyes calculating. "Well, whatever the case is, this thing doesn't seem overly smart. Most of it is brawn and no brain." IF spoke with contemplation. It did have somewhat of an intelligence, but its instincts seemed to be stronger than its mind. Not a good combination, but it could be used against it for traps and stuff.

"Be that as it may, it still is a threat, if it wanders into a city it could lead to a disaster." Purple Heart reminded the brunette, although she herself agreed with her deduction. The creature seemed to move on instinct, not judging them with any meaningful tactics or strategies. Usually that would make a foe easier to defeat, however this creature had the physical ability to compensate for it, thus it would be too much for any normal human to handle.

On that, IF had to admit that Purple Heart was right, this beast needed to be put down for the good of Leanbox, no, for the good of Gamindustri. It couldn't be allowed to live and cause chaos wherever it went.

No sooner had she thought that did the beast roar again, instantly closing the distance between them with its speed and launch a kick to her face. IF blocked it with her Axammer, using the momentum to make a reverse swing towards its face. However, it used its Tail to block it, wrapping the Tail around the weapon and flinging her to the ground while slashing towards Purple Heart, who deflected the first attack.

'Its strength and speed are commendable…' she thought while defending herself from its massive sword. Her eyes soon spotted an opening and thus she activated CRITICAL EDGE. She slashed downwards and then upwards, but before she could use the finishing blow, Purple Heart saw it literally vanish before her very eyes. KI could be felt behind her as she quickly boosted forwards, dodging a slash that would have sliced her diagonally in half, from the right shoulderblade to the left hip. 'And its agility is no joke. It may not be overly smart, however that doesn't make it any less of a threat. I have no choice, I was saving it for Nicky, but I guess I must use THAT.'

"It is the first time that I'm using this technique in battle. Be grateful I'm showing it here, for there is one who I want to beat way more than you." Purple Heart spoke, lowering her head with her hair shadowing her eyes. The beast made no effort to move again, it's instincts telling it that something big was coming.

* * *

From her spot on the ground, IF looked up to see the Planeptune CPU cease all movement, holding her sword in a ready stance. "Huh… what is Nep doing?" she wondered, before trying to get up. However, she winced when a spike in pain forced her to stop her attempts, and she soon felt why: her spine was broken from the fall, the impact and the physical strength that the creature possessed was enough to get past her natural defenses. "Urk! Sh-Shit… goddammit!"

"Iffy! Don't worry, Nurse Compa is on the way!"

When she saw the young Nurse-In-Training running towards her, a sigh escaped her lips. She couldn't do much with her damaged spine, so she decided to watch what Purple Heart was doing up in the skies. She'll help once she had fully healed from these wounds. 'Be careful, Nep…'

* * *

Back in the skies, Purple Heart sensed no movement from the beast, so she assumed that she finally had its attention. 'Alright, I don't know how long I will be able to keep this up for, however I must stop it, here and now.' she thought, her eyes having closed during her thought process. She then opened them and lifted her head, showing that the power button symbols in her eyes were shining much brighter than before.

"PLANEPTUNE DRIVE!"

The second she yelled that, her whole body erupted in a purplish aura, thick and heavy. It moved around her like a flame, sporting a black outline to add to its intimidating feel. the surroundings began to feel heavy, like a weight had settled on the air itself, with a powerful pressure filling it. both girls below fell to their knees, breathing heavily as sweat rolled down their foreheads.

"Kya!"

"What the heck?! Wait, this is-"

The Beast stepped back, startled and stunned from this surge. Purple Heart's eyes focused on the Beast as she readied her sword. "This power, this Skill is something I learned to fight a dear friend of mine, someone I cherish with every fibre of my being. I'd even go as far as calling him a lover, though I'm working on grinding away his resistance." She told the Beast. Why was she saying all this to a creature that wouldn't even understand her?

Perhaps that was the answer. After all, she never had many people to express her true feelings to, like a mother or a father, or so she thought. With her amnesia she wasn't sure, but she did feel that she had been alone for some time. In her human form she didn't ponder this very much, but in her HDD, her true form, Purple Heart was critically aware of this fact.

The fact that she could pour her feelings out to this creature, which would only listen in confusion, felt oddly like a therapy session, where she would speak her mind and vent her stress. Though, this journey did give her one other person to be open about her true feelings too, and that person had more than deserved her affections. Being a comic relief character wasn't an easy job, usually you weren't treated like you should be, and people tend to misunderstand you. So, that person, who saw past her mask and allowed her to speak her true feelings, was someone she could never truly express how much gratitude she felt for him.

She probably would get some from Compa later, but even if they were rivals for Nico's love, both had confirmed one thing in their minds, hearts and souls when they began this little chase: that they were friends as well.

Eyes blinked as she glanced down and saw the state her friends were in. Seeing their states, she quickly realized the effects her power was having on the surrounding area... and her friends. Purple Heart's eyes narrowed as she tried to rein in the energy she was producing with PLANEPTUNE DRIVE, and while successful, she could only lessen the burden on them for the time being. Controlling the energy output was difficult, if not mentally excruciating. The fact that there were humans, normal humans who could do this in battle and come out on top like it was second nature was almost baffling to her, which ended up increasing her respect for them. 'I must end this quickly, I can feel my body buckling under the strain.' She thought, grimacing as the effects of her Skill were starting to show.

When she had first heard of this Skill from Nico, he said that it was taxing on the body at first, until one grew accustomed to it, then it got easier. She could see that now. Every bone in her body felt more like heavy steel, her muscles kept screaming in her ear their protests and pains as the energy coursed through them, making them work beyond their in-built limits. Drive Skills were said to enhance the body to the point where the user could fight against beings they couldn't otherwise, but that kind of power always came with a price.

This was that price... even for one of those otherwise untouchable beings.

Looking back at the Beast, Purple Heart began to sheath her sword slowly within the futuristic sheath on her hip, gathering the energy her PLANEPTUNE DRIVE gave her. The Beast sensed something was going wrong, and rushed to stop her pumping everything it had into its legs and wings to go faster. It roared at her, rearing the sword back to quickly decapitate the woman before whatever she was going to do would finish.

As the blade was swung towards her throat, Purple Heart faintly heard the alarmed cries of her friends down below, but pushed them to the back of her mind. Right now, she needed to stay calm and do this correctly. Time seemed to slow down between them, the blade of the Beast's sword nearing her throat.

All the while, her sword slowly sheathed itself into the sheath at her waist, her right hand on the weapon's hilt while the left was on a trigger mechanism on the sheath. Since her HDD form formed the sheath from her human form's Murasama sheath, it had the same rifle mechanism, only much more powerful she could sense.

…

…

…

…

…

Sensing that the Skill was ready, Neptune pulled the trigger and felt a BOOM rush from her Sheath as the blade was launched from it. She used her grip on the sword to slash upwards, yelling "RIFLE SLASH!" as she did so. The added impact from the mechanism, her PLANEPTUNE DRIVE Skill, and the slash hit the armoured monstrosity, sending a massive crack through its armour as it roared in pain, stopping its attack and stumbling backwards.

Noticing the cracks in the armour, Purple Heart cursed to herself. 'Shoot, that attack should have went through the armour. I guess I need more training in RIFLE SLASH if I want to use it effectively.' She thought to herself.

Things got even worse for her soon enough, however. The CPU then gasped as she felt the PLANEPTUNE DRIVE Skill suddenly cut itself, making her double over and generate a digital panel before her, to stab her sword into and use as a Cane to support her weight. She breathed heavily, a huge weight of fatigue on her shoulders as sweat rolled down her shoulders. "D-Damnit, looks like… this is my current limit."

This was bad, the Beast had endured her attack and she was nearing the end of her HDD time. That attack had drained much of her power, she may not be able to remain transformed for much longer. Worse still, when she did revert, odds were that she'd be defenceless considering her human form's personality and how her power will be practically spent.

Sensing its opportunity, the Beast looked to its enemy and gave what it could call a cackle, which sounded highly disturbing in her ears as it flew towards her, sword raised to finish her off. Purple Heart saw this, and gritted her teeth as she tried to force her body to obey her mental commands. She only managed to shake her limbs however, her body refusing her mental commands vehemently.

'L-Looks like… this is it.' The sword maiden thought as she closed her eyes, awaiting the blade as it would inevitably cleave her head from her shoulders. 'My time has come… Nicky, forgive me… I have failed… I love you…'

The Beast was now right before the kneeling Purple Heart, who was reminiscent of a Samurai kneeling with his sword stabbing the ground before his lord. It cackled more as it raised its blade, before bringing it down on her head. IF and Compa wouldn't make it in time to help, the former unable to move and the latter unable to fly. Things looked hopeless for the young sword maiden, so she just went and accepted her end like a true warrior would. She did have some regrets, like not being able to save Histoire, spend more time with the man she loved to the point of getting some steamy M rated scenes…

Just as the blade was a millisecond away from hitting her flesh however…

CRACK!

A shockwave was made from the sword just as it stopped at her neck. Purple Heart wasn't blown over, but her hair fluttered in the shockwave's direction. The shockwave hit a section of the field beside them, blowing it out of the ground and into smithereens. This lasted for several intense, heart-pounding seconds, before the shockwave dissipated into nothingness and Purple Heart's hair returned to its normal state.

The said Sword Maiden's tightly closes eyes slowly relaxed, sensing that her end was not coming anymore, before her nose twitched in confusion. Why was she not dead? Why has the Beast stayed its hand? Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, and when they were open completely, she looked upwards and gazed at the Beast, her would be executioner.

Said Beast was frozen in motion, cracks slowly spreading across its armour. She noticed that one of them had reached the core on its chest, something that made her eyes widen. 'No, could it be…? But I thought…!' she thought, shock and realisation dawning on her. Was THAT why this thing's fighting methods were so familiar?! Could it really be…?!

The cracks began quickening their pace, spreading over its armoured body while the Beast's eyes lost their hollow yellow glow. The cracks even spread down its arms to the sword it wielded, something that confused her even more than she already was. Purple Heart then became witness, along with the girls below, to the armoured Beast completely shattering apart, each piece disintegrating out of existence, to reveal…

"NICKY/NI-NI/NICO?!"

They cried out the name of their beloved male party member in shock, surprise and confusion as they saw Crimson Soul who flashed in a dim light to reveal his reversion to his human form as Nico. However, he had his eyes closed and his form motionless. Also, something worth noting, at least to Neptune and Compa… his clothes were gone, showing his entire body to them.

'Wh-Whoa… This is Nicky in his birthday suit…' the sword maiden and Nurse-In-Training thought, eyes wide and crimson red blushes on their cheeks. Unknown to them, a certain Guild Agent also had a mild red hue on her cheeks that she tried to suppress by looking away. However, Purple Heart soon snapped out of it when she saw that he was unconscious, and beginning to fall with no flight capabilities to sustain him.

Acting swiftly with strength fuelled by adrenaline, Purple Heart lunged forwards. "Nicky!" she cried, catching him in her arms before he could fall. Holding him with her arms under his arm pits, his head buried into her bosom, Purple Heart gazed down at his unconscious face, eyes shining with worry and concern. Now that she was of a different mindset, Purple Heart noticed that his body was covered in heavy duty burn marks, cuts and bruises, some of them looking possibly life threatening, although they were also beginning to heal over.

It made sense, since his DDD form had high self-healing powers, though she was confused on why this healing looked like long thin red tendrils stitching the wounds back together. They didn't look like they were made of energy, more like they were made of flesh itself. Nevertheless, what was important right now was getting Nico out of here to safety.

* * *

"Was that okay?"

"Yes. Overlord Momus should be pleased."

"Th-Then, may I get a stamp on my stamp card, as promised?!"

"Yes. There you go… Does that look good?"

"Yes! Now my stamp card is complete!"

"Now I believe this plush, ultra-sof Overlord hugging pillow is due."

"Yes! Thank you! Lady Conversation, where will you go now?"

"I will head back to the Leanbox Basilicom. Now I have proof that Neptune summoned Monsters, and that boy DEATHSTROKE to be someone to be considered a threat against Leanbox… Heh…"

* * *

After retrieving the unconscious Nico, the party picked up Tekken who had remained out cold, and made their way back to the City of Leanbox. It wouldn't be right to leave her out in the open like that, something could happen to her and she'd be defenseless. That was what the girls thought as they carried the two-unconscious people like sacks of potatoes back to the city. Neptune, after returning to human form, had been adamant about keeping Nico to herself, much to Compa's ire.

IF had volunteered to carry Tekken, considering her BOW powers would make carrying her a piece of cake, but Compa did it anyways reasoning that's he was a Nurse-In-Training, so she was most qualified. Plus, she'd done it before with Neptune, so it wasn't a problem for her.

The group had found and rented a room in a hotel that would fit their standards, although IF had made sure Neptune wouldn't spend too much credits on over-extravagant rooming. She almost did that one time after a Quest, and Nico wasn't around since he was busy with his own Questing, so she had to put her foot down.

Seriously, they'd a child for a party leader, didn't they?

Right now, they were in the hotel room, a solemn silence about them. Nico was resting in his bed, a wet down on his forehead with his breathing labored. A red hue was present on his cheeks with sweat rolling down them, causing a wave of worry to sweep through the girls. Even though his physical wounds were healing nicely, Nico's body still seemed to be suffering from what had happened. IF suspected that it was due to his demonic energy, remembering the moment that Crimson Soul first appeared back there.

Tekken had woken up an hour ago, and after a quick medical check-up she said she had to leave for some training and left. She didn't leave without anything though, as Neptune and the girls expressed worry for her state, so she assured them she was fine. She did say that she would have to train to get stronger and fight those Abnormal monsters though, saying how people who could fight them on even ground and win would be too powerful for the current her to fight.

"Is Nicky alright, Compa? How's he to your professional opinion?" Neptune asked, walking up to the bedside where Compa was. She leaned across over him and tried touching his cheek, only to go "Ouch!" as she quickly retracted her hand, the finger she used having a horrible burn mark on it. "He's hot! And not in the sexual way, either!"

Compa turned to her and frowned. "Nep-Nep, you shouldn't disturb an injured patient, Ni-Ni needs to rest." She chided her, hands on her hips like a professor scolding a rebellious student. "Anyways, whatever happened has made Ni-Ni get a fever, it should subside soon, but I don't know what'll happen to him afterwards. We don't even know what happened to make him act like that, so I can't say anything for sure." She explained, casting a worried gaze to the unconscious male. She then softened her gaze when she noticed Neptune holding her injured finger, and quickly retrieved some water and some bandages. "Here, Nep-Nep, lemme look at that."

"Are you sure? The last mummification comes to mind right now."

"It was one time, Nep-Nep."

While the two tended to her injury, IF cast her gaze over to the male's prone form. He was still naked, but she had offered one of her spare coats to cover the majority of his body from the public's eye. That spare, was now being washed in the room's washing machine. "Whatever the case may be, it's gotta be to do with when he fought that Ghoul…" she muttered under her breath as she cupped her chin in thought. The last things he'd seen before flying off was Crimson Soul about to undergo a massive power surge. She remembered when Crimson Soul told her to leave the area with her friends as fast as possible, did he mean to warn her that he was going to do whatever resulted in that thing? And that they should have gotten further away than they did?

It was only a moment later that Neptune's injury was bandaged properly, much to her relief. "In any case, that stuff with that MS-whatever dungeon took WAAAAY longer than expected." Neptune remarked, pouting as she threw her arms aside. "We lost way more than what we got back, 1 party member down and a whole load of butt kicking." For someone who usually sounded happy at the prospect of fighting monsters, Neptune oddly seemed more… subdued, than normal when she said that. It was to be expected though, since they usually got off scot free, or with minimal injuries thanks to Nico's quick thinking, precise judgement, and aggro skills.

Now that he was down, though…

"Well, the Disks were destroyed during that whole mess, so we at least don't have to worry about them being a problem… though I would have liked to show one to the Basilicom for evidence against whoever's making them." IF stated, crossing her arms as she walked away from the bed, not wanting to look at her unconscious comrade any longer otherwise she felt she would show something she didn't want to show, before sitting on a chair and crossing one leg over the other.

Neptune then hummed crossing her arms under her chest, before a light bulb switched on above her head, literally as something came to mind. "Oh! Iffy, do you remember, Overrod mommy? What's his dealio? Do you know anything?"

Compa nodded her head alongside her friend, standing before her and mimicking her pose. "Hmmm! Hmmm! It would be great if you knew something about this Overlord person, Iffy."

"Well, while we were walking back, I did some digging through some internet research though I never got the chance to finish since Nep here rushed us the rest of the way to the City." IF replied, aiming an accusing glare towards the preteen, who blushed and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "So, I don't know exactly. Lemme have a look."

She reached for one of her phones on her coat, which was hanging on the back of the chair she was sitting on, and pulled one free she flipped it open and examined the screen's contents, frowning as she read it. When she was done, a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as her scowl deepened. "… This may be worse than expected."

"What's the matter, Iffy?"

"According to my Overlord Research, its worship is spreading." IF explained, looking up from her phone at Compa, he one who asked her that question. She then looked back at the screen to continue. "Worse still, is that the with the small number of Spec Ops Agents, faith in Leanbox's CPU is dwindling faster. Spec Ops don't believe in any CPU, but they also don't believe in this Overlord either. With so few, and their numbers restricted, people are being targeted easier by these cultists." IF explained, reading articles and notes she had made while walking back to the city with the others.

Her words did nothing to settle their nerves as Compa uncomfortably glanced towards Nico's prone form as a form of comfort, only for it to backfire when she saw his heavy breathing. She quickly replaced the towel on his head to get the fever down, all the while looking over to where IF was sitting. "But, I've never heard of this Mr. Overlord before." she protested. In her mind, she couldn't grasp the sudden appearance of this deity she had never heads d of or how so many people were now worshipping it. it just didn't make sense to her. If one wanted to put faith in something, why not something that's had more of an impact like the CPUs or the Spec Ops?

"Neither have I." IF agreed, sighing as se closed the phone down and placed it back where it belonged on her coat. She then looked to where the Preteen was, sitting by the bed Nico occupied, bouncing on it lightly. "Nep… oh, that's right. How would she know?" IF had been about to ask her if she had heard of this Overlord Momus, but remembered at the last second that she was an Amnesiac. She wouldn't have any previous memory of this deity if she ever heard about it, or even paid attention to anything about it.

Neptune frowned and huffed in her direction, tilting her head away from the Spec Ops Candidate irritably. "Now, you won't know if you don't ask, right?"

Shock ran through both girls as they directed wide-eyed stares towards the preteen. IF was the first to get her voice back after her words as she asked her what was on both hers and Compa's minds. "Wait. You know something about this?"

Neptune hummed for a moment, before she revealed to them… her troll face. "Of Course not."

Their hopes dashed faster than that high-speed running bird fleeing from its wolf-like hunter. IF hung her head, though she had a tight smile on her lips and a twitching eyebrow. "My bad for expecting something from you…"

Just after she said that, a loud rumble shook the room. Everyone gasped, eyes wide as they looked around, trying to find the source. When they heard a sheepish laugh, both girls frowned and turned slowly towards Neptune, who was rubbing her stomach in a criminal-like manner. "Ahahaha, looks like I'm kinda famished. Haven't eaten yet, seems. Iffy, Compa would you mind getting some groceries?"

"And why can't you do it?" IF retorted, narrowing her eyes at the preteen. "You're the one that's hungry, and why should we go out there when we ca just order some room service?"

Neptune responded by throwing her arms into the air above her with a massive grin on hr face. "Because, plot!"

* * *

In the end, Neptune managed to convince them to go get some groceries. It was just so that they could stop Neptune's incessant whining, and she complained that the food service here wasn't very good, even worse back in Lastation. They would have argued back, but then they remembered the last time they got a hotel in Leanbox, the food provided wasn't as good as they'd hoped.

When they left, closing the door behind them, Neptune tiptoed to the door and pressed her ear against it, trying to listen to the sounds of their footsteps fading away. Once she was sure that they were gone, an impish grin slowly swept across her face. "Hehehehehe, all alo-ne now…"

With her companions gone, Neptune tiptoed back to the unconscious male's bed with her grin becoming more and more evil by the second. Oh, how she was waiting to do this. Every time Nico had pranked her, she would always return fire, but his pranking skills were infamous. He was like those characters who excelled in bullet hell games, though she was pretty sure that there was character in Rebirth 2 who was an expert in those. Went by a name beginning with C…

Whatever, she was beginning to go off track, anyways. Looking down at the male, who for the first time since she'd met him looked helpless, Neptune knew that her time to act was now. 'Well, this actually isn't the first time that he's been knocked out, there were those times with the Banshees, the time after that meanie woman nearly killed him… gosh, now that I think about it, we've been through some tough scrapes. The Author really went all out in trying to make this series' light-hearted atmosphere mix with tension and seriousness. Though, I'm not sure others will agree…'

Shaking her head, Neptune forced those meta thoughts aside for the time being as she gave a sinister giggle oddly reminiscent of a Gremlin. If anyone saw her right now, they would mistake her for one as they swore there were gremlin ears and tails come out of her. Slowly, she leaned forth and gripped the covers that were on the male, throwing them back.

A bright light shone through th windows of their hotel room as well as a feminine giggle.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, here's another chapter, guys!**

 **Not much to say here, save for read, fav, review, oh and make sure to vote about IF and the Spec Ops Exam! It'll mean more chapters for the Leanbox Arc, but it'll be good character development for her.**


	60. Chapter 57 - Dark ti-oh my!

**Hey guys!**

 **New chapter here, and this one is going to be a doozy. Now, as you all know, this is a harem fic, and in this chapter one of the girls will be making a move on Nico. This is how it will play out, as well as how he would react... which will be further explained in the next chapter. This is not going to be an easy romance between him and the girls, either. Pretty sure I've made that clear with all the issues Nico is facing by himself right now. The girls will have a LOT of barriers to get through before they can truly be of help to him.**

 **Anyways, lets go!**

* * *

 **Chapter 57 - Dark Tid- oh my!**

Back in the Basilicom, Yvoire had been talking to some other officials, officials who were expressing concerns about the lack of presence that their CPU was having in the Basilicom. Nevertheless, he made sure to assure them that the CPU would be alright, that she was just resting from going out protecting their borders. It wasn't actually a lie, since he did get reports from Military scouts that they saw a woman matching the CPU's description go out and into the city several times.

It was only after he had managed to finally assure their worries and send them away that he heard the large doors to the Basilicom's main hall open. He turned his head to look at them, to see the familiar sight of the evangelist Conversation entering the main hallway, closing the door softly behind her. His eyes flashed with questioning intent, and then the woman looked back to him. Instantly, he realised that she was here to talk about their previous discussion. Mentally, he hoped that she had so he could get back at that insufferable Spec Ops Agent. The two made their way to an isolated area so nobody would hear them, before the woman held out a picture before him. "… This picture is proof."

Yvoire's eyes widened like saucers when he saw a picture of Neptune and her friends, with the Disks that they were given, summoning monsters in a Dungeon. Though inside, he was almost gleeful, but had to remain strong in his façade. "It… It can't be! Such young girls as messengers of Overlord Momus…" he said with a fake sadness to his tone.

The woman smiled pleasantly, pocketing the photo in her robes. She didn't show it, but her eyes had picked up the signs of Yvoire's acting. This would almost be as easy as taking candy from a baby. Once she pocketed the photos, planning to burn them away later since their purpose was fulfilled, she returned her gaze to the stunned (-_-) man. "Now do you believe me?" She asked him, now she was certain that the man would believe her story, but there was more to say than this. Oh, there was so much more that she wanted to say.

"You gave me no choice." The man sighed sadly after replying with that. Though inside, he was almost dancing with glee. Now that he had something to go along with, he could go after Neptune herself, to get back at her for constantly getting his name wrong. It was Yvoire! Yvoire! How hard was it to say that name?! He would have to show her, her place when he got the chance. Plus, if he could convince the authorities to leave her friends in his care... His gaze fell to the ground for a moment, before it returned to hers as he spoke on another topic relevant to this discussion. "However, I have no proof of any claims to DEATHSTROKE. Surely he would have tried to stop them if this is the case."

Despite his mental eagerness, he wasn't stupid. Neptune may be considered a target now, but Nico was not. He still had the façade of innocence, as well as the protection from Planeptune's government. If they were to lose one of their most promising Spec Ops Agents, then they would likely use that as grounds to instigate a war. Despite his pride in their military, Yvoire held no illusions that they would win, especially with their CPU acting this way. It didn't matter if Purple Heart hadn't made it back to her Nation, they still had not only a sizable Military, but they even were foolish enough to let the Spec Ops Program thrive in their borders. As a result countless powerful Agents had been produced from them, giving them an edge militaristically. It would be foolhardy to do anything to him without sufficient means of protecting Leanbox from rebuttal.

Conversation's gaze turned to a troubled one at the mention of the male Spec-Ops Agent. She began rummaging through her robes as she spoke. "I am afraid then I have more bad news for you The Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE is arguably worse than the messengers of Momus, for he has made a deal with this entity and thus has gained incredible power, power that rivals that of the CPUs. Here, these are proof."

Pulling out her hands, Conversation showed him more photographs this time of Nico in his human form and then as Crimson Soul. The demonic, intimidating armour he wore in this form combined with his fiery wings gave a truly twisted image, especially with the way these photos were taken. Yvoire stepped back, eyes wide and his jaw dropping with what he was seeing. "What… what sort of twisted sorcery is this?!" he shrieked, dropping the photos. They clattered onto the ground with an audible SMACK, one which seemed louder according to his ears than they should have been. "Explain!"

However, Conversation caught them before they could hit the ground, pulling them back into her robes. "This a boon granted to the most devote of followers in Overlord Momus's reign: Demon Drive Demonica, or DDD for short. This is a twisted mockery of the Goddesses divine Hard Drive Divinity, yet also just as, if not more so, powerful. It allows a mortal to ascend into something never seen in this world before, a Demon Patron Unit, or DPU. This power, this great and terrible power has the potential to rival if not surpass that of the CPUs, for they do not require share energy to sustain themselves. Worse still, is that Here, this is footage of this beast just as it finishes off a helpless victim."

The woman pulled her Recon Drone out and it floated in front of her. Its lense shone before it began projecting a holographic screen. Yvoire could only lose all skin colour as he watched the thing that Crimson Soul became fight against what looked like a normal young man. He held his own well, until the man met a slow and brutal end by being ripped to pieces by the creature's claws. "This… there's no way this can be allowed!"

Nodding in agreement, the Evangelist dismissed the Recon Drone. The technology Spec Ops Agents had was way more useful than the bumbling idiots in the Momus faction. "Agreed, such heresy cannot be allowed, even if he is a Spec Ops Agent. Nico and Neptune must be dealt with soon, otherwise great ruin shall await Leanbox, no, all of Gamindustri." Conversation proclaimed. There was nobody around to hear them, so they could speak as loud as they wanted.

The man's gaze hardened, at last he had a way to get rid of that abomination once and for all. Spec Ops Agents are bad enough, but Nico himself was worse than any of them put together, for reasons that were classified beyond top secret to cover up the greatest heresy of all time. "Agreed."

"Very well." The woman nodded as she reached into her robes again, searching for the last few items she would be needing for this conversation. She then pulled out several vials, one filled with dark purple liquid and the other filled with a mix of black and red liquid. "Let me give you these." She told him, holding the vials out to the elderly man by their necks.

Frowning in confusion, the man nonetheless took the two vials, holding them in his hands. Just looking at these vials made him shudder in primal fear, for some reason his instincts told him to NEVER let these liquids go inside of him. It was like looking at his own death at the hands of the reaper, something that would frighten anyone into action. Looking back to the woman, partially so he didn't have to look at the Vials, Yvoire asked while placing them within his robes carefully, not wanting them to spill their contents. "What's this? Vials?"

"…Of poison."

"Poison?!"

The woman nodded her head solemnly. "Yes." She confirmed, before pointing to the vial he had placed in the left side of his robes. "Use that one… to poison and kill Neptune. The other…." Her finger pointed to the opposite side of his robes. "For DEATHSTROKE." Lowering her arm to her side, Conversation continued with a grave and stern voice, one that even Yvoire found himself shuddering at the might and sinister intent behind. "Neptune and DEATHSTROKE have tainted the 2 young girls to evil. They must not go unpunished."

While Yvoire was all for poisoning the abomination known as DEATHDTROKE, he was confused on one point, a point that the Evangelist had yet to explain to him. "Why not just capture her and report back to our ladies?" he asked her, his lips set in a line. He didn't understand the need to go through so much trouble themselves, when the divine CPUs could handle this easily.

"Overlord Worship has disturbed the Goddesses greatly, just like the Spec Ops Program, but…" Conversation seemed to think hard about something, but whatever it was Yvoire didn't care at this point. "They are busy as is. Notifying details will only burden them more." This was so easy, she could almost laugh her signature laugh. Convincing Yvoire of Nico's threat, anyways, and the best part was that she didn't even need to bullshit anything. Not with what he had done in the MS Mountain Dungeon. Furthermore, Nico's DPU powers were indeed a threat to the CPUs rule. There was a reason why the DPUs once ruled Gamindustri like they did, and it didn't help that the CPUs were the way they were, completely inferior to their ancestors. If they were to band together, and fight Nico at full power when he was in DDD, then they would only make him draw on 45% of his power before he utterly crushes them.

Yvoire nodded his head in understanding as he cupped his chin, turning so his left side was facing her. "True… Our lady has been quite worried over something as recent." He remarked, stroking his beard and moustache.

"If so, do you not want to reduce your lady's load?"

The man remained silent as he contemplated what she was saying. She didn't need to know what he was thinking, she already knew what his answer would be.

* * *

Nico slowly awoke, his eyelids aching as he did so making him groan in discomfort. He felt like he had been burned alive by an oven, along with being diced by dozens of small knives and pounded by a rockslide. Definitely not his best day, one would think. "Ugh… what happened to me…?" he muttered, holding the side of his head as he sat into a sitting position, resting his hand on whatever he was sitting on for support his eyes returned to being closed, but this time tighter as a pounding headache assaulted his skull.

"Sh-Shit!"

"It would be wise not to move too much, Nico. You have just awoken from a serious setback." Biko's voice spoke from behind him, slightly catching the male off his guard. The male wasn't so caught in his headache that he didn't notice the man as he looked behind him, seeing Biko floating there. The sight of a familiar face was so good right now, so a smile was quick to form on his lips.

That smile then turned into a frown when he noticed something off about the man, something that made his eyes widen by a small fraction, alarm bells ringing in his mind that he barely supressed, to keep his headache from screaming through his ears. "Biko… what happened to you?" he asked the man, weakly raising his arm and pointing at his body. His clothing had many holes in it, some being bigger the others, with his entire leg wear shredded to the knees, as well as his right shoulder armour. He sported a blackened right eye while a trail of dried blood could be seen down the left side of his head. "You look like shit."

"You could say that we did go through hell, Nico. Me and THAT part of you anyways. This is why I, as you aptly put it "look like shit". But to explain this, I must start at the beginning." Biko replied as he began pouring energy through his body, healing his wounds and mending his clothes. In moments, he was back to normal, the only reason he didn't do this sooner was because he wanted Nico to be aware of what has happened while he was knocked out. To show him the consequences of the mistake that was made, and the consequences that will be coming in the near-future.

Once he was done with his task, Biko opened his previously closed eyes and began to explain. "To start, when you were fighting that Ghoul and when you heard my voice, you went into what was called the Berserker Mode. It's a mode that transforms all the DPUs demonic energy into physical power, infusing it with their bodies. This boosts their physical prowess greatly, at the cost of being unable to use their Skills, with some exceptions. It also gives the user unimaginable bloodlust, the amount of it depending on how much demonic energy is infused. In your weakened state, you were desperate, so…"

When Biko trailed off, the teen frowned in confusion. He didn't change his facial expression, but he got the feeling he was nervous somehow. Likely due to knowing him for so long. There was little that could make Biko nervous, but still, it was possible. Nonetheless, when he was nervous, then there was definitely a cause for concern. A thought came to him, and the male didn't bother repressing the urge to put his hands on his face and groan loudly. "I used all of it, didn't I?" It was a statement, not a question that he asked just now, his mind concluding that to be what had happened.

It was only made worse when he heard an affirmative hum escape his demonic personification's lips. "Indeed. Luckily this meant you couldn't use any Skills, as if they were used then the entire Dungeon would have been reduced to nothing, including everything within it." Nico gulped at that, and Biko continued. "It was almost childsplay for you to take the Ghoul out in that form, ripped him to pieces with Soul Edge and your own hands. Unfortunately, there was still time left before you would be forcibly returned to human form, and during that time you went in search of more prey… namely your friends."

Now THAT got Nico's attention as his mind went into overdrive. Worry filled his thoughts like a tap rapidly spewing water. Did he just hear that right? Did he go after his friends in that state? Shit, he better not have hurt them too badly, or he swore that things would get chaotic for the entire nation! The teen paled at the thought, nearly fainting as he quickly stood up straight. "What?! Are they okay, what happened-whoa!" he stood up too quickly and lost is balance, falling back onto his backside ad letting out a wince afterwards. "Ouch, that smarts… best not to move for a while." He muttered under his breath.

"Do not be alarmed, your friends are okay." Biko replied, raising a hand when he saw Nico about to ask again. "They managed to hold out until the transformation forcibly reverted. However, during that time your body was in chaos, the defences that I told you of when you first came to your Inner world were forcibly activated and made to run amok, destroying both each other and your body. it was literally like the transformation was destroying you from the inside out."

His words caused Nico to once again gulp, his eyes wide with the pupils shrunken into dots as he tried to imagine wat that must have looked like. During their training spars Biko would sometimes take him to the dunes between the many buildings that represented aspects of him in some way. He would then make him fight these giant, twisted monsters that made Abnormals and the few sinister looking normal ones look like works of fine art. Those times, as well as the residue craters around the dunes that he could see, painted a VERY clear picture in his mind.

Then, he remembered a piece of what Biko said previously, about him and IT. "Wait, both you and IT worked together? How the heck did that happen?" he asked his demonic personification.

The older version of Nico looked to the dunes, and Nico noticed he was looking at certain craters more than others. "It was less working together and more IT, going on a rampage. I joined in soon after and while we didn't intend to, we formed a temporary truce during that chaotic time. The fighting rained him and much of his gathered power was spent, so we won't have to worry about IT making you use IT's power any time soon."

Hearing those words brought relief to the male as a huge sigh escaped his lips, his head hanging low. Hearing that he wouldn't have to worry about IT coming out around his comrades for a while was a blessing, at least one good thing came out of this, he hoped. A brief spike in pain made him wince, and made him ask. "S-So what is this…. Urgh, pain I'm feeling? I feel terrible."

"That's the worst part." Biko said, and while his face didn't show anything, his tone shad a great deal of graveness in it. "This transformation shouldn't have had to happen, but it did. Thus, your body was forced to adapt to it, and because of that you have begun experiencing side effects. First, you won't be able to transform, for how long I am uncertain. The amount of damage your body has taken makes me believe it'll be a week before you can regain your powers. In addition, you will not be able to use your demonic Skills, even your normal sills will drain you quicker. Your body was severely damaged by the infusion, to the point where you cannot use much demonic energy in the first place aside for simple enhancement. Any more and your body will not hesitate to reject it, causing severe backlashes to your system which will only worsen your condition, as well as impede your recovery. While I can numb the pain, so you can move normally, I would advise you to fight as little as possible."

Now wasn't that a big barrel of fun? That summed Nico's thoughts in a nutshell as he took a moment to let the information sink in his mind worked overtime to process it all, and then there were multiple sharp spikes of pain from his wrecked body. He could faintly make out the Dunes repairing themselves by filling the craters with sand, slowly at first but it was getting there. Though, he couldn't focus much on that thanks to the pain coursing through him right now.

When he felt like he had reasonably gotten through most of it, Nico took a few deep breaths, making sure not to stress his lungs too much otherwise he'd suffer another pain spike. Looking back to Biko, he then asked another question. Okay, I get wat happened has left me with some side effects, but what I don't get is why you felt the need to use it in the first place. I mean, transforming usually suppresses IT since demonic energy is flowing through my body at the time, acting as a suppressant like the drugs from my armour do."

"That is because your energy was still flowing through you and IT had nearly finished breaking through. It would have changed nothing whether you transformed or not. Activating Berserker Mode was the only way I could think of to stop IT for the time being. In addition, in your desperation you unconsciously activated it yourself, I was merely the observer. I am not the one who controls your powers for you, that's all you. Nevertheless, I had hoped you would be able to maintain your mind, however it was proven to be too much for you. You were physically and mentally exhausted with your constant battles with the Necromorphs, and IT drained your mental fortitude more."

As he looked to Biko, Nico frowned and pondered on what he had learned. In basic terms it was the only way to stop IT from taking over. Also, he had unconsciously activated Berserker Mode in his desperation. He could see that to make sense, he was wishing hard that he could go on, to save IF, keep IT in check, and above all to kick ass.

Still though, it hasn't been that long since he had attained control over himself as Crimson Soul, so it felt like being cheated somehow. That thought irked him to no end, but he wasn't like Neptune whoever she lost 10 games in a row against him in M*r*o K*r*, he wouldn't rage quit. No, he would make sure that he would safely recover from his injuries and recklessness, so he could once again transform as quick as possible. It was his trump card after all.

"There is one other matter that needs our attention, Nico." Hearing Biko's words, Nico roused himself from his thoughts before looking up at the man, his interest piqued. Biko raised a hand and a burst of flame manifested in it, forming a fiery sphere. I was black, but the red core was oddly shaped like a whirlpool. "Because of the unplanned Berserker Mode, new powers have been awakened, therefore you will have some new training to look forward to when you can once again Transform."

New powers? Okay, that was sweet. If only he had unlocked them the right way, he would have tested them right the hell now to see what they were. Nico almost growled his frustration, as he couldn't try them out thanks to his current condition. The word condition sparked a memory in his mind, memories of the worried faces Neptune and Compa had when he first woke up from becoming Crimson Soul. "Thanks for the info, Biko, but I really gotta go. The girls are going to be demanding an explanation soon, so I gotta give them one. I'd rather face them with this than hide it like a coward. See ya later, Biko."

With that, Nico vanished from his Inner World, leaving Biko by himself. The older version of Nico then turned to the dunes, watching the craters become filled with Sand was he muttered to himself. "Those words…. Make you a slight hypocrite, Nico… Even though you have a good reason to hide IT from them…"

* * *

Back in the real world. Nico began to open his eyes, groaning at the feeling of the afternoon sun hitting the skin on his face. Thanks to being in his Inner world for so long, his body had healed a portion from its injuries, but he could still feel the vice-like grip on his mind. 'Was this what is like for the CPUs to lose their Shares? Ugh, it feels like I'm being gripped on my brain…' the male thought as he held his head with his right hand. If this was the case, then he could feel their pain.

Nevertheless, what Biko told him about his demonic powers filled him with dissatisfaction, as a scowl formed on his features. 'Still though, not being able to use most of my powers? Shit, that's a steep Price to pay. While I can fight against Abnormals without them, fighting high-ranking Demons will be much harder from now until I get them back…' he thought to himself.

Nico held no illusions that he wouldn't be fighting high-ranked demons in the near future. His mother had warned him that he would be fighting more Demons from Hellgates that were appearing in larger numbers across Leanbox. If he had his powers back, then he wouldn't have much cause to worry, however thanks to his new condition, Nico felt like a cripple going to battle against a martial arts champion.

Not a good thing, seriously.

While he would have pondered further on what he had learned while unconscious, Nico saw something in the upper portion of his vision: a mass of purple. His curiosity was piqued at the sight, since the purple was that of a dark shade, not unlike Neptune's HDD Form, Purple Heart.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that there were the black and blue corkscrew headwear in her head, making him frown in confusion…. Before realisation settled in. 'Oh… oh, shit!' he screamed, panic slowly rising within his chest as he looked down, praying that he was wrong. Wait, if he was a demon god, then would preaying even work dffor him?

Those thoughts left him when he saw the face of Planeptune's CPU, sleeping soundly on his chest… and when he lifted the covers he saw that she was completely naked, draped over him with both legs tangled up in his own with her arms wrapped around him. He could feel two hot things on his chest, making his face redden to nuclear levels instantaneously.

"WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!" he screamed, trying to scramble backwards however the grip she had on him was too great.

'WHA-WHA-WHA-WHA-WHOA! What the hell is going on here, why the fuck is Purple Heart on me NAKED like this?!' Nico shrieked, shock and panic coursing through his system. He almost thanked this so he could forget the pain that his body was under, but still this wasn't really the best substitute. His heart pounded like a jackhammer against his ribcage, almost threatening to explode from within. His forehead gained a light coating of sweat while his face turned crimson red, almost like the colour of the flames he once commanded.

While he was like this, Nico barely managed to hear something that the woman was muttering. Her eyes were closed, so was she talking in her sleep? Nico forced his mind to calm down to a reasonable level upon this revelation, trying his damned hardest not to look down at her nude form. He strained his ears to try and pick up what she was saying through his heart pounding through his eardrums, but eventually he began making out words. Then sentences, then verses. His eyes widened in shock once more, when he realised what she was doing.

Purple Heart was singing, but not just any song... Unravel.

His heart clenched at the song lyrics, a sharp pang of pain erupting within his chest as he held back a grimace. He could feel his breath choking within his throat while slight dampness began to form in his eyes. That song always got him, no matter how many times he heard it. It just resonated with him down to his very being, nearly leaving him in tears by the end. No matter what he did, that song always held that kind of power over him. It just... well, it just fit him, like a glove. He had to blink back tears that gathered in his eyes at the beautiful, yet sorrowful, lyrics coming from the woman's lips.

Said woman's lips then uttered something else once the song was finished.

"Ah, you're awake."

Purple Heart's inhuman blue eyes slowly opened, and a sultry smirk soon formed on her features. The lack of sleep in them made him realise she had been faking being asleep, much to his horror. "Now, you and I have some quality time together… nobody's around to stop us, we're all… alone..." She said, the last part being uttered in a faint whisper. That, combined with the seductive gleam in her eyes, made Nico's red face get even redder if that was even possible. His earlier emotions were thrown out the window, replaced by the embarrassed mess he'd been in when he first discovered what his situation was. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead constantly at the stimulating sensations he was feeling. "Hm? Oh, it looks like little Nicky is wanting to play."

Her comment about how his little 'soldier' was not happing him calm down, as he desperately covered both their bodies and flattened them, so she couldn't see his junk, much to her disappointment. Though it had the unfortunate side effect of pushing their bodies closer together. "Wha-Wha-Wha-what are you doing, Neptune?! Why the hell are you naked in the bed with me?!" He barely managed to get out without sounding like a complete retard. If this was going to be daily, then he had to find a way to repress his hormones. His poor teenage heart wouldn't be able to handle the stimulus. Neptune in human form was easy enough, though she was still insanely beautiful, but her HDD form?

Totally different ball game.

Purple Heart's smirk widened by a small margin at his embarrassed state. He looked so cute like this, which wasn't something many got to see since he was wither being serious or badass. 'Hehehehe, the big and scary Nicky is such a shy little one with the ladies…' she thought in amusement. Even her human self would agree that, whenever a girl flirted with him, Nico would either not notice, or be completely flustered. It was amusing to watch, yet also very flattering.

If he was flustered, then that meant he looked at you like a woman, and that was something that she found he did at her no matter what form she was in. Finding good men was hard these days, she thought. After all, men like Nico were usually overshadowed by the perverted pigs who just wanted to get into a girl's undies for a quickie.

Yet it also sent a pang of sadness through her heart as Purple Heart recalled what her human self-had learned of him from his adoptive mother. To live in a world full of demented, twisted psychopaths, murderers, rapists and paedophiles for so long would darken anyone's heart, and Nico had spent over 4 years in it. How had he not lost his sanity with all the horrible things he'd seen? If that was the source of his trust issues and his lack of social interaction, then she could perfectly understand.

Another heart-wrenching fact she had discovered, was that Nico, for all of his powers, exploits and all that jazz... Nico was lonely. She figured this out a long time ago, like when he first sung Unravel. She didn't show it at the time, but Neptune had felt the emotion behind the song, the raw pain and loneliness that made her heart ache like it had been overused. She may be a comic relief character, but she wasn't stupid. All that talk about him seeing past her Mask, and yet Neptune also managed to briefly see past Nico's own. The boy sung that song with such passion and sadness that she couldn't help but feel like it was connected to him on a level nobody knew. He felt lonely, and yet he didn't want anyone to 'see' him for what he really was for some reason, a reason powerful enough to warrant extreme caution when someone tried to get close to him.

She'd lost count of the nights when she would listen to Unravel before heading to bed, in secret of course, till she could recite the song off by heart.

Remembering he had asked her a question, the CPU of Planeptune recovered her previous demeanour and looked down at him. "Well, iffy and Compa went out to get some groceries for our stay about 10 minutes ago. They should be back in another 30." She mused, looking away from him while placing an index finger on her chin thoughtfully. She then placed her arms beside his head to support herself while untangling their legs, placing hers on either side of his waist. "As for why I'm naked… well, don't hubby and wifey do this thing usually? Sleep together in the nude?"

"O-Okay, first, we aren't married, N-Neptune! So, we shouldn't be seeing each other like this." Nico stuttered, but it was clearer this time. With the fact that they were in conversation, he managed to get some composure back. "Second, what happened to my clothes? I would have thought you girls would at least let me remain clothed until I woke up."

At the mention of his clothes, Purple Heart looked to the side, a tinge of pink on hr cheeks as she recalled what happened. "You were naked when you stopped… whatever it was that you were doing. We had nothing to do with it. We carried you back like this, laid you in bed, and tended to your injuries." She explained.

Dread and fear rose within him as his face lost all colour. Did Neptune just say they brought him back NAKED? His face, which had lessened its redness, returned to its previous state in full force as a picture of his naked self being carried by a bunch of girls came to mind. Yet, before he could speak, Purple Heart stopped him, having seen his face. "Don't worry, Iffy gave you a spare Trench Coat for modesty's sake." She informed him, getting a sigh of relief from the male. "Only myself and possibly Compa get to see those goods."

'Goddamnit, this woman…' Nico thought in a mix of embarrassment and irritation. That damn smirk of hers was so not helping matters either. It was like she knew what she was doing to him, and took full pleasure in it. Knowing Neptune's personality in HDD form, she likely did, too. The teen cursed his lack of social skills for revealing how weak-willed he was whenever he was flirted with by the ladies. Usually, they went for the more popular Spec Ops Agents, so he slipped under the limelight to continue his duties. Now that he had a bunch of girls flirting with him, his submissive side was exposed, much to his chagrin.

"Speaking of what happened…" Purple Heart spoke once more, breaking Nico from his thoughts. His eyes widened when he saw her stare down at him with what looked like sadness and concern in them. His nose twitched as he smelt water gathering behind her eyelids. "We were worries sick about you, Nicky. You totally flipped out back at that Dungeon. What happened?" she asked him, worry shining through those blue orbs of hers.

Oh, how he HATED seeing sadness in those eyes. It was the same with any of the girls he had given a damn about. It just didn't suit them, and it made him feel even worse knowing that he had indirectly caused them to feel that way. For a moment, Nico warred within himself on whether to wait for the others, or to just tell her now then repeat it later. In the end though, he went with the latter option.

Repeating himself was a minor annoyance compared to what he did.

Thus, Nico began to explain, abridging the story when it concerned IT and Biko. "I guess you could all it Berserker Mode…. I activated it on Impulse when I transformed, after IF managed to get you all out of harm's way. It converts my demonic energy into physical power, the amount depending on how much I put into the Mode. In my desperate state, I used all of it." he winded at the slight sternness entering her eyes at that, but continued. "Unfortunately, it seems that it also adds incredible bloodlust and animalistic savagery to the mind as well, and because of my weakened, exhausted state I was unable to maintain my mind and became a mindless beast. Fortunately, I couldn't use any Skills in that form, but…"

A shudder went through them both as they imagined what it would have been like if Nico had used his demonic Skills in Berserker Mode. With his rampaging mindset and his bloodlust, the entire Dungeon would have been blown to pieces, as well as the surrounding areas, they figured. After a short, awkward silence, Nico released a breath, mildly wincing at a sharp pain exploding in his chest but continued, especially when he caught worry returning to the forefront of the woman's eyes. "Sadly, because of that mode, my body was severely damaged, in that I can't transform, use much demonic energy otherwise risk hurting myself even more, as well as being unable to use any of my demon Skills. I'm practically just a Spec Ops now."

After he finished his explanation, Nico looked back into Purple Heart's eyes, waiting for her reaction. For a moment, she was silent, and he couldn't see her eyes thanks to her bangs covering them, until he yelped when she bonked him on the head. "You are an idiot, you know that? Using a power like that without regards to the consequences…. You worried us sick, you know that?!" she scolded him, looking up and showing her teary eyes.

The teenage Spec Ops Agent grimaced, feeling how much those words hit home. He had felt this way when Biko told him of his reckless actions, but unlike back there in the Inner World, hearing them from Purple Heart only made them sting worse. "I know, I know, I messed up, and this is the price I must pay for it." he replied, groaning in discomfort as aches ravaged his body Biko mustn't be numbing the pain yet he figured, something that he didn't blame the personification for. He deserved it, and he wasn't moving for a while with the Goddess on top of him like she was.

It only took him a few seconds before an idea popped into his mind, an idea he took too immediately since he didn't wasn't to see those tears in her eyes any longer. He raised his hands on her shoulders, speaking in a low tone that was filled to the brim with sincerity, as much as he could express. "I'm sorry, Neptune, I am, really. Sorry for making you and the others worry like that. Please, don't cry. You know I hate seeing you cry. I'm still here, you know, so turn that frown upside down." The gentleness and sincerity reached her heart, filling it with warmth as Purple Heart placed both hands on both sides of his head.

She looked down at him intently, staring deep into his eyes. While in other situations he would have shuffled in discomfort, all he could think of was how beautiful her eyes were. The power button symbols made them unique, and he found that he liked that about them. "If you mean that, then you must make it up to me." She told him, seriousness saturating her tone and dripping from her gaze like acid.

Nevertheless, Nico nodded with an equal gaze to her own. "Anything, Neptune. Let me know what I can do to make this right, to make it up to you."

"Kiss me."

"Wha? I-UMPH!"

Purple Heart wasted no time, leaning down and pressing her lips onto his own. Nico's eyes widened as his mind got blown away by the passion and intensity in the kiss. It seemed she got a lot more aggressive in her HDD form, he realised. Neptune was always aggressive in make-outs, he knew this from when she first kissed him. However, her HDD form took it to a whole new level.

'What the fuck are you doing, you idiot?!' Nico's mind shrieked at him, almost like a banshee and nearly making the male cringe despite the situation at hand. All he could do was lay there, frozen in absolute shock and vulnerability at what was happening. Neptune was kissing him... Neptune was freaking KISSING him?! What the fuck was going on here?! 'Shove her off! Get away from her before you do something you regret! Remember what you are! Remember what you have to be, we can't do this! We Can't, we can't, we can't!'

The male would have done that, he so would have considering the fear and self-loathing that rose though him at this moment, but...

A heat spread from where their lips met to the rest of his body, inflaming it like a furnace. Nico would have struggled against this with all his might... had the sensation not been significantly pleasurable to him. He didn't know why, but for some reason this heat inside of him was... comforting, welcoming even. It was like something that had been waiting to happen for a long time and was only now getting its chance.

Like a crush long overdue a confession in an anime.

Gradually, the voices in his mind screaming at him to stop this began to get more and more distant. Until he couldn't hear them anymore as they were replaced y the sounds of his and Neptune's heartbeats pounding away like machine gun fire. Gradually, something began to change in him, it was small at first, but it soon began to grow and grow, threatening to swallow him whole. Instincts rose within him, instincts he had always repressed with thoughts of combat and training his Skills to make them better for his duties as a Spec Ops. Instincts he had detested whenever he saw how men abused their wives and loved ones just because they could. Instincts that he denied thanks to all the crap he'd seen during his lifetime, instincts that he thought were worthless, just like how he thought of himself. Instincts that had been slowly cropping up throughout his journey with these wonderful girls these Angels, these lights to his darkness.

For the first time in forever, Nico let them loose.

His eyes slowly, but surely, closed as he tried to respond to the Goddess's passion with his own. He was clumsy at first, not knowing what the heck he was doing. It comes with the territory of having his first intense make-out session like this, he completely had no clue what he was doing. Something like this, no matter how much he denied it, was something that Nico had only dreamed of happening. Getting kissed by a beautiful woman, a woman who was actually interested in him, had always been a fantasy that Nico had never thought would become reality. He absolutely loathed himself to the point where he felt he didn't deserve anything like that. Whenever he met a girl who would show even the tiniest bit of interest in him, he would quickly think 'Oh shit, that's not good!' and then shoot it down while thinking 'She deserves better, dude, she deserves better than this piece of shit.'

However, he put his heart and soul into the kiss, placing a hand on the side of her head and the other on her hip. Nico could tell that Purple Heart was NOT disappointed with his response as she literally dominated the kiss, acting like she had centuries worth of experience in the matter. He wasn't sure what to feel at that possibility, but pushed it to the back of his mind before focusing on the bombshell of a woman above him.

Urges assaulted her mind, and Purple Heart let them out in this kiss. She raised a hand and placed it on the back of his head as their heated session intensified. The other gripped his shoulder tighter while her head pieces glowed a white light. They then vanished, letting her hair drape down the sides of her head, like a curtain, as well as down her back. It was almost like her hair was trying to hide the intense moment of passion and romance its wearer and the one who had her attention were experiencing together.

Nico almost jumped when he felt Neptune's tongue open his mouth and assault his own. His surprise caught him by surprise, something that Purple Heart capitalised on to get even more aggressive with the kiss. 'How the hell is she doing all this?!' he shrieked in his mind, trying to respond as best he could. Purple Heart however clearly had more skill in this than he did, and thus was the dominant one.

Finally, after 15 minutes, the two broke it off. They had been using their own energies to form oxygen in their lungs, though both were mindful of Nico's low demonic energy reserves. Once they sensed that the limits were being reached, both broke off, a trail of saliva connecting between their mouths.

After breaking away, Neptune raised her upper body with her hands back to their previous positions on the bed beside his head. She looked down at him with a smile, one that made Nico go wide-eyed at the affection he could feel from it. Her eyes twinkled in amusement and feminine glee at the sight of the male's dumbfounded expression. There was just something about blowing a guy away with kissing skills that felt so satisfying. Was this what it felt like to blow your partner away with your emotions? Purple Heart didn't know for sure, but she could damn well say she could get addicted to it. "Well, that expression says much about what you think about what we did, but I wanna hear it from your lips. How was it, kissing a Goddess in HDD?" she asked coyly.

His mind had bluescreened, his mouth opening and closing for a few moments, until he finally rebooted. The male tried to regain his composure, but he couldn't keep the dumbstruck expression off his face at what happened just now. Nevertheless, his body responded for him, his mouth opening and closing without control by his brain. "Amazing… Neptune, where the hell did you learn all that?" he questioned.

"What, you think I would practice on our friends?" Purple Heart asked with a teasing grin, making his face once again go nuclear at the thoughts racing in his mind, despite his best attempts to stop them. She let a slight chuckle escape her lips at his state, snapping him out of his funk and getting his attention. "No worries, I did no such thing. I just applied what I learned from the internet."

If that answer was supposed to calm him down, it failed epically as Nico gaped at her and tried to not have a panic attack. Did she say she learned this stuff from the INTERNET?! Bad things are on the internet! What if she tried to corrupt the adorable, innocent Compa or the tomboy known as IF?! Total disaster! Mayday-Mayday!

Before he could completely lose it, Nico took a few deep breaths, focusing on them so he could keep calm. It wouldn't do to blow up in a place like this, and like it or not, Purple Heart had done it. Who knew she would be the aggressive type, or the controlling kind? Well, he guessed it made sense, since she was a Goddess and people looked up to her for protection and safety. To do that she had to have control over lots of things, so it made sense for her to like control.

"Hahahaha, you are hilarious, you know that?" Purple Heart couldn't help but augh as she watched him try to stop having a meltdown. In her human form she likely wouldn't know why he looked like he was about to freak out, but in her HDD Form that was not the case. "Anyways, it's good that you like it…" she told him, a big grin sweeping across her lips that practically OOZED seduction. It made chills travel down Nico's spine. "Because we're going to be doing this a whole lot more."

Before she could go again, Nico quickly started another topic of conversation, he knew he'd not last under another one of those kisses. "F-First off, can I as you something? I-I may not be able to use demonic abilities for the moment, but I can still sense energies. Yours seems to have some new tricks to it now, could you explain that? If it's not a bother to you."

Momentarily, Purple Heart blinked in surprise, caught off guard by his statement until she hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose…" her eyes clearly told him she wanted to kiss him, to dominate him some more, but she decided to indulge him for the time being. That alone filled him with relief, that woman could do very well as a seductive temptress, especially if she had learned what he thought she did.

Looking down at him once again, Purple Heart began to radiate Share Energy, a dark purple aura manifesting around her. "It took some doing, but I have finally completed my Drive Skill. I call it PLANEPTUNE DRIVE." She explained, smirking smugly as she shifted so she was straddling his waist. She didn't mind the fact that he could see everything, and with the way he tried to restrain his eyes wandering, it was made clear how affected he was by it.

Nevertheless, pride quickly swelled within his light blue orbs, which soon had no problem focusing on her face as he grinned widely at her, giving a thumbs-up to her. "That's great, girl! You rock! Drive Skills are difficult to develop, let alone use in actual combat. Even Spec Ops have difficulty." His eyes then gave a knowing look to her, tilting his head. "I guess its incomplete though."

Purple Heart nodded, crossing her arms under her chest and pouting. "Yes, it is. There is still a long way to go before it is ready for use in actual combat, or at least how often you use your DEMON OVERDRIVE." She explained, grimacing as she turned her head to the side. Memories swamped her mind of the first time she used it against that form the man below her had taken. "That last battle drained me quicker than I'd like, a perfect piece of proof for this."

Yeah, he could get that. The use of DEMON OVERDRIVE for the first time for him was the same back in Lastation. Though, unlike most, he had learned it relatively quicker, having seen it done so many times by his fellow Spec Ops Agents. In a way, he could consider himself a prodigy in combat, learning tricks faster than normal people.

Thing was, he had created his out of demonic energy, while the rest did theirs out of their own. As a payoff for his, though, DEMON OVERDRIVE was stronger than normal Drive Skills. However, the consequence was that it drained energy faster. Good thing his demonic energy reserves were so large, otherwise he wouldn't ever be able to sustain the Skill for as long as he did.

"Well, keep up the good work, girl." Nico advised, giving her a supportive pat on her shoulder. "You'll get it down pat, I firmly believe that."

The CPU smiled down at him, her eyes shining in appreciation for his support. "That was a given, Nicky. I am after all, the main character of this franchise. The second word has my name in it, you know." She said, tilting her head with a loop-sided smirk, making Nico laugh a bit at her meta jokes. They weren't as common in her HDD form as they were in her Human form, but he had gotten used to them at this point.

'Heh, conversing with her HDD self, is...' The teen began to think as he looked up at the Goddess above him. 'Way different than when she's in human form.'

If he thought his troubles were over though, that opinion was soon dashed out of existence when Purple Heart once again palmed the bed with her hands beside his head, her grin regaining its seductive tint. "Now then, shall we resume where we left off? You said you'd do anything to make it up to me, so we'll be kissing till I'm satisfied. Don't you worry though, we can go further in the hopefully not too distant future… hubby." She spoke barely above a whisper, her hair falling back down around their heads like a curtain.

Nico began to stammer and stutter incoherently, but try as he might he couldn't move. The reason: Purple Heart had pinned his hands to the bed beside his head with her own, entangling them together. He doubted that he even could resist, given how numb his mental defences were. "There, now you can't escape, Nicky…" she said in a sing song manner, before proceeding to lean downwards again.

'OhgodsohGodsOhgodsohGodsOhgodsohGodsOhgodsohGods…!' Nico thought, panic settling back into his chest as Purple Heart's lips neared his own. He had barely held out on the first kiss, a second one will do him in!

Their lips were only millimetres apart at this point, and Nico's irises were shaking rapidly, yet he didn't pull away or reject what was about to happen next. After all, like it was stated before his mental defences had been shot when Purple Heart had strong armed him like she did.

Just before they could touch however, the door was flung open, and a voice that stopped the two in their tracks spoke up in a merry tone.

"Nep-Nep, Iffy and I got the groceries! Where would... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?! NEP-NEP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO NI-NI?!"

Compa, who had come in with a bunch of bags filled with groceries, dropped them when she caught sight of Neptune literally about to initiate her second (not that she knew that) make-out session with Nico. Her face froze in shock, mouth hanging open, while IF could only sigh into her hand, which had planted itself on her eyes. Nobody but Nico could hear the faint 'called it' she muttered under her tone.

As Compa raced towards them, intending on scolding Neptune for her conduct, Nico could only think to himself. 'What the fuck happened?'


	61. Chapter 58 - Surprise Encounters

**Chapter 58 - Surprise Encounters**

The following morning, Nico grumbled as he walked Leanbox's streets, head hanging low as he mauled over what had happened to him. Thanks to Neptune's little stunt, the teen had to spend several hours calming the other two down, to convince them that he hadn't done anything to her. Neptune's HDD self, Purple Heart didn't help matters either, teasing and goading him much to his ire… and slight arousal, but he managed to keep a tight lid on that part.

By gods, what happened that night was possibly one of the most mind-blowing experiences he ever had. Neptune may have taken his first kiss as a human, but her HDD form was on a whole new level. The amount of intensity, passion and emotion she invoked during that moment had blown his sense of composure to smithereens. It was a surprise he had managed to recover at all with what she did, and she likely would have done more had IF and Compa not interrupted her.

Thinking back on it, Nico was glad that happened, because for one, what happened back there had completely caught him off guard, he had no defences in place for such an invasion, and that proved to be costly. He would have to make sure to fortify his mental defences against Purple Heart in the future, so last night didn't happen again. Nico had let loose instincts that he had repressed for a long time, not just out of contempt, but out of fear, fear of letting someone get too close to the beast inside, too close to the monster he truly was, the abomination that was Nico.

However, in one night those suppressing methods were undone, by one sole Goddess.

Such intense feelings, such a situation, Nico had not ONCE experienced in his life as a Spec Ops Agent. Thus, he had no idea on what to do now, hell he didn't even know what got into Neptune to do that stuff last night, he had been racking his brain for answers and had come up with nothing. There wasn't anything special about him, he believed anyways, that would warrant her wanting to do those things with him. He didn't see himself as someone who was worthy of having such attention, no, he DEFINITELY didn't see himself as someone like that. Not with the piece of shit that he had become.

The teen mentally frowned as he realised something. He would have to find ways to stop this in the future, he had to nip this in the bud before things got out of hand. She shouldn't have to have something as terrible as being with him happen to her. She deserved so much better than that. She deserved more than what he could give. He was a monster, he was a piece of shit, he didn't deserve anything like that. Fantasies were meant to stay as such, when man attempted to dream big, nine times out of ten those dreams ended up dragging them into shit. In this case, that chance was 100%.

Under normal circumstances, Nico would have dismissed it as Neptune trying to tease him like she normally did in her HDD Form…

So, what was different now?

These thoughts plagued him constantly, until finally Nico had enough and decided to take a walk to clear his head, leaving a note in the hotel room they'd got to explain to the girls where he was. It wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself, but communication was key when in a group of soldiers. A party was no different.

Which lead to him wandering Leanbox's streets. Now, as a spectator he found nothing to be particularly wrong with the city, the people were living peacefully, and the economy looked good. However, as a Spec Ops Agent, hell even if he was an adventurer, the signs would have been obvious. Nico could see it in the faces of the civilians that he passed by, there was an uneasy tension in the air, one that they tried to ignore but deep in their minds they knew of its existence. He figured it was from all this talk about Overlord Momus, or whatever.

Speaking of said Overlord, Nico could see people dressed like that con man Neptune and the others described to him after the chaos died down, preaching about their beliefs to the populace, trying to recruit followers. Some even tried to recruit him, but Nico always shot them away with a brief raising of his KI. 'This is bad, the situation here may seem stable, but that will change if this goes on…' he thought worriedly, before looking down at his right arm.

Thanks to his Spec Ops attire being destroyed thanks to Berserker Mode, he had to change to his civilian clothes. In hindsight, they were better for his situation right now since they let him blend with the normal populace more. 2 things survived however, his Bracers and his Armour Module. He had no idea how at first, until Biko told him that he had spared some energy to keep them from breaking under the strain his Berserker Mode put on them.

His civilian clothes consisted of a black sleeveless hoodie, with a grey trim around the hood. Underneath, was a long sleeved grey T shirt, his hands being bare. He wore a pair of grey baggy pants with black ankle-high with boots. His bracers were hidden beneath his T shirt, and his armour Module was safely attached to his chest under the hoodie and shirt. He lacked the holsters and straps that he would need for his weapons like Harvester, Rebellion etc, however he could just summon them from his Void Storage into his hands instead of the holsters. The reason why he wore them because he thought they looked cool, and had only one set.

Though, Nico did hear rumours of an upgrade coming that'll let him summon his items and gear from his Void Storage on mental command…

Shaking his head, the male pushed those thoughts aside for the moment as he stepped off the main street and into a residential area. The city of Leanbox was separated into several districts: the trade district, the residential district and the divine district. The trade District was the biggest of the three with the divine district following suit. That wasn't to say that the residential district was big, just in comparison to the other two it was sorely lacking. As their names, civilians live in the residential district, they went to work in the trade district, and worshipped the Goddess Green Heart in the divine district. That was also where the Basilicom was.

* * *

Wandering the residential district, Nico saw how deserted the streets were, compared to that of the Trade District. It made sense, considering it was late morning approaching lunch time, so people were likely already at work in the Trade district. 'Leanbox has a decent population size I must admit, to pull this off like they do… though I get the feeling that the size of this City is trying to say something.' He thought, humming as he walked.

While he walked, Nico's eyes narrowed, his nose twitching as a scent whiffed into his nostrils. Pheromones, ones to do with lust and fear, whiffed into them and it was more than a little concerning. In his line of work, this usually meant one thing, which made Nico grit his teeth. He quickly summoned his Mask from his Void storage, putting it on before summoning Harvester, strapping it to his back with thin trails of demonic energy keeping it there. With those steps out the way, Nico shot towards the source of the scent he had detected.

The reaper was out to catch some souls…

It didn't take him long to locate the source, which was in a deserted dark alleyway on the opposite side of the Residential district, close to the divine district as well now that he thought about it, but that didn't register in Nico's mind for long. Landing on top of an observing roof, the teen peered down into the alleyway, and almost flipped his lid at what he saw.

Below him, 8 men in black bandit masks were gathered around this young woman. He couldn't see her very well from up here since the men were in the way. She must have put up a fight though, as several guys were lying on the ground around them, with a spear-like weapon deposited to the top of a garbage dispenser. The men all wore casual clothing, some of them even looked like they never exercised in their lives and all of them were looking at the woman they restrained with lust.

If this wasn't rape, then he didn't know what was.

Pure fury filled him as he glared down at them, swiftly raising his right arm and moving the sleeve off the Bracer there. He typed on its holographic screen for a second and summoned Harvester, gripping it firmly in one hand before jumping down to the ground below.

Normally he would be just enraged with the thought of someone about to commit such a heinous crime. Even after 4 years, he would still go into a rage whenever he saw something like that being done right before his very eyes. But now, with the recent amount of affection he'd gotten from Neptune, it made him imagine the woman as the young girl that he had come to call comrade, what expressions she would be making in this situation, and what those men would do to her if they got their grubby mitts over her.

Let's just say he was only seeing red right now.

The fools didn't notice anything till it was too late, as Nico swiftly landed on top of one's shoulders, using the back of his Scythe to smack the others restraining the woman upside their heads, disorienting them and making their grip on the woman disappear, letting her fall to the ground. Shock and confusion spread through their ranks as Nico wasted no time, gripping the sides of his personal landing pillow's head with his knees before flipping backwards, slamming the man into the ground back first with enough force to knock him out.

7 to go.

"What the heck?!"

"What's going on here?!"

Startled cries came from the men as their blood splattered on the ground from the hits they suddenly received out of nowhere. Landing on the ground, Nico stood up and gripped his Scythe, having no words to say for the moment. No, actions would speak over 1000 words this moment.

One of the men pulled out a pocket knife and tried to rush him foolishly, screaming in anger at him. However. Nico swiftly swung his Harvester, hooking the bottom of the blade around the hand holding the knife and deflecting it away from him. He then jumped and slammed the top of his knee onto his forehead, sending him to the ground. He then swung Harvester like a wheel overhead, smacking the rear end of the blade right into the man's side to send him flying into a wall. The impact was great enough to knock him out, but not kill him. If this were Planeptune, that strike would be made to kill.

6 to go.

Not wasting any movement, the male spun around and hooked the blade around the neck of 2 more men who tried rushing at him with crow bars, before pulling them in. he drove his fist into one's face and sweep kicked the other, making him fall. Time momentarily slowed down as Nico swiftly spun Harvester in a vertical arc, slamming it on top of the downed man's head, knocking him out.

The first one recovered from his daze during this, but before he could move Nico dashed forth and elbowed him in the gut, before following up with a backfist to the face and a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him down and out of the fight.

4 to go.

Tilting his head, Nico dodged a bullet, literally, coming from behind him as a man tried to shoot him with a pistol. He was sweating with fear, dread and was even quivering as Nico swiftly threw Harvester at him like a wheel, the weapon pinning him to the wall by spearing him through his right shoulder blade, making him cry out in pain. It was lodged in tight there, making its removal impossible for the man.

Only 3 remaining.

The last 3 decided to play it cautious, and surrounded him, Nico's lone exposed eye glancing about at each of them, his instincts awake, his body alert. In a few short but tense moments, all three attacked at the same time, yelling battle cries with whatever makeshift weapons they had on them at the time.

Making quick calculations, Nico grabbed onto two wrists, each belonging to 2 of the 3 men, and spun around, knocking them into their third comrade with enough force to knock them unconscious. As much as he would have liked to, he refrained from killing them himself. That had to be done only when he knew the full story, so he didn't kill needlessly. Plus, this was a foreign nation, if he murdered people recklessly then war might break between the nation and Planeptune, which wouldn't help anyone.

Still, that short fight was exactly what Nico needed, the thrill of battle was something that helped him put his mind of what happened between him and Neptune, as he released a long breath from within his Mask, before standing tall. He then looked to the woman sitting with her back against a wall, who jumped slightly and shuddered, intimidated slightly by his Mask's appearance. "Wh-Who are you, sir?" she asked him, and Nico got a good look at her.

She was a well-endowed woman, looking to be between her early to mid-20's, with long blonde hair that was currently held in a ponytail, a bit messy due to the recent experience. Her eyes were concealed by a pair of thin-rimmed shades, so he couldn't see those. Her mouth hung open to show shock, fear, and nervousness, which was to be expected. After all, a masked stranger did just beat up a bunch of guys before her that were going to violate her.

Her attire consisted of a light green, long sleeved turtleneck that fit snugly on her hourglass figure. She wore a lighter green knee length pencil skirt, with black stockings and green high heels.

'Of course, those assholes wanted to rape a woman like her….' He thought with a mental scoff, knowing exactly WHY those men chose to target this particular person when he briefly glanced at her 'melons'. Men could be primitive sometimes, and this time he chose not to think about what happened the previous night.

Putting those thoughts away for the moment, Nico reached for his Mask, beginning to take it off alongside the eyepatch attachment. They were no longer needed for the time being, the teen didn't want to scare the civilian any more than she already was. He pocketed them inside his Void Storage, the civilian's eyes widening at the sight in… recognition? "Are you aright, ma'am? Did those men do anything to you?" he asked her, kneeling on one leg before her.

The woman, who had curled her legs into the fatal position, shook her head after a moment of staring into the eyes of her saviour, a tinge of pink on her cheeks. "N-no, I'm fine. You got here just in time, they had just begun to do what they wanted when you came along, good sir." She replied, making Nico hang his head with a relieved sigh escaping his lips.

"That's a relief. These guys won't wake up for several hours, enough time for the guards to get here." He explained, swiftly snapping his fingers. From the places he hit the men, all of them had a panel appear under their bodies, the CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS swiftly immobilising them. The one Harvester was pinning to the wall had already blacked out from the pain, so the male reached for his weapon from his position before the civilian.

Like a magnetic force, the weapon flew out of the wall and into his waiting hand, much to the woman's surprise as he deposited Harvester into his Void Storage once more. with that out of the way, the male stood up and silently held his out towards her, offering a helping hand.

She gave a small, polite smile at the kind gesture, taking his hand in one of hers. Nico hid his surprise when he saw how dainty and small her hand was compared to his, which was rugged and made with the sole intent of swinging weapons or forming fists. Years of combat were under their belts, but that was enough of that for now. He then swiftly helped er get onto her own two feet before watching her pick the Spear up from the garbage dispenser and pocket it inside her Inventory.

Turning back to him, the woman gave a small bow in his direction, making hr breasts jiggle from the movement. "I must thank you, kind sir, for coming to my rescue. It was most chivalrous of you to do this." She said, standing straight once more. "I was on my way back to the Divine District when I was attacked." She explained to him.

The teen waved it off with a hand gesture. "Think nothing of it ma'am, it was my duty." He explained humbly, but internally he was thinking. 'Glad she's alright and all, but why does she feel… empty, inside? Like there's no energy inside her? Or rather, she didn't have all her energy reserves?'

 **'** **I do not know, Nico, but it would be best to leave that for another time. You know what you're supposed to do with this situation, yes?'**

Indeed, he did know what to do. Not only as a Spec Ops Agent but as a gentleman. Giving the woman a look over, Nico chose his words carefully. Just from how she handled that Spear earlier suggested a familiarity with the way of the spear, indicating that she knew how to use it. Thus, with what he wanted to say he didn't wish to offend the warrior spirit within her. "I know you must be capable of defending yourself, but may I walk you back to wherever it is that you reside in? What would happen if this happens again? I would rather be there if it happens, to make sure you are safe."

"Oh my, how bold. To ask a lady if she'll let you walk her home. What would my fans think?" the woman mused, looking thoughtful but there was a slight upturning of her lips, hinting her real thoughts on the matter. "Thank you for your flattering words, young man, but may I know the name of the one who wants to walk me home? It would be better if we knew what to call each other."

Her request seemed innocent enough, so Nico nodded his head in her direction. "The name is Nico, ma'am. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He introduced himself with a formal bow of respect. It was the norm for him to be polite and make a good first impression, it was something he picked up so that quest clients could get accustomed to him.

The method of speech seemed to work, for the woman nodded with a pleased expression on her face, matching her smile as she did a small curtsey. "It is a pleasure for me as well, my hero." She replied, smirking slightly with a teasing undertone. With the way she looked at him right now made Nico look to the side, his breath hitching as a tinge of pink formed on his cheeks. That smirk reminded him of Purple Heart last night, ugh why did he keep thinking about that?!

"Now that I know your name, I feel much happier with you walking me home. I'll be in your care, cutie." She told him, somehow appearing by his side even though his senses didn't pick her up. What the actual hell? Plus, she had that seductive smirk still on, and with such proximity its power level was increased X10.

While he stammered and spluttered, his mental fortitude that he had just recovered from Purple Heart's 'passion' last night being shattered faster than a ball thrown at high speeds at a piece of glass, the woman known as Vert giggled cutely, amused at his state. He soon managed to get his act together, and then the two walked out of the Alleyway.

* * *

"Mou! Iffy and Compa sure don't know how to take a joke…"

Neptune pouted to herself, arms crossed and an irritated scowl on her face as she walked behind the said girls, both of whom didn't hear her comment since she muttered it under her breath. IF also wasn't listening to her since she was too engrossed in her conversation with Compa.

Neither of the two had held back when scolding her senseless after her little attempt to seduce her Hubby and try those things she had learned on the internet. She had practically lost the use of her legs from sitting in the Japanese sitting position for so long, after IF forcefully made her revert to her human form with her clothes on, thankfully. Afterwards, IF managed to restrict Neptune's internet privileges in a manner that only she knew, so now she couldn't get any more means on how to please her beloved Hubby!

She was not a happy camper.

To top it all off, she didn't get her chance to sleep with Nico the following night either, IF having literally tied her up with rope and made her sleep on the ground with a pillow and blanket, so Compa was the only one that slept in the bed with him. That sucked, worse than-wait, no, nothing sucks worse than having no puddings! Save maybe Nico leaving her, muuuu! Why does she have to prioritise her Hubby and Puddings?! No, she will have both at the top, gosh Neppit! It'll be Neppit 50/50!

"Yo, Nep!" IF's call broke the preteen out of her thoughts, making her look up to the brunette as she spoke while glancing at her out the corner of her eye. "You got any bright ideas for what to do next? We already got Compa her new Syringe, her MPC Syringe." She questioned, jerking her thumb to the said girl and her weapon.

While shaped like a Syringe that she would normally use, the entire thing was made from a silver metallic material, meant to be resistant to elemental affinities. It had a cylindrical cartridge filled with various coloured liquids at its base that could be poured into and sucked back out of the canister part.

It was being held in both hands by the Nurse-In-Training as she gazed at the new weapon lovingly. They had reported the Quest clear to the Guild yesterday, well, IF did since Neptune and Compa were busy with Nico and the unconscious Tekken. The following morning, they went back to the shop Nico took them to before and got Compa the Syringe. The shop owner had been overjoyed when they told him the news, and quickly used what materials he had gotten to fashion an MPC Syringe for the young girl.

Now, Compa felt she could be of more help to the Party, and not just a healer. She could be a support, combat medic with her armour and elemental affinities, something she found herself eagerly anticipating.

Back to Neptune though, the preteen hummed in thought once more, closing her eyes and entering a state of intense concentration…. One that unknowingly made several passers-byes die of heartburn at how cute it looked on her. It fortunately (?) lasted a couple seconds, before an idea popped into her head. "Oh, oh, oh! I know! Let's go buy so much pudding we'll be sleeping for ages!"

Her idea quickly got shot down however, by both girls who stated "No!" at the same time, making the preteen pout in annoyance, resuming her previous posture. "Meanies…"

A groan came from the brunette's lips as she put her hands behind her head. "Man, what else can we do? We've done all the quests we can, gotten Compa her Syringe, and thanks to Nico not being with us we can't go out on Abnormal Quests since I'm not a Spec Ops Agent yet. I guess we could go to that village to try out those cakes I heard about, but the Dungeon we must get past has likely been sealed off at this point."

"Oh my, second time meeting you damsels."

The party's bored atmosphere suddenly shattered as each of them tensed at the arrogant, pompous voice that they SO didn't want to hear right now. As a group, they turned towards the source, to see a familiar brown-haired, Trident-wielding Spec Ops Agent known as Saizou Komiya, standing on the street opposite them, arms crossed with a smug grin at the light show behind him and the Trident gleaming in the sunlight. It would have looked cool…

"Uhhhh… do we know you from somewhere?"

If it hadn't been for Neptune to bluntly diminish it, the light disappearing like it was never there and for Saizou's face to turn to one of shock, his arms hanging at his sides. "Wha-wha…uh… ugh…" he tried to speak, but his shock didn't let him, as he couldn't believe what Neptune just asked him, all with a confused look on her face no less.

And it wouldn't stop there, as Compa tilted her head in confusion while question marks floated above her head. "Um, sorry, but we don't know you sir, maybe you got us mixed with someone else? I heard it's possible to mistake people if they look similar." She said, an index finger on her jaw.

Unlike the previous two, however, IF recognised the male before them, and had to give a hidden smirk behind her coat's right sleeve. The innocent insults towards this guy were amusing to her, especially when she remembered what their last encounter was like. Regaining her composure, IF continued the trend as she waved a hand in his direction in a shooing motion. "We don't have time to entertain you, whoever you are. So, beat it."

That had been the final straw as the male's shocked face soon twisted into one of fury, his face reddening as he gripped his fists. "Hey! You and I DO know each other, bitches! We met at the Guild." Momentarily, his anger vanished, and a narcissistic grin formed on his lips. He swept his hair back, as if it made him look cool or something, before asking them. "Or have you been too enamoured with the magnificent Saizou Komiya that you forgot?"

…

…

…

His words only made the female trio sweat drop as they stared at the male weirdly. As if predicting the inevitable, the civilians had conveniently vanished from the scene, yet Saizou remained unaware of the looks he was getting. If he was, then he'd assume they were in awe of his beauty.

Idiot.

Eventually, something clicked in Neptune's mind as she put a fist on her palm, as if finally solving a puzzle. "Oh! Now I remember, you're that guy who got 'balled' from before!" she shouted, pointing a finger at Saizou.

Her words were like a stab to the heart as the Spec Ops Agent felt an imaginary arrow with the words 'balled' on it do just that. However, that was only the beginning, as Compa unknowingly went next as she turned to frown at the preteen. "Nep-Nep, its rude to point out people's flaws." She spoke. "Poor thing must miss his mommy terribly, that's why he shed so many girly tears when his manliness got ruined."

'… She just doesn't realise it, does she?' IF thought, amusement shining in her eyes as he watched Saizou get madder and madder. She didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes said it all.

Saizou growled, and for a moment he looked like he was about to explode… before he reined in his temper and calmed himself down. "Heh, I'm not about to lose my cool because of a bunch of sluts." He remarked, shrugging his shoulders as if talking about a hopeless cause. The tone in his voice did imply a heavy condescending though, a matching shine hidden behind his eyes. "I'm more of a man than that."

"Uhhhh, not to burst your bubble dude, but I'm gonna call you out on that," Neptune stated bluntly, huffing indignantly at the insults to her and her friends. Both Compa and IF bristled at the insults that had been thrown their way, but they didn't say anything about it for the time being.

The man ignored her as he began to reach for his Trident, clasping a hand around its' shaft. The familiar cold metal sensation graced his fingers, giving him, a sense of comfort only holding a weapon could provide. "In any case, its rude to insult your betters like that, so I'm afraid I'll have to punish you." He said, grinning darkly, showing his teeth as his eyes shone with malice.

In response to this, the girls quickly got ready as well, IF forming her armour and claws, Compa her armour and Syringe, Neptune summoning both her armour and Murasama. She remembered how Nico and Noire had suggested to keep her CPU identity a secret in case it caused problems, and they were in a civilian population right now. even if it was deserted, IF and Nico would frown on her using her HDD form here. Thus, she wanted to try combining her weapon and armour like Compa had done last battle, nobody gets ahead of the Nep, not in games, romance or battle skills, yo!

Coincidentally, Neptune was the only one who noticed Saizou move towards them, his speeds making him look like he disappeared in the others' eyes. "Wha?!" Compa squeaked as she and IF looked around, only to hear the clashing of metal as Neptune parried Shinji's trident with her Murasama.

Sparks flew from their weapons as their wielders struggled for dominance. "Hoh? Not bad, you were able to see me coming just now. Not many can do that." He sneered, keeping his grin on as he pushed towards Neptune, who held her ground against the applied pressure. Their weapons shook violently between them while this happened, and Neptune only huffed in derision.

"This? Puh-lease!" she scoffed, rolling her eyes behind her helmet. "Nicky's way faster! You were like as slow as a turtle compared to him!" It was true, out of all the girls, Neptune had been the one to spar with Nico the most, in both human and HDD forms. IF and Compa were usually knocked out of the matches quickly, though they gradually kept increasing the time they could remain in the battlefield against him. Thus, with how much experience and stamina she gained fighting him, it made Saizou's movements look like a turtle's speed in comparison.

Not what he wanted to hear though, as Saizou growled at being compared to the male Spec Ops Agent. "Shut your hole!" he bellowed, the two jumping back as they got into their respective fighting stances. "You don't know what you're talking about, bitch! I'm way better than that loner who can't even get himself laid!"

"I'm not so sure about that…"

Saizou paused for a moment when Neptune almost nonchalantly spoke those words with a shrug of her shoulders, mimicking his mannerisms from before. "Wh-What did you say?" he asked her, his breath barely above a whisper as his eyes stared with their size being that of dinner plates.

Seeing the flabbergasted look on his face made Neptune laugh like a dirty old man. "Oh, ho-ho-ho! Interested, are you?" she bellowed pridefully, stabbing Murasama into the ground where she could quickly reach for it once the battle started again before putting her hands on her hips and wiggling like a worm. "He and I went preeeeety wild last night. It was amazing." A low sensual moan escaped her lips as she recalled what had happened. "It was enough to make me want more."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Her words had more impact than any words out there. It was like everyting, including life itself, screeched to a halt like tyres suddenly halting after moving for so long. One could barely hear the faint chirping of crickets after Neptune's declaration, said girl cheerfully bouncing from one foot to another.

Both IF and Compa groaned in unison, knowing what she was talking about. That night she almost practically raped Nico as her HDD self: Purple Heart. It was a dangerous move, because it was rare to find a man who would resist a CPU's allure, especially in HDD form. They had a massive fan base as a result, you see. However, the way that Neptune put it made it so that those who didn't know the circumstances have an entirely wrong impression of what happened.

Though, considering who it was she was saying this too, they didn't exactly try to stop her, either.

Their decision was rewarded when they noticed how Saizou was openly gaping at them like a fish, his jaw hanging open so much that flies could get in. Neptune would have tried to tell him this, but she was too busy being lost in her own fantasies involving herself in her HDD form dominating Nico under the sheets. In many fanfics, guys can dominate the girls in intercourse, they like control. There were girls however, who liked control of their own, and Neptune just HAD to be one of them.

"Ugh, way to go, Nep…" IF groaned, planting a hand on her face with an audible SMACK sound. It briefly stung with how much force she had applied to it, but thanks to her BOW powers she didn't get hurt by it. She was sure that she'd have had a mark the shape of her hand with the force she applied, if she were still human. Then again, it wasn't like she cared about this asshole, in fact, way to go, Nep! Wind him up some more!

Finally, Saizou managed to get his ability to speak back, his face reddened with both anger and… jealousy, much like when they first met the guy as he shouted to the heavens. "WHAT THE FUUUUUCK?! HOW THE FREAKING HELL DOES THAT BASTARD GET SO GODDAMN LUCKY?! FIRST THAT TEAM OF SMOKIN' HOT BABES, NOW MORE?! GIMME A FREAKING BREAK, ALREADY!" he screamed so loud that his voice could have become hoarse from so much use.

"Whoa, this guy's losing it, I guess this is what every guy who can't get a girl eventually stoops to becoming." Neptune remarked, shocked and surprised at the man's outburst. She had intended to tease him a little bit, possibly make him cry like a baby for his arrogant and smug attitude in expecting them to see him as a god among men. She didn't expect his response to be so extreme.

After a moment of shrieking like a banshee, the male Spec Ops Agent finally stopped, heaving heavily from his rant. Most of his breath had left him thanks to his rant. He panted hard, taking a moment to calm down… before a sinister grin swept across his features, one that sent chills up their spines. "I know… since that guy has WAY too many girls around him, how about I just make you all mine by force instead? I'll make it, so you will only think of me as I screw your brains out all day, everyday!" he bellowed, his grin becoming increasingly demented as he gazed with lust and desire towards their bodies.

The girls shuddered at the stare as they began to radiate auras of Killing Intent, even the normally docile Compa and Neptune were releasing a tremendous amount of intent to kill. Hot rage overflowed through their veins, directed towards the man who was too STUPID to realise why outright proclaiming that he was going to have their way with them was a bad idea. Oh well, fool was about to learn the hard way.

"Nep…" IF began as she turned her head, hair shadowing her eyes as she gestured to the male. "For now, I'll make an exception, so could you kindly kill that asshole, please?" she asked, with a sickeningly sweet smile to boot.

The preteen nodded, pumping her fists in front of her chest with a livid expression behind her helmet. "No need to tell this Nep twice, Iffy. I'll knock him into next week for that. Nobody touches this Nep-flesh save for my Hubby." She began to stomp towards the cackling Shinji with her Murasama in hand, the blade crackling with dangerous static as if to reflect its master's mood. Saizou meanwhile, didn't realise what was going on as he raced towards Neptune with a mix of insanity, lust, anger and glee on his face, pouncing at her with his arms held as if to grab her.

But before either of the two could meet…

"I believe that is enough."

A cold, dark and cynical voice was their sole warning, right before their instincts screamed at them to stop moving and get the hell out of there. Both gasped and followed their instincts, their previous emotions forgotten as they jumped back. Just in time too, for a massive, black blur slammed into the ground between them causing a large dust cloud to form. It was a good ting their instincts saved them, because if they had continued, that thing would have smashed them to pieces.

"Nepu?!"

"What the fuck?!"

"Wait, that's an old remark, haven't heard you use that verbal tick in a while, Neptune." IF remarked in surprise. She couldn't remember the last time Neptune had made her signature verbal tick, getting an annoyed glance from the preteen.

Said Preteen huffed as she bobbed her arms up and down. "Hey, not my fault! The author probably forgot my verbal tick for a while! Don't blame me!" she protested in her defence, but their argument couldn't continue as they soon caught sight of what had interrupted them.

On his end, Saizou had fallen onto his backside once again, gritting his teeth before looking upwards, about to shout like he always did. how dare someone interrupt him when he was going to get something he wanted! Saizou Komiya always got what he wanted, that was a rule of nature! When he wanted to have sex, it didn't matter who he did it with, untiil he was satisfied! When he wanted money, he got it no questions asked about HOW he got it! If he wanted, he could have anything he wanted, and he would not let anyone get in his way! However, his words were caught in his throat as the sight made him quickly shut his trap before he could say something that'd get him killed. 'No… its him…!'


	62. Chapter 59 - Yvoire moves

**Alright ladies and gents, here's the thing. In other chapters, I have went and added some Special Event sequences like the games. They'll basically be showing things that the main plot doesn't, like in the games, but I'm not sure I'll be doing too many. Having so many events like that would be quite tiring to create, plus it'll mean the chapters will be longer.**

 **Aside from that, nothing needs to be said save for VISIT THAT POLL!**

 **Let's go, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 59 - Yvoire moves**

Things had almost taken a turn for the worse… for Saizou, when this guy appeared to stop the battle.

Standing before them all, was one of the most imposing, muscular men the girls had ever seen, a man who looked to be in his mid-20's. He stood at almost 7 feet tall, with a body that was comparable to a bodybuilder with how muscular it was. Though this was hidden mostly by the abyssal black armour that covered him from his neck downwards. He wore a tattered brown cloak, which fluttered in the winds. His hair was unruly black, swaying wildly in the breeze while he had one eye closed, the other being open and a dark brownish colour. But the biggest feature the girls and Saizou noticed was the GIMONGOUS Zweihander Sword he held in one hand over his back, dust falling from its blade. It looked to be over 6 and a half feet long, almost his height, and looked insanely heavy.

Right now, the man was giving Saizou a glare, which thanks to his rather imposing appearance was even more intimidating. "You are an embarrassment, weakling." He snarled, his voice gruff with copious amounts of anger in it as he pointed his massive sword at his face, the Sword's length allowing it to almost reach the bridge of Saizou's nose. "Leave. Leave or I will gut you where you stand."

The girls watched as Saizou practically wet himself in fright, sweat spilling over his features as he hurriedly stood up, grabbed his Trident and ran away screaming like a girl, tears falling down his face as he made multiple exclamations of curse words over and over. "Nepu… who the heck is this guy? He looks way cooler than Maizou ever did." Neptune questioned, tilting her head curiously. She sheathed Murasama, but made sure to keep a hand on the weapon's hilt.

"Pretty sure you mispronounced that guy's name there, but I don't really care at this point…" IF remarked, causing the preteen to laugh awkwardly before she continued. "Though I do agree with your question. Whoever this guy is, he looks quite strong if he can wield that sword with such ease."

Compa finally spoke after trying to regain her composure. She had been intimidated by the man's imposing presence, and the way he acted didn't help matters. "I-Is he going to attack us? He looks scary…" she muttered, quivering slightly which made a few rattling sounds come from her armour. She didn't get how, but just looking at him made her feel like she was alone with a massive Fenrir about to taste her flesh, one false move and she could kiss her life goodbye.

IF shook her head as she regarded him. "I don't think so, he has a different aura compared to Shinji. He feels… oddly like Nico does." She mused thoughtfully. While she did feel slightly intimidated with this man's presence, something about him reminded her of their sole male party member. Their auras, the reflection of their skills, and most of at the gaze that man wore, it oddly resembled what Nico was like whenever he got serious in a fight.

If that truly was the case, then this man was like Nico… a soldier.

When Nico's name was mentioned, the man's ears twitched before he looked at them from the corner of his eye. He stared at them for a short moment, as if sizing them up, before finally he spoke. "You spoke Nico's name just now. what is your connection to DEATHSTROKE?"

Despite his imposing demeanour, it was Neptune who answered, showing no fear before the man as she cheerfully raised an arm to the air. "He's our partner, and my Hubby!" she replied, making the man quirk an eyebrow.

"A… Hubby?"

For a moment, he looked bewildered, like what he had heard was something out of a language that he had never heard of nor had any skill in translating. IF grimaced as she grabbed Neptune by the shoulder, making sure not to let her Claws near her, before pulling her back to them much to her displeasure. "Ignore the idiot here, he's just one of our party members. We're travelling together for the foreseeable future."

"Ah…" the man blinked once more, before understanding graced his features as he nodded, his shoulders slackening for a moment. "I see. That makes more sense, the DEATHSTROKE that I know of wouldn't go near love even with a 10-foot-pole. Working with some strange preteen girls is still surprising, but considerably less so." He stated bluntly, without hints of tact or remorse.

Understandably, the girls frowned with more than a little displeasure. However, they didn't call him out on it in favour of some other information that piqued their interest more. "You know Ni-Ni?" Compa questioned in confusion. She had been texting her childhood friend for the four years they never saw each other, but he didn't mention anything about this man. Did that mean that he didn't know this man, when he seemed to know Nico?

The man shook his head at them before replying. "I know OF him, not know him as a brother-in-arms." He stated, before remembering that he hadn't introduced himself. "I am Guts, the Black Swordsman." He spoke with a bob of his head as if to replace a bow. They could see why, since moving around in that armour must be restrictive. Yet, he looked like he had moved in it since he was born with how it fit snugly on his frame.

His eyes narrowed slightly, his shoulders tensing like a warrior on guard in case of an attack. "Since that weakling couldn't get a job like this done, I must inform you that Yvoire wishes to speak with one IF. Is she a member of your group?"

Now that caught them by surprise. Asking to speak to them at all was something of a surprise, but even more so that he specifically requested only one of their members. Nevermind the fact that it wasn't their excitable leader, Neptune, although it was hard to see that she was the Leader unless she was in HDD form, as in human form she wasn't exactly leadership material. plus, Yvoire might hold a Grudge against her for mocking his name the last time they met. Though, that last one seemed rather unprofessional if that was the case.

"Huh? Why would he want to see Iffy?" this time it was Neptune who asked him, before frowning in contempt as she placed her arms around her friend from behind. "He's not gonna do anything dirty and lewd with poor Iffy here, is he?"

"NEP!"

The man shook his head in denial, not showing any emotional response to the preteens delusions. "That will not be the case. As a Guild Agent, he wishes to discuss some recent events with her that are strictly prohibited to Civilians." He explained vaguely, though he kept his blank expression. He didn't even seem bothered about Neptune's delusional mind, something that both stunned and confused her since she always made people crack with her antics.

"I don't know…"

IF rolled her eyes at the doubtful tone in her leader's voice. While she was impressed that Neptune was acting like a proper leader and caring for her comrades, IF felt that she didn't need to be coddled, especially not with what she was. Also, she was curious on what Yvoire would want to talk to her about.

On her one time, she had done her own research on the man, and aside from a… strong opinion about certain matters. IF had discovered that Yvoire was the head of military affairs, not just Basilicom related work, so everything revolving around Leanbox's military was overseen by him directly. That gave her a good idea as to why she had seen less Spec Ops Agents in Leanbox than in Planeptune or Lastation, due to said strong opinions.

With this information, IF figured that Yvoire would want to know what had happened at MS Mountain, as Necromorphs were classed as Abnormal Monsters, and for good reason, however if that were the case then shouldn't the report they submitted be god enough? Why speak to them personally when they had explained everything that went on there on paper?

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Details about Nico's DPU powers, the Berserker Mode as he called it, and several other details were overlooked, mostly because they didn't want to cause mass panic. In addition, if the governments learned the existence of the Enemy Disks then things would be even more complicated, plus she didn't trust most of the higher-ups of any Nation to use this knowledge for their own gain.

In the end though, IF pried the preteen off her and held her by the hood of her hoodie dress so she dangled just above the ground. "Leave it alone, Nep. He probably just wants to talk about what happened in that last Dungeon." She told the party leader, before dropping her off beside Compa, who looked at her wit concern but didn't say anything. She and IF had trained together multiple times to get a hit on Nico in their spars, so she understood her thinking and nodded to show support for her decision. Didn't mean she didn't have to like it though.

"Oh, okay, fine..." Neptune whined, before she got an idea and she jumped in excitement, the man raising a brow at the mood change. "Oh, I know!" she exclaimed, before going into her Inventory and summoning an item…. Which happened to be a taser. "I got this online one time, so you take it Iffy! One jolt of this and that weird guy will be KO'D for hours!" she proclaimed with a wide grin.

Faster than the eye could see, IF reached out and grasped the Taser, quickly pocketing it in her Inventory while scowling. "How the hell did you get that? Seriously, shops these days have no idea what they're doing…" she hissed, though the last part was muttered under her breath. One time during their stay in Planeptune, she had seen a small child, no older than 12, enter a store and come out with goggles… and a flamethrower. A freaking Flamethrower!

Seriously, she could get how the weapons ban was lifted so weapons could be bought by civilians, but that was just ridiculous!

"This nice geezer gave me it, said it could help me keep some unwanted pests away!"

The brunette and everyone else sweat dropped at the innocent smile on Neptune's face. stars literally danced around her as she talked about something that was the exact opposite of innocent. "Th-that's… you shouldn't be accepting things from strangers, Nep!" IF scowled at her friend who just swayed her torso left and right humming in happiness. "Ugh, whatever." She muttered, realising that the preteen was a lost cause. Plus, since she was a Goddess, technically she was older than any of them put together. 'Wait, if that's true then does that make Neptune a cougar? She's older than any human on Gamindustri by centuries, so… You know what, I'm gonna stop this so I don't suffer an aneurysm.

With her 'protection' in her Inventory, IF stepped towards Guts who watched with apathy, eyeing his massive sword warily. It was just too huge to not be wary of it, and judging from the man's frame, he knew how to use it. She thought Neptune might have made a rude joke about him trying to compensate for something, but she didn't. maybe she was finally starting to learn?

… nah.

"Shall we go then?" the brunette questioned, getting a silent nod as a response from the man. The two walked down the streets and turned a corner, leaving Compa and Neptune alone.

"… You don't think a Taser is enough, do you?"

"Nep-Nep, if Ni-Ni hears this, you know what Ni-Ni will do, right?"

"…"

* * *

IF and Guts walked along the streets towards the Basilicom, neither of them exchanging conversation, just from his demeanour she figured he was a Spec Ops Agent, and a good one if the way people looked at him was any indication. He didn't look like a typical adventurer, either, which reinforced her decision about his occupation. IF noticed several groups of women looking at him with lust in their eyes, to her irritation, but the man didn't bat an eyelash in their direction.

She got the feeling he shared Nico's no-nonsense attitude when it came to his job.

"… You're a Candidate, for Spec Ops, aren't you?" IF blinked when she realised that Guts had asked her a question. He man hadn't talked to her until now, which had thrown her off slightly. However, she managed to recover just as quick, a skill she had trained whenever she had to work with silent partners on Quests.

The brunette responded while placing her hands inside her pockets. "Yeah, I am. I'm surprised you know that." She stated, frowning as she glanced towards him. Guts was keeping his gaze forwards, his expressions revealing nothing as to what he was thinking. "Haven't told anyone outside my Party, so what gave it away?" she asked.

The knowledge that she was a Candidate for the Spec Ops Programme was sensitive information, not just with the attitude they had towards those that don't prove themselves and rely on others to get them in, but also thanks to the policies and political issues within Leanbox. Their low numbers but genuinely positive reputation showed that while the people loved them, the higher-ups didn't want them to have too much power for whatever reason.

"You're walking." He replied simply, yet aloofly. His hand flickered towards her feet, making her drop her head to look down at them for a moment. He spoke again which made her look back towards him. "You walk with purpose, like a soldier. Guild Agents, adventurers, they walk differently. One walks casually, another has both casual and caution. Yours is full of caution, trained to react instantly."

'Wow, pretty detailed for just watching my feet.' She remarked mentally with sarcasm. She got the feeling this guy didn't work with others very often. He gave off the impression of a lone wolf, someone who did things on their own, preferring it that way rather than having to deal with others. She had met several people like that, and learned that working solo like that meant one had to be very strong. Especially Spec Ops Agents, if they were to survive. Her guts (no pun intended) told her that Guts was that strong, as well as not very talkative, since he spoke in short, simple sentences.

They stopped talking after that, and before she knew it, they were at the Basilicom entrance. Guts ushered her inside after opening the door for her. When she walked inside, she glanced behind him to see that Guts wasn't following her, making IF quirk a brow. "You not coming?" she asked him.

"No, I have no need to meet with the higher-ups. I only came to fulfil my mission. That is done, thus I will leave you." Guts stated, before walking away and allowing the doors to close behind him, leaving IF alone inside.

The brunette frowned at his words, but didn't say anything. Since there were few Spec Ops Agents here, she figured that they were on a tight schedule, the number of quests they would have to complete every day would be insane.

"Ah, I see you have arrived."

IF broke from her thoughts when she heard a familiar aged voice call out to her. She turned to the altar at the back of the Basilicom main hall, to see Yvoire standing there. He smiled in his signature grandfatherly way as he walked down to greet her. However, IF didn't smile nearly as naturally when she returned it. In fact, compared to before, something about this man had… changed. She had always felt there was something off about him, especially when she realised what he thought of Spec Ops Agents and by extension Nico during her research, but for some reason… things had changed, and not for the better. She had to be on her guard.

Deciding to remain calm and composed, IF leaned on one leg with a hand on her hip, the other hand resting at her side while she mentally willed her powers to enhance her senses, so she could detect any negative signs from Yvoire. "So, what's this you wanted to talk about?"

"Before I go further," Yvoire replied. The way he answered made her suspicions rise, and with what her senses were telling her, the brunette got the feeling that she was being interrogated in an enemy jail cell. "I would like to confirm one thing." At first, his tone was curious and level, but when he spoke next there was this slight suspicion and condescendence in it. "Despite your faith in our lady, you are not from here, are you?"

"What's it to you?"

"In fact, you are not associated with any of the lands, correct?"

'How does he know that?' the brunette shrieked mentally in surprise. That titbit of information hadn't been shared with anyone, not even her fellow Party Members, so how did Yvoire know that? She couldn't ponder that for long as another train of thought crossed her mind. 'Wait, if he knows that, then… well I guess I should have figured as much, this guy has a lot of people working for him. some of them were bound to know about us.' IF thought, her face showing how surprised she was with his question.

She mentally thanked herself that she only looked surprised, and not the dreaded anxiety that was welling inside her chest right now. Her eyes narrowed as comprehension lit up like searchlights in her green orbs. "You checked on me, didn't you…?" while it sounded like a question, it was really a statement, something both sides knew.

The old man nodded his head in confirmation, though in their eyes he didn't have to do this since they both knew it already. It was more formality than anything else, something that was done just because it was the norm. "I am sorry for my conduct, but you are correct."

Now that he said it, IF's mind began to accelerate a million miles an hour as she tried to think of what this signified. How much did Yvoire know about her? And what about her fellow Party Members? If he did research on her then he likely would have done the same for those she associated with. It was only natural, but this lead to the question of how much dirt Yvoire had on them. Also, what would he intend to do with such information, and why would he want to dig up on them in the first place? They didn't do anything wrong, just completed a few Quests. "Now that you mention it, I can recall hearing rumours and researching about how the elder of the Basilicom only accepts local citizens, and hates the Spec Ops Programme with a passion. I supposed that must be you then. What is your plan? Expelling me?"

It didn't matter to her if she was expelled from Leanbox, even if it meant she wouldn't ever meet the CPU she admired the most in person. She still followed her, even with her initiation into the Spec Ops Programme as a Candidate. While they were a faction all of their own, they were still part of the Guild, thus they were required to let their colleagues worship whoever they wanted without discrimination. Nevertheless, most Spec Ops despise those that still believe in the CPUs or any higher entity in general, for originally they were supposed to reject every Goddess out there.

However, much to her surprise the man shook his head in denial. There was a darkness in his eyes, one that she was accustomed to thanks to working in the Guild for so long. To see him resist the temptation both surprised and concerned her, for if he was resisting his natural impulses then he must have had something far worse up his sleeve. "That would be my normal approach, but I would thank fate for our meeting."

Hearing those words sent chills of apprehension down IF's spine. She got the feeling that she wouldn't like where this was going, not one bit. She couldn't tell why this was or what Yvoire was indicating, since his gaze was, while slightly less dark, still unreadable. A damn good poker face that, like fine wine, only seemed to have been polished with age. "…I'm not following you."

"I need you to kill Neptune and Nico."

There, that was it. that was what Yvoire wanted to tell her, and he had dropped all pretence of formality and gentleness that he had before. instead, there was a cold brutality in his voice and eyes, which bore into hers like they were lasers trying to burn through her skull. Nevertheless, it helped deliver the impact his words had on the young brunette.

Said brunette stepped back, raising her hands with an utterly gobsmacked expression on her features, her mouth falling open with the control her mind would have on it slackening temporarily. Yet, that 'temporarily' would be a good five minutes, as her mind became busy trying to process what he had just told her. "Wha-?! Why would Lady Green Heart's Basilicom want Nep and Nico killed?!" she shrieked, her face losing a significant portion of colour.

They hadn't told anyone of Neptune being Planeptune's CPU to anybody, they'd made sure to pay heed to Noire's warning about the other Nations and how they might react if an enemy CPU walked amongst their ranks. Heck, Nico and she had made precautions so that Neptune didn't accidentally release her identity accidentally, whether it be on pudding shopping sprees or on the Internep. There was little reason why the Basilicom of the CPU she followed would want to kill her.

Did Lady Green Heart sense Neptune's presence? There was a theory against that though, as Noire had not attacked them straight away, even though she knew Neptune's identity the moment that she saw her. That meant that CPUs could potentially sense another's presence in their Landmasses, but unlike then it has been much longer since Neptune and tem had arrived on Leanbox, and nobody had acted against them for it. Until now anyways.

Plus, IF wanted to believe that the Lady Green Heart she supported wouldn't want to kill her companion, especially in a manner like this. It just seemed too cowardly and scummy for her. She wanted to believe that her Lady, the CPU whose image she had built and defended against the army of Neptune from shattering, was the correct one.

Then there was the second person Yvoire wanted her to kill. Nico hadn't done anything to warrant the Basilicom's ire. He had done so much for the Nations, all four of them, as a Spec Ops Agent. He was good, he was trained and disciplined. He had not caused anyone harm, without just reason, so why would he want to have Nico killed as well? She was sure nobody knew about her companion's DDD, and even if they saw it they would be in denial about it since they followed the CPUs so religiously.

...

...

...

Ugh, that pun was enough to snap her out of it, though it left a disgusting taste in her mouth.

Seeing that IF had indeed been stunned by his request, no, his order, Yvoire released a burst of air from his nostrils in an extended snort. "Those you call Nep and Nico bring an ill omen to my Lady. Sooner or later, our Lady will take action, but I would prefer not to taint her."

The brunette raised a brow as she crossed her arms under her chest. "So you want me to dirty my hands, then?" she questioned. 'So, this guy isn't aware of Nep being Purple Heart, then? And by the way he said 'taint' her… people like this guy make me sick.' IF scowled mentally, doing her best to keep her rising fury in line. People like this ass hole, who have others do the dirty work while keeping their hands clean, were nothing but scum to her. No way was she going to do what this guy asked, he'd be out of his mind if he thought she would help him!

"Should you succeed, you will be greeted as a citizen of Leanbox."

All thoughts stopped to a halt like a train suddenly grinding to a stop. It took a moment for it to sink in, but when it did, IF's eyes widened once more, and her breath caught itself in her throat. A silent gasp escaped her lips as she trembled at what he was offering her. She hadn't been registered officially with any Nation, like he had said, spending her childhood and current life in a nomadic manner. She had journeyed across Planeptune more times than she'd care to count, all the while wishing she could be closer to the CPU that she admired. Here was that chance being offered her on a silver platter.

To be closer to her CPU, the one she devoted herself to worshipping, was a dream for her. She had longed for it ever since she was young, but her father always told her that she'd never be accepted as a Citizen of Leanbox thanks to both the Console War, and politics in the Nation. She had long since learned why he said that to her, seeing for herself how politics worked, thus had locked that dream deep inside her heart, never to see the light of day in the forefront of her mind again. However, IF now was being offered that chance, an opportunity she had dreamed of since she was a little girl.

As her mind thought it over though, the offer slowly lost its appeal, the silver platter she thought it was had showed previously hidden deadly thorns that would prickle her for the rest of her days should she take this opportunity. Should she take this, she would be no better than Ganache, a shrewd businessman who would manipulate, lie, cheat and steal for his goals.

Then there was the fact that she was a Spec Ops Candidate, while she would love to be a citizen of the CPU she supported, IF held the Spec Ops in equally high regard. They were people she could respect, at least for their skills and achievements on the battlefield. They could potentially go against a CPU and live, the proof was Nico himself. Plus, the other Agents she'd met like Team RAIL, VALKYRIE and possibly Guts could. All these powerful people, how would they feel if she went and betrayed a comrade, someone she had fought and bled with, like that? They'd be disgusted, that was for sure.

Plus, her friends would be betrayed, IF didn't know if it was worth betraying their trust like that. Compa would be devastated, her innocent mind possibly unable to handle the thought of her friends killing each other in front of her. Nico would likely do something like that with how he valued loyalty so much. Plus, with all the time she spent with Neptune, she found that sure, she was annoying and got in her space all the time, but she was decent company at least. There were plenty worse people than her around.

Thus, IF was left at war with herself, and despite her efforts it managed to slightly show on her face. "Sure, I wouldn't mind having a place to settle, but to kill Nep and Nico…?!" she muttered to herself. Even though she had been satisfied with her nomadic lifestyle, part of her did yearn for a true home, a place where she could worship her devoted CPU in peace. She wouldn't have to hide who she believed in any longer since she'd be surrounded by followers of Lady Green Heart. However, like previously stated, she found the offer to have strings attached. She wasn't too sure about that, honestly.

"That is why you will need these."

Yvoire's words drew IF's attention back to him, eyes blinking as she returned to the land of the living. She then focused on the Basilicom elder, who reached into his robes and, after a few moments of rummaging through them, pulled out a pair of vials. He showed them to her by holding the vials by their tops, IF eyeing the liquid inside of them with apprehension. "These poisons will only work on the vile, and the pure will not be affected." He explained with a kindness to his voice. It was obvious he was trying to sweeten the deal, which was pretty messed up if one thought about it: kindly asking someone to poison their friends and kill them for their own gain.

"That sounds too ideal for being a Poison…" IF couldn't help but comment with her snarky tone as she shuddered at the vials appearance. While she was a BOW, her instincts screamed at her to not let them anywhere near her Biomass, lest she suffer something worse than any injury, both to her pride and her body, than she ever felt before.

Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Yvoire sighed as he slightly bent his arms back, holding the vials to his chest. "If you truly believe your friends to be pure, you can have them drink these without fear."

"And if I refuse?"

IF just had to ask, although she knew well what he would do if she didn't choose to carry it out. Her suspicions were proven right as the man; s form and aura became oppressive, his eyes sporting a sinister glint to them while he answered with his pleasant smile on, only making it look worse in her opinion. "Let's just say we will use our forces to rid us of anything "Suspicious"."

* * *

It didn't take them long reach the Basilicom, about 30 minutes at best. Walking with a woman was one thing, something that Nico had done plenty of times in the past, so it wasn't anything new. What was new however, was walking with a woman into the residential quarters. Those were usually reserved for the most important of officials like the CPU, the workers and top-ranking officials within the Nation's Governing body.

Nico himself had never set foot in these parts of the Basilicom due to always being out Questing, or at hotels for the night since he wasn't as important as the higher-ups. He never liked the idea of living in their guest rooms as it made him feel more alike to those cynical old assholes who do nothing but idly threat and argue. He was more of an 'actions speak louder than words' kind of guy, at least when it comes to certain situations. Others like comforting his comrades and cheering them up would be more a battlefield of words.

Back to the point, Nico never stayed in the Basilicom guest rooms before, but it looked like this woman was a resident of them. She didn't look the type, honestly, just a normal, average woman living her life. He didn't expect her to be a part of the Basilicom staff, she moved too differently. One can tell a lot about a person by judging how they move, they can tell if someone was on guard or assured of their safety with how they walk. There were also their hands, certain activities like crafting can make them rugged and rough.

This woman moved with a purpose, a confident, strong stride that only one who had lots of power could give. Her hands, while dainty and womanly, had hints of markings that indicated she knew how to fight. Though it seemed that she didn't fight as often as a soldier did these days, but Nico never was one to underestimate his enemy.

After walking for a good 3 minutes, they found themselves in a corridor, going to a specific door. Unlike the others, which were brown with a wooden texture, this one seemed more refined and smooth, like the top of a table. There was light green colouring on the door, with a white sign saying, 'Vert's room' on top. The woman reached into her skirt's left pocket, pulling out a set of keys before inserting them into the doorknob.

Twisting her hand, she turned the knob and the sound of locks becoming undone resonated through the corridor. She then pushed, allowing the door to open before stepping inside, Nico following soon after.

As she closed the door behind her, Nico looked around the room, his breath catching itself in his throat. Aside from Compa, Nico hadn't ever been in a woman's room before. Compa was the only exception since she and him were childhood friends, so this technically counted as his first time in a woman's room. From what he could see here, the male deduced that the woman was an otaku, a fan of anime and manga.

The room itself was nice, well-decorated and kept to a manageable level of cleanliness. There were shelves upon shelves scattered around at the back of the walls, each filled with various manga and game titles. Where shelves weren't present, posters took their place, posters of men in various outfits doing some… risky poses.

'Looks like someone is into BL Manga…' the Spec Ops Agent thought with a sweat drop, a sudden chill rising through his spine. The teen held no ill will for those that liked BL, it was merely a genre among many in the entertainment industry. It was well-received by is audience, true enough, and there were plenty of other genres out there. Hell, there was one that was the exact opposite of BL, or Yaoi, called GL or Yuri. Thus, both genders cold be satisfied.

As for Nico himself, he would rather read about straight relationships, ones with good character development and interesting characters. There was one franchise he was into right now, one he had only gotten the chance to investigate recently, and it was about a young boy being turned into something he never wanted to be against his will, forced to adapt to his lifestyle with his new condition. He liked that Mange a lot because it reminded him of his own situation.

 **'** **It does remind me of you, actually…'** Biko commented within his mind, a pensive hum escaping his lips. **'Both of you have been changed against your will, both of you have to learn to adjust to these changes. In the end, you two could not be more similar.'**

'Pft, your right about that.' Nico snorted mentally, pocketing his hands within his pants. He idly noted how the room smelled of a woman's perfume, something that he found eerily akin to Compa's room. This familiarity brought him some comfort, but not much. 'Though one difference between us is that he surrounded himself with people who have similar problems to him. I have nobody in that regard.'

Biko wanted to say something about that, to assure him that he wasn't alone in his troubles, but the truth of the matter was that he was right. Biko may be part of him, but he didn't understand what it was like to bear the burden Nico did. It wasn't to do with transforming, it wasn't to do with his skills, but his condition alienated him from practically the entire human species. One could say he was more monster than human. Nico has repeatedly assured him that he was fine with this, that to fight monsters you also need monsters, but Biko was not fooled. Even monsters needed company.

His thoughts were broken when he saw a bright flash behind him from the corner of his eye. Instincts took over as Nico twirled around, ready to summon a weapon from his Void Storage to decapitate the attacker, until he stopped himself when he saw it was the woman that came in with him… in a new getup.

Her new attire looked like an emerald green dress with gold markings. Her hands were covered by big yet loose light green and white gloves. Just under her armpits there were these green band-like accessories that had golden markings, just like her dress. Around her neck, she wore a big white collar with green lining around the bottom, with a very thin white cloth connecting the dress and neck piece together. On top of that, there was a red ribbon with gold outlines and a golden centre, with a blue gem, on top. Along the top part of her white skirt was a big peachy coloured bow, tied behind her. At the centre, was a gold circular piece with a small blue gem in the centre and tiny red ribbon with gold in the centre. The skirt had a slit in the side, exposing one of her legs, which had this white cloth material going down the side, ending at her feet which were covered in green bog, loose socks that flared behind the ankles, and white heels. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail, instead it hung down like a layer of swaying water, and her eyes didn't have any eyeglasses on them.

"Ahhh, this feels much better. I don't feel so restricted, now…" Vert mused, stretching her arms above her shoulders. Her arms had unintentionally stroked her boobs, making them visibly jiggle, but being the perfect gentleman, he was, Nico refused to acknowledge them. Once she finished stretching, Vert gave him a warm smile, and when he did his eyes widened as he thought of something. "Now then, how about I make us some tea? I'd like to learn more about my saviour, if you wouldn't mind…"

'Could it be…? I remember looking at The Goddess Blog a while back, and the image that showed up on the image cover looks like…!' Realising she had asked a question, the teen shook his head vehemently. "No, of course I wouldn't mind, Vert. But may I ask, by chance are you Leanbox's CPU? Lady Green Heart?"

"Hmmm?" Vert looked behind her as she set about making some tea for the two of them. Her face morphed to one of understanding a few moments later as she turned and bowed her head, hands crossed in front of her abdomen as she spoke again. "Yes, that would be me. I am Vert, CPU Green Heart, of Leanbox. Nice to make your acquaintance, DEATHSTROKE."

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Alright, another chapter done.**

 **To simplify, we get Yvoire taking action against both Neptune and Nico, under Conversation's advisement. We also get the introduction of Vert, or rather, her proper introduction since they technically met when Nico saved her ass in the previous chapter.**

 **Next chapter will come soon, guys, promise you that**

* * *

 **Special Event - Kinnect**

With Nico and IF gone, Neptune and Compa had nothing to do. The purplette wanted to go see if they could find something to do before they go to the hotel, and Compa agreed, so they decided to go sightseeing.

The two girls walked through the streets, eyeing the sights that Leanbox's capital MICROSOFT had to offer. "Oooooh, Leanbox as this fancy Schmancy vibe to it, doesn't it?" Neptune hummed in thought, a hand on her chin as she watched several women, dressed in expensive looking dresses, walk by like there was nothing wrong. She swore some of them were sweating when she passed them, but shrugged it off.

"That's because Leanbox is run through a commoner-noble like hierarchy." Compa explained as she noticed several males siting around a barrel, talking while drinking ale out of wooden cups. "The commoners are the ones who do grunt work like physical labour, while the nobles do all the politics. There used to be this strict discrimination against the commoners in the past, but thanks to the Monsters that have been appearing, that discrimination was thrown aside for the sake of survival. I read so in a history book once." she told the purplette, who went 'ooooh!' at the information.

Eventually, they came across a rather large crowd, one that seemed to be rather excited about something. "Huh? Why's there a crowd over there?" Neptune wondered, looking to her friend while pointing to the crowd. "Do you know, Compa?"

"I'm as clueless as you, Nep-Nep, so lets take a look, shall we?"

The two agreed, and thus they managed to push through the crowds (Compa almost getting lost in them several times till Neptune found her) too find themselves at the front. Looking to what was the source of the commotion, the two girls saw a rather... peculiar sight.

"Huh? Two guys are Standing in front of these black weird, rectangular blocky things with lenses across them." Neptune noted, watching as two males, standing within a couple feet of these strange monitors with a screen in front of them each, and doing some weird poses. "What the heck is this?"

Compa shook her head, a thoughtful frown escaping her lips as she eyed their movements. "I dunno..." she muttered under her breath. But then, something hit her when she looked more closely at the monitors, and her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, wait, I think this is that new device that was released recently for Leanbox's Console, the Leanbox Connect!"

"Eh? What's that, Compa?"

At Neptune's question, the Nurse-In-Training turned to face her while having this intense expression on her face. "They're a line of Motion sensing input devices that was produced by some of Leanbox's best Engineers. Apparently, they work like webcams, and allows users to control and interact with their console/computer without the need for game controllers." Compa explained, leaning forwards slightly while waving an index finger knowingly at her friend.

Said friend, now that she knew what was going on, eyed the piece of hardware with awe. "Whoa, really?! That's like, one step away from VR! I guess it must be doing well then since people seem to know of it." she remarked.

However, Compa shook her head with a sad frown on her lips. "It did get quite the popularity for the Leanbox 360, but it was also criticized for its learning curve, the additional power supply needed for older Leanbox 360 consoles and the space requirements. It was also looked down on for its launch line-up and the slowness of the hand gesture UI."

"Honestly, that sounds like a load of techno-babble to me." Neptune admitted when her friend finished explaining. She was a simple person, but even she could tell that the device had some problems. She guessed what was happening here was a promotion stunt for the device to get extra sales for it. If they had the chance, maybe they could get one themselves. "Anyways, lets get going Compa, this place's getting a bit to Nepping crowded for my tastes. Someone even tried to feel my butt when we got in here!"

"Okie-dokie!"


	63. Chapter 60 - Vert? More like PERVert

**Chapter 60 - Vert? More like PERVert**

Silence dominated the room as Nico stared at the woman he knew as Vert, who just called herself the CPU of Leanbox. If he had no proof, then he wouldn't have believed her outrageous claim. However, his instincts told him she was telling the truth, and during that previous moment her eyes flashed faintly. He had to squint to see it, but he did see power button symbols temporarily replace her eyes before they vanished.

... Did he have some form of luck curse or something he didn't know of? Seriously, he's met over three of the fur Goddesses at this point. One of them fell from the skies near his childhood friend's house. The second tried to kill his comrade, who was also that same Goddess, and now he was within the third Goddess's room. This must be some sort of twisted joke, seriously if other fanatics found out about his... fortune(?) he didn't want to think about what they'd do.

"This is…" Nico tried to say, however the words refused to form in his throat. Eventually, he gave up his current train of thought and released a confused snort through his nostrils, holding one hand over the bridge of his nose and the other on his hip. "I have so many questions, but right now all I want to know is what the heck is going on here?"

The woman known as Green Heart, CPU of Leanbox, chuckled in amusement, a hand over her lips in a ladylike manner as she cast er gaze over him. "Oh my, you look so adorable when your flustered. Maybe I should save it for use later." She purred, the male's eyes widening as a blush formed on his face, making her almost squeal in delight. Great, now she's one of the many older women who liked to get reactions out of him. Maybe he had an older woman complex or something. First Neptune, then the girls from Team RAIL, and now Vert. How many more would there be?

For some reason, the male got chills down his spine.

Vert eyed the piece of man meat before her. Already she could imagine him doing things for her that would be classified as NSFW according to Disboard forums. However, she stopped herself as she decided to answer his question. "Anyways, you asked me a question, yes? How about we talk over my tea? It should be ready soon enough."

Nico nodded wordlessly, his face still frozen as he tried to process that he was in fact, talking to the CPU of a Nation within her quarters. Something like this was something that fans would Kill their families for a chance to, especially for a CPU known as the 'bustiest in all of Gamindustri'. Yet, someone like him got the chance all through coincidence, a happy chance. He was sure IF would never forgive him for this, he knew how much this CPU meant to her, and he got a chance to see her before she could.

 **'** **Calm down, Nico. Take deep breaths, slow your heart rate. Its getting awfully loud in here.'** Biko requested/commanded of the male with a firm, mentor-like voice. His words seeped into Nico's mind like a waterfall, making his nerves die down like a cold splash. Once again, Nico mentally thanked him for helping keep him calm, seriously the dude was a life saver... in more ways than one. **'Do not forget that she likely has no intention of hurting you. If she did, your nerves would have activated a Trigger Event and you would be saved from harm.'**

His words were enough, for Nico managed to calm his mind and sit down on the bed, which was at the back-right corner of the room with a square-shaped window looming over it. 'Thanks, Biko. I needed that, honestly…' the male thought, sighing in relief as he looked about, placing his hands on either side of him on the bed. As he took deep breaths to calm his nerves, the sounds of a kettle reaching the boiling point were heard. Looking up, he noticed that Vert had a section of her room as a mini kitchen, with a sink, fridge, and cupboards. "That's… useful. I didn't expect you to have a mini kitchen in your room, Lady Green Heart."

Looking up as she poured the water from the kettle into some cups, Vert gave him a reproachful frown. "Please, call me Vert. You did help me earlier, so you shouldn't feel threatened by me." She told him, before sighing sadly. "Oh, I see… you must be intimidated by me, huh? I guess its to be expected, since I am a CPU-"

He stopped her before that thought pattern could be explored further. "No, to the no, and hell to the no. I'm not scared of you, just bewildered. I mean, how often is it that someone is kidnapped by the CPU and taken to their room?" That… sounded weird, better in his head. Nevertheless, it got his point across, if his determined gaze wasn't enough to convince her.

She gave him a smirk, as if telling him she knew what he was thinking. "Oh my… but to be fair, it was you who suggested to walk me home, so I don't think it's a kidnapping, per say." She remarked thoughtfully, finishing the first cup and moving onto the second.

"True enough, but I only thought it would be till we reached the Basilicom, not you figuratively dragging me all the way here. Anyways, like I said, I have a ton of questions, hopefully you can answer them." Nico responded as Vert finished the tea and picked the cups up, putting them on a tray and walking over to him.

She placed it on the bed and sat opposite him, taking one cup and offering him the other. Nico nodded in thanks, taking the cup and raising it to his lips. He blew on the tea to make it less hot, before taking a sip. His eyes widened in surprise at how good it tasted. It was like his taste buds screamed an orgasm in relief at having to taste something great instead pf the usual garage he forced himself to eat whenever he wasn't out there... doing his thing. "You must be pretty good at brewing if you can make Coffee like this..." he remarked with an impressed tone, lowering the cup to his lap and gazing into the Liquid.

Vert chuckled in pride at the praise of her skills. She took a small sip of her tea herself, moaning in delight, before lowering it back to her lap. "Why of course I am, what Goddess would I be if I cannot brew tea for my day? Why, I spend weeks on end grinding with this level of coffee-brewing!" she proclaimed, grinning while pumping a fist in front of her.

'Pretty sure that's not something to be praised about…' Nico thought with a sweat dropping. Her bed did look like it had been made with care, but with how it looked brand new still, it indicated that she hadn't used it very much, if at all. Kind of ironic considering how worn the chair next to her Desk that had her PC standing on looked. It became pretty clear that this Goddess hadn't been joking about her gaming prowess one bit. "Uh huh…" he remarked slowly and dryly, before deciding to start conversation already. He didn't want to lose the conversation to the whims of the Goddess, not now when he had so many things to talk to her about. "So anyways, why did you bring me into your room like this, La-I mean, Vert?"

While she glanced at him with the look any woman gives when they don't like you saying something, the infamous 'woman glare', the male had changed his address at the last second, earning a pleased hum from the woman. "Better. As for your question, I just wanted to meet the infamous DEATHSTROKE whose reputation proceeds him." Vert replied. She took another sip of her tea elegantly, before placing it back on the plate she'd put it on which rested on her lap.

"Meet me?" Nico reiterated, pointing to himself while frowning in confusion. Meet him? Why the hell would she want to meet him of all people? Did she know something he wasn't aware of? Nico hoped not, he didn't want to be ousted from Leanbox for daring to kill their CPU. "I'm not even that popular than many other Spec Ops Agents, so why would you want to meet me?"

Despite his accomplishments, Nico had tried to remain as off the radar as he possibly could, for reasons that only he, and a select few like his adoptive mother, knew about. He didn't try to stick his neck out too much, kept within the crowd to make himself look as boring as possible. Not to mention there were other, more well known Spec Ops Agents out there that would deserve this much more than him. So, the fact that Vert wanted to meet HIM instead of them was... perplexing.

At this, Vert raised a finger and pointed it at him. "You've been getting quite the name for yourself, ever since the diabolical in Lastation." She explained, frowning in contemplation. "While Avenir did try to suppress the information, along with your superiors from Planeptune, they couldn't stop it from getting out completely thanks to the number of people involved. It was just too big. Many were visitors from other Nations, well, visitors from Planeptune and Leanbox anyways. Lowee remained out of the conflict, though I have a few ideas why." Vert explained, cupping her chin at the end.

So, he was getting popular, was he? The male's breath hitched at this revelation. That wasn't good, not at all. Nico had gone through so much trouble just to keep his accomplishments hidden. The truth of many missions he'd done was twisted in a way that made him have the least amount of recognition. It was all to keep his secret hidden from the world, and while his adoptive mother tried to convince him against this course of action, she eventually agreed and helped him keep out of the spotlight.

Looked like he couldn't keep that going now, though.

"I see… Well, I guess people are going to talk, no matter what, huh?" Nico remarked, humming as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms under his chest, attempting to keep his conflicting emotions bottled up within him. He guessed it was inevitable that he got popular, then. If he'd realized this earlier, Nico might have conducted himself a little more reservedly, made the girls more of the heroes than him. Nevertheless, there was nothing that could be done about it now.

The woman had the decency to nod in confirmation. "Very much so." She hummed in thought for a moment, before deciding to move on. "Now that I have you here, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind of course." She questioned politely.

'Well, I have to admit, she's at least polite about it.' Nico remarked in his mind. 'Plus, she's a CPU, so if I refuse it's going to be regarded as rude. I'll have to make sure to answer based off the question she asks of me, so I don't give too much away.' He thought to himself. With those thoughts cycling in his mind, Nico responded with a calm, even tone that contrasted with the storm of emotions warring inside his gut. "I don't, but my answers depend on what you ask."

"Do you like BL?"

Now THAT wasn't a question he expected. Nico had taken a sip of his coffee before and during the question, before nearly spitting it out when he completely processed it. Swallowing the liquid, he coughed several times while slamming his fist into his chest. Once he had regained his composure, the male sat straight and gave her a look that portrayed his feelings clearly on the matter. "While I don't mind BL, I'd rather read about straight relationships. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I see. That's fine, I guess I wouldn't be able to get you into one of my butler outfits then." Huh? Butler Outfits? Vert stood up and walked to a wardrobe he hadn't seen yet, and when she pulled out an outfit the male suddenly felt INSANELY glad that he had escaped such a fate.

 **'** **By the Goddesses… what an abomination…!'**

'AHHHHHHHHHHH! MY EYES! MY POOR EYES!'

Both beings in his mind were quick to voice their complaints also, their loud volumes however gave Nico one hell of a headache. Fortunately for him, he was used to it by now, so he didn't show any outward reaction.

Yet, somehow it appeared that his nonchalant expression didn't even matter, for the woman gave a small sigh of discontent while putting the outfit back. "My apologies, for making you uncomfortable. Not many share my opinion of BL anyways, so I was hoping if you had similar interests." she explained to him, and it wasn't hard to detect the longing in her tone.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Nico quickly said, putting his coffee to the side before standing up and walking over to her. He had seen that crestfallen look to her, and didn't like it one bit. "I'm pretty sure there's a whole community of BL lovers out there. The internet is a vast place you know, I'm sure you can find something," he said trying to cheer her up. It was true what he said though, the internet was vast. He blushed slightly as he remembered what Neptune said when she almost 'did the deed' with him that night.

'Note to self: keep Neptune away from pornography… it'll be safer for my heart.'

Vert didn't notice his blush as she made the 'oh, right' expression on her face, the tips of her fingers over her mouth. "Oh, right, I almost forgot about those!" she exclaimed, making the male sweat drop with an awkward chuckle. how the hell can one forget a community based off that? He'd never get the answer, and even more he didn't want to. "I must thank you for reminding me about such an important tool of the Internet! Thus, I shall regal you, the tales of BL for your viewing pleasure!"

'Dear Goddess no...' Nico gulped, fear slowly rising in his gut as Vert went on a tangent, explaining in vivid, graphic detail about various forms of BL she had seen and read. Throughout the entire thing, her face devolved from the mature womanly CPU he had been accustomed to this whole time, to a deranged dopey grin with a trail of saliva hanging out of the corner of her mouth. There was also a slight nosebleed running down her mouth as she lost herself in her own fantasies. Fortunately, Nico managed to block the stuff out while he, Biko and IT each had one unified thought.

'Lady **Vert?** More **like** Lady PERVERT...'

* * *

After about 10 minutes of nothing but brain bleach for the male, Vert finally managed to calm herself down. He'd played the respectful guest roll and made it look like he was listening raptly to her, nodding several times when he thought she wanted him to, when in reality he was trying to block it all out. "Anyways, since you're here, about we get to know each other better? I don't have that many people to talk to as friends, most of the Staff here are crusty old beards who do nothing but whine and whine all day. It is aggravating to say the least."

Now THAT was something that elected an amused chuckle from the Spec Ops Agent. He wholeheartedly agreed with her on that one, and it took all his willpower not to make a snide comment about that.

Shame a certain voice in his head had NO such restrictions.

'OHOHOHOHOHO! I LIKE THIS ONE, SHE'S FINE… IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES!' Nico mentally grimaced when he heard IT speaking through his mind, as well as IT's maniacal laughter echoing until it faded out of existence.

 **'I did not notice earlier thanks to that abominable outfit, however...** **It appears IT has regained enough strength to speak telepathically once more. A shame, I rather enjoyed the silence this brought.'** Biko spoke, a deep sigh escaping his voice. Nico had no qualms with believing that at that moment, the demonic personification was face palming right now.

"I get the feeling… now that I think about it, I didn't see any female workers here…" Nico mused to himself, an irritated scowl on his lips. That sounded oddly like sexism right there, and that was something he couldn't stand. 'Though I'm an OC in a fanfiction about a franchise based off an all-girls universe with hints of yuri and loads of fanservice, so by existing, am I sexist too?' he wondered.

The woman walked back to the bed, smoothening her the skirt of her dress before sitting down. With one leg crossed over the other, she sat beside him before asking her next question. "You do a lot of good work, Nico, can I call you that?" she asked him, pausing mid sentence. She didn't know what type of person he was, so she wanted to see for herself. When she got an approving nod from him, the woman beamed happily, almost like Compa would, as she clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! I was curious on what you do during your down time. You do so much work, I admittingly worry that you might exhaust yourself."

"That won't be a problem, I take my breaks during missions, so I don't get tired. Its basic survival 101, never be too tired on the field otherwise you get sloppy, make bad calls that could get your team killed." Nico responded like a professor. He could feel her gaze on him as he continued to explain his point. "As DEATHSTROKE, I like to work solo, but when I'm not working I play some RTS and MMORPGG Games like StarCraft and stuff. They're great games, highly recommend them."

DOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNG!

...Why did he just hear the sound of a Gong just now?

Hearing the word 'StarCraft' really got Vert's blood pumping, it seemed. Her eyes were like searchlights as she beamed at him, her fists held in front of her in the typical fangirl pose. "Really? My goodness, that is most excellent! Truly gamer-worthy words you have there, Nico!" she exclaimed, holding his hands in hers while crying crocodile tears.

Needless to say, the poor guy got dumbfounded by her display.

'Whoa, where did all this energy come from?!'

Unaware of how taken aback Nico looked with her, or she just didn't care, he didn't know which, Vert continued as she looked up at the ceiling, putting her hands together as if to prey with hearts in her eyes. "Ahhh, the wonderful world of Gaming! A world where you can freely express your opinions, talk to people you couldn't IRL, it makes life all the more fulfilling, wouldn't you agree?"

"Uhhhh..."

"I mean, you can...

* * *

For 2 hours, Vert rambled on and on about her games, to the point where Nico had to bite back the urge to groan in exasperation. Upon looking to the male at last, Vert finally noticed the bewildered expression the male was sporting as he slowly leaned away from her during her rant. "My, whatever is the matter? Do you have a fever?" she asked him with worry. It took a moment, but her eyes widened in realization as she face palmed herself. "Oh right, I do apologize, I am a pure otaku, so I sometimes get a little carried away."

"O-Oh, it's okay, no need to worry…" The male replied with a dismissive wave. Internally, he was giving it to Neptune, her instincts were spot on. 'Looks like IF has lost the bet. I bet she'll not like hearing this.' He thought to himself, though he managed to keep his internal musing off his face, so Vert didn't catch on. "It seems as though you're really into that stuff, way more than the average person."

Vert hummed in acknowledgement, grasping raising her cup to her lips. "But of course." She replied a little more calmly as she took another sip, before putting the cup back on its plate. "Games are my livelihood. If I could not play games, it would be akin to a death sentence for me."

The male nodded his head, although he mentally wondered how she managed her Nation if she played so many games. 'It's a wonder how the Overlord Worship hasn't completely consumed the Nation already. I guess her fan clubs are harder to sway than the average person.' He thought to himself. Ironic, one of the things he hated most about his gender was actually being a lifeline to the Nation. Nico was no fool, he had researched deep into this Overlord Momus character that had been cropping up ever since he had first heard of it from Neptune and the others. That was what he spent the majority of his morning away from the girls doing at Leanbox's Library. It paled in comparison to Lowee's, but it had the materials he needed.

 **'** **Why do you not ask her why she has a 'hole' where her energy should be? It seems she is in a talkative mood, Nico.'** Biko questioned suddenly, breaking the male from his thoughts while his mind processed his words.

The teen nonetheless managed to form a quick reply for the demonic personification. 'Because, we just met and if my hunch is correct, she's likely trying to keep that a secret from everyone. Remember when we first met her at the alleyway? She had a weapon, and being a Goddess she should have been able to completely destroy those gangsters with ease. This hole in her must prevent her from doing that, so imagine what would happen if she realised someone else already saw through her facade. There'd be panic, fear, and caution, which would lead to me having to explain some of my secrets in return. Not something I'd like to do, Biko.'

Biko hummed in his mind, processing his words before finally answering. **'I see. That does make sense. I also sense that you have an idea as to what this hole is, ever since she revealed herself to be a Goddess. Care to share it with me?'**

'You're a part of me, right? Can't you read my thoughts? You should know exactly what I know at this point, Biko. I'm surprised you're asking that.' The male responded, conveying his surprise at his mentor-figure though their mental link. He would have thought that Biko already knew his theories since he was a part of him, or perhaps this was a test of some sorts.

 **'** **I do, however I would rather you say it yourself, you are entitled to your own privacy as far as human laws are concerned. While I myself care little about them, I do not wish for you to distrust me so I refrain from prying into your private thoughts.'** Biko replied evenly and logically, just like he always did.

Now Nico could understand that, and he made sure Biko understood his feelings as well by conveying thoughts of understanding through their link. 'I get it, and thank you, Biko. It's always good to have someone I can confide with like this.' He mused, mentally chuckling in relief, amusement and happiness.

Trust was something so fickle. It was hard to gain, yet so easy to destroy. Yet, people seek those they can trust to feel some form of safety, of security in this sick, twisted world. Thing was, Nico was no exception, he was just lucky enough to have found people that actually fit his standards. He knew that there were those out there that didn't get that luxury, of which he mentally shuddered. Just how long could he have lasted if he had been alone with nobody to trust like them?

With what he had seen, done and knew, not long.

Before he could continue their conversation though, Nico blinked when he saw Vert's face literally in front of his own. "Wh-Wha-?!" he exclaimed, shooting backwards and nearly falling off his seat had he not stopped himself in time. "What the heck, was that?!"

"I was calling out to you 10 times, but you wouldn't answer. You seemed lost in thought, so I wondered what was happening in that head of yours." Vert replied, straightening herself before giving a sigh. "Apologies for startling you, as a Spec Ops I guess you're pretty busy, what with the rise in Abnormal activity."

At the end of that sentence, Nico gaped when he saw how dejected Vert looked. Her eyes were darker than before, sadness filling them like water poured into a glass. Quickly, the male made to rectify this by standing up from the bed and walking over to her. "No, no, its nothing, really. I was just thinking about how much you enjoy games, how it makes you more connected to your people. Even if you don't see them IRL, you're talking to them virtually, something that I respect in you." He spoke firmly, hands on her shoulders to make her look into his eyes. He stared into her own intensely, conveying just how serious he was about his words.

"N-Nico…" the woman muttered in shock, blinking several times like an owl as she processed his words. When her brain finally rebooted, she let out a sheepish giggle as she covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers. "My, my, how popular you must be with the ladies, Nico dear." Vert remarked, her lips forming a teasing smile. "To be so bold as to touch my shoulders like this, you don't have any weird fetishes, do you?"

Blinking like she did a moment ago, Nico wondered what she meant until he looked down, and noticed that he had his hands on her shoulders still. His face went red as he pulled away from her, stammering apologies left and right with Vert giggling all the way. It took him 10 minutes to calm down as Vert assured him that she was only teasing him, to which the male had to mumble under his breath. "Damn older women, always so teasing… its almost universal…" he then shook his head and decided to touch upon one of the subjects he'd been debating in his mind. "Anyways, during that rant of yours I noticed that you had made particular references to the game that only its players would know. Do you play StarCraft, Vert?"

At his question, the woman nodded in excitement, forgoing sitting on the bed for the time being as the energy rush going through her body was still in effect. "Of course, it is one of the best RTS's I've ever played. Normally my forte lies in MMO's, but…" she then paused her speech, her eyes widening temporarily before she began frantically searching the room, moving her head left and right like an animal watching for a persistent hunter.

Once she was… 'satisfied', Vert stood before him and leaned close, whispering into his ear with a hand around it, so only he could hear. "Don't tell anyone, but there's a player online whom I've considered my equal since we've first met. His gaming record nearly rivals my own, and his skills match his gaming time. To date. I have never EVER beaten him in PVP, and he's almost inhuman at questing. It's like he takes questing as seriously as real-time battles."

Nico listened to the woman's words, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging open. She assumed that he had been in awe that a player managed to keep up and rival the gaming Goddess. There were many factors that he had noted to draw that conclusion: one, the coffee machine was well supplied with Coffee Beans, high quality ones too, plus it looked to be the most used aside from the controllers, keyboards and consoles. That meant she used these frequently, and given by her fixation plus her deep love for otaku culture, she likely used them a whole hell lot, possibly pulling all-nighters. It would make sense with how much Caffeine she possessed.

Next was her ranting. While it was admittingly extreme, it was also a good indicator of how deep she was into otaku culture, demonstrating her great knowledge with it. If she applied it to real-time combat, then she would be dangerous. Otaku watch many kinds of media, like Shounen, Seinen etc. Thus, they had vast levels of knowledge in various fields like psychology, action, adventure they could use to their advantage on the battlefield, and in real life. For an Otaku that could match her prowess could exist was simply amazing. They could potentially be insanely dangerous if they apply their knowledge correctly.

However, Nico was NOT thinking about anything like that.

'Lady Green Heart… LadyGH… oh, I see… now this is going to be awkward…' the male thought, sweat dropping as he tried to stave off his sudden awkwardness while scratching his chin nervously. The male connected the dots in his mind, the username, Vert's CPU Identity, and her gaming prowess, leading him to conclude that the very… obsessed player he met in 4GO, then on StarCraft, and the woman before him who was an Otaku to the core, were the same person.

Awkward… doesn't even begin to describe it.

"And what was his name?" he asked her sheepishly, while also trying to make his voice as calm as possible so she didn't suspect anything. He had to approach this calmly and professionally, he was literally meeting one of the most obsessed players he'd ever encountered, you know.

"I do believe it was BlackDEATH675."

There, that was it. Any doubts he would have had before, completely tossed out the window now. There was no mistaking it, this was the woman who he'd been gaming with for so long. Now, what should he do about it? It wouldn't be fair to keep her in the dark about it, she seemed to hold his online persona in high regard. Plus, she was a CPU, they had been unknowingly gaming together for so long that she thought of him as a friend.

But, that was just it, that was their GAMING life, their virtual lives. How much of that stuff was real? How different was she compared to real life? Those were the questions rolling around his noggin that made the boy hesitate to ask her. He feared that, unlike her gaming self, Vert may be someone he absolutely wouldn't get along with at all, maybe even end up fighting in the near future. He juts, didn't know, and that bothered him greatly.

In the past, he had always had some manner of preparation in place in case things went awry. In Lastation, he had played the part of being fooled by Avenir to get them to feel a false sense of security. In Planeptune, he had been the one to equip and advise strategies against the Banshee Infestation back at the Monster Cave, which had taken many lives and ruined many more. it was no surprise there that Nico usually had plans in mind.

However, in this case he didn't, and that was the thing. Nico had been caught off guard, with his figurative pants down. He didn't expect this situation to develop when he and the others arrived in Leanbox, hell he had planned little out for this trip thanks to other factors like the Hellgates and the possibility of his secret getting out to distract him. Usually, he would plan something in advance, but this situation had threw him off completely.

 **'** **I suggest we tell her the truth, Nico.'** Biko interjected, and if he could, Nico would have had the Goddesses bless him for his timely intervention before the teen could lose it in front of her. **'It is only polite we let her know. From what I have seen, it appears that like humans, CPUs crave interaction with others, they just go about it their own way. For example, Noire's a Tsundere but she really wants to make friends, she's just emotionally insecure, especially about her hobbies. Neptune's an overly affectionate fourth-wall breaker, and somehow, she's got it into her head that you're her Hubby. Vert here is just another who craves social conversations… she just goes about it differently compared to others.'**

'True, I guess...'

 **'Also, think of it like this. You'll be qualifying yourself as someone she could trust, trust enough to share her secret as to whys he has a 'hole' in her energy reserves. If I am interpreting this correctly, Vert here is looking for someone to help her with her 'problem' but doesn't know someone with both the strength as well as the qualities that she requires for the task. Us showing that she has known us for a significant time frame fulfills many of these quotas. Lastly, it wouldn't hurt to have more allies in the battle against our foes.'**

Listening to Biko's words, Nico felt an odd sense of relief flood his system, his nerves settling down now that he had something that could help him through this situation. It just goes to show that even though he had many good points, Nico was still flawed like anyone else out there. Mentally, the teen noted to himself to train himself to be more flexible, to be on point. But that was for the later, right now however…

"You say you like this online player, right?" the male began calmly, and with a level voice. He needed to make sure to do it right, otherwise he probably wouldn't be able to do something like this again. This person was about to upgrade from acquaintance to something higher, and every instinct he had was screaming at him to not do this, to keep it a secret like he did with his own. However, he had to do this, he just had to. While keeping his secret was indeed important to him, one thing trumped even that in his eyes: Making sure to keep the people he gave a damn about smiling.

He hated, no he really LOATHED it when his comrades were sad or depressed or any other negative emotion. He didn't know exactly why he had such an adverse loathing for it, he just did. Maybe it was to do with his partial amnesia, who knows? Nevertheless, Nico refused to keep Vert in the dark about this a second longer. He would have just blurted it out that he was the player she was talking about, but it was likely she wouldn't believe him. Good thing he had proof in his Void Storage.

Unaware of his thoughts and feelings right now, Vert leaned back so she was straight, giving him a curious look as she nodded. "Why, but of course. I want him to be my in-game husband after all, but he's so hard to get its frustrating. It's like every game we play is like a battlefield to him." She explained, an annoyed pout on her lips.

Nico nodded as he raised his Bracer and opened his Void Storage, moving his hand over the holographic screen as he searched through the items to get what he wanted. In seconds, he found it, making a small smirk tug at his lips which had a tiny, almost impossible to see, nervous twitch. "I see, well then I may have something to say about that."

Pressing the item's icon, it manifested on his lap, revealing itself to be his Laptop. He opened it up, switched the power on and logged in. When the main screen showed up, Nico went onto his account, the site that most blizzard Games were focused on, and showed her his username by turning the laptop around so she could see from where she was standing.

Vert leaned forward as she examined the screen, only to gasp when she saw the username… the exact same one she just said a few seconds ago, the name of the player that she had been trying to get as her in-game husband for months! "Wha….?! How, when…?!" She shrieked, trying to maintain her composure.

The teen shrugged his shoulders as he responded. "Small world, eh? Who knew that I was literally playing with the CPU of Leanbox? Though in hindsight, I probably should have realised it sooner but then again, many people like to imitate you, so it wouldn't be right of me to assume your true identity." He mused, chuckling softly at the end. "Well then, let's start over. Name's Nico, Codename DEATHSTROKE and BlackDEATH675. Nice to meet ya." He greeted with a friendly wave, a small smile and an upright posture as he stood on his feet, putting his laptop aside for the moment.

At first, she was as silent as a gust of wind. She said nothing, she did nothing, she practically personified the word 'nothing'. Nico watched her, waiting for her response while shuffling awkwardly on occasion. 'Ugh, why isn't she doing anything? Don't tell me I-' he began to think…

"AIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

… Before Vert let out a frenzied, girly shriek as she pounced on him, pinning him to the bed while straddling him and hugging the life out of the stunned Spec Ops Agent. 'Whoa, what the heck?!' he shrieked in his mind, reflexively placing his hands on her bare shoulders as he tried to push her off. However, much to his surprise she was very strong, her grip as tough as iron. "Wh-What the hell?!"

"Oh, it's so good to finally meet you, dearie!" Vert exclaimed, lifting her head so she could look down at him and show him the absolute bliss that was invading her features. Her eyes shone like searchlights as she had an admittingly cute grin on her face. "I've been wanting to meet you IRL for so long now! You haven't been online for a while, so I was afraid of what may have happened to you. You could have been killed, or worse defiled by another woman!'

That last one… almost happened with Neptune. Somehow, Nico got the feeling that in… that kind of lewd action he'd be the submissive one if the Goddesses were all like Neptune. "Th-Th-That's great, I'm happy for you and all that stuff, but could you maybe get off me already? You're pinning me down, and it's really uncomfortable with how you're looking like a rapist right now!"

Vert merely giggled a giggle that made the male pale like a ghost as he felt chills crawl up his spine. "Oh my, why would I want to do that? There is so much I want to do with you, Nico. No, how about I call you Nicky instead." He was about to say that name was already taken by a certain fourth-wall breaking Goddess, but Vert shushed him with a gloved finger on his lips. "Hush now, just remain silent while I teach you… everything you need to know about me, honey." She said, lowering her voice to a mere whisper that made the teen under her shudder as if he was in the winter.

 **'** **It appears… we may have reached the finish line. Goodbye, Nico. It was nice knowing you.'**

'We're not dead yet, you know! Oh shit, I'm pinned! Someone help me! NOOOOOOOOOO!'

* * *

"What a Geezer. He really didn't give me any other choice, back there…"

IF grumbled to herself as she walked through the corridors of the Basilicom. Judging by the pensive aura around her, as well as her dismayed mutterings about a certain Basilicom Elder, it was clear that she wasn't in the best of moods. In fact, one could say she was in a terrible mood, and who wouldn't be after being politely forced to use some poison to kill not one, but TWO of her closest friends.

Neptune may have been a pain in the neck with her meta jokes, her random shenanigans and her insistent fawning over Nico, but she wasn't a bad person. This had been proven to her many times during their journey, and IF could safely say that she rather liked the preteen for her humour. It made for some interesting scenes to witness, if they were a little annoying. IF didn't see much wrong with her other than that, she was practically a 14-year-old kid stuck in the body of an immortal Goddess, so she would be like that for all eternity.

Then, there was Nico.

While initially she was apprehensive about working with a guy in a party full of girls, Nico had proven that he was indeed capable of holding his own… in more ways than one, if you know what I mean. In fact, she was impressed with his self-control, whenever Neptune or Compa tried to seduce him, at which point Neptune took the personality of a seductive succubus demon while Compa was the innocent angel, he never did it with either of them. She could tell that he cared for them deeply, or else he wouldn't go so far for them. What man would give them advanced armour and weapons in order to better protect themselves against adversaries that would otherwise rip them to shreds?

Add to the fact that he saved her life.

IF shuddered at the memory of her transformation. Now that she was a BOW, her life had taken a sudden turn for the dramatic, and she wasn't completely sure it was for the better. There were things she had to do now that she didn't have to worry about before, like restrain herself whenever she was mad, so she didn't accidentally impale someone with a Tendril or a weapon. She could however do things she could never have done as a human, like take on Abnormals by groups at a time on her own, using THEM as food sources to replenish her powers.

Nevertheless, she owed Nico either way. He had done a lot for her throughout this journey of theirs, sparring with her, helping her get stronger… he was the kind of man that her father was. She was constantly reminded of her father whenever she looked at him, both of them were strong-willed, both were skilled in combat, and both had, much to her eternal amusement, little luck with the ladies.

'Well, that's not technically true.' IF chided herself in her mind, temporarily forgetting about Yvoire and the poison business. 'Nico does have some luck with the ladies, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten so many girls' attention even if he doesn't realise it.' IF frowned at the last part, muttering to herself incoherently.

She was no fool, though. She knew it wasn't typical density that blocked him from realising the girls had affections for him. IF had thought that he was dense at first, but through the time she travelled with him, watching his movements and interactions with everyone, it became clear to her… that density was far from the truth. It stemmed to something far worse than density. It was… phycological repression.

When she learned of his past, or what his adoptive mother told them of it, she realised that through all that hell, all those crimes and criminals he caught only to find more prowling the streets, that Nico had gotten it into his head that he was unworthy of anyone, repressing his romantic feelings so he didn't have to worry about them. It was essentially 'I don't deserve these feelings, so I'll just repress them forever, therefore limiting my ability to realise it.'

With this fact, IF began seeing him in a whole new light. What he did with the girls was more tragic than awkward, what he did in his battles looked more like a small child crying tears of blood in a field of crimson flowers. Everything about him seemed to turn from cool and amazing, to sad and tragic. It made her begin to wonder: what happened? What drove him to repress his ability to feel romantically? She got the impression that seeing all those scumbags was only part of the true story, that the rest lay within his forgotten memories. Forgotten memories…

The jiggling of the vials in her coat was enough to snap her out of her thought process, making her frown as she pulled out from her coat, the two vials of poison that Yvoire had given her, nicely complimented with instructions on who to use them on. It was obvious that the purple one was for Neptune, and the other seemed to be for Nico. "These are all gooey and bubbly… these have got to be lethal…" she muttered, shuddering.

Not wanting to look at them anymore, IF quickly put them in her Inventory, shuddering when their forms left her hands, their weight no longer present. However, their presence lingered on in her mind, as well as the sinister gaze behind the polite façade Yvoire wore. With everything going on, her dreams of being a Leanbox Citizen and worshipping Lady Green Heart seemed to be like small pebbles in comparison.

One of her phones ringing, ironically the same phone that Nico had given her that time in Planeptune, brought her to her senses. Taking the phone out, IF checked the screen to see she had a message. It came from… Nico? What would he want right now? Opening the message, IF read it:

 ** _To: IF_**

 ** _Please come to these coordinates._**

 ** _I believe you might like it, consider it a means of me paying you back for what happened with Neptune that night._**

 ** _From: Nico, codename DEATHSTROKE_**


	64. Chapter 61 - IF the Follower

**Chapter 61 - IF the follower**

IF stood, silent and apprehensive, in front of a certain door. It was a door that Nico had said through his text message was something that she would like, as a means of 'paying her back' for what happened with Neptune that night. Her guess was that he still felt responsible for what happened, for not pushing Neptune away from him like his instincts had told him to. 'That idiot, I'd already forgiven him for what happened, same with Compa. She knows that Nep is the aggressive type, its not his fault that she did that. There's no need for him to go this far…' She thought to herself.

Apparently, Nico still felt bad for what happened when Neptune literally tried to seduce him, and they walked in on it. Admittingly, she understood that Nico wasn't the one at fault, even as the event took place. He was hardly to blame for the incident since it looked clear that he was the victim and not the other way around, which was a rarity in situations like that. And while a part of her brought up the fact that Nico had shocked all of them when he lost it like that back there, but that part was quashed down by everything else that happening. In hindsight, what happened with Nico was… kind of small on the grand scheme of things.

Still though, it was flattering to know that he cared about them enough to still try to repay them. As to the method of repaying them, that was for debate. Why had he told her to go to this 'Vert' person? She can only assume that was the name of this room's occupant considering the sign on the door being so… personalized. It didn't seem to be a typical standard, plus it had a distinct charm to it that standard, formal signs didn't have.

'Well, no use just standing here like an idiot. I guess I should go inside.' The brunette thought with a reluctant sigh. Hopefully, she got something good and wasn't being trolled by him. Nico did have a hidden prankster side to him as Neptune had experienced the hard way. She still chuckled over how he woke her so long ago, as well as the pranks that followed. 'Still can't get over that whipped cream one…'

With a small smirk on her face, IF opened the door and walked inside. "Coming through…" She called out as she entered, so if anyone was on the other side, they knew she was coming. Part of her hoped there wasn't, so she could just continue her day and train her abilities more. She was so close to mastering a new mutation for her wings, she could feel it.

Just as she entered however all thoughts to do with training, mutations, anything for that matter, stopped dead as she saw that there was indeed someone else in the room. The sight made her stop just as she was taking a step, meaning that she stood on one foot with the other frozen in the air and a hand on the door. A young woman, and an attractive one at that, slept on her bed. Or rather, she had slept, until her call woke her up judging by the groggy gaze that her eyes sported. "#Yawn# Hmm…?" She clenched them tight when she felt rays from the sun land on her eyes. "It's so bright…"

The woman sat up straight while rubbing her eyes, clearing the sleep out of them before she placed them on the ground. Wetting her lips with her tongue, the woman opened her blue eyes and saw that she wasn't alone. "Who are you? Bothering me when I was nice and cosy here."

Her words were enough for IF to snap out of her stunned demeanor, and her face quickly morphed to one of panic as she began to back away just as quickly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll be on my way now…" she began to say, trailing off as she made to leave the room. Her panic temporarily made her brain slow on the uptake, which was to be expected since the brain reacts slower when it is in that type of mindset.

However, one last glance to her made an image she had seen on her CPU's blog appear in her mind, and once again IF froze as she gaped in shock at the woman. She looked just like the image she had on the Goddess Blog, down to the tiniest detail, she realized. This could only mean one thing, and one thing only. "Whaaaaat?! L-L-Lady Green Heart?!" she shrieked, her voice raised to an octave that rivaled the Banshees.

'Was this why Nico told me to come here?! That I'd meet the CPU I worship?!'

At first, the blonde woman frowned at the brunette, thinking she was one of the workers that sometimes bothered her while she was sleeping. That is, before her eyes widened as she realised that it wasn't a masculine voice that she had heard. "Oh my," she began, a hand to her lips in a ladylike manner. "A girl's voice?"

* * *

"Oh my, I can't believe that such a cute girl came to visit me! This is truly a wonderful day for me!"

"Huh? Me? C-Cute?"

After they managed to calm down and assess the situation, IF and the woman who she realized was the CPU of Leanbox, were now seated on her bed, drinking tea. Or rather, she was drinking tea, while IF was holding hers in her hand while shuffling nervously. She didn't know what to think anymore, here she was, sitting next to the CPU she worshiped, admired for so many years. However, it was tainted with the knowledge of Yvoire's scheme, something she didn't know how the CPU would take.

In addition, another fear popped into her mind, how would she take a BOW following her? After all, people can seem nice at first, but once you know them for a time they start to show their true colors. It was basically masks and reflection, people putting on a facade to hide their true selves within. An image of Ganache when he both trapped them in that abandoned factory, and when he whooped their asses at Lastation, appeared in her mind when she thought that. True, Lady Green Heart seemed nice right now, but what would happen when she learned her inhuman secret? She said when, not if, because it would be inevitable that she would learn it knowing her rotten luck.

"What is your name?" Lady Green Heart asked, a kind smile on her lips as she sat on her bed, hands on her lap and looking like the elegant CPU that IF had come to admire for a long time. She expelled an aura of maturity and fertility, to her qualities that a Goddess needed to earn the love and devotion the Nation could give to her to sustain her.

However, this didn't mean she was fully prepared to speak right now, in fact IF still had been trying to regain her mental composure when the question was asked. She shuddered and shuffled uncomfortably for a moment, before she tried to form a reply through her stuttering. "Y-Yes! M-My name is I-IF!"

In her mind, she cursed the fact that she didn't sound as confident and cool as she usually did when with her party. But, can anyone even blame her? She was literally sitting in the same room as her idolized Goddess holding a cup of tea, and talking to her directly. Not only was this a huge honor for her as a follower, but it was also something that hadn't happened in a long time.

Her research had led to the uncovering of a few details that had concerned her, as well as Nico when she told him about it. Not long after her return from Celestia, Lady Green Heart had locked herself inside her room, and refused to come out for anything. She would spend her days laying games according to the sounds that passing by workers heard from her room, and whenever visiting hours were done, none of the visitors got to see her face-to-face, instead they were talked to through a screen on the side of the door.

It had concerned the female Guild Agent, for many reasons, as this behavior wasn't something that she was known to do. It worried not just her, but everyone who supported her. Perhaps this was why the Overlord Momus cult had made such headway in gathering followers in Leanbox, people were giving up on their Goddess for this new deity that filled the with false hopes and dreams. Well, it wasn't confirmed that they were fake, but IF's instincts told her she wasn't wrong. Who had heard of a deity that grants people's wishes in the forms of merchandise while also carrying around Monster Disks in the form of merch? Odds were, that this Deity had a close connection to the monsters in her opinion, since it generated Disks that made them.

Her thoughts were broken when she heard the CPU of Leanbox gush at her name, oddly resembling a certain pudding-loving idiot she knew. She didn't let this stand for long though, as she calmed herself down… by pinching her forearms. That had to hurt, IF assumed with a grimace. "IF, is it? Such a cute name, it fits you well." She complimented, showing no signs of physical discomfort.

'CPUs must have natural endurance…' IF thought with a sweat drop. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of training she'd have to go through to do that without flinching, maybe she could disable the nerves around her forearm, so she didn't feel it, even though the pain would still be there. It just went to show how useful her BOW status was. Nevertheless, IF kept those thoughts hidden from the CPU, or to be more precise, they were overshadowed by the dreamy glee that was coursing through her system, spreading over her face and shining from her green orbs. "L-Lady Green Heart called my name 'cute'…"

While the brunette felt like she was about to faint if not for the screeching and howling of her inner fangirl, Vert tilted her head as her smile widened into a pleased grin. "My," she began, placing a hand on her right cheek while leaning her head into it, her gaze full of joy and affection. "Your blushed face is just as cute to."

At this point, IF felt like she was hyperventilating. Not only was she complimented once, but TWICE by her favored CPU. She felt like she was in a dream, a blissful dream where nothing could go wrong. Despite herself, she lost all her previous thoughts of logic and surrendered herself to the joys of being within the presence of her favored Goddess, something that nearly made her swoon. But no, IF does not SWOON, she does not squeal and act all girly, it wasn't the kind of person she was!

"Well, since you came, why don't we talk for a bit?"

Now THAT caught her attention as well as break through her delusions as IF snapped back out into reality. Her eyes widened in comical disbelief as she pointed a finger to herself, the finger quivering slightly as she tried to get out a firm sentence. "W-With m-me?!" however, it came out as a nervous stammer, something that did NOT do her any favors for her reputation. She was only glad nobody else was around to see this.

The CPU nodded, and much to IF's astonishment, her smile dropped into a sad frown, her eyes now full of displeasure as she pointed towards the door that the brunette had entered through. "Yes. I only have the elder men here to speak with, so I am a bit bored." She explained, and then a small spec of light returned to her eyes as a wistful smile formed on her features. "Though, I did get to meet someone I always wanted to meet for a while now, so today is more bearable than the others."

IF hummed in thought, her eyes becoming pensive as she lost herself in thought, rather akin to a certain Spec Ops Agent. "That's true. I hardly see females working at the Basilicom." She remarked. It was the same with the previous 2 Basilicoms that she and her friends had visited, they were usually greeted by a man worker, there were hardly any female workers in their ranks. The higher the position, the older they were as well. IF found that honestly quite odd.

Her eyes then flashed with realization as she caught on to a part of the CPU's words. "Wait, you said you met someone you wanted to meet, right?" she questioned, before taking the phone she got a message from Nico on, and flipped it open. "A friend of mine directed me here, so could that mean…?"

"Why yes it does, Miss IF." Lady Green Heart replied with a knowing smile. "Your friend Nico, or rather DEATHSTROKE as his colleagues call him, came by here not to long ago. I brought him here after he helped me with a little something." Her eyes glazed over slightly as she hummed in nostalgia. "He was so manly at that moment…"

With the knowledge that it was indeed Nico's intention to bring her here, IF at first felt angry and betrayed, both at the male for meeting the CPU before she could. She had been desiring to meet her in person for ages, and he just goes and gets what she wanted before her! However, the fact that he had guided her here meant that Nico had considered how she felt about the CPU of Leanbox, and had granted her, her greatest wish. That thought had diminished the previous feelings for ones of satisfaction and, if she were honest, a little flattering.

Was it just her, or did her heart just skip a beat just now?

Then, another spark of knowledge hit her, and IF gave the CPU a dubious stare. "Wait, you know Nico? Could you by chance happen to have a Username called Lady GH?" she questioned, getting an affirmation from her in the form of a nod. This made the brunette sigh as she held her head. Nico must have known her, or rather unknowingly known her, that was so weird to think about but somehow it fit to her, for a long time. He had every right to meet her just as she did, considering. "So… are you two, you know… close?"

For some reason, IF didn't feel so good at the possibility that her Lady and friend were that close to each other. She felt like her stomach was twisting in an uncomfortable manner, and considering she was a BOW that could possibly be very likely. She did have full control over her body's workings thanks to that. But, somehow, she felt it was a… different kind of twisting, something that she didn't know the cause of.

Nevertheless, she forced those uncertainties aside, so she could hear the answer to her question. Lady Green Heart hummed in thought, an index finger on her chin while her eyes rolled upwards, as if trying to look at her brain. "Hmm… I believe you could say we are indeed quite close." She replied, before elaborating when she saw the look on IF's face. "I mean, we first met during a raid on Four Goddesses Online. It was one of the more hectic ones, which caught me by surprise, so I couldn't really talk to him or pay him much heed. It was only after the battle that I learned of his feats and challenged him to a duel. Unfortunately, I, who was more experienced in gaming, was promptly defeated by him in an ironic twist of fate. Ever since, I tried to get him to join my Guild or at least become my in-game husband." At the end, Vert's eyes narrowed as she childishly puckered her lips. "Though so far, he has been playing hard to get."

If she was expecting something she could understand, then IF had been sorely mistaken as her jaw feel open, unhinged thanks to her shock overriding her brain's motor controls over it. This happened as she tried to process what her Lady had told her, that she had been essentially trying to make Nico hers…. At least virtually. It just threw her off completely, CPUs don't show such interest in mortal affairs, hell just ask them why they ruled in Celestia, a world separated from Gamindustri. Though, times were slowly changing something that had been ever so visible in the way things were being run. The CPUs had returned from their land of Celestia and were now assimilating into Gamindustri for some unknown reason.

She wanted to ask more, but before she had the chance to open her mouth, IF had seen how the woman had stifled a yawn, her eyelids quivering like they were being held open by sheer willpower. Immediately, her previous thoughts vanished into the metaphorical winds as she quickly leaned towards the woman, catching her by her shoulders to stop her from falling over. "You look tired, my Lady. I really should leave so you can get your rest." She stated with an urgency in her voice. Despite what she heard, she didn't wish ill upon the Goddess. Such a thing was blasphemous in her eyes.

Raising her head, despite the fatigue that was hammering away at her body, the CPU shook her head and gave a gentle, reassuring smile as she straightened back up. "Oh, not to worry. I only just woke up after playing games all last night. I was sleeping to get some time in before I would play another game of StarCraft." She answered, giggling merrily as she recalled playing some StarCraft all night. That game's achievements were addicting, more so than many other games she'd played. It may not be an MMO, but it had elements of it and it stood up as a great experience. She could understand why someone like DEATHSTROKE found it to be more entertaining than Four Goddesses Online.

Her words however, did unintentionally cause a wave of nostalgia to pass through the brunette, her eyes widening at the information. 'Wait, did I just hear that right…? Please say it isn't true…' she pleaded with her own mind. Hoping for clarification, IF couldn't help but speak with anxiety and nervousness combined with uncertainty in her voice. "… Games? Does my Lady play Videogames?"

Much to her despair, Lady Green Heart gave a beaming nod, there were practically stars around her head as she responded to her new friend. "Why, yes. I enjoy games, Anime, Manga, and any sub-cultural pastimes." She explained, before she sighed wistfully. "Although I do muss my Guild back in Four Goddesses online. I do make sure to make plenty visits to check up on everything, though. It is childsplay for a Gaming Goddess such as myself to maintain these two games."

After hearing her response, IF gave a tired groan, holding her face with her hand as she absorbed the information. She bit back a scream of outrage at the humiliation that was draping itself over her like a cloak. 'Ugh, no matter how humiliating it is, I gotta face facts. I've lost a bet… to Neptune. Oh, she will never let me live this down, I can almost hear her childishly calling me an idiot...' Something told her she would be needing a therapist to get over this humiliation. "Th-Then that webpage that was hidden in Lady Green Heart's blog…?"

"My!" Lady Green Heart Gasped as she covered her mouth with her fingers in surprise. She figured out what the brunette had meant nearly instantly, and showed ample shock about the subject. "Did you find my hidden page?"

IF frowned, her eyes becoming depressed. Was her Lady angry with her? She only showed surprise, but IF knew people put things private in their diaries, and she had just read the diary of her CPU. Said CPU even had the gracious intent of talking with her, something she had been dreaming about for years! Now she had potentially ruined any and all chances of earning the Goddess's favor, she felt. Nevertheless, she lowered her head and gave a nod, ashamed and embarrassed. "Y-Yes…"

She figured that her Lady would be furious at her for looking at something she kept private, however that was soon thrown out the window of her mind. The reason? Lady Green Heart squealed like a schoolgirl hearing some exciting gossip (You boys in high school know what I mean… #shudder# so loud, loud I tell you!) She then proceeded to hug the girl like she was the last person on the planet, jumping up and down repeatedly. "Yes, most excellent! Most excellent indeed!"

This lasted for a full 5 minutes, before she pulled away beaming brightly, as well with a gleam of determination on her face while pulling from within one of her Skirt's pockets a Phone… one that very similar to the one that Nico gave her back in Planeptune, making her unconsciously rub her closest hand against it. "Oh now we MUST become friends! Yes, let's be friends!"

While Lady Green Heart was practically shining right now, IF on the other hand did several spit takes as she had to ponder what she said in her head for a moment. She was unsure if she heard her correctly, as what she said sounded exactly like a dream to her. "F-F-F-F-Friends?! M-M-Me, friends with my Lady?!" she shrieked in shock. Though deep within the recesses of her mind, her inner fangirl was playing the marriage soundtrack while walking down the isle with a mini Lady Green Heart in a tux.

Unfortunately, that illusion shattered when she saw how dejected the CPU became from her response. IF quickly realized what happened, as her response could have been taken negatively, and it seemed that it had. "You don't want to…? I suppose such a close relationship with a Goddess is intimidating." She remarked in a dejected manner.

Normally, people don't usually get to talk to the CPUs like this, especially during the Console War. The Goddesses were held with high regards after all, since they were practically the world's leaders. Thus, did the unintended con crop up like a monster hiding under the bed of a scared child. They didn't get to have many friends, people they could grow close to, so they often got quite lonely. Lady Green Heart was better off since she had her games, but she wasn't sure how the others came about it.

It was why she was so excited when she learned that Nico was the one she had been gaming with, and had met her face to face IRL. Despite almost losing it and taking him right then and there (wasn't that how marriages were consummated?) Nico convinced her that they should become friends IRL first. Though she suspected that he had not wanted to lose his virginity just yet for some reason, and when she asked the male was reduced to embarrassed splutters.

Despite his serious, albeit mildly humorous demeanour, Nico had little experience socialising with girls outside of his job. That included Lucy and Raven, whom were both Spec Ops Agents like him so he usually dealt with them with professionalism, unless Lucy tries to make a move on him. It was only when he met with Compa again that he began to get surrounded by girls so much, but he had some time to get used to the idea by now.

Still, he'd little experience with women like Leanbox's CPU, the only two other people he could think were similar to her would be his mom and Lucy. It was like he had a weakness to older women or something.

Her ponderings were stopped when she heard IF frantically trying to assure her that she wasn't right about her assumptions, the girl's face was red with how flustered she was as she flailed her arms in a panic. "NO! NO-NO-NO-NO-NO! On the contrary, I'm truly honoured!"

Hoping for what she said being the right thing to say, IF awaited the response she sought. It was true, she was honoured to be her friend, she'd gladly do so. She had already seen the previous two CPUs, though she did struggle with the fact that one actually was a CPU with her personality. Then again, like with that witch woman, you can't judge a book by its cover. Only this time she had the contents to judge as well.

However, she did get the right response as Lady Green Heart gave a positive 'hmph' which, albeit unintentionally, made her breasts bounce up and down, something that DEFINITELY caught IF's eye. One could see at least one reason why IF looked up to her if you know what I'm saying. "Very well. Then we are now friends, Iffy."

Iffy, the Nickname she had been given by Neptune of all people when they first met in that Dungeon. It seemed like so long ago with everything they'd been through. Hearing it come from the lips of her favoured Goddess though, made it have an entirely new impression on the brunette's mind, which was why she became a stuttering mess when she heard it. "I-I-I-Iffy…?!"

The CPU gave an affirmative nod, once again making her chest bounce somehow. She likes her boobs, doesn't she? "Yes, with friends, nicknames are needed. You can call me "Vert"." she explained, like it was almost natural.

IF, despite her flustered demeanour, quickly figured something out when she noticed an… affection when she pronounced that nickname that could only come from when someone uttered their true name. So, she just HAD to clarify with her. "I-Is that your true name, Lady Green Heart?"

"Yes." She replied with confirmation, before continuing. "Or you could perhaps call me Verty, or Ver-Ver… Even though my Nick refused to give me any nicknames, meanie…" he woman pouted at the end, crossing her arms like a rude child. It was almost universal for girls to like to be given nicknames, yet Nico didn't do it for her. Why was that? Maybe she could find out the next time they met.

"I-Iffy… V-Ver-Ver… #FAINT#"

"I-Iffy?! Oh dear!"

* * *

Deep within her mind, IF floated on her back, her eyes closed while her form remained motionless. There was nothing but silence in this void, nothing that would disturb her silence. The silence she craved, the silence she needed after all the hectic stuff that she had happen to her today.

Nevertheless, something compelled her to slowly open her eyes, allowing them to take note of her surroundings. "Huh… so this is the setting where Nep and Nico said they encountered Histoire…" the woman mused, humming in thought, though there was slight eagerness in her tone as well. She often get jealous, though she hid it well, of the fact that only Neptune and Nico had the opportunity to talk to Histoire in private like this. Despite the Key Fragments allowing her to speak with them for a brief moment, Histoire still could talk to those two freely, likely due to them being both a CPU and a DPU.

When she learned of the DPUs existence, she couldn't help but find it amusing, despite the powers that the DPU possessed. The idea of one existing sounded oddly almost like a Chunni's idea, even though it wasn't. It may have been similar to a Chunni's ideal, but there was a difference between fantasy and reality, and this was reality that it existed in. Nevertheless, IF did indeed respect the power that a DPU wielded… but yet, something was telling her, every time that she saw it, that the power of a DPU was still manifesting, even now. She could understand why, given how most of the times Nico transformed, he displayed new abilities that he hadn't used previously. That Berserker Mode seemed to be the most recent addition to his arsenal.

'Although it does come at a price…' the brunette bitterly thought, biting back the urge to chuckle. She didn't know what the point in that was, considering how she was practically by her lonesome right now, but perhaps she'd done it so much now that it was a habit. Whatever, since she was in here, IF felt that she could get her thoughts in order.

Now, the first order of business was… Yvoire. IF grimaced as she tried to shake a disgusting aftertaste from her mouth, born from the very thought of that conniving geezer. Just thinking about him and how he wanted her to kill off two of her friends made her want to just break something with an Axammer. Nevertheless, she refrained since there was nothing here.

'Now I know why Nico hates him so much…' she had to admit to herself. Nico certainly was justified now in his apparent hatred for the Basilicom Elder. From the first moment they met he had been acting hostile towards him, though he hid it well from the others. IF doubted the others picked up on it like she had, but now IF could understand why.

In addition, she had done ample research into his backstory, and had found that he had a deep prejudice against the Spec Ops Programme, born from his family background actually. While it was interesting to learn how his ancestors originally opposed the development of the Spec Ops Programme back when Abnormals first came out into existence, it was still no less aggravating. Apparently, they had bee well into the idea that one day, Lady Green Heart- no wait, she said to call her by her name so Vert, would descend from Celestia to battle the Abnormals in their place.

At first, they had the full support of the governing body for Leanbox, but as the Abnormals kept growing in strength, and there were no signs of Vert returning from the Console War, eventually their opinions were outweighed as more and more people realised that since the Goddesses were too absorbed in their little conflict, they would have to face this problem themselves. While it spread like wildfire amongst the other Nations when they found out, the Spec Ops Programme still was politically bound and restricted, with limited members and their equipment heavily monitored under the notion of 'these people are too dangerous to walk around with this equipment unchecked'. This felt worse than the discrimination members of the Guild got for believing a Goddess of a nation aside from the one they were born in.

People like Yvoire were what made IF respect the Spec Ops Agents, despite their. womanizing ways. To willingly throw your faith aside and stand up for yourself, without relying on the Goddesses to protect you, was something that took both guts and courage to do. People could be pretty fanatical when it came to their beliefs, that was a lesson IF had learned all too quickly, so to see people still toss that aside and face the discrimination of practically the entire world was something that was to be inspired.

Then, there was Vert. Just by hearing about her made IF suspicious about her desires to kill Neptune with poison. In fact, she was pretty sure Vert was unaware of the plot Yvoire was concocting, he did say that he would rather not 'taint her' according to his words. IF quickly figured that to be a load of fucking bullshit. She doubted heavily that Yvoire was even sticking to the rules at this point, thinking that he would have unquestioned power over her with the knowledge that she worshipped Vert yet wasn't of her nation.

Plus, meeting with Vert like this, it made her realise something: killing Neptune and Nico in her name like this would just be… wrong, in so many different ways. Not only would it be disrespecting them, but Vert as well, plus her own beliefs would be called into question. It didn't seem like her to want Neptune dead like this, no, if she did want to kill her, she would have sensed Neptune's power enter her Landmass and would have isolated her in a Dungeon to take care of her herself. Vert always preached to her followers that one should use their own strengths to solve their problems, and this wasn't something that adhered to that belief.

But, could she tell her about this? That an assassination plot was taking place right within her very own home? It did seem like something Vert aught to be aware of. If it was even the lowest ranked worker doing the deed, Vert would have to be notified by anyone with any sense of loyalty towards her. It would be even more important if Yvoire was behind it, since he had a high ranking position within the Basilicom.

"…y."

Yes, she had to tell her. She had to let her know what was going on. As a devotee of Vert's, IF couldn't let this slide. No, not just that, but as a Spec Ops Candidate and a FRIEND, she couldn't let this injustice come to pass. This had to reach the CPU's ears, so they could put it to a halt before anyone got hurt. She had evidence in the form of the Vials of poison, and also, what Yvoire failed to realise was that she had been recording the entire conversation on one of her phones. Plus, she had so many right now that even if he knew she was recording him, he wouldn't know which phone she was using to make it, therefore hindering any attempts to retrieve the evidence.

"…fy."

'… Huh? Is someone calling my name?' IF wondered, her brow twitching as she heard a small, distant voice calling out from within the void. It sounded distinctly feminine, and as it kept repeating itself, it sounded like it's owner was getting closer and closer to her, louder and louder all the while. In a few moments, IF found that the voice soon became clearly audible, and VERY familiar.

"…ffy… Iffy… IFFY!"

* * *

#GASP#

With a sharp intake of breath, IF's eyes shot open, although this wasn't really the best thing to do as they almost burned with all the influx of colors they got from the surroundings. She groaned painfully as she closed her eyes tight, trying to get the aching to go away. She did sit up, holding the side of her head as a concerned, feminine voice asked her with a worried softness to it. "Are you alright, Iffy? Did I scare you there? I must apologize for that, I didn't intend to do that, I swear!"

Slowly, her vision returned to her, and IF soon opened her eyes once more, the aching having mostly subsided, but enough for her to make out her surroundings. She quickly looked and saw Vert kneeling beside her, eyes filled to the brim with worry for her well-being. She had her gloved hands on her shoulders in a way that assured her that she would have balance and support should she fall backwards.

IF was slow at first, but eventually the haze in her mind was ebbed away by her powers as a BOW. She quickly flashed back to the events that happened before her fainting, Vert calling her by nicknames and her allowing the brunette to do the same. Afterwards, she looked down and saw that she was on the CPU's bed, which made sense in her mind given where they were sitting beforehand. Looking back at the worried Goddess, IF chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, I just kind of swooned there, lost myself in the process…"

"My, please don't strain yourself like that." Vert gently chastised the brunette, letting go of her shoulders and placing her hands on her lap. Her eyes still showed worry, but right now, joy had began seeping into them as she continued speaking, a slight raising of her octaves indicating her relief. "I personally am so happy to have spoken with you for so long, Iffy." She then turned her head to the side, her eyes becoming glazed as she cupped her Chin. "I only could have talked with Nico a bit more, then this day would have been perfect."

'Wow, Lady Vert must have some extreme fixation with that guy…' IF thought with a sweat drop as she saw the CPU she worshiped fantasizing about her Companion. 'If this was what Fan-girls are like, then I'm glad I'm not one of them…' she thought, which was ironic considering her recent activities. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but smile widely, almost like a child meeting Santa Claus on Christmas day. "I'm happy as well, Lady Vert."

"Say, there's something i'm curious about."

When she heard her CPU's topic change, IF snapped to attention in an almost military-like manner. "What is it, Lady Vert?"

Clasping her hands together, the woman hummed as she pondered her question. She did this... for a few seconds, before finally asking her question in a rather blunt, and direct, manner. "What are your thoughts for Nico?"

"... Huh?"

IF blinked, surprised and caught off guard by her question. Fortress Iffy had been hit with a wrecking ball, allowing the army of thoughts to invade and dominate her mind. Where the hell did that question come from? More importantly, she had to answer truthfully. It was her CPU after all. "Eh? I uh..." She tried to say, only to notice something... off.

Her mouth wasn't moving.

'Wait, why isn't my mouth moving?' IF wondered, she tried to say that they were colleagues, they were comrades and friends, but for some reason her mouth refused to move to utter the words. For some reason, she started to frown on the thought of them being friends. This uncomfortable sensation settled on her chest, stopping her from saying those words. What the hell was going on here? What the fuck was happening to her, was she sick or something? It shouldn't be possible considering how her BOW powers stop her from getting sick.

Frustration slowly swelled within her chest, born from her inability to give her CPU a clear answer. An image of a smiling Nico appeared in her mind, and she started feeling weird, like her face was heating up inside an oven. What the hell? When did she start getting a stroke thinking of the male? This hadn;t happened before, so why was it happening now?

Eyeing the brunette in front of her, the older woman saw the indecision flashing through her eyes. 'Oh? So, it looks like this one is on the fence about her feelings... and it looks like she's only now beginning to question them.' She thought, mentally frowning. It looked like her friend might also be a rival for her in the future, ad while that may seem like a bad thing, Vert still felt compelled to help her, as one woman to another. "Its alright if you can't give me an answer right now. It appears you are quite fond of him, and that's enough for now." she told her with a soothing, gentle aura around her.

"...If you're sure..."

IF answered that with a humbled, nervous tone in her voice, eyeing her lap like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Truthfully, she wanted to think about anything else than what had just happened. She had no idea on what had just happened, or why it did at that moment. Was it something Vert said in passing? Why did she react that way when she asked her that question? Confusion and frustration swelled within her chest at the thoughts in her head. One part of her told her that it was just an illness, that it would pass soon enough. However the rest of her told her something else, something...

With that out of the way, Vert gave IF a look over after a moment of silence. She glanced down at her body structure, and noticed a lack of tension in her demeanor compared to before, when she asked the question. It looked like she was going to think on it later, and had thus relaxed herself for the time being. This made her smile in glee, putting her hands together in front of her mouth as she spoke. "My, you were quite nervous a while ago, but it seems that you've gotten used to me. That makes me one happy Vert."

She had to admit, Vert had a point. When she first met her, IF had been exactly like how she had described. However, as time passed, she felt herself calming down in her presence, like she was just another person she had met on her journey. She also felt… more at peace with herself, like she had gotten answers to unasked questions. "I'm surprised too, honestly." IF admitted, chuckling sheepishly as she scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Still, I'm a little nervous yet." It wasn't everyday she met her idolized CPU like this, so IF was right to feel a little anxiety still.

"Oh now, we're friends at this point." Vert gently chastised the brunette, though a giggle of amusement did escape her lips as she smile fondly at her. "There's no need to be any more nervous around me." She looked like she was about to say something else, but then Vert's eyes widened as her expression morphed into one of surprise, shock and realization all at once. Hastily, she pulled out her Phone and began pressing buttons with an urgency that IF hadn't seen from her since their little talk began. "Oh, that's right! I forgot to exchange Emails with you!"

This threw IF for a loop. It was one thing to talk to her idolized CPU in person, but to get her Email address and possibly her other contact details wasn't somethings he thought would happen today… no, ever. "Really? With me? Is that okay?!" she shrieked. Her words perfectly expressed her disbelief over this event, also evidenced by how small her eyes were.

"Of course." Vert replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to her. "Exchanging Emails between friends is quite normal." She remarked, holding a hand out for one of her phones.

Slowly, IF's arm acted of its own will, taking out the Phone that Nico had gotten her and handing it over to the blonde CPU. She took it gingerly, her glove-covered hand wrapping around it as if it were a holy relic. This was ironic, considering what she was and what the brunette was, or rather, what Vert ASSUMED she was: a normal human girl. Even with the progress they had made, IF still didn't feel like revealing her true identity as a BOW was a good idea.

Then again, she was indeed grateful for this blessing in her life. Perhaps one day she could share with her favored Goddess her secret, but for now she had to keep it on the down low. There was no telling what would happen if she learned of what she truly was right now, since she DID kill monsters for a living… while managing a Nation.

* * *

Finally, she had done it.

It had been a long, tedious journey to get to this hellhole, this place that didn't exist on any map in Gamindustri's history. She had been hard pressed to find any concrete information about this place at all, and considering what this place was along with its purpose, its secret existence had been hidden well. The previous CPUs truly were more competent than their successors it seemed. A twisted irony, it seemed. Whereas the newer generation was meant to be the better of the older generation, it appeared that the opposite had been the case here.

How utterly pathetic.

That was what the woman known as Conversation thought to herself as she walked down the stands of what looked to be a stadium. A stadium not unlike that of the Colosseum that many Gaminustrimen use to train and compete with each other to prove they are the best. This place, this place that had been so concealed from history to conceal what lay within. It was one of the few legacies that proved the existence of the once all-powerful deity race: the Demon Patron Units.

The Crucible.

It was a special Colleseum used in the days of the DPUs golden glory. According to what she had discovered, the Crucible was where the DPUs honed their skills, skills they trained by getting beset by legions and legions of demonic entities created by the DPUs themselves. It worked by sending the user into four stages with 25 enemies each, and each stage was much worse than the last. She at first had thought this place a mere myth, but through preservation and follwoing whatever leads she could, she had finally found out where this place was.

Who knew that the Crucible would be imprisoned in the dark, forgotten lands below the heavens?

After navigating through this crucible, dodging countless traps and trying to solve equally countless puzzles, Conversation panted heavily as she stood in the center of the large coliseum-like Arena. She couldn't help but feel proud of her accomplishments, as even if she hadn't made it as far as she did without some… willing volunteers from the masses that worshiped the Overlord, she knew that many would have perished just trying to get to this unholy place.

What stood before her, was a long, black tree, shaped like a skeletal human arm. It's 'hand' was shaped like it was holding something round, and within that hand, was a large crimson orb, an orb containing the thing that will ensure Neptune and that DPU's demise. a wry grin escaped her lips as the woman radiated a crimson glow, a glow that matched her eyes as well. 'fufufufufu... Looks like I can use this as my trump card after all...' She thought to herself as she made the preperations.

Prepare, world of Gamindustri, for your days of reckoning have finally come.


	65. Chapter 62 - Reflections

**Chapter 62 - Reflections**

Finally, Vert had finished placing her Email into IF's contacts, sporting a beaming smile that was reflected by the brunette as she saw her phone being handed back to her. "Well, now we're Email friends too."

"This is Lady Vert's Email…" IF began, almost on the verge of fainting again. This time though, she kept her mind from falling to the sweet illusion of bliss as she took her phone with reverence. She would never look at this phone the same way again, after this. While it was special before thanks to receiving it from Nico, now it was more like a holy artifact which had her CPUs Email implanted inside of it. "YES!" she shrieked, fist bumping.

A shrill giggle escaped Vert's throat as she tried to express the joy she was feeling through her smile, joy born from having not one, but TWO new friends to talk to instead of the stuck-up boring old men in the Basilicom. "You can Email me whenever you like. I'll keep an eye out for every one of them."

The brunette nodded, her words quickly reminding her of the time. She had to head out soon, after all, Vert had shown several times that she was still tired, and the only way to remedy that was rest. But still, there were still so many questions she wanted to ask the blonde CPU, questions that were to do with Yvoire and her views on the Console Wars. These questions, she doubted they'd be fit for Emails that could easily be hacked into and monitored by the 'wrong' kind of people.

Inside her, a war raged between two sides of her, one side proposing they ask Vert about the Console Wars, her views and if she would use poison, while the other proposed they leave now and deal with this themselves. As a fan, IF wasn't one who would want to taint her favoured CPU with news like this, which was similar to Yvoire. They were both, as much as she hated to admit it, alike in that regard. Both wanted the best for their CPU, but the difference was that one wanted the death of another CPU, and the other well…

In the end, IF decided on her options.

"Um, before I leave Lady Vert, could I ask you a question?" IF asked her, hesitation laced within her voice. She shouldn't be doing this, every fibre of her being, her instincts and mind screamed at her to let Vert rest and to deal with this herself, but IF ignored all of them. She remembered Noire, and how she was changed by Neptune to accept their help in the battle for Lastation. Sher remembered Nico prepping in the shadows to help the people decrease their casualties from the Avenir attack. How could she be silent when remembering all of that?

If they could change a CPUs mind, then why can't she?

Vert, seeing her serious, yet hesitant, features hummed in confusion, forming a matching expression as she tilted her head sideways. "Hmm? My, what ever is the matter, Iffy? You look so serious, I might just have to pinch your cheeks to get your cuteness back." She said with a teasing grin on her features. Even with her fatigue though, Vert still noticed that IF refused to change her expression, causing her grin to fall into a frown instead. Whatever she was thinking of must have been pretty serious then. "What is it, my cute Iffy? Something troubling you?"

"You…" she looked to the side, now unable to hide the hesitation in her eyes. "Could say that, yeah." IF knew she probably looked pathetic, hesitating like this. But could anyone really blame her? What she was about to ask would make her step onto risky territory. It was like volunteering to clear a minefield, a risky, hazardous situation.

Vert though, just kept a calm air about her as she slowly walked towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. IF had walked to the door at some point, so that was why. "Please, speak your mind, dear." She whispered softly, like a mother to her child. "Don't worry, I will listen to anything you have to say. We're friends, after all.'

'I only hope your right, Vert…' the brunette remarked reluctantly in her mind. Her heart pounded within the confines of her ribcage, and she felt nervous as all hell. What she planned to ask her wasn't something that could be easily talked about, some might charge her with treason for talking about stuff like this. But right now, IF knew she had to get those answers, find out where Vert stood in all this. "I wanted to know… about the Console Wars, what your opinion on it was, I mean."

Momentarily, Vert looked shocked, shocked that this human knew such a detail about the Console War. Even more shocking was that she was talking about it with her. She knew that normally, she would have left her room at this time, to go back to her Party, so this was indeed new to her. Nonetheless though, Vert didn't necessarily mind this topic, but first she had to know what IF knew about it. "My, how unexpected. I didn't think a Human would ask me about this matter, which is normally between us CPUs… How much do you know about the Console Wars, Iffy?"

"Well, only a little, but Nico knows a hell lot more than I do." IF replied honestly, rubbing the back of her head. "Nico learned of it from Noire, Lastation's CPU, but he was sworn to secrecy about it from her. The only reason I know about it is because of Planeptune's staff." She explained, though in her mind she also added something else. 'I get the feeling that scene was largely ignored or seen as just another lewd moment with that priest and all…'

Vert blinked owlishly, her jaw dropping slightly as she processed IF's words. "Noire? That hard-headed tsundere? I did not expect her to relinquish information like that so easily…" she mused, thoughtfully. "If what you say is indeed true, then it appears the wheels of change are in motion…" she began muttering things under her breath, so quietly that even IF's BOW hearing found it hard to keep up.

Even if she did hear it though, she wouldn't have understood a word she said.

Shaking her head, IF pushed her thoughts back on track before looking back to her CPU. "Anyways, if it's alright with you, I'd like to ask your opinion on it, and of the other CPUs, please, to be more specific Planeptune and Lastation's. I apologise if I'm, um, getting ahead of myself, but…" IF trailed off, nervousness now tightening its grip on her throat to make her stop talking.

She feared that she may have gone too far, that this was all a mistake. After all, a human shouldn't question a CPU about these things. It just didn't happen, something like this wasn't meant to happen according to their society. Humans were meant to believe in the CPUs and put their faith in them, not question their logic like she was. IF could only hope she hadn't crossed the already thin line she was treading on right here.

In the past, IF had heard rumours about various skirmishes humans have had with the Basilicom and the Guild, humans who had banded together and wanted changer in Gamindustri, who relied more on the 'old ways' that was the CPUs. She didn't know the details, but the bottom line was that people have questioned CPU leadership for a long time, and those who made those questions known publicly, well… the Basilicom handled them.

Fortunately, fate seemed to be on IF's side today, for Vert didn't show any negative reaction in the slightest. In fact, one could say she looked… relieved, giddy even. "Ah, it is good to talk to someone about this. Humans really don't try to meddle in our affairs too much, so it's rather difficult to find someone we can be open with… I guess Noire must find Nico as appealing as I then, if she's opened up to him like this." Vert admitted, sighing wistfully as she imagined talking to Nico about such topics. She had her arms crossed under her massive boobs and a slightly glazed look in her eyes, showing that she had lost herself in thought about the possibility.

After a few minutes though, she remembered that she wasn't alone in the room and looked sheepishly towards the brunette, quickly making an apology towards her for her actions. "I do apologise, Iffy dear, I was just lost in thought for a moment. #AHEM#." After she cleared her throat, Vert got her thoughts together. This was a sensitive matter, yes, one that she couldn't trust to a complete stranger. She may call IF friend, but even Vert wasn't that careless, as much as people would disagree.

She DID manage a Nation after all.

"Anyways, if you want my opinion, I'd say I've grown rather… vexed, about the Console War. It has gotten less and less important for me over the centuries, what was once an exhilarating rush was slowly becoming nothing more than a boorish chore. I eventually reached the point of no longer caring about the Console War, hence why I returned to the human world."

After explaining her thoughts, Vert moved on to the other CPUs. She hummed in thought as she wondered what to say, based off her own experiences. "Well, I'll start with Noire. She's stubborn, a hot-head, and always rushes into things. She honestly reminds me more of a tyrant than a leader, always doing things her own way and not letting anyone go against her."

* * *

Meanwhile…

Back in Lastation, Noire had just finished off a Monster that was treated as a threat by the local militia. It had been making packs and just sending them off to die to their hands, like it was trying to eradicate the local environment. Just after killing it, she felt something… off, and it greatly bothered her like an itch that refused to go away.

A scowl fell upon her lips. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm being dissed from somewhere… I swear, if Neptune's called me lonely one more time, I'll…!"

Her words cut themselves off as her mind showed her a brief image of a certain Spec-Ops Agent. "Right… Nico did say that irrationality was something I had, as much as I hate to admit it. If I had acted logically, maybe we would have met under… better circumstances…"

While thinking about her, now stupid, plan to attack Neptune while she had no memories of their former battles, Noire gasped when she realised her thoughts were soon changing from Neptune to Nico, somethings he had been finding happened a lot lately. 'What are you thinking, Black Heart?! Stop thinking about that guy! Even if he's strong, handsome, and good with planning, he's not someone you should be fretting over! You're just worried that he'll bit off more than he can chew, yeah, that's it!'

* * *

IF frowned at the words used to describe Lastation's CPU. So far, that opinion of her did seem to fit with Noire from the beginning. She remembered the first few times they fought together, and how crazy she went against that Nargacuga, Noire definitely liked to be in control of stuff, almost like a Tyrant.

Though, she didn't think Noire had been that bad, true she had been controlling back when they first met, but not to the extreme that Vert was describing. She didn't speak in her defence though, since Vert knew her a lot longer than she did. They fought each other for centuries after all, so their experiences with each other dwarfed hers by a wide margin.

"She isn't someone I could call a CPU, honestly… though she's a far better one than Neptune." Vert admitted, breaking IF from her thoughts. When she looked at Leanbox's CPU in the eyes, she saw just how troubled she was feeling as she cupped her chin, shuffling nervously.

Why would she be nervous about Neptune? Was she really so bad that she would hesitate to share her feelings about her? If so, was getting her memory back a good idea then? Because the Neptune she knew now… "Well, she was a battle maniac, pure and simple. She was more of a warrior than a leader, always challenging us to fights, as well as very arrogant. She always believed herself to be stronger than the rest of us, that she was invincible and that nobody could defeat her. She had this… coldness about her, that made talking to her more of a chore than Lowee's CPU, and that is saying something."

… Wow, maybe Neptune getting her memories back really wasn't a good idea. Sure, she seemed quite confident whenever they fought monsters, but not to the point of being arrogant about it, not like what Vert was describing. It sounded as if Neptune had been a bit of a, pardon her language, but a right bitch from the sounds of it. IF didn't know what to think about this, nonetheless. It seemed that these changes those two were going through, Noire's people needing her now more than ever, while Neptune had amnesia, was actually a blessing in disguise. They both seemed like they were a LOT better than what they used to be.

But still, from the way Vert was talking about them, it seemed that peace between the four CPUs may be a bit of a stretch. If the four really were like this, then chances were they would be up in arms as soon as they were in contact with each other. It probably didn't help that throughout the Console War, the 4 Nations have had plenty of skirmishes, ranging from small to large, and in those skirmishes lives were lost, many more ruined. There were some cases where Monsters and Abnormals got involved, bringing up the death toll even more.

Perhaps, peace may be an impossible dream, after all…

'No, don't think that, IF.' The brunette suddenly scolded herself, eyes steeling with resolve. 'Think about what Nep and Noire have been doing now. Nep's going about helping people, people of her own nation and others, no less. Noire's even making sure to correct her past mistakes and is even friends, though she won't admit it, with Nep and us. If those two idiots can change, then so can the rest. Things like this will require time, time and effort, but they can be done. It just needs to be kickstarted a bit, and we've already set the ball rolling.'

Watching IF, Vert got the idea that she had saddened the brunette somewhat, and her expression morphed into one of slight embarrassment. "Oh, but you need not worry about such affairs, Iffy dear." She gently said, her gloved hands wrapping around the brunette's head and pulling her in for a hug. IF almost eeped at the contact, her face red with her head pressed against the woman's melons. "Those are only affairs that a CPU is aware of. Besides, even if I don't have high opinions of them, I'm not going to outright murder them, it would cause too much trouble for the world. There's 4 CPUs for a reason, you know."

"Th-That does sound relieving, h-honestly L-L-Lady Vert." IF admitted, though it was more to herself than anyone else at the moment. Not only relief, the brunette felt anxiety and anticipation well up inside her chest at the thought of Vert and Neptune meeting under friendlier terms. The inner fangirl practically squealed at the thought of her friends, even though one was an idiot, getting along swimmingly.

Those thoughts would remain in her mind for the entire day.

After she FINALLY got out of Vert's hold, IF bid the CPU of Leanbox fair well and left her room. In reality, IF had come in there a conflicted, war-torn soul who faced the choice of choosing one best friend over another. Now? She felt more like a new-born infant, revived by the events that happened just now. It felt wonderful, way better than when she began to realise her powers as a BOW. IF doubted anything would have been better than this, especially for a believer like her.

The thoughts of Yvoire and his recent interaction with her were now contested with the thoughts of Vert and how she reacted to her, making a neutral state of mind for the brunette BOW. She now had a clearer mind, a much better idea of the grand picture that was being painted in front of her.

Now that she had met and consulted with Vert, the brunette knew exactly what she would have to do for this. The brunette reached into her Inventory and pulled out the two vials of Poison that Yvoire had given (read: FORCED) to her. She held them with great distain, her face crinkling with disgust as she regarded them.

'Sorry Yvoire…' she thought, her thoughts heavily laced with sarcasm and fake sadness to the point where she found it almost amusing. How much a fool she had been to almost even THINK of considering what she had been earlier. 'But I'm not going to be your puppet. You can take your vials, your petty beliefs about the Spec Ops, and shove em up your ass. I'm no pawn that you can just use and throw away.'

With that in mind, IF looked around, her eyes narrowing as she searched for the thing she wanted. She walked though the corridors of the Basilicom with a purpose. There was no sign of the uncertainty that had laced her footsteps before, as if it had never existed. That talk with Vert had strengthened her resolve, which had bee initially shaken by thee dark seductiveness of Yvoire's offer, as well as done something else:

Made her realise just WHY she supported Lady Vert in the first place.

In the past, IF never did get along with many people. She would admit to herself, though not to anyone else, that she had a distrust for practically anyone she met, always judging, always wary of others. This was how her father raised her, teaching her the ways of the Mercenary before he passed on. While she did miss her father, wishing they could have spent more time together as a family, what he had passed down to her was just as important: his teachings, his ideals and most of all… his Legacy.

When she first found out and met her mother, IF had been… less than pleased about it. Her mother had practically declared she didn't want anything to do with her, seeing her as nothing but a stain on her career as a fashion designer. IF hadn't felt anything like pain or hopelessness back then, rather a sense of disappointment, that someone who helped give birth to her was so vain, and so… well, stupid.

It was rather easy to cut her mother out of her life after that.

However, the following years after that were… in a word, lonely. She didn't talk to anyone, she didn't have many friends, mostly business contacts, and the few friends she DID make were either always busy with their own lives or not in the same vicinity as her, considering how she travelled from place to place throughout Planeptune.

But, that all changed when she encountered Leanbox's CPU for the first time. This happened nothing like face-to-face, but online. One day after a particularly harsh Quest, IF had been so exhausted that when she reached her temporary hotel room, she had practically flopped onto the bed, burying herself within those covers and gone onto the net. She had surfed it randomly for a while, at least a couple hours from what she could recall, and then she found an online forum.

It was a forum advertising this Leanbox MMO: Four Goddesses Online. IF hadn't played many games in the past, especially MMOs which required a PC or a Laptop, both of which IF had found impractical at the time. Now though, she wished she had done so, seeing as how some people in her party got close to the Leanbox CPU that way. Back then though, she ad only browsed through the comments, not really understanding anything about what was being discussed. She had been about to leave the site when a new message popped up, a message from Lady Vert herself.

At first, IF had doubts that it was really the CPU, since she was supposed to be fighting atop Celestia. She hadn't been seen down in the human world for centuries, so her suddenly participating in a forum like this didn't make sense. Nonetheless, IF decided to read the message, certain that it would be useless like the rest of them…

She couldn't have been any more wrong.

"True, Four Goddesses Online may be a gaming masterpiece, but that doesn't mean it can't get better! It's the same as making oneself better while being true to ourselves. This is according to the beliefs that Leanbox stands for: striving to become better yet not losing yourself to progress. It does not matter where you from, who you are or what you work as. As long as you help each other, take care of one another, and above all respect your comrades, Leanbox will be a home for you. A place to fall back to when times get rough, a place of rest and peace. After all, it is the land of Green Pastures, is it not?"

Hearing those words, made something indescribable swell within IF's chest, and suddenly she knew what she was missing. She knew what she wanted more than anything, more than being the best Guild Agent out there. All she ever wanted was to not be lonely anymore, sure she didn't mind working alone, but there was just something about knowing that she would have a place to return to forever more. She wanted to have things like her father in her life, what was denied her like the peace, stability and love a mother would bring. Those things, all of them, were right there in Leanbox, the things that she wanted most.

After reading that message, hope filled her being and IF did research, looking into Leanbox and its customs. She had used that message as a basis, and while she did find a few differences, IF found that the things the supposed 'CPU' described weren't different from Leanbox's ideals at all. It was like a doorway had opened up before her, and did IF dare to venture inside?

Hell to the yes.

Thus, she became a believer of Lady Green Heart. Leanbox promoted trust and loyalty to each other, no matter what. They promoted bonds of comradery, alliances and fairness. While there were many controversies on the internet that contested against it, these core values were what Leanbox was founded on, and she liked those beliefs. It filled the loneliness, it filled the hole in her heart, that her father's passing had left inside.

Remembering how she became a Leanbox CPU Supporter made IF realise that she had almost sacrificed one of her comrades for her own gain, something that went against Leanbox's core values. It quickly sent a torrent of disgust through her system, evident by her grimace as she searched for what she wanted. How could she call herself a believer of Lady Green Heart if she didn't follow the beliefs that she preached?

Finally, the brunette turned a corner and saw the Basilicom's entrance. Beside it was what she wanted this whole time: a trash bin. The perfect place for these pieces of shit to settle into. She would discard those vials and make sure that they would never get anywhere near Neptune or Nico, for that was what a comrade, no a friend would do. She would adhere to Leanbox's core beliefs, regardless of controversy and delusion made by humans.

She would be a TRUE believer of Lady Green Heart.

'Maybe I should look into this a little more, if I have time.' She thought, walking up to the trash bin and opening the lid. She then plopped the vials inside, hearing the satisfying sound of the vials impacting against the bag within the bin. Dropping the lid on top, the brunette grinned to herself, feeling like a massive weight had left her shoulders as she dusted her hands off.

"Alright! Now, to go see the others…" IF pumped a fist to herself, relief coursing through her veins. Now that problem was taken care of, it was time to head back to the others. She had gotten a Text from Compa, telling her that they had done some sightseeing and were now back at the Hotel, as well as got the directions to it from the Basilicom. 'It's a good thing I already know the hotels around here,' the brunette thought to herself. 'Being a Worshiper of this Nation's CPU, I did extensive research on the hotels here. Hotels offer discounts for adventurers, Guild Agents and Spec Ops. Its why they're so popular with em, it wouldn't be surprising if one saw fully armored, and armed, people entering and exiting these places.'

As she walked out of the Basilicom, head held high, IF failed to notice a shadowy figure heading towards the bin.

* * *

"So… that is her choice, then?"

Yvoire asked this of a man in a black and green uniform, a bandanna around the lower portion of his face like a cowboy, and a ninja balaclava around his head. This maximized coverage of the person's identity, making the Ninja an unknown. Yvoire's tone was thickly-laced with disappointment and slight frustration with the news that the Ninja brought.

Not only had IF refused to go along with his plans, she had discarded the precious vials of poison needed to get rid of the heretics. In a dust bin no less, a DUST BIN! If he was 30 years younger, he would have hunted her down and had her executed on the spot for her disrespect. To make things even more insulting, the Ninja had reported seeing IF entering and exiting the CPU's living quarters before her heretical act. That could only mean one thing: she had had contact with their CPU.

When he had heard that piece of news, Yvoire had almost foamed at the mouth with how furious and frustrated he was with the situation. Now, he couldn't risk outright killing IF in secret, she could have formed a bond with their beloved CPU. If she were to learn of her death at his hands, then her wrath would be merciless. If she hadn't met their CPU, it would have been much easier.

She had literally formed a divine shield without even realising it.

"Yes sir. Um, shall I go… 'take care' of her?"

The Ninja's words brought the Elder out of his musings and made him direct his attention back to him. The Ninja was still kneeling before him, his head hanging low in a gesture of reverence and respect. Seeing this, Yvoire forced his temper to still, his mind to calm the raging fires within. It would do no good to blow up like this, even with nobody seeing. Yvoire may be powerful politically, but he was not foolish. Even a pebble like this Ninja can hurt if it hit hard enough.

Thinking about his answer though, Yvoire came to a conclusion several moments later on a plan of action, and it was NOT what the Ninja expected. "… No."

"Sir?"

Yvoire, seeing that the Ninja looked like someone had pulled a confusing win from a puzzle game, decided to elaborate. While the Ninja wasn't anyone significant, it was that insignificance that made Yvoire feel it easy to explain it to him. Plus, he earned it after going bin diving before. "That woman… I believe something is off about her. From the moment I first laid eyes upon her, there has been… something about her. To this day, I have no clue what that is."

He remembered when he first met those girls, and that detestable brat known as Nico. That Heretic who dare chose not to place his belief in any of the divine Goddesses. From the moment he saw them, Yvoire was plagued with a strange feeling, a feeling of helplessness. It was like he was staring his own death in the face with both of them, while Nico was understandable considering his and Yvoire's status, the fact that he got it from IF as well made him feel chills go up his spine.

It had felt like he was staring at two rabid, hungry animals and his flesh was on the menu.

Unfortunately for him, the only other occupant in the room took it in a… slightly different manner, one that was WAY to inappropriate. The Ninja just stared at him, and with his attire covering his mouth and the majority of his face, it was difficult to determine his expression. Though, judging from his next response, it was clear what he felt about his words. All too clear, actually. "… Sir, that almost sounds like something else."

Yvoire stared at him blankly, coming down from his high horse to give him that stare. Blinking for a moment, Yvoire tried to process his words.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Finally, his brain kicked into gear and the man made an expression that clearly showed how offended he was, while also stepping back as his face contorted to one of disgust. "Enough. Do not think such scandalous thoughts. I have my family and honor to consider."

The Ninja remained silent, hanging his head back down as a silence overcame the room. It was an awkward, tense silence, which was so tense that it could have been cut by a butcher knife. For a while, neither of them dared to speak up to end this tension, which made the next 10 minutes feel more like 10 hours.

Eventually, Yvoire decided to change the topic back to the one that they should be talking about. He awkwardly cleared his throat with a fake cough, his features sporting a mild pink hue born from embarrassment and humiliation from the way that topic was brought up. Not to mention it was his own fault that it was seen that way to begin with. "In any case, we never spoke of this, and never will. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

* * *

Things were quiet in the hotel room, the hotel room that Neptune and co. had rented for the duration of their stay here. That wasn't something normal, since Neptune would be going all meta jokester with Compa being an unknowing participant for her antics. Unfortunately, it was only the two of them in the room, there being no sign of Nico or IF for a long time.

It was honestly quite lonely, and the preteen quickly began to whine to the room's sole other occupant. "Iffy and Nicky sure are late." Neptune remarked, pacing from one end of the room to the other with her hands tied behind her back and her head dipped downwards. It looked quite clear that she held great worry over her shoulders like a heavy weighted cloak.

Her worry and concern, mostly for Nico for obvious reasons, was shared by the resident Nurse-In-Training as she watched the preteen. "Maybe they just had to go somewhere." Compa suggested thoughtfully.

Both Nico and IF could handle themselves, one for obvious reasons while the other had been raised as a Mercenary since childhood. Still though, it didn't prevent the two girls from worrying about them like a pair of worried and concerned mothers looking for their lost children.

Then, an idea popped into Neptune's noggin, as if to say, 'hey Nep, how about this?' before she turned to the Nurse-In-Training with a mischievous grin spreading across her features. The moment Compa saw that smirk, she knew the preteen would be doing one of her random antics. "Or MAYBE… Iffy went to see Lady Green Heart in secret…" she said, her tone laced with suggestiveness as she wiggled her brows in a thought provoking manner.

A manner that Compa found very difficult to agree with. In fact, she didn't agree with her at all considering the perplexed expression that swept across her features. She also had a weak smile as she awkwardly denounced the purplette's claim. "Nep-Nep, Iffy's a fan of Lady Green Heart, but I don't think she would do that…"

Neptune huffed, not looking pacified in the slightest. While they had covered what one person had to do, the other was still unaccounted for. This was something she brought up "What about Nicky, where do you think Nicky is?" she questioned, prompting Compa to think hard about it. Neptune hummed as well, until her eyes widened, and a thought struck her. "Oh no, you don't think that he's been kidnapped by the CPU, do you?! To bring him into her room, force him down and make him submit to her?!"

Now Compa believed that even less. "Nep-Nep, Ni-Ni wouldn't let that happen. Ni-Ni is strong you know, he can get out of a pinch." She replied, frowning at her friend/ love rival. In her mind, Nico was someone who wouldn't let anybody order him around, someone who always maintained a cool, nonchalant demeanour. He wouldn't let some woman he didn't know seduce him like that. Though, part of her argued that Nico was quite susceptible to Neptune's charms in her HDD form, not to mention how he already charmed so many girls without even trying. Whose to say the CPU of Leanbox wouldn't be included.

When it came to her Ni-Ni, Compa ALWAYS thought about everything.

It was at this moment, that the two girls heard the sounds of a door being opened from the outside. They turned to the door, seeing its handle moving downwards before it opened, revealing it to be IF. "I'm back!" she called out as she walked inside, closing the door behind her.

"Welcome back, Iffy!" Compa exclaimed. She jogged over to the Guild Agent and, much to her surprise, gave h brunette a massive hug. "Its sooo good to see you!"

"C-Compa… c-c-can't… br…eathe…!"

The brunette tried to say, however the two funbags constricting her air supply had other ideas. In the back of her mind on the other hand, IF couldn't help but wonder if Vert's breasts felt as warm as Compa's until the rest of her mind crushed those thoughts to oblivion with zero mercy. 'Wait, what?! Whoa, down girl! Don't go too far down forbidden territory!' she yelled deep within her min at her own thoughts. She could faintly hear her inner fangirl laughing her ass off. 'No matter what your inner fangirl tells you!'

Meanwhile, unaware of mental thoughts, Neptune huffed, putting her hands on her hips while looking towards her friend, pretending to look annoyed. "You kept us waiting!" she exclaimed, pointing to a clock on a nearby wall. It read 9PM, and according to their mental clocks they had left the Basilicom at 4PM. That was a grand total of 5 hours, MORE than enough time for IF to finish her business there and come back. Both though it strange that the normally composed and organised Guild Agent would be so tardy, and it was evident in their expressions.

Seeing this, the brunette managed to get herself free from Compa's grip, taking a few steps back and clearing her head. Nevertheless, she couldn't get mad at the Nurse-In-Training, not when she had been the one to worry about her like that. Her expression turned to an apologetic one as she waved her hands in a submissive gesture. "I'm sorry." She replied guiltily. "Mr Evil-whatshisname talked my ears off." IF grimaced, and while the girls thought it was about her reason for being tardy, the brunette also felt a stab of guilt for not telling them the truth. She didn't want to worry them needlessly, plus she had a few things to confirm with Nico first before attempting anything.

Her eyes widened when she remembered the male Spec Ops Agent. "Oh, if you're wondering where Nico is, he texted me while I was coming back." She told them, taking out her newest phone before scrolling through her recent messages. She soon found the one she was looking for and read its contents again, before looking back up at them. "He says that an Urgent Quest was issued by Leanbox's Basilicom, and as a Spec Ops he was obligated to attend. We won't be seeing him for a while."

"Mou…! Ever since he got his Armour and stuff back, Nicky's been real busy with Quests and stuff…" Neptune whined, puffing her cheeks out in an annoyed manner. It was true though, ever since Nico had gotten his Armour back, he had been swamped with Quests to do for the Guild. It was like there was a backlog with his name written over it. Though, if she thought about it, it did make some sort of sense. She then jumped and flopped onto the closest bean bag, which happened to be right beside her, and resumed her previous activity of playing games.

All IF did in response was roll her eyes, especially when she noted how Neptune made harder button presses on the controller. She may not show it, but she did indeed seem worried for her 'Hubby'. She knew it wasn't needed, but hey, it was natural to fret for a friend's safety. 'Well, let's just focus on one thing at a time, first. Though, I bet Nico's having fun right now…'


	66. Chapter 63 - Urgent Quest

**Holy... shit.**

 **It was morning when I checked the views, and what did I see? Over 20,000 views!**

 **#INSERT SPITTING OUT COFFEE#**

 **Wow, this fanfics sure is escalating steadily. People are really looking at the chapters with special events in them, too, it seems. Hopefully, that means that people like those events.**

 **In other news, the main story will be taking a break for a few chapters, I want to showcase a special Mini Arc i've been eagerly anticipating for a while now. In the games, I was always a bit disappointed with the lack of real threat that the Overlord faction had posed in the Leanbox Arc. They were just mentioned and explained what they were doing, but that's pretty much it. They didn't get proper depth in their development, which to me feels like a letdown.**

 **This Mini arc aims to rectify that.**

 **anyhow** **, let's get this chapter started.**

* * *

 **Chapter 63 - Urgent Quest**

The late afternoons in Leanbox were mildly chilly, with low breezes sweeping through the streets, forcing people to put up hoods if they had any, or to shiver from their cold grasp. Nico himself, however, didn't need to do this as he walked to the Guild, clad in his DEATHSTROKE Armour. His metallic boots made loud stomping sounds as the male trudged along the dust-covered ground, heading towards the Guild Building.

'It's been a while since I was last at Leanbox. I think the last time was about a year ago, when me and some other Agents were told to kill that pack of Kyuubi that were amassing close to one of their oil mines.' Nico thought to himself, losing himself in his memories as he made his way to his destination. The Kyuubi was, as stated, a nine-tailed fox Abnormal that had powers that gave it an edge on the battlefield. It discharged energy attacks like they were high level Skills, while also sporting extreme agility, speed and reflexes. It was a bitch to put down, took him and the team he was with over 3 days to finish it off.

 **'** **These 'Urgent Quests' you call these emergency summons seems most inconvenient…'**

Nico rolled his sole eye behind his helmet, so only he and Biko were aware that he did it. Shortly after he had left Vert's room, although he had been mentally singing the opera for the fortunate luck, he had received notification from Planeptune's Basilicom, telling him that Leanbox was requesting him for an Urgent Quest that cannot be overlooked. He was to report to the Leanbox Guild Building as soon as he possibly could, with the hidden order to drop whatever the fuck he was doing in that Nation anyways.

Urgent Quests were special Quests, Quests that only high-level Guild Agents and Spec Ops could undertake. However, what made them different from other Quests was that the Basilicom themselves chose who was to undertake the Quest, not the other way around. This was usually because these Urgent Quests were too dangerous for lower ranked Guild Agents and adventurers to handle, and if they went then there would likely be a bloodbath. As for the Spec Ops, they were so few thanks to Leanbox's laws on their recruitment, so they were chosen sparingly by the old codgers in the Basilicom staffing. One of their most prominent members was 'Yvoire' a name that made Nico's blood boil just thinking about.

'That may be so, but they still have to be completed. If you are selected for the summons, then whatever you have been doing, or currently still are, is rendered irrelevant. This Urgent Quest takes priority over everything else. Usually they're worth our while, and the rewards are 10X greater than those of normal quests, even the Spec Ops ones.' Nico countered, silencing his demonic personification.

After about 30 minutes walking, the male finally arrived at the Leanbox Guild Building, and it looked like the ones in Planeptune and Lastation, only following the themes and colours of the land of Green Pastures. Outside, one can tell that there was a LOT of activity going on inside, especially if those outside observers had enhanced senses like Nico did. 'Looks like this Quest may end up being more interesting than we thought earlier, eh Biko?'

 **'** **I still stand by my earlier statement; However, I do admit that this amount of activity is intriguing me. '** Biko replied, making the battle-hardened war veteran smirk as he approached the building's doors and pushed them open.

When he entered, closing the doors behind him, Nico saw that the activity he sensed paled in comparison to what was inside. All over the place, he could see Guild staff members scrambling about like headless chickens, some carrying large stacks of papers, others carrying files. He even noticed one trip and fall onto the ground, only to bite back the urge to cry out as he scrambled his things back together and hurried on to do his duties.

Nico mentally thanked his foresight to don his armour before coming here, as not only did it make him look more like a Spec Ops, but it also drowned out the noises somewhat, something his ears appreciated. 'Sometimes, having enhanced senses sucks balls...' The male thought to himself, getting an agreeing hum from his demonic personification.

"Wow, wonder what got everyone's knickers in a bunch…" The male muttered, slowly walking through the packed hallway as he observed the frantic actions the staff were doing right now. His mind began to go wild with calculations and theories about what this could be, until he felt a hand on the back of his shoulder.

"Would you happen to be DEATHSTROKE?"

Swiftly, Nico twirled around to face the person behind him, almost losing himself to the urge to just deploy his Plasma Claws and then gut the person who dared try to sneak up on im. Fortunately, he got a good look at the person, and the male managed to calm himself down significantly. 'Well, this is new…'

Standing before him was an adult woman, likely in her late 20's or early 30's. But what made her unique was that she didn't wear the Guild uniform like the other staff members did. Her uniform consisted of a white buttoned up formal dress shirt with short sleeves, green stripes around the rims. These stripes were dark green, while there was a lighter green for the lining.

On top of her head was a military cap of a dark green colour, with lighter green outlines ad the Leanbox Logo at the centre. She wore a black knee-length pencil skirt that hugged her slender, frail frame, which made her look deceptively frail. Nico wasn't fooled though, her posture indicated she had training in various combat styles, and she knew how to use them. On her feet, were a pair of black, polished and expensive-looking pointy high heels.

She seemed to be carrying a clipboard, and was looking it over while asking him the question. Nevertheless, Nico answered swiftly with a nod. "Yes, that would be me. Are you here to take me to the briefing, mrs?" he asked her.

The woman glanced up at him, momentarily raising her brow as if to ask him why he was already in his armour, although that curiosity soon became replaced by nonchalance as she scribbled something on her clipboard. "You would be correct. If you would follow me, you are the last to arrive, everyone else selected has already made their way here." She told him, turning on her heels and making her way to a door to the side. It had that 'too important to national security for mere Guild Agents and Adventurers' feel to it.

However, that was not what caught Nico's attention, but something else. Something about what she said regarding the other Agents that were specified for this Urgent Quest. 'Everyone's already here? I wasn't aware there was a time limit, I was sure to present myself early, too. Whoever's here is as punctual as myself, who usually makes it to these Quests an hour before the rest.' He thought to himself. Whoever this was, they must be significantly skilled in the field. Not only that, but they must have a strong sense of drive to be here before the allotted time frame. Usually Spec Ops Agents arrive right when they're needed, so to see some arrive before then was an uncommon sight.

Though, he soon stopped thinking about it in favour of following the woman to where the Briefing room would be. In his mind, he figured he would be finding out who was here early soon enough, and for now that was enough for him.

* * *

After a short silence while walking, the two reached a large briefing room, where there was a pedestal, a large white board with a holographic projector, and 10 rows of chairs lined up perfectly at the back of the room. Nico didn't look surprised at this setup though, just kept a level expression.

Even though Leanbox may not be up to date with Technology like the futuristic Planeptune, the Spec Ops Branches take care of their own and each other. Thus, they frequently shared technology, intelligence and sometimes their own Agents to help the Nations they were stationed in solve problems.

When in a world so religiously devotee as this one, they had to lean on each other.

Casting his gaze over the room, he saw that the room had about 6 occupants, 2 of which were people he didn't recognise. One of those two though, was someone he had heard about from hearsay and rumours. He had been meaning to track this one down for a while now, for reasons that were to do with the rumours surrounding him and his comrades.

The other he didn't recognise was a young man of 26 to 28 years of age. His facial features were hidden beneath a full-body suit of armour, much like Nico's own, save for the fact that nothing about his appearance was visible like Nico's eye. The armour's helmet had several V shaped visors across the centre of the face, the bridge of the nose, and the space below the forehead. Each visor glowed with a dim white light.

As for the rest of the armour, it had a black under suit with grey armour plating on the chest, right shoulder, waist, left bicep, right forearm and legs. His feet had matching armoured boots. On the back of the spine, Nico could tell that there was some sort of thermometer, or gauge-like device built into the suit.

'Wait… isn't that a RIG? Looks like an Engineer's RIG, now that I get a look at it.' the male wondered. RIGs, or Resource Integration Gear, are integrated health management and strength augmentation system that assists users in previously impossible and dangerous environments.

All RIGs share several basic features. A spine-mounted display serves to indicate the user's general state of health as a glowing segmented bar which depletes as the user takes damage. When the user dies, it emits a "flat-line" sound, which was loud enough to alert others within earshot of the RIG wearer's demise. Holographic projectors mounted on the wrists can create a two-dimensional display in front of the user, to display whatever they might need to see. The size of the display can vary depending upon the data it is accessing.

It can also project a coloured line to guide the user to a destination, be it a location or a service like a store or workbench. It is capable of two-way audio and visual communication. RIG users can be individually tracked if need-be, even if dead.

Finally, RIGs can be used as a form of biometric lock, only allowing specific RIG users access to designated areas, though such scanners fail to take into account whether the user is living or dead.

RIGs were a subspecies of armour developed by Leanbox engineers. While technologically inferior to Planeptune, Leanbox didn't neglect the technological aspect of living, and RIGs were a great example of that. Probably one of the smarter decisions that humanity had made in Nico's opinion. They had been originally designed for civilian use, if what he remembered was accurate, until officials saw potential in them for other areas of expertise.

As such, they come in various states depending on the user. Civilian RIGs were typically little more than the spinal display and wrist projectors attached to basic clothing. Engineers and other service personnel wore similar garb, but often possessed additional Kinesis and Stasis modules to aid in their profession, the latter with the requisite monitor mounted to the right of the spinal display.

For more dangerous work, RIGs are installed in full-body suits. These suits, in addition to the RIG's basic functions, have features such as an internal oxygen supply for work in a vacuum, gravity boots, and thrusters for zero-gravity movement, since some areas indeed had that kind of gravity thanks to certain Abnormals, and Armor to protect against damage from various sources.

It seemed this man had a RIG meant for Engineers, but also weaponised, making him more of a combat engineer than a normal one. Nico, noticing all this, could tell that this man had personalised his RIG with multiple different modules, allowing for different abilities to be used in different situations.

"Yo, earth to Nico! Yo, Nico!"

The said male's eyes widened when he heard a familiar boisterous, upbeat and jovial voice. It could only belong to one other person, and that person wasn't someone he would have expected to see in this Nation. Just as he thought that, an arm was draped over his shoulder as a masculine weight fell onto him. "Ignoring us, are we? We've been trying to get your attention for the last 5 minutes, you know." The voice said, a teasing undertone beneath it. "You know the missuses aren't going to appreciate that."

"… CYBORG."

Nico looked towards the owner of the arm and weight, to see the familiar gaze of one Ivan, codename CYBORG from Team RAIL. He looked the same as when they fought together in Lastation, and when the teen looked from him he spotted the rest of Team RAIL sitting together at the back row, clumped together.

Raven sat with one foot on her thigh, the foot's leg leaning sideways. Her Odachi was leaning on the chair to her right, and her face had been concealed by her white Mask. She had her arms crossed under her chest, and thanks to her Mask it was impossible to tell what expression she had on. However, one clue as to this would be how she was looking at Nico right now, and her demeanour suggested a calm, collected posture. Odds were, she was happy to see him, but suppressed it to feel professional.

Lucy however, didn't have that professional demeanour at all. She sat with a ladylike demeanour, or rather, a ladylike succubus demeanour as she crossed one leg over the other, glancing at him with a suggestive, borderline seductive, smirk on her face. She was giving him that look, the look that a woman who was determined to rock your world when she gets the chance. Not if, when.

He wasn't sure whether to yell 'stranger danger' or 'I need an adult'.

 **'…** **I do not understand, I thought we were not considered adults until we reach 20.'**

'Guh, don't make it weird, Biko.'

Those confusing moments aside, Nico tried to locate Aiden. His eyes cast their gaze across the briefing room, but he saw no sign of him. 'Strange, Aiden isn't usually late to these meetings, so where could he…?' The male wondered, before he senses a presence… behind him. 'Oh, that's where.'

"FALCON. Been a while."

"… Indeed. Lastation."

Nico nodded, turning on his heel to face the stoic male, levelling him his own stoic stare as the two regarded each other. The two stared in silence for what felt like forever, until the two nodded in union before reaching out and shaking each other's hands.

Ivan, Lucy and Raven, behind her mask anyways, collectively sweat dropped.

"You four were called here, also?" Nico questioned, getting a nod from the other male while Ivan sighed as he crossed his arms under his chest. If it was them, he could understand why they were here before he was. These Agents were not like the others, in fact, some might consider these four to be misfits, in their own ways. Raven with her hate for men, Lucy with her lust for men or women alike before he claimed her attention, Ivan for his bright spirit and Aiden for his stoic personality. They weren't your typical agent, and to add to that...

None of them were exactly 'normal' humans either.

From the corner of his eyes, the teenage DPU noticed that the girls had stood from their seats to make their way over to them. That military uniform wearing lady stood at the pendulum, but it didn't look like she was about to start the briefing just yet. It looked more like she was meant to stay here to keep an eye on the Agents, or to prep the presentation for the briefing before someone else arrived to take her place. On a side note, Nico noticed miniscule glances to her right skirt pocket, and when he glanced there himself he saw that there was a faint light emitting from it. A Phone perhaps? Nevertheless, they had some time to kill before the briefing began.

Thus, they could afford a conversation for a bit. After all, it would likely be the last one they would have before the real shit storm hits.

"You bet, we were called just when we were turning in a difficult quest." Ivan replied, rubbing the back of his head in annoyance. "It was a real drag, lemme tell ya. We were hoping for some RnR for our troubles, but sadly the work of a Spec Ops is never done. We need to be ready constantly for emergencies, and judging by our summons, this one seems like such." he explained, his smile wide yet his eyes showing a devote seriousness only shown when situations like this were to occur.

Nodding at that, Lucy became the next person to speak. "You said it, Ivy." She mused, before continuing with the back of her right hand on her hip. "I was looking forward to some beauty time so I could woo Nicky-Dear when I saw him next." Once again, the redhead aimed a seductive grin towards Nico, making him shudder in embarrassment. That smirk also reminded him of the smirk Neptune wore in HDD form when she had him pinned and made to have her way with him. "Then the mission comes in, sounds all important, and we're paradropped over Leanbox territory. What a let-down." She whined in disappointment, although this was brief as she soon returned to her usual mischievous, teasing self. "Though seeing that you're here, makes this a little less unbearable."

"Ehehehehehe…" Nico could only laugh nervously behind his Helmet. He couldn't help but thank his fortune that his Armour hid his face mostly, so his embarrassed blush remained hidden. No need for this she-devil to get any ideas.

Thankfully, intervention came in time in the form of their leader, who walked up to them after standing up from her seat. "In any case, it looks like we have all gathered together. The Briefing will not start for another 10 minutes, so I suggest we all take our posts." She suggested, the group nodding in acceptance.

They moved back to their seats, Nico being about to follow them since he wanted to catch up with them, however a tap on the shoulder stopped him. Pausing mid stride and suppressing his instinctual need to rip out the offender's arm, the male turned to see one of the Agents he didn't recognise.

It was the one in the back armour that looked suspiciously like the armour a demon would wear. "You DEATHSTROKE?" he asked in a gruff, terse manner, eyeing him over. Oddly enough, it resembled a panther sizing up its fellow species for any threats to its territory. There was a slight tensity that was noticeable from the way his armour clinked in certain places. Nico got the feeling he was sizing him up, gauging his fighting potential, to see if he was worth working with on this mission. That was something that he could appreciate, since Nico had been doing the same to him.

His instincts told him that this man was aware of this as well, as the two locked gazes for the briefest moments. That was probably the most intense moment of their entire meeting.

Facing him fully, Nico made sure to ready his Plasma Claws in case he needed to deploy them. That massive sword the man carried looked like it could slice a full-grown man in two with just so much as a light tap. "That would be me. I assume you want something from me? You didn't seem like the type to actively engage in social conventions." He responded keeping his gaze stern but his body loose.

The man before him didn't show any signs of attacking, but if the faint flicker of movement in his eyes was anything to go by, he had noticed his preparations. This man was a warrior, that was something Nico sensed from the moment he saw him. "My name is Guts, I assume you travel with a group of… colourful females?" At Nico's tense nod, the man continued. "That Saizou tried to make another move on them. I intervened."

'That freaking fucker, just how does he think me not being there make those girls easy targets?!' Nico thought in anger, barely repressing the urge to slice something with his Plasma Claws. He couldn't wait till the time would come when he would be able to take a crack at him. Something in his gut told him that time would come sooner than he'd think, and he was more than eager for it to come sooner. However, what the man said at the end was something that caught his attention, nullifying his anger. "You did? Then I must show my gratitude, Guts." The male bobbed his head as a terse bow of gratitude.

"I was only doing my job. Nothing more, nothing less. Saizou was being a hindrance, thus I dealt with him." Guts replied blankly, getting an understanding nod from the teenage Spec Ops. The man then turned on his armoured boots and made his way back to his seat, plopping down on it. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly falling asleep.

'That was… a short conversation.' The teen thought to himself, frowning in confusion at the… weirdness that just happened. 'Looks like my initial assumption was correct, that man doesn't seem like the type for conversation…'

Just before he could do anything more, Nico saw the other guy in armour walk up to him, shaking his head in light hearted amusement. "Hey, guess ol' guts was talking to you just now? Don't worry about him, he's not the one to engage in conversation." He said, before holding a hand out for a handshake. "Call me ISHIMURA, on missions anyways, but like this call me Isaac Clarke." He introduced himself.

This looked more like a normal way to start a conversation, and since he seemed pleasant enough despite being fully suited-up, Nico didn't mind responding appropriately. "Nico, codename DEATHSTROKE. Nice to make your acquaintance, and like I said previously, I suspected he was more of a lone wolf type." He answered, shaking the man's hand.

"Yeah, he's a good guy once you get to know him, but he doesn't like weaklings. The fact that he was talking to you at all means he knows you're not one of the rabble that infests the Spec Ops Program." Isaac replied, before he gestured to the man sitting away from them, feigning sleep. "Oh yeah, and he may be all workaholic, but he does care. He didn't show it, but he had been worried when he saw Saizou trying to take those girls." If his helmet wasn't up, Nico would have seen Isaac's eyes harden into a steely gaze. "Bastard, Saizou takes our name and smears it all over the ground."

On that, they could both agree, Nico showed this by nodding his head as the two broke the handshake. "Even so, his family is highly influential, and they have large stocks in the Guild itself. If they were to pull out, things would only get worse for us." He stated, though despite the blank tone he was using, his eyes showed clearly the distaste he had for the situation.

"Yeah, true shit that, dude."

Nico then decided to move the topic onto something else. "I'm curious, how well do you and Guts know each other? For you to isolate and break down his façade so quickly leads me to assume you two have a long history."

Isaac looked like he had been taken aback by the question for a brief second, before he regained his composure right afterwards. "Oh, that? Well, me and Guts go a way's true enough. We both joined the Spec Ops community around the same time, and we were just luckily assigned a lot of missions together. We talked, bonded over drinks, and ever since we've been good friends. No tragic backstory to us here." He explained, and if he hadn't known any better, Nico could have sworn he'd saw Guts barely nodding his head in agreement with the man.

"I see… a soldier with a medieval knight theme going on, and a man with an Engineering RIG… an interesting combination." The teenage Spec Ops admitted thoughtfully, getting a chuckle out of the older man.

Said man elaborated on the unasked question after calming down his chuckles. "Heh, you got it there, man. Yeah, I may be a Spec Ops, but my primary specialisation is engineering. Its something I do alongside my Spec Ops work to get the cash flowing to my wife and kid." At the end, he pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to him. Nico saw that it was actually a locket, one that opened up to reveal that it was holding a picture of a middle-aged woman and a small toddler.

Honestly, it made him feel a tinge of joy at seeing their happiness… as well as a tinge of envy. "You been married long?"

"Yep." Isaac replied as he put the locket away. "Been married for 5 years now. Her name's Nicolle Brennan, and she's a Senior Medical Officer in 'life space' hospital." The pure warmth and affection in his tone, showed Nico just how much Isaac loved his wife, and it also confirmed something else for the male.

Every Spec Ops had a reason for not believing in any Goddess, not having faith in anything religious for that matter. Some believe in only their own ideals, others fight just because its what they know. He was one of the latter few himself, though if Nico was honest he would also admit that he didn't want these dangers to impact his childhood friend's peaceful life. There were also those, like Mr Clarke here, that fought for their families, to return to them with a load of cash and the knowledge that the world had been made a little safer for them.

Looked like Isaac Clarke was a family man, true and true.

Before they could continue the conversation, Nico felt someone wrap their arms around him from behind. "Aw, come on, Nicky-dear! Stop wasting time and focus on your missus for once, please?" a whiny voice purred from behind, and just by the nickname alone the male managed to ascertain who it was.

A sigh came from the boy as he regarded Lucy, who was the one behind him with a slight smirk. "Girl, you are not my missus. Stop making assumptions and giving people the wring impression." He stated blankly, or rather, as blankly as he could. Having seen Neptune in her Purple Heart form, and naked at that, had given Nico a…. shift in perspective when it came to contact with the female body. A perspective Lucy seemed to have noticed judging by the way she was rubbing herself on him right now, much to his embarrassment.

"Hoho!" The boy soon knew that he didn't like that laugh, not one bit, as he looked back to Isaac who, while he was unable to see his face directly, seemed like he was amused at something. "So, you already got a lady too, huh kid? Honestly you didn't seem like the type, you sly dog you." He said teasingly, and if his helmet was off, Nico would have seen the grin that spread across his lips.

A frustrated groan escaped his lips as he looked behind him at the other members of Team RAIL, silently asking them for help. Unfortunately, it seemed tat they were preoccupied with something, Aiden and Ian were talking about what the mission could be, while Raven was sharpening her sword… although judging by her aura, he guessed she as merely keeping an eye on her second in command in case she went too far.

In the end, he decided to deal with this situation himself. Turning his head back to face him, Nico spoke with as much a level tone as he could in this situation. "She is not my missus, she is merely someone I work with. We have known each other for some time now." he tried to explain, but the way that Lucy was rubbing herself on him, teasing him, made it rather difficult to do so.

It didn't help that, deep down, that he thought she was unmistakably beautiful. Hell, he felt that way about Raven, too, plus the girls in Neptune's party as well as Neptune herself. Each girl had their own sense of beauty, Compa had an innocent type of beauty, similar to Neptune. Though, Compa's was more of a pure sort, than Neptune's childish innocence. IF had this tomboyish charm to her, with an undertone of feminine beauty that seemed more… IF-like, if that was even a thing.

Neptune, as previously stated, had a childish innocence about her that he really liked. It drew him in and gave him the desire to make sure she was smiling just as much as he did Compa. She also had the advantage of looking adorable when she did certain actions, like rubbing her face after dinner or pouting with puffy cheeks. And then, when she wants to do something intimate, she goes Purple Heart and BOY does that form make men go hot under the collar. There have been times when she uses that form to tease him, and by goddesses does it work wonders. One could say that she had the best of both worlds when it came to beauty.

For Noire, he found that she had this nobility aura around her… with the caring for her people that came with it. She had this class about her in style, something she had in spades and pulled it off well. She did come across as rude and arrogant sometimes, especially when she was being a tsundere, but oddly enough that was part of her charm. But, the best thing about her was that she was unlike what he had expected the Goddesses to be like. She didn't look down on the Spec Ops Program, humanity's solution to problems caused during their absence. He had expected her to try and dissolve it as soon as she returned, but that wasn't the case.

Raven and Lucy each had their own beauty as well. The former had this warrior spirit that Nico admired about her. She didn't let anyone give her shit, and had this presence about her that told those who would otherwise be vague and intentionally set them up to tell the truth lest they lose something important to them… like a certain body part. It didn't help that her thoroughly trained warrior had an appeal that made even hardened veterans experience difficulty in focusing on her in a fight. It was something she used to keep them off their toes and to get good strikes in. He couldn't count how many times men have fallen for that ploy and thus wind up suffering brutal injuries. Honestly, the only reason she hadn't found someone yet was because of both her warrior personality as well as her hatred for the male gender. Though, he was the exception to that rule, for reasons he would not say.

Out of respect for Raven of course.

Now Lucy, she was an interesting one. Despite looking like a teenager, he always got the impression, even before he knew her more, that she was older than she looked, as well as more experienced than she let on. She carried herself with such confidence, seduction and sensuality oozing off her in waves. It was no wonder she had a lot of men going for her, and in many cases she would end up using them for… stress relief, the times he'd heard sounds alike to moaning and pleasured gasps from her and her 'partners' when they did missions together were the most stressful times for him.

Though later on, he found that there was much more to her than meets the eye.

Still though, with that beauty and confidence, he wasn't surprised at how popular she had become with the Guild. Plus, she was no slouch on the battlefield either, people usually underestimate her due to her seduction-laced personality and sensual body movements, but beneath all that was a honed blade, ready to be unleashed at the right moment. Thus, Lucy became more of a warrior/seductress mix… a potent combination for those she had her sights on. Usually though, ever since one certain moment, that had been him and him alone. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

"Yeah, yeah, sure whatever you say." Isaac said, dismissively with a matching wave. It looked clear by his tone however, that he didn't really believe the teen's words for an instant, especially with said teen being held the way he was. "Still, a hot lady is interested in you, dude, you should ask her out already." He advised him like a sage. "Who knows, you might even get yourself some action by the end."

Her eyes brightened at the idea, both the idea of a date as well as what he really meant by 'action', making Isaac chuckle as Lucy looked down at the boy she had her arms around the neck of. "Yeah, that's an idea. Why not ask me out, hmm? I could rock your world by the time the night is over, hun." She questioned him, her tone laced with seduction. She playfully rubbed her cheek against his own like a kitten, much to Nico's embarrassment.

Thank the Goddesses that he was wearing a helmet. His face was that of a volcano about to erupt at this point.

"Y-You know that we are both too b-b-busy for that!" Nico shrieked, finally managing to pull himself out of the woman's grip. Damn girl likely was descended from succubus with those charms of hers, he swore. "We're always on assignments in different areas, plus you know Im travelling with a party right now, so that wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park!"

In the back of his mind, Nico knew, he KNEW, that this wouldn't be a good defence, but it was the best he could come up with right now. Her seductions were getting under his skin, and he didn't like it. He hoped that his words had some impact nonetheless, though. But sadly, his words didn't look like they were convincing Lucy though, just from the gaze that she had on him right now. "Oh, I'm sure we can find a way, Nicky-Dear." She cooed, placing a hand on the metal chin of his helmet to make him look into her red eyes. Honestly, they reminded him of rubies sometimes, like right now for instance. "You of all people know just how stubborn I am, when I want something, I make sure to achieve it."

 **'** **Hmmmm… Interesting.'**

When Nico heard his mental conversation partner speak up suddenly, he couldn't help but feel both joy and trepidation. Joy for basically getting him out of that situation by diverting his attention to something else, and trepidation for whatever got his attention. Nonetheless, he had to ask anyways otherwise the curiosity would kill him. 'What is it, Biko?'

 **'** **You predicted that she may be a descendant of a Succubus, correct? Well, I believe that you might not be too far from the truth.'**

'Huh?!' Nico shrieked in his mind, barely keeping his shock from appearing on his face. He didn't know how to explain to his companions that he had a talking voice in his head… well, more than one, at least. 'What do you mean by that, Biko?'

 **'** **According to these fragmented memories, there was a race of lust demons called Succubus. They were either mid to high ranked depending on their skill and power levels, but were notorious for seducing men or women into their beds to drain them of their energy. The older the succubae, the more powerful they were. In addition, they got stronger depending on how many times they've 'fed' on sexual energy. Based off her actions and mannerisms, I would not be surprised if her ancestors had been regular victims to the succubae, or had succubae blood flowing through them.'**

Well, ain't that trippy. One of his closest comrades other than the girls he was travelling with was potentially descended from a race of lust demons. The more you know.

Returning to the conversation at hand, Nico tried once again to persuade her against her conduct, this time adopting a more formal, professional approach. "VERONICA. We are at a workplace right now." he told her, gesturing to the briefing room around them. "I hardly believe that this behaviour is appropriate for it."

"True…" Lucy admitted with little to no shame whatsoever, like this detail was so minor that it wasn't even worth registering by her brain. She always did have little care for professionalism when in situations like this, she was a girl who knew what she wanted and would do what she could to get it. It was just a stroke of bad luck that it was Nico tat she had focused her efforts on. She then continued while stepping forwards, inching ever closer to his body while her hand on his chin kept him from moving away from her. "But still, the briefing hasn't started yet, so we can have some 'quality time' together to make up for the time we lost, don't you think?"

"Um-Um-I-URGH-Ummm-…"

Poor Nico's mind flat lined, unable to respond to the sultry advances made by the possible descendent of lust demons. Normally Lucy would just be off with some light teasing and flirting his way, but today she seemed to be getting extra pushy for some reason. He didn't know the reason why, but something told him it was to do with the fact that he was in a party with a bunch of girls. Though the reason for that to be the case continued to elude him.

"If you are about done trying to corrupt him, VERONICA…"

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how one looked at it, Nico was saved by the intervention of one Odachi wielding Spec Ops Agent. Said Agent now stood behind the redhead, her right hand clasped around her Odachi in a manner that basically said 'let him go or taste my blade, bitch'. Her Mask may have been on, but one could tell that she seemed pissed just from her body language alone. "You would be wise to realise that the briefing is about to begin. This is hardly the time for your flirtatious antics."

"Awwww…" Lucy pouted, looking behind her at her superior… without taking a step away from the embarrassed Spec Ops Agent. "I was just teasing Nicky, my dear." She tried to play what she had almost done off with a dismissive hand gesture, although judging by the irritation rolling off her superior in waves indicated how 'effective' this attempt was. "I was just having a bit of fun before all the serous stuff kicks in."

'Phew, she was only playing around… that's good to hear…' Nico thought to himself, not even trying to hide his sigh of relief as he regarded the two females. 'Although, part of me wishes that she could stop this, so I can focus more on regaining my lost memories.' It didn't help tat he had no clue about how to go about them, as it been obvious that the amnesia he had was not like the one that Neptune possessed.

Nevertheless, Raven stepped forwards, just inches away from flicking her sword's hilt forth, unlocking the safety switch in the process. "Do not make me repeat myself VERONICA." Raven scowled, her eyes flashing dangerously behind her Mask. "Remember what happened the last time you tried to get too far with DEATHSTROKE?"

Lucy, hearing those words and the tone that accompanied them, plus the killing intent she radiated, quickly paled to the point where her skin tone rivalled that of a ghost. She then blurred off to her seat once more, looking like she hadn't gotten up at all. The only sign she had even moved there was the faint smoke trail she'd made upon stopping. She remembered the last time that she'd pushed Raven's buttons too much, and it was not pretty.

"Attention Agents, the briefing will not begin. Please take your seats."

The loud, authoritative voice belonging to that woman in the military uniform echoed across the briefing room. A serious, intense atmosphere overtook them, making Nico and the others become a matching serious and intense. The teen group sat on the back row, looking up at the woman who stood at the top of the pendulum, a holographic white board appearing behind her. She had this no-nonsense vibe to her, something that was apparent in nearly every member of Leanbox's Military.

Behind her, the whiteboard flashed as an image of a village appeared on it. It was almost covering the entire screen at first, until it was shrunk by the system and then moved to the screen's top right corner. Several columns of text appeared below and beside it, and the woman began to speak once more. "Now, the reason you're all here, is because of the village ou see on the screen. The image you see before you is of Mojang Village. Its an establishment located south west of Leanbox Capital MICROSOFT, and is primarily a mining village. It is surrounded by caves and mines that provide us with a precious resource known as silver steel. Effective when made into weapons against monsters. It houses a population of 40,000, 60% are families from high prestige nobles."

Beside him, Nico noticed Lucy rolling her eyes at the mention of the Nobility, and honestly he couldn't blame her. Lucy never did like the way Leanbox kept its nobility in power when they were filled with fat, money-hogging pigs that didn't bother doing anything. That stereotype may be used for a lot of anime's but sadly enough its still apparent in this world. They should know, most Quests handed out in Leanbox are for those Nobles. He himself didn't like them very much either, but didn't really voice this displeasure with many people.

"As of 4 days ago, however, we lost contact with this Village. Attempts to re-establish contact on our end have been met with failure. There's some unknown Abnormal in the vicinity that emits electronic waves, which makes satellite imagery near impossible for us. Leanbox Government has so far sent One Captain Stefan Von Kessel of the Ostermark Order. A sub section of the Leanbox Army that has the most experience in repelling Abnormals that get too close to our borders. Unfortunately, he and his regiments have not returned, nor have we heard back from them. We fear the worst, and will assume that they have been KIA."

The woman lightly straightened some papers into a pile on the Pedestal, before setting them down on it as she gave them all a glance over to see if they still had their attention focused on her. They did, thus she pushed her glasses upwards with her index finger, before looking back down at the papers. Behind her, the whiteboard screen shifted, showing a map of Leanbox, detailing terrain, paths, monster sightings among other details that the Spec Ops took into consideration.

"Your mission will be as follows: To investigate this village and rescue any civilians. We need to know what happened here and if we can create countermeasures so that it doesn't happen again. The presence of the unknown Abnormal will be classified as a secondary objective, drive it away if at all possible. We've recorded C-Class Abnormal sightings, along with D class normal monster sightings. Likely, these monsters will include the following: Metal Dogoos, Boxbirds, Turtles and Land Whales. C -Class Abnormals include Viperwolves, Thanators, Scorporillas and Firefoxes. Show no mercy. Search and destroy, search and destroy. This concludes the briefing. Dismissed!"

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **There! This chapter's complete.**

 **Just so you all know, we're nearing the end of my prewritten chapters. I'm currently on the beginning of chapter 65, so by the time I upload 64, I should be onto 66.**

 **Also, regarding Team RAIL if you haven't noticed yet. I took a piece from RWBY's book in relation to making them a team. Bit late for saying this, but RIP Monty Oum. I also based these characters from Marvel superheroes like Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Raven is a teenaged version of the Raven from RWBY, but I've made it so she's more of a leader, has little tolerance for those who are considered weak, and a bit of a man hater which will be explained in future chapters.**

 **As for Lucy, she's an interesting one. I based her character design from a picture of an NPC from a MMO Game called Mabinogi. She's based off an NPC called Rua, and just by her design alone, I thought she would have that seductive, teasing personality. Thus, Lucy was born! If you want to know what Rua looks like, go to that Google Search Engine, and search "Rua Mabinnogi" to see the results.**

 **Anyways, that's all for now, folks!**

 **Oh, and here's a Special Event for you**

* * *

 **Special Event - Raven and Lucy**

Team RAIL sat in a café in Planeptune's Marketplace, having come back from a mission just 4 minutes ago. The four sat around a plastic white table with an umbrella sticking out the middle, offering them plenty of shade from the sun.

They weren't alone though, as throughout the café they had garnered some attention... some masculine attention. Well, Raven and Lucy, anyways.

"Whooooo! Look at THOSE two!"

"They're hot as hell, who the heck got the bright idea to grace us with those beauties?"

"You wanna go talk toe? Maybe they're hookers."

"What, you serious? That woman with that sword looks like she would cut me up any second, dude!"

"Maybe not her, but that other one looks like she can rock your world, if you know what I'm saying."

Male customers, some of whom even had girls near them, whispered to each other about the two female Team RAIL members. Some of them got whacked by their female partners, while those that didn't gave lecherous, perverted giggles.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!

That all changed when an EXPLOSION of killer intent was released from both of the girls. Raven had her Odachi on her lap and had just briefly flicked the blood red blade out of the sheath as she aimed a killer death glare their way. Her gaze looked so bone chilling that it could put even the legendary beast Medusa to stone, it looked like this look could literally burn holes in their heads if she allowed it. Lucy meanwhile, had a pleasant smile on her features... but there were shadows darkening her eyes while she absentmindedly fingered a Cleaver.

Now they recognised those two.

Needless to say, the two managed to silence the male population.

Once they were sure those men had been made 'aware' of the thin ice they were treading on, the two dismissed/sheathed their weapons. "Haaaah!" Lucy exclaimed, leaning back on her seat as wave after wave of exhaustion passed through her. "That last mission shouldn't have gone as bad as it did." she whined to her comrades.

Aiden nodded his head as he calmly looked down at an ipad, his ipad, which was showing him the statistics of their previous mission. He didn't look it, but if one looked closely enough one could see how he was trying to control his laboured breathing. He had also ignored the comments that those guy customers made about his colleagues, knowing what would happen if he tried to intervene. "If it weren't for that time you tried to take a selfie with yourself in that weird pose in front of the 'defeated' Abnormal, I estimate that the mission time would have been shortened by 35.534%." he stated.

Looking towards him after heaving her heavy skull into an upright position, Lucy had the look of someone who was offended. "Hey!" she shouted. "That selfie was grand, alright? I even plan on saving it as a wallpaper!" she made to bring out her Phone to show them the picture of her riding atop an Abnormal that specialised in attacking from the ground, codenamed 'Thrasher Maw' when Raven stopped her.

"Taking selfies in a mission is HARDLY appropriate conduct, VERONICA." she hissed with narrowed eyes. "I would punish you for your conduct back there, however the comeuppance you received from that monster seems to be enough for me." she remarked, her eyes softening as her shoulders lightly shook. She had her head to the side as she suppressed the urge to chuckle.

Now THAT got Lucy's blood boiling as she glared with bloody murder shining in her eyes. She slowly made to summon one of her Cleavers from her Inventory, which prompted Raven to narrow her eyes as she fingered the hilt of her Odachi. The two girls gradually radiated their KI at increasing levels, to the point where their auras were beginning to become visible. The air became thick with tension, of which the customers found it wise to make preparations to vacate the area as soon as the first blow was dealt.

Fortunately for them, that never had to happen.

"You guys, hey! No fighting in public!" Ivan exclaimed, waving a hand in the middle of the space between them. "Remember what happened that one time in Leanbox?!"

Both women grimaced when the metal arm sporting teen said that. They could remember that day clearly, one of their fights had attracted the attention of their superiors that day. They had been sent back to Planeptune to Helen for some disciplinary action.

Let's just say they NEVER wanted to piss that woman off.

"... Your words ring truth, CYBORG." Raven begrudgingly admitted, putting a hand on the base of her Odachi's hilt and sheathing it. Lucy dismissed her Cleavers back into her Inventory, and a collective sigh of relief escaped the rest of the customers.

Just before Lucy could respond, the black haired leader heard a ringing, and swiftly pulled out her IPhone. Her eyes skimmed the message that she had received, all the while the other three waited for what she would say to them. "Why does she usually have the Star Wars main theme for a ring tone whenever she gets a Text?" Lucy absentmindedly wondered to herself.

Nobody answered her, as they eyed their leader for her words. Finally, the woman slid her Phone back into her skirt pocket. She then gave them a hard look, the look that they knew meant that she was adopting her 'leader mode' as they called it. "Looks like our break will have to wait. We've been called to Leanbox for an Urgent Quest." she told them, swiftly getting up and leaving behind a pile of Credits, enough to cover their recent meals.

"Awww, really?" Lucy whined as she too stood up, putting her hands on her hips and bending backwards. She winced as she heard a few cracking sounds come from her back, before she stretched her arms up into the air. "Shucks, I was so looking forward to that break. I wanted to browse more ways to seduce Nicky-Dear."

"There will be NO corrupting DEATHSTROKE, not now or ever, you hear?"

"Awwww, don't be like that, leader. After all, its not like you don't want him for yourself, right? You've been eyeing him for just as long as I have."

"..."

Ivan and Aiden glanced at each other as the two women left, one teasing the other while hinting at a hidden truth, and the other not responding, only confirming the first one's claims as he put her White Mask on. "Will you ever understand women, FALCON?" the brown haired boy asked his bowl cut partner.

Said partner just shrugged.


	67. Chapter 64 - Complicated Feelings

**Chapter 64 - Complicated feelings**

Leanbox wasn't well known for its libraries or reading material, that was more of Lowee's schtick.

People over in Lowee read for fun and games, usually, but there were many who aspire to be professional writers. Be it for games or literature, there was always someone in Lowee with literature talent.

Though, it was rumoured that their CPU had, ironically, next to ZERO talent in writing literature, since she wrote stuff that was so bad that she had to write anonymous for her author's name in every competition she entered so people wouldn't lose faith in her. That rumour, predictably, never got a definitive answer though, by threat of a hammer or an axe some said.

As for Leanbox, Leanbox had been the home for many famous manga artists. Its lush scenery and peaceful atmospheres was the perfect place for these artists to gather their ideas and cultivate their talents. These manga artists became well known throughout Gamindustri, and kept them in the running for literature awards whenever Leanbox went into literature competitions.

Lastation and Planeptune weren't about reading and writing as much as Lowee was, they were more focused on their technological disputes and rivalries to care about fanfiction and literature. They made up for this though with their script writing and concept arts though, in order to create memorable content for their citizens to enjoy.

In essence, Lowee and Leanbox had their own form of rivalry between them, just not in technology like the other two Nations but in literature.

But if there was one thing that Leanbox could contest with Lowee on a literature front, it would be the Monster Archives section.

Now, all four Nations had monster problems, that was an undisputed fact. Monsters of all sorts populated their lands, terrorising and harassing humanity. At first, they were difficult and hard to manage, but once people began to notice… similarities between the many species, and thus began to classify them, their weaknesses had soon been discovered and exploited, driving them back to their own territory.

Then, when the Abnormals first appeared to cause trouble for the Nations, it was an imperative that they record each species that they found so future generations knew what they were dealing with. However, this was not as effective as people would have liked because Abnormals existed in so many types, shapes and sizes, that properly classifying them was al but impossible.

Each species had its own name, strengths and weaknesses that the old classification system was rendered all but insignificant for them. That was why every Nation had an Abnormal Monster Archive section in their libraries, so that people knew about these breeds, what they did, how to fight them, and where they could go to avoid them.

That was where IF was at right now.

The Archives were actually a part of the Guild stations in every Nation, as a means of promoting fair use of the knowledge there. Also, it was the Guild and Spec Ops Agents who would likely use it the most due to constantly fighting monsters on the front lines. The latter used it more than the former though, in her professional opinion. Most of the time, Guild Agents like her were advised to stay clear of them unless fighting them absolutely necessary. It was the Spec Ops, the 'suicide grunts' as some of the more fanatical of their group would call them, that battled them daily.

She could honestly understand a bit why they would call them that though…

But right now, IF wasn't thinking about that. Instead, she sat at one of the Desks surrounded by Abnormal classification books, as well as reports and files, everything she could get her hands on in relation to the Abnormal Monster species that plagued her mind ever since they had encountered them: Ghouls.

She was no fool, IF could tell as clear as day that there was something about them that was different compared to other Abnormals. They moved too differently they fought with tactics, and the wort part was that she and the others couldn't even tell them apart from regular humans. What's more, was that they had some connection to their resident Spec Ops Agent.

It had been rare, but she had noticed the signs before, during and after the encounter. Nico had been shaken terribly by the sight of that Ghoul, down to his core. The male would sometimes grunt and scowl at next to nothing in particular, and at night she swore she could hear muffled screams and arguing from his room.

Not something one could wake up to.

He did his best not to show it, hell it fooled Neptune and Compa into thinking it was nothing, but it wasn't enough to fool her. His Mask hadn't been as powerful as it had once been, which allowed her to peer through the cracks.

Ghouls seemed to truly rattle Nico to points she had never seen in him before, and she wanted to know why. Why that, out of every fucked-up monster they had faced, it was the one that looked the most human that scared their resident badass shitless. Thus, she had come to the Archives even though it was nearly evening, telling Neptune and Compa that she was going on an emergency errand and that she might be back late.

With some reading glasses on her face, IF took one of the many books around her Desk, which was literally filled to the brim save for the space in front of her, with her research material. The Book had a maroon colour to its cover. Its title, 'Ghouls' was in large, golden capitals, so she opened the book and found the contents page. She decided to go for the Introduction to them first, see what she was dealing with.

She would NOT be prepared for what she would find out.

Opening to the introduction page, IF began to read:

 _Ghouls are a carnivorous and cannibalistic species that are only able to feed on humans and other ghouls. They are as close to humans as possible: they normally display the same attributes; the same physical appearance and intelligence as a human with the main exception being their inner biology, mentality, and diet._

"Well, aren't they lovely?" IF sarcastically remarked under her breath, her eyes casting over to the side of the page. There was a picture there of what seemed to be a man dressed in clothing remarkably similar to the one they encountered at MS Mountain. She could see the inhuman red and black eyes with the veins crawling across the side of his features, along with a grin that one would see in their nightmares, with the blood of a recent kill dripping down his chin and onto the ground, staining it red. Thus, it resulted in giving a rather intimidating image.

She got the impression that she didn't want to meet one of those in the middle of the night.

Frowning, IF shook her head and read on.

 _A ghoul can only feed on humans and other ghoul, although there have been records that show them able to feed on Abnormals and other monsters. This is due to the fact that they require not the flesh they eat, but the cells inside the flesh. There are special Cells that are present inside every monster and human, called RC (red child) Cells, and it is these cells that Ghouls use as sustenance. For more information, switch to page #_

 _They are unable to digest any other type of food due to a particular enzyme their bodies produce. The structure of their tongues is also different from humans', making other foods taste disgusting and uncomfortable to them. If ghouls attempted to eat normal food, they will be struck by a powerful urge to vomit, and will experience a period of weakness. When forced or forcing themselves to digest such food, their physical condition will deteriorate. While ghouls cannot eat normal food, they are, however, able to drink coffee , as well as regular drinking water._

 _Ghouls do not need to eat regularly like humans do. Their metabolism is 60% slower than a normal person's, allowing them to go without food for long time periods if necessary. They can survive for one or two months on just one body, if they need to, however, some ghouls eat merely for pleasure._

 _When a ghoul enters an extreme state of hunger, they will suffer very painful headaches and their mental ability will be impaired, causing them to become driven by instinct alone. They will feed on any available source of human meat to end this state, even that of close friends or family. This state of hunger, is described by reliable sources to be "hell for any ghoul"._

 _Aside from diet, inner biology and mentality, it is significantly difficult to tell them apart from normal humans. However, one other eye-catching difference happens whenever they are excited or using their primary claws. Their eyes turn black with a crimson iris, red veins crawling over the sides of their faces. This is their 'Kakugan' which is formed when their RC Cells are clustered around their eyes. This can happen either at their will, or as previously stated with their claws and emotions._

 _Conventional weaponry has been proven ineffective against Ghoul tissues. Due to their inner biology, they can endure heavy blows like large impact rounds from an anti tank rifle without so much as a scratch to them. In the rare case that they were damaged in some way, they can still due to their regeneration capabilities to repair the damage dealt._

Putting the book down for now, IF had to lean back on her chair, looking up at the ceiling as she processed what she had learned. From what she could tell, these Ghouls could look, act, and live like a normal human. They could live normal, peaceful live amongst society and nobody would be the wiser… if they could go without eating. Plus, there were Ghouls that ate people for pleasure, not just survival, which kind of made an unsettling sensation form in her stomach.

It didn't settle her nerves any, the thought of such creatures being so close to her and she didn't even realise it.

However, this information did give her some insight into some… characteristic that Nico had displayed during their journey together. For one, he didn't seem to eat too often, if at all, and he looked as bright as day. He would go for weeks without eating anything, and whenever he did eat something it was more like an attempt to fit in than anything else. Also, whenever he did eat, he would always make an excuse to leave the area, and she had noticed sometimes that there was a distinct smell in the bathroom, too diluted to properly identify, but she still had an idea of what it was.

In a sense, Nico had a lot in common with these Ghoul creatures… but why?

Thoughts and suspicions rose within her mind, but she quickly curb-stomped them so she could read on. If Nico really was an enemy, then he would have done something already. It had been a long time since he'd joined them after all, plus it wasn't fake when he showed that he gave a damn about them. But still, these little connections that he apparently had with the Ghoul species… they worried and concerned her.

With that, IF switched to the page regarding the RC Cells. She had to admit, she was curious about these cells. She figured that scientists had talked about them on TV before, since they were so vital to the Abnormals, but she'd likely never paid attention since she was too focused on her Guild Work back then.

 _The origin of the name RC, comes from how each individual cell looks like a curled up foetus. They exist in both humans and ghouls. They flow like blood but can become as solid as teeth, and could be called "liquid muscles". These Cells also supply humans with the SP needed to cast their Skills and Spells, making them the beings with the most vast quantity of RC Cells for Ghouls to eat. Abnormals and other Monsters have RC Cells within them also, but Ghouls find human RC Cells the most preferable._

 _RC cells are the nutrients ghouls need to ingest._

 _Typically, a ghoul stocks RC cells by eating people. Within the body, the RC cells are concentrated and stored in a special sack-shaped organ called a Kakuhou. The Kakuhou stores these Cells within it, and when the time comes that they are needed, it shoots them out through the skin and allows them to start the process of forming a Ghoul's primary weapon: the Kagune._

 _The characteristics of the RC cells differ depending on the RC type of the ghoul._

 _As a means of gauging their power, researchers have found a way to calculate a Ghoul's RC Cell count with an RC factor. The RC factor is a measure for the amount of RC cells in the body of a living being. Ghouls have an "RC factor" ten times higher than humans, which is speculated to be why they are more powerful than humans. Abnormals also share in this factor, however they have only eight times the amount of a normal human's, meaning that Ghouls are stronger than the average Abnormal genetically._

 _The average healthy human has an RC factor of about 200 to 500, while a ghoul has an RC factor of about 1000 to 8000. If, for whatever reason, a normal human receives an excessive amount of RC cells, such as through experiments, they will start to develop ghoul-like characteristics and eventually not be able to consume human food._

 _RC cells flow through specialized RC cell vessels. They spread from the Kakuhou and permit the body to produce a Kagune to the outside. The bodily capabilities can increase as much as the number of vessel increases. Vessels grow and spread throughout the body, stimulated through repeated injury and regeneration. Through this process, Ghouls can become stronger to the degree they're hurt. _

After finishing the page, IF frowned as she mauled over what she had learned. From what she could tell, RC Cells were basically like a power source for humans to activate their Skills and Spells. It didn't make sense though, humans have had the ability to activate Skills for a long time, millennia even, so why hadn't this been discovered way before now? If their RC Cells were what gave them the power of Skills, then why did they call it SP?

A moment of thinking later, the brunette concluded something. She guessed that the term 'SP' came from those zealous morons in the Basilicom since CPUs have SP in their bodies. This SP seemed to function similarly to RC Cells that humans have, so they must have similar traits. They must have found out about RC Cells but shifted the truth so that they could benefit with the knowledge that they were closer to the CPUs than they really were.

Pretentious assholes.

Shaking her head, IF decided to look into this 'Kagune' thing. She remembered the Tentacles that the Ghoul in MS Mountain used to fight them, how powerful they were. She got the feeling though that the Ghoul they fought was merely a bottom-feeder, the bottom of the Ghoul hierarchy. From what she could tell from the RC Cells page, they could increase their maximum amount of RC Cells through injury and healing, so it was possible that their capabilities could increase like stat increases.

She didn't even entertain the thought of what would happen if her RC Cell count got too high, although that worry shouldn't apply to her anymore since she was a BOW now.

 _A Kagune is a ghoul's predatory organ and functions as their weapon and claws. It is usually as red as blood. However, colour variation has been shown to exist between Ghouls, born from their genetics. These weapons have been shown to be flexible like the flow of water, but firm and sturdy. When released, a ghoul's physique is strengthened, they are more resilient, and their mobility heightens._

 _A Kagune is composed entirely out of RC cells, released from the Kakuhou in a Ghoul's body. The RC cells are released from the Kakuhou piercing the skin, and the released RC cells to form the Kagune. The Kagune are voluntary muscles as ghouls can control them whenever they want and repeatedly harden and soften them at will. Kagune size depend on the RC cells' quality and quantity while the shape depends on the creativity and intellect of the user._

 _Although a ghoul's healing ability is high, the healing of wounds tends to be delayed if the wounds are inflicted by a Kagune. It is also evident that in order to counter a Kagune in battle, one must also have a Kagune, if not, at least something in relation to a Kagune. _

Pausing her reading, IF furrowed her brows as she remembered the Ghoul's Tentacles. She remembered how hard it had been to damage those things when they fought, even with her blades, claws and Axammer. 'Guess that's why I found them so difficult to cut. Hopefully my powers'll adapt to this in the future. The C Gene should do that.' She thought, before resuming her reading.

 _Research conducted by the Guild's research departments resulted in identifying three stages of Kagune formation. At their current knowledge, the stages are the same for every ghoul capable of manifesting Kagune._

 _Formative Stage_

 _At the point base of the Kagune where the RC cells erupt from the Kakuhou, the erupted RC cells will form bonds with each other. They will organize themselves in the structure best fit for their RC type in a repeated web. This repeated action of the cells will occur instantaneously and lead to the next stage._

 _Fixative Stage_

 _The bonded RC cells will retain the resulted form for a fixed length of time. The basic shape of the Kagune is seen at this stage. During this time, the defensive and offensive capabilities and weaknesses will take on their respective properties to the ghoul's RC type. The manifested Kagune's appearance is usually hereditary, taking on the shape and characteristics of their genetic predecessors._

 _Additionally, Kagune size also depends on the RC cells' quality and quantity while the shape depends on the creativity and intellect of the user. In relation to this stage is the user's manual control of the Kagune's movement and actions, which can include crystallization and increase in length, dexterity, sharpness, and concentration._

 _Disintegrative Stage_

 _After time has elapsed, the bonds between the cells begin to break apart. At this point, the Kagune loses its intactness or solidity and deteriorates._

 _The Kagune's appearance and the place of emergence on the body depend on the RC type of the ghoul. There are four different RC types: Ukaku, Koukaku, Rinkaku, and Bikaku. As a guideline, each type can characteristically subdue another type, although it may be different for two specific opponents. Each RC type has a set of strengths and weaknesses, each one unique to its type. These are exploited by the CCG in the creation of the quinque and Q bullets._

 _Ukaku_

 _An Ukaku Kagune is spread out like feathers and is released from the shoulder area, it specializes in high speed attacks, most of the users seeming to have highly enhanced speed. The Kagune is lightweight and can be used to deliver high-speed attacks against an adversary, the primary method of attack is crystallizing their Kagune to deliver a high-speed torrent of spike-like projectiles, however whilst crystallized they are much stiffer and cannot be used for short range combat; at least one Ukaku-type can generate powerful lightning-like bolts, a possible rare ability._

 _While the Kagune is suited both for short-distance and long-distance attacks, short-range is considered their weakness. They may use their Kagune as a shield and several are capable of shaping them into sharp blades reminiscent of a Koukaku to aid in close quarters. Many Ukaku-types are able to increase the flexibility of their Kagune for short-range combat, though this makes it ill-suited for their distinctive long-range attacks._

 _Altogether Ukaku-type ghouls have a high chance of ending a battle quickly as releasing RC cells depletes stamina. Thus, Ukaku-type users lack endurance and are at a disadvantage if the battle drags on for a long time. Ukaku-type users can use their speed and mobility to shoot down Bikaku-type users from afar. However, a Koukaku-type user can suppress an Ukaku-type user by successfully guarding against the Ukaku-type user's attacks, leaving them vulnerable to counterattacks and exhausting the Ukaku-type user in the long run._

 _Koukaku_

 _A Koukaku Kagune is released below the shoulder blade. Due to its high density of RC cells, it is heavy and extremely robust, giving it the greatest sturdiness and making them very well suited for defence. Normally, they are generally shaped into Armour's or shields, but on the offense, they can be shaped like melee weapons such as drills, hammers, blades, and swords._

 _Due to its high weight, a Koukaku's speed is inferior to all other RC types and the Kagune is difficult to wield._

 _A Koukaku can fend off an Ukaku onslaught using its guarding capabilities. However, a Rinkaku Kagune can deliver severe strikes against the slow Koukaku, breaking their Kagune and breaching their defences._

 _Rinkaku_

 _A Rinkaku Kagune has an appearance similar to scaled tentacles and is released at the back around the waist. A Rinkaku wielder has powerful regenerative abilities and some could even survive the most critical of damage. Its peculiar appearance and structure yield a superior striking power and they excel in brute strength. Some Rinkaku users are able to manipulate the shape of their Kagune, such as changing its usual tentacle form into swords or claws._

 _This type's regenerative power is a result of the RC cells easily binding together. Their RC cells are similar to liquid. However, this means that the binding force among the RC cells are weak, therefore making the Kagune very soft and easy to break. But because their RC cells bind so easily, some Rinkaku can bind their multiple tentacle-like Kagune together to make a larger, stronger Kagune. So far, the number of tentacles that Rinkaku users can create are from one to eight tentacles._

 _A Rinkaku Kagune can deliver severe strikes against the slow Koukaku, penetrating the Kagune and breaching the Koukaku's defences. However, a Rinkaku has serious problems fighting against the balanced Bikaku Kagune: A Bikaku has comprehensively high power, allowing them to fight against the brute-force Rinkaku, and the Rinkaku Kagune softness makes it comparatively easy for the Bikaku to cut the Kagune off. This disarms a Rinkaku no matter how much strength it may possess, leaving the Rinkaku at a disadvantage on the defensive. It has been shown that in some cases, a Bikaku attack can disable a Rinkaku's regeneration._

 _Bikaku_

 _A Bikaku Kagune typically has a tail-like appearance and is released around the tail-bone/coccyx. It is good for medium-distance attacks and has decent offense, defence, and speed. Thus, they have no notable strengths or weaknesses like the Kagune based on other RC types, meaning the Kagune itself is treated as a surprise "trump card." So far, the number of tails a Bikaku user can create are one to fourteen tails._

 _A Bikaku has better speed and durability against the brute-force, breakable Rinkaku, allowing them to cut off the Rinkaku's Kagune. However, a Bikaku will be overwhelmed by the faster Ukaku-user and will lose against the Ukaku's long-range attacks._

'According to this, the one we fought was a Rinkaku type Ghoul…' IF thought to herself. These Ghouls sounded like powerful bosses in a videogame if they can do all the shit like this. There were even notes in the other records she had scavenged during the reading that these Kagune types can conquer their own weaknesses.

What's more, was that sometimes they can be used to fire off elemental attacks thanks to high concentration of RC Cells. The more she read about them, the more IF came to realise something. It was looking like the Ghoul they had fought before was merely at the bottom of the pecking order.

All in all, Ghouls sounded quite the terrifying foe. Abnormals and normal monsters could easily be identified by their physical characteristics. You see a Dogoo, you can just point at it and shout 'Look, a Dogoo!' so you can do something about it. Abnormal monsters have even more grotesquery appearances, mannerisms and killing methods, it made them recognisable just from glancing at them for a split second. It was like they were overly muscular men walking about in broad daylight with a sign over their heads saying 'I'm strong! Look at me, I'm strong!'

Ghouls apparently didn't work like that.

These Ghouls could just live their normal human lives and nobody would be any wiser. But when it came time to feed, to hunt down flesh for its RC Cells, then they could just unleash their inner beasts. Nobody would be able to do anything against them either, as it was said in the books that their Skin Cells were heavily reinforced, making them denser than a human's. Normal weaponry wouldn't do shit against them, and anything like explosive or impact weapons would only just stun them. Not do anything solid to them.

She glanced to her Phone, which had its screen showing the time. When she noticed it, she had to bite back a wince, it was about 8PM, and the Archives were going to be inaccessible to any but Spec Ops at 8:30. 'Geez, it was only 6PM when I left, have I really been out that long? Well, I suppose I should get some shut eye back at the Hotel. Nep and Compa have likely gone to bed already, too, so I shouldn't have any shenanigans when I get back.' She thought to herself.

After about 15 more minutes of research, looking through the files and examining the records of a lot of Ghoul sightings, IF put the materials back where they belonged before checking out the library.

Walking back to the hotel in the afternoon/evening wasn't something IF was unaccustomed to. It had been somethings he had been doing since she had first became a Guild Agent, thus she had some pretty decent Night vision back then. Enough to get by and avoid the areas where some of the world's more… unsavoury folk hang about.

However, when she became a BOW back at Lastation, her senses were enhanced… and that included her night vision.

Now, she could see as clear as crystal regardless if it was night or day. It was like there was no sense or changes in the lighting for her, something that the brunette had found difficult to get accustomed to in the beginning. However, once she got used to it in about 4 weeks, the brunette had to admit that this was a handy ability to have.

Honestly, being a BOW with control over herself seemed much better than being a normal human.

Her thoughts then went onto the topic of interest she had been researching, or rather, the reason why she had been researching Ghouls and their powers in the first place: Nico. While she had her suspicions about him now that she knew more about the Ghoul species, there was another aspect to researching about this.

Despite them having travelled together for so long, IF realised something that likely thee girls did to: She and them didn't know that much about him. Well, that wasn't completely the case, they knew what he had seen and gone through thanks to his adoptive mother. Although, she got the feeling that Helen had been sugar-coating and hiding those details immensely. The male had always been secretive about his past, not trying to bring it up or ignoring the issue completely.

Not that it mattered much to the girls, he was their comrade and everyone was entitled to their own secrets. That was a fact, and the fact that Neptune was willing to ignore this with Compa doing the same showed how much they trusted and cared for the teen. Though, in her opinion, IF felt like their feelings for him didn't develop right away, especially Neptune's.

As for her own feelings…

IF put a hand on her chest as she got a picture of Nico's face in her mind, and she felt the things that had been happening to her whenever she thought of him. Her heart rate elevated higher, her cheeks flushed a bit, and she felt like she would faint at any second. She had no idea when these feelings began to develop, but as she kept thinking about it, IF had begun to realise something.

These changes in emotions towards Nico, they started when she had been saved by him in Lastation, when she became a BOW. She could remember it clearly, how relieved he had been when she survived the infection with her mind intact. At the time, she figured that it was just admiration for him, admiration for saving her like he did even if it was with help from Histoire.

That admiration didn't develop very much over the course of their journey until they actually got together and talked at that Café. She hadn't gotten the chance to get to know him until that moment, IF figured, remembering their journey together. Now that she thought about it, that was the first time they had ever gotten to sit down and truly talk to each other. Nothing else to distract them had happened, so they managed to get to now each other a little better by asking each other questions and learning about each other's quirks.

But, that was a big turning point, IF could FEEL that that was the case.

While still confused, the brunette had the assumption that her feelings towards the male have been gradually changing over the course of their journey together. That much, she knew for a fact. It was like fitting multiple pieces of a puzzle together, into one big object. One big truth.

The brunette wasn't like the other girls though, she didn't do feelings like romance and all that mushy crap. She was more of a tomboy anyways, it wasn't like she'd ever get interested in those girly things like dresses and makeup. She'd likely be more into how to fight monsters or survive in the wilds. Her mother did say to her once that she wasn't the ideal woman a man would want, so there was that. Plus, she knew that she had more of a combat-oriented body, not one of those slender, seductive ones that people like Vert and Neptune possessed when in HDD.

Even if it did turn out that she saw Nico… in that way, what chance would she have?

Those thoughts plagued her so much that she almost didn't notice the hand reaching out for her from behind. However, instincts were a powerful tool, and they showed this by quickly warning her of an unknown presence. IF's eyes widened as she ducked, narrowly avoiding the hand and twisting around, going into a sweep kick. The presence lost its balance, but palmed the ground to push back into the air, backflipping several times to get some distance between them.

"Oh? Well, I was expecting to have an easy meal here, but to think that isn't going to be the case… kukuku."

'Now that wasn't a creepy laugh in the slightest.' IF mentally remarked with her tone laced with sarcasm. She managed to get a good look at the person that tried to grab her, and saw that it was a bald-headed man in his mid to late 20's, wearing a sleeveless jacket that exposed his shoulders, pants and boots. The man was bald, with several areas on his face looking deformed. Also, there was one other deformity: both his hands were right hands. "Alright, who the hell are you, buster? Why did you try and grab me?" IF yelled, cautious.

She could feel her BOW powers rising to the occasion, her arms just inches away from transforming into her claws.

The man before her, instead of looking threatened by her, instead just chuckled. "Kukuku, this one's feisty, I like her… I like my meals feisty…" He slowly advanced towards her, his arms spread wide as if he were about to hug someone. However, judging by the look on his face it looked like he had something else in mind.

IF glared at him, getting into a defensive stance. 'This feeling…' she thought, feeling chills crawl up her spine. She recognised this feeling, having felt it recently back at MS Mountain. She could also feel her BOW powers rearing to go, and it took her entire batch of willpower to keep them restrained. 'It's the same as at MS Mountain! Does that mean…?'

Her thoughts soon got themselves answered as the man hunched over, cackling sadistically while he spoke. "Hehehehe, do you know what the best thing about the feisty ones are, my lovely?" he asked her. However, IF never got the chance to respond as the man suddenly appeared behind her, a brief gust of wind signalling how fast he'd moved.

'S-So fast-!'

"Its… WHEN I GET TO BREAK THEM IIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN!" The man yelled, raising his right arm above his head. He then brought it down on the brunette, who quickly twisted on her heels and raised her left arm, which was already morphing into a new form.

CLANG!

The two clashed, IF's blade arm colliding with a large structure protruding from the man's right shoulder blade. His mouth, twisted into an ugly, sinister grin while showing some fairly sharp looking teeth, almost like fangs, while his eyes were a familiar black and red with crimson veins. IF's eyes widened in recognition of this man's identity. 'He's a Ghoul! Which means that this thing he's striking with…'

Both pulled back, the man making an attempt to stab her in the chest. IF quickly stopped that by pivoting to the side and making a reverse swing to his face. The man however, caught the blade in his mouth, much to IF's shock as she was tossed aside like a ragdoll. She flew through the air and landed in a crouch, sliding across the ground till she halted all motion.

Looking up, the brunette saw that the man was already on the offensive, swinging that massive structure of his down on her. Instead of dodging it this time though, she shifted her blade back into a human arm, formed her armour and claws, before slashing it away from her. She briefly caught his surprised look before she dashed past him, stopping when she was 8 feet away from him.

The man turned around, and made to say something, when he felt something get torn below. His face morphed to one of confusion, before he looked to his chest area. His eyes widened when he noticed the multiple claw gashes on the sides of his hips, ones that cut fairly deep into his skin. Thin strands of flesh were already knitting them together though, so he looked up at the brunette with a sickening smile on his lips. "Kukukuku, good, that's good! You may just be worth this trouble after all!"

While he ranted about how she might be 'worth it' whatever that meant, IF managed to get a look at the man's weapon. Like she thought, it was a Kagune, and judging by its shape it looked like a Koukaku. It took the form of a large, crimson mass that encroached around his shoulder, and then went down his arm to his wrist. From there the mass released a single, long metallic grey Lance with a sharpened tip for stabbing. It looked large enough to have its base conceal the man's hand from all outside view from any angle.

'Looks like I'm dealing with a Koukaku type, here…'

That was what the brunette assumed anyways, as she readied her claws. Her eyes focused in on her target, feeling her power ready to claim its next victim. She then dashed forth, pumping energy into her legs for additional speed so she could catch the man off guard. That was her plan, anyways.

But like most plans, they never went as one would expect.

This became apparent when IF briefly noticed a shadow looming over her from behind, and only had a second to turn around, barely catching a glimpse of her new attacker, before something went and hit her upside the head with the force of a wrecking ball, knocking her to the cold, merciless ground.

THUD!

Her vision looked like a swimmer's, her thoughts scattered while her vision slowly gained black dots. The land of unconsciousness was beckoning to her, and IF struggled all she could to resist it, to get back up and to continue the fight. She didn't want to become some unknown asshole's meal just when she was going though something every girl goes the rough when they have something developing for a boy.

"Awww, man! Did you really have to come so soon, dude! I was just about to have some fun with her! REALLY, you always take all the fun ones for yourself, you know that asshole?!"

Barely she could hear the Ghoul she had been about to attack shouting, sounded like he was distressed that this new arrival seemed to see it wise to attack her from out of the blue. She could honestly feel the same, if she weren't about to take a trip to the land of sleep. She tried to move, but couldn't, her mind was still reeling from that unexpected hit. At least her armour was still on, protecting her from any further damage to her body.

"Shut up, you lust-obsessed idiot. This little lady passed the test long before now. She'll be perfect for our plans. Let's go, the others are waiting."

She didn't hear the rest, everything else was no longer relevant, as she finally passed out.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alright, another chap done!**

 **Anyways, here's a Special Event about Team RAIL's leader Raven. I'm going to be writing more of these throughout the chapters, to showcase bits and pieces about those four characters and their personalities. They haven't been given much attention, I'll admit that, but that will soon be changing throughout the course of the Story. These four are not meant to be side characters, I can tell you that much.**

* * *

 **Special Event - Raven**

One morning in Planeptune, Raven was seen walking down the streets, intending to find some information regarding a certain monster species. She intended to research this species thoroughly so she and her Team would know how to take them on when they went for their next Quest. Information was the best method of preparation before a hunt, her experiences and training have taught her as such.

Raven fingered the hilt of her Odachi, several men passing her by giving her fearful looks. Her Mask wasn't on, so they were able to see the ever stern, cold features that she was sporting. Some might be into those kinds of ice queen mannerisms, but when they saw her Odachi, they all knew who she was and made sure to give her a wide birth, not wanting to experience what some unfortunate few have the horror of experiencing.

Lets just say those men were... less than men these days.

Her thoughts were broken when she heard sounds of sniffling nearby. Her eyes narrowed, annoyance flashing through them as she glanced to the direction the sniffling was coming from. From the opposite side of the street, a young girl could be seen next to a bench, sniffling while doing her best not to cry. Raven rolled her eyes in annoyance at this, while most would find this sight saddening, as nobody likes seeing crying children, Raven only found it tedious and annoying.

Still, it didn't look like the child was going to be stopping soon, and she was also attracting attention. Raven let go of her Odachi's hilt and turned to face the child's direction. Her eyes flashed as she jumped, about 8 metres in height, through the air and onto the other side of the street. Many watched her in awe as she did this, while Raven would glare at any male nearby who dared try to look up her skirt, making them look away with pale faces. That elected a satisfied smirk from the woman as she landed on the ground in a kneeling position.

Her attempt has also, albeit unintentionally but not unwelcomingly, surprised the child to the point where she stopped sniffling. Standing upright, Raven turned her body to face her, and the girl almost flinched at the piercing gaze her crimson eyes held.

"Child, why do you cry?" she asked coldly, not a shred of emotion present on her face as her lips formed a tight line. Her expression was anything but readable, something that sent chills down the child's spine.

Nevertheless, the girl answered awkwardly. "I... I can't find my mommy, we got separated, and-"

"And you think waiting here will magically teleport her to you?"

The girl jumped in surprise and shock when Raven interrupted her story. She almost broke down when she saw the slight glare that Raven had on her features as she looked down on the girl. Like she was looking at a pile of crap or something as similarly disgusting. "I-I..."

"Tears are useless, child." The woman began, her gaze cold and unwavering. Some of the citizens glared at her for her lack of empathy for the poor child, but paid them no mind as she continued to speak, her tone icy. "They do not accomplish anything practical, only waste valuable time and energy, Both of which could be put to better use like figuring out where your mother might be. There are places where parents go to report a lost child, go to one of them and she should be there." she explained, turning her back to the child.

As she made to leave the area, Raven heard the girl speak up. "Um, do you know where-?"

Before the girl could continue, asking her for some assistance, the woman interrupted her once again. "Use your wits to figure it out, child. The world is a cruel place, but those who have a strong mind, and the ability to focus, will go far in life. The strong survive, and the weak die. That is the essence of this world we live in."

Passing by civilians could only look on in shock at how cold, detached, almost chilling the woman was acting, and towards a child no less. Any normal citizen would be trying to guide the child through the harsh streets to the nearest police station. Not this one, it seemed, and that sent more than a few glares her way. Raven merely ignored them as she slowly walked away. She did this deliberately to get the child to come up with an answer to her statement.

The said girl watched Raven's back, a wide-eyed stare on her features. While the words were cold as ice, something about them jut seemed to... resonate, through the girl, like ding-dong bells ringing within her very being. It was like those words, as harsh as they were, served a purpose, to invigorate her and give her the courage she needed to get through this trial, to become stronger for it.

That woman... the people may call her harsh, ice cold, maybe even a witch, the child thought. But to the girl, the woman known as Raven was seen as something else. She was seen as... strength, the epitome of independence. She had this charisma about her that made the girl want to follow her to wherever she would want to go.

"I... I will!" the child yelled, causing Raven to pause mid stride as she listened to what the girl would say. "I know this place, mommy used to bring me around here when we lived in a house nearby. I'll find my way to get help, there! Thanks lady!" the girl, now irrevocably brighter than her previous state, shouted with a wide smile, waving in her direction. It was like she had done a complete 180 in terms of personality, and soon enough the girl was running off in the direction of, according to Raven's memories, the police station.

Wordlessly, the woman continued on her journey, her face a mask of Ice. But if one were to look carefully at her features, someone who had known her for a fair amount of time, they would see a faint, so faint that they would need a magnifying glass to verify it, upturn on the right corner of her lips.


	68. Chapter 65 - Multiple Perspectives

**Hi all!**

 **This is the last pre-written chapter I have, so like what you might expect, updates will be slowing down a bit. While you all wait, check out my other published works on my profile. I made a challenge and an OP One-shot for this thing. Hope you like, and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 65 - Multiple Perspectives**

The rough thudding within the transport as it travelled along the gravel-made Leanbox country road was one of the many pieces of company that Nico was surrounded by while on their way to their destination. Their transport, a black and green futuristic version of a M577 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), drove with fluidity and nigh majestic grace. It was only the terrain that provided the rough churning, though being in the military like he was, Nico had gotten used to such rides.

His current company included Team RAIL, Isaac and Guts, and they all sat on parallel benches inside the APC. Raven sat like she did back at the briefing, only her Odachi was on her lap instead of beside her. She had angled it so that she could use the hilt to quickly draw the blade and parry any attacks that came her way. A precautionary measure, really, since she was with 2 people she didn't know. 2 MEN that she didn't know.

It didn't help that she would sometimes glance at them warily.

Sitting beside him with one leg crossed over the other was Lucy. She had her shoulder linked with his, but nothing else. Any more, she knew, and he'd shove her away. There was a limit to how much personal space she could invade in this situation, she remembered. Remembered from past missions like this.

Aiden and Ivan sat opposite, the former next to Lucy and the latter next to Raven. Both of them kept careful eyes on the girls, as well as their new Leanbox native soldier companions. Just in case either of them tried anything funny, they would respond with the effectiveness of a pack of raptors.

"So…" Isaac began, getting their attention. There had been an awkward tension between them since the transport first set off for their destination, so he wanted to break the ice with some talking. Since his partner Guts wasn't willing to speak, with his loner personality, he figured it would fall down to him. "What do you all think's the cause of this?"

It was Lucy who answered first, surprisingly enough. Nico had been about to speak himself, say his thoughts on the arisen problem, but the redhead had beaten her to it. "I think it's a load of bullshit." She stated bluntly, her lips curled into a displeased frown. This frown was more effective in showing how displeased she was because of one reason: there was no trace of her usual seductive sensuality. Instead, she looked more like someone who was on the verge of throwing a psychotic fit.

Seeing as everyone was looking at her, even Raven stopped sharpening her Odachi to pay attention. She didn't look it, seeing as her Mask was on, but just from her body language Nico and the other Agents could tell she was increasing intrigued by this behaviour. It was rare, but whenever Lucy dropped her usual behaviour, Raven always made sure to pay extra attention.

In her eyes, she may be a bit of a teasing flirt, and that was one of her nicer ways of putting it. However, there was a reason why she picked Lucy out of the three of them to be her second in command.

"You guys noticed how she was checking her phone every 5 minutes before the briefing started?" Lucy began. She continued before they could give a verbal answer, though. "She had this twitch on her lips that was an attempt a smile, a seductive smile. Why would she have such a smile before something like a briefing? My guess is that she has a secret relationship with someone, and that was why this Case was brought to our attention."

Now that she mentioned it, several of them, Aiden, Nico and Isaac noticed something similar. They only made conversation to make themselves look like they were unassuming. Whenever the five-minute mark happened, that woman always checked her phone, hidden within her skirt's pocket. Nico had been the first to notice this, though, but he hadn't had time to ponder on it till now thanks to the social norms Isaac had put into place.

The way she acted whenever she looked at her phone, her demeanour completely changed from the professional militia woman. She became someone similar to a drug addict, an extreme drug addict. There was a hypnotic sensation in her eyes that only showed itself when she looked at that phone, and with the way she NEVER missed a beat, meant that she was really into whatever it was she was into.

Guts raised a brow in her direction. "What does this have to do with anything?" he asked her.

"Normally, nothing." Lucy replied. She then took out her phone and pressed a few keys, the sounds of clicking buttons filling the transport. Fortunately, this room had been soundproofed so the driver and the passengers could talk privately. It was also a means to avoid classified intel from getting out. "But that woman? I know her, I dug up her history and found some… interesting facts about her."

Lucy finally pressed the centre button and a holographic screen shone above that of her Phones. It had a picture of the same woman that had been briefing them, along with walls of text on the side that she showed to them. "Her name's Jessica Bailey, she's a close attendant to one of the higher-ranking Nobles that sit within the Leanbox Government. Thing is, if one looks a little deeper, they'd find that she has a secret love affair with her boss. Some 'Under-the-desk' action if one would."

"This nobleman… his name wouldn't be Count Mott, would he?"

All eyes turned to Nico, who had spoken that question with a narrowed gaze. Lucy wordlessly nodded in his direction, causing the male to groan in irritation. "Ugh, goddamnit, looks like that prick is at it again." He muttered, a hand over his face. His helmet had opened up for the ride, allowing them to see his displeased face. "Count Mott is a despicable Noble. While most of them are like that, he takes the cake for the worst. He has close ties with the Guild, which allows him to pull underhanded tactics to get Spec Ops Agents like you and me to go do his dirty work."

"How so?"

Nico looked over to Isaac when he asked that, but when he heard him speak there was a tone that implied that he had a suspicion on where this was going. "Count Mott owns a large portion of Leanbox's territory. Our Mojang Village, is in that territory. He also happens to own a business that trades in silver steel, so those mines that were supposedly lost, are quite valuable to him. Thing is, Leanbox has enough on her plate to worry about as it is, so an Urgent Quest for lost profits is next to out-of-the-question, normally."

"However, that man is a glutton. One of the men Raven here would likely be more than willing to shove her Odachi down the throat of if given the chance." Lucy spoke, drawing the attention back to her. "Thing is, these 'contacts' of his are actually women he has seduced into his service. He fucks them into submission, makes them compliant with his wishes, and has them do his bidding. Control through sex, that's his primary MO. He does this to his maids and servants, too, to keep them quiet. The only reason why he hasn't been caught yet was because he has other Nobles under his thumb, and they back him up politically."

At the end of her speech, Lucy's voice was dripping with highly toxic venom. The sheer rage in her eyes reminded Nico and Team RAIL of the flames his DPU form commanded with their level of intensity. Out of everything she despised most of all, Nobility made the top of the list. Whenever they did something, and had them involved, she would try so hard not to lose her shit. Behind her sensuality-laced personality, was a mind that was honed like a blade, a mind that was almost as distrusting of others as Nico's, for reasons only a select few knew.

Said male was one of them.

"If we all are aware of this…" Raven began to speak after a moment of silence. Her Mask prevented them from seeing her face, but with the way she tightly held her Odachi, they knew she was pissed. She just did a good job at suppressing just how pissed she truly was. "Then why is it that we are still here?"

Nico was the one to answer, this time, and he made no attempt to hide the relief he felt at not being able to be interrupted this time. "Because, even if there's personal investment into this, that's not the only reason why Mojang Village is important to Leanbox. I put some time to research this new Overlord Momus craze that's been going on. Turns out, they have been raiding settlements and trying to get their hands on as much Silver Steel as possible. Now, I don't like working for this slime ball as much as anyone else, however this new faction stealing Silver Steel can't be overlooked."

Hearing this, Raven let out an irritated snort, but didn't complain any further. She leaned back on her seat and glowered, though her Mask hid her irritated expressions. Nico didn't need to see her face to know what she was feeling though, her body language said it all. Lucy looked just as displeased as her leader did, but she didn't say anything either. As distasteful as this was, Nico had a point, and everyone knew it.

Nobility and all that political bullshit aside, the worshipers of this Overlord Momus were not to be taken lightly. To steal so much Silver Steel, what were they planning to do with it? That was the question on their minds right now.

* * *

"Haaaah… Haaaaah… Haaaah…"

Deep within a mansion located within the inner sanctum of Leanbox's territory, a young woman in her 20's, naked as the day she was born, collapsed onto a king-sized bed while breathing heavily. Sweat rolled off her body, born from the recent activity of an adult nature that she had been partaking in… alongside the other naked women on the bed. Each of them were sprawled over the bed in various positions, faint sounds of snoring indicating that they had fallen asleep from the nightly activities that they were partaking in.

Out of all of them, there was one sole male occupant. He was a naked, large and wide-looking man with styled brown hair and matching brown eyes. He kneeled behind the woman that had just fallen unconscious, groaning in pleasure as he 'finished his business' on her before he got off the bed. Reaching for the bottom, he pulled off a Dressing gown and wrapped it around himself, before leaving the room.

Outside, the man saw a butler, the head butler who was carrying a tray with a plate and message on it. The Head Butler may be in charge of organising his servants, but his primary duties fell upon being his closest aid. That was the job description that Mot had delegated long ago, and for many years this Butler had performed exactly as he had wanted. The Head Butler lowered his head in reverence to his master. "Count Mott sir, I trust you had a pleasant time, last night?"

"Yes, yes indeed. It is a fine night to have so much fun with the ladies." Count Mott replied as he grinned lecherously, mind flashing back to the night of sexual debauchery that he had engaged in with those women, his maids, last night. They had all been 'broken in' for a long time now, so there was little chance of them ratting him out to th authorities. Even if they could, he would have his 'friends' back him up and make her look like some crazy lunatic for trying to smear his good name. "Tell me, what do you have to report?"

The butler lowered his head again as the two made their way down the corridor towards Mott's study. "Sir, it has been accepted as you predicted, we have selected some of the best Spec Ops Agents to investigate what has gone wrong with Mojang Village. We will know more, momentarily."

"Excellent."

Both men made it to his study. It wasn't that far, about 5 minutes walking distance, from his bedroom where Mott's… domestication of his servants took place. Though he also used it as a means of breaking in the female workers of higher institutions like the Guild. Sexual pleasure can be a great way to break someone both physically and mentally. It didn't matter if they tried to resist, not with his methods. They all eventually submitted to his whims one way or another.

Opening the door, he found himself in his study. Mott's Study was shaped like a mini library, with book shelves on both sides of the room, and behind it. In the middle, was a Desk which was filled with stacks of papers, a Quill and Ink for writing, among other tools he liked to use.

Sitting behind his Desk, Mott took one of the papers and began looking through it, most of them consisting of reports on the Monsters as well as political decisions recently being made. He did all this while his Butler stayed by his side, like a silent bodyguard guarding his liege.

Eventually, Mott noticed that the plate the man carried on the Tray had the Scroll on it, one that was sporting a special seal he could recognise anywhere. "What is this?" he questioned, although he had a fairly good idea of what it was as he took the Scroll from the plate, opening the seal with a nearby switchblade before he began to read the contents.

"Count Mott sir, this letter arrived 40 minutes earlier this morning. It pertains to the Spec Ops that were chosen for the assignment." the Head Butler explained formally, keeping his professional demeanour. "We have had to chose Spec Ops from other countries, as all the others are on assignments elsewhere. There was nothing else that could be done, however these Agents each have their own specialties that will make this mission goo off without a hitch."

"I see…"

Count Mott muttered that under his breath as he examined the list of names and a short profile about each of them. His eyes then landed on one name in particular, one at the very bottom of the list. "DEATHSTROKE…?"

The Head Butler nodded his head. "Yes sir, Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE, who is rising in popularity thanks to his exploits in Lastation, has been getting the attention of many Nobles in Leanbox. Not only are they interested in his background, they are clamouring to set him up with one of their daughters, adding his blood to their family lines." He reported, leaning forward with a hand over his heart. "Sir, you should also be aware that Yvoire has begun making his moves against DEATHSTROKE, as well as the people he is travelling with."

Hearing that last titbit of information made the man chuckle derisively, remembering how much that old fart despised the Spec Ops community with every fibre of his being. "Oh, that senile old fool." The man muttered through his chuckles. He held his head with his free hand, shaking it in amusement. "He doesn't realise the full potential that the heretical Spec Ops lackeys possess."

His mouth twisted, a sinister grin forming on his lips as his eyes danced with various emotions. None of them were pleasant in any way. "They'll throw themselves into the fires, and we can be rid of those rats while also getting territory back from the Monsters. We all get to win something."

The head Butler said nothing for a moment, his expression unreadable as the man he called master denounced the Spec Ops Program. It was a common occurrence in his line of work, to see Nobles criticise a Program that went against the norms that they had followed for generations.

Even though the Spec Ops Program originally began in Leanbox when it was about to fall to the hands of the Abnormals, it had been heavily restricted afterwards, to not allow them to grow beyond what they could control. It was a deplorable move to many of the commoners, but to people in power, they saw it as a means to preserve the old ways, the ways of the CPUs.

Still, there were those within the Nobility, like his master, who still exploit the Spec Ops Program for their own gain, nothing else. It wasn't like anyone could do anything about it, their CPU hadn't been taking part in the politics of their Nation for some time now, so it was safe to say that they held free reign.

Count Mott raised a brow, and that was something that the Head Butler took as a sign that a question was about to be asked. And he was right. "You say this DEATHSTROKE is travelling with a Party? Hm, I would like to hear more about this Party. Tell me what we know."

"Yes sir. The Party consists of an all-female cast, from various backgrounds. One Nurse-In-Training, one Guild Agent however there is rumour that she will be placed into the Spec Ops ranks in the future and lastly one Amnesiac." He reported, seeing the man's interest pique at this information. "You desire those girls, my lord?"

The Nobleman hummed in thought, perverse desire shining in his eyes as he licked his lips, leaning forward as he put the letter on his Desk. "Yes, yes indeed. Get me pictures of them and their profiles. I wish to know what they do during the day so I can 'meet' with them, in person."

"Of course, sir."

* * *

"Hey, Nep-Nep… can I ask you something?"

"Hm?" Neptune, back at the hotel room, had been stuffing her face with Pudding at the Kitchen table. She had been enjoying her treat with all the happiness she had, when she heard the voice belonging to the room's only other occupant ask her a question. Gulping down her Pudding, Neptune looked towards the Nurse-In-Training, a finger-sized piece of pudding on her lips. "What do ya wanna ask, Compa?"

The other girl stood beside her, acting unusually nervous for some reason. She shuffled about in nervousness, and unlike what people would expect from the purplette amnesiac, she wasn't a total idiot. She could tell that her friend was worried about something, given the anxious expression on her features. "Hey, what's wrong, Compa? Why the long face?"

"O-Oh, its nothing much, really. Its just…" Compa furrowed her brows, her concern as clear as crystal on her features. "I dunno why, but I've been getting this odd feeling…" she told her, putting a hand over her chest. I dunno why, but I keep getting the feeling that something's going on and we aren't aware of it."

She couldn't explain it properly, but Compa had been getting this feeling for some time now. This feeling, like something major, or perhaps multiple something majors, was about to happen and they weren't there to do anything about it. She tried to pay it no mind, but the feeling kept nagging her at the back of her mind like an annoying parent repeatedly telling her children not to watch porn yet they do it anyways.

It didn't help that IF hadn't came back when she said she would. She said that she would be back late, but she had also said she would be back in a couple hours at the most. She wondered if something had happened to her, but her rational side believed that she would be okay, that her BOW powers would protect her. They had stayed up late waiting for her, so they could have something healthy to eat then go to bed together. It seemed like Nico wouldn't be back for a day or two, at the least.

Still, the nagging feeling never left her, and gradually it had been getting worse and worse, gradually becoming harder and harder to ignore. It had lead to her not being able to seep when she began to doze off, leaving her in a state best described as the 'in-between'. Between sleep and the land of the conscious. Oddly though, it was like she had tasted some coffee and the caffeine was keeping her awake, yet she was as tired as all heck.

Not a good combination. (Especially for us writers… You all know what I mean.)

Eventually she had gotten to the point where she just HAD to tell someone about it, and since there was nobody else around, and considering she didn't want to bother Nico with this, she turned to the only person available in the room: Neptune.

Said preteen made to speak up, when she felt something on her lips. She glanced down, puckering her lips for a better view, and noticed the leftover pudding. Quickly adopting a sheepish expression, she began rubbing her face with the sleeves of her hoodie, something that normally Compa would have chastised her for. But with her current worry, she didn't give it much thought.

"Hey, chillax Compa." The said Preteen exclaimed afterwards in a surprised manner, but also concerned as she got up from her seat. She went over and took Compa's hands in hers, holding them at chest level. "Don't you worry that cute little head of yours, those two are some of the most stubborn, strongest party members we have. Iffy and Nicky are leagues above us in ways we couldn't hope to catch up on. Pretty sure they can take care of themselves."

"But…"

Neptune shook her head. "Nope, grab those mean thoughts and shove em in a bag, Compa! Nicky and Iffy have been through some tough scrapes, and they've come back to us from way worse. Remember that time with the Banshees? Iffy managed to survive on her own for a while till we came. Nicky's been doing this way longer than any of us, too."

Her words slowly got through to Compa, and while she still held worries for her crush/childhood friend, she did have to admit that Neptune had a point. Both of them were professionals, they were good at what they do. Looking at Neptune though, Compa's eyes widened in slight surprise, much to Neptune's confusion. "Huh? Whaddya looking at, Compa-poo?"

"You're worried too, aren't you?"

"Eh?" Neptune blinked owlishly, looking dumbfounded as Compa stated something so bluntly and out there. "What do you mean?"

The Nurse-In-Training practically beamed. She had been sad before, but seeing how her friend had shared her feelings about Nico cheered her up immensely. "You can hide it, Nep-Nep, but don't worry! I know you worry for Iffy and Nicky just like I do!"

At this, the preteen made a 'pfft!' noise while waving a hand dismissively like an old granny. "Nah, I'm not worried, not one bit. You're just imagining things Compa…" she told her. Compa just stared at her intently, and for a while the two had a staring contest, almost like they were engaged in a battle of souls.

Finally, Neptune slumped her shoulders as she hung her head. A defeated cloud appeared briefly above her head, before she looked up and laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. "Hehehe, looks like ya figured me out, Compa. But hey, we gotta believe in 'em, ok? We can see where they are tomorrow, its late out. If they need help, we'll be right there with em, what do you say?"

"Yessie!"

Now, Leanbox, Planeptune, no matter which Nation you visit, there is always something called a 'red light district' where people go simply to have a good time. Drinking, hooking up with prostitutes, etc. It was where a majority of males go to spend their free time, aside from the ones who want to be successful in their lives. It was also where a lot of black market dealings took place, making this place like a shady, criminal underworld of sorts.

Drugs and other such products were sold like high-ranking items right here, so it would make sense for those people to make a large buck for some pleasure.

That was where we find one Saizou Komiya, sitting inside a bar and brooding with some alcoholic drink in his hand. His cheeks held a permanent pink hue across them, with his eyes glassy and his posture swaying with every occasion. It was apparent that the man was stone cold drunk, even to a blind person.

Right now, Saizou couldn't care less, he wanted to forget what had recently happened.

'The nerve of those Bitches!' He cursed in his mind, gritting his teeth as he glared down at the glass in his hands. The liquid's surface, in his eyes, showed an image of the faces of every girl that idiotic waste of flesh had been travelling with. The same girls whom had humiliated him twice in a row when they should be worshipping the ground he walks on.

He had it all, money, power, a high-standing job in the Spec Ops Program. Say what you like about it, the public still held a high opinion on it, and if you want to retain that prestige, it would be best to keep the public interested in you. Through any means possible… it was just that he preferred subjugation and domination over diplomacy. Was that so wrong?

Saizou growled as he remembered how those girls treated him, not like the man he deserves, no, more like a block-headed child! They should be begging to be screwed by him, those cock-hungry little sluts they are! They should be like other women, he should be screwing them till they can think of nothing but his second head pounding away at them! That was the way of things, men always dominated women. Why, he wouldn't be surprised if the CPUs were just as submissive as any woman would be when in the hands of a man. If a scandal between them and their Basilicom staff members were to get out…

His thoughts were halted when he felt a tap on his shoulder. His teeth gnashed as his alcohol-induced mind caused him to twirl around with a backhand. "Who dares interrupt the supreme Saizou Komiya's drinking?!" he yelled, expecting someone to be writhing on the ground in pain from his powerful backhand.

Unfortunately for him, all he saw was a person standing before him, and not on the ground. The person was actually a older-looking woman, one dressed like a stripper. She wore a tight corset, frilly ballerina skirt with nylon stockings and black high heels. She had her shoulder-length brown hair in curls while her eyes were an ocean blue.

They looked better than that DEATHSTROKE brat's at least, and that was enough for him.

A crooked, perverse grin spread across the man's face as he stood from his stool, putting down his glass as he strode to her. He completely forgot how he almost assaulted her just before. "Oh? And what's a hottie like you doing in a place like this? You want some?" he asked her, staring at her boobs which, thanks to her corset, were almost bulging. Didn't help that they were an F cup, either.

"How much are you paying, big boy?" The Prostitute questioned, a sultry grin on her ruby red lips. Her eyes, done well with makeup to make her look as enticing as possible. It definitely hooked Saizou in, that's for sure.

The man grinned even more, this would be the perfect stress relief for him. He wouldn't have to worry about money considering how his family was filthy rich, so he would unload everything on this slut then forget about that humiliation he had suffered. "Why, enough to blow your mind, girlie. You'll be engulfed in it by the time we're done."

That was all the prostitute needed as she gave him a large, inviting grin that just oozed seduction. She sauntered over to him, swaying her hips from side to side to draw his gaze to them. It worked wonders, as she took his right hand in hers before leading them out of the bar. "Let's go somewhere less… crowded, sir. This'll be fun for the TWO of us."

If Saizou was sober, he would have noticed something odd when the woman said two. It was said in a vague manner, heavily stated.

* * *

Saizou and the prostitute were now in a back alley behind the bar. It was a rather dirty area, but with what they were planning to do, that wouldn't matter. They were going to get down and dirty anyways, so what was the point of going somewhere clean?

That alone got him harder than a turtle.

The man pinned the woman to a wall, his lips harshly pressing against hers as the two engaged in a battle of lips. Tongues soon followed as the man rubbed his hands over the woman's body, claiming it as his for the night. He loved the feel of a woman's clothed skin, but it would be better when they were both bare.

He hooked his arms under her legs and lifted her, pinning her back to the wall. Neither of the two stopped their heated moment of passion as the man made to remove the belt on his pants. He also moved down to her neck, eagerly sucking on some areas to leave hickeys behind. The woman moaned and groaned with pleasure, light gasps escaping her lips as he did so.

'Ahhhhh… this is how it should be.' Saizou thought to himself, finally feeling some form of satisfaction this night. A woman moaning from his ministrations as he used her to satisfy his own needs. Her needs didn't matter to him, in the end as she was only meant to please him. If he liked, he'd probably take her back to his family's mansion as a sex slave.

Slavery was a common thing in Leanbox, devised by their ancestors hundreds of years ago. It was made a thing when they didn't have a capital city, when they only existed as mere tribes vying for land and power. Only when Leanbox was founded did those traditions die out, however, once time in the past, some of those traditions returned. That time was after when their CPU left for the Console War.

Odds were that the CPU wasn't aware of it, because if she was then it would have likely been disbanded. No matter how hard those eggheads in the Government fought against it, the word of a CPU was law according to legal precedent.

But enough of that bullshit, right now, Saizou just wanted to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh for the night. His hands reached down towards the woman's crotch area, attempting to see if the woman was even wearing anything down there. Some Prostitutes didn't do that, which was something the man liked.

It made things way easier for the two of them. Not that he cared about the woman.

But just before he could grab the woman's special area…

SQUELCH!

His eyes shot open, breathing suddenly becoming impossible, as blood was spat from his lips. Saizou gasped, his mouth open in a silent scream as something wet, cold and metallic was felt down below. He looked down, and saw something that honestly would give him nightmares if he were to make it out of this alive.

A black, demonic looking Tentacle jutting out from his chest. It radiated this equally black, Smokey aura, an aura that almost hid its shiny, metallic skin.

His senses registered an energy surge, making Saizou look to the source, which was upwards, to see that the prostitute that he had been about to fuck moments ago, even taking home with him for eternal pleasuring, had been cloaked in black energy. When it faded away, it revealed that she was now way older, and wore a white witch costume.

That was the last thing Saizou saw before darkness claimed him.

* * *

 ** _"_** ** _Hmmmmmm… This MORTAL… he MAY be ONE of the more PRIMITIVE of his SSSSPECIESSSS, but his power is beyond that of those others…"_**

Now that she was back to her true form, Arfoire applied energy to herself, dispersing the hickeys that Saizou had left on her pale skin. She had almost vomited in disgust when she was doing all that flirty crap. It was honesty degrading, pathetic and downright humiliating. She felt like her pride as a woman had been damaged, however it was also a way to easily manipulate the mortals. A way to manipulate them into stepping into the shadows where her companion would be waiting to strike.

The things she had to do for her ambitions.

"I guess staying in that prison for so long robbed you of your original form. That's why you had me look for mortals for you to consume."

Arfoire looked to the source of the Tentacle, which was nothing but a pitch-black blob of pure darkness itself. It hid itself well in the shadows, radiating a Smokey aura of power beyond that of her or those pathetic CPUs. When she first released it from its prison, she hadn't expected this development, but even in this state, this being, this being recorded in the DPU tomes she had found over the centuries, still radiated power beyond her imagining.

She herself had almost been a victim of this creature, had she not managed to make a deal with it at the last moment.

Those Tentacles would have gotten her as well…

She didn't want that, nope, all the nope.

 ** _"_** ** _YESSSSSSS… I see… It was as SSSSSPARDA foretold… the Mortalsssss have indeed grown STRONG in our absence…!"_**

There was a mix of emotions in the beings voice. There was surprised, befuddlement, anger and glee, mixed together into one confusing impression. It was like multiple personalities were busy trying to decide what the main response the being should have, something that only dumbfounded the Witch.

Arfoire nodded her head in agreement with the being's statement nonetheless, though. She wouldn't risk earning its ire when she herself was still potentially on the menu. "It was meant to be a means of taking fate into their own hands when those CPUs began their silly Console War, leaving humanity to fend for itself against the Monsters. Shame that its been downgraded from what it once was by the foolish masses." She spat at the end in disgust.

While Arfoire detested humanity, wanting to do what she planned to with them, she had nothing against the one that developed the Spec Ops Program, detesting the way that humanity had been fighting and thus, devised a way to retain their existence. That was something that earned her respect. It was people like that, who showed that humanity had its own untapped potential, and when their plans were accomplished, that potential shall come to light.

The blob-like form stilled for a moment, as if contemplating her words. Its Tendrils, which jutted out randomly at equally random parts of its body, swayed in a calm, silent manner as Arfoire awaited its response.

She didn't have to wait long.

 **"** **Perhapsssss there is TRUTH to what you say, FALLEN one. Humanity has grown SOFT, ARROGANT, through that PATHETIC progenitor's SPAWN over the millennia. It is TIME for this world's TRUE masters to RETURN! But for NOW, we MUST be GOING, my body HUNGERS for more. More. MORE!"**

The Witch watched as the creature's body began to shake and tremble, as if barely containing itself from sucking out all the life in the vicinity to satisfy its growing hunger. She mentally groaned, resisting the urge to do so externally. She had prepared for this situation, prepared herself mentally that is, but damnit was it no less annoying.

Those CPUs would pay dearly for this humiliation, to have to be reduced to a mere lackey in the eyes of this deity. The only saving grace she had from this situation was that, once it could regain its true form, the deity's powers, knowledge and alliance would belong to her. No, that wasn't quite right, they would be equals, neither having control over the other.

Not what she usually worked with, but it would have to do.

Nothing would stop her from achieving her goals, not even relics of the forgotten past.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alright, now for a Special Event for the flirty redhead of Team RAIL, Lucy! She will be like the opposite of Raven in terms of personality, if you haven't noticed already. She's perverted, though not to the Naruto character Jiraya's level, likes to tease people, yet she also has a hidden side to her, a side that only certain people are aware of.**

* * *

 **Special Event - Lucy**

Taking a break from the Team's activities wasn't something she got to do often. What with all the Quests and Urgent Quests that they had to do. But when she got the chance, Lucy damn well took it. She had to look her best when she tried to seduce Nico finally, and taking breaks would help her do that. She didn't want to look anything less.

Thus, that had led to the redhead second-in-command of Team RAIL to be sitting alone in a park, reading a book that she had brought along. Her bench was located under a large tree, which had its branches and leaves extending over her head to offer plenty of shade to those beneath them. A pleasant wind blew through the area, ruffling her hair and making a small smile form on her features. There wasn't many people out this morning, which honestly she didn't mind. Peace and quiet was nice too, you know!

The book she was reading, was a Manga series called 'Horimiya' and it was about this couple who presented different personalities and appearances to how they act in private.

She found this Manga interesting and relatable to her. Not just with the romance either, she knew that she was slowly whittling Nico down with her antics, so the near-future was looking bright for her. No, what she found relatable was the double personality aspect. Not that she had a split personality or anything like that, but acting and how she really felt were similar to this Manga.

To her, it had once been all about attention.

She liked attention, the knowledge and POWER she had over other people, the fact that they would be like putty in her hands, ready to do anything to satisfy her. Back in the past, she remembered how she would use her rather succubus-like body to entice and seduce any 'specimen' she found tickling her fancy. It didn't matter to her whether the specimen was male or female, screw gender. She wanted those specimens and she would take them.

Once those specimens had given everything they could offer her, Lucy would move on to the next one.

To her, Specimens were those who were enough to pique her interest and satisfy her needs, nothing more. She didn't see them as people, nope, never did. Those specimens to her, were nothing more than that, and when she departed from them, she would make sure they knew it, and if they would try to step out of line, well... lets just say Raven wasn't the only scary ass woman in the world.

There was a fictional character she liked, her name being "Poison Ivy" from a remarkable comic series. She couldn't remember the name though, but that wasn't important to her, for the character reminded her a lot of herself. Poison Ivy, liked her, liked showcasing her dominance over men with her 'fatal kiss', but Lucy liked the control she had over anyone. Not just men. She even had similar abilities to her, but in Lucy's opinion, hers were more powerful.

Back then, she had been way more aggressive and dominating, but then...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of feet stepping on leaves, and she glanced from her Manga to see that 3 males, each in their mid 20's, were making their way towards her. The one in the centre, low and behold, looked like the leader. He wore a simple beach shirt, tan shorts and trainers. The scent of cologne clung heavily to him, too heavily for her tastes. She could imagine how Nico would react if he was here. His two lackeys followed behind him like mindless puppies, both of them being plain looking, wearing casual clothes while they each reeked of men's perfume.

Her lips twitched, and she hid her rising distaste. 'Raven isn't the only one who's distrustful of men...' she thought to herself. She never liked any of her Specimens as friends, they were simply tools to satisfy her desires, both carnal and deepest ones. She never wanted to get close to them any more than necessary.

Walking up to her, the leader became the one to speak first, surprise-surprise. "Hey now, what do we have here?" he began, trying to look and act cool. In her mind, she gave him a 4, maybe 3... and that was her being generous. "What's a hot ass fuck beauty like you doing in a place like this?"

'Ugh! The hell is up with those cringe-ass pickup lines?' Lucy groaned in her mind. Nevertheless, she put her Manga aside for the moment. 'I'm honestly not in the mood to entertain these wannabe players, so perhaps I'll go all out from the start...' She then looked up and smiled sweetly, hiding her inner feelings perfectly. "My, I am just here to simply enjoy some time off from work. Nothing more, nothing less, boys." she told them.

The leader made to reply, when Lucy had a hand on his chin with her form nearly dominating over his. They were so close, and yet the leader couldn't help but gaze into those devilishly seductive crimson orbs. "Now, do you boys mind if I do that? Hmmm?" she asked, a sultry smirk escaping her lips as her eyes shined, like a predator having cornered her prey.

She could see her prey's will crumbling, she could see it in his eyes. It was something she had seen and been the cause of many times in her past. She would always assert her dominance, be the one on top, to control the hormones of others just through sexuality and sensuality alone. It was her skill, her talent that she had honed over the years.

Though, even with this control that she had over him, it just wasn't as pleasant as it was in the past. She knew why though, for there was one man out there that had the will to resist her even when she was blatantly showing that she wanted him more than as a Specimen.

Compared to him, these boys were like children, foolishly pursuing their hormones.

"U-Um, n-n-n-no ma'am, no its not!" the blonde before her stammered, blushing intensely while his eyes shined with lust. It nearly made her scoff and drop the charade.

"So can I read in peace please? That won't be a problem for you boys, will it?"

"N-NO, its not ma'am!"

Turning to his lackeys, the three males quickly hightailed it out of there to... relieve themselves in private after, to them, a 'hot encounter with an enticing beauty'.

Now that the nuisances were gone, Lucy gave a sigh, allowing her charade to fall off her face to reveal the annoyed scowl on her ruby red lips. "Ugh, I almost gagged, I actually almost gagged handling those amateurs. I feel really sorry for those who get into a relationship with them, if any at all do that." she muttered under her breath.

Shaking her head, Lucy mentally made herself forget about those morons. She didn't want them to ruin her nice day of relaxation. And so, with that out of the way, she turned on her heeled boots and made her way back to the bench. She plumped her backside on the hard stone, before taking her Manga and resuming her read...

Until she got an Urgent Quest alert from Raven.

"Goddess Damnit!"


	69. Chapter 66 - Mojang Village

**Hey guys, chapter 66 here!**

 **If any of you haven't noticed, Mojang is actually a sub company for Microsoft, which is the main company. Considering Vert represents Microsoft, I thought naming that village as such appropriate. Now, lets get onto the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 66 - Mojang Village**

"Spec Ops, we're nearly at the village. Estimated time of arrival: 20 minutes. Look to our right, you can see it from here." The Driver called out to them from the front seat, snapping the Spec Ops being transported out of their silence. His voice was almost robotic, thanks to transmitting through speakers.

Because of the barrier between them, Nico's enhanced hearing and senses couldn't pick up any details that could be hinted to his current condition. Not something he could appreciate, made him feel like he was in the dark.

Nevertheless, the Agents, hearing that they were close to their destination, looked out of several windows on the right side of the transport. They saw the village in the distance, their road leading through a large field before veering off to the right. The road then winded up an uphill journey, curving around the hill, before stopping at the village entrance. Leanbox villages, like the capital, had a medieval theme in its architecture, with a bonus city wall erected around it. It was illuminated by the light of the looming moon and the stars surrounding it, almost like a save point in a digital game.

However, there was several things that they noticed were off about the Village.

"Uhhhh… guys? Why does there seem to not be any monsters?" Ivan questioned, scratching his jaw in confusion. "Wasn't the reports indicating an Abnormal presence? Cause I don't see any."

Raven hummed as she eyed the empty fields they passed by along their journey. Her eyes, hidden by her Mask, scanned them like they were supercomputers processing data, taking in every detail. Her eyes narrowed into slits a moment later. "Looks like there were Abnormals here. I can see remnants of craters on the fields. Smells of sweat in the air possibly indicates that someone ought the Abnormals. They were here, but something else happened." She summarized.

Nico glanced over to Raven, the black-haired leader of Team RAIL resting a hand on the hilt of her Odachi. He knew from her profile and experience that she always had keener senses than a normal person. Not as great as his own, as proven through various tasting and sensory tests, but still slightly above average. She had honed those senses to her advantage though, plus she could still live a normal life.

Him on the other hand…

"Looks like we have ourselves a war-like scenario." Lucy began, humming to herself like her leader did. "I remember that Leanbox used to be a land filled with warring tribes, vying for power. Even after Leanbox's founding, there were some tribes who decided to stay out of it and become bandits instead, though I heard most of them had been wiped out by the Abnormals." She pondered, a low scowl on her lips as she remembered those events.

Aiden then put in his two cents, scanning everything with a critical eye. "Whatever happened here, it happened hard and fast. Like how it long it takes for CYBORG to get rejected at a bar." He ignored the loud 'Hey!' of indignation that Ivan shouted his way, in favour of continuing on. Although there were a few snickers from Lucy, Nico, and Isaac. "From what I can see, this happened likely during the night. Most of the craters were formed likely by the guardsman for the village judging by their shape. Though there are some odd few that are… very oddly shaped." He stated, eyes hardening at the oddity he had seen.

"You guys seen this before?" Isaac questioned, glancing towards them though it was difficult to tell thanks to his Helmet. "You five act like you've had experience with things like this." It wasn't an uncommon observation, Isaac knew that Spec Ops tend to have some weird encounters every now and then. This just seemed like one of those.

Guts however, merely grunted as he once again took a seat, his sword by his side while he leaned against the wall of the transport, closing his eyes and seemingly falling asleep. His disinterest in the events before him had clearly been stated through these actions.

Not minding him, Raven answered while her hand rubbed the base of her Odachi's hilt with her palm. "You could say that. Stuff like this has been common for us, since Lastation." She told him, her coldness still present. However, Isaac seemed to have passed some mental test of hers, as it wasn't as cold as before. It sounded formal still, but there was less likely to be a bloodbath.

A relief, since Raven had been prone to causing riots in the past.

"Shit, you guys must have it rough." Isaac remarked with a thoughtful frown. They didn't answer him, which was more than enough of an answer for the man as they awaited their eventual disembarking.

* * *

Finally, the group of Spec Ops were able to leave the transport, which had parked outside the main entrance. A silent breeze blew through the village. Its touch may have felt calm and refreshing, but it also carried an undertone of ominous tension and anxiety, making the Spec Ops Agents reflexively twitch their brows. Their training prevented much of a reaction to this situation, it was practically a daily occurrence for them.

The village, like from afar, was practically devoid of life. The atmosphere was in a word, empty, lifeless. Like a corpse, only to them, it felt much worse than that. But unlike from afar, they were all able to notice something else about the village.

"You guys…"

"Yeah, we know, Ivan."

Ivan had been the first to voice it, and Lucy all but confirmed that the rest of them had the same thoughts. This village, it looked like it had been ransacked or something. The buildings were either partially or completely destroyed. The former had its remains on one side while the latter existed only as piles of rubble. Some spaces on the ground seemed oddly like they were charred. Some of them even had charred craters in them, like something had impacted against the ground. Some of the buildings had charred sections as well.

Not only that, but it looked like there were fortifications built around the village, like some military had been prepping to fight here but got overrun before the defences could be set up. In Nico's eye, thanks to his Armour's helmet, this seemed slightly familiar… something like an incident that happened in Lowee a while back…

The faces of a sadistic, sarcastic troll, and a silver haired military Lastation General, came to mind.

"This Village was attacked." Guts stated bluntly, his massive sword resting on his shoulder as he held it in his right hand. "By my account, it seems like an Abnormal did this. Could be the creature that's jamming our satellite equipment." By no means was he discounting the possibility of the Overlord Cultists, however these charred areas, and the craters by extension… they felt off to him. Unnatural, wrong even.

Aiden glanced to the larger armoured man. "Not just any Abnormal it seems…" he stated, approaching one of the craters. He kneeled by one while the others scattered across the entrance, searching for any clues as to what could have happened here. As he examined the craters, Aiden picked up a piece of the charred ground, rubbing it within his fingers. "Looks recent. The ground seems freshly charred." He noted, deciding to deposit the now designated 'sample' to his Inventory for the Guild's researchers to look at.

Nico stood before one of the partially damaged buildings. He raised his right Bracer and had it scan the building for any abnormalities. He couldn't shake off the feeling that was spreading from his gut. The feeling that this wasn't any of the usual stuff to do with Abnormals, it was something he'd gotten from the moment the group had first set foot onto this place.

He glanced up at the night skies, eyeing the moon that shone down on them from its perch in outer space. The stars surrounding it twinkled beautifully, unaffected by the chaos that went on in the world of Gamindustri. On any other night, Nico would have found such a sight beautiful. He remembered stargazing with Compa before Neptune crashed into their lives, literally.

But right now, all he could feel was this sense of being watched. Not in the good way either.

Then, Nico decided to get some information from his demonic persona. 'What do you think, Biko?' he asked him, feeling his presence through the mental link they shared. 'Do you think this is…?'

 **'** **Demonic in nature?'** Biko finished, already knowing what he was thinking. They were mentally linked after all, it would be next to impossible to hide things from each other. **'I cannot tell just yet; however, I do believe I agree with that Guts character. I have analysed your past memories of Abnormal encounters, and so far, I have not seen craters like these.'** Biko explained, and if he was in his inner world, Nico would have seen how his demonic persona frowning deeply. **'However, I will not rule out your demon feeling. I'll be checking the fragmented memories soon enough, hopefully I can glean some information from them. For now, check your Bracer, its finished scanning.'**

'Huh?' Nico blinked, returning to the real world and looking down at his Bracer. He saw that the Bracer's screen displayed the 'Scan Complete' message and a 'view' button beneath it, making him raise a brow. 'Huh, well how about that. Let's see what we got here…'

While the teen looked over his Bracer's scans, Lucy and Raven stood at the front of the street, eyeing their surroundings with critical gazes. There was no sign of their usual animosity, both being in full-on work mode. Raven had her hand on her Odachi's hilt, clutching it in case she had to make a quick-draw to fend off any surprise attacks, while Lucy looked deceptively loose. One look at her eyes though, and you could tell that she was just as alert as the rest of them.

"An invasion happened here." Lucy stated calmly, her eyes harder than a Turtle's shell. She had her arms crossed under her ample bosom, and this time it was unintentional, but they were further pronounced their development before her Leader. "It happened hard, fast, and the defenders didn't stand a chance."

Raven nodded, her eyes narrowing into sits behind her mask. She ignored the detail about Lucy's breasts, sensing no condescending intent behind the gesture as she scanned their surroundings. "That's usually the case with village guards. They don't have the technology the military does." She stated. It was impossible to see if she was frowning behind her Mask, as she turned to her second in command. "Whoever did this had to have known the times when their guard was at their weakest. They struck too precisely, if one looks at the damaged buildings they'll see that they're mostly guard garrisons and militaristically valuable targets."

Lucy nodded her head in agreement. "Same here. Also…" the redhead suddenly leaned close, whispering into Raven's ear something that made her eyes harden. Harder than they were before, if that were possible, behind her Mask.

"Are you certain of this?"

"You bet your ass, I am."

Back with the Transport, Isaac and the driver were discussing something. The man had heard these various snippets of conversation, and already knew that the driver shouldn't be here. "Dude, you might want to leave for the time being. I'll call you when we need Evac." He told the driver.

Said driver, a man in his late thirties with an all-black uniform, darker-than-normal skin, and a single eyepatch while a cap was over his head, didn't look too happy in the slightest. In fact, it was safe to say that he had a frustrated, yet fearful, expression on his features. "But sir, my orders were to transport you to the mission area and wait for the duration! I can't go back, or they'll get mad at me!" he tried to protest.

If this was any other Agent, then that may have worked. But Spec Ops Agents, no matter the nation, take care of their own, and that fact was shown once more when Isaac figuratively put his boot down. "No, you have to leave, and that's final. Besides, its not like you're abandoning us, if we need transport then we'll call for you. What's your name again?"

"S-Sam, Sam Hawkins, ISHIMURA, sir."

"Alright, Hawkins." Isaac began, nodding to himself as he memorized the name till he could recite it by heart. He did this for nearly every Agent he met, so they would be remembered if they died. "I'll clear things up with those up top if you go now. You have a family right? Wife, probably a kid or two?" At Hawkins nodding in confirmation about the wife, but not the kid part, Isaac continued while placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm making sure you stay away so you can get back to your beloved wife. I'd hate to have to tell her the bad news that you'd died on duty."

Hawkins stared at the man, his eye filled with awe as he heard the man's heart-warming words. "So… is it really true?" he asked, trembling as he bit the inside of his cheek. "That Spec Ops are all arrogant asses? Cause you don't sound like it, to me."

Isaac scoffed at the mention of that particular story. "Only some, and they slander our name just for their own gain. Not like that myself, got a wonderful wife waiting for me back home. Even if shit hits the fan here, I have something to go back to. Thing is, you're a normal person, so you don't have the same assurances. Go back to at least back over the fields, and wait over at the other side. You should be safe at that distance. Talk to your wife tell her that you're okay. Let us deal with the dangerous shit."

In the end, Hawkins couldn't help but be awed by the Spec Ops Agent before him. His eyes may be covered by his helmet, but the warmth and concern for him, a simple driver, was clear as day. He glanced to the others in the group, to see that while some didn't look it, all of them were paying attention to the conversation. They actually took concern for his safety, which wasn't something that could be said often about disposable characters like him.

It made him feel more important than he really was.

"Th-Thank you, sir!" The man finally spoke, lowering his head in reverence like he was before the CPU herself. "I'll do exactly as you say!" he exclaimed, before making a beeline for the APC. He boarded it, started up the engine, and made a U turn to head back across the fields, going down the hill road first of course. If one were to look, they'd see that the driving represented the man's excitement at being able to talk to his wife soon.

As the man drove down to the fields below, Nico looked over to Isaac completely, his brow raised as he didn't bother hiding his impressed gaze from him. If he had his Armour's helmet open, then he would have been seen smirking in satisfaction and respect for the Leanbox Spec Ops Agent. "That was a good thing you did, making sure he didn't get himself killed." He complimented. "Not many would think to warn them like you did."

"Meh, I knew someone who did the same to me before I became a Spec Ops." Isaac responded, waving a hand dismissively. He looked up at the starry sky, and the others got the feeling that the man was losing himself in old memories. "He realised the danger I would be in if I stayed, so he let me get some distance. Good thing too, cause the mission went sour and he barely escaped alive. Though he died on the journey back."

The other Agents frowned, or the ones that had their expressions visible did. "Did you know him well?" Lucy questioned. Death wasn't an uncommon thing in their line of work. It was practically their dance partner their entire lives, so they had come to terms with such a thing. Though, there were some amongst their ranks that didn't have that fear to guide them, while others just thought they were untouchable.

In response, the man shook his helmet-covered head, glancing at his right hand which held one of his weapons: A Plasma Cutter. According to Isaac, it was one of his best weapons, and a 'long-time friend' of his.

The standard Model was a 211-V Plasma Cutter, developed by Leanbox Engineers when they raided Planeptune and stole some of their research on Plasma Technology. The 211-V is a tool designed to be used in mining operations. It uses two alignment blades on the side, and three lights on the front, to help the user accurately cut through softer minerals. It uses an internal power source, is compact/light enough to be easily portable, and can be even used one handed (due to its light weight).

The Plasma Cutter delivers a cohesive pulse-stream, or "bolt", of ionized plasma when fired. It is capable of firing bolts vertically (primary firing mode) and horizontally (secondary firing mode). The Plasma Cutter is very accurate, utilizing three blue lasers to indicate the desired cutting plane.

On impact with the target, bolt cohesion fails frontward first, penetrating the target with a focused jet of superheated matter. This causes intense localized shear effects as well as a tunnelling thermal expansion. When used upon brittle, frozen rocks riddled with faults, it can split them open in one or two shots in skilled hands. Against pliable targets, however, impact will cause minimal damage and thermal expansion will not so much cut as stress the area around the impact site, sometimes requiring several consecutive hits with the non-upgraded tool. Still, when presented with a less than effective alternative against dense organic matter, the 211-V Plasma Cutter retains its utility.

The Plasma Cutter utilizes variable-capacity cartridges called Plasma Energy as its ammunition which is capable of cutting down hard, mineral laden rocks in mining operations. Though seeming to only contain stored energy in them, plasma is in fact highly ionized matter, so either the cartridge is a combination battery/plasma medium, or the Cutter itself contains a reservoir of usable material to carry the ion charge.

This one was smaller than the standard 211-V model, but it held signs of constant use, meaning that it had to have been a good partner for a long ass time. Its emitter had covers that retracted over its front, presumably to prevent accidental discharge while not in use. These covers open up though when the weapon is activated.

Ivan looked at the weapon curiously, raising his Bionic arm as he asked the man a question that popped into his head like a balloon. "So, uh, you carry anything like swords, daggers and stuff? I don't see any hidden weapons on you, unless they're in your Inventory."

Looking back up to him, Isaac chuckled as he held his Plasma Cutter in one hand over his shoulder, a lot like Guts did with his sword. "Nah, got me some CQC skills for that. Different weapons and extra Ammo for em is all loaded into my Inventory, so I'm good. Plus, I got this."

He picked up a small pebble on the ground and tossed it into the air. He then held his hand out, and what looked like a wave shot out of it, colliding with the pebble. To their surprise, the pebble seemingly froze in mid-air, like time around it had completely stopped. Though, if one looked hard enough they'd see that it was still indeed moving, but barely even at a snail's pace.

"A Stasis Module…" Nico whispered under his breath, surprise shining in his lone eye. "So, that's one of the modules you have installed into your RIG…" He had heard of such Modules before. Apparently, they worked by producing a temporary time dilation, making objects move at an extremely slow rate for a period.

It was some interesting technology, all right, but Nico never got the chance to use it himself. He wasn't completely overpowered, he had his own Armour, his Plasma and Demonic weapons, as well as his DPU Powers which were unusable at the moment, and IT to fall back on if the time ever came.

"Yep, real beauty. Helped me get out of more jams than I'd care to mention." Isaac boasted, all of them getting the impression that he was proud of his gear. It was a perfectly normal thing to be proud of one's skillset and equipment, as long as they don't go to arrogant about it. That's when lines were crossed.

"Yeah well, anyways, my Bracer scanned the charred earth, looks like we have-"

BOOM!

Behind Isaac, the Spec Ops saw something crash into the middle of the road, halfway between the base of the hill and to the opposite side. Unfortunately, their transport was in that space, so with the boulder crashing on it…

It was destroyed, killing the Driver instantly.

"Oh, shit!" Ivan exclaimed in shock, backpedalling. His mouth fell open behind his face mask, his goggles failing to hide his stunned, disbelieving eyes. If his face wasn't concealed, his jaw might have fallen free to the ground. "What the fuck was that?!"

Lucy made to answer, when she glanced to the skies above them. Her eyes narrowed into slits, oddly resembling the eyes of her leader, until they shot open with horror. "You guys, we gotta move, its an ambush!"

Her cry came too late, as a whole shower of 34 crimson and orange meteors began falling from the skies, illuminating the skies red. Where they came from, the Spec Ops Agents had no clue, but they knew one thing and one thing only as the meteors crashed into the village around them.

They were going to be in for a rough night.

* * *

 ** _"…"_**

"What is it?" Arfoire questioned. Her sole companion in the night, had stopped moving along the shadows for a good 10 minutes. It may not have any eyes yet, but something in her gut told her that the being was staring in a certain direction. He just didn't know where that would be exactly.

And that was something that was highly irritating to the Witch woman.

 ** _"…_** ** _I sense… demon ENERGY… in that DIRECTION…"_**

The woman's anger halted when she heard those words, replacing itself with confusion and curiosity. She got a better idea of where it was looking when the Deity created a Tendril and pointed to the south west. But the only thing in that direction would be Mojang Village…

Oh.

OH.

'Did those mortals do what I think they did?' Arfoire wondered, barely able to hide her surprise at the audacity humans had. If THAT was what they had done, then she couldn't help but be torn on whether to praise them or call them absolute idiots. Doing THAT would have far reaching consequences, for both the caster and the lands for centuries to come, thanks to demonic energy's truly destructive nature.

 ** _"_** ** _No MATTER. We must continue our SEARCH… I must FEED…"_**

With the lack of interest in the events going on at Mojang Village, the deity began to move again, with Arfoire trailing behind it. She silently wondered what would happen there, and mentally resolved to find out herself.

* * *

Things had gone to hell real quickly.

That was the group consensus that the Spec Ops Agents had as they each dealt with a certain situation.

Those meteors? Well guess what, they weren't exactly meteors, but massive hulking Golems made out of floating rock, molten magma, and pure fire. How they were held together was an unknown to most of the party, and by most, that meant everyone but Nico.

Said male was currently working together with Raven in the centre of the Village, fighting a Golem the size of a single-story house. It gave a loud roar, smashing its large stone hand where Raven stood once had she not managed to roll out of the way in time. Her Odachi in hand, Raven swiftly ran towards it, intending to cut through its right arm. Her Odachi was blue in blade colour, indicating she was using Ice elements for her blade this time.

However, she stopped just before she could hit, hissed and jumped back. She glanced downwards, noticing that some areas of her clothes had been horribly burnt just by being near the Golem. "Tch, that's a pain…" she muttered in annoyance. She held her Odachi in a specific stance, activating a Skill as her blade began to glow.

"THOUSAND POUND CANNON!"

She made a single slashing motion, and her Odachi almost roared with the winds that were unleashed from her blade. The Skill sped across the area like a torrent of wind, hitting the Golem head on. It didn't even try to dodge, the winds whipping away at its flames as it covered its face with its massive hands. Its feet dug deep into the ground below, trying to keep it anchored to it. However, the Skill managed to send it sliding back over 20 metres.

When the skill ended though, it was still standing. Albeit with several gashes winding up and down its stone, but other than that it was fine.

Behind her Mask, Raven scowled, her eyes shining with the challenge this for presented towards her. She quickly made to use another Skill, however the beast before them unleashed a breath of fire from its flaming skull-like mouth, making her eyes go wide behind her Mask in surprise. She had little time to curse, as she rolled out the way of it, tumbling back to a standing position before she ducked under a horizontal swing. She cursed again as she realised that it had gotten close to her near instantaneously, showcasing its high speed.

Despite its size, anyways.

'Biko, those Fragmented Memories say anything?!' he shouted in his mind, quickly bending backwards to avoid a stream of crimson fire sent his way by the Golem. Almost like a certain character with an N that was famous for his slow-mo shots.

 **'** **They call this race the Infernals! Demons who have fiery auras that burn any who get too close! ' **Biko urgently informed. In his inner world, Biko was sweating bullets, uncharacteristically nervous. Nico couldn't help but be stunned by this while flipping back to his feet, then jumping to the side to avoid a fist trying to crush him to a pulp. **'They may not have much intelligence, but they can destroy entire cities before they extinguish themselves with their own energies, thus being sent back to the void from whence they came!'**

Well, wasn't that a barrel of laughs? Nico couldn't help the sarcastic snort that escaped his lips at the thoughts racing through his mind. A demon whose aura prevented him from getting close, kind of annoying. Most of his Skills required him to be close to the enemy, he was pretty OP when it came to short to mid ranged combat, but he had few weapons that would be effective in long ranged combat aside from Ebony and Ivory.

Problem was, that those guns took bullets made from his demonic energy, and with his current condition, he wouldn't be able to use them for very long before going into a seizure, as Biko had warned him. His only options were his PHANTOM BLADES Skill, PHANTOM WAVE, PLASMA BLAST, CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS, Plasma Cannons, Plasma Launcher, and that was pretty much it.

Well, he had to make do with the cards he'd been dealt, pull a Jim Raynor and all that jazz.

'Alright, lets see how it likes some exploding Plasma Cells…' Nico thought, quickly summoning his Plasma Launcher and unloading a bunch of its shells into the creature's face. The attack caught it by surprise, thus the attack managed to land its mark by colliding with its head, electing a roar from it as it stumbled backwards. Its aura, now that Raven wasn't near it anymore, didn't feel like it would burn her alive anymore.

"Raven, that thing's called an Infernal!" he bellowed to his comrade, who glanced at him to show he had her attention. "It's dying of its own energies but judging by its size its obviously has a lot of it! Its aura allows it to be immune to CQC unless you wanna become fried barbecue, so stick to ranged attacks!"

Wordlessly, Raven nodded as she turned her attention to the Beast before them. If this thing was called an Infernal, then the male assumed that it was some sort of Demon. But, the questions of why it was here and how it got here eluded him, for now. He decided to focus on their battle first, then they'd go help the rest of them.

Hopefully, they would be alright till then.

* * *

"Hey, I just got a message from Nico!" Ivan yelled to his two partners, who happened to be Lucy and Aiden, as they fought against not one, but two Infernals, both the size of a two-story building. Both demonic beasts glared at them, their eyeless sockets literally ablaze. "Turns out these fuckers can burn you just by getting close to them, and the best way to beat them is to wear them down at mid to long range!"

Lucy groaned rolling her eyes as she gripped her right shoulder. It had been dislocated during the battle, and with a wince, she had relocated it back into place. Audible cracks echoed through the air at this action, making Ivan grimace while Aiden flew through the skies, peppering the Infernals with rounds from his dual Pistols. "Well, at least one of us will be having a fun time up there." She groaned, jealous.

Unlike a lot of their ranks, Aiden held the advantage of flight plus long-range weaponry, making him an ideal recon soldier. Not to say he was a slouch in CQC, but that was more of Nico's specialty, that and mid ranged attacks. His weapons included close to mid range, while if he were to be engaged in a long ranged shootout, then Nico would have to rely only on his senses, and even they could be fooled. His weaknesses were disabled like settings in a game menu whenever he transformed though, something that Nico had found out while training.

All the more reason to use that form sparingly, in his eyes anyways.

* * *

Guts and Isaac stood back to back, surrounded by 10 Infernals, knowing their names after Isaac relayed the message to his partner when Nico sent him it. These ones were arguably smaller, the size of an 8-foot-tall human, actually, so they would be having an easier time than the others.

Although, Isaac almost laughed when he felt the disappointment from Guts' back.

"Chillax, Guts, I know you wanna take the big boys since you're used to doing that every single goddamn day." Isaac spoke, a teasing smile on his lips under his helmet. He held his Plasma Cutter and fired a shot at an approaching Infernal, knocking it back from the recoil. Its durability, despite not sharing the size of the ones the others were likely fighting against, was still commendable since it managed to endure the blow.

He grimaced, before instinctively and swiftly ducking as Guts swung his massive sword around him like a whirlwind. The resulting air blast swept the Infernals backwards by a good 10 metres, with several gashes appearing on their stone pieces.

Holding his sword in a two-handed stance, Guts glanced behind him as he regarded his companion. "You take half, I take the other." He stated, before charging in with a mighty war cry, ignoring the indigent 'Guts!' response that Isaac tried giving him.

An urge to groan at his companion's bloodlust surged within the other man's chest. He quashed it though, this was how his partner always was, ever since that incident 2 years ago.

'Guy's working too hard lately, he's overworking himself, which is going to get himself killed…' Isaac thought, frowning behind his helmet. One Infernal tried to smash a fist into him, but the man threw his free hand forwards and his Stasis Module activated. The erupting wave that flew from his hand and immobilised the creature, log enough for him to pivot out the way and fire several shots to his opponents head.

He then rolled to the side to avoid 2 fire streams, from 1 Infernal each. He shot one in the leg, being close enough to it to not be affected by its immolation aura but close enough for his shot to kick its leg into the air. He did the same with the other one before he tossed his weapon into the air, the weapon vanishing into his Inventory.

Next second, he had a new weapon in his hands, mentally commanded to appear from his Inventory. His beloved C99 – Supercollider Contact Beam or Contact Beam for short. Like the Force Gun, another weapon Isaac possessed, the Contact Beam was an energy projector that utilizes kinetic energy. As its name suggests, it is a miniaturized particle accelerator intended for mining operations.

To operate to its actual purpose, the Contact Beam needs to be charged for a brief period. When fully charged and fired, the Contact Beam delivers a huge kinetic discharge that obliterates anything it comes into contact. As such, the weapon trades speed and precision for damage.

With these Infernals though, speed wasn't much of an issue, so this thing was like their anti-Christ.

A grin spread across his face, hidden beneath his helmet, as Isaac aimed at an incoming infernal, charging the Contact Beam and unleashing hell on its ass. The released attack completely sliced through the creature's right arm, blowing it clean off without much resistance thanks to the power behind the blow. The Infernal screamed and roared with intense agony.

"Hehehehe… I so love this thing…"

Hearing Isaac's joy-filled comment about his Contact Beam, Guts looked over to him after having driven his Sword, held in a reverse grip mind you, into the back of an Infernal's chest. His eyes were shown to be a deadpan as the beast vanished in a swirling flicker of red flames. "You going on about that thing…?"

It was more of a statement than a question, but it was spoken nonetheless. Isaac turned to him, and though he couldn't see it, the armoured man knew that Isaac was giving him an equally deadpanned expression. "You carry a massive fucking sword with armour that can resist elemental damage, freeing you for close combat against these things. AND," he held up a finger while firing at another Infernal's face, without even looking. "You jump into flames like a child embracing its mother. Don't judge me."

"I am not questioning your love of your guns." Guts stated bluntly as he blocked a swing from hitting him on the head. He then tilted his blade to deflect the blow away from him and went on to decapitating the Infernal. It vanished into flames like the previous one did.

His partner however, didn't share his sentiment right now. "You say that…"

Deciding that saying any more would be a waste of time, Isaac readied his Contact Beam as the Infernals charged at him. "Lets just show them why we're Leanbox Spec Ops, alright?"

"Agreed."


	70. Chapter 67 - Delving Deeper

**Chapter 67 - Delving Deeper**

She couldn't have predicted this.

She could NEVER have predicted something like this to happen.

'Arfoire… have you truly sunk so low…?'

Thoughts along those lines were the only thing that occupied the ancient [World Tome] that was Histoire, as she recorded the events in Mojang Village in her Tome. Usually, this process happened automatically, even in her sealed state, but thanks to Arfoire unsealing that… thing, that monstrosity from a past that the past CPUS had hoped to leave forgotten, that process had begun experiencing 'glitches'. Performance issues, one might call them.

The land was once again being reintroduced to demonic energy, energy that should never have returned to their time. It was meant to stay a relic of the forgotten past, where it would be forgotten for eternity, to one day face the void and be consumed by it. Though, the only exception came from the heroic demon entity known as Sparda, the one demon that the CPUs of that age respected and admired for both his skill in battle, and his honor as a warrior. He made a fine ruler of the demon race, and under his reign things progressed serenely, at least, as serene as things could get for that time period.

All across Gamindustri, Hellgates were opening to the Demon world, Hellgates that were created by this Cult belonging to this 'Overlord Momus', a foolish notion that Arfoire had spread throughout the four Nations. Because of that faith, it had become possible to bypass the barriers between Gamindustri and the Demon World, weakening those barriers to allow Hellgates to be forged.

Worse still, the thing that Arfoire had found, sealed away by the very beings they were fighting now.

If the Overlord was bad enough, then this thing surpassed that notion in power by leaps and droves. A relic of the past age, the age of the DPUs, had resurfaced into the current Gamindustri, something that the CPUs of old dreaded as much as losing all their shares, powers, and lives. Through the ages, countless threats to their rule had emerged, and each time the CPUs would have fought them with all their might, prevailing in one form or another.

But this… this was not something the CPUs of the present could hope to handle.

Not only because they were divided, but it was also because it was difficult to call them proper CPUs in terms of power alone. At their full power, a CPU still couldn't match a DPU's strength, the strength of a being that could tear entire continents apart with just a single swing of his sword.

To make things even more unfair to the CPUs, a DPU was a god in every sense of the word, able to wield more power without relying on the faith of others, as well as channel the ambient energies around them into their bodies, fuelling their reserves. Not only that, but like the progenitor of all life, they could create and spawn Monstrous creatures on a whim, either through… intercourse (she would have blushed if she were to assume the proper form for that) or to expel a portion of their energies.

That was a FRACTION of a DPU's power, and Sparda was able to do so much more than that. It made Histoire tremble in fear at the very thought of it all.

In the end though, hope still yet existed, for despite this deity re-emerging from the past into the present, a new DPU, for the first time in millennia, had reappeared due to Sparda's foresight. His champion, a successor to his legacy. It was more fortunate that this DPU held no such malevolent intentions towards Gamindustri, for if he did then they would likely have fallen to his power long ago.

That was always a nagging thought, a fear, in the back of Histoire's mind as she recorded Nico's life choices, even the ones that he didn't remember right now.

Those memories were something that Histoire feared the most, aside from the re-emerging threat from the past. Such horrors that befell him in those dark times… they were enough to break a person, to render them completely demented and insane. The sheer agony, trauma and loathing those memories held could be felt through every spec of knowledge that the [World Tome] possessed. How Nico had not gone completely insane was anyone's guess. It only made sense that he couldn't recall it, with his mind blocking the experiences out.

Hopefully, with the people he was surrounded by, Nico would make the correct choice in the future… Gamindustri counted on it.

* * *

"You doing #BOOM# alright there #CRASH# SAMURAI?!"

"I am #SMASH# fine!"

Both Nico and Raven expertly avoided the attacks from the Infernal that they were fighting, the beast opting to use its fire attacks less and less. This wasn't good, it showed that the beast was aware of its weakness and was trying to keep itself around a little longer. Basically, it was a monster on life support.

Still didn't make it any less dangerous.

Nico slid across the ground, leaning his body sideways to avoid a fist that would have decked him in the face. He deployed his Plasma Cannons and fired them at its chest, while pelting it with shells from his Plasma Launcher. The Infernal stumbled backwards from the impact these rounds had, which gave Raven the opportunity to strike back.

"I'm going in!" she yelled, before dashing forwards like a bullet. Nico would have tried to yell at her to stop, but then he noticed something about her: she had a faint blue aura around her, a faint shine added to her eyes. 'Wait, does she plan to…?' Nico wondered. It had been so long, that he had almost forgotten. He wasn't the only one with a condition, no, not when it involved Team RAIL.

Raven was always a… guarded, individual, alongside her title as a man-hater, which was well earned through her background. Most of it was classified though, much like his own. Therefore, the two had something in common, though they didn't talk about it very much. But despite that, the two got along after a… particularly rough start.

She always was a cold person, well, mostly cold. She did show some signs of emotion, but usually she had a stoic, no nonsense personality. She looked down upon those who were 'weak' and scum. Most of those criteria applied to criminals and the arrogant, though, while when she regarded civilians, there was always this… lost, look in her eyes, like she was thinking of something but couldn't remember it exactly.

Still though, when Lucy made that comment about none of them being normal, she couldn't have been any more right.

Like him, Raven too had her own special 'condition' a condition that was highly classified by the Guild's higher-ups. For good reason too, since on the scale from mildly 'queasy' and 'beyond-all-manners-of-fucked-up' her secret ranked quite high. Lucy had a similar condition, which was one of the reasons why they got along.

Also, another reason why Team RAIL was formed in the first place: to monitor these two.

As she ran, Raven drew her free hand back, prepping for a punch. Now, ordinarily this would be classified as a stupid move, punching a being whose body radiates an aura that burns you? Not something any normal, sane person would willingly try to do. They would end up being burned alive by the Infernal's aura, leaving nothing behind as it was all burnt to a crisp and scattered to the winds.

Raven however, was not one of those people.

The Infernal snorted, doing its best impression of a derisive chuckle as it reared its own fist back, preparing to smash her puny fist in as well as her entire being. That was for sure what it expected to happen when it awaited Raven getting close enough to attack. When she was within that range, the beast roared with victory as it thrusted its fist towards her, intending to smash her to bits.

However…

Something ELSE happened, something it did NOT expect.

CRACKLECRACKLECRACKLECRACKLECRACKLECRACKLECRACKLECRACKLECRACKLECRACKLE!

The moment that the two fists were about to meat, Raven's eyes flashed blue. In the instance afterwards, her fist had single large Ice gauntlet, like the ones seen from a knight, big enough to stop the creature's hand, floating parallel to her arm. It had appeared from nothing, building on itself to take on its current form, and right now it was the gauntlet that had landed the blow to its face, sending it flying back.

POW!

The sounds of cracking Ice and cracking stone filled the air from Raven's attack, and as she watched what happened to her opponent, her chest rising and falling indicated that she was breathing heavier than normal. She looked down at her right hand, having sheathed her Odachi a second before the previous collision, and gazed at it through her Mask. If her face had been visible, the flashes of reminiscence would have been shown for the world to see.

How long…

How long had it been since she last resorted to using these abilities?

It must have been a while… she couldn't remember. She knew that she would have to practice with them once more, to shake the dust off. She didn't even recall why she had stopped them in the first place. The one thing she could recall was probably when she drafted herself into the Spec Ops Programme, rising quickly through the ranks and getting her current reputation. It wasn't for money, fame or fortune that she fought, but rather something else… something that she had forgotten before, but only now remembered.

'Nevertheless…' Raven thought as she looked up, seeing the place where she had sent the Infernal flying. The power of cold that flowed through her veins, it was soothing, comforting, and brought back mane memories for her. Both good and bad memories came back to her, but she pushed through the haze for a moment. 'Now's not the time to reminisce about the past. This beast must be dealt with quickly. Using these powers will be necessary. Now, let's see if I can get back into the swing of things.'

Her gauntlet vanished into misty blue vapour, as Raven let out a silent breath she'd been holding, a cloud of vapour released from her Mask. 'Alright… okay… okay… looks like my powers can damage this beast. Makes sense, considering what they are…' she thought to herself, before getting ready to attack again. Her Odachi was then redrawn, its blade a shimmering blue to show that she was using the power of Ice, her primary element.

People say she had a heart of ice…

They had no idea how right they were.

Raising her free hand, Raven gathered her power, extending it from her hand to bend the cold air to her will. In moments, from seemingly nothing a huge javelin of Ice had built itself, being thick enough to stab through an entire building, yet only fill a quarter of its tip. Her eyes shined like icy blue flames, lighting the darkness of the night with their glow.

The Infernal roared, sensing the power behind that construct of the cold, and wanting nothing to do with it. There was also hints of something within, something that it should be powerful against. However, it didn't get the feeling like it would live after a blow from that, and that was what prompted it to try and move out the way.

However, much to its shock, surprise and horror, the beast found that it couldn't. Something was rooting it to the ground, making it impossible for it to evade the incoming attack. Looking down, it checked to see what it was, and saw a sheet of pure Ice having extended from the ground and beneath its feet. Ice had quickly sprung from that sheet, and now was encroaching around its feet like a living parasite.

Its immolation aura quickly set to work, flames licking away at the ice that threatened to extinguish it. The flames roared and raged as their territory was invaded by the oppressive, biting teeth of the cold. Two opposing elements waged war on the Infernal's body, using it as their battleground. It even tried supporting its flames by lighting itself on fire with a fire stream. Yet, no matter how much they tried to stop the Ice, it only continued to spread up and up its legs like a fungus.

A cold sense of dread accompanied the Ice as it now filled up its legs, extinguishing the flames that made up most of its body.

Now desperate, the Infernal roared as it fired one last fire stream at its attacker, hoping to get a lucky shot to end her once and for all. If it was going down, it would do what it could to take her with it.

However, it was not to be, for the woman merely glanced at the beam and it instantly froze into solid ice, falling to the ground and shattering into many large pieces. Almost rivalling a human in height.

"Reap what you sow, creature." Raven stated, her tone echoing throughout the vicinity. Nico couldn't help the shivers that travelled down his spine, watching Raven do her thing with her powers. No matter how many times he saw it, seeing something like this always made him feel small and inadequate. Like a bug looking up at its boot. It was like each word she spoke was a storm that would rock his senses till the day that he died. Haunting him like vengeful spirits.

Finally, Raven reared her arm back, the Javelin mimicking her actions as if it were being held in the palm of her hand. She then threw her arm forwards with a mighty cry, launching the Javelin right towards the captured Infernal's chest cavity. The creature could not react in time, and thus, was impaled through the chest.

It gave one last dying groan, before dissipating into flames.

With the enemy defeated, Raven gave a loud exhale, releasing vapour from her mouth that the Mask let pass through. Her powers receded into her, waiting for their mistress to call on it once again. The Ice around their surroundings soon began to disintegrate, her will no longer intent on sustaining it. Within moments, the Ice had turned into tiny blue specs of Particles, before disappearing into nothingness, the fate of everything that is birthed by her powers.

Sheathing her Odachi, Raven turned to face her companion, who was walking up to her from his previous position. His Plasma weapons had either been deactivated, or put back into his Void Storage, but there was something that had been bothering her. Not only the question that she would be asking, but something else also. "… are you harmed?"

"Nah, I'm good." Nico replied with a dismissive wave. His eye scanned the vicinity, before his helmet opened up for conversation. "Man, we really did a number on the place." He remarked, whistling in both awe, and cringe. Their battle had destroyed practically all the surrounding buildings, littered the battlefield with craters and scorch marks from the demonic hellfire attacks the Infernal had unleashed on their asses. "The Government's going to have a fit when they hear of what happened here."

At his words, Raven rolled her eyes behind her Mask, turning on her heels. "I could care less about those waste of flesh." she stated, and while her tone was her usual stern one, there was a cold edge to her words that made him grimace. Thankfully, his helmet had closed at this point, so it was hidden.

However, what she asked him next made him REALLY thank the deities that he had his expressions hidden once more with his Helmet. "Your Demon Patrol Unit form… why do you not use it?" she asked him, Nico shuddering at the sharpness in her voice. It was like those Ice powers of hers were forming icicles from her very words and piercing him through his armour down to his very being. "You do recall that I do not like weakness. Why do you not take this situation seriously, and transform? This battle would have been significantly shorter if you had done so from the beginning."

'Well, not at the EXACT beginning, but she does have a point…' Nico thought, wincing. He should have remembered that, like him, Raven's intuition was a well-known skill that she possessed. She could notice things that only those that Nico could, and combined with her natural coldness, it made for an intimidating picture. '… But I don't know how to tell her the truth…'

 **'** **It would be best to be honest with her, Nico.'** Thank anything! Nico mentally beamed as he heard the presence of his demon persona connect with his mind, having felt his worries over the occurring situation. **'Based off memories of your previous interactions with this woman, I can tell you that dancing around the issue will solve nothing. Thus, it should be best that you be as honest with her as you can about your situation.'**

'Right… Thanks, Biko.'

"I'm unable to use that power at this time, SAMURAI." Nico responded evenly, keeping any of his emotions hidden from his speech. He would have pocketed his hands in his Trench Coat, if he hadn't been wearing his Armour. "Something has happened during my last Dungeon Mission that damaged me in a way that makes using those powers as a… less-than-beneficial means. I am repairing the damage, however it will be significant time frame before I can use it again."

"I see…"

Raven frowned behind her Mask, pondering his words while thoughts circulated her mind. Her senses told her he was telling the truth, something that she found admirable about him. His energy, now that she could sense it, didn't feel completely right… like it was unstable, volatile to the point that the slightest use would prove disastrous. There were signs that the energy was also healing his body though, healing it from the damage that the energy itself seemed to have caused.

"We must go. Time to see if our comrades have done anything about the rest of them." She spoke, already proceeding to head where she could sense her comrades Lucy, Aiden and Ivan. 'VERONICA, FALCON and CYBORG seem to be holding their own. From what I can sense, those last two are covering for their vice leader while she is gathering power… I see… so that's what their plan is.'

Nico watched her as she went, not showing any signs of what she was thinking in her body language. Well none on the surface, but thanks to having known this woman for as long as he did, he had been able to read the signs that otherwise people would never see. This kind of talent probably wouldn't be available to anybody but to those that knew her beyond that of an acquaintance, though.

'She seems like someone who doesn't care, but in reality, I believe that isn't the case…' Nico thought to himself as he slowly trailed after her. Raven was a cold woman, nobody could deny that. She believed in a survival mentality, the strong live and the weak die. But, compared to before, he'd say she'd changed a little.

She wouldn't have batted an eyelash at her team's separation before…

* * *

On Lucy's end, the woman glanced upwards, her brow raised when she sensed a powerful energy. A very FAMILIAR energy that caused her lips to twitch, barely repressing the urge to grin. 'So, Raven's starting to show her powers to the viewers at last.' She thought, pleasantly humming while she glanced to the two Infernals they were fighting.

Ivan had his Bionic arm in Rifle Mode, dodging their punches and smashes while peppering their faces with bullet rounds. Meanwhile, Aiden flew in between them, sometimes rolling through the air to avoid them trying to grab him, or sharply evading their fire streams in case they would melt him alive, before peppering them with Pistol rounds. Sometimes he would unleash a Missile Barrage on their asses, but they hardly did anything beyond annoying them.

Nevertheless, they were doing a good job of distracting the two Infernals while she gathered the power to finish this fight. 'It doesn't look like she used much of it, but the fact that she did proves that she took her enemy seriously. Well then, better not be shown up by her, I'd be ashamed of myself otherwise!'

Her mind told her that her powers were ready, and soon enough Lucy almost beamed in glee. These next few moments would be rather interesting for her. "Guys, I'm ready! Break off, fall back!" she yelled to the other two males.

Said males, Aiden and Ivan, both glanced at her while nodding. They then jumped away, or strafed backwards in Aiden's case, as Lucy readied her attack. The Infernals noticed that they were retreating, and before they could wonder why, the redhead second of Team RAIL struck.

She raised her hands to the air, and from the ground beneath them, the Infernals roared in shock and surprise when the ground broke into tiny pieces, making way for dozens, and that was meant quite literally, of long, green and sharp vines to erupt from below. They came at the two Infernals en masse, wrapping around their limbs to restrain them. The Infernals' immolation auras tried to burn them off, but Lucy had reinforced them with her power to prevent them from being burnt.

Her domain had a minor fire resistance, something she was exploiting right now.

With the Infernals busy trying to break free from her vines, Lucy closed her eyes and focused more, pouring her power out into the surroundings. From her heels, the entire ground gradually started growing grassy plains, trees and other fauna rapidly growing throughout the battlefield to turn it into a nature paradise.

"Dude!" Ivan shrieked, eyes wide in stunned awe as he saw the entirety of their surroundings become a tropical dream come true. Thousands of plants and wildlife could be seen all around them, filling the once empty streets with vibrancy and life.

Aiden regarded this event in a significantly calmer manner, but with the way he was tensing up in the air as he gazed at all the life rapidly filling their space, he too seemed to be taken aback by the spectacle. He had to release a sigh as he palmed his eyes, shaking his head. He didn't even care that he was still holding his Pistols at this point. "That woman… she always has to try and one-up our leader, doesn't she?" he asked nobody in particular.

It had been clear as day that the two were rivals in more ways than one.

In the end, the Infernals were restrained by the Vines to the point where not even their immolation auras could burn through them. They looked like those balls of string kittens and cats love to play with, only their heads being visible. That was enough to show that they weren't happy though, not that Lucy cared or anything.

"Aww, you guys look so adorable…!" Lucy cooed, the Spec Ops Agent having hearts in her eyes as se eyed her 'prey' with the admiration of a child. That expression peeled away seconds later, to reveal a sadistic glee at the thought of what was going to happen. "Still though…"

"Just because you're so cute when you're unable to resist me, won't save you from this."

From the ground in front of them, a larger plant rose out, created from her power. It's width was as wide as a 3 by 3 apartment complex, its long stem made out of segmented flower petals. Its top resembled that of a vicious Venus flytrap. Its maw slowly opened, revealing a maw dripping with acidic saliva and wicked sharp teeth. The reason why the Saliva was seen as acidic?

When some dripped out its maw and hit the ground, the ground sizzled, soon revealing a hot six-foot crater.

"Ummmm…."

"Remind me not to get hit by that."

Both Aiden and Ivan sweat dropped, each taking a gulp as they watched the massive plant rear its head backwards, like a serpent, before it lunged down towards the Infernals with a mix of a hiss/shriek. There was just something about facing off against a giant Plant that was about to make you its dinner that just chilled you to the bones.

That was something both boys felt was true in every sense of the word. Parts of them wondered what the heck was going on though, Lucy had always shown abilities linked to plants, wildlife and Nature, but never to this extent.

She had literally converted this entire area into a pseudo forest… a forest full of things that can kill you in various gory mannerisms.

Creating life from nothing… that was a power that they would have thought the CPUs had.

The two Demons, if they were humans, would have squealed like little girls as the Plant chomped down on them, the vines that held them having receded into the ground faster than a certain black and red hedgehog using a certain power from a certain emerald. The plant swallowed them whole in one gulp, their forms easily seen as bulges going down the creature's stem, which gradually shrunk as they were digested by the Plant.

Its task done, the Plant took one look towards Aiden and Ivan, who did their best not to show their unease. The stare was only a few seconds long, but to them it felt like an eternity. More than that, they felt like they were being scanned by a scanner for any irregularities… only in this case, those irregularities were basically any reasons to add them to the menu.

Being digested by plant, not something they'd want to have on their tombstones… if there was anything left to bury.

Finally, the Plant creature seemed to shake its head, before diving down into the earth once more, leaving behind Vines that picked up the pieces of rubble that its entry had created. These Vines pulled them back into their proper places, making it so that the ground had been repaired after the big plant's unexpected entry.

"Phew, haven't used that in a while…" A loud sigh alerted them to the one that had started all this tropical stuff, making both boys turn to their sole female member as Lucy rubbed the back of her head. She winced, raising her arms and stretching them. She stretched them for several seconds, and oddly enough the snapping sounds that came from them reminded the two of Plant stems snapping.

Once she had gotten a good stretch out of her arms and legs, uncaring or rather unaware of those who were watching, Lucy looked towards them and gave a wide grin, showing a thumbs-up. "Yay, we did it, guys!"

In response, both males sweat dropped.

"Yo, kids!"

The three looked to the side and saw that both Guts and Isaac were walking towards them through a destroyed building. It would be impossible to describe it, for the building had been wrecked beyond imagination. Nevertheless, the two men looked like they had went through hell, with burn marks on their armour, ruffled hair, and dirt-covered faces. Fortunately, their injuries were minimal, likely thanks to their teamwork.

"I assume the enemy didn't give you two much trouble?" Aiden questioned, landing beside his comrades while tucking his wings into his backpack, also putting his Goggles onto his forehead. He gave the two men calculating looks, not unlike a certain transforming Spec Ops Agent. "From the looks of things, you two must have fought against overwhelming numbers before. You show that through the lack of injuries on your person."

Isaac scoffed, waving a hand dismissively at the thought. "Pft, nah. That was nothing, I've seen way worse back in the day." He stated, before raising his right hand and pointing towards his partner. "Now this guy, he's the one that did most of the work this time around, killed most of the bastards before I could get a shot off em." He explained, making Guts roll his eyes in annoyance. Though, the three noted that there was a lack of aggressiveness too his actions.

"Hey, I have a question…" Lucy began, getting everyone's attention. She pointed at Gut's sword, which still looked like it had patches of stone from hacking away at Infernals. "That sword isn't like any normal sword, is it? It just doesn't feel… natural, if you get what I'm saying." She asked, before hurriedly explaining her reasons. She didn't want to offend these two with her queries, especially since they were fighting together.

However, it looked like her efforts were unneeded, for the man with the sword shook his head. His stance betrayed no negative emotion towards her, something that Lucy secretly got relieved over. "You do not have to worry. Dragonslayer here is a unique sword, been with me since I first joined the Spec Ops."

'Wow, when he talks about tat Dragonslayer sword, he really talks.' The three Agents thought, surprise at how much emotion Guts had poured into his words when talking about his sword. It was like one mention of it got his gears going or something. He must REALLY like that Dragonslayer, although there was one question that popped into their minds about it. "Dragonslayer?"

Isaac was the one to cut in this time, as Guts drew his sword from his back. "It's the name of Guts' sword. It was originally made by a renowned Leanbox Blacksmith, to slay large dragon-type Abnormals, hence the name. Sadly enough, it was too large to be used by any man or woman, until Guts came along. Wanna know something freaky? Apparently, this thing's bathed in so much blood that its apparently been able to exist on an astral plane, so when Necromancers try to bring the dead to life, their spirits are targets for this blade."

"That sounds…" Ivan began, eyeing the blade of Dragonslayer with disbelief and doubt.

Aiden finished his sentence with a deadpan when it became clear that he wouldn't be finishing it, instead focusing on the massive sword. "Like a poorly written plot device used in a Manga."

"Meh." Lucy stated without a care in the world, getting the attention of the others. "At least it can kick ass and take names, right?" she queried with a smirk. She swore that, when she saw Guts nod in confirmation, that she also saw that he had his lips twitch upwards as if attempting to smirk.

She never got the chance to confirm it though, because she sensed the energies of their last 2 comrades.

Turning to their direction Lucy saw Raven walk out from behind another ruined building at a leisurely pace, her posture that of a calm cold wind in the fields. She moved with the natural grace of a warrior, while also carrying the composure and presence of something inhuman. Her heeled boots clicked against the ground as she made her way towards them.

As for the second presence, Lucy sensed that it was coming from above. She couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, rolling her eyes as she saw a familiar figure jump out from behind a building, spinning like a sausage upside down before it fell the ground. When it landed, it was revealed to be Nico, who'd landed in a knightly crouch for a moment. His landing had caused a small shockwave, one that rippled through the hill before he slowly stood up, his lone uncovered eye still closed. "Tch, show off…"

"I try." The male mused, opening his eye. Wordlessly, he stepped aside and dodged the smack that Raven tried to hit him on the back of the head with. "Geez, c'mon I was trying to break the tension…" Nico spoke as he tried to placate the annoyed swordswoman. However, he still felt like he had a cold blade pressed against his throat, even though there was nothing there, when she continued to glare at him.

Thankfully, he was saved by the Engineer/Spec Ops Agent, who figured to continue their conversation. "While I liked the landing, if a little unneeded, kid…" he began, getting a scoff from Nico but nothing else. "We should focus on what's really important, like what the hell were those things? They weren't like any Abnormal I've ever heard of. Those things felt so much more hellish, sinister, than the normal kinds… and I can't believe I described Abnormals as something 'normal'."

Guts nodded. "Quite the contradiction, that statement is."

"Hush you."

"Anyways…" Nico began while he broke into the conversation, stopping Isaac from arguing with his partner. If this was any other situation, he wouldn't have cared, but right now they had more important matters. "In what actually matters is that those things had to have come from somewhere. Where that is, becomes the question."

He checked his right Bracer, lifting it to his waist level while manipulating the interface. He displayed a screen showing the samples of the ash they had been examining previously. "I scanned some of the ashes found near those charred craters. Turns out this stuff reeks of an energy that's got similar properties to Share Energy, the energy the CPUs are said to be powered by."

"Huh? How's that a thing?" Isaac asked, blinking behind his helmet while Guts rose a brow, equally befuddled. "You telling me we got some Pseudo CPU crap to deal with, and not only that, but this stuff is what produced those Infernals?" Everyone paused, taking a moment of silence to take this all in.

While the two Spec Ops from Leanbox tried to ponder this, Team RAIL and Nico quickly figured out what this energy was. Especially when they glanced at each other as if having a silent conversation with just their eyes. Just by gazing into them Nico could tell that they were thinking the same thing as he was, that this was demonic energy.

While Biko did indeed confirm that the Infernals were demons before, this proved that they had a connection to why the Village had been so barren when they arrived. The only problem now was, what happened to those civilians? If they were dead, they would have smelled the scents of rotting corpses, but no body had been found during the battle. Although, in that theory's defence they wouldn't have been paying attention to those details.

Before anything could be said and done, Nico heard Biko calling to him with his energy, making him establish a mental link with his demon persona. 'What is it, Biko?'

 **'** **Nico, I can sense residue demonic energy in the atmosphere. Those Infernals hid it well, but when the last ones perished, I detected a trail leading east. I believe its worth taking a look.'**

The teen nodded his head, cutting the link as he addressed the others. "Before this battle began, my scans detected a faint trace of this energy to the east. We could find something at the end of the Trail." He suggested.

"You think so?" Guts questioned.

Nico nodded. "Yeah, and besides, I doubt we'll find anything concrete in this desolate place." he shrugged his shoulders, gesturing to the Village around them. With the state it was in, Nico doubted they could find anything salvageable for their cause. Though he spoke with remorse, his eyes showed that he couldn't care less about the destroyed village. Not to say the male didn't care about the citizens, it was more the fact that he didn't care for the Nobles' profits in it. As far as he was concerned, the nobility could go rot in an oven or some shit like that.

"Whelp!" Lucy chirped, already skipping to the east with a light spring in her step. "Let's go then! Whatever this trail is, it ain't gonna explain itself, ya know! C'mon, we're burning moonlight, here!"

With their goal decided, the Spec Ops crew quickly went on their way to the east, following the demonic energy trail Biko had sensed.


	71. Chapter 68 - A small Breather (Phew)

**Hey guys, new chapter**

 **This one's going to take a break from all the action and stuff, to showcase what other people are doing/thinking while Nico and the other Spec Ops Agents are up in Mojang Village kicking ass. It'll also give some backstory elements, but for whom I won't say. You'll have to read the chapter to find out, won't you?**

 **Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 68 - A small breather (phew...)**

If things were complicated before, then right now she would say that they were damn near puzzling, almost as much as that one game about portals and solving countless puzzles. She couldn't remember the last time she had exercised her brain so thoroughly in having to understand how each puzzle worked, how to solve them, as well as the plot line.

Those thoughts were what occupied the mind of one CPU of Leanbox, AKA Green Heart or Vert, as she pondered the news that one of her Spec Ops Agents had reported to her through… private means.

All was silent in the Gaming Goddess' bedroom. No sounds came from the monitors which would be normally used to play her many games. MMO's, visual novels, yaoi fanfictions, none of those were on her mind at the moment.

She sat on her bed, her hands on her lap while one leg was crossed over the other. She glanced down, a headset on her head while a troubled from was etched onto her lips. She had a matching expression in her eyes at the moment, as well, all from the news that she had received.

Despite not making any appearances herself, it didn't mean she used other forms of communication. She had other Workers do her daily blog entries, telling the citizens where to avoid Monsters, both normal and Abnormal, while also informing about political decisions made by the governing powers in Leanbox. Her private journal was only written in by herself, of course.

Meanwhile, she communicated via her special headset to a select few people who she could trust to be competent enough to do what she asked and not ask any questions. True, she hated the fact that she had to hide like this, but she didn't really have much of a choice. That's what she kept telling herself, anyways. It helped make this a little easier for her and helped her sleep… when she slept, that is.

In recent times, one Spec Ops Staff Member had reported her something… troubling.

The news had been both puzzling, and deeply troubling for her. It had been a report about the recent missions undertaken by the Spec Ops Community in Leanbox within the last few months. One such mission had a roster filled with Agents from another Nation, something that bothered the woman more than she'd like to admit.

But what REALLY caught her attention was the fact that one of the Agents was her beloved Nico.

Ever since she returned from Celestia, Vert had heard much about the Spec Ops Program, and not a lot of it was good. At first, she had been confused and slightly worried about the Program, for it would empower humanity to fight for itself without the guidance of the CPUs. This directly contradicted how Gamindustri was supposed to be run, and she feared that this might lead to disastrous events in the future.

However, when she did the proper research on the Program, how it started and how it had affected humanity, Vert couldn't help but feel her doubts get mixed with her appreciation for the Program. If what she learned about how it ended up saving humanity from these Abnormal Monsters was true, then the program had did a lot for the world already, showing more positive impacts than negative.

Her intrigue with the Program only grew further, the more she researched into it and the more she learned. The Program provided a means, a sense of protection, for the citizens of Gamindustri by Producing Overpowered Agents capable of going toe to toe with some of the more powerful monsters, monsters that even the CPUs would have a hard time against. That was the payoff of the Program, but the consequence of such was that there was a rising group of humans who would not fight in the name of any Goddess, but for their own ideals.

That alone sounded dangerous, and if what these reports told her about this 'Coalition' had been true…

Vert shook her head as she put those thoughts aside for the time being. She stood from her bed and turned on her heels, heading towards her bedroom's window which was beside her bed. She peered out, her eyes becoming witness to the view of her Nation as it thrived. Well, on the surface anyways, she had a gut feeling that things would be far more complicated if she went outside.

Oh, how she would love to have gone out there to help those Agents, to show them that Leanbox's CPU was not someone who would just cower away while her Nation was being torn apart by the Abnormals…. But, this was the only way for her to do anything. Especially with what happened.

She felt like a disgusting waste of space, useless, like a game that could no longer be playable on her Console due to extreme overuse. It had been a stark contrast to the centuries she spent up in Celestia, where she had been at the pinnacle of her power. Heh, she wondered how her past self would have felt if she saw what she was like now, once on the top of the world, now brought down low and forced to hide away in her gaming paradise.

But for now, this was all she could do.

The buxom CPU of Leanbox sighed wistfully, a picture of Nico entering her mind. A soft, fond smile wormed its way onto her facial features, replacing the frown that had previously been there. Even with the looming problems she faced, Vert found that recalling the face of the one man she had gained an interest in to be oddly calming. Since calm was something she would need a lot of in the future, the woman took solace in this.

She remembered how she first met the Spec Ops Agent online, though at the time she couldn't really tell who he was. What she told IF was true, he was one of the sole gamers who could keep up and beat her in MMO's, even beat her at PVP. She remembered feeling so upset at her first true defeat at this player's hand that she had immediately asked him to become part of her guild so she could learn more about him and where he or she had come from.

Shame she hadn't even gotten THAT down yet.

Part of her hoped it would have been one of her buffed-up butlers like in her Yaoi manga's, she wasn't going to lie.

Though, that didn't mean that the real thing was any disappointment, either. Vert had found herself one of the more secretive, yet potentially one of the strongest Spec Ops Agents Planeptune had to offer, and that was something to be treasured. If things worked out for her in the future, if Nico proved that the reports and rumours about his exploits, how he was as a person, and the like were true, then maybe, just maybe….

Nico could possibly help her with her problem.

* * *

Yvoire felt his breath catching in his throat. His hands trembled slightly while he gazed down at an object in his hands, full of apprehension and intensity. Intensity that shined in his eyes like two molten pools of magma.

Her stood within an isolated area in the main hall, holding a vial given to him recently by a Messenger, a messenger from Conversation as he called himself. The vial was an exact copy of the poison meant to be used on Nico when a special party would be held in a few months.

Right now, invitations were being sent out to every prestigious noble family in the Nation, recommending that they attend the party. Parties held in the Basilicom were great ways for the Nobles engaged in politics to converse and share ideas, but mostly to socialise. To form bonds, make friends with other families, and possibly set things up so that Leanbox's future remained as bright as it had ever been.

With the Abnormals gradually pushing their forces back, taking territory that the Spec Ops Agents (he forced himself not to scowl in disgust at that thought) had taken for humanity, back for themselves, hope was something that everyone would be needing. This party would be important, yes…

But it would also be the place where Nico would go down for good.

The messenger who'd handed him the Potion, saw fit to tell him that thanks to IF's efforts, Conversation was unable to provide a second batch of the poison meant to kill Neptune. She had said that the ingredients were rare to come by in Leanbox and Lowee, thus that was the only vial she had on her.

In all honesty, Yvoire could care less about killing Neptune. She was just a brat in his eyes, he could dispose of her himself whenever he pleased. Who he REALLY wanted to be silenced was Nico, that heretic. That heretic who dared try to imitate the divine Goddesses by trying to attain a power he cannot hope to control. A twisted mockery of the Goddesses ascension into their true divine forms.

However, there was something about this that irked him, despite the benefits he would be getting from the plan.

Why did she not come herself?

For what purpose could Conversation be sending a Messenger to deliver this poison to him, when she had been conducting their meetings herself?

Their meetings had always been private, just the two of them. The less that people knew, the better. There were no shortage of enemies that would want to see him dead, Yvoire knew this for a fact. People like him, who were in charge of delegating laws and government, were bound to make some people unhappy with his decisions. Thus, he could understand the need for secrecy, if word got out of what he had been intending to do, then there would no doubt be harsh punishment.

Which was why this recent change of plans only baffled him.

The man couldn't make heads or tails of it, and for the first time since their business began, Yvoire began to suspect there to be some foul purpose behind Conversation's actions. It was like she didn't see fit to address him personally anymore, like his role in this had become increasingly insignificant.

He forgot the fact that he had hired a Ninja assassin to spy on IF earlier when she went out of Vert's room.

'But that's just preposterous!' Yvoire thought as he carefully pocketed the poison vial within his robes, intent on bribing one of the chefs to insert it into the food when the time came. The action didn't derail his thoughts from the topic at hand, however, and his denial only made it worse. 'I'm one of the senior nobility in Leanbox! I oversee Leanbox's military, I have a seat in the governing Council! There's no way she would treat me as if I'm some form of tool for her amusement!'

No matter how much Yvoire tried to convince himself that the woman wouldn't be using him as a means to an end, doubt clawed away at the back of his mind. Like a demon trying to devour all rational thought and replace it with paranoia, distrust, which would lead to eventual madness and insanity.

This train of thought wasn't helping him get his doubts sorted, so Yvoire pushed it all to the back of his mind. He'd think of it all later, right now he had to focus on his duties. The duties that he had been partially neglecting for this secretive business with the assassination of Nico and Neptune. Although, it seems that he will only be getting one victim instead of the other two.

With that in his mind, Yvoire turned on his feet and began walking down the main hallway, heading for the council chamber. He had a few things to say to them, and a meeting was soon to be taking place. His eyes hardened to two orbs of steel, his past conflicts erased from his mind for another day.

Conversation could wait till he next saw her…

Whenever that may be…

* * *

 ** _"Do you THINK it WISE... to ENTRUST such a TASK to one MORTAL..."_**

The deity pondered this question that it had asked Arfoire, the two being located within a monster infested dungeon... or rather, what was ONCE an infested monster Dungeon. The Deity had pretty much consumed every monster in the area, cleansing it of their influence. It could already feel its power returning to it after so long. It wouldn't be long now till it could take on its true form, and this chaotic state it was in to finally be settled. Nevertheless, it didn't like the thought of using humans, even though to it they were nothing but cattle, for tasks that could undermine their plans.

It had already provided her one copy of the toxin that she had made using some of its power before, so it wanted assurances things would go smoothly.

Sitting atop a rock, looking up at the night Sky, Arfoire hummed in silent thought, before she answered the Deity's question. "Yes, it was a decent move. That guy will not betray us, as he is a follower of the religion I told you of."

 _ **"Paaaaah!"**_ The deity scoffed, waving a Tentacle to the side. **_"That OVERLORD bullshit... truly, it is a MOCKERY of our once powerful ERA...!"_**

The deity held no signs of anything but discontent for the notion that there was such a thing as an 'Overlord Momus'. To it, that was nothing but a load of bullshit, as it do aptly put it. And it had already made its notions clear to Arfoire on that line. When she told it her original design for the beast, the Deity had practically frothed at its non-existent mouth for how POOR and UNAPPEALING the monster's design looked. It just HAD to make some suggestions to her, to make the Overlord as menacing as possible. This included a total revamp of its original appearance, with powers that would befit its name.

"Call it what you like..." Arfoire began, before looking up to the stars. The silent wind blew through the area they occupied, brushing her hair while the deity's mass-like form just shuddered from it. "But it was my plan way before you came along. I will not stop just because you made it SLIGHTLY better."

While she would have liked taking full credit for Overlord Momus's creation, Arfoire would never say it out loud, but she knew that the deities suggestions for its design were magnificent. It wouldn't look anything like the original design, but with the powers it would posses, it would cause more fear and chaos than its old form ever could have. And it wasn't like the old design was tossed out completely, there were a few ideas that even made her grimace that it had suggested, to make the Overlord as intimidating as possible.

Those DPUs certainly knew their monster genetics, she will say that.

 ** _"Pft. You would NOT know SCARY even if it SLAPPED you in your FACE...!"_**

* * *

A heavy sigh escaped Noire's lips.

She had been doing that a lot recently, maybe she needed to see someone about some mental health tablets...

Nah, that would probably make things harder for her in the long run.

Right now, she was in her bed within the Basilicom, taking a short break from having to fight so many Abnormal Monsters recently. The packs were getting larger and larger by the day, to the point where Noire had to enlist the help of other Spec Ops Agents to help her fight them off.

From medium to large packs with one leader, there were now extra-large packs with multiple leaders. How the hell could humans have lasted this long without the Goddesses holding back the monster tide?

Oh right, the Spec Ops.

These Agents, they held more respect from Noire than she'd care to admit. Ever since she first fought alongside Nico and Team RAIL when her city was under attack from the C Virus, Noire had practically immersed herself with the Agents belonging to the program, learning their ways and how they operated.

She wanted to know EVERYTHING about the program and is efficiency in Lastation. Once she retook the Land from Avenir, she would be commending those Agents immediately, they had more than earned such an honor.

It also turned out that some of them had already figured out that she was the CPU without her having to transform to show them, much to Noire's stunned shock.

When she had asked them how the heck they could have figured it out, they pointed out the same facts that Nico had once pointed out to her making it practically a piece of cake for them. The Blackette once again had to admit to herself that the Spec Ops were a competent bunch. If it weren't for them, then humanity would have long since perished.

Thankfully, no new Abnormal Dungeons had been created as of yet. The Carnival of Horrors hadn't been too active since Nico and Team RAIL went to defeat its boss, something that she was beyond grateful for.

'… He hasn't been texting me recently…' the CPU thought to herself, a worried frown on her lips. Since she was alone right now, Noire saw no need to hide her true feelings from anyone. Here, she could be herself, and right now she couldn't help but feel worry for her… friend.

By the Goddesses it still felt weird to her...

Ever since Nico had given her the phone numbers of himself and the Party, she had been keeping in touch with both him and IF. They kept giving her updates on their progress, or to just chat. Although that was more on Nico's end than IF's, since the two didn't really get to talk that much during their time together. Those two were the more competent ones in her eyes, while Compa and Neptune were just… there, she guessed.

She didn't know what to talk about with the Nurse-In-Training. Aside from what Nico had told her about this girl, Noire judged her character to be a clumsy, ditzy nurse who is accident prone. Someone that Nico constantly worries over, though he never outright said that. She found it honestly adorable that he would worry about her so much…. With an uncertain pang of something in her chest accompanying that feeling.

Neptune was… well, Neptune. She'd probably tease her relentlessly over text messages. The fact that she hadn't meant that she likely wasn't aware of this little thing going on.

That suited her just fine, honestly.

Out of the two of them though, it was the male Spec Ops Agent she was in contact with the most. Every morning, he would send her a morning and evening text, as well as asking how she was doing or if there was anything she wanted to talk to him about. Every time he asked her this, Noire would talk to him about what she would be going through and what happened because of it. Because of this, she didn't know how, but it seemed that she was becoming… closer, to the boy.

Was this what Neptune and Compa felt for the Spec Ops Agent? Was this…?

'No, no-no-no!' Noire screeched in her mind, halting that process before it could even begin to settle in her mind. 'There's no way you're attracted to him, you're Black Heart! Your primary duty is to protect and preserve Lastation! You owe it to your people to do your best! To regain their trust!'

Noire couldn't let herself get too deep into that debacle, no matter how much her girlish instincts wanted her to. She wasn't some ordinary girl who had more class than others normally did. She was a political leader, the heart of an entire Nation. Such a job took effort to maintain, and she'd sworn to do her utmost to regaining the trust she had lost from her people. The potential scandals that would come from her being involved in a romantic relationship, one with a resident from another Nation at that, wouldn't do her already damaged image any favours. She could see it in her mind, all the scandalous papers trying to tarnish her damaged name even more, garnering an advantage for Avenir. She couldn't allow that, no matter what.

As a CPU, as a Goddess, she had to make sure to do her best for her people. She owed them that much for ditching them to fight in the stupid Console War for so many centuries.

Any possibilities for a relationship had to be quashed for the sake of her nation. No matter how saddening it was for her, Lastation deserved only her best.

Even if these pangs in her chest refused to stop, she shouldn't give in!

She... she shouldn't...

Yet, no matter how much she had tried to deny it, Noire couldn't help herself. Chian had teased her about it whenever she caught the CPU getting a little pink on the cheeks, but maybe…

No, she couldn't think on that just now.

She had to think of something else, anything else!

Shame nothing else came to mind, as the CPU found her rest to be as vain as her attempts to change the topic her mind wanted to focus on.

* * *

"Good, looks like business is done for the night…"

Helen grinned to herself, stretching her arms up to the ceiling to take out the stress that had been building up in them from a hard day's work. The former Spec Ops Agent had been going over research notes on various projects, some known to the public while others were… not so well known. Other reports were about how some projects were doing out in the field. How effective they were, and recommendations for future improvements.

She had also been preparing for the Spec Ops exam that will be coming soon, devising the plans for the stages that the Candidates would take before their final test. Being one of them was about more than just being a badass and getting access to some dangerous toys, it was so much more than that. Ideals were a big part of their community, and while it was frowned upon, any residue faith they had towards the CPUs wasn't discouraged either. It was one of the few reasons why the Program hadn't been shut down by some of the more… fanatical of the higher-ups in Gamindustri.

Just thinking about those old codgers up top though, gave a nasty aftertaste to Helen's mouth. The woman had to repress the urge to go on a bloodlust-fuelled rampage, because if she did there would be no DEATHSTROKE or any other Spec Ops that could stop her. Only two people could stop her when she got like that, and those were her husband and adoptive son. Though, she wished that he was her real son at times. As much as it pained her to admit, she had been jealous of his parents when they first showed her their beloved child.

The woman frowned to herself as she stood up from her Desk, brushing her hair back as she walked around her Desk towards the door, intending to leave the Guild Building to return home to her loving husband. Helen couldn't help the pang of romantic love that swelled within her chest by thinking of him, a big smile slowly etching itself onto her features.

While most of her wanted Nico to have a family soon so she could have grand kids, there was more to it than that. Some of it revolved around his past, the past that he couldn't remember, and some of her own insecurities. She worried for Nico on multiple fronts, fronts that came not just from motherly concern, but her insecurities as well.

There were many times where she would have thought back on how she had raised the child of two of her closest friends as her own, where she would think to herself 'How would it have gone if I acted this or that way?' In essence, she wondered if she could have been a better mother to him and not a Spec Ops instructor. True she was a sadist when training fresh meat, and that thought caused her to chuckle sheepishly as she remembered some of the… less fortunate recruits that got her as a teacher.

Yet, there was little she could actually do to change anything, that was something that always stuck inside Helen's mind. That no matter how much she wished for it, she couldn't rewrite the past as much as she'd like to. If she could, she'd make sure his parents never suffered, so that they could raise their son the way they intended. She knew that they wouldn't have approved of him being a Spec Ops Agent mostly because they were well devoted to the CPU Purple Heart.

But this wasn't the Gamindustri they knew, not anymore. No, not after what happened.

That one incident cost her not only her Spec Ops Career, but the total shattering of her adoptive son's family. They showed their true colours for what they did back then, and they had appalled her with how cruel they truly were. Them, and a combination of horrors that incident brought about, resulted in a totally destroyed faith in any CPU for her, no matter how much of a front she put on. She would always personally despise those who believed in those Goddesses so fanatically.

If they had lived, then they would have agreed with her.

His father, Joseph Jackson, was a man of grit and character. He had been a natural prankster back in his day, as well as a source for intimidation thanks to his giant posture. The man had been a whopping 7-foot-tall Spartan-class warrior, with the attitude to match when he got angry. Most of the time though, he liked to trick people and prank the hell out of them. Those pranks usually got worse if they had done something to piss him off, or hurt his grandmother, whom had raised him as her own after his parents were killed shortly after he was born.

He also had a bit of a flirty attitude to him as well, as he liked to appreciate some of the women he had seen in his life. Though, because of his intimidating stature, he never really got the chance to ask any of them out, much to his disappointment. The lovable oaf had been willing to spend his life alone thanks to his appearance, giving his life to his jobs a Soldier for Planeptune, until his mother had come along.

On the other hand, he also had a strong moral compass, a sense of macho honor that shined through mostly when he was in a fight or when a woman wasn't being treated the way she should. If he had been any less intimidating, Helen was sure that he would have become a ladies man just from that alone.

Nico had some of his father's personality alright, his macho honor and prankster attitude.

Most of all though, Joseph LOVED his grandmother, almost more than his mother, for how she raised him when he had nobody else to turn to. She had told him how his parents died when he came of age, but by then he didn't really care about them as much as he did his grandmother. It may come off as cold sometimes, but he never even knew them in the first place, so he couldn't feel too attached to them.

Although, she had heard a few times when him, her and their friends would hang out try to repress sorrowful tears when he thought he was alone. Showed that he did miss them, in some way, but kept solace that he still had his grandmother.

Then there was Nico's mom, Marina. Now she had been once a resident of Leanbox, more importantly she had been a Noblewoman, a daughter of a wealthy noble who had also access to a seat on Leanbox's governing council. She had practically everything she could have wanted, a luxurious house, servants for her whims, and generally people liked her. Well, at least for her standing, anyways.

However, she had been anything but noblewoman in terms of personality. Marina had grown up seeing how her father liked to have several wives and concubines, using them to satisfy his sexual needs. What's more, was that he never even paid attention to his true wife, who ended up taking her frustration out on the other servants. Sometimes she didn't even notice that her daughter would be watching her, shaking in fear of her mother's ire.

Because of that upbringing, while she remained relatively kind and caring, she also gained two other things: a monotone coldness, almost beastly like demeanour that showed mostly when she was angered, and an intense, and Helen meant INTENSE, hate for the male gender. To her, the male gender was like what most women of today's society thought of them, and it didn't help that the noblemen sons who tried their hands at courting her had similar agendas in mind. Marina always had an eye for that sort of thing. It reached the point where if one tried to approach her she would take out a hidden knife and try to castrate them.

It all changed when she met his father though, when one of her family' trips to Planeptune was in place. He was one of the soldiers meant to escort her family in their carriage to Planeptune's main city: SEGA. It was a rare occurrence, thanks to the Console War, to have citizens in other nations pay visits like this, but it was one of those business trips with her father's older business contractors.

They didn't really socialise all that well, considering she found him to be like the many men she had encountered over the years, but through her father's business ventures to Planeptune and the knowledge that someone like Joseph kept unwanted visitors away, the two saw a lot of each other that way. They eventually began to talk, and to Josephs surprise, she warmed up to him.

She even popped the question of them going out in secret, not caring much about his large imposing demeanour in the slightest.

Poor guy, who had been used to the role of the flirt for most of his life, had been gaping like a fish with his face atomic red.

From his mother, Helen knew he had inherited her cold demeanour along with his natural distrust in others.

Helen had been a friend of his mother's for many years, and it was through her that she met Joseph. At first, Helen had no clue what Marina had seen in him, but as time passed, she had gradually come to like his company. He was a good jokester, with a decent sense of humour, and his imposing form kept many annoying guys from getting near her.

The woman had watched the two progress through their secret relationship, to their hidden marriage and disappearance over to Planeptune. Her family situation had been deteriorating fore a while into their secret relationship, and for a while Joseph could only console his girlfriend while she vented her suppressed emotions to him. Helen figured that it must be in the genes though, that Joseph and Nico both held a certain… preference for women who had cold demeanours.

Eventually he had suggested they vanish and move over to Planeptune to live near his grandmother, and in her sorrowful state Marina had agreed. She didn't want to be around her family any longer, and thus the two vanished to live their new life together.

To this day, nobody knew where Marina had vanished off to, but her father only declared her KIA when 5 months had passed, since he had a son already to carry on his name. Her mother had been furious about his callousness, though, to the point where they had a big fight which ended up with him beating her mother to death, and consequently getting arrested for it. She had last heard he had been executed for the crime of murder, but didn't pay much attention to that.

Things got brighter for the pair, and Marina quickly found she enjoyed the common life way more than that of a stuck-up noblewoman any day. They eventually got married, she fell pregnant and out popped Nico. She had been there when Nico was born, invited by the parents of course, and even got the honor of holding him. It had been a major happy point for her, especially with her own relationship issues.

Helen could almost see their faces in her mind, at the height of their happiness while holding a baby Nico in a soft embrace.

Shaking her head, the woman pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she left the room and began making her way to the exit back home. She wanted to get some cuddles from her loving, faithful husband to stave off the sorrowful feelings welling up in her gut.

The woman had been so happy when Nico was born… but also secretly jealous of the two. She herself couldn't have any kids of her own, due to being infertile. Not only that, but her husband had problems with his seed, so they wouldn't have been able to conceive even if they tried. So, to see her friend have the happiness of a family like that while she couldn't… well, it was only natural that Helen got jealous.

She had expected her marriage to break apart when they found out the truth of why they couldn't have a child, but contrary to her thoughts her husband remained by her side, helping and comforting her when she needed it most. To him, Helen had been the only woman he registered, he'd said that to her face. One could only imagine the amount of passionate sex that lead to for him.

Nevertheless, she couldn't help but shed a tear for Nico's parents. They were great people, they had a happy future together… so what happened to make them leave their son's life forever?

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Well, there you go. Some romantic development for Noire, and some backstory from... Nico's parents in Helen's POV! Now, that stuff there is important, as it will relate to the plot in several ways. One of which will be to do with Count Mott, who won't be seen for a few chapters yet. No, that's not a Spoiler either, don't get me wrong.**

 **With the whole Noire thing, I figured it would make sense for her character to be concerned with her image when pondering her rising feelings towards our harem protagonist. She's someone who takes great pride in her appearance, in her image, so something like a Relationship, given her position, would cause quite th commotion. She's afraid of that, which is why she's trying to fight her feelings.**

 **Trying to make a decent Harem fic isn't easy, people!**

 **Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and tell me what you think! Laters!**

* * *

 **Special Event - Classes**

A chibi Nico walks into a classroom, clad in a formal dress shirt,pants and shoes while his Mask is on. He walks to the front desk, and turns to the audience.

"Greetings everyone, call me Mr DEATHSTROKE. This lesson will be focusing on Abnormals, or rather, their classes. Classifications for Abnormals have been varied, as shown in this Urgent Quest's briefing."

In the audience, which was a class full of chibified characters that have and have not appeared yet in the main story-line save for the Spec Ops Agents, a Chibi Neptune waved a hand frantically, trying to get his attention.

"Yes, Mrs Neptune?"

"Hey, Lover! I was wondering, what's this system like? I mean, since there's a problem with fan-fiction right now, so the author can't post anything till its solved, so..."

A chibi author in the fatal position next to a laptop with a cloud of depression over his forehead could be seen at the end of the classroom. He mumbled about things like 'stupid fan-fiction error' and 'need to edit next chapter' while rubbing an index finger on the ground dejectedly.

"... Well, while the Author has his depressing moment, I shall explain the classifications for Abnormals."

Nico steps away from the Desk as he fumbles with his barely visible Bracer. A holographic screen the size of one classroom wall appeared in front of the Desk, showing a pyramid like diagram.

"Now, classification of Abnormals is difficult, due to their varied appearances, powers, abilities and behavior. Some are more radical than others, which leads to difficulty in choosing specific Spec Ops Agents to handle them. That's why we have varied skill-sets, so we can be prepared for anything that they throw at us."

A chibi Compa raised her hand, getting Nico's attention.

"Yes, Mrs Compa?"

"Um, I was wondering, if dealing with them is so hard, how have so many Agents returned alive?"

"Excellent question, see we Spec Ops always have a supply of specialized Eject Buttons, ones that return us to the closest city to recharge fer a failed Abnormal Monster Hunt. Unfortunately it is limited to one use per day, and considering how threatening the Abnormals are, its not really feasible to use it daily."

Chibi Neptune slumped, just when she was going to ask why Nico never used that handy gadget in the main story-line.

"Thus, instead of classifying them by types like we do normal monsters, we Spec Ops Agents classify Abnormals based off how powerful they are. Each Abnormal emits this special electronic signal, an 'aura' as it would, that we've figured out how to detect and use to get a reading on their power. That's why we have the Ranks system. It starts from F: the lowest on the power scale, up to the X rank, which is like ultimate tier godly power where EVERY single Spec Ops Agent available is sent at it with the hopes that the thing will go down before any damage is caused to the cities... and even then, its guaranteed that 80% of us will have been dead, while 20% will be heavily injured and won't be able to fight for a while, some even can be crippled."

Shudders ran through the class at the information being handed to them. Before, they never really understood just how perilous the Spec Ops job could be, since they thought it was just fighting above average monsters. Looked like that wasn't the case at all, it was more of a job where every day was a fight for survival for them, if they went up against beings like that.

"That's why..."

Upon hearing a new voice, the audience looks to the side to see Raven, clad in a dress shirt, knee length dark blue skirt and heels with a clipboard and gasses, walk into the classroom to stand beside Nico, who stepped back to allow her to take the reins.

"That's why when joining the Spec Ops Program, you are basically signing yourself up to die, thus your strength has to be at a significantly higher level than most Guild Agents, to the point where even the Goddesses here..."

She glanced at the CPUs in the room with a waried, annoyed gaze.

"can have trouble fighting you."

The arrival of a hot new Chibi teacher made many males in the audience swoon with several giving perverse stares at her. This only lasted a second before a harsh, cold glare from Raven sent them into trembling fits.

"Aw, no need to scare the poor dears, leader."

another teacher walked in, revealing it to be Lucy, who wore a much more... revealing outfit than compared to Raven. Her dress shirt was unbuttoned so that her cleavage was more visible, while her skirt went to her thighs to showcase her Nylon stockings and polished black high heels. She too carried a clipboard, and gave a sultry wink to the audience, making every guy in it leer at her with dog ears and tails wagging, literally.

"I mean, as long as you train hard, fight well, you can basically live life free of cares. Plus, you'll get all the attention from the ladies, aren't I right boys?"

Cue several nosebleeds, which irritated both Raven and Nico when they saw the redhead's antics.

"How is she an Agent again?"

"Remember, its explained in the future, Raven, no spoilers."

"True..."

"Anyways, the lesson shall resume... in another chapter!"


	72. Chapter 69 - Intense, Ominous Situations

**Chapter 69 - Intense and Ominous Situations**

The trail to where Biko had sensed the Demonic Energy lead the Spec Ops Agents deep within one of Mojang Village's Silver Steel Mines. One of the many reasons why Count Mott had pulled those underhanded tactics to enlist an Urgent Quest to Investigate. Despite their…. Individual opinions on the mission's origins, none of the Spec Ops Agents could deny that this was a cause for concern.

Silver Steel. It was a precious mineral resource that has been a part of Leanbox's Culture, It was first discovered around 500 years ago, just like when the Spec Ops Program was first formed. Its rarity though made it a slightly uncommon metal, but on the other hand, it also increased its value on the market, both the public and the black markets. Still, it had a strong connection to the Program that was largely discriminated by the faithful, however, a certain fact had been kept secret from the Public.

That fact? This Mineral resource had strong anti-Abnormal properties, it worked way better than their standard weapons in piercing through their hides. If one did the proper research on Silver Steel, they would know that Silver Steel had been used to make the weapons of the first ever Spec Ops Agents.

When the Program received its restrictions, knowledge of the Silver Steel's connection to it had been placed in the pile of 'classified' subjects only reviewable by the CPU herself. This was done so that people wouldn't lose interest in the resource, thus saving profits for the Nation… as well as the scroungy, fat nobles who wanted to make profit from its trade. Instead, they just referred to it as a precious, valuable mineral resource, hiding the truth from the Public.

Only the higher ups in the Basilicom, the Guild, and several well-respected Spec Ops Agents knew the truth about Silver Steel, but were sworn to an oath of secrecy about it. If any were to attempt to divulge this secret, they would face extreme punishment, what type depending on the Agent's home Nation. For Planeptune it would be banishment from the city and all villages, leaving them to the hands of the Abnormals and other Monsters.

For Lastation, they would be fired from their jobs, never again allowed to join any military profession.

For Lowee, the punishment was arguably the lightest, considering the theme of that Nation. It was a fine of over 400,000 Credits and a black mark on their records.

But for Leanbox? The Punishment…

Was an immediate execution.

Out of all the Nations, Leanbox may be the nicest Nation in terms of beauty, hospitality and tourism, but they were willing to go to extreme lengths when it came to dishing out Punishments. There were various torture tools still in effect in Leanbox that were banned in the other Nations, due to how cruel and inhumane they were. Leanbox HAD once been a land full of warring tribes after all, so such tools being in their possession made sense. Back then, it would have been survival of the fittest, no room for kindness.

"Looks like this is where the trail leads…" Nico's words brought the rest to attention. They had finally found themselves at the entrance to a mine, which looked like that of a wooden shack out in the wilderness. Next to it, was a small, yet open space, one that held what looked to have once been a campfire, with slightly charred stones, whole-burnt sticks, and leftover soot.

Noticing this, Lucy made to comment had Aiden not beaten her to it. "Looks like someone has been here, and from the looks of that Campfire, I bet it was recent, too." He deduced, ignoring the pouting redhead as he looked to his leader and Nico. "My guess is that we're dealing with Cultists. Remember that one mission in Planeptune with the Philosopher's stone?"

"Oh yeah…" Ivan grimaced, Lucy cringed, and even Raven shifted on her heeled boots in discomfort. That mission wasn't a fun one, no, it was actually regarded by al of them as a particularly nasty mission. Seriously, the things they saw back then would be enough to give seasoned war veterans the willies. Though, a lot of things Spec Ops dealt with were like that. It was why their job was considered the most respectable, high in terms of pay-grade, as well as the most brutal.

However, 2 of their ranks had no clue as to what was going on here, and why Team RAIL had been acting like this. "Uh, you guys? Care to fill us in? What happened with this Philosopher's stone? Sounds bad from the sounds of it." Isaac questioned, while Guts made no motion to show that he was listening. Though, Raven and Nico caught subtle glances in their direction.

Finally, Lucy managed to get her piece in, but unlike her usual demeanour, her face had been set into one of grim seriousness. It was like looking at someone who was aware of their impending death and was trying to mask how they really felt about it. "Well, in simple terms, we were tasked with tracking down this rogue Spec Ops Agent, who was trying to create a way for humans to have eternal life like the CPUs." She explained, snarling in disgust at the end.

She sent a subtle glance to Aiden unconsciously, who noticed it nonetheless, and tensed at the gesture.

Now both men were giving her their attention, showing it by gazing at her. Spec Ops going rogue, unfortunately, wasn't an uncommon occurrence. The problem with fighting for what they believed in, was that they couldn't predict what other believed in. If one was to say, use the Spec Ops for their own gain then discard them after they were done, there wasn't much they could say in their defence. Ideals varied from one person to another, it was just the way that humanity was. They could also lie to them about their ideals, it was a simple process to do, and it wasn't like they were allowed to press them for information without just cause.

In a way, the Spec Ops Program birth both the light as well as the dark side of humanity.

"What did that poor sod do?"

"Lead a group of his comrades to this abandoned ruin, we didn't hear from them so we went in. We couldn't find his squad, but we found him. Before we could question him he attacked us. We fought, he fled, and later on we found out that he had been up to some… pretty fucked up research. Remember the Philosophers stone?" Lucy replied darkly, just barely restraining her powers from going berserk.

Isaac's form tensed while Guts' eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I heard about that thing. Freaky eternal shit but by the blood of… oh don't me…"

Finally, Raven joined in their little conversation, her tone just as cold as her personality. "You'd be right. Sacrificed his team, a whole army of Abnormals, and an entire settlement near the ruins, which was once a shelter for homeless orphans, to create a way for eternal life."

Both men growled at that, even Guts seemed uncharacteristically angry, something Nico noticed. 'Guts… Guts, Guts… why do I get the feeling that I've heard that name before…?' the teen wondered, frowning behind his helmet.

"Jeez… That's sick."

That was all could say to that, and Guts' expression said everything about his feelings as clear as day, a stark contrast to his natural demeanour. Raven only nodded, her hidden eyes shining with ice coldness. Hell, her form was releasing a slight icy chill from it, though not enough to be noticed thanks to the Leanbox Climate.

"In any case," Raven soon ended the conversation there as she walked up to the Mine's entrance. She clenched a fist, rearing it back to manifest an Ice Gauntlet, much to the shock of all save for Nico and Lucy. Before they could say anything, Raven swiftly smashed the gauntlet into the entrance, blowing a hole through it that had a rim full of ice. The gauntlet vanished soon after, as Raven shook her hand before turning to them. "We must move forwards. Investigating Mojang Village's destruction should be our priority."

All of them nodded in unison, and made their way inside… although not before Ivan tried taking a selfie of Raven near the Ice with the intent of publishing onto the internet.

He nearly got a blade of ice to the manhood for that stunt.

* * *

Walking through the mines made everyone get on edge. The whole place felt off, like a graveyard or something, with the smell of death and decay looming over the air like a cloaked reaper. And that was supposed to be Nico's schtick when he was online. Jokes aside, Nico and the others remained on guard as they walked through a narrow corridor, one that looked more like a tunnel with various holes in the walls.

Their formation consisted of Raven at the head, with Lucy to her right flank. To her left flank was Guts, with Isaac and Nico flanking Guts.

"Looks like the miners were doing good work before things went to hell." Ivan commented, although his staying close to Aiden, Nico, and Guts made everyone sweat drop when they recalled what he almost did. "Poor bastards probably didn't see anything coming till it was too late."

Lucy hummed as she glanced at some of the holes, some of them still containing trace amounts of Silver Steel. It was a silver ore in colour, one that almost seemed to be sparkling in her eyes. "Yeah, looks like…" she muttered, before glancing up ahead and noticing something next to the left wall. "Hey guys, I see something!"

Her call alerted the others, and soon enough they were jogging with her to what she had apparently seen. Soon enough though, they all found what it was: a Corpse. "Oh jeez, look at this poor sucker." Isaac commented, scowling behind his Helmet while they all surrounded the corpse of what looked to be a 43-year-old man.

The man's corpse had been stripped bare, save for some underwear, and showed horrendous injuries on his person. Most of them were lacerations, with pieces of his body missing like an arm, a piece of his left calf, a piece of his right upper bicep, and a portion of his face. What could be seen from his sole eye was nothing but horror and fright. The lack of light in the eye all but confirmed that the corpse had been dead for some time. His corpse was leaning with his back against the dirt wall, head slumped to the side.

Kneeling before the man's front, Nico raised a hand and closed his remaining eye, changing his image to someone who was sleeping… if it weren't for his injuries. The teen looked down temporarily, closing his eyes as he silently mourned for the victim's passing. He didn't know the man, but he couldn't help but wonder if he had lost loved ones or not. They would be devastated with the loss of a loved one, that was for sure.

He looked up and began scanning his form with his Bracer. "Lemme see if I can get something, maybe we can find out what it was that killed him." he stated to the others, who would have said something had it not been for the loud shrieks that echoed through the tunnel ahead.

"Uh, best not, cause I think we have company!"

Isaac's call made Nico cancel the scan and deploy his Plasma Claws, their purple light illuminating the dimly lit tunnel. Raven drew her Odachi with the blade being blue, indicating her chosen Ice element. Lucy drew her twin Cleavers, while Ivan switched his Bionic Arm to Blade Mode and Aiden drew his Pistols. Guts pulled out his Dragonslayer, and Isaac pulled out his Plasma Cutter.

Just in time too, because from the darkness ahead, dozens of eyes, glowing crimson like the demons from the underworld, opened up with nothing but feral glee shining within. Their owners all shrieked as they raced towards them, like howling mobs without care for Armor or tactics, revealing themselves to the Spec Ops Group.

These creatures, well, they weren't really creatures, more like men. They each held muscular physics, almost like bodybuilders, but more on a warrior side. Each of them wore furry cloaks, which looked like they had been partially chewed by ferocious beasts based off the messy tears in them, while their heads were covered by twisted, wicked looking helmets. They wore tanned trousers that were shredded at the ends, exposing their feet. They wielded either Axes or swords for their main weapons, and their off hands held large, blackened shields.

"INTRUDERS!" One of them yelled, brandishing his Axe at them while spit flew from his mouth, utterly grossing the girls out. "KILL THEM IN THE NAME OF THE GODS, MARAUDERS! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

A loud chorus of inhuman howls echoed from the men as they ran, almost like a stampede towards the group, sending shivers down their spines.

Quick to react, all the Spec Ops readied their weapons for the incoming horde. However, before they could charge back, the horde charging at them, numbering at over 30, split in certain areas to let pass some of the ugliest Canines they had ever seen. These Canines, well, they looked absolutely disgusting.

Flesh looking like it had been horribly mutated by gamma rays or something equally as harmful, their upper bodies covered in wild brown fur, with their wicked snouts sporting several pairs of hollow red eyes. Out of their heads, protruded 2 long horns, each one capable of stabbing through flesh and bone judging by their appearance alone. Who knew how sharp they were. Their claws tore away at the earth beneath their feet, saliva dripping from their lips as they bared their deformed fangs.

Nico started off the battle, his right leg glowing purple as he called out a Skill. "PHANTOM WAVE!" He kicked horizontally, launching a purple energy wave that quickly stopped the enemy in their tracks. The canines either jumped over the wave or got hit, being blown back across the tunnel. Same for the cloak-wearing men, only some raised their shields and guarded successfully against the attack.

"Everyone, now! Before they regroup!" Nico yelled behind him while charging at the enemy. His Plasma Claws crackled in the dimly lit tunnel, almost making sparks when they touched the ground briefly during his run.

His call served to snap them into action, and with battle cries of their own, the group charged at the enemy as well. Guts jumped past Nico, barrelling into the downed horde while swinging Dragonslayer left and right, bisecting his foes without mercy. The man barely registered Nico jumping over him and land deeper within the horde, the sounds of Plasma Claws sinking into flesh echoing through the tunnel Guts only managed to kill 6 of them when the horde got their shit together and responded, one of their Canines lunging at Guts from behind.

Said man responded by using the momentum of a previous horizontal swing for an overhead slash to his rear, vertically cleaving the beast in half. The two halves fell to the ground, sliding along it and tripping several men and Canines off their feet.

This allowed Lucy to move, as she jumped onto one man's shoulders, planting her feet on them to knock him down. She swiftly blocked the strikes of his companions who rushed in to help, knocking them back before using her legs to twist his neck till an audible snapping sound told her he had died of a broken neck. The ones that tried to help were killed via slitted throats, although she had to flip off her third prey to dodge a Canine's lunge.

She swiftly activated a Skill, JACK THE RIPPER, and full murderous harpy on their asses. Lucy charged through the horde with a series of dash slashes her Cleavers splattering their blood across the ground/walls, speeding past the enemy and leaving cuts behind, until she jumps into the air and finishes with an X shaped slash.

Instincts warned her, and Lucy tilted her head to avoid the overhead slash from another assailant, who tried bashing her with his shield next. Lucy hopped back to dodge it and went for his right thigh, swinging her right Cleaver. He blocked it, but that was what she counted on as she used the momentum to spinning jump into the air and dent his helmet with a roundhouse kick.

On another section of the battlefield, Raven held her Odachi in a ready stance, surrounded by enemies consisting of Canines and muscular men, each one eyeing her with immense bloodlust. With a hint of insanity coupled with primal fury. 'Its like I'm in a den of animals…!' she cursed in her mind, her eyes shining blue behind her Mask.

When one tried to slash her head off with his sword, Raven reacted by parrying it and using the opening to slit his throat. She sidestepped a lunge from a Canine, only to be blindsided by another. Just as she fell to the ground, Raven pumped her legs with her energy and kicked the Canine off her, flipping into a slash to its back that chopped off one of its legs, making it howl in pain.

Raven landed and blocked a slash to her thighs, before snap kicking the offender in his jaw, sending him stumbling backwards. Killer Intent flared behind her as Raven instinctively formed a spike made from Ice, impaling the attacking man who gasped as the Spike punctured his lung. He didn't live very long.

A canine tried to bite her in the thigh, but Raven sidestepped it, noticed it was the same one whose leg she severed, and dealt the final blow by decapitating it. She twisted a full 180 degrees to face an incoming sword wielder, blocking his strike with her Odachi. She glanced behind her to see 2 more with Axes coming in from the rear, so she swiftly crescent kicked her original opponent's Axe out of his hands, before flipping backwards into a high leap, erecting an Ice pillar beneath her to help her get higher.

While in mid-air, after having dodged their collective attacks, Raven held her hand out and several smaller pillars shot out the first, slamming into the three's guts. This knocked the wind out of them and sent them to their knees, which Raven capitalised by activating HYPERSLASH to cut them to smithereens.

For Aiden and Ivan, the two kept each other's backs, blasting away at those that got a little too close for their liking. Aiden's wings wouldn't be feasible in such a narrow space, same with his Missiles. Thus, someone with his Skillset was in a tremendous disadvantage here. Aiden shot a Canine through the head with a Pistol shot, then ducked under another's lunge, firing at its exposed underbelly.

When several men tried to charge them from multiple flanks, Aiden repeatedly fired curving shots while his arms moved in wide arcs, some bullets hitting their shins to slow them down while others completely missed. It slowed them down though, enough that they came at the two in an orderly fashion.

That was no problem though, for Ivan compensated. The men came at them heard, one tried to slash through the mechanical armed Spec Ops Agent's chest, but Ivan parried it, kicking him into one of his buddies. He ducked under a swing to his head, stabbing the offender through the heart. He punched the man with his Shock Glove, sending an electronic wave through him that sent the man flying. He switched his Bionic Arm to its default Mode before grabbing an Axe wielder's shield by the top rim, throwing it upwards and jabbing him in the neck, swiftly grabbing him there and slamming him into the ground hard enough to smash a skull in.

The man died on impact.

While this happened, Aiden stood up, firing more Pistol rounds at others like a cowboy. His eyes glanced over his surroundings, instantly marking his targets and planting bullets in their heads. No movement was wasted, everything was calculated. The two moved like a tag-team, keeping most of the enemies away while those that got close were dealt with by Ivan.

Isaac rammed into one sword wielder, knocking him down and finishing him off with a Plasma Cutter shot to the head. He then grabbed offending man's arm with his free hand, blasting it off before repeating the process with his head. He heard sounds of barking at his left flank, swiftly side kicking an approaching Canine to the ground. He ended it in the same way with his Plasma Cutter.

An inventory switch became necessary, and Isaac knew the weapon he wanted. He switched out his Plasma Cutter, its form vanishing into his Inventory via Particles, before more Particles appeared, forming his desired weapon: The 711 MARKCL Rivet Gun. If one were to make a comparison, think of a machine gun… but with Rivets, and on steroids.

With his new weapon equipped, Isaac fired a barrage of Rivets into an approaching Canine, swerving around its flailing form as it slid along the ground, a pained yelp escaping its snout as he sidestepped a sword slash to the head. He dodged several slashes, before firing at the owner's head when he tried to shield bash him, killing the man instantly.

Sensing killer intent behind him, Isaac pointed the Rivet Gun behind him from below his arm pit, not even looking as he unloaded on an unlucky barbarian. The barbarian screamed in pain as the Rivets impaled him, pinning him to a wall while the last one went through his head.

A Canine tried to get the jump on him, but Isaac stepped back and whacked it on the head, stunning it long enough to pelt it with Rivets, before he had to parry and kill 2 more Axe wielding Barbarians in a similar manner.

As his comrades fought on their lines, Nico grinned to himself behind his helmet. Things were looking up for them, and while the shock of these new enemies had been there at the beginning, it had quickly been replaced with primal bloodlust, the thrill of combat, the knowledge that your life was just teetering on the edge of death's cavern. One false move, and you slip in.

The male sliced through one Axe wielder's… Axe, and stabbed him through the head, tilting his own to avoid a sword thrown at him by a rear attacker, the sword hitting one of his brethren instead. Nico swiftly grabbed the fallen barbarian's shield and used it as a frisbee against the ambusher, hitting him in the head and stunning him long enough for Nico to drop kick him in the face, then smash his knee into his skull with enough force to shatter it, killing the barbarian instantly.

And the fighting went on…

* * *

After a LOT of fighting, mostly due to numbers and how the Barbarians REFUSED to go down easily, thus resulting in them resorting to lethal injuries to take them down, the Spec Ops Agents were left standing in the middle of a large pile of corpses, blood staining the tunnel red as its scent saturated the air around them. All of them were panting heavily, even Nico, who mentally thanked lady luck that his helmet covered his nose.

The smell of so much blood, so much fresh, tasty blood… and the eye-catching flesh…

'No, no-no-no! Not happening, no way, no how!' Quickly, the teen shook his head to stop those thoughts from going any further. The Maniacal laughter IT was making within his mind didn't exactly help matters much, if at all. He guessed that it was growing to a point where his Armour's drugs were barely effecting it at all at this point, the teen assumed with a hidden snort of disgust, and self-loathing at the same time.

 **'** **It appears your demonic energy is the only thing effective at keeping it at bay now…'** Biko's voice rang through his mind. His tone was understandably grave, with an undertone of concern as demonic energy thrummed through his words. **'It would be best to…'**

'No, its best not to do anything right now Biko.'

 **'…** **If you say so.'**

While Biko wanted to at least slow the process down a bit, he could understand Nico's near acceptance of the fact that IT would be a constant thorn in his side now. Even with his energy keeping IT at bay. From what he had seen, all their efforts would be only successful at slowing the process down, not stopping it like they once had. Probably due to how damaged his body truly was from that Berserker Mode.

Nevertheless, they had a job to do, so Biko switched the subject to a matter of equal importance. **'In any case, it is unfortunate, but Nico… I can sense demonic energy within these men… and those Canines.'**

Now THAT got his attention. 'What?! How the fuck is that a thing?!'

 **'** **These Fragmented Memories tell me that this is what happens when humans and animals are tainted by the energies of the demonic. They are mutated, gaining increased physical abilities at the cost of barely any intelligence.'**

Nico cursed at that, but made sure that it was low so only he and Biko could hear it. Though, he couldn't help but notice the stares Raven and Lucy were giving him when he did that. Ignoring that for now, Nico focused back on his demon persona. 'So, what else do we have on these things? Any way this can be reverted or something?'

A wave of refusal entered Nico's mind, coming from Biko. If he was in his inner world, then Biko would have been seen shaking his head in denial. **'Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do for those who have been tainted like this. They are too far gone; the taint will have completely consumed them at this point. The only release would be death. Though, this 'Blood God' business is also a topic of interest,'**

'Yeah, you're right. I have no clue what they were on about, but this 'blood god' of theirs doesn't seem like something to joke about.'

Breaking from his thoughts, Nico turned to the others, his Plasma Claws deactivating while he asked them. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, somehow…" Ivan replied, using his bent knees as support while regaining his breath. When he felt like most of the lactic acid was gone from his lungs, Ivan stood tall while the others did the same. "Anyways, am I the only one who was creeped out by those guys?" he asked them all. He only received shakes of the head, proving that his thoughts and opinions were shared with the rest of them. "Oh, good, so it's not just me."

Lucy narrowed her eyes as she glared at a particular Canine Corpse, kicking its side with her right boot. "These bastards… their teeth marks match the state that man was in." she stated, glancing between the corpse they found and the newly made ones. An irritated snort soon left her as she crossed her arms in an angry manner. "Guess we now know what killed these Miners."

Raven nodded her head in agreement, her own eyes filled with cold fury behind her Mask. She soon raised a hand and snapped her fingers, encasing the ground and corpses in Ice. She then clenched a fist, and the ice shattered, taking the corpses, as well as the frozen blood, with it. She didn't notice the sigh of relief that escaped Nico's lips at that one, as she turned her attention to the rest of them. "I concur. Odds are, more of these things will be present deeper within the Mines. We should proceed with Caution."

Everyone had to agree with her on that one, if there were more of these things, and chances were there would be, then they had to be on guard. These guys had been prepared to die on the battlefield, which made them infinitely more dangerous than common thugs. They would have to keep moving, but also keep an eye on their surroundings, lest they be overwhelmed.

"Oh yeah, did you see their cloaks, guys?" Isaac asked them out of the blue, getting their attention.

Ivan arched a brow at the question, finding it odd to ask about that kind of specific detail, and thus made to inquire. "Uh, we were too busy not trying to die over here, so I don't think we looked at their cloaks."

"Well, you wouldn't have seen it but I saw a symbol carved into their cloaks." Isaac replied, frowning behind his helmet as he sent his Rivet Gun to the Inventory. "The Symbol reminds me a lot of the Overlord Momus religion, honestly. I don't think that would be a coincidence."

'If he's right, then we're fighting against members of the Overlord faction. A faction that has the capacity to summon demons, huh? Well, this sure complicates things.' Nico thought with a grimace. None of the others liked that idea either, the thought of such dealings from a faction that didn't worship the Goddesses. At least with Spec Ops they don't go into cultist-like stuff such as this.

* * *

In the end, the Spec Ops Agents decided to continue on so they could get some answers to their questions. As they navigated the mine though, it soon became apparent that One: Raven was right, there were more, LOTS more of the aptly named 'Marauders' and 'Warhounds' as Ivan called them a few times, but Two: there was a massive demonic energy presence in this Mine.

While this worried the Agents, Nico's worry outshined all of theirs combined. His senses, instincts and logical side were screaming at him to just simply level the place with a bunch of bombs, so that this energy couldn't corrupt any more unfortunate souls. It didn't help that he, and Biko, had been debating on whether or not to do just exactly that and report to the higher ups that an Abnormal had killed the entire village.

But that wouldn't satisfy someone like Count Mott, whose only interests were either getting action, furthering his political standing, or retaining his profits. He wouldn't care how many lambs he'd feed to the hungry beast dwelling here, instead he would just send more thinking that would solve the problem, taking all the credit from those who earned it.

Basic Noble behaviour 101.

* * *

While they explored the Mine, the Party encountered Marauders, Warhounds, and these beasts that some of these beings called 'Chaos Knights' which looked like masculine humanoids clad in pitch black armour while riding atop midnight black armoured steeds. They definitely knew that these things had something to do with Demonic energy, well, Raven, Lucy, Ivan, Aiden and Nico did anyways due to their familiarity with demonic energy. Although the first four only experienced it both from the fifth and that Abnormal Dungeon. It just oozed from their presence, more so than the Marauders and the Warhounds. However, Nico noticed that the energy wasn't as present in the Marauders as it was in the Warhounds, making him believe that they functioned in a hierarchy. Marauders at the bottom, Warhounds above, and so forth.

Still though, the presence of Demonic Energy here did little good for his instincts.

As they walked through the Mine, approaching the lower floors after constantly being harassed by these entities, Biko began talking to him. **'Nico, I have made a discovery about this Energy,'** he said, piquing Nico's interest.

'Oh? What is it?'

 **'According to my research, calculations and findings, it appears that the demonic energies within this Mine are doing more than just decorating the place. It seems your body is subconsciously absorbing the ambient energies in the atmosphere.'**

Now THAT caused Nico to nearly fall over anime style, getting the attention of the others. "Hey, Nicky-Dear, are you alright? Do you need a rest?" Lucy questioned in concern. Isaac didn't have an expression thanks to his helmet, while Guts and Raven looked non-perturbed by this abrupt behaviour. Though, if one looked closely they would see a brief flash of concern for Nico in Raven's eyes.

"N-No, I'm good. Just nearly tripped on something." Nico apologised, soon regaining his composure. Shrugging their shoulders, the party moved on when they saw that he was alright to continue. Meanwhile, Nico thought back to his demon persons with a rising panic in his mental tone. 'What do you mean, absorbing demonic energy?!How long has this been going on for?!'

 **'Calm yourself, Nico. It is nothing that will damage us, I have made sure of that. Instead, it appears that the energies being absorbed are helping us in a multitude of ways. For example, it is speeding up your recovery bit by bit. I delegated a lot of the energies to other things however, as we don't wish to overwhelm your body and cause it to collapse. Instead, it is going towards your weapons, feeding them in vast quantities. Usually, your demon weapons fed off your own energy to function, however thanks to Berserker Mode, that wasn't possible. Thus, I had sealed those weapons away so they wouldn't cause damage to you. However, with this energy in the air, I am able to satisfy their 'energy lust' as it would. It will take some time, however the longer we are here, the more likely you will be able to use them again.'**

Hearing Biko's explanation, Nico mentally exhaled. He would have done so physically too, but he was with company at the moment. Still, this was a godsend for him. If what Biko said was true, and he trusted his demon persona immensely, then he would likely get his Demonic Weapons back first, at least. Then he'd be able to fight those Infernals again if they were to make a return visit. Though, the fact that Biko had sealed his demonic weapons away had been surprising. He didn't know Biko could do that, though Nico didn't feel any animosity towards him for it.

Instead he was grateful, who knows what sort of effects he would have suffered if he'd drawn one of those without realising those facts.

Then, a thought struck him. 'Hang on, what about when I used Harvester to deal with those Thugs when they were harassing Vert?' Nico questioned, frowning behind his Helmet. 'If they feed off my energy, then-'

 **'Out of all of your weapons, Harvester feeds off your energy the least. Also, it was only brief, and I had been busy with the other weapons at the time, so I never got the chance till AFTER the time you used it.'** Biko explained. Nico then shuddered when he felt the scolding tone in his next words. **'I must request that you refrain from doing something so reckless again, at least until these weapons are satisfied for the moment.'**

'R-Right...'

* * *

After that discussion, the Party found themselves in a rather... odd section of the Mines.

"Huh? What is...?" Ivan began, his Goggle-covered eyes filled with confusion when they went through a door, only to find what looked like a line of Cells. The ground had changed, too. From the dirt ground they were used to, to a cobblestone-like path, with the walls and ceiling being the same. There were various bloodstains on the ground, as well as various torture devices lined up on the walls with only a single window on the opposite side.

They only had one guess as to what this was.

It was Raven who said it first, though. "A Dungeon...? But what would a Dungeon be doing in a Mining site?" she wondered, Aiden frowning behind his Mask. He looked around, his eyes taking in as much detail as they possibly could behind his Goggles.

"I would say that Dungeons were a personal favourite for Leanbox." he stated, getting their attention. When asked to continue by a stare from his leader, the Spec Ops Agent did so. "Leanbox was well known for taking prisoners during its raids on the other Nations, mostly Lowee and Lastation since our technology allowed us to keep ourselves from becoming prisoners. They must have had no shortage of prisoners to interrogate, which likely means that they needed places to put them all..."

Each of them scowled, some hidden, others not so much. Leanbox was a medieval, hierarchy themed Nation, and thus torture and executions had been a major part of their culture. However, despite what Aiden had said there were a FEW Raids on Planeptune where they took prisoners, only to release them months later when they were paid the ransom fees. However, those victims never said what their treatment there was like. It was just assumed that they were treated fairly according to some flimsy laws of war conventions.

If what they were seeing here was accurate...

Looking over the area, Nico noticed something in one of the Cells. "Look, there's something off about this Cell." he said, gesturing to it while turning to his comrades. Raven and the others walked up to him, and examined the cell. Their eyes widened, some visible, others not, when they looked.

"Whoa..."

"Now this is freaky..."

Inside the Cell, there was a lone skeleton, chained to the wall with the pin for the Chains high up on the wall behind it. But that wasn't what they were focussing on, instead they were looking at all the torture tools, bloodstains, and the injuries the Skeleton looked to have sustained. There were so many, it could almost rival half of Nico's void Storage.

"Looks like... the Torture thing's just been confirmed..." Nico muttered under his breath. White hot fury shot through him, and he did his damned best to repress it. He didn't want his unstable powers to go off the rail, not now, most certainly NOT NOW.

During the Console War, there had been a convention enacted by the four nations, one to do with war crimes. It stated more than a few ground rules, one of which was the fair treatment of prisoners of war. If they were captured, they were to be treated humanely, and in full accordance with their human rights. It looked like behind the curtains, Leanbox hadn't been sticking to this convention.

If that was the case, then what about the other Nations? What about Lowee, Lastation, and... Planeptune?

...

...

...

...

He didn't think of that one. No, it was more plausible to say that he refused, or didn't even want, to.

In the end, Lucy couldn't take it anymore and quickly began pacing out of the Dungeon area. "Alright guys, lets move on. I don't think we'll find anything of use here."

Nico could not have agreed more, as the Spec Ops Agents left the Dungeon.

* * *

Wandering the Mines some more, although Nico, Lucy and a few others wanted to leave more and more, they eventually came to a book shelf... along one of the many Tunnels the Mine had. "Huh? A book shelf?" Isaac questioned this time, just when Ivan was about to. He glared at the older man for it, but he was ignored.

Instead, he cupped his chin in confusion and muttered under his breath. "Bit of an odd place to put a Bookshelf, huh...? Wonder what's in it."

Raven walked up to it while her comrade had been saying this, reaching out and pulling a Book from the Shelf. There was no title on the page, but the cover did a good job in unnerving her. It was all black, with crimson red lining. The lining's shape, it just couldn't be compared to anything else, but blood. It reminded her of the blood of those slain by those who want power. The wrongfully damned. She didn't like it, the rest of them didn't like it, but she steeled herself and opened the tome in her hand...

For approximately 3 minutes before she put it back.

"Let's go, this place reeks with foul intent." She spoke, her tone colder than the weather in Lowee. If anyone could have seen her face, they'd have realised that behind her cool demeanour, she had been trying not to fully freeze this entire Mine.

Lucy reached for the Tome, the same one Raven had read, and flicked it open. Her eyes widened in sheer horror when she read the contents, and she too was reduced tot he same state, trying not to use her powers to level this entire damned place to the ground. "For once, I'm not going to argue with you there, Leader." she stated darkly, her eyes shining with white hot rage.

 **'Nico... those tomes... They're demon summoning Tomes.'** Biko warned the teen when he too made to reach one, causing Nico to freeze up while his sole eye widened behind his helmet. **'Most of these Tomes, they require... things that no human should dream of doing to work... I managed to read some of the passages those two read. You do NOT want to read them, Nico. You'd be unable to control yourself.'**

With the dark, angry tone that Biko was using, to the point where his usual calm, emotionless demeanour shattered like the way it was, convinced the DPU that he should heed his demon persona's warnings. His hands returned to his sides as he turned on his armoured boots to make his way towards the Girls. None of the others dared look at the Tomes, for fear of incurring the wrath of those that did...

Plus to save their minds from the Trauma.

* * *

The Group, after exploring the majority of the Mine found themselves behind a steel door. It was shut tight, preventing anyone access to the room inside. "This must be the manager's office." Raven stated, quickly freezing the lock and shattering it, to allow her to kick the door open with a single heeled boot.

With that out of the way, the group made their way inside, looking around the room to see if there was anything of interest.

They didn't have to do that for long.

"Uh, this thing here guys…" Ivan began, getting the rest of them to look at him as he pointed to something on the ground. "Does that look… off to you?"

When they all looked to see what he was talking about, the Group saw that he was pointing towards what looked like a Magic Circle, used from a strange white powder. But what was REALLY interesting was how several bodies of men and women in black and red robes were lying on the ground, ceremonial Knives placed within their guts to stain the ground around them red.

The smell however, nearly made Nico want to leave the room, his nose, despite the Helmet covering it, screaming in protest and pain about how horrid it looked. "Ugh, this is…!"

"A Summoning Circle." Lucy finished, kneeling before the circle. She glared heatedly towards the bodies. "Looks like a dark one, considering that these guys had to sacrifice themselves. I'd say blood magic was involved in this somehow." She commented, picking some of the powder up in her fingers. She rubbed them together, frowning in contemplation. "Looks like a compound made from Sea Salt, Shark Oil, Iron Shavings, Desiccated Squirrel Semen, Wolf Hair…"

She couldn't finish her analysis since Ivan already stepped towards her, patting her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Good stuff." He complimented, although the grossed-out expression on his face clearly indicated how uncomfortable she'd made him. Looking to the others, Lucy saw that she'd given them all varied looks of disturbance. "Oh... hehehe, sorry." She apologised sheepishly, stepping away from the Summoning Circle.

Shaking aside her disgust, Raven cast her gaze across the room, and noticed a Desk with a conveniently open book behind the Summoning Circle. She waded over the corpses, scoffing at some of the male ones, before reaching the Desk and grasping the Book. "Hmmm, looks like we have a journal here." She commented, beckoning the crew over.

They did, and Nico scanned the journal with his Bracer before projecting a holographic screen in front of them. It read:

 **To Blood Priest Zamasu**

 **We have the latest shipment of Silver Steel and Specimens you requested. As you requested, we don't have any fatties this time, the containment areas were too narrow, so we had to gas the last ones and use them for our Blood Rituals.**

 **We have about 60% of the Silver Steel deposits here mined out, it won't belong till re request rights to move to the next Mine. Odds are, Spec Ops Agents will be sent here shortly, but we'll deal with them ourselves.**

 **From Priest Gowasu.**

"Looks like this is the most recent entry…" Raven noted, clenching the hilt of her Odachi. If one were to see her face right now, they would see how livid she was just by looking at her eyes. "These entries show that they've been shipping Silver Steel to several addresses across Leanbox. My guess is those areas are where worshippers of Overlord Momus will be gathered."

Isaac nodded his head in agreement, taking the Journal itself and putting it inside his Inventory. "Looks to be that way. Though I guess that you guys were right all along." He began, getting their attention. "You guys felt that the Overlord faction was up to this, and you were right. Though, I doubt anyone will believe us once we tell em what's happened here."

Lucy scoffed, crossing her arms below her chest as she turned her head away. "Who says those asshats will even listen to what we have to say?" she remarked, glaring at the man out the corner of her eye. "Odds are they'll likely slander us for 'not giving them what they want' and impose some form of punishment on us."

"Well, us maybe." Guts began, everyone turning their heads to look at him. He had been mostly silent through this mission save for when he wanted to say something to Isaac, so it came as a surprise that he would talk to them like this. "You all are from foreign nations, Nations arguably better than ours in terms of how you all are treated. You'll get off easy compared to me and ISHIMURA here."

In response to that, Nico scowled behind his helmet, which soon opened to reveal said facial expression. "We won't let you take this on alone, you two. We may come from different Nations, but we are all Spec Ops. We take care of our own." he declared, the passion in his voice rivalling a raging bonfire.

To those that knew him, like Team RAIL, it was expected for him to have such a response due to his macho-like mannerisms. But to Isaac and Guts, they didn't know him nearly as well. "Heh, how macho of you." The former stated, smirking behind his helmet. "Shame that not many share that view of yours, kid. No, you're no kid, sorry about that." At first, he had been going strong, but then he quickly amended that statement when he looked into Nico's eyes.

They weren't the eyes of a teenager for a brief moment, but more of an experienced killer who had killed thousands of enemies and can talk about it with ease. Not something one would see in a kid as young as Nico, but nonetheless he couldn't help but be concerned for his mental health.

Guts likely had no issues to complain about, he was a warrior who despised those who were weak.

"In any case…" Raven stopped the conversation right there, they would be here for a long time if they had to listen to Nico go on about his Macho beliefs. If they weren't pressed for time, she wouldn't mind as much, as that macho side of him was something she found… appealing, in him. "We should probably make our way back soon, the longer we keep those idiot Nobles waiting, the more grouchy they will become."

* * *

When they exited the Mine and into the open air, the sun was beginning to shine over in the horizon. There were specs of orange mixing in with the blue sky, creating small pink hues within the sunrise.

"Leanbox has great sunrises…" Ivan muttered under his breath, his eyes, which were now fully uncovered since his Goggles were on his forehead now, shined with awe at the sight before him. "Sometimes, I envy Leanbox's citizens for getting to see a sight like that every day…"

Lucy nodded in agreement, and for a brief moment a flicker of pride escaped her as she smirked, though Raven caught it before she could dismiss the feeling. She didn't say anything though, as Lucy was already addressing a problem they had. "I dunno about you guys, but I'd rather be fully rested if we were to make a trip this long by foot. It'll likely take us an entire day at full speed to return to MICROSOFT, since we don't have any transport." she stated, seriously.

Everyone looked at each other, their eyes showing that they were having a silent conversation. They had to admit that Lucy had a point, while they could make the trip right now, for it was well within their power, they would be left sorely drained afterwards. It was most important to take ample breaks during large scale missions like this, and on Urgent Quests it was even more so. Fortunately, they were provided with transport this time, however since it had been destroyed, they would have to hoof it from here.

In a transport, that would take a couple hours. But on foot, when they would have to worry about Stamina? It would take a day at least.

Thus, Lucy's idea that they take a break before heading back sounded quite appealing for them. They were tired, sweaty, etc, so it would be best if they set up camp somewhere nearby where they had a fresh water supply, for drink and washing. Well, washing was out since they had to return quickly, hence the name 'Urgent Quest', but drinks were still viable.

Just then, Aiden pointed at the camp fire that they had found next to the entrance. "Since someone else has been here already, we can use the camp fire they left behind. We can set up camp here, rest for approximately 6 hours, before we continue on our way." He suggested, opening his Inventory to check his stocks. "I have an ample supply of water bottles on hand. Ingredients for a stew are also in my possession."

"I've got some materials we can use for a fire." Isaac pitched in, gesturing to the burnt wood. "That stuff's useless to us, but thanks to my previous missions I learned to keep stock of everything I'd need to get a fire going. I'll handle the Camp fire for us, but we'll need some camping gear of our own."

Nico then pitched in, thanking lady luck that he had closed his helmet back up when they had left the Mine. He didn't want them to see the barely noticeable twitches his face had made when Aiden had mentioned 'stew'. He also didn't miss the faint glance in his direction that Ivan had cast as discreet as he possibly could. "I've got our gear with me. I keep some in my Void Storage for situations like this. I should have enough for the lot of us." He told them, much to their satisfaction.

"Excellent." Raven stated, clapping her hands together like one would when the pieces of a plan come together. "We'll take VERONICA's suggestion and Camp here for the time being. Use what rations you need to, but only when necessary. We will have to set up camp lightly, so we can make good time returning home. We'll split te 6 hours into 2, making repeated stops along the way."

"RIGHT!"

* * *

It didn't take them long to set up Camp. Guts helped Isaac with the firewood, plus setting up the Campfire. Lucy, Raven and Nico set up the Camping Gear in a proper formation around the Campfire, in a way that they could quickly pack and unpack at a moment's notice. They would be camping several times on their Journey after all. Everyone else made sure to set traps in strategic positions, as well as an alarm system to quickly warn them of approaching Abnormals.

After everything was set, the group were sitting around the camp fire on plastic chairs, having some stew that Aiden had cooked. Nico himself made sure to look like he was enjoying the food, when he really wanted to just barf it all out. Fortunately, it seemed that his share was... altered, he noticed, when Aiden gave him his. He'd cast a knowing look his way afterwards, which was all he needed to know. He couldn't help but feel te gratitude towards him for that. Heck, even Ivan noticed this and gave him an equally knowing glance.

He was lucky as all fuck to have their support in keeping his secret safe.

"Hmph, this stew is pretty good..." Isaac commented, surprise and a look of satisfaction on his features. Now that he had taken off his helmet for their stay at Camp, they could finally see his facial features. Unlike most of the Gamindustri residents, Isaac wasn't exactly fair skinned. His skin was a little on the pale side, likely due to staying in his RIG for so long during his jobs as an Engineer/Spec Ops Agent. He had dark hair, with a matching beard and moustache, showing off how aged he looked under his RIG. Honestly, Nico found it a welcome change from having to see so many fair skin tones all the time.

Seriously, was it universal to have fair skin in Gamindustri?

Aiden nodded, not showing it but was proud of the compliment to his cooking nonetheless. "Compliments are appreciated. Thanks to Raven, Lucy and Ivan having zero talent in Cooking..." he began, ignoring the scathing glares that he received from said people. "I am the one who has to provide them the culinary meals. We do not trust MRE packages even with a 10 foot pole."

At the mention of MRE's, everyone winced, and even those glaring stopped said action. "Yeah, I can see that..." Isaac remarked, and even Guts nodded in agreement. MRE Packs weren't very tasty, or appetizing in appearance. "Stuff sticks on the sides of my mouth, sometimes." Isaac looked to the rest of them, before an idea popped into his head. "Say, why don't we get to know each other better? Talking about ourselves between colleagues is encouraged after all. We do need to trust each other to watch our backs."

Everyone paused eating to ponder this idea. While it was not exactly 'easy' (Looking at you, Nico) for some to trust others, it was still true that they would have to watch each other's back. It would be best if they weren't practically strangers to each other. Soldiers don't tend to live very long on the battlefield, so Spec Ops would be expected to die even sooner. Nico and Team RAIL couldn't help but recall the many times they had brushes with death they had during their careers.

"Alright, well, I'll start then..." Ivan began, seeing as nobody else wanted to do so. "Well, my name's Ivan, Codename CYBORG. My likes are: Girls, fighting, helping others, and humour." He couldn't help but sweat slightly under the looks the two females of their group said when he did his Likes. "Dislikes include: betrayers, assholes in general, Abnormals, and MREs." Everyone had to smirk on that one. Small smiles were even on Guts and Ravens' faces, the latter having taken off her Mask to eat. "Dreams: not much really, just wanna be the best Spec Ops I can be, like no one ever was."

Isaac chuckled at the end of his little intro, already having a response for that. "Alright, Ash Ketchum." he began with a laugh, not caring about the narrow eyes that Ivan aimed at him for his joke. "Anyways, my turn. Name's Isaac Clarke, Codename ISHIMURA. Likes include: my Wife, my Tools, my Job, and people I can get along with. Dislikes include Nobles..." He noticed how Lucy perked up at that one, but continued. "Abnormals, overzealous religious fanatics, and the thought of y Wife getting hurt. Dreams would be to start a family with my Wife one day, maybe after this whole Abnormal craze if sorted out."

Nico just had to point something out about the man. "You really love your wife, don't you?" he asked, a slight smile on his lips. To see someone so loving towards his spouse like him reminded him of his adoptive mother, and her husband. He knew of her... issues, with childbirth, but what she didn't know was that he also knew how loyal her husband was to her. One time, he'd noticed a woman hitting on him when he was returning home, but he told her that he only had eyes for one woman and one woman alone.

Commitment, everyone!

An equally small, but no less powerful, smile broke out onto the older man's face. "Aye, she's my light, you could say. She's the one I love to come home to, to have dinner with, her company, and her humour." The man chuckled wistfully, his eyes darkening with loneliness for the briefest instance. "On jobs like this, I miss her so terribly it makes me wanna abandon the mission just to be with her."

That sent the other Agents, save for Guts, for a loop. None of them could believe what they were hearing as they looked at the family man in their group. "Whoa, that's... wow, that's really romantic..." Lucy breathed, eyes filled with shock and disbelief. With her experiences with men, she would have thought such commitment to another woman was all but impossible. Guess she was wrong... Hell, Raven looked at Isaac like he was an alien or something. To a man hater like her, seeing a man so caring about his wife like that must not be something she saw every day...

Even people like her had stuff to learn, huh?

Soon, it was Aiden's turn to speak, since everyone else was to stunned to speak. "I believe I will go next. #Clears throat# My name is Aiden, codename FALCON. Likes: Combat, training, worthy comrades who don't betray me." he cast a meaningful glance to the other members of Team RAIL and Nico, who all picked up on it. "Dislikes: betrayers, psychopaths, those who wrong my comrades, slacking off on training, and incompetence. No dreams for the future."

"Wow..." Isaac drawled, looking slightly perturbed at the winged Spec Ops Agent. He didn't like the way he talked... all robot-like, without much emotion. It just felt unsettling to him, even after hearing his voice for a short while in the Mine. "That's... informative. No dreams about the future? Might wanna change that soon, son. Not having anything to look forward to in life can be the worst regret of all."

"I will keep that in mind."

The way that Aiden said that, in such a monotone and blank voice with an equally matched expression, didn't let any of them know if he was taking the man's advice to heart or not. Not something they wanted to ponder.

In the end, they decided to move on, and just when nobody was about to speak, Guts decided to take the spotlight. "I am Guts. No codename, but I have been known to be called 'The Black Swordsman' a couple times." he began, making the group go wide eyed at him, save for Isaac who knew this already. They had heard of the Black Swordsman, a Spec Ops Agent who fights solo, like Nico did, against huge Abnormals that rivalled several story buildings in size, with nothing but his massive sword. He had a very high kill count, having become a Spec Ops at a young 8 years old. "I have few likes, beside my sword. My dislikes, they're a mesh of every one of yours, including my hate for those who leave themselves weak. I have only one Goal in my life, and that is to KILL a certain Abnormal..."

At that last bit, Gut's eyes darkened, almost becoming like voids, his lips twisting into an angry snarl. His sword, which he leaned on from his perch on the ground instead of sitting in a chair, almost tilted with the weight he put on it. However, like a sword worthy of being owned by the Black Swordsman, it stayed its ground. Seeing that look on Guts' face made the group shiver, even Isaac. He knew what that Goal was, yet it still frightened him to feel Guts' KI like this. It was like he was staring death in the face, about to be swallowed in its cold embrace, just as he was about to reunite with his Wife: cruel, and merciless.

Though considering what happened, he didn't blame the guy.

Next, Lucy began her intro. "Whelp, for us girls I guess I'll take the plunge!" she chirped joyously. "Hi yall, my names' Lucy! VERONICA is my Codename, and fighting is my game! My likes are Nicky-Dear, fighting, shopping, training, teasing, and most off all..." She licked her lips sensually at this bit. "Control." the sultry, seductive manner in which she said that made the males blush, save for Isaac who shifted in discomfort. Nico, whose direction her glance was aimed towards, became crimson. That gaze reminded him so much of how Neptune looked before she did... that, to him. Goddamnit, hormones! "My dislikes are those worthless filthy rotten pigs called Nobles." This time her gaze turned cold and dark. None of them could pinpoint why, but they got the feeling that life just got darker along with that gaze. "Also, I don't like those who go too far with their desires, I don't like when my comrades get hurt. And as for dreams..."

The oppressive atmosphere she had before all but vanished, and a soft, tender one took its place. A matching smile was on her lips as she looked Nico's way, not just a glance this time. "My dreams would be to finally hook up with the guy I'm interested in, if only he lets me in." she remarked, sighing in wistfulness. Nico couldn't help out shudder, not just out of embarrassment either, but... something else. Something he didn't know the identity of.

 **'... Interesting. It appears that she doesn't harbour just lust for you, huh Nico? She actually-'**

'Ugh, no she doesn't, she just likes teasing me, Biko!'

"Heh, good on ya lass." Isaac spoke, momentarily taken aback by the amount of affection he could sense from her. When he had met her back at the Guild Building, he had expected her to have wanted to go on a date with him or something like a simple sex time. Not something that happens everyday to a Spec Ops considering their low life expectancy, but to think that she actually wanted a serious relationship with one, when she was the same type of Agent herself... It was both commendable and sort of tragic, in a way.

They were both Spec Ops Agents, so they were bound to never experience all of what life has to offer. Not like this, anyways.

His pondering was paused when Raven aimed an angry glare, with an undertone of jealousy, Isaac noticed. "You won't deceive me, VERONICA. I am aware of how you want to take DEATHSTROKE like your other encounters." she stated, bluntly, her eyes as cold as ice. She then cleared her throat, before reluctantly beginning her intro. "My name, it is Raven, my codename, it is SAMURAI. Likes, few, fighting, comradery, and loyalty. Dislikes, the weak, the incompetent, and deceit. Dreams, I have none at the moment." She finished. While she said she had no dreams at the moment, nobody missed the very subtle glance she made in Nico's direction, save for the male himself.

'So the guy has a group of girls, huh?' Isaac wondered, suppressing the grin from forming on his lips. 'Heh, looks like that kid won't be a virgin much longer.'

Guts remained silent, although a flash of appreciation when she said her dislikes was present in his eyes briefly.

Finally, it was Nico's turn, and now everyone had their gazes fixed on him. The teen shuffled in discomfort at this, but made no move to escape. It was beneath his pride as a Spec Ops Agent, and also Nico refused to run away from this. Not only did these guys open up like this, the words Lucy had said, along with Raven's, impacted him more than he expected they would. How could he call himself their comrade if he didn't show the same mental strength as those two? Who held distrust almost as equal o his own?

Thus, with a sigh, Nico finally opened his mouth to speak after a moment of silent contemplation. "Alright... my name, is Nico, Codename DEATHSTROKE. My likes are worthwhile comrades, my family, honor, respect and loyalty. I dislike the scum of the earth that roam Gamindustri, I dislike nobles for their snobby, arrogant attitudes, and I dislike not being able to prepare for future disasters." Alright, so far so good. Now, what about dreams? Did he have any dreams? Nico wracked his bran for the answer to that question, almost shaking it like a money box being shaken by a robber for every spec of cash it had.

This made him come to a realisation about himself, one that sent a particular tremor of shock down his spine. His eyes were wide with surprise and disbelief at this revelation, and for a moment the others grew concerned with his demeanour. At first it had been calm and collected, if a bit awkward at some areas, but now it seemed like all his confidence like Raven's vapour from her Ice Powers, had all but vanished. Just when they were about to ask him what was wrong, Nico managed to sap himself out of his stupor. "My dream is... to find the place I belong, along with someone I can trust beyond a shadow of a doubt. Someone who would accept me for what I am, someone who could understand me. Basically put..." his voice lowered to a level barely above a whisper, and yet as the fire crackled in the sunrise, it may as well have been shouted across the world. "I want... to know trust once more."

His words, they hit hard. Him most of all. He always preached to himself about being a monster, a creature that deserved nothing but utter loneliness and darkness. To be shrouded by loneliness and misery for being what he was. That was all his mind thought he deserved, and even now that fact rung true. It was too embedded in his psyche for something like this to uproot it.

But yet, deep down, a part of him, a part that had been slowly growing since this journey he was undertaking with Neptune began, had wanted something else. Something selfish, something that he knew for a FACT that he didn't deserve. Something that he wanted more than anything, something that he didn't even realise he wanted so badly that he would probably commit mass genocide if he could get it.

Someone... someone he could trust.

Not just normal, casual trust like friends would. No, this level of trust ran much deeper, deeper than the darkest pit. The trust he wanted, was something that could only be found by someone who was not only his equal, but just as lonely as he was. Someone who had experienced pain similar to his own, someone who had similar experiences to him. He wanted someone whom he felt he could trust even with his darkest secrets, someone who would treat him the same even after everything else had been explained. It was an impossible dream, his mind told him, an impossible dream meant to stay in the darkness of his soul for eternity. Yet, nothing like that could have stopped him from wanting it so badly it hurt.

It was quite a revelation... but one that also stung worse than a thousand killer wasps with how impossible it sounded.

* * *

"Sir, I have accomplished what you've told me."

Looking up from his paperwork, Count Mott grinned when he saw his Butler having returned from his task of gathering any and all information regarding those girls that Nico had been reported to be travelling with. The Butler had a scroll on a plate, chances are it was what he's been wanting this whole time. He had heard about Team RAIL's exploits as well as Nico's, but didn't find it appealing, a woman warrior, anyways. All of them were boring and not very good in bed. The innocent, and the helpless ones however…

"Excellent work, Butler." He complimented, reaching out and grasping the Scroll gingerly, almost like it was a sacred treasure left behind by the CPUs themselves. It may as well have been, considering his… taste… for women. "That will be all for now. I will call you when I require assistance."

"Of course, Sir." The Butler lowered his head in reverence, before turning on his shoes and walking out his Count's study, leaving the man to his own devices. Opening the Scroll, Count Mott almost salivated at the contents hidden within. "Ehehehehehe… these few are perfect… I must have them! They'll be Count Mott's greatest Conquest!"

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Thank GOD this chapter's done! This one's way longer than the last one, due to me not realising the page limit correctly.**

 **Anyways, GODDAMN, I feel like I'm about to cry for my boy Nico. He just realised something that he had been unconsciously been beginning to want after so many years of loneliness, yet he feels like he can't have it due to his secret. When I wrote that part, I could almost feel the stinging feels trying to tear my heart apart, man!** **Poor Nico!**

 **Like that one scene in Tokyo Ghoul Re: "I'm so lonely...!"**

 **Hope that you enjoyed the long chapter, I stayed up late making this so I gotta head to sleep. Anyways, see ya later, guys!**


	73. Chapter 70 - Do you Remember?

**WHOOOOO!**

 **THANK GOD!**

 **This chapter is both done, and edited! I was worried sick about finishing this baby, since without it I couldn't continue the story!**

 **Now, something you all should know about these next chapters will be development chapters, for the characters in Team RAIL. This one will belong to the redhead Lucy, then Raven, then Ivan and finally Aiden. I wish to develop their characters a bit before continuing the mini arc, though I guess its almost a whole arc at this point. But hey, you all have an extra long chapter to read, so don't complain!**

 **Anyways, lets go, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 70 - Do You Remember?**

Nico scowled, his Amour no longer on his person. 'Again… it's one of these dreams again…' he thought to himself as he stood within the middle of the mirror world once again. He hadn't been here since Lastation. This time, there was no chair, no wind, nothing but the mirror-like surface and the skies above.

He had hoped that Biko would have been able to stop him from having these dreams, but he guessed his mind had been that fucked up by recent events or something. The last thing he remembered before waking in this world was going back to his tent after a tense, heavy silence overtook the camp fire. He'd laid there in his Tent, inside his hammock, for what had felt like an eternity, before sleep had claimed him against his will.

Now, he was here.

"You know, I guess you've gotten further than we expected."

The sounds of a child's voice echoed throughout the area, making him spin around towards the source. There, standing behind him, was the same child that he'd seen since his last venture into this Mirror World. He had the same cold expression on his features, but there was also something else, something different about this child that he had noticed. It was like a great change had begun to occur within him. His eyes, while cold, held a faint flickering flame within them, almost like a spark.

Though this time, it seemed that he had been to the cleaners because his red hair no longer had blood stains on it, nor did he wear hospital rags. Instead, he wore a simple dress shirt, pants and shoes. Almost like a businessman, something that made Nico cringe in his head. He NEVER wanted to be a businessman, especially not one like Ganache.

Just thinking about that bastard filled his mind with rage, never would he become like that monster…

Nico almost snorted in derision when he made that comparison, like he had room to talk.

"Further?" the teen questioned, deciding to ponder his thoughts later. Right now, what he needed was answers. Answers to why his mind was doing this to him. "Not quite sure what you mean there, buddy."

The child rolled his eyes, his expression shifting to one of derision, ironically, and… disappointment? "And we call ourselves observant." He spoke scathingly, and Nico swore he felt a bristle of irritation escape his lips against his will. Like he was subconsciously agreeing with the child. "What we mean is that you've begun the first big hurdle. The hurdle that marks the beginning of our return."

Images flashed through his mind, images showing him confessing his dream to the others. He also remembered the thoughts that followed those images, accompanying him like ants running along his brain. While he was like this, the child walked past him, causing Nico break out his thoughts and turn behind him. "Its not how we wished for it, but finally te first hurdle has been cleared. We can now begin our recovery for reals this time. We have been waiting for this day for a long time, and now, finally, it has begun. Our mental recovery."

The teen gazed at the child's back, his eyes never leaving that spot. He wanted to shout, to bawl and yell at the child for not making any sense. Yet, for some reason, the words would never form within his throat. Instead Nico decided to ask something else instead, something that had been bothering him for a while. "This path of the monster stuff I follow… why do I…?"

"That's easy: it's a path, simple as that." The child replied, turning around to face the older Agent. "It was meant to keep you on the right track, to not let any distractions get to you. When you would diverge, we would be reminded of our true goal. A promise, a promise we must not break. They occur around those outsiders you keep with you because we feared that you would diverge from your predetermined path. Now, now you have reached the first hurdle, and overcome it. Now, recovery has become possible."

All this stuff the child was telling him began making Nico's head hurt. It felt like he was beginning to get torn in half from the inside out, at a turtle's speed. Not a pleasant experience to have let's be honest here. He didn't understand, what the heck was this kid talking about? Was it connected to his dreams? Must be, considering that was what he was getting from this whole situation.

He needed more information, and to get that information he had to speak more to the child in front of him. "But, I always thought that… Those dreams…" he began to say, until he noticed something about the child. At the front, he looked like a younger him, but when he looked at the child from the back… why did he get this fearful dread in his gut? Like something was about to happen and he wouldn't like it? Even though this was his own mind…

Wait, since his mind was fucked up anyways… yeah, best keep his guard up.

"Well, we guess its also a form of atonement." The child, as if sensing his unasked question, spoke before turning completely to face him. His expression no longer held that warm spark in them. Now, they looked dead to the world, just like the first time he met with him. "We failed to protect those we cared for. We weren't strong enough. If only we had power, maybe then they wouldn't have had to suffer…"

As the child continued to speak, Nico found himself gritting his teeth as a headache began to grow within his mind, like a parasite. It ate away at his composed façade until it showed in the form of a grimace, accompanied by a twitching brow.

Nevertheless, the child continued, unimpeded by the teen's state. "We have a long way to go, we have many hurdles ahead of us before we are 'whole' once more. The first 'hurdle', Admittance, has been cleared. There will be more in the future, that fact is a certainty on the path that we travel: The path of the monster. Remember this well, we can never escape what we have become, so we must prevent others from becoming like us. We deserve nobody, we deserve only to be alone… alone… alo…ne…al…"

As seconds passed, the child's voice grew increasingly distant and distorted. Everything began to spiral around him, losing focus and integrity. Eventually, it was all a blur as Nico gripped his head with both hands, gripping fistfuls of it while biting back the urge to scream as he fell to his knees.

Soon enough, he couldn't take it anymore, and everything became black…

* * *

Eyes shot open with a gasp, and Nico once again found himself within a familiar setting. This time, it wasn't the Mirror World that he wound up in, but within the moderately warm confines of his Tent. There were little heat sources nearby, save for his own clothes used as a makeshift blanket, while the cold air blew through the tent from the open flaps.

The constant flapping of the flaps was something that the teen focused everything he could on, while he tried to regain control over his breathing. It usually helped him, focusing his mind on something irrelevant, when he had those intense dreams.

Nico shuddered, not from the cold though, as he remembered the dream that he had this time. While it wasn't as… intense, as they usually were, the teen couldn't help but feel like it had a whole different bite to it compared to the others. The usual dreams he had about his mental state were more like hot furnace's, kind of like the Hellfire powers his DPU form commanded. This time, the dream felt cold, colder than the ice powers that Raven possessed.

He gave a small groan, holding his face in one hand as he struggled with his recovery. '#huff# #huff#... Man… those dreams, they never get any easier…' Nico thought in mild annoyance. Seriously, couldn't he just have a break from these dreams for once?

There have been many times that he had dreams, dreams that often turned into horrible nightmares. He'd tried many things to stop it, taking medication, talking to specialised professionals, but nothing seemed to work. In fact, talking to people about his nightmares only seemed to make the dreams worse, and he'd spend way longer trying to recover from them. That was why he hadn't tried talking to the girls about them throughout the course of his journey. Not just out of paranoia, but fear that his nightmares would get worse than before.

However, on the rare chance he didn't get dreams, the male would find himself in… strange settings. Settings that were both familiar, and not familiar to him at the same time. He got a feeling that they were to do with his repressed memories but didn't think too much about that. Some of the settings he'd find familiar would be a list of the following:

A Cell

A Lab room

A dark room with a single chair

A large, ruined city landscape

A massive, lush green forest, tainted with blood.

More shudders ripped through Nico's thoughts, spine and back, breaking him from his thoughts while he clutched his arms, trying to stop himself from losing all semblance of control he had JUST managed to regain from his recent nightmare. He never liked thinking too hard about those dreams, none of them. True he thought about a lot of things, it was what had helped him survive for so long on the battlefield. But those dreams, they were one of the few things he NEVER wanted to think about, but once he did he just couldn't stop himself.

These were the most common ones, but there were sometimes those that were nothing but static, like when a TV has no signal and thus becomes a screen of black and white. In THOSE dreams, he instead hears voices in his mind, ones that feel more like sledgehammers whacking away at his brain whenever he hears them.

They each said weird, confusing yet oddly familiar things, like:

"Prepare the subject."

"Time to play, my little bug."

"Papa loves you, you know #mocking laughter#"

"ARGH… UGH… UGH-UGH-UGH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Once again, a new wave of shivers travelled down his spine, and this time he couldn't stop some of his control from slipping. His whole body shook, trembling at the mere memories of those dreams, as well as the impact that they left on his psyche. It was like they had burned themselves onto him like those symbols that are branded onto slaves' bodies by their masters via hot iron. Both painful, and unforgettable. Just one hint towards them and Nico would clam up faster than a turtle receding into its shell.

The teen glanced down at his clothes, the ones he used as a makeshift blanket anyways. They consisted of his Trench Coat and shirt, while his boots were standing upright and attention at the bottom side of his hammock. That meat that his upper body was completely bare, exposing the well-oiled machine that was his physique.

As he glanced over to his boots, several things registered in his near-panic induced mind, things that quickly set off alarm bells in it.

First: There was a second pair of boots alongside his own. Compared to his large, rugged boots that just screamed 'I'm a man, a soldier, and I'm proud of it!' these boots were significantly more slender, and equipped with stiletto heels. These boots just oozed sensuality and seductiveness, like their wearer was someone who knew how to get someone else's attention.

Second: There was heat, body heat to be more exact, over towards his right side. The kind of body heat only someone of close proximity could provide. There was also the fact that this source had extended its body heat around his legs, entangling itself around them to prevent them from moving.

Third: There was the faint sound of snoring, soft and serene…

And then Nico realised what was going on.

'Whoa, what the fuck?!' With speed and reflexes that he forgot he had during that short moment of vulnerability, Nico flipped off the bed and took his makeshift 'covers' with him, swiftly putting both on in mid air before he landed in a crouch. Standing up, he reflexively donned his armour and Deployed his Plasma Claws, pointing them in a defensive stance towards the offender.

Said offender was still sleeping – fortunately still clothed in everything save her boots – with her crimson red hair sprawled across her back while sleeping soundly. Well, that is until his shouting woke her up. If he had just stared at her like a creepy person, Nico would have noticed how peaceful she looked. When she wasn't trying to seduce him or tease others, or goddess forgive try to exercise her 'control' over them, one Lucy codename VERONICA was pretty nice when she slept.

Slowly, she began to wake back into the realm of the living, her eyes tightening as she released an irritated groan from her lips. She reached out with her left hand, trying to grab something that wasn't there. "Hmmmmm…" an irritated moan escaped her lips during the process. "Come ack warmth, I'm not done yet…"

Only a sweat drop was the teen's response. This girl could be both adorable and a pain in the ass at the same time… how the hell has Raven not snapped yet? 'Ugh, this has got to be a joke…'

With the absence of her heat source, Lucy eventually began to stir from her slumber, lifting herself into a sleeping position and rubbing her eyes to dry them of any residue. She then opened her eyes after stretching a bit to get the stress out her arms, catching light of the defensive male. Instead of reacting negatively though. She instead just giggled as she sat on the side of his hammock, one leg crossed over the other. "Awww, glad to see you're finally up sleeping beauty…" she remarked, a faint upturning on the corners of her lips. "You were so cute when you slept I just had to join in."

"I don't get the feeling that Raven would have allowed you to come here on your own." Nico stated bluntly, his face set in the deadpan (-_-) position as he looked to the crimson haired beauty while she put her Boots back on. The way she did it though, was slow and filled with sensuality. She clearly was trying to get a rise out of him, his theory being proven by the thinly veiled sultry look in her equally crimson eyes.

Once she had her boots on, Lucy stood up from the bed, kicking the ground with one boot then the other to make sure her feet were properly fit into them, before she began walking towards him. "Anyways, while we can save the fun stuff for later, I suppose…" she began, shrugging her shoulder with an expression on her face that Nico assumed meant hat she knew he'd fold eventually. He didn't know how she thought that, since he'd resisted her all these years, but he'd let her fantasise.

But then, much to his shock and surprise to the point his sole uncovered eye widened while the iris shrunk to a dot while violently shaking… her demeanour changed.

Her eyes darkened, losing their previous seductive gleam as she aimed a look of concern, a look of pure, genuine concern, at him. She stopped right within proper talking distance. Her mouth opened, and the words that came out sent him into stunned silence. "There's something more important than that. Nicky-Dear… what happened? I went in to check on you, and saw you shuffling in your sleep. You were sweating profusely, and the look on your face…"

At this point, she trailed off, and a pained grimace formed on her features. She shook her head to clear it however, returning her attention to him. "You looked like you were in serious pain…" she told him, her previous demeanour completely gone at this point. This was one of the few times he'd ever seen her so serious.

Nevertheless, his natural defences kicked into overdrive, and Nico hurriedly tried to make a reply. One of denial. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. I'm fine." His helmet opened to show her his easy-going smile, however it didn't fool Lucy in the slightest, and he instantly realised this fact. Still, he didn't want to talk about his dreams, he never did. He never wanted to talk about something so personal, more personal than his instincts, his hidden secret, as well as his recent revelation about his dreams.

His mental barriers had been briefly lowered in that moment, and Nico had been exposed.

Not something he enjoyed, not in the slightest. He didn't like being exposed, being stripped bare to his mere essentials. It made him feel weak, vulnerable, helpless. He didn't like those feelings, nope, he didn't like them at all. He'd rather plough through his problems on his own, its what he had been doing for all his life ever since his time from back then, when he had been recently found by those people…

"Nico."

… now THERE was something he never thought he'd hear from Lucy in his long life. From the start of their… relationship, and no not the lovers kind, not once had she called him by his real name, often using her nickname of 'Nicky-Dear'. The teen brought his attention back to the redhead before him, and to his surprise her expression once again had an uncommon mix to it.

Both sternness, and annoyance.

"You know, you've got it in spades yourself, but you're not the only one who can get behind people's masks. I know when people are lying to me, and right now you're doing that." She stated to him bluntly, her arms folded in front of her chest. "I may not be Raven, but even I don't take crap from anyone. Especially not from those I care for. You should know that I only have a limited few for a reason." Her eyes flashed with something, but Nico couldn't identify it in time before it passed. "You know I can't stand lies… so tell me, what happened Nico. I can help you with it…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"…PFT!"

Honestly, he didn't know what came over him, but the moment that Nico heard those words from her lips, something in him broke. The teen suddenly burst into laughter, holding his sides like they were about to burst, hunching himself over as he tried to catch his breath. Needless to say, Lucy didn't expect this, thus she took a startled step backwards. "Hahaha! Ahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahaha!"

He laughed, laughed until his voice became hoarse, which didn't take long due to him not having anything to drink since he woke up. But still, he kept going. The pain that his vocal chords seemed to scream that they were in, the pain that he could feel from his system, all that pain to him, was not just pain, but a welcoming.

A welcome change from the absolute shit head that he felt himself as.

It took a whole five minutes before he managed to stop himself from continuing. Although a few faint snickers did escape his lips while his healing factor took care of his sore throat. "Hahaha… #exhale# whooo, haven't laughed like that in a while…" he remarked under his breath, before remembering why it was that he had been laughing in the first place.

"Listen, Lucy…" he began to speak once more, his breath naught but a whisper. Lucy made to speak, to interrupt him, but all thoughts pertaining to that were dashed when he looked up and into her eyes. Her own mouth snapped itself shut, her eyes widening with dread and horror when she saw his own. They looked… empty, practically lifeless. Like all the joy, wonder, innocence, and every other happy emotion he had was sucked out of him against his ill by brute force.

It was a horrible sight to witness, especially when it was someone she was close to.

When someone saw their loved ones sad, their instinctive reaction was to ask them what was wrong, to console them and assure them that everything would be alright. They'd appreciate the gesture, even if they believed that things weren't going to work out like they wanted them to. It was the kindness and support the gesture gave that people appreciated more than the gesture itself. The effects were obviously worse when the people involved had romantic feelings towards one another, as love could be considered stronger than something like friendship.

Nico continued, unaware, or maybe he just didn't care, of the woman's face as he spoke. He probably didn't even register the woman's response to his current demeanour, for his expression looked like he was staring out into a hazy and empty void. Nothing could have gotten through to him at that moment, not even the words of a loved one.

In his mind, Nico could feel himself getting lost within the 'pool' that was what usually happened within his dreams. Only this time, it was in reality, he was fully aware of his sinking self. But this time, he didn't do anything to stop himself, there were no scary beasts in his mind trying to drag him to the depths, there was nothing but his form, sinking faster than that once said 'unsinkable' ship.

But he didn't stop, no, his mouth moved practically on autopilot, his mental form sinking deeper with every word. "Even if I told you, there's no way you could help me. Nobody can help me, not you, not Raven, not anyone. Not even my mom can help me, this is something that only I can deal with. I'm alone on this particular battlefield, and I've long since embraced that." He told her, his tone just as empty and broken as his words. "So please, don't kid yourself into thinking you can help me. This battle is one I must fight alone, nobody else. Only I should hurt, nobody else. They deserve that much, only I should be the monster, only I…"

BUMP!

In his mind, something reached down through the darkness of the ocean depths, grabbing him by the neck. Nico's eyes widened when this happened, and the something proceeded to bring him back to the surface. With a gasp, his mental self suddenly saw a pair of red eyes eyeing him from above the water's surface, eyes unlike those that he was used to. He could only see them for a brief second, before the thing that pulled him above the surface just… wrapped itself around him, dissipating the pool of emotions below to replace everything with a hazy and yellow void…

Just like how Lucy was hugging him right now.

"Wh… wha…?" Nico's mouth opened, but words did not come out. Not completely anyways, instead he could only speak in this broken form of the language. The sudden surge of warmth, the warmth he had only felt when he was being touched by someone, invaded his being and almost engulfed his power of reason. Yet, there was a single thought that anchored him, a thought that was to do with what just happened as awareness came running back to him.

'Was that… a hallucination?'

Biko did once comment that his mind would project hallucinations, a long time ago in fact. If he remembered correctly, Biko said that because he refused to listen to what his mind was telling him, it would resort to hallucinations instead. But what was it trying to tell him this time? And, who was hugging him right now?

Maybe it was true: that the quietest people really did have the loudest minds.

Thinking back, Nico could only think of one person as he mentally dispelled the remaining cobwebs the hallucination left on his mind. Looking down, his theory was confirmed when he saw a familiar set of crimson hair, its owners head embedding itself into his chest plate.

"Don't…"

Nico's stunned ears almost didn't perceive the word that was muffled into his chestplate, but he didn't have to ponder for long because Lucy was not looking up at him, her eyes shining with emotion that completely floored him. "Don't ever think I can't help you, Nico. You know damn well how I feel about loneliness." She told him firmly, almost scathingly as her grip on him tightened. Her hair shadowed her eyes as she linked her forehead with his chest. But despite this, the teen could still sense that she was gnashing her teeth together.

This was NOT something Nico had expected to happen on this trip. He'd need a lie down after all this was over, so much had happened on this mission that he couldn't process it all. Yet, it didn't seem like it would be stopping anytime soon. A part of him stung with guilt, something he didn't like one bit. At first, Nico hadn't a clue why he was feeling guilty… but then he remembered who this woman embracing him was. Then his thoughts clicked into place, and Nico began to feel like a complete idiot. 'Grrr, goddamnit, how could I forget? Why should I be complaining about loneliness to LUCY of all people? If Raven heard this shit I'm spouting, she'd likely skin me alive for my stupidity.'

Nico made to say something, to apologise and call himself a complete moron for not realising sooner, but she stopped him by continuing. "I know loneliness better than most people, Nico. You know that. You practically stated it that one time, you remember?" pausing her speech, Lucy looked up at the teen, her eyes shining this time with hopeful curiosity than what she was showing before. From all around them, nature seemed to blossom. The grass became more vibrant and lifelike, and there was a slight fresh aura coming from the woman's flesh. It reminded him of the early morning wind from a spring day, fresh and rich with pure life. "You do remember, right? How we met?"

Nodding, Nico gave a simple response, his hands landing on her shoulders. "Of course, how could I not?" he remarked, nothing but honesty in his tone. Seriously, that was something he could never forget even if people tried to erase it from his memory.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **Humming to herself, Lucy walked through the guild hall with a heavy sway in her step. She hummed with satisfaction and pleasure, evident by the afterglow of her time with her previous 'Specimen' before she had gotten bored and walked off. Her walk practically oozed sensuality and seductiveness, one that could only be matched by the legendary prowess of the ladies of the night themselves: The Succubae.**_

 _ **All around her, she could tell that male Guild Agents of varying appearances, personalities and even marital statuses were giving her their complete, undivided attention. She even noticed a few women giving her some appreciative looks, something she soaked up like a sponge to fuel her own ego. She loved attention, she loved the passion and control that she exerted over others. It was her blood, it was her thrill. She loved the faces people made when she dominated every inch of their worthless lives. She equally loved it when they lose all sense of purpose and direction when she kicks her specimens to the curb, moving on to the next topic of her interest.**_

 _ **It had been that way for her for a long time now. It was practically her way of life, at this point.**_

 _ **Her most recent 'specimen' was her recent Quest giving Client, a Nobleman from Leanbox. If she weren't surrounded by potential targets, Lucy would have scowled at the reference to the people she despised more than anything. Lucy HATED nobility, she hated them with a passion. There were few things that could piss her off more than anything, but noblemen were way up on that short list.**_

 _ **It was why they were her favourite Specimens, to drain their funds dry for when they'd spend their fortunes on her, to keep her around for carnal pleasure. Then, she'd up and disappear before they even realised it, leaving behind nothing but a lot of debt as well as evidence of any wrongdoings on them throughout the internet. It was a powerful tool when one knew how to use it and use it she did. She would laugh in glee when she'd read in the Guild News how Nobles she'd 'seduced' would end up on the streets, penniless and utterly humiliated for their troubles. In her eyes, all Nobles deserved such treatment, nothing more, nothing less.**_

 _ **Also, it would hep that they satisfied SOME of her cravings.**_

 _ **In her opinion, the best Specimens came from either the Guild or the military. They were the ones that held way more 'stamina' than those pudgy, fat pigs who did nothing but sit in their comfy seats and comfy homes while people like the soldiers did all the work. All they did was sit and argue, in her eyes, something Lucy despised. Then, there were the Spec Ops Agents, Agents whom Lucy could only have a grudging respect for.**_

 _ **Those Agents, who forsook their faith in the Goddesses of their homelands (with some exceptions) for their own ideals, to set their own path in life as they saw fit. They were the type of people whom Lucy saw as somewhat more tolerable than the idiotic devotees to the CPUs. They were both good in, and out, of bed in her experiences, though as a trade-off she had to work her backside off to et them to submit to her.**_

 _ **It helped that she had some ways of 'hypnotising' the more stubborn ones to see it her way.**_

 _ **Walking up to one of the Quest Clerks, a young woman in her late 30's Lucy believed, and one of the women who'd been eyeing her, Lucy gave a sensual smirk while placing a hand on her hip. "Hello dearie, I'm here to complete my Quest." The redhead stated, procuring her Phone from her skirt pocket and showing the details to the Clerk.**_

 _ **"O-Oh, right, I apologise. Anyways, here, I'll verify it for you." The Clerk stammered, a minor blush of embarrassment at being caught staring as she took her phone, shuddering when she brushed her hand against Lucy's gloved one, before running the checks on a nearby monitor. The sound of computer keys being pressed filled Lucy's ears for a brief moment, before the Clerk handed her Phone back to her. "Aright, Quest details have been verified, the rewards shall be transferred into your account. Please have a pleasant day."**_

 _ **Lucy nodded cordially, her smirk ever-present on her features. "Yes, thank you." She stated, turning on her heels, before she remembered somethings she'd noticed on her way here. "Oh, by the way, is it alright if I inquire about something, my dear? I noticed that there's a bit of commotion near the Guild Entrance, is there something going on?"**_

 _ **Blinking after momentarily (much to her pleasure and embarrassment) fantasising about an Agent and her getting it on in her flat, the woman regained her composure and tried to answer calmly… failing miserably at that. "U-Um, yes, of course! Its just that DEATHSTROKE is returning from a Quest, to slay a 100-year-old Abnormal that's been causing us trouble."**_

 _ **"DEATHSTROKE?" Lucy blinked, surprise on her features. She'd never heard that name before, so she wondered what this person was like. From the fact this person had a codename she assumed that it was a Spec Ops Agent, but why hadn't she known about him before? Surely, she would, with her reputation.**_

 _ **The Clerk nodded, practically beaming in excitement if she didn't try to keep a professional demeanour too. "Yes! His name's Nico, and he's quite good at what he does, though a bit of a loner if you know what I mean. He's not as well known as the other Agents, but he gets the toughest jobs done." The clerk explained, and now Lucy's interest in the man was piqued.**_

 _ **This DEATHSTROKE character... this person, judging by the way the Clerk spoke of him, seemed to be someone who she could see as her next target. The thought of taking a Spec Ops Agent to bed with her, of dominating this person regardless of Gender nearly made her all horny from the lust building up inside her. Lucy LOVED control, especially in the bedroom, but the best part was if the person she was doing it with was completely mesmerised by her, under her spell for eternity.**_

 _ **A moment later, the doors to the Guild Hall were opened, and a new target stepped through, according to Lucy's eyes as she glanced in their direction. Boy did she find herself wanting this person sexually, for when she first caught sight of him, she KNEW that she'd found her next target.**_

 _ **Clad in orange/black armour, a Mask over his face to hide all but one eye, the Agent that she'd heard about just now walked through the Guild Hall with a purpose, a long, confident look about his stride that spoke volumes about his military training. Just from how he walked, and the way he held his hands like they were seconds away from summoning something to fight with, told Lucy that this Agent knew how to fight, and was ready for a challenge no matter the time, date or location.**_

 _ **But what got her attention the most was not his body like so many other Agents she'd taken to the bed, but something else entirely:**_

 _ **His eye.**_

 _ **That eye, which cast its gaze across the hall with nothing but a blank stoic demeanour, a cold indifference that almost made her shudder down to her very core. Briefly, their eyes met, and Lucy had to work her backside off not to show her pleasured reactions right then and there. It was so... electrifying, the way he looked at the people in the room, the way that he callously dismissed them as unimportant, even herself.**_

 _ **Those kinds of people she loved to dominate, maybe even more so than Nobles.**_

 _ **She eyed him like a wolf hungering for meat as she watched him silently hand in a Quest via those strange armoured Bracers on his forearms, the Clerk servicing (she didn't refuse the dirty thoughts that sprang from that last word) him, blushed slightly with a minor dreamy look in her eyes. She looked to have done a better job in hiding it than the one she had did, but that just confirmed something in Lucy's mind.**_

 _ **Lucy loved attention, she loved pleasure, dominance, control over the situation. But right now, she had found a Specimen who would challenge her dominance, who would take more work than she'd ever had to put in before.**_

 _ **And she would have him.**_

* * *

 _ **Now...**_ _ **Lucy hadn't expected this.**_

 _ **She hadn't expected this at all.**_

 _ **"Hello handsome, what say you and I-"**_

 _ **"Apologies, but I am uninterested in anything to do with you at this present time."**_

 _ **That was the gist of how their first conversation had went. Lucy had memorised his entire schedule by 'laying on the charm' on those of the Clerks that associated with Nico. (She'd almost laughed at how easy it was for them to be brought under her thumb). That way, she'd be able to find the perfect opportunity to get him alone and... convince him to come into her little web of domination. Like all the others she had seduced and milked for her own carnal desires.**_

 _ **She had to hand it to him though, that DEATHSTROKE should really socialise more. She could hardly find any proper moments to get him alone at all, as apparently he would just stay long enough to get his next quest, then venture off without even talking to anyone. Those that tried getting close to him (usually with the help of his adoptive mother, she might add. She'd like to meet this woman herself one day, just to see if she could get anything out of her) he would just shrug them off coldly before leaving to continue his business.**_

 _ **Just like he had done with her.**_

 _ **Lucy didn't believe it. No, it was more accurate to say that she couldn't believe it, that a guy had refused to talk to her when she made the effort of trying to find the perfect time to get him alone with her. Nobody had done this before, nobody, not a single soul in her many years of being a Spec Ops Agent. She would be constantly surrounded by horny men, and some women that Lucy took a fancy to every now and then. Thus, she had no shortage of a fan base, her appearance wasn't much of a deterrent either, she had to admit, not that she cared. Lucy knew she was attractive, and she made sure others knew she knew as well.**_

 _ **She could seduce practically anyone she wanted into her bed:**_

 _ **Men**_

 _ **Women**_

 _ **Nobles**_

 _ **Girlfriends**_

 _ **boyfriends,**_

 _ **Fiancés**_

 _ **Married Couples**_

 _ **Even the other CPUs if she managed to catch them if they ever leave that pathetic, boorish war they were waging up in Celestia.**_ _ **Nobody had been safe from her, nobody at all, not a single soul.**_

 _ **None... save for Nico, codename DEATHSTROKE.**_

 _ **She'd caught him while he hadn't donned that intimidating Armour of his yet, getting a good luck at his true appearance, and what a sight it was. That body he had, it wasn't just for looks nor for show. From her countless male submissions, Lucy could identify when one just had good looks or had a mix of looks and heavy duty training to refine their bodies, to the point where they were literal weapons in their own right. Where she could even grind cheeses or sharpen her nails on their abs without damaging the flesh one bit.**_

 _ **Nico's body was one of the latter.**_

 _ **Lucy had been so looking forward to riding that body of his from day and night, possibly for an entire week without rest. With her many conquest came lots of experience, and... commendable stamina reserves. She could go for longer if she put her back into it, but there weren't many people that could satisfy her truly. The people that came the closest to that would have to be the Spec Ops Agents in Leanbox, who were well known for their stamina, though they lacked technique. Lastations had technique, but not much stamina, while Lowee's had small amounts of both. Planeptune's had both in abundance, but not enough to completely satisfy her, which made them a viable place to become a Spec Ops Agent for.**_

 _ **She thought that Nico would be as simple as the rest.**_

 _ **She thought he would fold like everyone else, that she could dominate him till she was tired of him then move on to her next Specimen.**_

 _ **Sadly for her, she was wrong.**_

 _ **The male Spec Ops Agent had taken one look at her attractive body, her seductress, trained form that could entice practically anyone regardless of their marital status, and shrugged it off like it was no big deal. He simply stated that eh wasn't interested before twisting on his heels, his Trench Coat flapping in the same direction like some sort of Badass before he walked away from her.**_

 _ **Girl had never felt so shocked before in all her life. Her seductress body had been completely ignored by someone who prioritized his duties over carnal pleasure. Just how the heck was that a thing? Part of her rationalised that Nico had bee indeed confirmed to be... inexperienced with the pleasures of the flesh, a complete virgin she might add, so maybe that was the cause. When she'd heard that, Lucy had been disbelieving at first, not believing for a minute that a guy his age would not have anything to do with sexual desires. Heck, she'd admit to herself that she'd been a little turned off at the time by this, since it would mean that she would have to spend time teaching him about sex first before the fun stuff began. Not something she would want to do on a hot passionate evening.**_

 _ **However, instead of getting angry over this, her reaction was... different. Well, it would be a lie if she said she wasn't angry at all. She DID feel sort of pissed that he had ignored her advances so coldly, along with the desire to utterly smack him where the sun don't shine with the back edge of her Cleaver, then ride it for her own pleasure while listening to his screams of pain/pleasure. Okay, maybe she was a LITTLE bit pissed, maybe just a TEENY TINY bit...**_

 _ **But, more than that, there was this other sensation boiling in her gut, pushing through the anger like a wall giving way to a Battering Ram. It spread through her like an overflowing flood, not giving anything else a chance to take over. Her form shook as she looked down at her right hand, and to her surprise she saw that it was trembling. Why was she trembling? She wasn't scared that her charm was failing, was she? 'No...' the woman thought while shaking her head, her hair swaying wildly behind her as she did do. 'This doesn't feel like fear, but instead it felt like... excitement?'**_

 _ **Perhaps excitement was too big a word for her to use right now, maybe it was more to do with thrill. Yes, that word seemed to fit much better in this situation than mere excitement. She couldn't help but let a smirk, full of predatory hunger, seductive glee and venomous anticipation spread onto her lips. This was... this was something she hadn't dealt with before, something new, completely unknown territory. One of her prey dared to resist her in a way that truly stung... and instead of it daunting her...**_

 _ **She felt... GLAD!**_

 _ **This revelation stunned her for a moment, but it didn't last. Honestly, Lucy had begun to notice that the thrill of dominating others had begun getting stale as of late, like there wasn't as much fun as it used to be anymore. It had gotten almost TOO easy to dominate the male and female species, there was no challenge to it anymore. Not like that had bothered her enough to warrant any attention to be brought onto the matter before, since she LOVED the fact that she was in control. That she was the dominant predator on the sexual market.**_

 _ **But... the fact that someone had FINALLY come with a will to resist her, to refuse her advances and not fall into her web, as well as strike in a way that utterly slapped her in the face...**_

 _ **Well, one could say that her instincts being set alight like a white hot furnace was an UNDERSTATEMENT.**_

 _ **'Oh, just you wait, my dear DEATHSTROKE...' She thought, licking her lips hungrily as a gleeful giggle escaped her lips. "I'll be getting you yet, you haven't seen the last of me. Don't you worry about that... Ufufufu fufufu..."**_

 _ **Nearby passer-by's almost shuddered when they heard that dark seductive giggle from nearby, although they didn't know where it was. Instead, they focused more on getting to somewhere private to 'relieve' themselves.**_

* * *

 _ **Throughout the week, Lucy had begun her hunting of Nico like a huntress catching her prey.**_

 _ **She would hound him when he was in the Guild, almost magically appearing near him with her charm on full blast, no restrictions on it like she would usually do to make the attempt a little more entertaining. It barely even fazed the guy as he would just curtly greet her and shrug her off, continuing his Spec Ops work. It didn't hinder her though, as Lucy was NOT a quitter by any means. She'd get what she wanted, either through perks or hard work and dedication. Both felt great in their own ways by the end goal, you know.**_

 _ **When Urgent Quests came in, she'd make sure that she'd be paired up with Nico, giving her an extended amount of time to try and seduce him out in the field... maybe even impress him with her Skills. Sophie may be a seductive, controlling woman, but by no means did that make her a slouch. There was a reason why she was able to ascend through the ranks of the Spec Ops Agents as she had done, and that DIDN'T involve seduction of any sort. Lucy HAD noticed that Nico would show more of a reaction to her when she fought alongside him, like a raising of an eyebrow or a small curling upwards of the corners of his lips. Sometimes she would see how he would be eyeing her combat styles appreciatively, as well as faint flashes of respect flicker in his lone uncovered eye, as Nico would be under his Spec Ops Armour all the time.**_

 _ **She couldn't wait to finally strip him of that... and everything else when they were in the bedroom.**_

 _ **Of course, dealing with Spec Ops Agents like this meant that Lucy had to be wary of Fangirls (and fanboys, there's no judging here) that tried to impede her efforts at attaining her goals. They sometimes did it through civil conversation (Read: Death threats and loud shouting) while other times they would assemble into fighting groups to try and halt her progress. It was so cute, the way they thought that they stood a chance against her. Those women, those kids-girls, girls compared to a woman like her-would never succeed in their attempts, and would be sent to the medical wings of the Guild more often than not. How they hadn't lost all their Credits for medical bills, Lucy would never know.**_

 _ **Then, there was the overprotective mother.**_

 _ **Lucy had NEVER felt such power from a normal human when she first 'met' with Nico's adoptive mom, Helena Dawson. She was someone who radiated such power that it even made HER think twice about trying to seduce her. It probably didn't help that Helen had known her MO from the beginning, so she knew how to handle her subtle attempts at control through seduction. It honestly grinded her gears, more so than Lucy had ever expected, to have not one, but TWO people able to resist her. Though, she had to admit she felt better that it was Helen that could resist her, since she WAS Nico's adoptive mother. It made the phenomenon easier to understand in her mind. It looked like mental fortitude ran in the family it seemed.**_

 _ **Right now, however, after a whole 6 WEEKS of constant hounding and subtle pressuring, Lucy had finally reached the near-end phase of her plans, cornering Nico on top of a random building that he'd been visiting. She didn't care what it was, not at this stage in the game. What was important in her eyes was that she was finally going to get something she had been working towards for a long time. She had to hand it to him, Nico had lasted longer than she had ever expected before. For the first 4 weeks there was little to no reaction from him towards her advances, but then subtle changes began to happen across the last 2.**_

 _ **And now, with his eyes faintly showing an expression similar to a deer caught in the headlights, Lucy finally felt that smug feeling of eager anticipation for the night to come.**_

 _ **"Well, Nico... this has certainly been a fun time for me." She began, slowly walking towards him while swaying her hips sensually. She had that smirk on her lips, that smirk any sexually experienced woman had when they wanted their partners to know that they would be riding them all night. Nico had the decency to step backwards slightly, but she would just press forwards. His form had tensed, just seconds away from either donning that Armour of his, or summoning one of his many demonic/normal weapons in his Void Storage. "But, I think we both know that the Spider has finally got her prey on the ropes..."**_

 _ **"I am... unsure as to what you mean..."**_

 _ **The redhead rolled her eyes at the response he gave her. It had lacked the usual carelessness, that ice, that his usual ones had, meaning that she was finally whittling him down to his core. If she went at it a little more, he would finally, FINALLY be putty in her hands... Though, why did that sense of satisfaction also have a thin layer of disappointment and sadness underneath it?**_

 _ **'No, don't think about it, focus on your prize, Lucy!' The said woman chided herself as she saw Nico now backed against the roof's railing. The building they were on looked like one of those stereotypical highschool rooftops with barely anything there save for the railing. "Oh come now, my dear. I'm pretty sure that, since we've known each other for so long, that ou know what I want from you... and you should know how FAR I'm willing to go..." The way that she said the word 'far' sent chills down the male's spine, she could just HEAR them. It made this hunt all the more worth it in her eyes.**_

 _ **"I... I guess..."**_

 _ **Yes... Yes, yes, that's it. That was what she chanted in her mind like it was a spell or something as Lucy got ever closer to him. She was practically 6 steps away from him right now, a couple more and she'd be right before him, willing to take what was finally hers. She was a predator, a sexual predator, and in this jungle she reined supreme. Nobody would resist her for long, especially not the many studs in the world.**_ _ **"Just... one quick question..."**_

 _ **Before she could reach out and grasp his chin in her right gloved hand, Lucy heard him ask that question barely over a whisper. Was it just her, or was that tone just a little bit strained? It looked like he was resisting her more than she had thought possible, and honestly, Lucy found herself both happy and disappointed by that fact for some reason. "Okay then, ask away... though you'll be doing OTHER things with me soon enough..." she said, leaning up to him so that her lips were quite close to his. Their faces were inches apart, her smug smirk enhanced by her lipstick thick with seductive venom while her eyes danced heavily with lust.**_

 _ **"Why...?"**_

 _ **"Yes...?"**_

 _ **"Why do you never smile?"**_

 _ **Now THAT stopped her lips from finally claiming his. She blinked, momentarily surprised by the question he'd asked. That was a rather... bizarre query, what was he talking about? Despite everything, Lucy had found herself asking that question while pulling her head back a little. Though, she kept their bodies closely linked together, with her waist touching his and her boobs pressing against his chest. "That's a silly question..." she stated, rolling her eyes in slight annoyance. "I smile quite a lot... as well as do other things with my mouth."**_

 _ **"No you don't, for as long as I've known you, you've never once truly smiled." Nico shook his head, and to her surprise, his resistance slowly came ebbing back into his voice, bleeding into it like an open wound. "True you smile like a predator, you smile when you see people try to resist you, but not ONCE have I seen you truly smile. Its like you... don't have anything to be happy about, like you have this emptiness about you." Lucy didn't show it, but his words began hitting places that hadn't been hit in some time. She kept the seductive, if slightly confused, look on though, but it didn't seem to faze him one bit.**_

 _ **Instead, Nico continued, strength gradually seeping back into his voice. "You weren't the only one hunting, I also did my homework. You joined the Spec Ops and ascended to a high position in record time. You have skills that take years of training to gain, with a record of killing tough Abnormals to match. Yet you put those behind a façade of this seductive temptress who wants to literally control everything. You only doo things for the sake of carnal pleasure while never making any everlasting bonds with people. Its honestly like you have a craving for something, something only absolute control ca somehow grant you. No... its more like you crave something specific, more than control, more than domination. Its like you're crying out... like a child bawling their eyes out in a field of crimson flowers... shrouded in darkness and despair... you seem... lonely."**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **Lonely...**_

 _ **That word. That word, she heard it ring continuously in her mind, almost like a Basilicom bell chiming throughout the middle of the day. Each time felt more and more like a punch to the gut the more she heard it, making Lucy metaphorically bend over. In the real world, her eyes were full-on shock mode, shrunken to the size of dots while she stepped back several times, stopping just short of conversation range which gave Nico the chance to catch a breather. Although he refused to let his guard down just yet.**_

 _ **Not when things were about to get real.**_

 _ **As she heard that word, that horrible, disgusting, revolting word over and over again in her mind, Lucy's composure all but shattered. She remembered things that she hadn't thought of for so long, so long in fact that she had practically forgotten them. Though, considering what those memories were, it probably would have been best if she never remembered them one bit.**_

 _ **But hey, at least she began to realise just WHY she had been disappointed at the start of all this, as well as thrilled for the chase at the beginning.**_

 _ **"You don't..." she began, at first being shocked and absolutely taken aback by his words, but as seconds passed that shock faded away and was replaced by something else: Anger. White, hot rage burning brightly within her chest to the point where it threatened to suffocate her, smothering her entire being with its embrace. To her though, that was way better than what had been creeping out from the depths of her mind. "You don't have the right..." she gritted her teeth, clenching her fists tightly as her arms trembled. Her words grew hostile every second that past, to the point hat they would become worse than even a bullet to the head. "You have NO right to say that about me!"**_

 _ **"Are you certain? Because you're reacting..."**_

 _ **She cut him off right there, not willing to let him talk further, to break her further. Memories she NEVER wanted to recall, memories of pain, loss, agony, despair, loneliness (that dreaded 'L' word!) breaking into the forefront of her mind's eye no matter how much she tried to resist. "SHUT UP, SUT UP, SHUT UP!" She yelled, glaring heatedly towards him. All forms of lust and seduction were wiped clean like mess on a bench by a wet cloth now, replaced by utter fury. "YOU DON'T GET THE RIGHT TO LECTURE ME ABOUT LONELINESS! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE, YOU KNOW NOTHING AT ALL!"**_

 _ **Feelings, feelings and emotions she hadn't felt in a long, long time returned to the surface, suffocating her by denying any and all air from coming into her lungs. Her throat tightened till the ability to speak barely remained usable, but Lucy didn't care. She couldn't, she wouldn't and she didn't. Not with what she was remembering, not after everything she had been through and what she had been reminded of. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this angry at someone before, not ever. Everything she had built up till this point, her reputation as a seductive temptress, her desire for control, to dominate, her image as an Apex Predator, everything down to her being had been utterly unravelled like a set of bandages, exposing the ugliness that dwelled deep within her. An ugliness that's he had long since thought buried, buried so deep that nobody would find it.**_

 _ **Looked like that wasn't true, now.**_

 _ **Lucy was on a roll as she pointed a hand at him, glaring at him with so much hate and vengeful wrath that it made those who committed the sin of wrath green with envy. The redhead's eyes were literally pits of flames right now, emotion burning bright within them to the point where if looks could kill, Nico would have died a thousand times over. "THIS IS WHAT I HATE THE MOST ABOUT YOU ASSHOLES, THE LOT OF YOU! MEN, WOMEN, YOU'RE ALL THE SAME! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANT, THAT NOBODY CAN STOP YOU, THAT YOU'RE ABOVE EVERYONE ELSE, EVEN THE LAW! WELL NEWS FLASH, YOU'RE NOT! NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU FROM THE LAW, YOU PATHETIC SCUMBAG! YOU DON'T GET TO LECTURE ME! ME! ABOUT LONELINESS! NOT WHEN YOU'VE NEVER LOST ANYTHING PRECIOUS TO YOU, NOT WHEN YOU'VE HAD IT EASY! NOT WHEN YOU DON;T KNOW WHHAT ITS LIKE BEING USED AND DISCARDED LIKE TRASH! LIKE YOU'RE LIFE MEANS NOTHING BUT A FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! HUMANITY SHHOULD JUST ROT IN HELL, THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU! YOU ALL SHOULD DIE, JUST FUCKING DIE, DAMNIT!"**_

 _ **At this point, Lucy couldn't shout anymore, her voice had been too clogged up as she fell to her knees, glaring down with pure fury written over her face at the ground like it had done some injustice to her. She may looked like she had let out quite a bit, but there was still more, so much more than she could possibly convey with words. What she DID managed to convey though, was the ugliness hidden inside of her, the darkness deep within her heart that she had buried so long ago. The darkness that Nico's words painfully brought back to life.**_

 _ **She remembered what it was like when everything went to hell. She remembered having been used and taken against her will, then discarded with nothing but what was on her at the time, which was barely anything at all, when they were done with her. She remembered losing those precious to her, of those who she thought were her friends turning out to be her enemies, of when everything she knew went to shit. She remembered the feeling of being trapped in a cage of noting but despair and agony that smothered any innocence she could have salvaged, beating into her the lessons that she took to heart.**_

 _ **That people were terrible, no ifs or butts about it.**_

 _ **Lucy LOVED control, she loved to dominate, to utterly crush those when they were at their peak just to see their reactions when it all comes crashing down on them. She always got the feeling of 'hah, how'd you like that, bitch?!' whenever she crushed those Nobles in Leanbox, or when she destroyed corrupt businesses in Lastation, when she took out criminals in Lowee and Planeptune. Because, in a way...**_

 _ **She was trying to get something back, something she had lost long ago.**_

 _ **All this time, Nico remained silent, not saying a word during that rant she did. She didn't know why, nor did she care at this point. She was too emotionally spent from both the chase and the emotional rollercoaster in the making she had just went through. Honestly, Lucy felt like utter shit right now, and a good long rest in a cosy bed sounded really good right now.**_

 _ **Then, the sounds of his boots stomping on the ground indicated that he was moving towards her. Lucy tried to look up, to glare at him with the ferocity of a wild animal, to show him that she wouldn't take any more of his shit. Lucy was a strong woman, a woman whose strength was built upon tragedy, betrayal and bloodshed. She'd killed before, and she enjoyed it. She enjoyed inflicting pain on those that hurt her, it honestly felt more like therapy than vengeance to her. Not like that changed the whole picture though, the world could rot in hell for all she cared. However, just as she made it up to look at him...**_

 _ **#HUG#**_

 _ **Nico's arms wrapped themselves securely around her back, pulling her head into his chest thanks to him kneeling before her like a knight would to his queen. His head buried itself in her shoulder, leaving her own to gaze at the space behind him. Her rage, depression and anguish among her other emotions all vanished without a trace, replaced by stunned shock as her body tensed up, ready to react to any sudden dangers.**_

 _ **However...**_

 _ **"You're right."**_

 _ **Her eyes widened even more when Nico spoke those two words. Two simple words, but were enough to get a massive impact from the redhead. What was he talking about? What did he mean when he said she was right? She knew she was right from the get go, seriously, he didn't need to confirm what she already knew-!**_

 _ **"You're right about me not knowing how you feel. From what I can tell you've been hurt in a way that nobody ever should. The pain you feel, the loneliness and helplessness, nobody deserves that, least of all you. In all honesty, its taking all my power not to go on a bloodthirsty rampage right now, listening to your rant."**_

 _ **She wouldn't have believed Nico's words for a second, if she didn't feel the tightening of his hug on her. His form shook, like a powder keg waiting to blow, but Lucy wasn't focused on that. Instead, she focused on something else. "Y-You...!"**_

 _ **"I get it, I really do. I feel the exact same way you do, the world really is full of sick fuckers, horrid assholes who would do anything for their own ends, no matter how many innocents they stomp on to do so. If i was in your shoes, I'd probably do worse to those people, worse than I do to the criminals I track down when not fighting Abnormals. All the scum of Gamindustri, and still I feel like your pain is much greater than any innocent victim I've both failed to save, and rescued before a horrid fate befalls them."**_

 _ **That bit of information caught Lucy's attention, instantly. She didn't know THAT part about him, that he hunted human criminals as well as Abnormals. She could understand though, as she had always known there was a slight brutality about his personality. She'd seen it in play several times during his spats with Abnormals and other Agents in the Guild. But, where was he going with this? What was his...**_

 _ **"You want control because you want to take something back, even if it proves impossible. That's right, isn't it?"**_

 _ **No matter what, he seemed like he'd know the answer, so Lucy silently nodded. She didn't trust her own voice anymore.**_

 _ **"You wanted something you've been denied your whole life, something you didn't even realise until the moment you went through hell. You wanted something... or someone, I believe, who could understand you. Someone who could help you see the world in a better light, to help you escape the dark pit you had found yourself in. What you want, more than anything... is someone you could let your guard down around, to freely admit your secrets to, to be able to talk without fear of being stabbed in the back. What you want... is a friend."**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **... Just how perceptive was this bastard?**_

 _ **That was what Lucy thought in her head when she heard his words. She just couldn't believe that he had figured all that out about her just from 6 weeks, when nobody had been able to do so for years. Nobody had clued in, nobody had seen the truth behind the veil, the her that hid behind the Mask of a seductive temptress. She loved control, Lucy knew that, she accepted it. But there was one thing Lucy ADORED more than control, and that was trust. Trust in someone who would always do right by her, trust in that they would always be there for her when she needed it most.**_

 _ **But here was someone who did what people failed to do in years, in a mere 6 weeks.**_

 _ **Just... where was this guy when she needed it back then? Why couldn't he have been around sooner? Maybe then, things would have been so much better for her...**_

 _ **"I'll do it."**_

 _ **"Eh?"**_

 _ **Pulling back, Nico stared deeply into Lucy's surprised crimson orbs, his own light blue ones full of intensity while his hands gripped her bare shoulder. Not in a discomforting way, but more of a supportive gesture. His lips were set in a firm line, complimenting the expression on his features right now.**_

 _ **"I'll be that person you're looking for. If you need help, come to me and I'll gladly do so. You want someone to talk to, I'll be there to listen. You want someone to just hang with, to take a break from the idiots in the world with, well, sign me up I'll be there."**_

 _ **His lips curved into a smirk, his eyes shining with a light that hadn't been present since the first time she saw him.**_

 _ **"After all, beating up assholes, kicking ass and taking names is a bit of a specialty for us Spec Ops. It'll be better if we do it together, right?"**_

 _ **Lucy stared, she stared deeply into his eyes, which never broke away from hers. They weren't meant to, they only meant to convey the truth in his words and they did it splendidly. No matter how much she tried, Lucy couldn't find any deceit in his eyes. Not once did he display any of the tics that indicate deceit, and she had a LOT of experience dealing with those.**_

 _ **A small light formed deep within her heart, radiating a weak warmth.**_

 _ **But that light gradually grew with the passage of time, the warmth it radiated intensifying tenfold.**_

 _ **It grew...**_

 _ **grew...**_

 _ **grew...**_

 _ **Eventually, Lucy realised that this light, this warmth spreading through her chest, it was hope. Hope, joy, relief, happiness, all of those emotions hit her al at once. She couldn't take the onslaught, especially after that last one. She just couldn't, and that wet feeling that she got before began to return. Only this time, it went down her cheeks as thin trails of wetness.**_

 _ **A soft, caring smile formed on Nico's lips, as his own Mask came down, showing her that he too was willing to drop his Spec Ops persona just to prove that he was being truthful to her.**_

 _ **The trails expanded, becoming larger than crocodile trails...**_

 _ **and finally, the damn broke.**_

 _ **"Ugh... Guh... Ugh-GUH... uuuuuuwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! UUUUUUUWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**_

 _ **Tears. Tears for the first time in... well, she couldn't remember when, but at this moment she didn't care. It felt amazing to find that she could cry still. Lucy wrapped her arms around him again, pulling her head into his chest as she let her emotions spill over. What was once a violent waterfall cascading out of her heart, had become a furious maelstrom, more emotion her heart had ever experienced gushing forth with no signs of stopping. Nico just kneeled there, stroking her back while nudging her with his cheek, assuring her that this was alright, that this was real. For she sometimes cried the question 'This is real, right?' during her wailing.**_

 _ **He kept his emotions in check, but deep down, he made a vow right then and there, to be there for this lonely young woman. To be the person she could trust above all others.**_

 _ **She earned that much.**_ _ **(Flashback END)**_

"Ufufufufu, and that's when I began my hunting of you… only for a different reason." Lucy chuckled weakly, remembering the times that followed. She couldn't remember how, but she had fund herself within a hotel room close to the Guild after that event, with Nico sitting beside her, on a chair, with his head on her lap. Her lap that was covered by the blankets. Her memory hadn't been too good at that moment, so she assumed he was one of her flings and tried to remove him from her lap. Only then, she remembered who he was and what he had done for her...

It never failed in making her heart soar with joy she had not felt in many seasons.

Ever since that time, Lucy had doubled her efforts to seduce him, to bring him into her bed... but not just out of lust anymore. She had lust in her that was just part of who she was. Plus she still liked control, to dominate others, it was part of her personality now. But Nico? Nico was a special case, she wanted him o sleep with her for a different reason, one to do with how he made her open her heart like the way he did.

He made himself someone she could trust, to open herself up to...

And he had NEVER let her down.

When she had learned from Helen (after explaining what he did for her, though she was uncharacteristically flustered about it) about how Nico didn't show it, but he was a man who followed the rule of being 'a real gentleman' with loads of macho stuff, Lucy found herself wholeheartedly believing it. Nico's heart, he showed her that it was much more innocent, much purer, than the people she had surrounded herself with. Someone like him, was a rarity these days, and THAT was something.

"Yeah, you were kinda adamant about it, weren't you…?" Nico remarked. Back then he had been returning from a particular fight against a monster that JUST WOULDN'T DIE for Goddess sake. It was a monster that, once one hit was dealt, it would split, use those parts to reform while trying to hit the enemy, then try punching that enemy when it was reformed. It had him exercising extreme patience trying to kill it while also dodging its makeshift bullet hells.

Thus, he hadn't took the time to notice that there was a literal panther in the same room as he was, much to his future misfortune… and gratitude.

For the next 4 weeks, he dreaded having to run into her. She would never leave him alone, always trying to seduce him like the queen spider that she was. This persistence though, was something that honestly intrigued him, though he didn't admit that to himself till 3 weeks in, in which he had decided to do a little digging of his own. He had found out her obsession for Control, how many victims she had, among other things, made a few precise guesses, and formed a picture of her in his mind. Or rather, the Mask she put up to fool others.

There was a reason why he was able to see past those.

Then, on the last few weeks, when he realised that she was hiding behind that Mask of hers, Nico didn't know when or why, but... he began to see her in a different light, he began to yearn to help her, to give her some form of light to illuminate the darkness she was in. To show her that there was still something to smile about. He didn't know why, even up till now, but he did at that time, and that hadn't changed. It never would, not if he had anything to say about it.

Once that confrontation happened, he had been trying to resist both her advances... and the treacherous thoughts in his mind, too. He wasn't a complete dense idiot like people thought, he could tell when a girl was truly beautiful and when one was fucking ugly. And Lucy? She was in the middle, as she had physical attractiveness, but there was a darkness overflowing from her heart, corrupting her personality and warping it from what it used to be. He had assumed she wouldn't have noticed, which was why he prodded her till she dropped the Mask... which she did all too easily.

THAT was something that alarmed him. Just how much pain did one have to go through if they would drop their Mask at the drop of a hat like that? Just how desperate was she to find some form of good in the world? Nico didn't know the answer to those questions, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Nonetheless, Nico knew that without a doubt, that without that Mask on, that Lucy was just someone who was lonely and wanted friends. Friends she could trust and rely on like they'd rely on her. Once she got that...

Her inner beauty skyrocketed, increasing her attractiveness level in his eyes.

"Anyways, my point is… don't think I can't help with loneliness, Nico." Lucy stated, her eyes hardening once more. "I bet you I can do much more than you could think, you just have to let me in…" She paused her sentence, tightening her grip since she noticed it had slackened during the flashback. "Just like when I let you in, way back then."

Furrowing his brows, Nico bit his bottom lip, hesitation shining in his eyes. He didn't know what to do, should he tell her about his dreams? Or not? Normally he would have stated that he was fine or something to deflect the question. But with that memory, and the emotions plus the desires in his gut right now, his logical side was in chaos. He didn't know what to do! What can he do?!

What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!What can he do?!-

 **'Nico...!'**

'Oh thank God...' Nico mentally sighed with relief, hearing Biko's voice after so long in that flashback, made him a sound for sore eyes. Great timing, too, something else he appreciated about him. 'Biko, what is it? Can you give me an answer, please...?!'

 **'Nico... trust her.'**

Biko's presence faded back into his inner world, but those two words were enough. They MORE than got his message across, and after a moment of deliberation, Nico finally relaxed into Lucy's hold. She must have been surprised when he did that, honestly, but he didn't pay that much heed as he told her about his dream. He told her about how he'd sometimes have dreams to do with his forgotten past, and how they sometimes lead to horrible nightmares that would scar normal folks for life. He even admitted the hallucinations that the dreams would create occasionally, something that completely floored her.

In the end, Lucy gaped at him, keeping her arms wrapped around him. Honestly, Nico started to feel like he liked that feeling, the feeling of Lucy's arms wrapped around him like this. "That's... concerning. Have you told anyone else, about this?" she asked him. The teen wondered if he should tell her about Biko, but refrained for the time being. He wanted to have proof of his existence that he could provide her first before that bombshell was dropped. "No... you're the first person I've told..." That was true, not even Helen had known about his nightmares. He never told her outright, but he suspected that she had an inkling to it.

Hearing his response, a surge of warmth swelled within Lucy's chest. More so than when he helped her back on that building rooftop. The feeling of being the first person Nico has opened up to about his problems felt REALLY good right now. She knew, she was no fool, that Nico had secrets, secrets that he refused to share with anybody. Even close friends would not be privy to them unless he TRULY trusted them. So, to hear that he was opening up to her... it was more than a little tear-jerking. "I see... thank you for telling me." she told him, her lips curving into a sweet, caring smile filled with affection.

He smiled back, his smile equal to hers. "Heh, I should be thanking you for listening to me..."

"Lets agree to disagree, then."

"Yeah..."

The atmosphere around them was tense, heavy and almost suffocating around them. It was like a heavy weight was in the air, with something expecting to happen that involved them. Nico and Lucy stared deep into each others' eyes, losing themselves in their individual orbs. Lucy's crimson orbs shined in his eyes, and vice versa. It was almost mystical how the two got drawn into each other's eyes like this. Slowly though, they began to edge closer, bit by bit. Nico, normally, would have resisted this temptation with every fibre of his being. Hell, the logical side to him that would say to be wary for IT could get involved, was oddly silent right now.

Their faces were inches apart now, their noses briefly tracing each other as they tilted their heads, eyes slowly closing and lips slightly parting. They could feel each other's breath on their skin, sending chills down their spines. The tension in the air increased in its previous descriptions the longer this little foreplay of theirs took, each second feeling almost like an eternity.

Finally... their lips connected.

It was funny, Nico never noticed it before, but every time he kissed those girls, Neptune, Compa, and now Lucy, he always felt this zapping sensation. This thought soon vanished though, thanks to the allure of the woman's lipstick-covered lips. Their kiss started off as slow, soft and gentle, showing more and more emotions than a passionate make-out ever could. It was almost as innocent as two children playing in a field of white flowers, as Nico and Lucy held each other. Nico wrapped one arm around her back, placing his hand just below her nape, pulling her closer, while the other rested on the back of her head. Lucy meanwhile, had one arm around her crush's neck while the other went onto the back of his head too, softly grasping some tuffs of it.

The sounds of soft kissing filled the room, filled with the two participants' emotions, like two whirlpools colliding with one another in a violent, jaw-dropping explosion.

Lucy pressed her body against his, her corset-covered breasts digging into his chest area. He could feel them touching the outer legs of his Armour Module, as well as his bare chest. Her heartbeat clearly could be felt with his own, both pounding away like gattling gun rounds being launched at their targets.

Eventually, the two broke away, just barely though so their lips were just inches apart. The two opened their eyes, staring deeply into them once more. Both searched each other's eyes, silently asking if they wanted to stop. To continue with their mission, the mission that neither of them felt to fondly about. Their answer? Returning to kissing. Nico moved the hand on the back of her head to her cheek, keeping the other one on her back. For some reason, he found that kissing Lucy felt... freaking amazing. She knew how to chaste kiss, something that not many would assume given her usual seductive, teasing nature.

As for Lucy, she was on cloud nine, kissing the one man she had ever loved. She had both arms around his neck now, pushing them onto his hammock with her on top. She straddled his waist, never ceasing her possible favourite activity aside from screwing. None of the other fucks she had were close to the heavy chemistry, the romantic attraction, that she had for this boy right in front of her. No, not a boy, a man, a real man. A man who, sadly, didn't have much experience in the ways of girls.

Well, she planned on changing that.

Gradually their kiss started getting heated, with Lucy pouring more and more passion, love and affection into her movements. She wanted to convey just how much she truly cared about the man below her, how much she really loved him. It was so much that it nearly physically hurt her, how much her heart longed for him to return her feelings. Now that his barriers were slowly coming down, she was finally getting just that... and it was GLORIOUS!

Nico meanwhile, couldn't believe the emotions that were overflowing through him right now. He had always found Lucy incredibly attractive, beautiful and all that, but he didn't expect to react THIS much to her! Was this what it was like? Was this what it was like to be with a woman, something a lot of Spec Ops Agents talked about with their mates, knowing he'd overhear? If it was, he would understand better why they like it so much.

Lucy reached down while opening Nico's mouth to initiate a tongue battle, finding the male's coat and began to try and push it off him. Her gloved hands felt amazing on his skin, and Nico began to worry that he'd get addicted to it.

Just as she managed to convince him, however...

"VERONICA... what are you doing to DEATHSTROKE...?"

Both suddenly froze (pun intended) when the temperature of the tent plummeted to Lowee-level colds. Breaking the kiss, Lucy looked to the source and pouted in annoyance, while her lover was staring up in shock. The sudden intrusion managed to snap him out of his lust-induced state, enough to make him think clearly once again. "Aw, c'mon, just when it was getting good, you just HAD to come, didn't you Ravey?"

Standing by the flaps, with a hand itching to draw her Odachi, Raven practically glowered at Lucy, her form surrounded by a misty blue aura. Her eyes shone behind her Mask, which was on by the way, with a circle of Ice spreading across the ground around her feet. She had wondered what was taking those two so long, since everyone else was outside and waiting for them, so she went to their tent to check up on them...

Only to see Lucy having enacted a plan to seduce Nico.

Lets just say... things were going to get hectic right now...

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whoo! Man, is it getting hot'n'cold in here?**

 **#BU-DUM-TSSS!#**

 **... Ugh, that was terrible.**

 **Anyways, that's the Lucy segment for you. Hints of her backstory, identity, and what she was like before meeting our protagonist. Hopefully, as a character, she is more developed than she was before, but believe me there will be more to come. Raven will be next, so I'll have to think for a while, how to do her little chapter.**

 **This one actually made me sweat a little with how steamy it went. Wonder what would have happened if Raven hadn't cock blocked Nico like this, hmmm...**

 **Well, odds would be that he'd no longer have his V card.**

 **Speaking of which, Lemons WILL be a thing. I've read quite a few lemon fics, so I know how to do them, and it'll likely be between either Neptune or Lucy, as Compa is a bit too innocent at this point in time. Those two though, they're more forward with what they want, one of them more than the other. Don't worry, I'll warn you when they're coming for those who don't feel comfy about Lemons.**

 **Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This I feel, is one of the better romance-based chapters in this story, the buildup to the kiss scene as well as the emotional drama that followed it was a nice touch in my eyes.**

 **Hope to get some more reviews, and if so tell me what ya think! I like hearing them.**

 **Peace out!**


	74. Chapter 71 - The Ice Queen

**Alright, this is one of the harder chapter's i've written, based off the fact of Raven's personality. So far, she's seen as a cold-hearted ice queen (hence the chapter title) who has a 'might is right' mentality. But still, I do like the way that i've set up her character for romance situations, though believe me, while not evverything will be revealed about these two in these two chapters, this and the last anyways, when it is I don't think you'll be seeing this coming.**

 **Annyways, read on!**

* * *

 **Chapter 71 - The Ice Queen**

Nico groaned as he finished taking down his Tent, returning it to his Void Storage with a few manipulations of his right Bracer. The rest of the equipment had already been packed up by the time that little 'incident' started, so there wasn't much work for him to do on that field. He wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed by this fact, though.

On one hand, it relieved him of much of the workload. When Lucy and Raven had their spat, both had decided it would be fine to use their powers. Lucy had been using her nature powers to shield him from the stray attacks the two launched each other, but on the other hand they had started within his Tent which was NOT something Nico appreciated. Fortunately, their fight soon got taken outside while Nico managed to repair some of the Damage to the Tent. Sadly, despite his efforts, the Tent had been damaged beyond repair, and would need replacing by the earliest convenience.

Despite this though, Nico looked around to the rest of the Spec Ops Agents, whom were watching the two girls fight each other with varying expressions of amusement. He couldn't help but think back on what had happened back in the now destroyed Tent, something that sent a healthy pink hue onto his cheeks while he briefly caressed his Helmet where his lips would have been.

Seriously, what was happening with his barriers lately? Why the hell did he do all that stuff? Nico was stronger than this, he'd been dealing with Lucy's advances for years now. She had little to no power over him unlike the many other men and women that she'd screwed. In more ways than one mind you. Therefore, he should have been able to halt her advances again this time, too. So, what changed? What was going on with him now?

Then, there was the fact that he'd, for the first time ever, shared a secret of his with someone else, a personal secret that related to what he was trying to hide more than anything. Biko had said that he should trust her, those two words having more of an impact on him than a morale-raising speech. The being must have known something he didn't, since Nico hadn't any clue on why he said what he did. Still though, despite his anxieties towards the prospect of Lucy knowing some of his secrets, Nico couldn't help the slight elation that rose within his chest. Elation at not having to hide something from those he cared for.

It honestly threw him off how much he LIKED not having to keep something from somebody. True, it could be said the same for anyone, but Nico didn't like keeping secrets from his comrades. The reason he did so anyways, was merely out of necessity, fear and distrust in others, a distrust he felt was well-earned considering what he'd seen in his many years as a Spec Ops Agent.

Plus, Lucy and him kissing…

'Oh goddess, that kiss was…' the male thought, looking down. He was glad once again that his helmet could hide the now crimson hue on his cheeks, he'd never live down the humiliation if others saw how much a kiss from someone he cared for affected him. Neptune and Compa were both amazing kissers, one of which even had been looking on the internet for things like that (her internet privileges had been long since limited BTW – to her dismay.) The other had more of an innocence to her kisses, a purity that not many people possessed.

But, Lucy? She was in a whole world of her own.

True, the Armoured male researched how she found her 'specimens' as she called them, and what she did to them, but experiencing that stuff first hand, if only partially, was not something he had expected to happen in his lifetime. Hell, this entire journey with Neptune and Co, was not something he'd thought he'd be joining in the past. Still though, he didn't regret coming on this journey, not one bit, and that was something that worried him.

His thoughts were broken when he glanced to the side and saw Isaac walking up to him. His helmet was down, so he could see the man's slight smirk of amusement. Already, he knew what the man was going to say before he began to open his mouth, as his eye narrowed into a fierce glace. "Don't you-!"

"So, what's the story there? You got those two all hot and bothered, so I assume it's to do with that VERONICA's crush on you."

"Goddamnit, Isaac! What's with it and adults saying that girls like me?!" Nico growled, unable to help his rage and frustration at the seemingly universal fact that adults seemed to enjoy teasing him about how girls seemed to want a piece of him, like he was some sort of ladies man.

He was NO ladies' man, damnit!

Isaac let out a bark of laughter at Nico, aware of his apparent 'luck with the ladies' as he gave a toothy grin towards him afterwards. "That's not what your colleagues FALCON and CYBORG say. Even showed us the notebook listing the names of all the girls you've charmed." He remarked, chuckling. Honestly, it impressed the man that Nico had so many girls vying for his affections. As a happily married man, he knew what it was like to deal with women. Hell, even before his marriage he had woman issues, at least till he met the love of his life.

Nico looked down, his eye narrowed in anger at the mention of that accursed notebook. 'I'll rip them a new one after this!' he raged in his mind. The two had once shown him that notebook one mission when he tried to say that, after another near-battle caused between Lucy and Raven, that he wasn't a so-called ladies' man. It was one of the most embarrassing things he'd gone through to date, and he almost ripped the notebook apart.

That time, he did, and they just got a new one.

The two glanced to Lucy and Raven, who now were wielding weapons based from their individual elements, an Icy Katana for Raven, and a wooden Axe with vine-like patterns around it for Lucy. Their respective powers flew from each collision, destroying parts of the clearing. "Those two are definitely going at it…" the man mused with a sweat drop. Nico lowered his head, groaning as he agreed with him.

This was what happened if Lucy ever got this far with him and Raven found out about it. Those two were complete opposites in personalities, so putting them together like this was bound to cause tension between them. Their powers also seemed to be opposite to each other, practically EVERYTHING about them was like this. However, there was a reason why the two were paired together.

Despite their animosity, when they worked together, things worked wonders.

"They're going at it pretty hard, huh? Looks like someone should stop them." Ivan muttered, waking up to them with a knowing look in his eye. Aiden followed behind him, and unbeknownst to Ivan had a resigned look as if he knew something was going to befall them. Nevertheless, Ivan chuckled in Nico's direction, not too caring for what may happen to him in the future. "That means you Nico, by the way."

"Me?!"

At Nico's outcry, the trio of men nodded in synch. "Only those who are ladies' men are able to quell squabbling vipers called women." This made the teen sweat drop as his sole eyes gave a deadpan look to them. Cowards, the lot of them. Though, he figured that even they wouldn't want to get near them when the two were using their powers, normally the two never resorted to using them in their spouts. Their reasoning was their own, Nico would not say.

In the end, Nico gave a low sigh, knowing that it fell to him to deal with the two duelling vipers. He was glad that his secret helped him but majorly in battles, otherwise he'd be dead already. Standing tall, Nico looked over to the two girls fighting, and noticed that they were about to clash once more.

Now or never.

"Alright, hold up you two!" Nico's yell caught both girls off guard, as just about they were to meet for their next collision and slash fest, Nico appeared between them with both Hidden Blades deployed, blocking their attacks. The result, was a shockwave to expand through the desolated clearing while a crater formed beneath their feet. Nico's legs almost buckled under the combined weight, but he remained firm.

His eye bore into Lucy's own first. "This is not exactly the time to be fighting each other, we have a mission to perform, remember?" Lucy blinked, before she frowned and reluctantly disabled her powers, knowing that Nico was right. Despite her desires to piss off the nobility by purposefully being late, she knew that it wasn't a wise move in the long run. It didn't mean that she had to like it though, but at least Nico wasn't forcing that out of her.

Though, seeing him take charge of a situation like this… it opened some doors in her mind.

Now that Lucy had calmed down, Nico then glanced to the other girl, Raven blinking behind her Mask at the look of intensity and finality in his eyes. "Look, we can save this squabble another time, perhaps." He stated, giving her a knowing look with his lone visible eye. Raven's eyes narrowed behind her mask, already realising what he wanted, so she slowly dispersed her powers as well, her sword vanishing out of existence as Nico continued. "Right now, we're practically in dead zone territory, this is where people who wanna die would argue with each other. Why not save this for when we have our job completed."

Seeing that his words had their intended effects on the two girls, Nico lowered his arms, the Hidden Blades dispersing with a SCHING! Sound as he levelled a sigh from his lips. He hadn't been up for long, but he was already feeling drained. Was it through that roller-coaster of emotions before? This, or maybe a combination of the two? He was willing to go with the last one, honestly.

Once she regained her composure, Raven looked to their surroundings, wincing behind her mask at the damaged they had caused. Their fight must have gotten intense if this was the result of it. The worse thing was, they were holding back on their individual powers, which were FAR more powerful than their current levels just now. They only held back because A: they weren't thinking too clearly thanks to the bloodlust controlling them, and B: there were witnesses here. Witnesses that didn't know their secrets. Well, Aiden and Ivan had seen them use their powers briefly, but never to the extent of this mission. It was always in minor ways that they wouldn't be noticed that their powers came forth, like cooling hot metals or magically finding herbs to make healing items.

Nico had been right to handle their fighting before this could get any worse.

In any case, they indeed had to get moving. By her calculations they had lost more than an hour's worth of valuable time thanks to this recent spat, something that gnawed at her nerves in irritation. Turning on her heeled boots, the woman began to make her way towards the direction Leanbox was in. "Very well. We shall head out immediately. We must report the mission a success, as well as our findings. Has the evidence been gathered?"

Aiden nodded in response when she asked him that question. This morning, while camp was being put away, Raven had put Aiden in charge of gathering the evidence. This had meant taking one last look through the Mines, cataloguing what they found through various photographs, recordings etc. Not something pleasant, but it had to be done, so Aiden did his job professionally. There was enough evidence in his Inventory to incriminate the entire Overlord religion, significantly damaging its reputation if given to the right people.

With that, Raven nodded as the Party finished their preparations. They made to take formation, which consisted of Raven at the front, Nico and Aiden at her flanks, while the remaining three were behind them. From a bird's eye view, thy would look like an arrowhead or something. It was the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for Spec Ops who have to travel by foot in the cases of when their transports are destroyed, to travel like an arrowhead so they could support one another.

Guts, who was behind him, tapped his armoured finger on Nico's shoulder, getting a backward glance from the younger male. "I commend you for stopping them. A weakling would have shied away from such a call." He stated, making Nico nod in agreement. Remembering how in their little Questioning session earlier, he learned that Guts detested weaklings. He figured tat had been the case beforehand though, since Guts seemed like the type of character who didn't abide by the rules of the weak-minded. He was more of a soldier, a warrior, than a politician.

Afterwards, the Spec Ops Agents were off.

* * *

Cold.

Cold places, those were her favourite places for the young Ice-wielding Spec Ops Agent as she led her team through the forest. They traveled fast, like ninjas jumping through trees. They were like blurs, almost gliding through the air only to bounce on any nearby tree branches that were stable enough. For large men like Guts, this proved more difficult due to his size, frame and the lack of sturdy branches, but being a professional, Guts knew how to compensate for this.

The heat didn't bother her as much as it used to anymore, thanks to her prolonged exposure to it. However, despite her resistance to the heat, Raven longed for those colder areas in Gamindustri, where the chills would wrap around her in their embrace and welcome her home. Like that one ice queen she knew from that child's film, the cold never bothered her anyways. In fact, it was safe to say that Raven LOVED the cold, more so than anything else. It was soothing, it was calming, it was practically her livelihood.

In more ways than one.

It had been only 10 minutes into their journey, and they were headed to their next camp site. It would be a long journey, since the next ideal camp site was hours away according to the Holomap of Leanbox that Nico had downloaded. Apparently, he'd found the time to have his Bracers download thee schematics for the lands within Leanbox, like he had said he'd done in Lastation. With that information, he had been able to see that they wouldn't reach a viable camp site that satisfied their time requirements until nearly mid-day.

Once he'd given his report, they decided to take a rest there anyways, but travel at a reasonably fast pace yet with enough drive that the situation warranted.

But Raven wasn't worried about any of that, none of those actually registered in her mind as possible problems with their journey. Instead, her mind was focused on what Lucy had almost done to the male back in his own tent. Just the thought of seeing her try to corrupt the one man whom was close to her, more than anyone else, made her want to freeze her solid from the inside out. Raven couldn't care less about Lucy's past conquests of the male gender, not even if they were her male subordinates FALCON and CYBORG. If Lucy went for them, Raven wouldn't have bat an eyelash when she blatantly flirted. The redhead was someone who went for anyone she fancied, be it man or woman. One might say she was an omnivore. Bisexual didn't aptly describe her enough in her eyes, so she went for the other option: Omnivore.

But when it came to Nico, THAT's when she drew the line.

Beeping sounds echoed through the vicinity, breaking her from her thoughts when an alarmed shout came from the man she had been thinking about himself. "Alert, enemy Abnormal approaching the clearing ahead of us! Distance: 5.4 Km, Size: Medium, threat Rank: B!" He yelled, listing off statistics that his Bracer's HUD showed him while they tree branch hopped.

"VERONICA!"

"Yeah, I sense it!" Lucy yelled back, closing her eyes and reaching out with her powers. She felt the nature around her, listening to the buzzing chatter the plants, trees, bushed and animals had been doing. This was a power that only she possessed, in a limited sense she could listen to 'nature's voice' to let her know what her surroundings were like. Sometimes she could make them tell her what she wants to know, but that took a lot of focus. However, that wasn't always the case…

Focusing on the current task at hand, she listened to Nature's voice, and it told her what she wanted to know. She opened her eyes and shouted to the others, her demeanour no longer that of the seductive Lucy that they were used to, but that of VERONICA, the Spec Ops Agent second of Team RAIL. "It's a Scorpion Abnormal: a Susanoo!" she informed them all, making various reactions form on the others' faces.

Isaac groaned in annoyance when he heard THAT name come out of her lips. "Ugh, THAT Abnormal… I so do NOT like fighting those things, they keep trying to grab me in the ass!" he whined, remembering the last few times he fought that type of Abnormal. It was a class of subspecies abnormal, belonging to another race of similar ones called 'Borg Camlann' and considered WAY more annoying than their main species counterparts. Not only did they have greater strength, at the base anyways, than their opposites, they were also much more resilient to damage. The man looked to the side when he sensed bloodlust and deadpanned when he saw the dark grin forming on Guts' face at the thought of fighting this particular Abnormal. "Don't get me started on You, pal! You seem to like smashing those bugs in for no goddamn reason!"

"Bugs should be squashed by predators, it's the law of nature."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!"

While the two Leanbox natives argued, well one more so than the other, Aiden glanced at the skies above and asked in one word with an almost robotic voice. "Orders?"

"Take flight and see if there will be any reinforcements. I'd feel better with multiple sources telling me we will have a single opponent. Let me know if there's any changes, and I'll request your support ONLY when necessary." Raven stated without even glancing at him, to which Aiden nodded wordlessly before his backpack deployed its wings and he took flight above the trees.

While she said this, Guts hummed for a moment, before he decided to speak up. "Me and Isaac will scout the surroundings, keep any surprises from interrupting your fight. That way you don't have to worry about us, thus go all out."

Her next words were directed to the others. "CYBORG, I will open our assault against the Susanoo by destabilising its balance with an Ice sheet. You pepper its legs with your Bionic Arm's cannon mode. Keep it from regaining balance. VERONICA, you attack its Tail, make sure to damage it enough that its effectiveness is decreased. DEATHSTROKE, go for its shields, use anything you can to break them for the same reasons." Her orders were brought into their minds and registered with practiced ease, a notion that the trio were eerily familiar with thanks to them having worked together repeatedly.

"Yes, Leader!"

* * *

The Susanoo: a massive, scorpion-like Abnormal. Its size was that of a 1½ story building, with black, stone-like skin. Its legs numbered at four, two at the front and two at the back. They ended in 5 toed feet with their ankles covered in glowing pink fur. Their legs had armoured scales all over them, with the kneecaps having armoured scales shaped similar to demonic skulls. Out the back, was a massive, long tail that ended in a double-edged blade-like tip. A glowing pink energy ran down the middle of the blade tip, adding to its intimidating factor. It had a large, bulky and armoured upper body, with what looked like a ring around the base of its neck where its glowing pink hair flailed about like they were bushy tails. It had a distinctly masculine face, with hollow pink eyes and mouth. Its arms ended in 2 large shields which had mouths filled with sharpened fangs, spikes protruding out their backs that ended in glowing pink tips.

It was merely stomping around the field, searching for prey to feed off of, when…

Trouble struck.

From the wilderness to its right flank, a blast of blue energy hit the ground beneath its feet, creating a long sheet of ice that quickly threw it off balance, due to it being caught by surprise. Its legs flailed about like they were trying to dodge bullets, almost tap dancing as they set to regain balance.

An act that would end in futility when a series of Lightning bolts made impact with its 2 right legs, forcing it to lose the fight to retain its balance thanks to the impact. The Susanoo roared as it fell to the ground, stabbing one of its shields into the ground for support. Its tail flailed wildly like it had a will of its own, striking the surroundings in wide arcs in a vain hope to hit whatever had gotten close to it.

"IVY SURPRISE!"

A feminine voice called out and, from all around its vicinity, many long vines suddenly erupted from the ground. Each one was covered in many blade-like barbs, flailing wildly I the air like Tentacle appendages do when they're severed from the rest of their body's. They each began battering away at the Abnormal, slicing away at its scales and armour.

From the spot that the ice blast originated, Lucy burst into the clearing, her Cleavers drawn as she spun in a constant circle. Her Cleavers swung true, slicing through the Tail but not deep enough to sever. She cursed at this. 'Shoot, looks like I didn't pack enough of a wallop…!' she thought, before using her powers to make a wooden arm grow out the ground, far from the Ice sheet, and grab her before receding. This resulted inn her escaping the thrashing Tail's attack range, to the Susanoo's fury.

Upon landing on the ground, Lucy had the arm split itself into many pieces, pieces that floated in the space above her head while rearranging themselves, becoming long spiky Javelins. Each one was as long as an average human, with tips that looked like they could pierce even silver steel made weaponry. With a sly smirk, Lucy threw her arm forwards. "Catch!"

The Javelins, upon her will, all shot forth towards the Susanoo's Tail, slicing through weakened areas made by stray lightning blasts. Most of them missed the Tail, embedding on the ground around the Abnormal or its hind legs, but some managed to hit their mark. From those, as well as the ones that hit its legs, the beast roared in pain and anger.

Having had enough of this attack, the Susanoo quickly smashed its Tail onto the ground, hard enough to cover it in a cloud of Dust. The lack of visibility made Ivan jump out of hiding and shift his Bionic arm into Rifle Mode, unloading a barrage of bullets into the cloud. "Ugh, that fucker! Its concealed itself!"

Raven soon barked orders, keeping hidden within the wilderness so she could keep her element of surprise. While the beast knew that an ice wielder was nearby, her exact location wasn't a certainty. She probably had the power of surprise for one more attack before the beast would clue in to her location and she'd have to come out of hiding. "Cease fire, CYBORG, switch to defence tactics." She ordered.

"Roger!"

Ivan switched his Bionic Arm to Blade mode, holding the weapon in a defensive stance while pulling out a Combat knife from one of the sheathes on his left leg. His eyes peered into the dust cloud, searching for anything to indicate an attack, down to the tiniest specs of movement. They had mostly lost the element of surprise at this point; however, they'd managed to damage the Abnormal slightly before they did so, thus they should have an easier time defeating it.

Surprise encounters like this weren't uncommon on Spec Ops return journeys. It was almost like the Abnormals and other Monsters could smell the weakness on them, and would henceforth come out of the woodworks metaphorically, hungry for their flesh. It happened to all of them, Spec Ops, Guild Agents, even adventurers and civilians. The last one was the worst though since they lacked the skills to fight them off… leading to some pretty brutal death scenes. One poor pair of twins travelling home from a trip to another village had been attacked by a massive, ravenous rabbit monster, one ending up being bashed onto the ground by her feet repeatedly while the other got split in half before joining her twin in its belly.

Again, nasty.

A faint sparkle was all that Ivan got as a warning no sooner had he thought that, and he had to get on all fours to avoid a long, purple beam that would have annihilated his entire upper body. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, the beam banishing the dust cloud to reveal a pissed off Susanoo. Its Shields were growling angrily at him, one of them steaming to show which one had been the cause of the beam. "Shit, that nearly fried me there!"

Lucy, seeing that their opponent was back up, quickly began calling on her powers. From her flanks, several wood pillars erupted from the ground, shooting towards the Susanoo. The creature's Tail swung in 2 arcs, batting them away before they could hit, but that was what Lucy wanted. The pillars split into many smaller ones upon impact, circling around and slamming into the Abnormals' side.

They shattered on impact thanks to their size, but they did do their job of distracting it for Nico to join into the fray. The said Spec Ops Agent ran out into the clearing with his Plasma Launcher and Plasma Cannons ready, unloading on the Abnormal without mercy. Purple Plasma explosions dotted its front while Nico focused on damaging its Shields. He made sure to keep at a fair distance from it, knowing that if he got too close, those Shields would take a chunk out of him.

Didn't want to have that happen.

Though, it soon became apparent that his efforts were practically worthless when the Susanoo suddenly shot its right arm forward, the shield it ended at suddenly stretching itself with its maw open wide. 'Shit!' Nico cursed as he rolled to the side, his Plasma Cannons receding into the shoulder guards. This saved them from being damaged by his emergency barrel roll, but it stopped his barrage on the Susanoo's shields, allowing it to twist its body in preparation for a spin. "Shit! Lucy, Ivan, jump!"

His shout, combined with the fact that he didn't use their codenames to save time, registered in their minds. Both teens quickly did that when they saw what Nico had seen, nonetheless. Not a moment too soon either, for the Susanoo had already spun a complete 360 degrees with its Tail extended, creating a wave of purple energy in its wake. The initial attack was dodged, but the air blast blew both of them towards the forestry at the opposite side of the clearing. Fortunately, Lucy managed to have the forestry form a net made from plants, vines, bushes and other parts of nature to catch them. They dropped to the ground safely, her landing on her feet while Ivan landed on his backside.

"Dude, you suck at landings. Might wanna improve your body so you don't get off with your fiancé the ground."

"Ugh, shut up!"

Nico rolled his eyes, having did a N#o from the M#t#ix by bending backwards till he was barely above the ground. Time had felt as slow as a turtle when the Tail had passed over him, before resuming when it passed and he stood tall once more. hefting his Plasma Launcher in a standard rifleman position, Nico aimed it at the beast and resumed fire towards its face.

Like he expected, the creature blocked with its shields, so the male made a few quick hand gestures where their leader could see them. In her hiding place, Raven realised what he was trying to tell her, and nodded to herself. She clapped both hands together before separating them, channelling her powers and forming a large Ice Javelin, easily able to go through a person's head. She then gripped it in her right hand, rearing it back before chucking it from her hiding place.

Thanks to the position it was in, the Susanoo didn't see this attack coming and thus, got both its arms impaled from the side while its shields were in that position. It let out a shrill screech in agony, feeling the biting cold dig deep into its internal structure. The cold would work its magic and slow the Abnormal down, while also locking its shields in place so it couldn't use them to protect itself.

Left it wide open for their next attack.

"SAMURAI DRIVE - DEMON CLAW!"

"POLLEN DRIVE – BEYBLADE ONSLAUGHT!"

"PHANTOM WAVE!"

"CYBER DRIVE – LIGHTNING BLADE!"

All but Nico activated their Drive Skills, the teen not willing to risk using his thanks to it using Demonic Energy, which was still unstable at the moment. Nevertheless, thanks to him being a DPU his Skills were stronger than their human versions, so his could still keep up with them.

With their Drive Skills active, the Spec Ops Agents quickly launched their attacks at the weakened Abnormal. Raven went first, then Lucy, Nico, and Ivan. Raven jumped from her hiding place, as she ran at the beast and formed blades of energy from her newly drawn Odachi. She used her Skill to slice away at one of its legs, rendering it useless to the Abnormal.

Lucy summoned her Beyblade and had it split into many, hurling them at the Abnormal from multiple flanks. Each Beyblade dug into its armour, grinding away at it like cheese on a cheese grinder with the sounds of metal being cut audible from them. She then jumped into the air, raising her hand to the skies and recalling every Beyblade, combining them back into a larger version of the original, before throwing it vertically downwards at the creature and watching it slice away at the Susanoo. It had barely blocked her in time with its Tail, which constantly thrummed with its energy as the two forces grinded away at each other.

Ivan roared as he charged at it closing the distance easily as he entered a slashing fest at its legs, weakening its stability to the point where the Beyblade gradually gained ground on its opponent. A low growl tore through the Susanoo's throat while it tried to stab him with its legs, or at least pin him under one of its claws for later-killing. However, the teen with the robotic arm was like a fly, constantly dodging its attacks by a hairs' breath while slashing away at the interior of its legs.

Nico used this distraction to send his PHANTOM WAVE towards it at a diagonal angle. The wave flew true, colliding with its shields in a large explosion. An explosion that damaged both its shields as well as destroyed Raven's Ice Javelin, freeing its arms from its captivity, although that would ultimately be pointless with how utterly wrecked they looked. Burn marks, pieces of its scales missing, it really didn't look too good.

Apparently, it too realised the severity of its situation as it made a loud shriek, a blood red mist enveloping it. The mist layered itself over the Susanoo, its wounds closing up but not healing, and those pink areas gaining a crimson red hue. Its eyes shined brightly while they focused their gaze upon the Party of Spec Ops Agents.

Said Agents all regrouped with each other, glaring at the beast which returned the favour. A heavy, ominous sensation overlapped the atmosphere, an ominous sensation that could only come from a fight to the death. Something that Spec Ops Agents danced with on the ballroom for shits and giggles... also duty, that was important, too.

"Looks like its activated rage mode." Ivan remarked, his Bionic Arm shifting into Cannon mode once more. His weapon thrummed with electrical energy, eager to be released upon its victims. "That just means this fight just got a little bit more dangerous." he added on, but in the end, he couldn't help but add a little bit of humour to the mix. A sly smirk formed on his face at the end of his sentence. "Guess its just another day for the Spec Ops." For Some reason, they heard some strange music playing in the background when he said that.

Things pulled them back into the focus of battle when the Susanoo let out a mighty shriek at them, prepping to charge as Raven began speaking orders, ignoring the man much to his dismay. "The enemy is in rage mode, that just makes it less likely to make calculated attacks. Its on its last legs, this being proof. Show no mercy, strike its weak spots till it goes down." She yelled to them all, swiftly manifesting a large volley of spikes from thin air. She sent them towards the Susanoo which, in rage mode, used its tail spin to blast them to bits. However, she wasn't dismayed as she made a hand gesture with her off-hand, and the shards of Ice that fell from the Spears all turned to explosives, detonating around the Abnormal.

While it shrieked in anger and pain, the rest of the Spec Ops yelled "Roger!" in unison before charging in with their weapons ready. Nico switched to his Plasma Claws, jumping past its right side and delivering a series of claw slashes to that space, landing behind it and avoiding the Tail by flipping over it.

Lucy followed his lead by using her Dual Cleavers to finally slice off its right front hind leg, making the Abnormal fall onto its right side. She then spun around, a faint misty aura coming from her as she manifested a giant pillar of wood above her head, one she held her hands up so that they looked like they were holding it like a battering ram. She reared it back and, with a sly smirk, slammed it into the creature's head, dazing it.

When it tried to get up, the Susanoo was bombarded by enemy Lightning blasts, curtesy of Ivan who circled around its opposite side, unloading on it like there was no tomorrow. Switching it to Blade Mode, Ivan activated his LIGHTNING BLADE Skill and slashed at its legs, releasing countless sparks through the creature's body to make it howl in agony. To their fortune, the attack resulted in the paralysis status effect, as shown when sparks constantly radiated around it while it struggled to move. "Yes! Damn, I'm good!"

"This is the end!" Raven bellowed as she leapt high into the air, using her powers to allow her to jump over 10 meters. She then held her hands out and a massive arm formed from ice at her right side. The arm consisted of a shoulder, a bicep, elbow, a forearm, hand and a massive fist. With this arm, Raven made it repeatedly bonk the beast on its bead, pummelling it into the ground with no mercy given.

Only when she was sure it was dead, thanks to the Particles that she faintly made out from her makeshift vantage point, Raven dismissed the arm and saw that there was no more Abnormal. A low sigh escaped her lips, her powers working their magic and calming her racing heart till it was beating at a steady rhythm.

The cold was something she was used to, from the earliest days of her childhood. Goddess, how long ago was that? The days of childhood were nearly a blur to the woman, something that both irritated and relieved her for several reasons. She didn't have... the best childhoods, since she was once from a village that was deep within the Lowee Mountains in the north. They were a tribal people, who lived off hunting and killing Monsters for food, clothes and money from the main Capital.

But... there was one aspect of her past she would always remember, the image of the one person she idolized. Someone whose beliefs she embodied today.

Nevertheless, ever since that person came into her life, she had learned much. Information that most of humanity didn't even know of. It was why, when Nico showed his DPU Powers for the first time, she didn't react as surprised as the rest of them. She had learned of them from that person.

That person was also the one who installed the love of the cold in her.

Cold always calmed her, it was her friend, ally, and sole confidant when she was at her most vulnerable for goddess knows how many years. At least, till she stumbled across something she would consider a sacred treasure of hers till the end of creation.

She landed on the ground before her team, turning to them to inform them of the battle's ending. "The enemy has been eliminated. We may proceed on with our previous course…" she began to say, unaware of something approaching from behind her.

Up until it was a second till the too late mark.

"Raven, look out!"

Her eyes shrunk behind her Mask when she heard Nico's cry. She twisted around to find that the Abnormal they were fighting was still alive, if barely with only one claw left with the rest of its body almost completely gone. She managed to avoid a direct hit, but the claw did managed to slice through her left forearm's underside, electing a hiss of pain from the woman as she landed clutching her forearm in an attempt to stem the pain.

Nico quickly acted, pummelling the last of the Susanoo till there was nothing left of it with his Plasma Cannons. When they receded into his Shoulder pads once more, the male regrouped with the injured Raven along with the rest of the Agents. "Raven, are you alright?! Did it get you?!" he yelled in concern.

While it looked touching that he was concerned about her, Raven merely shook her head as she began to apply her powers to her wound. "I am fine. The Susanoo only managed to graze my arm." She replied, hissing as her ice powers froze over her wound, acting as a makeshift scab that took over the entire forearm's underside. It would only be a temporary measure though, and all of them knew it.

"You guys must move, a horde of Viperwolves, 20 in total, have heard the sound of combat and are on their way!"

"Best listen to him, kids! We can hold them off for you, but not for long!"

Aiden and Isaac's voices pushed through the silence, and their eyes widened with their teeth clenched. "Shoot! At a time like this?!" Ivan cursed, his Bionic Arm steaming from having to fire so many Lightning rounds. The teen checked it over, clenching and unclenching the mechanical fist, before cursing under his breath. "Fuck, my Arm's overheated. Won't be able to fight much with it on the frizz like this."

"Good thing Raven froze the wound. It'll keep them from detecting her scent." Nico stated as he and the others each took out of their respective storage methods, a couple healing Potions before downing them, revitalising their bodies. Their built-up stress faded away with the cooling liquids that ran down their throats, their bodies using the liquid to heal their injuries and aches from the battle.

But now was not the time for rest, they had to flee lest they turn into monster food.

Glancing to Raven, the DPU furrowed his brow before he grasped her by the back of her knees, and under her arms, picking her up bridal the best idea considering her personal hate for the male gender, but if it was him he figured she'd cut him some slack.

"What do you think you are doing, DEATHSTROKE?!"

'Yep, she's mad...' the male thought as Raven glared at him behind her Mask for this. Normally, her glare could give seasoned veterans nightmares, with the feeling of their manhoods being poised to be destroyed via a hammer and chisel. Add in the intimidating features of her mask, and that glare was strengthened by a 1000. But to Nico, it was merely the first time she had raised her voice in the story, since nobody had gotten this close to her before. They were too afraid of what she would do to them if they tried. Though, there was that one Agent who got too arrogant and tried to seduce her... he wasn't all together these days.

Even with all this though, Nico went and ignored her, looking to the others who each had a unified expression of shock and disbelief on their faces. It was like they were saying together 'Balls of steel' or something. "I'll carry her, that we she won't slow us down." He stated simply. The others nodded after coming out of their stupor, Lucy pouting in jealousy as they bolted for it.

In his arms, Raven glared heatedly at the teen, her eyes almost shining with her emotions right now. Plus, there was an abrupt change in the temperatuure, if the slight specs of frost forming on the wilderness around them were any indication. But, despite this, she was thankful that she had her Mask on... since it expossed the cherry red blush of embarrassment and... joy... on her cheeks.

'That idiot...' she thought, eyes slowly closing as Nico carried her off to their destination. 'He doesn't realize the effect he has on me... even after all this time...'

* * *

It was cold...

It was wet...

It was lonely...

But that didn't register in her mind right now.

No, not right now, or ever if she had anything to say about it.

A young child cradled the corpse of an older man, someone who shared the girl's facial features. Likely, it was a parent of hers, or a relative, as she looked down with her hair hanging over her chest. She was silent, motionless, even in the cold of the mountains. She was surrounded by corpses, both human and non human alike. Snow fell gently on the remains of a slaughter fest, yet the girl made no movement to even indicate that she registered their presence.

Everything had been taken from her.

Her home

Her family

Her life

Everything had been taken from her, there was nothing left for her.

She didn't know how things could have turned out like this.

She didn't know at all.

"My, now this is an unexpected surprise."

The sound of a woman's voice was registered in the child's ears. No, that wasn't right. It was more like the voice forced its way to be recognized by her numbed senses. The voice carried age experience, wisdom and power tat belittled how young it sounded. Like a teenage hottie with the mind of an elderly person. It was a voice filed with the desire for control, dominance and aggression. It was something that just HAD to be noticed just for instinctual survival alone. The child had heard of such voices before, voices belonging to the women of her tribe, her mother, and...

Slowly, her head was raised, though it looked like the child would rather just gaze down at the old man's face for eternity, remembering better times, if it was possible.

Looking behind her, she saw something standing there, a figure shrouded by what looked like a mini snow-storm.

The child knew about snowstorms, she'd seen many of them in her young life. Snowstorms in Lowee weren't that uncommon, they were almost weekly. Thus, her tribe had learned how to weather such storms.

But... But this one, this one swirled around the figure calmly, almost pacified by the woman's presence alone.

All she could see from the figure through the storm, was a long Katana, long hair, and the sensation of staring at a hungry predator, her being its next meal.

"And who are you, young one?"

"Me? I am..."

* * *

Raven's eyes slowly opened, her mind returning to the land of reality. She blinked several times to adjust to the sudden influx of light, an irritated hum escaping her lips.

'That dream...'

It took a while for her to get feeling back into her body, but it happened at long last. The woman slowly sat up once she felt her strength return. She looked down at herself to see that she was half naked, her kimono dress, skirt, stockings and boots being beside her on the sleeping bag she was resting in. Her chest was covered by a set of bandages, making them look smaller than they really were, as well as to dissuade perverted pigs from thinking they were massive watermelons unlike those of a certain Leanbox CPU. Fortunately she still had her underwear on, which consisted of a pair of skin tight black shorts, something that was way more practical than panties.

Memories came back to her, making Raven hold on to the side of her head, a groan escaping her lips. She remembered getting hit by that Susanoo, which should have been destroyed when she pounded away at it like she did. She'd froze the injury to stem the bleeding, before she was carried away in Nico's arms. Still, as pissed as she was about it, Raven couldn't help but think about that Abnormal. How the hell did it survive those attacks? Did it have some abilities not previously recorded? She guessed it doesn't matter now of all time, since all evidence points to the fact that they've moved on from that fight.

This evidence was the fact that she was inside a Tent, lying on a sleeping bag and not being chowed down on by any hungry Viperwolves. She assumed thy'd made it to their destination if they were camping, as evident by the surroundings around her. The woman could smell something cooking outside, likely something that had been caught by one of her subordinates or perhaps some of the rations they kept in their respective Inventories, or Void Storage in Nico's case. Looking at her injury, Raven saw that, to her satisfaction, that her powers had properly mended it to the point where only a long, thin scab had remained. As long as she didn't have to reopen her wound, she would be fine in a couple hours. Beings like her tend to heal faster than others, after all. Though, this process is significantly slower if the wound was inflicted by an Abnormal for some reason.

Raven was always a person who looked at the facts, she wasn't someone who had time for emotions. She did have a heart made out of ice right now, in more ways than one.

Her thoughts were broken when she heard the not-so-subtle sound of flaps being opened. She looked to her left, and saw that it was her second in command coming into her tent. While she didn't always get along with her subordinate, she did have to admit that she would have preferred a female to see her like this rather than any pervert, though this one was a bit of both, honestly.

Looking towards her, Lucy's eyes brightened as a small smirk took place on her features. "You're awake! Phew, we were getting worried you went to the other side or something." She remarked, walking up towards her and kneeling beside the sleeping bag. When Raven glanced at her, Lucy nodded and answered her unasked question, a skill developed only through a long time of knowing someone. "We managed to get away from the horde of Viperwolves. A bit of a close call considering the 'luggage' we were carrying..." she couldn't help but give a jab at Raven with that comment, one that earned her an irritated glare. Her Mask was off, so she could show the full extent of her glares again. "Sorry-sorry, had to do it." she apologized, but a quick look to her amused gaze showed she didn't mean it. "Anyways, we managed to get to the next camp spot in record time, a full hour ahead of schedule. The boys unpacked, set the traps, set up the campfire and are now sitting around it, waiting for our fearless leader to return to us."

Once Lucy became silent again, having finished her report of what happened while she was out, Raven looked down at the sleeping bag that still covered her lap. She frowned to herself, her crimson eyes deep in thought before she looked back to her second. "Any casualties?" she questioned.

Lucy shook her head. "None. Ivy and Aidy almost got lynched by Nico though, they kinda showed those other two the little notebook of theirs that has all the girls tat Nico unknowingly charms to him." she explained with a chuckle, as well as n amused roll of the eyes. "Though it was more Ivy than Aidy since he just wanted to have some peace and quiet, but got roped into it by Ivy."

The black haired swordswoman rolled her eyes as well as those two's antics, well, more Ivan's than Aiden's. She had worked alongside them to know what they were like by now, and out of the two of them, she would have to say she preferred Aiden to Ivan. A least he always had a professional demeanor, whereas the other one was a bumbling idiot.

Though, she didn't miss the way that Lucy referred to their tag along as 'those two', either. It was one of the things that she respected about the redhead. Despite being a terrible flirt, both by reputation saying otherwise. She only trusted her, Nico, Aiden and Ivan so far, next to nobody else was trustworthy in her books. It was what separated her from the usual filth that Raven would castrate on a daily basis.

Really, it was male hormones that may potentially doom the human race, not the Monsters or the Abnormals.

"I see. How long will we have before we head out?" Raven questioned. This setback would not impede her from getting this mission over and done with as soon as possible. She'd make sure to get the job done, even if the Clients weren't those she was particularly fond of. Though, in this case she felt like she would have to do some research before accepting the next one. There was politics at work here and she didn't like the fact that her subordinates, her siblings in arms, were being used as some ploy for someone else's gain.

She'd make sure to have all the information at hand, so she could accurately judge the situation and make the best calls for her subordinates. She wouldn't allow them to be manipulated for someone else's agenda, no, that was most certainly not allowed. If anyone DARED try to use them like that and she found out about it, then nothing, not even the law, would stop her from getting even with them.

That was what a leader was meant to do, and that was what she had been taught, both by her father, and... her...

As if sensing her thoughts, Lucy lost some of her positive demeanor, her eyes darkening as she turned serious. "We should be leaving in about half an hour. The Viperwolves lost our scent, but Nico reported that he did some scouting and found packs of Thanators through this area. If we want them to avoid us we should be as prepared as possible to leave when we can." She then released a tired sigh, hanging her arms by her sides. "But honestly, I doubt we can move right away, especially in our current condition. We're tired, hungry, and still needing to recover from that Abnormal attack. Nico did some investigating on it, since he'd scanned it when it was being pummeled, and found some interesting information about it."

"I see. Bring him here, i'd have him explain this himself."

Lucy nodded, standing up and making to leave the Tent. She knew why Raven would ask that she bring Nico here, instead of commanding the info to be given from her. Nico explained things in a way that was more logical than how she'd say it, plus the two got along way better than the two of them ever did. 'Though, I guess that is a given, since we're practically opposites though...' she thought to herself, while leaving the Tent and Raven too her own thoughts.

* * *

10 minutes later, Raven looked to the entrance to her Tent after sensing a familiar presence entering. She didn't show it, but her ice cold heart warmed slightly when she saw that Nico was there, passing through the flaps to walk to her side. She had already gotten dressed in her normal outfit, her Odachi strapped to her waist while she stood at the center of the Tent. "You summoned me?"

"I did. Come, sit with me." Raven replied, just as curtly as Nico had stated his own sentence. The male nodded, his eyes blank thanks to his Armour, which was still equipped, having split its helmet's face apart. The two sat opposite each other on the grass-covered ground, sitting cross legged with Nico's back facing the Tent's entrance. "I hear you got some information about the Abnormal."

The male nodded in response, glancing at his right Bracer as he proceeded to activate it, showing a screen that displayed a diagnostic of the Susanoo. "Yeah. It was a quick one, since the Abnormal was disintegrating, but I did manage to gleam sort of an analysis. You know that Abnormals have unpredictable natures, right? Well, when I looked the scan over, I noticed something odd about its structure."

As he explained this, a thought occurred to him. This was probably the first time they had been alone together in the entire story. There had been so much going on, what with his journey with Neptune and the others, her Spec Ops duties, they never really had much time to talk. Honestly, that kind of bummed him, since she was one of the few people he could converse with normally. In fact, he looked forward to those times, since Raven was NOT like those fangirls that his adoptive mother used to set him up with someone 'to give her grandbabies'.

Raven said nothing, her eyes drawn onto the schematics. At least, that was what it looked like to the male, but nonetheless, she just wanted to hear what he had learned. The teen soon got her wish when he continued to speak. "Turns out these guys are evolving, changing. That Abnormal managed to find out how to use its energy to enhance those mouths of its, so it could repeatedly devour the ground around it, allowing it to burrow. That was what it did at the last moment of your attack, burrowing underground then resurfacing near you."

"I see..."

The warrior woman hummed in thought cupping her chin as she thought about this information. She remembered that there were some Scorpions that had the ability to burrow beneath the sand, to where the moisture and temperature was optimal to their needs. Some even waited in these burrows to ambush prey to take them by surprise. Considering the Susanoo was a sub-species that was reminiscent of a Scorpion, it could make sense that they had that ability. Though, with how he said his analysis, Raven assumed that they lacked the ability beforehand. It made sense, considering that Susanoo and the other variants of its species had shields instead of pincers. It could be safely assumed that they were learning more about their surroundings, something that wasn't uncommon.

There have been instances where new Abnormals are created from old ones, an evolution of sorts. Where some Abnormals transform or mutate into a stronger form. It wasn't uncommon, and when they did happen, Spec Ops were sent to scout out the abilities that the new form could possess. These forms could either be completely different from their last, or they could just be the same as before. Either way, they tend to have abilities that they didn't have previously.

This was one of the many differences between the Abnormals and other Monsters.

"We should watch out for any other Abnormals in the area." Raven stated, after thinking over this information for a moment. She glanced behind him and noticed that nobody was at the flaps, something that she honestly... felt kinda glad for. "If an Abnormal has evolved recently, maybe there are more. I won't take that chance."

"True..."

The two strayed into a moment of silence, pondering their own individual concerns. For Nico, he couldn't help but feel a sense of discomfort settle into his gut, like an animal caught in a trap or something. He felt a tightness in his throat, making speech increasingly difficult. This wasn't something he had dealt with for a while, a moment where the two of them were alone together. Maybe it would have bee easier if it were with someone as talkative as Neptune, or as adorably innocent like Compa, someone as tomboyish like IF... yeah, the idea has transferred over already. Raven never was one who expressed much emotion, at least outwardly.

It wasn't like she couldn't though...

 **'Nico... I have a question for you.'**

The presence of his demon persona appeared in his mind, and Nico almost fainted in relief. Finally, something he could focus on to clear this awkward tension! People may say he was running from the real issue, but he would just flip them the bird. 'Oh, hey Biko. You've been silent for a while. Something wrong?'

 **'Nothing is wrong with myself. I only wish to know how much you trust this woman.'**

... Now wasn't that a weird question to ask. Nico couldn't help but wonder where Biko was going with the direction he was taking this conversation towards. 'Uhhhh... I'd ask why, but its probably better if i just answer anyways. Well, to be perfectly honest i'd trust her as much as the other girls, maybe more.' he replied evenly, but towards the end, his response slowly got more and more emotional. That time that he kissed Lucy, VOLUNTARILY kissed her, it... opened some things up to him that hadn't been realizing up until now.

Like just how much conflict there was raging within him when it came to them.

One side of him, the side that wanted to believe in the bonds of friendship or some shit like that, wanted him to just open up to them and let them in on every secret he has hidden. The side that wanted him to ask for their help like a freaking wuss, not trusting his ability to handle this on his own. It wanted him to just tell them everything, see what their reaction would be and get the happy ending like those in fairy tails.

That side however, was being heavily contested by his pessimistic, battle and reality hardened nature. The side of him that had seen the true state of the world, the side that had stared too long into the abyss that it had begun staring back at him. The side that had become cynical and fucking tired of dealing with people's shit. That side, the one that he had been shrouded in for so many years before joining Neptune on her quest, and dealing with the girls' antics. In a sense, travelling them seemed to be slowly changing him, but into what he didn't know.

He honestly wasn't sure what to think about that, not anymore.

Meanwhile, Raven had some things to think about of her own... and try as she might, they all revolved around the male before her. She couldn't help but remember the scene where she stumbled across earlier, with Lucy on top of him and forcing herself onto him... to which he wouldn't fight back. She forced herself to stop a shudder of dread that crawled down her spine at the thought of Nico being 'corrupted' by that hussy! Nobody should corrupt him, let him remain pure!

Raven hated many things about the world, she hated men, she hated weaklings, she hated the way that instant ramen took 3 minutes to cook int he microwave, she hated when people tried to tease her, she hated those who were disloyal to their comrades on the battlefield, she hated the rare times that she forgot to sharpen her Odachi, and many more. She was telling the truth last night when she said she had a lot of dislikes, as well as the fact that she had few likes in this fucked up world.

Nico was one of those, or to be more accurate, his 'purity'.

He'd never been involved... in that way, with any girls over the years she'd known him. He'd always remained focused on his job, his beliefs, his life on the battlefield. One could say that, like the legendary hunters of a certain Moon Goddess, he was the male version of a maiden, a Bachelor, and that was something she would often admire about him. She would sometimes see how he'd take Quest after Quest just to avoid talking to other people, like a lone wolf, though it also served in avoiding the slutty hussies that tried talking to him. She'd heard his adoptive mother wants him to get laid already to expand the family, as she saw it, and despite her intentions, Raven couldn't help but resent his mother for that.

That guy, wasn't it alright for him to remain free?! What's wrong with that?!

Images assaulted her mind of seeing various girls clinging onto Nico, both from her past memories of him and of the times she saw him with that party. At first he had casually played it cool, keeping a level facade, but thanks to the constant hammering his defenses have begun to wither recently. Now that she was thinking about it, Raven couldn't help but, for the first time in a while, feel strong emotions in the form of worry and confusion.

Raven was never good with emotions, she didn't like them. She didn't understand them. Her heart was as cold as the powers she commanded. She didn't understand why people wanted to be so close to each other. Warmth was not something she was overly fond of, one could say that she heavily disliked it. She disliked warmth with a passion. She only got used to the warmth of being around people, including embers of the gender she despised with a passion, she never got used to it.

So... this warmth in her chest, whenever she thought of what those women-those hussies- would do to get close to that one man, it was the worst one of all.

"Um, so..."

His awkward, unsure voice broke her out of her thoughts as Raven looked to him. She mentally thanked the deities, which was something part of her laughed at the irony of, that she managed to keep her calm and cool facade up. Though, if she were honest she would hope that Nico would see through it, like he did with so many others. It was a talent of his, reading people and looking through whatever Masks they put up to fool the common soul. "Looks like your injury has healed, eh?"

Looking down at her arm, which his gaze was focused on, Raven looked at the scab that was covering the wound, before turning her head back to him to give a nod. "Yes, yes it has. It healed while I was unconscious, but that is to be expected, is it not?" Let it be said that Raven could tell he was being awkward around her, and while her inner warrior wanted to scold him for it, to show her that strong spirit that lay within him, but she couldn't say that without feeling like a total hypocrite. Another one of those emotions that she detested so much. "After all, you know what I am, and what Lucy is yourself."

Nico chuckled at her response, rubbing the back of his head as he nearly accidentally deployed one of his Plasma Claws. He barely stopped himself from doing that and looking like a total idiot as a result though. "Yeah, that's true." he remarked, remembering those times well. It had come as a shock to him when he found out their secrets, secrets that only he knew of. They hadn't told anyone else, not even their two teammates Aiden and Ivan, despite considering them comrades. Only he knew their true secret, only him alone, and that honestly made him feel flattered in a way. Although, it also concerned him at the same time. "Though, it seems that you haven't told anyone else yet, considering those two still don't know."

He shouldn't be the only one they should open up to, they had comrades to confide with as well, unlike before.

Though, these two weren't the only members of Team RAIL that were keeping secrets either, secrets that pertained to some past events that had happened to them.

The woman shook her head vehemently. "They may be my trustworthy subordinates, but I will not share my past with them. Them and I will keep to the relationship of fellow soldiers-in-arms. Its more comfortable for me that way..." She started off strong, then trailed off at the end. She missed the slight flash of understanding in Nico's eyes, though.

She has always been like this, Raven was never someone who was versed in socializing with others, that fact had been more than established by this point in the story. She also had that 'the strong survive and the weak die' mentality thanks to her past, too, which further alienated her from the rest of the Agents. Some did try to hit on her a couple times between missions... a decision they soon regretted and by soon he meant the next millisecond. Plus, a large portion of the Spec Ops Agents were men, too, her hated gender. That probably limited her options for people she could converse normally with further.

"Anyways..." thanks to the short talk earlier, Nico began to feel some of his confidence returning. It didn't look like Raven was going to chew him out for what happened with Lucy, so that took a large weight off his shoulders. He had assumed she would be furious and try to gut him with her Odachi or an Ice attack, but apparently he was mistaken. "Its been a while since we could talk like this. Things just have been hectic for a while, what with the Abnormal Dungeons in Lastation, and the politics in Leanbox. Plus, with Neptune's quest to restore her memories..."

He trailed off there, and Raven clued in. Her eyes, though difficult to see, softened ever so slightly at the increasing ease Nico found himself taking towards her. It proved to be infectious though, as she soon felt the same way, her previous thoughts being pushed to the back of her mind, not to be pondered on for a while. "Yes, it has indeed been a while since we last got to talk, just the two of us." she admitted, and if she were honest with herself, she didn't like that fact just as much as he did. "Though, I have a feeling talks like this are going to be harder to come by as time moves on. With things getting complicated by the day, I fear we may never have these talks for a LONG time yet." she said with a wince, clutching the hilt of her Odachi which felt strangely heavier for some reason.

The fact that she, a man hater to the core, as well as someone who doesn't show much emotion, could be affected so much by not talking to someone was almost pathetic to her. To the point where she could laugh in self-deprecation if she were capable of such. She liked talking to him like a civil person, she liked the intelligent conversations that they'd have, talking about topic that have com up from the Guild Websites, their pinions on certain Abnormals, or even their... radical views on the politics of Gamindustri. Nico was the only person she could act like this around, he was the only one who could get past her frozen heart.

This wasn't always the case. She used to see Nico as someone who was just like the others, a mere man who had no place than beneath her radar, not worthy of a shred of the attention she gave him today. There was a time when she looked down on him like all the other men she had encountered, saw him as nothing but a bug that she could stomp, though it would be done with a 14 foot pole since she wouldn't want to stain her heels on his flesh.

She remembered the first time she encountered the one who would affect her this way, though back then she would never have foreseen it.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **Her heeled boots tapped constantly across the floor as she walked through the corridors of the Planeptune Guild Building's Spec Ops sector. She headed towards the Briefing room, having 'accepted the invitation' to an Urgent Quest. Raven had to scoff at that notion as she walked, her Odachi's shield repeatedly bobbing up and down with her movements. These things were Mandatory, there was no need to sugarcoat it for them. They were Agents, Agents meant to handle the toughest of Monsters, the Abnormals. They should NOT be coddled by the weaklings that don't even stick their necks out. Just argue over political debates like they were above everyone else.**_

 _ **That's just how people, especially men, were she guessed.**_

 _ **A low frown escaped her lips, unseen by the hideously intimidating Mask that she was wearing right now. She didn't break stride when she passed by a bunch of Basilicom staff members walking by, carrying documents in their hands. They were both men, so that also played a part in them not registering on their radar. The two men did glance her way, and her ears picked up what they were saying quite easily, as they made little attempts to hide their words.**_

 _ **"That's her, the one they call SAMURAI."**_

 _ **"She looks the type, and I hear she's someone who'll castrate you just for looking at her weirdly."**_

 _ **"Shut it, she'll hear you and do the same! Don't you want to go out on dates still?!"**_

 _ **Raven's frown increased in potency as she heard their frantic footsteps to indicate that they were leaving. '[ft, not even worth my time. Weaklings should die, the strong survive.' she thought to herself, loosening the grip she had on her Odachi before continuing on her way to the Briefing room.**_

 _ **This new Urgent Quest, she had suspected it was about the rising amount of Viperwolves lead by a Thanator that was sighted in the Virtua Forest a short time ago. They hadn;t attacked anyone yet, but their numbers had grown significantly large, enough to cause concern for the Nation. Social Media, civilians (or the weak as far as she was concerned) the Guild Website, news about such a cluster of Abnormals had reached across the entire Nation. It honestly didn't surprise her though, the Abnormals have been known for their wild and unpredictable behaviour, so why make a fuss about it?**_

 _ **Well, maybe she could rephrase that as a pack of Abnormals can do a serious blow to the world if left unchecked. In addition, there were some Abnormals what were more intelligent than others, so what could stop them from gathering a large enough force and assaulting SEGA, planeptune's Capital? In that sense, she could see why the weakling masses would be considerably fearful of them. Though to her, she saw them as nothing more than prey.**_

 ** _Prey were supposed to be hunted, hunted by the predators._**

 ** _That was the way of living that she fought for. She lived in it, she breathed in it, it was her everything, her livelihood, her purpose, the reason why she fought. Her sword was a sharpened fang, eager to sink itself into the flesh of her enemies. To compare, it could be considered a rival to the infamous Murasame Swords made in ancient times, bathed in the blood of those its blade has sliced through with no hesitation by its wielder, it didn't discriminate. It was essentially the essence of her entire philosophy, her ideals, and why she chose to be a Spec Ops Agent of the Guild instead of an Average Agent._**

 ** _Nobody she had the (dis) pleasure of working with could understand her beliefs, and thus they refused to work with her unless absolutely forced to. That was fine with her, she didn't need any weaklings to slow her down or to dull her sword's blade. To her, only the strong were meant to be acknowledged, those who were weak were beneath her notice._**

 ** _If they were men, then all the more reason to not acknowledge them._**

 ** _After all, do people acknowledge ants before squashing them with their boots?_**

* * *

 ** _Finally, she arrived at the briefing room. Upon the sliding open of the door, she immediately scowled behind her Mask, her cold heart crackling within her chest when she saw several men in gangster attires standing by the podium._** ** _They looked to be chatting nonchalantly, not showing any of the professionalism that being a Spec Ops required. One said something she didn't bother listening to, electing laughs from his equally simple-minded buddies._**

 ** _The black haired woman resisted the urge to smite them down with her Odachi, knowing that it would be counterproductive to do so herself. 'Let the Abnormals feast on their remains for neglecting their training, those weaklings...' she thought to herself, before scanning the room to see if there was anyone else. Maybe a female warrior, so that she didn't have to deal with the brunt of men's stupidity._**

 ** _However, fate seemed to be wanting to mess with her today, because she only saw one other Agent at the far back of the room, looking like he wasn't listening to the conversation. A snort of disgust escaped her lips at his lack of professionalism, sleeping before a briefing was hardly something a Spec Ops was expected to do._**

 _ **Apparently though, the previously mentioned gangsters, like the apes they were, had this 'huh?' expression on their faces that resembled said animal, when they heard her snort. It was like they didn't even notice that she was here, something that utterly infuriated her to no end. How could such idiots be Spec Ops?! O wait, that's right there were assholes who got into their ranks through money and families. It happened everywhere, something that she knew that many disapproved of.**_

 _ **"Huh?! How the heck did we miss a beauty like that?!"**_

 _ **Another snort escaped her, this one she refused to hide. Least one of the brain-dead idiots knew he was stupid.**_

 _ **"Who cares, lets go chat her up! Maybe we could have a quickie with her before we kick butt like we always do!"**_

 _ **"Hah, i'm down with that!"**_

 _ **Their comments were making it increasingly difficult for her to stay her hand, as the three men walked towards her with sickening smirks on their faces. Arrogant they were, in assuming Raven would let them touch her with such intentions. When they were close enough, to the point where they would be in range of a quick draw from her weapon, Raven made to grasp it with her right hand, while one of the men tried to speak to her. "Hey there, little lady? What's say you and us fine gents here get to know each other for-"**_

 _ **Just before she could strike though, or before the man could finish as he proceeded to try and grab her by the shoulder, a hand reached forth and grabbed his arm by the wrist, stopping it in mid reach. The grip was strong, firm, and unrelenting, much to the shock of the men. "Huh?! Hey, let go, let go!" the man yelled, trying to wrench the arm free to no avail. The other two of his buddies tried to help him, only to somehow get knocked flat on their asses with pained yelps.**_

 _ **Raven, however, looked at the one who had stopped her from slicing off her offender's arm. She merely raised a brow, her Mask preventing anyone from seeing this, as she saw that it was the same boy from before. 'Was that man... feigning sleep this whole time?' she wondered, glancing towards where she had last saw him at the back of the Briefing room. However, all she saw was a faint spec of dust there, telling her all she needed to know.**_

 _ **Now that he was closer, Raven got a better look at him. The Agent seemed like he was someone of a young age, maybe his early to mid teens. Yet, he moved with such speed and precision that matched the older, more experienced Agents she had seen. His form was clad in** **black chainlink mail, from under his chin to the toes and feet of his hands. There were also brown armour plates on his body: the chest, the arm and legs. His hands are armoured gauntlets with the bracers merged into them, while his legs below the knee are armoured boots, and on his shoulders, are large shoulder guards, all these plates being orange in colour. On his face is a mask that was black on the right side and orange on the left, with a single eyehole that showed his left eye.**_

 _ **It was his right arm that held the gangster's wrist in an iron grip.**_

 ** _No words were spoken as the new arrival twisted the man's arm 180 degrees, before thrusting a knee upwards into his elbow, a resounding CRACK echoing through the room. Now, it would take a lot to surprise her, but judging by the audible crack she heard from her would-be assailant, Raven guessed the man's arm had been broken. He would be unfit for duty for at least a couple weeks, by estimation, not like she cared though. He got his just deserts, in her opinion as he cried out in pain, falling onto his ass like an idiot while cradling his arm, tears running down his features._**

 ** _Now the disgust with this one reached an all time high._**

 ** _Looking towards the Agent that had stopped her from slicing that man (much to her annoyance), she saw that he hadn't even looked at her and just returned to his previous spot at the back. She hardly saw him move, a testament to his speed, which was something of noteworthy importance. However that was simply speed, it took more to be counted as 'strong' in her eyes than just speed. He probably used it to run away from fights or something along those lines. That was what she assumed, considering her experiences with male Agents weren't that positive._**

 ** _Once she found a suitable place to sit, crossing one leg over the other while doing the same for her arms, Raven awaited the briefing to begin, not paying any more attention to the other Agents._**

* * *

 _ **The Briefing was short, concise and straight to the point. Something she appreciated, since she could spend as little time with these bumbling idiot Spec Ops- no, these idiot BRATS, as possible. She couldn't even call them Agents anymore, not with how they acted. They constantly fumbled about, not paying much attention to the briefing and being a general annoyance. It looked like the provider for their assignment agreed with the blackette's thoughts if the expression she had on her features had been any indication at the time. Hell, even after the Briefing they were all dismissive of anything that wasn't classified to them as important, which was practically the whole event.**_

 _ **Throughout the whole briefing, Raven noticed that she (as expected) and that other Agent were the only ones who paid attention to the assignment. Now that she had seen a bit of what that Agent could do, she had noticed that he only looked like he wasn't listening, but in reality he was putting on a front, a Mask, to hide the fact that he was actually committing each detail to memory, just like she had. In her opinion, the team for this mission consisted of only her, and this other Agent. Those other men were not Agents in her eyes, but primitive dogs with no leash.**_

 _ **As for that other Agent...**_

 _ **Raven didn't know what to make of him so far, only that his speed was commendable and that he could hold someone in a vice-like grip. She didn't know of his abilities, why he wore that Armour or kept his face concealed behind a Mask. None of it. Which meant she would be wary of him for the duration of their mission. She did admit though, that compared to the rest of them, that this Agent had a greater chance of surviving in this dog eats dog world of theirs.**_

 _ **Once the Briefing was over and done with, Raven and the others all traveled out of the Basilicom towards the transport waiting for them outside. Their transport, unlike Leanbox's M577 Armoured Personal Carrier, was a Militarized Transport, a futuristic vehicle that was similar in technology to the Vultures that were in development. This was a Transport armed with a single Machine Gun, but only traveled at slow speeds. It would be a long time before they got to the Virtua Forest like this. It would have been faster to have ran there, however there were Protocols to follow.**_

 _ **Of course, the Gangsters tried to make themselves look cooler than they really were in front of her, while keeping a wide berth from the Agent that had broken one of their mates' arms. They had a healing potion on hand, and to Raven's displeasure it was an expensive one that functioned just as well. It healed his arm, and he was once again able to go on active duty. Her earlier hunch about them coming from rich families had been correct after all. Though, there was a constant surge of KI from the other Agent that suppressed any thought of going too far.**_

 _ **Thus she had to endure this for a while.**_

* * *

 _ **Finally, after one of the most mentally challenging ordeals she had faced yet, the Transport finally stopped moving, a speaker within the Transport coming online. "Alright, we have arrived." The Driver spoke through the speaker. He spoke in a quick, tense manner, probably due to having felt her rising KI even from his spot in the driver's seat. Raven smirked behind her Mask, glad to see that she still had it. Those gangsters just didn't get the ability to shut up, did they? They even resumed their attempts when they saw her slowly unsheathe her Odachi on their asses, something that pissed her off to no end.**_

 _ **She hoped that they either turned rogue so she could kill them, or they get eaten by the Abnormals, she really did.**_

 _ **When they all disembarked from the Transport, the other Agent had a few words with the Driver, while the gangsters kept on whooping for joy, loudly proclaiming that they were going to get some action today. Meanwhile, Raven pushed their annoying rambles to the back of her mind, and reached out with her senses.**_

 _ **'I can sense the pack of Abnormals, deep within the forest itself... they don't seem to be too active at this point, however that can change the moment they get a whiff of our scents...' she thought to herself, before she heard heavy footsteps from behind her.**_

 _ **Swiftly drawing her Odachi, Raven instinctively made to slash the person that tried sneaking up on her, only too see a faint flash of purple as what looked like an energy claw was deployed, one that blocked her Slash. She noted that the energy claws took the form of 5 purple Scythe blades, which crackled away against her Odachi's edge. Looking to the cause while hiding her surprise at the response, Raven's masked gaze locked onto the gaze of the Agent that had helped her earlier. "You..."**_

 _ **"I have finished advising the Driver to keep an eye out, he should be aware of the mission and the necessary risks. In addition, I have sent a Recon Drone, covered in natural resources like mud to hide its scent from the Abnormals. It has returned approximately 3.434 minutes ago." the Agent stated blankly, with a matching expression on his face. Or what she could see from his Mask. He didn't even look bothered that she had just tried to slice him apart just now, more focused on the more important topic of completing the mission.**_

 _ **Retracting her Odachi, Raven nodded her head in response to his explanation. It was fortunate that she seemed to have at least one professional here, those others could hardly be called such due to their callous demeanour. She then turned on her heels and barrelled her way inside the forest, leaving the other Agents in the dust figuratively speaking.**_

 _ **She didn't need them, she didn't need anyone to slow her down. Nobody would reach her Skill with a sword, not that Agent and CERTAINLY not those Gangsters.**_

* * *

 _ **Rave made her way through the forest, and found herself going trough the bushes towards a small clearing, just big enough for a one on one fight. It was at the very end of the dungeon, consisting of small platform elevated above a ring of grassland and flora. At the back, she could see the Leader of the Abnormal Monster packs, the Thanator, resting with its back facing her. A slow, sly smirk formed on her lips as her instincts eagerly awaited the feeling of shredding through its flesh to the bone.**_

 ** _The Thanator was a lean and agile cat-like creature, its musculature pronounced and impressive, providing power for protracted runs and leaps. It had an elongated snout with its teeth being shown outside of the lipless mouth. From behind it, came its thin Armored tail. An impact from the tail was strong enough to defend against other Thanators, she knew since she'd seen one fight another Thanator for territory. What a freaking fight that had been. The creature's senses are so highly developed that, depending on atmospheric conditions, it can detect prey up to thirteen kilometers away._**

 ** _Hence why hunting them was a rare treat for her._**

 _ **The Thanator had ten sensory quills that sprout from sections of armour plating that encircle the rear of its skull. The function of the quills is still a mystery, but it has been hypothesized that they may be tied to an internal mechanism of prey location; possibly echolocation or another sensory pinpointing system. The quills also flare up and produce a more menacing appearance. The plates themselves were cartilaginous in nature.**_

 _ **It also had an Armored neck and back, a massive distensible jaw, and twenty-three centimeter long sharp teeth. The Thanator had burnished black skin, with hints of dark purple here and there. Its ten external sensory quills are coloured bright red and yellow. The upper lip folds back for maximum tooth extension. What was more interesting, was that Thanators were approximately 20 feet (6 meters) long. It has six long legs, and two sets of Opercula** **on each side of its neck. When sensing for prey or for threats it can raise its front body and two front legs, standing on its four back limbs as it sniffs the air.**_

 _ **All this knowledge made Raven feel all the more alive, in her eyes anyways.** _

_**This was one of the more exhilarating parts of the hunt for her, the ability to creep up on prey while even the slightest error could prove to be potentially fatal. This was something Raven enjoyed more than castrating men day and night, more than fighting vicious beasts that could and would tear into her without mercy if she let them. To hunt was to become one with nature, to have it mask your scent and hide you from other Predators. To hunt meant analysing everything in your surroundings, utilising every sense at your disposal.**_

 _ **THIS was what she loved about her Quests, her hunts.**_

 _ **Her warrior side would take a backseat for the Huntress within her.**_

 _ **She had always gotten a cold heart, especially after what happened to her Tribe, but the sensations she got from hunting and fighting strong warriors seemingly brought her emotions back to the surface, out of the confines of her icy cold heart. To her, those two things were worth living for, worth fighting and killing for.**_

 _ **She could remember when she was a child, her family consisted of an entire tribe of people who lived in the Lowee Mountains, a Tribe who lived and breathed in the snow, hunting wildlife and monsters for their hides. They didn't rely too much on outside help, they preferred to stick to themselves. She could remember what it felt like when she achieved her first successful hunt, how elated her mother and father were when they heard how their daughter had succeeded in being as strong as the other tribeswomen.**_

 _ **To them, they had to live by the book, and that book said that you have to be strong and wise to be able to survive the climates, as well as the difficult life planned for you by fates. Their lives were involved with hunting, killing, and protecting their borders from any Bandits looking to make a quick raid. They were strong, unified, and had almost a family-like close bond. To Hunt with others was to trust them with your life, trust that they will cover your back while you covered theirs.**_

 _ **Shame that didn't happen... not for a long time, for her.**_

 _ **As she crept closer, making sure to repeatedly check her footing, Raven could feel the tension in the air, her ice cold heart softly and gently beating to reflect the calmness in her being. She could feel her body working overtime to provide the heat she required to keep warm, yet controlled it to the point where she wouldn't be detected by the rest of the Abnormals. On her travels, she had seen that they had been sleeping in a separate area, one far enough away that reinforcing the Thanator would take a slight time frame, yet still close enough to hear any calls of distress. This would be her perfect hunting ground, her time to show what a Hunter could really do...**_

 _ **Finally, she found herself in an ample position to strike at the beast's head. It softly snored, its breath being released from its shout with a calm inhale/exhale system going on with its chest. She could see it steadily rising and falling with the way it was sprawled on its side. Its Quills were flat against the creature's skull, an indication that it hadn't felt her presence yet. Slowly and softly, she drew her Odachi, careful not to draw any attention to her presence here. She'd go for the kill herself, one quick strike to the head and then it would be all over via beheading. She'd then confirm her kill, then return to the Transport for the journey back.**_

 _ **She got ready, reared herself back, before in a blur Raven blasted out of the clearing, a flash of KI shooting through her eyes. A brief millisecond before her Odachi's crimson blade could slice its head off, the creature's eyes shot wide open before it rolled out of her blade's line of attack, rolling onto all fours, or in this case all sixes, before glaring at her. It hissed angrily at the interruption of its nap, Quills rising and flaring in response to its anger.**_

 _ **In response, Raven slowly got into her battle stance, her blade gleaming menacingly in the sun. Her instincts told her that she wouldn't have made that first strike at the last moment. She'd felt something when she was about to strike, something that screamed at her to dodge at the last second. She'd been right to trust her instincts, as when it had dodged her she had almost gotten her abdomen sliced through by its claws. Judging by the irritated glare it was sporting, as well as how it seemed to curl its right claws into the ground, the black haired Spec Ops Agent quickly concluded on what happened.**_

 _ **"You... you were baiting me, weren't you?"**_

 _ **It wasn't uncommon for Abnormals to have varying forms of intelligence, not uncommon at all. By any stretch of the word. However, it was always difficult to tell apart the intelligent ones from the dumb ones, since there were so few signs that indicated as such outside of a battle. However, to Raven's misfortune she seemed to have gotten stuck with one of the smarter ones, to openly bait someone like it had done meant that it had experience in hunting prey as mentally efficient as herself, and had come out on top stronger for it.**_

 _ **Perfect.**_

 _ **A sly smirk spread across her lips from behind her Mask, before Raven charged forwards in a blur. The Thanator hissed as it tried to bite down on her when she was close enough, but she managed to sidestep it at the last moment. She then twisted on her toes and went for a slash down its form, but the beast performed a rather elegant manoeuvre to dodge it: by stabbing its front claws into the ground and spinning its rear around so her blade barely missed its flesh.**_

 _ **It made to pounce on her, but Raven raised her Odachi and blocked its strikes, its claws and fangs wrapping around the crimson blade. The impact plus the collision made her slide back a good 3 metres, but Raven managed to hold firm, her Odachi shaking slightly before she launched a kick to its ribcage, forcing the Thanator to jump backwards to get some distance.**_

 _ **Raven held her Odachi in a combat stance, the crimson blade beginning to glow with the activation of a Skill. "DEMON CLAW!" she yelled, her Odachi now having several energy blades shaped like a Claw. She then dashed towards her prey, flipping into the air and spinning like a sausage to slash downwards towards her prey.**_

 _ **In response, the Thanator, instead of letting her hit it, dodging or blocking, it head-butted her in the stomach, catching Raven off guard as she was sent flying backwards. She righted herself in mid air, landing on the ground and sliding to a halt with her Skill deactivating. 'Tch, that wasn't something I expected...' she thought to herself, getting to her feet until she noticed a maw closing in on her. Quickly she ducked, going on all fours to avoid the lunge that the Thanator had been able to launch towards her. Its massive form flew over head, in which case she scored the first hit aside from that head-butt, by throwing her Odachi into a reverse slash above her. Her blade cut through one of its hind legs, much to its surprise as it howled in pain at the damage.**_

 ** _Pressing her advantage, Raven swiftly got to her feet, twirled around and dashed towards her prey, intent on activating another Skill before it could recover. She decided to go with HYPER SLASH, crimson Energy crackling along the blade, though the colour varies depending on the blade's colour, as she cut a single slice through one side of the enemy, before she twisted on her heels and came back to repeat the process for the other side. For the last strike, Raven then jumped up and came downwards with a vertical slash, creating another slash mark, withal three exploding in unison._**

 ** _The Thanator roared, anger and pain waging war within it thanks to the damage it was dealt. Raven jumped back before it could tear her head off with a claw slash, landing on the ground in a crouch. She stood tall and readied her Odachi, her eyes narrowed like a hawk's behind her Mask. So far, this fight was going in her favour, if she got herself a couple more good strikes, she was sure that the Thanator would be defeated swiftly. Then, she could go back home and forget about having to work with those-_**

 ** _ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!_**

 ** _Her thoughts, composure, and the enemy were shaken out of whack, when a massive, loud, beastly roar suddenly rippled through the area, causing waves of tremors to go through the ground beneath their feet. Raven managed to retain her balance by crouching and stabbing her Odachi into the ground as a makeshift walking stick, but the weakened Thanator however, fell onto its side, stumbling while it tried to get back up._**

 ** _Nevertheless, Raven didn't focus on that. Instead, her thoughts went to the roar just now. 'Wha-What the heck?! What was that?!' She shrieked in her mind, her normal composure thrown off the rails completely by this new development. She took a few hasty breaths, before another thought struck her, one that made her eyes go wide with not shock, but realisation. That was a prospect she feared more though, because she realised only ONE creature could make such a loud roar that it could shake the earth like this. 'Wait, that roar! It couldn't be, could it?! Could one of them migrate to Planeptune from Lowee?!'_**

 ** _No, that shouldn't happen, it shouldn't be possible for_** ** _monsters to switch environments like what she was assuming. Normally, monsters stayed within their own environments unless they were amassing to raid any nearby human settlements. It had been that way for as long as Gamindustri could remember, that was what the general consensus was. However, Raven remembered that the roar belonged to an Abnormal, and Abnormals didn't exactlyu have good behaviour records._**

 ** _'Still, if one of THOSE is here...!' She couldn't help but frown as her cold heart began to crackle, ice beginning to roil around it like an encroachment. 'I am not as equipped to deal with one.'_**

 ** _Turned out though, that her fears were to be proven correct. Could she not be right for once? A part of her couldn't help but think that as something large, fast and orangish yellow burst out of the wilderness, flying overhead and colliding right into the Thanator. Said Abnormal let out a startled cry of surprise as it fell down, engaging in a wrestling match with its new assailant._**

 ** _A fight that it soon lost, due to both fatigue and its injuries, when a maw grabbed onto its neck from above and twisted, causing an audible cracking sound to echo through the air before the beast fell to the ground dead. The victorious monster let out a victorious roar while its wounded, weakened prey dispersed intro particles that were absorbed into it, satisfying the new monster's hunger._**

 ** _Rave quickly got herself on guard though, getting into a ready stance as she eyed the new arrival that dared interrupt her hunt. The beast was large, easily the size of a Van at least, with the length of one as well. It moved on all fours, with the front arms also being considered wings, thanks to the built-in webbing and finger bones tucked in. Its front arms ended in 3 toed paws, while its reverse jointed hind legs ended in long claws. From the base of its spine, was a long tail that ended in a thin, stinger-like tip. It had a elongated neck, with a grey skull shell over its tiger/dinosaur-liker snout. Its beady, golden and slitted eyes narrowed at the other prey as it stepped towards her, like a tiger on the prowl through the wilderness._**

 ** _She knew this beast, it was one from the Lowee Mountains, one of the regular monsters her Tribe was forced to avoid unless in a large enough group to take it out:_**

 ** _A Tigrex._**

 _ **A flying wyvern-type Abnormal that maintained A primitive, predatory behaviour with the characteristics of a tiger and a dinosaur. Prone to violence, it possesses incredible ferocity thanks to its four limbs, claws, and jaw. Inhabits a wide area, it has even been spotted hunting other Abnormals in the mountains.**_

 ** _That was the general consensus when it came to these beasts, but Raven knew more about them than that._** ** _As a quadrupedal wyvern, its wings have evolved into forelegs, which allows it to run at very fast speeds. Though it possesses a pair of adequately-developed wings, it is rarely seen flying in a traditional sense. It is in fact more prone to gliding from location to location. It has a powerful set of lungs which gives it the ability to produce extremely loud, concussive roars which can physically damage nearby objects. Hence why the ground shook when it roared. Unlike many other Abnormals, the Tigrex does not wield any specialised abilities. Rather, it relies on its sheer brute strength to bring down opponents._**

 ** _She knew this because, again, of her Tribe's many recorded encounters with this species. One of them had been said to have devoured her great-great-grandfather at one point in time, and that was when he was still in his prime. Their line always did have the gift of longevity in their blood. While others fell from their prime in their 30's it would be when they were in their 80's to 90's for her bloodline to lose their prime._**

 ** _Nevertheless, all this knowledge did was assure her that this would be a tough fight indeed._**

 ** _Thus, she waited for the beast to make its first move. Once it did, she planned to activate her SAMURAI DRIVE Skill to help empower her enough to get out of the way in time-_**

 ** _BOOM!_**

 ** _Someone else came flying out of the wilderness, from another direction compared to the Tigrex. It shouted in surprise at the intrusion, though the blur that came into the battlefield didn't care as it aimed a flying kick to the side of its head. It then used it as a springboard to jump away from it before the Tigrex could cut it in half with its wings, flipping repeatedly through the air before landing by Raven's side._**

 ** _"Apologies for arriving late, I got distracted with some pest control." A masculine voice came from the new arrival as it stopped to stand by her side, getting into a guarded stance. "I noticed this thing was hunting our prey, likely tracking it from the blood its already shed to get to this point, so I followed it here."_**

 ** _Raven resisted the urge to groan at the thought of a man saving the day, but then something struck her as odd. The voice the masculine blur used felt familiar to her ears, like she had heard it briefly before. She tried to remember when it was that she heard it, but couldn't get a good read on it. It just was so blank, so monotone and robotic that any thought of it being considered a human's voice was considered idiotic._**

 ** _Wait..._**

 ** _Blank,_**

 ** _Monotone,_**

 ** _robotic,_**

 ** _familiar..._**

 ** _Slowly, the dawn shone on her mind as realisation danced across it like an Irish tap dancer. She glanced towards the new arrival to confirm her suspicion, and true enough it was that same Agent from before. The one in the Mask and Armour. What was his name again? Raven didn't remember ever asking about his name, probably because she didn't see him as anyone worth acknowledging back then._**

 ** _Well, she had no choice, now._**

 ** _"Appreciate the assistance." she stated simply, nodding to him. He wordlessly nodded back, as the Tigrex gave a loud roar to get their attention back. It charged at them like a raging bull, moving on all fours and unlike what its size may say, it definitely wasn't slow by any means. The two barely dodged it in time, landing on opposite sides._**

 ** _Afterwards, the two shared a quick glance, and like magic the two understood each other's intentions. There was a saying that eyes were like windows to the soul, the path to finding out what they were thinking._** _ **In fact, the eyes do provide lots of information about another person's emotional state.**_ _ **When people are sad or worried, they furrow their brow, which makes the eyes look smaller. Yet when people are cheerful, people correctly call them "bright eyed." That's because people raise their eyebrows when they're happy, making the eyes look bigger and brighter.**_

 _ **In that moment, both of them saw that they each had one thing in mind:**_

 _ **kill, this fucker.**_

 _ **Thus, with that out of the way, the two Agents dashed towards the Tigrex, which charged back...**_

 _ **(Flashback: END!)**_

Raven brought herself out of that memory of hers as she returned to reality.

"The day we met... its amusing to think of how I was once..."

She remembered that fight with the Tigrex all too well. She remembered how it lasted for practically 4 days straight, for it would flee the scene when they damaged it significantly enough so its wounds could heal. Then there was its speed, agility and monstrous strength to consider. It was a beast that was meant to be a killer, a beast that hunted prey without discrimination. Plus, their teamwork back then wasn't nearly as good as it was right now.

Nico raised a brow, humming thoughtfully as the same memory came to his mind. "Yeah, weren't you about to castrate those Gangsters who'd hit on you every chance they got? They targeted you more so than any other Agent with how callously you disregarded them as worthless bugs." he remarked, frowning in remembrance. Now that he thought about it, those guys were the exact same ones he knocked the fuck out when he saw them harassing IF in the beginning of the story. Huh... small world.

The black haired swordswoman nodded as she scowled, her eyes shining with angry fire behind them, churning just below the surface. "They say that Eyes are windows to the soul..." she muttered under her breath, getting Nico to look at her.

"I guess so..." he admitted, and he knew this was true since there was a lot you could tell about a person by looking at their eyes. However, what people generally don't realise was that if the eye is the window into the soul, the pupil is—quite literally—an opening into the eye. The pupil acts like the aperture on a camera, dilating or contracting to regulate the amount of light coming into the eye.

People all knew that pupils get smaller in the light and bigger in the dark.

This was known as the pupillary light response.

In an article published by a couple Planeptune scientists, they argue that there's a lot more to the pupillary light response than, well, meets the eye. They claim that the size of the pupils tells a lot about the emotions and intentions of their owners.

According to the researchers, the pupillary light response isn't just a mechanical reaction to ambient light. Rather, as one shifts their gaze from one spot to another, our pupils adjust their size in advance to the amount of light one may expect to encounter at the new location.

Consider working at a computer: Most of the time, one's gaze is fixed on the bright screen, so the pupils are contracted. But every now and then, people glance down at the keyboard, when they need to reposition our fingers. The Planeptune Scientists claim that the pupils begin to dilate even before the downward eye movement begins. Because the pupillary light response is relatively slow—about a quarter of a second—anticipating the amount of light at the new location improves vision once our gaze gets there. (All of this, of course, operates below the level of consciousness.)

The pupillary light response is only one reason why the pupils change size. They also dilate when people were aroused. The body has an alarm network called the autonomic nervous system that prepares the body to take action whenever people detect a threat—or an opportunity—in their environment.

Encounter a bear while walking through the woods, and one's autonomic nervous system goes on alert. Their heart and breath rates increase, sweat forms as the muscles tense up, and, among other bodily reactions, the pupils dilate. The autonomic nervous system prepares the body to take action against the threat—perhaps scampering up the nearest tree.

Psychologists in Planeptune, hell even across the four Nations, consider pupil dilation to be an honest cue to sexual or social interest. That's because pupil size isn't under any voluntary control. Let's say one is trying to fake interest as a co-worker recounts every play in his or her weekend golf game. One can force a smile. One might even remember to crinkle the corners of their eyes, to make that smile look real. But their tiny pupils will reveal their lack of interest.

Arousal increases pupil size irrespective of the amount of ambient light present because optimal pupil size involves a trade-off between two factors. The first is visual acuity, or how well one can see the details of whatever they're looking at. In this case, one needs "Goldilocks" pupils—not too bright and not too dark, with just the right amount of light coming in. Thus, the pupillary light response is important for visual acuity.

The second factor is visual sensitivity, or how well one can detect something that's in the environment. If one wants to really see what's out there, they will need to have their eyes—especially the pupils—wide open. This is where the connection between arousal and pupil dilation comes in.

Psychologists consider pupil size in terms of the two functions of vision—exploration and exploitation. When we're exploring our environments, we're on the lookout for threats and opportunities, so we're in a heightened state of arousal. Visual sensitivity is most important in exploration, so our pupils are wide open, taking in as much visual information as possible.

In layman's terms, the eyes are a major part of looking at a person's emotions. That was a dynamic that helped Nico and Raven establish the trust and respect for one another that they had today. They were both killers, they were both Agents who operate upon their own ideals. Sometimes they clashed, but that was part of idealistic natures. They always understood each other through an exchange of blades, and resulted in their current relationship. They were comrades, siblings in arms, warriors. Nico would trust her to watch his back, and vice versa.

"I've always been curious, but when we fought that Tigrex..."

Nico brought himself out of his musings when he heard Raven speak. His eyes cast their gaze into her own, and as he had just been explaining to the readers, he could see that her eyes showed hesitation and slight nervousness. Why was that though? What made her seem so nervous all of a sudden? This wasn't the Raven he knew, the Rave he knew would never let her emotions get the better of her like this. Although, since they were alone, perhaps she feels like she could lower her guard around him a little. He'd noticed that a couple months into their comradeship her behaviour towards him had changed. She'd become lighter, kinder, more respectful and sometimes she even smiled at him.

"What did you think of me when we first exchanged glances?"

Raven finally asked the question after getting the courage to do so. It wasn't what she really wanted to ask though, what she really wanted to ask was to do with what Lucy had done this morning. With the kissing and all, but like an idiot she had chosen something else. Raven never was good with emotions, not since what happened to her, or ever really. She never was a social-type of person. She preferred the cold than to the hot, she preferred to walk in large snow fields other than grassy plains. She liked things that most people found uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, Nico thought about her question, and after a few moments he gave her an honest answer. "I saw someone who was like a powder keg waiting to erupt." Nico finally spoke, making Raven look at him in surprise, not expecting him to answer with THAT of all things. She remembered having a short fuse that day, after having to deal with cat calls, wolf whistles etc, she had been looking forward to getting some rest when the Urgent Quest Alert came to her phone. Yeah, she had NOT been a happy camper. "I thought that you were someone who wasn't to be trifled with, as well as someone who found displeasure in working with incompetent assholes."

Now THIS made a slight upturn of her lips happen, the right corner of her mouth twitching ever so slightly. "Yeah, you hit the nail on the head right there, Nico." she responded in mirth, her eyes shining with it while Nico chuckled as well. The awkward atmosphere from before had all but faded away from the two, leaving two super powered teenagers to talk to each other like they had no problems at all.

While they talked, sometimes chuckling or outright laughing, Raven began to think to herself in the darkest corner of her mind.

Her heart, which was coated in a shell of ultra hard ice, a heart which didn't express much emotion, if at all.

That was the kind of heart she possessed.

Raven was a cold woman, down to the core. She believed in the strong surviving and the weak dying. She could kill without mercy, and in pretty gory ways as well. One such example was one time when a man tried to force himself on her, she did the splits and bashed his balls with an uppercut, nearly crushing them with the amount of force applied. That guy was still in the hospital, last she heard, getting surgery done on his penis.

The woman was not someone who expressed emotion, save for anger, rage, jealousy, hatred and envy.

And yet...

What were these strange feelings swirling within her chest? These warm, uncomfortable feelings fluttering like butterflies in her gut.

These feelings that cropped up only when it concerned one man, the man sitting opposite her whom she was enjoying a normal conversation with, instead of decapitating him or worse.

What were they?

She didn't understand, not one bit.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **By GODS, this is the LONGEST chapter yet! practically 20K words!**

 **To me, Raven is a character whose not so good with her own feelings. No, that character trope has been dealt with a couple times like in teenage school romance anime or action anime like Shakugan No Shana. Thus, I've decided to take a special twist to the trope that I don't think people will expect, though I have hinted at it several times throughout this chapter.**

 **I hope people will like the characterization I've chosen for her, though. She has now gotten more character development, as well as deeper insight to her 'might makes right' personality. Also, the character she was based off of, the mother of Yang in RWBY, also had similar mindsets and powers over Ice as her, but i'm changing her past to something that can suit the Hyperdimension Universe. Also, because the Raven in RWBY hasn't fully shown her backstory, although things have been implied about it.**

 **Probably going to skip the other two for a while longer. Not sure completely yet, but so far these two heroines, Lucy and Raven, have had their characters explored to some depth these last few chapters. Now, we can get to the next part of the mini arc, Nico returning to Leanbox's Capital MICROSOFT and finding out IF has all but vanished.**

 **Then there was Count Mott, who appeared a couple chapters ago. He will have a role to play, minor or not I won't say yet. But you probably won't see this one coming, even though I've hinted at something sinister with him.**


	75. Chapter 72 - Boy Time

**Hey guys, new chapter here!**

 **I decided to go 'fuck it!' and went and combined both Aiden and Ivan's chapters together! In comparison to the girls, their pasts aren't as, well, um... plot-important, I guess, but still relevant. As I wrote many chapters back, none of them are normal humans. This will briefly hint at what these two have to hide. Also, prepare for some funny stuff, hopefully, and enjoy the chapter while I plan the next part of this little mini arc!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 72 - Boy Time**

"You know, this is something we should be doing more often."

"I concur."

Nico, Aiden and Ivan sat together on a log, facing a fire while roasting marshmallows. The two boys were doing this, while Nico was abstaining thanks to his condition. Both boys knew this of course, so they went and did the considerate thing by providing him with a Nose clip for him to use to block the smells from entering said sensory area. It was something they had gotten him when they'd found out his secret during two separate occasions.

After getting to this spot and setting up camp, Nico got informed by Aiden that he and Ivan would head out to hunt some animals for dinner. It was during that time that Raven had called him in to discuss with him what he had found about that Abnormal, the Susanoo. Though, it soon lead to them reminiscing about old times together instead, having a civil conversation with each other which was something Nico honestly missed. He liked having his chatting partner around, she was always good for some good conversation. Though, he probably figured that she had made him an exception from other men and had thus learned to tolerate him better.

That ice cold gaze she had...

The way she seemed so silent, yet graceful like a calm, gentle snowfall...

Yet, with the potential to turn into a snowstorm at the slightest provocation.

Nico had to admit, that Raven indeed had a beauty that very few others.

She had a special nickname that she was known for aside from her title as a Spec Ops Agent. A title that he found quite endearing more than SAMURAI. That nickname: Maiden of Winter. Honestly, he found it quite endearing, wonderful... maybe, even gorgeous.

Right now the three boys, were having some guy time for once. Nico appreciated this time they spent together since he was around girls a lot these days. They were great and all, but Nico would happily admit that he'd like to spend time with members of his own gender every once in a while. Though, considering his distaste for his gender, options for hanging out with them were limited. That was why he was so grateful to have these two at least, they knew his secret and helped him out when they could. Even if they didn't see each other often due to their job occupations, this was something that they would try to do whenever they got the chance.

"I think the last time that we got to do this together, was um… hmmm… oh yes!" The male blinked several times, trying to think of when they had some guy time last. As in, without Raven, Lucy or any source of femininity. After a moment though, he figured it out in a flash of remembrance. "That time with the Los Plagas."

The other boys frowned at that, remembering that particular mission. This happened before the time when Team RAIL was formed, when they were each chosen to help another Agent rescue a businessman's daughter from being held hostage by this religious cult called 'Los Illuminados'. It was located within a desolate village in one of the south eastern regions of Planeptune, and it was one of the murkiest places they had ever been to. Turned out though that the entire cult, along with the villagers there, had been taken over by this special parasitic species of BOW's, called 'Las Plagas'.

These things, while classified as BOW's by the Guild, weren't actually related to Umbrella, Lastation or any of that crap. They were simply a dormant species of Parasites which were discovered by the Los Illuminados Cult, whom then studied them and awoke them from their slumber. Now, they were almost as common as the Abnormals in Planeptune, but they remained solely within their Nation.

Though, there have been rare times when they were seen in separate nations, as well…

"Ah yes, that mission." Ivan remarked, humming thoughtfully. He let a frown escape his lips, his Mask lowered and goggles on his forehead. "They say that Spec Ops see some pretty nasty shit in their lives, but they just don't realise just what kind of shit we actually see." He gave a shudder, memories playing through his mind about that mission. "Those Regenerators really give me the creeps."

Aiden looked over towards his colleague, his right brow raised. Like his colleague, he too had his face completely exposed, his Goggles raised onto his forehead. This was one of their rare peaceful times, so it stood to reason that he could calm down a bit. "Wasn't that the time you tried to hit on the client's daughter the moment we rescued her from them?"

To his credit, Ivan did his best to not look totally shocked when the teen turned his head to look at him so fast Nico thought his neck might snap. "Hey! She was hot, alright?! You know that, don't think I didn't notice you checking her out!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger dramatically at him.

The other boy showed no facial expressions as he responded. "In reality, I was looking at the damage she had sustained. She had moderate injuries from fleeing the Los Plaga, I'll have you remember."

Hearing that snapped Ivan out of it, and it made him pout in annoyance as a result. "Tch, this is why you haven't gotten laid yet…"

"To my memory, neither have you."

"Shhh! Don't say out loud! My manly pride'll take a hit!"

Nico watched this with a sweat drop. Really, these two were meant for each other, and not in a homosexual way. Ivan had more than once readily, and proudly he might add, proclaimed his love for the female body. Even though he himself had never even touched or even kissed a girl before now, surprisingly enough. Yeah, that's right, Ivan had still got his V card, same with Aiden. Though, the former made no effort to hide how sad he was about that. He always did want to have a girlfriend, and some people even assumed that Ivan wasn't that unpopular with the ladies…

But well, they'd be wrong.

Nico proved this when he gave one of his own comments. "But, I'm sure that, if you want a girl that badly, you could check out that one Guild Agent we encountered the following Mission. I think she was eyeing you a bit too intently for a mere acquaintance." He said, a sly smirk slowly spreading.

His attempts succeeded though, much to his satisfaction as Ivan's face lit up into a literal flame. Like, really, his face went up in a poof of smoke that faded away later, revealing an entire red-faced Ivan. "Abababababababababababababa! Abababababababababababababa! Abababababababababababababa! Abababababababababababababa!" He got himself shaking on his spot on the log while his mouth opened and closed without his control. One could say that he was a human vibrator.

If Nico wasn't enough, Aiden just HAD to add in his own teasing. He even had his own lips upturned slightly, the closest thing to a smirk from someone like him. "Then, you met that Maker afterwards and she talked to you, remember? What was her name, wasn't it F-"

Ivan's face soon snapped out of his stupor while he angrily turned to glare at his comrades. His face was so comically red that the other two boys had to strain themselves to stop their laughter from escaping. "HEY! Hey-hey-hey-hey! Stop that, that was embarrassing or me, goddess damnit!" He shouted at them, making their efforts much harder. Now, while Ivan would sometimes whine and moan about how Nico seems to attract attention from the ladies, There have been cases where Ivan or Aiden got some eyes drawn to them. Poor guy got flustered as hell when he got flirted with, similar to Nico in a way, which only made him more desirable in their eyes.

Once the two calmed down, Nico decided to continue their conversation. "Anyways, I heard that after we rescued her, Ashley convinced her father to help support the Spec Ops Program by giving it funding and resources that his company acquired. Those materials had been a huge help in developing some of our newer tech, according to what mom told me." The teen remarked, thoughtfully.

"Really?" Ivan questioned, tilting his head in his direction while they listened to him. "ou can handle that complicated stuff, its not really my cup of tea." Ivan stated, waving a dismissive hand in Nico's direction.

Glancing towards his friend, Aiden sighed at his simple-mindedness. Though, he honestly couldn't disagree with the guy. He and Ivan weren't that close to the Guild's Weapons Development Department, so they didn't know its finer workings like Nico did. Still though, they could appreciate the favour that Ashley had done for them, more support for the Spec Ops Program would be welcomed any day of the week in their eyes.

The less discrimination against it, the better.

"This whole 'Spec Ops Program = heresy' thing in Leanbox gets old real fast, you know?" Ivan whined, leaning back with his hands on the log for support. He looked up at the skies above, and while it was close to mid-day according to their estimates, the other two didn't doubt that Ivan couldn't see the stars. "I mean, look at what it's done for us, its helped us survive a little longer, even helped us push the Abnormals back."

Aiden nodded his head in agreement. "Agreed. Fighting amongst ourselves for religious reasons is pointless, especially when the enemy is constantly on our doorstep." He stated, getting confirming hums from the other two. He too disagreed with the prejudice against t, but it wasn't like they could do anything to change the minds of a majority in Gamindustri's population. After all, humanity may be guided by the CPUs, but they still held the ability to form their own beliefs, their own ideals. That was something that was considered both a positive and negative aspect of their lives. Though, it was something the trio had come to terms with a long time ago.

"Though, I guess its not all bad." Ivan remarked, a hand on his chin as a lighter look seemed to take over the dark one he had when thinking about the… precarious situation the Program was in. There was always a silver lining to every problem, one just had to focus on finding it. Good thing that he did that a lot in Team RAIL, otherwise they'd be thick in depression. "I mean, we're still being backed up by a LOT of powerful people in the governing world, so they must obviously see that the Program has its merits. My guess is, that someday…" he lifted his arm to the air and made a fist, as if he were trying to crush the sky into his grip. "We'll be remembered as people who made a difference. One could say we're the reluctant heroes of this fairy tale."

At the mention of heroes, Nico scowled, his eyes shining with distaste for the notion. "Hell no! We're not HEROES." The male spat vehemently, anger laced within his words like poison as he shook his head wildly. The very notion that people like them, people like HIM, were heroes made Nico want to smash everything into a crater. "If we were the 'heroes' you said we were, then we'd be way more popular than we are now. We'd also be appalled by the shit we have to do on a daily basis. If anything, we're the monsters here, not the creatures we fight. To rise above monsters, we have to abandon our humanity."

Aiden glanced over to him when he spoke that last line. "Quoting that anime with the giant naked men that eat people, huh?" he remarked, before gazing back into the flames. His eyes flashed with remembrance, his face still in its monotone state. "I guess I ca see that… We do have to do some pretty messed up stuff for the sake of protecting our beliefs."

"Heeeeey!" Ivan grinned, although it wasn't a carefree one, and his eyes shined briefly with annoyance. "Quit ruining my hopes and dreams, why don't you?" While Ivan couldn't help but see the truth in their words, it made them no les hurtful to hear. It didn't get any better for them, thinking that way. He figured, or at least he hoped he did, that some positivity might make life seem less bleak than it really was.

Although, when he heard his last words in his retort, Ivan couldn't help but wince as Nico glared at him, the teen realising what a jerk move he had just placed right now. "Oh, uh…"

"Hopes and dreams, huh…?"

'Now he's done it, that idiot…!' the red haired teen thought in annoyance. Shaking his head at Ivan's idiocy, Nico then glanced over to the stoic male of the trio, his eyes flashing with concern thanks to his Armour's Helmet having been open to show his facial expressions. "Say, you alright dude? This trip probably isn't your favourite one, considering…" the teen began, trailing off when he glanced at the other boy's chest area. He remembered the Philosopher's stone incident, and while he wasn't directly part of it, Nico once saw what Aiden was like afterwards.

Normally, the teen was stoic and silent, not much of a social person, somewhat like Nico himself was. However, that mission changed him in a negative manner, all to do with that stone. His normal monotone only gained a cold iciness to it, his stare becoming so sharp that it could cut you to ribbons just by looking at them. These were the signs Nico had noticed that indicated that he was in a bad mood. He'd seen them many times ever since they first met, but that time was one of the worst.

Said teen showed a little more emotion this time, this being shown by how he gave a slightly pointed stare towards the other male. "I am fine. I got over it a long time ago." He stated, his tone retaining its usual monotone but there was a slight cold edge to it this time. It actually made the two have the urge to grimace hard.

"Alright then…"

That was what the DPU said unsurely, his tone clearly indicating how dissatisfied he was about the response. While Nico didn't like the idea of dropping the subject right now, the look in Aiden's eyes showed that he didn't want to talk about the philosopher's stone incident. In all honesty, Nico couldn't blame him, it wasn't something anyone should just go and brag in a bar to impress the ladies or anything like that. If anything, it should never have happened at all, but hey, that's the power of human greed for you.

Also, the teen knew what it was like to not want to talk about the past. Hell, he never liked talking about the past himself, just look at how long Lucy had to hound him before he began opening up to her.

However, while Nico decided to drop the subject, their other male companion had a completely different intent for the subject. "You sure, man? I mean, you don't look so…" Ivan began, but the glare that Aiden had on his face focused solely on him. It forced Ivan to clamp is mouth shut to prevent a frightened squeak from escaping his throat. Normally, Aiden was stoic, calm and composed in every situation. It was rare to see him actually worried, scared or angry. But, if one were to make them angry, they would have to prey someone like Raven or Lucy got to them first, because what Aiden would do to them would be far worse than anything they could come up with.

Period.

"Whoa, okay, okay! We're good, bro! We're good!" Ivan exclaimed, flailing his arms about so fast they were like blurs. Aiden made sure to eep his glare up for a few moments longer, he knew that in some cases Ivan would just say things to make people stop doing something that made him feel uncomfortable or something. He needed to make sure this was NOT one of those times, and that was why he held the glare for that extra set of moments. Eventually, the male recalled his glare and focused back on his marshmallows, getting a sigh of relief from the metallic-wearing teen.

The trio of boys soon lapses into an uncomfortable, awkward silence. It was thick, heavy and intense… with the undertone of 'if anyone says anything, heads will roll'. That was the type of sensation the two boys, Nico and Ivan, had gotten after opening THAT can of worms about Aiden's past. The guy never liked talking about his past very much, and for good reason. Not because it was particularly mind-scarring or anything like that, but there were moments that he would rather forget. Although, that was sometimes impossible, and this was one of those times.

As the trio stared into the flames that the campfire emitted, they listened to the soothing sounds of the embers as crackling sounds echoed from the flame. The sound of the mid-day wind blew though the area as gently as a mother caressing her child, ruffling their hair as the breeze past them. The flames flickered temporarily with the wind, before the breeze vanished, and these happenings stopped.

Mentally, Nico wished for something, anything, that could end this awkwardness he was feeling. He'd probably pull a Compa and give them a massive hug if they did. If that happened at all, though, it wasn't like he was lucky or anything…

 **'** **Nico, come into your Inner World. I need to talk to you. Face to face.'**

'Okay what the heck?! I know my luck is abysmal, but hey! Well, I'm not complaining, anything to get out of this situation…' Nico thought, his eyes widening by a small fraction before they returned to normal. 'But I'm not exactly alone right now, so what about…'

 **'** **I'll take care of that myself. Anyways, this is indeed an urgent matter, it concerns your demonic powers. Come in here, quickly.'**

Although Biko spoke with absolute calmness, Nico almost jumped at the level or urgency that he felt from the tone he used. Whatever it was, must be pretty big if it had his demon persona like this. Time to see what he wanted then. With that, Nico focused and was dragged into his inner world.

* * *

"Alright, good to see you here. Follow me, what I want to talk to you about is locate outside the Library."

Biko said this while floating away from Nico, the two being located within the desert section of his Inner World instead of the Coliseum. That was where he had been appearing normally, when they would do training for his DPU powers. But, the fact that this was not like those times was enough to put him on edge. In addition to that, Biko's aura may not look it, but Nico could tell, that there was something different about it in a way that most often wouldn't realise. It could only come with knowing someone for such a long time, but through it, Nico could sense a growing sense of confusion and unease within Biko's aura.

This confused the male greatly, since as far as he knew, there was little that could unnerve his demon persona other than things related to his condition or life-threatening situations. Now, before anyone were to say that Nico had been in plenty of those before and Biko hadn't shown much interest or emotion about it, Biko had a different sense of 'urgency' than him. In his eyes, those situations weren't that urgent, the ones that he found urgent were the ones against those Demons and that Ghoul, for reasons he'd already known.

Walking through the Desert, Nico noticed something off about the surroundings. Something that he decided to inquire about with his demon persona. "Hey Biko, is it just me, or is the desert gaining different shades of red?" he asked his sole company. The company that wouldn't try to get him six-foot under that is.

The reason he asked that, was because the crimson desert now had growing splotches of red on them, a red of a different shade that was slowly overlapping the previous shade. It almost looked like the two shades were fighting each other, in his eyes. It wasn't something that was natural though, of THAT he was certain.

His demon persona looked back at him for a moment, before turning his head back to where he was floating towards: The Library, which they could see as a vague silhouette in the distance. "It is not just you. These different shades represent the state your demonic power is in, as well as how much that those mines were able to restore it. I was able to make some calculations based off this development and have come to the conclusion, that by the time you return to the Capital, you will once again be able to wield Devil Arms."

Now THAT was something Nico liked to hear. His eyes widened in surprise briefly, before they returned to normal and a small, pleased smile formed on his features. "Awesome. Though I figured you didn't call me here to tell me that alone." His smile turned to a flat line when his seriousness returned. "Something else is bothering you, Biko. You can't hide that fact from me. Is this thing what you wanted to show me at the Library?"

"Indeed. It will be better if I show you, Come, we must not dally."

The Library: one of the many buildings in Nico's inner world that represented pieces of his personality. The Coliseum represented his desire for strength, according to what he remembered the first time coming here, so if he went by that logic, the Library would have something to do with knowledge.

Approaching the Structure, Nico looked upon it in surprise. It had the shape of a tall spire, at least about 30 stories tall with a pointed tip. It was charcoal black, with splotches of red here and there, and was slanted to the side. Like a great wind had blown it onto its side and it was still hanging on its last legs for support. Despite that, the building looked stable, and Adam couldn't see any signs of the building that indicated it would be coming down any time soon.

"I'm guessing that this place represents knowledge of some kind?"

Nico asked that while looking to his demon persona, who hovered beside him. It felt so strange looking up towards him like this, especially since he was supposed to be the one who was on 'top' as he called it. He was the 'King' according to it, but he didn't let it stop him from listening to Biko's advice. The guy was practically his mentor in a way, someone he could confide in when things got tough.

Biko glanced at him, staring into his eyes like his gaze could pierce his soul. "You are close, but your answer is not 100% accurate." He replied, before raising a clawed gauntlet and pointing towards the Library. "This Library does represent knowledge. However, it doesn't represent that in a general sense. What it does represent is YOUR knowledge, or rather, your memories. Everything you have seen, done and heard of is recorded inside that Library for you to look at any time. If you want a comparison, think of this building as a collection of memory banks your brain uses to store information." His eyes narrowed after he said this, and his voice oozed with seriousness with his next sentence. "However, I advise you stay away from it for the time being. Your memories are not completely whole thanks to your partial amnesia, and considering your mental state, going in there may just cause more damage."

Hearing that made a pang of disappointment explode within his gut. Nico had been hoping to use this place to figure out something about his forgotten memories, but if Biko said it was too dangerous for him to do so, then he'd listen to the guy. He'd never led him astray before, so this was hardly the time to start. "Alright. Anyways, what did you want… to… show… me?"

Slowly, Nico trailed off, his eyes widening and his jaw becoming unhinged from his face. There was something floating at the entrance to the Library, which looked like a wicked pair of double doors which had skeletons coming out of them, clothed in head bandages that covered one of their eyes. It was like they were the gates to hell itself and were opening to let him walk inside. Nico shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts, knowing that the REAL subject of attention should be focused on, not the Library.

'What… is this… thing…?'

That was his sole thought as he gazed upon th… thing, floating before the library's entrance. It looked like some sort of egg, now that he looked closely. However, Nico hadn't heard of any eggs that looked like they were pulsating hearts before. Oh yeah, that was what it looked like. The egg had the usual shape, but it had a crimson colour about it, with a black sinewy like exoskeleton around it, shaped almost like a hand tat was holding it from the base up. It also was pulsating as it floated within the close proximity to the Library's entrance. Not something one would expect to see everyday, seriously. Nico could only stare at the egg dubiously, before glancing over to his demon persona with eyes that basically said 'explain, with no bullshit'.

"It started after your transformation into Berserker Mode." With his usual no bullshit mannerisms, Biko promptly responded as he glanced to the egg. "I found it while I was recovering from the experience myself. I tried to see what it was, however I was unable to. Either it is blocking me, which is unlikely, or there is simply nothing there yet. My opinion is on the latter, as I have been sensing energy gathering within the creature this entire time."

The other male raised a brow at this information. "You didn't tell me this beforehand?"

In response, Biko shook his head. "I wanted to know what it was that we were dealing with, so I refrained from informing you. However, I have ascertained enough information to know enough to satisfy your curiosity, at least for the time being. In relations to this thing, whatever it is, we must keep an eye on it, because it is draining our energy faster than I would prefer. With the recent incident with Berserker mode, it would be wise to not take any chances."

On that, Nico could agree. While time passed since then, as it did he had already began remembering bits and pieces of what he had done in that mode. The most he could recall as the look of pure terror on that ghoul's face as his form overwhelmed and killed him in a brutal manner. But even so, that form… it resonated with him, it felt familiar to him, at least in the way he behaved.

It reminded him of something in the past… something Nico had almost forgotten.

"Hey, Biko…"

"Hm?"

"When I was in Berserker Mode, did my personality seem… off, to you? I mean, since you're me, you must know what I was once like, right?"

Biko hummed in thought as he pondered the boy's words. His eyes narrowed after a few minutes when he figured out where Nico was coming from. But how could he say this? If what he thought was correct, then this would be a very delicate situation for the boy. Something he wasn't sure Nico's mind could handle right now. Nevertheless, he decided to give his own opinion on the matter.

"I… am uncertain. It could have something to do with its primitive nature, But I am not fully confident that your previous self has anything to do with it. It would be wise not to ponder it too much, Nico…" Biko stated, noticing the look in Nico's eyes. He knew that look, the look of inner conflict raging within. That was the look that Nico was sporting right now, and he would never say that he liked it. Especially since he knew just WHY it was that Nico was feeling this way. "Do not ponder on what he said to you. It may lead to disastrous results…"

Nico paused, his troubled expression never fading as he regarded his demon persona. The conflict, born from what IT had told him when he was going Berserker playing constantly in his mind. And he didn't mean just then, it had always been thee, nagging at the back of his mind like an annoying brat that just wouldn't leave you alone. Was it right by what it said? Had he really gotten soft since meeting the girls?

Did they… really make him weaker?

Shaking his head, Nico decided to stop thinking about it for the time being. It wouldn't do to ponder on this while on an assignment, he rationalised, though even Nico could till that was just a way to stall for time. He'd always be thinking about it, even when he wasn't. He could almost hear that damned maniacal laughter of his as he exited his Inner World.

* * *

Coming out of there and back into reality didn't feel nearly as bad as it did before. In fact, Nico felt like throwing up when he returned. What the heck? Fortunately, the feeling passed, but he didn't like the feeling being there at all. Maybe that egg thing had something to do with it?

'Oh goddess…. Don't tell me that's what being pregnant is like for women…!'

A sudden, horrid thought entered his mind, and no matter how much he tried it wouldn't go away. His face became as pale as a ghost, while a cold chill went down his spine. If that was really the case, then his respect towards women just skyrocketed.

Fortunately, before he could descend into a full blown panic attack over the horrors of pregnancy, Nico noticed something that took away his fears for the time being: Ivan flinching. The teen did his hardest to suppress it, but he could tell by the way his face looked like it was trying to appear constipated, but failed miserably. "Dude, you alright?" Nico once again questioned, before his eyes wandered down to his Bionic arm. "Does it…?"

"Not much, but its honestly getting cranky lately." Ivan replied, grimacing as he held his Bionic arm by the shoulder, rolling it backwards as if trying to get it into the correct position after it got dislocated.

Only, this was much worse than that.

Both Nico and Aiden shared an equally worried glance towards one another when they watched Ivan summon a syringe filled with white liquid, a painkiller actually, and inject it into a spot in his Bionic right arm. The boy hissed for a brief moment, looking as if something was crushing his arm in a tight grip by how he held it. After a few seconds though, his form relaxed and a soft exhale escaped its lips.

"Yeah…" Ivan began when he noticed their looks. He chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "You see, this thing's been getting more and more cranky with the demonic shit that we've dealt with recently. That stuff really agitates it in a way that hasn't happened since…" his eyes fell downcast as he glanced towards the ground at his feet. "Since the first time we met."

Nico winced, knowing exactly what the teen was implying. That arm had been a replacement for his original one, which got practically destroyed up to the shoulder when a monster attack caused his home to collapse on him, rubble burying his arm beneath it. When he was found and rescued by yours truly, he had to immediately rush him to the Guild, which was closer to him and the Hospital was booked full of patients, where they had to install this Bionic Arm to save his life. As well as Cybernetics to help him control the arm like a normal limb. Over the years he's had it though, Ivan's arm had gone though many 'upgrades' to make it more powerful, to the point where it was the primary weapon he used today.

Only, it came at a cost, a cost that was all too apparent when the boy first had his arm installed.

"Say..." Aiden began, getting their attention. "While we are here, I must inform of something me and CYBORG here found out a while back." Nico raised a brow, wondering what the other male was talking about while Ivan's eyebrows rose, realization flashing through his eyes. "While I was browsing through YouTube for anything interesting, like music, anime and manga..." Aiden brought out his Phone, activating the device and going onto his YouTube homepage. Aiden didn't look like it, but he had a good sense for music. He liked listening to songs that had beats to them, some of which being songs made by a YouTuber called Beth Crowley. Two of which were 'warrior' and 'Monster', both of which were honestly great cover songs.

Finally, the teen found what he was looking for... and when he showed it to Nico, his face lost all color, his eyes becoming pure white circles while his jaw fell open. "What... What the fuck?!" He shouted in shock, alarm and rage. However, in contrast, Aiden was blank-faced while Ivan was doing his best to conceal his snickers.

"It looks like someone recorded you singing while at a karaoke machine, posting it onto YouTube."

"Are you SHITTING me?! Are you really SHITTING me right now?!" Nico yelled, mimicking a certain YouTuber who played Mario Kart 8 and deluxe with his friends. Started with a D, his username, he couldn't remember. While he looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel, his entire face being beet red out of both shame and embarrassment just looked too adorable for them to think anything else. His head was literally steaming while his white eyes shook at the sight of the video of him singing with both Neptune and Compa as well as his solo song. His eyes briefly glanced at the view count, and that caused him even more shock.

800K views.

There were also quite a few comments, over 2000 of them. Some of the top comments were as follows:

 **LadyGH - Awwww, whose this handsome devil?! I wanna hear him sing some more!**

 **LastationisthebestHD - Well, since this was shot in Lastation, I bet their shares will go through the roof! #Ojou-sama laugh#**

 **WHITE-H of Lowee -... This guy's not bad.**

 **NEP-OF-NEPPERS - Awwwwwwwww, Nicky's so cute when he sings! I wana just take him to my room and #CENSORED#**

 **SHYNURSE56 - Its a little embarrassing... but I like it!**

 **COMMENTATOR23 - This guy's voice makes me wet! I wanna have him!**

 **CERBERUS 255 - ME TOO! LOL**

'What the hell?! Who was it that posted this onto YouTube?! And why the hell did mom not delete it when she saw it?!'

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Guild's Weapons Development Department in Planeptune, Helen snickered to herself in her office. She lazily kicked the air between her feet and desk while watching the very same video of her adoptive son singing with a bunch of girls. She hummed to the songs they sung, loving the melodies that Nico had chosen, especially the emotionally heavy song Unravel.

"I bet Nicky-Nick's having a jolly time right now... surrounded by so many cute girls... I bet his walls are slowly tumbling down, then he'll get laid, and i'll finally have grandkids...!" She remarked thoughtfully, mirth laced in her tone as she gave a perverse giggle. She honestly sounded like a dirty old man when she giggled like that. "Now, I wonder how he'd react to knowing this? Well, he'd probably want it deleted, not liking attention and all... but if I know my Nicky-Nick, this'll help break him out of his shell! So I'll leave it as is! He looks like he's got some fans already, some of whom are in high positions of power if their usernames are any indication, hehehehe."

* * *

"Grrr! Goddamnit, that woman! She always tries things like this! Is she TRYING to ruin my image, my dignity?!"

"I see the problem, people will realize your identity a lot easier now that your face has been spread across the internet."

"Ugh, don't remind me!"

"They'll also try to monopolize the talent that only Raven and Lucy wanted to themselves. I sense a cat fight in the future."

"Urk!"

Isaac and Guts stood nearby, watching over the three boys as they conversed, while also having a conversation of their own."Looks like they're having fun..." Isaac remarked, sweat dropping while he chuckled in amusement at the sight of the normally calm DEATHSTROKE freaking out like a highschool girl whose secret crush learned of her feelings. "So, what do you think of them so far, Guts? People you'd say you could get along with?" Isaac asked his colleague, who was looking towards the boys with a focused gaze.

"… All of them smell like they've encountered demons."

That was his blunt response, showing nothing that could indicate what he was thinking inside that head of his.

Though he kind of expected this, Isaac still couldn't help but frown. Neither wore headwear right now, so their expressions were fully shown. "Coma on, man." He urged, putting a hands on Guts' shoulder. His colleague however, stopped him with a fierce glare, one that could put bulls on a blood rage into submission. It succeeded in making Isaac retract his hand though, with a slight skip in his step. "Whoa, geez!" he exclaimed, before exhaling and calming down. "Sorry about that, forgot you don't like being touched. Anyways, you know that someday I won't be around to keep you from getting yourself killed out there, so its good to have at least some people you can trust."

This was a problem that Guts had, a problem Isaac had been trying to correct for a while now. The fact that the man was a loner wasn't an issue to Isaac. Not one bit, actually. It was the fact that he refused to work with any other Agent beside him. It honestly worried the man, as there could come a time where he would be defeated or killed in action while out in the field. Then, Guts would have nobody to trust, and that was NOT something he wanted to happen to his friend.

Not to mention his beautiful wife would be devastated if and when he got axed…

The larger man glared at him for a brief moment, before he finally calmed himself down when he saw no more moves to touch him were being made. He never liked being touched, nearly once bisected a young woman who tried to ask him for directions to a Police station when she tried tapping him on the shoulder. He had been diagnosed with haphephobia, a fear of being touched due to an incident way back when. He had thought he'd gotten over it at this point, since it had been years since it happened, but nope, it never left him. Probably never will.

Nevertheless, there were somethings that he wanted to say about these particular Spec Ops Agents. Guts raised a hand and subtly gestured towards Ivan, who was now chatting with the other two about lighter topics according to his lack of tensity that he ad before. "That one…"

"That kid? I recall him being CYBORG."

"His arm… is not his own."

"Yeah, I noticed." Isaac commented with a wince as he glanced down at Guts' right hand and forearm. If one were to look, they would see wrinkles over the skin, wrinkles like tissue paper would make when it was crumpled up, contrasting the rest of his skin. "Think its like yours?"

Guts shook his head. "No… his is different. I feel Killing Intent from it whenever I'm near him." he told the man simply, to which the Engineer's brows furrowed in confusion over the claim.

"That's… weird. Anyways, anyone else?"

In response to his question, Guts looked them over, and pointed towards Aiden in a similar manner to before. "Him… he looks like he's seen something scarring…" he stated slowly, his eyes focused on Aiden's body movements. To him, it looked like he was trying to hide something, something big, yet sinister. He got that feeling from all of Team RAIL, though not always the sinister part, but every one of them had a story to tell. It just was a matter of if they wanted to tell them or not, and something told him it would be the latter.

On that, Isaac could agree. His eyes flashed with anger and sadness at the same time, something that only Guts noticed, and he soon got an idea of what was affecting his comrade. "You don't think they should do this, do you?"

"Of course not." The Engineer replied, scowling as he crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes flashed once again, anger and pain briefly being visible from them as he continued. "I mean, just look at them. They're barely in their late teens, and already they've seen probably more action than any person in the military has their entire lifetime. They shouldn't have to be on this battlefield, they should be with their friends, with their families, enjoying life instead of wasting it away like this."

Guts said nothing in response to the man's rant, partially because he wanted to wait till he was finished and partially because he disagreed with him. When Isaac finished his rant, the man had been reduced to a heavy breather. While his comrade regained his bearings, Guts turned away from him, before saying his piece. "… You know that we come from different backgrounds, so I cannot say I agree with you there. This is just proof that the world is truly cold, harsh, and dangerous. Those who are weak get trampled on, and the strong survive. That's the way our world works nowadays. Ever since the Console Wars began, no, ever since the dawn of time, that has always been the way this world works. Child Soldiers? Just another path of life in this corrupt world of ours."

At this point, Isaac managed to calm down enough to listen to Guts' words. His breathing slowed to a steady rhythm while his heart rate slowed to a casual beating. His eyes wandered over to the larger man, whose eyes showed barely any emotion, instead being cold and unflinching, as he eyed the three boys. If this were any other person the Isaac would have flown into a rage and beaten them into a pulp, considering them nothing more than scum in his eyes from thereon.

However, Isaac knew Guts. He knew him to the point where he could understand the way he thought, why he thought the way he did, as well as his opinions on everything. Honestly, he felt kind of stupid complaining about this stuff to him, considering how he, like Raven, believed that strength was needed for people to survive. His backstory wasn't for the faint of heart, THAT was a certainty. Isaac would happily admit that, when asked about how he felt about Guts' past, to nearly throwing up in disgust and wanting to murder every fucker that had done the guy wrong. Though, he didn't let that cloud his judgement, Guts was a strong warrior. His experiences shaped him into the black swordsman that he was today. That was something he couldn't deny, and if he showed weakness, Guts would scold him for it.

In the end, that was just the way the world worked.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whew, that's all she wrote, folks!**

 **Originally, I had planned for Nico to learn about his singing being put on YouTube as a Special Event, but I think that with the stuff that's been going on here, it would be fitting to put it in here. Plus, it could be used as a gag for him in future arcs, like Neptune's 'Nepu!' or how Compa's a bit of a ditz.**

 **Tell me what you think in the reviews, PM's, whatever while I go plan the next part! If you guys have read the previous arcs so far, then you know how good I can make intense scenes get! Hohohoho, you'll be in for a freaking TREAT!**


	76. Chapter 73 - Coming back

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I was busy with my stuff.**

 **Anyways, I'm going back to college now, half-term holiday's over. (#sob#)**

 **Hopefully I'll be able to write still, meh, I bet I can. I mean, my upload rate hasn't been too bad those last few weeks. Here's the last of the Team RAIL stuff you'll be seeing for a while. Next chapter, we'll FINALLY be getting to the next part of this mini arc.**

 **Also, I got a PM asking me about Timeskips. To be honest, I'd prefer to not have to use them very often, as sometimes they can be just plain boring and lazy. I could have just used one for this chapter and gone straight into the next part, but no, as you have seen from my chapters I do my best to not be lazy. True there have been some time skips here and there, but they haven't impacted my writing too badly I believe.**

 **Now then, lets get on with this, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter 73 - Coming back**

Finally, the gates to MICROSOFT were in sight.

That was the group of Spec Ops Agents' consensus thought as they neared their destination. They had been travelling non-stop since that second camping point, having managed to get past several nests of Abnormals, nearly gotten ambushed more times than they could count, combined with the things they learned on this Mission. It was one mission they would NOT be forgetting anytime soon.

There was the fact that this wasn't over to consider, as well. The revelations about the Momus cult, how they were dabbling in satanic rituals to summon those demonic beings from the underworld was something that was out of ones' nightmares. Not only that, but they went as far as empowering themselves to the point of mutation with the price of decreased intelligence, something pretty alarming to think about. It was like the forces of darkness were gaining a foothold in this world once more, and this time it was not something that the divine, the CPUs, would find easy to defeat.

Meanwhile, as they walked up to the gates, their strides strong and confident, their eyes firm, Nico glanced briefly towards where Lucy was. The redhead walked normally alongside them, her head held high and her posture a picturesque example of a Spec Ops Agent. However, Nico saw that it was more forced than normal, there was something bothering her deeply, and he had a suspicion as to what it was. It wasn't just the satanic cult that bothered her, but something else… something they had discovered along the way back to MICROSOFT.

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"_** ** _Hey um, guys?"_**

 ** _Ivan called the other Agents to attention, getting looks from them while they were tree branch hopping through the forests towards MICROSOFT. They had just left the second camping point, and would likely return home by dark. That is, if Iva hadn't called them onto something else of interest._**

 ** _Raven narrowed her eyes at the male, who shuffled nervously under her gaze as they all landed on separate tree branches. Though, Guts fell to the ground since there were no branches strong enough to take his weight while Isaac decided to drop down to keep him company. She stood tall and regarded her subordinate, irritation laced in her eyes since she wanted to get back to the Capital as soon as possible. "What is it, CYBORG?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _My arm's been acting weirdly. It seems to be drawn to something to our east. It's been bugging me like crazy for a while now, sensors indicate that its some unknown energy disturbance. Its coming from, like I said, the east and is about 2 hours away if we go at normal speed. Time's cut in half if we go full sprint." Ivan reported, gesturing to his Bionic arm. What many people don't realise about that arm was that it had its own built in sensors, which are as accurate as the ones in Nico's Bracers. Thanks to it being connected to his brain through cybernetics, Ivan would be alerted to anything that would count as a source of distress detected by the arm._**

 ** _It saved his skin more times than he'd like to count… especially with the problems he used to have with it._**

 ** _Raven pondered this information while Lucy gave her a knowing look. 'This energy… now that I am looking for it, I can indeed sense a powerful energy source nearby. Its definitely divine in nature, that much is certain. Its no wonder that CYBORG's arm cannot identify it as divine energy isn't registered in its memory banks. However, I cannot detect its source, it's like the source is…'_**

 ** _Lucy eyed her superior knowingly, she already knew wat Raven would be doing with this information. She too could sense the divine energy nearby, now that she was paying attention. But unlike Raven, she had a better idea of what it might be. She just hoped that she was wrong and that it was simply some form of divine weapon they could seal away or take to an isolated location. 'Maybe we could even encounter one of our own kind again…' she thought to herself, hopefully._**

 ** _Meanwhile, Nico hummed in thought as he sensed the energy as well. Thanks to him being a being of demonic energy in origin, Nico could sense divine energy just as well as the others. Though, he wanted to know what could be a cause for something like this, and if it could be considered as a danger to them at this time. Divine energy could be just as dangerous as their wielders if wielded with malicious intent after all. 'Even deities can have short tempers…' the teen thought to himself when he looked to Lucy and Raven._**

 ** _Said girls seemed to have a silent conversation just with their eyes alone. This 'conversation' seemed to last almost for an eternity when it really lasted only 10 minutes, before they ended up coming to an unspoken agreement. "Alright, we'll check out this source of divine energy, then make our way back to MICROSOFT." Raven declared, getting nods of acceptance from the other Spec Ops._**

 ** _With that, they all bounded off towards the source of the energy, their forms nothing but blurs of speed._**

 ** _They indeed took an hour to get to the area where Ivan had reported the strange disturbance. Though, only Raven, Lucy and Nico could ascertain its true nature. Those that couldn't sense its true nature wondered what the heck it could be, while Guts had this mildly irritated look on his face which was softened by the look of understanding that Isaac gave him. He knew well how Guts felt about unknown energies, given his experience with it._**

 ** _Something no man should ever have to witness._**

 ** _They soon came to what looked like a clearing… or at least, what was left of it._**

 ** _"_** ** _Holy shit…" Ivan stated eyes wide behind his Goggles as he looked upon the sight. If he hadn't got his Goggles on, he'd be sure to feel his eyes bulging free from his sockets. His mouth had been hidden behind his Mask, but if it were free it would have dropped open. "You're all seeing this, right? I'm not the only one here, right?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _It's not just you…"_**

 ** _Nico was the one who answered as the group all looked upon the sight of a violent ruining of a clearing. The entire clearing had been replaced with a massive crater, one that had cracks spreading along its edges. Some trees could be seen having fallen into the crater while roots, grass and other forms of nature were growing throughout. One could even see a small river flowing down into the crater, turning it from a place of pure devastation into a mix of such and a tropical paradise._**

 ** _Raven, Lucy and Nico's eyes focused on the centre of the crater though while everyone else had been taken aback, even Guts, by the display of beauty. In the centre of the crater, they could see a faint aura rising into the atmosphere, faint flickers of it pulsating through the air as well as the nature._**

 ** _"_** ** _This is…"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Yeah…"_**

 ** _Both Lucy and Raven glanced towards one another, nodding in unison. Both of them had stern, grave looks on their faces as they hopped off the ledge to begin sliding down the crater. They could tell EXACTLY what this energy was, both of them had experiences with it in their pasts. The past that should not be mentioned to anyone unless they are truly trustworthy. There was a reason why they didn't trust many people, well, more than one reason anyways. This energy, they could tell had already ensnared the others in its allure, blinding them and trapping them in an illusion of beauty and elegance. Only they were not affected by it, due to them being… what they were._**

 ** _However, both looked surprised when they sensed someone else following them, and looked to see Nico beside them, sliding like he was a surfer riding a tidal wave. "Yo ladies, any idea on what's happening with the others?" he questioned, glancing behind him to the rest of their team, whom were standing back at the crater's ledge, frozen in a transfixed state._**

 ** _"_** ** _They've already been ensnared by the divine energy whatever that is," Raven began, gesturing to the aura emitting at the centre of the Crater. "is emitting. It's a defence mechanism, I've seen it applied several times. You know how CPUs have a repelling aura that keeps Monsters away from wherever they've been? Its like that, only this thing seems to recognise us as hostile entities."_**

 ** _Nico hummed in thought at this, while Lucy looked him up and down after getting over her shock that he was still here. "Speaking of which, do you think its your DPU powers that are helping you resist the energy here? Normal people can't resist it, so it has to be the case." She questioned him, getting another nod from the male._**

 ** _"_** ** _It seems that way. I felt something wash over me briefly, but then my energy reserves reacted. Next thing I know, you girls are moving while everyone else looks like they're hypnotised." Truly, a DPU was not something any normal spell could handle if that was indeed the case. It also helped that Biko had been keeping an eye on his mental state, and when he sensed the spell trying to take hold over him, dispelled it with a burst of demonic energy._**

 ** _The trio slid down to the bottom of the crater, before beginning to walk over to where the source of the energy originated. Now that they got a closer look, it seemed to almost take the shape of a cocoon, with several long, black vines cupping the base of the cocoon which glowed in a brilliant white coloured light. There was a sense of majestic intensity in the air, produced just by looking at the cocoon-shaped object, like they were in the presence of the four Goddesses of Gamindustri in the same room. At least, if they were devoted followers of those Goddesses, to Agents like them it just felt oddly warm and comforting._**

 ** _As they got closer though, that soon changed when the cocoon began to shine brightly. "Huh? What the…?" Nico began as he took a step back. For some reason, he got the feeling that he was being growled at, and it wasn't just him either. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he felt a presence wash over him like he was being doused with a bucket of water._**

 ** _"_** ** _Get back, its trying to erase us!" Lucy yelled as she covered herself with her powers. A bright greenish aura condensed around her, filling the area with the fresh smell of springtime. She felt the light try to breach past her aura to reach her, to burn her to a crisp in its embrace, but couldn't get through. Didn't stop it from trying though, in fact it just made the light try even harder to break through. She gritted her teeth and tried to pump more energy into her aura when she felt it beginning to fold, but only succeeded in slowing the process down. 'Tch, looks like things are getting too intense…' she thought while glancing over to Nico and Raven respectively._**

 ** _Both of them were resisting the light in their own ways. The latter of the two had erected an icy cold aura around her like a protective hand of cold wrapped around her form to prevent the light from touching her body. It was accompanied by a mini vortex of snow and sleet, which proved much more effective than her aura in blocking the light from reaching her. These combined elements filled the air around her with a sense of winter, the fresh smell of pure snow cascading down from the heavens to blanket the world, purifying it of its sins. Honestly, she found it ironic that someone as cold as her had the least amount of trouble blocking warmth from entering her body._**

 ** _As for Nico…_**

 ** _Worry exploded within her chest as she saw him putting up a barrier to protect him from the light. However, it looked like it was incredibly straining for him, his face was twisting into a horrid grimace, sweat rolling down his brow as his energy flared drastically. It grew increasingly volatile, thin streaks of it zapping their surroundings reminiscent of lightning strikes. That wasn't including the gash marks, some drawing streaks of blood, that began to appear over his body._**

 ** _She remembered once hearing from Raven that Nico was unable to use his DPU powers for some reason, and that if he did use them he would suffer for it. That must be what was happening to him right now, but it was one thing to hear of it. It was a whole different story to see it in person._**

 ** _This couldn't go on!_**

 ** _She had to stop this!_**

 ** _"_** ** _Raven! You got any bright ideas?!" Lucy yelled to her leader while looking at her. Raven glanced in her direction, before switching to the struggling Nico when Lucy angled her head towards him. She quickly realised the danger that their companion was in when she saw his state, and frowned to herself. An idea appeared in her mind, but she didn't like it. For some reason, the very thought of this idea made something in her frozen heart feel very uncomfortable. It was something that felt like a fiery hotness inside her chest, not something she liked. The warmth she would usually feel when it concerned Nico was NOTHING like this._**

 ** _Nevertheless, if it was to help the sole person that made her heart act this way, then…_**

 ** _"_** ** _VERONICA, step close to him and extend your aura around him! Help keep his energy stable!" Raven ordered as she began stepping towards the cocoon. The Light seemed to sense this, like it was a living being, and it directed more energy towards her position, but her defences were able to hold. Lucy wasted no time in doing this, stepping several times so she was within a closer proximity to the struggling DPU before focusing on her power. Her aura soon began to expand, covering the two of them in its embrace like a mother protecting their child from the elements._**

 ** _Now that he didn't have to maintain his energy as much, Nico heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he slouched, feeling IT begin to repair his damaged body. 'Ugh, damnit, I was so caught off guard I made a reckless decision…' he scolded himself, gritting his teeth as he struggled to remain on his two feet. Biko had warned him after the Berserker incident that his energy was too unstable to use, but when that light hit him he had reacted on instinct, pulling out as much energy as he could into a barrier to protect himself. Despite recovering significantly from that time, the 'shock' that he had put on his reserves had 'jolted' the energy within him, causing tremendous internal damage that IT had to repair to keep IT and him alive._**

 ** _"_** ** _While I love that you're alright Nicky-Dear, it would be nice if you could help me out with this."_**

 ** _"_** ** _O-Oh, sorry!"_**

 ** _While Nico quickly began hauling ass back with Lucy, Raven continued to stride forward, sensing the light's energy getting stronger and stronger through every step. She could feel it hammering away at her defences. But to here they were like ants colliding with a brick wall. Not even worth noticing. At this point, she could sense fear and desperation in the strikes, like the light was afraid that she would end up destroying it if she got any closer. Now normally, Raven would have done something like that in the past. She would be certainly capable of doing it, and this light had bewitched her subordinates. There was nothing stopping her from doing it, nothing that it could do would protect it from her wrath._**

 ** _But, instead Raven decided on a different approach._**

 ** _She didn't know why she did it, and if one asked her she probably not give them an answer she didn't have. But, seeing how desperate the light was being, fighting on till the bitter end even knowing that it would be useless. The might of standing tall in front of their adversaries even while being scared to the bone. That, in Raven's eyes, was a commendable trait. A trait few possessed these days, making the thought of destroying such a powerful will particularly vexing._**

 ** _It reminded her of the comradery that her family, her tribe, held with each other long ago. True, the strong survive and the weak die, however Raven despised disloyalty and cowardice more than anything else. Loyalty got people far in the field of battle, strength in numbers and all that. God comrades were hard to find these days, Raven was just lucky to have hers found after so many years of fighting alone._**

 ** _"_** ** _Calm yourself, youngling... we mean you no harm." Raven spoke, her breath barely above a whisper, like a faint and cold breeze yet more powerful than anything that could be said out loud. It echoed through the entire area, and had this presence about it that practically made EVERYTHING stop and listen to it. It was a voice filled with serenity, yet also filled with power and stature beyond anything a mortal man might dream of._**

 ** _Her little sentence did the trick since, as if calming from a blood rage, the light stopped attacking them. The light receded into the cocoon, whose presence seemed to be filled with confusion and curiosity as they got the feeling they were being looked over. Each of the three lowered their energies, Nico grimacing and exhaling as his own receded thanks to its lack of stability._**

 ** _Then, all three felt the presence within wash over them, briefly touching their minds with its essence, though nothing really changed for them. The presence seemed to be… judging them, like it was looking for something within them, starting with Raven first then ending with Nico. It took a 'special' interest in Nico though, as the presence seemed to connect itself more to Nico than the two girls._**

 ** _'_** ** _Uhhhh… what's going on, Biko? I feel like I'm being prodded with a stick or something…'_**

 ** _'_** ** _I am unsure as of this moment, Nico. However, I do not detect any hostile intent. Instead, it feels more like a child trying to figure out some puzzle...'_**

 ** _With the knowledge that even Biko was clueless, which barely happened at all given his past track record, Nico didn't know what to expect when the presence seemed especially interested in him. Nico honestly felt kind of lost when it checked him out, and that was a bad way of phrasing it, and he didn't like the feeling one bit. He would rather like to know what the heck it was doing with him, and why the hell he was so calm about it. At least, it didn't seem like it was trying to hurt him like before. Now that he thought about it, Nico found its actions before too be like those of a scared child. It struck them out of a self-preservation instinct, something Nico recognised from his past adventures. So, what was it doing here? What was its purpose?_**

 ** _A faint image appeared in his mind, and while he couldn't confirm it completely, the image felt very familiar to him. Like he knew what the image was, but because of how obscure it was, Nico couldn't get a complete confirmation. The image passed though, and the presence seemed to be thriving with… joy? Happiness and relief? What the heck?_**

 ** _"_** ** _Did you guys just…?"_**

 ** _"_** ** _Yeah, we saw it too…"_**

 ** _Nico looked to the others, and they saw what Nico had seen in their minds. There seemed to be some form of interest in the male, and that image was something that was a major clue, both Raven and Lucy assumed. Though, neither of them felt too particularly happy about it though, it was like their feminine instincts (although Raven had no clue what those were) were telling them that someone was trying to make a move on him, and they didn't like that notion one bit._**

 ** _In the next moment, the cocoon began to tremble, in what none of them could tell since the presence had retracted itself deep within. In no time, though, the cocoon disappeared in a flash of light, forcing them to cover their eyes._**

 ** _"_** ** _Ugh, so bright!"_**

 ** _Nico was the one who yelled that out as he felt the presence approaching him. He didn't know what it was, but he mentally prepared to deploy his Plasma Claws in case things got serious. However, nothing happened that indicated an attack, so when the light died down and the trio were able to uncover their eyes, they saw that the cocoon was gone. In its place, was something else entirely._**

 ** _Something Lucy recognised though, if how her eyes shrunk to the size of pupils, shaking wildly while her mouth was frozen in the 'jaw drop' position were any indication. 'Th-That's…! It can't be…!'_**

 ** _In the place of the Cocoon, there was this strange crystal, floating in the air and bobbing up and down. It was an orb-shaped gem, with an ethereal aura of pure power wrapped around it like some sort of cloak. Its core seemed to glow brighter than the rest of it, as it slowly floated over to Nico's position like it was drawn to him._**

 ** _The said teen stepped back with caution, his lone eye wide while shaking. He made sure to keep a tight lid on his apprehension, but it could still be seen in his eye. "Uhh… what exactly is going on?" The male wondered, but nobody answered him. Instead, the Crystal seemed to pulse when it was close enough to him, before touching his chest. The moment it did, Nico gasped when it somehow dispersed into particles, every one of them floating inside his Bracer. His right Bracer lit up seconds later, and showed a '?' over the screen, which meant an unknown item had been added to his Void Storage. An item that it failed to scan._**

 ** _"_** ** _What… what is…?"_**

 ** _(Flashback END!)_**

It didn't take long for the effects of the crystal's disappearance to show. The entire clearing had shimmered like a mirage, and when it became solid once more, it showed no signs of anything having impacted it. Like the whole thing was an illusion, there was nothing to say that the Crystal, or the divine energy, existed. Hell, none of the others could recall what happened either, they only remembered coming to investigate the Mines in Mojang Village, with nothing that concerned the Crystal's presence. Not even Ivan, who had detected the readings in the first place.

The only ones who had a clue about the crystal were Raven, Nico and Lucy.

That alone seemed weird enough, but the whole situation hit Lucy hard, especially judging by her present demeanour. She'd closed herself off from the rest of them, acting like her usual flirty, teasing self. However, both him and Raven could see through the act. Something about that crystal had rattled her deeply, but she was trying to hide it for some reason. Neither of them knew what it was, but both made a silent vow to find out what that was when they had the chance.

* * *

"So, that's your field report." The woman who gave them the briefing before, began as she looked at the submitted report that the Agents had compiled. They were all located at the briefing room where they were given an evaluation of their reports, findings and conduct. The woman stood over at the podium, while the rest of the Agents sat on the front row seats in a straight line.

The unanimous reply was as follows. "Yep."

"You went to the town, only to find it deserted."

"Yep."

"You engaged in an Abnormal ambush with Abnormals not specified on the mission briefing,"

"Yep."

"You found traces of the Overlord Momus Cult, who were devising some satanic rituals in one of the Mines."

"To be fair, we have submitted evidence of this already, it should have arrived before we did."

That was something Ivan said, with Aiden nodding in agreement. The duo had sent the Evidence off to the Spec Ops Branch of the Guild ahead of time, so they should be aware of the stuff they found.

When they said their piece, the woman groaned to herself, holding her forehead as she began to make her way out. "Very well. The Guild would like to extend its gratitude to you all for your contributions to Leanbox's prosperity. Your rewards shall be transferred into your accounts by the end of the day. We look forward to hiring you all once again in the future."

With that, the woman swiftly left the room, leaving the Agents alone to discuss amongst themselves.

And boy did they have things to discuss.

"Did you see how she was acting?" Ivan questioned, frowning to the others. He moved his seat, as did the rest of them, so they now sat in a circle.

Aiden nodded his head, as did the rest of them. Each of them had varying looks of contemplation and frowns on their features, their eyes clear and filled with suspicion. "Yeah, we saw. The briefing only lasted half an hour, but we were told to wait a full hour before we got started. Every ten minutes or so, the briefer woman would glance at her Phone with that same look in her eyes as when we first saw her." He explained.

Raven scowled behind her Mask. Out of all of them, herself, Nico, Ivan and Aiden had their facial features hidden. Nico had his Armour deployed still, with Ivan sporting his Mask and Goggles while Aiden had put on his Goggles. Still just by feeling their auras, one would be able to tell how displeased they were. "It was unprofessional. However, given who she is, she is likely just waiting on Count Mott's orders. Orders for what, I'm not certain, but from what I can tell, that guy has been pulling some strings."

"We should keep an eye out, in case something comes up." Lucy suggested, getting them to look at her before she continued. "Odds are, we haven't seen or heard the end of this. Politicians and politics will be all over this by the time the media gets a hold of this little event. Its just too much of a treat to hide, even for the Government. An entire village laid to waste by both Abnormals and Demonic beings alike." A frustrated snort escaped her lips, her eyes flashing with irritation as everyone saw how she tried to resist the urge to vomit. "Those Nobles will likely get involved."

On that they could agree. This was too large an incident to keep under the radar, at least for a while. Silver Steel was a powerful commodity, and military groups across the Nations used it to fashion weapons that can hurt Abnormals. Mojang Village had access to large quantities of it over the years, and their miners used to dig deeper and discover more deposits of the precious resource. Now that they have bit the dust however, there will likely be a huge uproar within the community. With the death of Mojang Village, a large blow had been dealt to humanity as a whole.

 **'** **It gets worse, Nico.'**

Raising a brow at the input from his demon persona, Nico couldn't help but ask him to elaborate on his opinion. Usually it was well-founded anyways, and he liked having conversations with him. With everything that he'd gone through, Nico could happily admit that Biko was someone he trusted the most, even though he knew some people way longer. 'How do you reckon, Biko?'

 **'** **With so much destruction and death sweeping away the people, they will be gripped with fear and despair. They will be lost, looking to the CPU for the answers to their problems. That's the problem right there, however. Since, if our hunch is right and that the CPU really is in that kind of situation, then she will not be of much assistance. That will result in the Overlord Cult gaining more followers, just so they could feel safe.'**

While that indeed ring true, Nico couldn't help but wonder one point. 'Hang on, but won't they know that the Overlord Cult is behind this? It would be easy to show that they were the culprits here, since we submitted a large amount of evidence against them when we got back.'

 **'** **True, but something still worries me about that… I do not understand why, but I got a distinctively negative impression from that woman. I cannot get an accurate answer as of yet, but my instincts tell me that some foul play will be dealt soon enough. It was a good thing then that we all unanimously decided to keep a copy of the evidence for ourselves, as while illegal, it could prove useful to us should any tampering should come about.'**

Yeah, wasn't that the truth, Nico couldn't help but snort to himself. None of them in this room had good experiences with politicians, most of them even had been set up for missions that SHOULD have killed them, deliberately misinforming them of the mission's threat level so that they would come into it unprepared and unawares. When you were a Spec Ops, you were bound to make enemies, especially from those who fanatically supported the CPUs.

Nico himself had more than enough experiences with that kind of crap, especially when he fought the Coalition way back when…

* * *

Finally, the group had to separate.

Isaac and Guts had went their own ways first, saying that they had things to do. Though Guts did ask Nico and the others if they would be free to spar in the future. The man was a warrior, so fighting strong opponents always got his blood going. Nico would honestly like to have fought against him when he was at full power, the man seemed like someone who would face anything head on and use sheer recklessness to surprise his enemies. As for Isaac, well…

"Huh? Oh, my phones ringing. #takes out phone# Yello?"

"Honey… Where the HELL have you been?!"

"Wha?! Dear?!"

"You were supposed to be here A DAY AGO! We were going to have a nice dinner together, or did you forget?!"

"N-Now now honey, I can explain-!"

"Oh, you better! You get your fat ass over here ASAP or so help me I will track you down and publicly screw your brains out! And you know I would, remember that one time when-"

BEEP!

"So um… yeah… bye!"

DASH!

… Yeah, that was how it went.

Nico and the others had a few good laughs from that scene. Looked like Raven wouldn't have to give that guy frostbite in the manhood for cheating if THAT was his wife. The guy was whipped, for sure.

As some guys would say 'bitches be crazy!'

Once the four calmed down from their laughing fit (Even AIDEN laughed, that's how amusing they found it, plus RAVEN who actually CHUCKLED… the world is ending!) They all turned to Nico, who had just finished dismissing his Armour. "Well, that was a fun experience!" Ivan exclaimed cheerfully. "Besides the whole doom and gloom, plus pretty much every dramatic moment in the last few chapters, everything went pretty well."

"Yeah, I hear you there, Ivan." Nico replied, a small smile on his features as he raised his right hand. He formed a fist and threw it forward, but not hitting anyone. Ivan however, knew what he was aiming for and grinned, throwing his own fist into Nico's own. The two literally did a good old fashioned 'bro fist'. "Take care of yourself."

"Yeah, you betchya! Maybe we can do some 'singing' eh?"

"… no comment."

"Aww, don't leave ME out of the fun, boys!" Soon, their bromance moment was shattered when Lucy dropped in from behind, literally. She clung to Nico's neck from behind, pressing her chin into the crook of his neck. She had this massive grin on her face, her infamous 'I'mma rock your world' kind of grin. "If you want, I could have you singing a littl something else in a certain place…" she cooed softly, playfully biting on Nico's ear.

While the poor boy became a human toaster, Raven scowled as she made the temperature around the redhead girl plummet to minus 10 degrees. "If you do not get off him, I shall freeze you from the inside out, VERONICA." She stated coldly, with a furious edge to it that honestly made the three boys a little wary for their lives. Especially Nico who was right next to the target of her ire.

"Oooookay, well then!" Nico began, fanning himself to calm his mind down and force the… strange thoughts from corrupting his mind. "I'll be heading off now. Odds are, Compa, Neptune and IF will be hounding the entire city looking for me. They worry about me sometimes."

Raven aimed an irritated stare towards him, her anger from before still on her features. Since her Mask wasn't on right now, her facial features were clearly visible, something that honestly nearly took Nico's breath away. She looked way prettier without her Mask on, but when she did have it on she had this cold killer vibe going. He honestly… liked that about her. Fortunately for him, Raven calmed down and gave a reluctant sigh. "Those girls… they must care for you, don't they?" she remarked, making Nico nod in return with a soft, fond smile full of care and affection. "Make sure to be good to them… like you are for us…" she whispered, but Nico managed to hear her just fine.

"You bet I will." He stated firmly, holding a hand out. He expected her to take his hand and shake it, since she wasn't that big on affectionate gestures like hugs and all. Though, given her backstory Nico could understand that one. But, he got the shock of his life when she grabbed his hand and pulled him into a hug of her own, her arms wrapped around his neck with her head by his ear.

'WHOA, WHAT?!' His face froze into an expression of shock, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as his form tensed. Behind their leader, Lucy could be seen gaping at the unusual action just as much as she was. Hell, even Aiden had his eyes wide by a small margin while Ivan's jaw literally fell to the floor. 'What the actual fuck?! What the hell is this, I thought Raven didn't like hugs!'

 **'** **Hmmm… It appears that this one has more to her than you know, Nico. Even if she has a cold hearted exterior, deep down she can appreciate some affection here and there…'** Biko commented from within his mind, a thoughtful hum being a prequel to it.

Then, the voice belonging to IT resonated through his mind, a full bout of maniacal laughter echoing through it. 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, LOOKS LIKE SHE'S GOT YOU THERE, KING! YOU JUST GOT FROZEN SOLID!'

'Technically you're me, so you have this feeling too, goddamnit!'

'HMMMM…. FUCK, YOU'RE RIGHT!'

The hug was short, swift, but it delivered the message. Raven pulled back after a few seconds, stepping back from him and seeing her handiwork. She had to admit, that while she may not be a fan of hugs, or any affectionate gesture especially from men, she didn't mind it as much if it came from him. 'This warmth… this warmth spreading through my chest… it doesn't hurt like the rest of the times… Nico, only you can make me feel this way…' she thought to herself.

Schooling her features, Raven crossed her arms and spoke in her usual cold, impassive tone. "Take care, DEATHSTROKE, till we next meet together." She stated, before turning on her heels and walking back into the Guild for another Quest. Soon enough, the rest soon followed with Lucy, after recovering from her shock, blowing him a kiss.

All Nico could wonder was as follows: 'Well… that happened.'

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Oh, quick notice guys**

 **One King Carlos, he's published his own first fanfiction, called Heir to DXD, a fate/ Highschool DXD crossover. Check it out, would you all? He's a good guy, and this is his first fanfiction, so BE NICE. For those who write fanfics, you know how difficult it is to write these things.**


	77. Chapter 74 - Wait, WHAT HAPPENED!

**Chapter 74 - Wait, WHAT HAPPENED?!**

It was late in the afternoon, according to the Clock on Nico's right Bracer, as he made his way down to the Hotel where Neptune and the others were staying at.

Though, while he couldn't help the fond smile that formed on his features at seeing his comrades once more, he also couldn't help the sense of dread that filled up his gut. The dread had been there ever since Biko had told him what he thought about that Urgent Quest. Those words had made him re-evaluate everything he had seen and been told by that woman in te briefing room, coming to a conclusion that sent his nerves into overdrive.

The way she acted, the mission itself… something about it just reeked of deception. Just like Biko had said. It was understandable why Count Mott would have such an interest in Mojang Village with its abundance of Silver Steel, he ran one of the largest businesses with it. Yet, the way that woman acted before, it just screamed 'we just used you all to further our own agenda, now go be worthless pawns somewhere else' to him. Why did he get that feeling? What would happen in the future?

One of the biggest fears Nico had was the fear of not knowing about something, like how would someone react if they were to discover his secret? Or how would something big play out? Most of his life, he had kept himself as prepared as possible for any situation, the whole Zombie incident in Lastation was proof of this. There were times where he would have to learn quite a bit to fit in to unknown environments, like that time in Lowee when he fought the Coalition.

The unknown was something that both intrigued and frightened the male and for good reason. It was one of the few things he had little control over, save for actually peering into the realm of the unknown ahead of time. That was something he couldn't always d, yet it seemed to be the best way he had for preventing situations from being worse than they were. In a way, that was a large reason why he got along so well with Lucy, as both liked the thought of being in control of a situation. Although their perspectives of 'control' varied greatly, the base concept was still there. Thus, despite her tendency to try and seduce him every time she see's him, Nico could never truly despise her for it.

Back to the girls, though, part of the teenage Spec Ops Agent dreaded the meeting that would happen when he reached the hotel, since he had been gone for a significant time frame on that Urgent Quest. He could just imagine the dark looks on the three girls' faces as they each cracked whips on him while the teen was strapped to a chair and awaiting their merciless assault. He could imagine this since the girls would be worried sick, based off that one Quest in Lastation where he and the girls got separated by the Abnormal they were hunting.

'OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! KINKY, AREN'T WE KING?!'

If things were going to be made worse, they did when he heard the voice of IT ring through his mind, nearly making him physically tilt his head to the side at the force of the maniacal shouting. What was worse was that, to Nico's dismay and shock, a spectral version of himself but in inverted colours appeared right beside him, leaning on top of him from his right shoulder. The white being cackled in his ear, his cackle and presence sending chills down Nico's spine. A sense of dread and doom slowly began piling like discarded junk being dumped in a junkyard within his gut, his eyes slowly beginning to dilate as a result.

Something he KNEW that the being would be taking great pleasure in.

Said being's mouth agonizingly slowly opened, a sly cackle escaping it that did NOT help Nico's mood in the slightest. "LOOKS LIKE MY LESSONS ARE SINKING IN AFTER ALL, KING!" He sneered with a slight hiss to his voice. "THEY AREN'T TRUSTWORTHY AFTER ALL! NOW, ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS KILL THEM, ALONG WITH THOSE MEASLY TEAM RAIL-WATEVERS, THEN WE WILL BE FREE!"

Nico growled in anger at the thought of killing those girls. Compa, Neptune, and IF's forms appeared in his mind, followed suit by the rest of the girls, plus Aiden and Ivan. The word 'free' echoed within his mind, like multiple gongs ringing in perfect synch. That word… it held a lot of sway within him, sway that could be used either for good or for bad.

Freedom was traditionally understood as independence of the arbitrary will of another. Such a state is contrasted with slavery. A slave is constantly subject to the will of another. By contrast a free person can do whatever he or she chooses as long as he or she does not break the law and infringe on the freedom of others. This has been described as external freedom or "negative liberty." To the layman, this is understood as: "your freedom ends where my nose begins."

There was also the sense of inner freedom which existed where free will was followed by free action. A person who does not succeed in doing what he set out to do, because his will failed, was in a sense unfree, a slave to his passions. His will was not free because it was subject to momentary impulses which distracted him from accomplishing what he had determined to do.

An example would be a person who is an addict. He may want to give up his addiction but cannot and the decisions he makes are shaped by the need to feed the addiction. So, freedom comes from self-control. One Lastation Philosopher named Goethe had once said, "From the forces that all creatures bind, who overcomes himself his freedom finds."

Complete freedom, though, included the inner freedom of the will and the external freedom of the environment such that a person's plans and deliberations are not arbitrarily thwarted by either himself or some other agency.

Freedom is not a value but is the ground of values because it allows a person to create and appreciate values, to pursue the classical values of beauty, truth and goodness. It enables people to use their creativity so as to bring joy to God and to others, their family, relatives, friends and wider community. According to the American moral philosopher Susan Wolf, freedom is the ability to act in accordance with the True and the Good.

According to people such as Saint Augustine and Confucius, two prominent religious figures in Gamindustri's history, this kind of freedom can reach a point at which it always produces goodness. Thus, historically people have struggled not for abstract freedom for its own sake, but for the freedom to be good and do good.

In that sense, Nico himself still struggled for true freedom, freedom to be who he wanted to be, to be able to freely express himself, the freedom of trusting someone without fear of them one day betraying him. It honestly fit his perspective of his inner struggles so well that it almost hurt how well it fit. But thanks to his condition, as well as his own revelation about that condition, that goal eluded him.

"Like I'd let you have that satisfaction, you fucker…" Adam growled under his breath. His anger, mixed with his dread, anxiety and fear, had reached the point where he didn't care if other people heard him. Thinking he was crazy as a result. He didn't care anymore, in a sense everyone was crazy in their own way. Some just were more extreme in their shows of the inner craziness within them than others.

However, his words had little effect on the white being. In fact, it was safe to say that the being was practically unperturbed by the response given, as the being just chuckled while he floated to the opposite side, leaning on his other shoulder. His right hand draped itself over him, gripping the fabric of his coat above his right breast, almost digging through the hard exterior to the soft, unblemished flesh within. "AWWWWWW, COME ON! WHY SO GLUM? YOU KNOW IT DON'T YOU? YOU FEEL IT INSIDE YOUR BEING, RIGHT? YOU CANNOT TRUST ANYONE, NO MATTER WHAT FOOLISH IDEAL YOU TRY TO SEEK? IN THE END, YOU ARE A MONSTER, A MONSTERS DO NOT DESERVE HAPPINESS. MONSTERS ONLY EXIST TO DEVOUR, KILL, AND DESTROY EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH! THAT! IS! YOUR TRUE SELF, THE REAL YOU!"

The being's words slammed into his consciousness like a thousand hammers all at once. His teeth clenched so tight that they could have shattered if possible, while Nico's eyes began to glow with irritation. He could feel demonic energy beginning to writhe from deep within his gut, resonating with the complex whirlpool of emotions within him. He could feel himself slipping into the pool once more, the pool that he would usually see in his dreams, the pool of despair that he had not been sinking in for a very long time.

Why? Why was this happening now?

Nico knew hat his mental stability wasn't exactly the healthiest in the world. One could say that he was someone to be considered insane with all the psychological issues he had: hallucinations, insanity-filled dreams, inner struggles, among others. Though, compared to his past self, Nico felt he had improved quite a bit. There was a reason why he had been an emotionless robotic like in terms of personality, and not just the horrors he had seen throughout his years as a Spec Ops Agent. Yet, he felt like he had made great progress in recovery so far, especially since he had stopped doing THAT to himself a long while ago. That was what he honestly felt, but… why… Why did…

Why did ITS words make him feel like everything he's done was pointless?

He could feel chains starting to bind him, like his CHAINS OF HPHAESTUS Skill but without any marker, nor any means of escaping them. He tried to struggle, to break free with reckless abandon, to no avail. The chains bound his limbs to his waist, making it so tat they couldn't be moved no matter how hard he tried. Panic began to settle within his heart, which in turn began pounding wildly within the confines of his ribcage.

No, no-no-no… not like this! Not like this!"

"YESSSSSS, YES, YES, YES! DON'T WORRY LITTLE ONE, PAPA'S GOING TO MAKE YOU FEEL ALL BETTER!"

NO! No! Stay away! Stay back! Don't you-no, don't do it! Don't put it in! Don'tdon'tdon't don'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon't-Make it stop, MAKE IT STOP! It hurts! It hurst so much! Momma, papa, help! Make it stop, please! Make it stop-make it stop-make it st-

"NI-NI!"

Nico's eyes, filled with panic fear and dread, widened all the more when another voice, one significantly more feminine, also WAY more familiar, rang throughout his ears. The shadowy claws that had been tearing away at his psyche, filling it with the dread, panic and horror of what a patient suffering in a mental asylum went through on a daily basis, slowly receded back into the shadows within his mind, along with the presence of that white being.

Before it vanished completely though, he barely registered its last words. "TCH, OUT OF TIME… OH WELL, I GOT TO HAVE SOME FUN, AT LEAST. REMEMBER THIS, KING, SOONER THAN YOU THINK, THE REAL YOU SHALL MAKE AN APPEARANCE, AND THE WHOLE WORLD WILL BE WATCHING. YOU CANNOT HIDE BEHIND THE MASK, FOREVER. EVENTUALLY, THE MASK WILL SHATTER, AND THE TRUTH WILL FINALLY BE UNRAVELLED! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

With its signature maniacal laughter, the white being finally fully receded back to the shadows of his mind, the hazy and empty void no longer clouding his senses. Nico blinked owlishly, his eyes that of a startled animal as he breathed heavily, torso rising and falling with a ruggedness matching one who ran a marathon with no breaks in between. He could faintly make out faint beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, but he couldn't focus on that for long. Why?

Because of the sight before him.

There, sitting with her back to a wall, trembling, was a VERY scared looking Compa. Her eyes looked exactly like his own, her breathing so quick he feared she would be coughing up her longs. Her arms spread across the wall behind her, as if trying to show she was unarmed. His eyes zoomed in on several things: the large pink bruise on her right cheek, of which he could see tears gathering at the corners of her eyes for.

There was a faint purple light below her chin and, as morbidly curious as he was, Nico's eyes lowered to where the light originated. He soon wished he hadn't, though, for he was greeted to the sight of one of his Plasma Claws, his Armour having been deployed, just beneath her neck, about to burn through her flesh to the interior.

'Wh-wha….?'

For a moment, Nico just stood there, shocked into disbelieving silence. His mind couldn't. or rather it refused to, comprehend the situation before it. his mind remained blank, no thought, no action evident from it, leaving his body to remain frozen in is current position. Neither moving forwards with what it seemed to have been told to do, nor did it retreat.

He did notice that he wasn't in a street anymore, but deep within an alleyway, a rather narrow one at that with nobody in sight. Part of him couldn't help but be relieved at that, while another part of him scolded him for his actions.

Finally, one thought manifested within his mind, one that took a MAJOR amount of willpower to create. 'Was that… another hallucination?' he wondered, his mouth slightly open behind his Mask as his lone uncovered eye stared down at the Nurse-In-Training. He noticed her arms were spread in a way that made it seem like she was intentionally holding the away from him, like they had committed some grave sin against him. He briefly flashed back to the moment where e had felt those cold, iron-like chains embrace him, before looking to her arms and realising that THEY were the chains that he had felt.

Not only that, but he did feel something against him when he was flailing his arms about, but he had been in such a panic induced state that he hadn't been able to identify it. That must have been Compa then, it explained where she got that bruise on her cheek. But, when the hell did he deploy his Armour.

Before he could ponder this more, Nico's brain finally rebooted itself, and an impending terror gripped his soul. "C-Compa?! Oh fuck, I'm so sorry! So sorry!" he exclaimed, started while hurriedly taking his Plasma Claw from her neck and retracting it into his Gauntlet. The Plasma based weapon made a light hissing sound when it did that, but he couldn't bring himself to care for the moment as he kneeled before the scared girl. His Armour vanished in a vortex of Datastreams as well, revealing just how panicked his features showed of his emotional state. "Wh-What the hell happened, why did you-?!"

"I-I was looking for you and saw you walk into that Alleyway, N-NI-Ni!" Compa stuttered just as bad as he did, her response filled with equal panic. Though, with the action of his Plasma Claw being retracted, she began to calm down slightly with the relief of not having a weapon about to burn through her throat. "Y-Y-You were mumbling to yourself, I got worried so I t-t-tried to talk, but you got w-w-worse and worse. I tried to hug you, but then you wh-wh-whacked me like a whack-a-mole and knocked me d-d-down! Y-Y-You held me at claw-point and then you just froze!" she hurried on like the threat of being eviscerated was still as clear as day, and at the end of her sentence, Compa trembled as she eyed his arms with more than a little wariness. Even if they weren't in the Armoured state anymore, she could still feel phantom pains from where the residue Static from the Plasma Claw almost nicked her flesh.

'So, I WAS hallucinating…' Nico thought to himself, barely hiding the rage burning inside of him that replaced his previous emotions. But this rage, it wasn't he kind one aimed at an enemy, no, this rage was directed towards himself. Rage, along with self-loathing and disgust, boiled like heated water within his gut towards his own actions. 'Damnit… damnit, DAMNIT!'

This was one of the WORST things that could have happened! It had been cropping up in his nightmares for a fair amount of time, the possibility that something like this could happen on their adventure. His mind's instability always had the likelihood of hurting his comrades, since they were around him the most. Unlike Team RAIL though, whom had the capacity to dodge his attacks, someone like Compa or Neptune didn't have the necessary reflexes to protect themselves if he were to lose it. IF would be a different story considering her background as well as her current condition.

But Compa and Neptune? A big fat NOPE!

"Compa…"

The teen uttered her name with barely a whisper, his eyes filling up with another emotion that replaced the shock and disbelief from before: Shame, shame and remorse. He hung his head low as he once again spoke, his tone apologetic as all fuck. "I'm so, so sorry about that. I have no excuses to defend myself with." Well, that wasn't technically true, since he had mental issues so he could have told her that, but he didn't want to worry her any more than she already was… at least, for right now.

A fact that he had to resign himself to, was that eventually Compa would find out about his mental issues. He'd resigned himself to this while on the journey back to Leanbox, when he started having Hallucinations more often. Fortunately, he'd had Biko and his mission to keep his mind focused, but there had been faint oddities that he'd noticed, oddities that nobody else seemed to notice. Biko had already confirmed it to him that his mind was resorting to hallucinations, so he didn't wonder what the heck was going on.

Seeing him like this, Compa slowly felt her fear being ebbed away, replaced by the concern she had for his wellbeing. Wait, no, that wasn't quite right. Concern had always been there from the very start. She had just been hiding it behind her fear out of instinct. The instinct of self-preservation. From the moment that Nico had reacted the way he had when she tried to get his attention, slamming her into a wall with a Plasma Claw to her neck, fear and irrationality had overtaken her mind, like an animal facing down its hunter just before its demise. In that brief moment, all she had been concerned with was… her own life.

A thought that disgusted her.

It was a natural reaction to fear death. Especially in a 'predator and prey' situation. When an animal is being cornered by those wishing to end its life either for nourishment, or any other purpose, all it thinks about was how to get out of its situation alive, and it becomes incredibly desperate. Whether or not it successfully escapes the situation is up for debate, but the bottom line was that the self-preservation instinct was a fundamental part of life. Even so, Compa still couldn't help but dislike herself for being scared of Nico instead of concerned for his safety.

This was part of why she hadn't gotten closer or made any moves of her own on the man she wanted by her side. Unlike Neptune, who had confidence galore when expressing her true feelings towards him, Compa just couldn't act the same way. Every time she tried to get closer to him, she would shy away from going into the truly dangerous territory, at least in her mind anyways. Even though she had made considerable headway compared to her childhood, Compa still didn't feel like she was on the same level as the others.

Ironic really, the one who knew him the longest was also the one who hadn't gone the furthest with him.

Clearing those thoughts from her head for the time being, Compa focused back onto the man who held her affections. Said man still hanging his head towards her, something she quickly found that she disliked. "I-It's okay, Ni-Ni…" she tried to say, pushing past her fears and allowing concern to take the reins. It helped that, unlike hose romantic advances she was just complaining about, the inner Nurse inside of her could help with assuring people things weren't wrong… even if they were. "…You just had a lot on your plate, right?"

She saw him nod his head, not speaking anything to her. Didn't fill her with much confidence that her words had worked, though, something that she felt within her core. She had to get them thinking about something else, while she wanted beyond anything to know what happened to her childhood friend, her Nurse instincts told her that it wasn't the right time to ask. Patients who suffer from illnesses sometimes take a while to become able to talk to others about it. Memories flashed in her mind, and Compa remembered all too soon why she was searching for Nico. "Oh yeah, we don't have time, Ni-Ni! Its an emergency!"

The urgency in her tone, as well as the high volume of her voice, broke Nico from his internal musings, his head rising up to meet her gaze faster than a cheetah. The word emergency had quickly garnered a response from him, it seemed. A leftover side-effect from just returning from a long mission. "What? What emergency? Compa, did something happen?" he asked her with the same level of urgency she just displayed. The panic and volume she spoke triggered alarm bells in his mind, which only worsened when she answered him with something she dreaded.

"Iffy's gone! She went out the night you went on your mission, and never came back!"

* * *

Fatigue,

A pounding head,

And one goddamn extreme case of dehydration.

That was what she felt when she began to stir from within her consciousness.

Groaning, one familiar brunette slowly stirred as her eyes tightened. Her lips twisted into a grimace at the headache pounding away within the confines of her skull like a thousand jackhammers pummelling away at her brain. She slowly opened her eyes after a few seconds, muttering a few choice words. When the woman had finally opened her eyes, she tried to stand up on her own two feet… but soon found that she couldn't.

'Wh… wha…?'

Grogginess still plagued her, so IF didn't do much right away. She was too busy trying to reboot herself from the land of sleep to do much else. Ever get that feeling where everything was a blur and your body was responding to commands much slower than normal? Well, that was what IF was going through right now, and it was NOT a pleasant experience. She had figured that, as a BOW, she wouldn't get things like this anymore, as ever since her abrupt transformation she had never gotten these little bouts of grogginess when she rested. Apparently, she was wrong on that account.

Soon though, she felt her powers chase the grogginess away, enough so that she could be aware of her surroundings. The first thing IF did was look around, see where the hell she was. She expected to be somewhere in Leanbox, at the least, but when she looked around, the brunette saw nothing to indicate that at all. In fact, she looked to be in some sort of dungeon cell.

The cell was made from stone, reminding her of the medieval dungeons found throughout Leanbox from the beginnings of the Console War. Leanbox hadn't always been the land where the people were the most important, there had been a time where things had been incredibly barbaric here, a time IF had researched as a follower of Lady Green Heart, to see what this land had once been like without her rule. Needless to say, she DEFINITELY found the new Leanbox much more preferable than the older one.

There were no windows to the outside, leading her to believe that this was an underground dungeon cell. She looked around, noticing that the floor, the wall opposite her, and the wall to her left were all made from cobblestone, with the ceiling above them being the same. Though, her back seemed to tremble when she noticed how some of the cobblestone seemed to radiate this twisted, dark and violent feeling especially when she eyed some of the glowing crimson lines on the ground.

IF nearly gasped when she noticed that there was something right next to her, to her right. It was a skeleton, a decomposed skeleton of what remained of a man, or, she assumed it was a man since the bone structure indicated as such. The skeleton looked to have been wearing Leanbox military armour, and was leaning against the same wall she was on, head tilted to the right away from her. She followed its direction, and saw that to her right were a set of bars that were equipped with an iron gate, the entrance in and out of the cell.

Once again, she tried to stand up, only to find something weighing her down. She glanced at her feet, and saw that aside from her feet being bare, her feet were shackled by iron restraints, large ones at that. They reminded her of the irons that Leanbox prisoners often got strapped in when they would be taken to various prisons to be executed at a later date, something that made IF gulp in nervousness.

Where the hell was she?

Why was she here?

How the fuck did she get here?

Wait... why was she in only her tank top and shorts? No boots, no coat, and worst of all...

WHERE THE FUCKING HELL WERE HER PHONES?! IF THIS WAS SOME IDEA OF A SICK JOKE BY THAT PUDDING-LOVING MORON SHE WAS GOING TO CHOKE A BITCH!

Memories assaulted her mind the second she thought those questions. She remembered walking back to the Hotel she and her party were staying in when she was assaulted by a Ghoul. She couldn't remember how, but someone apparently snuck up from behind her and knocked her out, if the lump on her head was anything to go by. It would also explain this headache she was suffering under, but what happened to her Biomass reserves?

IF tried calling on her powers, only for them to not respond, sending her into a nervous panic. She tried checking her reserves, only to find them to be completely spent. That meant she couldn't use her powers to break out of here, as well as explained why she felt so dehydrated, so… hungry, right now. 'Man, this just keeps getting better and better…' she thought with heavy sarcasm. She tried to move her arms, only to her dismay, she found she couldn't do that either. 'Oh, come the fuck on!'

Growling in irritation, IF looked up to see some shackles pinning her hands on the wall above her head. They were connected to this spiked chain that hung from a higher vantage point. Due to the lack of light in the Cell, she couldn't exactly make out where that point was, though she felt her BOW powers already beginning to adapt to the darkness. She tried once again to break free, rattling the chain in hopes of using enough strength to get herself out.

"It won't work, young lady. These have been enchanted to seal away those special powers you have."

A masculine voice, though IF could barely tell with how raspy and faint it was, broke through the sound of rattling chains. Gamnindustri's wind walker stopped what she was doing, her body tensing up, refusing to make even a single sound for a brief instance, before she went and frantically looked around for the source of the voice. She hadn't detected anyone else, she didn't even think of that possibility, but thanks to her lack of power, she doubted she'd be able to use her powers to locate them. "What? Whose there? Where are you?"

"I'm in the cell to your right. Opposite you."

Once again, IF heard the voice, along with a short cough at the end. Sounded like the person was close by too, and not exactly in the best of health, either. IF's eyes glanced to the right, towards the bars of her Cell. From there, she could see that a second set of bars and a gate were on the opposite side, filled to the brim with… Skeletons, lots of them. Each of them wore the same armour that the one inside her Cell wore, something that slipped Alarm bells into IF's mind. That couldn't be a coincidence, a bunch of dead people wearing the same armour as each other meant that they belonged to one unit. What unit these people belonged to though was another story altogether, though she didn't focus on that for now.

What she DID focus on, was the person at the wall opposite the bars.

The person looked to be a man in his 30's, at least his early thirties. His hair was dishevelled and messy, covering his eyes so IF wasn't able to tell what colour they were. His chin, jaw and upper lip sported a medium sized beard and Moustache, a good indication that this guy had been here for a significant amount of time. His hands were in the same state as hers, bound in shackles and hung above his head. His wrists looked like they had been bleeding, but the blood had dried up a ton. The man looked like he had been injured, with scratch marks and various other wounds over his body.

His clothing consisted of brown leather rags: a baggy brown shirt, with torn shoulders to expose his damaged arms. There were small tears here and there to indicate that it had been worn for some time, enough that it was slowly tearing itself apart. He wore a set of baggy pants with torn ankles, showing his bare, dirty feet to the world. His feet looked to be the same as his arms though, but unlike IF his weren't pinned to the ground by shackles. His head hung low, but IF knew that the man was awake, he DID talk to her just now after all.

"What the….?"

"Looks like you're finally awake. You've been here about a whole day, you know."

IF had been curious, confused and slightly scared before, but when the man told her the specific detail of the time she spent here, all her emotions switched to panic. Thoughts of her friends: Neptune, Compa, and her friend (?) Nico appeared in her mind as she shouted over to him. "What?! Are you kidding me?! I've been here for a whole day?!"

The man didn't raise his head, though this was something the brunette assumed he couldn't do based off of a lack of strength. Still though, a faint movement was seen from his head, a movement that the brown-haired Guild Agent attributed to a nod. "You were brought here by a couple muscle-heads. Looked like they were eager to get to work on your ass, since they took everything you had and beat your unconscious body to a pulp." He remarked, and while she couldn't see it, IF just FELT that he was glancing at her through his long bangs. "Though, your special powers prevented any lasting damage."

That obviously meant that he had seen what they did to her, as well as her ability to regenerate from whatever they did to her. IF couldn't resist the urge to wince, chills of dread and uncertainty travelling down her spine. Someone knew about her powers aside from her party members, and a complete stranger at that, something IF had hoped would not happen for a long while yet. She had been squeamish about letting her favourite Goddess know about her BOW side, so a random stranger finding out about them was DEFINITELY not something she appreciated. "Why are you telling me this? What's there to gain for you?"

"Nothing, but your name and where you came from."

Now THAT confused her. "A bit of an odd request, but… ah, what the hell. Looks like I'll be here for a while till my powers charge up, anyways. I'm IF, nice to meet you." The woman greeted with a courteous nod. "I'd shake your hand, but well, we both know why that's kinda hard right now."

Her words caused the man to chuckle, a hollow, empty chuckle that, combined with his hoarse voice, made his chuckle seem all the more disturbing. Though IF made sure not to mention that as he finished chuckling. "A pleasure, and you're right. I doubt we'd shake hands for a while yet. It only makes sense that I repay the favour." At this, the man straightened his back against the wall, lifting his head with a strength that he hadn't shown before. Now that she could see his eyes, IF saw that they were a bright blue, with a faint scar under his left eye. One that looked like it had been there for a while. She also got the feeling of being in the presence of a leader, a king or a lord, when she looked at this man. I am Captain Stefan Von Kessel of the Ostermark Order…" he introduced himself, before wincing as he glanced at the skeletons all around him. "Well, I guess it's former Captain now. A Captain isn't anything without his subordinates."

'Ostermark? I think I've heard that name before… wasn't that one of the branches in Leanbox's Military that disappeared a while back?' IF wondered, frowning in contemplation. She remembered during her research time, she had heard faint rumours that the Ostermark Order's captain, plus a large regiment, had vanished without a trace when going on a recon mission. "Are these guys…?"

She shouldn't have asked that if the flash of pain in his eyes that briefly replaced his strong leader-like eyes was any indication. The man's face turned grim as he gave a small nod. "Yeah… they were tortured brutally before they met their end, their corpses used to torment those who still live. Though, I fear that those who died have escaped an even worse fate that others did not…" he answered her, a sad sigh escaping his lips, though he winced soon afterwards.

"How did you end up here?" IF couldn't help but ask him, her eyes filled with wonder, concern and pity for the man before her. To see your subordinates, men you have fought with for a long time get tortured in the manner that he was implying, didn't sound like a happy time in her books. Also, now that she remembered the name Ostermark, she remembered how much that military branch valued each other's lives, like brothers and sisters in arms. So, to see so many of their brethren killed, tortured or worse as the man implied, definitely wasn't something that those men deserved.

The man gave a small exhale through his nostrils, abandoning his previous posture as he slumped against the wall, the chains rattling through the air. "We were sent to Mojang Village, think you know of it given how you seem to be affiliated with the Guild." He noticed that the woman raised a brow at him when he said that last bit, prompting him to elaborate. "When you were brought here, you had a set of Guild made Phones before they took everything from you. Anyways, we were sent to Mojang Village to investigate their lack of activity recently…"

A ferocious snarl escaped his lips, something that made IF jump slightly in surprise. "Turns out we were set up. There was an ambush waiting for us, filled with cultists from the Overlord Momus religion, as well as these unholy abominations they called Demons. My men and I, we did our best to make our retreat, but we were overwhelmed and captured. I, along with a third of my men were taken to this infernal place, the rest were killed during the battle, fed to the Demons that they employed." He growled at the end, his eyes shining with so much rage that, even with his current state, IF felt like he would go on a rampage at any moment. She guessed that even with how weak he looked, his inner strength of will had not diminished in the least. She had to respect that in someone, it took guts to stay string given their circumstances.

But, there was something about what he said that bothered her.

"What makes you think it was a setup, Captain?"

The man gave her a stare, one that the brunette found suspiciously similar to a certain Spec Ops Agent whenever someone asks a stupid question, but nonetheless answered her. "Because when they ambushed us, something hadn't been right. They knew our numbers, our strategies, and just what to do in order to corner us. Us in the Ostermark order are a primarily military branch, but those like me who are its Captain have a certain degree of influence over politics as well. This influence is unique to us and us alone, as we have sworn the sacred duty of upholding the Goddess' demands no matter the cost. That makes us more than a few enemies, I'm sure you can understand that."

Yeah, IF could understand well what he was telling her. Truth be told, the brunette wasn't one for politics, she would rather remain in the Mercenary lifestyle thank you very much. It was wat she grew up with, what she breathed as air for her entire life. In fact, she'd be hard pressed to imagine a life where she WASN'T fighting on the battlefield. Nevertheless, after a certain organisation tried to undermine the CPUs' rules so long ago, she had made the precautionary measure to keep an ear out for anything radical.

Political figures were always the targets of overzealous fanatic groups, it was something that one would hear on the news nearly every time the news comes on. They were usually targeted so people can get ransoms or get their beliefs spread across the Nations, but most of the time they would be used as bargaining chips for other politicians to advance their agendas. In essence, politics was a war just like with the Abnormals, but instead of weapons and Skills, it was a war of words, deceit and mental tricks.

Therefore, IF understood that, in the position he was in, Stefan Von Kessel would have made enemies. She remembered that his family was also a Noble family, only he, their heir, had chosen to trade his pen for his sword to lead me into battle against the Abnormals. She recalled him saying to one reporter who interviewed him after he successfully repelled an Abnormal attack, that he would rather fight with honest to good soldiers on the battlefield than lying, scheming, backstabbing Nobles who didn't know a thing about true loyalty.

"I see…"

"Now that you've heard my story…" Stefan began, looking straight at her after gazing at the ceiling for a while. His eyes bore into her own, no signs of his weakness showing through his gaze. "Can you tell me why you're here? The Overlord Cult doesn't take just prisoners like this, they normally kill them or feed their enemies to their Demon companions."

Humming in thought, the brunette wondered whether she should tell him anything. In the end though, she decided to open her mouth, since they were going to be here for a while. It wasn't like they had anything better to do anyways. "Well, I'm with this Party…"


	78. Chapter 75 - Investigation

**Chapter 75 - Investigation**

'This is the absolute worst thing that could have happened!'

That thought had been hammering way at Nico's mental fortitude, ever since he heard the news about his comrade having seemingly disappeared. His instincts told him it was likely a kidnapping of sorts though, as he'd had PLENTY of experience in situations like that. He saved civilians from crazed psychopaths, he'd saved children from their abusive relatives looking for revenge, and a whole load of other scenes similar to it. This felt EXACTLY like those past experiences, so his mind had already wired itself into the notion that someone had kidnapped his comrade. He had to curse fate this time, just when he had gone through a whole load of trouble with all the political trouble surrounding that Urgent Quest, then the mental attack he'd suffered at ITS' hands, this had to happen.

The fact that IF had been kidnapped by some unknown party was something that he loathed more than anything. Normally, Nico heavily disliked those who tried to capture and harm the innocent for their own gain. Hell, he'd already built up a reputation based off what he did to people who harmed the innocent like that. However, on the rare occasion that someone tried to hurt those he considered comrades… well, it was safe to say that going ape-shit like those guys who transform into giant monkeys would be considered an understatement.

In addition, this happened when she was smack dab in the middle of a capital city, which meant several things to the male: one, the kidnappers were both brave and bold to kidnap someone in a place filled to the brim with high security. He knew well that MICROSOFT had high maintenance security systems to ensure that criminals don't escape the laws of justice. The security was even tighter when handling hardware and software like bank accounts, laptops, consoles etc. There were various programs built into these pieces of equipment to help protect against viruses, hacking and identity fraud, to ensure maximum service to their customers. To ensure that they kept their faith in Leanbox's CPU.

Two, it meant that her kidnappers had high confidence in their ability to act under the cover of darkness. The night was one of the most dangerous times to be out alone for a reason, as many unsavoury characters would be prowling about, looking for their next victim. Nico knew this, because he himself had used this tactic to hunt down serial killers or other criminals who evaded justice. Not just in Leanbox, but the other Nations as well. Though, it also worked the opposite way too, for criminals can use the darkness as cover to commit their crimes and escape without people realising they were there. It had happened many times in the past, and in human history. One such killer that had used this to his advantage was the one known as 'Nep the Ripper'. A killer that targeted prostitutes under the cover of darkness, yet got away with his crimes by never being found. He even had mocked the ones chasing him by posting some organs to the police in the mail, a nasty piece of work.

That had been one of the many times justice couldn't catch the wicked.

Thirdly, it meant that whoever did this had to have prior knowledge about the security measures of the city, and how to navigate through them. Such information was never made known to the public, only that they existed to prevent people from exploiting them. Whoever did this must have a large support from the higher ranked officials, officials who had access to such knowledge like the Guard force, or the military. They had to have either bribed or done some other underhanded dealings behind the eyes of the law in order to get that information. That was the only thing Nico could think of that could explain how they could have pulled a kidnapping like this off so easily.

If that wasn't enough, there was that strange item to worry about.

Ever since he'd ran into Compa, his Bracer had been coming up with '!' symbols nearly every five seconds. Whenever he checked on it, Nico would find that the item would be radiating some insanely abnormal energy readings, readings that would be mostly happening around Compa herself. It was like it had been reacting to her whenever she was close enough to his Bracer, trying to get out and into the real world to go to her. He didn't know what exactly that meant, but Nico didn't want to test that out. Especially with the stuff with IF going on, something he felt had top priority at this moment.

Then, there were Lucy and Raven's responses to locating this item. While they didn't seem to mind that he was keeping it in his possession, both of them couldn't hide their deeper feelings regarding the crystal from someone like him. Lucy more so than Raven, considering his past experiences with the two. Raven showed little emotion when this thing was involved, at least on the outside. But, deep down Nico saw that she had some small measures of suspicion, confusion and weary feelings towards the item. Considering what she was, Nico could understand this, given her true self.

Though, she had nothing on Lucy.

The two were polar opposites, in many ways. Powers, personalities, views, etc. There were many things they could disagree on, but when it came to this though, Lucy's emotions trumped hers in being visible. To him, it looked like she hadn't even bothered trying to mask how concerned that item's presence made her. It was so obvious that even a blind man would be able to see that this strange item, which radiated divine energy like that of the CPUs, affected the normally cheerful, seductive woman in a negative manner. Hell, in the last part of their return journey, Lucy had barely made any attempt at seduction towards him, only at the very end when she and him were parting ways. THAT went to show how much this crystal had affected her, and her late seduction almost felt like her way of requesting confirmation that eh would be okay. As if it were her way of expressing her worry over him.

A worried Lucy wasn't a Lucy he liked to see.

Right now, Nico, Compa and Neptune had assembled at MICROSOFT's library. Apparently this one was the closest to their Hotel, and there were very few Libraries in this City thanks to its overall theme being more along the lines of community rather than books, unlike Lowee.

"You sure this is the place, Nicky?" Neptune asked him. She tried to keep up her usual joking self, but that had lasted about 5.5 seconds before she caved in. It probably helped that Nico had made sure they were alone, and that nobody could hear them, before she broke down in worry for her friend. She could only cry at that moment thanks to the guaranteed privacy as well as how it was Nico who she was showing this to. Once again, he provided her the comfort she needed to get what had been building inside her heart to gush out like a dam exploding. Perhaps the reason why she broke down so quickly, was due to how it had been building up for a while, over a day at least. "Iffy coulda gone somewhere else to get a book like a manga store."

"Unlikely on both accounts." Nico responded, shaking his head. "I doubt IF would go to a Manga store to get some reading done. She's more of a hands-on, research type of girl. In addition, this is the only place that's both close to our Hotel, and there aren't any closer manga shops around here. This is the only place where she could have hit the books, anyways." he explained, raising his Bracer and bringing up a Holomap of the entire city.

Compa hummed thoughtfully, a hand on her chin as she pondered what he was saying to them. "That is true, Iffy does seem like someone who would go to a library rather than a manga store, Nep-Nep." She the looked up towards the entrance, a mix of hopefulness and worry in her eyes. "Hopefully we can get some info on where Iffy could be…"

The other two nodded, sharing the Nurse-In-Training's thoughts on their friend's situation. Hopefully they could get some information as to what happened to their friend before she disappeared, like what she had been doing out here in the first place. It had to be of some importance considering how late it had been when IF had left the hotel. If it weren't, then none of them doubted that she wouldn't have pursued it in such conditions in the first place, favouring waiting till morning when there was less likelihood of things like this happening.

With those thoughts in mind, the trio walked into the Library.

* * *

Inside, the trio saw that the library had its reception desk up front. The room itself had a rather plain, ordinary look to it. The ground, walls and ceiling were coloured a light greyish shade, instead of the usual Leanbox colours. Not something one would see every day, but none of the trio bothered to pay attention to this fact as they walked up to the brown reception desk, where a woman wearing a formal dress shirt could be seen typing on a computer.

Sensing that there were guests arriving, the woman looked up from her monitor and put on a small smile, one Nico recognised as one used for working. "Well hello there, how may I help you?" she questioned them.

"Um, we were wondering if you have seen someone with brown hair, leafy bow, loads of phones that she doesn't even use, and wears way too much blue?" Compa questioned before Nico could respond.

'That… could have been worded a bit better, I think…' Nico mused in his head, sweat dropping at the description that the Nurse-In-Training gave. It wasn't wrong per say, but he got the feeling there was a bit of negative feeling there, based off worry for the brunette Spec Ops Candidate.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who thought that as Neptune looked at the young girl questioningly, her eyes showing just what she was thinking inside that noggin of hers. "Uhhhh… methinks that was a bit selective there, Compa-poo."

A small giggle came from the receptionist, her eyes filled with mirth as she regarded the trio. "Oh, it is quite alright. In fact, there was someone who fits that description a few days ago. Hold on, let me check the database." She told them, getting three perks upward from the trio as she shifted on her seat and began typing on the monitor's Keyboard. Neither Neptune nor Compa missed the slight glance she sent Nico's way though, especially when it was aimed towards his torso and carried a hint of appreciation to it. Thus, the result was their feminine instincts rising to attention as caution seeped into their beings.

'Nobody tries to eye Nicky up but me, lady!'

'Ni-Ni's not someone to be ogled at like a Prize! That's only reserved for his childhood friend!'

Those were their thoughts in a nutshell, meanwhile Nico shuddered as he got a strange feeling. 'Why do I get the feeling I'm standing close to a territorial battle between several Abnormal Monsters right now?' he wondered, before glancing to the two girls. His eyes looked their expressions over, and the answer came to him. 'Oh, right…'

 **'** **It appears that a female's heart is just as territorial over mates as a male's can be, Nico.'**

'You can say that again, dude.'

After a few minutes of waiting, the Receptionist turned back to them, placing her hands together on the Desk. "Alright, I checked, and your friend seems to have made a visit 2 days ago, looking up books on Abnormal Monsters. To be more specific, she was looking into Ghouls and their biology." A frown marred her features, a pensive one that didn't escape the trio's notice. "Not something that a cute girl like her would be into, but I'm guessing she was affiliated with the Guild or the Spec Ops."

Nico nodded his head in confirmation, while inside he couldn't help the worry spreading through his chest. 'IF was researching Ghouls? Did that have anything to do with the one we encountered at West Wind Valley?' the male wondered. It would make sense that she do her homework on a species that previously wiped the floor using her ass as a broom, it was part of her practical personality. IF was not someone who would take a defeat lying down. She would learn from the experience and be better prepared for the next time she would fight this enemy. That was something he'd learned about her from checking her records before their first meeting back at the Guild.

However, the fact that she was researching Ghouls… didn't really sit well with him.

He didn't know why, but he had this strange tightening in his chest. Like something had happened and it had to do with the secret that he had been hiding. IF was an observant person, Nico knew this due to spending so much time fighting alongside her. When one fights with another on the field of battle, they tend to learn more about one another than words could ever convey. One could call it the 'warrior tongue'. She wouldn't miss details that seemed suspicious and could endanger the Party, including any signs of someone keeping secrets from the rest of them. 'Hey, Biko… do you think that maybe…?'

A pensive hum escaped the lips of his demon persona, his thought patterns not too far off from Nico's own. The teen couldn't be sure on whether or not that was a good thing. **'… It is a possibility. That brunette did seem a bit off ever since that last encounter.'** He remarked, thoughtfully. **'Young IF discreetly glanced at our direction every now and then ever since, and I also recall her doing so beforehand, as well. Had IF not seen what we were like when facing that Ghoul, she definitely would have taken longer to conduct research, if she suspects anything about us. My advice would be to watch out for any signs of a confrontation from her in the future, Nico. Things may get dicey in that case.' **

That didn't sound good… but Nico nonetheless sent a mental nod Biko's way for his input. 'Alright, I'll do that.'

"Hmmm, I see. Do you know where she might have gone next?" Nico questioned the woman. It didn't hurt to ask, and as far as he was concerned, this was a detective case like the ones he got from the Guild. That meant he had to ask every question that he possibly could to gain the most amount of information.

The woman shook her head negatively. "Sorry, but I don't. She didn't seem to be in a talking mood, so she stuck to her books. Left a while later." She told him. Nico's eyes narrowed at this information. Something about that didn't seem right. Call him paranoid, but he just didn't like the way the woman's eyes looked when she told him that she didn't know anything. It was like she was deliberately saying that to avoid getting into trouble. Though, he couldn't pry for the time being with nothing but a hunch, so he'll let her off for now.

"Alright, thank you for your time. We'll be heading out now, enjoy the rest of your day, ma'am."

* * *

Once they were outside, the library doors shutting behind them, the trio turned to each other before beginning to discuss what they had learned. In hindsight, not much to their dismay. "Man, that was a bust." Neptune frowned, pouting with disappointment at their lack of leads. "That lady was useless, she didn't know a thing."

"Nep-Nep, don't be too mean to the receptionist lady." Compa chided the preteen, her eyes set in a stern expression. Although, it only lasted a few seconds before she too deflated. An air of depression hung around her as she continued her sentence. "Though, you do have a point. Where do we go from here?"

"Yeah… and let's not forget how she was totally eyeing Nicky up like eye candy, too! The Nerve!"

"Y-Yessie! That was rude, she should know he was taken!"

'Uhhhhh… how did we go from discussing about IF's lack of leads to her disappearance to the way that woman was looking at me?' Nico wondered, the teen sweat dropping as the girls discussed about an 'important topic' according to them. Sometimes, he wondered just how he had maintained what little sanity he had left with these girls and their abrupt changes in conversation topics.

 **'** **The heart of the female is an eternal mystery to the ideals of man.'**

'On that, I wholeheartedly agree with you, Biko.'

"Anyways, back to the current topic." Nico spoke up, getting the girls out of their previous funk and getting them to look back at him. "So far, we know that she was looking into Ghouls. Probably due to when we fought that last Ghoul back in West Wind Valley. She was likely trying to glean some information on how to beat them so we don't suffer that defeat any time soon."

Compa frowned at this, playing with her fingers to stave off her nervousness. "So, we don't really have much to go on then." She muttered, once again intensifying the atmosphere in a solemn manner. It didn't look like they would have much luck in finding more clues, unless they figured out something else that IF had been doing. Though, that chance was lower than finding a needle in a haystack.

That was when Biko chimed in with a little something.

 **'** **Perhaps I could be of some assistance.'**

'Huh? Biko?' Nico questioned, raising a brow towards his demon persona… in his mind, anyways. He'd almost slipped and spoke his name out loud, but thankfully he hadn't. How he'd got a voice in his head that helped him with his powers was not something that could be easily explained, plus it'd be all kinds of awkward.

 **'** **With the way your energy looks right now, I had been hoping for a bit longer, however it seems that we have no other choice. Nico, its time you learn about one of the abilities you have as a DPU.'** Biko told him, his tone betraying just how serious this topic was for them.

Nico's eyes narrowed at this information. Biko wouldn't say something like that without having a good reason for it. That much Nico knew for certain, since they talked to each other about quite a few things. 'Oh? What's that?'

 **'** **Negative emotion sensing. It's an ability that lets DPU's to sense hostility, hatred and other evil emotions within others. This ability can be very dangerous, as those with weak minds can get overwhelmed by the hatred and other negative emotions they sense, twisting them into abominable forms from which there was no turning back. Fortunately, this ability can be turned on and off, to help DPUs get accustomed to it. CPUs can do something similar, but they can only sense positive emotions within people. Since they are constructs of Share energy, which is born from the faith of those that believe in them. DPUs on the other hand, can only sense negative emotions, like rage, fury, despair among others, due to being made of an exact opposite energy. I would have liked to have taught you a bit about this ability first, but time is of the essence here. Just follow my instructions, and you should be alright.'**

'Alright…'

Nico didn't like the idea of using an untested ability any more than Biko did. It just begged for something to go horribly wrong, and from what he had been told by his demon persona, this ability going haywire could be the last mistake he ever made. However, like Biko had said earlier they didn't have any other options. IF's life was on the line here, and he'd be damned before he lost any more comrades. That was his oath, and the teen closed his eyes and began following Biko's instructions.

* * *

After closing his eyes, the teen nearly buckled, almost opening his eyes from the shock of what happened. In an instant, when the ability was switched on bu Biko's doing, the male had felt like something massive had slammed on top of him, something like a 1000 KG weight. It felt like he was being burned alive with so much heat surrounding him, like he was in the middle of a bonfire or something,

He could feel the heat trying to enter him, pushing through his natural defences. He could feel it embracing him, trapping him with no way out. It was choking him, going straight down his windpipe and filling his lungs which tried their hardest to expel it. The 'heat' was not to be denied, however, as it forced its way in despite resistance, effortlessly crushing it. it filled him to the brim, his lungs, heart, mind, everything within him now had been saturated by this heat, now all there was left to do was-

Was…

What was he doing again?

KILL…

What? Kill?

KILL, KILL…

Killing? Oh, so that's what…

 **'** **NICO!'**

* * *

Nico's eyes shot open with a loud gasp, startling the girls as he quickly clutched at his chest, coughing heavily as he fell to one knee. "Nicky/Ni-Ni!" Compa and Neptune cried out, kneeling beside him with concern etched onto their faces. Their questions on what happened and if he was alright went unheard by the male as he tried to regain his faculties. His mind though, that took a little longer than his body did t recover from its recent experience. 'What the hell…? I felt like I was swimming in an ocean of hot lava for a second…'

 **'** **That's what I was afraid would happen.'** Biko stated, and if he were to be seen right now, then they would tell he wasn't happy with the outcome. **'It appears our choice of location was too much for your current mental capacity. This city is ripe with negative emotions, mostly discrimination against the Spec Ops Program. When humans are in large clusters like this, their negative emotions tend to accumulate, and that is what nearly overwhelmed your senses. This would have resulted in you permanently losing yourself, becoming a shell of what you once were, guided only by those intense negative emotions. It is a fate that not even a dog deserves.'** Biko took a moment, trying to come up with a better way of explaining it which he did a moment later. **'It's like opening a door only to have a whole load of junk fall on top of you. You were unprepared and thus, you almost lost yourself to all the negative emotions. You could say that this ability, in its current state, is your one weakness.'**

At earing his explanation, Nico nearly lost all colour across his skin. The thought of having such a weakness… Nico was never someone who had many weaknesses. When he fought, he always held that feeling of being utterly invincible, of being able to win just thanks to his current body. It may seem arrogant at first, but when people began to realise just what kind of body Nico had, if they even got that far since he would usually have killed them by then, they would realise just how little they could actually do to escape his wrath.

Thanks to his condition, Nico had a body that was… different than most. That much was already apparent with his lack of being able to digest human foods, above average senses and instincts. His healing factor, while having not been as apparent thanks to how resilient his body had been to damage (save for that energy attack that had went through his chest – the drugs had been working to keep his powers limited, and they couldn't have done anything to heal him then. The con of having armour that infused you with suppressant drugs.), still held plenty of potency to it. Potency that was considered abnormal even among others of his kind.

That wasn't even taking into account the main weapon IT possessed, the weapon that IT was mostly known for, which was also considered freaky amongst the rest of its kind. Then came the mental issues with IT trying to take over every now and then. As long as he kept that at bay though, then things were all good. IT remained contained, and when people died, they at least died quick deaths.

However, the thought that he now, after so many years of having no weaknesses, now had a chink in his armour, a chink that he himself had little idea on how to repair considering this was about something that he had little understanding over, and it wasn't like he could just read a book on it. Oh hey, here's a manual about every little ability DPUs possess, have a great time! No, this ability was to do with his mind, and his mind was not as powerful as his body was by a long shot. It was strong, yes, but nowhere near the level his body was.

The thought that he had a chink in his armour now… Nico didn't like it, not one bit. This was the first time in a long while, where he felt vulnerable, weak, in danger. Nico didn't like it, like he said before, not one bit. It honestly made him feel more… human. Mentally, Nico only snorted, he had expected the thought of being more human to feel good… it didn't.

He soon got broken from his musings… and not in a fun way, either.

BONK!

"Ouch!"

Surprise etched itself onto Nico's face when he felt a fist cram itself into his temple. He didn't really feel much from the impact, a testament to how resilient his body was, and instead of him going ouch it was a female. 'That's definitely going to leave a mark.' The teen couldn't help but think in spite of this new… revelation, he had. Looking to the source of the attack, the teen saw that the offender was Neptune… who was now clutching her hand, whimpering while her knuckles seemed to swell red.

"Oh, Nep-Nep!" Compa exclaimed as she hurriedly pulled out some supplies from her Inventory to address the wound. While she began treating the injury, applying bandages to it under Neptune's careful scrutiny (even pain wouldn't stop her from stopping Compa from making her into a bandage mummy again.), the young Nurse-In-Training looked over to the surprised Nico. "Ni-Ni, what happened? You just went all silent and edgy on us before you screamed and fell." She asked him, worry seeping from her words.

"I guess that's why Neptune tried to hit me, then…" the male mused, getting nods from the two as Neptune's hand finally got bandaged up… normally, by the way. No chance of getting a mummy preteen today. Mentally, Nico cursed himself, why the hell did he have to use this ability when in close proximity to the girls? Now he'd worried them again. He really felt his pride as a man take a deep hit there, and he did NOT approve.

 **'** **In all fairness, I do believe the blame should shift between the two of us. If it weren't for my interference, this wouldn't have happened. I guess the timing could have been improved, also you may want to consider telling them half the truth, so they do not know that I am within you.'**

'… Agreed.'

"Well, I was testing out this new ability I got after going Berserker Mode. Apparently, my energy seemed to have stabilized greatly since then, so I should be able to use some more of my powers. My Demonic weapons are also available and safe for me to use at this point." Nico explained, getting an affirmative hum from his demon persona when he mentally prompted him for confirmation on that fact. "What I just used was negative emotion sensing, basically it's what it says in its name: I can sense negative emotions around me. Anger, sadness, all those negative emotions you can think of, I can sense them." Then, the male lowered his head as he gave a deep frown. His eyes shone with how troubled he felt inside. "Though, I should probably start small, as these emotions can potentially overwhelm me and thus, twist me into a horrible abomination. Unlike the Berserker mode, this would be permanent, and I would have to be put down."

Neptune and Compa both shared a collective gasp in horror at the thought. Both of them dreaded the prospect of having to actually kill the object of their affections if that scenario were to ever occur. The thought of having to kill someone alone was enough to send them into shivering messes, but to ill someone they loved? Someone they had fought alongside and called a comrade? All because he had twisted himself into a monster beyond all hope of recovery?

That sounded like fuel for nightmares.

"Well, you better not go wild on that, buster!" Neptune bellowed harshly her eyes flashing with pure rage as she poked him in the chest. Nico didn't feel anything from it, like before, but the act itself was more than enough. The underlying worry in her eyes was also icing on the cake for him. "I never wanna see you turn into a monster from your own power again, ya hear?!"

"Th-That's right! Please be more careful from now on, Ni-Ni! We.. don't want you to get hurt…"

Compa nodded resolutely in agreement, both girls getting right in Nico's face as they stared him down. The amount of raw emotion, the passion, desire, pleading and sadness in them served its purpose of stopping any and all thoughts other than those of conceding to their demands from circling through Nico's mind.

Wow… just when did these girls get so good at getting to him?

 **'…** **Is this one of those 'rhetorical questions' you talked to me about before?'**

'Sorta.'

 **'** **I see… Oh, by the way, that attempt at using Negative Emotion Sensing has offered us a boon.'**

'Oh?' Nico thought to his demon persona, curious. That attempt nearly killed him, and Bik says that something good came out of it? Whatever that could be, he'd like to know what it was he'd almost risked his life for. 'What is it, then?'

 **'** **I was able to isolate a trail of Negative emotions, mostly primal, animalistic bloodlust, leading out into the city. It was not an easy process; however, I do believe it originates from where IF was indeed kidnapped. It is possible that this trail could lead us to where she is being held.'**

Now THAT was some interesting news. The thought of a possible lead from that risky move made it feel slightly less of a stinger to him than before. It would only work more, if they actually found out where IF had been held. 'Interesting, I'll check it out with Nep and Compa. Odds are, they're gonna want to come with me to save IF, and honestly I don't think I have the willpower to refuse them at this point.'

Just before Nico could tell the girls what he found, the trio's ears perked up when the heard a group of citizens, huddled together like a bunch of street kids hanging out at the supermarket. They were speaking in hushed whispers… to them, anyways, The rest of the trio could hear them just fine, as could various citizens whom happened to be passing by the area.

"Hey, have you heard? Those Cultists are at it again?"

"Again? What do you mean again?"

"They've been taking followers to this Dungeon called 'Hellverse' I think, it's like one of their bases north of Mojang Village. Apparently, they've turned themselves into some sort of battle cult these days, since some say that they wear fur clothes now and wield powers not belonging to any normal person."

"Sounds like a load of bollocks to me, dude."

"I'm serious! These Cultists call themselves the 'Northmen' for some reason, though they also form a large army called the 'Forces of Chaos' who worship sub deities to Overlord Momus, called the Chaos Gods. Don't know much about them, only that they're a big deal nowadays."

"Wait, I think I've heard something like that from somewhere…"

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

The group soon dispersed, all walking away from them while chatting about these 'Northmen'. Nico's eyes narrowed at this information, his eyes shining with a contemplative light to them. 'These Northmen… they sound remarkably like those men me and Team RAIL encountered back at the Mines. The forces of Chaos, huh…? Well, I guess you could say that name fits them. Though, I'm a little worried about these 'Chaos Gods'. I don't know why, but just hearing them sends uncomfortable shivers down my spine.'

 **'** **Indeed. I may not possess much of a heart considering what I am, however these 'Chaos Gods' send me into shivers just thinking about them. Just saying their name makes me feel like I have a blade at my throat, poised to chop my head off with no way of repairing the damage.'** Biko commented within his mind, and both repressed the urge to shudder. Nico himself shuddered for another reason, Biko was a large standing rock to the male. Someone who didn't show fear or a recklessness that most warriors possessed. He was someone that the teen could go to for support, wisdom and guidance. if these Chaos Gods could make someone like Biko tremble, then they were seriously bad news. Also, if they were that bad, how bad was Overlord Momus?

"Did you hear that guys?" Neptune questioned, turning to the other two while bouncing on her two feet. Her eyes shone with excitement, the previous thoughts about Nico's safety having vanished from the forefront. When Neptune was depressed, just use the possibility of adventure and exploration to fill her happy meter back to maximum. "Looks like we got ourselves a new Dungeon to explore."

Compa thought about that for a moment, before she settled on a frown. "Um, Nep-Nep… I'm not sure this should be the right time for exploring Dungeons." She remarked, thinking about IF's situation. "I mean, we have to find our friend, Iffy. shouldn't we be focusing on rescuing Iffy?"

"Don't you see, Compa?" Neptune responded, her grin still plastered on her features. Compa still looked concerned though, so the preteen went and elaborated for her. "The plot says we'll be going there, so that must mean Iffy is there. It's not like we have anything else on where we should be going, anyways."

"True…"

Nico watched the conversation for the time being. Searching through Neptune's features, the male noticed it. It was only for an instant, and he didn't doubt that Neptune did it intentionally, but she briefly lowered her 'Mask' towards him, showcasing what she was really feeling inside. Her eyes, which were filled with eagerness to explore, expertly hid the deep unease and worry that she was sporting deep inside. She probably felt like wanting to blow apart everything just to find a clue to her friend's location, Neptune always cared about her friends. Even if she saw them as 'rivals' or whatever, Neptune still stuck her neck out for them when it counted. How she must be feeling right now… Nico understood. He understood because he had felt similar several times in the past. Wen comrades were captured or going through horrible times, it took all he had to keep his cold self afloat.

Back then, he may have been a machine in terms of not showing much emotion, that much was true. He had been a cold, calculating, near heartless killing machine. He'd not hesitate in tearing someone apart either on or off the battlefield. Hell, sometimes he enjoyed it so much that he would smile when he did so, only to scold himself in disgust for enjoying it in private. Nico didn't refuse the notion that he was a monster, hell, he'd repeatedly stated before how he would follow the path of the monster to the very end. He'd been set on this path against his will, but there was no turning back now. This was his path, and he would walk it till he couldn't walk anymore.

But… there were times when his inner self shined through the Mask, exposing cracks that only appeared when he was around people he gave a damn about. As much as he tried to be, Nico never could remain completely heartless for long, there would always be times when his lips would smile in a genuine manner like when he would phone Compa, or when he was around people he trusted. For a while, there was only his mother that he trusted, but then Lucy, Raven, Aiden and Ivan came along, and now he had a whole bunch of girls that he trusted and cared for deeply. In essence, he had way more trusted ones than he did before, hence why he didn't put on his coldness as much as he used to.

'HOW FAR YOU HAVE FALLEN, KING. BECAUSE OF YOUR OVERRELIANCE ON YOUR FRIENDS, YOU HAVE BEEN SEVERELY DULLED, YOUR INSTINCTS BLUNTED, YOUR CLAWS RUSTED. WHEN WILL "YOU" RETURN, KING? THE "YOU" YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE? IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RELY ON THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A POWER, SO… NOW THERE IS ONLY ONE DOOR.'

Yet, the words of IT rang throughout his head constantly, like a nagging parent trying to prove a point. A point that Nico was beginning to see… even if he refused to look at it. Shaking his head, the teen interjected into the conversation, "Neptune's meta-antics aside, t's the best thing we can do right now. Let's go to this 'Hellverse', who knows we could find something we can use to find IF's location." In his head, he added 'hopefully, that trail Biko detected leads to this Hellverse…'


	79. Chapter 76 - Demonic Encounters

**Hey guys, new chapter**

 **This one's a juicy one because, in real life, i wrote this scene already in a different story. A story I don't plan on publishing called 'Ghoulified Gamer'. Basically it doesn't match up to my current standards. Also, if anyone's wondering, I'm also writing a Prototype fanfiction that;s a remake of a older fic I created. Again, that one's original didn't meet my standards, hence why i'm not publishing it. Though, once i've built up enough chapters I'm planning on publishing the remake of it. Look forward to that.**

 **Anywho, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 76 - Demonic Encounters**

"#humming#"

"Nep-Nep seems really excited, doesn't she?"

The trio walked down a country path, one that lead to the Hellverse dungeon. He'd seen this to be the case thanks to utilizing his Holomap on his Bracer, and right now the teen had been keeping an eye on it, as well as his Motion Tracker, for any surprise encounters. He constantly thought back to the directions Biko had given him so that they could arrive at the Hellverse Dungeon, but there had been things bugging him about it.

Bugging him to a point where he had to look into the Guild Website to see if they had any information about it.

The Guild, aside from giving quests out to their Agents, also specialised in gathering information via said Agents. They had Spec Ops Scout out Abnormals, their Nests and habits, while normal Agents scouted dangerous Dungeons depending on their Level. Since there were a shortage of Agents, they each were well reimbursed for their troubles, and checks on their levels were highly recommended before accepting a request to scout a Dungeon. When they return with their reports about what they've found, the Guild would post such information on its Website, informing people what to do when near these Dungeons.

Should they prove to be a threat, depending on their level the same Agent that scouted them or a higher level Agent, would be sent to clear them out. Dungeons themselves couldn't be destroyed without the use of large-scale weaponry, should they be used the damage to the local ecosystems would be at cataclysmic levels. Also, it would be highly unrealistic and impractical to blow up every Dungeon they find. They carried resources that the people needed, after all. Thus, that option was thrown out the window.

According to the Website, this Dungeon was not like that of the others, in that there were signs of Northmen presence there. The same subsection of the Overlord Momus Cult that had been spreading through Leanbox. If he could compare Leanbox to Lastation, he could say that without a doubt that while Lastation had some sick twisted shit going on politically and with the Monsters and Avenir's making of disastrous BOWs, Leanbox had troubles all on its own. This demonic stuff was definitely something someone as fucked up as Arfoire would conjure up on a whim. Whatever her endgame was, Nico vowed to himself that he would stop it. He had seen too much fucked up shit to let this all go and pursue his own selfish desires, this had to stop.

Plus, he had comrades to help him with this.

When he heard Compa's question, the male looked up from his Bracer to regard the Nurse-In-Training with a reproachful look. "It's her way of keeping the morale high, Compa." He told her, whispering so that Neptune didn't hear him. He didn't want her Mask to break right now, not when they weren't alone. "Honestly, I'm impressed she's managed to keep it together this long. Her worry for IF is tearing her apart inside, so let her have her time." Nico imagined she would appreciate it if they helped her out with this, and judging by how she sneaked a grateful glance his way, Nico assumed he had done something right.

"Oh, I see…" Compa muttered, looking down dejectedly. She hadn't realised that Neptune would do something like that, she guessed she was just so used to her being her normal adorable, quirky self that it was hard to imagine her having worries like that. She never really showed much worry over things like this, but that didn't mean she wouldn't worry. She would just hide it so the rest of them could feel at ease. At least, that was what she got from this.

Nico noticed her state and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Hey now, ease up." He advised, softly squeezing her shoulder to get her attention. "Smile for Neptune's sake, she's trying her hardest to keep the team going, so you should do." He told her seriously, before his lips curved into a lopsided smirk. "After all, you're our resident Nurse-In-Training after all."

His words had the intended effect, as Compa's features brightened considerably. "Hm!"

Pausing her humming, Neptune twirled around before leaning towards their resident male Party Member. "Say Nicky." She began, hands behind her back while her position allowed him a chance to look at her cleavage. Something she did intentionally, and he made SURE not to take it. "What did that site say about our Dungeon?" she questioned, tilting her head innocently.

'BULL-FUCKING-SHIT, SHE KNOWS WHAT SHE'S DOING!'

 **'** **You are not to speak for a long time. Nico will not be influenced by you.'**

'HAH! SUCK IT, ASSHOLE! YOU CAN'T SUPPRESS ME, AND YOU KNOW IT!'

The two beings argued in his mind, almost making Nico cringe. He would likely have to get some aspirin soon or something for possible migraines in the near future. Nevertheless, he made sure to ignore them as best he could while answering Neptune's question. "They say that this Hellverse Dungeon's got some sort of subsection of the Overlord Cult defending it, called the Northmen or, as they liked to call themselves, the 'hordes of chaos'. I encountered some of them when I was on my Urgent Quest, and believe me, they bring the 'horror' genre to a whole new level." He replied, flinching when he remembered some of the things he'd seen those guys do.

How they ended up that way wasn't much of a help, either.

Neptune pouted at this information. "Geez, this dark stuff's really corrupting the nice, carefree genre the devs were going for." she remarked, before brightening up when another fact made itself known in her mind. "But hey, this is fanfiction. Anyways, these guys sound like bad dudes, heck those guys back in town looked pretty spooked as well. They really that bad?"

"Yeah, and worse."

Nico pursed his lips when he remembered some OTHER research ha had delved into regarding the Overlord Faction. More Specifically the sub deities that these Northmen believe in. There were several 'Chaos Gods' according to their little religion, and each of them seemed sick and twisted in ways that made the most disgusting of enemies look handsome in comparison.

 **Khorne** : The Chaos God of bloodlust, war, death, blood, and skulls. Khorne favours close combat, abhorring the use of magic, considering it a cowardly practice. He held the title "lord of blood". Khorne is also the god of courage and honor, but these trappings are always eventually discarded in favour of the primary goal of killing. While he blesses his followers by granting them strength and martial prowess, Khorne does not truly care who spills blood, so long as the blood continues to be spilled. Those who worship Khorne are mighty warriors seeking to earn his favour by slaying mighty beasts and murdering mass populations. His followers often use "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE" as their battle cry.

The male remembered those Northmen at the Mines, they must have been Khorne followers then.

 **Tzeentch** : The Chaos God of change, fate, mutation, hope, and knowledge. Tzeentch's followers are powerful sorcerers who prefer to channel the energies of dark magic at a distance rather than get close to enemies. Tzeentch is always scheming, his every action feeding into his great plots that only he can comprehend. Tzeentch controls and manipulates the fates of all and weaves them intricately into his devious web of manipulation and hunger for power. Those who worship Tzeentch are sorcerers and magicians hungry for knowledge and the pursuit of a greater understanding of the universe.

 **Nurgle** : The Chaos God of plague, despair, disease and death. Nurgle is a warm and welcoming god who gifts his followers with poxes and boils, rashes and sores. He held the title of Lord of Decay. His power comes from the inevitability of death and decay, and Nurgle is often referred to as 'Grandfather Nurgle', as entropy is the most ancient of forces, and he is the only one who cares for his followers. Nurgle thrives in death and decay, growing more powerful as great plagues spread, and his servants seek only to spread disease. Nurgle prides himself on the achievements of his followers, "gifting" them with hideous diseases while sheltering them from pain, and his followers rejoice in their blessings, shrugging off lethality and disfigurement in a state of rapturous undeath. Those who worship Nurgle are those suffering and wanting freedom from sickness and pain, unaware that they are rapidly becoming more sick yet feeling less pain. Nurgle welcomes all who desire to worship him.

 **Slaanesh** : The Chaos God of lust, pleasure, desire, and excess. He is the youngest of the four gods; yet he has a loose gender, able to change between male and female at will. He held the title of the Prince of Pleasure. His followers seek only to indulge in whatever fleeting whims and desires they feel, and they tend to become graceful, beautiful warriors who harbour selfish, cruel souls. Those who worship Slaanesh are those who either wish to achieve the most popularity amongst their fellow men or the most ecstatic pleasure, pleasure beyond imaginable.

'How in the world can people follow such beings…?' Nico always wondered this whenever he looked up what the Overlord Momus Faction had said about their beloved 'Chaos Gods'. Hell, even more appalling was how each of these Gods seemed to gain a growing following, something that baffled and disgusted him beyond imagining. As a DPU, he honestly felt insulted that these Gods were considered a thing, though he didn't know why he felt so strongly about it.

 **'** **I can understand the last one, but the other three… Well, for Khorne, I think he plays off the human's desire for conflict. As long as blood is shed, then he is satisfied with whatever conflict he is seeing. Nurgle prays upon people's fear of dying and crossing onto the other side, twisting them into horrible mutated abominations just so they could live a little longer. Slaanesh seems to promote the use of the seven deadly sins for a person's own pleasure, be it lust for a woman, lust for combat, all the while twisting their souls into fractions of what they once were. Not a nice set of Gods, but humanity never really cares if they're nice or not.'**

'You can say that again… How's the Demon weapons holding up?'

 **'** **They are doing well. In recent times however, I have learned more about their origins from the fragmented memories. Their true classification is 'Devil Arm' and they are physical manifestations of defeated Demons. To wield one, there are various methods. One of which is to kill the Demon the power serves, which then recognises you as a worthy wielder and will serve you. Strength is a major factor when considering Demonic culture, the stronger you are the more respect you will Garner. Another method is subjugation, where the Devil Arm will try and 'test' you by trying to kill you. Survive, and its power is yours, like what happened when Alastor tried to kill you. No matter what though, those unworthy of these weapons will be killed when they try to touch the Devil Arm.'**

Now that made sense, Nico muse. He recalled when he first found Alastor at that ruin, how it tried to take possession of his body. He refused though and managed to subjugate it into his will instead. That must be what Biko was referring to as the second method of acquiring a Devil Arm's power. Though, there was something about Biko's tone that indicated something… something else. Something he hadn't yet revealed to him. 'Sounds like you have something else to tell me, Biko. What is it?'

 **'** **Good, you have noticed. That Defiler Demon you fought… its power has also manifested within you as a Devil Arm.'**

'!'

 **'** **Its name is 'Absolution' and it possesses the ability to 'corrupt' the target into moving slower by infusing their bones with that black corruption you saw the Defiler use. When you next fight, you may summon it to your side, as like Harvester, it does not drain your energy as much compared to the others.'**

… Huh, was that so? Nico could think of a number of applications for such a weapon. Tough, why he hadn't noticed it until now was still a question that floated around in his head. One reason could be his unstable powers, but still.

The trio then stopped walking when something registered in their senses. "Hey guys, you hear that?" Neptune questioned with a frown. A sudden sound had caused them to stop moving and look around, eyes sharp as they gauged their surroundings. It was a distant sound, one that reminded the trio of a flying beast like an Ancient Dragon or something. Though, this chill that crawled up their spines did NOT feel at all comforting. "Methinks that the plot's about to thicken."

"I heard it too, Nep-Nep… my Compa instincts tell me something bad is coming."

"Keep on guard guys, whatever's coming may not be friendly."

This started to feel suspiciously like a surprise encounter for Nico. His eyes darted about, searching for any signs of potential enemies approaching. Surprise encounters were NEVER fun, for anyone involved. Usually people were caught with their figurative pants down and killed before they could even deploy their weapons. As a precaution, the teen did just that, deploying his Armour then his Plasma Claws. Neptune and Compa followed his lead by donning their armour, though the former deployed her Armblades while the latter summoned her Combat Syringe.

Soon the sound got closer, and Nico immediately knew that it was some sort of winged creature. It didn't sound like an Ancient Dragon or any of its subspecies though, which confused the hell out of him. It didn't even sound like a birds' wings, either, so that either meant that this was either an Abnormal that hasn't been documented before, or something much worse. Something more sinister in origin. 'Could it be Northmen? No, my Motion Tracker would have detected them. Could it be an Abnormal? No, not possible, for the same reason as the first.' Nico wondered, shaking his head.

 **'** **Nico, be wary!'**

Biko's voice suddenly rung out through his mind, sharper than a blade, nearly making him fall over. 'Whoa dude, calm the fuck down! We're already tense enough as it is!' he yelled back to his demon persona.

 **'** **I fear you may not be wary enough: I recognise this aura approaching us. This is a Demonic entity, one that surpasses the likes of a Defiler!'**

'What?! What do you-?!'

Before Biko could respond, or Nico being able to finish his sentence, a loud roar rang out, and a distant shadow came down from the skies above. Instincts saved them as Nico, Compa and Neptune quickly reacted, flipping backwards in different directions to avoid what looked to have been a giant demonic Axe smashing into the ground and breaking it under its sheer weight. Then there was what followed which amplified the shockwave tenfold. It created a loud boom sound and unleashed a devastating shockwave, one that Nico unfortunately had gotten himself caught up in.

Nearly being forced off balance by the shockwave, the teenage Spec Ops Agent managed to flip back multiple times, bouncing along the ground before landing finally in a crouching position, a hand on the ground as he skidded across it to a halt.

"Yo, Nicky! You alright?!"

"Ugh, I'm good!"

When he finally stopped moving Nico quickly stood up and looked towards what had the gall to launch a sneak attack on him, same with Neptune and Compa…

Only to wish they hadn't a moment later.

A tall creature, probably around 10 or so meters tall considering how they could barely see it, stood within the centre of a large, dark smokescreen. Low growls could be heard within the smoke as an aura of tension filled the atmosphere. It almost felt like the landmass itself was quaking in fear of whatever was within that smokescreen… and they didn't like it one bit. None of them could see much, but there were two hollow red eyes focusing in on their resident male Party member with a stare of pure unbridled bloodlust and savagery, one that reminded him of an Abnormal infested with the Frenzy Virus. It was like this thing had no sense of will, nothing but an insatiable hunger for blood… their blood.

As the smoke cleared, two large appendages briefly became visible, but were too fast to make out. They did the beating motion of wings, and then a tremendous darkness swept across the lend, enveloping them in a large dome like structure and sealing them off from the outside world. This also did the job of robbing them of the ability to see, no light being visible. Not even the rays of the sun could penetrate this makeshift barrier, and the only source of light visible were the two demented eyes, filled with bloodlust, gazing down at them.

It gave off a twisted, heavy, dreadful sensation that made them wanna ruin away forever, to hide in the darkest corners of the world and pray for their souls. To keep the light on at night-time less it come from the shadows to claim their beings. One that felt comparable to tons of 1000 KG weights being forced onto their shoulders. The air itself felt like it was trying to crush their lungs into paste, their hearts pounding uncontrollably in their chests.

"Um… nepu…"

Not even Neptune could say anything to lift the sensation around them, her form shivering constantly and without limit. She tried to hold her Armblades in a defensive stance, to put up a brave façade. However, judging by how her arms constantly shook, creating repeated clinking sounds from her Armour, it was clear to them that it was failing.

"This… this thing is…"

If Neptune was frightened, then Compa was downright horrified as she looked up at the creature, bathed in the darkness that it spawned. It almost felt like she was looking at her own death in the face, and part of her (to her disgust) couldn't help but be relieved that it wasn't looking directly at her. She couldn't help it, this thing… it oozed a sensation that filled her to the brim with cold, dark fright. A sensation that gripped her heart like a vice, giving her no room to breathe whatsoever. Even without it, she dared not breathe, for she felt that if she did, then she'd likely meet her end in the next instant.

 ** _"_** ** _So… YOU are the ONE who TRARNISHED my MINING followers? PATHETIC…"_**

The owner of the eyes chuckled ominously, a sinister undertone beneath it that made Nico's skin crawl. It felt like many beings were laughing at him all at once, mocking him for his fragility in its eyes. Nico, despite the sensations forming in his stomach, gritted his teeth behind his Helmet, clenching his fists as his Plasma Claws shone brightly. No matter what, Nico would never stand for someone insulting him, it would usually involve them getting a claw to the face in the end. It lit a fiery anger in his eyes, but it was quelled when the pressure suddenly spiked. The owner of the eyes allowed the aura around it to bathe it in darkness, creating a misty fog that spread through the air. Its eyes shone like hellish flames in the darkness, its mouth oozing puffs of black ash-like flames every time it let out a breath. Nico and the others quickly quickly got on guard, in case of an attack.

Though, he did notice that the unknown hostile wasn't focusing much on Neptune or Compa, but him instead. The male wondered why that was for a moment, until he remembered the creature having mentioned something about a Mine. That made him think back to his Urgent Quest, which made his lone eye narrow at the beast within its darkness. An idea formed in his mind of what this beast could be, Abnormal was definitely out of the question considering what he had fought in the Mines of Mojang Village. So that left only one thing… something he dreadfully hoped wasn't the case.

It felt like that was the case though, and if so, then this would be way worse than he initially thought.

'Hey, Biko! What have we got here?'

 **'** **Looking it up now, its been a while and I only glossed through it before.'**

"You know, its rude to just launch a sneak attack on someone." he snarled as he got into a battle stance. Even if this thing terrified him just from its mere presence alone, Nico would not back down. Despite his reluctance to fight it, something he had never felt in such quantities as he did now, Nico's instincts screamed at him to fight it, to tear into it ad feast on its flesh. The power of IT would have nothing less from its wielder.

However, this proved to be a mistake when the owner of the eyes suddenly roared in anger, the aura intensifying itself while the smoke turned into a thick miasma of bloodlust and frenzied glee. One could compare it to hearing the death tolls ringing 1000 times over.

 ** _"_** ** _SILENCE! You wretched WORM, how dare you DESTROY my FOLLOWERS! I will EAT out your HEART for this DEFIANCE!"_**

"Good job, Nicky!" Neptune yelled over in his direction. Her earlier fear got replaced with indignation as she threw her arms down and stomped her foot on the ground, aiming an annoyed stare towards the other teen. "You made the scary guy mad!"

"Well, its something I'm used to!"

Nico's response got deafened when the beings' eyes glowed brighter as the owner let out a beastly roar, one that thundered through the surroundings like a great hurricane. Compa, unable to hold it in any longer, cried out as she fell onto her backside, the loud roar echoing through her ears as painfully as a shredder ripping her body to pieces. Neptune lasted a little longer, balancing herself on one foot while flailing her arms in a panic, before she too fell… on her face. Meanwhile, Nico kept his stance, though the desire to cover his ears was strong indeed.

"Heh, you talk as if you own me, shit head." Nico mocked, his mouth twisting into a sly smile. The beast, being, whatever it was had already been angered, so why not fan the flames a little? It'll make it sloppy and easier to fight, or at least that's what he hoped. He could feel IT straining against his willpower, trying to come out of where he kept it to take control and end this fucker. If this were anything else though, if he were alone and this situation played out the same way, then he probably would have let it do what it wanted. "Why not just shut your yap before I shut it for you?"

 **'** **Not… the wisest off ideas, but on the bright side, its garnered you the respect of the Devil Arms within your soul.'**

'Heh, well I do try. Any chance I could access DDD at all, buddy?'

 **'** **Not a chance. It is still too risky to transform given your current state. The use of Devil Arms are the only things demon-related that you may use.'**

'Bullocks… whelp, lets see how badly I get my ass kicked, shall we?'

 ** _"_** ** _You… you DARE… insult ME?! A great DEMON PRINCE?!"_**

The owner of the eyes flared something behind it, from what Nico could tell it seemed like a set of wings or something, as its smoky aura seemed to slowly dissipate to allow him to see what the heck it was that he was going to be fighting soon. And the sight was just as repulsive as the aura polluting the atmosphere.

Not only that, but the aura combined with the darkness, activating some sort of ability. Nico didn't know what it was, but he could feel it tainting the land, transforming it into a hideously demonic mutated form. The ground turned red and looked to be made from the skulls of fallen beings, both human and non -human alike, all groaning in agony. The skies turned into a mix of red, orange and black, like blood and fire were mixing together into a single, horrific combination of the three. Dozens of Tendrils and spikes rose out the ground at slanted angles randomly, and a sick laughing sound could be heard all around them.

Both girls cried out in horror and dread at the sight, having sped towards each other and now were holding onto each other for dear life.

 **'** **It seems this creature has transported you and the girls to his realm, taking you out of the material world of Gamindustri to this one. There will be no escaping here, at least not for a time, unless you damage him enough so that he cannot maintain your presence here in this realm any longer. This is essentially a 'break the cage' situation. '** Biko warned, making Nico frown under his helmet.

And yet, in the mindset that Nico had found himself in, his body calmed down instead of getting more panicked, in fact, none of the settings registered to him anymore as he solely focused on the creature before him. It looked to be at least 15 metres tall, with a hulking body that had the upper body of a minotaur with demonic looking horns and 2 large tattered bat wings, while its lower body was that of a bipedal humanoid with hooked hooves for feet. Around its neck, was a neckless made from what looked like dead flesh and adorned with small skulls. Out the base of its spine was a long tail that had a trident shaped end. In its massive claws hands was a pair of worn looking Axes, ones that looked to have seen a lot of battle. It also looked to be wearing Egyptian style clothing but in a more sinister, wicked form, the 'skirt' was blood red and decorated with human skulls, while there was large red pauldrons on its shoulder with black spikes. The rest of the torso was exposed, showing bulging muscles befitting of a creature that size.

'Well… that's something.'

Seeing this massive creature caused Nico to step backwards, startled for a brief moment, before he regained his composure and pointed a Plasma Claw at him. "Well you've definitely got the size thing down, pall. But you know what?" he asked, unable to stop himself from smirking as he prepared himself. "You think just because your bigger automatically means your better. Well then, allow me to rectify that. You won't mind, will you?" Sneaking a glance towards the girls, Nico yelled out. "Neptune, think it's a good idea to transform, right now! Compa, you stay in the rear, you'll be safe there!"

"Righto/right!"

A bright light encased Neptune as she turned into her HDD self. Opening her eyes, Purple Heart rose to her standard elevated position as she drew her Katana from its sheath, holding it in her usual combat stance. "Processor Unit: set complete." She muttered, narrowing her eyes at the monster. She could still feel the same fear of it that her human self felt, but thanks to HDD she felt like she could push through that fear to fight this monster. 'No, this feels more like a Demon… like that Defiler back in Planeptune.' Purple Heart thought to herself, holding her Katana at the ready.

 ** _"_** ** _Huh? OH, I did NOT notice them BEFORE…"_**

The beast before them turned its head when it sensed the divine energy within Purple Heart. Its hellish eyes lit up like mini infernos as it regarded her, not even looking towards Compa. **_"A being of DIVINITY… how LONG has it BEEN since I last FOUGHT one of your KIND… 2 millennia… 30… I CANNOT recall…"_** it then let out a loud bark, like a canine, snapping its fingers. **_"No MATTER. My business is NOT with you, DIVINE ONE, but with THIS."_** It raised an axe and pointed it towards Nico. **_"The fact that YOU have entered MY realm is COMMENDABLE, so I will RESPOND by giving you to MY PETS!"_**

Instantly after it clicked its fingers, dozens of long, crimson red limbs erupted from the ground like zombies rising from their graves to once again walk among the living. These hands pulled the bodies they were attached to out of the skull-covered ground, letting their forms be seen by all.

They stood at over 8 feet tall, with crimson, humanoid bodies that matched the shade of crimson flames. Sharp, needle-like teeth studded their slavering jaws. Their serpentine tongues constantly flickered, eager to taste the blood of the ones that their master called them to kill. Rippling muscles lay barely concealed beneath their scaly red hides, knotted sinews that give the strength sufficient for its jet-black claws to pierce the most unyielding armour. They had humanoid bipedal legs, ones that ended in three toed talons, while their heads had large curved horns. Their eyes matched the shade of red their hides possessed, while in their hands were long, two-handed swords made from a twisted obsidian metal.

 **'** **Oh, this is not good.'** Biko warned the DPU, and if he could be seen right now then Biko would be seen scowling at the sight of the beings summoned from the ground. **'Nico, the fragmented memories tell me that those are 'Bloodletters', considered by their master to be 'Lesser Demons' yet still ferocious enough to warrant respect in the demon world.** **These Lesser Daemons are deadly warriors believed to have been foremost amongst the Blood God's followers in mortal life and whose will is as implacable and blood-hungry as that of Khorne himself. Bloodletters are possessed of an inhuman strength; they can rip a mortal apart with cold-blooded ease, and in battle their long, jagged Hellblades glow with the heinous demonic energies. These vicious swords are said to be as sharp as Khorne's own hatred. As they cut through the flesh and bone of mortals, they become coated with the blood of the slain, glowing ever brighter as they kill, invigorated by the rich taste of death.'**

The young DPU scowled, hating himself right now for being unable to transform into his DPU form right now. What Biko just told him worried the male greatly, it sounded like these lesser demons would be a great threat to Compa's safety if he didn't get there soon, yet his instincts told him that this winged being wouldn't let him get anywhere near them.

 ** _"_** ** _BLOODLETTERS!"_** The winged-beast before Nico roared, getting the attention of the 40 'Bloodletters' as they looked to their master. Each of them eyed him with crazy, demented, bloodlust-fuelled eyes while hungrily cawing for the chance to tear into their prey. **_"FEAST on the SOUL of the DIVINE ONE! Leave the MORTAL to ME! I will MAKE her MY slave for ETERNITY!"_**

Now THAT pissed him off big time. The thought of Compa being used as…. Entertainment, by these creatures, going through acts so vile that not even the scum of the earth would deserve, nearly sent him into a blood rage. Nobody would do that to his childhood friend and get away with it! Nobody would touch her like tat unless they wanted a taste of Rebellion or Harvester, or any of his Devil Arms!

The loud, joyful roars coming from the Bloodletters did nothing to raise Nico's mood, either.

"Don't worry, Nicky!" Purple Heart yelled as she floated in front of Compa. Said Nurse-In-Training wisely chose to keep back, stepping away from the battle as she held her Syringe like an Assault Rifle. Her arms shook intensely at the sight of these Lesser Demons, but thanks to the warm sensations she was getting from Purple Heart's divine aura, she felt significantly safer. Purple Heart sensed this in her mind, which prompted a reassuring smirk that she aimed at her love interest. "I will make sure none of them reach anywhere near Compa."

Nico nodded, sending a relieved smirk her way. "Got it, thanks Neptune." He called back, before facing off against the beast. His smirk, hidden by his Armour, fell from his lips and became replaced with a deep frown. The lack of knowledge about this creature disturbed him greatly, but fortunately for him he still had one source of information at his disposal. 'This thing called itself a 'Demon Prince' earlier, Biko. Anything on what that is?'

 **'** **I just found that out by looking at these Fragmented Memories. According to them, Demon Princes are Human champions elevated to Demonhood as a reward for his or her actions on the behalf of the Chaos Gods. Demon Princes have chosen to trade their humanity for the god-like power and immortality of a Demonic being, a servant to the Chaos Gods. A Demon Prince is practically a living extension of the energies these Chaos Gods possess. To ascend to the rank of Demon Prince is the ultimate goal of the most powerful Champions of Chaos, as it gives them immortality and power beyond the reckoning of mortals. Those few who climb the path of the Champion to its apex are granted the prize of eternal life. Though thousands of lesser aspirants will fall by the wayside, a supremely talented devotee will clamber over mountains of the slain until he reaches the pinnacle of his bloody craft. However, that is not enough to satisfy these Gods. Only those who further the causes of their masters are given the precious gift of Demonhood. They are raised up to become demigods, roaring their triumph into the night as their new bodies swell and bulge with the energies Demons possess.'**

'Ouch… that sounds bad. Anything else.'

 **'** **Demon Princes combine the brute strength of daemons with the combat skill and tactical expertise of normal mortals. However, if the Champion fails in the eyes of their god, their lives and ambitions end as they are cast aside and instead descend into the mutant state of what is known as a 'Chaos Spawn'. Since Demon Princes have been transformed into semi-autonomous extensions of the Chaos God they serve, they are now entities existing in more than the physical world and can never truly be killed in the material universe, only banished into the demon world for a specific or arbitrary amount of time, usually 1,000 standard years. One who ascends to Demonhood can look forward to an eternity of servitude at his patron's behest. Even death is no respite. Essentially, Demon Princes will exist for as long as Chaos is a force in the universe.'**

Things just keep getting better and better, don't they? Nico couldn't help but scowl behind his helmet. The fact that he couldn't truly kill these beings from the Demon world, the Demon Princes, grated on his nerves heavily. Hell, even if he were at full power, this fact would save them from his wrath. If Neptune had heard this, then she would be calling Hax on their asses for centuries to come. Yet, there was one other issue as well, one that was much greater in importance to him. With so much information about these beings within the Fragmented Memories of the DPU Memory Core within him, Nico didn't doubt that this Chaos religion had a connection to his predecessors, the DPUs of old. There was just no way there wasn't a connection, considering what Biko knew of them. There was more in those memories about these beings than the Overlord Momus Cult had disclosed to the public. That alone warranted him to think this way.

 **'** **Some good news, with so much demonic energy in the atmosphere, you should be able to use your Devil Arms, as well as your Demonic Skills, during the battle. I'll let you know when it is safe to use them, Nico. Also, the knowledge on the Demon Princes is incomplete, I noticed this in my Research. In fact, the more you grow as a DPU, the more these Fragmented memories become more like a grimoire, or a tone, filling themselves with pages upon pages of information. Its like how people record their research into journals then publish them to the world. There could possibly be a way to destroy Demon Princes for good, we just have to wait and see.'**

'Thanks for the confidence boost, Biko.' The teenage Spec Ops Agent remarked, gratitude laced in his tone as he thanked his demon persona for his hard work. That information may not be helpful at all to him right now, but any information was better than nothing to him. He would just have to fight this fucker the old-fashioned way. Nico's last thought before he and this Demon Prince charged at each other, intending to rip each other apart with no regard for mercy…

Was that he couldn't wait to fight this thing.

* * *

 ** _"_** ** _Well, NOW. THIS is INTERESTING…"_**

"What is it?" Arfoire questioned, turning behind her to look at her companion. After they had found many monsters, Abnormal and Normal variants, for it to consume it had grown quite large, almost the size of a Van. It had been an intimidating sight that she had taken a while to get used to, but the thought of this being siding with her on her plans was something that helped keep her going. She noticed that it was 'looking' in the direction of the recently revealed 'Hellverse' Dungeon, something must have gotten its attention there.

Reaching out with her senses, Arfoire gasped, eyes shooting wide open when she sensed an abundance of demonic energy in that direction, an amount that she had never felt before, not even from that DPU she had fought. It was like she was peering into an endless void of pure energy, one that tried to suck her in and bend her to its will. Fortunately, she managed to snap herself out of it before things got out of hand.

 ** _"_** _ **It APPEARS a POWERFUL force has DESCENDED to the MATERIAL world from the world of the DEMONS. A powerful DEMON PRINCE… one THAT follows KHORNE I believe… that beautiful WARMONGER… always GOING ON about BLOOD, CARNAGE, and SLAUGHTER…"**_

The white-haired witch raised a brow at the entity. She couldn't help but sense the familiarity in its multi-voiced tone. "You sound like you know of Khorne, then."

 ** _"_** ** _Indeed, I DO… Youngling. I indeed DO know of KHORNE. There is MUCH that you must LEARN about our age, things that your PRECIOUS library DOES NOT teach you. For NOW, though, we must continue. MY final MEAL is approaching…"_**

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Wow, a particularly juicy chapter here. Its hyping up with a battle against a Demon Prince from the Warhammer franchise. Based off the description, guess which one I went with in the reviews. I'll answer in the next chapter.**

 **I intended to add this in just to make the situation seem that much more intense, as well as give you all some more lore on what the DPU age was like. This Chaos religion, as Nico says, is indeed connected to that age.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, read, review and fav please!**

 **peace out!**


	80. Chapter 77 - Divine, Demonic and Demonic

**Chapter 77 - Divine, Demonic and Demonic**

Divine vs demonic.

Such a battle had not been seen in millennia, ever since one of them faded away in to the annuls of history, many hoping to never hear of it again. Many times in a past long forgotten, these two opposing forces have clashed, resulting in cataclysmic consequences that were still visible in the current modern world. The floating islands that housed the four nations, the people of Gamindustri, they were the proof that everyone would need to see the effects that these opposing forces have wrought upon them.

If they were to return to the surface, then they would see nothing but charred, ruined wastelands devoid of any form of nature. Remnants of demonic and divine energies warring against each other even to this day would be felt across the wastes. These energies, in cases that gradually piled on and on over the millennium, even took physical form to engage one another, mimicking the conflict that had spawned them.

Though, nobody in the current generation, not even the divine, knew this anymore.

Knowledge of this had long since faded into darkness, never to be heard from again… until now of course.

* * *

In her Basilicom, Vert hummed pleasantly to herself as she enjoyed a game of StarCraft. She was fighting in a team match with a pro player against some other pro players. Thanks to the ranking system, Vert had been paired with people whose skill rivaled that of her own at this game. At THIS game. Notice the empathize there. While she was known as the Gaming Goddess (to those that knew about her anyways) there were some genres of games out there that she was better at than others. MMO's were her forte, while shooters and puzzle games followed suit. Vert wasn't as good at RTS as she was in MMO's, which was why she was polishing those skills the hard way, through training in high risk rank matches.

Ranked matches were extremely competitive, something she learned first hand when she first played this game. According to her research on the game, Vert found that Starcraft 2 had quite the high ratings as a highly polished sequel to the first game. She'd played that one first, and found herself seeing wat people meant when they reviewed this one. She herself preferred the sequel to the original, but Vert could still appreciate the original game this little gem spawned from.

This game was just SO addicting, almost as much as her MMO's. The way that she had to collect all the achievement badges, even though they didn't do anything for the game itself. The various elements from other genres, like Action RPG, MMO in the levelling systems, especially in the co-op section where one could play as heroes from the original two games and their expansions, including ones you could get as DLC (Her favourite was Kerrigan, cause she was a badass), made this game a hidden gem. She only wished she could have found this beauty sooner, from the moment she had first picked the game up, Vert had realised she had been missing out on an experience many gamers should have.

Until She completed the games, Vert couldn't even call herself a gamer.

THAT was how good this game was.

The voice acting was excellent.

It's Characters were interesting and deep.

Heck, she even clicked on the units dozens of times to get some funny comments out of them.

Then, one of the biggest pluses for this game was that she had been playing it last before she met the one man she had been trying to get as an in-game husband since she first met him back in 4 Goddesses online.

'Speaking of which, I wonder what Nico is doing right no… Oh, if only I could go outside, then I'd be by his side every day…' she thought to herself, imagining the possibilities. She could see it now, him servicing her in so many butler outfits, calling her mistress with a sensual voice… she'd get turned on to the point where she'd pin him to a bed then commence a night of hot, steamy passion…

Her eyes shot open as she quickly got herself back into the game. She had almost failed to notice a raiding party heading towards her base's back entrance. 'Whew, that was close…' she thought to herself as she directed her units to taking out the enemy raid party. "Since when did I become so naughty…?" Vert mumbled, an embarrassed flush escaping her lips.

According to the internet, Vert felt like she was suffering from something, something that she had never expected to feel since she was a Goddess: frustration… sexual frustration. She hadn't known what this was at first when it was mentioned by one of her many followers on an Online raid in 4 Goddesses Online. As a Goddess who had been fighting for hundreds of years up in Celestia, Vert had been admittingly… lacking in the knowledge of that area.

It only made sense, since she had been spending her entire life on the battlefield, not learning anything about her own body. She could hardly recall a time where she HADN'T been fighting up there, something that, now that she was down in the human world enjoying herself, made her frown in sadness. She'd missed out on a lot, plus this sensation that racked her body was not something she had prior experience with Thus, she began conducting research on it.

Again, according to the internet, Sexual Frustration is frustration caused by a discrepancy between a person's desired and achieved sexual activity. It may result from a variety of circumstances including physical, mental, emotional, social, or religious/spiritual barriers. In Verts case, she had spent centuries without some form of sexual activity, and it showed when she had finally met Nico. Even she had been stunned at how she had almost lost it and took him right then and there. If it weren't for his restraint and her regaining her senses, things would have gotten steamy…

Though part of her wouldn't have minded that.

'No Vert, behave.' The woman chided herself, slapping herself in the face to stop the erotic thoughts from entering her mind. She was NOT an easy woman, no way no sir. Vert may feel a little… pent up, considering she had been fighting for so long without knowing what she had been missing, but she was by no means an easy woman. No, she would NOT follow that stereotype, no way! Nevertheless, this frustration was proving to be a problem. At this point, even gaming wasn't helping as much as it used to. Ever since her encounter of Nico, just the slightest lapse in control would open the door to a torrent of erotic thoughts and images. She would have to make sure to take care of that when she had the chance tonight.

After about 10 minutes, the game was finally cleared with her and her partner in the battle claiming victory. It was a rather close game though, intense and filled with high-risk manoeuvres. She thought only Gambling could have such risks, but apparently that wasn't the case. Vert let out a loud groan while she stretched her arms upwards, feeling the stress leave her arms in exchange for sweet relief. 'Whew, glad that that's over and done with…' the woman thought, repeating the action with her legs. With that done seconds later, Vert made to browse the internet for anything of interest. 'Now then, what should-'

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!

Everything stopped around her as Vert's eyes flew open faster than Neptune would when eating pudding. 'What the?! What is this energy I'm sensing?!' She shot up from her seat, not caring that tit had fallen over before she rushed to her room's window. Once there, the woman peered out into the distance, trying to disconcert where the energy was coming from. 'I've never felt anything like this!'

Her senses registered three energies right now: one of them was similar in type to her own. She easily recognised it as the energy belonging to Planeptune's CPU Purple Heart, something that bothered the woman more than she cared to admit. Her current condition made her all the more paranoid about her intentions for being in Leanbox. If things were different. If she hadn't been so foolish as to go out without a guard, then she wouldn't have been as concerned with another CPU's presence in her Nation. However, that was not the case today.

This failed to keep her attention for long though, mostly thanks to the other two energies dwarfing Purple Heart's in size, almost condensing around Purple Heart's. One was significantly smaller than the other though, but that one felt more familiar, more comforting than the other one. both held this wild, animalistic sensation to them, but the larger one felt MUCH more threatening, It was almost like it was sucking the two energies, and herself, into its grasp determined to never let them go.

There were few things that Vert could openly admit to being scared of.

THIS was one of them.

'If only I could see what is going on over there…'

Unbeknownst to Vert, she wasn't the only one who sensed it.

* * *

Deep within Lastation, Noire walked along the newly repaired streets of her City, returning to the Basilicom after a hard day's worth of questing. Ever since the attack on the city by Avenir, things were slowly improving at a steady rate. The guards were now being paid much more handsomely, as well as being trained in refresher courses that they should have undertaken as part of the preparations for their job roles. Apparently Avenir had been hogging most of the national economy to itself when it was ruling, leaving unsatisfactory factors across the entire Nation. The lack of competent guards was one of those factors, a factor that Noire had chosen to remedy.

As for the Abnormals, their Pack-like mentalities were always on the rise, but thanks to the strained co-operation running throughout the nation (thanks to her efforts of course) they weren't as much of an issue as they were before. Not saying they weren't but things were slowly getting better for the people of the Land of Black Regality. Lastation had even opened up specialized trading hubs between them and Planeptune, after some careful negotiations to do with politics and business, to which they sent an allotted amount of help in dealing with the Abnormals while Lastation would supply them with materials unique to their mountainous lands, which Planeptune would use to create better weapons for their respective militia. In return, Lastation and Planeptune strengthened ties, and would hopefully form an alliance in the future.

In addition, thanks to that hit they took, Avenir had begun experiencing some form of challenges from other companies who were either too small, or two fearful of them, to try and fight their regime. It hadn't been as apparent in the beginning, but over time it had begun to show. It honestly brought a smile to her face, seeing her people rising against oppression, refusing to abide by their rule any longer.

That also created, on the other hand, a possible cause of conflict, something that Noire REFUSED to allow to happen in her Nation. With wat she had learned through her journey with Neptune and her party, she feared the possible war-like urges humans seemed to be capable of possessing, I they were allowed to rule by themselves. Things were fragile enough as it were, so she had to make sure that whenever Avenir was near any companies, she was there to oversee things so that they don't escalate into something that would hurt everyone involved.

Her hair fluttered in the breeze, forcing her to use a hand to keep strands of it from covering her eyes. 'Geez, today sure is rather windy…' she couldn't help but think in irritation. She glared at several passer-by's that were eyeing her, before continuing on her way.

Or rather, she would have, had it not been for ONE simple thing…

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!

Noire almost stumbled when she had sensed it. No, she had almost FELT a massive surge of energy, both familiar and foreign to her, rush over her senses and knock her off balance. Even though it was coming from far away, the amount of power she could sense so suddenly nearly made her fall over. 'Huh?! What is this?!' she shrieked in her mind.

One of the energies she could sense was undoubtedly Neptune's. That made the blackette CPU roll her eyes, wherever that little troublemaker went things were always bound to go crazy. She was just a magnet for it, so it wasn't completely surprising that she was within the midst of these energies.

What WAS surprising was that she could sense Nico's demonic energy with her.

But… she didn't know why, but the way his energy flowed felt… off. It felt very… unstable yet was recovering at a rapid pace. Like it was a strained muscle receiving healing enzymes to speed up its recovery. Kind of like the Hatcheries that produced more units when Queens sprayed acid on them in that RTS Game she had been getting into recently.

That OTHER energy though… she couldn't help but shudder at how UNNERVING that energy felt. It was almost like she wanted to make sure to never cross paths with the source of this energy EVER, even if she had to discard her pride as a CPU. Noire immediately recognised his as her self-preservation instincts influencing her thoughts, so she shot them down immediately. That was NO way to act for someone like her, she had an entire Nation to protect, if she were to run from EVERY powerful enemy she had ever faced, then Lastation would have been destroyed long ago.

Still… the fact that she COULD be so intimidated by just an energy surge meant that whatever was making it had to be powerful indeed… powerful enough that it could be a threat to the fragile peace Lastation has managed to obtain. At this point, pat of her wanted to investigate the source of this strange energy that seemed so familiar to Nico's yet different at the same time, while part of her knew that Lastation needed her now more than ever.

Thoughts conflicting each other ran through her mind as she headed back home.

* * *

Cold.

The current climate of Lowee, the land of white serenity, could be described in a single word.

Their land was always coveted by an eternal winter, with snowfall being the least harshest of the weather's conditions. There were days when they'd see the sun, if partially thanks to clouds obscuring it. On the worst of days they would get heavy snowstorms that would force people to stay indoors till the storms clear up. Over the years though, the people had developed many indoor activities for them to enjoy while under these heavy snowstorms, so those evets which used to be considered ill omens, had turned into times of fun, happiness and content.

All of this... would not console one person in a moment or two...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!

Within the Lowee Basilicom, a young girl, buried under a mountain of books and research notes, looked up with a slightly alarmed expression on her features when she sensed several energy surges coming from Leanbox. 'What the… Something's happening in Leanbox. I can feel it.' She thought, her eyes narrowing darkly as she remembered a certain woman there that she despised… for two specific reasons. 'What is Thunder Tits doing over there? Wait, no… this is that brat Neptune's energy. Why would she be in Leanbox…?'

Confusion coursed through the young girl's mind as she tried to access more information, tuning into these new energies she was sensing. Two new energies could be felt, and one of them seemed strangely familiar. 'Wait, this energy feels… yes, I remember! I remember sensing something like it not long after me and the others knocked that brat off Celestia…' she thought, frowning in concern.

This energy she sensed, it was not something she had felt before, and even now she had been trying to figure out what it was. So far though, no dice. There were next to no records she could find within any of Lowee's Libraries that had any information as to what this energy could have been. This wasn't the only time she'd sensed it though, she'd sensed it several times in Lastation, then again at Planeptune. Now it was repeatedly appearing within Leanbox, which made her assumed that the case for it was mobile, somewhat like a person. But, who could have such energy? That was something the girl had to find out. She had to for Lowee's safety.

'And, what is this other energy I'm sensing? Not good that's for sure…' Yet now, instead of just one, she could sense TWO energies of similar nature, though one of them dwarfed the other. The larger of the two though, felt WAY more malicious than the other one, which felt like it had been strained too much for its liking and needed time to recover. It was so bad that the girl actually trembled at the thought of it coming here and wrecking Lowee's shit, been more than it already had been.

Lowee had been a shell of its former self when she returned, so many issues that had been left unchecked were wat she came back to, something that personally disgusted her. How her Shares hadn't fallen any lower than what they had baffled her to this day. She had made use of this though, and re-integrated herself within Lowee's government, looking over what had happened while she had been away and making sure to get things back in order. It hadn't been easy, and it had caused her to throw out more than a few tables thanks to her infamous temper. But so far, she'd managed.

Now this new energy threatened to break what she had built…

Well then, lets' see it try.

'You come into my Nation…' the girl thought, an audible growl escaping her throat as her face darkened, her eye turning bright red like a demon's. 'Then you'll have to answer to me!'

* * *

Purple Heart was NOT having a good day right now.

She gritted her teeth as she raised her sword, blocking a Bloodletter's Hellblade before kicking it away. Just in time too, cause 3 more were already on her, swinging their Hellblades in lethal arcs. She had to trust her instincts as a warrior, combined with the training she had underwent with Nico as her instructor like they were her lifelines to keep up with these creatures. They were strong, fast, and their numbers posed a problem. It made her find it difficult to keep her promise to her beloved, considering how they would sometimes sneak past her to get to Compa. Though, that was probably due to her firing her Syringe rounds into their asses.

Not fun, seriously.

This battle had to be one of the toughest she'd ever faced on this journey. Nico in Berserker mode, or when he couldn't control himself as Crimson Soul, were other times that this level of intensity had been made known to her. It was like the battles the divine had with the demonic were on completely different levels compared to the divine vs normal enemies, something that honestly unnerved her a little. She would never say she was scared, nope, not one bit. If she were scared, then the entire party's morale would be affected, and that would be bad for them. Especially in this situation.

Dodging a third slash, Purple Heart sliced off one's tongue before flicking her hand out, summoning a purple energy blade that shot into its skull. The creature gave a dying groaning sound, before falling to the ground front first. It then disintegrated into ashes moments later, something that surprised her considering how Monsters usually dissipate into Particles when they died. Even Abnormals shared this quality.

"CROSS COMBO!"

Activating a Skill, Purple Heart furiously slashes away at an approaching Bloodletter, kicking it into the air towards one of its falling brethren she'd noticed out the corner of her eyes. She then jumped upwards and brought her sword down on their bodies, her sword being coated with her energy. Both Bloodletters cried out as they were hit, divine energy coursing through their systems and damaging them internally while they crashed into the ground.

Afterwards, Purple Heart landed and activated another Skill. One that, ironically, had come from Crimson Soul himself. "ATOMIC INFERNO - PLANEPTUNE EDITION!" Purple Heart bellowed. Her blade's edge shined as it became coated in purple trails of energy from the base of the blade, before she swung in a reverse horizontal slash. The result: the energy was released from the blade in the form of 30 purple energy rays that descend upon their targets. The Bloodletters all howled as they each swung their Hellblades and, much to her horror, slashed through the energy rays.

'Oh come on! That's just Hax right there!' the purple haired CPU shouted in her mind, quickly getting into a defensive stance as she summoned a couple dozen energy blades all around her. When the Bloodletters charged at her, she launched them like a volley of machine gun bullets. Most of them were deflected by those accursed Hellblades, but some managed to stick into their shoulders or chests. However, that only slowed them down, but Purple Heart would take what she could get.

Back behind her, Compa held her Syringe and fired several rounds, each of them hitting the Bloodletters in their chests. At first, nothing happened, until the rounds there began to glow brightly... before they exploded, sending them onto their backs.

"Huh? Eh? What happened...?" The Nurse-In-Training muttered in shock, before looking down at her Combat Syringe. Her eyes zoomed in on a slot above the Syringe's Canister, which had the picture of a Bomb on it. She saw that there was a lever there, and when she pulled on it, she found there to be other pictures, like a lightning bolt, wind guts, water waves, poison bubbles, before returning to the bomb picture.

Her mind whirled with ideas about this new development. Apparently, the symbols represented the Syringe's specialized ammo, the bomb represented explosive rounds, The purple poison bubbles were self explanatory, Lighting, wind, and water were obviously the elemental ammo it had. If her lips were shown, then people would see the massive grin they formed at this theory. "Oh! That's cool!"

"Um, Compa, I would appreciate it if you focused here!"

Purple Heart's call quickly snapped the Nurse-In-Training out of her stupor as an embarrassed flush formed on her cheeks behind her Armour's Helmet. "S-Sorry, Nep-Nep!" She yelled, before leveling her Syringe and firing rounds with the bomb picture equipped. The moment after the rounds hit, they exploded once more, confirming her theory about her weapon.

Switching to Lightning Ammo, Compa let loose more rounds, each one shooting through the air like the symbol on the Canister. When the rounds hit, Purple Heart noticed tat they seemed to move slower with random sparks flying off their forms. 'Paralysis! That Syringe already is working wonders...' Purple Heart thought with a slight grin on her features.

"Alright, lets keep this up, Compa! CRITICAL EDGE!"

"Y-YESSIE!"

Hopefully, her beloved was doing just as well as she was. 'Hope's having a better day...'

* * *

Nico was NOT having a good day.

'Oh shit!'

He had to roll to the side to dodge a large Axe made out of demonic energy that flew at him with the speed of a bullet train. A second later and he would have been split in half. He wasn't too confident his healing factor would take care of it discreetly, since Neptune and Compa were here, but if they weren't then he wouldn't have been worried.

Getting a back to his feet, Nico raised his Plasma Claws and slashed, deflecting the blade of the Demon Prince's right axe to the space beside him, diverting the shockwave that would have sent him flying as well. He saw the other Axe being raised for a slam, its blade gaining a lava-like orange glow. He knew from the previous instances throughout this battle, which had been going on for at least 10 minutes to his reckoning, that he had to get the fuck AWAY from that thing before it landed.

The reasons why he hadn't used his Bracers for the time thing were A: because he was fighting for his freaking life right now, so he didn't exactly have the breathing room to check (note the exasperation there), and B: this place seemed to distort time according to some input from Biko, which would make any efforts he COULD have attempted practically useless.

Must be a demon realm thing.

Pushing energy into his legs, the teenage Spec Ops Agent jumped backwards, avoiding the glowing Axe as it slammed into the ground, releasing a HUGE wave of energy that rose up from all around it. Like a cloak of fire, of sorts, it concealed the beast from view, which wasn't really a good thing.

This was proven seconds later when the Demon Prince roared a hellish roar, jumping out of the flames with his wings spread wide. They each radiated a constant stream of pure darkness, forming a trail in the air as it circled the airspace above him. The male tried to hit it with a PHANTOM WAVE, but the Skill missed. It cut through the darkness but had hit only that, darkness. PHANTOM BLADES was the next option, but the problem persisted. He couldn't see his opponent, so mindlessly wasting energy on these Skills became a no-go. Nico eyed the creature as best he could, but thanks to its darkness eventually clouding its form the male found that to be more difficult than he would have liked.

Before he could do anything, the male noticed there to be several glowing orange bits within the smoke, and that served to be his sole warning… before a dozen or so glowing energy Axes came down upon him. Nico had to stick to his instincts like they were his lifeline as he hurriedly avoided each Axe, demonstrating expert parkour ability as he flipped, ducked, dove and dodged like he would die if he didn't… which was kind of true in a sense.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Explosions rang all around him from the impact points of each Axe, making him let out stings upon strings of curses. He mentally thanked his adoptive mother for the extreme training she gave him, because that was the only reason why he had been able to avoid all of those. That was what he thought as he slid across the skull-covered ground, before he looked up…

And saw the Demon Prince diving at him like a Falcon.

Strange, he wondered where his sense of fear of this creature went off to… because he felt considerably moot at that moment.

Nico responded on reflex, sheathing his Plasma Claws and summoning his Plasma Launcher. He raised it and pulled the trigger, firing repeatedly at the creature's face to cover it in a series of pink explosions.

"GAH!"

His little offensive managed to do something, because it diverted the Demon Prince's flight path away from him, sending it tumbling away from him till it was about 20 metres away. Not stopping to give it any breathing room, Nico switched his Plasma Launcher out and deployed his Plasma Cannons. Out of the urge to survive, which dominated his mind at the moment, the teen decided to activate a Skill he hadn't had the chance to use yet, his whole form seeming to glow in preparation.

"PLASMATIC OVERLOAD!"

The moment he yelled that out, Nico felt several 'clicks' happen within his armour, several whirring's spinning into overdrive. His eye bulged as his whole armour seemed to erupt in a purple arura, swerving from side to side wildly, like a living flame. It honestly looked like the activation of a Drive Skill, something that made him gasp as Plasma energy escaped his mouth. 'Whoa, so much! So much energy!'

And yet, he instinctively knew this couldn't last for long. It was like the Skill itself had put a timer in his mind to tell him how long he could use this skill for. Right now, the timer was at 1 minute, not a lot of time so he had to do this now. His Plasma Cannons charged up their shots, before Nico mentally commanded them to unload on the downed Demon Prince. The barrels shone brightly… before they unloaded a mighty barrage of rounds on the beast, with no thought to mercy.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Large banging sounds echoed throughout the demonic battlefield, slamming into the Demon Prince with no regard for wat it was currently doing, which was recovering from the previous Plasma-based attack on its being. Cracks soon formed on its armour, shown in the miniscule gaps between the attacks.

Nico scowled when he noticed the creature get up despite the barrage he had given it, swinging its right wing in a reverse swinging motion to send a wave of fire in his direction. Nico swiftly deployed his Hidden Blades, noticing that thanks to the PLASMATIC OVERLOAD Skill, they were about 30 foot long now. He then slashed through the wave in one fell swoop, twisting a full 360 degrees before making a mad dash towards his opponent. Plasma energy crackled over him as he did so, destroying the ground around him while the Demon Prince met his charge with a swing of its right Axe.

To add in a little extra, Nico went and activated a Skill.

"GIGGA BLADE!"

BOOM!

A loud blast of air accompanied the two fighters as they clashed, their weapons grinding away at each other. Axe met Broadsword-shaped Hidden Blade, the Skill GIGGA BLADE having activated just seconds before impact to give them enough of a boost to meet the Axe without being destroyed. Both growled as they tried to overpower each other, winds rushing out from the point of collision between them. At first the Demon Prince assumed it would break his petty defences, at least in its eyes. Those thoughts were soon wiped from its mind however as the weapons held their own against it's Axe, much to its surprise.

It discarded its other Axe, making Nico frown behind his Helmet, as it gathered power into its now free hand. The hand first began glowing a lava-like orange hue, but that lasted only for a millisecond before flames erupted around it like a protective cloak. _**"WITHESS the POWER of a DEMON PRINCE!"**_ It bellowed.

With a loud, animalistic roar, the Demon Prince made to slam the hand to the ground in the form of a closed fist. Nico, sensing that he did NOT want to be near the fist when it inevitably impacted, threw his free arm upwards. The Hidden Blade sheathed itself back into his gauntlet, while the Plasma Chains took their place, shooting out towards the horns on its head. They wrapped around those horns, the Demon Prince not noticing this as Nico was pulled into the air by the Plasma Chains, just as the fist hit the ground.

BWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHH!

From the point of impact, a massive circle of flames roared outwards, expanding in all directions and enclosing the surrounding ground in a sea of orange. Heat surged through the air, almost burning the air itself with how intense the flames were. Nico mentally heaved a relieved sigh at how he'd managed to narrowly avoid being burnt to a crisp as he landed on the back of the creature's head.

 **'You're not out the woods yet, Nico!'**

'I know that!'

Focusing back onto the battle, Nico quickly deactivated his other Hidden Blade, shooting out the rest of his Plasma Chains to secure his hold on the Demon Prince's horns. The said entity roared and growled as it quickly began bucking about like a bull (kind of fitting considering what it resembled) slamming its head into the ground while constantly shooting streams of fireballs at the space behind its head. Nico however, felt his Armour's Plasma-based shielding tank the hits with little problem. Apparently PLASMATIC OVERLOAD supercharged them so that they could be nigh-invulnerable. Good to know.

Honestly, he wished he could have tested this Skill out more to see what its limitations were.

An idea hit his mind, making a grin form on Nico's lips beneath his helmet as he palm thrusted te back of his opponent's head. A familiar Marker appeared on the space he'd hit, and Nico jumped off the Demon Prince. "CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!" he yelled, and the moment his feet touched the ground, the Skill activated. Chains came out the Magic Circle that appeared beneath the dark monstrosity, shot around it and successfully restrained it after a futile struggle from the creature.

"Looks like you're wide open!" Nico yelled victoriously. Normally, he'd refrain from gloating right now, but the situation had shot his nerves so he wanted to use this to calm himself the fuck down. Hopefully this would end and he along with his comrades would be returned to the material world. Summoning his Plasma Launcher and prepping his Plasma Cannons, Nico prepared to finish the being off.

He should have just done it instead of gloating though… a fact he realised all too late.

 _ **"gwoooooaaaaaaaa! ENOUGH!"**_

Now more than a little pissed off, the Demon Prince roared and released a massive shockwave, shattering the CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS and breaking the Seal, making Nico cover his face to shield it from the whipping winds the shockwave generated. 'What the fuck?! How'd it break free?!' he shrieked in his mind, a sense of panic rising within his gut. CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS was meant to be unbreakable by Abnormal means, and it had worked constantly in the past. So, what the hell did it break now?! Wait, why the fuck did it break at all?!

Then, to make matters worse, Nico exhaled suddenly when he felt PLASMATIC OVERLOAD shut down abruptly. The mental timer had counted down to zero, and the Skill had shut down along with the majority of his Plasma Weapons while a recharge timer of a minute appeared in his mind. This made the male paler than a ghost as he realized how severe his situation had become. 'Shit, not now!'

The teen gasped when he felt a hand suddenly grab him, the large hand covering his body so that only his head and the tips of his toes were visible while the hand brought him to its master.

A triumphant glint shone in the Demon Prince's hollow red eyes as it held him in its grasp. Its wings flared to the sides, reflecting his gleeful mood as orange energy began travelling down its limb towards its prey. _**"Not BAD! For a MORTAL, you FOUGHT well! But NO MATTER, it ENDS NOW!"**_ The entity bellowed, furious orange flames engulfing its hand before Nico could respond. While its skin would protect it from the flames that it had generated, the prey it had captured was a completely different story.

Roars of pain and agony tore from Nico's throat as he felt the flames licking away through his armour, as the strong grip the hand had managed to form cracks in it for the flames to seep through. He could feel blisters and agonizing burns forming on his skin, while his armour gradually broke apart by the second. While it was still trying to repair itself, the strength behind the Demon Prince's grip as it tried to crush him was making that a fruitless effort.

Offhandedly Nico had noticed that its Axes had been dropped to the ground beside its hooves.

'Tch, this is bad!' The teen thought, gritting his teeth. This must be what being cooked alive felt like for foods in an oven. The way these flames licked away at his kin felt like tongues trying to savour him, not something the teen appreciated. His naturally dense skin, thanks to THAT, did help in its defence, but it would only be a matter of time before the defenses fell and he'd be roasted alive. Purple Heart wouldn't of been much help since she was currently boxed in with Compa thanks to the Bloodletters. 'There's got to be something I can do! But, what could that be?!'

The male didn't expect to receive an answer... but he did.

And not from the source he wanted.

'HAHAHAHA, WHAT ABOUT ME?! THIS IS PERFECT, YOU KNOW?!' Nico gritted his teeth when a familiar, maniacal voice shot through his brain like a blade piercing through it. This was SO not the best moment for his mind to conjure up hallucinations, he needed something to get out of this mess with! 'HEY! YOU SEEM TO WANNA HIDE YOUR DOMINANCE FOR WHATEVER REASON, I'M JUST HELPING YA FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE EXISTENCE! LOOK, THAT FUCKER'S CRUSHNG YOU, YOUR BODY IS HIDDEN! DOESN'T THIS MAKE FOR A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY?!'

Nico's lone eye widened when those words, after a short moment of being burned by the flames, registered within his mind. IT had a point. His demonic powers were next to useless right now, thanks to Berserker Mode, so IT would be the only thing he could fall back to aside from his Armour and Plasma weapons. CQC wouldn't be very effective here either, so he ruled that out as well. It wasn't like he wasn't deficient in using IT when he had to, he was just scared of people finding out his secret.

But now… let's see here:

Neptune and Compa were distracted by the Bloodletters

The Demon Prince's hand was covering his body from view.

IT was ready to be used.

Like he said before, Nico didn't have a problem USING IT, but it was just that he'd tried his best to keep IT a secret from everyone he came across. When he was alone however, that was a different story altogether. IT became his primary weapon, his go to for most situations because of how versatile IT was. Out of all the weapons Nico had in his arsenal, IT was considered to be both his most versatile, and the strongest, of them all.

Thoughts filled his mind, conjuring images that presented themselves to his mind's eye as clear as crystal:

Neptune being slain by Bloodletters.

Compa being defiled and used for the whims of these creatures.

Countless innocents, some he even knew, being slain in horrific, gory ways.

Eventually…

He... just... SNAPPED.

* * *

Biko frowned in sadness when he felt the changes occurring deep within Nico's psyche. As a part of him, he had access to his mind, which was how he was always able to break through to him whenever he hallucinated. There had been times though, that he would be beaten to the punch thanks to outside intervention, but those had been few and far between.

Looking to the left, he could vaguely make out in the distance, rising blood vessels, each one being as large as a single shack and coming from one of the many buildings within Nico's inner world. One of the most forbidden places as decreed by his psyche. 'So… he's finally beginning to use IT to this extent…' he thought sorrowfully. Biko didn't doubt that if he had been able to, Nico would have refrained from using IT at all, and resorted to DDD. The power of the DPU was a power Nico favoured because it helped keep IT under wraps, something that helped keep the wool over his comrades' eyes.

But now, he was risking the possibility of uncovering that wool so that they could emerge victorious.

'Apologies, Nico, for I could not help you more. It would have taken 3 more minutes, but you would have been able to use your Demon Skills at that time.' He thought mournfully, dipping his head. 'I can only hope things turn out for the best in the end… something that rarely happens in your life, it seems.'

* * *

The Demon Prince grinned as it watched the puny mortal in its grasp flail like a fish caught in the grips of a predator. Joy coursed through its veins while it watched this weakling suffer for angering a being far superior to him. When it first received word of its followers being slaughtered by a group of suspicious Mortals, it had worried that it had attracted the attention of the divine ones. They were very dangerous beings to the demonic, so it wouldn't be advantageous to have them onto their little scheme of returning.

Fortunately, it had found one and caught her by surprise. Once he dealt with this mortal, then it would devour her soul and have the female mortal be his slave for eternity. Such a thought brought a pleased shudder down its spine as its wings fluttered in response to its excitement.

After a few more moments, the Demon Prince began to loosen its grip, expecting to se nothing but ash from its hand. Except…

SCHULUCK!

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, looks like things are getting heated, huh guys? Nico will finally, FINALLY, showcase a small PORTION of the monster he has deep inside, the secret that he is trying to hide. It'll be done in a way that doesn't spoil it, yet when the secret is fully revealed it will be seen as one of his strongest weapons in his entire arsenal.**

 **Also, the Demon Prince that I have created is inspired by Warhammer's Thorgar the Blooded One. I have only played that Game on the Xbox 360, and I don;t have the PC for the other games, so yeah. I'm making use of what I have, here. More Demon Princes can potentially appear though, so there'll likely be a few that are taken from the other games. Hopefully I can present them in a respectable manner.**

 **I hope that, with the more of the DPU age is revealed, that people are getting an idea of how OP they are compared to the CPUs. They will need some SERIOUS OPness if they wanna survive against these literal deities. Hypersdimension kind of made the Goddesses look... kinda tame, in my opinion. I mean, there was so much potential for these Goddesses to be super OP and broken, but in the end they're reduced too cute girls with loads of fanservice.**

 **Kinda disappointed nobody tried to guess though...**

 **Here though, they will be both that AND a bunch of Badasses at the same time. They will hace the warrior spirit within them, mark my words.**

 **Peace out!**


	81. Chapter 78 - Come Back Alive

**Chapter 78 - Come Back Alive**

How long had it been?

That was the first question that appeared in Nico's mind as he felt IT once again free itself from its bonds. The chains that had kept it in check for all this time, the chains it had been fighting against this entire story, they were slowly unravelling, this time on his command. He could feel IT shaking in excitement, in anticipation. They say that when you finally unshackle a hungry beast after so many days of not feeding it, it tends to go on a blood rage, devouring everything in sight. That was what he got from this power, this power that he had not shown in front of the girls, and for good reason.

Never had he thought that he'd be doing something like this, releasing IT at a place like this. A demonic nightmare filled with things that wanted a piece of his flesh, as well as girls who'd come to mean a whole hell lot to him. Honestly, if someone told him that this would happen 3 years ago, he would have called them a raving mad lunatic and tried to decapitate them with his Plasma Claws.

This time though, it was different.

Before, like back in Lastation he had fought against it with everything he had, limiting its use to minor physical empowerment. It was all he had been willing to divulge at the time, considering that he had comrades who weren't aware of that power's existence, nor what it had signified about him. Yet, just that had almost been enough to make his fragile control over it slip. It was like having a drug such as heroin injected into you after spending a long while in a withdrawal. The full power of IT was addictive, it was thrilling, it was liberating, and every second felt like he would slip back into something that he had gotten out of long ago.

Yet, right now, after so many years of keeping it locked up, he was finally letting it out. He was finally, FINALLY, unleashing the beast he held deep inside. The feeling of shackles being unbound from him spread through his nerves, and power that he felt all too familiar with, more so than the DPU powers he possessed ever could feel, flowed through his being. In a way, part of him had been waiting for this moment, the moment where he could finally free his inner beast.

Through the years of keeping IT suppressed, Nico had always felt… on edge, like he was one second away from exploding on any poor sod that got on his nerves. It was shown the most when he had lost his Armour, the thing injecting suppressant drugs into his system to seal away his inner beast. His instincts had been wild, nigh uncontrollable as they re-integrated with him. He'd done a good job of hiding it from the girls though, but there had been times where he'd shown more aggressive behaviours. That time when he found out about Avenir, the time with Noire and her disguise problem, when he began fighting more aggressively with those J'avo, there had been a few moments where he'd been… more aggressive than normal.

All those times… were because of th instincts he was unleashing right at this moment in time.

And he knew EXACTLY how to start this off.

SCHULUCK!

 _ **"Wha...? HUH?! GROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"**_ The Demon Prince, at first, didn't know what the heck just happened. One moment it's hand was loosening its grip on the (as it had thought) charred male, but the next thing it knew its hand had been sliced into itty bitty pieces, blackened blood spraying across the ground as its prey landed on the ground with an audible THUD. Though, the Bloodletters were too focused on their fighting with Purple Heart and Compa to notice.

Then, the pain registered.

Slowly, Nico stood up from his kneeling position, hanging his head low with his Armour nowhere to be found. The male touched his chest, finding that the Armour Module there was still intact. He knew just from using his sense of touch, and he could still feel the mental link he had with it to deploy his beloved Armour. That was a plus for him. Now, all he had to do was finish this fucking thing before his comrades finished off the Bloodletters. Oh joy.

'YES! YES! KILL THAT THING! FUCK IT UP! RIP IT TO SHREDS! I WANNA SEE MORE BLOOD! GUTS! MURDER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The mad voice in his head laughed maniacally, more gleeful than he had been in a LONG ass time. It had finally done it! It had convinced the 'king' to use its power, the power he SHOULD be using as the rightful owner of this throne!

Ignoring the mad voice, Nico gave a small smirk beneath the shadows of his hair. Faint wisps of grey could be seen emerging from behind him, before he looked up with his two light blue eyes having an insane, murderous gleam to them. "Whelp, that's a thing…" he mused offhandedly. IT had been released, and it demanded blood. Blood that he was all too willing to offer it, the blood of the enemy before him anyways.

Nobody noticed save for him, how the pieces of the being's hand had 'mysteriously' vanished along with the blood.

Before the Demon Prince could respond, likely with some insults to Nico's character along with some speech about it going to murder his bitch ass, several gasps and grunts were released from its throat when it felt itself get hit in the gut… 6 times. Yet, it saw nothing that could have hit it, especially with the impact that these hits had!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

More hits followed suit, until it was then bombarded with volley after volley of unseen hits.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

At this point, the Demon Prince couldn't maintain its balance as it fell onto its backside, then onto its back when an unseen hit impacted it in the form of an uppercut to its jaw, sending its head straight back as Nico burst forwards into a run. He then jumped and propelled himself towards the creature's chest, slamming his right foot into its chest with the force of a jackhammer.

This succeeded in knocking the creature down onto its back at last, with the male standing atop its chest with a foot on its neck. The male's eyes, through this whole time, remained shadowed by his hair, concealed from view by the darkness his bangs had generated. Not only that, but it had noticed something else from this mortal. This Mortal's aura… it had completely changed from before. Like a twisted 180, it had gone from frantic and fearful, the Demon Prince preferring that from his victims, to something else. Eerie calmness was what it saw, a calmness at such a level that it was almost unbearably unnerving. "You know something…"

The male began to speak, his voice level and calm on a scale that only served to heighten how unnerved the Demon Prince felt. It made to punch him off it but then something stabbed right into the arm it was going to use at its forearm and palm, forcing it to cry out in pain. The Demon Prince tried to turn its head, looked to see what was stabbing its arm in place, only to see… nothing.

Not one thing impaling its limb, but it just KNEW something was there.

The reason?

Cause blood wasn't flowing through the hole. P

Plus, it could feel something there, it just couldn't SEE it.

"I… REALLY… hate that you forced this weapon out of me." Nico finally stated, his hair lifting along with his head. NOW the Demon Prince could see his eyes, and what it saw made its blood run cold. There was no expression behind those light blue irises, nothing but an eerie calmness that matched his aura. But, underneath that, it could see something else… something that chilled it to the bone. A sense of HUNGER, of BLOODLUST and CARNAGE that not many in this wretched world called Gamindustri possessed. This calmness, it was merely a façade, a mask to hide the pure insanity that threatened to break free. "It REALLY grinds my gears that this happened. I spent so long trying to keep it under wraps, trying to contain and control it. But you…"

Another impaling happened, this time on the Demon Prince's other arm, making it cry out even louder while something pinned its legs down. It couldn't even move its wings with the amount of pressure on them, and for the first time in thousands of years, the Demon Prince felt… scared, like a captured animal awaiting its death at the pound.

"You just HAD to go and ruin it, didn't you? You know what? I'll not forgive you for this. I'll go ahead and kill you now."

An invisible weapon… a weapon that couldn't be seen…

Now THAT was a dangerous tool. To use something that can't be seen, meant that the opponent wouldn't be able to fight against it. Their eyes wouldn't see it coming until it had already hit them, and by that time it could be the end of them if the injury is lethal enough. Worse was that during that barrage of hits earlier, it had noticed no sound coming from his unknown assailant, not even a glimpse of sound escaped the unseen weapon. That meant that whatever it was didn't make a sound either, which meant that no eyes nor ears could detect it. Sound and sight, 2 of the five senses, couldn't detect this. Smell? Nothing to be smelled, it didn't have an aroma save for when it was impaling him, not really something that could be used. So smell was out. Touch was definitely out considering how it was being used.

A weapon that was undetectable by the five senses…

Yeah, this was it.

At the moment of that revelation, the Demon Prince realised something else. It was going to be killed. It had already been utterly defeated by the emergence of this new weapon. It didn't feel demonic in origin otherwise It's senses would have picked up on it by now. With its apparent invisibility to the five senses, its Bloodletters and other minions would be slaughtered when coming to contact with this… thing.

But at least, it won't go down permanently, but until the time it would revive back in the Demon Realm, this beast had a few things to say.

 _ **"YOU may… KILL ME… But be WARNED… I did NOT come here UNPREPARED…"**_ The Demon Prince spat, coughing up blood thanks to the wounds on his arms. Nico stared down at him, emotionless and cold. Like the freezing tundra that is Lowee. Nevertheless, it continued to speak. **_"I managed… TO OPEN… a PORTAL to… the MATERIAL WORLD… for my HORDES! They shall DESCEND… onto that PATHETIC… town of YOURS… and WIPE it… off the MAP-!"_**

SCULUCK

The invisible weapon sliced through the Demon Prince's head before it could finish, Nico not having the stomach to hear any more garbage from its mouth. As it began retracting back into him, the chains he used to bind it restraining IT once more, the male gave a sigh as his instincts settled down. The usage of that beast inside of him hadn't been easy. He had almost lost himself to the urge to just rip his prey apart and have his weapon devour it completely. Raw primal ferocity had been what he had been fighting against every second he used that power.

 **'So… that was part of that THING'S power…'**

'… Yeah. I don't want to talk about it, but let's just say that, when I'm on solo missions, that thing is just way too OP. That wasn't even a BIT of its full power, yet you saw just now how useful it was.'

 **'I could hardly detect it… the only way I could was by using your senses. In any other situation, it would be completely hidden from the five senses other beings have. That does seem like a dangerous weapon to have… By the way, the amount of demonic energy in this place has allowed you to regain the use of your Demon Skills. So you shouldn't feel the need to draw on IT's power anytime soon.'**

'Thanks, Biko. What do you think about that thing's words about its subordinates?'

 **'I detected no lie in its voice. It would be wise to risk trying to feel out demonic energy to see if there really is a horde of Demons heading towards Leanbox. Also, the Realm should be destabilizing right now, you and the girls will be returned to the Material World momentarily.'**

'There's cracks appearing on the ground… light's shining down on this place from the Skies… yep, you're right, we're coming home.'

 **'Of course.'**

FLASH!

* * *

By the time Nico could see again, the trio were back in the field they had stopped in before. Everything had been how it had been before, the lush green grass, the healthy brown trees bristling with green leaves, the bright blue cloudless skies and the brilliantly shining golden sun. Honestly, Nico had never felt so glad to see such a sight after being in a Demon Prince's realm. The tee almost felt orgasmic when he felt the wind brush past his face like the gentle caress of a mother loving her child, bringing a small smile to his lips. 'Ahhh… feels good to be back…' the male thought to himself, pleasant sensations coursing through him.

The fact that IT had finally been released, if partially, was probably an indicator.

It honestly reminded him of a claustrophobe who had spent an eternity inside a tight space, then got released into an open field. The beast inside now was calmly slumbering, not agitated in the least unlike in the past. He remembered few instances before he met the girls, where he'd gone on solo missions just so that he could give it the time it needed to let loose.

While the male drunk in their surroundings, one of them seemed… more than a little eager to embrace their surroundings a little more radically than intended. "WHOOO! Air! Skies! Sun!" an untransformed Neptune cheered loudly, throwing her arms up into the air before she dove to the ground, planting multiple kisses on it. "You have no idea how long I've missed you!"

The Nurse-In-Training of the group couldn't agree more with their resident amnesiac Goddess. That realm had been more frightening than any of her nightmares by far. She remembered back in Planeptune when she expressed her worries about whether or not they would come back alive from all this. They would have so many near-death experiences that it wasn't even funny, and now those thoughts seemed on a whole new level of real. Fortunately, they were able to escape death this time, but how long would that luck hold out? She got the feeling that beast wasn't fully focusing on them as much as it was trying to kill Nico. If it had been focusing on them on the other hand…

She shuddered, dreading the thought.

Those feelings vanished when she saw what Neptune had been doing while she was monologuing, however. "Nep-Nep!" Compa, having dismissed her Combat Syringe and Armour, gently scolded the preteen with a look of disgust on her features. "That's unsanitary!" After a moment though, her stern features fell, and her inner softness came back onto its rightful place on her face. (Hey, that rhymed!) "Well, I can't say I don't understand, its good to see we're back…" her eyes then flashed with worry as she turned to their resident Spec Ops Agent. "We ARE back home, right?"

The teen nodded, a relieved smile on his lips as he turned to them, hands in his Pockets. "Yeah, we're home. Apparently, that thing's death caused us to return here. Looks like it was using its power to keep us there." He explained, before a frown crossed onto his features as he remembered the Demon Prince's last words. "Though, it did say something kind of worrisome."

"Huh?" Neptune blinked as she stood tall, taking a breath mint from her inventory and eating it. Didn't want to ruin any potential moments with her hubby in the near future, and by the time this was over she was going to have one, gosh Neppit! "What was that, Nicky? Could ya at least let us bask in the moment of freedom for a bit longer?" she asked, pouting in dismay. "We just got back from having quite nearly a death match. I'mma need some tome to recharge if ya know what I mean. Preferably with a mountain of Pudding."

Seriously, couldn't the seriousness give them a break? It had only been a single chapter and already they had come just within an inch away from death itself! More so than in the Lastation Arc, and they were plenty of near-death experiences there! Neptune wanted some downtime, already!

In response to her question, Nico looked at the two girls dead in the eyes, his own reflecting nothing but seriousness. "Well, we may not even HAVE a Nation to go back to, cause apparently before its death, that thing, I think it called itself a Demon Prince, told me it sent a force of Demons towards Leanbox, intent on razing it to the ground."

…

…

…

"…EEEEEEHHHHHHH?!"

Both girls took a moment to process what he had said, before reacting the only way they knew how to this information. Shock, and horror. Demons attacking Leanbox? While the Capital itself was large and had fended off plenty of Monster attacks over the years, Demonic beings would be another story altogether. There were many differences in strength between these types of foes, differences the Leanbox Military wouldn't be aware of… that would be a bloodbath.

The girls trembled at the thought.

Images assaulted their minds, images of the demons ransacking the Capital, killing and slaughtering soldiers and civilians left and right. Men, women and children alike would not be spared, they would just be shredded beneath those sinister Hellblades. Considering that the CPU hadn't been seen leaving her room, it would be best to assume that she couldn't help either, which only made their chances all the worse. Even if she did show up to help, the casualties would likely be in the hundreds, maybe more depending on how many demons there were.

"Did…" All eyes went to Compa, who shuffled nervously under their gazes. The fear rolling around in her gut didn't help either, but she pushed past it to get her question out. "Did the meanie monster say how many?"

Nico shook his head, arms crossed under his chest. "No, unfortunately. I killed it right after it told me. Probably should have done that, but I wanted to get us out of that hellhole as quickly as possible." This was just perfect. IF had been captured and was likely being held in Hellverse, and now they had a demon problem on their hands. Things just never seemed to be calm and collected when looking at their adventures. 'Hey, Biko? Does the hatred trail still lead to the Hellverse?' he asked his Demon Persona.

'I checked while you three were talking. It does seem that it is leading to the Hellverse Dungeon, but I am sensing a considerable amount of demonic energies in the area. Odds are we will be encountering heavy resistance.' Biko replied, much to Nico's frustration. Things just kept getting better and better, didn't they? He didn't miss the notion that they were encountering more and more demons as time went on. Nope, he didn't miss that fact AT ALL.

His adoptive mother's various warnings rung through his mind.

She really had no idea how right she'd been, did she?

'Alright, Nico calm down.' The male chided himself, taking deep breaths and pinching the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and repeatedly counted from 1000 by sevens, his breaths slowly calming to a steady rhythm as he continued thinking. 'You just have to remember the things you did with the CMA back when the Coalition was a threat. Visualise the situation in your mind, make sure you know the variables, then make the call. Alright, so we have two routes we can travel down, we can go defeat the demon hordes that are advancing towards Leanbox, which will cut into our time rescuing IF. I don't know what they plan to do with her, but I don't want to wait and find out the hard way. On the other hand, we can just go to the Dungeon but risk leaving Leanbox to a fate that nobody deserves to go through… fuck, I think this is what Theta used to feel like in-between battles.'

In the end, the male decided on a course of action, opening his eyes and lowering his arms to his sides. "Alright, here's what we're going to do." He began, getting their utmost attention. He had the tone of a military commander, the strong, dominating yet respectfulness that only a leader could have. Just like he had back in Lastation when they combated those Zombie hordes. "Neptune, you and Compa go see the Demon horde, gauge its numbers and effectiveness. I'll see if I can get you some assistance from any nearby Agents."

"You think we can do it? Take on a whole horde of Demons, Nicky?" Neptune quipped, curious. It seemed like a tall order with just the two of them, and she wasn't stupid…. Enough, to think that help was guaranteed to come for them. Then again, they had fought against a group of 30 Bloodletters back in that Demon Prince's realm, so maybe they had a shot?

The male nodded his head in response to her question his eyes shining with respect and pride in droves. "Yeah, I have faith. You two more than proved it to me through our training, and you both just made it out of a death match against Demons before. Neptune, you managed to keep them focused on you while Compa used her Syringe's specialized ammo to help better her chances. The two of you worked together as a team, and THAT is something that helps many get out of the toughest of situations." Nico explained to them. Teamwork may sound horribly like the 'power of friendship' cliché, and honestly Nico hated that with every fibre of his being. But, even he had to admit that with trustworthy comrades by one's side, bleak situations seem just a little bit brighter.

However, that wasn't to say that they weren't going without a little something from him.

 **'Nico… are you sure that course of action is wise?'** Biko questioned within his mind. He had a full front row seat to what Nico had been thinking, so he found out what he planned beforehand. The demonic persona of his power didn't like the notions running though his head, and had to ask if it was truly the best idea that they could go with. **'It seems unnecessarily risky to use such an item, an item that we are not even sure the identity of.'**

The male knew what he was talking about, and if this were any other situation then he wouldn't be considering this idea either. It wasn't something he liked, and Biko could feel that. Still though, Nico had a response ready for his demon persona. 'Yeah, I don't like it either. In any other circumstance I wouldn't even acknowledge the thought of using that item. However, through this entire time its been showing unusual readings towards Compa. Most prominently the time we spent in that demonic realm. My instincts tell me that it wants to be near her for some reason, and if my hunch is right then any help at all will be a blessing to them.' Nico reasoned. It wasn't like he was doing these things without thinking he always thought about his actions… though, he thought a little less when killing.

 **'True…'**

Reaching for his Bracer, Nico opened the Void Storage before looking for the item he wanted. "Its not like I won't be giving you nothing for help, here Compa, you take this." Finally, he found the item that he wanted: the strange crystal that he and Team RAIL had found before. Like He had said, its energy readings had been abnormally high whenever he was around Compa, almost as if it were trying to get out of his Void Storage and into Compa's embrace. The light that it emitted, also… it just screamed with purity, almost like that of a Maiden's. Something told him that it and Compa were… honestly, they were meant to be somehow.

And any help at all, like he told Biko, would be a godsend in this situation.

Pulling it out of his Void Storage, Nico held the crystal in his hand, reaching out to hand it over. Both girls leaned towards it and went 'ooooh' when they looked at it, drawn in by the light that it was radiating. The light seemed to almost draw the in, similarly to how everyone in Team RAIL save for Raven and Lucy, had been drawn in by it into an illusion. Only, there was no illusion here. The Crystal seemed to radiate a warmth that seeped into their beings… more towards Compa and Nico though than Neptune. Compa was a given thanks to its abnormal energy readings, but for Nico? Well, he figured it would be thankful for bringing it to her in the first place.

Neptune became the first to speak after a moment of ogling the crystal. "Shhhhiiiiiiiinnnnnnnyyyyyyy…!" she moaned, eyes wide with wonder. Also, was it just him or were their stars in her eyes? Well, this was Neptune, the protag of protags. Randomness seemed to follow her everywhere. Looking up from the crystal, though it took every ounce of her willpower to do so, she aimed a pouting face towards him, her eyes pleading. "Come on, Nicky, don't you have something for little ol' me? I am your wifey ya know." She questioned.

The teen sweat dropped at that while the Nurse-in-Training pocketed the Crystal into her purse. Honestly, he didn't know what to give the preteen that she would find useful. Compa would have that crystal since it was calling to her, but he didn't know what he could give to Neptune that would placate her for the time being. Her couldn't give her nothing though, that would be just unfair and rude to her. That was something he had to avoid at all costs, as he didn't want to give her the impression that he didn't care about her.

But… what could he get her?

His Void Storage had a multitude of things that he'd collected over the years as a Spec Ops Agent. Thanks to him taking loads of missions each day, he'd also been to a varied number of places in the four nations. He'd seen a lot, and collected a lot of souvenirs from his travels. There should be something he could give her from his travels, something that could be of great use to her in battling demonic forces.

 **'Hmmm… hold on, I think I might have something.'**

Biko's interjection nearly made Nico jump in surprise, but he managed to catch himself before he could. Once he was sure he had his calm back to 100%, the teen thought back to his demonic persona. 'Oh? What you got then?'

In response to his question, an image of Soul Edge appeared in his mind, the demonic sword shaking as its crimson aura covered its form. Its eyes glowed in then darkness, reflecting how eager it was to be used once more. 'We can detach a fragment of Soul Edge's power and give it to Neptune. That fragment will be bonded to her soul, and that will soon give rise to a new weapon for her HDD self. The Fragment shouldn't have much energy compared to her Divine Energy reserves, so they should be able to purify it to create a new weapon for her.'

'Should? I don't like the sound of that, dude…'

 **'I say should because this has not happened before. Demonic weapons usually don't share fragments of themselves with beings of the opposite nature. It's like a rattlesnake falling in love with a rat of all things, it just doesn't happen. However, since we have little other options, and whatever is in that Void Storage will likely waste precious time, this is the only plausible option we have. Unless you want to seem like a massive jackass towards Neptune.'**

Urk!

He hit right in the private zone!

Mentally giving in, Nico told his demon persona to do what he had to. The next thing he knew was that he could feel something forming in his gut. A portion of his demonic energy, combined with something he could only assume was a fragment of Soul Edge's power, fused together before travelling up to his shoulder. There, it would go down his arm and towards his hand. The entire process made Nico shudder in discomfort, and the male had to use every ounce of his willpower to keep his composure. Though, if one looked closely they would see how his right arm was trembling slightly.

It felt very weird, like he was giving birth or something…

That better not become a running gag for him or an author will be getting a claw to the face.

Finally, the result came out his palm, forming a cut through the skin and muscle to allow it to escape. Nico flinched slightly at this, but his healing factor closed the wound right afterwards, so it was all good. "Hm, there…" the male muttered, much to the girls' confusion as he held the object towards Neptune. The object itself looked like a small, pebble sized orb, coloured crimson and radiating a crimson aura. "Here, Neptune, this is a fraction of my power. It'll be of help to you when you turn HDD." He told her, the preteen taking it into her hand.

Once it touched her flesh, Neptune saw how it seemingly sunk into her hand, and in the next moment she felt as if something had latched onto her. She figured that was what had meant to happen but didn't pay too much attention, in favour of glomping the boy she crushed on with a massive hug. "Thank you, Nicky! Thanks a bunch, you know you love me!" she proclaimed, much to Compa's irritation.

Before the Nurse-In-Training could do anything to counter that statement though, Nico quickly pushed the preteen off him and brought their attention back to the situation at hand. "Girls, you can thank me later. Right now, the Demons may be closing in on Leanbox, so its best that you get a move on."

"What about you?" Compa questioned nervously. "We can't just leave you here, Ni-Ni."

Neptune nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, Nicky! What'll you be doing on your lonesome? Not masturbating, cause that's kinda your wifeys job."

"NEP-NEP!"

'Ugh, this girl's giving me another migraine… wonder if Theta's found someone who can reel in his assholisms, maybe that person can give me some tips on how to deal with her…' the teenage Spec Ops Agent thought with an irritated groan. "No, don't worry girls, I'll find my way to the Hellverse Dungeon. I can track it from here, if we didn't have a captive teammate then I'd have gladly joined you. However, I fear IF's on borrowed time at the moment, so I don't want to waste any more of it."

Now that made sense to the girls, as they remembered that one of their own was still captured and likely being held in that Dungeon. They both felt a flash of guilt spark inside their guts for forgetting that important detail, if their resident brunette had been here she'd be scolding them for days for forgetting her. "Riiiight, Iffy… I completely forgot about her." Neptune admitted, chuckling nervously.

The Nurse-In-Training didn't say a thing, but her body language spoke volumes.

Nico's eyes narrowed at the two with a look of disappointment. While he could understand why, given what they had just been through, it was still the principle of the matter here. "I'll be telling IF that when I find her." Two paling girls were his reward for that comment.

"In any case, we ought to get going, the longer we dillydally, the more likely we could have a ton of victims to the Demonic species." Nico stated, about to turn around. However, he froze mid turn, something else coming to his mind as he turned back to them. "Oh yeah, one last thing."

"?"

Both girls gave him questioning looks…

Those looks morphed into looks of shock when the teenage Spec Ops Agent swiftly appeared before them and pulled them into an embrace, his arms wrapping around their backs and pulling them into his chest. His head was buried into their shoulders, leaving his facial expression unseen to them.

"E-Eh?!"

"Wha-wha-wha-wha?!"

Both Neptune and Compa blushed crimson at the sudden gesture of affection, Compa more so considering her nature. That didn't mean that Neptune was out of the embarrassment pool though, her blush was a considerate one as she felt the muscular physique her hubby possessed, pressing against her thanks to his arms. 'Wh-Whoa… since when the hell did this guy get so lean built…' She wondered. Neptune had seen how built Nico had been sporting several times now, but even so it seemed that as time went on, his build seemed to become… well, more masculine. If a Goddess was the epitome of female beauty, then Nico had the demonic beauty of a male God.

"You two… you better make it back out of there alive… I'm ordering that as DEATHSTROKE… and as Nico."

The male finally spoke after a few seconds of silence, although to them it seemed much longer. To them, there had been nothing but worry, softness and concern for their wellbeings in that tone, showcasing just what he felt deep inside. To them, it was a milestone jumped, as it showed them that their efforts at getting into his heart had not been fruitless, had not been a waste. It was a… heart-warming thought.

"Nicky..."

"Ni-Ni..."

Breaking away, the teen pushed them so that he could see their faces, and that was when they saw something that tore away at their heart strings: A smile. A warm, heartfelt smile that just seemed so... sad. Lonely. Resigned. He was both reassuring them to make it out of this alive, and himself in that they wouldn't die. A smile like that could only come from someone who'd seen plenty of death on the battlefield, and it had changed them for the worse. Both girls looked at each other, and instead of their usual rivalry, only one thought dominated their minds.

Don't let Nico be alone ever again.

"We'll come back, Ni-Ni." Compa responded, briefly hugging him this time as she planted a kiss on his cheek. It made his eyes widen and a blush form on his cheeks, something that flattered her as she stepped back. "So don't worry about us. You were the one who trained us, remember?"

Neptune 'hmmed' in agreement. "Yep, you got that right Compa. Listen up, buster, you and I still have some sexy time to do, so I can't go quitting the bucket yet. You're my hubby. so you do your best out there, got it?! You'll make me look bad otherwise!"

Afterwards, Nico, Compa and Neptune bid their farewells, before separating. The male ran off towards where Biko had said the hatred trail lead to the Hellverse, while Neptune transformed into Purple Heart, grabbed Compa and took off to where she could sense the demonic energy belonging to the Demon horde.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Another chapter done!**

 **Now, the party has split apart to deal with multiple threats on different fronts! Ad just when they got out of the Demon Prince's realm, too. Damn, these guys don't get a break, do they? Nico's gone off to save IF from those that kidnapped her, while Neptune and Compa are off to take down the demonic forces that the Demon Prince told them had been summoned into Leanbox to wreck havoc. Looks like things will be getting heated in the near future, huh?**

 **Also, you all should make sure you're all up to date on what's been happening. Re-read chapters to familiarize yourselves with the lore, what's been going on, etc. My story has a high word count, one that'll only get longer with time. Thus, you all should keep the facts from the other chapters fresh in your minds. Otherwise, you'll just get lost. That's the thing with long stories, they tend to make people lost and force them to reread chapters to figure stuff out. Just warning you all now.**


	82. Chapter 79 - Hellverse (At Last!)

**Chapter 79 - Hellverse (At last!)**

The cold, wet Leanbox wind pressed against her face, her twin braids fluttering behind her as she flew through the air towards her destination. Purple Heart ignored the winds and kept her eyes focused on where the woman could sense a large abundance of demonic energies gathering. At first, she had been a little sceptical at the possibility of demons attacking. She hadn't been there when the 'Demon Prince' as her Hubby had called that thing went down, but she trusted that her Hubby hadn't been lying to her. After all, he didn't have that vibe to him, and if he was to hide something it was usually for good reason. Like that time when he didn't tell them about how he'd been investigating Avenir and thus alerted Lastation's defence forces. He'd kept that under wraps thanks to A: being in close contact to Avenir, and B: They would be caught in the crossfire. He wanted to be absolutely prepared for the upcoming battles so that, even if they were caught in a trap (which they had been) they would still have ways of stopping their plans.

It had only been a quarter of the flight trip that she began sensing demonic energies in the distance, which made her realise that Nico had been dead on about his predictions. As she got closer and closer, though the distance between them still remained vast, Purple Heart slowly felt more and more worry seep into her being. The reason? The closer she got, the more energies she began to feel, energies that belonged to individual demons. It gradually became more and more ominous for her and she feared they would be fighting alone against an entire freaking ARMY of Demons.

If that was indeed the case, then that Demon Prince definitely fit its name…

Though, she guessed that they weren't technically alone, and by that she meant the two of them: herself, and the passenger she was carrying. Looking down, Purple Heart eyed her passenger who was looking ahead with just as much worry as she was, though she wasn't hiding it as well as the CPU had been able to. "Don't worry Compa." She spoke softly, getting the Nurse-In-Training to look up at her. This allowed her to see the supportive smile the Planeptune CPU had on her lips. Her eyes shone with confidence and determination, born solely from one thing. "We can do this. We fought the Bloodletters back there, remember? It'll just be a larger version of that."

"How can you be so sure, Nep-Nep?" Compa questioned worriedly. She turned her head and looked into the distance. She may not be able to sense demonic power like Purple Heart or Nico could, but even she began to get this deep unsettling feeling at the pit of her stomach. It felt honestly like she was walking into a den filled with hungry lions, and she was to be the large sack of meat that they craved. She could remember how it felt fighting those Demons back in that horrible place, some of them had commented about how they would skewer her insides with their tongues or do other nasty, heinous things to her. At the time, she had only been moderately worried since her friend was keeping them off her back, but this time their numbers would likely be greater than before, which meant that Purple Heart might not be able to protect her as well. "I mean, judging from how Ni-Ni sounded there will be tons more ahead, compared to what we saw last time. How do you think you'll be able to handle that many?"

A small chuckle escaped the woman's lips, much to Compa's disbelief. Did she not understand how bad their situation was? Did she not realise that they could seriously get a bad end this time? They'd been through so many near-death experiences, so did they make her immune to fearing death anymore? She didn't voice her inner thoughts though as she waited Purple Heart's reply.

Said reply came seconds later. "You're right, Compa." She began, surprising the young woman as they slowed down slightly. The Nurse-In-Training didn't notice it at first, but her eyes quickly glanced at the arms holding her securely in place. It was faint, but there was in fact some trembling going on. Purple Heart kept it together than she did, but even she held the same nervousness that Compa felt, she realised. It made her feel a little pang of guilt for not seeing it sooner. "I myself, am not as sure about our chances. We're facing an army of beings that make what we've fought so far, monsters, Abnormals, Ganache, BOW's, even other CPUs look like chumps in comparison. These guys would be the textbook definition of monsters if they hadn't already been classified as something else. To be honest, they're probably the stuff of my nightmares."

Purple Heart released a breath, one that contained a slight sense of shakiness to it. She couldn't help the feelings stirring within her gut, feelings that she let Compa know of intentionally. She didn't need to keep these from her friend, since they both were feeling the same way right now. "But, I'm still going to do my damned hardest to make sure this enemy is vanquished. They cannot be allowed to harm any innocent lives in this Nation, or any Nation. If they appeared in any Nation other than my own, I would go there to fight them. They wouldn't get a chance to come to Planeptune under my watch." She explained, her eyes hardening at the end. Determination replaced her nervousness, pushing it far from her mind as her limbs stilled.

She truly meant that as well. Even if the other CPUs hated her for one reason or another, she would still do all she could to aid them in killing off these Demons. Those creatures showed her in their battles, that they did not care one bit for the purity of life, they only cared about causing untold chaos and destruction, leaving ruin and devastation in their wake. She would not allow any of them to cause more tragedy in this world, not by a long shot. Her human self would agree, in her own way at least. She may not show it, but when it counted she would be there to help. She helped by being the comic relief character, and she helped by being the Warrior Queen she truly was. That was her full character in a nutshell.

"Do you remember what my human self said to you back in the Monster Cave? Way back when?" the CPU questioned, looking down at her friend. She may be her love rival for Nico's heart, but they were also friends, and friends help each other out more than anything. Just from looking at her, Purple Heart could sense that she needed the support, and she would gladly be that support. When she was sure that Compa was paying attention to her, the CPU continued. "I seem to recall it was something along the lines of 'When you're being bullied by somebody you don't say 'why me?' instead you say, 'try me'!'"

The Nurse-In-Trainings' eyes widened in shock, memories flashing through her mind when her friend did say those words. She remembered them well, they had been along the same kind of words that Nico would have said to her, in order to calm her down in a scary situation. That was how they had succeeded so well in keeping her level-headed back then. Hearing them again, just served to show that they still had that kind of magic. Only, the difference compared to back then was that it was the perky Neptune that said them. The cute, lovable preteen amnesiac with a penchant for adventure and desires to be a hero. To help others in need and be an adventurer, a thrill-seeker. Someone who would keep cool by making jokes and fourth-wall breaking memes.

Now, it was the Goddess of an entire nation, a warrior queen who fought alongside their troops on the front lines. The difference was as clear as day. One of them held a much greater impact than the other. Not saying that one is weak, oh no, that was not the case at all. It was merely a comparison of charisma that the warrior queen excelled at more so than the bubbly preteen. The result, nonetheless though, was a calming sigh from the Nurse-In-Training, as she lost the tension building up within her. As she did so, Compa gradually felt better about their chances, like they actually would survive this upcoming battle. She still felt her nervousness and anxieties, the same ones she had expressed to Nico back on their date (she still blushed at the memory) but they were in much lesser quantity at the moment. Something Compa knew she desperately needed.

Her mind, after thinking about Nico, went to the item that he had brought her. From the moment that they had left, Compa had been feeling… strange. It wasn't really a bad strange, more like a feeling of comradeship, of trust and devotion, to this strange item. She got the feeling that she was meant to have that item, and it reciprocated the feelings. A two way street. Part of her got worried over these new feelings, feelings that she had only gotten when she received this new, strange item. However, the item itself quickly assured her of those worries by pumping its energy through her Inventory and into her system. She had no idea how that was even possible for it though, it was like it could transcend between dimensions and infuse the energies into those it favours. Compa had the feeling she could do anything with that item by her side, something that the young girl took great pleasure in. She would need it for the battle ahead.

On Purple Heart's side, after she assured Compa they would be alright, the CPU furrowed her brows as she glanced down towards her chest area. The same area where she felt that strange item that Nico had given her. Not long after she transformed into her HDD form, Purple Heart had felt how it had burrowed itself deep within her system and begun doing… something. Injecting something, absorbing something, she didn't know. It had felt like both of those, honestly, and it sure as hell didn't tickle. She'd managed to school herself during that moment of pain, pain that made her think of being burned alive, doused with water, then being set alight once more. It was like two forces were struggling within her, struggling for supremacy. Had that been what Noire had gone through when she fled them after being hit from Nico's DPU powers?

That question had been answered with a no about an hour after she and Compa began their flight, when the thing inside of her simply… settled down, as if it were slowly being tamed by her own energies. Energies that began to assimilate the something into her being. Changing it, rewriting it into something else. What that was, she didn't know. And she sure as hell wanted to know what Nico had given her. She could feel its presence insider her being, quite well in fact. This was mostly due to the fact that its energy was the complete opposite of hers, and every time she brushed against it, she would feel like she was drinking a bottle of bleach. Not a nice feeling.

While painful at first, the conversion process seemed to gradually become less so as time went on, and Purple Heart slowly found herself eager to see the results of this little fusion. This fusion of demonic and divine energy. It was a gift from her hubby after all, and that was something she cherished, more so than one would expect. Perhaps that was why her body hadn't tried to expel the foreign item from her during the assimilation, it knew that this energy was not inserted into her with malice-based intent. Such an unconscious desire… She didn't know why, but Purple Heart knew that when the process was complete, something that hasn't been seen before would happen. She could feel it deep within her gut.

It was with these thoughts, that the two ladies pondered while they flew to their destination.

* * *

Finding the Dungeon had never felt so good in Nico's opinion.

Tracking the trail of negative emotions that Biko had provided him was not easy, not only was the trail as faint as all hell, but he had many 'pit-stops' along the way. Pit stops that were basically ambushes composed of warbands filled with Chaos God Worshippers. These worshippers worshipped Khorne, though, none of the other Chaos Gods, which told the male that Khorne's sub-religion was based primarily in Leanbox. If that was indeed the case, then the other Religions would be based in other Nations, which didn't bode well for the CPUs.

If only he could have flown here, then Nico wouldn't have had to deal with all those pesky followers on his way here. However, the fact that they could probably sense demonic energies from a distance was too big a risk for them to take. They had no idea what these Chaos worshippers in Overlord Momus' cult were capable of. Not to mention, his only source of flight capacity was actually his DPU form, Crimson Soul, and he was unable to access that form thanks to what happened with Berserker Mode.

One good thing though as that he was able to get used to using his Demon Skills once again. It felt SO goddamn brilliant to finally unleash his DEMONIC OVERDRIVE skill once again, not to mention the rest of them. it felt like he had finally regained something he had lost for a long time, after years of searching for it, and man did it feel excellent to use them again. You know that sensation you get as a kid, when you get to do something after so long of being forbidden to by your parents? Yeah, that was the comparison Nico made to it. He'd mainly used them on either Abnormals or the stronger of the Khorne worshippers, while normal monsters had to deal with his Plasma-based arsenal as well as his normal Skills.

As for those unknown new abilities Biko had mentioned to him, Nico had decided to stick with the ones he did know for the time being, at least until he fully recovered his powers and could access DDD once more. Both Biko and him had agreed that would be necessary in order to properly ensure his recovery, as they didn't have any information on these Skills, thus the effects they'd have on his recovering demonic energy reserves were largely unknown. Too risky, in their eyes.

Of course, during the entire journey his thoughts would wander back to Neptune and Compa.

It had NOT been easy, not at all, to send them to that battlefield. It had felt like his gut was tearing itself apart as he saw them leave, possibly to die there, but he had no other option. There was time to consider, as well as the fact that there was a heavy risk on both routes. If they chose one, they would doom the other. Choose the many, and IF's life could be in peril. Something Nico refused to allow. But on the other hand, choose IF, and many innocent lives would be ended without mercy. That also was unallowable in Nico's mind, something his demon persona agreed with. Nobody deserved to die by the hands of ANY Demonic entity, for when they die it wouldn't mean their souls go to the afterlife, no, their souls would be devoured by the demons as well.

Then there were the items that he'd given the girls. Biko had assured him repeatedly that things would turn out alright, in his own unique way of course. That guy didn't do emotions, sort of similar to how his DPU Self was like. But, the fact that he bothered to try was what counted, and that was also more successful in calming his nerves than someone who understood emotion. He didn't know why, but that wasn't stopping him from soaking it up.

Now though, after all that bullshit with the followers and Abnormals, Nico had finally found the entrance to the Hellverse Dungeon. The Dungeon apparently looked like one large, ruined Manor house. It had the same design as the older versions of Leanbox buildings, but looked to have been abandoned for some time. The manor consisted of a large gate, with a courtyard that separated it and the entrance inside the Manor. In front of the courtyard, was a large gate.

The gate stood proudly, intimidatingly, in front of this long, arching stone bridge, a bridge that went across this deep ravine. He couldn't even see the bottom thanks to there being next to no light down there. Aside from that, the gate had these two statues of armoured Knights with longswords impaled on the stone beneath them, with their hands balanced on their pommels. The stone bridge had these large statues of winged lions lined along both sides. Though, holes in the bridge were visible, holes that looked to be the result of something smashing into them.

Kneeling behind one of the bridge's stone walls, Nico eyed the Manor with a wary eye. His senses and instincts told him there was something VERY wrong about that place, like it just oozed evil intent like those Demons. His senses could detect traces of demonic enemies within that place, but other than that he had nothing. Not a good sign in his books. Turning back, the male sat down on th ground, leaning back against his hiding spot before he looked up to the skies above. At first, before he got here they were all cloudless and clear blue, but now… Now they had become covered with grey storm clouds, thunder rumbling across them. He could sometimes make out vague bolts of lightning.

'Hey Biko… you get anything else?' the male questioned, frowning as he closed his eyes. His Armour was on, which meant a light metallic banging sound happened when his head hit the stone. His lone eye was closed as he projected those thoughts to his demon persona. 'Cause I got a REALLY bad feeling about this place.'

 **'** **That feeling would be right.'** Biko responded. A low hum followed this as Nico heard his contemplative noises. **'From what I can tell, this Manor is home to a LOT of demonic beings, as well as their worshippers. I foresee that this will be one tough battle, but I can also sense there to be wards in the area, preventing my senses from digging deeper.'**

'Wards? What are those?'

 **'** **You know those Magic Circles that you employ in Skills? Wards are basically that, however demonic Wards are quite versatile. Depending on how they're drawn, they can have a variety of functions, like keeping energies contained, restricting movement, reinforcement, teleportation, etc. I am detecting Wards across the entire Manor's walls, and they seem to be preventing me from using my senses to see what's inside. If you want my opinion, I'd say there are going to be more inside, plus wherever IF is being held.'**

These Wards… they sounded quite interesting. Not to mention useful. If what Biko was telling him was true, then they'd be another means of security for their hotels and places of interest. Maybe he could look into that sometime, but for now he had to focus on getting inside that place. Good thing he could use his Demon Skills and Devil Arms again, now he had more of an arsenal to kick demonic booty with. 'Got it, I'll keep an eye out… maybe multiple, with a Recon Drone or some shit… Anyways, what's the status with my DPU Form? How long will it be before I can use it again?'

 **'** **From what I can tell, not long. That stay in that Demon Prince's realm has boosted it significantly, more so than that stay in the Mines. This is likely due to it having a higher quality and quantity concentration of Demonic Energy, so I'll predict that by the time this is over, we will have access to DDD once again.'**

'Alright, got it, I'm heading inside.'

With that done, Nico slowly stood up and twisted on his heels, heavy clanking sounds accompanying him as he trudged along the stone bridge towards the Gate. His eye shone with determination while thoughts of the brunette filled his mind. Nico clenched his armoured fists as his eye shifted slowly to a mix of determination and anger. 'Hold on, IF, I'm coming…'

* * *

Deep within the Hellverse Dungeon, IF rattled against her restraints, groaning in irritation at them. She had been trying to get them loose enough to break them, but she hadn't had much luck. 'Geez, what the heck are these things made of?' she wondered, grimacing. She tried some more, but she got the same results, so she soon stopped her attempts. She'd been doing this ever since she first regained consciousness.

There was little light save for the torches. Torches that hadn't been lit until they had brief visits from several robed people that IF had assumed were Cultists for the Overlord Momus religion. Though, something was off about them, something had been very, VERY wrong with them. She didn't know what it was exactly, but their pointy hoods had covered their faces in darkness, save for these glowing crimson eyes. She could also make out this hollow red glow from their mouths when they snarled at her, like an animal. Those were what she didn't like, not that there was anything she DID like about them. Those were just more… noticeable things that she disliked.

Looking up at her, Stefan eyed the restraints that bound her, his eyes weary yet focused. It was a bit of an odd mix, one only made possible thanks to being trapped down here for god knows how long. "I'm afraid those restraints won't be coming off. While you were out, I watched as they seemed to do something to those restraints, I think it was applying a Ward of some kind. Don't ask me what they are, because I only overheard them mention it in passing. But from what I could hear, this Ward apparently strengthens the restraints with the infernal energy Demons possess."

"Well… that sucks." IF muttered under her breath, releasing a resigned sigh as she slumped against the wall. Seriously, her arms had begun to go numb from being held in this position for so long. She hoped she could get some feeling back into them soon enough, she didn't fancy walking about armless for the rest of her life. "I bet Nico would be able to destroy these damn things…"

Overhearing what she muttered under her breath, the Ostermark Captain's brows perked in interest. "Nico? By any chance, is this Nico character DEATHSTROKE? The sole male of your apparent party?" he queried, getting a surprised look from the brunette.

After a second or two. She warily nodded, wondering what he was so curious about. She soon got her answer as a look of understanding crossed onto her features. "Ah, I see. Well, if he's in your party I don't doubt that he's already on his way here. That Agent has a penchant for finding places like these." He remarked, thoughtfully as he looked up at the ceiling. His eyes held this dazed look to them that the brunette attributed to reminiscing past memories.

"You seem to know a bit about him, huh? I guess its to be expected with his reputation, but…"

"Oh, don't misunderstand, I don't know him PERSONALLY, but I have heard of him. In fact, the boy likely doesn't realise just how popular he has become, even before the recent BOW attack on Lastation." Stefan told her, getting a raised brow from her. There was silence between the two for a moment as the man wet his lips with his tongue, using saliva as a substitute for liquids to keep them from hurting like the rest of his body.

Afterwards, he decided to elaborate on what he meant, it had been a long time since he had the pleasure of a conversation partner. Almost too long in fact. Being in this hellhole made him miss the little things, but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. "DEATHSTROKE may not be as well-known to the public, but he is WELL known by those of a higher authority. Practically every politician connected to the higher ups in the Basilicom and the Guild is aware of his existence. Each of them pay a substantial amount of attention too his movements, to his actions, like watching an animal for wen it finally breaks under the pressure. Kind of weird, isn't it?"

IF nodded, frowning in thought as she glanced at the ground beneath her. "Yeah… weird…" she muttered, her eyes becoming glazed as she lost herself in thought. That definitely sounded more than a little odd. Weird didn't eve do it justice. She had figured that there was extreme secrecy from Nico about his past, but his present was being constantly monitored? She wasn't sure what to think of that at first, but the more she thought about it, the more she began to think back…

She remembered when they first met, how he helped her with those stupid idiots who wanted a quickie while she was overstressed from her recent Quest. She hadn't noticed at the time, but as she thought back to it some of the surveillance systems, and more than a few staff members, had been eyeing him. These gazes didn't have much to go off of, and they were mixed in with the looks of adoration of him, so they would likely have remained unseen unless one actively looked for them. IF hadn't noticed then, but these looks… she didn't know why, but she got a bad feeling about them.

The brunette remembered several other times when they would appear throughout their journey. In Lastation, when the big freak-out happened more than a few eyes were drawn to him. She didn't think much of it at the time, since she had understood the shock of what happened. However, now that she was thinking back with a different perspective, some didn't look as shocked as the others. Some even looked… unsurprised, like they had expected something like this to happen eventually. Heck, even Chian felt like she knew something about him that the Party didn't, something that rung more than a few alarm bells in hr mind.

Heck, this became even worse back in Leanbox. The most prominent example was, again, within the Basilicom when they first encountered Yvoire, and all the times after. Hell, this could be considered one big mess in and of itself considering what he had wanted her to do. The others probably didn't notice, but IF did. the way that Yvoire and Nico interacted seemed civil on the surface, but underneath that was practically a swamp of hatred, disgust and discrimination. The subtle glares in each other's direction were a big hint to this, but at the time she had been focusing on other matters, so she hadn't paid it much attention. Then there was some of the other workers whom, unbeknownst to Neptune and Compa, full on GLARED at the male in sheer hatred and disgust, for the male to glare back with just as much ferocity that it caused them to stumble. It reminded her of how the Guild used to be treated the same way in the past.

In all those times, they had been showing intense hatred or wariness towards him, but like Stefan had said, they WERE paying attention to him regardless of how they were doing it. Suddenly things didn't seem so clear anymore, the mysterious haze around Nico's backstory becoming thicker and thicker with each revelation. When she had gone to research Ghouls and their biology, she had NEVER expected things to turn out this fucked up. Every answer she gained only lead to more questions, questions that lead to more like a repeated cycle until it formed this complex web of facts around Nico.

Speaking of her research, while she had so many questions around the guy's past, IF did have to admit that what she did know provided some possible answers. For one, Nico's reactions to the thoughts of Ghouls back in West Wind Valley, they indictaed a deep connection to them, probably like kinship. Then reason she thought this was due to his behaviour being similar to Ghouls.

They were brutal in battle, so was he.

They didn't like eating large-scale human meals so did he.

She didn't know about the Kagune thing, though, but if Nico DID have a Kagune, then that would make him…

"Say, you seem to have a… deep interest, in young DEATHSTROKE." Stefan noted, and IF soon looked up towards him after snapping back into reality. Seriously, she had been doing that a lot lately. She could only hope that she didn't do that on a battlefield or things would REALLY have to change. Nevertheless, she looked towards the Ostermark Captain, who was regarding her with a thoughtful look. In the next second, her gut felt like it was twisting when she saw how his lips curved upwards into this smirk. It was a mix of knowing and amusement, with a hint of teasing. "Do you by any chance have a interest in him… in a romantic sense? Like, dating, sex, marriage the like?"

POOF!

The Moment that those words left Stefan's lips, IF let loose a heavy scowl of primal anger at him. Her eyes shined with his infuriated she was, although Stefan didn't feel very threatened. Her face had turned cherry red though, which sorta lowered the feeling of fear that her glare was trying to get across. She made to deny that claim that she liked someone, but all that came out was as follows. "Heck no… no way… ugh shut up!" In the end, she just gave in, grumbling under her breath.

At the sight, Stefan openly laughed, not even minding how much IF was glaring heatedly at him. In his eyes, this was just too good for him, it had been so long since he'd seen someone get that flustered over the possibility of a relationship. Plus, he had the impression that IF largely remained serious about everything through their short interactions. With few exceptions, though, and that was what he had been trying to bring out of her. To help her focus her mind on something other than her current situation. When one person is your only form of conversation in the middle of so much madness and insanity, you tend to try to talk to them as much as you could, learning much about them just to make sure you don't lose your mind.

Once she regained her composure, the brunette huffed as she looked to the side, refusing to look at the man anymore. "Why the hell would you ask something like that? Especially now of all times?" she questioned in annoyance. The earlier embarrassment brushed against her defences, but her pride refused to allow her to think more on it. She was a mercenary, damnit, she didn't have time to worry about this shit.

But, she did remember how Vert had asked her about the same topic. A topic that had been bothering her immensely ever since she heard it. Her mind had been replaying her interactions with the male Spec Ops Agent like they were on loop or something, and through each repeat, she did notice that she began behaving… oddly, when she recalled them. This sense of disappointment, of regretful longing, this desire to have something… more.

How long had it been since she felt this way?

Faint images appeared in her mind, images of the past that she had not been thinking about for quite some time. She saw a white haze, with a black masculine figure in the centre offering his hand to her.

The brunette shook those memories out of her mind for now. No point in thinking about the past, at this point she needed to focus on something else. She knew though, judging by the look on Stefan's face that he would be pressing her to admit the truth. Through their short time of knowing each other (though she didn't know exactly how long they had been here for, and he had probably been here longer than her) she had found that he had a stubborn streak that contested well with a certain purple haired idiot she knew.

So, she tried to think of something that would persuade him to drop this conversation and focus on another topic. "Even if I WERE to like him…" she began, and deep down she felt like her heart was twisting in on itself when she said those words. As if she was a complete idiot for saying them. "Nico already as several Goddesses, a Nurse-In-Training, and several other Agents after him." she stated, hopefully that would persuade him to drop the subject.

Usually, men frown upon those that get a bunch of girls interested in them. Not out of disgust, normally. Most of the time though, it was mainly focused on jealousy, with a few exceptions like those who were happily married and faithful to their partners. While she had seen many of the former, a few of the latter were also included in her experiences. Hopefully, this was one of the latter ones and would drop the subject or risk saying something degrading that would piss her off.

… Wait, what?

Unfortunately for her, it soon became apparent that Stefan had a DIFFERENT reaction to what the brunette woman had been expecting. The man winced, his eyes shining with… pity? "Ouch, those poor girls. They have their work cut out for them." he remarked, shaking his head in exasperation. The restraints holding him captive clinked in response to his bodily movements, creating sounds in the otherwise empty dungeon cell that soon became silent once again.

Now THIS got her attention, her eyes sharpening like blades as she regarded the man opposite her with a new level of attention, compared to their previous talks. "For someone who claims to not know Nico personally, you sure seem to show otherwise." She remarked curiously, but also with a hint of suspicion. She didn't know how this guy thought he knew her comrade, but he clearly knew more than he let on. Just how much did people observe this guy, anyways? Like a bunch of hawks eyeing potential prey or something? IF quickly found she did not like that thought… at all.

Stefan shrugged his shoulders, or at least he tried to. His current condition had hampered this action for him, somewhat, resulting in more clinking. By the Goddess he hated these infernal chains. Once he got out of here, he'd be doing his damned best to make those assholes pay with blood. "Like I said, many influential people keep watchful eyes on him, and that includes his interactions with others. It takes a LOT to get through those barriers he puts up around his heart, and from what I can tell from your story it seems you girls have only breached one of them. You have a fair way's to go before you can take a shot at his heart, the kid's one of the more wary of others amongst his peers."

Instead of feeling discouraged by that, which IF figured that she would have, she could only feel a sense of determination. She had been under the assumption that Neptune, Compa, Vert and the others whom wanted Nico had gone way too far with him for her to catch up now. But, to hear that they barely scratched the surface of his barriers? That thought brought both comfort and concern out of her. "Well, I guess then, if I liked him, I'd have a fair shot then, huh?" she remarked with heavy sarcasm, though she sounded like she was hiding something underneath it… and she was.

It didn't seem to matter too much to Stefan though, if his knowing looks were any indication.

Before they could continue their conversation, the sounds of wooden creaking resonated from behind IF's cell. She quickly realised what this meant, sometimes she would get 'visits' from those Overlord Worshippers and boy did she NOT appreciate those. All they usually did was stand by her cell, same with Stefan's and stare at her like a bunch of freaking creeps. It didn't help that sometimes they would whisper amongst themselves, faint crimson glows coming from their lips. Sometimes, she swore she heard the name 'Magda' for some reason, but she never asked after that one time. When she had asked, they had practically snarled in her direction, making her blood run cold as they looked like they were restraining themselves from ripping her apart limb from limb.

Though, at the mention of Magda, Stefan did scowl with more anger than a bloodthirsty Abnormal. No joke.

Following the creaking sounds, came those of leather footwear tapping against hard metal. That meant they would be getting visitors soon. IF quickly checked her Biomass reserves. She had been careful in replenishing it, doing so little by little. While it replenished on its own, likely through adaptation and evolution via the C Gene, it still remained inferior to assimilating Biomass from other beings. Survival of the fittest never ceased applying itself to these situations she found herself in, ever since hooking up with this Party. She could feel that a small amount of her power, barely a 10th of what she was used to working with, but that would be enough. It had to.

Soon enough, the woman noticed several men in dark robes with those pointy hats coming down the corridor to their Cell. Their eyes glowed a menacing red, oddly reminding her of Nico's eyes when the male was in DPU Form. A sense of anger at the worshippers rose within her at the thought, though she didn't fully understand why. No matter, she would have to focus on the task at hand. Plan in mind, IF wordlessly sent a look Stefan's way, a look that sent her intentions though her gaze alone. It was something that only skilled warriors or those who were skilled in their fields could do, so Stefan naturally understood and nodded back to her.

Just after that, the Worshippers finally arrive at the gate to her cell. One of them muttered something under his breath that IF overheard with her BOW hearing. Although, hearing it didn't make it any less confusing to her. It sounded like a chant of sorts, a runic chant if she wasn't mistaken. It was a Lowee-based practice, she knew because she'd looked into it once after seeing it performed on a mission, but this… this felt different somehow, it honestly felt like an increasingly more demonized version of the craft. Not sure how she would feel about something like that.

The lock came undone, and the worshippers sauntered into the room, forcing IF to hold back her urge to tear those assholes into shredded ribbons. There would be a time for that, this she swore. When they were inside, one of then grabbed her by the shoulder while the others muttered chants to undo the restraints on her legs, but not her hands. "Come with us prisoner, its your time to be offered as a sacrifice to the Gods." The one grabbing her sneered, roughly pulling her to her feet. She identified this one as a male at least.

Instincts told her that it was time however, and a small smirk formed on her lips. "Oh, I don't think so, fucker." She stated, kicking the worshipper in the balls. The man squealed in pain, alerting his friends to the situation. Before they could do anything however, and before Stefan could freak out over IF's, in his mind foolishly stupid plan, the brunette commenced her plan.

Her chest erupted in a single, organic spike made from her own flesh. One that impaled her assaulter.

With a grin she put all her pent up frustration and sinister malice into, IF commenced the cell absorption process. The man let out even higher pitched screams, sounding almost like dozens of screaming civilians at once as his body was literally engulfed in hot fire born from the conversion process her BOW powers applied to his being. This lasted only a second before the body was pulled right into her spike, leaving nothing left of the Worshipper behind.

Power flowed through her, making IF moan in bliss as she effortlessly pulled her hands free from their restraints, ripping them in half. She then grinned towards the others, opening her eyes while her arms began to tremble violently, mutating intro her blades. "Well then boys," she began, licking her lips in fierce hunger. From her feet, IF separated some of her Biomass and had it form a wall over the Cell, though a transparent piece was created for Stefan. She wanted him to see this, what she truly was. It would be better for him to know now rather than later. "Let's commence the payback, shall we?"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, IF's free and those guys are as dead as humanly possible. Neptune and Compa are going off to engage the Demon horde the Demon Prince told them about, and Nico has found the place where the brunette is being held. What kind of horrors will there be in store for him when he gets inside? What will IF do when she see's Nico having already arrived to lend her his aid? Also, what is with the items that Compa and Neptune received? All in due time, readers.**

 **Also, I've been thinking and people will likely get lost with all the stuff that is going on. I'm thinking about making segments within the AN's I've been posting about different lores I've made, as well as character Bios that I'll try to keep as fresh as possible.**

 **This one will be the mutated IF's Bio, so I hope you like it.**

* * *

 **IF - Mutated**

 **NAME – IF**

 **AGE – late teens**

 **RACE – Human (Formerly)**

 **BOW (Current)**

 **GENDER – Female**

 **OVERVIEW – IF is a Guild Agent who encounters Neptune and her party when the Monster Cave Dungeon is the victim of a Banshee Infestation. She then is recruited by Neptune and Nico, whom she had encountered previously. During the fight against an empowered Ganache, IF is infected with the C Virus, forcing Nico to save her life by infecting her with another strain of the C Virus, enhanced by his own Demonic Energy, turning her into a BOW with full control over her mental faculties.**

 **HISTORY – Born from a one-night stand between her father, a Mercenary, and her mother, a fashion designer, IF spent her childhood wandering from place to place. Her father had taken her under his wing and started training her once she was old enough to fight. He taught her many Skills a Mercenary would need, such as combat, survival in the wilds, etc. When she was 8, her father was killed while on a Mission, which led her to follow in her father's footsteps and become a Mercenary.**

 **MUTATION – IF's mutation is one that varies, she can control her body down to the cellular level, allowing her to make weapons out of her body parts, form new appendages as well as change her appearance to better bland into her surroundings. She can also morph into her 'true form' which allows her to use the Virus's full unrestrained power. Nico has correctly told her that her powers are aided by what he calls the 'C Gene' which promotes the growth of stronger cells and killing off the weaker ones, a 'survival of the fittest' mentality.**

 **Tentacles - A set of insectoid Tentacles, their thickness rivalling that of an average bodybuilder. They numbered at 6, and had sharp glowing orange tips. Each one protruded from her shoulder, having replaced her entire arm up to the shoulder socket.**

 **Blades – when her blade mutation is applied, IF has only one half of her arm that was still human, the inner half of the arm. The outer half, plus the hand, is completely changed, becoming a mass of crimson flesh and bone armour, shaped like a ribcage that was a full forearm longer than her true arm. Its shape resembled an overly muscular limb, with the point after the hand being where he limb shifted its shape to a broadsword-like shape. It had a single metallic edge from the point where her hand used to be to the tip, the edge straight for the most part till it curved into a diagonal tip.**

 **Claws – A set of metallic claws that grow around her wrist and form 3 10-inch-long fingers.**

 ** **Axammer – An arm that looked normal down to the elbow, save for several Tendrils made from flesh wrapping around it and going into the shoulder. Below that though, was a long, large organic shaft, as large as a bodybuilder's arm. At the tip, there was a large Axe blade, about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. The blade was double tipped with a large crescent edge, a single notch next to the bottom tip. That same tip of the Shaft had a large shell-like structure, meant for bashing and crushing.****

 **Armour – IF can form an armour that covers her entire body in black armour, with many fractions. It enhances her physical abilities further than her BOW traits could alone, and she can have it cannibalize her body to enhance her movements further.**

 **Wings - 4 dark green reptilian wings made from her flesh, the lower ones being shorter than the upper ones.**

 **Physical enhancements – Because of her transformation, IF's physical abilities have been augmented to superhuman levels, allowing her to go toe to toe with enemies that the Goddesses would normally have trouble with. Her strength is great enough to hold a CPU's weapon, which is bound to one by their soul thus making it near impossible for ordinary people to wield it. Her speed is great enough for her to run 20 laps around large cities ad only get slightly winded afterwards. Her agility was enhanced to where she could dodge bullets at point blank range, while her instincts and other senses were sharpened to an animalistic degree, allowing her to perceive things that normally she wouldn't. In addition, IF's body reproduced its cells much faster than an ordinary person, giving her a moderate healing factor that can restore limbs but not her brain, if the brain is damaged, it takes longer to heal.**

 **Cell Absorption – IF's regeneration can be strengthened if she uses her powers to absorb any living creature, and if she doesn't need to heal then she can store the cells inside her for later use. This ability is useful for her as it can hasten her injuries healing, including her brain's. It happens by contacting the organism she wishes to absorb, then burns them to liquefy their cells like the C Virus when it encases someone in a chrysalis. These cells are then absorbed into her body for her to use.**


	83. Chapter 80 - absolution and breakouts

**Hey guys, new chapter here! If you haven't noticed, i don't plan on showing what Neptune and Compa have been up to during this little arc for plot reasons. There'll be some revelations about that later on once the main story kicks back up once more. Though, can anyone tell what kind of franchises I'm referencing here? A big clue will be in this one, and the next chap. Also, know that I'm practically steamrolling in the chapter dev department, thanks to most of it being written already in a different fanfic of my design.**

 **Also, about the Bios, I'll repost Bios of certain characters when their powers are either changed or updated, so be on the lookout for new Bios at the end of the Chapters, cause that's where they'll be.**

* * *

 **Chapter 80 - Absolution and Breakouts**

As Nico approached the gates, the male could only feel this sense of tension in his gut. This tension that warned him of potential danger to his wellbeing. He knew it, he knew it very well, being so well-versed in the art of combat. What he was doing would basically boil down to invading the enemy base. No reinforcements would come, not for a while at least, and Nico had put much thought into an escape plan. If only to delay the issues circulating through his mind right now.

Tension that only increased when, upon standing before the metal gates, they slowly separated, swerving backwards as if to welcome him. He practically felt like he was being welcomed to his doom, though. A slight shudder travelled down his spine, but he quashed it while deploying his Plasma Claws. Instincts screamed at him to be ready for attacks, attacks that could come at any moment.

'Odds are, they will have known I was coming, and will have prepared something along he lines of a welcoming committee for me…' he thought to himself, a scowl hidden behind his Helmet. He could feel demonic energy coursing through his veins in greater quantities than before, coating him in a thin crimson aura. It also gave a red shine to his lone uncovered eye, something that made Nico smirk inside. Eagerness could barely describe how he felt about using his demonic powers once again. If he had an inner demon, then it would be cackling in glee right about now.

Oh wait… he did… but it wasn't the kind he was thinking of.

Entering the courtyard, Nico eyed its layout. The Courtyard seemed to be quite large, though not nearly as much as the manor itself. The courtyard had a set of stairs in front of him, stairs that led to a lower platform where the entrance lay before it. The courtyard extended to the sides, and if one looked at it from a bird's eye view, they would see resemblance to a trident of sorts.

 **'** **I'd focus if I were you, Nico. It appears your assumptions were correct.'**

Turned out Biko was right, and Nico mentally thanked his demon persona. For the moment that he entered the massive courtyard, the gates closed shut behind him with an audible CLANG. He would have grimaced and held his sensitive ears that would have been ringing from the sound, had it not been for his helmet. Thanks to this, Nico barely jumped to the side in time to dodge a ball of pure fire, one the size of an average car, that came down from the skies above. He landed on one of the side platforms, sliding to a halt.

Once he was halted, Nico stood tall to see what had attacked him. Before, there had been nothing before the entrance, it was practically unguarded which had given off this eerie calm atmosphere. An atmosphere that kept his hair standing on end. Now? There was someone standing there, and still this person kept his hairs on end.

Standing before the entrance, clad in pitch black armour reminiscent of the night, wielding a glowing crimson sword that just pulsated with demonic power in his right hand, was a Chaos Knight. On his back, was a twisted looking black shield, but Nico focused more on the fiery pits that were his foe's eyes. The helmet hiding them sported the demonic horns the Chaos Knights back at the Mojang Mines had, but unlike them there was not a single steed present.

'A single enemy?' Nico wondered, raising a brow while eyeing the new opponent cautiously. He then shook his head in denial of that thought, refusing to believe it for a second. 'No, odds are that he has some reinforcements in hiding somewhere. I'll have to keep an eye out for them…'

The Chaos Knight roared at him, brandishing his crimson sword and pointing its tip at him in a threatening manner. Nico's eye narrowed at the enemy, swiftly reaching into his Void Storage and making too summon one of his demonic weapons. However, a thought came back to him, one that had been spoken to him by Biko with the whole Demon Prince fiasco. 'Biko did say that I have a new Devil Arm with me… let's see how it works.' He thought, switching on his Bracer's Screen to the new Devil arm.

Selecting it, Nico felt his back become heavier near instantly, a sign that the Devil Arm had fully manifested into the physical plane of reality. Swiftly grasping what he felt was the shaft of his new Devil Arm, the teenage Spec Ops Agent drew the weapon from his back. 'I better look into this possibility of summoning my weapons on mental command. It'd be a real great ability to have so I don't waste seconds on-'

Before he could finish, Nico saw the Chaos Knight break into a sprint, closing the distance between them in seconds. Reflexively raising his new Devil Arm, Nico blocked a slash that would have cut him in two, then had to block a rather vicious and brutal offensive that kept him on his toes. He could hardly find any openings to strike back, each hit was just THAT fast and powerful. 'Tch, this guy's got some strength behind that armour…' he thought to himself.

Sounds of falling gravel and a sight alteration in the surface area under his feet alerted Nico to a startlingly clear fact: he was being pushed towards the edge of the platform. Fortunately, there was a fence behind him, but Nico didn't fancy being knocked off the platform and down to the abyss down below thank you very much. When he saw the next slash coming, intending to decapitate him by cutting through his neck, Nico swiftly delivered a kick to the Chaos Knight's stomach, making gasp in surprise as he stumbled back. The teen followed up with a knee to the face, then twisted into a kick that sent his foe backwards.

The Chaos Knight staggered backwards, holding his helmet covered face. The hits that Nico had dealt managed to stun him for a moment, and that gave him time to breathe while he examined his new weapon. The Devil Arm Absolution, now that he got a good look at it, the weapon seemed to have the same appearance as the Axe the defiler wielded. The same textures, same edge, crystals and eyes and all. It was practically a perfect replica of that creature's weapon. 'Devil Arms… Biko said they were the souls of defeated Demons turned into weapons, and their powers depend on their demonic souls… if that's the case, then…'

Twirling Absolution above his head like a set of helicopter blades, Nico held his Devil Arm in a horizontal swinging stance. Biko told him that when it contacts an enemy it slows them down by infusing their bones with Corruption, but Nico got the impression the moment that his hands grasped the weapons shaft that there was more to it than that. Not to say that Biko was hiding anything from him, Nico figured that thanks to te situation at the time he had been unable to explain to him the full scope of this weapon's abilities. Something the teen understood perfectly.

The male made a mighty swing towards the Chaos Knight, and just like that, his theory became reality. For during the swing, the Axe formed a massive black wave made from pure Corruption, the kind the Defiler used not the Necromorph version, that spread across the courtyard towards his opponent.

Barely noticing the wave in time, the Chaos Knight jumped backwards jus before the wave could crash on him, dissipating out of existence shortly afterwards. 'Holy…' Nico remarked in his mind, his lone eye wide with surprise at his weapon's ability. He sneaked a glance to the Axe's blade, and saw it practically radiating with that same yellowish glow, mixed with writhing Tendrils made from its Corruption. The multiple eyes it had shifted direction every now and then, just proving how the weapon's power had sentience of its own, as expected of a Devil Arm.

'Absolution has Corruption related abilities… hmmm, this thing could be quite powerful if applied correctly. Let's see how I can apply it.' he thought to himself, slowly letting the Devil Arm's power out of its confines. Now the entire weapon had the glow plus the writhing Tendrils, Nico getting the feeling of satisfaction from the weapon, satisfaction born from the knowledge that its power was allowed to run rampant through its system.

Glancing at the ground, Nico raised Absolution for an overhead slam. He then brought it down, focusing the Devil Arm's power into its tip. The weapon impacted with a lout BOOM, creating a small tremor across the courtyard. But that was not all it did, for its tip generated a long trail of Corruption, a trail that generated dozens upon dozens of wicked sharp spikes that faced just about every direction.

The Chaos Knight quickly rolled to the side to dodge the attack, but it managed to pierce his hip armour still. Rolling onto one knee, the Chaos Knight checked the exposed area, finding there to be a cut going along where one of the Trail's spikes had scratched him. This made the Chaos Knight growl ferally, like a wild animal as he aimed a hateful glare towards Nico's direction. Standing up, the Chaos Knight drew his Shield and held his Sword at the ready… before sprinting towards him.

As his opponent charged at him, Nico remembered an attack the Defiler once used on him during their fight. The male smirked beneath his helmet, feeling the Devil Arm's powers touch upon his own in excitement as he swung horizontally once more. This time however, instead of a Corruption Wave or Corruption Trail, Nico sent several masses of Corruption towards it, one from the front and two more from its front flanks.

Despite his anger, the Chaos Knight managed to detect danger from those things, so he made to dodge them by diving through one of the shrinking gaps between them. However, a flash of… something triggered itself within him and Nico clicked his tongue. As if in response to that notion, the masses exploded and sent the Chaos Knight flying. His form had been covered completely by the Corruption, the male noticed, something that quickly worked its magic as the Corruption pinned his opponent to the ground. Mad shrieks and howls filled his ears as the Chaos Knight struggled to break free.

In his own experience, he didn't have long till his enemy broke free, but nonetheless, Nico thought something to himself regarding Absolution's powers. 'Hmmmm, I'll call this thing's version of Corruption… DC (Defiler Corruption). It'll make things easier if we ever encounter the Necromorphs again…'

Shaking his head, Nico glanced to the enemy and saw they were about to break out. There was still much more to learn about this power though, so he decided to keep going. Since he was here, there wasn't as much need to look for IF since she was practically right next to him. Worry for her was still present in his mind, though, but he reasoned that thanks to being on her own for a long time, IF would be able to take care of herself. But if she were to come to harm… heads would be rolling.

Once again, Nico twirled Absolution with the skill of an expert Axe wielder, thrusting it forwards as he felt the power inside the weapon do the rest. Fro the tip of the blade, dozens upon dozens of long Tendrils burst forth and, like mad vipers, lunged towards their prey. Their intent? To spear him through every section of his body.

Unfortunately, the Chaos Knight managed to manoeuvre his shield arm so that some protection was offered, and when the Tendrils collided with the shield they were bounced backwards. Nico's eye widened thanks to this, and he almost felt the recoil as if it were his own, making him step backwards in surprise. This gave the Chaos Knight some time to get back onto his feet, free of the DC that bound him to the ground before he rushed towards him.

Again, Nico relied on his instincts as he held his Devil Arm out in front of him, and from the shaft came a long stream of DC. It solidified and expanded, forming a wall the size of a human in front of him just a millisecond before the Chaos Knight's sword could meet his helmet-covered face.

The Wall retracted after repelling the Sword, receding in a blink of an eye into the Devil Arm's shaft. Nico swiftly jumped towards his prey, bringing Absolution down on the Chaos Knight's helmet. The Worshipper however, managed to raise his shield and block it in time, the impact causing the ground beneath them to reform into a six-inch-deep crater. A thin layer of dust also formed from the impact, though it went unnoticed by the two fighters while they repeatedly exchange blows, their eyes never leaving each other.

Nico twirled around, singing diagonally but that strike was parried by a strike coming from the opposite angle. Shifting his grip, the male attempted a slash from the end of his last one, but the same thing happened again. This process repeated itself until he gasped when a kick hit his stomach. The armour there protected him from the brunt of the attack, but it did cause him to step backwards several times.

Using this opportunity, the Chaos Knight jumped forwards, bestially roaring as he swung towards Nico's neck. The Spec Ops Agent however, managed to raise Absolution in time to block it, forming yet another six-inch-deep crater beneath them. He twirled the weapon in-between slashes, striking from multiple angles, each strike different from the last. It was basically a way to push the Chaos Knight onto the defensive, yet also deflect any attempts to get past his defences.

Sidestepping a thrust to his stomach, Nico spun into a downward slash. However, the Chaos Knight spun so that he could push his slash away with his shield instead. He followed up with a slash to his exposed shoulder, but Nico used Absolution's shaft to form a DC Wall in front of it, blocking the attack and sending his opponent staggering backwards.

Taking a step backwards, the male hopped into the air and brought his Absolution down onto the ground. DC passed through the Devil Arm into the ground, before resurfacing beneath the Chaos Knight in the form of several spikes. He'd call them Groundspikes for simplicity's sake, Nico thought as he watched them impale the Chaos Knight through the arms, making him scream in pain as he was held in the air. The spikes had been over 10 feet tall, which made that feat possible.

'Whew, this thing's energy is no joke. I think that out of all the Devil Arms I have, this thing has one of the more versatile of abilities…' the male thought to himself, eyeing Absolution in his hands. He could still feel how the Devil Arm still coursed with power, power that was on the verge of overflowing from the weapon's core. A sense of glee hit him, and he knew that it came from the Axe-shaped Devil Arm in his hands. It had always been like this, he thought, before looking up towards his prey. He always had a connection to Devil Arms, even before his ascension into a DPU, which explained why he could 'talk' somewhat with these things.

Looking up into the Chaos Knights' eyes, he saw both pain, and fury shining in those lava-like eyes, all of it directed at him. With his arms immobilised like they were, the Chaos Knight would be vulnerable to attack, he realised. Nico smirked behind his Helmet, pointing Absolution towards him and rearing it back for a thrust. DC gathered around the blade as he prepared to finish his prey off…

When something else did it fore him.

From a diagonal angle, Nico saw something stunning. If his mouth was free, it would have dropped to the ground when he saw this energy laser-like thing suddenly spear through the Chaos Knight's chest, burning through all of his chest cavity like it was nothing but weak dough. 'Whoa, what the hell?!' he shrieked in his mind. 'Where the hell did that come from?! It came from a diagonal angle… but, that leads to the courtyard reinforcements… Oh, hello.'

The moment Nico looked towards the Manor's entrance, he saw two more near-future opponents standing there. How they got there without him noticing was anyone's guess, though the teen deduced it to do with those Ward-things Biko told him about. Nevertheless, while Nico had to admit that these things looked fuck ugly, he'd seen a lot of that shit in his lifetime, so he would hardly call himself surprised at this point. Disgusted, maybe, but not surprised, not anymore.

These creatures, they moved on two hoof-made feet, and looked relatively humanoid in appearance. Their height would probably be at 10 feet tall or something similar. Their left arms ended in twisted, deformed looking claws, while their right arms were the claws of crabs. Their heads eerily resembled human faces, their expressions frozen into these blank expressions while these long tube-like protrusions came out the tops, as well as down their backs. Their backsides had long Tails coming out, but they didn't look particularly useful so Nico didn't pay much attention to them.

'Biko… Are these…?'

 **'** **Yes, indeed Nico. These are Chaos Spawns, or rather, Bloodbeasts in the service of Khorne. A Chaos Spawn is a term used to describe a whole spectrum of mutated creatures warped into being by the corrupting influence of Chaos corruption. Once the first mutation takes hold, the creature that was once a man now faces the inevitable dissolution of his mind and will, becoming something less than yet more than mortal. The fate that awaits nearly all surviving mutants is to become a Chaos Spawn, a gibbering abomination existing only to serve the whims of its infernal masters. Some manage to stave off this doom for a time, committing great and terrible deeds to gather the Rewards and Gifts of Chaos. But, for most, the fate of becoming a Chaos Spawn lies at the end of their dark and horrible road. The fate of a Spawn is to die, either on the field of battle by axe or sword, torn apart in the wilds by even more savage creatures, or literally ripped asunder by the Chaos energy that continues to course through its twisted body.'**

Nico grimaced under his breath as he held Absolution in a ready stance. That… definitely didn't sound pretty. As he looked upon these two 'Bloodbeasts', the male had to admit. Even for these Worshippers, a fate like this did not seem like something that they deserved. The thought of slowly being twisted into an abomination like this… yeah, nobody sane wanted to go out like that. Only the truly mad and twisted fuckers would find something like that appealing, and something told him that the followers were either being used like pawns or they didn't care either way. The first one came from the belief, or rather hope, that they would think twice or leave the religion once they figure out the true horrors that their religion causes. Although the notion that they would be too stuck up like most pricks were did make itself known. The second one came more from past experiences than anything, really.

 **'** **I see you've been making use of Absolution's powers. Though you missed the Avatar function, though it's nothing major.'**

Avatar function? Nico didn't know why, but he got the feeling he'd like to try that power out. He had to admit, curiosity filled him about that new power, and if the DC powers were anything to go by, Nico had a feeling this power would only make Absolution more broken compared to his other Devil Arms. Seriously, this thing was just too fucking badass for him right now, but hey, it wasn't like he cared about that. As long as he could use it to help IF out when he found her, then all was well.

'Alrightie, then let's see this Avatar form this thing gives me…' Nico thought, holding Absolution to his eye level. As if responding to his wishes, Absolution suddenly jolted in his hands, its multiple yellow eyes bulging wide open. A bright yellow hue overtook them as DC quickly spilled out from both the blade and the Shaft.

The Male stumbled backwards in surprise but made little other sounds. Apparently, those Chaos Spawn, the Bloodbeasts, didn't have very good hearing as they barely reacted to his stumbling. Instead, they just idly remained at the doors, guarding the entrance to the Hellverse Dungeon.

That would have to change.

DC Covered Nico's form, but not changed him. No, it only encroached around him and linked with his senses, taking on a form all of its own. He could feel it bonding with him on a level deeper than any man would feel after fighting with a weapon for so many years. It was like two halves of a coin were slowly but surely becoming one, mixing and merging together into a form that had the best of both worlds. It was… an interesting experience. Thankfully, his earlier fears had been misplaced, too.

From the moment the ability activated, he had thought briefly that the Devil Arm was turning against him, that the Corruption would possess him or something to do things he would never have done otherwise. Turned out though, that was not the case at all, instead this Avatar ability seemed to be similar to those prototype Mechs he heard rumours about in Planeptune. Perhaps he could look into those and see what the situation was, if he had a chance.

After a moment, Nico finally felt like he could see again, though this time he could see through two eyes instead of one. He theorized that the ability deactivated his Armour or something similar, since it was a part of him it could get past the ID lock and disable the Armour that way. Though, he felt this unfamiliar weight on his back, one unlike that of his Devil Arms whenever they manifested there.

Looking down at himself, Nico almost fell over.

'Holy… shit! I look like a freaking Defiler!' he shrieked in his mind as he checked himself out. Apparently, the Avatar ability was something that modelled DC into a shape reminiscent of its former master. He could feel hard flesh encasing him like his Armour would, but it felt more… fleshy. It was like he was within another organic body slightly disgusting but also quite interesting. Inside he looked like his normal human self, but on the outside the DC had moulded him into an abyssal black version of the Defiler. Absolution thrummed with power in his large, clawed hand, having grown larger in size so it could be accommodated properly to this new form. Looking behind him, Nico finally found out what it was that caused the unfamiliar weight: 4 large wings, shaped like those of a bat. They were curled inwards, ready to be used, but damn, if he unfurled them then they'd probably be big enough for flight.

Though, Nico didn't want to do that just yet. Don't get him wrong, the prospect of flying without the use of DDD sounded quite amazing. More than one way to access a flight advantage would be a good thing, and he missed that ability more than he cared to admit. He would usually experience personality changes when he transformed, so he never really got to enjoy the pleasures of flight. On the other hand, however, Nico figured there would be a learning curve for this one. After all, flight with four wings would likely be quite different compared to two wings. Plus, they were structured differently, so they couldn't be handled the same way.

He didn't need those right now, though. All he needed was to destroy those Bloodbeasts.

Bending his new form's legs, Nico took off in a burst of speed, clearing the distance between him and the Bloodbeasts in several large steps. Raising Absolution, he carved right through one's head and sliced the other clean in half. He twisted around and thrusted Absolution forwards, firing some DC Tendrils that slashed apart the rest of their bodies till they were nothing but paste. Even then the remnants of the DC used by his Devil Arm devoured what remained. Apparently, the DC could devour things to energize itself, who knew?

Turning to the doors to the Manor, Nico didn't waste time debating on it. His new form seemed to be sustained through Absolution, so he wanted to see how long he could keep it up. With that in mind, Nico stomped past the doors and went inside.

* * *

"So... that was what you got back in Lastation?"

Two pairs of feet clicked against the cobblestone ground, no walls to be seen throughout their trek. Instead were these spiky fences, meant to keep those walking along the narrow pathways from falling into the crimson abyss down below.

IF glanced behind her at Stefan, the two of them walking down a corridor, one that seemed to be made for hell itself considering the fact it looked like a place for those who enjoy sadism and torture to go on vacation. She sometimes had to grimace at some of the tools they had seen throughout… wherever this place was. Every time she did, it reminded her of how Leanbox used to be before their CPU came and established a Nation out of it. Still though, she had been asked a question by the man, whom she noticed had been eyeing her arms with a mix of caution and curiosity. She honestly couldn't have hoped for a better reaction, it seemed this guy had a good head on his shoulders. instead of freaking out, he had decided to focus on locating their missing gear, explaining to her how he'd overheard one of the Worshippers telling their buddies about how they would be paying the 'Armoury' a visit. That would likely be where their gear was located, so that was where they'd be going.

After eyeing him for a moment, searching for any signs of hostility in his eyes (can't be too careful, you know) the brunette turned her head back to the direction they were walking. This place was like a maze, with turns and paths that lead to all sorts of places. She had been fortunate enough to learn that this guy had kept a 'map' of the places the Worshippers dragged him to for torture and interrogation, though she didn't like that aspect of it. Still, it gave them SOME form of navigation through this hellhole. "Yeah, you could say that." She replied, making to pocket her hands in her Trench Coat only to remember that she didn't have it. An irritated grunt escaped her because of this. They better not have touched her phones, or there would be hell to pay. "Not really time for the full story, but suffice it to say that I didn't exactly become this way by choice."

A nod of understanding came from Stefan his eyes glancing to various places down below them, wall-less rooms that contained various torture devices. Some were occupied by dead corpses, while others… others just had blood stains. "Yes… That I can see. I heard the reports, looked at the rumours and saw the news. Whole load of messed up shit was what that was." He remarked.

"You could say that again…"

The two of them lapsed into silence once more, their footsteps echoing through the area. They didn't know how or when, but nonetheless they made sure to be extra careful. Enemies could come out at any time to fuck them over big time. Though, when they did they better be ready, for neither of them intended to make it easy for them. They'd been the tormented for too long now, now it was their turn to be the tormentors.

While this silence prevailed, IF gave herself time to think, think about what was going on. She didn't get much information out of those asshole Worshippers who'd come to torture her every couple hours or so. They would usually blindfold her so that she didn't see anything till she was in one of their torture rooms for the next 3 hours. Though to her, it usually felt longer thanks to the things that they made her go through. She mentally winced as phantom pains flashed over her body, where her regeneration powers had t be strained to their utmost limit to repair. Apparently those assholes were overjoyed with her ability to regenerate from injuries, as they would choose her for their sick tortures more often than Stefan.

Thus, she had no idea on where they were or if help would come.

Though, in the back of her mind, IF knew. She just KNEW that Nico would have noticed that she was missing by this point and would be storming this place momentarily. That guy tried his best to be there for the girls in the party as much as possible, so there was little doubt in her mind that he hadn't begun something at this point.

That didn't mean she'd be sitting in that cell like some sorta frail princess waiting to be rescued by her handsome prince. Oh, hell to the no, IF was NOT that type of girl, she'd be out here kicking ass and taking names for all the shit they put her through. The gravest crime they committed wasn't all the torture and interrogations though, nor was it how they killed so many innocent people just for their sick ambitions. Though that was pretty high up on her list of things to punish them for.

No, they did the ONE thing that nobody, NOBODY, should ever have done:

They. Took. Her. Phones.

NOBODY took her phones without her permission, ever.

That alone just sealed their fates.

IF clenched her fists as she tried yet again to restrain her anger. It would be a waste to just use it for temper tantrums, oh she was going to be saving it, bottling it up until the perfect opportunity arose. Once that opportunity would inevitably come…

Heads would be rolling… along with blood splattering, bodyparts flying, and screams. You know, the usual.

Turning a corner, the duo saw that there was a room up at the opposite side of the walkway, blocked by a giant metal door. Not something IF couldn't handle, a single strike from her Tentacles would probably smash it down. Though, judging by the way that Stefan's eyes lit up at the sight of it, told IF all she needed to know. "This the place?" she questioned him. It wasn't exactly necessary, but she did want vocal confirmation first before she'd… well, she'd throw that door open and get her stuff back.

"Yep, that's the Armoury alright. I remember it from one of my torture ses-"

Before the captain of the Ostermark Order could finish his sentence, IF remained true to her word and practically blurred across the hallway towards the entrance. If he saw her eyes, which was impossible considering how fast she had been going, then he would have a seen a gleam reminiscent of a drug addict finally locating his fix after so long of going through a withdrawl.

Halfway across the hallway though, something appeared within a burst of crimson flames, barring IF's path. The brunette stumbled backwards, about to fall over when she jumped into a back flip, making as much distance between her and their new adversary as possible. Sliding to a halt, IF noticed that she was now beside Stefan who had retrieved a sword that had been hanging from a nearby wall, next to a suit of armour. Though, he seemed quite reluctant to do so, for some reason.

Nevertheless, IF's eyes shined with anger as she swiftly formed her blades. "Okay, just WHO the FUCKING hell is getting in between ME AND MY PHONES?!" IF screeched, raw fury roaring within her eyes while she ignored the incredulous look she received from her companion. His expression literally translated to 'really?' while he too readied his blade for whoever chose to interrupt them.

In seconds, a being emerged from within the flames, standing before them with a growl of its own. If the brunette wasn't so angry, she might have lost control over her jaw at the sight, while Stefan merely tried to keep his composure. The man's forehead was littered with beads of sweat, however, betraying the unease rising within his gut.

The being before them stood at over 10 feet tall, though it slouched so it looked shorter. Its upper body had the structure of a muscular humanoid, not hiding a bit of its raw power. On its arms were demonic-looking black forearm guards, with a waist guard matching its design. Its lower body looked reverse jointed for speed purposes, ending in 3 toed feet. The head though, had 6 horns protruding outwards, 2 being straight while the rest curved towards the front and the back. Eyes like bottomless black pits leered at them as its dark plum coloured tongue hung out a maw filled with sharp fangs.

"Tch, a Herald!"

Stefan yelled that out, getting IF's attention. "A Herald? What the heck's that?"

"A Herald of Khorne is an elite form of Bloodletter, a Lesser Daemon of Khorne. Remember, I told you about those back in the Cell, but anyways." Clearing his throat, Stefan continued. "Leading the cohorts of the daemonic Blood Legions are the Heralds of Khorne, leering visions of damnation brought to life. Whether marching at the head of the daemonic warriors they lead, or riding to war atop a Juggernaut, the daemons of Khorne fight all the harder in their presence. The Heralds of Khorne are the strongest and most brutal of the Bloodletters, chosen from the ranks of their brethren by the Blood God himself. It is said that upon selection they are set against other aspiring Heralds, forced to participate in a contest of champions to wean out the undeserving. The energies of those who fall are reclaimed by Khorne and given to those that remain. Thus, the victor becomes swollen with power, and their Hellblade, having leeched a measure of this new strength, becomes known henceforth as a Blade of Blood. Its wielder too is given a title, one that befits their achievements and preferred method of warfare. Each is a ferocious warrior and leads the Khornate daemon packs beneath them."

With what he told her, IF scowled as she beheld the Herald they were facing, which was currently readying its Hellblade. Its ominous crimson glow coupled with its deadly, intimidating appearance and how it licked the blade with its serpentine tongue, definitely grossed her out enough to curb some of her earlier anger. The brunette had to admit that something like this definitely wasn't something seen every day. She remembered how the man had told her about his experiences in this place, about every horror he had learned. The demonic forces of the Chaos Gods, the Chaos Gods themselves, the entire sub-religion for the Overlord Momus Cult.

With her remaining body, IF formed her Armour, feeling it slide out from beneath had skin to cover her form. Though it left her arms bare thanks to their mutated state. Part of her thought that she would have to think about changing the blade mutation in the future, but she dismissed it for the time being. "Well, its standing between us and our goal, so it has to go down. Cover me, while I-"

The Herald roared as it burst into a sprint, dashing madly towards them with speed that caught both people off guard. IF quickly rolled to the side while Stefan mirrored her actions, allowing them to barely avoid the Hellblade that would have sliced them in two. Rolling back to her feet, the brunette jumped towards her opponent, spinning into a reverse slash. However, the Herald shoulder bashed her before she could complete the swing, sending her tumbling across the ground.

By the time she rolled to a stop, IF's brain had been rendered disoriented, her vision swerving about like a 12PM Drunkard making his way home. She could hardly make out the rapidly moving form of the Herald as it raised its Hellblade to finish her off, violent energies coursing through it to form a sinister orange aura. As the blade descended down towards her head, intent on cleaving it in two, the brunette quickly made to shift her right blade into her Tentacles.

Though, it soon proved to be unnecessary because Stefan suddenly appeared before her with his sword raised and glowing with a pure white aura. The two weapons met, and the man's legs trembled as he almost broke under the pressure. Gritting his teeth, the man spoke to his companion in a strained tone, his arms trembling as he struggled to hold the blade back. "Hey, IF! Now would be a really good time for some assistance!" he bellowed.

His shout quickly roused her to action, and IF finished her earlier shift. Her Tentacles lashed out from both the left and the right, slamming into the Herald with the force of a freight train, sending it sliding across the walkway. It stopped itself by stabbing its Hellblade into the ground, but it had already been forced to make about 15 metres distance between them.

"Thanks for the assist." The brunette stated with gratitude, her Tentacles swiftly stabbing into the ground around her and pushing her up to her feet. Her remaining blade arm reverted to a human one, before becoming armoured and shifting into its claw form. With her new weapons at the ready, IF got into a combat stance, her eyes shining with power as she felt her inner BOW roar in glee, awaiting its next victim. The brunette gave a lopsided grin, while she would have liked to feast on some of those Overlord Cultists for her first meal since escaping that Cell, she'd settle for some Demon flesh…

Wow, she really was getting into this whole BOW thing, huh?

Glancing towards her, Stefan kept it up for a brief second before he returned his gaze to the approaching Herald. He held his blade in a ready stance, his eyes as hard as diamond as he studied his opponents movements. This was one of the creatures that he had fought with his men against back at Mojang Village, he was sure of it. He could remember its sick commands to tear his men to shreds, the blood of his fallen subordinates that dripped between its fingers, the screams his comrades yielded as their lives left their eyes… This was his chance, he vowed, his chance to get back at those assholes. He vowed to avenge his men, they would rest in piece as long as he had anything to say about it. "Don't mention it, it shall be an honor to fight alongside you." He told her, getting a small smile from beneath IF's half-mask.

"Same to you, geezer. Anyways, less chit-chat, the enemy's about to go crazy."

Just after she commented that, the Herald before them let out a bestial roar, dozens of smaller fiery balls erupting from the ground around it. they formed a semicircle around it, blocking their way to the Armoury. From those balls, came smaller versions of the Herald, versions that BOTH of them recognised as Bloodletters. Stefan stifled growls as he saw those dreaded creatures again. Memories of his soldiers being brutally slaughtered by their hands flashing into the forefront of his mind. Holding this blade felt horrible to him, for there was only one sword that fit him in his entire career as a Captain of the Ostermark Order. Hopefully, though, those Cultists would have set the blade into that Armoury, otherwise he would likely hunt the blade down till the ends of the earth. It was a family heirloom passed down to him by his father.

Before they could do anything, the Bloodletters charged.

IF reacted first. She quickly launched her Tentacles forwards and had them lash out in a bunch of whipping motions. Most of the Bloodletters managed to dodge the attack, but some were knocked backwards into a nearby wall. Some tried to jump onto her Tentacles for leverage, but she didn't let them, instead IF retracted them back to her side, before launching them again in a series of overhead stabbing motions. She either aimed for the heads, since they were the universal weak points of any being, or the legs to slow the enemy down.

"Stefan, I got the Bloodletters, you go after the Herald!"

"Got it!"

With a mighty war cry, Stefan charged towards the Herald, which roared in response. Its Hellblade blazed with demonic energies as it raced towards Stefan, the other Bloodletters refusing to attack him. IF assumed it was due to their boss's orders to leave the mortal to their master, while they focused on their other prize: Her. 'Well, lets see how well they fair against me!' she thought with a grin beneath her armour's Mask. She noticed a Bloodletter getting a bit too close for comfort towards her position, and her Tentacles were too busy holding off its buddies. Well, she assumed they were buddies, but really you couldn't tell with Demons. They could potentially turn on each other for all she knew.

Shifting her claw into her Axammer, IF raised the weapon and brought it down on the Bloodletter, which roared while swinging its demonic Hellblade. The two weapons collided, a loud CLANG sound echoing throughout the hallway. IF cringed, feeling a strong stinging sensation rush through her arm every second that their blades remained connected. It was NOT what she had expected when their blades met. It was so hot, like a thousand suns worth of hot... like the Hellblade was trying to burn her alive or something. She didn't doubt they were at first, but as the seconds past she began to get worried.

Quickly, she broke their deadlock and looked her Axammer over. The weapon's edge looked like it was steaming heavily, the section that met the Hellblade's own edge glowing a bright orange. A sign that it was so hot that it would be on the verge of melting had it been an ordinary weapon. She didn't have much time to comment on this though, for the Bloodletter was already on her once more.

IF cursed as she jumped to the side, avoiding an overhead slash which could have cut her in half. While she was using her Tentacles to keep the others off her, it limited her mobility options. She could only dodge from one side otherwise the Hellblade would likely sever her Tentacles. She growled in feral anger when she landed, feeling her inner BOW raging inside of her. It wanted to rip this asshole a new one, to bathe in its blood and assimilate its flesh.

Well, she wouldn't mind that in the least, if it could help even the odds.

The brunette focused, and saw the enemy coming towards her once more. It jumped into the air and brought its Hellblade down with a wild roar. IF snarled behind her Mask, swiftly shifting the edge of her Axammer and swinging JUST at the right time. She had to time it just right otherwise she might have suffered significant injury, and she didn't know if the Hellblade would slow her regeneration down. Well, she didn't have to worry because she managed to swing her Axammer's blunt sell right into the side of its head, sending the Bloodletter into the reach of her Tentacles.

Wasting no chances, IF swiftly had one Tentacle break off from the rest and lunge towards the downed enemy, intending to end the creature right then and there. The Bloodletter managed to sit up though, and it noticed the limb heading towards it. It gave a loud roar, shaking the air around it as it swung its Hellblade towards the Tentacle. It was clear what it intended to do, and if this were any other situation things would have went in its favour.

However, it wasn't, and IF exposed this opportunity by manipulating her Tentacle and having it wrap around the creature's wrist instead. She grinned as she lifted the creature up as it shrieked and howled, clawing at her appendage which she used to smack it 12 times into the ground. A strange sense of De Ja Vu hit her, as she remembered Nico in his out-of-control DPU form doing this to Neptune back in Lastation. 'Heh, who knew i'd be mimicking you, huh dude?' she remarked in her mind, before tossing the Bloodletter away.

She had to hand it to the Demon though, the Bloodletter was pretty damn resilient to damage since it practically stabbed its Hellblade into the ground to slow its movement, and then slam its feet into the ground to finally halt it. It had a broken arm that was bent in an unnatural angle, its legs had pieces of stone stabbed through them that leaked blood (black blood she noticed), and there were numerous other injuries on its body. The wounds it suffered looked pretty bad, with blood trailing down the side of its head, but it didn't seem to notice or care. Instead, it focused its beady black eyes on her, and IF was SURE that they were brimming with rage at that moment.

Did these things even feel pain? IF wondered that...

For about 10 seconds, before the Demonic entity charged at her again.

This time, IF decided to go at this another way. There was a function on her Armour that she wanted to test out, one she instinctively became aware of the moment she first activated the mutation. She just never had the chance to test it. Now would probably be a decent time, but it also presented just as decent a risk to her health. Luckily for her, those humans she Assimilated had a ton of Biomass for her, thus she had practically filled her reserves back to full with just a few snacks. So, she commenced her plan while mentally hoping for the best.

Retracting her Tentacles, IF glanced at the Bloodletters, and saw that some had minor injuries like cuts and bruises over the more vital areas of their bodies, spewing blood like waterfalls, while others looked to have lost limbs or pieces of their heads. None of them looked too fussed over their injuries though, in fact they looked like they didn't even noticed just like their buddy here. 'They may be unable to feel pain after all, then. But, that doesn't mean they can't be hurt.' IF thought as she shifted her arms once more.

This time, she shifted her arms into her blades as she got into a familiar combat stance. It reminded her of the years she spent honing this style of fighting with her father, before she joined the Guild and, years later, met Compa, Neptune and the others. But this time, this time things would be different, and she could almost drool in anticipation for the upcoming slaughter. Her BOW Instincts screeched in joy while the C Gene prepped itself to work in overdrive.

"Alright, Armour... Eat up."

Instantly after IF muttered those words while the enemy roared and charged at her, the Armour seemingly came to life. The fractions it was made up of began to shine a bright red, with long black Tendrils swirling around her neck while her whole body erupted in a crimson aura, not unlike that of the DPU she travelled with. Her eyes shone a bright red, only intensified by the shadows generated by her bangs when she slightly lowered her head. Power flowed through her body like it was on overdrive, filling up every cell in her body like a drug... which in a way, it was. Cause it was meant to conceal the negative side-effect of this mutation.

Bending her legs, IF prepared to move forwards, her upper body hunched over and her glowing red eyes narrowing at her approaching adversaries. She looked like she was choosing which one to target first... when really all of them would be her buffet tonight. They just didn't notice yet, not that they would, or that she would let them. They thought they were on top of the food chain around here... well then, lets give them a wakeup call, shall we?

Raising an armoured foot, IF then took a step forward... and promptly became a blur.

The Bloodletters almost didn't know what hit them, as the moment the woman moved she became barely visible to them. The side ranks managed to move out of the way in time, but those in the centre ranks? Well, when she appeared behind them, her blades were stained with black blood. The blood of Demons. In the next second, every Bloodletter in the centre ranks got slash marks over their bodies... and promptly fell to the ground... in pieces.

Not wasting any time, IF twisted around and charged forth, leaving foot-shaped craters behind her as she hopped into a spinning slash, slicing through one Bloodletter's entire torso. She landed in the middle of the right flank, twisting around to deflect an incoming Hellblade before it could have a chance to burn through her blades. IF then stabbed one Blade through its head before the other sliced off the arm it tried to use to grab her. She sensed several others try to slash her back while she was distracted, so she jumped into the air and flipped backwards, raising her right leg and smashed it into one of their heads. She then kicked it into another while flipping into an overhead kick that reduced the third one's head to mush.

Furious at the deaths of their comrades, the left flank quickly raced towards their brethren to provide both reinforcement and support. However, they would soon end up realising their grave error... if they were human that is, as IF swiftly slashed away at her opponents. Unlike her weapons, her Armour in this state managed to repel their Hellblades, preventing them from even touching her skin long enough to burn her. This proved itself when a Hellblade came down on her right shoulder, but it bounced off the metallic armour there instead of cutting through.

During the slaughter, screams from the Demons and frenzied shrieks from IF, the brunette commenced Assimilating her Prey. Each time her blades pierced their flesh she would see them catch fire before being drawn into her, fuelling her powers all the more as she continued to devour. She could feel the C Gene working overdrive in adapting to these new Cells, applying their stronger traits to her own cells and killing off the weaker ones. It took hr no less than 5 minutes to deal with the rest of them, limiting herself to her blades in order to make the fight last a little longer. The Bloodletters did put up a decent fight though, she was willing to admit that, it was just that she was looking to end the fight both quickly and in a way that satisfied her desire to experiment with this mutation.

In her eyes, these creatures became nothing but food for her.

* * *

Once the last Bloodletter fell, IF Assimilated it for its Biomass, moaning. Turned out that, to her body, everything whether it be a monster, demon, or whatever, was just potential Biomass. The energies that the Demons were made from seemingly got converted into Biomass for her to use... as well as a new mutation she could feel forming within her gut. It wasn't ready yet though, so she couldn't find out what that was just yet. Whatever it was though, it felt POWERFUL, so she couldn't wait for when it finally got itself complete.

Her armour deactivated its special ability. She had yet to find a name for it, but it definitely had its uses. From what she could tell, the Armour stored up Biomass within itself, separate from her main reserves. When she called on the ability, it would inject her body with this Biomass and have it enhance her physical abilities beyond what they originally were, like it was FEEDING her Biomass. It was like her human body gained the movements and lost the limitations of the human shell, and gained those of the BOW instead.

However, IF had discovered a catch.

The woman looked down at her body as her Armour receded inside of her. The moment it did, she could see what her body was like, and if she were human she would have grimaced. He body literally was covered in small bite marks as well as large holes in her flesh. Her shoulders were barely there, same with her knees and hips. She could feel blood trailing down the side of her head, almost going into her eye. Fortunately, her power's already began repairing the damage, Tendrils knitting her flesh back together while fresh Biomass was sent to the chunks taken out of her...

By her very own mutation.

This was the catch, her Armour was literally cannibalising her own body to fuel its power. This didn't happen right away as it had its own Biomass stored up inside to feed on, an idea she had thought up when she was training her powers by herself. However, the rate it drained that Biomass was faster than when Neptune at er hungriest saw a pile of Pudding waiting for her, which caused concern for her. Once it had no more Biomass to feed off of, it would then turn to the only other source available to satisfy its hunger: IF's body.

Her body was LITRERALLY made from Biomass after all, so it had a lot to gouge on while still boosting her physical abilities. The boost would actually be enough to keep her from feeling the side effects of her Armour's ability during battle, but once the ability deactivated...

Luckily, IF still had power for regeneration, which quickly went to work on repairing her body. She'd have to make sure to figure out a way to stem the amount of Biomass this ability consumed in the future, but for now she would stick with what she had. It was good on her part to assimilate those Bloodletters, it would offset some of the drainage on her reserves.

Now, all that was left was the Herald of Khorne.

Loud grunts drew her attention. Turning to the Herald, IF saw how Stefan looked like he was fighting a losing battle against the Herald, which struck constantly and viciously with its Hellblade in ways that were superior to that of its minions. Stefan barely hung in there, his sword held in a defensive stance. How it hadn't broken yet she didn't know, but IF did sense something off about Stefan's weapon. Something was reinforcing it, something strong, but what that was she didn't know. All she did know was that it was powerful and keeping the weapon from shattering against the weight the Hellblade imposed on it.

Finally though, Stefan got himself caught by surprise by an upward swing, sending the sword flying into the air and off to the side away from him, rendered useless upon impact. The Herald roared with mocking laughter as it backhanded the man, sending him flying across the walkway. His form landed on the ground with a loud crashing sound, making him grunt on impact. The Herald stomped its way towards him, its feet creating craters on the ground that steamed thickly as it made to raise its weapon to finish him off, while the Ostermark Captain struggled to his feet.

Not her watch, it won't.

With a war cry, IF burst forth with her Armour reforming. She shifted her arms into claws again, and with a burst of speed she quickly closed the distance between them. She hopped into the air and spin kicked the Hellblade away from her companion, to the surprise of both as she landed before Stefan and kicked the Herald away. The extra Biomass from the Bloodletters helped a lot there, and because of that she could feel her body overflowing with energy right now.

"Hey, you alright?" the brunette questioned, glancing back at the man behind her. She wouldn't let him die, he was one of her only talking partners in this hellhole. Plus, he seemed like an honorable person, so she wanted to preserve that. There weren't that many guys like that around anymore, that's for certain. "Sorry I couldn't come sooner, was too busy kicking some Demonic ass." she said, her lips turning upwards slightly behind her Mask. Amusement danced in her eyes, to which the man nodded.

A chuckle left his lips as he too stood up. "Yeah, i'm fine. Could be worse, I could be dead by now, if you hadn't aided me." He responded, rubbing one of his shoulders as he rolled it experimentally. He sighed in relief when he felt little pain when moving it, at least the shoulder wasn't dislocated. Fighting with such a debilitating injury was always a bad idea. The man looked towards the doorway that the Herald had been blocking them from accessing, his eyes shining with desire. He then got an idea, turning back to the Brunette and opening his mouth. "Could you do me a couple favors, blow the door open and distract him for me? If this really is what I think it is, then i'll be of much greater help to you after this battle's over."

IF raised a brow at his question, humming in thought while the Herald roared at her, already beginning to charge towards her. Its Hellblade came down on her fast, but she shifted her right arm into her Tentacles and had them distract it for her. She didn't think that he'd be of much help considering he was only human. She didn't know what he was looking for, maybe some sort of weapon, but whatever it was she doubted it would have much of an impact against a Demon like the Herald. Even now, her senses told her that this thing was beyond what normal Mortals could defeat, and that this guy had a death wish. However, if he wanted to prove himself useful then he could go right ahead. She did admit to wanting to see what got him so hyped up in the first place, after all. "Alright, i'll keep it off your back." she relented, getting a beaming grin from the man as one of her Tentacles broke off from the battle and lunged towards the door. It stabbed into it, and with a mighty tug, ripped the door out of its place before tossing it aside with disinterest. "Better hurry though,or else I might just steal the kill from you."

"#chuckle# can't have that, now can we?"

With that, Stefan went inside the room while IF turned to face her enemy. The Herald instantly vanished in a blur of speed, but she already knew where it was headed. 'Oh no, you don't!' she shouted in her mind, stabbing all 6 Tentacles into the space in front of the entrance. The Herald slid to a halt when it saw this, swinging its Hellblade to try and sever the Tentacles, but before the blade could land the brunette was already on it, launching a flying kick towards its face. The attack hit, sending it tumbling across the walkway. "Sorry buddy, but your fight's with me, now!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp. Here you guys go, some exposition showing how OP IF is becoming. Mean cliff-hanger, I know, but I feel that this would be a good place to leave off for now. Like I said in the beginning, I plan on OPing as many people as possible to keep the balance. IF's BOW powers can open the way to being super OP in the future that she could possibly give Nico a run for his money.**

 **Hyperdimension IS a Gaming franchise after all, and that's not a fact I see many Authors using to this extent, which is kinda saddening to be honest.**

 **Anyways, Like I said before, i'll be posting IF's Bio again in the future, since its hinted that her powers will be evolving soon. If anyone can guess what that might be, then lemme know in the reviews or PM's.**

 **For now, peace out!**


	84. Chapter 81 - Leoric's Manor

**Chapter 81 -Leoric's Manor**

Slamming the doors behind him, Nico in his DC Avatar form surveyed his surroundings. His eyes cast their gaze about, noticing that he was in what remained of a grand hallway, with rooms on either side and a large staircase that split halfway at the opposite end. Throughout the Great Hall, Nico noticed there to be piles of rubble scattered throughout, mostly around large holes in the walls. Some lead back outside, while the others lead to different rooms.

'This place… now that I look at it, this feels kind of familiar…' the male thought to himself, frowning within his DC Avatar form. Thanks to it taking the shape of the Defiler, his mouth remained unseen like with his armour, the Form sticking with the lipless, toothy mouth that the Defiler once possessed. A mouth that refused to move yet still let his voice come through somehow. He knew this because he had checked before coming inside.

As his eyes cast their gaze across the hallway, they soon caught sight of something, something that roused his curiosity while his large form stomped its way along the corridors. The thing that caught his interest? A large portrait pinned to the back wall, looking significantly larger than the other portraits he'd observed in this ruined Manor. While the other portraits, which were lined up on the side walls in varying angles, and looked torn beyond recognition, this portrait remained in perfect health. A curious phenomenon, it was like whoever did this deliberately missed this portrait on purpose. Likely for some bigger reason, he figured.

But as he got a better look at the portrait, his eyes widened in pure shock, pupils trembling as a surge of familiarity overcame him. 'This… this is…!'

The portrait was of a man, a man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with eyes as clear as the skies, holding both wisdom and madness deep inside. His hair was a pure white colour, as was this great big bushy beard he had. The portrait showed him wearing regal robes, complete with a golden crown on top of his head while there was both a golden ornamental sceptre leaning on the left side of the throne he sat on, as well as a massive two-handed sword leaning on the Throne's right side. Nico's eyes showed shock at first, but then they narrowed as recognition flashed through them. 'King… Leoric… also known as the Black King…!'

He knew the story behind this man, and boy did it make his blood boil. Leoric was once a ruler of a small Kingdom, nothing compared to the Leanbox of current society, during a time where Leanbox was filled with rival tribes that warred against each other. This Kingdom was called Khanduras, and it had been west of a small humble town called Tristram. During the time, he had been known as a wise and fair King who gave a damn about his people, something that had been rare in those times. In the mists of war, hatred and anguish, genuine kindness and proper leadership was as rare as sightings of the CPUs.

In the beginning, Leoric originated from A place called Kehjistan in Lastation. At some point during Leanbox's tribal era, at the behest of rumour and speculation, Leoric came into the lands of Khanduras and declared himself to be king.

Leoric brought with him his family, knights and priests, the latter two groups forming his 'Order of the Light' which consisted of humans whom Leoric handpicked as his personal troops. Along with his advisor Lazarus, Leoric and his entourage made their way to the town of Tristram, appropriating the decrepit monastery on its outskirts as his seat of power. Although the people of Khanduras were not pleased with coming under the rule of a foreign king, Leoric served them with justice and might. Eventually, his subjects came to respect him for his purity of heart and deed.

Unfortunately, life turned out to be cruel and ironic. Apparently, there was a special Abnormal down in the decrepit Monastery called a 'Teufel', an underground based Abnormal that had the ability to possess and control those it saw as enemies… which was basically everything in a nutshell. It found a way to take control of the King through his advisor Lazarus. With him under its command, the Teufel infested the King himself when his guard was down, thus beginning his downfall.

For many months, Leoric secretly fought against the Teufel will. Sensing that he had been possessed by some unknown being, Leoric kept his condition a secret from those close to him, believing that his piety would be enough to exorcise the Abnormal's power. In this he had been sorely mistaken, and the Abnormal stripped away the core of Leoric's being, tearing away all honor and virtue from his soul. Lazarus, still under its control, kept close to his lord at all times, and sought to keep Leoric's condition a secret.

Despite this, Leoric's change in demeanour became known to his subjects. His once proud visage became rugged and deformed while his sanity slipped away. Becoming increasingly deranged, Leoric began ordering immediate executions of any who questioned his decisions or authority while he sent his knights to the outlying towns to bully them into submission. At the height of his madness, Leoric would evince his displeasure by pummelling courtiers, servants, and even foreign dignitaries with his sceptre. Horrified by his actions, Leoric's subjects began calling him "the Black King."

Lazarus, concerned of the suspicions Leoric's subjects had, convinced the now delusional king that another Leanbox kingdom called Westmarch was plotting to take over and annex Khanduras, manipulating him into declaring war, diverting attention as well as sending many troublesome knights into their deaths when the armies of Westmarch inevitably crushed those of Khanduras. Leoric's priests were meanwhile sent as emissaries. Thanks to Lazarus's words, Leoric even ordered the execution of Queen Asylla, his own wife, by guillotine.

Leanbox WAS a Nation that once favoured torture…

With the lack of inquisitive eyes, the Teufel had free rein to assert its will over his vassal. However, the Teufel found that a part of the king's soul still fought against it, and that it would still not be able to take full control. Thus, it abandoned its attempts to take over Leoric, leaving him broken and crazed as a result.

When King Leoric found that his son had gone missing, he went into a rage and had many innocent people executed for kidnapping the prince, slipping deeper into madness with each passing day. He was eventually slain by his own lieutenant, the knight Lachdanan, who returned from the quickly lost war only to find that he, too, was being accused of the kidnapping, and that the king was nothing but a raving madman who set his other warriors upon those returning. The knights came to blows and Lachdanan begged Leoric to explain his actions. Leoric simply spat at him, condemning Lachdanan and his men as traitors. Sorrowfully, Lachdanan struck down his liege, Leoric cursing him and all of his knights in his last moments.

Though, that would not be the end of that King…

Several pulses of power came to him through Absolution, and Nico interpreted this as a warning of sorts, that danger was coming. He broke himself from past memories, memories of a skeleton clad in black armour and legions of undead monstrosities, as he held Absolution at the ready. He felt the Devil Arm's power pulsate within him, eager to fight the next enemy.

An enemy that soon arrived from atop the stairs, firing fireballs at him while making their way down the stairs. His eyes narrowed as he swiftly formed a DC Wall in front of him, the organic defence blocking the attacks from hitting him. The male would have felt the searing heat the flames generated as they impacted all around him, but thanks to his current form that would be rendered an impossibility.

The attacks ceased, and the male lowered his defence to witness who he would be slaughtering. The enemy looked to consist of 10 Cultists, each of them snarling at him like demented animals. Their glowing red eyes shined with malice as they constantly chanted under their breaths and like IF, Nico heard it clear as day. Though also like her, he couldn't make out what they were saying thanks to the chants being that of runic speech. 'Ugh, Mages! They're always annoying to fight…' the male thought to himself, twirling Absolution while getting ready to strike.

Soon enough, Nico saw how they began firing a mix of fire balls, lightning bolts, and other spells his way. Some of them seemed like disarming spells, but Absolution shrugged them off and he swore he heard it chortle mockingly from within his being. Looked like a Devil Arm wasn't something a mere disarming Spell would work on, it seemed. 'Well, that's fortunate...' he thought to himself, before swinging Absolution and launching a DC Wave towards them.

The chanting changed its tone, Nico noticed, and a combination barrier was erected in front of them. it blocked the DC Wave, which dispersed into nothing on contact. The male growled within his DC Avatar form, before he decided to switch tactics by constantly sending DC Masses towards them, the masses coming at the Cultists by the Dozens. Each Cultist responded by making more chants however, creating individual defensive barriers in front of them.

As a result, the attacks only exploded against the barriers and kept them free of the DC.

'Tch, annoying…!' Nico thought, and he felt the agreement coming from his Devil Arm. 'Creating separate barriers slows the depletion of their Mana. Those that study Magic use Mana to power their Spells, not to be confused by Skill attacks though. The difference between these is that Mana is pure magical energy, the energy used for Skills is simply known as SP. People who have low amounts of SP go to study Magic, and if it's the opposite case they go along the Guild Agent or the Spec Ops Path.'

However, despite this fact, there was one thing that Mages sucked at, and that…

Was Physical ability.

Nico grinned within his DC Avatar Form as he raised Absolution and brought it down, sending a DC Spike Trail towards his prey, pumped with way more power than he did before to make them longer, sharper and deadlier. the Cultists chanted together to make a collective barrier, but that was what he intended for them to do. Right at the moment they were about to hit the barriers, Nico made his attack vanish, catching the Cultists off guard.

They were so surprised, that they lowered their barrier by mistake, a mistake that would cost them greatly. Stepping forwards, Nico broke into a sprint, massive stomping sounds echoing through the hallway as he closed the distance between him and 5 Cultists on the left side of the staircase. Before they could turn to identify the incoming threat, the male swiftly swung Absolution and decapitated them at the waists, 5 clean kills.

He then kicked them towards their brethren, using Absolution like a baseball bat to sent them flying with high impact force. With their surprised states, the Cultists had no time to react. These pieces hit the remaining Cultists, knocking them down to the ground below. Some even hit their heads on the railings, sending them into a temporary daze and rendering them unable to use their Spells.

The male then raised Absolution once more, and then thrusted it forth towards his enemies, launching DC Tendrils from the Devil Arm's blade. Each Tendril slithered through the air, like wild vipers before they impaled each Cultist through their chests or through their noggins, getting cries of agony from the ones without impaled heads. Nevertheless, they all died on impact, either slowly or painfully depending on where they were impaled, making the male sigh at the finished enemy. Not long afterwards, he retracted the Tendrils into Absolution, lowering it to his side.

'There… well, looks like we can safely assume this is the place we're looking for…' the male mused, looking around. 'It honestly doesn't surprise me that these guys made THIS place one of their hideouts given who its former owner was. I have to give credit to those that built this place all those centuries ago, the effects of time don't seem to have whittled this place down much. A sign of good maintenance on their part. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from this architecture…' the male hummed thoughtfully about that, shifting balance from one foot to the other before he shook his head in dismissal. 'Nah, that's probably a bad idea. Leave the past where it is, that's something I can get behind in this case… no need to drag Skeletons into this world.' He remarked with a scowl within his current Form.

Necromancy, the art of manipulating and controlling the dead to fight with you. It was an act that he had seen many Mages try to study for their own gain. Most cases revolve around extending ones' lifespan by sacrificing life to use it as energy for the craft. There have been cases where Mages would enter the arts of Necromancy for this very reason, or to take revenge on the world before taking over and ruling it in their images. Spec Ops Agents would be sent to hunt those evils to the ends of the earth, considering how dangerous it would be if Necromancers got too powerful. Nico himself had hunted more than a few Necromancers in his day, and each time was more horrid than the last.

His thoughts became broken when he heard the sounds of cracking. His eyes narrowed as he tried to find the source, only to see his DC Avatar form shatter into a million pieces, pieces that disintegrated into nothingness. He managed to land on his own two feet regardless, bending his knees at the point of impact, but nonetheless his surprised still remained. Plus, he felt considerably weak, falling onto one knee while he used Absolution's shaft as a makeshift walking stick for support. 'Huh? Wha?' was all he could think while leaning against his Devil Arm.

Fortunately, his Demon Persona had an answer for him.

 **'** **It appears that you have reached your limit with that form. Any more and you would have lost consciousness. Nevertheless, its impressive that Form lasted as long as it did, our demonic power must he recovering faster than I thought. Either that, or…'**

While Biko trailed off there, Nico's eyes sharpened, he came to the same conclusion as well, and both of them didn't like it at all. "Demonic Energy… must be present nearby…" The male spoke through laboured gasps, his breathing uneven. Geez, that Form took a lot out of him, part of him wondered if the Defiler had to eat a lot back in the demon world cause the amount of energy he had expended unknowingly was just staggering.

Taking out a SP Charger from his Void Storage, Nico downed the contents and almost immediately afterwards he felt his strength return to him. A huge sigh of relief escaped him as he felt this, 'Ahhh, those things are a godsend for those of us on long term missions…' the male thought in approval. He'd like to meet and shake the hand of the one who invented those things, they must be filthy rich at this point. They quite literally save lives on the battlefield. Nobody wanted to run out of SP in the middle of a Monster Dungeon, no sir. Hell, he even heard rumours that there was technology being developed that'll provide automatic SP Regen abilities. That would definitely be something to behold, and something Nico could see a LOT of people trying to get for themselves.

They'd probably kill for that tech, and then kill some more…

Once the male felt like he could walk again, he stood tall on his own two feet. Glancing over to Absolution, the male decided to give the Devil Arm a rest, proceeding to put it inside his Void Storage for the time being. He'd given it a test run, and he liked it, so he would give it time to regain its strength from his Demonic Energy before drawing it again. Instead of Absolution, Nico decided to take out his signature Devil Arm: Rebellion, the very first Devil Arm to be added to his arsenal.

In the moment his hand grasped the handle of the Devil Arm, a surge of nostalgia filled him as the familiar feeling of metal and leather graced his fingertips. It had been a while since he last drew this sword, and even now he could feel the blade's eagerness to be wielded by its master once again. He went to strap it to his back, only to remember that he didn't have his Holsters anymore. 'Oh, shoot, now I can't… oh wait.' The male cursed his forgetfulness under his breath, remembering what he did with Harvester before he saved Vert from those men. He put the Sword against his back, and he felt the Devil Arm attach itself there with Demonic Energy Trails, a small smile settling onto his lips. The familiar weight on his back felt more than a little welcoming for the teen, and just as he made to explore the Manor further, he got another idea.

Why take out one Devil Arm… when he could have more?

Summoning Ebony and Ivory, the two dual Pistols with opposite colours, Nico strapped them to his Waist. Like Rebellion, they too attached themselves there through Demonic Energy Trails, so it looked like he had them in the places where his Holsters had once been. He once thought about adding Harvester like this but decided against it. He felt armed enough already.

Now that he was equipped with his weapons, Nico continued up the stairs and exploring the Manor.

* * *

This place was massive. That was his first thought while exploring this large estate, whoever built this must have had to pull in a LOT of resources, staff maintenance would have been abysmal… okay, he'll stop with those logistics to me. He found quite the few rooms in the place, as well as discarded weapons, armour, and items that, if polished, could be quite useful. It started to feel less like an adventure and more like an RPG where you get items from destroying stuff. Most of the rooms had been destroyed for a while, showing just how old this place truly was.

Along his little trek, Nico entered a room after going through a corridor attached to the left staircase. There, he looked about and found a pedestal at the closest left corner, one that had a report on top. 'That's a game mechanic if I've ever seen one…' the male remarked to himself, before heading to the Pedestal and taking the report. He then looked the report over, his eyes casting their gaze across the writing:

There are new players in the game. A Party of girls with one guy member. A Girl named Neptune is their leader. Intel says she is the CPU of Planeptune, thus she could make our lord's plans unnecessarily complicated. Like with the Leanbox CPU, we will have to 'deal' with her and her posse. However, among them, the one they call DEATHSTROKE will be the most difficult to dispose of, thus we must make preparations for our mistress Messenger.

MAGDA.

'Magda?' Nico hummed, caressing his chin as he deposited the item into his Void Storage. Where had he heard that name before? He knew he did, after all aside from Lowee ha had been to Leanbox more than a few times on missions. Though, the way the report puts strain on the word 'dispose' didn't fill him with good vibes. Did these people have something to do with the hole he and Biko sensed within Vert's body? If so, then these assholes had a LOT more coming to them.

Still, this Magda character…

'Wait a minute… I know I've heard that name before, but where…?'

Nevertheless, the answer just wouldn't rear its head inside his brain. It felt so close too, like it was right on the tip of his tongue. Great, now it will bug him for the rest of his days unless he remembers. Stupid brain, working the way it did. Deciding to think on it later when he DIDN'T have precious comrades to find, Nico continued on his journey, heading through another door that lead to this large hallway.

At the opposite end of the hallway, there was a single, wooden door, easily towering over the last ones by far. It had metal casing over it, and he could hear voices chattering away on the other side. 'Looks like I got some more killing to do…' the male thought to himself, sighing as he drew Rebellion from his back and held it in one hand. Despite the fact that he'd be killing soon, Nico couldn't help the excitement building in his chest at being able to wield this Devil Arm once more. It was his first one ever, after all, it had a special place in his heart, just like all his weapons.

Judging from what he could hear, there would be more than his last batch of enemies, so he mentally prepared himself. He made sure to deploy his Armour, his eye blinking as he got used to the lack of depth perception once again before he made his way towards the door. When he was right before it, the teen kicked the door open and jumped into the room, intent on ending this quickly.

Whelp, those Cultists were as dead as humanly possible, they didn't even pose much of a challenge. One use of PHANTOM BLADES, a few PHANTOM WAVES and a dozen or so Rebellion swings later, they were all dead on the ground. It honestly felt kinda disappointing, and he KNEW Rebellion agreed judging by the way it trembled in his grip. Honestly, Devil Arms were easier to understand than people…

The male shuddered when the smell of blood whiffed into his nostrils, fortunately he was in his Armour which filtered out the scent, mostly, so he didn't get bombarded by the urges he held deep inside. 'Though, thanks to using IT I'm able to rationalize a lot better…' the male admitted to himself.

Shaking his head, Nico focused on the task at hand. He had to figure out where IF was being held, and he had a gut feeling that those assholes wouldn't tell him jack shit. He went with his gut, and that resulted in them getting axed off like a serial killer claiming his victim's life. Oddly enough, Nico got the image of a silhouette with the kanji for 'killer' n his head laughing madly while chowing down on a white silhouette with the 'Civilian' Kanji like a shish kabab.

… Let's stop that thought.

A groan shook him out of his thoughts, making Nico's eyes widen in surprise. That… didn't sound like a Cultist, but it did sound like one's dying groan. Turning to the source, he saw a man in leather clothes, lying on his stomach before the bottom of a support pillar. His breathing was laboured, and he had various wounds all over his body. Nico swiftly jogged over to his side, kneeling beside him and pulling out several Healing Pods. "Here, take these, they'll help-"

"N-No… they won't…" the man breathed heavily as he tried to respond, coughing up blood in a vehement manner. "The… Cultists, they… did something to me… I can't be healed… I don't have much time left…" he barely spoke from his large gasps of air. Nico noticed why soon enough: one of his lungs was pinned to a wall nearby, having been violently torn from his back if the large hole there was anything to go by.

 **'** **He speaks the truth, Nico.'** Biko's voice interjected. **'There is a powerful curse at work here, it functions like a Buff Skill but is a DPU-based variant. This curse appears to be killing him faster than healing items would be able to heal him. He only has about 30 seconds left.'**

Hearing that made Nico grit his teeth, pure fury coursing through his veins at the frustration he felt inside. This was one of those times where he felt useless, a time that didn't happen often. It wasn't like he would be able to save everyone every time, no sir that was just unrealistic. Nico had failed plenty of people in his lifetime, people who'd relied on him to pull trough for them only for them to meet a cruel end right before they se the fruits of their labour.

One such example: an old man from Racoon City.

With a time limit now looming over him, Nico hurriedly made to get as much information as he could. "Sir, do you know where they keep prisoners here?" he asked urgently. "Do you know if any of them had brown hair with a leafy bow in it?"

"There… was some girl… like that… yeah… she's at the… Chambers of suffering…" the man replied, before he raised a shaking hand and pointed to a stone platform outside. "take that platform… it goes around the Manor… to an entrance to the Halls of Agony… get through that… you reach the Cursed Hold… then you go to the Chamber of Suffering…" finally, the man fell to the ground, dead. His eyes gazed up at him, the life they once had completely drained from them like a bath being emptied of its water.

A solemn silence passed as Nico stared down at the corpse of the man. He may not know his name, probably never would, but the fact that an innocent life had been lost, and he had been unable to prevent it, hit the male in the gut. It had gotten weaker over time, but even now Nico never could get used to failing someone. Now, this man's family would never again see their husband (he saw a wedding ring and concluded he was married) or father again.

Lowering his head, the male placed his hand over the man's face, closing his eyes to give him some manner of a peaceful expression. The teen mentally recited a prayer for the man, even though he didn't believe in any of the CPUs. It was only right to give that man a decent send-off. He deserved that much at least, that was what he felt. Plus, seeing him like this reminded Nico of every person he had been unable to save, every person he could have saved if things had been different.

In the end, it came down to something, something he'd learned long ago, though he had no clue as to where it came from. Probably from his forgotten memories or something:

All weakness in this world is due to lack of ability.

The strong will always be picking on the weak, preying upon them as if they were animals in a jungle. In order to stave those guys off, one had to have power, power great enough to secure your 'territory'. To say that 'if you mess with me, my power will overwhelm yours' to those that tried to trample on you. Strength meant a lot, borderline everything, in this world. No matter the ideals one has to be able to enforce those ideals otherwise people won't listen to you. It was basically known as 'the rule of the jungle.' It was something Nico believed in, wholeheartedly, hell he practically lied in it for years until he met Compa again.

Now then, time to go find IF. With the knowledge that the man provided, Nico stood up and looked to the outside stone platform. He walked out onto it, eyeing everything for signs of attack. Up in the skies, he could see storm clouds gathering, thunder echoing in the distance. Wasn't ominous looking in the slightest, no not at all…

Note the sarcasm.

* * *

Nico walked down the platform, and much to his happiness the man had appeared to be right. It went down the Manor at a diagonal angle before turning and leading towards another entrance. An entrance that looked like a large pair of red metal doors, each one having a portion of a human skeleton with a bandage over 1 socket holding the door handles, looking like they were peering out to see who was on the other side. 'Yep, definitely can see why this would be considered the 'Halls of Agony…' Nico thought to himself while walking up to them. Strapping Rebellion to his back, the teen swiftly pulled the doors open and walked inside, determination burning in his uncovered light blue iris.

The doorway had lead to a set of stairs leading downwards, and instantly Nico had the feeling that he was going to hell. Literally, because when he reached the bottom, the orange-reddish glow of what he assumed was called the 'Halls of Agony' greeted him. the glow illuminated the entire area, giving it a rather sinister feel to it, and lighting up the cobblestone used to build it. Long walkways, rooms and spiked fences greeted his uncovered eye while he could hear distant groans and screams. Most of them seemed eerily… haunting, like the dead themselves were still trapped here, never to seek salvation on the other side.

That wasn't all, either. The corridors linked prisoner cells and torture chambers from what he could tell, some still with torture devices in them. Some have their last victim, or what was left of them, strapped in. He could also see some strange gates throughout the hallways, some on the ground while others were built into walls. What their functions were, he didn't know. Nevertheless, Nico didn't want to find out, that much was for certain. The smell of blood, death and decay was so strong here that not even his Helmet could filter out the smell enough for him to remain comfortable, as Nico held the space where his nose would be with a snort of disgust.

'This place is full of hell fire and damnation…' he thought in anger, clenching his free hand into a fist. 'Leoric truly was a Mad King to have built this place… but the Overlord Faction are a bunch of scumbags for putting it to use.' After thinking that, the male raised his Bracer and began scanning the area, searching for the shortest route to the Chambers of Suffering, or at least the Cursed Hold. Neither of them sounded pleasant, but hey that's part of the job of a Spec Ops Agent, wasn't it?

 **'** **Nico, I can feel a major ambience of demonic power in the air. Whatever is going on here, it is much too heinous for mere mortals. This HAS to stop.'** Biko spoke. His tone may be his usual monotone, but Nico could feel the animosity rising within his words and spilling out his mouth like a tidal wave.

'Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice…'

Making his way through the area gave Nico more and more reasons to despise the Black King for making this damned place. He went through one room after the other while his Bracer scanned for the entrance to the lower levels. He went into prison cells, torture chambers (sometimes cutting the remains loose and destroying them to leave nothing left. Felt more like granting them a small mercy than anything.) and above all he found out several things through looking through discarded notes on the ground, notes that were likely left behind by the tortured victims for people to find.

Everyone who came here had either been an enemy of the Overlord Faction, or just some random civilian going about their daily business. There was no discrimination between the victims, moreover there just didn't seem to be any clear preference to who was kidnapped. The only connection that he could find, was that they seemed to refuse to follow the Overlord's teachings and had to be 'punished' for their 'insolence'.

Geez, if this was what they did to their followers, then Nico would never believe in such a deity.

Not that he believed in any at all, he'd already made his feelings quite clear on that.

While he walked along a particularly narrow bridge-like section, Nico stopped dead in his tracks when his instincts were triggered. He'd been following the route that his Bracers had developed for him, looking over a Holographic 3D map of the level. Apparently, there was a second level before he got to the Cursed Hold, then he had to go through THAT to get to the Chambers of Suffering.

Now though, his instincts were telling him that something was indeed wrong, someone was here. But, he couldn't tell where. His senses didn't pick anything up, nor could he tell with his Motion Tracker. Nevertheless, thanks to his Instincts Nico knew something or someone was here, and THAT was enough to get him on guard. Deactivating his right Bracer's Holomap, Nico drew Rebellion and held it in a ready stance, slowly twisting his feet so he could look around for any signs of a surprise attack.

"Whose there?!" He yelled into the hellish surroundings. "Show yourself before I make you!"

Perhaps it would have been pointless to yell that out there, but honestly Nico just wanted to get this over with so he could continue on his way already. IF was down there, and he'd be damned if he didn't go down to the Chambers of Suffering to give her his support. He, thankfully, didn't have to wait long though, for what looked like an orange spell insignia appeared on the ground, glowing ominously while radiating pure demonic energy. While it was absorbed into his being to speed up his own demonic powers' recovery, Nico still remained guarded as a hooded man in robes slowly rose out of it like he was riding an escalator.

It was a Cultist, but… there was something about this one that was different to the others. The way he was slouching over was one thing, and another was how there was only one of him. Before, he had been fighting many of them, but now just one? Just what were they thinking? Perhaps they just weren't thinking at all, that could always be a thing. Nevertheless, the way he slouched over, head hanging low while he muttered incoherently to himself, honestly looked kind of creepy. Like when you see a stranger just staring at you intently from across the room, his eyes never leaving you even as you leave. You get a sense you're being followed, and the stranger is there. Looming over you like an oppressive shadow.

Knowing that he had to be on guard, Nico readied himself in case he attacked, but the man just stood there like a statue, muttering to himself. The long hat of his robes didn't let him see his face, so he couldn't tell any facial features. However, Nico didn't let that be a reason to drop his guard, and soon became thankful for that due to what happened next. His instincts suddenly screamed at him instantly, like a sudden alarm going off, to move and he did so, avoiding a dark red spike bursting out of a small insignia on the ground, similar to the one that the man had come out of.

'An attack…!'

 **'** **Nico, quick! Strike him down!'**

'Don't need to tell me twice!'

Nico and Biko had a quick chat, before he focused on his prey. Quickly he charged forth towards the man, dodging the spikes that tried to hinder him as he closed in and slashed at him from the left shoulder to the right hip. However, the man, who hadn't raised his head at all, raised a hand and…

PING!

Caught the blade… inside his bare hand.

The Male froze, applying Demonic Energy to the blade and his hand to wrench it free as he stepped backwards, holding Rebellion defensively. 'Holy-nobody's done that before in this story! What the fuck is going on here?!' he mentally shrieked. He readied Rebellion and glared at his opponent, eyeing him for any potential weaknesses he could possibly exploit to end this fight quickly.

The man responded by groaning as he hunched over, muttering incoherently like before. Nico, even with his enhanced hearing, couldn't distinguish what he was saying, and before he could think of a response the teen's eye filled with horror when he saw the man begin a drastic transformation. His flesh darkened to the state of charred skin, several horns bursting out his head. Sounds of flesh being torn and set alight rung throughout the area as the transformation took place. He became what looked like a creature with burnt skin, horns coming out his head, twisted mutated claws with spikes in places, and the bottom of the robes got tattered by the transformation, showing demonic talons instead of feet.

'What the fuck?! That's no Spell, I'm sure as hell of that!' Nico shrieked, before he raised Rebellion and blocked a claw slash that would have sliced his head off. His opponent gave a loud screech as it reared back and repeatedly slashed away at his defences, Nico twisting and parrying the strikes. They were wild and unfocused, but the male found it hard to keep up with their movements. He had to keep an eye on its claws as even the slightest twitch was a warning of its next attack.

Finally, the male managed to find a small opening in its defences and slashed quickly, carving a long gash through it with Rebellion. The monster screeched in pain as it fell back, blood pouring from the gash. But almost as soon as it was formed it had begun to regenerate, to the male's displeasure. 'Looks like I have to cut off the head to kill this thing…' he thought in irritation.

The fighting that followed became even more brutal, this creature he had seen was as vicious as it was ugly. It hit hard, no enough to damage him thanks to his Armour's defences, but it was enough for him to feel the attacks. Nico parried several more blows before quickly shoulder rushing it, knocking it to the ground and hen jumping into the air. He brought Rebellion down on it, for the creature to thrust its right arm up, its claw not piercing his Armour but it did knock him off balance, allowing it to backhand him away.

In response Alex quickly righted himself in mid air and slammed into the ground on all fours, making the monster shriek in victory. It flew through the air towards him, intending on raking the hell out of him with its claws. However, the male merely raised his head, and a glint in his eyes showed it that he had a plan in mind. His right hand swiftly pulled out Ivory from his Waist, and shot a bullet through its head. He successfully stunned it, and with a swing from Rebellion, managed to behead the beast.

The Body was still for a moment as he strapped Ivory to his waist while keeping Rebellion out. But then it began to shake uncontrollably, twitching like it had some sort of spasm attack for a few seconds. Nico refused to find out the cause though, and quickly dove down holding his head with his arms. Fortunately, his Armour's plasma shields managed to protect him as the body suddenly exploded in a mass of gore and bone, splattering everywhere and painting the ground where it had been before red.

While it was short, the battle was over… and Nico emerged as the victor.


	85. Chapter 82 - Halls and highways

**Chapter 82 Halls of Agony/ Highlands Passage**

Threat no longer present, he let his hands fall to the ground, as Nico uncovered his head, slowly getting to his feet. He dusted himself off, and strapped Rebellion to his back, eyeing the spot where the beast had been with the stink eye look.

'Note to self: destroy those 'Vessels' before they complete… whatever that was, and transform…' the Spec Ops Agent thought while moving past the place where the monster had blown up. He did NOT like the way that being came to reality, he didn't like it at all. Though the fight was short, he did get the feeling that it was demonic in origin, being a wielder of said energy allowing him to tell. Whether it was to do with the Blood God Khorne or not didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. This place should be destroyed once he got IF out of here.

Oddly enough, Biko hadn't said anything as of yet. Either because he didn't know anything, or because he was thinking about it, Nico didn't know. Nevertheless, he felt like asking anyway. 'Biko, you have anything on what happened before?'

 **'** **I would say, but perhaps I should leave it to the person that we are coming into contact with first.'**

'Eh?'

"I thought I sensed a familiar energy, although compared to back then, it seems to have evolved significantly."

Before Nico could inquire as to what the fuck his Demon Persona was talking about, the male heard a feminine voice speak behind him. That, combined with how alert he's been recently, sent his instincts into overdrive as Nico spun around and drew Rebellion, intent on slashing the person who dared sneak up on him.

Just as his blade was about to meet the person's flesh however, a flash or recognition passed through his eyes and he stopped the strike mere inches before it met flesh. A moderate sized air blast shook the surroundings, blowing away the dirt and charred remains on the ground. The person stared calmly into Nico's surprised eye, her own not showing any hint of concern for signs of attack.

The male stared in shock at who this person was. Black hat, blue hair, staff… there was only one person in his memory that looked like that, and it hadn't been easy for him to recall since they only met once… back in Lastation. Even then, though, it had only been brief. Though he had to admit, that the 'craziness' of her appearance stuck in his mind enough to stop him from decapitating her just now. "Y-You…"

"I do recall telling you my name, Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE. Though it was short, it was a fated meeting to be sure."

"M-MAGES…."

The blue haired Mad Magician, MAGES., smirked as he put Rebellion onto his back once more. She tapped the ground with the bottom of her Staff, making this light sound echo through the room. "It satisfies me that you remember my name… as well as how to properly pronounce it along with the Period."

Now Nico couldn't help but show his confusion by opening his Helmet's faceplate, the pieces sliding over the sides of his Helmet while he regarded the person before him. His Motion Tracker hadn't picked her movements up before, neither did his instincts. So, how the hell did MAGES. get here? Not that he minded though, something he expressed with words. "Honestly, while I wanna know how the hell you got here, you're a goddamn sight for sore eyes, MAGES.." he stated, smirking as he gave a low chuckle. "Out of crazy cultists, demons, and this hellish place, Its good to find someone I know. If only briefly. How's that search for Doc P going for ya."

In response to his question, the woman gave a small grin, leaning on her Staff while she tilted her head in a pleased manner towards him. "I am well, Spec Ops DEATHSTROKE. My search for Doc P has born much fruits, as of now I have a significant supply of the drink of the chosen." She explained, pulling a pack of Doc P from her Inventory.

The way her eyes shined when she told him this brought a smile to his lips, something the blunette noticed as he nodded in satisfaction. "Well, happy to help ya, MAGES., though could you tell me how it is you got here, and why my equipment didn't track you?"

"That is something I can divulge favourably. I merely teleported here when I sensed the Wards around this place break. A powerful energy had entered their source, greatly weakening them enough for me to enter via Magic. As for your equipment, I had already appeared just as you finished your fight with the enthralled seconds ago, I merely awaited the right time to make my appearance."

Nico arched a brow at her wordings. The way he heard her say Enthralled, it didn't sit well with him. Her face creased at the mention of it, and her lips formed a deep scowl that really didn't fit her. Maybe it was the fact that his heart was slowly warming up to his party, but something in him just pleaded with him to get that scowl off her face. Though, he instead had to inquire for more information. Anything to get this conversation going. "Enthralled? Sounds quite dangerous…"

MAGES. nodded her head solemnly, her scowl still present as she clutched her Staff. "Yes, the Enthralled. Allow me to explain. The Enthralled are the result of when a human Vessel chants a spell that lets demonic energies into their body, completely possessing them and turning them into vicious abominations with great power. It is said that an Enthralled is able to even go against a CPU at her best. They do even worse damage in groups with their high level striking power."

Now, Nico had a similar scowl on his face at this information. He cupped his chin, eyes hard with concentration while he pondered what he was told. 'Well, its happened before, back at the Mojang Village Mines. However, none of them had exhibited signs of a transformation like this. Though, I guess that the level of knowledge on the demonic arts between then and now has changed significantly. I don't like the thought of that, not one bit… if humans really are learning more and more about demonic entities… then things will likely be going from bad to worse in the near future. But, Biko, can something like this happen a lot?'

 **'** **Demons are entities that require power to manifest from their home, the demon realm** , **and to this world. There have been multiple methods for doing so, this is just one of them. Hellgates, enough power to manifest into the physical world, all these methods exist for Demons to return to Gamindustri. The reason why they haven't been sighted until now is, ironically, because of the Console War.'**

'Huh?! How's that a thing?!'

 **'** **The Seal Sparda, king of the DPUs, and Odyssey Heart, the original Goddess of Gamindustri, created. It was designed to be sustained by a CPU's power. Should it fall too low, then the seal would weaken and allow the Demons to slip back into Gamindustri. Because of the Console War, though, the CPUs began losing their powers thanks to them being fuelled by humanity, thereby weakening the Seal between the two planes of existence. However, in light of such an occurrence, several failsafe's were put into place. One of which is that if a DPU is born in Gamindustri, their power can help reinforce the seal. This has slowed down its decay, thus preventing Demons from freely entering our world.'**

'Huh… I see. So, I guess Sparda wanted to make sure that would be a possibility should the Seal between the worlds weakens, that was why he left a DPU Memory Core in Gamindustri.' Nico mused, thoughtfully. He could see why the DPU King would do something like that, to keep the Demons from fully invading Gamindustri and doing who knows what with it. To ensure that the seal can be reinforced should the Goddesses lose their power, the power of a DPU in Gamindustri could act as a support system for it. Though, he figured that, as a result of this, Demons have been developing other ways of manifesting into this world, like breaking into it and bringing bystanders into its own realm. He got the feeling that there would be way more ways for them to exist in Gamindustri.

Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if they wound up possessing mortals just to be able to take on physical forms afterwards…

Something told him he should facepalm himself for jinxing the situation.

"Well, I've seen several things capable of going toe to toe with CPUs, so nothing new there." The Mad Magician had to admit that he had a point, when saying that. Lately, things have been appearing that could potentially stomp on CPUs if they were careless. "Looks like they'd have to train hard if they wanna retain their place at the top of the pecking order." The Spec Ops Agent remarked further with a shrug of his shoulders. The metallic shoulder pauldrons clinked in response to his movements.

With another nod of her head, MAGES. spoke once more, ceasing her leaning on her Staff for the time being as she walked up to his side. "Indeed. While I would like to destroy this place for good, I see it would be beneficial for us to team up this one time. I must repay you for helping me reach the drink of the chosen before the Organisation did so, nonetheless." She stated, Nico agreeing with her as his Helmet closed its plates together, once more concealing his facial features.

"Yeah, it is imperative that we destroy this place, but not before we rescue one confirmed survivor."

Just as the two made to walk on, however…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

CRASH!

An explosion erupted from above, a large object falling through and landing on the ground, conveniently behind them, with a loud crash. Tremors shot through the bridge, and Nico had to commend the builders once more in how sturdy they made this place. Still, the place was going down regardless, but at least they did a good job in some areas.

Nevertheless, they had other issues to address…

Like the fact that this feels kinda familiar in a way.

'Why Do I get the feeling of De Ja Vu right now, Biko?'

 **'** **I have no clue, for once. I am as stumped as you are.'**

As the dust began to settle, a vague silhouette began to form from within a patch of rubble. Smaller pieces toppled over onto the ground as the object slowly pushed itself upwards, reaching out to… rub the back of its head? What the hell? Nico frowned as he attempted to reach for Rebellion. The Devil Arm hummed with delight as his armoured hand grasped its hilt, eagerness rolling through its being at the thought of bloodshed. Nevertheless, Nico kept his eye focused on the dispersing smoke cloud, and the object within it though it started to look more like a person. If this was an enemy, he'd strike before they could realise their folly. There would be no mercy from him, especially with what he'd just learned at this point.

Just before he could move however…

"Owwie… those things sure hit hard, I gotta remember to block that the next time."

Nico's eye widened in shock once more, as yet ANOTHER familiar voice spoke from within the smoke. 'Okay, just how many familiar faces am I going to run into today? Not complaining, but geez, this plot development hints at a tough boss fight up ahead…' Seriously, te returning of familiar faces couldn't have come at a better time, but if he had a choice he'd rather have chosen Spec Ops Agents to run into. Normal Adventurers weren't cut out for this sort of work. Not to say they were weak, but because the enemies up ahead would likely flatten them like pancakes.

Nevertheless, he'd take what he could get.

Finally, the dust settled, and a familiar black haired grey eyed martial artist emerged from the smoke, climbing out the crater she had made and jumping onto the ground. She then stretched her arms, several cracking sounds echoing through the area as well as moans of pleasure.

"Tekken?"

"Hm?"

Blinking in confusion, Tekken looked around for the person who called her name. Soon enough though, she locked eyes with a certain Spec Ops Agent, although it was really one eye thanks to his Helmet covering one. In an instant, her eyes brightened as a merry cheer escaped the Martial Artist's lips. "Hey, heeey! Nico, its you!" she exclaimed, bounding up to him. She made about ¾ of the way there, before she… tripped on a piece of rubble.

Several blinks came from the girl as she lost her balance.

"Eh?"

"Watch out!"

BUMP!

Instead of hitting the hard, unforgiving ground beneath her, Tekken gasped when she felt arms wrap around her instead, her face buried within an unarmoured chest. Eyes wide, she turned her head to look upwards and gazed into the concerned TWO eyes of Nico, the male having caught her before she could fall. It kinda looked like this: her front was arched forwards with the backs of her bare feet on the cobblestone ground, and Nico's arms wrapped around her upper torso with their faces close together.

Talk about awkward…

Though, Nico ignored that in favour of checking her over. "You alright, girl?" he asked her in concern. He stood up straight and held her slightly over the air, before gently lowering her so she could stand on her own two feet.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good!" she replied with a grin, though her face showed itself to be rather flushed with embarrassment. By the time he let her go, Tekken still felt the remnants of the warmth his arms once provided around her. It was a nice feeling, a feeling she liked. "I guess I just got a little carried away." She mused, chuckling sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head. "I was just so excited to finally find you that I guess I wasn't paying attention, earlier."

Nico could only sweat drop. "Yeah, you ought to be more careful, who knows how much you could have gotten hurt if I hadn't stepped in." he remarked, glancing over to MAGES. to see what she was going to do. Judging by her posture, it looked like she would be leaving this one to him. With a sigh, the male turned back to Tekken, about to open his mouth to say something when her sentence triggered itself in his brain. He noticed something there, and had to query. "Wait, you were looking for me?"

"Yeah!" Tekken nodded cheerfully, a light bounce in her step as she checked her feet for any injury. She couldn't feel any, and people would know her reaction to pain if she did. But it never hurt to check. "I wanted to challenge you to a spar, so I went looking for you. You promised, remember? That we'd have a spar? Ever since we last met, I've been training myself in fighting Abnormals, and these really strange guys too, wherever I can find em. Now I'm super strong! Anyways, I heard that you were busy heading towards this extremely dangerous dungeon so I thought I'd come help out."

 **'** **Nico… do you sense it?'**

'Yeah, I do… MAGES. probably noticed too, but there's something latched onto Tekken's soul.' Nico replied to Biko's question as he subtly glanced towards Tekken's torso. Not to be confused with looking at her chest, though part of him commented that Tekken did have a beautiful body, plus with her friendly personality anyone would be lucky if she accepted a date from them. Though, he quashed that part of him in light of something much more… serious. His senses picked up a trace of demonic energy building inside of Tekken's body. It didn't seem to be trying to harm her, quite the opposite actually. It looked like she had tamed it somehow. If that was what he thought it was, then…

"Yeah, I remember. You wanted to spar with me, so I'll tell you what, after this is all over and done with, plus with some rest, I'll gladly spar with you. How about it? From the sounds of things, you'll be helping me and MAGES. here out, so why not?" he offered, smirking at her. This way, he'd be able to know for sure what it was Tekken had inside of her. She didn't look like she knew about it, either, something that he feared the worst about.

"Awesome!"

It was at this point that MAGES. cut into the conversation, stepping up to the duo with a serious, stern look on her face. "As happy as it makes me to hear we will be getting another companion, it is vital that we proceed before more lives are lost to the realm of oblivion. The calls of the damned must be silenced today." She told them, getting nods from the two, while Nico's Armour re-deployed as they began venturing deeper into the Halls of Agony.

Things seemed to be going well, in more ways than one of course.

For one, it seemed to Nico that Tekken and MAGES, knew each other, judging by the way they acted around each other. Tekken, when he asked her, told him that she and MAGES. once travelled together in order to get accustomed to this new, violent world. It had been a hard experience for them, learning that this Gamindustri had so many more dangers to it than their old one, dangers that they had to fend for themselves against thanks to the CPUs being up in Celestia.

Aside from that, Biko had been doing some analysis on whatever it was that had latched onto Tekken's soul. It looked like part of his theory had been correct, in that whatever it was, it had been tamed by the Martial Artist prior to entry. Now, it served under her, bound to her soul and subdued by her will. He couldn't make a direct confirmation, but he did say that it was probably what he thought it was.

Though, if so… then how the hell did it happen? He thought that only he could use those because of his demonic connections that allowed him to become a DPU, or his inner beast. Why did Tekken, a normal human who practiced Martial Arts, have one of those weapons? Did she have compatibility with demonic powers just like he did? Or was it something else? He didn't know, but after this he damn well intended to find out.

For now, though, he'd leave that issue for another time.

* * *

Walking through the first two levels of the Halls of Agony, the trio encountered little resistance. That was likely due to Nico having found them the safest, and shortest, route to the entrance to the Highlands Passage. Apparently, going through that lead to the Cursed Hold, then Halls of Agony Level 3, then the Chamber of suffering. That man must have been in a hurry to give that information since he was literally on death's doorstep that he didn't include everything, so he didn't hold that against him.

Though, while resistance was 'little' that actually wasn't far from a lie, yet it wasn't a lie either.

While they walked down a short, narrow corridor, the trio kept their guard up as they looked about, eyeing several pictures of what looked like demonic entities feasting on mortal humans' entrails with rabid gusto. Tekken shuddered at the sight of them, disgust clearly evident in her eyes. "Ewww, so gross..." she muttered, although the other two easily heard her. One of them had enhanced senses, and the other was keeping a sharp ear out herself for any dangers.

That second person, MAGES., soon spoke in response to Tekken's comment. "That will likely be a reoccurring theme with these Demonic entities. They are not of Gamindustri, and thus they will behave in ways that we will find abhorrent. Issues such as eating people, while not exactly cannibalism as they are of two different races, will likely be one of many horrors we will witness." She stated ominously.

'As chuni as that sounds, MAGES. is likely right.' Nico thought to himself, cupping his chin in deep pondering while his eye glanced about. 'These guys will show us just what they're capable of, whether we like it or not.' His eye narrowed instantly after he thought that, his nose sniffing in irritation despite the fileting his Armour possessed. "Both of you, on guard." he commanded, swiftly deploying his Plasma Claws. "Looks like we have some company."

Indeed, almost instantly after he said that, several magic circles opened up, and from them came about 10 of those Enthralled that Nico had fought earlier, combined with 7 Bloodletters and 6 Warhounds. Nico even noticed some of those Marauders that he fought with Team RAIL, Guts and Isaac in the Mojang Village Mines. All of them glowered at the trio, the Warhounds drooling while they bared their fangs while scratching the ground with their claws. Almost like how horses did the same with their hooves to clean them of dirt.

"E-EEK!" Tekken cried, hastily getting into a combat stance while she looked at the new arrivals in fright. Her eyes cast their gaze across the small pack of enemies, each of them looking scarier than the last. Her personal worst favourite would probably the Warhounds, though. She liked dogs herself, but these ones she'd be willing to make an exception for. "What the heck?! Where did those come from?!"

MAGES. narrowed her eyes at them, holding her Staff. Her mana fluctuated as she readied several offensive and supportive Spells for the group, something Nico noted when he felt their effects on him. "It appears that the denizens of the underworld have cursed us with their presence. They will likely try to drag us to whatever infernal realm spawned them. Let's make that never to be a possibility." she told the rest of them.

"Yeah!"

The battle begun with MAGES. going first, having pointed her Staff at them and firing a barrage of Fireballs towards the enemy. Said enemy roared as they charged, 5 of the 6 Warhounds being knocked onto their backs when the Fireballs hit them. the same fate befell 6 Bloodletters, 8 Enthralled and 11 Marauders. This resulted in the enemy losing a lot of their charging power thanks to their members falling to her Spell, and both Nico and Tekken took this opportunity to close in.

Nico went towards the sole standing Warhound, delivering a high kick to its jaw when it attempted to bite him, a strike that launched it into the air for his efforts. The male noticed several Marauders rushing at him, and jumped just before they could strike which ended in them hitting each other. Nico then spun in the air, coming back down on the Warhound with a kick to the snout that sent it crashing into the 2 Marauders. Readying his Plasma Claws, Nico swooped down again like a falcon, landing before them while slicing through their two Marauders' heads respectively. As for the Warhound, it became Nico's next target as he dashed past it, numerous slash marks adorning its form a second later before it too fell to the ground dead.

With that done, the male glanced towards MAGES., seeing how she was faring. Apparently, the woman didn't brag about her title as the Mad Magician for nothing as she weaved through Spells like a pro, launching countless Magic attacks using her Staff as a Medium. Her spells hit the enemy home, killing some and dazing others with their impacts and potency. MAGES. frowned as she would launch one Spell after another, and when one got too close she would resort to amplifying her Staff with her power before thwacking the enemy upside their heads.

'Huh... well, looks like I don't have to worry about her for the time being...' Nico thought to himself for the time being, before he re-joined the fray. He wasn't too worried about Tekken, as he'd seen what she could do already with those Necromorphs. Her Skills as a Martial Artist were quite commendable. Part of him wondered what it would have been like if she'd chosen to join the Spec Ops Program...

Whelp, that's what fantasies were for, right?

* * *

After taking out those beings, the trio advanced forth, encountering swarms of enemies along the way. There was hardly any room for them to look about, let alone breathe with how many enemies that came at them, which sort of kept their nerves from going overdrive with fear (for Tekken anyways) ironically enough. Looking about for enemies kept them from looking at the twisted, wicked landscape that came with the Dungeon. Though, that wasn't the case for the other two, so they didn't have that luxury. Though, the fact that they kept getting swarmed by enemies did warrant most of their attention.

At least they didn't have to face so many demons and stuff like that. Though, that didn't mean they DIDN'T. Most of them consisted of Cultists who'd go for ranged attacks to summoning magic. Demon summoning Magic, apparently, since they would summon Bloodletters, Warhounds, and Chaos Knights to fight for them. It made their jobs several levels harder than necessary but it did give him a way to evaluate his companion's abilities. Well, more on MAGES.' side than Tekken since he had already seen her fight before. But, MAGES. on the other hand, was a different story, and so far he was liking what he was seeing.

Apparently, despite her... quirks, she was actually a skilled Magic user. A wide variety of spells were under her bet that she used to fight against their enemies. Her calm demeanour extended to battle as well, as she would figure out which spell would be the most effective to strike with while buffing them up with Spells on the side. An interesting way of fighting, Nico had to admit. It honestly felt quite good to have a Magic User fighting WITH him and not against him. Fellow warriors he could handle, but Nico never liked fighting other Magic users.

Their abilities were just as versatile as his Arsenal of weaponry, forming a perfect counter to his tactics.

* * *

Walking through one of the hallways, the trio encountered resistance in the form of a bunch of Cultists. They were quite easy to take care of to be honest, something that the trio noticed. "These Cultists..." Tekken began thoughtfully, cupping her chin with one hand as she thought back to her battles with these Cultists. These guys may seem quite dangerous at ranged, but when you get in close their threat level drops dramatically. "They seem quite deadly, but when you enter close combat they kinda become sore losers..."

Nico nodded his head in agreement, while folding his arms in front of his chest. "Yeah well, that's the thing with Mages, they are great at long-ranged attacks, but when they're in close combat their effectiveness plummets. Usually because they are so focused at practicing their Magic arts, they neglect physical ability. Makes them kina fragile, in all honestly."

"Yes..." MAGES. nodded her head in agreement, her eyes closed as she continued. "That is indeed the case. I only take SP Chargers and various stamina recovering Items. Helps maximise my limited physical ability."

Tekken and Nico eyed the blunette for a moment, until the former noticed something else nearby. Her eyes widened in surprise as she pointed towards the thing she saw. "Um, guys?" she spoke up, getting their attention. She then walked to what she saw: a human corpse, one of a man in his mid thirties she guessed, and kneeled down before him. She shuddered in disgust for being near something like this, resisting the urge to just scream and run for the hills. It helped though that there was a certain detail about the corpse she could focus on without feeling like she was about to throw up. "Look at this." reaching towards the corpse, Tekken pulled something from within the corpse's grasp, something he seemed to be holding onto with what little life he had left before death finally claimed him.

Rest In Piece - RIP

Both Nico and MAGES. looked at what she found as Tekken walked back to them. Their eyes filled with curiosity and intrigue at the sight of the item. "A book?" the Mad Magician questioned, pursing her lips. Indeed, the book seemed to be bound with leather, and looked to have been used a significant amount. She could tell by how worn the covers and pages looked, though it still looked readable to her. "It appears to be some form of Journal. Odds are, that poor soul had this with him to catalogue his final days on this plain of existence." she remarked.

A sombre thought indeed, something the trio agreed on as they stared at the journal in silence.

Then, MAGES. opened the journal, much to the surprise of the other two.

"MAGES.? what are you doing?" Tekken questioned the Mad Magician. She raised a brow in confusion, and a brief spike of irritation towards her companion happened inside her chest, though she repressed it. Why would MAGES. have any interest in the Journal of a dead man? That just felt like an invasion of privacy, in her eyes at least.

As for Nico, he remembered that she had told him once that she was a researcher of both magic and technology, during one of their battles with the Cultists prior to this, so it made sort of sense that she would be curious about these things, and not be inhibited by ethics. Though, he'd better make sure she didn't go off the deep end and become like Avenir or Umbrella.

MAGES. soon found the last entry in the journal after skimming its pages. "I am looking to see what his last entry was like. Perhaps he could have gleaned something important, nevertheless the lives lost here may never get noticed in the real world, so I will make sure to remember these people. With whatever means I can." she explained. Nico frowned at that, as he couldn't really refute her logic. he could see where she was coming from, remembering the fallen was a noble act as I showed a lot about ones' character. However, what got him all sombre was the bit before that, about these people likely not being remembered in the grand scheme of things. It was a terrible fate to die with nobody knowing or caring why you died, so the fact that MAGES. was doing this... it told him a fair bit about her character. She may have an 8th grade syndrome based personality, AKA a chuni, but that didn't mean to say that she didn't have empathy for others.

Looking at each other, Tekken and Nico had a silent conversation with their eyes, debating on whether or not to join the Mad Magician. On one hand, it would be an invasion of privacy, but on the other hand the owner was a corpse now so would it really count? Plus, there could be something here that could help their situation. In the end, they decided to go with the second option, walking up to the blunette's sides and peering over her shoulders. Just as she found the last entry:

* * *

ABOL - AL - HAZIR

These Cultists were performing a strange ritual when I saw them today.

One of their member stood soundlessly while the rest drove long spikes deep into his spine.

He did not perish, and I believe that he may have even been darkly empowered by the implantation.

Though such terrible magic is foreign to me.

* * *

"Hmmm, sounds like this man was once a witness to their rituals themselves, most likely the Enthralling Ritual." MAGES. commented with a frown, her eyes shining with how deeply she disapproved of such a ritual. She closed the journal and placed it in her Inventory, for her two companions to step back to give her some space.

Nico nodded his head in agreement. "Though, you could say this guy got off lightly. He DID die without being used for their rituals, and from what I've seen those rituals are way worse than just death."

Tekken hummed in thought, before her brows furrowed in confusion. "Still though, Hazir? and all that gibberish? People don't like strange names like that, you know."

"There are weirder names out there, you know. I kid you not, there was this one person who'd lost both of his arms, and part of his eye. Called himself 'Glarry', literally."

"... Wow."

* * *

Later, the trio had found the entrance to the Halls of Agony Level 2, and in comparison to the previous level, this one looked MUCH more lively. Nico scoured the scenery, and while it didn't look too different architectural wise, nor in the general hellish appearance with torture rooms and cells, Nico could smell way more people or monsters present throughout the area. "Looks like this place is more densely populated." he informed the group, and to check and see if he was right, the male activated his Holomap and Motion Tracker on separate Bracers. Turned out, the Halls of Agony Level 2 had LOTS more enemies than Level 1. It wouldn't be surprising of they found some rather strange things down here, things that they'd likely never want to see again.

Deactivating the Bracers, Nico turned to face the others. His eyes said it all.

Tekken shuddered, rubbing her arms up and down at the thoughts running through her head. "If there are more enemies, then that'll mean more demonic Cultists, won't it?" she questioned, though judging by how she asked it the Martial Artist had already been aware of the answer. Still, she had felt the need to ask the question anyways, just to get proper clarification.

Clarification she received when MAGES. gave a firm nod. "I sense a lot of demonic energy in this place. Odds are we'll be encountering demons in greater quantities than before. No matter what however, we must not hesitate. This evil must be stopped immediately." With that, the woman began heading into the Dungeon, with Nico and Tekken close behind.

* * *

Once again they had seen the twisted things that the Cultists were capable of. There were far more torture devices down here than in Level 1, in fact one could argue and say that these devices were the worser of the two. One could only IMAGINE what it must be like on level 3. Or yet, the Cursed Hold. Things got even darker when they found a journal lying about next to a series of burning bodies... which had came back to life and attacked them moments beforehand, had MAGES. not warned them beforehand. This journal, depicted the owner's struggles to resist the transformation into some demonic beast, of how his mind slowly withered away till there was nothing left but a shell, a shell that operated solely by its desire to feed. Fortunately, there was a little more light to this place, as they managed to free a Merchant from within the confines of what was known as an 'Iron Maiden', a specialised torture device shaped like a box and a woman with spikes in it. The merchant managed to escape safely, at least, which meant they'd saved at least one innocent life.

One can imagine how Tekken, Nico and MAGES. felt about that, huh?

* * *

In present times, the trio just exited Level 2 of the Halls of Agony, and now were on the Highlands passage, which consisted of a stone platform connected to a bridge, a bridge that lead over a deep ravine and connected to another section of the Manor.

Looking upwards, Nico scowled as he saw rainfall coming down on them. "Looks like the storm's hit." The male mused as droplets fell onto his Helmet. He didn't really mind rain, since to him it represented the true state of this cold, twisted world. Though he knew that most people didn't share his opinion.

"Mou! Now my hair's gonna get all wet!" Tekken pouted in annoyance, already being soaked by the rain. She had fought in such conditions before, but she preferred the sun instead of the rain as it ruined her hair, as well as her clothes. "Hopefully we can dry off when we're back indoors."

MAGES. however, showed no discomfort in the rain, droplets falling onto her hat ad clothes as she made her way to the Bridge. "I find no discomfort from a force of nature. It is what it is, any who try to stop it shall feel the wrath of nature's dragons." She stated coolly. She then stopped as she frowned, raising her staff as she chanted something under her breath. Runic speech, Nico mused.

From what he'd seen of her, the teenage Spec Ops Agent found that MAGES., true to her name, used Mana for magic attacks. Her actual SP had a low count to it, so she studied the magic arts, or so he thought anyways. He didn't have much to say that he was wrong though, unless he asked her. But now was not the time for such trivial matters, something he was sure that the Mad Magician would agree with.

Opening her eyes, MAGES. finished whatever it was that she had been doing and turned to the others. Her eyes were as sharp as blades themselves, her tone matching her expression right now. "Looks like we have enemies waiting for us on the other side of the Ravine. Large numbers, from what my search Spell can tell."

Nico frowned behind his Helmet, raising his Bracer and bringing up his Holomap. "Well, judging by the layout of this place, I'd say we have no choice but to go through these enemies. What have we got, MAGES.?" he asked her. If they knew what they were facing, it would be a good way to prepare a pre-emptive strike.

"Abnormals, there are many. I sense that they are the ones you Spec Ops Classify as 'Khazuras', along with Cultists that appear to be on the verge of turning into Enthralled." MAGES. replied, and that made Nico tense up.

Khazura… Those things were a big pain in the ass. Nico knew these creatures, he had fought them before. They wield axes, polearms, swords, and magical staves to attack their opponents. They were sometimes called goat men, as they walk upright as men, with heads of horned goats. They tread upon cloven hooves and are skilled with weapons of war. They were also cunning, working together to form organized clans that accomplish the desires of their leaders. Their strength was quite immense and some of the more powerful clans were rumoured to guard important artefacts. They were incredibly strong and agile, and their archers were known for the power and accuracy of their bows. Fleet of foot, they may try to evade an unwary foe and then attack from a different angle, making fighting them in large groups a major loss of time.

Though while they don't use things like Guns, instead favouring Bows, that did NOT make them weak by any means, especially since it took a LOT of gunfire to bring them down, and their accuracy is such that they could take out targets with a headshot over 600 metres away. Their eyesight was JUST that good.

"Oh, I remember those!" Tekken exclaimed, breaking Nico out of his thoughts. He and MAGES. turned to regard the Martial Artist, who beamed happily as she continued her explanation. "They're really strong, it took me 3 full days to take one of them down, and then the rest of his clan tried to get me. That was a fun day for me, worked quite a sweat that time." She explained, sighing as she remembered the fighting she had to do to escape that Species of Abnormal. It exhilarated her, made her blood as a Martial Artist pump at speeds she hadn't felt in a long time. These Abnormals were great opponents, why she hadn't fought them sooner was beyond her.

While it looked like Tekken would be lost in dreamland for a while, the other two looked at each other and sighed in unison.

Afterwards, Nico snapped into attention, his eyes hardening into diamonds as he cupped his chin. "Hmmm… the enemy has numbers on their side, and likely they will have taken the strategic ground at the opposite side of the bridge. Those Cultists will likely try to either summon Demons, become Enthralled or provide buffs for their comrades, although they don't seem to care about each other that much." He mused, running through the facts in his head. He recalled the few times they fought the Cultists before in Halls of Agony Level 1, they didn't show even the slightest interest when one of them perished, instead they just focused on killing them. Then, the Khazura will most likely try swarm tactics, he'd seen them do these many times during their previous encounters. They had one track minds in that regard… wait… an idea struck him. "I've got a solution."

"Oh? Let's hear it." MAGES. stated, an eyebrow raised though it was difficult to see thanks to both the rain and how her hat was dipping slightly. At hearing their words, Tekken finally snapped out of their daze to listen to the conversation once more.

Nodding to show that he acknowledged her, Nico began explaining his strategy. "Khazura will likely try swarming tactics. They'll gang up on the weakest link of the three of us, while the Cultists will likely attack us without regard for their comrades. Their behaviour back inside the Halls of Agony Level 1 before proves this." With a quick check in his Void Storage, Nico found the ONE ITEM he would need for his idea to work. "Looks like we got what we need, too. Alright, so, listen up…"

* * *

On the other end of the bridge, there was a platform teaming with Abnormal Khazuras along with a couple Cultists. The Khazura were scattered through the platform, blocking access to it and the walkway that connected to the platform surrounding the door to the Cursed Hold. If intruders wanted to get through, they would have to go through their forces, and they would be more than happy to shed their blood on their weapons. For their masters, for their cause, or just for fun.

"Say, bruh." One Cultist spoke to his companion, who was sitting down while gazing longingly at his Dagger. Almost as if he wanted to make love to it or something. Wouldn't surprise the other Cultist considering the fetishes that went through their ranks. "Ya heard about the intruders?"

Looking up with an annoyed glare, the second Cultist growled. "Don't know, don't care, just lemme at em and I'll drive my beloved into their holes." He snarled, getting the first Cultist to step back. He almost forgot how temperamental this guy was.

"Alright, alright, geez. Calm those tits, you get your chance with some of the prisoners soon enough, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"… Dick."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

While the two Cultists bickered back and forth, the Khazura minding their own business and ignoring them completely, none of them noticed this brown coloured object suddenly land in the middle of the platform…

BWOOSH!

That is, until they were encased in pink smoke.

"Ugh, what the fuck?!"

"Fucking hell, what was that?!"

The two Cultists snarled and grunted while they coughed, clearing away the smoke with their hands. Some of it had gotten into their lungs thanks to the sheer surprise They had felt at the sudden event happening, but not all that much. They had once been former Guild Agents before they converted to the glory of Overlord Momus. By the time they were able to see again… they noticed something off…

They were being stared at, hungrily, by the Abnormals around them. Some even licking their lips.

Only one word escaped their lips.

"... Mommy!"

* * *

"… wow, I can't believe that actually worked."

MAGES. and Tekken stared dumbstruck, as they wandered across the bridge to the other side. The moment that they saw the way the Platform looked, with no Abnormals or Cultists to be seen, they knew that Nico's plan had worked. They could scarcely believe what had happened, and yet the proof was right here in front of them.

The plan had been a simple one, yet its effectiveness was beastly. The plan was that Nico would sneak in close, thanks to there being a headwind that would blow his scent away from the Khazura so they wouldn't smell him. Plus, his armour kept him fresh and clean, so they wouldn't have been able to smell him anyways. Once he got close enough, Nico would rear his arm back, and with calculations that would make professional mathematicians green with envy, threw one of his favourite items to use when the situation called it right into the middle of their ranks:

A Pheromone bomb.

These babies were legendary amongst the Spec Ops Community. They worked by releasing a pink gas that was filled with various pheromones, pheromones that worked by inciting the senses of the other Abnormals that detect them. These pheromones would then drive them into a wild frenzy, making them attack anything that moved. Depending on how one used them, they could potentially lead packs of Abnormals by scent to a target, and have them take them out for them. If they fall during the chaos, all the better. That meant less work for them to do for clean-up duty.

Pheromone bombs were one of Nico's favourite items to use, because they embodied some of his own beliefs: that monsters are the best way to fight other monsters. That their wold was full of monsters, themselves and the Abnormals that they fight on a daily basis. Hell, many Spec Ops agree with this philosophy, as these babies have saved many of their brethren from being shredded by tough Abnormals, bu putting them against others of its own kind. One guy even managed to kill a Tigrex by guiding another variant to its line, a Nargacuga, to it with them before stepping back to watch the show.

He himself favoured these things whenever he didn't feel like getting into some fisticuffs with other Abnormals, or wanted to limit the casualties to a minimum. They also came in handy when they would sometimes be given faulty intel, or weak intel as Raven once called it, and their targets turn out to be much different from what they were expecting. Just use a few of these on the surrounding Abnormals, guide them to the target, and let them work their magic.

Though, on the flip side these things could be very dangerous if they fall into the wrong hands. For example, if a criminal got some of these tools into their arsenal, they could guide a pack of powerful Abnormals and lay waste to countless human settlements. No matter how many defenders they had, Abnormals would be too much for them. It was like they were specifically designed to destroy humanity or something similar to that ideal.

Some would say that its kind of inhumane to do something like this, that it makes them no better than the Abnormals that they fight. But to every Spec Ops that uses them, they WEREN'T any better than the Abnormals. They were all monsters, they just accepted that fact more than others. In their world, that was the only true fact, that it was just them, and the beings they faced. They had to do whatever it took to survive, otherwise they would meet a painful, grizzly end that nobody deserved. Not even a dog deserved to die the ways Abnormals would kill you. Sometimes they wouldn't just kill, they would torture, rape, break your mind till you're beyond any hope of psychiatric recovery, and even then they may just leave you hanging for an unknown timeframe before killing you.

One such example? The Abnormal Spider-like creature known as Shelob. Shelob was a Spider of large and immense size, that was known to feed indiscriminately, preying on the inhabitants. It made its lair in one of Lastation's mountain ranges, making a labyrinth of webs within a network of caves to better trap its prey, which included all creatures great and small. It feasted primarily on those who wandered into its webs, though if a particularly juicy morsel was available, it would silently pursue and kill it.

Like most spiders, Shelob had spindly legs, multiple eyes, and venomous chelicerae. It usually immobilized its prey with its paralyzing sting that enabled it to feed on its victims at its leisure but could also crush its prey to death by swiftly dropping on them. Shelob's head was Cris-crossed with scars and it had a number of missing eyes. Some Spec Ops that barely escaped its traps would comment that it usually would paralyze its victims and trap them in webs, keeping them alive for some time before killing them.

"Yeah, well…" Nico began as he observed the area. Checking his Motion Tracker, the teen couldn't see any movement which indicated that the job was indeed done. They had done it, fought the enemy with tactics rather than brute force. Though, his inner fighter whined in disappointment at this fact, he hadn't fought those Khazura in so long now that he was starting to miss them. "That's Pheromone bombs for you. Throw them into a crowd of Abnormals, and rioters pale in comparison to the frenzy they whip out."

The Martial Artist shuddered, holding her waist with her arms at the recent memories. "I could hear the screams all the way across the bridge…" she muttered, trembling. MAGES. stepped towards her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. A second one followed suit, and when they looked they saw that it was Nico who was doing so. Tekken eventually managed to calm down, though she vowed never to be near those things for as long as she lived. Or at least be able to block out the screams.

"Its intriguing." MAGES. began, getting their attention as she looked over the now vacant platform. The Abnormals had practically cleaned up the place of the leftover blood from the Cultists, leaving nothing left before they turned on each other. Since they dissipate into particles upon death, they leave no blood behind either. Looking back to Nico, the woman leaned on one of the platforms stone railings as she regarded him curiously. "I didn't expect you to be like a tactician, Spec Ops DEATHSTROKE. You seem more like a warrior than a tactician."

At this, the teen shrugged his shoulders. She was honestly right on the money there. "Honestly, you're right, I'm more of a warrior than a Tactician. I'd rather just go in and take the enemies out myself. Being a leader isn't something I find easy, and more often than not I'd end up scarring my subordinates for life with… how I kill sometimes." He explained, before hurrying on when he saw the Mad Magician about to ask why that was. He didn't want to speak of how he used to be, not now at least. "Anyways, I'd rather go in myself, be hands on and all that jazz, but the Khazura are a tricky Abnormal species to deal with. They can calculate, plan, and be an all-about nuisance. They would waste valuable time, time we unfortunately have little of as it is, so a tactic to kill them all swiftly was the best solution."

In truth, he REALLY wanted to rip those bastards apart himself. He wanted to sink Rebellion's blade into them, tear off their limbs and beat them till there was nothing left. However, there were more important things like A: Finding IF and getting her the hell out of here. B: making sure these two here make it out of this alive, he'd rather not see them die. He didn't know them, they were practically strangers in his eyes, but he'd be damned if he made Neptune cry when she found out that they had died and he'd done nothing to help. The fact that he had begun caring more about people thanks to said dorky CPU was a bonus. Then there was C: blowing this place sky high.

He REALLY had priorities here, ladies and gentlemen!

"Nevertheless, regardless of the methods you applied, Spec Ops DEATHSTROKE…" MAGES. began as she began making her way to the walkway that lead to the Cursed Hold Entrance. It looked exactly like the entrance to the Halls of Agony Level 1, actually, fitting with the themes going on with this wretched Manor. "We have successfully cleared the way to the 'Cursed Hold' as you called it. We should carry on our journey to the inevitable conclusion, though I sense that we will have some… interesting encounters down there."

'Wow… that isn't ominous in the least bit.' The teen remarked sarcastically, although he did feel something through his link to his Demon Persona that got him curious. Thus, he decided to inquire. 'Something on your mind, Biko?'

 **'** **That Magician… she may be righter than she realises.'**

'Lovely.'

Tekken, the only one who DIDN'T have the senses Nico, MAGES., and Biko possessed, could only tilt her head in confusion. She felt totally lost and out of the loop right now, but she didn't let it bother her. Nope, not one bit. She just wanted to fight Nico at the end of all this, it would be so much fun! That was her thoughts in a nutshell as the trio pressed on.


	86. Chapter 83 - The Cursed Hold

**Chapter 83 - The Cursed Hold**

The Cursed Hold… King Leoric's main prison.

During his descent into madness, the King had locked many of his servants, subjects and even his own Wife in this prison, to be executed and damned to eternal torment. They say that even now the spirits of the wrongfully damned would roam the halls of this place, searching for salvation but never finding it. It had been a dreadful tale that Nico had learned of during his last little venture in Leanbox where he found out about all this shit. Back then, the male had slight hopes that he'd be done with the Black King at the end of it all, but unfortunately, life just LOVED to screw him over.

At the moment they entered, the trio quickly got overcome with a sense of doom and depression.

The entire Prison had this dead feel to it, with the dull grey stone walls, ground and ceiling tightly packed into long hallways, little lighting in the area so they had to resort to their own means of sight, as well as how it looked more like a Maze on Nico's Holomap, this Prison definitely fit the definition of horrible. Not only that, but both Biko and MAGES. could sense various presences throughout the Prison.

"This place…" Tekken trembled, rubbing her arms up and down. She eyed some of the cells that they could see with dread, her skin becoming more than a little pale at the thought of just spending eternity in them. "It feels so dead… so lifeless…" she whispered, her breath coming out as smokey vapour thanks to the low temperature in the Prison. Back then, they likely didn't even have heating in those days, relying on torchlight for both light and heat to keep themselves warm. Though, at this point the torches had long since burned out, turning the prison into a mini tundra in terms of temperature.

MAGES. nodded, not showing much discomfort compared to her companion. It was largely thanks to a special heat spell she had put on herself the moment they lost heat when they exited Hals of Agony Level 2. It was how she stayed relatively normal in the rain, and there was also a spell in place to absorb the water molecules in her clothes, keeping her dry. Magic was a powerful tool if used correctly, but in the wrong hands it could mean serious trouble.

Like what she was seeing right now, for example. "This place reeks with foul magic. There are dozens of lost spirits in this infernal place, unable to seek salvation in the wake of damnation." The Mad Magician remarked, her lips set in a furious snarl. She may be a Mad woman in the eyes of the many, she may do… weird things for her hobbies, she may even sound like a raving lunatic. However, this, this was NOT something she would ever do. "This must end. We must end this travesty to free these wrongfully damned souls."

To disturb the cycle of life like this was one of the worst things a Mage like her could do. It was part of the natural order, just as much as the Goddesses that protect their lands were. They were part of the infinite cycle, to live life, one must accept the kiss of death. Only then would one truly be living life to the fullest. To live in the most fulfilling manner possible. That was largely why she acted the way she did, she spoke weird true enough, but she didn't care about what other people thought of her. She would live her life the way she saw fit. And THAT, was as the Mad Magician MAGES., and she was PROUD of it!

The Cycle of life was never to be disrupted, for it would cause horrific problems on both the living and the dead. She had heard of an incident in Lastation, some place called Racoon City where the dead were forced to remain inside their own bodies, their souls writhing in agony and torment while their bodies were used as nothing more than puppets for some virus that got released there.

While the trio began walking down the hallway, with two open and empty cells on either side… something came out of the right one.

'Wait, is that…?'

"KYAAAAAAA!" Tekken screamed, her body losing what remained of its colour as she backpedalled till she hit a wall. She raised a finger and pointed forwards, the finger trembling just as violently as her body. "G-G-G-G-GHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!"

Nico sweat dropped, giving the Martial Artist a deadpan look to her at her state. Really, it was just a ghost, what was she so worked up about? Looking back to the Ghost, Nico began examining the beings appearance. It Had the body of a woman, a woman who wore rags for clothes. Though the clothes were just as ethereal as the rest of her body. Though, one unique detail that he noted was that her head was being held in her right hand, with no irises in her eyes and dark hair. 'This woman… could she be who I think she is?"

MAGES. rolled her eyes, she knew that Tekken could be easily startled by things like this, but had not objected to her accompanying them. It was her choice, and the Mad Magician had to accept that fact. "It is one of the lost Spirits I told you about, Tekken. Do not be alarmed, I sense that she means no harm to us."

"Thank you…" the Ghost 'spoke' through her head. Seeing a head talking while being held away from the neck… not something one would see every day. Tekken looked like she would be having a panic attack right now, but it was hard to tell what the Ghost felt about that. Being dead and all didn't really do her emotion showing ability any favours. At least, that's what Nico assumed. "And… you are right, I do not mean you harm, though I will not say the same for many who dwell in this place."

'Yeah, I could see that happening…' the Spec Ops Agent remarked in his mind as he reached out with his demonic senses. He could sense beings up ahead, and all of them reeked with the desire to kill. Bloodlust filled the airspace ahead, something that he had more than enough experiences with when fighting Abnormals. They would likely be swarmed the moment they went down there.

And considering what they had planned to do, that made this all the more inevitable…

Perfect.

Eyeing the Ghost critically, MAGES. wasted no time in asking her what the heck was going on as she tapped the ground with her staff to get her attention, which seemed to have been focused on Nico for some reason. "Who are you? What has happened in this place? The sanctity of life has been greatly disturbed. I would know why this is the case."

"Yes, I shall tell you. My name is Queen Asylla." Nico's lone eye widened in recognition at the name, something only the Ghost acknowledged. "Once Queen to our beloved Leoric. We, the royal family, knights and servants were all consumed by his madness. They are currently trapped in this prison, constantly tormented thanks to our King. Many of them have already been cursed, fallen and have been twisted into creatures of the undead. All but a few remain."

"Is there a way to free them?"

The Ghost nodded when Nico asked that question. None but the Ghost noticed the faint nostalgia in his voice, like the male had dealt with this before… or so it seemed. "There is but one. Those that are too far gone must be killed once more, to free their souls of the curse my husband placed on them. As for those yet to turn, their remains must be destroyed. Only then will they know peace."

A frown crossed onto his lips hidden behind his Helmet. Nico would rather not waste any time to get to IF, who know how long she had left. However, his inner Spec Ops Agent demanded that this injustice be made right. In the end though, his desire for justice prevailed over his own desires, something that happened a lot actually. This couldn't be allowed to continue, that much was a fact. The dead should rest in peace, so the living could live life without regret. Also, he had no doubt in his mind that the girls wouldn't forgive him for leaving these people to their fate. Not like he could anyways, not with how much he was wanting to shred them apart. 'Keep it together, dude…' the male chided himself. 'You may have released IT after so long, but there's people around you. Only release IT when you're alone…'

After he calmed himself down, Nico glanced towards MAGES., and got a nod from her. He looked to Tekken, and saw that she was now back on her feet, walking over to them while making sure to keep a cautious distance from the Ghost of the former Queen Alysa. Though, she did glance at him and show her willingness to help with her eyes alone. That was more than enough for him, so he turned back to the Ghost and gave a firm nod of acceptance. "We'll help. We'll make sure this place is cleared out before the dawn."

Once he said that, a surge of light shone from the head's eyes, temporarily blinding them. Though, much to his surprise Nico felt something entering his body, filling him up inside like a jug being filled with liquid. 'Hey, Biko, you know what this is? Cause I have no clue.' The male questioned the only person he could think of that knew a lot. Whether it be demonic energy or life itself, Biko usually had something to say about it. More on the demonic stuff, though.

A fact that he remembered when he hears Biko's confused reply. **'I am as confused as you are, Nico. Whatever this is, is not demonic in origin thus I have little information on it. Whatever it IS though, it appears to not be threatening you in any way.'**

"I have granted you three my blessings. You will be considered my champions, young heroes. Please, help me free myself and my people of our torment." The Ghost said, this time with a hint of pleading as she slowly vanished into nothingness. Yet, the blessings he gave them still remained. They could feel it deep within their beings, buried within their souls, and while Nico and MAGES. didn't seem too bothered by it, Tekken noticeably shifted in discomfort. She didn't know how to feel about receiving an undead's blessing. A goddess's blessing maybe, but an undead?

Yeah, kinda conflicted on that one.

Looking towards her comrades, Tekken saw how little they reacted to their situation. Honestly, she felt kind of jealous, yet not at the same time. "So, I guess stuff like this is common for you two?"

"You could say that, yeah."

"Indeed. It is a trying affair to commune with the deceased. It is not an act that is to be taken with a grain of salt. The realms of the dead and the living must not intertwine, no matter what." MAGES. said, before she turned on her heels and cast a spell, opening a doorway ahead of them. "My magic tells me that we will encounter foes ahead momentarily. I must ask that you two exercise caution."

Well, she got no argument from them Nico because he was always on alert, and Tekken due to not being too enthusiastic about fighting the living dead. If she as fighting a living being then she'd be all for it, but the undead? Beings who've died once yet still walk among the living? Nope, not her cup of tea. She was a martial artist, not an exorcist.

With that, the trio continued on their way.

* * *

If Tekken didn't like the Dungeon before, she certainly hated it now.

As the trio wandered the corridors, she couldn't help the feeling of dread spreading through her chest even more. Worse, for her anyways, was the story behind this place. She didn't know much about this place, other than that Nico was here for some reason, and there seemed to be some form of lore behind it. "Um, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but could someone tell me what this place is…?"

"This prison was once a part of a Kingdom called Khanduras, it was a small kingdom that was around during times when war-like tribes dominated Leanbox. I believe it was about 900 years ago, when this Kingdom fell to ruin thanks to the King going crazy." MAGES. explained just when Nico was about to.

'Whoa, that's surprising…!'

The male couldn't help but regard the blue haired Magician curiously. He had expected her to be unaware of something like that, being from another dimension and all. He guessed she would have researched into this world then, if this was the case. If she really did research into it, it showed that she would be one of those well-prepared characters in situations like these. 'We'd need more people like her in our ranks…' he thought to himself, remembering the ranks of the Spec Ops Agents throughout the four Nations.

While their numbers varied between Nations, Spec Ops Agents don't really read a whole lot of books on ancient history, they were usually about either killing Abnormals or getting fame and glory. Not bad in of itself, but it really limited their understanding of how the world once was. In Nico's case, his adoptive mother had forced him to read from their Archives, which possessed books of all the recorded History the human race had gathered. Well, recorded by humans anyways, things like Demons, DPUs and Sparda were exceptions as he knew next to nothing about those save from what Biko had told him.

"You seem quite knowledgeable about our world for someone whose not from it." he remarked, getting a look from the Mad Magician as they stopped at a door.

The woman eyed it for a second, mumbling to herself before she turned back to the male and said her piece. "It would have been prudent of me to not investigate this world, as it has considerable differences compared to the Gamindustri that I am familiar with. In comparison, this Gamindustri is much more dangerous and life-threatening than normal, which leads me to believe this must be a sub-dimension, part of the bigger picture yet with differences that make it stand on its own as a single entity.

"I see…"

It was then that Tekken cut into the conversation as she shuffled nervously. "Um…" she began, getting their attention. She then raised a hand and pointed at the door they were standing in front of them. "That's all grand and all, but why are we standing behind this door? Is there something about it?"

MAGES. took a look at the door, before turning back to the Martial Artist with a furrowed brow as she tapped the ground with her staff. "My senses tell me that one of the bones we need to destroy is hidden within this Cell. Unfortunately for us however, there are a significant number of undead beings inside. Destroying them the old-fashioned way would be preferable, however I am unsure as to if you can do that or not. Myself and DEATHSTROKE are fine, we have our ways, but you…"

"Ah! No, I don't wanna hear it! lets just go do this already, I'm tired of waiting! Let's just G-G-G-Goooo!"

The thought of her attacks not fazing the undead at all seemed to be the last straw for the woman Martial Artist. Her composure, which was already frail since the encounter with the former Queen's Ghost, completely shattered as, with tears flying from her eyes, she punched the door off its hinges and made it fly to the opposite side of the Cell. Unholy shrieks of surprise came from within, but Tekken refused to pay attention to that, already jumping in and going on a rampage.

While the woman did her thing, the two got a look at the enemies they were to be fighting. It looked like they were fighting various moving skeletons armed with an assertion of swords, Axes and Shields. Some even wore helmets, though that served little to protect them from the panic-filled fists of the Martial Artist.

While Tekken went about her business, the teen Spec Ops Agent couldn't help but groan into his hand. 'Ugh, I sorta expected this from her earlier reactions, but…' he remarked mournfully in his mind.

 **'** **Not everyone is as fearless as you are, Nico, and even then I do recall you nearly freaking out a couple times in your adventures.'**

'Yeah, don't remind me…'

Despite his misgivings, it seemed as there would be a battle in place. To that end, Nico swiftly pulled out Ebony and Ivory, holding them like a cowboy about to go into a bar guns blazing. He then looked to MAGES. and gave the Mad Magician a dry look. "Whelp, good job MAGES., you successfully broke her." He said, before jumping into the fray as well. The sounds of frenzied shrieks and grunts followed suit.

MAGES. didn't respond, instead she wordlessly raised her Staff to begin inciting Magic Spells, calling upon her Mana Reserves.

* * *

Thanks to the small size of the cell, the enemies had been packed together nicely for them to take out. MAGES. could have finished them in one big blast, but thanks to Tekken's panic overload, that possibility had been ruled out. Thus, they had to do it the old-fashioned way, punching the living shit out of things. Or use guns and minor magic attacks in Nico and MAGES.' cases.

It didn't take them long, though, again thanks to the tight space they fought in. By the time they were done, the bones of the enemies had dispersed into nothingness. It didn't surprise them in the least, one out of fear and the other two out of knowledge. These monsters were just people once, cursed to damnation in this prison. It would make sense why they didn't disperse into Particles upon death.

At the back, was a pile of bones with the faint silhouette of a man curled in the fatal position.

Their target.

Whelp, looked like they found what they needed to destroy.

Nico however, got an idea as he raised his Bracer and began manipulating its interface. 'Looks like physical force can work on them. Tekken probably got the most kills out of all of us, since they focused on her the most.' He thought to himself, glancing over to the Martial Artist who stood where a pile of bones had once been. Her head was lowered, and she looked like she was shaking badly. 'Wow, she must really be freaked out by this stuff…' the male thought, frowning behind his Helmet.

This was what he was afraid of. Things like this. Normal Agents don't know the horrors that Spec Ops Agents face every day. Sure, normal monsters may look scary at times, but most the time they looked just plain weird. They have NOTHING on the Abnormals though, and heck, these weren't even classes as Abnormals, either! These were once people, people with lives that they lost, loved ones they would never see again. Odds were, they likely had dreams too, dreams that were ended prematurely by the madness of the King at that era. Tekken definitely would be shaken terribly by what had happened.

Instincts and reactions triggered themselves, and this time Nico let them. His eyes hardened as he paused in his business, deactivating the Bracer. That could wait, right now those two were a bigger priority. MAGES. didn't look too bothered, in fact he swore he saw her smile in relief under that witch hat of hers. Probably due to 'correcting the flow of life' if he interpreted her words correctly before.

But Tekken was another story.

Approaching her, Nico deactivated his Armour and placed a hand on her shoulder. Tekken jolted immediately at the contact, looking up with slight panic in her eyes as she threw a punch. However, Nico caught it in one hand, already anticipating such a reaction. "Tekken, its alright. Its me, I'm not hurting you." He told her with a tone that was a mix of both stern, and gentle undertones.

Turned out it did the trick as recognition filled those shaking eyes of hers. The sternness gradually left his eyes, replaced with understanding. He had seen this plenty of times before in fellow Agents, both Spec Ops and Guild Agents. The former usually happened with newly recruited Agents, and the latter happened at a greater ratio. Especially if an Abnormal went all 'SURPRISE, BITCH!' and fucked up their day.

So many Guild Agents die every month to that tactic.

"It's alright, Tekken, you did very well." He told her in a soothing voice, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Come on, do what I do. Take a deep breath…" Tekken inhaled loudly, just like he instructed her. "Now let it out." She did so, and the two repeated the action several times to help calm the woman down. Slowly, it seemed to show results, since her trembling shrunk significantly. However, it was still present, and that alone was the problem. He needed to calm her down completely before they proceeded, so that was what he was going to do.

How would he do that? Simple, by stating the honest truth. "The fact that you went down here, even though you got scared, and remained down here at all just raises my respect for you all the more. You're a strong woman, you can handle this. You've done a good job so far, so if you want, I won't hesitate to help you leave this place. I memorized a route for you to take should you want to. If you want to come along, I won't stop you, either. Know that should you choose to follow us, that we will likely be facing more horrors like what you've just seen. More Spirits, undead monstrosities, maybe worse. I'm not going to sugar coat it for you because I know you are strong, so there's your options. This is your choice, nobody else's."

His words echoed through the prison Cell, and out of the corner of his eye, Nico noticed MAGES. doing some form of chant, her body encased in an aura of pure blue Mana. He didn't bother listening to what she was saying, considering that he knew little runic language. Instead he focused on the shaken Martial Artist in his grasp. Looking back to her, the male noticed that she was beginning to tremble once again. She made to speak, to say something, anything, but her mouth closed right before she could.

Once more, she took some breaths to calm her raging nerves, to expel the panic swirling within her gut. Her breaths, shaking at first, gradually got their strength back, until she was at a level where she could speak clearly. Although, she didn't say anything and just nodded instead, which was all Nico needed to hear. The lack of her trying to leave him showed just what kind of choice she had made.

She really was a brave woman, above all else.

"Alright, thanks for choosing to stick with us. Anyways, we gotta go take out those Bones now." he told her, turning away and aiming his dual Pistols at the bones. His eyes narrowed intently before he pulled their triggers.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

After a couple shots, the bones were obliterated with nothing remaining. The man behind them soon began to disappear, increasing in transparently. Just before he vanished completely though, the man looked up at them, the first movement that he'd ever made since they first saw him here, and gave them a faint smile. Nico most of all.

"Thank… you…"

Those were his first, and last, words to them before he vanished out of existence, going over to the other side at last.

With a sigh, Nico twirled Ebony and Ivory around his index fingers, before strapping them bac to his waist as if he were still wearing his holsters. "Whelp, that takes care of one set of bones. Odds are, there'll be a few left after this one…" he remarked, before narrowing his eyes. "And a whole load of Undead… You ready, Tekken? MAGES.?"

"A-Ah! Y-Yes, I'm cool! I'm totally cool!"

MAGES. didn't reply right away, since she was still chanting, but soon enough she stopped and looked over to him. It looked like she had finished her business, whatever that was. Though, he soon found out what it was when she spoke next. "Yes, I have just finished searching the Cursed Hold for the remaining Bones using search Spells. Unfortunately, the number of undead in this accursed place is to the number that it physically makes me sick. Worse, is that the bigger concentrations are where the Bones are, like they don't want us to get to them. We must be wary, for ambushes will be common as we traverse the hold. But for now…"

Once more, she began chanting, and when she did so, Nico noticed his Bracers beginning to glow with her Mana. It was brief, and when it vanished the male's Holomap appeared, showing a display of the Cursed Hold. This time though, instead of empty… he saw dozens of small Skulls scattered across the 3D image. "There. I have given your ability to detect the undead. We should have less of a chance to be surprised by ambushes at this point, but I would not bet all my life on that. Come, we must be off. The cycle of life is in peril, we must correct it before all is lost to the infinite void of emptiness."

Turning on her heels, the Mad Magician made her way towards the entrance to the Cell, turning to the left to continue onwards. Nico noticed it, and he bet that Tekken had as well. Ever since she came here, MAGES. had this purpose to her walk, which spoke VOLUMES about her feelings for this place. Both of them looked to one another, and nodded in union. With that, they hurried to join the Mad Magician (Nico donning his armour once again), intent on helping her right a wrong that had been around for far too long…

Hey, that rhymed!

* * *

When MAGES. said that they would likely be getting ambushed a whole hell lot, she was NOT freaking kidding around.

"Seriously, isn't this the 10 time in 5 minutes?!" Tekken cried that out as she jumped into a spinning kick, kicking away a falling Skeleton that tried to run her through with a Dagger. With the adrenaline of battle running through her system, the Martial Artist found it much easier to ignore her fears of the undead. She felt like she was doing something right for once, and it helped that they were killable with her martial arts skills.

Not 5 minutes into the Dungeon, and they had already been ambushed by a horde of undead. They'd been walking down one of the outer corridors, going along a route to where the next set of bones were, when they had been beset. They had charged at them from a corner and without mercy, they ganged up on the trio. MAGES. had reacted first, sending bolts of Lighting from her Staff and into the enemy ranks, slowing them down enough for the other duo to close the distance. She'd even made several spectral warriors made from Ice, shaped like Knights, to protect her should any separate from the pack and get too close to her position.

Mages were freaking OP the more Spells they knew.

And he had once heard how MAGES. herself was well versed in both magic and technology, so if one put her on the battlefield…

WOW, she could be one OP Mage.

But back to the battle, out of the two of them, Nico had the easier time as he repeatedly slashed away with Rebellion, carving up undead remains faster than Neptune eating Pudding. He whirled around like a spinning blade, dancing a deadly yet savage dance of death as he brutally severed limbs, decapitated heads, and all that gory stuff. There were a mix of Skeletons, these hunched over undead creatures that resembled humans, and then there were the large, flabby monsters with small arms. Nico knew what these were though, thanks to having experiences with them dating back to… well, a time before he had met up with Compa.

A time that had a LOT of connections to what they were doing now… as well as the Black King.

"That's the thing with the Undead, Tekken!" Nico yelled over to her, his lone uncovered eye glancing about erratically as he blocked, parried, dodged and countered the attacks coming his way. Swords, Axes, Spears, daggers, even a few occasional arrowheads came his way that he avoided with the skills of a parkour expert. One tried to thrust into him from behind, but Nico would sense its offensive and pivot around the attack, grabbing the spear and directing it into one of its attacking brethren. "They never play fair!"

"You say that like you know yourself! Do you know these things, Nico?!"

"Sorta!"

"… I apologise. It would seem that your battles have taken much out of you."

Queen Asylla said this without emotion on her decapitated head. Honestly, she looked like the headless knight without the horse with the way she held it. He wondered if she was an associate of his or something.

Right now, the Queen floated before the trio, whom were littered with bruises, cuts and arrows sticking out of them. They'd managed to get the Bones destroyed, and deal with the undead they encountered, but it was a costly victory. Mostly for Tekken considering she had never fought so many enemies before. She'd only been used to small groups of Abnormals and Monsters, so she wouldn't be expecting the large swarms of enemies that this Gamindustri threw at them every day of their careers. She winced each time she pulled an arrow out of her, while they hadn't gone deep enough to hurt, mostly thanks to some STR and AGI Boosters that she had on hand that she'd taken between the battles, it still hurt a ton. Not to mention the amount of Healing Pods she had to take to heal her other injuries.

MAGES. looked a little better, but even she didn't have the same experiences as this Gamindustri's residents had with the Abnormals. The Undead that infested this place had been massive in number, and despite her Spells, not even they could have kept her safe from the intensity close combat provided forever. She used Magic to heal herself, and right now she was busy taking some SP Chargers she'd brought with her to replenish her reserves, then use those reserves to heal her wounds. The magic she applied to herself pushed the arrowheads out of her body, closing up the wounds and mending her clothes too.

In comparison to them, Nico himself looked practically alright. Mostly thanks to his armour and his… other defences, but most of all he had experience on his side. Unlike these two from another dimension, Nico here was a resident of this one from birth. He'd spent years here, so he had more experience in dealing with large swarms than these two did. Plus, it helped that his Armour, in the rare instances where it was either cracked or broken in some areas, was self-repairing. Unlike them, he didn't have any arrows in him or wounds to his person, but again that was mostly to do with his defensive options.

Not long after they finally found the last set of bones and destroyed them, the former Queen's Ghost appeared within an ethereal light.

Which lead them to this moment.

While she was healing herself, MAGES. looked over to the Ghost, her eyes sharp despite the state she was in. "I feel that much of the curse upon this wretched place has been lifted…" she began, before she frowned worriedly. "However, I still feel like it is being anchored to this world."

The Ghost nodded her head resolutely, or rather, moved the head in her hand like it was nodding. "Indeed. While my servants are free, the curse here remains. Seek the warden at the Dungeon's centre, and end his evil forever. Only then will the Curse be finally lifted and all of these souls will be able to cross to the other side." She explained, before she vanished once again.

Afterwards, MAGES. closed her eyes and took a breath. She exhaled afterwards, before swiftly turning on her heels and walking off. In her eyes, she could feel the curse surrounding this place waning significantly. Once this 'Warden' bit the dust, the last of the Curse should be destroyed along with every presence of Undead in this Prison. She was close, so very close…

"I really don't like these undead things…" Tekken mumbled under her breath as she finally got the last arrow out of her. She dropped it to the ground, not caring where it ended up, before she took one last healing item to fix the last of her wounds. She knew she'd have to get some more clothes after this, preferably in her preferred style, after this, which meant she had to visit the cities. Fun. Tekken didn't want to say it out loud, but this Gamindustri's Nations weren't like hers at all. She didn't like the Leanbox here at all, compared to the one she was used to. Most of the times she had to fight off some fat noble's soldiers who'd act on orders to being her to them for some… fun. She shuddered, it wasn't a nice place for women, that's for sure.

Why the CPU hadn't done anything yet was beyond her.

Nico glanced at her and rolled his eye; his Rebellion having been drawn in preparation. He didn't want to get caught with his pants down in this accursed place, nope. "Yeah, join the club, Tekken. These guys are dicks…" Part of him exploded with guilt at saying that, but he was just that annoyed because of how irritable those Undead assholes were.

 **'** **I cannot disagree with you on this one, Nico. If I were to quote something from the human tongue, could you please 'wreck their shit' for me?'**

'Didn't even need to ask.'

 **'** **Also, I've discovered something…. Interesting, which I feel will help in the upcoming battles.'**

Oh Well, he'd take anything he could get at this point. As long as it could be used to wipe these guys out faster, then he cared naught for what it was. Tragic or not, those guys needed to die once more. 'Go ahead, Biko. What have you found?'

 **''** **It appears that thee beings are increasingly vulnerable to Lighting and Fire attacks. I watched them while MAGES. there hit them with said elements, and they showed more of a weakness towards them than the others. Perhaps that would be useful for you.'**

That… definitely DID sound useful. While fire would be out considering that the only means he had for fire attacks were part of his DPU powers, he was sure that he could do something about Lightning attacks. If he remembered correctly, Alastor was a lightning-based Devil Arm, one that he hadn't used all that often. Whenever he did, Nico would use it in conjunction with Rebellion for dual wielding, mostly.

Perhaps the reason why he hadn't used it for a while, or as much as its other weapons, was because when he first found it, it had tried to possess him. Maybe he somewhat worried that it would try to do it again, anything WAS possible after all…

…

…

…

Wait a minute.

'If that's reason why I haven't used it… Oh fuck me, I'm so going to punch myself when this is over.' A deep scowl formed on his lips as the thought ran through his min, before being pummelled into oblivion. Nico had never felt so disgusted with himself. Since when the hell was he afraid of such a sword? Since when the hell did he become a coward? That was not him, that was SO not him. Nico, Codename DEATHSTROKE, was far from a coward! He would not let this stand, hell to the no he wouldn't!

Swiftly, Nico swapped Rebellion with Alastor, the former going back into his Void Storage while the latter manifested onto his back. He had to admit, the weight and feel of this Specific Devil Arm felt much different compared to Rebellion. This weapon felt lighter, easier, while Rebellion felt heavier, darker. Maybe that was to do with its affinity? No matter, he'd be switching over to Alastor for the time being. As it stuck to his back, Nico felt Lightning sparking down the blade briefly, before the weapon settled down. It was almost as if the blade itself was relieved at being used once more… oh who was he kidding, it probably was.

According to Biko, Devil Arms had partial sentience, and Alastor would be no exception since he didn't use this as often, he hadn't had the chance to 'speak' to it like he had his others. 'Odds are, that Alastor will have more powers over Lightning than just Lightning enhancement and Lightning Waves. I'll figure those out if and when I got to use Alastor in battle…' the male thought to himself, turning to Tekken. "We should head out, if we don't hurry MAGES will get the drop on us when we confront the boss."

"Yeah, I could see that. Let's get this over with, the sooner the better."

* * *

Quickly catching up to MAGES., the trio made their way to the centre of the Cursed Hold. The Centre of this Prison looked more like those four way crossings one would see on the roads in cities, only there was a deep abyss below it. They couldn't even make out where the ground was, something that kinda chilled Tekken's bones, though she made a point to not show it since she had made the choice to continue on here. The feeling of dread that had accompanied them whenever they were to be swarmed with Undead would gradually increase within their chests, which the trio took as a sign that they were getting closer.

Nico eyed the surrounding environment, his eyes practically eating up every single detail. He noticed how the walkways had no barriers to protect people from falling into the abyss below. He noticed that there were faint grumbling noises down there, as well as he could smell dead flesh down there. His nose, while it had been too drenched with the scents of death before to be of any use to him, had just finished adapting to the environment. Also, there was a lack of death in the air, thanks to killing all those Undead. Now he could smell Undead beings lumbering beneath that abyss, waiting for something. What that was, he didn't know, but he had Alastor in his hands just in case of a sneak attack.

'Hmmm... odds are, we'll be attacked from all sides if we stand at the centre of this place. We'll be attacked likely from wave after wave of disposable minions while the main boss hangs back and observes us. That is, if this Warden is actually smart yet arrogant like the cliché bosses in games. Though, this isn't a game but a reality...' he thought to himself analytically. His mind went into overdrive with calculations for countermeasures to possible tactics that the Warden may use against them. He wanted to make sure he was absolutely prepared for the situations that may arise in this near-confrontation. To be caught with their pants down was NEVER a good idea, especially not with the current state of things.

While Nico went into his thinking montage, MAGES. hummed as they walked along one of the thin 4 walkways towards the centre, where a circular platform was seen. She reached out with her senses, briefly though, before she stopped and turned to her companions. "We must halt here." she stated bluntly, her companions pausing their strides.

"Huh? Why, what's wrong?" Tekken questioned in confusion...

Though it wasn't MAGES. who answered her, but something else.

Something that she DIDN'T want to ever hear again.

"Am I alone here?! Why must I do this myself? No matter. Face me, and repent your crimes!"

A loud, boisterous and inhuman voice roared from all around them, sending shivers down their spines and forcing the Trio to go back to back. They didn't see the voice's owner. but they could tell that it was nearby. Before they could find out where it was coming from, Nico's earlier theory about the Undead beneath the abyss attacking them came true, when about 20 or so 'Savage Fiends' as he once heard Tekken nickname them crawled up the sides of each walkway, heading towards the trio with the intent to rip them apart.

MAGES. however, didn't want to deal with any more of their bullshit. Thus, with a roll of her eyes, she raised her Staff which began gathering Lightning energy over its tip. It took a second to charge... before she tapped the ground with the Staff's rear and the electric energy was released into the air. The energy not only knocked the Savage Fiends the fuck down, but also electrocuted them to the point of them disintegrating into nothingness.

Both non-magic users blinked once.

Then twice.

Then three times...

They turned towards MAGES. with looks of appreciation in their eyes. "Thanks, MAGES., you saved us a bunch of unnecessary trouble." the male thanked the brunette. 'And some more cliché stuff from having to fight waves of disposable minions. Truly, bosses have become predictable in this day and age...' he added nodded her head in agreement, a large smile on her features.

The Mad Magician nodded with a self-satisfied smile on her lips. She twirled her Staff like it was a pair of helicopter blades, before slamming its rear tip into the stone ground below and did a pose. "Hah, tis all in a days work for the infamous deity known as the Mad Magician, MAGES.." she stated proudly, earning dual sweat drops from the other two.

 **'Focus, Nico, the main boss enemy is here.'**

Biko's early warning broke him out of his thoughts, making Nico switch his gaze over to the centre platform. Soon, the others were drawn to it when an orange magic circle, similar to the one that Nico saw from the Cultists when they summoned demons, appeared in the centre. From the magic circle, as if rising from beyond the grave to walk amongst the living once more, a large being burst out, climbing from within and soon standing on its own two feet. The creature resembled those undead skeletons that the trio had fought, only it was about 10 feet tall, wearing boots and a helmet made from hard iron. It held a massive looking baton in its right hand, and its eyes glowed with eerie blue lights, almost like the flames of damnation themselves.

"Guess this is the 'Warden' that the Queen told us to kill." Nico remarked as he readied Alastor. The Devil Arm crackled with electricity, and the teen felt a surge of glee rise through his gut. He quickly realised that the Devil Arm was sending him the emotions it was feeling like Absolution did, something that made him smirk in satisfaction. "Sure does give the feel of someone whose been used to dominating others." he couldn't help but quip, noticing the spiked armour that it wore. Honestly, if this dude had been into some kinky shit back in his life, then Nico would not have been surprised. Disgusted, maybe. but surprised? Nope. As sad as it was, he'd seen things that were considered way worse than SXM.

Tekken gulped as her eyes fell onto that Baton that it was sporting, all the while she held her fists at the ready. Her body trembled slightly, and NOT just from fear. As her fear of the undead gradually got replaced with adrenaline, certain... other tendencies she had began creeping back to the forefront of her mind. 'I.. wonder what it'd be like to get hit by that... would it hurt... would it feel... good...?' she wondered, before quickly shaking her head when she noticed MAGES. and Nico eyeing her warily. 'No! Don't think about that, Tekken! Fight, and win! That's all!'

Ignoring whatever it was that the Martial Artist had been thinking (though she had a pretty good idea of what that was) MAGES. looked back to the undead Warden. Her eyes sharpened as she got her Staff ready. "Be wary, the enemy is upon us!"

(Play Marmozets - play from here)

Indeed, the Warden was already stomping towards them with the intent to crush them under its Baton. Nico went first, dashing towards their opponent and jumping into a spinning slash. Quickly abandoning its previous attack plan, the Warden blocked Alastor's blade with its Baton. It growled when he saw Lightning Arc from the blade, instinctively realising just how dangerous that blade was. "YOU!" It yelled, pushing the male back before pointing the smoking Baton it sported towards him. "You carry a dangerous tool! Dangerous tools shall be confiscated in MY prison!"

Seeing that the beast was distracted, Tekken took this opportunity to close the distance between them, rearing her fist back as she prepped a Skill of hers. She remembered that there was a weakness that MAGES. had exploited countless times during their battles with the Undead, one that Nico apparently figured to use for his own strikes if that Sword was what she thought it was. Her fist quickly erupted in lightning, various crackling sounds filling the air. "Here, take this you big brute! RAIJIN FIST!" she bellowed, thrusting her fist forwards.

Thanks to its smack talk, the Warden had been unable to notice the attack till it was too late, and thus got hit in the gut by her attack. The Undead Warden howled with pain, feeling Lightning course through its system and causing cracks to appear over its bone-made body. "ARGH! You BITCH!" It roared, pushing through the pain it was obviously in and grabbing Tekken. It held her in its hand, before smacking her hard against the ground, causing a human shaped crater. It was so angry that it didn't noticed the slight moan that escaped the girl's lips. (Though her comrades did, cue more sweat drops.)

MAGES. shook her head at her companion's antics, before she swiftly began generating some lightning Spells to strike with. Her Mana gathered in her Staff and she pointed it at the enemy, firing several bolts in its direction. The bolts hit it in the chest like sharp stingers from a wasp, causing it to stumble back and away from their companion. Tekken used this chance to flip away from their adversary, while Nico rushed forwards.

With Alastor encased by Lightning, as well as glowing from the pre-activation of a Skill, the teenage Spec Ops Agent roared as he swung in a horizontal slash towards the enemy's gut. This time though, his attack hit, and Nico called out the name of his Skill. "PHANTOM EDGE!" Left behind, was a purple energy wound. However, thanks to the weapon used being Alastor, there were various sparks coming from the wound, just before it exploded in a spectacular show of both Plasma AND Lightning.

Cue more shrieks of pain from the Undead Warden.

Though, it pushed past the pain to swing its Baton towards Nico, whom managed to side flip over it and slash at the back of its weapon arm. The Warden growled at this, swinging its Baton at him again only for the male to flip backwards, twist on his heel and launch a PHANTOM WAVE into its chest area, knocking the enemy back. He then clicked his fingers, and if his Armour wasn't on they would have seen the smirk etched onto his lips when he yelled out. "CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!"

His containment Skill activated, and soon enough the monster was immobilized by dozens of Plasma Chains. Nico looked over to MAGES., and gave her a wordless nod of consent.

The Mad Magician accepted the unasked suggestion, and raised her Staff for an attack she had been generating while her companions had kept the enemy busy. "Prepare to face the stone of Destiny. THUNDER STORM!" Her Staff glowed with the activation of her Skill, and in the next moment the Undead Warden was peppered by Lightning bolts formed from one big Lightning sphere that had formed above. She didn't let up though, as she constantly hit with various spells of the Lightning category:

DARK CYCLONE - MAGES. summoned a black coloured Cyclone filled with Lightning, surrounding the enemy with it and shocking it senseless.

THUNDER BALL - MAGES. formed a football-sized Ball of highly condensed Lightning and shot it into the enemy, causing an explosion of said Element.

EVIL SPARK - A van-sized beam of Lightning got fired from MAGES.' Staff, shocking the Undead Warden even more.

LIGHTNING ANNHILIATION - The Mad Magician leapt high into the air, and then raised her Staff above her head. She then pumped Mana into it and created a massive ball of lightning above her head. It took a second, but fully charged, the blunette threw it towards the Undead Warden, where it exploded in a spectacular show of the element.

Nico and Tekken watched as the blunette unloaded one Lightning-based Spell after another on the Warden, with no signs of slowing down. Each Spell caused them to wince from the damage done.

"Um... you think that she's going a bit overkill?"

"Nope, not in the least... though I do admit, a Mage on your side can be very useful on the battlefield."

"Well, she IS someone who uses both Magic and technology to her advantage, so..."

"Huh... Interesting. Think she could make a Gate of Babylon that holds rocket launchers? Or maybe summon a Tommy Gun and use her Staff to play it like a violin to launch shockwaves?"

"... I get the feeling you pulled a Neptune there, Nico."

"Yep, yes I did and I no longer am shamed to admit it."

That was the two-way conversation between the two as MAGES literally wrecked the Undead Warden's shit. After a few minutes, the Mad Magician fell to one knee, panting heavily much to her comrades concern. "I am... alright... just used, a bit too much Mana there..." she told them when she lifted her head and saw their expressions.

"I'll say..." Nico began, but then he noticed something, and his eye narrowed in suspicion. "Say, you weren't by any chance... venting excess stress on that thing with those attacks, were you?" he asked her carefully.

MAGES. wore a face of indifference, despite the fatigue she was in, but in her eyes the male only saw that it was a Mask. A poorly made one to hide away her true feelings on the matter. "... I do not know what you're talking about."

"That's a lie, and a bad one if I can see it, MAGES.." Tekken stated dryly, but with a weak smile.

(Marmosets - Play ends here)

Soon their attention got brought back to the Undead Warden, whom now looked more like the Lightning version of that one guy who was a part of a group of four scientists/superhero's that could turn into a fiery man. Though, through that pain, it looked like it could kill them wit just its glare alone. "Filthy... traitos... my kingm will... reward me handsomely... when I bring him your heads!" he roared in a deranged manner.

This time, Nico stepped to the plate. "I've got this ladies. Tekken, you focus on keeping MAGES. covered, so she can recover her energy properly. Alastor and I have some pent up aggression of our own to unleash." Boy was that true. His frustration at not being around when IF was kidnapped, the frustration of being used by some snotty Noblemen, the worry he felt for his comrades safety as well as the sheer confusion about his ideals, everything needed to be vented. And Alastor needed to have its abilities discovered, through this battle he had felt its potential yet to be tapped into. MAGES. wasn't the only one with things to vent, it wasn't fair that it was just her doing this either.

The Undead Warden thought that SHE was bad? Well, he'd soon show him what TRUE torture felt like!

Lighting roared from within the blade as Nico got ready. At this point, the Warden had broken free from the Plasma Chains of his CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS. Though he had allowed them to break. Now, to see what powers this Sword truly had.

Closing his eye briefly, Nico reached into the sword's power, trying to get a connection to it like he had with the rest of his Devil Arms. It wasn't too hard to find, and when he did, Biko soon spoke to him with words that he oh so wanted to hear. **'Nico, Alastor has bequeathed to me knowledge of its powers, I shall download them into your brain, in the interest of your circumstances, but it will be your job to train in them in the future. Are you ready?'** He received mental confirmation, and like a computer he had the information downloaded into Nico's brain.

By the Goddess, it hurt like a bitch, but Nico refrained from showing it. Alastor's blade coursed with Lightning, almost reminiscent of an excited child finally about to get some action. 'Alright, which one should I do first... Hmmm, oh this one!' a technique was brought into his mind, and oh boy Nico SO wanted to try it. Pointing his Devil Arm at the beast as it began running at him, Nico focused the weapon's power. Lightning arced around the blade to its tip, and from the blade a bolt of lighting flew out to hit it in the face, stopping it in its tracks. A basic Lightning Bolt, nothing special on its own, but it was indeed one of Alastor's basic techniques.

'But If I put more of its power into the Bolt...'

Nico repeated his previous actions, and soon enough a larger, stronger Lightning Bolt flew out of his weapon, hitting the creature and knocking it on its ass. The name of the attack came to his mind: Overload Burst. Basically he drew in electricity from both within the sword and the surroundings to make a stronger version of a Lightning Bolt that can potentially target multiple foes. Quite useful, actually.

Needless to say, the Warden wasn't pleased in the slightest as it got up, and furiously roared. It raced towards him, stumbling on occasion thanks to the Lightning coursing through its system. When he was about to get hit by a swing from its Baton, Nico swiftly slid between its legs, twisting around till he was facing the beast's behind.

The male then aimed Alastor like he did with the Overload Burst. This time, the whole blade became bathed in Lightning, and a long, constant streak of it launched from the tip. The Warden cried out in intense agony as the attack continuously struck him in the behind, Lightning burning through its defences. By the time the attack stopped, the Warden was practically steaming right now, its Skeleton body charred heavily from the constant Lightning attacks. It didn't even think about the girls anymore, all it wanted was the male's head on a pike.

 **'That would be called 'Arc Lightning'.'**

Turning around, the Warden gave an enraged yell as it raised its Baton, striking the ground beneath it. The male wobbled and stumbled from the generated tremors, all the while the girls fell onto their backsides. While he was distracted, the Warden charged at him with the intent to crush him under an overhead slam.

Out of instinct, and when he saw what the creature was about to do, Nico raised his Alastor above him and instinctively accessed another Technique. The male saw the Baton come down on his weapon... only to hit nothing. Or rather, it hit a large, circular shield made entirely out of lightning, bouncing the weapon off it while the Warden fell onto his backside once more.

The name: Polarity Wall, came to mind.

So there was his defensive technique, now to see if there was anything else. Accessing the list of techniques again, the male found one that he liked, making him smirk in a deadly manner as he held Alastor over his head. Calling on the sword's power, the male saw the results of his efforts: 10 large, circular masses of condensed Lightning floating around the blade. 'Shock Grenades...' the male thought, a giddy chuckle barely stopped from escaping him as he slashed forwards, launching the Shock Grenades at his opponent.

Each one hit around the Warden, creating human sized explosions of Lightning that served to tick it off even more. It stood on all fours, before breaking into a sprint towards him, swinging at his head. Nico ducked under it, as well as jumped back to avoid the hand that tried to grab him. He made and launched more Shock Grenades, each one hitting the creature dead on this time. This resulted in more agonized howling, and Nico had to admit that this sucker was quite durable.

Just then, one Technique surfaced within his mind, one that nearly made him fall over in surprise. 'Whoa, that one's different! seems kinda like IF's assimilation powers...' he thought in shock, before a small smirk formed on his features. 'Well then, lets see how it works, shall we? Electric Drain time!' Dashing forwards, Nico cut into the creatures bone legs, forcing it onto its knees. The male then turned around and, mentally activating the ability, jabbed Alastor into its back.

"GUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The Warden screamed (it had been doing that a lot lately, huh?) as Nico felt every bit of the residue electricity fly out of the Warden's body, all of it going straight into Alastor. Electric Drain: the ability to drain the target of their Bio-electric energy. If it drained all of it, the result would be death. But, if he used it in this way, Nico wouldn't have to kill his opponents with this ability, though in this case the Warden didn't have any bioelectricity save for what he and MAGES. had hit it with. The combined electricity sent warm shudders through his spine, shudders he realised belonged to the Devil Arm itself. Looked like he just found out what this thing liked most of all, then.

Deciding to try and see if this other technique acutely similar to the Shock Grenades would work, Nico held his sword out, before swinging diagonally. From the swing, came about 12 Missile-shaped Lightning masses shot from the blade's edge, similar to his DPU form's ATOMIC INFERNO. The technique's name: Megawatt Missiles, small homing Missiles that collided with the enemy no matter where they were. They wouldn't stop chasing the target either, something that he liked in his powers.

Hey, sometimes you need grenades, other times you'd need missiles. Deal.

'Alright, that's enough Techniques, its time to finish this.' Nico thought, now observing the downed Warden with slight pity in his eyes. The bombardment of Techniques and Magic attacks had thoroughly weakened it till it was practically a shell of its former self. It honestly didn't feel as good as it should have been to take it down this way. Then again, at least for them, it would mean the enemy would die quickly.

Raising Alastor, Nico engulfed the blade in Lightning, before he vanished into thin air. He then reappeared right before it, and the last thing the Warden saw would be the descending blade that cut him in half. The two halves fell to the sides, lifeless once more like they should have been so long ago. Soon enough, they dispersed out of existence leaving nothing left for the curse to latch onto. All three of them felt it the moment the Warden's remains were gone fully: an unseen weight lifted off their shoulders. It was accompanied by the feeling of accomplishment, of success.

Well, it only made sense, you know. They DID just defeat all the Undead and set them free from this torment. For good.

"It is done." MAGES., now feeling better thanks to some rest and a few SP Chargers, though she didn't have anymore now, said. A small smile formed on her lips, one of relief and joy. "All the lost souls in this Prison have been laid to rest. The cycle of life has slowly been set into the right track once again."

Tekken nodded as well, she didn't know why, but she got the feeling that she had done something grand today, and that many people would be thanking her if she ever got the chance to meet them. "Yeah! We got rid of the Undead, and did so many folks a favour!" she cheered happily. Nico glanced at her as he walked up tot he girls, strapping Alastor to his back.

"Well, now that we have this done, we should return to the task we originally set out to do here. We need to find the Level 3 of the Halls of Agony, then go to the Chamber of Suffering." he told them, frowning behind his Helmet. While he too shared their sentiments about their deeds in this place, Nico didn't want to waste any more time. He wanted to get to IF as soon as possible, he could sense conflict deep beneath them. That could only mean that something had been going on down there, and from what he was sensing it had been going on for a while. He hoped IF was alright.

MAGES. dusted herself off, before nodding in agreement. "I concur, it would be wise for us to keep moving, Your friends have little time to wait, I fear." She ominously stated, Tekken pouting. She wanted to get some rest first before they continued, but she guessed that wouldn't be happening. Not with this stuff going on.

So, to that end, the trio continued on their journey to find the Chambers of Suffering.


	87. Chapter 84 - IF, Stefan and Herald

**Hey yall! New chapter here!**

 **Now, fair warning, this is a purely IF oriented chapter, with some Stefan stuff mixed in. It is also a purely action oriented chapter, which means a lot of high paced combat, basically one big action scene. Just warning you now. Also, IF's powers will be delved into a bit more, and we'll see how Stefan measures up to the rest of the cast, though he likely won't be a part of the main cast.**

 **Anyways,**

 **On with the story!**

* * *

 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **Chapter 84 - Mutations, sword and Herald******************

Okay.

Now that she was fighting this thing herself, holding it off while Stefan went inside that Armoury to retrieve whatever he wanted to retrieve, IF had to admit to herself.

She could understand now, the difference between a Herald and a Bloodletter.

Before, she just assumed that Heralds were basically Bloodletters whom were given positions of power and that's it. They would be no stronger than their brethren and she'd be able to take one down. After all, taking out their brethren was nearly a piece of cake for her once she got over how utterly twisted they looked. Aside from some new headgear, a weapon radiating power, and a height difference compared to the average height a Bloodletter had, surely things wouldn't be too difficult for someone like her. It would make sense to assume that the Heralds of Khorne would be just as simple to take down, right? Well, those were her thoughts, her opinions, on the situation beforehand…

Which were knocked out of her from the first hit that it got in on her… seconds after the fight begun.

Heralds had their powers for a reason, IF realized from that moment on, and that made them a HELL of a lot different compared to normal, average Bloodletters. According to Stefan, these variants of Bloodletters got their titles as Heralds through a particularly vicious tournament of blood, guts and gore, and the winners would be elevated up to a Herald with their Hellblades gaining powers from the transformation. Maybe she had been a tad arrogant back there, letting her powers get to her head and make her think that these things wouldn't be able to harm her given her exact nature. Through assimilating various monsters to make her weapons, it sort of made her feel like she was on top of the world. But, the moment she clashed with the Herald of Khorne before her, that instance cut her pride and arrogance down to size.

'Note to self: NEVER underestimate the Demons species…' she thought to herself in irritation. 'Jeez, if dad were here, I'd never hear the end of it from him, that was one of the first lessons he'd taught me when he began my training.' She couldn't help but think that about her father, when she barely dodged the side swing from the larger version of a Hellblade, one that created an air blast that left a deep, six-foot-wide fissure behind her going in the same direction it swung. Geez, that weapon looked, and was, dangerous. 'The moment a Mercenary got cocky with their abilities, then they already lose before they even make the first move on their target.'

Jumping back, IF barely managed to avoid the Hellblade's overhead slam, a large blast of demonic power erupting around the weapon to form several pillars. The pillars managed to create a shock-wave that sent her further back, however the brunette managed to stab her primary weapon: her right arm in Axammer form, into the ground enough to stop it. Only, in the next second as IF looked up, her eyes widened when she saw how the Herald had already closed the distance between them. 'So fast!'

"Guh!"

A hand, equipped with long talons, grabbed onto her neck and ensnared it in a cobra-like grip. The brunette gasped and heaved as she struggled to get the hand off him, reverting her arms into their armored claw forms to tear away at the limb holding her. However, it might as well have been a freaking rock with how little she was able to dig her claws in, much to her frustration. She never even got a chance to exclaim this frustration as the Herald raised her up high before slamming her onto the ground headfirst, with the strength of a train ramming into a wall.

It was thanks to her BOW powers that her skull hadn't cracked open.

Raising her into the air again, the Herald held her before its facial features, rearing its head back before letting out a loud roar. IF cringed as the sheer volume the roar had practically shattered her ear drums, making the virus within frantically try to repair them to their optimal capacity. However, to her horror, this only allowed the roar to re-shatter them once it was done, leading to a constant struggle between destruction and creation.

Luckily, this only lasted for like 3 minutes, though to her it felt much longer. Afterwards, it slammed her into the ground face-first this time, before tossing her away like a rag-doll. It threw its sword after her, intending for it to impale her gut and, quite possibly, spill out her intestines like some sorta gory splendor show. However, the brunette managed to recover in mid-air, kicking the Hellblade away from her while flipping backwards, landing in a crouch.

The Herald did not like that. Not one bit. It growled in frustration at the lack of gore, before it threw its hand to the side, holding it out towards its Hellblade. The weapon was motionless at first, but then IF saw how it trembled, before shooting out the ground and back into its waiting hand. "Tch, well ain't that helpful…" she muttered under her breath. Seriously, does this guy have all the tricks or what?

She didn't get more time to think, as the monster already closed the already short distance in one big burst of speed, swinging at her head. After she raised her Axammer to block it, the Herald constantly hacked and slashed away at her in brutal, ruthless and unrelenting fury. It moved so fast, so fast in that there was barely a millisecond between each strike, that IF barely blocked each strike without being totally overwhelmed.

Eventually however, her luck ran out when a particularly vicious strike turned out to be a feint, and she had her entire right hip torn to shreds by a thrust from the demonic Hellblade. IF gasped, pain coursing through her from the wound like the hot Hellfire that Nico commanded. She stumbled back, clutching her side with an unholy grimace on her lips. She could already feel the demonic energy from that attack entering her, and like what happened with Noire, she could feel herself weakening tremendously from the blow.

'Tch, a DPU's energy is usually poisonous to a CPU… but I guess that can be applied to anybody that the wielder doesn't like, huh?' The woman thought as she felt her C Virus already going into action, enclosing the area with the damaged Biomass like a quarantined Bio-hazard. That'd stop the poisonous energy from spreading and festering through her bloodstream, at least. Though, She doubted that an ordinary virus would have as much ease doing this as the C Virus did, or rather, THIS Strain considering it was infused with A DPU's power beforehand.

IF once again, got no room to breathe as the Herald was already on her with an overhead smash. She raised her Axammer to block, only to cry out when the Hellblade shattered the limb into many pieces. Pain shot up her arm as IF screamed in pain, something that only served to fuel the creature's hunger for blood, guts, gore and Skulls. The C Virus rushed to fix the damaged limb, as IF quickly formed her blade to parry, not block, the next incoming set of attacks.

Barely, she managed to hold her ground long enough for her Axammer to be repaired, and once it returned to its full function, the brunette instinctively became made aware of the C Gene inside her increasing the density of the cells within it to strengthen its defenses. The brunette then shifted her blade into another Axammer, allowing her to dual wield them as she fought back against her opponent.

Raising her right Axammer, IF blocked one swing and deflected it away from her while swinging her opposite weapon. The creature parried her strike, going for a series of rapid thrusts that came down on her like a meteor shower. IF gritted her teeth, trusting her instincts with her life here as she waded between the strikes. It never got any easier, as one clean strike would spell doom for her.

Didn't help that each strike was empowered by demonic energy, which was a HELL of a lot more violent and primal than the energy CPUs seem to use. She remembered it being called Share Energy, or Shares if one wanted to shorten it further.

One such demonic energy-empowered strike came at her right shoulder. Instead of blocking or parrying, IF sidestepped it as the energy launched from the Hellblade like it was an attack all on its own, shooting through the air like a beam. The chaotic energies barely managed to singe her skin layer, however they didn't get inside and that was the thing IF counted on the most.

Though, if she didn't think of something to stem the tide soon she would likely find herself on the receiving end of that Hellblade soon enough.

Close combat seemed to be its specialty, and it had ways of keeping her up close to it. That demonic Hellblade definitely had the danger vibe going for it, so she had to be wary of its potential. Even now, she could hear the voices in her head, voices coming from the Hellblade itself. All of the souls tat it had claimed, all screaming and moaning in eternal torment within the twisted structure. It sent shivers of dread down her spine, fear coursing though her blood at what her fate would be if she were to meet her end here.

She couldn't allow that to happen, not yet.

There were still things she had to do, things she had to see.

For one, she had to figure out what the heck was going on with the whole plot unfurling around her and the Party. With the Demons, the Abnormals, hell even that strange witch lady who seemed to love causing trouble. Though I had been a while since the Party had last seen her, their first meeting definitely left an impression on them. Especially Nico, what with his experience in fighting Abnormals, as well as the many shitty things he'd seen in his life. But, what IF wanted to do most of all, was figure out what she felt for the male.

With how she had been here for a while, it had given her time to think, think about what she felt for the male. Stefan's words echoed in her mind, like that all too naggy grandmother breathing down your neck about issues that you should have dealt with long ago. 'It takes a LOT to get through those barriers he puts up around his heart, and from what I can tell from your story it seems you girls have only breached one of them.'

That just sounded like a challenge. A particularly daunting challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. Honestly, as a woman, she didn't feel like she should give in that easily, especially if what she was feeling was true. If she DID like Nico that way, then she'd have to get her game on and fast before the other girls got their claws into him first. Still, it wouldn't do for her to think on these things in the middle of a battle, so she focused back into it…

Only to see a blade nearing her face.

* * *

Inside the Armoury, Stefan cursed under his breath as he frantically searched for whatever it was that he was trying to find.

'Where is it?! Where did they-?!'

The man had been searching for what felt like an eternity for this mystery item, spurred on by how the sounds of combat raged on from behind him, between IF and that accursed Herald. He had to hurry, he didn't want IF to be alone out there for any longer than necessary while fighting that thing. He may not know the full extent of those powers she possesses, but he DID know that Heralds were brutal fighters, and their Hellblades constantly crackled with their violent demonic energies. Also, when they struck you, it was like they were striking away at your very soul in an attempt to suck it up into a prison full of torment and agony.

He had to hurry, he had to support his comrade! He would not lose anyone else to this madness! Never again!

* * *

'Whoa, shit!'

The brunette cursed in her mind as she flipped sideways, spinning into a slash to the Herald's back to sent it to the ground. The creature however, used the momentum to get into a handstand, and push itself back into the air taking its Hellblade with it. The brunette BOW furrowed her brows as she glared at it, her eyes shining with hatred for the creature. She raised her Axammers, her only weapons able to stand up to it in close combat, before she began to morph.

Her Axammers reduced themselves to liquefied oozes, splitting into six before reforming into her 6 Tentacles for each arm, making 12 in total. From her back, her 4 pixie wings manifested, spreading out in a magnificent splendor. This would be her plan for the time being, to focus on mid to long-range attacks until Stefan got his ass into gear and got back out here. She had no doubt that she'd be unable to hold it off indefinitely, that would be an impossibility with her current level of strength.

This guy definitely was one of the toughest enemies she'd faced in a long time. Monsters? Peh, she'd take them down in her sleep. Abnormals? Okay, slightly trickier, but still doable. Demons like the Herald? Oh, pure challenge right here. None of her Skill attacks had done a thing to this guy, she knew she'd tried them. Not DEMON FLAMES, not LA DELPHINUS. That left her with only her BOW powers, and even then, they'd barely kept her in the fight, or alive for that matter

Maybe it would be time to put some of those newer mutations she'd mentioned back in chapter 51 a try now. It had been some time, and they felt a little different compared to back then, so why not?

IF gave her wings a single flap, and with that motion, an uplift of air was created as she took to the skies. The woman smirked beneath her Armour's mask, her eyes almost glowing with predatory glee as she reared her Tentacles back, then thrusted them forwards. The Herald, after it recovered from its fall, turned responded by doing a mix of pivoting and sidestepping to avoid the Tentacles, slashing away at them whenever it got the opportunity. In about 5 minutes, IF's Tentacles were torn down to half their lengths by the strength behind the Hellblade, their severed forms laying limp on the ground as the Tentacles themselves grew new ends. They continued to attack, lunging, slashing and stabbing away like demented psychopaths while the Herald sliced away at them with its Hellblade, sometimes using demonic Energy to enhance its blows while it roared in primal fury.

Though through this fury, IF began to gradually notice things about this creature that she hadn't before.

With all the fury and power it had, its intelligence seemed to be lacking in comparison. Sure she could sense that the creature was intelligent as it targeted the glowing sections of her Tentacles to try and sever them, however compared to the amount of power it possessed the Herald didn't have the same level of intelligence. It was like it was built more to be a soldier rather than a commander.

'According to Stefan, these things were selected without choice and forced to fight their brethren for the chance to ascend into a Herald. That must mean that, in the eyes of Khorne, strength meant the most in battle. Honestly, I can't disagree with that, but I can't agree either.' She thought to herself, frowning beneath her Mask as she reformed her limbs into arms.

The Herald, seeing this, growled as it held its Hellblade in a ready stance. From that growl and its gaze, IF could detect a noticeable ounce of confusion mixed with caution. That alone confirmed her theory that, while powerful, its intelligence seemed to be lacking in comparison. 'Let's see, which of these mutations should I try first… Well, there was THAT one, so I'll try that one first.'

Her first mutation activated as IF reared herself backwards… before diving towards her enemy like a falcon. Her wings tucked in behind her and the Herald reared its Hellblade backwards. It didn't know what she was up to, but those thoughts fell from its mind in favor of primal blood-lust and savagery. She neared the creature in seconds, and the Herald roared as it swung its Hellblade towards her head, intending to decapitate her. As the blade neared her face, time seemingly slowed for both parties. The crackling demonic energies running along the Hellblade's edges neared her, illuminating her features with their orangish red glow.

But, just before they could touch her skin… IF tilted her head downwards.

"Gotcha."

The woman said that one word, that one word as she flew right past the Herald, landing in a kneeling crouch like a knight before a king while the Herald completed its swing. For a moment, the two stayed in their positions, silent. This silence lasted for the longest time, almost stretching on forever…

SIZZLE, SIZZLE, SIZZLE, SIZZLE!

"GRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

…until the Herald let out a pained shriek as it stumbled forwards.

IF stood tall, turning around and grinning beneath her Armour's Mask as the Herald writhed in agony. Her Wings shifted about, unfurling back to their original positions before she retracted them into herself. Her eyes shone with predatory glee, her BOW Instincts roiling at the success her attack gave her. Stumbling about, the Herald covered its face in its clawed hands, dropping its accursed Hellblade. She briefly heard the entrapped souls within that thing cry out in protest, but they didn't last long.

Slowly, it stumbled about and glared at her with hatred, slowly removing its hands to reveal what she had done. If she said that it looked awful before, now it looked much worse, with how its face had multiple third degree burns on it. The cheeks were gone, one could see the inside of the mouth now, with its tongue looking like it had melted in some areas. The space around its eyes looked horrifically charred, and some splotches of scorch marks adorned its twisted horns.

"What?" IF asked, playing the innocent one as she grinned heavily towards her prey. She held her arms upwards, as if to prove her innocence… before she swung them, one after the other, in wide arcs. From her arms, several sharpened projectiles made from blood red Biomass shoot out from them, igniting when in contact with the oxygen in the air before they impacted the Herald. The Herald had done its best to dodge, scooping its Hellblade back into its hands, but eve it could not avoid the surprise assault the brunette launched at it.

'Super-heated Biomass… Basically, I harden my Biomass into projectiles and launch them from my arms, or my mutated weapons. They ignite into flames on contact with oxygen thanks to some volatile chemical reactions the virus created inside me. Never got the chance to test it before now, so I didn't know how well it would work…' IF thought to herself, examining her arms. She remembered what Nico had said to her about her powers early into their training, when he told her about that Hypnos T Type Tyrant that he had encountered back in Raccoon City.

He told her about how the C Virus had the power to evolve itself through natural selection, making her potential for evolution practically limitless. That opened her eyes to the possibility that even though she already had complete mutations like her blades, claws and Armour, all of them still had the potential to change, to evolve further. There would be nothing, NOTHING that would stop her body's cells from getting better and better. Nothing. Under no pretense was she ignoring her enemy or thinking that she'd got this in the bag with this mutation. In fact, IF noticed that the Herald was already charging at her, her attacks having left its face, right shoulder, and the left of its abdomen with third degree burns.

The brunette however, raised her right arm and morphed it into her Axammer, blocking the first slash. The Herald growled, sending the next one her way the next millisecond. She deflected it away from her before slashing at its exposed arm, making it stumble backwards before she jogged into its personal space, her eyes sharp as she twisted on her heels and slammed the blunt side of her weapon into its stomach, knocking the wind out of it and sending it tumbling across the ground.

Using this opportunity, IF swung her Axammer while applying Super-heated Biomass to it. The result, was the Axammer erupting into searing hot flames that burned with a crimson hue. She swung it, launching sharpened projectiles too small to see properly with the flames covering them, towards her opponent. The Herald, refusing to get hit by those again, tolled out of the way and got to its feet. It growled in anger, demonic energy radiating around its body while its wounds started to disappear. In the next second, the injuries it had sustained were gone, like they had never existed.

'Healing?! No, wait, this feels like Nico's DPU healing, it only happens if he has enough energy to spare. Now that I think about it, I can sense that its reserves have dropped drastically since the battle began. Looks like its focusing solely on me and not on Stefan anymore, seeing me as the bigger prize out of us.' IF thought to herself, furrowing her brows as she prepared another one of her mutations for her right arm. Nico had told her and the girls once, after one of their Sparring sessions, that his DPU energy helped him heal his wounds. Wounds that normal humans wouldn't be able to survive. However, that healing wouldn't be activated if he didn't have the reserves to fuel it. Thus, his healing wasn't infinite. It seemed to be the case for this Herald here, as well.

Whelp, that was somethings he could use to her advantage.

IF's Mutation began t activate as her Axammer reverted back into a right arm. In the next second, her arm began to tremble and ripple, a clear sign of the limb undergoing a transformation. The limb began to extend, bulking in size as it started to form segments. The arm's flesh started to shred away, giving leeway to the mutated flesh underneath that soon started transforming into a black carapace-like structure.

When the process completed itself, IF looked at her arm, but before she could look at its appearance she noticed the Herald coming back for more. She reflexively swung her new limb, allowing her to witness how it slammed into her opponent before it could get within a sword's striking distance, knocking it away. She now looked at it, and saw that her arm below her elbow joint, had become a 15-foot-long, black segmented whip shaped like a Scorpion's Tail. The bulbous tip at the end was equipped with 2 long stingers both filled with what IF instinctively knew as explosive, volatile Biomass. She could only imagine what it would be like if she let it enter something.

'Heh, a whip. That'll help me keep this thing off my back while I summon more Mutations…' IF thought while rolling her arm backwards. She whipped the ground behind her, getting a feel for the weapon before she flicked it forwards. The Herald, having gotten into a one-knee crouch like she had earlier, looked up and barely noticed it in time. It ducked its head to avoid the horizontal swipe, and IF circled the Whip around into an overhead smash. It repeated its previous gesture, but then IF followed up with a quick smack to its side. The Herald grunted, pain coursing through its physical form as both heard the tell-tale signs of bones shattering upon contact with the Whip. 'Looks like it has good strength, feels pretty easy to wield too.'

She got an idea, and a feral smile formed beneath her Mask. The brunette retracted her limb back to her, the limb retracting till it was the length of her forearm. So, it could be extended and retracted by her will, huh? Interesting. IF made a mental note of that as she shot it forwards. To her surprise and joy, the two stingers on the end? Yeah, well they apparently could count as fingers or digits on a hand as they grabbed onto the Herald's leg before it could recover. She raised her arm upwards, lifting the Herald into the air before she slammed it into the ground back first, repeating the process over and over.

SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM, SLAM!

'GODDAMN, this feels almost like therapy.' IF exclaimed in her mind. Every slam, every exertion of strength she put on her new Whip Mutation, it felt like her stress kept gradually leaving her body. All of her issues, all of the tension, all of it got poured into that slamming festival, and while it'd leave the Herald with some wounds to recover, it'd likely leave IF feeling like a whole new woman. Something she prided herself in when she finally felt like she'd done enough, before flicking the Whip away and tossing the Herald into a wall.

All the while, her body activated another stored away Mutation. The back of her waist? That was where THIS Mutation cantered itself around. From there, a bulbous lump of IF's Biomass began to swell there, even going through her coat which was only possible thanks to her clothes being made of the stuff. Remember, IF's body made those clothes when she first became infected. The thing about her Biomass Clothes: Not only did they cover her, but they provided an extra defense, and served as a passable means for her Mutations. Essentially, Mutations that would shred normal clothes, if she wore them at any point, wouldn't be able to break these ones.

Useful stuff, let's be honest here.

Plus, with the way things were, IF felt like she'd be likely to lose those 'normal' clothes faster than she could buy them. It was almost like they were a Mutation all on their own, able to withstand her transformations while keeping her protected. Thus, Biomass clothes seemed much more practical, both in battle and for their Party's budget.

Finally, the bulbous Biomass exploded backwards, extending in the form of 12 long, thin strands of fleshy Biomass. These strands enlarged, sharpened and took on a more plant-like form each, while new nerves were connecting to IF's brain. The brunette BOW shuddered and groaned at the feeling, almost stumbling over as the Mutation applied itself. The first time for new Mutations was always the most intense, THAT had been something she'd learned since day 1 of Infection.

Soon though, the brunette gasped as the Mutation completed itself, so she looked behind her to see what was up. Her eyes caught sight of 12, long, thin Tendril-like appendages, each of them protruding from the back of her waist. Each of them looked like they were made from flattened, sharpened leaves neatly put together, while ending in long, sharp organic tips. 'Holy…'

Back in Lastation, it had been revealed to them, back in that abandoned factory, that the C Virus was a mix of two different Viruses, the Veronica Virus and the G Virus. IF had asked the male about those some time after that whole disaster, and he had informed her of what they really were. For one, the Veronica Virus, AKA the T-Veronica virus, was a Variant of the original Virus that kick-started Umbrella's research into Bioweapons for warfare: The Progenitor Virus. Under the correct conditions, it allowed the host to retain full intellectual capabilities whilst granting them powers that vary depending on the person. Meanwhile, the Golgotha, often abbreviated as G-Virus, was a highly advanced strain of the Progenitor Virus. Possessing fierce, regenerative abilities, the G Virus was capable of essentially granting infected subjects biological immortality.

Combining those two, made the C Virus.

Right now, with what IF had learned, she quickly figured something out about these Tendrils, and that was that, unlike her Tentacles, these things came PRIMARILY from the T-Veronica Virus. Another thing she noticed was how they lacked any of those orange glowing tips. 1 of them slowly lowered itself so she could look at it a bit closer. When she did, the woman's eyes fell upon some faint… tubes within the leaves at the base of the tips. Huh… they looked like they could do something. But… what?

Well, perhaps the approaching Herald that chose to attack her from her left flank would give her an answer.

That halted her thoughts in their tracks, allowing her instincts to take over. IF quickly launched 2 Tendrils towards her opponent's shoulders, for the Herald to sidestep one and slash away the other. Its Hellblade blazed with demonic power, almost reflecting the rage its master emitted for the mortal before them. However, this just allowed the brunette to launch 4 Tendrils at its lower body, thwacking its legs out from under it and resulting in it tumbling across the ground beside her, ending up about 7 meters behind the brunette.

This would be the perfect time to try and see what abilities these Tendrils had. They had to be different compared to her Tentacles, otherwise it would mean she'd just got more of the same thing. IF narrowed her eyes as she called upon the Tendrils' instincts once more, and she already begun feeling something wet gathering beneath their tips. It coursed through them like blood, and in the next moment IF saw how each Tendril pointed their tips at her enemy…

Before shooting 12 long streams of green acidic liquid.

'Holy, corrosive acid?!' IF shrieked in her mind when the liquid landed on the creature's right arm. The reason why she called it corrosive? Whelp, it began eating away at the creature's arm the instant it came into contact with the fleshy limb. The Herald gave a loud roar of both pain and anger, its eyes wide with both those emotions as well while it applied more demonic power to those wounds it had sustained. 'Damn, that's broken as all hell!'

The power to corrode an enemy's Armour, down to the bone. That was what IF had seen from her little experiment. She saw how it ate away at the limb down to said body part, chewing through flesh, organs and the like as if they were nothing but a buffet to it. Her Tendrils had a ranged ability to them just like her blood, something that the brunette remembered all too clearly. She could feel the C Virus within her screeching in glee, glee at how successful its mutation was at harming its most recent obstacle.

That was something she had been noticing more and more often about herself, now that she thought about it. IF, lately at least, had only barely noticed it, but she did. She didn't know when it became so prominent, though, but she had slowly begun seeing her enemies as less of a danger, but more like obstacles for her. Obstacles that posed little threat to her. She still could see her comrades as such, thus could still express worry about them, but when she regarded an enemy she didn't see them as such. Only as a means to evolve herself further, becoming better than what she once was.

It didn't seem so major a change back then, but right now the fact that she was slowly regarding a Herald of Khorne, a deity that could and would have ripped her to shreds if she were still human, as a means to evolve. Not fight. It was like she had gained a splotch of arrogance on herself, or rather, a significantly greater portion of herself had become more viral than human. Honestly, that thought kind of worried her, made her think that she would eventually lose herself to the instincts inside of her. The power of the BOW wasn't something to scoff at, and this little tweak to her mentality she got from it became increasingly apparent the more she used her powers. Hell, it practically did multiple 'jumps' in potency whenever she triggered more and more new Mutations.

She mentally noted to have a talk with Nico about that later. Perhaps he could shed some light on this situation she was developing…

Plus, it may help her discover just how she truly felt about the guy.

The brunette didn't get much more time to think, as the Herald already went on the offensive, closing the distance between them with just as high a speed as it normally did. Like her acid blasts hadn't affected it one bit. The brunette cursed under her breath as she quickly curved her Tendrils in front of her, blocking each swing from hitting her flesh. However, it came at a cost, and that was how her Tendrils would be sliced trough like a hot knife through butter by te vicious Hellblade. Part of her swore she could hear mocking, demented laughter coming from the blade. As if the tortured souls within were laughing in excitement, excitement at having a potential new member to torment till she was just like them in mind, soul and spirit.

Eventually, she was reduced to 2 Tendrils with the rest having been severed by half, thus had to retract inside her in order to regenerate. She could feel Biomass being converted there for that express purpose, though she didn't focus too much on that right now. She quickly li her forearms on fire, superheating her Biomass before swinging her limbs at it. The burning Biomass flew through the air, almost reminiscent of Fireballs, and hit it in the face to knock the Herald backwards . The creature roared as it held its face in one hand, stumbling backwards... only for a few seconds before it lowered its hand, glaring heatedly at her.

All IF responded with was a smirk. "Heh, looks like you got burned." she remarked, mentally grimacing at the horrible pun she had unintentionally made. But hey, at least she was joking about the situation, right? Sarcastic humor, ever heard of it? 'Okay, IF. Stop talking like your breaking the fourth wall. Oh Goddess I'm becoming Nep.' the girl moaned in her mind, bemused. Though, she soon found herself on the defensive once more with how the Herald already came down on her ass like one of those strict drill instructors in Military Boot Camps. It swung down first, then both left and right, before finally ending in a downward thrust. IF managed to parry the attacks, up till the last one which released a force of pure power that sent her flying.

Flipping through the air, IF quickly threw several fiery Biomass projectiles at her opponent, each of them slowing the creature down long enough for her to get back into a favourable position. She held her arms up and shifted them into her claws, eyeing her opponent with the eyes of a Predator. 'Alright, I think I understand the difference between the Tentacles and Tendrils.' she thought, before ducking as once again, the Herald got in close and swung its Hellblade with the aim to decapitate her. She barely dodged that one in time, heck she still managed to feel the violent demonic energies emitted by that infernal blade as it sailed overhead. She then slashed away at its arm in dual swipes, reminiscent of her former weapons, the Qatars, before jumping onto its shoulders and using it as a springboard to get away. She flipped through the air, before twisting and landing on the ground to face her opponent, which had been tumbling from her movement. 'Looks like the Tentacles are the more physically capable, able to attack and defend easily. Meanwhile the Tendrils specialize in mid to long range combat, with their ability to fire Acid blasts at enemies making the formation of proper Armour for them difficult. I'll have to keep a note of that as the fight goes on.'

The problem was, she didn't know how long she would be holding out against this thing. Despite its apparent weaknesses in its regeneration, its physical abilities trumped hers any day. If she hadn't assimilated its brethren beforehand, IF knew she'd have been dead a thousand times over already. Even with that extra Biomass, IF could barely keep up with its relentless attacks, though she had to admit that as time went on, it gradually became easier to read it with how her optic nerves were slowly adapting to its movement. This process, of course, being sped up by the C Virus within her. No only that, but IF did NOT want that Hellblade anywhere NEAR her flesh. The way it had that thrumming aura of pure demonic energy, the pure DANGER coming from it, it made the back of her hairs stand on end. That stuff about obstacles and the change in her mentality? Well, that Hellblade was an exception to that. The C Virus KNEW that it was a threat, unlike its wielder. It was almost as if it were saying that the Herald wasn't the real threat, but the Hellblade was instead.

Something that got proven in the next instance when the Hellblade got itself embedded into the ground thanks to the Herald wielding it. From the blade, a torrent of Demonic power rushed out, creating a massive trail that surged towards her, blowing up a large trail in its wake. IF cursed as she rolled out the way, but her right leg unfortunately got itself torn off her socket, up to the middle of her thigh. IF cried out, gasping as she fell to the ground while sliding to a halt and ending up close to the walkway's wall. She growled and cursed repeatedly, gripping the limb with her hands as she stole a glance towards it. She grimaced harder when she saw the damage dealt to her leg, something that honestly shocked her aside from the anger and pain.

This would mark one of the few times IF had been damaged. In the past, she had tested herself in terms of healing by cutting herself with various tools, or fight varying Abnormal Monsters. Through those times, her injuries had regenerated back to full, and she barely felt a drain on her Biomass reserves. Honestly, the word regeneration didn't really fit, in her eyes anyways. Instead, it felt more like a portion of her Biomass was taken away from the 'core' of her reserves, then sent to the damaged area to spread, like a (pun intended) virus to reshape what was lost. When cuts were made, it LOOKED like healing, but in reality biomass was forming over the damaged area. For blunt attacks, IF's body simply bent itself back together to the proper proportions. So far, she had never felt what it was like to have such a large portion of Biomass leave her reserves to form a new limb, until now.

And just to be clear... she didn't like it ONE FUCKING BIT.

It could be attributed to that deep sensation of loss one felt when a gamer, whom had done so much progress in an RPG game, suddenly died and lost that progress because they failed to save their game beforehand. Depending on how much progress had been made before becoming lost, the feeling of loss would have either a great or small impact on their system. In this case, it was freaking WORSE. The reason? Because, as she feared, the demonic energies within that Hellblade were freaking PAINFUL. They burned through the area around her stump, slowing her down and making it difficult for her body to spread itself back into shape. Not something she wanted to get used to feeling, but a part of her did quip on how that her body, now that it had been exposed to such a strike several times now (the faint cut on her side and now this), the C Virus would be able to forge adaptations and Mutations to deal with this should it happen again.

However, that would have to hurry the fuck up, cause the Herald was already charging towards her. It had taken out its Hellblade, and was now stomping towards her like a deranged psychopath, its eyes alight with glee at the probable 'victory' in its grasp. It raised its massive weapon once it was close enough, prepping to stab her and finish her off.

Though, the brunette wouldn't let herself fall that easily.

Her body trembled dangerously. and the Spec Ops Candidate quickly morphed her Arms into Tentacles, releasing her Tendrils as well. Both Appendage types lunged at the Herald and began whacking away at it, trying to keep it at bay while her body worked on adapting to this demonic energy. She could feel the virus working overdrive to get the body back to its original shape, the shape it needed to be in so it could fight effectively.

'It should hurry the fuck up, I'm not going to wait around while this guy tries to eat my soul or something!'

Nevertheless, IF focused quickly. She knew she was in a bit of a bind, as her mind manipulated her many long appendages to parry, block or deflect the Herald's attacks. The Tentacles would be up in front, whacking away at the Hellblade since they were the physical of the two. Her Tendrils remained on the rear lines, getting in a few Acid Blasts whenever possible. Unfortunately, since there were so few openings, the Herald managed to dodge each blast, and would keep an eye out for the next strike from them while dealing with her Tentacles. Though, thanks to those Tentacles, it couldn't get near her main body since they had already been mutated. Not externally, but internally. She knew this, IF had felt it in her very being. They'd been outfitted with cells that could resist Demonic Energy, though it only applied to them... for now.

For a while, things remained in this stalemate, with the Herald going more and more into a frenzy while IF tried her best to keep the creature at bay. Her Tentacles swayed like violent, savage serpents, madly thwacking away at her opponent's body which were blocked or parried by its Hellblade. The demonic Herald of Khorne would strike with the brutality and blood-lust that its godly master was said to be known for, increasing its ferocity every second with demonic energies overwhelming the physical shape of its Hellblade. Slowly, her body began to push the Biomass out to shape the limb she had lost, having adapted enough to begin purging the demonic energy from her system, but to it couldn't have come fast enough. She wanted to move, to fight, to get out of this terrible situation.

Sadly, things began to get worse for her.

The Tentacles slowly began losing ground as the Herald began pushing towards her position, the Hellblade blasting through the Acid blasts her Tendrils fired while also managing to get hits in on them. The brunette's heart began to thump wildly within the confines of her rib-cage, almost like it was next to hear ears. Her breath became labored as nervousness, anxiety and dread began to rise within her gut, warring against each other to create this chaotic mix of emotions. These emotions fueled her strikes gradually, something that would prove to be more of a bane than anything as she began making sloppy movements, movements fueled by the desire to survive rather than actual planning. Her heart pounded at this point, pumping life essence throughout her body in just as wild a pace while the demonic Herald stomped towards her, advancing through the failing Tentacles and flanking Tendrils.

'Th-This is bad...!' the woman thought as she witnessed the Herald gaining more and more ground on her. Her leg had just barely begun to reshape itself into its original form, and her appendages had already lost half their ground. She quickly commanded the Tendrils with her mind to focus on its lower body while the Tentacles were to focus on its upper body, most importantly its face. Hopefully that would slow it down some, and when her appendages acted upon their orders her idea worked. Sort of. It didn't slow down as much as IF had hoped, in fact it barely slowed down at all. It was like it had sensed what she was feeling deep inside, the fear, dread and desperation, feeding from them and getting closer to her like a fly would a bright light. 'If I don't do something...!'

"Hey, you there! Foul Demon, get away from her!"

'... Huh?'

SMACK!

"GUUUUOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!"

IF felt a gasp leave her lips when she saw what looked like a Hammer, a Hammer made from this strange, golden energy come flying out of nowhere and hit the Herald right in the face, sending it into a bewildered, disoriented state with how hard it hit. She didn't know why, but that energy felt oddly comforting to her right now, like the warm embrace of a parent cradling their child who had a nightmare through the night. The Herald cried out in pain, feeling the golden Energy surge through its head and utterly wrecking its shit just like what IF's Acid did to its lower body… which was still healing by the way. It gave the Tentacles the opportunity to do what they did best, slamming into its chest to send it flying across the walkway. This left their wielder safe for the time being, safe enough to return to her 'healing', somethings she took solace in. Though, still...

'Whoa, what the heck? Where did that…?'

Slowly, IF turned her head to the entrance to the armoury. At this point in the game, she had honestly forgotten that she was meant to be stalling for time in place of learning about her newer Mutations. This objective though, soon returned to the forefront of her mind when she saw a familiar person standing by the entrance, glaring heatedly towards the Herald. However, when she saw him, IF almost backpedalled in shock, her eyes wider than dinner plates as se barely even recognised the person there. "S-Stefan?!" she shrieked, barely able to express her shock right now.

The reason? Stefan Von Kessel, Captain of the Ostermark Order… looked like a whole new man.

Gone was his rags and his 'prisoner' feel to him, replaced by a man who had the resolve to shake entire mountains. To topple Celestia and even stand up to the Goddesses themselves, possibly even prevailing. His light blue eyes, they shone with a strength that made what he showed her before look like a pebble in comparison. Before, they were filled with weariness, fatigue and a lack of sleep. Now? They looked like they'd gotten the best sleep of their entire lifetime. His hair was no longer that unkempt, scraggly mess that it had been before. it now looked like a near-bald cut, sporting a ginger tint to it to let his blue eyes shine in their full glory.

His appearance had also changed, no longer did he wear those rags that were once clothing. Now, he wore this excellent golden and crimson Armour that concealed him from the neck down. Its shoulder pads were golden, and larger than the golden plate-covered arms that ended in large matching bracers. The hands were concealed by black leather gloves. The torso had a crimson colored tunic and silver colored Armour plates with golden outlines. Around the waist, there was a silver plate belt, with golden outlines and crimson jewels embedded into it. On the legs, were some silver-plated leg guards, ending in matching Greeves.

All in all, the man had this look of a vindictive gladiator going on about him, and that sword he was holding only helped this image.

"Shit, dude… have you had a makeover?" IF couldn't help but ask as her eyes wandered over his form. Not to be confused with checking him out, she just looked the armour over as she began to get similar vibes to those from Nico's DEATHSTROKE Armour. 'Wait, I'm pretty sure that the Ostermark Order, thanks to its political power, has access to similar technology to the Spec Ops. So, him having Armour like that makes some form of sense.' She added in her head.

Still, even with how long he spent in there (something IF hadn't been keeping track of admittingly, in favor of not getting skewered by a demonic Hellblade) could NOT have given him enough time to get a haircut or a new wardrobe. The Armour she could understand somewhat, they could have had it in that Armoury alongside that strange Sword. But the haircut? the lack of fatigue? Nope, nope she didn't get that. She wanted some answers from him, and IF had a strange feeling that it was due to that sword for some reason. She didn't know why, but just looking upon that blade gave her the feeling of being someone who'd been chosen for a great honor.

Stefan regarded her with a raised brow and a small upturning of his lips. "Well, we can talk later, right now we have ass to kick, don't worry." he told her, pointing his sword towards their opponent. IF looked back to it, and soon she had only 2 things to say right now.

"Alright, yeah."

With that, the duo charged towards the Herald, whom roared as it raised its Hellblade which thrummed with demonic energies before it charged back. Stefan charged forth, taking the close combat role as he held his sword out for a slash. As he closed the distance, the weapon's orb-like thing began to crackle with golden energy, energy that covered the blade's form as Stefan activated a Skill. "Taste the wrath of my Ashbringer! CRUSADER'S WRATH!"

With the sword, the Ashbringer, coursing with energy, Stefan slashed at the creature's chest as he ran past it. The attack had been too fast for the Herald to avoid, and thus when the man stopped behind it, there was a glowing golden strike on its chest, one that erupted into an explosion of golden energy. The result? The Herald growling in pain as its chest gained a long, wicked looking scar diagonally along its chest.

Stefan didn't stop there as he twisted around on his armoured Greeves, and charged towards the creature's back. Ashbringer crackled with energy, energy that shone with its vibrance as Stefan activated another Skill of his. "There is more to where that came from! TEMPLAR'S VERDICT!" He bellowed, before sliding to a stop, right befre its back as in a sword's range. Rearing Ashbringer back, the man made several rapid thrusting motions. He managed to stab about 10 times into the demon's back until it twisted around with its Hellblade raised for an overhead strike. Stefan however, smirked as he twirled on one foot, avoiding the blow and ending up at its rright rear flank. With the momentum of his twirl, the man did a diagonal slash, causing the Herald to stumble as Ashbringer's energy burned it from the inside out.

Furious, the Herald allowed its bloodlust to fuel its adrenaline, iggnoring the burning in its wounds caused by that sword as it spun with a reverse slash, one that Stefan had Ashbringer block for him. The combination of his LIGHT DRIVE Skill, combined with his sword's power, allowed him to endire the strike witout being blown across the wide walkway. The two locked themselves together, entering a deadlock as Ashbronger contested with the Hellblade for dominance. The two blades constantly released their individual energies as long sparks, crackling through the atmosphere while their wielders struggled to overpower one another. Stefan mentally thanked good fortune that he'd activated his Drive Skills early on, as things like this who were leagues above him in the physical department would have smased him to mush if he didn't have it.

However, he had to give his comrade a chance to get a hit in, therefore Stefan pumoped Ashbringer with his energy alongside its own, allowing him to push the enemy back and break the deadlock at the same time. He then raised Ashbringer to the ceiing above, making to activate a Skill until he saw the Herald doing something of its own. The creature stabbed its Hellblade into the ground, and if it weren't for his battle-hardened instincts Stefan probably would have perished to what came next. The Hellblade pulsated as it released a wave of demonic energies, energies that came at him like they did to IF earlier when they chopped off her leg.

Fortunately, Stefan had other Skills he could use aside from offensive ones.

"DIVINE SHIELD!"

Raising Ashbringer, the golden orb pulsed with power as an equally golden barrier manifested around him, forming a protective dome-like shape around him with its size being that of a small house. The attack collided with his barrier, and Stefan smirked when he saw how it couldn't brea through it. The energies fuelling the attack simply vanished moments later, allowing him to lower the barrier... right before the Herald closed the distace between them and swung at the cntre of hsi face,intenting to cut through it horizontallty.

'Shit!'

The man reacted on instinct, bending backwards so the Hellblade sailed harmlessly over his head. He then twirled around on his feet, like he did before, as he activated another one of his Skills. "JUDGEMENT!" Ashbringer, pulsating with power, was swung in a reverse upward swing reminiscent of a wheel, and the energy it was enveloped by? It released a large wheel made from it that was the size of a small house. the energy attack sailed towards the Herald of Khorne, which held its Hellblade to launch one of its own attacks against it. The two energies once again clashed, this time temporarily as they each erupted into an explosion of glorious splendor. Unfortunately, the Herald still suffered some damage as it got hit in the chest with a few stray golden energy streaks.

It got no respite however, as IF soon came in with a strong strike of her own, slamming all 12 Tendrils into its wounded chest before it could begin healing. The Herald stumbled backwards, its centre of balance completely open to them. However, it didn't remain that way as the Herald back flipped onto its feet once more, throwing its Hellblade like a boomerang towards her.

'Shit!'

The brunette barely dodged it by ducking her head just seconds before it could skewer her, lying on her front with her Tendrils spread across the ground. She then raised them up and slammed them back down, propelling her into the air when the Herald almost body slammed her, its form being larger than hers thus it would have crushed her under its weight.

Fortunately, this gave her the chance to aim her Tendrils and start peppering it with Acid blasts. They came down upon it like rain, peppering its body before it could have a chance to dodge. The Herald growled and roared in pain, feeling the Acid eat away at its body with the ravenous appetite of a Piranha. Reaching out, it recalled its Hellblade back to its waiting hand and slashed upwards, forcing IF to fall back as she landed in a crouch position.

Now that it was no longer being beset by acid blasts, the Herald began to get up, however thanks to those blasts it found this simple action to be one of the most difficult things it had to do in its life in this world. Its legs had been badly corroded by the acid, said acid having eaten down to the bones and the tendons. It was a miracle that it could even move them at this point, even though it was already furiously pumping demonic energy into its legs to speed up the healing process. Though, it would not be quick enough, unfortunately for it.

Seeing that it was vulnerable, both IF and Stefan glanced at each other, seemingly communicating through words alone. This lasted for a brief instance though, and at the end the two shared a brief nod of understanding between each other. IF raised her right arm and formed her Axammer, retracting her Tendrils and releasing her Wings. Stefan went and yelled out "LIGHT DRIVE!" as he became engulfed within a bright golden aura. What was interesting about his aura, compared to the other Drive Skills, was that his formed a set of wings made from pure Golden energy. Purely cosmetic in practicality, so he couldn't fly with them, but nonetheless they did help enhance certain parts of his Skillset more than others.

With their powers ready, both IF and Stefan took off towards the Herald, said Demon letting out a roar of defiance as it swung its Hellblade, desperately trying to strike its opponents down. Sadly, the brunette deflected the blow as Stefan flew by, Ashbringer already going in and decapitating the beast at the head. The now headless corpse… fell to the ground and dispersed into nothingness.

It was over...

They had won, at last.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, here you go ladies and gents.**

 **I finished yet another chapter of content. For the next chapter will be the Halls of Agony Level 3, then the chapter afterwards will have the Chamber of Suffering where the two groups will FINALLy meet up. You have no idea how excited that makes me, and I hope to do this next couple chapters justice. But fist, here's a little something extra hat I said i'd be doing:**

 **IF's second BIO!**

 **NAME – IF**

 **AGE – late teens**

 **RACE – Human (Formerly)**

 **BOW (Current)**

 **GENDER – Female**

 **OVERVIEW – IF is a Guild Agent who encounters Neptune and her party when the Monster Cave Dungeon is the victim of a Banshee Infestation. She then is recruited by Neptune and Nico, whom she had encountered previously. During the fight against an empowered Ganache, IF is infected with the C Virus, forcing Nico to save her life by infecting her with another strain of the C Virus, enhanced by his own Demonic Energy, turning her into a BOW with full control over her mental faculties.**

 **HISTORY – Born from a one-night stand between her father, a Mercenary, and her mother, a fashion designer, IF spent her childhood wandering from place to place. Her father had taken her under his wing and started training her once she was old enough to fight. He taught her many Skills a Mercenary would need, such as combat, survival in the wilds, etc. When she was 8, her father was killed while on a Mission, which led her to follow in her father's footsteps and become a Mercenary.**

 **MUTATION – IF's mutation is one that varies, she can control her body down to the cellular level, allowing her to make weapons out of her body parts, form new appendages as well as change her appearance to better bland into her surroundings. She can also morph into her 'true form' which allows her to use the Virus's full unrestrained power. Nico has correctly told her that her powers are aided by what he calls the 'C Gene' which promotes the growth of stronger cells and killing off the weaker ones, a 'survival of the fittest' mentality.**

 **Tentacles - A set of insectoid Tentacles, their thickness rivalling that of an average bodybuilder. They numbered at 6, and had sharp glowing orange tips. Each one protruded from her shoulder, having replaced her entire arm up to the shoulder socket.**

 **Tendrils – Brought into being by the T-Veronica aspect of the C Virus, IF generates 12, long, thin Tendril-like appendages, each of them protruding from the back of her waist. Each of them looked like they were made from flattened, sharpened leaves neatly put together, while ending in long, sharp organic tips. The difference between the Tentacles and the Tendrils is that the Tendrils come from the T-Veronica side, while the Tentacles come from the C Virus as a whole. Unlike the Tentacles though, the Tendrils didn't have glowing orange areas anywhere, as well as possessing the ability to spew acid from the base of their tips onto their foes that would melt them into goo.**

 **Blades – when her blade mutation is applied, IF inner half of her arm remains human. The outer half, plus the hand, becomes a mass of crimson flesh and bone armour, shaped like a ribcage that was a full forearm longer than her true arm. Its shape resembled an overly muscular limb, with the point after the hand being where her limb shifted its shape to a broadsword-like shape. It had a single metallic edge from the point where her hand used to be to the tip, the edge straight for the most part till it curved into a diagonal tip.**

 **Claws – A set of metallic claws that grow around her wrist and form 3 10-inch-long fingers.**

 **Whip – to better engage in mid to long-range combat, IF's C Virus taps into the G Virus aspect and mutates her arm below the elbow joint into a 15-foot-long, razor sharp whip. The limb looks like that of a long, black Scorpion' Tail, ending in a bulbous tip that was equipped with 2 curved stinger-like appendages. It is primarily a blunt tool; however, the bulbous tips can be used for stabbing as well. The Stingers can inject some explosive Biomass particles that, after a few moments, culminate and detonate, killing the creature or removing one of their limbs depending on where they are stabbed. They are also movable digits, allowing them to grasp onto objects, furthering their diversity.**

 **Axammer – An arm that looked normal down to the elbow, save for several Tendrils made from flesh wrapping around it and going into the shoulder. Below that though, was a long, large organic shaft, as large as a bodybuilder's arm. At the tip, there was a large Axe blade, about 8 feet long and 6 feet wide. The blade was double tipped with a large crescent edge, a single notch next to the bottom tip. That same tip of the Shaft had a large shell-like structure, meant for bashing and crushing.**

 **Armour – IF can form an armour that covers her entire body, save for the top portion of her face in black armour, with many fractions. It enhances her physical abilities further than her BOW traits could alone, and she can have it cannibalize her body to enhance her movements further.**

 **Wings - 4 dark green reptilian wings made from her flesh, the lower ones being shorter than the upper ones.**

 **Superheated Biomass – Thanks to the T-Veronica aspect of her powers, IF is able to heat her own Biomass molecules to a hardened state and shoot them as projectiles. She can either do it from her limbs, or any of her mutations. Thanks to this superheated Biomass, she can also perform various feats such as shooting fireball-like projectiles from her arms, or heating her own touch so that it can burn her opponents. IF is able to unlock orher means of utelising this ability the more she uses it.**

 **Regeneration – IF's body has the ability to fix its injuries, no matter their severity. In the past, she had tested herself in terms of healing by cutting herself with various tools, or fight varying Abnormal Monsters. Through those times, her injuries had regenerated back to full, and she barely felt a drain on her Biomass reserves. To IF, it felt like Regeneration didn't fit the way her power worked. Instead, it felt more like a portion of her Biomass was taken away from the 'core' of her reserves, like an animal taking bits of its gathered food for eating during winter hibernation, then sent to the damaged area to spread, like a (pun intended) virus to reshape what was lost. When cuts were made, it LOOKED like healing, but in reality, biomass was forming over the damaged area. For blunt attacks, IF's body simply bent itself back together to the proper proportions. In case of more lethal injuries, IF's Biomass reserves detach a significantly larger portion compared to smaller scale injuries to recreate the lost shape. This presents a weakness to her healing factor, if she were to lose too much of her Biomass reserves, IF wouldn't be able to use her powers, at first. If the situation persists, and she doesn't gain sustenance soon, then she loses some manner of control over herself and targets anything she could get her hands on that is organic. To combat this weakness, her body has developed a specialised Mitosis that helps procreate new Cells for Biomass, however it is only a short-term ability. Her body generally relies on external nutrients, hence why she sometimes sinks to a more predatory mindset at times.**

 **There.**

 **Now, Bio's WILL be updated with newer abilities once they manifest, so make sure to pay attention to any author's notes that appear. Think of ths feature as part of those gamer fics you've likely seen around in franchises like PJO and Highschool DXD.**

 **Now then, before we finish up, i'll present to you another Special Event, been a while since I've done these.**

* * *

 **Special Event - Classes on Umbrella**

Once again, the classroom for the story is paced with cast members, both known and unknown. Like before, those that had been revealed already were hown, while the ones that haven't are shrouded by sillhouettes.

Again, in walks Teacher Nico, holding a clip board and looking as serious as ever when he does these things. "Good day class." he spoke,silencing the cast s he stood before the podium. Behind him, the symbol of Umbrella appeared in all its twisted spendour. "In today's class we will be going over one of the corporations thathas been mentioned quite a lot in the story, but never actually seen: Umbrella, Avenir's former rival company."

A hand was raised straight into the air. "Um, Teacher DEATHSTROKE, sir, what exactly is Umbrella?"

"Well, its been a while since we've tackled that subject, so I doubt the readers remember." Nico remarked thouhhtfully, before looking down at his clip board annd nodding to himself. Alright then, lets start fromthe beginning. Chian herself said this, but Umbrella was a masive corporation with its hands dug in many fields. Such as pharmecutical medidicine as well as medical equipment. They were a well-funded company, business prices were fair, balanced, and the workers were paid handsomely. The ideal picture of a proper company. Almost TOO perfect. Like Chian said, they were 'two-faced bastards' as while they had a good public image, behind that they were secretly researching the use of viral diseases to use as biological weapons. They created many creatures from these experiments, here is some of them." On the board behind him, a series of pictures along with labells appeared briefly. Yet each one had left their mark:

Licker.

Hunter.

Zombie.

Tyrant.

"Geez!" Neptune exclaimed, kicking the air beneath her desk with her feet. "Those things look ugly as heck!"

The rest of the Party, scattered throughout the classroom, agreed.

"They do, and they behave as such too." Nico replied solemnly. "The Umbrella's origins start with its founding members: Ganache, as you all know, Dr. Oswell, Dr Spencer, the Earl Spencer, Edward Ashford, and James Marcus, who were university classmates. All were virologists with some associations with the eugenics movement either themselves or by association to another prominent figure. Their viral research began about 30 years ago, when Marcus found a specilaied flower deep within Lastation's southern regions, called "Stairway of the Sun", theorizing that it bestowed powers on its consumers via mutagenic viral infection. In a trip to the those southern lands, the fabled flower was discovered in an underground garden and a virus discovered within it. However, the problem for them was that their cultivated versions in their labss wouldn;t et the virus, so they had to bring live samples back to Lastation."

This time, Compa raised her hand. "Um, how did they do that without anyone finding out? Something like that seems a bit big to me." she asked with confusion.

"Thank 2 things: Credits, and bribery." Nico stated dryly, and everyone else frowned at his words. Those two were infamus weapons in their own right, definitely. "In any case, requiring significant funding beyond their financial links to bring about their eugenics dream, Spencer formed the company known today as Umbrella Pharmecuticals on behalf of Ashford, Ganache, and an indifferent Marcus and established a base in the Ndipaya garden so Progenitor samples could be transported over to their labs back in one of their Labs in Racoon City instead. Requiring more money, the three agreed to a plan later known as the "t-Virus Project", where they would independently develop strains of Progenitor virus to sell to the military as a weapon. Time passed, and 2 of the founders Marcus and Edward, were killed by Spencer in a bid for power, while Ganache went into hiding. Though, he later resurfaced when he was sure Spencer wouldn't have been looking for him still. Marcus however, managed to spread out from the T irus project before his demise, by having the newly created T Virus abandon its deathly origins in favour of using its mutigenic properties for keeping the hosts alive, albeit in a mentally damaged, canbnibalistic and animalistic state instead."

Images of the Zombies, as well as the animals infested with the T Virus appeared on the board, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"That's so cruel..."

"You can say that again, Compa..."

Compa and IF shuddered at the images shown before they vanished, much to their relief.

"Things began to change for the worse for Umbrella, however. There were spies from other companies suspicious about their activities, spies whom they managed to figure out and silence befor ethey got word out to their superiors. Some of those were Spec Ops Agents from other Nations, which didn't bode well fr Umbrella's pubic relations as one can guess. However, the start of their downfall didn't begin in Racoon City as one might expect, but in Spencer's former Mansion which he had heneforth called the 'Arklay Laboratory', hidden within the Arklay mountains, a rather mountainous region in Lastation that was close to Racoon City. The facility was put on lockdownwhhen it experienced a containment failure, but several "Cerberus" BOWs escaped their cages and ran amok in the mountains, killing and partially-eating several hikers over the next two months and wounding others, who turned into Zombies and killed and ate others. Armed Umbrella teams in the Arklays failed to destroy the BOWs during their attempt to reopen the nearby executive training school. In the end, a group of Lastation Spec Ops Agents, given the codename STARS (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) were tasked with infiltrating the Arklay laboratories to contain the threat, though they were unaware of the dangers lurking inside. Worse still, one of them was a double agent, working for both STARS and Umbrella, whom had all but a couple members survive while the rest were killed off. Reports sated that he was killed later on, though. In the end, only a couple of them survived, the rest being killed off and eaten by the Zombies and Cerberus. They managed to destroy the Mansion and the Laboratory however, thus the virus threat had been dealt with... or so they thought."

IF raised a hand. "I get the feeling that there was more to this Outbreak than meets the eye." she stated with a suspicious frown.

The chibi teacher Nico nodded his head in response to her words. "You're correct, IF. There WAS more going on than just the Outbreak. For you see, at Umbrella's research lab in Racoon City, one of their members was planning to ell their work to the authorities for failing to impress Spencer with his work. His name was William Birkin, and he had developeed a strain of the Prohgenitor Virus into the "G" Virus, something IF should know about considering how it made her C Virus strain possible." Nico explained, gesturing to said Spec Ops Candidate. "In the weeks ahead of the planned link-up, he dumped his T-Virus into other facilities, such as a sewer treatment plant and the recently-opened P-12A facility for processing failed experiments. This resulted in the T-Virus slowly spreading around Raccoon City, which by a week had the Raccoon General Hospital under strict quarantine. Expecting Umbrella to find out about the deal, Birkin paid off The Racoon City Police chief Brian Irons to have the sewers cleared out, allowing a policeman to patrol it and interrupt an Umbrella Security Service (USS) team handling C-4 charges. Made aware to the operation, Birkin released his lab's "Hunter R" Bioweapons, which went on to kill the rest of the research staff and his own guards so as to make himself and his wife, Annette, the only people aware of G-Virus."

Noire scoffed in disgust, crossing her arms under her bosom. The lack of care for human life these people had was disgusting...

"The USS operation went awry when the U.S.S. Alpha Team under Operative Codenamed HUNK - No Neptune, not THAT type of HUNK - shot Birkin during their recovery of "G" and failed to spot he still had a sample in his possession. Afterwards, he injected that sample into himself witht he last of his strength, an act that would inevitably doom an entire city to destruction. Transforming into a powerful monster, Birkin rampaged through the sewers and killed or crippled all but HUNK and destroyed the case they had stolen. This exposed the sewer ecology to the T-Virus which, after a brief but violent competition between rats and giant cockroaches, led to rats fleeing to Victory Lake, Raccoon City's reservoir, and infecting the Raccoon Dam employees, allowing contaminated drinking water to find its way into the city. When Umbrella realised this, they immediately deployed the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasures Service (UBCS) company they had on standby since the first hospital cases with orders to evacuate civilians, with the expectation that the outbreak would be contained with the help of the Lastation military. They also calld in Spec Ops from other Nations, myself and Team RAIL included, to assist with the evacuation. Though this wound up also giving Umbrella the opportunities to test their BOWs in combat with both as well as giving the prototype Nemesis-T Type, as well as the Hypnos T Type and THANATOS, orders to eliminate the STARS survivors, who had attempted to expose Umbrella after the Mansion Incident, as well as the Spec Ops Agents. The UBCS force was eliminated, however, and the Lastation military pulled out of the city to their blockades, abandoning the remaining survivors that failed to be evacuated to their fate. That fate: a Nuke."

Images appeared on the board, showing them the Chaos of the Outbreak first hand. They saw Zombies infesting the streets, feasting ont he living. They saw BOWsrunning amok through those sreets, killing survivors and anything else they deemed a threat. They also saw the Spec Ops as well as the STARS members fighting a losing battle aainst the two T Types sent after them.

"Holy..." Vert whispered, her hands covering her mouth while her eyes shone with silent horror at the sights. "That's just... so brutal..."

Even that mystery brown haired girl looked like she was going a little green.

Neptune shuddered, not liking this ay more than the others, but nothing could compare to the feeling of guilt and failure that Noire felt, watching this. These had been HER people, and she had not been there for them when they were being butchered like animals. Instead she had been up in Celestia, totally forgetting about her Nation as she fought the other Goddesses. More and more, the realisation of how utterly pointless the Console Wars really were began to crop up in her mind.

"There, that should wrap up this lecture. All of you, remember this: We may be fighting monsters, but sometimes the worst of the monsters are actually humanity themselves." Nico stated ominously, before he left the room and the class became abuzz.


	88. Chapter 85 - Harvester and Chaos

**Chapter 85 - Harvester and Chaos**

There they were, at last. The Level 3 of the Halls of Agony.

"You know…" Nico began, his lone eye narrowed as he turned his head. The sound of clinking Armour accompanied this notion, but he was more focused on their surroundings. "Seeing all this only makes me madder. These Overlord guys are really asking for me to spear them with one of my Plasma Claws." He spoke beneath a nasty sounding growl. His teeth clenched behind his Helmet while his gauntlet-clad hands clutched into fists so tightly that they would be on the verge of bleeding. If he thought things were bad when they first entered the Halls of Agony, what with all the torture machines and grotesque messes that they'd discovered. He mentally patted himself on the back for not bringing Compa and Neptune for this. Those two would likely get their nightmares added on if they were to come over to this hellhole. He'd never want them to lose what innocence they may retain from all the horrors they'd seen to this place. The guilt would likely kill him otherwise.

However, the things he was seeing right now only seemed to make what they saw earlier look like heaven in comparison. Compared to the previous levels which he had attributed to the interior of a fully heated microwave, this place looked like one of those fully heated ovens. He could just FEEL the heat from various furnaces scattered across the Dungeon, burning with a hellish intensity that made Nico wince behind his Armour's helmet. The teen felt like he would just combust at any moment. The heat was just THAT scorching, but then his mind wandered to the Cultists. He could only wonder what kind of abominations they could have summoned to this infernal place.

Worse, was that compared to the rest of the Dungeon, this level seemed much more… active. Active, as in the male could hear countless tortures screams, shrieks and groans, likely from victims undergoing horrendous torture rituals. Or perhaps slowly being converted to the ways of the Enthralled considering what they'd learned from them. What's more, was that his enhanced senses picked up countless grunts, snarls and feral growls coming from deeper within the Halls of Agony Level 3. It was like all those demonic creatures were just lying there, waiting around every corner, every hiding spot, just WAITING for unwary adventurers to come in and pounce on them with no regard for mercy, delivering slow and brutal deaths that not even dogs would deserve. Those noises sent chills down his spine, and if someone like HIM was affected by all that stuff, then Nico could only IMAGINE what kind of impact on the girls.

"Y-Yeah…" Tekken shuddered, trembling as she sweated in fear. She took a big gulp, those sounds Nico heard being audible to her as well. In fact, she bet that all of them would be able to hear those sounds, though she doubted that Nico would be willing to flee the area. She wouldn't either, and likely it was the same for MAGES. as well. Though, that didn't mean that she wasn't being utterly scared shitless by all this death and corruption she was seeing. "I bet these guys just HATE going inside. I wonder how they can even stand this heat."

That was somethings he wanted to know quite badly. The heat here was horrendous, she felt like she was getting burned alive just standing here. Unlike Nico and MAGES., Tekken barely wore clothing on her person, or rather clothing that could be attributed as such. Usually, this was for her training, but it also served the purpose of being comfortable and preferable to those large, restrictive dresses the women of Leanbox seem to wear nowadays.

Still though, she shuddered more when she felt a wave of calmness, a wave of calmness and support course through her body. From where, she didn't know, but she didn't dare question it, just like the many times before when these waves came to her. She couldn't place where these waves began, but whenever she did think about it, Tekken would get the image of a 2 story building-sized, winged humanoid wolf-like creature with a long nose, a scarred eye, claws, eagle-like legs, a scorpion-like tail and huge two pairs of feathered wings. It reminded her that, during her Abnormal Monster Training, she had fought such a beast once before, although she didn't really recall it all that much. She didn't know why, and hadn't been thinking about it since.

Though, ever since then, whenever she found herself in a tight spot, and there was no way out, those waves of positive emotion would surge forth from deep within her, keeping her calm and assuring her that she would make it out of those situations alive. Those times, the surges would be strong, nigh uncontainable, and usually filled her with the drive to continue onwards, like an animal determined to escape this corner it had been backed into. It happened quite a few times during her training, and usually there followed this strange burst of energy that resulted in her foes being decimated within minutes. Tekken had no clue on what that power was, only that whenever it came to her she would get the feeling similar to taming a wild beast. The power that helped her, it felt raw, primal and savage, like one of those Abnormals that sometimes went on a blood rage on her ass. Though since she was more focused on her training, Tekken had never paid these instances, or the strange power that followed them.

Time passed, and Tekken couldn't help but notice that she had been getting those bouts of positive emotion quite often recently. More so when they first went through the Halls of Agony Level 1. They had only occurred more and more frequently as they journeyed deeper into the fray, mostly in response to whenever her fears were likely to overwhelm her mental defences. It was almost like those surges refused to allow fear to take hold of her, like it would tarnish their existence to let something like that happen. That same feeling only came with a greater intensity when that wild, nigh-uncontrollable power would follow suit, resulting in her fighting style change slightly, into one that was more brutal and aggressive than her normal one.

"Regardless, these lost souls must be set free from their torment, and their tormentors punished severely." MAGES. stated, getting their attention when she tapped the ground with her Staff. The duo may not be too versed in magic, but their senses quickly detected the agitated Mana flow around her in the form of a fiery aura, almost reminiscent of a Drive Skill. "This must be made possible via a trip to the underworld, where the same tortures they inflict on the helpless masses await them for all eternity."

With her piece said, MAGES. turned towards their resident male Spec Ops, her eyes casting themselves towards his right Bracer before she pointed her staff to it. "Spec Ops DEATHSTROKE, what route do you propose that we take towards finding the Chambers of suffering?" she questioned him, although the male got the impression it was more of a demand than a question.

Nevertheless, he didn't mind as it was a valid question. The teen's eye, hard as a rock, glanced down as he raised is right Bracer, activating it to bring up a Holomap of the Halls of Agony Level 3. His eyes cast their gaze across the design, before he pressed a few keys on its interface and a route began to draw itself through the Dungeon. "This route should take us through the area without encountering too much resistance. However, even so, there is still a sizable number of enemies along that route. Enemies that may call for reinforcements. I doubt that there would be a difference between the enemy quantity whether we go this route or not." He told the woman.

Said woman nodded her head in acceptance of his response. "That will be noted. Nevertheless, we must make haste regardless, for the lives of the wrongfully damned, the innocent and the guilty await us. Time waits for no soul, those who do not strive forward will eventually find them swallowed by the void." MAGES. stated ominously, making Tekken gulp in nervousness as she turned on her heeled boots, proceeding to walk deeper into the Dungeon.

Glancing over to each other, Nico and Tekken gave a pair of short, but firm nods before they too followed the Mad Magician. Who knew what they would be finding in this place, but hopefully they would be able to down those horrors as a team.

* * *

It happened not a minute into the walking, they were going leisurely along a corridor when…

"SCRAMBLE!"

"Yikes!"

Loud roars filed their ears when the trio of Nico, Tekken and MAGES. were beset by a group of Bloodletters, the creatures jumping down on them from the space above them. They mostly went for either Tekken or Nico, paying little heed to their resident Mad Magician, though that would be a mistake that would cost them in the end. Especially when said Magician garnered tick marks over her forehead and unloaded upon them with Lightning based Spells. Though, Nico's quick instincts were the sole reason that they weren't impaled by a bunch of Hellblades at the beginning, leading to them eventually killing them off as they fell before their Skills.

After the last one fell, the trio were left with heavy breathing and more than a few ragged nerve systems. The two girls looked like they were heavy breathers on the phone to a member of the opposite sex, their chests heaving and laboured gasps escaping their mouths. A thin layer of sweat rolled down them, almost making their clothes see through had MAGES. not already cast a few cooling Spells on their outfits so that their undergarments wouldn't be shown thanks to that intense heat. An action that Nico couldn't help but praise the Mad Magician for.

Seriously, those who use Magic were OP as fuck… or maybe MAGES. was just that good.

'Nico, be warned.' Biko's voice broke the male out of his musings. The teen stopped his thinking to listen to his Demon Persona's words. 'I sense a large amount of demonic power building below us. I think it might be similar to those Hellgates that were reported in Planeptune. I also sense several human signatures, they seem to be powering the build-up by acting as conduits for the energy.'

'Serious? What the heck is going on down there then, Biko?'

'From what I can sense, it is a portal that leads directly to the Demon World. Those mortal humans must be using themselves to bring demons there into this world called Gamindustri, for I can sense their power flow easily from here.'

Nico's eye widened in surprise at that. Bio DID say at some point in the past that Demons will be devising may ways to return to the world of Gamindustri, not just the Hellgates. So, it would make sense for them to encounter things like this, but still. Would humans ever learn their lessons? Flashbacks of a time when Nico was involved in a certain conflict spamming Lowee and Lastation filed his mind, about the conflict of ideals based on the religious ways of the CPUs and more Modern methods filled his mind, causing the male to shake his head with a disappointed sigh. Yeah, that question should have answered itself.

Nevertheless, things should be okay as long as they avoid that energy build-up…

Of course, as if fate itself has a sick and twisted sense of humour, things quickly spiralled downhill for the trio.

One of the Bloodletters, apparently, still had some strength left. This was shown when it raised its Hellblade…. And threw it to the ground beside the Mad Magician. The Hellblade contacted the ground there, embedding itself from the tip down to the halfway point… and promptly created a shockwave so powerful that it knocked MAGES. right up into the air, much to her surprise as she cried out, before that cry became a shrill shriek of terror when she noticed that she was falling down towards the fiery depths below.

The Bloodletter died afterwards, but that remained unnoticed in light of the situation.

"Oh shit, MAGES.!" Nico screamed, reacting on instinct as he dove over the walkway's fence, which was there so that this DIDN'T happen (guess the builders back in Leoric's time didn't intend for the Bloodletters being vengeful when they built this place, did they?) The male shot downwards like an eagle, heading straight for his falling comrade while Tekken raced towards the fence, looking down with extreme fear written over her face.

"Nico! MAGES.!"

The male ignored that cry as he descended down through the redness of the hue below, quickly closing in on the falling Magician. Hot air blew past his face as he fell, making sure to keep himself in the form of a skydiver to gain as much speed as possible. He didn't know how tall their walkway was, as he couldn't see the bottom thanks to the hue from up there, but the way things were going MAGES. would have crashed onto the build-up of demonic energy Biko had sensed. The Build-up that would lead them to a portal to the Demon World… He could not allow MAGES. to fall there, no way no how. If she fell into that portal, chances were that he wouldn't be able to get her out of there, and she'd suffer a fate far worse than anything Gamindustri had ever known.

That was not allowed to happen, no matter what.

"MAGES.!" His voice pierced through the screams the woman was generating, getting her attention as he held his hand out to reach for her. "Here, take my hand!" the male ordered, his lone eye shining with the intensity and urgency of the situation. Out of pure panic and desire to survive, the woman reached out for his armoured hand, the limb being stretched as much as possible to contact his own as soon as possible. The two could feel the roaring heat from the demonic portal down below at this point, filling their guts with panic, dread and fear at the possibilities that this presented. as they got closer and closer by the second, her tiny, womanly hand soon got encased within his larger, manly and bulkier one.

Once he felt her hand secured in his own, the teen swiftly deployed his other hand's Plasma Claw, stabbing the wall behind them to slow their descent to a halt. It was slow at first, and for a time Nico thought that they wouldn't make it, however thankfully the two managed to halt their fall any further. At this point, the two could faintly make out a large, orangish red spiralling whirlpool-like structure down below in the midst of that reddish hue.

Panting heavily, Nico looked down towards the Mad Magician who dangled helplessly below him. Her only source of suspension: his hand. The urgency of the situation ran through his system, it wasn't over yet, the Build-up was right below them, scorching heat encasing their surroundings. It felt like they were next to an erupting volcano or something similar, but nonetheless, they needed to get back up to Tekken as soon as possible. Neither liked the look of that portal, not one bit. "MAGES.! You alright?!" he yelled down at her while slowly lifting his arm. "Here, I'll lift you up! Wrap your arms around me, I'll climb us both outta here!"

Wordlessly, MAGES. complied with his demand, or perhaps it was the urgency of the matter and the looming threat to her life. No matter, the bottom line was that as he lifted her up (she had to admit his strength was impressive to allow him to do that) the Mad Magician wrapped her other arm around his neck, her Staff having vanished into her Inventory during the fall. When she felt like she had a decent grip. The blunette woman let go of his hand and wrapped it around the opposite side of his neck. Her two hands locked together above his torso, and she was secured.

Though, it did cause her to feel a certain something of the male body.

'This… this is a… man's back…' the woman thought as she felt the hard, rigidness of Nico's back armour pressed into by her own bust. Thankfully, it stopped her from getting a full feel of those muscles the male possessed (though a part of her felt dismayed by that for some reason) as her cheeks heated up. Fortunately, the male was too busy looking upwards while focusing on getting them outta here, otherwise she would have buried her face into his shoulder to hide the embarrassment on her cheeks. Even in a life-or-death situation, she couldn't help but notice just how well-built the male was. It wasn't something she'd paid attention to before, thanks to other matters occupying her attention (Namely not getting ripped apart by razed cultist and demons). Plus, there's the way he just dove down at a speed that should have killed him, risking his own life in the process, just to save her. It was… more than a little flattering.

"Quick, we must hurry! That death dealing Portal is right below us!"

"Don't have to tell me twice! Hold on, I'm scaling the wall!"

Deploying his other Plasma Claw, Nico adhered to his earlier warning and stabbed it right into the wall, diagonally above his previous claw. He took that claw out afterwards, and stabbed the wall diagonally above once more, repeating the process to help them climb up the wall. Once he got a good rhythm going, the male kept it up as they rapidly scaled the wall, the male using the holes his claws made as a foothold by jabbing his feet into them to make them bigger. All the while, the teen ignored the sensation of the Mad Magician's… decently sized chest area pressing against his back, in his eyes her life was much more important.

It probably helped that his mind was more preoccupied with thoughts about assuring the Mad Magicians safety than anything else…

Wow, Neptune and the girls really changed him, huh? Before, he wouldn't have given a damn NEARLY as much as he did now about others. He'd been jaded that way, with few exceptions to this. There had been times where he showed a little compassion, but those were few and far in-between. Now? Now Nico was prioritizing a practical stranger's life over his own, something he hadn't been doing for years after losing faith in humanity. How the heck did those girls do it? He'd like to know the answer to that, maybe he'd ask them if they survived… As well as asked MAGES. if she wanted anything as compensation. It felt like the right thing to do after something like this.

Now to focus on the task at hand…

Something his senses seemed to forget apparently, for they detected several surges in demonic energy down below, and they were heading the two's way. Nico and MAGES.' eyes widened in horror when they sensed the surges coming, they knew what was going to happen next, but it didn't seem any less terrifying. From the depths of the hue, several large, gargoyle-like creatures made entirely out of flames, molten rock and magma, burst out of the hue, screeching and cawing like rabid banshees. They soon began shooting towards them, intending to grab the two and bringing them down to the depths that spawned them.

"Tch!"

Nico growled as he kicked one away, using the momentum to flip higher into the air towards their goal. "Hold on, MAGES.! This about to get ugly!" he warned his little passenger, quickly entering a dance of flips, kicks and dodges as volleys of fireballs were launched at the from the Gargoyle-like creatures' mouths. Said passenger increased the strength of her grip, his mind barely registering the faint shaking as she buried her head in his shoulder. The teen didn't think that she would be casting Spells in this condition, not when A: Her Medium, the Staff, was in her Inventory, and B: Her mana appeared to be significantly low. Low enough that she had concerns.

More Fireballs came at them, fired by those Gargoyle-creatures, intending on reducing them to fried cinders. This in turn ended up forcing the male into evasive manoeuvres, something that he hadn't bee all too willing to do with a passenger on his back. Rearing his body back, the male jumped upwards, and at the apex of his jump he managed to embed his Plasma Claws into the wall before flicking a leg out to kick another Fireball away from them. Sensing danger, the male quickly jumped to the side in a diagonal manner, sausage flipping through the air before they stopped abruptly once he reconnected with the walls.

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from doing anything too drastic, DEATHSTROKE! I nearly fell that time!"

"I would, if I wasn't kinda busy trying to save our asses, right now!"

Geez, this wasn't going anywhere fast. Nico may have prided himself on his skills, they'd gotten him through more jams than he'd care to mention, but this would only inconvenience them both. Nico would be able to multi task between keeping them alive, out of the way of those fireballs with Parkour, but he'd run the risk of dropping MAGES. in the process. That was a no go, since he DID just fall down here just to save her ass from getting sucked into the Demon world. The way things were however, prevented him from doing anything in regards to offence, instead all he could do was either dodge or climb, sometimes both. Not something he particularly favoured, plus there was still a risk that MAGES. would fall even if he could strike back.

"…!"

Just then, a stroke of luck washed over the duo. An idea came to him, an idea that would hopefully help MAGES. in fighting them off, as well as to show how strong she was as a woman. Plus it'd keep them off his back as he focused on climbing back up towards where Tekken was, then they could press on. "Hey, MAGES.!"

"What?!"

"I'll summon my Plasma Launcher, think you could use it to keep the heat off me?!"

"Yes! I'll do that, such a task will be childsplay for the Mad Magician!"

With that comforting confession, Nico jumped upwards to dodge another fireball, before stabbing his left Plasma Claw into a wall and activating his right Bracer. Bringing up the Void Storage, the male summoned the Plasma Launcher, which appeared above them and MAGES. caught in her left hand before it could fall to the depths below. She didn't want to lose grip on her ride right now, not when the alternative was falling on top a portal that would lead to another world. Normally, that'd be the start of an interesting adventure, but this time that was not the case one bit.

Holding the Grenade-Launcher shaped weapon in her hands, MAGES. inspected it briefly, familiarizing herself with its Design before she, with steeled eyes and nerves, looked towards their attackers. MAGES. experience with firearms was rather limited at best, thanks to her relying more on magic than technology in battle. However, she did one time shoot a few rifles at a shooting gallery as a test for their recoil. Hopefully, Grenade Launchers wouldn't be too different as she hadn't used one of these before. Though, she would be willing to try it out for now, maybe even devise one of her own after this. This thing wold hopefully save their lives after all.

But first, she'd need a proper stable position.

Her legs, dangling in the air space below them, swiftly shifted positions. The Mad Magician locked her legs securely around his waist, (Something that she felt the male tense at) and used the grip as a platform to aim, firing a single shot at their attackers. The shot sailed through the air at high speeds, her nerves tightening in dread of missing their target… but instead it managed to hit one of those said targets, the creature screeching in pain via hot plasma while falling down into the crimson depths below.

"Yes!" The Mad Magician hissed, grinning beneath her witch hat while she pumped a fist. "I got one!"

"Stay focused, more are going to be attacking!"

"Do not worry, I, the Mad Magician, will protect our rear flanks!" MAGES. proudly proclaimed, aiming the Plasma Launcher and unloading on their foes. The gargoyle like-creatures howled and hissed while firing back with fire balls, forcing Nico to bounce up and sideways in diagonal angles to dodge them. All the while, MAGES. would retaliate with Plasma rounds, some hitting while others were missing. The teen would grit his teeth behind his helmet… but say nothing while he desperately avoided the fate of being turned into a human piece of charcoal.

Today just wasn't turning out to be his day.

* * *

Up above where the fence was, Tekken anxiously awaited her friends return, gripping the railing tight enough to cause it to reshape itself under her fists. The creaking and groaning sounds it made only served to fuel her worry further, which lead to more strength being put on the fence. A non-stop cycle, really.

She kept peering down the crimson hue, of which MAGES. had fell, and her friend Nico had fallen after her in an attempt to save her. It had been about 10 minutes, she figured, though her gut made it feel much longer than that, so her worry was on an all-time high as she pondered on the fate befalling her friends. What happened? Were those two alright? Should she have gone down there after them? Questions like those constantly swirled through her mind like a spiralling whirlpool.

Though, that strange surge of confidence soon put those thoughts to rest.

"!"

Soon her thoughts shifted to surprise, something that Tekken displayed proudly like a billboard sign on her features as she stumbled backwards. She couldn't retain her balance, even while flailing her arms backwards like wheels, and thus as a result, Tekken fell onto her rump. The woman gave a slight yelp as the hard, cobblestone ground met her rear, but soon enough she looked back upwards, what she saw before once more taking her attention as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. The reason? A set of shadowy figures had jumped high from within the crimson hue, one carrying the other on piggyback. She couldn't make them out clearly thanks to remnants of the hue having cloaked them, but even so, she could still make out some purple areas within the two black figures.

The two figures landed on the ground, and on impact one of them created a low-sounding tremor. Yet, it sounded so clear to her, and she could feel it as clear as day thanks to sitting on the ground with her hands being used for support. The hue soon fell away from the figures, and as soon as she saw who they were, Tekken's eyes lit up like the stars of the night sky.

"Nico! MAGES.! You're alive!"

That's right, Nico and MAGES., the former carrying the latter still, slowly looked up as they witnessed their third overjoyed group member. The only one to have gotten off scot free from what they just went through. The purple areas that the woman had seen were Nico's deployed Plasma Cannons, something he'd done halfway when he had to pause their climbing to shoot down some of their pursuers. Also, there was the Plasma Launcher that MAGES., even now, was holding close to her chest like it had been her lifeline. In a sense though, it kinda had been.

"Hey there, Tekken." Nico stated with a tired sigh, exhaustion clearly evident in his tone as the male allowed his Passenger to stand on her own two feet, not noticing how the woman had this red hue on her cheeks for some reason. Though, the feeling of warmth around his waist was… kinda saddening to miss. Perhaps he just missed the warmth, something that he had cherished for the briefest of moments thanks to it offering comfort during that moment of madness. Nevertheless, Nico mentally thanked his Armour's developers that they had upgraded its Mask to a Helmet to better hide how red his face got at those thoughts rushing through his head.

What, he couldn't help it, those girls had influenced him more than they realised!

Honest!

"Whelp, managed to get MAGES. here back before she died." Nico remarked, standing tall and rolling his shoulders experimentally. The male winced though, when he heard faint cracking sounds come from his body, as well as moaned from the stress that he had exerted from them. The strain of having to carry someone up a wall that was roughly the height of a 200-story building, while also avoiding Gargoyle fireballs, doing parkour stunts and enduring the recoil fired from the Plasma Launcher, must have taxed them more than he had thought. "Though I'll admit it was a close one. We had some uninvited guests to that party, but MAGES. here managed to show them the door."

The Mad Magician nodded her head in agreement, that was INDEED quite a close encounter. "I concur." The woman nodded her head in agreement… before she took out her phone from her pocket. Both Nico AND Tekken gave a unified sweat drop while they equally matched the 'seriously?' expressions they both possessed, as MAGES. began speaking into the Phone after dialling a number. "Hello. It appears the Organisation's clutches of death have once more tried to wrestle control over my fate from me. I have thwarted this attempt, like all the others. Yes, I know, I will be more careful in the future. Yes. Farewell. Loochs tneve emag noitamina cisum" She said, before switching the Phone off and pocketing it once more.

 **'That… was no Spell… I believe that is simply her acronym spelt backwards.'**

'You and I can agree on that.'

She then went about summoning her Staff from her inventory… before nearly buckling over as she lost her balance. "Whoa, MAGES.!" Nico explained, blurring forth so that when MAGES. fell backwards, she landed on his right arm which wrapped around her waist, keeping her from falling. His mind didn't, or rather it was too distracted by the issue of her lack of power, to notice the slightly flushed expression MAGES. possessed at the close contact with his arm. "Easy there, girl. You need some SP Chargers down you" he stated in concern, quickly taking one from his Void Storage (Though that kinda had been difficult thanks to the position he was in). Holding it out to her, MAGES. took it gingerly and downed the contents in one big gulp. A huge sigh of relief escaped her lips as she felt her strength return once again to her.

"I must once again… thank you, DEATHSTROKE." The Mad Magician spoke as she panted heavily, her chest heaving up and down as Nico allowed her to stand on her own once more. Though, he kept an eye on her centre of balance, so she didn't fall over. "Had you not intervened, the cold claws of death would have claimed yet another soul in this twisted domain."

Nico however, shook his head as is lone uncovered eye shone with determination, his arms crossed over his chest. "No need, I was just doing what a Spec Ops is meant to do." He stated as he regarded the Mad Magician. "Helping the innocent is part of what we do." After he said this, Nico remained silent for a brief moment, and MAGES. kept looking at him. Like, looking at him HARD, like she wanted him to say something. The male's cheeks eventually reddened, though his Helmet hid it well as he looked to the side, shuffling nervously. "Though I will admit, I'm really glad you're alright."

That apparently had something to do with what she wanted, as MAGES. formed a satisfied smirk on her lips as she looked away from him, to Nico's relief. Though the embarrassment about admitting such a thing was still there. "It is good that you are being honest with me, DEATHSTROKE." She commented, twirling her staff. "I was wondering if I had to cast a truth spell on you to make you say what you're really feeling inside. I have noticed that you tend to fall back on the 'its our duty' line whenever you save a beautiful lady from a horrible fate. You would do well to be more honest about your soft side." She said in a teasing manner, chuckling at how Nico was refusing to look at her for the time being.

 **'Looks like she read through you there, Nico. This 'MAGES.' is a rather insightful individual, is she not?'**

'Ugh, don't remind me…' Nico commented back to his Demon Persona, all the while trying to rein in his emotions. While the teen succeeded, the damage had been done as both MAGES. and Tekken giggled at his predicament. MAGES. did have a point though, he did sometimes have the tendency to fall back on his Spec Ops persona, mostly to avoid saying anything embarrassing. He then turned to Tekken and arched a brow in her direction, after that moment passed of course. "By the way, how are you feeling, Tekken?"

The young Martial Artist, not expecting his question or the suddenness of it, merely blinked owlishly at the male. Honestly, he could imagine the question marks popping in and out of existence over her head… oh wait, they really were there. "Eh…?"

"You took quite a shock just now when we fell. I hope you weren't scared by what happened or anything." Nico elaborated. Judging by what he'd seen of her in the past, both with the Necromorphs and with all this demonic shit, Nico assumed that such a high, intense situation would have thrown the Martial Artist off her game, knocked her off balance. That, in here, wasn't good, not good one bit. One had to keep on top of themselves if they wanted to survive, a lesson he'd learned the hard way.

Nevertheless, Tekken once again displayed her bravery and courage, hardening herself as she nodded in determination. "Y-Yeah, I'm good! I'm just glad you two managed to get back here unscathed." She told him, before letting out a relieved sigh and smile.

'Seriously, she would have made a splendid Spec Ops Agent…' Nico thought to himself, both impressed and dismayed at the bravery Tekken was showing. Well, perhaps that wasn't quite right, Nico doubted that Tekken would be able to stomach the stuff that they had to do on a daily basis. She just seemed far too pure and innocent for that, for a martial artist with masochistic tendencies, anyways. They had to do things like assassinations, detective work, catching criminals no matter how grave their crimes were, rescuing hostages, and a whole lot of dark stuff other than fighting Abnormals. When Nico referred to their world being filled with monsters, he wasn't kidding, nor was he just referring to the Abnormals. In some cases, humanity were the real monsters here.

However, one thing she DID share with the Spec Ops community, or at least the majority of it, was the bravery and courage to not run from danger like a fucking coward. It was one of the core principles devised by their founder, to not run from danger and instead bear their 'fangs and claws' to fight the enemy off. To engage in territory battle with the Abnormals and come out victorious. If one ran from situations a Spec Ops would face daily, then they'd be dooming countless innocents to a fate nobody deserved. Those lost lives would be on their hands, even if they didn't really kill them directly. They would take the blame for those lost lives because, if not for their cowardly actions, then they wouldn't have had to die. That was one of the biggest differences between Guild Agents and Spec Ops, the level of burden they carry is far more than any Guild Agent could ever imagine. They truly were the monsters that devoured other monsters, just so other people wouldn't have to.

"I see…" Nico started, nodding his head as he opened his Helmet once more, allowing the two to see how his lips were curving upwards into a small smile. Good thing he'd managed to curb stomp his embarrassment from before, otherwise it would have lead to some pretty awkward conversation afterwards… probably more on his end than anything. "Well, that's good. But yeah, me and MAGES. are fine." The male then decided to get some teasing in, just to lighten the mood a bit to raise their morale. That was always a point to do when on a mission like this, otherwise the team wouldn't fight at their best and that would end up increasing the chances for a mission failure. "Though, something tells me we've discovered a hidden gun nut in our resident Mad Magician, she kept firing that Plasma Launcher like a mad woman… which she technically is if you look at her nickname."

At this, MAGES. aimed a fierce glare towards the male… all the while, she hugged the Plasma Launcher close to her chest, like a mother trying to protect her precious baby. "I do not need to be teased over my love for technology, DEATHSTROKE." She stated, though the embarrassed blush on her face made for a rather cute glare instead of an angry one that she had been intending for. What, she was indeed the Mad Magician, but more importantly she had a love for things that go boom or cause destruction. Just look at some of the things she was planning to invent: a remote controlled mini car-shaped mobile nuclear bomb, a disintegrator ray, a Ray Sphere…

Yeah, lets stop there.

The male briefly let out a small, amused chuckle. "Don't worry, MAGES. I was just teasing." He told her, smiling before his helmet closed once more. He activated his Bracer, and within moments the Plasma Launcher was back in his Void Storage, much to MAGES. dismay. Though, the Mad Magician mentally noted to make a copy of that weapon for the next time she needed one. "Anyways, we should head on forwards, there's no telling what we could be facing down there, and I for one want to see this place levelled in at least the next few chapters." Nico commented, his amusement fading into nothingness as seriousness replaced it.

Both the Martial Artist and Mage became just as serious, nodding in agreement. If things like what just happened were what they would have to expect here, then they would have to be on guard more than they already had been. Also, those fences would need to be kept wary of, considering what had happened just now. There were still people they needed to get out of this hellhole, well, two people. None of them had any hopes that those brought here before hadn't already met their end or worse, so it would fall to them to end this place once and for all.

To give the deceased the chance to rest in peace.

* * *

After that little issue, The trio decided to take it slower than before, to look around for the entrance to the Chamber of Suffering. Though, they soon came to a rather troublesome problem. Not too difficult for them, but nonetheless troublesome. "Damn..." Nico stated, frowning as he looked at his Bracer''s Holomap combined with his Motion Tracker. His curse though did make the others stop their walking and turn to face the male, worried expressions on their faces though MAGES. hid hers better.

"What is it, Nico?"

"Has there been unforeseen problems, DEATHSTROKE?"

The two girls asked him those questions, prompting Nico to look up at them after deactivating his Bracers. "Well, looks like here's a bigger ratio of enemies in this place, so much so that we don't exactly have a safe route through them. Looks like the closer we get to the Chamber of Suffering the more enemies we face." he explained, causing the girls to glance towards each other.

"That does sound worrying." MAGES. admitted while cupping her chin in thought. She opened her Inventory and took a look at her supplies, her frown deepening. "It appears that this journey has been more perilous than I previously anticipated. All these constant life or death struggles have indeed drained my SP Charger supply completely. I do not have any more to stop the claws of death from gaining a foothold in our everlasting struggle to resist it." she told him, which Nico took as chuni for that her supplies for recovering her mana were gone, meaning they had to be very careful on when they fought from now on.

Tekken looked over to her friend, a comforting hand being placed on her shoulder. "Well, I have some good amount of Healing Pods, with some spare Healing Grass too. We can survive off them if we get too hurt." she said, after having checked her own inventory. During training, it wouldn't be uncommon for her body to get injured (no matter how good the pain felt) so she usually held a stash of healing items in her Inventory. Then, the woman took her hand away before frowning deeply, just like MAGES. had been. "Though this blows, usually we would be able to use these Eject Buttons to get out of Dungeons like these." she remarked, taking out a said device which just looked like a remote with a single big red button. "But when I tried to use one to escape the Dungeon one time back in Level 1 on instinct, it didn't work."

 **'Either plot is keeping them here...'** Biko spoke through Nico's mind, getting the teen's attention though he kept an ear on the girls' conversation too. He didn't want to miss out on anything that could land him in an awkward situation later. **'Or the ambiance of Demonic Energy in the air has fried those devices to the point where they are worthless. My money would be on the latter of the two options.'**

'My money would be on the same, Biko... Though the mass produced Eject Buttons can be faulty at best.'

There was a reason why the Spec Ops had 'Specialized' Eject Buttons. The mass produced ones used by practically everyone else had some bugs in their designs that made them sometimes either not work, or get their electronics fried easily. Either way, they are rendered useless, and thus Adventurers and Guild Agents who have these, have to make sure to properly maintain them, otherwise when they have to come up against a high level boss monster that they wouldn't be able to kill normally, they'd be pretty much screwed.

That wasn't allowed for the Spec Ops community, so their engineers, mechanics, whatever you wanna call them in the WDD designed specialized versions that were 100% guaranteed to work, lacking those bugs in exchange for only being able to have a single use. Though, even then when they were used, they didn't get destroyed like the mass produced versions, making them a must have for when you become a Spec Ops.

The best gear WAS reserved for them for a reason after all.

A few minutes later, the duo finished their little chat. "Well then, it looks like we will have to pick our battles carefully, as well as avoid using too many Skills that would be too draining on our SP." MAGES. commented, frowning as she clutched her Staff's shaft. Nico had to wince at the face she was making, hell he swore he could hear IT making the 'DUN,DUN, DUUUUUN!' sound in his mind before laughing maniacally. Saying those words had to have stung her pride as a Magician, the thought that she wouldn't be able to use her more powerful spells in the mass spamming she'd been doing thus far probably hit her good and deep into her gut.

Worse still, Mages relied on their Magic attacks and wide arsenal of Spells in order to be the true threat they really were on the battlefield. A Mage who couldn't cast their Spells was practically already dead on such a battlefield, something he was PRETTY SURE MAGES. was well aware of. Warriors like him had only their stamina to worry about, as they could still deal pretty heavy damage even without SP Skills. Nico especially since he had both Plasma Weapons as well as Devil Arms. One could say he was a pretty good all-rounder with decent SP Skills and physical abilities. Thing was, Nico's weaknesses could be condensed into two words:

Mind warfare.

Nico had some mental defenses in place so low-tier spells wouldn't affect him but truly Skilled Mages whom had access to top-tier mind spells would be able to bypass those barriers and do whatever they wanted with his head. It'd become like their playground or something, not a subject Nico liked to discuss for obvious reasons. His body was a weapon, but his mind was a torn war-zone. Fortunately, Nico had made sure to pay extra caution when dealing with Magic users, so they never got the chance to use such spells against him.

MAGES.' Skills primarily relied on Mana, she didn't have much in the way of technology that could be of use to her on the battlefield, preferring to fight using Magic attacks. That honestly made her quite significantly one-dimensional, something that Nico honestly didn't like very much. It limited options and created weaknesses for others to exploit. That was why he himself, plus most of the Spec Ops Community had a wider array of Skills than normal Guild Agents, anything that could help them live a little longer while kicking as much Abnormal keister as possible.

Tekken herself enjoyed similar benefits thanks to her CQC skills and various Skills, both physical and elemental. Though, in his opinion she could use some training in how to fight against ranged opponents. Someone like MAGES., whom with her Mana-based attacks could strike her down before she could get close, and even if she could get close she would have several barriers to protect her, would be able to completely curbstomp her without much of an effort.

"Well, I guess so." Nico stated, short and direct, no need to damage MAGES.' pride any further than it already was. The male then looked over to Tekken, his eyes going over her form, focusing mostly on her gloved fists before he opened his mouth behind his helmet. Though, it had already opened when he did. Tekken, it'd be best if you used SP Skills that didn't consume too much, your RAIJIN FIST has the element most effective against our current enemies, but use it sparingly. We don't want you having low SP and tired, so reserve it for the boss-tier foes we may face." he instructed. This mission had been jumped up several degrees of intensity for a while now, but Nico had never gotten the chance for them to have a meeting about their strategy. Honestly, he'd probably go in like how he usually did, but unlike these two that approach would work for him considering what he can do. However, these girls weren't him, and he sometimes felt like he would forget that in the heat of battle.

That wasn't allowed, under any circumstances.

He'd make sure they got out of this alive.

Nico SWORE it on his pride as DEATHSTROKE!

* * *

Once they got going again, the trio journeyed throughout the Halls of Agony Level 3, and by the Goddess, if things before didn't do it, this Level of this underground Dungeon showed them just how it earned its name. There were way more torture devices, deranged prisoners that unfortunately twisted into Enthralled monstrosities, and Demons like the Bloodletters than even his Motion Tracker could have predicted. At first, he wondered what could have caused this, but he figured that thanks to everything that happened on the previous levels, they must have upped the ante and summoned reinforcements. It wasn't an uncommon tactic, but it definitely grinded his gears.

When they cleared out a room full of crazed Cultists, demonic Bloodletters, and even a couple Enthralled, Nico looked around and noticed something off. "Huh... this must be one of their storage rooms." he commented, looking about their surroundings. the room they were in was pretty spacious, with a cobblestone floor, walls and ceiling to boot. Red tints covered the room to give it a dark, savage feel to it, and the smell of dried blood polluted the air they breathed. The reason why he called it a storage room, was due to all the torture tools that were around, pinned to the walls by large chains.

There was the Iron Maiden: a putative torture and execution device, consisting of an iron cabinet with a hinged front and spike-covered interior, sufficiently tall to enclose a human being. Once inside its conical frame, the victim would be unable to move due to the great number of steel spikes impaling them from every direction. The interrogator would scream questions at the victim while poking them with jagged edges.

Then there was a popular instrument back in Leanbox's barbaric past known as Coffin torture: where people were placed in a metal cage roughly the size of the human body; hence the name. The torturers also forced overweight victims into smaller cages to heighten their discomfort as they hung from a tree or gallows. Generally, they would be left there until the crows came to feed on their remains.

Afterwards, he saw a Thumbscrew. Though there were many variations of this torture device, the thumbscrew or 'pilliwinks' all functioned the same way. They were designed to slowly crush not only the fingers and toes, but larger devices were also used to crush knees and elbows. There is also the Head Crusher, which could do the same for heads. It's primary intention was to extract confessions from victims, and if nothing came about, well... Best leave that unsaid to haunt nightmares.

These things really haunted people's nightmares back in the day, and he hadn't even begun to list all the various devices he'd seen. The reasons why he knew about these were A: his Spec Ops Training, B: various missions lead to him seeing some of these devices still being used in today's society. Men, women... children. Nobody would have been spared. Those people, the torturers, either worked for certain nobility or would be nobles themselves. Or some insane, sadistic psychopaths.

The way those people... he hesitated in calling them that... well, it would leave even hardened war veterans with nightmares for weeks.

"I'm really getting sick of this place. It just seems so wretched..." Tekken whispered under her breath, clenching her fists as she regarded each device with disgust. The things that she was seeing right now, it was horrid. Horrid, terrible and wrong, nothing compared to her original Gamindustri. It was practically a safe haven compared to this.

MAGES. nodded her head in agreement. Heck, even for a Mad Magician like her, someone whom had some... questionable inventions in her apartment, these things left her more than a little squeamish. In fact, she worried she might crack and vomit over the closest person to her at the time. "I concur, we should move on." she remarked.

Seeing that as the cue to move on, Tekken almost looked like the R#ad R#nne# from that one cartoon as she ran out the Storage room. Heck, she even had that trail of dust left in her wake, showcasing just how much she wanted to get the fuck out of there. Both MAGES. and Nico began to cough to clear their throats while waving their limbs, trying to clear the air they breathed of the dust. Nico had his Helmet open when this happened, that was why he had his lungs filled with smoke. He'd been too late to close that Helmet in time, and this was the price he'd paid.

Once it settled down, the male looked up with a few tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "Well, there she goes... we should follow Tekken before she gets herself into something she can't handle." he remarked as he cleared his his chest, the male had his Helmet close up it's faceplate, concealing it from view once more. Maybe he should think about keeping ti closed when around a scared Tekken so he didn't lose his ability to breathe in the future. As he made to walk out after the Martial Artist, the male felt an arm grab his armored gauntlet. "Huh?" Temporarily confused, the male looked to the source, barely resisting the urge to let the inner beast out to kick the ass of the one grabbing him, when he saw that it was MAGES. holding him. "MAGES.? What is it?"

"I need to talk to you. About Tekken."

Nico's eye slightly widened at the words that came out the Mad Magician's mouth. There was no trace of any signs of chuni in her words. meaning that she was cutting the bullshit and going straight to the point. That was the assumption he got when hearing her tone and staring into her hard-looking eyes. but that lasted only for a few seconds before it narrowed. '... Looks like we were right, Biko.' the male thought to his demon persona. 'Looks like MAGES. noticed it as well.' he commented, referring to the thing that was latching onto Tekken's soul. The thing that he had a guess as to its nature and identity, but he couldn't confirm it until it fully manifested itself. "... Lemme guess, its about the 'baggage' she has on her soul, am I right?"

"Indeed. I was correct in suspecting that you knew about it. This thing that's attached itself to my friend... It feels very similar too the demons that we have faced so far, but its power far outclasses them by a wide margin. My guess is its because whatever that thing is, its power must have been greater at some point." Her eyes narrowed further as she looked at Nico, or rather, the space where his heart would be as if she was trying to pierce into his soul. "Interestingly enough, your soul has a similar feel to it... countless demonic-feeling entities have latched onto you, like parasites... only it appears your soul has overpowered them, tamed them. Am I right to assume that Tekken's soul has done the same?"

Searching through the Mad Magician's eyes, Nico looked for any signs of ulterior motives. The information about the Devil Arms was not known by anyone other than him and Biko. The less people that knew about it, the better, after all. Such knowledge falling into the wrong hands could be disastrous, especially if humans tried to replicate the Devil Arms' powers. What kind of damaged could be caused by that, he'd rather not think about. To tell someone else about that information was like risking the possibility off a 10000 megaton bomb exploding inside a large city.

But then, he remembered something, something that he had begun to learn when he was with Lucy after the Mojang Village mines. That... it was okay to trust in others, that it was okay to risk opening up to people. Nico had spent so long, the exact amount of time he could no longer recall, not trusting others for various reasons. So long, that it had become ingrained within his psyche to keep secrets from the others. Yet, his own ideals about trust weren't completely wrong either, nor were they unfounded. There were so many scumbags in the world, too many to count. Horrible people who would use others for their own cruel machinations. The Overlord Momus Cult religion, plus the Chaos Religion, was proof of this.

Yet, just like how they were represented, in his mind, as the biggest source of the corruption in the world... Neptune, Compa, IF, Noire, Vert, Team RAIL, and all the people, both Spec Ops Agents and normal humans he'd fought alongside, both living and dead, they were proof that there was still some shred of good in the world. That there were some people still worth trusting. Like yin and yang, where there was darkness there was light. When light is shining, shadow is always cast. It is inevitable, the way of the world. Good and Evil.

... Maybe, maybe he could start?

Start changing that is.

Nico knew for certain that he wasn't ready to reveal anything in regards to his secret, hell to the no. That was a fact ingrained into his mind at this point. The time where he could show it may never come, or maybe it would come sooner than he would heave ever expected. Nonetheless, the fact was that he didn't feel himself ready to reveal such a disturbing truth about himself. But right now, that didn't matter. Right now, as he stared into MAGES. eyes as the Mad Magician patiently waited for his answer, maybe he could start with this. With everything going on right now, something told him that it may be best for them to all be on the same level regarding information.

"Before I say anything, you must promise not to share this information with anyone, at least not yet, also most CERTAINLY not Tekken." he told her. Just when she made to refute this statement, the male raised a hand to stop her. "What I mean is that this information, in the wrong hands, could cause cataclysmic damage to Gamindustri, and that'd only help the enemy out. Pretty sure you don't want that MAGES., you may be downright mad but you're most certainly not insane."

MAGES. glared at him for a moment, and if looks could kill, Nico could have been killed 1000 times over just by that gaze alone. It could have been able to shoot lasers thanks to how heated it looked, not something Nico would wanna have on his record: death by woman with laser eyes. A moment later though, the Mad Magician sighed as she dropped the glare, glancing down to the ground beneath their feet. "If that is what you wish. It appears to me that this information is critically important, thus I swear not to divulge it on my pride as a Mage." she told him after she lifted her head, allowing him to look into her eyes and see the determination brimming within them.

... Already, he was beginning to think that his actions were correct, as a small smirk formed on his lips behind his Helmet. "Good, Thanks for this, MAGES., seriously." he told her, and in that moment he tried his best to convey his sincerity as much as possible. Though, such efforts were slightly hindered by his Helmet still being closed so she didn't see his expression. Then again, it looked like she was starting to get impatient, so he decided to just get straight to the point. "Alright, in any case, what you're referring to is a set of demonic weapons called 'Devil Arms', basically souls of powerful demons manifested into weapons. Not only do they have the powers that their previous selves once had, but they can be used by those they deem worthy. Though those unworthy of their power end up being possessed and killed. The best way to tame a Devil Arm is to subdue it, something I had to do with Alastor, though I didn't realize it at the time. In regards to Tekken's case, I'm not completely sure, but from your words I can ASSUME that Tekken possibly has a Devil Arm of her own. How she has one, I have no idea. Though if you're worried about her, don't be, the Devil Arm seems to have been subdued by her own willpower."

'Though, Biko, how can she use a Devil Arm without demonic power? Don't they work when they have energy to feed on? Since her body's that of a human...'

 **'Normally, that would be the case. However, it appears that the Devil Arm itself foresaw this situation occurring. I say this because it has not yet manifested itself, it is waiting for Tekken to have acquired enough energy herself. I'll explain, since she has not got any Demonic Energy within her nor does she have the ability to generate it, her Devil Arm-if it is one-sealed itself away deep within her soul. While sealed, it has been finding any source of demonic power within its' hosts vicinity and absorbing it, while also funnelling it into her own energy reserves. Doing this not only expands her SP Reserves, but it also makes those reserves liable as a substitute energy source for it. It is a good thing she came to this place, as otherwise Tekken would have slowly been reduced to a pile of glop thanks to hosting a Devil Arm while still retaining her humanity. Normal humans are NOT meant to wield such power.'**

'I see... So, how long do you think it'll be before the supposed Devil Arm manifests itself?'

 **'Given the rate it is absorbing the ambiance of power within this accursed place, I would say that she doesn't have long left to wait. Once it first manifests, the Devil Arm will be able to be called on by her at will, while it will power itself using her augmented reserves.'**

'Right, got it. Thanks Biko.'

Well, that was an enlightening experience. Looked like he had underestimated the sentiency these Devil Arms apparently possessed. He didn't think it was strange that a weapon that would kill those unworthy of it by possession would take care of their hosts like that, since he'd experienced something similar from Alastor and Absolution. The more he learned about these Devil Arms, the closer Nico began to feel to the possibility of what the DPU era was once like. Demon souls becoming weapons, Legions following stronger demonic deities, and the Chaos Gods... all this stuff just reeked of that specific era. The more he learned about it, the more he began to wonder what it must have been like to be in that era. Part of him wanted to find out more about it, but right now that wasn't the best course of action. Maybe at some point in the future he could look into this matter a little more, but for now he'll focus on the truly important subject: getting to IF.

Returning to the real world, Nico looked to MAGES. and told her an abridged version of what Biko had told him. Hey, he may be starting to learn to trust, but that didn't mean he was going to showcase everything in one go. As the saying went: 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. Though, it did end up doing its job as MAGES. quickly looked like she was calming down from her earlier concerned demeanor. "I see... that indeed places weight off my shoulders. It is good to know that she will be alright, that the claws of death shall not take her soul." Yeah, he could tel she was relieved just by how she reverted to being a chuni. "However, I will keep an eye on her just in case. Unforeseen problems are the bane of existence." The woman told him, regaining her seriousness from before. though Nico just nodded in understanding. It made sense for her to be worried for her friend's safety, MAGES. may seem like a mad woman, but she did care about her friends.

One of the things he respected about her.

Now that they had that stuff cleared, Nico and MAGES. turned to the exit, nodded to each other, and then jogged off to where they could sense Tekken.

* * *

Turned out that happened to be a good thing, for when they found her they saw that Tekken was fighting, and losing for that matter, to something that made Nico's eye fly open to the size of a dinner plate, and MAGES. to lose her jaw in sheer shock, horror and disgust.

"Holy shit..."

"What madness is this?! Has the infernal mark of Chaos created such an abomination?!"

The first exclamation had been made by the male Spec Ops Agent, and the second made by the Mad Magician. The enemy before them, standing between them and further into the Dungeon, was something that they'd never encountered before in the other levels. Nor ever, and boy did they wish they hadn't. The thing blocking their way, it was a massive, hulking armoured giant of a man, easily 9 feet tall. He was donning this equally large, bulky crimson red armour, with black highlights and various spike-like protrusions. The armour had long, fat and curved tusks protruding in threes out of the shoulder pauldrons, while two demonic horns protruded out of the man's unguarded head. there was a white skull painted on the armour's chest plate, with a Khorne symbol on each shoulder pauldron. Around the waist, was what remained of a tattered black halberd, with the left hip sporting various sized skulls, all frozen in expressions of pure agony and suffering. Like they were still alive somehow even with their lack of bodies to function. The armour bulked the man's legs just as much, ending in wicked looking boots with long tusks protruding from the toes. In his hands, was a single Battleaxe, one coursing with orangish red demonic energy, crackling around it like a thick miasma. The Battleaxe looked just as dark, deadly and demonic as the one wielding it, with its body made from an ebony metal with spikes jutting out from its blade, giving it a sinister, dreadful appearance.

But the worst part? That was the man's face.

His face... well, it could hardly be called a face at all at this point. The man had a bald head, with his skin a ghostly pale almost reminiscent of a corpse. Nico had half a mind to ask him how much Vitamin C he was getting as a joke if he wasn't so utterly disgusted with how his mouth wasn't exactly a mouth at all, but a maw of 8 inch long fangs, no lips to conceal them. His lower jaw had this ebony black organic matter over it, forming sharp edged and an equally sharp chin. is eyes shined a hollow red, blazing violently almost like the Hellfire that Nico commanded in his DPU form. His cheeks even were missing, allowing them the ability to see the organic fibres and bones that kept the cheeks in formation... though they did look maliciously deformed.

'Oh shit, now I remember!' Nico thought as he tried to figure out just what the fuck they were dealing with. His mind had been assaulted with the urge to just bash the man's head in right here and now so he didn't have to look at him, it, whatever anymore. It was BEYOND clear that the man wasn't a human anymore, especially with the sounds of deranged hissing and snarling he made while he tried to bash Tekken's Skull in. 'I remember reading about this in my research! This guy's one of those fucking Champions of Chaos! Champions of Khorne in this case!'

A Champion of Chaos, also styled as a Chaos Champion, was an individual that had dedicated his or her life to further the cause of a particular patron Chaos God, or Chaos as a whole religion. He or she was either an extremely powerful warrior, such as a Soldier, Guild Agent or even a rogue Spec Ops Agent, or a wielder of Magic like a Mage. To them, Chaos was attractive for the simple reason that it offers enormous power to those willing to turn away from the CPUs and dedicate themselves in body and soul to the Chaos Gods. For many who walk its dark path, it offers the only hope of becoming more than just mere mortals that lies in the egalitarian favours of Chaos. For unlike the CPUs, Chaos judges its servants on merit and skill alone and rewards them for their successes or failures harshly, but fairly. In fact, many of those who serve the Chaos Gods would claim that only Chaos offers true justice to the peoples bound into the realm ruled over by the CPUs.

From then on, they go on what the Overlord Faction called 'The road to power', a vicious, brutal undertaking that results in massive amounts of blood, guts and gore. The road to power as a Chaos Champion, begins by first offering body and soul to Chaos: either to an individual Chaos God or to the religion as a whole. Not all who choose to do so are accepted, as Chaos Gods truly only want the elite of mortals in their service as their Champions. Often it took a spectacular deed of courage to attract the attention of the Chaos Gods. If the candidate is accepted by one, he or she received a Mark of Chaos from his or her Chaos Patron. This is the patron Chaos God's own Mark and each mark confers some supernatural ability or physical characteristic. Once a Champion receives his or her Mark, he or she begins to attract followers from the lesser servants of Chaos, including mortals and even daemons if the Champion proves powerful and successful enough. After their successful acceptance as a Champion, the Champion's life becomes an endless series of battles, raids and quests to serve the Chaos Gods.

As the Champion serves Chaos, he or she becomes increasingly physically altered through mutational "gifts" granted by the Patron. Such was the case here, the fangs, the horns, tusks, etc. all of that, mutation. Eventually, the road to power ends eventually either in the Champion being reduced to a mindless and formless Chaos Spawn due to persistent failures or ascension to Demonhood as an immortal, powerful Demon Prince as a reward for their success. All Chaos Champions are mortal and can be killed, although this is always a dangerous undertaking as they are exceedingly powerful foes. Those who follow a Chaos Champion's followers were called 'Chaos Warband' (interestingly enough, considering there were also tribes and bandits throughout Leanbox). Worse, Warbands were deadly rivals to each other, often combatting each other to gain the attention of their patron Chaos Gods. Even followers of the same Chaos God can be deadly rivals for their patron's fickle favour. Sometimes shaky alliances are formed between the Warbands of extremely powerful Champions. The truly successful Champions of Chaos would be rewarded with immortality and would be elevated to the rank of Demon Prince, even allowed to cross into the Demon World to establish themselves there.

Though, Nico had not been able to find out HOW they could cross into such a world, part of him didn't want to.

In their case, it looked like they were facing a Champion of Khorne, considering the symbol and theme his armour presented proudly, like it was the best thing in the world. Champions of Khorne, according to his research, were the most bloodthirsty and savage fighters in the 4 Nations. Champions of Khorne lust after only two things: the spilling of blood and the roar of battle to satisfy the desires of the Blood God. They were experts in many weapon forms (similar to how Nico has skills with multiple weapons) which others could not master, but don't fight in a graceful manner, preferring to bludgeon their way through a large number of enemies. Only the greatest battles could sate their endless thirst for blood and death.

Looking over to MAGES., Nico swiftly pulled out Ebony and Ivory, holding them up to his chest level. "MAGES., you focus on buff spells, support me and Tekken while we handle the brunt of the attacks. That should finish the enemy quickly." he told her, before he dashed off into the battle. The Mad Magician complied, quickly summoning her Staff and holding it out, muttering in te runic language. She already began glowing with her Mana, thanks to the Spells she was casting drawing it out from her Mana reserves.

Back to Nico, the male held his dual Pistols and fired a barrage of Bullets the Chaos Champion's way. The demonic bullets, empowered by his energy, rushed through the air towards their target like airborne Submarine torpedo's, with the ferocity to match them too. The Chaos Champion, whom stood over a downed Tekken who was using her arms to support herself as she stared up with absolute terror in her eyes, didn't see them coming till the last second, and even then the man couldn't do anything but let them hit him in the face.

SQUEALCH, SQUEALCH, SQUEALCH!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The man let out an unholy, inhumane and bloodthirsty shriek, mixed with pain and anger as he stumbled backwards. His boots made almost earthquake-level stomping sounds as he did so. He took one hand from his Battleaxe and covered his face with it, blood dripping from that area where the bullets dug themselves in.

While that happened, Nico slid to a halt at Tekken's side, jumping into a double kick to knock the Chaos Champion onto his back before flipping into a crouch. 'Heh, style points! Beat that, Neptune!' the male thought, slightly smirking in amusement at the possibility of Neptune doing parkour stunts. Though, he'd probably neuter any guys that got a glimpse up her hoodie dress, preferably as Crimson Soul so he could burn their nuts off before they could do anything. The male then looked down and stood, leaning towards her and offering his hand towards the Martial Artist. "You alright? Looked like you could have used some backup." he asked her, getting a nod from the black haired girl.

"Hmm! Yeah, thanks. Thought I was a goner there." she replied, beaming with gratitude as she clasped his Armour covered hand with her own gloved one. With a firm grip, Nico swiftly pulled her up to her feet, Tekken slightly stumbling from the force he used. Though she managed to keep her balance, before she looked up to him. "Where's MAGES.?" she asked the teen, who gestured behind her. Turning her head, she saw the Mad Magician chanting some low-to-mid level Buffing Spells. "Oh."

Nico nodded, before he filled her in on what he knew about the Chaos Champion. MAGES. was close by, so she heard it too. Once he finished, the two girls couldn't keep their disgust from showing on their features. Truly, there were some depraved people in the world, if they'd turn away from the CPUs to become... like that. They just couldn't understand why they'd want to do so. Some people just wanted to watch the world burn, they figured, no matter how much they didn't want to admit it. With that, the teen noticed that their foe was starting to recover, sitting up while shaking his head with a few grunts. Turning back to the Martial Artist, the male quickly relayed his and MAGES.' plan to her. "Our plan is for her to act as support while you and me be the heavy lifters. Think you can handle it?"

"Yup, you got it! He didn't rough me up too bad... #whisper# sadly."

... Nico chose not to comment on that last bit his enhanced senses picked up. He felt it would be best that way, Tekken's Masochistic tendencies could wait till AFTER they were done with this shit.

With that, the two turned towards the Chaos Champion. Said Champion, said man/monster having lowered his hand so they could see the bullets still embedded inside his face. Two were I his forehead, one through the bridge of his nose and 6 were inside the man's maw, before he spat them out. The man looked absolutely livid towards them, opening his maw to showcase even MORE rows of teeth as he let out another unholy roar. The areas around the demonic bullets began to steam, various liquid-like sounds emitting from them before the bullets got pushed out, falling to the ground in useless heaps. The wounds then closed up, leaving unmarred pale skin behind much to the male's dismay.

'Tch, looks like this asshole's going to be an annoying one to take down.'

 **'I'd recommend Harvester for this one, Nico. It's been dying to sink its blade into ithat guy's flesh.'**

'Alright.'

Nico listened to his Demon Aspect's words and summoned Harvester from his Void Storage. The weapon appeared in a flurry of datastreams over the space around his lower back, settling there with threads of demonic energy. Nico swiftly grabbed the Shaft and quickly drew it, and almost instantly afterwards the male felt it. The Devil Arm's shudders of pure glee in his hands, felt via brief trembles in his grip. The sentience within the weapon trembled at the prospect of being allowed to fight once more, and the male almost got the feeling that if it could, it would escape his grip, travel to the enemy and embed its blade into him.

'Say Biko, these Devil Arms, weapons I've had for a while now... they seem to be acting different compared to before, when it only took really tough Abnormals, I'm talking about at least above A rank, to get them to merely rattle in my hands. Now? They seem to be... more, well, active than before. Any ideas as to why?'

 **'It is because they are facing beings of demonic origin. They see you as their wielder, but they never got to fight anything 'worthwhile' in their eyes. Aside from those A rank Abnormals, but even then they would be considered inferior to the Demon Species. Seeing that you have been fighting more and more Demons recently has been of great interest to the Devil Arms within you. You cannot IMAGINE the noise they made when I sealed them, they were literally like wailing infants. Their chance to sink themselves into demonic flesh, gone. Now tat they are unsealed once more, they are now more than willing to lend you their full power. Expect every Devil arm in your possession to give you their full powers from now on.'**

'Huh... well, hat's something. Honestly, I wanna see what Harvester can do then. Alright, Harvester,, lets show this Chaos Champion your power, shall we?!'

(Play Last One Standing by Simple Plan)

A deep rumbling sensation triggered itself from his gut, and he knew that was the confirmation his Devil Arm was giving him. A slight smirk crossed onto his lips, hidden behind his Helmet as Nico dashed forwards, Tekken hot on his heels. The Chaos Champion roared as he charged back, swinging his Battleaxe towards Harvester which was already swinging towards his head,. The two weapons collided, erupting in a spectacular shower of sparks between them, while their wielders pushed against each other n a battle of strength.

This lasted only for several seconds though, as Nico swiftly kicked his enemy away from him to allow Tekken to jump into a flying kick. Her attack hit its target in the center of his neck, causing the Chaos Champion to gasp, coughing up saliva as he held his jugular. Not one to be outdone, Tekken landed in a crouch before blasting forwards. She mentally noted hos eh felt a burst of power come forth from deep within her, although it didn't come from whatever helped her deal with fear and terror. 'Must be MAGES. Buffing spells.' She thought, before applying several punches to the Chaos Champion's face. The only place that wasn't armored, as she'd learned the hard way that striking that Armour only resulted in sore fists.

However, the Chaos Champion managed to recover before the third punch landed, tilting his head out the way before...

SLAM!

...Brutally ramming an elbow into her stomach, electing sharp gasp from the Martial Artist before he spun and WHAM! Reverse backhanded her away from him. Tekken gasped and grunted as she tumbled across the ground, barely recovering and using the momentum to roll back onto her feet. Looking towards the enemy, the woman ended up seeing how Nico was already engaged in combat with their enemy.

Over on his end, the male swung Harvester in an upward slash, parrying the Chaos Champion's Battleaxe. Nor one to be outdone, Nico shifted his grip and spun Harvester like Helicopter blades above his head, before coming down with a diagonal slash. This one, too, was also parried before the Chaos Champion made to kick Nico in the stomach, for the male to pivot around him and swing Harvester towards his upper back. The Scythe-shaped Devil Arm made contact with its Armour, slashing through it and going to the exposed flesh underneath. That Armour may block the fists of Martial Artists, but against a Devil Arm like it, the Armour stood no chance.

Not giving his enemy a chance to recover, Nico swung Harvester in a wide low sweep, knocking the Chaos Champion's legs out from under him as he fell onto his stomach. The male then used the momentum to twirl Harvester into a downward slash, its tip aimed towards the wound he'd caused earlier. However, the Chaos Champion managed to recover ad roll out the way, having the Scythe hit through the cobblestone ground instead. The Chaos Champion got onto one knee and, seeing his chance, swung his Battleaxe in a horizontal motion toward's Nico's head, only for the male to side flip into his weapon;s shaft and use it like a surf board, jumping off it right after and grasping the shaft, pulling the weapon out just in time to block an overhead slam to his head. Once again, two weapon clashed, orangish red energies from the Battleaxe chaotically zapping away at the Devil Arm. Unfortunately for it, thanks to Harvester being said weapon type, those energies couldn't even damage it.

Nico swore that he felt his weapon 'scoff' like it was amused/annoyed that the other weapon thought such a trick would work on a weapon of its caliber.

He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, since it DID have partial sentience.

Soon enough, Tekken rejoined the fray, jumping into a Helicopter kick to the back of the Chaos Champion's head while he was distracted fighting Nico. However, at the last second the Chaos Champion ducked, breaking off as Nico had do duck as well lest he get hit. The male mentally cursed, that kick had some power behind it! He could feel the air blast generated by it go WHOOSH right over his freaking Helmet.

"Careful Tekken, you almost hit me!"

"S-Sorry!"

Tekken landed on the ground, only to quickly bend backwards into a handstand to avoid the large Battleaxe, which came at her in an overhead slam. The Chaos Champion, the one who launched that sneak attack, growled under his breath as he twisted the weapon, going for a reverse horizontal slice that Tekken got on all fours to dodge, letting it sail harmlessly over her head. Shifting the weapon's grip in his hands once more, the Chaos Champion made to bring his Battleaxe down on her once more, had Nico not intervened by swinging Harvester and hooking it around his chest that is. The male smirked and, with a rush of demonic energy, swung the Chaos Champion away from them using his Scythe as a makeshift tossing weapon. Harvester thrummed with power, almost crackling with energy flowing through it During this move.

Twirling Harvester, the male made to move forwards, when suddenly something... weird, happened.

...

...

...

...

... SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

His weapon slowly, gradually like when a tap was slowly releasing water, became encased with this odd, Dark violet miasma. A miasma that Nico sensed was made from demonic energy. He could feel power spewing forth to create this miasma. 'Huh? What the...?' the male wondered, before information coursed into his brain like blood flowing through a bloodstream. His eye widened as he realized what was going on, how Harvester was doing the same thing that Alastor and Absolution did. Giving him information on what its powers were. And boy, did this one feel like a dozy! Harvester once he looked into all its abilities, would likely be up there with Absolution in terms of Versatility, and THAT was something Nico liked.

Nico's main advantage in a fight would be versatility. He didn't see himself as someone who had powers that could level buildings or entire landscapes. Honestly, he found those types of powers to be impractical and more damaging than necessary. Why make so much of a mess when there could be other ways of going about it that doesn't leave such a big mess? That was always the reasoning he had whenever someone asked him what kind of powers he had: destruction or support. Nico would chose a better option, ability versatility, where he would have an arsenal of powers that, while not as destructive as other abilities he'd seen, were still lethal in their own ways. It made them less restrictive to use, and in a battle where those who have overly destructive powers try to limit themselves so their surroundings don't go boom, that was a huge advantage on his part.

That was largely why he didn't like going into his DPU form too much. Soul Edge had a LARGELY destructive power over Hellfire, and Biko had told him that it was just as versatile too once he unlocked the other abilities he apparently had. It was a mic of both high destruction and variation in its abilities, but because it had such potential to damage the areas he was in, such as the case as when he fought the Killachine in Lastation's Capital of SONY, Nico didn't like using it in tightly closed spaces. It just caused too much damage, and could pose a risk to those he fought alongside at the time, if he had any that is, or innocent bystanders in the area. If he was out in an open space though, where no civilians would be in danger of being caught in a crossfire? Or if he was fighting in an enemy base? Then the kid gloves came off and Crimson Soul came out to play.

While Nico had been thinking all this, Tekken had rushed back into the battle to keep the Chaos Champion on his toes. Like him though, the woman also experienced something... off, though unlike him she didn't seem to be aware of it. As she closed in on her opponent, her body became bathed in this thin, white aura. It had the same appearance as light, something that could be reminiscent of the divine light CPUs radiated, but... it had NONE of the divinity hat the CPUs light had. In fact, one could say that it had the exact opposite feel too it...

A DEMONIC feel to it.

Once she was close enough to her opponent, Tekken struck him in the stomach with a straight kick. He attack did little to stop him from swinging his energy-filled Battleaxe at her horizontally, but the woman wasn't perturbed. She twirled around and bent her upper body downwards, avoiding the blow and also going for a reverse back kick to the man's jaw, knocking him stumbling backwards. Tekken refused to let this be the end of her combo though, so she got into a handstand and pushed herself into the air, spinning into a helicopter kick to his face.

Her opponent grabbed her by her foot however, and with a sinister snarl slammed her into the ground hard. Just before she could hit the ground though, Tekken put her hands on it and used the momentum, applying strength to her legs in order to flip the man over her and through the air. She didn't even notice the aura then when it circiled around her limbs, reinforcing them with its power. That, combined with MAGES.' Buffing Spells, made her a heck of a lot stronger than she was in her base state.

This sight allowed the male Spec Ops Agent to regain his focus, seeing that the enemy had been flung in his direction. With his stance taking the form of 2 bent legs with Harvester in a reverse horizontal slashing position, Nico allowed Harvester to utilize one of its abilities. The male, upon seeing his opponent being halfway between him and Tekken, quickly burst forwards as the ability activated, the male forcefully yelling the ability's name out. "TELEPORT SLASH!"

In an instant, the male vanished in a flash of purple, reappearing beneath his opponent with Harvester's blade glowing purple, In which, he swiftly cut through in an over-the-shoulder slash. The Chaos Champion cried out as he felt the Scythe-shaped Devil Arm cut through his back injury, even as it fully regenerated before the Chaos Champion hit the ground.

'Huh... TELEPORT SLASH, huh?' Nico hummed in thought, before glancing down to his Harvester in wonder. His brain quickly processed the ability and the uses that it could have for him, one of which would be like closing the distance between him and a ranged enemy without having to worry about projectiles. Though, his armour and THAT would help him resist those anyways.

Then again, it made his defences more versatile, something he liked. He could also use it to get around his enemies in close combat, escaping their attacks while getting in some strikes of his own before reappearing. It depended on how he used the weapon, in all honesty. Seriously though, with the way that these Devil Arms were showing him powers that they possessed, powers he didn't know about beforehand, it almost made him wonder which form he was stronger in: his human, or DPU form?

Several groans came from the Chaos Champion, alerting him to the fact that their enemy was getting back up. Pushing his thoughts to the side, Nico made to use the TELEPORT SLASH again when he sensed the Devil Arm send him information about another ability it possessed. 'Huh... well then, lets see how this works.' he thought pointing Harvester's backedge as the ability activated. "DEATH GRIP!" From the blade the purple miasma from before gathered around it, forming a purple astral-looking spirit gauntlet that rivalled the size of an above-average bodybuilder's. It also had a skeletal design, too. The gauntlet launched forwards, grabbing onto the Chaos Champion by his Armour's chestplate before, as if being connected to Nico's Harvester by an invisible chain, it retracted backwards while pulling his enemy towards him.

Using this as an opportunity, Nico swiftly went with another TELEPORT SLASH, swiftly vanishing in a purple flash and reappearing behind his enemy. In the next second, the Chaos Champion had a set of gashes appear on his armour, cracking it in those places while Harvester lost its miasma. The male spun around however, and swiftly swung his Devil arm to smack him in the side with the back of the weapon's Shaft, sending him tumbling away.

The Chaos Champion roared in primal fury, rage coursing through his being as he stood upright, having got into a crouch and halted his momentum with his Battleaxe. The amount of raw anger in him right now would rival the legendary green man himself, and he wanted to use it all on his enemies for the Chaos God that he patroned. The Chaos Champion stood up and let out another primal roar, chaotic energies escaping from within his maw almost like a fiery breath while his eyes glowed so intensy they looked like volatile flames.

He then gripped his Battleaxe and dashed forwards, temporarily surprising Nico with the speed he just witnessed. The male quickly parried the first strike away from him though, but this time he had to play it on the defensive side as the Chaos Champion refused to let up, swinging so fast and furious that it remained impossible to find an opening within his brutal movements.

'Tch, this is bad!' the male thought. 'This asshole's got me on the defensive, if I don't turn the tide to my favour fast then-!'

Nico quickly sidestepped an overhead slam, only to stumble backwards when a shoulder tackle collided with his chest. The male regained his balance, only for the Chaos Champion to spin into another overhead smash. The Battleaxe came down upon him, its speed even faster than before as Nico swiftly raised Harvester's shaft to block it. There was no way he could escape it with the speed that it was travelling, so blocking became the next option. The Battleaxe collided with Harvester's Shaft seconds later while releasing an explosive energy shockwave, blowing away the ground around the two fighters as well as an approaching Tekken.

"Kya!"

"Tekken! Oh, you little fucker...!"

Alright, the moment that he heard her cry out like that, something within Nico began to break. He didn't now her for NEARLY as long as Neptune or the others, but she still classified as a worthy comrade in his eyes. And this fucker just tried to kill her with that shockwave of his. Now, Nico began feeling pure anger gradually rising within the bottom of his gut, as well as within the back of his mind. The male gritted his teeth as he glared through his sole uncovered eye at his opponent, who was growling, panting an grunting like a wild animal as the two struggled for dominance.

The male wanted oh so desperately to trip that fucker's face off, to tear into him and smother his guts across the walls of this walkway. He didn't want there to be anything left to recognise as human by the time that he was through with this guy. The thought that he was blocking them from reaching the Chamber of Suffering, where IF was being held mind you, was yet the icing on the cake for him.

Apparently, Harvester shared his dislike for this asshole, for it shuddered in its grip. There was a slight heated sensation coming from it, an indication of how angry it was getting. Though, the difference between them was that Nico's anger mostly derived from how the enemy had tried to attack his comrade. Harvester's derived from how this enemy dared to think that it would break so easily to such strikes. Nevertheless, it was the one to act on this anger, sending Nico information on another ability. The male's eye widened as he quickly pushed the enemy back through nothing but brute force, stomping on the ground to enter a twirling motion. "Here, have some of my HARVEST, bitch!"

During mid swing, the dark violet miasma coated the blade, and Harvester's blade transformed into a larger, wider and purple astral version of itself. The larger Harvester smashed right into the Chaos Champion's armour with the force of a thousand sledgehammers, as well as the cutting power of several chainsaws, and it showed when the armour simply gave in under the slash's power. This prompted a cry of shock and pain from the Chaos Champion, his Armour's integrity weakening from the blow. Though, Nico would give him no such respite.

Neither would Harvester.

Both began to embark on a warpath towards their prey.

Dashing forwards, Nico reared his Scythe backwards for a diagonal slash towards the weakened chest plate, intending to expose the chest area underneath it. His opponent though, once again displayed great reaction times as he swung his Battleaxe from right to left. Nico swung the same way, but from the opposite direction, allowing the two weapons to collide for a brief moment, before he went and activated a TELEPORT SLASH to appear behind him, swinging at his exposed behind.

However, his enemy seemed to have anticipated that as the Chaos Champion twisted on his right foot, spinning into a diagonal slash to Nico's right shoulder, forcing the male to deflect the strike away from him. But the teen didn't let that distract him for one second, stomping on the ground with his right foot, Nico jumped into a straight kick to his opponent's face, catching the Chaos Champion by surprise before twisting and hurling Harvested down like a wheel. The Devil Arm impaled the Chaos Champion's right shoulder, an ironic case considering the right shoulder was the Chaos Champion's intended target before. This injury however did nothing to deter the Chaos Champion, as he let out a bellowing roar while swinging his Battleaxe at his opponent, thinking that without his weapon, Nico would be defenceless.

That proved to be a mistake though, as the Chaos Champion forgot about his dual Pistol Devil Arms Ebony and Ivory. Drawing the two, Nico fired several shots into the man's right arm Armour, weakening his incoming strike enough for the male to side flip over it and adjust himself t a position in the air that he could strike back. He fell down, and grasped onto Harvester's shaft while planting his feet into the man's upper back. His Pistols now back to their previous positions on his hips, the Spec Ops Agent swiftly tore Harvester out of his enemy, utterly ripping out the shoulder Armour there along with the weapon, leaving a gaping hole where the Armour had once covered.

This definitely enraged the Chaos Champion, but before he could retaliate against Nico, a bare foot slammed into the side of his head, sending him tumbling across the ground. The cause? Tekken, the Martial Artist having been temporarily knocked down by the shockwave. Just now though, she had been able to get up again, empowered by the light aura around her. Hell, her body sometimes crackled with energy, mostly around her limbs since they were her primary striking tools. Her eyes slowly gained a whitish silvery glow around them, yet another by-product of the power supporting her she wasn't aware of.

Landing on the ground, Tekken crouched for a millisecond, before breaking into a mad sprint. She closed the distance between the two of them, and began hammering away at her opponent with fast-pace punches, kicks, elbow strikes and knee strikes. She kneed her opponent in the gut, delivering several well-placed elbow strikes to his jugular in the next second before she spun around into a back kick to his jaw. The woman didn't realise it, but her attacks had done the task of destroying the organic matter around the jaw, exposing the human flesh underneath. Apparently, that organic matter had been a form of armour, a boon granted to the Chaos Champion by his Patron Chaos God Khorne, no doubt.

Not wasting her chance, Tekken dashed forwards again, rearing her right fist back for a punch. Her fist, including a portion of her arm, instantly exploded into Lightning as Tekken activated her RAIJIN FIST, slamming the Skill Attack into the Chaos Champion's chest. Although, sadly for her he had managed to raise his Battleaxe in time, using the rear end as a makeshift blunt jabbing tool to jab into her mid section, causing Tekken to bend forwards with a gasp. The Martial Artist however, quickly recovered and looked up, seeing the Battleaxe just seconds away from splitting her head open.

In any other case, she would have paled and froze up while awaiting her head's inevitable demise (no matter how good it might have felt), then later on her death...

But this wasn't one of those times, thanks to her aura... or rather, what was powering it.

It quickly had her dive roll sideways, avoiding the Battleaxe at the last second, the large weapon making a large, loud explosion upon impact with the cobblestone ground. Rolling back to her feet, Tekken jumped back into the fray, slide tackling the man's legs out from under him. Her attempt succeeded, largely thanks to MAGES.' Buffing Spells and her own aura, and the Chaos Champion made a startled exclamation as he fell to the ground.

Not giving him any chance to recover, Tekken grabbed him by the legs, and stomped her feet onto the ground, quickly proceeding to twirl the man about like an Olympics participant doing the hammer throw. She spun around a total of 15 times, and with a mighty war cry she threw the Chaos Champion straight towards Nico's waiting form.

Said male, during Tekken's assault, had garnered information about Harvester's powers, only... these were a LITTLE bit different compared to the ones he'd used so far, in that they were more elemental based than pure combat based. Nevertheless, he wanted to try them out, see what they could do.

"SHADOW ANIMATION!"

Calling forth the name of Harvester's SHADOW ANIMATION, Nico felt the ability activate. Harvester's form became coated in black miasma, instead of purple, which travelled up his arm and down his back to his shadow. There, it connected to the shadow, and just... seemingly gave it a life of its own. It separated from the one it had been connected to since birth, before rising upwards like a marionette. It soon floated over to Nico's side, shaping itself into an exact copy of his armoured self, complete with a single, burning dark violet eye reminiscent of a literal flame. In it's right hand, was a single, massive-looking sword reminiscent of Soul Edge's form when he entered Berserker Mode, interestingly enough. Also interesting was the fact that it possessed his DPU Form's wings, made from pure dark violet dangerously flaring flames that burned even the very air around it. They were so hot, that most people couldn't stand to look at them for more than a millisecond.

Huh. Looks like Harvester liked that design, if it let that influence its powers.

With this ability active, Nico and the SHADOW ANIMATION swiftly charged forth into the fray, the Chaos Champion having seen the incoming danger and righted himself for a diagonal swing while using the momentum to boost his attack's power. The swing came down on the male, but before it could land on his flesh, Nico's SHADOW ANIMATION strafed in front of him, sword raised as it parried the blow. The shockwave that erupted between them shook the air space around them, as well as knocked Nico backwards by about 8 metres, since he'd stabbed Harvester into the ground to halt his movement right before getting hit by the shockwave. The SHADOW ANIMATION broke the deadlock between it and the Chaos Champion, its lone flaming eye narrowing at the one that dared attack its master, before raising its sword and pulling off what Nico noticed was a CROSS COMBINATION attack... just like Neptune's whenever she was in human or HDD form.

Shaking his head, Nico focused back onto the battle, gripping Harvester's Shaft as he activated another one of its abilities: "SHADOW SERPENT!" The moment that Nico activated THIS little ability, Harvester's black Miasma exploded from it, condensing in front of him to take solid shape. In the next moment, the male's eye gazed upon his ability, which took the physical form of what he assumed to be a Snake. It was at least 60 foot long, made of glistening black scales that oozed out dark Miasma that acted like a cloak of darkness (MAGES. would have a field day with this one). Its head had a dark violet coloured armour over it, acting like a makeshift helmet. It's mouth had several long, violet fangs within it, along with a serpentine tongue while its eyes shone the same as his SHADOW ANIMATION. Dark violet spikes ran down its back as it hissed towards the direction of the Chaos Champion as the SHADOW ANIMATION pulled back. This allowed the SHADOW SERPENT to lunge forth to attack its new prey, said prey making to swing his Battleaxe at the incoming challenger.

Turned out, that was not te right thing to do, for the SHADOW SERPENT simply had its Miasma-covered Scales deflect the blow off it, the weapon unable to pierce through the hide. If the Chaos Champion were at full strength, this would have been a different story. The chaotic energies surrounding the Battleaxe would have done much more damage had this been the case, shredding through Nico's SHADOW SERPENT into tiny pieces. However, thanks to a combination of fatigue, constant strikes from Nico, Tekken (Buffed by MAGES.), the stamina drain had taken its toll, weakening him enough for the DARK SERPENT to coil its lower body around the Chaos Champion to restrain him.

Ready for the kill.

But that kill was not its to make, something that the SHADOW SERPENT instinctively knew as it looked towards it's creator, eyes silently asking him if it was okay for it to kill. Nico glanced towards Tekken, who looked like she was seeing a ghost with how pale she looked, that strange aura she had before having vanished like it was never even there. 'Looks like the Devil Arm's power got suppressed by her shock...' the male thought to himself.

He then glanced over to MAGES., his eyes asking silent permission, to which the Mad Magician only gave him a tired nod. The male glanced down at Harvester, and the Devil Arm sent him information on the last ability in its Arsenal: SHADOW PACK. It was an ability that let Harvester use its Miasma to create a set of 20 Wolf/Scorpion Hybrid creatures, which would then attack the enemy on his command. The male mentally winced at the word 'Hybrid' though, that name held... more than a little weight for someone like him. Nevertheless, a picture of the creatures appeared in his mind. Their bodies would look mostly like Wolves of black fir that emitted darkness, cloaking them in it like the SHADOW SERPENT, at least reaching up to Nico's waist in size while being the length of 1 metre. Their eyes would be like his previous constructs, with their teeth being as long as shortswords and their mouths having glowing violet interiors. They would have Scorpion Tails with violet stingers coming out their behinds though, with Scorpion legs coming out their backs that would extend and retract like whips, each leg ending in single violet talons. Their main arms would have elongated dark violet metal claws instead of paws, while their hind legs would be that of normal Wolves.

It had become apparent to him, that Harvester's Umbrakinesis revolved mostly around using its Miasma to create creatures to aid its wielder in battle, with some combat oriented abilities on the side. Also, it appeared these creatures listened to him through thought and movement, and ONLY him. This Devil Arm seemed to have equal versatility to Alastor and Absolution, something that Nico liked. But he didn't focus on that just yet, as he looked back to the SHADOW SERPENT, which was still restraining the struggling Chaos Champion, and gave a confirmation nod.

That was all it needed, before the SHADOW SERPENT leaned down and bit into the Chaos Champion, said man giving out one last roar of defiance before his ultimate demise. The SHADOW SERPENT tore his upper body in half, swallowing it in one gulp before doing the same to the lower body, finally ending the Chaos Champion's life for good. The SHADOW SERPENT, as well as the SHADOW ANIMATION, then erupted into streams of darkness, which then travelled back to him and reformed his Shadow, while also moving into Harvester. 'Darkness taking the form of Miasma... heh, seems legit.' the male thought, swiftly putting Harvester back into his Void Storage.

Now that there was no Chaos Champion here, he didn't need it out anymore, plus the Devil Arm already felt sated enough in that it got to pierce through demonic flesh. On his back, Rebellion shuddered, sending its displeasure to its wielder at not being able to taste the Chaos Champion's flesh on its own blade. Nico glanced behind him at it, his lone eye narrowing like a stern parent disciplining a child for misbehaving. "Now, now. None of that mister. You'll get your turn, remember I used you to fight off the other Demons in this place. There's bound to be more in the future, so be patient." he told it in a placating manner. The Devil Arm took a moment, but eventually it stopped shuddering and remained still against his back, a sign to the onlookers that it was seemingly satisfied with that.

"Um..."

His attention shifted, and Nico looked to see that both MAGES. and Tekken were walking up to him, looking at his hands rather warily. Looked like they got spooked by Harvester's abilities, something that Nico mentally winced at. Tekken, whom had been the one to speak earlier, bit back her fear and nervously asked him what had been on her mind. "Was that... something that happens often?" she asked, pointing to the Devil Arm on his back. Or rather, the space where Harvester used to be, not Rebellion. She was used to that Devil Arm's appearance and mannerisms, but Harvester? Whelp, that was a whole new can of worms. That electric sword, she could handle too, electrokinsis wasn't something that scared her too much. In fact, it looked rather... enticing. (cue the crotch covering for all Masochists out there) However, Tekken just shuddered at the phantom images Harvester left behind in her brain, mostly the last part.

"Well, Harvester and my other weapons seem to be getting stronger, letting me use things I couldn't before." Nico explained briefly, his eyes glancing over to MAGES. in curiosity if she would say anything. Nevertheless, she looked like she wouldn't say anything he didn't want her too, something that increase his desire to trust her all the more. It seemed that he was right to trust the Mad Magician with the secrets of his Devil Arms, something Nico honestly couldn't help but be relieved about. Taking risks and being rewarded nicely from them... it wasn't something that happened often, no matter how much he wished it did. "Harvester seems to focus on combat through Umbrakinesis through creating constructs to aid me."

Tekken hummed in thought at that, her fear slowly being replaced with curiosity. But, before she could inquire to their potential, MAGES. cut in with a tap of her Staff on the cobblestone ground. "We must make haste. I sense a lot of chaotic energies below us. We must be getting closer to the Chamber of Suffering, and when we get there we will likely be beset constantly by enemy forces." she told them sternly, getting nods from the other two. With that, the trio moved on their journey, not letting anything get in their way.


	89. Chapter 86 - The Reunion PT1

**Chapter 86 - The Reunion PT1**

"Ohhhh… ah…. Ohhhhhh… man, that felt great."

"Ah, shut it, you! I only do this because you didn't let me kill that brown haired bimbo! Now look at what she's doing, going about ripping our bro's to shreds!"

"Since when did you care what those pathetic human cultists thought of you, my dear?"

"…. Good point."

"Anyways, her 'knight in shining armour' is nearby. Looks like he came faster than we expected. Probably due to those women he's got with him. I wonder how it would be if we aw him again, or if he'll remember us."

"Hah! That idiot?! Please, there's no way he could forget what with what happened and all."

"True, nonetheless, we must be off, we have to buy time for our mistress to prepare our little 'present' for those heroes."

"Hah, I love it when I get to use my Kagune! It's the best!"

"Better than me, my dear?"

"Fuck you!"

* * *

After over 20 minutes of navigating through the Halls of Agony Level 3, the trio finally came to the entrance to the Chambers of suffering. After so long, finally they were at their goal, or at least the gateway to it. If they thought they saw It all before, then thy were wrong. Turned out, this hellish place had a lot more in store for them.

"So, this is it…" Nico mused, eyeing the entrance to the place where IF was being held. His eyes glanced over the cobblestone walls the chamber possessed, the walls sinking into the depths below while reaching the top of the underground ceiling in height. There were squarish shaped holes that were sealed by iron railing dotted across the chamber, with all of them burning inside like they were the eyes of the Demon World itself. The entrance itself looked like an Archway, with the Symbol of Khorne proudly displayed in large size above it. Thing was, the whole symbol was dripping with blood, various lifeless corpses of men, women and even children strung up on pikes at each of the symbol's corner. "The Chamber of Suffering."

Tekken shuddered, cradling her arms in front of her stomach as she stared, transfixed, at the various corpses. Each corpse made her want to throw up more and more, what with how some were strung up more brutally than others. She swore she saw how one of them even had a pike going through their skull, and another with a pike through their stomach. Worst of all, there was one that looked to have iron pipes circling in and out of their entire bodies, dripping the most amount of blood compared to the others. Part of her wondered when she would get used to this sight enough that it wouldn't bother her as much. Though, the Martial Artists doubted she'd ever get used to something like this. She could freely admit this, but this place definitely fits the name. "Looks like. Pretty much fits the theme its going for." she tried to chuckle to ease the mood, only to fail and make the atmosphere even tenser.

MAGES. nodded her head, gazing upon the gory spectacle. Unlike Tekken, the Mad Magician looked considerably more composed than the Martial Artist. It was almost like she was immune to the disgusting horrors that she was witnessing at this moment, like she didn't give a damn in the least. However, if one looked at her carefully, they would see how she was tightening the grip on her Staff more than normal, with lines appearing on her face that suggested she was gritting her teeth. "Indeed." She spoke, before she began making her way inside. "I sense that there is conflict raging inside this Chamber. It is likely that the Wind Walker has already staged an escape attempt and is currently fighting off attempts to capture her."

'Yeah, that sounds just like her…' Nico couldn't help but think, biting back the urge to snort. Instead, he just gave a brief chuckle, pride and happiness swelling within his chest. It lifted his spirits, the possibility that IF had already started a breakout of her own, already wrecking the enemy's shit. As long as he'd known her, IF never liked it when she had to rely on others to get her out of sticky situations. She wasn't someone who just sat there like a dainty princess, a helpless maiden who'd fall right into the arms of a knight-in-shining armour. No, that was not her one bit. She may have a hidden cute side, something he admitted that he liked seeing sometimes, but on th whole she was more like him than anything. She was a Mercenary, a natural-born one in his opinion, and she kicked ass whenever she encountered those that needed it. Her being a BOW didn't change that part of her, something that Nico honestly admired and respected about her.

That she would start something like this only increased that respect he had for her.

Just then, he had a thought, a thought referring to the nature of not just her powers, but also his own. Something that he wanted to ask Biko about right the hell now. 'Say, Biko.' He began, sensing that he had his Demon Persona's attention. 'Would it be possible for me to use my demonic senses to pick up IF's location? At least, once we get inside, because something tells me the ambience of demonic energy in the atmosphere might throw me off.' He remembered how he had saved IF by making her a BOW, using a strain of the same virus that was injected into her beforehand, only altered with his own powers. It would stand to reason then, that he would have been able to sense her before had it not been for A: his condition and B: the demonic energy in abundance in the atmosphere. If this was possible, then it'd make locating her much easier.

 **'** **Hmmmm… I don't see why not. You're right though, the ambience of demonic power in the air will likely delay your senses for a time, but it should work. Your body is about… 85% restored from the use of your Berserker Mode, so it should not be long before you track her down. Mind you, your attempts will draw Demons and Cultists to your little group like moths to a flame, for they will feel you trying to reach out to her. It would be best that you only do it for brief moments before they lock onto your position.'**

Nodding his head in accent to that, Nico promptly thanked his demon persona before cutting the link. The male blinked owlishly however, when he noticed two sets of eyes staring deeply into his own. Both Tekken and MAGES. eyes by the way. While hiding his sudden startled jolting, Nico still felt significantly uncomfortable with their stares. It was almost like they were trying to burn holes through his skull. A stare that he'd seen a few times in the past. Not a nice experience, seriously. "Uhhhh…. Is there something wrong with my face, Nico questioned, pointing to his face. His Armour's Helmet had opened up, allowing this to be possible.

Fortunately, that managed to snap the girls out of their staring routine, enough for Tekken to start speaking first as she shifted from one foot to another. "Well, um, I was just curious, but…" she began, only to get nervous and glance sideways at the end. She held her hands together in front of her, most likely a means to cope with her sudden anxiety Nico noticed. What was it that got her so anxious though? Soon enough, Nico got his answer after she seemed to regain her previous drive. "Why do you seem to space out every now and then?"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

What?

Nico looked perplexed as he heard Tekken question him like that. It was a bit of a blunt way to ask a question like that, but honestly, he couldn't fault her for that. What he did notice was the question itself, and it made him tense abruptly. Fortunately, his armour hid his bodily reaction to that question as MAGES. picked up where Tekken had left off, unable to continue asking further without the assistance of that strange power. "What Tekken here MEANS to say…"

MAGES. glanced over to her friend, who chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of her head, a pinkish hue of embarrassment on her cheeks. The Mad Magician then looked back at the male in question, her gaze a mix of inquisitive and suspicious. More the former than the latter, though. "Is that you sometimes space out when you think nobody is looking. It happens at a regularity that it is almost concerning. You are 100% sure that these beasts have not injured your capacity for battle in any plausible way?" she questioned him. Part of Nico wondered if she would act all chuuni after that, but to his surprise she remained as stern as she had been since the start of this convo. Guess she found this to be quite the important topic, huh?

However, this definitely posed a problem for the male, he wasn't too sure about trusting them enough to tell them about Biko. That knowledge was different compared to that of the Devil Arms, as the Devil Arms was not as directly related to his abilities. Biko, however, was so intricately connected to him that it felt like he would be committing a crime to tell them of his existence. There was also the fact that it was deeply personal to him, way above the level that he was comfortable with sharing. He may be trying to change, to open the doors of his heart that were sealed away for so long, but right now he just couldn't allow this. It wasn't time yet, he wasn't ready for that to come out yet. If it was someone like IF, Compa or any of the girls he'd known for longer, then MAYBE he could have spoken about it, and even then he would have to ask Biko for permission, but in this case? Nope. Not happening, a big fat NOPE.

Fortunately for him, Nico was spared from having to answer that question. The reason? Just before he could open his mouth, the entire Chamber of Suffering seemed to tremble, and their ears detected the tell-tale sounds of explosions ringing throughout inside. "Eh?! Wha?!" Tekken exclaimed, flailing her arms about in sheer surprise. The rumblings took her completely by surprise, almost to the point where she lost her balance.

In leeway of identifying this newer event, MAGES. turned her attention away from the male (who did a hidden sigh of relief that the questioning had stopped, for now at least) and looked towards the Chamber's entrance. Her eyes narrowed intently after a few seconds. "It appears that there is a commotion within the chamber." She told them, staring deep into the entrance for wha felt like forever when it was really only a couple minutes. She then twisted on her heeled boots to look at the other two, her eyes alight with grave seriousness. "It seems as though there is internal strife within. It is likely that the wind walker has begun a crusade of her own, against these Demons."

'Yeah, you go IF!' Nico cheered in his mind. If this were any other situation, he'd be grinning like a demon right now. Not only had IF shown that she was someone who didn't need someone to rescue her like a certain princess rescued by a hero sword wielding guy who goes 'well, excuuuuuse me, princess!', as well as kicking ass and taking names, but she had also indirectly saved him from having to explain about Biko! His respect for her as a warrior and a comrade-in-arms went up through the roof at this information. Hell, in his mind a bunch of chibi versions of himself were doing breakdancing moves in joy. 'I knew you had it in you!'

 **'** **Be that as it may, while this is an interesting and highly desired development, it would be wise if we were to provide backup. As strong as young IF is, even she can be overwhelmed if given enough time. There is also the possibility to consider that the enemy has some unknown tricks up their sleeves.'**

Biko's words succeeded in their intended task and brought Nico out of his celebratory trance. The male quickly closed his helmet back up, feeling the smooth interior of the plates resettle on his face to hide his rather sheepish expression. 'Y-Yeah, you're right… sorry, got a little carried away there.' Shaking his head, Nico began pacing forwards, heading towards the entrance while clenching his fists. With a SCHING! Out came his Plasma Claws. He'd be gutting a few more people, it seemed. "Let's get going then, the sooner we can rescue the target, the sooner we can blow this hellhole to kingdom come."

Both girls nodded, gripping their respective weapons while proceeding to follow him into the Chamber.

Or they would have… had it not been for something else to get in their way.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

'!'

It happened without warning, but a split second beforehand, Nico's lone eye widened to an impossible degree when he sensed a quick burst of KI behind them. 'Oh shit!' he cursed, quickly grabbing his companions by their shoulders, gripping them firmly. Before the surprised girls could ask him what he was doing, Nico went and pushed the two girls away from him and the jumping into the air.

"Guh?!"

"Wha?!"

The startled girls quickly fell onto their backsides, MAGES. sliding across too the leftside of the staircase while Tekken did the same to the right, creating 2 audible THUMP sounds on the cobblestone staircase. But the teenage Spec Ops didn't care about that. What he DID care about, was that they were all able to barely avoid something large and pulsating red by the skin of their teeth as it slammed into the space where they once occupied.

BOOM!

Whatever just tried to blindside them, impacted the space where the once stood with gusto, causing a small smoke cloud to form from the impact. Nico, spinning through the air like a spinning top upside down, righted himself and landed just atop the archway on the Chamber of Suffering's entrance. Even afterwards though, the aftershocks from such an impact could still be heard as they echoed across the entire underground Dungeon.

 **'** **N-Nico…! This is…!'**

'Yeah… I know…!'

Nico may have looked calm on the outside, even with his facial expression mostly concealed by his helmet. However, internally though? Now THAT was a COMPLETELY a different story. His inner beast became irritated and restless, shuddering and trembling within his very being. His breaths became slightly laboured as urges he had not needed to deal with before, ever since he first used THAT, came back to the surface. The male had almost forgotten what it was like, but this was most definitely one of those trigger events. He could barely restrain his instincts from going bat shit crazy while also suppressing IT from coming out through sheer necessity alone. Through all this however, his enhanced senses picked up two scents heading their way. Scents that sent everything inside and outside of him into a complete motionless state.

"Hooh… he got them and himself out the way of your sneak attack… looks like he's as agile as I remember."

"Tch, and such a freaking loser, still! He shoulda just let me fucking spear those useless broads!"

Several figures landed on top of the staircase, looking down towards the trio with varying expressions. One looked like they were thoughtful, while the other looked just plain out annoyed. The reddish hue and the countless torches illuminating the Halls of Agony Level 3 allowed them to see who these two figures were.

"Huh…?" Tekken mused, having been rubbing her backside while getting back to her feet, before her eyes settled onto the new arrivals and a confused frown escaped her lips. Tilting her head in confusion, the Martial Artist looked upon the two figures, noticing that both of them were masculine, but for the life of her she just couldn't think of if she'd seen them before. "Who are those guys? They seem kinda… odd?" she muttered under her breath. Looking upon them though, Tekken briefly saw a faint red wisp emerge from one of them, and a flashback of that one person in the West Wind Valley triggered itself in her mind. The next second, she began feeling the same sensations she got from that moment, shudders of dread crawling up her spine. 'Yet, these guys… they feel just like THAT guy…' she thought in slight panic.

'What… What is this sensation…?' MAGES. wondered, a pensive frown on her lips as she felt her blood curdling just from the sight of these two masculine figures. She didn't understand, just looking at them made her want to run screaming and hide in the deepest, darkest corner of Gamindustri while praying for her soul. The more she looked at those figures, the greater these sensations became. It was like she was looking at something that could very well cause her death without even batting an eyelash. With how low her Mana was, she didn't doubt it, but the confusing thing to her was that she got this feeling a lot already. Facing demons, psychotic cultists and abominations of life? She had that feeling from then all the time. So, why was it so overwhelming right now? At this moment? 'I feel like… I'm staring at something that I should be afraid of… over anything else…'

"Hey look, those broads seem paralysed! I wonder why that could be…? #chuckle#"

"Remember, those two may be strong, but they are merely humans. Mere appetisers for the main course…"

One masculine figure chuckled darkly, crouching over the Staircase's ledge while hanging his arms in front of him. The other just stood tall with his arms crossed over his chest. Both however regarded the two women with a mix of hunger and anticipation, something that caused the two girls to shudder, disturbed as all hell. But, that wasn't something that registered to them, nor to Nico either. For the moment his eye settled on those figured, everything seemed to stop. Time, his heart, sound, everything.

'N-No… it can't be…!'

As he looked upon the two, Nico felt some form of heat return to his system after his blood froze. However, to his body it may as well have been a raging furnace with how intense it was. His breathing, slow and deliberate, sounded like a broken record while his lone uncovered eye trembled violently. If his face was shown, then they would have seen just how utterly MORTIFIED the teen looked right now. Memories played back in his mind, memories that he had long forgotten due to how long ago it was, but they still played as clearly as the day they first formed in his mind.

He knew these two… he knew them VERY well.

Quicker than he had done anything before in his life, Nico acted without thinking, jumping from his perch on the archway before flying towards them like a bullet. Both figures smirked darkly at this, before flipping backwards a grand total of 20 metres, landing with a short slide to a halt while Nico took the place where they once stood. The male glared furiously at them, his shock being overcome by a fierce rage, fiercer than the infernal heat that filled this underground dungeon. It could even rival the rage of Khorne's bloodletters in its potency.

"N-Nico/DEATHSTROKE?!"

Glancing behind him, both Tekken and MAGES. flinched when they saw Nico's eye. It was sharper, slanted and with a diluted pupil. A tell-tale sign of both panic and anxiety. The two girls jaw dropped at the sight, as far as they'd known him the male hadn't shown emotions like this before, nor did he show them to this extent. Whoever those men were, they seemed to be people that Nico recognised… and that was NOT a good thing. Not this time, anyways. "You two, stay down there! I'll hold these fuckers off!" he yelled at them, his voice fierce and commanding. It lacked any of the previous kindness that it once possessed, replaced by a fierce desire. Almost like it was a voice of… pleading, to the girls.

"But, Nico we-!"

"STAY! THERE!" His words cut through Tekken's own like a hot knife through butter, shutting the girl up as she trembled with fear at how he raised his voice. The fact that it was distorted thanks to his Helmet only made it all the more menacing. "This isn't an enemy you two can handle! Let me take care of them, you two just hang fire for this one!"

A mocking laughter echoed from his opponents, making Nico turn back to the two masculine figures he was fighting. One of them was a bald-headed man in his mid to late 20's, wearing a sleeveless jacket that exposed his shoulders, pants and boots. The man was bald, with several areas on his face looking deformed. Also, there was one other deformity: both his hands were right hands. Exactly as how Nico remembered him, especially that disgusting leer he had on his features. He was the one that had made the disgusting laugher before.

As for the other one, he looked considerably more… human, compared to his colleague, however that though just made Nico snort at the irony. He looked more human, and yet neither of these men could be considered human at all, not even in the biological sense. The other man, well, he had that gunslinger vibe to him. He was a man of above-average height and sported a medium build, though to someone like Nico that could be just as good as a deception considering what this man was. From his back, the man had light, neck-length hair that flared slightly. His facial features also had dimples on both cheeks and one on his cleft chin. For attire, he wore mostly light-coloured clothes, with a dark undershirt and a wide-brimmed hat from which hang two long, thin, loose straps; and a loose, sleeveless top, as well as a type of poncho, hanging below his waist in a rectangle of fabric of mid-thigh length.

Compared to his… wild looking partner, this man had a strong serene calmness emanating from him. Like he knew he had the advantage over his enemy and thus, had no qualms with being the bad guy. Nico would believe that, considering who this man was and what these two represented.

"J Geil… Hol Horse…" Nico snarled angrily, feeling his inner beast rising to the surface. Though he kept a lid on it, Nico didn't know whether or not to unleash it on their asses. While it would no doubt be satisfying as all hell, he'd rather not risk having his secret side exposed like this.

He knew who these men were, he knew them VERY damn well. He'd hoped to never have to see them again after what they did the last time they'd met. Though, deep down he knew that would be a foolish hope. They were indeed connected in more ways than one, and THAT was something that sent shivers of annoyance through his spine. Almost making him shatter his teeth from clenching them so hard. It wasn't something Nico liked to think about, and for good reason.

Now that he thought about it, seeing these two here actually made a lot of sense, and if they were the ones who kidnapped IF to bring her here, then Nico wouldn't be surprised. They WOULD be the ones to get past Leanbox's security, they'd be pros at it. They've done it so many times in the past, they WERE professionals despite their demeanours, after all. Then there was the fact that they held a certain distinct advantage over their adversaries that very few possessed. Him being one of them.

"Ooooooh! He remembers us! That's just PERFECT, now we don't have to waste time giving any boring recaps!" J Geil cackled, putting his clawed hand over his mouth like a schoolgirl… honestly, that looked kind of sick. Nico shuddered at the sight, and even his armour couldn't hide his bodily reaction, that was how sick it made him. Hearing this guy, a deformed, grown man giggling like a little girl seemed so wrong on so many levels. What was worse? It reminded him of Neptune's giggling, and THAT made Nico want to just flip out on his ugly old ass.

Hol Horse chuckled, keeping himself relatively calm unlike his eccentric partner. "True, so how have you been It's been a while since we last met. When was it that we last crossed paths? Oh, wasn't it 3 years ago? Back at that Mechtro Factory with FALCON and CYBORG? Ah, the good times we had together…"

The man had little time to speak any more, for Nico had already closed the distance between them in a blur, his Plasma Claws swinging towards his head. Hol Horse ducked under him, spinning into a roundhouse kick to the male's back. However, Nico managed to twist around and block just in time but got blown back the opposite direction he came from as a result. Lowering his Plasma Claws, the teenage Spec Ops glowered at his enemy, his lone eye filled with enough venom to kill all four CPUs and still have some left to spare. "You DARE mention them again, and you'll wish you'd died all those years ago…"

Just hearing that man mention the names of two of his comrades pissed the male off to no end. They had NO RIGHT to even utter their names, not after what they did. Those scumbags, they did something 3 years ago that caused Nico to literally flip his lid, and it had some connection to his secret as well as his comrades in Team RAIL. Just thinking about what they did made him nearly lose it, nevermind seeing those ugly mugs of theirs again after all this time. Even after what happened, the Spec Ops Community couldn't track them down, like they just disappeared off the face of the earth.

To see them in a place like this…

"Say, I have an idea..." J Greil began as he began manifesting his Kagune. His eyes bulged while his Kakugan activated, eyes turning red and sclera turning black with veins spreading across his face. Red wisps of gas-like RC Cells escaped his shoulder while the Kagune manifested, taking on the shape of a crimson lance encroaching around his wrist, crimson RC Cells covering his arm for extra protection. The familiar crackling sounds sent shudders down Nico's spine, and not the pleasurable kind as a sense of familiarity overcame him. "Why don't we finish what we started 3 years ago? It's the perfect time, we can finally scratch that annoying-as-all-hell itch we couldn't scratch for all that time. Ah, my mouth's salivating just at the thought! C'mon, c'mon baby, lets get this on already!"

Hol Horse chuckled at his partner's antics. "Looks like you're ready to rumble. So impatient, just like when we stay the night together…" Nico shuddered once more, and if they could see his face then they would see how it contorted into disgust at the thought of those two... doing the deed. No offence against homosexuals, but Nico HATED these two with a fierce passion, more so than a certain guy with a duck-butt hairstyle did his older brother when he destroyed their family. The thought of them doing something like that just made him want too hurl. Nico knew though, that these two weren't homo's, but bisexual, as in they'd pretty much fucked anything that tickled their fancy. "Still…"

The blonde man hunched forwards as crackling sounds started emitting from his back. A small bubbly mass soon started growing from the base of his neck's nape, a mass that grew over several seconds. "I cannot say that I disagree, I have been meaning to find you again for a rematch, so I can finally sink my fangs into you, my sweet." He sneered, perversely licking his lips as his eyes glazed hungrily over Nico's form. Said teen did all he could to resist the urge to throw up at the notions he was implying.

Finally, his Kagune was fully formed, and Nico's experienced eyes told him that the Kagune had to be an Ukaku, despite the… extras. What did he mean by that? Well, it was a rather… complex looking Kagune, as it had 2 crow-like wings protruding from the nape of his neck, angled upwards before hanging downwards a lot like Biko's demonic wings. These were made purely from Ukaku flame, with each feather sharpened and dangling like fiery blades. Then, from his shoulders RC Cells forged shoulder pauldrons, then arm armour went down to his wrist to form a set of old-fashioned revolvers like the ones that cowboys used to use back in their western movies, over his hands. Lastly, from his upper and middle back, this sack-like structure that a long reptilian Tail-like appendage, its tip being a sharp and darker red stinger, protruded from.

Three things made the identity of his Kagune clear to him:

One, the most prominent of them was its wings. The Ukaku flames proved this.

Two, the Kagune's features revolved mostly around ranged combat, something Ukaku Kagune specialise in while Koukaku Kagune specialise in CQC. Deviation may occur, but they are rare, hence why this was a good reason for him to see it as an Ukaku.

The last one was that he'd fought this particular Kagune before.

Just seeing this Kagune however, made him recall the last time he'd fought against it, how difficult it had been. Nico's eyes trailed across its flaming wings, as well as the seemingly calm and serene tail. That Kagune was way more than it appeared, a hard lesson that Nico had learned first hand when he fought it last. It possessed abilities that made it's versatility a formidable force on the battlefield. Even allowed it to fight on par with THAT when things got really bad for him.

Two Kakugan eyes formed on Hol Horse as he regarded Nico with a sick grin. His senses told him that those brats that the kid was with earlier had sensed the release of their Kagunes, and like startled rabbits they chose to remain down the Stairs. Good, he didn't want them ruining their fun. "Now then…" Raising his Pistols, the Tail whipping the ground behind him while his smile looked like one that would make a slasher run for the hills. Coupled with his Kakugan… and yeah, the picture was enough. "Why don't we get started, my dear?"

Nico could only shudder as the two Ghouls charged.

* * *

"Guaaaah!"

A cultish screamed as IF speared him with a claw, assimilating his Biomass for her own. The woman moaned under her armour's Mask at the sensation of Biomass being added to her reserves, a feeling that she had been indulging in quite a lot since she first started her little feast when she broke out of her Cell. Yet, even so, she just couldn't find herself getting tired of the feeling, if a man found sex to be his greatest pleasure, this would be HER greatest pleasure. Though, the brunette wondered what it would be like to actually have sex with someone like that.

Now, to those of you who were wondering:

IF… wasn't a Virgin.

She'd had sex before, and usually it was to relieve stress after particularly gruelling missions that left her way too stressed for her usual methods of training to work on relieving her. She was a Mercenary, a wandering warrior, so it would stand to reason that she would need some form of stress relief to make sure she doesn't snap. There was also the fact that she was a woman, and as a woman she too had needs to attend to, it would be foolish of anyone to assume otherwise. Women have needs just as much as men do. It wasn't like she actively sought it out though, a lot unlike many Spec Ops Agents she knew of. She only did it when she needed the stress taken out of her body, usually paying visits to the Red-Light districts for her needs.

However, in the field of actual romantic relationships? Well, IF would be comparable to an innocent virgin in that regard.

She'd never formed any meaningful relationships with past partners. Despite some of them trying by making false promises, though in reality they only wanted sex and nothing more, she'd been able to tell who those were just by the way they looked at her. Most of the time though, it was just stress relief and it was with men who did that for a living in the Red-Light District. Even women needed their own needs tended to, you know. Not jut guys. Now, if the brunette Spec Ops Candidate had had sex before, then why did she look down on the perverts in the world? When she herself has had experience with that pleasure? Perhaps it was because of the fact that most guys wouldn't find someone who could kick their asses from one spot to kingdom come very attractive. Plus, like she said before, her body wasn't as 'feminine' as a lot of other girls she knew. Compa, the CPUs, and several other characters they'd met along the way for one.

Hypocritical? Maybe. But hey, she was a human back then, and humans usually have contradicting thoughts and beliefs. It wasn't an uncommon thing, and apparently it stemmed over to her BOW self as well. Ever since her ascension into a BOW, no ever since she first joined up with Nico and the others, IF hadn't had that much stress relief, if at all. She'd been too focused on the shitstorm that she'd been thrown into. Though, thanks to her being what she was, she no longer had that option for fear of infecting someone with her strain of the C Virus. THAT was one of the few cons with having this body, but in light of the events so far, it was a small price to pay.

Nevertheless, it was one of the reasons why IF felt so confused about her feelings towards a certain Spec Ops Agent.

Once the procedure finished, the woman looked about the area that she and Stefan, whom had just decapitated a Bloodletter with Ashbringer, were in. They had been killing these fuckers left and right in a constant struggle for survival. Ever since that Herald bit the dust, it seemed as though everything here was possessed by an instinctual murderous rage that would rear its ugly head whenever they were nearby. More so than normal. Part of her despaired that she was starting to get used to stuff like this happening, fighting Abnormal monsters, the stuff with Avenir, her being a BOW, and now all this. It started to shift into the norm for her life…

She didn't know what to feel about that.

After so many battles, the duo had retreated into the Chamber of Suffering, an infernal place consisting of only a steel platform, held in suspension above a pool of lava by four steel chains. Those Chains impaled the walls above them, leaving most of themselves hanging loosely yet still able to hold the steel platform just above the lava pool. The con about this was, that every now and then the steel platform would sometimes ignite into flames around specific sections, to try and burn them. The steel seemed to handle the intense heat, and the sections briefly glowed to signify them being about to become a sea of fames, so it wasn't too difficult to dodge.

However, that was only when they didn't have to fight against multiple enemies, cause it forced them to keep en eye out on their footing in case they were to be barbecued. The intervals for this were random after all, too unpredictable for them to not focus on it as much. In the beginning, IF had thought that her armour would have been able to resist it, however after the first few times she got caught within that fire, that soon proved to not be the case as the armour began to liquify after a few seconds from the legs upwards. It was able to reform afterwards though, but since then IF had made sure not to let those flames touch her armour.

"We've wiped the lot of them out from this infernal place." Stefan reported, heaving Ashbringer onto his shoulder. The man then walked over to her, the two having separated into different sections of the Platform to keep their fighting from affecting each other. Their tactics were to switch sections occasionally to keep the enemy on their toes just as they were, and when he sections were about to be set alight by the flames below, either IF or Stefan would grab and throw a couple unlucky Cultists into the fire. They usually died off from that, but the Demonic entities that they conjured apparently had immunity to the fires. Thus, leaving them with the old-fashioned tactic of physical beatdowns to fall back to for them. "Yet, even so…"

Even as they had defeated a major majority of the foes occupying this Chamber, something that both IF and Stefan could agree on, the man still had this troubled expression on his face. He could sense something was amiss, but what that was, he could not for the life of him figure out. Ashbringer reflected its master's emotions with its glow, showcasing that it too could tell something was wrong. Like, it had a sentience all of its own, and at this point, IF wouldn't be surprised if that thing DID have a conscience of its own.

The brunette nonetheless nodded alongside her comrade, eyes darting throughout the area. 'What is this sensation I'm feeling? Its like… like back then…' she thought, flashes to MS Mountain taking place within her mind. More specifically, when they had that surprise visitor that utterly crushed that Graverobber Necromorph. Then, her mind flashed back to when she fell unconscious, towards the last thing she could remember before doing so and waking up in this hellhole. Her eyes widened as a result, dread hitting her harder than Neptune in full HDD power. 'Wait… could it be…?'

"What? What is it, IF?" Stefan question, seeing how IF's face lit up in alarm. It was like she figured something out something only she could, and he hated being left in the dark about things. It was what got all those good men in his army killed. "Something happen?"

The brunette shook her head, but her troubled expression remained, she even bit her thumb nail to showcase her nervousness. "Nothing, but if its what I think, then we may be in deep trouble."


	90. Chapter 87 - The Reunion PT2

**Hey guys!**

 **New chapter here! Now, if any of you are curious, this isn't just about IF and Nico's reunion, which is why I didn't state whether it was IF and Nico's reunion in the title. I tried to make that apparent with the last chapter. We'll be going deeper into their backstory in this chapter, but not all the way. There's a whole can of worms i'm going to be opening up soon enough, just you wait and see. There'll also be hints of something i'm including in the future,ufufufufu**

 **Anyways, if you haven't realized. These two Ghouls are actually Hol Horse and the Hanged Man from Jojo P3 - Stardust Crusaders. They're minor villains, but I felt like I could make them into better villains with more impact on the story than they do in their original franchise. Though, I highly recommend the Jojo series, it is freaking awesome. JOOOOOOJOO!**

 **Now then, let the chapter begin!**

* * *

 **Chapter 87 - The Reunion PT2**

 _ **Hell…**_

 _ **This was…**_

 _ **What hell Looked like.**_

 _ **No doubt about it.**_

 _ **That was the sole thing running through his mind as his unarmored form took in everything at once… something that he found quite difficult to do in all honesty. Who could blame him, either?**_

 _ **Knowing his experiences, a lot of officials would…**_

 _ **Flames burned all around, scorching the air around them. It illuminated the area they were in with a crimson orangish hue, like molten hot lava. Heat burned against his skin, and if this were anything else, he would have made a comment about how his would likely give him sunburn, or something similar. However, in this case, those were far from the thought that were having a field day within his head right now.**_

 _ **The ground around them, once filled with nothing but the lush green grass, the faint signs of scuttering insects that just minded their own business, had been reduced to nothing but a sea of charred soot. The soot filled the air like the smoke from the flames that made visibility near impossible, almost making breathing difficult for him had he not had experience with volcanic areas in Gamindustri.**_

 _ **Corpses, corpses of so many people, all of them Spec Ops, Guild Agents and even a few of them bystanders that got dragged into the conflict, were scattered all around him like pieces of rubbish in a junk yard, a hard indication of what had transpired this day. These corpses, they filled his nostrils with the scent of their decaying flesh, the recent events setting his mind spinning.**_

 _ **Why?**_

 _ **How?**_

 _ **How could this happen?**_

 _ **He'd been so cautious, he'd kept an eye for any suspicious activity!**_

 _ **He had been making sure that something like this wouldn't have happened, that something like this could have been prevented! Yet, before his eyes, the very thing he'd tried to stop ended up happening in all its gory splendour. Not only that, but the stench of blood was so thick in this area, this place which had once served as their resting point after a rather difficult mission, that he could almost choke to his death on it.**_

 _ **It definitely didn't do his condition any favours, that's for sure. He'd been forced out of his armour during the onslaught, and it was fairly early on. He had been so blindsided by the initial beginning, that his armour was damaged to a significant degree since the beginning, and he had no idea how long it had been since then, but his internal clock made a god guess that it had been more than an hour. His Armour had been damaged to a degree where it had to activate one of its last resort functions, which was to lock itself from being used until it could properly fix itself, which took time. True, his Armour had been self-regenerative, but so much damage had been dealt to it at once that it just couldn't maintain itself anymore. Which took away his Plasma Claws and a lot of his protection… and not just protection from attacks either. He could feel IT inside of him quivering with delight, begging for release. The blood, the death, the smells, everything around him just acted like one big bout of stimulus for THAT side of him. That one monster that he could only hope nobody saw him use.**_

 _ **Not to mention that he was far from pristine condition, himself.**_

 _ **Lying sprawled on the ground, one Nico used his right forearm, which had its forearm Bracer damaged to the point where he couldn't use its functions for a while until it would be repaired, to support his upper body. He leaned upwards, grimacing at the numerous injuries his body had sustained. His body was littered with varying degrees of cuts, burns and his left arm seemed to be barely hanging onto his shoulder. There were only a few muscle fibres supporting it, with the rest of the shoulder practically a large, gaping hole. If that injury wasn't bad enough, Nico had a piece of his neck being ripped out, along with a left hip, right calf and his entire left foot was gone.**_

 _ **Nico groaned quietly to himself, though part of him wondered what that point was since most of his comrades were dead right now, as his regeneration began kicking in. For the lesser injuries, thin red Tendrils slithered out from his fibres, stitching themselves over the scratches while the skin covered the damaged areas. The larger the gash, as well as deeper, the longer the time took. For the holes in his body, crimson flesh poured out from the wounds, filling them up as flesh began to grow over the areas, soon filling them and rendering these injuries non-existent, leaving only unblemished skin. The longest injury he had to regenerate from was his shoulder, as not only flesh but bone had to be reconstructed. While his regeneration was quite potent, abnormally so amongst those of his kind, Nico's body required more time to repair broken bones, as they were slightly more difficult to repair.**_

 _ **Peering into the distance while his regeneration worked its magic, the young Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE identified the figures that were responsible for this destruction, shrouded by the dark smoke that covered the landscape. That is, until they emerged from it looking like they had been taken to a candy store and told they had it all for free. The figures, shrouded by the smoke at first as well as blurred slightly in his vision, soon revealed themselves to be two men… two men that made the teen grit his teeth in unbridled rage. "You two…!" he growled under his breath. Even with his current state, Nico remained defiant as he glared at the two figures.**_

 _ **The only thing he could make out clearly from them were two pairs of glowing red eyes, eyes that belonged to Ghouls.**_

 _ **"Wow, you survived? Well, that's interesting."**_

 _ **"Hey bro, this guy looks like he's a tasty delight. I wanna eat him, can we?"**_

 _ **"Not yet, my dear. It's intriguing that this one possesses a healing factor this potent. None of his other Agent comrades had that ability."**_

 _ **The two figures, completely uncaring of the rage Nico aimed at them, discussed with each other via glances. They didn't feel too threatened by the boy at all, and why would they? Most if not everyone of the Spec Ops Agents that took this job were dead or dying, none of them having their communication equipment. Said equipment had been destroyed thanks to their efforts. This wasn't an instantaneous thing, this was planned from the very beginning.**_

 _ **It had been a long time coming, but it was goddamn GLORIOUS.**_

 _ **The carnage.**_

 _ **Slaughter.**_

 _ **Meat.**_

 _ **Flesh.**_

 _ **Feasting.**_

 _ **It was nothing but glorious.**_

 _ **"Just…"**_

 _ **Slowly, the figures turned towards Nico, whose injuries had halfway healed already as he stood on all fours, his head hanging low to allow his hair to cover his eyes. Darkness concealed them from view, but considering their surroundings, the need for this action could be questioned. Though not by them, since they were in the thick of this situation. "Just one question… why? Why do all this? Why now?"**_

 _ **Nico asked them that, his volume just barely above a whisper. His tone was empty, void of all emotions as he gripped the ground with his gloved hands. Ironically while his body had been injured severely, his clothes looked barely ruffled. An interesting factor to note about the Spec Ops Agent's apparel. Memories flooded his mind, memories of the past… of what they did together. It only succeeded in making the stinging sensation in his chest all the harder to grasp, however.**_

 _ **"Oh, its simple really. We just felt like it."**_

 _ **"Yeah, what he said."**_

 _ **The bluntness of their replies, combined with the simplicity and the lack of care they gave about butchering all these Agents, good men who had done nothing to these two, was like a fist to the face to the teen. His teeth clenched so tightly that under normal circumstances, a dentist would be concerned when they saw cracks in them. His fists clutched the ground so roughly, with his nails digging through the ground that his fingertips began to bleed from the pressure. None of that registered to his mind however, all that he was thinking at this moment, as his vision slowly gained red dots throughout the sight range, was…**_

 _ **Rip.**_

 _ **These.**_

 _ **Fuckers.**_

 _ **TO SHREDS!**_

 _ **"I see… well then, that clears up a lot of things, actually…" he muttered under his breath, his form stilling. This caused the two figures to raise their brows at his motions, curiosity filling those devilish red eyes of theirs. "No matter what kind of reasoning you had, you just betrayed a community that considers everyone within their ranks to be as important as brothers and sisters-in-arms. That, my future corpses…"**_

 _ **Raising his head, the two figures eyes widened in surprise at what they saw, but before they could say anything as to what that was, Nico was already on them, his form like a rabid animal on a blood frenzy. Any injuries he had before had been long gone at this point, as he let out a furious bellow. "IS TESTAMENT TO YOUR DEATHS, YOU FUCKERS!"**_

* * *

This felt so freaking familiar, that it was insane.

A bitter, angry chuckle escaped Nico's lips, his helmet making hearing this sign of audio practically impossible, as he deflected one Ukaku Tail strike while flipping over a Koukaku stab from his other adversary. The teen landed on top of an iron cage that has been toppled during the initial conflict, before jumping off it when a shower of long, crimson crystalline Ukaku Shards flew from Hol Horse's Kagune, most prominently from the Wings. His Pistols fired a rapid volley of RC Cell bullets that were aimed towards Nico's vitals.

The teen managed to deflect some with his Plasma Claws, and his Armour's Plasma Shields took care of the others. Hol Horse raised a brow in curiosity at this, for a few seconds though then a smirk formed on his features. "Huh, well aren't we the naughty ones..." He mused, intrigued as he watched the Shields disintegrate his bullets. "Someone's apparently gotten themselves some better fangs."

Ignoring him, Nico made a quick response. He deployed his Plasma Cannons and made to retaliate, when he noticed J Greil jumping at him with his Koukaku Lance in a reverse swinging motion. The tip was already near his right shoulder, so Nico only had a split second to react by bending backwards into a flip that ended up in him kicking his deformed foe. Though, that did nothing to hinder his combat prowess as his Koukaku's arm Armour formed a long, flat looking protrusion that concealed his jaw enough to negate some of the damage. It receded after the attack, though.

Before Nico could counter, the teen saw how Hol Horse was flanking him on his left, shooting organic bullets at his side. The teen swiftly flipped about, dodging and deflecting what he could until he saw Hol Horse jump towards him, swinging his right wing like it was an appendage all on its own. In a sense, it was as it reshaped its blades so that it could be used as a stabbing tool, but it couldn't penetrate the Armour's Plasma Shields. Hol Horse didn't look discouraged however, as he had simply distracted the teen.

Distracted him for his partner that is, to strike from Nico's right rear flank.

But, if they thought THAT would be enough to catch him by surprise, then they really underestimated him. Pivoting around on his left heel, Nico barely avoided the fast swing of a Koukaku before it could tear off one of his arms. Even so, though, the male still found himself getting hit in the stomach by J Greil's foot when he kicked him there. Nico grimaced, sensing his Shields plummeting from the impact as he was sent flying. His Plasma Shields, they were quite good at blocking ranged attacks, but when it came to short range, like CQC, he'd discovered that they fell pretty short. It appeared that they were built more for ranged combat than CQC.

Sliding to a halt, the male held out his Plasma Claws to parry several tail slashes, curtesy of Hol Horse. The versatility of that Kagune never ceased to annoy him. This was one of those few times where he fought against a being who had similar versatility to himself and knew how to counter his tactics. Hol Horse and J Greil were a dynamic pair alright, bisexual, rough, vicious… and also efficient at working as a team. The former stuck to ranged attacks, only coming in close when the right opportunity presented itself. That was their game plan for most of their encounters on the battlefield…

And a highly annoying one.

Nico had experienced tactics like these before, whenever he sparred with the girls back ion Lastation, an activity they even partook in when they returned to Planeptune. Sparring was a great way for the body to develop its muscles needed for combat, and it was the basis for the girls gaining new Skills. Even at the risk of bodily injury, of which most participants of this method didn't make it out alive, they had Compa who was a wiz at Healing Skills, being a Nurse-In-Training after all.

Nevertheless, none of them had the ruthlessness and brutality that these two possessed, the differences made clear as day from the initial beginning this battle had. Hol Horse and J Greil showed no hesitation, nor mercy in their attacks, and it became nigh impossible for Nico to call on any of his Devil Arms. Usually, he'd be able to weave in a couple seconds to do something like call on a Devil Arm, like he'd done in the past. But these guys struck with such a short time gap between their blows that it made summoning one from his Void Storage an impossibility. True, he still had Rebellion on his back, as well as Ebony and Ivory strapped to his waist, but it wasn't like he had the time to draw them either, these guys struck too fast and if they saw him trying to reach for them Hol Horse would fire organic bullets towards his hands to blast them off. That was something he KNEW would be the case, from past experience and all.

Worse still, was that his Ukaku Kagune had a special ability, one that makes him all the more dangerous.

Seeing several bullets come his way, Nico swiftly tilted his head to dodge them letting them fly by harmlessly past his important area. His eye narrowed at the victorious smirk on Hol Horse's lips. It didn't take him long to figure out why, not wen he glanced behind him and show the bullets, as if reflecting from an invisible surface, sharply twisted a full circle to co me at him again. This time from above. Nico quickly dodged them again… only for them to repeat the process over and over until J Greil came in for a thrust to his chest. Nico barely raised his claws to deflect in time, sparks flying from the collision between their two weapons… but suffered a few bullet wounds to the left shoulder.

Armour and all.

'Tch!'

Nico stumbled backwards, but other than that he didn't let the new injury affect him. J Greil cackled as he pressed his assault, swinging his Lace and thrusting in a deadly dance of blood and death. With one arm temporarily down, Nico became hard pressed to block and deflect them, forcing himself to put in more energy to successfully hold his foe back. He then found a small opening and took it by kicking his glowing leg upwards to launch a PHANTOM WAVE, knocking J Greil backwards, a move he remembered doing against Arfoire back in the Monster Cave. Though, that turned out to be costly when Hol Horse swiftly fired more bullets, each of them shifting directions erratically as they flew through the air, before slamming into the armoured limb and penetrating it, as well as the skin underneath like they did his shoulder.

"You haven't forgotten, have you?" Hol Horse remarked, his grin turning ever so smug as he eyed the bloody trails coming out of Nico's shoulder, just as they regenerated along with the armour. The holes in his leg did the same with the armour there following suit, though he didn't feel worried. Not when his hits had landed against their prey. Even now, everything for their plan seemed to be falling right into place, all he had to do now was wait for J Greil to have his fun before the REAL joy begins. His dearie wasn't the only one who wanted a piece of Nico's flesh, after all. Nearly ANY of their kind would be salivating at the thought of sampling a taste of the extravagant meat that is this particular Spec Ops Agent. "My Bullets little 'extra' kick to them."

'Heh, how could I forget…' Nico thought to himself, not bothering to answer the cowboy-themed Ghoul as he reared his Plasma Claws backwards, feeling his shoulder regaining some functionality. Not 100% yet, but that was mostly thanks to te bullets lodging themselves deep into his system. They'd evaporate shortly, though, so he didn't feel TOO concerned with their presence. Though, he would wish they evaporate already, it didn't feel too comfortable having them ledged within his shoulder and leg like they were. 'Each bullet Hol Horse fires, unlike those Shards from his wings, are actually a detachable Kagune. He controls them with his mind, manipulating them like puppets so that they always hit their targets. Makes dodging them all the more annoying.'

One of the abilities a Kagune can possess is the ability to detach itself from a Ghoul and operate independently. Though researchers were still unable to explain, some ghouls possess a rare ability to detach part of their Kagune. This detached piece maintains its traits for some time and continues to function separate from the main body. There have been various uses reported by Spec Ops Agents who survived encounters with Ghouls, like how these pieces form walls that bury into the ground, and sprout like a thorn bush or other organic barrier. It then extended itself to fill the entire area, making passage impossible. This ability was recorded from when a Ghoul was being hunted by a whole group of 10 Agents, only to use this ability to escape capture.

Second, a detachable Kagune could be used to form traps that can be buried within any surface, coiling up on themselves. These traps would then lie in wait until nearby movement triggered them. The result: them bursting from their hiding place to impale what had set them off. From what reports told them, it appeared to be possible to set more than a half-dozen traps at a time, though the exact limitation was unknown.

Third, a detached Kagune can send out distress signals, through a means that researchers weren't sure of. It could reveal the Ghoul's position, potentially, but the fact on whether it could be used both ways wasn't known at the moment. There were so many things about a Ghoul's Kagune that they didn't understand, mostly thanks to how elusive the Ghoul species were. They took to hiding in plain sight way too literally, and what was more worrisome…

Was that they WEREN'T the only humanoid Abnormals recorded.

However, it is possible for Ghouls to use their detached Kagune in more destructive and offensive ways. One Ghoul learned how to detach a Kagune to use it as a sword, or another form of weapon. Another could detach fragments of their Kagune to use as projectiles, shredding through the enemy in makeshift Ukaku barrages. It makes their base knowledge about the RC Types for Ghouls practically near-useless. Then, there were Ghouls that could make detachments that could restrain and manipulate opponents, trapping them and immobilising them for the Ghoul to finish them off.

If his smirk was large before, it almost split his face in half right at that moment, drawing Nico's attention after he summersaulted over a particularly vicious wide swing from J Greil's Lance Koukaku. The man then twisted around, swinging his Koukaku Kagune in an upward arc, forcing the teen to quickly parry with his Plasma Claw. Sensing an opportunity, a raging sensation came to him, and Nico felt it coming from his back. He reflexively reacted, deactivating his Plasma Claws and quickly drawing out Rebellion in one sift motion, just in time to block another lunging strike that would have pierced his gut.

Koukaku Kagune were extremely robust and hard to wield, but if one had the proper training with it, that issue lost its severity significantly. Something J Greil took advantage of in his ability to handle that Kagune Lance of his. However, now that Nico ad a Devil Arm in his possession, the teen felt much better about his chances, especially when he noticed that snarl that escaped J Greil's lips. Seeing that just brought a LARGE sense of satisfaction to the male, as he knew from past experience how sharp Rebellion was. The Devil Arms didn't count as ordinary weapons, counting themselves as some of the few weapons that could pierce through a Kagune like warm tofu. While other Devil Arms like Alastor, Absolution or Harvester would have been preferable with how versatile they were, it wasn't like Hol Horse would allow him to summon them.

As soon as Nico thought that, he noticed another Volley of Shards coming his way.

"PHANTOM WAVE!"

Out of reflex, the teen kicked diagonally in their direction, launching a PHANTOM WAVE to deflect the incoming attack. The Shards and the Skill attack flew through the towards each other, shooting across the atmosphere like lasers making collision an inevitability. Like Nico expected though, the PHANTOM WAVE practically disintegrated the Shards the moment the attack made contact with the small projectiles, before proceeding to its next target: their wielder.

Hol Horse merely scoffed… before using his right Ukaku wing to bat the PHANTOM WAVE aside like it was nobody's business. The Skill attack slammed into a piece of railing and exploded, showing the space between them and the spectating girls in smoke.

'Even for an Ukaku, his defences are as formidable as before… no, with the lack of damage to the Kagune's surface, I'd say its gotten even tougher to crack…' Nico thought, narrowing his lone eye narrowing at the wing that was used for that manoeuvre. I the past when a PHANTOM WAVE hit it, the Kagune would sport a little more damage than that, like a bunch of cracks or even a hole or two. Now though, it barely looked like it had done a thing to it. Either this man has increased his RC Cell count, something that Ghouls do a lot in order to fight more efficiently and evolve their Kagune. Or he had reinforced them with more RC Cells than he did before. Nico was willing to bet it was the former though, Hol Horse's attack strength, agility and other physical traits seemed to be greater than the last time they fought. Same with J Greil, and he had just stuck to using his baser abilities so far. Was he hiding some form of trump card? Nico wasn't sure, but he wasn't willing to find out.

It was time to end this.

Nico landed on the ground, quickly gripping Rebellion's hilt as he activated one of his Demon Skills. The Devil Arm's blade glowed a fierce crimson reddish hue, before he went and yelled out the Skill's name. "DEMON SAW!" The familiar sensations of Demonic Energy coursed through his being, electing a small smile beneath Nico's helmet as he saw it transform his Rebellion into the familiar 6 Shark-tooth energy construct. The teen then swung it about in a wide arc, before bringing it down and causing a massive explosion of power.

"Whoa, what the fuck?!" J Greil exclaimed in surprise, quickly ducking under the first swing lest he lose his head. His gut instincts screamed that he didn't want that energy construct to hit him, for if it did then he would likely have his goose cooked. That feeling more than proved itself true when he felt the immense energy concentrated to form the construct as it sailed over his head, just barely nicking him in the nose. As for the second strike, J Greil barely avoided the full brunt of that onslaught but the shockwave sent him flying back towards his Partner. "What the heck was that?!"

Narrowing his eyes under his cowboy hat, Hol Horse eyed the glowing form of the energy construct while it reverted back into Rebellion, the Devil Arm's blade still crackling with demonic energy. Not unlike that of a Khorne Demon's Hellblade. Just looking at the Devil Arm gave him the sensation of looking into the eyes of his killer about to end his life, something that nearly made him shudder in dread. The eyes of its Skull looked especially ominous, but hey it wasn't like it was actually trying to shoot lasers from there… right? "It looks like this is the 'Demonic Power' that our client was telling us about. It lives up to the hype." He remarked, observing the energy crackling throughout the blade. The longer the seconds passed, the more volatile and unstable it became.

'Client? I guess the person they're talking about is the same one whose running the shots here…' Nico thought to himself, remaining silent as he prepared his next move. He knew it was next to pointless asking them anything, as these guys were scumbags, but they were also professionals. They didn't give anything regarding their client's secrets to the enemy, that was one of the few rules they DID follow without exposing loopholes, as it would make their 'dealings' harder to come by if they didn't. He knew this from experience, one of the best ways to know about something in his opinion.

"It does seem a lot calmer, less volatile than the unstable energies of the Khorne Demons… Probably due to him being a DPU." The man mused, and if he wasn't using his Kagune Nico swore he would have been using his hands to cup his chin. Though, one thing that did set off alarm bells in his mind was that this guy knew that he was a DPU. Not a lot of people knew that about him, and he had kept that tightly under wraps save for those he trusted.

Nico doubted that IF or any of his comrades, even Neptune, would have spilled the beans about something as important as that. So, how the fucking hell did these two know about it? Did that have connections? Most likely, these two were well versed in te knowledge of the four Nations, travelling through them just like Nico had. "In the end though, it will be pointless, for our plan has already succeeded." Hol Horse admitted, showing a shark-like grin on his lips as he pushed the front of his hat downwards with his Ukaku's Tail. "Should be feeling it right about…"

Raising his brow, Nico wondered what he meant by that, wat did he mean by their attack having already succeeded? He was still standing, and his demonic energy was thrumming unimpeded. They hadn't done anything to him, so why…

"Now."

SPLATTER!

His answer came seconds later, along with a roaring pain that was like a lion screaming full blast within his eardrums. Nico's eye shot open wide, wider than dinner places along with his mouth falling open in a silent gasp when all of a sudden, his leg and shoulder suddenly… exploded in a shower of spectacular blood and gore. Blood showered the ground where he once stood, various gory sounds filling his ears with the teen soon toppling over and falling to the ground in a heap. Worse still, he couldn't even use his remaining limbs to form some kind of stability. The reason? Several Shards were released from Hol Horse's Ukaku wings, slicing through his other arm and leg too, leading to him having no limbs to protect himself with.

"Hehehehe HAHAHAHAHA!" It was all too much for the deformed-looking man, just seeing how stupefied Nico looked through the sole eye socket in his Helmet, it just got a splendid (for him and his partner) J Greil let out a sinister, deranged cackle, almost falling over with how hard he was cackling. "Hahahaha! Looks like you fell for it, brat! Ohohohohohoho! You should see your face, man! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" In the end, the man lost the battle to remain upright, falling onto his backside while kicking his legs in the air. It looked… honestly disturbing to see, a grown ass man kicking his legs like a cuddly kitty cat…

Ugh, Nico mentally swore he'd need brain bleach for that one.

Soon enough though, Nico's injuries brought him back to the matter at hand. The teen gritted his teeth behind his helmet as a message popped up on his HUD. It said:

WARNING: DAMAGE EXTENSIVE

THREAT LEVEL: MAJOR

ENTERING HIBERNATION MODE

'Fucking shit!' Nico cursed in his mind as he was covered in Datastreams, and when they were gone his human form could be seen lying in the exact same position. This was just like what happened back then, too! His Armour took extensive damage and was forced to recede into the Armour Module for repairs. Hibernation mode, a reference to how animals would sleep during the winter to keep warm. This was a similar feature. It was a feature that was developed in case of emergency situations where the Armour wouldn't be able to repair itself in time. For while it was self-restorative, its speed in which it did that varies depending on the injury the Armour sustained. The greater the injury, the longer it took to restore. Thus, if it was too extensive, then the Armour would retreat inside its Module to repair itself. The cons about this was that he was left exposed for the duration, and that any weapons equipped onto the Armour like his Plasma ones, were basically unusable.

He had to admit as well, that this was the first time in a long while that Nico had sustained so much damage. Very few of his opponents, aside from the Demon Prince and maybe Ganache, had pushed him this far. Beaten and battered him, maybe, but nothing like this. His limbs blown off, his weapons unusable, and his Demonic Energy rushing to repair everything along with IT. It felt like he was in one of those critical conditions patients on death's door, only this was the closest he had ever been to it. It honestly… felt a little scary. He didn't like this feeling, not one bit. He remembered the last time the male had felt the sweet embrace of death, that moment in the Monster Cave against Arfoire. How devastated his comrades were afterwards, how his 'death' before his rebirth as Crimson Soul affected his comrades mentality. He didn't think it would have been that much, Compa maybe, but Neptune as well? Nope, did not see that coming. Poor girl must have been horrified to see just what the real world was like, that it was possible that her friends could die on this little quest of theirs.

'B-Biko… can I use it yet…?'

 **'Unfortunately, no. This time, its not the demonic energy's instability that's causing it, attempting a transformation in your current state of dismemberment will only cause you more harm than necessary. Harm that I am unsure even your regeneration would heal. Remember, this power respects control. If you are weakened by mere willpower alone, then it will try to take control.'**

'Heh, well… couldn't blame me for asking. Not sure if my regeneration will make it in time, either.'

A brief chuckle escaped his lips, for Nico to spew out blood seconds later, via a sharp pain in his chest. It hurt to laugh, and his limbs were already starting to regenerate. However, his ears picked up sounds of heavy footsteps, and when he glanced upwards the teen saw how Hol Horse and J Greil were standing over him, looming over him with sick grins on their faces. He didn't like those looks, not one bit.

"Haah, that went easier than expected. Its' almost disappointing. But then again, I guess he didn't consider how he wasn't the only one hat has developed some new tricks since we last fought."

"Aw man, and here I was hoping for a good fight, this guy's a total wuss now! What happened to all that good shit all those years ago?"

Both man sighed as the crossed their arms, while Hol Horse then looked towards his partner. "You have to understand, it has been reported that he has been around some… colourful companions for a while. Its likely that they stunted his cold fangs for a long time now. He is not completely to blame."

J Greil's eyes widened in realisation at that, before he looked down to the weakened Nico with a snort of disgust, his eyes alight with furious anger. "Oh, I see… so that's how it is…" he let loose a feral snarl and kicked the wounded boy in the side. "You fucking weakling! What, is this all that you have to offer?! Huh?! Pathetic! Back when we fought before, you were much fiercer! Your fangs were way sharper! How could you let all that lethality go to waste over a couple of bitches, huh?!"

If he could move just now, then Nico would utterly rip that jaw right off that asshole's face for that one. insulting his comrades, whom were slowly getting closer and closer to him as the days went by, made him want to flip a couple tables. However, his regeneration was taking longer than normal for some reason. No, he knew the reason: a Kagune's wounds always, ALWAYS, took longer to heal for his regeneration ability. It DID come from THAT side of him after all.

"Now that the boy is in this pitiful state, why don't we… do what we want with him?" Hol Horse suggested with a matching smirk on his lips. His eyes shined with sinister intent, as well as a certain perverse look a pervert would give to a hot woman… only his eyes were wandering over what remained of his form. Could it be counted as necrophilia? Desecration of a corpse? By all means, Nico should be dead if he were a normal person, but considering what he was…

A matching expression formed on J Greil's face as he licked his lips hungrily. He always wanted to know what it felt like to dominate this particular specimen, preferably after a tough fight where he asserted his dominance, but beggars can't be choosers. "Heh, well I guess so, but I get fucking first bite, you got that?!" he bellowed, gesturing to the downed male. Hol Horse rolled his eyes with a chuckle, but didn't argue back. He may e the dominant one in their sessions, but J Greil could be THAT type of beast when he wanted to be.

None of their later banter registered to Nico however, his attention flew off the rail when hee saw those looks the two had given him.

Those looks…

Those looks.

THOSE FREAKING LOOKS!

His lungs tightened, and his breath hitched. His eyes shook, pupils dilating while their irises shook violently. If his body would respond properly, it would have been quivering just as violently. His head began to ache, like it was in a vice-like grip that threatened to rip it in two. Black dots danced across his vision as his own mind reduced itself gradually to a… more chaotic mental state. His mind felt like it was slowly, deliberately like when one of those sadists try to prolong the torment as much as possible, ripping itself into pieces, stich itself back together, and then repeat itself in some form of vicious cycle. Images, so clear yet unclear at the same time, as well as ones he both didn't recognise, yet also he did in some manner, flashed through his mind, However, each one left more of an impact on him than the last.

Each Image looked so familiar yet so foreign to him… because they involved him when he was younger, between 6 to 11. He looked to be suffering in some form, with his form stripped bare of any clothing while moving as if something was thrusting. His form was chained, his eyes wide open with tears of blood streaming down them, hoarse screams ripping from his lips. blood dripped from his younger self's many cuts, bruises and other injuries, some even having knife-like protrusions sticking into them still. Like they had been left there on purpose, to cause as much pain as they could.

Such a sight only sent Nico further into the abyss that was the deepest corner of his mind, not something he wanted to do, but it was happening whether he liked it or not.

'No…! Not now…. why?! Why is this happening now?!'

 **'Nico, calm yourself! Don't let him take you! Pull yourself together, Nico! NICO!'**

His Demon Persona's words, words that were shouted with a rising level of panic he didn't hear from him very often, gradually became more and more distant, until finally his presence completely faded away. Away into the darkness and oblivion that he was being dragged into. His voice could not utter a sound, his pleas were unheard as he felt the shadowy hands of oblivion grabbing onto his psyche… with horrific results. His chaotic mind no longer registered Biko at this point, anymore, it was already slipping back into the darkness. It was slipping into a place that Nico dared not venture, for if he did, he feared he'd might never come back again.

Nico wondered if this could get any worse...

He shouldn't have asked.

'HEHEHEHE…. HAHAHAHA…"

The sound of maniacal laughter echoed throughout the void, filling the once eerie silence with insanity and madness. Nico's wide eyes, if possible, got even wider in shock and horror, while the limbs restraining him to pull him deeper into the pool seemingly clutched him even harder, as if they too got shaken by the mad laughter.

No...

He knew who had this laughter...

The teen knew this laughter all too well.

Part of him wondered where the hell Biko was, but that part of him became silent the next millisecond.

Then, as if to taunt him further, the source of the laughter began to reveal itself. First, a lone shadowy figure started to form in the darkness, his form so dark that it even cast a shadow on darkness itself. It made chills go down his spine, and the figure hadn't even fully formed yet. That was how much this figure impacted Nico's mind. Just the sound of his voice always got him on edge in the past, but seeing him face to face like this? When he always rejected his secret unless they were alone? Yeah, he'd flip his lid, and not in the angry way either. A pair of crimson red eyes with veins coming out opened from within the darkness in front of him like the gates of hell themselves. Following was the mouth, which was twisted into a sinister grin that released a spec of misty vapor, until finally he could see the face of the one that personified his deepest, darkest secret.

In the next moment, there he stood.

The full form of an exact copy of Nico himself, looming over him like a last game boss would a weakened adventurer. The two stared at each other, one looking down with sinister, twisted glee. The other, with eyes filled to the brim like a nigh overflowing bath tub with shock and grim disbelief. Tilting his head to the side, the white copy opened his mouth to start off the turning point... to everything.

Including Nico's mind.

'LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE IN A PICKLE, KING!'


	91. Chapter 88 - Cowardice and Resolve

**Hey guys!**

 **This Chappies going to be a doozy, and fair warning there will be graphic descriptions of gore here. as well as sorta character death. So, if you do not like that, don't read it. If you see that its getting to that point, skip it.**

 **This Chapter's also intending to dive deeper into Nico's psyche, his mind and all the internal issues that he's been faced with throughout the story. All them hallucinations, all those nightmares, those brief instances in the mirror world, everything's going to be brought on its head in this chapter. We'll start to see more development of his mental state, further developing his character and his role as a harem protag! Cause, lets face it, Nico's mind isn't the best for a relationship right now, there are still thing that prevent him from realizing that the girls like him that way, as indicated by IF a while back. Remember, psychological repression. Hopefully, you'll like the way I develop his character in this chapter.**

 **in any case, lets get on with the chap.**

* * *

 **Chapter 88 - Cowardice and Resolve**

"Ugh… this is intense!"

Tekken cried that out as she lay on the Staircase, covering her face with her arms from the smoke generated by the combating Ghouls and Nico. After she had recovered from that hit, she had adjusted herself by moving off the Staircase's ledge, so that she could watch the fighting from beneath the top of the Staircase, but when that explosion came along she had to conceal her eyes lest she get dust in them. The downside for this was, that she could no longer rely on her eyes to watch the fight. Fortunately, she had her other senses, like her ears and hands. She had heard the constant sounds of weapons clashing against each other, of Skill attacks being launched from Nico's end, as well as the familiar crackling sounds from the Ghouls and their Kagune. Her hands, which were flat on the ground, felt the vibrations from each of their movements, spreading outwards like sonar waves.

This… this was the second time that she had been witness to a Ghoul fight, and like she just said it was just as intense as it was the first time.

Then, she remembered that she wasn't the only one who was witnessing this, so she looked to her sole other companion on this little adventure of theirs: her fellow dimensional travel companion, MAGES. the Mad Magician. "Hey, MAGES. how's your magic doing?" she asked her.

Said Mad Magician looked over from her spot beside the Martial Artist, her eyes glimmering with a no small amount of weariness. While the battle had been going on, MAGES. had put up a special barrier with what remained of her Mana, a barrier that she was using as a sustained ability with her Staff as a medium. Sustained abilities weren't the same kind of Spells that she had been using the last few levels of this infernal place, these particular Spells didn't drain her Mana as much as her other Spells. In fact, they drained very little, instead they took what they needed and recycled that Mana constantly, keeping the Spells active. When she dismissed the Spell however, all that Mana was dispersed into the atmosphere instead of being absorbed back into her. With all the Mana that she'd lost, it was no wonder that MAGES. didn't look too good. Hell, she practically looked like she would be keeling over at any second at this point.

The few healing Spells she had to perform on them didn't exactly help matters either.

This Particular Barrier Spell was one that functioned like a pocket dimension, like the Inventory every adventure/Guild Agent/Spec Ops (wit some exceptions) use. It isolated everything inside from the outside, and that included visibility, sounds, smells the ability to touch and even see the contents inside the barrier. After MAGES. got a quick summary of the Ghoul race by Tekken (who'd done some digging about it not long after her initial encounter with one – know the enemy, she said. If she wanted to fight one and win, she would have to learn more about her opponent, so she could formulate a strategy), she had quickly erected this Barrier so that the Ghouls wouldn't come after them and use them as a hostage against their Spec Ops Companion.

In this world, many scummy things went down, using hostages wouldn't be out of the question.

Nevertheless, the Mad Magician's stubbornness won the war within her body and kept her consciousness awake. Long enough for her to tilt her head and respond to Tekken's question. She had to keep herself from losing it, otherwise the Spell would be disabled, and the barrier would fall. "I am well, for the time being. However, I can feel the cold hands of oblivion trying to wrestle control over my consciousness away from me. I am successfully fighting them off, however I do not know when the tides of conflict will turn against me." MAGES. replied, frowning deeply. She didn't like this, not one bit. If she had more SP Chargers then she could use one to restore her Mana, she didn't want to have the others lend her one of theirs as they'd need them to replenish their own SP. That'd be selfish of her, and she was pretty sure Tekken had lent her one before. She couldn't exactly think very hard right now thanks to all that fatigue weighing on her.

You know that feeling of not wanting to think because the body was too tired and wanting rest?

Yeah, that was the feeling MAGES. was going through right now.

This clearly showed itself to Tekken, whose eyes flashed with concern for her friend. As long as she had known her, Tekken hadn't seen Tekken this worn down very many times. The last time she was like this was when she stayed up for 4 days on nothing but Doc P, designing one of her more… complex inventions as the Mage of Magic and Technology. She couldn't remember which though, her friend had invented so many in their years of friendship at this point. Plus, she'd been more focused on her training, at least until the fourth day when she had to catch MAGES. when she fell towards the floors of her Lab inside her house while paying her a visit. THAT had been a good eyeopener for her, since she'd been pretty tired from her training. "Well… just do what you can." She urged, getting a nod from her friend. "I could give you one of…"

"No. You should keep those for your own Skills. DEATHSTROKE has done well in keeping the enemy mostly focused on himself whenever they attack us till now, however even he has limits. Therefore, preserving our dwindling SP Charger supply will be vital." MAGES. replied indifferently, waving off the Martial Artist's concern. Though touched, this wasn't the time for it, right now one of their own was fighting a battle of life and death ad they had to keep themselves out of the crossfire. Normally they would have tried to help, however this wasn't any normal situation. MAGES. knew this just from the sound of Nico's voice when he told them to stay out of this.

The urgency…

Fear…

Tension…

Dread…

Along with a hint of grim determination…

These Ghouls were something that got under his skin, for what reason yet eluded the Mad Magician, however she figured that it was a grave one jut from his actions alone. She and Tekken kept in touch often through Phone Calls, considering that they were in another Dimension far more hostile than their own version, they'd need to keep in contact at all times in case of an emergency situation. On one of their many calls, Tekken had informed the Mad Magician that she had begun fighting Abnormals after she encountered one at last, after so many weeks of trying to keep out of their way. Why that was, Tekken hadn't said, but MAGES. extracted some of the truth from Tekken's words, like she had done with the main Party back at Lastation. Her mind deduced that Tekken had been forced to fight against an Abnormal, one that boiled the Martial Artist blood within her to a point that she hadn't felt in a long time, leading to the sudden desire to train and increase her strength to fight them on even ground.

That desire may have been how she got that strange power as well…

Just as she was making to resume her resting, as well as her battle to remain conscious, a feminine hand rested on her shoulder, catching her by surprise. Her eyes widened as she frantically turned her head, expecting to see an enemy or something. If that was the case, then she would be unable to do a thing to stop them. However, the moment she laid eyes on the person, her eyes filled with recognition instead.

"You…!"

* * *

'WOW, LOOK AT YOU, KING. HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN…'

HIS voice echoed from within his mind like a ghastly wail, hollow yet still with a sentience that just screamed life. It was a twisted, sinister sentience however, and it also COMMANDED Nico to pay attention to it.

The face of HIM sneered mockingly, slowly moving forwards to reveal his full white form to him. The pure whiteness that HE, the personification of the beast trapped inside, radiated gave a stark contrast inside this large, black void within Nico's mind. His form almost seemed to glow in this wretched place, something Nico paid little attention too as he had to look upwards, straining his neck to do so. He doubted his neck appreciated this, judging from the aches that assaulted it right now. Yet, all he could do was look up at the white version of himself, the sinister half. Ironic, considering his true nature was anything that white represented.

It was so ironic that it was almost sickening.

"How… How are you…?"

Having opened his mouth with sheer willpower, Nico tried to speak, momentarily breaking through whatever kept him from speaking before. However, like a massive suction, his ability to speak soon got swept away from him. His body shuddered and trembled, all the while he became distinctly aware of how his form her paused its sinking into the void, almost like the void itself was aware of the Copy's presence. In the past, Nico only heard HIS voice whenever something happened with regards to his mental state, his instincts along with THAT side to him, the beast he kept trapped inside. He never actually saw HIM fully like this and spoke face to face with HIM. HE was always just that annoying voice in the back of his mind, judging him, goading Nico into unleashing what he kept on a tight leash. Part of him felt like he didn't even need to manifest like this, that Nico knew already what he truly was, no matter what form HE took. In a sense, he could see why, as the eyes were a major giveaway. So, for HIM to fully manifest before him like this…

Just how bad were things getting?

'WHO KNOWS? NOT REALLY IMPORTANT THERE, KING. #SIGH# YOU REALLY HAVE LOST IT HAVEN'T YOU? #SHRUG SHOULDER# BUT MEH, BACK TO THE MORE IMPORTANT SHIT…'

The mocking grin only widened as the white Copy slowly kneeled down so that he was balanced perfectly on the front of his feet, allowing them to be eye level. He reached forth and harshly grasped his chin, forcing Nico to look into his crimson and black eyes with his own light blue ones. Malice and sinister intent clashed with shock, confusion and dread, it didn't need to be said which emotions belonged to which pair of eyes did it? Thought not.

'YOU'VE REALLY FALLEN QUITE A HEIGHT: BEEN GETTING CLOBBERED OUT THERE, AND NOW LOOK AT YOU. SO WEAK, SO HELPLESS. THOSE TWO CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO YOU, AND YOU'D BE TOO POWERLESS TO RESIST. AH, I CAN SEE IT NOW, ONE OF THEM HOLDING YOU DOWN WHILE THE OTHER HAS HIS WAY WITH YOU. HOW PATHETIC, WHAT A WEAKLING YOU ARE. YES, THAT IS YOU, KING. THAT IS WHAT YOU REALLY ARE. YOUR FANGS HAVE BEEN BLUNTED, YOUR CLAWS HAVE GROWN DULL. YOU'VE HIT ROCK BOTTOM, THE END OF THE ROAD. THIS IS THAT BITCHY KARMA COMING CALLING TO COLLECT WHAT SHE IS OWED, YA KNOW.'

Every word this other Nico said, felt like the sting of a thousand Wasps to his eardrums, yet Nico could not look away from the white copy before him. Mostly because he was restrained by these black hands while his body was halfway through the void right now. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he could only listen to the white copy's words. Though, that wasn't really much better. Not to mention how his head still felt like it was suffering under a thousand-kilogram weight at the moment, a weight that felt like it was threatening to crush him.

However, Nico refused to let this stand, he refused to be called 'weak'. Nico was not 'weak' he was not 'weak' in the slightest. He felt a bristle come along while his eyes narrowed sharply at his copy, his previous emotions slowly bleeding away to give way to the fury that was rising within his gut like a scorching heat. "I… am… not weak…!" he growled through heavy breathing. The male may have found his voice for the second time just now, but it wasn't exactly easy to speak like this, not with some of the hands feeling like they were gripping his lungs like they were anchors.

In the copy's eyes though, he may as well be.

'OH REALLY? LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT YOU, SHALL WE?'

The Copy raised a hand and began lifting fingers, listing several things that his condition showed. Each one felt like a stab to the gut nonetheless, though.

'YOUR BODY'S A WRECK, YOU CAN'T CALL ON YOUR FEEBLE DEMONIC POWER, YOUR DDD IS SHOT, YOUR LIMBS HAVE BEEN AMPUTATED AND YOU HAVE YOUR ENEMIES ABOUT TO DEFILE YOU. DID I GET THAT RIGHT? THOUGHT SO. JUST LIKE OLD TIMES, HUH? WHAT, YOU HAVEN'T HAD ENOUGH YET?'

Is it just him, or was this guy just DESIGNED for the sole purpose of blurting out the truth as bluntly as a hammer? Because no matter how much Nico wanted to refute him, his mouth opening with a retort that died seconds before release, he couldn't. He just couldn't. No matter how much his mind shouted and raved at his body for refusing to answer to its commands, Nico just couldn't refute him for some reason.

Thus, Nico resorted to only glaring at him in defiance.

Seemed like that was something the copy expected however, as he let Nico's chin go in a rough, brutal manner by yanking it downwards, before he used the same hand to clutch the boy's head in a vice. Not too different for whatever was gripping his brain right now, actually.

'LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVEN'T DONE MUCH SINCE THE FIRST 'TRIAL', IT SEEMS. PATHETIC, YOU'RE A KING, WHY IS IT THAT YOU ARE SO FREAKING STUPID THAT YOU HAVEN'T BEEN TRYING ANYTHING? OH WAIT, I GET IT, YOU'RE JUST A COWARD WHO CAN'T EVEN STAY TRUE TO HIS TRUE NATURE, HIS TRUE CALLING IN LIFE? I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO TRUST PEOPLE, SO WHY HAVEN'T YOU DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT YET? MAYBE THIOSE GUYS WEREN'T THAT WRONG ABOUT YOU AFTER ALL, EH? THEM SAYING ALL THAT SHIT ABOUT YOU BEFORE.'

Oh, how much Nico relished the thought of knocking the Copy's teeth out. Not only insulting and demeaning him, but also referring to the ultimate risk that Nico could take? Trusting? Unlike other edgy protagonists, Nico had full reasons for not wanting to trust and rely on others! He had to be alone because that was what he deserved! Even if his heart longed for people he could trust with his life, it didn't mean that he deserved it!

Almost as if the copy could hear his thoughts, something that Nico didn't doubt considering this guy's true nature, the copy rolled his eyes while scoffing, a snort of derision coming from his lips a second later.

'SURE, YOU KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT. THOSE ARE A COWARD'S THOUGHTS IF YOU ASK ME, IF YOU HADN'T MET THOSE HINDRANCES YOU'D STILL BE THE COLD KILLING MACHINE YOU WERE IN THE PAST! THEN YOU COULD HAVE BEATEN THOSE FUCKERS INTO THE GROUND NO SWEAT! NOW LOOK AT YOU, SEEMS LIKE YOU DIDN'T HEED MY WARNING TO YOU BACK WHEN YOU FOUGHT THAT LAST GHOUL, HOW PITIFUL.'

The Copy shook his head, his earlier sinister sadism and glee replaced with frustration and disappointment. It honestly threw Nico off a little, how the Copy could use other emotions than his usual demented psychotic nature. But soon, those thoughts got thrown out of the window when the Copy opened his mouth again.

'BECAUSE YOU STUNTED YOURSELF, YOUR SO CALLED 'COMRADES' ARE GOING TO BE MURDERED, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN FUCKING DO ABOUT IT. NOT WITH THE STATE YOUR IN. YOU'RE SO WEAK, SO PATHETIC, AND THERE'S NOT A SINGLE FUCKING THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT. IN FACT, WHY NOT SEE FOR YOURSELF, AFTER ALL THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL DOOM EVERYONE TO THANKS TO YOUR ACTIONS, OR LACK OF…'

* * *

Raising his hand, the Copy snapped his fingers, and everything in the void began to change. Everything distorted, shifting into the familiar settings of the Dungeon… allowing Nico to get up on his own two feet. The teen did so with gusto, just so he could get feeling back into his legs and get rid of the phantom sensations of those creepy dark arms. That had been one of the most harrowing experiences he'd ever had yet, it felt like he had been gradually getting sucked into the madness. Under no reason was he thinking that he'd been freed from the madness, he could still feel it clawing away at him, trying to bring him back into its infernal grip. To make him slip back into its waters and down into the depths of insanity. No, it would make more sense to say that the madness was ALWAYS present, like a lingering thought in the deepest recesses of his brain, a place he'd dare not venture to.

Bad things happened when his mind wandered. His head wasn't a nice place to get lost in.

Soon though, something in the distance caught his attention, a pair of figures that were fairly close together. They were so close that the teen assumed that they were practically about to touch with the proximity between them. At first, Nico could hardly make them out thanks to one thing: his having adapted to the darkness of the void. So, it would be possible to assume that the sudden shift in scenery would do wonders on his optic nerves. "Those two… what…?"

However, Nico didn't focus on that as his Copy floated just above the ground beside him, leaning downwards while the original Nico's eyes fixed themselves on the two figures. Said figures slowly revealed themselves as his eyes focused, but the Copy didn't wait for the process to fish. Instead, he spoke directly into Nico's ear, his voice bone-chilling and it made Nico shudder in both anger… and dread, especially with the words he spoke.

'BECAUSE OF YOUR COWARDICE, YOUR UNWILLINGNESS TO EMBRACE YOUR TRUE SELF AT THE CONSEQUENCE OF EXPOSURE, YOU WILL FAIL TO PROTECT THOSE WHO HAVE FOUGHT ALONGSIDE YOU. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP THEM FROM FACING THAT WHICH NO SOUL SHOULD EVER GO THROUGH…'

Finally, the figures could be seen. On one hand, one of them was Tekken, the Martial Artist lying on her back. What his attention got caught by however was her body's condition. It looked like she had been through hell, with her body riddled with various injuries, some minor, most of them major. Her eyes looked like they were struggling to stay open, even though a part of them looked like they wanted to look away for some reason. It looked like she was on death's door, and it looked like she barely had any strength left to move.

As for the looming figure looming over her…

'No… No!'

Pure horror, revulsion and all too familiar emotions swelled within his gut when he saw what he did. His stomach churned, almost forming knots tighter than a serpent coiling around its prey. His Jaw unhinged from its connection to his mouth, dropping open while his eyes practically became dots, his breath catching itself in his throat.

'No…. No, this isn't…'

What he saw was the other figure… or rather, of J Greil, looming over Tekken with a perverse expression on his features that wasn't unlike ones he'd seen before in some of the cases he'd solved. His grin looked so disturbing and disgusting that Nico wanted to look away from it to stop himself from puking in disgust. It showed his teeth, sharp as fangs they were, tainted with the stains of blood from previous victims. His form pressed itself against the downed, weakened Tekken to limit her mobility, his hands wrapped tightly around her neck with a grip that was just strong enough to make breathing difficult. He could see the skin being bunched up around the fingers and thumbs.

But… the most horrifying thing that he immediately took notice of?

It was the hip areas: Or rather the motions of thrusting that he could see there. That, and the tell-tale scent of blood, the faint pained expression on her face as she weakly struggled to break free under the Ghoul's grip.

One didn't need to be a genius to know what was going on when seeing this.

'No… No, I have to stop this!'

Instincts inside of him screamed at him to act, and act. Nico did his brain, despite the state it had been in, frantically sent orders to his legs, his motor functions to move their asses and save Tekken from what was happening to her. Thing was, this body refused, it refused to move no matter how much his mind demanded that it do what it was told. Why?! Why was his body not moving?!

Looking down, Nico got his answer, and it was the worst-case scenario for him…

He didn't have his limbs.

Being Limbless made him powerless, and that meant he could do nothing to help Tekken escape the fate planned for her by this Ghoul, something that filled his throat with disgust. Her screams grew fainter and fainter as time went on, while the defilement kept continuing unimpeded. He couldn't even see MAGES. anywhere, leading him to fret over her as well. Was she already killed? Did she go through this as well? Or did something worse happen? Part of him wondered what could be worse than what he was witnessing right now, but that part soon got quashed by the rest of his fear-riddled brain.

Once again though HIS voice cut trough his haze of thought, and it felt just as unwelcome as ever.

'HEHEHEHE, YOU SEE? YOU JUST DOOMED THOSE TWO GIRLS TO A FATE YOU WOULDN'T WISH ON ANYONE? GHOULS DO LIKE EATING PEOPLE, FOR THEM IT IS ALSO CONSIDERED… SEXUALLY PLEASING… YOU KNOW THIS, I KNOW THIS… WE BOTH ARE AWARE. KNOW THAT YOU WILL FAIL IN PROTECTING THEM FROM THE HORRORS OF GHOULS, OF WHAT THE DEVIL HAS PLANNED FOR THEM. BUT, IF YOU THINK THIS IS THE END, WHY YOU COULDN'T BE ANY MORE WRONG…'

* * *

Once again, the scene began to shift, everything distorting back into that empty black void. All colour bled into darkness, evaporating into simple mist that soon disappeared into nothingness, like it was nothing but an illusion. But to Nico, that couldn't be the truth, no. He knew… he KNEW deep down to the innermost essence of his being that was far from the truth. Still, he lacked the ability to move, his body still half-encased within the void around him. He couldn't feel the hands that gripped him before, though, so was that a good thing or not? Nico didn't know anymore at this point.

Soon enough however, once again the scene gradually changed into another setting, a bright light erupting from right in front of him. Nico quickly closed his eyes, as if that would protect him from the blinding light in front of him. Yet, as it shone brighter and brighter, brighter than the sun itself even, the teen couldn't help but feel like his eyelids were burning under the intensity, providing little protection for his vulnerable eye sockets.

Just as fast as it came though, the sense of burning light vanished, allowing Nico to open his eyes once more. Though, he waited for a few seconds before he did though, just in case it was his mind playing tricks on him. Though, one could say that his mind was ALWAYS playing tricks on him at this point, something Nico had gotten used to from many years of having those goddamn nightmares. Nevertheless, if he had known that shit like this would happen in his future, then maybe he would have appreciated the nightmares a little better. They didn't sting nearly as much as watching one of his comrades get… defiled, like that.

Opening his eyes fully, Nico took in his surroundings, eyes casting their wary gaze across them like a falcon. Once again everything looked familiar to him, only it wasn't the Dungeon that he was seeing anymore. Looking around, Nico couldn't help but notice that the room he was in, it looked like a… living room of sorts. Not just any living room though, no he recognized the layout this room had. The tan ceiling, pink pain with darker pink hearts on them, as well as the cosy, homely feeling he got from the place, it reminded him of one thing: Compa's Living room.

The familiar, warm setting this was, gave Nico some small manner of comfort, a soft sigh of relief escaping him along with the tension built up within his gut. The Living Room of his Childhood friend, someone Nico regarded as one of the few reasons he had left to fight in this wretched world, always sparked this reaction in him.

Alas, that was not to be however…

'YES, COSY HUH? A NICE LITLE SLICE OF HEAVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THE HELL AND OTHER BULLSHIT YOU PUT UP WITH, RIGHT? YOUR PERSONAL LITTLE PARADISE, WHICH BY THE WAY YOU DIODN'T EVEN VIST TILL 5 YEARS PASSED. TOO BAD BECAUSE OF YOUR FAILURE, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP THOSE GUYS FROM MOVING ON TO THOSE YOU CARE ABOUT…'

Soon, HIS voice came back and shattered his peacefulness, sending Nico into a fit of shudders as he looked up. Eyes wide with fear and dread, he cast his gaze around once again, noticing something that he didn't notice before thanks to the familiarity of the place. Something he SHOULD have noticed, the one thing wrong with this paradise. The stain on an otherwise natural safe haven that he had always considered it as.

Everything… was a mess.

The floor had various stains of blood on it, all shaped differently as if something had either slammed onto it to make a circular patch, or something was dragged along it like a paint brush making a piece of art. There were holes in the walls, varying in sizes between bullets, fists, and the unmistakable size of Shards: Ukaku Shards. The Ceiling looked like it had been punched in by a giant, with how it looked indented from the outside in. faint piles of soot could be seen scattered across the floor, mixing with the bloodstains scattered across the carpet. The furniture? Don't get him started, they each looked like a bear had come in and went to town on their asses, with claw marks, both big and small, ripping through it like warm tofu. They spilled the contents out onto the floor, some also being stained by blood.

Seeing all this reminded him of when someone 'Pulled the Wool over his eyes'. It was basically a means of tricking or deceiving someone, to hide the truth till it was too late. Whatever HE was doing, Nico did in face realise that HE had just pulled the wool over his eyes just now. Nico had been so distracted with the soothing feelings this place brought him in the past that he just didn't notice the hell that it had become. It… definitely stung, he'll say that at least.

The sound of shuffling made Nico realise that he wasn't alone in this place, his head shooting towards the direction he heard the sound come from. His eyes fell on a large, masculine figure that he quickly recognised as Hol Horse, just by seeing that cowboy hat of his… and how his Ukaku Kagune was out. The wing protrusions blocked him from seeing what his arms were doing, but the teen could faintly make out something dangling from beneath them. They looked… like feet?

Oh no…

No, not that, anything but that!

'HEHEHEHEHEHE, THAT'S A BINGO! GIVE THIS BOY A PRIZE, HEH-HEEEE! BECAUSE OF YOUR WEAKNESS, YOU COULDN'T STOP THEM FROM GOING AFTER YOUR COMRADES, YOUR SO-CALLED PARTY. NO MATTER HOW STRONG THEY MAY BE, THEY ARE STILL NO MATCH FOR THESE GHOULS. GHOULS THRIVE UNDER CONFLICT, THEIR KAGUNE GROWS STRONGER WITH EACH ABNORMAL THEY CONSUME. YOU KNOW THIS, CONSIDERING…'

Glancing behind him, Hol Horse, or at least the one in this scene, looked straight at him, staring the shocked and horrified Nico straight in the eyes, before his lips curved upwards into a smug grin. His eyes shone with malice, perverse lust and a sense of pure victory in every sense of the word. That was before he turned around, and all that faded into pure sadism when he showed Nico what he was holding… or rather, WHOM he was holding.

Liliac hair…

Hoodie dress…

Striped stockings…

Creamy hair…

Woolly sweater...

Checkered skirt…

Kneesocks with pink hearts…

If his blood didn't freeze before, it certainly did just then when he saw just WHO Hol Horse held in each hand: Compa, and Neptune. Both of them looked absolutely WRECKED, and not in a joking manner. The former had pieces of her hair forcefully and mercilessly ripped from her skull and scalp, discarded messily to the floor below to leave blood staining the rest. Her face had entire portions of her cheeks and an eye ripped out, exposing the interior. Her body had similar injuries, with long gashes brought from Tail strikes, adorning her torso and limbs. By limbs, he meant an arm and a leg, she didn't have the full set anymore. Her clothes: ripped, torn and shredded till they barely hung off her unmentionables, showcasing just how brutal a treatment she had gotten.

As for the latter…

Well, Nico had seen a lot of fucked up shit. That much was for certain, having to deal with a world filled with criminals and deranged psychopaths. People who committed unspeakable horrors to their brethren like this one serial killer known as the 'Birthday Stitcher'. He'd kill his victims with string, take out their organs at the scene and make mini decorations out of them surrounding the corpse. Sort of like when people put up decorations around their homes…. Only it was a much gorier affair to witness. A complete abomination to what should be a happy occasion, and on that happy note the killer would end it with a note written in the victim's own blood. That note: 'Happy Birthday, bitch!' was his calling card.

One can imagine what Nico reacted like when he finally got his hands on that fucker.

As for Neptune's body, he could safely say that it was way up there in terms of victim remains being horrifically grotesque. Her entire torso, down to her lower abdomen, looked like it was cut open with surgical precision, letting various organs and intestines dangle outwards with bones sticking out of her flesh. Her arms and legs looked to have been bent at an unnatural angle, horrific looking gashes adorning them. Hell, it was the same for each of her fingers and toes, each one looking more and more fucked up than the last. Nico wanted to peel his eyes away from this disgusting sight, his inner desire to shudder in horror and dreads too strong to resist, but he couldn't. It was like the sight before him just compelled him to look, forcing him to take it in no matter how horrible it was. That, and there was just ONE little detail that trumped everything else, one that nearly sent his mind off the rail.

Both of them were practically dead, obvious thing was obvious. That alone nearly sent him down into the madness within. But then, he noticed their neither regions, something that wasn't as covered as their upper halves by their shredded clothing. There was blood coming from those regions, coming from THAT part of their bodies, the most sacred of a female's anatomy, at least to those two girls.

'BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SAVE THEM. HOW COULD YOU? AFTER ALL, YOUR COWARDICE WON'T LET YOU GO ALL OUT ON THEM IF THERE'S OTHERS NEARBY. OH, WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF ME? WILL THEY THINK I'M A MONSTER AND CONDEMN ME? WILL THEY HATE ME? UGH, GET OVER YOURSELF, YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION!'

HIS Voice stopped Nico's thought process just before he could slip back into that void once again, and this time Nico hardly had the strength to resist him at this point. His words, words that were sharper than any blade in existence sunk into his mind, plunging their sharpened talons into his psyche and ripping away like deranged, psychotic patients in a mental asylum.

'AND NOW… FOR THE CLINCHER…'

* * *

The same thing from before happened once again. The settings bled away just before Nico saw how Hol Horse released his Kagune to tear the girls remains to shreds in front of him, finally putting an end to that gory horror… in just as gory a manner. The teen's wide, borderline insane gaze trembled as did his body, when he once again found himself in yet another familiar setting. He found himself located within one of the Spec Ops Guild corridors, the familiar white design filling his vision.

Up ahead, he saw someone familiar to him… and fortunately for him, it wasn't a bad kind.

"IF!"

His eyes replacing insanity and madness with joy, brightened as he called out to the brunette as she walked along the corridors. His eyes, once they fell on her, quickly picked something up however, something that confused the heck out of him. Was it just him, or did she have a change of wardrobe, too? She had changed her colors slightly, her long coat having a darker blue coloring, nigh black. It reminded him of the depths of the ocean, now that he thought about it, with a fairly sinister looking high collar, which had various sharpened, elongated edges. It also had two wicked looking dark green chains dangling from it. The dark green, in contrast, reminded him of a sickly poison, which unnerved him slightly. Her coat's sleeves had both dark green vine-like designs embedded in them, and dark green cuffs with blades leaves coming out the back, while her back had what looked like… some form of bio hazard symbol, a symbol that constantly pulsated like a living organ. It also sported torn and tattered edges, almost resembling bladed leaves, along the bottom trim. These features along with everything else about her demeanor… it was not what he knew of her.

Something was wrong here, very wrong.

"Idiot…"

Eyes widened once more, as Nico heard how her voice sounded: so cold, lifeless and almost like she had been inhaling herbal narcotics. Slowly, IF turned to face him, and Nico became aware of just how much her other pieces of her outfit had changed, something that, in other circumstances would have made his jaw drop in awe. Right now, however, he could only think of one thing: what had happened to her?

IF sported a dark bluish black crop top, one that looked to be made from sharpened, blade-like leaves. There were also various Tendril-like ornaments hanging from the bottom, just reaching her belly button in length. Around her waist were a pair of shorts, something that Nico first sighed in relief from the familiar clothing style, but then he noticed that the shorts followed similar designs to the crop top, with a single garter belt coming down her left thigh and ending in a belt around there. On her hands, she wore a set of black leather gloves. She wore instead of her blue boots, a pair off black thigh high boots with stiletto heels, each foot having dark green soles. Each heel looked sharpened with plates, allowing it to be used to kick someone when needed. Honestly reminded him of Raven's boots, now that he thought about it. Her coat also showed a dark green pulsating interior… almost like his own coat, now that he thought about it.

But the moment he saw her face, Nico felt his gut practically rupture itself. Her eyes, instead of that vibrant green he had come to know from her, as well as secretly admire about her among other things he'd noticed ever since Neptune's advances made him see things… a little bit differently when it came to the girls, they now had a more poisonous color to them, like a plant/succubus mix that drew her victims in with her alluring charms, then utterly ripped them to shreds with her powers. Her pupils also looked slitted, like a cat's or a Demon's. Hell, her hair even looked between brown and black, with dark green highlights mixed in to complete the image.

And she looked at him with… nothing but disappointment, which Nico nearly shattered at.

"Why didn't you just show us already? Couldn't you have trusted us a bit more?" she asked him, frowning at his flabbergasted expression. The way she spoke just now… he KNEW he didn't like it, not one bit. It felt horrible, he couldn't truly explain it because he hadn't felt this bad about… well, anything before, but hearing her say those words in that tone just s ruptured his heart to pieces.

Then, her face turned to one of a pained grimace, as if she had just moments left to live. Horror once again found itself travelling through Nico's eyes as IF fell forwards, blood exploding out of her in various places from injuries that just appeared over her from nowhere. "But… b-because you di…d… th-this… happened…" As she fell, the two hulking figures of both Hol Horse AND J Greil appeared behind her, bloodied Kagune being held in plain sight. As if they were deliberately goading him by showing they were responsible for ending his comrades' lives.

In that moment, Nico lost it.

* * *

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! AAAAH! AH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Screams. Pure SCREAMS ripped through his throat with bestial savagery. Nico's throat almost screamed alongside his vocal chords, begging him to cease the strenuous activity on its form before it ripped itself apart. Yet, Nico held no care in the world, not in that moment. All he could do was scream until his voice grew hoarse, and even then the teen continued. The pain that followed from his voice would have been a much greater welcome compared to the mental breakdown that he was experiencing right now.

'YEP, THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE OUTCOME OF THE PATH YOUR COWARDLY ACTIONS HAVE LED YOU TO. THIS IS THE PATH THOSE ACTIONS PUT YOU ON. YOU'VE LOST WHAT IT TRULY MEANS TO BE A MONSTER.'

Nico didn't even bother denying HIS words at this point, there was no need for him to. They had been hammered home to the point where not even he could deny it. Worst part of this, was that HE was right on the money, everything he saw just then, Nico knew that would happen. He KNEW that J Greil and Hol Horse would do shit like that to his comrades. That was just how they were as Ghouls. His surroundings once more became that black void, with those arms holding him in place once again. Their grips hurt way more than before, or perhaps they never showed him their full weight. It didn't matter to him anymore.

Everything he thought he was doing for the good of his comrades, keeping them away from the beast that he held inside, everything he thought he was doing for their sake...

It would be for nothing.

All for nothing.

Ghouls wouldn't stop with just killing their prey. They'd go after their families, their friends and loved ones, the promise of flesh just as tasty as their first meal just too enticing to ignore. Ghouls feasting on people's friends and family like they do, it was much more complex than people knew, not only was it a sexual pleasure, but it was also through flesh that Ghouls could tell a lot about a person's character. It was one of the reasons why only the more vile of Ghouls end up devouring each other. And what a spectacle that would be.

It was... more than a little difficult to take in.

No... it would make more sense to say that Nico barely comprehended such logic one bit.

His mind refused to accept it, though the harsh reality burned itself into his mind despite its resistance to the truth. He'd done so much to keep his secret hidden, to keep the beast trapped inside. He'd done it to keep the others safe from what really threatened to take their lives. Not the Monsters, not the government conspiracies, not even the Abnormals or the Demons that threaten to return to Gamindustri... but himself. HE was their greatest threat. He was always closest to the girls, one wrong move and they would have met an end way worse than anything that Nico could dish out on his enemies.

He was always a monster, and he would always be one. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, that fact would never change. He was a monster in the eyes of his peers, the other Agents, the Higher ups in every Guild and Basilicom, and lastly he was a monster to his enemies. He'd not be surprised if the word 'monster' had his portrait next to it in the translation dictionary. Monsters like him, they never did get anything happy, they didn't get a good ending. Just look at fairy tails and all myths, how monsters there either end up in servitude or killed. Monsters would end up either on the other end of a blade, or devoured by another monster. That was something he'd learned and accepted a long time ago. Never stopped him from hating himself, instead it only spurned him on. Nico never saw himself as someone who was worthy of the attention the others gave him, no way, no how. He wasn't someone who deserved anything good in his life, he was someone who would be bound to a life in solitude and misery for the rest of his days... days that thanks to his DPU powers, that would likely be extended across an eternity, or at least thousands of years. Turned out that his body had been turned immortal thanks to the demonic energy, similar to that of the CPUs.

Therefore, wouldn't it make no sense for him to have anything good in his life?

Even so, Nico did have some things that were considered good, Compa, Neptune and the others. Therefore, to protect them from himself, wouldn't it have been right to keep the wool over their eyes? To make sure they don't get hurt in a world from someone else's imagination? That was what he thought at least.

Yet now, now his greatest secret seemed to be the only thing that he could resort to in order to save those he considered comrade. Comrades that were still conscious, so they'd undoubtedly see what would happen.

Ironic.

It was so ironic that if he could, Nico would have laughed hysterically at it all.

'OK, HOLD THE FUCK UP. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DOING A MONOLOGUE RIGHT NOW? I MEAN, C'MON KING, THERE'S REALLY NOTHING TO IS. THIS IS WHAT YOU CHOSE WITH YOUR WIMPY THOUGHTS. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED, WASN'T IT? THEM TO REMAIN UNAWARE OF YOUR SECRET? AT LEAST IN DEATH, THEY'D NEVER HAVE THE CHANCE TO FIND OUT, EVER. THEY DIE, YOU SHARPEN YOUR FANGS AGAIN AND THAT'S THAT. THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL THERE IS TO IT, I MEAN REALLY, YOU KNOW THE ONLY WAY TO ESCAPE THIS WOULD BE TO FINALLY RELEASE THE BEAST.''

HIS words once again cut through his monologue, and Nico lowered his head back down so his hair hung over his eyes. His mind remained silent, yet the Copy knew that his words had sunken in. He could just FEEL it, since they were practically the same person, just different aspects.

'WHAT A FOOL YOU ARE, KING. AFTER ALL, YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE PROTECTING THOSE USELESS BROADS. BUT WHAT YOU WERE REALLY DOING WAS FORSAKING THEM, FORSAKING THEM TO A FATE THAT YOU YOURSELF COULD HAVE PREVENTED IF YOU COULD ONLY BARE YOUR FANGS AT THE ENEMY. THE FANGS THAT HAVE GROWN DULL OVER TIME. MAN, DON'T FEEL LIKE A RIGHT IDIOT, HUH? YOU GO ON ABOUT HOW YOU'D GIVE YOUR WORD THAT THOSE GIRLS'LL MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE, BUT HERE YOU ARE LETTING THEM DIE LIKE THIS. TUT-TUT, FOR SHAME, KING, FOR SHAME.'

Once again, HE had another good point Here Nico was, staying wherever this place was in his mind, when for all he knew his comrades could still be in danger. His only option was something that he wouldn't want to use under normal circumstances, only because he had witnesses. He NEVER wanted eyewitnesses for THAT side of him, not one bit. Nope. Never. finito. But yet, he truly could see no other way, no other way to get those girls out of this alive, to rescue IF and escape this hellish place in one piece. Truly, this was a choice, a choice he had to make sooner or later.

The power that could save his comrades... it came with risks, and he had little idea as to how he'd even got it. Nico related it to his lost memories, but ever since he woke up with partial amnesia, his body was always different. He soon found out how, and thus the secrecy had came about. He hadn't stayed idle with it though, he'd made that power his own go-to whenever he went on solo missions. he trained with it, he'd trained hard to make sure he could damn well control such a power. Still, despite this Nico never actually accepted that power, at least not fully. He'd embraced his roll as a monster, but that was more because he had no other option. He literally had only one path at this point, the path of the monster. While he had no problems using it when alone, he'd never resort to it when with people, something that honestly he had never expected to be his undoing until now.

Such a choice...

Ugh, goddamnit! Fuck those Ghouls!

Fuck him for caring about others!

Fuck everything!

Every-fucking-thing!

... Wait a fucking minute...

Just when he felt like his head was about to burst, Nico remembered something, his eyes widening as memories triggered itself in the back of his mind.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **When one makes a promise… they should keep it otherwise they're the scum of the earth. I don't want to end up like those lying, cheating assholes in the world, I want people to be able to trust me when I give my word."**_

 ** _(Flashback End)_**

Returning to reality, Nico gasped with his eyes shining. Shock and realization dawned on him as he recalled those words he said to Neptune back when he first accessed DDD.

...

...

'That's... That's right, I always did value my word highly.' he thought in realization, slowly gritting his teeth. He remembered those words, and everything they represented. How he valued his word highly, her than even his desire for solitude. Out of everything he had, nothing was more important than his word. If he made a promise, something that was rare in this world, then Nico would do his damndest to keep it. Not a single soul would stop him from doing what he needed to do to keep his word. It was what separated him from other monsters in the world. Slowly, light began to return to his eyes, the hands of madness that held him slowly unwinding. Not soon enough for Nico, though. Gradually, he could feel a sense of cold rage begin to spark in his chest. A spark that could potentially rival the greatest firestorms ever viewed in Gamindustri's history.

But, it still needed a catalyst, something else to ignite it.

That ignition came... when another flashback triggered in his mind, one that brought him to the moment before he returned as Crimson Soul.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **'Do you seek to return to the world? Even if you must pay the price of losing your remaining humanity? To become the world's sole truest monster?!'**_

 _ **"Hell yes! I already walk the path of the monster, so fuck the thought of stopping now! I'll gladly return, even if I become so twisted that they would hate me forever, I will always, ALWAYS return to my comrades!"**_

 ** _(Flashback End)_**

Nico's eyes started to shine with a crimson red glow, his body radiating a similar aura around him. A wave of resolve washed over him, the memories of those hallucinations forcing Nico to push himself to gather what remained of his sanity and bundle it all together. The aura seemed to be highly corrosive to the hands gripping them, as they started melting off him like lumps of tar. He swore he could hear the hands screaming, as well as what was trying to get him into that pool in the first place, though Nico paid little mind to it.

No, he had MUCH more important things to focus on.

How had he forgotten? How had he forgotten the prime reason why he became a DPU in the first place? His resolve to walk the path of the monster back then, his resolve to be the strongest monster he could be, regardless of what happened between him and those he called comrades. It didn't matter that they hated him or not, he would do his best by them. No, more importantly, Nico had sworn to himself, that he would be the monster that destroys other monsters. He would not die in this world, no he would fucking SURVIVE! An abnormal's in his way, rip that fucker to pieces. Politicians? Crush them without mercy, he had the know-how to do so thanks to his training with Helen. Nico never wanted to go out like a wimp, he was NO coward. He must have had a lapse of sanity before, as otherwise he would have just went and just done something. That was what he did in the past, when something was going on Nico made sure he had something to say about it. If there was nothing to say then he would freaking DO something about it!

The male remembered something his adoptive mother had taught him early on in their training, something that she followed down to a T when she was still VALKYRIE. The words she told him played through his mind like a recorded message.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **"Do you see now, Nico?" Helen, clad in her VALKYRIE Armour and Sword at the ready, questioned her student/adoptive son in one of the Planeptune Spec Ops Branch's personal sparring Arenas. The Arena looked like a smaller version of Gamindustri's Colosseum, where people go to test their skills by entering simulation battles against a set of monsters of their choosing. The woman's eyes, instead of their usual teasing shine, were ice cold and dark, like that of a phantom haunting its victim to madness. Like she was one step away from ripping him to shreds.**_

 _ **The younger Nico however, looked he exact opposite in comparison to his adoptive mother. The teen was on one knee, stabbing Rebellion into the ground for support while panting profusely. It hadn't been long since she had started sparring with him as a means to help him figure out what Rebellion could do. The sword, in this time period anyways, remained in its sealed form since he wasn't a DPU... yet. The two had been sparring for hours upon hours, neither giving in until Helen decided to take off the kid gloves, and utter whoop his ass with no mercy. Nico hadn't known fear quite like what his adoptive mother had shown him until just now, and it had done more than just shake him a little.**_

 _ **He felt terrified.**_

 _ **Seemed like she knew what he was thinking though, since Helen pointed her Sword at him and spoke with an icy tone not unlike the cold climates of Lowee. "Never forget this, Nico. This is how NOT to wield a weapon in combat." She told him, before she raised her sword to the air. "The principal is this: Don't let your weapon show fear, for it will stunt the blade." Just then, a tremendous pressure exerted itself into the air, its source being Helen herself. The entire atmosphere turned into this thousand kilogram weight that slammed into Nico's chest with no mercy, intending to crush his lungs from the inside out. Nico could only look up in a mix of fear... and a little bit of awe at his adoptive mother, whom was surrounded by waves of rippling air that raised any debris not tied down to the air around her. Hell, her arm seemed like it was trembling, like it was struggling to hold in all the emotion she was pouring out. "When you dodge, "I'm afraid of getting cut". When you attack, "I'm afraid of cutting someone". Even when you try to protect someone; "I'm afraid of letting them die". Yes, your weapon only speaks to me of absurd fear. That's not it. What's necessary in a fight isn't fear. Nothing can be born from that. If you dodge, "I won't let them cut me". If you protect someone, "I won't let them die". If you attack, "I'll cut them". Well can't you see… the resolve to cut you reflected in my sword?"**_

 _ **Resolve... the resolve to cut with utter clarity, of a clear mind. The ability to focus solely on the fight at hand, that was what Nico was seeing right now. His adoptive mother had shed said role for the time being, becoming the Spec Ops Agent VALKYRIE and she did not look happy. Yet, that wasn't the message she was trying to convey. No, Nico could figure out what she was telling him, and he did so moments later. She was telling him that there was no room for fear, for hesitation, doubt or anxiety on the battlefield. Any of those emotions would end up with him six feet under, and then there would be nothing but darkness for eternity. There wasn't much proof of an afterlife, and the legend of being allowed into the realm of the Goddesses that the Basilicoms preached day in and day out DEFINITELY didn't appeal to him.**_

 _ **He could see the resolve, the pure emotion and determination burning within Helen's icy cold gaze, not to mention how her sword seemed almost like it was glowing a thin icy blue hue. Like it was howling, begging to be swung and battled with. In that moment, her sword no longer remained just that, a sword. No, it looked and FELT more like an extension of Helen's will, a pure manifestation of her reflection, her spirit... her resolve.**_

 _ **Resolve...**_

 _ **Resolve...**_

 _ **In that moment, Nico's eyes lost their fearful glint, it just vanished like it was never even there. He couldn't afford to be afraid, just like what she said. How could he call himself a Spec Ops Agent if he didn't have the resolve to back up his claim? That was what he took from her words, along with her entire philosophy about combat. His teeth gritted as he gave a defiant glare towards his ad-no, his MENTOR as he stood straight, clasping Rebellion's hilt with a firmness that he hadn't used since the start of this sparring match. His eyes, shining with his own determination, burned like fiery embers, almost rivaling the icy cold gaze that Helen was shooting his way.**_

 _ **Slowly, the teen raised his own awakened Devil Arm above his head, and in the exact MOMENT that his sword's tip looked at the ceiling, Nico's KI burst forth from his being. It blew away any and all surrounding dust particles in a shock-wave, flaring around him like a furious flame. His eyes almost glowed with his resolve, matching that of his mentor's as he held Rebellion high above his head with nothing but confidence and drive. Hell, just like her own sword, there was this strong reddish hue covering the sword, as well as this faint whistling sound originating from it.**_

 _ **He didn't see it, but a small smirk tugged at his Mentor's lips at the sight. "There... that's the way, son..."**_

 _ **The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, yet to an experienced fighter there looked to be much more going on behind the scenes. It looked to them, like a battle of wills, two warriors with the resolve to do what needed to be done, to do so without regret or fear holding them back. They would do what needed to be done, to fight to uphold their pride as warriors, their pride as Agents. Their pride as HUMAN BEINGS who have been struggling to survie for centuries at this point.**_

 ** _In that single moment, the two understood each other just by looking into each other's reflections..._**

 ** _Before their blades were brought down._**

 ** _An eruption of pure light followed._**

 ** _(Flashback End)_**

Honestly, he'd lost count how many times Helen had drove that through his skull during training. How she'd tell him that he shouldn't have fear in a battle, but resolve. The resolve to fight, the utter SURETY to do what he had to and see things through to the end. Damn, how humiliating, he felt like stabbing himself in the nuts for that. How could he forget one of the basic lessons his Mentor had taught him? She may have been a freaking sadist that could haunt his nightmares for years on end, but she was a damned good teacher. She taught him much of what he knew today, she passed on everything she had left: her will, her legacy. He had a responsibility to uphold his mentor's pride, this... fear he had, nope, not something that followed that creed.

'OHHHHH? LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING INTERESTING, WHAT YA GONNA DO, KING? WIMP OUT A LITTLE MORE?'

HIS taunting voice returned to the void as Nico slowly, but surely began to use what little of his stumps that remained from his earlier injuries to try and push himself out of the void. He'd clawed, he'd bit at what he could for leverage. Hands tried to gab at him, to pull him into the void of madness that always existed in the back of his mind. However, Nico refused to let it, he would NEVER forget what his adoptive mother taught him ever again, it would be a slight on her as his mentor. His eyes and heart shone with resolve, shaped like a hot furnace inside of him that fueled him, gave him purpose, a reason to continue on.

This was no time to be moping about.

Not when his comrades' lives were at stake.

Resolve is the thing that he strives for.

It was what made him decide to pursue the path of the monster in its entirety further down the line. What was once anxiety became determination.

Honestly, what had he been doing up till this point?

True, he could feel his distrust still clinging onto him, like that one toddler refusing to let go until you agreed to whatever the toddler wanted. He doubted he'd be able to trust the others just yet, Lastation and the other Nations weren't built in days after all. However, no longer would he hesitate to use it. No longer would he fear what would happen if that power was all he had left and he had eye witnesses. If he had no other option, then he would fucking release the beast on the enemy's asses. Though, Nico would be a fool if he thought that would be enough. No, after everything was said and done, he would begin some... soul searching, something he seemed to need quite badly.

He'd need to re-establish contact with THAT side, to use a whetstone and sharpen his fangs once more.

* * *

Back outside, both Ghouls loomed over Nico, whose form had gone slack with his eyes showing a lack of life. Their Kagune had been deactivated, no sense in wasting precious RC Cells after all. Though, their enhanced sense of hearing could tell that the teen was still alive. His body was simply struggling to regenerate from the wounds dealt to him by Hol Horse's Kagune, even that strange DPU power seemed to be trying to help, but in the end they could only reform the shoulders and part of the legs. Even now, they could see that the regeneration was still struggling to complete its task, a testament to Nico's drive to survive.

"So... Looks like this is it." Hol Horse remarked thoughtfully as he kicked the downed male in the chest, only to get no response. That stung slightly, he wanted to enjoy his screams a bit more, then maybe some additional screams when he finally took his prize. Then, he'd move onto those Nico knew and cared about: those two girls, and any others that he'd been acquainted with as the ultimate form of victory against the Spec Ops Agent. It would be the perfect revenge from their last battle, the battle where he had lost in the most humiliating way possible for a man. Though he'd be slow to admit it, Hol Horse actually would have died along with his partner had they not pulled a fast one and escaped when they saw a bit of Nico's true power.

Kid was scarily tough when mad, no doubt about it.

J Greil grinned, not particularly caring much about the past. Well, he did, oh how he did, but right now he just wanted to sink his teeth into what remained of Nico's flesh. It was something he'd been salivating over for a long time now, ever since he got his ass handed to him by the kid last time they fought. It had been a humiliation that J Greil had to vent by raping half a village's worth of maidens, hearing their screams as he fucked their brains out always calmed the heck out of him. "Bah, who cares, just lemme have my taste, alright? Then we can enjoy the rest once we're done with this shit head." he stated to his partner whom nodded in agreement while they crouched froggy style over the downed teen. Slowly, they reached down to grasp him, to bring his newly healed shoulders into their mouths and sink in their teeth, when...

"Sorry boys..."

#GASP#

SCHULUCK!

Eyes widened, gasps tearing from the two Ghouls' lips when all of a sudden, something slammed into their faces. Something strong, yet not even visible, and with enough force to send them toppling across the cobblestone floor. J Greil gasped, grunted and cursed as he fell onto a toppled Iron cage, while Hol Horse's back collided heavily with a wall.

It took a moment, but the two Ghouls barely regained their senses in time for them to get the same thing that hit them before... but in the gut instead. Their eyes enlarged on reflex, and saliva soon flew from their mouths from the impact alone. They were then lifted into the air by whatever it was that attacked them by their guts... before slammed several times into the ground, creating more of a dust cloud between them and the girls, and then being tossed away.

While tumbling across the ground again, the two Ghouls barely got their senses together enough to right themselves into a sliding crouch. Their movement halted seconds later, and with their Kakugan activated the two looked over to see Nico slowly getting up...

With a familiar Drive Skill activated and flaring around him like a living flame.

With the Skill activated, everything felt enhanced, including the teen's regeneration. The masses of flesh at the ends of his stumps went into overdrive (mind the pun) and worked wonders in repairing his limbs. Fleshy entrails slithered through the air mixing and mangling together to form muscle fibers. Bones formed from the calcium-like substances shooting from within the stumps, all the while every other piece of biology within the limbs was formed much faster than before. It was almost like the wounds were just normal ones, not like ones inflicted by a Kagune. In the meantime, whatever attacked them had turned itself into some form of crutch for the teen till his first two limbs, his legs, completely regenerated. Next came his arms, and finally any other injuries he'd sustained during their battle had been fully taken care of.

Looking up towards his foes, Nico grinned, a grin that didn't seem too different from the sadistic ones that Hol Horse and J Greil used to have before. His eyes shined with Demonic red energy, giving them a menacing glow. They looked like they were on the verge of changing into his DPU self's eyes, too, something both Ghouls dreaded. Strong as they may be, even they would be hesitant in challenging Crimson Soul, whose full power wasn't even known yet.

CRACK!

Nico's hands flexed in an unnatural manner, and the result was a resounding crack sound that came from his wrists.

Chills fell down their spines like cloaks being draped over them when they heard that sound.

"Now then, you took me to the cleaners before... so lemme give you some payback, you don't mind right? After all... my fangs need sharpening."


	92. Chapter 89 - A Different Direction

**Chapter 89 - A different Direction**

Haaaaaahhhhhh…

This feeling…

The liberation swelling within him like a gushing stream of water. The feeling of finally releasing something after caging it for so long. Nico couldn't help the pleased moan that escaped his lips, his head held backwards while his eyes closed. DEMON OVERDRIVE had long since been deactivated, happened when he finished his regeneration. Now, his demonic energy would be taking a back seat for the time being, now he had to begin his reconnection with his beastly side. The side that he had been forced to live with for many years of his life.

Still though, this pleasure…

This elation that spread through him from deep within his being.

It honestly confounded him how this was possible.

He had thought the feeling would have lessened when he first released his inner beast when he fought that Demon Prince, however that train of thought instantly died out when he once again began using THAT power. The power of the sleeping beast that was now stirring within his being, roused from the drawing of its power from one that it didn't expect to do for some time. He could feel the power flowing through his blood stream, power that almost felt as elated as he felt right now at the fact that he was using it again so soon. Part of him couldn't help but quip on how there was a song called that which was a Collab between multiple celebrities.

Now though, he had to end this fight. These assholes would not be harming anyone else, not his comrades or anybody. Not if he had something to say about it, and THAT was something he intended to showcase to those fuckers.

He felt IT snap to attention, readying itself to strike like vipers beside him. Raising his right bracer, Nico accessed the Void Storage and pulled out what he wanted from it: his Mask. He didn't really get it himself, but for some reason whenever he put his Mask on he always got this feeling of empowerment from it, like it made him feel safer than any piece of equipment that he possessed. This time though, it had a different feel. Nothing to be ashamed of, it didn't feel like he was trying to hide anything right now. No, instead it felt more like he was adopting his true nature, displaying it proudly to the world.

Raising it to his face, Nico quickly donned the Mask while IT reached out towards Rebellion, wrapping around its handle and lifting it off the ground. To the observers, however, it would look like it was levitating of its own accord, floating over to its true master to be used in however he saw fit. However, Nico saw no need for Rebellion right now, not with IT now out onto the battlefield. IT was a one-weapon army all on its own, practically, something that Nico felt honestly kind of proud for.

After all, he did make it that way for a reason.

Once his Mask was securely fastened onto his face, Nico blinked several times with his lone left eye. He had spent a fair amount of time in his armour, so suddenly seeing with two eyes again had made his head ache slightly. It didn't take him long to get used to this depth perception shifting though, since he'd had experience doing this so many times in the past. Afterwards, he reached out with his right hand and grasped Rebellion's hilt. He felt the Devil Arm tremble in his grip, before he sheathed it onto his back.

Rattling of indignation travelled across his back, making Nico roll his lone left eye. "Oh, don't you start. I have to get in contact with my power again, and I've been using you for a fair amount of time already. Know when to take a break." He told the semi sentient weapon. The rattling didn't cease though, and it felt like he was going to have to discipline the Devil Arm for a moment until it finally settled down. That made him heave a sigh of relief behind his Mask, his lone eye closed. 'Good grief, handling temperamental Devil Arms can be a pain in the ass sometimes…'

 **'** **Though in their eyes, you're their master, so it comes with the responsibility to discipline them when needed. They do not follow a weak master, Nico. I must admit however, it seems that something has changed in you…'**

'Hey Biko… sorry if I worried you just then. I honestly can't believe I'm saying this, but HE is responsible for pulling me back, if it weren't for HIM, I'd probably have been swallowed by my madness. You know how bad that would be, not just for myself but everything and everyone around me.' Nico thought to his Demon Persona, shuddering slightly. He honestly didn't like how HE had been the one to pull him out of the madness. In essence, Nico and HIM were one in the same, so it stood to reason that it was Nico's own mind that pulled itself out of the madness, so it wasn't like he had help in this matter. He can still say that he had dealt with this issue on his lonesome, though in reality he hated how he had to have help from HIM of all people.

A hum of understanding came from Biko.

 **'** **Yes, I too am a little vexed at how he handled your situation. However, I do agree that his methods produced the desired result, you seem to have lifted one of your burdens from your shoulders. Wait, no… that's not quite right, you seem to have adjusted it slightly, so it is more comfortable to you.'**

The teen nodded his head in agreement with the Demon Persona he held inside his being. His mental issues were FAR from solved, none of that stuff was over by any sense of the word. However, the one thing that did change was that he'd remembered what he fought with the most: resolve. The resolve to do what he had to do to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. He remembered what his adoptive mother told him so long ago, when he was still training under her, something he had admonished himself for forgetting. 'Even when I'm the Agent I am now, she's still taking me to school…' the teen couldn't help but think to himself, placing his right hand over his smirking lips to hide a chuckle.

Mentally, Nico swore to give the woman he called adoptive mother a call, see how she was doing.

His eyes then hardened when he noticed the Ghouls having gotten to their senses once more, having been dazed by his initial assault. It looked like their talk will have to wait, he had some trash to take out. That was a unanimous thought between the two aspects as Biko closed the mental link between them to let Nico have the reins. All the while, he would do what he usually did: look through Nico's senses to watch the show, see how the fight goes.

He would not lie and say he didn't want to see those Ghouls get their comeuppance for putting Nico through what they did.

Looking to the side, Nico noticed the dust cloud and saw how thick it was. His eye narrowed as he sniffed the air, smelling several scents on the other side. 'Looks like the dust will take a while to clear. That's good, I don't even have to worry about witnesses, especially since this power doesn't use any of my SP, Mana or demonic energy. Thus, people who sense SP or Mana can't pick up this thing's presence.' He thought to himself, clutching his fingerless gloved hands while glancing over to the enemy…

Both of whom had done a joint attack while he wasn't looking if their strained efforts to push back IT, which automatically blocked their Kagunes, was any indication.

"Yeah… you don goofed on that one."

 **(Play OST - My Darkest Days - Still Worth Fighting For)**

THWACK, THWACK

That was the sole thing Nico stated while he felt IT thwack the two Ghouls away. He even noticed how they had several chunks missing from their arms respectively, along with deep gashes on their Kagune. His power must have got in a few attacks of its own while blocking their own. The teen couldn't hold himself back anymore as he bent his upper body forwards, lowering his arms so they hung in front of him. His legs bent and spread apart, before he took a mighty dash forwards with his power enhancing his speed.

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP!

His form practically blurred across the battleground after his opponents with his feet making stomping sounds all the way, J Greil quickly acting first by forming a Shield with his Koukaku. Good thing he did too, for a large indentation formed in its centre just as he put it in front of him, saving his gut from being speared through. Unfortunately for him however, Nico's strike combined with the fact that he was still airborne meant that he was sent flying even further.

He would have been sent over the edge and down into the hue-filled depths below, probably to be devoured by the demons down there, if he hadn't reformed his Kagune into a claw at the last moment, stabbing it into the cobblestone floor to halt his movement till he was pressed right up against the fence that stood between him and a lethal doom.

While J Greil got his bearings, Nico switched his focus towards Hol Horse, who'd already manifested his abnormal Ukaku Kagune to pepper him with a Volley of Shards. The teen's hidden weapon swiftly reacted, however, slicing through the Shards that would have hit him otherwise while leaving the ones that wouldn't alone. His eye glanced down at his Armour Module, which was flashing a bright red colour to show that it was still disabled. He doubted he'd be putting it on for the rest of the battle.

Oh well, nothing he couldn't make up for.

Taking a step, Nico dashed towards Hol Horse, catching the man off guard. He failed to raise his Pistol sections in time, and Nico managed to get a good strike in the form of an uppercut-like fist into his Solar Plexus. Hol Horse definitely felt it if the way he reflexively gasped while coughing up saliva was any indication. Nico twisted and went into a roundhouse kick, knocking him to the ground before he kicked him in the side, sending him sliding across the cobblestone ground.

Not stopping there, Nico ran towards him as the man rolled back to his feet in time to throw a kick. However, Nico sidestepped it and swiftly countered. He did so by throwing his right arm around the man's neck while placing his hips in front of his abdomen. Nico then kicked the man's remaining foot to knock him completely off balance, then performed a CQC Hip throw, throwing Hol Horse to the ground beneath him. The man's body collided hard with the ground making him gasp in surprise, however that didn't last very long thanks to him barely rolling out of the way in time to dodge a heel to his face.

Rolling to his feet, Hol Horse charged once again towards Nico, now seeing nothing but red. He had no other desire than to tear the kid in half limb from fucking limb, piss on his corpse then devour him. This affected him even to the point where he'd forgotten about his Kagune, too angry to think about using it at the moment. Rage became all he could acknowledge at this point, and Nico knew it. Thus, he used that to his advantage. Nico noticed the man throwing a punch to his face, and quickly reacted by forming his left hand into a claw position, then deflected the blow with his opposite hand. Nico then thrusted his left one forth, ramming his hand into Hol Horse's face, right into his eyes.

"Gaaaaaah! Damn brat!"

Hol Horse screamed like a Banshee before attempting to blindly throw a punch, forgetting that his Kagune had turned it into an organic Pistol-like shape. However, Nico tilted his head to the side, avoiding it while reaching for Hol Horse's head. He grasped onto it and viciously kneed him in the face. He followed through with a low sweep kick, dodging a blindly thrown kick to where his head once was, too. Hol Horse lost balance and was knocked into the air. Nico didn't let up though as he continued his sweeping spin, into a rising back kick into the man's back, said Gunslinger crying out as he felt his Spine cracking from the force of the blow. Twisting a full circle, Nico grabbed him by the head, lifted him higher into the air and brought him to the ground, hard.

Cue spitting blood from Hol Horse.

Like before, Nico remembered what Helen had taught him, his mind deciding to revisit everything he'd learned from his mentor about close combat. If he was going to reconnect with THAT side of him, then Nico would have to know his stuff thoroughly, to decide his limits on what he could use IT for and what not.

Strikes were classified as 'unarmed individual hitting techniques'. They employed the use of the hands, elbows, knees, feet, and, in some instances, other parts of the body as personal weapons. Every Spec Ops Agent must know how to execute strikes quickly, decisively and effectively lest they suffer an injury that puts them at a severe disadvantage. They must also know how to counter strikes from an opponent, defence is also an essential factor when entering a close combat situation.

Quickly, Nico set himself back into his basic warrior stance, the stance he used mostly for his close combat encounters. His arms were held in front of his chest, with his right arm in front of his left. When Agents deliver a punch, rapid retraction of the fist was considered highly important. Once the hand has made contact with the target, the Agent must quickly return to the basic warrior stance. Rapid retraction did a section of 3 things: the first it does was to return the hand and arm to the protection afforded by the basic warrior stance. Second, it prevents the opponent from being able to grab the hand or arm, thereby avoiding any counter. Lastly, it permits the hand and arm to be "chambered" or "re-cocked" in preparation for delivering a subsequent punch.

Good thing he did too, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to raise his right arm to block the Kagune claw that tried to spear him from J Greil. Said Ghoul followed up with a kick that Nico dodged by pivoting on his left foot, spinning into a low sweep kick that knocked the Ghoul off his feet. He then grabbed the man by his foot before he could fall, applied his other side's strength to throw him down to the ground behind him from over his head. He didn't stop there either, for Nico swiftly had THAT grab him by the Kagune, wrapping around it so he could lift J Greil and use his body as a shield to block several Gunslinger bullets to his person by Hol Horse.

"Agh! Shit! Hey fucker, learn to aim, goddamnit!"

"Hey, he moved you in the way!"

Nico remembered something else about these two, and that was this: Hol Horse was the ranged specialist, he wasn't someone who could deal with close combat very well. Whenever he was forced into one in the past when they'd known each other, Nico saw how he'd tense up his muscles and try to tank the blows. His Ghoul Physiology helped in this regard, but when against someone like him, that was when this measure falls on its face.

J Greil had a similar problem, only it was reverse. He EXCELLED at close combat, he thrived off it. His Koukaku Kagune being what it was showed this, however his ranged capabilities were lacking. Not only that, but the man favoured it so much that it became his go to weapon, not bothering to train in anything else. A Koukaku was robust and difficult to wield, so it would be easy to assume that his skill with it was commendable, but since that was all he had, it made it easier for someone as versatile in combat like Nico to pull the wool over his eyes. Hence how he had just used him as a shield against Hol Horse. Now the two were separated again, making them fair game.

Using their own tactics against them, whereas they covered each other well when they were apart their combat ability dropped…

Oh, how satisfying.

'Let's see how they like it!' Nico thought, grinning behind his Mask as his eye shined with glee. Tossing the damaged J Greil aside, Nico blurred forwards and launched a twisting left leg kick to Hol Horse's gut. The legs were the body's most powerful weapons because they use the largest muscle groups to generate a strike. In addition, they were less prone to injury. The feet were the preferred choice for striking because they would be protected by boots. Agents have to use their feet, heels, and knees to execute kicks, knee strikes, and stomps.

This time though, the gunslinger Ghoul anticipated it and, learning from his mistakes in their previous bout, manipulated his Kagune's Tail. It lunged forth, wrapping around his leg and holding it in place for him, blocking the leg from hitting its intended target. Hol Horse smirked, smug at the fact that he'd gotten one up on Nico, however that fell when, instead of being surprised, Nico simply hopped into the air, stomping on his unguarded left right leg with his own right leg. This elected a pained grunt from the man at the force applied, forcing him onto one knee. Afterwards, Nico placed his hands on the ground to flip away, kicking Hol Horse in the Chin with his now free left leg.

Flipping backwards, Nico got to his feet and assumed the basic warrior stance again. His hidden weapon slashed upwards, carving 2 gashes across Hol Horse's Ukaku Wings before he could properly recover, making him hiss in pain. The man tried to turn tail and run at that moment, something Nico predicted he would do. Thus, he dashed straight for his unprotected back to land a decisive blow against his Kakuhou. However, his eye narrowed when his eyes detected something in his muscle movement, something that saved him in the end when Hol Horse, surprisingly, leaned backwards with his right leg outstretched. His boot would have made contact with his forehead, had Nico not raised a hand and caught the limb in time.

What Nico just used was called 'Telegraphing', Telegraphing a strike occurs when body movements inform the opponent of the intention to launch an attack. Staying relaxed helps to reduce telegraphing. Since Hol Horse's composure had been thrown off by Nico's earlier attacks, it helped him get a better read on his movements. Often, an untrained fighter telegraphs his or her intention to attack by drawing their hands back in view of their opponent, changing facial expression, tensing neck muscles, or twitching. These movements, however small, immediately indicate an attack will be delivered. If the opponent was a trained fighter, he or she may be able to evade or counter the attack. If the opponent was an untrained fighter, he or she may still be able to minimize the effect of an attack. Hol Horse was of the latter category, at least in close combat. He had to rely on surprise attacks to catch his enemy off guard, score a hit then use the brief interval to get some distance and pepper them with projectiles.

If he could see Nico's sinister grin, then Hol Horse would have had nightmares about it for years on end. It was just that scary, especially with the way his eye glowed a sinister red not unlike the eyes of the more demonic of the Cultists or the Enthralled. The teen had his hidden weapon raise itself overhead… and then thwack the man right in the jewels with the force of a sledgehammer. This resulted in electing a high-pitched squeal from him as he tried to cover his groin from the hidden weapon's attacks. Though, that failed since it just went for more important areas like his face, Nico holding him up, so he would end up being its thwacking back for a few moments before he threw the older man away.

Everywhere across all dimensions, every male suddenly held their groins no matter their situation, feeling like one of their own just had a horrible injury dealt to him.

Something interesting of note, something that Nico vividly remembered throughout the entire fight while he prepared his next move. His fighting style when using unarmed combat like this, well, it wasn't something specifically taught, not completely anyways. His adoptive mother may have instructed him on close combat, but the teen had taken it a step further afterwards, resulting in a special style that utilised a mix of Militia techniques and various other techniques from martial arts disciplines, meant to make his body as dangerous as it possibly could. Most of his techniques were the lethal kind cause, you know, he was meant to kill things. But, there were a small number of nonlethal ones there when he wanted to use CQC as a means of proving a point.

The Multi-Fist was what he named his fighting style, as a reference to the different techniques and militia movements incorporated within the style itself.

Nico then jumped towards him, flipping through the air and coming down on an overhead heel kick to the man's chest. Hol Horse, while still covering his groin and muttering curses so foul that not even a hundred soaps would wash it out, barely noticed it in time. He had his Kagune react to the imminent threat to his person (and fear for his groin's safety) by wrapping it around him, forming a protective barrier to block his attack. Nico's leg impacted it, and after a couple seconds it bounced off the Kagune. Nico would have bee disappointed that his attack failed, but it did leave a foot sized indentation in it, showcasing the power that Nico had put into it. If he had put in a little more, then perhaps he could have smashed right through it.

Something the teen noticed in his mind as he fell backwards. 'Looks like my inner beast really does need to sharpen its fangs. Like HE said. If this was back when I first fought those two, that kick would have shattered that Kagune…' He thought with a disapproving frown behind his Mask. This was something that Nico could say was similar to muscle atrophy. It was basically when muscles waste away inside the body, leaving their basic functions nigh useless. The main reason for muscle wasting is a lack of physical activity and considering how Nico hadn't been using his inner beast like this for a long ass time, then it would only be natural to think that it felt weaker than what it was before. Though, unlike muscle atrophy Nico knew one good way to get the inner beast's strength back to optimal capacity.

He'll have to ponder that later though.

The reason: Something he detected from his enemy, putting every instinct and cell in his body on high alert. His lone eye narrowed as Hol Horse reformed his Kagune back to its original form while standing upright. The man glared at him with pure hate shining in his eyes like flames, taking his quivering hands away from his crotch. Though he had to do this slowly, wincing at the air currents that brushed against the damaged organ. Nico mentally smirked at this, while some might consider it disrespectful to smash a man's neither regions like he did, Nico would counter with how he was a Spec Ops Agent, and they would have to do all they could just to survive. The strong live, and the weak die. That was their world, the law of the jungle.

Maybe he was pulling out his inner Raven by mentioning that, but still.

Didn't make it any less true.

Though there was no sound, Nico didn't need any. He felt his hidden weapon shift into place, rearing itself behind him like a Panther prepping to pounce on their prey. It may be hidden to all five senses, but to its wielder, he was an exception. He could feel everything it did, he could touch it, he could do whatever he wanted with it. The teenage Spec Ops Agent kept his lone eye fixed onto Hol Horse who readied his Ukaku, growling like a feral animal. The man looked like he had been one step away from losing control over himself and going on one big blood frenzy, though. Nico remained silent however, staring blankly towards his opponent as he flexed his hands, setting his fingers in a claw-like stance. He flicked his wrists, emitting another audible crack sound.

Yeah, that little habit…

He had to grimace as he remembered that, sneaking a glance towards his hands while in their claw position. He'd thought he'd gotten rid of that habit long ago, but since he was doing it now… it seemed that thanks to him falling back into using his hidden weapon once again brought it out from deep within his psyche. That was what he theorized anyways.

Not important, he'd think about it later.

Raising a foot, Nico stepped towards Hol Horse, intending on plunging his hands into his chest and ripping out his entire ribcage, maybe even use those pieces as spikes to turn him into a pincushion. He didn't care if he killed him or not from that. The guy would heal from it, he was a Ghoul. Not like he couldn't come out from that. That was another thing about him, in the past Nico operated with much more brutality than he did today. Mostly, that had been to do with the girls influence on him, but still. The fact that he was slipping into that mindset…

No, he had to do this. He hadn't realized it, but the longer he fought with this power, the more he began to realize something, something that Nico couldn't believe he had forgotten.

He had to re-establish contact with his other side, to sharpen his fangs back to what they once were.

Just when he made to launch the first attack however…

"Hi-hi-hidy ho!"

To Nico's surprise, the male heard the sound of a man's voice behind him, filled with hysteria and smug glee. The familiar shape of J Greil's shadow suddenly appeared from practically nowhere, and now loomed overhead, shaped into a pose that looked like what one would be in just before an aerial roundhouse kick. He must have taken the time to recover from his previous wounds and waited for the perfect opportunity to launch a sneak attack on him. A sneak attack that the man felt wouldn't be stopped in time by either Nico himself or his hidden weapon. That was the sole thing that Nico's brain could come up with, his battle instincts agreeing with that assumption. Part of him noticed that Hol Horse had this smug smirk on his face for a moment, meaning that he'd been aware of it for an unknown time period.

However, if he thought the teen would be too shocked at his return to the battle, he'd be sorely mistaken. In this state, even the teen couldn't properly measure his reaction time, but what the male DID know, was that it didn't hesitate to respond. Nico's eyes shrunk back to their original size as his instincts reacted swiftly, and the familiar sensation of his hidden weapon whipping forth was felt from their connection point to the back of his waist. J Greil's strike, plus his weapon, closed in on each other to trade blows, to either repel each other or one would overpower the other…

"Oh no you don't!'

WHAM!

That is, until the arrival of a third party changed everything. Another figure, one distinctly smaller and slimmer, like a woman, flew through the air like a bullet train. She seemed so fast that Hol Horse's Ukaku Shards seemed as slow as a turtle in comparison. With a loud war cry, the womanly figure slammed into J Greil with a drop kick with a level of force that cause rippling waves to expand outwards through the air, a low BOOM sound accompanying it. It hit the target straight in the face with the sickening sound of bones cracking under the sudden strain.

Proof of how much force was packed behind the blow, huh?

"Guaaaah!"

"!"

Nevertheless, Nico gasped in surprise, not expecting the sudden change in the situation as he twirled behind him to the source. J Greil, screaming in pain all the while, got sent flying away from him and the feminine figure, bouncing across the cobblestone floor and hitting one of the toppled iron cages. A resounding CRASH sound echoed through the entire Dungeon at the man's impact, as well as a painful resounding "Oof!" that came from the man's lips.

As for the cause, the teen saw the feminine figure land in a crouch beside him, kneeling on one leg before she stood tall and proud, like a warrior who had just survived an ambush from the enemy. The male's eyes shook as he realised who it was: the brown hair, the leafy bow, the eyes that shone with power and pride in herself… yep, no doubt as to who the heck this was.

Part of him projected her form in his hallucination, making him grimace under his breath as he shook his head. The illusion faded away, and when he looked back at her he'd seen this, electing a sigh of relief from the male. He didn't want those eyes to be what she would stare at him with when they reunited, no way in hell. Or did he want her to call him… what she did back in the hallucination.

Call him paranoid, but that was what he feared.

He knew he had issues, damnit!

Still though the amount of joy he felt at seeing his comrade alive and well couldn't really be measured. Call him whatever you wish, but Nico greatly valued those he could trust, and right now IF (and perhaps Neptune) could relate to him in a way. All three of them had powers that made them outcasts from humanity. In a sense, the three were more monstrous than anyone could have realised. He almost couldn't believe it, true he had been looking for her ever since arriving in this Dungeon, but to see her so soon after his mental breakdown…

"IF?!"

* * *

'Argh! That smarts…!'

The brunette known as IF grimaced as she clutched her fist, wincing as her nerves detected a slight aching in her feet from enhancing them with Biomass for that hit, one that quickly got mended by her regeneration, as well as from impacting that Ghoul's face. Still, the pain for that brief moment felt more than a little mind-jarring, to the point where all her rational thoughts got focused solely on the fact that her attack freaking HURT. Hurt like all hell, she might add. The healing couldn't have come at a quicker time in her opinion.

Still though, if she enhanced her body with Biomass, then she could deal more damage to her Ghoulish foes. That theory looked like it had been confirmed, plus her BOW enhanced ears told her there were bones cracking underneath the surface of that guy's skin, which meant one thing: While slashing, piercing and stabbing attacks may not work on Ghouls quite yet, blunt attacks do the job much better. Ghoul Skin problem half-solved.

It had been something IF had ben wanting to investigate for a while now, ever since she first woke up in that goddess forsaken Cell. The possibility that blunt force trauma could be a much better way of striking Ghouls than her bladed weapons. If their Skin was resistant to being cut, then weapons like hammers, maces etc could be a possible substitute since they don't strike with sharp edges but with the force of their impacts.

Standing tall from her surprise attack, IF patted her hands on her coat, cleaning it of the figurative dust that may have stained her coat. This didn't last very long before she looked up, her BOW enhanced eyes gazing through the dust cloud. Thanks to the cloud not being s thick as past ones, her eyes were able to pierce it like a blade through flesh. They shone like searchlights with how much rage-filled venom she felt inside her gut.

'Asshole. But DAMN that felt MUCH more satisfying than I expected…' she thought to herself. After she had left the Chamber of Suffering to see what the commotion was with Stefan, she saw two things she had NOT expected to see: a dust cloud preventing her from looking into the source (it was way thicker than the one she was peering through right now), and two girls surrounded by a barrier. She'd noticed they were Tekken and MAGES., before she asked for a quick recap of what had been going on. In the end: all she got was that Nico was fighting against two Ghouls and were told not to intervene.

Well, Nico never said IF couldn't intervene, now did he?

After that, she'd charged though the dust and the rest was history.

"IF?!"

Turning to see the shocked look on Nico's face, a look that was mostly hindered by his Mask, the brunette offered a smirk as she gave him a light wave. "Yo, Nico. What took you? I was almost about to call you." She remarked cheekily as she felt her Biomass ripple beneath her skin. A habit that she recently discovered while she had been ripping Cultists in half with either her bare hands or one of her mutated weapons. She'd even got some ideas for new mutations based of everything she's been assimilating around here and couldn't wait to try them out on Nico in the near future, either.

The teen, hearing her voice again like that, just couldn't help himself and at that moment… he grasped her to pull her into an embrace.

"Wh-Wha?! H-Hey, Nico, what gives?!" The brunette couldn't help but stutter. Her face literally went red at the close contact, and her words came out as near incoherent babbling. Under normal circumstances, IF felt like she would have only gained a minor tinge of pink at the contact with the male but considering everything that had been happening lately, what with her realising that she was beginning to see Nico in a whole new light compared to before, it made for a much bigger reaction. Her mind couldn't help but focus in on the muscles the male sported, the way they wrapped around her body and pressed her against them. To make matters worse, her mind began conjuring images of those muscles… but without anything to conceal them. Her mind showed her images of the two of them, bare of any clothing, her straddling him with her hands pinning him to the bed by his shoulders, as their lips engaged in a battle of dominance, of where she would win and then claim… 'Wh-whoa girl, h-h-h-hold your freaking horses!' she screamed inside her mind. If her blush was pink before, it became like a tomato when those images came.

The fact that she found herself liking those images VERY much didn't help matters.

"Girl…" Nico began, unaware of what his actions were doing to his comrade. In his mind, all he could think about was the relief flooding his system like a rush of adrenaline. Honestly, that was the best description his mind could come up with at the moment, since all he could focus on was the comfort hugging the brunette gave him. Reflexively, he tightened his grip around her, unknowingly pulling her against him and giving her a better feel of his combat-oriented body. "You have NO idea how glad I am to see you."

'G-Goddamnit, what the hell?!' IF could only think as she did her best to calm her raging heartbeat. It didn't help that her instincts were acting up, either. They were more animalistic thanks to her transformation into a BOW, meaning that aside from combat, they urged her to find a suitable… 'mate' to breed with. It hadn't been happening till she was taken to this Dungeon however; the brunette having discovered this while she was butchering her foes and bathing in their delicious blood.

Geez, the mentality of a BOW really affected her head, huh?

Despite her embarrassment, IF's hormone-filled body refused to obey her mind's commands and remained rooted in place, enjoying the hug that the teen was giving her. It was like her body had a will of its own at this point, something she didn't want to think about for the moment in favour of trying to figure a way out of this situation. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't think of one, as despite her state of being, IF (much to her dismay) didn't necessarily…. Mind, being hugged by the guy she may be harbouring romantic feelings for. It felt… good, really good, being hugged like this, the warmth of physical contact, contact that she'd went without ever since they started this journey.

Thus, her body remained frozen in place as she enjoyed this little moment… If Neptune hears about this, IF would take away any and all her Pudding's for an entire year. Consequences be damned!

* * *

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to the brown-haired woman, Nico pulled away from her with an expression that would look perfect on the face of a certain Nurse-In-Training: big and happy grin, eyes shining like lighthouses, and an air of pure innocence about him. It was one of the most honest expressions he'd ever shown her, and it somehow made IF's heart skip a beat.

An expression that shifted into confusion and concern when he noticed how red her face was. "Huh? IF, why's your face red? You got hit by a stray fire attack or something?" he asked her, tilting his head sideways not unlike said Nurse-In-Training.

'G-Guh! That face! That adorable expression…' the brunette thought, trying her best to keep herself from losing it and just jumping him right then and there. If it were one of those random strippers or male prostitutes then she'd have no problem do said actions, but this was Nico in front of her right now. Someone whom she had actual connections to, despite their uncertain nature. That alone seemed to rein her in… somewhat, anyways. The images of them doing perverted acts refused to leave her mind as she tried her best to calm down. It didn't work so well, as one could imagine. "I-I'm fine, really. Just, surprised is all." She lied, and if he could see through her poor attempt at masking her feelings right then (which she didn't doubt knowing him) he didn't say anything about it. For that, she couldn't help but be grateful, considering how potentially awkward it would have been for him to ask her why she was REALLY like this. She'd rather NOT have to say how him hugging her made her begin fantasizing about them getting it on.

Hoping to find something to bring the conversation away from her, IF's eyes glanced about quickly, searching for that one topic change. It took her a second or two, but soon enough the brunette DID find something of interest… and not the good kind, either. "Hang on." She began, her eyes widening then narrowing into slits a second later. "I noticed just now… but where are those two you were fighting?" she asked him, looking around for any signs of the two Ghouls.

Nico, now that she mentioned it, quickly snapped into reality as the revelation dawned on him. Quickly he searched the area visually, too, before resorting to his Holomap and Motion Tracker. None of them showed any signs of Ghoul activity. Desperately hoping that this wasn't happening, he called on his demonic senses, see if they could pick anything up, but in the end, they too got diddly squat. 'Wh-What…?! But They were just…!'

 **'** **Nico, they made use of some sort of Teleport Spell while you two were distracted.'**

Oh god fucking damnit, that was the best thing Nico could think that could sum up his feelings well right now. His earlier euphoria had long since evaporated, leaving him with a sense of bitterness, annoyance, frustration and disappointment. The first battle he had on his road to reconnecting with his other side, and the enemy flees right when it was getting good? Well, in reality Nico should have expected this, as when the going to truly tough those two opted to flee to fight another day. They may be Ghouls, but they were also cowards at heart, favouring survival above anything else. With an irritated scowl behind his Mask, Nico spoke up. "Looks like they fled while we were distracted."

Annoyance flashed through her eyes at that. "Ugh, yeah, looks like. If you hadn't…" she gave an audible sigh, holding the side of her head. She would have lectured him more, but her hormones played a part in calming her down. Plus, it wasn't like she didn't get no payback at all with that kick she did, so she felt a little better about herself. "Nevermind, the important thing is that you're here. Though you didn't come alone…" she remarked, glancing at him then towards the area where Tekken and MAGES. were located. The Dust cloud had dispersed, allowing them to see the Barrier the Mad Magician had erected earlier slowly come apart, vanishing out of existence. She then turned back to the male, her eyes hardening into a super stern visage. "Plus, you and I have some catching up to do, and boy do we have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah…" Nico replied, nodding as the two of them shifted on their heels and made their way over to the others. Nico's hidden weapon had long since receded into him, his other side copying his hidden weapon's mannerisms by his will. He'd take off the Mask next chapter. "Yeah we do."

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Now for a Special Event, hope you like!**

* * *

 **Special Event - Skillet**

"Hey look guys, look who I've found on YouTube!"

Neptune barged into the living room of Compa's house, holding her Ipod with an excited grin on her face. They had been busy resting after a hard quest nearly gone wrong, with IF and Nico on the Sofa while Compa had sat in the teen's lap, leaning backwards while fast asleep, her head resting on his shoulder (much to his shock, confusion and a little enjoyment. What, having someone like Compa sitting on your lap was a cosy experience)

However, the moment that the bubbly preteen made her entrance, Compa's eyes flew open in startled awareness, jumping off her comfy seat on Nico's lap as she flailed herself about in mid air, before falling flat on her face. Nico himself and IF groaned in annoyance, they had just been having a nice nap and the resident preteen just had to ruin it, didn't she?

"Ugh, what is it, Nep? It better be good..." the brunette moaned in annoyance, rubbing some of the sleep out of her eyes. She didn't notice how Nico flushed slightly at the sight, the teen finding the sight kind of adorable.

Neptune, ignoring their states of being for the moment, showed them her Ipod which had the picture of a Band on it with a list of tracks. "Just found this awesome band on YouTube while searching for something to do. Ya'know, cause a Bored Nep is a boring Nep!" she proclaimed with a thumbs up and her tongue sticking out cutely, even after such a quest the preteen still acted like she as on a sugar rush.

"Music, huh?" Nico muttered wearily, as he shifted his form on the sofa before looking up at Neptune. "Well, I guess- uhhhh, Neptune, what are you doing?" Before he could finish his sentence, the teen noticed a large amount of white and purple in his vision, and looked up to see that while he had been distracted, Neptune had sat on his lap in the reverse cowgirl position, with her back leaning against his chest. Not that he found much wrong with this position given what the preteen had done in the past, but still I was the principle of the matter.

Not losing any f her cheeriness since the start of this Special Event, Neptune grinned as she shifted her head to face him, allowing her to see the beaming if a little jealousy, shining within her liliac orbs. "What, just sitting on my Hubby's lap, its only natural for married couples ya'know." she explained, ignoring the pointed stare she received from a jealous Compa. She'd just been in that position too, Goddess darnit! Why'd Nep-Nep have to ruin it?! That was what she had been thinking in her mind at that moment.

"Aaaaanyways..." Nico began before the girls would get into their usual antics. He could see somewhat how IF made a point to not look at them at this moment for some reason, but didn't think too much of it considering his situation. Like Compa, Neptune sitting on his lap felt really nice and cosy. He could only hope that is secret love for hugs didn't get discovered by these girls, cause that would be even more embarrassing. Clearing his throat to get them to pay attention, the teen spoke with slightly flushed cheeks. "What's this band you found, Neptune?"

Grinning, Neptune held up the Ipod, "It's a band called Skillet! Apparently, they follow the awesome me and they've been making some quite interesting tracks." She explained, though she didn't notice the spark of realisation that crossed over Nico's light blue orbs. "Here's one I like the mot." she manipulated thhe Ipod after bringing it back to her, before pressing play on one of their tracks.

 **SKILLET - Hero**

 **I'm just a step away**  
 **I'm just a breath away**  
 **Losin' my faith today**  
 **(Fallin' off the edge today)**

 **I am just a man**  
 **Not superhuman**  
 **(I'm not superhuman)**  
 **Someone save me from the hate**

 **It's just another war**  
 **Just another family torn**  
 **(Falling from my faith today)**  
 **Just a step from the edge**  
 **Just another day in the world we live**

 **I need a hero to save me now**  
 **I need a hero (save me now)**  
 **I need a hero to save my life**  
 **A hero'll save me (just in time)**

 **I've gotta fight today**  
 **To live another day**  
 **Speakin' my mind today**  
 **(My voice will be heard today)**

 **I've gotta make a stand**  
 **But I am just a man**  
 **(I'm not superhuman)**  
 **My voice will be heard today**

 **It's just another war**  
 **Just another family torn**  
 **(My voice will be heard today)**  
 **It's just another kill**  
 **The countdown begins to destroy ourselves**

 **I need a hero to save me now**  
 **I need a hero (save me now)**  
 **I need a hero to save my life**  
 **A hero'll save me (just in time)**

 **I need a hero to save my life**  
 **I need a hero just in time**  
 **Save me just in time**  
 **Save me just in time**

 **Who's gonna fight for what's right**  
 **Who's gonna help us survive**  
 **We're in the fight of our lives**  
 **(And we're not ready to die)**

 **Who's gonna fight for the weak**  
 **Who's gonna make 'em believe**  
 **I've got a hero (I've got a hero)**  
 **Livin' in me**

 **I'm gonna fight for what's right**  
 **Today I'm speaking my mind**  
 **And if it kills me tonight**  
 **(I will be ready to die)**

 **A hero's not afraid to give his life**  
 **A hero's gonna save me just in time**

 **I need a hero to save me now**  
 **I need a hero (save me now)**  
 **I need a hero to save my life**  
 **A hero'll save me (just in time)**

 **I need a hero**  
 **Who's gonna fight for what's right**  
 **Who's gonna help us survive**

 **I need a hero**  
 **Who's gonna fight for the weak**  
 **Who's gonna make 'em believe**  
 **I need a hero**  
 **I need a hero**

 **A hero's gonna save me just in time**

The song finished, fading into black silence, and soon enough the Party showed their reactions, IF being the first one as she shifted on her seat. She wouldn't admit it, but she'd been swaying her head to the beat of that song. "Now THAT was a song that one can listen to for hours on end." she complimented. "It even made ME sway my head to the beat, and that's not something that happens often."

Compa nodded, completely agreeing with the brunette both in her words and how she felt about the song. It just seemed so much like Neptune to like a sing about heroes. She did consider herself a heroine after all. Nevertheless, She too had heard of Skillet, and while she didn't really listen to most of their tracks, she did admit to liking some of them. "Hey, Nep-Nep, that isn't the only hit single they made, you know. There's this one, too." She said, walking over to the preteen and pressing a few times on her Ipod's screen. In the end, a new song of Skillet's began playing:

 **SKILLET - FEEL INVINCIBLE**

 **Target on my back lone survivor lasts**  
 **They got me in their sights**  
 **No surrender no**  
 **Trigger fingers go**  
 **Living the dangerous life**

 **Hey, hey, hey everyday when I wake**  
 **I'm trying to get up, they're knocking me down**  
 **Chewing me up, spitting me out**  
 **Hey, hey, hey when I need to be saved**  
 **You're making me strong, you're making me stand**  
 **Never will fall, never will end**  
 **Shot like a rocket up into the sky**  
 **Nothing could stop me tonight**

 **You make me feel invincible**  
 **Earthquake, powerful**  
 **Just like a tidal wave**  
 **You make me brave**  
 **You're my titanium**  
 **Fight song, raising up**  
 **Like a roar of victory in a stadium**  
 **Who can touch me 'cause I'm (I'm made of fire)**  
 **Who can stop me tonight (I'm hard wired)**  
 **You make me feel invincible**

 **I feel, I feel it**  
 **Invincible**  
 **I feel, I feel it**  
 **Invincible**

 **Here we go againi will not give in**  
 **I've got a reason to fight**  
 **Every day we choose**  
 **We might win or lose**  
 **This is the dangerous life**

 **Hey, hey, hey everyday when I wake**  
 **They say that I'm gone; they say that they've won**  
 **The bell has been rung, it's over and done**  
 **Hey, hey, hey when I need to be saved**  
 **They counting me out, but this is my round**  
 **(You in my corner look at me now)**  
 **Shot like a rocket up into the sky**  
 **Nothing could stop me tonight**

 **You make me feel invincible**  
 **Earthquake, powerful**  
 **Just like a tidal wave**  
 **You make me brave**  
 **You're my titanium**  
 **Fight song, raising up**  
 **Like a roar of victory in a stadium**  
 **Who can touch me 'cause I'm (I'm made of fire)**  
 **Who can stop me tonight (I'm hard wired)**  
 **You make me feel invincible**

 **I feel, I feel it**  
 **Invincible**  
 **I feel, I feel it**  
 **Invincible**

 **You make me feel invincible**  
 **You make me feel invincible**  
 **Shot like a rocket up into the sky**  
 **Not gonna stop, invincible**

 **You make me feel invincible**  
 **Earthquake, powerful**  
 **Just like a tidal wave**  
 **You make me brave**  
 **You're my titanium**  
 **Fight song, raising up**  
 **Like a roar of victory in a stadium**

 **You make me feel invincible**  
 **Earthquake, powerful**  
 **Just like a tidal wave**  
 **You make me brave**  
 **You're my titanium**  
 **Fight song, raising up**  
 **Like a roar of victory in a stadium**  
 **Who can touch me 'cause I'm (I'm made of fire)**  
 **Who can stop me tonight (I'm hard wired)**  
 **You make me feel invincible**

 **I feel, I feel it**  
 **Invincible**  
 **I feel, I feel it**  
 **Invincible**

Once again, the song vanished, as everyone looked to Compa who shuffled on the spot a Little nervously. "Um... well, I just like this cause it gives me a boost in courage. It just gets you so... uurrrrrgh! Just hearing the lyrics, don't you think?" she tried to reply through her embarrassed blushing. That exclamation though,during that moment she had held up her muscles and tried flexing them like a masculine bodybuilder. Though, that was her true opinion on the matter considering what they go through every day. Having songs that could boost one's confidence up a notch would be a must for their activities, especially before particularly daunting Quests.

Nico nodded to himself, knowing that Compa would say something like that. Honestly, he could see why Compa liked that particular song, especially when he recalled that time they went out together like they did back when they were kids. She always did live a rather sheltered life as a civilian, and growing up in this environment made the sudden change from safety to danger quite a heavy burden for her. She wasn't a fighter like him or the others, so the pressure of so many life-or-death situations would of course weigh heavily on her. Having tracks that boosted her confidence like that one would of course help lighten the load.

"Well, its a good song, and honestly I think I might turn into a fan of this band." IF admitted, crossing her legs with one over the other. She then held her hand out, and Neptune gave her the Ipod to allow her to shift through the band's songs. "Though, honestly this one holds a bit of... a personal note for me, so this one is my favourite out of the tracks this band has." IF told them, before pressing play.

 **SKILLET - Monster**

 **The secret side of me, I never let you see**  
 **I keep it caged but I can't control it**  
 **So stay away from me, the beast is ugly**  
 **I feel the rage and I just can't hold it**

 **It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls**  
 **It comes awake and I can't control it**  
 **Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head**  
 **Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?**

 **I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**  
 **I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**

 **I, I feel like a monster**  
 **I, I feel like a monster**

 **My secret side I keep hid under lock and key**  
 **I keep it caged but I can't control it**  
 **'Cause if I let him out he'll tear me up, break me down**  
 **Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end?**

 **I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**  
 **I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**

 **I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**  
 **I, I feel like a monster**  
 **I, I feel like a monster**

 **It's hiding in the dark, it's teeth are razor sharp**  
 **There's no escape for me, it wants my soul, it wants my heart**  
 **No one can hear me scream, maybe it's just a dream**  
 **Maybe it's inside of me, stop this monster**

 **I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**  
 **I hate what I've become, the nightmare's just begun**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**

 **I feel it deep within, it's just beneath the skin**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**  
 **I've gotta lose control, here's something radical**  
 **I must confess that I feel like a monster**

 **I, I feel like a monster**  
 **I, I feel like a monster**  
 **I, I feel like a monster**  
 **I, I feel like a monster**

This time, when the song finished, IF didn't wait to see their reactions as she began explaining what this song held for her. "Well, I'll be truthful, in the past I never saw this band as anything much, but when I first turned into a BOW..." IF shifted uncomfortably, grimacing o herself. She honestly didn't like admitting this, for it was an extreme moment of weakness for her. Not in her character at all, but then again this was fanfiction, so character relations can be different from canon. Just look at all the harem fics out there. "... I was in the shit. I felt like a horrible person, I felt like I didn't belong anywhere anymore, like I was the very monster that I have been hunting my entire life. Of course, that's changed since its not as bad as I thought it'd be, but back then it... rattled me more than I'd care to admit. Then, I found this song while looking for something to cheer me up, and well... it just, spoke to me." IF explained, sheepishly chuckling at the end. It wasn't something she liked admitting, true enough, but these guys were her friends, they'd been through hell and back together, so if she couldn't trust them then who else could she trust?

Looking over to Neptune, IF gave a small grin. "Well, I guess you have good taste in music, Nep, surprising coming from you." she remarked as she crossed her arms. "So, you don't just think of pudding all the time."

"Hey! This super duper protag isn't that one dimensional! I think about other things too, like being a super heroine outshining other versions of me in fanfiction, or when Nicky will lemme ride him through the night!"

"N-Neptune!"

Compa, despite the flash of indignation at the thought of Neptune taking Nico's virginity, something she'd come close to doing several times now, couldn't help but chuckle as the preteen once more caused Nico's face to redden like a cherry. She didn't like the ide of Neptune popping his cherry (as his nurse, that was her responsibility!) The atmosphere turning easy going like this felt like just what they needed as Neptune once again caused a commotion between them. She always did have that knack for making things light hearted even when they were as dire as the other chapters.

Wait... what?

"Y-You guys, could you quiet down? Dinner's almost ready, i'll have it finished in 10 minutes."

"Yaaaaaaay, Compa's Cooking is the bomb!"

"Hmph. #smirk# Well, ill say yeah to that, Nep. Comp's cooking is unrivalled."

'... This will be like that lazy ninja at that hidden village says: troublesome...'


	93. Chapter 90 - The boss comes in hot!

**Hey guys, new chap!**

 **Looks like we're getting some more depth into Hol Horse and J Greil's characters. Now, according to the wiki, Hol Horse doesn't disrespect women usually, but can abandon that notion when extremely aggravated. Thus, I've made it so that his Ghoul self has no such limitations. Also, hope I succeeded in making you guys grimace with the sorta character deaths back in Nico's mental break down.**

 **In addition to them, it is finally time for the big boss of this little prison to make their move. Who would it be? Well, Diablo fans should have a splendid idea as to who it is, but if you haven't then I won't spoil it for you. Just have to read the chap to find out. Though, I will say that more lore shall be added to this universe, giving it a depth and complexity that many Neptunia fics lack in my opinion. Lore is basically one of the biggest highlights of OEG, you know!**

 **Anyways, onto the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 90 - The Boss Comes in hot!**

"Ugh… guh… that brown haired bitch!" An infuriated J Greil roared, then winced with a sharp spike in pain as he nursed his face, more specifically his nose that got shattered by her surprise drop kick. Not only his nose, but his jaw had been dislocated, and several teeth got forcefully knocked out. Not to mention how his features looked even more deformed than normal, showcasing just how badly his body had suffered from that confrontation between them and those two. It felt unnaturally familiar, sickeningly so actually. Add in the various injuries that Nico's power had dealt to him that barely regenerated in time for him to launch his sneak attack, and he looked like he'd been through hell. "She'll fucking pay for hitting me in the face! I'll find her, I'll find whoever she's close to and fucking rape them in front of her! She'll be in pure despair before I have my fun with her!"

Hol Horse groaned as he sat against a wall, wincing and grimacing as his body also began regenerating from the wounds that he had been dealt by the teenage Spec Ops. The two Ghouls had successfully escaped via a special emergency teleport circle given to them by their mistress, in case of hem getting more than they bargained for, and had ended up in one of the cells in the Cursed Hold. It wasn't out of kindness or anything, to their client they were just expendable tools to use till they served their purpose. However, she had given them explicit orders to flee when things looked too bleak for them to recover from. Not only that, but his inner cowardice had surface just then, and all he could think of was running away. Like his partner though, he too found this situation to be sickeningly familiar.

That's right… it was back then, 3 years ago when they fought Nico the first time.

Back then, the two had inklings as to the kid's true nature, the beast that lay within him. They had inklings, because that Armour he wore had kept his scent mixed with metal, making it difficult for them to tell whenever they went on missions together. Their suspicions about his true nature only came to a conclusion on that fateful day 3 years ago, where the kid, his Armour too damaged to be used anymore, resorted to unleashing that beast he kept in check usually. At the start of the battle the two Ghouls had been too focused on the battle itself to notice his scent, but once they saw that hidden weapon of his, their theories had all but been confirmed.

They thought back then, that they were ready for him, that he was merely a bug compared to their strength. Like a pebble compared to a river, destined to eventually erode away at the face of their constant might. It was their pride that told them this, and for a time they truly thought that Nico would have no chance against the two of them, for he had been put on the defensive for a large portion of the battle, Kid looked like he'd been caught off guard by the fact that they were Ghouls, too, thus furthering their own ego, pride and arrogance. They thought him feeble and helpless before them. They thought him weak.

Oh, how wrong they were.

Though, compared to back then, the beast inside had much sharper 'fangs' in the past. They hit harder, they hit faster back then compared to now. Honestly, it felt like a joke to even compare the two. It made him feel sick to his stomach and considering his condition that didn't seem to be very helpful right now. The audible sounds of flesh being manipulated signalled his regeneration was working its magic, but like te way he injured Nico, his injuries healed much slower than normal. Still though, the fact that his fangs were weaker than they were in the past meant that the teen hadn't unleashed his inner beast for some time, something that the two Ghouls found a blessing despite their reactions to it, since it would give them some form of control over the confrontation they had back there. For a time, it did even. They'd dominated the teen in their fight, and had even reduced him to a weakened, pathetic state where they could have both their revenge and their fun with the teen before finally ending his miserable life, as well as the stain on their reputations.

However, they had forgotten one thing, one very crucial detail about Nico's character that few knew about.

It was like when an animal is cornered by several of its predecessors. Its fight or flight response is triggered, and it becomes infinitely more dangerous, more unpredictable, to ensure its survival. It bares its fangs towards its predators and fights to preserve its life. That situation was exactly what Nico had gone through back there, he had been cornered by the two Ghouls, and if he hadn't bared his 'fangs' then the teen would have faced death and THIS time it would have been permanent. No coming back from the dead like he did once before or so their client had said. Even blunted fangs can be dangerous if they bit down hard enough, and that had been exactly what had happened.

One could say that they were sustaining a substantial amount of Karma for forgetting that.

The man's brow twitched in noticeable irritation. J Greil's loud voice echoed throughout their cell as he ranted and raved at not being able to feed on their prey, filling the air with his obnoxious voice. It was the only other sound they could hear other than the sounds of their regeneration getting to work, the deformed Ghoul's healing not as slowed as his was. That seemed likely thanks to that brunette woman having special powers, but they weren't Ghoul-oriented, therefore they didn't slow down his healing.

Still though, J Greil's whining really started getting on Hol Horse's nerves, and he had half a mind to shove his Kagune down the other Ghoul's throat to get him to shut the fuck up. It would be so easy to do, as even while weakened Hol Horse wasn't helpless. He still had enough power to form at least his Ukaku Tail to lunge at the guy. However, he refrained from such actions. As mind-bogglingly annoying s he was, J Greil venting his frustration this way was his way of coping with what happened. Everyone had their own way of coping with stress, some with sex or others through ranting. Why else do you think old women rant about their problems like nobody's business? Aside from being annoying old hags of course…

Plus, it would make him a hypocrite since he wanted to release his frustrations verbally too.

He just had more control over himself.

His mind, in an attempt to distract itself from J Greil's whining, wandered towards their client. One that will likely be making a move soon knowing her. Also, their little contingency plan had the side effect of letting her know through that weird voodoo shit that she called demon magic that they had failed to kill their target. Well, fail wasn't the correct term, now that he thought about it, their client had told them that their job was to hold the enemy off while preparations were made. Under no circumstance did their contract say that they had to kill them, THAT had been something they had decided on their own the moment that they learned that Nico would be one of their foes.

A cold chill ran down his spine at the mere memory of her. Their client, a woman who was bathed in so much blood, death and demonic power that even Demons themselves were wary of her. Him and J Greil were some cruel assholes, of that they were certain. They'd do some fucked up shit to people, they were Ghouls for fuck's sake. Seeing a crying infant alone? They'd just as soon devour it as an easy meal. A child looking for its parents? They'd have their fun first before finally ending its miserable life, maybe even in front of its family and watch the fireworks.

But this woman? Oh, she'd do SO much worse than what they'd do. At least in their cases the victims were dead in the end, in her case they'd end up worse than dead. Not like Hol Horse or J Greil cared though, this was a world that followed the law of the jungle, they didn't need to care about the weakling ants that got squashed on by bigger predators. They could go rot in some dumpster for all they cared… that, or let themselves be feasted on since that was the only other use that they had under their belts. Still though, even they didn't want to get on that woman's bad side, especially not with what they'd seen her do to those that try to usurp her power.

The man still got nightmares from the last time someone mouthed off to her.

He had to wonder what her next move would be. Like he mentioned previously, their little contingency plan will have informed her that they'd bought her all the time they could. Part of him figured that she'd probably be angry, cause that was largely what she had in droves. She usually had this furious look in her eyes, like she was one step away from going on a blood rage ad everyone around her would be her target, whether they were friend or foe.

Not to mention how she was a malicious and fanatical individual, unopposed to sacrificing her followers in order to achieve her goals. One could call her a complete devotee to the Chaos Gods, and by extension Overlord Momus. The Primary Chaos God that functioned as her patron however, was Khorne himself, and given Leanbox's rather… bloody history, that should come as no surprise. The Blood God would have a field day with this Nation, especially when he supplies her with powerful Demons to aid her in her cause.

Sometimes Hol Horse had been by her side whenever she seemingly 'communed' with the Chaos God she was devoted to, and from those times he would witness how portals, portals where Hol Horse dreaded finding out, would open and spit out legions of Demons for her plans. She'd been planning a major offensive with her Hordes of Chaos, summoning Legions, Warbands and gathering followers throughout Leanbox. He'd seen how she'd imbue their weapons by forcefully sealing the most violent and savage of Demonic beings within them, beings that she wouldn't have been able to handle otherwise, which resulted in enhancing the weapons' power and corrupting the weapons to their very core. Twisting them into the horrific nightmares that the Cultists, Chaos Champions and Warbands used in present times.

He'd lost count of how many Hellblades and other corrupted weapons that had been forged within this place. It was like a factory for supplying the Overlord Momus Faction, as well as the Chaos followers, with truly infernal means. The Basilicoms thought heresy was the Spec Ops Program, but they had no idea of what true heresy really was. At least, until they witnessed this shit.

Pure dread filled his mind at the thought of those weapons sinking into his flesh, something that had been proven possible and by the Goddess it STUNG like a fucking BITCH! The injuries that came from said weapons healed at practically a SNAIL's pace in comparison, erven slower than other Kagune! Never had he been more scared of something in his entire life, then those weapons at that moment.

In the end, Hol Horse could only pat himself on the back, for managing to hold them off enough to use the spell and get away in time. Now Nico and those broad will have to face her, and by the goddess he did not want to be around when that happened. Glancing over to J Greil, the man saw that his injuries looked to be finishing up, which made a small smirk form on his lips.

All this stuff had stressed him beyond all belief… it was time to let loose that frustration.

* * *

"Wow… you definitely had some interesting encounters." IF remarked with an impressed whistle. Her hands were placed within her Trench Coat as she regrouped with Tekken, MAGES. and Stefan, whom had accompanied her out of the Chamber of Suffering. Nico was right beside her, walking stride by stride with her as he told her what had happened while they were apart (abridged so she didn't know about Biko, of course). From the Urgent Quest, the encounter with the Demon Prince, up to the constant battles throughout Leoric's manor and the various underground levels, it sounded like the guy had seen a LOT of action today. It honestly amazed her how the teen looked like he could still keep going after all that bullshit. The brunette then sweat dropped while giving a weak smirk, her eyes shining with awkwardness as she noticed something… unique about his situation. "Seems like you're pulling a Nep in the attracting trouble department."

Nico could only chuckle in response, having taken off his Mask to showcase his facial expressions. He'd made sure to keep any confidential intel under wraps, like the crystal that he gave Compa and stuff to do with his mental issues. He'd rather not have that exposed right now, especially since they had bigger fish to fry. Thinking back on those previous battles, it was obvious that they had yet to face the big boss. Only then would they be able to take out this Dungeon once and for all, something that in his eyes, couldn't have come any sooner. He felt SO freaking ready to leave this hellhole and blow it sky high, these girls had no idea. Not only that, but he had to figure out a proper training schedule, one that incorporated re-training in his other side. That last battle had brought the point home for him, no longer could he afford to risk keeping it a secret when his comrades lives were in danger. He had to have the resolve to do what he had to do, the resolve that his adoptive mother had installed within him during training. "Yeah, you could say that again, though I have to admit…" his eyes shone with pride at that moment, his gaze falling onto her limbs with nothing but pride and approval in those light blue orbs of his. "That it won't be easy to measure how much pride and respect I have for you right now, IF. These mutations of yours seem quite powerful and versatile. Perfect for your true self." He complimented, giving her a thumbs up and a grin.

IF had to snort into her Trench Coat's left sleeve, a snort that turned into snarky laughter right afterwards at the gesture he made. "Hahaha, a thumbs-up signal? Really? Get with the times, dude…" she teased with a grin, lowering her sleeve once she found herself… at least reasonably calm. She had been aware that Nico wasn't the best at social conversations, heck just look at their past interactions. Most off them had been about 'the mission this, killing abnormal that', there were few times where he had no ground to base his conversation on. Nothing but social norms that is, something Nico was decidedly crap at, at least in his eyes. To her though, it just went to show how genuine he tried to be for everyone, how he always tried his best to be as honest as he could. Though by no means was she under the illusion that he had no secrets. Not with what Stefan had told her nor with what she had figured out about him either.

The way he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, trying to not meet her gaze and hide his flushed cheeks all but proved her thoughts about his awkwardness.

To think, she had been that way when he surprise hugged her out of nowhere. Heh, feels like payback for embarrassing her… though she tried not to think about it that way. It didn't seem right to condemn him for that. From what she witnessed in that moment, deep down Nico was just one big softie to those he cared about. Heck, it wasn't really that surprising to her, since how he behaved around Neptune and Compa. Plus, with his hidden prankster streak, it just went to show how childish he was down to his heart. Honestly, part of her couldn't help but exhale in relief at that, even with all the shit that Nico had seen in his lifetime, there was still part of him, albeit buried deep within his being, that could still be all childish and innocent. In times like this, stuff like that was considered all the more important.

Soon enough, the two regrouped with the others. Looking to the girls, Nico eyed them for any sign of injuries, any at all that could have been done by a stray Kagune strike or anything like that. Aside from how low MAGES. Mana reserves were, it looked like those two were A-Okay. Nico resisted the urge to exhale deeper than he had ever thought possible at this, with what he saw during those hallucinations, it was all he could do to restrain himself from hugging them as well. IF was fine she was someone he'd known for a while, but Tekken and MAGES. didn't have that familiarity. It would only end up embarrassing them all further.

"Well, looks like we're all here now." he remarked, glancing over to MAGES and Tekken, then to IF. The teen then noticed something when he looked at MAGES., his senses did anyways. "Hey MAGES., your Mana reserves seem larger than before, what happened?" he asked her, noticing that her reserves, which rivalled the size of a small puddle on a pathway, now seemed to be more like a small pond in size. Did she take an SP Charger while he wasn't looking? One of Tekkens? If so, she must really need it for her to be that desperate.

In response to his question, MAGES. gestured over to Stefan, whom was standing off to the side watching them interact. "You may thank the holy sword over there. His powers over the primordial domain of the heavens boosted my powers. I should be increasingly reliable for the upcoming battles thanks to his assistance." She explained.

Surprise soon crossed onto his features, before they returned to normal. Then, his eyes landed onto the sight of the wielder of Ashbringer, and thus, they promptly flew open in shock. Surprise, too, can't forget that, as Nico nearly lost control over his jaw at the sight of the lost Ostermark Captain. Quickly, he regained his composure, clearing his throat before he spoke with his Spec Ops professional tone. "Am I right to presume you are indeed Captain Stefan Von Kessel of the Ostermark Order?" He asked him, while mentally he deduced with Biko that he must have been captured by the Overlord Faction and brought here. It only made sense with how there were Demons in the ruined Mojang Village, how Stefan and his men disappeared there. Either captivity or death would have likely been their fates. While he'd been prepared for the worse, Nico couldn't help the relief flooding his system at this.

It felt quite good, not having the worst-case scenario for once.

Stefan eyed the teen for a moment through his helmet, before he nodded in response as he recognised the teen before him. "I am, and I assume that you must be the Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE." He stated, getting a nod from Nico in return. "In that case, it's good that you are here, we have much to discuss. But first, you should check your armour Module, it's acting strange." he said, gesturing with Ashbringer to Nico's chest. The teen glanced down, noticing that his Armour Module was flashing Green. That meant his Armour was back to full capacity, so with a slight smirk the teen patted the Module firmly and deployed his Armour. 'Ahhhh, only temporarily not having armour is better than having none at all…' he thought to himself.

"Well, while we have a LOT of talking to do, sir, I don't think now would be the best time." Nico stated, having his Armour's helmet open its faceplates. This was the middle of a Dungeon, and this wasn't some videogame where the heroes would be safe discussing important information without fear of scripted villains eavesdropping on them. This was real life, and if Lastation had taught him anything, it was always to make sure you were in somewhere private for discussing sensitive intel. He got the feeling Stefan knew this, and the others should be somewhat aware as well given their backgrounds. MAGES. being a Magician who had to protect her research, Tekken who had to protect the secrets of her martial arts prowess, etc.

His eyes shone with stern seriousness, glancing over to the Chamber of Suffering. "I can sense a build-up of power residing within that place. Its large, enough to be a boss of sorts." He explained, frowning deeply. What Nico didn't say was that the energy was demonic in origin, and with the amount that he could sense, whoever wielded it would obviously have a LOT of power build up. Also, whose to say this was all the power they possessed? This mystery person could be suppressing their powers, but they were so large that they still spilled out. It happens sometimes when someone grows to that level.

Looking over to the Chamber of Suffering as well, IF narrowed her eyes as her senses, senses she'd honed to pick up demonic power thanks to all this combat against beings like these, also picked up the large energy within… and boy could she agree with him on the size department. "Yeah, I feel it too. Its big, way bigger than anything else we've faced in this place. It feels like…" Now she felt like she might get flak for this, but it was the best comparison she could think of at the moment, so no judging her! "It feels like its way larger than that of a CPU's. Like, like it could crush everything in this place at any moment." What she didn't say was that she too noticed that it was demonic in origin, like she'd mentioned in her monologue multiple lines ago her senses had been honed to pick stuff like this up. Chills crawled down her spine at the… sinister vibes she got from it. Nico and Stefan were right about this likely being a boss-type monster. "Don't like the feel of it though, feels kinda evil."

"It is as the Windwalker says." MAGES. interjected, getting the others to look at her while she kept her gaze on the Chamber. The way she held her staff so tightly in her grip, which looked strong and tense considering how they could see the veins from her hand as clear as crystal, definitely gave the others pause. Her eyes, they were nothing but stone cold, a stark indication of what ran through her head at this moment. Her eyes gazed upon th Chamber like it had committed a grave sin against her, and knowing how she felt about these things Nico didn't rule that possibility out. She then raised her Staff and pointed it towards the Chamber, the tip seemingly releasing faint wisps of focused Mana. "I can sense a great evil lurking within that Chamber. It has only just arrived however, but it seems to have something planned. The energy is calm, frightfully so, and it only appeared shortly after those two Ghouls vanished. This a coincidence, I think not."

That gave the others grim expressions, especially Nico and Stefan. Odds were, those two had the most experience with shit like this. The others would have had experiences with tough monsters before, but this felt like something else. IF would come closer than the others to the experiences they had, considering how she was a Candidate for the Spec Ops Program, however she hadn't seen even a spec of the shit that these two had seen. After all, there's a big difference between Spec Ops and Guild Agents.

Meanwhile, the two couldn't help but worry about the cause of this energy. Rebellion and Ashbringer respectively trembled on their spots on their respective wielders' backs, one in nervousness while the other trembled in eager anticipation for a tough opponent. It should be pathetically obvious which was which at this point. Still, to cause such strong reactions from their sentient weapons, that alone made them realise that this enemy would be one of their most dangerous foes yet. Probably on par with the CPUs or even high tier Abnormals in the worst-case scenario. Going by wat they'd seen so far: deranged Cultists, mad Warbands, legions of bloodthirsty demons. Both wielders glanced behind them at their respective weapons, taking in their reactions. Hell, for Nico he even felt Ebony and Ivory trembling just as much as Rebellion.

 **'Nico, it seems this enemy will be powerful enough to warrant the use of your DPU Powers.'**

Biko suddenly cut into his thoughts, snapping them up and discarding them without mercy.

Nico, however, didn't show much of a reaction considering how used to this he was at this point. 'Really? That bad?' he thought, projecting his concern for this upcoming battle through their link. He received grim acknowledgement through the link in return.

 **'Indeed. However, since DDD is not active yet, it would be wise to use one of the abilities that has become available to us. When you face off against this enemy, hold out your hand and try to imagine yourself as I you were summoning a ball of Hellfire like we practiced. Believe me, the results will be worth it.'**

'I don't suppose you'll give me any hints as to what that might be?'

 **'I don't believe you really wish for me to do that, as you wish to discover these yourself.'**

'…Good point.'

Big part of his ideals was self-independence. Nico firmly believed that in order to become truly strong, one had to have the strength to back it up. Not just strength though, but independence, strong will, and the guts to keep going even as one is getting beaten down by life's obstacles. In a world like this one where ones' strength determined their ability to survive, this ideology only fit perfectly. That was why, while he could accept Biko informing him about specific abilities being available, with a few short and vague explanations here and there (mostly because Biko was simply another part of him, so it would stand to reason that he was simply helping himself just like with that white copy), Nico would rather discover the abilities he had himself, to showcase how he wasn't someone who overly relied on others to do everything for him. It was a major part of who he was as a person, how he came to be that person.

His thoughts became broken once again, but this time they didn't get broken because of his demon persona, nor was it because of the White Copy of him whose presence Nico could feel in the forefront of his mind. "Well then, why are we just standing around here for?" Tekken questioned as she pumped her fists in front of her, as if mimicking her battle stance. Her eyes shined with a gleam that only those who liked combat could understand: the look of someone who enjoyed fighting strong opponents. "The enemy won't just wat for us, so let's strike while the iron's hot!"

"Pretty sure that's not exactly how the expression goes…" IF remarked, taking her hands out her pockets while Tekken merely shrugged nonchalantly. Though the excitement in her eyes still persisted. She could tell. The brunette had her pegged since day one, as someone who enjoyed the thrill of the fight, especially when she heard how she… reacted to getting his. (She still wanted to know how that happened, or at least get a definite answer out of her as to the cause) "But you have a point, no sense wasting away out here, we should go inside, but keep an eye out for traps. Who knows what awaits us down there."

The rest of them nodded in agreement, with Nico swiftly closing his Helmet's faceplates after IF's speech. He couldn't detect any enemies save for the one inside, so it definitely felt like the final boss encounter in a dungeon crawl. Still though, they'd best be cautious, there was no telling what the enemy had in store for them in there. IF and Stefan maybe, the brunette having told the male about how she fought in there for a short while before hearing the sounds of his fight against the Ghouls outside.

With that, the party headed inside the Chamber of Suffering.

* * *

"Huh, so this is the Chamber of Suffering, huh?"

Inside the Chamber, Nico and the others walked to the centre of the platform that IF and Stefan had been fighting on for a while. The scorching heat, combined with the way that Lava looked like it would devour them slowly if they so much as grazed it, definitely gave its name some accuracy. He could imagine it now, how victims would be strung up in cages then lowered into the lava just enough so that their deaths would be slow and painful. Just when they were about to die, they would be lifted out from it for potions and other healing items to be forced down them to heal the damage. Rinse, repeat, victory. Not something he wanted to think about anymore, so let's stop there.

The teen had to admit this to the rest of them as his head swerved about, taking in everything. "This definitely fits the bill, I'd say."

Tekken shuddered despite the abnormally high temperature. She rubbed her arms up and downwards, trying to stave off the Goosebumps forming on them. "This place really reeks of death alright, I can just hear the souls of the deceased crying out in torment." She remarked, looking about warily. Despite her earlier bravado, this place still had the ability to disturb her with its appearance. She doubted anything would change that, but then again it would be wise not to tempt fate.

Goddess knows how that would turn out.

IF and Stefan however, didn't look as disturbed as the rest of them, save for Nico but hey was that even a surprise anymore? Since the former two had seen this before when they fought on their blood frenzy, the sight didn't have the same impact on them, though judging by their expressions it seemed that they'd rather have not seen this place again. "Yeah, this place definitely gives you the creeps doesn't it?" the brunette remarked, hands on her hips as she regarded everything.

The Mad Magician looked throughout the air, muttering some inaudible words to herself, though Nico could hear them just fine, same with IF thanks to their enhanced hearing. Though, they quickly attributed it to runic language since they couldn't understand a word of what she was saying. "I sense that there is a great build-up of demonic power here. Someone powerful has arrived here, and odds are they are after us." She warned them, getting nods from the others. They wouldn't have come here if they weren't prepared to face danger, and if they were honest, then IF and Nico would admit that they had a few bones to pick with the one responsible for all this.

Stefan's eyes focused on the lava beneath them however, remembering how annoying that was back when they were here last. "Be wary, this platform can be engulfed in seas of fire at any time thanks to the Magma. Apparently, some areas can be heated up to such a state at random, though I do not know how."

"It appears to be runic in nature." MAGES observed as she gestured with her Staff to the centre of the Platform. Her Magician's eyes showed her things that non-mages wouldn't have noticed, such as runes carved into the platform in some demonic style of beauty. Kind of like weaving clot, only the demonic variant. "It seems that we are at a disadvantage. Those Runic enchantments must store up heat within them, then use the heat to set certain parts of the platform on fire, then drain the heat from them to restore the areas to their previous state." she deduced, her eyes dancing along the various runes she could see while memorising and analysing each one's function. All in all, while crude the designer of this runic enchantment had done a fairly good job. They may belong to the enemy, but the Mad Magician had to acknowledge their skill in this craft. "it appears to be at random as well, like you two previously assumed, and does not allow us much breathing room."

'Well, that sounds convenient, doesn't it?' Nico couldn't help but think to himself with as much sarcasm as he could muster. He could hear Biko humming in agreement within his mind… as well as his white self, whining about how cheap those tricks were in his eyes. Though, Biko and him did what they could to ignore him. 'What are the odds that the one who designed those runes is a total sadist who jacks off to people's suffering?'

Biko didn't grace him with a response, which basically spoke for itself.

"I see you all have arrived. Finally."

Just then, a feminine voice broke through the silence, slicing through the air like blades as it echoed throughout the space around them. Almost like it was coming from everywhere but nowhere at the same time. It made the group tense up instantly from the malice and sinister vibes from it, shivers travelling down their spines like a stampede from every syllable uttered. Not just that, but there were some… demonic-sounding undertones to the voice, like it was being possessed by something of said nature. Just hearing that voice alone sparked a sense of danger that no ordinary being could muster within them. This, this felt… wrong, unnaturally so. Just hearing that voice made them want to eradicate the one owning it just top erase the stain on nature itself from existence, making everything pure again. Not only that, but it filled them with a primal sense of fear, even Nico had an explosion of fear erupt within his chest when hearing that voice.

'Th-That voice… could it be?!'

Despite the feelings invoked by that voice, it didn't stop their natural instincts honed from constant exposure to violent Demonic entities and their deranged, borderline psychotic, Cultist followers. Everyone swiftly got into battle stances, Tekken her Martial Arts one, while the others drew their weapons. Stefan with Ashbringer, MAGES. with her Staff, IF shifting her arms into dual Axammers, and Nico drawing both Ebony and Ivory. Each of them got into a circle, their backs facing each other as to cover any possible means of flanking them. Everyone kept an eye out for the source of the voice, though that source couldn't be found at the moment.

For a time, everything became silent, save for the crackling of the fiery embers from the Magma beneath the platform. There was nothing else, for a seemingly eternal moment, like the blessed virgin Mary praying within the embrace of a pool of darkness. The lack of sound, save for the previously mentioned one as well as the near inaudible breathing of the others, created a thick and terribly ominous atmosphere. It felt almost like it was trying to choke the breath out of them or something, given how they could hardly breathe even with some of them having innate abilities for these situations.

Eventually though, one of them became fed up with all this tension.

"Okay, where the fuck are you?!" Nico called out to he atmosphere around them, his eyes glancing about erratically for any signs of attack. Ambushes and surprise attacks weren't that uncommon in the real world, and in this particular Dungeon there'd been more of those than he had hair strands. It didn't help that his Devil Arms Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory were sending him their irritation for not seeing their enemy yet in large radar-like waves. Made keeping in control over his emotions all the more difficult, it did. "Come out and show yourself already!"

A dark, sinister chuckle resounded throughout the Chamber, causing ripples to go straight through the atmosphere. The ambient demonic power that MAGES. had sensed almost mimicked its master's actions by how it contorted and rippled, according to those that could sense it, as if it had a will of its own that was merely an extension of its master's own wicked one. While that happened, the air around them intensified tenfold, and they could just FEEL the sinister gaze of their unseen enemy looming over them like a shadowy wraith prepared to claim its next victim.

That's when it happened.

In one moment there had been a tense peace. The next, an ominous, overbearing presence, one that just oozed endless bloodlust, demented insanity and near psychotic levels of madness, just appeared right on his mental radar. Not even his Bracers or his senses detected anything until right at.

That.

Moment.

His lone uncovered eye widened to the size of a dinner plate while his pupil shrank to dot size, trembling violently while the maddening presence seemed so… CLOSE to him. Like, right by his ear, looming over him not unlike how a certain white version of him would be like whenever he made an appearance. Though, not physically which was the sole difference between this presence and him.

The presence's hot breath travelled down his neck, releasing crimson vapours while sending trembling cold shivers down his spine.

"Very well, then, BOY. It will amuse me to see you suffer myself, for your transgressions against us."

BANG!

Nico reacted instantly, spinning around and pulled Ivory's trigger, firing at the presence's head. Itchy trigger anyone? If he were under more of a composed mental state, he would have fired without turning, no need to waste unnecessary movements after all. But hey, he'd been startled goddamnit! It usually took a LOT to catch Nico off guard, as that was how he'd trained himself with his mentor. Keep a level head so he could figure things out. However, with everything that had happened so far, and the emotional baggage he had yet to sort, well, his mind wasn't exactly at 100%.

However, to that end the Presence merely chuckled and vanished without a trace…

Not without being seen by the rest of the Party though.

"Whoa!"

"TCH!"

"Kya!"

"The hell?! Has the denizens of the underworld gained a new champion?!"

Those had been IF, Stefan, Tekken and MAGES. reactions in a nutshell, and if Nico hadn't reacted first then they would have likely done the same as he'd done. All the while the presence just simply laughed her evil laugh. Her laugh seemingly came from everywhere around them, until dark crimson smoke rose from the ground to their left flank. The smoke condensed into a cocoon once it reached about over 6 foot 2. From there, the smoke proceeded to condense, forming a solid feminine shape, then an actual person.

In the end, a woman floated before them with a sinister smirk on her features. A woman that Nico and Stefan recognised right away just from a single look. The woman was one who had very pale white skin, almost Albino. She had a bald head, not a spec of hair on her, with clear grey eyes. From her head, protruded 2 long, thick horns reminiscent to that of a Bloodletter's. She was draped in what looked like a dress and headdress, though the energies of Khorne and his Demons turned what probably used to be elegance, into pure wicked evil. Its colours were crimson, orange and black, the signature colours of the Blood God. The Dress had a mix of fabric and armour in its design, while the Skirt opened at both the front and back, showing off her armoured knee-high boots. Inside the dress's interior, one can see the reddish orange hues that Khorne's Demons wield as their own. Her arms were covered by crimson fabric forearm-length gloves that wrapped around the base of her middle fingers, covered by black forearm guards. From the backs of her shoulders, two wings each protruded, making a total of 4. They were made from noting but bone, but there was crimson-orangish energies crackling through them, somehow creating a gravitational field that allowed her to hover above the ground. Each wing was at least half her height, with each finger ending in pointed tips.

"Looks like it really is you. I thought I recognised you from all this…" Nico snarled, his lone uncovered eye narrowing in a blaze of primal fury. "How did you survive from back then… MAGHDA?!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **"Whew! Things are heating up now, now that the final boss of this mini arc has made her plays!**

 **If you're a diablo fan, you should have sen this coming, but it's Maghda herself! The witch that lead a coven of witches for the lord of lies in diablo ore: Belilial. She'll have plenty of stuff revolving around her, but how the heck does Nico know her? What's their connection? Well, you'll jsut have tio wait and find out.**

 **For now though, be content with this Special Event here. Now, something you guys ought to know, instead of just limiting them to character interactions, i'm going to be using them for much more than that, as you may have seen in the second most recently made special event with the lore around Ganache and Umbrella. I'm going to be making some to expand on certain topics that I feel aren't relevant to be included in the min story, but can still be learned for world-building purposes. Think of them as like those books in Skyrim where they talk about these heroes of old and you go fight them in their crypts to take their possessions as your own.**

 **So, when you see a Special event, it will be either about the characters interactions with each other, normal everyday stuff really, or world building on different subjects. This fic's greatest vocal point for me, at least so far, is the LORE revolving through it. It's got so much about it to learn and explore, to the point where i can see why Falcom would try to be an adventurer to see it all.**

 **Without further ado though, let's get on with the special event, shall we?**

* * *

 **Special Event - Devil Arms biography**

"You wish to learn about the various Devil Arms in your possession?"

Biko asked this of the main aspect after the two decided to take a break from training. The two were located in the center of the Coliseum where craters dotted the landscape, and the stands looked like they had been hit with boulders in many places. It looked like the aftermath of a siege from the inside or something similar, though to those two it would be fixed by the time they return to train once more.

Still, Nico wanted to make use of this break to get some information about the Devil Arms, the weapons that he commanded with his will. The weapons that latch onto his soul and live off his energy in exchange for him wielding their power. Even after learning their names and discovering that they each held their own abilities, Nico still felt like he had so much left to learn. These were demonic, sentient weapons after all, so there must be MUCH that he didn't know about them. Knowledge and wisdom was a vital tool on the battlefield after all, something his mentor as well as his fighting against the Coalition back in Lowee taught him all too well.

Biko's eyes remained stern as they gazed at him for a tough, tense moment, before they closed as he gave a relenting sigh, uncrossing his arms from the front of his chest. "Very well, it would be beneficial for you to learn all there is about Devil Arms, And with how much has happened, I can safely say that we have a LOT of revision to do."

The moment he said that, the man raised a right hand and clicked his fingers, the two vanishing from the coliseum and reappearing at the front of the Library. Nico eyed the structure intently, the structure that he had been warned to stay away from by his demon persona. Various feelings swelled within his chest as he stared at it, though the key one he felt would be anxiety. The place which house not just his knowledge, but also his memories, including the ones that he forgot. If Biko hadn't warned him Nico could definitely see himself going inside there and trying to see what he could find. Though, he would also admit to stopping just short of opening the door since personal experiences told him just how bad messing with amnesiacs really was. Not just physically but also on the mind as well. Bad things happen to those who force their minds to recall something it wasn't ready to.

"When I said it represents your knowledge, and how it wasn't completely accurate, I was not lying. As I am part of you, everything I learn is also recorded and stored in here." Biko told him, making Nico hum in understanding. That made sense, if Biko was a part of him and the library stored things that he knew, then it would make sense to assume the same applied o whatever Biko knew. "Sit. I will retrieve the knowledge that you require from the Library." Biko told him, and the teen did so, sitting cross legged on the ground while mentally he couldn't help but be baffled by the experience. Sitting in an outside classroom of sorts wasn't something that happened often, especially with how shifty the weather could get.

Still though, Nico sat patiently as Biko held his hand out towards the Spire. Nico wondered what he was doing, it didn't look like this place had any doors or anything resembling an entrance so how would one get inside? His answer came to him seconds later, when a bright magic circle appeared on the Library, and from it a series of books floated out of it and flew through the air to the space around Biko's head. They circled him there, bobbing up and down like a ship on an ocean, while opening themselves up to the man.

Soon enough, he looked to be finished with them as he made them float behind them while turning back to the other male. "Alright, now, we shall begin." Biko told him, clearing his throat. "Devil Arms, like I said long ago, are physical manifestations of demonic foes defeated in battle. However, to expand on this they are also the souls of the demons that you kill, solidified into the physical world, hence that is why they are separates them from normal weaponry, as you may have suspected, and are incredibly difficult to destroy. If they were hit by an atomic bomb dead on, they would only take minor scratches. Devil Arms primarily work with demonic energy, feeding off it to sustain themselves otherwise they will go berserk and eventually evaporate out of existence. However, with what we know from Tekken's case, they can create substitute energies for them to absorb instead if the host does not have any demonic power, or as I learned moments after, gradually taint the host';s energy with it's own to make their energy more suitable. In your case, you yourself were a candidate for becoming a DPU, although you were unaware of it at the time. That alone made your SP unique, as well as edible for the Devil Arms, leading to your easier time using them. They make sure to take care of their hosts otherwise they will die, for the lives of the wielder and weapon are intertwined. If the weapon is destroyed, its essence recedes inside the host's soul to rebuild its physical form. It will let the soul of its wielder know when it is ready to return, and thus they will be able to call on it once more. The time frame for this however, differs depending on the Devil Arm."

Nico frowned to himself as he took this information in. "What happens if the host dies then? Does the Devil Arm..."

"When the host dies, so does the Devil Arm." Biko announced seriously, causing Nico to go wide eyed. The teen summoned Rebellion from his Void Storage, one of the more basic of his many Devil Arms before placing it on his lap and staring down at it. The idea that it could be destroyed if he died was, well, something he didn't think about. "Their lives are intertwined, due to the Devil Arms latching onto the user's soul. Being a Devil Arm is a serious undertaking, for those that do are, in all sense of the word, on life support. Parasites. They cannot live without a host to house their essence. Therefore, if they find a worthy wielder, they can possess and control that wielder and make them do their bidding. However, like with you they can be controlled instead, eliminating the possibility of possession. However, it is very difficult for one to control a Devil Arm, it is essentially like trying to reign in a bunch of hormonal rampaging teenagers addicted to high grade drugs. Or trying to convince an arrogant tyrant that their ways are wrong. Thus, it takes considerable willpower to keep them in line. The fact that you, Nico, wield several Devil Arms and have not lost yourself is almost unheard of, and a testament to your mental fortitude."

Well, Nico could see that. Although flattered by the compliment, something he made known by the sheepish look on his face as he looked to the sandy ground below, he also could see how that would be considered a big deal. He remembered when he first got Rebellion, Alastor, Ebony and Ivory. Harvester wasn't part of the set originally, he'd only found this weapon after a certain incident involving the undead, a sealed Abnormal, a Witch and a town. Nevertheless, when he first got those weapons, the teen had felt like he was constantly carrying multi story building sized weights over his shoulders every second of the day. It took all that he'd got just to keep his professional demeanor in front of the other Agents, but his adoptive mother wouldn't be fooled. She'd almost blew up like an atomic bomb on him when she found out what had happened to him. The strain on his body had been that great, but the strain on his mind? Oh, that had been a thousand times worse, like his brain had been gripped by a cobra coiling tightly around its prey, threatening to crush his brain into a liquefied mess, combined with this icy cold sensation that made Lowee's climate feel more like a summer camp in comparison. He had almost fallen to the strain more than once during his trip back to civilization, but it had been through sheer willpower that he'd maintained himself. That strain got even harder when he got Harvester, like those stacking debuffs in those RPG video-games, but over time he had been able to adapt top the burden, co-existing with it. That had made it slightly easier, but he would never forget those initial moments.

Biko hummed to himself, getting Nico's attention as he began speaking something else. Something that honestly drew the teen in like a magnet. "Now, Devil Arms indeed originated within the DPU Era. Back then, Demons and DPUs ruled supreme over the humans in that time, and it was firmly established that no human could overpower a demon. Not only thanks to the physical differences, but humans beck then were like infants in terms of combat prowess, energy reserves, the works... at least, by demon standards. By no means were humans were weak, as even back then they had powerful creatures unlike those of current society to contend with for territory and resources. Normal monsters by the way." Biko said, while raising a hand to stop Nico, who looked about to open his mouth, but stopped when he saw Biko's gesture. "Their base monsters were the equivalent of the Abnormals we face today. That should give you an estimate as to how strong they were. But, there was a whole plane of distance between their strength and that of a demon's. An entire Kingdom's worth of forces would only take down one of the lesser demons, that was how the difference between them was."

Yeah... that DEFINITELY pained a rather dark picture. Demons were naturally powerful beings, powerful enough to give the Goddesses a run for their money Hell, just fighting the lesser versions had been tough for Neptune, and she had been in her HDD form. He himself was alright, considering his DPU powers helped him even the playing field, and that the Demon Prince had been focused more on him, but the way it jus dismissed her like it did, like she wasn't even worth the effort... It was either really stupid or it had strength way beyond hers. After fighting it though, Nico found himself willing to bet it was the latter, especially when he had to resort to his hidden weapon to defeat it. But, that just begged the question: How the hell did the humans survive with so much against them? That would probably bee a mystery that would remain unsolved... at least mostly, giving the expression that his demon persona was making.

"However, an incident happened one day and changed the balance between humans and demons drastically. One human, during a conflict with a demon who'd caused the human much grief in the past, got lucky and managed to score a critical hit on the Demon he'd been fighting. The human had done it through the use of the demon's own weapon, which was a Hellblade, of which he had only gotten by sheer chance. Yet, it was that chance that changed things forever. That demon died, but before it could return to the non-physical plane to reform, its rage at the one who defeated it had become so great that its soul tried to possess the human, to overtake it's foe's will and use the human's body as a vessel. However, the Demon underestimated the Human's willpower, and because of that it's soul became subjugated by the human, manifesting its power as a weapon that the human used to great effect. The world's first Devil Arm."

Taking a slight breath, Biko paused his lecture for a moment, letting it sink in, before he continued. "Afterwards, other cases of humans becoming able to use Devil Arms occurred, Demons turning into weapons that they used for their own gain. Back then, the human's will t survive had ben much greater than current generation humans, their willpower being born from constant struggle to survive as a species in an era filled with beasts that could cause mass genocide of their ranks without even so much as blinking an eyelash. Unfortunately, There were so very few who managed to succeed where this one human had done so, and many humans joined the demonic ranks as mindless entities, hell-bent on nothing but their own instincts. Those that survived and overcame the Demonic Souls to use their powers would remain hidden from society, only emerging when absolutely necessary for fear of being outcasted. Whenever their homes were threatened by zealous Demons or arrogant DPUs who thought they could have some fun with them for some time, these people would appear to challenge them. Devil Arms, in those moments, would prove to be just as lethal, if not more so, than the foes they fought, for at base strength they rivalled that o the demonic forms they once took. Therefore, their base strength always varied. However, through training and absorbing demonic souls, these weapons grew in power, gaining new abilities to make them even deadlier on the battlefield."

"Now, there are several methods to controlling a Devil Arm, the first being Subjugation." Biko spoke once more while waiting for Nico to finish his mental thoughts. The two were connected, so he could still hear them even in the inner world. "Subjugation is where one imposes their will over the Devil Arm after it tries to kill them and take their bodies for its own means. Most of which revolve around chaos, death and destruction. Those are the things that excite demons the most, you see. Normally, humanity would NEVER have a strong enough willpower to subjugate a Devil Arm, for their wills would be too powerful, too vast. It's like trying to compress a raging hurricane within a wine glass, nigh impossible. However, the nigh impossible isn't impossible, as there have been humans who have the mental fortitude to dominate the Devil Arms, earning the right too wield their power. Despite this being one of the most dangerous means, it is also the most fruitful. Devil Arms respect those with strength, the strength to do what needs to be done, the strength of one's resolve. They follow the laws of the jungle, therefore if they are proven to that their wielder is strong enough both in mind and soul, then they will follow that person to the ends of the earth. Not even caring about their limited lifespans. It has been recorded that a Devil Arm and Wielder could potentially live forever if their compatibility is high enough, for in those cases Devil Arms act like life supports to their hosts, keeping them in their prime with their power."

Now THAT got his attention, a shudder travelling down Nico's spine as he gazed down at Rebellion once again. Memories of Alastor flowed into Nico's mind when he heard that, no matter how many times he heard that word he would always think back to that moment. The moment that he first found that sword, impaled in the chest of some corpse he had no care for. It hadn't been that long since he first found Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory, just a moment or so actually, but he would never forget it. It just stood there, diagonally angled yet possessing a prideful appearance that just screamed otherworldly to him. It reminded him of when his adoptive mother would don her Armour and completely change everything about her presence. Nico hadn't thought much of it at first, but the sword shook when he was near, as if responding to his presence. He swore he heard a voice in his head just seconds before the sword launched itself out of the corpse and into his chest, lightning sparks roaring from the point of impact while Nico felt something try to usurp its will over his own. It had felt so... ancient, so powerful, so... eldritch, like it only let him fight against it just for its own amusement before cracking down on his mind. That had been one of the few times that he'd felt fear, the fear of being devoured by another predator. However, back then he had quickly quashed that fear and turned it into resolve, refusing to let a blade dominate him, an apex predator, before grasping the hilt and pulling the blade out of his chest It had released one last lightning attack and then became silent, submissive.

That had been one of the most heart-pounding moments in his entire life. Not even Abnormals or his Mentor could install such fear in him like the Devil Arms did.

But still... he'd did it, he'd subjugated them and ever since thy had been his faithful servants, his weapons-in-arms throughout the many battle she'd had with them. While they didn't show their powers till that Hellverse Dungeon, the fact remained that they didn't attempt too take him over, and let him wield their power without repercussions.

If he had been a normal mortal and subjugated Alastor... would he have gained eternal life from that thing as well? Would he have been destined for the life of an immortal?

A shudder traveled down his spine at the thought.

"Another method is combat itself, a simple enough procedure. The wielder must defeat the demon on combat, killing it to prove his or her strength. Thus, the soul inside the creature will recognize that a potential wielder is within the vicinity and will try to possess them, latching onto their souls permanently while taking over. If the host 's will is strong enough they can resist and dominate the Devil Arm, rendering it unable to possess them and reducing them to the role of a servant to the host. No matter what the method is however, Devil Arms will NOT follow a wielder who is weak of body or mind, they must have both otherwise they will take over and reduce the host t a demonic entity no better than a walking corpse. You and I have experiences with that type of beast." Biko explained, giving Nico a pointed gaze to which he knew all too well what his demon persona was talking about.

Images of Racoon City, Hellverse and OTHER instances of him encountering the undead came to mind.

"What happens if someone else tries to use a Devil Arm that is already wielded by someone else?"

Biko expected that question, and had an answer already for him. "It won't work for one, the Devil Arm will return to the rightful wielder's side. Not only that, but it will cause severe damage to those that do, potentially fatal. They will only acknowledge those that have passed its test, anyone else is just another body to cut open or smash to dust to them. Killing the original wielder won't be any better either because like I said, the Devil Arm is essentially a Demonic soul on life support. If it loses that support then the soul vanishes from existence, no exception. While Devil Arms value strength above all else, they also value strong loyalty o those that prove themselves. They will stick with their wielders through thick and thin, never leaving their side. They may get... rowdy, from time to time, however once they see that their wielder is worthy they will not listen to any other. Devil Arms may be troublesome to handle, but the benefits far outweigh the cons."

Well, that certainly answered that question. Nico gulped at the thought of what damage any of his weapons could do if someone else tried to use them, or even worse someone like Neptune saw one lying about and got the SPLENDID idea of picking them up. Only to suffer a fate that, according to Biko, would be downright traumatizing to anybody. Seriously, those who were into SXM were slowly losing their fear factor for him, these Devil Arms seemed like the scariest bad-asses around the block. Though, the parts about their loyalty drew his attention to Rebellion like a magnet, a small mile forming on his lips as he felt a new sense of camaraderie with the Devil Arms. Strength and Loyalty were 2 of the greatest things Nico valued in this world. Strength of both body and mind the resolve to do what must be done, and also the loyalty to one's own ideals, as well as their brethren. Find those trustworthy, and Nico would stick by them even jumping into the pits of hell to show his loyalty.

To know that these weapons, despite being rowdy like a bunch of rebellious teenagers, had similar values to him despite their rather demanding influences on his body, definitely raised his fondness for them by large margin. It felt like these weapons were specifically made for him and him alone, that was how deep the connection he felt between them was.

A good warrior was only as good as the equipment he sported...

And Nico felt like he had a DAMN GOOD set of gear in his arsenal.

"Wow..."

"Indeed. Now, the break time has ended. It is now time we resume training."

"Alright, let's go."

With that, the two vanished back to the coliseum for more training.


	94. Chapter 91 - Blade of Rage

**New chapter, guys!**

 **You've no idea how much I've been wanting this to happen. The title should clue you in to why, but if not all I'll say is read the chap. Yet, there's even more in store for this mini Arc's Climax.**

 **Also, thanks for the homage mr memelord who gave me my 17th review! Much appreciated!**

 **So, look forward to that as we get this show on the road!**

* * *

 **Chapter 91 - Blade of Rage**

The crackling of embers once again, overshadowed all other sounds as the two sides faced off. One being the Party themselves, and the other being the sole woman that Nico had called Maghda. Said woman constantly flapped her four wings, each flap releasing sparks of demonic power that burned the very air around them. Crackling sounds emitted from those infernal wings, as well as the sounds the sparks made while she threw her hand to the side, letting an orangish red Portal appear beneath her hand. She used that hand to reach in, pulling out what looked like a Staff… an utterly wicked looking abyssal black staff.

Her black Staff was just as tall as she was, with a crimson aura radiating from the weapon though it seemed mostly coming from the goblet-shaped tip. The weapon surged with chaotic energies, and also the brunette DEFINITELY could sense a large cluster of Demon Souls within it. She only knew this thanks to her experience with the Herald of Khorne whose Hellblade felt similar to this. That, and because of her fighting so many Cultists, Bloodletters, etc, she had become accustomed to her demonic senses to the point where she could detect their souls within their weapons. They carried a very… unique signal that IF's mind had adapted to key into as to ascertain a weapon's power. Although, compared to that thing, her Staff seemed remarkably stronger. Likely because it had within it more Souls than that Hellblade. According to what she could sense, there were about a couple hundred Bloodletter Souls 10 Herald Souls, and some others that she couldn't identify.

Still though, something bothered her about this situation.

The woman in question…

'Maghda…?' IF questioned in her mind, frowning at the name that the male Spec Ops Agent used for the woman. She couldn't help but find that name strangely… familiar, for some reason. It felt significantly important, like she HAD to have known this woman. Like it should be etched into her very being. 'Why the hell can't I remember her…? I know I've heard that name somewhere before, but for the life of me I just can't get where! Ugh, this is frustrating as all fuck!' IF raged inside her mind. Looking to the rest of them, only Tekken seemed as confused as she felt, as the Martial Artist looked around just as dumbly as she had been. The rest of them?

They CLEARLY knew something about this woman.

The way that Stefan gripped his Ashbringer so tight that an ordinary sword would have shattered under the strength, the way his posture indicated extreme caution mixed with unyielding dread and unnatural anxiety, and also the amount of fear she could smell from him, indicated perfectly that he was AFRAID of this woman. Not something she had expected from the leader of the Ostermark Order. For the short time that they've known each other, IF hadn't seen him scared very often, if at all. Usually he'd have his proud expression, one that would sometimes shift to one of respect for the skills of his opponents, anger at those whom he'd known to have tormented his subordinates to madness, teasing her for her confusing feelings regarding Nico. The one time she remembered him being scared of something was that Herald, and even then the man had marred his fear with desire to avenge his men. Emotions were basically chemicals in the brain, chemicals that were expelled and could be smelled by her Senses. This woman on the other hand, utterly TERRIFIED him, based off how much fear was coming into her nostrils from him.

As for Nico…

Unlike Stefan, there wasn't really much fear coming from him as there was anger, to be more specific wrath, coming from him in droves. It felt like she was someone who he'd known in the past, and if that had been the case then IF could see that it hadn't been a happy meeting. She could see that happening as 4 years is a long time to be a Spec Ops. In a day, they take 10 times as many missions as the Average Adventurer or Guild Agent, depending on how long the Quests are. Some even evolve into whole adventures that delay their return, and in Nico's case she could freely admit that the guy had the aura of someone who'd seen a lot of shit.

That would be putting it mildly, anyways…

"So, it looks like you remember me, boys." Maghda commented, her eyes glancing over the two males of the party before her, Stefan tensing quite visibly while Nico only had a minor twitch. The teen had his Dual Pistols at the ready, his ole uncovered eye narrowed in silent caution. Her eyes lingered on Nico for a lot longer though, and she made a motion known as licking her lips like a hungry tiger about to pounce on its prey. It sent chills down the male's spine, since Nico knew that he had been designated as her… type, back when they'd last fought each other. Though, back then she used a varied source of magic attacks as her fighting style, since she had been a Mage. If she had changed from back then, which considering she had demonic powers now she HAD, then he would have to keep on guard for any surprises.

His eyes fell upon that Staff she had in her hands, and his eye hardened its gaze to that of a stone. He remembered it to have once been a neon green colour back in their last encounter, the demonic taint it now has must have corrupted it further than her own experimentation ever could. That Staff's name was 'Wormwood' last he recalled, wasn't sure if Maghda had changed it. Didn't feel that way though, not to him at least. Nico recalled how much Maghda LOVED her Staff, she loved it so much that she'd experimented with its powers on human corpses in the past, with often disastrous results… for the corpses anyways. Back then the whole thing just reeked of decay, rotting corpses and various bug excrement, something only she seemed to not notice about her weapon.

Now? It had that stuff, plus the metallic smell of demonic blood… lots of it. Almost made his nostrils burst, just looking at it.

"Yeah, how could I forget?" Nico retorted as he glared hatefully towards the woman. He so wanted to rip that god ugly face right off her, slam it into the ground, stomp on it with his boot… alright, better stop there, Nico realised. This must be her aura, the aura of bloodlust and death from the Blood God Khorne himself, getting to him, must be even more effective with his bestial instincts. Khorne was the one who promoted bloodshed in any shape or form after all. Once he took a few deep breaths to calm himself don, though he found that admittingly difficult to do, the teen opened his eye and glowered towards the woman. "Last time we met was when I kicked your wrinkly old ass for that shit in New Tristram."

At the mention of New Tristram, it seemed to sour her mood, the Party noticed. Especially Stefan whose eyes glanced over to male in realisation. The woman's face contorted to an expression of nothing but disgust. Her eyes squinted, age lines becoming more apparent while her lips curled into a vicious snarl. Her grip on Wormwood tightened, practically showcasing the veins in her hand with the strength she applied to it. Both Nico and IF winced, the former not as noticeable since he was concealing his face with his Helmet, at how there seemed to be thousands of pained cries echoing throughout the Staff. Cries that came from the trapped souls within.

Eventually, she managed to find her voice once again, though it came out as, well… kind of strained with how her brows twitched rapidly and how anger mixed in with the sense of insanity in her eyes. "Quite. 4 years, if I am not mistaken, have passed since our last encounter." She remarked, bitterly. Yep, definitely seemed to have hit a sore spot, pretty hard too, IF and the others mused. Though, they had to wonder what went on 4 years ago to make her act like that. "4 years, since we last fought back at New Tristram. Back then, you thought you had defeated me, but in actuality, I escaped. Now, it's time that we have our little rematch, don't you think?" Then, her eyes changed into a mix that Nico actually paled at: bloodlust, insanity, and… perversity. "Only this time, I will be making you my sex slave, boy. For all of eternity."

"!"

IF gaped at the woman, her eyes flying open at the sheer audacity at what she just said. Did she really just say what she thought she did? That she wanted to do… that stuff, with Nico? But wait, she said that they'd met over 4 years ago. Back then, she remembered something happening in Leanbox, but she had been caught up in a Questing marathon to care. However, it must have been significant, and judging by how he was 16 right now, and they'd met 4 years ago, that would mean she would have wanted him as a sex slave when he was… only fucking 12 YEARS OLD?!

Okay, what the fuck was up with this old hag?!

Pedo was more of an apt description for her! Hell, even that didn't seem to do it justice!

With this figured out, IF kind of understood why Nico didn't like this woman very much. Plus, if what she was getting from her as a vibe was any indication she was much worse than that. Not only that, but with her feelings being what they were for him, IF couldn't help but scowl in pure rage at the possibility of Nico being used like that. It just grinded her gears in all the most aggravating ways possible, and this WASN'T under the influence of the Khorne aura that Maghda possesses. She could feel herself writhing in protective rage over that part of him, IF felt pretty sure that Nico was a virgin in that kind of stuff, or anything sexual as a matter of fact, so she'd be damned if she'd let a hussy like her steal that from him!

Something told her that if Nep and Compa heard all this, they'd go ballistic, too.

She sure felt like freeing the beast inside over that fucked up head of hers, though. It seemed like the others had also figured it out, if their expressions contorting into disgusted glares was any indication.

"That's just disgusting!" Tekken shouted in anger, pure revulsion in her eyes as she tried to stop herself from gagging at the possibility of an adult woman doing… stuff like that to a young boy. Despite him being a Soldier who'd fought on the battlefield, it was still considered utterly vomit-inducing to do that to someone underaged, people get charged for criminal offences like that. "Old lady, you need to take some BIG steps away right now, cause I'mma pummel you!"

In response to Tekken's threat, of which she also shook her fist at her with gnashed teeth and a pointed glare, the woman shrugged her shoulders in indifference, not even seeing the Martial Artist as a threat. "Your words mean little, puny girl." she stated offhandedly, waving her non-weapon hand while she gave her a taunting smirk. Her eyes lingered on her torso area as she seemed to notice something, only for that look of intrigue to vanish a second later. "Just like your pathetic excuse for fighting skills. Come, let me show you."

Now THAT, Tekken took as a major insult. It was a slight against her pride as both a warrior, and as a Martial Artist to have her skills mocked so blatantly without any regard whatsoever. Her pride demanded retribution for that slight, and since this woman was offering so kindly…

Just before she could move however, Maghda appeared right in front of her, her face inches away from her own with a faint rush of wind to indicate what happened. Her eyes bore into Tekken's now shocked wide ones as the woman grabbed her by the top of her head. She then tossed her aside and pointed her Staff at her. From the tip, flames gathered in a spiralling motion, flames that both Nico and IF found to be all too familiar.

Nothing but dread filled them for what would come next.

'Oh, shit!'

'Shit! Those are…!'

Before they could react, a fireball the same size as Nico's DC Avatar got launched from the Staff like the roar of a dragon, racing through the air that would make the fastest of athlete's green with envy. Readers, you know who it was aimed at, don't you? Time seemed to slow down as Nico turned his head to the direction it was going, his eyes slowly widening in pure object horror at what was about to happen. His mind, temporarily panicked, didn't think that DEMON OVERDRIVE would have been very useful, and even if he did use it he wouldn't have been fast enough to change what would happen next. Not only that, but everyone else slowly turned with similar expressions forming on their faces, though none looked more terrified than Tekken right now. The blast would be too fast for her to avoid, especially with how it was launched right at her, leaving her no choice but to take it.

An action she would soon regret.

BOOM, WHOOOOOOSH!

The attack ended up hitting right into Tekken's face with the force of a battlecruiser on full speed in collision with an island. Instantly, the flames erupted into a fiery inferno, spiralling around her like a serpent as they burned away at the Martial Artist. It looked like they were literally layering themselves onto her to devour her whole.

Her hellish screams of pure agony filled the air like the songs of sirens, trying to swat the flames away to no avail. She quickly felt her lungs and other necessary organs for breathing burning just as bad as her body, but right now her mind had been too preoccupied with the overwhelming painful signals her body was sending it to care. The flames licked away at her flesh, burning it beyond recognition like thousands of hungry tongues trying to get to the life liquid beneath her skin.

Right upon contact with the flames though, there had been this barrier of Light, Nico had noticed, which he figured had likely been what saved her from being completely fried to a crisp.

The Hellfire flames in their weakened state, according to Biko during their training (He'd train them in his inner world through their short time in Planeptune, putting his body on autopilot, till Leanbox and the incident with the Berserker Mode), burned at up to 3000 degrees Celsius. Something that he didn't doubt because whenever he used them, the surroundings soon started heating up like they were being boiled within an oven. The more flames are gathered, the greater the speed something would be devoured by them. He knew this thanks to checking during their training, for he'd targeted a conjured Tree by Biko, having controlled his Inner World to conjure it in the middle of their training Coliseum. The Tree had burned into ashes upon contact after a couple seconds.

As for the AWAKENED version of the Hellfire flames? Well, they burned over 2000 degrees hotter, amping their total max temperature to 5000 degrees Celsius. The teen, upon training with them for the first time, worried about those flames. For If they got out of hand, the possible damage they could do would be catastrophic. This had been proven when, upon conjuring entire forests for them to use, Biko and him had seen how just a small portion of those flames wiped out all of them. As for the conjuring thing, it was Nico's mind, and Biko was an aspect of him, imagination could take solid form there.

But back to the flames, Biko had been quick to assure him of those worries. While the weaker forms would flare their heat about like a crying infant wanting its mother, the true versions of Hellfire would compress their heat internally instead of just wildly flaring it all over the place. Made them the 'quiet but deadly' type, more so than their previous forms. Thanks to this though, their full forms had the ability to burn away entire buildings if there was enough of a concentration.

Putting that aside, Nico swiftly acted while calling out Tekken's name, memories of his training with Hellfire coming to mind. He had to help her fast, before the flames devoured her whole. That light may have helped keep her alive, but he wasn't taking any chances. That exclamation seemed to snap the others out of their shocked states too, for they all quickly responded by launching their individual strikes against Maghda, whom responded in kind with a mocking sneer. Nico blurred forth, time speeding back up to normal pacing again, and knocked the girl down, swiftly drawing on his demonic power. His left hand gained a crimson red glow with crackling energy over it that he put onto the flames on her face, and thus he concentrated. He sensed Maghda approaching, but then a WALLOP sound indicated that someone got her before she could get to him, something he mentally thanked whoever did that, so he could finish his job.

While he concentrated, the Hellfire attempting to scorch Tekken's form to a crisp swerved towards his hand, as if drawn to it like a magnet. That comparison soon became more and more profound, when the flames began to spiral around his hand, putting themselves into it like they were being sucked into a vacuum. That went for the rest of the flames coating her body, as well, as Nico quickly set about his task of absorbing the Hellfire flames into his own body. Normally this wouldn't have been possible, but Biko had once showed him that Hellfire manipulation came also with flame absorption, a sub-ability of the Hellfire skill set. Though he'd never gotten the chance to test this ability since he'd been more focused on developing his control over them.

Better late than never, he'd say.

Nevertheless, this happened solely on instinct, what he was doing right now, he had done it just through impulse alone, like he just KNEW what to do when he saw those flames, those… Hellfire flames. Nico would recognise those anywhere, after all he too used them when he Transformed into Crimson Soul. Tekken of course, struggled within his hold, muffled screams ripping free from her throat that he suppressed with his right hand on her mouth. He'd made sure to immobilize her by placing a knee on her thighs, locking them down, pinning her free arm with his right elbow.

"It's alright, Tekken, I've got you! I'm removing the flames, so bear with me!"

Nico faintly registered how Tekken Barely managed to nod, since she couldn't really speak at the moment. How could she, when her face was literally like that one guy called the human torch? The teen kept on absorbing the Hellfire flames, all the while trying not to mind the sounds of combat from behind him, likely IF and the others engaging Maghda. The sounds of explosions, war cries and magic attacks being launched rung behind them, some stray ones hitting quite close to their position. Nevertheless, Nico remained focused, the absorption of flames like this required much concentration, too much for the ability to be used in an actual battle.

After several long, almost agonizing moments, the red glow faded away thanks to absorbing all the Hellfire flames and he pulled it back, revealing Tekken's face to him. Though… he soon wished he hadn't had to see it, that's just how fucked up it looked. Nico had to wince at the sight, a frustrated sound leaving his lips. 'Shit, that looks worse than I feared…!' he cursed inside of his mind when he saw how bad the damage done to her face looked. Practically all of it looked brutally charred from the Hellfire, with her hair practically ashes at this point, her eyelids gone and her eyes looking glassed over. Looked like she was blinded by the attack, so she didn't look like she was in the best of shape, a gross understatement. Her body, stark naked thanks to the flames burning away her clothes, had horrendous burns over the legs, arms and torso. The stomach laced skin completely, showcasing the organs inside. Part of him wondered if, despite her injuries, Tekken had an angel or something watching over her, since he could still sense that she was breathing, something that honestly baffled him.

Still though, he could sense that power working overdrive in keeping Tekken alive right now.

There was one other thing he could do for her though, and while it would likely leave him with less options for defence, it wasn't like he needed it. After all, with what he intended to do, he'd likely not need it anyways. Nico glanced down at his chest, or to be more specific the Armour Module attacked to it through his grey shirt. The teen then glanced back to the downed Martial Artist, his eyes briefly showing conflict on whether he should do this or not, before he came to an answer and his eyes hardened.

Thing about his Armour, was that it had an ID lock registering him only, a lot like how Neptune and Compa's Armours did. That meant that nobody but him could both take off the Module and done the Armour, any who don't have the register on the ID lock would not only be unable to use it, but it would discharge a powerful electromagnetic shock that'd knock them out, potentially killing them.

The killing part came from the current the Shock would transfer. 1/10 of an ampere (amp) of electricity going through the body for just 2 seconds is enough to cause death. The amount of internal current a person can withstand and still be able to control the muscles of the arm and hand can be less than 10 milliamperes (milliamps or mA). Currents above 10 mA can paralyze or "freeze" muscles. When this "freezing" happens, a person is no longer able to release a tool, wire, or other object. In fact, the electrified object may be held even more tightly, resulting in longer exposure to the shocking current. For this reason, hand-held tools that give a shock can be very dangerous. If one can't let go of the tool, current continues through the body for a longer time, which can lead to respiratory paralysis (the muscles that control breathing cannot move). One stops breathing for a period of time. People have stopped breathing when shocked with currents from voltages as low as 49 volts. Usually, it takes about 30 mA of current to cause respiratory paralysis.

Currents greater than 75 mA may cause ventricular fibrillation (very rapid, ineffective heartbeat). This condition will cause death within a few minutes unless a special device called a defibrillator is used to save the victim. Heart paralysis occurs at 4 amps, which means the heart does not pump at all. Tissue is burned with currents greater than 5 amps. As for the voltage the Module releases, well, the aim for this procedure was to completely obliterate those who try to use the Armour without permission, as Spec Ops Armour can hold many secrets that people may not wish others to know. A Spec Ops Agent's Armour was one of their most valuable tools after all, therefore it needed the appropriate security.

The Amount of electricity released from the Module… was 4/10 of an Ampere.

When a person exposed to that much electricity is killed, the results… well, they weren't pretty. In fact, not pretty felt more like a HEAVY understatement to the male. Nico remembered several bodies he'd discovered on some of his cases, ones that died via electricity-based deaths. Horrific burn marks spread across the body to make them seem more like charcoal, hair gone, and exposed muscle were some of the things those bodies had in common. There were also exploded blood pathways, fried organs and all manner of terrible damages to the bodies. Some people just LOVE to torment through the electric chair, ad not surprisingly those people tended to be from Leanbox…

The more you know.

Resolution in his heart, Nico tapped the Module's surface as he began reciting a code under his breath. "Authorization: Code 23435433459. ID unlock necessary. Callsign, DEATHSTROKE. Subject to register: Tekken."

AFFIRMATIVE

CODE 23435433459 – ACCEPTED

CALLSIGN – RECOGNISED

SUBJECT TEKKEN – REGISTERED

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES - DISABLED

REMOVAL OF MODULE – PERMITTED

From his Module, a feminine and robotic voice sounded out, her voice a complete monotone. This was standard procedure, something that he had learned shortly after becoming a Spec Ops. In order to have the ID lock removed for a specific target, a certain code needs to be verbally imputed, as well as the codename of the Agent owning the ID lock. Makes the Codenames that one goes by all the more important, but that last part wasn't as well known by the public. Mostly for security reasons, though.

Still, having to remember that code always had been a pain… a pain because his adoptive mother had him rewrite it 1000 times.

Woman was a sadist when teaching, that's for sure.

Nevertheless, Nico wordlessly gripped the Module and pulled it off his chest, taking it outside the confines of his shirt doing so. The Module's spider-like legs opened into a ready position, prepared to be attached to either himself again or the one he would use it for. He then lowered his arm, and angled the Module so when it touched the woman's bare torso skin, it clamped onto her. The surprise contact with her charred flesh made her cry out, only to stop abruptly a second later due to a sharp spike in pain from her body's condition. Not a millisecond later, did the Armour of DEATHSTROKE manifest over her via a cocoon of Datastreams, concealing her naked form from view as well as the injuries she'd suffered.

'Whew, that was close…' Nico thought to himself, standing upwards as he looked down to the downed Martial Artist. Thanks to his Armour, she would be protected from the battle, thanks to both its defensive and regenerative abilities. Plus, she now had something that would cover her for the time being till they got her to a medical facility, preferably one meant for Spec Ops since they had technology that is much better suited for injuries like this. His eyes narrowed sharply however, as the emotions he felt before came back with full force, the rage burning through its confines in his ribcage while he gritted his teeth, clutching his fists so tightly that, despite their natural superhuman density, they drew blood. 'Still though, that fucking pedo bitch will pay for this. THIS I promise…' he thought, about to turn towards the fight and go beat up the bitch for Tekken's sake.

However, a voice behind him stopped that. If only for a brief moment

"Step aside, DEATHSTROKE." MAGES. words rung through his ears, making him glance behind himself to see the Mad Magician standing there with one of the most urgent expressions on her face that he had seen on her yet. Her lips looked pursed, her eyes shaking wildly while she gripped her Staff with an intensity that indicated how she was one step away from going utterly ballistic, only keeping calm thanks to holding something in her left hand. That something? Nico guessed it was what she was holding in her free hand: a circular device that seemed to constantly beep or something.

In any other circumstance, Nico would have asked her what the fuck that was, but right now saving Tekken from possible death was the more important option than mindlessly asking questions that could lead to long-winded explanations. Swiftly the teen rolled aside so he could use the momentum to get to his feet. Not a second later, did MAGES quickly kneel before her friend, dropping her Staff unceremoniously as she placed the device on her chest, as well as pressed a button on its top. The second afterwards, both it and Tekken's form instantly became bathed in a pure white light, one that reminded Nico of the way monsters vanished into Particles when defeated.

Did anyone else besides him just get the feeling of travelling to the other side just now?

Despite the brilliance of the light, none but the duo noticed, everyone else too focused on ripping each other apart to notice or care. However, like the Ephemeral Plants scattered throughout the world of Gamindustri, this would not last. Indeed, the spectacle only lasted a second or two, before the light vanished into particles, particles that receded inward, and all that remained… was the device. Tekken's body was nowhere to be seen, like it had never even been there in the first place. Not even the smell of charred flesh something Nico only noticed now due to there no longer being any body to distract him, remained after her body vanished out of existence. The Particles, thy had receded inside the device, Nico noticed.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but be baffled by what happened, if his expression that matched his inner feelings had been any indication. His mouth hung open in an 'O' shape, and his eyes had that white circle with a black outline impression. He tried to find his voice again, but apparently it had legs and was running from him, cause he couldn't find it. The teen would have tried grilling MAGES. for answers to his questions, but at the last moment, the teen stopped himself by clamping his mouth shut. This wasn't the time for that, right now they were in the middle of a battlefield, and their comrades would need help soon if they didn't want Maghda to overwhelm and kill them all.

Just remembering the result of Maghda's surprise attack made Nico's blood boil like molten magma. His teeth would gnash so tight that under normal circumstances they would have shattered under the weight. The rage inside him continued to rise up and up, boiling and boiling as he felt like he was literally on fire, just like what Tekken had gone through. The flames of rage roared within him, filling every cell in his being wit the desire to rip, tear, and shred that bitch to pieces.

 **'Nico…'**

Mentally, Nico glanced over to his Demon Persona, his eyes in a deadpan as he responded with no small amount of urgency and frustration laced within his thoughts, like interwoven string. 'What is it, Biko? We gotta get that bitch for wat she attempted to do. '

 **'You must be wary, for I sense there is more to that demonic power within her than meets the eye. It feels similar to your soul, with all those Devil Arms latching onto it. She could possibly have similar weapons in her possession, bound to her. I cannot be certain; however, they are all most certainly gifts to her from the blood God Khorne himself.'**

Nico scowled in his mind, not liking that information one bit. His anger became mixed with caution and trepidation, both forming from the basis of the fact he would have to fight such a woman himself. For a long time, Nico had been searching through his missions, searching for any whom were like him, in that they could have the potential to wield Devil Arms. This had started way before he met the CPU of Planeptune and gained his identity as Crimson Soul. Alas, before he met Tekken, Nico had not found ANYONE who could also wield Devil Arms, making him believe that this power to weld them had been unique to him. Ever since, he had restricted himself in using them only when the need called for it, when eh had little other options. That scenario had been happening more and more recently though, not something he'd liked thinking about. With Tekken however, he'd lost some confidence in that claim, but now that Maghda seemed to potentially have similar powers to him… it honestly made him sick to his stomach. 'So, what do you suggest? I'm open to ideas here, dude.'

 **'You already have a plan of action. Before you refute me, look inside of yourself. Have you not noticed? IT is calling to you. Go to it… grasp it. Fetch the power to burn away your enemies till they are nothing but cinders in your wake. Become what you have promised yourself to be the moment you first gained its power. It has yearned for this, to finally reunite with its true master, for a long time now. To taste the blood of your enemies, to sink its metal into their flesh. To utterly tear those fools apart for daring to stand in your way. Now… go to it… and RISE, Nico...'**

The words Biko spoke resonated within the teen's gut, right down to the male's very centre. His entire being felt like it was trembling, shaking from the older him's words, words filled with power untold, unimagined by mankind. They felt like an old tongue, older than life itself, being uttered with such strength that entire regions would tremble before their might. It honestly floored him, how such words could have a profound impact on the teen's mind. He could even feel HIM becoming silent within his confines within his mind's shadows. As he closed the connection between them for the time being, intent on observing Maghda for more confirmation about his hypothesis, Biko's words left a powerful impact on the teen's mind.

Those words constantly rung through his mind like a ballad, constantly circling through his thoughts and filling everything with their presence. It was all he could think about., nothing else could have mattered. Not at that moment, no, it felt like one of those trials that he had to do a whole fucking LOT of in 4 Goddesses Online. They resonated deep within him, right down to his very soul, leaving their mark on him for good.

Not only that, but as Nico's mental avatar stood there, stunned in shock and awe at what he'd been old, he'd indeed felt something, something deep within stirring that hadn't stirred in a long time. Nope, this didn't feel like his other side, either. In fact, this feeling felt hot, like molten lava or liquid flames. The feeling remained within his chest however, never moving from that one spot. It didn't feel like the berserker mode either, the rage he had felt the moment he'd been about to enter that state had been all-consuming, like an omnivore Predator on a bloodthirsty rampage for food. It had been wild, primal, and savage beyond measure. Hell, even now he couldn't compare that rage to anything he had ever felt, not even right now.

As for what he was feeling right now, the rage he could feel inside, the burning desire to have Maghda face his wrath. It felt… powerful, yet more than that. It felt… alive, like his anger held a will of its own. He could certainly feel something akin to intelligence, no, sentience resonating from the rage inside his being. It felt fierce, yet toxic, seductive, promising him all manners of pleasure from hearing that woman scream in intense agony while he brutally rips her apart piece by piece. The rage spread through his body, only growing stronger and stronger as images assaulted his mind, the images of Tekken in that state of hers, the images of what he had seen in his mental breakdown, combined with every injustice he'd seen across his life as a Spec Ops Agent.

He wanted to kill...

To kill everything...

Destroy, destroy, destroy it all...

It almost felt as if his very soul had been set alight…

Wait a fucking minute, what the fuck was going on here?

His mind, in that moment, quicky realised something wasn't right, and thus, like a car tyre quickly screeching to a halt, promptly snapped out of his rage-filled state as realisation dawned on him.

'Wait, no!' Nico's eyes widened in stunned shock and disbelief, momentarily forgetting about anger for the time being. This didn't last though, as he forced his eye shut and took deep breaths. 'This isn't just YOUR rage, Nico, don't let it consume you. You don't have to resist the anger, you control it, you direct it. You prove that you are its master, not the other way around. The Devil Arms do not have control over your emotions, you have control over them…' He chanted all of this in his head like a mantra, and he could feel the Rage inside ebbing away, making room for rational thought to take back over.

This was one of the risks that cam with hosting multiple Devil Arms. They feed of demonic power true enough, but if one couldn't keep in control over their emotions then they would end up being devoured by the Devil Arms along with that power, turning them into mindless husks that they control. It had been something he'd discovered in those ruins when he found and bonded with Rebellion and Alastor. Right now, he could sense that his rage had reached appoint it shouldn't have, and the Devil Arms had tried to devour his will. The one thing keeping all of them in line. They may hold him in high regard, but even so his rage would end up being too tasty for them to resist for long.

 **'I see you have passed, Nico.'**

'Passed? Passed what?'

 **'What you needed to awaken… it knew that your powers were reliant on controlling your emotions, placing them in moderation. When you were exhibiting so much rage, it grew ever the more intrigued by your willpower. It just had to see for itself whether or not you would fall completely to that rage and thus, enhanced it with its own natural rage, amplifying it beyond what you are used to feeling. However, you passed its test by regaining yourself at the last moment, which pleases it. I know this, because I can see it vibrating in excitement right now.'**

'Huh?' Nico could only blink at Biko's words, as the fiery rage that had tried to take over him, to use him as a puppet till everyone who'd made him angry had been killed only to keep its hold on him, seemed to travel through his chest area and went down his right arm. It felt like a snail having nearly fallen down a rather deep slope, only to use its sole foot to anchor itself. Afterwards, it resumed making its way up the hilltop with no regard to what happened before, like it had never occurred. The teen felt it as a form of pure hot heat was racing down his limb, and yet the feeling didn't feel too uncomfortable, quite the opposite actually. Instead, it felt more like a series of really annoying itches that he could easily scratch but would keep coming back.

 **'As a gamer, such as Purple or Green Heart, would say: Welcome, Nico, to the Next Level…'**

As Biko said that, Nico never got the chance to reply, not when what happened next took his attention. From the space above the palm of his hand, it appeared: A sphere of raging, violent Hellfire… the orangish red Hellfire that he used to command before it fully awakened. After it formed there…. it erupted into a blazing vortex, roaring outwards as if to announce its presence to the world. Nico gasped as he stumbled back, eyes wide as he witnessed the spectacle, the vortex roaring and raging without control. The spectacle looked more than grand enough, enough so that it stopped the fighting between the group and Maghda, whom looked over to him to see what was happening.

"What...?!" Maghda exclaimed, glaring at the male as she eyed those flames. Those flames, which she was using just before to try and get rid of one of those pests. Just seeing them on the enemy's side nearly drove her into a violent rampage, the power of Khorne flowing through her only adding to her rage. It was all she could do just to remain calm against this... unexpected development. Though, something about those flames bothered her, they bothered her greatly. So much so that it held back her bloodlust for a short time. Her instincts creamed at her that something wasn't right., something unnatural about those flames. It felt like... like they were merely an opening act for what was REALLY coming. Not only that, but she felt something... off with the heat around them.

Like the heat was making way for the flames, as well as what was coming like it was greeting someone of high rank or prestige.

Meanwhile, Stefan gazed at the flames with a weary eye, his instincts telling him pretty much the same tings as Maghda's, as he held Ashbringer defensively. The heat from those flames, the heat they generated, felt much more intense than regular flames, and yet it also felt like they weren't even showcasing their full temperature. Even so, just the very sight of those flames rang alarm bells in his mind, like he was about to face something that no human could fight against ordinarily, no matter how much they trained. The large sword in his hands violently vibrated in his hands, as if it was trying to tell him something important about those flames: to keep the hell away from them lest he didn't want to suffer a horrific end. Stefan listened to his blade, for if it showed this much discomfort about something, then usually that would mean the subject must be troubling indeed. "I don't like this... what's going on here?" he questioned, frowning. He then glanced to and from between the surprised Nico and the cautious Witch, seeing the similarities between their flames. "Why's the lad using the same powers as Maghda? Is he...?"

"Nah, no way is he like her." IF responded nonchalantly, waving an Axammer dismissively getting his attention. While those flames weren't the type she expected to see again, IF couldn't help but exhale a relieved breath at this development. Her instincts told her Maghda was not someone that they would be able to beat under normal circumstances. It was almost like the woman was on a level too different from her's to entertain the thought of fighting her. She soon gave him a slight smirk, her eyes shining with barely repressed sadistic glee that honestly made the man shift on the spot in discomfort. Something about that expression didn't sit well with him for some reason. Why that was? who knew. "Let's just say that this bitch is about to get what's coming to her..." she explained vaguely. 'Heh, its about time... feels like its not completely back, but...'

MAGES. only scowled, wishing that this could be continued already so Tekken may be avenged.

Not like she was dead or anything...

Just as quick as it had rose, the Vortex quickly shrunk inwards on itself, elongating and straightening as it took on a sword-like figure. A figure that Nico realized the identity of all too well. He just couldn't take what he saw however, his mind quickly turning into mush with a combination of what he'd seen in this place and all the stress he'd accumulated. The flames slowly became solid, shrinking, swirling and shrinking all the while as the heat that permeated through the air dissipated gradually… until a familiar sword had fully formed in the human Nico's hand to say hello.

A sword he had NEVER expected to see as he currently was.

 **'It looks like your SOUL has a particularly sharp EDGE to it, doesn't it Nico?'**

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Finally, Soul Edge makes a long overdue appearance!**

 **I've noticed that there has been a LOT of lore covering the Devil Arms, the weapons that Nico wields. I hope you all have a good idea of how difficult it is for Nico to wield them, at least at the beginning, as well as how great the strain on him it is. It's his mental fortitude and sheer willpower however that keeps them in line, allowing him to use their power. Just one alone is a significant strain, and Nico has MULTIPLE attached to his Soul. That alone should prove how great his mental willpower is to keep those things at bay.**

 **Also, they may be Devil Arms from DMC, but I HAVE made adjustments to their lore to fit this story, especially in regards to powers. This is so that they have a greater im** **pact on the story, considering the exact law of the jungle nature that this story possesses. They'd need a MAJOR overhaul to compete against the likes of the Chaos Gods as well as the demonic Soul Edge.**

 **Now, like the last chapter, special even time!**

* * *

 **Special Event - Soul Edge Biography**

It was the same situation as when he learned about Devil Arms, Nico sitting cross legged in front of the Library with Biko before him, several books behind his head after going through their pages, but this time instead of Rebellion, Soul Edge rested on his lap. The crimson colored sword thrummed with power, malice and sin bathing along its surface. It's power kept streaming from te blade like a thick fog, covering the are like a blanket over sleeping person while radiating nothing but power. One wouldn't even be able to get near them with the amount of power Soul Edge released into the atmosphere, nobody save for its wielder's aspects. Though, Nico and Biko were used to this by now thanks to wielding Soul Edge for so long.

Once their training had finished for the day, Biko had taken it upon himself to instruct the teen about Soul Edge's specifics, just like he did with the Devil Arms. To him, knowledge was power, both of them went hand in hand with each other. Without one, the other became meaningless. One who had the knowledge of how to change something, wouldn't be able to change anything cause they lacked the 'power' to do so. It was the am on the other end of the field, those who have power but no knowledge on how to properly use it would find themselves in an early grave. Nico should know, he'd seen a few rookies let their powers go over their heads, resulting in either critical injuries or, more commonly, death. Both knowledge and power were key to survival, and in a kill or be killed world like this, that kind of knowledge could be the difference between life or death.

Nico wouldn't be complaining, he had wanted some explanation about Soul Edge for a while now. Though he hadn't used it much, those times alone were enough for the teen to know that it was not like any ordinary Devil Arm. Ever since he fist held the blade's hilt when he was in control back at Lastation against the Killaachine, he had this feeling. This feeling that Soul Edge was far more than what it appeared. This feeling, it had constantly bugged him, even when he wasn't holding the weapon, like that annoying naggy grandmother who wants her grandchild to fetch her shopping for her from the car. That feeling got even stronger when Nico first entered Berserker Mode and Soul Edge shifted into that form, a form he had not accessed ever since. Though to be fair, that was mostly thanks to Biko's attempts to suppress his demonic powers till they stabilized better.

Now, now he'd have a chance to look into it further.

"Well then, let the lecture begin." Biko started, calling his own Soul Edge into his hand, the rough and rugged fingers grasping onto the blade like he had don this over his entire life. Nico had noticed this expert-level grip the moment they first fought, and he had to admit to himself that Biko was NOT someone you wanted to meet on the battlefield. There was just something about the way people grip their weapons that speaks volumes about their experience as fighters. Rookies, Civilians etc whom haven't seen battle too much usually have weak grips, easy to disarm and immobilize. Nico knew this because he had to restrain those kinds of people before, in various situations of course. However, those who have trained to the bone, those who have experience on the battlefield, having seen the horrors that it brought to the table, their grips were much more intricate, more guarded, and much more steady. They wouldn't be so easily disarmed, only truly experienced war veterans would have the ability to disarm someone like that.

Biko then began to talk while holding his Soul Edge out in front of him horizontally, like he was blocking a vertical slash. "To start, you should know that Soul Edge is your power manifested in a physical form, in essence, it is YOUR Devil Arm. Not one belonging to another demonic soul trying to live off you, but your own soul's manifestation. Devil Arms like this tend to have various 'growths' in power that make them different from those Devil Arms that latch onto others. Those like Soul Edge grow in power alongside their wielder. It is also because of this very reason, that Soul Edge holds the dominant position of power within your being. Think of it like royalty, the first born prince of the kingdom has the closest ties to the throne compared to other successors." Biko explained, shifting the direction his Soul Edge pointed its tip from sideways to upwards occasionally.

Nodding his head, Nico showed that he understood through how he pressed his lips into a firm line. His sharpened as he glanced down to his own Soul Edge, which had its sole eye trained on him. After having the sword for so long, Nico no longer felt as disturbed by the sword when he first got it upon transforming into Crimson Soul against Arfoire. However, even though that had happened, Nico would rather not stare at the demonic sword's eye for too long, it always would be to him, one off the creepiest swords he'd ever owned.

"Now, because of its unique origins, Soul Edge has massive potential sleeping within it. Soul Edge has powers that it has yet to unlock, yet it can also develop new abilities it hadn't had beforehand, all because it is an extension of you, and has inherited your desire for flexibility. It is an extension f you, Nico codename DEATHSTROKE, it is what you are down to your most inner instincts. it IS you. It has bathed in the blood of enemies in combat, it has learned that in order to truly be an effective weapon, it needs to be as versatile as possible, and thus shares your strongest desire: to become strong." Biko explained, and right as he was explaining this, both males felt the surge in Soul Edge's power, rippling through the air like a sonar wave. It almost felt like the blade's semi sentient will itself agreed with them about its power.

'I see... that's actually a lot easier to take in than what I expected...' Nico thought, his eyes wide and his jaw slightly open as he stared at his demonic aspect, before his gaze fell to his Soul Edge, the weapon looking back up to him with utter seriousness in it's lone eye's gaze. When he first heard those words, Nico had expected to feel a sense of sock, disbelief, denial or something along those lines. It did seem surprising, but... in the end, that was pretty much all there was. Surprise. Like he had expected something like that from the very beginning. It was honestly a rather surreal experience, hearing that his blade was so interconnected to him that it inherited some of his personality traits. Honestly, he could see why Biko said this, remembering how in the past battles, both in and outside of training when he'd used the sword, it always felt... unique, like it was always manifesting as a new weapon. The power over shapeshifting it had was proof of this.

So, Soul Edge was an extension of him, huh? Made sense, considering what Biko had said before. It may have sounded similar, but the main difference was the scope of what it signified. Before, Biko only said that it was a manifestation of his powers as a Devil Arm, but NOW? Now he'd told him it was more than that, a living extension of his will. That actually answered his question about where the blade came from, it had come from HIM, Nico himself. When he first transformed into Crimson Soul, that was when the blade became able to manifest itself into the physical world for the first time. He had always felt like there was... something off about himself, even with all his problems, like there was something... restless deep within him just begging to be released.

Still though, there was one thing that bothered him, and while it would serve as one of his most broken, OP weapons to date, he couldn't help the concern blossoming within his chest at the possible implications. His adoptive mother had always told him to be wary of the Devil Arms in his possession, that thy would be double edged swords. Those words that she'd told him, they'd been proven the next battle after, where he'd been forced to draw upon Rebellion and defeat the enemy. While he'd done that, he'd succeeded in defeating the enemy, afterwards the strain of using Rebellion, just ONE of his Devil Arms, forced Nico into a multi week long coma. It was an Abnormal that specialised in explosions, or rather, blast damage. It had the ability to excrete a slime-like substance whenever it punched, a slime which would detonate seconds later. Whenever it went berserk however, that time limit reduced itself from several seconds to zero in no time flat. He'd never seen his mother so worried, agitated and furious at him all at once before, and it was NOT something he'd wanna repeat of ever again. Though, considering the lifestyle Spec Ops Agents had, it would only be a matter of time before more incidents like that began occurring, even with him training harder to control such powerful weapons.

"So... you're saying Soul Edge's potential is near-limitless...?"

The demonic aspect nodded, his eyes shining with power as the two looked at their own copies of what would probably be their most powerful Devil Arm in their entire arsenal. The weight of what had been revealed weighed upon their minds, the realisation, the scope of the power that Soul Edge wielded like a heavy blanket of iron. By no means did this make them fear the blade for what it could do, hell, the only reason why it was this way was thanks to Nico's desire to be as versatile as possible influencing. No, what this meant would be that they would have to keep on training with it, mastering the abilities gained when they came. Soul edge was powerful, yes, but power alone won't help in a battle, especially if the wielder can't control it.

"As for why it has chosen to take two different forms depending on your human or DPU forms..." Biko began, sensing one of the questions Nico looked to be making to ask him the moment he looked up from his weapon. "It is simple: like you, Soul Edge can get restless, it does not like to be left out. One could say that it shares your desire to have a purpose, a reason to exist. It is an extension of you after all, in the most literal sense that I can make this. However, there is a downside to this. Soul Edge while the strongest Devil Arm in your possession, will be the hardest to control by far. To compare, the other Devil Arms piling onto you will be like a small mountain. However, with Soul Edge you may as well be carrying an entire continent on your back. The training required to control the full power of such a weapon, even though its true form has been unlocked for your DPU form only, will be nightmarish, even more so than what you have endured previously."

...

...

...

Nico took a moment to process that, and then his skin turned pure white with dread. Biko had been pushing him harder than anyone who ever taught him before, harder than his mother ever could have. Aside from Sparring in which the man would go so far as to try and kill him, Biko would have him run around a space equivalent to the entire continent of Leanbox... while getting chased by hungry monsters wanting him as their next meal. He would make him balance on a single wooden pike to control his balance, while shooting attacks at him from left and right, mixing them in with a few shakes of the pike as to rattle him. He would make Nico the target for various Hellfire techniques, drop him within pools of what he said was acid (and Nico believed him with how much it HURT) to boost his endurance, as well as his mental fortitude, trapped him within a cluster of monsters which, while told not to kill, could be allowed to inflict as much pain as possible on Nico to harden his mind and his body even further. To make sure he stood there and took the abuse, Biko had strapped him to a pike made out of demonic growth, before telling the monsters to 'have fun' as he'd put it. Nico still tended to have phantom pains from where they tore his mental avatar a new one.

He did that and MORE... without any breaks. Since this was his inner world, he wouldn't need food or rest. Sadist. He had enough of sadism from his mother.

So, to hear him say that training would be even more intense than that... well, it put things into perspective, shall we say.

He was SO not looking forward to the days ahead.


	95. Chapter 92 - Soul Edge PT1

**Chapter 92 - Soul Edge PT1**

The heat permitting from the molten Magma before, the heat that used to fill the very oxygen in the air with its presence, seemed to be almost non-existent compared to what was filling the air right now. This new, oppressive sensation completely dwarfed the entire atmosphere, making the heat seem fickle and inconvenient. A heavy weight fell onto everyone's chest, an almost dominating weight at that, one which tried to push them to the ground just with the force it exerted alone. Fortunately for them, they had been able to resist the urge to just fall to the ground, but the oppressive atmosphere remained.

All this came… from the new visitor to the party… or rather, an OLD friend Nico had used several times before.

IF eyed the weapon in Nico's hands, a weapon she had not seen in a long time. She actually found it difficult to recall the last time she had felt this weapon's power in the air, with everything that had happened she had completely forgotten about it. Now that it was back though, it was as if it triggered something in her as the brunette felt something click in her mind. In the instance afterwards, she remembered it all: the times, though few, when Nico would have used this particular weapon:

Their first Battle against Arfoire,

Against Black Heart in West Wind Valley,

The last few moments against the Killachine after it revived,

Against the Defiler,

The Ghoul at MS Mountain,

But, most importantly… the many times that they sparred when Nico could fully transform without losing control.

Rolling her eyes, IF couldn't help the remark that formed in her head that contained her typical snarky mannerisms. 'Well, better late than never dude. Was beginning to think you were going soft on us or something.' She thought as she glanced towards Maghda. In that moment, a particularly vindictive side of her couldn't help but influence her thoughts, bringing this particular thought into her mind. 'Though, if this is what I think it is, then that old hag's in for a lot of hurt soon.' She thought with a sly, nigh sadistic, grin on her lips.

Meanwhile, MAGES. and Stefan, the sole members of their little group whom HADN'T seen this particular weapon in use before, remained on edge with the weapon's presence.

'That thing…' MAGES. thought with narrowed eyes as her eyes lingered on it, unable to take them off its imposing, threatening form even if her life depended on it. Fortunately for her, she was not Maghda, so she would be spared this weapon's wrath. The Witch responsible for all this however? Not so likely. At least, that was what she hoped, part of her felt this to be pretty optimistic considering the aura and presence that this weapon excluded. 'It feels like those other weapons, those Devil Arms, that DEATHSTROKE posssses… although, this one seems to have the most monopoly over his soul. Its almost like it has established dominance over the other Devil Arms, like its saying 'I'm the top dog around here, bitches, better remember that!' or something.' I a way, MAGES. considered herself fortunate that she had knowledge of the Devil Ars beforehand, it explained greatly about this weapon's power. As well as how it affected everything around it with its very presence alone. It almost rivalled that of the CPUs weapons, now that she thought about it. The Mad Magician hadn't witnessed it herself, however she did witness it back in her home dimension, and right now this weapon seemed to roar with a power that rivalled, if not completely overtook, the CPUs powers.

Stefan on the other hand, didn't have the same information that the Mad Magician had. When IF told him about her adventures with her party, she said that Nico had a large arsenal of weapons, including ones that held more power than the others, some being more mystical than others. He had the feeling she didn't say everything about those weapons, but hadn't pressed the matter due to everyone having the right to hold secrets. Everyone was entitled to their privacy after all.

Now? That power he could sense from that weapon… even Ashbringer seemed to be on edge with how sinister and wicked it looked.

None of this registered in the weapon's wielder's eyes, however, his eyes just remained raptured on the weapon in his hands.

'This… This is…' Nico could hardly believe what he was seeing right now. It just didn't seem real to him, that he would be using this weapon in this situation. Any other Devil Arm, he could understand, each and every one of them sometimes had an aura similar to this one when he used them. However, this weapon right here? This one dwarfed theirs by a landslide, both in terms of power and also presence. Speaking of that, it felt like the other Devil Arms he possessed seemed almost… docile, right now, like their unrelenting lust for combat had been tamed just by this weapon alone.

He knew this weapon, he knew it all too well…

"Soul Edge…"

Nico whispered the name of the massive greatsword in his hands, a greatsword that he only used in DPU Form. A weapon that he thought was considered part of is DPU Powers, thus could only be used tin that form. He remembered this Sword, its appearance being the same as it was when he first turned into Crimson Soul. The sword's slitted eye shifted about, as if it was looking at its new surroundings before its eye landed on its wielder. The moment it did, the shifting ceased, and it seemed to hold his gaze for what felt to him like an eternity. The sight of the shifting eye definitely caused Stefan to shudder, not that either of the two noticed.

After a second (though to Nico it felt more like an eternity) Soul Edge's eye shifted towards Maghda, and thanks to her being a target for Nico's wrath earlier, it seemed to glower towards her intensely, like she had pissed it off beyond measure. The sword's form slowly but surely began emitting a sinister orangish red aura, an aura that barely communicated the malevolent nature the sword possessed. Its power however, indeed filled their beings as well as the very air itself with dread, anxiety and nervousness. It brought a new level of tension into the atmosphere, one that quickly pushed through the heat in the air and dominated everything. Like the blade just established its presence over everything as the big dog in this battleground. To them, it felt like they were in the presence of a wild animal about to run amok, the chaotic and wild nature of the blade showcased clearly in the bloodlust-filled gaze its eye possessed.

'… Is this what you intended before, Biko?' Nico questioned his demon persona as he gripped Soul Edge with both hands, holding it in a ready stance. He held it in a diagonal angle, with the tip facing upwards while keeping his legs spread evenly, right foot in front of the left. 'Did you know Soul Edge would do this?'

 **'** **Indeed. Soul Edge has been the first of your DPU powers to return, Nico, and it had been growing restless with all this demonic power you've been absorbing. I would say more, however there is a lot to discuss, enough that a face-to-face discussion would be the most appropriate. That is not possible currently, however suffice it to say that this form of Soul Edge is available to you, along with every shapeshift you have at your disposal, as well as its abilities. However, it is only at ¾ of its true power, that is the payoff for having it in human form.'**

'Alright, got it. Thanks, Biko. I've been wanting to test Soul Edge's power for a while, anyways. Now then, lets fuck this bitch up.'

It almost felt like Soul Edge could hear his thoughts, for the moment he thought that the Sword's power suddenly swelled, its aura growing increasingly erratic as he almost got the sensation that it was laughing madly. Nico felt tempted to laugh with it, but didn't. That was his bloodlust talking, and that would be controlled by him and him alone, not the other way around.

He'd probably take some time to train Soul Edge when he was in human form so he could get used to this, the mental fortitude he had to restrain multiple Devil Arms just barely seemed to be enough to hold the sword at bay.

Looking over to Maghda, Nico glared fiercely towards her, his eyes narrowing as he raised Sole Edge above him. "Everyone, out of the way! Se's mine!" he yelled, making everyone snap out of their stupors from the slight demonic tones in his voice before they each parted ways. That allowed him to slam the sword down, the blade releasing a powerful energy trail that ripped through the platform and raced towards her.

Maghda quickly realised that the power the strike had would not be blocked, so she just as quickly rolled to the side to avoid the strike, and even then, she felt it nick a piece of her foot when it passed her. Luckily, the platform didn't get destroyed from the swing thanks to the Runes carved into it, they had been capable of storing demonic power to fuel the Runes, therefore keeping the mystic properties of random seas of flames active.

Speaking of fiery oceans, one glance downwards and Nico saw how the iron of the section he was on began to light up, almost becoming orange in colour Instincts reacted, and he quickly jumped into the air to land on another section. Just in time too, since the one he'd been one erupted into flames.

Upon landing, Nico raised Soul Edge for another swing, this one horizontal, but instead he held it in a defensive stance when Maghda appeared before him with a swing to his head. The two weapons collided and the resulting shockwaves that followed blew back anyone who was close enough. Namely Stefan and MAGES. while IF had already foreseen this and took precautions.

"Guh!" MAGES. cringed as she barely stopped herself from sliding off the edge into the magma pools below. Just stopped an inch before the ledge too, making her heart pound with the speed and force of a jackhammer. Just an inch more and she'd have fell in and faced a most unfortunate end. She placed a hand on her chest once she regained her balanced and stepped away from the ledge, heaving a sigh of relief. "The hands of fate have once again failed to claim my soul this day… this is indeed quite exhausting. I will need lots of Doc P after this."

Stefan landed beside her, although he'd managed to embed Ashbringer's tip into the platform to stop his movement, so he didn't have NEARLY as close a near-death experience as she did. Nevertheless, he didn't look too good, in fact he looked quite baffled by the amount of power released just then. "That sword must not be of this world, for no holy weapon would have that kind of power." He spoke through laboured breaths. He looked over to where Nico was, and how he was still deadlocked with Maghda's wormwood. He became witness to their breakup, and then Maghda manifesting several balls of Hellfire before shooting them as long homing rays at the male. Said male just swung Soul Edge diagonally and created a wall of similarly coloured Hellfire, blocking them. "In fact, I dare say that is not a holy weapon at all…"

"You're right, it ain't."

Looking over to IF, whom had landed a fair distance away before walking up to them, both Stefan and MAGES. raised a brow in her direction, wondering what she meant by that. "What do you mean by that, IF?"

"I concur with the man of gold and ash, Windwalker of Gamindustri. What is it that you know about that sword?"

"Well…" IF began before wondering what she could say. Not just because they wouldn't likely believe her, but Nico wasn't someone who trusted others easily, and thus telling strangers of his powers would not be considered a good thing in his books, especially without permission. Though she soon figured a way out of this predicament. "That sword's name is Soul Edge, and indeed it is a Demon Sword, however it isn't like the Hellblades and other weapons these guys apparently use. For one, its considerably more powerful than them, trust me I know, me and the girls sparred against it a fair number of times. Its also a sword he can't use unless a condition is met, or that's how it's been before. Now though, not so sure." In the end, IF pursed her lips as she thought back to those times when she'd seen Soul Edge. In all of them, the male had been in DPU form, never in human form. Thus, it stood to reason that he hadn't been able to use it unless he went DDD. Now? Now she was starting to wonder…

No matter. She'd likely only get answers once they were out of this hellhole…

* * *

Back to the battle between the two demonically empowered fighters, Nico and Maghda clashed once more, the two trading several wide blows that released ample shockwaves each time. Soul Edge and Wormwood constantly battled for dominance, the latter's captured souls screaming in delight for the chance to capture a, according to them, an extremely powerful soul for the collection. Meanwhile, Soul Edge sensed this glee, this arrogance within the Souls Wormwood possessed, and that only enraged it further. Nothing would DARE try to take it away from is wielder! Nothing!

As they clashed, Soul Edge's power became more and more potent, its fiery aura so solid that the blade's form started to decrease in visibility, like the energy itself was turning the blade invisible to the naked eye. In one such deadlock, Nico gave a fierce glare towards the smirking Maghda, whom just felt enjoyment from fighting such a thrilling fight as a worshipper of Khorne.

He'd be knocking that smirk right off her face in a couple moments.

'Time to use Soul Edge's powers, now let's see…. Ah, that one will do!' Soul Edge never really got much of an exercise before, and that was mostly to do with how destructive the Sword was. Nevertheless, him and Biko had trained its powers in his Inner World, and even now he could sense that Soul Edge's power had swelled since then. "Have a taste of BLUTSUCKER, bitch!"

Immediately after Nico yelled that, Soul Edge's power suddenly shot into Wormwood, spiralling around it and entering its form within a millisecond. At first, nothing happened, and just when Maghda was about to gloat at him, mocking him and Soul Edge for being weaklings… The woman's body erupted in various cuts, slash marks adorning her body. "W-What?!"

'Blutsucker, apparently this ability lets Soul Edge injure its opponent by sending its energy into the opponent's weapon, a necessary requirement for the ability to activate. The energy runs rampant through the weapon and then its wielder, filling them with cuts on the outside but does even MORE damage on the inside.' Nico thought to himself, analysing the ability Soul Edge told him. Like with the other Devil Arms, Soul Edge's link to him allowed it to send information to him about its powers, hence why he knew that more abilities for the sword had awakened. Even Though, he couldn't tell the full scope of this just yet, something did tell him that he would have to have a major overhaul in its powers.

Pumping demonic power into Soul Edge, Nico swung horizontally, sending an energy blast in her direction. The energy, to him, seemed to be reminiscent of the Hellfire flames that he used to use before they awakened fully. The blast surged towards the stunned Maghda, intent on blasting her into oblivion, however the woman raised Wormwood at the last second, generating a wall of Hellfire to protect her like he had done previously.

"Tch, Copycat…." Nico muttered under his breath, gripping Soul Edge's hilt in his right hand before he charged forth, unloading a dozen or so energy blasts in her direction. Weaker in power they were, their numbers compensated in his eyes, as Maghda became forces to block, parry or deflect the blasts until she had to flip over a diagonal swing from Soul Edge, Nico then shifted the blade's grip, switching the direction the blade's edge faced so he could launch an upward swing at her exposed back. Maghda however, predicted this as she cleverly blocked it with Wormwood, landing behind him and shooting a blast of Hellfire at him.

Blocking the strike by placing Soul Edge behind him like he'd sheathed it, Nico twirled around and blocked a swing to his head. Maghda cursed this, but didn't stop her swinging attacks, mixing in some Hellfire blasts, waves, whips and melee attacks enhanced with the element. It soon got old for the teen, who raised his weapon up high before he brought the large sword down, creating an explosion of demonic power that engulfed the two of them.

* * *

"Guh!" MAGES. grunted when she felt the force from the explosion hit her full force. Even as far from the epicentre as they were, the amount of power that hit them nearly sent the onlookers flying. Just went to show how much power the two had put into that strike, huh? "This battle appears to be reaching levels beyond what we expected."

On that, Stefan could agree as he witnessed the explosion. However, he noticed something else, too. There were tinier shockwaves rippling through the air, the kind of shockwaves born from clashing weapons. The man couldn't see it, but he could definitely feel the strikes of constant clashing within the smoke from the explosion. Turning to the brunette while using Ashbringer to shield his eyes, Stefan could only ask one thing. "Why aren't we helping again? It would be much quicker to end this woman's tyranny if we all worked together."

"You see that?" IF retorted, gesturing to the smoke. Unlike Stefan, she could make out the faint figures of Nico and Maghda engaged in single combat. Every survival instinct told her that, instead of getting involved, she should just stay back otherwise she would risk getting herself into something that she couldn't even comprehend anymore. "These two are fighting beyond us now. It's sickening, I know, but right now if we were to try and help Nico we would be more of a liability than anything. Remember how, while the guy and MAGES. tended to Tekken? We couldn't even scratch her, she'd been playing with us." She explained.

Stefan could only nod at that, grimacing to himself. Despite his pride and honor demanding that he join the fight, the man could admit that IF had a splendid point for them not interfering. Back while Tekken was being tended to, him and IF couldn't even scratch te woman, not inflict one spec of damage onto her. She merely toyed with them, playfully launching Hellfire attacks and making them scurry about like rats to try and dodge them. The random igniting of the sections this Platform had didn't help either. Right now, Nico and whatever that sword was were their best shot at defeating this woman, empowered by Khorne as she was.

With that humiliating thought, Stefan and the others returned to spectating the fight between Nico and Maghda. What was this, a battle between Hellfire users? No, this no longer seemed like a battle between two people…

No, this felt more like a twisted scramble of limbs and bladed weapons between two monsters.

* * *

In the next couple of seconds, Nico and Maghda emerged ironically the same as what Stefan had described in his mind, like scrambling beasts, the later jumping backwards with the former hot on her heels, the two engaging in a slashing fest in the middle of the airspace the latter had ended up in. The teen had little opportunity to use BLUTSUCKER again, since Maghda made sure to deflect their weapons away from each other during each clash to stop that ability.

Not that it would save her, but he'd give he an A for effort, though.

The two landed and then jumped backwards, getting some distance between them. Maghda smirked as she readied Wormwood, already feeling her demonic power repairing her wounds. Demonic power felt so much more effective at this stuff than Mana ever did, she couldn't help but be glad that she had made a pact with the Chaos God Khorne. "Impressive, boy. It appears your power is greater than when we last fought…" she remarked, her eyes then focusing on the Sword in his hand. "As is your arsenal, it seems."

"Believe me, you haven't seen anything yet." Nico mused, just as he noticed the platform section beneath him begin to ignite. The teen however, refused to let that hit him, so he jumped into the air to avoid it. Soul Edge quickly deformed itself into a mindless red mass, quickly shifting forms upon its master's will. In seconds, Nico had a Sword and Shield Version of Soul Edge. The shield was at least as big as his torso and stomach, with two demonic wings protruding from the top where Soul Edge's eye was located. For offence, Soul Edge formed a longsword-shaped sword with a single eye on the hilt's centre. Two large wings protruding from both sides, while its blade had a wide base but narrowed all the way to the tip.

Coming down on the woman, Nico swiftly swung his sword at her head, for the woman to block it with Wormwood. However, the male knew she'd go for that and swiftly kicked her exposed left thigh, making her wince at the force behind the blow. Before she could retaliate, the teen swiftly bashed her with his shield, knocking her to the ground thanks to having pushed her off balance with his earlier attack.

She didn't let him score another hit though as she quickly rolled backwards, getting back to her feet. Good thing she did too, for the blade's form became alight with orangish red Hellfire formed from the blade's eye. In that last moment, he had made a single slash that resulted in a horizontal line of pure Hellfire across the Platform. If it wasn't reinforced, then the Hellfire would have been able to melt the Platform into paste.

Jumping back to the teen, Magda unloaded on him with Hellfire waves before following up with a strike to his head. Nico deflected the first couple waves with his Shield, alternating between his Shield and Sword (Both being Soul Edge) before sidestepping the last one and subsequently avoiding the strike to his head Maghda didn't remain idle though as she twirled around and launched a 360 degrees wave, knocking Nico backwards.

However, the male would not be finished yet, not with the intent to rip her apart with Soul Edge's power so great. He quickly gave it a mental command and pointed it towards his opponent, generating Hellfire trails from its eye like bleeding flames to the tip, forming a large fireball that he launched right at her. Maghda countered with one of her own from Wormwood, causing a fiery explosion between them. Nico used that top his advantage however, and swiftly cut a larger Hellfire wave in her direction, much to Maghda's surprise when it cut through the explosion.

"Tch, DEVIL DRIVE!"

"?!"

Nico's eyes widened when he noticed that the woman unleashed a Drive Skill, not something he remembered her doing in the past. 'Mus have come with her Pact with Khorne…' Nico thought in frustrated annoyance. He then sent a mental command to Soul Edge, causing it to deform itself and shift into a new form for him to use. The mass deformed, writhing in his grasp for a brief nanosecond, and just when Maghda appeared behind him with a swing to the back of his neck, her form bathed in a fiery crimson and black aura reeking of bloodlust, the teen shifted his arms about with the new form blocking the strike and creating a shockwave that ripped through the air in front of him.

The form Soul Edge took, when Maghda laid eyes on it after righting herself, she realised was that of a two-handed Cleaver, rivalling its base form in length. Its main blade is organic and crimson, with its Eye located at the end of the weapon, while it sported a multi-curved metallic edge for slashing.

Its owner twirled around and swung at her neck, intending to slit her throat only for Maghda to quickly vanish and appear further away from him, generating more Hellfire blasts, only for the DEVIL DRIVE to allow her to generate ten times as many as before, and launch them at him. Nico however, generated a FIERCE coating of Hellfire from the weapon's eye, using it to create a 360 degree wave like she had done before to blow the enemy's attacks backwards.

Growling, Maghda Spun Wormwood like a helicopter blade, pouring out her energy to make more Hellfire and launch it as a spinning Disk the moment she slashed at him. However, Nico dashed forwards instead of dodging, his eyes shining with power as he went and activated more of Soul Edge's abilities. The moment the blade's edge med the Hellfire… it all just got sucked in like a vacuum, sucked into its eye which shifted about for a moment before settling back into place.

'PREDATOR… this ability seems to have two functions, but only one is available tom me for the moment…' Nico thought, mentally reading the information sent to him by Soul Edge. 'Apparently, the ability I do have allows Soul Edge to devour any type of Energy/Mana/Demonic Power-based attacks, refuelling its powers and satisfying its hunger.' More and more Nico saw how this weapon seemed to dwarf the other Devil Arms in power. He could see why this thing felt like it had asserted itself as top dog with the others.

Maghda however, did NOT look so amused.

Instead, the woman dashed forth and unleashed a swing from Wormwood enhanced by Hellfire, intending to reduce him to a pile of ashes. Raising Soul Edge and coating it with his own Hellfire, the male met her swing and bathed them in an explosion of Hellfire, one that filled up half of the Chamber of Suffering.

* * *

Deep within a dark void, a pair of sinister crimson eyes opened, their owner smirking with a toothy grin under their lips when it sensed a major exchange of power.

Soon, soon the time will come for that world to taste the power of Blood, war and chaos in its truest form…

Soon…

The time would come.

* * *

Back to the battle, Nico rolled out of the smoke, standing upright with Soul Edge in its Dual Swords form, to which Maghda approached him with Wormwood. However, the weapon didn't look to be in the best of shapes, something Nico quickly took notice of. "Oh? Looks like your prized Staff from your Mage days isn't up to snuff, huh?" he mocked with a sly grin behind his Mask as he pointed one of Soul Edge's swords at her.

Indeed, the weapon looked to be heavily damaged, with cracks both big and small, wide and thin, adorning its frame. Not only that, but the weapon didn't look as powerful as it once did, the constant clashes and how it was meant to be a Mage's weapon having an effect on it. Despite the improvements on the weapon, it was still something that wasn't meant for close combat, something that Nico specialised in. That would have been a problem if it were anyone else, but his speed had been a big help in getting close, as well as his ability to launch ranged attacks.

In essence, it had only been a matter of time before the weapon started showing signs of its weakness in close combat.

Knowing that to be true, Maghda felt her teeth grit together as she contemplated this. Her prized weapon wouldn't last much longer as much as she hated to admit it. That was established as a basic fact, and both of them saw it. After all, neither of them were idiots, this Staff hadn't been meant for close combat, and while Hellfire had done a good job keeping it together combined with the Enhancements made by her pact with Khorne, it could only go so far.

Then, the woman gave a small smirk, much to Nico's confusion, though thanks to his Mask it had been well hidden. She'd entered a dire situation, one that both he and his comrades saw (tough they dared not approach) so why did she smirk just now? "What's got you in much a chipper mood?" Nico questioned cautiously, making sure to ready his Dual Swords in case of an attack.

Though, that would end up being the LEAST of his worries soon enough.

"Oh, nothing much." Maghda replied as several explosions of Hellfire occurred around them. "Just that I think its time that the kid gloves come off, then you'll be under me in bed for the rest of eternity."

'Okay, aside from how she'd been planting explosives made from apparently condensed Hellfire, that response scares the crap out of me more than I'd care to admit…' he thought to himself, shivering at the lust-filled, seductive tone that she used. When the girls he cared for used it, the teen found it quite appealing, but when THIS hag used it (he didn't think the CPUs he cared for as hags even if they were over thousands of years old or something) it just seemed so wrong, like an old grandma trying to get a young boy into her web. 'For the rest of eternity, says the hungry spider to the fly.'

 **'** **Indeed, however be careful, I can sense something dark coming this way.'**

SWISH!

Biko's warning came just in time as Nico saw briefly something flash, barely ducking under a strike that would have sliced him in half from the nose to the top of his head. 'Whoa, holy shit!' the teen cursed in his mind, before the used weapon returned to it's owner's hands and dispersed the smoke created by the explosions…

To reveal Maghda being the owner of two different weapons, ones that gave everyone chills just looking at them.

They were 2 ebony black one-handed, dual bladed Axes that she wielded in both hands. These Axes strongly resembled Soul Edge in appearance, considering their blades were made from devilish growth while sporting metallic, double ended edges. At the top of the Shafts where the blades protruded from, sat single crimson slitted eyes that occasionally glanced about.

Not only that, but Maghda now looked completely decked out… as in, she now had A full suit of Armour to call her own. The Armour held crimson red as its dominant colour, with black being the secondary one. The helmet covered her head, save for her face. There was a single extension going down the ridge of her nose, not hiding the vindictive smirk she wore. The helmet sported a line of small, lava-coloured red spikes that ran down the scalp and down the back of her head, with two large draconic horns protruding from the sides of the spikes. The Torso consisted of a set of Chainmail armour of a mix between demonic red and black, with additional dark red armour plating, the shoulder guards connected to the chestplate going down the centre of the torso having 3 long spikes matching the horn's colour protruding out. They went in order from the smallest to biggest, the smallest being the furthest away from the head and the biggest being the closest. The arms, clad in metallic gauntlets ending in gloves of matching design to the chestplate, matched this with the reverse ended spikes protruding from the tops of the forearms. From the waist was a skirt made from crimson flesh, one that reached her knees and looked remarkably like a wing's webbing. As for her legs, they were concealed by blackish red armoured Leggings, small red Spikes going down the centre of the shins to the feet.

Seeing the male's disbelief, and that of his comrades whom were gaping at her like fishes, Maghda grinned darkly as she held her Axes in a combat stance: the left one held in front and the right held diagonally behind it. "Let me introduce you to my Bloodfeeders, some of the many gifts bestowed upon me by my Lord Khorne. He is my gracious master, and I shall do everything in my power to become a demon prince worthy of his name. This Armour? A simple creation I made, blessed by my demonic power. Beautiful, is she not?" she moaned sensually as she did several poses…

Honestly looked both weird and WRONG on so many levels.

Remembering that she had a fight to accomplish, Maghda stopped her poses and gave a feral smile, her DEVIL DRIVE flaring in readiness as she crouched low, prepping to attack. Nico himself readied Soul Edge in both hands, not willing to let this creepy woman get the better of him.

Not for a moment, his buttocks and manly pride demanded it of him.

That, and he sensed something MAJORLY wrong with those Bloodfeeders of hers.

Just before she could resume the fight however, Maghda remembered something, glancing over to his comrades who were keeping back. Probably due to not wanting to get caught within Soul Edge's destructive attacks. "friends seem lonely, don't they?" she remarked with sinister smile, before raising her Staff and allowed Wormwood's glow to intensify. "Why don't we give the, something to do?"

From the moment she did this, the gates at the opposite side of the Platform slowly began creaking to life, the chains that operated them slowly moving upwards. The Gate lifted itself upwards, and from behind it came something that honestly, looked pretty disgusting… though something told Nico that grotesque appearances would be part of the course for Demons.

Everyone, save for Maghda who smirked like a devious little devil, recoiled with horror and disgust shining from their eyes and expressions as they saw the creature stumble in, yelling "fresh meat!" while holding a giant Axe in one hand and a sickle in the other. It stood at about 6 metres tall, and had the aura of a wild beast with no will or intelligence to call its own.

The upper body was mostly bare, save for a torn apron and a belt. There was no other clothing, and the body looked to be overly muscular with metallic chains acting as stitches in various places that had hollow orange cracks in them. Another chain surrounded its left wrist holding the sickle, indicating its use very well. The head had a pair of tusks protruding from the mouth filled with sharp spike like fangs, while 2 demonic horns came out the top of its head. 2 hollow red eyes burned with the desire to feast on the flesh of its enemies. It moved on 2 reverse jointed muscular legs that had 3 stubby curved talon toes. Its hands looked like a normal human's, allowing it to hold weapons.

"Okay, this thing fucking reeks!" IF exclaimed, covering her nose. The smell may be bad for normal people, what with how the others seemed to be covering their noses, but for someone like her and possibly Nico, it felt way worse thanks to their enhanced senses. It was like standing in the middle of a trash dispenser with everything smelling like rotten eggs… only on steroids. He couldn't help te tears building in the corners of her eyes, and could only IMAGINE where this thing had been.

Stefan could only nod in agreement, grimacing. "This thing likely has not even had a shower in ages." He commented, holding Ashbringer at the ready. He felt glad that his form was armoured, otherwise the stench might have made him throw up. "Still though, this foe looks quite powerful, so stand your ground."

A low chuckle escaped Maghda's lips as she grinned at the furious glare that Nico sent her way. "What, you thought I would focus solely on you? Khorne cares not for what type of bloodshed, but only that it flows! Blood for the Blood God!" she bellowed, her eyes wide with bloodlust and insanity. They almost seemed to glow like fires with said emotions, until she took a breath, closed her eyes and cleared her throat, camming the inner beast within. "Anyways, I believe that my beloved Butcher shall keep them company, so shall we take this to the next level?" she suggested, twirling Wormwood before releasing a large amount of power from her wings.

They flared to the sides like antennae, before they began to vibrate constantly while generating what Nico sensed as a powerful energy field around them. To get a good grasp of its strength, think of the force needed to push a Rocket into outer space, then condense it to a human. That's the level of force this field produced. Soon enough, the field did its job, and the woman slowly levitated into the air, ascending well up to 40 feet in the airspace above them.

Nico growled in anger at the woman, raw fury coursing through him. He wanted nothing more to rip that bitch apart for that move, however he kept a lid on his emotions for the time being. They were luckily all his, so he could remain in control of Soul Edge, something he found to be a major blessing right now. "You want to take to the skies huh? Well, fine by me!" he roared, activating Soul Edge's shapeshifting powers. The sword seemed to vibrate a ands shudder in his grasp, before it melted into a large mass that went onto his arms, legs, and back. The Mass shifted, enlarged, straightened and shaped itself into its intended form.

In seconds, the teen had 4 demonic dragon wings protruding from his upper back, with demonic growth also forming on his arms and legs, ending in 4 longsword-length metallic claws with opposable thumbs. From the base of his spine protruded a single demonic growth Tail with a spear-like metallic tip, the Soul Edge eye at is base. Flaring said wings, Nico took to the skies to give chase to the woman, who laughed madly all the while.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alright, here's the first part of the Maghda V Nico battle. As well as the first part in showcasing some of Soul Edge's new powers. This is something that's been a long time coming, and honestly I can't wait to get this all done. Look out for a possible multi-post in the near future, cause i've been writing up a storm for this.**

 **Anyways, for those of you who wanna read something light hearted alread (god knows how much seriousness has been in the last few chapters) here's a nice old Special Event to calm your nerves. Though honestly I think i'm doing more SE's than even Rebirth 2 at this point. For more than one purpose, too.**

* * *

 **Special Event - Nepflix**

"Heya, Iffy! Whatchu doin' back here?"

In one morning within the capital City of MICROSOFT, IF stood off in the corner of the room, looking down at the phone Nico had gotten her while they stayed in Planeptune. The brunette had this intense expression on her features wile holding the phone in one hand. Neptune, whom had been playing on the Hotel's mandatory Leanbox Console, some game about these muscular men in a fighting ring wrestling each other from these two factions called 'Nepdown' and 'Nep-Raw', when she had caught sight of what the brunette was doing.

Needless to say, she had been curious enough to pause the game, stand up and walk over to her.

"I'm watching this series on Nepflix, it's about this guy with psychic powers who tries to live a normal life. It's one of thos e comedy/supernatural animes out there, and it's really interesting." IF explained while watching what looked to be the sixth episode of the said anime. She had heard there were multiple seasons, but only the first one had been uploaded onto Nepflix yet. A bummer, but she could wait.

Hearing this, Neptune hummed thoughtfully while putting an index finger on her chin her eyes looking up at the ceiling as she got a familiar feeling for some reason. That feeling came from the name Nepflix, prompting her next few words. "Huh, Nepflix huh? I heard its some fancy website that lets people watch whatever they please for free, or something."

"As long as you're on the right plan, yeah. The one I got gives me unlimited streaming access, so i can watch whatever's on here without worrying about fees, aside from the subscription fee which isn't that much to begin with, at least for someone like me who earns quite the sum of Credits." IF explained, just as the episode ended and she clicked on the next one. "With this Phone, I can watch it even when not in a major city, makes for some damn good entertainment at least."

It was then, that Compa joined the situation, having overheard from the room's kitchen section. "Oh, i've got Nepflix too! It's got some great comedy anime i watch!" she exclaimed joyfully, pulling out her phone. "It's really cool, it lets you know which anime are most popular and displays ones that might fit your fancy based off what you've already watched. I like slice of life anime myself, with some adventure on the side."

"Meh, i'm more of an action, comdedy, supernatural type myself..."

Soon enough, IF and Compa got lost in their own little world with this Nepflix of theirs, promptly leaving Neptune out in the dust.

Not something she liked, seriously.

Maybe she could go find Nico or something, that might cheer her up.

Nico gave pretty good hugs nowadays, anyways.


	96. Chapter 93 - Soul Edge PT2

**Chapter 93 - Soul Edge PT2**

The sounds of heavy duty combat filled her ears, flooded her system and practically became the air she breathed with how often she was experiencing them, though right now she didn't really care about that. Why would she? After all, survival was the most important objective now that she'd been reunited with her comrades and possible crush. Though, she would not be looking forward to the silence ahead. Honestly, once everything calmed down and silence would reign supreme once more, IF would honestly feel like she was in unknown territory. Or like on an alien planet or something due to just how unfamiliar it would feel to her. Even with how much she was experienced with silence, with how she had been in constant combat ever since she had left her cell, silence became a foreign concept for her at this point.

Even so, it also meant she wouldn't have to keep on her guard like she was right now.

Heat originating from the harsh embers of the magma below blew trough the air like a scorching summer breeze, accompanied by rando popping sounds from the bubbles that formed in the magma. Every now and then they would touch the iron bottom of the platform they were on, but not ignite it… yet, though. Some nearly even touched the soles of her boots, something IF would rather dread since she would have to replace them. Either with Biomass ones or regular boots, she wasn't sure. Yet, with everything that was going on IF couldn't help but not pay attention to them even as they landed on her skin. No, not with the walking mass of flesh that was called the Butcher by its master breathing down her neck.

With… about 3 seconds for her to react…

Shit.

Literally, cause it was just about to run her through with its hook.

A curse escaped her lips as she quickly bent backwards, avoiding the Hook as it sailed over her head. She used this position to swing her right arm, which was in the form of her Axammer, to knock it away from her and use the momentum to go into a side sausage flip, avoiding the large butcher Axe that came down after the hook. IF slid across the ground, jabbing her Axammer into the iron platform to slow her motion to nothingness. Once she found herself unmoving again, she looked up only to see the Butcher already on her with a charging attack, making her curse once more.

Judging by the speed the hook was moving and her response time estimates, IF figured she'd not be able to dodge it without some form of injury so she decided to harden her body with Biomass in hopes that her defences would hold.

Luckily for her Stefan saved her by generating holy energy from Ashbringer and, with a loud war cry, launching a HAMMER OF JUSTICE as he called it, basically generated a hammer made of light before throwing it like a wheel towards the Butcher's head, knocking it out of its charge and stunning it just long enough for IF to jump towards it and thruster her Axammer arm forwards, the arm morphing mid thrust into her Whip, something which she grinned at when she saw how it slammed into the creature's cranium, knocking it onto its back with a resounding THUD. She even had the added bonus of reinforcing her right leg with Biomass, hardening the limb's structure till it had the weight and strength of a boulder, before flipping forwards and slamming that limb right onto the creature's bloated stomach.

Though, like before, the Butcher just shrugged off the hits and got back up, madder than he was before.

Oh joy.

This Butcher Demon had gotten on everyone's nerves already, mostly from how it would rant about flesh being taster than zombie flesh of all things. (just what was that psycho bitch Maghda feeding it all this time?) Also, it seemed to have various abilities that made it even more of an annoyance, abilities MAGES. had theorized that came from the various demons used to make it. For one, that Hook of its had the ability to split into several smaller hooks, ones that give it a wide area of reach to grab onto them and pull them in close to attack, giving MAGES. a hard time since her attacks were best when she was launching them from a distance. Her and Stefan wouldn't have that issue, since their powers were more to do with close to mid-range, but yeah.

Not only that but the creature's charges were nigh unstoppable unless they hit its head, as when it charged it covered itself with a layer of Hellfire to protect it, and also turn itself into a humanoid fatass meteor, not something IF wanted to have touch her. Worse still, she KNEW what those flames could do when a portion of them dinged her coat's right side when she had tried to dodge the attack. Nearly burned it to a crisp had she not discarded the Biomass coat (something she didn't want to do EVER AGAIN since it felt like taking off her own skin) and forming a new coat.

Its own body mass was also a problem for them, for thanks to it the Butcher had a lot of endurance under its belt. Hell, it had been able to shrug off a bunch of high powered Spells from MAGES., a two large attacks from both her AND Stefan at the same time. She'd managed to get a sample of her opponent's flesh on one of her bladed weapons, she remembered it being her claws, and absorbing it for information. One of the perks to her being a BOW was understanding genetics and stuff. She had to if she wanted to develop new mutations.

What she'd found was… well, more than a little surprising, and nightmare fuel just as much as everything else about this little adventure of hers. Bet any kind of currency she could brag this in a bar or something.

Back to the serious stuff, apparently this creature's flesh was made from the hides of various demons such as Bloodletters, Bloodthirsters, Trauma's and other ones she didn't recognise. This flesh had the combined qualities of all those demons, grating it the power that each of them held. Shivers had travelled down her spine for a picnic at the thought of there being MORE Butchers like this, dear Goddess she hoped there weren't. Though, if she knew Maghda like she thought she did, then she wouldn't rule out that possibility.

Some People were truly fucked in the head, this Chaos Religion just proved it.

Morphing her limb again, IF shifted them into her claws and then formed her Armour. In hindsight, she should have done so earlier, but A: she didn't expect this (though she could see Nico lecturing her on expecting the unexpected in their world) and B: She'd… forgotten, much to her humiliation. Hey, having so many powers than one could remember would do that to anyone! Heck, even Nico could sometimes forget one game plan for another! Just look at the Banshee Queen!

Once her armour formed the brunette grimaced when she felt a strong heat beneath her feet. She glanced downwards, already knowing that the section she was on was about to ignite judging from how the iron seemed to be gaining an orangish glow. The brunette swiftly jumped off the section and onto another one just SECONDS before the piece erupted into flames. Even while in the air, the heat emitting from those flames felt so hot that if she were a normal human, she would have suffered some form of heat blistering on her skin. Landing on a (thankfully) solid piece of the platform, IF looked to MAGES., the Mad Magician having launched a Volley of Ice Shards at the Butcher's feet to keep it off balance before shocking it with a lightning blast to the face. A flash of concern occurred in the brunette's chest at the sight,, remembering the Mad Magician's previous problem. "Hey MAGES., how's your reserves faring?"

Her yell made the Mad Magician glance over to her after she sent an array of Lightning based Spells towards the Butcher. It hadn't taken much damage from those attacks, to her dismay, though if she thought this would be easy then she would have lost her lifelong before now. Though, she had to admit that it was probably due to her restricting herself to low tier spells for the time being. "I am well, Wind Walker of Gamindustri." she replied, frowning before she casted a few buffing Spells on Stefan, allowing him to strike the creature while it's back was turned away from him. This succeeded in capturing its attention at the least, while the explosions born from shockwaves made from the collision between Maghda and Nico rung overhead. "It appears this creature has been blessed with Magic Resistance, for I sense powerful demonic Wards woven within the fibers of its flesh. I am restricting myself to low tier Spells as to conserve Mana. I do not wish to waste it on Spells that do too little damage to this foe."

Yeah, IF could understand that, if she were MAGES., she'd want to maximize the efficiency of her Spells as much as possible. Still though, they'd best have a plan in mind for this thing lest they get themselves torn to shreds. Not something she'd wanna brag about in a bar, honestly. "Yeah I get that, but if we don't come up with a plan, and I mean pronto, then we're gonna have one hell of a bad end on our hands." Her eyes then hardened as images assaulted her head. "And I mean REALLY bad, top tier horror game level bad."

MAGES. would have commented on how that wouldn't have been likely given the nature of their world, but then she remembered just what kind of world THIS Gamindustri was, and thus realised that the brunette probably had a good point. Still, she didn't want to think about what possible end could await them, so she decided to brainstorm her large library of Spells that could help them get out of this situation alive. 'Come on, MAGES., you're the Mad Magician! There has to be SOME Spell in your crazy noggin that can help us!' her inner Mage yelled inside her mind, though she ignored it in favour of doing exactly what the thought had said.

How ironic.

Before she could think of anything however, the Butcher noticed the two being idle and growled, swinging its hook in their direction. The hook split into many mid-flight and grabbed onto them before the two could even react. It let out a victorious roar, pulling them within reach of its Axe that was already raised to strike them down. The next thing they knew, the blade sped down towards them with the weight behind it that would likely split them in half. Thing was, only ONE of them would survive a hit like that, while the other…

IF quickly reacted, not wanting that to be how the Mad Magician ended, and formed both Axammers and raised them above her head. Behind her Armour's Mask, she grimaced when the Axammers met the blade, her knees almost buckling under the strain. Hell, she sword she heard the sound of metal bending beneath her from the force behind the strike, not a good thing and not something she paid attention to for too long otherwise she'd probably lose the strength battle and become an IF-sandwich for this thing.

She figured the only reason why the Axammers hadn't broke was because of the Hellblades reinforcing her weapons' durability.

Still, even now she could feel herself losing the battle of strength as her teeth gnash so hard that if she were a normal human, they would have cracked under the strain. The woman noticed how it was radiating more and more demonic power as time went on in their little struggle, which told her one thing: it was using it's power to reinforce itself just like how she did with Biomass. She didn't know if she could spare enough Biomass for her Tendrils to be of any use here, and not only that they weren't as powerful as her Tentacles, which required an arm to be morphed into existence. Thus, it left her in... quite the precarious situation.

Fortunately, before the Bucher could finish the job, Stefan, who'd been knocked away before the Butcher had thrown its hook, intervened. He'd went and unleashed a CRUSADER'S WRATH on it's back, following up with a TEMPLAR'S VERDICT and ending on another HAMMER OF JUSTICE. These combined attacks managed to sent it flying away from them with glowing energy trails flowing in front of it, the holy energy from Ashbringer damaging the Butcher much better than IF's Mutations or MAGES.' spells combined.

Stefan had explained it to her between their many battles, how Ashbringer was a Sword with no small abundance of holy energy. Energy that apparently seemed to be like the anti-thesis to Demonic beings. This had been proven when one of his Skill attacks that used holy energy seemed to disintegrate a Bloodletter they'd found into nothingness in just one strike. He'd said he'd explain in detail once they got out of here, but he did say that Ashbringer had a great impact on the Spec Ops community, and that even DEATHSTROKE would know of it. Therefore, against Demons and demonic cultists, Ashbringer would be like their worst nightmare.

To her, she just felt happy that they had some form of lifeline.

"Are you alright, ladies?" The man questioned standing beside them while keeping his eye on the Butcher, in case it made any sneaky attacks on him or his comrades. It had done that a few times with its hook before, so he would not be taking any chances. "Apologies, I was unconscious for a moment there. I will rectify that mistake immediately."

Looking up to the man since he was quite taller than her, IF sharply nodded while getting into a battle stance with her Axammers morphing into her claws. She even released 2 Tendrils from her waist, holding them in a defensive posture. "Yeah, we're good. Though that might change if we don't find some way to fry this sucker."

She goddamn hoped Nico would have an easier time than they were with this thing…

* * *

'Goddamnit, IF and the others better be having a better time than me right now…' Nico cursed in his mind.

Irony filled the air.

The male didn't have much time to breathe let alone think as he quickly parried several slashes from those Bloodfeeders that Maghda called those demonic Axes, absolutely REFUSING to allow them to even GRAZE his skin. The teen held his claws out and slashed the right one across the side of Maghda's face, only for the woman to bend her body backwards to avoid it. He followed up with a slash with his left claw, twisting himself into a spinning roundhouse kick which lead to his Tail swiping forth. His claw strike missed since the woman had hopped backwards, well, that was what she looked to have done as if there was an imaginary floor beneath them, since you know, they were flying on their very own wings.

Deciding to get some distance, Nico strafed backwards, however Maghda wouldn't allow that as she flared her Wings. Those skeleton appendages of hers acted swiftly, soon becoming engulfed with this orange crimson cloud of energy that constantly crackled matching coloured lightning.

In that moment, Nico's unmasked eye widened significantly when he felt a strong tugging sensation in his gut, and the next thing he knew his form was right before Maghda whom had her Axe's raised for a double slash. He barely raised one Claw in time to block the first and dodged the second, well, almost dodged the second as he still got nicked in the right thigh from it before he strafed backwards again in a burst of speed. Nico Looked back to the woman once he felt there was some reasonable distance between them, and noticed that the woman held a sinister smirk on her lips dripping with victorious glee. This didn't sit well with him, not one bit, as Nico raised his claws for a defensive warrior stance.

'Something about that smirk unnerves the hell out of me…' Nico thought to himself, refusing to let the shudders inside of him show on his body. He didn't want to give this witch the satisfaction of knowing how uneasy she made him. Especially with what she wanted to do to him should she get her sharp clawed nails on his body, not something eh was looking forward to should he lose. His booty was on the line here!

 **'Nico look at your thigh.'**

Biko's words snapped his attention away from Maghda as the teen glanced down abruptly, for his eye to lay their gaze on what Biko was talking about. Though, it didn't do much to lessen the amount of surprise that crossed onto his face once he saw it. The wound he got from that last attack, while small, seemed to be oozing this… strange, reddish coloured mist, a mist that shot towards the Axe that cut into his thigh in the first place. The cut's size made the trail so slim that Nico wouldn't have noticed it unless he would be actively looking for it, which was more than enough to set off all the alarm bells in his mind. Not to mention how the Axe seemed to absorb the Mist into it's blade…

Oh, and let's not forget the shit eating grin on Maghda's face, either.

Can't forget that.

'What? What in the world is…?' Nico wondered as he held his right claw over the wound. Soon enough it regenerated as he expected, but it took slightly longer than normal for some reason. Odds were, it was likely because of that Mist, it's coloration disturbed the teen on a level he'd rather not admit to anyone, not just that but the way that the Axe that made the cut in the first place seemed to drink it up like it was a liquid…. Wait, liquid? An idea hit him in his mind, and Nico's eye showed slight surprise as the possibility dawned on him, as well as a mix of dread and fear. 'If THAT's what her Bloodfeeders can do, then I am in BIG trouble…'

Deciding to test his theory, Nico flared his wings and unleashed a single flap, shooting through the air like a bullet as he charged at Maghda, whom smirked arrogantly as she raised her Bloodfeeders to defend herself with. In seconds, the two clashed, claws vs demonic axes. Because of the force and impact, the two-battling demonic-empowered beings spiraled through the air while trying to overpower one another, using their wings as a form of balance and a way to slow their spinning to a halt. In the end, Nico managed to guide them towards a wall, slamming Maghda into it before slashing at her face with his right claw while she was stunned, clutching his claws as best he could into fists as he delivered a vicious barrage of punches to her chest, stomach, base of the neck, face, before headbutting her there for good measure.

He grabbed her by the helmet and smashed his knee into it, raising an elbow to slam into the back of her neck repeatedly with the force of a sledgehammer, before gripping her by the shoulders and spinning a full 360 degrees multiple times, tossing her with a furious war cry into the opposite wall. The male saw how her body couldn't angle itself right in time, and thus hit the wall behind her with enough force to create a Maghda shaped indentation in it.

A loud gasp escaped from her lips within her helmet, but she couldn't remain idle cause Nico was already seconds away from spearing her with his Tail. Maghda swung at his chest to try and slash him, however Nico managed to halt himself before her blade could reach him, wrapping is Tail around the limb like a snake before using it to pull her in for a slash across her helmet, finally shattering it to showcase the surprised look on her features. Maghda recovered herself and quickly responded with a kick to his solar plexus, which Nico caught in both arms and used it as leverage to twirl her around again and smack her right back into the wall once more.

"Gah! So rough... #sensual moan#"

"Ugh, don't ever do that ever again."

"Oh i'm sure you'll like it, dear..."

Cue more powerful shudders from Nico.

The two then swiftly broke off, strafed backwards before clashing again, this time entering a furious bout of swings towards each other's flesh.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

With speeds that the human eye would never be able to track, the two went at it. While Maghda's strikes carried the brutality, viciousness and savagery that the servants of Khorne seemed to embody in spades, she seemed to lack the experience fighting with weapons like this, at least in comparison to Nico who'd been doing this warrior thing for years. In that case, it would have been easy to defeat her, however those Bloodfeeders posed a problem, one that kept him from dealing the fatal blow. He needed to know what they were and how they did that ability of theirs. Nico figured out from the moment they first grazed his thigh that they weren't any ordinary weapons. He had his ideas on what that ability might be, but he needed to confirm it first.

That was where this feint came in.

Nico fainted a slash with his left claw when he really went for a right claw thrust towards her face. Maghda however, saw this and took advantage of the strike, pivoting her foot so she could spin around it. She then slashed diagonally down his exposed right side, electing a sharp hiss of pain from the male as he swiftly kicked her away, distracting her with a PHANTOM WAVE Skill. Glancing at his new wound, Nico noticed the trail, one much bigger this time, exiting the wound and entering the Bloodfeeder that she used to cut him with. 'This… pain…!' Nico thought, his lone unmasked eye narrowing sharply as his idea all but confirmed itself in his mind.

Looking over to the smugly grinning Maghda, the teen spoke with gnashed teeth and KI swirling around him like a vortex. "I see… I guess the Bloodfeeder is an apt name for those Axes. They seem to have the ability to drain the blood of those that it cuts, though how much depends on the wounds that they inflict. Light wounds make for thin trails, but heavier ones make thicker trails. You could say that you're holding two vampiric weapons in your hands." Nico deduced, while in his mind the teen added onwards to his hypothesis.

Several instances had lead him to that conclusion: the first being the name. Bloodfeeders sounded like something to do with blood, which was what it's ability had an effect on. A relatively minor detail, really.

Second though, was the way that it activated that ability, by cutting into the enemy. It wasn't uncommon in anime and Manga to have weapons with abilities that only work on direct contact with the target, just look at that eye power in CC, or that one sword in that anime about people transforming into weapons to fight alongside their partners, that sword which had the ability to scream when in contact with the enemy weapon.

Not to mention the ability's effect, how it absorbed blood by mystifying it and sucking it in like a vampire. The male hadn't felt it at first, but now that he had noticed the trail, Nico did feel a slight tingling sensation around the wound. The last clue to its power lay with how long it took for his regeneration to kick in, even with his demonic power's assistance the time it took to heal from these wounds was too long for his liking, yet it wouldn't have happened if the wound was any normal wound. That pointed to the explanation that those Axes weren't normal weapons.

Blood was one of the most important fluids in the body. This substance takes part in many important processes in the body, such as oxygen transport, Carbon Dioxide transport, the cardiovascular system, Lymphatic system, Thermoregulation and more. Yeah, one could say that Blood its practically the lifeblood of the body, which was why those that lose a lot of it suffer various side effects.

For someone like him though, it held a much greater role, and thus, if someone tried to take it…

If this WAS the case though, and even if she didn't say anything he had a suspicion that he was right, which would be MORE than enough to be cautious of those Axes of hers, then it could be a great applicant in the field of battle. For one, draining the blood of one's enemies would allow one to potentially cripple their opponents by making their movements sluggish, their vision blurry or causing their heads to spin. They would feel colder than normal, and once they lose too much blood, they could fall unconscious, allowing them to be easily captured or worse, killed outright. If there were any way that this ability could transfer that blood to the wielder, regardless of incompatible blood types, then it could be useful medically since it could stop people from dying from blood-loss by absorbing the blood that was shed in battle, then transferring it over to the patient... assuming that would be even possible, he didn't know the full specs of those things. He could only theorize at this point.

Though, like with any weapon, he could see a few flaws in those Axes and their ability. For one, it only worked if the user had a good moment of contact with the enemy's flesh, if the enemy was wearing full body Armour (Like Nico normally did) then that ability would be next to useless since armored Targets would have something to protect their flesh with. One more reason why he believed people should wear Armour more. It would also be useless against cybernetic-based foes like robots or cyborgs, due to them not possessing blood but circuits, at least for half their body structure if it were Cyborgs. For Cyborgs, and yes they were a thing in this world, they would have their cybernetics to fall back on if they were to lose too much blood, as their robotic halves have specialized features such as life support systems that'll help them function when under heavy blood-loss. full-on Robots were pretty much self explanatory here.

'What happened before with her wings felt like magnetism, how her energy creates a magnetic field centered around her wings, a field that she can focus on one specific target. It looks like gravity manipulation, but if that were the case then the entire earth around us would have been drawn in with the level of power I sensed just for that moment. Also, with how much damage we're causing to the surroundings, if it were gravity manipulation then she would also be drawing pieces of debris in. Quite useful in keeping the enemy close for CQC, especially effective against ranged enemies. However, it isn't as useful on those who specialize in mid to short ranged combat like myself, who are in their element in that situation.' Biko, in his mind, hummed in agreement with the main aspect's words/thoughts.

 **'That last one may not be true, considering she seems to have enough control over the ability to focus on a single target, but the rest still words.'**

'True...'

"You think I'm just gonna reveal my powers to you? Pah, I'm no stereotypical super-villain, but I'll admit that you're right on the money there, hon… just this once." Maghda teased with a feminine giggle, one that honestly creeped Nico out more than Neptune willingly going a day without pudding. By the goddesses, he had hoped to never hear that feminine giggle again, it just s sounded so... wrong, disturbingly and psychotically so. He could sort of understand women better when they were being hit on by creepy dudes on the beach or something, if this was what it was like for them. Still though, this did bode ill for him, Nico relied a lot on his blood to help him with his other weapon.

It relied on a power source found only in his blood pathways, attached to his blood cells like fungus. RC Cells, Cells that hardened to teeth levels at will. If Maghda sucks them all out, then…

No, he couldn't let that happen, not one bit.

Thus, the teen began brainstorming to think of a way to end this fight quickly…

Though, he couldn't think for long because when Maghda's wings flared AGAIN, they gathered demonic energy into their fingers and fired it as a bunch of freaking LASERS made from pure orangish red demonic power. It forced him to dodge like crazy, the difficulty in this because being similar to dodging minigun fire. It didn't help that, by analyzing the way they moved in accordance to Maghda's will (he just KNEW she was controlling them by how she'd kept her eyes locked on him), that she had perfect control over them and manipulated them so they always hit their target. Not only that, but when he'd managed to slash them apart with Soul Edge's claws, Nico felt a shadow looming over him from behind, and when he looked he saw a darkly grinning Maghda about to strike… with two large versions of her previous lasers.

'Shit!'

BOOM!

The resulting explosion that followed when the Lasers connected with him, sent Nico flyng through the air and into one of the chamber's walls with intense force. The wall around him literally became an indentation shaped like his body structure for crying out loud! How the hell did this Chamber hold up with all this damage, anyways? Glancing behind him awhile biting through the pain, Nico noticed the faint but still present runic symbols pulsing through the interior of the walls, shown only through slight holes in the walls. Demonic Wards from what he could sense.

Guess that was why…

A sense of danger came to him from Soul Edge, and Nico quickly jumped off the wall to avoid a slash from Maghda's right Bloodfeeder. The teen flipped through the air multiple times, curling into a ball until he threw his legs forwards and landed on the opposite wall, using that as a springboard to ounce back for a strike towards the woman's back. Maghda however, sensed his coming, and thus responded by twirling around and blocking his claw swing. Though, Nico refused to let up as he switched to his left claw, then his right before spinning into a reverse roundhouse kick, the talons over his feet allowing his kick to have extra reach. Maghda blocked the first and second strikes, but the last one managed to get through her guard and hit her in the side of her head, sending her falling downwards towards the battle between Nico's comrades and her Butcher.

However, she soon righted herself by flipping to the upright position and facing him. The woman scowled, pumping Hellfire over her Bloodfeeders to make them larger. Hellfire roared to life like a thousand lions as it covered her weapons, increasing their intimidation factor tenfold. It looked like she now had a pair of two-handed Axes in hand, burning brightly with the desire for bloodshed and carnage. Their sinister light reflected off her face, what could be seen of it anyways thanks to her Armour.

Oh yeah, it was also self-restorative, like Nico's Armour.

Small world, huh?

Instantly, she moved forth, spreading her wings and taking off towards him. Nico held his claws out, making to strike her when she was close enough, only to pull a fast one on her by whipping her on the side of her head again, with his Tail this time. Seriously, Soul Edge's tail sometimes felt more like a bludgeon than an appendage, but maybe that was due to how he was using it? Meh, whatever, it did its job fantastically for him. Now, he would have to press his attack before she recovered and tried to pay him back for that stunt, women her age tend to favor their faces highly, so when someone whacks them there and injures their faces, they tend to go a bit more aggressive. He would know, he'd made that mistake early on in his training with his adoptive mother. Word of advice: NEVER go for Helen's face, EVER. If you do, the angels will sing. The teen then dove down towards her like a falcon, latching onto her by gripping her thighs with his talon clad feet and digging his claws into her shoulders.

Both spun around in the air like a pair of vicious dragons, their wings flailing madly as they tried to get some form of grasp on the air space around them. This eventually succeeded, and lead to their battle evolving into a wide circular flight pattern around the edges of the Chamber of Suffering, all the while clawing and slashing at each other to get an edge. Because of the enclosed space between them, though, Maghda found herself to be in a bit of a disadvantage since her weapons were larger than that of her opponent's, something Nico exploited. That was why he had initiated this little flight session of theirs in the first place, he knew she'd try going for bigger attacks in this enclosed space of theirs, he knew this based from previous experiences. Even as she dismissed the Hellfire on her blades, Nico already had done significant damage to her body that her power was forced to restore to keep the host going.

After a few moments though, the two broke it off when Maghda unleashed a wave of demonic power, knocking Nico back through the air, for the teen to flip into an upright position and spread his wings halting his movement. However, the teen refused to let up his attacks, so he quickly launched a series of kicks in her direction, these kicks being the catalysts for a series of PHANTOME WAVE Skill attacks. His sole unmasked eye shone with malevolence, born both from his emotions and his demonic power. Hell, it almost looked like it was on the verge of transforming into that of his DPU form's. There was a red rectangular shine to it, and the pupil seemed to be tying to become the demonic power button symbol of Crimson Soul.

Maghda's response? Simple, deflect each one with her Bloodfeeders after re-engulfing them with Hellfire, the wave before having doused them thanks to her lack of concentration.

She then dove towards him, her wings tucked in for extra speed, with the intention of a beheading. However, Nico had a plan for this, something she learned seconds later when he, just before she entered striking range, suddenly and sharply flapped his wings, and ascended above her. The teen angled himself so his front faced her while his back faced the ceiling above, and thus he unleashed his PHANTOM BLADES Skill. The Blades fell down upon the demonic woman like rainfall, not unlike that of her Lasers previously.

However, Maghda didn't hesitate at the sight of them as she swiftly angled herself in the same manner as Nico did, with her back facing the ground below and her front facing him, before her Wings gathered demonic energy, releasing it as her Lasers. Purple blades and orangish red lasers collided against one another like two armies clashing against each other, creating a resounding series of explosions across the space between the two fighters.

Panting hard, Nico gazed at the smoke down below him, his eyes narrowed as he searched through it for any sign of attack. Thanks to how high up they were, and how thick the smoke was, he couldn't see how things were doing on the ground, however he refused to think of any possible negative scenarios. Why? Because that would make him agitated and that would cloud his judgement. Voices of worry for his comrades' safety filled his mind, but Nico mentally shushed them, shaking his head while gritting his teeth.

A costly mistake.

"Hohoho, you're wide open my dear." Maghda's voice whispered into his ear from behind, a sinister seductiveness present in her tone that reeked of honey that had gone off. Nico's eye shot open with a trembling pupil. Just as he turned his head, Maghda already had both Hellfire empowered Bloodfeeders brought down towards his back in an overhead smash. Fortunately, Soul Edge's Tail managed to intercept them in time by moving in front of his back, however it wouldn't be able to stop the strike completely, no matter how much demonic power Nico fed it.

The attack hit, and Nico got sent flying towards te ground at record speed. He fell through the cloud of smoke, popping ou of it like an exploding balloon, before he barely managed to regain control over himself, angling his body and flapping his wings to halt his descent. The teen didn't stop for breath though, not when he had to get back at that bitch. Behind his Mask, Nico's teeth were gnashing so tightly that any normal teeth would have shattered under the weight. Nevertheless, Nico could only focus on one thing: Maghda, or to be more specific, his desires to utterly rip her to pieces, desires that were fuelled by the chaotic emotions of his Devil Arm. She needed to pay for this, she needed to pay for what she'd done! She had to pay, she had to pay, pay, pay!

She would pay for a list of crimes:

Harming the innocents, using them for nefarious experiments. For separating husbands/wives and fathers/mothers from their families.

Practicing an art that seemed to have been built solely from mountains of corpses. Of bloodshed, of the wronging of the unlawfully damned.

Daring to show that ugly mug of hers in front of him in spite of their past history.

But more than that…

Kidnapping those that were close to him, kidnapping IF. Forcing Nico to prioritize between rescuing her and stopping more innocents from being victimised by demonic hands. For forcing him to risk sending his comrades into such a situation, making him worry sick about whether or not they were okay. Hey, when you have strong connections to someone you send out to the battlefield, you tend to worry, alright?! Him especially!

Then, one of the worst crimes in his book, was the crime of a permanent crippling wound on one person whom Nico found himself quickly learning to give a damn about. Tekken. Just the thought of her with what would probably be blindness for the rest of her life thanks to that injury, made his blood boil like it was no tomorrow. The teen didn't even care that it hadn't been that long since they met, not in this situation anyways. Images of her state when he managed to rid her of that Hellfire on her face filled his mind, as well as images of their interactions throughout this Dungeon. He'd gotten to see so many sides of her here, the strong, confident marital artist being one of them. Yet, she had a sweeter and timid side that came out when she became scared.

And Maghda dared, she DARED to injure her while he was around?! As if she would escape his wrath?!

Nu-uh, not happening!

Anger, frustration and anxiety boiled over, and Nico reflexively focused it all into his right leg, don't ask him why, he just did. Anger bread irrational actions, it forced people to do things they wouldn't normally do. Yet, it soon turned out to be the best damned thing he could have done, for heat began rolling off his leg in large amounts, steam rising from the limb that went on unnoticed by the male Spec Ops Agent.

Twisting so his form could face upwards through the smoke where he could sense Maghda's rapidly approaching presence, likely because she would be diving at him, Nico released a war cry unlike any other, kicking in her general direction. He expected to launch a PHANTOM WAVE at her for the woman's transgressions against him and the innocents of the world, but…

What he got instead…

FFFFFFWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHH!

Was a PHANTOM WAVE… made from orangish red Hellfire.

The attack roared like the emotions within him, the teen having put everything he felt into that one attack. His eye shot open, wider than it had ever done before as the wave literally consumed everything around it while moving upwards, burning away the smoke even as it headed towards its target. Instinctually, Nico just KNEW that she'd be hit by that, there was simply no way that she could have dodged it with the distance between them. This fact became reality, by the feminine scream that tore through the air before it became nullified by the massive explosion above him.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The explosion that followed, well, one could rate it a 10/10 on the intense heat scale, cause even Nico couldn't look at it without covering his eye. Hell, even the one covered by his Mask's eye patch felt like it was being burned alive from the fierce heat, the teen turning away to redirect the heat away from his face.

Nevertheless, despite the intense heat blazing above him, Nico sensed Maghda's energy vanish just seconds before his attack could hit. If it vanished during it, he'd assume that his attack had burned her alive. Part of him screamed to go after her, to dispose his wrath onto her to make Maghda suffer for her actions, and he'd almost gave in to that urge. After all, he could still track her down then rip her apart piece by piece. It would be so easy for him, hanks to Biko informing him about his ability to sense negative emotions, Nico could track down the obvious damaged pride, anger and humiliation coursing through Maghda right about now. Then, he'd unleash his 'fangs' to tear out her throat and gorge himself on her leftovers. However, the sounds of conflict beneath him reminded him that he wasn't alone, that he had the responsibility to his comrades, to get them out of this alive. He couldn't chase after her and leave his comrades to die, that was NOT what he stood for. Plus, he'd given hem his word that he would get them out of this alive, and if anything Nico would always keep to his word. This resolve, like hot flames, overtook the vengeful flames within him, filling him with new purpose and reminding him what was really important.

Still, part of him also felt unsatisfied, letting someone that dangerous get away before he could unload on her with all these powers Soul Edge apparently possessed. Powers that would become fully available once he regained his ability to transform, Nico felt. One silver lining however, would be that because of her little... obsession with him, Nico felt that the two of them would be meeting again on the battlefield. Maybe even sooner than he'd think, it would definitely be something to behold.

Even so, it didn't stop the shock to his system that he got from the experience of having used Hellfire in his human form, albeit the unawakened version. There would be only one person he could consult on the matter, and that person was…

'Biko! What the hell…?!'

 **'Hmmm… interesting. It appears many changes have happened other than the availability of Soul Edge, one of them being that you can now use that weakened version of Hellfire in your base form, while its true form is likely restricted to your DPU Self. Odds are the reason for this is the re-stabilizing of your powers and the forced evolution your body had to undertake with Berserker Mode. I did not expect there to be such a drastic set of changes though. I can imagine that the Demon Skills that Crimson Soul possesses may be available to you, but I would advise not to try that for now.'** Biko explained, humming thoughtfully at this event happening.

Hellfire, an element that should have only been usable in DPU Form… now had a weaker variant he could use in his human form. Seconds passed, and the teen gradually calmed down, his eye alight with clarity and realization. Honestly, he shouldn't be surprised at this point. It felt like Soul Edge's situation, actually, both powers manifested as weaker versions of themselves in his human form, restricting their true forms and powers for his Crimson Soul self.

Nico shook his head at this information, deciding not to think about it for the time being. While in no way was he done talking with his demon persona about this, there were much bigger fish to fry right now. More specifically, the one trying to fry his comrades (and Stefan, don't forget about Stefan) into crisps. He still had to pay MAGES. and Tekken back somehow, and while he did have some things in mind, he didn't know if they would be properly satisfactory for what they've done today.

Whelp, thoughts for the future, then.

With that in mind, as well as the knowledge of his Hellfire powers being available, albeit weakened, to him now, Nico shot down towards the battle raging below. The teen got so caught up in what was happening, he didn't notice how reddish orange energy began radiating from him, his body slowly beginning to change. No, all his focus right now lay with his comrades. Nobody else would be dying today!

Not on his watch!


	97. Chapter 94 - Soul Edge PT3

**Chapter 94 - Soul Edge PT3**

PANT

PANT

PANT

'… I went out expecting to have some research done… I did not see this coming…'

Things didn't look too good for them, and IF knew it.

The Brunette currently, knelt on one knee, with her right arm completely gone, her Biomass being used to regenerate it while her Tendrils would support Stefan who was busy engaging the Butcher with MAGES. taking to the rear, opting to buff the man as best she could. The Butcher had done a successful job in slicing off her arm, she mused with the thickest of sarcasm she could muster. It had stunned her, and the sole man of the group other than Nico had taken it upon himself to be the distraction for her while she regenerated. If course, far be it for er to remain idle while her comrades were fighting for their lives, hence why she was supporting with her Tendrils.

Still though, this didn't change the facts.

A truth that, like cough medicine for adults, IF found hard to swallow.

The Butcher didn't seem to be letting up on its attacks, not one bit. Not only did it do a good job of keeping them close to it with it's hook, but the strikes that it's large Axe made dodging its wide swings just that more difficult. It swung in wide arcs, and covered a lot of ground. Her Tendrils, of which she now had the full 12 out and ready to strike at any moment, weren't of much help directly, but they'd been useful in both deflecting the Hook, as well as pulling her comrades out of the line of fire. Especially when it charged, and her comrades found themselves on sections of the platform that were seconds away from erupting into flames.

Not to mention it liked to either A: Charge at them when they were boxed in, forcing her to grab them and pull the others out of the line of fire. This one was the easier of the creature's tactics to handle, save for when multiple sections activated and the number of places IF could deposit them with her Tentacles became even more limited. That was when it became more of an annoyance, too. Fortunately, her body had developed a strong fire resistance thanks to so much exposure to heat (that bit with the coat helped a ton, too) so she could stand to be a little less careful than before, but she'd rather not lose any more Biomass to those flames thank you very much.

Then there was B: where it would launch it's Hook at them, only to have it split mid-flight and grab onto them, bringing them all in for a strike from its Axe. THAT one was a tactic it pulled more often, and it was so goddamn annoying! It must have had some form of enhancement or something cause every time it did that, IF found herself dazed and unable to do anything until just a millisecond before the Axe would cleave them in two. Thank god her Tendrils were strong enough to grab the Axe's Shaft, therefore stopping its momentum before it could bisect them. Stefan would then attack using CRUSADER'S WRATH or any other of his Holy-based Skills, delivering some sweet, sweet karma.

Last, but not least… was its right leg.

IF's eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at the offending limb, as if it had done some great injustice against her personally, and in reality, it pretty much had. It had been what had destroyed her right arm after all, as well as drained a significant portion of her Biomass, the 'how' of that scenario being lost on her. While the leg didn't look anything special, it was what was attached to its leg that had the most significance, the most reason for her to hate so much. That something, was a bone. A leg bone to be more precise, a Boar's leg bone. She knew her anatomy, she had to with how her powers relied on biology.

During the battle they had, it had just appeared there from nothing, clinging to the creature's leg like a child would when it's parent/guardian it was scared. The Bone had this glowing white aura around it, an aura that contrasted quite significantly with the reddish tint of the Butcher's skin. It almost seemed… celestial, like it was an object of divine origin. Though, she quickly discarded that thought since something like that wouldn't be caught dead having a Demon, especially one like the Butcher, as it's wielder. Even if it were the case, then it mustn't have happened naturally. Though, whatever it was, it's appearance wasn't as important as what it apparently could DO.

Whenever it's glow would intensify, IF would feel like something important was leaving her body, absorbed into the bone then transferred over to the Butcher, which would roar in delight and newfound power, while IF herself would feel like she had expended all her stamina at once. She didn't know why that was so, but in all honesty, she didn't care. That bone was a NASTY piece of work, especially for biological targets like her.

'Whatever that bone is… ngh… I have to make sure we defeat this thing before it get's a chance to be used again… otherwise we're all in deep shit…'

Soon, she found her energy returning with how her arm had fully regenerated, and so IF began to try and stand on her own two feet again. Her form shook visibly at first, her legs almost buckling under the surprising and sudden shift in weight pressed onto them. However, IF did it, she managed to get into a standing position although she stumbled about at first. The sudden loss of power she had earlier at the hand's of that leg bone did more to her than she initially thought. Still though, now that she'd gotten herself back onto her feet, she could move on to destroying that Butcher.

Her newly regenerated arm morphed once more, becoming her Tentacles that she sent towards the Butcher. Said Demon roared as it swung it's Axe, knocking them aside for IF to grimace, reflexively reacting by having 1 Tentacle wrap around the limb holding the axe. With a large roar, IF lifted the Tentacle upwards, pulling the Butcher up into the air with it as the rest of the Tentacles circled around for a repeat performance. She gave them the mental command to attack while the Butcher dangled helplessly in the air, scratching and biting at the Tentacle to try and free itself. The brunette winced, teeth gnashing together while this happened, refusing to let the creature go.

Eventually, she got all the Tentacles around her opponent, fully restraining it's limbs before angling it so it's back faced the iron platform, then she slammed the Butcher into it with all the force she could muster. She then threw it forth towards a wall, in which it righted itself in mid air and bounced off it, flying straight towards her once more. IF however, refused to allow that to happen as she launched her Tentacles in it's direction. It evaded each of them by angling itself so they would pass by it, before throwing it's hook at her. IF responded by flinging her remaining hand in it's direction, sending a wave of super-heated Biomass to deflect the Hook away from her, then launched more super-heated Biomass into it's face to send it to the platform.

Recalling her Tentacles, IF got them ready for the next round. Even with how her blood melted away at the demon's flesh, none of her instincts told her that it was dead, it wouldn't have gone down from something like that. Not when they ad once tried putting it in the Lava where it had just bounced straight back with a messed up body, only to layer itself in Hellfire and look as good as new.

"Guys!" IF yelled, glancing over to MAGES. and Stefan while she had the chance. "I'll hold it off, you guys leave this to me!" she ordered. Right now, she was probably their best bet in taking this fucker down aside from Stefan. Stefan would be needed to keep MAGES. from harms way should she fall however, which was why she decided to go at this on her own. Stefan's lack of argument against her proved to her that he knew what she had been thinking. His holy element made him much more valuable as a defense for MAGES., as it could seriously damage the Butcher. If they could get in a good opening, maybe then could he strike the fatal blow.

For now, though, IF had to deal with this asshole herself.

Gritting her teeth beneath her armor's Mask, IF launched her Tentacles again. This time though, the Butcher didn't make the same mistake twice, not wanting to go through what it had done before. Instead, it threw it's hook and split it, each one impaling each Tentacle and pinning them to the ground. IF however, responded by morphing her free hand into her Whip, launching it in a diagonal sweep that carved a diagonal slash across its chest. the Butcher roared, stumbling back and recalling it's hook to set free the woman's Tentacles.

Morphing her limbs into dual claws, IF pumped her legs full of Biomass, and in a second she had closed the distance between her and the Butcher. Obviously, this caught the creature completely off guard, evident by the open jaw and the 'what the heck?' like expression on it's face before she delivered a fierce slash upwards through it's chest, sprouting her Tendrils to impale it further. She morphed her Claws into dual Tentacles to impale it even more, ripping through its flesh in a violent, gory manner.

The Butcher stumbled backwards close to the edge, numerous holes and lacerations across its form that made it look incredibly weak. Though, to the brunette BOW that wouldn't be the case for she could sense it's power. It still had a lot left, most of t having come from her and the others thanks to that nasty bone. Hell, IF almost felt like banging her head against the walls of this damned Chamber when she saw it's aura flare while demonic power would repair the wounds she'd caused.

It definitely sucked, having such an opponent.

'Still though, like the Herald this thing has to have a limit as to how much it can regenerate...' IF thought, readying her Tentacles. Her Tendrils receded into her at this point, since she didn't need them right now. 'It may have more reserves than the Herald, but it's basically the same formula. Stefan, once he get's a shot in, can definitely force it to expend more energy on regeneration, and in that moment I can get some good damage in. Maybe even a few mutations along the way, who knows with these powers of mine?'

Her thoughts soon halted when she saw the Butcher already coming down on her with an Axe strike to her head. She bunched her Tentacles in front of her to block it, finding that thanks to them she had a much easier time in holding the Axe off. Turned out her Tentacles must have the strongest affinity with demonic power or something, maybe they were becoming her best anti demon weapons? They HAD been impaling Demons and Demonic Cultists a lot, her Claws and Axammers falling behind them.

Detaching two Tentacles from the bundle, IF had them strike with the force of a jackhammer into the Butcher's stomach, knocking the wind out of it while a third one smacked it in the top of it's head, smacking it into the Platform. She then had all her 12 Tentacles slam into the Butcher, sending it tumbling away from her until she went and launched 2 of them, 1 from each arm. They wrapped around one of it's legs each, the right leg having a stronger grip so it couldn't use the bone-at least that was what she hoped. "Since you liked the last aerial trip, how about another?!" IF yelled, smirking beneath her armor's Mask, lifting the Butcher into the air and smacking it into the ground multiple times, before tossing it straight into a wall. She didn't let up though, and launched more Tentacle stabs in it's direction, refusing to relent until she had at least pumped it's body full of holes.

The Butcher growled again, pain laced through it's muscles as the bone once again glowed brightly, IF groaning when she felt more of her power leave her.

'Ugh! Shit!'

The little extra power went straight into the Butcher's healing, helping it regenerate it's body from all the damage she had done to it, and launch itself above her head and then into a downward diagonal angle from her rear flank like a jet airplane... an airplane that would smash her into tiny pieces way more than what a normal jet airplane would.

"IF!"

Like in those famous action hero movies, everything slowed to a crawl, each action looking like they were leaving afterimages of themselves with their motions. and Stefan called out to her, each of them making to move in and intercept. The former raised her Staff for a Magic Spell, and the Later raised Ashbringer while pumping holy energy out like a water hose. However, neither of them would make it in time, and deep down the two just knew that. So did IF with her initiated fight response triggered, even as she twirled around to strike with her Tentacles, something told her that she wouldn't get out of this one unscathed. Even so, one lunged forth towards the incoming axe, both attacks generating their own headwinds with their own relevant forces acting on each other, which would likely result in another shockwave that would send everything flying. The brunette remained transfixed while twisting about to put as much force into the next blow as possible. Hopefully her regeneration would still be working after that last little bit of leeching, otherwise she'd be in deep shit.

Just as the Butcher's Axe was swung to her head...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A huge, flaming SOMETHING crashed into the center of the platform like a meteor crashing into the earth, sending rippling shockwaves through both it and the surrounding air without mercy and with great force. Stefan and MAGES. stumbled about like headless chickens, desperately trying to retain their balance from the sudden shockwaves that ripped through the metal platform. How in the hell had this place not fallen apart yet? Whelp, maybe they should count their lucky stars, cause if it did they'd be in so much shit. On a more humiliating note, Stefan became the one to fall first, falling flat on his backside with a loud THUD while MAGES. barely managed to jab the bottom end of her staff into the Platform, and used THAT as a means to support herself. Though, she almost fell over herself regardless, such was the power these shockwaves generated. She could almost feel the entire underground dungeon trembling in response to this power. To Stefan's credit (and gratitude) she didn't bother commenting about it, instead favoring looking over to the source of the shockwaves.

The Butcher on the other hand, got sent flying away from the brunette without causing any injury, leaving it to fall flat on its bloated ass instantly, but let's not talk about that.

IF meanwhile, she'd used her Tentacles for balance, jabbing them into the platform to stabilize herself. Though, her eyes glistened when she felt something the moment she impaled her Tentacles into the damn thing. Strange, why did the platform feel… off? Like a machine hat had instantaneously lost one of it's pieces or something along those lines. Her instincts told her that this new arrival had something to do with that, but meh. She shook her head, that wasn't Important right now, whatever the source of those flames however, was. Whatever had been ballsy enough to interrupt them had not only done that, but probably saved the remainder of IF's Biomass from getting skewered.

Looking into the flames, IF saw a figure kneeling in the middle of the flames, a figure that, as time passed, she soon began to recognize. Her eyes widened in shock, disbelief and slight exaggeration as a wry smirk tugged at her lips. Recognition flashed though her being as she released an exasperated sigh from her lips, one human right hand on her hip. 'Heh, you sure took your sweet time, huh…?' she couldn't help but comment in her mind.

Finally, the figure stood tall, levitating till he hovered just above the ground before raising an arm and swiping horizontally, dispersing the flames instantly. Remnants of them could be seen as floating embers that fell down towards the iron of the Platform, but they soon got forgotten about as everyone's attention focused on the figure's form. To MAGES. and Stefan, the figure was someone that they had never seen before, and thus didn't feel too eager to trust him. Not when his power felt just like that of the Butcher's, only much greater in scale and potency.

But to the Brunette BOW however, it felt like the return of an old friend.

Floating before them, clad in his signature orangish red armour…

Was the DPU of Gamindustri: Crimson Soul.

The waves of power she could sense, the way that his body's aura flickered like a dangerous flame, the way his eyes, crimson red with those demonic power button symbols in them, sent waves of nostalgia through her system, making IF exhale sharply. Man, how long had it been since Nico had went DDD? Honestly, IF had at one point, expected him to try and transform sooner, but maybe he didn't want to aggravate his unstable powers. Yeah, that felt right, especially with what he told them after Neptune's little… stunt (She still felt anger at Neptune for that one, but the reasoning felt different in comparison). As long as she had known him, Nico had always shown himself to be a cautious individual, especially when information about his powers was concerned. She couldn't blame him, either, not with what she knew about him, yet it made sense why he would have mixed feelings about using those powers again after going bonkers like he did before. Was it just her, or did Nico have a habit of going berserk a lot?

Whelp, no need to think about that, let's go greet the guy for now, shall we?

With that, the brown-haired woman began striding over to Crimson Soul, whom looked to be examining himself like he was a completely different person.

… Huh.

So, this was a thing.

That was the sole thought that ran through his mind as Crimson Soul looked at himself, starting with his hands and then to the rest of his body. The sight of his gauntlets instead of the black sleeves of his human self's Trench Coat both baffled and relieved him, among other emotions. Emotions that his DPU side suppressed mostly, but he could still feel them. Even more baffling was the power that flowed through him like an overflowing flood, power he had long since forgotten about.

It felt like his demonic energy reserves back in human form, however this time it felt much more powerful. It still kept it's orangish red colours, however when he experimented by producing a ball of Hellfire, it appeared with black and red colouring, just like with the Defiler. In his mind, Crimson Soul realised something, the battle with the Defiler might be the last time he'd used this power and got to fight with it. Wow… the author made him so OP in human form that his DPU Form got neglected, huh?

Wait, what?

Anyways, back to observing himself.

One thing he noticed though, was Soul Edge. It apparently had changed back to it's sword form when he transformed, but not the same form he remembered using in his human form. No, this form… it was EXACTLY like the one that his Berserker Mode wielded, no, it WAS that form it took back then. The size, shape, teeth, everything. Not only that, but the way that it floated before him, it's hilt reaching his chest level, made him feel slightly cautious of the blade. Especially with how much power it radiated, which practically looked like this hazy fog, or a veil concealing it from view... while also keeping those unworthy away from it by warning them with it's presence alone. It was like it was saying 'you get near me and you'll suffer for it, bitch.' Just looking at the blade made Crimson Soul feel like he was beings tared at by a thousand hungry Wolves, all ready to pounce on him at any moment of opportunity.

Nevertheless, not once did he feel threatened by the sword, not when he was it's rightful master. He knew this, it knew this, which was why when he reached for the sword's hilt, Soul Edge's aura peeled away like a set of curtains prepping way for a play in a theatre. The man's gauntlet clad hand grasped at the hilt, the hand's digits wrapping around it to send a wave of nostalgia through him. Crimson Soul's weapon may look different, but it's core feel hadn't changed one bit. No words could describe the joy that filled his being, enough for Crimson Soul to let out a wry smirk on his lips. It felt REAL GOOD to grasp this blade the way it was right now, he didn't really understand why but it just did. It felt like he was reuniting with a long-lost friend who had been reportedly killed in a previous battle. The fact that he could feel the joyous emotions through Soul Edge via their soul link only added on to these feelings.

Once he grasped the blade's grip, Crimson Soul held it in a horizontal position before raising it to the ceiling… and bringing it down. The resulting slash created a massive energy trail composed of pure demonic power, running through the wall in a clean cut. After the energy dispersed seconds later, there was nothing left of where it had touched, like it had all but disintegrated into nothingness. There was now a gap in the platform shaped like a Gash, but one that reached the walls on the other side. Hell, Crimson Soul even noted how, though temporarily, the magma below looked like it had been split apart by the swing alone.

'Hmmm… it appears Soul Edge's true form has significantly more power than what initially expected… despite its other form in my human state having enough power to use the majority of it's abilities, the difference in power scaling is obvious.' The DPU thought while looking over to the Blade he wielded. He could feel Soul Edge cackling like a demented psychopath inside their link, the blade's form shaking slightly in his hand. That was just a normal swing of Soul Edge in it's true form, and it had blown through the building like warm tofu. If THAT was what happened with a normal swing, what would happen if he were to, well… amped up the power a bit?

Honestly, Crimson Soul's warrior instincts were screaming at him to try testing it out.

The sounds of boots meeting metal reached his ears, making Crimson Soul look to the source to see IF walking up to him. The male arched a brow at this development, but nonetheless relaxed in her presence. His human self's fondness towards her had been enough to carry over to his DPU side, a great indicator of how much he valued her company and as a person. "Greetings, IF." Crimson Soul greeted curtly, nodding towards her while lifting Soul Edge's true form and holding it at his side while he turned to face her. "It is relieving to see that you are unharmed."

The Butcher, which had gotten up from its former position on the ground, didn't use many of its few brain cells to notice the danger that was present in that male, and thus tried to attack him by throwing it's Hook in his Direction. However, it didn't seem like the DPU saw this as much of a threat, judging by the lack of tension in his shoulders Instead, Soul Edge instantly transformed itself, melting into it's formless mass state and reforming all in a matter of a nanosecond, into a new form Crimson Soul could use.

A form that he used to deflect the Hook away from him.

It looked to be shaped like a traditional Longbow, but with demonic flesh for the base, a string shaped like that of a human's entrails, and multiple eyes along the base, each one glancing about in random directions before they focused upon the Butcher. The older version of Nico swiftly pulled the string backwards, the Bow forming a crimson, wicked looking demonic Harpoon-like Arrow as he did so. In the next moment, the arrow was coated in black and red Hellfire, before being launched with the speed and force of a Tank main gun shell.

The bow's Arrow flew true, hitting the Butcher before it could do anything. Or rather, it just stood there intending to take it, thinking that the arrow would just bounce harmlessly off it's hide like any other attack that had landed on it ever since this fight first began. The arrow hit dead centre, and the creature curved it's lips upwards as best it could to mimic a mocking smirk, thinking the attack failed… only to soon realise in a particularly PAINFUL manner that it had been oh so wrong, for when it struck the arrow made the creature bend forwards more than what it's body should allow, gasps that released a mix of saliva and blood leaving it's maw as it got sent flying into the closed gate behind it. The Butcher fell to the ground, and Crimson Soul shot more arrows to destroy the walls above it, burying the monster in pile of debris.

Turning back to IF, whose face now had that comical look of shock to it now that he had dispersed the enemy which they had spent so long fighting for a while, Crimson Soul tilted his head to the side, a look of confusion on what could be seen of his face thanks to his helmet. Though, like a certain Nurse-In-Training, a question marked popped up beside his head repeatedly, giving him the look of a demonic yet innocent child who didn't understand why people were looking at him funny. "What? Why do you look so surprised?"

"Uhhhhh, geez, I don't know." IF retorted with a snarky undertone, a hand on her hip as she pointed behind him to where the Butcher lay. "Maybe because you just practically one-shot something me and the others have been busting our asses off to beat?" She suggested, though to Crimson Soul, it sounded more like a statement than anything else. He also detected a mix of incredulity, exasperation, annoyance and a slight tad of amusement deep down, though he didn't know what would be so amusing about this situation, especially with how she was looking at him right now.

This caused the transformed teen to raise a brow with a hum in his throat. Was that the reason why she seemed so annoyed? Wait, no, that wasn't right. Now that he looked more closely, Crimson Soul noted that the level of annoyance he could see wasn't as bad as he first expected, still big but not as bad as he thought. Glancing over to the downed Butcher for a moment, the DPU turned his head back to her and eyed her with his crimson eyes. If he had actual irises instead of power button symbols, then they would have carried the curious/confused gleam in them much better. "It is not down yet, I may have caught it by surprise, but it is not dead yet." he told her.

IF merely blinked, her ire with how he'd taken her kill (ire not anger, considering he just gave her a whole load of satisfaction seeing the look on it's face when it's defences wouldn't hold), fading away faster than N# M#a S#y's player base. She'd thought he'd killed it just then, so why was he saying that it was still alive? Before she could question it however, her ears twitched as her enhanced hearing picked something up within the debris. A weakened, yet still stable thumping sound… a heartbeat. Her eyes hardened, it looked like the Butcher still lived. "Now that you say that, I can hear it's heartbeat. That thing Just won't give up." She remarked while morphing her arms into dual claws, her armour glimmering menacingly while she replaced her Tendrils for her Wings.

"I have a plan of attack that we can use." Crimson Soul stated, getting her attention. He then gestured to MAGES. and Stefan whom had walked up to join them, seeing as how the new arrival was actually talking to them and not trying to cleave them apart with that blade of his. "Ma-no, MAGES. In your arsenal of spells, there should be a teleportation Spell for emergency travel, am I correct?"

The blue haired Mage nodded, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she wondered what he was thinking. However, that wasn't the only thing on her mind at the moment, as her eyes ran over Crimson Soul's form. "You… I recognize you from somewhere. Your energy feels familiar to me…" she muttered, frowning. Her eyes then widened in surprise when she figured it out by looking at the blade Crimson Soul wielded, or to be more specific the facial features that it possessed which reminded her of the sword a certain someone used before. "By any chance, would you be the Spec Ops Agent DEATHSTROKE?"

Stefan became bug eyed at the Mad Magician, his jaw unhinged thanks to her words while Crimson Soul nodded his head at her. "Indeed, although in this form I go by Crimson Soul. The time for explanations will come later, do you or do you not have an ability like the one I theorized?" he asked her once more. In hindsight, Crimson Soul should have expected this from her, by his reckoning this would be the first time that she had seen him in this state, since he'd never transformed in front of her before. Tekken probably wouldn't have known about it since he transformed back when they last met after she got knocked out, and Stefan would be a 'no brainer' as kids would call it. Still. Though, they would have to wait for the answers, since they were still in the middle of enemy territory.

It seemed that MAGES. and Stefan also realised this, for they too shut their mouths and adopted serious looks once more, the mad magician nodding in response. "I do. However, it takes time to prepare, and the maximum distance isn't all that great."

"Will it take us out of this Dungeon?"

"It should, but I will be exhausted afterwards."

"That is fine. We'll buy you some time, you focus on the Spell."

With those orders given, Mages jumped to the edge of the Platform and began chanting the runic language while holding her Staff horizontally in front of her. A Series of magic circles appeared before and around her, signalling the beginning of the Spell. Looking to the rest of them, Crimson Soul raised his weapon and pointed to the debris. "Once the enemy is back on it's feet, it will do all it can to end us, we must not let that happen. Fight as if you were fighting for your life, and you will survive." He told them, getting firm nods from IF and Stefan, although the latter still held some form of unease around him. Crimson Soul ignored this for the moment, however, focusing more on their survival than anything else.

"Say, what do we do about the platform? It randomly combusts, you know."

"It will do that no longer, I smashed it with demonic power that destroyed the Wards responsible for that annoyance with my landing. We will be fine without it. In the meantime, focus, the enemy is coming."

It turned out Crimson Soul had been right, for right after he said those words, the Butcher roared in fury as it burst out the debris, looking absolutely livid as it yelled out through the top of it's lungs: "WILL! DEVOUR! MEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!" it's roar shook the entire chamber with how loud it was, and IF barely shut down her hearing in time so that her eardrums wouldn't shatter from the sheer volume. Only when it stopped, and she figured this out from how it's mouth closed, did she re-activate her eardrums. Manipulation of Biology could be so helpful at times.

Wordlessly however, Crimson Soul struck first, reshaping his wings into several long arms that lunged forwards, intent on grabbing the Butcher. However, the DPU narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the leg bone around it's leg seemed to shine brighter than normal for a brief moment, and instantly afterwards felt his energy leave his body. 'Ugh…! What the…?!'

'Looks like that bone functions as some form of leech, giving the energy it absorbs from it's wielder's opponents to empower the wielder from what I can see. I am unable to ascertain the nature of that bone however, but I can say that it is indeed nor normal.'

Biko explained this while IF ran past him, yelling while looking behind at him. "No good dude, that bone seems to absorb our powers and add it to this bastard's own!" after yelling that, she and Stefan closed in from multiple sides, the former bearing her claws out for all to see before she dashed forth like a blur, cutting into the creature's hide with multiple claw swings and using her wings to block it's Axe from cleaving her in two. She pushed upwards, and the Butcher was forced back.

This allowed Stefan to jog up to it and unleash a CRUSADER STRIKE on it's exposed belly. The man dashed forth and stopped behind it, the Butcher stumbling backwards while it's wound sizzled from the holy energy imbued into the strike. Stefan refused to let up though, as he twisted on his feet and ran back towards it, dodging the Hook it threw at him by ducking and sliding into a TEMPLAR'S VERDICT, landing repeated slashes on his opponent before ending in a reverse spinning slash.

His actions enraged the Butcher, the holy energy filling it with a searing pain that it refused to let go unpunished. Turning towards him, the creature snarled like a wild animal on a blind rage. It raised it's Axe and tried to smash him, only for Stefan to use a HAMMER OF JUSTICE Skill attack on it's head, knocking it into a dazed state long enough for him to get away. That time frame however, lasted only a few seconds before it regained it's bearings, but that would be enough for Crimson Soul to resume his offensive.

"INFERNITY EDGE!"

Crimson Soul's sword became engulfed in Hellfire as he slashed across the Butcher's arm, making it explode right after. The creature roared in pain, clutching it's burning arm in intense agony while it stumbled about, but the DPU wasn't finished yet. He spun around, having the Hellfire enlarge Soul Edge's size before he brought it down, intent on cleaving the Butcher in two.

However, the creature barely reacted in time, and managed to roll off to the side, getting back onto it's feet after a few roles. The Butcher growled and glared hatefully at him, it's arm erupting into it's own Hellfire. To Crimson Soul's surprise, both flames cancelled each other out, resulting in their vanishing to reveal It's horribly singed right arm. Looked like it would take some time to recover, he theorized, but soon after he found that theory to became wrong when it pushed past the pain and gripped it's Axe, throwing it's Hook in his direction. Crimson Soul had his Wings form a Shell in front of him, blocking the Hook from hitting him as he flicked his Tail in it's direction, launching shrapnel shaped segments from it's body into the Butcher's flesh.

Unlike before with Soul Edge's Bow and Arrow however, the segments merely bounced off it's damaged hide. Still hurt since some of them flew true and dug into its wounds, but the others had no such luck. To him, it reminded the DPU of a tiger still having some juice left after fighting a vicious foe. 'It looks like it's hide still has some quality in it's armour. I will have to expose those chinks more if I wish to bring this beast down.' He thought, switching Soul Edge into an Axe form all it's own.

The Axe form of Soul Edge manifested as a two-handed Axe with two blades on its end, each blade sporting double ends. The blunt sides of the blades were fleshy like the other transformations this blade had, with metallic edges and 1 eye each at the base of the blades. The shaft was crimson red and chitinous.

He could sense that there were additional forms that his weapon could take, which begged the question: just how versatile could this sword be?

No matter, they had a battle to win, and the more options they had, the better.

Holding Soul Edge in Axe form, Crimson Soul dashed forwards and swung at it's head, hoping to cleave it from it's shoulders. He expected it to try and dodge it, so he could twist around into an overhead strike, but what he did NOT expect was for it to shoulder rush him, knocking him to the ground. Crimson Soul refused to stay lying down however, morphing his Wings into 20 Tendrils that whacked the creature away from him along with his prehensile Tail, while making makeshift supports to push him back onto his feet. They morphed back to normal afterwards, though.

'It seems that some debuffing is in order. Normally I wouldn't resort to something like that, however it will serve to buy us more time for MAGES. to ready her spell.' Crimson Soul thought, raising Soul Edge and holding it in a Japanese sword stance. The Blade released a single pulse-like sound from within it's mass, the teeth almost shifting as if they were alive. "SCORCHING AURA!"

Immediately, changes could be seen and felt throughout the battlefield. Soul Edge brandished a fierce crimson glow around itself as a show of intimidation where its power radiated from it like a thick miasma of disease. This sight did it's work, drawing the Butcher's gaze to its form like a magnet and forcing the image of its eye on it in to The Butcher's mind. The effects became visible quickly, with how it's energy seemed to lower in intensity, as did it's bloodlust and tense muscles.

This was one of Soul Edge's debuff-based powers. According to what it told him, this ability apparently lowered it's target's attack power and mobility, thanks to it's form intimidating them enough to make them second guess themselves. Obviously, this wouldn't have worked on beings with powerful wills, the stronger the target's willpower the lesser the impact the effects had.

Not something Crimson Soul liked to use, however he would do so if it would buy time for his comrades.

Once again, the DPU morphed his Soul Edge into another one of it's forms: that being a freaking Beyblade. The Beyblade form manifested as a purely metallic 8-bladed Beyblade, with the blunt sides being a demonic red with the edges being silver. They form in layers of 2, and rotate in different directions for better cutting power. All the while, IF had charged in and distracted the Butcher with a series of strikes from her claws, mixing in some Skill attacks like DEMON FLAMES and LA DELPHINUS. In all honesty, Crimson Soul had almost forgotten about those abilities, it had been a while since their last use after all. Guess she saw that flames and light attacks were more effective than physical ones.

"IF, get back!"

His cry made her eyes widen as she quickly followed his instructions, jumping back from the Butcher when I swing it's Hook to try and cleave her in two. Just as it did though, Crimson Soul tossed the Beyblade form of Soul Edge towards his foe. As it flew true towards it's target, Crimson Soul's eyes became glued to the weapon, especially when he noticed the atmosphere around it… bend, for lack of a better word. Like, it was rotating so fast that it was bending the space around it.

In the next instance, the Beyblade met with the creature's demonic Axe, swung with it's horribly charred limb. The two weapons collided with each other, sending rippling shockwaves through the air while blowing away the Magma below into the walls. They briefly competed for dominance, with the Axe and Beyblade pushing against each other in their battle for dominance. Because of the creature's earlier wound however, the Axe fell short, and the Beyblade finally broke through it's defences, shattering the Axe while it severed the creature's arm at the stump quickly after.

"Grooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

The Butcher let out a shrill shriek while clutching it's stump as best it could, nearly falling onto it's ass with how unbalance it became. It only barely stopped itself, though blood constantly poured free from it's socket like a waterfall, despite the hand clutching over it with a Hook in it's grip.

Crimson Soul frowned while making a hand gesture, the Beyblade form of Soul Edge coming back around in a circular arch for another pass at the Butcher. With it's lack of an arm, the creature's threat level had decreased drastically, but it would not be defeated so easily. He'd be a fool to think otherwise as he made a twisting gesture with his wrist. The moment he did so, the Beyblade suddenly split apart, becoming 4 single separate Beyblades that struck it from both it's left and right flanks. He noticed that they weren't bending space like they were before, so the cost of this must be rotating power.

Good to know.

Broken.

That was the sole thought the brunette and Ostermark Leader had on the sword's abilities as they watched it's wielder recall the small Beyblades and reform them back into it's true form.

"… Alright, I must admit, that Sword is OP." Stefan muttered from his spot on the platform. He'd been waiting for his opportunity to strike, close by to MAGES., while casting LIGHT FLASH on himself as well as the Mad Magician to raise their energy reserves. Though, that opportunity so far never really came thanks to Soul Edge practically wrecking that thing's shit. 'Though, if I were honest, I'd rather it be me and IF curb stomping this thing, but we can't argue with results, now can we?'

IF rolled her eyes as she reared her right arm back, transforming it into her Tentacles. "Welcome to our world, pal. It sucks doesn't it?" she remarked smartly, before throwing her Tentacles forwards. They lunged through the air like flying serpents, impaling the Butcher through the wounds on it's hide with no regard for subtlety, tearing through flesh and bone with their built-up thrusting power.

The Bone on it's leg once again shined however, and this time IF, Stefan, and Crimson Soul felt their energy leaving their bodies into the Bone. The bone then transferred that energy to the Butcher, which gave a loud outcry as it's wounds healed over, growing a new arm as well as restoring it's Axe to it's full power. The Butcher growled viciously at them afterwards, its small eyes gleaming with bloodlust as it threw it's Hook at them. The Hook once again split into multiple, intending to drag them into the Butcher's grasp. However, Crimson Soul recovered faster, and made a horizontal slash with Soul Edge, releasing a wave of Hellfire in it's direction. The creature had to jump high into the air to dodge the wave, before it came back down for a body slam on top of the DPU.

Said DPU scowled as he reared Soul Edge back and swung it like a golf club, smacking the creature away from him and sending it tumbling across the platform. The sight of a grown ass man, swinging his sword to strike something well beyond his size and weight… didn't really do logic any favours, but hey, since when did this world follow conventional logic?

Still though…

"That bone is extremely irritating…" Crimson Soul muttered under his breath, glaring at the leg bone with distaste with his crimson eyes. That thing had taken a lot out of his comrades, about 60% of their total reserves. It wouldn't be too surprising if they start to feel the effects soon, however on his side it had only taken 20% of his total energy reserves, so he could afford to keep going. It seemed to not only take energy from them though, but also apply it to the user and enhance their regeneration capabilities. That was the only reason he could think of to how the Butcher could heal itself so quickly. Its demonic powers seemed to focus more on the manipulation of Hellfire than anything, too, so it's capacity to heal if taking the Spirit Bone out of the equation, would be sub-par compared to other Demonic deities.

This healing must also extend to the weapons it wielded, considering how the energy reformed it's broken Axe. That was something he hadn't expected to see, as according to IF, the demons she fought only healed their own injuries with their energies, not their weapons. If they were indeed damaged in a fight, Crimson Soul felt like they would use the torment of the Souls trapped within their demonic weapons to repair them.

Even so, they still had a plan to achieve.

Though… he wouldn't be part of it.

Looking over to MAGES., the DPU shouted over to her when he noticed how brightly the magic Circles were glowing. According to his limited knowledge on Wards supplied by Biko, that meant that the spells had been supplied with plenty of sufficient Mana for it to operate. "Is the spell ready yet?"

"Indeed! Just waiting on you guys!" she replied, twirling er Staff and getting into a stance. She held a hand over her face like a chuni would, before nodding over to Crimson Soul to state that she was indeed ready to activate the Spell.

Taking that as a sign as it was intended, the DPU nodded before he raised Sul Edge and flung a Hellfire Fireball towards the Butcher, which quickly rolled to the side to dodge it. However, that only served to distract it long enough for him to activate one of Soul Edge's powers: the power of telekinesis. Before, Crimson Soul could only manipulate Soul Edge with his mind, making it attack by itself while he focused on other abilities. Now though, he just KNEW there was something else to this power, something that got proven right when he commanded Soul Edge to do his will.

The sword obeyed, before emitting a strange red aura, unlike that of which it formed before.

Instantly, IF and Stefan got surrounded by this red aura, an aura which lifted them off the ground (inciting some surprised sounds from the two) before moving them towards MAGES. position at high speeds. "Hey, what the?!" he heard the brunette exclaim, but he didn't give her an answer. The owner of the sword quickly glanced to MAGES., and the Mad Magician took that as a sign to do what must be done.

"Hey, what are you-?!"

IF tried to say something again when her feet touched the ground, however the Mad Magician's Spell kicked in as they all vanished out of existence, like a faint blip on a radar.

Leaving the two demonic entities alone in the Chamber of Suffering.

Like a switch had been flipped, Soul Edge suddenly began releasing an extraordinary amount of power from deep within, while it's wielder turned back towards the Butcher with a look of murder shining in his eyes. His comrades were gone, and more importantly, out of harms way. He'd fulfilled his pledge to them on his honor as DEATHSTROKE, now to finish this fucker off.

"Alright, it is time, foolish foe… time to meet your maker."


	98. Chapter 95 - Epic Climax

**Chapter 95 - Epic Climax**

FLASH!

A small flash erupted within a forest, one that vanished seconds later. Though, it did not leave without leaving nothing behind to indicate it had happened, as a certain group of three reappeared there, in the physical world, but outside Leoric's Manor about 20 miles away. Having of course, been teleported out of there by the actions of one. The Moment they did so, IF turned to MAGES. with a look of confusion and anger on her features, shining like the lights of a lighthouse. Fury coursed through her at both her actions, and what Crimson Soul just did. "Hey, what the hell? Why didn't you wait for him to finish?" she demanded to know from MAGES in a heated manner.

In contrast, the Mad Magician didn't look nearly as emotion, coolly answering IF's question as she controlled her breathing. This was accompanied by her leaning on her staff slightly, though not being too noticeable. Despite Stefan enhancing her Mana Reserves, that Spell took a lot of her power. Therefore, she'd likely not be able to cast much high tier magic like that again for a while. At least, if she didn't get some good rest soon enough. "He wanted us to leave the vicinity, so he could focus on the enemy. It wasn't directly said but was implied." MAGES. replied, frowning as she looked over to the Manor. Her eyes glanced over it's structure, her gaze a complex one that IF didn't really bother paying attention to. "I only confirmed this when he looked to my direction. He didn't want us nearby for some reason."

Stefan, was currently leaned his armour-clad body against a tree's trunk while Ashbringer leaned Against the same tree beside him, spoke up before IF could say any more, as she had been about to open her mouth anyways, probably to refute that claim or something. "Before you say anything, I too had my suspicions. Ever since we saw him swing that sword and carve that slash through the Chamber, I saw a light in his eyes. It was obvious to me that he wanted to see how far that sword's destructive powers could go, but he didn't want us to be nearby when he did. He didn't want any casualties on his side of the battle." Stefan explained.

Honestly, seeing this type of action made him slightly less afraid of the demonic form that Nico had taken. Demons weren't particularly caring for others, he'd seen that a few times whenever he saw a couple Demons try to eat each other and devour each other's souls. The fact that this one even bothered to care about their safety showed him that there was a difference between him and them. Not like he would completely trust it, oh no that would wait to be seen, however so far it was off to a decent start. Plus, there would be answers to give later.

Depending on those answers, he'd decide whether or not to report it to the public.

Meanwhile, IF tried to say something, anything, to counter what they said. Maybe it was irrational of her, but she just couldn't help but be furious with what just happened. No, that wasn't quite right, she supposed frustrated and annoyed fit her current state of mid better. IF wasn't some damsel in distress, she was a warrior, she was a mercenary! She wasn't someone who had to be coddled like a pretty wallflower. Therefore, being sent out of the battle like that really didn't help her wounded pride.

Then again, as much as she hated this course of action, IF grudgingly admitted to herself that those two made good points. She too had noticed the way Crimson Soul looked when he made that slash after transforming. To her, it looked like things had changed, at least in regards to his abilities, and he wanted to test just how much those things had changed. However, out of all of the Party, it would likely be Crimson Soul who knew the exact nature of his powers the best. Therefore, he must have seen that it would have been too risky to have them nearby when he unleashed his power, whatever that may be. Still though, that wouldn't save him from her ire when he got back…

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

In an instant, the Party became drawn to the Manor of King Leoric, or rather, what would be the remains of it when the entire thing got consumed when a massive, and by massive they meant COLLOSSAL pillar of pure black Hellfire with a red outline exploded all around it. it was like they were looking at the core of the sun itself, burning with righteous fury and wrath, no sense of mercy or gentleness to be seen. The Manor got trapped within it's infernal embrace, and from what they could see everything within it began melting faster than an ice scream in the middle of a hot desert. Heat roared like a lion as it swept across the surroundings, almost setting everything around the pillar of Hellfire alight with it's scorching touch, leaving nothing but ashes in it's wake. Instead, all the trio could do was cover their faces with their arms from the hot, dry winds that erupted from the pillar, nothing but sheer helplessness coursing through them at the spectacle before them.

"Holy…"

"By Lady Green Heart…"

IF and Stefan gaped at what they saw, their eyes wider than dinner plates while their individual powers receded inside of them. IF no longer wore her armour, her arms returned to a human's, and Stefan no longer radiated the holy power that came from Ashbringer. No, it would make more sense to say that the spectacle happening before their very eyes, brought those powers up and smacked down on them till they were forced to submit to it's might. Never before had the two felt so small, so helpless and insignificant before the presence of something like this, never in their lives.

The brunette had to wonder though, if she stayed with the Party then would more moments like these come up in the future?

…

…

…

Probably.

Meh, she could deal with that.

Part of her wondered where all that anger she felt before suddenly ran off too. That point soon became moot.

"I believe…" MAGES. began as she witnessed the flames. Her eyes wandered across the flames outer edges, where the crimson outlines lay as they flared about like a wild berserker. The amount of power she was sensing… it felt like an ever-expanding abyss, trying to swallow everything within it's vicinity into it's ever expanding maw. She could hardly feel anything within the mass of power as it coursed over her senses. In all her years as a Magician, MAGES. hadn't felt anything like this power before. It felt so large, so vast… yet also raw, primal, savage and bloodthirsty, only held back by one overriding will. A will that had to be considered particularly powerful in order to hold all this power like it was. Nevertheless, she indeed had an idea of who had been the one causing such a phenomenon. "That none of us would have been alive if we had stayed in that place…"

All of them could only nod in agreement with her…

Then, they noticed something coming out of the flames.

* * *

Eyes opened slowly, a pained groan escaping his lips. One Nico groaned as his form stirred, though he had no idea why. The teen shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his mind, and then looked about to find himself within the centre of the Coliseum, the one that was housed within his Inner World. Not something he honestly expected to happen, but then again, what else was new at this point? Still though, what the hell? Why the hell was he here?

"I see you have finally awakened, Nico. Good."

The familiar aged, wisdom-filled voice of his demon persona echoed within his ears and throughout the entirety of the coliseum, filling him with a sense of security and warmth that wasn't all that different from whenever he used his Hellfire. Only, it didn't burn away at him like it did on his enemies. Nico quickly stood to his feet and twirled around, noticing that the source was standing on top of one of the stands nearby, looking sown at him with his ever-emotionless stare. His wings tucked themselves in behind him, with one of Soul Edge's dual swords from it's said form strapped diagonally to his back by, from what Nico could sense, demonic power. Judging by his posture, though it was quite difficult to tell for those who didn't know Biko as well as Nico did, the teen found that something must have happened, something big.

With what he had on hand, Nico chose the right questions to ask first. "If I'm here, that must mean I fell unconscious, right?" he asked him. "The only thing I could think of that would make me fall unconscious like this would be something to do with my demonic powers." He theorized, before looking back up towards his demon persona. "So, did I get it right?"

Biko furrowed his brows, not offering any other type of sign for him. "Close, but not quite." He replied, hopping into the air before flaring his wings. This allowed him to glide down to the stadium floor, but he just remained floating above it while facing the main aspect. "It is a combination of subjects that lead to you coming here, in truth. The fact that you have been in constant combat for a prolonged time period, the fact that you spent the majority of the time using your Devil Arms, even multiple different ones. The fact that Soul Edge was used in both it's weaker and true form in such close intervals, as well as the quick usage of your DDD form, resulted in the strain on your body being too much. With how you have just regained your powers, and how long it's been since your body used it, the strain DDD put on you was considerable. Then, there was the prolonged use of multiple Devil Arms throughout this battle, and I say that taking into all the foes you have fought in this place. You are used to using them once or twice, and in this case, you were only using them when they weren't giving you their full power. Now though, your body bore the full brunt of the strain from them, your newly regained DPU Form, as well as from Soul Edge."

Nico had to wince at what he was told, just from his words alone Nico could imagine the type of strain his body had been put under. That, and what he didn't mention was the release of his hidden weapon. The fact that he had used it at all, meant that his body had been busy trying to adjust to what he would allow it to be like. That was even amongst the burden his body must have been under when he used his Devil Arms, and to top it all off, he'd used Soul Edge in it's weakened state, plus his Hellfire DPU powers, and lastly Soul Edge in it's true form. It just seemed like a bunch of building blocks that kept piling on over his shoulders, and his body must have finally been unable to support the combined weight. That was what he got from Biko's explanation, something that the teen winced on.

He figured the only reason he'd lasted so long was a mix of willpower and adrenaline. There had been a LOT of combat scenarios now that he thought about it, so he wouldn't have felt if his body was succumbing to the strain Devil Arms put on him.

That was the thing with Devil Arms, they usually put massive strains on the body of the host they wielded, that was something Nico had found out the hard way when he first found and equipped Rebellion. It had felt painful at first, so painful like being tossed inside a human shredder, then stitched back together. Ever since, he always felt the weight that the Devil Arm placed on him, even when he put it in his Void Storage, like it would always be there on his back, ready and waiting for the chance to be used once more.

Then, his mind wandered over to the rest of the group, most common among them being IF and Tekken. A bunch of questions ran through his mind all at once, but they most revolved around the following: What happened to them? Were they Alright? Did they survive? Panic filled his lungs at the thought of failing his comrades, if he were to have failed them when he'd vowed not to, then Nico surely would have died of madness. Oh yeah, he'd feel VERY Certain of that.

Biko however, seemed to know his thoughts however, as he raised a placating hand in the teen's direction. "Do not be alarmed, those whom you travelled with are alright, that young Magician, MAGES. I believe her name is, managed to get them out before things got out of hand. Aside from some wounded pride, your comrades are otherwise unharmed." He explained, getting a loud sigh of relief from the male.

"I see… Well, that's something, then. Glad they're aright… wait, what happened? Last thing I remember was a burst of flame and then…"

"When we fought that Butcher, you unleashed a large portion of Soul Edge's destructive power, and from that the entire underground dungeon, it's levels, and the Mar itself was destroyed, throwing you out of it unconscious and back in human form. Fortunately for us, our body will just need rest to regather its strength. Because you have already had prior experience with the strain Devil Arms place on you, and the usage of your Demonic powers helped lessen the burden somewhat, it isn't as serious as it could have been. By the time that you wake up, you should be at full power, 100% at last." Now THAT was something Nico had to look forward to, and it showed by the small smirk on his lips and the eager glint in his eye. For the first time since this journey of his began, Nico wasn't nerfed in any way. He didn't lose his Armour (he willingly gave it to Tekken to get medical treatment) and he'd regained his full powers though it deemed that he would need to readjust to them if he wanted to use them effectively. A small price to pay in his book. "Now that we have our Powers back in full, we can now commence with the training."

Now THAT got his attention. "Whoa, whoa, time out." Nico exclaimed, waving his arms in front of him in a placating manner. "I thought you said my body was in too much strain and needed to recover."

Biko indeed nodded at this statement. "I did say that. However, the physical and mental data sent to your body, for this once, will be gathered up first before being sent to it, so as to not break what has just been mended. This was changed by myself so we can get started with your training as soon as you arrived into your inner world." Biko explained, reaching behind him and drawing Soul Edge. "For now, I will send you data on your current Skillset, for your Soul Edge now has a series of new powers that need to be discussed."

A large stream of information got sent into Nico's head, and the teen had to grit his teeth while holding the side of his skull lest it shatter upon the transfer of what felt like a treasure trove of knowledge. Yet, despite the pain he felt like he was inn, the teenage Spec Ops Agent felt like he could understand it all as clear as crystal:

* * *

 **Soul Edge**

 **Soul Edge** – Crimson Soul's weapon, but most certainly not the weakest. It is a demonic sword much like the ones his human form wields, however it is significantly more powerful and has high variation in its abilities. It has the appearance of a giant sword with demonic crimson flesh filling the blunt side of the blade. At the base of the hilt, there was a yellow slitted eye with one side of the sword featured a fleshy blade with a metallic edge. It has a varied amount of abilities that stem from the eye at the hilt's base, such as forming and releasing Fireballs from the tip, beams that are released from the metallic edge once its coated in flames that home in on their target, as well as unleashed a fiery trail of flames along the ground that stretches to over 30 feet tall. Once Nico's Hellfire powers are fully unlocked, they can be applied to Soul Edge for increased attack power.

· Shapeshifting – Depending on the style of combat Crimson Soul wishes, Soul Edge can change its form to suit its master's needs. It can turn into a series of deadly weapons for various situations, these weapons being:

1\. Hammer – In Hammer form, Soul Edge manifests a long, crimson shaft made from demonic flesh, small slitted eyes scattered through the shaft save for the hardened chitin grips. Its end is reminiscent of a single-ended bushing hammer, with a rear end shaped like a twisted, wicked curved claw. Between the two ends is a large slitted eye, while demonic growth keeps the metallic ends attached to the shaft.

2\. Cleaver – Soul Edge takes the form of a two-handed Cleaver, rivalling its base form in length. Its main blade is organic and crimson, with its Eye located at the end of the weapon, while it sported a multi-curved metallic edge for slashing.

3\. Dual Swords – Both swords had the same fleshy grips, with handguards that had human skulls built in, their heads sporting curved demonic horns that curved around the fleshy hilts. Above the skulls were wide open eyes, akin to Soul Edge's large sword-like form. The sides of the handguards were crimson chitinous fingers merged together to form a pair of demonic wings, with the main blades protruding from the base of the Skulls' chins. Each blade was an identical length of a sword, composed mostly of crimson metal but had fleshy interiors.

4\. Sword/Shield – Soul Edge manifests as a demonic crimson Shield with a single slitted eye at the top, with two demonic wings protruding from the sides. Soul Edge also manifests a longsword-shaped sword with a single eye on the hilt's centre. Two large wings protruding from both sides while its blade had a wide base, but narrowed all the way to the tip.

5\. Axe – In Axe form, Soul Edge becomes a two-handed Axe with two blades on its end, each blade sporting double ends. The blunt sides of the blades are fleshy, with metallic edges, with 1 eye each at the base of the blades. The shaft is crimson red and chitinous.

6\. Bow – As a Bow, Soul Edge's power focuses more on ranged attacks, leaving the wielder open for close combat. However, that is only if the weapon lets them get close enough, for in this form Soul Edge forms crimson harpoon shaped arrows from it's flesh while the string is pulled back, arrows that can be empowered with Hellfire for added damage. The damage these arrows do normally, is rivalling to the shell of a Tankl's main gun. When they were released however, that's when their true power is shown. The longer the distance between the arrow and target, the stronger the Arrows become as the energies inside them accumulate, leading to them being potentially able to level entire buildings or armies from a safe distance. In this form, Soul Edge has the form of a traditional Longbow, but with demonic flesh for the base, an entrails-like string, and multiple eyes.

7\. Beyblade – When in this form, Soul Edge becomes a purely metallic 8-bladed Beyblade, with the blunt sides being a demonic red with the edges being silver. They form in layers of 2, and rotate in different directions for better cutting power. Soul Edge in Beyblade form, rotates so fast when thrown that it can warp space around it, making it incredibly difficult for people to block it. Not only that, but this form can split into 4 smaller versions, at the cost of rotating power, to attack from multiple angles.

8\. Gauntlets/Greeves – For CQC Purposes, Soul Edge can transform into a set of Gauntlets and Greeves. These cover his arms from the hands to the elbow and were shaped like a demonic Knight's, coloured orange. The hands have dark red chitinous curved talons, and the feet have 3 toed claws. They were purely metallic in design like the Beyblade, with the signature eyes on the back of the hands and on the sides of the calves. As an added bonus, the Greeves can deploy bone-like Chainsaws from the wrists, which constantly crackle with demonic energy, or any element Nico knows. As for the Greeves, they were built to kick pieces of mountain ranges away and not leave a mark, as well as sported crescent leg blades on the outside sides of the feet, which have the same abilities as the Chainsaws when deployed. When deployed, they flip from facing up to his waist to the direction the soles are facing.

9. Reaper Mode – Against Maghda, Crimson Soul unleashes Soul Edge's Reaper Mode, something that he uses exclusively when he is in human form. When this is activated, Soul Edge's for manifests as four large wings, both shaped like a demonic crow and made from its fleshy growth. From the base of the spine, more growth forms a Tail with a bladed spear-like edge which as trhe signature eye of Soul Edge at the base and his arms have demonic growth spread over them, his fingers elongated into metallic, longsword-length claws.

· Telekinetic control – Crimson Soul can manipulate Soul Edge with his mind, making it attack by itself while he focused on other abilities. After the retrieval of IF Arc, this ability develops into one where Soul Edge can use telekinesis on the surroundings, including other weapons. It could move itself and act like a companion and not just like a weapon, attacking the enemy by itself while Nico/Crimson Soul uses different tactics. Though, this runs the weakness of not having access to some abilities like Uranai since its not within its wielder's grasp.

· Soul Eater – When defeating enemies, Soul Edge can devour their essence or souls, placing them within itself and condemning them to eternal torment that serves to increase its power. The more Souls it feeds on, the stronger it becomes. It can even take in multiple souls at a time.

· Devil's Blessing – Soul Edge infuses a large portion of its collective rage within its wielder, refuelling their energy reserves at the cost of it losing its own. This however, has the drawback of draining the user's stamina, thus Crimson Soul has to be wary of using this ability.

· Astral Plane – Soul Edge exists on more than just the physical plane of existence, it also exists on the Astral plane as well. This means that ordinary weapons cannot harm it unless they exist on such a plane as well.

· Scorching Aura – A debuffing ability. Soul Edge can brandish a fierce crimson glow around itself as a show of intimidation where its power radiates from it like a thick miasma of disease. The sight of this ability makes people question going up against it by drawing their gaze to its form like a magnet and forcing the image of its eye on them in to their minds, slowing down their mobility and decreasing their attack power.

· Predator – When faced with a powerful opponent, Soul Edge hungers for action, the stronger the opponent, the more power that it exerts through its form and its wielder. Therefore, the stronger the opponent, the stronger its power is multiplied by its own bloodlust. This also makes controlling it for his human form Nico increasingly difficult, however his mental fortitude thanks to his other Devil Arms assists him in handling the blade when this ability automatically activates. Another ability it has allows it to devour any energy/magic/demonic power-based attacks, using them to refuel its power.

· Blood Rage – Soul Edge's eye locks it's gaze onto the opponent, influences the target, shutting down their higher brain functions to disable their magic abilities while making them fight more like a berserker.

· Blutsucker – This ability can only be activated if and when the opponents weapon is touching Soul Edge. When activated, it releases large waves of demonic energy into its opponent, ripping trough them and causing moderate internal injuries.

· Akuma no me (Eye of the Devil) – This ability is an active type, meaning Nico has to activate it himself. The Akuma No Me ability allows Soul Edge to 'look' into the enemy's soul and constantly feed the user information about the next move. This allows him time to come up with a means to counter, and as long as the ability remains active then Nico has knowledge of what the enemy plans to do before they've even decided on it. However, this ability is downgraded outside of its true form, only analysing one attack before the ability has to be activated again. When in Soul Edge's true form, this ability is permanently activated so Crimson Soul is constantly aware of the opponent's next move.

· True form – When going Berserker Mode for the first time, Soul Edge changes to its true form, still a massive Greatsword, but it lacks eyes, has 2 edges with the blade's middle being a row of long, pointed teeth. It has a semi-circular guard around the hilt that was shaped like a talon, with a shorter version opposite it. In this form, Soul Edge's full power is unleashed, and every DPU Ability is radically increased in strength. After exposure to Berserker Mode, Soul Edge retains this form when used by Crimson Soul, however it can appear to his human form in its base Greatsword form, with all its abilities. Nico notes that Soul Edge was ten times more difficult and resilient to control in this state than any of his Devil Arms, however he displays great willpower in keeping it in line while he uses it. In this form, it's destructive power is intensified tenfold, whereas in it's weaker form it's power would be enough to cause craters at minimum, at best being able to small buildings, Soul Edge's true form can destroy large buildings like skyscrapers at minimum, and at max it could potentially level an entire city.

* * *

By the time the information influx ended, Nico gasped with a huge intake of oxygen as he fell to one knee, planting a hand onto the ground while breathing heavily sweat rolling down his forehead while his eyes went wide as saucers. Nevertheless, this could hardly contain the amount of shock, disbelief and awe coursing through his system at the knowledge circulating through his brain. The things he just found out, the things he realised Soul Edge could do now… holy shit, holy fucking SHIT! "Is this… really…?"

For his part, Biko simply nodded, not at all fazed by the revelations that Soul Edge had just gotten a MAJOR overhaul in it's abilities. "Indeed, which links into something else I wish to inform you of: When you fought that Butcher, Soul Edge's powers resulted in a Pillar of energy that practically destroyed not only it, but the entire dungeon as well, including all it's levels. The sheer destructive powers this sword possesses means you will need to train extra hard to master it's true form. For that form is also it's most destructive, and we both know what your feelings are on overly destructive weapons."

On that, Nico could only nod. That was his sole reaction to that statement.

Biko then continued. "One such ability you will need to be aware of is SOUL EATER, in which like it says, Soul Edge eats the souls of it's victims, trapping them inside it for eternity. They are constantly harmed and healed through the use of it's energy, which in turn fuels it's destructive powers and other abilities. In the case of that butcher however, that Soul was much larger than what a normal soul would have been thanks to it being consisted of multiple beings merged together. Therefore, Sul Edge devoured more than one soul that day. Summon it, and see for yourself."

Nico raised a brow at Biko's words. He couldn't help but be a little cautious about those words, especially those last ones. Usually when one tells another to 'see for themselves' it usually didn't end well for the second party. Though like the saying goes 'Actions speak louder than words'. Still, Nico decide to trust his demon persona on this one, he hadn't lead him astray so far, and they were pretty much student/teacher at this point. Holding his hand out in front of him, Nico closed his eyes and looked deep within himself, expecting to have to search through an empty void until he found the right signature. That was how he remembered summoning the weakened form of Soul Edge before, so why should now be any different?

Well, apparently murphy's law decided to slap him in the face, since te moment he reached for the 'void' he instantly touched what felt like a swirling vortex of raging, volatile energy. His eyes shot open wide with a gasp escaping his lips, all the while a large build-up of Hellfire formed in his hand. It elongated and shaped itself into a solid form, and in a second he had the weakened form of Soul Edge in his hand. Though, the difference between now and then could be felt as clear as day, especially how this time Soul Edge constantly radiated a devilish crimson aura like it was one step away from going on a rampage, his will, being the final barrier against this. The sinister, twisted energy the sword contained swirled like a volatile vortex deep within the blade, it's eye wide with insanity and intense bloodlust. It felt like he was looking at a horde of serial killers, all radiating their sinister intent and twisted malice while holding their knives to their mouths, licking them with wicked gleams in their ryes at the promise of mass genocide.

"You see now?" Biko spoke, drawing Nico's attention away from how powerful his Soul Edge felt to him as he looked towards his demon persona. The said aspect also had his Soul Edge out, and much to Nico's surprise, he only noticed now that it radiated the same malice as his own sword when he held it out in front of him. "When Soul Edge devours a Soul, it's power increases, and it's evolution skyrockets. The more souls it devours, the stronger it becomes. This boost in power varies however, depending on the strength of the soul devoured. For example, a demon's soul is stronger than that of a human's, something I doubt will make a difference to you considering your thoughts are telling me you only want Soul Edge to eat monster Souls, and if there were human souls it would only be those who truly deserved a punishment worse than death."

Once again, Biko knew what Nico was thinking without him even saying it. This was one of the many reasons why Nico would trust this aspect of himself, there wasn't much need for words between the two of them, and already Nico found himself an ally that was more integral than most of the companionships he'd received so far. He didn't know where the hell he'd be at if he didn't have Biko at his side, but one thing was for certain and that he wouldn't be nearly as powerful as he was now. Nevertheless, Nico showed his appreciation through a confirming nod and his eyes alone.

Nodding in understanding, Biko strapped his Soul Edge onto his back, feeling it morph into the base form Nico used in human form. "As a Demon Sword, Soul Edge's hunger for souls will have few rivalries, it can devour the souls in other demonic weapons, it can devour a soul no matter where it is, or what state it's in. No soul is safe from this demonic blade, this being possible only through the consumption of that especially powerful Soul the Butcher possessed." Biko explained.

He then pointed towards Nico's version of the demonic blade, continuing to talk about the abilities that it had gained. "Second most important matter: Our Soul Edge exists on several planes of existence, the physical and Astral Plane. Therefore, it cannot be destroyed by any weapon unless it also exists on another plane aside from the physical one. Not even divine weapons can truly damage this sword unless they exist on multiple planes. This advantage it possesses is unique to it, none of your Devil Arms have this type of 'existence'."

More and more Nico began to realise just how OP, and by extension how dangerous, Soul Edge could be. Not only did it seem to have evolutionary capabilities, could devour the souls of it's enemies to empower itself, but it also was practically indestructible? Okay, he just HAD to get to grips with this thing, master it's powers as quickly as possible before it causes major damage to anything important. The more he heard about it's powers, the graver the issue of his lack of control over the blade seemed to become. This blade could cause untold damage to the surroundings if he wasn't careful, and that was just in it's weakened form, imagine how powerful it would be in it's true form.

"In it's true form," Biko began, reading his thoughts once again to get his attention. "Soul Edge's power is enough to destroy an entire continent."

… Wonderful.

That just seemed so wonderful. Now he knew just WHAT to prioritize for their training.

"Say, what about this Eye thing?" Nico questioned, frowning as he went over the influx of information in his mind. One of the abilities was related to his eyes, like that one guy with the duck-butt hair. Apparently, this eye was known as the 'Akuma no me' the Eye of the Devil, and from what he could tell it specialised in predicting the future. "What the hell's with this thing?"

Biko seemed to have an answer already though, something that Nico honestly wondered about. "The Akuma no me is an active type ability, meaning you have to activate it yourself. The ability allows Soul Edge to 'look' into the enemy's soul and constantly feed the user information about the next move. This allows the user time to come up with a means to counter, and as long as the ability remains active then then you will have knowledge of what the enemy plans to do before they've even decided on it. However, this ability is downgraded outside of its true form, only analysing one attack before the ability has to be activated again. When in Soul Edge's true form, this ability is permanently activated so Crimson Soul is constantly aware of the opponent's next move." Biko explained.

So, the Akuma no me was an active ability, so Nico would have to activate it manually for it to work huh? He could see that (and he did groan at the mental and completely unintentional pun he just did) and he could see the weakness behind it being an active ability. Especially in it's weaker form. The thought of having to constantly activate the ability in a combat situation would drain valuable time that he could be using for other abilities, so he should make sure to only use it when necessary… now that he thought about it, all of Soul Edges' powers had to be treated with extreme caution.

Then there are the various forms it could take, something Nico mentally noted to work on as well as the rest of the abilities. What intrigued him the most was how there was one for CQC, yet still had some weapons that he would be familiar with. He could see just how much his desire for versatility had influenced the sword in that design. Of course, Nico wouldn't forget to make sure to properly control Soul Edge from now on, especially with how close he had apparently come to destroying all of Leanbox by using that blade's power in it's true form. He could only imagine how IF, and by the Goddess Vert would feel if they found this out.

Hell, he could imagine what it would be like for the zealous fanatics in the Basilicom if they found out about Soul Edge's power.

#shudder#

After that moment of shuddering, Nico decided to strap Soul Edge onto his back, feeling the violent energy within the blade calming significantly when it realised it wasn't going to be used for a bit. He could almost feel the blade 'pout' like a whiny child for a moment, which Nico shook his head to clear the thought of out of his head immediately. Soul Edge wouldn't be like that, there was just no way.

"Not only that, but take a look at your right leg."

Huh? Why would he ask him that?

Nevertheless, Nico did so, glancing down to where his right leg was. He didn't know what to expect there, but what he DID see there definitely threw him off the rails. "What the heck, this thing?!" Nico exclaimed, stunned as his right leg possessed something... something that it should not have. Remember that Leg Bone on the Butcher's leg? Whelp, apparently now was attached to his leg now, radiating an orangish red hue. He could feel thrums of power coming from this thing, a slight hunger, a block-like sensation, and he could feel something from it that applied to his body in some way. "What the hell?!"

"It happened right after you defeated the Butcher. This bone, I do not know the exact nature of it, however it has acted similarly to a Devil Arm finding a suitable host, minus the possession aspect. It has bound itself to you, switching from the dying Butcher's leg to your own. From what I analyzed, it appears to be harmless, and you can dismiss it or summon it at any time. Also, it appears to have several abilities, one of which is the ability to Devour any form of offense, be it physical, mental, or any sort of energy. This can extend to entire beings like humans, monsters and the like, and can add their nutrients to the wielder. The others I am unsure of."

Nico frowned as he looked down at the Bone on his right leg. At least it wasn't trying to eat him like those Devil Arms try to before he subjugated them. It honestly felt... relieving to hear that, having something that won't try to ill him if he ever loses it. Still though, this information didn't detract from the main issue: What it was, where it came from, how Maghda acquired such an item and why was it allowing him to use it? Plus, there was IF to consider, she would likely have her own concerns when she found this Bone attached to him, considering how much grief it caused her and the others when fighting the Butcher. Not only that, but he could sense a vague form of sentience within the Bone, like a fraction of the entire skeleton this Bone once belonged to. If Biko didn't know what it was, then they had some SERIOUS investigation to do.

A weapon was only truly powerful, if one knew how to use it.

As someone who preferred versatility in combat over pure destructive power, this saying couldn't be any more fitting if it tried.

Now that he began to cam down, his mind began to analyze the facts that he knew about this Bone, more specifically what it can do and how it could benefit him. So far, he could tell that it devoured energy from it's opponents, and according to Biko it can devour any form of offense too adding it to his own power. This could be useful in a pinch, especially as a surprise attack on an unsuspecting enemy way stronger than him. He could use that burst of power to catch them off guard then finish the fight quickly, a major blessing in any stressful situation. One problem, he didn't know how that ability worked exactly, like how much energy could it handle at once, or if there were other factors that effected it. Lack of knowledge on how to use a weapon or item could lead to greater issues further down the line. It was also a principle that affected the WDD's handing out of Prototype weaponry to Spec Ops for experimentation purposes, now that he thought about it. These other abilities that Biko hinted at were also a problem.

Yet, these problems could easily be solved through one thing: testing.

He could definitely see himself testing this thing out when he got the chance.

"Now then, as for your DPU Powers…"

Biko's words once again drew Nico's attention, and this time he couldn't help the dismayed groan that escaped his lips. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me, there's MORE?!" he exclaimed while throwing his arms up in the air. "Just how many abilities do I have now?!"

"Unfortunately, when I said there were more abilities than expected, it seemed to have been a drastic understatement." Biko responded dryly…

Before vanishing in a crimson spark and reappearing from that same spark right in front of Nico… with his Soul Edge raised for an overhead strike.

"Oh fuck!" Nico swiftly reacted, drawing Soul Edge and blocking his swing. The energy released from that clash got so intense that it practically ripped the entire coliseum floor apart, chunks of it flying off into the stands around them. Yet, the two fighters only stared into the other's eyes, one full of shock and confusion, while the other remained blank.

Pushing his opponent back, Nico held Soul Edge in a defensive stance, gripping it's hilt firmly. In here he didn't have to worry about how destructive the sword was since his inner world repaired things quickly. "Okay, what was that?!" he yelled towards his demon Persona who just readied his own Soul Edge. "You just appeared before me like you were blipping out of existence or something!"

"It is not blipping, but 'Warping'. The ability to 'Warp' is to teleport from one space to another. Warping can be activated on a second's notice, and can be used to escape tough attacks without a scratch at the last second. When activated, it appears as a devilish red spark, and when the user reappears it happens again. This ability can be automated at will, allowing the user to not care about getting caught off guard. However, it sports a limited range of 50 Meters, making it non-suitable for long-distance travel. It also can be predictable, due to the limited range it has." Biko explained as he reared his Soul Edge back for a horizontal slash.

Once again, Biko 'Warped' towards his opponent, appearing behind him while swinging towards his head. Nico quickly ducked under it, noting how the swing caused a deep wide fissure in the destroyed ground. He then delivered a back kick to his foe's stomach, knocking Biko back before he spun around and swung at Biko. However, the older version of him simply Warped out the way, and Nico had to raise his Soul Edge to block a strike from above. He had no time to see what happened to the ground beneath them, either.

After a multitude of blows traded between them, both fighters jumped away from each other, landing on opposite sides of each other. Afterwards, the two stared each other own sizing each other up while waiting to see what their opponent's next move would be. Glaring towards his sadistic mentor (although his blank expressions wouldn't give that part of him away), Nico had one thought before he assumed his DPU Form, something he always did for their training as it would all be merged with his human body when they were finished.

'This is going to be a LONG session…'


	99. Chapter 96 - The Aftermath

**Chapter 96 - The Aftermath**

A groan escaped his lips while his consciousness stirred.

Eyes slowly opened as Nico returned to the land of the living. The teen's vision got blurry at first, so he couldn't tell where he was exactly, but even in this state his mind ran a million miles a second, mostly revolving around the training he had done in his Inner World. Not once did Biko let up on their training, as according to him, his physical body would be carried back to the capital of Leanbox: MICROSOFT, and during that time he would be locked inside his Inner World until then. And considering how the passage of time is different in the Inner world compared to the outside world, 10 hours in there being like 10 seconds in the outside world, that meant he had went through a LOT of training…

And let me tell you, he suffered a whole hell LOT.

His demon persona had NOT been messing about during this session, not even the last ones matched the intensity that he showed this time. To compare, it was like one of those skilled gamers completing a videogame on hardcore mode, only to find that there was a colossal nightmare mode where everything was amplified in difficulty levels by the thousands. They scoff, thinking it's not going to be that hard for gamers of their caliber, only to rage quit on the tutorial levels. Even then, Nico still got the feeling he was drastically understating the intensity of fighting the demon persona in that state. In his eyes, Biko needed to get that tough and harsh on him so he could better learn to control Soul Edge's true form. Out of everything he needed to know, control had been the biggest priority when it came to that demonic sword. The fact that it would be devouring the souls of its victims in the future, increasing it's power further and further, only fueled his desire to teach Nico control.

Though, the teen could hardly disagree with him on something like this. After all, he could agree with him on the control part. If he didn't want to end up destroying a continent accidentally, destroying thousands of innocent lives in the process, then he would HAVE to have control over that blade. It was an imperative decision, without any room for negotiation, it just HAD to happen. Even with this training however, Nico felt like he could control up to 60% of Soul Edge's power in that form right now, and the reason for that aside from the Souls it had devoured was because the energy that sword wielded was like an ever-expanding storm, refusing to be controlled and dictated. It did whatever it wanted whenever it wanted. The result of him controlling 60%, which had been over half it's total power had been a miracle in of itself, though this only fueled his desire to gain full control over that sword. He would not cause the deaths of thousands, not if he could help it.

Still though, despite control being his greatest priority, this 'Warping' Biko had informed him of was something he had to learn, as controlling where he would end up manually would help him master Soul Edge's true form in the long run. Controlling the ability to Warp wherever he wanted within 50 meters, in comparison to Soul Edge, felt like a cakewalk in comparison, it had almost been laughably easy for him. Biko had attributed this to his above average willpower, how he had a powerful drive to get stronger so he could survive in this twisted, wretched existence. So far, he could do the ability, but he had to think hard about where he wanted to go, he wasn't too good at doing it instinctively like Biko could. Still though, the amount of training he had to do with those powers of his had been insane, and in the Inner World the passage of Time had been different too. Which meant they had a LOT of time to improve.

Considering everything else they had to improve on as well, like his other DPU Powers, his 'Fangs'…

They had a LOT of work ahead of them.

'My fangs…' Nico thought, his eyes slowly gaining their vision back. Even so, he couldn't help the solemnness in his gut forming when he thought of his hidden side, his secret side. The secret he had kept to himself for so long, with only a few people learning about it, and even then it was either necessity or them figuring it out. Nico had never WILLINGLY told anyone before, not one soul, even though there were some people whom had so much charisma that it felt right to tell them. Even so, he had held his tongue, biting back the urge to tell SOMEONE what he really was, as in his eyes this world would be even harsher if people knew what he was, the monster that he kept trapped inside…

Using his 'Fangs' the way he did was always a risky move, and not just because of the possibility of being found out. His 'Fangs' were an abnormal case even amongst others who had similar 'Fangs' to his own. His 'Fangs' came in three distinct set of bites. One of them was to strike unseen, undetectable by the five senses. Sound, smell, hearing, touch and sight were useless against it. This was simply due to one thing about it that honestly unnerved even him. He once read that if one vibrates something at a high enough speed then it becomes invisible, and he couldn't help but attribute that to that certain biting style.

The other two didn't have this ability, so he never used those Bites against others unless he was alone, but they too specialised in their own fields. One bite specialised in widespread total annihilation, be it around him or at a distance. The other Bite Specialised in pure combat ability, though that one was the most difficult out of the three to use.

Stealth,

Widespread annihilation,

Close combat.

These were the fields that Nico's three 'Bites' Specialised in, the three styles his 'Fangs' had at their disposal. He had been using only one style of biting for a long time, now, simply because it was the most covert out of the others, and could be used without him being discovered.

Yet, now…

That mental breakdown he had back there, it taught him a valuable lesson, one that he couldn't believe that he'd forgotten all this time. He may be a monster in this world, this world that's all about kill or be killed, but that should not stop him upholding his macho code. He can't afford to keep his secret under wraps if it meant that his comrades lives would be in danger, that was NOT what he did this for. Nico only kept his secret to protect others from his own sick, twisted nature, not condemn them. If he hadn't used his power back then, those guys would have gone after his comrades, proceeding to commit heinous crimes against them like they had so many others.

Those things he'd seen had been eerily reminiscent of other Victims of theirs Nico had been unable to save after all…

Nevertheless, with the way things were going right now, he had to stop hiding himself from the others, re-sharpen his blunted 'Fangs' before he could bare them at his enemy. Nico realised something at that moment much to his hidden shame, that his white-haired copy had been right this whole time, as no matter how much he had tried to deny it, in some form or another those girls had been responsible for him blunting his 'fangs' in the first place, though through no fault of their own. Nico just hadn't had much honest to goodness companionship in so long that he had just wanted to keep it going forever. He hadn't wanted them to figure out his secret, so much so that he refrained from baring his 'Fangs' in situations where he would have done otherwise.

The fault also lay with him, considering how he had made that choice himself. That fact felt like ashes in his mouth, even though there wasn't any in that part of him. They may have unknowingly blunted his 'Fangs' but Nico had made that choice of his own will, the choice to not use his hidden power. There was always a choice, and every choice in this world had consequences. There was no escaping this fact, and those who couldn't make those choices usually had even worse things happen to them. Sometimes death, sometimes humiliation, and others suffered fates even worse than death.

He couldn't allow that to befall his comrades…

No, he WOULDN'T.

'Alright, starting today, I'll double my training! I have to sharpen my 'Fangs' once more, and prepare to lunge into the blood sport like I used to.' Nico thought, his eyes hardening in determination, clearing up his haziness instantly. No longer would he be afraid of showing his 'Fangs' anymore, not when his comrades' lives would be on the line. True comrades were hard to find these days, and Nico would be damned if he let the ones that he had potentially found get put six feet under because of his cowardice. It may take some time, hell he probably wouldn't tell anyone until everything was ready, but for now he felt like he had a good start towards changing. He hadn't any psychological episodes for a while, which meant something to him.

In any case, it was time to get up, throw off the covers greet the humanoid shape beside him…

Hold on a minute…

What?

Like, what?

Similar to a disk in a jukebox screeching to a halt, Nico's eyes widened when he realised that he wasn't the only one in the room. Looking up slowly, the teen met the face of a certain purplette preteen Goddess, whom had this really sassy grin on her lips while leaning forwards so that their faces were inches apart.

"… Heya, Nicky! Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" the preteen greeted with her grin never leaving her lips. She even took advantage of the teen's confusion by kissing him on the lips briefly. Sort of like a peck, but a little longer for it to actually be called that.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Brain: commence the freaking out in 3, 2, 1… and NOW!

"WHOA, WHAT THE HELL?! NEPTUNE?!"

"Ahahahahahaha!" Neptune literally just bust a gut when she saw how Nico's face went into a literal flame, not too much unlike the weaker form of his Hellfire while he scrambled backwards. He almost fell from the bed that he was on when he accidentally reached the edge during his skedaddling back. He flailed his arms about to try and keep his balance up, and eventually he managed to keep himself on the bed.

All the while, Neptune just laughed her backside off, falling backwards onto the bed backfirst while kicking the air with her shoeless stocking-clad feet. Compared to him, who looked like a deer caught in the spotlight, she looked to be having the time of her life

"Gihihihihihihihihi! Ni-Ni's super silly…"

"Well, that's kinda what you would expect, Nep did just give him a bit of a startle there…"

Several more voices, familiar ones, reached Nico's ears to draw the Spec Ops Agent's attention to the hotel room entrance. There, stood both Compa and IF, the two girls sporting identical looks of amusement as they watched the scene happen before them. IF leaned against a wall with her arms folded in front of her chest area, one sock-clad foot on the wall with the other on the ground. As for Compa, she had her woolly boots neatly arranged beside the door, leaving only her stockings covering her feet.

Taking several deep breaths, Nico tried his best to calm his raging heart from the recent jump scare that Neptune just gave him. He placed a hand on his chest with an audible patting sound, his heart pounding away like a jackhammer within the confines of his ribcage. He could sense the agitation within his soul, born from the various Devil Arms within his being, so he calmed them down as well. No need for them to go berserk and destroy Neptune for nearly killing them or something like that. Only when he managed to regain some semblance of composure did Nico begin to notice things, things that he hadn't had a chance to notice earlier.

For one, Neptune and the girls were here, all of them. Her, IF, and Compa. All of them were together in the same room, none of them had been kidnapped by Ghouls, none of them were held captive inside underground torture dungeons, and none of them were at risk of dying by a Demon's hand. They were here, together, laughing merrily at his recent shock from the preteen like nobody's business. It almost seemed too good to be true, like a dream or something similar. If that was the case, then he'd curse his mentally unstable mind for all it was worth for the rest of eternity.

However, several things made themselves clear to him and confirmed that what had happened was NOT a dream.

Neptune, bless her soul, had a much larger presence of demonic power flowing through her from that object he had given her before she went off to fight those demons. That obviously meant that she had used that power he gave her to fight off those demons, and from the looks of things she grew a hell of a lot in power from it. her Share Energy reserves had expanded exponentially since he last saw them, while there was a smaller size of demonic energy reserves within too. Neither of which seemed to be in contest with each other.

Instead, they seemed to be feeding off each other, growing like plants at a steady place. The demonic power was stimulating growth within her share energy, making it expand without the need for other people believing in her. Meanwhile, the share energy seemed to be purifying the demonic energy to keep it docile and controllable. Normally, DPUs and CPUs wouldn't be able to mix their energies like this as one is poisonous to the other. Take what happened to Noire for example, but thanks to how him and Biko had inserted the object into her, how they made it and how Neptune received it, there was a near-perfect harmony between the two energies as they co-existed, side by side, within the Goddess's petite frame.

Second, was Compa. The object he had given her, that crystal? Well, it seemed to have merged with her being, cause his senses could detect it within her heart. No, that wasn't quite right, he should say that it was around her heart, absorbing it and remaking it into something else, something stronger. Right now, her entire heart seemed to be made of the same crystalline material, thumping like a regular organ with minor crackling sounds. Sounds that only Nico could hear thanks to his enhanced senses.

That wasn't all, either. It seemed to be pumping some strange energy through her system, completely overwhelming her SP Reserves and converting them into whatever this new energy is. Because of this, Nico doubted she would be able to use SP Skills like COMPA LOVE HEART or FIRST AID again, however when he keyed in on the energy with his demonic energy senses, Nico noticed that the energy still retained SP properties, enough so that her Skills wouldn't be affected. Whatever it had been doing to his childhood friend, Nico didn't know, however it didn't seem like Compa had any idea of the scope of her situation, so he better not say anything just yet. Not when he had so little information. It would just complicate things, plus he'd like to have all the variables in an equation to figure out the answers.

Hell, even IF's body looked to be working in overdrive with mutations, though that wasn't really anything new at this point, she was ALWAYS evolving thanks to both being a BOW now as well as the C Gene in her.

"Um… can someone tell me what exactly happened? How'd we get all the way back here?" Nico finally asked after a moment of silence. He didn't want to seem like a creep with how intently the male had been staring, and if it had been any other girls then they would have reacted way sooner than these ones. They were just used to his bouts of heavy contemplation by this point. "Last thing I recall was becoming Crimson Soul, and…"

Turned out, IF got the hidden message there as she stepped forwards from the wall, hands in her pockets as she gazed over his form. What she had been looking for, Nico didn't know, but he didn't get much chance to think on it as she already got started with her response. "Well, we were hoping to ask you the same thing. You just fell right on top of us after practically blowing up the entire Dungeon. Nep and Compa arrived shortly after, so we brought you back here with us. Though what I'm more concerned about is whatever you did back there. There's nothing left of that place other than a steaming hot crater. Just look…" she explained, before gesturing to the window behind the male. "You can see the smoke from here."

As Nico looked around, his surprise evident on his mental self rather than his physical features, the teen caught the sight of a vague silhouette in the far distance. It was a rather large plume, a plum of smoke now that he was looking at it. Though, from this distance it would be hard to tell, and those who weren't involved in the incident wouldn't think much of it. They'd remain blissfully unaware of wat had really went down. Nevertheless, that thought didn't really register in Nico's mind as he eyed the plume while it rose to the skies above. The more he looked, the more he came to realise just how much smoke had been produced as an after effect of channelling more of Soul Edge's full unrestrained power. He couldn't help but let his jaw go slightly as his eyes almost flew out their sockets. There was after all, quite the distance between the main city of MICROSOFT and the Manor of the Mad King Leoric, after all, so if they could see it from here, then…

Geez, now it made even MORE sense why Biko had trained him so hard while he was unconscious in his Inner World.

If that was just a PORTION of Soul Edge's full power…

Suddenly he felt Biko's statement about it being able to destroy an entire continent all the heavier.

Yet, Nico couldn't help himself.

Part of him couldn't help but imagine a certain orange black wearing warrior with a massive sword going 'Bankai!' for some reason, and it made him mentally chuckle. He could see the similarities between his DPU form and that power the warrior wielded. Both had incredible power, one being subtler than the other but both being capable of releasing large amounts of energy.

Bankai indeed.

"I see…" the teen mused, scratching the side of his jaw nervously. His eyes glanced down at his hand, as a glint appeared in them. The teen had noticed it for a while now, but ever since he became a DPU, Nico hadn't had to shave or anything like that. Hell, his jaw, mouth etc had no shreds of facial hair on it, giving his face a nice, smooth surface. Just one of those small things that came with being what he was now. He tried to think of something to say, when he remembered more and more about the battling he'd temporarily forgotten. "Now that I'm thinking about it, I do recall having fought the Butcher with a bunch of Soul Edge's power. It was quite a destructive blow, but when I amped up the power to about… 20 or 30% or something, I think, I got knocked out by the force of the shockwave. Must have hit my head hard or something." He remarked, frowning thoughtfully while he cupped his chin with his index finger and thumb.

His words did have a set of reactions from the girls though.

"That low?!" They shrieked in unison, surprising the male and making him snap his head in their direction.

Neptune pouted, puffing her cheeks, her fists on the bed in front of her while she sat on her knees. If she hadn't put her hands where they were, then Nico would have gotten an eyeful of the underwear she wore under her hoodie dress, though he would have been too focused on their reactions to notice. "That's just a load of unfairzies!" she whined. "The OC gets the most broken power in the series that even dungeons can't stand up to it. Though, this is fanfiction, so meh."

On another end, Compa looked more worried than annoyed as she stared at Nico with concern, her head slightly tilted with a hand on her cheek. The look in her eyes didn't settle his nerves at all, not one bit, no instead it made him feel even more of a jerk than normal. Not something Nico liked, seriously. "More than that, it feels like your powers are hurting you, Ni-Ni. You sure your okay? As your Nurse, its my job to check on your health." She asked him worriedly.

"I'm fine, Compa, really. It just seems like I have a lot more power now, and that means I have a lot of training to do."

That had to be a MAJOR understatement, and even monologuing that made Nico feel like that didn't even begin to describe the depth of this matter.

"I'll say." IF mused, taking a deep breath to calm down. Unlike the girls, she had been there when she saw the initial explosion, so she could agree with Nico when he said he needed to train more in this power. The amount she sensed from that attack had been staggering, like an all-consuming abyss. Yet, it also felt like a small portion of his full power, even now she could sense his power swirling within him, calm and controlled unlike before. When she and the others saw him reverted to human form after he fell in front of them, IF had almost been blown back with how violent and volatile his energy had been. It had literally formed a shroud over him and wouldn't let any of them get near him, or risk getting horrifically scarred (MAGES. and herself could attest to that when she tried, only she had been able to regenerate from the injury) till it dissipated a good 30 minutes later. Speaking of the Mad Magician, IF quickly remembered something as she began rummaging through her Inventory. "Oh yeah, MAGES. asked me to give you this." She said, before pulling out from her Inventory… Nico's Armour Module.

The male's eyes nearly bulged out their sockets one they laid sight upon one of his most iconic tools. His Armour Module lay there, within IF's hand in an open position like it was waiting for someone to hug it close. Yet, even so, just the sight of it caused many emotions to swirl within his chest. Gingerly, Nico reached out and gently grasped the Spider-like Module, holding it out in front of him like he was reuniting with an old friend. Then, memories of why he parted with it in the first place came back to his mind, sending a torrent of worry through his system. "Wait, what happened to MAGES.? I thought she would-"

"MAGES. already left for Planeptune." This time, Neptune was the one to respond, and just when IF had been about to open her mouth too. She got an annoyed stare from the brunette for that, electing a nervous chuckle from the Goddess while she rubbed the back of her head. "Ahahahaha, sorry there Iffy, I just wanted to go all 'hold it!' for once." She apologised, before turning back to the male party member. "Well yeah, anyways MAGES. left for Planeptune as apparently only they had the technology to help Tekken with her injury. Dunno what that injury was, but it sounded serious."

Just remembering the look of urgency in MAGES. eyes, something that the usually stoic, calm and collected Mad Magician wouldn't usually show, made Compa frown once more as she held a shaking fist over her chest. "I hope Tek-Tek is alright. It sounded as if she was having a really big owwie." She mused with a low tone of voice, remembering how FAST the Mad Magician had blurred out of the hotel room once they had successfully brought the unconscious Nico back here.

'MAGES. you made the perfect call…' Nico thought to himself, mentally frowning as he took in this information. 'The Basilicom here has a tight leash on the Spec Ops division, more so than the other Nations. You'd be under intense scrutiny for even associating with tem here so going to Planeptune which has the most thriving division, and that's NOT me tooting our own horn there, would be the best call for you friend.'

Seriously, out of the Nations they'd visited, so far, the Spec Ops Programme had been either halted or restrained in some way or form. In Lastation, the fact that Avenir kept the funds for itself limited what they could do for the Land as a whole, and in Leanbox they were kept in small numbers thanks to religious superstition. He wasn't so sure about Lowee however, since most of the missions he took there were for various towns and cities scattered across the Land.

So, Tekken being brought to the Spec Ops in Planeptune would be the best call MAGES. could have made.

"Right, that makes sense. Tekken will be fine, though, if what I think is going to happen happens, then she'll be in good hands." Nico told the girls. "Odds are, MAGES. will try to head to the Spec Ops Agents in Planeptune, normal hospitals won't be equipped for the kind of injury Tekken had received, and even if they were they'd simply perform minor surgery to get her face back to normal, not bothering with her eyes since they would be fried to the point of no return. At least with te Spec Ops she has a better chance, we DO have access to some specific set of gear after all." He explained further when he saw their confused looks.

Memories of Ivan and his cybernetic arm appeared in his mind, before he pushed it back.

None of the girls doubted his word, considering how they had see first hand the kind of people in the Spec Ops Community, as well as the tech they used. It wouldn't be a surprise to see if they had something for Tekken's injury they could use for her.

"Alright, enough of the serious stuff for a couple chapters!" Neptune finally exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air and falling backwards onto the bed. A loud exhale escaped her lips as she sighed in content. "I'mma gonna sleep for a century or something, wake me up in an eternity…"

Compa chuckled while IF went and bonked the girl on the head, startling her awake. "Hey, iffy you don't need to do that." She gently chastised the brunette before she continued. "While Nep-Nep's sleep cycle is revisable, she does have a point. There's been too much going on, so we need to wind down and get some good rest. I think we've earned it with what's been cracking, eh guys?"

On that, the two girls could agree, Neptune with a fist sized bump on her head that pulsated occasionally. Though it looked more like a comical situation than anything major, especially with how she didn't look too bothered with it. IF could sure hit hard after all, since she was indeed a living biological weapon now. Hell, her fist was still steaming from the force she put into the blow. If she'd done that to a normal human, she'd likely have shot her fist right smack dab through their heads and into their bodies. Though, since Neptune was a Goddess, that didn't happen thanks to her enhanced durability. They needed to wind down and relax after all that carnage, or rather that's all they wanted to do.

They DID deserve a break from everything that had happened since IF had gotten kidnapped.

Even Nico agreed with this notion, everything that had happened in the last couple chapters had drained him physically and mentally. Even now, all he wanted to do was just lay back down on his bed and sleep the rest of the day away. He could do his training whenever he wanted, and because of the time difference between the outside world and his Inner World, he could get a LOT done in a short time frame.

Though, he had to admit, he did half-expect Stefan to have remained so he could get some answers. Wonder why he left?

'Allow me to answer that, while you and I were training, I kept your senses connected to my own, allowing me to listen in on our surroundings. It seemed that Stefan received a call from someone, someone important and decided to drop the questions for the time being I am unable to ascertain what this 'person' told him about your powers, however it seemed to have stopped him from asking for the time being.'

... Nico got the feeling that this 'person' was Helen.

His mother always had a way of knowing these things, that protective mother hen her...

She may be codenamed VALKYRIE, but she was a strong mother as well. Probably due to her not being able to have a child of her own.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot."

Bringing everyone's attention back to her, IF quickly rummaged through her Inventory and brought out what looked like a Scroll. It was sealed up with a special tar-like substance, with the Symbol of Leanbox on the centre to signify whom it had been sent from. "While you were out, we got this sent to us from the Basilicom. No idea what it is, but it has to be something important. Kept it on hand so Nep here didn't try to get any spoilers."

"Aw, c'mon Iffy, you know I don't do something like that!"

"You break the fourth wall and you look at Wikis for information, don't talk to me about not getting spoilers."

"Grk! Critical wound delivered by the Tentacle girlie…"

"What was that, Nep…?"

IF glared at the girl for that little nickname, especially with what it implied about her. This glare made Neptune shudder visibly at the venom behind it, her laughter coming out more strained than when someone was constipated.

Nevertheless, Nico quickly defused the situation before the brunette would really try to kill their resident Goddess. That wouldn't do for their party and the story after all. "Hey-hey calm it down you two." He scolded them, patting them on their heads. The two girls blushed faintly at the gesture, the teen probably not realising how his hands moving abut their heads felt rather nice to the touch. "Alright, now that that's out the way, let's see what that letter has to tell us, let's cut it open."

The referral to the letter did it's job, and brought the two out of their dazed stupors before the brunette quickly formed one of her claws' talons. Apparently if she wanted to be discreet, then IF could morph one of her fingers into another form rather than just a whole arm. It made for covert actions much easier, in Nico's opinion, perfect for when she finally joined the ranks of the Spec Ops Agents. With a swift and fluid movement that only years of prratice with short bladed weapons could produce, IF cut the seal apart and opened the scroll.

"You know, methinks Leanbox may be a bit old fashioned with using Scrolls instead of something more modern."

"Hush, Neptune. You're talking about a Nation that still goes with nobility, torture devices and other old fashioned cultural features. Anyways, let's see…"

To Spec Ops DEATHSTROKE

You and your comrades have done us at the Ostermark Order a great service. We will not forget how you dutifully aided our Captain in exercising extreme vengeance against the heretics that slaughtered our brothers and sisters. Many of us are grateful that their spirits will now rest in peace, knowing that their vengeance has been delivered. You did us a great honor, and as such I am extending you an invitation to Leanbox's next Gala in 3 Months. With your actions, there will be many whom will want to know more about you in the nobility, including the CPU herself. She has expressed great interest in meeting you face to face, and as such has authorized us to perform this task.

Below, is a list of everything you will require for the Gala, from clothes to the appropriate mannerisms. We at the Ostermark Order wish you the best of luck.

Yours sincerely, Captain Stefan Von Kessel

PS: You have my condolences, brave soul.

"Huh, a rather ominous ending there…" IF remarked with a confused frown on her lips. She held her chin with her hand as she tried to figure out the meaning behind the Letter's last note to them, or rather to Nico himself. Everything save for that las bit seemed to be directed at the Party as a whole, however that last bit seemed to be directed at Nico specifically. "Wonder what it could mean…"

Nico however, knew EXACTLY what he meant by that. "Out of the frying pan, and into the fire indeed…" the male muttered under his breath, though only IF had heard him as evident by the slight widening of her eyes. Not that the others noticed though. The teen recalled what happened at that for Mott before, and he couldn't help but curse the timing. Seriously, does the deity of fate hate him or something? What this was to him, was practically an invitation to the Lion's den, Nobility were well known for their hate towards the Spec Ops Programme, and any whom were a part of it. He could recall the handful of Nobles whom issued Quests that he took. Generally, they were well… mostly civil, and he used that term LOOSELY to describe them, but behind his back he always heard the insulting comments that Nobles gave him and his brethren. The younger Nobles like the sons and daughters would sneer and openly diss him most of the time, while the older ones would be a bit subtler in their disgust.

To go to a place where there would be a BUNCH of them, all of them likely aware of his status as a Spec Ops Agent, would be similar to entering a hornet's nest.

Yet, he wouldn't be able to deny going to this Gala, mostly because it was his duty as a Spec Ops Agent to answer the summons. One might think to themselves: but you aren't affiliated with any Nation, so how can it be your duty to answer?' He would tell them that not going would only agitate the Basilicom and possibly give them reasons to crack down on the Spec Ops Programme even more, which wouldn't be good for the fight against the Abnormals. Even with his grievances with people, he still had a duty to protect humanity against those extreme threats.

Another reason why he couldn't refuse this would be the mentioning of the personal interest the CPU Green Heart apparently has in speaking to him. Honestly, if he knew Vert like he thought he did (and he sure hoped so, since he'd been unknowingly gaming with her for a while now) then odds were that she would likely try to skip a Gala like his, especially with his suspicions about that 'hole' Biko and him had sensed within her. On their free time in the future, the two would be brainstorming theories about that, but anyways, the fact that it said she had some 'personal interest' in speaking with him meant that he had to appear no matter what. If he didn't, it would likely be taken as an insult not by the CPU (cause he knew her personality) but by the Basilicom. Those guys take extreme faith to a whole new level, and if he didn't meet with their CPU when she wanted to talk to him…

Yeah.

Not to mention there were other variables involved, like Count Mott and his whole mystery quest about the Mojang Village, the Overlord Momus Faction with their Chaos Sub-religion, and multiple others. The Gala would actually, now that he thought about it, be a great place to listen in on the Nobles of the Land, cause even with their apparent distaste for the Spec Ops Community, they were also 'skilled' (he used that term LOOSELY too) at politics, war and strategy, so there might be something interesting to discover about wat they plan to do with these guys.

Plus, this Gala, with all these important people coming about, felt like a magnet for trouble. With Maghda roaming about, something Nico shuddered to think of since she was someone who he had hoped died and stayed dead when he first met her, meant that there would be those who would try to target the Gala as a terrorist attack, throwing the entire place into disarray.

'HONESTLY, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST RIP THEIR SPINES OUT OR SOMETHING, KING? YOU'RE THE TOP DOG IN THIS JUNGLE, NOT THESE ASSHATS. IT'D BE A CINCH, JUST A FEW FLICKS AND ALL THEIR NECKS SPRAY WITH BLOOD! C'MON, DON'T TELL ME YOU CARE ABOUT THOSE STUPID NOBLES!'

There went HIS voice, that annoying white version of him. HIS voice echoed in a distorted manner inside his mind, hollow yet filled with insanity and madness. Thus, the typical stuff from HIM. Though, unlike before, HE had a good point this time, it wasn't like these Nobles were of any worth to him. People like them had no room on the battlefield, they'd just slow the truly skilled soldiers down with their fat, bloated bodies and need for some drastic cardio.

Still, that wasn't his call to make.

"Well, we can worry about this later on, I think now would be a good time for us to pull a Neptune here, and have some RnR." Nico stated, clapping his hands together after disposing the Letter into his Void Storage. No point worrying about I right now, they just survived a freaking deathtrap back there in the Hellverse Dungeon. He himself couldn't be bothered to deal with it right now, he'd wait till tomorrow to form any plans and countermeasures for it.

"Yaaaaaay, Nicky agrees! Alright, let's get gaming! I'll nep you till you're black and blue on c#m#an# and #o#q#e#!"

"I'm sorry Neptune, but whom among us has over 40 wins and whom among us has 40 losses? Just saying."

"Grrr!"

* * *

That night, things were all quiet, and honestly Nico couldn't have asked for anything better.

The teen lay on his bed with his arms above his head while hie eyes laid their gaze onto the ceiling, the soft rays of the moon passing through the curtains onto the middle of his male had positioned his arms so that they didn't damage his beloved Bracers, while the faint outlines of his Module could be seen through the black top. Unlike a few times, Nico was alone in his bed, his clothes having been swapped to his PJ's. The cool, Leanbox nighttime air passed gently through the slight opening of the window, filling the air and gently caressing the male's skin. It honestly felt as soothing as a mother's touch, making him remember his adoptive mother and mentor in all but blood. Thinking about it, he should probably call his mother more often, goddess knows that she worries for him. He could only imagine what she felt whenever he went out on a Quest. She may have trained him, but a mother always worries for her children, whether or not they were taking care of themselves or if they were even okay.

Sometimes, he forgot how she was his mom as well, not just his mentor.

He remembered their lessons together, one of them being where she taught him about resolve, how it should be and how he should always keep it close to his heart, no his very being. Resolve was what differentiated the Spec Ops from the Monsters, that was the bread and butter that truly made them what they were. They had the resolve to do what needed to be done, regardless if people think of them as heroes or heretics. It didn't matter to them, because in their eyes, they were all equal on the battlefield. Too bad that there were so many within their ranks who didn't adhere to this belief, though, it really disappointed him and made Nico wonder about the worthiness of humanity. Sometimes.

Whenever he did the faces of Compa and the girls, though back then it was usually just Compa, filled his mind and chased those thoughts away like a fox hunting a rabbit.

A flash of... something, passed through his eyes as the male moved. Raising one hand to his face, the male gazed intently at it, his eyes sharper than blades while he had imagery flashbacks of the fighting he'd done. 'So much combat in so short a time... it feels like an eternity since we last had a breather... Neptune was right, we really do need to wind down. Yet, I fear that we may not be able to wind down completely until this mess with the Abnormals, politics, Demons and all that other stuff is resolved for good...' he thought, frowning in concern.

Nico was no fool, they may be winding down, but he could definitely see the world giving them a hard time during these next 3 months. 3 months of relaxation, that sounded nice on the surface, but deep down Nico couldn't help the anxiety in his chest. There would be many, Maghda being one of them, that would hound them till the end of the world or something, maybe even haunt them in the afterlife. Those people likely won't rest until they were dead or worse, therefore he had to keep his guard up... 80% of the time, the rest should be focused on this RnR.

To him, all this stuff... it felt like he was in a battleground, flanked from all sides. All the issues were slowly gaining ground, trapping him within a choke-hold and then...

KNOCK, KNOCK

DOKI, DOKI!

Nico's heart hammered wildly against his chest when he heard the sudden sound of someone knocking on his door. He nearly unleashed his hidden weapon to slam through it and impale whoever was on the other side out of reflex alone, such was how much of a shock it brought him. Seriously, this path he was on, the re-sharpening of his fangs, combined with everything else did horrible effects on his nerves. Man, if this was what it would be like, then he REALLY needed this resting.

"Who is it?!"

Slowly, Nico threw off the covers while yelling that out, though not at the top of his lungs. He didn't want to disturb Compa and Neptune, as while they were deep sleepers (he knew cause of how often they tried to get into his bed - this time being one of those few exceptions) he didn't want to disturb their beauty sleep. Goddess knows the needed it. As a precaution though, something he couldn't really help Nico summoned Ebony from his Void Storage, his fingers like blurs when they did that process. The familiar texture of a weapon did wonders in calming his nerves, the thought of having something to protect himself with in case things went awry relieving him of all his tension.

"It's me, IF."

Hearing the familiar sound of the brunette's voice took away what remained of his tension, Nico exhaling barely while he dismissed his Ebony to his Void Storage. He had no idea that hearing one of his comrades voices, even though they just recently fought together, could be so relieving. It was like they had become an aphrodisiac to him, which sorta worried the teen. Since when the hell did they manage to get this close to him, and how did he let them? Standing up from his bed, the male strode over to the door and gripped the knob in his right hand. He then pulled it open. allowing himself to come face to face with IF in her PJ's.

The male almost lost control over his jaw in surprise when he got an eyeful of THAT peculiar sight.

IF's PJ's consisted of a light green tube top with white colored frills on the rims over the bust, with darker green leafy patterns. She wore a matching pair of frilly shorts as well, which in his mind, made her look all the better in them. She didn't have that bow in her hair, letting it hang loosely behind her back. She even had this verdant breeze-smelling shampoo scent emitting from her hair that felt VERY pleasing to the male's nostrils, and that wasn't something he could smell often considering how often he was around human foods.

The teen mentally cursed himself for thinking these thoughts about his comrade. Seriously, what the hell was up with him lately? He felt like that moment he had with Neptune in her naked HDD form started this trend, then Lucy just HAD to speed up it's development, didn't she? Either way, thanks to those two, he had started to notice something... off with himself. He noticed the bodies of his female companions way more than he used to, sometimes he struggled to pull his gaze away from the girls and focus on the tasks at hand. MAGES. for example, her figure pressing tightly against his had done a LOT on his state of mind. The only reason why he hadn't reacted in any pervy manner had been because he had focused on the fact that they were in a life-or-death situation. Fortunately, Compa's grandfather, combined with his adoptive mother and the horrific things he'd seen as a Spec Ops Agent had given him the ability to focus on the more important things.

For so long, that had been the one thing his mind attached itself to the most, but thanks to Neptune and Lucy, when a female was in close contact with him, his mind started wandering now...

How could he stop that?

Even now, he couldn't believe how goddamn attractive IF was. Not just in her current garments but in every day life too. He liked how she had a sense of snark when they talked or when Neptune did her antics. He liked how she had a strong head on her shoulders even in the toughest of times, where she would keep a sharp eye on the situation to figure out the best course of action. He liked how she kept everyone in a state of composure so they could focus on the task at hand. He liked how she didn't take no shit from anyone, she always had something to say whether it was a compliment or an insult disguised as her usual sneakiness.

Then there was her beauty, too...

By the Goddesses she was freaking beautiful, perhaps even gorgeous. No, that was a CERTAINTY.

She may not have the womanly figure Vert, Lucy, or Neptune in HDD form had, but she did have a figure she could call hers, and that was something he really liked about her. She had the build of a soldier, someone who didn't take any crap on the battlefield. It was like she was in her element when she had that game face on, moving through the area with almost unnatural grace. She had a mix of femininity and tomboy-ism that complimented her well.

Once more, his mind hammered home the fact that this woman had beauty in spades, setting her on even ground against the other womanly people he knew in his life.

So distracted by his thoughts (and the woman's beauty) he was, that Nico didn't notice how nervous and anxious IF looked either. If he did, he probably would have made a fool of himself.

Quickly before he could look like any more of an idiot, Nico stepped aside wordlessly, allowing the brunette entry. IF nodded wordlessly in thanks, stepping inside. The light patting of her feet against the floor seemed all the more audible to the male as she moved to his bed, turning around and sitting on it as he closed the door and walked over, sitting beside her. "So... what's up?"

He had asked that after a moment of silence, silence where he had to fight the urge to tug at his top's collar. He had more awareness of the situation than he would normally have. IF, an immensely beautiful girl, was in his room in the middle of the night. While she didn't show NEARLY as much skin as Neptune did in her Purple Heart form, the amount she did definitely effected him on that level. By the Goddesses he hoped he hadn't been creepy just then, he didn't think he could handle the humiliation and shame THAT would bring.

"Huh? Oh, well..."

Truth be told, even IF didn't know exactly. This kind of was a bit of a first for her, having entered a guys room like this. When she visited the red light district occasionally, the setting would be much simpler than what was happening right now. The setting accompanied what the meetings would be about, just simple sexual pleasure for a couple credits. There was nothing else, no strings attached, and they would part ways shortly after. Even then, the pleasure would be pure carnal, and wouldn't always satisfy her. It usually depended on who was doing it.

But right now? NONE of this was like those times. None of it felt as simple as that, nope, not one bit. Instead of a random stranger, beside her was Nico codename DEATHSTROKE, someone she knew, someone she fought alongside with and got along with pretty well. She had a pretty good opinion of him already compared to other guys she'd had the misfortune of knowing. This wasn't some faceless prostitute to her, this wasn't something as simple as that. Not to mention her rather... uncertain feelings towards the male. Stefan's words and the looks that Helen had given her that she'd noticed hammered away against the forefront of her mind.

Then there was what Nico had been like when he first opened the door...

IF would have been a fool to not notice the way he looked at her. Like, he had been in complete shock and awe, his eyes gazing up and down her frame like they were looking at something amazing for the first time. Thanks to her BOW senses, she had detected how his hormones fluctuated in a way that clearly stated he was checking her out, taking everything in and filing it away. She had ha;f-expected to feel disgusted with that, how he looked at her in the way a man would a woman. Especially with how she'd seen that look directed at women's chests, but with... much more sinister agendas behind it.

But, in that moment the brunette had noticed something different with the way Nico had looked at her. The way he did so, there wasn't much lust as much as there was a mix of lust, awe and amazement. He looked at everything about her, not just one specific body part, he looked at her completely and had been amazed. While he didn't say anything about those thoughts, the way his eyes glimmered in the darkness said everything clearly to her. The answer she found there, didn't disgust her like she thought, instead it made her feel... well, more than a little flattered.

It felt quite great, actually, to be looked at that way. More than she ever thought possible.

Throughout her time knowing him, IF had observed how Nico acted around the girls, how it contrasted to what she knew of other guys. Whenever Neptune and the others were in more trouble than they could handle, Nico had done his damned best to be there for them, to help them in any way he knew. Those dates they went on, IF knew there were more to them than meets the eye, something that she later found out, judging by how happy the girls were when they came back, like huge weights had been lifted off their shoulders, that Nico figured out too.

He had this... way, with people, more so with girls, actually. It seemed to her that the guy had a certain soft spot towards women that wasn't there towards men. Though, with what he'd seen according to his mother, she could understand why. He had a way with getting past people's facades and seeing what the real problem was, like seeing past the cracks in a Mask. Then, once he sussed out the problem, he was all over it, solving the problem and resulting in the girls feeling much better than they did originally. It was a theme the brunette had noticed about him, how the whole 'Masks and Reflections' concept applied to him much more than any other person she'd encountered. It DEFINITELY earned him the affections Neptune and Compa had for him, that was for certain. Girls tend to like guys whom would help them with their issues, being there for them.

Yet, there was also a sense of... loneliness about him. She'd seen it a few times, more so when they began their travels in Leanbox. There were times when it briefly glimmered in his eyes, and only she seemed to notice. It was like he firmly believed that he wouldn't have anyone to sooth him of this deep, dark, and empty void inside, like he believe he would be alone forever despite the qualities he displayed. Then there were the reactions he had to girls getting near him, reactions she'd seen whenever Neptune or any girl interested in him made a move on him. There was this faint sense of shock, disbelief, and most concerning of all fear. Like, fear of what would happen if they got too close to him or something. Fear that they would suffer a fate that only he knew, like the void inside consuming them for all eternity.

It concerned her... and saddened her. Here he was, lonely inside, but not letting anyone get in to wipe away that loneliness, for reasons only he knew.

Though from what she knew of his behavior and what she learned about a certain Abnormal... it more than justified.

The fact that he had asked her a question resonated through her mind, and IF quickly searched for a reasonable answer for it. She didn't want it to sound like an excuse, but so many of the responses that came to her felt like exactly that. It was both maddening and frustrating for the brunette woman. She could kill off a bunch of monsters and Abnormals no problem. She could have sex in the red light district with a lack of care, easy. But talking to a guy she possibly liked more than a friend? A guy that possibly had way more burdens than she could ever imagine? Seriously, she wasn't a damn highschooler with their first crush for crying out loud!

Finally, she got an answer that didn't seem like an half-assed excuse, though she didn't feel too satisfied with it. "I just... I wanted to thank you." she told him, trying her best to sound as she normally did. Her heart hammered away almost painfully within her chest, but she pressed through regardless. "For you know... coming to find me." That answer had a strong sense of truth to it, and IF refused to hide how thankful she was for that.

He had come for her,

IF had had multiple scenarios in her mind when she was back in that cell. One of which was that she would fall to either a stray Demon attack while her guard was down, or a Cultist managing to get the drop on her when she would be trying to recover. There had been many times in those battles where she had felt like she was dangerously low on power, with how much she had used her BOW abilities. Those times, she had felt more vulnerable than she had in most of her life, the only moment that could have topped it was that moment when she felt like she would die when she got infected in the first place. That moment had been scarier cause if it weren't for the intervention of the guy siting next to her, then she WOULD have died. It would have been so easy to just accidentally use too much Biomass for an attack that would leave her weakened, and then a stray blast would hit her from above or behind ad end her days forever. She didn't want to think of that, not one bit.

Then, there was a scenario where Stefan, when he saw her in that state of mind, deciding to go by himself and abandon her, leaving her to the mercy of the Demons (mercy, hah, those fuckers didn't know the meaning of the word) or the Cultists whom would probably use her for their satanic rituals towards the Chaos Gods. She hadn't known him nearly as long as she had Nico, so even if he seemed like a good guy, she still had that part of her that sent those thoughts into her brain. She had tried to ignore them back then, but part of her couldn't help but worry through their time together. Fortunately, that had not been the case, but it just as easily could have.

But then, Nico came for her.

He came BACK for her.

Nobody had ever done that for her before. Before she met Neptune and the others, IF had been pretty much a loner living a rather nomadic lifestyle. She didn't have that many friends, and the few she did have were either civilians with their own lives to live, or fellow Agents she worked with that got themselves killed on the battlefield. Either against a Monster attack, or the stray Abnormal. It was more the latter though, considering the difference in danger levels between the two types of Monster plaguing Gamindustri. She had those times in the red light district sure enough, but they were more for self satisfaction than anything, and she didn't form any close attachments there.

So, the fact that someone whom she potentially formed a stronger attachment than one of friends/comrades in arms, someone whom she felt so confused about, decided that she was worth helping even though it could pose a dangerous risk to their health, felt... like she said before, it felt more than a little touching, in fact it warmed her normally cold heart. She hadn;t experienced that before, so it had been more than a little foreign to her, especially when that person pulled her into an embrace where she could just FEEL the relief in that she was alright oozing from it. The raw emotion she felt from that embrace, the influx of emotions she got from that moment, it overwhelmed her and made her more than a little embarrassed.

Still, the gesture alone hit her hard. The emotions afterwards had merely been the icing on the cake.

On his end, Nico smiled in a comforting manner, crossing his arms over his stomach when he realized what IF had been implying. "No need to thank me, you're a comrade so it's only natural that I go above and beyond for you..." he replied, though his tone betrayed the amount of emotion he felt about that particular issue. "if anything, I'm the one who should apologize for not getting there sooner. I mean, I know you're no damsel in distress character and you would kick anyone in the neither regions for assuming otherwise." To punctuate this, he made a kicking motion with his right foot, electing a small amused chuckle from the woman at how true that was. "Still, I wanted to get to you sooner, cause well..." at this point, the male scratched the side of his cheek awkwardly, a light tinge of pink on his cheeks as he looked away from her. "I was honestly worried for you. I couldn't help it. The thought of you suffering at those asshole's hands does more than piss me off a little." His eyes then hardened, his cheeks returning to normal as he gripped the bed sheets tightly. He could have just shredded them with how much strength his sudden rage put into his hand. "Then, there's Maghda."

"Oh yeah, her." IF did a mix between a frown and a scowl at the mention of the Khorne Cult's leader. She remembered what she was like, how she looked towards Nico like men do towards women: like a sack of meat that she couldn't wait to sink her fangs into. IF didn't expect to feel as furious as she did, but she did. "Actually, while we're on that subject, could you explain why the heck that old hag seems so fixated on you it borderlines pedophilia?" she questioned. While IF knew that Nico had an unusual ability to attract girls to him like a magnet, the way Maghda looked at him was more than a little disturbing. And creepy.

Hearing her question at the end, Nico couldn't help but exhale. His eyes gained a far-off look to them while he held up his right Bracer. "Well, that one's a bit of a long story. Before I go into it, do you know anything about New Tristram?" he asked her, looking back into IF's green orbs.

The brunette frowned as she tried to recall that name. Something about it just seemed very familiar to her, like she'd heard it before from somewhere but no matter what she just couldn't put her finger on it. It was a solid minute before something sparked, and she suddenly snapped her fingers in remembrance. "Oh yeah, there was something that happened 4 years ago. That's a Leanbox town, if i'm not mistaken." Back then, she had been surfing the web during her break, when she had come across some forums detailing about New Tristram. They had been quite vague though, so she hadn't put too much stock in them due to lack of proper information.

"Well, that was just putting it mildly." Nico remarked with heavy sarcasm, his eyes reflecting his current mood as he fiddled with his accessory. For a moment, the teen looked conflicted as memories passed through his mind, before he sighed once more and began to explain. "4 Years ago, Leanbox requested some help from Planeptune's Spec Ops Branch since theirs had their hands full with other matters. Not to mention they had already sent an Agent to investigate but they hadn't heard back from him. We could only send 1 Agent though, and that Agent was me. Apparently, New Tristram's communications to the central City of MICROSOFT stopped suddenly, and they wanted to know why. I packed what I usually took for long missions, my instincts telling me as such, and hauled ass over there. I expected tit to be just an Abnormal causing interference at the time, but what I did not expect..." at this point, the male's eyes shook as the memories flashed through his head like PTSD. He forced himself to keep going however, it would be the best way to deal with this. "Was for a near repeat event of Raccoon City to happen and see the dead walking amongst the living once more."

The teen didn't let IF speak, though by the sudden inhaling, he could tell this surprised her. Sadly enough, the shocks wouldn't stop there. "Turns out there was a Necromancer on the loose, they had infiltrated Old Tristram, which had fallen long before New Tristram was built, and had released a horde of undead there. The undead being those that died during the village's destruction. By the time I arrived, the first few waves had been dealt with by the Village' guards, but many of them had already fallen and joined the undead horde's ranks. Some of them had been the ones responsible for communications, explaining why the village had gone dark."

He didn't bother with the fiddling anymore, and just continued the story. "I helped them fight off the first wave, then had a talk with the Village elder. Turned out the undead were being spawned in by these creatures called 'Wretched Mothers' whom were once handmaidens to the former Queen Asylla of King Leoric's time. They all responded to the word of the Wretched Queen, the first of the handmaidens, so I had to fight through legions of undead to reach the Old Tristram ruins, where I had to slay her once more and put the undead to rest once again."

"Geez, people just love to mess with the dead, it's disgusting..." IF couldn't help the scowling remark that escaped her lips, fury coursing through her like blood. It was one thing to see it in a game, but to see it in real life was another. She thought Umbrella and Avenir were bad with what they did, but Necromancy seemed just as bad as artificial bio weapons. With how she fought in the attack on Lastation's capital SONY, the brunette had an inkling as to what that may have been like.

Her remark got an agreeing nod from the red haired teen. "Yeah, but if that were it, then this would be a short tale. I got rid of the undead, but I had to go after the Necromancer, and to do that the village Elder told me I had to go into the old Cathedral, for that was where the Necromancer had been last sighted. So, off I go, making sure to keep my wits about me. Good thing I did too, cause just as soon as I set foot in that place, i'm attacked by more Undead than the Raccoon City Outbreak had to offer, and way more varieties. Turned out that this Necromancer had been busy while I dealt with the Wretched Queen. Seriously, some of the things I saw there would make seasoned killers want to quit their ways for good."

"Fighting through levels filled with Undead, I came across another Spec Ops Agent, much to my surprise. Turned out that he had been pinned by Undead hordes, so he couldn't get any word back to his superiors. Thus, we teamed up to stop the Necromancer from whatever it was they were doing. While we fought, I questioned my companion on what they had learned, and I learned only one name: Maghda. That had been my first time hearing about her so I didn't know much, but I couldn't help but be suspicious about the way the Agent spoke. There was a LARGE amount of hate, fear and caution when they said that name, way more than any other time I've fought beside Leanbox Spec Ops."

Taking a small break, Nico inhaled and exhaled. He could sense that Biko was listening in too, something he noted while continuing. "We fought through the multi-levels of the ruined Cathedral, and we soon came to this large area which looked to once have been a throne room. Though back then, it looked more like a sea of bones with a single Armored Skeleton slumped on the throne. That was when she first appeared, marking my first encounter with the being called Maghda. You wouldn't believe it, IF, but Maghda's aura had felt WAY worse than when we met her before. It had felt more twisted, cursed and unholy. Like she had become an abomination of life, something I honestly can see considering her backstory. Maghda took one look at me, and I KNEW she had taken a rather... disturbing fixation on me, even offered me a position as her sex slave right off the bat. Blunt, with no fucks given."

IF's eyes widened at this. Talk about forthright aggressiveness. "I guess she didn't take the refusal too well?"

"Nope, she did not, IF. I'd enraged her, and she soon revealed her plan to raise the black King Leoric into the mortal world to destroy New Tristram, and by extension Leanbox. Though, that had been only a secondary goal for her, though I couldn't ask why since she vanished seconds later, and remember that Skeleton I mentioned? Well, it came to life, and thus we had to fight an undead King with a legion of Skeleton warriors. Trust me, they were stronger than they sounded. I had to resort to using a mix of Ebony, Ivory and Rebellion to take them down quickly so we could hunt Maghda down. Unfortunately, the battle rendered my companion incapacitated, their leg had been horribly messed up by a stray attack during the final stretch so I urged the Agent to use the Eject Button to get help. Didn't take much convincing, and thus it came down to me to stop Maghda from whatever it was she wanted to do."

Nico glanced over to IF, the first time he did so since this story began, before he continued his tale. "Tracking her down hadn't been hard, all I had to do was fight though large legions of undead. The closer I got, the greater the strength and numbers the undead possessed. Eventually, I tracked her down to a deep cave, hidden beneath the old Cathedral where... there lay this huge block of Ice, a large monster inside it in suspended animation. Even so, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was looking at me while it looked so dead. Maghda soon appeared, and she told me that this was what she was really after, the Abnormal called the Teufel,the Abnormal responsible for King Leoric's madness. She wanted to awaken this creature, and have it spread it's madness across the Nation. You can guess what that meant, right?"

"Sounds like mass genocide..." IF whispered, stunned. She didn't want to imagine what that would have been like, as dark as this world was the thought of genocide on that scale scared her too much to even think about. Never mind how this took place in the Nation of the CPU she worshiped.

"That's putting it mildly. We fought afterwards, and I destroyed her with a good Plasma attack to her chest. I then set about destroying the Abnormal while it was still in it's prison, by rigging the entire cave to collapse in on itself. I had enough C4 Charges to do this, and in the end I was able to destroy the Cave so that this Teufel would never again see the light of day. Afterwards, I returned to New Tristram, to inform the Elders of what happened. They told me that the other Agent I found had been transported back to the Capital, and would receive a portion of the payment for his troubles. Though I would get the bigger payment due to my contributions being larger than his. Though, like with him, I got the same reaction the moment I mentioned Maghda's name. Hell, it arguably seemed worse with them, so before I returned to Planeptune I did some intense research into Maghda. There were almost no records of her, something which I found suspicious. It was almost like she was intentionally erased from the history books."

'Yeah, that DOES sound suspicious...' the BOW thought, frowning as she cupped her chin. To go so far to erase someone from history like that, it was clear that Maghda had some strong connections to Leanbox. Especially if the reactions to her name from the citizens in that village were any indication, so something really bad must have happened for her to warrant such actions. "But why would they do that? It doesn't really make much sense."

"Yeah, if it weren't for the fact that Maghda had been once a member of the Basilicom, a high ranking one several centuries ago."

"?!"

"Yep, shocked me, too. Apparently, she's over 400 years old. Back then, she had been recruited for a high position within the Basilicom staff, her predecessor 'mysteriously vanishing' for some reason..." Nico made quotation marks with his hands, both of them sharing a glance that showed they BOTH had an idea of what that really meant. "At the time she had gone under an alias called Adria. She had been, on paper, researching medicines to cure some of the most disastrous plagues around Leanbox at the time, and had been making remarkable progress. Thus, her promotion seemed perfectly reasonable."

Thinking of Leanbox's lifestyle, IF had to admit that Maghda's cover was a convincing one. Leanbox didn't have as much in the way of technology, so plagues would naturally be a big cause for concern amongst the populace. Though that could be said for Lastation as well considering the heavy pollution in the air. "Ever since her employment, Maghda ensured that our medicines were able to counteract any plague that came our way. Whenever a patient was sick or needed to have vaccines prematurely, hers were always the best out there. Her medicines were top notch, and many lives were saved. For a time, all was well, until things started to get strange."

"Weird things started happening, rumors about new monsters that had never been seen before started surfacing. Considering how Abnormals were a thing, people just thought of them as new Abnormals, until one Spec Ops Agent at the time decided to investigate himself. Soon enough, he found one such beast inside a family home, and the records say that he almost pissed himself from fear. At the time, he'd been so horrified that such beasts existed, and told the Guild about them. They quickly ordered that any monsters like them seen within the city confines be annihilated without hesitation. Meanwhile, this Agent whose name has been lost to history, investigated what the circumstances were that surrounded these happenings, and it took me weeks before this Agent made a conclusion. These monsters all had something to do with the most recent of medicines that Maghda had been supplying to the local pharmacies." he explained, shaking in anger.

Trying to quell his rage, Nico continued while clenching his fists. "The Agent confronted her about it after he was sure she had a connection, never can be too careful, you know? And that's when he learned she had been experimenting with dark magic, creating potions that not only healed the sick, but progressively turned them into demonic monsters in the most painful, agonizing and slow manners possible. It would happen so slow that nobody would suspect it, and when it was complete the air would disperse the residue so there was no trace. They had a big fight that leveled half of Leanbox, which was when Maghda exposed her true colors to the Agent, and thus got banished from Leanbox after the Agent barely emerged victorious. She disappeared afterwards, and ti was assumed she had been killed somewhere... turns out, that's not the case at all."

There, that was the end of the tale of Maghda. Seriously, he needed a drink to wet his mouth. Summoning one from his Void Storage, Nico drank the entire water bottle, before putting the now empty bottle in his Void Storage again.

Meanwhile, IF found herself reeling from what she had learned. All this stuff in the middle of the night, it just barely processed itself in her brain, and that was thanks to her BOW powers helping. So, to recount, Maghda was a possibly immortal witch whom got banished from Leanbox for misdeeds, had once tried to awaken an Abnormal that was responsible for destroying an entire kingdom but Nico supposedly 'axed her', only for her to return today with new powers. Odds were, that she was still alive even now, waiting for her opportunity to strike. That thought did NOT sit well with her, not one bit.

"Well, I know where i'm going to put my claws the next time I see her."

"Yeah? Well, get in line, cause I'm going to shove Soul Edge down her throat first. So yeah, that's what I know and have experienced about Maghda."

IF nodded, knowing that would be the best thing for the world. Nico had more history with her, so she would let him get the first shot at the bitch for what she did. Maybe it was her new feelings for him, but part of her wondered what it would be like to rip out her entrails while she assimilated her. The thought of hearing her cry for mercy filled her with a sense of sadistic glee that made her understand sadists a bit better.

After that tale, Nico and IF descended into thoughtful; silence. The awkward atmosphere before had all but vanished thanks to the male's story about the Witch. As well as the ominous implications for future encounters with her. The teen glanced towards his Bracer and used it to check the time. 'Looks like it's getting late... we should really be getting back to bed...' the male thought, glancing over to the brunette.

Now that he wasn't distracted by the story no more, his thoughts of how beautiful she was came back with a vengeance, making him once more feel quite hot under the collar. The male refused to let them sink in though, no, he absolutely refused to. Not only was it wrong to think of a comrade like that, but she deserved better than some wretched piece of shit like him.

What he didn't realize, was that IF had noticed his gaze, as well as his change.

The brunette, once she saw the change in the male Spec Ops Agent, remembered the ORIGINAL reason why she came here. To his room in the middle of the night while risking being caught by Neptune and Compa. She wanted... she wanted to see what these feelings were, exactly. She wanted to know if these feelings were what people said they were, or if they were just temporary gratitude. It honestly made her feel really nervous inside, this almost felt like a massive weight on her shoulders. What if she was right? What if the others were wrong? She didn't know if she could keep herself calm around him ever again after this.

Yet, deep down, one thing was for certain, after this night, things between them would change...

Radically.

"Say, Nico..."

"Hm?"

'Whelp, time to get this on...' IF thought herself, steadying her breathing and steeling her nerves. Turning her head, the brunette became distinctly aware of how close they were sitting together. Just an inch and her leg would brush against his. She ignored that for the time being. "Can I ask you... if it's alright if I um..." C'mon girl, get a grip! IF mentally scolded herself, she had to ask this, she had to make a step forward. Nico wouldn't likely considering his mental state, but she wanted to know, dammit. "Could I stay here the night? I'd rather not risk waking Nep and Compa, then have to deal with the fallout. It'd probably wake the other residents of the Hotel."

There, that seemed plausible, and it looked like Nico was buying it, for now at least. No doubt he' figure her motives out soon enough.

"Well..." Nico began, trying to come up with a response... while looking composed externally. He sure as hell wasn't internally, for his mind raced with chaotic panic like blood overflowing from a wound. His heart hammered away within his chest while he struggled within himself like he was in an all-out war for survival. The mind was a fragile thing, and right now his mind was no exception to that rule. He could feel his fears creeping back to the forefront of his head, attempting to regain their lost dominance.

Quickly, he sought out guidance from the one person he who he could trust in this situation, and it certainly wasn't IF.

'Biko, what do I do? She's asking if she can do the same as Neptune and Compa! What do I-?'

 **'Nico... let her in.'**

'...#GULP# if you say so...'

"... Alright..."

Mentally, IF did a fist pump. 'Yes! It worked!' she cheered mentally. So far, so good. Goddamn this felt much different from those times in the Red Light District, that much felt for certain. The two then shuffled about on the bed, slipping beneath the covers while Nico put the covers over them. They reached to just below their shoulders, but unfortunately the bed was only a single one, so the two had to be quite close to each other to fit. Heck, their faces were practically an inch away from touching, that was how close their faces were. They could feel each other's body-heat emitting from them, Nico's being enhanced by his DPU powers and IF's adapting to it thanks to her being a BOW.

Time passed, and neither of them could find it in themselves to fall asleep. Their fatigue from the previous events, from IF's kidnapping to the while multi-chapter long rescue, all of the accumulated fatigue had seemingly decided to pack bags and run off to ago on vacation, or something as ridiculous as that. Still, whatever the case may be, neither of them felt like they would be getting to sleep anytime soon. Neither of them said a thing to each other either, both of them lost within their own thoughts.

'Shit, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!' The male teen's eyes ran abuzz with frantic panic-filled thoughts. he could feel his emotions and hormones running rampant trough his body like a parade going horribly wild, his senses being stimulated by the scene of the woman before him. He didn't move, not even a muscle for fear of what his body might make him do once he did. Nevertheless, it did not decrease his restlessness in the least, something that resulted in an uncomfortable sensation in every bone in his body. It was all he could do to remain calm like this, his mind distracting itself by imagining every gory scene he had ever witnessed in his life. Every Abnormal and human he has killed, anything to distract himself from the very gorgeous woman before from Neptune, Compa and Lucy, Nico hadn't ever slept in the same bed as a woman before, hell he usually tried to keep away from scenes like this. Mostly due to his secret, but it also had to do with his lacking sense of self-worth. There was a reason why he wasn't so good with others after all.

Even with Biko's encouragement, the teen struggled within himself in an all out war, a furious struggle within where both sides fought for the opposite thing:

One fought to open the doors of his heart, to let someone else in at last.

The other fought to keep their heart closed off, so they didn't get hurt in the end.

On the other end, IF also hadn't the calmest head on her shoulders. The nervousness she felt before had intensified by a thousand, swirling within her chest like a violent whirlpool of horrible emotions. Her heart thumped so wildly within the confines of her rib-cage with explosive-level volumes that she swore even a deaf person could hear it. Honestly, she could see why Nico would attract girls like a Casanova right now, she didn't bother paying it much heed before but his physique definitely had an appeal that only it could possess. It felt unique to him thanks to him having trained to gain it. What kind of training, she didn't know, but nonetheless it DEFINITELY showed. Especially with how far they've come. Yet, compared to Nico's state of mind, hers was on the calmer end of the spectrum. 'This nervousness, this anxiety... it looks like...'

Since there was little chance that either of them would get to sleep at this point, at least without anything happening, IF decided to think of something to talk about. There was one thing she did want to know, though, and it had to do with the Party itself. Slowly, she formulated the question in her mind, checked it over, before opening her mouth to speak. "Say, Nico...?" she began, getting his attention. The way he slightly jerked beneath the covers showed her he had been lost in thought earlier. "I'm honestly curious, but um, what kind of girl do you find attractive?"

THUMP,

THUMP,

THUMP,

IF thought that was he sound of her own erratic heart rate, however when she noticed subtle differences she realized that it was actually Nico's own. The teen's eyes looked like they had seen a ghost, his mouth slightly open with his lips in an 'O' shape. His skin tone had paled slightly, and through his eyes she could definitely see every ounce of fear that question brought upon him. "Wha-wha-what do you mean by that, IF? what brought this on?" he questioned, scratching his cheek as he turned his head to look up at the ceiling. He did this so that she didn't see the red blush spreading across his cheeks. Though part of him felt it was futile thanks to her BOW powers giving her enhanced eyesight.

Slowly, IF edged ever closer to him, her body heat becoming all the more noticeable under the blankets. She could feel the body heat of the male beside her like a raging furnace, yet it oddly felt subdued like it knew it wasn't needed. Her skin got hit with a noticeable heat wave though as when he got embarrassed, his body heat flared in temperature before settling back down. IF could feel her body adapting to this, proving once more that high speed evolution was her body's specialty. "It's really quite straightforward, dude." she smoothly replied, making sure to hide her own nervousness. If she appeared calm, then it would help Nico in keeping calm himself. "No matter what you say, the bottom line is you've got a it of a following going on, one step away from gaining a harem. You have to have some preferences to girls, quite varied ones considering how you react. What, you like girls with womanly bodies? big boobs?"

On his end, Nico did not even try to pretend he didn't notice her slight twitch at the mention of big boobs. His eyes temporarily flashed with suspicion before he pushed it to the back off his mind in favor of deciding on what to answer with. He knew that IF wasn't someone who took any bullshit, so it would be best of he just came out and be honest. Though, that would be easier said than done. Still, Nico may be many things, but a coward wasn't one of them. He just had to play it calmly and then they could move on past this awkward conversation. "Well... I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you, cause I literally have no idea." he admitted, truthfully.

THIS, the brunette found herself having trouble believing. "Really? You seem to be effected greatly by Nep's HDD form, and Lucy..." she remarked coolly, her eyes set in a deadpan.

Nico flushed when he remembered those times when the said girls came on to him, though he didn't think they were. He just couldn't find it in himself to believe they wanted to do... that stuff with him, even with what he knew about Lucy's past. "It's true, I have no idea what my preferences are, since I don't try to... well, be with a girl." he explained, his voice lowering to below a whisper at the end.

"Why's that?"

When she asked that peculiar question, Nico made to answer but then he hesitated, his breath catching itself in his throat. Should he say this? This wasn't something he just told anyone after all, and it could be used against him in the future should anyone bad learn of it. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but paranoia had helped hims survive all these years, so why not now? In a world like this one, one had to learn to be on their best guard all too quickly. A lot of Rookie Agents fell to this mistake.

 **'Remember, Nico, this is IF we're talking about. If it were anyone else other than her, Lucy, Neptune or Compa then I would agree, however these girls have proven themselves trustworthy. Remember what Helen told you, during your training? About resolve? Well then, how about I add on to that? Abandon your fear. Turn and face her. Don't back an inch. Now, Nico, advance! Never stop! If you retreat, you will age. Be afraid, and you'll die. Move forward, and never stop trying!'**

... Honestly, Biko could be a great leader if he so chose, that speech motivated him more than a lot of the politicians these days. Heh, he felt like he could follow that guy into the depths of hell itself with that speech.

Though, he was right. Both Biko and Helen were right. He had to have resolve to do what needed to be done. Nico refused to allow his fears to blind him to that fact ever again. The time for being a fraidy cat was over, IF wanted an answer to her question, then he would give her one. "It's honestly simple..." he began, nervously scratching his head. Even if he resolved to do this, he still felt nervous about saying it. Just proclaiming an action and actually doing it were two different things, after all. Though, Nico finally got the words out and he never felt so good when he did. "I just never found myself worthwhile enough for a girl, I mean come on, who would want someone like me?" A sad sigh escaped his lips, his eyes losing their light as he glanced down at the covers."Then there's my work, A Spec Ops Agent tends to die when they were young, so it doesn't give them a lot of time to enjoy life. More so than other military professionals. Most tend to do things that make them look like perverts, and believe me they do like tat stuff, but some refuse to get too close to people so that they don't cause any heartache when they finally die. I honestly have no chance."

...

...

...

'Did he REALLY just say that? Really? After everything that's happened?' IF couldn't help but blink to herself, momentarily dumbfounded by what Nico has said to her. Did he really not see what the signs were telling him? Was he really as dense as he made himself out to be? No, she would call bullshit on that one, that last thing seemed more believable cause it was true that those in the military could die at any time either out in the wilderness or during monster attacks on the settlements. If he had just stuck with that, then IF wouldn't be as dumbfounded as she was right now. instead., she refused to believe what he just said to her. it had to be about how his mind wasn't exactly the best of the tools in the shad in terms of stability. Hell, she had already pegged him as someone who suffered from psychological repression and other mental problems, so an answer like this shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did. Nico's mind must be damaged in ways worse than she'd initially expected. That was the only explanation she could think of for, in her eyes, such a (mostly) stupid answer. Still though, judging by the significant decrease in tension she noticed from his shoulders, it looked like he had been waiting to say that for a long time.

"But, hypothetically, what if a girl, or hell even multiple girls, showed you they were interested in you?"

Now THAT question sent Nico down a downward spiral of emotions. Surprise, confusion, hesitation, nervousness and sadness. Yet, there were also emotions like eagerness, joy, and want. Nico may not be too much of a fan of harems, but the male could see the practical side of it. Having a harem made for a bigger family, which in turn kept humanity's numbers up. In this world, the strong survive and the weak die. If they banded together into groups, they would obviously last longer. Though he'd be a fool to say that was all that there was to a Harem, there was the emotional attachments that the members had to have. A Harem wouldn't work if those in it didn't care for each other, that was something Nico firmly believed.

Unfortunately, many don't see it the way he does, they only saw it for the sexual pleasures that it offered. The chance to have a lot of femiine flesh meshing with their own in a dance under their sheets. It sickened him beyond the point of vomiting, yet he could do noting to change their minds, to make them see what a Harem should be like.

Call him a corny bastard, but he found the emotional aspects of a Harem all the more important than just the sexual side. Seriously, wouldn't it hurt like hell to see one of the girls in said harem hurt? That sounded like hell to the male, and felt like when he had Neptune and Compa face those Demons when he went to assist IF. Sexual stuff was more of a secondary thing to him, why else would he focus more on helping with the girls' issues? Aside from seeing them smile again, of course. To him, someone who considered himself a monster in every way possible, it made him value people he could trust more than a normal person.

In the end, Nico doubted he'd be able to use words alone to describe his opinion, but he could sure as hell try. "Well... if there was even a minuscule chance that a woman actually wanted to be near me... if she could accept me for what I am..." the male began, his lower lip trembling as he clutched his fists. At this point, the male was sitting up on the bed, covers at his waist so IF could see his black top. "Then I'd treasure them more than anything of value in this world." There, he said it. The only way he'd be able to fully show his thoughts and beliefs would be to create some emotional link or something, but he doubted that something like that existed. "Angels like those hypothetical girls would DEFINITELY be worth living for, especially for someone like me whom considers himself unappealing as all hell."

...

...

... Wow.

IF couldn't help but e in awe for what Nico just told her right now. While it sounded corny as all hell, the pure honesty and truth shining like searchlights in his eyes more than made up for it. Hell, that look spoke more to her than a thousand words could about his true feelings. While some may consider that to be along with the 'super gentlemen' trope, it still felt like a Nico-type answer for her. She knew this thanks to recalling how there had been moments where, instead of being lewd, Nico would focus more on helping girls with their problems.

She'd likely take this to the grave, but those words flattered her more than she'd care to admit.

"W-Well, what would happen if those girls turned out to be in the Party we're in? That they found someone they were willing to spend their life with?"

"Those girls are freaking gorgeous, so anyone whom earns their affections would be a goddamn freaking lucky prick."

The quick reaction, combined with the firmness in his words, threw her for a loop once more. It impressed her, the more this conversation went, the more resolution and comfort Nico began to display. It was like he was finally starting to come out his shell, to conquer the psychological damage done to his mind. By no means did she think she could get all of it instantly, but the fact that he was starting to change was a great plus. Though, she couldn't help but snicker to him. "Yeah, that's true, those two definitely have the whole angel vibe going on for them. If they did find someone, that person would be one lucky SOB."

That little piece of information quickly caught Nico's attention, and was enough for him to push back those hormones plaguing his mind. Hell, his embarrassment had quickly been pushed aside by grim determination, similar to how he began consoling Lucy so long ago. He knew Masks when he saw them, and right then IF had tried to mask something, and the teen had a good feeling as to what it was. "Okay hold up, why mention only Neptune and Compa? There's you in our party too, you know." Maybe it was because she didn't see herself getting into a relationship, but something in his gt told him that wasn't actually the case. Plus given the context of their little talk...

IF mentally cursed Nico's perceptiveness under her breath, a wave of irritation flowing down her like a river. It always seemed to occur at the most annoying of times. No, it happened nearly every time, he constantly kept a vigil. Even when it looked like he wasn't. Part of her just wanted to move on from this topic, but she knew that look in his eyes, Nico wouldn't drop it until the topic was resolved. "What, it's true. Nep and Compa have way more chances than me, they're cute girls. Guys like cute girls and not ones that can morph their body into weapons that can slice off their manhoods."

...

...

...

...

Yeah, he was going to call bullshit on this one. "Okay, stop those thoughts right now, young Missy." In a completely ironic role reversal, Nico took the rails of the conversation, any chance that his hormones and embarrassment had at resurfacing had been snuffed out at this point. There were more important things that needed to be done for him to be embarrassed like a timid school kid. This was something he had to nip in the bud right fucking now, his pride demanded it. It honestly seemed like an offence just to hear something like that come out of this woman's mouth.

Twisting around so that he leaned on his side and faced her, Nico caught IF by surprise when he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him, his other hand cupping her cheek as he stared intently into her eyes. If it were possible, his eyes would be literal flames at that moment. "Do not EVER assume that you are not attractive, IF, never think that. You are definitely up there with the likes of any woman, not just in body. Your personality makes you fun to be around, and if you're worried about your looks then don't. If anything, girls should be jealous of how you're both freaking gorgeous as well as a total badass. Who else can you think of who can shrug off being kidnapped like it was no big deal, and then dish out some well deserved ass kicking? Very few, I can assure you. You say your not attractive? I say you're insanely beautiful and devilishly attractive, anyone who doesn't see that in you is blinder than a bat. You're freaking gorgeous, IF, and if anyone says otherwise I'll tear them apart myself." he told her in deadly seriousness, his voice soft but firm while his eyes burned with his resolve. She swore that they were beginning to sine the red that indicated their transformation into their DPU state.

This all but cemented how resolute Nico would be in delivering that promise. After all, one thing that everyone knew about him was that he kept true to his word.

What he didn't realize was just how much those words would impact on the normally composed IF's heart, not even when her face, darkened by the lack of light in the room, burned bright red while her heart felt like it was mimicking machine gun fire with how fast it was beating. his had been the first time someone complimented her like that, and the rather... no, VERY extreme little bit at the end only served to make it all the more endearing, somehow. She had come to associate Nico's rather extreme mannerisms regarding violence as a part of his nature at this point, knowing just how he became that way with what Helen had told them. Anyone would likely develop a taste for violence after seeing the amount of shit he'd seen. It just felt like his way of showing someone how earnest e was about something, this case being her.

That thought only sent her heart even more into overdrive.

After a moment of silence, IF finally found her voice, and it came out a lot more meekly than she would have liked. "You... really mean that?" she asked him, getting a fierce nod from the male.

"Hell yeah, you know me, IF. Seriously, it baffles me why you would think that when you're clearly freaking beautiful. I'd go on a tangent and list the things that make you as beautiful as you are, but i'm pretty sure that would take all night, and-MMPH!"

Nothing more could escape his lips thanks to IF lunging forward and clashing her lips hotly against his, a hand on his cheek to muffle his startled sounds. Her eyes closed upon contact, as opposed to how Nico's flew open so wide they almost fell out of their sockets if they weren't still connected to his head. The brunette moved over so that her body lay on top of his, her hair cascading down over both sides of her face till she had straddled him. It didn't take long this time compared to Lucy and Neptune, for the male to close his and respond, a hand on the side of her head while the other arm rested on her center back.

'This guy...' IF thought to herself as she utterly dominated the kiss, clutching his sides with her thighs for balance as she utterly ravished his mouth with hers. 'He really has no idea how much of a Casanova he really is, does he...? It honestly makes the thought of dominating him... goddamn EXCITING!' she thought, and if she wasn't kissing the guy under her right now she would be grinning in a manner that wouldn't be too unfitting on Lucy whenever she targeted a Noblemen for her conquests.

Something about her that a lot of people didn't realize, IF had a hidden side to her, a side that usually came out only during intercourse. She had an aggressive, controlling side whenever she danced under the sheets with someone. Essentially she just ADORED it when her partner was putty in her hands, allowing her to have her with them as she saw fit. The power that she got from that was a rush, like she was constantly on high. It only got even stronger now that she was a BOW, since her instincts desired a suitable 'mate' to breed with, someone strong enough to be worthy of her urges.

This, among other things, had been what the brunette BOW realized about herself the moment this session started.

Hot, very audible smooching sounds echoed through the room that indicated the steamy make pout session IF had initiated, the woman layering herself onto him so every piece of their forms were connected to each other. Fortune favored her tonight, cause beforehand she had injected some of her Biomass into the walls that made up Nico's room, not only keeping all sounds from escaping but also informing her of anyone whom were getting too close for comfort (IE Neptune or Compa). Right now, Nico was all hers, putty in her hands so she could have her way with him, and he wouldn't even resist. Hell, he'd probably enjoy it if the way his body was reacting to her touch was any indication, something that made her grin internally. The thought that her usual high from dominating her partner, to the fact that she actually had feelings for said partner, felt HEAVENLY to her.

Yep, she confirmed it for herself. she definitely had romantic interest in the guy, which was practically what she wanted from this session anyways.

With that in mind, IF pulled back, her hands moving so they were beside Nico's head. The two opened their eyes slowly, and the male nearly gulped when he saw the animalistic, predatory gleam in IF's eyes. He got that look, that look a girl got when they were going to rock your world and he would be liking it. Neptune in HDD form gave him that look too, and on IF it looked so goddamn arousing considering the confidence oozing from her being.

"Heh, and you say you're not a Casanova..." she remarked with a playful smirk on her lips. The way she felt him harden exponentially against her just then made her smirk widen all the more, her inner dominatrix squealing at the cute bashfulness on the face of the boy beneath her. She even playfully flicked his nose, making his face redden even further in embarrassment.

His face super flushed, Nico turned his head to look at the bed's headdress, anything to not look at the playfully seductive grin on the brunette's lips. That kiss, combined with how he was reacting, felt much like what Neptune did before, and yet he could only think about the smoking hot woman above him. She had him spellbound, in a trance even with how she handled herself. He was trapped in her web, and he knew it. Even when he answered back against that comment about him seemed too feeble and weak for his liking. "I-I'm not..." he stammered, his face redder than the weaker form of his Hellfire.

This only served to make IF chuckle above him, only making a minor effort to hide it much to his embarrassment. He could feel the minor shaking her actions made her body do around his waist, nearly making him groan in pleasure. Had he been a weaker willed man, then he probably would have. "Oh, i'm pretty sure you can't argue with me at this point. Just look at you, surrounded by so many cute girls, and you've seen several of them naked. Nico the Casanova, seems like an apt description of you, huh?" she asked with a playfully teasing undertone.

"W-Well, w-wouldn't a Casanova be like..." Nico began, trying to control his stuttering. It failed mostly, though that had been because of how spellbound he was of the woman above him right now. Seriously, was he this weak-willed around women? Nevertheless, he continued. "Constantly having s-sex with women ten l-leaving them...?" he asked her, his blush momentarily fading as he frowned, not liking that scenario one bit. "Doesn't sound like an appealing title."

On that, the brunette could agree, but that wasn't what she was referring to when she called him a Casanova. "Nah, that's only one definition. It can also mean how a man can be very charming around members of the opposite gender. Considering your track record, that seems much more accurate, don't you think?"

He would have responded to that, but if he was being honest, Nico couldn't help but find that logic irrefutable as he recalled his past interaction with the girls in the Party, not to mention Team RAIL, so he decided to keep his mouth shut. Lot of good it did him, considering how 'I got you figured out' looking IF's smirk was.

Eventually, the brunette yawned as she lowered herself back onto his chest. "Well, that has been one enlightening discussion..." she mused, placing her head just beneath his neck. "But that little kiss I gave you kind of wore me out. So let's get some sleep, no doubt Nep and the others will have stuff planned for you in the days ahead." What she said was a lie, she wasn't as tired as she made herself out to be. In fact, if things were different she would have taken him right here and now. His V Card would have been all hers, and while she would relish that possibility, it wasn't the right time yet. Nico still had whatever emotional baggage he had, and she had already confirmed what she wanted to confirm.

Once all that got dealt with though...

Let's just say that V Card of his wouldn't be lasting long.

"Y-Yeah... lets..." Fatigue slammed into his mind much greater than before. Nico honestly couldn't believe how such a hot make out session could tire him out like this. He also felt tired emotionally, probably thanks to all that heartfelt confessing he did before. Even now, the teen felt like he could fall asleep for weeks, his eyelids slowly closing of their own accord. Using what remained of his strength, Nico pulled the covers onto them once more, his arms then wrapping around the woman in a soft, caring embrace. In her 'sleep', IF let a small smile form on her lips before she fell into slumber for real, the male under her following suit seconds later.

In the end, they slept soundly through the night, coiled together like twin serpents.

* * *

 **Whew! That took a while!**

 **Anywho, yeah things got a little steamy for our MC there. IF I see is someone who, when she gets the opportunity, goes for what she wants, as well as has a hidden dominant side to her. But like I said in another chapter, she was held back because Nico has other girls whom are a lot more 'womanly' than her, so she didn't make much of a move till now. Though, thanks to our resident Casanova, those doubts have been sponged and now her true, confident self has come out.**

 **Also, noticed the parallels between IF and Vert? Both of them have had the theme of 'sexual frustration' between them, but Vert hasn't done anything about it while IF has had various visits to the red light district to deal with those urges. I wanted it to be this way because let's face it, Vert's been involved with combat too much for her to have had any chances in that area, plus with her situation in canon she couldn't visit anyways. IF on the other hand has had ample freedom to go on missions, thus building up stress. It is perfectly normal for her to go there to 'deal' with it all.**

 **Now, the next few chapters will be significantly less dark and more light hearted. There may be a few serious moments, but there will be a greater focus on humor (even though my humor isn't exactly the best). It will also be featuring different training scenes for the different characters, as I have ways of them getting stronger than they really are. Let's face it, with the approach of the various threats: the Demons, Cultists, Maghda, the Chaos Gods and Arfoire, they need to be as strong as possible.**

 **Now then, let's end the chapter here so I can get to work on the next one! See ya guys!**


	100. Chapter 97 - Relaxation and Preparation

**Chapter 97 - Relaxation and Preparation**

The bright, hot sun that only shone as bright as it did in Leanbox broke through the protection of the curtains, small rays penetrating and landing on the covers of Nico's bed. The male's eyes slowly tightened, his body instinctively waking up when the rays contacted his skin before they slowly opened. A low, irritated groan escaped his lips while his consciousness was robotically roused from it's slumber, just like any other morning. If this were any other day he would have slept a bit longer, but he had plans to do today, plans that involved a hell of a lot of Training. Training in his powers, both his DPU and… his other set.

There would be lot's of work to do in the near future before that… what was it again? Oh yeah, that Gala in 3 months' time. 3 months that he planned to spend refining his Skills, learning to master Soul Edge's true form, mastering his newly acquired DPU powers, the like. Then there was his hidden side, the side that he had since vowed to re-establish contact with. Ironic, huh? The secret he had been hiding so zealously now would be one of the focusing points on his training. It honestly felt both unnerving and a little exciting to finally get that thing some good exercise. Even now, he could feel the inner beast within whining in excitement at the thought of getting used for such an extended time frame.

Whelp, time to get up, then.

His light blue orbs, dreary at first thanks to just waking up, slowly cleared till his vision was at it's optimal. He raised an arm and rubbed his eyes to get rid of any excess sleep, his fatigue soon giving way to his desire to get out of bed and start the day…

'Huh?'

Though, the teen noticed something was off… rather, multiple somethings:

A foreign weight on his chest.

A large mass of brown in half his vision

A low breathing sound that seemed closer to him than he would have liked.

All of these little observations served to completely confuse the hell out of him for a moment, his mind coursing with questions that could all be attributed to 'what the fuck was going on?' as he looked down to the source of his confusion. The moment he did though, his form tensed as he soon lost all skin colour.

'Holy… shit… what the fuck is going on here?!'

When he first caught sight of an IF in PJ's lying next to him, luckily still sleeping and not nearly as naked as he had feared, Nico nearly flipped his lid in shock and fear. His danger senses went into overdrive, the many brain cells in his head going 'mayday, mayday! Alert! Code Black!' in chaotic panic. It was almost as bad as when he once found himself accidentally stumbling across a Nest filled with Abnormals called Tigrexes… Tigrexes that had been mating.

THAT had been an eye opener, for sure… and a source of aches from running so fast for days on end.

Those Tigrexes sure had a lot of energy when mad.

Still, that wasn't the issue here, those Tigrexes would have nothing on a furious IF who had been empowered with the perks of a BOW. IF wasn't the kind of girl who'd get herself into these situations, nor would she willingly sneak into a guy's bed like this. That seemed more like Neptune and Compa's schtick, considering their behaviour around him. If it were one of those two or even both of them, then he wouldn't have been so stunned, but this was IF, so it was a whole new ball game. If she woke up and saw them like this, she'd probably try to castrate him with her claws, manipulating their genetic so they could be as blunt as possible, so they could inflict the most pain.

While his regeneration would take care of that issue, it still had the principle to consider.

Guys preferred their manhoods where they were, thank you very much!

Then, the memories kicked in, and he returned to full composure. A low exhale escaped his lips That was right, he recalled the night that happened earlier, how IF had came into his room, they talked and it was decided that she would stay the night. Then, his blush increased when he remembered what she did to him after he spoke so passionately to her, telling her the honest to Goddess truth about how he viewed her. Seriously, how could she not think she was beautiful? Nico would never get that, nope not one bit. Maybe it was because of him being a monster, but he tended to see beauty in places where it normally would be ignored.

Or maybe it was just his soft spot for women. Nico knew he tended to treat girls with more fondness than he would guys, especially if he didn't know them. Maybe that had been a side effect of dealing with so many criminals in his lifetime, a large portion of them being guys. Guys tended to have a bigger chance to commit crimes due to their genetics, what he meant by that was that they had this 'warrior gene' in them that made them significantly more violent and territorial. A scientifically proven fact, that had been. It was practically hardwired into their DNA, something Nico believed thanks to his own actions against them. They were violent, bloody and extreme to the civilian eye. Heck, if he was wanting to talk about the side effects of his criminal lifestyle, then maybe his violent remarks would be another one. He remembered how much he would be willing to tear people apart over (though his mind refused to comprehend this next bit) trivial matters.

Nevertheless, he had to get back to the issue at hand, how to get out of this situation he was in with IF without her waking up. Perhaps he could Warp his way out of this, get as far away from here as possible so he had a practical head start on her when she started hunting him down. The male soon shook his head, denouncing that notion, no that was too risky he hadn't done enough training on that ability yet where he could use it and CONTROL where he would end up. Back when he was training with Biko, his Warping usually ended up with him in the middle of some weird looking creatures… ether sleeping or mating.

Mating… within his soul…

What.

The.

FUCK?!

Of course, he had gotten the fuck out of there as fast as he could and demanded explanations from Biko about what he just saw. After all, everything in here was a representation of him in some way, so something as irregular as creatures… doing THAT kind of nastiness within him left Nico with more than a few questions, as well as disturbed him on a deep emotional level. Who the hell would want to see something like THAT within their soul? Not him, that's for sure. It was disturbing and creepy on SO many levels.

Biko held no hesitations when he answered those questions. Turns out, thanks to his exposure to situations with the girls, what with all the advances they made on him (though Nico refused to believe them as advances), his make instincts were reawakening from slumber, slowly trying to integrate back into his system which was something his mind tried to prevent. Because of a matter that had happened during his lost memories, a powerful trauma had been detected, a trauma placed on his mind that forced those instincts into a state of intense slumber.

This trauma held great power over his actions, and he didn't even realise it until Biko informed him. This trauma made him refuse to acknowledge any sense of romantic intent being thrust upon him by others, imprinting this thought process so deep into his brain that Nico wouldn't have known it was there had someone not told him of it. It also seemed to be the source of his psychological repression, attributing that kind of action against him as a big fat no-no.

Thanks to the girls though, they were slowly reawakening, stimulated by their advances on him. Neptune, Lucy and now IF were the primary causes of this thanks to their considerable aggressive nature, though Biko had been diverting demonic power to the task of suppressing them. He had known this would be a problem for them, especially considering his current mindset, hence his actions. Though, it seemed that IF had unintentionally gave those instincts a boost with that moment she gave him. That had sent Nico into near-hysteria, his skin paling worse than a Vampire in the night as horrible scenes appeared in his head, scenes of him losing control of those instincts. Hopefully, he can get them back to slumber before they got problematic.

A brief shudder went down his spine. His head was NOT something one would want to get lost in.

That shudder seemed to have been a catalyst, since IF pulled him back down into the bedsheets and wrapping her arms around him, snuggling deep into his chest with her head under his neck.

Desperately, Nico tried to think of something else while trying not to wake her. Unbeknownst to him, his arms had also wrapped around her like they had a will of their own. Another solution could be to just pry IF off him with one of his many weapons used as a crowbar or something. That would allow him to escape the area, but the problem was that thanks to her BOW strength, it would be a major problem for him to do so without waking her. The strength she had when she was sleeping almost seemed greater than when she was awake, if that was even possible. Then, there was how their legs were entangled together like one big mass of limbs, limiting his ability to find a suitable position to get the leverage needed to perform such a task. Thus, this option didn't have much to offer either.

'Biko, you got any ideas?!' he shouted in his mind, hopefully his Demon Persona had some Ideas as to how the hell he could get out of this. He usually had an idea for various situations that he had gotten himself into, so this should be no different, right?

 **'Considering your situation, I am afraid your best solution would be to Warp out of there and risk ending up across the city. With the way your companion has gripped you, escape through the normal means would be impossible. Fortunately, you can check if she is awake afterwards by using your negative ability sensing, as with your regaining of your powers you should be able to control that ability better.'**

At first, Nico looked down in despair and acceptance of is fate, but when Biko mentioned that ability he'd used to track down where IF had ben taken to, his eyes widened in realisation. 'Oh yeah I almost forgot about that ability. Pretty sure I kept it off when I reached the Hellverse Dungeon, since I would have been overwhelmed with how much malice there would have been.'

 **'Yes, you likely would have. However, your absorption of Demonic power has done wonders for your body, not just stabilizing your powers, but also developed them, like seeds being given fertilizer to become trees faster. The amount your body took in, if you want a comparison, is like a vacuum sucking up an entire lake's worth of water. There is much training we need to do, and not nearly enough that I had before. I would say though, that you are in a much better position than you were before you activated Berserker Mode.'**

He recalled that mode with a wince, remembering what had happened to trigger it and the aftermath. Nico couldn't keep doing that, he had a tendency to worry his comrades whenever he overexerted himself and fell unconscious because of it. Yet, every time he thought this, Nico would be bombarded with memories of when, in intense situations, he would just throw caution to the winds anyways. Why was that? Why was it that had this recklessness anyways?

'Yeah, I guess you're right, but still it won't mean anything if we don't escape this…'

 **'Yes, about that…'**

The way Biko said that, trailing off at the end as if he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to, did not fill Nico with any confidence whatsoever. In fact, it felt more like a pool of dread piling inside his stomach. Before he could ask him what the hell…

"Looks like you're awake, Nico."

SHIT!

Slowly, IF's eyes opened to reveal her green orbs bearing into his own, stunned ones. A slight smirk tugged at her lips as she stared at him in amusement. "Honestly, I was just waiting for you to try and escape, didn't expect you to snuggle with me like this." She remarked, playfully.

Huh? What did she mean? That was the sole thought that passed through Nico's shocked but confused mind, before he looked down and noticed how his arms were wrapped tightly yet comfortingly around her body. His eyes widened in shock at the sight. 'What the heck?! When did…?!'

 **'It appears I will have to double my efforts; this little dilemma seems to have been brought about by your masculine instincts.'**

The teens' eyes became saucers. Only a little according to what Biko had told him, and already they were being problematic!

SHIT!

FUCKING GODAMNIT!

'Goddamnit, those freaking instincts will be the death of me someday!'

Despite his furious thoughts, externally he was a mess, trying and failing to form a proper response. Eventually, he managed to get some words out in slow, barely audible sentences. "W-Well, I-I… Uh… I like… hugs… blame my… M-Mom…" he admitted sheepishly, much to his inner frustration. True, he did like hugs, but this felt ridiculous to him. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all damnit! How did this happen?! More importantly, why the hell would it happen now of all times?! His mind raced in it's panic, barely retaining any sense of cognitive function. This was what he was like after Neptune had done that naked make-out thing after the Berserker Mode incident, but back then he had been alone in his freaking out thanks to the other girls, giving him time to calm down faster. Now though, he wasn't alone, thus had to hide his internal struggle.

All to do with those damn instincts!

Biko! Please suppress them as much as you can!

Just when he made to say something, IF placed a hand on his lips, shushing him as she began to speak instead. "Hey, relax. Nothing's gonna happen, alright? I just wanna stay like this for a while." She told him, before taking the hand away from his lips and allowing her Biomass to gather within it, morphing it's structure with barely audible organic sounds into a clock-like structure. "According to my internal clock, we have about 2 more hours before Nep and Compa stir from their slumber. Compa will likely wake first, considering how Lazy Nep is, so for now, I wanna have this moment to myself." She told him, seriously, wrapping her arm around him and pulling the teen back into her embrace.

Last night had been quite an enlightening experience for her. Like she had said so long ago, she hadn't had much experience in socialising with others thanks to er upbringing as a Mercenary by her father. Thus, she hadn't really noticed when her feelings towards this guy before her began to change from friend to…. Well, this. By the time she did notice, her lack of experience in this field as well as her own insecurities about her chances stopped her from making a move on the guy. Seriously, Neptune had the advantage of being able to transform into a womanlier figure, while Compa had the childhood friend card. Then there was the girls in Team RAIL, and the other two CPUs Noire and Vert (She still couldn't believe Vert actually liked Nico that way).

But last night had changed EVERYTHING…

Now, nothing would be holding her back. She had already kissed him, something that the other girls whom had been holding an interest in Nico had done (though she wasn't so sure about Raven, she seemed to still be in the same boat as she had been back at the Hellverse Dungeon), thus putting them on an even playing field. Hell, she could probably use her BOW powers as a form of full-body shapeshifting to make herself look more appealing if Nico hadn't said all that stuff to her last night. Though, she wasn't so sure how to do that just yet, but once she did? Oh, he would likely be putty in her hand, just like last night.

That feeling… that feeling of utter control… of utter dominance she had over him…

It… was… HEAVENLY!

She wanted more of that feeling, but more importantly, she wanted more of Nico.

Thus, she decided to put herself in this little chase of Neptune, Compa and every girl who wanted his affections. IF the Windwalker of Gamindustri, the first true living BOW, had been armed and was ready for combat.

As Nico's resistance to her decreased with the decreasing tensity she could feel in his muscles, as well as hear with her enhanced hearing, a slight grin tugged at her lips, unseen by him of course. A victorious glint shone in her eyes for just a split second before vanishing, just as she and Nico went back into slumber while snuggling together in each other's embrace.

'Sorry girls, but I'm not losing this lead…'

* * *

"Sir, it appears that those girls you told me to keep an eye on have returned to MICROSOFT."

The Head Butler for the fat pudgy man known as Count Mott spoke this as he had been allowed into the Noble's study. Said Noble looked to be currently immersing himself within large stacks of papers, quill in hand as he read one of them intently. His eyes danced with various emotions the Butler couldn't, or rather didn't, identify before they widened at the news that the Butler Gave to him after the traditional bow.

Looking up at the Butler, Count Mott's lips grew into a creepy grin. He had been in a good mood before after having done some 'stress relief' earlier on with some of his maids (damn he loved Maid uniforms, especially the ones that he had designed for his staff, so goddamn tempting just how he liked them). But, now that he had this information his good mood had skyrocketed to divinity level proportions. "Really, you say? Can you inform me of their status?" he asked the Head Butler.

"Sir." The Butler replied, performing the traditional bow with the hand over his heart gesture all Butlers do. "According to our sources, they have arrived back at their hotel. They are resting right now, after having apparently finished a rather extended time period of dungeon crawling."

"Can you specify which Dungeon?"

"Judging from the direction they came from, odds are it is the Hellverse Dungeon."

At this, Count Mott's eyes once again, but this time there was not just happiness, but surprise and elation in them. That Dungeon… he knew of that dungeon, how could he not? After all, it was where one of Leanbox' most historical monarchs once reigned from centuries past, before the CPU Green Heart got involved. He knew how there was apparently a powerful cult there worshipping some of their Gods in their own ways. He knew this, but he deliberately concealed that information from the Leanbox authorities. All for his own purposes of course.

That Dungeon was home to a powerful faction of the Religion of Chaos, a religion that was supposedly a sub-religion belonging to the Overlord faction. Apparently, these Chaos Gods were the generals to Overlord Momus, and would bestow upon mortals various boons depending on their domains and the mortals themselves. They do this and already they have paid more attention to humanity tan their own CPUs.

As the youngsters would say: Get rekt, CPUs.

Nevertheless, they were gaining followers quickly and rapidly, through all the nations. Not only that, but strange men in red armours of varying shapes and sizes, as well as a multitude of different yet monstrous mutations and leading their own band of warriors were constantly being sighted throughout Leanbox, causing much trouble for the inhabitants by burning everything. They would burn villages, raiding them and any isolated settlements they could find. They'd either kill all the inhabitants or do some… other stuff to them that he wasn't sure on.

Not that he cared or anything.

"Sir, what of the news of the Captain's return? Shall that not complicate matters for you?"

News had already reached him about Stefan Von Kessel as well. Mott hummed to himself when he remembered that little titbit of information he got from his 'slaves' in the Spec Ops Community. Apparently, those girls had ran into that man when he was being held by those cultists, Cultists whom had occupied some of his land no less. Nobody knew the truth about that though, he'd manipulated the political field so that they didn't catch on. Of course, there were some who muttered rumours about his possible connection to the Cultists, they were trotting on his land after all. However, some 'silencing' had been done by some skilled hands, and those rumours faded out of existence with time… and money.

Money was a great way to keep people quiet, and with how much Silver Steel was worth these days it would have an even greater value to the world. What people didn't realise though, was that none of his profits had dropped since the Cultists occupied Mojang Village. None at all, and there was a good reason for that.

Stefan Von Kessel's survival meant that he had to tread carefully however, the man may have seen things that he was not meant to. He could have seen things that would make him ask questions, questions that could make him too dangerous for him to be allowed to live. It was a possibility that deeply nagged at his mind every second after he received this information, but Mott was not a man who acted rashly, even if he had a rather large libido to satisfy every day.

That man had power, power in the political world and on the battlefield. As the wielder of Ashbringer, a sword inherently important to the Spec Ops Community, he had strong ties in high places. Not only that, but he was the head of the Von Kessel Family after the passing of his father 10 years ago due to… unfortunate circumstances. That entitled him to additional backing from various powerful officials, including some in the Basilicom whom were significantly tied to the CPU herself, considering they were a large portion of the Leanbox Military. The Ostermark Order had many Abnormal kills, more so than most the other Militaries in the other Nations, which made sense considering Leanbox had the greatest Abnormal presence out of the four. Furthermore, Ashbringer chose him to be its wielder, so if he were to 'disappear' it would become inactive until someone with similar values touched the blade which would hamper their military strength, not something which would be advised considering the times. Lastly, the man was used to the more 'discreet' means of silencing due to other Nobles having tried similar tactics, so he would expect shady business especially right after his return.

Ashbringer still had it's uses, so it and it's wielder would have to stay for the time being.

"Do not worry, Butler. He will be of use to us yet. For now, though, let us focus on this Gala. It will present a rather interesting and valuable opportunity for us and our 'associates' to further our own goals." Mott told him. He had plans, counter measures, set up in place something like this would happen. He was a man who lusted, true, but Mott was not a Noble who owned a large portion of land for Nothing. He had worked to earn this position, manipulating, scheming and killing all who had stood in his path to conquest. Wars were fought in every aspect of life, a fact that he had learned long ago as a child. War was the blood of humanity, the sea they swam in and the very air they breathed ever second of their worthless lives.

He was a manipulator, his Servants and slaves were his pawns, but none of that mattered. a all he cared about was attaining power beyond imagining. That was all that drove him, nothing else mattered. When he dominated and forcefully subdued the many women he had, he held power over their minds, bodies and very souls. He held power over their beings, forced them to serve under him and carry out his whims.

His thoughts got interrupted when the Butler asked another question, one that was also as important to his plans. "But what of those associates? Forgive me for asking, but they do not seem like they would be trustworthy." He asked him, his eyes briefly flashing with uncertainty as he glanced about, anywhere but his charge. Count Mott did not like it when one asked too many questions, he knew that from being under him for so many years.

Fortunately, the Head Butler would count as one of the few people whom Mott would count as trustworthy enough to ask such questions and not get decapitated or thrown into the Dungeons to be executed at a later date. "This is called a Gamble, Butler. But you do not have to worry, I have means, of which I will be sending to that brat soon enough to test them, that will assure us our position in the future."

"Of course, sir."

"Good, now leave me. I must plan what I will be doing next. I will call for you when I am ready."

* * *

After leaving the study, the Head Butler closed the door silently behind him, turning on his polished shoes and making his way down the large corridor. The Corridor itself had this strong, yet intimidating vibe with all these golden knight-like statures aligning the corridor walls, each one holding a varied assortment of weapons that looked too realistic to be just ornaments. Yet, the Head Butler calmly strode through them

Along the way, The Butler noticed several figures in the distance, his hands behind his back while he had his monocles shadowing his eyes. He quickly recognised them however, so he didn't attack them for being intruders in his master's household as he would have had to if it were otherwise. The Butler saw that, as they, approached, they were actually some of the Maids for the household carrying several items in their arms. The man remained collected and professional passed by several of those maids, women of Leanbox descent whom served the Count with almost fanatical loyalty through 'persuasion' by the master of this manor. Both maids wore the same uniform as each other, the standard one which Mott had personally designed and enforced for his female servants.

This particular maid uniform consisted of a Gothic Lolita style, with a white apron over the front like normal maids. But then, the man's fantasies began to show themselves in the uniform, like the cracks behind a Mask. The plaited skirt reached about thigh level, showing black garters and nylon stockings with very high heels. The skirt's length was made so that when the maid bent over, her underwear would be visible clearly from beneath the skirt, a feature that Mott intended so that he could have access to it ay any time he so desired. Not only that, but there were cosmetic looking black succubus wings and horns that came with the uniform, giving the maids a sultry, seductive look to them.

The two Maids walked past him, politely greeting the elderly Butler whom responded with a polite smile and nod, before continuing on his way. Their heels clicking across the ground filled his ears until they were too far to be audible anymore, and nothing but silence reigned supreme in the corridor. A corridor that the man stopped at when he passed the maids by. The man did nothing for that moment, not move, not speak, not even breathe, it was almost like he was a statue or a machine awaiting orders from his master.

Everyone has a Mask they wear in front of others, each for their own reasons. They could wear one to fit into society, not wanting to look weak in front of their peers. For example, a child could put up a Mask to hide the peer pressure he or she was feeling at school, going along with whatever their peers said so they didn't get outcasted or scorned by them. Social suicide could be a deadly threat to a person's life after all, just look at cyberbullying. They could wear masks to disguise ugly emotions buried deep inside them, emotions that they didn't or couldn't normally express in front of others for a variety of different reasons. One could hide their jealousy that another was attaining happiness while they could not, or perhaps one hid their rage and resentment for the hand they were dealt when they were born like a lot of Leanbox Commoners did.

This had very few exceptions… and this Butler was NOT one of those exceptions.

Yet his Mask had signs of being built for an extended time frame, as there was only one sign, one little crack, that allowed another to see through his Mask if there were anyone around. The fact that he was on his own made the old butler's Mask slip ever so slightly, so slightly that it was barely noticeable. That sign? The faint clenching of his right hand. His expression remained the same, but behind those eyes there lay a fierce fire, a fire that could only be born out of something that had been festering in him for quite some time. That fire faded away the next millisecond though, and his hand unclenched back into it's previous state.

'Calm down Brian, it is not time yet…'

The Butler, now named Brian according to his mental monologue, thought to himself as he walked down the corridor once more to resume his Butler duties. Hopefully, for his sake, the time would come soon…

* * *

Yvoire hummed to himself as he sat in his bedroom, looking down at a large stack of his paperwork. He'd brought it from his office to view in privacy, considering the issues that it highlighted. These issues? The recent attacks by unknown men in red armour.

Yvoire's room looked like one of those rooms one would see in those five-star hotels, styled just like the culture that Leanbox thrived under. A king-sized bed with light green cover, a velvety coloured stand, a wall set with green and white highlights, the works. His room had been stylised to support the CPU of Leanbox, as it should be considering his position.

But back to the issue at hand here…

'This… could end up being a major problem…' Yvoire thought, staring worriedly at the documents. These reports trouble him greatly, hundreds of Leanbox citizens were either vanishing or reportedly killed when these men in red appeared from practically nowhere and began razing their settlements to the ground, leaving nothing but charred ruins in their wakes. There were some however, whom even defiled the holy statues of their CPU by impaling them with these flags made out of tattered flesh and this strange symbol, but none of that abated his rage at these heretics for those actions. They dared to defile his CPU like that, so they must be punished without mercy. That was his opinion on the matter.

Unfortunately, things were not so simple, but then again in politics they never were.

Not only did he have to prepare for the Gala, which could not have come at a more complicated time if it tried, but he had to deal with the politics between the various Nobles Thanks to recent events, they were getting more and more rowdy, the ability to control them with mere words diminishing by the day. Though, he could hardly blame them, some their assets were being mindlessly shredded to pieces by these men in red. He'd seen the pictures of them that a few survivors had managed to take when they returned to the Capital, only to die of serious wounds later, and he had to stop himself from screaming in pure terror. They looked like abominations! Mad perversions of life, worse than the undead that one Witch from many centuries ago created.

He supposed the Gala would be a good way to get them to vent their stress to each other and calm down from all that had been happening. In his time organizing the military, Yvoire had learned that it was important to remain calm in an intense situation, otherwise it would wind up overcoming him and becoming a massive mess later on. Something that seemed to be happening more and more often as of late, what with the business he was engaging in with Conversation at the moment.

Speaking of Conversation…

Turning his head to the side of him, Yvoire's eyes laid upon te vial of poison that sat upon his Desk, silent but deadly. He knew this thanks t th mixture constantly bubbling like there was no tomorrow. It had been that way ever since he got it, like there was an unlimited supply of heat racing through it to cause it to constantly be on the boil/ Like the rage of not being used was empowering it. Yvoire had no clue why, but he did NOT like that vial, not one bit. Normally, he didn't like any kind of poison, who did? But, this thing? It made him want to hide in te darkest corner of the world and pray for his soul. Even that felt like an understatement for how much Yvoire HATED that vial.

Even more irritating was that he had failed to get in contact with the woman after all this time, his various sources telling him that they hadn't seen someone fitting her description leaving the Sky Harbour. That told him that she had not yet left Leanbox, at the least, but aside from that he knew very little about her current whereabouts. It was like she had completely vanished off the face of the earth. With how she knew about this vial, making it out of ingredients that he could not find no matter which encyclopaedia he looked up, baffled the man. It was like he was taking shots in the dark, and Yvoire didn't like taking shots in the dark. Especially in these trying times, when there would be cries of 'BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD' or 'SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE' echoing through the battle reports he'd received every day.

But, like always, the head Priest for Green Heart's Basilicom tore apart his emotions, keeping them restrained and controlled before looking back to the documents that he was viewing before. His eyes looked old, weary and tired, yet held a strength in them that betrayed the youth still remaining inside of him. Even at his age, Yvoire's resolve to the CPU had never dimmed. It made him feel like it was his sworn duty as Leanbox's head of Military to sort out this mess, so his CPU didn't have to worry. She DID have other issues to attend to, that he was sure of.

His eyes hardened after the man gave a weary sigh, his form tensing as he began making plans and calculations within his mind. His intentions for Nico could wait until the Gala in 3 months, he may not like the heretical abomination, however if there was one thing he cared for more it was protecting Leanbox against immediate threats. The brat was only secondary to this Chaos Religion and these Warbands. Was this what it felt like back then, 500 years ago when Abnormals first appeared? Was this what those Spec Ops Agents felt before they did their deeds? The thoughts of impending doom looming over their heads like a cloak of death, draping over their shoulders and infusing the possibility of certain demise at the enemy's hands.

No, he would not let that happen.

Not even his own prejudices would keep him from protecting Leanbox from her enemies, if he had to use the Spec Ops program to gain back the ground they had lost against these powerful new enemies, then so be it. Right now, they weren't nearly as important in keeping Leanbox safe, so Yvoire would push those prejudice's aside. As much as he hated to admit it, those Spec Ops Agents did good work, they WERE a great defence for Leanbox after all. Their fame was not underserved. Not just that, but they might have a chance against these men in red.

These men in red seemed to be too powerful for regular soldiers to handle, according to these casualty reports. He would have to risk earning the ire of the other Noble Families across the Land thanks to their own prejudices against the program, however it seemed that they could no longer rely on their own technology anymore, not with these new enemies threatening all that they held dear. They would have to start researching new weapons, better armour for their troops, as well as train them to become better warriors than they really were. Not even the sons of nobles whom had gotten into the military through recommendation would be spared, that was just how great this new threat really was.

A low groan escaped the man's lips, a groan betraying the amount of frustration he felt at these complicated events. Where had the peace they had before gone? Ever since he began consorting with that Conversation woman, things had quickly spiralled into a complex web of events, decision and carefully required planning so that Leanbox remained as strong as it currently did. Yet, with everything going on, Yvoire couldn't help but wonder if this all would have happened regardless if he had consorted with her or not, something he tried not to think about.

Glancing to the wall beside the entrance to his room, the man saw that it was nearly time for a business meeting to start, and after that he would be doing his usual head priest Duties like receiving Guests. The man hummed to himself, before putting the papers down. He could use the distraction for now, then when everything was done he could go back to making plans to fight off this new enemy. Only then would Leanbox rest easy, and perhaps he could get rid of that Abomination along the way? Food for thought, the man mused as he opened his bedroom door and left to go about his day.


	101. Chapter 98 - Training and New Equipment

**Chapter 98 - Training and New Equipment**

All was quiet back at the hotel where the Party stayed, and for many this would be counted as one of their greatest blessings. After what had happened with IF though, one teenage male hoped that the rest of the day would turn out a little better at least. The teen Spec Ops Agent sighed to himself as he sat on the side of his bed, hands leaning over his knees while is forearms rested on them and his head was lowered so it faced the ground. The door to his room had just shut, the cause of it being his brunette companion whom had just left him to his own devices. Though, from the corner of his eye he'd caught a slightly catty smirk aimed at him that sent shivers of… something down his spine.

It was a relief to Nico that IF had decided to book it earlier than the intended 2 hours, only half an hour though, otherwise there would have been some serious complications if Neptune and Compa saw what she had done and made a complete misunderstanding of the situation. Though, if that happened he couldn't help but assume that IF would have taken advantage of their misconceptions to tease them further, this new change in her seemed so strange yet captivating at the same time. The teen couldn't help but be riveted and captivated by it, all the way till she left the room, so she could change in her own without risk of causing a misunderstanding. That was one of the many things he liked about her, how she understood the Party's dynamics better than Neptune or Compa did. To the point where she could predict what would likely happen in risky situations like this.

Still though, they had some serious work to do today, it would be the first day of training after all.

First off, they needed a schedule, what had o be trained first and what should be prioritized. Then they had to factor in his duties as a Spec Ops Agent, handling Quests and fighting Abnormals. Also, with what he knew about this Chaos Religion, odds were that he would be bound to fight more Chaos Champions and other Demonic entities in the near future. That would be why he'd need to build his strength, to prepare for the upcoming battles. Thankfully, he still had his Inner World with it's time dilation. That meant he could put more effort into his training than he would normally. Plus, the physical improvements from that training would be transferred to his real body, so he would essentially getting like hours' worth of training in a smaller time frame.

 **'I would suggest you go find a suitable training ground for the time being, before we think about hat to train you in. Then, there's informing the members of your party and Spec Ops Duties.'**

Biko's information cut into his thoughts, breaking them but Nico didn't show any outward reaction. 'Yeah, you're right.' Nico replied mentally, standing up and raising his right racer. He made to switch to his Spec Ops attire, something he had quickly dealt with after losing his last set after Berserker Mode. He'd done it though messaging, and his mother had supplied him with a new set of identical clothes to those he'd lost. Clothes made from the same materials his previous set were, too, since the material used for it, save for his civilian and PJ getups… wasn't exactly common.

Just as he got to his Bracer's holographic menu, the teen's eyes narrowed when he noticed a message icon. Curious, the teen brought up the messages tab and his eyes fell onto the most recent of unopened emails. 'Hm? What's this…?' the teen wondered, opening the message. His eyes scanned the email's contents, before they widened by a large margin. 'Holy, shit is she serious?' he gasped mentally.

 **To DEATHSTROKE**

 **It is with great pleasure that I, Helena Dawson, Head of the WDD, have given you the Task of testing multiple prototype Weapons for the future of the Spec Ops Community. This is a mandatory request, meaning you do not have the right to refuse. The equipment has been transferred to your void storage upon you reading this email. Please report to the specified co-ordinates for weapon testing, the results shall determine what we shall do with these weapons.**

 **Yours sincerely, Helena Dawson**

The message had been sent by his Mother, Helen, so he assumed that it was. Especially with the lack of informal language he'd seen in the message. He'd eyed the co-ordinates beneath the message and found them to be a large area south of MICROSOFT. It would be a good jogging experience, but if he wanted to get this over with as fast as possible he could transform and get there within about 30 minutes, unless there was someone there already in which case he'd have to curt the transformation early. Don't want news of his demonic powers reaching these old cronies at the Basilicom, they'd go wild with accusations. Closing the message, Nico checked his void storage, and soon enough there were a few notifications of new items having been put in there…

His eyes flew open at what he saw.

'This... This is...!'

Whelp looked like his day just got a whole lot more complicated.

Joy...

* * *

"Uhhhhh, Nep? What are you doing?" IF asked with a surprised, yet also exasperated, expression on her features as she groaned into her hand, which was on her forehead at what she was seeing. This had not been what she expected on an early morning like this, and she had hoped to have a normal morning for once ever since the whole incident with the Hellverse. Looked like that wasn't going to happen if what she was seeing was anywhere near accurate.

But then again, with Neptune around normal became a bit of a subjective term.

Right before her very eyes, Neptune stood in the hotel room's living room, dressed quite… differently. Instead of her usual white, purple and blue colours, she and changed to a darker, black and grey colour scheme, even dying her hair a grey colour while sporting grey eye lenses. She was even posing as if she were some dark themed character in a videogame, all dark and edgy like.

… What the hell?

"I'm not Neptune anymore." She replied calmly with a dark undertone. She even had her hand on her face oddly reminiscent of a certain Mad Magician. She'd died her nails black, with darker makeup on her eyes to give them a slightly more emo look. She then raised an arm slowly, and in the most dramatic fashion she could, before pointing straight at the scowling brunette. "I am Nepedgy!"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Silence, save for some faint cockroach sounds in the distance, dominated the room after Neptune, or rather Nepedgy, proclaimed that. Neptune kept her pose while looking at IF, who looked back with annoyance and exasperation, while Compa looked between the two with innocence and curiosity… though she mostly attributed to this being Neptune and just rolled with it.

Eventually, the silence broke when Neptune huffed and turned away, tutting as she faced the side. "Nep you, I have white hair."

…

…

…

…

…

"Anyways…" IF shook her head, running a hair through her brown locks as she decided to get past that little… whatever it was as fast as possible, so she didn't suffer a migraine. Neptune tended to have that effect on people with her antics, and why the hell did she feel like Neptune made a reference of some kind? Had she gone meta? "We doing stuff today or what?" she asked them, deciding on the action: leaning on a wall while crossing her arms under her tank top. She only wore that and her shorts, due to this being indoors. Her boots and coat were hanging up on a nearby rack.

Compa shook her head in response to this. "Not much, to be honest. We have no leads for the Key Fragment, so Nep-Nep suggested we take it easy for the time being." She explained, jumping slightly with her ever-present big smile.

"That explains why she'd up as early as the rest of us…" IF muttered under her breath, but she didn't let the others hear her. Right now, it was about 9AM, 2 hours ago she had been in bed with their sole male member. Compa would have gotten up then, but Neptune would be like a slob and sleep till 11. Didn't help that se either stayed up late playing games or snuck out to buy sweets for herself, either. "So, what do you have in mind for today?"

At this, Neptune, whom had somehow switched her colours back to normal without anyone noticing. (Don't ask, it's Neptune. She's like a female loli merc with a mouth), grinned like a devious prankster and procured a scroll from within her Inventory. She then presented it like one of those posh noblemen and held it out before them, beaming in pride. "Ta-da! We got a whole schedule today, filled with relaxation and pudding!" she chirped happily, already losing herself in fantasies with Pudding.

IF could only stare at the schedule with a dubious expression, a sweat drop forming on the back of her head. "Uhhhh, Nep? When the hell did you have a chance to make something like this?" she asked her, noting how… surprisingly intricate it looked when the two girls looked like a pair of zombies when they got back last night. The fact that they were worried like hell for Nico had been the only reason why they hadn't fallen asleep like logs the moment they got back to the hotel room.

"Oh, I did it when you were kidnapped, Iffy!"

"It was a group effort, Nep-Nep, and you kinda had pudding while I did all the work…"

The brunette narrowed her eyes at the preteen whom conveniently was looking away from her while whistling a merry tune. "Why am I not surprised…?" she mused, before taking a deep breath. "Well, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything like that, since you're pretty much the personification of laziness, Nep."

"Hee-hee, thanks Iffy!"

"That wasn't a compliment, Nep…"

"Wait, it wasn't? In that case…. Grrr! Iffy!"

Neptune clenched her fists and held them to her chest, trying to look as intimidating as she could. However, to the rest of them it just looked like a cute little teddy bear wanting a hug or something. Neptune just didn't have the ability to scare anyone with how adorable she looked.

Compa could only smile at the sight, giggling as Neptune tried to strangle the brunette only for the said brunette to evade or block each attempt by using the infamous 'iron claw' on Neptune's face, keeping her a fair distance and resulting in her fruitlessly trying to whack the other woman. Heck, there were even faint sound effects accompanying her arm movements while IF looked down at her phone with her free hand.

"You don't stop this idiocy, i'll burn your pudding, Nep."

"#GASP# Iffy, you wouldn't!"

"Really? I noticed a small incinerator when we arrived yesterday, you wanna test me to see if I pull a Nico?"

While IF and Neptune quarreled like a bunch of bratty children (Mostly Neptune though since IF threatened her pudding), Compa heard the sounds of a door being opened. None of them were leaving yet, so that could only mean that they were having their last member join the party. Turning around with her eyes closed and a wide smile, Compa made to make the first greeting. "Hi, good morning Ni…" but when she opened her eyes, they nearly flew out her sockets while her jaw got unhinged. She even got a strange tingly feeling in her tummy when she saw what she did. "N-Ni-Ni, wow! You look…!"

Her shout drew the attention of the other girls, whom each got the same reaction as their resident Nurse-In-Training when they saw their resident male Party member as he shut the door to his bedroom behind him, unaware of what was happening to them right now. Their jaws comically dropped while their faces got stained with red blotches over their faces and noses. They rivaled strawberries right now, and weren't that far off going nuclear. Hell, they even had big nosebleeds as certain… ecchi thoughts raced through their minds.

'Oh… my… Goddess…'

Nico stepped forth into the living room, scratching the top of his head while looking down at his Bracer. 'Looks like I have a full schedule today, I may not be able to get as much training as i'd hoped. Mom can sometimes have terrible timing, but this actually could end up a freaking blessing with everything with happened so far... whelp, not much I can do about that...' he thought, before he sensed something was amiss and looked up when he heard Compa's exclamation and tilted his head at the reactions that the girls had. The teen arched a brow, tilting his head curiously and in confusion at their actions. "Uh, what's with you guys? You got some kind of fever or something?" he asked them, his facial expression soon switching to tat of a panicked mother fretting over her children when they got a simple graze after falling to the ground. "If so, you guys should be in bed resting! Not out here!"

"Nevermind about us, what's with YOU?! You look like you had a full nepping makeover!

"Huh?" Nico blinked, before looking down at himself and realizing what they were going on about. His eyes widened at this as he pointed at hhimself with his right hand "Oh, this?" What had gotten the girls so flustered, shocked and maybe a little aroused, you ask? Whelp, Nico had a whole new look to him now. Well, mostly, cause instead of just wearing black and grey, Nico no had an all-black attire. His Trench Coat now had a mid-neck length collar to it, underneath being a matching black shirt with a crimson horned Skull imprinted on the center, sporting a lipless maw of fanged teeth frozen into a rather sinister grin. This gave Nico a rather imposing 'bad boy' image, which was aided by the finger-less gloves on his hands, the rolled back cuffs, as well as the black leather pants on his lower body. They were held by a black belt with a silver buckle, with more belts hanging beside his waist. More belts wrapped around his thighs and knees, down to where they were tucked in to some matching leather boots.

Not just the attire was different about him, though. His hair, instead of gravity defying like it had before, now it had a whole new look to it. His hair now reached his ears in length, with spiky bangs on the top while his hair now got angled over his right eye, only exposing his left eye. His new hairstyle, combined with his attire, gave him a punkish 'bad boy' vibe that only increased his natural visual appeal. The fact that his shirt exposed some of the streamlined, almost blade-like muscle on his physique, wasn't a bad bonus either. His ears had 3 silver earrings, arranged from biggest to shortest starting from the closest to the neck to the furthest.

Hell, was it just them, or were their twinkling stars in the background behind his form?

... Meh.

Not important.

'Oh, fucking hell…' IF groaned in her mind, her eyes shaking wildly while her brain began processing the image before her with record breaking speeds and burning it into her memory banks for later. Her face felt hotter than it had ever been, and she'd been in some hot places. Not even that fight with the Butcher above that pool of magma had anything on how hot her body was right now. Then, there was what her instincts were demanding her to do regardless of people watching her. Sure she had seen naked guys before (her visits to the Red-Light District was proof of that) plus she had dealt with more than a few perverts in her lifetime but seeing Nico like that when she had also seen him in his thin PJ's the previous night filled her mind with thoughts and images that flustered her beyond belief. Like she said, she wasn't too experienced with romantic relationships, so seeing a guy she had a crush on wearing an outfit that fit him WAY too well felt like a pure wet dream to her. She couldn't help the arousal at those thoughts either, and already she felt the strain of keeping her breathing from becoming labored from these thoughts. Her BOW instincts demanded that she drag that guy into his room, toss him to the bed and claim him right then and there. With her previous revelations, she almost lost herself to that urge. 'Nico did have good looks before, but this just…'

As for the poor Nurse-In-Training…

'awawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa!' said girl's face looked like the skin of a tomato, her face literally radiating steam while her eyes were nothing, but white circles and her jaw hung loose like a monkey dangling from a tree. Compa's mind had trouble processing what she was seeing, the steamy thoughts combine with the appeal Nico unknowingly radiated seemed to be too much for her to handle. She may be a pure maiden, but the sheer sight in front of her made her thoughts wander towards the... forbidden zone if you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Nevertheless, it rendered her immobile in both body and mind. Her innocent brain couldn't handle all the M rated scenes in her mind, more specifically the ones where they were stripped to their birthday suits…

"Jizz, in my pants…!"

Both girls jumped out of their skin (their hearts feeling like they had actually left their bodies) when they heard a line from an 80's song fill the room, twirling to face the source which was a deviously grinning Neptune with both a furious blush on her features… and a radio in her hands, held above her head like she was holding a trophy.

"Nep!"

"N-NEP-NEP!"

"What?!" the Preteen exclaimed defensively when she saw their gazes focus on her. Two of them looked annoyed/embarrassed as all heck, while the other looked confused, and let me tell you, Compa was not the confused one believe it or not. In fact, Compa's face looked like the (,) face while IF glared at her though her glare had lost some of it's edge with her embarrassment. She then put the Radio back into her Inventory, where she stored a lot of goods she… well, 'borrowed' from certain places before she huffed, placing her hands on her hips and then pointing one of them at the annoyed male teen. "He's asking for it by dressing up as a freaking bad boy!"

A twitching brow was the response the teen gave her for that comment.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves (and her blush) Compa finally went and asked him the question on their minds. "Um, Ni-Ni?" she began, getting his attention. For a moment, she couldn't get the words out as she poked her index fingers, refusing to look at him lest he see the pinkness over her cheeks. Not to mention she didn't know what kind of impact his new look would have on her. "Why do you look like a 'bad boy' as Nep-Nep calls you? Have you become a meanie bully?" Part of her couldn't hep but argue against this, no matter how much she tried to deny it. He didn't seem like he had his personality shift, since he hadn't went all 'ooooh I'm super-duper strong!' and activated DDD. But, now that she'd calmed herself down ironically thanks to Neptune's actions, she began to realize just how well Nico looked as one. She could already see how he'd probably attract a lot of eyes to him now, both male and female. Nico had good looks before, something that she would only admit under extreme embarrassment right now. He even had a small fan-club within the Guild according to IF and Neptune (she didn't want to think about them though, for obvious reasons) but with his new look, he had the appeal of one of those sexy guys from those otome games.

'Muuu…! Now it's getting even harder to keep rivals away from Ni-Ni… Ni-Ni's popularity stat is increasing…!'

Nico raised his hands in a defensive gesture and shook them from side to side, his face morphing to one of mild panic. "No, no, nothing like that, Compa! I-I' not being a 'bad boy' it's just…" the male trailed off, his hands lowering to his sides while he began wondering what he should say next without revealing his exact reason. Luckily, Biko was there to help him out, as he told him a response that had both the truth and the… not truth within it. "I just… I realized something back there in the Hellverse Dungeon, and this new look is like a symbol of that realization." He closed his eyes, before opening them and staring Compa dead in the eye, the Nurse-In-Training. "I couldn't keep going the way I was anymore, not when it almost put people I give a damn about in harms way. I need to change… I need this…" the teen explained, raising a hand to his chest level and glancing down at it, watching it clench into a fist.

Memories filled his mind about the battle he had with the Ghouls, and his resolution to reconnect with his hidden side. That kind of promise would be a big one, and in order to boost his rather mild confidence in the idea, he had decided that a change of wardrobe would be best to symbolise the new change in perspective. He knew some characters who changed their appearances to match their new ideologies, like that one woman whose morals changed from innocence to sucking blood from humans. Or that edgy Hybrid guy from the TG franchise.

Not only that, but the message he'd gotten from his mother had included a bunch of items for his Void Storage, one of which was this new Trench Coat, leather gloves and a small pack of accessories (though he couldn't for the life of him figure out why they'd cone with the formal military equipment). Still though, boy had he been surprised when he got those. It was almost like she knew what he would be trying to do in the future and would be supporting him in his new path. The teen couldn't help the fond smile spreading across his lips as he thought of his adoptive mother. Sure, she may not be his actual relative, but she was damn close, so he didn't care. She may have her… moments, but honestly Nico confirmed it deep within his being that he couldn't have asked for a better mother.

"Though, I will admit that this look fits some of my titles rather well…"

"Huh? Titles?"

Nico looked up, momentarily surprised when IF asked him that question as well as the looks he got from Neptune and Coma. Though, he soon realized what the problem was. "Oh yeah, I never told you did it?" he mused thoughtfully, before he moved to where the sofa was, which was in the center of the room, and sat down on it. He raised his right foot and put it on his left thigh, leaning back on the sofa. "Thanks to my low popularity, not many know of me, but those that do know me by multiple titles. I won't say them all, but the most relevant to this case would be the 'Black Reaper'"

After these incidents, the girls doubted his popularity would be considered 'low' anymore, but none of them said anything.

He wanted to think he still had low popularity, there was no need to shatter his dreams.

"Black Reaper…" IF, whom had sat on the sofa beside the one Nico sat with her legs crossed, muttered under her breath as she looked down, trying to think about the name. In her mind, she figured ow much it fit, considering the guy wore near all black before and had a Scythe. Plus, considering how Nico spent time punishing Criminals before meeting them all… suddenly, the whole name Black Reaper made a whole new level of sense. It even caused her to shudder as an image of Nico donned in a stereotypical reaper outfit, holding his Harvester as he made to take more victims appeared in her mind.

… For some strange reason, that image would NEVER leave her mind, it was just so fitting that it filled her with a sense of morbid curiosity

"Woooow…" Neptune mused to herself, a similar image appearing in her mind as she continued after a few seconds. "I can see how you'd have that nickname, Nicky." She mused before she watched the male as he took out his Mask, much to her confusion. "Uh, why did you take your Mask out, hubby?" she asked, getting disapproving stares from Compa and, now IF too? What the Nep?

The male didn't answer right away as he looked down at the Mask, a wave of nostalgia crossing over him for a moment, before he looked up at the curious Preteen. "Well, this Coat has one feature my old one didn't Nep…" he told her, before twisting his upper body around and showing them the back of his Trench Coat… where they noticed a hidden compartment sealed by a Zipper at the base of the back of his neck. "This bad boy actually comes with it's own hood, sealed inside here. So If I wanna look more stealthy…"

Nico paused while reaching upwards and unzipping the compartment and reaching in, pulling out a leathery black hood. The male then pulled it over his head, then put on the Mask. Now, he had his Mask on and his hood shadowed his features in intimidating darkness, making him look much more sinister. If the lights weren't on, and it were night outside, then he'd look like one of those serial killers he'd catch on a regular basis in the past, and that scared the hell out of them. "Then I can do this and suddenly my enemies will know to fear me more than they do."

"U-Um, that's nice and all, but could you revert back?" Compa asked, her lower lip quivering as she looked at him fearfully. The combined darkness and the petrifying grin his Mask sported made her feel like she was staring death in the face, instead of her crush/childhood friend. "Y-You look really sc-scary…"

It didn't take him long to do so, and soon enough he was looking like he did before, much the Nurse-In-Training's relief. "There we go…" the teen muttered, before aiming a regretful look towards the syringe wielder. "Sorry bout that, Compa…. Guess I just kinda got a little excited there…" he apologised, the teen mentally cursing himself. He should have realised that the visage would have scared her like that, she wasn't someone who had nerves of steel like IF or Neptune. He let his excitement overcome his judgement, and he couldn't help but scold himself for that.

"N-No, it's okay, Ni-Ni!" the girl frantically replied, waving her arms about with a mildly flustered expression when she saw how downcast the male looked. I-I-It looked really cool, too! Just takes a little getting used to…" she explained, trying to defend herself. She didn't like seeing him down after all, what kind of girl would? Well, maybe sadists or cold people, but those weren't her! Nope, no sir! While she tried to comfort the male, Compa's eyes glanced over to the clock and she realised something. "Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, surprising the others and shocking Nico out of his stupor.

Neptune, whom quickly recovered from the startling shout their healer made, became the first to ask the Nurse-In-Training what was up. "What is it, Compa? You look like someone who's just realising they're missing out on some limited time event in an online game."

Looking over to the preteen, Compa gave a sheepish smile as she rubbed the back of her head. "O-oh, sorry Nep-Nep, I just realised something when I saw the clock just now. It's not long before I have to be somewhere. I probably won't be back till tonight, so you guys might have to order something like a takeaway." She explained apologetically, her eyes glancing to the side.

"Oh? What's this matter, Compa?" IF questioned curiously, only for the Nurse-In-Training to shake her head with an even more apologetic expression.

"Sorry Iffy, but that'd ruin the surprise."

Now this threw them for a loop. Compa heading somewhere and not telling them what it was Now THAT sounded as probable as Neptune willingly giving up her Pudding. What was so important that the girl couldn't just tell them? This confused everyone, as they couldn't help but wonder just what Compa had that would be so important? Not just that, but Compa wasn't usually the one to keep secrets from them like this. It was more than enough reason to be worried for the girl. She WAS their healer, but more importantly she was someone they all valued highly as a friend, a party member and practically a sister-in-arms at this point. They'd fought so many dangerous foes together, it would be impossible for them to not care about her. Some more than others (Nico) who'd known her for longer.

 **'Nico…'**

Soon, the male got a call from his Demon Persona and, curious, he answered it. 'What is it, Biko?'

 **'I do not detect any negative emotions behind her words, which means she is not going through anything like Blackmail or is being forced to do something. Thus, it would be in our best interest to trust in her judgement.'**

Hearing those words nearly made Nico showcase just how much they had an effect on him. He remembered that talk he had with the other Agents on that mission in Mojang Village, how he had admitted to wanting to find someone he could trust. But, trust worked both ways, didn't it? But, now that he thought about it, didn't it seem a little selfish not to address the elephant in the room with that? How could he find something like that without willing to trust in another first? It wasn't something that the guy did often, based from his paranoia and mistrust towards others. People whom he didn't know, trust, or consider close comrades, he never trusted them. Over time, he'd found out how to act like he gave a damn about them, and it was his duty to. Since they were people whom would 'normally' be entrusted with his back when they were on missions.

Though, like with Hol Horse and J Greil, this wasn't always the case.

But, this wasn't some random stranger he had been working with on a Quest, this wasn't someone he hardly knew or cared about. This was Compa, his childhood friend and a Nurse—In-Training. She had been living on her own for 4 years now, so that meant she had to at least know how to take care of herself when nobody else could. She didn't have that much trouble living alone, and it must have taught her some valuable skills to use out in the field. She had just as much independence as himself, so it wouldn't be too farfetched to think that she knew what she was doing.

Not only that, but she had indeed been fighting the same enemies that the rest of them had, and she was still alive and kicking. Even if they were with her most of the time, the fact that she was still here showed that's he had the capacity, she had the potential. Finally, his vow to regain contact with his other side, to regain the strength in that side he once had, part of it somewhat was so that when the time came, he'd be able to make that call and unleash it. But, if he didn't trust them, then he'd likely hesitate which would be fatal in battle, and that would undermine why he was doing this in the first place.

He wanted to trust someone… but if he truly wanted that, shouldn't he be the one to do the same?

His memories flashed back to his training in resolve by his adoptive mother then to the vow of change that he made within the heat of battle, and his heart finally settled on a decision. It wouldn't be an easy one, but as long as Compa wasn't being Blackmailed like Biko said, then…

"Alright, Compa." Nico spoke, closing his sigh and crossing his arms under his chest. He hoped this wasn't a mistake, but if there would be anyone he could trust, then perhaps Compa could be one of those people? Out of all of them, she had been the one to know him the most, and she'd done more for him than she could ever realise. She'd done well by him more times than he'd care to count, so how could he not repay that? "We'll order something for tonight, but we won't eat until you come back. We're a party, after all. Just promise that you'll be careful, don't wanna lose you after all."

It looked like a huge weight just got lifted from her shoulders, As Compa's shoulders relaxed while a big grin formed on her lips. It was almost blinding to him, but the male felt a whole lot better about his choice, so he didn't really give that much thought. Also, was it just him or did the atmosphere change? Like, Compa looked even more radiant while Neptune and, wait IF? Anyways, they both gave disapproving stares. Plus, it seemed that his choice was shared by the rest of them, and he could even sense the same level of worry within him, in them too. Thanks to the negative emotion sensing.

Note to self; find a better name for that ability, even in his head that sounded like a mouthful. "Thanks, Ni-Ni, guys! You're the best!" she proclaimed cheerfully, racing through the room and giving them all hugs to show her appreciation. Pulling back, the girl twirled about till she as at the door, before giving them a pumped fist while looking like she was flexing her arm muscles. He ryes shone with a confidence in the that they didn't see in her very often. "Don't worry! This Compa will be extra careful!"

With that, the girl opened the door, stepped outside, and closed it behind her.

If this was a game, a text box would have appeared and said 'COMPA HAS LEFT THE PARTY!'

"Well, now that Compa's gone…" IF began, standing up and walking over to where Neptune lay on the ground, prepping to take a nap… before she got rudely interrupted when IF reached down and picked her up by the ear. "I think me and Nep should head out too. We got some serious training to do."

"Ow! Owowowowowowow, Iffy, that hurts!"

"Deal with it, if I don't do this, you'll just procrastinate like every gamer out there!"

"Oh, you Nepping know it!"

"Stop trying to sound like a gangster!"

Nico could only watch as the girls left the same way as Compa did. Though, he noticed a meaningful glance directed at him from the brunette out the corner of her eye before they did, and in that moment the male saw a whole load of things through that stare. There was a strong desire, a brilliant flame of resolve that equalled his own. It burned brightly behind that one eye, almost as brilliant as the weaker version of his Hellfire. Yet, that resemblance only felt physical, th raw emotion and power? Oh, that just surpassed it into the realm of his true Hellfire. Nico could see that there was a powerful reason, a need, a power to strive and dominate. It honestly reminded him of his resolve back in the end of that fight between him and those two Ghouls.

The male smiled to himself. It looked like he wasn't the only one who'd made a vow back there.

'Looks like I didn't need to tell them I'd be away from them today after all. They're engaging in their own activities… though, I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one side I can't help the pride for them in being independent, but…'

 **'It is… going to be strange, not having them around you, is that it?'**

'Yeah, you could say that…'

 **'Well, with how things have gone down back there, I would not be surprised if they gain some significant powerups. We will have to make sure we train hard in everything we can, including your Devil Arms… and this new bone.'**

On that, they could agree, mastering those weapons would be paramount to their survival. They were a big portion of his arsenal of weapons, after all. Speaking of said bone, the teen glanced down to his right leg where, upon his will, the Bone appeared. He could feel the energies coursing within that bone, allowing it to radiate an aura of power unlike what he had experienced in the past.

For now, though, they needed to get to the co-ordinates specified in Helen's letter, as apparently, they lead to an area where a dangerous Abnormal was sighted. It was delegated to him to finish it off, and Planeptune's Spec Ops Branch saw it as an opportunity to test some development weapons for mass production. The teen couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement at this, it had been a while since he'd last field tested some of these new weapons, hell on of them didn't seem like JUST a weapon either judging by it's description.

With that in mind, Nico stood up with a grin so wide that it fit better on a toddler on Christmas day, his body trembling with excitement as he clutched his leather gloved fists, trying to hold it in. He only barely succeeded in this, as well as maintaining a calm, composed stride while he went towards the door with images off him blasting away Abnormals by the dozens raining down upon his mind. 'This is going to be so much fun…' the teen thought to himself. Considering all the demonic shit he had to put up with recently, going back to doing what he normally did felt like a much-needed break. Whelp, let's get this break started, shall we?

* * *

Outside the Hotel, Nico walked up to the side of the main street country road. There weren't that many people around due to it still being early in the morning, but that would probably not last. After all, according to his internal clock it would soon be packed with people off to their workplaces or parents dropping their children off to school. He knew this from his past missions in Leanbox. However, the silence right now was something that he didn't really mind all that much. After all, with what he intended to do, it would be best if he didn't have that many people breathing down his neck. Not only that, but he wanted to save this as a surprise for the girls should he be allowed to keep this thing and customize it, because he definitely wanted to!

There was just something about guys and their machines. It was like the 'man's best friend' scenario with them and dogs. He'd read an article a while back that really spoke about his feelings regarding this 'weapon'. This thing embodied non-conformity. They are 600lb, 1200cc rolling, rumbling sculptures, giving a hard-chromed middle finger to the establishment. They are the polar opposite of their counterparts - that safe and sterilized, seat belted, air bagged, sanitized-for-your-protection weapon of the masses. Using one of these sets one apart from the rest, and considering is new appearance Nico definitely felt like he needed one of these. It's almost as if they were saying: "I will not be a lemming, slowly rolling towards my grave in a tin coffin with cruise control and ABS. I prefer to ride there, on a thumping v-twin or screaming 4-cylinder rocket, tires churning op the pavement all the way!"

If what those angels over at the WDD had developed was like what he was expecting, then he'd be singing them praises for the rest of his life. While not liking being labelled like the rest of his gender, Nico DID share some of their sentiments, and THIS was one of them.

Raising his Bracer, Nico slowly, shakily accessed his Void Storage, tracking a gulp while sweating profusely. To him, this felt like a rite of passage for the young male, and to any of whom who've done the same as he's about to, you all will understand. When the screen for his Void Storage appeared, Nico waited no time in selecting one of the unknown items, the one with the description that told him all he needed to know.

From his Racer, a flurry of particles shot forth and landed in front of him, spreading outwards as the unknown item took physical form. Each second passed like an eternity as Nico's grin turned ever the more shark-like, his eyes filling with intense excitement and glee. 'Those fucking legends…' he couldn't help but think, almost fangirling when he finally got to see the full glorious form of the item he had selected.

'Oh shit, those fuckers over at the WDD actually went and did it...!'

There, leaning in beside him on a stand, was a Motorcycle… but not just any Motorcycle: A Motorcycle with Plane wing-like armour plates on the sides. It was white with blue accents and sported the Planeptune Symbol on each side. It was a two wheeled Motorcycle, with two large looking engines on the back. The seat was in the middle of the Motorcycle, with two handles protruding beside it for handling.

He knew what these were, these were called Skimmers, and they were a hybrid of Bike and plane which could swap between bike mode and flight mode at the simplest of gestures. They were meant to give Agents and the military more of an option to either flee or ride circles around enemy forces, as they could be outfitted with either weapons or better Armour depending on the rider's style. In this case, Nico could see that this one was built with a special light-weight frame, which according to the schematics he received helped to cancel out the extra weight from the heavier armor paneling, and came with removable shields on the wings. Very little weaponry looked to be attached, though Nico didn't really mind since he had a dozen of them already. In addition, according to the specs these came with energy triggered folding bi-wings (much better than the previous designs for these babies, known as 'Air Skimmer II' and the original classic design, which had to be manually transformed from bike to flight mode. Not a good thing to focus on during combat). Powered by two energy-powered jet engines in flight mode. If they didn't have excessive Armour and weapons, then these babies would be unbelievably mobile and quick.

Furthermore, the specs detailed these new Nimbus 7 series jet engines which seemed to have the fortunate ability to make little to no noise when holding off on the throttle. This would make for a very stealthy entry into enemy airspace or terrain, something that a Spec Ops Agent could make great use of if he/she wanted to sneak behind enemy lines. The soft and light materials used to frame the wings made for a lighter, faster machine, but at the cost of it's ability to take a hit. These Skimmers had been a project for the WDD for the last 5 years, and those Vultures? They were like the prototypes for these babies. Considering how he had been the one to field test the Vultures, it seemed that Nico had been chosen to field test the first Skimmer, hopefully the irst in a long lineup of them.

The Vehicle before him glistened and sparkled, almost like it was a succubus inviting him into it's embrace… A call, he would be answering in a few seconds. But before that…

'...Biko.'

 **'Confirmed. We will be riding her...'**

'...Good to know you understand.'

With that, Nico stepped towards the Skimmer, slowly reaching out an brushing the frame above the front wheel. He gently caressed it, like he would when hugging a woman close to him, before he ran his hand over the handles. Unlike the Vultures, the handles for these Skimmers seemed to be a mix of Handles and triggers, protruding out the Skimmer's front so that when he was sitting in the cockpit, Nico could grab them easily like he was holding a rifle. The male took a big whiff, smelling the fresh scent of metal, paint and potential testosterone emitting from the beauty before him. 'Oh yeah, this is going to be good...' the teen thought with a grin slowly creeping onto his lips.

Stepping towards the cockpit, Nico raised a leg and moved it over the seat, soon sitting on the cockpit and kicking up the stand. He used his foot as a support instead, looking about to see where the foot rests would be and found them to be behind his feet, so he put his free foot there. He checked the various gears, mechanical systems etc, his calculating eyes scanning for any abnormalities so he could report them after the field test. He grasped both the handles and began revving up the right one to be richly rewarded by the roar of the Skimmer's engine.

Yes... these Skimmers would be considered the new sexy, in his eyes at least.

The teen had ALWAYS wanted to ride a Motorcycle ever since he was a kid. They just looked so cool and badass to his young mind, he'd never paid attention to any of the dangers involved with them, like lack off safety and all that jazz. One could say that while kids his age had been talking about the latest video games (while some even talked about pornography ugh), Nico had been fantasizing about himself riding a Motorcycle. However, when he woke up with this condition and partial amnesia, Nico's life had been altered so drastically that he'd forgotten about those dreams, replaced with the nightmare that his life would become. Those Vultures had been a nice respite though, but even then he'd only tested them when they went off to battle the Zombies Ganache had released.

Now though, now he could finally fulfil this dream of his, even for one moment.

"Alright then… let's goooooooooo! Whooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooo!" he squealed like an excited fangirl. Nico punched the gas while he went full throttle, the engines behind him roaring to life as his Skimmer shot forth down the streets, his coat flapping wildly in the breeze behind him with Nico laughing madly all the while.

* * *

There was a weightlessness in her chest as Compa skipped along the streets, humming a happy tune as she did so. Combine her wide smile, a happy demeanor that rivaled the heat of the sun itself, as well as how carefree her actions were, and one would think that she was on top of the world or something. She had every reason to be as happy as she was, too. Especially with what just happened back at the hotel. The Nurse-In-Training could remember it still with crystal clear clarity, to the point where she almost showed her joyous tears over it. Things couldn't have gone any better for her back there, and she knew it down to the very fibers of her being.

Compa may seem like a ditz, and in truth she kind of was, but even she noticed some things, and she had long since noticed the fact that she was the weakest link in their Party. Out of all of them, she was the only 'normal' one in the bunch, with a demonic being, a heavenly being, and a shapeshifting mutant Bioweapon. Compared to the rest of them, Compa may as well be an ant to them, a fact that had hit her hard when they first encountered that 'Demon Prince' as Nico had told them it was. There had been nothing princely about that thing though, so she didn't really get the naming sense, but to each their own.

Then though, then Nico gave her that Crystal, that crystal of which had entered her and changed everything.

The girl hadn't noticed it at first, since it had been so small and insignificant at the time. But, gradually, she started feeling... weird, like her body was going through puberty at an abnormal rate of speed. It felt really strange, and up until they finally caught up with the demon horde, Compa had feared that she would be of even less help than before. However, that feeling had vanished soon before that point, so she could still be of help to her Goddess friend, but even then she noticed a series of differences about herself.

One of them was that she felt WAY stronger than she was before. She didn't get why, but when they began fighting the demon horde, Compa had soon come face to face with a Bloodletter that swung at her head, and she just punched it straight across the battlefield. THAT had stunned her into silence, causing her to look at her hand in shock and awe to the point where she didn't even register anything around her. That would have been costly since another Bloodletter had tried to stab her from behind only for some strange energy barrier to appear behind her and block it's attack, sending it flying onto it's back. A stray energy blade coming from Neptune in her HDD form had been the one to finish it off, but she hadn't seen the barrier as it vanished right after it was no longer needed.

Honestly, she hadn't thought of it much as she had been forced to pay attention to fighting for her life, and whatever these changes were they seemed to be helping her so why should she be asking questions? That had been her thought process when she finally rejoined the fight, unloading dozens upon dozens of different bullet types on her opponents without delay. She moved like she was on instinct alone, something else she noticed about herself. Her reflexes, agility, speed and most of her other senses had been improved drastically, to levels which soldiers would have had to train for years to accomplish. Anything to help her win that battle was what she thought, but even then it slowly started to scare her.

What was going on?

What was happening to her?

She didn't know, but soon enough she didn't get much time to wonder for help arrived unexpectedly halfway through the battle, help which was of course welcomed with open arms. With that help, they had successfully defeated the demon hordes, and that help had taken one look at her before offering to help her with her new 'gifts'. Though, that help seemed largely conflicted for reasons she didn't understand, she nonetheless accepted the offer anyways. She remembered what Nico had always said, power without the knowledge of how to use it was the most dangerous threat to one's health. Well, that was how she viewed it, he likely said it in a different format but it was basically the same thing. Power was useless if one didn't know how to use it.

Which was why she was standing right before that help, in a large deserted field outside Leanbox. It would be the ideal place for them to train her without witnesses.

That's right, 'them'.

Two particular girls stood before her, looking grimly determined.

One had her Cleavers out, and the other was thumbing the hilt of her Odachi, ready to draw it upon a moment's notice.

Both looked so different, yet their expressions were like mere reflections of each other.

Raven... and Lucy, of Team RAIL.

"Are you ready, girl?" The latter of the two asked as she scraped her Cleavers against each other. Her body looked tense, like a viper ready to strike at it's prey at any moment. While it carried an intimidating vibe, Compa refused to let the fears in her gut show, and put on a brave face in front of the feminine Spec Ops Agent. She had offered to help her with her 'gifts' after all, reasoning that she knew what they were and would only tell her once they got them under control... after of course, getting the story of how she got those gifts in the first place. "This training will be quite difficult, you may not survive it. What you have become is something that has not been seen in this world for countless centuries now. There will be many whom will try to take you and try to make more of you, turning you into a lab rat. Until such a time comes where you've learnt how to control your gifts, you must keep them a secret from everyone, including the others." Lucy told the Nurse-In-Training with a serious voice that she had never heard from her before.

Meanwhile, Raven remained silent as she sharpened her Odachi, ready for the events that will be transpiring in the future. Her mind though, it wandered back to what Lucy had been like during that battle, her eyes narrowed like slits while she glanced towards her vice leader. Raven hadn't known that there was such a potential for her to be so serious with anything not related to Nico, but when she saw Compa the moment they arrived on said Spec Ops Agent's request, she had practically gone on a violent rampage, her fury driven attacks ripping through the demon horde without regard for mercy. She'd gone and even used her Nature powers too, at degrees that Raven had not seen from her in their previous bouts.

Her instincts told her it was to do with that crystal. That was what she believed, anyways. Raven didn't know what that Crystal was, but she had felt a vague sense of familiarity when looking at it the first time, like she had been told about this crystal before. She had an idea as to it's nature though, it's origins being divine in nature. She knew that for a fact, especially with the energies she could sense within that Crystal. However, it seemed that Lucy knew way more than she did about it, which didn't exactly fill her with comfort. They had fought together many times by now, and still there were things that Lucy kept to herself, even from her. As someone who came from a tribal background where they had to rely on one another to survive, situations like this were a sore point for her. The only reason why she hadn't demanded an explanation from her using her leader's authority, was because Lucy told her that this was a secret that had been buried in history for a long time, and it's re-emergence could be either dangerous or a great help to humanity depending on the wielder it chooses.

Seemed like it would be the latter if THIS was whom the crystal had chosen.

Thinking back on it, could the reason it reacted to Nico's presence be because...?

Before she could continue, Lucy tapped her on the shoulder, getting Raven's attention and causing her to look into the slightly glowing eyes of the vice leader. "What is it?"

"She's ready. We'll be taking it in turns to try and draw that power out. Seems to have synced with this girl significantly, I've never seen such a high reaction before... or ever."

She knew not to ask what the hell Lucy was talking about, since she wouldn't get a straight answer anyways.

"Very well."

With a simple flick, Raven drew her Odachi out and charged towards Compa, whose Syringe was at the ready, thus allowing the training to begin.

* * *

IF, having stopped dragging the flailing Preteen by the ear at this point (she didn't want to tear her ear off and considering what she was, that could very well have been a possibility), and were now walking towards the Guild. "Alright Nep, you know the drill by now?" she asked her companion, who hobbled beside her while massaging her slightly reddened ear. Mentally, the brunette winced. Maybe she had dragged her a little too much back there, but she had to get Neptune out of the Hotel so they could do this, otherwise she would just laze about.

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." Neptune drawled, rubbing her ear before she lowered her arms to her sides with an exhale escaping her lips. The two of them had agreed to it yesterday, when they were dragging an unconscious Nico back to the Hotel. They would be doing Quests upon Quests for the duration of the days to get stronger, at least for the first few days before letting up for more relaxation. That had been the compromise that they had reached during a rather heated debate (one that MAGES. had decided to be a troll and record it on her Phone. How that thing survived all that conflict back at the now destroyed Hellverse Dungeon she'd never know), one which Neptune absolutely refused to back down on until that deal was struck.

Though, with that said Neptune didn't find the idea of training all too unappealing, considering the reason WHY they were doing it in the first place.

Their reasoning was probably the same as Compa's, as well as MAGES. and all the others that were involved with this demon mess. There was bound to be more of them coming, maybe not today, but tomorrow or the near future. That was a fact, especially with that Maghda woman on the loose. IF still couldn't wrap her head around that story Nico had told her, having told it to Neptune while they walked to the Guild. The fact that they not only have one witch to worry about, but now another whom had been blessed by the Chaos God Khorne no less. IF had long since looked into this Chaos Religion, and honestly it sickened her and made her wonder about humanity. There must be some truly sick people in the world who just wanted to see Gamindustri burn. If they would go to such a fucked up cult. Seriously, some of the things these guys do made her want to throw up in pure disgust... especially those who follow this 'lord of decay'...

Therefore, with all this information plus the fact that Nico would be training as well, meant that they needed to double their efforts if they wanted to keep up with him. So they didn't get left behind and become liabilities. Also, Neptune had even more reason to train than IF did, with what she was sensing. IF had attuned herself to sensing demonic power for a while now, and it had evolved to a fairly powerful level. As such, it was childsplay to notice the powerful unison of demonic and divine energy circling like a whirlpool within Neptune's body. She'd told her that Nico had given her a fraction of his power before she went off to fight the demon horde, but she got a feeling that it was more than just a simple power boost. A genetics expert like her could see multiple routes for the preteen's powers to grow.

Growth like that however, needed effort, and for that they needed to train. The Guild Quest would do that for them while supplying them with Credits so that they didn't have to rely on Nico's large stash built from his many adventures.

So, with that out of the way, the two proceeded to enter the Guild Building to start one of the longest days of Questing in their entire adventure.


	102. Chapter 99 - Weapons Testing is FUN!

**Hey guys!**

 **If you don't know what I'm referencing at the last chapter with the Bike, I'll say that it was the Skimmers from an old cartoon show called the Storm Hawks. It was a decent show in my opinion, but it ended for some reason and I couldn't figure out why. In any case, I really liked watching it, and I decided that my boy Nico could benefit from having a ride to call his own. Who knows, maybe the others inthe Party might get their own rides as well. I can just imagine what Neptune would do on a high speed, energy-powered transfrming Motorcycle... oh the chaos...**

* * *

 **Chapter 99 - Weapons Testing is FUN!**

The fresh wind brushed elegantly through his features, his hair swaying wildly behind him alongside his Trench coat. His ears were massaged by the heavenly sound of the engine's roar, while the soft, leathery touch of the handles soothed his leather gloved hands and filled him with a sense of elation that little else could convey. Not only that, but the fast-moving scenery of the vast Leanbox plains, nigh on the level of being blurry, while he himself just remained immobile and let the Skimmer do the moving instead, just left him breathless. Running, walking and all that parkour sure was thrilling, there was no denying that (and he'd probably skewer those that tried), but there was just something about riding a Motorcycle that could potentially transform into a freaking plane to fly through the skies that stood on it's own two feet. It was something he had waited a damn long time to experience, so he was going to milk it for everything it was worth.

Yeah, it could be said that Nico LOVED these Skimmers.

What could make this even better? An idea crossed over his mind, and Nico couldn't stop the shit-eating grin from forming over his lips. 'Oh yeah, now THAT sounds like a blast!' eh thought, before going into his Bracer's music playlist. What, he liked music alright? Some of the tunes in this story were ones that the author himself liked! Yes, Nico found himself accepting the role of the fourth wall breaker when Neptune wasn't around, he wasn't going to deny that any longer. If Neptune had been trying to corrupt him, then she succeeded.

Hope you're happy Neptune!

Once he had opened his Music Playlist, Nico searched for the right song he wanted to listen to, taking out some large headphones from his Void Storage and putting them on his head while connecting them to his Bracer. The male then pressed play on the song he wanted, and soon enough his ears were being exposed to some sweet ass music:

 **(I Like it Loud by Cash Cash)**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up**

 **Blow my ear drums up**

 **Just like a firetruck**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up,**

 **Yeah, I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **You know I like it loud, can't hear a fucking sound**

 **My ears are ringing now**

 **Cause that's how we get down**

 **Down, down, down**

 **Now move your body so the rhythm can set you free**

 **Another round and we can drown out our hearts beating**

 **Just like a drug I let the music set me free**

 **I like it loud, I like it loud**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up**

 **Blow my ear drums up**

 **Just like a firetruck**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up,**

 **Yeah, I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **Shaking through your legs, the way the sub drops**

 **Feel it in your chest, the way your heart stops**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up,**

 **Yeah, I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **You know I like it loud**

 **Than your old fucking sound**

 **You know I like it loud**

 **Cause that's how we get down**

 **bass up, bass up, bass up**

 **Turn the bass up, bass up, bass up**

 **up-up-up-up-up-up-up-up**

 **Now move your body so the rhythm can set you free**

 **Another round and we can drown out our hearts beating**

 **Just like a drug I let the music set me free**

 **I like it loud, I like it loud**

 **Now move your body so the rhythm can set you free**

 **Another round and we can drown out our hearts beating**

 **Just like a drug I let the music set me free**

 **I like it loud, I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **You know I like it loud**

 **Than your old fucking sound**

 **You know I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up**

 **Blow my ear drums up**

 **Just like a firetruck**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up,**

 **Yeah, I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **Shaking through your legs, the way the sub drops**

 **Feel it in your chest, the way your heart stops**

 **Get this night off right**

 **And turn the bass up,**

 **Yeah, I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

 **Yeah, I like it loud**

 **I like it loud**

The sweet music coursing through his earbuds right now almost made him feel like he was on high, to the point where he even began singing the lyrics since he had set it to loop around when it was done. Nico didn't like many people knowing, but he liked singing to good songs, especially the ones shown thus far. The best way to enjoy a ride like this was to have sweet music that made you bob your head and fill your being with intense pleasure. It was truly the best way to set your heart free of it's worried, and by the goddesses he had a lot of worries to free himself from.

He could feel his eardrums singing in delight, the lyrics setting his very core alight with the flames of freedom, of liberation for his troubled being. his heart hammered itself away like a minigun unloading bullets onto zombie flesh, and truly set his heart free of it's worries. His Holomap hadn't picked up any Monsters in the vicinity, so any threats of random encounters were minimal at best. Biko and him figured that it was due to the remnants of powerful demonic power in the air, remaining after that big attack he'd done with Soul Edge back at Hellverse, spooking them and forcing them into hiding.

Not that he cared, Nico was just having too much fun with this!

Hell, he'd probably have the nightcore version of this playing when he got back!

* * *

After he had left the Leanbox Capital on his new ride, his Skimmer, Nico had spent a good part on his journey on the ground, just basking in the gloriousness of being a rebel. It felt so goddamn like what he fucking needed after dealing with all this demonic bullshit, to just relax while riding a Motorcycle through Leanbox's vast plains with no monsters, no stress, in sight. Hell, even his inner beast seemed content, that's when he KNEW he was doing something right.

Even so, he had to get into the proper mindset, Nico reluctantly admitted, switching off the music and depositing his Headphones back into his Void Storage. Right now, he wasn't out here to have fun, he was out here to field test important weaponry. At least he was able to have some fun while it lasted, the male mused to himself before he decided to see what other weapons and equipment that the WDD wanted him to test. From what he saw the last few times he summoned unknown items, there' d been a significant amount of items of unknown origin in there, so he wanted to get started soon. Adjusting his right arm, Nico used it for steering while his left one got used to activate the Void Storage and select one of the unknown items he'd been sent. This was something that, as he said before, was an absolute reliever to do once again. Testing future weapons was a normal thing to do, and normalcy had been a rather vacant resident in his apartment of life as of late.

He'd never get enough of the difference between weird and normalcy.

From the Bracer, a flurry of particles erupted and gathered in his lap. Once they finished forming, the completed product fell into his lap, and Nico almost winced when he felt the heavy weight of what felt like a weapon land there, quite close to his manhood. The teen bit back the urge to shudder at the possibility of it being damaged and his regeneration being forced to repair it, before he looked down towards the culprit.

Sitting in his lap, there lay a large, mechanical-looking Machinegun. It had a very distinct Lastation feel to it, rather than a futuristic Planeptune one, which was something that interested the teen significantly. Nico started down at it in intrigue for a moment, before he decided to see what the Specs for this thing had to say about it. He reached for his right Bracer and dug up those Specs from his Void Storage, soon finding them and reading their contents.

'… Huh… so, this thing's a 'Liberator' Machine gun, with a very large clip of 600 bullets max, making it a very useful weapon in long firefights. It fires at a machine gun's power, but the velocity rivals that of a Minigun… #Whistle# now that's a sexy ass Machine gun.' Nico thought to himself, whistling both in his head and out in the real world.

The male decided to test this theory and pulled on the breaks, twisting the Skimmer and sliding along the ground until his Skimmer no longer moved. Once the teen was sure that he was no longer containing any movement, he looked behind him to see skid marks across the ground, his mind nearly overcome with the urge to just squeal in pure joy at having performed a power slide. 'If this was any time I'd be whooping for joy for hours on end…' he thought to himself, resisting the urge to sigh in despair. The things he had to do to achieve results…

In any case, he had to see what this thing's rate of fire was like, if it could truly fire like a Minigun…

And it seemed that some test dummies were already on their way, cause his demonic senses picked up the presence of about 10 Flamecallers and 5 Traumas nearby, making their way towards his position. He knew their names thanks to IF telling him about them when he asked her about it after the Defiler incident. They must have been drawn to his presence thanks to the amount of demonic energy in his system. Though, the thought that Demons would be roaming around the Nation worried the male, it worried him a whole hell lot. It looked like he would have something to do besides training, hell he could probably use those Demons for his training.

Nevertheless, looked like 'demon hunter' would soon be added to his titles.

A sigh escaped his lips regardless though, it seemed that he would never be getting away from the demonic matters for long.

Soon after he thought that, Nico saw their figures in the distance, all of those demons running at him like a herd of angry bulls. They must have seen him, cause they practically RADIATED bloodlust according to his senses. 'Biko, seems like I'm slowly getting the hang f this negative emotion sensing thing…'

 **'Indeed, simple and small groups like this will be easy for you. Once you get to larger and larger groups there's more of a chance for you to be overwhelmed with negative emotion, but training solves problems with abilities.'**

On that, Nico could agree. He revved the Engine and twisted his Skimmer to face the demons. The male heard the engines roaring like a pack of lions, before he blasted off towards the horde with the intent of riding into battle. 'Heh.' Nico thought, his lips curving upwards slightly. 'Feels like I'm a freaking knight riding his trusty stead into the enemy ranks.'

While the distance between them shrinked faster than a cheetah chasing down it's prey, Nico raised his Liberator and pulled the trigger after perfectly balancing it on the front of his Skimmer. Hopefully this thing would work, cause he'd feel pretty stupid if it didn't. Not like he didn't have other weapons to use though, his Devil Arms would perfectly suit this situation.

He wasn't disappointed.

The moment that he pulled the trigger, the entire barrel unleashed a sea off lead, propelled so fast that orangish sparks flew from the barrel's tip. The bullets flew true, shooting through the Flamecallers and stopping them in their tracks. The armoured hides of the Traumas managed to withstand them, but the Flamecallers weren't so lucky. He did notice that one of them got a bullet through it's left tusk though. Another even lost a portion of it's armour when several rounds impacted that same piece, breaking it off.

But back to the Flamecallers, they were REKTED by the barrage of lead exploding constantly from the Liberator's barrel. Their limbs were constantly short off then shredded by stray gunfire, blood flowing through the air gained holes in it while their forms became mangled messes before they could get close to him. About… 12 to 15 of them died in the initial barrage, while 5 managed to escape by burying themselves either within the corpse of their fallen brethren, or the backs of the traumas.

He could hear their frenzied shrieks of pain and agony from his position on the Skimmer, sounding just like a thousand tormented souls in the fiery pits of hell for their sins, as he eventually swerved out of the way, so the Traumas couldn't shoulder tackle him like one almost did. He rode till he was about, well, 10 metres away from the horde, before he twisted the handles and turned, digging his foot into the ground for better leverage. The rear wheel dug up a large stream of dirt during the turn, until Nico swerved back around and darted across the plains towards the horde's rear.

Even with their drastic decrease in numbers, Nico noted that the Flamecallers were displaying strong amounts of bloodlust, rage and hatred onto him, his NES told him thus. The remains of the Flamecaller ranks quickly jumped out of their hiding places to intercept while the Traumas turned around, spurred on by their greater emotions, only to be shredded to pieces by incoming Gunfire. Nico checked the count to see how much ammo he had left, and to his surprise the male had only used about 200 rounds worth.

'Huh… guess it really IS useful in long-time firefights… if one uses it correctly, this IS my first time using this thing.' He thought with a mental wince. Maybe it was him, but perhaps he could have used this Liberator better like adopting hit and run tactics by shooting smaller groups of Flamecallers and swerving in-between the gaps in their ranks, avoiding the Traumas when they tried to strike him down. Nico didn't need to se them in their fight with the girls to know that they seemed slow as hell. Likely due to their large size. Still, just because they were slow didn't mean they weren't helpless, since their armoured hides provided tough defence, and their hits would likely damage his ride to the point of being beyond salvageable.

Not allowed, Nico says.

Eyes hardened into steel as Nico once again swerved out the way of an overhead slam from a Trauma that managed to get close to him, riding away from the horde before performing a U turn. During that turn, Nico managed to switch out the Liberator, returning it to his Void Storage, and bring out one of the other unknown weapons. He held it in his hands, and glanced down to give it a look over.

Now THIS one, looked more like a Planeptune one as it looked like a futuristic assault rifle with white and black colourings, yet with a slightly alien and robotic theme to it. What he could also see was how that the Magazine in it, located at the base of the pistol grip, had a distinctively curved grip, which could be an excellent tool in a CQC situation depending on the enemy.

He'd brought up the Specs too, to see what it was. It's name had been codenamed 'Oppressor' and it was a Planeptune take on the standard assault rifle, capable of firing up to 32 plasma rounds depending on how many clips there were. His Void Storage had about 5 in there right now, so he'd probably need to get some more if he was allowed to have this, but 5 times 32 makes for 160 rounds in total.

Not NEARLY as many as the Liberator, but the Plasma rounds would definitely have more of an impact on these things.

Hoisting the Oppressor onto the top of his Skimmer, Nico aimed it carefully and decided to fir from his current position, pulling the breaks and grinding to a halt. He Traumas stopped as well, surprise evident on their facial features (or what little there was of those) which was exactly what Nico exploited. His move had surprised them, and that was what he had based his gamble off of.

Time to exploit that successful gamble.

Pulling the trigger, Nico was met with the sight of the Oppressor releasing a steady stream of Plasma shots from the top, flying through the air and impacting several Traumas in the face, chest or shoulders. Each of the rounds exploded on contact, causing 2nd degree burns and leaving scorch marks on their hides. Yet, the impact alone had been enough to send the damaged Traumas back by a few steps, the one without a tusk even falling onto it's back. That one didn't get up again, and it dispersed into Particles just like all other Monsters in this world.

The same went for 2 others, leaving about 3 Traumas left.

'Okay, I have ticked off the Skimmer, Oppressor and Liberator… that's three weapons. I should finish these guys off though before they cause too much damage to a settlement or something…' Nico thought, narrowing his eyes as he returned Oppressor to the Void Storage. It's clip was empty, and he didn't want to waste time reloading it. Plus, guns weren't really his forte besides Ebony and Ivory, but he'd be willing to learn how to shoot these better when he got the chance. Instead, Nico pulled out Absolution, holding it in the air like he was achieving some great victory.

A wave of elation entered his being, transmitted by the Devil Arm in his possession for being allowed to come out into the battlefield. Even more so, thanks to it's opponent's being Demons themselves. He mentally smirked at this, before swinging Absolution and unleashing a DC Wave. Te large black wave of DC (Defiler Corruption if anyone's forgotten since it's been a while since he'd used this weapon) surged towards the Traumas, 1 of which managing to dive to the side to evade it which allowed it to survive the first strike. Only for a DC Spite Trail to impale it multiple times over to end it's life abruptly.

Poor thing.

Due to his successive attacks, these guys probably lost their morale as quickly as their bloodlust had taken over their senses, which seemed to be why they had been so easy to defeat.

Nico however, focused on how the DC Wave had slowed down the moving Traumas by covering them in it's remains, seeing as they were slow to begin with this just made them barely movable at this rate. With that, Nico jumped into the air and slammed his Absolution down to the ground in an overhead slam, launching DC Groundspikes at his opponents. From beneath his enemies, 10-foot-tall spikes erupted out the ground like large mouths waiting to swallow them whole, impaling and hoisting the enemy into the air like proud trophies before they vanished into Particles.

With the battle over, Nico heaved a heavy sigh as he put Absolution back into his Void Storage before checking his Holomap. Apparently, these weren't the enemies that he was supposed to defeat, so he would have to get a move on fast. 'Whelp, time to see what this Skimmer can do with flight mode…' the teen thought, feeling his heart slowly start pounding in excitement again. Seriously, he loved Motorcycles, perhaps too much for his own good.

Revving the engine, Nico pulled a 180 and drove back towards the country path, but before he could hit the dirt road, the male pulled upward and had his Skimmer 'jump' slightly. It wasn't by much, considering it's weight, but it would be enough. While in mid-air, Nico remembered what the Specs about Flight Mode said and flicked the top of the handles to expose two red buttons. He pressed them both together and, soon enough, the mechanical sounds accompanying the Skimmer's transformation took place.

The transformation took place within a few seconds, but they may as well have felt an eternity to him. The Wheels pulled themselves into the Skimmer, the armour plates beside the Skimmer's front moved so they pointed sideways, revealing 2 smaller plates beneath them that did the same thing, while several smaller plates extended out from inside them till they resembled 4 Plane wings with 3 smaller plates that looked like the end feathers of bird wings. An… odd feature, but hey, it supposedly helped with flying so who was he to complain? It was so quick, but like previously mentioned, it felt like an eternity to him as he got bathed in those mechanical whirring's.

Once it was complete, the engines behind him roared to life as the Skimmer in Flight Mode began flying through the air at high speeds, it's pilot screaming and whooping for joy all the while.

* * *

It didn't take Nico long, especially with his Skimmer's new method of transportation, to get to the co-ordinates specified in the latter. Though, now that he was around te specified area, he couldn't help but be a little bit confused, scratching the top of his head in confusion while wondering if they were playing a trick on him. The reason for this? Well, the area that he was specified to head towards for weapon testing…

Was a large airspace above the clouds, about South East of Leanbox.

He hadn't realised this earlier due to being in a hurry to get this over and done with, so he could start training. Heck, not everything went down like he plans it to in his head, something Nico had learned fairly early on in his days with the Guild as a rookie. Now that he thought about it, Nico recognised this place, though it took a while since it wasn't really documented on any general Gamindustri map. It was called 'Sky's end', and the reason it was named such was because it was practically the end of the charted Gamindustri. Explorers haven't ventured beyond this point, and usually those who try to explore here were never heard from again.

At those thoughts, Nico wondered how scouts managed to get a sighting of this creature, this supposed Abnormal, then.

'Still, never would I have expected to actually be requested to come here… it's my first time seeing this, and I've been nearly everywhere in Gamindustri…'

There was just something about Sky's End that always intrigued the male, ever since he heard stories about it as a child, about how creatures from the stuff of nightmares would come out from there to wreak havoc alongside the other Abnormals. Some stories say that those creatures were why Planeptune built air ships, special robotic aerial Drones, Recon Drones and remote controlled futuristic fighter planes. Though, he didn't really buy into that nonsense.

Even Leanbox had it's own air force, but theirs was considerably less… impressive, one could say, compared to Planeptune. The technology difference was the main culprit for this though, so it wasn't really Leanbox's fault. If the Nobles all actually got their acts together and began advancing technologically, then they would be much better off in terms of technology. Though, those assholes did have good ideas when it came to stealing technology from other nations, as during raids some of their soldiers got their hands on Planeptune specs for some of their earlier Airship designs, allowing their researchers to reverse engineer them to create Leanbox Variants.

These variants were called 'Zeppelins' and they were, in comparison to current Leanbox Technology, ahead of their time. They even had pilot-controlled, rotor powered airplanes stocked within them that were launched from specialised ports via slingshots. These Airplanes in addition, were only capable of flight if the pilot kept rotating the pedals like they were riding a bicycle, so if they got tired or anything then they'd plummet out of the sky like bugs being hit by water.

Guess that explained why male and female pilots were so well built, like bodybuilders huh?

The male slowed his Skimmer to a steady glide, curiously searching through the surroundings for this 'mystery Abnormal' that the guys at the Guild were yammering on about. 'There… doesn't seem to be much of an Abnormal Presence here…' he thought, checking his Motion Sensor as well as his own senses, not getting anything back. It just looked like some empty space above a series of clouds, nothing out of the ordinary.

Though, he had to admit that this type of setting… proved to be rather pleasing, and gave him time to ponder the issues that were developing throughout Leanbox. More specifically the Gala. Nico was no fool, he could tell that the Gala would be a target, it was practically a political hotspot, filled to the brim with important members of Leanbox's governing system. It would be foolish for someone like Maghda or some random band of Bandits or other unsavoury individuals to NOT try anything funny when they get together there.

Thinking about it, Nico also had to wonder what Yvoire might do, there was no denying that he hated the Spec Ops Program like every Noble in this Nation, and so many of that kind of people would be gathering in one place to discuss how to proceed with governing Leanbox in accordance with new threat of the Demons. He could see them trying to restrain the Spec Ops Branch here in Leanbox even further, forcing them to develop more technology that their military could use. That way, they could keep their defences up and the Spec Ops Program would remain suppressed.

If that happened, he hoped that those bastards would get eaten alive by Demons or something.

Nico REALLY hated Nobility.

How the hell could his mother stand them for so long before meeting his father?

Oh yeah, that's right, Nico knew about his parents. The teen had one day asked his mentor about who his parents were before they disappeared, thus got an in-depth explanation about the topic. Fortunately, discussing his parents past lives didn't harm his head in any way, though it did leave him baffled about certain topic. One of them was his mother's lineage. He knew that his mother was of Leanbox Nobility, making him by blood a pseudo nobleman himself, despite his 'half-blood' as the other Nobles would say it as, and an heir to his family on the mother's side if his own house hadn't been destroyed during his parent's time.

Honestly, it made him smile knowing that his mother had denounced all that shit when she left to be with his father, he'd HATE it if he had to grow up a stuck-up Noble like those guys. Hell, even their own children were mere imitations of their parents, no real Personality or charm at all. They all just thought of themselves as 'higher beings' than the rest of them, like they deserve to have the streets they walk on paved with Credits that SHOULD be better used to advance the Nations technology.

Really, Nobles were nothing but pains in everyone's asses at the best of times.

Even so, though, Nico refused to underestimate them, just look at Count Mott and his shady dealings. He'd dealt with plenty of such people, so he liked to think he had a good eye for these sorts of things, and that man just reeked of deception, and he hadn't even met the guy yet! That's when one knows something's wrong! He would have to keep a close eye on that one, as Nico had done some research on him as well, and what he found out about him, was well… disturbing to say the least.

The man may be one of the 'ideal' (that term was used VERY loosely) Nobles out there, but his background was largely surrounded in mystery and controversy. Not like his bloodline was in question, but more on his rise to power. The man had taken over his family as it's head at a young age, barely in his teens when his parents got killed by a bunch of Bandits, nothing too special, but Nico always got the feeling that there was more to it than that especially with some of the unpublished Articles Nico had searched the… darker side of the internet for. It WAS a valuable tool if you knew where to look, hackers should know this.

He wasn't really a nice kid either, he was rather like a bully as a kid, picking ion other children and sometimes getting into fist fights. Other kids of similar mannerisms flocked to him for fear that they would end up te same way, hence why he had a strong popularity regardless of his violent tendencies. Ironically, those he beat up were mostly females, as well.

Then came his teenage years, and his physical beatdowns turned into supposed 'sexual acts' with the women he'd chose as his victims. How he'd force them to serve him in all sorts of degrading ways, breaking their wills till they followed him without question. He'd control them through sexual intercourse, keeping them compliant that way. Though these were just rumours, but if what he saw from that woman at the Guild was any indication, and he trusted Lucy and Raven's judgement immensely, then that asshole DEFINITELY did those things…

It was all he could do not to free his inner beast ad utterly rip Count Mott to shreds.

Not only was he a scumbag, but he had a powerful backing for him, other Nobles, the women he took as his 'property' the works. If Nico wanted to tear him apart with his fangs (and by the Goddesses, he did), then he'd have to do it either under the cover of darkness or catch him off guard.

People like him were why Nico preferred female comrades over guys.

As someone who believed that he would be alone for eternity now that he was a DPU, Nico truly thought that girls were immensely beautiful creatures, and when he called the girls of his Party Angels he was NOT kidding around. Not just in beauty but in personality. The very thought of them getting touched by someone like Count Mott stirred him in horrific, furious ways. If that man, no, if that FUCKING BASTARD ever laid ONE FINGER on those that Nico called comrades, then to hell with the consequences he would be dead before his head even hit the ground! He'd even use his inner beast to do it!

Nico mentally growled, clenching his fists while trying to take deep breaths to calm himself down. He would have his chance in the future, of that he was certain. None of those Nobles will be getting their grubby mitts over those girls, not while he was around. It wasn't that he didn't think they couldn't defend themselves, oh hell no he could see IF ripping off their manhoods, Neptune and Compa kicking them in the balls or worse, it was just his protective instincts kicking in. Those girls had beauty in spades, and to him beauty should be treasured.

There was so little of it left in the world, anyways.

"Nonetheless, you are doing well..."

* * *

Nico's eyes widened when eh heard a familiar voice echo through both his surroundings, and his mind. Nico nearly jumped in surprise, not having expected to hear THAT voice among the few that reside in his head. Nevertheless, the teen soon composed himself while everything around him began to grow distorted, every ounce of colour fading into a dull, bleary grey. Nico recognized tis grey however, he recognized it all too well. It honestly felt like looking into a mirror. Even the space beneath his feet became some transparent surface, like a mirror, he knew this due to being able to see his reflection and that of his Skimmer beneath him.

But, that wasn't important.

What was? Well, the child Nico keeps seeing every time he finds himself in the Mirror World, of course.

The child stood there, standing atop the reflective surface on bare feet, looking at him with his ever stoic expression. It unnerved him slightly, seeing that look. It was a look he knew al too well, cause he saw it on himself every day. The lack of colour in this Mirror World... the way transparency was so dominant here... It felt so much like a personification of his mind that it was laughable.

"What do you mean? I've just been doing what I normally do."

"Have you forgotten? The hurdles, you have recently began clearing the second Hurdle: trust. The ability to trust in others was lost to us long ago, through no fault of our own. It was all the world's fault. Yes the word was cruel to us, yet this should be no surprise to you, after all that is what this world is, don't you think. Cruel, merciless and unforgiving. That is why power is such a big player in this game, even more so given recent events. It was lost to us, and for so long we have had little reason to try to trust again. Not even our mother, our comrade at that place, could have set us away from this path. Yet, now you have made the decisive choice to start trusting others once more, taking a risk. That is the essence of life, the a two way street. If you want someone to trust, you must show that you're willing to reciprocate those efforts, otherwise everything falls apart."

Nico remained silent, absorbing the child him's words and reflecting upon them. It didn't take him long to realize that this child was right, right about both the world's ways and that trust is a two way path. He remembered the situation with Compa, oh how easily he could have chosen to send a Recon Drone or something, sent it to keep an eye on Compa cause the him in that moment chose not to trust her ability to take care of herself. He didn't realize at the time, but now that he thought about it, Nico remembered e conflict he had felt at that time, and how easy it had been to make the wrong choice at that moment. But he didn't, instead he chose to trust Compa's judgement and not do anything. That didn't mean he wasn't worried about her, but the fact that he was willing to trust her meant way more than what normal words could describe.

"I see..."

"It appears that these girls may be what we have been looking for all this time. Perhaps they might be the ones to aid us in our complete recovery. However, we must be cautious,for trust is a double edged sword. There will be those who try to use us for their own gain by playing on our trust. Yes, we know all about betrayal, don't we?" The child remarked, a bittersweet smile forming on his lips as he slightly tilted his head. "You have a question, so why not ask yourself? It's your mind we're in, you know."

'Thank you for confirming my suspicions, and that of the readers, and I will.' Nico thought to himself, before responding. "Is the path I follow, really the right one?" He asked, uncertainty and conflict within his tone. It had been on his mind for a while now, ever since he began to begrudgingly get closer to the girls around him. More than once, in the back of his mind, he had been questioning himself, wondering if it was the right choice to follow the path that he'd been doing so for years. He didn't let it surface beyond a shadow of a thought, otherwise it would create conflict within himself and lower his ability to control his DPU powers, but it remained there, lurking in the shadows regardless.

The child hummed thoughtfully for a moment, and on any other child it would look absolutely adorable. Yet, innocence was NOT something this child, this him, held in even small fragments. Their innocence had been destroyed long ago. Eventually, the child responded with a slight chirpiness in his voice, yet still returning to that blank expression he had. "Whose to say? In the end, even if it was the wrong choice, it is not us who is wrong. The one whose wrong, is this ugly, twisted world that we live in. Why should we apologize for being a monster, when nobody apologizes for turning us into one?"

Those words left Nico in nothing but silence, his eyes slightly wider to express the inner surprise that he felt within. He almost felt like an idiot for asking that question, cause deep down a part of him had known that answer to that question. It provided a large portion of much needed understanding to the dilemma inside his mind. The dilemma revolving around what would happen when he finally WOULD need to use his other side to protect those that he called comrades. Would he be able to do it? Could he risk it? He hadn't been sure of the answer before, but right now he just felt like he had edged closer to the answer.

"In any case, while we would love to talk more, you should probably snap out of this trance, cause we're about to have an uninvited guest soon."

"Huh?"

* * *

Blinking owlishly, Nico soon found himself back in the large airspace that was Sky's end. He had little time to think about what the child him meant when he suddenly heard a large roar close by... too close for his liking.

'Whoa!'

That was his mental shout at the sudden shift in situation. He'd been caught off guard, but his mind flipped it into high gear out of instinct. Constant battling, training and experience had led to that reaction being possible. Reflexively going full throttle and diving down just to barely miss the tips of several talons. They barely scraped against his Skimmer's right engine, too, as he avoided the sneak attack by a hair. Pulling backwards, Nico shot back upwards and circled around, so he could face off against whatever had the galls to sneak attack him.

'Okay, what the hell just…?'

As soon as he began to think, his thoughts abruptly got caught in his brain, stopping and piling onto each other like cars crashing into each other. The reason flapped it's wings before him, giving him a glare that rivalled that of the Demon Prince he'd defeated before reaching the Hellverse Dungeon.

'Oh shit, you have GOT to be KIDDING me!' There, hovering about 50 metres away from him, was the biggest dragon Abnormal he'd ever seen.

* * *

 **For those who haven't heard, those Guns I referenced are actually legit guns, not made up. They are from the game 'Dark Void' which was a game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 I believe and the PC. It didn't do as well as developers had hoped, but I really liked those guns, and the gameplay itself. I always found it so satisfying to just simply pound one of those robots to bits in vertical combat. In any case, these guns are also important storywise, especially with the upcoming chapters.**

 **In addition, if you know which Storm Hawks episode these next couple chapters are referencing, then lemme know in the reviews.**

 **Also, if you're wondering about the main plot, don't worry. I will return to it, but it will take time. Think of the next chapters as preparation for the main plot to continue. Thing is, it'll be quite different in scale compared to canon, if you can't tell already. All manner of eyes are set on that Gala, it's practically a battlefield in both the political and the traditional manner.**

 **See ya next chapter, guys!**


	103. Chapter 100 - The Taste of Carnage

**Chapter 100 - The Taste of Carnage**

Things were good... for the most part.

Two pairs of feet moved along the country road towards their destination, trudging up dirt and small clouds of dust that faded away before anyone could really notice them. The serenity of the atmosphere felt soothing, calming and serene, which was a direct contrast to what they had been going through in recent times... and probably the future too, given what they were intending to do.

The cool Leanbox breeze blew gently through their surroundings, ruffling their hair. Well, the one with short hair anyways, the other had her long hair blowing in the same direction as the wind, which unfortunately meant that it blocked the short haired one's vision. One could imagine how annoying this was to the short haired one, to the point where she had to speak up on it.

"Say, uh, Iffy?"

"What is it, Nep?"

The brunette responded tiredly, glancing behind her at the preteen. She honestly had been hoping for some peace and quiet on their journey, but with this one she guessed even that was asking too much. She had her hands in the pockets of her trench coat, a mix of troubled and annoyance on her features. Annoyance for the preteen behind her (whom sported a comical bump on her head from when IF had whacked her, so she could stop complaining and making a fool of herself in front of those at the Guild), and troubled for the specifics of their quest.

A quest she feared that only they could accomplish.

"Could ya MAYBE think about tucking ya hair in or something? It keeps whacking me in the face 24/7!" Neptune whined, pouting at the brown-haired BOW. She made the motion of counting on her fingers, before throwing her hand to the side in frustration with a matching sound escaping her lips. "My Nep face has lost count of how many times your long hair's been meeting with it at this stage in the game!" Yeah, wasn't that the truth, Neptune really did lose count of how many times she had to swat away IF's long hair at this point. Normally she wouldn't have minded as much but there were several differences.

One: It was just them, nobody else for Neptune to quarrel with.

Two: it was an exceptionally windy morning, so she got the victim role for this particular hair-slapping session.

"Pretty sure your face can't count, Nep, and more than that: How about instead of walking behind me, you get beside me so my hair doesn't hit you then, idiot?" IF retorted, irritated. Seriously, not even at the Quest area and she was already thinking about dropping her here and continuing the quest solo. Neptune's whining had gone on for the duration of their trip to the target location from the Guild.

Behind her, Neptune froze and looked like she had been struck with inspiration, her mouth fallen open with her hair over her eyes in a comical fashion. Was it just her, or did IF see the skies darken and a bolt of lighting strike behind her? Glancing behind her once she stopped hearing that bratty CPU's footsteps, IF saw this and groaned audibly, a vein popping over her forehead. "Ugh, you just NOW realized that?"

After that little debacle, IF and Neptune strolled along a large plain, looking for the targets that were specified by their Quest. The moment that they entered the Guild and looked up the Quests available, this one had caught their eye almost immediately just from it's description alone. It was from a soldier in the Leanbox military, one whom apparently had been the sole survivor of his unit and would be hospitalized for months with a booking at a psychiatric hospital for PTSD. It had the following details:

To Any able-bodied questers:

A large monster has been sighted heading towards the village my unit has been guarding for generations now. It is large, and words cannot describe how disgusting it looks. I would even say that it is a Abnormal, but I cannot be sure since I've never seen anything like it. It killed all my men and did something to them, I don't know what, but I was barely able to escape! Please! Someone go out there and avenge my dead comrades! I beg of you! Uwaaaaaaaaah!"

The details may have been vague, but for some reason their instincts screamed at them that this was one they HAD to take. To that end, both Neptune and IF had agreed in union to get this quest before anyone else did, scooping I up from the Quest board, having it approved by the Quest Clerk before dashing off into the direction the Quest specified. It may just be them, but after having dealt with some pretty dark forces recently, it made them feel a bit on edge. If this was what they feared it was, then they would HAVE to complete this quest before anyone else could. They were probably the only ones who could, who even knew the true danger of the forces newly arriving to Gamindustri.

Which lead them to this point.

"At last, we're here…" IF whispered, sighing in relief. Not long now, just a short investigation where she could tap into her senses to locate any signs of demonic power. The two had found themselves at the edge of a large looking forest, located North West of Leanbox. It was similar in appearance to Virtua Forest, and right now the two stood before the futuristic looking gates that lead down the various paths through the Dungeon. IF's eyes looked up and down at the machinery here, looking mighty calculating. "Looks like the gates haven't been tampered with, so that's a plus…" she muttered.

Neptune then had a thought as she eyed the Gates with no small amount of suspicion. "Hey, um, Iffy? Why do these gates look so much like the ones at Planeptune Dungeons? Lastation's at least have the gall to look more like the theme of the land." She asked the Guild Agent turned Spec Ops Candidate.

Said woman frowned as well, turning around to face the amnesiac Goddess. "Isn't it obvious? Wait, I forgot you don't have any of your memories despite being a CPU…" she muttered, half annoyed at her before realization kicked in and she began feeling like an idiot. In an effort to move things along before Neptune could tease her or something (she didn't doubt she would considering her naturally teasing nature), she continued. "Leanbox and the other Nations raided each other a lot throughout the centuries. It's no surprise that they would have some of Planeptune's tech cause they stole it."

"Eeeeeeh?!" Neptune exclaimed, stepping back while an arm was in front of her mouth in the stereotypical freaked out pose. "Wait, I remember Nicky saying something like that before… geez, this Console War thing seems to have been more of a pin in the butt the more I hear about it."

"Tell me about it Come on, let's go. Hopefully it's just an irregularly powerful Abnormal and not a Demon…"

* * *

Nico blanched within the cockpit of his Skimmer while switching out his weapon load-out. He drew both his Ebony and Ivory Devil Arms and placed them on his thighs, while also equipping Alastor. The Broadsword shaped Devil Arm thrummed with demonic power, it's blade layered with a thick miasma of Lightning. He had chosen this particular Devil Arm because he'd need a one-handed weapon to fight since he'd have to drive his Skimmer, while it also possessed the ability to fire off ranged Lightning attacks.

The teen mentally smiled when he felt the joy of being summoned by its wielder emanating from Alastor. A Wielder worthy of it's power.

Nevertheless, this would NOT be an easy battle, of that he was certain. The teen looked to the Abnormal he would soon be taking down, and frowned to himself. The Abnormal he was facing looked like a draconic wyvern variant, with two legs and two wings along with a tail, large body, and a head. The Wyvern had thick, crimson Armored scales covering the majority of it's body, while it's undersides were encased in black glimmering scales. Its eyes were like crimson voids, narrowing at him with the intent to kill. It's legs were tipped with dangerously sharp talons, talons that Nico imagined could cut through most metals like fragile tissue. The thing was, this bad boy appeared to be massive, as in well and truly MASSIVE.

According to what he knew, A Leanbox Zeppelin is about 776 feet in length, and 100 feet in diameter. It could move at 80 MPH which for it's size is rather slow. These Zeppelins weren't ideal air forces, however they were the best for what Leanbox could do with their current level of technology. If they had proposed an alliance with Planeptune, then they could have made better aircraft and upgraded their Military to a higher standard.

This Wyvern Abnormal? It was about 1,552 Feet in length and 200 feet in diameter: TWICE the size of an Average Zeppelin. Probably could move faster, too

And he was supposed to take it down with his Sword and his little Skimmer…

It was like an ant going up against a Grasshopper.

Whelp… Nothing ever said his job was easy. This was just Monday for him.

'Hell, this might actually be a challenge… and a fresh change of pace considering all the demonic shit I've had to put up with…' Nico thought to himself, feeling the raw bloodlust emitting from his Devil Arm. Yeah, Alastor felt pumped to fight judging by how much the Lightning sparked around it's blade. Luckily, it didn't try to damage his Skimmer in any way, otherwise he would have either had to resort to his hidden weapon or transforming into his DPU form for flight. Considering the partially untamed power Soul Edge had in that form, and how it apparently locks away other Devil Arms from being used while in that form, it would count as overkill.

One option promised too tough a battle, and the other promised too easy a battle…

You could guess which one he chose, right?

Good.

Yet, even before the battle he just got a visit from the brushoff death, since before Nico could launch his attack, the Wyvern roared as it reared it's head back and launched a fireball the size of a multi-story building at him. When it did, it felt like he was being blinded by rays directly hitting him from the sun, such was the intensity of the flames making up the Fireball. It had the size, power and speed necessary to, if it could, destroy a small village Nico sensed from the Fireball. The male could feel the heat roaring from within that fireball, burning like the inside of a furnace so he quickly pushed down on his Skimmer and dove beneath it, and the clouds, as fast as he could, barely avoiding getting scorched into charred crisp. He didn't even realize how he exhaled a little till after doing it, as he began circling around and spiralling upwards till he was flying over the clouds.

'Phew, that was a close one…' the teen thought, turning his head to look behind him to see the Dragon already in hot pursuit, prepping to launch another fireball within it's maw. He could tell because it's maw's interior had a massive red glow emanating from within. 'Not good, if it could fire Fireballs like that, then this thing's too dangerous to let near any of the Nations. I'll be screwed if it hits me with just one of those!' he thought in realization. Quickly, Nico reacted by pointing his Devil Arm at it's mouth and unleashing an Overload Burst from the blade. The Devil Arm almost roared as it launched a large bolt of pure Lightning towards it's prey, hitting the side of it's face to stop it from firing.

This only served to piss it off, however, Nico felt. He'd spent enough time around Abnormals to know when they were pissed off enough to go into n extreme blood rage, and this was one of those times. The Dragon reared back and furiously roared, sound echoing across the entire area while Nico constantly unleashed Lightning Bolts from his Devil Arm, trying to look around it's body to see where it's weak spot might be. Though, he did notice how the armoured hide the Abnormal possessed seemed strongly resilient towards Lightning attacks as whenever they hit it's red armour, they would only leave scorch marks behind.

So, it had lightning resistance… or perhaps he wasn't hitting the right areas? This WAS the first time he'd used Alastor in a high-speed dogfight like this… in fact, this may be his first dogfight period.

Grimacing, Nico paused his assault, jerking the Skimmer's handles so that he began spiralling upwards at high speeds till he had ascended up to 200 metres. The male's danger senses flared like crazy, and he looked towards the Abnormal to see how it was… 10 seconds away from ramming into him with it's head.

'SHIT!'

Sweat plummeted down his brow while his heart almost skipped a few beats. Like a madman possessed by the spirit of speed, Nico flicked open a compartment on the edge of his right handle, pressing a red button there. The Skimmer's engines instantly roared like jet plane thrusters, propelling Nico forwards at speeds that made him forcibly lean back on his cockpit. Thus, giving the Skimmer a massive boost in speed that became critical in getting them out of the Dragonic Wyvern's way… but only by a hair.

He'd literally felt his hair brush against it's skin, after all!

'Geez, up close this thing is freaking huge… Good thing I'm apparently faster than it, though!'

With the knowledge that the speed sector was still on his side, Nico twisted his Skimmer, so he flew perfectly upside down while the Wyvern's scaled hide could be seen below him. He quickly pointed Alastor down at it (which to him looked like he was raising it above his head), and rained upon the Draconic Abnormal with Lightning Bolts, Overload Bursts and a more than a dozen Megawatt Missiles Below him, countless explosions rang throughout as each attack slammed into the Dragon with intense force.

BOOM, CRASH, SLAM, BASH, BOOM, BOOM!

Intense sounds echoed from when Nico slammed his Lightning based attacks into the Dragons crimson armour, dotting it all with scorch marks varying in size. Nonetheless, none of them got through, not one much to Nico's dismay as he few off, righting himself before twisting into a U Turn. Up ahead, the Draconic Abnormal flipped and twisted about so that it faced him again, this time just staying there while flapping it's wings to keep the beast they were attached to in the air.

With a growl escaping its mouth, the draconic Abnormal opened its maw opened once more, and in the next second Nico found himself facing another large fireball as it sailed through the air towards him, roaring like a thousand ravenous lions closing in on their prey. The teen could feel the heat even as it got within 50 metres of him, that was how intense the heat within it had been, although he wasn't sure if it could compare to Hellfire. Quickly, Nico raised Alastor and charged up another Overlord Burst, launching the attack straight into the Fireball's centre.

Like a spear, the Lightning Bolt slammed into the Fireball, impaling it all the way through after a few seconds worth of struggle before continuing on towards the Abnormal. It almost looked more like a beam than a Bolt of Lightning, but in the end the Abnormal flared its wings and flapped them sideways, giving it the leverage to side dive out the way. Its instincts must be on point to dodge a bolt of lightning, Nico mused, before he used the smoke generated by the explosion created by his attack and the Fireball to launch over 1000 Megawatt Missiles.

The many Lightning based Missiles flew like bullets through the smoke and right towards their target, homing in on it with the intent to reduce it to charred splinters. The Dragon roared, seeing them and taking off on a random, erratic flight pattern throughout Sky's end, using a mix of excellently performed acrobatics like somersaults, rapid spins, figure eights etc to avoid the Megawatt Missiles, all the while Nico would follow it from behind, launching a wide variety of Lightning Bolts, Megawatt Missiles, and if he got close enough some Shock Grenades.

He did try to drain it's Bioelectricity with Alastor and combine it with the Devil Arm's power, but for some reason it didn't work. He mentally noted that for further investigation once he defeated this Abnormal. Maybe the boys at the WDD could take a look at it's body to see why it didn't have Bioelectricity.

Normally everything has Bioelectricity, even Abnormals and Demons, the whole Nerve system was consisting of Bioelectricity that is cause for those quick-time reactions to intense stimulus, like a life-or-death situation. It was what became the source of one's reflexes, their instincts, so it was strange that this thing didn't. Then again, Abnormals were named that for a reason, and this just screamed what he had been dealing with his whole life, so it wasn't like this fact actually bothered him.

Even so, Nico fully immersed himself in the battle, relishing in the utter familiarity, the sheer rush and thrill of finally fighting something he was familiar with after a long time of nothing but demonic and deadly surprises. This was what he loved doing the most, this was what he lived for, this was what set off his primal instincts like they were bonfires in his gut. There were those who gained extreme pleasure in others' suffering, or when fulfilling their own lustful desires. Those things weren't what kept him going though, nope, not one bit.

To someone like him, fighting monsters was his blood, the air he breathed, the sea he swam in. This was the epitome of freedom, where he could just be himself. Be the monster he always knew himself to be. In battle like this, there was no need for distractions, no need for any unnecessary thoughts about politics, relationship issues, none of that. Instead, all one had to think about was how they were going to dodge the next strike and end the battle. Nothing bad about fighting Demons, but fighting Abnormals was what Nico was used to, as he had done so for a large portion of his life.

It was such a simple affair…

Yet the simplicity from this battle had never made Nico feel more ALIVE!

In an instantly the Abnormal performed a U turn and flew directly at Nico, ignoring the pounding forces from the many Lightning attacks on it's person. Nico's eyes widened at this as he quickly pushed downwards, making his Skimmer enter a skydive to avoid a massive stream of fire that would have probably barbecued him. Even as he dodged that attack by the skin of his teeth, Nico still felt the heat roaring behind him. Speaking of roaring, the all-too loud roar of the Abnormal made him look behind him to see the Dragon hot on his heels, making another Fireball within it's maw.

'Sucker's not giving up, is he?!'

Nico grinned as he swiftly pulled upwards till he flew just above the clouds. His feet practically touched them with the tips of his boots, which showed just how close he was to them, as he swiftly threw a violently sparking Alastor behind him, launching some Arc Lightning at his opponent. The constant streak of Lightning flew through the air which the Abnormal countered with it's fireball. The result: a large explosion that rocketed the atmosphere, sending large gusts of wind that sent Nico flying about like a rolling ball.

'Whoa-whoa-whoa!' constantly circled his brain as Nico struggled to regain his balance, and he eventually did though he did feel a bit dizzy by the end of it. Shaking it off, the teen glanced about to try and find his opponent. To his surprise, the draconic Abnormal was nowhere to be found, like i had vanished from existence. 'What the-fuck, where did it goo?!' the male screamed within his mind, before the answer came to him.

You know that rule where people 'don't look up?'

Well, apply the opposite of that.

Instincts were what saved him as Nico went full throttle, shooting through the skies like a bullet just as the head of the Abnormal popped through the clouds beneath him with it's maw open wide in an attempt to swallow him. SNAP those maws went, only getting empty space though they had gotten much closer to it than Nico liked... Thing was, the teen had reacted by throwing in some Shock Grenades into it's maw before it could completely appear... which left a rather 'explosive' aftertaste.

Still did nothing but piss it off, even more though.

However, instead of just mindlessly charging at him again, Nico saw how the draconic Abnormal roared as it flew higher into the air for a moment, until it halted and faced him while hovering in the air.. Its wings flapped constantly while it's head, which smoked dangerously, lowered to look at it's tail... at least, that was what he thought it did. Soon got proven wrong though, as a Fireball began to form in it's mouth. But this was not like the ones before, oh no, for this fireball... grew and grew past the point where it could remain in it's maw as the dragon reared it's head back to the heavens above, the fireball floating above it;s maw where constant streams of fire were gathering beneath it, fueling it's growth. In no time flat, it had enlarged to the size of a small town, making Nico's face lose most of it's color as he realized just was was going to happen next.

'Oh shit, that looks fucking dangerous...!'

That was what he thought.

This wasn't good, and neither was the moment he saw the fireball get launched... as a shower of smaller fireballs raining upon him with unending ferocity. Nico nearly felt his heart thunder out his chest when he quickly deployed a Polarity wall, pumping Alastor's power into it to make the barrier as big as the entire Skimmer.

The moment the shower landed upon him, Nico grimaced as he felt the barrier roar and crackle wildly, disintegrating the fireballs that came into contact with it. His arms vibrated heavily from the strain of keeping the barrier up, so he forced demonic energy into them as well as his own SP and his other side's strength to enhance them.

Eventually, the shower let up, allowing Nico to lower the Polarity wall... just in time for the Draconian Abnormal to get in close and roar with all it's might, unleashing a mighty wind gust from flapping it's wings in his direction.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

The gust slammed into the Skimmer with unrelenting force, throwing both it and the rider far from the Abnormal and across Sky's End. The teen flew through the air, separated from his Skimmer which began falling to the clouds beside him. Winds whipped beside him, making his Trench coat flap about wildly while ruffling his long bangs. Barely, Nico managed to right himself so that he was going through the air on his back, which allowed him to face off against the Abnormal with Alastor in his right hand. Luckily for him, he'd managed to keep a hold of his Devil Arm through that Gust, but the same could not be said about his Skimmer, which resulted in his current plight. The teen grimaced, glancing to his skimmer and back to the Abnormal. This allowed him to see that it was already charging at him with it's maw beginning to open wide. Probably attempting to go for a bite.

'COME ON, KING, SHOW THEM WHO THEY'RE MESSING WITH, LEMME AT EM!'

Nico winced when he heard his white copy screech in his mind, as well as felt the rumbling and crackling sounds ripping through his insides. He could feel the inner beast inside bellowing in anger, desire to rip this Abnormal to shreds filling him inside like a closed bottle. You know what they say though, eventually the bottle must break.

That may be... but that wasn't today.

'Sorry, but i'm going to be using something else for the time being...'

After silencing both the white copy and his inner beast, Nico readied Alastor and drew out it's power. Purple Lightning danced along the blade while he reared it backwards, generating more than 20 Shock Grenades. Each of them sparked like they were just powder kegs waiting to erupt into their explosive glory, but Nico's will prevented them. He couldn't have them detonate just yet, nope. Not until his idea could be implemented. An idea he had thought up on the fly, and he didn't doubt it would be reckless, but hey it wasn't like he cared about himself right?

Closer...

Closer...

There!

The moment that the draconic Abnormal reached about 10 meters between him and it's large head, Nico threw all the Shock Grenades he had over Alastor's blade at it, watching as they each detonated with extreme force when they touched it's Armoured head. Not that it would have damaged it much, but that wasn't he plan. Nope, the idea revealed itself afterwards when the combined force from the explosions propelled the falling Nico not only away from it's maw just seconds before it could chow down on him, but also towards his falling Skimmer.

Plus it would keep the Abnormal dazed... and looking back, he saw that it was busy trying to recover from his attack.

Excellent

Shooting through the air with a smirk on his lips, Nico flew towards his Skimmer and spread his limbs out like a star. His Skimmer was just 4 seconds away from falling through the clouds, so he would be cutting it close. Finally, through some gut wrenching parkour flips, Nico managed to insert himself back onto the Cockpit of his Skimmer, gripping the Handles and revving the Engines back to full power. The Skimmers' Engines roared to life, releasing a burst of energy that propelled the Skimmer and it's rider back into the airspace above.

'Whew... that was a close one...' the teen couldn't help but think to himself while wiping the sweat from his forehead. He even went through an exhale from that experience, seriously this fight was making his blood pump faster than it had done so in a while. A fight where he used only his Devil Arms and his Skimmer, something that reminded him of his life before the insertion of Demons and all that stuff. It was JUST what the doctor ordered for him. The rush, th thrill! This was what he lived for, this was why he was still breathing!

Those assholes in the Basilicoms and the Guild were not that wrong when they describe him as a dog, but instead of a dg, he';d say he was more like a mix of two things: a Bloodhound, and...

A Centipede.

The changes in wind currents around him alerted him to another attack being prepared by the Abnormal, which had recovered from his attack quicker than he had expected it to. It brought his attention back to it and away from his high-induced thoughts, but once he laid his gaze on it, the teen noticed that it was doing the same attack from before... only... this time, the fireball bigger.

As in...

Large Town bigger...

The teen's face nearly lost all color at that, his previous high vanishing from his thoughts. But, if he thought that was the limit of his troubles, then he'd be sorely mistaken.

As he was busy contemplating what to do to block or dodge the next attack, the male almost missed the warning signs from the front off his Skimmer… or he would have, if it weren't for the slight beeping sound he heard that sounded suspiciously like a fire alarm. 'Huh? What the…?' he wondered at first, unsure as to what was going on. His mind, filled with adrenaline, took a short moment to recognize something outside of the fact that he was in a fight, before he blinked owlishly and looked to where the sound came from. It came from the console in front of him where several dials were. Most of them were like compasses for direction ad mobility in the skies, but one…

Was the fuel gauge…

And it was running on dry in about 40 second's he guessed.

'Shit… Oh, oh shit!'

For a moment, he had widened his eyes at the discovery, but when he thought about it more… the full implications of what this meant hit him harder than a sledgehammer. If he didn't finish this battle within the next 40 seconds, then he would lose all fuel and plummet down beneath the clouds to a horrifying end. Think of ow that one human tried to make wings from clay to fly, only to fall to the ground when he flew too close to the sun. Only... he probably wouldn't even have a body left to find, not that anyone would considering where and what this place was. He could transform and continue the fight, but then he'd be running the risk of absolutely destroying this new Abnormal beyond recognition, something that when weapons testing was involved, was a big fat no-no. The Abnormal here had to be the target for every weapon he was assigned to test out, that was the rule, only after they were all tested did he get the green light to kill it.

He'd been so focused on the battle and the high that he got from Alastor (which was now being suppressed by his mixed feelings of panic, dread and morbid curiosity for what might happen in that situation) that he'd forgotten to test the rest of the weapons out. And there were more than a few left to do, whilst there wasn't enough time to properly test them. Then, there was ow next to nobody in the Spec Ops Community save for Team RAIL who knew about his DPU powers, not even his mother. He would have told her sooner, but things happened that distracted him from that action.

Why was that relevant? Well, cause he'd need to find an excuse to tell them why the tested Abnormal was charred beyond imagining. There were those corrupt enough within the community to try and use his powers to label him more as a monster than he already was, maybe even get whole groups of Spec Ops Agents to try and assassinate him or whomever he associated with. None of them liked deities very much, which only makes sense considering who and what they are.

One could say that he was in deep shit, what with this revelation is all.

One saving grace made itself apparent though, something that Nico probably wouldn't have seen thanks to his panic if he didn't look up at the right moment, when his gaze landed on the section between the Abnormal's legs. Why was this important? Nico's eyes widened then narrowed when he saw how there was a strange-looking orb-like object embedded inside where, upon comparison tot he human body, the bellybutton would be.

'Hold on…' Nico thought, scowling in confusion as he twisted his Skimmer around and hovered to try and conserve fuel. 'Draconian Abnormals follow the whole 'lay and hatch from egg' procedure that a lot of animals do, so why would this one have a Bellybutton? Something's up here, first it doesn't have any Bioelectricity and now it has a Bellybutton? Even for Abnormals, this was too weird. Even with their unpredictable natures, Abnormals did have at least SOME form of reason for their natures being what they were. What was this one's, then?

Wait, questions could be asked later, right now he only had one shot.

'Hopefully that is the chink in it's armour. I'll charge up as much power as possible and am for that bellybutton-looking thing…I can picture Neptune going all like 'aim for its imaginary bellybutton'' he thought with a roll of his eyes. For some reason, imagining something that Neptune would have said calmed his nerves immensely. Maybe that was just another part of her charm, and why he was so… well, fond of her…. Can't believe he just admitted that. Hell, he'd be fond of the others too, but now was not the time for that.

Right now, his window of opportunity was closing fast, so he needed to get this right.

Alastor in hand, Nico hopped onto the front of his Skimmer, gathering up every last ounce of power that Alastor Possessed, feeding it while mixing it with his own. This would have to work, the male thought to himself as he drew more and more on Alastor's power, bringing forth more than he ever had before. He could tell that this was the case from how violent the sparks emitting from the blade were, and he almost got the feeling that even if he held it a whole mountain range away from his Skimmer the sparks would still hit and fry it's systems. Nico even went as far as to channel his own energy into his Devil Arm to give it a power boost, the male's focus on his next attack being the reason why he ignored how it gorged itself on his power.

While they feed off the energy of their wielders to stop themselves from vanishing, they also have their own power reserves, power of which they replenish either naturally (which is what they normally do with minimal energy leeching involved) or when they are offered by their user more and more power. It's like when a ravenous lion is offered a large pile of massive meat slabs, they wouldn't hesitate to gorge themselves on the prize. This has the advantage of boosting their attack strength, but one has to be careful as to not overuse their energy reserves otherwise they may fizzle out and die. Some Devil Arms are also more ravenous than others, thus it is important for Devil Arm wielders to know their feeding habits for battling.

In Nico's case, he had various Devil Arms latching onto his soul, weapons that each drain their own amounts of his energy, though his energy replenished iitself at a rate of which where he doesn't even notice, therefore he doesn't need to worry about this issue. In addition, Alastor was a Devil Arm that sucked up his energy like a vacuum,in layman's terms it drains his power quickly. At first he had been worried about this, however Biko had told him that this would also help is reserves grow and refine themselves as it provides stimulus. He even called it 'energy expansion training' which took place constantly.

The Devil Arm pulsated heavily with power, both it's own lightning and the orangish red energy of his DPU power engulfing it's blade to make a hue that was a mix of purple and red. He swore he could hear the Devil Arm roaring and groaning from how much power was coursing through it, but this fact only briefly manifested within his mind before it vanished forever. Lightning sparks flared dangerously and violently like wild serpents, so Nico quickly raised the blade, so it wouldn't get near his Skimmer… and brought it down in an overhead slash.

On the opposite end, the dragon had just finished charging up it's latest fireball attack. It had done well in avoiding/enduring the whole Lightning assault that it's opponent had thrown at it, plus those Shock Grenades into it's maw had hurt a LOT, but now that the assault had relented, it was time for it to strike back. Now, all it needed to do was swing it's head down to launch the large Fireball… wait, what was this heat it was feeling?

Uh oh.

In that moment, the Dragon became witness to one of the strongest Lightning Bolts it had seen the boy known as Nico use. It was long, large and easily dwarfed the previous ones in power. It was also strangely being tainted with this red hue over it's purple frame. That, and it went… straight for it's bellybutton.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

Lightning coursed through it's body as the Dragon opened it's mouth yet releasing a silent scream. It's body froze up at the joints, various small explosions aligning over it's form like dots on a shape. What got Nico's attention besides the random sparks from within the armour, was the faint sounds of hydraulics malfunctioning within the Dragonic Abnormal. Nevertheless, Nico couldn't think on it as the Draconic Abnormal began falling into the clouds below backfirst, it's wings flapping uselessly above it.

As it beyond view, neither it nor Nico noticed that a small figure, robotic in nature, had seen the whole thing and quickly left to inform it's masters of what was going on.

* * *

"Looks like we made it…"

"Yeppers, though this kind of scene is…"

Neptune and IF frowned as they stood within the centre of a large clearing within the virtua forest lookalike. The clearing had obviously seen better days, what with all the craters, cracks along the ground, and how so many trees had been uprooted and scattered all over the place. The entire clearing looked like someone with massive feet had just up and stomped all over it, eradicating every sense of beauty there ever was with this place. Then, there was how they could feel an abundance of demonic power in the air, all but confirming their fears of this being a demon related incident. Considering the nature of these Demons and soul sucking and all that mojo IF told the girls about…

Yeah, it was pretty clear what happened to those soldiers now.

"I remember reading once, that this was one of Leanbox's patrol routes, as it leads to a [path that can lead to various wealthy Nobles' homes." IF remarked to herself, her eyes scanning the area intently. "If a Demon has appeared here, then those cowardly bastards would send as many men as it takes to defeat it and secure their own interests." She explained, turning to Neptune whom was looking about like a curious child. "You know just as much as I, Nep, that normal soldiers can't defeat a Demon, especially if it's one of the stronger ones."

Without looking back at her, Neptune nodded at her companion's words, too focused on looking about the destruction to care really. "Yeah, yeah, things are bad, we know…" she remarked, before something clicked in her mind. "Oh yeah, hey Iffy? You ever think about getting a new outfit?" she asked suddenly, throwing IF for a loop at the seemingly random question.

'Then again, this is Nep we're talking about.' The brunette couldn't help but snidely think to herself. Randomness should be Neptune's domain, not Planeptune, cause she embodied that stuff like it was nobody's business. It was a lesson she'd learned not long after meeting her, but it still surprised her to this day… as well as mildly annoyed her. Remembering that she had asked a question, IF went and answered in a dry tone. "Pretty sure this has nothing to do with the mission, here."

This didn't do much in regards of swaying Neptune out of it though, not by a long shot as she pursed her lips, flailing her arms up and down. "But Iffy! Outfits are the jam! Remember how in the games we have varying sexy outfits? Pretty sure few other fanfics have us changing outfits."

Okay, hearing that made IF's brow rapidly twitch. It didn't help that she got reminded of how sometimes, her profile on social media would be filled with links to various fan arts of her in some… risqué situations. Especially with her BOW powers. Apparently, she had fans… very creepy fans who have WAY too much time on their hands. "Hey, those are just for fanservice, Nep… oh goddess, you've gone and made me do it, too." She groaned at the end, holding a hand over her forehead. Seriously, first Nico, now her? Neptune definitely had the infectious stat down pat. "Anyways, those don't do anything but show off skin uselessly, it's got NOTHING to do with fighting."

"Of course not, the demographics for the games and pervy fanfic writers pay extreme attention to these details." Neptune replied shamelessly, winking while sticking her tongue out while making a V shape over her closed eye.

IF's response: to groan audibly once more.

Fortunately, before she could develop another migraine that would probably be regenerated by her BOW powers, her eyes widened as her senses picked up demonic energy signatures heading their way. 'Oh shit, look like we got company!' she thought as her instincts made her react. Quickly, the brunette spun around, practically catching Neptune off her guard while throwing her arm forwards and morphing it into her Tentacles. "Not getting us that easily!" she bellowed, each Tentacle speeding through the air like pieces of earth falling from high in the skies, slamming into the wilderness where she sensed the energy.

"Nepu?! Iffy, wha-?!"

Before Neptune could run her mouth, she too sensed the Demonic energies and quickly Summoned Murasama and held it in a ready stance. She even deployed her Armour, feeling the comforting metal press against her flesh and encase her form from external forces such as the wind and stuff. "Oh, Ok! I get ya, Iffy! Come on out, busters! We know you're there!" Neptune shouted into the distance, gripping her right fist after removing it from Murasama. She then pumped it full of Share Energy, allowing various Purple Blades to manifest around it before she threw them in the same direction as the Tentacles.

In response to their attacks, several Shadows jumped out of the wilderness to dodge them. All of them had been so fast that the girls could barely recognize them as such, let alone identify their appearance. Whatever the case though, all they COULD tell was that these Shadows were quite large. Probably dangerous too, but hey, that seemed to be part of the course in Gamindustri, huh? When they reached the apex of their jump, however, each shadow… erupted into orangish red flames that rained down upon them.

"Whoa!"

"Nepu!"

Both girls made loud exclamations as they leapt backwards, avoiding the fiery shadows as they crashed into the spaces where the girls had once stood. IF managed to land in a crouch position, digging her right fist into the earth to shalt her momentum till she lost all of it. That resulted in a 12-meter-wide fissure drawn into the earth by her fist, while Neptune… she just flipped back repeatedly, flipped into the air, rolled into a backward spinning ball before landing on her own two feet.

When their landings were complete, both girls looked up to see what it was that had almost attacked them… and instantly, they felt their skin crawl like dozens of bugs were running up and down their bodies. Standing before them, were a group of masculine figures, though they could only tell they were masculine thanks to their big, bulky crimson armour. This Armour seemed fairly consistent, with slim leg armour with fractions where the joints were, leading to this mechanical waist-like armour piece that was connected to bulky torso armour, and eve bulkier shoulder pads that hid slimmer arm armour. On their backs were these strange rectangular packages, while their heads were concealed by tall, rectangular helmets with two black sockets, these 2 large, curved horn-like pieces rising from the top of these helmets. These Helmets also had vents where the mouth should be, complimenting their slightly intimidating appearance. This intimidation factor got aided by the many chains wrapping around their bodies, like every movement was at risk of hurting them while their armour suits were adorned with skull-like engravings. Each of tem had a series of large Axes, each of them armed with a set of teeth that were constantly rotating across the Axes' Edges.

'Oh… Shit…' IF cursed in her mind, gripping her armoured fists as she tried to not show just how much dread was coursing through her right now. Nico had told her once while they slept in the same bed together, about these guys that he had encountered with MAGES. and Tekken back at the Hellverse Dungeon. He'd told her that these beings held skill in combat unmatched by any Gamindustrimen, woman or child. He'd told her how if it weren't for Harvester, the fact that he had allies at the time, then Nico may have still won the fight, but he would not have been able to continue fighting for quite a while as he would have been on the verge of death afterwards.

She hadn't believed him when he said that, as she hadn't been there herself to see what went down. During her fights against the residents of the Hellverse Dungeon, IF had not once seen what Nico had described, so she didn't put too much faith in it. Though, Nico was not one to tell a lie and with the way he spoke of it, she did believe in taking caution, so she would not take them lightly if she ever met one in person. IF couldn't believe the foolishness that clouded her mind back then, cause right now these guys gave her so many chills it made Lowee's climate feel almost warm in comparison. The way each of them looked at her and Nep through those helmets, with sockets that looked like they could be set alight at any moment like she were staring into the burning pits of hell itself. The way their Armour seemed to almost scream in delight and joy at all the bloody red adorning their forms like proud trophies, as well as the way their weapons gleamed ever so menacingly in the sunlight…

Yeah, these guys DEFINITELY looked like bad news.

"Um, Iffy…?" Slowly, and without taking her eyes off these new foes, IF glanced over to Neptune, seeing how her armoured self-appeared to have similar thoughts to her, but with a lot less knowledge on what the fuck these guys were. Honestly, IF had momentarily forgot that she even had a companion for a moment there that's just how freaked out she had been when she saw the twisted, demonic-looking armoured figures for the first time in their demonic glory. Still though, this didn't detract from her observations, ad boy did she notice some things about Neptune right now. The way she held her Murasama, the way it shook in her grasp showed her just how unnerved the preteen felt, even as she tried to hide it in a fake curious tone of voice. "Do you know these guys or something? Cause they don't seem very happy to see us."

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! DEATH TO THE ENEMY, LEAVE WIDOWS UN-NUMBERED, ORPHANS BEYOND COUNT!"

"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

A mighty war cry echoed from what appeared to be the leader. The girls could tell with how this leader raised his Axe, which seemed to vibrate heavily with molten flames along it's edge like the rage that he bellowed with seemed to manifest into the physical world. His roar sounded like a mix between man and demon, his helmet's sockets engulfing themselves in pure orange flames like the gates of hell were opening to suck in their souls for eternal torment. This war cry only served to incite the other men in red to scream out in delight, twisted savagery in their outcries as they each drew their weapons against the girls. All of them wielded a variety of Axe-like weapons, their rotating teeth ripping through the air like how predators would when feeding on their prey.

"Nepu!"

"Get ready, Nep! We've got ourselves some nasty-looking customers right here!"

Those were the few words exchanged between the girls as they got ready to receive a fight that they would NEVER be forgetting for as long as they lived.

* * *

"It appears that it has finally begun…"

Standing atop a hilltop, Arfoire herself, clad in her usual witch's outfit with her Glaive held like a walking stick beside her, commented to herself after she opened her eyes, having closed them to expand her senses. She had sensed an abundance of demonic energy appear throughout Leanbox, like cracks in a damn allowing water to slowly spill out onto the surface. She knew of course what made that energy, after all she knew the being that was responsible for this.

Said being actually stood right behind her, cloaked in darkness to remain invisible to the naked eye, as if it were a blight on the land's otherwise pure nature. Said being also soon spoke, though it's voice made it difficult to tell what gender it was. Just like when it was nothing but a formless mass. Yet, it didn't fail to send shivers of anxiety down the woman's spine. It WAS after all, one of the few beings in this world she would never even DREAM of crossing.

Other beings of this level would soon be arriving to Gamindustri, as well… returning to what was once theirs.

 ** _"YEESSSSSSSSSS, the dawn of WAR… will SOON be upon US… This FAKE world… will KNOW the TRUE meaning of WAR once more… a WAR… which those FLEDGLINGS will never even DARE to IMAGINEEEEEEEE…"_**

The way this being spoke for the time being never ceased to make Arfoire tremble. Even if she acted like a haughty bitch at times… okay, maybe all the time, but still there were beings out there that even she feared, and she had went and unsealed one of the worst ones of all of them. If people thought the DPUs were powerful NOW, the being she found herself sharing companionship with would be their worst nightmare. But, this was necessary, for Gamindustri to return to what it truly should be. This world' this fake world' as the being called it… where the Goddesses are too lazy, ignorant, arrogant and too weak to rule their nations right, will collapse in a sea of carnage, rot, change and sin.

For now, all she had to do was watch the show….and probably seek out some old relics.


	104. Chapter 101 - Dragons-huh?

**Chapter 101 - Dragons-huh?**

Riding downwards on low fuel would be a catastrophic idea. Not only would the male no doubtedly lose what remains of the fuel since he was so high up in the air, but he could also wind up destroying the Skimmer if he lands into something hard and sturdy like a mountain. While the Skimmer was indeed a Prototype, Nico didn't want to have to fork over Credits that he could be using for more important matters for damage payments to the WDD. Not to mention he kind of had a bit of a bond with this Skimmer, and he'd only bee driving this bad boy recently. Though, in battle, bonding with one's weapon was always a common occurrence.

It was the thing that kept you alive on the battlefield, after all.

Nevertheless, Nico had to get down there, so he could investigate that Abnormal. He had suspicions in his mind, and he wanted to confirm them before he could even think. Hell, that Abnormal didn't even seem like your average Abnormal, and those words he couldn't believe he'd used in the same sentence. For one, those… unusual visuals that he saw just before it fell beneath the clouds, they more than drew his attention. They weren't the kind of visuals that a Dragon-based Abnormal should have and even then, machine-type Abnormals didn't really react that way either. Thus, Nico had cut the engine, so he could glide downward without a sound towards where the beast fell: under the Clouds of Skies end.

Thing is, part of him felt a little anxious about this, going under those clouds, and for good reason. For you see, there's a reason why they call this place 'Skies End', there have been various attempts to explore beyond this place, to find out what else is out there. Not just by Leanbox, but by Lastation, Lowee AND Planeptune as well. Each of them have sent various fleets of their air forces out on scouting missions so they could fill in the blank edges of the world maps. After all, thanks to the Monsters people didn't know how big Gamindustri truly was. The desire for knowledge, possibly a safe haven for those who don't want to live under the constant threat of one day facing down the snarling visage of an Abnormal as they devour their victims alive was also a strong motivation.

However, every fleet that they send out never seemed to return, and shortly before they vanish forever they would report that nothing would be wrong. They would then fall off thee grid and never return from their adventures ever again. With the way that Abnormals and other monsters kept nipping at their heels, the 4 Nations all agreed not to send out any more fleets and refocused their efforts on the truly important notion of staying alive a little while longer.

Yeah, things were that bad… and with the whole demon thing, it would likely get worse.

Thus, Nico would be the first one to ever see what lies beyond these edges of the map and possibly return to tell the tale. It was a rather… complex thought process, and one that he tried not to pay too much attention to while he glided down the clouds like a silent wrath, heading to where he saw the thing fall towards. Hopefully, Nico could get some answers to these questions, perhaps he could learn wat had happened to those fleets in the past, or at least confirm the Abnormal's death. If it had been the one responsible for their disappearance, and odds were that was the case, then he'd report it to his superiors back at the Spec Ops community.

Flying under the clouds, Nico kept his eyes open and used demonic energy to shield himself from the water droplets within them. That is, until he emerged from the clouds to see what lay beneath them at long last. The moment that he did however, Nico's jaw fell open into an 'O' shape while his eyes almost refused to take in what they were seeing. 'Holy… shit…'

If the male had any thoughts about whatever he would find down here, then this sight just blew his mind out of the gutter while erasing every one of those thoughts from existence. Down below those clouds, Nico found himself looking at an Island, a floating island a lot like that of the four nations. This Floating Island was surrounded though by a series of wicked looking mountain ranges and peaks, each of them looking more like spikes than actual tips. The island itself had various Chain links to various smaller islands, while the main one had the largest mountain peak that he had ever seen. The male could see various caves, platforms and paths through this mountain range that were all linked to one big platform, which was where a small and thin smoke trail rose from, so fining the dragon Abnormal and landing wouldn't be an issue. If there was a smoke trail though, that either meant that the Abnormal was still alive or that…

Even with this, one thing had been made clear about this: One could say that this Island was a rather intimidating sight… as well as an important discovery nonetheless.

'This is… amazing…. A whole new island, down beneath the clouds at Sky's End…!' He couldn't help but think to himself as his Skimmer continued gliding towards it. 'This place… I bet I'm the first to discover this place… nobody else reported anything like this before they went dark, but I won't hold my breath… Still though…' Nico's eyes narrowed as he frowned, pursing his lips as his mind pushed through the awe and began contemplating the situation in it's entirety.

Nobody knew about this Island, not one of the Four Nations. It was on the blank edges of the map, beneath a place that was full of rumours of hostile Abnormals (which apparently seemed to be true considering that one draconian Abnormal). All those rumours, whether they were true or not, were enough of an incentive to keep people from exploring this place themselves, leaving this island undiscovered for goddess knows how long. This place was pretty much an undiscovered paradise, a place far away from the reaches of mankind. Who knows what secrets could be discovered here, secrets that could be potentially dangerous in the wrong hands. There WERE after all, those kinds of people out there, te Nobility were some of the few who first came to mind.

Not to mention the possibility of unknown Abnormals in the area, Abnormals that had not been seen or documented before. That meant they had unknown capabilities and weaknesses, hell there could be a mix of them to make fighting them even more difficult. He'd have to set his Bracers to Scan the Island for data and a Holomap for the layout of the land. Like in the Monster Cave, getting data from an unknown Dungeon was as important as taking out Abnormals. For both the scouting Agents and those that were sent to take it's inhabitants down.

Reaching out with his demonic senses, Nico tried to feel out any possible life signs on the island, to see if there was any indigenous population that he would have to be wary of. A new island like this had to have at least animals or something, and those Chain links looked to be manmade too, so there was that possibility. His enhanced sense of smell, sight etc would probably not work, so his other side would be useless here. He would also have to check to see if there were any negative emotions, too, cause if the population proved hostile he would need to defend himself. Good thing Nico had a full arsenal for that possible scenario, his Devil Arms would have to suffice.

'I sense… life signs down there…' the teen thought to himself, brows furrowing above his closed eyes as he focused harder. His sensing stuff wasn't as easy as it looked, plus there was his lack of experience sensing negative emotions. So far, he could sense dread, worry, anxiety, among other emotions coming from where the smoke trail originated. That could only mean that the Abnormal was still alive, probably wounded but still alive nonetheless. Judging by the potency of these emotions, Nico theorized that his attack must have damaged it significantly, a point that filled Alastor with pride judging from what he felt from their link.

Though, the teen hoped that using so much of it's power wouldn't backfire on him. That was the first time, and probably not the last either, that he drew on a Devil Arm's power to such a degree. There was still so much that he didn't know or understand about these weapons, Nico would be a fool if he had thought otherwise. Drawing on so much of it's power could have some…. Drastic consequences that he was not even aware of. Sometimes, he wished those Fragmented Memories, the source of Biko's knowledge, had all the information on hand already, so things like this wouldn't have happened. 'Even so… I sense multiple presences down there, so I should probably be on guard…'

With Alastor strapped to his back, Ebony and Ivory over his thighs, Nico felt fully equipped to deal with any threats heading his way, despite his previous concerns, as he descended towards the smoke trail where his foe had landed.

* * *

Approaching the Platform at long last, Nico slightly adjusted his grip on the Skimmers' handles as he prepped for a landing. His brows slightly began to sweat while the grip on the handles tightened, his heart thundering within his chest. All of this though, had nothing on the anxiety throbbing through him right now, though. This would likely not be easy, considering this was his first-time landing with one of these. Still, he had to do so, see how the landing equipment worked… hopefully Alastor's Lightning hadn't fried said equipment, THAT would be a major problem and he'd be forced to improvise… which wasn't really a good idea right now.

As the Platform went under him, Nico pulled upwards slightly before engaging the mechanics to switch back to Bike Mode. He did so by pulling back the left handle then thrusting it back down, as that was how it worked according to the specs. In the next instant, Nico saw the fruits of his labour as the Skimmer began the transformation. Mechanical whirring sounds filled his ears, making a small smile form on his lips as its wings retracted the extra plates before folding inwards, the wheels jutting out into their positions prior to switching to Flight Mode.

In the next instant, the teen and his Skimmer dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, bouncing slightly upon impact. Nico barely managed to keep himself from falling out of the cockpit, there was no seat belts on this thing which could be seen as a safety issue, but really, who has time for safety when in high speed dogfights?

None? Didn't think so.

While his Skimmer drove on fuel less, Nico swiftly began sliding it to get rid of it's leftover motion, screeching sounds coming from the tyres as he did so until h finally came to a stop 4 minutes later. He would have fallen over had Nico not remembered to kick out the stand and lean on that side, allowing the Skimmer to have it's own support. Once that was done, the teen gave a sigh of relief, more than a few times he had feared he'd screwed up somewhere and panicked, but fortunately that had not been the case. 'Whew, who knew that landing a transforming Motorcycle would be so nerve-wracking…?' the teen wondered to himself, before dismounting his Skimmer.

Once his legs hit the ground, Nico quickly noticed something off about them: how they were trembling like they were struggling to support his weight. He would have fallen over, had he not used Alastor for support by using it like a cane at the last second. The teen winced, feeling more than a little numbness in his legs while they trembled like crazy. 'Note to self, if I get a chance to keep this Skimmer, make sure to train in its use so I don't get numb-legged every time I ride it…' he thought to himself, wincing.

Fortunately for him, demonic power surged through his legs as well as the strength of his other side, repairing his legs and ridding them of the numbness. It took a short moment, but he soon regained the ability to walk again, in which Nico promptly took Alastor out the ground and strapped it to his back again. No doubt that it didn't take too kindly to be being used as a cane if the feelings of annoyance and indignation he got from their link were any indication.

He'd probably feel the same, honestly.

Once he had feeling in his legs again and had strapped his Devil Arm back to it's proper place, Nico looked himself over and patted his Trench Coat, dusting off the imaginary dust. He then placed his hands in his Trench Coat's pockets, twisting on his boots, which made his Trench Coat do a twisting flap of sorts before he began making his way towards the downed Abnormal… which conveniently was located at the back of the platform he had ironically landed on.

Heh, small world, huh?

As he got close to it, Nico began taking stock of what damage had been done to the Abnormal, though while walking he began to wonder if it truly was one. After all, it had not vanished from the world as particles like the rest of them did. Even if they were Abnormal, all of them still had that kind of response to death, like any other Gamindustri monster. If this one didn't… 'Whooo boy, the guys back at the WDD will be having a field day with this one…' the teen couldn't help but think to himself as he whistled, taking in the damage done to the recently taken down enemy.

The Abnormal lay on it's front, its body curving inwards like an arch as it lay at the base of the mountain peak. Its head lay open, with it's wings spread out both over the wall and across the ground at od angles. However, that last attack he had done well and truly wrecked it's shit, the male mused as he saw all the holes and explosion marks that had adorned it's form. Some looked bigger than others, some even had extra scorch marks which were mostly seen around the joints now that he thought about it. There were several rising trails of smoke to indicate where the heat from the Lightning had originated. Hell, Nico could still see residue Lightning sparks over it's form, brought about from how much power he had put into that attack.

Normally that kind of power would have turned one's insides to mush… at best. At worst, complete obliteration.

The fact that this thing was still around in a solid form meant that it's Lightning insulation materials must have been a commendable influence on it's design. Maybe he could…

'Wait, I sense life signs within this thing…' he thought, eyes widening as he stopped walking mid stride. He took out his hands and placed them on his Ebony and Ivory, eyes narrowing into slits while his demonic energy flared as an aura around him. If this Abnormal was still alive from that he would deal with it with all the power he had available, to stop it from causing any more damage consequences be damned.

As he tried to focus, Nico noticed that the life signs not only radiated the bulk of the negative emotions he'd sensed, but also were moving… down the Abnormal? His eyes narrowed towards the Abnormal's head, and the moment he did so Nico finally found the proof that he needed when he looked at it's nostrils and sockets. 'These are… Helium Turbines and Vacuum housings? I can see the barrels of flamethrowers inside the maw now that I'm not being burned alive… so this thing is no Abnormal… it's a freaking SHIP!'

Now THAT startled the male to the point of lowering his power output, his aura now a thin layer over his skin yet still carrying a resemblance of guard. His mind trembled at the revelation of what he had just learned, that the Abnormal he was fighting was actually a Ship of all things. Why the fucking hell didn't he notice earlier? When he fought it before, Nico had noticed that it's movements seemed oddly mechanical, better yet they seemed oddly manmade too. Hell, near the end before the dragon fell, there was those explosive sounds that rocketed the entirety of the creature's body, while it also froze up like a suddenly broken machine! Well, he did have his assumptions about this, so he didn't feel as shocked as he should have been, but now the question was…

Who the hell made this thing and piloted it? And, for what purpose?

Those questions would probably be answered soon enough, since the bellybutton part of the draconic 'ship' seemed to emit various mechanical shifting sounds. This lasted for like, 2 seconds, before it opened up like a manhole cover, sliding diagonally upwards in a curving motion. The moment it did, Nico drew Ebony and Ivory, his demonic power flaring in preparation for a battle. He could feel his inner beast, as well as the other Devil Arms and Soul Edge, readying themselves too, all their eyes on this possible new opponent.

Finally, out came the source of this little incident… and this source did not look very happy.

The source escaped through the apparent entrance shaped like a belly button, stumbling onto the ground and landing on all fours. Nico, instinctively, wasted no time as he began charging towards the person before he could do anything else, but soon enough he was stopped mid-way by a loud roar, one that thundered through the air like a dozen volcanos erupting.

That was when he got a startling call from his one true ally: his instincts. His instincts thundered through him like a dozen trigger events going haywire, forcing Nico's reflexes to react in a massive way. The teen almost didn't know wat his body did, but one second, he was standing and the next he was jumping backwards while taking Rebellion out from his Void Storage.

What was the reason?

His answer came back to him when Nico looked up with a sharp gasp escaping his lips. Perched atop a tall spike, was a lone, large and animalistic figure. There was sunlight peaking through the clouds, and some of it obstructed the figure in darkness, but that may not have been necessary to mention in light of the fact that it was already leaping towards him with what looked like claws bared.

Quickly, Nico reacted by charging Rebellion with demonic power. Crimson red energy pooled itself over the blade, equally red energy crackling along it not unlike Alastor's lightning. Rearing the blade back, Nico set about swinging just as the claws were swung to decapitate him. To his surprise, just before his blade could meet it's hide, the beast suddenly flared two large wings and backed away, causing a gust of wind to send the male sliding backwards. He jammed Rebellion into the ground to stop his motions, and when he looked up the male saw that the creature was already onto him.

"STOP!"

Just before they could continue, a loud, masculine voice interrupted them. Nico's eyes widened then narrowed into slits, while the figure stopped charging at him. Now that the sunlight was not obstructing his view anymore, as it had been blocked out by the mountain, Nico saw that it was a draconian Abnormal, about as large as his Skimmer. Interestingly enough, it looked to be a mix of a dragon ad a lion, with a large crimson mane crimson demonic red eyes, two large horns protruding from it's head which was elongated into a lion's snout. The body was an all-fours animal, with 4 limbs, and two large crimson wings with sharp talons for thumbs. Out the base of it's tailbone, a lone red Tail with a fluffy tip. It's limbs were ended with similar talons to the ones in it's wings. Over all it's body, were crimson scales.

He recognised this Abnormal, it was one of the rarer types that cropped up every now and then: The Emperor of Embers, the Teostra. Those were brutal Abnormals that hung around large and hot climates, like deep within caves where there was Lava or deserted areas. Those places existed primarily within Leanbox or Planeptune, so they were a real menace. Especially if they were aggressive in moods of which entire towns and Militia regiments would be blown to smithereens via explosive embers.

If one was here…

Then, what was this place? An Abnormal like this one wouldn't stay here, it was just not like it's normal habitats.

Shifting his gaze from the Teostra, Nico noticed that the cause of the shout had walked up to the Teostra's side. He would have commented on how that was a bad idea, however when he noticed that the man seemed unaffected by the Teostra, more surprisingly the latter looked just fine with him (he'd even go as far as to say fond) Nico wisely kept his mouth shut on the matter.

Instead, the male decided to see what this man looked like. He was a muscular man, probably in his mid to late fourties. He had lines on his face that showcased his age, yet there was a youthfulness to his demeanour hidden beneath a layer of fatigue, a fatigue that only those who have experienced as much life as this man had would understand. Just by looking at him, Nico could tell this guy had seen a lot of shit, enough for him to consider living outside of the Nations where it would arguably be more peaceful and serene.

The man had dark, short hair that was tucked within a conical hat made from straw. His eyes were dull and grey, weary with age and yet rich with experience. The man had a moustache shaped oddly like a house with a roof, with a matching black beard, giving him a rugged, caveman-like appearance. His form looked to be built like one of those wrestlers one would see on TV, while he wore a green muscle shirt with shoulder and forearm armour adorning his arms, his hands being covered by fingerless gloves like what Nico used to wear. Around his waist was a brown belt, while he wore darker green leather pants tucked into brown boots.

"You…" the man began, scowling as he placed a hand on the Teostra's right shoulder. Nico eyed the hand warily, wondering what the heck was going on with this situation before him right now. From what he knew, Teostra Abnormals had the ability to emit a powerful aura of heat from their bodies that made getting near them a difficult task. "All of my hard work has been wasted because of you. Years, YEARS of work now completely down the drain! Because of you…" the man's tone, loud and furious, gradually turned into a low and ominous whisper like what one would use when telling a horror story. "You've doomed them all…"

'This man… he wreaks of deception, hatred, anxiety and many other negative emotions. Not only that, but according to… those senses, I can detect that these two have been together for a prolonged time frame. They have each other's scent on them, not to mention their reactions to each other.'

'I know, Biko. These guys seem to be using each other for support right now, or rather the man's trying to appear calm while seeking support from the Teostra…' Nico responded back to his Demon Persona. It was a rather… peculiar scene he saw in front of him right now, and he honestly didn't know what to make of it. This was the first time he'd seen something like this, a member of humanity and an Abnormal NOT trying to kill each other. Seriously, he didn't know what to make of this, in fact if this were any other situation then Nico would probably be freaking out right about now.

"Well, in my defence it's your own fault for attacking me." Nico responded coolly, keeping his stance guarded while he spoke. He'd deploy his Armour soon enough, but for now it would be best not to make any sudden moves otherwise things could go awry insanely quickly. True he could probably crush that Teostra, but right now his priority was extracting as much information as possible from this man. Like why he had built a ship shaped like a dragon (something that seemed super freaking impractical in his eyes) and how the hell he had apparently tamed a freaking TEOSTRA of all things. "I was only here to fight an enemy Abnormal causing trouble here and test out a couple weapons, you had no need to attack me like you did."

The man scoffed at that, rolling his eyes at him. "Yeah, that's what they all say, but you just wanted to take what's on this island for yourself, like all the others." He sneered, drawing a hidden knife from within his pants in a cleverly hidden position. The Teostra growled, as if sensing an incoming battle in which Nico prepared to deploy his Armour to respond. Maybe after smacking them about for a bit, he could learn something. So far, these two seemed determined to kill him, throwing negotiation out of the window.

Instantly, his battle instincts flew through the roof as Nico began analysing his opponents. That man had the build of a wrestler, so either he would be using large weapons like rifles or twohanded weapons. He seemed to have great physical strength considering he piloted that Dragon ship, and he probably has the experience plus the training to back that up. His hands look like they've seen intense combat for a while, while his posture indicates he is skilled in knife combat. Any other weapon training was an unknown to him at this point.

As strong as that many may be though, he's probably nothing compared to the Teostra. That draconian Abnormal had the power to emit a fiery aura to repel it's foes, keeping them from attacking it with close range weapons, which limited him to his Ebony and Ivory unless he switched over to Harvester, Absolution or his other Devil Arms. According to hat he was feeling, Alastor was still feeding on his reserves, so he'd rather wait till it had quenched it's thirst from their recent battle before drawing it again. Problem is, Nico doubted the Teostra would let him get near his Bracer without pouncing on him and ripping him to shreds. Perhaps he could take out his Armour first, momentarily distract them from that to pull out his other Devil Arms.

Just before they could attack though, the man's eyes fell upon the boy's body… or rather, that of the stance that he was adopting. Nico got the feeling that, liken he just did, the man was analysing his fighting styles based of what he was seeing while keeping note of possible hidden weapons. His eyes faintly glimmered with something though, surprise? Recognition? Nico wasn't sure, but whatever it was it vanished as soon as it had come. Though, it had left it's mark in his aggression pausing for the time being.

"Boy, what is your connection to Helena Dawson?"

…

…

…

The FUCK?!

When the man asked him that, it threw Nico for a loop, his eyes widening slightly in shock and surprise at that question. How the hell did he know his mom's name?! Does she know about this guy?! Was she getting stalkers again?! Did he have to crack down on some persistent assholes again like he did so a few times in the past when they repeatedly tried to hit on his mother despite her marital status?! He abruptly lowered his guard for a brief millisecond from this, but quickly put it back up again. If the man had his attention before, it was practically glued onto him at this new information. The battle could wait, this was much more important. This was his adoptive mother, damnit! "How do you know that name?"

After hearing that defensive reply, the man's eyes glimmered some more, and this time there seemed to be realisation and confirmation in them, though of what then teen didn't know. "She's a friend of mine from back in my gory days. She and I go way back, I asked her for some help recently in a problem I have, and she said she'd do what she could." He replied evenly, lowering his guard slightly. As if sensing his intent, the Teostra slowly lowered it's guard while still growling at him.

So, this man WASN'T a Stalker then? Whelp, that's a relief, he'd rather not pull out some rusty katana and threaten to castrate him slowly and painfully, then. He'd done that with a few persistent assholes who would try to hit on his adoptive mother to gain favour from her and rise up the Spec Ops ranks. Of course, they told the higher ups about it, but they didn't do anything cause, like with his solving of human cases, they want him to be as vicious, as monstrous, as possible. "She's… my adopted mother, and my mentor. She's the one who sent me here to test some weapons against this unknown Abnormal." He eventually replied, after a moment of deliberating what he would have to say.

"Ah, I see… that makes sense, what I asked her for help for couldn't have been stated normally, no matter how secure the channels may be." The man responded, heaving a sigh of relief as he sheathed his hidden knife. Honestly, the gesture reminded of someone Nico knew, a familiar Lastation General… "It seems you're the help she was hinting at, which makes sense considering your gear. Your obviously not an amateur as I saw her fighting skills in you. I do apologise for attacking you first, but believe me, I have good reasons for my actions." Turning on his heels, the man began walking to the right of the destroyed ship, heading to what looked like the entrance to a cave only accessible via a small hill. "Follow me, I need to show you something. Oh, by the way, you may know me if your mentor was VALKYRIE, the name's Rinjiin, the last of the Dragonators."

'Dragonators… where have I heard that name before… oh yeah, mom told me about them once, and even taught me how to fight dragon Abnormals based from their previous battles…!'

Nico's eyes widened in shock and surprise, realisation dawning on him the moment he heard that name. Yes, he indeed DID know that name, the Dragonators were a group of Spec Ops Agents just like Team RAIL. This group were housed within Leanbox, and specialised in fighting dragon-based Abnormals as there are a lot of such monsters both in the air, and the ground. These Abnormals could be considered wyverns, brute wyverns, dragons, and anything like those. He remembered them to be from his mother's generation…

But… one day about 20 years ago, they went on one of their standard missions, just a patrol route nothing too special… only none of them returned. There were theories, many of the Nobles claiming that they were traitors to humanity who deserted them, while others thought they were lost and were waiting to be rescued. Nobody entertained the thought that they were dead or anything like that, stupidly enough.

Slowly, Nico returned his weapons to the Void Storage, making sure to follow behind bot Rinjiin and the Teostra. He could sense it's desire to kill him, but it seems to have been nullified by the man for the time being. Not only that, but he could sense distrust within it, distrust, caution and alertness. Looked like it would be wise to keep an eye on it in case it tried to attack him again. 'If it does, then I'll unleash Soul Edge on it and have the sword devour it's soul…' he thought to himself, narrowing his eyes at it.

Yet, even so… the way it and this guy at around each other… that could not go unnoticed.

That was what he thought while following Rinjiin to the Cave.

Walking up to the Cave, Rinjiin stopped when he was right beside it, the Teostra plumping itself onto it's side next to him. The two then looked towards Nico, whom had his hands in his Trench Coat's pockets. "Judging from your expressions, I can tell you thought my vessel a bit odd, and for that I don't blame you. Nevertheless, it had a purpose. I piloted that vessel to ward off any ships that came to close to my home. Well, our home." He explained, gesturing to him and the Teostra.

"Does that include those Exploration ships that were sent here?" Nico questioned, raising a brow, He hadn't detected any human life signs save for Rinjiin, so it would only be natural to assume that he had done something to those ships, since they never returned to inform the higher ups of what they found. They were never seen again.

Rinjiin scoffed again, rolling back his shoulders. "I merely frightened them away from here, they would have returned to their countries if other Abnormals throughout Skies end didn't rip into them afterwards. This section of Gamindustri is populated with various Abnormal types, not just Wyverns and dragons. They don't come near me because of my vessel… and my friend here." He explained, gently patting the Teostra's head. The larger Abnormal grunted, yet also purred like a cat as it rubbed it's head on his hand, much to Nico' surprise. This DEFINITELY wasn't typical Teostra behaviour, nope. Not one bit. Abnormals tried killing every human they sought, not befriend them like this! What the hell was going on here?! "They were unprepared and unawares every time, its honestly a surprise that they haven't send more lambs to the slaughter. I guess things back on the mainland's are bad enough that they finally pulled their sticks out of their asses."

The coldness of the man's response, the way he so callously dismissed the loss of so many human lives the way he did, didn't sit well with the teen. Something like this could only have come from some great incident that changed his views on humanity. Of that he was certain, as when he spoke Nico could sense the negative emotions buried beneath: pain, sadness and loneliness. Thinking back on what he had heard from the Dragonators, he could only come to one conclusion, and it honestly wouldn't surprise him if it were true. "Lemme guess: someone set you up with false data, and sent your men tot heir doom?" he asked the man.

Sadly enough, it wasn't uncommon for the Nobles to enact some scheme to get rid of the more promising Agents in Leanbox's service. If they got too famous, then there was a bigger chance that they would be manipulated into biting off more than they could chew then get ripped apart by Abnormals too great for them to handle. What, did you think that people who rebelled against Leanbox society

"Your instincts are sharp, for a boy." Rinjiin nodded, his eyes flashing with unbridled fury as he clenched his fists. "Enough of that, the important thing is because of how superstitious people are, and the current environment I live in, this was the best way I could keep my little ones safe." He told him, before turning to the Cave and making a loud horn-like sound from his mouth. "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNK!"

In the second after, Nico's Bracers activated the motion tracker, dozens of red dots coming towards him at 12 o'clock at speeds that rivalled fast moving cars. Nico quickly looked down and saw this., his eyes widening by a small margin while he looked back to the cave, instincts dominating thought as he took a defensive stance. That was all he had time to do though, as from the cave dozens upon DOZENS of creatures poured out. All of them hissed, screeched and cawed like ravens, moving through the air by two wing-like arms while sporting two legs, single tails, slim aerodynamic bodies and heads. They each had their own sets of colour schemes, some red, others blue, etc. There were simply too many for him to properly identify. In other words…

Wyvern-type dragons.

'What…?!' Nico could only think as he saw the dragons fly out of the cave and into the skies above. It was all he could do to not pull out ebony and Ivory and fill the skies with an unlimited amount of demonic power bullets. Yeah, that's Ivory and Ebony's power, well, one of them at least, he wasn't sure if the demonic powers he'd been absorbing had changed them in some way or had made them decide to showcase their full powers or not. One can't be too careful when dealing with sentient weapons like this.

Nico had been so caught up n his own thoughts that he didn't notice the smirk on the man's lips, nor the slight grunt from the Teostra as if it was amused at the way he was acting right now.

'Nico, pull yourself together!'

Thankfully for the male, he had a Demon Persona to kick him back into high gear, figuratively. Biko's shout through his mind quickly made Nico snap out of his surprise-induced stupor, enough for him to start to think again without looking like a complete idiot. 'Th-Thanks, Biko… shit, what the hell is going on here? Are these really Wyverns…?!' he shrieked inside his head.

'Not just wyverns, but wyvern hatchlings, too. This is… quite the surprise, I must say. These creatures do not carry any negative emotions right now, which is why we could not sense them before. They were also likely sleeping or resting, since the Motion Tracker didn't see them either.'

'Yeah, and they began becoming active when Rinjiin called for them like he did… In addition, since these are just hatchlings, then they pose little threat to their surroundings and the environment of Sky's End. In a sense, they're only kids, and kids who don't know any better yet cause they haven't learned anything. I've seen it before on some of the faces of my clients who have families of their own. It's only when they become adults that they become a problem…'

Breaking from his thoughts, Nico looked over to Rinjiin, who had a soft, fatherly smile on his lips as he stared at the hatchlings. For a brief moment, Nico's eyes softened as he felt himself remembering the smile his mentor had when they weren't training and simply allowing themselves to be mother and son. Goddess knows that was something she desired immensely, since she couldn't have a child of her own. Even if he found out what happened to his birth parents, Nico would always consider himself to be Helen's son, since she had done her best to raise him as her own when his parents couldn't. Couldn't, didn't, whatever.

Seriously, he needs to call her to let her know he was okay, all these setbacks were starting to annoy him now.

The sounds of shrieking made him look up, and he saw one of the Wyverns dive-bombing right towards him at high speeds. The teen gasped, quickly making to pull out at least one of his twin pistols, making himself ready for a possible fight out of reflex…

When the Dragon just stopped before him and began licking his face, like a dog.

…

Not something he was used to, but okay.

* * *

Back in the mainland...

In the main city of MICROSOFT's red light district, there was a tavern, a tavern filled to the brim with all manner of people from different job occupations. Soldiers, shady doctors, mercenaries, etc. The tavern itself was an old, crooked and wicked-looking one with the grand title of 'captains daughter' (with the image of a noble-looking lady running away into the background, which was a sun setting in the distance, with a shaded masculine figure). One could imagine where they got the name from, but nonetheless it attracted customers like a moth to a flame.

Inside, there were dozens of different people either drinking or laughing in drunken stupors, decked out in cloaks, leather Armour etc. All sorts of shady, dark-looking people with hidden weapons and harsh-looking demeanor. Unsurprisingly, they were all male, some slim and lanky while others looked as buffed as Tanks. In the end, these weren't the type of people that outstanding citizens should hang with, nor were they those hooligans from that one D#s#e# movie about a girl with super longhair leaving her giant tower with a thief.

Hell, if any were to merely mention it, they would be riddled with holes in seconds, their bodies hidden where they would never be found.

But, out of all of these shady characters, one of them was the main focus of the story. This man sat at the end of a table, next to a window that showed the main streets of the red light district the Tavern was located on. The man looked to be totally decked out under his hidden cloak, with his body clad in dark brown leather armor with silver plating on the vital areas yet not hindering his mobility. He had two flintlock pistols strapped to his waist, as well as a set of knives around his thighs. Over his left breastplate, there was a sheath where a hilt was jutting out, which was likely either a knife or something else. His face was hidden behind the shadows of his cloak, so identifying that area would be impossible.

In front of him, was a tankard willed with mead, as well as a poster with the image of a large question mark on the front. Beneath that was the words in big, bold letters: 'WANTED: DRAGONATOR DESERTER: RINJIIN. BOUNTY: 300,000 CREDITS.

The man's expressions as he gazed down at the wanted poster were unknown, but one could tell they shouldn't bother him with anything lest they get a bullet through their noggin. He just radiated danger and malice like the cloak he wore, though another indication of this would be his closed fists that looked ready to pummel any idiot who dared break his tranquil silence.

Just then, the doors to the Tavern opened, and from there came this small looking Recon Drone, something of Planeptune make. Nobody really looked as they were either too drunk or stupid to care, as it floated over to the man with the poster. Due to it being a machine, it wouldn't have cared about the malice or intimidation that he was radiating.

As it floated before him, the man gave a slight inclination of his head, telling the machine that it had his attention, but that as it.

The Robot wordlessly complied with the silent order, due to the settings that it's master had put on it. The Drone activated it's projector and formed the screen in front of the man's gaze. The man's form tensed slightly at what he saw though, as he bore witnessed to the fight scenes between the main character of this story and the crimson dragon. Arguably, when he saw this dragon his malice seemed to increase tenfold.

Though, it settled down once he saw how the Dragon had been defeated by a lightning bolt from the kid's sword.

Wordlessly, the projection cut off as the man silently reached within his cloak. There was a sense of urgency in his movements, or rather a sense of excitement, of glee that had long since been hungered for. Whatever this man's beef was, it was with the dragon and seeing it get defeated seemed to light a fire within him.

Taking his hand out his cloak, the man showed a piece of paper and a quill, before he placed both down and began writing on the paper. The writing looked primitive, messy and wicked, yet still it could be read, which was all that the Recon Drone and the man, it's master, needed. Once he finished writing, the man showed it to the Drone:

"Take a crew and return with a report of what you find."

The Drone nodded, before leaving the Tavern to complete it's master's next task.


	105. Chapter 105 - Uh Oh

**Chapter 102 - Uh Oh**

"Wha-?!"

The male gaped, stuttering as he got a licking of a lifetime like that one Abnormal that had a pink round body and a tongue that was twice as long as it was. This licking lasted for a couple seconds until the hatchling nuzzled it's head against his cheeks. Ever the hardened combat veteran, the male tried to stop it, but the hatclhling didn't relent. Heck, his attempts just made the scene take on a rather... cute appearance, like a mother ruffling her young child's hair to the child's dismay.

Hell, he didn't even think of drawing any Devil Arms or other weapons/powers anymore, which was a good thing considering the stare that he got from the Teostra...

A loud laugh made it's way out of Rinjiin's lips as he watched the scene take place before him. Even the Teostra looked mildly amused at the sight as evident by the look in its eyes along with the slight burble it made. "Not to worry, young one. These dragons are completely harmless. They don't venture out of Sky's End and prefer to remain in their Nest, here. Even more importantly, however..." his eyes then took on a serious, darker look which his next sentence's tone matched perfectly, drawing Nico's attention. "They are now defenceless aside from old Teo here."

'Teo… That must be what he named the Teostra…' Nico thought to himself, frowning. Though, that frown soon got replaced with a slight upturning when he felt the hatchling rub itself against his cheek. Already been 4 seconds, and it had determined that he liked that better than the licking. Even for Hatchlings, this one seemed quite intelligent, and he honestly didn't mind it.

Gently placing his hand on it's head, Nico gave it a rub which the Hatching purred softly at. While he did that, the male gave a blank stare towards Rinjiin and… Teo, seriously it would take some getting used to for him to call this Abnormal by a name. You had no idea how hard it was for him to say that even in his monologuing. For someone who was used to killing and butchering Abnormals on a daily basis, Nico couldn't help but feel like he was in completely new and unknown territory right now.

Fondly petting an Abnormal.

Staying within talking distance of an Abnormal known for it's volcanic attitude.

All the while he could sense NOTHING negative to indicate their desire to attack from them.

This just felt weird to him, no, it felt WRONG on so many levels. He was taught from a young age, hell he'd even seen it himself, that the Abnormals kill humans, monsters, pretty much anything that moved these days. Humanity has had countless difficulties with them throughout their history, so how the hell was this possible? Why wasn't he just gunning these down like he did so many others? Nic felt SO out of place right now, that it wasn't even funny anymore.

He had to get some answers before he went mad with doubt, confusion and anxiety. They weren't good for his health after all.

Looking back towards Rinjiin, who was still with Teo rubbing the top of his mane while looking at him with the Hatching, Nico did his best to remain as calm as he possibly could, adopting his professional mask while asking him the question most apparent in his mind. "Would you mind explaining what is happening here?"

"What do you think?" Rinjiin responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I live here with these little ones. They see me as their father, and I see them as my little ones. As such, we're one big family, a family that I protect with my vessel while Teo acts like a last resort defence…" he explained, before he frowned as he looked to the destroyed ship. "Until you came along that is."

Glancing down to the Hatchling, Nico didn't understand why but at that moment something painful exploded within his gut. He almost couldn't believe what it was considering who he was feeling it towards, but indeed… he felt guilt just then. Guilt… for an Abnormal. 'No…' Looking down into the Hatchlings eyes, then watching as it flew back to joining its brethren, Nico quickly changed those thoughts. 'These aren't just the Abnormals I fight every day. This is more like a school/house mix, a place where children grow up and live, all the while learning how to live life. As much as this confuses me, I don't think it would be wise to treat this as any other Abnormal Nest…'

Granted this would take some getting used to, plus he doubted many places like this existed.

"But, aren't the Abnormals supposed to be your enemies? I mean, they've been hunting us since 500 years ago." Nico questioned, making a hand gesture with his right hand before pocketing it again. "It's just baffling to see someone actually co-existing with them like this." If this were really possible (even then, Nico felt like that was stretching it), that Abnormal monsters didn't have to attack humans, then could peace eventually be possible? Could Gamindustri stop treating these creatures as abnormalities and accept them into their lives? Abnormals were hunted much more aggressively than normal monsters after all, just look at the Spec Ops Programme it was designed with the SOLE purpose of fighting them.

Rinjiin nodded in understanding, knowing where the kid was coming from. "Yes…" he began, trailing off as his eyes gained a slightly glazed over look to them, though Nico could still tell he had the man's attention. "In any other circumstance I'd agree with you, however I learned long ago that sometimes the human species can be the worst of Abnormals, worse than the ones we face day by day."

… Well, Nico could see where he was coming from there, as the images of various Nobles hat he'd came across, plus the Basilicoms came to his mind. There were many among humanity whom deserved to die horrific deaths that Abnormals could bring but even so Abnormals were still creatures, animals. They were just doing what their instincts demanded of them. There were no tricks, no epic plans or schemes for power, it was simple kill or be killed rules. Yet, look at people, who do those things and more to their own kind. Nico could understand where the man was coming from, more than he'd ever care to admit. "Lemme guess… you're talking about the Dragonators disappearance… or rather, their probable execution by Abnormals?"

Looking back to him, Rinjiin looked surprised and a little baffled at Nico's words, prompting the Spec Ops to explain. "Its like you said, Abnormals may be bad guys, but there are times where humans are even worse than them. They just follow predatory instinct, and unfortunately for us that comes with a great hatred for humanity leading to an aggressive war against us that we fight daily. But even then, they just attack instinctively, while humans come up with elaborate schemes. Plus, the Spec Ops Programme isn't well liked by the Nobles, and with their fame it wouldn't be a surprise if the Dragonators WEREN'T set up somehow."

Once Nico finished his explanation, Rinjiin stared at him for what felt like an eternity, before shaking his head with a bemused smile on his lips. "It seems that you inherited much from Helena, young man. I almost saw an exact copy of her in you…" he remarked, making the teen's lips twitch upwards slightly before returning to their professional demeanour. "You'd be right, but this old man's sob story will have to wait, rebuilding this ship is the more important task at hand, and luckily I have spare materials for it."

'Yeah, that's right. I almost forgot, but that was me who destroyed that ship with Alastor. I destroyed one of the defences for this land. I've just made it more possible to discover this sanctuary for this man and his Abnormal family.' Nico thought, and the moment he did a bigger flash of guilt passed through him. This felt like he had destroyed the protector of an orphanage filled with young children, leaving them to the wolves that would tear them apart with no mercy.

Nico clenched his fists at that, no way would he let that stand. He may see how the world works, the strong live and the weak die. That was something he knew from the depths of his being, but still he had a sense of honor and justice installed into him by his childhood friend's grandfather. Then there was his mother, how could he face her again if he let these creatures, who have so far remained untainted and pure from this war with humanity, get axed off? Odds were, from his story that his mother knew about this sanctuary and had been helping him keep it on the down low all this time. As her son, it felt like his duty to help her do just that and he would damn himself to hell if he failed.

"I'll help, then." he stated, catching Rinjiin and Teo's attention. The Draconian Abnormal beside the man looked at him questioningly, as if trying to guess any secret motives behind his words. Well then, let's give it those answers, shall we? "I'll not leave until I've helped you with fixing your ship. This has been my mistake, and I'll be damned if I don't atone by helping you." Nico explained.

 **'I believe I can help with that, Nico.'**

'Wha? What do you mean?'

 **'Your powers have grown considerably since the Hellverse Dungeon, enough for you to use one of the more core abilities for a DPU. But first you may want to deal with our uninvited guests, first.'**

The moment Biko said that, Nico became aware of how there were several sources of negative emotions heading their way. No, it was more accurate to say that they were above the group of humans and Abnormals. Quickly looking up, the teen cursed when he saw a set of rotor-powered planes flying overhead. He didn't know who was piloting them, but Nico DID know they weren't the nice sort of people considering the malicious intent he could sense.

Quickly, he reacted by drawing Ebony from his thigh. The Teostra got up to growl, when Nico pointed the gun upwards towards the planes. Thing is, not only the Teostra but the Hatchlings noticed too, and their instincts told them that they were NOT like the nice people that they played with. Growls escaped their lips as they all began flying upwards, making a beeline for the planes.

Said pilots paled when they saw one big mass of teeth, claws and snarling grunts flying towards them like anti air missiles, and quickly hightailed it outta there so they could inform the boss on what they had found. Dozens of fireballs flew by them like a meteor shower, many of them missing their marks due to them being launched by hatching wyverns and them using evasive manoeuvres, but a few of them hit causing the Planes to spiral into the cloudy depths below. Whatever their fate would be, would end u0p as an unknown.

This fate claimed the planes and their pilots… except for one.

It escaped into the clouds and forced the Teostra to halt with the Hatchlings, their enemy gone for the time being, so they unanimously returned to the two humans.

While the Hatchlings resumed their playing and the Teostra landed beside Rinjiin, Nico scowled to himself as he let out a tch of frustration. "Shit looks like the Dragons have been found. Those guys were probably mercenaries or bandits, neither of which is good. Now there's probably going to be a swarm of them upon us soon enough." Nico snarled, furious. It looked like there would be little time to spare.

"Yes, we should focus on getting the ship back into operation, we'll talk strategy while we work."

"Right."

* * *

The lone plane pilot returned to the mainland, landing his plane with the other members of their little group located within a secret camp along the south eastern borders of the land of Green Pastures, before reporting what he saw to the Recon Drone. It was meant to be their messenger to the boss of their group who was still allowed within the main city while the rest of them were outlaws. That was how they got so many successful raids, they had their leader inside the main city feeding them information, information that they used to their advantage. They didn't care who their target was either, be it peasant or noble, it was all the same to them as well as their leader.

Nobody was any the wiser, either.

When the man gave the report to the Recon Drone, it made it's way back to MICROSOFT and went into the Red-Light District. It would have no trouble with any criminals, as it was well known to be the messenger of one of the… more notoriously well-known people within the district, and if it were destroyed his gear would let him know… what followed would NOT be a pretty one.

Entire families have disappeared when this man got angry.

In addition, many would probably just ignore it's presence as they would be either too into their own problems, embroiled in the sexually pleasing atmospheres of the houses of sin, or too freaking intoxicated to care. There were many in the Red-Light District whom were like that, after all. Many just came here to relieve stress by drinking or frolicking about with the female workers (whether it was in their job description or not). Even those who have… pre-marital status AKA were engaged in wedlock came here, without the missus knowing of course.

After a while, the Recon Drone returned to the Tavern where it had been earlier. It could detect th presence of it's master in there, and judging from the loud outcries coming from it the Tavern was no less lively than it had been before when it came here last. None of this registered to the machine though, it's orders were to bring the intel to the master and that was it… unless it was told to do something else, which if it was then it would do so without question.

Entering the Tavern, the Recon Drone made its way through the chaotic atmosphere, floating over to it's master's side. The cloaked man still sat at his table, still looking at the same bounty that he had been looking at before with the same tankard of mead. He almost looked like a corpse with the way he looked slouched over, if it weren't for the malice-fuelled aura emanating from him.

Once it reached him, the man finally made a move, his neck cracking like it hadn't been able to move for a long time. This movement finally allowed the lights from the Tavern to illuminate his face… or what was left of it, anyways. Half of it looked like a regular human: A man in his mid to late 40's similar in age to Rinjiin, the man he had been looking at the wanted poster of. His eyes and hair were greying, a sign of age and weariness yet with a fiery blaze still within them. The OTHER half? Pure machine. Greyish Plates made up the facial structure with a slight scope and a crimson magnifying lense for an eye that looked about while making mechanical whirring sounds. This robot half even extended to his lips, covering half of his mouth in metal which made his mouth harder to move.

Now his lack of speech previously made more sense, huh?

The Recon Drone projected a much smaller projection this time, this information would best be shared only with him and nobody else. It had not done this the last time when the dragon was slain because it was programmed not to. Instead, it's programming dictated that it project THAT scene with as much size as it could without distorting the frames. THIS information however, would be much more classified, classified due to it's contents the man noticed.

Looking at the feed that the plane rider received, the man saw Rinjiin, the man he had been searching for, for a long ass freaking time, finally. At long last. He looked much older than he remembered, but then again that would be expected. It has been a long time since they last met after all, 20 years to be exact. The man grimaced when he felt the itching his robot half made, raising his right hand to cover the robot half of his face.

This would be good… this would be GOOD indeed!

Now, at long last he could finally get his revenge on the man who ruined his life! The man who stole everything from him on that fateful day the Dragonators became no more. The day that he came to see as his greatest error. He had been a fool to underestimate that man, and that mistake cost him everything. Nothing he could do now would get his life back, not with this robot half, and even if he somehow could it just wouldn't be the same as it was back then. There were too many differences that would remind him of that accursed night. The only thing that could satisfy him now, was revenge.

But for now, he should probably rely some orders to his men. With that in mind, the man reached into his cloak and pulled out some more paper and the same quill as before. Putting them onto the desk beside his mead, the man began writing more orders for those idiots to follow. He called them idiots due to the sole fact that without him, they never would have gained the stuff that they had now. They had a secure camp, they had strong security provided by himself, as well as various technologies that separated them from other Bandits. Speaking of other bandits, those fools wouldn't have the notoriety that they do if it weren't for him. They also had whores to entertain them at night, to use as servants and sexual relieving tools.

Nevertheless, the man had to contend with them for the time being, as they will be necessary to the next part of his plan for revenge, though it did not matter if they died or not. None of them will matter in the grand scheme of things, they were nothing but bandits after all. Nobody would give a rat's ass if they bit the dust in what amounts to a suicide mission, even with all the technology they have 'borrowed' from the Leanbox military. It's like the saying goes, even if you teach a beast how to act like a human, give it human clothes and bestow upon it other traits, in the end they are still just beasts in the end.

And beasts would be best put down in the end.

* * *

'Hmmm… it looks like things will be getting intense in the near future… and not because of anything DPU related this time…'

Biko mused to himself this while he floated above the Coliseum, examining the surrounding deserts. His form constantly emitted an aura of demonic power, power which constantly swayed side to side as if it were alive. His eyes gave a dull red shine from the power he radiated. It may look like he wasn't doing anything, but that could not be further from the truth. Nope, Biko had MANY things to occupy himself with aside from looking through Nico's senses every now and then, such as monitoring various parts of the inner world like the Fragmented Memories or their power levels. There was also him monitoring the Devil Arms, observing how they fed off their energy reserves, keeping HIM in check, as well as watching out for any other unforeseen abnormalities.

Turning around, Biko jumped into the air, flipping through it multiple times with the same level of grace, mobility and skill that the main aspect used in the real world. He soon began falling to the centre of the coliseum head first, spiralling about like a sausage spinning through the air, before flipping forwards and landing just above the ground. It was almost like there was an invisible surface that he just touched on, when really it was just his wings releasing a large and strong enough lift to keep him hovering after such a fall. Slowly, Biko stood tall from his previous kneeling position, like a boss.

Nico wasn't the only one with excellent parkour skills.

Looking down at his right arm, Biko raised it to his stomach level then closed the hand into a fist, feeling power thrumming through every pore. In the past, this wasn't what he usually could do, but ever since Nico has begun to develop his powers through their training, as well as devour demon souls, these have resulted in him, the manifestation of his demonic power, to swell as well. In essence, as Nico grew stronger, he would do the same to show an accurate measure of his power.

Perhaps in the future, he may not have a physical human form anymore…

Aside from that, the Demon Persona couldn't help but feel changes coming, changes to not only him but to Nico's energy. The amount of power he was generating at this point thanks to the events at Mojang Village and everywhere else filled with demonic power, it had been staggering even with how much the various Devil Arms and THAT had been absorbing for their own purposes. Biko theorized that thanks to Nico consuming so much, as well as a demonic soul consisting of many other souls fused together, that his DPU form's power had swelled from it's last use. It had already surpassed those CPUs by leaps and bounds, though considering the fragment of Soul Edge that the CPU of Planeptune obtained from them, her power will eventually be an equal to theirs in time. Hopefully that would help Nico in some way in the future.

In addition, there was the fight with the draconian Abnormal, or rather that vessel shaped like one. A flash of emotion passed through Biko's DPU eyes as he Warped out of the Stadium and into another part of Nico's mind: the Armoury.

* * *

The Armoury was located in another section of the large, desert-like landscape of Nico's Inner World, taking on the form of a simple, greyish blocky building with little to no features to speak of. It didn't look even like a building but more like a slob of stone. Nothing special, which was why it fulfilled it's function as the Armoury quite well. Nobody would think THIS to be the place that housed his Devil Arms and other weapons. Appearances are ALWAYS deceiving, just like how people wear Masks.

Entering, Biko found himself walking into the interior of the stone building, before he looked to the left. This allowed him to see various weapon carvings engraved into the walls like the drawings cavemen used to do when humanity was young, weapon carvings of each Devil Arm that is. Ebony, Ivory, Alastor, Rebellion the works. The moment that he entered, each carving lit up with a red light, as if they recognized their wielder's demonic aspect, their 'warden' one could say.

Biko then thought back to the fight with the Vessel Nico had, his eyes flashing with emotion once more. That fight had Biko concerned, for more than one reason. First of all, he had advised the male to keep the usage of that bone to a minimum before they even knew of the battle taking place, during their flight to Skies End. He wanted to get some information on it from the Fragmented memories before they got to training with it. The second was that Nico had been pushed further than he had in a long time in regards to energy consumption. He had never fed his Devil Arms that much before, and it had caused something to… begin changing within the Alastor Devil Arm. It was small, barely noticeable, but the moment Biko did he INSTANTLY felt like he should run for the hills and pray for whatever soul he possessed. It was like he was within the centre of an electronic vortex, or a storm of some kind, a powerful one. That had been an eye-opening experience just like how Nico's mom gave him 'the talk' in her own way.

That had been… something that Biko would rather not remember. Even the Devil Arms, despite their near-lack of conscience, shuddered at that memory.

Best not to mention it.

Back to the Devil Arms though…

Ever since then he had been devoting time to monitor that Devil arm more closely than the others. He had no clue what that change was, or what caused it, but he could see several effects that were starting to crop up in the Devil Arm. For one, it was sucking up more and more power than it usually did, which would have been a problem if Nico's reserves hadn't swelled the way they did. If one were to compare, instead of steadily drinking a glass of water the Devil Arm was now guzzling it down without any intent to stop. Not only that, but it was also doing something else… something that could have SEVERE negative impacts on his mind:

Digging through Nico's memories.

Biko had tried to stop this permanently, however something had hindered his attempts, making them useless so he could only limit the damage. Fortunately, Nico's mind remained largely unaffected by the sucking, and it wasn't like the memories themselves were being drastically altered or tampered with in any way. No, upon closer examination it seemed more like it was looking at big memories for the male, the ones that held great sources of strong negative emotions before simulating them and absorbing those emotions into itself. In essence, it was artificially producing and absorbing negative emotions before the brain could even realise it was generating the chemicals needed for those emotions.

Shaking his head, Biko pushed back those thoughts from his mind for the time being. There was no need to ponder on that for now, as he had to focus on something else, something of much greater importance. Closing his eyes, Biko focused on the area that he wanted to visit and activated his warping power. In a red flash, the older version of Nico vanished out of existence.

* * *

Reappearing, Biko found himself where the Library was. This was probably the one place he spent the most time at, monitoring the Fragmented Memories as well as the state of Nico's own mind. This place was probably the most important to the main aspect of the existence known as Nico, henceforth he spent most of his time here. He frowned as he looked at the object that had his attention the moment he appeared. That object: The Egg, the egg that he had shown his main aspect when he was with those two, Aiden and Ivan, of Team RAIL. Well, it could hardly be called an egg anymore, not with the form it was taking right now.

The Egg floated before him, hovering above the ground and constantly pulsating like a living heart. It no longer looked like a complete egg, but a series of fragmented pieces held closely together by a circular crimson core. Almost like they were caught in a gravitational field like the many plates that made up the surface of the world. Like him, the sheer power that this thing emitted was as extreme as that large pillar of fire that destroyed the Hellverse dungeon. There was also a strong heat source originating from it, keeping any and all organisms from getting near it. Biko himself did not even dare venture close for fear that it would burn him alive, and he was simply a personification. Even with that knowledge, Biko felt like this thing could still kill him completely, which concerned him more than a little.

However, there was something else about this Egg, something he detected beneath all this: Life.

The Egg felt like it would hatch soon…

By his estimates, according to the real world it would hatch later into the night, hatch into what he wasn't certain. However, Biko had been monitoring this Egg when the older Nico hadn't been training the main aspect. He monitored it's energy absorption rates and various habits regarding the other prospects of Nico's mind. What he had found out was both interesting… and concerning at the same time.

Once this… thing hatched, Biko would be hard pressed to find much else in the Fragmented Memories that would be able to hold a candle to this thing. It's power would not be just physically based, but also mentally too. The power this thing will command will rival the freaking DEMON PRINCES at first, but as it matures in te real world, it will definitely be a match for the Chaos Gods as well. It would likely have an elemental ability as well, but what that was Biko was far from certain/ What he WAS certain about however, was that it was going to be POWERFUL. He could not stress enough how OP this thing would end up becoming once it was born. It's mind would likely be it's greatest weapon however, aside from one power that honestly Biko would rather hesitate to inform the main aspect of:

it's power of creation.

That's right, this thing would be able to create monsters that would serve both it, and Nico as he would be seen as their 'grandfather' since they would see it as their 'father'. It's power of creation was fortunately limited to only minions, but even sop those minions would be a bitch to any whom their 'parents' see as enemies no doubt about it. If one wanted a comparison, then it would be like unleashing a tidal wave of blood, guts and gore onto the world of Gamindustri. Yet, with what was probably coming, that may be what Gamindustri would need to prevent an age of ruin.

"SO… YOU STARING AT THIS BUG AGAIN?"

The hollow, distorted voice of the white Nico reached Biko's ears, making the Demon Persona shift about in his floating position to face the said copy. The white copy stood there, by the edge of a steep crater in the dunes with his arms crossed and his signature cocky smirk on his lips. His eyes, as black and red as always, bore into Biko's own with nothing but bloodlust and insanity.

Wait, arms?

"So… it appears that your arm has filly regrown, then." Biko commented, gesturing to the white copy's left arm. Now that he had his attention on it, Biko noticed that there was a slight difference in skin tone between the two limbs, the left one being slightly darker than the right. He could sense that it was still healing, but other than skin tone it looked fine. "I assume that you have earned your lesson about going near that egg?"

The Copy change his tone rather quickly at the mention of his arm, and scowled at the egg with pure malice and hate in his eyes.

"THAT FUCKER WILL GET WHAT'S COMING TO IT, YOU MARK MY WORDS. EVEN IF IT INCINERATED MY ARM BACK THEN WHEN I TRIED TO PUNCH IT…"

Yep, that was correct, this guy tried to destroy the Egg when he sensed abnormalities within it. He probably feared the power that it displayed, and if he were honest Biko wouldn't blame him. He had been more than a little startled himself when he first sensed them, but unlike the white copy Biko had the common sense to not rush in and formed calculations first. A fact that had saved his life, as the White Copy had been instantly blown back across the Inner World when he tried to punch it, returning with a left arm destroyed down to the shoulder.

That was JUST AFTER Nico had known about the egg.

By the time the White Copy had returned, he had reformed his arm to a point where Nico, in his chaotic mental state, wouldn't have noticed.

"It was your own fault for not taking into account the volatile nature of this being."

"TCH, KNOW IT ALL…"

Their relationship was a… complex one, to say the least. As aspects, they directly opposed one another. They came from different aspects of Nico's power after all, Biko being from the demonic side and this White Copy from the… other side that Nico was now trying to reconnect with. The one he had the most connection to and the one that he had the longest. One could say that this Inner World, even while it rejected him for so many years, was the White Copy's home turf, it's playground, it's jungle. He didn't even mind the fact that the defences attacked him to symbolise Nico's rejection of him (despite his contradictory actions in using his power when alone on solo missions), hell he had fun ripping them to shreds.

Then, Biko came along and messed everything up.

Like a foreign animal intruding on another environment. That was what the White Copy had attributed his arrival as.

Yet, unlike him, Biko and the demonic powers he embodied weren't rejected by Nico's inner world one bit, in fact they were warmly received with welcome arms. He once commented sarcastically that they would have gotten a red carpet with how little of a resistance they got when merging with the 'king' and being permanent aspects of him like himself. How annoying that had been…

One could tell this explained a lot of the White Copy's animosity towards Biko, huh?

Yet, even so, both aspects agreed on one thing despite their relationship, and that was that they would have to be there for Nico when he needed it. They were part of him after all, and even if Biko was used more often than the White Copy, the latter still held the 'centre seat of power' between them. The reason this was so, was because Biko for all intents and purposes was an outsider, and the White Copy had been here the longest. It was this fact that allowed them to find some common ground and forge a temporary truce between them during the 'Berserker Incident' as they now coined it.

Though, it did forge the basis for an uneasy neutrality towards each other.

No, neutrality didn't fit their relationship, instead it felt more like 'you don't mess with me and I won't mess with you'. It was why Biko hadn't really interfered much with the white copy's activities like that battle with the two Ghouls J Greil and Hol Horse, only when Nico asked him to. That generally meant suppressing him a much as he could with his demonic power, though that instead had some… other side effects Nico probably wouldn't be aware of until he actually manifested the White Copy's power.

Though if it came down to it… Biko wasn't sure who would win between them. Biko knew his strength was growing by leaps and bounds thanks to Nico's training, and his Soul Edge had the same abilities as the main aspect's. He had the same demonic powers, and arguably his were stronger than Nico's due to him embodying them within the Inner World. However, that didn't mean he would be able to dominate the White Copy, no not one bit. In fact, Biko had much cause to think that if he were to fight against him, he would be hard pressed to win… and eventually he would lose.

The other side to Nico… stronger skin, rejecting human food, physical ability improvement, high speed regeneration and heightened senses weren't the only powers that the other side offered. Oh no, not by a long shot. Hell, it's full power was one of the most terrifying things Biko had ever encountered, yes he had seen a glimpse of it in the past and he found it worse than any demon out there. Not only was it strong, strong enough to, at full strength, smash through large buildings like they were nothing but mere Jenga blocks, but speed was well within it's domain. The 'fangs' each had high speed on their side, for example the one that Nico had used so far, the invisible one, was so fast that when Nico is under a rainstorm, this fang moved so fast that none of the raindrops would land on him as this fang would just bat them away. None of those raindrops would land on him.

Not.

One.

Drop.

All that was possible due to how it was built. That power was influenced by the imagination, and it's size depended on the amount of energy put into it. For a long time, Nico had used a mix of Plasma and High Frequency Blade technology for his combat prowess. If one didn't remember, then HF technology involved a powerful alternating current and resonating at extremely high vibration frequencies. This oscillation weakened the molecular bonds of anything it cuts, thereby increasing its cutting ability. That got the strength part down pat, and as for the speed that just came from his high-risk missions from when he was surrounded on all sides by powerful Abnormals. Any second wasted would have meant death so he learned to make use of that to strike as fast as possible in so little time. In the end, it resulted in his other side having INSANELY high speeds that reached up to mach 1.

As for the invisibility, it was Nico's mental desire to hide his other side away from prying eyes for so long. It created an ideal in his mind, something unbeknownst to him at the time was an assignation method: An Assassin always slips through the cracks and strikes with the hidden blade. If one misses, then out comes the equally crucial second blade. This mental attitude influenced his other side, and gave this particular 'Fang' the ability to use those high speed vibrations to make itself invisible. This was done by vibrating at frequencies much higher than that of their surroundings, making them appear to not be there when they were. This applies to eyes as well, if they vibrate at high enough frequencies then the eyes wouldn't be able to perceive them.

That was the secret behind one 'Fang'…

And the other two, while not having the same powers, were just as lethal in their fields.

Wherever that power came from, it was meant to KILL, and it was freaking good at it…

Something that Nico had a hand in.

"In any case, I must make my leave, I must check the Fragmented Memories as per my routine."

"PFT, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, OUTSIDER."

The White Copy scoffed as he vanished out of existence, leaving Biko to Warp away himself.

* * *

Warping back into existence, Biko found himself within one of the many rooms within the tower-like Library. A room that only he had access too for the time being. If he tried to ring Nico here, then the Tower would just reject him, a symbol of his subconscious desire to reject the memories of his past. Until he learned and accepted those memories, something Biko's intuition told him would be easier said than done, then Nico wouldn't be able to view what he was seeing right now.

Biko floated just before a circular projection device, one that had a black and red color scheme similar to his Hellfire in DPU Form. It had a wicked-looking spiked-crown appearance, with rather futuristic and dark textures. It actually looked like a wicked crown a tyrant would wear or something similar, a sight that would make many flinch in dread at the thought of who would wear such a crown. But this, this was no accessory, no this was just a projector, a projector of memories...

Fragmented Memories.

This was the source of Biko's knowledge of the DPU Era, or what little he knew anyways. They had been filling themselves in like a book being written, but depending on whether or not the main aspect was near anything demonic, the writing speed varied. Not to mention that it proved immensely stressful even for him to understand single words in the sentences these things showed him. Every time he tried to look into it, he would wind up with serious migraines at the end. This was coming from a being specialized and born for the task, so if Nico were to try it... well, he doubted it would be pretty eve if he could regenerate.

He'd used this many times, either to figure out new abilities, the causes of abnormalities within Nico's body, or to get some insight into the DPU Era. So far, he hadn;t made much progress on that front though, while on the powers front he had recently discovered several core abilities he had been intending to share with Nico for some time, however recent events have been distracting as of late. These abilities would likely appear more in the future, as while this thing was a source of information for him and Nico, it didn't have ALL the answers... yet. That would take time...

Time Biko feared they didn't have.

Also, for those who didn't realize it yet, Biko had been about to inform Nico off those powers when those Planes appeared. Perhaps he could explain tonight before the Egg hatched...

Right now, Biko wanted to see if there was anything he could glean on that Bone for the time being. Because it didn't have as much usage as his Devil Arms, it hadn't appeared in the Armoury as a Carving yet. But once the usage was upped a bit, then it would appear as such and Biko would be able to monitor it like every other sentient item that he possesses. The Demon Persona held out a hand and placed it onto the Projector, closing his eyes and beginning to work.

It would be a long process...


	106. Chapter 103 - Upgrades and Family

**Chapter 103 - Upgrades and family**

The following night, Nico heaved a heavy sigh as he took one long overdue rest, looking up at the moonlight sky above. He was lying on his back within the cockpit of his Skimmer, hands behind his head while he gazed upwards at the night sky. It was the clearest he had ever seen it, stars practically filling it to the brim to make it look like he was looking at a whole new universe. The biggest of them all: The Moon, shone the brightest out of all of them.

It was a sight that Nico had come to appreciate during his missions.

Another tired sigh escaped his lips as he contemplated what had happened up till this point. 'Man, talk about heavy duty labour. If this is what the Engineers or Construction workers do for a living, I have a whole load more respect for them.' he couldn't help but think to himself. This was probably one of his more exhausting days ever, and he had intended to go ask MAGES. if she was free to have some lunch at a café or something to pay her back for helping him with IF. Maybe Tekken too, if she had been helped by the Planeptune WDD already, though with the injuries she had sustained Nico wouldn't be counting on it. Just went to show that nothing went according to plan…

Nico hoped he could repay this debt soon, he HATED having to owe people like this.

As for why he was so exhausted, he had spent the rest of the day helping Rinjiin repair the dragon vessel while being eyed by that Teo Abnormal. It held no care for him, and vice versa, however the way it looked made him wonder if it would try to strike him down if it got the chance, which filled him with caution and made him divert more energy to his perception. Though Rinjiin had assured him Teo wouldn't do anything untoward, Nico still held his doubts about the Abnormal. Not only did he consider it's reputation, but it had a different feeling than the Hatchlings who were like young kids. The Teostra looked like something that would rip him in half if it got the chance. Odds were, that damaging the Vessel didn't exactly do him any favours either.

With the fact that Leanbox's air technology was… more than needing of improvement, it would take some time for them to come here en masse, that was what both he and Rinjiin knew for sure. Leanbox Aircraft took a while to prepare and it was a boon that Rinjiin knew what model those planes were. Hus the man knew that they were best prepared from a docking bay of a Zeppelin, if there weren't any around here then that would mean they had a Zeppelin docked at their camp wherever this camp was. The docking bays weren't that hard to prepare, but the problem with Zeppelins was that they needed LOTS of Helium gas to float, and even then it took time to inflate them. In addition, with the required amount it would take a while to gather, so there was time there.

They would be able to get the dragon ship back in full condition by them, they figured.

As for the girls, Nico ad the foresight of messaging them all and letting them know that he would probably not be back for a while. He had given them an explanation that would satisfy their concerns, as well as kept what he was doing here a secret. He'd told them that he had run into some trouble that he would be able to handle, but it may take a day or two. When they had asked what kind of trouble, Nico had smoothly replied 'something of titanic proportions that I have to do alone.' Even if he wasn't calling them through a video feed, just messaging, Nico could tell that they wanted to know more but apparently IF had stopped them. The girl must have recognised that he was trying to keep something a secret and figured that it was Spec Ops related. The girl had a good head on her shoulders, something he really liked about her.

She'd make a spectacular Spec Ops Agent.

Speaking of which, Nico had checked the dates for the Spec Ops Exam before coming here, and according to what he found out the Exams would be taking place not long after the Gala. Not only that, but they would be held in Leanbox, too. It was a rather surprising revelation, but not something that was wholly unexpected. He figured that there were political reasons for that, so he mentally resolved to look into it when he next had free time.

'Wonder what they have planned this time…'

There have been few times when Nico was called into look over the exams of the future Spec Ops Agents, though e had little roles to play in them beyond that. As such, he had seen what kind of tests would be on the Exams, and he had to say that the Guild took Spec Ops Training INTENSELY seriously. There was a whole load more complications than just joining the Guild as an Adventurer or even as a Guild Agent.

In order, the procedures for those qualifications were as follows:

Adventurers have to sign a simple form to get theirs.

Guild Agents have to sign a form then partake in a week-long course to get them qualified for Guild Work.

Honestly, kinda shitty if one asked him, hell anyone could join the Guild these days just look at Neptune and Compa. They were just freaking kids compared to the other Agents, ad they were simply welcomed with open arms. IF was more understandable given her mercenary nomadic background, but even then, she was still one of the younger Agents. Kinda spoke volumes why older Agents liked to pick on her like when he first met her, huh? He didn't doubt that they would let in children at this rate, the Guild probably started recruiting right out of high schools these days.

Now the SPEC OPS Exam, however… whew, the difficulty spike was like playing a game on normal mode, then jumping straight into merciless mode then getting the stuffing beaten out of you after about 4 seconds of gameplay.

That was all he was going to say cause, SPOILERS!

Now, back to the other stuff, according to Rinjiin, the model plane that those people were riding belonged to a LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin. The size and shape of LZ-127 was not ideal aerodynamically, structurally, or economically, but it was the best that could be achieved within the limitations of Leanbox technology, but then again considering who ran it (not the CPU the Nobles) that shouldn't be surprising. But more importantly, this meant that they would have at least until lunchtime tomorrow to get the ship u[ to speed, and it was a good thing that Nico could drain the Bioelectricity of the attack he had used to end it in the first place, otherwise Rinjiin would have been electrocuted to death. It also sped up their work rate, as they now didn't have to worry about residue static. Still, there was a LOT that needed to be either replaced or repaired outright, and according to the male's estimations they were only about 40% done by the time night rolled in to say hello.

After the day he had, Nico almost wanted to take to the skies and kiss it for giving him a respite from the labour.

Rinjiin had offered to give him a place in the Caves, as apparently, they were one big network that lead throughout the mountain peak, but Nico refused. He wanted to stay by his Skimmer, [plus he could use his Hellfire to keep himself warm (not that he told Rinjiin that though) which made him relent.

All of this lead to this peaceful moment.

 **'Nico…'**

A peaceful moment that Biko just ruined.

A sigh escaped Nico's lips again, but didn't let it annoy him. Now that he was calm again, he figured that Biko would try to contact him sooner or later. He had a feeling that he knew what he was going to talk about after all. 'Lemme guess, this is about those abilities you wanted to show me?' he asked his Demon Persona

 **'Indeed. It has been a distracting day for you, however I feel as though you need to know these abilities for the future… and that they have already given some effects to you. For example, deploy your armour.'**

Huh? Deploy his Armour? What? Instead of asking those questions, Nico decided to just do it and see what the fuss was about. The male stood from his Skimmer and stepped away a few times, before he pressed his hand on his chest where his Armour Module lay. Why hadn't he deployed this when he was fighting earlier? Nico soon figured that he just forgot about it, which filled him with the feeling of being an idiot which he soon suppressed.

There was no time for that right now, not with the tones Biko had used.

Once he pressed it, the Module activated, and he was surrounded by black Datastreams. 'Wait, black?' Nico wondered in surprise, before his form got cocooned by them. The Datastreams soon vanished once more, revealing Nico in his DEATHSTROKE Armour… or rather, what was ONCE his DEATHSTROKE Armour.

When he looked down at himself at his form, Nico couldn't help but blanch in shock.

'Wh-WHAT THE HELL?!'

Nico's Armour looked NOTHING like what he remembered it being as he looked down at his hands, twisting and turning them over multiple times. Instead of it being black and orange, it had a black under suit that went from his hands and feet to his neck while the rest had crimson red armour. The helmet completely covered his head to expose none of his human skull (not even his left eye), being made from demonic-looking, wicked crimson armour. It had two red eye lenses from which Nico's eyes were located, while the face looked slanted forwards like a demonic snout. There were multiple ridges down the forehead that ended at the nose, which looked more like a short, stubby horn than anything. Out the top of the helmet were 4 long, curved spikes with 2 on each side, and a single ridge in the middle. Across the face's lower section was a lipless maw of crimson fangs designed into the helmet, not an actual maw. From the helmet's sides, two long horns pointed forwards, made from the same material as the helmet. Along the lower jaw and chin were short, stubby spikes like a makeshift beard.

For the upper body the sides, the torso and along the stomach were covered in demonic crimson armour plates. There were two shoulder pads, 1 for each shoulder, that were much like those of his DPU form in that they were much larger than his actual shoulders and went outwards. They each had a single Spike-like structure similar to the horns from the Helmet protruding upwards, with stubby spikes protruding away from the armour's wearer. The forearms were covered in crimson armour that started with thick-looking spiked bands at the elbows and ended with another set at the wrists. Interestingly enough there were black grey chains connected between these bands, adding to the demonic appearance the Armour had, while the armour itself formed 4 short claws over the knuckles. The hands themselves were covered by the under suit. More chains wrapped around his waist, which were connected to these two skirt-like crimson pieces that fell in-between behind him and beside his legs.

Speaking of the lower body, the legs had demonic crimson armour up to the knees, sporting stubby spikes in various places and ended in single talon toed boots that had an extra talon for heels.

All in all, Nico looked WAY more intimidating in this armour than he did his old one. His old one gave him more of a soldier/warrior vibe, someone who knew what to do and would get shit done. THIS Armour however, gave Nico the look of a knight from the deepest pits of the underworld, here to claim souls that have been outrunning their fate for far too long and drag them kicking and screaming into a life of eternal torment.

But for him, that wasn't the main issue.

What Nico wanted to know was what the hell had happened to make his armour this way. In addition, Nico could sense great power swelling within this armour, power that originated from the Plasma Cells or where the Plasma Cells should have been. Demonic Power coursed through this Armour almost like veins filled with blood within the body of a living being, something that sort of gave him the shivers. His Armour, well, it felt much more ALIVE, like it's own being, than it did before. Nico knew this wasn't actually the case, but it sure as hell felt like it.

 **'This is one of those new abilities, Nico. This is the ability to Desecrate your equipment with your demonic power. This happened during your fight with the dragon ship today, you unleashed so much demonic power that this ability sub consciously activated, and your mind directed the energy into your Armour Module. This is the result.'**

This… Nico didn't know how to feel about this. On one hand it was good cause it meant that his Armour now had significant upgrades, allowing it to be able to go up against high-level demons like those Demon Princes without fear of it being destroyed. He could sense that the Armour's defensive and Offensive abilities had been enhanced further than it's counterpart, while the self-restoration aspect also felt like it had been affected. The demonic power he could feel also seemed to be helping him with his other side, as he could feel it trying to keep the beast within restrained.

Wait, why did he get those feelings?

But on the other hand, this Armour was practically a part of him, it was part of what made him DEATHSTROKE in the first place. If it changed so drastically, then could he still call himself that? Could he still call himself DEATHSTROKE with how much his armour had changed? With how Biko said it, it seemed like the change was irreversible, something that made him question this all the more.

 **'Do not worry about your identity, for the name DEATHSTROKE has become synonymous with your appearance, Nico. Even if your gear goes through some demonic changes, at the core it is still your gear, gear that you have been with for a long time. DEATHSTROKE has just simply gained a demonic overdrive, of sorts.'**

'I see… Will my weapons be affected, too?' He wondered, though he soon felt pretty stupid for asking that question, if his armour had changed like this then of course the weapons would be different. The teen quickly deployed his Plasma Claws to see if there were any changes, and soon enough he got what he wanted. The 5 Scythe blades soon formed, this time through those red claws above his knuckles, and were about 10 inches now, instead of the 5 inches they were before. Interestingly enough though, they weren't made of Plasma anymore, but rather a crimson red metallic substance bathed in orangish red Hellfire. Wait, Nico narrowed his eyes at his right Plasma Claw as he brought it closer to his helmet and saw there to be faint crackles of energy along the metal.

Plasma.

A mix of Hellfire and Plasma.

 **'It appears that the Plasma Technology has combined with the Hellfire power of the DPUs, creating a hybrid of both powers with twice the damage capacity. Its similar to hybrid vigour in a way, something I am sure you are familiar with considering the other side you have. It has the offensive abilities of both Hellfire and Plasma, making it ten times more powerful than either of them. Their combined heat should be able to damage CPU weapons, which according to what I've seen are nigh indestructible. They'll make perfect claws for a beast like us. How about we call this new hybrid of Plasma and Hellfire: Obliteron**

'Obliteron…' Nico mused, pondering on the name. In actuality, it sort of made sense. This material seemed to be a mix of two highly offensive energies, and the objective of the weapon is to obliterate the enemy and it will use all in its power to do so, making Obliteron the perfect name for it. With the combined offensive power of both Hellfire and Plasma, these babies would be nightmares for armoured opponents, and don't get him started on purely organic opponents.

Checking through the rest of his in-built weapons, Nico renamed them with the additions Obliteron made:

* * *

Obliteron Claws – 5 Scythe-like Claws up to 10 inches long that emerge from the crimson Armour claws over the back of the hands, positioned like flexed claws. They have the power to cut through practically anything similar to HF Technology (Nico checked when he sliced a set of gashed through the mountain, leaving a set of superheated gashes in his wake.)

Obliteron Blades – The Hidden blades now had 15 inches in length, nearly rivalling swords while emerging from beneath the Wrist bands while being made from Obliteron.

Obliteron Cannons – The canons appeared through a compartment beneath the shoulder spikes which fell backwards when deployed, revealing crimson skulls with flaming sockets and permanently open mouths which had a fiery hellfire interior. Fired Hellfire blasts the size of fists either in rapid fire or concentrated.

HUD (Heads Up Display)/Bracers – Now the information is sent directly to his brain, no need for screens. Biko theorized that the Armour was now like the Devil Arms in that it had some level of sentience, thus it would inform him of things the HUD would usually do. The same for the Bracers, for example if he wanted a Holomap then a projection would appear in his mind with perfect clarity. The Motion Tracker would be used as like an ever-active radar sense (Nico knew this cause it picked up a falling piece of rubble from 40 meters away). The Void Storage is now like an Inventory as it is now part of his mind where just a thought can summon whatever it is that he wants. Scanning was also now a simple task thanks to this sentience within the Armour. Thanks to all these abilities, Nico no longer has any Bracers on his arms when his Armour is deployed. (Though when the Armour isn't they appear on his Arms anyways.)

Obliteron Chains – Chains that emerged from the crimson forearm Armour, made from Obliteron. (Reminded him of that fiery chain that one biker guy with a flaming skull head used to fight enemies)

Obliteron Launcher – A Grenade launcher altered into a black and red colour scheme and fired Obliteron-based Grenades that exploded upon contact with anything save for the air. It no longer needed cables since Nico could charge it with his powers instead, giving it nearly endless ammunition.

Obliteron Knucklebusters – The Force Busters form over his hand as Obliteron-based Knucklebusters. Increased damage for close combat.

Shields – The Armour's Shields now extended to a cocoon-like shape from Obliteron, capable of taking a medium sized boulder tossed from high altitudes (don't ask how he did that, even he didn't know) with little to no decrease in power.

* * *

There was one problem Nico saw with this armour though. While it did have that intimidating knight of hell vibe going for it, the Armour seemed a bit too… flashy for someone like him when he needed to go on infiltration missions. An Armour like this would stick out like a sore thumb what with it's unique colour schemes and design. He could imagine it now, how people would easily spot him wearing something that makes him look even more inhuman than he already was. True this armour literally made no sound when he moved about in it save for the slight clinking of the waist chains, but those with good senses would not be so foolish as to think it would be nothing and would investigate. This would lead to countless annoyances that Nico would rather not have to deal with.

Though, the moment he thought that…

[REAPER MODE – ENGAGE]

Those words, boldened and sporting black trails reminiscent of tears of blood appeared within his mind. Not only that, but they had been accompanied by this low, growling, dark borderline insidious voice that would match a creature overwhelmed with a bloodlust-fuelled psychotic breakdown. Nico had nearly jumped at the voice having been used to a robotic AI voice when donning his armour. The next thing he knew, the entire armour turned into this shroud of darkness that compressed around his form, shadowing it by blocking out any and all light. This resulted in Nico having the shape of a humanoid shadow version of himself.

He had expected to have some form of explanation from Biko, but to his surprise the Armour itself beat him to it by sending Nico information via this Devil Arm-like link he had with it. Apparently, this shroud was formed by taking Nico's own bloodlust and covering him wit it, forming a "shroud of darkness" which would only confuse those that he approached. Additionally, the voice was only heard by him and his aspects, so nobody else would get tipped off during a stealth mission. Since it was a mode, Nico could toggle this ability on and off, like equipping a Mask.

Whelp, stealth issue resolved.

Honestly, he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was, while he assumed himself a monstrous abomination considering his powers, he also associated himself with the nickname 'the reaper'. Heck, he was like that in his StarCraft game (he should probably start playing again soon, relieve all this built-up stress). Monsters and Reapers, those words and various variants could be used to describe him well.

With all these changes, Nico felt like this 'Desecration' power might be pretty useful. Not to mix it with the DC Corruption Absolution used though, this power seemed to be useful mostly for changing things into demon-based items which are better than their counterparts. Improved upon in various ways to make them as deadly as possible… while sporting new looks befitting of their new status.

Dismissing the Armour, Nico found himself back to normal after a quick cocoon of black Datastreams. The cold night-time air hit his flesh all at once, and it nearly made him just done it back on again. Almost as soon as he thought that the Armour re-deployed, making him realise that it could do that on thought command now. Made sense, considering that it was partially sentient now. It also allowed him to notice that the demonic power the Armour had flowing through it gave some form of internal heating, yet it felt like this could be manipulated depending on the situation.

Nico dismissed it again, this time being prepared for the cool air that met his skin as he heaved a heavy sigh. He honestly felt a little tired from all this, but right now he still had some things to do. Things like testing the rest of those items he got from the WDD, for one. Some of those guys were impatient little fuckers who wanted their data enough to nag at him while he slept through transmissions. Looking down at his Bracer, Nico opened the Void Storage and pulled out the next item: what looked like a Motherboard like those one would see in a digital device.

Looking up it's specs, Nico saw that it was called a 'Void Module' that was meant to replace the one inside his Bracers already. Not only did it have the stuff on the Bracers' original Motherboards copied over, but this one could be used for both even when installed in one of them. Not only that, but it had the upgrade of letting him summon items or access functions with just thought commands, similar to what his Armour did. Looks like those rumours he heard about those upgrades were true, then. It honestly made him chuckle, just when he got those upgrades his demon powers solved everything for him. Whelp, best to check and see if it worked…

* * *

Turns out it did.

After testing the Void Module, Nico confirmed that it worked like it should before placing the old Motherboard back into his Void Storage using the new thought command system. Boy did he like this, it would save so much time for someone like him who didn't have access to an Inventory. In addition, it worked practically instantly, so Nico didn't have to worry about timings between weapon switch-outs. It was practically like instantly doing a baton pass in a relay race, something that would DEFINITELY help those who didn't have inventories for whatever reason have the same benefits. Now that he had this, he had access to thought commands in and out of his Armour, a MASSIVE boon for someone like him who had such a large weapon arsenal.

There were various other weapons he needed to test out, and he did them all without a fuss. Once he did, he sent the data back to the WDD in the form of a report.

When he was finished with them, Nico looked over to his Skimmer, which lazily stood leaning on it's stand waiting to be refuelled and driven once again. The more he looked at it, the more of a bond he felt towards this Skimmer. It had been something that aided him in battle, no matter how few those were, so it felt natural to have some form of camaraderie with it. But, the male wasn't so sure if the higher ups at the Spec Ops Branch in Planeptune would let him have this one, or some of the equipment that he wanted to keep like those two guns, this void module and this Skimmer. After all, these were merely prototypes that would be re-outfitted for mass production in the future, and he was pretty sure they would want them back afterwards…

 **'Why not call your mother and ask her? You have been meaning to talk to her, haven't you? This could be like killing two birds with one stone, as these humans put it.'**

'PFT, PUSSY MAMMA'S BOY…'

 **'Do not think I do not notice too, since you are part of him longer than I have, you have the same familial ties to her as Nico.'**

His white Copy growled inside his head towards Biko, before their presences faded from his conscience. Though, Nico couldn't help the surprise that took their place though. He didn't realise that his other side had any familial feelings towards anything, let alone someone who wasn't the 'king'. This… would eb worth pondering at a later date. Perhaps his other side wasn't completely beastly after all? However, that would be for another time, cause right now Nico wanted to talk to his mother.

One of the features that his Bracer possessed was it's own private phone line used for emergency communications. Public Phone lines have the nasty habit of being hacked into by interested parties wanting to know classified information, steal income or make threats to both the callers and the receivers, so Spec Ops Agents had their own private phone lines with select few contacts. None of these lines had reports of being hacked into as they have over dozens of firewalls, anti-virus software etc to stop that from happening.

That Phone Line would be what he would use now since there was no internet connection around here.

Raising his Bracer after agreeing mentally with Biko's suggestion (though he probably wouldn't hear if his white-self growling at him before was any indication), Nico manipulated it so that the Bracer showed a Holographic Phone symbol. Once he had everything set, the caller's ID, the call function, and the holographic headphone set that appeared when he called Neptune like this in Lastation, Nico began calling the head of the WDD. It didn't take long for the call to break through, either.

"Oh, hello! This is a surprise, Nicky-Nick. I haven't had a call from you for a while.

"Hello, mom…" Nico greeted, a soft smile escaping his lips despite the nervousness assaulting his instincts right now. Happiness and joy swelled within as well, making it a rather complicated feeling he was getting right now. It was rare for him to call his mom like this, like she said… he wasn't sure whether to feel annoyed or frustrated at this revelation. Maybe both. Yeah, that felt right, but right now he had to focus on something other than himself for a freaking change. "Good to hear your voice again."

"Yep, same here my little baby boy. So, is this a social call or do you need something?"

Mentally, Nico grimaced, though he reasoned with himself that he would ell her a few important things for the future. "A bit of both, first thing is I was just wanting to just hear your voice again, and to let you know I'm ding alright. I mean, thinking back on it I probably wasn't a very good son. Good soldier, yeah. But not so good a son."

Perhaps his senses were playing tricks on him, but Nico swore that for a moment he heard sniffles coming from his mother there. If he was in the same room maybe he could rely on them more, but right now the phone call made it harder to detect. "Awww, that's sweet, Nicky-Nick, and your timing couldn't have come better. Just had to deal with a few annoying bugs who've been trying to get more budget from the military for their own benefits. They think that I have gone soft since my retirement, but I sure showed them how wrong they really were."

Okay, those assholes would have gotten owned so hard if that was the case. Nico winced, remembering that time when he brought th girls to meet his mother… that sounded weird in his head, so let's move on from that. "You sure that was a good idea? I mean, they can make your life even more hellish than it probably already is. You didn't retire cause you wanted to after all…"

"Oh hush, you." Helen responded with a scoff on her end. "You should know by now that those fuckers don't have the guts. They know that if anything happens to me then they will lose control over one of their most important 'assets', their 'hound' which isn't something they're willing to chance." Both of them scoffed at the mention of the higher ranked officials in the Planeptune Basilicom. While Leanbox had the most discrimination for the Spec Ops Program, it didn't mean that such discrimination didn't extend to the other nations either. Though by comparison Planeptune had the least bias towards it due to them seeing that the Abnormals were great enough of a threat to warrant the ignoring of such bias.

Such discrimination appeared in Lastation too when the military budget got taken from them and transferred to Avenir, a lot of Spec Ops Agents would have suffered greatly for that, and Lastation arguably had the most Agents out of the four Nations. That, and Avenir in general are just full of dickheads anyways, the few dickheads that wore flesh and not metal anyways.

While he listened to her, Nico heard the sounds of chatter in the background, so being th curious son he was, Nico decided to open his mouth to ask the question. "Say, where are you right now? Seems quite loud and busy, so a Mall?" He did once hear that she wanted to go on a shopping spree one time but her duties prevented her.

"Nope, I'm at a pub with some friends I met again. Yes, I drink and get plastered, it's a common adult thing." She replied, already imagining the frown of disapproval Nico would have on his face. A true fact, as a worried frown WAS on his lips. "Right now, these said friends are cooing at the fact my adorable little boy is calling his momma after a hard day's work."

Okay, THAT image got a bit of a blush out of him, though he would deny it till the end of time itself. Nico never really showed it much, but he did have a slight case of momma's boy ness. She helped raise him after all, visiting him often when he was living with Compa and her grandfather since, for classified reasons to do with his other side, she wasn't allowed to have him at her house. If she had, she would have brought him there herself in a heartbeat. He remembered how most of the times when she'd visit he'd greet her with a big old hug, a hug conveying all the innocence and happiness that a child his age would have possessed. Though, at those times Compa wouldn't have met her as she would either be in bed or her grandfather would have had her out on an errand. The reason for this was because whenever she did visit, it would usually be for check-ups on him to see how his other side was working.

After all, back then Compa couldn't really keep a secret to save her life. She was that innocent back then.

"Is uncle not with you?" he asked her, remembering that for all intents and purposes, Helen was a married woman. Nico remembered her husband, his name was Koro. Her husband may have been a simple Tavern owner, but he was also the one who taught him what he knew about assassinations. But the most important thing about him was that he was a family man above anything else, loving his wife more than anything else even his job. That, and he's a rather dorky romantic as described by his mother (though that didn't stop her from screwing him every night #shudder#). "I would have thought he would pick you up bridal style and bring you across by jumping over rooftops."

A giggle escaped the other end of the Phone. "Oh, he did that, actually. Dropped me off and left after kissing my cheek and giving me a rose." She replied, getting a slight snicker from the male. Out of the entire male population, his uncle figure was one of the few exceptions to his distaste for his gender. "He's going to be picking me up in half an hour or so, though I'm not looking forward to any hussies who try to steal him from me…" Nico now KNEW his instincts weren't playing with him when he heard some serpentine hisses escaping his mom and several whimpers. Even though his uncle figure was married, various women from all sorts of backgrounds seemed to try anything to get with him, and his wife would have to 'stake her claim' by whacking them with folding fans or worse scorching them with flamethrowers…

She had a wild possessive side over her husband after all. There was once a poll a while back where Helen was voted for top 10 possessive yandere wives, reaching 3rd place. Yeah, she lost to two other wives, one called Akane and another called Asuna. Even once stuck a pin and paper on his back saying, 'Property of Helen, STAY AWAY BITCHES!' with a chibi Hellen holding a knife while grinning and sporting devil ears and tail being drawn on the corner. Poor guy wasn't allowed to take it off for the entire day, either. Sometimes, he felt for the guy, having a wife like Helen must not be easy.

"Ah, I get it. Best of luck that he doesn't get too swarmed by those fangirls. Wait, that's wrong, best of luck that those fangirls don't get too owned when you bring out the whip and go all dominatrix on their asses." He remarked to himself, which got a chuckle from his mother at how much luck he would be needing. Nico honestly got scared from that chuckle, he really did. There was just something about women that could be goddamn scary, he even got it from Compa even. A thought came into his mind about BOTH of them giving him that look in which he knew he'd fucked up, and the shivers of dread would not stop. If that was what it was like for a married man, then he fear getting married in the future… if he even entertained the thought at that age. He'd probably just spend his life fighting on the battlefield or something.

"So dear, while I have you here, may I ask how the girls are doing? They gotten you to break those pesky barriers you have for them yet?" Helen questioned, and judging by the sounds he heard he figured she had just taking a sip of some beverage, probably an alcoholic one.

Nevertheless, Nico quickly composed himself when he felt a blush forming at memories of IF and Neptune. Not to mention Lucy herself when they were in his tent (Even that felt wrong to him). "They're fine, mom. The girls are focusing on some training right now, let's just say that things are getting seriously bad over here with the monsters and stuff. Think that incident with the Amatsu but on steroids and you're close to how bad it's getting here."

THAT got a wince out of the woman. The Amatsu, or Amatsumagatsuchi as its full name was, was a powerful Abnormal that had massive control over the weather. It was a year ago when it appeared, and it caused storms to appear all over Planeptune, forcing the Guild to send it's best agents that it had available at the time (himself being one of them) to take the beast out. The fighting had lasted a whole weak, and Nico himself had been forced to draw his Devil Arms out to keep up with the beast.

"That's bad then but be sure to spend time OUTSIDE of combat with them, Nicky-Nick. Those girls are special, I can feel it, and I know you care for them too. How about you take that IF girl out for a ride on that Skimmer of yours when you get the chance?" Helen questioned, surprising him. "Hey, I was an Agent too once, so I figured that would be the second thing you called about. Don't worry, it's one of the things you're allowed to keep, I'll send you the list of equipment that is yours now. Also, about your situation…"

Nico narrowed his eyes at the mention, or vague reference, to his situation with Rinjiin. Her words from there henceforth became laced with seriousness as she spoke sternly. "Handle it with the utmost care. That guy's an old friend of mine, and I helped him out of a bind a while back when his unit was destroyed by Abnormals. He asked me for help recently, as there was an increasing number of Mercenary groups scouting Skies End. I don't need to tell you what would happen if they found his home as well as the Abnormals he cares for, do I?" Nope, nope she didn't. "I'd say more, but the best person to ask would be Rinjiin himself. Now then, go do me proud, dear. Just like you always do."

Nodding at that, Nico thanked luck that Helen wasn't here to see what effect the fact that she was proud of him, always had been, had on him. He didn't get a chance to tell her everything he wanted, like his DPU powers or his revelation about his other side, but those could wait. For as he closed the call and the headphones vanished while his Bracer switched to it's default screen, Nico checked the list he got from her seconds later. He saw that the Void Module, Liberator and Oppressor were his to keep along with his new Skimmer. Speaking of which, he looked his new Skimmer and a thought crossed his mind. 'Say, Biko, how does this 'desecration' ability work again…?'

* * *

Deep within his being...

A pair of eyes opened within an empty void, blazing like the flames of hell.

Now.. now was the time for it to awaken.

It's master would be pleased.

* * *

Back out in the night, Biko made to answer the main aspect's question, when suddenly he froze. Biko's brow began to sweat, an uncomfortable churning swirling within his gut like a whirlpool. The most important thing though, was that he felt something akin to strings being thrummed within the Inner World. His eyes widened as he realized what that meant. Something he had neglected to mention in favor of other matters. 'D-Damnit... looks like I got careless

 **'Nico, quick, brace yourself!'**

His startled response raced through their link, carrying along more panic than he would have liked through the link, succeeding in it's task of surprising the male. It was so good at its work that it threw the teen for a complete loop, not just from the volume but the sheer timing of it. Biko rarely lost his composure, so something must be wrong, Nico figured. 'Huh? What do you-'

THUMP!

'Ugh-!'

Before Nico could finish his question, he gasped, eyes shooting wide open as he clutched his head with both hands while looking down with his eyes tightly shutting, kneeling on one leg like a knight. His heart thumped rapidly within the confines of his rib-cage, going erratic in it's heartbeat that each one felt like a megaton earthquake. He groaned and grunted, pain assaulting his senses like nobody's business. His head burned like acid, while also threatening to split in two and shower everything around him in it's contents. He could hardly think straight, as pain assaulted every cell in his body, which felt like it was being boiled within a bowl of fiery hot magma. Pretty soon, practically everything screamed in pure pain, way worse than when he was being burned alive by that Demon Prince.

The teen fell onto his side seconds later, the pain being too much for his body to handle with the little support it had. The teen groaned and growled in agony, yet his screams remained contained by sheer willpower alone, yet it felt so close to shattering under the terrible onslaught while he rolled about on the ground. If anyone were to come across him while on a merry stroll right now, they would see someone looking like they were being tortured by a thousand tormentors.

'Wh-What's... going on... Biko...?!'

 **'Just keep calm and whatever you do, do NOT fall unconscious! Your mind is already 80% there, but you need to stop it from reaching 100%!'**

If it were possible, the pain got even greater in intensity after Biko said that. He struggled even harder to not scream while his body felt like it was being set alight by a full powered Hellfire blast. he forcefully vomited blood onto the ground, coughing, gasping and panting heavily with each motion sending painful throbbing throughout his entire body. In addition, things got worse for him as Nico could see the black darkness creeping onto the edges of his vision. He could feel his body try to shut down to block out the intense pain, to relieve itself of this nightmare and slip into the sweetness of oblivion. Yet, despite the powerful urges to just give in and accept his fate, Nico refused this, he refused to let this pain overtake him. The male's own nature refused to allow him to give in, and thus he fought back with everything he had.

Gritting his teeth, the male began to fight back against this pain. Gradually, Nico pushed the pain backwards like he was an army fighting an uphill battle, forcing the haziness assaulting his vision when he opened his eyes to recede as well as the black dots. He could feel the cold hands of blissful sleep lose their grip on him as he used his willpower to forcefully pry them from his being. This had the side effect of making him feel the pain infinitely worse since his senses, which had been dulled during that moment of weakness thanks, sharpen back to the levels they usually were at, but Nico didn't care. He refused to let this pain take him, he fucking goddess damned refused!

Whilst in this mental and physical war with his own body, the teen thought back to his conversation with his mother, the first time that he had felt like a decent son in a long ass time. She had sounded so happy, happier than he had heard her sound in such a long time. It made him realize just how bad a son he had been, making her worry like that. It made him feel so disgusted with himself. She may be his mentor, his superior in the Spec Ops community, but he had forgotten one important detail about her: out of everything she was to him, a mother was what she considered most important. How would she feel if she found out that he had bent over to a little ass pain?

Nope, not fucking happening.

Time passed, but Nico had no concept of time or perception at this point, despite battling against the urge to lose consciousness. So, he remained unaware of how he was now kneeling on both legs like the Japanese sitting position bending his upper body down towards the ground like he was bowing before someone. He held himself by wrapping his arms around his stomach like it was about to burst, drool sliding down his open mouth and chin before dripping onto the ground below. Around him, his demonic power flared as its usual living flame-like demeanor, burning the very oxygen itself with its infernal blaze. Yet, this time, the flaming energy seemed much more volatile than usual... also, the top part of the aura seemed to oddly resemble a snout... a draconian snout before it vanished into a fiery aura once more.

Then, the pain began to move, like it was a living organism, gathering into the center of Nico's body while also increasing its potency. So, instead of it being all over him, it now had gathered it's influence directly where it would do the most damage as his body howled in pure agony. Yet, the male refused to scream, he refused to let this pain win as he remained in the position described before. It drew itself inwards, becoming more and more like a heavy painful weight, like that torture device where someone places concrete slabs on the victim while they are forced to sit Japanese style on a spiky surface. The energy around him also acted the same way, receding inward till it was merely covering him just above his skin and shaped like his form. The energy then gathered to the center of his back, right where the pain was originating from.

In that moment, Nico gasped as he felt something 'split' inside him, and he fell to the ground, something having risen upwards and split from his being. He couldn't see what it was due to planting his face into the dirt, but when it split from him it took all the pain with it. That brought a huge wave of relief to the male, as evident by the heavy breathing which felt increasingly controlled by the minute. His lungs desperately drunk in as much oxygen as their capacity could take, rushing like frantic doctors in a hospital trying to save a patient going into critical condition, before pushing it into his body once more. Whelp, this little experience had stopped him from sleeping anytime soon, Nico knew this for a FACT. He doubted he would ever sleep again with that kind of pain reminding him, as well as the fighting he had to do to keep himself conscious as Biko said.

'Wh...Whew... looks like... I did it... whatever I did.' the male thought to himself, content to just lay there and rest his body from that experience. A good chunk of his reserves had been taken from him, by what he didn't know. But once he got some time to regain his bearings, Nico would make sure whatever it was didn't threaten him or any of the surroundings.

When he finally felt strength return to his limbs, the male decided to pry some information out of his Demon Persona. Before he went through all that bullshit, Biko seemed like he knew something was about to happen, and if that was the case he wanted to know what the fuck just happened. 'Okay, Biko, WHAT was that just now? One moment i'm all fine and dandy, the next i'm literally throwing up blood worse than Jeff Golblum... IN THE FREAKING FLY' he thought sarcastically. Hey, he just gone through a whole load of shit, so give him some slack.

 **'Apologies, I hadn't the chance to tell you. I would have normally, but to explain what happened, remember the egg I showed you?'**

Taking a few more deep breaths, more for emotional support if anything, Nico made to shout again when he remembered that Egg. Well, at first he had no clue what the demonic aspect was talking about, but then he had flashbacks to his guy time with Aiden and Ivan after the Mojang Village incident. THAT must have been the Egg that Biko was referring to, then. It was the only other Egg he could think of that Biko would attribute to this. His eyes widened, then narrowed into slits as an idea popped into his head. 'Yeah, I remember... what, was that thing responsible?'

 **'All I will say is look behind you.'**

Nico arched a brow at this, but decided to do so anyways. Slowly, he attempted to get onto is feet, however the male soon began to stumble, his legs too weak to support him right now. The male cursed himself under his breath, something he did quite a lot given his mindset, as he prepared to meet the ground once more.

However...

SWOOSH!

Just before he could, something slid beneath the male and wrapped around his gut, preventing him from meeting the ground a second time for tea and cookies. Nico lightly gasped in surprise at this, noting the fleshy feeling around his gut that seemed to be the source of this. Slowly, he looked down to see what it was that was holding him, only to see what looked like some sort of appendage holding him. It then lifted him back onto his feet, using itself as a means of stabilizing him till he could walk on his own. Once that was made known, the appendage retracted behind him to the one wielding it, allowing Nico to turn around ad look upon...

A Dragon.

A mother fucking, freaking DRAGON.

'Holy...' Nico thought, shock not even beginning to describe the emotions running rampant in him right now. There, standing before him was a Dragon-class Abnormal that he had NEVER seen before in his freaking life. He doubted anyone had, even, given this thing's appearance. The Abnormal had the appearance of a typical dragon, he noted, basically consisting of a snout, a long neck, a main body sporting 2 arms, 2 reverse-jointed hind legs, 2 large wings and a long ass Tail. However, that was where the rather... wicked, grotesque features the Abnormal had took over.

The Snout looked to have been made from this dark blackish hardened sinew shaped like a snout, reshaping into a series of spikes protruding upwards out the back like some form of crest. There were more claw-like spikes protruding from the middle of its snout while the snout's tip had multiple fang-shapes spikes protruding downwards. The snout contained a lipless maw of razor sharp, blade-like teeth, while the snout sported a pair of hollow, crimson eyes. Eyes that blazed like the Hellfire Nico commanded. It even had more spikes coming down from the back of the head to the start of it's long neck.

Speaking of said body-part, the long neck it was attached to consisted of a mix, a mix of sinister, twisted crimson flesh and a black organic material shaped like Armour. The length of the neck seemed to be that of 2 greatswords stacked on top of each other. The neck's flesh almost looked like it had once been something else, but then something foreign and evil corrupted and twisted it into its current form.

Moving along, the body seemed to match the design of the neck, a mix of corrupted flesh and dark black chitinous Armour, covering most of the body for protection, though Nico wasn't too sure how it would work in defending it from attacks. Hell, he could clearly see that it had no 'skin' at all, just this demonic red muscle layer and the Armour itself. The body had 6 limbs, the forearms which looked to be covered by the Armour more, and ended in several long, equally wicked looking talons that looked like they could rip through concrete. Both forearms were quite long, and their talons rivaled the lengths of shortswords. Next, were the legs, which also had a heavier focus on the twisted-looking Armour, being reverse jointed so it could jump higher. They each ended in similar talons too, so they could serve as secondary weapons. From it's upper back, protruded it's wings, and holy shit they were HUGE! They had a large enough size to make flight possible, consisting of blackened bone and demonic, twisted crimson webbing that was tattered near the bottom.

Lastly, was the Tail, an appendage that easily looked about 14 feet long with sharp, jagged spikes at both the base pointing downwards, and around the Tail's tip for stabbing. That Tail he realized was what had been holding him beforehand, and he had to do something he rarely did these days: thank his other side for giving him stronger skin, cause that thing looked like it hurt.

'HAH, YOU'RE WELCOME, KING!'

Ignoring the crazy voice in his head, Nico looked up into the Dragon's eyes. It almost felt like he could let himself get lost in it's soul-piercing gaze as it stared down at him, silent yet deadly. Nico didn't however, simply due to the fact that he could sense that this creature held TREMENDOUS power. Demonic power coursed through its body in large quantities, and its reserves didn't seem to be too small either. In fact, it almost had enough energy to match his own reserves. Yet, he could feel a lot more power hidden within this being...

Almost immediately, Nico felt like he was staring at a lion, just like with the Teostra. The reason? He could sense strong pride and self-confidence in this creature. It stood tall and proud, like a knight or someone who knew how to win any battle it came across. It felt like a challenge for him as the apex predator, the top of the food chain. Nico wanted to beat it, to dominate it and show it that he was the top predator in this jungle. Part of Nico, the part that enjoyed the thrill of a life or death fight, even wanted to unleash his power on it just to see what the outcome would be.

 **'If you did that, then you will destroy this entire area, Nico.'**

The words of Biko cut into his thoughts, breaking him from those urges and settling them down for the time being. Surprise briefly formed on his face before he calmed down, taking a deep breath to further settle his predatory instincts. He could even hear his inner beast whining about not getting a chance to shine, but he ignored it. '... you have a point, Biko. Predatory instincts aside, what the heck is this thing, and where did it come from?'

 **'You may call this an 'Archdemon', Nico, for that was the species name this being chose upon birth. If you want to compare, think of it like the Chaos Gods and their Demon** **Hierarchy** **, they have demon princes, then greater demons, lesser demons then finally human followers. This Archdemon is like the Demon Prince the 'Nico' religion.' **

When he heard that, Nico arched a brow. He may have only made a comparison, but the displeasure in his gut for being compared to the Chaos Gods, beings whom have done some pretty fucked up shit to humanity, was a little over the 'large' category. Biko sensed this through their link, so he quickly made to explain before Nico could bust a vein. He did have the tendency to not take it lightly when people weren't giving answers quickly. He too shared that affinity.

 **'The Archdemon here will be one of your Demon Princes, a deity whom will serve you for eternity. Since there is a lot of information, I will send it to you like I did with Soul Edge. Be ready.'**

Nico quickly nodded, closing his eyes. He had found that whenever Biko did a transfer of information like the one he intended right now, the best way for it to have caused the least amount of headaches afterwards was to cover one or more of his senses. Once his eyes were closed, the stream of info soon came pouring in He could tell because the male got the feeling of rushing water going through his brain.

* * *

 **Archdemons**

The Archdemons are powerful beings, beings which are able to go toe to toe with other DPUs and Demon Princes. Their large size allows them to perform significant feats of strength, their speed is capable of reaching half Mach 1 on the ground but goes up to Mach 2 in the air, and they use a mix of their claws, fangs, demonic powers and Tails to attack their enemies. Archdemons are also capable of speech, or rather, speech through the mind when they mature, which is unseen outwardly as it is an internal process. This speech is significant to their abilities, as it allows them to function as the leading Demon Princes of Nico's armies. In addition, they are exceptionally intelligent, and are capable of forming intricate battle plans. They serve as a mix of Generals and Warriors in Nico's Armies.

 **Wings** – Their wings are large and strong enough that, despite the holes in them, can generate large gusts of wind that stun opponents for a short time, or knock aerial enemies flying out of the skies. A demonic energy empowered wind gust can even shatter large buildings.

 **Tails** – The Tails of Archdemons have the capacity to strike down large structures with their strength, and have special paralyzing venom imbued into their spikes, allowing these Tails to render opponents useless and to give the Archdemons a chance to finish them off. Depending on the target, this agent takes effect in different timeframes.

 **Demonic Power reserves** \- They have large reserves of demonic power, which helps them boost their innate regeneration from wounds. These reserves are large enough that they rival Nico's during the middle of the Leanbox Arc, but as he devours more and more souls his reserves become significantly greater than theirs. Not only do these reserves help them recover from wounds, but they enhance their attacks, defences, and can act as a fuel source for their larger attacks. These reserves are also capable of spawning Demons that serve it, and by extension Nico himself.

 **Soul eaters** – Like any Demon in existence, Archdemons have the ability to devour the souls of their victims, storing them inside their bodies in a prison of eternal torment. These souls fuel their evolution, boosting their powers and making them gods in their own right.

 **Immortality** – Archdemons are immortal, and cannot truly be killed. If they were to die, then they would release their energies as a violent explosion that takes their killer along with them, before these energies vanish to reform the Archdemon later.

 **Primordial flames** – What makes the Archdemons so threatening on the battlefield is that they have the ability to manipulate the Primordial flames, the very first flames that emerged from the dawn of creation. These flames form as pure dark blue flames that they breathe through their mouths, though in actuality it is generated from their reserves of Demonic power. These flames have many applications, which are the following:

· **Firestorms** – Archdemons can create dark blue firestorms, conflagrations of intense temperature, capable to incinerating any and everything in the path. The flames can come from any source of fire or heat, such as simple or magic flames or lava.

· **Fiery Rain** – Using their flames, the Archdemons can generate a fiery-type rain from the skies above them.

· **Droughts** \- Primordial flames have the power to cause draughts, periods of below-average precipitation in a given region, resulting in prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric, surface water or ground water.

· **Volcanic eruptions –** By sending primordial flames into the ground below them, Archdemons can create artificial volcanic eruptions that, depending on the power output, can rise up to the skies themselves, scarring the very atmosphere.

· **Shape manipulation** – Like Nico/Crimson Soul, Archdemons can create various shapes from their Flames, depending on the situation. They can use this ability offensively or defensively. For example they could combust and cover themselves in their flames to form a protective barrier that repels attackers.

· **Heat Manipulation** – Using their Primordial flames as a vacuum, Archdemons absorb heat from their surroundings, making other flame-based attacks useless on them. They can put out any fire due to the flames their bodies generate being the strongest flames. These flames can make certain areas hotter and cause beings to self-immolate, burning them to nothingness.

· **Existence destruction** – Thanks to their flames being the original, hottest flames in existence, any enemy killed by these flames loses not only their lives but their souls as well. Everything about them is erased, never to return. Demons and other beings that are immortal fear Archdemons for this ability, as their immortality is rendered useless against it.

· **Meteor generation** – Sending their flames into the air, similar to fiery rain, Archdemons can call down dark blue burning meteors to decimate their enemies. They can call for a small shower or a large storm of them, their size depending on their energy also.

 **Demon Creation** – Through ejecting 'pods' made from Demonic Power out of its body, the Archdemon can spawn Greater and Lesser Demons. These Demons are commanded by the Archdemons, who 'talk' to them via a Hivemind-like link. This link works in a similar manner to the ones Devil Arms have with their Hosts. With this link, the Archdemon commands entire hordes of Demons for the purposes of its master.

 **Astral Projection** – When an Archdemon has significant control over their powers, they will be able to invade the minds of other beings as long as they were of a weaker level than the Archdemon. When they invade a person's mind, they can use their powers to cause various mental conditions, up to turning people downright psychotic and deranged. Depending on what the demon does in their mindscapes, their inner worlds, the victims personality can completely change.

* * *

Soon enough, the information stream ended, allowing Nico to return to reality as he looked up to the Archdemon in front of him. A new light shone in his eyes as he stared at the, in his head, now magnificent creature. Sure it's appearance was on the rather... demonic side, but that didn't mean this creature wouldn't be a badass. Hell, if this information was true, then it would probably be even better than most on the battlefield.

The Archdemon looked down at him, their gazes locking together into an intense stare-down. The two lost themselves in their gazes, searching through them to find... whatever they wanted to find. A few moments passed, before they seemingly found what it was they were looking for, as the two of them snorted in unison, Nico having a slight smirk on his lips while the Archdemon released a wisp of dark blue primordial fire from it's snout, a sense of pride and respect radiating from it's being.

He''d call it primal fire for short

"Since you're going to be one of my forces, it would be appropriate to give you a proper name, right?" Nico questioned the Archdemon after a moment of silence, the creature's eyes shining with curiosity. It wondered what he would name it as, and didn't have to wait long to find out. "I got one. From now on, you will be known as... Urthemiel, the Archdemon of Leanbox." Nico proclaimed, holding his hand out and a ball of Hellfire roared into existence, it's orangish red flames rising high into the air as if proudly declaring this proclamation to be law. The Archdemon, now named Urthemiel, breathed a dark blue Primal Firestream into the air, too, gleeful acceptance travelling through their link to the male who gave a dark grin. His eyes shone with malice and sinister intent... intent for his enemies that is.

Those fools wouldn't know what hit them.


	107. Chapter 104 - Skies End Attack

**Chapter 104 - Skies End Attack**

That following morning, Nico and Rinjiin worked some more under the watchful eyes of the Teostra, on the Dragon Ship. They had gotten most of the electronics and hydraulics within the ship replaced, now all they needed to do was to repair the Dragon Ship's outer shell. Seeing the damage again today, even though a lot of it had been repaired yesterday with the help of draining the residue Electricity via Alastor, Nico ad to once again appreciate the amount of damage a Devil Arm could be capable of. Though, Biko did comment how the Devil Arms powers are only as good as their wielders.

The male himself stood atop the dragon's head, dressed like a mechanical engineer with their signature jumpsuits with rolled back sleeves, bright jackets, construction helmets and gloves with some tools and other bits of equipment used for mending hulls. The male looked like he was hard at work, hammering away at a new piece of armour that would be it of this section of the ship. Rinjiin himself was taking care of the middle section, but unlike Nico he was working at a much faster rate due to having more experience with this ship's layout. Even now, the male could hear the sounds of construction equipment running like no tomorrow as Rinjiin worked tirelessly for his goal.

He had to hand it to the man, he sure took good care of this vessel. It might as well have been a second child to him, at this point. He guessed this came from having so much experience piloting it, using it to keep harmful beings whether they were Abnormal or Human, from his little sanctuary. Nico still didn't fully grasp the concept of a Spec Ops Agent, the enemy of all Abnormals, suddenly going 'oh I'm gonna live in a nest of dragon Abnormals!' but he figured that the saying 'to each their own' applied here.

That saying would be abused like hell if Neptune were around…

His thoughts drifted to the girls in the Party while he worked, and a soft sigh escaped his lips. He had only been away from them for a day, and already he was beginning to miss them like a housewife wanting her husband to finally come home from his trip across the continent. Seriously, was this what would happen to him in the future if he was married or some shit? Seriously, he really needed to stop being so wimpy. He could last a while away from those girls, yep that was so within his power.

 **'I am not sure; however, I do believe that the #insert whip sound# applies here…'**

'SNICKER…'

'You two shut up…!'

Wiping his brow, Nico released a slight 'whew' from his lips, as he looked upwards towards the skies. The next thing Nico knew, he was putting a hand over his brows to shield them from the morning sun rays. The skies of Skies End would rarely part ways to expose the sun, as Rinjiin had once told him, but today was one of those rare days, so they were currently busy working their asses off under the sun. A goo thing that it took a lot more than sun to make him sweaty. He'd been trained in various fields of weather conditions by his mother, so things like this were nothing for him.

"We're doing good work here, boy~!" Rinjiin called out from his spot, having stopped the equipment to yell up at the male. He too wore some construction worker's outfit, though instead of a helmet he still wore his Chinese style hat. "Just a few more patches here and we'll have the lower section of the Ship to do. We'll do that together!"

Nico yelled "Got it!" right back at him, before the two resumed working as the sounds of heavy-duty machinery resonated throughout the island. Neither of them had much fear that he Hatchlings would be disturbed by the noise, as Rinjiin had informed them that they were quite deep sleepers. Plus, Teo used his body to cover the cave entrance in order to block out the sounds from entering and disturbing their beauty rest.

'Heh, this stuff, now that I think about it… is pretty relaxing… even with the threat looming above us.' He thought to himself while going back to his work. It made his muscles work on something other than training, which was an interesting piece of life experience for him. Mentally, Nico wondered if he could find some areas back at Leanbox that wee under construction, maybe take a Quest one might have submitted to the Guild. He'd like to see what it would be like to actually build something instead of destroying everything… even though he was geared towards that very purpose.

Last night, after he had Urthemiel created and brought into the world, Nico had little time to get some sleep. This was due to him being kept awake from the experience of actually creating his first monster, not something he had expected to happen to him in hindsight. Hell, he could only IMAGINE how people would react if they found out that one of their better Agents had the ability to create his own monstrous minions like this. He could imagine the nobles gaining a lot more support against the Spec Ops Program, while other Agents would be ore afraid of him, maybe even amass in groups to try and kill him.

That had happened more than once before, though aside from one time they were merely a bunch of jealous weaklings who wanted to have a go at one of the girls from Team RAIL or had been dumped by ONE of them (you know wo he was talking about). Though, he didn't see why they would have to target him, they KNEW they wouldn't be able to best him. Maybe they thought he had been weaker than those two girls because his reputation wasn't as big as theirs?

Those were his thoughts at the time, before he decided to 'show' them just who they pissed off…

Helen had a lot of work that day regarding hospital calls.

Still, it showed that the spirit of the Spec Ops Agents was not what it once was. No, thanks to the world being what it was, it had become diluted by horny idiots who thought that just being one of them meant that they were the shit. It's something that disappointed the 'real' Agents who took this job as seriously as they did. That was mostly why Helen didn't have that many people to train (aside from the rumours-which were true BTW first and experience here-of her brutal training methods) these days.

Back to Urthemiel, he had the Archdemon hide itself shortly after its birth, so that people weren't aware of it's existence as of yet. He had only just met Rinjiin, and while he seemed connected to his mother in some way, he still didn't see that as trustworthy material. Thus, when the man questioned him the following morning if anything strange had happened (as apparently some of the dragon Hatchlings and Teo had been woken from their nap by Urthemiel's demonic powers. He mentally noted to make sure that any future Archdemons would be birthed in seclusion, so this didn't happen again) he hadn't told him of its existence.

All he said that some stray Abnormals had been sighted and their roars were what scared them. They didn't come close enough to be a threat, so Nico had let them be.

Then, aside from his Skimmer receiving some upgrades via Desecration, and how he had his hidden weapon clean up the remains of his blood, leaving no evidence of the incident last night, Nico had spent the last portion of the night training with Biko. Training… in his new powers that is.

One of the things they trained in was the Bone that they had attached to Nico's leg. Apparently, it had been an external addition, so Biko wasn't able to equip it himself whenever Nico had it equipped. This Bone, they had decided to see what it was by practicing tapping into its powers like that Butcher demon could, then using them against some of the monsters in the Desert section of his Inner world.

Biko had told him once about that, actually, how those Monsters were beings born from his own cognition, beings that only take proper form when he wanted them to. They were actually part of his monster creation ability, if he gave them enough power, a form to take, then expelled them from him, he would have been able to create an army of Abnormal-type monsters to serve him. Though, due to his occupation, awareness and power levels, Nico hadn't been able to do that until now.

Apparently, being a Candidate for the role of DPU meant that he had an Inner World the whole time, ever since he first took breath in this world, but he was never aware of it due to being unable to access it. On the flip side, he wouldn't have been able to anyways, due to it having lacked the proper solid form that it did now. If he had tried, then it would have just pushed him out again or at least shown him nothing but a hazy, empty void.

Not to be confused by his own nightmares, THEY were a whole new set of worms.

In any case, Nico and Biko tested out the Bone on those monsters while they tried to have the two for lunch. They did this due to reflecting an aspect of his personality called 'recklessness', though there was much more to that which he dared not mention, as Biko had once told him. For the sake of the experiment, Nico had refrained from using anything except is demonic energy to empower his CQC Skills, and the Bone itself, against these mental Monsters.

Those tests yielded some… interesting results.

One, this Bone had the ability to empower his regeneration by quite a bit, at least 25% if what they had estimated was any indication. This ability seemed o be a constant, as if it were constantly active whenever it was summoned. That power increase may not seem like much, but when Demonic Energy was applied to his healing, it gave him a 20% boost in healing. So, an extra 5% would be more than welcome. In addition, it would boost his healing so that if he were to get hit by a Ghoul's Kagune, then he would heal like it was an ordinary wound.

He'd call this ability BODY ARMING from then on.

Second was the ability he had seen the Butcher use on him and his comrades a few times back in their battle, an ability he had coined 'VORACIOUS EATER'. The ability to Devour any form of offense, be it physical, mental, or any sort of energy. This would result in the energy being converted to Nutrients and then added to his own body, making him stronger and sustaining him. Seemed like a far cleaner way of hunting for food than the method he applied 'before'.

It truly seemed like an ability that was like many of his powers, versatile in that it devoured anything in it's path. The only downside was that, thanks to their tests, it was confirmed that the Bone could only devour a varied amount of power, depending on the difference between the enemy's mental strength and his own. There was no fixed amount of power that would be guaranteed to be absorbed, sorta limiting the Bone's potential a bit. Maybe they could do some training on mental resistance, it would help him resist the hormones that were starting to awaken, too now that he thought about it.

Lastly, was one useful power that he discovered from this Bone. An ability that involved the Bone stealing something from the enemy and sealing that something within itself. That something, upon further research, had been a Skill, as in one of those Skills that were the foundation for the Hyperdimension. It's mechanics seemed to revolve around sealing the Skill that the enemy uses most, for example if a foe used a raged Skill more often than others then this Bone would seal that Skill within itself. It only lasts about 10 minutes before the Skill is returned to its owner, and even then, it can only hold one Skill at a time. Despite these limitations, Nico could see the potential for this ability's use in fighting powerful Abnormals or other Agents and human enemies.

These three abilities were what that Bone was capable of, and whenever it was deployed he always got the feeling that something came out with it. He didn't know what it was, but hee felt like it was something deeply interwoven within the Bone's essence, something that he wouldn't truly understand for a long time. Still though, since they knew what the bone could do, that it could be transferred to another when the original wielder dies, and these tests confirmed it to be harmless too, then they could start training in its usage in battle. Nico had to train this thing, so that eh knew how he could use it in battle as the Bone still took too long (in his eyes) to summon.

Still, the fact that they had things to train in made him realize that he had a LONG way to go in the path of the monster.

"Say, kid!"

When the male heard Rinjiin's voice and pulled himself from those thoughts, Nico turned to see Rinjiin starting on another section of the ship, but had paused his work to come over to him. "You need something, sir?" he asked the older man.

Rinjiin waved a hand dismissively at the professional tone and response that the teen just gave. "No need for formalities here, son. We're not even on the mainland, nor does the Spec Ops Community know you're here. Essentially, you've disappeared from their eyes." He told him, to which Nico frowned but could see the logic. This place was after all a part of uncharted areas, so it would make sense that the Spec Ops Community wouldn't know of this place. Hell, he doubted anyone aside from impending mercenaries, Rinjiin, Helen and now himself knew of this place. "Anyways, I just wanted to ask you something. How's Helen faring these days?"

"Mom?" Nico questioned, arching a brow, getting a nod from the man. For a moment, Nico pondered on what to say to this question, his natural sense of distrust rising through his mind quicker than an Olympic athlete. He wondered what to tell him, while also searching his body visually for any signs of ulterior motives. Wen someone asked him about his mother, Nico would admit that he was maybe a TAD overprotective of her (nearly tore a guy in half for referring to her as a MILF in front of him). Se had done a lot for him after all, and he had just shown himself that he could be a better son to her last night.

That… sounded weird, in his head.

In any case, the teen didn't see any signs of ulterior motives, just curiosity about how an old friend of his was doing. It was with this knowledge, that Nico begrudgingly responded to his question. "She's doing fine, she works as the head of the WDD now, as a retired Agent though she keeps her skills up. I think she might be getting some grey hairs soon though, and not because of her age." He explained, reminiscing about past times. He remembered all the shit she had to put up with from supervising Spec Ops Entrance Exams, attending to the arrogant higher ups, pausing many men's advances on her by showing her ring then beating the hell out of them if they still persist, she was a busy woman. Incidentally, he could imagine how relieved she must be right now to finally get a break from all that with her meeting her friends in a pub for a drink.

When he looked back to the man after pausing his trip down memory lane (something he rarely did regarding his mother thanks to current times) Nico noticed that the man looked quite amused, if the way hi lips were shaped was any indication. He soon got his reason why though, when Rinjiin released a bitter chuckle. "Ah yes, I see. I figured something like that was why she wasn't an Agent anymore. You wouldn't believe how shocked I was when I found that out."

"Wait, you didn't know she was retired?"

"Nah, I live mostly in isolation with my babies here. Last time I heard from her was when she helped me disappear from the Mainland. I only managed to get in contact with her again recently, and even then, she told me not to do so unless extremely necessary for risk of being found again. Just in case my would be 'assassins' tried to make a repeat performance." Rinjiin replied, shaking his head afterwards as a scowl appeared on his lips. "Looks like that may be happening now, though."

Nico may have kept a straight face at that, but internally was a different story. He felt a stab of guilt pierce his being since he was the cause of this new vulnerability tat the man had. He may be atoning for that mistake, that misunderstanding between both sides, but Nico sill felt the responsibility lay on his shoulders. "Yeah, apologies for that…"

"No need, I thought you to be suspicious and attacked first." Rinjiin responded dismissively, waving it off. "Besides, we both have some trust issues, don't we?" Now THAT caught Nico's attention as he looked to the man in moderate surprise. Rinjiin's eyes twinkled as he gave a knowing look to the teen. "You forget, I was a Spec Ops Agent too, you know. I can tell when someone is distrustful of others, and you reek of it. More so than the average person, borderline paranoia." Rinjiin explained, a worried frown soon crossing onto his lips. "You son are just one step away from falling into a pit of madness from which there is no escape from."

His ominous words gave a long, awkward tension to the air like a child getting a present that wasn't really fit for their character. However, Nico made sure it didn't last long as he looked back down at the hole in the head section he had just finished repairing. "Even so, I shall not deviate from my path. We Spec Ops are meant to be as monstrous as possible, so we can survive against the other monsters that want to rip us open like banana peels. You should know this, Rinjiin. More than anyone." He responded, scowling. His eyes shone like flames, though they didn't have any demonic power of power from his other side rushing through them at the moment. "We Spec Ops are nothing but monsters fighting other monsters. We don't just stare into the abyss till it looks back at us, we jump into it and drown ourselves in it. That's why, it doesn't matter if I'm becoming more and more insane. Insanity is part of the Spec Ops lifestyle."

Looking at him now, Rinjiin winced as he saw the pure malice, darkness and rage in those light blue orbs. Those emotions almost destroyed all traces of light, of humanity, in his eyes just then, sending shivers down his spine. 'Geez, just what has this kid seen? How does one so young have such a twisted, distorted view of the world?' the man wondered, a spark of pity forming in his chest. Though he didn't show or say anything about it. 'If a kid as young as him is like this… then this world really is fucked up beyond imagining…' he thought. "Even so, every Spec Ops has the right to walk away, to dispose of their armour and live a happy life."

"That's where you're wrong, Rinjiin." Nico responded sharply, almost catching the man by surprise with the edge he had to his tone. "Even if we were somehow able to retire, there will always be people who will try to kill us, to do us harm either directly or through those closest to us. To them, we are no different than those we fight. They don't see that we are only like this because we do the shitty work that they don't have the guts to. They lie, cheat and try to steal from us, even though we're their greatest defence against the Abnormals, monsters that normal Agents can't handle on their own. In essence, we are always fighting, Helen sometimes faces off against assassins trying to end her for large grudges held against her by her enemies. I have to be aware of my surroundings constantly so that assassins don't get the drop on me. At least Abnormals operate on instinct, we can't blame them for that. But us humans…?" The male didn't realize it, but he had just gone on a rant for goddess knows how long, something that he didn't do that often. Was this a result of his hormones or demonic powers? Nevertheless, Nico ignored it for the time being. When he finally paused his rant, the male took a minute to catch his breath, before he spoke once more in a softer, resigned tone that carried immense weight behind it, more so than any guy his age should. "Sometimes, we humans are the greatest monsters, we just put Masks over ourselves to hide it."

As the kid before him ranted, Rinjiin could only feel more and more worry for the kid's mental state. The way he spoke just now, the pure hatred and self-loathing that overflowed through each syllable that left his tongue, it detailed a powerful darkness within the kid. A nightmarish being that fed and fed on whatever negative experiences he had. A being that constantly loomed over him, shadowing him, cloaking him in a cloak of death, despair, and madness, whispering into him thoughts of just ripping people apart for no good reason. A darkness that had been festering for a long time, he guessed, a darkness that was toxic, dangerous and unhealthy for him to have. It ripped, tore away and shredded through him daily, constantly driving him closer towards tipping over the edge. It threatened to consume his mind, body and soul at the smallest opportunity like a hungry devil, making it so that he walked on a thin tightrope between sanity and madness. Who knows how many times life has nudged him over the wrong side, from what he was sensing the kid had seen a LOAD of horrific shit in his lifetime, things that no teenager should have seen.

All of that, Rinjiin could see swirling through Nico's darkened irises. He probably didn't even notice this himself, he was that far gone. Either that, or he didn't care or someone had conditioned him to think this way. If he was a betting man, Rinjiin would bet on the third option.

It worried him, it worried Rinjiin immensely, cause it felt like the kid would snap at any moment. He didn't even feel like a human anymore, just a rabid animal one second away from going on a blood rage. Even from afar, Teo could sense the negativity radiating from Nico right now, and while he had his body tensed to leap at any slightest attack, Rinjiin recognized that it too had concerns.

He would have opened his mouth to say something, when he saw something else inside his eyes, a faint white flicker. A flicker of light, a flicker of resistance against the madness. His heart almost leapt at that, pulling desperately at it in his mind so that he knew it wasn't just him getting his hopes up. "That's… well, I guess I can't disagree with you there, this is a perfect example of your… analogy." Rinjiin slowly tried to say, hopefully the kid wouldn't rip off his arm. Judging from their battle, the kid had killed before and was pretty damn good at it. "But, even if we are all monsters like you say, we at least have to pretend that we have some form of humanity. If not for ourselves, but for those we consider precious. Do you have anyone like that?"

"Those we… consider precious…?" Nico reiterated, frowning once more as the darkness within his eyes swirled like a whirlpool. Almost taking away the light of life in those irises of his. But, before the darkness could completely take hold, Rinjiin nearly audibly exclaimed a sigh of relief when he saw the tension fade away from the kid, his shoulders slouching from their previous tense positions as a soft fondness formed in his brightening eyes. "Yeah… I guess I do…"

A smile had formed, taking all onlookers by storm.

That smile on his lips, Rinjiin had never seen a smile so full of fondness, of joy and happiness, before on another being. Even Teo had a look of surprise, as it hadn't expected Nico to be even capable of. The male in question chuckled as memories of his comrades formed in his mind, comrades that he considered precious. "I guess you could say I have precious comrades… A Party I'm in full of people whom make my world just that little bit brighter. You could say that they are some of the few good things in this world that are left." He told the man.

He may have said it in the past, wasn't too sure, but Nico once again couldn't stress enough how glad he was that he was with Neptune and the others. They may have caused some 'changes' in him as of recent times, they may drive him up the wall sometimes with their antics. Yet, Nico could never eve think of not wanting to have met them. Not just Compa, all of them were like lights to his darkness, they were the reason why he had begun to retrain in his other side after all. He had literally returned from the jaws of death, just so he could help them beat Arfoire that one time. He risked a LOT for those girls, so it would be safe to say that they were what kept him sane, kept him from falling off the cliff into the world of madness.

The male honestly couldn't or rather didn't want to, imagine a life where he hadn't met the girls.

Pretty sure the world wouldn't want to, either.

 **'While I am sure this talk is developing the story's lily ranks between you and your new friend, I believe it is time to put this on hold. Reason: Look up.'**

Biko's words were like that sudden halting of the music by the DJ when he slips up. Nico swore that he actually heard a sound like that echo from somewhere, but quickly dismissed when he sensed an abundance of malice nearby. His eyes widened in shock, horror and surprise when he saw several large figures appear from behind the clouds, large enough to register as a threat against the island. Alarm bells rang through his mind when the figures pushed through the clouds which parted like when curtains were being drawn.

Those figures soon revealed themselves to be... Zeppelins. Large ones at that.

'What… the fuck…?'

That was all Nico could think as he, along with a stunned Rinjiin, looked up towards the Zeppelins as they closed in at significant speeds. Teo growled and slowly stood up on all fours, trembling as if trying to restrain itself from leaping into the skies to combat the approaching enemy.

Each Zeppelin looked quite… primitive in structure, like they had been hastily assembled with weak supports, dishevelled looking frames, and worn-looking propellers. Yet, this primitive design actually enhanced their intimidating appearance, as they looked to have the skulls of large Abnormals, as in really large Skulls, placed over their Noses with shining searchlights for eyes, sharp maws etc. The loud sounds of propellers swishing through the air filled their ears, breaking the two men from their transfixed states.

"Oh shit, looks like those assholes have come earlier than expected!" Nico cursed as he stepped off the Dragon Vessel. The male landed on the ground, bending his knees slightly before he took a few steps forwards, gritting his teeth while narrowing his eyes at the approaching enemies. He knew that they wouldn't be able to use it, its repairs were yet to be completed. It would most likely be useless to them during this battle, he figured, which meant they had only him, Rinjiin, Teo, and Urthemiel to fend off the invasion. Before he could do more, a large vortex of emotion hit him hard in the head, making Nico nearly jump at the suddenness, though he soon calmed himself when he felt that it was his Archdemon that was the cause. Judging by these signs, he felt like it wanted to fight, to showcase it's powers to him.

Looked like it would be getting its wish soon enough.

Rinjiin scowled at the various Zeppelins, his eyes focusing on what seemed to be the lead vessel with unhindered discontent. His fists were clenched, teeth gnashed together as his emotions reached a boiling point the more that he looked at these things. "I know these guys…" he spat, drawing Nico's attention as the Agent regarded him with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "They're the Merc Raiders. They hunt down exotic goods and sell them on the Black Market. I had more than a few run-ins with these pests in the past." He explained, his eyes aflame with fury while Teo got beside him, growling in equal anger. It held a wing around him in a protective manner, showing how possessive the Abnormal was over something it considered its own.

 **'Nico… Judging by how much malice I sense from him; this man seems to have a personal grudge against these 'Merc Raiders'. I sense that he has a significant history with them…'**

The teen nodded his head in agreement with his Demon Persona's words. He had sensed it too, using his affinity for negative emotions, the teen had sensed a lot of malice and killing intent within Rinjiin when he spoke those words. Those weren't the only emotions he sensed though, he could sense deep pain, betrayal, resentment, and a whole array of complex feelings just bursting at the seams. It would make sense for Biko to assume that this guy had a history with these people.

Glaring up at the Zeppelins, the teenage Spec Ops Agent scowled, barely resisting the urge to don his Armour on the spot. Nico was also aware of these Merc Raiders, they were a tribe of Leanbox Bandits that scoured the Nation, raiding settlements and stealing their resources, technologies, and their crews. For the males, they would be either executed on the spot or used as slaves if they didn't join up with them. For the women… well, he didn't need to go any further with what he had already used to describe those scumbags, did he? Nico would have hunted them to extinction if he could, but in recent times they have been able to avoid detection by the authorities, almost as if they had been backed up by someone powerful. A rich Noble who had a use for them, most likely. Nico wouldn't have put it past those assholes to do something as rotten as protecting criminals as long as it served their own interests.

The two that came to mind would be either Yvoire, or Count Mott.

There were many others, but so far none of the others had done anything against them. However, judging by the testimony Stefan had given to his friend IF (whom had told him what had happened during the morning of yesterday), it seemed that the Count had some… investments with Maghda, and by extension the forces of Chaos. Or at least, he knew about them, that much was for certain based of Stefan's testimony. He may not trust men all that much, but there were exceptions, and Stefan was one of them.

True, it may seem a little fast, especially for someone like Nico whom was used to men being lying scumbags bar a few exceptions but consider the circumstances. When one fights with another on the battlefield, just by doing this back in the Hellverse Dungeon, it allows people to understand each other in ways that words would never do. Their battles back then, had shown him that the rumours about his family's honourable methods had some merit to them. That was enough for Nico to believe that man's words, and along with them, Count Mott had been doing some dirty dealings anyways with Mojang Village.

Just then, a loud, echoey voice resonated throughout the area, coming from the lead Zeppelin. It sounded like it was coming from a loud speaker or something similar, though the voice could still be considered masculine. "Been a while, hasn't it Rinjiin? Who knew you were in this backwater place, sitting atop a goldmine of fortune!" the voice bellowed through it's speaker. Nico figured it was masculine, and he trusted his senses enough for this to be the case.

It also confirmed that this voice and Rinjiin knew each other.

Especially when Rinjiin responded with fury rivalling the intensity of his weakened Hellfire while shaking a fist towards the Zeppelins. "It couldn't have been long enough you sick fucker! Leave this place alone, there's nothing that a money grabber like you would want to get your grubby mitts on!" he yelled, Teo roaring afterwards. Nico however, noticed the powers of fear and dread in the man's tone, something that he doubted the others would have noticed aside from Teo and possibly his Archdemon (Which was slowly making its way towards their position with the intent to spring into action the moment a golden opportunity presented itself).

"Oh, I beg to differ, old friend." The voice mocked back, laughing. It was as if that laugh was like some form of signal, the men realised. The reason: The Zeppelins all began brandishing weapons, as in Ballista along the main deck, drop pods for their payloads, as well as side cannons that looked horribly wicked. Both males gritted their teeth before they looked to each other and gave unified nods, looked like things would be getting dicey after this. "Tell me where those Hatchlings are, and I won't burn you down where you stand!"

… Okay, this guy was spouting nothing but pure unadulterated BULLSHIT right now. Bout time to correct him then, Nico thought to himself as he stepped forwards with a stride that felt so nostalgic and sickening at the same time. Rinjiin made to stop him, but one look from the younger male Spec Ops Agent made him stop any such attempts. He just froze at the sight of the kid's gaze, as he saw that same darkness he saw before return with a vengeance. In fact, it looked even more potent than before, with the promise of bloodshed and death being the sole chain that held it back.

Something about this kid had changed, and he didn't want to get in his way.

"You focus on repairing your vessel, Rinjiin." Nico stated with icy coldness in his tone, worse than any ice attack than Raven would have been able to create. The teen then turned to look up towards the Zeppelin fleet, his darkened eyes flashing with Demonic Power which began to manifest around him as well. His SP and Demonic Power reserves rose within him, like two hungry wolves eager to dine on a feast of flesh. "Me, I'll focus on holding the enemy off."

The first thing that registered in his mind when he heard that was: was this kid serious? Fighting an entire fleet of Zeppelins, outnumbered and outgunned. Not to be rude like or anything, but that sounded like a bad end just destined to happen. Rinjiin made to exclaim how ridiculous that plan was, as after all Nico may be powerful but he was still one man, a mocking laughter escaped the head Zeppelin's speaker and stopped him. "Hahahaha! How foolish, you think that you will be a match for me?! Me and my men?!" he sneered, several laughs coming from the background, also in mockery of Nico's 'suicide run' in their eyes.

Oh, how they would soon regret those words.

In response to this, Nico merely gained a dark smirk gradually, his eyes shining with predatory hunger as he gazed up towards the fleet. It was the kind of gaze which would give people nightmares for the rest of their lives, as well as befitted someone about to commit mass genocide. He raised his hand to the air, and called upon his strongest Devil Arm out of the many he had, the demonic and sinister form of Soul Edge manifesting in his hand through a vortex of Hellfire. instantly, the moment it came into being its PREDATOR ability activated, covering it with a crimson miasma while its eye shined brightly, like a single evil eye in the midst of a blackened abyss. Nico gripped it by it's blade, before pointing it towards his enemies while his smirk widened.

The moment that blade made an appearance, everyone looked taken aback by the sight of such a weapon. Rinjiin did a few spit takes, shock and dread rushing through his veins at the sight of the blade. Teo hissed and growled at the sword, its instincts telling it to NOT get anywhere NEAR that blade if it wanted to live past this battle. Hell, even though they couldn't see it completely due to the distance between them, the Speaker jolted at the monstrous presence the sword unleashed upon the surroundings. It was almost like the blade could affect the very atmosphere itself just with its presence alone. That damn eye which glared at the Fleet from Nico's position wasn't helping things either.

Though, he was not done, not by a long shot.

"Oh, believe me…" Nico began, chuckling like the demons that he hunted as he felt the potency of both his energy reserves rush through his system, empowering him and vitalizing him for combat. It felt like adrenaline, only a thousand times more effective, his eyes focusing on his targets with borderline predatory hunger. The close surroundings around him began to heat up from the demonic power he radiated as he put his hand on his Chest, activating his Armour Module, thus donning his Armour once more. When the male's Armour got revealed, it DEFINITELY got people's attention as, through his sensing negativity, Nico sensed some of the foes in those Zeppelins pissing themselves from fear. The combination of his Armour and Soul Edge DID give him a rather sinister, demonic knight impression. "I'm MORE than capable of ripping you assholes to shreds. This is just Tuesday for me, whom is experienced with fighting against large hordes of enemies. But, this time I'm… not exactly alone in this."

When he said that last bit, he said it with such a twisted, deadly vibe to it that it succeeded in giving everyone more shudders than a horde of stampeding Abnormals. It was like they could hear the sirens of death ringing loudly through the atmosphere, telling them that they would soon be guided (read: FORCED) over to the afterlife. He raised his free hand slowly into the air, drinking in the tension he could sense, before clicking his fingers and smirking devilishly behind his Helmet. Now, three, two, one…

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!"

Oh, if only he had a camera and were in the enemy's close vicinity, he would have loved to see and record their expressions when that roar came about. It would have been priceless, he thought to himself as he glanced behind him. His smirk turned into a full-blown grin behind his helmet while his eyes shone with wisps of hellfire, the ominous form of a certain Abnormal rising from its hiding place becoming visible. Hell, for him and Rinjiin, it blocked out the sunlight as if to say 'heads up boys, the boss is here' which could be seen as ironic considering the hierarchy between them.

Up above them, the massive, intimidating form of Urthemiel the Archdemon of Leanbox became visible, spreading its wings to their maximum lengths. Slowly lifting it's large neck, its eyes shone bright azure blue, narrowing into a wicked glare while it growled menacingly towards its' masters' enemies. The Wings almost had a sense of majestic impact to them, if it weren't for their true appearance, though soon enough people wouldn't have the ability to see them anymore. The reason: They were engulfed in Azure flames, the Primordial (or Primal, he would call them that anyways) Flames encasing their forms.

Accompanying this, was a large, twisted roar that echoed throughout the skies. It was a primal roar, one that established the presence of an apex predator in a large environment. If there were animals nearby, they would have scattered in fear, not wanting to be chowed down on by this carnivorous creature. Nico could sense the fear emanating from within the Mountain, Urthemiel's roar having disturbed and scared the Hatchlings with the power it emitted.

With these fiery wings, Urthemiel took to the skies like a bullet, going so fast that not even Nico could properly visualise its movements. The male even had a slightly wide-eyed expression behind his Helmet, while the Zeppelins became quick to respond. The Archdemon saw dozens upon dozens of long, sharp arrows flying through the air toward it, their tips laced with crackling green energy. However, to it they would be best served as toothpicks as its hide made them bounce off it harmlessly.

"Growl… ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!"

A low, glutaral growl escaped its snout at the pathetic attempts to hinder its advance. Foolish mortals would learn the truth of their folly with this next attack. The Archdemon reared its head back, and let out another roar, one that created a shockwave that ripped through the air without mercy. Any who had been too close would have had their eardrums shredded from the sheer volume, but instead it send the Zeppelins flying backwards a good 60 miles. Flaring its wings, Urthemiel released a large stream from those wings, easily capable of encasing an entire Zeppelin if it hit one.

"Oh shit! Mages, defensive barrier!"

FWOOSH!

As the Flames flew, in front of the main Zeppelin a massive magic circle, easily being a similar size to the Flames, manifested just seconds before it would have been too late. Not a millisecond later, the flames smashed into the barrier with massive force, rushing into it and bundling together while quickly making to devour the pesky Barrier without stopping. Long, thin streams of Azure flames arched past the barrier and the Zeppelins, illuminating and scorching the very air around them.

When the flames collided, the commander (the one who had been all taunting before) quickly saw that the barrier wouldn't hold, as he hadn't even gotten the chance to breathe again when he saw cracks immediately forming on the barrier. Those flames, they weren't the ordinary ones he was experienced with, nope, not one bit. They had a ravenous nature unlike any other flames he had ever seen, and there was this sense of overwhelming eldritch presence from them that just sent chills down his spine. They did NOT want those flames on them, not even a small fragment.

Back outside, The Primal Flames licked away like a thousand ravenous animals finally sinking their teeth into some juicy meat. Even with several hundred Mages powering it, the attack would only last another couple seconds before they would be incinerated.

Fortunately, there was one thing they could do to stop them from experiencing being burned from existence, the man knew, and quickly he relayed those orders to the rest of his men.

Just as the barrier caved under the assault from the Primal Flames, each Zeppelin shuddered under their own weight as a bright red flash enveloped them. The Flames passed right through the space where the Zeppelins once occupied, and for a moment both Archdemon and DPU assumed their enemies' dead. However, that soon became apparently wrong when they sensed a bunch of negative emotions to Archdemon's right flank, and the creature instantly ascended over a large energy attack that would have ripped a hole in its wings.

Growling in outrage that its foes had survived that attack, the Archdemon turned to face its incoming threats, its wings returning to their original forms while its prepared to strike with a stream of Primal fire from its maw when it saw something that stunned its master to silence.

"What the hell…?"


	108. Chapter 105 - Skies End Attack PT2

**Chapter 105 - Skies End Attack PT2**

Floating in another space, none of the Zeppelins showed that they had been hit by Urthemiel's attack. In fact, they looked like they had gone through some sort of metamorphosis or something similar. Each Zeppelin now began radiating a familiar orangish red aura, one that covered them like that one ninja guy's fox-like cloak when he fought that undying snake man. Their forms crackled with energy, their appearances gradually blackening from a deep brownish colour to an abyssal black, faint wisps of energy emitting from their beings. Their skulls became increasing twisted, their eyes now ablaze with dark crimson flames while the same could be said for their mouths. Their expressions also morphed to ones of vengeance and wrath against their enemies, something that would scare anyone other than Nico.

'What…?! What in the flying shit is this?!'

 **'Nico! I sense powerful demonic Wards being channelled through the Zeppelins! Looks like these guys have been dabbling in the dark arts, not unlike Maghda's Cultists!'**

Indeed, while getting control over his emotions, Nico's senses informed him that there was a large 'core' of demonic energy within the Capital Zeppelin, as well as smaller ones within the others. These 'Cores' seemingly supplied them with demonic power and seemed to be formed from the draining of demonic energy from some powerful said entities. His guess, these cores would allow these Zeppelins to have demonic based spells like those that the Mages he fought in the Hellverse used, and to some lesser extent the Cultists as well, cast upon them. They could possibly have demonic wards on them as well. How these cores were made in the first place he had no idea, nor did he know what potential these Cores would have.

That… had been some stunning information to take in.

Though, Nico had to sigh to himself, he had been hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with any demonic shit for at least a couple days, but sadly turns out that wouldn't be the case. The fact that these Bandits had access to such powers worried the male, though he didn't show it. He figured that one of them had sworn him or herself to the Chaos Gods (Khorne most likely considering the powerful essence of wrath that his senses picked up) seemed to have made this situation all the more troublesome. He'd have to get on board the Zeppelins and find out what was going on himself. But first…

He had to get his steed.

Hiding his unease about the situation, Nico clicked his fingers and muttered under his breath. "Come forth, my ride..." his whisper may as well have been a major frenzied battle cry from the followers of Khorne, as the moment he uttered them a huge blaze of Hellfire erupted from the ground beside him, roaring like a furious deity wanting to exercise vengeance upon the mortal plane. From that blaze, a silhouette jumped out with a loud shrieking sound accompanying it as well as the roar of furious Hellfire flames.

The silhouette landed on the ground, flames trailing behind it as it circled around the armoured male from behind, stopping when it was directly beside his right flank. This allowed its form to be shown to the onlookers, revealing itself to be a Motorcycle… or rather the Motorcycle that Nico once used as his Skimmer. Only now… It had been Desecrated by his Demonic Power, taking on an entirely new form that just screamed power and dominance over the skies.

It kept its original design in terms of structure, but now it adopted a black and red colour scheme reminiscent of his true Hellfire, with multiple ports on each wing that erupted in Hellfire spike plumes for slashing aerial targets. These spikes rivalled shortswords in length. Each wing now had a more wicked, sickle-like designs that would unfold into 4 long demonic segmented wings, wings that could cut through the air as easy as fire melting ice cream (Nico knew this, cause he'd checked. Don't ask how). Behind it, the two Engines now looked like human horned skulls, each equipped with blazing eye sockets with Hellfire flames within their permanently open mouths.

Chains connected them to the Motorcycle, as well as mixed and mingled within the Motorcycle itself. The handles, various mechanisms, all of it now had this demonic punk-like appearance, twisting and giving the Skimmer much more of an edgy vibe. Each handle had a spiked pauldron over them for protection, the spikes made from Hellfire. The mechanisms in front of him each showed themselves as large, crimson slitted eyes looking back at him. The front had what looked like a half a Skull's upper face curving above the front wheel, while the rear wheel had multiple armour pieces jutting out into a similar curve. The front skull had Hellfire horns protruding forwards, while its sockets blazed brightly in a similar fashion. Metallic Spikes jutted downwards from its upper jaw. Lastly, were the wheels themselves, which literally were just wheels made from pure ass crimson Hellfire, wisps arching off them and into the atmosphere. Embers flew off the Motorcycle across all directions.

The whole thing just screamed 'mighty steed of a demonic knight'.

Throwing a leg over, Nico dramatically mounted his new ride, grinning ferally behind his helmet as his crimson and red gauntlets grasped onto the rough velvet textures the handles had. He had been curious about this Desecration ability and wanted to see if he could apply it to his current weapons and armour. Despite the earlier fears he had with the whole DEATHASTROKE identity thing, the male still found it within him to change his gear so that they would be increasingly effective against the demonic forces invading Gamindustri. Hell, if his mother was here, then she'd be urging him to go all for it, probably with a large flag with the words 'kick their asses, honey XD!' while sporting a matching cap and one of those large pointy hand things.

Thus, he had applied Desecration to his Skimmer and his other human weapons, filling their beings with his demonic power and enhancing them in every way possible. They gained newer appearances, upgrades and feels to them, along with semi-sentient links to his mind and soul. It was something that would happen all the time when he Desecrated a piece of tech. When he did so, he was literally giving them a fraction of is power, enough to form a connection that, while inferior, did feel quite similar to the Devil Arms. In fact, it felt more like the link he had with his Armour, than anything. Maybe he might get a new title by the time he was strong enough to go public with his DPU powers… that is, if he ever did, which didn't seem likely to happen any time soon.

Regarding his Skimmer, it now ran solely on Hellfire, Nico's Hellfire to be exact. It wouldn't work with anything else. It would be its sole power source, as well as a form of ID Locking since it would recognize only his Hellfire as its power source. In addition, it had a similar 'Core' within it that generated the necessary Hellfire, with the same signature as Nico's own to allow it to function autonomously. This Core also served as the source of its sentience, while it had the additional power to apply the benefits of Hellfire for offensive and defensive purposes.

Also, surprisingly enough Nico found that he could imbue his Devil Arms' powers into them too, for additional effects. For example, if he stabbed Rebellion into this central hole between the cockpit and the mechanics in front of him, then the Devil Arm's Lightning would increase its speed tremendously. However, this would only be applicable with one Devil Arm at a time, and he would have to switch it out for a new one if he wanted different effects. His new instant switching capabilities compensated for this, though. It meant that he wouldn't have access to this Devil Arm, however that would be a small price to pay. What's losing one weapon when he had so many more?

VROOM, VROOM

Revving the engines (which also resulted in this slight growling sound that Nico nearly got an eargasm from, seriously his ears nearly creamed), Nico looked upwards and eyed the enemy Zeppelins, his eyes burning with Hellfire behind his helmet. The male would have to go ad support his Archdemon soon, since it already begun its next offensive by launching a Primal Firestream at them. However, they had erected a Barrier like last time to delay the Firestream long enough for another Warping. However, he had one last important task to do before he would go into battle, something that would be crucial when attaining a ride as epic as this baby. Looking down, Nico's flaming eyes stared fondly down at his Skimmer behind his Helmet. He affectionately rubbed its skull-shaped hood with his right hand, earning a purring sound from its engine.

He honestly had a smirk on that one.

"Alright my stead… my… my Ember! Let's do this, Ember! Full throttle!"

* * *

"It looks like he is progressing well…"

"Perhaps…" Biko muttered under his breath as he stood in the middle of a deserted plane. There wouldn't be any attacks here, for he had already wiped them out, so he could have time to think. However, he had sensed a presence shortly afterwards, though didn't attack. He knew EXACTLY who it was that was talking to him right now, though it did surprise him how this person talked to him and not Nico himself. He was the main aspect, after all. "However, it is strange that you are not talking to him and instead to me. You DO talk to him in that Mirror World you're so fond of."

The Mirror world… Biko knew what that was as well. He knew ever since the last time Nico got dragged there, for he had met the child him that appeared there not long after. It had been an… interesting find, to see that this version of Nico represented something that the main aspect had lost long ago: his childhood innocence.

You see, Nico's mental fortitude may be strong, but equally strong was how shattered his psyche had become as a result of things in the past that lay forgotten. The fact that there were multiple aspects for different traits that he possessed was proof of this. In fact, madness and insanity were larger aspects of Nico's personality, and usually came out more when he unleashed his hidden side. The few times he had used that power were too quick for them to properly take effect, however they were there. In addition, as long as Nico would head down this road he travelled, those aspects would soon return to the surface.

After all, those mostly came from his other side. Hell, one could say they were encouraged by it.

As for the Mirror World, Biko had discovered that it was the result of Nico's shattered psyche, and yet still had similarities to his Inner World. While the latter was the world manifested within his subconscious, that Mirror World was a manifestation of Nico's broken mind. A place where his mind would sometimes go instead of his Inner World. It wasn't natural like the Inner World, however, in fact Biko dared say that it was the complete opposite.

Turning around, Biko cam face to face with Nico… or rather, the childish Nico that appeared to him in the Mirror World. The child stood there bare foot on the hot desert sand yet looked like he wasn't suffering from it in the least. In fact, one might say that the child found comfort in it. The child kept his gaze on Biko, the demonic aspect eyeing him with a mix of wariness and confusion. The child slowly nodded his head down and upwards, his lips in a flat line. "You are me after all. You may be a foreign being, but you are slowly being accepted as part of our lives. Thus, we will be able to visit you more. The trials our main has completed so far have aided this process significantly."

Biko arched a brow, his eyes glinting curiously. "We? Do you mean that there are more of you? More fragments of Nico's psyche that have been scattered throughout his mind?" Biko questioned, ever the more curious. Though, worry slowly crept into his words by the end at the thought of that being a fact. If so, then it was even more imperative that they regain mastery over his hidden side so his mind could properly pull itself back together.

The child nodded. "Indeed, there are quite a few of us, and we are all eagerly awaiting the moment that we can make our return. When we can finally mend what was broken so long ago. So far, the first hurdle, 'Acceptance' has been cleared, followed closely by the second hurdle, 'resolution'. Our progress is going smoothly, soon we shall be whole once more, and by then our real self will shine once again."

"That is all well and good… but humour me an answer to this: why does Nico try so hard to be independent of others? Why does he try so hard to do everything on his own?" Nico questioned the child Nico. It had been bothering him for a while now, but he had known for quite some time that there was something deeply warped within Nico's being, worse than either the DPU or his hidden side. There was something lurking within the deepest shadows of his mind, just as that associate of Helens had feared. Biko knew what he had been thinking just by looking at his micro-expressions, and instantly figured out that he had seen the same thing that he did.

There have been times where he had been trying to convince Nico to trust those girls more, to take the risk and show them what he has kept hidden for so long now. Biko may not be well versed in human culture, but he DOES know a bit about DPU Culture. In those days, the DPUs valued strength immensely, it was the basis of the current demon society out there, however the DPU known as Sparda valued something else, something more. He valued loyalty and honor, while also promoting the powers of vengeance. To him, there was no such thing as good or evil, just ones ideals. Ideals were the foundation of any warrior, its just some tended to me additionally sick and twisted that not even he could abide by them.

There were several sayings that he found within Nico's memories that Biko approved of:

If the King doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?

The only ones who can kill, are those who are prepared to be killed.

It was these qualities, plus Sparda's charisma, which allowed him to become the leader of the DPUs. His strength surpassed the other DPUs, and he had the capacity to lead. Where was he going with this? Well, those females had proven to him that, in DPU Culture, they were worthy of trust. They had stuck by him when he snapped in Lastation, several times in fact. They fought together in many battles to build a bond of comradery between them. Not only that, but practically all of them were similar in their own ways. It would be considered a foolish error to not trust these girls after everything that they have done for him. Then there was their desires to mate with Nico, but that was another story…

Still, Nico had hesitant, uncertain until the Hellverse incident. He had refused to believe that the girls wouldn't betray him, that they weren't like the other scumbags that he had seen on a daily basis. No, it wasn't just refusal to believe, but his mind refused to even comprehend that they wouldn't betray him, nor did it comprehend the signs to indicate this. These showed Biko that Nico had been hell bent on going through his problems on his own, hell just look at the fight with Hol Horse and J Greil in the Hellverse Dungeon. Nico practically relied on his own shattered mind to come to a conclusion that change was needed.

Nico was an independent young man, one who got through his problems on his own with sheer willpower, but something about that seemed oddly… warped to the Demon Persona. While Biko hadn't been able to see into all his forgotten memories, he had access to a few of them that seemed more prominent than the rest. Then, he had access to the memories that started from when he first woke up with Amnesia, so Biko did understand that his exposure to all that shit had left him wary and cynical of the world. He had seen the depth of the darkness within his heart, a darkness brought into being by the heartless. Still, he couldn't help but suspect there to be something more, something bigger and a whole league more self-destructive to be at work here.

There were things about Nico that not even he knew, unfortunately.

"Ahhh… interesting, so that knowledge was kept from you. Our mind is not yet ready to recall such information…" the child told him, frowning. To Biko's surprise, he detected a mix of bitterness, frustration and dismay to his tone. More than that, he detected it in such high quantities that it almost rivalled a small village's worth of negative emotions. Just as soon as it came, it disappeared however as the child Nico's expression returned to its usual blank tone. "However, while we may not recall it as of yet, our progress ensures that will change soon enough. For now, be content with this memory, a piece of our fractured self."

The moment the child said that, Biko's eyes widened when he felt information being put into his head like someone being suddenly doused with water. It was such a rush, temporary and brief, but he had learned SO FUCKING MUCH in that instance that it made the experience feel much longer. The surge did leave him with a small aching in his head, though it passed over pretty quickly.

When it did, the Demon Persona looked back to the child Nico, only to see that there was nobody there.

Still, his actions had left an impression on Biko, and with what he had learned…

'Seriously, those females will need to up their game, I did NOT anticipate this.'

* * *

Back outside in the real world, things got all the more chaotic between the two battling forces: The Mercenary group called the Merc Raiders (by Rinjiin) and the sole Spec Ops Agent along with his trusty Archdemon Urthemiel. One could say that the skies were filled with explosions as the two forces duked it out with no intent to leave the other alive at the end. In THIS wrestling ring, there would be no tapping out.

That was the thought process all forces had.

On one side, the said Archdemon flew about the airspace, launching various long-range fire attacks with its Primal fire, burning everything, they touched. The Archdemon flew upwards by the left Zeppelin, generating an aura of heat made from its hide that burned the Arrows before they could get anywhere near it. Hell, to the casual observer it looked like they just vanished before they could eve hope to hit their target. Floating up above the Zeppelin in the hovering position, the Archdemon reared its neck back to roar down at it, launching a Firestream at the Zeppelin's Balloon to reduce it to nothingness.

However, the Zeppelin seemingly Warped out of the way at the last second, appearing beside its fellow trailing Zeppelin. It then turned to face the Archdemon, its rotation speed exceeding what it would have bee originally capable of due to the Demonic Power it radiated, before its Skull unleashed a Firestream of its own. Due to the black and red colouring of the flames, Urthemiel deduced that it used Hellfire like its master, something that irked it to no end.

That Hellfire was like a sacred treasure to it and its master, it was the power that his master used, so how dare these apes dare try to imitate it!

Enraged, the Archdemon flew towards it once more, Primal fire roaring into existence and encasing its form, so it looked like a being made from solely its fire. Its intent was to ram right through it, cutting it vertically in half for daring to make such a mockery of its masters' flames. But, before it could do this, Urthemiel sensed danger coming from below and quickly banked as sharp as hell to avoid a large black and red energy beam.

It's source: The Leading Zeppelin, which had dozens of magic circles around it firing off demonic energy rays left and right.

Urthemiel channelled its Primal fire and used it to shield itself, enhancing its body heat to stop the flames from reaching its being and proving once and for all that its Primal Fire was far superior to the Hellfire that these mortals possessed. With this protection assured, the Archdemon unleashed a barrage of Fireballs from its maw, all intent on burning the Zeppelin to ashes. However, like the other one, this Zeppelin managed to Warp out of the way just seconds before the Fireballs could hit.

This made the dragon-shaped demon growl in annoyance and frustration while it prepared to attack again, before being forced to dodge more rays, this time from BOTH Zeppelins while using its powers to destroy the Arrows they sneaked in. In any other circumstance, the Archdemon would have toasted these foolish mortals, since its Primal Fire, since it had already proven itself superior. However, there was the problem of experience, this was indeed the creature's first battle in its potentially long life, so it needed to get used to using its abilities in a combat situation like this. On the other hand, these Mercenaries have been fighting for a lot longer than it had, years even, so they had good reflexes.

It helped that these Zeppelins had some form of demonic influence aiding them, increasing their endurance and granting them demon-based abilities. It knew not how this was possible but didn't put too much thought into it. With how inexperienced it was, trying to figure this out would be pointless since it knew so little. It would have to learn more before it could prove itself a valuable comrade to its master.

Those were its thoughts as its aerial battle, filled with fiery explosions and arrows, continued.

* * *

While the Archdemon dealt with the supporting Zeppelins, Urthemiel's master revved Ember's Engine

Nico shifted his Skimmer, Ember, into Flight Mode before he rode into the air. The flames making up his ride's wheels created trails behind him, trails that left no smoke yet burned brighter than the sun. The constant purring of the infernally powered engine filled his helmet-covered eardrums honestly felt much more pleasurable than getting laid for an entire night. If anyone said otherwise, he'd 'convince' them in his own unique way.

In response to his movements, the main Zeppelin opened the large maw on its equally large skull, hot flames beginning to pool within to make it look like something from a hellish nightmare. From there, Nico sensed an abundance of demonic energy being channelled, this lasting only for a second or two. In an instant, a large torrent of Hellfire, redder than the freshest blood, raced towards him like a dog eagerly fetching a bone.

'Interesting… so they use Hellfire in different concentrations, do they…?'

Nico growled at the incoming attack, raising Soul Edge and channelling its power, which proved harder than normal due to PREDATOR being active. Though, thanks to his experience, Nico pulled it off. From its widened eye, flames bled forth, covering the entire blade before he unleashed it in the form of a large wave. The wave obliterated the Hellfire blast before it could even get close to him, through the male kept Soul Edge flaming to launch an ATOMIC INFERNO on their asses. The fiery rays sailed through the air towards it, but the Zeppelin generated another Magic Circle to block the attacks. The rays were instantly extinguished the moment they came into contact with the Magic Circles.

This made Nico narrow his eyes as he banked sideways, avoiding a large fiery torrent that would have burned his ride to ashes. He had banked into a multi-barrel roll, stopping after the 5th rotation before he floored it, Ember's engines roaring with Hellfire as he ended up flying parallel to the Zeppelins port side. Immediately, like rainfall Demonic Energy and normal arrows came down on him, intent to turn him into a living pincushion.

Not on his watch, though.

Soul Edge thrummed with power, its eye wide with bloodlust whilst the miasma around its form, curtesy of PREDATOR, swirled around it dangerously. Nico then swung the blade in a reverse upward motion, launching a large trail of Flames and demonic power that went right up the Zeppelin's port wall. The loud cries of agony from its crew rang through his ears like a musical instrument as he quickly revved Ember's engine and drove/flew upwards into the airspace above.

Once he had made his way up there, Nico made a perfect U Turn on his Skimmer, facing down towards the slightly damaged Zeppelin. He didn't know why the hell it Warp ability hadn't activated to get it out the way just them, but like hell he would be looking a gift horse in the mouth. Nico instead would use this as an opportunity to get some heavy damage in, or at least to create an opening as he saw magic circles appearing over the Zeppelin's form.

Quickly gathering Soul Edge's power, Nico aimed at the Zeppelin's Balloon to launch a FIRE BLAST Attack at it, the flames trailing across the miasma-covered blade to its tip from its bleeding eye before gathering into a Fireball and launching towards te Zeppelin. Said aircraft launched one big blast of energy at him, formed from the many Magic Circles, leading to a large explosion of power between them. The winds generated would have been able to shred through any mortal Aircraft like tissue paper with how sharp and whip-like they were, but thankfully these Aircraft had Demonic Power flowing through them, increasing their endurance.

'Alright, now's the time! Urthemiel, you keep these guys occupied! I'm going to the source of this issue!' Nico thought over to his Archdemon. The link may be infantile right now, thus it wouldn't be able to respond with words yet due to not understanding the tongue being used, but in time the Archdemon would understand his thoughts. Right now, his emotions were enough for it to understand what he wanted from it, as Urthemiel roared in acceptance while unleashing many fiery Spears from its wings towards a barrage of energy Arrows from the two Support Zeppelins.

With that out of the way, Nico floored it and dove downwards towards the Zeppelin's main deck. Soul Edge's eye began to shine, and Nico felt its power beginning to shoot through his arm and up towards his head… or to be more specific, his eyes. The male quickly realized what was going on though, as there would be only one reason to target those specific body parts:

The Uranai.

According to the information he got from Biko, it was an ocular ability like that all-seeing eye from that Shounen anime with dozens of filler episodes. In Soul Edge's True Form, it could act like one of those eye sets and analyse an opponent to predict their next attack, then send that information directly to his brain. However, that didn't apply to Soul Edge in its weaker form, as in that form this ability would only work for one attack. Nevertheless, Nico must have subconsciously activated it somehow if this was happening right now.

'Whelp lets see if it works…!' the male thought to himself, before closing his eyes and allowing Soul Edge to do its work. The male felt a sudden rush of demonic glee from the sword as the changes applied themselves to his eyes. This process barely took any time at all, so little in fact that he didn't even realize that it was over until a 'click' resonated through his mind, forcing his eyes open to show that… they were the eyes of his DPU Form.

Instantly, a long buzzing sound filled his mind as information streamed into it. In his vision, the male saw what looked like holographic magic circles, crimson and crackling with matching electricity, the circles each violently trembled before releasing holographic beams in his direction, each one combining together to create one big version.

'Huh, I see… its almost like I have my own processor…'

The male blinked as Soul Edge's Uranai deactivated and his eyes returned to normal. He had to work fast, for he only had a second to consider this. Good thing he was proficient in the art of planning on the fly, huh? Nico then commenced putting his thoughts together and formed a strategy in his mind, just as he sensed the energy necessary for the upcoming attack gathering.

'Here goes nothing…!'

At once, Nico took action. He coated himself and Ember in Hellfire, making him look more like a black and crimson fireball or a meteor that could cause mass extinctions. While falling down wards the lead Zeppelin, the Uranai proved correct when he saw the same attack it had predicted begin to happen. The Magic Circles had just finished forming, but Nico reacted faster as he shifted Ember into Bike Mode in order to freefall faster. His armour thrummed with power, and Nico felt it send glee into him through their link. Looked like it enjoyed the rush it got through these reckless stunts just as much as he did. Cool.

As he fell, the Magic Circles began gathering energy into their centres energy that grew bigger and bigger with each millisecond that passed. Nico however, remained calm as he strapped Soul Edge to his back, the deadly Devil Arm latching onto that body part like it was a lifeline (in technical terms, it sort of was) before gripping Ember's handles. This would be a close one, but hey he enjoyed the rush of combat, and it wasn't like he cared if he got hurt.

His regeneration took care of it all.

Time seemed to slow down, Nico and Ember's flaming forms still rapidly approaching the Magic Circles regardless, while the Magic Circles neared completion. The tension could be felt like a weight on Nico's shoulders, his heart racing a million miles an hour which resulted in his blood being rushed through his body. The male gripped Ember's handles so tightly that if it had still remained in its normal form, it would have buckled under the weight. He could have used Soul Edge's Telekinesis to deflect the Magic Circles away from him, but he wasn't quite at the level where he could use that power's improved form in active combat just yet. Not long now…

* * *

CRASH, BOOM, FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

In the end, Nico's attempts proved to be a resounding success, for he had been able to crash into the Zeppelin, through its Balloon, and into the centre of main deck. Fire and smoke roared into existence like a volcanic eruption, shooting into the air like the pillar of light that accompanied a CPU's transformation into their HDD form… only these flames proved much more sinister.

Even with the hole in the Zeppelin's Balloon, the aircraft remarkably stayed afloat. Not something that normally happened considering their structure, however this situation wasn't the normal kind. Plus, when was anything 'normal' in Gamindustri? Never, that's the answer. Though, the impact did make the vessel jolt a little, like when something heavy suddenly slams into something else unexpectedly. Thanks to this, none of the beams got launched and the Magic Circles deactivated.

Within the flames, Nico kneeled knight-style at the centre of the Main Deck, his head hanging low while Soul Edge, under Nico's mental will, used telekinesis to manipulate the flames to cause more damage to the Zeppelin. He did this due to sensing the demonic power coursing through the vessel like blood trying to repair the damage he had dealt to it. Thus, it lead to a war-like struggle between the two forces, his Soul Edge-controlled flames and the regenerative factor for the Zeppelin.

Looking over to Ember, Nico decided that he could continue on without it, but he didn't want to leave it out in the open. He didn't want anyone getting their grubby its on his beloved ride… that, and it would probably scorch anyone who tried out of existence with Hellfire. But, where could he put it? He couldn't put it back into his Void Storage, since he didn't have the Bracers to open it in the Armour, and he didn't think it wise to pull the Armour off mid combat.

Then, he remembered that his Armour was sentient and could

'Ugh, how could I fucking forget something like that? If mom was here, she'd probably put me through the red ring of death again for that blunder…' the teen admonished himself brutally in his mind, shuddering mentally when he remembered some of the torture techniques Helen had called 'training methods' she'd used on him. They may have shown results, but goddamnit she should be considered a demon when teaching someone, she definitely had the sadism of one.

Stepping out the flames, Nico mentally commanded Soul Edge and had it extinguish the Hellfire attacking this Zeppelin. He didn't want to destroy it just yet, after all he was on it plus he had to get some answers from the 'captain' of these Merc Raiders on where they got their hands on demonic powers. The only reason he had those Hellfire flames attack so rapidly was so that he could get the attention of those on board, and judging by the signatures along with the bloodlust his senses picked up…

He'd consider his attempts a resounding success number 2.

Nico made to draw out Soul Edge again, but he then reconsidered when he noticed the crew barging out into the Main Deck. Apparently, the Zeppelins defences operated automatically, probably due to the demonic power in this place (He'll call it Desecration from now on, since it seemed to be a similar power to that). Each one seemed to be a member of the Merc Raiders, as they all wore leather getups: shirts, pants, belts, boots etc. Some even wore bandanas and eyepatches, showing experience in their respective fields. Looking at their weapons, which was the most important thing in Nico's book, the male noted that they possessed a rather crude, primitive set of Longswords, flintlock pistols, and daggers.

Seeing that these humans would be carrying little to nothing that would be a threat to him, the male decided against drawing Soul Edge. If things got tough then he'd draw it, Soul Edge could draw itself thanks to its minor sentience and Telekinetic powers, but for now he'd stick to his Obliteron Claws which deployed at the simple thought of them. They burst out the crimson claws over his knuckles into existence, Illuminating his immediate surroundings with a powerful orangish red light.

Mentally, Nico noted that the other weapons got primed and ready to spring out at a moment's notice, an action done by his partially sentient armour. Probably to make the switching of them easier.

He was liking these new perks already.

Looking about the crew as he evaluated them, Nico readied himself to strike. Each of them seemed to be ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, judging by their posture. Doing that also told him how they weren't going in blindly they could tell that he was a dangerous foe (like his Armour and glowing claws couldn't clue them in enough) so they wanted to see what kind of tricks he could use first. They knew so far about his Hellfire, but little else. In addition, Nico could sense something else about these people. Something that lurked beneath the surface, deep within their hearts. His senses couldn't make out what it was however, something was shielding it from his senses. It caused him to briefly feel a pang of concern explode in his chest, his lips curving into a concerned frown under his helmet. Whatever it was, his senses could still detect it to be full of malice, death and destruction. Perhaps that was what REALLY caused his Armour to be as alert as it was.

Whelp, let's get this started, shall we?

"Now, to quote a badass white-haired demon slayer…" Nico began, his Helmet deepening his voice to a demonic one. "This Party's getting crazy… Let's ROCK!"

* * *

Deep within the Zeppelin's Captain's Cabin, the lone solitary figure that resided within the Tavern last couple chapters sat at his desk, looking over some papers. In front of him, there was a single black bone-like hand, a hand holding a single crimson orb in its grasp which thrummed with energy. Inside, it looked like there was a chaotic storm on a constant high, lightning violently sparkling within.

The Cabin itself looked to be something right out of a horror movie, with blood covering the floor, walls and ceiling. Tendrils, pustules and other forms of twisted growth littered the Cabin, writhing and shifting occasionally like they were alive.

As for the man himself he was too busy pondering on what he had felt when he made that broadcast, or rather, when he forced one of his lackeys to mimic his past behavior to make Rinjiin assume that he had escaped unscratched back then. It turns out that he had been smart, calling for help from a Spec Ops Branch to assist him in hiding whatever it was he was hiding in Skies End. Not only that, but he had done so with a Branch outside of Leanbox's influence, meaning that this Agent would have the full might of the Spec Ops community behind him.

Not something that should be underestimated.

Still, it wasn't like he was too concerned, just a little extra cautious. If a Spec Ops Agent was here, then his men wouldn't stand a chance against him in a fight. At least, as long as it was a genuine one, as there were many throughout that community that were nothing but arrogant snobs who were all bark and no bite. Snobs who wouldn't last a second in a world where the REAL Spec Ops Agents fought. Though, regardless of this if this Agent thought he or she would have little trouble taking HIM down, then they would have a rather NASTY surprise waiting for them. Well, multiple ones, actually. A cruel, dark smirk crossed onto the human side of the man's face, his human eye shining with twisted glee reminiscent of a psychopath.

BA-DUMP

Something pulsated within him, and the man's form tensed like an animal suddenly aware that it was being hunted. His half human, half machine face scrunched up as much as it could given its state, his mismatched eyes narrowing. This looked more like his human eye narrowing into a slit while his robotic eye looked like it was zooming in on something.

It seemed that there was a powerful source of Demonic Power up on the Main Deck, probably the cause for that jolt he had felt earlier. It was also probably the reason why his fleet were dealing with a dragon worse than the one that had been protecting the skies of Skies End for decades now.

Though, this didn't mean he hadn't any countermeasures in place.

Putting down the papers, the man brought the skeleton hand closer to him before placing his own on top of the orb. His hand trembled the instant it made contact with the orb, almost like a storm was running wild through it which made him wince, but nothing else. In the next moment, his arms settled, and he manipulated the orb to show him a visual of the Main Deck.

Then, he sat down and paid attention. Time to see what this Spec Ops Agent was capable of.

* * *

Back to the Main Deck...

Nico himself refused to think of anything non-combat related, as he wove between the ranks of his enemies and thoroughly sliced them to pieces. Blood splattered over his Armour and Obliteron Claws as he ripped, tore, and shredded his opponents without mercy. Blood flew through the air, limbs were sent sailing across the air above Main Deck, and heads rolled along it. At first, these guys hadn;t much emotion, but once the slaughter began they had quickly learned to feel fear in his wake. The male was like a freakishly fast blur, ruthlessly butchering his opponents with deadly efficiency. His arms, legs, hell his entire freaking body was nothing but a barely visible blur as he mercilessly tore his foes apart.

Sausage flipping through the ranks, Nico mixed in several slashes with his Obliteron Claws, feeling the oh so satisfying sensation of hem ripping through flesh and hearing the ensuing cries of pain. He landed in a barrel roll, standing up and using the horns on his shoulder Armour to block multiple swords. He then slashed their arms off in few swift motions, before grabbing one by the neck (Deactivating the claw so he didn't kill the fucker... yet) before hurling him into the paths of his brethren weapons. All of them impaled him from behind while Nico reactivated the Obliteron claw he had dismissed and daring towards two crewmen.

These Crewmen respectively wielded Daggers, which they swiftly made to stab at his neck at multiple angles. One even went for a kick when Nico blocked them, a kick aimed towards his knees. However, the teen reacted by flipping over them, twisting in mid air to cleaver their heads off in one clean motion, landing behind their headless forms. Once he did, several more slash wounds appeared on their bodies, which soon fell to the ground separated into many tiny pieces.

One can't say Nico was slow, could they?

The teen's reflexes kicked in as he back flipped, avoiding a series of Fireballs aimed at him from his left and right flank. Landing on the Main Deck, sliding to a halt, the teen noticed that the sources were men in dark, hooded brown cloaks wielding primitive-looking Staffs. They were chanting the runic language, the teen recognizing it from MAGES. back in Hellverse, before they launched more Fireballs at him.

Swiftly, Nico switched to his Obliteron Blades, Nico got into a ready stance, his arms spread to the sides while angling downwards with his hands in chopping motions while the blade-like weapons thrummed with dangerous power. The closer the Fireballs got, the more Nico's Blades thrummed, until the male unloaded into a slashing frenzy onto them. Each Fireball got cut in half thanks to the Blades. Obliteron WAS a combination of Hellfire and Plasma, so them being able to cut through magic like warm tofu would be expected. The male also had the gall to make it look like a Dance, mixing in a few Hellfire blasts from his Obliteron Cannons that bombarded the approaching close combat fighters.

Once the Fireballs were dealt with, Nico noticed the Mages attempting to make more to strike him down with. Not on his watch, the male thought while thrusting his arms in their directions. His Obliteron Blades vanished, replaced by the similar named Chains that lunged forth from his Forearm Armour, shooting through the air like bullets before impaling the Mages. He then yanked his arms backwards, making many clinking sounds as the Chains both burned through the captives as well as brought them into Nico's CQC circle. The teen retracted his Chains in favor of switching to his Obliteron Knucklebusters, punching one right through the face while using the momentum to spin into a wide roundhouse kick. He killed 2 Mages in 2 moves, nearly one, before he went ahead and launched a vicious barrage of punches to the others while moving at high speeds.

Needless to say, none of those pesky Mages Survived.

Nico then unloaded a bombardment of Hellfire blasts from his Obliteron Cannons, peppering his enemies. The humans that got his began screaming unholy screams, almost like frightened little girls as they got consumed by the hungry flames. The male also added in his Obliteron Launcher, the familiar weight of the demonic Grenade Launcher all but comforting in the teen's hands as he blew his opponents to dust. The screams of his opponents got even louder at this, all the while Nico paid them little attention.

Instincts set themselves off within him as Nico elbowed someone approaching him from behind, noting it to be someone who dual wielded daggers. The man quickly recovered and sidestepped his ranged weapons, going for a drop kick to his face that Nico ducked under. The man slammed his Dagger-holding hands into the ground to balance himself for his next attack, a Helicopter kick, but then Nico grabbed him by one leg, having dismissed his Obliteron Launcher back to his Void Storage, and set him alight with Hellfire. He then generated a large ball of the demonic element and threw it during a spin, resulting in a large wave that exterminated a large portion of the crewmen.

Generating more Hellfire in his hands, Nico eyed his opponents carefully behind his Helmet. There were about 12 left now, instead of the original 80 Crewmen for this Zeppelin. Each of them didn't look like they were at their best either, the teen noted, as about 60% of them had various lacerations on their bodies, one even was moving on a single leg, the other having been carved up tot he point where only a few strands of flesh held it to the rest of the leg. Still, that one looked as determined to finish this as the rest of them, even though he could sense their fear as clear as crystal.

'Looks like these guys didn't know what they were getting into... they didn't expect this kind of resistance when coming here. Probably only thought they'd find an old man without much means to protect himself. Typical Bandit behavior.'

 **'Still, this dark sensation lurking within their hearts worries me. It hasn't done anything to them, it just stays dormant. Yet, even so, I am detecting strange abnormalities of which it is no doubt the source of.'**

Biko brought up another good point, Nico admitted. It was something he'd noticed as well, as even in that kind of battle trance Nico kept his observation on his surroundings. His ability to sense negative emotions had been key in this battle, as it helped him disconcert who was going to attack him next by the faint sparks of bloodlust. When someone was about to attack, they usually had a minuscule increase in KI. Even the strongest of warriors had this issue, as even if they could conceal their presence, their own emotions were much harder to contain. Harder than what one might expect. For example, even now he could sense intense frustration building within these men at how they weren't getting anywhere with him, despite their best attempts to kill him.

Still, the bottom line was that unknown sensation his senses picked up hadn't done anything, so he kept his guard up.

Letting one's guard down was the enemy when in engagements like these.

The male struck first, launching two Fireballs at his opponents. They flew true, hitting 2 of his opponents and incinerating them to nothingness whilst the rest managed to get out the way in time... or so they thought, as Nico mentally manipulated the flames to lash out as fiery Tendrils, ones that ensnared up to 6 of his opponents and reduced them to nothingness. Hey, Hellfire manipulation was only limited to the imagination, and he had seen his fair share of fire users in his time.

Nico then reared his right arm back for a punch, his arm engulfed in Hellfire before he thrusted it forwards, launching a swirling torrent of the element. The men all scattered to dodge it again, but this time only 2 survived. The rest of them, they got burned to nothingness their screams fading into oblivion where they would never be heard from again.

Pulling the flames back, Nico formed a barrier behind him to block one of the men from stabbing him in the back. This allowed his partner to throw some of his Daggers at him, hoping to use the distraction to get a hit in on him. However, instead of simply letting the Armour block it, Nico let Soul Edge (which was getting increasingly restless as time went on), control the Hellfire while he just went and decided to pull something that he'd seen once in a video on youtube...

Raise both hands to his covered face and catch the knives in-between his fingers before they could impale his helmet.

Now, he SWORE he heard someone whistle at that, but didn't pay it much heed.

With the Daggers in hand, Nico flipped them over so he held them by their grips in the proper reverse positions. He then applied Desecration to them, infusing them with demonic power and reforming them into ugly, demonic versions of themselves. He then chucked them back at their owner, whom tried his best to imitate him only to get them stuck into his stomach, thighs and biceps.

This was the time for him to finish them off. Those humans wouldn't have been able to do much to him, and it doesn't look like these guys would be using whatever that was in their hearts any time soon. Now that he thought about it, did they even know that was there in the first place? Shaking his head, Nico decided to finish them off by reforming the barrier into a series of fiery blades above his head, each one double edged and each edge being jagged. Once he finished these fools off, then Nico would track down the captain to see what the hell was happening here.

However...

"It seems that you have done a lot on my followers."


	109. Chapter 106 - Skies End to Death Parade

**Chapter 106 - Skies End to Death Parade**

Eyes widened behind his helmet as Nico jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding an energy slash that would have sliced him in half, armour be damned. It had been made from highly concentrated Demonic Power after all, Nico noted as he landed on the Main Deck, flipping backwards and planting both feet onto the railing. There had been little doubt in his mind that attack just now would have caused some major damage. Whilst his regeneration would have taken care of it, Nico would rather not have something like that weighing him down in the middle of battle.

SCHWING!

With a single motion, Nico drew his most powerful Devil Arm from its resting place on his back. There was more than a little amount of pleasure coursing through their link thanks to Nico finally drawing on its power, another sign being how violent PREDATOR was being upon self-activation. The male could also sense the blades eagerness rushing through both itself and their link, with an undertone of caution which made Nico's eyes narrow sharply. If Soul Edge was being cautious like this, it meant their opponent wasn't someone who he should underestimate. Though, what was new at this point? The teen had Soul Edge out in his right hand, held to the side which let its eye narrow in on the cause, while behind him, Urthemiel flew downwards diagonally, shooting upwards to attack the supporting Zeppelins.

Turned out they were more like bugs than they thought, huh?

Nevertheless, Nico pulled his attention back to the cause of the sudden surprise attack, his eyes twinkling with suspicion and caution behind his armoured Helmet. He had a flash of indignation and annoyance building in his chest for the interruption, he wanted their blood goddamnit! You do NOT mess with a monster's food and expect to live to tell the tale! Not only that, but just by being near this new arrival, the two surviving Crewmen began to gain an increasingly wicked feeling to them. The dark something inside of them was beginning to stir, drawn by this thing's presence.

 **'Nico, be careful… I sense an incredibly strong Demonic Energy signature from this person.'**

'Don't have to tell me that, Biko. I sense it too, plus Soul Edge is hiding its caution well but its nothing I can't detect.'

This 'Thing', apparently, had the appearance of a grown ass man, wearing a hooded cloak that covered some leather-looking armour, built mostly for mobility and flexibility. It didn't have too much protection, unlike the larger Armour Nico wore, but the male didn't doubt that it adhered to its function well. To Nico however, the cloak didn't hide as much as it would to a normal person, Nico could see there was a mix of human and robotic features about this person. Whoever he was, he wasn't completely human, plus he had powerful Demonic Energy readings. In fact now that he thought about it, these readings matched that of the Demonic Power cores coursing through these Zeppelins.

This person must be the source of it all, in other words the leader, the one that was on the broadcast earlier.

"So… looks like you are the one whose been giving my men a hard time…" The man spoke, his voice strained and seemingly a mix of human and machine. The human aspect seemed dominant, but there were more than a few robotic undertones. This person seemed like an unholy mix between man and machine, not something that Nico had much experience with. If someone like Ivan saw this, he'd be cringing as all hell. "If I hadn't seen your power in person, I would not have anticipated a child like yourself to be capable of such feats."

'This guy… he's been watching me?' Nico wondered, thanking his Helmet for hiding his surprised expression. With it on, he felt much more liberal to showcase such emotions. Since he had been so focused on the battle with the Crewmen, or rather the one-sided massacre, Nico hadn't noticed much else. Biko probably did though, Soul Edge too, they were just as observant as he was after all, both being parts of him.

Feelings of confirmation from both parties only confirmed his mental theory.

Deciding to push aside the disturbing thoughts of having a human/robot stalker, Nico shook his head and refocused on the task at hand. This was good, he had questions for this asshole if he was who he thought he was. "…Flattering." Nico stated with heavy sarcasm, eyes narrowing into slits behind his helmet while his body radiated heat not unbecoming of his Hellfire. It wouldn't be a surprise if it suddenly burst into existence around him at this point. "Lemme guess, you're the leader of these merry band of misfits?"

The man/machine/ thing (?) before him gave a chuckle, and with the way his voice was it didn't give his nerve any indication to settle down. In fact, he swore he felt a few chills crawling up his spine like children trying to climb up their parents' backs. "You will not stop me from getting what I want, but I will humour you. You need not give me your name, however mine is Logan Scandalous." The man introduced himself, lowering his head slightly in a mocking mimic of a bow. "Captain of the Merc Raiders."

"Pleasure." Nico stated curtly, though if they saw his eyes they would have seen the absolute opposite of such. "I know you'll probably refuse anyways, but I'll give you one chance to leave this place with what remains of your pathetic crew. Its obvious at this point that your men won't last much longer the way things are going." He stated, gesturing with his free hand backwards to Urthemiel. Said Archdemon finally managed to destroy one of the Zeppelins by feinting them, tricking them into Warping into a stream of Primal Fire.

It may be personal bias, but Nico knew there were countless people out there who didn't give a damn about their subordinates, as long as it satisfied their own personal gains, they would be willing to throw countless subordinates out of the frying pan and into the fire, as the expression went. He'd seen it before whenever Leanbox or Lowee contracted him to deal with any pesky Bandit Tribes causing any issues. The Merc Raiders were one such group, though thanks to their elusive nature nobody knew where their main camp was. At least now he might get some idea so he could inform the authorities.

Turns out his Bias would be proven right, for the man before him just simply shook his head, chuckling all the more while snorting into his right gloved hand. "You would be right in assuming that would be pointless and ignored. I have finally found the object of my vengeance after so many decades, nothing will stop me from finally ending that useless fool Rinjiin's life." He sneered, his robotic eye shifting under the hood, Nico noted. He also noted how little a reaction there was to the man's words by his remaining Crewmen. Either they were just too angry to care or something else was at work here…

He was willing to bet it was the latter.

'So, he's got a mix between a human and a robot for a face, huh…? Something big must have went down.' The teen thought to himself, getting agreeing hums from Biko. His inner beast whined at not being used for this battle, but Nico had to focus on what was happening right this moment. Honestly, while part of him bristled in anger at the callous disregard for life, Nico had seen so much of it in the world that he had just come to expect it. People needlessly threw others' lives away for their own gain, just look at Ganache with what he did to Lastation, and in some ways, he was no different. Still, at least in his case it was justified by how horrific his enemies were, leading to their brutal deaths by his hand. Still, this man seemed hungry for revenge something fierce if the tones used were any indication, and judging from what Rinjiin had told him, Nico put some of the pieces together in his mind. "Vengeance? Does this have to do with the Dragonators by chance?"

"Hahahaha, looks like you're a sharp one." The man sneered, slightly laughing at the question. Either for how stupid it sounded, or how little Nico knew of the man's backstory would be anyone's guess at this point. The teen started to get the impression this guy had parted ways with sanity a whole hell long ago. "You could say that's what it is, me and him were once fellow comrades in the Dragonators, until he betrayed me and left me with this ugly state my body's in." he stated. "Not going to play the stereotypical villain role and give a long, exaggerated backstory."

That was something that gave the teen more relief than he had expected, sort of surprising him. Good god those kinds of speeches got old real fast. It was one of those tropes that seemed to prevail in any kind of adventure-based Manga. "Well, I'll be sure to ask him… once I'm done tearing you into ribbons for what you're doing here." He stated darkly, readying Soul Edge as he activated its BLOOD RAGE ability. originally, he hadn;t the chance of using this ability, due to how difficult Soul Edge was to control in human form. The natural handling of the blade didn't pass over from his DPU form, which was part of why he had trained with it after the Hellverse Arc. Now, he had access to its abilities, albeit they were weaker in potency than they would be in its true form.

Still, Soul Edge would be a terrible demonic weapon, terrible for his enemies that is.

In the next few seconds, the teen could feel that the ability had worked, just by witnessing how the man exploded into maniacal laughter like some kind of maniac. He held his head in his hands while rearing it backwards, laughing up to Celestia above. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH YEA, THIS IS JUST RICH!" He exclaimed, lowering his hands from his head as he hung his head downwards, drawing his Knives from his thighs before he leaned forwards. "I ALWAYS WANTED TO KILL AN HONEST TO GOODNESS SPEC OPS!" his words were mixed, yet sorta drowned out by his maniacal laughter as the effects took hold.

Nico readied himself, getting into his battle stance. It looked like things would be over quickly with BLOOD RAGE active…

Or so he thought.

'Wh-What the?!' he thought, eyes widening in shock behind his helmet. If he was unarmoured and his helmet wasn't covering his head, his mouth would have dropped open. In an instant, the man had closed the distance between them with his right Knife slashing towards his neck. By instinct, Nico adjusted himself so that the attack would only graze his cheek, and that proved to be life saving seconds later. The reason? The blade seemingly passed through the armour like a hot knife through butter and cut right through his left cheek. 'Holy shit…!'

 **'This may be on of those 'two-faced' kinds of people, Nico. Even so, the amount o madness this mortal is releasing is worrying.'**

'You're telling me, and here I thought that white me was bonkers!'

"HAHAHAHA!" The man laughed, sensing the confusion from the teen at the situation he had found himself in. "YOU SURPRISED?! THAT LITTLE TRICK YOUR SWORD DOES IS PRACTICALLY USELESS ON SOMEONE WHOSE ALREADY KICKED THE SANITY BUCKET A LONG TIME AGO, BITCH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He explained, laughing his ass off like a hyena. All the while, the two Crewmen seemed to be slowly moving around the two battling men, surrounding them.

Whatever that was about would have to wait, Nico noted as he reacted to Logan's assault.

Spinning around, the male slashed at the man's back, only for the man to suddenly vanish in a red flash and appear at his right flank. Nico reflexively raised Soul Edge and angled the blade downwards in front of said flank, blocking a strike to his neck again. Nico then swung upwards in a circular motion, taking the knife with it and ending with a diagonal slash across Logan's chest. Raising a leg, Nico lashed out with a split kick to his jaw, sending Logan backwards a couple steps while he had Soul Edge activate its SCORCHING AURA (Another ability he regained through training).

The blade instantly reacted to its masters' wishes, bathing itself within a crimson glow that mixed in with the miasma surrounding its blade. This resulted in the monstrous blade looking like one of the evilest blades to ever taint Gamindustri with its existence, its lone eye shining so brightly that Nico would have questioned how it hadn't been burned from its own light. SCORCHING AURA took place, Nico felt it as Logan's form seemed to move increasingly sluggishly. Though, judging by his expression, it didn't seem like he noticed, nor did he care.

'Tch, I see… this guy must have lost it a long time ago, or maybe he has always been like this. There are those that are just born tortured, after all…' the teen thought to himself as he bathed his Devil Arm in Hellfire, unleashing a wave of it at his opponent. However, Logan just vanished in that red flash, something Nico realized was Warping, before the male raised his sword to block an overhead kick from above. He gritted his teeth from the blow's strength, there was way more to it than just human strength. 'Then there's the fact my Soul Edge's BLOOD RAGE ability just brought that insanity out into the open. He must have been like a wolf in sheep's clothing, hiding his true nature behind a Mask of cold malice.'

Raising Soul Edge after that thought, Nico channelled its power and brought it down, releasing a mighty shockwave that blew Logan backwards, the man righting himself in mid-air and slamming his feet into the wooden Deck, using his Knives to slow his motions to a halt before he threw them with great reflexes at Nico's eye lenses. Soul Edge shined as it used Telekinesis to halt the projectiles in mid-air, just an inch away from Nico's face, but then the male sensed Killing Intent behind him, and quickly twisted around to swing a reverse diagonal upward swing at the source.

CLANG!

Two weapons met, their wielders Nico and Logan becoming deadlocked together. Nico growled like an animal behind his helmet, his eyes gaining a slight red shine behind their lenses while he let out a bestial roar, pushing Logan back and finally getting a glimpse of the weapon he now used instead of those Knives (which were now embedded in his hips by the way, though he didn't look like he even cared).

Logan wielded what looked like a sword, one that looked to have been drawn from that sheath holster on his chest given te vacancy there which wasn't there before. The design looked loosely like something based off a Talwar, now that Nico could see it. The blade itself had this purple glow to it, a space in-between the latter half of its blade, a dark purple cup guard with a black handle. It looked to be about 3' foot 3 in length, too. The dark purple glow that it sported felt intensely demonic in origin, and it caused Nico to be on guard while holding a rattling Soul Edge defensively.

Power rolled from both blades in waves, filling the air with their presence and making it so that only those two were regarded in the fabric of existence. To them, it was only them and nothing else, an immense standoff taking place between the swords and their wielders. Both of them gave each other looks, one cold as steel with his scowl hidden by his helmet, while the other was a mix of insanity and twisted glee, accompanied by a savage smile, slightly impaired by the robotic half of his face.

 **'Nico, I've got some information. Its urgent. I can sense massive amounts of Demonic Power within this mortal. No, I don't think calling him a Mortal is an apt description anymore, no mere mortal can handle such a large amount of Demonic Power in their coils.'**

'You kidding me?!' Nico shouted back, before he did a double take, and his panic calmed down somewhat. 'Well, that actually doesn't surprise me that much, now that I think about it. I mean, when you look at him, there's something off about him. It's so obvious even a blind bat would notice. This guy's totally two faced and insane, traits that can be associated with demons.'

There was no more time for thought, as Logan already Warped the distance between them with a slash to his face. Nico didn't want to have a repeat of what happened before, that sword looked like it knew how to pass through his Armour like the Knives did. He could sense the same thing from them that he did on those Knives when he controlled them with Soul Edge, reinforcing his decision. Thus, Nico blocked it with Soul Edge, Warping out the way of another strike, Nico appeared above his foe and brought Soul Edge down on his head.

Seconds before the metallic edge met the man's flesh, he Warped out the way just like Nico had done, appearing behind him with a reverse horizontal slash to the back of his neck. Nico ducked under it though, jabbing Soul Edge's pommel into the man's stomach to knock him back before swinging Soul Edge like a baseball bat towards his chest. Unfortunately, Logan recovered enough to Warp out the way to a space 20 metres way from them, though Nico Warped to his position a nanosecond later with another slash, leading to a vicious blade dance between them.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

They went, circling each other and refusing to back down. Ground was neither lost nor gained between them as they struck with high speeds. Soul Edge's power rose more and more through each swing, the sheer strength the blade possessed creating shockwaves that rippled through the air during each collision. Yet the man didn't back down nor did he get blown away.

Another Warping attempt came from him, and this time Nico suffered a slash to his right bicep, along with a slash to his left thigh and left armpit. Nico cursed at this, wondering what the hell was up with those weapons Logan used. Turning to face him, Nico opened his Obliteron Cannons and unleashed a volley of Hellfire blasts, forcing Logan backwards before he Warped right back within Nico's space. The teen quickly Warped as well, the two Warping and clashing across the Zeppelin's Main Deck.

Down below, Rinjiin worked tirelessly to finish off the repairs to his Dragon Vessel. Sparks flew as the man, eyes covered by goggles, made work on the lower sections. His mouth was set in a firm line, the man's heart pounding rapidly as the weight of the situation laid itself over his shoulders. Tensity could be seen rolling from him in waves, fuelling him to work even harder and faster.

His best friend Teo lay beside him, its eyes calm yet deadly as it offered help whenever it could, usually by heating up the metals with its fire breath, so that he could get the repairs done faster. The Abnormal could feel Rinjiin's concern and stress over the situation as its own, their bond had bee tat strong after all. They had been together for a long time, so something like this would be expected. Even I it was an Abnormal, it was still an animal in the end.

Meanwhile, Rinjiin mentally wished these Repairs could be done faster. It wouldn't be long now, just a few more areas to do and then he would be back to fighting strength. Rinjiin hadn't been involved in direct combat without his Dragon Vessel for a long time, so he felt like he would be quite rusty compared to his days as a Spec Ops Agent. His battle senses would have been dulled due to not being constantly on the battlefield unlike his brethren but even so, he refused to let Nico fight on like this by himself. Even with that strange beast aiding him, Nico probably wouldn't last very long against the man known as Logan, not with what he was now.

A fierce scowl formed on his lips as he thought about the man known as Logan, one of the most hated people in his past. The two used to be real close, almost like brothers in the past. But, that was before something happened and the man began to change, not so noticeably at first though. Eventually though, it became VERY noticeable to him and the rest of their little group, resulting in great tension between them.

Then, came that one fatal mission…

Shaking his head, Rinjiin forcefully pushed those thoughts to the back of his head as he looked upwards to the Zeppelins. Well, only 2 of them were left, one of them being destroyed by that beast which now had its attention on the other one. Hopefully, he would be able to get up there soon, cause he hated being useless in situations like this. He owed Helen much after what she did for him, so he'd be damned if he didn't at least TRY to help her adoptive son.

'Just hang in there, Nico…! I'll be joining you, soon…!'

Back on the Lead Zeppelin's Main Deck…

'I'm not getting anywhere with this, I need to get some distance…' Nico thought to himself, before he Warped right on top of the Zeppelin's Balloon. He also suppressed his Demonic powers, up to his very presence while kneeling on one leg, Soul Edge strapped to his back. The teen gripped his chest area with his right gauntlet, feeling his heart pounding away within.

Sheesh, this guy was no joke. There were those weapons that had the properties of passing through his demonic Armour, and then there was how two-faced he was. Nico had honestly been expecting someone who was cold, calculating and deadly efficient on the battlefield when he heard that broadcast before the battle began, but instead he got… this. Someone who had little to no sanity, and weapons that could pass through demonic defences like they were magic mimes.

Only thing that would make it worse was if that guy had some other trick up his sleeve…

'I just jinxed myself again, didn't I?' Nico thought, mentally groaning as he remembered what Biko had told him. Chances were, this guy wasn't showing all of his cards just like Nico had been. He wasn't too winded tough, even after slaughtering all those Crewmen and using so much of his power. In fact, he felt like he could go for quite a while longer, a major blessing in a situation like this.

His mind then wandered onto that demonic power he could sense from Logan, something that set off alarm bells inside his mind. Was he fighting someone from the Chaos religion? Was he facing off against someone on a similar level to Maghda? Back there he just KNEW she wasn't showcasing her full power, and thanks to the situation there neither did he. Whether or not she knew of his DPU Form remained to be seen, but Nico hoped that wasn't the case. That form WAS one of his major trump cards after all.

Just then, the teen sensed a presence nearby, one that radiated malice and bloodlust so inhuman that he nearly shuddered. Though, he had no time to ponder on what the fuck that was, and in any case he already knew the answer to THAT question. Nico's eyes widened she quickly rolled out the way of an unseen energy attack, one that burst through the balloon which regenerated soon after. When he got back up, the teen had Soul Edge drawn once more so that he could defend himself against any further attackers.

Attackers that came in the form of Logan and his two Crewmen, somehow having Warped onto the top of the Zeppelin's Balloon with their Leader. Said Leader had this crooked smile on what remained of his mouth while he leaned is head sideways, pronouncing how deranged he was becoming. The two men stayed behind their leader, leaning forwards slightly.

Wait… there was something different about them, Nico noticed, something that made his eyes narrow behind his Helmet. Was it just him, or did they look… bigger? Bulkier even? Not only that, but now he noticed them lacking irises and pupils leaving their eyes completely white. Their hands randomly twitched, and when they did they di so in a rather frantic manner, various unnatural growls escaping their lips. 'Nope, its not just me…' he thought after pinching his thigh to see if he was hallucinating. 'What the hell…? They weren't like that just a few seconds ago, or maybe they changed wardrobes when I was focusing on this asshole…'

Next thing he knew, alarm bells began ringing in his mind when he sensed something else. Something that he should have noticed a while ago had he not been o distracted with the previous battling. Sweat formed on his forehead as Nico gritted his teeth, the answer coming to his mind all too quickly and he didn't like it one bit. 'Oh shit, is that… is that thing I sensed earlier waking up?' he wondered, a pit of apprehension forming in his stomach.

"Tell me, boy…" the man spoke, cackling like a maniac with his fingertips over his lips, eyes shining crimson not unlike a Demon's. The man looked back at him with a sinister gaze while his two lackeys stomped forwards. Nico didn't not notice the way their feet seemed to cause indentations within the Balloon itself either. He eyed them warily, his instincts screaming at him to not take any of them as lightly as he had done to the other Crewmen before. Soul Edge rattled away like crazy within his grasp PREDATOR flaring wildly and violently at the prospect of combat against powerful opponents. His gaze ten fell back onto the man as Logan managed to cease his maniacal giggling. Seriously dude, get help that stuff was freaky. "Have you heard of te saying 'birds of a feather flock together?"

"Yeah… what of it?"

"Oh, I think its best if my boys SHOW you."

That… That seemed like some form of signal to the other two, Nico rationalized as he held Soul Edge in front of him, its lone eye narrowing at its prey. Said prey, the two men, stomped forth once more as, much to Nico's shock, they began to unleash a rather potent amount of Demonic Power.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

It was like an explosion, rocketing everything that was material and immaterial alike. A Crimson aura of power roared into existence as it freed itself from their bodies, erupting like two twin volcanos while long trails rushed through the air and into the atmosphere around them. Nico had to use his sword to protect his eyes against the winds that were kicked up from the energy release. His teeth clenched as his senses detected that same sensation from before, only now… it was active. VERY active. 'I see… so this was somehow demonic power… so does that mean…?!'

Slightly lowering Soul Edge (once he realized that his Helmet could and would protect him from the winds, whoops), Nico looked to the two sources of this Demonic Power. His senses detected that it was spreading through their bodies, but there was something else… something that soon made itself clear when he saw the two men undergo a rather… drastic and violent transformation.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

The left one's body began to bulk even more than it had before, his hands holding onto his face like he was trying to peel something off. His mouth hung open in silent screams, drool dripping down his chin while his teeth began sharpening and elongating into fangs. Hell, Nico even saw wounds beginning to form within the mouth, indicating a rather painful element to this transformation. Just then, the man's skin began splitting apart with disturbing tearing sounds, like a doll being shredded to pieces in a shredder, exposing crimson flesh underneath. Incidentally, it looked like he was shedding his skin, his mortal coil to be more precise.

From the back of his head the skin seemed to… stretch outwards, elongating into spike-like protrusions with even more disturbing sounds, his mouth doing something similar but ending up like a bird's beak. His hands lengthened their fingers, their nails darkening to an abyssal black and elongating into claws. From his back, two bulges began to show, like something was trying to break out from within. In the next second, that something got revealed when the skin broke apart in a crimson, gory and bloody explosion, splattering across the balloon behind him. The new appendages flared behind him, showered with blood from their formation, revealing themselves to be the wings of a crow, black with strands of blood between their feathers. Looked large enough to support flight, too.

Crimson orange flames erupted around his form and formed clothes, armour and weapons. They formed Japanese style sandals, silver shin guards, baggy silver pants with crimson belts, shoulder pads on the shoulders with a furry piece hanging over them and around the neck, silver forearm guards and a black headpiece consisting of a strap and a black circular piece on the centre of the forehead. The weapon took the form of a double ended Staff, one end being that of a spiky Baton while the other, the rear end, having spikes curving downwards.

The other man ended up in a similar form but with a dark blue skin tone. Had a similar weapon, too.

Both of them glared at Nico with fierce killing intent shining in their eyes, though. They each had their own auras radiating them like cloaks, cloaks of nothing but malice and bloodlust. Their wings were angled so that, at the slightest sign of conflict, they would be able to take flight instantly, or at least move at high enough speeds. That was what he took from their body language, at least. What was more worrisome to the male however, was that Nico could hardly sense any feeling of intelligence from these creatures, none at all. It was like their brains had shut down entirely, leaving them nothing but walking corpses. Not something he liked to think about, considering his past experiences with walking corpses.

Even so, Soul Edge felt like it would be throbbing if it were in a humanoid form. PREDATOR looked like it was getting a goddamn workout with how much miasma was covering the blade right now. Glad to know that it still wanted to rip these foes apart, though that was to be expected from a demonic blade such as this. Judging by the lack of intelligence he could sense from these two, Nico doubted BLOOD RAGE would be very effective on them, since they would lack the higher brain functions anyways. Perhaps he could rely on SCORCHING AURA, but something made Nico doubt that.

Perhaps relying on Soul Edge's Shapeshifting abilities would be his best option here…

A boisterous, mad cackle drew Nico's attention to Logan, who was holding his gut while bowing forwards slightly. "HAHAHAHAHAHA, OH THAT LOOK ON YOUR FACE! ITS JUST PRICELESS!" he bellowed in between his laughs. He kept this up for a few more seconds, before he clicked his fingers and the two creatures lunged forth at Nico. They flew through the air on their own crow Wings, closing the distance between them and Nico near instantly.

'Oh shit!' Nico cursed, shifting Soul Edge into its sword and shield combo form. He Quickly raised the shield and deflected the first blow from the blue creature, kicking it away while using the momentum to spin and slash at the red creature's staff. Their weapons grinded away against each other as if they were having a tug of war, sparks constantly flying from them until Nico infused Soul Edge with Hellfire to knock his opponent back. He then sent several long waves of Hellfire against them, before unleashing his PHANTOM BLADES Skill.

The red creature managed to smack away the Hellfire strikes with its Staff, but it didn't react in time to the PHANTOM BLADES. Thus, it got impaled in the chest multiple times over, as well as the legs and shoulders. The red creature scowled and growled in annoyance, not pain, as its body forcefully PUSHED the blades out of it. The moment they were out their target, the blades vanished out of existence, allowing its Demonic Power to close the wounds shut.

'Well, looks like these guys have the demonic regeneration part covered…' the teen couldn't help but comment sarcastically to himself. He then shifted Soul Edge into its Beyblade form, infusing it with Hellfire again so that it looked like a flaming disk of pure deadliness. He then twirled a full 360 degrees and hurled it towards his opponent, whom reacted swiftly by jumping into the air to avoid it.

His senses screamed at him to dodge, and Nico did so by rolling sideways, avoiding the blur creature when it came down for an overhead stab which would have busted his skull in. The teen rolled back onto his feet, sliding across the Zeppelin's Balloon before he called Soul Edge back to him. It shot towards him like a spinning torpedo from behind his foes, cutting through their sides to temporarily stun them before latching onto his hand and shifting into Cleaver form.

Holding it like a certain Cyborg Ninja did his sword in a certain franchise, Nico dashed forwards and met the blue creature in combat, ducking under a reverse thrust before sidestepping an overhead slam. He then swung upwards, hitting it in the stomach and, with the force used propelled hm into the air. Nico then unleashed an ATOMIC INFERNO on his ass, before twisting into a kick to launch a PHANTOM WAVE towards his red skinned counterpart. Said counterpart had just gotten to his feet, so Nico wanted to keep him down, so he could focus on the blue one.

Once these events passed, Soul Edge reformed into dual swords form as Nico cross blocked a smash to the face, pushing the weapon upward so he could dash past the blue creature, several slashes adorning its form from how fast his weapons moved in that brief instance. Nico knew that they wouldn't keep it down for long, so he quickly twisted around and launched a couple FIRE BLAST Skill attacks at its back, one from each sword. Both hit it in the back, extending to the Wings too since they hit their bases. The result: the blue creature stumbled forwards, several stomping sounds accompanying their movements. It looked like its wings had been damaged too, residue Hellfire flames trailing upwards from them.

Nico then crossed both swords while raising them above and behind his head. He then slashed downwards like an X, unleashing two ATOMIC INFERNO Skill attacks so that meant he launched 60 fiery rays upon his enemies. The blue creature turned to strike with its staff, but then its red counterpart jumped in front and raised a hand, a magic circle appearing in front of them and taking the attack. it shattered right after though, but at leas it managed to stop his two Skill attacks from connecting.

'Tch, so they can use barriers huh?' Nico thought to himself, mentally making note of that as he made Soul Edge turn into its Bow form. The male quickly took aim, diagonally tilting the weapon before pulling back the intestine-string and letting the formed arrow fly. It flew right into the red one's right eye, and because of the distance between them it managed to pierce right through into the brain. Though instead of just dying right then and there, the creature growled and roared, setting the arrow on fire and burning it out of existence. The hole reformed into its right eye, regenerating the damage as well. 'Seriously…? A strike to the head… Then again, it probably shouldn't be surprising at this point.'

 **'This just proves to me that they're demons, somehow. Demon Regeneration allows for some very potent regeneration, just like that other side you have. Possessing both allows you to be nigh immortal body wise. Still, these injuries seemed to have drained a significant portion of their energy. It probably won't be long before we can injure them, and they won't be able to heal'**

In that case, it would probably be best to destroy this damn fucking Zeppelin then. It wouldn't be like he'd be losing his answers, as long as he let that Logan guy live long enough to make him spill the beans. He probably wouldn't comply, but something told him that Teo and Rinjiin would have some form of… means, to get him to squeal.

Yet, before he could give this Zeppelin a taste of Soul Edge's power, the power that destroyed an entire Dungeon even in its weakened state, the sounds of footsteps got his attention. Nico gave a 'tch' when he caught sight of Logan heading his way, just seconds before he launched a sneaky snap kick to his side, sending Nico flying away. While his armour managed to negate some of the blow, the force behind it surpassed Nico's expectations and thus, he felt a sharp pain from where he got hit. Though, he ignored it easily.

Thus, Nico flipped in mid-air, spinning like a sausage until he landed in a crouch, denting the balloon beneath him

Once he halted, Nico stood up with Soul Edge shifting back into its default form to see Logan grinning smugly at him. "It appears you have noticed the stark differences between these two and the rest of my men." He commented, of which Nico rolled his eyes as he sensed some monologue coming. 'Stereotypical villain antics aside, maybe could get some answers as to what the hell is going on here. I can guess that these guys somehow became Demons, the fact they have a human form hints at this. Judging by what this guy said and what I've seen, I guess that he did something to turn them into Demons, though the 'what' in that eludes me.'

"You could call it an 'Ascension Ceremony." Logan stated, bringing Nico out of his musings. "Think, a ritual that involves infusing the partaker with the soul of a demon and gallons of Demonic Power. In the end, it is supposed to turn them into Demons, though they retain a human form to blend in. along with increased abilities, they gain the ability to take on a more demonic form that is are superior to their human one. Those Northmen that woman commands went through something similar, but they didn't get the benefits that MY men did. They only got the physical ability buffs and the madness, mine got OH so much more."

Okay, this guy definitely had an ego with how arrogant he sounded just then. But, what he said caused Nico to throw that aside as he pondered what he meant. So, Maghda had used some sort of ritual to create the Northmen? Hmmm, well Biko did say that those guys got tainted by that power, gaining extra buffs but losing intelligence as a consequence. He never said how that happened, so this must be it. Also went to show how the Fragmented Memories didn't have everything, again. This guy in addition just implied that he had a connection to the leader of that Coven, too, which only incensed Nico even more to take him down. Any ally of hers needed to be dealt with before they could cause more damage.

He got the feeling this guy wasn't telling him everything about this 'Ascension Ceremony', but he wouldn't press. Not when they had a fight going. "They aren't the only ones however, as you will soon see." Logan sneered, closing his eyes. No sooner had he done that, an eruption of energy released itself from him, like those two Demons. When he opened them however, everything got covered in darkness.

* * *

Down with the Dragon Vessel, Rinjiin just finished the last of his repairs, he'd only have to reboot the systems from inside the cockpit, which was located within the head and could only be accessed by the 'Imaginary Bellybutton' that Nico had once coined it as. To had stuck to blocking the cave entrance by sitting sideways in front of it, though one could tell by its snarling visage that it only felt tense as the battles above raged on.

Just as he plopped down to the ground from the Tail segment, a great chill rose up his spine, and an overwhelming sense of fear swirled within his gut. Teo noticed too, especially from the low growl that escaped its lion snout.

"What in the world...?"

Rinjiin muttered this with surprised eyes, before he looked up to the battles in the skies. The moment he saw that darkness get released, Rinjiin feared the worst for the crimson haired Spec Ops Agent.

"I must hurry, something tells me the kid will need some assistance soon enough...!"

* * *

Back with the said Spec Ops Agent, Nico had covered himself in a cocoon of Hellfire, the flames not allowing the darkness released from Logan's transformation anywhere near their wielder. The teen himself kept the flames going till his senses told him the darkness had subsided, which allowed him to disperse the flames with a single hand swipe. This allowed him to see his surroundings once again and not feel like his eye sockets were being singed by how close his Hellfire flames had been to his person.

Looking around, the teen noticed that the Zeppelin had remained mostly undamaged from the transformation. While he couldn't see it in its entirety, the fact that it was still afloat spoke enough to him. Maybe he should check it out from other angles to make sure, but for now he'll stick with this assumption. In the distance, Nico could see Urthemiel spearing the other supporting Zeppelin with dozens of fiery Javelins, then breathing Primal Fire onto it. Looked like it was almost done with its prey, then, he figured he could count on it for support soon then.

When he looked to where Logan once stood, Nico suddenly felt very relieved at that aforementioned fact.

The reason why? Simple, because in place of Logan, stood a 20 feet tall being that barely resembled the shape of a man. Nico couldn't see much of its form due to the mix of pure orange flames radiating from it as well as the shadows that cloaked its form, but he could still make out that muscular humanoid body structure, accompanied by a long Tail, two MASSIVE Bat wings that reached up to 20 feet in wingspan each, and two curved horns coming out its head that pointed forwards. Two glowing orangish yellow eyes, similar to miniature fiery infernos, narrowed their gaze down at the sole puny male. A matching hollow mouth could be seen beneath the eyes, plums of flames occasionally escaping into the air from its depths.

Its wings gave a few jittery movements as the creature raised its arms up and then rolled them experimentally, flames exploding forth from them as well as its shoulders and the back ones matching the activity. It almost looked like the flames coated those areas like Armour. From its right arm, the flames spiralled together and solidified into this solidified magma-like substance, one shaped like a Bastard sword with a fiery backedge, and a main edge shaped like shark teeth. An orange core could be seen at the base of the blade, burning just as bright if not brighter than the solidified magma. It gripped the sword effortlessly as the demonic form of Logan gave a mighty roar. One that shook everything around him, the Zeppelin, the oxygen in the air, even the less alive things like the clouds and stuff trembled at the roar, that was just how powerful it was.

He hadn't even fought it yet, and already Nico didn't like this form. Logan had taken a form that projected an aura of pure fear and terror, an aura that, as seconds went by, began digging through his mental defences towards his heart, to try and paralyze him via those said emotions. Luckily for him, he had two forms of defence against such adversaries: his Devil Arms which used their combined power (though something felt off about Alastor for some reason) to keep the aura from getting to him, and then there was that Bone. It was almost like a Devil Arm, since it was trying to devour the attempts to get into him.

 **"Ahhhhhhhhh...! It feels GOOD to be in THIS form... I almost FORGOT how GRAND it FELT..."** the demonic Logan spoke, his voice sounding suspiciously similar to that Demon Prince a while back. He seemingly glanced down at his body when saying this, and hinted to Nico that Logan hadn't turned into... this... for a long time. This implied he had been this way for a while, and from what he could guess, that while was definitely a long time, perhaps before Nico even found out about the existence of Demons. The demonic Logan then focused his gaze back from his own body down to the smaller male, a derisive chuckle escaping his hollow maw. **"Now then... HOW shall I deal with YOU... perhaps a MEAL is in ORDER! I have NOT yet FED in quite some TIME!"**

FFFFFFFWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Nico had only one millisecond to react, and he did by jumping backwards. Good thing he did, cause the instant after Logan said that he had unleashed a fierce inferno-like Firestream from his mouth. Those flames almost seemed to moan and groan like tormented victims that were previously burned to a crisp, not something he wanted to experience for himself thank you muchly.

Stopping just at the balloon's tip, Nico looked up and raised Soul Edge, blocking an overhead slash that would have cleaved him in two. 'Damn, for such a big beast, Logan moved almost like a Tempest of Flames just now...' he thought to himself, refusing to look at the weapon grinding against Soul Edge thanks to its brightness. Hell, he bet that Soul Edge was having a field day since its PREDATOR ability seemed to be like a hyper fan girl on a sugar rush, in terms of activity and power boosting that is. He could also feel the secondary power PREDATOR had, as the Demonic Blade tried to eat away at the demon energy within the fiery blade grinding on it like two lovers having intercourse.

Aside from that, this creature's power was not just for show, and DEFINITELY greater than Logan's human form. This strength, according to his estimates, would probably be able to shatter mountains with ease, or similar type of constructs. Anything less would be a pathetic farce to this strength, Nico noted, which was probably why Logan hadn't changed into this form till now. He may be insane, but Nico never noted that he was an idiot. The insane people often get the tendency to be underestimated, but Nico would not make that mistake.

Even if one was an idiot, they could still be a deadly threat to those around them.

Eventually, Nico drew on as much power Soul Edge provided as he could in this situation, and pushed the demonic Logan backwards. Though, Nico had to unleash a wave of Hellfire to halt the approaching Red and Blue Demons. The latter then flew into the air for that same overhead stabbing attack that it did to him before, but Nico just unleashed a PHANTOM WAVE into its chest, sending it flying backwards towards its master. Nico then dealt with the other one by unleashing DEMON SAW, swiping the creature off the side of the Zeppelin.

Unleashing an ATOMIC INFERNO, Nico forced his opponents backwards, allowing him to step away from the edge of the Zeppelin's Balloon, though he didn't stop repeatedly using the Skill to gain more ground. By the time he had made it a quarter across the Zeppelin's Balloon, the demonic Logan had enough of being hit by flames, and unleashed a large heat wave in all directions. It hit both Nico, and his two minions, blowing them off the Zeppelin.

Part of him wanted to summon his Ember again, but another part won out...

'Soul Edge! Reaper Mode!'

At this, the male had to curse as he shifted Soul Edge into its REAPER MODE, flaring his wings to halt his trajectory. Power roared forth from this form as Nico unleashed about 8 ATOMIC INFERNO Skill attacks at once, unleashing 180 homing rays on the three demons. The attack had come from each one of his clawed digits, hence why he had been able to launch so many. Of course, none of them wished to experience that pelting again, thus they destroyed them with large bursts of demonic power.

 **"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOW, my MINIONS! Feast on his FLESH! Devour his SOUL!"** Logan called out, raising his sword and slashing downwards to the side. From that slash, what looked like a pure orange vortex came out. What that was, Nico had no idea, but something told him he was about to find out. Turned out those instincts, like most times, were dead on the mark like a cowboy scoring a head shot while reason? From that Vortex, out came a rather sizable cloud of what seemed to be hundreds of small, flying crimson gargoyle like creatures. easily numbering at 200 by the time the vortex closed.

'Uhhhh, Biko? Any idea on what they are?'

 **'Your guess is as good as mine, unfortunately none of the Fragmented Memories have anything of use on these creatures yet.'**

'Shit... and what's worse is that it looks like things are getting out of hand here...' Nico thought to himself as he readied his Reaper Mode against the incoming tide. These gargoyle-like creatures eyed him like a sack of meat, unrestrained primal fury in their shrieks and caws while some even flexed their appendages threateningly. Each one rivaled a human in height, something telling him that wasn't just a coincidence. He tried not to think on that right now, since he needed to figure out a plan of attack.

There was too many foes to risk using any of the abilities Soul Edge possessed, PREDATOR would be the best option since it kept boosting Soul Edge's power by the amount of bloodlust it radiated from how many strong enemies there were. essentially, it was a power multiplier depending on how many and how strong there were opponents, something ideal for his situation.

However, the other abilities would be next to useless, as Shape-shifting would require him to exit REAPER MODE, and THAT was not something he was willing to partake in. Moreover, the amount of enemies here would make it so that his other abilities wouldn't be as effective as they would be when facing a single enemy. He could just rely on his Skills, Demon Skills (that reminds him he hadn't gone DEMON OVERDRIVE for a while), and perhaps his Armour reliant Skills. That also reminded him that he may have to rename those Skills in the future, since Plasma and Hellfire have fused into Obliteron.

Perhaps he could use some of his Devil Arms via Soul Edge's Telekinesis, since his hands weren't too capable of holding them in REAPER MODE. Though, almost immediately after that a wave of refusal shook his soul though his links to said sentient weapons. Almost enough to make him drop his guard out in the real world.

Right, these things don't like being controlled by anything other than him, not even a sword formed from his soul.

Got it.

Note to self: Investigate the relationship his Devil Arms have with each other and Soul Edge. There has to be records of people with multiple Devil Arms somewhere in those Fragmented Memories.

 **'I will find the time to look into it, Nico. But for now, I would suggest you transform. On their own, these demons wouldn't be too difficult to deal with. Hard yes, but not something you couldn't handle. Heck, not even Logan's power is enough to rival that of Soul Edge even in this form. However, with the numbers and circumstances present, It would be best to forgo control for the time being and 'unleash hell' as one Terran from your StarCraft game seems to like saying.'**

At the beginning, Nico opened his mouth to refute that idea, but then he closed it before those words came out. After all, Biko had a good point, these enemies were too numerous and circumstances weren't in his favour. Aerial battles weren't his forte when in human form due to lack of training and actual experience. The only thing that had helped him back in the fight with Maghda had been adrenaline and the desire to make her pay for what she had done to Tekken... plus the urge to ensure his comrades would leave that incident alive.

Though, most of his problems got fixed in his DPU Form. That form was geared towards combat after all, just look at the things it has accomplished when he used it.

In addition, Nico felt that these surroundings were actually quite ideal for his situation. For one, he was in a large, open space with practically nothing that could be destroyed by accident. Save for that island down there, but that wouldn't be much of a problem since he wouldn't be aiming down there. Why would he need to worry about control in this situation? Also, he had things that he DID want to destroy, something Soul Edge would happily oblige for its master. Then, there was how none of his comrades were here, Rinjiin and Urthemiel being far enough away that he didn't have to worry about getting any collateral damage. Honestly, this was probably the best likely scenario for his DPU Form to return.

All these thoughts made him decide his next course of action.

"Alright then, lets do this. I'll have to accept that I'll need to transform more in these battles if I wanna regain control over my other side." Nico mused under his breath quickly closing his eyes and activating DDD. The male got engulfed in the signature fiery cocoon, swirling just as violent as ever before it dispersed to reveal his DPU Form. the DPU Crimson Soul in his full glory, as well as Soul Edge in its True Form.

In this form, the male looked down to the weapon, feeling the full, unrestrained power the weapon had roaring within it. In comparison, if the power it wielded in its weakened form was like an inferno, the power it wielded in its True Form would be like those black holes seen at the centres of Galaxies. Black Holes of THAT scale if nobody knew, had the ability to suck in entire planets before devouring them. Infernos just burn a large area.

See the difference?

Makes sense that he isn't able to fully control its power, huh?

Clutching Soul Edge's hilt, Crimson Soul looked back to the Demons approaching him, eager to feast on his soul. Well, by Demons he meant those Gargoyle-looking mother fuckers, but he sensed that the others weren't far behind. Data constantly streamed into his mind, drawn in by the constant use of the AKUMA NO ME. It was permanently activated in this form after all. Hell, he could barely see the weapons hilt, and the blade itself was practically hidden by the thick miasma born from PREDATOR. It was like holding a weapon containing thousands upon thousands of maniacal voices, all laughing out of sync to drive the wielder mad.

The madness and bloodlust Soul Edge had in this form couldn't be compared to that of its weakened state.

Still though, wiping out these pests would be a simple affair.

All Crimson Soul needed was one swing.

As the Demonic Gargoyles shrieked and cawed while they advanced, some snapping at each other, Crimson Soul gazed at them emptily. His eyes remained blank, no signs of fear or dread in them as he raised Soul Edge for a horizontal swing. The power within the blade began to gather and condense, heat radiating of it like a furnace core. The blade practically trembled in his grasp, eager to release the built-up power it had gathered. Finally, just when they were within striking distance...

"Begone."

Crimson Soul Swung.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

In one motion, one single side swinging motion, Soul Edge erupted with power and Hellfire, resulting in a COLOSSAL sized black and red fiery wave that was over a couple hundred feet tall and wide. The wave quickly consumed all 200 Demons in one swift movement, incinerating them with extreme prejudice. They didn't even get a chance to scream, that was how fast they were burned to nothingness. Didn't help that they had been so close to Crimson Soul, either, something that he intended to happen so he could get them all. The wave eve extended further, reaching across the entire space and nearly touching the other three Demons that hadn't attacked yet if it didn't disperse milliseconds before it could touch them.

They were about 120 meters away, too...

Not even a PIECE of its power had been used, either, just a simple swing.

'This sword... it is indeed a broken weapon as my human self would say...' Crimson Soul thought, his eyes slightly wider than normal to express how surprised he was. If HE was showing emotion, then that meant the said emotion had existed in great enough quantities to do so. Not an easy feet, either. Looking down at the blade in his grasp, Crimson Soul felt that swing, and instantly he knew without a DOUBT, that it contained only 30% of its full might. Even in this form, it seemed that he was trying to hold this power at bay. Years of trying to hide his true strength would do that to a person, he rationalized.

 **'It would seem that the enemy has been caught off guard by Soul Edge's power, also.'**

That particular notification from Biko made Crimson Soul look up towards Logan and those two Demon warriors he had beside his imposing form. Though, with the opened maw and the wider-than-normal eyes, the DPU realized that his opponent literally got gobsmacked with that demonstration of power. The same could be said for his minions, though it had been much easier to tell since they weren't bathed in shadow.

Soon, Logan regained his composure first, shaking his head and then looking back to Crimson Soul's form. **"I see... I thought I sensed DEMON POWER in you when we FOUGHT... So, it is TRUE... you POSSESS the SAME power as I..."** Logan remarked, holding his sword in a ready stance. After that display, he wouldn't be taking any chanced for sneak attacks.

Crimson Soul's eyes narrowed sharply at that, the irises hardening into stone with the glare he aimed at the Demon. "You dare compare yourself and I? Utterly unforgivable." he stated, calmly. One could say his fury burned through his words like ice melting away, as Soul Edge seemed to roar with its power. It hungered for more conflict, more souls to devour as that one swing had allowed it to devour 200 Demon Souls at once. It wanted more, more power, more Souls, more CARNAGE. He would give it that soon enough. "I will make you regret those words, when I feed your soul to my blade."

Those comments made the Demon laugh maniacally, its laughter echoing across the airspace between them. To the onlooker's view, it looked like two colossal forces were about to collide, affecting their surroundings down to the sub atomic level... they wouldn't be that far off, actually. **"Not if I FEED your SOUL to my BELLY first, WEAKLING!"** Logan proclaimed, before he gestured to his minions. **"BUT, lets SEE how you FARE against my CROW TENGU!"**

'My human self would go on about this being another classic villain trope, but I shall refrain from such matters...' Crimson Soul thought, readying Soul Edge by holding it in one hand in front of him, angling the blade so its tip faced diagonally upwards. Its power violently swirled around it while the sword prepared for its next battle. ZZ"Those two shall be the next meal for my S-"

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

* * *

Before he could finish, Crimson Soul sensed an incoming presence. A presence that announced itself with a wild, furious roar that shook the foundations of reality. Literally, it shook everything around them without mercy. When it stopped, Crimson Soul shifted his gaze to the source, finding it to be the Archdemon Urthemiel, and it was speardiving towards Logan from above roaring a mighty battle cry that rivalled the Demon's other one from earlier. It must have finished its previous foes off and devoured their Souls, Crimson Soul rationalized, as the Archdemon quickly gained its new foe's attention by latching onto them from behind, claws swiping away like rabid psychopaths on mad frenzies.

Obviously, Logan didn't take too kindly to this, not with the growl that escaped him as he glared up towards it. **"ARGH! You damn BRAT! Let GO of ME this INSTANT!"** Logan bellowed as he struggled against the Archdemon, trying to grab onto it with his bare clawed hands. He had discarded his fiery sword in a whirlwind of Hellfire to do so, but Urthemiel kept angling itself away from its grasp while repeatedly clawing at his fiery back. It then jumped off him, breathing a Primal Firestream down onto Logan, causing him to scream in pain as the primordial flames burned away at his being. He could feel his powers rush to engage the flames, both externally and internally.

After all, those flames were some of the most deadly flames in all of creation.

Both demonic being soon spiralled upwards while glaring heatedly, each intending to rip the other apart. Logan would try to lunge occasionally, but Urthemiel would dodge him and strike with either its claws or Tail. One lunge was different though, as Urthemiel quickly flapped its wings to ascend above the demonic being it faced, tilting so that it was upside down and yet facing Logan's damaged back, unleashing a Primal Fireball onto his damaged back.

 **"ARGH! You...!"**

* * *

While those two fought like wild beasts ravaging their prey to pieces, these two Crow Tengu, as Logan had called them, raced towards Crimson Soul with the intent to tear him a new one in the place of their master. However, in comparison to their master, these two were like bugs to the DPU. With one swing of his demonic sword, he unleashed an energy wave that knocked both of them backwards, having gotten the info on their attack strategies by Soul Edge's AKUMA NO ME. The DPU then dashed forth while they had been dazed by his quicker attack, AKUMA NO ME advising him to target the Blue Tengu first.

Upon reaching striking range, Crimson Soul charged Soul Edge's power and hit his opponent with a baseball swing, knocking it higher into the air. The DPU then Warped to the space above it, bringing Soul Edge down on it and then Warping away. The Blue Tengu (he decided to call it BT for short... pretty sure that's the name of some brand, but whatevs) managed to recover by spreading its wings to halt its movement, before looking too see a FIRE BLAST already sent towards it. It barely reacted in time to block the attack, but its guard got broken to allow Crimson Soul to Warp in front of it and throw a devastating kick to its solar plexus, forcing it to end forward with a loud gasp escaping its beak.

Crimson Soul spun into a reverse backhand, sending the BT across the battlefield, closer to the two battling Demons actually. Before he could strike more, Crimson Soul got information from the AKUMA NO ME and strafed backwards, avoiding a swing from the Red Tengu (for this one, he'll call it RT... why does he get the feeling he's referencing a company with similar initials?) as it saved its companion from his wrath.

Once again, Soul Edge gathered its power as its wielder raised it to the skies, generating enough to form an ATOMIC INFERNO when swung. In its true form, Soul Edge unleashed much more potent attacks, it was practically impossible to compare. That word had been used a few times to describe the difference in power between this form and the others, but it was still nonetheless true. Once the attack got launched, the 30 homing rays looked more like streaks of pure light than fire as they danced through the air, heating up the atmosphere with their presence alone while chasing down the two Tengu Demons.

The said demons quickly flying about in erratic flight patterns while the homing rays gave chase...

It looked like a series of fireworks going off.

'This looks remarkably the nights on the fourth of July...' Crimson Soul thought as his sword's AKUMA NO ME told him to go after the RT in 4 seconds. The male did so, rearing himself back before his fiery wings erupted, roaring like thrusters as they propelled him forwards. The flames converged around him, encasing his form in its embrace to make him look more like a humanoid meteor, one that decisively struck the RT in the side. Both fighters spiralled together like a spinning top, both flaring their wings to try and gain some form of balance.

In the end, the two halted all movement with Crimson Soul revealed to be on top, his wings spread apart and flapping wildly with his legs digging into the RT's stomach. Literally, his feet up to his ankles were submerged beneath its flesh, demonic blood squirting in quick bursts from the wounds while the RT tried its best to keep afloat, ignoring the pain his stomach was in. It clawed, bit and swung its weapon at him in an attempt to get him off, however wit Soul Edge's Telekinesis, Crimson Soul rendered it absolutely defenseless... by controlling its entire body.

Once more showcasing its superiority.

He could even feel the mad cackling within the blade at the futile attempts to resist its grip.

Channeling his power, Crimson Soul's body pulsated with it as he focused the energy into his wings. Their forms, once that happened, began to spiral inwards to follow the direction the energies were gathering. He could feel the battling against Soul Edge's grip become increasingly desperate when the RT saw this, but the Demonic Sword had a firm hold on it. This Telekinesis may have near absolute control over anything it touches, but Nico had long since is covered that it had a range. A range limited to its surroundings. For example, he would not be able to move a mountain from another side of the continent.

Still, that wasn't something he concerned himself with as he finally released the energy in his wings as a massive heat wave, one that incinerated the RT with zero mercy.

Turned out that its companion didn't like that either as it screeched and cawed in absolute fury. It then dashed towards him at high speeds, swooping down to strike with a swing to his head. Crimson Soul however, blocked it with Soul Edge's tip, swinging down and sending the BT back, flipping through the air until it could right itself. The DPU quickly had his sword activate SCORCHING AURA, infesting the BT with its power to decrease the creature's attack strength. He also applied BLOOD RAGE to his opponent.

His efforts bore fruit, for the moment those abilities were activated, a faint aura washed over the Demonic being, making it stumble slightly while its eyes lost any and all traces of intelligence under the effects of SCORCHING AURA and BLOOD RAGE. The BT growled and snarled, furiously beating its wings as it sailed towards him with the intent to tear him a new one. However, Crimson Soul easily deflected the incoming barrage of attacks from its Staff with Soul Edge, the lack of higher brain functions making it easier to predict for his AKUMA NO ME.

After re-angling a stab that would have pierced his head over said body part, Crimson Soul twirled into a slash that sliced through the BT's side, making the creature hiss at the Demonic Power put into the blow as well as Soul Edge's natural cutting ability. Not done yet, the DPU twisted around and repeatedly thrusted his sword into the creature's back, flapping his wings downwards to mimic jumping before he transitioned into a constant forward flip. This made him look like some sort of saw-blade. The continuous slashes that followed, tore through the BT's hide with ease, tearing through flesh and bone like nothing was even there before Crimson Soul slammed his weapon down into the BT's shoulder. This resulted in the blade easily tearing the shoulder off the creature's body, taking its weapon arm along with it.

"SCHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

A bone-chilling screech tore through the battlefield as the BT screamed in agony, clutching its profusely bleeding socket. The pain burned through it like the flames that the demonic beings commanded. Though, it didn't have to worry about that for long, as Crimson Soul quickly summoned Hellfire from his off hand, forging an arm that lunged towards it and grabbed onto its neck, holding it in place for Crimson Soul to burst forth in a quick explosion of speed, thrusting Soul Edge right through its chest. The creature squealed even more, feeling the fiery blade burning its inside the moment that its tip embedded itself into its flesh, the pain increasing tenfold by the time half the blade was passing through it.

In the next instance, its body erupted into flames, flames that quickly got absorbed into the blade as Soul Edge's SOUL EATER ability activated, allowing it to devour and absorb the BT's Soul. Adding it to the many that it had absorbed.

There, it was done... the battle was over. Well, this one at the least.

Looking over to where his Archdemon was, Crimson Soul stared blankly as he saw, across 200 meters flying distance, Urthemiel jump backwards from his former perch on Logan's' shoulders when the Demon erupted into Hellfire. It breathed more Primal Fire on him, but the Demon managed to dodge in time by dropping lower and out of its trajectory. It looked like things were getting heated over there, he should probably join in. He didn't want to lose his Archdemon after all.

 **'Before you go over there, why not use the monsters inside of this Inner World? I believe you know this, but DPUs have the innate ability to spawn monsters and demons from their energy. You have only used this ability once to create the Archdemon Urthemiel, however it is possible for you to create more monsters for your own needs.'**

Crimson Soul furrowed his brows in immediate displeasure at that. He didn't believe that would be a good idea, both in this form and his human form. They were used to killing Abnormals, Demons and other monsters, so to willingly create one from his own powers felt like he would be betraying everything he stood for as a warrior as well as a Spec Ops Agent. 'I am unsure as to how wise that move would likely be, Biko.' he told him. 'Remember, I fight monsters every day, neither my current self nor my human self would agree to a notion which makes me like those I kill.'

 **'Be that as it may, with the way things are going, I fear that we may have to use this ability regardless. You and I have been sensing demonic energy readings throughout Leanbox, I can tell you know this. Readings that keep on growing as the days pass. It won't be long before the Demons outnumber the humans in this Nation, thus an army of monsters may be beneficial to keeping humanity alive. You could think of it like Rinjiin and his Abnormal family. He learned to tame and raise the dragon Abnormals in that cave, tossing aside his instincts as a Spec Ops Agent. If he can do it, then we can to.'**

Biko once again made solid points, and honestly sometimes Crimson Soul felt vexed by that. His Demon Persona and him had been sensing demonic energy readings throughout the Nation, that was true. It had started when they just started their journey to Skies End on the non-Desecrated Ember. It had only been made more apparent when they ran into that demon horde which he had tested the Liberator and Oppressor on, a fact that he hadn't been truly focused on since he wanted to get to Skies End as soon as possible. Biko was right again, about the Demons potentially outnumbering the humans here in Leanbox, if their destructive tendencies were anything to go by, then these creatures would be worse than Abnormals, and worse still the Guild would likely just peg them as extremely powerful Abnormals before sending good Agents to the slaughter. Spec Ops Agents are strong, true, but Demons are not something that they will have experience in.

He could only imagine the ensuing bloodbath...

Before Crimson Soul could do anything more, be it think or act, the male heard the sounds of wing beats nearby, wing beats that he recognized as not his own. 'What? Could it be...? Looks like it is, he seems to have completed his repairs.' the DPU thought to himself. His eyes focused in towards the island, from which a familiar large crimson dragon suddenly shot into the airspace thy all occupied with a loud roar and a fierce flamethrower, signalling its presence to the fighting Demons.

Said Demons paused their combat to look at the new arrival...

Only for a fireball to his Logan in the face and stagger him.

 **"GAH! WHAT?!"**

* * *

Inside the Cockpit, Rinjiin stood behind the two empty sockets with two levers on either side of him, both hanging from the top of the ceiling. He gripped them tightly, the feeling of being a dragon himself filling his being like it did whenever he piloted his Vessel, as he glared towards the demonic Logan. 'Sorry old friend, but I'm not letting you go like I did last time!' he thought to himself, pulling down on the handles.

* * *

Outside, the dragon vessel dove forth into the battle, firing Fireballs towards Logan like pepper spray. The Demon quickly covered his face, and while his physiology made it so that the regular fire that the vessel used remained meaningless, it still kept him from moving so the Archdemon used this opportunity to latch onto his front with a loud roar, wing-beats wildly occurring between the two deities.

While those two tussled, the dragon vessel dove down beneath them, arching back upwards as it headed for is target, the Zeppelin. When he glanced towards this target, Logan's eyes widened in shock and horror as he realized what he planned to do. **"NO!"** He roared, making to fly on over there but Urthemiel and some FIRE BLASTS from Crimson Soul kept him occupied.

Thus, Rinjiin's Dragon Ship spiraled upwards like a bullet as it pierced through the Zeppelin, tearing it in half.

 **'His ship must have detected the source of that Zeppelin's demonic powers, for him to have stabbed right through it the way he did.'**

'Perhaps so, I no longer feel any sort of power running through that vessel.' Crimson Soul thought to himself, watching as the two separate halves of the Zeppelin began to fall down towards the Island. Since those pieces were no longer powered by demonic energy now, it would stand to assume that Rinjiin, who was right now trying to guide the pieces so they could crash onto the Island and not into the depths below, that they could possibly salvage some parts from it for their own use. It was how Rinjiin got the parts he had to repair his vessel with, after all. taking the wreckage of other vessels and stripping them of their parts. He then turned his attention to Logan, intending to finish the fool off while getting some answers. #

Imagine his surprise however, when he saw that just as Logan blew Urthemiel away with a headwind born from one large flap from his wings, Teo suddenly charged in from behind, roaring furiously.

 **"AGH!"**

Logan cried out in surprise when he got blindsided by the Abnormal. Teo growled and snarled, viciously tearing away at its prey by raking its claws along its person, biting and tearing off chunks of flesh while embers constantly escaped its form. Those embers constantly gathered together and detonated around the demonic Logan, causing him to cry out in pain. Though, the Abnormal ignored his cries in favor of ripping its prey to pieces for daring to attack its home and its charge. The flames and shadows making up his form whipped away at the Abnormal, trying to get it away from him, but to no avail. Teostra were Abnormals who specialized in making explosions with the embers they radiated, using their horns and tusks as mediums. Thus, it was only natural that they get fire resistance through evolution.

While he tried to get the Abnormal off him, Logan gasped again when he felt Urthemiel pounce onto his back, gripping his shoulders and hips with its claws while raking and clawing away at him, working in tandem with the Teostra in utterly wrecking Logan's day. The two dragon-based creatures, despite not knowing a single thing about one another, both allied with each other to tear apart the greater threat to them right now. At this point, Logan had to contend with three threats, the two dragons attacking him right now, and Crimson Soul who took the opportunity to create various ATOMIC INFERNO attacks when he could.

Eventually, his temper finally exploded.

 **"ENOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!"**

With a loud war cry, Logan released a large burst of demonic power, finally sending the two dragons off him. He quickly sent several Hellfire fireballs towards Teo, knocking the creature back further while grabbing Urthemiel by the neck and slamming it into the Teostra, sending the two dragons spinning across the battlefield. Loud yelps escaped both of them from this treatment, but before the Demon could finish them off, Crimson Soul charged in with a Hellfire covered Soul Edge, his body overcome with the fiery aura of DEMON OVERDRIVE while he swung in a reverse horizontal slashing motion. Logan responded by creating an energy barrier in front of him, blocking the slash but getting sent flying backwards as a result.

While Logan was temporarily dealt with, Crimson Soul lowered his sword as he glanced behind him at the two beasts, his eyes communicating his desires without him even speaking. They both saw those eyes, and after a moment staring into them, the dragons nodded and backed off. The male didn't want them to get in the way of this fight anymore, he would take care of Logan himself. For Urthemiel, it would obey its master without hesitation, while Teo decided that protecting its charge was more important as it flew down to where Rinjiin was. It would protect him against any dangers that may come while he worked, such as other Abnormals or any stray attacks that came from the ensuing fight.

Turning back to his opponent, Crimson Soul leveled Soul Edge against him while the blade thrummed with power due to PREDATOR. AKUMA NO ME had remained silent, meaning that the Demon didn't plan on attacking just yet. "It is time we settle this, you and me, Demon." he stated blankly, his eyes unflinching while he regarded the demonic Logan without revealing anything. His guard remained up, his instincts poised to react at any signs of attack. Thoughts of what Biko had told him lingered in his mind, but he pushed them aside for the time being. He had to concentrate on this battle.

Once he spent enough energy to recover his wounds, Logan formed his Bastard Sword once more and glowered towards Crimson Soul. His eyes blazed with infernal fire, vapor escaping his maw while embers rolled from his form like a cloak. In his current form, Crimson Soul could hardly feel any of the dread and terror that he had felt when he was in his human form. His DPU Form's natural aura just kept everything harmful out of his system, he didn't even need his Devil Arms or the Bone's protection when he was like this.

So... DPUs have strong mental resistances, huh?

 **"Yesssssssss... It is TIME...!"**

Both beings floated opposite each other, the only sound exchanged between them being the beating of their Wings, embers rolling off Crimson Souls being the sole difference. It was as if all other sound had stopped to take a moment to watch this impending final battle, eager to see the outcome. Like people watching a race in the coliseum while taking bets on who would win. Neither force broke eye contact, staring into each others' eyes with infernal intensity. They even began to gradually circle each other, shadows, flames and embers trailing behind them.

...

...

...

...

...

...

SNAP!

In one quick motion, Crimson Soul darted forwards, Warping right in front of him with a diagonal swing to the Demon's chest. His sword carved through the Demon's hide, and he Warped out the way a second afterwards to appear behind it.

Logan growled at that, feeling his energy being pumped towards his chest to deal with the wound. He turned around and swung his sword, sending an arc of Hellfire the DPU's way. Said DPU quickly Warped out the way, only to barely reform his wings into two large arms to catch an overhead sword swing to his head.

 **"HAH! You are PREDICTABLE! I have SEEN your WARP patterns, BOY! Your SOUL is MIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNEEEE!"** Logan proclaimed, and with a burst of strength pushed his sword down to send Crimson Soul spiraling downwards. Raising his sword, Logan swung downwards in his direction to send another Hellfire blast his way.

Soul Edge thrummed as its wielder quickly morphed his wings into... a set of propellers, propellers which used their flaming blades to rotate at high speeds to create a draft. It resulted in a lift strong enough to halt his movements, and allowed the DPU to swing Soul Edge. The swing released a Hellfire blast of equal size, shape and intensity, as it soared towards the other blast for the inevitable collision.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

* * *

Rinjiin just got the remains of the wreckage down to the island safely, with Teo acting as his watchdog in case any annoying Abnormals showed up, when the explosion from the battles above reached his ears.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

... He felt so glad that he wasn't part of that...

'Still, there should be something I can do for the kid... I'll head back when I'm done here, then i'll wait for an opening.'

* * *

Back to the battle, both demonic entities tore through the explosions' remnants and slammed their blades together. This slam caused a shockwave to be released from the point of impact, one which ripped through the air like it was being raked by a thousand tiny yet deadly sharp claws. The two broke their clash seconds later though, repeatedly swinging at each other despite their size difference.

SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, CLANG!

They went, dashing around each other in wild, erratic patterns yet never losing or gaining any ground. If one were to look at this battle from an outside perspective, they would see them as a ball rolling about through the airspace.

Crimson Soul thrusted Soul Edge when he saw an opening, pushing through Logan's defenses and stabbing his left bicep. The Demon let out a **"GAH!"** while the blade's edge set his arm's insides alight with its infernal energy, before he through the arm aside and opted for a punch with his weapon arm. Crimson Soul Warped out the way though, appearing behind him with his Soul Edge overcome with Hellfire. "DEMON SAW!"

He swung his sword downwards, but Logan managed to raise his own weapon to block it by angling it across his back. The resulting shockwave exceeded the ones caused by their previous clashes by far, forcing the two to break it off and strafe backwards till they were about 60 meters from each other.

Neither of them remained idle though, Crimson Soul raising his sword which began to ooze Hellfire trails. Each trail gathered at the blade's tip forming the FIRE SCORCHER that he had used against the Killachine back at Lastation. The heat from the growing attack burned through the air around him, stopping any and all cold from reaching it while gas could be seen rising off it... then being burned to nothingness as well. NOTHING escaped the grasp of his Hellfire...

A similar thing happening with the Demon's attack too.

Both of them had Hellfire-based fireballs/meteors above their swords, sustained by the energy being channeled through them like the swords were mediums. To Crimson Soul however, he got a strange feeling of de ja vu from this situation. Holding his weapon like this, staring down an opponent he refused to lose to, showing his resolve to kill this opponent...

Oh wait, it felt like that time when he learned resolve from his mother...

Shit...

Shit, SHIT!

This bastard was going to PAY for tarnishing that memory of his!

'This anger... I see, so if I feel something string enough, then even this me can feel emotional attachment...' the DPU thought to himself pondering these implications. The few times he had transformed, Crimson Soul always found that he had a little... less emotion than his human self. Little less restraint too, more bloodlust and more desire to fight. It was rare that he transformed in the first place however,, so he never really got the chance to experiment with this form in the real world. Thee only reason he knew so much about it was due to his training inside his Inner World.

Breaking out of his thoughts, Crimson Soul glared at his enemy, before hurling the FIRE SCORCHER towards it RIGHT when the Demon hurled his own fireball...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Once again, another explosion happened between them, blocking each other's view. The heat from both attacks combined together and expanded outwards, all but evaporating every oxygen and hydrogen molecule in the entire airspace.

Within the fire, the familiar silhouette of Logan was the only warning given before the Demon dove through, swinging his sword instinctively... only to hit air. There was no sign of Crimson Soul anywhere... not something that the Demon expected as he constantly flapped his wings while frantically scouring the airspace for the DPU. **"What?! WHERE are YOU, Coward?! SHOW yourself! Lemme DEVOUR you!"** he bellowed into the surroundings, only to get silence. He didn't believe that the boy was dead yet, he could still sense his power nearby...

Wait...

He looked down, and saw a faint glow deep beneath the depths. A furious snarl escaped the Demon's lips before it dove down after his opponent, looking like a fiery Phoenix descending upon the mortal plane of existence.

* * *

Crimson Soul dove beneath the clouds. The ones which were beneath the island itself. He wanted to see what was down here anyways, so this was a perfect opportunity. He'd even used the explosion as coverage to go full throttle down beneath those clouds, travelling at his maximum speed of mach 1. It honestly surprised him how fast he could travel in this form, but right now he had other matters to attend to.

He'd taken a big risk, doing this, and he knew it. The risk was that if Logan didn't hate him enough, then he would remember what he was originally going to do here and go after Rinjiin. With the way the guy was right now, though he didn't find it particularly easy to call him as such, Crimson Soul had little doubt that Rinjiin would't last a second against him. He banked on the fact that Logan wanted him dead, more than his grudge against Rinjiin... not something that could be seen as logical but then again, since when were Demons logical?

The moment he dove under these clouds, Crimson Soul came face to face with what lay beneath the clouds... and what a sight it was.

Beneath the clouds, it was nothing but ash, embers, volcanic rock and lava as far as the eye could see, There were tall stone pillars and sharp spires all over the place. Cracks ran along the ground like they were remnants of an earthquake, with constant rumblings reminiscent of aftershocks being heard throughout the land. The climate felt arid as all fuck, and if Crimson Soul was in human form then he would have felt this climate much more than what he currently did. DPUs weren't really affected by climate changes, Biko had told him that once. It helped them fight within any environment, without worry.

Flying through these 'Wastelands' as he now dubbed them, Crimson Soul sensed Logan's power nearing him. It must mean that he had caught on to his location, quite quicker than he had expected. His eyes flashed briefly, before he flapped his wings and floored it, pumping energy into his wings so he could fly faster and shooting through the air.

* * *

After a while of flying, Crimson Soul finally found an optimal space for him to finally finish Logan off for good. It was about as wide as football stadiums lines up like a square. It would be the perfect place to finally end this farce and take Logan down for good, hopefully before getting some answers to his questions from him. But, the DPU didn't mind that as much, as long as he got to kick that fucker's ass.

Guess it was like Neptune's HDD, even transformed, Crimson Soul still has some of his human side's traits.

Flying across the future battlefield, Crimson Soul flared his wings and halted his motions when he was at the center, hovering there before he descended downwards with his wings spread outwards for increased surface area, stopping right above the ground. His wings then shifted, curling inwards while he hovered there, slowly turning around in the direction he could sense Logan;s demonic power coming his way. Ironically, that was exactly behind him at 6 o'clock.

If he was in human form, he would have smirked at the plan having worked. Looked like this guy was too obsessed with killing him rather than his original target. Even now, in the distance Crimson Soul could make out the telltale signs of Logan's demon form approaching at high speeds, evident by the trail of darkness and flames that 'trailed' behind him. Ugh, his human self's tendency to unintentionally make bad puns rubbed off on him at this moment in time. He would have to fix that habit sometime, but on the list of priorities that tidbit ranked near the bottom.

In other words, not very important at all.

A faint orange flash was Crimson Soul's only warning, something he only caught at the last second... along with the large fiery axe thrown his way. The transformed teen had caught the axe with one of his wings, which had been morphed into one of those catching gloves innkeepers in baseball matches used. Heh, if this was an official match, then the batter (himself) would be out. Good thing this wasn't an official match then... Maybe he should think about looking into some sporting events, maybe Tekken might like to see those if she gets better.

Tossing the Axe away and morphing his Wings back to normal, Crimson Soul saw the weapon dissipate into nothingness as the Demonic, imposing form of Logan arrived at the battlefield, halting about 20 meters away from him. His wings spread outwards just like how his had done, darkness and embers radiating from their frame as he slowly descended to a similar level to his adversary. The way that his body radiated darkness and flames seemingly fit in with their new surroundings almost eerily well. The dark, crimson clouds, the glowing orange lava trails scattered throughout the wastelands, the volcanic rock formations, it just screamed 'a Demon's home' here.

 **"YOU... have been a... THORN... in my SIDE... for FAR... too LONG...!"** The demonic Logan spoke between heavy pants. One could tell that he had been winded by their battle, or rather a combination of their battle and flying about so much. His energy reserves weren't as great as they were before, Crimson Soul noted, meaning that the end was finally nigh. Though, he knew they had to finish this quickly, for his reserves weren't all that great either. **"I... challenge YOU, boy, to a DEATH PARADE!"**

The moment those words left the Demon's mouth, the entire area seemed to tremble, whether it was from the power his voice commanded or whether it was something else, wouldn't be figured out for some time. Crimson Soul raised a brow at the Demon's words., slightly lowering his Soul Edge but keeping it in a defensive posture in case any funny business was pulled. What the hell did the Demon just say? What the hell was a Death Parade? Well, he should probably find out what that is before this went forwards. "What is this Death Parade you speak of, Demon?"

While he spoke, the DPU had to note the strange... abnormality in the air. There was a strange yet not so strange heat overtaking the atmosphere, taking the place of the heat from this goddamn wasteland. Logan balled over in laughter, briefly unable to speak thanks to this til he recovered enough to respond to him. **"You FOOL! It is a one-on-one DUEL! A duel with NO outside INTERFERENCE!"** he explained, forming a bastard sword and pointing it at him. **"It is a SACRED art, a DPU tradition! You have NO right to REFUSE!"**

Now THIS got his attention, his interest piqued like when an animal looks towards the distance when it senses something amiss. A DPU tradition, huh? While he normally wouldn't be one for tradition (then again, no Spec Ops Agent was, just look at their beliefs) but these Death Parades seem quite interesting. They consisted of pure combat, something that adhered to his true nature, so why wouldn't he be interested? Still, Crimson Soul didn't forget what his purpose was for coming down here, if he were to refuse this then not only would he be mocking a tradition that he honestly found somewhat appealing, but he would also likely run the possibility of Rinjiin suffering Logan's wrath. He didn't know the guy and perhaps he may still have a little bias even in this form, but even so Crimson Soul didn't like to entertain the thought of that scenario occurring. "This death parade sounds intriguing... I accept."

No sooner had he said those words, did Crimson Soul finally get an answer as to what that strange yet familiar heat in the air was, as a large circle of Hellfire suddenly roared to life around them. By large, he meant that it was about 20 meters large and a similar diameter. Orangish red Hellfire roared to life around them, blocking out any visuals of the surroundings outside the ring. Crimson Soul also noted some rather... eloquent carvings embedded within the ring itself, in a language that he assumed was that of the DPU. Though, much to his surprise it seemed like he could read this language. A language he had no recollection of even learning about, much less knowing.

Was that due to him being in DPU Form? Could that be it?

In any case, he hadn't the time to worry about that. For now, he had to concentrate on the task at hand, and what was that you ask? Well, quickly channeling Soul Edge's power to block a swing to his face was the answer. Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes as their two swords trembled against each other. The male had to pump his sword full of power while also channeling its own to keep the enemy sword at bay. Was it just him, or had this Demon been holding back this entire time?

Eventually, the two broke it off, and they quickly entered a furious bout of slashes that seemed impossible to track even for enhanced eyes. Their weapon arms were like invisible weapons all on their own, neither of them backing down in this duel to the death. Crimson Soul sidestepped an overhead slam and swung Soul Edge to the creatures chest, enlarging it with Hellfire. Logan stepped back to dodge it, then came in with a wide slash that Crimson Soul side flipped over, twirling into a reverse horizontal slash that was blocked by the fiery bastard sword.

Utilizing the close distance between them Crimson Soul unleashed a FIRE BLAST, having decided to try something new out by reinforcing it with BLOOD RAGE and SCORCHING AURA. The attack hit, and the DPU could sense the other Skills taking hold little by little. He'd have to file that use for later then, Skills being combined like that would be quite useful. Especially in taking down larger and stronger opponents in the future.

Another plan of attack came to mind as Crimson Soul morphed his wings into two large fiery hands, catching the other Demon's bastard sword by slamming their palms together on either side of it. He then used Hellfire to conjure an arm from the space beside him, then another opposite it, and had them both rain down a furious barrage of punches on the Demon's face. They were so fast that it looked like there were many of them descending upon it to unleash their wrath.

If his human form was dominant right now, Crimson Soul wouldn't doubt that he would be going 'ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA, ORA!' right about now.

Finally, he had both arms perform the 'Double Palm' martial arts move, sending Logan flying across the battlefield. Logan recovered in miod air however, flipping backwards to re-align himself before looking to where Crimson Soul was... only to see him already on him with a swing to his right shoulder. This made the Demon gasp, furious burning pain erupting from that body part as he was sent crashing to the ground below.

The DPU then took advantage of the number of limbs that he sported, by swishing his Tail (not an appendage he used often, he should probably look into changing that) in Logan's direction. From the Tail' form, came a dozen long, sharp Talons that soared through the air and impaled the demon in its off-hand arm, which it had used to block the Talons from hitting anywhere vital.

Using this as an opportunity, Crimson Soul swung Soul Edge in a reverse upward slash, knocking his opponent into the air before he jumped upwards to their level and once again flip sawed into him, Soul Edge cutting deep into the Demon's hide. A loud roar escaped Logan's lips at this, one that forced the DPU backwards and away from him so Logan could land on the ground in a crouch position.

Logan then raised a fist, engulfed it in Hellfire, and finally smashed it into the ground. A loud yell accompanied this action as he pumped demonic energy into the ground for his next move. This resulted in a trail of fiery explosions that occurred in front of him, racing through the ground towards the still falling Crimson Soul.

Said DPU however, managed to place his hand onto the ground and used it to push himself back into the air, flipping away from the explosions and landing on a fiery platform he erected under his feet. Soul Edge trembled in his grasp, telling him to use it now, so he did what it wanted and used it to form another ATOMIC INFERNO which the male launched at his opponent.

Each Trail came at Logan from different directions compared to each other, resulting in Logan showing surprisingly high agility as he twirled around and used every appendage he could, his wings, tail, sword, arms etc, to slice or smash these Trails before they could hit their intended targets. He missed one or two however, but the majority were destroyed before they could even hit him.

This nearly resulted in him missing his opponent speeding through the air towards him however, Soul Edge thrumming with volatile power which he condensed as much as he could into a wide horizontal swing. Logan sensed the amount of power building up in that blade, and it was almost enough to scare him. Almost. So, he swung his bastard sword in from the opposite direction. Their blades met once again, causing a shockwave that destroyed the ground around them, making a rather deep and wide crater for the two to float over.

 **"UGH... It stings like a BITCH to admit this... BUT... you do appear SKILLED... boy!"** Logan growled under his breath, staring down at the smaller warrior before him with the fiery pits he had for eyes. Their swords trembled as they constantly fed them power, trying to one up each other but remaining in a stalemate.

Crimson Soul stared unflinchingly into those eyes, searching through them almost, as he registered those words. It definitely sounded like begrudging respect there, and to admit that in the heat of battle... there was no way this guy would admit to this otherwise. "If that is so, then why do you not come at me with your full strength?" he asked, and Logan's eyes briefly swayed to show how surprised he'd been temporarily.

That surprise soon turned to dark amusement when he gave a sinister, echoing chuckle that would make seasoned war veterans run for the hills. **"So... you NOTICED...!"**

The DPU nodded, honestly the way Logan said that almost insulted him, it was like he thought he was hiding it well when in reality Crimson Soul had seen it since this battle of theirs started, though he only focused on it when this Death Parade of theirs began. "You would be foolish to think I did not. I am no fool, Demon. You haven't been going all out since this battle began, you have more power to show than this. Bring it out, let us fight like it will be the last fight in the universe." That was when his lips finally curled upwards into a smirk bridled with bloodlust, the smirk of a warrior who enjoyed the thrill of conflict while his eyes shone with a light that they hadn't had before. "After all, a fight like that is well worth it, don't you agree?"

A loud laughter escaped the Demon in response, as Logan and Crimson Soul broke off to have about 10 meters distance from each other. Both of them had their swords facing one another, though it merely felt like a small precaution at this point. **"Yes... YES, YES, YES! A BATTLE TO END ALL BATTLES! A BATTLE FOR THE AGES! YES, THAT WILL SURELY BE A FIGHT TO REMEMBER! COME, BOY! LET US DANCE THE DANCE OF DEATH TILL JUDGEMENT DAY AND TRUMPET SOUND!"** Something told the DPU that he was now forgetting targeting Rinjiin in favor of killing him, but he didn't mind that.

Bending over, Logan groaned and grunted, the sounds of flesh being torn and burned echoing through the atmosphere as the darkness he emitted converged around him. It even took over the fiery sections of his body, something that showed just how thick that darkness really was. As it did so, it looked like his form began to shrink, shrink till it was about a head taller than Crimson Soul's form.

In moments, the darkness vanished, allowing Crimson Soul to see what Logan looked like now.

Standing, or rather floating, before him, was what looked like a Knight of darkness. The Knight had sleek, black Armour with crimson red highlights. The helmet had the shape of a samurai with two holes to expose crimson flame-like eyes. Atop those holes, were the beginnings of long, thin spikes that curved upwards. Smaller ones protruded from the Armour above where the cheeks would be. There was an opening in the helmet that should have exposed the mouth and the center of the face, but it only exposed nothing but shadow save for those eyes. The torso Armour had spires protruding upwards from the breasts, as well as the shoulders, with the rest of the Armour bare of them. The rest of the Armour gave him a sleek, knight-like appearance along with the black cape that sported a red interior flowing behind him. In his hands, were two Hellfire-made Scimitar swords, each of them as long as a human arm.

Crimson Soul reached out with his senses, and to his satisfaction he could sense that THIS form had the rest of that power he had sensed hidden away unleashed. This was his final form, the apex of his power. This would be the form he would die in, the form that will be the hardest to defeat. This form may lack the size and intimidating factor that his previous form possessed, but the speed, finesse and fluidity this form would likely possess should surpass that one. Unlike that form, in which its power felt chaotic, wild and uncontrollable, this form's power felt calm, controlled and rational. Without a doubt, it would be much stronger than his previous form.

No words were said, there were none to be said. Their swords would do the speaking for them. It was at that moment, that the two blasted towards each other, ready for the final battle at last.

* * *

 **Chapter end.**

 **For those who don't get it, I chose Logan's first form to be the Balrog from Lord Of The Rings, and then the Dark Blade Monster card from Yu i Oh as his second form. Hopefully you all are enjoying this fic and the elements i'm weaving together. If you could comment in the reviews, i'd deeply appreciate it.**

 **Well then, peace out! :)**


	110. Chapter 107 - A Demon Falls

**Chapter 107 - A Demon Falls**

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG!

This was quite possibly one of the most exhilarating fights he had had a long time, Crimson Soul decided.

The reason?

Simple, he was currently clashing blades with the Knight of Darkness, Logan, though with his personality Crimson Soul had a hard time calling him a Knight and not calling him some damn warmonger.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, CLANG!

This new form seemed so much more interesting to study than the previous one, Crimson Soul felt while they fought, their swords nothing but blurs while they looked like party dancers with how they moved all over the place. Not only did Logan not lose any of the power his other form had, but he seemed much more nimble and athletic in this form, as he sometimes would end up sausage spinning into rapid slashes that he could barely block with Soul Edge. The blade's offensive power may be on an abyssal level, but defensively it fell a little short. Not to say that it didn't, but it felt clear to him that this blade specialized primarily in offense.

Maybe he could find some way to change that in the future.

Regardless, this form Logan took felt so much more nimble and agile than his previous one. He found himself having great difficulty hitting this guy with some of his attacks, and whenever he did strike back Crimson Soul had to keep on his guard since he struck so fast that Shapeshifting Soul Edge into any other form would be impossible. It relieved him though that he could still weave in a few BLUTSUCKER Skill Attacks in with his strikes, they were his main source of damage at this point.

Hellfire was useless since Logan would dodge each attack, and he'd rather not use anything large scale like FIRE SCORCHER with this Death Parade limiting the space they could fight in. Plus, he didn't know much about this new method of duelling, so he didn't want to chance things unless he had to. Warping helped his situation as well, though, since he could use it to get some distance or even close the distance between them, keeping Logan on his toes.

As for Logan's attack strategies, he seemed to forgo the idea of ranged Hellfire attacks and instead just focused on pure swordsmanship. He wielded those dual fiery Scimitars with INSANE Skill. He used techniques that he didn't know even existed, which forced the DPU to keep an eye on those Swords while dishing out strikes of his own.

Though, it seemed that wasn't all there was to this form. While he focused on swordsmanship, it also seemed that he maximized the ability to Warp in this situation, something that Crimson Soul found himself fucking ABUSING just as much as they would Warp the fuck about the battleground, exchange a strike then Warp again. Sone cases Logan would fall to one of Crimson Soul's strikes, and other times it was the opposite.

Neither of them had any time to see if they were being watched, only focusing on each other while their minds only had one thought that entire exchange: kill. This truly did feel like a life or death struggle for survival, of two power house warriors meeting in a deadly battle to prove who was superior. No movement was wasted, everything had a purpose. One had to be innovative if they wanted to surprise and catch their opponent off guard. Both of them did that in spades, maybe too much since now it felt like they were too guarded to try anything funny.

So, in the end, these two felt like they both were in a stalemate.

Nevertheless, as the two broke off once again, holding their swords in various stances, the DPU had to admit to himself that e enjoyed this fight immensely, despite the risks involved. This fight, this thrill, his heart thumped wildly in his chest like it was a criminal trying to break free from prison. His blood boiled like Hellfire, his body trembled with each blow in a way that just felt so fucking good that he just had to have more. it was almost like he was addicted to a good brawl like one would be to something like heroine.

Still, even in the heat of battle, some thoughts about what the hell was going on persisted, like toddlers constantly nagging their parents for sweets even though it was bad for their teeth. Questions like 'What is a Demonic Ascension Ceremony?', 'How the hell did he get it' 'did he have anything else interesting to know?' and 'does this guy know anything about Maghda's next move?' constantly flew about in a small, undisturbed yet highly annoying section of his mind.

He had so many questions that he wanted to ask this guy when this was over, and if what he was sensing about this Duel, this so called 'Death Parade' was true then he may just get those answers he sought…

Just had to defeat this guy first.

With that in mind, one Warp later and Crimson Soul was right behind Logan, swinging Soul Edge in a reverse horizontal motion towards his helmet. The demonic warrior ducked under the blade, letting the air and power it had built up wash over him harmlessly before he shot forth with a kick towards the DPU's shin. Crimson Soul jumped back to avoid it, before spinning into another reverse slash to the man's back.

Logan crossed both Scimitars in front of him after twisting about, catching the larger blade. He then unleashed one of his techniques, one that Crimson Soul had dubbed 'Specular Cross' the moment they had caught Soul Edge, deflecting the blade away from him and then going for a downward strike against Crimson Soul directly. The DPU however, managed to form a barrier from Hellfire just above the spot on his body that would have taken the hit, blocking the trike just seconds before impact though it did send him skidding backwards.

Once he halted himself, Crimson Soul looked up to see his opponent already on him with a cross slash in a mid-range forward dash. The DPU chose to block with his wings instead this time, reforming them into a wall in front of him that exploded upon the blades meeting it, sending Logan backwards.

Pumping Soul Edge with Hellfire, Crimson Soul swung a full circle that ended in Logan's direction. The result: A Logan sized wheel made from pure Hellfire that raced towards his opponent with the speed of an Olympic athlete. It was only a technique he had developed this battle, so the speed could have used some work. His other attacks travelled much faster than this one, so it explained why he didn't show much surprise when he saw Logan run towards it and then side roll out of the way.

Warping close, Logan unleashed a sword technique called End Revolver: a full-circle spin slash with quite the range to it, range that got further enhanced by the Hellfire-made blades. Crimson Soul managed to block it however, bringing Soul Edge down into an overhead smash that Logan dodged by Warping away. The blade crashed into the ground, forcing the ground around him to lift upward from its physical strength… as well as unleash a shockwave that blew everything away from him.

Logan appeared once more and generated a Hellfire barrier to block these pieces. By the time his cape stopped flapping to indicate the barrage had passed, Logan looked to see Crimson Soul having launched a barrage of fireballs at him, forcing Logan to Warp out of the way. When he reappeared, the DPU had already Warped to that position, and was bringing Soul Edge down on his ass.

One quick SPECULAR CROSS changed that though.

 **"What, you didn't THINK I was NOT going to USE that?!"** Logan mocked, cackling insanely while jumping into a furious onslaught of spinning slashes. Crimson Soul did what he could to parry them, until he released a wave of demonic energy to blow Logan back. The transformed teen furrowed his brows as he saw Logan Warp right back, the male blocking his left Scimitar then sidestepping his right one. He threw a slash towards his stomach, but the man dodged that one by stepping back.

Not one to waste momentum, Crimson Soul used his last strike to twirl around, morphing his wings into swords to try and stab the guy for him to bend backwards to avoid them, before he came down with another overhead swing. However, Logan Warped out the way to appear beside him, carving an X shaped gash along his side while dashing past him.

'Th-This is!' Crimson Soul thought, feeling the fiery pain explode from his side where the Scimitars had sliced through. His Armour seemed to have given way there, exposing the under suit beneath it. That must have been what Logan had targeted with that last attack, he thought, before raising Soul Edge and becoming deadlocked with Logan's Scimitars which had tried to Scissor Slash him again.

Not going to fall for that trick again, the male thought as he quickly unleashed a BLUTSUCKER on the guy's ass. While he couldn't see if the guy had anything beneath his Armour, the transformed male had no doubt that BLUTSUCKER wasn't effective, if the shuddering the guy did was any implication. He had to make this fast before the guy could Warp again, and what best way to make the most of this closeness than getting even closer?

Sliding forth, Crimson Soul got right through Logan's defences, surprising him and catching him off guard. That would cost him, for Crimson Soul shoulder tackled him down to the ground, the spikes in his pauldrons helping out there. The DPU then summoned large all of Hellfire to throw the other Demon's way. The Hellfire hit, causing a large pillar to erupt that sent Logan flying.

Not allowing that to be the last of it, Crimson Soul morphed his right wing into a long arm/Tentacle-like appendage. He then let it lunge forth at high speeds, grabbing onto the Demon's left leg Armour, before proceeding to lift him higher into the air and slamming him into the ground repeatedly with the force of a sledgehammer being swung with maximum strength. Part of his mind conjured the image of himself doing the same to Neptune that one time in West Wind Valley, but he pushed through it. If he were in human form, this would have been a different story, but like he theorized before in this form his mental resistance was much greater. His hallucinations wouldn't be bothering him while he was in this state.

After the 30th time, Crimson Soul threw the Demon away from him and let the appendage morph, along with the other wing, into a pair of large hands. These hands slammed into the ground and pushed forwards, propelling him in the Demons direction as he spun into a spinning swipe with one. Logan barely managed to recover in time, flipping to the right position as he landed on the ground. He then looked up and raised both Scimitars for a SPECULAR CROSS to block the claw coming to his face…

Only for it to be a feint for Crimson Soul to halt mid-flight and fling Soul Edge like a wheel at him.

Again, Logan's eyes briefly grew larger to indicate his surprise, but this time he managed to catch himself and block the attack from hitting him. He crossed his Scimitars in front of him, instead of using his counter technique since the wielder wasn't there to strike, he was too far away for it to be effective. Soul Edge's form collided with his Scimitars, constantly grinding against them while it spun, and Logan gritted his teeth at the force behind the blade. He had figured out that it had great physical strength, the various craters and cracks on the ground was a testimony to this. However, even after clashing with this blade so many times Logan still found himself baffled at its power.

If only he had such a blade…

Maybe then people would respect him more!

Maybe he could get what he wanted again!

His thoughts got halted when Logan saw the blade suddenly spin backwards, moving diagonally upwards before angling its tip towards him and going in for a stab. He quickly Warped out the way, reappearing beside Crimson Soul with a slash aimed towards his head. However, Soul Edge appeared in a flash of Hellfire in front of him, blocking the slash while swinging itself, knocking him back.

'That's right…' the transformed teen thought to himself, grasping his sword's hilt and brandishing the demonic blade towards his enemy, eyes shining with battle maniac type joy. The blade thrummed with power, PREDATOR miasma coursing over its form in a truly thick, wicked manner. It almost felt like he was holding a hellish dungeon filled with screaming, groaning and moaning prisoners. All of them frozen in a state of agony throughout all time. 'Soul Edge has telekinesis, combined with its sentience it can act as a separate entity to attack my enemies.'

 **'Perhaps you could combine this idea with some Hellfire…'**

Upon hearing Biko's words, Crimson Souls' eyes gained a curious glint to them amidst the bloodlust, not that Logan saw as he raised his Scimitars to slash like an X, drawing on some Hellfire powers to send a pair of Hellfire waves in the shape of how he slashed towards him. Crimson Soul however, swung the mighty blade once, and smashed right through the attack. The monstrous blade easily passed through the flames, using raw power to brutally smash the attack into mere embers.

Logan's facial expressions couldn't be seen, but Crimson Soul got the feeling that he didn't like that stunt as evident by the barrage of slashes, fireballs, and other Hellfire based attacks that Logan sent his way. Crimson Soul gripped the hilt of his Devil Arm, feeling its white-hot bloodlust coursing through his veins while he made his weapon swing like a blur of motion, entering a deadly 'dance' while slicing through each attack sent his way. Even as dozens of strikes rained down upon him, Crimson Soul never let any of them hit him.

After the last attack, the DPU quickly swung upwards, releasing a rising pillar of Hellfire that halted Logan's attempt at a quick dash his direction. However, instead of simply losing all motion, he instead used it to flip to the side and swing sideways, unleashing a Hellfire slash at close range.

Unlike before, the DPU had only barely blocked it in time with a Wing, before morphing both into claws that he slammed into Logan's blade before whipping at him with his Tail. Crimson Soul then decided to try out Biko's recommendation. While Logan got temporarily dazed, his Tail strike having hit him in the head, the DPY engulfed Soul Edge in Hellfire, before telling it via their link to use that Hellfire through Telekinesis. He wanted to see if this would work.

He only had a few seconds thanks to that strike, better make this count.

In the moment that Soul Edge left his hands, it seemingly understood his intent as the Hellfire around it began to morph, the flames spreading out from the hilt while forming a fiery appendage, almost like an arm but not quite. The flames constantly shifted and morphed, spreading further and further while under Soul Edge's influence. Crimson Soul then sensed danger heading his way, and quickly raised a gauntlet covered arm to catch the Hellfire Scimitar of a pissed off Logan.

Wrapping his Tail around the limb like a serpent coiling around a startled mouse, Crimson Soul quickly unleashed a constant stream of Hellfire from his free hand right into Logan's face. The Demon cried out in pain, the flames licking away at his Armour as they tried to get into his insides. It was a good thing this Armour he had wasn't ordinary, otherwise it would have caved in under the heat a second into the burning.

To break out of this, he channelled as much power as he could into his lungs and let out a loud scream. The scream created a huge ass shockwave, one that sent Crimson Soul flying away from him and setting Logan free in the process, allowing his body to destroy the Hellfire remnants on his form, repairing his Demonic body in the process.

Not something the DPU anticipated.

'That shockwave…so, he can generate that much power just by screaming, huh?' the male thought while landing on a fiery platform just inches above the ground, sliding on al fours to a halt. He then morphed the Hellfire claws into wings again, allowing him to dash right back in to launch a vicious snap kick to the other Demon's face. Logan blocked it however, grabbing onto Crimson Soul's leg.

Just before he could retaliate, the DPU whipped him again with his Tail, striking his face first then tripping him up by cupping his Tail and pulling it from behind his legs. The Demon yelped in surprise when he fell onto his back, allowing Crimson Soul to perform a forward flip and move into a reverse heel right into the Demon's face. Said Demon quickly rolled out of the way however, Crimson Soul's metallic boot's heel slamming into the ground with enough force to cause a crater to form.

The DPU refused to stop there as the two jumped at each other, foregoing swordsmanship in favour of pure martial arts. Crimson Soul used the combat style his human form had, the variation fist, to launch fast, blade-like strikes to Logan's vitals while the other demonic being quickly retaliated. His style seemed more on the lines of countering his opponents then using that opening to quickly strike at any weakened defences. When Crimson Soul struck with an elbow strike, Logan did the same to counter it, the two locking their limbs together in a heated clash.

Glancing downwards, the DPU quickly capitalised on his opportunity, and stomped on Logan's right kneecap, shattering it and getting a loud cry from the Demon. He then twisted on his right leg, using his left for a roundhouse kick to the side of Logan's head. His attack hit, and had Logan not used his demonic power to numb the pain while his kneecap regenerated, he would have lost his head as he ducked under the blow and grabbed onto the Tail that made to spear through him.

He then twirled around on his sole good leg, surprising the DPU as he flung his opponent over his head and onto the ground behind him, a loud BOOM echoing from the impact while the ground around them was forced upwards like a circle of spikes. Crimson Soul gasped in surprise rather than pain, before he grabbed onto one of the limbs with his gauntlet clad hands and wrapped his legs around the limb further, twisting his waist and hips to slam Logan into the ground with him.

Another BOOM occurred.

Logan cried out when he felt some of the earth slam into his Helmet, since Crimson Soul had aimed for the spikes that had jutted out from his previous slamming attack, but the DPU wouldn't be finished there as the male pulled with all his might, planting both feet into his sides and with one mighty tug… tore the Demon's Armoured arm clean off his body.

 **"ARGH! DAMN YOU!"** Logan screamed, stumbling backwards while getting to his feet. His free arm clutched the profusely bleeding socket after forming a wave of Hellfire to eep Crimson Soul from coming at him again. While his Kneecap had finished mending itself at this point, his arm socket's screams of agony filled his senses that his kneecap didn't matter. It helped tat his arm already began to sizzle, a sign that demonic power was rushing to regenerate the limb. He felt so angry that he simply yelled out in that louder voice, no signs of differently toned voices in his words like the usual Demons.

The DPU made to continue his assault, since his prey was getting vulnerable now, when he felt something in his link with Soul Edge. This had caused him to stop moving towards his reeling opponent for a moment to take the feeling in. It felt like those 'PING' sounds microwaves make when finishing their heating of whatever foods were put into them, strangely enough. For a moment, he didn't know what that was, but then he remembered the task he set for it and then looked to where he'd thrown the Devil Arm.

He wasn't disappointed.

Standing with Soul Edge equipped, was a Hellfire-made monstrous knight clad in gold-detailed crimson Armour and a tattered black cape, its right arm mutated into a grotesque three-fingered claw. It's face and much of its body are obscured by its Armour and helmet, the latter of which had two sets of fins on its back and a horn protruding from the front. There were two black void-like sockets where its eyes would be, within them being crimson fiery irises that lacked pupils. This Knight also, interestingly enough, had the same wings his Demon Persona had protruding from his back.

Huh…

The more one knew, eh?

'Looks like the idea was a success, Biko…' Crimson Soul thought to his Demon Persona, glancing to Logan to see his arm halfway complete in its regeneration. Even as it healed, he could sense the drain on his energy. It wasn't a small drain either, which sort of surprised him. He guessed that the difference between their reserves was just that great, although now that he thought about it Logan had been using more Physical attacks than energy ones their fight. Still, this meant that this fight would be over soon. That he would win this Death Parade.

He had to admit, this Death Parade thing felt quite exciting, almost borderline orgasmic, although he wished to know more about it. Fighting within one felt much more thrilling than a regular battle. It made him feel like tittering on the edge of life and death, and you know what they say, the closer the one is to death, the more they feel alive. Perhaps he could add that to the list of questions he would be asking this guy when this battle was over. CRIMSON Soul knew he wasn't the only one to feel this either, for he could feel the elation his Devil Arms felt at the rush of pure thrill this type of combat brought him.

Looking towards the fiery Avatar that Soul Edge had formed, Crimson Soul found that only one name fit the bill for this new form: Inferno. Hell, even as he thought that name he got a sense of prideful glee from his Sword, which he suspected acted like the main control centre for the body, mimicking the motions of a monstrous warrior that it was projecting with the solidified yet flaming Hellfire.

With the name decided, Inferno pointed Soul Edge, which was held in its massive claw, at the stunned Logan whose Arm had fully regenerated, and roared. Ts roar shook the entire battlefield as it stomped towards its prey, jumping into an overhead slam. Logan's fiery eyes briefly showed fear as he quickly rolled out of the way, not wanting to let such a beast hit him with a weapon like that sword. It may as well have been for naught, for Inferno had seemingly full control over the blade's power (to Logan's visual knowledge at least) as te shockwave that erupted from the collision Soul Edge had with the ground got directed solely in his direction.

Inferno didn't let up either, spreading its wings to leap forth and start swinging wildly and savagely to try and cut Logan into pieces. "BLOOD! DAAAAARKNESS! LET YOURSELF DROWN IN BOTH!" The demonic fiery Knight bellowed during its swings. The way it swing the sword in one hand felt like a primitive caveman to Crimson Soul, the way it swung left so many openings that could have been exploited… if it were human and had a purely physical body. However, when Logan tried to slash some of te areas those openings left, it seemed like his blades only passed through them without hitting anything. Almost like the construct wasn't even there.

 **'It makes sense, Soul Edge forged that body from Hellfire. It can attack enemies on its own now, without using telekinesis, yet this body is only a husk that it controls. That means that even if the body is physical, attacking it will do no good. It makes for an ideal deception on the battlefield, and by the time the enemy has figured that out they will already have been met their ends by Inferno's blade.'**

Biko's explanation made the DPU hum in acknowledgement, his eyes carrying a thoughtful gleam as he analysed the infernal Avatar's movements. The way it roared like a bloodthirsty animal brought him out of his musings however, as Crimson Soul hurriedly joined in on the action by spreading his wings and taking off.

His entry into the battle became known to the other two parties simply in the form of his spinning like a drill and aiming a kick right into the side of Logan's face. Right when the guy had just Warped away from a rising upward spinning slash from Inferno, too. This attack sent the Demon sliding along the ground, allowing both Crimson Soul and Inferno, who just glanced at each other and immediately established their relationship as comrades, to dive at him for a well overdue beatdown.

Barely rolling to his feet in time, Logan raised both Scimitars, which he had to reform a few times in this battle, to block both Inferno's Soul Edge and Crimson Soul's right wing, which had moulded itself into a blade he could use. The three rapidly exchanged blows, each one lasting a millisecond before the next one, such as how fast these three went. With the intensity in the air, the way the three fought with Logan on the defensive and both opponents going for broke, it would be clear to any onlookers that this would be the final stretch of this battle at long last.

Blocking one strike, Logan sidestepped a swing from Inferno before swinging both Scimitars at each of them, Crimson Soul forming a barrier from his Hellfire powers, while Inferno switched the hand he gripped Soul Edge with to use the monstrous arm to grab onto the other Scimitar. Crimson Soul and the Hellfire Avatar quickly locked the Demon in place, before they unleashed two separate straight kicks into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of the Demon while making him bend over. If he could, he would have coughed up Saliva from those combined hits.

Crimson Soul reached forth and grabbed him by the head, throwing him about 10 feet off the ground before hopping into a scissor kick, an attack followed up by a fierce jab from Inferno's monster arm. It sent Logan rolling across the ground, only to be stopped before he could recover by a fiery arm, curtesy of one of Crimson Soul's wings, that proceeded to set him alight with Hellfire while dragging him across the ground.

Logan's screams could probably be heard all the way to Leanbox.

Mustering the energy after a moment of breaking through the pain, and thus Warping out of the Arm's grasp, Logan fell to one knee after reappearing further away from his opponents, one hand on the ground while his form mimicked that of someone who looked absolutely exhausted. If he were still in his human form, he probably would look like that. Nevertheless, none of this limited the sheer anger and frustration building within his chest right now. His fists clenched over the ground, digging up trails through the volcanic earth though he felt none of it. His eyes lit up with the rage coursing through him, almost reaching up to the skies if they were big enough.

How dare he…

How dare this brat, this mortal, be winning against him in a duel!

The brat obviously had experience with his powers, that's for sure. The way he moved and the way he used his powers indicated as such, however Logan himself had his powers for much longer. He had the multiple forms, more than what this brat did. He had more experience in using said powers, he had almost 2 decades worth He was older! Stronger! Better! So why the hell was he fucking losing to this brat?! He even went to the trouble of transforming into his second form, something that fewer people knew about than those who knew of his other, larger Demon form! And that number was in the freaking single fucking digits!

He'd gone up against the brat with every certainty that he would win, he had the advantages on his side, he had more power than the kid, he had more control, more experience, more fucking EVERYTHING! He had almost killed the brat multiple times in their duel, both in this form, and the others, yet he could not land the finishing blow no matter what as it seemed like the brat always had a means of escape under his Sleeves! This wasn't like those cliché anime tropes where the power of fucking friendship prevails over all or some bullshit plot armour, either! There had to be a fucking reason, this was the REAL WORLD for goddamn crying out loud!

So why?! WHY WAS THAT BRAT BEATING HIM?!

"I assume you will be wanting to know why I've just won, aren't you?"

"?!"

Looking up, Logan's fiery eyes enlarged like the widening of human eyes when he saw Crimson Soul hovering before him, a sword similar to the weaker form of Soul Edge in hand and pointing at his forehead. Only one thrust would be necessary to end it, something which Logan quickly realized while staring up into the cold, blank eyes of the DPU above him. For the first time In this battle, Logan felt like he was willing to just abandon everything, his drive, his ambition everything just so he could run away from this kid and hide for all of eternity. If they were both the same, then they both possessed immortality, so that would mean he would be hiding from this kid for all eternity. He didn't understand it well himself, but he just got this feeling that the kid had been holding back greatly, and that there was a gap between their power that he could never hope to fulfil.

It was almost like this being before him was destruction incarnate…

Out of desperation, Logan tried to Warp again, only to feel that, to his horror, he no longer had the energy to maintain his Demon form Nevermind use any demonic powers. The second he realized this, his form cracked all over, spreading from his helmet down to the rest of his body before it shattered like tiny glass fragments, exposing his body… his half-naked body for all to see. With this transformation, the Hellfire circle that both signified the Death Parade and the Duel itself, vanished into a series of embers. These Embers, instead of just vanishing like normal ones however, entered Logan's body in one big rush.

The man cringed and groaned, clutching his chest as if he were having a heart attack. Crimson Soul watched emotionlessly as Inferno walked up behind his defeated opponent, Soul Edge poised to end the man from behind at the given command. It may be a monster on the battlefield, but more importantly it was created to obey Crimson Soul/Nico's orders. Thus, it would hold off on wiping this soul off this plane of existence for the time being, until such a time as it got its orders. But back to the defeated Demon, his hand clutched the kin of his torso so hard that it practically bled trails of blood, all the while this circular symbol similar to the one that formed the Death Parade branded itself onto his chest. Logan growled and grumbled, shifting about but not making any major movements. Whether that was because of his defeat or something else remained to be seen, in Crimson Soul's eyes.

"You… You have… won…!" Logan spat with venom, shakily raising his head to glare hatefully at the other male. There was this powerful, yet heavy weight on his shoulders now that he had this symbol, and the lack of Demonic Power circulating through him didn't help either. "B-By the rules of the D-Death Parade… I am subject… to your whims…! Until you feel that the price has been paid…!"

Crimson Soul arched a brow at that, frowning in confusion on what this man was talking about. He made to speak once more, probably to ask him to explain what was really going on, but then he heard the sounds of wings flapping. Looking upwards, he saw Teo descending towards them… with Rinjiin riding atop his back while sporting some rather knight-like Armour. Probably the armour he wore from his days as a Dragonator. It looked like this plain, silver armour, but with a green dragon design on the chest, stomach and shoulders. His weapon seemed to be a Knightly sword, one that was as long as he was tall.

'It never ceases to surprise me how so many of us try to go with large weapons that look heavier than necessary for their functions…' the DPU couldn't help but think to himself. If he was in human form, he would probably go on about how the popular 'edgy character with a badass sword' trope was being applied to a lot of people, people like him, Guts, Neptune and that one blonde black-wearing guy with a massive buster sword. Its almost like people who wield large swords tend to be badasses.

He broke out of those thoughts as Teo landed beside the two males, his class slamming into the ground to create a rippling shockwave through it, though compared to what they dealt with during their fight it felt quite minor. Also, Crimson Soul was floating so he didn't feel it very much if at all. Inferno was merely a construct created by Soul Edge via Hellfire and Telekinesis, so it didn't really feel it either.

Once the dragon-like Abnormal had landed, Rinjiin dismounted him and walked up to the two. Crimson Soul noted the wariness in his steps, and the way he occasionally switched between furious glares at Logan and wary glances towards him making the DPU mentally sigh. It wasn't his intention to show the man that he didn't know well this form, but things had escalated to a point where he couldn't keep it hidden. Thus, he opened his mouth to speak. "It is over, Rinjiin. The enemy has admitted defeat. His troops are dead, their fleet destroyed. All that is left is this man before us."

His words, sharp as they were while reinforced by the demonic undertones that usually accompanied his voice, nearly made Rinjiin jump. However, he composed himself and glanced warily down at the Hellfire version of the weaker Soul Edge in his right hand. "Y-Yeah… I can see that…" the man stated unsurely. When he didn't feel like he was being burned after a few seconds, the man seemingly calmed down, making Crimson Soul wonder if he really thought the male would burn him or something. He didn't know why, since the man hadn't done anything to warrant such treatment from him. "Well, I'll not ask what this…. This form, is. Something tells me that the whole truth will be too unbelievable for me."

A nod came from the transformed male, confirming Rinjiin's suspicions before he looked over and gestured to the defeated Logan, who looked at him with absolute fury. Well, the feeling was definitely mutual at this point. "Well, why haven't you killed him yet? He's down, and it's not like he will want to change." He asked the DPU.

"I would, but I feel like you should be the one to decide this man's fate… though If I may put in a request, let me interrogate him first There are things that I would like to ask him regarding what happened in these battles." Crimson Soul answered, while flicking the burning Hellfire bade in Logan's direction. The flames briefly touched his nose, or rather the robotic part at least, but nevertheless it made him yelp slightly. It looked… oddly restrained though, something he planned to ask him about if he got permission.

Rinjiin arched a brow, a scowl on his lips as he sneered at the man. "Odds are he won't answer a damn thing about those questions, kid." He stated, before gesturing to him. "Believe me, I know this guy as much as I don't wish to, and if everything he's done here has taught me anything, its that he would rather die than squeal like the pig he is."

"I have no choice in the matter right now, fucker!" Logan snarled in Rinjiin's direction, before wincing and gasping in pain. Crimson Soul briefly noticed the symbol on his chest pulse brightly for a moment during this time, before fading to a dull glow again which allowed the man to release a tense, angry breath. "This symbol on my chest…will force me to comply with any wishes th victor, this asshole here, wants from me. It won't allow… for anything ese…!"

The way that he spoke just now, the way it sounded so trained, like he was pulling against something just to gain the ability to speak for himself back, it drew both men's attention. Rinjiin eyed him intently, trying to see if he was lying or not. He had enough bad experiences from this asshole, he didn't want to risk anything against this guy. However, the kid beside him (though he had to force himself to see him as an adult in this… state he was in) had already beaten him once, and it looked like he had utterly wrecked the man. So, it stood to assume that this asshole couldn't do anything even if he wanted to.

It was a long, intense internal struggle for supremacy in his mind, but in the end, the looks that he got from the demonic boy before him helped him come to a conclusion. A resigned sigh escaped his lips as he placed a hand on the rim of his straw hat. A hat that he seemed to favour over a helmet for some reason. "Alright, kid. He's all yours, but promise me you'll do what needs to be done by the end though." He final spoke, relenting to the teen's request.

"Of course, and after this, would you do me the honor of explaining how you know this person? I have many other questions I want to ask, but that one I feel is better asked to yourself than him." Rinjiin nodded as Crimson Soul turned his head back to Logan, his eyes shining with a sinister intent. "Looks like I have the go ahead. We'll be having a NICE long talk, and you will answer my questions. Are we clear? Good, then lets begin."


	111. Chapter 108 - Leaving Skies End

**Chapter 108 - Leaving Skies End**

The interrogation went smoothly… though it left an aftertaste in his mouth that Nico didn't necessarily like.

Nico had done some interrogations before, back when he hadn't visited Compa and started this adventure he was on. Those Interrogations however, never got any easier for him, not even after all the bullshit he had seen. In fact, they were more like a set of points to indicate just how much of a monster he had become up until those times. The reason why he thought this, was that each time he had interrogated someone on orders from the Spec Ops Community (though in reality they were only relaying orders from the Basilicom) they ended with ever increasing counts of violence. He would end up showing those prisoners just how terrifying the 'reaper' could be, and why exactly the male had been called by a lot of people in the world a very specific title: The Basilicom's 'Spec Ops Watchdog'.

Yep, he just referenced the show about that young silver haired boy with a demonic butler, congratulations.

Morbid meta jokes aside, it came from his behaviour, how it had degenerated with every passing month during those many human cases he had done over the years, into the demeanour of a wild animal just waiting to sink his claws into some fresh meat. How every time he tore apart a criminal for what they had done, and believe him these criminals DESERVED every bit of it with the crimes they committed REPEATEDLY without any sign of repenting, he'd lose what little humanity he had to let the monster in him take over. He remembered those dark days, it was always a constant struggle to remain sane and not become a criminal himself. Though, he guessed that wouldn't happen since that would mean the Basilicoms would lose their special operative for those kinds of situations.

Still, those days seemed to never leave him, always hanging over him and mocking him with their presence. Informing him that even if he didn't do any more interrogations, even though he hadn't been that way in a long time, those days would NEVER leave him. Not that he wanted them to either, for they reminded him of just how much of a beast he needed to be. The monster that he kept trapped inside save for the scum of the world such as Ganache and Avenir. The monster that he was, that fought and ate other monsters for sustenance.

Like a lot of things about him, what truly went on in those interrogation chambers hadn't been disclosed to the public, but the way that the workers were after cleaning up the 'messes' that he left behind spoke for themselves. They were TERRIFIED of him, of wat would happen if they somehow pissed him off enough to warrant the Basilicom to send him after them. Part of the male wondered if those sadistic assholes intentionally did this, so that their own staff wouldn't betray them. It felt like they were almost sending a message, one that basically said 'betray us and we'll sick our hound on your asses'.

In the end, no matter how much he tried to deny it or what kind of Demonic God he would become, the bottom line was that he was a hound of the Basilicom, a Watchdog that was meant to howl at every call they made. That was his lot in life, that was his place in this world. Not to be surrounded by so many freaking GORGEOUS girls with wonderful personalities like he was now. Honestly, Nico had no clue why the Basilicoms hadn't even tried to get him away from them yet, and what's even MORE hilarious was the way they acted around him. Like they cared about him and what he had to do. Even though he had been told several times to let the girls in, some part of him just refused to do that. He knew this part of him existed deep within his psyche, born from everything shitty that he'd seen in the world of Gamindustri.

Maybe things have gotten so bad that those fools have forgotten about the 'leash' they put on him so long ago…

In any case, the interrogation went smoothly, like he mentioned earlier. It looked like Logan had been telling him the truth about that Symbol not letting him do anything other than what Nico wanted him to, because he co-operated with everything that was told of him. Though, he didn't look too happy about it, but Nico and Rinjiin honestly couldn't care less about him. He was someone who tried to do something horrible to Rinjiin and him, having done so before to the former if what Nico guessed was accurate. Plus, his whole personality wasn't something they liked to begin with.

During the interrogation, Logan had spilled the beans on a BUNCH of useful information, information Nico had made sure to make recordings of so he could write it up as evidence for the future. The first thing Nico had asked him about was the Symbol itself, or rather the 'Death Parade Seal' as Logan had referred to it as. According to him, the Death Parade was an ancient custom that Demons employed, a custom that dated back to the DPU Era which was, according to him, 30 Trillion years ago.

Sheesh, talk about a long ass time since a DPU was seen. Histoire hadn't been kidding when she told him he was the first DPU in a long time.

The Death Parade worked like some form of business agreement, but it was between warriors who wished to engage in a fair duel with one another. It was something only demonic beings could use, as the Death Parade needed Demonic Power to work. However, humans in that era found a way to artificially harness enough Demonic Power from Devil Arm Wielders to set the requirements for a Death Parade. Depending on how much power was used, the Death Parade's size varies. The minimum size one can get would be at lest the length of an average single-story house, while the biggest would be an entire coliseum. It was said that only DPUs could have enough power to make one that big, though.

When a Death Parade is activated though, while it drains the challenger's Demonic Power upon activation, it also sets up an invisible barrier, one that prevents any outside interference and blocking anything from reaching the competitors from the outside. Nothing, not even sound or time reaches them in that Barrier, making it so no distractions would impede the duel. When activated, it takes the form of a ring of Hellfire, mixed in with some demonic Wards, or rather 'Runecraft' as Logan vehemently referred to it as when Nico himself made that comparison. It was also very dangerous to touch, so much so that if one foolishly tried to get out of the duel they would be incinerated down to their very soul and burned out of existence. Not something Nico found too pleasant, neither did Rinjiin, but hey that was what the times were like back then according to Logan.

He didn't know anything specific, he had never looked into demon culture beyond how to become one via the ascension ceremony as well as their powers and abilities. Apparently, to become a Demon a subject must have slain over 100 other beings in their lifetime. This shows that their souls have been blackened enough to withstand the process enough for it to really kick in. The more dangerous conditions for the ceremony were that one needed to drink a goblet's portion of demonic blood, said goblet being apparently the size of a basketball.

The Blood would purge the suspect of all their previous blood to replace it with itself, then it would begin mutating the rest of the body. All the while, they would have to contend with the demon's soul, which has to be infused with the demon blood beforehand, trying to take them over during the whole process. According to Logan, 'Blood is the currency of the Soul and the very essence of a creature. To drain someone of their blood is to bleed their soul out of them.' He had told them that this message meant that a Demon's Soul could be bled out of hem through their blood, though a DPU would be immune to this. It is why there're aren't any ways to artificially make DPUs other than a DPU Core. If they succeed in defending themselves till the mutation is complete, and the subject will know since they will have fully transformed into a Demon while retaining their mind, then the demon soul will merge with their own while keeping them the dominant ones.

Demons respect strength, that was a fact that Logan constantly went on about, and it correlated with Nico' Devil Arms now that he thought about it. Devil Arms respect the power their wielders have; thus, they swear their service only to those who are worthy of their power. Any weak-willed fools who dared try to get one would have their souls instantly devoured by the Devil Arms, their bodies nothing but puppets for them. Apparently, Maghda had insufficient information about the Ascension Ceremony which was why she had the Northmen: people who underwent an incomplete Ceremony which granted them only the buffs of Demonic Power, but no soul or blood to completely control it. Thus, they were left as barely intelligent slobs who were only loyal to the god they worshipped before the Ceremony. She had been looking for the information to complete it ever since her first 'death' centuries ago but couldn't find it. She had soon found him though, with te information but he wouldn't part with it without a hefty price, a price she was unable to pay due to her funds being destroyed in a 'sea of flame' as she called it.

Nico had to grin to himself at that, knowing he'd set her plans back considerably.

There were a rare few however, whom had souls dark enough to handle multiple Demons at once, which was what Logan had done. He had ingested the blood of two different demons, successfully draining their power and assimilating it into his own body. Thus, that was why he had two Demon Forms. The smaller one was stronger, ironically, than the bigger one, but both had power in their own right. Rinjiin had to snort in disgusted agreement with him there, the man indeed had an abyssal black soul in his eyes for what he had done to him, and the more he heard about it the more Nico wanted to know what he had done in the past. Just so that he could punish him appropriately. There was no way that Logan would be alive by the end of this, all of them knew this. The only reason he was talking was thanks to the Death Parade Seal.

Afterwards, Nico had demanded to know what kind of tricks did he use to infuse those Zeppelins with Demonic Power (it was self-explanatory how his men had become demons with the whole Ascension Ceremony explained in proper), and the answer had been much simpler than the Death Parade. He had simply done something similar to Maghda when she mad demonic weapons, having infused Demon Souls into the Zeppelins, making sure they were weaker than him, so they didn't rebel, and controlled them using his own powers. It was a simple case of might makes right with those things and as long as he had the reins, they would have no choice but to obey him while being stuck inside those Zeppelins. The two men had almost been impressed by this, this guy seemed to have no qualms with trampling over others, even Demons, to get what he wanted.

Next, was when Logan had become a Demon in the first place, though he only said that was before the end of the Dragonators, which lead to him revealing the most startling thing out of that interrogation:

That the Demons had been coming back ever since Abnormals were brought into being: 500 years ago.

Seriously, everything seemed to hit the shit fan at that date, the Abnormals, the Spec Ops Program, finding the Silver Steel, that 500-year gap in time seemed to be quite relevant. The fact that these Demonic entities had begin trying to et back into Gamindustri since the founding of the Spec Ops Program blew their minds out of their skulls. How the hell had nobody noticed this sooner? Why were demonic signs being noticed now? If the Demons have bee trying to get into Gamindustri for centuries, why was it now that they were having any success?

Nico theorized that it was because of how the Shares back then may have still been enough to keep the seal protecting Gamindustri stable, even if the people had started to lose it. Throughout those 500 years, faith began to dwindle till it reached a level where people could safely say that was like a husk compared to its glory days. That level must have destabilized the seal enough for Demons to start breaking through. Though, the way Logan compared the Abnormals to Demons felt pretty damn suspicious, ad when he had asked him to explain on this point he had simply stated that he wasn't sure himself but he KNEW there was a connection to the DPUs and the Abnormals. He knew because he had felt it as a Demon himself, something that made Nico ponder at the time.

Thinking back, Nico didn't notice back then but he too had felt something… off with the Abnormals. Everything about them was FAR from the norm in Gamindustri, at least the Gamindustri before 500 years ago. They behaved unlike other monsters, they had their own powers unlike other monsters, and they DEFNITELY surpassed other monsters by leaps and bounds. With some being able to control elements or make people fucking explode, it definitely raised some questions that only those touched by demonic energy (and retained their minds afterwards) would have asked. Even Biko had agreed, as well as his WHITE SELF, that's when you KNOW things are getting weird.

Now that he thought about it that might have been the first thing all of them agreed on…

Huh.

Well, that was a thing.

Still, all this information would need to be processed and documented. Nico could possibly use this information at the Gala to get people like the Nobility off his back, or he could use this as a means to persuade the Guild to give the Spec Ops Community to investigate these Demons further. It had reached to a point where he considered these creatures to be a major threat, way up there with the Abnormals. At this point, something needed to be done about them, and FAST.

Otherwise, they were all FUCKED.

Since he had recorded their entire conversation, it wasn't necessary by law to keep the prisoner alive. If the crimes this person committed (something that he had Logan confess to a number of which due to the Death Parade Seal) then he would have been executed according to Leanbox Law anyways. He'd be saving the Courts a lot of time by offing him right now, and that was EXACTLY what he did… by incinerating the guy's penis with a slow burning Hellfire flame, cauterized the wound and then proceeded to rip away at Logan in the slowest manner possible.

… you do NOT want to know what he did to that guy once he got all the information he could out of him but suffice to say that he felt goddamn on HIGH when he was done.

Rinjiin did too… once he and Teo barfed all their lunch out but hey.

* * *

"You going back, kid?"

"Yeah, I need to return to Leanbox." the human Nico responded, standing at the edge of the Island base platform with his Ember beside him, its engine thrumming constantly like a purring cat. The Demonic Skimmer looked like it was one second away from bursting into flames with how eager it was to be driven like this. Must have been a little jealous about all the fun it had missed out on with that battle the teen assumed. "Since we know that Logan didn't tell anyone about this place, you can still live here in your little corner away from the troubles on the mainland…"

He had transformed back when the interrogation had begun, since he wanted to save power. Plus, Rinjiin looked like he would have fainted if he kept it up any longer, the guy not being used to the demonic shit that was plaguing Gamindustri right now thanks to remaining on this Island. Keeping to his word, Rinjiin hadn't asked him to explain what that form was, something Nico appreciated and caused him to gain a bit more respect for the retired Spec Ops Agent. Though, he used the word 'retired' loosely since he didn't truly believe a Spec Ops Agent like him or Rinjiin could ever retire. Not when they have so many enemies. Hell, his mom may be 'retired' but she still worked with the community and even kept up her training.

Though, in her case she didn't retire cause she wanted to…

Up in the skies, Nico could see Teo flying about with the Hatchlings, playing with them to sooth their worries about what had recently happened. Now that he had seen this for a prolonged length of time, Nico found himself getting… used to an idea of these guys living peacefully, but that was a whole new can of worms he'd rather not get into right now.

"Yes, and I am thankful about that…" Rinjiin remarked with a slight smirk on his lips, though it soon turned into a worried frown when he pulled his had over his eyes. "Though with how you killed Logan afterwards leaves your humanity to be questionable, I cannot say that I wouldn't have gone to those same lengths myself." He admitted, though there was a strange mix of anger and reluctancy in his tone.

At this, Nico chose this time to finally inquire as to what the heck the story was with Loga and this man. He wanted to get some answers before he left, cause once he did he doubted he would be returning here any time soon with the shit that would be coming his way. "Say, if you would allow me this, could you explain what the history between you two was? Your hatred for Logan, while shared with myself, seemed more than just a simple grudge. It had a personal feel to it, like he had personally wronged you in the past." Nico finally questioned. His senses picked up various negative emotions spiking inside the man when he asked that question, but he remained calm. With how he had seen what Nico could do, the teen doubted he'd try to attack him. Even though he had some trust for him, the teen would listen to his instincts above most things.

Eventually, the tension passed as Rinjiin let out a resigned sigh, his eyes gaining a weariness only an adult his age could understand. The lines on his face that betrayed his true age seemed to become ever the more pronounced, too. Looked like this had been weighing him down for some time now, Nico noticed. "Yes, you do have a right to know, considering what's happened. You see… He and I were once raised in the same family, we practically grew up together as orphans who had lost their parents in varying circumstances. You could say that we were as close as brothers. We did everything together, dreaming that one day we could become excellent Spec Ops Agents. Our parents were against this, due to being devotees to the CPUs, but we didn't care. All we wanted was the freedom of choice that being a Spec Ops granted. The choice to fight for either the CPUs, though frowned upon by their ranks, or our own ideals."

Now THIS caught Nico's attention, as well as threw him for a loop. He didn't expect something like this, well, he had a hunch that the two had a long history given their interactions, but the way he made it sound seemed so different to their current relationship, at least before Logan met his end.

"By the time we hit our late teens, we had finally achieved our goal, passing the Spec Ops Exams with flying colours and being appointed members of the Dragonators. There was a gran total of 30 to 40 in our unit at the time, and we were the new blood. We were not that well received at first, due to many Agents coming from Noble families and being complete suckers at their work. You can imagine that since you would likely see it every day." Nico nodded at this, before Rinjiin continued with a sombre air about him. "As time passed, they grew to accept us. I even fell in love with one of them, a woman I would have loved to marry and settle down with. Things looked great for me, but I guess that my happiness blinded me…"

"Your brother changed, didn't he…?"

The man nodded sadly, his eyes a mix of sadness and anger. "Yes, you're right. I don't know how or when, but he began acting strangely, he began getting into fights with other agents more, people kept dying under mysterious circumstances and sometimes I caught him near the scenes of those crimes. Looking nonchalant as if it didn't bother him. There were other… insidious rumours about him that I didn't want to think were true at the time, but as I watched him grow more and more violent, even trying to get it on with my girlfriend like that was her only purpose in life, that was when our bond as brothers was severed."

Taking a moment to calm himself, Rinjiin released a shaking breath, and Nico could see a slight build-up of liquid behind his eyeballs. The man looked shaken, as if the memories were still fresh as the day they were made and not memories of decades long gone. "Then, that one fateful mission showed me just how deranged my brother had become. We were all told that we were requested to go on an Urgent Quest, apparently there were these strange Abnormals that were previously undocumented roaming near one of Leanbox's Mining Villages. So of course we go on over, and what do we find? An ambush. It was all quiet at first, but then they all came out of the woodworks, Abnormals that we had never seen before. Each of them radiated a similar energy to… well, what you radiate int hat form, kid. Though at least yours was manageable, theirs… oh, it was utterly disgusting. I just wanted to throw up from being in their presence."

At this point, Rinjiin looked like he was about to break down into a snivelling mess. "We were surrounded and with no way out. Then Logan came into the picture, grinning like a psychopath. We expected him to come help us, since we were still on the same team even with our differences, but instead Logan just sick's the Abnormals onto us. They were relentless, and the Dragonators got overrun, k-k-k-killed in horrific fashions that give me n-n-n-n-nightmares even to this day. But the worse thing was? He had two Abnormals restrained the woman I loved, me as well, forcing me to watch as he… had his way with her, raping her right in front of me."

'He… He did WHAT?!' Nico screamed in his mind, shock and fury welling up inside his chest. Nico could take a lot of things in life, he accepted them. He knew there were horrible people in the world, hell he took that belief to the fanatical extreme with how he acted. But, there were many things out there that just drove him over the deep end, and THAT was one of them. Hell, people like that… they were some of his favourite prey in this world. It felt the best when he got them reduced to broken masses of flesh, then torturing them some more before finally ending them in the worst kinds of manners possible. If anyone, ANYONE were to try that with the girls he called comrades… oh, the kid gloves would come off.

"He… he told me that he had grown sick of the Spec Ops Program, that it wasn't what it was supposed to be. He didn't 'find it as interesting' as he had in the past, he said. Thus, he had contacted some Nobles that wanted us gone and made them an offer, allow him to have a life of luxury, and he'd 'deal' with them for these Nobles. Once we were gone, he would say that he was the only survivor and that the others died so that he'd live. He'd retire as an Agent then live life in a mansion with maids, luxurious foods and more women than he could imagine. You… You could imagine how much I lost it."

Oh yeah, he definitely COULD imagine that, but Nico remained silent as Rinjiin told him this tale. Though, he wished he could have tortured the guy a LOT more for what he did to the man. "I don't remember much after that, its mostly a foggy blur. However, I do remember Teo up there flying down and burning the Abnormals under explosions and death. I remember using a Fire Skill to scorch Logan in revenge for my beloved. Aside from that, next thing I remember, I'm brought to this Island by Teo, and dropped there. You can imagine how I reacted, I almost went on a suicidal run against him. But, I just didn't have the energy to do so anymore. I had lost everything, my beloved, my friends, all because of one man whom I had once called brother. It wasn't long after that Helen found me, and since we were friends during my time with the Dragonators, she helped me keep my location a secret, faking my death so to dissuade any Agents from coming after me."

Finally, Rinjiin once more tried to control his breathing, and while he did so Nico digested what he had been told. He could feel his inner rage burning brightly like an unstable, volatile Hellfire flame. His inner beast screamed and roared for retribution, the sole solace being that the perpetrator had been killed horribly for his crimes. Theft, manipulation of evidence, obstructing justice, manslaughter, rape, paedophilia, the works. Those crimes made him suffer a fate that not even a dog deserved…

Though, Soul Edge enjoyed taking his soul for eternal torment that would fuel its powers.

If it had any improvements from devouring Logan's soul, Nico had no clue, he would just have to wait till he could summon it again. But back to the man before him, Nico's eyes flashed with understanding as he glanced upwards to the skies above. "That's why you said what you did when we met…"

"What I said?"

"About the Abnormals and how humans can be the worst monsters."

"Ah." Rinjiin blinked, wiping his eyes. He had almost forgotten how he had said something similar to that. "Close enough, I guess…" the man mused, a slight smirk on his lips as mirth slowly made its way into his eyes. "Anyways, though this wasn't official we can both say that this has been essentially a request made from a Client. It may be unofficial, but allow me to give you your payment…"

"Uh, I uh…"

Nico made to refuse that but held his tongue seconds before the words could leave his mouth. If this guy knew about his mom, then he likely had some stubbornness qualities. A lot of Agents had this trait, especially with their Ideals. Though, can one blame them? Following one's own ideals in a religious world like Gamindustri is just asking to be targeted. Plus, if the guy said he wanted to give him a reward, who was he to complain?

"Don't worry about it, trust me. I'd rather reward someone who's done right by me." The last of the Dragonators stated, smiling as he saw through what Nico had almost done. The man then reached forward and opened his Inventory, searching through his list of items for the ones he desired. "I may not be able to give you any credits, its been too long since I was at the Mainland so I don't have any. But, if my hunches are correct, I think these will be useful to you."

After he said that, Rinjiin sent something over to his Void Storage, Nico knew this because he received a Notification along with a BEEP from his Bracers. Raising his right Bracer, the male opened his Void Storage but with mental commands. The teen surprisingly found this to be much more preferable than operating the interface, though it did feel… weird, not to have to do that for its functions.

That will take some getting used to.

"I found some of these while exploring these uncharted lands within Skies End with Teo, though I scavenged more from Logan's wrecked Zeppelins. I believe these may prove useful to you." Rinjiin explained to him, and instead of checking them out now Nico decided to wait till he got back home. He wanted to return to the girls as soon as possible, hopefully they wouldn't punish him too bad for being away from them for this long.

With that, the younger male nodded as he proceeded to lower his head slightly, the best thing the man was going to get to a bow from him. "Very well, I shall accept the reward and take my leave. Good day to you, Rinjiin…" Nico began, turning on his heel and walking towards his purring Skimmer. He rested one gloved hand on the left handle, feeling the rough texture of it before he whispered lowly so the man wouldn't hear it. "You take care of yourself in retirement, old man. Mom would be devastated if you kicked the bucket."

And with that, Nico hopped onto his Skimmer's cockpit, revved the Engine then drove off the Island, Ember shifting into Flight Mode right after so that they could fly into the clouds. Rinjiin watched him leave, a faint upturning on his lips as he did so with crossed arms under his chest. He hadn't spoken face to face to another person in so long now, that he kind of missed the kid already. "Heh, you take care kid. Life's too short to be brooding over stuff…"

* * *

Feeling the air rush through his bands as he rose through the air had never felt so good to the male. The air was clear, the scenery looked equally clear since he flew above clouds, and he could finally take a moment to relax from so much combat. At least, until he returned to the Mainland. Ember, thanks to being sentient, could do the driving for him while Nico himself could just relax, hence why he was currently leaning back on his ride with his hands on the back of his head. His legs were crossed over the hood while he used Demonic Energy top keep himself balanced on the cockpit.

Now that he wasn't distracted by anything, Nico couldn't help but notice how much his body wanted to rest. There was this strong tight sensation within his skull, threatening to crush his brain to mush while his body just refused to listen to any commands sent its way. It was almost seductive how his body wanted to have him close his eyes and rest. Like a succubus whispering into her prey's deepest consciousness or being bathed in super soft comfort. While he had the threat of falling off his Skimmer if he lost control of his energy, Nico did still decide to take a little power nap. It was about mid to late afternoon right now, most of the day being spent repelling that invasion.

Thinking back on it, Nico remembered watching a movie a while back, one where there was a cowboy-esque man in a movie about a bunch of Zombie outbreaks with a park who always said to 'enjoy the little things' and that was something Nico couldn't help but agree with. The clouds below him looked like they were trekking on past him, though in reality that was not the case at all, while a huge sense of freedom coursed through his being, soothing his body from its recent battles.

It was moments like these that Nico appreciated, more so since he had begun this crazy adventure with Neptune and her gang. The moments where one could rest and recuperate from the stress and intensity these adventures were known for. Not only were they rare, but there was always a possibility that they could end when one least expects it. Like the morning after the whole Hellverse incident, he had intended to spend it with the girls, but things happened and he had gotten dragged into another conflict. The humming of his Skimmer soothed his mind, making him forget about his troubles if only for a moment, before Nico sighed in bliss. True happiness was when one was content and no longer yearning for anything. In his case, this peaceful tranquillity was something he had long since yearned for.

'You know, the only thing better would have been bringing a portable Console with me to play some games on during the journey…' that stray thought circled through his mind for about 2 or 3 seconds or so, before Nico banished it from his head. He liked his Laptop, he liked his StarCraft and the games on there, they were good enough for him. Plus, if he bought one of those handheld consoles from a games store, then people might think he was supporting the Goddesses that they were built to inspire faith in. For example, that Lastation Portable (LSP) or the Lowee DS. Nico refused to allow that to happen, as he had no faith in any Goddess. No matter if he got to know the Goddesses on a personal level, there was no way he would put faith in anything other than his own strength. Once one pout their faith in another like that, they've lost the game of life. That's what he believed.

Though, he did admit to seeing some interesting games on those consoles that weren't available for his Laptop. One of them had been a Lastation exclusive about a white-haired demon slayer using a sword suspiciously like one of his own a hack'n'slash franchise that looked quite good to get into. He recalled there being a special event in Lastation where there was a recent fifth release into the franchise after over 10 years of being silent. another had been a Lowee exclusive, called Lowee Sports Resort. It was apparently a sequel to the Lowee Sports game that came with the release of the Lowee console. It had come with a packaged Lowee Motion-Plus accessory which allowed the Lowee Remote to capture more complex motions than before.

With the account balance Nico had from his jobs, he had been sitting on a rather hefty sum of Credits, Credits he usually only spent when necessary. Whenever he did use them, he usually spent them on equipment he would store inside his Void Storage, or on repairing the junk he'd find on missions, like that one time he had found an older model of a Light Sabre that, with a quick visit to the repair shop, functioned quite well. If only it had a weaker drainage on its energy crystals, then it would have been an interesting weapon to use sometime, but now it just stayed within his Void Storage. Nico didn't like parting with stuff that he found either, it just felt like a waste, honestly.

Speaking of Void Storage Items, he should probably see what it was that Rinjiin gave him. Seemed like something interesting, ad he had some time before Ember returned to the mainland, so why not?

With that in mind, Nico pulled open his Void Storage, and began rummaging through is contents for a few seconds, soon finding the question mark that indicated the new items. Or rather, he found many question marks. His mind almost lost its urge to sleep entirely when he saw how many there were in there, Nico quickly shooting straight up while his wide eyes took in what his Void Storage was showing them. 'Holy…'

 **'Hmm… this is indeed something of interest. Why not summon one into your hand?'**

'Yeah, way ahead of you there, Biko…' Nico thought while doing exactly that. He did it through the Voice Commands that his Void Storage had been outfitted with thanks to the Void Module, and soon enough the black Datastreams from his Armour appearing appeared around his hand. When they vanished, he found himself… staring at something that made him arch a brow in confusion. 'A… book…?'

Indeed, in his hand, there lay a tome, consisting of a black cover with a set of crimson outlines. He had to admit, Nico had noticed how the colours black and red seemed to be used a lot in this story, was that some kind of trivia to be added to its wiki? 'Wait, what the heck did I just monologue about…?' Nico wondered, soon shaking his head as he focused on the Tome itself. He then used his other hand to peel open the Tome onto the main page… and saw there was nothing in it.

 **'Hold on, Nico. I sense Demonic Wards in place here. This is an… interesting Ward array, and it seems to be placed within the fabric of each page. Here, try sending some Demonic Power into the tome's first page, perhaps that might help.'**

Nico nodded to his Demon Persona's words, there was little else that he could have done with this Tome if Biko had remained silent, and thus the male closed his eyes and focused. He called upon his reserves of Demonic Power, which felt much smaller than what he was used to thanks to being recently used for that battle, into the Tome. Almost instantly afterwards, the male felt something happen, judging by the strange sensation that filled him seconds later.

Opening his eyes, the teen saw that, to his shock, letters were beginning to form on the page, letters that looked to have been made from pure crimson Neon and were the size of a book's average Title and contents page. Apparently, this Tome seemed to be titled 'Ophelia – the Serpent Sword' with a contents page that listed various chapters and what pages they started at. On the front cover, there seemed to be an illustration of a woman with long hair styled into a ponytail, stabbing some sort of claymore into the ground in front of her with a very… unsettling look in her eyes and smirk on her lips. 'Huh? Is this just a storybook? Why would…?' Nico began to think, before he saw the date appear right beside the Title…

The Date…. Being 30 trillion years in the past: practically in the DPU Era according to that interrogation of Logan.

'Wha… what the hell?'

 **'How interesting… it appears to be a Book about someone who lived in the DPU Era, and from the looks of the illustrations it seems to have been someone who was skilled in combat, too. Perhaps we should read it, maybe we could get some insight as to what the hell this Era had been like.'**

'Lemme guess, the Fragmented Memories don't have much info on this? On anything Logan told us?'

 **'Unfortunately, that is indeed the case. It seems that only training can help the Fragmented Memories recover themselves, anything we learn from others does little to affect it.'**

'Alright then…'

* * *

Reading the book took a fair while, but Nico finished it. He had read it from start to finish, and boy was it a fascinating read. It had been about this woman Warrior named Ophelia, a half-demon woman who had been renowned as a fierce warrior who fought against Demons without the use of a Devil Arm. Instead, she had capitalized on the Demons one other weakness, a weakness that surprisingly few people would expect to work on these creature: Cold, hard steel.

This Tome, as he read it, not only showed him the Story of this half-demon Warrior had highlighted just how her sword technique, something she had called the 'Rippling Sword' worked. According to the Tome, it worked by using the flexible quality of the body to vibrate and undulate the user's sword, making it resemble a rippling snake. This illusion makes her blows almost impossible to anticipate or block. Judging from the few illustrations that showed how the technique looked, Nico almost salivated at how it was applied in battle, he REALLY liked how deadly and efficient it looked.

Perhaps he could learn how to perform it…

 **'If you come into the Inner World, perhaps we can do something about that while our body rests during the journey to the Mainland…'**

…That… That could very well work, Nico felt down for learning some new techniques from an older Era. It honestly felt quite excitement coursing through him from learning the Skills of other Warriors from an era long past. It felt almost like he was inheriting their strengths, their legacies. Not only that, but these techniques didn't seem to rely on any energy reserves either, so if he felt like it he could teach them to others, though that would be a bit far off.

Nevertheless, he could start learning those Techniques now, and so, Nico gave a huff as he closed his eyes and dove into his Inner World.


	112. Chapter 109 - Guild Agent Time

**Chapter 109 - Guild Agent time!**

The streets of Leanbox's Capital MICROSOFT seemed to be more busy than usual, Nico noted as he stood by a corner along one of the main streets through the City. Nico wore, instead of his new Spec Ops attire, his base Civilian one, with his hands in his pockets as he leaned against a wall belonging to some shop he didn't care to get the name of. Eyes wandering throughout the surroundings, Nico could see so many different people walking about in rather high-speed paces, keeping themselves busy and looking like they were in a hurry. While he would have wondered what the rush was about, that would have been if he hadn't received a notice already.

He was talking about the Gala.

A low frown emerged onto his lips, his eyes flashing with mixed feelings as he looked at all the people throughout the streets. It had just been released to the Public that there was going to be one in less than 3 months, and already people looked like that had been given drugs that made them go on high.

Life practically blossomed within the populace showcasing just how important everyone saw this Gala as. After all, it was not only a chance for political leaders to meet and discuss where to take the nation next, it was also a chance for people to meet the CPU outside the Basilicom.

In the end, even if the CPU was back meeting her would NO DOUBT a nightmare of bureaucracy. The Party may have gotten lucky with the Basilicom when they arrived, but nope, not this time. To those who wanted to meet the CPU, this might be the only real chance, especially for those were like Nico, part of the Spec-ops program and thus were seen with less than welcome eyes (to not say hated on sight).

Thinking about the Gala, however, brought an unpleasant taste to Nico's mouth, worse than the thought of having to be around so much human food (though that was a close contender and he almost fell to the urge to gag). The actual reason was the people that were going to be participating there, the Nobles and the political officials that formed the govern of Leanbox. They were in the most part nothing more than a bunch of old codgers in Nico's opinion, they might as well be the actual greatest danger for this land due to their incapacity of being flexible and by being too stubborn to change from the older ways of governing the Nation in the CPU's absence. Or, to better describe then, a bunch of old fossils and parasites that would serve this nation better as fertilizers in the ground.

Needless to say, Nico HATED these Nobles with a passion that burned brighter than Urthemiel's Primal Fire.

It was THAT bad, and Lucy's was arguably WORSE.

The Nobility was an… interesting (and for Leanbox a necessary) camp of study in and of itself. They could be seen as a pyramid, with each level keeping tabs on the one under them.

There was the common Nobility (the lowest class), they are the average nobles who owned small fortunes and lives in these estates within either the more economically stable villages or small cities. They would govern these areas within a larger territory and were overseen by the 'Counts' who reported directly to the true leaders of the combined territories, the 'Dukes'. They would usually have free reign over how these small pieces of the territory were run, as long as it complied with the rules and laws that the Counts have established. For those that don't get it, think of it as a bunch of pets playing in the backyard of their owner.

These 'owners' are the nobles that had the titles of Baron, Viscount, and Earl.

Those kinds of Nobles would usually have a large Mansions that were filled with maids and servants, but this was rare as the maintenance of such structures would be too much for their 'small' fortunes to handle (in some cases they just liked to have extra Credits and thus did not choose to live in those costly mansions). Thus, they commonly ruled from the most lavishing apartments they could afford, and even then, these apartments looked like castles like the ones from deeper into Leanbox's past (again, the old fossils wanted to feel like they were in their 'prime', which means hundreds of years ago).

They usually had close ties to each other but because of how large their territories were they didn't usually have to rely on each other for assistance that much, the alliances were more for trying to obtain more power in the governments. However, even on the off chance that they do need assistance, it becomes a whole new political battle to decide what that weaker noble's fate might be.

It could be said that all of Leanbox politics was a warzone arguably worse than a battle against demons from hell (and to Nico some of those nobles smelled and looked like they could scare one of those said demons, is it possible that they never really understood what a bath means or were they trying to keep the costume of one bath for year? #SHRUG# Who knows). These nobles loved nothing more than to search for weaknesses, ridicule their Noble prey in front of his or her peers, before ultimately deciding on whether or not to keep them around or not. In essence, it was like beating someone while they were down and taking anything that they have that is of value, and yes in some cases that includes their daughters and wives (Nobles from here are mostly disgusting trash, is basically what needs to be said here).

Under normal circumstances, the loss of power in any way will result in the Noble being stripped of his rank, fortune, and residence, before he is demoted into a commoner, hence why Nobles do not like asking for assistance as it is an indication of weakness. If that happens, then another Noble, more specifically one of the more stable Noble's kin, would take the position instead. If the fallen Noble has any family, it depends on their credibility whether or not they retain their Noble status.

Though, that bar is set rather high (ludicrously so, and we're NOT talking about the rapper).

There was a way out of that, and that was arguably way worse for those involved, a form of something that few outside Leanbox agreed with: arranged marriage. Worse still, to prove how utterly trash they were, it was a costume that this arranged forced marriages would only be applied with the female kin of the targeted Noble, and sometimes it is not even actually getting married but simply be given as a mistress, or sex slave depending on the 'condition' of the 'Merchandise'. Regardless of prior commitments, the Nobles have the authority to practically haul their daughters off, sometimes in humiliating ways like on the back of a carriage, towards the Nobles that would benefit them more in having this connection. As for the Sons, they are usually named as servants to the newly instated Noble, a fate that is far better than what a daughter would be like.

Overseeing them, are the Dukes, who were the rulers of a set of 'territories' scattered throughout Leanbox. These territories spanned over the entire continent and are made up of smaller Territories that they entrusted to the lower ranked Nobles. Depending on the territory size and resources, the fortunes of both the Dukes and their lesser Noble brethren varies. It is similar to the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in that case, and it is the Duke's job to oversee these lesser-ranked Nobles to make sure no funny business is being conducted behind their backs. To that end, the Count's (who are practically the Dukes Enforcers) authority allows them to even violate their private belongings, lodgings and anything else that belongs to them, allowing the Dukes to have a full sweep of their Noble underlings.

Like previously mentioned, the Dukes live in lavish mansions, and because of how large the combined territory they govern usually is, they don't have to worry about unpaid employment like the lesser Nobles do. In addition, not only do they have larger sums of money under their belts, they have considerable influence and power, enough to affect the way the Leanbox Basilicom governs the laws. Since the Basilicoms were split into two sides, the sanctuary where the Goddesses usually live, and the political Parliament side that handles the governing of the Landmasses, the Dukes have great influence over the parliament side.

One could say they were rather high up on the food chain.

Also, a Duke's position isn't as 'unstable' as the lesser nobles' positions, meaning that a Duke can ask for assistance from one another as there is less of a chance they will be stripped of their power. This is due to the nature of their position, as well as the burdens, size and responsibilities of the job. Not just any noble can handle that kind of position, not all of them are qualified, even. It takes a LOT of conditions, political red tape, and examinations just to elevate a Noble into a Count. Hence, why Nobles are always squabbling amongst themselves for power. They want to have a shot at elevating into a Count so that they could have more of a luxurious life.

Even though they are way up there, the Dukes are still overseen by the top rank officials in the Basilicom, like Yvoire for example. The Dukes were, in reality, just under that man's political level due to him being the head of the Leanbox military.

That's how the system normally works, but there is a whole load of corruption in it just like everything else in Leanbox. Hell, it could be said that corruption exists in every freaking Nation. Leanbox wasn't the Wild Card in that situation.

Nobles, like he mentioned, usually fought each other in petty conflicts for power. It wasn't the same as the ones he and those in the military had fought, but in a sense these political battles were just as vicious as the ones they fought in. In other words, 'the pen is mightier than the sword' could be applied to that situation. One wouldn't be surprised to see newspaper articles discrediting some Noble in some manner, articles about scandals, falsified rumours etc.

Some turned out truthful, most didn't.

He had seen more than a few of his fair share of Nobles scheming to take over other lands to gain more power, usually alongside some of his more… dangerous jobs, and not the ones that involved killing Abnormals or normal monsters. He killed his fair share of normal monsters too, like every Adventure and Guild Agent in Gamindustri. Just, not as often as them since he faced more challenging opponents. Most of the times he couldn't do much officially, but unofficially was a different story all together…

Now all he had to do is decide when to show these 'untouchables' how utterly weak they truly are in the end…

Oh yeah.

In any case, the readers must be wondering why he is here and what happened last chapter, right? Whelp, let him explain it through meta monologuing, shall we?

It had been 2 weeks since his return to Leanbox from Skies End, and to say things were getting hectic was a MASSIVE understatement. Aside from the troubles that he just referred to, Neptune and the others didn't make too much of a fuss this time around due to being pre-occupied with Training themselves. Training in what Nico had few ideas on, but nothing concrete since they had told him that they wanted to keep their training a surprise when they finally get to fight together again. So, he had decided to trust their judgement (again, not something Nico found easy to do) for that one and resume his own training.

Though the events that followed did have a lot of his attention.

Like he had feared when he journeyed to Skies End, there was an increasing amount of Demon Sightings, larger and larger hordes would gather and threaten to destroy the many Leanbox villages, leaving countless widows and orphans in the names of whatever God they served, be it Momus or Khorne. Nico didn't know which one was worse, honestly, but he was sort of leaning towards the latter as Khorne seemed to have more of a 'presence' than the Overlord.

By presence, he meant that this Chaos God seemed to always be 'present' in some sense whenever Nico or anyone fought his underlings, like some sort of essence possessed the Chaos Gods' followers when they swore to serve under his banner. This presence seemed to do two things: empower his followers whenever they said that blood god and skull throne chants, as well as install great murderous intent, bloodlust, insanity and madness into them. They freaking revel in it, not something that Nico felt a sane person would do, but hey sanity would probably be thrown out the window pretty soon. Though, this presence seemed to be bigger when facing off against the Demons of Khorne like the Bloodletters, Bloodthirsters and the Furies, though that last one felt debatable for some reason. Nico didn't understand why on that one. He only found out that they were the Gargoyle creatures he fought at Skies End when Biko through some looking into the Fragmented Memories, found bits and pieces of information that seemed too incoherent for a proper explanation aside from the name.

The Northmen also seemed to be growing in power, as well as worse in inhumanity as the warriors of Maghda's Coven. Though not as active as the Khornate forces such as the Demons and the human Legions known as the 'men in red' by the Leanbox natives who follow them, these Northmen still held a similar threat level due to being able to showcase the brutality of their incomplete Demonic Ascension Ceremonies.

Not to mention that there were more and more Hellgates beginning to emerge constructed by the Khornate and Momus forces to allow for some freakishly powerful Demons to enter this world. Demons that could take out an ARMY of Bloodthirsters, greater demons of the Khornate followers, as well as any followers they have with little to no sweat being broken. It was like Helen had warned him back in Planeptune, those Hellgates would present a major problem for the Nations and their Military with how insanely threatening they were, and don't get him started on the Guild. That Agency seriously seems to be becoming more and more like a lifeline by the day with all this crap springing up out of the woodworks. More and more reporters would write articles in various newspapers about the battles the Military and the Guild has with these forces, paying EXTREME attention to the end results.

He could see why, but seriously the media can be cruel with what they report sometimes, especially to the Military.

These conflicts also began to royally spook the Nobles truly, their assets after all were getting smashed to pieces by these constant raids on their village settlements, their livelihoods being robed away from them with little mercy. It caused quite a stir according to what Nico had heard, which to him made the teen scoff derisively at those idiots finally getting the message that they needed to get off their fat asses and get to work on finding a solution. Though, their countermeasures to the threats facing them were rather… mediocre, in his opinion for they simply pulled most of their forces to their core cities as well as their resources, fortunes etc, to leave the villages to fend for themselves under the guises of 'preparing for a large-scale attack'.

Assholes.

Though, he couldn't really say that he didn't expect this since those Nobles only care about their own personal interests. Hell, he could respect the Commanders of the various orders throughout Leanbox that still try to help out the surrounding villages in their territories while following the Nobles' orders. There were quite a few that did that, but the most prominent of them all was Stefan who had been recruiting promising Agents and soldiers into his Ostermark Order to refill the ranks that he had lost before. Some Nobles had been trying to discredit him during this process by mocking him for this failure publicly, spreading falsified lies and being overall rude to the head of the Ostermark Order. However, despite that the Captain still managed to get the required soldiers needed to compensate for his losses and thus, wasted no time in fighting back where he could. Turned out his little 'experience' at the Hellverse had given him insight on how to operate in these skirmishes.

Aside from that, there was also one other factor that served to go into the Military's favour, something that most Nobles overlooked in favour of squabbling amongst themselves about how to deal with these new threats. And that was the fact that, in some cases, there have been reports of two sperate Warbands, be it warbands of Northmen, Demons, Legions etc, waging wars against each other. There seemed to be no honor among thieves when concerning these Warbands, and to Nico this behaviour just grinded his gears in the worst way possible. Still, this did give him some insight as to how this Khorne religion worked, it showed him that their god didn't care about anything but bloodshed. As long as there was blood being drawn, he didn't care about anything else like reasons, logic or morals. Their unholy chants now seemed to make more sense, in a grim manner at least.

Blood for the Blood God indeed.

Breaking free from his thoughts, Nico glanced about with his hands in his pockets, searching through the citizens as if looking for someone, before he rolled up his right sleeve and mentally activated his Bracer, a familiar holographic screen appearing before him. The stuff about the Bracers functions happening within his mind seemed to only apply to when his Armour was on, judging by this situation. Also, a little something of note: Nico had applied Desecration to his Bracers as well, transforming them into more sinister, wicked versions of themselves. Now, instead of being metallic greyish in colour, they were an abyssal black with a vertebrae bone-like structure, and a crimson coloured interface.

The Holographic Screen had a similar crimson colour to it, with a black Tendril-made border around it to give it a sensation similar to being alive. In a sick, twisted and sinister kind of way at least. Nico manipulated the screen, and thus his Holomap appeared (with the same colour scheme as te holographic screen) as he zoomed in on the street that he stood in. 'Hmmm… she's not here yet…' the teen thought to himself, frowning as he shifted the hologram to show a Digital clock.

 **'She is not yet considered 'late' Nico, we did show ourselves about an hour early. It was a considerate idea on our part, judging by our past training regimens. If we had continued our training, then we likely would have missed this important deadline, and that would not bode well for us… or anyone involved, now that I think about human females.'**

Wasn't that true, the two of them had spent a LARGE amount of time training Nico to the bone, not stopping. Most of it happened in his Inner World thanks to his Time Distortion, but there were times where they trained in the physical world after they completed the standard Jos he had to do as a Spec Ops Agent. Their training mainly revolved around learning some sword Techniques and reading those tomes that Rinjiin had given them as a reward for their work at Skies End, then making sure that he had remastered the various powers that his Devil Arms granted him.

There were now a variety of sword Techniques that got added to Nico's Arsenal. They were as followed:

First is the **Windcutter**. This technique once belonged to a warrior in the DPU Era known as Windcutter Flora. This technique consisted of a light-speed attack in which the user draws their sword, slashes and then resheaths the sword in an instant. Not as powerful as another sword technique he had learned, but this one was considerably more accurate and doesn't require Demonic power to use, thus allows it's continuous use without tiring. Nico liked this technique as it offered him a significant source of defensive options, something his normally offensive nature would forego. Hell, pretty much most of these attacks could be used offensively, which was why he had decided to learn them, but Biko had suggested having some defence may be good so that he didn't overtax his regeneration. While Nico didn't necessarily care about getting hurt, why care about himself when he was something that would get put down any second, he could see he logic behind Biko's words.

The second attack he had learned was the stronger version of the Windcutter, known as the **Quicksword** , a technique belonging to the Warrior known as Quicksword Irene, though the Tome regarding her story documented several other warriors being easily capable foo wielding it as well, thus Irene taught them it once they past her examinations. The Quicksword is a barrage of strikes too fast to follow, which can take down the most skilled of opponents, and at the same time it provides a nearly impenetrable defence. One of the most versatile of sword Techniques, and THAT was right up Nico's alley. Nico found himself particularly drawn to this technique because of this, and this affinity made it especially easy to learn. He'd go as far as to say that this could be his signature technique in the far future.

Next on the technique list was the **Dust Eater** , a technique belonging to Cassandra the Dust Eater. Now, this was an interesting one in a… rather unconventional way. The Dust Eater is a strange-looking technique that requires anchoring both feet to the ground and then moving the user's head like a pendulum. Using centrifugal force, the body is swung very close to the ground and the user attacks from this unusual angle, immobilizing the foe by hacking of all limbs. When Nico first read about this technique, he had been a little weirded out by its appearance, though when he saw its applications this weirdness seemingly packed its bags, waved goodbye before vanishing forever. It was an INSANELY useful skill, especially at incapacitating people if he targeted some areas more than others.

Fourth, is the **Shadowhunter**. This one wasn't much of a technique but more like a fighting style, but with the way it worked it fit the technique category better. It belonged to a female warrior (notice the pattern here? Most of these warriors were female. It… kind of damaged his male pride a bit.) named Nina. The technique entails the user's blade following a specific energy signature, slashing continuously until the energy is extinguished. This leaves the user open however to attack when put in groups, and depending on the user's skill level, the technique can be a deciding factor in a one on one duel. This one Nico hadn't been too keen on learning due to this weakness, but Biko did note that it would be rather useful when in Death Parades, since these were mostly one-on-one duels which eliminated this weakness.

For the fifth technique, Nico had found out a thrusting type technique called the **Drillsword**. This one came from a Warrior name Jene, it was a technique which involves using demonic power to wind up the arm for a total of 21 rotations (looked gross as ell when he looked up the illustrations #SHUDDER#). When attacking, the arm unwinds, spinning the blade in hand reminiscent of a Drill with great thrusting capacity, hence the name. When practicing this technique, Nico had almost vomited several times over due to how his arm looked when rotating. Literally, the arm looked more and more like a spoiled spring the more rotations had passed, the male only managing to keep calm until the tenth. Thus, 10 Rotations had been his current limit. Maybe with more training he could make more rotations, but for now this was to e considered his weakest technique. Though, according to the Tome he read about Jene's adventures, it seemed that this technique could become one of the strongest thrusting attacks in his arsenal, tough it'll also be the slowest due to te prep time.

Last but most certainly, was what could probably the STRONGEST purely offensive technique that he had found: the **Rippling Sword**. Though when he finally managed to utilize this technique Nico had seen fit to change the name to something else, and thus changed it to **Vipersword**. The Vipersword uses the body's natural flexibility to vibrate and undulate the sword, making it resemble a rippling snake. This illusion makes it's blows almost impossible to anticipate or block. This technique had been renamed, simply due to when Nico tried it, he found that the blade he used rippled so vividly and violently that it instead resembled a wild thrashing viper, instead of a simple Serpent. This difference was also expressed though its efficiency, as the rippling sword had the power to cleanly carve through fully grown trees in a clean cut, the Vipersword could tear right through them, 10-foot-tall slabs of rock, Silver Steel, Ghoul Hides, practically most materials, in a single clean swing.

These techniques would most DEFINITELY be a welcome addition to his arsenal, and while he could use them with most of his weapons (Ebony and Ivory being exceptions since these techniques were sword-based, these were freaking GUNS for Goddess sake) he decided to use them for mainly Rebellion. The reason for this is due to that particular Devil Arm being focused more on sheer attack strength and combat effectiveness. It was a simple Devil Arm, but that simplicity is what makes it so deadly and a favourite of his to use. Not to mention that it took to those techniques like water and a sponge (given how the emotions it sent him nearly made Nico have an orgasm the moment it sent them to him, that must have been a good sign).

Even now, he could feel Rebellion's glee at having something that made it stand out amongst the rest of his Devil Arms.

That reminded him he wanted to look into the relationships is Devil Arms had with each other, but before he could ask Biko…

"Oh, you're here. That's good."

'Whoa, she's here…!' the teen thought, eyes widening slightly in surprise as he glanced down at his Bracer, mentally commanding it to bring up the time again. 'Wow, An hour has passed already? Damn, monologuing really does help pass the time…' the male thought with a semi amused smirk on his lips, before closing down his Bracer (he'd gotten used to the whole mental commands thing already, using it for 2 weeks would do that to a guy) and looking over to the source of the voice.

Approaching him with a hand on her hip, a slight upturning on the right side of her lips, her grassy green eyes twinkling and oozing more charm than a woman her age should be capable of, was IF, the Windwalker of Gamindustri. The brunette walked up to him, the tapping of her blue boots filling his ears as she stopped right before him. "Good to see you're here, Nico."

"Heh, thanks, I kinda got hear a little early." He replied bashfully, rubbing his neck nervously while refusing to meet her gaze. Okay, what the fuck was happening to him right now? Sure IF had cornered him before he could head out for another day's worth of training (since he had all his Quests done the previous day) before she asked him if they could hang out together, but this had been the same for Neptune and Compa. Whilst the former did proclaim that it was a 'date' and he had a bit of a mental conflict going on, then the former asked him to spend the day with her doing some childhood relevant stuff, this felt MUCH different than the others.

Maybe because it was her that had the biggest influence over his newly awakening hormones?

'Fuck, this is bad…' the teen thought to himself, a pool of frustration filling up within his gut. Though, he didn't let it show on his face otherwise IF would pick up on it (she WAS th more perceptive of the bunch, just look at Lastation and Noire's bad acting). Deciding to ask her he more important question than his own internal conflicts, Nico opened his mouth to ask while kicking the dirt under his boots. "So, uh, why did you call me out here again?"

… The NANOSECOND those words left his lips, Nico felt the urge to curse up a storm, a weight of depression slamming into him. Ugh, did he seriously just ask it like that? It sounded so feeble and pathetic that it made him want to commit seppuku on sheer principle alone. If his enemies were watching him right now they would never let him live it down, it'd be a great humiliation alright. Just look at him, a badass Spec Ops Agent, becoming nervous around one girl. Well, one out of a group of colourful girls that right now caused him to be getting jealous glares from several male passer-by's (some even with girlfriends, though they soon got 'reminded' on why that was a bad idea).

On her side, IF pretended to not notice the way that Nico was acting around her, as it provided no small amount of amusement for her. True, IF normally didn't like it when people didn't give her straight answers. Nobody did, its just some people have more patience for I, which was why she didn't like politics all too much. To much squabbling and not enough action in her eyes.

It's a Soldiers life for her.

One couldn't even imagine the lengths she had to go to secure this day with him however, so any time he spent being so gushy over her form would be well worth it. It had been like a mental catfight, planning around Neptune's spontaneous behaviour and Compa's innocent requests, however she had done it. She had Nico all to herself today, and she was going to make the most of it! Even if he didn't understand the implications of her wanting just the two of them to hang out like this due to his… complicated mental state and ideals (seriously she ought what he told her about himself was utter bullshit for a NUMBER of reasons).

Heh, even when they left the Hotel room to hang out, though both left at different times, IF had smelled the jealous frustration from the other two girls, and while she didn't hint at anything to them, when they weren't looking she had allowed a victorious smirk to form on her lips. Neither of them knew what had happened between the to, and she planned to keep it that way. I you were a real woman, then you needed to do everything you could to nuke your rivals. True she won't not be friends with them even if Nico didn't choose her (though with the way things were going…), she respected that little talk Neptune and Compa had had before. But right now, IF had the advantage. Neither of them knew that a new rival had entered the fray as IF had perfectly covered her tracks with plausible deniability. She planned to thoroughly ABUSE that advantage for all that it was worth.

'This may be my instincts talking…' the brunette couldn't help but think to herself, remarking about her own sense of aggressiveness and the changes to her demeanour. Even she had to admit that she had more of an aggressive approach than usual, but it wasn't like she could help it. Aside from Nico being the first guy she had met to say those things to her, her own BOW instincts had a hand in promoting her aggressiveness. In their eyes, she was the alpha, and she had just found a potentially worthy mate. Strength was something the two of them had, and Nico's strength seemed to almost call to her, to beg her to attempt to dominate him, to put him under her and make him submit.

Sure, the romantic feelings were there, but she had just started acknowledging them, so it would take time for them to reach the same level as these instinctual urges. Something DID tell her that those feelings would only grow when this day was done, however. Still though, IF reined in those urges for the time being, fighting off the desires filling her body inside with a mounting heat. She wouldn't let those thoughts control her actions, she was NOT that type of woman to just lay there and let the night run its course. Only when she had developed the bon between them, when Nico had actually become comfortable with the thought of being that close to another, would she make a move. That was pretty much all she could do at this point, since she could still sense the conflict within him.

How Neptune and Compa hadn't noticed this was beyond her.

Back in Nico's perspective, the teen didn't have much of an indication as to what she had been thinking, though he hoped that it wasn't anything too bad. Fortunately, IF decided to not let him stew in his misery for too long (but he did notice a faint sound of a photo being taken for some reason…) as she gave him a response. "Not much, just wanted to have you to myself for the day. Its been a while since we last hung out and talked, so I wanted to see if we could change that." She explained, before walking past him. "Come on, I know this interesting place nearby. Don't worry, its not a lingerie store." It was not so true that she said that last bit to see Nico's flustered reaction, she did not get amused by seeing how his face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Nope. Not at all.

* * *

"Say, Nep-Nep… don't you find it weird?"

Back at the Hotel room, both Neptune and the Nurse-In-Training remained in their Hotel Room. The former sat on the sofa, guzzling down pudding like no tomorrow in preparation for the day's training she had planned, a pair of furrowed brows set onto her features. She needed all the energy she could get if she wanted to get stronger, that last battle with those men in red all but hammered that lesson into that noggin of hers. They had managed to beat those guys backwards, but the seconds they disappeared Neptune had fallen unconscious which had forced IF (who had been just about to conk out herself) to use what little power she had left to get them both back to the Hotel. That couldn't be allowed to remain the reality she faced, if she wanted her hubby to notice her, to protect her friends from the dangers that were about to come knocking, she had to get stronger.

Plus, considering what she had gained and had to train with…

When those words left Compa's lips, like a spark her curiosity had been lit, causing the preteen to turn her head behind her to look at her friend. Said friend stood behind the sofa, facing sideways while looking down at a piece of paper. She had one hand on her chin as if deep in thought, though judging by her question it wasn't about that paper. Thus, it prompted her to query on it further. "Uh, what do you mean, Compa?"

For a moment, she didn't answer as she stared down at the paper. It was a list of items Lucy had recommended that she get for their training, items that were also recommended by Raven herself. Those two took this training INSANLY serious-like, and if she were being honest she felt the same way since it would help her be a bit more useful to the Party. She was no fool, she didn't not notice the situation she was in with them. Out off the entire party, she was the only human among them, everyone else practically wasn't in some way. True humans were a strong species, since they survived for so long against all these odds, but I she wanted to be of more use to the Party she felt like she had to get stronger, even if he loses her humanity to become something else in the process.

Finally, Compa tore her gaze away from the paper and looked towards her friend with a suspicious frown. "Iffy seemed to be acting really weird since we got back from that scary-looking Dungeon thingy." She told her. "It's like she grew a backbone about something major."

Neptune hummed thoughtfully when she said that, a hand on her chin as she lost herself in thought about Comp's words. it wasn't false, IF DID seem like she had something driving her, more so than normal, eve since they returned from the Hellverse Dungeon. (Neptune did NOT want to know what went on down there, if the haunted expressions the brunette had on for the duration were any indication. Hey that rhymes!) Not only that, but the way that they had been training for these last few weeks made it apparent to her as well, that IF was more focused on training than she had been before.

"Well, I kinda get where she's coming from, Compa." The purplette began, getting Compa's attention. "She looked pretty ragged when we got back from that scary Dungeon, and that's considering all those scary creatures we fought together." Both girls trembled as they remembered those Bloodletters and those other creatures they had fought when they had split up with Nico. Not going to lie, they did NOT like the thought of having to face them again, but with what Neptune and IF had fought against during their Quests it was clear that this was only the beginning.

This got a nod from the Nurse-In-Training she could see where Neptune was coming from there. She remembered how utterly wrecked the two had looked when she got back from training that day, and when they barely got the story out before going to bed Compa couldn't imagine what kind of scary guys they had faced. They must have been powerful though, which only fuelled her desire to get stronger.

"I guess so, Nep-Nep, but still, I…"

"Aw, don't sweat it, Compa."

"?!"

The Nurse-In-Training almost jumped when Neptune suddenly jumped up from the sofa, flying through the air and glomping her in a hug. Her arms wrapped around Compa's neck as Neptune gave her friend a big, wide grin. "This is NICKY we're talking about; how many times has tat guy come back kicking when things went off the deep end? Pretty sure that he'd be able to take care of himself."

That was true, and the previous events proved that. Even so, Compa still couldn't shake her doubts about IF, something within her jus screamed to somehow ditch the training (no matter how STUPID of an idea that was, part of her screamed) and somehow tail them unseen like those spies in those spy movies.

"Besides!" Neptune brought her back from her thoughts, but the moment that Compa saw that grin on Neptune's face, she couldn't help the shudder that travelled down her spine. There was just something about it that seemed so… off-putting, she'd even go as far as to say that it was like the Demonic Power that Nico commanded. Why was it that she was seeing a silhouette of a Hanya Mask floating behind her with flames burning in its eyes and a trail of blood dripping from its lips? "Even if Iffy DOES something that only I should be doing, then my 'lover sense' will detect it and I'll conveniently be nearby! Cause you know, plot!"

Compa suddenly felt all the pity in the world for IF as the Hanya Mask vanished and Neptune returned to her normal self, quickly diving back to play some games before their next day of training would begin. Like nothing bad had ever just happened right now, which elected a sweat drop from the other girl. It looked like Neptune, in spite of what happened just now, had similar worries to her about those two but instead of just worrying about it, she would be the strong heroine and fight for her spot in Nico's heart. To be quite frank, that was something Compa found enviable and jealousy-inducing about her preteen friend.

IF too, heck every girl that wanted Nico had the drive to get closer… save for her.

* * *

While they walked, IF got the sense that she should be careful yet sympathetic at the same time, much too her confusion. 'Huh? Why do I feel like I should guard myself at night yet also hug someone?'

She wasn't the only one who noticed though, since Nico noticed her state too. "You alright IF?" he asked her, getting a nod from the brunette as they continued their journey.

* * *

After a while, IF and Nico arrived at their destination, or rather her destination since the male had little idea as to what was happening. More than once the teen had tried to get something out of her that could hint as to where she wanted to go, but IF had remained tight-lipped about it. Nothing would make her budge, which Nico had to admit was quite... endearing towards her character.

No, there were no hormones influencing his choice there (much to his relief) it was a pure, honest compliment.

When they arrived at her destination, Nico couldn't help but be even more confused, especially with the confused question marks pipping in and out over his head. "Uhhh... is this...?"

Standing before the two, was what looked like a repair shop, one that focused on vehicles if what he could see on the circular stands was anything to go by. There was a small parking lot with used vehicles, vehicles consisting of carriages and other Leanbox-style wares, newly repaired according to the various smells his nostrils picked up that indicated work had been done on them. Each of the vehicles had various pieces of tape that wrapped around them with the words 'FOR SALE' on them. The building itself had a rectangular shape to it, with the Leanbox colors of white and green dominating its frame. Though the materials used to build and sustain it, like Nico had previously mentioned, looked to be from Lastation.

Nico wondered why he hadn't seen this before, not even on his previous missions in Leanbox, because it looked completely out of place here. Whereas everything felt medieval in theme, architecture and culture, this place had more of a mix between Planeptune's futuristic themes as well as Lastation made materials. It was like finding a black stone among a sea of white ones, practically childsplay. How the hell have the Nobility not found and crushed this place yet for standing out like it did?

Those trashbags WERE the old-fashioned types if their lifestyles didn't speak that for themselves enough.

Sensing his confusion, IF smirked to herself with her hands in her coat pockets as she decided to give an answer. Best not let that brain of his get too flustered to the point steam came out of it... that would be rather funny, actually. Still, she decided against it in favor of responding. "Its a Repair Shop that I stumbled upon a while back." IF explained, taking a few strides back. "By that, I mean a couple days ago. You wouldn't expect it, but even though its so... out of place, very few Nobles know of its existence. Though you can attribute it to the citizens not wanting them to get their dirty mits on this place, they'd tear it down faster than you can say 'Nep' for how blasphemous it looks. Its location being near the outskirts of MICROSOFT helps, too." she explained, looking behind her without tuning to face him.

"I see, so that explains is..." Nico mused as he soon followed her to the entrance. He decided to take a look around, and to his surprise he found that this place looked pretty well maintained. That must mean it has been her a while, which begged the question on when this was built. Though according to IF this place could have been built eons ago and he wouldn't have known since, according to her the citizens keep this Shop's existence a secret from the Nobility. How they got their revenue and parts then would be something he'd like to know. If the Nobles didn't know of this place, then their business partners should be fairly limited.

Especially with the technology level Leanbox possessed.

* * *

Entering the Repair Shop, Nico looked about once more, noticing that the interior of the place shone a pure white color, with light green supports and edges throughout. The floor looked to be made of tiles, same with the walls and buildings, with various pictures or depictions of the CPU herself hanging up on the walls. There were various rial stands that held partially disassembled vehicles in the air for work done, with piles upon piles of materials neatly arranged in various racks. These materials, as well as the tools he could see pinned to the walls, looked to be Lastation and Planeptune makes, a bit of a mix now that he thought about it. His interest in this place only grew the more he learned about it.

IF noticed this, and she couldn't help but smirk at how she had awed him with something he had never seen before. A surge of pride swelled in her chest, and she had to repress the urge to chuckle at his childlike wonder. Seriously, Nico didn't look like a Spec Ops Agent right now, but instead a kid having stumbled int a world he had never known before. It was a rare sight to see him so awed like this, so she would take a picture (in secret of course) to view later... and mark one accomplishment she had over Neptune. At this stage in the game, Compa was the one she had to worry about the least considering her shy nature, but Neptune and Lucy were the exact opposite.

"Ah, I see you came back young lady. You even brought a friend with you."

Turning to the source of the new, masculine and unfamiliar (to Nico) voice, their eyes landed on the small counter at the top right corner of the shop's interior where a man in his mid to late forties sat on a chair, reading a magazine before he had noticed their presence. The man had a bald head, with a large grey mustache and a bushy grey beard styled into 3 fork-like points. His eyes, weary with age, showed a deep black color, a color that didn't hide the amusement in them as IF and Nico (who remained cautious due to his... issues) approached him. "I assume you're here to inquire about your request?" he asked her, taking his legs off the counter to stand from his chair. As he did so, they could see the man wore dark green overalls with a white muscle shirt beneath, barely hiding the muscles only a mechanic could develop.

 **'This man has a vibrancy that is uncommon among those his age...'**

'On that, we can agree, Biko...'

'HEY, HEY-HEY, I GOT AN IDEA! JUST SPEAR THEM BOTH WITH OUR POWERS, THEN WE CAN HAVE THIS PLACE ALL TO OURSELVES!'

Ignoring what his white copy had suggested (much to said Copy's dismay) Nico remained silent as he watched IF converse with this mechanic. From the looks of things, these two seemed to know each other, enough to trade sarky jokes and humor. He guessed it made sense, since IF did say that she had been here once before, the amount of time she spent here must have been a long one if she got to know this guy like this. What's more, the teen couldn't sense any negative emotions from the man who seemed to enjoy the snarky humor the brunette sported. That meant that this guy at least had something few others had, and he could afford to at least not see him as a potential enemy like he would normally.

"So, my order's here?"

"Yep, got in touch with my boys back in Planeptune, they have your order all prepped. Shipped it over the day after you came here. Thinking of trying to get someone under you, are you? #eyebrow wiggle#"

"Hahaha, sorry dude, but this is for the thrill of the drive. Personal experience aside, I haven't had a chance to ride this baby in so long, I need it back in my life."

"Oho, I see. Makes me remember when I was your age and rocking it, girls FLOCKED over to me and my ride, but I digress. Times are changing, not as many folks appreciate the little things no more. Here you go."

It looked like while Nico had been analyzing the situation, the conversation those two had been in, reached its conclusion. The man gave a throaty laugh as he went back to his counter and pulled something from beneath it. An orb-like futuristic device actually, one that glowed a bright white color while thrumming with energy. The male's eyes widened when he saw that, he knew what those were since he'd seen other Agents use them. They were called Inventory Modules, and they specialized in transporting large as hell objects, larger than objects that could be held in two hands at least.

See, there was this problem with the Inventory everyone used these days. This problem was that they could only hold in small objects, like, small enough that they could hold in one or two hands. Its why they hold things like Weapons, Armour, Items etc. Inventory Modules however, may not have the ability to house those things but they CAN house larger objects. Quite the common technology back in Planeptune, used by a lot of building and transporting businesses that specialized in heavy duty machinery.

Nico's own Void Storage didn't have that problem though, as thanks to Spec Ops Engineering his Bracers had the Void Storage outfitted with smaller versions of those Inventory Modules within their hardware, allowing Nico to practically store from small items to large vehicles. He wasn't so sure about how that technology worked, but this was Gamindustri and little in this world made sense.

Wonder if that was true in the real world too...

Straying away from the urge to go meta, Nico shook his head before he looked to IF, who held the Inventory Module in her left hand as she walked back to him with one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen on her. The way she held that device was almost like she treated as if it were something holy or sacred like something from the Basilicom. Or one of Vert's 'collectibles' if you know what I mean... Lets not focus on that.

"So, you wanted me to accompany you on an errand?" the male asked, turning so that by the time IF approached him the two had entered a walk together as they went back towards the shop's entrance. If what he had asked was the truth, then why would she bother bringing him? She seemed perfectly fine with talking to that guy, so she didn't feel threatened by anything. He'd even checked her emotions for any signs of negativity, and found little. There was mostly just eagerness to get what she wanted, which sort of fell under the sin of greed or lust, now that he thought about it, which would explain why he had been able to sense it.

IF turned her head to look at him as he pushed the doors open for her while going 'ladies first' with a small smile, getting a 'why thank you good sir' and a chuckle as she strode through the exit to the streets outside, Nico following suit. "No, that's not what I brought you here for, don't you worry that fine little head down there of yours." she told him teasingly, making the male go a little flustered as he shuffled on the spot. It honestly made her want to giggle uncontrollably if it weren't for her pride as a Guild Agent and a BOW. "No, the reason I wanted you here was for this baby." she explained, holding up the Inventory Module.

"That?"

"Yep, its something that I haven't gotten the time to take back yet. Remember that time when we first met? I had gotten into a scuffle on that quest and the Monsters damaged it to the point where I needed to bring it to a Garage in Planeptune. Shortly into our trip to Leanbox, they called me and said that I could have it back, since they'd fixed it. Been meaning to get it back, but I didn't know were the shop they sent it to was. That's how I ended up locating this place, and well, you can guess what happens next."

Yeah, yeah he could. "Wait, you mean a different shop?" he asked her, frowning in concern. If that was the case, then he'd begin to question the competency of those mechanics IF had visited in Planeptune.

IF, realizing what he was thinking, quickly shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Sorry, should have explained it better. Apparently that shop had a branch extended into Leanbox. The one in Planeptune's the main, but because of our Journey together I couldn't get my baby back." she told him, before pointing behind her with her thumb. "That place was that sub-branch. Took me a while to find it, even with its appearance. When I did, that guy told me that they'd gotten the shipment but they needed to recheck it in case any repairs got damaged during the transportation. That took a couple days, but I finally got the chance to get her back. That brings us to now, so any questions?"

"One, what do you mean by 'baby'? Cause you're giving me mixed signals here..."

"Oh, that! Here, this'll clear things up!"

Pressing on the Module, IF saw it glow a pure white, and a flash soon blinded them, forcing the two to cover their sensitive biological ocular appliances. By the time the flash died down, the two uncovered their eyes by lowering their arms, to see what had spawned forth from the Module... which was now non-existent. One fault of those was that they were a one-time use, not a problem for him though thanks to, again, Spec Ops Engineering. Still, to compensate when the wielder wanted it gone, the object would be put back into the same Module. It may be a one-time use, but it can unload and store that one object whenever the user wants if they know the controls.

Still, when Nico saw what he did, the male suddenly realized what IF truly meant by her 'baby' and why she had to take it to a 'Garage' to be fixed. In front of him, standing tall while leaning on a metal stand, was a black and green Motorcycle. It had a lean model, with some Armour plating to better protect it from attacks. It was a mix of black and green, something that Nico figured referenced her beliefs in Vert and Leanbox (but mostly Vert since her country is ran by Shitheads).

"Whoa..." the male breathed, wide eyed as he stared at the Motorcycle, all the while IF just walked up to it and began caressing the Motorcycle like a mother who had just reunited with her child after so long being separated.

The brunette then looked to him, smirking as she leaned on her bike with her arms crossed under her chest. She couldn't help but bathe in satisfaction as she once again caught Nico by surprise. The kid was just too easy at times, and she said kid because that was what Nico looked like to her. It made her happy, seeing this side of him since it showed that even with all the shit he had seen and went through, Nico still had an innocent childish side. One that usually had been subverted by all the serious shit that they dealt with on a daily basis.

Looking down at her Biko, IF once again caressed its windscreen lovingly, her lips changing from a smirk to a nostalgic smile. "This baby and I go way back, Nico. She was a gift to me from my Dad... shortly before he passed on." she explained, her smile twisting into a sad frown as she remembered her father. A man of few emotions, she could hardly remember a time when he had smiled. A man who was more of a practical person than her mom (though she hated her mom with every fiber of her being and the feeling was equally mutual) IF remembered spending her days learning all sorts of skills from him. Skills that the current her realized that would help her move forwards in life. "The first ever gift I got from him when I managed to get my Driving Licence and advanced it to Motorcycles. Dad never liked cars, trucks or vans, they didn't have enough mobility to be of use on the battlefield. Motorbikes may not have the protection, but Skilled riders don't need that. At least, that was what he thought, and when he heard of my success he went out and bought me this Motorcycle."

While IF explained this, a somber mood overtook them, the brunette soon breaking out of those memories as she stared down at her Bike. "The moment I saw this thing, my father gave me a pat on the shoulder and, for the first time, congratulated me. he said, and I quote: 'Good job making it this far, my little windwalker. You made your old man proud' and he smiled. He smiled for the first time since I'd known him." she explained, almost choking as she remembered how happy she had been that day.

"Your father sounds like a good man..." Nico stated sadly, sensing the distress the brunette Agent was putting herself under. Though, he refused to let her go through it any longer than necessary as he stepped forwards and placed a hand on her shoulder, gripping it enough to get her attention. "I may not know him, but I would believe without a shred of doubt that he would be super proud of the woman you've become."

Hearing those words nearly made IF's heart skip a beat. A surge of joy filled her chest along with a painful tightening sensation that resulted in this complicated mix churning in her gut. Her father wasn't something she talked about often, and whenever she did talk about him she made sure it didn't last long. She didn't like talking about him too much because she would lose what composure she had retained, even if she displayed herself as cool, calm and collected (which she was no doubt about that) her father finally giving her the approval she had desired before he died not long after was definitely a way to expose the feelings she buried deep within.

She didn't like talking about it, her father she meant.

After all, when he was gone, what followed was a long period of distrust, solitude and sadness for her.

And as much as those words made her happy on a level that Nico wouldn't EVER be able to comprehend, she had to keep herself from doing what she REALLY wanted to him. Sometimes she hated being as considerate as she was, as it made her feel these types of complicated emotions. If only Nico was someone who... but then again, she'd rather have someone like him over someone who had experience. Nico, in a sense, had a purity and innocence regarding stuff like that which naturally drew her in. It made her want to 'corrupt' him in a way, a way that his normal powers don't. It made her want to pin him down, take off his clothes and have her way with him right then and there.

But she refrained, she refrained because that right now would hurt both her chances and Nico in ways that she wouldn't even begin to imagine...

No matter how frustrating it was.

"Well, seeing that you have your own Motorcycle..." Nico began, pulling the woman out of her thoughts as she looked over to him. Nico's eyes gazed over her newly regained ride with appreciation, before raising his right hand. He then clicked his fingers as a whirlwind of Hellfire rose up from his right side. When it vanished, IF laid wide, bulged out eyes before Nico's OWN ride, the Skimmer known as Ember. The devilish Skimmers' wheels roared with furious Hellfire, burning through the oxygen around them and making breathing slightly more difficult. One could say that it was a 'hellish' first impression... okay, theres the bad pun for the chapter, lets move on. "How about we have a ride together? Us Motorcyclists best talk on the ff road, after all."

A moment of staring at the Skimmer with wide eyes passed for the brunette, before she quickly snapped out of it. "I have questions on where you got that..." she began, only for a competitive smirk to replace her features. She still felt the shock in her system, and probably would for a while, but odds were that it'll be forgotten by the time they really got rolling for this race. Yeah, Nico had a point, and she saw that suggestion as something else. "But those are some fighting words you spoke just now, Nico. Care to back em up?"

All Nico responded with was to grin in a similar manner to the Demons that he fought on a daily basis. his eyes beginning to shine red. "Well then, lets let our riding skills do the talking, shall we?"

IF let out a bark of laughter at that, feeling her wild side beginning to creep out into the surface. Like those shadowy figures prowling the streets at night looking for their next victim, though she would happily be this one's victim if the times ahead would be promising enough. She didn't get to show it often, but IF loved a good Motorcycle ride, especially with a decent partner. She loved the thrill, the rush, the knowledge of being so close to possibly dying that you just felt the most alive. Not even when she ascended into a BOW ruined it for her, for the 'possibility' aspect of it was still there. She wasn't lying back there, it had been AGES since she had been on a ride, and judging by the context this would be one of the WILDEST rides she would have in a long time. NOT in that sense, you pervs. Her eyes shined with a slightly wild gleam to them as she grinned eagerly. "Hah, bring it!"

Both teens, now aware of the other's intent, quickly jumped onto their respective rides, Nico revving Ember's engine as the Skimmer roared in glee. He then did a full 180 wheelie, before the engines unleashed a torrent of Hellfire that propelled him down the roads leading outside of Leanbox. There was no need to plan a race course, not when the entire Nation would be their playground. That was something both knew deep in their hearts, no need to say it verbally. Once IF had started her engine, she drove off after her friend/crush, laughing wildly and leaving her previous thoughts in the dust.

* * *

By the time night fell upon Leanbox, Nico and IF had raced each other throughout the Nation's entirety, blowing up anything that bothered them be it Demon hordes, Hellgates, Northmen etc. Nico wouldn't be afraid to admit that he MAAAAAY have behaved a LITTLE unprofessionally (he whistles innocently while standing behind a pile of unrecognizable Demon corpses that soon vanished into particles) a bit there. Whatever method was deemed acceptable, Nico relying on Soul Edge's destructive capabilities while IF used her Tendrils to practically rake her 'collateral casualties'into tiny pieces. She swore that, afterwards during one of the rare few respites that one enemy had wet themselves while whimpering mommy. Though, those thoughts flew out of the window milliseconds later. They literally went on a demolition derby, and they loved every fiber of it. The rush, the thrill, the carnage. It filled their minds with adrenaline, smothering their beings to replace their previous doubts, conflicts etc with only one thing: the need for speed.

When the two saw it had gotten quite late, the two decided to return to Leanbox in a significantly calmer manner (as in not hooting and whooping like a mad pair of people), having spent their energy enthralling themselves in a high that only Motorcyclists could understand. Passing through the MICROSOFT Gates, IF and Nico drove quietly (the teen mentally commanding Ember to be as quiet as possible while IF made sure not to drive as hard as she had done the whole day) through the near-deserted streets towards the Hotel they stayed at. Near-deserted meaning that there were some 'ladies of the night' on the prowl if you know what I mean...

The tired Nico mentally made sure to stay as far away from those as humanly possible. Not only would that be terrifying to go through, his mother would not just kill him, but also maim the woman involved too for daring to 'taint' her little Nicky-Nick

Finally, the two arrived at the Hotel. Ember disappeared in a... less conspicuous flash of Hellfire while IF pressed a button on her Bike which turned it back into that Inventory Module. She'll call it IM for short, IF decided, before putting it in her Inventory for future use.

With that done, she turned towards her male friend, intending to thank him for the GREAT day out (though she called it a date in her mind)... when she noticed the male having taken his coat off to expose what was underneath. 'Holy... shit...' Her thoughts only existed in those two words as her eyes glued themselves to the 'manservice' being shown before her, a heat rising through her cheeks as well as her loins.

The teen didn't notice her staring, as he began fanning himself by using his coat as one of those handheld fans. He did so by folding it up and holding it in one hand, waving it in front of his face, which looked to be riddled with sweat from that recent activity. The way he sweated, combined with the tightness of his shirt, exposed his build as if he were naked to the brunette Guild Agent. The shirt clung to his frame, outlining the muscles that he had developed with the sole purpose of practicality in mind. The sweat even made his pants, boots and gloves cling onto him, pronouncing his features, including his... mini Nico... which lay dormant for the time being. His scent whiffed into her nostrils, further disorienting her and fueling the lust-based urges building within her core. In IF's mind, some sexy saxophone music was playing as her eyes glued to the... arousing sight before her, a sight that the one giving it to her didn't even realize what he was unintentionally doing. She knew sights like this had been done before, but if she were to pull a Neptune then since the franchise basically consisted of cute girls and lots of fan-service, some man-service for the ladies would be WHOLLY appreciated, thank you very much!

Not so much if that service came from that on fish dude in that one game...

#shudder#

Once the teen felt like he had cooled down significantly from that, Nico inflamed his body's internal structure with Hellfire, burning the sweat forming within and outside his form which also succeeded in returning his clothes to normal. This was one of the rare times when Nico worked up a good sweat like this through a method that WASN'T combat-based... sorta. Nico was new to this whole riding a Motorcycle thing (and Ember could shift into a Flight Mode fr Goddess sake, so that's even better) but he could see himself engaging in rides like that in the future and LOVING the hell out of them.

Especially if he had a worthwhile partner to enjoy them with.

Speaking of which, Nico finally noticed that IF was staring at him... with no small amount of red on her cheeks. He could also smell something... weird, coming from her, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. He probably would have under normal circumstances, but right now he was still busy recovering from the rush that ride they had gave him. Confusion plastered itself onto his features as Nico tilted his head sideways to look at her. "Um, IF you ok? You're face is red..."

"H-Huh?" momentarily caught off guard, IF blinked owlishly for a moment, before she awkwardly coughed into a closed hand to hide her red face, not realizing how useless that was right now. "I-I'm okay, just a bit flustered from the ride still..."

Now THAT, Nico could understand. He felt the same way, after all, and thus the teen decided not to bring it up again.

Was it just him, or did he hear multiple sighs and a distorted chuckling in his head?

Meh, Biko and that White Him must be doing something he had no business in.

"Whew, but MAN was that a rush or what?" Nico remarked, smirking as he chuckled merrily, memories of how GOOD Motorcycle riding felt coming back to him. He hadn't felt that great in AGES, not even using his DPU powers, his first ride with his Skimmer, or anything had felt like what that ride did, and he wanted more of it.

Another chuckle escaped into the air, but this time from IF's lips as she snickered at the childish joy shining like searchlights she could see in Nico's eyes. "You betchya, and you can bet your ass we'll be doing that again in the future." she told him, much to Nico's excitement as the teen practically flew a her and crushed her in a hug.

"Aw, you're the best, IF! That would be so fucking AWESOME!" The teen exclaimed, a wide grin with closed eyes on his features while he hugged the woman tightly.

Under any normal circumstances IF would have been struggling to breathe with the tightness she was under, but thanks to her BOW powers, she didn't mind it one bit. Her lustful side DEFINITELY didn't mind either, if the heat building in her suddenly inflating to furnace levels was any indication. But what happened next completely DETROIT SMASHED those emotions and left her in a state of pure shock.

He was probably so overcome by his joy at being able to experience that thrill again, but Nico, under those emotions, just broke from the hug, took one quick glance down at her, before promptly pressing his lips against hers. His eyes closed as well, not seeing the utterly flabbergasted look in her eyes.

Nico... just kissed her.

He just kissed her... without intending to stop... of his own free will!

Those thoughts quickly ran through IF's shock-riddled mind before she closed her eyes and kissed back. Hey, he was the one to start it this time (pretty sure this was the first time he initiated it, too!) so fuck if she was complaining!

Nico's hands went onto her upper back from beneath her armpits, while IF's went onto the sides of his cheeks. Her body pressed itself against his, and with his state Nico happily welcomed it. The sounds of hot, passionate kissing resonated throughout the area, any passer-by making sure to stay away so they didn't 'interrupt' anything.

The brunette could tell that the guy didn't have much experience in kissing a girl, since there was more emotion than technique in the kiss. She didn't care though, the passion it had more than made up for it, plus she could compensate for the two of them. Plus, it wasn't like the guy wasn't trying either, which pleased the woman more than she would care to let on. Also, she liked the way he held her, how he held her body in this passive-aggressive demeanor that she could easily subdue and do whatever she wished with.

It made her BOW side scream and caw with delight at all the things she could do to him. What he would ALLOW her to do to him,

Eventually though, all good things must come to an end. That fact returned to the forefront of her mind when Nico' brain finally rebooted, his eyes snapping open with shock and horror as he pulled back from the kiss, taking a few panicked steps backwards. "W-wh-wh-wh-wha, I-I-I-I-I-uh..." he tried to say, but sadly for him his ability to speak had blue screened thanks to the shock to his system. Eventually though, he mustered up the courage (with his face redder than the variant of Hellfire that's been seen) to quickly splutter out the words "S-Sorry, IF!" before he made a beeline inside the Hotel.

IF didn't follow him back inside though, taking a moment to process what just happened. After a while, she managed to get herself back together and gave a sigh afterwards. Well, she guessed that it was to be expected, since Nico isn't that 'ready' yet for the real stuff. 'Still' yet there was still a silver lining for her as she felt a smile coming on while walking towards the hotel entrance. 'At least I can say I'm in the lead, unlike Nep and Compa.'

* * *

 **Yo, just a heads up, the thanks for helping me with some parts in this chapter goes to King Carlos, who I talk to a whole hell lot. He's a great guy and he is writing his own fanfic that I help with, Heroic Heir. Its his first story, so if you wanna check it out do so. Also, DON'T GIVE HIM SHIT! He gets too much of that in my opinion.**

 **Regarding the 'date' with IF, I felt like, with the way I've characterized IF, a 'predator and prey' dynamic between her and Nico would work best between them. She'll be the one that will be like a blue flame that sneaks under the rug, whereas Neptune is the wild crimson flame that burns any who dare try to get in her way. Yet BOTH are hot in their own unique methods, so it comes down to this: between them, Lucy and any other girl who becomes interested in him and has a backbone, Nico will be losing his V Card.**


	113. Chapter 110 - Taking a Reading Break

**Chapter 110 - Taking a Reading Break**

The following morning…

"Uhhh… what am I seeing here?" Neptune questioned in confusion, almost an exact opposite of how she was yesterday now that she thought about it. It was early in the morning, and she would normally have had to stay in bed till ear lunch time (save for the days when she wanted to train early) but right now the sight before her had washed all those thoughts from her mind. There wasn't much hope for her thoughts to make a sudden dramatic return like those hero films where the hero makes a dramatic return after being previously thought dead.

Why was she like this?

Well…

"The characters in this show are absolutely idiotic, yet I'm snickering anyways."

"Heh, glad you liked it. It's something I look at when I have the time and urge to laugh. Its basically about a highschool boy with superpowers living a normal life. Well, trying to, with the antenna on his head and how his powers work its easier said than done."

"Disastrous life indeed…"

There, sitting on the couch together, were IF and Nico. The brunette had one leg over the other while she leaned sideways towards the male, who wasn't hindering the close contact. She did this though not to seduce him, but to show him one of her phones which was showing one of the anime that she had on it. The two looked quite engrossed in their conversation if what she was seeing was anything to believe. They literally talked so casually to each other like it was a river flowing gently down a hill. A far cry as to what Nico was like in the past, to be sure. She had to stop herself from bristling when she saw how close the two were, their shoulders nearly touching while they looked down on IF's phone.

"What are you doing just standing there, Nep, Nep?" Compa asked as she walked up to her from behind. She had a towel in her hands, which she used to clean tem after doing some morning dishes. They'd already ate breakfast, and like usual it was well-cooked by their Nurse-In-Training (with the usual bathroom break for Nico) But when she noticed that Neptune was looking a bit weird, she wanted to figure out what the problem was.

Turning over to her friend, Neptune gave her a beaming smile, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Nothing much Compa-poo. Just keeping an eye for future problems, is all." She replied, before turning back to the two talking teens. She radiated a jealous aura not long afterwards, especially when she watched how close the two looked. No matter how hard she tried, something about this just kept bugging her, and she didn't know what it was. Whatever it was it definitely didn't sit well with her, and that aggravated the girl more than she cared to admit.

Looking over to where the preteen was watching, Compa saw what she did, and a pout formed on her lips with jealousy shining briefly in her eyes. "Mou-! Ni-Ni's getting real cosy with Iffy…" she mused with jealousy, joining Neptune in her state. She knew her friend, IF, she knew she wasn't a woman who shied away from contact with her friends. She was someone who always sported a cool, calm and collected demeanour, sort of making her a 'tomboy' if her grandfather's words were any accurate. She had no problem with getting close to someone if she wanted to from what she had seen, but… if that person was her Ni-Ni…

The conversation from yesterday rang through her mind, as well as the dread that filled her system.

She already had so many rivals already! She didn't want to compete with Iffy on top of that!

While she tried her best to wrestle those thoughts away from dominion within her mind, Compa looked to the clock and saw the time. Her eyes widened as a result while a hand covered her mouth. "Eek! The time! Nep-Nep, I have to get ready! I have training in 30 minutes!" she exclaimed, flustered while waving her arms and running about in a panic. She looked like one of those cartoon characters blurring about the screen in a mad rush to get something done on an extremely short deadline, and who could blame her? Her teachers always told her to be on time for their training, and they would be EXTREMELY brutal in the training if she WAS late (already experienced that once, she did NOT want that to happen again. She still felt the phantom pains from their little 'punishment').

Neptune only sweat dropped at the frantic Compa before glancing at the duo on the couch. A frown put itself onto her lips before she began thinking of what to do… she had to get some development on her lily rank with Nicky, otherwise other girls might steal her spot! Not happening, she was the main character in this franchise after all! While Compa quickly gathered what she needed, put on her boots before running out the door, Neptune made her way over to the two.

* * *

In all honestly, this should have been expected of the male, but IF had still been thrown for a loop the following morning.

The moment that he kissed her and all… it was like, all her rational thoughts just flew out of the window, everything. A switch had literally flipped inside her mind, turning her from her normally composed self into a lust-induced maniac. Like a wave washing over the beach, her thoughts had quickly got replaced by her own desires. Like a flame suddenly igniting within her gut, dominating her mind, body and soul. What followed was what primarily she wanted to do with him, to do to him in ways that would make any man putty in a woman's hands.

Caught up in the heat of the moment, IF had allowed her desires to have Nico all to herself at least for the duration of that time, to override her reasoning, allowing them to dominate her mind while projecting those desires into the kiss.

Wow… she REALLY underestimated how hard this would be for her. To hold herself back, she meant.

Afterwards, when he left right after in that panic-riddled state (something that concerned her greatly when she thought about it) she had followed his trail to see if he was okay. While she did have desires for him, feelings were there too, and she worried that something would happen to the guy.

When she had gotten up this morning intending to plan some intense training that would improve her mutations, she had encountered Nico who was already up and about. Not surprising since the guy didn't need to sleep as long as the rest of them somehow (though she did sometimes wonder about his health. His mental health especially). Though, it would have been a lie to say that she had no concerns over him for what happened the previous night.

Since after all, Nico wasn't someone who would do something like that of his own accord. He didn't even see himself as someone who would do such a thing, rather as someone who had no chance with a woman or anyone for that matter. Thus, doing something like that last night might have done something much worse than simply shocking him. Part of her dreaded to think on what had happened to him afterwards, as when she tried to knock on his bedroom door, he wouldn't answer. He'd locked it too, so she couldn't get inside.

Part of her wanted to use her powers to unlock the door, but… there had been SOMETHING that stopped her. She didn't know what it was though, but one thing had been made clear in her mind at that moment: that if she were to break in there, something HORRIFIC would happen to her, which was why she stayed away in the end.

But, in the end…

This… this wasn't what she had expected even though she probably should have.

Turned out, that his joy had clouded his judgement and that kiss was his moment of foolishness. Well, she assumed something like that because when they first met the following morning, Nico had taken one look at her and had hugged her like nothing happened (seriously, this guy wasn't kidding when he said he liked hugs). It honestly blew her mind, as she didn't expect this type of reaction. Anyone would think this would be a good thing, that Nico was alright, and things could progress like normal, but not IF. Nope, not her.

She knew him, she knew what he does and why he does it. She knew how he viewed himself, she knew how fucked up his life and how bad his mind was. Thus, something like this only set off alarm bells in her mind, alarm bells that rang so fiercely that she just HAD to look into it right at that moment. Which was why she had asked him in just a few words about what happened between them last night.

What did he say?

His answer had sent her into extreme shock and disbelief:

"Huh? What do you mean? We went on that bike ride, hugged, and parted ways, right? Man, that bike ride was a total rush, 10 out of 10, would definitely do so again…"

Anything else he said IF had blocked out due to how much shock had coursed through her at this revelation, this revelation that apparently Nico didn't remember the events of last night the way that she did. This felt like some sort of joke to her, and yet it wasn't at the same time. This had happened, right? This really happened to her just now? Did he seriously say that to make her doubt what happened? No, that wasn't it, she had realized. It wasn't that he was trolling her or playing her for a fool either, especially with that curious and confused look he had on his face when she had asked him. A look similar to a toddler asking their parents about something they regarded as new. It filled her mind with confusion and doubt, as if what she remembered may have been the false truth of everything, until she saw faint traces of her lip balm (that she had applied to her lips a few times in recent days to help her body keep her lips moistened) on his lips, traces that he didn't seem aware of.

That was why she thought about it some more while playing the question off like it was no big deal, something that Nico went along with all too easily, she had noticed. Just looking into his eyes made her see it though, it was so small and brief that even she, with her eyes the way they were thanks to the events at Lastation, would have missed it. Relief. Relief and joy. It briefly sparked in his eyes before being utterly crushed by everything else as if to say, 'shut up, you're the outcast here!'

IF recognized these symptoms, she recognized tem from a few of her fellow Agents out in the field whenever they see or go something horrific, horrific to the point where they can't cope with life afterwards. We aren't talking about just PTSD, but actual suicidal tendencies here. Those kinds of people usually have their own psychiatrists to help them through these times, to help them cope with what they had seen, but if she knew Nico like she thought she did, IF doubted that he had the same kind of help.

Hell, with the discrimination against the Spec Ops Program, she wouldn't be surprised.

But still, the bottom line was what had happened between them last night had REALLY massed with Nico's head, as in, messed it up HORRIFICALLY to the point where he in a moment of pure madness, rewrote his entire memory of the event to where the 'disaster' hadn't occurred, like it had been blotched out of his memory by some blackened painting like when some people draw or paint over images that they don't want others to see.

This revelation, at this point, SERIOUSLY concerned IF about his mental health. A kiss normally isn't something that would incite such a reaction, it was meant to be something happy between two people. Not something that one would rearrange their memories over. That just begged the question: Just how bad was he really? To have rewrote his memories just because he kissed a girl? Nico wasn't someone who tried anything wit girls, that fact was already apparent, but to do something so major at such actions felt WAY over the top to her. She SERIOUSLY worried for the guy now.

In current times, as she and Nico talked more about animes that IF had seen, the teen interjecting with his own every now and then, the brunette's eyes flashed with concern and determination.

This was it for her, she'd had enough.

She would get her answers… and she knew only ONE person who could share them with her.

* * *

After a while, Nico chose to head out on a walk, saying that he had some training to do. Which was why the red-haired male found himself walking through the streets of Leanbox with his hands resting in his Trench Coat's pockets (something he does a lot cause he liked the feeling. It was quite calming) while his mind, however, was a whirlwind of thoughts right now.

'Hmm, its suspicious. I'm talking about Yvoire, I mean. You would think he would have tried something by now. He obviously doesn't want me anywhere near Leanbox, or even breathing for that matter. I would have thought he would try something after a while, but it doesn't seem like he's made much of a move yet. Though, the way he called IF out of their party (according to what Neptune told me once) felt suspicious, yet nothing happened. I'm starting to think he's going for something big, like something to do with the Gala. Though if he does he will have to be stealthy and discreet, since that place will be like a beehive of snobby Nobles who'll no hesitate to take him down for their own desires of power. What do you think, Biko?'

Inside his head, Biko gave a resigned sigh, though Nico either didn't hear it or chose to disregard it like he did that memory of him kissing IF. Biko had seen the whole process himself, well, that wasn't the first time since he saw it in that memory his child self, had sent him, the way that his mind handles something that it registered as 'forbidden'. Seeing it once in that memory was bad enough, but to see it in person felt like a whole new level of horrors. He may not feel much emotion most times, but this was something that rattled him down to his very core. He had thought he'd seen him at his lowest during those years when he was apart from Compa, he had thought he'd seen it all when it came to ow unstable Nico's mind was…

Oh, how wrong he had been.

What he had seen just then… it was nightmare fuel, and considering that there were memories tat even Biko couldn't access himself, made him worry. Just how often did THAT kind of thing happen to him? Biko didn't know the answer, and part of him didn't want to know. Even now, as he listened to Nico's thought processes, the Demon Persona sensed that this was just the final stages of the rewriting process, ta distraction to calm down the unstable mind back to a level of competency that could be expected from a Spec Ops Agent. It would be a process that would last the whole day if something didn't happen to speed up the process.

When he had been asked that question though, Biko already had an answer. It was something he had thought over many times by now as well, you know.

 **'It is indeed confusing, however perhaps the answer may be because he is being distracted by these other problems cropping up throughout Leanbox. The Hellgates, the Demons, the Abnormals, the men in red, Maghda and her coven along with the Northmen under her rule. These problems are all coming out of the woodworks, and as the head of the military, Yvoire will have a good ideas as to how vicious they will be, much more vicious than the Spec Ops Community gaining power, I would say. Also, like you said, if he does want to try something it would most likely be when you two are close, like at the Gala. You two aren't going to be anywhere near each other until then, so that would be the optimum time. Even so, it is clear he has it out for you, and by that, I mean you specifically, though that is probably due to being what you are. If he found out about our DPU powers on top of that… Though, if I were Yvoire, I would try to slip something into somewhere discreet where nobody would register it so that it could be sent to you.'**

Mentally, Nico nodded in agreement. 'My thoughts exactly, Biko…'

As he took a step, Nico felt the urge to read come over him, the images of those Tomes he had gotten from Rinjiin coming to mind. The fact that he still had a fair few to go through rung through his brain like a bell in a church tower, filling him with a mix of anticipation and dread. After all, part of him wanted to know more about his kind, the DPUs. So far, he only knew a small fraction about them and that information was scarce at best. He wanted to know a whole hell more about his kind than just titbits, like what they were exactly, where they came from, what were they like during their era? Most importantly, why had hey vanished from Gamindustri's history the way they did.

'Think we could do some reading, Biko?' he asked his Demon Persona, who responded soon after.

 **'Might as well. While I prefer it if we read somewhere private, it wouldn't matter where we read since the enchantments make it so only those who are connected to the demonic aspects can read them. Since we're the only ones with that connection around here, there is little chance of any information leaks.'**

His thoughts exactly, the teen responded before he cut the connection and looked about. Soon, he found a small wooden long chair for multiple people to sit on, which prompted him to walk over and press his behind down on it. Once he felt comfortable in his seating position, Nico decided to open up the Void Storage and, through mental command, pulled out one of the Tomes that he'd gained from Rinjiin. After going through these books, Nico definitely felt more than a little appreciation towards the writers of these things, the way they painted pictures of the scenes, the environments, the character interactions was nothing short of magical, a type of magic he didn't mind as much.

Hmph, must be a cold day in hell if that has happened.

* * *

"WHY IS THERE ICE EVERYWHERE?!"

"OH GODS, MY DICK IS FROZEN!"

"MY BOOBIES ARE FROZEN TOGETHER, OMG!"

"OMG IS RIGHT!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

… Why did he just get the feeling that a lot of people were suffering from the cold right now?

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, Nico opened the tome (a crimson tome with black outlines and a symbol that looked like flames formed into 6 bird wings on its centre) before beginning to read.

 **DPU – Origins**

 **The Origins of the DPUs stems from the eternal conflict between the two forces of light and good, as well as the forces of evil and darkness.**

 **In the beginning, these two forces existed since before the creation of the Universe, always existing but doing nothing. They were never even aware of each other, their total opposites, until the dawn of creation itself. It was the first ever, as well as the greatest 'wake up call' that the universe had ever seen. It would be considered the greatest one of them all, as well. Past, present and future.**

 **It was inevitable that these two forces, polar opposites of each other, would meet in an unfriendly way. Their first clash would be recorded as the greatest, creating the dawn of time itself. Once their first clash rippled through the fabric of existence, planets were either destroyed or created, sometimes even both at the same time. It was an endless cycle, reaching the point where the constant destruction and creation became a cycle of nature itself. Forcefully inserting itself into the natural order. It is the first ever sign of conflict, a situation none of existence had ever seen as of yet, and it would only continue to escalate throughout the millennia.**

 **They have had constant clashes since this time, the creation of the universe, resulting in an endless cycle of carnage and chaos. These clashes constantly reshaped the Universe to their liking, resulting in countless forms of life and death spread throughout. It spawned the cosmos, the stars, the suns, every system in the entire universe spawned from this chaos. For millennia, that was all the universe had truly known. At the beginning, these powers fought against each other, but soon it became a part of life itself to the point where their clashes had been accepted as the norm for the universe, which had no short a time to get used to them.**

 **For the entirety of this endless conflict, their clashes would leave remnants, remnants of their powers that would simply disintegrate over time, be it centuries or a millennia. This was not a problem for these two primordial powers, for they were ageless, they had no concept of this. They never had, and never would for the rest of eternity. Neither f these powers had the consciousness to care either.**

 **However, from the ashes of one of their clashes, the darkness essence devoured that of the light essence, becoming stronger and overcoming it in a seemingly impossible twist of things, an anomaly in the chaotic system the universe worked under. The cycle of creation and destruction temporarily got disrupted when the powers of darkness gained a victory that had never been seen before. Chaos, distortion, illusion, carnage, death, every aspect of darkness combined together with the light essence as fuel, creating something that should NEVER have come to be. Yet it did.**

 **From that essence, 4 beings emerged in chaotic glory, four beings of darkness whom had powers so unique, so deadly and devastating that in time, they would be able to rival that of the primordial forces if given the opportunity. These beings were born from the chaos of the darkness and Light's unintentional conflict, a conflict they did not stop for they just simply 'existed' and whatever their energies did was unstoppable anyways. Nevertheless, these beings were born from carnage, and carnage became their way of life, their essence, the blood that flowed through them, the air they breathed.**

 **These were the four original DPUs, Sparda, Mundus, Carnage, and Diadact.**

"Holy… shit…"

Those were the only words he could use to describe the feelings coursing through him at this very moment.

Like literally, he had no words.

This… this was…

 **'Hmmmm… this information does indeed explain a lot about matters I have been curious about.'**

Nico mentally nodded in agreement with his other demonic self, he had been made aware of these matters a long time ago as well, during their many talks. Biko had always been curious about their origins, about why they were the way they were. If he were honest, Nico found himself curious about it too. The DPUs, just hearing that name sent irrevocable chills down his spine, chills that could only come from learning of some ancient mystery that would shake the foundations of everything conceived in reality.

This seemed so… large, incomparable even, and yet… it made so much sense. The reason why he thought this existed in his mind as many forms. One of them was the exact nature of his Demonic Power. Its wild, chaotic nature that felt sometimes like the incarnation of chaos itself, this information gave him light as to why it was this way and credited its believability. Seriously, he had used this power more than enough times to see that It was meant to be used for fighting and destroying, rather than saving. For example, when he had stopped Tekken's face from being melted into ashes by that Hellfire blast, what his Power had done instead of helping her was destroying and absorbing the Hellfire flames. There was no healing there, only destruction.

Yet, despite the dark, evil, and destructive origins of this power, there are aspects of creation in this power due to several things he had noted, like how he could restore his body using his Demonic Power instead of his other side. This had to have come from the remains of that light essence that was devoured when the DPUs were first brought into being, Nico theorized, there was no way otherwise that this power could be even capable of creating life. Not to mention, it felt much easier to use this power to destroy something rather than create, creating life seriously hurt like when he first created Urthemiel. Regarding how he can restore his body, apparently this energy was what made up his DPU form, it was simply a mass of Demonic Power given a corporeal form, mimicking it down to the blood cells that flowed through him. In human form, that energy seemingly knew his body better than he knew himself, if it was able to be used to repair damage the way it did.

No, it wasn't REPAIRING damage, it was merely recreating the destroyed cells and banishing the old, broken ones…

The realm of the deities, here.

Then…

"?!"

Nico's eyes sharpened as another thought hit him like being hit in the face by a truck ramming into him at full force. Now that he thought about it, this also explained the 'might makes right' ideology of the Demons. If he compared to the demons of the human race today, then the DPUs would have been their rulers, and considering how they were brought into being it wouldn't be unexpected to have them influence the Demons to think that only the strong survive. It went with the 'nature and nurture' theory that children become the way that they are due to how they are brought up, as well as genetics. Nature and Nurture.

These Demons came from beings whose entire nature revolved around conflict… as well as had conflict as a cruel parent but an effective teacher, those lessons it taught the DPUs being carved deep into their souls.

Those Demons never really stood a chance, did they?

 **'No, they indeed did not, Nico. Not to mention this information about Sparda is intriguing…'**

Now, wasn't that true?

Like this Demon Persona had just said right now, there was the information about Sparda… the DPU that apparently, he was the Champion of.

Now THAT was a whole new can of worms just waiting to be opened. The most he had known about this person was that he was the DPU who left behind the DPU Core in Gamindustri after he and the first Goddess Odyssey Heart removed the Demons and other DPUs from Gamindustri. There was indications that he was a strong warrior and the leader of the DPU race, but aside from that there had been little else he could find about the guy. Not like he had tried either, since Nico hadn't any leads to follow up on Sparda or his legacies.

If he had those leads however, THEN it would be a whole different story altogether, Nico knew FOR A FACT that his mother would have allowed him to go on extended leave if they could find out more about the powers of the Demonic, especially since he had already been involved with them thanks to his Devil Arms. If they got more information on the Devil Arms, information about how they worked, what they were, how they came to be etc, then it would be a win-win situation for not only them, but any other human in Gamindustri who would have contacted a Devil Arm.

Mental note: find a way to get some time alone with her to get this stuff explained to her.

In addition to the knowledge of Sparda's origins, Nico didn't expect to find that he wasn't the only DPU born from the chaos and carnage of the Universe, but one out of four. Four DPUs being born from war… This reminded him partly of their world currently being run by four CPUs, an ironic twist of fate if he said so himself. Though, he doubted the Goddesses had that kind of origins though, probably something a little tamer than the origins of the DPUs. They weren't Demonic Power-based beings like the DPUs, that's for sure.

Still, this was DEFINITELY good information, information that answered a LOT of his questions about the DPU Era and why it was the way it was.

 **'Shall we continue reading? There should be more interesting bits of information in these Tomes. Perhaps we can find out more about the DPUs, like their culture or how strong they were compared to the CPUs of today.'**

'Hmmm… Maybe I'll do that, its not like I have anything planned today. My Quest quota isn't that big today, so I can complete em any time I like. Not only that, but our training's bee progressing faster than I had anticipated thanks to the time dilation from the Inner World.' Nico replied, getting a pleased hum from his Demon Persona before he went and pulled out another book…

CRACKLE, SMASH!

When he reflexively reached out and caught a flying newspaper that was blown his way by the wind.

"Hm? Wow guess it's a windy day today, that's weird…" Nico muttered under his breath, his left eyebrow arching as he set about reorganizing the Newspaper, so it looked presentable. The teen mumbled incoherently under his breath while he skimmed the various articles. Not many gained his attention for more than a few seconds, they were just articles about events he had already seen like the Abnormal attacks, the Demons, the Men In Red etc. There were a rare few that were about the Nobles, trying to make them look 'heroic' by showing these fake images of them leading their forces into battle.

Nobles did do that kind of thing, bribing the media to make them look better than they really were.

Another reason why he hated those assholes.

As he reorganized the paper, one particular Article caught his attention, the contents nearly making him do a spit take:

 **Planeptune and Lastation – possible alliance?**

 **A new dawn is approaching Gamindustri, citizens, for one of the 10 impossibilities in the world has been proceeding behind the scenes: The possibility of an alliance between nations.**

 **According to interviews, this is an alliance talk between Lastation and Planeptune, two nations who have since the dawn of their founding been intense rivals. Lastation's CPU Black Heart has decided to negotiate with Planeptune's officials for a possible truce between their respective lands, inspired by the repeated generosity Planeptune has shown her people by offering assistance to them when they needed it.**

 **One official who shall remain anonymous, has stated that this is due to the mass increase of Abnormal attacks on Lastation Boarders, which have been weakened considerably by both their external attackers and the internal release of a deadly zombie invasion by unknown means. These events have stretched their military thin, to the point where even the Spec Ops Branch is having mild to intermediate difficulties holding them off. Combined with the efforts of the regular monsters, Lastation has found it necessary to consider truce talks with its other Nations, starting with Planeptune. In the end, they envision all four Nations working together to repel the Abnormals from their lands, and getting to the bottom of where they have come from.**

 **The Peace talks between Lastation and Planeptune have been proceeding smoothly according to brief interviews with the officials involved. However, it is said that because of the absence of Lady Purple Heart, these talks have not been progressing as much as they should have been, one of the many consequences that the Console War has brought upon Gamindustri.**

 **Further details remain classified, but we of the Daily Prophet shall keep all of Gamindustri informed!**

That was all the Article wrote about this development, it was a small article that looked to be overshadowed by some of the larger ones about the Abnormals and the Nobles. There wasn't much information, but then again that was probably due to lack of information so that they (the daily prophet which was a newspaper agency across all four Nations) just had to summarize it. Nevertheless, this small article had one HELL of an impact on Nico, his form frozen in shock and surprise while his eyes glued themselves to this article and did what they could to process this information.

He just couldn't believe what he had just read.

'This… This is…!'

 **'My… this is indeed quite the development…'**

Even Biko had the clear notion of being surprised evident in his voice, and if a being like him got affected by emotion enough to feel it, then one must KNOW things are going to go down.

The lack of information bothered him about this, but Nico could still form theories and guesses as to what was going on from this information. The Newspaper article did say that troubles are escalating, to the point where talks between the nations have been considered and are beginning to be implemented. So, he could see why these talks were being started, but still…

Who would have thought that Noire would have had it in her?

From what he knew of her, Nico had pegged Noire as someone who was very prideful, refusing to accept help from anyone. She would rather fix her own Nation's problems with her own two hands. That kind of mentality was perfect for a warrior, as warriors don't have much to worry about aside from what they will have to do in their next battle. However, that was not the way a Leader had to think, if a situation arose where just that mentality wasn't enough, asking for help HAD to be something that would be considered. It wasn't 'bad' per say to ask for help, but there were those who would see it as a source of weakness. But still, they have to ask for help sometimes, especially when a Leader's people were on the line. Their actions reflected the Nation as a whole, after all. Leaders bore a burden that very few could understand, after all.

He had thought Noire to be someone who would never even THINK of asking Planeptune's help, of all Nations… but apparently, he was wrong.

Maybe what happened in her Nation had changed her as a person, if only at least partially.

Still, the implications of these talks baffled the male, they baffled him more than he would be able to admit. He had always considered the notion of peace, of the Nations working together to be something out of a fantasy, never to become reality. The furthest people would be willing to go in this direction would be towards asking Spec Ops Agents to deal with Abnormal-related threats. This had been his ideology since the beginning, even if it had been mildly challenged back at Skies End where a Spec Ops and a bunch of Abnormals lived together in co-existence. But back then it was more of a necessity to survive, as there wasn't a Nation protecting Rinjiin from them.

But this…? This felt like a MUCH bigger blow against what he believed in for so long.

Even more concerning, was that there would be many who would not take too kindly to this information. There was no doubt in his mind that this Newspaper had made it not the hands of nearly every powerful individual across the four nations. Avenir, the Nobles, the CPUs, hell even the villainous folk would have found out about this in their own ways. They would likely do all they could to either sabotage or promote these peace talks, the former he could see Maghda, Yvoire (well, to be fair he was more of a grey area as he could potentially see how this could benefit Leanbox if they played their cards right) and the Nobles like Count Mott doing the former. As for the latter, he guessed that it would be Noire, his mom, Stefan, and the few good Nobles who actually deserved their positions (he could count THOSE on one hand, however).

With these thoughts in mind, Nico stood up after putting the Newspaper into his Void Storage, dusted off his Trench Coat, before pocketing his leather Gloved hands into it and walking off.

These thoughts continued to plague him, however.

* * *

"Sir, what do you make of this?"

"Hm?"

In his Manor, Count Mott sat at his desk dealing with some documents. His Desk had various piles of the infernal stuff, nearly making him cringe. Being an official like him was not easy, and he was not even a full on Duke yet. He still had some way to go before he got to that position, but whenever he dealt with this kind of paperwork he sometimes rethought about his career choices. Though he didn't let them get in the way of his goals, however. Even now, his hands ached from signing or dismissing documents to do with how he oversaw the territory for the Duke he was commissioned under. He didn't know the man;s name himself, he didn't care to know it. All he cared about was that he would someday take over as that Duke's successor... whether he was willing to or not.

While he had been planning that day, his butler Brian had entered his office (with the Count's permission of course) and had brought him a newspaper. The old nobleman looked at the Paper impassively for a moment, slowly reaching for it, grasping it and taking it for himself as he began looking at the Article that the Butler had indicated with his right hand's index finger. Any other person who wasted his time with trivial matters like the media would have been executed on the spot for treason, while women were treated to some of his 'punishments' in the bedroom. However, Brian was an acception to this solely due to how long he had been serving the Count.

As he read the article, eyes trailing across one line after the other, they slowly switched from impassiveness to pure shock and surprise. This development maybe small with little information, but the implications of this were not lost on the count. He found himself so shocked that he could scarcely believe what he had been reading, and if this were any other Newspaper then he would deem it utter rubbish and toss it away. However, the Daily Prophet was an Agency that was actually competent at their jobs in the Count's eyes.

Looking back to the Butler, Count Mott;s eyes narrowed into a stern gaze as he uttered his next few words barely above a whisper. "Is this true, Butler...?"

"Indeed it is, sir." Brian answered while bowing, leaning forward with his hand on his heart in a rather classy manner. As expected of a prime and proper butler to a wealthy family. The man's weary eyes sparked with interest, interest that seemed rarely there for a man his age while the wrinkles over his face could hardly disguise the intrigue coursing through him. "I have ran it past our associates in the Basilicom, the Guild, and in the Newspaper Agency, and it all points to the same conclusion that what you read is really happening."

At this, Count Mott grew quiet, standing up from his chair and walking so that he looked at the space behind his desk with his hands on his back. His eyes sharpened their gaze to that of a predator as what he had learned processed itself through his mind. Even for a diabolical Noble like him, this information was NOT to be treated lightly, and it was a certainty that others were made aware of this as well.

An alliance between Planeptune and Lastation... two bitter rivals since their founding... such a thing sounded utterly preposterous in his mind, and it probably would be the same for anybody be it a high ranking official or the lowliest peasant who knew of the history between those two Nations specifically, of how much they battled with each other. Way more than either Nation had battled Lowee and Leanbox, that's for certain. Planeptune had always remained ahead of Lastation in terms of technology and economy, with Lastation hot on its heels. It was like when two athletes of high caliber won a race, only for one of them to lose when the other is shown to have just been a little bit further than them. Their rivalry was just that fierce.

Almost like the rivalry between Lowee and Leanbox, in a way.

So, the fact that there were talks for an alliance between the two... Count Mott's sharp eyes glistened as thoughts and ideas swirled throughout his brain. Schemes to find out what exactly could have caused this and how it could benefit his rise to power circulated through his mind, allowing a small smirk full of sadism and desire to form on his lips. This could end up playing right into his hand, if he managed to do what he wanted at the Gala, then he would get way more than what he intended for. And with the way his secret project was developing, things would likely get even more interesting in the future.

Odds were that Leanbox would definitely try to sink their claws into the talks, try to squeeze themselves in which will likely prompt Lowee to do the same... if its CPU wasn't an ill tempered little brat who had no right leading a Nation in the first place. It made Mott snort in disgust thinking about Lowee's CPU, how utterly childish and revolting she looked to him. There wasn't many women Mott wouldn't like to take to his bed, but CPU White Heart was on that short list. If he did capture her, eh would probably sell her off to one of his connections as a way of showing good faith or something. Even people in Leanbox wouldn't mind taking someone as temperamental, childish and elementary school-like as her.

The best way fr something like that to happen would be... the Gala.

Mott furrowed his brow as he deduced the implications of the Gala in his mind, of just how much more important this Gala had become with this information. Odds were that there would be Nobles spewing nonsense on and on about this possible Alliance like mindless chickens, not doing anything about it themselves. That was what Mott despised about most Nobles, very few of them have any drive, of any ambition to go somewhere far in their short, meaningless, pathetic lives. Once he had what he wanted though... That would be changing, Oh, yes, that would DEFINITELY change.

Still, he could use this to his advantage, by proposing that they too join the alliance with the way that the Abnormals, Men in Red and those Demons were running amok, the use of other Nation resources would be a must to keep Leanbox afloat, maybe even take back some of her territories from her invaders. Though, Mott focused on one fact that was more important than all of this, and that was that he'd be closer to Leanbox's CPU, if only for a time, The Gala was a tremendously important event, one of the few where the CPU actually HAD to attend so that they may discuss where to take the Nation from that point on. If he got the CPU alone then 'did his business' with her till she was putty in his hands like all his women, then he would rule Leanbox through the CPU, enacting his ideals through her. This was the way politicians waged war on one another, people, manipulating others for their own benefit.

Such people will be gathered in abundance at the Gala...

Which was why he had to be ready.

* * *

This was UNBELIEVABLE! INCONCEIVABLE!

A SERIOUS OUTRAGE!

AN UNMITIGATED DISASTER!

In his quarters, Yvoire did all he could to keep himself from acting in a manor inappropriate for someone of his stature while he clutched the recent Newspapers that were published by the Daily Prophet. His hands clutched the papers so hard that if he applied any more strength then he would have tore the papers apart with the raw, primal FURY coursing through him at this moment. His eyes shone with fiery flames of anger and frustration, his forehead sweating profusely while his teeth gnashed together so much that they could potentially crack under the pressure at any moment. It was a good thing he was within the privacy of his quarters, otherwise the elderly Priest would be risking showing a rather unsightly sight to any unlucky passerby.

The man had just read the news about the Alliance between Lastation and Planeptune was an unholy, unthinkable event that he could NEVER have seen coming. The moment that he had read the article it had taken all he had not to faint on the spot with how hot the rage inside made his head feel. He wasn't as young as he used to be after all.

But more than that he was WORRIED.

Worried sick.

To the point where he almost threw up from the anxiety in his gut.

Worried like hell for the fate of his Nation, or rather, the Nation he called home.

This posed a significant threat to the Safety of Leanbox, Yvoire knew this for a FACT. Those two nations right now had the biggest technological advancements of the Four. They had the biggest technology advancements, but not only that but they had the better soldiers, the numerous highly trained Guild and heretical Spec Ops Agents, more resources like ores and crystals for mining purposes (which they could only match in quantity of Silver Steel, but thanks to the Abnormals they couldn't mine as much as they used to). Not only that, but compared to those two Leanbox and Lowee definitely weren't as equipped to deal with the combined assaults of the normal monsters and the Abnormals.

To hear that they were negotiating for a truce that could lead to a potential alliance... it was unthinkable, no not just unthinkable, but a deep problem for the rest of Gamindustri. Those two Nations have been at each other's throats for years, during the past conflicts those two raided each other much more than the other two Nations. It was a surprise that they hadn't merged together with the amount of resources, equipment and know-how stolen from each other. It honestly reminded him of two children fighting over the last cookie from the cookie jaw. But now, now that these two Nations who were close to equals were about to potentially become allies, putting aside grudges for the sake of self-preservation... Leanbox and Lowee had a right to worry.

But, the man thought as he struggled to contain his rage, putting the paper down so that he could walk to the window his room provided for him, and look out the window to the rest of MICROSOFT, a solemn frown on his lips. At least there were some details he could use to his advantage from this. There would be those within the four Nations that, for whatever reason, would oppose such an alliance. Old grudges, fanatics, warmongers, the like. Al of them would be united under the goal of stopping this alliance from taking place.

Perhaps he could use this to his advantage...

Right after he takes out Nico from the equation.


	114. Chapter 111 - Alliance, WHAT!

**Hello guys! This is a LONG one, and i'll be honest and say I'm quite fond of this one. This is for all the Vert fans that want to see more of her, and believe you me, this one has quite the character development in store. Also, picking up where the last chapter left off, talks for a possible alliance and Noire's reasoning's will be revealed. So, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 111 - Alliance, WHAT?!**

A sigh escaped her lips as she sat at her desk in her office, looking over the newspaper and looking at the reactions her people had to the recent undertaking she had chosen. Her right hand twirled the end of her right pigtail as a means of finding solace and comfort from the recent headache that she had suffered from this move she had done. Yet, in her mind, this was the best course of action she could take with the way things were going.

Noire, CPU Black Heart of Lastation, had expected the reaction of her people to be this way. There were many who opposed the idea of a potential alliance with another Nation. If it were Leanbox or Lowee then she doubted the reaction would have been this bad. After all, Lastation didn't have as much association with those two so something like this could have been just business-related in the eyes of the Lastation citizens.

However, this wasn't with Leanbox or Lowee.

It was Planeptune.

PLANEPTUNE.

The rivaling Nation that Lastation had bee founded to defeat for so long now, and they were just going to enter an alliance with them? Many in Lastation, most of them being part of the masses with few being higher ranking officials in her government, did NOT agree to this proposal. They felt like they were just simply giving up their rivalry with the Land of Purple Progress, like they were giving up their identity as the Land of Black Regality. If this had happened the opposite way around, they probably wouldn't have been so against it since it would have been a sign that Planeptune finally accepted that they were the superior Nation, but in the end that hadn't happened. Not in this reality.

Noire had done everything she could to keep this undertaking a secret for as long as she had possibly could. She had met with officials who shared her opinions about the proposal, she had discreetly convinced other officials to follow her lead. She had even met with members of the Avenir faction, members who at least could see reason, that their forces wouldn't be able to hold off the growing Abnormal packs for long. They had their Spec Ops Branch, but as she had learned while working with them, even they could only do so much and be at so many places at one time.

It had been a hard pill to swallow, oh it had been. She would probably NEVER have even THOUGHT of something like this… had she not fought alongside Neptune when Avenir unleashed that Zombie invasion on the city.

THAT moment had opened her eyes, opened her eyes to a lot of things, actually. Like how pathetic and stupid this Console War had become when their Nations needed them. Like how their greed and lust for the title of True Goddess of Gamindustri had blinded them to what really mattered, what being a Goddess truly meant. It was thanks to Neptune that she had this epiphany, that she had the willpower to go on like this. Noire had done much wrong by her people, and she fund the resolve within her to change that, to make amends for what she had done.

She remembered the way that Neptune talked to her when they spoke about the Console War that night over some pudding, how she talked about saving the people in front of her first rather than win the War that she had unknowingly been fighting for centuries. Perhaps it was a good thing, a blessing in disguise, that Neptune had been blown off Celestia by the rest of them and thus gaining amnesia. It completely changed her as a person, gone was that arrogant, battle-maniac of a swordswoman who always boasted being the best out of the four with the bite to match her bark. Gone was the Goddess Noire detested with a passion.

In her place, stood someone who supported her friends with an intense passion that could incinerate anyone who got too close, or dared harm those she considered precious. Someone who actually gave a damn about the masses yet enjoyed the little things in life… maybe she enjoyed them a little too much though. Noire could remember that time when Neptune actually had a hangover from eating so much pudding. No idea how that happened cause she was PRETTY sure that Pudding doesn't make you drunk, but hey this was Neptune she was talking about. Yet, it was that kind of familiarity that she NEVER thought she would have with the other CPUs, Neptune especially, which just went to show how big a personality change she had undergone.

Putting down the paper, Noire massaged her Temples with a soft sigh. Memories assaulted her mind, memories of when they briefly interacted with each other while they fought in the Console War.

 ** _(FLASHBACK)_**

 ** _Two swords, one long and slim while the other bulky and large, yet near equal in skill, clashed repeatedly and with great ferocity. Each slash created rippling air waves between their wielders, who each gave each other fierce stares. One of them had a furious snarl on her lips, while the other had a smug grin on hers. The sounds of clashing could be heard both from their weapons and the weapons of the other two who fought in the skies above, not wanting them to interrupt._**

 ** _Their clash lasted a few more seconds, before the two ladies, Black Heart and Purple Heart themselves, suddenly broke of and faced off like a Mexican standoff. The Planeptune CPU "Hmph, it's a surprise that you have made it this far, I would have thought you would have blown up after all that hot air, you weakling." Purple Heart remarked, a smirk that was a mix of condescending and arrogance stretching onto her lips._**

 ** _This resulted in an infuriated twitching of her brow as Black Heart readied her sword, a sneer and a wicked laugh escaping her as she fantasized the oh so satisfying look of horror on her opponents face as she ruthlessly cut her down. Oh, how good that moment would feel to her. "Hah, I could say the same to you, Neptune!" she retorted, before gesturing to her with her off hand. "Look at yourself, acting like you're on top of the world. It just makes me want to defeat you even more! Just you wait, I'll defeat you yet!"_**

 _ **It didn't look like her words rattled the other woman before her, however. Instead, it almost seemed to be a form of entertainment for the Planeptune CPU who put her sword on her shoulder gangster style while attempting (and failing) to muffle her amused giggles by putting her hand over her mouth… not unlike how Green Heart laughed, now that Black Heart thought about it. "Ufufufufu. Why, please do come try, but believe me the results will NOT be what you favor. #Mocking smile with a 'come hither' motion#"**_

 ** _"Grr! You asked for it, you bitch! Raaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!"_**

 ** _(FLASHBACK END)_**

The memories dissolved back into the sea of emotions within Noire's gut, but they did leave their mark on her. She remembered that Neptune and the Neptune she knew today, and she could not compare the two. They couldn't be more different, well, sure they both liked to fight as Neptune definitely seemed more like her old self whenever she sparred with Nico, forcing her to go all out while not landing a scratch on him, but there was none of that arrogance her previous self, had possessed. But aside from that, not much else had remained the same about her.

If she were her past self, then she would NEVER have answered the way she did that night.

That was one of the big reasons why Noire went through with this plan of hers, a plan that she had discussed with only a select few at first, one of which being her Oracle. Oracles weren't that well known in today's society, but hopefully in the future that would change. After all, if it weren't for her Oracle keeping Lastation economically stable even with Avenir's antics, then Lastation would have died long ago. She couldn't help but feel a bit competitive with Neptune though, if she thought she was the only one who was capable of bringing great change to others, then she would be dead wrong.

Noire could do it, too. Her recent actions proved that. Just this once, Noire would throw aside her pride, her foolish pride that had nearly gotten her Nation and her people killed, and start negotiations between Lastation and Planeptune, negotiations for a Truce that would hopefully turn into a full-on alliance. Noire had no doubt there will be hurdles along the way, both from Lastation and Planeptune officials, but she owed it to her people to make up for her mistakes, to be the leader she should have been. Hell, she even owed Neptune for this change, and THAT wasn't something to scoff at. Not that she'd admit it to her face, oh no she wasn't going down that path of humiliation.

Though, another reason why she was doing this was because she owed one other Person, one other person who had fought alongside her in reclaiming Lastation from Avenir. Who had done much more for her Nation than even Neptune. Someone who had been there for her people when she should have been. A member of a foreign Nation's Spec Ops branch who carried a cloak of death wherever he went, yet had more of a heart than a lot of people she knew.

DEATHSTROKE… Nico.

The blackette's cheeks flushed pink when she thought of that boy, no that MAN, who had practically stormed his way into Lastation, beat up some of its problems with a ladle, then headed back home. Well, obviously there was more to it than that, but she had heard some of her people comment about it that way and she liked the comparison. It made her chuckle at the imagery of a Chibi Nico wielding a massive ladle and whacking the Kanji for 'problem' over a smaller Lastation out of existence, before huffing and walking away with his ladle over his shoulder like a boss.

Who would have thought someone she had considered an annoying idiot when he quite literally crashed into her life could be someone she owed a great debt to? Noire had thought about it many times, but while she probably would have gone with Neptune that night on her own some, Nico's talk with her sped that process up significantly. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she may have even bought some materials and a… certain bunch of tools to create a costume replica of what Nico wore when he saved her Nation to do… stuff in front of the mirror.

Then, there was something that made her brow twitch more visibly than she would ever want to show others.

It turned out that Nico had quite the bit of fans in Lastation, and a lot of them being teenage girls. Apparently, it had always been around, from 4 years ago which was around the time when Nico had joined the Spec Ops Program. While those examiners must be rolling in the dough thanks to passing such a successful Agent, it seemed that the popularity this fan club had skyrocketed ever since the Lastation invasion incident. No matter where she went, Noire could see some of the female teens of her citizens, some middle-aged women and even some elderly commenting about the guy.

For some reason, Noire didn't particularly LIKE these fangirls, whenever she saw how they gossiped about him she felt the urge to just pull him into a protective embrace and keep him away from all those hus-

'Whoa, whoa-whoa! Where the heck did that come from?' Noire's eyes shot wide open when those thoughts began to go down a road she had never went down before. She didn't want to either as she pushed them back to the recesses of her mind.

In an effort to forget that way of thinking (although those thoughts constantly pestered her) Noire took out her phone and gave a soft sigh, a smile tugging at the woman's lips. Her phone had a message Icon in top of the left corner, and when s she checked it was indeed from the person she had been monologuing about. She opened it and found tat it had been sent to her this morning, but thanks to her being in another meeting regarding the future alliance between their nations, she hadn't received it till now.

Though, it was better late than never.

Honestly, these messages of good morning, how are you, good night, etc were like breaths of fresh air to the blackette, and she looked forward to every time they come. Nico kept his word and kept in touch with her, informing her of what he had been doing with the Party. Most recently, she had heard that he had been to this place called Hellverse when IF had gotten herself captured by some powerful Abnormals called Ghouls. The memory of that one sickly looking man back at West Wind Valley filled her mind and made her shudder.

But aside from that, Noire ad Nico chatted a lot, calling and texting about random topic sometimes but mostly about how they have been doing. This was the first time for her tat she had someone to talk to like this, and it gave her great opportunities to vent her stress on someone who did nothing but listen and offer advice. Even though he and her were too different in position, Nico's advice was the advice she found herself listening to above most others.

Some people who both were in his fan-club and knew that she had his number always gave her jealous looks, prompting her to smugly smirk back.

Not like she was happy with their jealousy or anything, she was just glad to have the attention and not Avenir.

Noire's eyes then hardened, her lips closing into a firm frown when she closed her Phone after quickly typing a Text back to her… friend. Wow, she still wasn't used to having a friend. There was something about him that bothered her, actually. Shortly after Nico left, Noire had found herself processing documents that said to halt any mention of Nico's involvement in the Zombie outbreak, to not mention his name at all and make it seem like she and Neptune did all the work.

This did NOT sit well with her, so she refused to do that, cause in her eyes Nico deserved the recognition he did. He may be a Spec Ops Agent who works outside the limelight, but she knew something that most others don't. At night, sometimes she had caught him looking over the town with this longing gaze to his eyes. That kind of gaze the CPU recognized, having seen it on her own more than a few times.

The look of someone who yearns to find acceptance, someone who wants to find others to confide in.

Someone who, like her… was lonely.

She hadn't told anyone about it, and she didn't plan on it. That felt like she was betraying Nico in some way, and she didn't like that feeling at all. But, even so, she couldn't help but wonder why it was that Nico felt that way. Though, part of her wondered if it was to do with why her officials had requested that nobody know of Nico's involvement. She didn't like the thought that someone would try to demean Nico like that, to try and make it so that he didn't even exist when it was so clear that he did. This was what made her smile whenever she heard how citizens other nations were remarking about the redhead.

It must be something big then, if the Officials she had worked to gain the favor of did what they did though. There had been some who had threatened to switch over to Avenir's side if she didn't comply and not mention anything about him, but in all honestly Noire dared them to. To her, while the officials were a big part of Lastation's government, most of them had already betrayed her once when they sided with Avenir and filled her Basilicom with their goons. If they wanted to earn her respect, they would have to work for it.

This CPU wouldn't be ordered around, not by scumbags like them.

It was a shame that she still needed those scumbags, for now in any case. Maybe when she had completely sublimated Avenir she could see about reforming her government, re-instating those who had been faithful to her before. In the meantime, she'll stick with what she had while also investigating why Nico had this reaction from her officials in secret, under the desk work sort to speak. Though thankfully, she wasn't alone in this case.

In the end though, there was one thing that was for certain in her mind, and that was the biggest driving forces for her actions were currently in Leanbox, doing what they must. If they were doing their best, then there was no reason why she should do anything less. When those two finally return, Noire would greet them as Lastation's true leader, with her people fully supporting her and her Nation thriving.

If she couldn't do that, what kind of CPU would she be?

* * *

Back at Leanbox…

After reading that Tome and Newspaper (along with the evident reactions plus the concerns for the future), Nico had decided to get a move on. There was much to think about, and he planned on asking Noire what was up tonight when he messaged her. That conversation would be quite interesting, he knew that for a fact. Maybe this was why he had been getting late messages from her for a while?

Sometimes he forgot that she was a Nation's ruler and not the regular girl he texted.

While he walked through a street, Nico passed by several middle-aged women who sat at a plastic white table with an umbrella in the middle. Thy say at a café, which was why they had that setting, but Nico didn't focus too much on that as he instead focused on overhearing their conversation.

"Did you hear? It looks like one of those Nobles got ousted…"

"No, really? Which one?"

"I think it was that Augustus character, you know the one who has rumours of scandals surrounding him like a cloak?"

"You mean the guy who was rumoured to be an extortionists to the traders he deals with, yes?"

"That's the guy. The one who ran a social gathering business across his territory of SARL, where people could talk to one another from a distance using technology. User identity is kept confidential with User ID's, so people can say whatever they damn well please. Apparently, someone caught him trying to have his way with a bunch of ladies and used it as a means to expose him to the rest of the public."

"Sounds like someone just wanted to have access to his money, land and power."

"When do these Nobles NOT care about such things?"

"True."

Nico furrowed his brows as he listened to the women talk, leaning on one leg as he processed this information. He knew about this Augustus Character, he was a Noble who governed a section of one of the southern Leanbox territories who believed that the looser the tongue, the better value a person had. Quite a contradictory statement, really. Loose tongues of course, were a threat to any secret criminal mastermind, for they wouldn't be able to keep a secret when questioned by certain individuals. Nobody likes a tell-tale after all.

Though, using stolen technology from other nations allowed him to develop some social media outlet for his territory where people had the opportunity to post any kind of information onto it where the rest could see it. Well, that was what he had said it was, but in reality, though, he just used it for his own means like keeping his own seat of power. If a Noble dared try to take his position, he would respond by threatening them with secrets he would find out about them from the loose tongues on the social outlet.

Loose tongues spilled out all sorts of incriminating information, after all, enough to create scandals within the nobility. What's more 'interesting' was that even if the noble complied and refused to take his seat, then somehow various documents made it to the right people and that noble would end up stripped of his power. If they had families like sons, wives or mistresses, they would be taken into Augustus's house and used for his own purposes: pawns for the sons and… well, one didn't want to know what he did to the wives and daughters. One could say this was like his 'capture net' for any Noble.

Guess it was only a matter of time till someone used that against him.

'I heard he had an offspring from his main wife… a young girl actually… Augustus didn't have as much rank and power in the political world, which means that under normal circumstances his kin wouldn't have a snowballs chance in retaining their nobility. Odds are whoever exposed him took those he called family and is using them as he pleases…' Nico thought to himself, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists tightly at the surge of anger flooding his system.

Stuff like this always grinded Nico's gears, and he sometimes hoped that if the CPU learned of what her Nation had been reduced to, then she could do something about it. After all, with her political position they would have no choice but to cater to her whims. Proof being why they haven't been barging through the Basilicom to try and see her. Shame that something has happened to her to result in her becoming a shut-in…

 **'It would be a good idea to see her sometime before the Gala, build up her trust in us so she can tell us what happened to make her act like this.'**

'While that's true, Biko, I'd rather not form a friendship with that kind of intent, it'll just make me feel like I'm using her. Then again with the way things are going, I may have no other choice at this point… with Count Mott, Maghda and all the other players converging on the Gala, odds are Vert may be caught up in the spotlight whether she likes it or not. Ugh, I REALLY hate politics.'

 **'Understandable. While you comprehend them, you are a warrior at heart, a warrior that may be bumping into someone if you don't hurry.'**

'Huh?' Nico thought, before his eyes widened when he looked to see he was almost about to do exactly what his Demon Persona said he would: bumping into someone who was walking straight towards him. 'Holy shit!' the teen mentally shouted, quickly backpedalling to avoid the incoming collision while a startled exclamation escaped his lips. Any second later and he wouldn't have made it in time, either. "Watch out!"

"Huh? Oh my!" The other person exclaimed after looking up and realizing what nearly happened, stopping their movements cold. Quickly, panic filled their eyes as they hurriedly tried to apologize to the person they had almost collided with. "M-My apologies forgive me, I…" the person began, and Nico could sense the feminity in it to make the person an adult woman, at least in her early to mid-twenties. From the startled tones behind her vocals, it seemed that she too hadn't been paying much attention either. Whether that was because she didn't see him or had other reasons was debatable right now. "…Wait, is that you Nicky?"

.. Huh? What? Nico's eyes blinked when the woman (he hadn't looked at her yet, so he didn't know her appearance) stated something very few people knew he had. Only those who knew him like Neptune did knew that nickname. 'Whoa, wait… that womanly voice… the way she used the nickname that Neptune gave me… oh Goddess speak of the devil and she appears…' That surprise didn't last long however, and soon gave way to the feeling of anxiety and nervousness, nervousness that could only come from seeing an adult woman who had the notorious reputation of liking to tease him. Ugh, why did fate like to do this to him? It was like fate liked messing with him or something, maybe even put a stick u his booty and then roast him over a fire with his form frozen in a diving position.

… random thought, but whatever.

When he had put his brain back on the right track by whacking it a few times (apparently the answer to a lot of problems in society) Nico went about looking towards the woman at long last as he soon found himself getting tired of not knowing what she looked like, and his eyes found themselves gazing into the surprised set of sad looking dark blue ones. The eyes that belonged to a certain Gaming Goddess who stood before him carrying a bag filled with what looked like figurines. Probably figurines from some Otome game.

Though, the moment she saw him, she dropped her bag in shock with wide eyes.

'Huh? Why's she looking so...?' Nico began to wonder, following her gaze to find that she was staring at him. Or more specifically, his features. His mind flashed back to when he revealed his look to the girls in his party, plus Neptune's little stunt, and realization dawned on him. 'Oh shit... please don't tell me...'

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!" Vert 'ooh'ed as she jumped at him, quickly looking Nico over with stars twinkling in her eyes. She even began touching him in places where... he'd rather not be touched thus he swatted her hands away. "Wow, Nicky, I like the new look for you! Did you do this for me? Oh why you shouldn't have, ufufufufufuf, you look so much like an Otome male character! I could just eat you up-no wait, in fact I'd rather take you home with me and have my way with you!"

 **'To be fair, this is your own fault for taking inspiration from that 'blades' character from that Otome Game about** **a corrupt city, where the gap between rich and poor is growing bigger and bigger.'**

'Not the time, Biko, so NOT the time! I-oh, wow that felt really-no, wait! Focus you idiot, don't let her violate you!'

'SHE'S DOING THAT WITH HER EYES ALREADY, KING! HAHAHAHAHAHA, SAW SEVERAL SLUTS EYEING YOUR ASS WHEN YOU WERE WALKING DOWN THE STREET, YOU LADYKILLER YOU!'

Unfortunately, his white self just HAD to make things worse for him, Nico's face turning bright red at the words that the white Nico stated. Worse for him, Vert saw this and almost squealed even louder as she grabbed his head and pulled it into her chest. She even tried to walk back the way she came with a slight nosebleed, eyes shining with lustful, perverted thought racing through her mind at what Nico would look like in even more handsome apparel.

While he flailed about like a helpless fish, Vert 'trying' to sooth him by rubbing his head softly, his two other selves each had amused expressions at his misfortune... well, one did, the other just remained blank like always. Though one could tell if they knew him enough, that he had an amused glint in his otherwise blank eyes. Also, true to his white self's words, several female passerbyes, some even with boyfriends who were too busy glaring at him with thinly veiled jealousy to notice, eyed the teen with appraising and lustful looks.

Looked like Nico was experiencing the 'downside' of his new look...

hehehehehe.

* * *

At LAST, he managed to break free from that hold of hers and calm her down. Took nearly 2 goddess damn hours for that to happen, much to his embarrassment, Seriously, he wasn't THAT good looking, girls shouldn't be into him like that!

Pushing that aside, Nico then decided to evaluate the person he had bumped into.

Now that he got a look at her, Nico noticed that she wore a different set of clothes compared to what he had seen her wear before. Now, she sported a dress with similar designs to her base princess dress, however this one seemed unique all on its own. The reason for that, was because the dress had a mix of black and real light green colors instead of white, green, gold and some pinkish red. It gave off this noble-looking alien vibe around her. Like she was an elite among elite. She even had light green glasses that matched her dress, giving her an air of intelligence. Whereas Noire's Glasses (for the short time she wore them) made her look like a secretary, Vert's made her more of a businesswoman/noblewoman type of female.

It was all he could do not to blush at how pretty her dress made her look.

Vert DEFINITELY knew how to pull off a dress.

Thanks to his partially unleashed hormones (which he could feel his Demonic Power working overtime in suppressing right now), Nico felt his breath hitch in his throat and his heart beginning to beat irregularly. His eyes trailed down her form, drinking it in like a vampire getting his next meal… just without the predator side. He didn't get much of a chance to comment on this the last time he met her, but right now Nico could admit (albeit in his head) that Vert looked absolutely beautiful… in whatever she wore.

Part of him wanted to glare at several of the lecherous males that passed by, ogling the two melons on her chest.

Apparently though he hadn't pulled off his discretion right and concealed his examination of her clothes properly because Vert had noticed, if the amused smirk on her lips was any indication. "My, see something you like, Nicky?" she asked him with a teasing undertone, twirling around on one heeled shoe to show off more of her dress to him. This made him see how the once white cloth-like material on the sides of her legs had become light green in colour. When she finished the twirl, a giggle left her lips that she covered behind several gloved fingers. "My, it seems my natural charm has ensnared another man's heart yet again. Ufufufu…"

She hopped up and down once, and whether intentional or not (though Nico had the feeling it was the former) her boobs bounced quite… audibly. There may be a need to call some form of medical professional to this street soon cause there was an excessive amount of nose bleeding happening from that. Was that a rainbow formed from the illusion of the water-like blood mixing with the Leanbox heat?

Ignoring that… weird, wacky, whatever looking spectacle, the red-haired Spec Ops Agent scratched the back of his head awkwardly while looking to the side, refusing to look at Vert due to not wanting to get ensnared by the two… things on her chest. That would make him feel like an idiot and a pervert, not something he wanted to have. "W-Well, you definitely have the beauty thing down pat, Vert…" he shyly admitted, his hand moving from his head to the side of his jaw as he scratched it.

Goddamnit, why the hell did that seem so awkward? You'd think that because he travelled about with a bunch of… eccentric girls (he swore he heard a sigh within the confines of his mind but dismissed it) that he'd learn to be more composed when around beautiful women. IIs like if he doesn't have something like an important mission to think about, he has a chance of being like an awkward schoolboy building the courage to ask a girl out. He blamed the newly awakening hormones for that, when in doubt blame the hormones.

That's what he did so far, and it worked.

Though he must have done something right, or at least that's what he assumed, for Vert let out a childish giggle as she wrapped her arms around his neck (electing a heavy red blush for her troubles) and dragged his head into the confines of her boobs which wrapped around him and cut off his air supply. What can he say they were just that large? Pretty sure that he'd get bitch slapped for something like that. "Awww, such a sweet boy! You try to be all badass and cool, but deep down you're a shy little one, aren't you?" Vert cooed, softly rubbing his scalp while the teen struggled to break free.

'Wh-wh-what the hell?! Why can't I get loose? I should be stronger than the CPUs right now, so why the hell do they have such a strong grip?! It's like she's overdosed herself on some STR boosters or something cause this strength shouldn't be possible for her!' Nico raged within his mind as he struggled in vein to free his head from the cage that it was in. Hell, h could feel his oxygen levels dwindling right now, so he focused as much power as possible to form more of it inside of him to help him last longer. 'Shit… this isn't good…!'

 **'Nico, calm yourself. Try and feel her emotions, believe me this is not the right course of action.'**

Biko's words, words which broke through the chaos in his mind and made themselves clear as crystal, made Nico pause for a moment. His eyes widened slightly within the confines of Vert's two mounds, before he narrowed them and tried to feel what Biko had told him too. Curious phrasing aside, Nico managed to get a grasp of Vert's emotional state… and he soon saw why Biko had said that.

There was an unhealthy mix of emotions boiling like water on an oven within her. There was Sadness, frustration, guilt, anxiety, worry and fear. Whatever had generated those emotions he didn't know, but Nico soon found himself realizing that this hug had the undertones of desperation to it, like she had been craving a hug for a very long time. These revelations calmed Nico down immensely, returning his heart rate to normal and making him stop thrashing about so much as a wave of concern overtook him. Something had been causing Vert distress, and no matter the situation he felt obligated to help her out. Just like how he did with a lot of his comrades.

But, how should he go about this? Well, returning the hug might be a good start, he figured. If not, then at least he could say that he could sense tension in her that usually resulted from heavy stress. It was with these thoughts that Nico slowly raised his arms, wrapping them around her back and pulling her into a soft, warm embrace. This action surprised the woman if the loosening of her hold was any indication, which Nico used to his advantage by moving his head so that it was now on her shoulder.

"Something's been bothering you, hasn't it?" he asked softly and lowly into her ear, and that resulted in her tension returning. If he could see her expression, then he would think that she would be surprised with her mouth open, eyes similar in state. Nevertheless, Nico ignored that for now. "If something's been bugging you, we can talk about it. I may not be able to understand it, but I can listen."

There was a distinct difference between their positions, she was a leader, a ruler of a nation with the lives of thousands on her shoulders. Whatever decisions she would make would have an impact on not just her, but loads of others, thus she couldn't afford to be reckless. Though, this didn't stop her gaming habit, but the fact of the matter was that Vert was a ruler whether she acted like it or not. There was no denying that. Someone like her was too different from normal people, something she probably didn't like due to how lonely it would be.

Then, there was him, a soldier or in less humane terms a 'watchdog' who howls at the call of his superiors. His actions wouldn't affect as many people as Vert's position would, just a select few. He was a creature that caused nothing but chaos and death, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake. He sat atop a mountain of dead bodies, both human and monster alike. Now, he could add demons to the ever-growing list of victims under his banner. His world was nothing like hers, hers was a world of solitude, and his was a world of blood, death and destruction of life.

But still, he could still listen to her vent her worries, that was something even someone as monstrous as him could accomplish easily.

It felt like an eternity, but finally Nico felt te tension leave Vert's body as she hugged hm back, this time her hug generating feelings of relief and happiness. Her arms kept a tight grip on him, tight but not at the level where it was uncomfortable. Then, a small chuckle escaped the woman's lips, a bitter one before she spoke once more. "It seems that the reputation DEATHSTROKE has for being observant is not to be underestimated." She remarked.

Nico couldn't help but chuckle at that, even in this state Vert still had some sense of humour. "Heh, guess I do..."

Finally, Vert pulled back from the hug, and the two separated as Vert looked about and checked the streets. Whether she noticed that there was more than a few splotches of blood (all from nose bleed victims people who had been hauled off somewhere) or she chose to ignore them was a debate that would last a lifetime. She then turned to him again, smiling all the way with a slight jump in her movements. "This place hardly seems like the place for this type of talk. Come dear, I know a place where we can talk."

Before he could respond, Nico felt his right gloved hand get grabbed by the older woman as she pulled him along the streets towards this destination she wanted to go to.

* * *

At first, Nico thought they would return to the Basilicom. After all it only made sense, since she had a space there that wasn't accessible to anyone else. Therefore, she would be able to share what was troubling her with him without fear of being overheard. This was also what Biko had assumed, and with his trust in his Demon Persona Nico believed him wholeheartedly.

However, it seemed that both of them were wrong, as Vert instead chose to guide them to a park. A fairly deserted park, but a park nonetheless. Not somewhere Nico or Biko expected for her to take them since it offered NONE of the privacy her own room provided, but on the other hand the two couldn't help but be relieved as well. Now they wouldn't have to feel so awkward at going into an adult woman's room, especially the room of a beautiful woman like Vert, anytime soon.

'Wow, this place really is deserted… where are the people?' the teen couldn't help but wonder inside his mind as Vert gently lead him towards one of the nearby benches. The gentle winds brushed through the forest, making her hair gently sway like that of an angel's which made Nico look away to try and hide the flustered look beginning to form on his features. 'Ugh, sometimes I wish I could wear my Mask, at least then people won't see my embarrassment…' the male thought, furrowing his brows while not offering any resistance. 'Even so, I wish Vert would tell me what's wrong, so I can help her already, her stressful emotions are really bugging me…' Despite his mildly flustered state, the male still wanted to know what was worrying the woman dragging him by the hand right now. It didn't feel right to just up and leave her if she had the amount of stress that he could sense from her.

"Here we are." Vert finally spoke, snapping Nico out of his thoughts as she gestured to the bench. "Please, have a seat." She offered politely with a smile, though it was one that didn't breach the sadness present in her eyes. That look just grinded his gear so damn much, it de him want to rip apart those who dared make her that level of sad till there was nothing left, but Nico made sure to keep his cool. He'll wait till he heard her story before deciding on his next course of action.

After taking a seat, Nico saw the voluptuous woman sit beside him, her hands on her lap while one leg was crossed over the other. Even as she poised herself as a noble young lady, Nico could still sense the turmoil swirling within her like a violent whirlpool, threatening to pull her under and never let her go. For a moment, there was nothing but silence between them, an awkward, heavy silence that almost denied them the ability to speak. Well, Nico more than Vert who looked like she was trying to hide how nervous she was.

"S-So, ummmmm…" Nico finally began, pushing through the awkwardness to ask the question that would get this conversation going. It didn't look like Vert was willing to start it off, so he had to do it himself. Though, that didn't really make it easy for him, no way no how. "W-What's this you wanted to talk to me about, Vert?"

'Ugh, geez could I sound anymore cringy?' Nico mentally scolded himself with disgust rushing through his bloodstream. Rushing at speeds that nearly made him want to throw up at how bad the male's composure had been. At least it wasn't as bad as when Vert pinned him to her bed and almost made the worst mistake of her life (trust him, he knew what he was talking about). He had a suspicion that she realized that as well.

Vert finally cleared her throat, finding that to be an apt thing to do to clear her head. Before, she finally spoke in a soft, unsure tone despite her attempts to sound level. "I… I may be feeling… more than a little vexed as of late. The Basilicom, which has been a safe haven for me, now feels more like a cage than anything else. Its why I wanted us to talk here and not back there." She explained, her lips pursed with worry. Her already sad eyes, if possible, just got even sadder when they were mixed with other emotions like worry and disbelief.

Not something Nico particularly liked would be mildly understating it… MILDLY.

Finally, she got down to the reason why she was like this before mount Nico could explode. "It's… It's about Noire. Surely you have heard the news, about her Nation and Neptune's?" Vert began, looking up at him since she had been looking down at her heel clad feet. "Apparently, she and Planeptune are conducting talks that will result in them joining forces."

Nico hid a wince behind his usual calm, composed self. If he hadn't read that newspaper, he would have been more shocked that this was what was bothering her, but thankfully that was not the case. Still, this wasn't good, not one bit. 'Right, Vert would be like that… oh boy, this is gonna be a toughie…' It was common knowledge that the CPUs have been... at odds with each other (fighting for centuries up in another world aside from the human one would be an understated description for 'at odds' but whatev). This definitely left them with bad impressions of each other, impressions that didn't fade away the more time they spent around one another. Hell, the CPUs of Leanbox and Lowee, as well as those from Lastation and Planeptune, developed a great rivalry with each other because of this war. A war that claimed the lives of countless, reaching cataclysmic proportions.

Now, one just heard that half her enemies were starting to push aside those grudges (as difficult as it may seem) and start conducting talks between one another for an alliance. Something that would make her Nation's lives a whole hell harder which, by extension, didn't bode well for Vert either. Not just for the Console War but life in general, for she would spend the rest of her days as ruler worrying about an impending attack from both Nations at once. She would't be able to call on Lowee to help defend her land since they were at most odds with each other, and there was no status quo to protect her in that situation.

The status quo was that the four nations needed each other to survive. If one spent excessive numbers to destroy another nation, they themselves would be left weakened allowing for the others to swoop in like vultures and pick them apart. It would be a waste of time, money, resources and shares, so no Nation has ever initiated a full-on invasion. One could say that they had an intricate yet parasitic relationship with each other, well, until now. Raids on them for their technology, funds etc however were another matter entirely, though.

"Yeah, I've heard. Surprising like, didn't expect that to happen, to be honest." Nico eventually replied, shifting his gaze so he could look about the deserted park. That was not a lie believe it or not, since he just heard about it today. He didn't have all the details, planning to ask Noire tonight about it, but he didn't expect to encounter Vert shortly afterwards. This sort of felt like some form of play on fate as much as he believed in fate... which was none at all. Now that he thought about it, Nico should have thought about this earlier, that Vert would be this affected by this news. He guessed that he didn't because he assumed she would be too focused on her apparent 'problem' to notice or care.

Guess not, apparently.

Unaware of his thoughts on the matter, Vert continued as she looked in the direction that lead to the Nations that were the source of much of her recent vexing, Lastation and Planeptune with conflicted eyes. "I agree, it is an... unorthodox plan, one that I would never have thought would happen. Especially because those two Nations hate each other more than they hate Leanbox and Lowee respectively. But, its happened, according to some helpful hands I sent discreetly." It was one thing to admit this to someone of another Nation, but since this was Nico she was talking to, someone who was as secretive as they come, plus the area was deserted as all hell (both of them confirmed that tidbit of trivia) so there were no threats of this information ending up in the wrong hands. "It just... blows my mind. Why would someone as prideful, arrogant and tyrannical as Noire do such a thing? With Planeptune of all people? I would understand somewhat if she allied with another Nation since she doesn't have as bad a relationship with their CPUs as she does with Neptune, but Planeptune? It just doesn't make sense."

Leaning her head back, a sigh escaped Vert's lips as her eyes reflected her inner worry. "Nonetheless, this does not bode well for me or Leanbox. Those two are the leading nations when it comes to technology, and their military do better jobs in handling all these attacks on their borders, at least better than my Nation no matter how much I hate admitting that. Not to mention, Leanbox's forces can't muster their full might due to how many territories are being attacked, I see it all the time on any social media site I visit, every online chat in every game I play, how families are either killed or go missing, how children are mourning for their loved ones, wives and husbands, mothers and fathers being separated forever." At this point, Vert's anger and frustration began to build, soon reaching a breaking point as she clutched her fists tightly, so tightly in fact that if he could see her bare knuckles Nico would have seen them turning as white as her gloves. "It is most... vexing, which is the most civil term I can use to describe this situation, of how utterly powerless I am to resolve it."

... Okay, time out here. Lets see if he was hearing this right. This was what Vert thought of Neptune and Noire? Back when they were up in Celestia, fighting in that pathetic, pointless Console War? He was starting to think that the girls he knew were like total opposites as to what Vert knew them as. Which would make sense since they would likely have remained in their HDD forms up there so they could keep fighting at their maximum potential. This information was what kept Nico from jumping to their defense, though. He could also tell how much this information troubled the womanly CPU, who had expressed her worries on what might happen as a result of this new alliance with her past experiences with the two CPUs as a reference. Not just that, but this frustration and bitterness he could sense emanating from his female companion was anything but transparent, it was so thick that it manifested as a dark aura around her.

There had to be something that he could do to help her, something he could say to not only cheer her up, but also to give her a sense of direction, to help her through this problem even though their positions were so different. From what he could tell, Vert desperately wanted to help her Nation, enough to a point where she couldn't play any games without seeing the mention of her Nation's problems. This 'problem' she herself had also seemed to be a bother to her, stopping her from taking action and if his senses were accurate he had figured out what that 'problem' is.

But... how could he help her?

It was then, that something clicked in the DPU's mind. 'Wait a minute, wasn't there something on the Guild Website...?' The male wondered, quickly and discreetly accessing the site through his right Bracer. While he had wandered about earlier, the teen had received notifications from the website itself, bit of news that he found interesting and that there were some 'interesting' looking Quests posted on the Quest board. He looked over the news headlines, then went to the Quests available at the Guild, and his eyes quickly zoomed in on one that held the most promise for this situation. 'Yes! This could work! Not only will it resolve her 'problem' but it might also teach her some things and raise her opinions of the Spec Ops Program.' he thought in excitement to himself, though he kept a neutral look on his face.

Images of Neptune and Noire standing next to each other, the former doing a cute pose while Noire looked all tsun and stuff, entered his mind, making his eyes harden and his resolve strengthen. "Say Vert..." he began, getting her attention.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to go on a Quest with me? Seems like you need some way to relive all that stress these issues have placed on you, and killing monsters I've found is a good way to do that."

... in all honestly, that sounded almost therapeutic to the bombshell CPU right now. Maybe killing some monsters might help her relax a bit, clear her mind of all these troublesome thoughts so she can then focus on what to do. The more seconds passed, the more appealing the idea became to the blonde woman until a small smirk formed on her lips. Nico knew that smirk, he often wore one, most of his comrades e it Spec Ops or not wore one before heading into battle. A smirk of unbridled bloodlust and desire for combat. The smirk of a warrior eager to unleash hell on their enemies. Yet, even when she was showing her warrior side, Vert still retained the aura of a princess. "That would be lovely, I would not mind going on a Quest with you in the least." she told him.

What she didn't say was that she realized just now that this may be a chance to getting closer to her online gaming partner in the real world. 2D men were a great attraction for her, but a 3D man who she actually enjoyed the company of? Someone who gamed just as much as she did and was her equal in skill to boot? That was like a super legendary rare item acquired from a Boss raid with a drop rate of 2%. Plus, he was one of the few people she could talk to so easily, so there's that.

This response garnered her a big smile from the redhead teen who nodded as he held a hand out to her. When she looked to it, he sheepishly began to explain his conduct. "They say that in Leanbox, offering a hand to help a lady up is seen as gentlemanly." he told her. Though, he wouldn't have known this Leanbox custom if Compa's grandfather hadn't told him about it. He just didn't see most people in Leanbox as worth the respect for that. Vert though, would be one of the few exceptions to that rule.

A small giggle escaped Vert's lips which were concealed by her fingers, a giggle that only heightened his embarrassment that he desperately tried to hide, as she gently took his hand in her gloved one and stood up. "My, you possess a gentlemanly side, how very interesting." she remarked with amusement. Her eyes glistened with mirth, which made his embarrassment and slight (read: HEAVY) humiliation at having to adopt a custom Leanbox Nobles used worth it.

Nico just chuckled while rubbing the back of his head nervously, before she and him left the park to do the Quest.

* * *

The Quest Nico had chosen for them to do was called: Ruination - Gunbreak Underground Cavern. According to the Quest details, some miners had been digging down in tat Cavern for excess resources, when they stumbled across a hidden path. They hadn't ventured down it, just fled with their tails in-between their legs, quickly calling for a Quest to be issued. Considering the unknown nature of the Quest, it was made Spec Ops Quest. Normally this wouldn't tick Nico off, but since most of those miners were the servants of rich and powerful Nobles, the case was turned on its head and flipped.

Still, he could deal with it for now, especially since this kind of thing was what had lead Nico to Rebellion, Ebony, Ivory and Alastor. All of this just reeked of undiscovered items and treasures, something that he was sure Vert would like to see for herself if his instincts were true, since she was this Nation's ruler. Possibly could find an item that could help her with her problem, too, he kept his hopes up. In addition, Nico found this to be the perfect chance to have a talk with the womanly CPU, get to know her a little better since he didn't have much of a talk with her last time.

This resulted in them talking a whole hell lot while they walked to the Dungeon. Nico kept his Motion Tracker and Holomap active though so it would sense any hostiles approaching them. He didn't want them to get ambushed, especially if what Vert's problem was, was what he thought it was. Meanwhile, the teen learned a bit more about Vert than before, something he found to be a good thing. He learned how while she stayed mostly in isolation save for her games, there were a select few whom she trusted enough to see her in 'the state she was in' though she didn't indicate why. Nico didn't press, he didn't see the need to since he already had a good idea of why this was.

One of those people, was the Leanbox Oracle, Chika Hakozaki. She had been her Oracle for a long time now, and while she had some... eccentric personality traits,, she still held more loyalty to her than any Noble throughout the Nation. Vert had put her on a vacation though to reward her for her hard work and to give her a chance to wind down, though she got the suspicion that Chika hadn't been too happy with the idea. Nico knew of this Chika woman, he had seen her a few times during missions in Leanbox, though only on either a screen or an image of her. However, he knew enough of her personality to know that giving her extended leave like that isn't something she would want.

Another was, surprisingly, a Spec Ops Agent known simply as 'Cave'. She was someone who helped Vert with the military side of things, as while she could talk with Yvoire about it given how he was the head of the Leanbox military, Vert wasn't too keen on trusting him with such information. Of no doubt he was loyal, thinking only of her nation, but even so Vert didn't want too many people knowing her 'secret', something Nico didn't press about. One could say that her biggest fear right now, was that 'secret' getting out. Not to mention that the man had some... bias views that made her uncomfortable.

That comment made Nico laugh.

Looks like even the CPU was wary of this 'loyal' follower.

Aside from that, the two talked about things like games, what was good this year and what was not, what they thought of certain games, what franchises they hoped would do well and what franchises could do better. Heck, they even talked about different businesses, like this one called E-A which hadn't done as well as another company called Micro this year. Even Lastation's Son had done quite well for themselves by showing games like KH3, TLOUP2, etc. There were quite the few action games coming out this year, and it excited them both, well, Nico more than Vert. Action games may not be something he played very often, but even he could see the appeal of slicing through one's opponents in a game. He did that in real life too, though.

Nico made sure not to touch on the subject of Leanbox's affairs with their talks, however, as he wanted to give her a chance to wind down from all that shit. Judging by the glances she gave him when she thought he wouldn't notice (when he did), it seemed that she knew what he was up to as well but didn't say anything. This could be counted as Vert's downtime, a chance for her to kick back and let loose the tension building within her. Goddess knows that she needed it, and that was a funny thought considering who this woman was.

* * *

Finally, the two arrived at the Dungeon entrance, which was simply a hole in the ground that lead diagonally downwards. It was located within the centre of a large valley, one that from a bird's eye view looked more like a circular hone than a Valley.

"Looks like we're here..." Vert began, summoning her weapon from her Inventory. In a flurry of pixels, she had formed a Spear-like weapon in her hands, gripping onto the shaft tightly. She looked down at the weapon she had summoned, memories sparking within her that were triggered by the hard metallic feeling that assaulted her hands' nerves. How long had it been since she last fought in her human form? Quite a while, she felt, as she couldn't even remember. Not to mention that this Spear was... a unique one.

The Spear looked like a long Katakama spear with a short sickle pointing out asymmetrically to the point. This Spear can mutilate practically any kind of foe she used it on in many different ways, and this is what gives it its name: Beninuki (Crimson Extractor). Thanks to its size, Vert could also use it as a javelin and throw it at short distance as a surprise attack. She hadn't realized it until she had started training with this Spear once the 'incident' had happened, that she LOVED the way this Spear was made. It was both a stabbing and slashing weapon thanks to its tip, the metal used to forge it (Spec Ops Silver Steel) was of high quality. It was a good Spear, and she planned to showcase the techniques she had with it alongside her list of Skills.

Training that she wanted to show off in front of her new companion, who knows maybe he could become a follower of hers if she showed him that she was still competent as a Goddess.

"It also looks like the constant commotion between the Abnormals, Demons and the other troublemakers have caused the monsters that should still be here to flee." Nico commented after scanning the Dungeon with his Bracer, learning that there were no life signs within it. Almost like it had been completely abandoned. He wasn't surprised, it was a natural instinct to flee something far stronger than oneself, and Gamindustri's normal monsters wouldn't stand a chance against the beings that were repopulating their world. While partially disappointed that they wouldn't get a chance to kill some monsters, Nico couldn't help but be excited. After all, if this trek proved as successful as he thought it would, then Vert would have much less to worry about.

Vert heaved a sigh at that, it looked like the Demons were causing even more problems than she thought. To cause monsters to abandon entire DUNGEONS showed just how much they feared these creatures, these beings that were tormenting her people. All the while, she had been unable to do anything but watch as her people were tor asunder by fangs, claws or other horrific means. She tried not to think about this though, as she wanted to unwind for the time being. If there were any stragglers left, she'll wipe them out so that they don't repopulate the Dungeon as fast. Less monsters like those will make dealing with those new problems a little easier at least.

"We should head inside, then. We can focus on putting the minds of my people at ease with the lack of monsters here." Nico stated, having prepared himself already. One could tell because he had Rebellion tethered via Demonic Power to his back, alongside Ivory and Ebony which were within his Trench Coat and attached to his hips. He also had his Liberator in his hands, just in case they needed to execute some crowd control. Part of him hoped he wouldn't have to transform to deal with anything here, as he wasn't with anyone who knew about his DPU powers. Worse still, was that he was with a CPU, a GODDESS that was supposed to be one of the ONLY beings capable of transforming according to the current world. Who knows how she would react to a being stronger than her that could also transform and whoop her ass in a fight.

No, that was NOT him being arrogant, either. It just felt like that was the case, though it wasn't like he was saying Vert was weak.

Vert, unaware of his thoughts, nodded in agreement. "Indeed, we should." she said, twirling her Spear as she and Nico proceeded to walk inside.

* * *

Entering the Dungeon, Nico and Vert didn't take long to find the newly discovered entrance, as it was quite literally next to them the moment that they entered. The entrance looked lie one of those zigzag-like holes in the wall, cracks spreading forth from it which exposed a certain stone-like resource underneath. One could tell that this opening had only been discovered recently due to the state it was in being similar to the aftermath of an earthquake. However, both Vert and Nico noticed something off about the entrance as soon as they saw it:

There were Monster Corpses surrounding it.

"Didn't my Bracer say that there were no monster readings...?" Nico muttered under his breath as he stared in confusion at the corpses. There were Ice Fenrirs, Tarantulas, and Numb Dogoo corpses scattered around, killed but their bodies didn't disintegrate like normal. That wasn't something one saw every day, and from what his senses told him, Demonic Power was involved. Maybe these things were killed by invading Demons, or something else related to them. His eyes lingered on them slightly longer than necessary, before he recomposed himself and mentally hoped Vert didn't see anything. "Guess there aren't any living monsters, then..." The teen then walked up to one of the fallen Monsters, his eyes shining with curiosity and confusion while he poked its carcass with the tip of Rebellion.

The Leanbox CPU furrowed her brows, just as concerned as he was. "This is most concerning... yet, compared to everything else I cannot bring myself to be more shocked about this revelation." she admitted, having Benimuki lean on the front of her shoulder while her eyes scanned the dead corpses with small amounts of concern. Hey, when your home is being invaded by freaking DEMONS and insane cultists, seeing something like Monster corpses not vanishing didn't seem as shocking in comparison.

Nico nodded his head in agreement, while he didn't see this development as shocking as the Demons, it still unnerved him slightly. Though, the fact that he had a lead on what made this happen made this revelation have a weaker impact on him.

'What do you think, Biko?'

 **'Odds are, these Monsters were killed by something that released powerful currents of Demonic Power into them, currents that destroyed whatever it is that makes these Monsters vanish the way they do.'**

With that information, Nico and Vert (though the latter wasn't aware of his conversation with his Demon Persona) went inside the crack in the wall.

* * *

Walking in, the two quickly found themselves descending down what looked like a spiraling staircase. There were no lights, which made seeing particularly difficult for the two, though Nico just used the light from his Bracer's Holomap to illuminate their way. Though there were stone walls and a cylindrical pillar that the stairs spiraled around, there were some things that the teen noticed alongside his companion. "Hmmm..."

"These Drawings..." Vert continued, running her hand along the walls which showed various chalk drawn images. Very detailed ones which depicted various scenes. She recognized some of them to be her Nation's military, though they wore Armour and wielded weapons that were far too outdated. Thus, she concluded that these scenes were many battles that were fought throughout Leanbox's history. "They must be the historical battles that have happened throughout Leanbox's history, battles that spanned through before and during Leanbox's earlier days." She remarked when she began noticing familiar scenes more and more. Scenes that sparked memories in her.

After so many centuries, Vert began to recall the time when she founded the Nation that would become Leanbox, the Land of Green Pastures. She remembered how barbaric her Land had been back then, how tribes constantly roamed about pillaging, slaughtering and waging endless conflicts with each other. No matter their reasons, their ways had been horrific and nightmare inducing for even the purest of souls. Villages were razed to the ground, men and women were either killed or taken captive, the former to be used as slaves and the other as... well, think of reproduction and you get what would usually happen. She remembered every time she would find a village, hoping to find some semblance of peace only to see burned ashes and scattered corpses all over the place.

When she first descended into that world, she had not expected anything like that, she hadn't known what to expect really. However, when she saw what she did, Vert couldn't help the nightmares and the disgust that humanity would commit such atrocities to each other. There were next to no good people in the Land, hardened hearts born from the constant tribal conflicts. Life was terrible, technology was in the most primitive of stages, and there was next to no happiness throughout the Land.

That wouldn't do, not by a long shot.

Thus, she quickly set to work, and while it took her 8 decades, 8 decades of hard work negotiating and strenuous efforts combating the Monsters that loved to shake things up for her, she had finally founded her first Village, the village she would come to call MICROSOFT. It had been a tough, grueling process, and she barely had any followers to start with compared to the number she had today. But let it be known that when she put her mind to something, nothing would stop Vert in getting it done. Just look at how she handled her MMO's, managing multiple guilds using the skills she had a CPU ruling her Nation, helping her Guildmates as if they were her own followers, to Vert the real world and the Gaming world may as well be just one in the same with how intricately connected they were. At least, in her eyes. She used the Skills she forged in both worlds to set up her Nation, bringing others into the fold and ensuring her Nation's peace. Technology wasn't Leanbox's strong point, but they made do with the cards they had been dealt, which lead to how her Nation stood today.

Nodding in agreement, while unaware of her thoughts (though with the complex negative emotions he was sensing, the redhead could only guess what she was thinking) Nico hummed as they finally reached the bottom of the staircase. There, they found themselves standing before a short corridor which lead to a stone door. There was little else of note, save for some statues that looked like older medieval-style Knights with Spears, shields and swords lined up beside the door, along the walls, and next to the corridor. All of them faced inwards too, so it looked like they were looking towards Nico and Vert as they began walking in.

Nico kept an eye on the corridor, his senses on full alert. These types of places usually had tons of traps waiting to be sprung on unwary adventurers looking for loot. This corridor had the exact same feel to it, and his senses wouldn't allow for any sign of negligence. When he had found those ruins that contained his first few Devil Arms, he had to deal with some... pretty wacky traps that almost broke his logical mind as they broke the rules of reality. Ever since then, Nico had a... pretty open mind when it came to the potential of these traps.

... though, what he had NOT expected was what happened next...

"... ufufufufu. My, this is starting to get exciting... Now this is starting to feel like one of those RPGs where the heroes stumble across a starting point to an epic adventure!" Vert couldn't help but comment, a big smile slowly forming on her lips as excitement began filling her being. She even had her hands clasped together as if praying for something. Hey, what could she say, even with all of these things happening, she couldn't help the gamer side of her from coming out. Plus she was TRYING to have some unwinding time here, so letting that side out was a good thing. "I wonder what we'll find, will we find an amnesiac prince from another dimension? A mysterious girl walking on water? oh-oh, maybe we'll even find some ancient super-weapon!"

At this point, she was just fantasizing at this point, Vert's eyes shining and sparkling with stars radiating around said body parts which earned a sweat drop from the male.

'HAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I KNEW SHE'D DO IT AT SOME POINT! HAH, IN YOUR FACE, SUCKER!'

The comment that got suddenly made by his white self made Nico mentally arch a brown, confusion fulling him while his Demon Persona radiated a sense of defeat. What the heck?

 **'Yes... you win, you can** **access** **the coliseum for training for 5 hours like you wanted...'**

'WHOOP-WHOOP! YEEEHAW, I'MMA BRING IN MY LITTLE PET LIZARD!'

'...Dare I ask, Biko?'

 **'... Long story short, me and HIM made a bet on when Vert's gamer side would come out, he won, and now he's reaping the benefits.'**

... Wow, wow. Nico had no words. Really, he didn't know what to say to that.

Opting to... move on from that (Biko agreed way more than he normally would), the two walked up to the door. Turned out there were no traps either, either they had already been triggered by Monsters (it had happened before when a Dogoo accidentally got impaled on a pit of spikes, vanishing seconds later) or there hadn't been any at all. He was willing to go with the latter. Just when Nico made to open it, Vert pushed by him as she blurred towards it. "Sorry, Nicky! But This is just too exciting for me to ignore any longer!"

"H-Hey, wait! Vert! Ugh, goddamnit, wait up!"

* * *

Breaking through the door, both Nico and Vert found themselves to be... in a room. A rather spacious, empty room with 4 big tiles on the ground for a floor. The walls and ceilings were made of stone, and there was a significant lack of... well, anything. There was a sense of dullness about the room, with the walls showing several cracks and looking torn in some places to suggest the age this room had. Think of what a room would be like when one is moving into a new house, stripped of all painting and tiling, and you can get a better idea of this room's layout.

Even so, Nico couldn't help but feel like this was just a facade, a charade to dissuade those who came here hoping to make a quick buck. He had experienced this before, like when he was within those ruins where he had gotten Ebony, Ivory, Rebellion and Alastor. One could say those were his first experience with the demonic elements. Thus, why he stepped into the room with caution while Vert...

She was just going all over the place, looking for some device that she assumed was hidden behind the plainness of this place.

'Wow... I didn't expect her to have THIS much energy all of a sudden...' Nico thought to himself, half amused and half concerned as he watched the Leanbox CPU dart about the room like a madwoman. And he had every intention to keep referring to her like that when she and that disturbing grin on her face as well as that mad scientist chuckle.

 **'Yet, this is still better than her being all depressed about those** **problems** **Leanbox faced. Disturbing and possibly slightly insane is still better than being depressed.'**

Well, that... was indeed true (?), Nico thought with a little uncertainty on whether or not that was actually the case. Though, when he glanced at the way she looked right now, Nico saw glimpses of pure joy shining behind those dark blue orbs. A joy that felt purer than a lot of things that he'd seen from her. That joy was what concluded the conflict within his mind, and allowed a small smirk to form on Nico's lips.

It was like this was the first time that Vert got to be... well, herself, in a very long time. There was none of that tension, that stress and pressure he had sensed from her before. It was almost lie she was being who she really wanted to be, and to him, the person he was seeing right now...

She had a whole new league of beauty on her previous troubled self.

Its amazing how much one can change when they are displaying who they really are, huh? Well, unless they were corrupt assholes like the Nobles, but yeah. Its like when someone pulls off their mask and shows the world just who they truly are inside. This was the real Vert, not the one from before, the woman who enjoyed life and not the one who looked like she was one step away from committing suicide. Yes that was how bad she had looked back there, he knew thanks to his negative emotion sensing.

... why was his heartbeat getting irregular? Why was his blood rushing to his cheeks right now? Those kinds of things would usually happen when he was around the more aggressive girls like Neptune, Lucy and IF.

'SHOULD THOSE OTHER BITCHES BE WORRIED FOR MORE COMPETITION, KING?!'

'Oh, shut it, you.'

And then his white haired self came in to ruin the moment for the redhead male, earning a narrowed eye, stern glare from the main aspect while he did his best to remain his smirking self from before.

Well, good things can;t last forever, nothing can.

Just before he could call out too Vert and rein her in (possibly by yelling that there was a bunch of naked butlers next to him), he noticed something that made his eyes widen and horror to fill him up inside. "W-Wait, Vert don;t touch that-"

PUSH!

... Too late.

"Eh?" Vert blinked as the woman had accidentally pressed on a hidden button while rummaging at the back wall for any switches. Instantly afterwards, her brain clicked and she paled slightly, realizing what she had done. "Oh dear... I made a faux pa..." she remarked, turning to her companion and offered a sheepish smile. "Apologies, my bad."

Before Nico could respond, 60 or so magic circles appeared all across the floor, each of them shining a bright orangish red color. From those circles, various cocoons made from what Nico realized was Hellfire, formed into existence, before they vanished to reveal crimson colored Knight-like humanoids. Each of them wielded an assertion of different weapons, from two handed axes, to spears, glaives, swords, swords and shields etc. Their heads however wee anything but humanoids, resembling a mix between a goat and a horse with curved horns coming out and pointing forwards, eyes made entirely from Hellfire, as well as glowing maws filled with sharp fangs. The blade parts of their weapons were also made from Hellfire, as were the spikes that protruded from their shoulders and elbows.

'Well, looks like this is the welcoming committee...' Nico thought to himself already leveling the Liberator at the new arrivals. Judging from his position, he couldn't get to Vert as the Knights had separated the two, forcing him to focus on 20 of the total 60 that appeared. 'I guess we finally know what destroyed the monsters from earlier, then.'

 **'Indeed, these are ideal weapons to make the wounds that we observed on those corpses. However, the make of them must have been different as normally, Hellfire burns until there is nothing left, the time it takes depending on what form it is in.'**

'I agree... still, this isn't good, hopefully Vert will still be able to fight. If her problem is what I think it is...'

* * *

On her end, Vert looked around at her new opponents, holding her Beninuki in a ready position. "Oh my, it appears I have been surrounded." she remarked to herself, eyeing each of the knights that were giving her dark glares with their inferno-like eyes. Those eyes made chills go down her spine, and it became quite clear to her that she would not be getting out of this situation without a fight. Too bad for them that THIS was what she wanted, no, what she NEEDED right now. The metallic feeling of her Beninuki's shaft felt like a couch's comfort against her gloved hands, a feeling of reassurance being born within that things would be alright. When someone receives such a feeling from holding a weapon, sentient or not, it proved that they have experienced enough combat with the weapon to form a bond with it.

'Also, now that I think about it... maybe this can help me get Nicky to become my in-game husband... maybe even help progress to an actual marriage in the future...'

Putting those thoughts aside for the time being (as well as the thoughts of her companion in a butler suit), Vert narrowed her eyes as she set her mind into combat mode. These fools would not be getting the drop on her, Vert was combat ready. "Coma hither, boys." she began, a slight smirk on her lips as her eyes shone in a challenging manner with an undertone of excitement. "Let me show you how Leanbox's CPU wields her Spear."

Her eyes sharpened when she sensed an attack from behind. Before her attacker could get close however, she jabbed the Knight in the stomach with the back of her sear, twirling around and cutting through its eyes with the main blade. She didn't stop there as she repeatedly thrusted the tip into the gaps she could see, which were barely visible according to the human eye. With the 10th thrust, Vert swiftly decapitated her opponent.

This prompted the others to swarm her from all directions, prompting Vert to ready herself for the next onslaught.

Once her first opponent got close enough, Vert thwacked it with the back end of the blade, using the momentum to follow up with a vaulting over another. She then used her current lift to stab several Knights in the head, the last one however experiencing a worse fate as she sliced his head clean in half vertically and then used its falling body to jump through the ranks, twisting and blocking the various weapons rising up towards her. She had been upside down in this jump, too.

Landing in a crouch, Vert swung the back end of her Spear to deflect a thrust from another Spear aimed at the right side of her neck, using the momentum to swing and cut through the attacker as she gets to her feet and flips over several Swords slashing diagonally. Once she was back on her feet, Vert launched a snap kick to one knight and parried another's Axe before using Beninuki to slice the weapon arm off the night and then impaling him on Beninuki's main end. She sidestepped several slashes made by a Knight wielding two Axes, before catching them both with Beninuki and twirling the Spear vertically like a wheel, quickly disarming her opponent by sending its weapons into the air above them.

She then sausage flipped through the enemy's ranks, mixing in a barrage of thrusts, slashes and smacks to keep the enemy away from her before she landed and rolled to her feet, twirling around to slice through the necks of 2 Knights at once, ducking under a sword swing then hopping to the side to avoid a shield bash, slashing off the offender's arm then his head afterwards.

As she fought about the battlefield, a battlefield akin to ones many warriors throughout history have fought in, Vert remembered the story behind her and this wicked Spear, Beninuki. Originally this Spear belonged to a Spec Ops Agent that had been trained in the art of Sojutsu, the art of using a Spear as a cutting weapon. This Agent however, perished on the battlefield by the time Vert first descended from the Console War and, even tough she knew little about him, she still felt a strong respect for him as a warrior. She had seen his last moments herself, the skill he had displayed when slicing through Monsters so easily almost hypnotized her.

After his death, she had sent his body back to his relatives for a burial, and had asked them what they wanted to do with the Spear he had. Originally they wanted to sell it off, as the Spear hadn't been able to protect their relative when he needed it to, but Vert, when looking at the Spear, didn't like the sound of that. She didn't know why at the time, but seeing such a Spear be degraded to being sold about by people who knew little about the original wielder didn't sit well with her. It almost felt like it would just stomp on the previous Master's legacy, and after witnessing his final moments (she hadn;t the chance to step in herself) that just seemed like an insult to his memory. Thus, she had asked if it would be alright if she could wield it in his name.

One could imagine the shock, and later on honor, his relatives had that a Goddess was willing to inherit the legacy of their deceased member.

In the end, they had agreed and Vert became the next owner of Beninuki, the Crimson Extractor. A fitting name for such a spear, for the way it utterly mutilated the enemy on the battlefield was a mix of both savage and beautiful to her. It spoke to Vert from a warrior's standpoint, and to see the way its former master wielded it with skill and almost inhuman grace made her want to be just as good with it. Thus, before the 'incident' she had practiced heavily with the Spear, trying to get a grasp of how to properly used it. It wasn't like her HDD form's Spear, definitely not, but her experience in the Console War helped her master the Spear in record time.

After becoming Beninuki's wielder, Vert found herself a special Manga that featured the previous wielder online. It was a shounen martial arts manga, not something she would typically read but in order to master her new weapon she had consolidated it to see if she could learn any techniques from it. There was a difference between technique and Skill attacks, Skill attacks used SP while Techniques took blood, sweat, tears and training to acquire. The fruits of her labor resulted in her learning the original wielder's signature technique, but also several others too.

Which she should probably start using right now.

Sensing several Knights approaching from her right, Vert deflected more from the left and jumped to engage them. However, this was proven to be just a feint as she slid beneath her opponents legs before getting up and twisting so she faced their behinds. She then got into the proper fighting stance for her Style: Sojutsu: Generally speaking, there are many kinds of Spears throughout Gamindustri, some of which sporting side blades or other unusual features. However, nearly all of them are used in the same way, with the user holding the bottom of the shaft with one hand and the other one near the middle. With the spear held like this, the user can keep the weapon between himself/herself and the opponent, giving him/her a great advantage, and can also move it out of the opponent's range and slash back at them easily. Depending on the shape of the tip and its features, each spear can be used in a different way.

Sometimes she goes for her original set of holding her Spear diagonally downwards in one hand, though.

Now that she was behind her opponents, Vert quickly unleashed her Beninuki's signature attack: the **Chigarami (Blood Tangler)**. For this technique, Vert thrusted Beninuki while rotating the Spear quickly and, thanks to the design of the Spear being asymmetrical to the point, caused the shaft to bend. Not only did this make dodging the attack harder, but it allowed Vert to get through some of the Armour's small cracks, and with a proper exertion of strength for a Goddess, tore the two Knights in half.

4 Knights came at her from all directions, each wielding their own demonic Spears. Vert however, held a smirk as her hair shadowed her eyes. "Hm, coming at me from all sides like this..." she muttered under her breath. Twirling Beninuki above her head, she stabbed its rear into the ground beside her, using it to lift herself over the lunges that the 4 Knights made. Another from within the crowd threw one of their Swords like a Frisbee, intending to catch her by surprise.

However, this would prove to be a failure as Vert gripped Beninuki in one hand and spin it like a wheel in front of the direction the sword came from, sending it down to the ground and impaling a random Knight. With that out of the way, Vert re-angled herself and spiraled downwards, crashing into the Knights and spinning in a full circle, slicing through her opponents before they could react. She trusted at another, lifting it by its chestplate before tossing it towards its brethren, killing them both by throwing Beninuki like a Javelin.

Side flipping over an onslaught of weapons that followed, Vert retrieved her weapon and jabbed a Knight in the eye with its rear end, causing it to stumble backwards and allow her to jump into a twirling spinning roundhouse kick to the side of its head, knocking it to the ground. She followed up with a stab to its face, killing it. She pulled Beninuki out and swiftly swung in a reverse upward swing, slicing through another Knight's Spear through the shaft and mutilating it's face. She quickly ended its misery by stabbing through the mutilated area, however.

The sound of Armored boots brought Vert's gaze to her left, seeing several Knights wielding dual swords heading towards her. She, in response, readied Beninuki to unleash another Technique: **Jasen (Snake Twist).** With this Technique, Vert caused the shaft to warp by thrusting it with her right arm and moving it in a spiral motion, thereby producing an ever-changing thrust and trajectory. This Technique allowed her to thrust into one Knights head, Beninuki cleaving through the flesh as easily as tit did the others before she yanked it out and twirled around the others, soon getting into position for another position.

'Time for a personal favorite of mine: **Hassei Kaigan (Enlightenment of the 8 Planets)**!' she thought to herself. For this technique to work, Vert had to rotate Beninuki in a circle that looks like there are 8 blades of the spear. Vert then had to thrust forward, preforming an all-round attack from all sides with no openings. Which was what she did the next second, stabbing through both Knights with deadly and fatal precision. Vert liked this technique because of how dangerous it was on the battlefield, as well as how it was nigh impossible to block due to the 8 strikes coming from impossible angles. The previous wielder inherited this technique from his father, but thanks to her centuries of experience handling Spear-like weapons, Vert had a much easier time wielding it. The previous wielder also kept it his hidden ace in the whole, so she honored that decision by naming this her personal favorite Technique.

She kept up this attack for the remainder of the battle.

* * *

By the time that they finished, it had taken them a full hour.

A full hour to take out an army of 60 Knights.

Well, that wasn't quite accurate, as halfway through the battle there had been an increase in their numbers, increasing them to 600 halfway through the fight. That must have been why the room had been so spacious, as the amount of Knights that filled the room back then made movement nigh impossible. Something that seemed to have been intended so that they could get a better kill on their opponents. The more time passed, the more ferocious each Knight became, almost like the battle prowess of these two warriors was igniting some form of competitive spirit within them. Not even seeing their own lay dead became a bother to them for they just kept fighting on and on.

Throughout the battle, the army seemed to focus equally between Vert and Nico. The former, who wielded the Beninuki with the skill of a true warrior, decimated her opponents with well aimed slashes that sliced through body parts, techniques that the Knights got thrown their way, and the overall martial prowess the woman had with it, kept the imaginary blood flowing. Imaginary, because there hadn't been any blood when she killed. It somewhat limited the goriness of the act, but Vert didn't really notice or care thanks to losing herself into the heat of the battle.

How long had it been since she had felt that way?

It must have been at the start of the Console War, where she had felt that rush in great intensity when she was in combat with the CPUs. Through the centuries however, it must have dulled to the point of being unrecognizable for her, which is only natural since Vert was fighting the same opponents back then. Still, it left her warrior side unsatisfied, frustrated even, until she reached the breaking point and saw the Console War as meaningless. She even got bored of the fighting, and probably found herself the first one to fall into this mentality out of the four CPUs.

But now? Now that she had so many opponents to chose from, opponents of varying Skill and destructive power, Vert didn't realize it until now but perhaps her warrior side was waking up now, squealing in delight at what it had seen occur. She hadn't felt this rush, this thrill, this boost in adrenaline in so long that she had almost forgotten entirely what it had felt like. With Beninuki at her side, Vert planned on fighting a lot more than what she had bee so far, to cross blades with her opponents in combat like this. The closer one was to death, the more they feel alive... the CPU of Leanbox may not be that much of a battle maniac, she did have her people on her mind constantly, but she could definitely say she understood them better. Everything had just ceased to matter to her, her insecurities, problems, fears, everything, it all just vanished into the winds of combat as she threw herself into it like a madwoman.

On Nico's side, the teen stood, glancing about for possibly more reinforcements, in the middle of a large circle of bodies. Thanks to there being no blood, he didn't lose as much control over himself as he thought he would, but the constant rush of Combat helped his inner beast wake up, allowing his attacks to be increasingly brutal and deadly. He hadn't seen what Vert had been like, but something told him that she had been in a similar mindset. He had been using a mix of his Liberator (that gun fired so many rounds that it was ridiculous, and freaking sexy. He felt like he was becoming slightly gun crazy after hearing the Liberator's firepower and feeling the recoil behind each bullet).

Aside from his Liberator, Nico had used Rebellion for any that got too close, mixing in a variety of his Sword Techniques. Using them in large crowds wasn't something that he had gotten used to yet, but this definitely served as good training in how to use them in such situations. Though, he noticed that using the Vipersword had helped Rebellion tear through Armour like a hot knife through butter, something that honestly, nearly gave him a boner. Was it weird that got turned on by seeing his sword go through his enemies so easily? Maybe, but hey since when was normalcy a thing in Gamindustri? Not even before when Demons weren't coming back, nope no sir.

But, apart from them, the most interesting thing happened with his two Guns Ebony and Ivory. Remember that time when he gained a wide arsenal of tricks from his Devil Arms in the Hellverse? How Ebony and Ivory were two of the three weapons (the third being Rebellion) that didn't give any new info on techniques? Well, apparently these little buggers were either super stingy, or they were upgrading themselves (he went with the latter) because when those 600+ reinforcements came, they had sent him a torrent of information, information pertaining to techniques that Ebony and Ivory were capable of. These techniques, actually, were more of a single one and a couple variants, but each variant was unique in its own way.

These were the techniques he gained from them:

 **Cero** \- A powerful, crimson red blast or concentrated Demonic Power. Its potential for destruction apparently seemed to grow with the wielder's strength, Biko had noted, and at this moment in time it was capable of putting large holes through tall buildings.

 **Bala** \- A weaker version of a Cero which has no charge time and is 20 times faster. Could be fired from one gun or both at the same time, with the damage output being limited to small buildings (according to Biko's examinations).

 **Oscuras** \- A super charged black Cero, the strongest Cero that can destroy entire villages with ease. Though, it takes longer to charge than a normal Cero but to compensate it only needs one gun to be used, the other can still keep firing Ceros.

 **Metralleta** \- This is a Cero which is fired from either 1 or both guns, and is fired as a rapid barrage of Ceros. Like the Bala, it has no charge or recharge time, allowing for instant fire from one or both guns.

 **Mirada** \- Basically a 'dual Cero' as both guns release a Cero at once, allowing for double the damage a single Cero is capable of. However, the problem here is that it uses up both guns, leaving the user defenseless.

On top of that, he can still use normal bullets made from Demonic Power...

Ebony and Ivory were TRULY holding out on him.

Bringing himself out of these thoughts, Nico looked over to Vert after putting his weapons (save for Ebony and Ivory) back into his Void Storage while walking towards her. "Well, looks like we have finished them off..." he remarked, glancing about in case of a sneak attack. While he couldn't sense any emotions, his Bracers not picking up any Motion, the redhead didn't want to get caught by surprise.

"Indeed..." Vert replied, nodding in agreement as she held Beninuki at her side. "I don't sense any more of them. Those reinforcements must have been the last ones coming."

That calmed him down immensely. Heck, his heart had been pounding hellishly within his ribcage for a while now while he recovered from the aftermath. It seemed that intense battles like this were slowly becoming the norm within Gamindustri, thanks to the events that have been happening throughout the lands. Even so however, Nico couldn't help but wonder something as his lips pursed into a frown, Ebony and Ivory now tethered to his hips within his Trench Coat where he could retrieve them instantly. "Looks like. Though why they were here honestly eludes me. They have to have been here for some reason." he remarked under a whisper.

Though, Vert heard it still.

"According to my gaming instincts, this means we will no doubt be lead to a room filled with grand loot we can use for our adventures. Its common knowledge in MMO's you know." she suggested with a grin slowly spreading onto her lips, her mind going into fantasy mode at an equal speed. She even had her hands together in a preying gesture with hearts in her eyes.

This only served to make Nico sweat drop, face palming at the way that Vert analogized this to gaming. It was like her mind was hot-wired to that kind of thing, and with what kinds of people he was surrounded by, Nico would readily believe that if it were the case. 'This woman is definitely not the 'Gaming Goddess' for nothing. I wonder when someone says GG, they are actually a Leanbox supporter in disguise...'

While Nico pondered on the rules of gaming, a bright light began to shine in front of the two, accompanied by a pure crimson light. Both Vert and Nico quickly covered their eyes in response, lest they be blinded by the lights and their intensity.

"AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIII! I WAS RIGHT, I WAS RIGHT, WE'RE GONNA GET SOME CRAZY LOOT FROM THIS DUNGEON!"

"OKAY, OKAY WOMAN, DON'T HAVE A FREAKING FANGASM!"

FAINT!

"..."

* * *

By the time the two lights died down (of which Nico had to try and cool down the furiously hot Vert. Not just figuratively but literally, she had been overheating from all this combat), the two had managed to recover from Vert's fainting spell. This allowed them to look over to see what it was that appeared before them, and from what they saw, their jaws dropping became the apt reaction.

There, floating before them, were two items. The first Item was actually a weapon, a Spear actually. It was a golden 3 meter long Spear with a ribbon-like design intertwining with each other at the end of the handle and below the blade. The tip of the Spear was not a sharply pointed blade like on a knife, but instead it was a wide blade as if a double-edged sword had been forcibly attached. It's broad blade also had designs that somewhat looked like a branch with leaves on it. The weapon constantly radiated an aura of pure light, almost mythical in feeling as if looking at the source of all light in existence. Yet, it also had the intensity of a weapon that was meant to be used in combat.

It was a no brainer that this weapon would only exist to be wielded by someone with divine deity-like strength, and luckily one such person was in this room.

Vert gazed at the Spear, taking in its form and design with a look of awe on her features. Her eyes slightly bulged, her mouth slightly dropped open, and her hands moved on their own to return Beninuki to her Inventory. She couldn't help but be transfixed onto the weapon, her eyes unable to escape its grasp. It was just so... so beautiful. Majestic, divine even. She had never seen such a gorgeous looking weapon, a weapon that had boasted both beauty and power in one package. This weapon had powers beyond that of ordinary weapons, she could just FEEL it.

Not only that, but she could hear it... she could hear the weapon itself. The weapon was calling to her, reaching out with the presence of a deity. She knew that presence all too well since she had been surrounded by divine deities after all. It wanted her, it wanted her to come to it, to take it and accept its power as if it were her own. It had seen her strength for itself, and had thus deemed her worthy of it. That was what she was getting from the Spear, those were the sensations she felt ripping through her gut like a mad rush of bulls stampeding across a large lush green field.

Slowly, she reached out towards it, holding her hand out as if to grasp it by the middle of its shaft. Like a magnet, the Spear floated over to her, radiating golden light and untold power. Yet, she could sense a giddiness only an excited child on a sugar rush could exhibit from it, like it had been waiting for her for a while. After a few more intense seconds, Vert grasped the shaft at last... and almost INSTANTLY got blown away (figuratively) from the power that exploded into her from it. 'My goodness! This power... Its so immense...!' the Blonde CPU thought as she stabbed the Spear's rear end into the ground, using it as a support as she struggled to contain and control the power. This power, it felt unlike anything like she was used to, it felt so large, so vast, and oh so rampant. Like it would not accept any but the best as its master. It constantly ran wild within her body, almost hurting the woman to the point where she nearly lost the fight against the urge to scream her lungs out.

All the while, a name appeared in her mind, engraving itself into her brain like a golden piece of chalk being written on a chalkboard. A name that soon left her lips as she slowly but surely began adapting to the power coursing through her.

"Be steady... GUNGNIR!"

The moment she shouted the Spear's name, a huge shockwave ripped out of her, causing Vert to cry out with a gasp as the ground ripped apart beneath her. It formed a 3 inch deep crater of 8 meters in diameter, cracks spreading throughout it from the spot where Vert stood, and even partially outside the Crater's influence. All the while, Vert slowly fell to one knee, holding onto the Spear known as Gungnir and panting her lungs out like she had never even breathed before. That had been one of the most intense feelings she had ever gone through. Worse than that 'incident' that left her the way she had been in the first place. Hell, she had gone through something so intense that drool and tears escaped from her eyes and mouth, prompting her to weakly raise an arm from her weapon and wipe her face clean.

"W-Wow... to think that I... would have to go through something like that... I can understand... what heroes in games go through when they awaken to their legendary powers..."

Even with the state she was in, Vert still managed to process what had happened. How through all of that, information ingrained itself into her brain, burning into it so that she would never forget its power. Information on what it was, its name, and what it could do.

Gungnir... a weapon Created by a CPU called Norse Heart. As a weapon created by a CPU, it is extremely powerful. Simply existing, the Spear holds weight and dominion over many aspects of life. The characteristics of Gungnir are:

The Spear was made to be thrown, with cutting, slashing and stabbing a secondary function.

The Spear would always hit its target once thrown like a seeker missile without the weaknesses said object has.

The Spear could not be shot down or destroyed mid-flight as it also distorts the space around it while in motion.

The Spear would always return to its owner's hands in a golden flash after piercing the target.

That Spear would destroy the other symbolic weapons of other CPUs.

Within the weapon itself, Vert felt its power pulsating from what felt like a core of some sort, and the moment that her senses grazed it, her body was enveloped by a pillar of light. She looked down at herself afterwards, and saw that to her shock she had done something that she hadn't been able to do for so long. Though this process reverted thanks to her mind not staying fully connected to Gungnir's core. Still, there was a possible connection there, and it definitely filled the void in her being mostly. She could still feel the mortality of mortals dominating her being, but at least now she could do THAT.

Slowly, she looked up from her exhausted state, her stamina having been spent trying to rein in this weapon's power, towards Nico. When she saw him though, she once again felt shock rush through her system.

* * *

Before, when they just saw the new appearances, Nico's eyes became fixed onto the other item that appeared before them. The item in question, had a much different feel to it compared to the Spear, a whole different league to it. Whereas the Spear felt so much like a divine weapon, this one felt like the exact opposite. It felt like his DPU, Hellfire and other Demonic Powers: the feeling of sinister energies constantly colliding within it into a chaotic mass of power. This item he saw before him, staring him down so intently he felt like he was a mere child before it...

Was a Ring.

A Ring.

This Ring was at least the size of a basket ball, and was colored the most crimson of red that he had seen in anything related to the Demonic arts. The redness gave off a sinister glow from it, equally crimson electricity constantly zapping around it in a rater chaotic manner. There were also various carvings etched into the Ring's outer shell, with two cylindrical bands at the top. Nico felt so small compared to this power, this power that seemed so elderly, so ancient that it dwarfed nearly anything he could ever have found and brought before it. He felt just that small.

'Biko... what the hell is...?'

 **'Th-This is...!'**

Now THAT got his attention. Seemed like his Demon Persona DID know something about this Ring. Judging by Biko's tone, it must be something major, too, either that or it is something very, very bad. 'You know something...?'

 **'You can be sure of that, Nico! This Ring, it is a 'Satanic Treasure'! These are an arsenal of** **Artifacts** **, Weapons, Armours, and other pieces of** **equipment** **from the DPU era. These Items were created at the dawn of the DPU's reign over Gamindustri by Sparda himself, then scattered across Gamindustri for other DPUs to find! The exact number of these Satanic Treasures exactly, I cannot tell you, but from what I can understand there were LOTS of them. This is just one, and each of them provides different benefits to their wielders, if they are able to control such power. You could say they are like Devil Arms, but they don't die when their user does. Instead, they either latch onto their Souls if they're strong enough, or they search for someone else with similar power levels! You could also say that those Items Maghda got from Khorne can be classed as Satanic Treasures!'**

'Shit, you're serious?!'

 **'Dead serious! Looks like this Satanic Treasure has** **recognized** **you as worthy, Nico! It will be entering you momentarily, there is no way to** **disconcert** **what it is until the procedure's over!'**

Before Nico could respond to that, the Ring pulsed with power, getting his attention... before it shot forth into him and went RIGHT into his chest with the force of a bullet train. The force nearly knocked him onto his ass, but Nico managed to keep himself up straight while sliding across the room. By this point, the corpses had disappeared, but Nico didn't care for that.

Not when this burning rage seemed to be invading his body!

'Wha-ugh! Guh! Uggghhhh!' The redhead thought, gasping and coughing as he held his chest like it was about to burst. There was a searing hot sensation there, building and building to the point where Nico felt like he was standing right next to the sun itself. 'Th-this burning...! Feels way worse than Hellfire does! Much hotter, too! I feel like i'm going to combust at any second if this keeps up...!' the teen opened his mouth, but no sound came out as he fell to his knees, planting his hands on the ground for support. Though, with the amount of energy coursing through him, Nico could barely even feel his nerves let alone what they sent him. His head hung low, his arms and legs bending while his body struggled to adapt to this new power. If something like this was happening, and his body was struggling to adapt even with it being what it is, then that was a good indicator of the intensity he was under.

This kind of feeling had happened before, part of him screamed through the pain, making Nico's eyes widen in recognition and remembrance. He remembered creating Urthemiel, whom was now currently waiting for his next summons within his Void Storage like Ember. This feeling, the feeling of being burned so intensely like this felt so similar to the feeling of being ripped apart molecule by molecule. Nico barely stopped himself from coughing up blood by the gallons, though it left a heavy taste of iron in his mouth which was gritting its teeth so tightly that he feared that any tighter and his teeth would shatter under the intense burning pressure.

It stretched on for what almost seemed like a painful, torturous eternity, until the burning sensation receded from his entire body to just his torso, retreating even further into its source, the Ring itself. Said Ring remained inside his chest, sitting there comfortably and adjusting itself so that its Master would not feel any discomfort either. The only sign that it was even there at this point, was the symbol that looked exactly like the ring itself, glowing brightly on his chest through his clothes before dying down.

Heaving, gasping and panting, Nico attempted to regain his composure while heat rolled off him in waves from subconsciously accessing his Hellfire to equalize the heat born from the Ring's intrusion. The heat burned any and all sweat from his being, almost feeling like a cool blanket due to how shot his nerve system seemed to be. He couldn't feel the ground still, which was why this was so.

After a moment though, his regeneration had healed him enough so that he could stand up without fear of falling over, as well as helping his nerve system. Smoke trails rolled off him in waves thanks to the intrusion, though it wasn't as bad as before. Even so, Nico's mind raced with thoughts and possible ideas as to what the fuck just happened to him, and none of them were in any order thanks to how chaotic his mind was. 'W-Wow... that was intense... definitely surpasses Urthemiel's creation...'

 **'Of course it would. It is the Red Ring of Rage.'**

 **'** The what?'

 **'Just Found out from the Ring itself, it is called the Red Ring of Rage, it is a Satanic Treasure that enhances a DPU's fire-related powers, plus their own Demonic Power reserves via rage, as well as offers up an astonishing amount of rage that is normally sealed up inside of it. To be a bit clearer, those are just the passive effects it grants, it has much more rage inside that it can send into your Hellfire and Demonic Power Reserves. The power of rage... I can scarcely believe how immense this is. if you want to have a good comparison, the amount of rage inside this Ring** **rivals** **that of the number of humans across the entire planet. It can also project this rage onto others, too, make them so overcome with rage that goes through their minds, bodies and souls all at once that they are left nothing but husks controlled by their own anger. Interestingly enough, this power is affecting our Berserker Mode somehow, though I do not know how this will affect it in the future.'**

Hearing this nearly wiped out all the color from Nico's body, his expression that of pure horror. The power of rage, equal to that of every human on Gamindustri? Okay, that is seriously scary, rage is definitely one of the strongest emotions humanity feels. Rage at the Abnormals, Monsters, the Goddesses, anything really. It causes many disasters like wars, plots, destruction and retribution. Its way up there with Pride, in his opinion. This Ring controlled the aspect of Rage to such a degree... He could scarcely imagine what would have happened if this thing fell into the hands of someone like, say Arfoire. Just imagining her with this much rage nearly sent him into cold shivers. If this was just the power of ONE Satanic Treasure... he could only imagine how horrifying the others would have to be to match the danger this one poses.

Though, on the other hand he could feel its passive Rage already being applied to his powers, strengthening them like his Hellfire, Demonic Power reserves, and his Berserker Mode. He hadn't even touched that since he regained his powers, and with this he was even more inclined not to. Him and Biko both agreed that form should only be used as a last resort, as the form's uncontrollably would end up destroying much more than just the intended target.

After he finally managed to get his head on straight from that information, Nico looked over to Vert, and well that was where current times set in.

* * *

Later, the two decided to head back to Leanbox, having been in that Dungeon all day. It was about mid evening when they got out, so they wanted to get home as soon as possible for their own reasons. Vert because her staff would likely be about to start a mad hunt for her location, while Nico wanted to make sure to reach the rest of his Party. He could only imagine how worried they would be. Though they would have to return to the Guild first to turn in the Quest, informing them that it was safe to go down there. There wouldn't be much to discover anyways, both Nico and Vert had THOSE spoils.

Once they returned to Leanbox and turned in the Quest, Nico and Vert walked back to the Basilicom, the male having volunteered to walk her back to her home. It wouldn't be right to leave her to walk alone in the dark, not to mention rude and insensitive. Plus, while he didn't say it and he probably wouldn't for a long time, Nico worried for the blonde CPU. He wanted to make sure she was okay, that she was happy and satisfied with this outing. There were a few things he wanted to say to her after pondering her situation a bit on the way back.

In the meantime, the teen made to have a mental conversation with his Demon Persona.

'Say, Biko. That whole stuff with those ruins reminded me of something.'

 **'Oh? What did those Ruins remind you of?'**

'When you said that Devil Arms cannot function without a human soul to latch onto otherwise they die. I believe you, but Rebellion, Ivory, Ebony and Alastor were sealed away in Ruins like that last one, thus weren't attached to any human soul. What the heck is that about?'

 **'Really? Interesting... I believe that it would likely have been something to do with the ruins. However, if you want to be certain a trip there when these Fragmented Memories are completely restored may be in order.'**

'Okie dokie. Say, how's the Devil Arm Alastor doing?'

The male frowned in his head when he asked that. Biko had told him not long before they returned to Leanbox from Skies End, how there were abnormalities occurring within Alastor. Of course, he had reacted like any sane person would when finding out that something was happening to a weapon latching onto his soul, almost falling off Ember to the cloudy depths below. Then there was the massive worry he felt for the Devil Arm itself, he didn't have no attachment to his weapons, they were his comrades for crying out loud. Of course he wanted to know if these changes would affect it negatively, it was almost like he was their brother and them his siblings in arms.

 **'So far, these abnormalities haven't been too dangerous, if you feel mild spikes in emotions or experience memory flashes, then this is the cause. Though I will say that thanks to the Red Ring, they are proceeding much faster due to the Devil Arm absorbing the excess rage this thing radiates. In my humble opinion, I will say that the changes should bear fruit when the Gala in a few months time is ended.'**

'Of course, that is only if there isn't anything bad that happens to interrupt it.'

 **'I do believe the expression 'you just jinxed us' is appropriate here.'**

'...'

* * *

Finally, Nico and Vert arrived at the Basilicom entrance. The stars twinkled brightly in the night skies, yet they were nothing compared to the moon. No matter how many times one see's it, the moon will always be a spectacular thing to witness in its full glory. Meanwhile, the blonde CPU twirled around to face her companion, hands behind her back while leaning forwards with a princess-like smile on her face. "Thank you, Nicky, for walking me home."

"No problem, Vert." Nico replied, smirking while pocketing his hands in his Trench Coat. The redhead teen had his head tilted slightly with his eyes twinkling in the night sky. "It would be a pretty asshole thing to do to leave you to walk home alone." Unbeknownst to him, his eyes almost made Vert lose herself in their light blue orbs. The fact that he looked like one of those Otome Game characters only made him look all the more appealing to the blonde CPU. Heck, she wouldn't be surprised to find fanart, doujins and fanfictions pairing Nico in straight or gay pairings when they see his new look.

There had been countless women who eyed the teen, after all. Vert had not been out of it enough not to notice those looks of intense desire. Didn't look like Nico was aware, though which honestly made her chuckle to herself.

By the end of today, she bet there would be a substantial increase to his fanclub, probably making him as popular as the CPUs themselves.

Guys have their fanservice and girls have their manservice.

Everybody wins.

"Ufufufu, you are such a gentlemen, my dear." Vert happily remarked, and as a sneak attack she made her breasts bounce slightly. She noticed, much to her satisfaction, how his eyes trembled showcasing his willpower in no looking and being labelled a perv. Though, if it were him, Vert wouldn't mind as much. She did pride herself on those melons of hers, unlike a certain CPU she knew...

Moving on.

Glancing back towards the Basilicom, a flash of disappointment formed in her eyes, the CPU knew all good things must come to an end, but she really didn't want to leave Nico like this. She wanted this day to last for eternity, since this had been the first time she had felt 'free' in so long. Free to be who she wanted to be without fear of being judged. But still, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and she had some work to do. "Well then, I'll be seeing you around, Nicky. I do hope you'll come to the Gala, I heard from one of my staff that you were invited."

"Heh, word travels fast, huh?" Nico remarked, hiding his disdain for that event. The importance of it was not lost on him, but the fact that he would have to try and play civil with upstart nobles who may or may not try to flirt with the girls in his Party was more than draining enough. Never mind when he actually had to break a few necks for looking at the girls wrongly. "Well, yeah i'll be going. Pretty sure that i'd have a man hunt on my ass if I didn't."

His words prompted her to think of a joke, and in an effort to get Nico to blush that cute blush again (she liked that look, especially with his otome bad boy appearance) she quipped. "They will have to wait their turn then, till I've had my fun, and don't you worry. I'll be extra. gentle. All. Night." she even leaned forwards ever so slightly at the end of each word, dropping her voice an octave at a time to further pronounce the seductive teasing.

As a result, Vert finally got to see Nico's face become red again, electing more giggles out of her. It felt nice knowing that she could get a rise out of him, it really made her day. She may have found a new hobby aside from gaming to indulge in.

Nico took a deep breath to regain his composure, trying to ignore the howling laughter his white self was making inside his head. 'One day, I swear...' he thought with a dangerous glint in his eye. Getting rid of such thoughts (for now) the redhead decided that now was the best time to say what he wanted to for a while now. "Say, before you go, could I ask you something?"

When he asked her that, Vert tiled her head curiously, her previous amusement dissipating slightly. She felt quite exhausted, but she also wanted this conversation to last longer. "Oh? And what would this question be?"

"Have you thought about getting Noire to come to the Gala?"

"Eh?" Vert blinked once. Then again, and again, and again. For a moment, his words didn't even process themselves in her mind, ad that moment seemed to drag on more than it needed to. Eventually though, she managed to reboot her brain from that blue screening and give her companion a confused frown. "What do you mean to intend for that statement?"

Well,at least she hadn't blown up yet, that was something at least. That was what ran through Nico's mind as he answered like a professor. "Well, I've been thinking for a while now, ever since you told me what was bothering you. You said that you were worried about the Alliance and wanted to know why Noire would do such a thing, right? The best way is to ask her directly, and what better way to do that than at a public event?"

Vert thought about what he said, instead of just outright denial. something she had almost done when a thought had hit her like a hammer. What he said just now, it made her think about what IF had asked her when they first met in her room. Questionable phrasing aside, she remembered how she had asked about the Console War and the other CPUs, and if what she had known about her friend was accurate it was safe to assume they had had contact with Lastation and Planeptune's CPU before coming here. If the two of them were talking about the Noire she thought they were, there had to be a reason why. "Well, I'm not sure that is a good idea. For starters, she would likely not even reply, she isn't someone whose very co-operative when her blood gets going..."

"Yeah, that's only in HDD though, and believe me after the events that happened in Lastation, I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about..." he began to say, getting an understanding nod from the woman. She had learned of Lastation's recent events a long time ago. "You can bet she's gained some new perspective. Noire's changed, she's not as bad as you knew her to be. True she's prideful, stubborn and a hardcore tsundere..."

Nico almost swore he heard a distant yell of 'no I'm not!' from Lastation's direction, but dismissed it in favor of continuing. "But she's doing her best to make amends for her mistakes in not overseeing her Nation. And really, that's all anyone can do these days. Nobody's perfect, and everybody is different. They have their own ideals, their own beliefs. Heh, just look at us Spec Ops." A small chuckle escaped his lips at that, one that was mirrored by the CPU before him. If what she has seen and heard is anything to believe, the Spec Ops were a... weird bunch. "Point is, things are changing, and you cant really hold onto grudges in times like these. If you're worried about how the public may view this, think of it like this: if the king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow. In essence, if you don't project yourself as a competent leader eventually people will not follow your rules. You need to show them that even if your down, Vert Leanbox's CPU Green Heart is not out. Believe me, I've been there."

Oh, how he'd been there. He remembered the few times where he was assigned to group missions, mostly after that incident with the Coalition, where he had to show the others that he was NOT someone who would be ordered into a one-sided massacre. That he wasn't someone to be pushed around. There are a lot of arrogant Spec Ops Agents out there who think people like him would be easy pickings. Well, believe him, he soon showed them how wrong they really were. Lets just say that they NEVER messed with him again afterwards.

THIS Spec Ops Agent had more than a few ways of scaring the shit of some weak-willed idiots, and that was the most civil way he could describe them.

On her end, Vert still didn't look convinced. The way her face looked like right now was eerily similar to having swallowed an entire lemon mixed with uncertainty. However, she didn't say she wouldn't do it to him, thanks to the passion she saw in his eyes. She also remembered seeing bits of footage showing Noire in her human form helping some people in her Nation getting to safety, some of them not even being from her Nation. She hadn't thought about it back then, but now that she was now... "I'll... think about it."

Hearing that made him sigh slightly. Not what he ideally wanted, but in the end he didn't expect much else. She hadn't seen Noire go through the changes that he did, she hadn't seen the hardships Noire had went through. The only one who could show her that would be Noire herself. Something told him that this would be much easier than he was making it out to be, though. Didn't know what that was, but he hoped that it was right."That's all I ask, Vert." Nico stated, softly smiling as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Have a little faith of your own. I'm sure you'll find yourself pleasantly rewarded."

With those parting words, Nico gave her a two-fingered salute, a childish smile on his lips as he began making his way towards the direction of the Party's hotel. "I'll be seeing you later then, Vert! Have a nice night and take care of yourself!" he called out to her.

"I will! See you soon, Nicky!"

Chuckling at the near fall that Nico did at the nickname she addressed him as, Vert turned and walked towards the Basilicom. This day had been a roller coaster for her, and she had a lot to think about.

But one thing was for sure...

If dates were supposed to be this fun, she would LOVE to accidentally stumble upon the red haired Agent again.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, there you go! This is the end, and now to clarify a few things:**

 **That scene with Vert seeing Nico's new look was something that made me snigger. We all know she likes her man-service, so why not throw the Hyperdimension girls alongside Vert some man-service for a change? Give them something to be happy about. I can already imagine how the fangirls in the story are gonna react.**

 **Poor Nico...**

 **The Red Ring - it is an inspiration from Sonic and the Secret Rings. Played that game a long time ago, liked it once I got used to the controls. Not to mention it plays nicely into this idea of Satanic Treasures.**

 **I got this idea from two separate Anime and Manga series': Shakugan no Shana and Flame of Recca. Two series that are completed yet are quite fun to watch/read.**

 **Heck, Gungnir's from To Aru no Index, a divine weapon that is used to remake the world. Such a powerful weapon would be great for a Goddess like Vert, and if you look carefully you'll see something interesting about that weapon.**

 **In addition, I don't know if you'll notice, but readers I took inspiration and gave Vert the Beninuki from a martial arts manga called Gamaran, set in Japan's edo period. Believe me, its an intriguing read if you like martial Arts. It helped me get some ideas for the new abilities for Vert, and yet there's going to be way more in store for her.**

 **Also, I took another page from Bleach's book and gave Ebony and Ivory some of the Cero variants, plus a Cero and Bala technique while they are still able to fire Demonic Bullets. This way these Guns, while not as numerous in abilities as his other Devil Arms, can be more relevant. I'll explain more about the relationship these Devil Arms have within Nico next chapter, his situation is VERY unique. You'll see.**

 **Anyways, review, PM if you wanna ask questions, Fav/follow, really helps me out guys.**

 **Peace out! :)**


	115. Chapter 112 - An Old Friend Returns

**Chapter 112 - An Old Friend returns**

Okay, this has GOT to be a dream.

Those were Nico's first few thoughts as he woke up inside a familiar black void. The teen mentally rolled his eyes as he sat up from his prone position, looking about the void to see if there was anything he could use to indicate where he was. Looked like he wasn't in one of his nightmares, though he would freely admit that he had not been having them very often now, so they were out. He also couldn't sense the presence of his other selves, something that was quite the common thing when he dreamed.

Though, as time passed, he found himself remembering past events where he had been in a similar situation, prompting him to face palm to himself while muttering incoherent derisive comments. Remembering those times made Nico feel like an idiot for even forgetting about her, but in his defense, it had been a while since she last contacted him or the Party. Why she hadn't contacted Neptune was anyone's guess at this point. Those events allowed him to conclude that there was only one person who could have brought him here, and that person was whom he would have to talk to right now. "Hey, been a while, Histoire." He called out, sliding his gloved hand down his face.

Soon, he smiled when he got an answer.

'Indeed, it has indeed been a while, Nico. It is nice to finally be able to talk to you again. Apologies for the long silence, there were matters I had to attend to.'

The familiar soft, feminine tone of the [World Tome] Histoire echoed throughout the void, filling Nico with a warmth that he hadn't expected to feel. Though, that didn't mean he disliked it, it was only now that he realized that this was something that he had been worrying about for a while. The last time he had heard from Histoire was back in Lastation, and that was when she had helped him save IF from becoming a 'mindless' BOW. Though then again, with he powers she now had, Nico had to admit that he would rather go through that shit again if it meant that she would be able to fight alongside them against these Demons. "Nah, don't worry about it. I'm just glad t hear your voice again." He admitted, scratching the lower side of his jaw. "So, uh, why'd you call me now? Why not Neptune since she's the Party Leader even though I take charge more often than not."

'Forgive me, I did try to contact Neptune, however her dreams were too strong for me to connect to her subconscious. Also, she seemed to have filled herself with dreams of a… questionable sort. A mix of pudding, and… you.'

If he could see her, then Nico wouldn't doubt that Histoire would be blushing right now due to the tones he was getting from her. Nico himself gained a flat expression, already imagining things that Neptune might be dreaming about concerning him and Pudding… none of them that the author wanted to write about. The mind of a female, especially someone like Neptune's, was not something a young man like the author wanted to go into, thank you very much. "I can imagine that, and I don't know whether to feel dismayed or annoyed about that. Anyways, you said you tried to contact Neptune, so what did you wanna talk to her about? I'll relay it to her when I wake up."

'Thank you, Nico. However, now that I think about it, perhaps it would be better if you heard this yourself. With the matters you have gone through already, I assume you have knowledge on the DPUs as a species?'

Nico rolled his shoulders backwards when she said that, remembering the Tomes he got from Skies End. The male hadn't read all of them yet, but if what he had read so far was any indication, he needed to do some form of reading marathon. "A but, yeah. Though the Tomes I draw info from are enchanted so that only those with Demonic Powers can read them." he explained, earning a sigh from the [World Tome].

'I feared as much, those DPUs were not the kind of species who would allow information about their race fall into anyone's hands. They may have been a barbaric species, but they were not stupid. One has to have certain requirements passed before they can acquire such information.'

At this, Nico raised a brow, a curiosity being born within him from her words. "You talk like you know them, Histoire."

'At first, I knew little about them, but from what I knew back then I realized that they weren't the kind of species that should have returned to Gamindustri. Yet, I never saw the signs of their return until your journey began, when I saw the Abnormals gaining strength, and the beginnings of Demonic Powers returning to Gamindustri through the Seal. However, that has changed, thanks to some hard work on my part, I have found out some more information about them.'

That got Nico's attention, and if he were here, Biko would have been intrigued as well. Histoire had found more information on their Species, information that they didn't have yet. With the kind of being she was, that kind of revelation presented a mybrid of opportunities for them, opportunities that they wouldn't have found otherwise. "Oh? What did you find out, Histoire?"

'That the DPUs are far worse than I could ever have anticipated. Originally, I only knew about the original DPU Sparda himself. His power, exploits and reputation as the leader of the DPUs was something to be greatly feared, for his power had the potential to destroy anything he touched. However, I have recently learned more about the DPUs in general, and it frightens me to think that there had once been many of these people.'

Taking a breath, Histoire paused slightly before she continued her explanation.

'To start, the DPUs had a very specific Culture when they once ruled Gamindustri, referring to the Dimension that Gamindustri resided in as the 'Devildimension'. The DPU Culture can be summed up in several words: might makes right. They were warriors, and as warriors born from the chaos of the universe, they sought to fight to their hearts content. To them, strength was everything for strength was what brought them into being, and strength was what empowered them. They believed down to their cores that only those who know strength can truly survive in the universe, a way of life that is integrated into every DPU that formed from the Universe's Chaos afterwards.'

Nico furrowed his brows at those words, processing them in his mind. That didn't sound wrong to him, in fact something deep within him just knew that Histoire was right. Maybe it was his DPU side agreeing with her about what the culture his race once had. Even so, this warrior culture sounded quite interesting, especially since the world right now was filled with a false sense of security especially in Leanbox with how those shitty Nobles think that they were untouchable. Both for the people below them and the monsters that were quite literally knocking on their door.

Still, Nico remained silent as the [World Tome] explained things to him.

'To that end, DPUs developed many customs and cultural traits for their kind on their core Planet of Gamindustri. They created a society based off of warrior norms, ideals and designs, such as the Death Parade Duels or, mas you have recently discovered, the Satanic Treasures. They would build massive coliseums and Crucibles all over their planets to house special fighting tournaments for each other, promoting the idea of chaos and conflict within their species. It worked as well, as DPUs reveled in carnage and fighting, their society developing across their era as a warrior society where only those who were truly powerful got the respect they deserved. It would not be uncommon to see fights breaking out across the lands, resulting in lands being destroyed or laid bare from the excessive use of Demonic Power.'

As Histoire explained that part, Nico's gut began churning as he processed this information. His eyes darkened with a troubled expression forming on his lips. With just that bit of info, the red-haired teen could see both the good and the bad side of such a culture. In order for one to gain respect in such a culture they had o showcase that they were strong, that they could fight and win on the battlefield. There would have been many who would have wanted that respect, thus they would have fought each other all over the place. Unfortunately, there would have been a minority who lacked that strength, or had talents in areas other than fighting, but for them they would never gain the respect they deserved due to the mostly warrior-based culture that the DPUs thrived under. There wouldn't be any way to change it either, as after all DPUs were born from chaos and warfare. It was their essence, their nature, and nothing they could have done would have changed that.

'Yet, like I said before, these beings may be barbaric, but they are not stupid. There were those among them who knew that too much destruction would end up backfiring on them by destroying the planet they called home. To combat the threat off accidentally destroying their own planet, DPUs developed the ability to travel through space itself to other Worlds throughout the entire Devildimension, due to being born from the carnage throughout said Dimension, where they could fight and conquer any world they chose to their fancy. These worlds were filled with countless Demons, races and other beings that these DPUs could fight, and those that fell to them were replaced with words that were filled to the brim with Demonic Forces. These Chaos Gods whom are worshipped by the Momus faction have followers across these worlds, followers who fight and fight in their name. DPUs met and destroyed many species during their era, earning their rights as the strongest warrior gods in existence.'

Now THAT made Nico take a double take. His eyes flew open wide with the implications that Histoire had just revealed to him. Countless Demons? Other worlds where DPUs overran and replaced with Demonic Forces? Well, guessed that answered a question he'd been wondering about. Back before this adventure began, he had wondered if there were other world and races besides Gamindustri. Worlds and races with varying cultures, technologies and ideals to their own. It looked like he had his answer in the form of a rather dark and gritty reality that Histoire had revealed to him.

Still, the more he learned about the DPUs, the more he began to despise the way they acted.

Yet, Nico couldn't help but the hypocrisy in that statement, since he himself had a love for battle within him. He was a warrior himself, so what made him any different from the DPUs of old? What separated them from him, the fact that they existed in different time periods? Don't make him laugh, no matter the period there would always be conflict. It was a fact, conflict was the greatest way to inspire progress, it was what drove Gamindustri forwards. Yet, it also has the cons of taking many innocent lives throughout the world, separating them from their loved ones forever. He himself had killed horrible criminals in his lifetime, but odds were that eve they had to have had SOME family. Be it a brother, sister, son or daughter, maybe even parents. To them, if they learned of the DPUs and him, they'd likely not even see a difference between them.

'Now stop yourself right there, young man.'

Once again, Nico jumped at the sound of a sharp, stern voice breaking him from his thoughts. That was Histoire's voice, but there was an edge to it that reminded him of that time when he saw a vision of her confronting Arfoire before they headed to Lastation. It cut off any and all forms of response from him, allowing Histoire to continue since she saw she had his attention.

'Do not think for a SECOND you are like those DPUs of old, young man. There are so many differences between you two that I cannot say them all. But I will name some: they have done horrendous things for their own pleasure, they only cared about their own desires. You didn't, you facing all those criminals saved lives, and even if you became more brutal as time passed nobody has the right to blame you. Anyone would have lost it like that if they saw what you did, in this case you should have been commended for your exploits not had them covered up like those cowards did. You may have a warrior's heart, but you also have a strong honorable code you follow. You keep your word when you make promises, you know the value of promises thus don't make them recklessly. You may be a DPU, but you are SIGNIFICANTLY better than they were. Never think you are anything less than good, you hear me?'

For a moment, Nico remained speechless, his eyes wide and shaking while his form quivered. The amount of passion, emotion raw and primal, in her tone completely blew him away, leaving no chance for him to quickly recover. There weren't many who considered him so highly, most people considered him the scum of the earth for what he did on a daily basis. Yet, Histoire just shot all of them out of the water. Then, he finally found enough of his voice to respond, though it came out as barely above a whisper. "… I guess, but I…"

'You think you are a monster yes? What's wrong with that? If anything, why should you be sorry for being what you are, when nobody apologises for making you into what you are?'

"?!"

'You may not believe it, but you have way more strength than most people would have. Most in your situation would have given up at this point, yet you are still here kicking. Your mother taught you well, the power of resolve is one of the greatest powers of all. You may think that you are a monster, Nico, but the real monsters are those who made you become this way. They are the ones who forced you to keep on fighting like this, they forced you to keep looking into that dark corrupt world, never letting you leave it. They are the ones who used you as a scape goat for their own cowardly actions. If anything, be glad of what you are, because you are a hell of a lot better than most of the, mind my language, utter fucktards that dare demean you when they do nothing themselves but sit in their cosy chairs and watch the world burn.'

'Whoa, there! Holy shit…!' Nico couldn't help but think to himself, completely taken aback. He had pegged Histoire as the kind of character who would remain profanity free the entire story here, but NOPE, this Histoire just swore for the first time ever. Yet, he couldn't even blame her either since she had likely learned of all the horrible things those people have done. Everyone had a limit, and it looked like Histoire had reached hers. Hell, he didn't even realize just how much his situation and condition affected the [World Tome], he had just thought she saw him as a means of helping Neptune free her with the Key Fragments.

He probably should have expected this from someone who had the world's history installed within her, though.

Yet, Nico couldn't deny how those words she spouted to him, out of frustration, sadness and anger, had a major impact on him. An impact greater than when a gong was being rung. Normally people would try to say that he wasn't a monster, that he was just like them a person who had their own problems to deal with. While that was sort of true, Histoire just added on that it was okay to be a Monster, because being a Monster seemed a hell of a lot better than being like those corrupt fuckers in power right now. She had told him that he wasn't the one at fault, that everything he'd done could be laid out over the feet of those who forced him to keep looking at that dark world.

Back before he met Compa again, Nico did remember a few times where he just had had enough, how he wanted to look away from that world for once, to stop acknowledging the darkness that he so plainly saw every day. To at least fool himself for a little bit in that there was still some light left in the world. One could say that he had been in a dark place those times, a place where few came out of. To that end, sometimes he would try to request some time off, however he was always denied with one reason or another. Reasons like the monster threat was too great or that the Agents would not be able to handle the workload he had. Yet, most of the time the male saw his colleagues, they didn't seem to be working much at all, just basking in the fame and glory of being a Spec Ops.

It was those times that he would be reminded of his place in this world, his place as a Watchdog for the Guild and the Basilicoms.

There was a reason why so many eyes were on him, why his exploits would be covered up after all.

Hell, Nico sometimes felt like some of his superiors were aware of his mental state, of how he had nightmares and hallucinations both visual and auditory. Of how he sometimes went to the more… extreme measures to cope with what he had to do. Yet, they didn't do a thing to help, not even allow him to have a doctor or get any psychiatric help. One time he had overheard several said officials talking to each other, and when the subject of his mind came up, they said the following words: An animal like him doesn't get to have any human help. If he goes insane, all the better they can just send him into a suicide mission where he would most likely die.

Showed how little they gave a fuck about him, huh?

Nico hadn't done much to change that because it all helped to keep his secret under wraps. Though he never blinded himself into thinking they cared about him. No, the shitty guys in power had their own reasons for keeping him around. They saw someone who could take out the scumbags of society in a manner that would keep the public from following the same footsteps, and they took it, using missions to mould him into the perfect hound for them, and he had no choice but to comply. A life as a dog was better than the other choice that had been offered him after all…

Returning to the present, Nico looked back into the void where he could sense Histoire's presence. Now that he thought about it, the more times that they talked, the more… well 'solid' the connection became. He would have asked about that, but enough pointless stuff had been asked already. "I… I guess. Anyways, I found out that apparently there are these things called Satanic Treasures, I think they are connected to the DPUs."

'You would be correct, Nico. The Satanic Treasures are indeed items that were forged by the DPUs as a means of diversifying their skills. They were highly sought after items, used often as prizes in their conflicts and tournaments in their Crucibles. Each Satanic Treasure is unique in its abilities, and they take on a variety of forms, such as firearms CQC weapons, armors, even accessories like that Red Ring of Rage you have. In a way, they function similar to Devil Arms as once they finds a wielder, they see if they are worthy before binding themselves to that wielder's being. There's only a few differences between them, one of them being that they would only be trinkets to those that are not worthy of their power, and another being that they are not sentient, thus they can be wielded by anyone with little side effects involved. Human, goddess, demon it does not matter. These items aren't picky about their wielders and do not discriminate. Thirdly, if one were to try and obtain another person's Satanic Treasure, then they would have to kill that wielder first.'

'Killing the wielder, huh…?' Nico thought, frowning while he took in what was being told, again. He was doing that a lot in this dream, but hey not like he was complaining. It felt nice to get information so readily like this, this way Nico could plan around them whenever he would encounter them. Heck, he could even possibly outfit his comrades with different Satanic Treasures if he found any, since they could add to their skill-sets depending on what they could do. Though, something about these made him think of the Bone that was attached to his leg. "These remind me of that Bone actually, the bone that's attached to my leg that lets me absorb enemy attacks and steal Skills."

'Ah, I see you are referring to Spirit Bones. Those are similar to Satanic Treasures, however they come from beasts and other beings that have existed for a fair amount of years, particularly over 100,000. These beings used to roam the Devildimension a lot during the Era of DPUs and were a great source of combat for those Warrior Gods. Whenever such a beast was found, it would be hunted by extremely eager DPUs wanting to prove themselves, and once they were killed a Bone would be left behind with specific Skills. Either one powerful Skill or several weaker Skills. The one that you have gained, according to its shape, likely came from a Boar Specter. What that creature's specifics are eluding me for now, but it is safe to say that the Bone has inherited its abilities. The chances of a Beast dropping a Spirit Bone is extremely rare back then. But the possibility of dropping a Spirit Bone does increase if the Spirit Beast feels huge amount of resentment before getting killed, dies willingly or if the Spirit Beast are grateful for their death. A person can use 6 Spirit Bones on 6 parts of the body, which cannot be overlapped. According to their importance they are: Chest Bone, Skull Bone, Left Arm Bone, Right Arm Bone, Left Leg Bone, and Right Leg Bone. A Spirit Bone cannot be removed from a person unless they are killed or amputated, much like Satanic Treasures.'

So THAT's what they are, then. Huh, those Spirit Bones definitely seemed like items worth picking up if he came across them. They had similar advantages to the Satanic Treasures, only it seemed that acquiring them isn't as easy as obtaining a Satanic Treasure. Hell, he got the image of Neptune carrying piles and piles of these items in her arms with wildly shaking legs, electing an amused chuckle from him. A bit of laughter felt quite good right now, took his thoughts away from his depressing situation with the Guild and Basilicoms.

Just then, the male began seeing white cracks slowly open up throughout the void, white rays of light starting to seep in. Nico knew what that meant, his subconscious was waking up from his dream, so with that in mind he hurriedly stood up and opened his mouth. "Thanks for the talk, Histoire, and for talking to us again. Its good to actually hear you're alright." He thanked her, smiling with gratitude even if he doubted she could see him right now. As the saying went, good help was hard to find, and he knew that all too well.

'You are very welcome. I will try to find out more on my end about the DPUs, but for now trust your Demon Personality as well as those fragmented memories it looks over.'

"?!"

* * *

Before Nico could ask Histoire what the heck she meant by those last few words, his eyes opened in the real world, the sight of the Hotel room's ceiling saying hello to his light blue orbs. A low groan escaped his lips as he, clad in his PJ's, sat up within the blankets of his bed, rolling his shoulders when the memories of what just happened returned to him. 'That Histoire… well, I guess she's the [World Tome] for a reason, if she knows that. I've only told MAGES. about the Devil Arms, and also if she knows about them then she likely knows everything I've learned thus far about the DPUs.' The redhead thought to himself, slowly calming his racing mind with a few deep breaths.

 **'It seems this Histoire is more perceptive than previously assumed, Nico. If she indeed knows stuff that we do not, then it would be wise to consult her more in the future.'**

Biko's voice echoed throughout the depths of his mind, filling his brain with their presence and re-establishing their regular link. Nico meanwhile, nodded his head in agreement, his thoughts mirroring that of his Demon Persona. 'Yeah, you said it. Almost lost it there, I have to admit. But still, Histoire did give us some pretty useful information about the DPU era. Makes me want to get some more reading done, honestly. Speaking of reading, its still a surprise that Noire did what she did for the reasons she told us, isn't it. Didn't expect her to regard Neptune so highly after everything.'

What Nico had referred to was him texting Noire not long after he had returned to the Hotel (and having just missed one of Compa's mealtimes to both his disappointment and relief). Apparently, she had decided that Lastation's forces alone were no longer enough to hold back the rowing threat of the Abnormals, that they were getting too wild to be contained in their territories any longer. The Military kept taking needless casualties while Lastation's Spec Ops Agents were getting more and more work poured onto them than necessary. She didn't want to lose any of them as their numbers weren't as numerous as the common military, though that wasn't to say she wanted the military to lose members either. She didn't want to lose either of them, but so far that was what had been happening. Not to mention there were strange rumours about cloaked men patrolling the streets of Lastation's settlements, making Nico frown when he had heard it. It seemed that the Overlord Momus faction was spreading its influence to the other Nations, not a good sign.

It honestly filled his being with pride for Lastation's CPU, as it showed that she was willing to throw aside her pride (though it had to hurt her more than she let on, due to how prideful she was), and request aid from Planeptune of all Nations. Though, he guessed Planeptune would have been the best choice technology and military wise, as it was the only other Nation with a similar level of both to her own Nation. Not trying to demean the other Nations though, they specialized in their own fields. However, at this point those Nations would have to step up their game if they wanted to keep what territory they have left.

 **'You do recall that she referred to you as well, Nico, not just Neptune.'**

'Meh, by this point my involvement will have been suppressed by the higher ups. I doubt Noire would have went against them, even if I was her friend. She has her own Nation to regain the trust of, after all.'

With that in mind, Nico flung the covers off his bed and swung his legs over to the side, making to stand up when he looked down at his right hand. When he did that, flashes of memory went by his mind like a quickly flashing camera show, memories of the times where he had, like he had stated in that dream chat with Histoire, tried more… extreme measures to cope with what he had done, with what he had to do. His eyes darkened with nostalgia, those memories coming back clearer and clearer until he could see them as clear as crystal.

He could see a blade, either Rebellion or a specialized knife meant just for him…

There was blood…

Pain, pain he focused on for only that was real, the only thing his life was full of…

The words monster, demon, freak, abomination appeared in his mind, carved in blood and torn flesh…

'No, stop it Nico…!' the teen quickly scolded himself, pushing back those dark thoughts along with the shadowy mist that threatened to consume his mind from within the deepest depths. He refused to fall tat low ever again, he couldn't not with the fact that he was in a Party. If he were alone, then it was a different story, however. 'This isn't like back then… this is NOT like back then…'

Within his mind, Biko could only frown in concern. His lack of emotions failed to suppress the concern he felt for the main aspect, especially with what he had learned about him from his childish self. The male's mind was much more broken, broken, unstable and chaotic than he could have ever anticipated. What he had gone through, both through his lost memories and those four years, did way more damage than Biko had expected, and it worried him greatly/. Nico may have incredibly strong willpower, but everyone had to have a limit somewhere. He severely hoped that Nico would not reach his, especially with the amount of power within him.

He could only hope that those girls could help Nico, that they could save him from the darkness that tears away at him every day.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy, Niiiiiiiiiiiiiickyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"H-Huh?!" Nico just had enough time to ask that while looking upwards… enough time to see the skin coloured blur with a side of lilac slam into him and knock him down onto the bed backfirst. He literally felt the air get knocked out of him from the collision, his mind whirling so fast that he feared he might have gotten more than a dozen dizzy spells from it. It was like getting hit dead on with a truck going at full speed in order to make a delivery on time, only it had arrived at its target destination far too fast and caused a traffic collision.

Casualty: one Spec Ops Agent.

"Oof!"

A loud grunt escaped the teen's lips when he fell, his arms reflexively wrapping round the human missile that rammed into Silo Nico. Once he had stopped bouncing on the bed (as well as stopped seeing many stars everywhere) the teen looked down at his chest while acknowledging the sensation of arms wrapped around him. "Ugh… N-Neptune?"

"Yeppers! Nicky gets a prize for guessing this lovable main character's name! Mwah!" Neptune exclaimed, beaming happily as she planted a kiss on his cheek. It was nothing much, just a quick peck, yet it turned Nico's cheeks a healthy shade of pink. She then resumed burying her head into his chest, rubbing it in while making some incoherent babbling sounds.

For a moment, Nico just remained there in a state of shock, bewilderment and confusion. That is, until his brain performed the necessary updates and restarted itself. Thus, he looked back down at her and simply asked her the most obvious question on his mind right now. "Ok what the hell, Neptune? What are you doing in here?"

Looking up at him, Neptune gave a pout, her cheeks puffy as her lips pursed. Made her look oh so freaking adorable. "Aw, I was just giving my hubby his good morning hug, ya know. Couples do this all the time." She told him, her eyes never leaving his and if he stared at them for too long he feared he might get diabetes from the cuteness.

He swore he heard of a few cases when that kind of thing ACTUALLY happened.

Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, Nico slowly made to sit up, putting his arms beside him on the bed for support. "Yeah well, you nearly knocked the soul out of me, Neptune, so could ya be a little more-" he began, before he noticed something… off about her. Something that nearly sent him reeling once again. "Uhhhh, Neptune, what are you wearing?"

"Ufufufufu, took ya long enough to notice, MASTER…" A cheeky giggle escaped Neptune's lips as she hopped off him (part of him swearing that there had been a cartoonish hopping sound accompanying her) and landed before him. She had her hands behind her back while leaning forwards slightly, showing Nico that… she was wearing a uniform.

That she was wearing a MAID uniform.

'What… the…?'

Shock didn't even begin to describe the emotions running rampant through him at this moment, as his eyes gazed upon her form with unsealed awe. Neptune's maid outfit looked incredibly well-tailored, and it fit her form quite well, showing off her curves in all the right places. The outfit reached down to her thighs in length, where he could see black stockings running up her legs to just beneath the skirt. On her feet, she wore stiletto heels, adding to her overall height. Around her neck was a black bow tie while the apron reached the same length as the dress. The frills looked incredibly well done, only adding to the maid look that Neptune apparently seemed to be going for. Lastly, she wore the headwear that every maid wore as a standard apparel. The end result was an outfit that didn't reveal much and instead left much to the imagination. Yet, it gave off a sense of professionalism and cuteness that could only be accomplished by someone like Neptune who had the body type for it.

All in all, she had him wrapped around her finger, and she knew it.

"Looks like you like what you see, Master…" Neptune cooed happily, doing a playful twirl so the male could see everything, and quitter literally, he aw EVERYTHING. Including the brief glimpse of her blue and white striped underwear, though he quickly averted his eyes afterwards. However, something in his gut told him that she had done that intentionally, and the way she smirked at him was all the proof he needed. Nico could only stare dully as he saw Neptune give a smug grin. Even in human form, that girl liked to tease the hell out of him… something that he knew for a while now.

Quickly and awkwardly trying to regain some face by clearing his throat, Nico decided to respond in the appropriate manner. "Wh-While I'll say that you look good in it…" he admitted and to his misfortune there was more than a little fluster on his face. He realized this the moment he began speaking, and judging by the smugness radiating from Neptune, he knew she saw it too. Neptune's smugness level has reached a level up! "My mind can't wrap around the 'how' in this situation."

"Well, we can answer that, Nico."

"Yup! Me and Iffy can tell you, Ni-Ni."

The sound of Compa and IF's voices made him look past the amnesiac Goddess to the door tot heir Hotel Room. Whatever composure he had regained though., quickly decided to 'fuck this shit' and quickly vacate the Nico corporate building with packed bags. His eyes almost exploded from the sight that was laid out before him, a sight that he probably would be the only person to see out of every guy in existence.

The entire female side of their Party… wearing maid uniforms.

Compa's outfit looked like a standard Maids with the skirt reaching her knees in length, a set of bare legs being seen within some low heels. She also had her outfit match her colours, as in instead of black it was the same colour as her sweater would have been. The C logo was still in her hair, right in front of her headwear while the headwear itself had a similar colour scheme. She had a circular tray in hand, holding it to her stomach with an expression that was a mix of both embarrassment and happiness. It definitely fit her form, and every combat instinct rushed to the forefront of Nico's control centre to stop the awakening hormonal side of him from gaining control. He was a fighter, a killer with piles upon piles of bodies under him, no some stupid teenager!

Meanwhile IF on the other hand… who boy, if there was some abnormality in the heating around here, Nico would definitely want to know about it as he struggled so desperately to stop his hands from tugging at his PJ top's collar. Sweat mildly rolled down his head as he did his best to keep himself from blushing up a storm. IF, in comparison to her two beaming friends, had her arms crossed and was looking to the side without even glancing at him. The woman had her outfit as black as it could be, followed by the whiteness of the apron and frills. However, she had changed the skirt slightly, as while I reached the same length as Compa's, hers seemed to have been outfitted with a frilly slit that went up the left side, showing off her leg and exposing the black boots that reached her knees. It projected an aura of maturity and sensuality that the other two girls didn't (they had the hole cute, innocent factor down pat though), and it definitely had an effect on the teenage male.

"IF… and Compa?!" Nico exclaimed, his composure now completely gone as he nearly fell off his bed in shock at the sight before him. Luckily, before he fell off the edge the teen had thrusted his arm out and made a makeshift flip. He'd also gone about kicking the covers away from him pre-motion and entered a back flip which ended with him landing on his own two feet. Once he was standing upright, the teen regarded them with an expression that clearly spoke 'what the heck am I looking at here?'

The brunette gave a sigh as she finally turned so her body completely faced him. "…I'm so done…" she whispered under her breath in resignation, before she opened her eyes and regarded Nico with exasperation. "You can blame Nep for this. Because you changed your look, she wanted to do something similar. She pestered me and Compa like an old nanny until we finally caved in… well, I caved in, Compa was all for it."

In the meantime, Compa did a similar twirl to Neptune just a few seconds ago, showing of the entirety of her maid outfit with a smile that could rival the sun with the amount of radiance it had. "Yessie, It sounded fun, and Nep-Nep has good taste! What do you think, Ni-Ni?" she asked him, before her timidness shone through as she looked down at the ground before her, moving so she had her index fingers free while holding the tray, and set about poking said fingers together. "Do we… do you like them…?"

For a moment, Nico remained silent as he stared at the three girls, his eyes screaming just how embarrassed, awestruck and in disbelief the male found himself in. His jaw opened and closed repeatedly, like a broken record, while his face had turned into a cherry in terms of redness. Not to mention how Compa gave him a hard stare as she leaned forwards, awaiting his response with baited breath and a determined expression on her face. Though, unintentionally this made her boobies jiggle slightly, which served to be the las straw from the teen.

… FAINT.

"Eh?!" Compa eeped when she saw Nico faint, IF rushing forwards to catch him by wrapping her arms around him. Quickly, she ran up to him kneeling beside him while IF placed his head in her lap, kneeling on the ground as well. "MN-Ni-Ni?! Are you alight? Please come back, do you need some bandages?" She exclaimed in a flustered manner, sweat flying off her as she tried her best to remain calm in this situation. It didn't help.

IF shook her head at her friend, sighing as she put her left hand on her temple. "Don't worry, Compa, he just fainted. The sight of us must have been too much for his brain to handle."

"Awww, Nicky's way ore innocent than he lets on, isn't he?" A sheepish Neptune giggled, the three girls now having kneeled around the unconscious male who had swirl marks for eyes. They swore they could see little chibi heads shaped like each of them circling over him, too. "Looks like he couldn't take all three of his cute little maids willing to extend 'any' service for him."

At the implications, Compa blushed in embarrassment (though she herself admitted to having such thoughts in her head) while IF rolled her eyes. "N-Nep-Nep, we can't do 'those' yet! There's a system we have to go through before that hot stuff happens!"

"Oh, don't you tell me you don't imagine it inside that soapy clean head of yours, my little Compa-poo. I see te way you looked at his chest just now."

"E-Eep! I-I don't know what you're saying, silly Nep-Nep!"

IF groaned at the two, though they didn't notice as Neptune set about teasing the flustered Nurse-In-Training to no end. Though in the end, she couldn't help but be relieved that Nico reacted that way. 'He doesn't have to hear about that bar fight…' she thought to herself, remembering how, while coming back from training Neptune had the random idea to go into a bar in the red-light district and start a bar fight there. Something about copying a film about a bouncer at a newly refurbished roadside bar who protects a small town in MICROSOFT from a corrupt businessman.

How Neptune's brain worked, she would never know.

* * *

The morning afterwards, Nico finally managed to recover from the... unexpected wake-up surprise for him, and their days went on as normal. Neptune went with IF to train (although she did try in vain to get Nico to join them, but after that maid outfit incident IF wasn't having it) while Compa went for her own training. She did say that she would be checking around for any bargains at the markets today though, and since Nico knew the number of markets in the area tracking her down to spend the rest of the day with his childhood friend after training wasn't impossible.

Most of the morning for the male Spec Ops Agent had been spent training and honing his various powers. His Spirit Bone and his Satanic Treasure were also added to the mix, but more on them later. What Nico focused on primarily, other than his hidden side since that side had already been retrained so that it had its past self's power again, was his Devil Arms. His weapons of which he fought with the most throughout this Journey with Neptune and the girls. Now, These weapons remained integral pieces of his being, they were practically irreplaceable both figuratively and literally. But, There had always been something bugging Nico about them ever since the end of the Hellverse incident.

He hadn't noticed it before, but there was always this tension within him, this tension that wasn't his own but that of his Devil Arms. It was like watching a group of cats hissing in warning to each other while having furious stare downs with each other, just seconds away from going berserk on each other's asses. It wasn't something Nico had noticed right away, but it had begun to be more prominent after the Hellverse incident, hell after the outing with Vert he could feel the tension between them even more now. It kind of worried him, as anything involving his Devil Arms was not something that he would take too lightly. They were his comrades on the battlefield, after all.

Fortunately, Biko had been able to take a look while Nico himself focused on training his other powers. In the end, he had identified the cause to be the Satanic Treasure inside of him, known as the Red Ring of rage. Nico mentally decided to refer to it as the Red Rage Ring from now on though. Apparently, its passive rage that it constantly radiated influenced his Devil Arms unintentionally, due to its rage being absorbed by the sentient weapons and promoting aggressive behavior. This aggression had always been present though, it had been there since the beginning.

According to Biko, a situation like Nico's where a wielder had more than a couple Devil Arms latched onto his soul was almost unheard of, both in current times and int he DPU era. The Devil Arms were powerful yet demanding tools of destruction, and thus they didn't like sharing hosts. There had been reported cases in the DPU era, according to Biko's research, where humans have been infused with Devil Arms made from willing Demons, only for them to implode in a nasty manner just seconds after their infusion. They were picky, very picky with their hosts and once they found worthy wielders they would usually try to hog them all to themselves. Selfish, but hey Demons were inherently selfish beings in the first place.

For Nico however, there was one thing that was different from them all, something that kept the Devil Arms within him in check, something that stopped them from running rampant and destroying him from the inside out. That something, according to his Demon Persona, was his WILLPOWER. Nico had obtained a lot of his Devil Arms through subjugation, aside from Absolution and Soul Edge (whom we'll get into later) which had been obtained either through the DPU transformation or defeating a Demon. Hell, he had found Harvester in a similar way to Rebellion and his first few Devil Arms, and it too had tried to kill him only to be subjugated by his will. His will, therefore, had been abnormally strong, stronger than what most people would have possessed. To control as many Devil Arms with as much ease as he did required extraordinary amounts of will, and to give a proper estimate think about having to move under several Gamindustri's worth of gravitational fields. The fields that keep people anchored to the planet. Each Devil Arm has hat kind of weight on the soul.

However, it is said that hardships make people stronger, and that is especially true for someone like Nico, as Biko theorized that the hardships that he had underwent in the past sharpened and strengthened his will to being what it was today. The last four to five years, and possibly those years that he couldn't remember, those hardships, ironically, were what empowered Nico to wield the power his sentient weapons provided.

Yeah... now its a bit clearer why Nico is able to use more than a few Devil Arms.

Thus, this resulted in this 'relationship' between the Devil Arms within Nico's soul. Biko had noted that they seemed to try and 'prove their worth' one could say tot their wielder. Like those harem anime where the girls fight each other for the MC's attention. However, this 'relationship' between the Devil Arms had gotten a bit more wacky thanks to the Red Rage Ring, as they kept absorbing its passive anger while it remained as part of Nico's form. Its was only thanks to Nico's willpower that the effects weren't as major as they could have been if the otherwise situation would have been the case where his will wasn't strong enough to keep them in line.

This had resulted in Nico hoping that other Satanic Treasures wouldn't be too much for him or his Devil Arms.

As for his Spirit Bone and Red Rage Ring, Nico's training with them improved his ability to use the former in active Combat, quickly activating the Bone to use one of its varied abilities. He could only do this with one of its Skills though, using all of them at once seemed to be beyond him for the time being. Not to be discouraged however, Nico took to this like a blacksmith reforging a rusted blade into a Katana with a fine edge, refining his Skill with using the Spirit Bone. Not to mention how he gained an appreciation for this item with how there was no risk of it taking over his being like other Demonic Weapons.

Then, there was the Red Rage Ring, and oh boy was that thing a beast. So far, he hadn't gotten the full grasp of using it in combat yet, this being due the amounts of raw, primal RAGE that would be released whenever he activated it. It was almost like him going into Berseker Mode all over again, only this time it felt much worse, like a thousand times worse. He wished he were indeed exaggerating about that, but NOPE, he wasn't. It almost felt like he was dealing with the combine rage of a thousand Khornate Demons at the same time, all in one severe explosion of untapped anger. Aside from its active trait, its passive traits weren't that much of an issue aside from the Devil Arms stuff (though Alastor seemed to genuinely like this rage now that he thought about it). The best he could do so far with it was restore his reserves, enhance certain Hellfire attacks with it, and use it to replace the feeling of pain whenever Biko cut him, outside of active combat. There were many uses for the feeling of rage, too many to create proper Skills or techniques for it, but be it known that Nico wasn't going to let that keep him from trying.

* * *

In current times, Nico held his hands in his pants pockets while walking over to a cafe he had seen. It was around midday, and he had some 'business' there that he had to attend to while Neptune and the others were training. His eyes shined with a predatory look to them, causing several passer-byes to glance his way with looks of uncertainty (men) and looks of interest (women). The way he moved stated a lot to the skilled observer, how his boots stomped on the ground with a slight edge to them, the way he looked so alert and on guard, the way he moved so slickly. It all indicated that he was moving with a purpose, an intention in mind instead of aimlessly.

Once he arrived at the Cafe, Nico looked it over to see if there were any signs of adversity about it. His eyes erratically glanced about, taking in how the Cafe had an outdoor area and an indoor one. It didn't look very packed, probably due to it being midday and people were either working in their jobs. There were few males compared to females though, and that possibly contributed to this information. There were places that were known for where men gather to socialize, and there were places where women gathered. This resulted in a gender-based divide between the Leanbox population, though if the Nobility-based culture of the Nation was anything to be believed then it wasn't really that surprising.

That was why when he entered the outside area of the cafe to make his way inside, women looked at him and began whispering amongst themselves.

"Look, a guy just entered."

"He doesn't look like he's from Leanbox, does he? From the looks of it, i'd say he's more of a soldier or a warrior from another Nation."

"Hey, he looks familiar... oh, right, I remember! Ladies, that's the guy from that incident at Lastation, and the one who got Stefan Von Kessal back to us."

"Eh? Interesting, I wonder what he's like..."

"Now that I look at him, he's actually pretty cute..."

"Agreed, he has this strong, reliable impression, and combined with his bad boy appearance..."

"Fufufufu, I wonder what he's like under the sheets."

Nico made it a point to ignore these comments, though the ones about him being cute nearly made him blush had he not come here for a specific purpose. Instead, Nico took in the interior as he made his way inside. The interior looked slightly more packed than the outside, but not by much, though he liked how 'homey' the place felt to him. There was this sense of closeness that many other establishments like this lacked.

Ashe made his way to the counter, a maid walked up to him, nearly breaking Nico's composure since the sight of a Maid made him think back to that incident with the girls. Not to mention that the uniforms here seemed to be the standard maid attire that populated Leanbox. The Maid herself looked to be in her later 20's, and she had blonde hair styled in twin-tails with green eyes. She carried a tray in her hands not so unlike how Compa had done, and judging by her walking style Nico assumed that she was both nervous to see to him, as well as slightly excited. "Welcome, master. Howe may we be of service to you?" she asked politely.

He could appreciate the professionalism, it helped keep him calm in light of what happened this morning. Not to mention that she wasn't one of the people gossiping about him right this moment either, so that helped a ton. Though, that did NOT mean that he didn't notice how she seemed to be hiding the fact that she was undressing him with her eyes, making a sense of discomfort rise within his chest. What the heck was up with these people, had they never seen a guy before? That was what he had wondered.

 **'I get the impression that they are acting like horny humans due to your appearance and demeanor. Apparently, females are drawn to those who are confident yet reliable. The fact that you have a punkish soldier feel to you is icing on the cake.'**

'That... makes more sense than it should. I guess guys aren't the only perverts in Gamindustri.'

Mentally, Nico sweat dropped at what he was noticing, yet didn't do much about it. For one, as long as they 'looked but don't touched' then he had no reason to retaliate, even if it didn't sit very well with him. Plus, maybe his preference to female company against males had something to do with it. Though he better answer the Maid's question before he looked even more like an idiot.

Just when he made to open his mouth to answer her...

"He's with me."

"?!"

Nico's eyes sharply widened when he heard a soft, yet firm, feminine voice not too far from him. He could NOT mistake that voice, with how dramatic and low the tones were, the way that it spoke, it could only be one person. Slightly angling his head to the side, Nico looked to see who had spoken along with the Maid, to see that a certain blue-haired, hat-wearing Mad Magician walk up to them.

'Holy, I did NOT expect to see HER again...!'

 **'Indeed...'**

"Oh! Very well, please enjoy your stay master." The Maid courteously replied, nodding to the male before walking off to serve other customers. She did eye him slightly longer than necessary though, and there was a slight sway to her hips too, though Nico tried and succeeded to not stare. Instead, he looked to the woman who had came to them with an eyebrow arched and a slight relief in his eyes. "Come, let us have a seat. I booked us one in advance."

* * *

The two did just that, walking over to a spot which was just beside a window which showed the outdoor part of the cafe. They took the two seats that were stationed there, sitting opposite of each other while the sounds of chatter rang abuzz around them. Nico didn't bother with it as much as he did before though, he found the person in front of him sitting with one leg crossed over the other, a staff leaning against the chair behind her, to be of far more interest than those gossipers. The way she was looking at him with that ever-intense stare in those blue eyes indicated she wasn't as bothered by the gossipers as he was, either.

This was the reason why Nico was here. While he had been training, he had received a message from an anonymous sender, telling him to meet them at the Co-ordinates that were specified beneath the message. Nico had tried to get in contact with them, hopefully to find out how they even GOT his number when he didn't even know them, but his attempts had been met with failure. None of this made Nico completely flip out, though he did vow to get the answers out of whoever messaged him by force or otherwise. Still, it alarmed him a little that someone even got his information without him knowing, hence why he vowed the way he had done. He'd looked up the co-ordinates after having his Hellfire heat himself up, burning away his sweat and any bacteria on his form, and found that they lead to this Cafe, which was why he headed here in the first place.

But, to think it was THIS person who did so...

"Its been a while, MAGES.. Good to see you again." Nico started, smirking slightly. That;s right, it was the Mad Magician herself who sat opposite him right now, the same girl he had repeatedly noted to get in contact with when he could to see if he could repay her in some way for helping him. Either through lunch or something else she wanted to do. Nico didn't like owing people, it made him feel like an inadequate person who couldn't pay his debts. Not someone he wanted to be, to set an example of in front of his comrades. But, to think that she would contact him while obtaining his information without his knowledge...

Before, he had been enraged though not to the point of flipping out. Now he was just curious as to how she did it. All the while, he had taken off his Trench Coat to put it over the chair, exposing the body Nico had underneath through his black shirt. It wasn't exactly intentional, but this allowed the onlookers to see what lay beneath his Coat, and believe you me they LIKED what they saw. The only reason why they did't gossip even more was the fact that the Trench Coat no longer hid the sight of Ebony and Ivory no more. Someone with two sexy ass guns like those would definitely not be someone worth antagonizing.

Apparently, there were some gun nuts in the Cafe, who knew?

Nodding to him, MAGES. leaned back against her Chair while responding to his words. "Indeed it has, old friend." she said with a slight upturning of her lips. "It is fortunate that the ladies of fate have seen fit to allow us another chance to cross paths. It appears destiny is at work here, for what purpose I do not yet understand."

Nico mentally rolled his eyes at the chuni side of the blunette coming out so early, but didn't comment. He honestly didn't find that side of her that unappealing, he actually liked it, found it quite humorous. Though he made sure to keep that to himself lest he make himself look like an idiot. "I can agree to that..." he began, trailing of as his eyes landed upon her Staff. "Looks like you switched out your Staff since I last saw you." He remarked, gesturing to the weapon leaning behind her with a nonchalance about him.

True to his word, MAGES. didn't possess the Staff she originally possessed. Instead of that Staff, she possessed what looked like a more... darker version, if that was possible. This new Staff had what looked like some form of head for a top with an unnaturally wide open mouth that showed a hole leading through it. Thing was, there was something about that Staff that just... called to him, or something. Like, this Staff was familiar to him yet not at the same time. Not the familiarity of an old friend returning, but rather he should recognize it from somewhere but for the life of him, he couldn't.

'Hey, Biko. You sense anything from that Staff?'

 **'... Unknown. I do not sense anything from it on the surface, but I am sensing that this Staff is not an ordinary one. Not one tat a mortal should be able to use, yet it appears that it is 'attached' to MAGES. here in a similar way that Soul Edge is to yourself.'**

Glancing over to the weapon, a look of melancholy flashed through MAGES.' eyes as she looked back to him, nodding in response. "You would be correct. This Staff, while I cannot say much due to... reasons." At this, she subtly gestured to their surroundings, and the male DPU nodded in understanding when his mind instantly figured it out. There were things about that Staff MAGES. refused to say because they weren't alone. Things that were best discussed in private. "I can say that this Staff is far superior to my old one... by a particularly overwhelming margin."

If he was any saner Nico would have sworn he felt a spike of energy, very FAMILIAR energy, erupt from the Staff. Though since it vanished before he could get a proper bead on it, he ignored it for the time being.

When MAGES. made to say more, the Maid from before came back to request their orders. Nico simply ordered some water with ice in it, while MAGES. ordered some Tea. Once that was done, the Maid left again, aiming a slightly less subtle look in Nico's direction.

"It appears things have not changed much for you also, young DEATHSTROKE." the Mad Magician remarked, having noticed this action out the corner of her eye. It seemed to her that Nico still had his luck (?) with the ladies. It was a wonder how he had managed to maintain his 'innocence' around so many females, a mystery she would like to solve as the Mad Magician. Such a task would be fitting and challenging as all hell for her. "You appear to still draw attention to yourself as much as before... though I believe that your new look is to blame for this." she stated, her lips upturning as she looked him over quick as hell so he wouldn't notice. The blunette had to admit that he rocked the bad boy look, and combined with his personality when on the battlefield like his sense for showing off at times (she once saw him thrust Rebellion into a Skeleton's chest while pulling its staff under his arm to stab several enemies behind him, then use the Staff as a helicopter blade) made for a complete package.

Oh she could imagine the internet memes posted by the fangirls already.

In response, Nico made an awkward expression, scratching the side of his jaw while glancing to the outside. In an effort to bring the conversation away from his 'apparent' girl problems, the teen decided to ask something that had been on his mind ever since the Hellverse incident. This, he considered more important than the whole contact details fiasco. His eyes flashed with concern, his earlier awkwardness vanishing as he put his arms on the table. "Say, I've been meaning to ask you, how is Tekken doing? I would have called sooner, but things have been hectic for me."

The moment that those words left his lips, MAGES. also became downcast, her eyes darkening as their gaze fell towards the ground. Even so, the amount of worry and angst he could see within those orbs of hers nearly made Nico break his composure to give her a well-deserved hug. "She's... doing alright for the most part..." she began, putting her hands together like a villainous mastermind on the table. Though, if one looked closer they would be able to see the way her hands clutched themselves like they were trying to crush each other. "I brought her to the Spec Ops in Planeptune. Leanbox has little in the ways of medical technology in comparison, and it isn't like Lastation or Lowee were viable options. One wasn't accessible, and the other was still undergoing repairs at their capital. She's currently under the care of one Helena Dawson, receiving treatment." she explained to him, doing her best to remain as calm and composed as she possibly could considering how much her friend must be suffering.

In a moment, Nico remained silent as he digested this information. This was news to him, and it did not bode well for when hey eventually would have to move continents for their main quest to find the Key Fragments. The fact that Lastation was still in repairing stages showed him just how bad it had been damaged by Avenir's actions, while he wondered why Lowee wasn't available for travel. Nonetheless, even if she could travel there it wouldn't have done Tekken any good since their tech level was similar to Leanbox's. Still, the thought that Tekken was with his mother of all people filled Nico with more relief than he could ever express alone, for even if she has her... quirks, once Helen set out to do something she did it no matter what it took.

Also, considering Tekken's possible 'helper'...

"Hey..." He began, reaching forth and placing a hand over his own. His hand, entrapped in the leather of his glove, smoothly wrapped itself around hers while rubbing circles over the back of her hands, providing a feeling of comfort to the distraught woman. He gave them a soft, comforting squeeze, making her look up to him to show her his sincere gaze. "The fact that you got her to help is more than enough, MAGES.. You don't need to think about what would have happened if you didn't, or what could happen in the future. Just know that you did what you could and take solace in that. I know its hard, worrying about your comrades is something that is natural for anyone to do no matter who they are or how long they've known each other for."

His words, conveyed with utter seriousness, broke through MAGES.' temporary depressed state of mind, allowing her eyes to slightly widen in surprise, before she eventually gave a slow nod. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down, shaking her head with one hand on the side of it. Nico pulled his own hand back, wary of keeping it where it was in case MAGES. viewed it as inappropriate (or anyone else, really), while he mentally smiled at how strong the blunette was trying to be. No, not trying, MAGES. definitely WAS strong, she hadn;t broken down and was still kicking ass to this day. Now THAT was something to be respected.

Once she looked adequately calm again, MAGES. looked over to the male and offered a small smile, gratitude shining from her being. "I must express gratitude once again, DEATHSTROKE. You seem to know what to say to make girls feel better." she remarked, chuckling afterwards with a hand closed into a fist over her bottom lip. Her next line held a slight bigger amount of mirth than her earlier words, as her eyes looked upon him like he was an interesting specimen for research. "I can see why so many girls are interested in you, as well as why Helen would give me your contact details, though I believe that the hands of lust may try to add myself to that collection."

Nico could only sweat drop at that, both at the fact that his adoptive mother was responsible for his near freak out (something that honestly didn't surprise him anymore at this point) and the running gag with his relations with the members of the opposite sex. 'Why do people always think that there are girls that like me? I'm not the only good looking guy around here, there's bound to be guys much more worthwhile than me...' he whined mentally. It really bugged him whenever people said that he was anything associated with a ladies man or something, no way was she like that. Nope, not him. He was a killer, and that was all he'dd ever be. 'Still, at least MAGES. is happy and smiling again... she looks way more beautiful when she smiles...' he thought to himself.

Then, he noticed her looking to the side, and with a slight tinge of red on her cheeks.

"... I said that last bit out loud, didn't I?"

"Indeed you did. You say you are not good with the ladies, yet your commentary indicates otherwise. Such an interesting specimen... I may have to conduct a thorough investigation on you and why you seem to do the opposite of what you say. Why that Helen woman tries to set you up with someone is beyond my comprehension."

This lead to him face faulting, both at his slip up and MAGES.' response. He would pointedly ignore the looks of 'aww' that were on the faces of the other customers, even some of the Maids looked like they were suffering from a mild eat stroke at the affectionate comment he had unintentionally gave to the Mad Magician. Though, that last bit caused him to quirk a brow in interest. "Then, what do you think of my mom, anyways?"

MAGES. hummed in thought, intrigue shining in her eyes as she recounted her experience with the WDD head. "She is your mother, then? I assume you mean adoptive, as you two look and act too different for a true family relation. In any case, she is a rather... eccentric woman, someone whom would take a while for most to get used to. Though I do hold her in extremely high regard, for she came to my aid when I asked a member of staff for assistance with my friend. Said staff member had been about to dismiss me to a local Planeptune hospital when she intervened, and brought me into the Spec Ops Section. Scared the hell out of that staff member, too."

That elected a chuckle as he could easily imagine a Basilicom Staff Member (even more so if it was the one from when they were getting permission to go to Lastation) wetting their pants under one of his mother's glares. "Ufufufu, I can imagine that. Funny thong though, the outright glares are actually her secondary tools. When she's smiling at you yet you feel like the grim reaper is upon you, THEN you're all kinds of screwed." Nico commented, chuckling as he remembered a few people who garnered Helen's wrath that much. Usually they were immature brats who thought that they could score a quickie with her even though she was married.

Idiots, they just don't learn.

DO. NOT. MESS. WITH. HELEN. Simple thing, right? Well, apparently not to the majority of the male population.

Before their conversation could continue, Nico and MAGES. looked sideways to see the Maid who took their order before, come back to their table and deposit their orders respectively. After a quick and polite thank you, she left and gave Nico more of a seductive smile, like a cat who had caught a canary. The redhead shuddered at that, and pointedly tried to push it to the back of his mind under the 'do not think about' section. All the while MAGES. watched on with amusement, nearly bursting into laughter at the awkward expressions that raced across Nico's face like Olympic athletes in the 100 meter dash.

Once she was gone again, the two resumed their conversation, well, MAGES. did when she said something that nearly made Nico do a spit take if it weren't for is willpower. "She also told me something else that occupies my thoughts to this day It appears that you and I were correct back in Hellverse, for Tekken does indeed possess a Devil Arm."

 **'Looks like we were correct then, Nico. It is not that surprising that this is indeed the case, but I am impressed that your mother seems to have identified this as a Devil Arm.'**

Mentally nodding at Biko's words, Nico spoke after a few seconds. Though this was directed to both the Mad Magician as well as his Demon Persona. "Not surprising, aside from yourself and me, mom is the only other person who knows about the existence of Devil Arms. Well, she knows what they are but not to the extent that I know of them. She was the one who brought me in after I returned with Rebellion and my other Devil Arms shortly after I became their wielder. She didn't let anyone near me and conducted tests herself. I was like a patient in a hospital, with mom as my nurse. She helped me identify what their natures were somewhat, though her knowledge pales in comparison to my own at this present time. She even helped me learn how to use them for long time periods without falling unconscious due to their strain."

"That sounds a lot like the woman I met that day." MAGES stated with a nod while taking in this information. She crossed her arms under her chest and leaned back on her seat, cupping her chin with an index finger and thumb. "She seemed to show awareness of the extent of Tekken's injuries significantly, more so than any normal person. It only makes sense now, if she has seen prior instances of Devil Arms at work." For any who are wondering, they had this discussion with lower than normal vocal tones, due to the nature of their conversation. They were in public after all, and if the wrong people heard what they were talking about, all sorts of trouble could potentially follow.

Then, she looked up at the time on a clock hanging up on the opposite wall. Her eyes widened when she saw the time, too. "Oh no, this cannot be!" she exclaimed, much to Nico's surprise.

"What is it?"

"I did not expect this talk to be so long or to be as engaging as it was. As it stands, I do not have much time." The Mad Magician muttered in a hushed voice, biting her thumb's nail while grasping her new Staff and putting it on her back. Even with the state they were in, Nico did still notice how the weapon seemed to attach itself to her a lot like his own Devil Arms.

In order to calm her down, Nico asked once more what was going on. "Is something wrong, MAGES.? Do you need to be somewhere?" he asked with concern flashing through his eyes.

Turning back to him, MAGES finally responded after calming her racing heart. She had temporarily forgotten that he was there for a moment, thanks to her sudden bout of panic. "Apologies for worrying you, DEATHSTROKE. There is a quest on the Guild I have had my eye on for a while, it is to wipe out a pack of bandits that have been causing trouble" She told him. "More importantly the reward is a full box set of high quality limited deluxe edition Doc P! Doc P that is ultra rare in this dimension!"

'Ah, so THAT's what this is about? Doc P?' Nico thought, sweat dropping as his earlier alertness vanished without a trace. Leave it to MAGES. to be worried about something like that. 'Well, she DOES have a fixation for that stuff, so I guess I can see why this Quest might be important to her. If something is rare then it ha more value, plus someone else might have taken the quest by the time she arrives to the Guild.'

 **'I do believe that she would appreciate it if you accompanied her, Nico. This can be good training for yourself in how to use the Red Rage Ring as well as the Spirit Bone.'**

'Agreed, and honestly I feel a little bad keeping her here. I'll limit myself to the Red Rage Ring, Spirit Bone and Harvester. How's that?'

 **'That is acceptable.'**

Before MAGES. could leave, she spotted the teenage male having put on his coat and started trailing behind her, his drink finished while the Credits were placed on the table. "I assume that, judging from your motions, you wish to accompany me?" she asked him, arching a brow. She didn't mind his company, to be honest. Nico had already more than proven to her his competence back at the Hellverse.

In response, the teen nodded with resolution. "Yeah, if that's alright with you. I'd rather like to repay you for helping me, and if this is somehow the way to do so, i'll do it." he replied firmly. He would do all he could to repay MAGES. for what she did for him, that he swore to himself many times before, and he swore it again right now.

MAGES. turned back to the cafe entrance, speaking calmly though thanks to her motions he couldn't see the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks. While she managed to keep her emotions mostly under control, this was the first time a guy actually volunteered to help her along with her search for her beloved drink. Her sensei, the one who taught her much about magic in the first place, had taught her to be wary of most guys save for the few that genuinely wanted to help her. She liked to think she had good instincts, and right now Nico was unknowingly passing her tests. "You do not need to worry about payment, however if it puts you at ease, then I will allow you to accompany me. Now, let us be off, for the limited deluxe edition of Doc P awaits us!"

Nodding at that, both MAGES. and Nico left the Cafe on their perilous quest for Doc P!

... Oh, who am I kidding?

* * *

Later at the beginning of the evening, Nico and MAGES. returned to Leanbox, having completed the Quest and thus received the reward the latter wanted. Nico had almost shuddered at how much MAGES. loved that drink, as she held the box of Doc P to her face, rubbing her cheek against it while whispering sweet things to it like it was alive. Nico started to see why she had the moniker 'The Mad Magician' at that moment, and strange enough a lot of people made it a point to ignore the possibly insane woman's ramblings as if it were the norm.

Once again, however, fighting alongside a Mage proved to be an... interesting experience. Especially with the power of that Staff at their side. MAGES. had called it 'Wabbajack' and told him that it was a rather unpredictable weapon with different effects every time she used it. When he had questioned her what it was exactly, she told him that she had little clue, that she only got it before she arrived in Leanbox after bringing the injured Tekken to the Hospital. She didn't exactly say what the actual circumstances were for her gaining the Staff, but Nico didn't press. It would remind her too much of how dire her friend's state was, and he didn't want that.

Though, none of this distracted them from the sheer absurdity of the Staff's powers. Apparently, Wabbajack had a wide set of abilities, abilities that proved superior to MAGES.' original spells. These abilities existed in several different categories:

Illusion - Manipulating the minds and state of the enemy.

Alteration - Magic that manipulates the fundamentals of physics and biology. Alteration is different to Illusion in that it alters the rules of nature, creating a reality that is recognized by everyone, rather than in the mind of the caster and the target.

Conjuration - The usage of Mana to create astral creatures that fought alongside her, as well as other objects like weapons and Armour.

Destruction - The mastery of spells that "harm living and nonliving things, and include elemental damage, draining, damaging, vulnerability, and disintegration magical effects.

Restoration - Abilities dedicated to healing injuries, diseases and other forms of blight.

Transformation - Wabbajack's true power, able to manipulate the enemy and transform them into anything the user desires. The crazier the better.

Overall, a rather deadly set of abilities, though MAGES told him (while she blew a huge stream of fire that didn't seem as hot as his Hellfire, but still hot, over the entire Bandit group to isolate them) that she could only use two of these categories: Destruction and Restoration. She only knew of the others because the weapon told her of them, making him attribute it to be akin to a Devil Arm, yet not at the same time.

When they had proceeded to make their return journey to MICROSOFT once more, both Nico and MAGES. got to know each other better by asking each other questions, nothing too personal just the basics. Like their likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies etc. Nico learned a lot about the Mad Magician, even though she was stuck in an alternate dimension, she had no desire to return to her own. As far as she was concerned, that dimension didn't exist to her because there was no more Doc P. If Tekken had remained there, then she would likely have tried to find a way back, as to her: friends were just as important as the drink of the chosen. MAGES. apparently liked inventing things like a microwave emitter, a radio-controlled mortar bomber, deadly floating chips that were controlled via headset, the works. As expected however, she did dislike the way things were in this Dimension, but as long as they didn't bother her, she wouldn't bother with them. Though that didn't mean that she wouldn't step in when injustice was being carried out in front of her, either.

He could get behind that.

Chatter would fill their atmosphere until they would reach MICROSOFT.

* * *

Right now, the two were walking back to the blunette's apartment that she had rented for the duration of her stay in Leanbox. The evening showed itself in the form of the night sky covered with a cloak of twinkling stars. No matter how many times he saw it, Nico always felt mesmerized by them. It was like they would try to suck him up to their level, bring him into the fold and make him one of them. Lulling him into their ever expanding mystery.

Looking over to MAGES., Nico became a witness to how joyful the Mad Magician looked when drinking a can of Doc P. Seriously,s he had '' like eyes while love hearts constantly popped in and out of existence over her head. She looked like she was lost in lala land too, making him wonder about how her love of Doc P came to be. It culminated within him up to a point where, eventually, he couldn't withhold his curiosity and had to ask her himself. "Say, MAGES..." he began to say, but she didn't respond. "Uhhhh, MAGES...?"

His second question was accompanied by a tapping on her shoulder with his index finger. This snapped her out of her trance to look at him, her eyes showing mild irritation for ruining her happiness, but she held back from scolding him. "What is it that you wish to inquire of me so much that you disturb my happy time?" she asked lowly, making Nico shudder slightly. Women were scary when mad, it must be a universal thing. He mentally shuddered when he got the mental image of every girl he knew giving him those glares of theirs at once.

That... sounded worse than anything he fought so far.

While making sure he kept his composure (Biko and IT helped him, showing a rare case of empathy or the main aspect), Nico responded. "Um, I-I was just wondering... what exactly made you like Doc P so much? I mean, there has to be some reason why you like it to the point of going across dimensions for it." The amount of affection MAGES. had for that particular drink sparked questions in his mind. There were dozens of different brands throughout Gamindustri, but MAGES. here apparently had a large fixation for ONE brand in particular. It was a quality contender along with Neptune and Pudding for the 'craziest addiction of the year' award.

During his question, MAGES. once again raised her drink to her lips, intending to suckle on its goodness some more. However, she stopped just seconds before she could do so when she heard his question fully, processing it in her mind. She lowered her drink again and looked at him in shock and surprise, like she didn't expect him to ask such a thing. Her expression actually reminded him of a deer being caught in the headlights for some reason, and it made him feel a pang of guilt spike inside of him.

"Uh, if its a personal thing I'll not pry any more, apologies for-"

"No, it is alright. You are not to be blamed for asking what many would call an efficient question." She interjected before he could finish. Lowering her drink and putting it back into her inventory, something that set off alarms in Nico's head as her entire demeanor took a nosedive into a pool of depression, MAGES. continued while looking like a kicked bunny rabbit. "Not... not many souls dare venture into that territory."

... Okay, seeing this right now made him more and more worried for her by the second. Whatever her love for Doc P was, it seemed to have a high amount of ties to her backstory, something in her past. Whatever that was, it must have been significant for her, and he may have just dug up some past traumas if what he was reading from her was any accurate. Great, he just HAD to open his damned gob, didn't he? Nice job, Nico! You are a freaking idiot! Those were the thoughts that the redhead carried within his mind right now.

Eventually, MAGES. looked up at him, and the amount of sadness he could see in her eyes nearly made him want to break character and give this woman a hug. Even if she was strong willed and an independent soul, the look she showed him right now just made him want to hug her, to apologize for bringing up bad memories and to tell her that she didn't need to tell him. Before he could do anything though, the blunette spoke. "When I was a little girl, my mother used to take me out a lot on shopping trips. She was a woman who liked to look at things and find out how they worked. She worked as a businesswoman, but she had the heart of a scientist. She always took me along for the ride when she had the chance, as my dad walked out on us when I was born."

'Great, another grade A asshole in the world, no wait, this happened in her dimension so that means assholes are well and truly EVERYWHERE!' Nico thought, doing his best to remain neutral-faced and not scowl like the Abnormals as well as the Demons that he fought on a daily basis. Seriously, assholes were everywhere he looked, couldn't they have more good people in the world?

Unaware of his thoughts, MAGES. continued her story. "One of mom's favorite drinks was Doc P, and she'd buy me one to sit down and drink with me. Mom always told me funny stories of her past life as a rebellious teenager to me, of how she would prank the hell out of people who do wrong by others. Of how she had been a little gremlin to those that knew her. Even when she had me, little about her really changed on that front, its where I get my mischievous nature from." she explained, chuckling bitterly. "Same with my love for magi and technology. My mom always told me to be proud of myself, to not let anything like rules or regulations get me down. To live life the way I wanted to live. For to live under someone else's thumb isn't to live at all. She followed that philosophy herself, it was why her parents tried to marry her off to my father, to try and rein her in and make her obedient."

"Well, that obviously backfired." Nico remarked, slightly smirking though his eyes didn't match his smile.

MAGES. didn't care though, as she actually agreed with him if the smile on her lips was anything to go by. "You'd be correct, so much so that her parents disowned her, not wanting to have anything to do with the 'wildcard' as they called her. Mom didn't show it, but she definitely felt the 'loss' of her family every day, though it got better once she had me. She and I were an ordinary, loving family. She'd take care of me like I was the last person on earth, she'd spend entire nights watching cartoons with me, cartoons about magical girls or anything I wanted. She made sure I was well looked after, well cared for and well loved. Many men vied for her attention, but she never let them anywhere near her in favor of looking after me."

The look on her face right now, it was one of a mix between melancholy and nostalgia, yet the smile on her lips was the most genuine smile he had ever seen from her. Nico doubted she had ever showed this smile to many people, if at all. The only person he could think of that would have seen this smile would have been Tekken herself, though he wasn't certain on that one. Yet that smile... it was also one of the saddest smiles Nico had ever seen, way up there with the self-deprecating bullshit that IF spouted to him after the Hellverse incident.

That sadness soon quickly took over her though, as her lips twisted into an ugly frown, mixed with an angry fire in her blue orbs. "But then, when I was 10, my'father'..." she spat the name 'father' with so much hate that if it were a poison Nico doubted that many would have survived it. "Decided to walk back into our lives when mom and I were enjoying some savory treats from a bakery. He tried to get mom to take him back, that he wanted to be with her and me, but mom saw through that lie. She was one of the wisest souls this Magician ever knew, after all, well experienced in reading people. And she saw nothing but fake kindness in my father the moment she laid eyes on him after 10 years. Thus she refused, saying that she wouldn't go near him even with a 20 foot pole."

'Guess he didn't take that very well...' Nico thought to himself, feeling Biko agree with him. His white self had vanished into the back of his mind again, not bothering with this conversation. If he were to guess, this 'mushy bullshit' was too much for him to take. His white self was a jerk that way, but n another way he only cared about the three of them. They were one being after all, and if one of them went then they would all go. That was why he wanted to be in the main seat of power instead of Nico, but he would never allow that to happen not in a million years.

"As you might assume, he didn't take that too well. A week later when me and mom were walking home from a trip to one of the Parks, we crossed a road when the traffic lights showed themselves as red, indicating it was safe to cross. But, one driver obviously didn't get the memo, because he rammed right into us. He was a drunk driver, reportedly, and died upon impact. He wasn't alone though, because mom had pulled me within her embrace and used her body to shield me from the impact. She probably could have gotten us both out of there, but she had panicked and did what any mom should do. But, in the end, it costed her, her life and left me as the only survivor."

Now Nico got the picture His hands clenched into fists, almost whitening under his leather gloves. His teeth gnashed together as he almost felt his Hellfire erupt beneath his skin. It was only through sheer willpower that he was able to hold his powers back from burning this entire street to ashes. "Let me guess, that drunk driver was someone hired by your father to 'dispose' of your mother as a means of revenge against her for her rejection."

MAGES. nodded, this time laughing out loud. "Once again, your deduction is dead on the money, DEATHSTROKE. My so called 'father' was actually one of my mother's business rivals, and their marriage would have resulted in their corporations becoming one. The marriage deal however, stated that his company would absorb hers so that his staff would have control over the rest, that his company would be the dominant section of the fused business. Obviously, he didn't realize just how stubborn my mom was, and thus staged her death to make it look like an accident. He didn't bother adopting me, he just declared me as a bastard child that she had with some random person on the street, and you know what? the authorities believed him."

"You don't need to say any more, MAGES." Nico sharply interjected, causing her to look towards him. It was a good thing they were alone, because she looked like she was about to fall apart. He didn't like this, not one bit. While he did not know this girl as well as he did the others, at this point he didn't care. She just told him something that was considered quite personal about her, opening up to him when she didn't even know much about him. "I get the picture. I can see why you live the way you do, now. You live by your own rules, your own choices and your own wants. You don't let others tie you down, and you follow in your mother's footsteps. No matter how much your so called 'father'" he spat that last bit with just as much hate as MAGES. did earlier. "Tried to mess you up, you kept going. You clawed your way out of that depressing time, refusing to let that scumbag have the satisfaction of breaking you, which in turn resulted in the you of today."

Looking at him now in nothing bu shock, MAGES. couldn't help but stare in awe at how Nico had guessed what happened afterwards right. His deduction skills seemed to be much scarier than she had originally anticipated if he was able to guess all that from what she had told him. His eyes, nearly blazing by pure rage, seemed to illuminate the darkness around them like a bonfire, just nigh of erupting into that Hellfire that he commanded. Part of her wondered why she had told someone who was practically a stranger to her all this. It wasn't like they knew each other very long, or as well as the other girls. But then again, maybe that was why,that because he was a stranger it somehow made it easier to talk to him about these things.

It also helped that he was a good listener.

Eventually, the Mad Magician gave a small nod, indicating how correct he was. Though, if she thought Nico had exhausted all is surprises for her, then she got a rude awakening when he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting gaze. "I can;t say I completely understand what you feel, but I can say I can somewhat relate. I don't know what happened to my parents, go partial amnesia over here. There's a part o my memories I can;t recall, but in that gap they must have done something because my next point of remembrance doesn't show them anywhere in my life. Whether they died or abandoned me, I don't know, but in the end I'e lost them either way, so I can somewhat relate to your circumstances, MAGES."

Said blunette remained stunned as he told her this information. Information that his entire party knew by the way, IF having learned of it shortly before they cam to Leanbox in search of its Key Fragment, before they got caught up in this political mess. "So, if you ever want to talk to someone, if you need someone to vent your frustrations on, let me help. I'll listen to your problems, and if I can, I'll help you deal with them. If you don't want my help, I'll stay back, but I'll support you when needed. You're a strong woman, MAGES., and I refuse to accept you as anything less. To do so would demean both yourself and the struggles you went through to make it this far. I';m sure that, wherever she is, your mother is VERY proud of you, proud of the woman you've become. I know I would have been if I were in her shoes."

'DAAAAAAAAAAMN, KING! YOU PULLING OUT THEM PLAYS, AREN'T YA? YA THINKING OF TAKING ANOTHER SLUTTY BITCH'S HEART, EH? WHELP, CHALK ANOTHER TO THE LIST OF BITCHES I INTEND TO TAKE WHEN I REIGN SUPREME!'

'One: That is fucking disgusting. Two: like i'll let that happen, and THREE: I am NOT playing with her heart, you fucking retard! I'm being 100% honest! If she doesn't believe me i'll fucking give her my word as DEATHSTROKE! Fuck it, i'll swear it anyways!' Nico hotly replied to his white self's vulgar comments with utmost ferocity. There was no way he'd be an asshole like that and toy with MAGES.' feelings like that,, no way no how. Not when he can somewhat relate to what she went through.

Through this mental argument, Nico missed how MAGES. had turned herself away from him, his hand leaving her shoulder while she used her hair and hat to hide how utterly red her face became from the way he worded his response to her. She could feel her heartbeat getting irregular, blood rushing to her face and turning it into the shade of a tomato. She clutched the clothing on her chest as if that would help stem her thundering heartbeat. "... You have my gratitude, DEATHSTROKE... no, Nico."

"Huh? What was that, I didn't-"

HUG

Whatever the redhead made to say got cut off when MAGES. slammed into him, engulfing him in a hug with her head buried into his chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist, not unlike that time when he rescued her from almost going to the Devildimension (or the 'Demon World' as he had thought it was called back then). Of course, Nico did NOT expect this to happen either, yet even so his instincts reacted and he hugged her back, burying his head into her shoulder. Nico may e someone who restrained himself whenever it cam to hormones and physical attraction (though several times this restriction gave in under pressure) but when a girl hugged him like this whatever reluctance he had always crumbled to nothingness. He LOVED a nice hug, more than that he loved the affection behind the hugs. Hugs were a great source of comfort in his book, and Nico doubted there were many who thought otherwise.

On MAGES. end, the Mad Magician savored this contact just as much as the Spec Ops Agent did. She relished the feeling of being hugged by someone, the feeling of affection and warmth that filled her being right now reminded her so much of her beloved mother. It nearly broke her defenses, but MAGES. would not allow herself to cry. She hadn't the time nor care to cry, yet she absolutely ADORED the way that Nico hugged her. He probably didn't realize it, but he had skills in hugging just as much as his luck with the ladies. Whoever ended up getting his heart would have a lifetime of hugs to look forward to, that's for sure.

At first, when she met him in Lastation, MAGES. didn't really think much of him beyond simple curiosity and interest. She had deduced him to be a thoughtful, competent Agent of the Guild who served as the Party's backbone, the hidden leader who would come into the spotlight only when needed. When he showed her information on where to find Doc P, she quickly registered him as one of her confidants, someone she formed a bond with out of mutual desires and interest. Her need for information on Doc P and his need for information in general. It was a fair deal, and he had held up his end of the bargain. Something that was admittedly rare these days.

It was only during the Hellverse incident that she REALLY got to see what kind of person he was. The way he fought like a wild animal, tearing apart those that stood in his way in order to get close and closer to regrouping with one of his captured comrades, all the while making sure that herself and Tekken were well looked after, it spoke to her. It showed that even if he didn't know them, the fact that he held them so highly indicated that he knew good comrades when he saw them, as well as knew how valuable and rare they were. His Skill on the battlefield with those 'Devil Arms' of his (a subject she honestly didn't feel too comfortable about, she'll be honest) clearly showed that he was a veteran on the field of battle, and that he had no qualms with viciously ripping his prey to pieces in order to reach his comrades. Be it human or monster, it didn't matter, nothing would stop him from rejoining his Comrades. Plus, the consideration he showed for her and Tekken like when the latter suffered a nervous breakdown from all the undead roaming about or when she had queried to him about Tekken's possible (now confirmed) Devil Arm, raised points by more than a large margin.

Then there was the way he saved her from falling into the Demon World.

The way he jumped down for her without hesitation, no signs of reluctance at all as he skydived towards her with the intent on preventing her from experiencing a fate nobody should ever have to go through... it touched her on more than a few levels. The way he risk his life for her like a knight in shining Armour, though in hindsight that was NOT what he was, was like a breath of fresh air to her. MAGES. had seen many men in her lifetime and all of them were NOTHING she would like to associate herself with. She had seen liars, cheaters, thugs and all around bad men with few exceptions. Literally she could count those exceptions on one hand. Not to mention his... more than considerable amount of restraint.

She knew that she was attractive, there were WAY too many guys who made vulgar or perverse comments either to her face or when they thought she wouldn't hear them. Though, she always did, not like she let it bother her, since she only had eyes for her Doc P addiction as well as he sensei's teachings when he took her under his wing. Yet, in contrast Nico barely made many comments like that, preferring to let his body do the talking for him. No, that wasn't quite right, it was more like he would refuse to let any perverted thoughts distract him from what was truly important. Case in point, when he tensed as she wrapped her legs around him back in the Hellverse. She didn't show it at the time thanks to their situation, but afterwards was a different story, how embarrassed she felt inside at allowing a stranger to feel so much of her body, yet she couldn't help the gratitude that she felt towards him for not commenting about it. Though, part of her, the womanly part of her, had felt slightly annoyed that he didn't say anything.

After the whole incident had passed, MAGES. had decided to conduct some research on him after she got her sole friend Tekken to his apparent adoptive mother. She looked up his profile, searched or records over the internet, among other things. She learned of his low standing amongst his peers even though his Quest record was quite high, impressively so. With the types of beasts he had defeated, MAGES. had been surprised that he was ranked so low, so much so that it didn't make sense. Nico should be more well-known than he was, especially with his hand in various incidents across Gamindustri, but the official documents don't label his involvement as anything major, passing on the credit to another person involved with the case. When it was just him, though, MAGES. found that they would make a fabrication up to keep him on the down low, not letting him get the credit he deserved.

Nico may not be a saint (with the amount of human quests and his reputation she could say this with surety) but the way he was treated by his peers pushed her buttons horrendously. She very nearly wanted to unleash some forbidden Spells her sensei taught her to pay those foolish officials back, but held herself at bay. It would do no good in the long run anyways, no matter how much she wanted to. Plus, her sensei taught her those spells only so she could use them in case of emergencies. MAGES. did NOT like how he was treated, not one bit. Even if he was somewhat brutal in his killing, it wasn't like his human victims didn't deserve it either. In the end, he was a morally grey character yet with a strong sense of honor and justice that was rare in today's society.

It... was more than a little attractive.

* * *

The hug lasted for what seemed like forever, until the two finally parted, MAGES stepping back without looking at the redhead teen who looked up and saw that there was a hotel near them. 'Huh... looks like we've arrived.' Nico thought to himself, a pang of disappointment and reluctance exploding within his chest. He wanted to spend a little longer with MAGES. hugging hr, talking to her, he really enjoyed her company. She was a great form of conversation, she didn't flinch when he got gory when discussing his killings, and he felt like he could be... well, free around her. But still, like all good things they must some to an end. "Whelp, here we are."

Looking in the direction he had glanced at, MAGES. saw that he was indeed right, a frown forming on her lips. Like Nico, she too wanted to spend more time with him, he was just that interesting to talk to, and he gave great hugs. Growing up without her mother for the past 11 or so years (yes she was 21, though she didn't look it) made her rather addicted to good hugs, and Nico gave those in spades. "Indeed, this is my hotel..." she said reluctantly, stepping towards it before turning back to him. "Are you sure you will not be able to stay?"

"Sorry, but I can't..." Nico replied sadly, shaking his head as he pocketed his hands inside his black pants. "The others in my Party will have returned from training by now, so I can't let em get worried about me. Already did that once, don't wanna do it again." he replied, making MAGES. quirk a brow in curiosity and interest. Another thing she liked about him, the loyalty he showed to his Party. Nico valued comradeship, he valued people whom he could trust because they were so rare in the world. That, she could totally get behind.

A disappointed sigh escaped her lips at this, but she nodded in understanding. Nico did belong to a Party after all, and it was his responsibility to be there for them. Everyone had a responsibility when in a party, Nico wasn't any different. "I see... well, I'll see you at the Gala, then."

"Huh? Wait, what?"

"Oh, I must have neglected to mention." She began, realizing when she saw his look of disbelief that she hadn't told him yet. "Mr Von Kessel has extended me n invitation to the Gala in a few months time. I suspect he did for you as well, since we were the ones whom alongside IF and Tekken, broke him free from Maghda's clutches." she explained, getting an understanding 'oooh' from him. It was this topic that lead her to an idea. Even though they were parting ways now, it didn't mean they couldn't hang out before and after the Gala. With that, MAGES. smirked as she pulled her Phone out and typed a few keys.

'Huh? What's MAGES do-'

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

Looking down at his right Bracer, Nico noticed a message Icon on its interface. His eyes widened when his mind clicked, realization dawning on him while his unasked questions got answered by the blunette. "I have sent you my contact details." she told him, his disbelief blinding him to how she shuffled on her heels while fidgeting with her hands. "Since... since I have yours... it-its only fair that you have m-m-mine..." she stammered, her face getting redder and redder by the second.

'OOOOOOOOOOOHH, LOOKS LIKE YA GOT A GAL'S NUMBER, KING! LOOKS LIKE ITS TRUE, YOU'VE BEEN GETTING GAME!'

'Shut it, you!'

Goddammit, Nico cursed mentally while trying his best to not look like a human tomato, why the hell did people always tease him when it came to girls? It was unfair, dammit! Why couldn't they just lay off for one moment, why dammit?! The only solace that he had was that apparently MAGES. looked as embarrassed as he did. Probably due to having to give him her number. After all, he wasn't someone she knew very well, so why should she have wasted her time giving him her number? That was what he thought, anyways.

CHU!

Apparently he had been so into his thoughts that his senses got dulled for a brief moment, because MAGES. had used this opportunity to make a move that he did NOT expect her to do. That was to move towards him and plant her lips on his left cheek, a hand on his chest feeling his heartbeat almost skip a few said beats. The contact lasted only a few seconds, but to him it felt like an eternity before she pulled back at last. She then quickly gave him a short, quick goodbye before she sprinted inside the hotel. Was it just him, or were there steam clouds coming out her head?

Nah, he must have been imagining things.

Turning on his heels, like an unresponsive drone Nico began his trek back to the hotel.

* * *

After checking in with a surprised Receptionist, MAGES. made a beeline for her room and slammed the door behind her. Heavy pants escaped her, her lungs begging and burning as they took in as much air as they possibly could. Almost like they had been denied air all their lives. The blunette sweated from her forehead, her palms and anywhere else capable of producing it, making part of her suggest to take a shower. Yet, she couldn't think about that right now, her mind was to preoccupied by more important matters.

Namely, the kiss she gave to Nico's cheeks.

Whatever the reasons why she did that were irrelevant to her, as their effects on her were what she REALLY focused on. She had never felt so uncomfortably yet comfortably hot before, neither did she feel this butterfly sensation in her gut. Her face had no signs of her fair skin tone, nor did she have her usual calm, knowing demeanor either. She felt no mischievousness, instead she felt like a shy schoolgirl having done something that she had never done before. She felt pain and yet also felt pleasure, rendering her a bonafied hot mess.

'Wha-wha-wha... what the heck?! What is THIS...?!' MAGES. exclaimed in her mind, stunned at herself for acting this way. Not to mention the urge to squeal into something right now was so powerful it nearly broke through her defenses. This wasn't the first time she had been kissed, there was a time when she had attended University in her home dimension. After her mother's passing, she had inherited a large sum of money from her due to being her sole child. Her company would be operated by her mom's second in command till she became of age to take the reins instead, but things didn't go the way they wanted. In any case, she had used the funds for her schooling, completing high-school and college in record time thanks to her intelligence being greater than most kids her age. She had always been smart, ahead of her classes even as a child. Her mom had recognized this and gave her extra lessons so she could skip grades when necessary.

Anyways, back to the university thing. One of her fellow colleagues back then had asked her out back then, and after a few dates that weren't very entertaining, it lead to the more... intimate stuff that couples usually do. He was the one to instigate it, along with everything else, she had just responded to it. She didn't do much herself, if anything at all, and he had treated her as a trophy girl anyways. The sex didn't feel too good for her either, and afterwards the student broke it off with her, saying that he was only interested in banging her and nothing else. How he didn't want a serious relationship. It stung, but not as much as it would have if she actually cared for him. Then again, it was her first time entering a relationship with someone, and nothing she could do would have changed that. Now she knew what to look out for if a guy ever tried again.

THIS however... this felt much more powerful, much more meaningful... because she had INSTIGATED it. She had started things off this time and not the other way around.

Though, unlike most girls her age, MAGES. quickly focused on what happened, replaying the situation in her mind and replicating everything she felt at the moment of the kiss. She wasn't an easy girl, as after that university boyfriend incident she never accepted any offers to go on a date from anyone. Plus, she had her mom's teachings to fall back on, one of them being about how she would know if someone was worth pursuing romantically. The way her body responded to those thoughts now...

A small, wry giggle escaped the woman's lips.

"It appears that the claws and fangs of lust have indeed ensnared me... and I never even realized it..." she muttered to herself, chucking despite the extreme embarrassment rushing through her. If she were not alone then she would probably break her current demeanor and become a shy, meek woman who just discovered her first crush.

Cause that was DEFINITELY what these feelings felt like to her at the moment.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Another LONG chapter, guys! This one being about MAGES. herself! Yay, she's back in Leanbox! Believe me, this will be important for the plot, and don't worry I have plans for Tekken, too.**

 **Anyways, regarding MAGES. backstory, I know it seems a bit early compared to the other romances going on, but hear me out. MAGES. is someone I see who is quick to realize things and also quick to get close to someone. Not just romantically, she is quick to make friends with those that can stand her chuni habits. She is someone who is also very intelligent due to her inventing all these crazy inventions, so it would make sense if she has at some point gone through university.**

 **As for the cheesy dead mother backstory, i'll admit it is also a bit cheesy, but if you look at the past chapters I've done, most of it is high paced action and combat with undertones of bond building between Nico and the girls. I think a lot of people will agree that a change of pace will be a refreshing sight to see for many viewers, plus it shows Nico's more innocent and meek demeanor, as well as his fucked up mental state. Believe me, when his full backstory finally comes to light, everything about him WILL make sense.**

 **In addition, MAGES. getting close to him so quickly may not seem all that natural compared to the other romances, but think how many chapters has it been since MAGES. and Nico first met? More than a few, and it has been established that she has done her homework about him and formed her own theories, thus ending up with her in a similar position to IF. Also, due to being an inventor and a chuni, it is likely that MAGES. has limited experience with actual romance, the whole uni boyfriend thing was just a way to make a comparison between what she feels now compared to back then. Also, if i'm not mistaken there are those who quickly get close to others for their own reasons, and I feel like this path oddly fits for someone like MAGES.**

 **Any more questions, PM or review, guys! Review, fav, follow cause they keep me going: ;)**

 **Peace out!**


	116. Chapter 113 - Boy Band Goodness!

**Chapter 113 - Boy Band Goodness!**

This was quite possibly one of the hardest choices she had ever made, this was what one Leanbox CPU thought to herself. The blonde buxom woman sat not on her bed, but at a small Desk that seemed relatively unused compared to the rest of the objects in her room. Unlike everything else, this Desk was more for CPU work, the woman having ordered I in not long after her 'problem' began so she could at least do SOMETHING to keep her Nation from collapsing in on itself. Even though it would only be little things due to her current situation, though with the recent acquirement of Gungnir, much of her problem had already been solved.

Much to her pleasure.

But, after she had parted ways with her in-game potential husband, she had come to a rather difficult decision, one which rivaled that of the decision she made to isolate herself from the rest of the Nation. With the way Leanbox was headed, it would only be a matter of time before the rest of its territories, settlements and eventually the Capital fall under hostile aggression. Be it from the Abnormals, Maghda, or the forces of Chaos from the Overlord Momus faction. Hell, maybe even these rumored men in red which have been sighted more and more recently engaging in random bloody conflicts with these 'warbands' that have been appearing from seemingly nowhere.

However, that was the consensus of the general public. To someone like her, a CPU whose senses picked things up differently to them, she had a whole different viewpoint to the rest of humanity. She was sure that, should they start showing up at the other Nations, the rest of the CPUs would sense them too. Their senses were amplified whenever they were within their own nations after all, as well as when they were in Celestia. They called this perk the 'Divine Blessing', and while Vert remained in Leanbox, she ha d her Divine Blessing active even with her situation.

This Divine Blessing was what allowed her to see what was REALLY happening throughout her Nation, how these forces of Chaos from the Overlord Momus Faction constructed these demonic Hellgates, tall imposing structures that functioned as portals, portals to a place where her senses picked up nothing but foul, twisted energies that warped the very fabric of reality itself. It made her shudder just thinking about what she had sensed. It was these portals from which the men in red came from, small in number but immensely deadly warriors in combat. Able to defeat entire armies of trained Agents and soldiers by themselves like the foundations of war were their blood, their livelihood. This was also where these strange Abnormals came from, well, the stranger ones that kept going n about blood and the 'skull throne'.

It made more chills crawl down her spine at the mention of it, unparalleled fear rushing through her being like cold ice wrapping around every one of her insides.

Aside from them, Vert held great worry about Maghda as well, she had learned of her through looking into the Spec Ops Archives, she had tried to look into the archives of the Basilicom, but information there had been scarce. Nothing but mentions of her name in folklore, myths and legends. Almost like her own people tried to wipe Maghda's existence from history, which was enough cause to worry alone. What she had learned from the Spec Ops community though only added to those worries.

Her new insight to Maghda thanks to their records on New Tristram had been a MAJOR eye opener for her as well as a solid hammer that went to town on the fact of the matters in her brain: the facts that A: she was no longer capable of protecting her nation on her own anymore, and B: they were all in for a whole new league of trouble if these monstrous, insidious beings were anything to go by.

This, adding to the already stressful situation on her shoulders, made Vert want to seek out some time to herself, yet the Basilicom which had served as her sanctuary had then become a cage, a cage of thorns of which she could stand no longer. Thus, her sneaking out became inevitable.

Running into the one person she could trust amongst all others, aside from the select few who knew about her secret, was like a breath of fresh air to her, a light that shined brightly in the dark, dreary and bleak world she had found herself in. Then, when she found herself accompanying Nico on a quest where she would then receive Gungnir as a reward, it had almost been like the answer to her problems.

Gungnir… just the very thought of her new weapon brought a big smile onto Vert's lips, a smile of unrestrained glee that she had reserved only for when she played her Naked Butler games. That weapon practically saved her, it was even more amazing than she had first thought when she first picked it up. Not only did it possess the abilities she had mentioned, but it had what she had dubbed a 'Share Core' which was a special core that constantly generated Share Energy, the very lifeblood of the CPUs. They needed these Shares to maintain their strength and their own existence, without it not only would they become powerless, but they would soon die like wilting flowers out in the scorching desert sun.

This Share Core could act as a… substitute for her, at least until her problem got resolved. Not only that, but not long after she had gained Gungnir, she had found herself facing off against those strange red creatures, and when she had her Gungnir touch their flesh t practically melted their flesh from their bones. It showed her (and the screaming beings) that her weapon was actually capable of hurting them.

Now that she had a somewhat solution to her problem, Vert had felt like she could get some of her problems fixed, like going out there and showing those Monsters the old what for. Using her various Sojutsu Techniques in conjunction with her divine abilities, Vert felt almost invincible.

Keyword there being ALMOST.

The reality of the situation dawned on her the moment they returned from the hidden area to MICROSOFT, the reality that while she had some form of her situation resolved, it didn't resolve all her problems. Leanbox was still dying as far as she was concerned, the monsters were still too numerous for her forces to handle, and these other factions kept on rising to gain power. She had so many enemies now and practically zero allies, which made Vert begin to lose hope once more.

Just before she could lose hope completely though, Nico had recommended a possible course of action Vert could NOT have anticipated, such was the outlandishness that it possessed. It was something that had never before been witnessed in the History of the entire Console War that plagued their world for centuries. A proposal that would, if allowed to succeed change the entirety of Gamindustri as they knew it:

Request an alliance with Planeptune and Lastation.

That was the gist of what he had meant when he had suggested she allow Noire, an enemy CPU, to come to Leanbox's Gala for political reasons. The act of inviting another CPU into another's home territory was a scandal all on its own. Not only would it imply that the invited CPU trusted her enough to forego her Divine Blessing to come to another Landmass unlike her own, but it would also be a risky gamble as well. For if something were to happen to a Nation's CPU then it would be grounds for heavy compensation or all-out war. Something that Leanbox could NOT allow to happen at any cost.

Yet, as she thought about it, Vert could see the logic behind such a move, especially with what's been happening throughout her Nation. Plus, with the male's current collection of experiences under his belt, his words carried more weight than they normally would since he had seen these problems himself. Hell, his entire PARTY had seen these problems if what she ad earned from the Guild's higher ups was any accurate. Not only could she see the logic behind it, she also felt like it was her only option left, the last card she had to play that had the fate of her entire Nation, her people and her life in its hands.

She HATED that.

Vert HATED being indebted to others, she hated the thought of having to rely on others to help protect her Nation, a Nation she had fought for so many centuries to maintain herself. She had been Leanbox's founder, she had seen it grow into what it was today, she had seen its many triumphs and its many failures even throughout the Console War. Leanbox was founded with blood, sweat and tears, it wasn't a Nation which was so pathetic that it would need the help of another Nation to solve its problems.

That is, until now, and as much as she hated it this was INDEED the case. Leanbox no longer had the capacity to hold off the Monstrous aggression constantly hammering away at her Nation, Leanbox no longer had the access to the large resources it had before, it was more like a husk of its former self, a shadow to what it once was. This was what Vert had come back to, not the proud and mighty Nation she had left behind, nope not one bit. Now, she had come back to see a dying breed, a faint flickering flame that was about to go out.

Something she so desperately didn't want to believe was true, but with the evidence slamming right into her face she had no choice but to acknowledge it.

But, even so, She remembered what Nico had said to her, the words that he exactly told her like they were life lessons which in a sense, they were: If a King doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow? Those words, as she thought about them, seemed to resonate within the multi-century old CPU down to her very core, rattling her being and shattering any complaints she had.

To be a proper leader was a tough responsibility, and if one didn't show they were a competent leader then their subordinates would have a bigger chance of rebelling against their leaders, overthrow them an establish a newer, better leader who would do more than their predecessor. It's only a part of nature, it happened all the time back when Leanbox was just starting out. One needed the resolve to do what must be done for the Nation's betterment, the resolve to put a Mask over her insecurities and be the leader that Leanbox, Land of Green Pastures, needed the most in its lowest hour.

All these thoughts, conflicting motions and those promises to herself resulted in this sealed letter with the Leanbox emblem on it, hand written by Vert herself. A letter that would soon make its way into Lastation's letterbox and make its way to the CPU's gaze. Vert honestly had no idea when she had started writing it, was it when she entered her room? Was it when she was sinking into depression? She didn't know, all she knew was that she had wrote the letter and sealed it almost like she had been a drone.

Now, all she had to do was send it.

Yet, before she could, once more worry invaded her heart, contesting with her previous determination to result in a conflicted expression on Vert's features. This letter, of which she had poured her entire being into writing as formally as possible, carried the hopes of not just herself but all of Leanbox. Should it fail t reach its destination… she didn't want to even THINK of what that might mean for her or her people. The CPUs have had a long history of bloodshed thanks to the Console War, so their relations with each other were on practical loathing right now. Yet, the fact that the alliance itself was being made possible through Lastation and Planeptune (two arch rivals) showed that times were changing, and that it was perhaps time to stop fighting and start talking.

There were those who say that the CPUs were responsible for wrecking the world like they have, turning it into a cold, cruel place where only the strong survive. However, In Vert's opinion it wasn't the fault of the CPUs, humans or monsters that the world was the way it was, they were all to blame thus they shared equal responsibility. The only thing is, not many see it that way thus they don't try and change. Vert had see this constantly throughout her Nation, and as she thought this, her eyes hardened, and her determination won the war at last, eradicating her doubts without mercy. Standing up from her Desk (almost falling over from the dizzy spell born from getting up too fast) Vert recovered and began making her way to her door. Gungnir manifested itself onto her back by her will, latching onto it using trails of Divine Energy to tether onto her.

If people won't change without incentive… then she would do herself, then she would MAKE them change, if they wanted to survive the trials ahead.

* * *

"Whew, our Quest quotas are done at long laaast!"

"Indeed. It is relieving to know that our workload has been completed to allow us some time to ourselves."

"You two… That was what you were doing?"

It was yet another bright summer's day in the land of Green Pastures, and three young boys were sitting together on a bench in a moderately populated park. Parents with their children came here to relax while watching the kids mingle with each other. Some even went to feed the birds that would swoop down to land in the park, the smell of food being enough to draw them in. Parents of the younger children would guide their spawns in how to feed the birds properly, in case they messed up and wound up with a beak or two biting on their hands. Not a nice feeling and definitely not something the children would appreciate.

There were various amusements throughout the ark, like slides, spinning wheels, climbing areas etc that other children would play with, though these children were of the older variety, the parents of younger kids kept their offspring away from those areas lest they get themselves hurt. After all, a lot of those kids turned out to be more violent and aware of their dominance over the younger generation. It was a fact of life that the bigger kids always try to band together and intimidate the younger, smaller kids into doing things they normally wouldn't do, but do so anyways due to peer pressure.

Yet, this wasn't what these boys were focusing on.

"Yeah well, things haven't been the same recently." A certain mask/goggles combo wearing boy groaned, stretching his arms above his head and groaning in pleasure afterwards. He leaned backwards, placing his hands on the back end of the bench behind him for support while looking up to the skies above. "Ever since Raven and Lucy began giving 'Special Coaching' to someone, they didn't mention who, they've been preoccupied with that and not focusing on their work, leaving us to pick up the slack. I swear, those two are up to something, but for the life of me I can't figure out what that might be,"

'I guess Raven and Lucy have kept it secret from the rest of the team…' Nico thought to himself as he observed his fellow Spec Ops Agent Ivan, codename CYBORG as he complained about their Team's current state of affairs. 'Judging by what he is saying, it looks like they opted to keep everything revolving Compa under wraps. I figured out that Compa and them were training not too long ago when we first began hanging out like this. Though, I can understand why this is the case, whatever that Crystal was, it was divine in nature, and anything carrying divinity other than the four CPUs is very much frowned upon by the Basilicoms, borderline Heresy.'

Nico knew this for a FACT, a fact that was backed up by his own existence. Both as a DPU (which arguably made his situation worse if someone undesirable found out) and as… one of THEM. He himself knew first-hand how fanatically religious that people of Gamindustri were. They would do anything for religion, like burning people on crosses. Blowing up entire villages or setting monsters loose upon those they see as 'heretics'. Leanbox was the most extreme of the four Nations though when it came to this behavior, which only made his own problems, plus that of Compa, Raven and Lucy's all the more extreme. If ANYONE were to find out about them, then things would get complicated real fast and likely will end real badly.

Hence, why those two were so secretive about their identities, heck he had been super surprised when they decided to reveal themselves to him of their own free will, in different circumstances of course.

Still, he didn't fault these two for being concerned, they were all members of Team RAIL, so if two of their members were keeping secrets then it impacted the overall morale of the team. This was basic leadership 101, yet since he knew what was up Nico mentally forced himself to remain neutral. He had given them his word that he would keep their secrets, and if there's one thing about DEATHSTROKE that hasn't changed even though his weapons and Armour have, it would be that he stuck to his word.

It was mid-morning, and instead of training like he had been for a while now (it being about a month before the Gala happens), Nico had received a call from his old comrades in Team RAIL Aiden and Ivan, asking if they could hang out together. Considering that he didn't get the chance to do this very often, Nico had been all for the idea, especially since they were some of the few guys Nico could tolerate. Not only that, but he had been spending a lot of time with the girls lately aside from Training and sparring with them (hanging out with Neptune by eating loads of pudding which he barfed out later, helping Compa with groceries, cooking, cleaning and other household chores she did, conversing with IF about their favorite Animes, Games and Mangas while sometimes going on grand explosive Bike Rides, and meeting up with MAGES. for talks over lunch. Mostly to hear how Tekken was doing or how MAGES. herself was doing. Not to mention his nightly text chats with Noire, making Nico one busy guy), so some guy time may be just what he needed aside from his time with Biko ad his white self.

"You two have it rough…" was all the redhead teen could say on the matter without making himself look suspicious. Though to him this was easy as all hell to pull of with his Skill in hiding behind a Mask. He did it every damn day, after all. "Though I will say that those two have good judgement contrary to their bickering. Its why they are leader and second-in-command after all, you've seen their skills yourselves. If they are withholding information from you, odds are it's for a good reason. If they ever do decide to fill you in on anything, they will do so."

In response to his words, Aiden nodded in understanding, not showing an ounce of his inner frustration due to intense military training. Though, someone like Nico who knew how to get through Masks or Ivan who knew him for a prolonged time length, could see this frustration bubbling madly within. Like the redhead, Aiden too didn't like it when comrades kept information from him, for it wasn't the way of the soldier. Good men died on the battlefield because of this tactic, hence their mutual dislike. Though, both knew that they were hypocrites for this since they both had their own secrets inside, even Ivan. "Indeed, that is true…"

"Anyways, lets not focus on the girls for now!" Ivan suddenly chirped shooting up to his feet and mildly surprising the other two at his sudden burst of energy. "This time is guy time! We don't need no stinkin' ladies interrupting our masculinity!"

Nico and Aiden thought about notifying their third male member that his words earned him more than a few disdainful stares from several females across the park, but in the end decided against it. No need to add to that can of worms.

Because of this Ivan continued as he stood before the two sitting boys, one hand on his hip as he pulled out of his Inventory his Phone. It was an Iphone, one that he liked to use when not on missions. "And I have the best way for us to spend some guy time together! Have you guys heard of Disboard?" he asked them, getting confused shakes of the head in response. "Well, think of it like this social media site for gamers. There's tons of different servers you can join, with loads of funny people who post memes and silly stuff everywhere. There's even servers dedicated to fanfiction and novel writers." He explained further.

'Fanfiction, huh? I think I remember that site… isn't that where lots of writers post their own ideas and twists to their favourite franchises…? Not sure If I should do this, cause most of those fanfics tend to be the same: random OC gets sucked into another world, finds a harem and becomes an edgy edge lord. Not many writers write with originality these days…'

 **'I cannot help but suspect you are talking about a franchise in particular, Nico.'**

'Your suspicions are indeed correct, Biko. Believe me, you do NOT want to know why.'

After that short convo, Nico and Aiden, under the guidance of Ivan, sent up their own disboard accounts with user name ID's and profile pictures. Nico had named himself 'Hunter87' with the profile picture being some fanart he had found of himself one day when he was out surfing the web for anything interesting. Aiden had named himself 'Falcon32' with his profile pic being a well built dark skinned man in his mid thirties, wearing similar gear to him but he had more muscle than Aiden himself. He had goggles over his eyes with metallic bird wings out from his back. Apparently, Ivan's username had been 'Cyborg32' with a profile pic consisting of a man in black combat gear with a mask and goggles, sporting a mechanical arm, suspiciously similar to Aiden's regarding the numbers…

Meh, must be coincidence.

* * *

"Oooh, found one!" Ivan exclaimed after a few moments of looking through Servers.

Arching a brow, Nico went to it as well with Aiden following suit. The Server was named 'Anime Boys FL' and it was ran by this person named 'Sempai'. Looked like this server had quite the following too, which must have meant that there were a lot of people who had favored this server and its activities. Said activities must have been committed regularly too, and with decent quality. That was what the two males had on their minds as they glanced to each other briefly, before they locked gazes with their third male member. "What is this?" the redhead questioned.

In response, Ivan looked down at his phone as he made to answer. Unfortunately for him, though… "From what I can tell, this is a server dedicated to anime boys you see in games and, well, Anime and Manga. Probably consists of wild fanarts and fangirls though, doesn't seem like something we would be interested in." Aiden answered before Ivan could with a frown, getting an annoyed glare from the jaw length brunette. A glare that the near-bald soldier-like teen ignored.

"Oh, don't be such a sour puss, Aiden. C'mon, where's your sense of adventure? You can''t be all boring and stuff forever, you know. We have all the time in the world, why not just take a quick peek? C'mon, it'll be fun, lets live a little-!"

Ivan stopped speaking mid speech, his form freezing like a block of ice. His Eyes stared downwards, wide and yet transfixed, at what could possibly be the most horrific thing he could have ever seen. His mouth hung open like when a lion opened its mouth to yawn or roar, only this would show his shock and nothing else. His mind screamed at his body to look away, to avert his eyes from this… sight before him, yet his body didn't respond one bit. It was only trapped like a caged bird within the grip of his phone.

Obviously, this got the others concerned themselves, as evident. When the two males stood from their spots on the bench to walk over and look over his shoulders.

"Huh? Dude, what's the Matter?"

"You seem shocked, CYBORG, what is it that has you so-"

When both saw the picture that had caught Ivan's attention, they soon became the same as him, freezing up with white circles for eyes. Even Aiden, who normally didn't show much emotion. Nico's was the worst out of the three though, and for good reason too. Cause the image that they saw? It was him… a rather well-drawn version being bound, gagged and suspended in the air with multiple bodybuilding men with whips whipping away at him with massive grins on their faces. Hell, the art style made Nico look… excessively handsome, even with his face looking like it was torn between a mix of pain and pleasure. Not only that, but there were similar pictures of Nico in... suggestive poses with some having little to no clothing on, looking quite erotic.

…

…

…

…

Silence dominated the boys, adding to the depressing atmosphere the two generated. Literally there was this dark aura hanging over them with clouds of depression looming over their heads. Their eyes were shadowed by darkness, even the near-bald Aiden who didn't have that much hair to block his eyes to begin with. Some parents noticed their states and made notes to keep their children away from the 'ruffians' as they dubbed the trio, unaware of what had REALLY caused their depression.

None of them could speak.

They couldn't, they just couldn't for they didn't even have the words to express what they were feeling all at once right at this moment. It felt like a cold wind just blew down their necks, sending shivers colder than Lowee's climate a thousand times over down their bodies. Yet, none of them bothered to acknowledge it, not one of them for they had been in too much shock, disbelief, disgust and anger in Nico's case to notice or care. Even more shocking was how there were loads of comments of the positive sorts, some of them so perverse that even the author didn't want to do anything to comment on this further.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU SHOULD SEE THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE, KING! ITS REALLY FUCKING PRICELESS! HAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY EPIC FLIPPING GOD WITH A MIDDLE FINGER, I NEEDED A CAMERA, SHIT THAT LOOK ON YOU IS EXCELLENT! TOTALLY BLACKMAIL MATERIAL!'

Nico didn't even respond to his white self's demented laughter within his mind, he didn't even register the fact that he had spoken to him, that was how out of it he had become from seeing those images.

Yikes.

"… Ivan…"

"Yes, Nico my man?"

"Let's move on from this thing and never look back…"

"Yeah."

Needless to say, the trio questioned all the life choices they made.

* * *

After that… morbidly disturbing set of images of their resident male redhead in some SXM situation (of which they all agreed to NEVER mention again) the trio of boys decided to see if there were any servers that looked much more decent… after Nico gave one hell of a thrashing to Ivan for subjecting him to such… 'horrors'. Didn't help that sometimes he had heard how there were fanboys who posted artwork of the girls they like in such skimpy attires and other lewd situations.

All of them made notes to NEVER visit Neppit in that situation.

A while of scrolling through servers later, Nico noticed one that seemed to be filled by only one person, with little content even posted in it. The server read 'WriterWH' with a picture of… a blueish white background with a pure white star in the middle, big enough to cover most of the cover picture. In the middle, there was a large blue L letter, styled like a certain land that he knew of. 'Does this person come from Lowee? Or do they idolize it from another Country and can't go there themselves for reasons?' Nico mentally wondered.

From what he could tell, this server apparently was only made recently, about a couple days or so according to the first message he could read. That message wasn't anything special, just a set of ellipsis (…) that was typed in 4 days ago. There wasn't much of note, there wasn't anything at all to be exact. But yet, for some reason, Nico felt compelled to take a note of this Server for later. Though he didn't join it right away, Nico kept the username ID in his mind, so he could investigate later. His instincts told him that this would be something that he could do in private later.

Still though…

'Biko, do you get this strange feeling, too…?' The redhead teen asked his Demon Persona. No offence to Aiden and Ivan, but h trusted his Demon Persona more due to all the secrets and knowledge they had shared between each other. It wasn't like he distrusted them or anything but compared to Biko they were just a little… lacking. And he knew that could be interpreted as sorta, maybe, possibly narcissism since Biko was his demonic aspect… Meh, Nico wasn't completely sure on that front, but he did keep it in his head for pondering later.

 **'Yes… that username ID sounds intriguing… Although there will likely be people all over Gamindustri trying to pose as the CPU herself, just look at our luck with Leanbox's CPU. Odds are, we may be dealing with Lowee's CPU.'**

For a moment, the redhead remained silent quietly contemplating this opinion as he thought back to his meeting with Leanbox's CPU for the first time, and that little,…. Revelation that he had been her gaming partner for all that time without his knowing. It was a good point Biko had made, and with the craziness that his life has been in since coming with Neptune on this adventure he wouldn't put it past the deity of life to mess with him like that. 'I would normally disagree and say that this may be a coincidence… but my instincts tell me otherwise, so I'll go with them. Not very often that those have led me astray.' Nico decided eventually, nodding his head in resolution before he made a bookmark on the Server.

That was when he thought of something, something he had surprised himself for not thinking sooner. 'Say, about their situation… do you have any ideas for what the crystal that I gave Compa could have been? I mean, it's a long shot since you specialize in the demonic aspect of knowledge, but…'

 **'Unfortunately, I do not. Like you, I am not all-knowing like I may seem to be sometimes. There are many gaps in my knowledge that I try to fulfil by examining the Fractured Memories, however it is a slow process. You could say that this is what I do with most of my time outside looking through your senses.'**

'Whelp, it was worth a shot anyways. Thanks for being there, Biko.' Nico responded while hiding a disappointed sigh from his comrades. It wasn't like he was disappointed at all with Biko, not one bit. No, what he was so disappointed on was the lack of knowledge the two possessed on the divinity side of things. The CPUs… so little was actually known about them, he thought anyways. All they knew in reality was that the CPUs were deities born to lead their respective territories, born from the faith of the masses on each landmass. Aside from that, most of the things the Basilicom preach every day were merely superstitions, though they don't let people know that in case they start losing faith in their Goddesses and become more of a heresy or a threat. The lack of knowledge on them, what they really were, what they could do, the limits of their powers and their total potential frustrated him. It was like they were all meant to be caged animals, the Goddesses their jailors.

Wait, that may be a bit harsh since he had been acquainted with three of the four CPUs himself. It was true though, that they were indeed a flawed species, but in the end that just makes them more relatable. Plus, with how he knew them to be, Nico honestly couldn't really find it in himself to hate them. At least as much as he used to, since now he had first-hand experience with them. Experience told the male that, much like humanity, the Goddesses were just as flawed as the rest of them.

Just went to show that you can't really judge people based off rumors and speculations alone…

Wow, he felt like a bit of a hypocrite there.

"Argh, looks like there isn't much shit on here that we can look through…" Ivan eventually growled out, annoyance seeping out off his mouth like a river cascading down a hill as he shut off the Disboard tab down. It wasn't long before the others did the same thing, having come to a similar conclusion as their vocal comrade. Annoyance could be seen radiating from those two, as well., making those that labelled them as ruffians look at them more warily than before. None of them noticed this either, that was just how absorbed within their conversation the trio was.

Nico nodded his head in agreement. "Not just that, but thanks to a certain server we didn't get enough confidence to look at any others even remotely interesting for fear of a repeat performance." He added with a twisted snarl escaping his lips. How he had never felt so violated when he saw those images… 'No, goddamnit Nico, stop thinking about them! Great, I'mma having some nightmares tonight…'

 **'I will do my best to make sure that does not happen, Nico.'**

'Please, do…'

Neither of them said anything for a good 10 minutes, all of them thinking that they would need brain bleach to wipe clean those horrible memories from their memory banks. Maybe they could try some memory erasing hammers those sisters used on their big brother whenever he saw evidence of magic that they used or something. Meh, where could they find those though in a place like Leanbox, a Nation that frowns heavily upon Magic yet hypocrites itself by using enchanted weaponry?

A lot of Nations are hypocritical, heck just look at Lastation, Planeptune and the events around them?

Speaking of events, Nico decided to get their opinion on that can of worms. After all, it was nice to talk about major events with the few guys he could tolerate, and if he couldn't who else could he talk to? "Say, have you guys heard the news about Lastation and Planeptune?" he asked them, getting looks from the other two guys, before they glance d at each other and then nodded back to Nico. "What do you think? I can't help but imagine the backlash both Nations are going to suffer from this."

"I'd say Lastation will get more flak than Planeptune, honestly." Ivan remarked seriously, crossing his arms over his stomach as his eyes conveyed just how much he had been thinking on this particular topic. "Threw us all for a loop, especially Lucy and Raven, when we heard but back to my point. I'd say Lastation would get the worst of it for multiple reasons. For one, they are a prideful Nation, a Nation who has the slogan 'Lastation only does everything!' will definitely receive some hypocrisy in the media for starting these negotiations. With a direct rival Nation, no less. Another thing they will have to worry about will be how the other Nations would react to this, I can't imagine Leanbox or Lowee being very happy about this. It'll mean a MASSIVE turning point in the Console War, after all. Peace hasn't even been proposed in anyone's minds let alone the CPUs' for centuries, its practically become a forgotten concept."

Aiden then continued the conversation, though his answer was much shorter than the brunette. "Agreed. In addition, there will likely be attempts at sabotage by any interested parties." Both the other boys quickly thought of Avenir or any of Planeptune's officials who would be dissatisfied with this course of action. Though, this was more on Lastation's problem as, compared to them Planeptune has a more stable Government. Ironically their lax demeanours help them make better choices and decisions in regard to ruling, like a well-oiled machine."

Nico hummed in thought on their responses, his eyes glimmering with contentment. He had similar opinions to his companions on this case, yet he still had more to say on the matter. "Well, I'd still say it is a bout damn time these CPUs are thinking with their heads for a change." He commented, and when the two males gave him questioning looks for why he said it that way, Nico gestured to the area around them, at the people they were surrounded by throughout the park, and the boys quickly realized why he was doing this. To keep secrets, something Nico shined through in. "There are problems rising that cannot be dealt with by a single Nation alone anymore. The Abnormals are getting stronger than ever, there's reports of newer, more powerful Abnormals being sighted around mysterious black structures, there's forgotten evils returning, and then there's these men in large bulky red Armour. A possibility for an Alliance is exactly the right path at his point if the human race wants to keep on living."

Both boys nodded in solemn agreement, their eyes darkening with equally solemn thoughts about everything that had been happening so far. Yet, neither of them could compare to how Nico took all this, since he himself was mostly involved with practically every side in this approaching storm. Nico didn't realize it himself, but by associating with the CPUs of different Nations, by travelling with one and getting the attention of multiple enemy factions he had become a Key player in the politics that were going to happen. His name and presence would likely be uttered throughout the mouths of every Noble in Leanbox, many eyes watching him for his next move. It wasn't really too different from what Nico had gone through daily though, so he didn't really notice that much now. Odds were though, that the Basilicom higher ups as well as the Guild were trying to keep knowledge about his existence as under wraps as they possibly could, but at this point they might as well give up. He had done too much in too short a time, it would be impossible to conceal him at this point.

Not sure whether or not that was a good thing…

Well, in light for his knack for secrecy, Nico decided to go with the bad side of his situation.

"Anyways, enough of the serious talk for a moment." Both Nico and Aiden snapped out of their respective thoughts, raising their heads to look at Ivan once more. To their surprise and confusion, the brunette now sported a wide, dopey grin on his face while he quivered, like he was about to burst from this sudden surge of excitement. The two boys lightly sighed in unison in response to this, sometimes Ivan had spontaneous mood changes thanks to his optimistic side. Though, in a job occupation like theirs, some eccentricity every now and then would be appreciated.

Still, they didn't not admit to being curious about what he had in mind this time, and since this was meant to be their day it would be something they would be doing as a trio. "Hey Aiden, remember those things we bought a couple nights ago and brought to our newest safe house?" He asked te Spec Ops Agent with the Codename FALCON. Said Agent raised a brow for a moment, before his eyes flashed with recognition causing a grin to form on Ivan's face.

Only Nico looked lost, and as such Aiden chose to briefly explain the situation like he had done before. "Lets just say, CYBORG here wants to be popular by performing music. Got inspiration by seeing that YouTube vid of you singing at a karaoke. He brought some music instruments with our funds, got scolded by SAMURAI because of it. Put em in our Safe House's basement." At the end, he aimed a scolding look towards the mechanical armed male who just chuckled sheepishly, not an ounce of shame in his demeanor.

Nico could totally see him doing something like that just to get a girlfriend.

"Yup, so what do you say? Wanna get some boy band stuff going? It'll be great, seriously! I mean, can't you guys imagine how much It'd be awesome rocking out for once!" Ivan queried while he tried to convince the others to do it to. However, it didn't look like his efforts were bearing any fruit. Not only were they used to just fighting other Abnormals due to their jobs, doing something as expressive as music seemed like the opposite of what they did.

Aiden had never sung in his life. He didn't express much of his emotions at all ever since he joined the Spec Ops Program, and also when THAT happened to him. There were rare times where he DID express emotion, but like he said, that was rare and even then, it wasn't much. The times where he REALLY expressed emotion were even rarer. It wasn't like that for Nico who had a good singing voice, but he knew little instrument playing skills.

They could already see themselves failing epically.

* * *

In the end though, through persistence and sheer annoyance-inducing skills, Ivan had convinced the other two boys to come over to Team RAIL's Safe House to have a night of playing music.

Why did they have to do this?

 **'You gave him your word, Nico, and that is binding enough.'**

Nico could only sigh as his own code was finally used against him, that was what his Demon Persona was telling him, and the way he said I so blankly only seemed to make the fact hit harder with greater impact. He should have expected something like this to happen eventually. Actually, now that he thought on it, Nico had always gotten the feeling this would happen sooner or later. Yet, he had hoped that this day would never have come in a foolish bid for hope. Guess now he knew not to hope for the pointless things, huh?

Thoughts of depression and possible suicide attempts aside, Nico looked upon the Safe House Team RAIL had made their residence in for their stay in Leanbox. He had been meaning to ask them how long they were able to stay on this Landmass, actually. He should ask Aiden that when he got the chance. Still, the house that they had chosen looked like a medieval style cottage, with a nice looking garden and a pathway that lead straight to the front door. There was even a small pond with lily pads on its surface, lily pads that housed either a few frogs and other aquatic creatures. Looked like this place was well-maintained either by Team RAIL or by whoever owned this property before them. He didn't know the logistics and backstory surrounding this place, and he didn't want to.

It wasn't really anything of his business anyways.

Still though, this cottage-like safe house felt quite nice, it had a home like feel to it that few other places had. It reminded him actually of Compa's house back in Planeptune. He hoped that it was alright, Compa had said to him once when they left for the trip to Leanbox thats he had done enough chores for the house to be good for a long trip. He just hoped that 'long tip' extended over months and not weeks like they had expected.

Walking inside with Aiden beside him, Nico followed Ivan through a side door that was close to the Safe House's main entrance, so Nico didn't have much of a chance to identify the house's interior. They went down these long set of wooden stairs though, and when they reached the bottom Nico and Aiden became witness to the Safe House's underground basement. There wasn't much different about it than when compared to any other basement, there were tools neatly arranged throughout the area, varying in size, shape and function, whilst the smell seemed like a normal basement smell (To Nico's sensitive nose anyways).

"Come on, come on guys, hurry up! You're being such slowpokes!" Both boys turned to look where Ivan was standing, and when they did the two boys saw that he stood before a set of instruments lying against one of the Basement walls. There was a Drum Set, some Guitars and a Keyboard. The Drum set was the largest of the instruments, the Keyboard looked like it could be used as a portable stand, and while Nico did not know much about Guitars, he had once seen a you tube video where these Guitars were used. Think the guy who used them called himself JY or something, and he called them Sting Ray Guitars. Though to be honest, he liked the Guitars, they looked quite nice. 'Oh yeah, there's that as well.' Nico thought when he noticed a microphone attached to a tall stand.

...Spec Ops Agents usually had a large sum of money...

"Well, what are you guys waiting for?" Ivan questioned, his grin so wide that it could potentially split his face in two. The teen's eyes shone with excitement, and even then Nico got the feeling that those eyes couldn't show just how much excitement he had inside. The guy was actually talking while hurriedly setting up the equipment, something that surprised the other two boys. They didn't expect him to even know how to work the equipment (even setting u[p amps for the Guitars and other pieces of equipment Nico and Ivan hadn't noticed till he pulled them out). "Choose a musical instrument, already! I'm going with the Drums myself, I've always liked those."

Aiden arched a brow at this information. "Since when did you like drums? I was not under the assumption you knew much about music in the first place, CYBORG." he questioned in confusion, while Nico had similar emotions but to a lesser extent. After all, it was rare to talk about personal things in one's life when you were a Spec Ops Agent, even Ivan knew this. This was mostly to do with how quick and often they tend to get involved in high risk missions, the risk being so high that it was a pure form of suicide.

In response to his colleague's question, Ivan looked to the side as he scratched his jaw nervously. "Well, you can thank my pops for that." he replied, though the two boys saw him trying to hold back a wince as he did so. Neither could blame him, since nobody wanted to remember the death of a family member. "My pops always had a thing for instruments, he had originally wanted to play the drums as a profession in a band, but then he got an injury when he was younger. He didn't say what it was, but it stopped him from playing like he used to. Didn't stop him from teaching me how to do so, though. But between us, I'd guessed that he wanted me to succeed where he couldn't, do the things that were denied him. I guess I don't have to worry about disappointing him, huh?"

The way that Ivan explained that, with cheerfulness and nonchalance like it was no big deal did NOT fool the two boys in the slightest. They had experienced Ivan's antics for a couple years now, so they knew when he was trying to fake his emotions in front of others. Ivan may be seen as a kind, lovable and funny guy to mot, but that was only a facade, a mask to hide what he really felt deep inside. Aiden had only been the second person to notice this, mostly due to how little experience he had with emotions and how to express them.

First person to notice had been Nico, but then again, that's not really a surprise at this point, huh?

"Whelp, anyways! Enough of that depressing crap." Ivan cheerfully quipped, and both boys decided to play along. They knew an attempt to change the subject to something else when they saw one. "I got the drums, so you guys choose something else. There's the microphone, Keyboard or Guitars." The brunette stated, gesturing with his hand to the remaining instruments while he himself began setting up the drum kit.

With that given, Nico and Aiden stepped towards the instruments, giving them each a look over while wondering which one to play. For Aiden, his eyes fell upon one of the Sting Ray Guitars, and found themselves quickly locked on it. No chance of escape for this Spec Ops Agent. Aiden wasn't one who had much experience with playing one of these things, after all he had raised himself as an orphan on the streets for most of his life. Back then, he had only one thing on his mind and one thing only: survive. He had to focus on living through the next day let alone find some fun in life. Fun back them didn't even exist to him, especially not after the orphanage he lived in once got shut down. Back then, it was fight to survive or die, something that influenced his mentality even to this day.

But, the moment that he laid eyes on one of those Sting Ray Guitars, he didn't know why but he felt some form of... connection between them. He didn't understand it himself, but something about those Guitars drew him in like a moth to a flame. It wasn't all that strong a pull, yet Aiden felt no desire to pull himself from its grip. In fact, he wanted this connection, he wanted it badly. Was this what it was like to want to do something... fun? Was that what it was called? Aiden wasn't so sure anymore, but what he did know for certain was that he wanted to get his hands on one of those Guitars.

When he stepped towards them to make to reach out for one, he noticed another arm reaching for the other Guitar, making him glance sideways to see that apparently Nico had a similar idea to him. The reason? He had seemingly decided to go with the other Sting Ray Guitar. Guess they really were quite alike in this situation, Aiden couldn't help but note to himself. He did not feel much from this realization, only like a brief spark of it, but in the end that was why he looked up to Nico the way he did.

Most people don't even give him THAT much a reaction, Nico had the most reactions from his emotions. He could FEEL more when he was around the guy. Team RAIL came a close second, though.

Picking up their respective Guitars, Aiden and Nico shared a glance after they went and lifted the straps over their heads. Once they had a better grasp of their instruments, the two turned back to Ivan, who had finished setting up his Drum set. Looking up when he felt their gazes, the brunette grinned merrily as he gave them a thumbs up. "Great, you chose your gear! Honestly I kinda figured you two would go with those, you two always struck me as the types, you know? Even if you never touched one of these in your lives. Believe in yourselves and you'll do fine, do't worry! Also since Nico has a talent for singing due to the karaoke..." he trailed off, wiggling his eyebrows in Nico's direction. Said redhead looked away and tried to not blush in humiliation, thinking about that event which got put on YouTube. "I'd think he'd do best having a Guitar and singing through the mic, as our lead singer."

"Well..." Nico wanted to argue with that one, but he couldn't find any way to argue with Ivan on that. He DID have after all evidence to prove he had a knack for singing (to his eternal chagrin).

Aiden then asked an important question, one that Nico mentally cursed himself for not thinking about himself due to that embarrassing moment in his life. "Since you have all this equipment prepared, I assume you have an idea as to what we will be singing? By we, I mean DEATHSTROKE."

All Ivan did was grin.

* * *

By the time the evening came to the rest of Gamindustri, it had happened. Every citizen who had been browsing about online, hoping to find something interesting, or continuing their own businesses, soon got a notification on their inboxes. When they clicked on it, being the curious beings that humans were, they all got a rather exciting treat... well, exciting for the ladies anyways when they saw a band of 3 boys standing in the middle of what looked like a basement, each wearing various rock clothes.

One wore a leather jacket under a blue shirt, the words 'REBEL' emboldened in red on the centre though it was restricted by his jacket. He wore spikes shoulder pads, arm guards, black finger less gloves, dark blue jeans and red sneakers. He had styled his crimson hair into a backcombed messy look, dark eye shadow around his sharp light blue eyes that seemed to illuminate his darker features. He had on his face a Mask that covered his lower face, sporting a Frankenstein appearance with bolts and a lipless mouth twisted into a grin. He wielded a black Sting Ray Guitar while standing before a tall stand with a Mic.

Another wore a similar getup, consisting of a shredded red T shirt with dark jeans that were shredded at the knees and white sneakers. He had similar fingerless black gloves on his hands, with spiked black shoulder guards. He also had some plating on his knees, back and chest, with a full on mask over his face that looked reminiscent of a skull. His brown hair had been styled into a Mohawk style, with his blue eyes clear for all to see. He stood in the centre of a Drum Set, with some drumsticks in hands that looked ready to play.

The third had a near-bald hairstyle, so he didn't have a particular hairstyle like the other two. Instead, he wore an all black getup: a Black shirt beneath a leather jacket, with matching jeans and boots. For a Mask, he wore one that covered his lower face with Goggles over his eyes. He wielded a similarly colored Sting Ray Guitar.

These are what the viewers noticed, before they heard some music and clapping sounds beginning to play, a song being sung by the one with red hair:

 ** _I'm American made, Bud Light, Chevrolet_**

 ** _My momma taught me wrong from right_**

 ** _I was born in the south_**

 ** _Sometimes I have a big mouth_**

 ** _When I see something that I don't like_**

 ** _I gotta say it_**

 ** _We been driving this road_**

 ** _For a mightly long time_**

 ** _Payin' no mind to the signs_**

 ** _Well this neighborhood's changed_**

 ** _It's all been rearranged_**

 ** _We left that change somewhere behind_**

 ** _Slow down, you're gonna crash_**

 ** _Baby you were screamin'_**

 ** _It's a blast, blast, blast_**

 ** _Look out babe you got your blinders on_**

 ** _Everybody's lookin' for a way_**

 ** _To get real gone, real gone_**

 ** _Real Gone_**

 ** _There's a new cat in town_**

 ** _He's got high paid friends_**

 ** _Thinks he's gonna change history_**

 ** _You think you know him so well_**

 ** _Yeah you think he's so swell_**

 ** _But he's just perpetuatin' prophecy_**

 ** _Come on now_**

 ** _Slow down, you're gonna crash_**

 ** _Baby you were screamin'_**

 ** _It's a blast, blast, blast_**

 ** _Look out, you got your blinders on_**

 ** _Everybody's lookin' for a way_**

 ** _To get real gone_**

 ** _Real gone_**

 ** _Real gone_**

 ** _Real gone_**

 ** _Well, you can say what you want_**

 ** _But you can't say it 'round here_**

 ** _'Cause they'll catch you and give you a whippin'_**

 ** _Well I belive I was right_**

 ** _When I said you were wrong_**

 ** _You didn't like the sound of that_**

 ** _Now did ya?_**

 ** _Slow down, you're gonna crash_**

 ** _Baby you were screamin'_**

 ** _It's a blast, blast, blast_**

 ** _Look out, you got your blinders on_**

 ** _Everybody's lookin' for a way_**

 ** _To get real gone_**

 ** _Well here I come, And I'm so not scared_**

 ** _Got my pedal to the metal_**

 ** _Got my hands in the air_**

 ** _Well look out, you take your blinders off_**

 ** _Everybody's lookin' for a way_**

 ** _To get real gone, real gone_**

 ** _Real Gone_**

 ** _Real Gone_**

 ** _Real Gone_**

No one could deny that there was nothing but pure passion in the song these three made. They had no idea how long it had taken, or the practice the three boys had to do to be so good with their instruments (by the way, there was a LOT of training involved, Nico MIGHT have cheated and used his Inner World to practice with his own made up version of a Guitar), but the amount of passion and raw emotion their singer put into the song threw everyone into shocked silence. If anyone who knew these threes saw this video, they would be purely flabbergasted... among other things.

By the time the song ended, the reaction... well, it became cataclysmic, AKA a viral hit.

People literally began losing their minds over the song they had listened to. It began getting thousands of views and comments by the hour. The Song spread through the internet and media's attention like wildfire, unknowingly to the three boys bringing people's attention away from their own problems. All across Gamindustri people listened to the Lyrics and had their own reactions. Men found themselves enchanted by the song's fast-paced nature, especially those who competed in races which involved living life in the fast lane. To race with such intensity was to feel the rush of being on the line between life and death, and to a racer there was no better feeling.

Then there were the fan-girls reactions...

Whilst some felt a similar way to their male counterparts, the amount of fan art, hot steamy doujins and hot yaoi memes on the internet about Nico and these two boys will be skyrocketing through the roof by the end of the day. There will be fan art, doujins, fanfictions, and all types of things on the internet released from the minds of the depraved. Yet, even so, it would be a better thing for them to do than to have the population worry about their future. It would not only increase their fame amongst the public, but also increase the favor they would gain too. They may not have done it for the fame and recognition (though it took some convincing from Ivan to Nico and Aiden) but this may as well have been the best move they could have made. Both for themselves and the people around them.

Though, there were certain... individuals who had their own... specific reactions.

* * *

Neptune took one look at the Video, and her eyes became that of a bugs while her mouth started drooling uncontrollably. Luckily, she had her phone positioned in front of her face and away from her drool.

"Nicky... sexy... must have... Must. Have. Now!"

* * *

'Wha... what is this weird feeling building up in my neither regions...?'

That was what Compa thought to herself as she looked down at the phone, the phone that Lucy was holding. Apparently one of her contacts (though she had said it was one of her many 'playthings') had shown her a link to the video, and once she clicked on it Lucy could only stare wide eyed. That only lasted a second though, before she began giggling like a dirty old man, muttering about things she would 'do to that handsome stud Nico' while Raven just stared emotionlessly at the video. What she was feeling the Nurse-In-Training couldn't tell.

But, the moment she saw Nico with the two male Team RAIL members singing with such passion and expression, she just couldn't help but feel this hot sensation within her loins. Her Nurse training taught her the inner workings of the body, so...

* * *

IF could only stare wide eyed after killing off a bunch of monsters with her Tentacles and Tendrils returning to her. The former reformed into her arm while the latter receded into her. Yet, she didn't even acknowledge this, her eyes staying glued to her screen. "Holy shit... Nico..." she muttered in shock, awe and... more than a little arousal at hearing his singing voice.

This felt WAY different from when she first heard him sing back at Lastation. Unlike back then, there was so much more joy, relief and expressive intent behind his singing. It looked like he was much more ALIVE as he sung throughout the video. Perhaps the song itself was also a cause, but goddamnit did Nico have a talent for freaking singing?! The way he strung that Guitar like a pro, too made her ears nearly cream themselves. She didn't even know if that was even possible with what she was right now, but this singing definitely nearly made it happen.

Plus, with how bright and vibrant Nico looked right now, singing a song with his fellow males, IF just couldn't stop the arousal inside of her while her inner BOW screamed at her to track the stud down, pin him under her and have her way with him. The song he was singing sounded like it was electro music, and he definitely seemed to have a knack for it. Maybe he could do the same for other songs too, but regardless, she just had to curse Nico under her breath. Things like this REALLY strained at her ability to keep herself under control.

At this rate, she might not last...

* * *

"My, this is truly an unexpected yet welcome surprise..."

While tilting her head from side to side to the beat of this new video many of her online friends recommended her so suddenly as she played some more MMO's to relieve some stress, Vert practically beamed radiantly at the sight of Nico singing joyfully with his two male companions. The attire he had chosen to adopt for this took her breath away, as well as filled her head with... some naughty images of him in her butler outfits.

She could imagine it now, Nico rocking out with his buddies in those outfits, singing funky music like this in front of so many fans... possibly letting people get close to wrap his well-sculpted body around in their embrace...

NOSEBLEED

If anyone came into the Leanbox CPU's room, they would only see how she had fallen unconscious with a large nosebleed and a massive, perverted grin on her lips.

* * *

In Lastation, Noire just gaped as she watched the music video that she had been sent a link to by some of her fans. She sat in her office, having been picking up some documents to look over when she had noticed the link in her Emails. She had noticed these were excitable fan-girls who had sent her the link, but being the great CPU she was, Noire had decided to humor them by clicking on the link. What she saw both stunned her into silence and nearly made her drop some documents she held onto the desk.

Since it was nearly evening, she didn't want to do that, not one bit.

But, soon enough as that song started playing, Noire forgot about everything else just for this moment.

She remembered how some of her people had said that had witnessed a guy fitting Nico's description sing at a Karaoke, how he had made many girls hearts swoon with his apparent skill. Part of Noire felt jealous that she didn't get to hear it for herself, not that she would admit this to anyone mind you. But right now she was simply located in her room so she didn't have to downgrade her feelings.

Right now however, she found herself finally receiving this wish... and boy, what a sensation it was.

She should have asked him to sing as a professional in Lastation, it would definitely bump up her Nation's shares with how good his voice sounded. His voice, combined with the funkiness of the beat in this song, made Noire want to just get up and start dancing the night away, to hell with everything else. That was how good it felt to her ears, and if she had a chance she would probably put the song on full blast for the entire Basilicom to hear... Wait, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea, but you know what she wanted to say!

Still, it looked like Nico was having a fun time... she wondered what it would be like to be able to meet Nico over at Leanbox...

Just then, a knock sounded on her door, and Noire hurriedly closed the link, fixed herself, and prepared to receive this guest of hers...

* * *

MAGES. furrowed her brows as she looked down at her phone, hearing the song Nico was singing while tapping her heeled boot to the beet. She sat in her bedroom, having taken her coat off to expose the dress shirt she wore beneath it. She had been in the middle of getting ready for bed after an exhausting day of researching and Questing (while training with Wabbajack, can't forget about Wabbajack) when she had heard some commotion was going on throughout the internet for a while now. She tracked down the source...

And found Nico jamming it out with two fellow males.

'Hmmmm... it appears the throes of musical talent have infused their infinite wisdom upon this fortunate soul...' she thought to herself, mildly blushing a bright pink. She normally wasn't one for music, that was more of her sister's thing, but she could appreciate good music when she heard it, and right now was one of those times. The fact that the boy that she was growing fond of was the one singing only added to the song's appeal. So, she had the song play while she got ready for bed, bobbing her head to the beat. 'I wonder, what would it be like if my sister and DEATHSTROKE would eve meet...'

* * *

"AAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"D-Dear?! What, what is it?!"

In a house within Planeptune's central city of SEGA, one happy mother squealed with joy at her Phone, seeing the video of her adoptive son jamming it out with some male friends from Team RAIL. She could see the joy shining through their eyes, mostly Nico's though, as they played, even that ever stoic kid looked like he was enjoying this... slightly. But she just focused on how Nico looked, and couldn't help the motherly pride flowing through her. Hence the squeal.

When her husband came in to check on her, worry evident on his features, Helen just grabbed him, dragged him to their room and rocked his world the entire night.

All in all, Nico Ivan and Aiden just made a SMASHING hit...

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alrightie, another chapter done!**

 **Several things:**

 **The stuff with Vert is something I've been wanting to do for a while. In this fic,Vert has to be more aware of how dangerous her position is, and how she is being boxed in by so many other factors that she can't afford to hide away any longer. This will definitely affect the Gala and the canon poison Neptune segment of the Leanbox arcs, but how that will be so will be revealed in time. Though I guess you guy can put theories in the Reviews section, it'd be nice to hear what you guys think.**

 **The song I chose here was Real Gone from Cars, only I chose the version sung by Billy Ray Cyrus (do not own myself). I liked that one best, and since its a guy singing it I can have Nico singing it as well. This has been a long time in the making, since its been established that Nico is a good singer, and he can use the Inner Word to practice playing a Guitar, it would stand to reason why he would do such a thing. This may be the near-end point of the casual chapters, then we get to the Gala and back to the main action again! Can't wait, honestly. Originally I had chosen a different song, but in the end its genre was too different so I went with an earlier choice.**

 **Also, the Disboard thing was something I thought of as a means to introduce how scary fan-girls can be, cause in these games its usually the guys who are seen as more perverted. So, I'mma make it so that there are just as many girls who like their man-service. Its only natural after all, there's girls who like that sort of thing.**

 **Aiden and Ivan get a bit more character development in this chapter too, don't worry I have plans for these two, I've just been focusing on Lucy, IF, Vert and somewhat MAGES. Those two have had to pickup the slack since Raven and Lucy have been focusing more on Compa than their Team, not something that should be happening but considering what is going on with her, its understandable. Plus, once Noire gets back into the picture, I'mma going to showcase a few things with her, too. Hehehehehe...**

 **Hope you like the chap, review it, tell me what you think, peace out! :)**


	117. Chapter 114 - Meeting the Temptress

**Chapter 114 - Meeting the Temptress**

"It looks like you are progressing well…"

Nico mentally groaned, agitation and more than a little apprehension filling his being. He had the smallest hope that he wouldn't have to deal with this now but knowing his luck that wouldn't have happened anyways. Not with how fate seemed to love messing with him for the LOLs. 'I swear, if Neptune somehow broke the fifth wall and gave the author ideas to put me under more and more pressure till I snap I'll burn all of her hidden pudding supplies.' He thought, brow twitching dangerously.

Most of his troubles came with what happened yesterday…

He could hardly believe it himself, even now.

It wasn't his idea, and he had been highly against it to the bitter end, along with Aiden, but Ivan had somehow convinced them to make a music video with him, reasoning that it would be a good way to relieve the stress of the day. Even though they didn't really DO anything but chat and look at Disboard (something he has mixed feelings about since he didn't get the chance to look into that strange server alone, yet. He'd conked out the night he returned to the Hotel immediately, the moment he touched the bed he had been out like a light). Yet, that didn't really stop Ivan from convincing them, really the guy could be very persistent when he wanted to be.

Not only did he convince them that this somehow was a good idea, he also convinced them to wear different clothes which he had kept stored in a closet in the Basement. It was almost like he had planned this from the very beginning, though the Spec Ops Agent with the Codename CYBORG became quick to deny such accusations (though the instances of dishonesty in his heart reaching Nico's senses didn't exactly convince him). Though, this was actually the lesser of the many evils tat happened that day, since the clothes and hairstyle changes helped Nico feel like he wasn't the Spec Ops Agent he was in that moment. Back there, he had only been Nico, a teenager with more mental problems than he knew what to do with. At least that was something he could take comfort in.

Ivan had been in his element at the time, playing those Drums like nobody's business. The guy was a spectacular Spec Ops Agent, but Nico had a feeling that the Drums were a talent he had in spades. Made sense, since his father was the one who taught him how to play them according to the brunette, and since he detected no negative emotions to indicate deceit in his words, Nico believed this to be true. Drums were his primary passion within his family, and if what happened to his family hadn't happened, Nico had no doubt that a musician's path would be where he would have gone down instead of being in a military profession killing monsters that others couldn't yet also isolating himself from the majority of society like all Spec Ops do.

Even Aiden had been convinced, and he was not the type of guy who played music. Then again, that was what Nico had thought about him, but apparently, he had been wrong because not long into the song he had been showing bits and bits of emotion on his features, more so than what he usually did. Even with Nico himself, which showed how much he appreciated the music that they did. Music was like a window to the soul, yet also a way to express oneself, thus for someone like Aiden who had difficulty both feeling and expressing his emotions, music felt like the best catalyst. Nico mentally admitted to himself that it hadn't been an exactly bad experience himself, too.

He could not even BEGIN to imagine the reaction their video would receive with the public…

However, he couldn't focus on those events right now, not with this annoyance in the room. In front of him, stood his child self, like the hallucination he was the child's feet didn't even seem like they were touching the ground, instead just barely hovering above it, like an inch so it LOOKED like he was standing on the floor of the Hotel Room. The way that he regarded Nico, with that ever-blank expression on his face, made an unsettling sensation form in his gut. Though, that would also happen whenever Nico would hallucinate, he didn't really get why. Or perhaps, maybe he did, but he suppressed those notions with every fibre of his being.

Regarding the child version of him at last, Nico arched a brow as he swung his legs over the bed, sitting on its side in his PJ's. He hadn't switched to his Spec Ops attire yet, because he had to deal with this issue first. "Lemme guess, you're here thanks to what happened yesterday, with the music video and all?"

"That moment was a moment of expressing emotions, emotions we do not like to express." The child him responded, his eyes darkening with a sharper edge to his tone than usual. It was a change from his usual blank tones, to be sure, and accompanying it was this dark ominous feeling from his being. Nico noticed this, and yet, he didn't say anything about it, like he knew that was the case so there was no need. "It was a moment of weakness, we cannot allow weakness to control us, not in this stage of our rehabilitation."

At this, Nico looked up at the child him with his eyes showing intense frustration, frustration that burned through his eyes like the Hellfire flames that he commanded. He never really liked dancing around the issues, he would rather people be direct with him. Nico wasn't a patient individual, or rather, he had his patience, but it wasn't indefinite. This child version of himself never gave straight answers, and what was even more frustrating was that part of him felt that this child behaved this way because of him, somehow. It was a rather complex, yet vexing, tern of events.

"That may be…" Nico began slowly getting up from the bed as he mentally activated his Bracers' and had the Void Storage switch his attire to his Spec Ops Gear. He made some adjustments to the leather gloves, adjusted the short collar, before he turned to face his child self again. "But, in my line of work I've learned that if you don't take risks, then you won't get anywhere in life. Greater risks lead to greater rewards, potentially…"

The child him nodded at this, his face not losing that sharpness he sported before. In fact, Nico dare suspected that it increased its potency. He too understood what that meant, well, he did now. Slowly, Nico's mind was starting to gradually comprehend the concept of taking risks, at east beyond a battling sense, though it was a slow process. Still, it is a big leap for his rehabilitation, his ability to take risks by trusting others to do tasks that he would have done on his own. The way he trusted Rinjiin to protect the dragons while he fought the demonic invaders himself, the way that he trusted Neptune and Compa both during the Hellverse incident and Compa when she told him about her specialized training. All these little titbits would not have happened in the past, since Nico had not reached that stage yet in his rehabilitation.

"The thing about taking risks, is that they don't always pay off, we know this all too well." The child Nico stated, getting a nod from the older version, knowing that truth all too well himself. He remembered the betrayal he had seen and experienced throughout his years as a Spec Ops Agent, and if what he was feeling instinctually was correct, then perhaps he had been betrayed in the past that he could not remember, too. That was what his gut told him, anyways. "Yet these risks, they are necessary in progressing our true self's recovery, his rehabilitation. Therefore, we have decided to not stop. Make sure to recover well, for our true self may need to return to stem the coming tide."

After saying that, the child-like version of himself slowly shimmered out of existence, leaving nothing to indicate he had even been there in the first place. Nico mentally groaned, feeling something temporarily squeezing his mind. He said temporarily, because it disappeared seconds later, leaving his head with this cool feeling layering over his brain that elected a slight exhale from his lips. Nico grunted, holding the side of his head as these feelings eventually passed over, letting him lower his hand while he looked to the door to the Hotel Room's main living area. He could hear the sound of girls laughing and chuckling outside, meaning that Neptune and the others hadn't left for their training yet. That meant that he had just dodged yet another bullet, yet again.

None of the girls knew what he went through, not his hallucinations (though he guessed Compa had somewhat of an idea due to her training as a Nurse) or how truly fucked up his mental state really was. He had made sure to not tell them anything regarding that. If he were to make an assumption, then IF would be the closest he had ever come to admitting these issues, ironically enough. The one girl-no, the one WOMAN in their Party whom hadn't shown any interest in him aside from friendship had been the one he had confided in the most. The one who didn't really try to seduce him nearly every time (Neptune) or had an innocence about her that prevented her from making any drastic moves (Compa). Thinking back on it, Nico found that he and IF had a lot in common, and not just their Mercenary-like backgrounds.

They both were exempt from society, though IF's status being unknown to the public helped mitigate this for her. They both had monsters inside of them that were difficult to control, they both had family issues, and they both confided a lot in each other. Though that last one was sorta false, since it was more IF confiding in him about her powers and him offering advice from careful analysis and theory work. He hadn't spoken one bit about his OWN inner beast, keeping it under wraps, yet in the past there were times where he just had to wonder, wonder what it would be like to finally talk to someone about his true nature, the monster he kept trapped inside. Nico honestly found himself very comfortable around her, like he could talk to her about anything he wanted to, and she would be able to follow. Not just follow but add in her own opinions and even help him figure things out as well. She just seemed like the type of woman to not let anyone get her down, to guide her own path in life, and he really liked that individuality about her.

Then there was that night after rescuing her from the Hellverse…

Nico mentally shuddered, he HATED saying that he rescued her in his mind, not what really happened which was basically her breaking out and wrecking everyone's shit. It felt like he was demeaning her actions, and that was NOT what he intended. IF was a badass, through and through in his eyes. Anyways, that statement about him not confiding in her much got challenged after that Hellverse incident, when he had finally told her why he would think that there wouldn't be any chance of a girl being interested in him. It may not have been much, hell it had next to nothing to do with his inner beast, but the fact remained that he had opened up to her about a deeply personal issue for himself, something that he couldn't say the same for Neptune or Compa. The only other person that he could say this was the case for also, would be Lucy when he told her about his nightmares and hallucinations.

One could say that they were two women whom had come the closest to getting to know the truth about the Spec Ops Agent named Nico.

Shaking his head, the redhead pushed those thoughts away for now and quickly focused his thoughts back onto the task at hand. There would be a lot of training left to do before the Gala, training that would be quickened by the time dilation in his Inner World. He would have to spend every bit of it on his powers, training each and every one of them to make them as dangerous as possible. There was no more time for safety in his training, no more need to carefully plan out which power to train first. No, now he had to make sure to train EVERY aspect of his abilities, no matter where they came from. His inner beast, DPU Powers, his human Skill Attacks, his Devil Arms, his skills with the many weapons inside his Void Storage, he had to train in EVERYTHING.

There was a reason why he chose this path, this path of high risk of bodily crippling injury. This reason? Well, it had happened a couple weeks ago, but Nico could hardly forget it. No, that time had forever been burned into his brain, nothing would come close to the encounter that he had with those men in red.

Yep, that's right, he fought them.

Barely survived by a hair, too.

It had just been a routine Spec Ops Quest, take out a bunch of Abnormals, return to the client and report their deaths. It wasn't one of the more difficult ones like rescuing hostages fro terrorist groups that formed every now and then, nor would be that complicated. That is, until Nico got ambushed by some of those men in bulky red Armour with demonic looking features. Ambushed by them, along with a large Warband consisting of 100 Northmen, dozens of Bloodletters, all of them led by those men in red. It felt weird to him at the start, but despite the horrific, grotesque appearance of the Demons and their followers, it was the mostly normal-looking men in red that unnerved him the most. He had no idea why at the time, but he sure as hell did now.

Those men in red definitely had the epitome of 'powerful warrior' down pat. He would go as far as to say that they were the personification of bloodthirsty warriors eager for the rush of combat. The thrill of the slaughter. Their phrase they had yelled at the beginning did little to change this. That had been the moment that Nico had been beset by hordes of Chaos, thundering towards him like they were shattering reality with their unified war cries. It had been the start of one of the toughest fights Nico had gotten himself into in a long time, the fight with Maghda had NOTHING on these guys.

Not to mention just how TWISTED and wicked that fight had been, hell even Nico sometimes shuddered remembering it. It had been bloody, messy, grizzly and more horrific than a lot of the many battles Nico had partaken in. Blood flew through the air from wounds like projectiles, bones and organs littered the ground and turned it into a field of blood ad mutilated gore. Yet, none of this disturbed the chaotic followers in the slightest, if anything it only encouraged them to continue the fight, even going as far as to say they would fight even harder. It was like nothing motivated them more than the slaughter of any form of life, no matter what allegiances they had. Friend, foe, neither it didn't matter to them.

Definitely reminded him of Khorne, alright. If this God was so almighty, why the hell had he not met him yet?

In a world filed with Goddesses as rulers of Nations, one would think that Khorne would reveal himself at this point, but nope, Nico had not even seen one lock of this so called 'Chaos God'.

Still, none of this changed the end result, and it had been rather easy compared to the following battle to take out that whole army. How Nico hadn't detected them with his senses since they radiated so much bloodlust that he could have gone insane if he hadn't practiced it beforehand, the DPU had no clue. He'd killed off all of these enemies, man and monster alike, with his Devil Arms along with his Armour. He had fought with everything he had, trusting his instincts with his life as he tore through those foes like a paper shredder. Any injury they managed to inflict on him, be it a light scratch or a limb loss/ beheading, was instantly regenerated by his healing factor, powered by his inner beast. Sometimes he reinforced this regeneration with his Demonic Power, just t help speed things up even further, though.

Then, came the battle with the men in red…

The exact SECOND their battle begun, Nico had to quickly transform. Becoming Crimson Soul by necessity alone thanks to them having way too much power in their initial strikes. Yet, it had felt to him like that was only a bit of their power, lie they wanted to gauge him and see if he was worth fighting. In DPU form, things got slightly easier, but with their powers it made them difficult to combat against without the support of his Red Rage Ring, which apparently could even be used in his DPU Form. He had to rely on it a lot to boost his powers with its internal Rage, feeding it to Soul Edge which seemed to have an addiction to it, for it just soaked up the Red Rage Ring's power like a sponge. It was a weapon filled with unbridled rage by the end of the battle, and it loved it. Perhaps if he transformed at the start (when the chaos forces attacked him) he wouldn't have had as much trouble as he did, but there were some leftover hesitations with using that power. Like he said, Nico didn't like using it too often.

It took him the rest of the entire day to defeat the men in red, which had practically reduced the forest they had been in to a ruined wasteland by the end, and during their battle he had been presented with the opportunities to learn a bit more about them. Of course, he took them, and the results spoke for themselves. Apparently, these beings were called 'Chaos Space Marines' and they were a legion of warriors called the 'World Eaters' who served the Chaos God Khorne. They were once a type of being called a 'Space Marine' but they wouldn't say much more on that, instead they told him that they were summoned by the Chaos God himself through the use of those Hellgates. Aside from that, they refused to disclose any more information.

Therefore, Crimson Soul then harvested their souls for Soul Edge, adding them to its significantly large kill/soul count.

That encounter taught him a valuable lesson, that he couldn't remain satisfied with the level of power he was at right now. There were beings out there that were coming to Gamindustri, beings out there that would be able to wipe the floor with him and practically tear the entire planet apart. He couldn't stop growing in strength, he had to keep on ascending. Both in power and in knowledge. There was always room for improvement, improvement he would need in order to NOT have such a close call again. Thus, he would have to keep up and intensify his training, especially if he was to fight against large armies like that in the future and knowing his luck that would likely be happening a lot more often than he would have liked.

It was with these thoughts that Nico mentally decided that he would spend the morning training in his Inner World, no distractions would bother him. He had a LOT of training to do, and not enough time to do it. His inner beast, his other abilities, everything had to be overhauled. Nico's eyes hardened into a steely expression when he thought this, twirling around to look at his bed before making the bed and sitting on the centre. Nico sat in a meditative stance, placing his hands on his lap before closing his eyes.

With those thoughts, Nico felt a tug on his consciousness and found himself being dragged into his Inner World.

* * *

By the time that Mid-afternoon arrived, Nico returned from his Inner World when he heard the sounds of his Bracers receiving a message from an outside source. His eyes shot open, not startled in the least thanks to having experienced this so many times before, something in the real world pulling him into it from his Inner World at least. It didn't seem like the girls had opted to try and do anything to his body while he slept, something that made him suspicious since he figured that Neptune would have at least tried to prank him somewhat.

That is, until he noticed his reflection at a nearby mirror, where various pen markings were drawn onto his face.

'Goddamnit, Neptune…' he thought in mild annoyance, yet a smirk formed on his lips as he burned the pen marks off his face with his Hellfire. It didn't take too long, only a couple seconds thanks to the extreme heat that his Hellfire possessed. Still, he would have to pay Neptune back for that one, hell he even wondered why he hadn't reacted during that time. Surely his body's natural reflexes would have kicked in and rendered Neptune immobile like they would if an Assassin tried to take his life while he slept. Believe him, he had experienced THAT a few times in his lifetime, too. Mostly from zealous nobles or criminal masterminds he would end up hunting down. 'Might ask her when she gets back…'

Nico could sense no life signs in the immediate vicinity, which meant that the girls were doing their own thing. It never ceased to put a smile on his face how these girls were now taking their training so seriously. Before, they would usually only train with each other or spar against him, now they were seeking other means to get stronger. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy their attempts to damage him, he never pulled his punches either as a gesture of respect to them, it was just a show of personal growth that they were trying to grow stronger in their own ways. It reminded him of when he completed his training under his adoptive mother's tutelage, how he carried on training in his own way by throwing himself into hordes of strong Abnormals and having his fighting skills sharpened through life-or-death experience. Not only was that a thrilling experience, but it was fun as hell, too.

'How did the training go in your eyes, Biko?' He asked his Demon Persona. Today, they had been focusing on his Red Rage Ring and Spirit Bone, honing their use by sparring with the many monsters that populated his Inner World. It was slowly getting easier and easier for him to utilize those items in a combat situation, and new possibilities for applications for those two items kept coming to his mind, applications that he and Biko discussed in great length on their practical use on the battlefield.

 **'I believe it is a suitable process. These Satanic Treasures and Spirit Bones seem to have a wide array of potential in them. I can only imagine what it would be like if we had a full set of the latter, and more understanding of the former. May I recommend revisiting those Tomes again? Perhaps we can learn more about these items than what Histoire has told us.'**

Those were Biko's words, and honestly Nico had to agree with him there. New knowledge and information about his race's culture (even if their culture isn't something that he had 100% faith in) was always an interesting thing to learn about. He could imagine the amount of knowledge and technological prowess his kind had… the former being adequate while the latter being subpar since DPUs were a warrior race. Still, learning bout how they operated in their era was something Nico found himself greatly interested in, as it would likely help him in being a better DPU as well as understand how to unlock his full powers. He only had Biko, the Fragmented Memories, and thee Tomes to go off of after all.

Though, with the revelations of him being the lowest of the low, his current training schedule, Nico still felt like he was making decent progress.

 **'Before checking that message, how abut we review that chat server in Disboard? That one with the one member.'**

Biko's words made a figurative light bulb switch on inside his head, and Nico made to open the Disboard page that he had bookmarked the server on. The male had already done so last night, he'd quickly sent a few text messages to the sole occupant of this server and had soon gotten replies. They had had a short conversation due to the time frames between their locations being late at night, but nonetheless Nico had found this conversation quite intriguing.

The male soon got that page up again, and looked over the messages to see if anything new had been added. So far though, the chat room for this Server still only consisted of this unknown person, WriterWH and himself. Their chat room chats were as follows:

 **Hunter87: Hello?**

 **WriterWH: … Hi.**

 **Hunter87: Um… what is this server about?**

 **WriterWH: writing.**

 **Hunter87: Writing?**

 **WriterWH: yes.**

 **Hunter87:Then, in that case, why not join a server with other people?**

There was nom response, and for a moment Nico had thought this person was ignoring him until he noticed how the time was near midnight. That information made him believe that the person must have been too tired to continue the conversation and went to bed. If that was the case, then they could have at least told him so, but then again, he and this person didn't even know each other, this was the first time they met. They were practically strangers, and it was less likely for a stranger to be polite in the online world.

When he opened the Discord bookmark, he saw these messages and nothing else, nothing new to be updated. Either this person wasn't online, had a busy life, or his question had bothered her. Well, it wouldn't be much of a point to worry about it right now, not when he had other priorities that were more important.

Like the actual message that he had received for example.

'Now then, lets see what this Message was, shall we?' he mused lifting his right bracer and opening his messages. To his surprise, it as from his Mother, and judging by the contact details this was an informal message so that meant no new missions for the WDD. Part o him felt putt off by that, but that was just his inner fighter talking, the rest of him which many would call a 'momma's boy' squealed in delight at seeing something relevant to contact with his adoptive parent. Since he was alone in his room right now, Nico allowed a large, wide smile to grace his features, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he opened the message.

The message read as follows:

 ** _From: Helena Dawson (WDD Head)_**

 ** _Hi there Nicky-Nick, how are you this day? I hope you've been doing well, you know how much mommy worries for her little boy when he's out in the big wide world_** ** _._**

 ** _Have you gotten any girlfriends yet? Better yet, have you gotten anywhere with those girls who seem to have their eye on you? I'm not getting any younger, as much as I'd like to ay otherwise dear, so gimme some grandkids already! They don't seem too adverse to the idea either, especially that Neptune and Lucy girls tee hee._**

 ** _Anyways, congrats on the spectacular music video, my little boy! Mamma's so proud, you're finally getting the love you deserve, aiiieeee! It made me so happy seeing you sile like that in front of a camera! To celebrate (and so I can attend that little Gala that I was invited to by the CPU herself), why don't we meet at the 'Sanctuary', bring those girls, plus Team RAIL, along It will be a nice way to get together and catch up on what's been going on._**

 ** _Look forward to hearing from you, dearie!_**

 ** _#smooch, smooch_**

At the end, there was this chibi version of his mom winking at him while blowing a kiss his way. Nico rolled his eyes though, unable to stop the chuckle that escaped his lips when he read the message. Oh, how he missed his mom's antics sometimes, her antics were like a breath of fresh air in this cruel world sometimes. Plus, meeting her at the sanctuary felt much better than meeting her just in Leanbox. The Sanctuary was one of the few places Nico enjoyed visiting whenever he had the time and he was within Leanbox for a variety of reasons. Not only was it something that belonged to his mom, but it also was a… memento, of sorts, from his parents. His birth parents, one of the few things that they left behind for him.

Though, Nico had to admit, part of that message caused him to quirk a brow in curiosity.

'Mom was invited to the Gala…?' Nico wondered, curiosity and confusion prevalent through his mind. Why would Vert personally invite his mother to the Leanbox Gala? After all, his mom was not of Lastation but Planeptune affiliation, even if she was once from Leanbox originally, so she shouldn't have any interest according to Leanbox laws that would warrant an invitation. Not to mention, this message said she was invited by the CPU herself, which only added more questions to Nico's head.

Still, he could see some reasoning behind this move now that he thought about it. In a political sense, it was a gesture of good faith, if Lastation was only invited to the Gala and not Planeptune it would make people assume Leanbox was playing favourites and that would… dissatisfy the Planeptune officials there to a high degree. It may be even grounds for those not supportive of the alliance between the Nations to try and subterfuge it. Nico wasn't too sure on the political standpoint in Planeptune regarding the Alliance, but if he ere to guess it would be tense enough just with the Lastation talks going on. Those two Nations DID have a rivalry going on, after all. Adding Leanbox to the mix…

Well, whatever the reasons were, Nico could use this to his advantage, he could finally get some time alone with his mother and inform her of what he had learned throughout his adventures. If there was someone he could trust on a similar level to Biko, then it would be his mom, as she had been there for him since the beginning when he had no clue on how to fit in with human society. She was his mom and his mentor, so she had great influence in how he grew up. Nico owed his mom a WHOLE hell lot in life, and he would be damned if he didn't show his appreciation for it. Also, this would be the best time because there was little risk of many Planeptune officials looking to undermine his mother's reputation from overhearing their conversation, there were some amongst them that were even worse than Leanbox Nobles after all.

 **'That woman… she means a lot to you, doesn't she?'**

A wistful smile spread onto his face when Nico heard those words vibrate through his head. 'You bet your goddamn ass she does. She's lost a lot because of me, all because she wanted to take care of me in place of my birth parents. Whatever happened to them is irrelevant right now, because as far aa I'm concerned, Helena Dawson is my mom right now. After all, she is the very definition of a loyal family member, especially with what happened. I only wish she didn't have to suffer because of what I am.'

Before Biko could inquire as to what that meant, something reached his senses, making the teen suddenly tens up like a spring coiled together, a surge of energy flashing into existence in front of him. The flash was light green in colour, and his nose quickly became bombarded with the smell of various flora combining together within his nostrils. 'Whoa, wha-?!' was all he could think before he felt something grasp him and a feeling similar to Warping to wash over him.

If anyone were to try to get in there, they would not find anything left of Nico or the thing that took him.

* * *

The feeling of cold air told him that he had been transported somewhere outside, probably some open area. With amount of oxygen hitting his skin, Nico guessed that it was some form of field or somewhere just as large. He almost gave In to the temptation to summon one of his Devil Arms had he resisted it with every fibre of his being. The smells that he had smelt when this happened, had been a familiar smell to him. There was only ONE cause for something like this, only one thing he knew, and Nico felt VERY certain that this was the case.

Well, he would have had to confront this person anyways.

Nico's vision, while hazy at first, cleared up as he blinked owlishly, soon coming to be able to view his surroundings. Slowly, the teen sat up, turning his head from one flank to the other to gauge his surroundings with a neutral expression on his face. His instincts had been confirmed the moment he did though, for he soon found himself within a large grassy plain. The air came from all the cold air around them, the wide-open space being the source as an air of serenity overcame him. He just felt like he could just fall asleep here and be at peace, it was just THAT peaceful. The teen took a deep breath, inhaling the pure, fresh open air, a contented sigh escaping with his following exhale.

The reason for his peaceful state right now, in spite of being suddenly and rudely transported away from his nice and quiet room was simple. There was no danger within the vicinity. No Abnormals, Demons, Monsters or anything resembling hostility could be detected throughout the area. This was actually one of the few times where Nico found himself to be truly at peace, no distractions or signs of stressful matters in sight. This revelation gave him room to think about what this could mean to him if he ever found himself in this place again. Thoughts about his training circled throughout his mind, you know, the usual. Maybe he could practice the various Sword Techniques here, the peacefulness and tranquility could be quite useful, and it was also significantly rare to have a moment of peace in a place like this.

Seeing as it would be better if he were standing up, even though he wouldn't mind it if he were to lay down here for the entire day (which was a bad idea and he knew it, for many reasons), Nico made to get to his feet. There was little time anyways, so he couldn't afford to be relaxing at a time like this. If it was who he thought it was, then they probably wouldn't appreciate it if he ignored them for lazing about.

That was what the lovable dork known as Neptune was for.

Nico also recognized that power which brought him to this eyes flashed with nostalgia as memories flowed through his mind, memories hat were some of the few he didn't reject these days. He remembered seeing it several times in the past when he went on missions with this power's user in the past. It tied into the person't true nature, and oh hell he recognized that pun and would probably shoot himself with a full powered Cero later, but meh. He'll just regenerate from it. Still, this particular ability, the ability to teleport the person or any person (or object, it didn't matter) they think of, was one of the most broken abilities this person had, cause it spanned across the ENTIRETY of Leanbox. Though,in other ways it could not be considered that as much...

"Guess who, you ripped stud you."

Well, speak of the devil and she will appear.

Nico rolled his eyes just seconds before they were covered by a pair of hands, a playful coo being uttered in his ears. There was even a playful blowing in his right eardrum from a pair of feminine lips, Nico knew this from the voice that had spoken in such a manner. Not to mention the two sources of heat that pressed against his back like they were trying to envelop his entire soul with their embrace, leaving it to be putty in their owner's hands. Considering who this was, he wouldn't be surprised if it was the case, there.

"Hey there, Lucy. Been a while."

This was the casual response that Nico used, though internally he felt like a schoolgirl before her crush. He could only exercise every ounce of his willpower to keep himself from becoming a blushing mess with how close the contact between him and the young woman behind him was. Not to mention the... stimulating memories of their last encounter filling his mind like water being poured into a liquid.

A sly giggle escaped the woman's voice behind him as the hands over his eyes peeled away their owner twirling around so that she was standing right in front of him as of this very moment revealing it to be Lucy herself. The Spec Ops Agent that was second in command of Team RAIL, as well as one of the, oh what was the word some of her many fans described her as… oh yeah, 'thirstiest' girls he had ever met. The way she put her gloved hands behind her back while leaning forwards, her corset pronouncing her well-endowed chest area in a tantalizing manner that would work on making normal men become putty in her hands, it was all familiar to him.

Any other time he'd be trying to rein in his embarrassment, but right now with everything that had been happening, seeing a familiar face felt much better than it should have. It was almost THAT guy's level of crazy how much he enjoyed seeing her face once again.

"It sure has been, Nicky-Dear…" she remarked, hands on her hips as she sultrily smirked at him. "Last time we met was when we were on that Urgent Quest together back at Mojang Village." She remarked, and that caused him to ponder. Had it really been that long since they last saw each other? Now that he thought about it, she seemed to be right. That WAS the last time he remembered seeing her. Wow… how time flies, huh. He didn't even realize how long it had been, it just felt like a couple weeks before they last met when in reality it had only been a few months. Well, in his defence, a lot had been happening, so he had lost his sense of time a bit, what with the Hellverse, Skies End, training, the Demons…

Wow, a lot really DID happen the last time they met, huh?

Putting a hand over his chin in thought, Nico hummed in response. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Wow, been that long..." the male muttered, before shaking his head and placing his hands in his Trench Coat Pockets. "Anyways, did you really have to pull me from the Hotel like that? You could have just knocked and asked to see me, after all." He questioned, though soon after he felt like he should be hanging himself for his stupidity. The reason why, the deadpanned stare that the red-haired woman gave him.

"Really? I'm pretty sure that those girls you're partying with wouldn't let that happen." She stated, and when he made to refute her Nico couldn't find anything to do the job with, causing him to shut his mouth. His eyes flashed with realization then sheepishness at her… accurate, comment. Nico remembered how these girls acted when around each other, and something told him he didn't want to have to explain to them why she would want to spend time with him alone, which was what he suspected since she dragged him out here with her powers.

In an attempt to move the conversation along and to stop himself from looking any more like an idiot than he already was, Nico decided to ask the question one SHOULD ask when they meet someone they haven't seen in a while. "So, what's new with you? Been anywhere exciting the last time we met?" he asked her. Since it had been a while since they met, there were bound to be some interesting things happening, especially with the recent events surrounding Leanbox, both politically and the ongoing threats of the Demons.

At this, Lucy gave a pout similar to an annoyed child throwing a temper tantrum. She soon began ranting while stomping her foot on the ground like said child would. "Oh nothing much, just wishing that all those pesky Demons would just choke on their own spit and shrivel up and die already. Those Demons are really annoying with how they keep appearing through those stupid Portals and Hellgates. Managed to suppress their presence somewhat in the beginning, but they managed to populate those pesky Hellgates enough to make going there myself a suicide idea."

Nico sweat dropped at the sight, oddly enough this sight reminded him of Neptune a little when she was forced to go for a prolonged time frame without any Pudding. Girl was addicted to the stuff, it was crazy. Lucy didn't show it often, but she did have a childish side to her as a means of un-stressing herself from everything she did in her life… aside from screwing around which Nico HOPED she would be more careful with doing. He didn't think she would STOP per say, if what she had told him way back when was any indication, but still he hoped that she would learn to value herself a little more.

Eventually he decided to stop her before she could finish, as sometimes a girl's ranting could continue for hours and THAT was not how he wanted to spend this time with her. "Alright, alright we all get it. Those guys stressed you out and you are annoyed as hell." He stated, placing his hands on her shoulders to get her attention. With her apparent 'interest' in him, he had hoped that this would succeed in getting her attention and making her mind focus on something else rather than those stressful memories.

It certainly worked though, if the sudden sultry look she sported seconds after a brief flash of surprise was any indication. "Oh my, getting a bit bold, are we? Touching a lady's shoulders like that, have you been considering what I want from you all this time? Hm?" she questioned with a mischievous grin. Her eyes danced with lustful intent while she wiggled her brows suggestively, just stopping herself from going even further and pressing her body into him.

Blushing bright red, Nico quickly pulled his hands away and made to apologize for his actions, but when she began giggling into a closed hand, the teen calmed down and huffed, looking to the side. It wasn't his fault that he was like this, his defences against this woman were just so low that one false move and he would likely be under her spell for all eternity. Lucy was just that good at getting under men's kin, it made him question how he was able to hold off her advances all this time. Also, it made him question just why was she so insistent on bedding him? She should know by now that he was a virgin, so he wouldn't exactly be a good one for her. Plus, she had been experienced with better partners before, so he doubted he could measure up to them even if he wanted to get… that close with a woman.

Goddammit, this woman flusters him every time!

"Well, at least i'll be getting some answers as to what the heck that foolish, bratty Leanbox CPU is doing in her little Basilicom while her Nation crumbles around her." Lucy mused, stopping her previous actions as her demeanor quickly shifted. What was once mischievous and teasing, became stern, cold and serious. Her form tensed and her eyes shined with a scolding gleam, her teeth grinding together as she gripped her glove covered elbows.

THAT caught Nico's attention and set off alarm bells in his mind. His mouth closed tightly to stop himself from saying anything as he frowned to himself seconds later. If there was one thing about Lucy that he agreed with, it was that she believed the CPUs were foolish idiots for even starting the console war in the first place. While there were those that thought this throughout Gamindustri, they didn't really speak of it since it was considered by the fanatically faithful to be borderline heresy. There were some who still spoke their minds regardless, but Lucy topped those guys as well when it comes to her opinions with the Goddesses. Given her true nature though, Lucy had more reason to have this opinion. Still, he had to ask her the question most prominent in his mind. "What do you mean by that?"

Looking back to him, Lucy reached into... well, the space within her breasts (Nico refused to look there since he was not a perv despite everything that had happened to him up to this point), and pulled out something that caused Nico to nearly gape in surprise: 4 Tickets to what he assumed judging by what he could see of them to be Gala tickets. A sly smirk crossed onto her red lips when Lucy confirmed his thoughts the moment afterwards. "These babies will get me and the others into that Gala, managed to get them after... 'convincing', one of those idiot trash-bins called Nobles to part with them." she told him, her eyes gleaming with an almost predatory gaze to them for that brief moment she said the word 'convincing'.

Well, he should have expected Lucy to do something like that. She practically just stated to him that she screwed a Noble just so she could get access to the Gala. It definitely sounded like something she would do, Lucy was always someone who liked to sadistically dominate those she takes to her bed. She WAS a big fan of control after all, it was how she had managed to take down a lot of high ranking officials who dabbled in some dirty work on the side of their real jobs. It was Lucy's MO, to pick a target who had both been a Noble and had rumors surrounding him that... weren't very favorable, seduce them while also checking to see if they were true, then screw them into admitting what they did and thus using this to her advantage. Those Nobles would then find themselves penniless and either on the streets, or in prison.

It was her favorite past time back then... though, one that he didn't necessarily agree with.

Not because he cared about the Nobles, oh no, those guys could all just go suck a dick for all he cared. Hell, he enjoyed reading about those who got their just deserts thanks to Lucy. However, there lay the problem he had: Lucy herself. Nico honestly didn't feel the way her methods worked. He didn't like how she so casually screwed people in multiple ways because to him, it felt like she didn't value herself very highly. Like, she didn't care much for her own body's well-being, and that worried him. "Ah, I see. That makes sense." He stated, not voicing his thoughts on the matter... except for one. "Did he... do anything extreme?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, was he..."

Lucy, after a moment of confusion while thinking about what he was trying to ask, realized his intentions and made a dismissive hand gesture. "Pft, he was like all the others, barely worth anything. Did like slapping my ass, but then again i'm proud of my ass, breasts, my whole body really. It was just made for seduction." she replied, in an uncaring manner. "Tried doing bondage, though, was an interesting experience..."

"Ok, ok, you don't need to go any further..." Nico hurriedly exclaimed, cutting Lucy off right there. He didn't need to know what kind of fetishes that these Nobles had thank you very much, though he did get the urge to pay that noble a little visit and... show him how much he appreciated how he handled one of his comrades... preferably with his inner beast unleashed or his Devil Arms in hand. "So... you just screwed him to get the tickets, that's all, then."

She gave him a nod. "Yep, he wasn't even that entertaining, just kept blindly trying to cum. Guess that was why he had so many of his servants being maids and no wives, they weren't able to question him. Don't worry, 4 days from now he'll be out on the streets like the pathetic piece of garbage he is." she stated with venom, her eyes flashing with sharp anger.

That... definitely succeeded in calming him down, that end part anyways. Maybe he could pay him that visit after all... shaking his head, Nico pushed those thoughts aside for now. He had bigger issues to deal with than one soon-to-be former Noble who picked the wrong girl to mess with. Though he didn't feel like talking more about that, as there were other things he could ask her now that she brought up the topic of the Gala. "Well, that's good then. Though, I heard from Aiden and Ivan that the news about Leanbox, Planeptune and Lastation's connection to the Gala coming up soon threw you for a loop."

"Oh, don't even get me STARTED on that whole shebang." Lucy groaned, exhaling deeply as she planted a hand on her forehead. "Throwing us for a loop is a MASSIVE understatement. Me and Ravey talked to death about it, what it could mean and how it could have happened. We talked extensively, it felt almost suffocating, like one of those formal business interviews. I've never seen Ravey so frustrated before in my life, seriously steam was coming out of her ears!" Something told him that this was just an exaggeration on Lucy's part, but Nico COULD see how someone like Raven would react in a similar manner to this news. It threw him for a loop as well, after all. "In the end, we decided it would be best if we went to the Gala ourselves to confirm what was happening."

Part of him couldn't help but comment through all of this, that he had never even asked her why she had brought him here. How instead he had just stated that it was a while since they met and the conversation just kept flowing from there. This was something that Nico and Lucy did quite often, heck he did it with Raven too. There wasn't much need for 'pointless questions' like 'why did you bring me here?' in their eyes, not when they could get into the real nitty gritty of the issues instead. To them, those pointless questions always had the same answers, so there was no need to ask them.

It was a... unique trait to their relationship.

"Anyways, enough of that serious stuff." Lucy finally snapped, bringing Nico out of his thoughts as she grasped his hand in hers and began pulling him away from the area. "Come on, we got lots of stuff to do today. I reserved this day for JUST the two of us, no pesky distractions this time." Lucy stated, a sly grin forming on her ruby red lips which caused Nico to sweat profusely. He hoped she did not want to do what he feared she did.

He feared for his chastity here!

* * *

By the time nightfall arrived, Nico's fears had been... mostly doused.

Apparently, it seemed that Lucy wanted to spend the day with him hunting and killing demonic forces: Northmen, Demons, Cultists, even a few rare groups of those World Eater Legions. They traveled throughout Leanbox, where the concentrations of these forces were at their worst and tore them apart, Nico resorting to Soul Edge to feed their souls to it while Lucy used her nature powers to rip her opponents to shreds mercilessly. She didn't question what the sword did, nor did she care. There were too many scumbags in the world, and practically all of them were monsters in their own right anyways. She could care less if Nico used a sword that devoured their souls. Between battles, they took small breaks by camping in small clearings.

By the by, if anyone was wondering about how Lucy and him traveled... it was the same power she used to bring Nico to that plain... a good couple days drive from the main city. A minor feet considering its proficiency.

When nightfall came, Lucy finally decided that they had done enough for the time being, and with her power the two appeared in a green flash before this large lake-like area, surrounded by dense wilderness. The scenery looked just like the rest of the Land of Green Pastures, quiet, green, calm and serene... well, the scenery that wasn't corrupted by the Demonic Forces, and considering how much shit they've seen from them it definitely registered as a welcoming sight.

"Whew, that was a workout!" Lucy exclaimed, whooping for joy as she stretched her arms above her head. She even tilted her upper body from one side to the other to stretch her hips. She'd do some leg stretches sometime soon, too. But in her mind, she couldn't help but grin at just how much FUN this day had been, when she had told Nico about her and Raven 'talking', she had severely downplayed it. They had been arguing about it for days now, each of them having conflicting opinions. Raven believed that this was a farce, that the CPUs would eventually turn on one another once again. Meanwhile, Lucy believed that this was a long time coming, for she had seen the frustration and the weariness in humans regarding the Console War. Progress through rivalry was alright, but this was far too much... and it had been going on for a long ass time.

Training Compa in her new powers worked somewhat as a deterrent for a time, but that could only get them so far.

It reached a point where they both went their separate ways for a few days, so they could calm down and think rationally once more. They wouldn't have been able to properly lead Team RAIL in that state, if they tried then it would have lead to a LOT of bad decision making that could have gotten them killed... or worse, considering what these Cultists seem to be into. For Raven, Lucy suspected she went somewhere isolated to hone her Skills, somewhere where she wouldn't be disturbed. Lucy could probably find her with her powers, they worked well in Leanbox after all, but she didn't want to intrude and restart their arguments.

As for herself, she just HAPPENED to notice that her potential future lover was available through her powers, so she just went 'CLICK' with her fingers and summoned him to the closest plain to one of the Demonic Power infused encampments filled with beings she wanted to destroy.

"Yup, it was..." Nico remarked thoughtfully, smirking as he tossed his weapon into the air, bent forwards and tethered Soul Edge onto his back, the demonic sword eagerly sucking on the Demonic Power used for such a feet like a baby sucking on a pacifier. That sword had been devouring Demon Souls left and right while his Hellfire powers got a nice workout burning foes to nothingness. Not to mention how the stress from everything that had been occurring up till now had left him, leaving Nico feeling a whole new level of refreshed.

Sometimes, battle was the greatest stress reliever.

 **'Even so, I must admit, it is curious as to how many demonic forces are making their way to this Landmass.'**

The sudden words from his Demon Persona made Nico arch a brow, his face hidden mostly by his Mask (which he had put on while putting up his hood before the slaughter had begun). 'What do you mean, Biko?'

 **'No matter how many demons, Cultists of those World Eater Legions we kill, more seem to take their place. I'm beginning to suspect that the whole 'other words' matter the [World Tome] Histoire told us of is connected to this. Think about it, Gamindustri can't be the only world with humans on it, and if that's the case...'**

Nico did not like the implications nor the actual probability that Biko was insinuating, but he couldn't refute it. If there really were other worlds out there like Histoire said, then who knows how many forces the Demonic faction has. Numbers, weapons, technology, everything. It gave him a whole load of questions, theories and ideas that he did NOT want to think about.

Maybe once this was all over, then maybe...

"Say, Nicky-Dear..." Lucy began, and the male suddenly realized she was right up in his face, her own inches away from his with her hands behind her back. Response: Nico stepped back while stuttering incoherently making her but a gut laughing. "Hahahahahahahahaaa... #inhale#exhale# oh Nicky-Dear, you still have that habit of losing yourself in thought, but anyways I wanted to thank you for letting me have you for the day." she said, thanking him with a soft smile, not a trace of her signature seductive tendencies.

It made Nico's heart skip a beat, though he had composed himself before that could happen. He had to curse this fact to himself, the fact that her genuine smiles always got to him. They have ever since she first showed them to him the moment after she had that breakdown. He had a feeling that she knew this too, but he never confirmed it. Never mind that, she had told him something so he should respond before she questioned his sanity... what little there was at this point. "Meh, no biggie. You know i''m not one for beating around the bush." Let it be known that he had also sensed the stress rolling off his comrade briefly before he saw her after that transporting to the plain, as well as during their 'demolition derby'. "I get the feeling that you needed some time to wind down from everything."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Lucy answered, scratching the top of her head with her left gloved hand, before she looked to the water and got an idea. A slight grin formed on her lips, and the sight of it made chills grow down Nico's spine. He knew that smirk, the mischievousness he could feel from it (not from negative emotion sensing either) everything... and usually whens he had that smirk, it never went well for him. "But we're not done yet."

"Huh? What do you-?"

Before Nico could get his question out, he got his abrupt answer when Lucy suddenly... twisted around and discarded her clothes in a flash of green light, switching to what looked like a dark green one piece with pink/red flower patterns on it. She didn't give him time to think as she appeared right before him, grinning evilly. "We've worked up a bit of a sweat, so lets WASH it all off with a swim!" she proclaimed, and Nico suddenly felt all the life leave is body while he questioned his life choices.

"Wha-wai-!"

Once again, he got interrupted when he felt himself getting chucked towards the centre of the Lake. Normally he would have Warped out of there and to the lake's edge, but in his panic and the surprise of the situation, that thought hadn't registered. Plus, it didn't happen since he wasn't in any real danger. Instead, Nico switched outfits once more (thank you WDD for the Void Module, that mental command stuff came just in handy!) just seconds before he hit the water.

SPLASH

Not long afterwards, Lucy swam up to where he had fallen, for Nico to shoot up through the lake's surface with a loud gasp. The teen then fell slightly, kicking his legs so that he could remain above the water. 'Okay, now THAT was close.' he couldn't help but think to himself with a grimace, feeling his heart racing like a race car in a grand prix within his chest. 'Should have expected her to pull something like that off, but I didn't.'

 **'I see why you sometimes refer to her as a 'minx' Nico.'**

'That can be said for a few girls I know, and not just Lucy, but yeah your point still stands somewhat.'

Breaking from their link, Nico gave Lucy the stink eye, not at all happy with this turn of events. "You just HAD to get me all wet, didn't you girl?" he remarked with sarcasm. Though, his words soon died down, his tensity vanishing while his eyes slowly opened wider when he noticed the look Lucy was giving him. The way that her eyes gleamed, the way she licked her lips almost subconsciously, the way that her eyes trailed over his form with hunger... he knew that look, and immediately paled with dread. If that wasn't bad enough, his white copy sent him a mental image of himself while laughing like a hyena.

Apparently the water had done wonders to him, with the way that his swim-wear: a pair of black baggy trunks reaching his kneecaps that had red flames on the bottom, had exposed a LOT of his physique. If all the pics of him he'd seen on the internet weren't bad enough, he could only imagine how people would take THIS. Water droplets clung to his skin, dripping down his shoulders, torso, arms, neck, practically everywhere, serving to reinforce his masculinity. His wet hair clung to his scalp,his bangs nearly covering his eyes completely from view to give him this wild, frenzied look. If that wasn't enough, the way constant combat honed his body to be as destructive as possible... well, yeah, you get the idea.

Eye candy... male version.

'What the hell?! Why the fuck has there been so much man-service these past few chapters?!' in his panic, Nico unknowingly (and completely unintentionally) regressed into breaking the fourth wall. 'Am I going to be raped in the future at this rate?! Fuck that, i'll defend myself with everything I have!'

But first...

* * *

"Owwwwwiiiiieeeee..."

"Yeah, well that's what you get for letting your wild side take over, crazy lady."

"I'm not crazyyyyyy, and I said I was sorrryyyyyyy!"

"Whelp, now you know why they say 'Karma's a Bitch' now, don't you?"

Nico huffed as he crossed his arms, giving a stern, lecturing stare towards the person who just tried to assault him in a fit of lust. Lucy, the vice leader of Team RAIL, had her hands on her head, rubbing the area around a particularly large lump that had formed from his... defense, against her bout of lust-fueled madness. That had been... some of the most frightening hours he had ever experienced, not even fighting Abnormals or demons felt that bad. If anyone thought that was excessive, then listen to the things he had to employ to get her back to normal: multiple bonks to the head from his fists, a few shoulder smashes from his Armour, Soul Edge, his Devil Arms, more than a dozen Obliteron and Skill attacks and there was even a not-so-small smell of burning in the air, curtesy of Nico's hellfire... and THAT was only a BIT of what he had to do in order to curb the lust frenzy mode that Lucy had went into when seeing him after his emergence from the lake depths.

 **'That was... very scary. Women can be very dangerous when they want to be.'**

'THAT is an understatement, Biko.'

 **'On the flip side, we now know that Hellfire can even burn underwater, too. Although it is not** **recommended** **for the ecosystem.'**

On that, Nico could agree. He shuddered at what would have happened if she had been able to get her claws into him any deeper, she was a THIRSTY girl when it came to him, a literal five course meal, a golden trophy whatever for her since he usually stopped her advances on him. Hell, he once heard someone call her the personification of THIRSTY when it came to perverted acts. Normally when she teased him he would get flustered, yeah, but when it came to the true advances she would make on him, that was when he'd put is foot down. He'd lost count of how many times that had happened, and even now he could hear the white version of himself howling with laughter while dodging attacks from a stern Biko wielding his own Soul Edge.

"Mou, you meanie...!" Lucy whiled, puffing her cheeks while pouting as she applied energy over the cartoonish bumps on her head... that looked like it was made from several bumps fused together. What could he say, she did NOT take no for an answer in that state. She's become like a lust demon, he had never feared for his chastity in his whole life. Seriously, the expression 'I need an adult!' couldn't have been more appropriate than at that moment.

Nico merely rolled his eyes at her. "You do realize that I was in my rights to defend myself when you literally became a panther girl and pounced on me." he ststed bluntly.

"Yeah, I guess... I guess I did behave a little forwardly..." She muttered under her breath, not noticing how the other Spec Ops Agent whispered 'just a little...?' under his breath, Pretty soon, the red haired woman lowered her arms once she pain subsided. "Well, anyways, since we'e now in here, we can have some fun!"she chirped happily, hands moving to her hips. "Say, what do you think of MY swimsuit, Nicky-Dear?" she asked him, smirking as she reverted to her seductive self, twisting her hips about to show him multiple angles of her one-piece.

'Its like in one ear and out the other with this girl...'

At this, the red-haired male quickly blushed, shifting uncomfortably as he found himself in a situation a LOT of guys would kill to be in. The teen however, could only feel a mix of emotions: sock, discomfort, and... something that originated from his groin that he couldn't, or rather didn't want to, identify. His face flushed crimson while steam rose from his head as he did his best to try and not pas out at the situation he found himself in. "Um, I uh..." he stammered, trying and failing to come up with anything.

What could he say, mentally saying that someone was attractive was a FAR CRY from admitting it out loud.

Fortunately, it seemed that his reaction was enough for the woman, if the way she laughed victoriously was any indication. "Honestly, you keep your calm in intense situations, yet when yo're tasked with anything related to the opposite sex and sex appeal, all that composure goes flying out the widow." she remarked, arching a brow while smirking in amusement.

"Hey, I can't help it, you count how many times I've been in a situation like this..." he tried to protest, but it came out so weak that he wanted to just crawl into a hole and die. Hell, even Nico could tell that those words sounded pathetic the moment they were formed, but due to his lack of composure he couldn't stop them from escaping out into the atmosphere.

Lucy, thankfully, decided to give the poor guy a break as she softly patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, no sweat alright sweetie? After all, you did answer correctly , though with actions and not words. Then again, that's just like you. You have this strong honesty about you, both with your words and the actions you make. I've known you long enough to see that." she told him, and a moment later Nico finally managed to regain his composure...

CHU!

Although he nearly lost it AGAIN when she suddenly leaned forwards and pressed her lips onto his cheek. "Ufufufu, think of tat as a reward for complimenting me through actions, Nicky-Dear." she stated after pulling back from the second-long peck. "Now then, we came here for a break, so lets have some fun, shall we? Wanna race around the lake?" She suggested, now sporting an aura of competitive spirit.

A spirit mimicked by the male when he gave her a matching smirk... for a second before it evolved into a full blown grin. "You're on!" he bellowed, before darting through the water like a torpedo with Lucy laughing as she followed suit.

* * *

It was a couple hours later when they finally decided to stop for the night.

Ignoring the way that was phrased, Nico and Lucy did many things in that lake, aside from racing. Activities that included playfully splashing each other with big waves, laughing, joking about, performing underwater stunts to try and out do each other, the works. Though, Lucy had to admit to herself that Nico absolutely FLOORED her on the stunts part. The guy may be an all-rounder when it came to fighting ability, but when questioned, she'd definitely sat that he had the qualities of a stuntman, willing to take big risks to pull off some of the craziest tricks imaginable.

Seriously, who in their right mind would dive to the bottom of a lake, only to shoot right up and out of the water to do multiple flips, twists and spins, all the while doing various poses that unknowingly to him made him look even sexier? Al before performing a perfect sky dive into the water? The only thing missing from that would be some epic background music and a sparkly background, if he had those then he would have made her moist.

What, she called em like she saw em.

As for the racing, the two of them had been pretty neck and neck for that, Lucy's and his athletic ability being on par with each other for that. Their breathing had been highly controlled, honed through years of combat though she herself had more experience with that than anyone else in the Spec Ops Program... possibly even in the military or in humanity in general.

For who made the bigger waves, well, they'd happily say that they both could do that, only that Nico could have the advantage of his Hellfire which burned under every circumstance. He'd used it to make a steamy smokescreen just so she couldn't tell when he'd attack her or from which direction. She had to trust hr instincts like they were her lifeline in a hospital for that one.

Right now, the two casually sat on the lakeside, looking up at the night sky. Nico had done the gentlemanly thing and dried them off with heat from his Hellfire, demonstrating how much he had com in raining with it. Although he HAD tried to downplay it with talk about it being in its weaker form, not the TRUE Hellfire that his DPU Form commanded like a general of a highly trained army. Lucy wouldn't have that though, reducing him to a stammering mess which got some laughs out of her.

She did like to tease the hell out of him, after all... though not in a bad way. In a good way.

 **(Sakura Beach OST - 2)**

"The stars really are beautiful tonight, aren't they..." Lucy remarked, her eyes soft and filled with fondness as she curled herself into a ball, pulling her legs into her chest. She didn't feel bothered by the cold, not when she had trained for various conditions. Even with her nature depicting that she wouldn't like the cold, Lucy had trained that weakness out of her, just like how her leader had done the same. If they agreed on one thing, then it was that they needed to extinguish their weaknesses so they weren't exploited while on duty.

Nico nodded his head in agreement, his features calm and quiet having bent his legs and rested his forearms over his knees, allowing his hands to hang between the legs. Even with the recent revelations from Histoire about DPU Culture and how there were other worlds out there beside Gamindustri, it didn't take away the mystery and the wonder of the infinite space out there. "Sometimes, I wish we could just go up there and see what outer space has to offer. There has to be more than just Gamindustri, you know? Plus, those being coming from those Hellgates have to come from somewhere. Definitely not anywhere on Gamindustri that's for certain."

"Hmhmhmhm, true..."

The two lapsed into calm, collective silence after that, just enjoying the scenery as well as each other's company... though the male of the two wouldn't admit that yet. The way the winds gently brushed by them, ruffling Nico's hair while blowing Lucy's to the side, the way the waters of the lake glistened from the light from the starry skies, it all seemed so... magical, and not like the Magic that Lowee focuses on. In a way, Leanbox's scenery contained its own magic, just like every one of the Nations... though Lastation would have to deal with its pollution issues if their magic was to be properly enjoyed by their citizens. Sadly, neither of the two thought that would be happening any time soon, with the events surrounding that Nation at the moment.

While the male gazed at the stars, a question entered his mind, making Nico wonder... and eventually decide to get another opinion. 'Say Biko, I know this is repetitive and will likely not stop in the future, but I have a question.'

 **'What is it?'**

'Back in the DPU Era... did beautiful scenery like this exist? Or was it just wasteland formed from constant battling? I mean, there had to be SOME areas which were like this, since they apparently did try to keep their fighting to a minimum... on their world at least, with all these coliseums and stuff. Hell, maybe one of those could have fallen badly to the sands of time and became those ruins that contained my Devil Arms.'

 **'Who knows? The** **Fragmented** **Memories wouldn't answer that question... but I must say that I see the logic behind such a move. It would be ****detrimental** **to their society id their world became completely uninhabitable, so scenery like this could** **have** **existed there, and in greater numbers thanks to there not being any possible divided continents. However, given the DPUs and their warlike nature, it makes me question it.'**

That wasn't a comforting thought, but then again it wasn't like he was expecting much else The DPUs were a warrior race after all, they wouldn't have time to appreciate nature like this. Nico guessed that, should he come to find out the worst about his kind, that he could take solace in the fact that this moment, right here with Lucy, made one of the few differences between him and his predecessors.

Then, another thought came to him, one more about Lucy ad how she would be at the Gala when it finally come around. By the goddess he sometimes wished it would hurry up in coming here, the tension sometimes killed his nerves. Nonetheless, his stomach churned as worry began to creep into his mind, electing a frown as he took his gaze off the stars for the time being, and switched it over to his companion. "Say... Lucy?"

"Hm?" Blinking in surprise, Lucy turned her head to look at her companion, before frowning in concern at the look in his eyes. She didn't like it, and wondered what was bothering him so much that it would break the tranquility of this moment they shared. A moment she had been wanting to spend with him for a long, long time. "What is it, Nicky-Dear? Something wrong?"

Quickly shaking his head, Nico made to disperse such thoughts from Lucy's mind. "No, no, nothing like that, its just..." for a moment, Nico wondered how to say this without sounding like a total idiot. He wasn't the best when planning what to say, he usually just spoke whatever cam to him. Save for when he was making observations and theories. All of them felt easy in comparison to admitting how he really felt, which was exactly what this situation was. Nevertheless, he had to say this, he just had to. "When you arrive at the Gala with the others..."

"Yeah...?"

"Just... be careful, alright?" At Lucy's surprised look, her eyes widening and her jaw opening slightly, Nico continued. He had started himself off, no point stopping now. "I mean, there's going to be a LOT of Nobles and other officials at the Gala. Probably some other Agents they will have paid to be escorts, too. Some of which might not take to you so kindly since you might have targeted one of their kin, benefactors etc, or something. I..." In that moment, Nico felt his chest tighten like a serpent trying to crush his windpipe, but he forcefully pushed that feeling aside to finish what he wanted to say. "I'd probably go berserk if something happened to you, after all. People you can trust are hard to find, and I-"

"Shhhh, say no more."

Suddenly, before he could finish, Nico nearly gasped if it weren't for the index finger pressed onto his lips to stop him from speaking. The source, Lucy, who had leaned sideways to shush him. Her eyes no longer carried any of her previous surprise, but a softness and tenderness that only she could convey. Something that she only showed when around him, someone who had proven himself trustworthy to her. "Its... sweet of you, to be so concerned, and while I would say you needn't worry, that would be pointless since you'd worry regardless." Nico had to smirk at that, knowing that he knew it to be true. He wouldn't deny it either, something both of them knew for a fact. "Still, i'll take your words into consideration, and give you some words of my own."

At this her eyes turned serious and worried, just like how his had been before while she grasped both sides of his face in her hands. "When someone who you trust appears, don't try to keep your heart closed to them. Let them in, just like you did with me." she whispered, her eyes swimming with repressed emotions that Nico could sense. If he could sense those, then they were obviously the negative kind, which worried him though he knew their origins. He remembered what she felt when he told her about his nightmares and hallucinations. This must be relevant to that, he figured.

Still though, he couldn't help the uncertainty and conflicted feelings that exploded within his chest at those words. She had basically told him to be more trusting of those that are close to him, that it would be alright to let them know what she knew. That had been what he had been avoiding for the majority of his adventures with Neptune and the others, hell his whole life ever since he first woke up with partial amnesia was filled with mistrust and paranoia. That year he spent with Compa and her Grandfather helped him forget, forget the demon inside, only to be reminded of it later on. That no matter how hard he tried, Nico could never truly fit in with society.

He was an outcast, plain and simple... and that he wouldn't be anything else for as long as he lived.

Even so, no matter how much he tried, Nico couldn't make those feelings into words that he could say to the woman. Like, they refused to escape into the atmosphere unlike before. Of course, this was met with frustration on Nico's part, yet he couldn't for the life of him figure out why that was. In the end, the only thing he could say was thus. "I... I'l try, I guess..."

A sigh escaped Lucy's lips as she hung her head slightly, knowing that would be the best she could get from him at this moment. She may not look it, but she could tell that there were a lot of things wrong with her potential lover. She knew there was something wrong with him since not long after he helped her see he was trustworthy, not long after she gained her first true friend in a long, long ass time. Her feelings of concern had only been confirmed and strengthened when he finally opened up to her, telling her about his mental issues. She just wished he could be more open to her about them, and to those he trusted. She may want to take him to her bed, but she wasn't so selfish as to stop other people from helping him just as much as she tried to. That would be pathetic, and she id NOT want to be pathetic ever again.

There may be many girl after his heart, and odds were this wouldn't end in the typical 'I chose one girl and break the hearts of the others' situation, but all of them would agree that, if they knew how fucked up he was mentally, that they would want to help him heal to aid in his recovery. She HATED how much his mind had been damaged, and Lucy just KNEW that if the other girls found out, they wouldn't like it ether.

It would be their mission as his companions, no, as the girls who loved him, to help him recover from all these wounds...

And they would succeed, no matter what.

 **(OST End)**

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Another chapter done! Another long one, and hey I've been making a trend recently to make longer-than-normal chapters. My usual Chapters are about 6K words, and these last few have been WAY more than that.**

 **Anyways, Hope you enjoy the chapter, if you have questions either PM me or leave a review. Next chapter will either be one last chapter regarding the preparation for the Gala or the Gala itself. It depends on how I want to approach it. Sorry for taking so long, there was just so much content wanted to fit in that happens before it. I hope you guys are appreciating the SCALE that the Leanbox Arc has so far, I personally like it. Imagine what the GAMES would have been like if they had this kind of stuff in it.**

 **For some reason, a hack/'n'slash mainstream title for the Neptunia series doesn't seem so bad... maybe make it a bit more epic than in Action Unleashed or Blanc and Neptune vs zombies. Maybe make one with similar mechanics to DMC, meh I dunno,**

 **Anyways, read, review, all that good stuff! And thanks those who reviewed my story so far, been great reading them!**

 **peace out! :)**


	118. Chapter 115 - Prep for the Gala

**Chapter 115 - Prep for the Gala**

Well… this was an interesting change to her day.

Noire frowned to herself as she stepped out of the Sky Harbour, with a small escort of Lastation officials, some soldiers from the Military and more than 6 Spec Ops Agents surrounding her. It may look like she favoured them more than the military, but in reality, all of them knew how much she had come to respect the Agents and wanted to give them more of a positive reception in the eyes of the public. Especially Leanbox's, if they saw how she viewed them it would hopefully incite them to treat their own Agents better. Though, considering what she had heard from her reliable sources, she had her doubts about that.

She didn't need to even strain her senses to hear the mixed whispers being made In a hushed manner throughout the Sky Harbour, or even in the streets as they made their way towards Noire's prior booked Hotel suite. One that she would be occupying for the duration of her stay. Normally such guests like her would have been given a place of residence within the Basilicom but given the exact… nature of these guests, it was decided that it would be better to have the CPUs in different residences. Justin case things went awry, and one Nation lost their CPU advantage. Noire didn't like the way those assholes in political power put it, but she couldn't say that they were wrong either.

Even if they were weary from conflict, people were still in their 'Console War' mindset. There was no way things would proceed so smoothly without precautions being made. This WAS a big move, one that Noire had NEVER anticipated when she first proposed the alliance talks between Lastation and Planeptune. Then again though, she should have expected something like this to happen, after all out of the four Nations, Leanbox was the Nation that was the least technologically advanced. If two of the strongest Nations in that field banded together, of course they would feel threatened. At least Lowee had access to Magic, they could use that to negate the advantage of technology while they could negate the advantage of Lowee's magic.

In that case, it was like a status quo. Neither of them could fight for long with their best weapons without them being somehow negated through the ensuing conflict.

Still, Noire had to admit to herself that's he had nearly spilled some of her coffee (that she had while watching that… stimulating video, not that it was good mind you!) when she had received the invitation to this supposed 'Gala' that Leanbox was having. She had to resist the urge to snort in derision as herself and her escort walked through the streets, escorted by a small detachment of Leanbox soldiers who looked like white and green knights with swords, shields or spears. Honestly this Gala sounded like one big waste of time to her, why have a party focused around idle gossip when there was tasks to be done, people to protect and lands to rule? At east, that was how she viewed it.

But, this was another Nation, with different views and a different culture to her's. What it lacked in technology it made up for with its homey atmosphere… at least, that was what she had heard but from the looks of the people, that may not be the case anymore. Noire was no fool, she had heard the rumours of how… difficult things are for Leanbox, with what they have to face. She seriously couldn't believe that they were going through something like this without the aid of a Goddess, yet the proof was right here, sitting before her ruby red eyes.

What the heck was Vert doing while the Nation she had founded so long ago crumbled to nothingness around her?

Regarding that invitation though, Noire had thought long and hard about such an idea. She thought about the pros and the cons of the idea of going to tis Gala herself, to bring officials and soldiers into a foreign land of which she didn't trust one bit. She may not have as much of a rivalry as she did with Planeptune, but Leanbox was still an enemy Nation. A Nation that she had to be wary of in case they pulled a fast one on her.

On the other hand, though, making more allies wouldn't hurt, they could pool their resources together to fight off these Demons and the ever-growing threat of the Abnormals. Unfortunately, this deal favoured Planeptune more than Lastation or Leanbox due to it being the most technologically advanced, as well as sporting the highest numbers of both Spec Ops Agents and militia. Lastation meanwhile, had only the things Planeptune had but a downgraded version. They had been trailing behind Planeptune in terms of tech for a long time now, in a bid to be better than them. However, that resulted in them being so similar that they could be one Nation, and nothing would change. The only real difference between them was the hardware for their Consoles and Games, hers being more focused on power and functionality while Planeptune's focused on other areas.

As for Leanbox, they were considerably worse amongst them, all things considered. They lacked the technology that the other two Nations possessed, but out of the three they had the biggest amount of resources both Nations needed for their tech. If they were to join this alliance, a deal could be struck where they shared technology with the Nation in exchange for some of heir resources. She wasn't completely sure on the specifics, but that was why she had her representatives for. The reason why she was even here was simple, the Invitation specifically asked her to come here and join the Gala. Hand written by the CPU herself. According to politics, if on were to reject a Goddess's invitation it could be seen as a grave insult, which was NOT what Noire wanted for her Nation. With the growing Abnormal threat, she didn't need a whole Nation up in arms about her as well.

So yeah, in the end all three had things they could gain, resources for Lastation and Planeptune, technology for Leanbox, and two new allies for Planeptune.

Thus, she had accepted the invitation, and now here she was, in a hostile Nation heading straight to the preparation area for the Lion's den.

Out of the corner of her eye Noire's brow twitched when she noticed several females pass by, civilians it looked like. What got her attention though… were the above-average sized chest areas they sported.

Heck, they constantly jiggled while they passed by as if to just irritate her.

'That's another thing, Leanbox is full of… gifted women. Its no wonder why the men in this Nation are horn as all heck when surrounded by flesh bags like those.' She thought with irritation, doing her best to remain composed in front of her men and the Civilians. She didn't want to risk ruining her image as Lastation's CPU. Her behaviour would reflect on her Nation as a whole, and as a diplomatic visit, this had much more importance than it would normally.

One thing that bothered her more than the Gala and everything surrounding it, were the rumours she had heard about the Leanbox Nobility. None of them seemed particularly friendly, most of them being considered as manipulative snobs who only cared about lining their pockets with credits instead of caring for the people like true leaders do. Not only that, but there have been recent developments through the Nobility that her scouts had learned ahead of time, rumours of great dissent throughout the Nobles. It had begun gradually, but then when the CPU closed herself off and entered isolation not that long ago, it got worse and worse by the day. Not to mention with everything trying to destroy them from the outside… Noire didn't doubt that there may be some insiders too. She would have scoffed if she were alone, but she wasn't, so she held it in…

"Hey, look, those people… aren't they…?"

"That must be Lastation's CPU, Black Heart… Why she's on Leanbox soil I have no clue though."

"I heard she was invited personally by our own CPU to personally attend this Gala. Supposedly this little stunt she's done with Planeptune has drawn our Green Heart's attention…"

"S-Shush, you shouldn't callously address the CPU like that, what if someone hears you?!"

"So what? Its not like anyone's going to complain, after all weren't those CPUs responsible for all of this to begin with? They were the idiots who went and started a multi century long war and left us in the dust for their own gain…"

Noire's ears twitched as she heard some conversations taking place within a nearby group of people, civilians it looked like, huddled close together. They didn't look like the nicest of people, yet they were blatantly shit talking both Lastation and their own CPU with such open resentment that it caused the blackette to stifle a groan of dismay. She wished she could defend herself, but in the end while those people saying that pissed her off to no end, they weren't necessarily wrong either. The four CPUs had a LOT to answer for, this much she knew for a fact.

Like they said, they had been left to fend for themselves for the Majority of the Console War, without their leadership which resulted in them committing their own atrocities, atrocities that could be laid bare before the CPUs' feet. Countless innocent lives were either snuffed out or ruined, sometimes both, because of their stupid Console War. That she had seen for herself back in her own Nation, and it seemed that it was reflected in the others as well. It didn't help that Leanbox's CPU had not been seen outside of the Basilicom before now, and there were a lot of blonde haired, blue eyed and… moderately sized breasted women walking about so it would be hard to identify her out of the masses even if she did come out.

Still, it felt so frustrating hearing all these negative things being said about her and the other CPUS, yet not being able to say anything in her defence lest she make an even worse fool of herself. Noire couldn't allow her own feelings to be shown either, which only added to the turmoil within her heart. Was this what the Spec Ops felt like whenever they were walking through streets filled with people who discriminated against them? Especially those from Leanbox?

"Don't let them get to you, Mrs Noire."

Looking to her left, Noire glanced towards the Spec Ops Agent that had spoken to her, finding that it was a man who looked to be in his mid to late thirties with silver hair two sky blue eyes. The man wore a black smart formal business suit with matching pants, dress shoes, and sported a silver briefcase. The way he walked stated clearly that this guy had experience on the battlefield, had taken more lives than he could care to share, as well as fought in countless battles.

Yet, this man was someone Noire had come to trust ever since she first met him not long after she had parted ways with Nico and Neptune. Someone whom had helped her understand the Spec Ops Program better by going on missions with her, giving her a better picture of how much shit had been really going down in her Nation. His eyes gazed down t her with a mentor-like kindness to them, as if knowing personally what she was going through.

"You can't change everyone's opinions, there will always be people like those out in the world. My bet, those kinds of people are what are running the Overlord Faction from behind the scenes. Even so, you can strive past them to be a better person, to prove to the world that you are not who you once were." He told her, knowingly. He had been glancing about as well, listening in to the rumours and hushed whispers spread throughout the civilian populace about his CPU, though unlike Noire, he had remained calm and composed like they were an everyday occurrence.

Still, Noire had to give him a small, grateful smile. There was so little kindness these days, so she would take what she could get. Plus, she knew this man like a mentor, especially with what he helped her with. "Yes, you are right, Mr Lightning Bolt… Still, its so frustrating that I can't o anything to defend myself since they're right. Us CPUs have made a LOT of mistakes, mistakes that may never truly be forgiven." She told him, sighing sadly at the end.

"There's a saying that a wise man once said." Looking back to the suit-wearing man, Noire arched a brow when he began speaking once more, this time a nostalgic tone in his voice that was reflected in his gaze as well. The man, Mr Lightning Bolt or LB for short, looked to the side, towards one of the taller city buildings as he recounted words he had heard in the distant past. "One sword keeps another in its sheath. Sometimes, by taking a life, others can be preserved. It's the code the past generations of Spec Ops used to go by. I say this, because you need to learnt hat you need to follow our own path, you have your own war to fight." Mr LB paused his speech to look down at Noire again, who now gave him her full attention. "We all do, some just fight their wars differently than others, so don't be afraid to show your blade if its necessary. Stand up for your ideals when questioned and follow the path you believe is right."

Sometimes Noire found it hard to believe this guy was just a soldier, a rugged soldier who could take apart an entire organisation with nothing but stealth skills and swordplay. Impressive self-taught swordplay as well, Noire had both read his file and seen it for herself, the skills that each Spec Ops had was astronomical to her. "Ufufufu, its sometimes so easy to forget that you're not that one-dimensional, Mr Lightning Bolt, being a soldier and a philosopher must make your wife rather complex around you."

At this, the man just let out a small laugh, the other Lastation affiliates not really minding or caring about the way the two were going on. It was well known that Noire and Mr LB had forged a connection between one another, almost like a mix of mentor/trainee and father/daughter relationship. It was a… slightly weird sight to get used to, but they had seen it a bunch of times already. "I could say the same about you, Mrs Noire. People make you out to be one thing, when you're really another."

Soon, Noire rolled her eyes while a small smirk tugged at her lips. Unlike Neptune when she teased her, Mr LB didn't do it deliberately, he always did it to calm her down when her stress levels were rising. Some might consider this to be inappropriate conduct when n a foreign land, but right now the street the Lastation affiliates were walking through had gotten a little more deserted, so it gave them some breathing room. This definitely felt like a welcome change to the blackette CPU, her worries and anxieties melting away for the time being. It wasn't like Mr LB had any qualms with doing this unprofessionally, as she had no problem finding out how he had a distrust for politicians remarking how they were all 'big promises but all talk, lining their own pockets and approval ratings being all they cared about'.

It was a… refreshing thing to see.

* * *

Finally, they managed to find the hotel they would be staying in. Considering the technological advancements of the Nation she was in, Noire didn't expect anything too grand or like that of her own Nation. Each of her representatives, soldiers and Spec Ops Agents would have their own rooms for themselves, something she had booked in advance when she was closing the deals on who to bring to Leanbox with a few Leanbox representatives that had come to deliver the letter to her.

She would NOT have them deal with anything less, that was something she had promised herself when undertaking this task.

As for her, the blackette CPU had her own suite to herself, and while it wasn't like anything she had at Lastation like she thought, it still seemed much better than the average Hotels she had researched on during her free time. Everything was wooden save for the mattress and bedding with a window and door leading to a slam balcony at the opposite end of the room. The bed was located next to the window, with the room being square shaped. There was a tall wardrobe opposite the bed, and a vanity with various tools o it for styling herself for the Gala.

After all, she had to look her best when going to important events like these.

Speaking of these events. Noire reached into her inventory and pulled out what she would be wearing for the Gala, still wrapped in plastic packaging so it wouldn't get any creases in. This formal-wear had been provided for her by one of her benefactors, whom had somehow gotten her exact measurements (she did NOT want to know how, and also hoped that person was a woman not a pervy dude) to create this stylish set of clothes for her. She set it on the bedside before walking to the window, looking out into the city of MICROSOFT while the heels of her boots clanked on the wooden floorboards. She placed her hand on the window while peering out, taking in the sight of the Capital Leanbox city.

'Ugh, these floorboards are so noisy…' the CPU complained to herself, frustration building within her stomach when she slightly leaned on her left foot, the floorboards beneath creaking ever so loudl. There were many things she had seen were wrong with Leanbox, and now that she was all by herself Noire had no qualms about pondering them. She would have had to keep her voice though, as these rooms weren't soundproof, so she didn't want to disturb any of her comrade's downstairs. That would lead to a whole load of cranky reps to deal with ad THAT wouldn't do well for negotiations.

Looking out into MICROSOFT though, Noire had to admit to herself that the City, despite everything she had seen within it, impressed her with how it was still standing despite all these forces hammering away at its boarders. The Leanbox military may not be as equipped or disciplined as the rest of the other Nations', but they did deserve credit for keeping what they did keep secure.

She also began thinking about the Letter of invitation to this Gala, and the person whom had sent her it in the first place. Noire had no doubts in her mind that Vert wanted to know why this was happening, she half-expected even Blanc, CPU White Heart of Lowee to be making moves against her because of this, but she had heard nothing from her representatives at Lowee, stationed there before her return. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know anything about what was going on in Lowee, nobody did. It was like the entire Nation had closed itself off, isolating itself like a caged animal from the rest of Gamindustri.

If someone were to ask her, Noire would say that Vert had sent this Letter out to her, so they could meet and talk about why she had begun co-operating with her arch rival. According to her past experiences with Vert, though they weren't nearly as numerous as the ones with Neptune, she had come off as arrogant prideful and domineering, looking down on her Nation though she still tried to keep somewhat of a level head. Especially later on in the fighting. Things would probably spiral downhill somehow though, resulting in a brawl between the two CPUs that would level Leanbox even with Noire not being in her own territory. Leanbox was such a small Nation compared to Lastation thanks to the difference in territories on their respective landmasses, small enough that if they were to duke it out, her new skillset would make it so that the entire Nation would lose everything...

She was NOT joking, either.

Within her being, she felt IT stir within her, something she had gained a while back after she had separated form Neptune and Nico. To be more exact, she had gained IT some time after she first began getting these tasks started. IT, which offered her powers unlike any weapon she had gained. A weapon that surpassed the High Frequency blade by a wide margin, a weapon that could very well destroy practically anything that stood in its way. It was almost like it was a weapon designed for those whose conviction would slay armies, a divine weapon unlike any other. She'd been fortunate enough that it chose her as its owner rather than someone evil like these so-called Chaos Gods. Training with this weapon was slow and painstakingly agonizing, for every attempt she made to control this weapon's power feltlike she was struggling to go up a hill with dozes of cannonballs weighing her down.

Placing a hand on her chest, Noire whispered through her mind consoling thoughts, gently soothing its agitation. Her earlier thoughts must have frustrated the weapon, cause it had just now decided to resonate to them. When she felt that the weapon was adequately calm, Noire looked back out into the city, the two images of her two most important people (aside from Mr LB) coming to her head. Her eyes filled with slight longing, betraying her inner desire to see them again. "Nico... Neptune… I wonder what you two are doing right now…"

* * *

One of those people, a certain crimson haired Spec Ops Agent, stood within the centre of a hill-like landscape, overlooking the vastness of the wilderness. He couldn't see anything except for grass and fields, perfect for this training idea he had concerning his strongest Devil Arm, which rested on his back, Tethered there by hiss Demonic Power. The demonic sword feasted on that energy eagerly, like usual. It honestly got a chuckle out of him, making him feel like a parent watching their child feed for the first time.

But, that wasn't wha he was here for, nope, no sir. Not when he had an… interesting idea for training.

'Say, Biko. Soul Edge's telekinesis allows it to manipulate the surroundings like lift a canyon pillar into the air, right?'

 **'Indeed. With how many Souls Soul Edge as devoured, its powers have become quite potent. It would even be possible for it to affect the surroundings just by flaring is power. Why do you ask?'**

Nico grinned at this information, a childish, eager grin that could only be matched by an epic-level prankster. His inner child was coming out, for the first time in a long while… and he was letting it. This had been a long time coming, he felt. It had been far too long since he got to try some of these outlandish Ideas into his head. Ideas that have just been sitting there, waiting to be tested but never getting the chance to come out into the light…

Until now.

This one involved Soul Edge's telekinesis, an ability he didn't use very often due to having used its other powers more often. Sometimes he would use it to lock an opponent in place, like an enemy or two, but that was it. If he wanted it for defensive purposes, he manipulated the environment to his advantage like by puling earth from the ground into pillars that would stop enemy attacks from getting to him. He could have it stop attacks from reaching him, then direct them away before going in for the kill. Telekinesis had a lot of potential to it, yet he had always felt that he could have done… well, more with it. Like he was wasting this particular ability.

Until he remembered a little idea he wanted to try out… one that he nearly giggled like a schoolgirl at the thought of. This was going to be the most fun he would have in a while if he could pull it off. While he had other means available when it came to this sword, it didn't hurt to have more. One could find a way to lock some of Soul Edge's powers, so if he had other tricks up his sleeve it would make his survival a whole lot easier… as well as that of his companions. 'Oh, you know. Just a little something I want to try out with it. I doubt I would have bee able to do this with Soul Edge before due to the lack of power, but…'

 **'Whatever you have planned, I will follow. I am you after all, or rather I am a part of you. We will face our trials as one team, and if this white idiot of yourself gets his ass into gear, it could be possible for him to join the team.'**

Deep within his mind, Nico heard sarcastic scoff come from his inner beast's aspect of his mind, the beast itself growling inside his gut. The male had t roll his eyes as well, like that would ever happen. That guy wouldn't allow anyone to control him, not even himself. The thought of this guy acceding to another's will made Nico want to laugh till the end of days.

'Well, anyways, here we go…'

Closing his eyes, Nico focused on Soul Edge, calling upon its power of telekinesis. He felt it reach to his call, rattling over his back. He could feel the vibrations, so he new that he had its attention. Nico then mentally commanded Soul Edge to activate its Telekinesis… on himself. He could feel the surprise radiating from bot Soul Edge AND his to aspects at this move, which only made his crazy grin widen all the more. Maybe he had spent a little too long with the Mad Magician, but hell if he cared.

His theory was this: if Soul Edge could control the environment with Telekinesis or even itself with how it could be used as a separate being like it did with Logan before, then why not have it carry him through the air like some pseudo flight? It was indeed possible, and considering how many Souls his Devil Arm had devoured thus far, the blade's strength should be enough to do this. Obviously since this trick was relatively new he would have to work on it, but hey he only had about what 3 weeks? Yeah, 3 weeks till the Gala, so he had plenty of time especially if he practiced this in his Inner World.

Soon, he felt Soul Edge rumble from behind him, signalling that it was ready, and with one mental command…

WHOOOOOSH!

The teen gasped and shouted when he felt himself shooting though the air like a missile. Everything round him became a blur, making vision quite difficult. The speed he was going right now FAR surpassed anything he did in his DPU From, save for that time he went fall speed to divert Logan's attention from Rinjiin. 'Whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa!' the male exclaimed in his mind, flailing about like a fish. Soul Edge remained tethered to his back, arguably even tighter so it didn't let go of him accidentally.

Looked like flying in DPU form and in human form were two completely different matters.

Frantically he tried commanding the sword to stop its activities, and it did… nearly causing him to impact the dirt below, resulting in him sliding along the ground to make a fissure. Fortunately, his reflexes kicked in, allowing the teen to slam his hand into the ground, and used it to propel himself into a forward flip. Landing with a mighty THUD, Nico slid across the ground for what seemed like an eternity before he came to a complete stop. A trail of dust went by him, his Trench coat clapping forwards from the forces acting on it. All the while however, the teen kept his breathing from coming out as ragged gasps while he tried to calm his racing heart.

Placing a hand on his chest, the teen looked behind him, wanting to see how much distance they had gained… and he had to almost gape at what he saw. Apparently, he had crossed over 1200 acres of land in a few seconds according to his calculations. His eyes nearly flew out their sockets (they did that a lt, didn't they? He blamed this adventure) at this revelation. 'Holy… shit…'

 **'I do believe that this idea, along with condensing Hellfire to form solid weapons, will require a LOT of work…'**

'Yes indeed… to the Inner World, we go!'

* * *

Meanwhile, with the OTHER person Noire trusted…

"Hey Iffy, how about this?"

"Looks alright, I guess."

"C'mon, be serious here! I wanna look good enough to blow my Hubby's mind away!"

"Why're you coming to me for advice anyways? I'm not the one who has the most experience with this type of stuff."

"Nep-whaaaaa? Newspaper Scoop: Iffy has never had any fun!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT, AND YOU KNOW IT, NEP!"

Every one of the heroines were all located in a clothing store, one of the stores that sold party dresses. Thanks to the Gala being about 4 weeks away now, they had to go and get some proper apparel for it by decree of the judge IF. Their casual attires, the ones they usually take for their Quests and daily routines would not be enough, especially for an event like this. They'd stand out way too much, plus they would have been eyed with disdain by a majority of the party guests. None of them (not even Neptune) wanted to look like idiots at that place, thus they had decided to get some proper clothes.

Then, the Party had received word from MAGES. herself, whom communicated to them through the use of a telepathic Spell she had learned that excelled in long distance communication. She hadn't revealed that's he was in casual contact with Nico yet (nobody would want to wake up the wolves with a statement like that) but she did recommend a store they could visit for formal clothes. When IF had questioned how she knew of this store, MAGES looked reluctant to answer at first, but eventually she told her how she had used it herself, since she was supposed to go to the Gala as well. The brunette had to give her sympathies for that, since MAGES. was a civilian, so she would never have normally had to worry about such matters as these. The only reason she did this time was because she was one of the people who rescued her and Stefan from the Hellverse dungeon.

But that had led to this mess….

"Nep-Nep looks like she is having fun…" Compa remarked to herself, giggling behind her hand as she watched the preteen and the brunette. Her eyes shined with happiness at having to take a break from training to do something that girls did was a common thing. Th sight before her looked like this: Neptune looked like she was torn like a piece of paper between several dresses and was hounding IF, whom looked completely out of her comfort zone, for advice on which one would best suit her needs (and that of her 'Hubby') to her, it lead to nothing but a pointless struggle, and a source of great annoyance.

The purple haired CPU eyed the BOW with a pout on her face, her eyes glistening with serious intent. She threw her arms downward as she prepared her next response, and not a happy one. "But Iffy, I gotta look my best if I wanna make my Hubby have an M rated Scene with me. A girl's gotta look her best, ya know!" she whined.

At this, IF groaned, face-palming. "Ugh, I do NOT have the patience for this at 8 AM in the morning… Compa, could you deal with this please, I need some aspirin." she complained, the Nurse-in-training nodding happily. Even if her BOW status didn't allow her to get that many headaches, IF still felt like she would get one. It felt almost like a human part of her she had retained even after her transformation, ascension whatever.

"Yessy!" Compa happily replied before heading towards Neptune to give her the advice she sought.

With a sigh, IF sat down on a rubber seat, looking like she had run a marathon for an entire week with no breaks between. "How is it classy types deal with this?" she asked herself, sighing as she looked down at her hands which rested on her lap. Part of her wanted to get back to training or actually do something more useful than this. She had already made several new mutations that she had applied to her weapons and wanted to see those results herself. Shit like this just wasn't her forte, being a child soldier essentially but for no nation and only for herself.

Still though, IF didn't fool herself into thinking that high-ranking people like Noire would have it easier than people like her, who fought on the front lines with weapons, Skills and Magic. She had seen how Noire handled herself near the end of their stay in Lastation, as well as what Nico would have to go through by the time the Gala arrives. Even the classy types have their own hardships to deal with, some of them just had the misfortune of having to go though both sides of the same coin.

The Guild Agent sighed once more, she definitely was out of her comfort zone. IF had rarely been to any fancy parties like this, and during those times she never chose to wear anything fancy, just in her usual apparel. She never liked the atmosphere as she felt like she was being judged constantly. She much rather preferred being on the battlefield than in a ballroom.

She was a mercenary, a soldier, and that was her calling.

As a contrast however, Neptune and Compa seem to be enjoying themselves like normal, like something as important as a Gala didn't register as anything different to them than what they normally do. On a daily basis, no less. To them, it probably as that, those two lacked the sense of danger that IF and Nico had, due to their upbringings and natures. Compa just radiated innocence and purity, hell she probably had that as a personification, in other words she was the manifestation of those two things. Neptune on the other had just didn't care, she just wanted to have fun, try to seduce Nico, and enjoy her life. Something she had been unable to do before thanks to being a CPU.

In a way, IF envied that about them, those two could be so carefree because they didn't get the scope of what was going on. The way they were acting right now, basically amounted to the saying 'innocence is bliss' where they were not aware of what was going on, yet that lack of awareness allowed them to fully enjoy themselves, immersing themselves into doing something they deemed fun like clothes shopping. It didn't help that Neptune had been going on for weeks now about how they needed different apparels for different scenarios, likely so she could try and seduce Nico as well as have fun… she'd probably say something about both being equally as important to her.

"We're done!"

…Speak of the Devil and he shall appear.

The cry of Compa brought the brunette out of her musings, making her raise her head to look in the direction the other two girls she had come here with. Once she did, IF saw that Compa and Neptune had finally chosen their dresses and decided to give them an evaluation. Even though she probably wasn't the best person to ask about such details since she didn't have as much a fashion sense as those two. At least, not in the same way as them.

First up, Compa.

Standing there swishing about while smiling like the rising sun, Compa looked as peachy as anyone could be in a situation like this. She wore a peachy yellow colored dress that went right to her knees, ending at the under-boobs to show a lot of her large cleavage. On her feet were a pair of open toed high heels, while she wore matching cuffs on her hands. Her headband was replaced with a peachy white variant that matched her dress, while sporting a crimson flower on top. She also wore a pearl necklace that had a smaller version of the flower hanging over one of the pearls, further pronouncing the purity and innocence her dress conveyed. In the end, she looked stunning, even to a soldier like IF. Oh, how she could imagine Nico's reaction to seeing shit like this, it would be so priceless.

"W…Wow, Compa…" IF barely managed to get out, such was the amount of awe that she found herself in. Not only did Compa look great, but she swore that her skin was bathed in this pure white aura as well, an aura either of happiness or something else, the brunette couldn't figure out due to being so totally blown away. "Y-You look freaking great!" she exclaimed after a moment of gawking at the Nurse-In-Training. Several guys passing through the store also gave her looks, looks of lust that made IF send a sharp glare their way to keep them away.

Compa giggled cutely, unaware of the looks she drew to herself with the beauty she was radiating like an aura used for battle. This felt like such a nice change compared to breaking a sweat during training, something she had done for the last few months already. She felt like she was close to unlocking this power's full potential, she had unlocked its 'core' energy already, so it shouldn't be long now. She was close, so close she could almost taste it. Nevertheless, these thoughts disappeared from her mind as she gave a light hop, her boobs bouncing slightly as she responded unknowingly giving a few onlookers' nosebleeds. "Hehe, thanks Iffy, that's sweet!"

"Hey, what about me?! C'mon Iffy, get with the program! You're judging two hot gals not one!" Neptune's whiny voice broke the atmosphere, making IF develop a twitching brow while Compa just giggled again at the cuteness displayed in front of her. Neptune pouted on her end, flinging her arms downwards with multiple tick marks over her head. "Mou…! Compa has such a lead over little old me…!" she whined… before an edgy smirk formed on her lips. "Well, at least the human me, anyways."

IF rolled her eyes at that, while unbeknownst to the two girls Compa sneaked a few glances towards her chest, images of Purple Heart's chest appearing in her mind… before she quickly shook those thoughts off her mind. 'Nope! Not he time, Compa! Not the time, not the time!'

Now, it was Neptune's turn, and now that she was being looked over, the preteen couldn't help but give a childish grin and a peace sign while placing a hand over her hip. It settled some of IF's irritation, before she focused on what the bratty CPU had chosen for her apparel. Neptune wore a simple red dress that reached her thighs, a pair of matching heels with red straps adorning her feet. The dress left her shoulders bare and hooked itself over her cleavage showing the area above it as well as her shoulder blades. She wore a neckless of pink pearls around her neck, with a bracelet on her right wrist. The dress clung to her petite form, making her look absolutely adorable. "How do I look, Iffy? Do I look fabulous?" she asked with a grin, doing some poses that showed off he outfit, several onlookers again noticing this and flying back via nosebleeds.

"Whatya think, Iffy?" the preteen questioned, either not knowing what she had just did or simply didn't care. If she were to be asked, IF would say that it was a both of both, knowing how much of a troll Neptune was.

The Guild Agent rolled her eyes at this, waving a dismissive hand to the side. "I guess it's alright, for you, Nep…" she remarked, making Neptune pout again at the lack of awe that her dress had put her in. Though, in IF's mind she only hid her awe so that it didn't inflate Neptune's overly sized ego any higher. Goddess knows how much it inflated since the revelation that she as a CPU. "Now let's get dresses for me now." she suggested, recalling how aside from MAGES. message, they had been persuaded (read: forced) to wear fancy getup's by their resident childish CPU, using the promise of baffling a certain Spec Ops Agent as incentive.

With that, IF began to search for dresses. While she did so, the innocent nurse looked around for any signs of the man they crush on. "Say, Nep-Nep, have you seen Ni-Ni around?" she asked with confusion and slight concern, looking around to find their resident DPU. If he was here right now, then she would have been even happier than before to show off her outfit, as even though she didn't notice the looks, Compa definitely knew that she would attract attention when they reached the Gala. She'd say she was only selectively oblivious or something along those lines

"Well, I last saw him before we headed out, so I guess he's training?" Neptune replied, confused. "Hmmmm, ah ha!" her eyes widened as a metaphorical lightbulb switched on inside her head,

This caused the girl to blink owlishly in surprise. "Huh? Nep-Nep, what is it?" Compa asked, "did you figure out where he is?!"

Looking back at her friend, Neptune responded with a dumb shake of the head, "Nope, I just realized…" in the next moment, Neptune suddenly threw off her clothes like a villain shedding their disguise, revealing her to be wearing a dark grey trench coat and hat like a detective, holding a spy glass, "it's time for Go-go gadget Nep-Nep to take the stage!"

Compa could only smile weakly at her friend as she ran off to find lost party member. "Oh Nep-Nep, as random as usual…"

* * *

 _ **"So... IT is nearly TIME..."**_

In a cave, the being that was cloaked in darkness, save only for some piercing eyes that would haunt anyone's nightmares, looked over to Arfoire herself as she worked on something that it didn't care for. They had already gotten the majority of the items that they would need from this Nation, though the woman wanted to get rid of the CPUs immediately after. It had to step in before all its hard work in grooming her to be a better warrior was for nothing. That would not be allowed, no matter what would happen. Not to mention, there were some things in the other Nations that could be useful to them, if the memories of the geological layout of these landmasses were like it remembered. Odds were, they weren't but it didn't shy away from a challenge. This would be NOTHING compared to back then...

"Looks like." Arfoire nodded her head while immersing herself in her work, glancing up at the calendar which showed that there would only be a few more weeks till the Gala... till the moment EVERYTHING would begin. They have worked hard for this moment, so everything had to be perfect. Now, not only will that pathetic CPU Green Heart be finished off, the Capital of this ruined Nation will finally fall and those Pesky brats along with that upstart DPU will be able to do nothing about it. "With the poison I found from one of the few records I could find of your era, it should put that bratty DPU out of commission."

 _ **"IF it WORKS... while WE are on that MATTER... which POISON did you CHOOSE...?"**_

It had been something that the being had been wondering about for a while, what kind of Poison did Arfoire chose from the DPU Era? There were dozens of them out there thanks to that fat oaf Nurgle, some were weak and others were strong enough to utterly eradicate a DPU down to their souls. As with any godly entity, DPUs are immortal, in which that they will live forever. However, these warriors can be killed on the battlefield, but this is usually due to a more powerful demonic being, and the longer one lives the stronger they become. However, even if they 'die' it is only their bodies that are killed. Their powerful souls remain and they float about in the Devildimension until their energies can be recovered enough to reform their bodies. Essentially the DPUs are immortal across multiple planes of existence, making truly killing them a near-impossible task. That is why the older DPUs are terrifically feared and respected across the Devildimension, for they have had the experience and combat prowess needed to survive for as long as they have in a dimension where only the strong survive. There have been times where Items have been made that can severely weaken a DPU's power, however most of these items have been lost to time, their use practically vanishing after the end of the DPU era.

Not only that, but one of their most powerful abilities is that they possess what is known as 'Bio Boost', which constantly increases their power the more they fight opponents, as well as train in their Inner Worlds. This Bio Boost activates instantly the moment a DPU is actively fighting or training, and it will keep increasing the DPU's power, energy reserves, strength, speed, other physical attributes and resistances. With their immortality being how it is, a DPU can become strong enough to destroy entire galaxies and more with ease. This is the largest reason why the older a DPU is, the stronger they are, as they have been in constant conflict and evolved to new levels, gaining abilities and powers along the way.

If Arfoire had chosen the WRONG Poison however, then their newest DPU would most certainly adapt to it so that it could never be used against him again. The power of a Bio Boost is not to be messed with, not to mention in human form, DPUs have some minor physical, mental and magical art resistances. These are born through conflict and develop over both time and over the countless battles a DPU engages in on a daily basis. When they turn into their DPU Forms however, these resistances are enhanced through their demonic powers to inhuman degrees, their development boosted as well. This means that when they return to human form, these additions are retained as though they never transformed back.

So yeah, the difference between these fake Goddesses and the DPUs of its time... is pretty big.

And if the OTHER powers a DPU had back then were taken into consideration the gap is exponentially bigger.

Arfoire looked behind her at him and, instead of outright saying it, she procured a Book from her Inventory and tossed it to him, already open to the page she had gotten the poison from.

Catching it, the being looked at the poison, and the second it did, a sinister snake-like laughter escaped its lips. A laughter that, after hearing so many times, Arfoire managed to build an immunity to it although it still made minor chills crawl up her spine.

 ** _"YYYYEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS...! This POISON will do NICELY...! It shall INCAPACITATE him INSTANTLY! That FOOL will not KNOW what hit HIM...!"_**

While laughing, part of the being told it that there was still a chance that the upstart DPU would be able to survive this poison. This poison wasn't the typical destruction poison, no, this one was way worse. This one focused itself on doing much more than that. Usually when afflicted with this poison, DPUs would perish, but those who survived emerged significantly stronger for it. Therefore, with the way this upstart has been developing it would be a 50/50 chance for them to win.

It was all a game of luck at this point.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Here you go guys! The last chapter before the Gala FINALLY comes in. Now, be warned, the next one might be later than normal because I have to write ti wit the help of King Carlos, whose got way more experience in writing politics than me thanks to reading so many Wuxias. I'll be relying on him for a lot of the next chapter, so if the next update is slower, you all know why.**

 **Also, can someone tell me how royally fucked the Goddesses would be if they were to encounter the Chaos Gods or heck, ANYTHING from the warhammer franchise? Those guys are the definition of OP, seriously.**

 **Anyways, read, fav, follow, review the usual, and thanks those who do review. It really makes me smile knowing people are actually reading this. Seriously, never imagined I would get this far.**

 **Now then, peace out! :)**


	119. Chapter 116 - The Gala PT1

**Chapter 116 - The Gala Part 1**

At long last… AT LONG FUCKING LAST! The time had finally come, for the Gala now dawned on everyone involved.

It was early into the evening hours, with the stars shining brightly while the moon only showed itself partially, and Nico himself stood before the entrance to the Basilicom itself. It was open, and there was a large crowd assembled before it in an ordinary line of pairs: one Noble and one bodyguard. There would be more Bodyguards for come Nobles like the Dukes and Counts, but they would be ushered in from other entrances to the Basilicom, entrances few people knew about. Nico himself knew of those however, as he had some 'special clearance' granted to him by Stefan himself, according to his Invitation.

'At last… the day has finally come…' the red-haired teen thought to himself, clenching his fists. His shone with determination, masking his hidden trepidation about this place. There was much more at stake here, stakes that could not only impact him, but everyone in Leanbox as well. This would be a battle of wills, words and hidden meanings. At least, that was what he had learned.

Nico had chosen to adopt a more formal apparel for this Gala. Nico absolutely LOATHED parties like these, there was no question there. Not only because of the circumstances but also out of personal preference. He was a soldier, he would rather be on the battlefield. The male figured that IF would somewhat eel the same, though her feelings might be lowered in disdain thanks to the possibility of Vert being here. Even if he hated parties like these and never attended them normally, his mother did teach him about how to dress and act like some proper officials. It was knowledge that he could use for whenever he were to e sent on infiltration assignments, even though those were rare in and of itself.

In the end, Nico wore a black, double-breasted suit with golden buttons and a tie together with a long-sleeved buttoned crimson red shirt. The shit sported a long V like opening down his torso, exposing the shirt and tie. He wore a matching set of dress pants and polished black slacks, while his hair had been styled differently as well. Instead of that bad-boy look he wore before, his hair had been straightened and brushed over his right eye, similar to his other hairstyle. He had placed his Ticket inside an inner breast pocket before coming to this Gala, as well as hid his Bracers beneath his shirt and suit sleeves. Never went anywhere with those things, they were essential to him after all.

 **'Yes, it is time at last. Our preparations will hopefully bear fruition in this situation. We had to go to great lengths near the end weeks of our waiting to gather the information we needed for this Gala, mixing it in with our training. Soul Edge at least go a satisfying workout carrying you from place to place.'**

'Yeah, isn't that the truth…' the male thought, mentally chuckling to himself, especially when he sensed the chortle coming from the mentioned Devil Arm. A chortle of glee that it was able to get some exercise, to show off its powers in front of the other Devil Arms. With the wacky relationship of trying to undermine each other in his eyes, it felt like he was carrying bunch of brats in his soul rather than potent weapons of mass destruction and chaos. Even if they were restrained by his willpower.

Still, to the issue at hand Soul Edge's telekinesis had gotten a significant boost in strength thanks to constantly carrying him about through the air when he went to different places to gather information. It made him realize that this Sword's abilities had other uses aside from battle, especially the Telekinesis If he applied it in different scenarios. Depending on the skill one has with this ability, they could cause all sorts of damage, lie for example extremely skilled Telekinetics could focus only on the vocal chords and the controls for the mouth of a person, to make them say whatever they want. After all, the basic definition of Telekinesis is any ability that involves using the mind to influence/manipulate/move matter/objects. Something like that would likely take an extreme level of skill and competency to pull off, something Nico didn't have yet.

Still, for transportation or the manipulation of the environment to his advantage, Soul Edge pulled through.

While not a politician by nature, Nico had heard many stories about politics, and from what he could tell they were basically like battles, but with words instead of weapons. He would much rather be fighting enemies openly, but cockroaches seem to lead here and the stench of them is the poison of the nation.

The tongue was the greatest threat in political battle, as well as the knowledge of the other parties. It was a concept that was almost alien to Nico, as he was more suited for direct combat than this shit, but he had to change and adapt to overcome that thanks to Stefan inviting him to this shithole that was supposed to be fun (but it failed the instant it invited more than two of those vermins).

Now that he thought about it, Nico hadn't expected this to be this big of a deal. The Gala had been planned to be late in the evening, so people had time to put on their formal wear while those who were in the business of politics spent time prepping their political speeches, topics of conversation for the management of their territories. Well, officially it was to put matters of their territories on day so as to not disturb the good work they did for their people, but most are probably just banging/raping some poor girl or boy (Goddess knows that there are some nobles that would bang their dogs if they could).

As for those who would not be Nobles, it was likely that they were Spec Ops and the Guild Agents, hell even the escorts/bodyguards. They would be separated from the rest of the Nobility once they would enter the Basilicom, drawn to different rooms where they could mix and mingle while representing those that they are escorting. This was to further expand the separation of classes, the common folk and the Nobles.

Or as some nobles would say, it is to not pollute the air with their filth.

Even then the lower ranked Nobles were still treated better than a common person. Though, the full luxuries would be passed on to the Dukes and Counts, since they held the greatest political powers throughout the Landmass.

Staying with the other Agents, that would be what he would be doing once he was allowed inside, and while it might pose a problem since it would mean he wouldn't be near those that he needed to talk to, Nico had already figured out ways to get them to come to him. If he was thinking what he thought he was, then it would be likely that they would come to him or at least send someone to bring him to them. Not to mention, this actually felt a, little relieving, knowing that he would be surrounded by people who were similar to him, yet it was also an anxiety-causing experience to know that he would be near people who he didn't know and would likely actively try to kill him should he let anything unfavourable slip.

It felt… more than a little strange that despite having monsters from hell trying to kill him constantly he had to fear humanity even more… it's a strange world that he lived in. Then again, even with all these horrors in the world, humans can be the greatest monsters.

'Still, I don't see the girls at all. You think that they might be late?'

'No, I sense that they are already within the Basilicom. Chances are while you were making last minute checks to your preparations, they were already making their way to the Gala. If I were to guess, then it would either be IF or Neptune's doing. The latter due to wanting to eat at a buffet, you know how much she likes to eat. As for the former, she would likely want to meet Lady Green Heart again, to talk to her about matters of the state. Well, more like girl talk, however I will not put it past IF to ask.'

Well, that explained that the, Nico thought to himself as he slowly walked down the line, awaiting his turn to be ushered in with baited breath. Looking around, Nico had to whistle under his breath at the amount of Guards posted throughout the premises. Throughout the day that the Gala was meant to be held on, the Basilicom had closed its doors to all regular services, for they would be spending the majority of the day preparing for the Gala. Its doors were locked shut, and guards were posted in front of the gates. Not only that but there was a border patrol assigned to the surroundings in case any ruffians tried to enter.

There had been more than a few people who had tried… with not so favourable results.

As he got closer and closer to where the Bouncer, a large, bulky man wo looked like he would have won more than a few wrestling tournaments in his day, Nico gripped his fits to alleviate the tension. This was one of the few times he wished he could just summon some of his weapons for comfort. Seriously, this tension was NOT the type that he was used to, he felt like he was walking into the figurative lion's den the more he stayed out here. Maybe he could see during some private time if Soul Edge could shapeshift into some form of accessory, at least THEN he would have something g else to calm his nerves. If only he could have done that sooner, but he had been more preoccupied with his preparations for this political battle than things like this.

 **'Calm yourself. This is nothing compared to the battle with that Demon Prince that ambushed us. We have fought against perils much greater than this human could ever hope to compare against.'**

Biko's words, seemingly haughty and condescending yet said with that near-emotionless tone, reverberated through his mind, Nico mentally clinging onto tem while he took several breaths to calm himself down. He closed his eyes and took one final breath, his fists unclenching at last as if all the tension suddenly left him. His Demon Persona had a point, compared to the things that he had fought in the past, this battle would be nothing. Demons, Demon Princes, they were much more than this bouncer ever could be, he'd be an ant compared to them. An ant they would trample over with their boots. If he could survive against THOSE odds, then something like THIS would be childsplay for him.

Finally, Nico approached the Bouncer, who looked him up and down with what he assumed to be disinterest, since his eyes were covered by shades, as he wrote on his clipboard. "Name?" he asked with equal disinterest, not really calling who he was, and really that was something to be expected.

"DEATHSTROKE." Nico curtly replied, keeping his tone as level and disinterested as the Bouncer's.

However, the moment that he said that name the Bouncer looked up, suddenly looking like he had swallowed something electric. Though thanks to the shades that he sported, the male couldn't see how his eyes were, just guessed It based on the positions of his sockets. "You that Nico kid, then?" the guy questioned, surprising Nico with the slight increase in intrigue. Though, the teen nonetheless nodded warily, wondering what he was doing with that information. Why was it that he was surprised? It was his name, nothing more. "You got yourself recommended to the Nobility section, you'll be allowed to the Main Hall where the worshipping usually goes down. Thank the Goddess Lady Green Heart, Stefan Von Kessel, and the head himself Yvoire." He told te crimson haired DPU.

Now THAT got Nico's attention, as he subtly nodded and stepped inside the Basilicom. Though he could hear the whispers from Nobles behind him, he didn't even bother to acknowledge them. Not when he had something more important to think about. The fact that he was allowed to be where the Nobles were, wasn't something that surprising, well, not as much when compared to the fact that YVOIRE, a man who had been quite loathing towards his profession, had helped get him in.

There had to be some sort of catch to this some form of plan that needs him to be in the close vicinity of the head priest to be conducted, even an idiot on the political sense (like him, unfortunately, he had to admit that) could see this one a hundred miles away. But, what could that be?

Whatever it may be, Nico should probably look into that while he mingled with the other Nobles (it's seriously amazing how destiny could fuck him over even on a 'fun' party), as apparently, he would be there with the rest of them now. Also, if he was allowed there, then odds were that his Party and possibly Team RAIL would be there too. So many players in the same room. The chess pieces have all grouped together… now, all there had to be done was to judge the 'worth' of the individual 'pieces'. Or in other words, decide who is worth it and who would be better off as a meat shield (goddess knows that some of the nobles could probably shield thousands due to how fat they are).

That was what he thought when heading to the main hall.

* * *

'…Whoa…'

When Nico finally found the main worshiping hall, memories returned to him. He remembered the first time he came to this place when he was with the girls, how it looked, how it felt and what it was like at the end. He remembered their first interaction with Yvoire, how that had been almost like a battle of wills between him and the elderly head priest. Despite being the head of the Leanbox Military, Yvoire had a specific hatred for the Spec Ops program. Yet, out of all the haters for it, this guy was the one who put the stability of the Nation above anything including zealous hate.

Now, he was only remembering all this because he was trying to find some form of connection. A connection between what it was then… and what it was like now. For you see, the entire main hall had completely transformed, there was quite literally nothing left that reminded him of what it once was. No longer did it have that 'worshiping' vibe to it, but instead it looked like the center of a bustling metropolis with Leanbox orchestra music playing throughout the main hall.

The main hall, if people are curious, had become a literal ballroom, with tables scattered around the edges of the large room and a large space had been cleared for dancing in the middle of the room. The tables contained lots of different foods, filling the air with their stench (in Nico's eyes anyways). The teen had to withhold a grimace at the smells that filled his nostrils. Nico nearly lost it to the urge to cover his nose like he was pinching it to keep the smell out. That would look more than a little suspicious, not to mention it would clue outsiders in on his secret. 'Ugh, this shit is so disgusting…'

'I seem to recall that there was a time when you, even in this condition, were able to eat human foods. Even if you were this way from the beginning when you woke with partial amnesia.'

Nico hummed at that, remembering those times as well, a fond smile forming on his lips while he made his way through the Main Hall, searching for his comrades. 'You're right. Back then, I was able to briefly eat human foods due to… well, for psychological reasons. You see, My mind refused t acknowledge my inner beast for a time, to the point where I would see myself as completely human to the point where I could eat human foods. It would reject anything that would indicate otherwise, and this lasted for a couple months.'

'What happened then?'

'My… eyes were… opened.'

The teen closed the link after saying that, ending their mental conversation right there with his mood soured. His eyes briefly darkened, before he hid it back behind his mask. He may be getting the hang of using IT again, but the scars would always remain, nothing would ever change that. Yet, Nico remembered those times of peace, blissful peace when he lived with Compa and her grandfather. Well, it was more like he had 'caged' himself at the time, a cage he had placed there due to his repressed memories. They must have been so bad that he would reject everything, everything to do with his inner beast. It had only worked for a few months though, before everything his mind had worked for would come undone, nearly causing him to 'break'.

It was a good thing that he wasn't around anybody when it had happened.

Shaking his head, Nico forced those thoughts to the back of his mind for now. He had more important matters to attend to than to reminisce about past times. If he could, he would have slapped his cheeks with both hands, but that wasn't an option. Right now, he had several tasks to do that must be completed and could only be so during this Gala. Already he could hear the Nobles mingling about, some (read: a LOT) already whispering about him with various negative, demeaning comments. There were a rare few who were looking calculative at him though, so he decided to stay WELL away from those.

After all, he didn't want to get involved in whatever schemes they were cooking up.

'Alright, I have my information, so I should probably look for the ideal candidate who would receive it. The best person, aside from Vert, whom I doubt will want to get involved in this shady business, would be... ugh, that annoying old asshat, Yvoire.' Already he could see this going to go poorly, the second that man's name entered his mind. He doubted he could keep his cool around that guy for long, he usually tried his patience so much with that condescending look he always had when Nico was around. Talking to him felt like talking to a brick wall sometimes, and he remained steadfast in the older ways. Probably because he is old enough to be alive since the foundation of this nation, goddess knows how many wrinkles the old idiot has.

Still, this needed to be done, so Nico had to swallow his pride and locate the guy. Despite his misgivings about the head priest, Yvoire was definitely a capable member of the Basilicom's staff. Not only that, but he also served as the head of the Leanbox Military, giving him considerable power and influence over political decisions. His power could actually rival that of a Duke's now that Nico remembered the political system Leanbox had to go for it. Also, even with his prejudice against anything Spec Ops and non-Leanbox in origin, Yvoire might be one of the more 'TOLERABLE' ones in this shithole.

Goes to show just how bad the other wastes of space that calls themselves nobles were, huh?

Aside from Yvoire, he also needed to locate the Nobles that were connected to Count Mott. That asshole had shady written all over him, more so than regular Nobles, as according to his research, that guy had been up to a number of dealings, and while there were seen as unproven rumors, Nico had enough experience under his belt to know that these rumors may have some truth to him. The fact that he had… personal experience with some of his ploys had some say in this as well.

At first, Nico wanted to just invade his mansion, slaughter any Nobles in there, and skin Mott alive with a rusty katana, but eventually Biko managed to convince him otherwise. The reason why he shouldn't go after the guy directly would be that he had little in the ways of supporting evidence, evidence that could condemn this man to the homeless life on the streets so many Nobles feared. If he didn't have that, then odds were Nico would be seen as the criminal and he would face the consequences even with the 'protection' the Basilicom granted him.

Protection, pft.

More like a cage for their watchdog…

"Guesssssssssss who!"

CLASP!

Nico nearly jumped when a female voice broke him from his thoughts once more, his vision darkening considerably thanks to the hands covering his eyes in one swift motion. For a brief nanosecond, all Nico felt was panic and the need to suddenly unleash his claws to stab the perpetrator, but that passed just as soon as I came thanks to the sense of familiarity he felt when feeling the hands out. His senses told him that he knew these hands, as well as the voice that came along with it.

Once he turned around, the hands leaving his eyes, he caught sight of the woman who he had not seen in a long time: his mother, Helena Dawson. The woman beamed happily at seeing him, sporting a rather elegant hairdo that seemed to be styled towards Leanbox culture. Probably a way to adhere to the people of this Nation. The fact that even someone like her did something like that made him realize just how important the recent events really were. Normally, Helen wouldn't bother changing even a part of herself to fit other Nations, however, it seemed that the importance of these alliance talks, if the possibility of Leanbox being added to the talks would be realized, was important enough for her to do so.

She wore a red glittering dress that hugged her hourglass frame, a dress that reached her mid knees and had a slit that went to her left thigh, exposing a lot of her leg while sporting matching heels. She had red gloves on her hands with a black purse over her shoulder. Her facial features had bits and pieces of makeup and jewelry, not too much and not too little, either. A decent balance between both that made her look exceptionally beautiful. Nico could already sense the lust building in several onlooking Noblemen, which sparked his instinctively protective urge to rip those assholes, consequences be damned.

'Calm down, Nico, calm down…' the teen chided himself, mentally thinking of slaughter feasts and the exhilaration of the battlefield covered in the blood of his enemies after he had dealt with everyone, you know, good times. His inner beast growled at once again being denied fresh flesh, but he ignored that in favor of regaining his composure. Now was too critical for the future to worry about such things, he had a set of tasks to do and he needed to complete them.

"Don't worry, Nicky-Nick, my boy." Helen, sensing her son's distress, gently cooed in a soothing manner, placing a hand on her son's shoulder to get his attention. Looking up to her, she gave him a smile that both relieved and unnerved him. "My invitation said I could bring one person of my choice, and you know EXACTLY who I chose for this mission… After all, he is a gifted improviser."

'… Holy… she didn't bring who I think she did, did she…?!'

Nico nearly gaped at her when he figured out who she meant, and the moment he did all his tension suddenly left him as he realized that his mother had a guardian angel… or death god, over her shoulder that would keep those pesky Nobles' hands to themselves. Those fools were more likely to get destroyed crotches, or worse, if they tried anything. "Really?!" he asked in a hushed manner, yet that did nothing to hold back his excitement. "You brought uncle Koro?" he asked, trying to hide his excitement. He hadn't met his uncle in forever, not since this adventure of his first began. He never got to spend much time with the guy, but what little he did spend was spent teaching him the fundamentals and advanced tricks of assassination. It's not his forte, but that didn't mean he was bad at it.

The guy was ONCE a Teacher, after all… and a damn good one at that.

Helen nodded, a massive grin on her face. "Yup, he's at the buffet right now getting some food. Maybe you could say hi to him when you have the time." She remarked, a knowing glint flashing by her eye as she looked at him with a matching smirk. "After all, you do seem to be rather busy." She commented, making Nico chuckle bashfully, feeling his previous demeanor reverting to the inner mamma's boy within. He ignored the gagging sounds coming from his white copy in his Inner World, though. His mom always seemed to know what was on his mind, almost anyways.

Then, her face shifted to one of concern, her eyes reflecting this as she asked him another question, her demeanor depicting her extreme worry. "Say, how are your stocks doing? Your life stocks I mean?" she asked him, crossing her arms above her stomach. "You haven't been reporting back for a while now, I was beginning to worry you'd ran out."

THAT caused Nico to tense, his form stiffening as he did his best to rein in his immediate response. Fortunately, he succeeded and released a sigh instead, dropping his tension not long afterward. The way she had asked that in a such a hushed manner due to the crowd around them that was doing whatever, perfectly indicated what she meant by that. He hadn't told her about him deciding to reconnect with that side of him, in fact, he had barely told her anything aside from what he did at Skies End, and he felt like an ungrateful bastard for that because he knows that his mother just wanted what was best for him.

He had hoped to reveal that information under better circumstances, but he had a busy schedule to stick to and he had to do this fast. He didn't want to waste any more time than necessary. Plus, if he didn't do it now, he didn't know when he'd get the chance again. Fortunately, he had prepared for something like this beforehand thanks to already having the knowledge that his mother was invited to the Gala.

Now, he had to bring her up to speed… discreetly at least.

"Well, I'm not doing that bad, honestly…" Nico began to say. He then glanced to and fro to see if anyone was watching him, and when he found that they weren't being looked at as much anymore (likely due to the killing intent aimed at those that had earlier), Nico decided to risk it and discreetly reached into his Suit pocket, pulling out what looked like a Memory Stick. Passing it over to Helen, who took it curiously, Nico answered her unasked question. "There are some things that have come to light I haven't been able to say to you because of these events that have been happening, so I put some stuff on here that'll do that for me. Listen to it only when you are alone, cause the stuff I want to tell you, in the wrong hands, could cause National anarchy." He explained, seriously.

It was enough though, if Helen's equal serious nod was anything to go by. She wanted to ask more, but the woman saw into his eyes and quickly realized why he was saying what he did. He had things to do, and he had little time to do them. It worried her, especially the mother in her as she couldn't help but wonder what her son had gotten himself mixed in with but refrained from prying. Her answers should be on this memory stick, if Nico was to be believed, and she trusted her beloved son beyond a shadow of a doubt. "…Alright, I'll take a look. Be careful, son." She told him, softly with no small amount of worry. "You'll make this old woman worry and get grey hairs with the stuff you get into these days."

Nico rolled his eyes at that, chuckling and attempting to lighten the mood his mom was on. "No, you're not old, mom. You don't even have an ounce of grey hair on you." He stated with a lopsided smirk, electing a small chuckle and a shooing motion from the woman. With that, Nico bid his farewell with one small hug from his mother, before heading off into the crowd.

* * *

'Alright, now I have to track down Yvoire… he's my first target, then some investigation is in order…' Nico thought to himself.

Once that business with his mother was complete (a small setback, but nothing he regretted. In fact, it was quite the opposite), Nico once again began mingling with the crowds, keeping to himself mostly but keeping an ear out for anything of value... even if what he heard the most here was some nobles talking about how much they make or complaining about some fanatics that ruined their vineyard or stole part of the money that should be theirs.

They didn't even show much care about their lands being ravaged by the enemy forces plaguing Leanbox.

Bastards, the whole lot of them. This was why he hated politicians, and the fact that he had to act like one nearly drove him over the edge the more he thought about it. Still, Nico searched endlessly for any signs of the Head Priest. He had more than a few choice words to say to that guy, but he would try his best to remain civil. He mingled and silently snuck about, making himself more like a wraith than a person. The memory of his uncle sparked in him some memories, memories of how to navigate through crowds without them even knowing they were there.

Even through all the bullshit though, Nico still managed to pick up some things that he would find useful, one of them being that Count Mott would be in attendance within about half an hour. Apparently, his transport had been damaged during his travels by normal monsters, though in Nico's mind he thought that the guy was so fat that his transport couldn't even hold the weight, so he would have to be rolled over to the Gala.

It made him snort to himself in silent amusement.

At least there was one less maggot to worry about.

"Yo, kid!"

Nico's eyes widened once more, and he turned to the source of the masculine voice to find Stefan Von Kessel, head of the Ostermark Order, walking up to him with a woman beside him. She had an elegant appeal about her, and wore a long flowing green dress with matching heels beneath it. She looked to be holding a glass of wine in her hand, too, and she looked quite intrigued when she saw that she and the guy she was with were walking towards him. Not that Nico paid much attention, nor did he notice either as he focused solely on the fact that Stefan was here. "Stefan!" He exclaimed in surprise, before sighing and giving him a smile. "Its good to see you here, at least there's one person who's talking sense."

"Ah, you're talking about these 'fine gents' around us, eh?" The man remarked with a sarcastic smile, meaning that he felt the exact opposite of what he had said. Nico nodded, the two males exchanging grins with each other along with a few chuckles. "Yeah, these guys are an annoyance, but they are still Nobles so I can't really say anything. It'll make Leanbox and the Ostermark Order lose face. Anyways, I'd like for you to meet someone, here this is my mother, Elenore Von Kessel."

Elenore Von Kessel, the woman at his side. Now that Nico noticed her, he indeed note some details that indicated that she was his mother. Not only did she looked slightly more aged than her son (which meant that she either had plastic surgery done which he doubted, or that time had been kind to her since she still looked to be in her forties. He was willing to go along with the latte), she also had slight grey hairs behind her ears, and her eyes spoke of many more years of experience than Stefan's did. This woman had lived a long time and had seen much. Yet, she had still retained this warrior's grace judging by how she presented herself.

She seemed to truly be a member of the Von Kessel Family, a family full of warriors.

"You're the one who helped my son get back home safely, eh?" The woman asked, her voice just as aged and experienced as Nico had deduced. She gave him a warm smile when he nodded o her, a smile only a mother could give. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, I have been wanting to thank you for bringing my son back home." She then aimed a wry smile in Stefan's direction, playfully nudging him discreetly. "He does tend to make his mother worry when he gets into reckless situations."

The way that she spoke, the calm, mature and motherly aura she presented, it reminded him so much of his own mother. It soothed his usually wary defenses and allowed him to lower his guard around her. It helped that someone Nico trusted was nearby, too as he allowed a small smile to form on his lips. A smile of fondness that only a son who truly adored his mother could pull off. "Yeah, I know the feeling, it is only natural for a mother to worry for her son, not even forces of nature can stop a mother from chasing her son down while carrying some spare toothpaste, brushes and underwear the son tried to 'forget'." He stated with mirth.

This got a loud laugh from the woman while Stefan looked sheepish, still chuckled as well though as he liked the humor Nico just stated… mostly because it was true.

"UFUFUFU… haaah, it has been a long time since I was able to laugh at one of these Galas. In all of my 65 years of living, it is rare to meet well-mannered young men like yourself." Elenore remarked with an amused grin, especially when she eyed her son knowingly. "Why, I remember a time when my son forgot to pack his favorite photo of his mommy for his tour across the Nation, so I simply chased him through the entire Ostermark headquarters to 'make sure' he took it."

The moment she finished, Nico had to try so hard to not laugh at that, that he ended up sniggering into a closed fist, eyes closed tightly while an image of such a thing occurring painted itself in his mind. What was more was that, while he didn't know this woman well, he could actually see her doing something like that, which only made it more hilarious. His white self however, had no such restraints as he howled with laughter, and if he were in his inner world Nico would see how he would be rolling across the floor while jeering towards the older man. Stefan mildly became pink in the cheeks, which only served to increase his snickering at how unusual it looked.

"W-Wow… I can honestly say that It is super easy to imagine that." Nico tried to say between laughs, soon calming down. Though, in his eyes one could tell he as still fighting the battle against the archenemy known as laughter. He found himself slowly failing, so he pushed on so that he could save a little bit of face. "My mother is similar, she's so determined that when she sets her mind on something there's no stopping her."

Elenore hummed in thoughtfulness, her eyes brightening as she remembered something. "I have actually met your mother, actually. A really nice woman, who has a great husband. I could feel the protectiveness over her from a distance. He really loves her, its easy to tell." She remarked, her smile twitching ever so slightly. Nico didn't show it thanks to hours of training to keep a façade, but he noticed and quickly tapped into his senses, picking up a faint brush of negative emotion from her. She had tried to suppress it, but he had already picked up on it. 'I sense… sadness, envy as well. Something must have happened to her in the past, but I'll not pry.'

 **'Agreed. It is best not to pry in sensitive matters such as those, especially when you have other tasks that need attending to.'**

'Oh shit, yeah you're right! I almost forgot, I need to find Yvoire and fast!' Nico thought, surprise and realization erupting within him. Not only that, but there was this sense of panic and dread that accompanied them, making him feel rather anxious though he kept his façade up. How long had he spent talking? How much time had passed? He didn't know anything, so he had to leave before he could waste any more time. For a moment, all he could think about was his goal of finding that Head Priest so that he could get his work done before the Gala ended.

That is, until Elenore spoke up once more.

"Ah, I see you are in a hurry." She said, getting Nico's attention. "I understand you have a busy schedule, I too have other matters to attend to. Hopefully we shall meet again, but in the mean time those lovely ladies coming toward us might wish to meet with you." After saying that, Elenore quickly grasped her son by the arm and just as quickly pulled Stefan away, winking at Nico all the while.

'Huh? What was…?' The male began to wonder, before something that Elenore said clicked within his mind, the images of several faces appearing within his mind's eye and realization soon followed. '… Oh…'

 **'It appears… that we will have more delays in finding Yvoire…'**

"There you are, Nicky! We've been looking for ya!"

Soon after Biko's words left his mouth from within the redhead male's head, the voice of a certain bubbly preteen filled his ears. He knew very well who that voice belonged to, and for once he felt conflicted about it. On one hand he wanted to get going with the tasks, so those girls didn't have to worry about it, but on the other he wanted to hug those girls and never let them go, for their very presence put his troubled mind at ease. Regardless, it would be rude not to give her his full attention, so he turned to look at the source of the voice… and once again, he nearly lost control over his jaw.

'…Whoa…' Awe. That was the only emotion that Nico could feel right now as he stared at quite possibly one of the most beautiful, heart-racing sights he had ever seen. Neptune, Compa, and IF all proceeded to walk towards Nico from within the crowd, the brunette sporting a glass of wine in her hand. Well, she WAS of age, as she was over 18 years old, so it was legal for her to drink alcohol. Plus, she was a mercenary, so if she was old enough to kill and have sex, then she was old enough to drink too.

But that wasn't what got him so captivated by them. Each of the girls wore dresses of varying shapes and appearances, dresses that fit them so well that it should have been a crime.

Let's reconfirm what was said before, but with some extra shall we?

Compa wore a peachy yellow colored dress that went right to her knees, ending at the under-boobs to show a lot of her large cleavage. On her feet were a pair of open toed high heels, while she wore matching cuffs on her hands. Her headband was replaced with a peachy white variant that matched her dress, while sporting a crimson flower on top. She also wore a pearl necklace that had a smaller version of the flower hanging over one of the pearls, further pronouncing the purity and innocence her dress conveyed. Not to mention the creamy and glittery eye shadow, the ruby red lipstick and other accessories that further enhanced her natural beauty. It drew some looks from the Nobles for sure, no matter how old or what marital status they were in, which forced Nico to give them warning glares. None of those assholes would dare TOUCH Compa, they'd have to cross him to do that.

The same for the other girls.

Speaking of said girls, Neptune wore a simple red dress that reached her thighs, a pair of matching heels with red straps adorning her feet. The dress left her shoulders bare and hooked itself over her cleavage showing the area above it as well as her shoulder blades. She wore a neckless of pink pearls around her neck, with a bracelet on her right wrist. The dress clung to her petite form, making her look absolutely adorable. Then, there was the lilac colored eye-shadow that had a similar glittery appearance to the Nurse-In-Training, adding to her appeal.

Now, here's the extra part. IF, she seemed to have decided to go with a dark ocean blue dress with two straps over her shoulders. The dress came with a pair of hand-sized blue velvet gloves and white trimming on the edge of the dress's multi layered, frilly skirt, which reached her Ankles. The dress had a slit at the side, exposing a leg as well as the dark stockings and stiletto heels she wore, a black collar around her neck to add to the dress's seductive appeal. It clung to her in all the right places, enhancing her figure to the point where her femininity was revealed. IF's old clothes gave her a cold, tomboyish look, but this showed her true gender in a magnificent fashion. Her hair had, in contrast to her usual style, been made even wilder than normal, giving her that 'yeah we did it last night and you enjoyed it' look. The way it flowed to her waist gave it an appeal that her usual straight style lacked.

If the smirk she had on her lips, plus the way her eyes which had light green eye-shadow over them glistened in amusement were any indication, then odds were that she seemed satisfied with how Nico reacted to her apparel. Heck, all the girls seemed that way, with Neptune proudly pushing her chest out in pride while Compa had that shy, sweet smile on while refusing to look into his eyes. Though she did sneak a peek every now and then.

We're sorry but Nico is now officially mind-broken via feminine beauty. Please wait while we attempt to fix this technical issue… after these short messages.


	120. Chapter 117 - The Gala PT2

**Chapter 117 - The Gala Part 2**

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Author speaking. We're sorry, but our Main Character appears to be suffering from mental overload. Please wait while we deal with the issue at hand.

Nico stood there, still as a statue and frozen like he was encased in a block of ice. He could only stare dumbly, his jaw hanging open and oddly reminiscent of that time when he discovered that… art (part of him that went unheard, hoped to all that was lucky that Neptune never found that, goddess help them all). His brain could not think, there was nothing circulating around that being mesh of muscle and electronic signals, everything had literally HALTED like the sudden scratching of a music recording that DJ's used, the moment his eyes laid sight upon the girls.

Said girls all shared knowing looks with each other, each of them under different levels of amusement at what had happened to their sole male party member.

BUFFERING

"You guys, I think we broke him…" Neptune remarked with a cheeky grin so wide that she would have split her face in half if possible. She just couldn't; contain her giddiness as she looked upon how Nico had his eyes wide open, his jaw hanging equally so, and the pure look of astonishment on his features. It filled her with womanly pride that she had succeeded in this endeavour, slaving so hard that's he forgot her pudding dosage in front of a mirror paid off big time for her Neptune had been waiting for this moment, the moment where she used her hot bod to blow Nico away with her cuteness and sex appeal. She was his wifey after all, and he her hubby, so it was only natural for him to be mind-blown by how awesome she looked. Not to mention that Nico didn't look too shabby either in that smart suit of his. Reminds her of that one show about a cook travelling with a bunch of rebellious teenage pirates to find the ultimate treasure, the OP, as well as the ultimate ocean, the AB.

BUFFERING…

Compa puffed her cheeks out, pouting in a cute manner while facing the bubbly CPU. "Nep-Nep, I'm pretty sure it was me that he was blown away by…" she protested, though as she looked at how dumbstruck the Spec Ops Agent looked, she couldn't help the shy grin that spread across her lips. She was always a shy person, she never really took much initiative with much. One of the few things she did decide to do would be the path of becoming a professional Nurse, so she could build some confidence in herself. She wanted to be someone who could be dependable and could help people in need. It stemmed from her desire to not let what happened to her parents happen ever again, she didn't want people to experience the same amount of loss that she did. But, seeing Nico look like this, it filled her up with something akin to feminine pride, and that was somethings he RARELY felt in her life, if at all.

BUFFERING…

While Neptune and Compa had a small pouting contest, IF crossed her arms under her chest and rolled her eyes, leaning on one leg as she addressed the other two. "You guys stop deluding yourselves. He's likely this way cause of all three of us." She stated to them, always being the logic girl of the group. Someone had to be, especially when Nico would find himself out of commission like this. Either that, or he wasn't around to keep Neptune in line. Though, she did not deny that she had a small part of her that suspected that she was the one who blew him away. IF knew that, out of the three of them, it was between her and Neptune who had the most forward and aggressive approach to securing Nico's affections for themselves. It likely wouldn't escalate to the level where they would forget their friendship, simply cause the three of them valued that word too much to let romance get in the way, and if Nico felt that would be the case he would definitely not let it slide. Like them, he too valued comradery and loyalty, so if they did start fighting over him then he would put his foot down. Nico hadn't shown himself to be afraid to knock them around if they did something stupid, either (though that was mostly Neptune since she did the most stupid things).

BUFFERING…

Finally, Neptune decided to see if they could restart the computer known as Nico, since he would look really stupid if he just stayed standing there forever. She began by stepping forwards and clicked her fingers in front of Nico's facial features. "Helllooo! Gamindustri to Nicky! Ya there, Hubby? You're wifey's requesting permission to access your databanks for your porn collection." She spoke, thinking up something to say off the top of her head.

BUFFERING…

"Does Nep-Nep even know if Ni-Ni has a porn collection?" Compa questioned, tilting her head sideways while looking to her brunette friend. As far as Compa knew, she had never seen him attempt to look at such sites before, not when they were still living together nor while on this adventure. She figured that was just because of the type of man Nico was, but it never hurt to ask.

BUFFERING…

IF rolled her eyes while answering back in a hushed whisper. "This is Nico we're talking about, guy's too innocent in the ways of girls to have something like that. Believe it or not, but there are guys that are like that." She explained, having leaned forwards to whisper into Compa's ear. It was true, those people were mostly called the otakus (AN: no offence to any otakus, really). Though she could definitely tell that they weren't surrounded by such people if the looks some sent their way were any indication. She would make sure to give those pervs the warning look, just so they wouldn't do anything stupid…

Though she wouldn't mind so much if they tried, more stress relief for her when she pounded their faces in.

BUFFERING…

Compa only giggled, knowing that would be true. She had been a little worried there…

CHECKUPS PART 1 COMPLETE - REBOOT COMMENCING…

Finally, it happened, the processor for Nico's brain rebooted, at last restarting all systems to their optimum. We're sorry for the delay, please enjoy the story to your heart's content. Once he could think again, Nico blinked several times in rapid succession, shaking his head slightly while placing his hand on it's side. "Whoa, what the hell happened? Thought I had entered the afterlife for a moment there…" the male muttered under his breath in bafflement. That was when he looked up, his eyes catching sight of the girls all grinning at him in their own ways. "… Oh." Now he realized why.

"Hehehehehehe, I would have asked you what you thought, but it seems I already have an answer." Neptune commented, giggling like a little gremlin at the aftermath of one of its pranks. Considering who this was, and what had happened, that analysis couldn't have been any truer. "You looked completely blown away by my cuteness, Nicky. I knew ya liked ma hot sexy Nep-bod." She boasted, swishing from side to side to let her dress's skirt follow her motions. She even ended it by stepping close to him with her face quite close to his, sporting the most mischievous expression possible.

Compa frowned at this action, however, and stopped the preteen by grasping her shoulder and pulling her back. "Hey, Nep-Nep, that's no fair, Ni-Ni was looking at me too you know!" she whined, before switching her gaze over to the male Agent. "You think that I look cute, don't you? Right?" she asked him, leaning forwards and un(?)intentionally lowering her chest so Nico could see more of her cleavage. Behind her, Neptune huffed in jealousy, since this morning the girls told her that she wasn't allowed to transform around so many people. Something about making matters complicated, and there was something in the back of her mind telling her she'd heard this song and dance before, but meh. If she could transform, then she could wallop Compa in the boobies' department. Seeing as how Compa wouldn't let her get her spot back, both girls ended up in his personal space, awaiting Nico's answer.

"Um, uhhh…"

REBOOT STILL IN PROGRESS

Nico tried to respond, but nothing would come out his mouth as he stared at the two girls. What could he say here? Especially since his brain hadn't fully rebooted yet. Fortunately for him, Nico found himself being saved by IF who stepped forth and pulled the girls back from his personal space with an indigenous look on her right now. "Easy there, girls. Give te guy some space after you all just broke him down like a faulty piece of hardware." She scolded the two, the redhead male mentally wishing he could hug IF right now in gratitude. Now all he had to do was regain his proper faculties and he'd be set for this confrontation. "How do you expect him to answer you two when you're all up in his face like that?"

"Sorry…" Both girls moaned in apology, realizing just how much pressure they had put on the male who recently regained himself. Now that they thought about it, he did look at least a little out of it still, and they just barged in on his personal space. Not something that would help the situation, admittingly.

REBOOT COMPLETE – ORGANISM NICO 100% OPERATIONAL!

Nonetheless, Nico gave IF a grateful nod, relief flooding his system as he finally managed to fully regain himself. Though he had to admit, Nico had NOT seen something like this coming, the girls being able to render him temporarily comatose like that. By the Goddess, he hoped that wouldn't become a thing, he didn't know if he could take that. Though, Nico would sure as hell try. 'Seriously, how the hell could that have happened? I usually have more control over myself than that.'

For once, Biko didn't answer, or rather he couldn't, since even he didn't have the answer.

In any case, it became clear to him that these girls wanted his opinion on their dresses, especially when he recalled them not telling him where they had been 4 weeks ago. It was almost like they had wanted to surprise him back then, something that he could readily agree with right now. "Well, I uh… I literally have no words to say with this situation…" he stated slowly, taking pauses to make sure he didn't have to reboot himself like a machine again. However, despite being caught off guard by the sight earlier, Nico refused to leave the girls hanging, that was not what a good guy should do in this situation, He was no saint, but he wouldn't be that kind of a jerk either.

In the end, the male finally found the words he wanted to say, the words he had been looking for ever since his mind rebooted. Looking upon the girls with a bare hand over his face, Nico finally admitted what he thought about their clothes. "You girls were on the right rack when you said I was blown away, quite literally in fact. You all… you all look freaking gorgeous. In my opinion, better than many of these extravagantly dressed nobles by a landslide."

POOF!

Several poof sounds rang through their little section of the Main Hall, coming from the girls as their faces soon sported blushes of varying degrees. Compa's seemed to be the biggest due to her shy and timid nature. It was rare for her to receive genuine compliments for her figure, especially when eyes were usually drawn to certain places more than others for some weird reason (Oh Compa, bless your innocent soul… -_-)

Neptune's looked like it was in the middle area, though still intense. The blush spread across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, all the while she had this stupid grin on her face as she just barely stopped herself from gushing. She wasn't the type of girl to do that kind of stuff, nope, not this Nep. Hey, she was usually the one doing all the seducing and smooth stuff in the relationship, so excuse her for being caught off guard a little.

IF, meanwhile, had the best control over herself, though it seemed that the revelation about her from Lastation once again made itself known. As in, she was all offense and no defence if the fierce, yet not as fierce as Neptune's, blush that covered her face was any indication. Though, she tilted her head sideways to be able to hide it better, it may as well have been useless since Nico already saw it.

'Wow, what the heck is with these girls? Its just a truthful compliment, why do they seem so affected by it, I wonder?' Nico wondered to himself, confusion filling his mind (the sound of a facepalm echoing in his Inner World as Biko quietly growled in frustration). Something briefly flashed within his head, but it disappeared the moment that it appeared, too fast for his senses to pick up. In any case, the male gaze notice subtle signs of discomfort from the brunette, drawing a concerned look for him. 'Oh? IF's looking pretty uncomfortable, why the hell is that…?' the male wondered. He quickly identified the source though, by looking downwards. He noticed faint shuffling from her feet, and his eyes flashed with realization. "Lemme guess, your feet are killing you right now…?" he questioned the brunette (this time it was the white one that facepalmed).

IF looked back to him, her face no longer blushing and instead she sported a look of a mix between irritation and frustration. "Ugh, tell me about it. How the hell do girls walk in these heels? Not even a couple hours in and my feet are already begging me to end their misery." … did IF just whine like Neptune just now? Seriously? Heck, even Neptune and Compa looked stunned at that what the hell?

Nevertheless, the male couldn't help but wince in sympathy for her while Compa looked down at her own heels. "I think I get where Iffy is coming from, cause I used to have footsie problems too. Now though, I wear low heeled boots, so I'm fine wearing heels." She stated, pretty much explaining right there why she didn't look all that bothered with her heels. Now that he thought about it, Nico realized that she was right, Compa's boots DID have a bit of a heel on them, not too much but not too little either. Guess that explained why she seemed to be used to wearing heels.

Finally, Nico turned to the one who hadn't spoken about her footwear yet, trying to see if she had any hidden signs of discomfort. However, unlike the brunette he couldn't find any on her, to his surprise. Therefore, he had to ask. "And you, Neptune? You feeling achy down there?"

"Nope, cause I'mma awesomesauce!"

"… sure."

IF gave Neptune a disbelieving look as Neptune proudly admitted that while putting her hands on her hips like one of those superheroes on TV. She wanted to call bullshit on that claim and call bullshit she did. "Ok, how in the hell do your feet not hurt, Nep? You haven't worn heels before!" she exclaimed, refusing to believe that the pint-sized CPU had something over her.

"But, I sorta wear heels in HDD form, ya know. So, I figured it was just cause of that."

"… I have no words." IF reluctantly admitted with a sigh, slouching downwards in a defeated manner. She may have lost this round, but the next one wouldn't be decided so quickly, she vowed. IF refused to let Neptune get ahead of her, not this time. She had some ground to cover in order to catch up with the others. Still, these heels would take some getting used to, especially as back before they had changed at the hotel, IF had to practice walking around in heels, due to her inexperience. It was one of the most discomforting things she had to do in her life, and she swore that she wouldn't do this unless it was a last resort. She was a soldier, so heels didn't have much of a place on the battlefield… 'Although, Raven and Lucy seem to rock the heels look while kicking ass…' she thought to herself, pondering that for a moment before letting those thoughts disappear for the time being.

* * *

Eventually, the group heard the sounds of ballroom music beginning to play, the sounds of violins ringing throughout the area and filling the air with sweet, soothing melodies. The moment that she heard it, IF got an idea, an idea that would get her ahead of the other girls. However, the brunette would have to do it in a way tat made sure the others didn't catch on to the fact that she was in the chase, normally she wouldn't care about such things and just go for it, but this was one advantage she wanted to milk for all it was worth. Those many bike rides, while awesome as hell, weren't enough for her.

"Hey, look! What's happening over there?" Neptune suddenly asked, pointing to a series of couples that were on the dance floor, twirling around while holding each other close in a rather… weird way. The entire movement set those people moved in seemed so foreign to her, yet she also vaguely recalled seeing something like this before somewhere. No matter how had she tried though, where she had seen it eluded her.

Compa became the one to answer her, just when IF made to say something. "Its called a waltz, Nep-Nep." She stated, raising a hand in a lecturing type of manner while continuing. "It's a type of dance people do in events like these. Its meant to be stylish and classy, not something us Planeptune natives do. They say that Waltz's are also containing an…" at this, a small blush made its way onto her face as Compa nervously poked her fingers together. "…Intimacy to it, almost romantic." She explained.

"Yeah, and before you start Nep…" IF began, interrupting Neptune just when she was opening her mouth. It mentally made her smirk in victory, knowing what was going to happen next. "We'll have to do rock-paper-scissors to decide who this guy…" she gestured to Nico with her thumb, said male pointing to himself cluelessly. Heck question marks appeared over his head at what these girls were playing at (Biko and the white copy started to discuss if the 'KING's density would protect him from bullets or not, and the consensus was that considering his actions it definitely seemed possible). "Goes onto the dance floor with."

IF had never really danced before, not like this anyways. If it was a dance under the sheets she would have more experience, but this wasn't like that at all. Still though, she had looked into what to do with a Waltz, even took a few lessons at a dancing class before this Gala even started so she knew what to do. Hopefully that would give her an edge, but first there was THIS hurdle to get over.

Obviously, Neptune didn't catch on to the underlying intentions the brunette had, neither did the Nurse-In-Training, as both gave off competitive smiles to each other. "Alrightie then, let's get to it. The first to win gets to dance with Nicky in this 'waltz' thing." To Neptune, this sounded like a great way to spend some time with Nico alone without the others interfering, thoughts like that circling through both her and Compa's mind.

Nico meanwhile, remained oblivious to what was going on, and could only think one thing.

'What the fuck is going on here?'

… Why did he hear sounds of faint frustrated hissing in his mind just now?

* * *

Over 30 tries later (each one ending in a draw between the trio), IF eventually won by playing paper while the other two played rock. "Heh, well will you look at that?" She remarked with a satisfied smirk. "I've won, so I get to dance with Nico first." It had NOT been easy, and she had failed over 30 times already, however through perseverance and cleverly hiding her choices, IF had finally managed to score some alone time with Nico. Not that these two would have figured out she was a player yet, but still the smallest victories in life were the best ones, usually.

"Aw, man…" Neptune pouted, looking at her closed hand, which was still in the rock formation, with dismay. "I lost…" She had worked so hard on it too, this sucked! Majorly She would have to raid the desert menus just to get herself back on track!

Compa, similarly to Neptune, looked down in dejection. "Iffy won… she gets to dance with Ni-Ni…" she muttered, jealousy leaking from her words like gas. She wanted to show off her secret training, she had trained for a moment like this ever since she was a little girl, and al it took was a game of rock-paper-scissors to smash those dreams.

IF watched the two girls' expressions, hiding her sense of pride at her victory. Though, she did feel a pang of sympathy for them, too. 'Okay, maybe it was a bit much, but I can't let them get any additional points with Nico.' She thought to herself, trying too ease her guilt. However, it didn't work, and eventually she let out a sigh while placing her hands on their shoulders. "Hey, don't sweat it, you two did your best, it was just a game of luck at this point." She told them. "Besides, I won fair and square so don't be such sore losers about it." At that moment, IF mentally berated herself for letting some of her pride slip out seconds later. Maybe she wasn't so good at this whole comforting thing as she thought.

"Mou…"

Both girls did look defeated but nodded anyways, consenting to the winner albeit reluctantly. It was true, IF had won fair and square against them so they had no reason to be sore losers about it.

"Hey, cheer up you two."

Soon, Nico decided to get in on this action, he didn't like the looks on their faces after that game. He may not know what was going on here, but the fact that they had put everything they had into it was not lost on him. He couldn't let them remain sad after fighting in, what he could describe at least, an honourable battle worthy of any warrior. It pulled at his heartstrings, and the male did NOT like hat, not one bit. After all, he wasn't someone who needed a heart to begin with, he had suppressed his hormones for so long now, so he didn't appreciate something that tugged at his heart so painfully. It served to remind him that, even as he descended deeper into the path of the monster, that deep down he still had some humanity left in him.

Looking at him in surprise, both Neptune and Compa nearly jumped when they felt his hands on their heads, ruffling them with a soft, caring smile on his lips. "I'll be sure to dance with the rest of you, don't worry. I'll give you my word that I will, and you know what I mean when I say that, don't you?" he asked, giving a lopsided smirk while his eyes gleamed. This may delay his plans, he thought, delays that could prove problematic, however he just couldn't stand by and watch these girls he treasured being sad like that. He wanted to see them smile, something that he had surprised himself when he realized that. Though, he didn't question it.

Even with his heart the way it was, seeing their smiles brightened his day considerably.

Apparently, his words did their jobs in calming them down and cheering them up, for the two girls lost their sad looks, replacing them with their usual beaming, happy expressions. Neptune let out a sly smile while chuckling at him, causing Nico to arch a brow at hr. "Hehehehe, oh Nicky, oh Nicky…" she remarked, shaking her head as she crossed her arms below her chest. "You seem to have the uncanny ability to cheer us up when we really need it…" While Compa said nothing, her eyes showed just how much she agreed with her fellow maiden.

All Nico did was blush while rubbing the back of his head refusing to look at the girls lest his embarrassment gets worse.

Watching this sight, the brunette resisted the urge to smirk in Nico's direction, her hands gripping her elbows while she hid a spike of irritation at the sight of the three getting cosy together. Her eyes gleamed with predatory hunger, but she repressed it, thinking about how Nico had ensured their hearts without even trying. It wasn't like it was his fault either, he just tried his hardest in life with the cards he'd been dealt, that was pretty much all anyone could do at this point.

Still though, she didn't want this to drag on for too long, not when the two had dancing to do.

Thus, it became time for her to step in moments later. "Alright mr ladies' man, time to get moving." IF finally got too impatient to remain silent for any longer. She grasped him by his forearm and began pulling him to the dance floor while applying her BOW strength to help her. After all, his DPU powers enhanced his body to make it harder to do something like this. Part of her couldn't help but note how well their powers worked together, both of them promoting each other's growth in an attempt to excel over the other. She had noticed this whenever she was around the male, how her body evolved significantly quicker just from his presence alone. It was like she was standing next to a being that the BOW in her refused to back down towards. Refused to submit, like a servant or a coward.

All Nico did was follow her lead to the dance floor, while mentally he could only question the choices he made in his life that led to this moment.

* * *

'ho boy, I think I just found myself in quite possibly the most anxiety-inducing situation I've been in yet…'

Nico repressed the urge to gulp, sweat trailing down his forehead that he burned away with a light increase of Hellfire within. Fortunately, he could control it to such a level where he wouldn't hut other people touching him when he used Hellfire. Part of him wondered if he could use other infernal elements in the future, but that part got snuffed out the moment that he was on the centre of the dance floor with a beautiful woman. A woman who was right now, super close to him that their chests were almost touching, smirking at him with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"You ready, Nico. Don't worry I'll guide you so you don't step on my feet." She whispered, her tone softening at the end, same with her eyes, when she saw how conflicted he looked. She easily deduced the cause by reading his body patterns and trusting her senses as well as her instincts. Heck, she didn't blame the guy for being nervous, part of her felt just the same way. Only she had some slight experience thanks to those dance classes she attended so she didn't feel as nervous as this guy probably did. "Guess you trained so much you didn't take any classes?"

The male shook his head at that, trying to keep a calm demeanour. Considering his situation, surrounded by twirling couples and the woman close to him, he felt he did fairly well for the most part. "Nah, not really. Guess it didn't come to me till now that I'd have to do something like this. Never really trusted anyone to this degree, so that didn't help either." He replied, his brow doing a minuscule twitching. He didn't trust many people beyond a certain few, and those that did were wither too busy or had no experience themselves in teaching him. Not that he would have asked either, since he spent his days on the battlefield.

"I totally see that." The BOW casually stated, not doubting the validity of his words in the slightest. Though, that seemed mostly due to how long she had known the guy as she placed one hand on her hip. His hand, by the way, which made his form stiffen visibly. "Hey, relax, this is the posture needed for a waltz. Like I said, I'll show you how, so trust me alright?" It took a moment, but eventually IF saw how his body relaxed slightly, his hand softening its grip on her hip so it felt more comfortable. This elected a pleased smile from the woman, it showed that he took her words to heart. Now they could continue. "Alright, gimme your other hand." Once he did, albeit reluctantly, IF grasped it and held it in her own, getting into position. "Alright, now…"

Soon, she began guiding him on how to do the waltz, according to her dance instructor (who had been suspiciously feely with her during practices. She managed to stave his advances with a warning glare enhanced with her BOW power, though). She had to admit, this activity helped her to forget her discomfort in heels, too. Took her mind off that troublesome situation at te least, allowing her to focus on truly enjoying this little moment she had with her crush.

Yeah, she could admit it to herself without hesitation anymore, at the least. She had a crush on a guy, something she had never done before. Like she said, she had never been in a situation like this before, so she felt a little on edge about it. However, there in lay the thrill that she felt as well, the thought of exploring something new and foreign felt like a damn adventure to her. Something found solace in, actually.

Meanwhile, as Nico attempted to memorise the steps (something he found rather easy to do thanks to his quick learning ability and observational skills) he couldn't help but take in the beauty of the woman dancing with him. His partner, both on the dance floor and on their true calling, the battlefield. He had once heard that his mother chose her codename VALKYRIE based off a group of powerful, all female winged warriors who excelled on the front lines. Who picked the dead from the mortal realm and brought them to the afterlife. Looking down at IF., he couldn't help but think to himself that she would also fit in with such a group.

Not only that, bu Nico's thought patterns were also inspired by how much power he could sense emanating from her right no. It was mostly suppressed by her will right now, which made it near impossible to detect for normal people, but Nico was not a normal guy. The amount of power IF had within her, it felt so much like the amount a Demon would have, with its signature being similar as well, as in it felt violent, chaotic and uncontrollable save for its master. Her powers had the potential to constantly evolve, to grow ever stronger, for all of eternity, which he admired about her.

Ganache truly didn't know a thing about what he had created back then…

"You know, it doesn't seem like the guys you're looking for are here right now." Nico's eyes quickly shifted back to IF's face when she suddenly spoke, his form tensing as he gaped slightly at her, wondering how the hell she knew about his plans. He hadn't told anyone what he was doing, not even the girls, so how did IF figure it out? The brunette rolled her eyes at him during the dance. "You're not the only one who has contacts, you know. I may not have moved outside of Planeptune much, but I did make contact with people from other Nations. Some of them told me that they saw someone fitting your description investigating certain Nobles, Nobles connected to Count Mott. Not hard to figure it all out from there."

In her mind, IF couldn't help but frown to herself. Nico hadn't been the only one who had ulterior motives for this Gala, he hadn't been the only one with contacts. She had started her own search for information after the Hellverse incident during her training and when she was alone. The reason why she did that was because Neptune and Compa knew nothing about subtle investigation, plus she had to pay visits to the… shadier parts of Leanbox where people like those two would be lynched on without mercy.

Her search provided her a few details like the name Count Mott, Spec Ops, some form of deal, and it soon became pretty clear that this person had a connection to the Spec Ops Program. That was how IF uncovered te truth behind an Urgent Quest Nico and the other Agents went on not long after the Hellverse incident. It likely was a means of keeping Nico distracted while several 'operatives' as she would call them to slip into the city and kidnap someone close to him, namely her. She didn't know if she had been right, she had no proof whatsoever, but her gut told her that there was a LOT of interested parties targeting Nico for one reason or another. Forget Neptune's secret as a CPU, people seemed more interested in their resident male party member.

That ALONE had been enough to send alarm bells through her head.

'So, she knows…' the male thought to himself, hiding a frown behind his surprised face. Biko remained silent though, and yet Nico could still feel his presence watching the conversation intently. Soon though, that frown came out as they danced, the male raising his arm to allow IF to spin around on one heel. "Looks like you figured me out, then." he stated, before sighing in resignation. "Count Mott was the reason why me and Team RAIL went on that urgent quest. The Count apparently pulled some strings, and by the time we got there we were kindly introduced to some Demon company, as well as discovered the nearby mines were infested with Northmen."

IF hummed at that, her mind whirling as she processed the information. It sounded like what she had found out about it, too, though if the Northmen were involved… looked like her hunch may be right after all. "Huh… then, I guess that explains why some of my contacts seemed reluctant to share info at first. They probably had some of Mott's men pay them a 'visit'." She muttered under her breath, nearly making Nico's heart skip a beat in worry. While IF could certainly take care of herself, it was only natural that he worry for a comrade. "Still though, you should have told us what you were doing, Nico." Looking back to the male, IF's eyes grew sharp and stern. While she could understand the value of secrecy, and that Nico wasn't the most expressive when said secrets were concerned, it didn't lessen the hurt that he didn't let them in on this. "We're part of the same party, so you can trust that we can keep secrets."

Part of him suggested that the whole Hellverse incident had been more than a little distracting, however Nico refused to do that. He shut that part of him down with a mental wince. He would not do that, nope, no way no how. It felt too much like an excuse, and if he did say that he would only feel worse than he already did when he felt that gaze on him. "I uh… I ummm…" he tried to say something, anything to explain his actions, but for the moment his tongue felt like it was tied to a knot. Unable to say anything right now.

A moment later, the teen took a breath to calm himself down. His heartbeat returned to normal while his breathing slowed to a steady rhythm. When he finally felt his ability to speak again restored, Nico spoke back to his fellow Agent as they waltzed about the dance floor, mixing with some of the other couples. "Well, its just that… well, I'm not used to it. Working with others, even after all this time. Being a solo agent for so long doesn't just go away, I mean look at Lastation. I worked alone to get the military ready, if I hadn't who knows how many casualties would have happened."

Memories flowed through his mind, memories of both his past years as a Spec Ops Agent as well as his times with the girls. More often than not, Nico resorted to fighting on by himself. It was rare that he let people help him, either because they were too weak, and it forced Nico to fight alone or that it would be better if he just did it solo. If you want something done right, do it yourself, that was something he had learned long ago after experiencing o many deceits and betrayals. Doing things, yourself made most things easier for him, since he didn't need to worry about someone else's safety. Plus, considering the people he was around most often, it wasn't like he could trust that many individuals. All that distrust must have resulted in his loner-type personality.

"True, but things are changing Nico. There'll come times when you can't rely on just yourself anymore." IF told him, looking downwards in a concerned manner. She knew that Nico did do a lot of things on his own, and honestly it works for him. He got stuff done that if he hadn't, a lot more casualties would have been wrought. There were sometimes where other people often just held him back from releasing his full power, too. However, that didn't change her point. "Still, you couldn't prevent the attack altogether, Nico, which helps support my point. There's not a lot of stuff you can't do when you put your mind to it, I get it, but there'll come times where that approach isn't an option anymore. I know that isn't something you like thinking about, but with the way things are, if you keep at it like you have, then chances are even you will one day be overwhelmed. Even the best of us sometimes have to ask for help."

Nico remained silent, her words entering his mind like a bunch of fangirls storming a building to see their idol/crush and leaving his mouth dry. Not even licking his lips would solve that problem, but he focused more on what she was saying. His eyes hardened, a whirlpool of chaotic emotions present within him It honestly felt hard to believe that such a time may come where he would ask for help, he had trained himself the way he had specifically so that times like that wouldn't come. He had spent so long on his own, he was someone who fiercely defended his own independence, he valued that independence highly. It wasn't really in his nature to ask for assistance, he was too used to dealing with his own problems. That had been his MO for so many years now that, that the opposite idea of asking others for help seemed to be near-impossible. The closest he had come to doing so would be whenever he asked Biko, since he was one of the other selves active within him. Nico REFUSED to rely on others to solve his problems, it was just so ingrained into him that the idea of asking for help just seemed so… foreign to him, so alien in fact.

'UGH, KING DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT THIS BROAD MAKES SENSE? THIS SHIT MAKES ME WANT TO GAG! SERIOUSLY, SHE NEEDS A FREAKING SPEAR TO THE GUT FOR THAT HERESY! SHE HAD NO CLUE ON WHO WE FUCKING ARE, SHE KNOWS NOT THE SHIT WE WENT THROUGH CRAWLING OUT OF THE DREGS, EVERYTHING WE WENT THROUGH TO REACH THIS LEVEL! SHE SHOULD PAY FOR HER IGNORANCE WITH HER LIFE, WITH OUR POWER AS RESPONSIBLE! SHE NEEDS TO KNOW HER PLEACE AS A WEAKLING UNDER OUR BOOTS, TO HAVE OUR POWER RIP HER APRART FROM THE INSIDE, TO SPREAD HER INNARDS ALL OVER THE FLOOR!'

 **'Do not completely believe this one, Nico. He may be right in that she has little knowledge of your hardships; however, it is not really her fault It is a lack of information that made her say these things. If she was aware of what you have went through she would not have said those meaningless words. Nonetheless, whatever path you choose, we will follow you to the ends of it. No matter what this one says to deny this fact otherwise.'**

Those words from his two other selves, served to bring him back to reality. He would have to think on that later, right now he had other matters to think over.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **One chapter down, more to come!**

 **Anyways, this chapter's been a doozy to write. After all, I had to include things I'm not really that good at. Still, I hope I portrayed IF in a way that pertains to her original personality. Like I've said throughout the story, IF is NOT the type of girl to let te damsel in distress label fall onto her shoulders. When she notices something suspicious she investigates. She gets shit done, just look at the canon events in Lastation. She already figured out Noire's real identity (though that wasn't hard) before anyone else. Plus, it is said that she has contacts. Why wouldn't she use them when she notices something up with Nico?**

 **So, IF knows enough information now that she's placed herself on a similar boat to Nico. She used the dance as a means to get close to him and tell him this (due to him training and investigating so damn much) while also conveying how much he had fucked up by not trusting them enough to let them in on this. Even if he did it to stop them from getting dragged into this with him, Nico had still inadvertently hurt the girls (IF mostly since she figured everything out) but if Neptune and Compa knew then he'd have hurt them too. We'll be seeing some repercussions on his mindset this revelation causes next chapter.**

 **Still, this Gala's going along smoothly if I do say so myself... but how long will that last, I wonder?**

 **Reading and reviewing will lead to the answer, everyone. I'll upload the next chapter soon, ok?**

 **Peace out!**


	121. Chapter 118 - The Gala PT3

**Chapter 118 - The Gala Part 3**

"PANT, PANT, PANT…"

 **'It seems we may have underestimated the amount of dancing we would have had to do to keep those ladies happy…'**

'Amen to that, Biko…'

'STILL THINK YOU SHOULD RIP OUT THEIR INNARDS AND STRANGLE THEM WITH EM, KING…'

'Well, good thing I'm not like you then, isn't it?'

Heavy pants escaped Nico's lips while he leaned over a sink, his head hanging low which allowed sweat to fall from his forehead to the sink below. His eyes looked slightly shrunken, a sign of fatigue while he gripped the sink's sides with both hands. He had taken off his suit's overcoat and stored it inside his Void Storage just, so he could get some air to cool off after his little dance-a-thon on the dance floor.

The male currently found himself within one of the Basilicom's main bathrooms, having gone there to take a break from both his search for the Nobles and Yvoire, as well as dancing in general. After his dance with IF, Nico had been made to dance with Neptune next (of which she nearly threw him around the dance floor with how bad she was until he managed to barely correct her in time) and then Compa (Whom he found to be the second normal one but wouldn't look him in the eye for some reason). Not only that, but after witnessing his dancing skills, many of the noblewomen both married and not married wanted to give him a shot. It didn't help that all of them had seen the footage of his music video with Aiden and Ivan, thus wanted to have a piece of him to themselves.

Made their husbands and other male nobles jealous as all hell…. But by the Goddesses that had been awful.

Biko even had to pound away at a hysterically laughing white copy of himself who just LOVED to revel in his misery. Prick.

In any case, he had spent WAY too long entertaining those women (ugh, that sounded so bad in his head…) and had to take a break to relieve the tension built in his joints… as well as to take a breather. Fortunately, one of the guards (one of the few who seemed sympathetic to his plight instead of those jealous assholes) had seen fit to intervene when he was about to lose it and directed him to the closest bathroom that there was available to use right now. That guy should seriously get a raise, maybe he could get that to happen to the good guard…

Anyways, that was why he ended up in this place taking a break from everything… yet, Nico's thoughts still ran a million miles an hour. Mostly from what IF had told him about Yvoire and the others. Including that talk, they had with regards to the lack of him asking for their help with this Gala. A talk that constantly played itself through his mind like a loop, never letting him think of anything else. It made him grit his teeth while clutching his suit just above the space where his heart would have been.

He'd hurt her.

He'd fucking HURT her!

Not only her, but he probably hurt Neptune and freaking COMPA too!

That revelation constantly slammed into his skull, refusing to let him rest and granting zero mercy. He felt his blood boiling at those thoughts each time as they circled through his mind like an electric current, constantly slamming into the confines of his brain like thunderbolts. Nico bit back the urge to growl, his eyes briefly shining red while he berated and cursed himself over and over. Utter loathing escaped from his being like a river finally breaking down and exploding out from a damn, spilling forth into the ravine that was his mind, heart, and soul.

Nico had NEVER wanted them to be hurt, especially not by something that he had done. Nico had done everything he could on his own just, so THIS wouldn't have happened. Those girls had become the lights to his darkness, the sole pieces of heaven in this hellish world, thus he had done his best to stop them from being 'tainted' by the darkness that he saw in the world. Nico had done everything by himself, only trusting Biko for advice since he was a part of himself. That fact meant that, essentially, he still trusted no one enough to have them help, he was just so USED to operating on his own that he hadn't even thought about asking for someone else's help. He was used to being able to do that stuff on his own because that was why he trained so hard in the first place, so he could feel worth something and not be the utter sack of shit he knew he truly was deep inside. He wanted to be useful, to be strong, to be better, to survive. He wanted so many things from his training, yet they all concerned himself.

He HAD to be stronger.

He HAD to be faster.

He HAD to be smarter.

Everything about him HAD to be better.

The male couldn't remember the last time where he truly relied on someone else, no, he couldn't remember a time when he ever did something like that. Whenever he was with another group (rarely enough) Nico would always come up with plans he could implement on his own due to being sure that eventually, those he was with would fail somehow. Usually, they did, and those that didn't fail he would have let have the spotlight while he dealt with anything they missed. He stayed in the shadows, out of the limelight for so long that it had become second nature. His loner streaks had become natural to him, his primary methods of operating.

But… BUT. That had changed. Well, with what had happened back there on the dance floor.

Memories of the hidden pain that he had seen in IF's eyes, hidden by her usual smirking mask of confidence, filled his mind like a plague. A tumor. It made him feel sick to his stomach, and also feel like an utterly wretched piece of shit that shouldn't deserve to live. He held his left hand before his face, gritting his teeth so hard that they could have cracked under the pressure. These hands had inadvertently hurt those that he had cared for, something that went completely against what he wanted to do.

It filled him with utter disgust, utter revulsion. What IF had said got to him, he could feel it down to his bones. The fact that he had hurt those he had considered being people potentially trustworthy filled him with such rage that it would give the Red Rage Ring a fair contender for most powerful rage. Nico didn't notice it, but his body began radiating an orangish red aura, one that poured from him like wisps of vapor that filled the air around him, as well as the entire bathroom, with thick tension and pressure.

 **'Nico, quickly calm yourself! Your Powers are reacting to your rage! Snap out of it! NICO!'**

A gasp tore through Nico's lips, his eyes regaining focus as he snapped out of his rage-filled trance. Once he did, his aura disappeared completely, having receded quickly into him like a katana being swiftly sheathed with a loud SCHINK, like it had never been there in the first place. The tension, pressure and Killing Intent provided by him also vanished, leaving everything just as it once was before. His breath soon came out as a series of sharp pants and gasps as he tried to regain his composure, his previous emotions wow replaced with shock and disbelief.

"Wha… what the…?" he whispered under his breath before his eyes widened and realization dawned on him. He remembered what Biko told him long ago before he had come to Leanbox. How his powers were heavily influenced by emotion, rage being the most prominent one. It had been so long since then that he had almost forgotten, only for these events to be a sharp wake-up call to a trip down memory lane. Nico soon set his lips into a firm scowl once his breathing became calm again, his eyes hardening as he stared down at his hand. This time, there was this trembling feeling coming from it, born from the experience he just went through.

Clenching his fist, Nico frowned as he placed it back on the sink. Honestly, he had surprised himself, the durability of these sinks must be amazing since he had gripped it to a point where a small dent shaped like his fist could be seen when he moved the hand on it (probably so as to allow for some of that noble pig swine to bang a maid here when they want to, which is almost all the time considering they don't really worry about anything else). Still, though, the sight served to be a reminder for him, a reminder of just what kind of power had been granted to him and what he had accumulated over his training. It gave him a solid reminder of what he was, what he would become… and to be frank, this was the first time he felt it, even for a brief moment, but he felt… uncertain, anxious even. These emotions vanished just seconds after appearing though, so he didn't think much of them.

 **'Have you finally calmed down enough?'**

Mentally, Nico nodded his head in response, his thought settling down into a calmer state of being. His eyes became normal sized again before he slouched slightly over the sink. 'Wow… for a moment, I didn't even realize… geez, I forget just one thing and look what almost happened…' Nico thought with a bitter chuckle escaping his lips. 'I almost lost it and blew up the entire Basilicom.'

 **'Not just the Basilicom, you would have taken a portion of MICROSOFT with that level of rage… and that wasn't even factoring the Red Rage Ring with its anger-based abilities.'**

Hearing that caused Nico to shift uncomfortably, worry dancing across his features as the gravity of what could have happened sunk in. How many lives he could have endangered, how many would have been ruined because of him having an emotional freak-out. His powers were influenced by his rage, so he should take more care in not getting angry. A snort escaped his lips the moment he thought that saying those words and actually adhering to them were completely different things. This event just proved it. Now, more than ever, Nico needed to stay calm and collected for the sake of everyone's safety.

It was at that moment, that the male let out an exhausted sigh. 'Ugh, this blows… I need some comfort…' he thought to himself. Now normally, such a source of comfort for a man in this situation would be either alcohol, money or a companion (goddess knows how most men only have these on their heads). Either male or female it didn't matter, it all depended on the person's preferences, really. Nevertheless, what NICO found to be the most relieving was… something else, something that would fit a warrior like himself.

Turning around, Nico leaned against a nearby wall, sliding down it till he sat against the Wall before reaching out with his right hand. A warrior like Nico himself had no need for the common pleasures life had to offer, no, there was only one thing that would truly de-stress him in this situation. Something that he hadn't gotten to do most of the day, and it sickened him… though, he didn't feel like he was the only one who thought that. Mentally, he called on his Void Storage, and in a flurry of black Datastreams, a familiar Devil Arm appeared to be grasped by his hand at the handle: Rebellion.

Once he felt it in his grasp, Nico allowed the familiar texture of the demonic sword's hilt to sooth his hand, the sensations from the hand traveling through his nervous system to his brain. It elected a soft sigh from his lips, a sigh of such softness and content that Nico hadn't expected to feel today. Hell, just looking at the Devil Arm, let alone feel it in his grasp, proved to be as refreshing as taking a bath after a hard day's work. Not only that, but he got warm sensations from the Devil Arm, which obviously reciprocated the gesture. It felt glad to be in the hands of its master, and he could feel the jealousy from his Devil Arm collection within his Void Storage through their links.

Still, as Nico raised Rebellion so that he looked upon its horned skull, as well as the flat side of the blade, he couldn't help but notice something when holding this blade. He had practiced with it the most out of his Devil Arms, because there was a distinct difference between them. While it didn't have the most powerful or versatile of abilities, nor was it as destructive as Soul Edge, Rebellion just had this… charm to it, a charm that made him think that he would use it for any sword technique that he learned. Quicksword, Vipersword, no matter.

He would use Rebellion for them.

Not only that, but the blade felt… stronger, better even, when he wielded it. It was like it slowly became less of a Devil Arm and more like just another appendage attached to his body. Nico recognized this feeling, this feeling of familiarity and sense of connection, it was said throughout Leanbox's many martial arts groups that when a warrior's weapon and the warrior do battle, they develop a bond similar to brotherhood. He had stated this before, but his Devil Arms and he were brethren-in-arms. They were inseparable, the Devil Arms were irreplaceable.

'Even so… there's a certain beauty to these Devi Arms, a beauty each of them has their own version of…' Nico couldn't help but think while staring at the flat side of the blade. Nico had seen it a couple times, but there were times where he would appreciate the weapons he had, like an artist admiring a painting. It was like these Devil Arms were slowly becoming treasures that he would never part with, not ever. Part of him had felt scared upon learning of this, while the rest of him squealed with delight.

'Still, this feeling…'

Nico closed his eyes, still holding the blade over his eyes. This reminds him of something, something he had heard from Guts a while back…

* * *

 _ **(Fashback)**_

 _ **"Say, Guts?"**_

 _ **Its was 5 days before the Gala, and Nico was standing in the middle of a field, dozens upon dozens upon dozens of fallen Cultist, Northmen and Demonic Corpses spread over it. His form bathed itself with the blood of his slain enemies, the teen having stabbed Rebellion into the ground and now used it as a means of support.**_

 _ **Guts, the Spec Ops Agent whom he had fought alongside on a previous Quest, sat by the corpse of a particularly large Bloodletter, holding out his Dragonslayer in front of him. A manner not unlike what Nico would be doing in the future unbeknownst to him. Sensing that a question had been asked him, Guts glanced towards the teenage male who now moved to sit on an equally large corpse. He didn't say anything, not for a while, but his eyes soon glinted, and Nico realized that was his way of saying 'what is it?'**_

 _ **"Where did you get that sword from? Whoever made it had to have been a great practitioner of his craft." Nico questioned, looking upon the sword he wielded with a mix of awe and curiosity.**_

 _ **Guts, however, didn't part with that information so quickly, though. His eyes slightly narrowed towards his companion, the two have joined up to fight these monsters as requested by the Guild. He would have gone with his Partner Isaac, but… he was still doing chore duty for his wife, who could be REAL scary when she wanted to be. Thus, Nico seemed like a suitable option. He'd fought with the kid before, so he knew somewhat what he was like as a warrior and as a person. "Why do you ask?"**_

 _ **Nico, in spite of the wariness being shown towards him, responded simply while shifting his gaze back to the black swordsman. "Nothing much, I just wanted to know. Whoever made that sword obviously intended for it to slay something large like a dragon or a large Abnormal. Though, it doesn't look like a weapon anyone can use."**_

 _ **"… you would be right." Guts eventually responded after a while of silence, looking down towards the ground as memories swam within the depths of his mind. "This sword was no ordinary sword, its maker, a blacksmith who is long dead now who went by the name Godot, fashioned it to slay Abnormals. We of Leanbox may have a rivalry with those of Lowee, however, aside from comfort for those who wish to retire, we also specialize in martial arts, blacksmithing, the like. Godot was a blacksmith who devoted everything to his craft."**_

 _ **Nico hummed in thought at that, taking in the information he just learned. It was true though, that Leanbox was filled to the brim with people who traveled down the paths of weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, Warriors, the like. He had seen more than a few himself, and most of the reason why Leanbox was still standing was due to its value of martial prowess. A load of Martial Arts schools and Disciplines existed in this Nation, as a stark contrast to Lowee who specializes in magic. Leanbox maybe full of asshole Nobles who should go die in a fire, but it also had people like these who fought as warriors, as people who fought for their own ideals. It was a… redeeming quality about this Nation, in his opinion.**_

 _ **No wonder there are so many Khorne Worshippers on this Landmass, it was like a paradise for them since there were many experts in martial prowess here, something that Khorne would fangasm over.**_

 _ **"He sounds like he was an interesting guy."**_

 _ **"He was…" Guts nodded his head in agreement, though the motion was so barely noticeable Nico thought he hadn't done it at first. Guts looked to the skies, his eyes becoming vacant by the second as more memories flashed through his mind. "He dedicated his whole life to the hammer and anvil, therefore he never had a family to call his own."**_

 _ **At this, Nico arched a brow, interest piqued at that. It rarely occurred when he would learn of someone who didn't try to have a family these days, as people mostly got together either for political reasons, or the desire to start a big family to help the human race last longer. This was interesting information to him, and Nico wanted to learn more. To learn more about this interesting Blacksmith. "What was he like?"**_

 _ **It took a moment for Guts to come up with an answer… and soon enough, he found one. "He was… gruff, standoffish, rude. Not that uncommon in these parts. Lived alone in the mountains where he could work in peace. However, he had a good heart in him, despite his grumpy exterior, proven when he ended up taking in an orphaned girl named Erica on a whim and raising her as his own daughter."**_

 _ **For a moment, Nico thought Guts was done, but then he continued. "He told me once that he had been a blacksmith hammering away at a young age for family reasons, to the point where he didn't even know if that was what he wanted in life. Even when he was an old man, he still felt like he didn't know if he wanted this, he didn't choose it. he devoted his life to it nonetheless though, because he knew it was who he was. I remember him telling me that he wanted to 'see sparks'. He liked them, sparks, brief moments of newly born life that illuminated his work."**_

 _ **After saying this, Guts looked back down at his Dragonslayer, which he now placed horizontally across his lap. The sword's metallic shine greeted him, showing him his reflection. Something that Guts stared at for seemingly an eternity, lost within its grip. That is, until he pulled his gaze away from it and looked over to the EXTREMELY interested Nico. "DEATHSTROKE… there is something I want to know. Do you think of your sword as simply a tool? Or something more?"**_

 _ **Blinking, Nico momentarily didn't know what he was asked, but then his mind clicked it together and he let loose a small exhale. This… this wasn't something he talked about normally, not with people he didn't trust. However, during their conversation, their battles, Nico oddly enough began to feel a… kinship of sorts, with the black swordsman. They were both beings who practiced the art of the sword, they both fought on the front lines together, they both have born witness to countless sights both good and bad. Closing his eyes briefly, Nico opened them and looked towards his Rebellion. "… No. This sword, and all the other weapons I use, none of them are just tools to me. They have been with me for so long now, that it feels almost like they are a part of me, an aspect of the person known as Nico. I can't even imagine a life without them." he replied, grasping Rebellion's hilt and holding it out horizontally in front of him. "This one especially. Every battle I've been in, this sword has been by my side. Most of my battles, most of my opponents who define me… they were illuminated by this sword."**_

 _ **"Good answer." Guts responded with, nodding in what seemed to be approval. Like he had been waiting for an answer like that for a long time. Nico blinked, slightly caught by surprise as he put Rebellion back onto his lap. "Isaac may be a brother-in-arms to me, however, he does not share the same values as I regarding our weapons. My sword, it has been at my side for as long as I can remember. It is part of me, and like Godot, I like the Sparks it makes when clashing on the battlefield. You have the same values as me..." Looking back to Nico, Guts' lips curled ever so slightly, a glimmer of respect in his eyes. He held his sword out in front of him at an angle, pointed directly towards the Spec Ops Agent.**_

 _ **Nico, at first, didn't know what the heck was going on, but after a moment he did. His eyes shone with an understanding light, an equal smirk tugging at his lips as he raised his arm, and placed Rebellion in a similar position to the Dragonslayer. The two weapons, one being larger than the other but both having a similar aura to one another, an aura of a weapon used primarily by a true warrior, touched at the tips.**_

* * *

 _ **(Flashback END)**_

Blinking, Nico returned to reality after that momentary lapse in memory. Once he did, the male looked down at his Rebellion, the sword giving off this warm feeling to him that only a weapon whom had been with the wielder for a long time could have shown. Thinking about what Guts said, Nico couldn't help but wonder. 'This feeling… this feeling of companionship, this desire in me… the desire to see sparks… is this the feeling that Guts looks for as a warrior every day…?'

Now that he thought about it, that thing about Khorne forces being most prominent in Leanbox, it actually seemed like something to be expected. Leanbox DID after all specialize in the exact opposite of Lowee whom specialized in magic. Khorne, though he is the god of bloody slaughter, he is also the god of martial pride and honor, of those who set themselves against the most dangerous foes and earn victory against the odds. Odds were, that those who followed him would end up champions of both honor and bloody slaughter. It only made sense that his forces would try to conquer Leanbox since their culture fit quite snugly with the martial pride of the Khornate sub-religion.

In a sick, twisted sense, the God of Blood-lust also promoted honor, teaching his champions to quickly spill the blood of those who fought on the battlefield while weaklings weren't worth his time. No glory came from harming them, at least directly, the only way to achieve glory was through bloodshed and carnage. Khorne didn't care whose blood was spilled beyond that, no matter what allegiances the victims may have. There were no Basilicoms or any places of worship for Khorne, as for him, the battlefield was the sole temple he needed. This Chaos God drew his power from ANY conflict, be it conflict born from his followers, his allies, enemies or conflict that didn't involve him. No matter what, Khorne always drew power from conflict, which now that Nico thought about it, made him think if this Chaos God was the strongest of them all.

Still, Nico would happily face those followers of his, hell maybe even Khorne himself once Nico got strong enough. This Chaos God sounded like he enjoyed nothing but pure bloodshed and chaos, he didn't pull any elaborate schemes like his brothers did, he only got his pleasures from the swing of a sword, the loosening of bows/crossbows, the firing of guns, and any other form of combat. That made Khorne a highly dangerous deity if he was real, and considering the things he'd seen, Nico found himself surprisingly more willing to believe in his existence than before. Strange.

Another strange thing came to him: that bloodlust in the air that Nico sensed.

He didn't know how, but one moment the air felt clear and calm, and the next thing he knew it became heavy and tense. The tell-tale signs of killing intent if he ever felt them before. His instincts heightened, his senses sharpening like a beast alert to the presence of danger, while he sharply responded to this new unseen threat.

Nico got to his feet, holding Rebellion in his right hand while looking about the Bathroom. His eyes gazed coldly, his posture defensive while he searched for any signs of attack. Everything may LOOK the same as it had always been since he came here, but the redhead male trusted his instincts above most other things, as they had saved him from more ambushes than he cared to mention.

Mentally, he reached out with his senses to try and find the sources of the killing intent, hoping to track down their positions. Sensing negative emotions definitely had its perks, since he could feel the origin of said emotions and the people who felt them. Very few would ever be able to sneak up on someone like Nico before, now it would be nigh-impossible.

However, before he could locate the source of the killing intent, Nico's instincts screamed at him to intercept, and he did with the use of the Quicksword, deflecting multiple projectiles that were sent flying towards him from multiple angles. Nico caught sight of them afterward as they fell to the ground, realizing that they were arrows. Looked like whoever used them had a bow or a crossbow for a weapon, he figured.

'Not over yet!'

Biko's warning helped him notice several shadows burst free from several cubical, both of them darting towards him at high speed. Well, high for human standards anyway, cause I'm sorry, but Demons are superior to humans in every physical feat possible (though he didn't know if Guts would be an exception though given that humongous sword of his…), thus Nico easily placed Rebellion onto his back and unleashed the Windcutter.

SLICE, SLICE, SLICE, SLICE

4 slashes, unseen like the cold breeze, were sent towards the two assassins as Nico almost waltzed past them, excluding a level of grace only a skilled swordsman could possess. Almost instantly after he stopped and twirled Rebellion into a fencing pose, blood exploded from the cuts adorning the two Assassins. Both of them cursed and cried out as they fell, their bodies hitting the ground with a pair of loud THUD sounds.

'You struck them at their tendons, so they cannot escape, am I right?'

'Yep, and considering I sense more killing intent from different directions, I'm guessing there are still more to come.'

Turned out Nico's prediction came true because the next thing he knew, Nico found himself being attacked my about 8 different assassins, each of them sporting various Crossbows, Daggers etc which they used in their own specialties. The ones wielding the Crossbows hung back, unleashing a volley of Arrows in the redhead's direction, while the others ran in-between them. Odds were, they intended to do a pincer assault to make use of the small space the Bathroom offered to corner him, then go in for the kill. A tactic that WOULD have worked on some normal person… Not on Nico.

'Quicksword…!'

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

Dozens of slashes came down upon both the arrows, as well as the assassins that came too close, coming down like raindrops and being equally impossible to avoid. Rebellion, under the influence of Nico's skilled hand, tore through everything that got in its path. Nico could feel it through their link, how the sword almost squealed like a fangirl at the opportunity to slice through warm flesh once again, making Nico mentally roll his eyes. Practically all his Devil Arms had thirsted for blood, it seemed. All the slashes hit their marks, slicing through both the Assassins and the Arrows to rip them into teeny tiny pieces.

Blood, limbs, guts and gore splattered across the ground, almost like an artist painting a picture. A rather gory artist, but an artist all the same. The sounds of organs splattering across the ground rung throughout his ears, much to the joy of his sentient weaponry, while Nico himself smirked under his breath for a different reason.

This had been just what he needed, Nico was a warrior and he belonged on the battlefield. This had been the perfect way to relieve his pent-up stress. Now, he could focus much better on the tasks at hand. It had been too long since he had stepped foot onto the battlefield, all these politics and prepping for the Gala had stressed him too much and he needed something to vent it all on. This moment, this moment where he had meant to have been assassinated, in truth became a moment of freedom.

Freedom for a warrior dragged into politics.

Several cries of alarm, fear and dread filled his ears, breaking Nico out of his post-battle bliss. This made a wave of annoyance rush through his mind causing Nico to frown in disapproval while turning to the source of the sounds. 'Ugh, I'm going to skin alive the ones who dared ruin this moment for me…' the male thought to himself, clenching his fists as his Devil Arms screamed for retribution. His cold, piercing eyes soon caught sight of the two Assassins he had left alive, quivering in their boots while seemingly trying to get away from him. Horrible effort though, since thanks to his slicing of their tendons they could not even move their arms or their legs.

Now that he looked at them, the male noticed how they wore hooded cloaks that covered most of their forms. Their attempts at mobility had only resulted in them shifting, just enough so that he could see their leather armour beneath, including their various weapons, poisons, everything a typical assassin would wear. Pools of blood had formed around them though, thanks to their sustained wounds from his Quicksword technique.

At first, he considered the thought of just killing them and getting on with this farce called a Gala. After all, judging from what he had seen from the Nobles here it seemed that they were more interested in lining their own pockets than actual politics. The only ones he could feel were exceptions of a sort would have been Stefan, Vert and Yvoire. That last one seemed debatable, as while he did have a ducking love boner for his Nation, the man wasn't above taking out those he perceived as 'threats' with unorthodox methods.

However, another idea came to him when he remembered the looks on the faces of the girls, looks that stayed his impulse to end the lives of these wretches. An idea that he had to smirk at as he walked over to one and had IT come out, grabbing one by wrapping around the neck and pinning him to a wall. IT also stabbed the other Assassin through his limb, pinning him there so he wouldn't escape. Not like he could though thanks to his wounds, and now he wouldn't be able to use any healing items to speed his body's recovery up.

"Alright, now that I've dealt with your 'buddies' how about you talk? Oh don't worry, I have WAYS of making you."

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Another chapter, done!**

 **Bit on the shorter side, but hey it got some very interesting elements out of the way.**

 **To be honest, I see Nico and Guts getting along as two warriors on the battlefield, brothers in arms, due to their similar views, their opinions on their weapons, and them being general bad asses. Nico is self-explanatory, but Guts can do similar feats to Nico even though he is completely human. Guts is LITERALLY the strongest human in the Berserk Universe, and that holds some weight here. In my opinion, Guts could probably survive for a while in the Warhammer universe since its, essentially, a more extreme version of his own universe. Think about it, there's a world ruled by demonic forces, there's gigantic demons who kill humans, and the odds are stacked against him. Guts deals with shit like that EVERY DAY like they're nothing but mere bug bites. Fighting Warhammer Demons would be nothing new to him.**

 **Nico has also shown to have similar views and traits to Guts. He may not be human, but realy what defines being human? Is it flaws? Beliefs? blood? genetics? There's no clear answer, but in the end Nico never considered himself human but a monster. A monster that kills other monsters. Yet, even so, he continues to fight, to fight in order to survive in this harsh, unforgiving Gamindustri. In that respect, not too different from Guts' situation, is it? Both are warriors born and bred for battle, so it would make sense for them to have a mutual respect for one another. Maybe they could become friends in the future. But right now, Nico has some #ahem' investigating to do, and he will goddamn get that shit done.**

 **In addition, the thing about Leanbox having Martial Arts as a selling point shouldn't be that surprising. Look at the culture, marital arts existed in medieval times, I just added in some Japanese ones due to this being a Japanese game franchise. Not to mention KHORNE is into this place, due to being the God of bloodlust, hatred, rage, and also martial pride and honor. He doesn't like killing weaklings, only the strong. Though indirect killing is fine with him. Aside from that, carnage and bloodshed are all tributes to him, and a Land like Leanbox who specializes in this stuff (rivaling the Magic-based Lowee) would probably give that guy a massive power boner. Review and tell me what you think.**

 **Till then, look forward to the next chapter, everyone! Leave a review to tell me what you think of the chapter.**


	122. Chapter 119 - The Gala PT4

**Chapter 119 - The Gala Part 4**

A shiver ran down her spine, unseen by any who looked at her (a lot of men WERE, and not with looks of civilized people like she remembered in the past). She kept it hidden, kept it locked down with her emotions under the polite façade that she generated specifically for this event. Such a façade proved to be just as draining as she had expected though, the Gala hadn't even truly begun yet and already he wanted to retreat into the safety of her bedroom.

If there was anything she hated most in this world, then it would be this.

This was one of the few things she hated the most regarding the state her Nation had been reduced to while she was gone. This was something Vert thought to herself as she mingled and mixed with the Party Guests, talking to various Noblemen and women about topics of state. The situations of their territories and how they responded to them, the state of the Nation's politics, any Bandit Problems, the works. However, all she heard were the words of bigots who only cared for their own self-images. So many times, she had heard straight from their very own lips of how these Nobles demean the men that fell defending THEIR homelands while they themselves just sit back and complain. Complain like spoiled brats, that is.

Then, there were the more… sexist of the Nobles, men who looked at her with the eyes that she despised and loathed with every fiber of her being rather quickly. She felt like she was a sack of meat in a den filled with lions. A weakened sack of meat with little to no way to defend herself in case of an attack. At least, that was what she felt, and would have felt in greater quantity if she didn't have her beloved Gungnir. A lot of eyes were on her back… as well as her front or rather the two things on her front. It made her feel sick to her stomach, feeling their perverse gazes on her body like she was their right to have. More often than not she heard several of the younger sons of influential nobles' comment about her, or rather how 'easy' she must be 'in the bedroom' and other such snide remarks. It made her want to punch those dicks in the face for such rudeness towards their CPU.

Yet, part of her made her stay her hand, stopping her from drawing Beninuki or even Gungnir to pierce through their wretched hearts. One of their few defenses against her wrath for their callous disregard for the public. This part of her had been there since she returned, this part which had been born from her own negligence. This was her fault, this had all been because of her desires to be the True Goddess of Gamindustri. She had let her Nation, something she worked harder than anything even her MMO's to build, fall into such disarray. This was her doing, her mistake, and it was something she HAD to fix.

It helped that she had Gungnir within her, Vert thought to herself, her lips upturning slightly while she stopped by the buffet to get something to eat. She needed to fill her stomach after talking to so many brain-dead fools only interested in themselves. Walking up to the buffet table, Vert grasped a plate and began putting some food on, while a waiter passed by which allowed her to take a glass of wine for herself. CPUs may not get drunk, but, goddess be damned, she would feel close to it by the time this tediousness reached its end.

Even so, her thoughts wandered to the Spear that she had gained from her outing with Nico.

That weapon, a weapon unlike any other, soothed her agitation with is divine energy, demonstrating itself as a weapon that was not meant to be compared to mortal weaponry. It would only be insulting to the Spear itself to even try to compare it to anything. After having so short a time hosting this incredible weapon, a weapon with such potential in it that it honestly frightened Vert sometimes, she had discovered this thing had a prideful nature. It would not be looked down upon by anyone, neither human or non-human beings alike. It wouldn't allow even her to do so, not that she would considering how she had an up-close experience of this weapon's power.

While it soothed her and kept her from going completely crazy by pulling out her hair (oh how she found herself sorely tempted to do so after the 40th time of having to stave off some Noble's son who thought she would be an easy 'catch'), Vert's thoughts wandered to what she REALLY wanted to do by coming to this Gala. Ordinarily, she wouldn't even entertain the idea of showing up at parties like this, especially with her secret s close to being revealed. THAT had been something that scared her to the point of self-imposed isolation. However, there were two things that stopped her from behaving in such a manner for this particular Gala.

One of them was Noire, the CPU of Lastation. Vert may not be what she once was, but thanks to Gungnir she could sense Lastation's CPU's Share Energy being gathered in this room. This meant she was here… along with the Share Energy of Planeptune's CPU: Neptune. That revelation nearly gave Vert a heart attack, especially when she realized that she would be in a weakened state in front of not one, but TWO of her arch-rivals for hundreds of years. It had been all she could do to not break into a cold sweat, as it seemed that Neptune was one of the heroes who had stopped a Demon army (and many others afterward) from harming her Nation more than they already have.

Back to Noire, though. Now that she was near, Vert planned on cornering her and all but demanding her to explain what the heck ran through her mind regarding her shift in alignment towards Planeptune. Well, that would be what she truly intended, but for appearance's sake, she would have to do it in a diplomatic manner. She couldn't afford to look weak in front of the rest of her peers, especially not in front of her subjects. Otherwise, her already low reputation with them would crumble even further, and she did NOT want that to happen. Nope, no sir.

The second reason for her being here was Neptune herself. Vert had been SEVERELY understating how much worry she had been under when she learned that Neptune, Planeptune's CPU, had arrived in her Nation alongside Noire. Judging from past experience, she could only imagine the horrors that would come when they would eventually meet, Noire's changes be damned. Neptune back in Celestia always had a way of reducing her into a blubbering mess that would go into a rage soon afterward. It was LARGELY why she and HER went to a separate area to continue their bout for a couple centuries, they didn't want to get caught up in the crossfire.

Still, something about Neptune's presence seemed… off, and not like her own. Vert had done some digging and Neptune had arrived in Leanbox WAY before Noire had, months earlier even so Vert realized that she had made the Gala a thing before Neptune even knew of it. What had she been doing? What was her goal? Vert didn't know this, however, whatever that goal was, it didn't seem to be too damaging to her Nation if the fact she has been helping a lot of her people with their troubles. Then again, that could be just her trying to get her shares.

Shares that were going to either the Overlord faction or to these sub-religions popping up.

Thirdly, well, there were TWO people tied for this spot: IF and Nico. Thinking about those two made a sweet, happy smile form on the blonde woman's lips. Even helped her ignore the looks she was getting that got directed towards her backside. Her adorable little Iffy and her cute potential in-game husband… though having him to herself in the real world sounded quite promising as well. Especially with their little 'date' that resulted in her gaining Gungnir. She so wanted to meet her darling little Iffy again for some more friends hanging out time, it had been the first time in a long while that she had talked to any girls close to her age… well, at least physically close to her age since she was older than most of these humans put together… wow, that was a depressing thought.

Though, now that she thought about it, wasn't Nico 16? And if she was correct, a lot of the girls around him were older than him by some degree (she had looked into her Nicky's file and discovered that he was in an all-girls party with girls all older than him) so did that mean he liked older women? Well, here's to getting her hopes up there. Though, now that she thought about it, IF, him and Neptune were all in the same party, she'd noticed after doing some research. It made sense really, as IF had once asked her what she thought of the other CPUs, a question that not many would ask unless they knew the CPUs themselves. It made little less sense that Nico would be in that party though, even more so for Neptune, something that Vert wanted to get to the bottom of herself as well.

THAT would only be after the Noire situation got resolved, though.

While she stayed by the buffet, Vert looked down at herself, checking out her apparel for this Gala. It was an important event for her Nation, in more ways than one, so she had decided to change from her usual dresses to… something else, something more extravagant. Though she had to deal with the looks as a result.

Vert wore, instead of her usual dress, a pure white dress that went to her knees, consisting of a corset that exposed her shoulders, and the upper portion of her cleavage, The corset had green frills over its ends, with golden carvings down the sides. A white neckpiece was around her neck, ending with green frills as well, but no gold. Her dress had a multi-layered, white frilly skirt that reached her ankles in length, a slit on the left side exposing one of her white stocking-covered legs, with green stiletto heels. Her arms had white gloves with green carvings at the ends, gloves that reached her biceps in lengths. To further enhance her beauty, Vert had even put on pink lip gloss, light green eyeshadow and had some earrings in her ears shaped like power button symbols. Her hair had been let down though, the only form of freedom that she had afforded herself when changing.

A sigh escaped her when she looked herself over. All this stress seriously tired her out. Part of her wanted to just call it a day and then retreat back into her room, however, Vert persevered. She couldn't do that, not after coming so far. She doubted she'd get another chance in the future, or ever, so she had to do this now. That was what she thought to herself, anyway.

The future was always filled with the unknown.

"Ah, Lady Green Heart, it's you."

A masculine voice spoke up, breaking Vert from her thoughts as she mentally groaned. Great, another stuck-up Nobleman here to try and get her under him. Whelp, she had to make sacrifices, and if she had to wade through more of these pigs to get the answers she wanted, then so be it. Turning to the source, she saw that it was a man with dark hair and fancy-looking Noble clothes, looking to be in his mid-twenties while sporting a drink. No doubt this one was drunk if the flustered look on his cheeks were any indication.

While she didn't like it, Vert had forced herself to look into the Nobles that ran her Nation while she was away, and this one was no exception. This man was Damian Bludfist, a Duke whose lands were the more… tourism-based in terms of purpose. His lands were what foreign people came to Leanbox to see when they would be on vacation, and his tourism business had been quite successful until recently when his lands began getting ravaged by the Demons. In fact, Tourism was what helped keep Leanbox's economy afloat, ironically enough considering Leanbox's problems. However, he was also one of the Nobles who took the least amount of action when his lands were being torn apart. Like, he would just be sitting in his comfy chair sipping wine while his people would get murdered, raped, or both at the same time.

So yeah, Vert did NOT feel happy seeing this man coming to talk to her.

"It is a pleasant evening tonight, wouldn't you say?"

'Indeed, until you came along…' Vert thought with hidden disgust. However, she had to hide it under a pleasant smile while turning to face the man. She pretended not to notice how he looked at her chest with slight perversion in his eyes as she responded to him. "Indeed, it is, Lord Bludfist. It is most certainly a pleasant evening tonight in our fair Nation." Ugh, Vert did all she could not to gag at how pompous she had to sound just then. She didn't like that AT ALL, in fact, it made her sick to her stomach. However, she had done her homework and, through some asking around her online community plus some of the few people she trusted with her secret, THIS had to be how to act in front of Nobles.

She, again, pretended not to notice how he looked her up and down like a sack of meat. Didn't even try to hide it, probably due to how drunk he was but considering the… questionable things she had heard about him and his present mannerisms, Vert had her doubts. After all, when one is drunk, it's merely capable of stripping their inhibitions. "Ah…" The way he spoke with a slur just then nearly made Vert display the displeasure on her features for all to see. "I see that you know me and of my exploits. That is most fortunate, for I…"

Thus, another long tedious session of Noblemen trying to impress her and get her on their side for politics began, and she had to simply grin and bear it. How she HATED this part of the job, she certainly didn't miss it from when she first founded Leanbox. She would rather have been a warrior fighting on the front lines rather than dealing with all this politics stuff. This was more her Oracle's expertise, but she was… rather occupied at the moment.

Fortunately, past experiences with this throughout the Gala had helped her develop the ability to look like she was paying attention when she was really thinking about something else. Thus, that would be what she would do instead of listening to this guy's obnoxious speech of vainglory. There was something else that caught her attention thanks to using Gungnir's power to enhance her senses, and that something was to do with Noire. Of this, Vert had no doubt, thanks to the familiarity she had sensed with the weapon's power.

Not only that, but when she tried to locate Noire just by her Share Energy alone, Vert found herself being 'blocked' somehow, almost like something had shielded her from her mental senses. Well, that may not be completely accurate as she had been able to briefly sense her presence. However, the next moment Vert felt like something had 'noticed' her, and then cut the presence off from her senses. It almost reminded her of those games where you have to sneak around a certain area without anyone noticing you, only she had been noticed and immediately kicked back to the beginning of the level.

Not something she felt very appreciative about if she were honest.

Vert had tried time and time again to locate Noire's presence, using more and more of Gungnir's power as a substitute for her own. It was just short of summoning it into the physical world, the amount of power she drew from the Divine Weapon. However, whatever had caught her before apparently refused to allow it to happen again, and thus completely shielded her presence from Leanbox's CPU. If she had used her own power for this, Vert didn't know if it would have been enough to bypass whatever this… thing shielding Noire was.

'Still, what could this be…?' the womanly CPU wondered, while outside she nodded when Damion had asked her a question. She didn't know what nor did she care as he continued going on about something she held no interest in. 'Whatever is shielding Noire from me, I sense that it has considerable power. More so than myself, as much as it vexes me to admit that…' she thought, and if she could she would have scowled in annoyance, but she had to keep the façade going. She gradually wanted this guy gone more and more by the second, couldn't he see that he wasn't welcome right now?.

"Ah, Lord Damion, I seem to have found you at last."

'Eh?'

Blinking once again, Vert looked to the source of a new voice, one she didn't recognize. Turning to the source along with the Duke (who looked insulted that someone dared 'interrupt' his 'glorious' tale about him killing a bunch of Dogoos with a stick, an impressive feat considering how he seemed to never have exercised his body more than his fingers to count money), the two came to face a man in a military uniform with an older woman by his side. A man whom, at the moment of his entry, made Vert realize one thing that made him stand out amongst these Politicians: He moved differently.

One can tell a LOT about someone judging by how they move. It was how warriors could define other Warriors from civilians, everyone walked differently. Civilians had this loose, lax means of walking due to being raised in a safe environment like a house with caring family relatives. Though depending on their circumstances, they can sometimes walk cautiously like they're scared something would pop in out of nowhere and try to rip their necks out. A warrior would move with poise, precision and swiftness that Civilians would lack. They would not waste any movements, everything had a purpose behind it, and there would be a defensive sense about them, little to no openings in their posture to exploit whatsoever.

This was what the new arrival before them sported… and it appeared that Damion knew him judging by how surprised he looked.

"Von Kessel? Is that You?" the man questioned, a dumbstruck look on his face as he matched his expression with his body language. It honestly brought no small amounts of amusement to the blonde woman, seeing him shut up for once.

Something that this Von Kessel person seemed to have noticed too judging by the smirk on his lips. "Lord Damion, it appears that there are other Nobles…" he began, pointing in some random direction Vert noticed with an impassive look on his face. The woman had an equally impassive look, making her wonder if they were related. "That seems to wish to talk to you. I believe one of them is the Duke of Hotmail, a neighbor of yours I believe. I doubt it would be wise to ignore a fellow Duke, don't you think?"

"Hmmm… your words have merit to them, Von Kessel." Damion responded after a moment of stroking his chin thoughtfully, his eyes shining with contemplation (Vert hoped he left soon though). Eventually, her wish was granted, as the man gave them both a nod to show his acknowledgment. "Very well I shall take my leave. By your will, my lady."

With that, the man left, leaving Vert and this new pair alone together. When he was out of sight the man turned to her once again, a look of apology in his eyes. "Apologies, Lady Green Heart, for my associate. He sometimes thinks his childhood stories are grander than they really are, pay no heed to them. I would have come sooner, but I had other guests to see to. My name is Captain Stefan Von Kessel of the Ostermark Order. This here is my mother, Elenore Von Kessel, the family Matriarch."

Elenore gave a respectful bow towards Vert, one that showed nothing but respect. It seemed that these two shared the same mannerisms, Vert noticed, though she had to admit that between them and that other Noble (she had already forgotten his name at this point) she would choose these two quickly. "Apologies are unnecessary but appreciated, Captain Von Kessel, Mrs Von Kessel." Vert replied formally, bowing her head to them to show them just as much respect as they showed her. Just by looking at their mannerisms, Vert realized they had a distinct difference compared to that Duke, thus she would acknowledge that.

Nevertheless, she had work to do, thus she didn't have time to chat. "I do apologize, but I'm afraid my schedule is tight. I must be off now, I hope you two have an enjoyable time at this Gala." She told them, making to leave to continue her search for Lastation's CPU, when…

"I assume you are searching for Lady Black Heart, am I right?"

The moment that those words left Stefan's lips, Vert's form tensed mid-step, freezing in place while her eyes widened slightly. 'What? Did I just hear that right? Did that man say what I think he did?' she wondered, shocked and surprised. Those were just SOME of the emotions she felt, among others that she couldn't really describe right this moment. However, she COULD still get some answers, thus Vert turned around again to face them, schooling her expression as to not show how he had gotten to her with his question. "Oh? I beg your pardon, but may I ask why you ask that?"

"Oh, that is simple, my Lady." Stefan began, not minding the sudden bout of caution he could detect from the CPU of Leanbox.

To finish where her son left off, Elenore spoke as well, finishing his sentence. "We were actually looking for you, since Lady Black Heart requested it of us. We ran into her not long ago, and she says she has been looking for you. She's a nice lady, though a bit stiff. Then again, she has to be in this environment."

Now THAT got her attention, and it caused Vert's mind to go into overdrive. Noire was looking for her? That was something she didn't expect, she would have assumed that Noire had known Neptune was here and thus try to meet with her instead. However, now that she thought about it, Vert had little to no evidence to suggest that she even knew where Neptune was, only that their Nations were talking about a possible truce.

She inwardly cursed her lack of knowledge about their relationship, it made her assume things which apparently weren't true, something she wouldn't do normally. "Oh, I see." She replied, not letting her thoughts appear on her face. It wouldn't do to have them assume they have a hold over her, even if they seemed like good people. Hey, she had just met them, she didn't know a thing about their personalities aside from what she read/heard so she wanted to reserve judgment for the time being. "Then, would you mind taking me to her? I have been meaning to ask her some questions myself."

"Of course, please follow us. We'll bring you to her."

* * *

You know, for some reason Noire had thought searching out Vert's presence with her powers would have been easier than this. She wanted to kick herself in the backside for even considering THAT idea, especially now. It appeared that searching for a fellow CPU in this place would not be as easy as she thought (a SEVERE understatement, a sarcastic side of her quipped in her mind). It almost reminded her of those books In which one had to locate a kid wearing a striped shirt amongst a large crowd, as in city large. She didn't resort to using IT though since for some reason she had been sensing 'odd' behavior from IT ever since this Gala had first begun.

Nevertheless, this hadn't been enough to distract her, something Noire both liked and dislikes at the moment.

The reason: She could feel a lot of eyes bearing down on her, all of them looking at her with either lust or like she was a sack of meat. Sure, she was used to such looks from a lot of the populace, especially back home in Lastation when she went to cosplay events in disguise (or in this case just the basic cosplay, she was just so good at it that no one realized it was her at all). However, and she didn't even think this a possibility before coming here, but the men in Leanbox seemed much worse than the ones back in her home Nation!

At least back in her home Nation the men remained somewhat faithful to their partners, in this land a lot of the men who looked clearly like they were married already still eyed her like they were eligible single bachelors. There were few exceptions to this though, like that Stefan guy she had the fortune of meeting a moment earlier, but they were few and far in-between. It just caused her to briefly shudder like she was exposed to the Lowee Climate in nothing but her underwear, and by Goddess that Land should have the word 'cold' in its name. She even bet it was easy to make a drawing of that land, just buy a white sheet of paper and make one or two lines to differentiate the ground and the sky should be plenty enough.

Right now, Noire, CPU of Lastation, stood in another section of the Gala, far off from the crowd while thinking deeply to herself, her eyes glimmering yet showing no signs of what conflicted within her. She had been approached several times by what she assumed were young Lords trying to earn her favor, for one reason or another (she didn't care what those were though), but she gave them warning glares that, coupled with intense Killing Intent, kept those rats far away from her. It helped that her 'Bodyguard' Mr LB had very… adept experience in stealth missions, for only she could sense his presence nearby, and it helped that she had a special line only she and him could use on her Phone.

Apparently, the Lastation Spec Ops call it a 'Codec' and it was unique solely to their branch. According to her Bodyguard, in military use, radio systems were used to pass on orders and communications between field, command, and support personnel, with radio transceivers used extensively in intelligence gathering operations. The technology had continued to develop for many decades, resulting in such communication systems as the Codec. When relaying messages, primarily to or from a command post, various soldiers while using a radio will end their sentences with "Over" and/or "out," in order to ensure that the message got through.

This Codec system had been implemented for a fair amount of time by her Land's Spec Ops. It incorporates anti-wiring coding, digital real-time burst communication. A normal communication over ten seconds is instantly codified, compressed, and transmitted in a burst one microsecond in length. It is received in real-time, unscrambled, and decoded. It is incomparably more innovative than the conventional anti-wiring frequency scrambler. The 24-hour system that is unaffected by weather is made possible by integrating information from high-altitude reconnaissance satellites and low-altitude reconnaissance planes. Despite this, substantial restrictions such as environmental harmonic resonance, enemy discovery, and very low structures over an operative have caused significant interference in past testing.

The Codec functioned by directly manipulating the small bones in the ears, such as the stapes, so it appeared as if a user was talking to himself or herself. Furthermore, the Codec could process and send photos to people within its network from a digital camera. Such a system had been advised for use by not only the Spec Ops Agents she knew but also many of her advisors who voted for its efficiency and how difficult it would be to hack. As in, it would be nigh impossible to hack. Thus, she had allowed it to be installed onto her phone, as well as a specially hidden earpiece, allowing her to discreetly send messages to her Bodyguard, though he was still around somewhere having blended with the scenery.

However, this wasn't what was on her mind right now, nope not even close. In fact, she was thinking of a completely different matter. Though, these looks she kept getting definitely didn't do her temper any favors. She kept a calm, level head though as she didn't want to look like an idiot and embarrass her people. These thoughts caused her to look down to what she was wearing, and mentally Noire had to hand it to whoever designed it, for they certainly knew what they were doing.

Whoever did this for her, had decided to give her a dark blue thigh high dress with a black scarf-like thing that was wrapped around her upper arms and went behind her shoulders. The dress was held by 2 black thin straps over her shoulders, exposing the area above her cleavage. There was a pair of necklaces around her neck with dark blue jewels, while her hair was held in a similar style to her usual one with 2 blue ribbons and a black colored princess tiara on top her head. The blue dress extended down to her thighs, with a black bow wrapped around the stomach and tied up beautifully at her side. Lastly, she wore a pair of dark, see-through nylon stockings and a pair of high heels with ballerina straps around her ankles.

Apparently, her apparel seemed to be pleasing to the male eye, and while it filled her with pride knowing that she could spellbind so many with something as meager as a dress change, it nonetheless annoyed her to no end. She didn't want their looks of approval, she didn't want them eyeing her like a piece of meat they likely saw her as. She didn't dress up for them specifically in mind, anyways! In fact, there was only ONE guy, only one, whom she wouldn't mind looking at her with those eyes…

'Wait, what?! No! No-no-no-no-no! Get a hold over yourself, Noire! You're here on diplomatic business! Not to go galivanting off to find some guy!' Noire scolded herself, her eyes lighting up like flames by the second. Just as soon as the flames appeared, they soon died down when her form lost its hostility, her shoulders slouching as a… well, forlorn expression took over her features. 'Though, he isn't my enemy… not by a long shot, if anything he…'

Once again, Noire shook those thoughts off her mind, quickly searching for something else to occupy it before her treacherous brain wandered back to Nico. She soon found something else to think about, though, and that was something to do with Vert. She couldn't find Vert anywhere no matter how much she looked, and it wasn't like she wanted to get any closer to those fat pigs anyways. Thus, she hadn't tried to go through them to search for Leanbox's CPU. Of course, her bodyguard had offered to scout them out for her, but that would defeat the purpose of him being a bodyguard. Thus, he had been told t remain by her side.

Still, while she had searched for Vert's presence, she briefly felt it in the crowds, but before she could pinpoint it something blocked off her senses, utterly concealing it from her entirely. It was almost like something had found her while snooping about its territory, and thus promptly kicked her out. She had tried numerous times, but no matter what, she could not get another bead on Vert's presence. It didn't help that she almost felt like something had been trying to look for HER too, only for IT to cloak her presence to fight it off.

It almost felt like there were two forces, IT which belonged to Noire and… well, whatever Vert had, that were battling it out just with their presences alone, a straight-up up the battle of wills that took place within this very room… with its occupants being none the wiser.

Not a nice thought, she would definitely admit that… to herself, at least.

'Still, I can sense Neptune's presence nearby…' Noire thought to herself, furrowing her brows while cupping her chin with her left hand. Her right wrapped around her stomach while she glanced to the side, losing herself in thought. 'The fact that she is here not only doesn't surprise me, but it also leads me to suspect that the others are here too… Though, something about her presence feels off. I can't put my finger on it, but my senses tell me that there's something lurking deep beneath her presence, something… dark, sinful, yet whether or not its evil I can't say for certain.'

To Noire, Neptune's aura felt a little 'mixed'. Mixed as in it held both the divinity that was expected for a CPU, but there was also something else tucked in like a child hiding a cookie taken from the cookie jar. This something not only felt like the exact opposite of her aura… but somehow, it felt like it was co-existing with Neptune's body despite the difference in natures. She couldn't identify more about it than that though, thanks to it not being very 'active' in a sense right now, and that sent waves of irritation through her system. It bugged her, it bugged her like all hell that these variables had integrated themselves somehow into her otherwise 'perfect' image of how this Gala played out.

Still, nothing was ever truly perfect, a bitter pill for a prideful person like her to swallow.

Not to mention that, now that she focused, she could sense other auras around them. Auras that, to her shock, felt so similar yet different to the divine auras CPUs have. Two of them felt… concentrated, yet unique in that they didn't seem to be as 'constrained' like the CPUs' auras. Not only that but the power source didn't seem to come from Share Energy or any person's faith, yet the auras seemed divine in nature. What the hell, what were those auras, she couldn't help but think to herself.

Then, as if all that crap wasn't enough, there were these weaker variants to this aura, two of which seemed more, what was that one word… ah yes, angelic in nature. They didn't feel as powerful as a Goddess, but still way up there enough that, should they get into a fight with a Goddess, it would NOT be easy to take them down. Though, compared to the sinister/divine mix Neptune's aura possessed, these ones felt much easier to identify. Perhaps it was either because they weren't actively being suppressed, she wasn't sure exactly. However, one fact had been made clear to her from all of these new revelations, and that simple fact…

Was that the Gala would be much MORE than what it was originally intended to be.

Once again, Noire found herself contemplating what she would say to Vert, what questions would be asked and what answers needed to be given. Maybe it was just her nerves, but no matter how much her advisors and bodyguard tried to reassure her, part of Noire felt like these talks could break down at any moment, and THAT wasn't even BEGINNING to take Leanbox's dodgy politics into consideration. It eerily reminded her of an already fragile piece of glass suddenly getting rammed into full force by a large brick thrown by a full-on bodybuilder.

It didn't help that she worried about how Vert would react to all of the new changes, if what she had heard of her activities from offhanded remarks made by the public, which were then later investigated and confirmed by her Bodyguard, were true then she would be like a powder keg waiting to blow. The CPUs never had the best of relationships, it was either neutrality or outright hostility between the four of them. She remembered how Vert, however, had been the more… rational, of the four though she had her battle maniac viper-like demeanor just like the rest of them. However, with everything that was going on… well, she feared that may not be the case anymore.

"Ah, here she is, my Lady." The sound of Stefan's voice broke her from her thoughts, making her turn to look at the man as he walked up to her, Vert and Elenore in tow. She knew that man due to him being the first to talk to her face to face, seeing her as someone to be respected and thus, promptly offering such. Seeing how the rest of the Nobility were like, well human trash should be a valid interpretation, it prompted Noire to reciprocate the courtesy. The man had offered to find Vert for her since Noire couldn't find her herself. Didn't do her pride any favors, but she did find solace in that she had talked to at least a FEW important politicians from Leanbox when her reps brought them to her directly. At least she had presented herself as someone who was somewhat competent in politics, something she personally prided herself on.

When she faced the trio, Noire's eyes landed on Vert, and they quickly zeroed in on her like a hawk's. Her senses quickly became alert as IT began releasing this constant… tension from deep within her. This tension that seemed like it merely represented IT's caution. Something about Vert had placed IT on edge, yet Noire had no clue as to what that was. If she were to guess, though, she would guess she had a similar weapon to the one she had, though Noire didn't know that for certain or not. "A-Ah, thank you. Sir Stefan, Lady Elenore. Thank you for your assistance." She spoke modestly, bowing her head towards them.

"Please, think nothing of it. We're glad to be of help to you two." Elenore spoke, waving a hand dismissively as if to say, 'put it behind yourselves already'. If the look on her son's face was something to judge, it would be apparent that he felt the same way. Like mother, like son the two CPUs supposed. "In any case, it seems that our presence will not be necessary at this moment, so we shall take our leave of you two." The woman stated afterward, giving the two CPUs a wide berth before heading off with Stefan in tow.

Neither of the girls stopped them, seeing as those two weren't supposed to be involved with their business anyways. Noire even had her bodyguard, who had been silently watching them, retreat further back for the time being. Any ordinary Bodyguard would have refrained or at least protested, but Mr. LB had extensive knowledge about her stubbornness, as well as her strength thus he showed no worry for her safety. At the end, that left the two CPUs alone with one another… Including their own turmoils within.

'At last… it is finally time…' Vert thought to herself, keeping a pleasant smile on her face while placing her hands together like a proper noblewoman would. However, deeper within her a roaring inferno of different emotions raged. Anxiety, nervousness, weariness, anger, and confusion all combined into an uncomfortable mix that Vert so desperately wanted to go away. Yet, standing in front of her fellow CPU, it made her realize just how hard that would be. She had thought over so many things she had wanted to say to Noire, things that she had been memorizing since the moment she had gotten a confirmation letter that's he would be in attendance to this Gala. However, right now as she stood before the woman, Vert found a lot of those things she wanted to say having vanished from her mind. "It has been a long time, Noire."

Noire nodded, her mind a swarm of thoughts all on their own. "Yes, it has indeed." She replied with just as much courtesy as there had been in Vert's voice. Meanwhile, her own mind filled with a storm of different thoughts, thoughts that jumbled themselves into one big mess in her mind. What was she to do? How was she going to get through this? She had thought she would be ready to assert herself as Lastation's CPU towards her fellow Goddess, but apparently, the real thing felt WAY different compared to how she imagined it. It felt so… weird, meeting with another CPU like this, in human form and with little to no hostile intent. While she kept a perfectly composed demeanor outside, her internal struggles were a whole new ball game that she feared that IT would react to. Fortunately, IT seemed content to remain calm for the time being, and she'd rather not change that. She couldn't help but be thankful for her previous experiences with politicians, which had allowed her to develop a splendid poker face for when she couldn't afford to show weakness, which as a goddess of a land so full of problems means more often than not.

On her end, Vert made to open her mouth, when she glanced about at several Nobles. Her posture reminded Noire of an animal barely sensing the bloodlust of a predator, just getting into an alert phase. This lasted only for a second or two, before she calmed down and looked back to her, her previous demeanor returning in full force. "Why don't we take this elsewhere? It appears a bit crowded here, and I for one do not enjoy such nosy crowds." She offered, Noire nodding as the woman turned on her heels to walk away.

Before she followed, the hidden earpiece vibrated on her ears, making Noire aware of a call through the Codec. She allowed it to be patched through, finding it to be Mr LB. "You want me to follow you from the shadows? This could be a trap?" he questioned.

Only for Noire to shake her head. "Don't, it may be too dangerous having you following me around now, and we don't know who has their eyes on this place and the less they know about how you operate the better. Stay alert, if possible, find out where Neptune, her party, Nico, and Team RAIL are located."

"Got it, Lady Noire."

With that, she shut off the call, before following Vert out of the Main Hall. Whelp, she didn't like it in here much, anyways.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alrightie guys, this Gala's finally starting to get into the juicy stuff now. Could you tell me how you feel about my presentation of Noire and Vert's characters in the reviews? I wanna know what you think of them, if i'm accurately portraying them right.**

 **It wasn't shown in the game, but I think that if those CPUs met under different circumstances (as in non-Neptune ones) then this would be how I would think it'd go down. Both parties have their apprehensions about the idea, yet their Nations and the threats against them are spurring them on. Thus, instead of a protagonist influencing them (as in, instead of Neptune or Nico) they are meeting in the midst of a political event hosted by Vert herself, which makes for different circumstances to meet under. How it will play out though, that will have to wait till the next chapter.**

 **Also, there is little Nico involved as i'm trying to develop Noire and Vert as characters in this. The main character can't have all the attention, the world doesn't revolve around him after all.**

 **Hope you guys like the chapter, lemme know what you think, and i'll see you in the next update!**

 **Peace out!**


	123. Chapter 120 - The Gala PT5

**#WHISTLE# wow, nearly 60K views, and it hasn't even been a year yet. Wow, that's pretty good for my first fanfic ?(at least I think so)**

 **Whelp, here's another chapter guys, lemme know what you think. Also, do you guys feel the tension slowly building to the climax, cause I sure do. Hehehehehe, believe me, when writing this I sometimes got a mix of Berserk AND Warhammer vibes.**

* * *

 **Chapter 120 - The Gala Part 5**

Hunger…

Fresh blood…

Carnage…

SLAUGHTER…

They hungered. They wanted blood, they wanted to gorge themselves on the slaughter. They wanted rivers of blood to run across the mortal plane, to swim in it to the point where everything was painted in that gorgeous, luscious red. They wanted to drink the fear of man like it was a finely aged wine. They wanted to rip open man's ribcages, gorge themselves on Man's organs while they still draw breath, to hear man's screams and howls of anguish that surpass any form of sound they ever made in their brief, fruitless existence.

For them, it would be the pinnacle of ultimate bliss, to tear apart opposition and prove themselves to be the greatest shredders of blood in the Devildimension. They wish to please their master, they wished to earn his tremendous, gory favor while bathing in gallons upon gallons of blood that dwarfed the ocean itself. They were the apostles of the end of times, they were the last thing any mortal would see before their sinister blades tore the life from their bodies like an army of bloody hounds. Hounds that were within their ranks, they were a real manifestation of their lord's desire for an unending merciless slaughter. None shall be spared, all shall perish under the might of their lord's sword because so is his desire.

Hundreds of them lay, awaiting the moment that they would get the chance to tear into the mortal realm, the world known as 'Gamindustri' by the pathetic prey that was the human race. Even those so-called 'immortal' Goddesses did not know of their true power, of the true terror they represented, which was fine by them. All the more reason to eagerly await the moment where they could cross into the mortal realm, to lay down their swords onto the unaware flesh of their victims, to sink their fangs into those helpless prey and to utterly annihilate all form of life in the Devildimension. They would be like a crimson flood, a flood of nothing but bloody red that tore through anything in its path. They would be like one big mass of flesh, limbs, fangs, claws and weapons, all screaming bloody murder, or desire to do only the ending of any life that dared cross their path.

Now, the waiting game was near the end phase. They knew this to be so, they could feel it in their guts, every pore that made up their beings told them that their waiting would be over soon, that they would get to enjoy the most wonderful of harvests. Harvests to do with life, that is. The killing of those who were strong, to pillage, steal, rape and even all of them at once if they felt like it. They would desecrate anything that was considered sacred by the enemy, to make widows un-numbered, orphans beyond count in the name of their great master. They would be willing to commit the most unholy of acts, to taint even the rest of beings with their malice and desire for destruction if it so pleased their master, because this was their way of workship. Their master, a being whom only cared about the absolute continuation of the slaughter he loved wherever they may find it. If there are those who attempted to resist them, all the better, they would at least get a worthwhile fight out of them before feasting upon their souls. Even dying would be no problem, instead it was the greatest honor for them as it showed their absolute devotion to the way of their god

Such was the way of the great Khorne.

* * *

If she thought their meeting before was awkward, then Noire would like to smack her past self in the face cause THIS felt way worse.

Vert had guided Noire out of the Main Hallway and lead her down a large corridor. She could see how there were multiple Leanbox guards in knightly uniforms standing along both sides, each of them carrying a Spear with few carrying Shields on their backs. All of them stood at attention like stiff boards Noire had seen throughout her own Basilicom. The fact that she could sense divine energy in this place, as to be expected with a CPU living here, was the only thing that Noire could use to keep some semblance of her calm demeanor intact. In relation to the knights, she could even note how they got even stiffer (if that were even possible) when their CPU passed them. She didn't know what they thought of her, since their helmets covered their faces, but if her instincts were any accurate then Noire would guess that they regarded her with extreme wariness.

She couldn't blame them either.

This situation, it didn't feel like the one she faced in Lastation where a simple change of headwear (first her eyeglasses then a Mask) would fool the masses into thinking she was anything other than the CPU of the Land of Black Regality. These Knights, they held themselves in a way that she got the feeling that none of them would have been fooled by such a ploy in the slightest. Much like IF, her Spec Ops Agents, Team RAIL… Nico… they all had figured it out, pathetically easy too she might add. Fortunately, none of them dared try anything, especially when their CPU was within walking distance of them. The blackette couldn't help but bitterly think that Vert, right now, unknowingly served as the wall that separated her, the pitiful prey, from them, the bloodthirsty and hungry predators.

Well, not like she would accept the role of prey that easily. She was not so weak after all, especially with what she had on her right now.

After walking through seemingly endless corridors with almost suffocating silence, Vert final turned on her heels and faced a rather tall door. One that seemed to be connected to a rather spacious room if what she saw as Vert calmly pushed the door open with one hand was to be believed. Turning her head to look at her, Vert gave her a polite smile, tilting her head to beckon her inside. "Please, come. We shall talk in here. We have much to discuss after all."

Not sensing anything hostile (both her own senses and THAT confirming this) Noire complied as she followed Vert into the room, closing the tall door behind her. Once she did, the adult woman frowned to herself as she took in her new surroundings.

Almost instantly she noted that this room had an extravagant setting, yet with a sense of homeliness that came with the intention of civil discussion, an interesting and welcome combination. The room had a rectangular cube-like structure to it and seemed fairly spacious as well.

It sported four maroon leather two-seat sofas in the room's center, beneath a dark green furry rug. The carpet lay atop a dark blue carpet, with the walls being also blue but with green carvings. There were various paintings of what Noire assumed to be famous people on the walls, as in kings and queens of old. She got the feeling that she were looking at leaders of truly powerful kingdoms whenever she looked at them, making her feel like a small snail compared to them for some reason. She didn't like it, so she focused on what else was in the room with rapt attention. The room had these white supports over the room's corners, with a wooden table in the middle of the sofas. On the table, there was already some tea prepared for them, a man in a butler suit standing at attention at the room's left side from where the two women had entered.

Noire had to admit, that this setting… it felt familiar to her, yet not at the same time.

'I suppose for a CPU, this is somewhat acceptable for their proper etiquette…' She thought to herself, though she didn't dare say it out loud. Hey, she was prideful, not arrogant, though sometimes she got the feeling she came off that way. No idea why, though, she was just being the best she could be at all times and liked when others knew it. It was what she had to do for her people, she owed them for her mistakes after all.

Meanwhile, the butler who looked to be in his mid-50's noticed them entered and immediately walked towards them while holding a cloth over his forearm. When he was within conversation distance, the man stopped before them and gave a formal bow. More to Vert than Noire, though. That was what the blackette could feel from him, and while it wasn't his fault since he likely wasn't aware of her true identity, inwardly a faint urge to bristle had been born. "Lady Vert. This room has been prepared for your use as you requested."

"Thank you, George. I require private time between me and my guest here, would you kindly vacate the room till I call on you once again?"

"Indeed, my Lady."

The Butler, George, bowed in a professional manner, showing how much experience he had with the job. He then passed them by and head out of the room, closing the door behind him. Noire once again admitted to herself that the professionalism she had seen from the staff here was top notch, though whether or not that was because of today being the day for the Gala remained to be seen. People do like to put on appearances to deceive others, after all. She knew that feeling all too well.

* * *

Once the two were alone, however, the awkwardness returned to the room at full force while Vert gestured for Noire to take a seat. She did so, and when she asked with her eyes if it was okay to have a cup of the steaming hot tea on the table, Vert allowed her to do so. Taking one of the cups, Noire took a small sip to calm her nerves. The blackette CPU originally didn't find herself a coffee person, but after that time when Nico convinced her to hear Neptune out, she had found herself liking such beverages and more as time went on. Maybe it was the memories themselves that were responsible for this pleasure, but hey, not that Noire would complain.

Sitting opposite to her, Vert took the other cup of tea available, still slightly steaming to show its heat, as she sat on the opposite sofa and took a sip. A pleasant moan escaped her lips at the hot liquid going down her throat, sending shivers of pleasure down her spine. "Ahh… this tea is truly spectacular…" She muttered under her breath with eyes closed to fully enjoy the experience. Soon afterward, she opened them again to look upon the other CPU in the room. "Do you find the tea to be to your liking, Noire?" she questioned.

Inside her mind, Vert felt her heart pounding like a jackhammer within the confines of her chest. Almost at the level where she would have suffered chest pains if it were possible. By no means was she any calmer than when this started, in fact, it would be safe to say that she felt like bringing out Gungnir or Beninuki at even the SLIGHTEST hint of hostility. This was a crucial moment for her, she finally had Noire alone with her while she could not sense anyone trying to snoop in on their conversation. This room, as that Butler she had mentioned before had said, had been specifically altered for her own personal use.

For one, it had special alarm systems set up, woven within the walls to go off if any undesirables try to listen in. There were also specialized materials woven into the room that blocked all sound from escaping this room, so if a murder or a battle were to happen, nobody would have been the wiser. This room also lacks any security cameras, and the windows were built so that they weren't able to be used to see the other side. All this simply meant that this place was the prime place for Vert to ask Noire the questions she wanted without any noisy annoyances putting their two cents where they didn't belong.

On her end, Noire blinked to herself, momentarily surprised by Vert's question, before she swiftly nodded her head with a small smile on her lips. It would do no good to be impolite to her fellow CPU since she had been cordial so far, but any sign of aggravation then IT would come out to deal appropriate justice. She was no fool, she could tell that this room had various 'adjustments' made to it for the purpose of 'asking questions' when in reality it was more like a glorified cage. She was the prisoner here, and Vert was the interrogator. However, if she were respected, then Noire would repay that courtesy, hence her response to the Leanbox CPU's question. "Indeed, whoever made this did a satisfactory job." She stated.

'I wonder if I can have my coffee makers learn to make beverages like this for the future…'

"Ufufufu, I'm glad. It was actually made by George himself, you know. He has been in the business for a long time, or so I have read."

"Wait, really? Is that so…"

"Yes, apparently he makes some for whenever he needs to pull all-nighters for his work."

Both girls soon lost themselves in some idle chatter, or rather, they allowed this chatter to take place. While unaware of the other's thought true thoughts, both CPUs had the same opinion that this tension in the air needed to go. If it had to be done with pointless babble like this, then they would do so. It helped calm their nerves for when the real shit would hit the fan, anyway.

Once a few moments passed, Noire decided to herself that now was the time to get down to business. The pleasantries were nice as they helped settled her nerves (goddess knows how appreciative IT felt about that) but she hadn't come to this hot Nation for a social call.

Nope, not even close.

Setting her cup down on her lap, Noire took a deep breath while mentally preparing herself for the worst, should it come to pass. "Whilst these pleasantries are nice…" she began, getting Vert's attention. "That's not why you invited me to this Gala, is it?" The way she said that made it sound more like a statement than a question, with a hint of rhetorical in it to further prove her point. A point both CPUs knew to be right just by looking at each other. "So, why don't we get to the bottom of why you really asked me to come here, shall we? I doubt either of us will rest easy otherwise."

Part of her worried she had been too forward, that she had rushed the other CPU too much. She couldn't tell what Vert was thinking thanks to her calm demeanour, which worried her since she wouldn't know how to handle whatever was being thrown her way. Fortunately, she found herself calming down by allowing IT to fill her being with its presence, which exuded this calm, gracefulness that only IT could provide.

For a moment, Vert looked as calm as ever as she sipped some more of her tea. The perfect picture of elegance and grace, that was what she was projecting out right now to her fellow CPU. Unbeknownst to Noire however, the woman still had some shaking motions left in her, something she dealt with by her current action. She agreed with Lastation's CPU, in that they needed to get down to business. Still, she found herself massively under-levelled for this quest, this massive undertaking that she had no other option BUT to follow. At least, if she truly wanted the answers to her questions, and by the Goddess (yes, she was aware of the irony, thank you) she wanted those answers as much as she wanted to push her Nicky down on the bed, get on top of him…

Okay, let's just stop there.

'Geez, this sexual frustration thing is proving to be a nuisance…' Vert thought to herself. The stress must be getting her, she figured, but put those matters aside for another time. Right now, she had to focus on getting the answers she desired, and that was PRECISELY what she would be doing. "Yes, let us continue on to more important matters." Alright, now was the time. No amount of mental preparation could have helped make this any easier for the woman, especially with who was sitting opposite her. She remembered what she was like back in Celestia (mostly thanks to Neptune, but still), and hoped that Noire wouldn't implode or go tyrannical on her for asking this. "I will not mince it. Normally, I would not have called you here, even for a social call. We CPUs have been enemies for centuries, fighting atop Celestia in the Console War. It has been inconceivable that any of us would talk like this."

On that, Noire could agree. So many thought it impossible for them to get along, since they had been fighting longer than any human wars, and in wars bad blood made communication between sides nigh-impossible. Only the truly good people, most of the time those people being the leaders of the opposing sides, would find it in their hearts to open talks for peace after fighting so long. Noire herself could imagine how hard it had been for those people, since SHE had done it herself with her arch-rival, Planeptune. She had to push through all her pride, all her prejudice against the Nation, and even had to seek advice from the enemy leader plus one of the enemy soldiers for her course of action. She had also gotten advice from some of her own people as well, before considering the moves she made. "Yes, I do agree that it has been considered a hopeless fantasy for many centuries." She started with an understanding nod. "However, times are beginning to change, and it has come to my attention that I cannot rely solely on myself or the strength of my people to deal with this threat."

"Is that what you based these talks for a truce and possible alliance between Lastation and Planeptune off?"

Ah, there it was, Noire thought to herself. THAT was what Vert asked her here for. THAT was what she wanted to know about. She wanted to know what prompted her to form these talks between Lastation and Planeptune. A wave of relief filled her being, surprising Noire for a brief moment though she soon reined her emotions in. Noire honestly had felt this would be the case, but even then, she had been unsure. Since she had been focusing mostly on Lastation and its own politics that she, for the most part, neglected to look much into the politics of the other Nations. Aside from Planeptune that is, since her Nation WAS in the middle of truce talks with them.

Right now, those talks were still on the first stage, as in convincing the majority of the governing parties on both sides that this was a good idea. Compared to Lastation, Planeptune fared a bit better regarding their fighting of the Abnormal Monsters. There had been few Hellgates in Planeptune, though thanks to one report from Spec Ops Agent Nico, the Planeptune Spec Ops do not hesitate to destroy them when they were found, giving demonic forces a hard time to get a foothold within the land of Purple Progress. Most of this had been thanks to their willingness to spend hundreds of thousands of credits on their Military, giving them the proper funding to research new ways of combating these threats.

They were in a MUCH better position than most of the other Nations, which was ironic since they lacked a CPU to lead them.

Made Noire feel more than a little inadequate, not something she liked.

"You could say that…" Noire began. Since she had been right in suspecting that Vert wanted to know what had happened to make her choose such a manoeuvre, Noire held more cards than she realized. She had all the information here, not Vert. She had more control over the situation than Vert, even if she had some strange… something, in her possession. Noire didn't know what that something was, but IT kept telling her that it wanted to fight it. It exuded a strong feeling of desire, bloodlust, and excitement, which honestly helped her nerves settle down. "My reasoning is that the threat of the Abnormals has grown too severe to be ignored. What quarrels there are between our Nations need to be put aside for the time being, as of right now there is a bigger enemy out there that needs taking care of. Have you heard of the saying: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

She certainly DID know that saying. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is an ancient proverb which suggests that two opposing parties can or should work together against a common enemy. The king who is situated anywhere immediately on the circumference of the conqueror's territory is termed the enemy. The king who is likewise situated close to the enemy, but separated from the conqueror only by the enemy, is termed the friend (of the conqueror). However, that couldn't be all there was to it, there just had to be more. "And is that all? I cannot imagine THAT Neptune would EVER agree to a cease-fire, with you no less." Vert questioned cautiously, her eyes shifting uneasily while she shuffled about on her seat.

Yea, Noire didn't expect anything else from the other CPU. After all, unlike Noire, Vert hadn't been there at Lastation, she hadn't seen the things about Neptune that she had. Which was why Noire could say that she wasn't the same as she once was. "Well, I suppose that that old saying is correct: 'Desperate times ask for desperate measures'." Noire countered. She took another sip from her tea, placing the cup back on her lap before continuing. "I talked to her, and she changed. I can only explain it this way, she changed."

"How so?" Vert asked, clearly conflicted in believing a warmonger like the Neptune she knew for centuries could ever change in the slightest, new evidence be damned. She remembered what Neptune had been like, she remembered the conflicts between her and Noire. Someone like that… she could hardly believe that someone like Neptune could have the potential to change. However, if Noire of all people actually believed in Neptune than there should be some merit in the information she received. After all, she WAS Neptune's direct rival back in Celestia.

Her thoughts got broken when Noire answered her question. "She said she lost her memories, apparently when we dropped her from up there she fell on her head." Noire could barely hide her mirth smile as she said that. While true that post-amnestic Neptune was supportable somewhat, the original one deserved to fall like that (and more, that arrogant bitch) as far as Noire was concerned. "She now is bubbly, sometimes lazy, and overall much more approachable, which isn't that difficult considering how she was before everything went down, and yes the pun was intended."

That… didn't sound like the Neptune she was aware of, Vert thought in her mind. In fact, it seemed like the complete opposite. She… didn't know how to feel about that. As she pondered what Noire told her, Vert tried to come up with some plan of action. So far though, she couldn't come up with anything that could be of use to her save for bits and pieces. "Well, Amnesia CAN change people, I will admit…" she began, remembering some games she played where the protagonist was super unlikable at the beginning, but when they lose their memories they change into much more likable people throughout their journeys. "But, I can't help but think that isn't all there is to it."

"You'd be correct." Noire admitted, sighing loudly after a moment as she leaned back on the sofa. Her eyes darkened with melancholy as memories returned to her mind. "I didn't believe it much either until I saw her myself. She completely didn't recognize me, as if I were a stranger to her. Ironic, considering how we used to be." She couldn't help but chuckle to herself at that titbit. "I fought her and lost, and when I was about to get away, Neptune found me again. I would have fought her to my last, but instead, she had me join her party." Thinking back on it, it definitely sounded surreal, and she left out important details like how Nico thrashed her as well as her first encounter with an Abnormal many in the Spec Ops fear greatly: Ghouls. Vert didn't need to know those details, yet.

At this information, Vert hummed in disbelief, looking down as she contemplated it. 'I heard a few times that Lastation had been in dire straits, then there was how these straits affected the CPUs' shares, so that would mean that Noire fought a weakened Neptune while weakened herself. They should have been equal if I were to guess, but if this is true then somehow Neptune prevailed. Thinking about it, it's ironic but Planeptune is doing better than the other Nations even though they have no CPU, so the power difference would obviously favor Neptune...'

Noire then continued, grasping Vert's attention once more. "Suffice to say, I saw a completely different Neptune compared to what I once knew, all innocent, teasing with a bit of battle-lust… Though she seemed more intent on having fun than anything. At first, as you might suspect, I thought it an act to get me to let my guard down but let's just say things happened that changed my view of her. By the time she left Lastation, I became completely convinced she had changed, definitely for the better. She may still be insufferable, annoying and a complete idiot, but that is a FAR better Neptune than the one from the past." In the end, her eyes shone with a determined light to them, almost like a lighthouse in the middle of a hurricane. The weight of her words combined with the way she looked at Leanbox's CPU, conveyed just how much she believed in what she had said.

However, that didn't mean Vert thought the same.

The blonde CPU couldn't wrap her head around it, no matter how many words were used to state it, she couldn't see someone like Neptune changing so rapidly. In games, the protagonists with amnesia usually don't change that much contrary to what she thought earlier. There was always a high level of the prior personality in the amnesiac, it was just done in a way that made them more… well, shall we say 'likable assholes' for lack of a better word? Anyway, that was what she believed, no matter how big a change, a person doesn't really deviate from their original personality. This had to be the case for Neptune, no matter what kind of stuff happened to her brain, she still had to have the core elements of her personality. That was the conclusion Vert had come to… yet she couldn't help this tinge of doubt inside of her.

Seeing how conflicted Vert looked even with what she had said, Noire sighed in resignation. She doubted that Vert would have believed her on words alone, it would be foolish to do that. Someone in a position like hers couldn't take things at the value of just words, it would eventually lead to the ruin and the lives of countless. There would only be one way to truly convince her, that way… "Well then, if you want more solid evidence, why don't you speak with Neptune yourself?"… to see the change with her own eyes. It was a risky gamble, Goddess knows she knew that fact to be true.

After all, Vert still thought of Neptune as someone to be wary towards. Someone who remained in her past ways of being an arrogant warmongering Goddess instead of what Noire claimed she had become. Thus, the only way for her to realize the truth would be for her to meet Neptune herself. Something that, now that she thought about it, would seem quite daunting for this CPU.

"Oh? Why would you think that?" Vert questioned, only for her to realize why a moment later. "Ah, I see… you believe that, in order to convince me Neptune has changed, it would be wise for me to meet her myself. To see whether or not your claims possess any merit." She spoke in realization, her eyes widening by a mere fraction of an amount. For a moment, Vert felt like she was looking at something huge, like a huge wall or a beast, with how empty her gut felt deep inside. The feeling of an impending doom loomed over her, filling her with dread like a bath being filled with water.

With the fact that the other CPU had gotten it, Noire nodded to herself with a satisfied smile on her lips, sipping the last of her Tea while doing so as she crossed one leg over the other. "Of course, I do not mean to brag, but believe me when you meet Neptune yourself, you will understand what I'm talking about."

'There she goes, her pride may very well be her downfall someday…' Vert thought to herself, hiding the growing disdain in her chest. While Neptune was not the best of people she knew, back in Celestia each of the four CPUs was almost just as bad. For Neptune, she was the definition of a warmonger, with an arrogant, egotistical nature to boot. She constantly demeaned the other CPUs, mostly Noire, about how weak and inferior they were to her often proving it in her combat prowess.

As for Noire, she dare not say it to her face (especially right now) but back then, she had been less of a Goddess… and more of a tyrant than anything. A cruel one who didn't care about anything other than obtaining the title of True Goddess of Gamindustri. If Neptune was a Warmonger, this was what she would have been described as, hardly fit for being called the True Goddess while seeing the rest of them as inferior to her. Perhaps that trait wouldn't be as surprising since they all had that trait in different volumes within themselves, but still.

She didn't even need to speak about Lowee's CPU about her temper, bloodlust and violent, savage nature. It filled her with disgust that someone like her was even a Goddess to begin with, someone as un-mannered, non-civil, and like the personification of a powder keg waiting to explode. Then, when her temper DOES explode (which is almost all the time anyone speaks with her about anything really), it's like a dozen or an army of volcanic eruptions occurring at the same time. Celestia used to be one big landmass like the rest of the world of Gamindustri until White Heart came along.

Her ax WAS said to split the heavens… that legend is truer than what most people thought.

"If you say so…" Vert began, trailing off at the end. While still unsure, she couldn't help but feel like she would have to give it a try if Noire was telling her all this. Noire may have been a bit of a tyrant (understatement, part of her yelled), but it wasn't like her to lie about something like this. She was too full of pride to lie, something that was at least semi-redeemable about her character. Still, Vert felt hesitant yet, conflicting thoughts circling through her mind.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuummmm… helllloooooooooooo! Is anyone there?! I kinda need help here!"

Just then, the silence between the two women got broken, broken like glass shattering, by a loud, feminine due to the high pitch, and annoyingly childish voice. Vert blinked in confusion, wondering who it could be while Noire quickly tensed, then facepalmed herself when she figured out EXACTLY who that was. "Wow speak of the devil and she appears…" she muttered, going unheard by Vert.

Said CPU stood up and walked to the large door, the clicking of her heels resonating through the room even though the carpet should have been able to negate it. It wasn't as hard as tiles were, after all, so Noire assumed there was wooden planks or something of similar founding beneath it. By the time Vert reached the door and pulled it open, she was greeted by the sight of a young petite girl on the other side, scratching her head and looking hopelessly confused. She looked to have been a party guest considering her apparel is a red dress, but she didn't remember inviting someone like her in. "Oh? Are you lost young one?" Vert questioned, tilting her head curiously.

The girl did the same, laughing awkwardly while scratching her cheeks. "Hehehe, yeah I kinda am. Do you know where the main hall is from here? I kinda gotta get back to my friends, I kinda ditched them for something…" she explained awkwardly, a light flush of embarrassment over her cheeks. Still, she tried to laugh it off, though that just showed how embarrassed she felt inside. "Not too good with directions, you see."

"That you must be, considering how far you are from the Main Hall…" Vert responded, confusedly. However, internally she found herself scanning this girl's energy. An energy that quickly called out to her for some reason. 'This girl… her aura feels off. It doesn't feel like a human at all. In fact, she feels similar to me and Noire, but there's something else… something lurking within her that does NOT feel anything like me or Noire's… it's almost as if…'

Confusion filled her being on this mystery girl's identity. The more that she looked at her, the more she began getting the strangest feeling that she should know this girl from somewhere. The way her light lilac colored hair looked, how her darker lilac eyes blinked at her in obvious confusion as to whys he was being stared at, and those hair clips reminding her of directional pads. Yet, Vert didn't put the pieces together. Or rather, she COULDN'T…

At least, until Noire spoke up in a loud voice with an annoyed undertone (probably facepalming too). "Just get in here, Neptune! There's someone here whom you'd wanna see, anyways, you friends can wait!" Already, the moment she yelled that out Noire got a clear picture of where this would end up, mentally bracing herself for what would be inevitable. Then again, this would at least show Vert the difference between the Neptune of the past and the one of the present.

Still, the moment before it happened, Noire had one thought. 'I regret every decision in life I've ever made.'

"Huuuuuuuuuh?! Wait, I know that cute tsundere voice!" Neptune, the girls name whom Vert nearly gasped at in surprise as she barrelled into the room, nearly knocking her over had Neptune not avoided her in time. "Whoops, sorry lady!" she quickly apologized, before making a beeline for Lastation's CPU. Her form became a blur, and Noire quickly figured out what was inevitably coming next. "Noirrrrrrreeeee!" Neptune bellowed, leaping forth through the air like a professional diver., her arms spread wide with a massive grin on her face. "Its been SO long! I've missed seeing ya so much since the last time we parted ways!"

A "Gack!" left Noire's lips as the preteen slammed into her, wrapping her arms around her neck and propelling her over the back of the sofa and onto the ground behind them. The preteen gave no fucks about that, however, as she found herself too busy constantly rubbing her cheeks against the blackette's. Of course, without said girl's consent or approval, which she would have NONE of. "H-Hey! N-N-Neptune?!" she cried out, quickly putting her hands on the preteen's torso to push her off. However, the glue that was Neptune stuck to her like a second skin, refusing to let her go. "G-Get the heck off me already!"

"Nuh-Uh! This is a fanservice scene right now, I'mma filling the fantasies of our shipper fans, you know!"

"What 'shipper fans'?! There's no such thing as something like that, you dolt! Get off me already, you're way heavier than you look!"

On the sidelines, Vert felt like a third wheel, having closed the door behind her to stop anyone else from witnessing the scene taking place before her. Even though she had been there to witness the beginning of this scene, Vert still couldn't help but feel a little bit lost… well, at least lost amidst the shock and dreaded realization of whom this girl really was. Her eyes were wide, her jaw opening and her face sported the impression of a gaping fish. This… this was…!

Yet, she couldn't even react appropriately, as the sight of the 'wrestling' between Neptune and Noire (whom had managed to pry one arm away from her neck which now flailed about in vain, whilst placing a hand on Neptune's face to push her back further) only served to mind boggle her. The previous awkward tension in the atmosphere had all but vanished entirely, disintegrated beyond repair thanks to this new untimely arrival. She couldn't for the life of her find any of the awkward tension there was before thanks to, well… this.

Vert only watched as Noire finally managed to push Neptune off her, the preteen landing on the floor with an "ouchies!" before getting to her feet and dusting herself off. Just when Noire made to speak again, she cursed as Neptune once again flung herself at the blackette, restarting their little wrestling match as she hadn't 'had enough hugs' from Lastation's CPU. "Ugh, you're such a child, you know that?!"

"Awwww, you know you love me Noire-poo!"

"Poo?!"

"So!" Quickly pulling back before Noire could summon her HF Blade from her Inventory, as well as ignoring Noire's previous response, Neptune twirled around to show off her dress to her Lastation comrade. "Looks like you played dress up just like me, former amnesiac best buddy o'mine! I didn't expect to find you here, girl! I thought you had leader stuff to do back at Lastation!" Neptune proclaimed before her eyes narrowed as she continued with a thoughtful frown on her lips. "Has Avenir been trying to rile you up again, Noire? I swear I'll give those meanies the old Nep stick if that's the case!" she proclaimed, mimicking twirling a golf club in a sausage-like circle before swinging it widely.

A groan escaped Noire's lips as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Already she had begun developing a migraine from Neptune's antics, the childishness in them annoying her. In any other time, she would have found them amusing, but like most things, Neptune didn't get the mood right now. Though, thanks to her the previous mood between her and Vert had all but shattered. "No, nothing like that Neptune." She replied tiredly. "Just came here on official business. Though, now that you're here, I think someone would like to meet you. Someone you know."

"Huh?" Neptune blinked at that, stopping her motions as she placed an index finger over her chin. Question marks popped in and out of existence above her head while she looked at her friend in pure befuddlement. "Whaddya mean, Noire? I'm not sure what you mean by 'someone who knows me' since, well you know…" she began, before trailing off when she heard a womanly voice break into the conversation after a slight clearing of the throat.

"I do believe she means me, Neptune…"

"Eh?"

Slowly, Neptune turned to regard the blonde CPU. Now that she had figured out who Neptune was, Vert looked a LOT more cautious than what she did before. Though, that had been mostly thanks to the shock of her entry into the room and the… weirdness of what had followed. Now, she had her eyes scanning Neptune, taking in each and every detail they could to see if there was any chance of hostility from the preteen. Despite what Noire had said to her before, Vert couldn't help but fall back on old mannerisms. She hadn't mentally prepared herself for this, which was the reason for her behaviour.

While she regarded the woman, Neptune tried to figure out who she was. "Uhhh… are you the person that knows me? Cause uh, sorry, but I kinda don't recognize you…" Neptune questioned, scratching her chin awkwardly. It felt weird, but it felt almost like this woman was someone who possessed similar powers to her own… or rather, similar divine powers since a certain something in her made her both divine AND demonic. "Uh, are you some kinda fan? I mean, I'm flattered, but…"

Looking at her right now, Vert slowly began to see what Noire had been talking about. From the moment she opened her mouth, Vert had been expecting the usual song and dance that Neptune had spilled out through their many centuries battling it out in Celestia. She had been prepared to even summon Beninuki or Gungnir to attack first and snap that mouth of hers shut, however NONE of that was what she heard. Instead, this girl looked like she genuinely didn't know her. Kind of gave her room to think, actually. Noire DID say that Neptune didn't have her memories of her past, though.

Still, she didn't want to take this at face value, so she had to confirm it herself. "Are you sure? You really do not remember me, Neptune?" Vert questioned, pointing to herself with her right gloved hand. Her lips pursed, a frown etched onto them. So far it seemed that Noire's words had merit to them, but Vert just HAD to be sure. If Neptune truly had changed from what she once was, then…

For a moment, Neptune stared intently towards the blonde CPU, cupping her chin in one hand and humming thoughtfully. She then moved, going towards Vert (who mentally stopped herself from summoning her weapons due to lack of hostility) before circling around her. "Hmmm… Hmmmmmmm…" she mumbled thoughtfully, looking around Vert from every conceivable angle. "Hmmmm…. Nope! Sorry, don't remember you! You don't ring any bells for me! So, who are you anyway? Are you like a fan?" she asked, before sheepishly stepping back and chuckling awkwardly. "I mean… sorry if that's the case, my memory's kinda gone poof since well, months ago. Don't remember much about myself, really. Anyway, nice to metchya."

… There. That confirmed it.

No point denying it in her head anymore, not after that.

Looking towards the preteen after that… awkward searching where she felt like she had been nothing more than a doll, Vert checked Neptune's eyes out, gazing deep in them for any sign of deceit. However, she saw nothing even similar to deceit or a lie (a fresh experience after being close to nobility for so long), thus finally confirming what Noire had been telling her all this time. Reading this girl felt like reading an open book, a far cry from what she was like before. No matter how much she tried, at this point, all the evidence pointed towards one sole point.

'So, she really DOESN'T remember us…' she thought, slightly taken aback by these events. Sure, she had been told them before, but telling and seeing this for herself were two different things entirely. 'Perhaps Noire had a point, that the moment we kicked her off Celestia kick-started all this, maybe I should kick her more often if the improvement is this expressive.'

That had been the only plausible explanation Vert could come up with for this strange phenomenon. Even with this information being laid out before her, part of Vert's mind frantically argued that a change of this magnitude in terms of personality couldn't have been possible. One cannot form a 180 in terms of personality changes like this, that was what that part argued, however another part of her stated that she hadn't taken into account how long ago it had been since Neptune fell from Celestia. She was sure that it had been months and months ago at this point, so when Vert thought of it like that, the protesting part of her fell silent while she realized that, thanks to the time frame between now and back then, that Neptune changing her ways DID have some plausibility. "I see…"

"Don't worry Vert, I was like that too when I first met her." Noire stated, crossing her arms as she sat back down on the sofa. She furrowed her brows in Neptune's direction, to which the perky amnesiac laughed in embarrassment with all this attention on her now. "She's been like this for a while, doesn't recall a thing."

To be fair, Noire hadn't believed it herself when she had first heard of it back when she returned from her Questing to the Basilicom, when one of her attendants (whom she figured worked for Avenir) had told her of the news. Though, she didn't say what she had done afterwards, since it now became one of Noire's greatest failings as a CPU.

All the while, Neptune just went along with the flow, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Aw shucks, you guys talking about me all sneaky like is making me blush…" she remarked, getting a dull stare from Noire and a raised eyebrow from Vert. "Heh-hehhhh… Say, could I ask who you are then, lady? Cause it kinda sucks that I don't know your name when you know mine." Neptune questioned thoughtfully, looking towards the Leanbox CPU in confusion. She wanted to know her name and why she felt sorta familiar to her, the great goddess Neppit. It was true that she didn't remember her past still, but there were indeed snippets of it coming back to her. Though, there wasn't much to allow her to confidently say that they were coming back. Even months after realizing she was a CPU back in Lastation (and getting a Hubby) had not progressed her memories very much.

For a moment, Vert blinked owlishly as her mind took a moment to register Neptune's question. At first, she didn't get what she was saying, temporarily forgetting what had happened. Her brain quite literally shut down then restarted seconds later. You know that feeling when you just do nothing, your brain just doesn't even think so that there's an empty feeling in one's head? Well, that was what Vert just went through right now. However, she soon got out of it as she promptly answered without giving away what she just went through. "My, why certainly…"

Before she did though, Vert turned and walked back to her seat opposite Noire, plopping her backside back onto it while crossing one leg over the other, the opposing leg to Noire. She grasped her cup (which still had some tea left) by the handle before raising it to her lips. Meanwhile, Neptune just inserted herself onto the space beside Noire (much to her chagrin) and began hugging her… or at least, trying to since the ravenette had no such desires to indulge this invader of her personal space and was trying (and failing) to make sure that Neptune did not hug her to death.

Seeing this made Vert giggle behind the cover of her cup, though she made sure not to let her tea go down the wrong windpipe. Now that she no longer found herself under the pretense that Neptune was still as she once was back during the Console War, she had to admit that this sight felt rather… well, endearing. A far cry compared to what she was once, but Vert decided not to think on that for the time being. After all, she had to give an answer to Neptune's question.

It was with that, that Vert plopped her now empty cup of tea down onto the table in front of her, and slowly drew on Gungnir's power. This notion quickly grabbed the other girls' attention, both Noire AND Neptune thanks to their senses informing them of a change in her energy. While Neptune looked at the blonde woman with childish innocence, Noire regarded her cautiously, like she worried if Vert would somehow suddenly unleash an attack on them at any moment. That was just what she thought when sensing this power build-up, as Vert's eyes gained white power button symbols in them. "Why, I'm Leanbox's CPU, Green Heart. A pleasure to meet you once again, Neptune."

"Eh? Ehhh… EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, there we go!**

 **Now, I hope people understand how i'm portraying these characters, since Neptune isn't the one actively getting them to meet up. No, that honor belongs to good old politics plus Vert inviting Noire over. Not something that's been done before like this, but meh.**

 **But still, I found myself chuckling when Neptune came into the scene. Part of me wondered if she could have made this big entry, but I decided against it since she doesn't even realize that these two girls were talking about her in the first place, or that they were there for that matter.**

 **Now then, i'll see you on the next chapter, everyone!**

 **Peace out!**


	124. Chapter 121 - Searching for Yvoire

**Chapter 121 - Searching for Yvoire**

 **'Alright, now that we have that interrogation out of the way, it is time that we make a move…'**

'Yep, it's time. Doesn't feel like we'll get more distractions, though I'm not holding my breath. This attack opened my eyes, looks like people are actively seeing us as a threat and thus are trying to eliminate us. That was why they sent those assassins. They were strangely co-operative though, so for assassins, they seemed kinda lousy at their job.'

Nico hummed to himself as he emerged from the bathroom, sighing as he shook his head from side to side, letting his crimson hair fall back into its default style. Thanks to what had happened, Nico didn't feel like partying with the other Nobles anymore, nope his mind had refocused itself on what he had REALLY come here for. Thus, he had switched back to his Spec Ops Gear. He adjusted the leather gloves on his hands, mentally sighing in relief at the familiar feeling they brought out. He never did feel like himself in that thing, anyway, so there was that.

He had just finished his 'talk' with those last two Assassins, spending a total of 10 minutes getting everything he could out of them. Well, most of that time had been spent 'convincing' them to talk through the use of Hellfire to their crotches until they confessed, but meh. What, not like a little heat to the crotch did anyone any harm, and it wasn't like he would let them procreate after that. By the time they were finished talking, Nico tore them apart for what they have done, letting IT have IT's way with them. He had not seen anybody looking like those two had done the moment they realized what Nico was, in his life, but luckily for Nico, he had the foresight of tearing out their vocal chords after the interrogation was complete, so they couldn't scream very loud, even if they wanted to.

Still, while he hadn't gotten much out of them, Nico did get some details out. They were contracted to kill him when they were in a tavern drinking by an anonymous person in a hooded robe. There had been a hefty sum given to them outright, though it had only been a piece of the total reward which would be given once the job had been completed. Only called himself 'Bill' which was likely just an alias used to hide their real identity. The cloak thing was an addition to this theory, too. People usually wore cloaks to keep themselves inconspicuous, especially those who were of… well, shadier professions. They wore em to keep their true identities away from prying eyes, more specifically law enforcement or any other undesirables who wanted them for… well, more sinister reasons.

'Still though… how long had it been since I last had IT feed…?' Nico wondered to himself, looking down while his hair shadowing his eyes. Slowly, he raised a hand to his mouth, then put two leather covered fingers onto it like he was trying to taste something that had gotten onto those fingers. The cold taste of leather greeted his taste senses, however, the male remembered what they had ONCE been covered in when he allowed IT to have fun with those remaining Assassins while cleaning the rest of the scene up as well. In the end, not even a spec of blood had remained from IT, which had done a perfect job in making it so that the assassination attempt hadn't even happened.

If they had any family, then they would never know the true fate those Assassins had fallen under.

Nico quickly shook his head to clear those thoughts before they could be fully processed, tarnishing them and dismissing them from existence. No, he couldn't think about that, the male roared within his mind while gnashing his teeth within the confines of his mouth. If he did, then he would go down a dark thought process, one that he had not gone down since this adventure started. One that he had found himself to being tempted to go down since he arrived in Leanbox, actually now that he thought about it. He hoped to NEVER have to go down THAT path again, and yet this moment had been one where he had almost done exactly that. It… wasn't exactly a path one would go down if they had a choice.

 **'I checked their emotions, and it appeared that before their demise, it appeared that the revelation of what you were made them give up on even hoping for your forgiveness, for you to let them go. Your reputation and… THAT must truly bring the act of terror into man's hearts if it is THIS powerful.'**

Biko's words rang through his mind, and Nico had to do all he could to stop himself from making a sarcastic remark back. Not just because his Demon Persona wouldn't likely get it, but also because he didn't deserve it. Biko was a part of him, so he would have a familiar with how powerful the beast within was… however, that beast's REAL power would be unknown to him. He was only born recently compared to his inner beast, which Nico had been forced to house within him for years now. Thus, Nico had… intimate experiences with how terrifying IT could truly be.

A beast always, ALWAYS, had more than one set of fangs.

'You'd be right… anyways, this actually works for us. If Yvoire isn't at the Main Hall with the rest of the Nobles, he is probably somewhere else, likely working. In that case, his negative emotions may be low, but any at all outside that of the ones in the Main Hall could lead to his location. We'll find him and get him on our side, as no matter how much I hate the guy, he's still a powerful individual and his discrimination isn't above protecting Leanbox. Once that's done, we move on to investigating the other Nobles, see if they have any connection to Count Mott. That guy's been up to something, and I'm going to figure out what. Think that'll work?' The male questioned Biko, stopping his walking along the corridors to speak to his Demon Persona. They were alone, so there wasn't a high chance of an encounter.

 **'It would make sense for him to have low levels of negative emotions, while I question why he would not be at the Gala due to its importance to Leanbox's future. Perhaps we can ask him when we find him, but aside from that, your plan seems decently solid. We just have to make sure that we don't run into any trouble before we get started.'**

"Yoooooo, Nicky-Dear!"

'… Really, Biko? You just HAD to jinx us.'

Biko offered no response, prompting the male to shut their link for the time being to address the newcomer who had called him by a nickname. At least it was someone whom he knew since that nickname he had was something only one person called him. Someone who put a small smile on his face as he looked towards her. "Yo, Lucy. What are you-?" he began to say… only to jump and gasp, his eyes shooting wide open in a cartoonish fashion when his eyes laid sight on her. 'Holy… motherfucking… shit…!' Those three words were quite literally the ONLY ones he could think of right now, it was like what he was seeing right now robbed him of the ability to speak of anything else but those three words. Such was how powerful the effect this sight had on him was.

Jogging up to him, Lucy waved excitedly while laughing at the dumbstruck look on Nico's face. She hadn't been surprised in the slightest, thanks to that look being her main goal from the beginning since she came to this Gala. The woman had made to attain her 'goal' through her attire, which consisted of her hair styled so that it had two long ponytails going down the sides of her head, held in place by some black and red ribbons that had red jewels in the center. Plus, the red diamond-shaped earrings in her ears combined with matching lipstick and eye eyeshadow her a succubus seducing temptress look. Then, there was her very nice-looking dress. A dress she would proudly admit to being saved just for an occasion like this.

The Dress had no sleeves and exposed the shoulders, with a white piece covering the area beneath the neck and the upper torso, while exposing the sides under her armpits. The piece ended in white frills, with a frilly white collar and a crimson ribbon tied together in front while being held in place by a crimson ruby jewel. The dress sported a red corset that was tied together by strings at the front, with a black underdress beneath while both covered only the round tips of her boobs, the rest being covered by the white piece. The dress finally had a skirt of matching design that went down to the halfway point of her thighs, while angling downwards slightly behind her. Behind her, Nico could see a large red ribbon tied into a neat bow, falling down towards her ankles. Speaking of her ankles, Lucy's legs were covered by some black stockings with… very posh-looking flowery patterns on them, her arms sporting bicep-length gloves that matched the design. There was a red leg band around her left thigh with black frills. On her feet, Lucy sported a pair of high heeled pumps, with red ribbons spiraling up the heels and ending in small bows behind her ankles, with pearl anklets around her ankles.

'Oh my… god…' Nico barely managed to think, his mind being completely blown up like it had been caught in a dynamite explosion. His face also showed just how dumbfounded the teen felt, while also sporting a rather full red shade to indicate how flushed Lucy's new appearance made him get. It was like, take Lucy's natural beauty, crank it up by a million, then you get an idea of just how beautiful he had found her at that moment. No, he wasn't exaggerating either, at least, not in his opinion. Black may be his favorite color, but red was a close contender for the second, but nonetheless, those colors always got to him. It didn't help that, as she closed in on him, Lucy got that seductive smirk on her lips, her eyes gleaming with amusement at his state from seeing her like this.

"Oh me, oh my, does little Nicky-Dear like what he sees?" she asked sultrily with a matching smile. She even giggled while hiding it behind her fingertips, yet the demeanor she sported spoke volumes.

Her words did the job of snapping the male out of his trance, though, as his red face got even redder than that blushing stalker heiress who came from the same village as a certain copy ninja. "L-L-L-L-L-Lucy? Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you doing h-h-h-h-h-here?" he asked, stammering like all hell much to his displeasure. What the hell, what was going on with him right now?! This felt JUST like the time when Neptune and the others broke him when they showed him their dresses all at once. Only, this was Lucy, someone whom he KNEW had strange intent for him. It didn't help that she had her usual charm amped up to max right now thanks to her stunning apparel.

Another giggle escaped her lips, and the feeling of being an idiot layered itself onto his mind, giving him a feeling of embarrassment and humiliation. As well as a side of depression, though he didn't pay much attention to that part. "Why, I wanted to see you, silly. I saw you a few times during the Gala in that suit of yours…" she replied, her eyes glazing over as she recalled the moment that she saw Nico in his suit. "You must have been on a mission, figuratively and literally, if you didn't notice me looking at you like I wanted to drag you to my room and have my way with you." She then shrugged her shoulders and gave him a mischievous grin, circling around him with her hands behind her back as she leaned forwards. "Though I will admit, seeing you with that look on your face combined with your military gear is a much more fitting look for you. You're not one who looks good sitting behind a desk…"

"I-I-I-I-well, I-uh…" Nico, still tongue-tied thanks to Lucy's apparel, and then there was the fact that she had gotten close to him so that his nose could pick up her perfume (which he had smelled right as she ran to him, smelling like fresh strawberries now that he thought about it), could only say. It was almost like the sight before he refused to allow him to speak, telling him to keep his mouth shut. However, he had to get something out if for the hope of not looking like a total creeper anymore, thus Nico forced his mouth to open while making words come out from within. "Well, uh… you look… insanely-freaking gorgeous, Lucy…" he stammered once more, though at least it wasn't bad this time. Part of him couldn't help but feel like the way he said it this time felt much more… impactful, then when he said it to the girls. Why was that?

Still, it seemed to be the response Lucy was looking for if the satisfied smile she had on with closed eyes was any indication. Leaning back from him, Lucy stopped forward till the toes of their feet were almost touching if it weren't for their footwear separating them. "Ufufufu, I'm glad you think so, Nicky-Dear… I did come here mostly so I could spend time with you after all…" she cooed softly, going straight for his ear while doing so and blowing into it. The teen nearly gave a girlish yelp as he stepped back, much to Lucy's amusement. The woman just LOVED to get a rise out of him via teasing and flirting… though she wouldn't say she wouldn't like it if he made a move on her. In fact, she wanted him to.

Coming to this place after getting tickets for her and her team by seducing some Nobles she couldn't remember the name of took some effort. However, she had done so simply because Nico had been invited to this farce of a Gala. In all honesty, she didn't like coming to places like this, they were too stuffy for someone like her. There were too many idiots who whined and complained without actually doing anything, which was largely the reason why Raven had insisted to remain away from the Gala alongside the others. Though Lucy HAD managed to convince her otherwise, she didn't know where the heck her leader was anymore. Thanks to her experiences, that woman had a good ability for concealing herself, even from someone of Lucy's caliber. One of the few things she DID like about these things was the dressing up in nice-looking outfits, it helped her get attention from those she targeted, it helped her get information about who to investigate, seduce then destroy. One could say these formal events were like big treasure troves of information if one knew how to push the right buttons.

She'd done this a whole hell lot, after all.

Just then, something flashed in Nico's mind, something that Lucy had said to him just now that snapped him out of his previous state and made him recover his senses. His composure quickly returned, and he thus promptly switched from being flushed like a shy schoolgirl to the serious warrior than he was. "You said mostly just now, right? Does that mean you have another reason to come here, too?" he asked her.

That was something about Lucy that few picked up on, thanks to her usual nature throwing them off about her so easily. In fact, only Team RAIL, himself and a few others managed to notice it, including himself. That fact being that whenever Lucy did something, there was usually a reason behind it or even multiple like in this case. Whatever reasons Lucy had for coming here, they were big enough that she had to go to such lengths to get access to this Gala, something that normally she wouldn't have had to. What that was though, Nico didn't have that many theories, and the ones he did have needed confirmation first.

Noticing his mood change, Lucy stepped backward while sighing, her previous demeanor vanishing as she opened her eyes. She had that mischievous demeanor still, but it felt different than usual. No, it felt more like something was mixed within it, something like a bout of several emotions like seriousness, concern, and anxiety all at once. "Well, you're right about that. Normally, I'd not go to an event as grand as one like this. I'd stick to smaller formal events that weren't hosted by the CPU herself, sticking to the ones hosted by Nobles across the Nation." She remarked, crossing her arms as she looked to the side. While she did this, the male noticed something else, something surprising.

She seemed to be looking in the direction of the Main Hall, where Nico could sense the largest amount of negative emotions. Most of it seemed to do with the guests venting stress through their complaints, however, there were some there who had… specific hatred. A hatred that was large enough that Nico assumed was directed at a similar source. Thinking about what he felt, Nico found that the hatred had an edge to it… a horny edge. Like someone had tried to get their owners off then left them hanging. Almost immediately, Nico's eyes widened when he began piecing it together.

Well, the start of it, anyway. "Wait, don't tell me, you…!" the male exclaimed, turning back to face Lucy with a shocked expression on his face while realization dawned on him. He didn't know that many people who would do such a thing, but it became easy to see who the culprit was if he just connected the dots. The way that she looked so… well, known for lack of a better word, knowing yet unrepentant for it, all but proved his theory right.

It became fully confirmed in his mind when Lucy turned to him and nodded in his direction, a slight smirk tugging at her lips. "Yep, I came here to draw attention, to draw attention to myself, that is. That way, a certain someone on your team will have fewer eyes on her and thus, will have room to 'grow'." She explained, shamelessly.

… You know, maybe he shouldn't have been surprised at this coming from someone like her at this point. But, even now, Nico still didn't fully grasp why he felt such shock. Lucy was a girl who liked the attention, it was a big part of who she was. Whenever she was in a crowd, eyes were drawn to her like moths to a flame. Both men and women wanted her, so much so that they would fall victim to her spider-like clutches without a single complaint, allowing her to use them until she was satisfied.

Like himself, she too was a freaking Predator… a Predator on top of her respective food chain.

But, even so… with everything that had happened recently, perhaps he just thought she would have more of a care for her own health. 'Guess not, then.' The redhead teen cursed himself under his breath, scowling deeply in his mind while doing his best to rein in his emotions. This was just who she was, the male chided himself, she loved attention and that was just a part of her nature.

However, there was something else, something Nico almost overlooked in his state of being, something that would have been swept under the rug had the memory of that time on that rooftop not flashed through his mind. He couldn't help but feel glad when he did though, cause it allowed him to calm down and think rationally again. Lucy may love attention, she may have gotten addicted to the feeling. However, that wasn't all there was to her, there was more to her than that. She wasn't so one-dimensional. Proof of that not only existed in how she acted around him, both in recent times and in the past. That proof came in the form of her recent words to him, words to do with someone else…

Someone whose identity he quickly figured out.

"… Compa? Do you mean that you took the attention away from Compa?" he asked her, stunned with wide eyes. Now that he thought about it, Nico realized just how much that would help someone like her. Compa wasn't one for big, fancy parties like this either. It was something the three of them (him, Lucy and her) shared. She could go to them, but only if there were people she knew who were also in attendance like her friends. If she were separated from them though, then she would become riddled with shyness and anxiety, which would register on those pigs' radar and make them corner her. Nico mentally cursed himself for not remembering this till now, he felt like he had failed her as her friend.

When she took note of his state, Lucy's smile turned to a console as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Not to worry, Nicky-Dear. I made sure Compa remained with her friends, or at least with IF. They'll keep any of those PIGS…" she spat the word 'pigs' in disgust when she referred to the many Nobles in attendance, before returning to her prior demeanor. "away from her. But that's not what I'm talking about…" at this, her look turned from consoling, to deadly serious as a frown marred her lips. "I'm talking about Compa's awakening."

"Awakening?" Nico questioned, frowning in confusion for a moment. That moment, he spent it wondering what she was talking about, what kind of awakening could Compa go through? At that moment, he didn't get it, but soon enough realization dawned on him when specific memories of events, events he hadn't pondered recently, returned to the forefront of his mind. "Wait, you mean…?!"

A nod came from Lucy, and that was all he needed to hear. Still, she spoke anyways while retracting her hand from his shoulder and turning away from him, looking up at the ceiling. "Her powers have grown immensely over the last few months. In recent times, I checked them with my senses, and they're one step away from fully awakening. She just needs the right catalyst for them to finally come out. If I were to state what that could be, a life or death experience or something of equal emotional impact would be the best option for her. However, the way she is right now will attract attention from… forces that aren't so on the CPU's side as they are on the demonic side." She then turned her head, so she could glance at Nico from out the corner of her eye. The way she did that, it made Nico gulp to himself, the intensity in that stare alone worked wonders. "I'm talking about possible spies for the Chaos Gods."

At that, Nico gasped, momentarily taken aback, before he calmed himself down and put his index finger along with his thumb under his chin, looking downwards before losing himself in thought. "I see… that makes sense… Now that I think about it, Compa HAS been shown divine energy recently, a lot of it too. I remember checking up on her with my senses after the Hellverse incident, and her power seemed almost infantile in comparison to right now." he muttered under his breath, his frown morphing into a confused scowl while his eyes narrowed sharply.

That was when something else flashed through his mind, and he quickly remembered something else. "Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you something." He started, getting Lucy's attention as she fully faced him. Whatever she had expected, him bowing before her was NOT that. "I must apologize. I know you must be angry at me for giving her that crystal." He told her.

"Well… I'll admit, I was a bit pissed at the beginning…" Lucy admitted once she got over the shock of him actually admitting it. It had been so long since it had happened, that she had nearly forgotten about it. The feelings she felt when she first realized what had happened to Compa. Briefly, they came back, but they didn't last long since she pounded them out of her mind. "But, the more time passed, the more I realized that you had little choice. Compa told me of what happened, why you gave her the crystal. I checked her myself, and it seems her compatibility with it was quite high. Especially so when I noticed how her training went." She explained, sighing as she crossed her arms under her chest. "Now that I think about it, perhaps that was why it reacted to you the way it did. The crystal sensed the essence of a worthy wielder on you and used you to seek it out."

A wave of relief escaped the male when he realized that she had not held it against him for what he did, only to be replaced with confused worry when he heard the rest of what she said. "Huh… interesting, well I think I have something about that. Apparently, before I gave it to her, my Bracers detected abnormally high energy readings from the Crystal. It almost seemed like the Crystal was happy or something, happy that Compa was nearby. Or something along those lines. Your theory just coincides with mine a little bit." Nico wasn't the only person who could hold a grudge, Lucy could too. She was like that one song about a dark horse, she can be sweet as pie but if you hurt her, her heart turns cold as a freezer. Her theory also agreed with some of the things Biko and himself discussed about the nature Compa's powers. hough, he still hoped that Compa wouldn't have to need those powers, as in his eyes, he worried that if they ever did fully awaken…

They may take something… something irreplaceable to Compa.

That was a fate that he hoped would NEVER befall someone as pure as Compa. To humanity, thanks to everything about Gamindustri, aside from the Goddesses they see anything that wasn't human as something to be feared and hated with a passion. The Abnormals, Demons, anything non-human was a threat to them. IF kept her BOW status a secret cause of this, and this was also a reason why those outside of Leanbox despite Spec Ops. Their hate may not be as intense as those in Leanbox, but it was still there, enough for them to receive looks of scorn behind their backs, have horrible rumors spread about them and general discrimination. Thus, monsters like him, the Spec Ops etc were generally filled with people who could handle such a role in society. However, Nico did NOT wish for Compa to go down that road. She wanted to be a Nurse, so she should stay on that path… the path of being human.

The path of monsters like them was NOT for the faint of heart, after all…

Clearing his thoughts from that depressing territory, Nico mentally checked his internal clock, and his lips pursed together. "Well, I'd love to spend more time with you, but I have to go." He told her with a regretful tone in his voice. Nico truly did enjoy spending time with her, something he had found himself realizing shortly after that kiss back on the Urgent Quest. Before, he had been wary of her thanks to her constant attempts to get him 'entangled' within her 'web'. She was like a sexual predator, and he a delicious piece of man meat she wanted more than anything else.

But, as of recent times, things were… well, they were changing. Not just Lucy, but also himself, too. Thank to those girls, Nico felt like he had been getting 'softer' towards Lucy and their advances (though it confused the hell out of him why they did that and not with someone more worthwhile and experienced). Heck, Lucy had been with plenty of partners, both male and female. She didn't give a fuck who she rode through the night, and yet she had been pining for him for as long as he'd known her. Only recently her she too has been 'softening' herself before him, likely starting from when he began opening up to her after nearly 5 years of camaraderie.

Still, she didn't miss the way he said that, and her eyebrows shot up with concern plastering itself over her face. "Oh? Did something happen? Something big must have happened since you have that look in your eye." She questioned, a hand on her hip. It was something that she prided herself on, but Lucy found herself exceptionally good at reading people. Up until recently though, she couldn't get much of what was going on in this Spec Ops Agent's head at all.

Nico made to respond, but then he stopped himself, his eyes losing focus as he began to think. As in, he thought about telling her what had happened and his theories about it, basically bringing her up to speed on this situation. In the end, he remembered how IF had been like when she gave him… what she did, which prompted him to tell her everything. He didn't want to see that expression on any of his comrades, never again. It hurt too fucking much for him to do that, plus it wasn't like Lucy wasn't in on this in the first place. She too had been targeted by Count Mott in that Urgent Quest…

Wait, thinking back on it, wasn't IF targeted by people potentially associated with that guy, too?

… Great. Now he felt even more like a dick.

Once Nico explained everything, the look on Lucy's face went through a variety of stages: Shock, bafflement, disbelief, then finally settling onto cold fury. A look that ironically would look just as terrifying as it would on Raven's face. But, even so, when Lucy had that look, it just made people realize just how fucked they were, cause that girl can be one scary Daughter of a Bitch when she wanted to be. Seriously, one time she helped Nico on a case involving a criminal who raped his victims in dark alleys, preferring young virgin girls, before slitting their throats and writing vulgar messages using a combination of their fluids and blood. Called himself the 'Cumpster', ironically enough. Let's just say he wasn't all together once Lucy got her hands on him. She'd said she wanted to know what his world was like, too… definitely gave her some perspective, if her wanting to continue helping him when she wasn't busy was any indication. "Wow, so that happened… you think Count Mott's behind this?"

"Got no proof myself, but I recorded what they told me before I got rid of them. I'll use those recordings as evidence if things go south, but I don't plan on letting things get that bad." Nico replied. He had a big suspicion about that Count, ever since the Urgent Quest and even more so when he heard what Stefan said at the Hellverse Dungeon. That bastard's records and reputation didn't do much to sway Nico either, but for now, he had things to do. "Anyways, I gotta go. Gotta find some people and sway them to my side… ugh. Politics are such a pain, you have no idea. If I had a choice, I'd rather spend it with you or the girls than all those crappy old pol-" He quickly gasped, covering his mouth when he realized what he just said.

Lucy seemed to notice too, as a look of surprise flashed onto her face for a brief second before she replaced her surprise with a seductive smile. Matching emotions flared behind her eyes, and beneath that Nico could see… happiness? Yeah, happiness, that was what he saw. "You would, would you? Ufufufu, why thank you, I'm flattered." She remarked, while Nico just turned his head away with a face-sized blush on his cheeks. Goddamnit, someone just take him away from this! No, wait! He didn't rely on others, he relied on himself! He'll get out of this himself, or he wouldn't feel right calling himself DEATHSTROKE!

"Y-Yeah, but anyways I really gotta go, so if you'll excuse me…" he began, trying to make his way past her. However, she grasped onto his arm by the bicep and pushed him against a wall. "Oof! Lucy, what-" he made to say, however, Nico got silenced when she got REAL close to him, their entire bodies touching to give him a feel of her skin. Not to mention the fabric of her dress.

A giggle came out of Lucy's lips, though to him it didn't seem like one of her usual ones. There was something more… positive about it, like she had found something genuinely amazing. "Don't you worry about finding your targets, sweetie." She cooed, whispering softly so only he could hear while she placed her hands on his shoulders. "I'll tell you if you do one thing for me first..."

"Name it."

Lucy's smirk just widened into a full-blown grin, and the way her red lipstick seemed to make it all the more alluring seemed almost like a crime. It certainly made heat rise through Nico's ears, but he would NOT allow Lucy to have a debt to him. He didn't like owing people debts, but when he did, then he'd make SURE to pay them back. It's part of being a macho man after all. "Why…"

Soon after, she leaned in and whispered it into his ear, making his eyes widen. 'Whoa, shit! Really, THAT's what she wants?!'

 **'Thinking about it, it does seem surprising. I assumed she would ask you to spend the night with her in the bedroom, however, it seems that even Lucy would want something like this.'**

'Well, I can at least do that for her… It would be beneath me to do anything less for her.'

With that in mind, Nico took a deep breath, calming his buzzing nerves… until he gave her a serious nod. "Alright, I'll do it."

Instantly, Lucy's eyes widened, and she shrieked in pure joy. "Yes! Yes-Yes-Yes! Finally! I' finally getting through to you, sweetie!" she exclaimed, giggling happily as she stepped backward, not only giving him breathing space (to which he let out a relieved sigh at) but also made a successful fist pump. Seeing that happy look on her face, it made a similar smile from on his own lips as well. When the heck did this happen, when did he become so obsessed with seeing Lucy smile?

Part of him told him that he already knew the answer to that one.

With that, Lucy went back to him and whispered the location of EVERYONE in attendance that Nico had wanted to see. Something that he quickly made a mental note of and memorized her words by burning them into his brain. Once she was done, Lucy stepped back and waved at him while walking away. "Later cutie, I got to go see how your friend Compa's doing!" she exclaimed. "Don't forget, you promised me!"

Nico nodded at that, chuckling at the earnest demeanor the woman showed before she finally left his sight. With her gone, Nico's face shifted from happy to serious in an instant, his game face back on. 'Alright, Biko. It's time that we get to work.'

 **'Agreed.'**

With the consent of his Demon Persona (deep within his mind he could hear the loud cry of 'FINA-FUCKING-LY!' from his white copy, Nico began his trek once more. It was time that he got to the bottom of this. His first stop was... seeing Yvoire.

* * *

Meanwhile, said Archbishop currently held himself up in his personal quarters, looking over massive piles of reports he had received from the Military and the Guild in recent weeks. If he didn't have a migraine from all these complicated issues, then he would certainly have one now, the man thought irritably while he wiping his forehead, which looked to be covered in sweat, with the back of his hand. He held in his other hand a report listing the number of territories being taken by the various forces that were making enemies of Leanbox, and so far, they were gaining ground. More ground was lost to them by the day.

To start with, by this time 3 months ago, about 10% of Leanbox's territory had been taken by various enemies, with an estimated 20% by the next month according to predictions made by Dukes involved in military matters. The biggest blow to their national Military had come with the disappearance of Captain Stefan Von Kessel of the Ostermark Order, which hosted some of their best warriors other than the Spec Ops Agents. They had better training, better equipment, and better discipline than the average Leanbox soldier, but the conditions for making it into that army were absurdly high. Many Nobles' sons who joined that army soon left because the training regimen (which had been made mandatory thanks to a generation's head centuries ago) had been too much for them. Many attempts had been made to lessen the difficulty of the training, but even with threats of heresy and exile from Leanbox none of the heads had ever conceded to the Basilicom's demands. Mostly because the Ostermark Order would be on the front lines for most of the battles against powerful Abnormals, ranking up the highest kill counts to date.

However, after Stefan's return, it almost seemed like the enemy got a LOT more aggressive in their plays and their tactics. Almost like his return scared them or something, as the day after he did their attacks increased. Therefore, before the next month, about 30% of Leanbox's Territories had been taken across the board, with up to 45% being declared lost the following weeks. This had not only made the normally high-and-mighty Nobles piss themselves in fear. They were spurred into action, but a lot of them weren't as experienced in conflict and military tactics as others were, which lead to internal conflict between them which could only have resulted in more lost lands. It was a… humiliating time for the military, and as the head of it himself, he had to deal with a lot of the panicked nobles himself. Fortunately, he had experience with managing them for the past 70 years, but none of those years had been kind to him.

Until today, up to 72% of Leanbox's lands have been taken. Taken by these nefarious foes who dare to defy Lady Green Heart by defiling her homeland. It was an outrage in his opinion, how so many of her precious citizens would openly spit on her great work by betraying her and taking up the mantle of these 'chaos gods' or whatever. In fact, the whole Overlord religion seemed to be overshadowed almost by these Chaos Gods in terms of worship and influence on the minds of mortal men. He hadn't heard much about that side of things with how these Chaos forces were tearing everything apart from themselves.

Ugh, all this gave him one hell of a headache, and he had taken more aspirin these past few weeks than he had in years. This was quite possibly the worst disaster that had befallen his beloved Nation ever since the Abnormals arriving 500 years ago. There had been many skirmishes between them and those freaks, but nothing could have prepared them for an incursion of this magnitude, and yet Yvoire's instincts told him that this was only the beginning, the calm before the storm.

Sometimes, he wished things were simpler for him like it was back then… back when he, as a young man, hadn't been head of military affairs.

There had once been a time when Yvoire had NOT been in this position, a time when he had been an astounding warrior who fought on the front lines. He had been one of the few noblemen who took his duty as a soldier seriously, not caring much about meaningless things like money or prestige. All he cared for was keeping his country safe, safe from any and all threats against it. He had been one of the best in his generation, skilled in almost all forms of martial arts, his most favored being either Halberds, Bows, Spears or Sickles. The art of the sword had been his second favorite, yet it had also been his first. The art of the sword, while not his favorite, had commanded the most respect from him towards those who dedicated their lives to it. He had been one of those who knew of true honor, who followed the way of the sword, the spear, the ax, in his youth he had been an exceptional warrior…

Though, now that he was a shriveled and weak old man compared to his prime, Yvoire couldn't help but sometimes wonder if he could have done more on the battlefield than in this desk job. It just seemed to… stale, stagnant sometimes. Such thoughts he felt CERTAIN that by his family's rules were considered heresy, and simply uttering one bit about them would get him to court marshaled by society. Yet, even with his absolute faith to Lady Green Heart, those sinful thoughts refused to leave his mind. Moreso thanks to recent events. In the end, all the man could do was sigh and lament, lament his own weakness at being unable to help his people. Like a true man of the people should. It had been his ideal for a very long time, and he had inspired many to do similar acts.

Part of him, however, couldn't help but wonder why then, that the divide between the nobility and the commoners was still as large as it was. It shouldn't be as bad as it is, the nobility were the ones who took the burdens of leadership so that the masses didn't have to. They were like martyrs in a way, so they should at least be respected for their sacrifice. They do a lot to make sure the Nation had been as peaceful and prosperous it once was before all this shit went down and turned Leanbox into an, as much as he felt his heart constrict in pain for admitting this about his beloved Nation, an unholy nightmare.

Just then, his thoughts became broken when he heard the door to his quarters get opened from the other side, making him jump and twirl towards the source with his body set for a CQC fight. Old instincts and whatnot. Though, when he saw who it was, he couldn't believe his eyes. "You…!"

One Nico codename DEATHSTROKE (a large source of trouble for him) scowled at his stance.

"Settle down, old man. We need to talk."

* * *

"Things don't look good..."

"No, they don't, mother, no they don't at all..."

Stefan and Elenore, who wrapped her arms around his since he was her escort for the evening, quietly spoke to one another as they overlooked countless Nobles across the Gala. Unlike the majority of the populace, both of them had extreme worry written all over their faces, their lips set into frowns while their eyes cast their respective gazes across the attendants for this Gala. If there would be a reward for tense, then they would definitely win it hands down. They each had a wine glass in their hands, but none of them had the right frame of mind to drink right now, especially with what they were seeing. Though the Nobles in the Gala seemed peaceful and merry, both of them weren't fooled by such pathetically constructed Masks. No, this serenity was just a charade, both of them could see it as clear as day.

Beneath the merriment, everyone had a swirling vortex of anxiety and unease for Leanbox's future... well, not necessarily Leanbox's future, but their own.

Thinking back to his return, Stefan couldn't remember the last time so much strife had overcome Leanbox's masses. Both the Nobles and the civilian populace, at least the ones still loyal to Lady Green Heart. Ever since he came back, the whole political situation had been a complete mess, lesser-ranked Nobles were losing their homes, lands, fortunes and their lives during the various assaults on their beings by the Demonic forces, and NOT just the ones being lead by Maghda. Stefan mentally repressed a shudder at the thought, but if there were more players than the ones he knew right now (Nico, Lady Green Heart, Yvoire, the Nobles and Maghda) then things for Leanbox would be worse off than he initially thought possible.

Ever since then Nobles have been making more and more radical decisions than they would do normally. For example, new and unorthodox trade agreements were made between various Nobles across the lands, when certain items became more and more valuable due to their quantity becoming scarce. Mostly due to their original providers being either captured or slain by these demonic beings. These Trade agreements would use different routes than the norm to avoid all this demonic shit going down, routes that took people through more Monster territory than normal which did keep up the workload for the Guild at least, it gave them more Escort quests which soon became a constant source of funds for the Guild.

In addition, arranged marriages became more and more common, with daughters and sons alike being bound together in... well, not holy matrimony which would have been the norm before, but by contract instead. There were decreasing amounts of funds, and it became pretty obvious that squandering them on big, extravagant weddings for these arranged marriages would not be the way to go. Not to mention how these Nobles slowly became more and more paranoid to the point where they would be hiring more and more mercenaries to keep their lands safe from invaders. Unfortunately for Guild Agents, these beings proved to be too much for them to handle, and they thus only ended up offering their lives to just slowing them down and still leaving the lands being protected, ravaged and destroyed.

Sometimes, these marriages were just so that their heirs could be saved from impending death since they were the next generation, though this thought process was limited throughout the nobility.

"In the end, this Gala may just end up achieving one thing: keeping the Nobles' minds off of the impending chaos that will soon envelop Leanbox..." Elenore commented, worriedly. She knew a LOT about the militaristic point of view, being once a warrior herself and having close contact with its current head, her son. She WAS once the head herself, after all. The constant fighting of losing battles against these beings did horrific things to the troops and their morale. Every lost battle made mobilizing their full strength harder and harder to achieve, since doing so costed money. Money that was slowly decreasing thanks to the number of Lands still in their possession. Weapons, Armour, Troops, Training, provisions, all of those needed war funds, and the wealthy Nobles losing faith in their abilities from those battles did NOT help matters.

Right now, the cheapest of their options had been the Guild Agents and the Spec Ops Agents, ironically enough. Some of the Nation's most hated people were in fact, some of their greatest weapons against these demonic hordes. Many of the Spec Ops Agents would come to see these Demons and other beings of similar nature as just powerful Abnormals, thus they wouldn't make the same mistakes. In fact, their days fighting Abnormals worked in their favor, since they wouldn't be too afraid to do much unlike most of the Soldiers who couldn't do much against even the regular types of Abnormals.

Definitely didn't do the military's tarnished pride any favors.

"True, I can see these people having a mental break down by the time the Gala is at its end, and the storm of reality crashes down on them." Stefan stated, nodding. He had been conversing with several Dukes who had been the most affected by the economic decreases thanks to these attacks, and he had seen their faces. It wasn't pretty, practically all of them looked like they had become literal corpses thanks to the stress of managing their territories hung over them like the cloaks of the Reaper himself.

If only the CPU were here, perhaps she could help calm everyone's minds a little, at least by attending. However, when he had seen her briefly when he brought her to Noire, Stefan had seen how many looked at her, looked at her with eyes that were not meant to look upon the CPU. Thus, part of him argued that it was probably a good idea that she hadn't stayed long, otherwise something bad might have happened to her, and he would have had that Noble arrested. Such a thing would do NOTHING good for the peoples' nerves.

Nothing good at all.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **That's another chapter down.**

 **Now, I hope all of you can see just how different this is to canon. Not only is Leanbox actively playing a bigger role in how things are going with all the politics going about, but the fact that a human's perspective outside of the main cast showcases jut how shitty things are getting. If nothing is done soon, Khorne's forces will overwhelm Leanbox, of tat I believe all you readers who know of Warhammer will agree. Strife is rampant within Leanbox, and when an entity like KHORNE, the god of bloodlust and war, has its eyes on you, you KNOW strife will only FUCK you in the end.**

 **I'm also showcasing the point of views of different people to give a better sense of sophistication, to show that this isn't a simple tale of 'the enemy is here, lets forget our past grudges and strive to fight it together!' like in a lot of friendship is magic based anime/manga that use this trope. No, with the way i'm planning to portray things, I hope to make everything that happens thanks to this Gala feel as real as possible. Though I don't claim to be good at politics (Ii bet any who are learning that stuff reading this will be screaming at their devices at me by now).**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, read and review all that jazz.**

 **Now then, peace out!**


	125. Chapter 122 - Yvoire and Nico

**Chapter 122 - Yvoire and Nico**

Panting, he could only start panting as he made his way down some wooden staircases.

Jeez, that girl seemed damn persistent to follow him, what the hell?

What, did she seem onto him or something?

Nah, that couldn't be, women were usually frail and dumb like apes, how could one of THEM have known what he would really be doing?

Pft, women were dumb and stupid.

Still, he didn't need to think about her anymore, not when he got a job to do.

He made his way down to the bottommost floor, where the Basilicom housed the dungeons that used to contain prisoners. There used to be a whole load of them as precious 'trophies' from their raids, but thanks to, well, what's been happening, they were practically bare now. That was why there were so few Guards down here.

Not for long, he thought with a sneer.

Lord Mott had given him express orders, and he would follow them to the latter.

He had to go to the deepest floors in the Basilicom, then get everything ready.

Soon enough, the 'feast' would be beginning, and once that happens he will be able to hold his head high in front of his peers.

For the glory of Lord Khorne!

Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!

* * *

"Wai-Wai-Wai-Wait! No way, whoa! The heck?!" Neptune shrieked, flailing her arms back as she backpedaled, her eyes nothing but white circles as she looked upon the blonde woman before her with a look that could only be described as both baffled and disbelieving. Like she truly hadn't realized who this woman was from the moment that she saw her. She probably wouldn't have bought that, if she A: hadn't seen the symbols, and B: saw Noire as a liar. Noire wasn't the type to lie, and when she did it wasn't really that good of a lie… even though she fell for that lie hook line and sinker. At least this time she had proof other than Noire this time, though, so hey that had to be something, right? "Y-Y-Y-YOU'RE LEANBOX'S CPU?! LADY GREEN HEART?!"

Her reaction, however, had the opposite effect on Vert, whom could only smirk in amusement while hiding it behind her fingers. A feminine giggle escaped her lips, her eyes oozing with mirth at the sight of the drama in front of her. "My, this is an unexpected reaction. But yes, I am indeed the CPU of Leanbox. Why, do you not believe me, Neptune?" she asked her, tilting her head sideways while maintaining her smirk. That hadn't been what she expected, but for some reason, she didn't feel anything like shock towards it. Instead, she found the purplette's reaction to be quite amusing… as well as refreshing. It had been a while since she talked to someone, and the thought of someone like Neptune lowering her head before her felt… weird, to think about.

Not how she expected this whole thing to go, but she'd take what she could get.

"Well… wowee, this is unexpected. I totally haven't prepped any lines for this…" Neptune began, thinking of something to say to clear away this tension building in her chest. Sadly, for her, for once her brain just couldn't come up with anything, so she turned to her failsafe: fourth wall breaking. "Hey, what's the deal author? Vert's supposed to meet me after I recover from poison in canon lore, why change it over?" She asked with an impish pout, looking towards the audience while doing so.

At this, Noire rolled her eyes, having figured something like this would happen. It was both a random, and Neptune, thing for her to do after all. "Don't blame the author, Neptune." She chided. "He probably has his reasons for something like this, plus it makes a change from the whole retelling of canon gig people do for Fanfiction." She then turned to Vert, who looked as if what had happened was a normal occurrence. 'Wow, she's more open-minded than I thought…' the blackette mused, switching which leg would be crossed over the other. "Anyways, this is your chance, Vert, to see for yourself if Neptune's worth getting to know."

Hearing those words, Neptune blinked as her face morphed to one of befuddlement as she glanced towards the ravenette. "Huh? Say wha?"

"I see… you are right." Vert replied, nodding while ignoring the curiosity and confusion of the preteen. There were more important things for her to think about right now, like the preteen for example. "Neptune, as a CPU yourself, even if you do not remember, I have to ask: what do you intend?"

Neptune blinked once more, confusion ringing through her being. "Huh? Again, wha?" she asked, scratching her head. "Uhhhhh, sorry, ya gonna have to run that by me again, cause this Nep's understanding characteristic is at an all-time low right now…" when she mentioned the 'all-time low' part, she had raised her arms and placed her hands in chopping motions, then moved them to her waist, and finally crouching to put her hands at her ankles. Afterward, she stood back up as if nothing had ever happened, making the other two CPUs sweatdrop.

'Is… she serious?' Vert questioned herself, momentarily thinking that this Neptune may not be the same person as whom Noire said she was, before she realized something. 'Oh, that's right, I almost forgot. Since she is sporting the amnesia trope I see in my games, she will likely not be able to endure a political conversation, unlike myself and Noire…' she thought. Though, if she knew Neptune better, then Vert would think she was not adept at those situations at all. "What I mean is, what are your intentions for Leanbox?" Vert clarified further, hoping to get her point across. "Even if you do not remember, you are indeed the CPU of Planeptune. Therefore, should your identity become known, people may start to lose their cool since you are in another Nation than your own. With Leanbox as it is, that fear will likely be worse."

That was the least of the things that could go wrong, but Vert wouldn't say them since Neptune wouldn't get them. One of them would be that, with her lack of a memory, it would be pointless to ask what she thought of the Planeptune/Lastation alliance since she wouldn't be involved with the politics. Having an amnesiac as a ruler didn't seem like a wise decision either, and according to what she had heard from her reps in Planeptune, it didn't seem like they knew of Neptune's return from Celestia. Therefore, it seemed like Neptune didn't have a hand in the political decisions the Nation has made as of late. Not only that, but Vert also concluded this based on the fact that Neptune had come here without much of an armed escort unlike Noire, according to the attendance rosters she had read.

Noire herself kept silent, watching the two interact with each other. Honestly, even with everything that was going on, this all still felt somewhat surreal to her. It seemed like only yesterday when she, Vert and Neptune were at each other's throats on Celestia. The memories from back then didn't help in negating this feeling either, in fact, they helped spread it through her system like a virus. However, instead, here they were showing little to no hostility towards one another. From what she could tell, it seemed that Vert still didn't know what to make of Neptune's new state of mind, hence why she could see signs of confusion in her body language. Miniscule shuffling, the random twitches of her hands and brows, the works. On the other hand, Neptune looked as carefree as Noire remembered her from their time together back in Lastation. Unaware, or simply not even knowing, about the potentially dangerous situation she had found herself in.

'Still, something's different about them… both of them…' she couldn't help but think, concern laced within her thoughts as Noire eyed the two evenly. She made sure to keep her thoughts hidden behind a mask of blankness, however. 'Neptune's aura seems like its been altered somewhat… its hiding something deep within itself, something I can't quite make out even with IT helping me.' Her eyes then wandered off of Neptune's form and over to Vert's, similar thoughts playing out in her mind. 'Then there's Vert. I couldn't pick up her presence at all when I was back in that main hall and had to resort to asking for help from the locals. That was the Von Kessel family, I believe, some of Leanbox's best troops. But, regarding Vert… there's something within her, too… similar to my situation, actually…'

Whilst Noire had her mental thoughts occupying her, both CPUs waited for Neptune to answer Vert's question. Said preteen definitely wasn't unaware of this, especially when she looked between them to see their gazes firmly fixed on her (for different reasons of course) prompting her to chuckle nervously. "ehehehehe, wow, this is getting kinda awkward again, wow…" she remarked to herself, before she hummed to herself and began to think. It took her a moment, but eventually, Neptune's eyes widened as a lightbulb (both figuratively and literally) switched on above her head. "Oh, yeah, that's it! Its been a while and so much stuff have happened that I completely forgot!"

"Hm?" Vert questioned, her expression being one of surprise when she heard Neptune's… well, rather loud response. Though, if what she was seeing was genuine, then this Neptune seemed to have that as a usual personality setting. "My, whatever do you mean?" she questioned, wanting to get answers out of the amnesiac CPU already. She may be one of the more patient CPUs, but this was slowly pushing it. Hopefully, they would all get their answers by the end of this.

Turning to look at her again, Neptune gave a wide, childish grin. A grin that just screamed innocence and purity as she gave Vert a victory sign while her grin became a toothy one. "I'm here to help people, have fun, kick monster booty and take names! That's me, the Nep-Nep extraordinaire!" she cheerfully bellowed, her free hand on her hip and her legs spread in a V shape. Just like her hand, making her look like some sort of superhero trying to appease the populace.

In this case, the populace being Vert and Noire.

"So… you don't intend to try and take over the other Nations?"

"Huh? No way, that's too boring. I just wanna have fun. Isn't that much better than fighting some weird, stupid war nobody even remembers the point of any more? Plus me and my friends, you guys included, get to save people, so isn't that something to go for?"

Vert had been the one to ask that first question, then Neptune answered it with a question of her own. That answer, however, had been the most genuine thing that the woman had heard from Planeptune's CPU. It made her realize that Noire truly had been right on the money about her. That Neptune truly HAD changed, changed from the person she had once been to the person she is now. Honestly, even though her childish, naive outlook on the world felt like it could become annoying at times, her easy-going nature, infectiously positive attitude, all of that felt a FAR better state of being than before, and thus Vert didn't want that to change. "I see…"

"So?" Vert looked over to Noire, who had a smug look on her face as she looked expectantly towards the CPU of Leanbox. "You believe me now?"

The woman nodded. As difficult it had been at first, it truly did seem like Neptune had changed, and likely for the better. Whatever happened to her post her exile from Celestia had done wonders for her personality. Seeing her like this, it made her realize something else, too. If this was what she had been like when Noire had stayed with her in Lastation, then it was no wonder why she began to see her as someone who wasn't an enemy, someone whom she didn't want to kill. This kind of personality could lend Neptune a friend from nearly any person, her optimism being enough to brighten an entire room of people.

With this in her mind, Vert once again to her seat, and gestured wordlessly to Neptune if she wanted the seat beside Noire. "Now then, with that business out of the way…" she began, watching with no small amount of amusement as Neptune plopped herself onto the seat and began lazily kicking her feet in the air. In comparison, Noire looked like she was sitting next to a cactus, wary of the slightest possibility of being glomped by the affectionate preteen.

Maybe…

Maybe these two could help her along with Nico, as well… maybe even the rest of those energies she had sensed.

One could only hope, right? And right now, she had a LOT of hope building within her chest thanks to this discovery.

"Perhaps… we can have a more civil, relaxed conversation…"

* * *

In contrast to the lessening tension between Noire, Neptune, and Vert… the tension between Nico and Yvoire in a completely different room located on the opposite side of the Basilicom, only intensified. Tenfold, even.

The moment that Nico entered the room, Yvoire had been on high alert, quickly getting out of his chair, losing interest in its fate and no longer acknowledging its existence. He would have made to do something more drastic like summon one of the few weapons he kept on him at all times from his Inventory, had Nico not raised his hand in a pacifying gesture and said those words.

That he wanted to talk…

To. TALK.

Yvoire almost wanted to laugh at something so absurd. It was no secret how much Nico despised him, and the feeling was mutual. This hatred for each other stemmed from something that happened deep in their past, but nonetheless the hatred there was genuine. Whenever they were in the same room, it would always be a battle of pure willpower between them under a civil guise, though something like that being used to describe Nico always left a sour taste in Yvoire's mouth. After all, every time Yvoire looked at this boy, looked right into his eyes… He only saw something else, something inhuman.

Whenever he looked into Nico's eyes, he would see something… akin to an animal.

The way he would look at someone with those eyes, a civil look to the casual observer… but if one were to look even deeper, peel back the disguise to look at what truly lay beneath those eyes, they wouldn't see that much humanity in those eyes one bit. They would see many things behind that gaze, darkness, bloodlust, a simmering desire to sink claws into anything and everything around it that it saw as a threat… which was pretty much everything in existence. Yvoire would know, since he'd seen the boy do such things before… to criminals, who dared betray Lady Green Heart's will. It was a fool's choice to call that BOY… though he wasn't even sure he was that even, a human. No, it felt much more appropriate to call someone like Nico an animal, a beast, a beast that could potentially lash out at anything that dared agitate it. If he were to consider what differentiated him from the so-called 'Demons' which were tarnishing Leanbox according to the reports… he'd find very little.

This boy… He may be considered a human at first glance, but that could not be any further from the truth. One only had to look deeper, to look past the mask to see what he truly was deep inside, the truth that for some reason even he tried to hide…

A… motherfucking MONSTER.

"You wish to 'talk', you say?" Yvoire questioned, narrowing his eyes cautiously towards the boy, scowling. He didn't let up on his guard, not for a second. After all, with what he knew about Nico, there could only be one REAL reason he would have come here. Also, what had happened to his guards? Whilst the majority of them had been stationed by the Main Hall to protect the Nobles from external threats (and to resolve any quarreling), there still was a platoon's worth scattered throughout the floors. Security had been airtight, so how could Nico have gotten here without resorting to violence? That was his line of thinking, and considering who was in front of him, he wasn't entirely wrong to be wary. "You are not pulling the wool over my eyes, boy, what need would you have to talk to me? Alone, in my room unexpected?"

In hindsight, Nico wondered about that himself. Judging by what tones were used, Yvoire didn't seem like he knew what had happened to his guards either. No, it was more likely that he had stationed guards outside his room, and the fact that he had got in without as much as breaking a sweat, not even fighting to alert the old man, rung many alarm bells within his mind. Knowing what Nico was capable of thought, he must have figured that IT had to be responsible. Not a bad theory, if it were true since IT was usually hidden from the five senses. Still, it was not true this time, his inner beast was not responsible for this. "Don't worry, as much as we hate each other mutually, I'm not here to kill you." Nico replied, making a hand gesture that showed that he wasn't armed. Rebellion had been stored back into his Void Storage while he had traveled here, all the while reviewing what IF had handed him.

Let's just say, that what she had gave him would be fundamental for his argument with this old geezer.

"If you think about it, if I wanted to kill you, you'd have been dead long before your mind even processed what had happened." He continued to state as a matter of fact. Neither of them could disagree with that statement, as Nico may be the best killer of other people amongst the Spec Ops Agents. Someone who tore apart his enemies without mercy, and left nothing but a pile of bloody corpses, a pile the size of a mountain, in his wake. There was a reason why he had the nickname 'Black Reaper' after all. Another thing that he had in common with the Black Swordsman, Guts now that the redhead thought about it, since they both were cloaked in black and had badassery under their belts. "You and I know this for a fact, don't we?"

The way he stated that, Yvoire felt like he had no choice to begrudgingly nod in agreement, gritting his teeth while schooling himself. He made his features slack, slack enough that they returned to this emotionless, formal façade that he wore whenever he dealt with snobby politics and scandals against Leanbox as a whole. He couldn't be caught with his figurative pants down, not with this 'thing' before him. That would be like just ASKING him to draw ou his claws and run him through, no matter how much he wanted to admit otherwise even in his prime Yvoire admitted to being unable to take Nico down. That kid's claws were greater than his ever could be…

Which was a large reason why he was known as a monster to begin with.

"Alright, let's say I believe you when you say you want to talk…" the old man began, slowly crossing his arms beneath his chest, putting his hands within his robes while he gave an impassive stare towards Nico, who had used is beastly powers to close the door behind them, locking it in place. "What is it that you want of me? Be quick, otherwise, I will call security to this room." He demanded, trying to show that he wasn't threatened by the kid's demeanor.

May as well have not done a thing though, since Nico remained unmoved by the sight. "You did that, and you would have been responsible for the loss of many husbands and fathers." Nico stated dryly as if he didn't believe Yvoire had forgotten just WHO it was that was under the other's mercy. Nico, if that were to happen, if Yvoire were to call security, he would DEFINITELY follow up on his word. Nico never gave his word up lightly, after all. If they were to attack him, they'd forfeit their lives. "But let's not go down the path of blood and carnage just yet. What I want is to ask you for your assistance."

"My assistance?" Yvoire questioned, arching a brow. His face may have been impassive, but his tone did all that it needed to, so his confusion got conveyed. Of all the things that Nico could have asked for, like money, power, or perhaps even a few women or two (goddess knows the brat has a sizable group already), THIS wasn't something that cropped into the man's mind. Not to mention, Nico rarely, if ever, asked for someone's help. He preferred to tackle his problems on his own, so what had changed his mind so? No matter, Yvoire felt that there had to be a reason to this, so he wanted to know what that was. "You have never asked for assistance from anyone before, so why is it that you ask help of me rather than someone you don't absolutely despise?"

Nico's lips tightened, as if to repress something. It was true, the teen didn't like asking others for help, it went against his individuality. He was someone who strongly relied on himself, after all. However, with the scale of the current events, Nico didn't see any other option. Killing all the demonic forces in his DPU form had been one option, but that would not be a realistically viable method of conduct, plus he was only one person. There were likely dozens of Hellgates, each scattered across the Land of Green Pastures. He lacked too much information, therefore he couldn't do that. Plus, there were too many forces at work, forces that would destroy countless lives if he attempted something like that. "Believe me, if I had any other choice, I would do exactly as you say. I would rather be anywhere but here, but then again we can't always get what we want. Though, I'm sure you know this already. Now then, the reason why I'm asking you for help is that I believe that the Nobility need to be reformed."

"What are you talking about?" Yvoire asked again, now growing slightly more irritated with the heretical words coming out of Nico's mouth. Though, what else could he expect from an abomination like him? "The Nobility are fine as they are, boy. This Nation has thrived for centuries under the current means of government. Its longstanding history up until this point is proof of this." He stated, pride oozing from his words. Yvoire knew this to be a fact, he firmly believed that the governing system was fair and balanced. The Nation's economy flourished like a well-blooming flower, while the Military that he was head of had been just as thriving. Even with the constraints put upon it to keep it under control. He himself had imposed those rules so that the Military wouldn't think of revolting against the current government.

It was this talk that made Nico despise the man so. Seriously, this was one of the main reasons why Nico HATED politicians with as much passion as he did. It was a wonder why a Nation such as Leanbox, which didn't have many of the advantages the other Nations had, still remained standing with bigots like this person in charge. This guy, who always stayed cooped up within his office or his quarters working, believed that the current system was fair and just. A system which was so full of corruption and deceit that it wouldn't even fool someone who had none of the five senses. It felt so disgusting, so sickening that it made Nico want to laugh if he could. How blind could this asshole be? No, wait, that was a question that didn't need an answer, it had been plainly obvious for some time now, that this man's faith exceeded most reason. Especially now, thanks to Vert acting more like a leader for once.

Faith and religion always blinded people, it was a fact of life in Gamindustri, and why those who were more fanatical than others discriminated against the Spec Ops. Just because they refused to submit themselves to some pathetic religion.

"Really? You think that these 'Nobles' are just?" Nico commented dryly, putting his leather gloved hands inside his Trench Coat pockets. If his inner beast was allowed to come out… oh, how it would be boiling in primal fury and disgust at just how naive this man was. Right now, faith was NOT the answer to everyone's problems, no matter what they were like personally, Nico knew for a FACT that the Goddesses weren't strong enough to take on anything like the Chaos Gods, even the greater Demons under their service. The faith in them was just too low at this point. Right now, the only thing people could do right now was to 'rebel' against the injustice, to bear their claws and fangs, and to fight for their livelihoods. THAT has been the way things have been since the dawn of creation, THAT was the way of Gamindustri.

A nod was what Yvoire responded with. "Hmph, yes, they are indeed. I myself have lived in this land for over 70 years, ample time to set an example to be followed for all Nobles. My family HAS been one of the original families, the first few who were founded during Leanbox's beginning. We have always strived to be the best example for the rest of our citizens, we have maintained order for all these centuries, even when our beloved CPU has not been around. So, do not dare to presume that the people we have presided over for all these years have need of reform! They are just as fine as they are!"

 **'… I wonder, were the past DPUs as blind as this man seems to be? For this man to not notice just what has been truly going on… it is most… vexing, to say the least.'**

"Let's change focus then." Nico proposed, mentally agreeing with Biko's assessment. After all, it seemed that pursuing that train of conversation would get them nowhere, with how utterly consumed by his fanatical devotion towards the CPU Green Heart Yvoire seemed to be. It filled him with disgust and disdain for the man, yet that didn't feel all too different from what he had usually felt for the man. Nonetheless, even with all this, he STILL needed to sway the man to his side if what he planned had a chance of working. "You said that you set an example and as such the other nobles must have followed."

Yvoire nodded in resolution, firmly believing his words on the matter. He moved his arms as if making a grand gesture towards his faith as if it were a physical being instead of the concept that it actually was. Something that didn't differentiate him from the rest of his people, unfortunately. As ashamed as he was to admit this, Nico didn't feel much when he saw this simply because he had been expecting it. Truly, humanity had sunken to a new low that they would depend on something as foolish as faith to solve their problems. It was like the ultimate damsel in distress scenario. "Obviously, even someone of as little intelligence as yours must be capable of understanding human words so why make me repeat myself. I showed them all exactly what they should do, taught many of them personally even, so I have no doubts that they must be capable of moving this nation towards their glory of old."

Remaining unfazed by the insult (although internally was a different story), Nico glanced idly towards the window behind Yvoire, before his gaze focused back on the elderly Priest. His eyes showed nothing to indicate the storm of emotions boiling over within his gut. "But, how can you be so sure that they are really moving this nation forward? I mean, just look at how all of them came to this party to play around, while at this very instant you yourself are still working?"

"It is merely some small festivities and I am sure that they must be also discussing important things." The man replied casually, as if talking about the weather. Yet, the firmness from his previous statements so far remained. It was an ever-constant, and he read reports from important festivities like these. Those reports didn't lie and showed how the Nobles conversed both civilly as well as showed progress in making changes. Hell, he even implemented some of them himself, knowing how the overall government of Leanbox needed some of those changes and not others.

At this point, it took all of Nico's willpower not to scoff at what he was hearing. Everything Yvoire said sounded like utter gibberish in his head, if he was frank. Those Nobles, according to his experience, acted like nothing more than spoiled brats who only cared for their own fortune. Yet, because this guy hadn't seen the humanity behind those choices, he didn't see it that way. That was what Nico had come to in his mind, and even now he could feel the pride oozing off this guy in waves. No, it felt more like borderline arrogance, and THAT pissed him off more than one could ever imagine. "The military members maybe but the aristocrats sure ain't doing anything of the sort." He stated bluntly, no more need to sugar coat this shit. He'll say it bluntly and bring the truth barrelling down on this fool.

However, it seemed that his words may have worked a little TOO well, if what he saw next was any indication. "That, THAT is why I can't stand you and your spec-ops friends so much." Yvoire said pointing directly at Nico. For the first time since this conversation began, the man had let some of his calm demeanor slip, slip like tripping up on a floor of cold ice. Fragile, cold ice at that. Not only his demeanor, but his eyes looked slightly different too. They shone with an intensity that reminded him of volatile flames (and Nico knew flames like that, thanks to knowing and seeing both Primal Fire from Urthemiel, and his own Hellfire).

Looking into his emotional state, Nico noticed that much of his previous emotions have bee switched to furious anger. Anger that coursed through his being and not unlike that of the Chaos God whose forces were ravaging Leanbox as they spoke. That concerned him, but he remained silent. Nevertheless, Nico furrowed his brows in confusion, wondering what the fucking shit Yvoire meant by those words, but the next few managed to show him what exactly the man meant all too well.

"You all always think that the military and strength are the only options, that this is what this entire nation, no this entire WORLD should think about all the time. But, have you ever thought of WHY we allow for some of these nobles to remain ignorant and foolish? To continue to waste away instead of reinforcing further our military? Because it is necessary. This nation was BORN different, we were created as a homologation of many smaller countries and tribes, we were more controllable when our CPU was here. But after she went to fight her glorious battle there was unrest, we could self-implode and become a fat piece of meat to the other three nations. So, we did what was needed, we allowed for the nobles to be freer while limiting their power and put our faith in the military. And do you know what happened? We almost were swallowed WHOLE by the expanding military that after cleaning out the monsters tried to start waging war against the other nations. That is why we lessened the power of the military, because here there is no right answer. All we can do is lessen the trouble and try to safeguard the nation."

That... sounded like he had given up almost at the end. Nico didn't like that, nor did he like how Yvoire basically slandered those whom he represented. He may have… issues with people, but even Nico saw the truth behind what it meant to be a Spec Ops. To them, strength was key to survival, in order to fight the monsters that they do, they had to become monstrously strong themselves. That, unfortunately, labeled them as 'not so different from the monsters they fought' by those that discriminate against them, such as the cold reality that is Gamindustri. Not to mention, thinking back on his history lessons Nico did remember a time when Leanbox was more war-like than it was in current society. It was a nation that specialized in weapons and martial arts the physical aspect of combat, after all. The fanatism in there seemed almost entirely ignored by everything else, with how often he heard it. "Then why not trust on the spec-ops program?"

If anything, Yvoire's emotions turned even more negative when Nico questioned him that way. "And give power, influence, and everything needed for a potential internal war to some civilians who hold no love or respect for our nation and CPU? That could try and destroy this nation or worse without a second thought while being drunk in power? This is a mistake no matter how adamant you are in your biases towards them, you are too innocent." Yvoire retorted as if that was a stupid question to ask, and Nico barely managed to keep his irk in line beneath his blank demeanor. The man shook his head in a disgruntled manner at the thought, as if the very idea insulted him. "That would take away the best parts of what we have and when they see true trouble turn around and go to some other nation? No, this nation needs to be moved forward by the nobility, those who can put the military under surveillance and are capable of not letting the spec-ops do as they please here."

 **'… I feel disgust welling up inside me.'**

'You are NOT the only one, Biko…'

Ugh, seriously it took all Nico had NOT to break his facade. Whilst he remained blank-faced on the outside (something that irritated the old priest though he didn't show it), internally was a WHOLE new ball game. Not only did Nico feel the disgust welling up inside of him, he almost lost it to his instincts as they screamed at him to let them free the 'beast' inside of him through Yvoire's stomach, torso, and all his major organs. Just so that he would see just how pathetic he really was. The male could hear his Inner Beast screaming within his mind, grating on his ears like stones against the edge of a sword, creating sparks along its edges. The teen almost lost it right then and there, but he held it at bay.

Nico knew this feeling, he knew VERY well what this feeling was like, having experienced it more times than he could count. He remembered this feeling from whenever his superiors at the Guild or the Basilicom called him from his work whenever he came back from a difficult or Urgent Quest. Those times had been the most stressful for him, as those assholes 'politely' demeaned his efforts and handed the credit that was rightfully his to someone who either did less than him, or had practically no ties to the incidents whatsoever. Whilst the male could understand WHY they did it, it still didn't limit this feeling of being caged up like an animal that he constantly dealt with.

A feeling he had long since came to accept.

Yvoire sounded like those assholes up top, thinking that because of what happened in the past that they were safe, that they were secure and free from the risk of Nico unleashing his Inner Beast on them. If he did, then not only would they ruin his reputation by labeling him as a criminal, exiling him from any of the major cities across the four Nations, but they would 'convince' the CPUs and his fellow Agents that he had done some crime he had not committed just so that the Agents would hunt him down and make him 'pay'. All the while washing their hands off the dirty deed themselves. Nico regularly dealt with those types of people the majority of his life, a side of his time here that he kept mostly to himself. He hadn't told Compa about it during their time apart (and most certainly not during their adventures), but Aiden and Ivan knew this. Yet, neither of them could help him since they were just Agents like himself.

They were just animals, monsters in the forms of humans meant to howl like dogs and tear humanity's enemies to pieces.

Still, like always Nico held it in. He held back the cries of his inner beast, strengthened the oppressive chains that bound it (and to an extent, himself). Even as he mentally grimaced at its pained howls, how he loathed those chains with every fiber of his being, Nico still knew just how necessary those chains of oppression were. That they were the sole thing keeping him from 'going out of control' and causing damage to him that exceeded most Abnormals. His inner beast was NOT something to be trifled with, nope, no sir. Even now though, he hated those chains despite his understanding of their necessity, more so than anything else. He didn't acknowledge it, but deep down, Nico had one desire, one desire that was more important to him than anything. Not even his own lack of memories or his own sense of self-dependence held a candle to it. A desire that, if realized, could have untold consequences on not only himself but those that he called Comrade.

Besides, right now though there was one difference that helped his Inner Beast settle down, helped it deal with the ever-so-hateful restraints on its nature. That difference being that, unlike then, he had a purpose, a plan, a reason to fight this political battle. Before, all he could have done was to nod and accept their decision, to allow them to use him as their Watchdog, their pet, their bloodhound. Now, however, was a different story. Now, he had the means, the desire, and he had changed from the 'mindless animal' from back then. Now he had more than just himself to worry about, hence why Nico calmly spoke as if none of Yvoire's words had any effect on him. "Is that so? Then what if I told you that the Nobility were, in reality, the ones that were bringing Leanbox down from within?"

"I would charge you for heresy and exile you from Leanbox forever, abomination. Not even Lady Green Heart would argue with me on this, you would never set foot on our lands with those disgusting feet of yours." Yvoire replied.

However, if he thought those words would get the teen to settle down on those outrageous claims, then he would be in for a world of surprise when Nico suddenly chuckled, a chuckle without amusement or mirth which he hid behind a closed fist. Though, the shaking of his shoulders gave him away. "Wow, now isn't THAT interesting, cause I'm saying that anyways, AND before you say anymore..." he began, raising a hand to stop the man from interjecting much to his irritation. "know that I have evidence to support my claims."

At THIS, Yvoire arched a brow in curiosity. Well, mild curiosity, as he felt mostly indignation, furious anger and a strong desire to just quash those claims right now. However, something about the kid had stopped him from opening his mouth after he finished speaking. Something that he saw in the kid's light blue eyes. There was... clarity, a clarity in them that should NOT belong to an animal. It was like it knew something that its superiors didn't, and THAT didn't sit well with him. Animals were supposed to remain dumb and follow the orders of their betters. It had been that way since the dawn of creation, so seeing an 'Animal' talking back to him did more than just irk the old priest. "Oh? What evidence do you claim to have?"

"I'm talking about that Urgent Quest to Mojang Village a couple months ago. You know which one I'm talking about, since I and my comrades filed a report on that particular case. How the Abnormals had supposedly 'taken over' the mines that belonged to one particular Noble, Count Mott. I do believe that, according to the Gala's attendance roster, that he was supposed to attend today, but he hasn't for whatever reason. If that isn't suspicious enough, there were Momus followers combined with people who support the Forces of Chaos have taken over the Mines. You and I both know that this particular Count isn't one to let profits go to waste, which begs the question: what is his goal for not only arranging for that Urgent Quest, but he SPECIFICALLY pulled strings within the Spec Ops community to make it so that me and my comrades, Team RAIL, were the ones to go there?" Nico replied, hiding his distaste for the Count.

To him, that was only the start of what he knew about the Count, and that there was so much more for the male to recount for the older man. Though, admittingly there was less evidence against Mott here since the man had covered most of his tracks. Something that Nico reluctantly admitted to himself. Good thing he had more dirt on that though.

"A bold accusation boy, one of which you do not have proof of." Yvoire stated, he remembered reading the reports on that particular Urgent Quest, and from what he had read it seemed that the Village had been overrun by Abnormals. Abnormals that had a fascination with the Silver Steel mines there, and their numbers would prove to be too dangerous to settle without Spec Ops intervention. He had thought about it, and in the end, Yvoire had decided to send a small force of said Agents to reclaim the Mines. They WERE valuable to Leanbox's defenses, after all. "If that is all, then you may as well leave this Basilicom and never return, lest you face my wrath."

At this, Nico grinned oh how he grinned. That grin fits so well on not human, but a beast, as it exposed his teeth which almost seemed like fangs, his eyes gleaming menacingly which made the old man fear for his life. His grin particularly unnerved the older man, as he had thought that the kid may have nothing left to say to support his claims when he denounced that Urgent Quest one. Apparently, not. "Believe me, I have a LOT more. Specifically, the Hellverse Dungeon that was destroyed 3 months back. That was my doing, one of my teammates had been captured by that place's former occupants, I believe you know her as Maghda." Nico commented, Yvoire's eyes widening at the name. "Of course you do, she was once a member of the Basilicom's staff after all. Anyways, she took one of my comrades away from me, and when I went to get her back, I found myself going through the manor of the former King Leoric, you know him since he was a big figure in Leanbox's past history. Once a good king, driven insane by an abnormal. Or better yet, you know him as the undead Abnormal that I defeated myself with another of your Agents. In the end, I also ended up rescuing the head of the Ostermark Order, Captain Stefan Von Kessel, and he gave some interesting information as a testimony against the Count."

This time, Yvoire had a harder time trying to downplay Nico's words, as he even had recorded Stefan's testimony on his right Bracer and had played it as vocal evidence. Not only that, but it had indeed been confirmed that Nico and Stefan had been in regular contact with each other, and in the reports, it had been clearly stated that both of them believed something to be going wrong. It just wasn't hinted at what that was, thus Yvoire had dismissed it.

"Oh, and if you STILL aren't convinced that the Nobles are bringing the Nation down, here have a look at THIS." With those words, Nico pulled out a journal from his Void Storage. Not just any Journal, however, Yvoire realized the moment he saw it. It was a Journal that once belonged to a fallen Noble. A Noble whose fortune had been sucked dry by, you guessed it, Nobles connected to Count Mott himself according to Nico's investigations (which he explained while drawing the Journal from his Void Storage).

In Nico's mind, he had to hand it to IF, she had indeed pulled through and he didn't even realize it. Whilst walking here, he had decided to see what IF had sent him, and found this Journal. When he'd opened it out of curiosity, Nico had almost flipped his lid when he discovered what was inside, a whole hell LOT of criminalizing evidence against a series of Nobles, and most importantly the ones under Count Mott's employ. Not only that, but Nico discovered that this Noble had been the same one he had overheard those old women talking about while passing them by, the one who specialized in Media. Bribery, plots to 'dismiss' certain key figures of authority, dirty business dealings swept under the rug, assassination plots, theft of honest merchants, taking other people's property without permission, all sorts of criminal activities had been recorded. Hell, there were even entries about feeding information to outside sources about certain key areas important to Leanbox that 'conveniently' got destroyed not long after these chronological entries. Apparently, this Noble had died not too long before IF had found him with a knife to his chest inside an abandoned shack, which likely meant he had been assassinated somehow. But, before he had been killed, the man had seemingly pulled some strings so that he could still make recordings of Mott's deeds. IF must have taken it and kept it in her possession in secret. Who knows what she had to deal with to do that though.

Mentally, he vowed to make it up to her when he had the chance.

Tossing the Journal, Yvoire caught it in his hands before opening it. The moment he did so, his eyes filled with shock and horror when he read the entries. But, after a while, a resigned look appeared on his face. Almost resembled him having finally given up denying something, as the man then moved to the side, walking up to what looked like a stack of wines for the purpose of catching a drink for himself before starting to talk. "Even so, I cannot agree to what you probably want." he said, pouring him a glass after taking said glass out as well as the wine he had selected. The sound of liquid filling the glass up filled the air, being the sole sound to fill the tense silence.

Nevertheless, Nico's patience soon reached its limits with that response. He wouldn't be too good at politics since his patience didn't have that high a limit in the first place. Was the man truly so blind as to ignore all this evidence to the contrary belief that "WHY? Is it some idiocy from the past AGAIN? This is the present old man, you should look at it." Nico answered more than a bit irritated.

The answer he received was a mirthless chuckle as Yvoire turned to him. He held the glass at his side, looking to him without any of the previous disdain in his eyes, At least that showed that he wasn't viewing Nico the same way anymore. "Have you ever stopped to REALLY study this nation, scratch that ANY nation's history for more than its glorious moments?" Yvoire asked, shutting up Nico. Truthfully Nico never really cared much for this, he was busy with what he has to do and his missions. "I will consider this silence as evidence enough. You see, these military families that you oh so love as they seem just and correct, that only want the 'good of the nation' have one thing in common." he explained. "ALL of them came from the most barbaric and salvage of the original tribes, the types that would kill and destroy for sheer and pure pleasure, dying in the flames of war being an honor and any other type of death a shame. Even those you personally know and that you believe could bring the good to the nation have their OWN ideas on what is best for the nation, dangerous ideas and ideals. I don't even know how many times I had to stop them from launching assaults on other nations whenever they suffered problems, and even then some of those raids still happened without my knowledge. By the time I found out, they had already happened and each family had covered its tracks so the blame couldn't be traced to them. War is in the blood of these groups you so callously represent and think are just, it is their history, past, present, and future."

At this, Nico furrowed his brows, taking n this information. If he were to say that he was surprised, then Nico would say he was lying. In the end, it made sense that these families came from such tribes, as he recalled hearing about it in hushed rumors during his investigation. Some tribes were even the origins of the Nobility, as well, though they were primarily the military families scattered throughout Leanbox. "In the end, the main reason as to why I cannot agree to what you want is that it would spell true and ultimate doom to this world. If not on this generation o the next few. A leader, boy, must not simply look at the 'present' at what is right in front of him. He must worry about the future too, to think about what effects their actions may cause. Even your spec-ops that you love so much, I also have evidence that shows how some of them have committed many forms of crime and abuse of authority. Heck, there was even more than one the tried to make a coup-de-tat against this very nation that you are on right now, and the worse was that it was an official mission in the guild, to make this nation fall so as to secure the best resources possible to the group you represent. All for the 'betterment of mankind', all for the 'greater good'."

Pausing his speech when he felt his mouth a bit dry, Yvoire took a small sip of his wine. The beverage's liquid coursed down his throat, wetting it enough for him to continue. "They must have seen us as weak, we had no CPU and we used rudimentary weapons compared to other nations after all, if you add our natural resources we were a fat pie ready for the taking. And yet, we won against those agents every time. AND everytime, your precious guild made us erase all registry of these facts, hide away the shame of what happened in their own very past via blackmail, saying they would remove all their personal from this nation and let it be run over by monsters so that they could take the pieces after if we wouldn't agree to their orders. It has happened more times than you can count, the guild hiding their bad side, the military families hiding their own desires for war and expansion under the guise of betterment of the nation, it is the TRUE history that you and so many others ignore while throwing accusations at us that have to carry it all in the end. You have to understand that you are still too innocent to the world at large. You have never truly experienced what leading mean, how heavy is the responsibility of us that have to deal with the knowledge that any action we take can lead to the death of thousands. Something that a demon or monster would never understand or care, but if you truly are human you should be able to at least hear what I say. If you want to change things, you should know that there will be bloodshed. Can YOU take the responsibility of knowing that you are saving thousands now and condemning BILLIONS in the near future?"

A disgruntled laugh escaped Yvoire's lips, Nico frowning deeply at the act while clenching his fists. They trembled, the man noticed, but they didn't lash out. Doubts starting to cloud Nico's mind "Hahahahaha, I guess I am old after all, I've been watching over this nation for the last 50 years, stopping it from imploding in itself due to how everyone seems to want that to happen. Even if you want to change, even if you desperately want to change things, the fact is that this is not something that personal opinion and biases should ever have a hand on. If I let you eliminate all 'evil' nobility there is, then the military families will expand using that void as soon as this threat is over. This nation, this glorious nation that my ancestors and I thought and bleed for so many times, will be finished on the unending flames of war that I would have prepared ample conditions for. Not that YOU, the other Spec-ops or guild agents would care or mind that deeply. You are ultimately mercenaries, you work for a paycheck and if this nation falls you can simply restart your life somewhere else and let life go on. You may feel bad for a while, but your life will move on, it was 'inevitable' and 'not your fault in any way'. After all, it was never your RESPONSABILITY."

This... This wasn't how Nico expected this to go.

Nope...

Not one bit.

This was too much, he couldn't go on with what he planned with all this new information. All the investigation he had done beforehand was to gather evidence against Count Mott, enough so that he could sway politicians to his side enough to allow him the chance to rip into Count Mott's intestines then tear them from his body. If he wanted to kill someone as high ranking as this noble, he would have to get the permission of his superiors first, convince them that this guy didn't deserve to live and that he was a threat to their society. Then, they would sound the horn, and he would howl, to answer the call.

However, now all THIS stuff, stuff about leadership, responsibility, and all that other crap that e he could BARELY grasp, and that was only because he knew a few leaders in his time as an Agent (the CPUs and a few others). There was now just too much information that he hadn't considered, as in the military families themselves, their own ideals for the Nation, as well as the fact that Yvoire HAD been trying to keep the Nation upright for all this time. He WASN'T just sitting around being a lazy prick like he had assumed. The guy definitely had a prick side to him since he kept looking down on Nico, but that wasn't all there was to him. No, there was more to him than that, he wasn't so one dimensional. Which, now that he thought about it, he could kind of see that in the man. Seriously, the guy was old so he had to have seen a lot of shit.

He has similar experiences to Rinjiin for crying out loud.

Now, all sorts of questions Nico hadn't considered before popped into his mind, filling him with a myriad of different emotions the male couldn't even comprehend before. It was like he was getting swallowed by a vortex of different chaotic emotions that he couldn't make heads or tails over. Nico was no leader, he was a soldier, a was someone who fought on the front lines, he was someone who walked the way of the male wasn't someone who was used to being a Leader or a similar role. He was someone who fought on the battlefield, not a tactician. He wasn't charismatic, he wasn't someone who relied on others, no he was not like that. Therefore, for now, he didn't see how he could respond to this situation. All of his previous 'black and white' views now seemed to blend together, it all blended into dull grayish color, making identifying the proper solution to be a nigh-impossible task.

 **'I believe it would be best to take a rain check on this** **conversation** **. With Yvoire, I doubt he will try to exile you at this point, as you have already shown him an ample amount of evidence to prove your claims. He just cannot act on it for whatever reason.'**

'I know, Biko...'

With a sigh that seemed more tired than someone his age should be capable of using, Nico turned to head off. "I'll need time to think about it, but its obvious that nothing will be resolved right now. Whatever the reasoning may be, it does seem that we'll be talking again in the future." he told him, getting an understanding nod from the man. Just by looking into his eyes, Nico saw that he wouldn't be exiling him any time soon, which once again confirmed his previous thoughts. Not to mention he read his emotional state, and saw that he didn't feel as vindicated as he did before. No, there was more resignation there instead, replacing those emotions like he had long since accepted something like this would happen. That the Nobility that he had believed in would eventually come to betray his trust like this.

Before he could leave, however, Nico noticed something next to his desk, a Vial filled with strange liquid. 'Huh? What the hell...?' the male wondered, his eyes narrowing at the vial. The moment that his eyes settled on it, the male realized immediately that something about that liquid was unnatural. Every instinct within his being told him to NEVER let that shit get near him, for whatever reason he did not know. Nevertheless, if Yvoire had it then somehow he had to be connected with it. Thus, raising his right arm, Nico pointed towards it and asked the man the question on his mind. "What is that?"

Looking over to the Vial, Yvoire's eyes flashed with weariness, deeper weariness. There was a quick surge in his emotions, Nico noticed, but the male didn't get a chance to analyze them since they vanished as soon as they came. However, just before the man could reply, suddenly...

Things took a whole different turn... a turn for the worse.

SHATTER!

Something shot through the window behind Yvoire, shattering through the window and breaking the vial into tiny pieces. The moment that it did, time seemed to slow down for the two men, for the moment that the liquid within tasted the air, it suddenly... exploded, becoming this large gas cloud that quickly expanded, filling up the entire room... as well as entered the two men through their mouths.

Immediately, they began gasping, coughing and choking, their bodies quickly setting themselves on fire, figuratively, as their lungs desperately tried to expel the foreign gas. However, it became a fruitless effort as they quickly lost the ability to move, as well as remain standing when they fell down to their sides. They soon got reduced to gasping, heaving messes on the ground, hands on their chests and throats to try and deal with the fiery feelings in their bodies.

'B-Biko...! Wh-What...?!'

Nico tried to project his thoughts to his Demon Persona, however it didn't work. It felt like the gas had severed his connection to his Demonic Aspect by infesting ad damaging his brain somehow, though he wasn't sure if that was the case. Actually, he wasn't sure of anything anymore as his vision started gaining black specs. The last thing Nico managed to make out with his darkening vision before his consciousness got lost... was Yvoire's unconscious form.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whooo! A cliffhanger, and FINALLY shit is going down! Hahahaha, yes! I've been waiting for this moment for a VERY long fucking time, hell I've been literally drooling at the prospects of what is going to happen next, you have NO idea! hehehehehehe, finally, I can get to the scenes that I REALLY excel in if you've read this far! Expect a lot of epic badassery in the later chapters, guys!**

 **Peace out!**


	126. Chapter 123 - Demons!

**Chapter 123 - Demons!**

"Oh my…" Those words escaped her lips as Vert couldn't help but gasp while giggling into her hand. Her shoulders bobbing up and down gave her away, though. She held in her hand a second cup of tea, something she had requested a Staff member to get her once the tension had died down. With what she had learned, she didn't even try to resist the mirth that flooded her system, both at the outrageousness and the absurdity of the situation she had learned of. "I didn't think something like THAT would have happened between you and Noire, Neptune…"

Neptune, whom had informed the CPU of Leanbox about some of the teasing she had done to Noire when they were trapped inside that abandoned facility by Ganache (of which Vert had frowned in worry about, though Neptune quickly convinced her not to worry for the time being, with an embarrassed Noire agreeing while she tried to pry Neptune off her once more), chuckled as well, her lips set in a wide toothy grin all too fitting on her. "Oh, you know, Verty poo. I and Noire are pals now, so I can tease her over these things. You should try, its so much fun!"

"No, no it's not!" Noire yelled, whilst attempting to strangle the preteen who laughed off her attempts. A few moments later, Vert cleared her throat, getting confused looks from the two. With a knowing, amused smirk, Vert gestured to them while attempting to conceal he laughter, and when the girls stopped a brief playfight, they soon looked down. Unintentionally, Noire had found herself straddling Neptune with her hands pinning Neptune's behind her head… a rather compromising position. One could guess what kind of thoughts could be made from seeing this, she realized, as her face became atomic red. Quickly, Noire scurried away from the laughing Neptune, who held her gut while laughing her ass off. "Hey, it's not funny, Neptune!"

However, the Leanbox CPU had to disagree, if the look on her face was any indication. "I do believe that the opposite is true." she remarked. This sight she had been seeing, whilst they had been conversing for a good while now, felt like a pair of sisters making fun of each other. Noire would sometimes tease Neptune with the pranks Nico would pull on her, then Neptune would tease Noire much more mercilessly over embarrassing moments she had with the Party when they were still together in Lastation. Lots of them have happened during their quests or training. "Though, even now, it is still somewhat surreal, seeing the two of you like this."

Even now, Vert still couldn't help but feel a small fraction of her residue disbelief in her system, seeing the two of some of her enemies acting like they were siblings, almost family. It looked… sort of familiar, to her actually though for the life of her she couldn't figure out what that was. Still, she didn't let it stop her from enjoying a conversation she had never thought possible between the three of them. Things had been rocky at first, as Vert had to make ABSOLUTE sure that what she had been seeing wasn't an act, only for Neptune to try to grope her boobs out of nowhere, then say that Noire's were smaller. Much to her ire. It had been so out of the blue, so random, that she had lost a lot of her doubts about the preteen, though she did feel a strong pride in her 'babies' when the comparison was made. After all, in Leanbox bigger meant better in multiple different ways.

Why else did people think the females in Leanbox have large chests while the guys were… well, gifted in that area?

Ufufufufu…

"#HUFF#... as much as it pains me to admit it, you have a point…" Noire reluctantly admitted, doing her best to regain her composure. However, some flushed emotions prevailed which resulted in her cheeks having slightly more color than the rest of her fair skin. She crossed her arms and once again crossed her legs, suppressing her irritation towards the preteen for the moment to address the other CPU in the room. A CPU whom, in hindsight, Noire tolerated WAY more than Neptune. Both her past and current self, anyways. "Its thanks to her amnesia that we could meet like this. Anyways, Vert I have a question for you if you don't mind me asking."

At this, Vert tilted her head, curiosity and confusion mixing together inside her gut, culminating in a desire to know what it was that Noire wanted to know about. "Why, whatever is the matter, Noire? Do you require something of me?" she questioned, her lips pursed while an index finger was placed on her chin. She had the perfect look of someone who didn't know what the hell was going on, something she had perfected just for this Gala. She didn't expect it to become real, though, when she had brought Noire into this room to talk to her.

Once she got the woman's permission with that response, Noire mentally debated slowly easing into it, or just plain out saying it with the bluntness that could match a hammer or an ax swing from the bratty CPU of Lowee. In the end, she decided on the latter, as she didn't feel like beating around the bush was a good idea. She had been interrogated herself, after all, so it was only fair she could do the same. "What is up with your energy, Vert?" Noire asked her, prompting Vert to tense, her eyes widening in shock while she resembled a cornered prey. Like a predator, Noire closed in on her by leaning forwards with her hands on her lap, eyes narrowing at her. "I noticed for a while now, but haven't said anything since I couldn't find the right time. But now, that time has come. What happened to you, Vert? Your Share Energy reserves shouldn't be as low as they are. Something is helping you by supplying you with its own energy, but it feels like you have a large hole in you or something."

Noire had noticed it since she first saw Vert. No, that wasn't quite right, she had CONFIRMED it when she finally met Vert face to face, the exact MOMENT her eyes landed on the other CPU's form. However, she had noticed it back when she had been busy trying to detect Vert's energy signature and something kept shielding her from those attempts. She had only caught it briefly, but she had indeed noticed that there was this… abnormality, a BIG one, within Vert's energy. An abnormality that honestly alarmed her once she confirmed it for herself, as well as shook her to the very depths of her being. She had a hunch as to what it was after examining her discreetly, but if she was right, then…

Shocked, Vert didn't respond right away. In fact, she couldn't respond at all, remaining rooted to her chair and looking stunned by what Noire had told her. Her hands gripped her dress's skirt tightly, a light bead of sweat forming on her brow as much as she hated admitting it. This wasn't something she wanted to bring up in front of anyone she didn't trust, especially with those she had once considered enemies. Now though, whilst she didn't; consider them to be 'enemies' no more… she didn't know what to classify them as now. Trust wasn't so easy to gain, yet it was so easy to lose. That was something she had learned during her isolation, and it made her see why some people didn't bother trusting others at all. In essence though, Vert should have guessed that Noire would have noticed, not only was she observant and calculating like she had been back in Celestia, however, she wasn't so easily fooled either.

Now, as for Neptune…

"Huh? Whatya mean-waaaaaiiiiit, what's thiiiis?" Neptune began to say, when her eyes went to the other CPU's torso area. She didn't know what happened at that moment, but when she did THAT flared up inside of her amplifying her senses to a higher degree than she was used to. Thus, it allowed her to see something she had honestly not noticed before. "Uh, Vert? You ok? You don't look so good, I mean, it's like your SP is at an all-time low or something and not restoring itself when leaving a Dungeon."

Mentally, Vert cursed herself, not realizing (or rather she FORGOT) that Neptune had something comparable to her Gungnir that allowed her to see into her energy signature. She didn't seem like the brightest tool in the shed, at least in human form anyways, but now that Vert looked more closely, her Gungnir enhanced her senses and showed her that something within Neptune herself had broken through her carefully placed defences, allowing Neptune to see what REALLY caused her to go into isolation. Yet, neither of them had bothered to do something about it until now, so did that mean that they genuinely weren't going to harm her if she told them? She didn't know, while Vert could feel that they weren't technically 'enemies' at this point, she didn't know whether to trust them on the topic of her 'problem'.

In the end, only select few would be privy to that information, and one of them happened to be a certain red-haired Spec Ops Agent, whom she intended to get alone during this Gala to talk to him. Only, it seemed that he had his own agenda for this Gala…

"Well, I…"

Before Vert could say any more about that especially in a manner that would be considered unbefitting of a proper lady, something happened…

Something… BAD.

GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!

In a moment, everything went to hell, literally. The whole Basilicom shook as a massive roar occurred, being so loud that it shook everything to its foundations. Hell, it wouldn't be unexpected if the roar had woken up everyone across the entire continent. The roar itself sent shivers down their spines, resembling something that one would hear in their worst nightmares, or even when they faced the doors of death itself. Everyone, including Vert, stumbled like all hell but ended up failing and falling to the ground in a heap.

On Vert's side, however, the roar provoked memories in her, memories she had long since tried to forget. Her skin lost its fair color and became as pale as a ghost, shivers constantly running up and down her spine like that one scene with a group of pirates making their ship capsize by rocking the ship, all to escape the supernatural 'prison' they had entered to rescue one of their own. "Oh no… not them!" she exclaimed, gripping the ground tightly enough that her hands broke through the floor after the shockwave passed.

Neptune, who had fallen onto her backside, moaned in discomfort as she sat upright, holding onto her backside which sent aches up her brainstem. Her face twisted itself into one of great discomfort, as well while she made the 't-t-t-t-t…' sound. "Owwie, my bum… what did I land on? it's so squishy and soft…" she wondered, feeling around the soft surface she was sitting on. A surprised look soon formed on her face at the warmth from her surroundings, while also puzzling her. "Huh, warm too…"

An irritated growl came from below her, a very familiar one as a certain someone looked up at her with one lone red eye, one very IRRITATED red eye. "It's me, you numbskull! Now, would you kindly GET THE HELL OFF ME?!" yelled a very pissed off Noire, who had fallen flat on her face and had the unfortunate pleasure of being used as a landing cushion for Neptune's fall. 'If Nico fell on me, well… no, don't think that right now, Noire!' she screamed in her mind, her angry blush hiding the embarrassment she felt at those thoughts.

"Eek! The cushion talks! And what the hell, this schtick is supposed to be in the beginning of Rebirth 3!"

"I'm not a cushion! And stop talking about the games in this scenario, Neptune!"

Of the three of them, Vert seemed to be the one affected the least, as she had managed to maneuver herself so that she fell onto her sofa instead when the entire Basilicom shook. "My goodness, that was one big tremor… I would have scarred my perfect face if I had not reacted in time… phew…" the woman remarked, trying to sound as calm as she possibly could whilst focusing on keeping her breathing level, even whilst her heart pounded away like a jackhammer. It felt like all she could do not to collapse into a bumbling, panic-riddled mess like her mind so desperately felt like doing at the moment. Especially when she heard that unnatural, inhuman roar just now.

Just as they got up onto their feet (Vert dusting herself off as she tried to see if there was any damage to her dress, just so her mind had something to focus on), a woman's voice cried out as its owner burst through the door, looking like she had run a thousand laps across the entire continent.

"B-Big sister, Vert! Its an emergency, emergency! Code black, category A, whatever!"

"Huh?!"

Neptune blinked at the woman who had just entered the room, panting and gasping as she leaned forward and put her hands on her kneecaps for support. The sounds of her dry heaving filled the room, but that didn't distract her from the woman's… apparel. She was, unlike a lot of the girls they had encountered so far in the story, a light-skinned (instead of fair) woman with very long, curly mint coloured hair, hair that was worn in a high ponytail with a black and green twin-bow piece with few bangs and long curls of hair framing her face. Her hair also looked quite messy and resembled a tangled mess, with the base of her bangs by her forehead looking quite damp from her sweat. Her eyes seemed to be an almond-red color, reminding her of Nico's eyes in his DPU Form.

'Maybe I should go find Nicky sometime and get some smooches from him, maybe even an M rated scene with him.'

Mature thoughts aside, Neptune once again focused on this new arrival. Said 'arrival' wore a revealing black dress with thigh high, high heeled boots, and gloves that went from her hands up to her biceps. There was a black neck piece with a white sphere in the center of the dress that had a small green x in the center and two small pieces of purple cloth. On both hips, the woman had two black ribbon-cloth segments that had longer cloth pieces dangling from both sides, sort of like a waistcoat, with green sparkling coloring inside. The skirt, to Neptune's shock, seemed practically non-existent on the dress, being a simple cloth in front of her lower area.

"Whose this sexy looking chick?" Neptune questioned, breaking the silence that had formed thanks to the woman's entrance. "Never seen her before, is she new? Something tells me that she's not meant to be in this game, but a sequel or something… maybe even as DLC in some games…"

However, before she could come up with an answer, Noire shushed her by putting a hand over Neptune's mouth. "Hush, Neptune. Read the mood a little!" she whispered in a hushed manner, noticing something that particularly alarmed her. Whoever this woman was, her body looked like it had been through hell, and she was NOT saying that lightly, she'd seem some Agents back home in Lastation looking much like her whenever they have to deal with S or A rank Abnormals.

Yeah, the ranking system for the Abnormals works that way, X being strongest and F being the weakest.

As for the woman, her body looked to be adorned with more than dozens of scratches and deep lacerations. Some varied in deepness, but a LOT of them looked to be on the upper end of that particular spectrum. All of them dripped with blood, which formed a trail on the floor that leads to the door itself. Yet, even so, it seemed that the woman had pushed herself to come here with nothing but sheer willpower, that was the only thing that Noire could have come up with to explain how she got here without falling unconscious from blood loss. There were cases where one is so filled with adrenaline, that they simply ignore their body's state till the adrenaline leaves them. This must be one of those times.

"Oh my goodness, CHIKA!" Vert cried out, her eyes wide and horror-filled as she saw the woman start to fall forwards. Blurring forth, the CPU quickly closed the distance between them and caught her, ending up putting her face between her breasts before she sat on her knees and placed the woman's head on her lap. "What happened, who did this to you?!" she shrieked, holding the green haired woman's head in her lap.

The woman, Chika as she called her, weakly opened her eyes, looking up towards the CPU. She looked like she was about to pass out at any moment, and really who could blame her? Plus, she had already lost a LOT of blood coming here, thus she didn't have long before the adrenaline wore off and her consciousness would fade. "Lady Vert…"

"Yes? what is it, what happened to you?"

"D-De…mons…"

In the end, that was all that she could say before Chika finally fell unconscious, much to Vert's horror. Whilst she spoke, her voice cracking and stuttering like hell or simply a broken record, Chika had reached towards the CPU's face with her left hand. However, she couldn't touch the woman's face before her time was up, so when the will holding it up failed, Vert grasped the hand in her own before it could meet the ground.

Kneeling beside her, Noire checked her pulse by placing her index and middle fingers on her neck. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she pulled out an item called a 'Healing Drink' a healing Item that was superior to the Healing Pods, though they were only recently made by Lastation, from her Inventory. Though, Planeptune were way further along in the field of medicine. "Looks like she has a pulse, so she's alive but she's weak. Lack of blood is probably the cause." She stated, frowning whilst she gently pried Chika's mouth open as Vert held her head higher, allowing her to put the Healing Drink in her mouth.

As the liquid fell down her throat, Chika unconsciously gulping it down, her injuries began to heal. Her cuts began to close, the larger and deeper ones seemingly taking longer, and her body began to replace the blood it had lost. Hell, her skin tone began to settle to normal, thanks to the fresh new blood being created by her supercharged body. It wouldn't recover her stamina or set her back into the conscious land, though. Which would be considered a blessing by those around her though.

Especially considering what happened next.

Throughout the room, about 60 portals opened, 20 on the walls, 20 on the ground, and 20 on the ceiling. These portals looked more like fiery tears as if the searing hot inferno itself was ripping its way into reality to spew its terrible heat into the room. Hot flames, hotter than anything the girls ever had the displeasure of experiencing, roared to life from these portals, portals that sported dozens of complex looking Sigel's around their edges. Sigel's that further proved that they weren't just light shows.

From those portals, they could hear furious roars, snarls, cackled and maddening sounds, sounds uttered only by the most twisted, sinister, and blood-crazed beasts that could be imagined. Those sounds were only recognized by Neptune herself, whom had fought their owners before, each time being a source of nightmare fuel for her. Much of her skin color got lost the moment she heard those sounds, images of what would come next filling her mind with abject terror that gripped her heart in its fiery hot, blazing grasp. Kinda the opposite to the deathly feeling one would get in a situation like this. "Oh no…"

"What?"

"What do you mean 'oh no' Neptune?"

Both the other CPUs turned to the terror-stricken girl, but neither got an answer from her. Instead, they got their answers when from those portals, many long, claw-like limbs burst free like zombies from a disturbed grave. Zombies that were slowly coming back to life so they could haunt the living. Each second they did so, pulling the bodies they were attached to out of the portals, the various sounds got louder, louder, and louder. Until those sounds, coupled with maniacal laughter, were all that the girls could hear. Not even the mad thumping of their own heart could be registered, or the thoughts of horror, dread, and pure TERROR racing through their minds.

At last, the Portals closed, and they had over 60 Bloodletters in the room, each of them gazing with mad hunger towards the three.

"KIIIIIIIILLLLLLL WITH GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

With that call… the Bloodletters charged.

* * *

In order to help deal with the incoming threat, each girl split off to different sections of the room. The Bloodletters didn't care about this tactic, all they cared about was the relishing of bloodshed, untold warfare, and merciless slaughter. The gushing of blood as their Hellblades would tear through flesh, bone, and matter. The way they would swing their weapons with such savagery that it would make even the most vicious of psychopaths horny as all hell.

On Neptune's end, the girl took the far-left side of the room, getting surrounded on all sides by the Bloodletters. Fear racked her body, memories of her first encounter with them within the realm of that one Demon Prince filling her mind. She remembered the brutal savagery that they fought with, the utter dread she felt at the pit of her stomach as thoughts of her friend Compa being ripped to shreds filled her mind.

Yet soon enough, IT came to her aid, releasing a wave of energy that felt both holy AND demonic in nature. This action caused Neptuune to sigh to herself, her body losing its earlier emotions and causing her to become relaxed a wave of calmness overcoming her. The energy sharpened her senses, her fighting instincts 'waking up' as it were whilst resulting in Neptune exhaling. Her eyes, having closed briefly, opened once more with a look of intense determination. Any of her childish personality she normally had, was now gone, replaced by something else, something she had been developing for all these months.

A warrior's mentality.

She remembered the date that she had with Nico, though her gut instinct told her he didn't truly grasp that fact. Even so, she didn't care, Nico had already proven to her that he gave a damn about her, he gave a damn about the real her, not just the comedy character she played. He accepted her for her faults, he helped her by listening to her problems, being there for her to talk to. She had been wanting to talk to him alone for a while now, but thanks to the events that happened so far, she couldn't do that.

Memories of that one time he gave her that piece of his power, that piece which had embedded itself into her filled her mind, a frown forming on her lips as she made to summon her weapon to fight. Neptune didn't show it often, but she definitely was smarter than she looked, she just fooled others into thinking she wasn't. She found that this piece of power he had given her had been adjusted to fit with her divine nature, tempered so that it would not poison her.

Yet, even she could never have predicted that such a small piece of his power would end up doing what it did, merging with her so deep that her own energy hid it until she called upon it. Boy, had she been in for a world of surprise when she did it the first time, and even then, it had been a complete accident. Goddess knows how she freaked out when it happened… and happened to take off the head of the monster she had been fighting. Well, not necessarily a monster, but a Demon. Meh, to her there was little difference between the two aside from power scaling.

Afterward, she had spent hours upon hours, days after days trying to figure out how to call on it again. To taste the power that flowed through her veins the moment she grasped it, that sweet, nectar-like power. A power she had never known about, a power that felt even more ancient and primordial than her own Goddess powers. In fact, she dared say that the divinity she held felt like a child in comparison to this power.

And when she finally, FINALLY managed to summon it of her own volition…

Well, words just couldn't do justice to describe the incredible sensation of achievement that she had felt upon feeling it heed her call. She'd spare the techno-babble but suffice it to say she had to reach past the 'web' that was her divinity to what was behind it, the demonic power slumbering within it. The way she could wield that power felt so good, so right, in her hands that she wondered why she even bothered with her Goddess powers, especially since this power felt oh so much stronger to her.

Nevertheless, she kept at it, she kept training this power alongside her Goddess ones, she didn't slack off on her training like she normally would have, she met with and sparred with many people, most of them Spec Ops Agents and others being martial arts masters. Masters of the way of the sword, to be precise. Not only did it give her valuable experience in fighting opponents way more skilled than her, it also gave her a better understanding of her weapons, how to use them and the meaning of holding a sword.

She'd even picked up a few techniques for herself along the way, all the while Questing with her Party to keep the Demon threat from ultimately consuming the entire continent.

Now, now was the time for the fruits of her labor to be shown. First, she'd start off small, then work her way up the ladder to her strongest weapons and skills. Maybe, if these guys survived that is. With those thoughts in mind, Neptune's lips pressed into a firm line as she swiftly summoned her Murasama, the sword appearing in her hands whilst still within her sheath. One Bloodletter charged forth towards her, roaring for the bloody murder its essence craved. It raised its sword to strike her down as it approached, but the winner in the speed contest proved to be…

Neptune herself, as she pulled the sheath's trigger mechanism, allowing the blade to shoot out like a bullet right into the Bloodletter's neck, causing it to choke and gasp while stumbling back. It had obviously been caught by surprise, and the sight of their prey fighting back whipped the other Bloodletters into a ferocious frenzy. In the end, all of them charged at her in one fell swoop, determined to overwhelm her.

Even whilst Neptune jumped, grasped Murasama's hilt then sliced the creature down the middle, she remained calm and collected. Her eyes cast their gaze through the approaching masses of crimson flesh, fangs, claws, and Hellblades, showing none of her previous fears as she got into her battle stance. As her opponents neared her…

The preteen closed her eyes and mentally activated one of the few sword techniques she had learned: Trackless Step. Trackless Step was an ancient movement technique according to the one who taught her it, someone who had been said to be the weakest in the Academy he once attended only for him to become a master swordsman and 'break the chains of fate binding him' to become akin to a Demon. It involved the user combining their breath control and their footwork, to close the distance between them and their target. It actually doesn't increase the users' speed but makes their movements difficult to perceive as dangerous and lets them seep into their opponent's unconsciousness.

It was this technique, the TRACKLESS STEP, that Neptune employed to get within the first Bloodletter's guard, slice off its arm with a reverse upward swing before shifting her grip on the blade for a downward diagonal slash, slicing through its head with ease. Murasama's HF technology enhanced its cutting power to slice through the fleshy bonds hindering it. After swiftly cutting down her foe, Neptune slipped around one of two Bloodletters that tried to slice her middle from her left and right flank, cutting off its legs before flipping into a sausage continuous spinning slash. A slash that not only cut the Bloodletter to ribbons but also its partner as well. Said partner had tried to block with its Hellblade, but Neptune had instantly pumped her body full of both Divine and Demonic Power, increasing her speed to the point where she would resemble a saw blade, the amount of force and impact behind her improved HF Blade cutting through the Hellblade like paper mache and felling the foul Demon.

Landing in a crouch with her sword pointed at the side, Neptune quickly stood and blocked several swords meant to stab through her chest, from her front, left and right flanks. This had been possible thanks to a special trait/technique she had found herself learning, called the 'Marginal Counter'. Neptune, thanks to her training, had discovered that her being a Goddess afforded her great reflexes, reflexes she had to hone through intense training afterward. In the end, she becomes able to react to attacks at 0.05 seconds, six times the speed of a normal human's reflex. This, the MARGINAL COUNTER, allowed her to perform an action at a much faster rate than most others would. This allowed her to dodge attacks at coming at her opponents swiftly and yet strike just as fast. She could adjust the angles of her attacks right before they impact, she could defend in normally logically impossible odds, among other things. The drawback, however, was high stamina drainage, but Neptune managed to train her body to compensate for this weakness and thus, had ample stamina reserves.

Neptune swiftly took care of her opponents in three steps: Step one, swing Murasama upwards to throw their Hellblades away from her. Step two, get into a horizontal swinging slash and lastly step three, swing. Murasama's blade crackled violently with the Electric current within, and thanks to her dual energy types she managed to extend the swing of her sword further, increasing its reach not just its cutting ability. Thus, all three Bloodletters got cut in half. She finished them off by adding a fourth step afterward, that step being to summon some purple energy blades to impale their heads and hearts, confirming their deaths.

Her MARGINAL COUNTER allowed her to bend backward, avoiding several diagonal slashes that she followed up by kicking upwards, moving into a backflip and then dashing towards one of the Bloodletters. It quickly brought its Hellblade down again, but Neptune seemingly slid past it with her TRACKLESS STEP, instantly utilizing her techniques with grace and finesse one wouldn't expect from her normally bubbly personality. After sliding past it, Neptune jumped to another enemy, leaving the one she passed to be riddled with slashes that emerged from nowhere that ripped it to pieces.

Jumping into the air, Neptune flipped forwards, planting both feet onto a Bloodletter's face before jumping backward, flipping through the air and landing in a crouch, one hand on the ground and Murasama pointed to the side. Multiple energy blades manifested above her, blocking several slashes meant to hit her exposed openings before they swiftly decapitated the Demons. She then sent them into the Bloodletter she had used the face of as a springboard while swinging Murasama diagonally, slicing through two more Bloodletters at the same time.

Eventually, she jumped backward in order to get some distance, her heart thundering within her eardrums whilst the demonic hordes recovered from their brief skirmish. Yep, all that action had taken place within a few seconds, both them and her had moved at such speeds where all that action happened in a short time frame, yet to Neptune, who had been facing those 'World Eater' guys or whatever in many battles that lasted for probably an entire week on a multitude of occasions, such an exchange felt like child's play for her. Not only them but other Demonic beings too.

Shame she couldn't get a rematch with that Demon Prince thing though.

Flipping onto a Bloodletter's shoulders, Neptune hopped into the air, twisting around till she remained upside down in the air, head facing the ground. Time seemed to slow to a crawl though, as multiple Bloodletters jumped into the air after her, though they didn't notice one thing… Neptune's smirk. Just as they made to slice her into itty bitty chunks, their Hellblades erupting into searing infernos…

"…CROSS COMBINATION…"

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

Neptune suddenly unleashed a combination of two Techniques: CROSS COMBINATION, and the TRACKLESS STEP, to zoom through the air, past the Bloodletters, and slice them all apart at the same time, landing in a crouch with her head hung low before slowly getting up. Behind her, the pieces of her enemies, along with a rain of blood, fell behind her whilst she walked to her opponents opposite her. Taking several steps forwards, Neptune toon one look at the approaching Bloodletters… and then charged forth, blurring out of sight whilst unleashing a CRITICAL EDGE that ended up bisecting one of them. She used the end of the Skill attack to follow up with a TRACKLESS STEP to slip through the rest of their defenses to deal even more slashes.

She ended up flipping back to kick one into the air, summon a dozen energy blades to impale it from behind, then drop kick it into several of its buddies. She backflipped into another dropkick in the opposite direction, kicking away another Bloodletter that tried to slash at her from behind, landing on both hands before wrapping her legs around the sword-arm of another Bloodletter. Smirking, Neptune arched backward, flipping/throwing the Bloodletter across the room… then impaling it with more Energy Blades.

Several panels appeared around her, blocking more Hellblades from turning her into a smoldering pile of ash. Something Neptune thanked her training for allowing her to learn how to instantly deploy those defensive Panels when under threat, until she went and unleashed a RIFLE SLASH that, thanks to empowering Murasama with her Dual Energy, allowed Neptune to literally go to town on her opponents.

'This feels so easy compared to the first time… Wonder how Nowa is doing right now…'

* * *

'What the heck are these things?! And why the HECK do I get the feeling someone called me Nowa?! Ugh, I bet it was Neptune, when I find her so help me I'll…!'

Contrary to Neptune's calm, cheerful demeanor, Noire looked anything but calm. In fact, she looked as tense as tense could be whilst parrying and blocking her opponents fiery Hellblades with her own HF Blade. She relied on the training and experience she had with the Spec Ops Agents, including Mr. LB. It helped that, at the moment of their blades touching, Noire had unleashed a technique she had learned.

In an instant, everything around her slowed to a crawl. Her pupils dilated, and every motion felt as sluggish as a turtle's movement to her, even though she herself moved with such finesse and speed. This was a technique she had learned from Mr. LB, the ZANDATSU, which allowed her to manipulate her perception of time with Share Energy, slowing it (for her) by 50 to 90%. This allowed her to pivot on her heels to slice through each of her opponents offending limbs, jump into the air, and dismiss the technique.

Once she did, everything resumed back to its normal place, and the Bloodletters all roared in furious pain whilst their arms fell to the ground, completely detached from their bodies. Caskets of blood gushed forth from their wounds, however, Noire didn't let that be for long, as she swiftly came down on them in a mass of spins, slashes, and kicks. Each time her blade met flesh, she felt it tear through it with the ease she had expected of her weapon.

Having no idea what the heck these things were, didn't mean she would lose her cool. IT wouldn't allow it.

Afterward, Noire landed on her feet, then sidestepped a swing from another Bloodletter, one that launched a downright demented assault on her, mixed with martial prowess that she had come to expect from these creatures. Raw power coursed through her veins whilst Noire parried, blocked and evaded each slash, barely reacting in time by the skin of her teeth. Eventually, she managed to pivot around a strike towards her chest, which allowed her to counter-attack.

She did this by lifting her right leg and dropping her HF Blade. The moment the weapon reached her heel, it seemingly stuck to it like glue… or Share Energy. Noire had figured out a while ago how to tether weapons to her person by using trails of her power. This done, Noire kicked upwards, knocking her opponent into the air as she moved into a backflip. She then practically went and break danced, getting on all fours and spinning about with her legs outstretched, slicing right through the Demon whilst it fell, before launching a kick that sent it flying across the room.

Kicking her HF Blade up to her right hand, Noire parried another Bloodletter's Hellblade upwards, before doing a right diagonal slash over its chest, twirled into a second one, shifted into an upward angle version of the same slash, made an X with a double slash, an upward slash that lead into a horizontal one, and finally Noire sausage flipped while tethering her HF Blade to her feet. That was when she unleashed series of kicks/slashes with her weapon so fast that the HF Blade practically became a blur, chopping the Bloodletter up like a butcher with his produce.

Each move had followed each other like a flowing river, masterfully executed and with extreme practice. Noire had to admit to herself since nobody would be questioning her in the middle of a fight, that this fighting style she had learned from Mr. LB with this weapon felt undeniably badass. She just LOVED the way she switched from hand to feet attacks so abruptly that it caught her enemies by surprise, it felt goddamn therapeutic actually Oh, how good it felt to finally let loose after so long in engaging politics, there had been rare times where she had been able to go all out like this back in Lastation the more the politics began to get back into order.

"Oooooooooh, nice, Nowa! Fancy footwork ya got there, it suit's ya!"

"Neptune stop calling me Nowa!"

Blinking, Noire registered danger behind her, her eyes narrowing as she tethered her HF blade to her leg and flipped forwards to cut her rear-attacking opponent right in half. She landed on her other leg and afterward unleashed a hybrid of horizontal slash/kicks towards an incoming group of Bloodletters, each of them pushing through regardless of their injuries.

Noire saw this and hastily activated her ZANDATSU, slowing down her time perception to not only roll out the way but to also slice at their legs whilst getting back on her feet and ending up behind them. Once ZANDATSU deactivated, time resumed, and the Bloodletters fell to the ground, allowing her to swiftly sausage flip, putting her HF Blade to her foot and entering a series of flipping slashes top go through their heads, finishing them off.

As she landed, Noire broke into a Helicopter spin, slicing through several Bloodletters before somersaulting through their ranks, practically break-dancing while weaving through their attacks. Eventually, she rolled to her feet and got into a stance similar to Neptune's RIFLE SLASH stance. "Alright..." she muttered, closing her eyes, sensing her enemies closing in. She moved her hands as if she were sheathing something, and during so her body became covered with these electrical arcs, gathering from her body to her blade itself. "I will END YOU!"

At the moment that the Bloodletters made to jump onto her, swinging their Hellblades or claws to slice through her, Noire unleashed her attack.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

One moment, all felt normal, the next thing the Bloodletters knew, their forms found themselves hacked and chopped into finely sliced pieces, courtesy of Noire's Divine white lightning covered HF Blade. The blade had the Lightning, plus an additional aura around the blade that seemingly sharpened its already sharp edge, making it feel like the very air itself had been cut when she swung faster than they could follow. Her strike speed seemed so similar to the speed of a lightning bolt, just one flash had been their warning before it was all over, as Noire, now behind them, flung her sword in a downward slash. "Hmph, Glad that's all over with..." she remarked with a haughty grin, flicking her hair aside before resting the same hand on her hip.

That technique had been one that Noire developed under Mr. LB's tutelage, the ELECTRO CHARGE. It was a technique inspired by her sense's ability to use electricity and lightning to enhance his speed in addition to the speed and precision of his blows. Plus, given his speed, strength and technology advantage, which was capable of cutting through machines built to survive the Nuclear war (his records proved that claim), the guy had earned himself the nickname 'God of Lightning' by his peers. Thus, the ELECTRO CHARGE had been born, and boy did it work wonders when dealing with these Demonic beings. It was simple, the way her HF blade cleaved through their flesh felt like cutting through paper mache with a plasma weapon, but this felt even easier than that.

With those thoughts, Noire continued to fight.

* * *

Out of the three Goddesses, Vert found herself in the somewhat middle ground, having taken up the center space within the room whilst she had Beninuki in hand, swiftly spinning it, thrusting, slashing and deflecting like her life depended on it. Practically did, in all honesty as she COMPLETELY and UTTERLY abused the use of her martial arts skills. CHIGARAMI found itself being used to striking at her opponents' vitals curving around their Hellblades.

When Vert found herself facing more than one of her opponents, she had resorted to using JASEN to strike in an unpredictable manner, the randomness of her technique's trajectory throwing the Bloodletters off. That was the point of the technique, however, and as long as it remained effective, it would serve her well. However, she doubted that it would be this way forever, the raw fury within the Hellblades felt like a formidable adversary. Though, she DEFINITELY felt like they didn't care about that and just squealed with joy at the thought of fighting a pure fight.

And lastly, the woman had found herself utilizing the HASSEI KAIGAN to immobilize and strike down her maniacal foes. Each time she used it, the Demonic Bloodletters would make sure to come at her from different angles, wildly flinging their Hellblades about in a random manner, hoping to block or parry that technique in order to land a critical blow. Vert would not allow that, however, and with her warrior side squealing like it was having an orgasm, she would outsmart her opponents by feinting whenever she would use it, then go for their exposed rear flanks.

Though she had to be careful, one wrong move and it could really be her last, especially with her condition. She wasn't like the other Goddesses, not anymore. Sometimes in her battles since that one in the ruins, she had suffered injuries, mortal wounds that took a while to heal. It reminded her that she had the same mortality as the rest of her people, that she could die just as easily as the rest of them, that she was now mere flesh, blood, and bone. Even so, she kept on fighting, kept on trying to stem the rampaging, furious crimson tide that swept across her Nation. She did her best to make sure her people knew she was out there without actually giving it away that it was her. Mostly so that they didn't know how bad her condition was.

Unfortunately, even though she was a Spear wielder, Vert soon found herself realizing that the size of their Hellblades pretty much negated her Spear's range advantage. Not to mention that those infernally wicked weapons seemed to be etched with burning runes of slaughter. She swore she could even hear twisted, horrific and demonic war cries from within them.

And yet, somehow... Vert didn't even care, this lack of care becoming more and more prevalent as the fight continued on. The woman found it oh so familiar, the rush, the thrill of the fight, the thought of being on the boundary of life and death itself... it felt just as liberating as it did when she first felt it back in those ruins fighting those knights. Her warrior had finally begun to sing once more with all the fighting she had been doing, and it felt... GRAND!

However, Vert's high soon came to an end. One Bloodletter managed to dodge a CHIGARAMI strike to the chest and get in a headbutt to her own forehead, knocking her back. It snapped Vert out of her thoughts though, as she quickly jammed Beninuki's rear into the ground to propel herself over the follow-up lunge from one of its brethren. Landing behind it, Vert's eyes hardened as she swiftly stabbed it multiple times through where she had learned its vital areas were, causing the Demon to howl in pain whilst falling to the ground. Like all the other Demons slain by the CPUs here, they each erupted into brief explosions of red light, before vanishing into nothingness.

Vert had no time to recover though, as she found herself being forced to block several strikes to her head, gritting her teeth at the combined strength, rage-filled strikes grinding against Beninuki's shaft. Each cause, a Bloodletter, growled and cackled, laughing mockingly at her as if her attempts to hinder their hatred-fueled slaughter proved to be a minor inconvenience. It... drew some annoyance out of her in the form of several tick marks. 'So, you think you've got me cornered, do you...?' she thought to herself, glancing sideways towards her flanks to see the rest of the demonic Bloodletters gathering to claim a victim this night. With the feeling she got from Gungnir however, Vert didn't think that would be happening. 'Well then, I apologize, but that is NOT going to happen! Gungnir, come to me!'

Her weapon suddenly disappeared in a flash of light, blinding her assailants just long enough for Gungnir to manifest itself in her hands, Beninuki having been returned to her Inventory. It was a good thing she did it when she did too, any longer and she feared those Hellblades would have destroyed her weapon by its shaft. Not something she liked to think about, after all through all the battles she fought with that weapon, it felt more like a partner, or even a part of herself, than a mere weapon.

Still, though, the golden shine of her divine class Weapon shone brightly, and it seemed to almost hurt the Bloodletters with just its presence alone as they each cawed, shrieked and howled painfully while holding clawed hands over their eyes. The woman had to smirk at this, as she held Gungnir in her normal stance, feeling its power coursing through her body like blood going through veins. Even if Beninuki had a close connection to her, that connection had NOTHING on Gungnir's connection.

Norse Heart, the CPU who had created this weapon many years ago. She didn't know when exactly this weapon had been forged, but Vert had dug deep into her Basilicom's historical Archives, searching for any information regarding this weapon. However, much of the information she had required wasn't there, almost as if it had been lost to history. It almost seemed like someone had deliberately altered the archives, taking information away from a certain time period. But, why would anyone do that? Maybe someone like Maghda had appeared? Perhaps, but nonetheless, in the end, she had little to no more idea of this weapon's origin, history or anything like that. Only its battle abilities had been known to her, and that was thanks to the weapon itself. She had learned through it that divine and demonic beings were quite weak against this weapon, no, it felt more like it was MADE to kill other deities. To utterly massacre them without mercy, it was a weapon that was not meant to rule, it was meant to KILL.

But right now, that suited her purposes just fine.

Finally, Vert broke into a sprint, heading towards one of the stunned Bloodletters and swinging Gungnir sideways. The Bloodletter, out of reflexes honed from thousands of years of combat, reacted faster than the rest of its body, allowing it to raise its Hellblade defensively. The moment the two weapons met, a brief flash occurred as the two duked it out, both in the physical realm for dominance, and a battle between hatred and light. However, Gungnir soon proved to be the superior weapon, as it cut right through the Hellblade's form and pierced the Bloodletter's hide.

A loud, shrill cry of pain broke through the Demon's jaw as the light from the weapon seeped into it, rushing through its body in a wild frenzy before it blew up from within. Or in other words, it imploded seconds after Vert cut the beast. Golden energy crackled over the Spear whilst Vert stood upright, twirling the weapon in one hand whilst stepping forwards. The clicking of her heels resounded through the room, but only she and her opponents heard it. The other Demons and Goddesses were still in their own little conflicts, making them unable to hear that sound.

After a few steps, Vert stopped as she clicked her fingers, her clothes vanishing into particles of energy that reformed into her regular princess dress. Once the familiar weight settled onto her form. Vert didn't even try to resist the breath of relief that escaped her lips. That other dress, throughout the battle so far, had been hindering her mobility, restricting her movement and impeding her combat prowess. Sure, she had trained to fight in such clothes, but that dress had not been meant for combat. This dress, on the other hand, she had made it with the idea of combat in mind, a perfect mix of warrior and princess.

Gripping Gungnir, Vert twirled it a full circle, stopping when the tip pointed diagonally towards the ground. Though, with the slight thrust pushed into the weapon's shaft, a small airwave had been created that blew past the Bloodletters facing her. When this happened, Vert's eyes, which had been closed, slowly opened to reveal a dark glare, a glare full of stone cold fury that nearly matched the eternal hatred that the Bloodletters had flowing through their veins like blood. Gungnir crackling with energy drew her attention to it in the form of Vert glancing down towards it.

At that moment, the weapon shook in her hand, a torrent of emotions being sent through it into her. Irritation, frustration and righteous rage. This weapon, this weapon that seemed almost like it was meant to be an anti-deity, it felt ANGRY. Angry at these Demons for thinking they could hold a candle to it. It wanted to kill them, to utterly rip, tear and shred them to pieces. To exercise its fury onto them.

Well, far be it from her to deny it this chance, after all, she felt the same way.

"Alright now, boys..." Vert muttered under her breath, Gungnir almost CACKLING whilst its form crackled dangerously with golden energy. Bending forward, the CPU broke into a sprint, a sprint in the direction of the enemy with bloodlust clear in her eyes. " I will show you my power!"


	127. Chapter 124 - Demonic Invasion PT1

**Chapter 124 - Demonic Invasion PT1**

Finally, everything became quiet once more.

Silence reigned supreme in the room, the occupants within it having been reduced to the original three Goddesses (plus one unconscious Chika. Each of them stood within the center of the room, breathing heavily from that fight. The room once again became silent and serene, yet it wasn't the same as before. No, it could never have been the same, especially with the state that the room had been reduced to thanks to the recent conflict. The way that the floor had dozens of craters born from large area attacks, shredding through the furniture (although the one holding Chika had been protected by Panels from the three Goddesses) like teeth through flesh. The way that the walls and ceiling had many claw-like cracks in them from the Bloodletters and their relentless attacks. Some even looked like they had been caused by their Hellblades, if the fiery scorches surrounding those gashes were any indication.

Yet, each of the Goddesses each had their own opinions on the matter.

To one of them, that fight had been like all the other times she had faced them: intense, intense like the flames that several different demonic entities used. Even after fighting them so many times, she could never get over how fighting them always carried that feeling of being one foot away from toppling over the edge of life and into the realm of cold, dark death. Yet, she had kept on going to that ledge, figuratively risking her life on what others would have called suicide missions in order to get stronger. To become powerful enough to stand on her own two feet and be able to protect those she considered precious. It helped that, thanks to training, sparring and fighting in this land, that she had developed sort of a warrior-like personality, especially when she transformed into her HDD state. A mentality that basically involved her wanting to fight strong opponents, only in his case it felt more like she wanted to keep on fighting against enemies of that caliber. She'd probably discover how, if he started fighting against normal monster's hell even the Abnormals, that they didn't have the same 'presence' as these warriors did.

Another one, who had similar experiences to the first, couldn't help but think to herself that she had been lucky. Lucky to have survived another battle even whilst having this 'mortality' about her. Her mortality had been her biggest weakness in that fight, there is a great difference between a CPU and a human. For one, a human's body was much frailer than that of a CPU, which mean they couldn't take nearly as much punishment. They didn't have the necessary endurance, reinforcement from Share Energy, or any of the other perks that a CPU possessed. Not only that but humans didn't have the same physical ability as a CPU, nor any of the other physical capabilities. Not to mention the fact that humanity's Magical energies weren't anywhere near as potent as Share Energy was, and a Goddess was made from the stuff. Humans could train for a long time, to gain power that could only be achieved through hard work and determination, but in the end, it couldn't match up to a Goddess's power. She wasn't even being arrogant, it had been a long-understood fact. For so long, she had assumed the Goddesses to be the strongest race, to be at the top of the food chain. To be the strongest beings. However, with the return of these Demons, these warriors who possess demonic power, it felt like that truth had become non-existent, snuffed out by the flames of conflict. It felt… rather vexing to realize this, more than she had expected it would.

Finally, the third one, the one who had the least amount of experience with these creatures out of the three. Whilst her mind wondered what the hell they were, she had to admit to herself that they were some formidable foes. Foes that not only had she never faced before (there had been FAR too many close shaves than she'd care to admit) but the way they fought, how they swung those vicious, hatred-filled blades if theirs, reminded her of savage animals. There had been little to no strategy behind them, only pure instinctual martial prowess. As she had crossed blades with them, it had become clear to her through her swordswoman nature that those creatures had practiced the art of combat for WAY longer than she could ever have. All her training, all the fights she had been in against not only the other Goddesses, but against the Abnormals, against Spec Ops Agents, she had had to use every bit of that training just to keep herself alive in that fight. It felt like that training had bee the sole thing that saved her skin there if she hadn't because if she had slacked off… she would rather NOT think down that path. Still, the fact that this happened, showed her that she couldn't be too prideful about her training, that there were enemies far superior to the ones she had been facing all this time.

In the end, each one had their own opinions on what had just happened…

Opinions one of them started expressing soon after the battle had been decided. "#HUFF #HUFF'… we… did it…" Noire breathed, heaving heavily whilst bending forwards and placing her hands on her kneecaps for stability... Jeez, fighting those things felt exhausting, she almost lost the battle within to just crumple to the floor. She had moved so much, relied on her instincts and combat training to a level she had not done yet in her lifetime, and thus her body had severely decrease d its stamina. If IT wasn't supporting her with its energy, then she probably WOULD have crumpled to the floor. Even now, her legs continued to tremble, barely able to hold her weight. Since there was little furniture left thanks to that battle, and that the sole usable set had already been occupied by the unconscious mint-green haired woman, she literally had no other option here. "That… was the first time… I've ever been run this ragged…" Memories played out in her mind of when she first fought Nico in his DPU form, but she pushed them aside for the moment. She needed to catch her breath after all that stuff.

Neptune however, had no such restraints as she plopped herself onto the ground, gently waving her heels left and right whilst holding herself up by putting her arms on the ground behind her. "Whew, I'm beat…" she mused, though if one looked carefully at her, they would see that her level of fatigue didn't seem nearly as bad as Noire's. It only made sense since she spent the whole of the last 3 months training and fighting nonstop. It gave her… more than a few perks to her combat abilities. 'Heh-heh. Bet ya my cannon self, WISHES to be as cool as mwah, mwahahahaha…' she thought, chuckling inside her head at the fourth wall breakings she had done. Hey, she wasn't a gal with limits ya know, she did anything she saw necessary to get a guffaw after all! "That was one heck of a fight, my lungs almost feel like they're on fire…"

"Stop exaggerating Neptune, you CLEARLY look less tired than me."

"Hehehehe, so ya noticed?"

"Be that as it may…" Vert cut in, being similar in levels of exhaustion to Neptune although she had a few Healing Drinks to restore herself. Pus, it helped that she had a gamer's stamina, which would let her stay gaming for days on end before sleep would be needed. After sharing a few with the two thankful Goddesses, the three of them felt like they were at full power once more. Once that was out of the way, Vert dismissed Gungnir and crossed her arms under her bust, and for once she unintentionally made her 'melons' bounce a bit (something both girls VISIBLY noticed). "I think that we ought to discuss what had happened here."

At this, Neptune gave a curious, confused tilt of the head as she looked up towards the CPU. Said woman decided to move to the sole remaining furniture, and since the seats were occupied she used one of the sofa's arms to sit on, crossing one leg over the other. "Huh? Say wha? Whaddya mean, Lady Green Heart? Isn't it pretty obvious what happened just now? We just got attacked by Demons." She questioned, scratching her head with her index finger. In her mind, it didn't make sense that Vert would ask something like that, though that may be because she herself already knew, Vert somewhat had a clue and Noire…

Wait, Noire?

"Demons? Wait, do you mean to tell me that those were…" Noire began, her eyes widening with realization while she had flashbacks of the talks she had with Nico over the phone. He had sometimes said that there were Demons throughout Leanbox that he hunted, and whilst she didn't think of him as a liar (secretive, but not deceitful), it still felt difficult for her to completely believe what he had been telling her. However, with the current experience still fresh in her memory (probably would for years to come, if she were honest. Those things being what they were, DEFINITELY left a lasting impression on both her and this room) she found his words to be quite undeniable. Looking down, her wide-eyed expression got accompanied by the words of disbelief that came out of her mouth. "Now that I've seen them myself, guess Nico wasn't joking around…"

Looking at her, Vert spoke once more. "Whilst I do not like the fact that you doubted my Nicky… I can see where you are coming from. It had been a difficult time for me to deny their existence myself, since we're so used to the CPUs being at the top of the power ladder. It is… most vexing to learn that is not the case." She remarked, shivers trailing down her spine as she remembered the few encounters and battles she had with the Demonic menace. Whilst not as numerous as someone like, let's say, Neptune's encounters with them, it had been enough for her to solidify their existence in her mind. Even with the difficulty believing that they did so at all.

After all, these things DEFINITELY knew how to leave an impression on their prey… if they even survive, that is. Guess those few reports from those who barely survive the demonic menace attacking their homes weren't so unbelievable after all. Still, the most experienced of them regarding the Demons, Neptune, narrowed her eyes at the blonde CPU, a look of ire forming on her features when Vert used one certain word in front of her… and it WASN'T demon related. "Heeeeeeey, Lady Green Heart, why you calling my hubby by that name? That's my nickname for him!" she questioned sternly.

However, all it did was make her look even cuter than she already was. A fact that Vert noted whilst giggling into her hand like a noblewoman would when hearing a joke. "Oh? Is that what you call him? Well, it seems to me that you call my Nicky by multiple nicknames, this 'hubby' and 'Nicky'. Don't you think you could be less greedy and allow me to call him the latter?" Even though in her mind, Vert felt ire rise in her gut at the fact that Neptune called her Nicky by something with a wedding context. Images formed in her mind of her in a wedding dress and Nico in a suit, however, stemmed those feelings of annoyance. "Perhaps we can have this talk another time, however." She spoke, her teasing eyes replaced with serious ones. "For now, let us be off. We need t find out what is going on here."

"Most of the officials should be in the main hall. That's where the Gala has mostly headed after all." Noire remarked thoughtfully, cupping her chin as she glanced downwards, her eyes darkened with thought. "I may not have the most experience with these things, something tells me that they have way more numbers than this. There should be more of them." It seemed so, as these Bloodletters seemed uncaring about their own deaths even as they died. Sure, some howled with pain, but she still got that feeling. Like, death to them wasn't that big a deal. The few reasons she could think of as to why that might be, most of them revolved around there being more of them.

There had to be more, it just didn't make sense otherwise… though something told her logic didn't really apply to these creatures.

Like, it was best not to think about it lest you go mad.

"Yes…" Vert agreed with a firm nod, already standing on her heels and turning towards the entrance, "A lot of military officials are there too, so perhaps hey might have a better idea of what is going on. Not to mention the Guards scattered throughout the Basilicom." Walking to the door, Vert threw it open and stepped outside, looking back to them before wordlessly tilting her head as if to beckon them to follow her.

Both girls nodded in response, each having their own weapons, Murasama and the basic HF Blade, deployed before they began to move after her.

Outside though, well, Noire had realized something almost immediately: She was right… and she didn't like it.

What that meant, was that there were more Demons about… a whole hell LOT more. As in the exact SECOND the three had exited the room, all they saw was red from how Demons spawned from portals, exploding out into it the corridor in a mass of murderous growls, roars, and mighty bellows. The second thing they saw would be the burning orange glows of their hate-filled Hellblades. They came from portals, crawled down walls, fell from the ceilings and rose up from the ground like zombies re-emerging into the living world from the grave, all of them screaming for bloodshed, warfare and slaughter like demented psychopaths on thousands of steroids, a huge blood rage, and overcome with madness… all at the same time.

They could hardly get anywhere without running into a sizable force of Bloodletters, but that wasn't the only type they had found. No, alongside these demonic foes, there were these gargantuan beasts, a mix between beast and brass metal, though it looked more machine than an actual fleshy beast. Their riveted brass hides, covered in needle-sharp spikes, along with its form being adorned with various Khornate sigils, each sigil sizzling with fire, added to its sinister appeal. This toughened exterior allowed it to tank pretty much all but their strongest attacks, with their large hoofs, canine snouts that looked to be equipped with eyes that burn with murderous intent and rows of savage-looking teeth that drip with their victims' blood. Its breath fogged the air with each snort, and it sported a grunt that resounded like thunder while its shod-hoofed kick raked up ash and dirt every time it did so.

Neptune had aptly called them 'Juggernauts'.

Constantly fighting those Bloodletters and Juggernauts would be considered one thing, but then there was the OTHER demon that joined the mix, or rather, a demon in the shape of a human, more so than even the bloodletters. Ironically, they looked almost like the World Eater Legion that had been assaulting Leanbox as the 'Men in red', only their Armour looked increasingly primitive with spikes and wicked demonic symbols etched into them, along with more skulls, demonic-looking maws, and fiercer demeanors. Fighting THOSE things felt more like fighting a Demon than a human, as they showed themselves as savage fighters who reveled in the bloodiest hand-to-hand fighting they could find… which so happened to be fighting the Goddesses. Splendid, huh? Especially with their frantic shrieks, cries, and rampant bloodthirst that would put the craziest of criminals to shame. Not to mention their insane durability which forced Vert to unleash Gungnir on them, and even then, it took more than 20 hits from the Spear to take them down.

For these beings, Vert had overheard them refer to each other as the aptly named 'Khornate Berserkers'.

So yeah, things were literally going straight to hell, as these forces poured into the Basilicom from these portals, ripping through anything and everything in their path no matter what it was. Be it the guards, civilians, nothing would be spared. The Goddesses saw this throughout their journey to the main hall… where they found groups of Guardsmen being excruciatingly painfully slaughtered in the most brutish, barbaric manners possible, their remains being hung like decorations throughout the rooms, corridors, and hallways. Almost like they were proud of what they had done, which resulted in everything being painted crimson red. NOT what Vert wanted to see befall her beloved Basilicom, not one bit. In all honesty, it had been more of a chore to navigate the hallways tanks to the Leanbox CPU losing it. Neptune and Noire couldn't count how many times they had to remind her to get to the people still alive at the Main Hall, each time the CPU heard the dying screams of her subjects it felt like pieces of her soul got torn apart as well. They were her subjects, her citizens, her people. The people she had vowed to protect when she founded Leanbox… and now they were being butchered like cattle, and she could do little to help.

Vexing didn't even BEGIN to describe her feelings.

* * *

Finally, they reached the main hall, but they couldn't get in right away. Nope, not when a barricade had been erected before the entrance with a semi-circular space behind it and the entrance to where the Nobles were most likely gathered. The Barricade looked to be manned by the Guardsman, each of them looking to be stained with the blood of countless demonic forces if the corpses on the ground were any indication. Vert chose to ignore the ones that were of her own people for the time being as she, Noire and Neptune walked up to the Guardsmen.

Said military men stood at attention behind the Barricade, their Spears at the ready whilst they saluted the blonde woman. "Lady Green Heart!" they exclaimed, remaining professional though Vert could tell that the joy and relief in their eyes sounded more than a little genuine. It brought a small smile to her lips, seeing that some of her subjects still retained respect towards her.

"At ease men, I and these guests here require access to the Main Hall." She told them, cutting straight to the chase. The combined rage and frustrated resentment from what she had seen while making her way back here filled her being once more, giving her a sense of purpose that took precedence over everything else. "Do you know the situation inside?"

One of the men nodded to her, beginning to speak. "Yes, my Lady. The Main Hall has been secured, we have men at every entrance to it and are doing their best to keep the people calm. We have patrols scattered throughout the Basilicom, but they will take a while to return to the Main Hall. Our commanding officer is Stefan Von Kessel of the Ostermark Order, as we cannot get a hold of Yvoire." He explained swiftly, turning to his comrades and nodding to them. Wordlessly, they complied with the unspoken command, opening the doors to the Main Hall to allow the girls entry.

"Thank you, make sure none of those scoundrels enter this room, under any circumstance." Vert stated, nodding her head at the beginning part of her sentence. Then, her words turned icy cold, betraying thee fury coursing through her bloodstream which caused the Guard to nod his head immediately. He didn't want to be on that end of his CPU's wrath, especially with the 'look of murder' she was sporting right now.

"Wow, Vert looks really mad right now. Like, really mad… -_-"

"You can't blame her, Neptune. She just went through something no leader should want to go through."

As the three girls entered, they saw that things didn't look much better in here than the rest of the Basilicom. There was a thick layer of tension throughout the Main Hall, thick enough that if it were possible then it would be cuttable with a blunt knife. Where was once sweet, melody-like music, now got replaced with eerie silence. Kind of like a passionate flame being ruthlessly snuffed out by a fierce snowstorm. The people didn't look any better either, as the Nobles kept looking about with fearful looks in their eyes, sweat trailing down their foreheads whilst looking like they were restraining themselves from practically exploding. The Guardsmen stationed around the edges of the room didn't look too good either if the tense and worried looks were anything to go by. All in all, this was an intense, ominous area to be in, but Vert would rather be here calming her people rather than isolated in her room. Hell, if this had happened back before she got Gungnir, she wouldn't know what would have happened as a result.

THAT was something she refused to think about though.

Looking through the crowd, Vert's eyes cast their gaze through the many shambling forms of the Nobles (who looked like they had been one step away from pissing themselves. To her, that seemed like an achievement in and of itself) until they found the ones that she had been searching for. "Von Kessel!"

Stefan Von Kessal, who had just finished talking to some of the Guards, looked over to see the CPU walking up to him. It put a small relieved smile on his lips, a similar feeling escaping him in the form of a sigh. "Lady Green Heart…" he greeted warmly, though there was a deep, grim undertone in his voice as he walked over to her. Thanks to the commotion, he had quickly donned his Spec Ops Armour and even had Ashbringer on his back. It gave him the look of a soldier prepping for war, not something that would settle the Nerves of the Nobles here. Then again, in his eyes, this was a combat scenario, so they needed to man the fuck up, drop their pussy panties and put on their freaking man pants. "Its good to see you here. We'd feared the worse when we couldn't find you."

"It's alright, Captain." Vert replied calmly with a reassuring tone, her lips curved into a small, heavy smile that betrayed the grimness in it. Her eyes also seemed lighter when the man spoke to her as if hearing a familiar voice set her at ease. It probably did, considering what had been happening so far, plus the situation outside painting a rather bleak picture of the possible scenario they were facing. Still, she had to know for certain, so she could do what she could for the people. "I wouldn't go down so easily, plus the people I'm with are quite capable in their own right. In any case, I would like to know the situation at hand, if you please."

The Captain nodded, his eyes hardening as he switched to a more military stance. Vert partially noted that Elenore wasn't with him, but didn't ask right now since there were more important matters to discuss. "Unfortunately, we know very little, my lady. It all happened without warning, these creatures just popped up out of nowhere and started attacking everything in sight. Our guards have established defensive protocols, however, there were many who were cut off by these creatures. As of right now, we have lost contact with over 60% of our current forces throughout the Basilicom, with the remaining 40% being focused around the Main Hall."

"What of the Guards outside?"

"They've remained outside and are keeping a watchful eye. However, we have noticed that these creatures, whatever they are, have no interest in coming outside. There's no reason or logic behind their movements, its like they're solely here for nothing but the thrill of combat." Stefan replied, making the girls frown. With what they had heard/experienced, with Vert and Neptune knowing this more than the others, then that statement may very well be true. These Bloodletters, these Juggernauts, Khornate Berserkers and World Eater forces all seemed to focus more on fighting itself than anything strategic or tactical. They somewhat resembled ravenous beasts that just prey and kill with the way that they acted, the girls felt. Seriously, they kept going on about their Blood God, Skull Throne, killing, destroying and slaughter, so that comparison felt… more than slightly appropriate.

Frowning deeply at this, Vert cupped her chin and began to think. It seemed that, so far, that Nico and Yvoire were MIA (she refused to think they had been killed, one of them being a Spec Ops Agent and the other… well, yeah), whilst over 60% of the Basilicom's defences were likely either dead, dying or vainly fighting off the enemy. That was what she got from this… plus her RTS games that she played, StarCraft most of all (she freaking LOVED that game, its freaking AWESOME… but this wasn't the time for gushing). "Alright then, I know the details of the situation. Do you have any ideas on how we can handle this?"

Just as Stefan made to respond to her…

"(I believe I can help with that, Goddess of Green)"

"Huh?!" Neptune gasped while everyone else went wide-eyed. Even Stefan seemed caught off guard when they heard a soft yet firm feminine voice echo inside their minds. The Voice, however, felt very familiar to the purple haired and black haired CPUs, however. Thus, they were the first ones to calm down and figure out the speaker's identity. "M-MAGES.! Howdy girl, long time no… well, hear!" Neptune proclaimed, having made to say 'see' but since the Mad Magician known as MAGES., wasn't exactly around… well, yeah. Not a very appropriate thing to say right now. But more importantly… "Um, so, where are you exactly?"

"(I am at the top of the Basilicom, Goddess of Purple. I am using telepathy Magic to set up a comm link between myself, the Goddesses in attendance, one Stefan Von Kessel and every soldier I can find. Unfortunately, it is not easy to locate them all due to the ambiance of demonic power in the air. With the concentration there is, it's taking all my concentration to do this.)"

One Noble looked outside, his eyes widening as he pointed towards it. "Hey, look out there!" he yelled, making several others follow suit. Outside, the spectators saw what looked like a complex array of Magic Circles, all surrounding this transparent, glassy-looking dome structure. The structure seemed large enough to cover the entire Basilicom, including the outer walls. "What is that?! Are we trapped in here?!"

"Everyone calm down!" Stefan yelled at the top of his lungs. It took a while, but the Nobles eventually did so albeit reluctantly. If one looked into their eyes, though, they would be able to see the palpable fear burning within them. It wouldn't be too hard to push them to their breaking point right now, something Stefan pushed aside to get some extra information from the Mad Magician. "I've heard of you, Mad Magician. I myself have dabbled in what few magic scrolls Leanbox has from our raids of Lowee, thus I assume this is some form of Barrier?"

"(You would be correct, wielder of the Ashbringer. This Barrier is separating this Basilicom from the rest of the city, as to prevent these Demons from escaping this place. Think of it as a pocket dimension I have spontaneously created for this situation. I have been sensing dark forces gathering within this Basilicom, so much greed and malice, that I knew something would go wrong, thus made my preparations ahead of time. DEATHSTROKE is not the only one who plans ahead.)"

The Mad Magician's words took a moment to sink into their minds, but in the end, they managed to grasp what it was that was going on. Apparently, MAGES. had pulled a Nico in foreseeing a disaster happening at the Gala, and thus made preparations to seal the Basilicom within a barrier, both limiting casualties as well as stopping the Demons from escaping into the rest of MICROSOFT. Noire however, had other concerns that she felt needed to be addressed. "Do you know what's been going on then, MAGES.?" She questioned. "What the heck happened? What went wrong, and where did these creatures come from?"

"(Like yourselves, I, unfortunately, know little of what is going on. What I do know, however, is that all this originated from the lowest levels of the Basilicom, most likely some form of Dungeon. It is there, that I am picking up a strong surge of Demonic Power, a very strong, dense surge that is destabilizing the physical plane of existence, allowing the Demons to enter here. I picked it up a couple chapters ago.)"

At this, Stefan blinked, wondering what MAGES. had meant with what she had just said. What the heck did she mean when she said Chapter? This wasn't something like a story, this was real life! Still, this WAS the Mad Magician, so maybe she saw things differently. Couldn't hurt to ask, he thought. Just as he opened his mouth to question her, however, Neptune just interjected while fisting her palm with a figurative light bulb switching on in her head. "Oh! I remember now, something just came to this ol Nep noggin'o'mine!" she exclaimed, her eyes enlarging slightly in realization.

"Huh?" Noire blinked at that, as did the rest of them. Though she wasn't around to show her reaction, none of them doubted that MAGES. wasn't raising a brow or two when Neptune's interjection like that (although Stefan did childishly grumble under his breath about kids interrupting him). "What are you talking about, Neptune? This better not be an excuse to talk about Pudding." The blackette questioned with narrowed eyes. Now obviously wasn't the time for jokes, especially pudding related ones, and if she knew Neptune like she did then Noire wouldn't put it past her to put one in, somehow.

Neptune then gave a hum as a dreamy smile formed on her face "Hmmmm, Pudding DOES sound good ATM, maybe even when its licked off of Nicky's hot sexy body." She mused, earning blushes from Vert and Noire though the latter seemed lighter and Vert had a slight nosebleed at the dirty thoughts running through her noggin. "But no, that's not what I was talking about! I think I know how this all started out!"

"Oh?" Whilst Stefan tried to get that… image, out of his head (probably going to need some brain bleach after this), he focused more on the more important information at hand. The fact that Neptune supposedly had an idea of how this came about, though considering her childish nature he didn't have full stock on this idea. "And what do you think happened then, Neptune?" he questioned, crossing his arms under his chest.

When Neptune made to reply, a soldier came through the crowd and whispered into Stefan's ear while a small snort of frustration formed from his lips. "Goddamnit, these Nobles are NOT helping things…" he muttered under his breath, soon taking off with the soldier to go address the recent problem.

"(Do continue, Goddess of Purple. I will transmit the information of your conversation to Captain Von Kessel as it goes.)"

"Alrightie, MAGES.! Well, I remember it well, I kinda stumbled out of the main hall to get some air, felt a bit queasy after stuffing my face with so many deserts…" she began, chuckling nervously when she remembered hat moment. Not one of her finest, and she felt pretty sure she would have thrown up. "Yeah, not making that mistake again, but anyways, I would have barfed up what I ate had it not been for this stereotypical stranger dressed in black robes and a veil skulking around a corner. I tried to follow him, and it leads to this 5, 10-minute long chase, but I kinda lost him and got lost…"

At this point, Noire figured out where Neptune had been going with this, but it did NOT do her head any favors. She exhaled through her nose, putting an index finger and thumb on the nose's bridge. "Alright, I get it, you got lost and found your way to the meeting room, right? Between me and Vert?" she questioned, getting a sheepish smile from the preteen whilst Vert hummed in thought.

"Hmmm, I see… someone dressed in black, huh…?" she muttered, frowning as she pondered this information. Soon enough, a particularly disturbing thought creeped into her mind, one she didn't want to think too much on but it seemed to be the best viable answer to this situation at this point. "Then, odds are Neptune, that you were trailing a representative of the Overlord Momus faction. They must have snuck inside or bribed some of the Guards to 'look the other way' to allow them entry." She remarked, scowling. Again, not something she liked to think about, but it did seem possible. With the way things were, bribery would not be impossible, rather it would definitely be counted as one of the more serious crimes she would have to deal with once her situation got resolved.

"(The Goddess of Purple does have a point. These beasts could only have been summoned by someone who follows one of the sub-religions sprouting within the Overlord Momus faction. It is for certain that you all have heard of them, since they are the talk of the Nation and have been so for the last few months. I believe that, judging by what we have seen so far, that we are dealing with the Chaos God Khorne, the god of warfare, bloodlust, and hatred… among other similar domains. Out of the four, this one is the most adept in martial combat, a dangerous foe to be sure.)"

With MAGES. input, Noire scowled as the picture started coming together in her mind. She did NOT like what she was thinking, either. "From what I can tell then, somehow this worshipper got to the bottom floors of the Basilicom, most likely the Dungeon as you said MAGES., and has begun summoning these Khornate Demons into our world. If that's the case, then we need to head down there and put an end to it before anyone else gets hurt." Part of her quipped that that had already happened with the Basilicom Staff and the Guards, but she ignored it for now.

She didn't want to think about all the casualties that would be resulting from this.

"(Perhaps you all should split into 3 groups. Group 1 will go throughout the Basilicom to take out the Demons whilst Group 2 follows at the rear, evacuating any Staff, Guests and injured Soldiers back to the Main Hall. That way, I can use my teleportation Magic to bring them outside the Barrier and to a safe area being designed by some fellow Mages of mine. I'll start evacuating the Nobles right away. However, this will cause one problem, that being that I will not be able to talk to you telepathically, as this Magic requires my full attention. However, I can say for certain that the Demons will be more and more numerous as you clear the floors down to the Dungeon, and according to my research, this Basilicom has 3 floors, this one, two lower floors, and the Dungeon itself. The lower you go, the closer you get to the enemy spawning area, I'm sure that you all will know what that means as gamers.)"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Vert, Noire, and Neptune looked back to where Stefan had left, to see him having returned to them from his little deviation. The man didn't look very happy, probably due to having to pacify some of the rowdier Nobles that were starting to cause trouble. "Thanks for the information, MAGES., I was able to pacify some of the noisier Nobles with your plan, if you hadn't I would have taken much longer to get this done." He told her with gratitude oozing from his being. He didn't need to look at his men to see that they expressed their own gratitude through their facial expressions. It felt good to know what was actually going on, it allowed them to get their nerves back together.

Now, all they had to do was take back the Basilicom… which would be difficult to do considering how most of it had been overrun by Demons. Demons that were way more superior to humans in pretty much ever physical ability possible, not to mention more combat experience, skill, and prowess. Plus, those Hellblades were no Joke either, each strike from them felt like it would leave an impact on their very beings, not just their flesh. Even now, they could hear the roar of demons as another wave was heard outside the gates.

"(I will begin transporting Nobles out of here one group of 10 at a time. With the barrier in place, this will be all I can manage without compromising its integrity.)"

"No worries, MAGES., any help at all would be deeply appreciated." The Captain of the Ostermark order replied, getting nods of agreement from the rest of them. Several bright flashes happened behind them, something that made them realize that MAGES. had begun her task. Hopefully, she would be able to get them out of there soon, so she could re-establish contact with them. Having any kind of support would be a major blessing for the future battles.

Now, they had to tackle the next problem: the groups themselves. "So, who's going where and doing what?" Noire questioned, frowning deeply. "We can't just have one of us be one group, as much as I am confident in my skills it just isn't that realistic." She queried, much to how her pride detested this notion. After all, Noire DID feel confident in her powers, plus she had a few tricks up her sleeve she didn't show yet, like IT and her HDD form, but even she would be overwhelmed if she bit off more than she could chew. Back at Lastation, Noire had also learned the value of having comrades as well, something that she would never have learned back in Celestia.

"While I would personally prefer to take out the one responsible for this mess…" Vert began, scowling as she gripped the sides of her dress. Her grip looked so tight that if they could see her bare hands, both girls would assume them to be white right now. It looked like the blonde woman was struggling with all her might to remain composed, although it looked to be failing with each passing second. "It is much more imperative that I remain with the group tasked with either evacuating the civilians or destroying the Demons. At least, this way I'll be able to show my people that I do give a damn about them, that I can be a good leader."

A nod came from Noire, understanding flashing through her eyes. She could definitely relate to Vert on this one, the way she looked right now had reminded her of what she felt like during the early stages of her revolution in Lastation. Though she had gotten further than Vert, it wouldn't hurt to lend her a helping hand. They WERE after all supposed to protect the people they governed, and it wasn't like Noire didn't care about the people victimized in this attack. Not that she'll ever admit it, anyway. "I'd say you should go with the third group, that way you can assure the civilians who will likely be panicked from what is happening, in addition to any wounded soldiers who are feeling down. Your presence would be a huge motivator for them."

So far, that seemed like a solution, but then Stefan had other ideas. Ideas that he soon interjected with before the two CPUs could continue. "How about instead we go with three groups, we each have three groups, one for each floor. One group will be clearing one floor each, the second group not clearing floors will be helping evacuate those who can't fight, while the third group provides rear guard support. Each floor we rotate group roles to ensure maximum combat potential. The third group can be in charge of provisions, to keep the HP and SP of the first group."

Both Noire and Vert looked to each other, silently debating on the Captain's strategy. So far it sounded solid, and the man had more experience with this type of warfare than either of them thanks to the Console Wars that were 'oh so useful'. Although, it didn't do their pride as deities any favor since that Console War had basically forced them to rely on humans for advice and guidance. It felt like they had put each other on emergency life support or something along those lines.

The flashes that indicated people being teleported out of the Basilicom and outside the Barrier continued on

"Alright, we can do that." Vert relented, Noire silently doing the same as she looked to the side. Neptune just looked like she wasn't paying attention, though neither CPU bothered to do anything about it. Just from their interactions with her, they both realized that Neptune wasn't one who would be fit for these types of talks. Instead, she would be the one who helped fight the enemy on the front lines. Now, all that they had to do was to decide who would be in which group, as well as take volunteers for these said groups while keeping this place the most defended spot in the Basilicom. Not going to be easy. "Now all we need is to decide who goes where. We all agree that a CPU needs to be in one group each, right?"

Noire nodded her head in agreement, already pulling out her Phone to call Mr. LB. "Yeah, that would be a good idea, perhaps we CPUs should be at the front of the fighting so we can tank most of the damage. Then, we can take two others each, preferably people who are strong enough to fight against these Demons. So far, it seems that Leanbox's Military, in addition to ordinary humans, can't compete with these creatures in terms of sheer power. We'd be pretty much treating them like lambs being sent to the slaughter." she remarked, scowling when she remembered the state many freshly murdered guardsmen had been in at the hands of the Khornate Demons. Not a pretty sight, and most CERTAINLY not a sight she would want to share with anyone.

While it was true that the Military's job was to protect the Nation and her interests, it would be pointless sending them towards an enemy who had the powers needed to wipe them out in one fell swoop. Not to mention that they needed to protect the Nobles until MAGES. got them out of the Basilicom, which according to her would take a while, in addition to any survivors that they find on the floors. There would be bound to be people needing help, and on that front soldiers would be able to help, unlike against Demons. Demons that have proven themselves to do some... rather perverse stuff to the corpses of their slain enemies. Thus, the needless sacrifice would NOT be on their agenda today, not if they could help it.

"Well, we'll help as much as we can."

"Yup-Yup! It'd be wrong for a Nurse-In-Training to not help people!"

"We will lend our assistance, too."

Several voices, nearly 10, broke into their conversation. Turning to the source, Neptune and the other CPUs found themselves staring at the forms of Team RAIL, IF, Compa, Guts, Isaac, and Mr. LB. All of them were in their default outfits, none of them were in their suits/dresses anymore, whilst each of them looked ready to fight the incoming enemy.

Neptune's eyes brightened at the sight of her friends, quickly rushing over to them both and glomping the two girls, pulling them into a hug. "Iffyyyyy, Compaaaaa! Its so good to see ya alive and kicking, my gals!" she chirped happily, hopping up and down.

Her affectionate gestures made a similar response come from Compa who beamed at her, whilst IF gave her a lopsided smirk. "We're not dead or in danger of dying, Nep. If anything, we should be the ones worried about you, running off like that." she stated, getting a sheepish laugh from the preteen. Shaking her head, the brunette looked over to Noire and Vert, her eyes flashing into a serious gaze. "MAGES. told us what was going on before beginning the evac process. We can help you repel the enemy since we have our own experiences with them." she explained.

Vert and Noire hummed at this, before eventually nodding. "Alright then, we'll do that." Vert stated, summoning Beninuki and thus gesturing towards Stefan with it. "I'd make the groups myself, however, I'm not as experienced with this. Thus, I will delegate that task to Captain Von Kessel here, who has more than enough of it." she proclaimed, the said man nodding in acceptance.

"Acknowledged, my lady." he told her, putting a hand to his chest where his heart would be and lowering his head in a form of reverence. Afterward, Stefan looked towards the others, his eyes casting their gaze over them. "Alright, to start I do not see the issue with the Grouping. Neptune, you and your party members will be Group 1. You'll be the first group, meaning you'll clear this floor of Demons. You all have prior experience fighting together, thus it would be best to keep you as one unit." He spoke, getting cheerful nods from Compa and Neptune while IF just nodded with a smirk.

He then gestured to Team RAIL, his eyes going over the four of them. "You four each have great records for solo missions, yet your potential fully shines when you are together, which makes you Group 2. You four will handle the second floor while Group 1 moves to help evacuate any survivors and injured soldiers. That way, Group 1 can recover their stamina somewhat for future battles should the need arise, although their primary role on the second floor is escorting." He got nods of agreement from the four, before turning to Noire. "Lady Black Heart, I read reports of the incident at Lastation, and they show you have experience fighting alongside Team RAIL. You have more experience with Neptune's group, however, since you're a CPU it would be best to spread out our heavy hitters to amplify each group's combat potential. Therefore, you will be joining Group 2, along with your Bodyguard Mr. LB, or should I say Raiden?"

"Either or is fine, Captain." Mr. LB, or Raiden, responded with a curt nod, grasping his suit and throwing it off him like those super villains who shed their disguises to reveal what they truly look like. An illogical tactic, but since when has Gamindustri been logical? When he did that, everyone got a look at what he wore beneath... and all of them couldn't believe what they saw.

"Duuuuude..."

"How interesting..."

Ivan and Aiden whispered those remarks to each other, staring with wide eyes (though the latter's wasn't nearly as big as the former's) at Raiden's form. Without his suit, Raiden showed himself to be almost completely a machine, save for his face, and even then his jaw, chin and bottom half of his mouth looked mechanical. His form had a humanoid shape to it, with a mass of plates, springs, cogs and other mechanical parts making the body what it was. His feet looked like they were heels, with sharpened toes for kicking which seemed to be the same for his hands. It definitely sported that futuristic vibe to it that oddly enough had a mix of Lastation and Planeptune to it. In his hands, was a High-Frequency Blade looking exactly like the one Noire used.

'Hmph, looks like they're surprised.' Noire thought, unable to hide a smirk whilst she observed everyone's reactions to Raiden's true appearance. 'Raiden here's a Cyborg Ninja, originally human but was captured by these people called 'the Patriots' and used as a test subject for exoskeleton enhancement surgery, turning him from a human into a superhuman Cyborg Ninja.' At the mention of his past, Noire frowned to herself but made sure nobody saw it. 'He doesn't say much about his past, and I wouldn't pry it from him, but even so, he has one of the greater records of missions completed in my Nation's Branch of the Spec Ops Program.' The thought that someone like him would be helping both her and Team RAIL though, filled her with no small amount of relief. Noire may be a Goddess, but this guy had faced odds way bigger than her, and with all his advantages he had been able to kick her ass more times than she could count.

Stefan recovered first, turning to Isaac and Guts. "Now, Group 3 will be you two and Lady Green Heart. It's fortunate that you guys came here like I requested, thanks to your experiences with the demonic forces, otherwise, we would have had a harder difficulty covering our flanks. Your group will be the rear guard since yours is the smallest unless we get promising volunteers. Though considering how few our numbers are, and every wasted moment leads to more good men getting axed off, that isn't very likely. At least, in this case, the enemy will be more focused on our front but make no mistake, our rear will be our Achilles heel. Your role will be to provide the rear guard, like I said before, for the first two floors, then you will lead the charge on the third floor, with reinforcement from Group 1 which will have rested somewhat from combat. Once the floors have been cleared of survivors, two groups will remain behind to stop the Demons from entering the Dungeon while one goes in to shut this whole invasion down. I must remain here to coordinate what few men we have left and see to it that these Nobles along with injured staff and soldiers be evacuated safely. I pray that you all are successful in retaking our great Basilicom from these fuckers."

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alrightie, another chapter done!**

 **Things are FINALLY getting heated as Stefan shows why he is a Captain and a well-known military leader. He co-ordinates and manages the cast into groups of three to get the best results possible for their counterattack. Also, if you haven't noticed, practically EVERY CPU has a special power-up of some kind, something that'll make them look way more of a badass character type than just fanservice (seriously, I know Neptunia's a game for male demographics, but in my opinion, guys are attracted to two things: fanservice and badassery).**

 **Also, about Nico and Yvoire, don't worry I have something planned for the two of them, but it'll be known only AFTER this invasion is dealt with. Believe me, it's a really fucked up situation, more for one than the other though. If you're all wondering why Yvoire got written like he did a couple chapters ago, its because in the game he's been seen as a comic relief character, but in here, where the scale has been increased with a lot more serious vibes to it, I wanted him to be seen as someone whose doing what he thinks is right. The guy DOES care for Leanbox, and he is willing to do what it takes to keep it safe which doesn't make him a bad person per say. Shoutout to KingCarlos though for helping me with this one, he's quite experienced with politics and what a Leader's life is like. Read his stories, and you'll see.**

 **Also if you haven't seen it, there's a new poll on my profile. its nothing much, just want to hear your thoughts on the cast, it won't affect the story very much.**


	128. Chapter 125 - Demonic Invasion PT2

**Chapter 125 - Demonic Invasion PT2**

With the plan that was made for them, each of the Groups made their way towards the entrance, each of them having cold, firm and grim gazes in their eyes. All of them had no delusions about what lay in wait for them as beings pure chaos, possibly the worst kind of chaos that Gamindustri had ever faced. The Console War, the raids on the other Nations, the other Abnormals, none of it could be compared to the sheer horror and morbid terror that awaited them on the other side of that door. Hell, as they got closer that door almost seemed to loom over them like it was condemning those who passed it to a life of untold torment and misery. Behind the door, their ears could pick up the tell-tale cries of the Guards defending the Main Hall, the fierce, animalistic roars of the Demons and the other forces belonging to Khorne, and last but not least the sounds of flesh being torn with untold brutality.

All of this… simply a promise, a PROMISE, of what would be awaiting them on the other side.

"Whelp, here we go." IF remarked, having switched back to her usual outfit with her powers. Thanks to the majority of the people around her already being in the know about them, she didn't feel too bothered by shifting the Biomass that made her clothes into her original gear, nope not one bit. Hell, she even formed her Armour and Claws, generating 2 Tendrils from her back. Internally, she couldn't help the primal eagerness that flooded her system, her OW instincts squealing at the thought of Assimilating more Demonic Flesh. Not only did it do wonders for her existing powers, molding them to be better than their original states, but they also allowed her to develop some… rather potent weapons and enhancements of her own. Things that she would LOVE to try out on these fuckers who DARED try to destroy her favorite Nation. "We got a whole load of demonic ass to kick, so let's get this party started." She stated further with a small grin, eyes alight with bloodlust. She could already imagine the fun that would be had here, and she couldn't wait.

Beside her, one Nurse-In-Training couldn't help but shudder and tremble, clutching her MPCS with her trembling hands like it was her lifeline. She had also, in her anxiety, deployed her Armour too for extra defense, something in her gut telling her that these next few battles would be some of the bloodiest she had ever seen. Compa didn't like the thought of seeing something like that, if she had a choice she would rather NOT have had to see what she would be seeing soon. However, she didn't, that was the cold reality which was presented to her. Thus, she had to suck up her fear and put on her brave face. However, with the sounds coming from the opposite side of the door, her attempts to remain calm had been met with little to no success whatsoever. "Y-Y-Yessie… so-so-so-so-so It w-w-w-would s-s-s-s-s-seem…"

Momentarily, IF glanced towards her friend, her well-honed eyes quickly noting just how nervous Compa seemed. She had tried to hide it, but IF's eyes saw right through her demeanor. A frown etched itself onto the brunette's lips as she placed a hand on her shoulder, confirming her thoughts when Compa practically squeaked in fright, turning to her with wide eyes. "Hey, hey! Compa, it's alright, we can do this. Just think of this as another dungeon crawl, trust me you'll be fine." She urged her. Honestly, IF wished she could believe such thoughts herself, each syllable that left her mouth felt like one big lie after another.

Among their group, it could be said that Compa would be their weakest link. Unlike the rest of them, she was indeed still human. She hadn't lost her humanity, like IF herself, or not had any humanity to begin with, like Neptune. She wasn't sure about Nico yet, but if her gut suspicions were true then he may as well have been a bit of both. Seriously, their group consisted of several deities, and a shapeshifting weapon of mass destruction. Heck, a lot of the people they knew of were stronger than her, could do more than she could, who had better experiences and powers than her. Compa served as the healer of their group, the one who healed their injuries, kept them going whilst curing any ailments that the Party would suffer. She shouldn't be on the front lines like this, heck the only reason she was still alive, despite having faced so many entities that could have munched on her flesh, was because she had been shielded by the rest of the group.

Compared to the rest of them, Compa may as well be the weakling of the group as harsh as it sounded.

Just by looking into her eyes, though, IF figured out that Compa had the exact same thought process as her.

"Heeeeeeey, quit sulking you two!" The loud, obnoxious voice of their Party Leader popped into their conversation, conveying exasperation and annoyance. Both girls turned to see Neptune, who had deployed her Armour already, standing before them with her hands on her hips. It honestly felt… weird, seeing a robotic humanoid like the Armour she wore acting like a preteen, but IF and Compa were used to such a sight by now. That couldn't be said for the rest of them, but they chose to remain silent for the time being. "Keep those chins up and those noggins held high, ya hear?! We gotta look cool for the rookies here, you can't let something like this dampen your spirits, ladies!"

'Easy for her to say…' IF thought with a mental grimace as she watched Compa nod with a brave face. However, the fear of being slaughtered like cattle still remained within her eyes, just hidden. Though, to the brunette and Neptune, it may as well have been in plain sight, especially with the minuscule trembling her form did. Thing was, only one of them chose to ignore it for the time being as she turned towards the door and skipped towards it. Seeing this made IF arch a brow, a wave of curiosity and mild annoyance with the preteen filling her gut. "You seem chipper, Nep. What's the deal with that?" she asked her.

Part of her couldn't help but wonder what their Party Leader was thinking right now. Well, she had gone on training trips with Neptune for the last three months, so she had a good idea of how strong she had become, but something nagged at IF. Something kept telling her that there had been more to Neptune's training that she had kept hidden, even from herself. Part of her wondered if it were to do with that faint trace of demonic power she could sense deep within the Preteen's being, but since she couldn't get much of a read on it IF had put it to the back of her mind for now. Not only that, but Neptune seemed oddly… too calm, if she could put it into words. She didn't show any signs of being afraid or signs that she was masking any form of trepidation or anxiety over what was going to happen.

Thus, it had led her to ask that question.

Once Neptune was at the door, reaching for the handle when IF's question stopped her mid-stride, the preteen CPU twirled around to face the rest of them. She had her hands behind her back as she leaned forward, her expression hidden thanks to her Armour's helmet. That didn't seem to matter though, for the moment she turned, everyone, and that was literally EVERYONE, felt chills crawl down their spines. Even the other CPUs who waited patiently with their Groups didn't get off Scott free from those chills.

Something about Neptune changed at that moment, and if she didn't know any better, IF would have thought she had turned a 180 in terms of personality. But no, that wasn't what it was at all, no it felt more like her aura had done the 180. That faint Demonic Power she felt earlier? Well, slowly it began to rise, peeling through the surface of Neptune's energy and began pouring out. That was what IF's senses told her, and ever second it did she got the feeling of being drowned in a sea of flames. This Demonic Power, Neptune had said it came from Nico's powers when IF had questioned her once, but now? Now it felt… different, no signs of it once belonging to Nico at all.

It honestly unnerved her like all hell, and whatever unnerved her would be deemed an enemy by her BOW Instincts.

Unaware of her thoughts (or anyone else's actually), Neptune giggled as she felt it, her ace in the whole, her secret weapon, slowly stir from within her being. She felt it grumble and rumble, slowly coming out of its slumber when she called upon it, allowing it to answer her. She could feel its essence slowly pouring out from within the center of her being, it wouldn't be long until it would manifest into the real world, so she wanted to get into the conflict fast. She wasn't kidding when she had said that she had a secret weapon, nope, no sir. "Oh, it's nothing Iffy!"

With that said, Neptune bent her legs, placing her left hand just above the ground while her right one was thrown upwards behind her. In this one motion, that Demonic Power they had felt began to spew out faster, as if attracted to the preteen's movements. Beneath her feet, a circle of dust began to form, spinning around her under the influence of the power spewing forth within her like a waterfall… a very VIOLENT, chaotic and SAVAGE waterfall that aimed to crush an entire city with its pressure. "And besides…!"

Making an exaggerated swishing motion, Neptune did a twirl all the while switching to an upright standing position, ending up throwing her left arm forth towards them. Her hand had been manipulated so that her fingers represented a gun, a gun pointed to the center of the room. If they could see her face right now, they would have seen the battle-ready smirk etching onto her lips, as well as the excited gaze in her eyes.

"It's showtime!"

* * *

On the other side of the doorway, what could only be described as one's worst nightmares made real could best describe it. Everything literally looked like it had been wrecked beyond repair, knight statues had been destroyed, leaving them as crumpled messes on the ground. Countless weapons lay, broken and battered beyond belief, across the ground. Some even looked like they had been stomped on or slashed to bits by something sharp… like the Hellblades of the Bloodletters, the hoofs of the Brass metal/fleshy Juggernauts, or the large weapons of the Khornate Berserkers and World Eaters that gathered around the entrance.

Blood soaked the ground, walls and the ceiling around the area, almost like it was used as paint. Paint that would stain the Basilicom for months to come thanks to how much of it had been shed during these short moments. Sharp spikes, made from this black chitinous material, had been used to hoist their defeated opponents, either whole or in pieces, into the air as if preparing for a ceremony. Countless fury-filled roars, frenzied shrieks, and monstrously loud howls echoed throughout the halls, creating this inhuman symphony that would very well cause the ears of even a deaf person to explode from the overdose of sounds.

Countless weapons were raised and shaken in the air to accompany these roars, the unholy fury behind these actions not going unheard by their fellow brethren. In fact, it almost seemed to serve the purpose of provoking their brethren into a wilder frenzy, creating this non-stop cycle of war cries and frenzied demeanors. It almost seemed like they would just be toppled off the edge of what remained of their fickle sanity and into the realm of madness that their Patron, the Chaos God Khorne, demanded of his followers. None of this conflict could have sated their hunger for conquest, none of these so-called 'warriors' held a candle to what they were used to. This world, over its countless millennia of peace, had dulled its fangs compared to what it once was. That had been something eerily apparent to even these psychotic assholes, and it only served to heighten their excessive fury to new heights.

They would have to remind this pathetic world what the real state of things were… in the most ungentle manner possible, that is.

With how they had taken over the majority of this structure, it would seem that it was time to take the fight to the rest of this pathetic city. Parts of them hoped that they would put up a better fight than the rest of these weaklings, but nonetheless they would not hold their breath. Their warrior spirits could not help the disappointment they felt towards these wretches, as several of their brothers made to get ready for a mad sprint into a shoulder tackle. That should have been enough for them to break in, kill the last of the feeble resistance here, and then lay waste to the entirety of this pathetic spec of dust called a Landmass.

Just when they made to charge, however…

"POW, right in the kisser!"

BAM!

In an instant, the doors were thrown open by a great force, the shockwave that had been generated by the impact having stopped the horde of Khorne-forces cold whilst blowing back the Khornate Berserkers intending to become humanoid battering rams. The said Soldiers stabbed their various weapons into the ground to slow themselves to a halt, allowing them to look up and see what it was that, in their blind rage, dared interrupt the most glorious aspect of an invasion.

All they saw, however, would only be described as a black and purple blur, a blur which slammed a foot into a Bloodletter's face with extreme force. If it had been a being like a mortal, then the bones in its face (if it even had any) would have been shattered beyond imagining from the blow. Its screams remained unheard thanks to its face being smashed into a point where it couldn't even move its maw let alone speak, as it fell to the ground back-first whilst the figure landed on top of it.

That wasn't where it ended, though, as the figure used the momentum from the surprise attack (which caught the rest of the horde by surprise hence why they didn't respond to this attack right away) to use the Demon as a surfboard and slide along the ground, making an arch as the figure tore through the demonic ranks of the horde. Whatever that figure used remained too fast for the eye to make out, however, but what they could see was that it indeed packed a vicious punch since it tore through the Khornate Berserkers and the World Eater Legion soldiers' armors with ease.

Once the arch was completed, the figure circled about till it halted at the middle of the entrance, flipping off tits 'ride' while kicking it into a section of the horde the figure hadn't touched yet. Either because of range, motion or attack power wasn't known yet, but thanks to the flip the figure landed in a crouch, allowing them to finally see what it was that had attacked them: a feminine, womanly figure clad in black and purple armor.

Said womanly figure got to her feet, and while this happened the horde remained motionless. Now, normally this wouldn't have been the case, as these guys, controlled by nothing but malice, bloodlust and a lust for combat, would have instantly been on her. They would have seen her as a worthwhile opponent, something they've long since yearned for this entire invasion, but right now they didn't. They stayed put, each of them raising their weapons in defensive stances. Bloodletters growled and grunted while they got their Hellblades ready for combat but didn't move. Juggernauts snorted and huffed, as they trotted their hooves on the ground with their blazing eyes narrowing their gazes on their newest prey. The rest of the Khornate Berserkers and World Eater soldiers growled and sneered in both anger and caution, their battle-hardened, unrelentingly savage instincts roaring at them to be on their best guard.

The reason for this?

Simple, as the woman slowly got to her feet, all around her dozens of long, glistening blue crystalline Shards appeared from nothing but thin air. The sounds of crackling crystal filled the air as the shards reshaped themselves, becoming long Javelins held in the air by seemingly nothing. Nothing but the woman's own willpower. There were about 100 Javelins made from this Crystal manipulation, or Crystallokinesis if one wanted to get technical, and ALL of them were aimed towards the Khornate horde. Needless to say, each and every one of them flipped their lids, screaming mindlessly about 'foul sorcery', 'heresy' and even a few comments about 'those damned Tzeenchists!' Though, the woman didn't let that get to her as she held a hand up… before throwing it forwards.

Instantly, the Javelins flew forth like a meteor shower.

Neptune could hardly believe it. She couldn't help but grin to herself under her helmet as she conjured Javelin barrages one after the other, peppering her enemies with them while forming a large crystalline blue boulder beneath her feet. A boulder that, using her powers, lifted into the air and carried her over the horde, allowing her to constantly pepper the with crystal Javelins, Spears, Spikes, Blades, Hooks, Axes, pretty much everything one could think of that could be used as a weapon. Not only that but as she hovered over the horde, strafing the air above their heads she had large diamond-shaped Shards the same size as herself guarding her, protecting her from attacks.

Attacks that came in the form of the Bloodletters jumping up to strike at her with their claws or, more often than not, their Hellblades.

One of the Khornate Berserkers howled in monstrous fury, raising his arms and flinging a large Axe-like weapon at her platform with extreme force. Tossed from its sinister owner, the equally sinister weapon sailed through the air with the speed of a bullet and the force of a car traveling at 200 miles per hour. However, Neptune glanced down and saw it comin, however, and just before It collided with and shattered her platform, she managed to flip into the air and avoid a direct hit.

CRACKLE, CRCAKLE CRACKLE, CRCAKLE, CRACKLE, CRCAKLE, CRACKLE, CRCAKLE, CRACKLE!

The shattered pieces didn't fall to the ground, however, as they seemingly remolded themselves into long Spikes, shooting down in the form of multiple streams that slashed through dozens upon dozens of Khornate followers. In the air, Neptune twirled and flipped about, dodging tossed weapons hurled her way with the grace of a ballerina, giggling to herself all the while beneath her helmet. She found herself doing various poses in the air to avoid getting sliced to pieces by all the weapons expertly tossed at her before she finally crashed into the ground on all fours. Her impact LITERALLY puts a large, pretty much human-sized, dent into the floor which resulted in it cracking apart, forming a crater.

Each of the Streams she had made by will slithered through the air like aerial serpents, tearing through the hordes before returning to Neptune's side. Though, they didn't remain idle, however, as each of the Streams combined their Shards together, molding and morphing themselves by the will of their mistress Neptune. In seconds, the preteen had a horde of 50 on her side of the entrance, 25 constructs resembling the stereotypical Knights which each sported the same Armblades her Armour was equipped with, whilst the other 25 were shaped like the Abnormals known as Viperwolves and Thanators.

It hadn't been often that she did it, she wasn't the type of person to study, but even so, Neptune had sucked it up and studied on the various Abnormals in the world. There were so many to choose from that she had wondered what to do with them all, but with her Crystallokinesis allowing her absolute freedom in what she made (she knew, she had checked), it eased her worries. Since the halls were too narrow for the bigger Abnormals, Neptune had decided to stick with smaller ones like the Viperwolves and the Thanators, though the Knights were more like representations of her love for heroes.

Their emergence, however, did shock the horde back into reality, and at one like a storm breaking out each of them gave a furious bellow towards their new opponents. Their eyes, each of them, danced with manic glee whilst raising their weapons in a unified war cry. Each of them quickly charged towards their new opponents, crazed joy and happiness coursing through their beings in their excitement for a new challenger. A challenger who proved herself to be more competent than the useless rabble they had fought so far. Up first were the Khornate Berserkers, with the Juggernauts following close beside them and eventually rushing on ahead. Bloodletters trailed behind these two types, all the while the World Eater Legion soldiers followed beside them whilst brandishing their wicked weapons…

Just as Neptune liked.

In response to the charge, Neptune's own constructs charged back, each of them howling and roaring as they leaped towards their prey on their Mistress's orders. The thing about these constructs was that they matched the combat prowess of the one who created them AKA Neptune, plus they had some degree of autonomous behavior allowing them to fight as a fully disciplined military unit.

Though, one could say that was also their greatest weakness.

Neptune furrowed her brows as she threw her right arm to the side, calling upon her secret weapon. The beginning of the battle seemed to be in her favor for the time being, but her gut instincts told her that wouldn't last. Thing is, these constructs had comparable combat abilities to herself, but that was where their weakness lay. None of them would be stronger than herself, and if the enemy was way stronger than her, then these constructs would be pretty much useless, unable to defeat those particular enemies. Plus, it wasn't like she could give them complex orders yet, THAT needed more training.

Still, it seemed that they were enough for a distraction at the least, she thought as she watched her constructs take out the Bloodletters and Juggernauts. However, when it came to the Khornate Berserkers and the World Eater Soldiers, that was where they figuratively fell flat on their faces, since despite their berserk tendencies, those soldiers had way more bite than their bark so to speak. Each of them individually fought like they had WAY more experience and combat ability than herself, a Goddess who had existed for more than a couple thousand years (or so she had heard from Noire at one point), taking her constructs apart before they could do more damage. She COULD have created more constructs and let them loose on the horde, but A: that would consume energy and B: Neptune was NOT the type of gal that left everything to her minions.

Finally, a flash of blue light illuminated her hand, a shaft forming within it which she grasped, the weapon soon forming completely. Neptune didn't even glance at it when she saw a Khornate Berserker tear through one of her Knights (having jabbed his sword into its mouth then tore the head clean off the body, rude!) to charge at her. His bulky, demonic and horror-inducing armor clunked and clicked, his massive boots stomping enough to make holes appear on the floor whilst roaring bloody murder. "KILL, DESTROY, SLAUGHTER!"

Just when the guy was within arm's reach, about to sewing his weapon: a massive Axe-like weapon with what looked like a chainsaw mechanism…

SCHWING, PARRY!

Instantly it got parried by something else, something glowing as it finished forming. Both weapons grinded away at each other, like a sword being sharpened at a blacksmith's. All the while, the preteen armored Goddess looked towards her opponent behind her Helmet. The Soldier's eyes couldn't be seen thanks to his own horned helmet over his head, but if Neptune wanted to guess what his expression was, she would like to think it wasn't one of calm composure at least. Though considering this guy's allegiance and behavior, describing him with 'calm' adjectives felt like a stupid thing to do.

Nonetheless, the preteen Goddess quickly pushed him back with a quick application of pressure from her weapon. The weapon itself seemed to do the rest, pushing back the much larger Khornate Berserker with surprising force behind it, much more than what the warrior seemed to have been expecting. For a brief moment, he stumbled backward, caught off balance from the unexpected push, until he went into a handstand and flipped backward, landing in a crouch and getting back to his feet. Afterward, he quickly settled into a combat stance, a stance Neptune recognized as one that likely took years of disciplined training to accomplish.

Still wouldn't save him from THIS beauty.

As she got into a combat stance of her own, Neptune held her secret weapon, her ace in the hole and quite possibly the strongest weapon she had right now. The weapon looked like a large, glistening blue, crystalline sword as long as Neptune was tall. The blade had a long, two-handed hilt, with a blue crystalline Jewel on the bottom. The blade had a circular hole at the base, where a single slit-like gem floated within, much like the eye belonging to a certain demonic sword. From the circular hole, the blade sported a wide base before two blades protruded forth from it. The main blade was on the bottom which curved inward slightly, till near the end of the blade which shapes itself into a harpoon-like structure. This blade had a sharpened edge, making it the main edge for attacking. The other blade had more of a crystalline spike-like appearance, marking it as the weapon's rear blade. Lastly, were these two fin-like accessories at the blade's base.

The moment that the Berserker, along with his brethren, noticed the blade's presence in her hands, they each shuddered and took steps back… well, the ones who weren't in combat that is. They each recognized this blade's energy signature, for it would be considered an 'abomination' in their eyes. The blade constantly gave off this holy and demonic vibe to it, which would make sense considering what it was. As well as how Neptune had gotten this weapon in the first place.

'Soul Calibur… That's the name of this weapon.' Neptune thought in her mind while idly glancing down at her weapon behind her helmet. At her thinking about the blade's name, the weapon in her hand instantly unleashed a torrent of excitement and glee. Excitement and glee towards the thought of finally getting the chance to shine after so long being honed through countless hours spent training. Hours she COULD have spent gaming or eating Compa's delicious pudding (she so wanted to do that too), but training had to come first. Believe her, it had been a HORRENDOUS decision, who the hell would give up the glorious treasure that was pudding for something as exhausting as training?! She herself normally wouldn't do something like that, since she was definitely a pudding fan. However, IF and also Compa had convinced her to take her training seriously.

'Get it in gear, or us and Nico'll leave you in our dust…' IF had said.

It was not something Neptune had wanted, the thought of Nico becoming so strong that there would be this irreversible gap between them made a pang of pain erupt inside her chest. It often occurred to her that Nico was strong, heck he was so strong that he had the capacity to handle a lot of problems others couldn't, all on his lonesome. Someone like him, who fought on the battlefield every day of his life… that felt like a saddening, lonely experience. Not something Neptune, herself wanted to go through. Hell, not even Nico deserved that. She didn't want him to be alone, not anymore, the guy deserved a chance to be happy for Goddess's sake, and YES, she knew the irony of her saying that. She wasn't as dumb as she made herself out to be, ya know!

At the core of the issue, those words had been her inspiration for training when she got the urge to just nap and stop the training forever. That… and what she would end up fighting against on Quests. She didn't want people to suffer from those Demons, nor any other evildoers out there, goddess Neppit. In the end, it had resulted in her current strength, and she felt goddess darn proud of how far she had come!

Now, she wanted to test just HOW far she had come... not just with her techniques, but with Soul Calibur.

Raising her foot, Neptune stomped on the ground, a sheet of blue crystal quickly spreading across the floor and around the battlefield. Some of the enemy force, most notably the Bloodletters and Juggernauts, lost their balance due to the abrupt terrain shift, and fell over to allow her own constructs a chance to finish them quickly. Her Knights impaled them on their Armblades, while her Thanators and Viperwolves toe them apart limb from limb. A rather messy sight, to be sure, but considering what they had been doing previously the sight before her eyes seemed rather tame in comparison.

Neptune then did a kick, sending a long line of crystal spikes from the point of her kick leaving the ground, towards the enemy horde. Her constructs wisely chose to back off moments before the stream hit them, allowing the spikes to impale only her enemies. The World Eater soldiers, as well as the Khornate Berserkers, managed to avoid lethal blows thanks to their rigorously honed instincts, but the rest of their comrades didn't have the same luxury, thus getting impaled in a similar manner to their victims by the crystalline Spikes.

The preteen then held a hand out, smirking beneath her helmet as she let the Spikes separate from the sheet on the ground, before molding them into additional 50+ Construct reinforcements. All of them were Knights, however, no beasts as there weren't as many Juggernauts left thanks to her previous efforts. She then broke into a sprint, charging into battle with her reinforcements behind her, slashing and hacking away at her enemies with relentless determination.

She would use a mix of her own Martial Arts Techniques in tandem with Soul Calibur, swinging the Divine Demonic weapon in wide arcs and cleaving through dozens of opponents. Neptune wouldn't show it though, but she did have a little more trouble breaking through the Armour of her more human opponents, and it wasn't like their weapons were made of stone compared to hers, either. Instead, every time she fought them it felt like she was stepping into the middle of a minefield. One false move and she would be reduced to nothing in a matter of seconds. Still, she didn't feel too worried, since she had her Soul Calibur out, and it wasn't like she neglected her Crystallokinesis either. In the midst of her sword swings, Neptune would unleash various Crystal-based attacks, be it blasts, waves, walls, spikes, shards etc.

Soul Calibur wouldn't lose to the weapons it fought against, either. It came from Soul Edge, after all, and thus, it had the same properties as that Devil Arm. It had the same traits as an average Devil Arm, the sentience, the power to manipulate crystal, the 'might makes right' mentality, everything. However, it wasn't a 'pure' Devil Arm thanks to her Share Energy having purified and merged with it while it was developing into Soul Calibur after merging with her soul. In essence, it could be called a hybrid weapon, a hybrid of demonic and divine energies with the properties of both. The amount of raw potential in this weapon, thus, felt staggering, and even now Neptune felt like she had barely touched the depths of the weapon's power.

Her reinforcements mirrored her determined demeanor, aiding their surviving brethren in tearing through the enemy ranks like hot knives through rubber. It helped that Soul Calibur had one of many special abilities, abilities similar to Soul Edge's but unlike it, Soul Calibur focused more on positive support like boosting. Case in point, the ability she had dubbed DEMONIC BLESSING, an ability where Soul Calibur granted a buffing of any and all resistances to a single ally or a group for a duration of 5 minutes. Elemental, physical and mental resistances are doubled for that duration, and would be seen by the thin blue aura that appears around the receiver of the blessing.

Then, there was KARMA REFLECTOR, a Skill which allowed Soul Calibur to make a Mirror of pure blue energy before Neptune or any of her comrades, a mirror that absorbs an incoming attack, be it physical or energy-based, and reflect that attack back at the enemy multiplied by the strength put into the attack originally. She had applied this to herself as well as her troops, helping them stay alive for longer against their foes.

Last, but most certainly not least, would be HEAVENLY ATTRACTION, a result of Soul Calibur being demonic energy purified. It uses its energy to trap enemies with its glistening allure, making them immobile for 20 seconds to allow Neptune's comrades some easy yet critical hits on them. Those who have a high mental fortitude, however, can resist this ability. There were others, but they weren't meant for group battles like this. However, it didn't matter as at this point it became a battle…

A winnable, battle.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, everything was cleared up. There were no more Demons or humanoid insane warrior dudes in sight, having all been cleared out by Neptune herself. As in, herself, her Constructs (which erupted into Crystal Shards that were absorbed into Soul Calibur), and her Crystallokinesis powers. In the end, she stood in front of the entrance, dismissing her Armour but keeping Soul Calibur out. She wanted to keep it for the time being since there would likely be more enemies out there that would require its power. Now that she thought about it, that would definitely be a certainty not just because of PLOT, but also the fact that she could sense an abundance of demonic entities throughout this floor. More of them were even detected in the lower floors, meaning they would be having a LOT of fighting to do.

Whelp, no point in just standing around here, then.

"Come on guys, let's go!" Neptune called out, turning to face her friends who had opted to stay back and see what Neptune could do. Needless to say, they got the shock of their lives, seeing the destructive capabilities that the Goddess of Planeptune had shown herself to be capable of. All of them stared at her in varying forms of surprise and shock, especially the sword in her hand, said sword's gem almost glowing like an eye. It constantly released this feeling of serenity... serenity that could become a furious storm at any moment. Kind of like a Tsundere, one moment it would be calm, the next murderous. "We can't rest now, not when there is booty to kick, people to save and shower us with adoration and pudding!"

'Ugh, that love of Pudding... yep, that is definitely Nep there...' IF thought, grunting irritably as she got over her shock the fastest. Part of her had wondered if what she had seen was really Neptune, but that comment had shut that part she could remain so fixated on Pudding at a time like this, all with a massive smile on her face.

Even so, it surprised and befuddled her. Her BOW instincts warned her to be wary of that blade the moment she had seen it, something she had listened to and by the Goddesses, she felt gad to have done so. Whatever that blade was, not only did it feel like something that could destroy her with nothing left of her to regenerate from, but it also felt similar to a Demon sword. Yet, at the same time, it didn't, creating this uncertainty on whether or not she should be wary or relieved with its presence. Hopefully, she could get used to it, cause she didn't want to have to deal with that feeling forever.

Not to mention, seeing Neptune hogging all the fun made her want to strut her stuff too.

"Th-That was amazing, Nep-Nep!" Compa squealed, jogging over to her friend with the rest of the Groups simply following suit. Her face a mix of worry and amazement, Compa quickly pulled Neptune by her head into a hug, squealing while jumping up and down. "Nurse Compa got soooo worried when you just carelessly jumped out into that scary place...!"

Neptune however, showed she didn't mind her behavior and giggled into Compa's chest, getting her to chuckle at the ticklish sensation assaulting that area. "Hahahaha, aw shucks, it's alrightie Compa-poo. I was perfectly safe, the power of plot Armour and my status as the main character was on my side, I couldn't lose!" she chirped, flipping Soul Calibur into the air. When it reached the apex of the throw, Neptune gently pried herself out of Compa's grip, and when it came back down she bent her upper body forwards so it would land on her back. The weapon did so, in a diagonal manner, the hilt peeking out from behind her right shoulder before it tethered itself to her back. She always found that part of the weapon to be insanely useful, as well as slightly weirdo get used to. She was more used to summoning weapons from her Inventory after all.

Still, it didn't mean this wouldn't be spammed for all that it was worth, hehehehe.

"Alright girls. Let's keep moving." IF interjected, walking up to them with her hands, now returned to their Armoured forms, at her sides since there were no enemies for her to fight... at least for now. "I know we all have questions to ask Nep about her weapon, but let's save that for after everything is settled." she stated, gesturing to the corridors they had yet to travel down. Her words silenced any and all questions that were about to be asked, especially from those who didn't know about the preteen's training. After all, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

With that in their minds, everyone proceeded to continue down the hallways, intent on obliterating the demons from the second floor.

Though, none of them noticed the brief flash of sadness go past Compa's features before she suppressed it.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Another chapter done.**

 **Now, here's how the next series of chapters will come about. There will be one chapter for each girl, and I've arranged it so that they will fight on different floors. So, Neptune's had her time to shine (for now at least, there's still a few more things she can do with Soul Calibur - what do you guys think of that idea BTW? Was it expected? Did you think it was coming since Neptune DID receive a piece of Soul Edge from Nico. Just look at the original franchise these swords came from). The Next couple chapters will focus on IF and Compa, AKA the rest of Group 1, then Group 2 (Mostly Noire as I have plans for Raven and Lucy who will take more of a background role like Aiden and Ivan will - don't worry, I could make a scene showing Lucy and Raiden going all 'Jack The Ripper' on some unfortunate Bloodletters, that could be fun actually lol) and lastly group 3 (Vert and Guts mostly, since those two will have badassery written all over them, more so for Guts cause, well, he's Berserk's Guts. Enough said). By the time they reach the last floor, it will likely be all the Goddesses at once fighting whatever lurks beneath the Dungeons, and boy will THAT be a doozy. Hopefully you'all will look forward to that.**

 **But until then, peace out!**


	129. Chapter 126 - Demonic Invasion PT3

**Chapter 126 - Demonic Invasion PT3**

Turned out that things would not be as easy as they had thought with regards to clearing the first of the three floors. That fact quickly burned itself into the brains of the three Groups, burrowing into them like animals seeking to escape the harsh winter, everything that followed suit after Neptune's little 'display' with Soul Calibur. Said events felt like the core of a chaotic maelstrom, more than anything else.

"Um, is it just me or do these guys seem wilder to you all?" Neptune questioned, stretching her arms over her head after they cleared another room filled with Demons. The formation they had was pretty simple, her in front, IF to her left flank and Compa to her right. Their Party had just finished fighting a ton of Bloodletters and a few Juggernauts, way fewer than the horde she had fought back at the entrance to the Main Hall. None of it had been easy however, and at this point none of them expected it to. Fortunately, there hadn't been any of those Khornate Berserkers or the World Eater Legion (they kept calling themselves that during battle), which made using her Crystal constructs much easier since they wouldn't be axed off every few seconds.

After clearing the room out, the rest of them had quickly fulfilled their roles assigned to them by Stefan, as like he had said, he would remain behind to take command of what remained of the Basilicoms' guards. Someone had to, and since Yvoire had gone MIA (missing in action) he was the only one fit for the job. So far though, judging from the few times they had seen guard patrols acting additionally cautious towards the hallways, it seemed that the man didn't withhold how dangerous their jobs would be. Seemed like he had well and truly EARNED the right to be considered a Leader.

Of course, he wasn't the only one who worked as hard as possible, the other groups also deserved credit. Group 2 had done their job of cleaning up any remains and finding as many survivors as possible while Group 3 opted to remain behind their lines. Just far enough to be counted as a support group, and by the Goddess was that a good decision on their part. Neither of them hadn't remained inactive, as the latter would handle more than a few ambushes from their rear flanks, whilst the former would have more than a few scared staff members, the occasional panicked Noble (whom Lucy took great pleasure in 'shoving' into the main hall) as well as a few injured soldiers whom barely clung to life. Thankfully, they had healing items to keep their conditions from going critical. Otherwise things could have ended up much worse.

Still, there WAS something increasingly apparent, as well as suspicious, about these ambushes as Neptune had noted. Using her ability to track Demonic Power, the more they fought throughout the floor, felt like a 50/50 situation. As in, she could sense demonic entities throughout the Floor, which allowed them to target the areas with the lesser concentrations of them first. You know. To give everyone in their groups who had yet to experience them first hand a better chance of fighting them (she definitely caught those looks Isaac, Aiden and Ivan sent the way of the Demons while she and her gal pals fought them), but on the other hand she couldn't sense their Portals, leading to them spawning potentially right next t them and her senses wouldn't be able to do a damn thing to warn her beforehand.

It was a good thing she had the MARGINAL COUNTER technique in those cases, as absurd reaction times had been the sole thing saving her skin from meeting an early Hellblade decapitation more times than she'd care to mention.

The bottom line though, was that the more they fought, the more Neptune had begun to see some form of pattern here. Gradually the frequency of the ambushes would increase, and they were mostly targeting either group 1 or 3 according to what she'd seen. Not to mention that every time they got tougher and tougher, with more close shaves regarding life or death situations. Time passed, and these suspicions only served to heighten, making her worried no matter how much she tried to hide behind her usual cheerful comic relief character persona.

She wasn't the only one who noticed either, as IF had noticed the same thing she had done. "Yeah, you're not the only one, Nep." She remarked, glancing about while keeping her senses sharpened. Honestly, when she had seen Neptune's MARGINAL COUNTER the first time, she had been… well, more than a little jealous. Despite her training and powers, IF had found that she couldn't sharpen her reaction time to anything higher than 0.1 seconds. It had been a… rather disgruntling discovery, and she'd tried to push past it only for her body to mutate in ways that… well, let's just say she didn't want those mutations happening to her body. Still, the fact that there was something off here allowed her to focus on other things than her on training. "These attacks are getting more and more suspicious. Not only are the ambushes occurring more frequently like they know where we are, but the numbers of Demons are rising through each Ambush. Even with our current powers, it'd be bad if we were overwhelmed."

"Uuuugh… so many heals…" Compa whined, grimacing at the thought of the healing she would have to do. They had ample healing item supplies, so they could each restore their energy in-between attacks. Sure, they would work, but having to experience the exhaustion of combat multiple times in one day wasn't something she looked forward to. Not to mention the fact that most of the responsibility for healing and support rested with Compa herself. If she went down, the Party lost their support/healer. But, if what her friends said was true, then there would gradually be no time to restore themselves. Not something she would enjoy thinking about, especially when the time came when they couldn't afford to apply those healing items. The amount of pressure building up on her kept gradually increasing, and that… didn't really sit well with her.

There was a reason why she was so anxious about this after all, a reason that she had confided in Nico during their outing in Planeptune…

Nevertheless, whilst noting Compa's demeanor, IF walked ahead of them while holding a scowl behind her half-mask. She had a few ideas on how to improve her Armour, and some of them actually came from the way the Armours of those Khornate Berserkers looked. She had noticed it well through their random encounters with those Armoured warriors, but their Armour was very durable, hell it took a full powered shot from a Goddess to dent it, and even then it still functioned fairly well. There was also the intimidation factor, something she felt would be quite nice to have for her Armour. To her, an Armour suit best functioned with intimidation. The scarier the Armour, the better. Though, she wasn't sure on the moral aspects of having Armour similar to their enemies in appearance. "In any case, we need to get moving, if we want to kick the asses of these fuckers. Lets go retake the Basilicom, Ladies!"

"Yessie/Righto!"

* * *

10 minutes later however…

"Man, I'm beat…" Neptune whined, heaving and gasping whilst using Soul Calibur as a crutch. The girls' legs seemed like they were wobbly as hell, not to mention that she looked quite exhausted whilst Compa gave her some SP Chargers to refuel her power. However, said Nurse-In-Training also looked beyond exhausted, and with what had been happening, who could blame her? "These Demon guys just don't know when to quit, do they?" she questioned the others.

To say that their day had been exhausting as all hell would be one big understatement. In fact, it could very well be a contender for the understatement of the century award. Throughout the last 10 minutes, Neptune, Compa and IF had faced numerous Demons, consisting of Bloodletters and Juggernauts, throughout the entire floor with seemingly no end in sight. Not just ambushes, but the concentration of Demons throughout the floor just kept getting bigger and bigger with no end in sight. Almost like they were intending to just flood the entire Basilicom with numbers alone. If they weren't here, who knows how quickly the Leanbox Guard would have lasted against them, since these creatures seem to have ample experience on the battlefield.

Fortunately, they didn't encounter many Khornate Berserkers or World Eater soldiers, but even so the Party didn't like how that was a thing. The fact that they hadn't encountered any didn't bode well for them once they reached the lower floors. It was like in those RPG games, where the deeper inside a Dungeon one goes, the more powerful the enemies become till they reach the boss at the bottom. Not something that the wanted to ponder for too long, yet those ominous thoughts were like cockroaches, never leaving them the heck alone.

"The more we fight, the more that we attract to us, it seems…" IF muttered, thoughtfully. The other Groups didn't include themselves in the conversation, as they had their own tasks to do, which sort of comforted them and yet not at the same time. Sometimes, having more voices in a conversation could help provide fresh perspectives, after all. Especially the more knowledgeable ones like Raven, Guts, Isaac etc. However, she wouldn't risk deviating from their current plan for opinions just yet, things weren't that dire as of right now. "Still, this shows that the enemy has their eyes on US and not the Main Hall where the Nobles are. At least, they'll get a chance to evacuate to safety."

"True." Compa remarked, nodding in agreement as she fell onto her backside. Her lungs almost burned in their desire for air, her form already going through intense respiration. If she was going to survive this, then she would be getting a shower when they arrived at their hotel. Sometimes, she found herself jealous of IF, as thanks to her BOW physiology, she didn't have to worry about getting sweaty thanks to her body assimilating any bacteria that she came into contact with. It was the same for bathing, now that she thought about it, making her realize that IF really did the more human things like bathing, eating cooked human foods etc, from habit and not necessity like a normal person would. It filled her with both jealousy at the freedom her body possessed, as well as sadness for her friend, though right now wasn't the time for these thoughts. "At least we're doing what heroes do, as in helping people. But, we keep going like this and we're probably not gonna last…"

Both the preteen Goddess and the brunette BOW nodded in grim agreement, though the former tried to hide it behind her ever easy-going attitude. The grim reality of the situation however, didn't lose any of its impact from this, though. Compa was right on the mark after all, they wouldn't be able to keep up this mindless fighting forever. Maybe IF could if she kept assimilating her demonic opponents, that ability kept her strength up and helped her abilities further evolve. In essence, something like this only seemed like a means of growing stronger for her, a biological playground for her body to develop stronger mutations. However, the rest of them didn't have that advantage, they relied more on their healing items and Compa herself to keep themselves up to full strength in prolonged battles like this. Their supplies were quickly dwindling thanks to the excessive use of their supplies, so it wouldn't be long until they would dry up and 'wash out' as the saying went.

In essence, it resembled the difference between a rechargeable battery and a non-rechargeable variant. One could be used continuously as long as there was energy to charge it with, while the other had a bigger but non-rechargeable energy supply.

Vexing, that was what that was.

Just as they made to take a rest, Neptune suddenly tensed, her eyes widening as she almost dropped her Soul Calibur to the ground. Her eyes became white circles and her jaw practically fell open. "Nepu?!" she exclaimed, startling the others.

"Huh? Nep, what's with you aside form not going Nepu for a while?" IF questioned, arching a brow and crossing her Armoured arms over her chest. That had been a bit of a surprise, she hadn't expected the childish CPU to become like that all of a sudden. Whatever got under her skin though had to be serious, enough for her to have this level of a reaction. Normally, she would have dismissed this as Neptune being well, Neptune, but this time wasn't like the norm.

Turning to them, Neptune began to try and say what she wanted to say. Her eyes narrowed, her lips pursed while her cheeks puffed in concentration. "Muuu… I dunno how to say it, but I'm getting this strange feeling… Its like I'm sensing a whirlpool nearby or something, but how could that be? I mean, whirlpools are meant to be in oceans, right? Not inside a building or is Gamindustri logic that bad?" she queried, confused while scratching the top of her head in puzzlement. She understood that it was to do with her demonic energy sensing powers, that much was for certain. She could sense that there was a massive build-up of the stuff nearby, but for some reason, she just kept getting this strange feeling. Like this kind of energy was different from what she had been used to so far.

If anything about this taught her a lesson, then it would be that the unknown was NEVER a good sign…

"Well, whatever it is we only have it as our lead at this point. Perhaps we can find something there." IF stated, sighing to herself in resignation. The other girls looked at her weirdly, but didn't say anything, and for that, she considered herself grateful. Honestly speaking, she didn't like the idea of going anywhere near something she had no clue on, it was just asking for trouble and with the shit that had been happening the unknown sounded REAL freaking dangerous alright. Dangerous enough to get them killed. However, with their current situation being what it was, she found herself being forced to admit that they didn't have many other options. The majority of the floor had been cleared, they had found most of the Survivors on this floor with only a few areas left. And some of those areas had the highest concentration of Demonic entities according to Neptune, anyways.

Might as well check this out, see what the whole fuss was about.

* * *

Later, the trio found themselves before one of the guest rooms on the floor, a particularly large one according to the size of the door. Groups 2 and 3 remained to do their own roles, but thanks to a recent Demon attack they had found themselves separated from Group 1. Fortunately, IF had the contact details of several people in the two groups (she could already see Vert freaking out that her precious 'iffy' had disappeared), so they could get in contact and regroup at any time they wished. Not to mention the chances of them finding more survivors with the floor they had left to search wouldn't be as high as it was before.

"This the place, Nep?" the brunette BOW questioned, looking over to the amnesiac preteen with a questioning gaze. She wanted to make sure they were in the right place and not somewhere else entirely. She didn't completely trust Neptune's sense of direction, one time they had been walking home after a quest and Neptune's tiredness lead them to go to a brothel with male strippers instead. An eye-opening experience, but it made her always wary of whenever Neptune was either tired or had hunches similar to the one she had said she had now.

Looking over to her friend, Neptune gave a firm nod of resolution, a 'hm-hm!' sound escaping her lips as she pumped a fist. "Uh, huh! Yeppers, this is where I feel that strange thing coming from alright. Just behind this doorsie." She replied, before twirling on one foot and prepping herself by raising Soul Calibur. In her hand, the weapon seemed to almost rattle with excitement, the fact that it had been used so much during this invasion filling it with utter joy. It had been locked deep within Neptune's soul for months now, so excuse it for enjoying its time out of her being for once! "Alright, ladies! Let's do what we do best, and charge ahead blindly! Goooo-!"

"Nope." Before anything could happen that could potentially spell doom for the Party (or perhaps an aneurysm for IF, she didn't doubt Neptune's antics being possibly capable of even making someone like HER have one with the body she had), the brunette slammed a fist on top of her head. She used only a bit of her true strength, she didn't want the preteen to lose any more brain cells after all. While Neptune trembled in the fetal position as she held her head (which had a throbbing cartoonish bump with a bandage forming on it and steam), IF spoke more with closed eyes. "Not charging ahead blindly on this one, Nep. Also, stop pulling jokes from other games into this, this fanfiction is crazy enough as it is." Oh, who was she kidding? This was NEPTUNE of all people, trying to stop her from being meta would be like trying to stop her from liking pudding.

Compa, whilst she tended to the preteen's head injury with some bandages (which Neptune kept a wary eye on), furrowed her brows while a questioning look formed on her face. "Then, what are we gonna do, Iffy? If we don't go in, we won't find out what it is Nep-Nep sensed." She asked her. In cases like these, when Nico wasn't around the Nurse-In-Training would find herself looking to the Spec Ops Candidate for leadership, cause no offense to Neptune, but she hardly fit the bill for a leader. She was more the cute, lovable oaf who helped keep the mood up.

And like she thought, IF had a plan already in mind as she walked to the wall beside the door. "Don't worry, I got this covered." She responded, an eager smirk soon spreading across her lips like wildfire. "Heh-Heh, Nep isn't the only one who's got a few new tricks up her sleeve. Had a bit of practice with this ability, so I wanna test it out in the field." She stated further, pressing her hand onto the wall.

At that moment, IF closed her eyes and began to focus. Her mind quickly sent commands to her body, or to be more exact her Biomass reserves that felt so large that they resembled a whale ten times bigger than an average one. All of it came from assimilating Demons and Abnormals over the last couple months, so she had much to burn through. That Biomass soon detached a piece of itself under her will, and she willed it to go down her arm. It did so, traveling down her arm in the form of a barely noticeable bulge, acting almost like a living organism. It weirded and creeped Neptune out to no end, as she was the sole person to notice.

Once it reached her hand, however, IF manipulated her hand's biological structure, allowing the Biomass within it to escape into the wall. She felt it escape in the form of a feeling of something sliding out of her, a somewhat ticklish sensation if she were honest. However, it quickly passed, and soon enough, she found a connection between both herself plus the Biomass she had ejected into the wall form in her mind. It had entered the wall through the smallest, unseen cracks that could only have come from the building being as old as it was, though IF didn't focus much on that.

While she worked, Neptune made to ask what the brunette planned on doing, however just before she could open her mouth the preteen found her mouth being concealed by a quick motion from Compa. Surprised, Neptune made to break free, but Compa shushed her, whispering that it was best not to disturb IF during her work. When she got a confused glance from the preteen, Compa briefly explained that whatever IF was doing seemed to require intense focus, so it would be best if they gave her the space needed.

'Heh, well at least I'm not getting grilled for answers yet…'

That thought made IF let out a relieved chuckle, a small humorous smirk forming on her lips as she continued her work. She'd rather explain the abilities she got when all this shit would be over, and she didn't see that happening any time soon. Returning to her task, IF commanded the Biomass to envelop the floor, walls, and ceiling of the room to both isolate the sounds within as well as tell her what was going on inside. This was the exact same thing that she had used to guarantee herself some alone time with Nico after he helped her with the Hellverse incident, only this time it had been more refined for combat use. Having eyes everywhere across the battlefield sounded like a huge tactical advantage to her, hence why she had developed it.

Thanks to having refined this ability, something she liked to call the 'Zen Shiya' (All-seeing Vision), IF could have it infest certain sections of a structure and allow her to know what lay within. This could extend to the structure's layout including any hidden areas, up to even the amount of organisms inside of that section including their location. It's not meant for attacking per say, but more on the lines of scouting, as it will also inform her of anything getting close to its vicinity. It didn't see through 'eyes' as it was merely Biomass stretching through the interior of a structure, but through special nerves that would inform it where the enemy was and their numbers. It also secreted unseen atoms that merged with the ones inside the section which would fill said section, allowing for the ZEN SHIYA to see whatever was not on the ground but in the air, taking care of any aerial enemies.

There were several downsides to using this, however. One of them was that its actual use was fairly limited, as it could only be used inside structures, and even then, only parts of it can be infested at a time. If she were outside in an open space, then it would die the moment it detached from her Biomass reserves. Not only that, like she said before it wasn't much of an attacker, and it also didn't have that much defense either. It relied on the structure's integrity itself to defend it, infesting it to make the section more durable against attacks which would normally break them. If but one stab from a weapon got through that and impacted it, then the ZEN SHIYA would kill the infestation in seconds.

Fortunately for IF, she had another mutation developed to compensate for that.

After a few more seconds, IF felt the ZEN SHIYA completely cover the room from the Basilicom's structure, allowing it to see inside and inform her of the enemy's numbers, and their locations. Instantly, she began getting information through the link she had with the ZEN SHIYA, her brows narrowing while her eyes closed, and her left hand's index and middle fingers touched her forehead. 'Hmmm, judging by what the ZEN SHIYA's telling me… looks like we have a full house of Khornate Berserkers in there. Doesn't seem like there are any Bloodletters or Juggernauts though which will be a relief. Still, if this is true, then it would seem that they've been sending Demons out there to attack us while the Berserkers have remained by this room for some reason. What the hell?'

This behavior immediately caught IF off guard, as so far, the Khornate Berserkers seemed content with just randomly charging into battle with utmost ferocity. The fact that they were waiting and supposedly doing nothing but remaining stationary inside this room felt both shocking, and more than a little suspicious. 'Maybe they have some form of intelligence after all? Or perhaps someone else is rallying them, like a leader would his army when they're regaining their morale. If they do have a leader, then this will be like a boss in a Dungeon. Odds are, the difficulty spike will be great…'

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy, hellllooooooo! Gamindustri to Iffy! Gaminustri to Iffy!"

"Um, Iffy?"

Two hands waved themselves in front of her face, abruptly and rudely snapping IF out of her thoughts as she smacked the hands away. When she did that, did the brunette hear the preteen that she called a Party Leader exclaim at the gesture, however, IF didn't focus on that as she aimed a glare at their direction. "What was the big idea? I was thinking something important!"

"Hey, rude, you were pulling a Nicky and keeping us all in suspense! Don't try to copy Nicky, that's his gimmick in this fanfic, not yours!" Neptune retorted, pouting with her hands in fists at her sides. Heck, within her, she felt Soul Calibur grumble in annoyance at her companion's demeanor, its frustration being sent through to her via their link. "So, uh, what's the dealio? You found something out?"

Compa didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes said it all. She wanted to know, but she didn't want to seem rude about it. The difference between her and Neptune, people. Maybe she should have the 'Party Mom' moniker, IF thought, before clearing that thought from her mind and turning to fully face the two girls. "Well, I've found out where all the Khornate Berserkers were all this time. Apparently, whatever got Nep's senses all wound up is extremely important, so they've opted to protect it or at least gather around it for some reason."

"Huh, so… that's a thing." Neptune responded with a deadpan. Her eyes had that 'I_I' look on right now as she digested that information, putting it under the 'weird stuff that doesn't matter to Nep' folder in her mind. "We help then, let's just bust on through, ladies!" she bellowed, getting into a combat stance before the door.

IF and Neptune quickly got out the way, the brunette making a note to alert her ZEN SHIYA to pull itself out of the door, so it didn't get hit by whatever Neptune was about to do. Something she found to have been VERY correct to do, when she sensed a large amount of hybrid energy gathering within Soul Calibur like a pure blue torrent, a blue aura slowly forming over the blade. It sent chills down to her very core, every instinct in her body screaming at her to NOT let that energy even TOUCH her lest she suffers pain worse than burning from the sun itself.

Should those guys on the other end feel it, they'd be shivering too, she would bet.

"Alrightie, boy! Let's go to town on these suckers! Hyaaaaaaa!" Neptune called out, screaming as she swung Soul Calibur in an under-arching wave. The blade's tip touched the ground, and in its wake, Crystal formed to launch itself as a huge stream of sharp, jagged spikes with large pillars mixed in. The stream shot through the ground with the speed of a bullet train, slamming into the doors with such unrelenting force that tore right through it, blowing the doors open and filling the interior with sharpened Crystal. One could hear the startled cries, mixed with furious howls, of the Khornate Berserkers within. "Hehehehe, looks like we got the first strike! Symbol attack go!"

Even with that rather loud proclamation, neither of the two girls voiced their objections. None of them wasted any time in running inside, Neptune dismissing the Crystal in favor of using it to forge Knights and Viperwolves for support. Even applied the DEMONIC BLESSING to them.

* * *

Inside, the girls found themselves witnessing the sight of what lay within.

Like IF had stated to them outside, there were a large batch of Khornate Berserkers, about 60 in total, each of them still recovering from the surprise attack Neptune had launched with Soul Calibur. If it were any normal attack, then they would have recovered near-instantaneously, but thanks to Soul Calibur NOT being a weapon normal mortals could use, this wasn't the case. It may as well have been their anti-thesis, considering their opposing natures, hell Soul Calibur had a demonic side that mixed in well with the Divinity it now had, making it even deadlier. Some of them were on one knee, using their weapons as crutches while others were on all fours, shaking their heads to get rid of the dizzy spells they got from that attack.

Looking at all this, IF couldn't help but sweatdrop. "Wow, this is…" she muttered under her breath, shaking her head before glancing incredulously towards their Leader. "Geez, Neptune. You ever heard of the word 'Overkill'?" she questioned with an arched brow. Now, she felt VERY glad that she wouldn't get on the receiving end of that blade. Her BOW instincts refused to let their guard down around that weapon, especially with how it still radiated that beautiful blue aura over its blade, remnants of the power it used before still clinging to its form. As for the constructs Neptune made, each of them encircled the trio of girls, ready to unleash hell upon their mistress's orders.

"Hehehe, sorry…" Neptune responded, sheepishly chuckling with her free hand, all the while Soul Calibur trembled in her grasp, giving off an aura of something unrepentant for its actions. Soul Calibur seemed almost like it had somewhat of a prideful side compared to Soul Edge, which just hungered for bloodshed, warfare, and slaughter. "Guess I kinda don't know my own strength…"

"So… YOU are the one who attacked my men, are you?"

Just then, a deep, masculine voice broke through the air, its sharp, cold and deep tones quickly demanding the girls' look to the source. It also demanded the attention of the rest of the Berserkers, whom quickly shot to attention with cold, stiff forms like a well-disciplined military unit, unlike the rabid dogs that the girls were used to.

The source came from the center of the room, and when everyone looked there, Neptune, IF and Compa all widened their eyes (two sets being hidden behind their helmets) when they saw what looked like a cloud, a cloud composing of energy, gas, and lightning all mixing together like some form of a whirlpool. Yet, it wasn't a whirlpool in the traditional sense, it felt more like some form of space mixed with whirlpool traits, leading to confusion from the girls whilst the source emerged from within the 'thing' there, confidently striding towards them with strength and purpose.

This source happened to be a man, or rather they THOUGHT it was a man since the being had full body Armour covering him, so they couldn't tell. Still, the masculine undertones indicated that he was male… yet, more than that at the same time. The guy's Armour seemed much like that of the Khornate Berserkers around him, matching their appearance, but colored a darker shade of red than theirs, with black markings of eyes, fanged maws and demonic symbols adorning the Armour. Each one nonetheless almost glowed with burning malice and sinister intent. The man's eyes resembled literal flames through his helmet with how bright they glowed, their gaze locked onto the girls with barely a readable look in them.

For weapons, the man sported two types: On his left hand, there was this large, powered gauntlet fitted with four razor-sharp metallic blades, each blade a miniature power weapon sheathed in a strange energy field, no doubt enabling them to carve through armor and flesh with ease. In his right hand, there was a massive, two-bladed Axe that looked wickedly sharp, both blades having double pointed ends and along spike between them for stabbing. It also came with a Chainsaw function, as apparent when the girls noted the various teeth that adorned each blade's edge.

"Ooooh! Let's call that a Chainaxe!"

"Hush, Nep…!"

"It matters not what you call my weapon." Snarled the man, having heard Neptune's words almost stupidly easily. It was almost child's play for him, and yet the preteen's voice grated heavily on his short-tempered nerves. "The fact remains that you three BRATS, dared to hinder our great Conquest of this pathetic world! You dared deny me the skulls I seek for my master! You shall taste the wrath of I, Roghrax Bloodhand, personally! Men! Rip those ants to pieces for the glory of Khorne! RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!" He roared, raising his Chainaxe to the air. His marks seemed to pulse brightly, and the rest of the Khornate Berserkers screamed in a unified gleeful war cry. He then dashed forwards without warning, his speed so great that none of the girls could react in time as he made to grasp Neptune by her Skull. "You first, you trollop!"

Just before he could grasp her, as in just MILLISECONDS before, IF barely managed to knock Neptune out of the way, turn to face the enemy, but ended up getting grabbed instead. "Guh!" she grunted, rearing a leg back to try and kick him with no small amount of Biomass enhancing her leg for the attempt. However, the moment her foot impacted the man's Armour, it just exploded into pure gore, a shower of blood exploding beneath her sole remaining foot. "GAAAAAH!"

"IFFY!"

Both her friends cried out at the sight, horror, and dread filling their beings whilst IF got thrown across the room like a rag-doll, landing on all fours (or perhaps threes, since she had only one foot) until she ground to a halt. From the injury, pain shot up her leg right into her brain, nearly making the brunette cry even more, though she bit her lip and endured it. She'd gone through worse, so this should be nothing to her. However, thanks to her large Biomass reserves, IF managed to regenerate her foot in a second, which proved to be quite a feat considering how this 'Roghrax' character was already on her, swinging his Chainaxe towards her head with his fiery eyes wide with bloodlust and maniacal glee. IF almost saw her whole life flash before her eyes when she heard the revved-up rotating teeth of that Chainaxe as it neared her skull.

'Shoot! Gotta form my weapon…!'

PARRY!

GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNND!

Quickly, IF reacted by morphing her right arm while raising it into the weapon's movement path, making a weapon that managed to catch the Chainaxe, barring its path successfully even with the rotating teeth grinding away at it. The girl cringed at the feeling of the teeth digging like shovels constantly chewing through dirt, sparks flying between their weapons, before pushing him back and getting into a combat stance.

Stumbling backward a few steps, Roghrax got his balance back, each of his men all rearing to charge forwards. However, he held his clawed gauntlet out to stop them, much to their surprise and anger. Yet, their fear of being killed by their leader held them at bay. The reason why soon became apparent however when they all glanced to the one whom he'd picked as his opponent.

IF, who had lowered her defense, made a few practice swings before rearing her weapon backward, forming her own attack stance. She had applied her blade mutation to her arm, but… unlike before, it had a completely new form. One that seemed quite… radical, perhaps more so than her blade mutation's previous form.

Instead of its previous one, the blade mutation took the form of a massive, elongated, double ended blade, forming from the base of her right arm's elbow. The blade mutated the rest of the arm down into a mass of black chitin. The main blade protruded downwards, with the rear blade protruded upwards. Making its size rival that of IF's height. The main blade seemed about the shape of a large tooth, while the rear blade looked much smaller, retaining the length so it reached the top of her head, with the shape of a spike.

The moment that they saw the blade, both girls blinked owlishly as they stared at their brunette friend in shock. "Whoa…!" Neptune exclaimed, her eyes going up and down the blade's form. The way it looked gave off this primitive, savage impression, all the while complying with the whole organic gimmick… plus, it kinda made chills go down her spine as images of IF stabbing someone with that blade raced through her mind. "Iffy, that blade looks awesome!"

'Iffy…' Compa thought, eyes equally s wide to show her surprise, whilst she put a hand over her mouth at the extensive mutation taking over IF's arm. True, IF had some drastic mutations already, but there was something about this one that seemed… well, special for some reason. Perhaps it was how the blade seemed much more organic than her previous one? It definitely took over her arm in an increasingly 'complete' way in comparison to its previous form.

On the other hand, Roghrax narrowed his eyes, looking at the blade and noticing the intense sheen coming from it. That man's instincts told him that this weapon wasn't just for show. Not to mention, it struck a chord with him. Well, not the weapon per say, but how she got it. "Hmmm… interesting… that arm…." Soon enough though, he figured out why, and a dark chuckle escaped his lips as he pointed his Axe towards her. "I see… you remind me of the Tyranids I fought countless millennia ago…"

"Uhhh…" IF began, arching a brow when she heard him say that word. For some reason, she got this feeling that she was being insulted somehow, a spark of indignation igniting within her. "Tyranids?" she questioned, though she didn't think she would be getting an answer from this guy. The way he quivered right now gave her the impression he was struggling to hold back his murderous intent.

She only confirmed her thoughts when he erupted into mad laughter, rearing his head backward. "Hahahaha! Yes, yes, yes! This conquest had gotten all the more interesting" My Lord, Khorne! Grant me your power, so I may add another Skull to my collection! To my eternal offering to your greatness!" He bellowed between his laughs. The marks on his Armour, in response to his words, almost seemed to glow so brightly that they could be mistaken for miniature suns, all the while his form became cloaked with this crimson aura that only contained malice and unfathomable insanity. His laughs gradually become more and more demented all the while, until they could give even the most deluded of psychopaths a run for their money.

Quickly seeing that their friend was in duress, Neptune and Compa glanced at each other. This only lasted for a second thought, before they nodded in unison and then began to sprint forwards, trying to come to IF's aid. "Don't worry, we're coming for you Iffy!" Neptune cried out, holding Soul Calibur for a powered slash. She even made to activate her PLANEPTUNE DRIVE, however, two things happened that stopped both her and Compa from doing anything.

One: Roghrax yelled out "BEGONE!" while throwing his hand out, causing his minions to step between the two girls and his fight with IF. Neptune's Crystal Constructs backed her up, though they likely wouldn't be able to break through in time. "This whore's skull is mine for the taking, none shall interfere!" he yelled, before he clicked his fingers. That triggered the second thing, as all around them a large circular ring of orangish-red Hellfire erupted around them, being just large enough for them to engage in single combat, whilst sporting some unknown-looking Carvings IF couldn't read. More maniacal laughter escaped her opponent, who howled like a hyena whilst pointing his Chainaxe at her. "The Death Parade has been accomplished! Now, it is truly a one-on-one duel! Only by becoming victorious, can this be settled!" He bellowed, before breaking into a mad sprint in her direction.

Hearing this, IF cursed as she readied her blade, also morphing her remaining arm into her Claw whilst she quickly blocked the man's fist Chainaxe swing. Her eyes narrowed, their gaze as sharp as any blade would be whilst her body began to heat up, thanks to her Biomass reserves doing so by her will. She would have to pull out all the stops here, she thought to herself. Her training, her Mutations, both new and old, all of them would be put to the test right at this moment. It had to be, or this may very well be her last fight… ever.

* * *

Back in the Main Hall, things proceeded smoothly, with minimal incidents...

Well, that was what Captain Stefan Von Kessal WISHED would be happening, but nope, that was not the case whatsoever.

A tired groan escaped his lips as he sat on a chair, a hand on his face while he had his head hung low. One arm draped itself over the chair's back, the other having its elbow lean on the nearby table. Sometimes, the man wished that people could be more competent in their jobs, that they were more aware of their responsibilities and their commitments. Pretty much everything important about their jobs that they seem to ignore in favor of their own interests.

Now, this wasn't a jab at the military, in fact despite all the shit that had gone down, the Basilicom Guardsmen and the staff had behaved rather well. They co-operated with him, complied with his orders and did their best to help out where they could be of use. Those that weren't injured, anyways, those that were still kept their pained cried on the down-low, since bitching about it wouldn't do much in the long run. Stefan found THEM to be much easier to deal with than these stupid, sniveling cowards called Nobility.

Seriously, those guys gave him more migraines than the stupid Paperwork he did on a daily basis, they were THAT bad. In fact, Stefan had to stop up to 20 Nobles from throwing fearful fits about not being allowed to be teleported to safety first, nearly causing mass panic and riots just to secure their own skins. Some of them made wild accusations, threats and the like, trying to demean other Nobles in the eyes of the masses so they could get out first, only for Stefan to step in and assure them things were going to be okay. Even though that had been more and more like an empty promise the more injured guardsmen and staff came in.

It was a good thing that the military had the competence for these situations, Stefan thought to himself.

He had to hand it to MAGES., though, that woman had a LOT of patience to be able to remain silent while teleporting these weak-willed idiots out of this place. For not once did he hear her complain about these guys, when they did the exact opposite. Instead, MAGES. just kept on doing what she had to to get everyone out of here alive, at least the ones who couldn't help with the fight. He had already questioned her about possible reinforcements, to which she had stated that she had sent a request to both the Guild and the various military forces outside the Basilicom. They would be getting reinforcements soon, as in 10 minutes as, unfortunately, most of the military had been spread thin fighting off the Demonic forces.

Not exactly an ideal situation, but it was the best that they could do with their current forces. MAGES. had said she had some healing Circles prepared for the guardsman that they managed to get out, Circles that would heal their injuries to allow them to be teleported back into the Basilicom to fight. It was something she had suggested once she had teleported a large portion of the Nobles out of the Main Hall, and something Stefan had decided to accept. Whilst this would extend her time being unable to help the three main groups throughout the first floor, they would need all the manpower they could get to keep this area secure. Every time they got attacked by Bloodletters and Juggernauts (thankfully, none of those men in red showed up, things would be WAY worse if they joined in), they would lose a good deal of their men trying to take them down.

Taking a sigh out of his lips, Stefan looked up from his seat, gazing up at the ceiling above. His eyes darkened with melancholy whilst his thoughts wandered to the three Groups. More specifically, Group 1, the Neptune Group.

He wondered if they were doing alright...

Hopefully, they would make it out of here, as he had a GOOD feeling that Nico would probably flip if any of them got seriously injured.

'That reminds me... where are you, DEATHSTROKE? Yvoire, too...'

* * *

CLANG, CLANG!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDD!

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDD!

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDD!

Sounds of combat raged on throughout the room, filling the air with its presence and making it all too clear for anyone nearby, that this was NOT a place innocent bystanders wanted to be. Inhuman war cries filled the air, ringing through everyone's ears which reminded the occupants of normal and Abnormal monsters out on a blood rage. No, even that seemed like an understatement to the amount of berserker rage that was flowing through the air right now.

Neptune and Compa stuck together, the preteen helping keep the Nurse-In-Training safe by surrounding her with a circle of crystal Spikes. None of those spikes would yield so easily, as some of the Khornate Berserkers found out when they tried to get up close and personal with the Nurse-In-Training, just as Neptune had figured they would. All the while, Compa would aim her MPCS at their helmets to fire explosive ammo shots, either that or Paralysis sots so Neptune could get in a finishing blow or two. It helped that she had a ring of crystal constructs around to help keep the enemy off her back, too.

The preteen on the other hand, practically flew throughout the battlefield, darting between the Khornate Berserkers with TRACKLESS STEP and leaving deep cuts through their Armour. She'd use a mix of crystal attacks to not only bring her foes down, but also to aid in her mobility, sliding throughout the battlefield either on the ground or on walls, sometimes even trapping her opponents in cages of spikes so she could wail on them till they went down. It helped that she had a bunch of Knights around her to help her out, enhanced by DEMONIC BLESSING and KARMA REFLECTOR.

Yet, they weren't the biggest source of the combat sounds...

'You know...' IF began to think to herself, smirking in a rather pained fashion. The brunette stood while regenerating her lost right arm into Blade form, having lost it a second ago when it got severed at the shoulder by Roghrax's Chainaxe. Thankfully her reserves were on an all-time high thanks to this whole battle, thanks to Demons having more Biomass in them than humans that she got when she assimilated them. But, even so,m she didn't like the thought of wasting Biomass, especially since he was only the first floor, and the enemies were no doubt going to be greater in both numbers as well as combat efficiency the further down they went. Basic Dungeon logic, people. 'I think I may be in a bit of a pinch here...'

Fighting this guy felt way unlike fighting that Herald of Khorne back at the Hellverse. Back then, each strike the Demon made felt like maddening, uncontrollable and unrelenting bloodlust, like a massive wave of hot magma constantly slamming into her with the desire to burn her to ashes then out of existence itself. It was like fighting against a humanoid furnace, infernally hot and relentless rage combined into one horrendous mix.

This guy? Whelp, imagine all that actually being condensed, controlled and aided at only her, and you get an idea of how much shit she had found herself in.

Some good things had happened though, one of them being that her body had already adapted the Blade mutation, increased its endurance so the Chainaxe couldn't cut into it as well as it did in the beginning. Not to mention how the Blade slowly but surely managed to gradually increase its sharpness so it could dig deeper and deeper into the Armour that Roghrax wore, which wasn't that easy to do since the guy had speed and agility in spades, Likely, he had fought in an untold number of battles, battles against beings much greater in scope than herself. Odds were, she moved like a rookie in a training camp compared to him. It... didn't go down very well for her pride, realizing this.

Quickly, IF ducked under a Chainaxe swing to the side of her head, raising her blade to block the Claw strike that followed it. The Claw was a whole new story in terms of adaptation, as it still remained efficient in digging through her blade. If they were to get into a contest of strength and endurance, then IF felt sure her Blade would fall first. Which was why she kept their exchanges brief and only risked deadlocks with the Chainaxe.

Flipping backward, the brunette found herself getting some distance between them, though not much considering the Death Parade that surrounded them has limited the amount of space they could fight in. It was why she had stuck to some of her smaller Mutations, she doubted her Tendrils or Tentacles would have much space to move around in here and she had NO intent on finding out. 'Tch, this is getting me nowhere, I'll have to find a way to get through that Armour of his in one fell swoop.' she thought to herself.

That done, the brunette held her other arm out, allowing her BOW powers to apply another one of her newer Mutations to it. That arm quickly began to morph, various grotesque sounds coming from it while Roghraz quickly closed the distance with his Chainaxe revving audibly. IF however, raised her blade and brought it down, blocking the Chainaxe from its intended course of severing her mutating Arm before its transformation could be completed. She then superheated the Biomass inside her right leg, as evident by the heat rolling off it so suddenly before she kicked upwards, launching a wave of superheated Biomass towards her opponent who wisely chose to dodge by jumping backward.

Just before the man could attack again, IF's mutated arm finished its transformation, allowing her to aim it at her opponent with a sinister smirk forming beneath her half-mask. "Sorry, but Booyah bitch." she stated, before her arm unleashed a single human head-sized projectile towards her opponent. The Projectile slammed into her opponent's stomach area, the force behind it being so great that he was forced to bend forwards while being knocked backward into the air. He quickly slammed into the ground, before recovering and flipping backward to land in a crouch, sliding to a halt.

Looking up, Roghrax's glowing eyes narrowed in concentration, observing the new weapon and calculating its purpose. The new arm looked pretty much normal from the shoulder down the bicep, and to the elbow joint. But below that, the arm had bulged till it was twice the size of IF's original arm, with a quarter of it becoming this fleshy cylindrical-shaped mass with a rather ridged design. Tendrils came out of this Mass to embed themselves into IF's arm just above the elbow joint, likely so they can suck in the Biomass needed to make the rounds it fires. Then, from this mass, a metallic rhombus-shaped barrel with the same size protruded out, being about a forearm's length and sporting a glowing orange interior.

Obviously, this displeased the massive Armoured man, it displeased him a whole hell lot.

"You WORM! A ranged weapon is for cowards who cannot stand in a close quarter fight!"

"Heh, sorry, but I don't give a shit." IF countered, raising her new weapon and prepping to fire, The glowing orange interior began to get brighter, showing that the weapon was beginning to charge up another shot. "It's only a recent addition, but I call it my 'Bio-Cannon'. Nifty little thing, since it lets me fight at a range without sacrificing space like some of my other weapons do." The moment she finished, the Bio-Canon finished charging up, and thus fired a human head-sized ball of flaming Biomass towards Roghrax, aimed towards his torso Armour.

In response to this, Roghrax quickly slashed through it with his Chainaxe, making IF resort to firing more at him. In an instant, her Bio Cannon shot about 10 rounds towards her opponent, giving IF a slight recoil from the repeated usage. The man just sprang forth into a mad sprint, slashing through some rounds while others he shoulder tackled through, not giving a thought about dodging. He noticed, however, that the flames from the super-heated Biomass began eating away at his Armour after the 8th shot, much to his anger.

IF noticed this though, and her eyes narrowed while a small smile formed on her lips beneath her Armour's Mask. 'Looks like Superheated Biomass is the best way for me to damage that tough Armour. I say tough, cause it took 8 shots in the same place to put even a dent in it, which means I'll have to use my Biomass in other methods...' IF thought to herself, glancing at her Bio Cannon, then her Blade, as an idea formed in her mind. It wasn't something she hadn't thought of before, hell she had spent more than a small amount of time looking into this possibility. However, with the research, she did into furthering her own powers, IF hadn't had much of a chance to actually use it in battle. Not to mention, this Armour this guy had sported significant toughness. It would take a LOT out of her to burn through it.

Hopefully, this idea of hers would work now.

'Alright, powers, don't fail me now...!'

With that in mind, IF made to act. She quickly threw her arm downwards and morphed her Blade into her Whip, sweeping it back before launching it forth into a side sweep towards the man's head. During the swing, the brunette went and implemented her idea, focusing on the Whip's Biomass molecules and trying to apply the same formula to them as she would her own blood. It would be a long shot, and the flames likely wouldn't be as powerful as saying Nico's Hellfire, but she could at least do some damage to this fucker.

She would NOT be letting him have her Skull, thank you very much!

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for the two fighters, IF's whip gradually nearing Roghrax's head whilst the man just as gradually raised his Chainaxe to block it. As the two weapons neared, IF gritted her teeth, trying harder and harder to focus on the ability she wanted. No, the ability she NEEDED for this to work. 'Come on... Come on...!' she chanted in her mind.

Just as the Chainaxe managed to get its rotating teeth in the Whip's way. IF felt something goes CLICK within her. At that moment, she couldn't help but grin beneath her half mask as her Whip... erupted into flames. The flames roared to life, enveloping the Whip right down to where it connected to IF herself, though it didn't burn her Skin. With its fiery form, IF swung a bit faster, catching a surprised Roghrax by surprise as it wrapped around his helmet.

A surprised gasp escaped his lips as he grasped onto the fiery whip, cursing when he saw the steam rising from his bulky gauntlets the moment they touched the flames. However, before he could do anything IF lifted the man into the air with her Whip, smashing him into the ground multiple times before sending him flying towards the end of the Death Parade flames.

In mid-flight, he managed to right himself though, using his weight to slam into the ground and roll several times until he could get back to his feet. Unfortunately, he had been unable to keep his Chainaxe, which lay off the side of the two fighters, having been discarded while he had gotten his head smashed in. Fortunately, he could feel his body mending the damage that he got dealt through his Armour, Armour which had melted spots in some places. Most of them happened to be around his shoulder and above his eye sockets.

Good thing he had his Claw at the ready.

In a burst of speed, he already had gotten halfway in closing the distance between them, roaring a loud "FOR KHOOOOOORNE!" IF however, reacted by unloading more of her Bio Cannon's rounds, rounds of while Roghrax used his other shoulder to block until he was right before her, having avoided her Whip attacks this time. He would not let her attack him with that, he may be bestial, but he DID learn from his mistakes. When he was close enough, Roghrax slammed into IF, knocking her down with him on top of her.

"Guh!"

IF grunted, feeling her brain bounce about in her Skull for a moment there, before her vision refocused to the sight of Roghrax's Claw raised to impale her through the face. Her eyes hardened as she instinctively reacted, quickly morphing her limbs into Tentacles to catch the man's arms. 'Space ain't much of an issue to me as my face is!' she thought, before using the Tentacles to throw him off her.

Landing in a crouch, Roghrax got to his feet as he saw the Tentacles reform back into normal, if Armoured, Arms. His inferno-like eyes narrowed at the sight, a snort of disgust swelling within him at the sight. "So, it appears you are full of fucking surprises." he stated. It wasn't meant to be a question anyways, and not long after he thought that, the man noticed that he had landed right next to his discarded Chainaxe. Thus, he promptly picked it up, almost 'MOANING' at the feel of its shaft in his grasp...

Moving on.

"You'd be surprised." IF countered, morphing her arms into her Blade arm and a... Shield?

The woman's left arm had a stream of flesh growing out of her forearm, forming a chitinous Shield that seemed to conceal her entire lower body. Its form looked to be shaped like a V, with each edge having spikes curving upwards. The Shield had a very ridged-looking design, with what looked like an orange, slitted eye embedded within the middle of the Shield which sported a sunken inward socket. If one were to shine light on it, they would see that there was a reflective lens over the eye.

She didn't let him comment any further, as IF quickly dashed towards her opponent this time, engulfing her Blade in flames made from superheating its Biomass, allowing her blade to become like a fiery Hellblade that the Bloodletters use. She didn't waste any time, quickly bringing the weapon down for a mighty swing towards Roghrax's head. Since the helmet had already been partially damaged by her fiery Whip, that place along with the damaged shoulders would be her primary targets. At least, that would be her plan...

A plan that Roghrax wouldn't let it come to pass so easily, as he blocked her blade with his own Chainaxe, then swung his Claw towards her chest. IF responded by raising her Shield to block it, then the overhead Chainaxe slash that followed, plus the two strikes from both the left and right flanks that followed. The last strike forced her back by a few steps, and nearly caused her to fall off balance had she not morphed her Shield into her Whip, heating it into its fiery form before wrapping it around Roghrax's arm. She used that to get her balance back while yanking backward, pulling her opponent towards her, which allowed IF to smirk as she reared her blade back, and then unleashed a reverse upward slash.

CLANG!

Her blade met the man's Claw, however, much to her surprise, before the man howled as he grabbed her by her Blade, smashing her into the ground repeatedly before flipping her into the air. His Chainaxe rotated its teeth wildly, almost making electricity spark from the friction, before he sliced right through IF's arm when she came down, sending her flying at the same time.

"Agh!" The brunette gasped, pain shooting up her spine from the loss of her arm before she regrew it out of her own Biomass. She formed it into another Blade, then stabbed it into the ground to halt her movement. Once she had stopped, IF widened her eyes as she sensed immediate danger, and just as swiftly reacted. She quickly raised her arm, morphing it from Whip form to her Shield, which ended up blocking an overhead Chainaxe swing from hitting her. If she had been a second slower, she had no doubt that it would have cleaved her in two with how fast those teeth rotated.

BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM!

However, that would not be the end, as Roghrax's fury allowed him to constantly rain down upon her with furious swings from his Chainaxe, treating it more like a blunt weapon like a maul, than a cutting one. The raw brutality of the strikes could be felt as IF barely stopped herself from being forced back by the strength of his blows. A strength that felt wholly unnatural for a human, though whether or not this guy was even human at all was still a debatable question in her mind. Still, the rotating teeth gradually felt like they were carving through her Shield, something she felt was true when she saw cracks gradually beginning to form over her defensive weapon.

'Tch, this isn't good... if I don't find a way to bring this fight to a close, I might as well kiss my life goodbye...!'

IF found herself under quite a bit of pressure, a rather drastic understatement considering her situation. She constantly pumped her Shield with her Biomass reserves, reinforcing and repairing it from the relentless, non-stop onslaught that Roghrax was giving her, the Khornate Berserker even adding his Claw to the mix with furious roars ripping free from his vocal chords. Roars that were mimicked by his subordinates, the Khornate Berserkers proudly demonstrating their namesake by charging in with no care for their own well-being or that of their comrades against Neptune and Compa.

Not to mention, using so much Biomass had already eaten its way into 50% of her total reserves, reserves she had filled by assimilating Demonic flesh throughout this invasion. IF was no fool, everything she had seen thus far has pointed to the fact that Demons had launched some form of invasion through an insider of sorts, it was the only conclusion that made sense to the Spec Ops Candidate. Still, that didn't matter right now, figuring out how to turn this fight back around was a greater importance.

Honestly, id she went down like his, IF would NEVER forgive herself. She had come so far in her training, developing her ever-evolving powers, the works. She had trained herself to the bone, fighting countless Demons, Abnormals and the like so she could get this far. Not many could claim to have gotten this far with the circumstances she had, hell, she doubted there was anyone else who had been in her shoes. She WAS the first ever sentient BOW, after all, thus she had no clue how much power she could amass, or the limits to her potential. There could very well be a possibility of her not having any limits at all. But, even so, what good would be having these powers be if she were to expire right here?

Heh, a shoddy death definitely didn't suit her tastes, nope, not one bit.

Just then, IF caught a glance of her discarded Biomass Blade arm barely through the steadily growing cracks in her Shield. The moment she did, her eyes widened as she remembered something... something she had discovered about her powers not long after the Hellverse incident...

'Yes... Yes! That could work!' She thought, a small grin slowly spreading across her lips when a spark of hope ignited within her chest. Yes, there had been several Mutations to her DNA she had discovered, Mutations she had been reluctant to test until recently. Thinking about it, now would be a good time to see how well they could do in battle, she supposed. Not like the option of death was an option for her at this point.

Glancing towards the incoming Chainaxe, which almost reminded her of an animal finally seeking to finish off its prey before initiating in a well-earned meal, IF quickly reacted. She quickly thrust her Shield forwards, catching the Khornate Berserker off guard and forcing him back a few steps. Grunting, the brunette returned her Shield Arm to its Armoured form, a twisted grimace escaping her lips as she focused on the Mutation she wanted. 'Gonna go for broke, here...!'

It took only a second, but Roghrax quickly recovered from the unexpected Shield Bash, gripping his Chainaxe tightly before he let out a mighty war cry. He then charged back towards IF, his Armoured feet stomping on the floor contained within the Death Parade like mini earthquakes as he closed in on his opponent, eagerness shining behind his eyes at the thoughts of claiming another Skull to add to his glorious collection.

Wow, insane much...?

But then again, these guys were literally the personification of 'Berserker Rage' at its finest, so it shouldn't be too surprising.

The exact moment he swung his Chainaxe downwards, intent on slicing through IF's right shoulder blade down to the left hip, the man barely caught the slight gaze of... success? Yeah, success, in the woman's eyes. For a moment, he wondered what the hell she could have been so happy about, but he quickly assumed she would be happy to die a death befitting of a warrior. Despite the use of such crude, pathetic ranged weapons earlier, she hadn't used them much, so Khorne would probably welcome her into his domain. Either her or Nurgle, actually.

However, the moment he thought that...

STAB!

Something stabbed into his left shoulder from behind, impaling it and driving itself deep within that part of his body. The man gasped behind his helmet, surprise in his tone and if his face could be seen, it would be etched onto his facial features, too. Glancing behind him, he tried to see what had stabbed him just as he was about to add another tenacious Skull to his collection, only to find a blade etched into his Shoulder through his damaged Armour...

A familiar, VERY familiar, blade actually: the Blade mutation he had severed before.

For a moment, confusion rather than pain raced through his mind as he tried to piece together what had happened. Was this some form of foul sorcery? But, throughout this fight, he had observed his opponent and quickly came to the realization that it wasn't magic she was using, but forming weapons from her own body. Basically, she was like a mix of Khorne and Nurgle's principals, something that both disgusted and befuddled him. Disgust because there had not been something like that in all his thousands of years pleasing the Chaos Gods, but also befuddlement because he could not sense the taint of the Plague God in her. It was like she was something new, something mysterious... something unknown.

Something like that... for someone who had lived as long as he had, would definitely treat this with extreme caution.

Whilst he momentarily got distracted by what had happened, IF smirked beneath her Mask, quickly making use of the confusion to act. With a swiftness she hadn't thought she could be capable of, she generated one of her Tendrils and launched it. The appendage flew through the air like a javelin, swerving beneath the large man's arm and impaling the blade at its chitinous core, the part that would have grown out her Elbow if it were still a part of her. At that moment, she pumped just enough Biomass for the Mutation she thought of before to take effect, withdrawing the Tendril fast enough that it would confuse the Khornate Berserker, making him unable to process what had just happened... and how IF just turned this entire fight back to her favor.

From the point of connection, a long stream of Biomass erupted from the Blade impaling Roghrax at the shoulder, forming a body in a matter of seconds with an arm starting first. In a couple seconds, the body was complete... and the body took the form of a copy, a 'Replica' of IF. Well, not a complete one, since her skin was a poisonous green color while her body had a sinewy carapace covering it that was shaped like her body, covering it from the neck down like an Armour. As for hair, it merely looked like it consisted of long, insectoid-looking Tendrils that reached her waist, mimicking her hairstyle to the latter...

Though, the lack of iris or a pupil in her green eyes were the greatest facial feature to her.

"...The fuck?" That was all Roghrax uttered in bewilderment, before his instincts kicked back into high gear as he made to elbow her with the same arm whose shoulder got impaled. However, the other IF pulled her Blade arm out of him, hopping back so that he couldn't have hit her, before twirling into a reverse side slash towards his exposed Shoulder. In response, Roghrax quickly raised his Claw and brought it into a slash from the opposite direction, parrying her as he raised his Chainaxe to strike her down.

However, his instincts quickly reminded him that there was someone behind him, so he redirected his swing while twisting around, swinging his Chainaxe into the approaching Blade belonging to the ORIGINAL IF. "What sorcery is this?!" the man yelled, stepping back whilst holding his weapons at the ready. His anger, fury, and significant pain tolerance, all combined to allow him to wield his weapons despite the damage done to his shoulders. Adrenaline helps to numb pain for beings everywhere, apparently.

The original IF only smirked behind her half Mask, the other her remaining expressionless as she readied her Blade. "Nope, just Biology and Mutations, bub." She replied, before charging forth with her Replica beside her. This Mutation was the ability to expel portions of her Biomass, then give them their own consciousness. Even if the Biomass was separate from her, IF had discovered that ever since the Hellverse incident, that she still had somewhat of a connection to it. A connection that she could utilize to her advantage like a limited form of Telekinesis.

But, if she has enough Biomass split from her, IF found that she could order it to take on a form similar to what she looked like when she first broke out of her Cocoon in Lastation, and then have it help her fight. In essence, she was Replicating herself by dispelling her own Biomass. It was an ability she had developed through Mutations after assimilating many Demons into her being, their Biomass fueling her evolution. Hell, their physical abilities had ingrained themselves into her DNA, so while she didn't look it, she did have the physical buffs of a Bloodletter and a Juggernaut within her. If she assimilated the Biomass of stronger Demons, then their attributes would be added to her own, making her strength and other physical abilities increase as well.

So far, she could form up to 4 Replicas, any more and the weak telepathic link she has to control them with would be severed, and they'd attack everything around her.

With that in mind, IF telepathically ordered her Replica to attack whilst she bounced back, sliding to a halt whilst the Replica attacked her enemy. Roghrax quickly met her challenge he`ad on with a mighty bellow, swinging his Chainaxe with the fury only a Berserker could possess. Once she had halted herself, IF quickly threw down her sole human and Armoured Arm, detaching several blobs of Biomass. 3 if one wanted to get technical. At the moment they met the ground, each one erupted into Biomass, reaching her own height whilst forming into 3 more Replicas. With the maximum amount of Replicas under her command, IF mentally commanded them to attack, ALL of them each charging in against the Khornate Berserker.

A fight that the Khornate Berserker eagerly welcomed.

Now, this did have the problem of limiting the space for IF to move about, as the Replicas and her opponent would have taken up the majority of what the Death Parade ring allowed them to have. However, she had made these 4 Replicas knowing this, as she had a plan for how to settle this score instantly. She wanted just one opening, just one chance to strike this guy down. She wanted it so bad that IF even morphed her free arm into a second Blade in excited anticipation. Her Replicas had her own combat potential, and had the capacity to learn their opponents' tactics so they could overwhelm them. Thus, this made them significantly different from Neptune's Crystal Constructs which only stuck to her own combat ability. One could say hers were 'stagnant' while IF's constantly 'evolved' just like every other aspect of her powers.

Though, as she watched her Replicas attack, she also analyzed Roghrax's attacks. She watched his movements, how he met her Replicas head on and engaged in a fast-paced slash fest. Each Replica would attack him from the front, back, left and right flanks, focusing on keeping him on the defensive. Even so, the man admirably held his own against them, switching expertly between his Claw and his Chainaxe respectively whilst covering all his bases. Now that she wasn't in the heat of it, she had to admit that watching him fight showed her just how much this guy had trained to be as Skilled as he seemed. The way he moved like a savage animal and an expert warrior at the same time, the way he kept his eyes out for any surprise attacks, it almost seemed like he had a 360-degree vision or something. He would sometimes toss his weapon into the air to free his hand, allowing him to grab one Replica to stab at her, only for another to block his strike with her Blade. He'd respond by kicking and throwing them away, raising his hand to catch his Chainaxe to slash away at another Replica.

She had to admit, that despite being her enemy, his combat skills impressed her.

Finally, though, she saw an opening being made the more her Replicas got used to his movements. A small opening at first, but the more the fight went on the more that IF saw it lasting. It first lasted only a second, but now it lasted for up to 5, though it didn't get any longer than that. At that moment, IF acted, as if she let her opponent realize what she was intending, then she'd be doomed. She quickly deployed her 12 Tendrils, each of them arching around her as close as possible so they didn't touch the edges of the Death Parade ring. In the moment that they were deployed, IF broke into a sprint, mentally commanding her Replicas to jump back while her Blades erupted into flames.

That movement quickly caught Roghrax by surprise, but it didn't last. Not that she expected it would, anyways since this guy's reflexes seemed almost like they transcended human limits. He quickly turned to face her, swinging both his Chainaxe and his Claw at her in an attempt to meet whatever strike she had planned... assuming that she even would respond with a CQC strike.

Just before they could collide, IF quickly jammed both feet into the ground, sliding through it so she halted just out of the Chainaxe's range, allowing it to pass her harmlessly. Much to the Khornate Berserker's surprise as his fiery eyes erupted into an alarmed gaze. The flames surrounding IF's blades roared even greater, just as IF swung both upwards to create a huge wave, a wave that quickly forced the man to cover his eyes to stop the heat from getting through his Damaged helmet.

Heh.

Just as IF had hoped.

After all, it was only natural for one to look away from the sun instead of simply staring at it. The sun's rays could cause direct harm to one's eyes after all, especially to those who have enhanced senses like herself, Nico, Nep, and this guy apparently. She took advantage of this weakness, and with one mighty war cry of her own IF aimed her Tendrils at every vital she could see through the Armour. At that moment, each of them quickly trembled, like something was trying to get out...

SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Before 12 streams of Acid erupted forth, spewing all over the man's Armour. Even with the Armour's durability, the amount of Acid that it was getting bombarded with would prove to be too much, as the acid melted right through the Armour with little resistance. If it were at 100% operational, then perhaps this tactic would have taken longer, longer as in minutes longer so Roghrax would have had ample time to recover and counterattack, but thanks to it NOT being that case, IF managed to get her Acid to melt through the Armour in seconds instead.

Even his higher-than-normal Pain tolerance wouldn't save him from being melted like this, as his screams filled her ears.

Behind her, her Replicas all converged on the brunette as her Tendrils wrapped around them, quickly assimilating their Biomass back into her. If they had been destroyed completely, this wouldn't have been possible, but thanks to that not happening, IF managed to recover some of her own lost Biomass reserves... at least before the meal she would be having soon. 'Whew...' the woman thought whilst watching her opponent fall onto his back, his Armour barely shambles of what it once was. It had been highly damaged by her Acid, so much of it biting through its structure, internal workings and beneath his skin. Tenons were melted away in a spout of sizzling fire, making any and all mobility for him impossible. Trapped, both by his lack of Tendons as well as his own Armour being turned into a wicked cage with many of his internal organs damaged as all fuck...

Yep, this guy had become a trapped animal, an animal that she planned on devouring.

Coughing and Gasping as IF stomped her foot on top of him, her Tendrils impaling the ground around him, Roghrax growled as he barely managed to bite through the pain and open one single fiery eye. The fact that he still had such a fierce gaze in his eyes that he aimed directly at her, even whilst his body gradually got melted away by her Acid, would be nothing short of impressive to the Spec Ops Candidate. 'Wow, this guy has some endurance...' She couldn't help but think. 'A lot of Bloodletters and Juggernauts fell to my Acid already, so its a surprise to see this guy still alive... still, it's not going to be for much longer...' she thought further.

"Looks like... you have.. won...!" he barely got out through gnashed teeth. His eyes blazed with the fury and humiliation of being defeated, as a strange orange symbol appeared on his forehead. "A-As per the... Death Parade... the loser... is at the whim of the victor... they cannot refuse whatever it is... they demand of them..." he got out, groaning at the pain racing through his body. More and more of IF's Acid ate through his Armour, joining what had already gotten into his body in running rampant through him. The pain he felt was almost like being scorned by the infernal gaze of his Chaos God, intensified by 1000. Even so, he refused to show weakness, he would keep his honor and dignity to the very end if it was the last thing he did.

IF momentarily blinked at that, surprise forming on her features. "You say I can do anything I want with you, huh...?" she remarked, tilting her head in surprise. A part of her wondered what she would react like if Nico had said those words while being pinned under her, helpless to escape. Shaking off those rather perverted thoughts, for the time being, the brunette narrowed her eyes at her defeated opponent. "Alright then, to start with answering me this, what is going on here. Why are you attacking this place?"

"Yo-You think that... there is some plan...?" The man retorted, barely getting a laugh out before coughing up some of his blood. He could feel his life support systems being eaten away by the Acid, so he didn't have much time. "You'd be a fool then... we just came here... to fight... to conquer. There is... nothing else.. to it. We are... followers... to the glory of Khorne! For him... the blood of the strong and... the power is more than... enough a reason... for conflict! There is no... grand plan! Leave that to... other Deities!"

Eyes now narrowing at that response, IF sighed, realizing that this guy was telling the truth. It not only aligned with his personality and demeanor, but it also showed in how gleeful the rest of these Khornate Berserkers were. None of them care for any specific goal. To them, the power to fight against strong opponents, to utterly slaughter them and usher in a shower of bloodshed, warfare and slaughter would be enough for them. They were savage warriors, but warriors nonetheless, not leaders who want diabolical schemes tied to their actions. She felt like a fool for even asking that question, but she just had to ask anyway. At least now she knew there would be no higher reason with these guys other than the thrill of combat, martial honor, and pride. Even so, that alone could be counted as an insidious reason, and she felt disgusted welling up inside her gut for it. These guys needlessly endangered countless innocents in their quest for conflict, no remorse for the families that lose their loved ones. Thus, they had to die.

And she had the perfect means to do that.

"Alright then." she stated bluntly, with no emotions in her tone as she raised her foot and stomped right into his chest. She'd put some of her Biomass into the stomp to better get into his body, which allowed her to start the Assimilation process. Screams rang through the air as she Assimilated Roghrax, both him and his Armour, her Tendrils grasping his discarded Chainaxe to add it to the Assimilation of the Khornate Berserker. She briefly caught sight of the Death Parade vanishing and all eyes turning to her, but she dismissed them. All to enjoy this brief moment of pleasure that assaulted her senses thanks to this process.

A sensual moan escaped IF's lips as the process continued. There was truly little that could compare to the pleasures that came from Assimilating other things into herself, no matter what they were. If she were to describe it, it was like every G spot she ever had in her body felt like it was constantly being fondled with, including her other pleasure spots, in all the right places. As well as at the same time as each other, nearly overloading her brain with it. No matter how many times IF did this, she couldn't find much that could rival the amount of pleasure she got from it.

Well, maybe perhaps pinning Nico under her then having her way with him would be a good start...

After a moment or two, IF then noticed something, if barely thanks to her current high. Her body slowly, but surely, began oozing out this strange oozy substance, a substance that she was reminded of the time she got cocooned back in Lastation upon being infected with the C Virus by Ganache. Before she could think about it anymore, the substance quickly enveloped her being, cocooning her once more whilst her Tendrils remained out. It didn't even take a second for the Cocoon to form, and when it did the Cocoon remained there, floating above the ground like it was being suspended by some unseen force.

All the while, IF felt like her consciousness was slipping away, and soon enough she found herself out like a light.

* * *

By the time she came too, IF found herself in... quite the situation.

Opening her eyes, the brunette saw that her surroundings had... changed. Not only did there seem to not be any Khornate Berserkers around her (much to her confusion since there was up to 60 last time she recalled), but she felt... different. Stronger, faster, better. She felt better than she had felt in a long ass time. It felt like she had taken an overdose on steroids, times that by a thousand, and would not suffer any of the drawbacks. It felt like she was constantly feeling like she did whenever she Assimilated something, which not only made her happier than she had been in a long while but also drew her curiosity too.

Not to mention, her entire body felt... different. Not in that she couldn't recognize it, this WAS her own body after all, but there was just something... off, about it. Aside from the physical feelings that were... unlike what she was used to, the brunette felt like she had suddenly hit some form of a growth spurt. Looking down, IF raised her hands and looked them over, flipping them about to look at them from every conceivable angle. Nothing about them seemed out of the ordinary, to be honest. In fact, they looked the same as they always have, which only confused the brunette.

Perhaps gauging her surroundings a bit might help.

That goal in mind, IF lowered her hands and looked about, searching for any signs of answers to her questions. Like she had previously seen, there were no longer any signs of the Khornate Berserkers. Not even a shred of their Armour, a Weapon, anything, which kind of worried IF. After all, wherever they had gone, death would surely follow in their footsteps. They WERE warriors dedicated to the Blood God Khorne, after all. These worries filled her mind, though she didn't let them show on her face. She had to keep a calm, composed mind so she could figure out what had happened to those guys. Only then, could she move forwards and devise a strategy to deal with them.

One thing she DID notice, however, was that her eyes saw things that were in... greater detail than what she had been able to see before. If she were to make a comparison, it would be that she had been a near-blind person, but somehow had been granted near-perfect vision. It was a complete 180 in terms of visual acuity, something she had to take a moment to get used to. She saw things down to their tiniest details, she saw the walls down to their tiniest cuts, fractures, and cracks. She saw Crystals scattered throughout the area down to their tiniest details. Honestly, she almost felt like her eyes had become literal scanners one would find in the military.

Wait, Crystal? Didn't that mean...

"Nep? Compa? Where are you guys, come on out the enemy isn't here anymore!" IF called out, starting to walk forwards. Another thing she noticed when doing this, was that her feet moved with greater swiftness than they did before. Despite being clad in her boots, she felt like she was calmly striding, almost gliding, through the battlefield. Like the very ground, she walked on was nothing but a reflective surface for her to slide along as she fought and fought on the front lines. It was like she had survived the greatest of battles, fought against beings she could only dream of and had emerged victorious.

Soon, however, she found her thoughts to be paused when she saw Neptune and Compa poke their heads out from behind a large clump of Crystal. She would have smiled and went to greet them, had she not noticed the concerned expressions on their faces. Those made her own brows furrow in confusion and concern as well, wondering what spooked those two to give them those types of expressions. "Uuuuuhhhh... Guys? What's got your panties in a wad?" she questioned, tilting her head sideways.

"You tell us, Iffy!" Neptune replied, flailing her arms up and down beside her whilst Compa firmly nodded her head in agreement. She heard her do the 'Hm-Hm!' sound while doing said action, too. "I mean, I'm not the one who went all 'buffet girl' on us."

"Huh? What are you blabbering about now, Nep? You need some Pudding to calm yourself down?"

Compa soon interjected before Neptune could respond to that. "Iffy... I think you should check your reflection in one of these Crystals..." she stated with uncertainty, gesturing to a... rather large Crystal formation. "That should help you see why I and Nep-Nep are kinda shocked right now..." she added on, fumbling with her hands.

Okay, what was going on here? IF couldn't help but be concerned with what was happening. These two seemed unusually... docile, for their standards. Especially in Neptune's case, she was never THIS docile for anyone. Whatever had happened had shaken her to the point where even she couldn't keep up her happy facade anymore. Thus, with these thoughts in her mind, IF made her way towards the Crystal with trepidation and anxiety in her heart. She hoped nothing truly twisted had happened to her, like she had gained bestial features or something. If that were to happen, then things would definitely be awkward for her companions in the future, nevermind how Nico might react when they find him.

Approaching the Crystal, IF finally managed to look at her own reflection... and what greeted her was a sight that shook her to her core.

Was... Was she always this tall?

The brunette saw herself clearly in the Crystal, its smooth surface allowed her to use it like a mirror. But, the reflection that stared back at her hardly seemed like anything she had been used to looking at in the past. In fact, if it weren't for things like her hair and eyes, she wouldn't have recognized herself at all. Looking at her reflection, and then down at her own body, she realized that the reflection wasn't lying with what it was showing. It was being as truthful as it could be considering the circumstances.

IF's form had grown taller, like she had queried before. From her base height of 4'11, she now looked to be about 5'12 if she were to guess. Just a little shorter than Vert, but she had an athletic yet womanly figure to boot. Her hair remained waist length, while her eyes looked like a darker shade of green than she remembered. Even so, though, there was one thing she noticed above these changes: She didn't even have a SHRED of the petite frame she once had, something she felt... rather pleased about, actually. She now felt more like a woman than just a fighter, something that kind of made her a little giddy inside. Her clothes remained the same if adjusted so that they fit her new form. Hell, her coat not looked like it fit snugly on her, instead of being several sizes too large for her. But, the most important thing... her boobs. They were no longer an A cup, but more of a high C borderline D cup. Not too big but not too small either... definitely more noticeable though.

"Holy... shocked doesn't do justice how I feel right now..." the brunette couldn't help but remark, looking herself over and trying to find any form of familiarity to her previous self. Even so, a part of her couldn't help but cheer in joy, kind of like a high-school girl, at the realization that she wasn't exactly flat-chested anymore, something she had been secretly jealous of the other girls for a while now. "Though, as for how I got this way, I honestly have no idea..." she mused to herself, furrowing her brows in curiosity.

Soon, however, part of her remembered her Assimilating Roghrax the Khornate Berserker... and with the lack of subordinates around...

Wait, could it be...?

Quickly checking her reserves, the brunette stunned herself to find that they were just as overflowing in quantity as well as quality as they had been before coming here. In fact, dare she say it, the quality and quantity of her Biomass reserves felt even GREATER! This meant that the potency of her powers had drastically increased, her physical abilities would have been amped up with reinforced internal fibers, muscle and bone structure, while her body seemed to have been reinforced with stronger cells. It was like all her body's individual Cells got completely energized and reformed, resulting in her body having a greater ability than before. Even if she didn't show it with her physical form, her strength, speed, stamina, agility, instincts and everything else, even her mental fortitude, should have received a major overhaul.

Not to mention, whatever it was that helped boost their pain tolerance, had been ingrained into her body as well, any flaws in its design having been worked out and purged by her powers. From what she could tell, that part had been because of a set of implants inside the brains of the Khornate Berserkers. Implants that, when activated by their wills, stunted their production of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the human brain to encourage instinctive aggression, just as they deadened all other forms of emotional response and neuroelectrical activity to all parts of the brain save for that which regulated the flow of adrenaline. In essence, it made them more of a Berserker than they should have been, boosting adrenaline and deadening everything else. Fortunately for her, IF's powers had changed these implants so that they didn't deaden her emotions, but could still give her bursts of adrenaline to ignore pain.

She decided to call those implants the "Butcher's Nails".

Nevertheless, despite the upgrades to herself, IF had to scowl in disgust. Her eyes flashed with this emotion as she gripped her fists. Whoever made those implants was one sick fuck alright.

"When you went into that Cocoon, Iffy..." Compa began to speak, nervously as IF drew her attention towards her friend. The Nurse-In-Training shuddered a bit, before she found some small amount of courage to continue. "When that happened, you launched Tendrils all over the place. They grabbed and pulled all of those red guys to you where you hence did that absorbing thing to them, leaving no trace of them." she explained, trembling when she remembered seeing the Khornate Berserkers scream whilst IF's Cocoon Assimilated them. Herself and Neptune had taken refuge behind the former's Crystal formation to avoid getting targeted by the Tendrils. They hadn't know why, but their instincts screamed at them to do so, like those Tendrils had been on a warpath, and wouldn't care who they caught in their grasp so long as their mistress got satisfied with their Biomass.

It was a rather... scary concept. Not to mention the cries those men made definitely scarred her for life.

On her end, IF grimaced, a pang of shame and guilt filling her chest as she now realized WHY it was that Compa and Neptune seemed so scared of her right now. It was her Assimilation ability, before this, they hadn't really paid much attention to how it worked. All they had known was that it was one of her abilities to absorb anything into herself and have it improve her in some way. When they went out to quest together, IF had made sure they either weren't looking when she did it, weren't around when they did so since it... wasn't necessarily a nice thing to look at. Then, when their 3-month training began, IF had made sure to do Assimilation only when she was on her own, as Neptune and Comp had their own training to keep them occupied.

Even with these thoughts in her mind though, several things stuck out to her during her mental examination. Things that took her mind away from the shame she felt for scaring her friends. These were Mutations, Mutations that had taken place thanks to her Assimilation of the Khornate Berserkers and their leader, according to what Compa had told her. Considering the lack of remains around them, IF had no reason to doubt her, either. Still, these Mutations are an unknown, and she wanted to know what the hell they were.

One of them seemed to be involving her Armour, so after weaving it in (whilst seeing how it destroyed weaker Mutations to the Armour to replace them), IF closed her eyes and allowed the Armour to come out. She soon felt it do so, in the usual manner that it came out with the ooze that spilled from her being. When it completely formed, however, IF's eyes opened and she immediately noted the difference. Not only did her Armour FEEL different, it seemed to have looked different too considering the shocked looks that Neptune and Compa sported right now.

Wordlessly, she looked to where the formation was and saw why they were shocked. Instead of its previous form, IF's Armour now resembled that of the Khornate Berserkers. Its colors had been changed to a dark greenish color, with lighter green highlights and symbols. The Armour seemed to have been remade so that it suited a female warrior, so it didn't look as bulky as it did with male owners. In fact, it looked much more streamlined yet still offered the same amount of protection. Instead of a Mask, IF found that the Armour had a full helmet covering her head, but with a small rectangular piece that let her hair out and down her back. The Helmet had a humanoid shape, but with two horns coming out both sides, whilst sporting dark sockets that shadowed her glowing fiery green eyes.

Looking down at the rest of her Armour, IF held her hands out before her eye level, smirking to herself behind her new Helmet. "Heh, this doesn't feel half bad..." she remarked to herself, before deciding to see what other Mutations she possessed. Activating another, she soon found her hands morphing into Claws... Claws that looked more like large organic gauntlets like the Claw that Roghrax used, only the 5 blades were as long as a forearm, shaped like Scythes, and came out the back of her knuckles. Her eyes noted that they each carried somewhat of a static field, small sparks of electricity briefly manifesting and vanishing around them. No doubt that they now had increased cutting power, too. "Goddess damn, this is gonna come in handy..."

A faint "Hey!" from a certain preteen reached her ears, but in all her happiness IF ignored it in favor of looking into her new Mutations.

But before she could, IF quickly snapped out of it, shaking her head and dismissing her Mutations. leaving her in her... improved, human form. A sheepish chuckle escaped her lips, her cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. "u-uh, yeah, um... sorry about that guys, got a little excited there..." she remarked, lowering her head in the direction of her friends.

Seeing this, allowed Compa to disperse her earlier fears. It looked like even if she had changed, somewhat, IF still remained her core self in the end. Something that relieved her more than what one might expect. "No biggie, Iffy. You're still you, so that's all that matters!" she exclaimed happily before she looked to the center of the room and frowned in contemplation. "Also, when Iffy did that stuff... that purple swirly thing vanished." she reported, getting IF's attention.

"She's right-and don't think I'm going to forget you ignoring me, I-F-I, I'll get you back for that." Neptune childishly stated, grinning as she and Compa merrily walked over to the brunette. "But, yeah, I can't seem to sense any more Demon Power here, looks like those things are sources of the enemy numbers though!"

IF nodded in response to this, her previous high now forgotten in favor of contemplating this new information. "Looks like these areas are the sources of Demonic Power on this floor. Odds are, these are like portals that spawn countless Demonic entities, and there'll likely be more of them as we progress to the Dungeon. At least we know now that these are the keys to how they got so many numbers in such a short time-frame. That means, if we take them out, we can cripple the enemy on this floor." She theorized, before looking back to Neptune with narrowed eyes. "Alright Nep, do you think you can detect any more on this floor?" she questioned her friend.

In response to this, Neptune hummed as she placed a hand on her chin. "Hmmmm... mmmm... Aha! I can sense one more on this floor, though there's a whole bunch on the others. Guess that we should tell the others once we regroup with em." She mused, getting nods of agreement from the other two girls.

"Yeah, but first let's take out the other Portal, then we can focus on wiping out the rest of the Demons on this floor."

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whew, a big chapter is done.**

 **I'm just going to say it straight, the next couple chapters will likely have similar sizes to them, with a heavy focus on combat, character development, and new abilities. So, if the chapters come out slower, then that is why. Not to mention, that I was trying to portray the fight against the Khornate Berserkers as they were depicted in the wiki, to try and capture their brutal savagery as warriors dedicated to Khorne himself.**

 **For IF's Mutations that are developed by A: her own work, and B: Assimilating the matter of the Bloodletters, Juggernauts and Khornate Berserkers, the Blades are actually the ones Alex Mercer from Prototype uses. Second, igniting her weapons is basically her superheating the Biomass used to make them, a variant of her Superheated blood from the T Veronica aspect of her powers. She gains the Armour, Butcher's Nails implants and the combat prowess of the Khornate Berserkers. These, along with her claws being upgraded to ones rivaling that of the Wargear the Khornate Berserkers, a section of Space Marines in the Warhammer universe DEDICATED to close combat, use, will DEFINITELY put her up there in terms of power level.**

 **Combined with a couple more additions to her arsenal which shall be shown next chapter, I believe that IF's power will swell enough that she can go up against Greater Demons, something that the Goddesses (in their current power levels) can't do, though her being able to fight a Demon Prince in single combat is still beyond her at this point... even though that'll change in the future. Not to mention, her physical prowess is now enough that she can fight on even terms with the most dedicated of Khorne worshipers, who are OP warriors of their own right. Heck, its reached a point where she's gone through a physical metamorphosis... one of many, I might add.**

 **In essence, IF could very well be more powerful than the CPUs of Gamindustri.** **Makes sense, considering her powers are fueled by Evolution itself, a mix of resident evil and PROTOTYPE.**

 **Side note: Roghrax Bloodhound is actually a Notable Khornate Berserker in the Warhammer 40K Franchise. Apparently, he's a Skull collector and according to the Warhammer wiki, he leads a bunch of his fellow Berserkers against a Tyranid fleet called a Hive Fleet Kraken where he collected 'plenty' of Trophies.**


	130. Chapter 127 - Demonic Invasion PT4

**Chapter 127 - Demonic Invasion PT4**

With the elimination of that Portal, the Party quickly left the room and began making their way to the other Portal Neptune had sensed. Fortunately, there was only 1 left, meaning that once it was gone they should be able to clear this floor of Demons. It had been discussed amongst the three (well… mainly IF, as the other two didn't get it as much when she talked to them) that the Portals may be the biggest reason why the Demons have such large numbers. There had been greater numbers protecting them than the ones they fought throughout the rest of the floor, not to mention the types of defenses put around them made it so that they could very well be like mini-fortresses in their own right. While it was likely that the Dungeon had the main Portal, there were bound to be smaller portals opened up down below the floors, opened likely by whatever came out of the main portal. Odds were, that the Portals would be in greater numbers the deeper they progressed…

It almost felt like they were progressing down a Dungeon, rather than a holy place.

Honestly, seeing stuff like this happening to the home of the CPU she put her faith in REALLY grinded the Spec Ops Candidate's gears. To see the place that housed the CPU she confided in, the CPU she trusted and worshiped tarnished so horribly… it fueled her inner rage against those Demonic assholes, gave her purpose and a desire to exact vengeance for her CPU. The thought of Vert fighting on the front lines to retake her home from these Demons though, helped her focus on the tasks at hand, however. Hopefully, after this the Nobility would at least see that the CPU wasn't someone who'd cower away when her home was threatened, otherwise, she may not be able to hold herself back from unleashing her inner beast on their asses.

She had once read up on the 'inner beast' of a person, actually, when she had been bored, thus went surfing the web one day. She didn't know why, but she couldn't help but look into it back then and had assumed it to be a personal whim of hers. Not something that had any particular meaning, but something nonetheless. According to her research at the time, an inner beast was basically like a 'rage mode' for people who get very angry or upset for whatever reason. It is a sub-dermal and abstract concept used to describe someone who becomes increasingly aggressive after being angered. One person even commented 'Don't awaken someone's inner beast if you don't know how to tame it', which she felt like a lot of people don't really take to heart.

Especially those who commit criminal acts and deliberately provoke victims, like Ganache.

Still, during their journey to the next portal, which according to Neptune was located at the opposite side of the floor, they had come across more than a few packs of stray Demons, Khornate Berserkers and World Eater soldiers. They had fallen quite easily, especially to IF, who couldn't help but note how her body's new… physical state allowed her to fight on even ground with them. It felt like her body had been imbued with the experience, martial prowess, and raw power that these guys commanded, allowing her to use their own power against them… not something she minded since it made dealing with them much easier for her.

During those fights though, IF had discovered that she had gained further Mutations, developing some new tricks that she could use to fight her enemies. One of which, she called the 'Ryokugan', translated as 'Green Eyes' which she had found that it had been developed when she Assimilated those Khornate Berserkers and their Leader. The RYOKUGAN gives her a near 360º diameter field of vision, with one blind spot at the back of the neck above the first thoracic vertebra. She'd have to watch out for that part, then, but at least her regeneration could take care of it if it got damaged.

IF found that with it, she could see up to 80 meters in all directions, like she was housing a set of internal binoculars. Its vision can penetrate through any solid objects or obstructions, and likewise remains unaffected by blinding interference, though certain Spells/SP Skill Attacks/Demonic Wards/Magic Weapons may distort the RYOKUGAN's perception (she learned this when she tried to find the Portal, only for her vision to get blurry the closer she got to it).

Through her battles with it, she found that the RYOKUGAN is able to follow high-speed movements, which allows the wielder to analyze their opponent's actions, and allows the user to predict and better react to them. Prolonged use of the RYOKUGAN caused severe but temporary eye-strain, however, leaving wielders unable to properly perceive targets. When activated, IF's found that her eyes became a light green with pupilless eyes, veins crawling across the sides of her face.

Aside from that Mutation, there was also a Mutation she liked to call 'Viral Overdrive', something she had learned her body had developed from some of the 'gifts' Khorne had bestowed on some of the Khornate Berserkers who had pleased him. It functioned completely like a Drive Skill from her world, only in their case, it took its toll on degrading their mental faculties in exchange for boosting their body's physical abilities beyond even their limits. The thought that even the bodies of such warriors having limits both relieved and scared her, like all hell. It LITERALLY sent chills down her spine. If they had limits, then that meant that they could get stronger than they already were, and with a Drive Skill they could potentially do this…

In any case, she found herself glad to have got this now. This VIRAL OVERDRIVE, named as such so it could be attributed to her own abilities, did the same as the other Drive Skills that she knew of. Neptune's PLANEPTUNE DRIVE, Nico's DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, and lastly the Drive Skills belonging to Team RAIL. Hers, however, felt more on the lines of Nico's DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, as the potency of her Drive Skill felt much greater, and subsequently more draining, than those that didn't use Demonic Power.

She had once heard a couple Agents comment on the use of their Drive Skills allowing them to punch through a rock the size of a 3 story Building with no effort… When she asked Nico about it one time, he showed her how his OWN Drive Skill allowed him to utterly OBLITERATE a rock the size of a 6-story building… along with the surrounding area. Thus, the difference between Nico's Drive Skill and that of normal ones was as obvious as night and day… which made her feel a bit apprehensive about having one of her own.

Aside from mutations, IF had also taken the liberty of calling the other Groups on one of her Phones, letting them know of the situation about the Portals as well as the defenses surrounding them. They had, in turn, told her that they had managed to evacuate what survivors they could from the majority of the floor and were now holding up within the Main Hall to help the guardsmen defend it from impending Demon attacks. Apparently, after the disabling of the first portal, the invading Demons had gone into a mass panic, making more and more small-scale attacks instead of the larger ones they had been using before. That must have meant they had caused some form of disruption in their organization methods, cutting off one of the heads sorts to speak.

This information soothed some of her worries at least. If this was true, then chances were that they had managed to rescue the majority of the survivors on this floor. Chances were that the Demons had killed off the ones on the lower floors as much as she didn't like pursuing that train of thought. But, even so, she couldn't help but do exactly that. Still, if the other Groups were back at the Main Hall, then they would likely be remaining there until they were sure that this floor would be cleared of Demons, before they progress to the next floor. Their original plan would still be followed, just with a few slight adjustments due to this new information.

A common occurrence on the field of battle.

"Hey um, guys?" Neptune began as they journeyed over to the Portal by going through corridor after corridor. "This place is pretty big… kinda like a Maze. Is every Basilicom like this?" she wondered, her eyes having that pondering glint to them. After all, the last few Basilicoms they had gone into, Planeptune and Lastation's seemed fairly simple in comparison to this one.

IF turned her head in Neptune's direction, momentarily annoyed at her until she remembered that the preteen was an amnesiac. That fact made her sorta guilty, as it kind of slipped past her mind that, even with everything they've learned about her Neptune was still an amnesiac. As such, there were still things that she didn't know about, not to mention the fact that they never really explored the Basilicoms like this. "Kind of, we never really explored the Basilicoms at large since our last few visits… didn't exactly turn out well." She responded, sweat dropping when she remembered the LAST few times they met the Basilicom staff of Lastation and Planeptune.

One was full of pedophiles and the other was downright hostile, nearly slapping Neptune had Nico not intervened…

"Yeah… Basilicoms are usually pretty big…" Compa stated, sweat dropping whilst remembering the same things that IF had. She remembered feeling well, slightly weirded out when that one staff member in Planeptune acted rather strangely around Neptune. The way that the Lastation Staff acted didn't even need to be talked about, even someone like her knew that wouldn't be how they would normally act. Now that she thought about it, there hadn't been much of a normal experience with the Basilicom… weird.

After hearing their responses, Neptune hummed thoughtfully, putting a hand on her chin, "Wow, that sure is something… Maybe every Basilicom is full of weirdos, then….?" she queried, getting shrugs of the shoulders from her friends. She made to say something again when she suddenly sensed a spike in Demonic Energy in front of them. "Huh, looks like we've got company…" she stated, quickly drawing Soul Calibur. The moment she drew it from her back, the preteen felt its power start to rise, spiraling around its blade whilst she pointed it towards her enemy. She could feel her Blade's eagerness to sink itself into the flesh of her enemies, to bathe in the enemy's blood and tear through them with practiced ease. Looking there, she saw a second later how several small portals appeared, like the ones that appeared when herself, Noire and Vert had been happily chatting back in that room. From those Portals, came a legion of Bloodletters escorted by a bunch of Juggernauts. A sigh escaped her lips at the sight. "Aw man, I was SO hoping we'd get to the portal WITHOUT having to take on fodder enemies…!" she whined.

"Better not count your chickens before they hatch, Nep." IF warned, just in time too since behind them, more portals appeared on the ground to spawn more Demons, blocking off their escape route. Her body's BOW power activated, her inner beast 'waking up' as it were when she caught sight of the foes which dared desecrate her patron Goddess's home. In seconds, her Armour formed over her being, momentarily catching the Demons off guard with how alike it looked to the Khornate Berserkers before she snarled with her right arm now her Blade. In the next moment, it ignited into flames as she got into a combat stance, her eyes casting a predatory gaze over them. She'll make them pay for this… with their LIVES!

Both IF and Neptune then charged into the enemy ranks, bursting into mad sprints that left them as blurs to the naked eye. As the bloodshed and carnage stopped, none of them noticed it…

But a flash of sadness and jealousy briefly appeared on Compa's face before it vanished the next second.

* * *

How long had it been like this?

How many times had it been now?

Just how many times will this be happening, both now AND in the near future?

Those thoughts passed through the mind of one certain young girl, as she walked along with her friends who had, once again, dove straight into the battlefield and, through their superhuman abilities, emerged from the conflict nigh unscathed. It was always like this, those two usually kept fighting battle after battle, skirmish after skirmish, and whenever they did so, they wouldn't usually need as much healing as they would in previous battles. At first, their group had been fully reliant on heals, especially during the beginning of their adventures when they hadn't had much of the danger they had now. During that time, she couldn't help but feel proud of herself, proud that she was needed and happy that she had a place in the Party. She wasn't someone who was a primary fighter, she was a support and healer. That was simply her nature, her nature as someone who didn't like to see others hurt.

It was always like this, ever since she was a young girl. She had been the witness to her grandfather's decaying health, she had grown up without the love of a mother and a father, and she had grown up a meek, shy little girl who couldn't do much on her own. Back then, she remembered how so many kids her age took to bullying her because of her meekness, that same meekness being responsible for her inability to make proper friends. Because of them, she had grown up mostly alone, unable to do much for herself. And yet…

Even though the bullying…

Even though the loneliness and sadness…

She didn't want to hurt anyone.

Never had the thought of standing up to them crossed her mind. Not even once. She had only wanted to help people, mostly so that they could not feel the same loneliness she did while growing up. She didn't show it very much, heck she only showed it briefly during all that business in Lastation, but she dealt with a great loneliness. A loneliness that she had not asked for, yet was forced to grow up with, a loneliness that only came when a crying child lost their parents, never to know what it would feel like to have a mother hold on to them, or to experience the pride of a father as they watched her succeed in life.

In the end, all that pain, sadness and heartache caused her to have the mentality of a Nurse or a Medical Professional, in that she didn't like seeing others hurt, and moreover didn't want to hurt others herself. That was her shtick, her thing, she would never want to hurt someone else, not on her life for it would be like her being like her parents' killers. She would be like the monsters that murdered them. That wasn't what she wanted, nope, no way no how. She wanted to help people, she didn't want to hurt people.

Sill, watching her friends fighting, ending up in constant battle after battle… It happened a lot in Lastation, and the longer they spent there the more intense those battles became. She didn't like it, but still, she had been content with her role of support and healing people. It made her feel useful, glad to be part of something bigger after so long of being alone. Isolated even, especially when her sole friend Nico left on his own path. She had been the Party's backbone for whenever they got into a tough scuffle, she was the one to pick them up when they fell down. However, near the end of their days in Lastation, she began to notice it. She began to notice that, ever so gradually, her role became more and more minor.

First, Neptune's status as a CPU got revealed, and because of it, she grew more and more daring with her fights. She took bigger risks, sometimes getting battered pretty bad only to heal over in a matter of hours. CPUs had a better healing factor than humans, it was common sense since they were warriors as well as natural leaders, people who fought both on the front lines and behind a Desk for their subordinates. They were physically superior to humans in every way, much like these Demons, DPUs, and these Monsters that wander across Gamindustri.

She had been fine with Neptune not needing help as much, but then IF became a BOW, though not by her own will. She became one against her will when she was infected by Ganache, forcing Nico to intervene by pumping a strain of the same Virus with his power and giving it to her, resulting in her ascension whilst still retaining her mental faculties and intelligence. Ever since then though, IF had begun training in her new powers with her childhood friend, discovering what she could do now, as well as her elevated status. She could only imagine what that must be like, coming to terms with the fact that she was no longer human, that she at her core, was just like the very monsters that she fought for a living. But, even so, her powers allowed her to perform the same type of feats as Neptune, they allowed her to do things she couldn't have done before thanks to her being human back then. Arguably, she could go even further, since as long as she had the Biomass, next to nothing could truly kill her. Her body's regenerative abilities were just that potent.

Throughout the following battles, she had seen it become more and more apparent, especially against the Demonic scourge that threatened Leanbox. More and more she began to see it, even someone as ditsy as she is began to see the truth become visible to her, the curtains of illusion drawing back to show her the ugly truth that they had hid for so long. That, the more that they fought, the more of a liability she would become.

After all, out of the entire Party, she alone was the sole human of the group. She alone was the human in a den filled with non-human beings. She didn't want to say Monsters, but some part of her did feel like that was a good way to describe her situation as much as she loathed the word. There were few things that she held a burning hatred for and calling her friends that word was one of them. But even so, she couldn't help it. That fit her situation so well that it hurt. She was the weakest link, she was the one who had the most limits. It was a fact that she had long since realized, in fact, she had partially realized it not long after they had left Lastation. Partially realized, and had subsequently buried a moment or two later, not wanting to think about it.

She had only fully realized it when she had fought alongside Neptune back when they first encountered a Demon Prince, where she had to be protected from the onslaught of Bloodletters and other nefarious creatures following that battle. It made her fully realize the ugly truth of her own weakness, a weakness stemming from her own humanity. A humanity that had been the source of her compassion, of her desire to help people, to forget the loneliness that she held deep inside.

These thoughts, these desires, insecurities and everything else… all of this made up the thoughts of one Compa, as the trio of girls continued their journey to the sole remaining Portal. Two of them remain unaware of what the other was thinking.

* * *

Finally, after fighting countless bouts against a mix of Bloodletters and Juggernauts (something that, true to her earlier predictions, IF found much easier to accomplish), they found themselves before a similar entrance to the one they had used before. Odds were, the interior of the room behind the door would be the same as well. However, that thought didn't really register in the trios' minds whilst they jogged up to the entrance with a bout of blue crystal behind them, signaling that they had just emerged from a tough battle.

"#PANT#, #PANT#... whew, looks like we made it, huh…?" Neptune breathed, feeling slightly winded from their constant combat. She raised her left arm to wipe the small beads of sweat from her brow, a low and slow exhale escaping her lips. In contrast, Soul Calibur rattled in her grasp, constantly churning joyful feelings through their link which was the source of the satisfied smile on the preteen's lips, despite her current state. The sentient weapon truly felt blessed right now, to be unleashed in such a manner, to such an extent as this. Not to mention, if this was what they would be doing for the foreseeable future, then it would no doubt be probable that they would be fighting together again and again! The Sentient weapon couldn't contain its ELATION!

IF nodded her head in agreement, in contrast to the preteen's mildly winded state, felt better than she had in a long time. In fact, she couldn't help but shudder in a similar level of satisfaction to Neptune's Soul Calibur, though she had schooled her features to hide it. Not out of shame, but out of appropriate manners. It wouldn't do to show just how much she found herself deep within her BOW powers right now, maybe when she was alone with her friends, but not now. "Yeah, you're right, Nep…" she replied before she closed her eyes and then opened them a second later. The difference there though, was that her RYOKUGAN had activated, allowing her to see through the walls and identify what was inside. She would have used her ZEN SHIYA to get information, however not only was this eye power a bit less risky to use, but it was easier to defend as well as less draining on her Reserves. Not that they were small, as thanks to her Assimilating so many Demonic beings she had a crap ton of Biomass to spare. She just wanted to save it for her battles.

Thanks to her RYOKUGAN being able to see through walls, IF managed to look into the room itself. Now, thanks to this Eye Mutation's ability, the brunette would be able to look through the walls into the room, but if she were to directly look at the portal then her ability to see would suffer. That was something she had learned shortly after investigating this new Mutation, so IF made sure to keep her eyes from looking at the Portal undoubtedly within the center of the room. Instead, she looked at the floors, and soon enough she saw the feet of their opponents. Judging by their shape, she assumed they were Bloodletters, and not the Khornate Berserkers she had expected, something she frowned at in her mind. 'Odd… why are there Bloodletters here and not those red guys? That doesn't make sense, the Bloodletters are indeed weaker than Khornate Berserkers…' she thought.

"Whelp, what's the verdict, Iffy? What do we have to chase outta this Basilicom?"

Turning to face her friends, IF pursed her lips while placing her hands in her coat pockets. It still felt… well, weird, to her. Being this tall, and all. She was just too used to being petite and… well, plain (much to her irritation), to suddenly be 100% competent with her new body. Fortunately, she had ample means to get used to it in the form of battle, and if she got damaged (which happened way more times now than when she had her original body) then her ample Biomass reserves would allow her regeneration to take care of it. She could afford a few injuries, not that she was being arrogant there. She just stated a simple truth, a fact. It would be easy to misunderstand this for arrogance, she would readily admit to herself. "Well, we've got a whole load of Bloodletters… at least a couple hundred." She replied. Perhaps their numbers were why? Meh, she'd wait and see for herself what would happen.

Hearing the numbers, a thoughtful expression appeared on Neptune's lips. "Hmmm, a couple hundred eh…?" she mused thoughtfully, pondering on it for a moment. Though, this was only for a moment before she dismissively waved her hand to the side, an uncaring expression on her face. "Meh, no problem, really. Let's just beat em up like we have done, then move on to beat up the rest of the Demons!" she excitedly chirped, uncaring if the Bloodletters on the other side of the room heard her, much to IF's annoyance and dark amusement. "With our Skills, something like this will be a cinch!"

"Heh-Heh, well if this were any other circumstance, I would scold you Nep…" IF responded after a small, mirthful chuckle escaped her lips. She then pulled her hands out, her Armour forming over her body. The menacing, imposing appearance her Armour now possessed didn't fail to send chills down the preteen's spine, though she did her best to hide it. It may as well have been laid bare before the knowing look behind IF's piercing gaze. She hadn't looked into it very much, but the brunette found that whenever she placed this Armour on, her eyes would light up like verdant green flames, lighting up in a way that was not so unlike the way Roghrax's eyes seemed to be all the time.

Meh, food for thought later.

Just as she made to turn around, IF noted that Compa seemed to be remarkably silent, she hadn't once said any of her usual blank, innocent and random comments. She didn't look any different, but even so, a tinge of concern nevertheless entered the brunette's gut. It wasn't like her to be so silent, especially during something like this. "You doing okay, Compa? Not getting cold feet, are you?" she asked, trying to sound jokey right now. Though inside she felt like kicking herself the instant she opened her mouth, the brunette was never someone who was quite good at comforting people. She attributed this to her not having some good social capacity, even traveling with these quirky characters and their sexy guy member.

At first, Compa didn't respond, but after a moment or two, she finally registered the fact that someone had asked her a question, and quickly jumped to attention. "U-Uh, y-yessie, I'm good! I'm super good, yup-yup! Ready for a super win, yes sir!" she replied hastily, making an excited smile while doing the military salute she had seen a few times. She even carried her MPCS like an assault rifle over her shoulder, adding on to her cute/soldier mix odemeanornour.

Although, it didn't fool the brunette any. Something was wrong, but they didn't have the time, nor the circumstances needed to question her further. With an uncertain nod, IF turned towards the entrance. "Alright, guys let's do this. Even if-"

"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

However, before IF could finish her sentence, a familiar white and lilac blur suddenly burst through the door with unparalleled speed, wisps of clear energy being left in her wake as she jumped into the soon-to-be-battlefield. A loud chorus of frenzied, furious and surprised roars followed suit, all of them coming from the surprised Bloodletters. One could sense the abundance of Demonic Power suddenly released into the air, either by the Bloodletters or the demonic sword Soul Calibur, it would be impossible to tell. Nevertheless, the fact that a whole load of energy just got released into the air more than prevailed in the thoughts of the two girls.

"Ugh, goddammit, Nep! Just wait for once, don't you know what the word 'wait' means?!"

That was yelled out by the irritated Guild Agent turned Spec Ops Candidate, her brow twitching while the fires within her eyes almost blazed in response to her surge of annoyance. If she were a Khornate Berserker, it would not be unfamiliar to her, actually. The brunette took a moment to breathe out an exhale, while feeling a migraine coming on. At this point, she shouldn't be confused as much now, since Neptune was the epitome of randomness. Even situations like these wouldn't dampen her spirit, she thought with a sigh. Whelp, time to play the straight girl, hopefully, Neptune would leave some Bloodletters for her to 'vent' her frustration on.

It was with these thoughts that IF had running through her mind, before she too jumped in, the sounds of combat intensifying as she did so. Most likely the Bloodletters were going to be meeting some… formidable opponents.

Though, to one Nurse-In-Training, she only saw what she had been seeing for a long time.

'Again… they're doing it again, jumping into battle, and I can't help but remain behind…'

Compa thought this with a sense of dejection, something she had hidden from her friends. Briefly, she raised an arm as if to reach out to them, however, she pulled it back before anyone could notice. Not that there was anyone around TO notice, anyways. Everyone she cared about was already in the thick of battle… a level of combat she would not be able to survive in, and if she were dragged in, she would only require their protection to even survive. Even if she had her Armour and MPCS, she could only do so much against these guys. Most of the attack power came from her friends, after all.

However, unbeknownst to her, something… interesting, had its eye on her… like a coiled serpent ready to strike.

* * *

Inside the room, there was only chaos (pun intended).

Unlike before, Neptune chose to forgo having her Constructs aid her in battle opting to have various Crystal formations around her at all times which she used for ranged attacks, or defense if she needed it. Aside from that, she used one of Soul Calibur's abilities: PURIFIER, every time she defeated a Demon. Heck, it wasn't like she actually chose to use that ability, it just sort of automatically kicked in every time she defeated a foe. Whenever it did so, she found that the weapon would absorb the Soul of its defeated opponents, using them to get stronger. This ability originally came from her weapon being a pure Devil Arm in origins, only purified (again, pun intended) by her own energy. The more Souls Soul Calibur absorbed, the greater its power became, just like Soul Edge. Unlike Soul Edge however, the souls within Soul Calibur weren't tortured, but rather put in a blissful slumber which in turn fuels her sword's power.

Something else Neptune had discovered not long after manifesting Soul Calibur for the first time, was that she now possessed a 'Core' in her body, a Core which supplied her with Demonic Power, the same kind of power that Nico used for his abilities. It wasn't very active per say, but it did let her use Demonic Power like he could, to a smaller extent. Then again, that wouldn't be very surprising, as Demonic Power isn't something a Goddess normally possesses. It is a chaotic, volatile energy that is only used by Demons and anything associated with them. It is considerably more powerful, more potent, gives access to more abilities like demonic elements, among the standard benefits that Share Energy possesses.

However, it is significantly harder to control, like taming a wild bull on a blood rage. It takes a strong mind, body, and soul, as well as an exceptional willpower to control such a power. Neptune originally had no demonic power due to her being a divine entity. However, thanks to receiving a Fraction of Soul Edge from Nico, Neptune had gained her own reserves of Demonic power as well as a purified Devil Arm of her own. Instead of it being competitive with her original energy, however, Neptune is able to have those energies co-exist within her body, forming a symbiotic relationship between them. Her Demonic Power stimulates her Share Energy's growth so that she doesn't rely solely on the power of other people's faith, while Share Energy purifies and tames the Demonic Energy, making it easier to control. Even she had no clue just what kind of direction her body could take after this, but it definitely succeeded in exciting the preteen.

Right now, however, Neptune found herself limited to just using it as a booster to her body, either through healing or other more offensive means.

On the other side of the battle, IF tore through her Bloodletter opponents with a mix of dual Blades, their Biomass ignited, and her Tendrils which spewed Acid everywhere she went. No movement was wasted, and not a single detail got overlooked by the Spec Ops Candidate, her instincts set onto overdrive, same with the Skill VIRAL OVERDRIVE she had activated early on in the battle. As a result, she had this dark green aura cloaking her form, flickering like a flame whilst she felt her reserves constantly being chowed on by the Skill's draining nature. Still, IF didn't show much worry, as thanks to the potency of her Biomass, the brunette theorized she could go a couple hours with this Skill at max, and that wasn't counting if she didn't get extra Biomass from her defeated enemies.

In the end, IF utilized every combat instinct she had honed over the years, every muscle, every fiber of her new being, to emulate the combat ability she had witnessed from the Khornate Berserkers, applying it to her new body. Something which her new body found surprisingly easy to adapt to her ever-growing fighting style, to the Spec Ops Candidate's joy. She became this swirling vortex of fire, blades, appendages, and burning acid, which tore right through everything in her path. Bloodletters that got too close suffered these fates: boiled alive by acid, sliced to pieces by a fiery blade, immolated by a hot fire, or a combination of the previously stated fates. More often than not, it was the last alternative to these.

Not only that, but she had activated her RYOKUGAN in the midst of this battle, though thanks to her eyes being what they were, it would be nigh impossible to tell. The best way one could would be to observe her movements, how they became even more calculated, more precise, and extra effective in holding her enemies at bay. With such brutal combat prowess, it could only stand to reason that she had some special help in keeping track of the enemy. She became aware of everything around her, all the while successfully predicting her foes' attacks by simply gazing at them.

It had felt weird at first, having the ability to see practically everywhere at once and thus, promptly react in time to sudden threats. Thankfully, that weirdness soon passed as she got used to the Mutation. She had to, after all, she would be constantly fighting for the foreseeable future, so she had to get used to this power, and fast if she wanted to survive longer. She paid special attention to her weak spot, but thanks to her Armour shielding them she didn't have as much worry. It was more like she had multiple means to resort to, should her RYOKUGAN's weakness be found out and exploited. Even then though, she had other ways of protecting herself, and thanks to her VIRAL OVERDRIVE Skill, it would be harder for them to land that many hits on her.

Even so, part of her couldn't help but get this feeling… like something wasn't quite finished with her just yet. Like there would be more to come in the foreseeable future.

With the current experience both girls had, alongside their combat abilities, it would stand to reason why they had more and more confidence in fighting the Bloodletters. They'd fought, killed and PURIFIED/Assimilated so many at this point, that they themselves couldn't help but feel cocky. That cockiness only grew as the fight went on as they fought and fought, killed and killed more Bloodletters. The more that fell to their weapons, the more their blood flowed, the more excited the two girls became. The revelation of them being able to handle this type of combat, this type of thrilling fighting, only made itself clearer and clearer to them…

And what a THRILLING feeling this sensation was!

Just as they reached the peak of their respective highs…

 **"YYYYEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS! It is TIME! The ENEMY has FINALLY graced US with their PRESENCE!"**

It was like a suction of sound, not letting anything within the current vicinity escape its reach. Its near-instant appearance helped it take all the sounds through the room by storm, utterly blindsiding it like a rhino ramming through a wooden castle door. All action on the battlefield stopped, both the Bloodletters and the two girls fighting them ceasing their fighting when that low, genderless, demonic voice erupted from within the portal. Said portal almost seemed to tremble, as if the mere presence of the source of that voice caused it to go into a panic attack. The portal spasmed like it was having a spas attack, spraying the area around it with sparks of chaotic electrical energy, gas, and mass. Some of these chaotic sparks even disintegrated a few Bloodletters on impact, a warning to NOT get hit by those things, to not even get SCRATCHED by them or suffer a fate similar to them. Even if they were raging lunatics, no Bloodletter wanted to die this early in the battle, for it would disgrace the name of Khorne, and they'd rather NOT do something like that to the Blood God.

In response to these events, both IF and Neptune glanced at each other, sharing confused looks between each other first. Then, a second later they each jumped backward, landing beside each other and getting into their combat stances. Something about that voice cut through their previous cocky demeanors like wrecking ball destroying a house in one movement. Not only did it sound like the origin of a Demon, but the raw electrical POWER int that voice felt like nothing to scoff at. If they were to make a comparison, it would be above these normal Bloodletters, but equal to that of a Khornate Berserker… although, the inhuman, crazed feel the energy had definitely told them the owner would be as far from human as they came.

Soon enough, its shadow appeared from within the portal, and from there, the source soon came out of it, stomping its way into the room with its form's shadow looming over the rest of them. At first, it held no distinct shape, being no more than a formless silhouette to indicate just how far away from the portal on the other side it had been. With just a few steps though, its form became more and more visible, to the point where the girls found its appearance to be that of a Bloodletter. They would have assumed it to be the same as its brethren… had IF not realized the similarities it had to the shape of an enemy she had fought once before.

'Oh shit… its one of THEM…!'

Just as well, too, because the moment it stepped out of the portal, a massive swing of its infernal Hellblade happened, the swing being so powerful that it generated a shockwave strong enough to rip through the air itself, tearing through the ground beneath their feet and sending the girls flying into a wall. A pair of loud THUDs accompanied their impacts, as well as a few pained groans whilst the girls each pushed themselves out after a few seconds, landing on the ground in crouches before they looked up towards the enemy. The recent experience of being blown away by a mere Hellblade swing burning itself into their minds with untold heat, malice, and wariness filling their souls.

'Tch, looks like this guy will be stronger than the one I fought back at the Hellverse Dungeon…' IF thought to herself, grimacing as she got into her battle stance. Though, considering the recent event, part of her couldn't help but feel like it would be a vain attempt in the eyes of their approaching enemy. If it was what she thought it was, and she had a pretty solid foundation to go off of, then they'd be in BIG trouble. The two of them may have defeated a whole load of Bloodletters and Juggernauts before, but that was nothing much in the grand scheme of things. According to her research, they were on the lower tier of Demons in the service of Khorne…

A shiver of both primal anticipation and nervousness traveled down her spine as her eyes gazed with trepidation towards that infernal Hellblade, which looked like it glowed so bright that she feared that it would implode into a raging furnace any second. Looks like they got a big fish, this time, cause right now, they would be facing someone slightly higher on the pecking order.

* * *

"I have a question for you..."

Outside of MICROSOFT, Arfoire stood on top a hill, watching the city and analyzing the Magic Circles that surrounded the Basilicom. She knew at first glance what they were, and their purpose, which meant that someone was trying to isolate the hordes of Chaos their 'puppet' had summoned into the Basilicom. It was hardly surprising, yet futile in the end, especially when the Chaos forces REALLY kick into gear. "Why is it that you had me use that pawn to summon the forces of Chaos inside the Basilicom? Cut off their heads before they cut off ours is a sound strategy, but if we want to make an impact shouldn't we raze their entire city to the ground?"

Beside her, the shadowy being cloaked in darkness to hide its appearance, responded with what the woman could only assume to be a huff. **"FOOLISH MORTAL, you do not SEE? THIS... is WARFARE tactics, ONCE the ENEMY is LEADERLESS, their mortal armies will NOT be able to COUNTER us as EFFECTIVELY as they WOULD have if they STILL had their LEADERS! The tides of CHAOS shall sweep this PATHETIC Nation UNDER its THUMB by the SUNSET!"**

Arfoire hid a snort of derision from the being, knowing that if she showed any disrespect then this being would have no qualms doing to her what it had done to the other unfortunate souls. She wasn't one who understood warfare in the way this being did. but she guessed that was to be expected from a being born from carnage itself.

Still, she thought as she looked towards the Basilicom. It mattered not whether she understood, for the only thing important to her would be that those pathetic CPUs saw that the incoming storm would not be something that they could stand against. The forces of Chaos shall sweep across this awful world, purging it of all its weakness and reverting it back to what it should always have been. A state this world should have remained if it weren't for those pesky Goddesses emerging onto this land.

And amidst the chaos (she almost regretted the pun she made there) Arfoire herself would become ruler of this torn planet, the sole True Goddess of the reborn Gamindustri. The weak shall be purged, the strongest shall thrive, and finally, the world will know the true meaning of unstoppable warfare.

* * *

Back in the Basilicom, IF scowled as they saw their opponent.

This was bad...

Seriously, this was very, very bad.

It was just as she thought, a Herald of Khorne had graced them with its presence, she thought sarcastically of course. There would NEVER be a time where she would welcome one of these guys to her presence, nope, no way in hell. Seriously bad news were what these guys were, thanks to the powers that they possessed. Not to mention the last time she fought one, she had a holy element wielder on her side. Stefan Von Kessel's Ashbringer had the holy element similar to Share Energy imbued within it, which helped them finish their enemy Herald off back then.

However, right now there was no Stefan.

There was no Ashbringer.

There was CERTAINLY no holy element they could use here.

One could say that they would be FUCKED if they didn't think of something they could use to their advantage soon. Neptune may not know it since she hadn't fought one before (plus she still had Soul Calibur boosting her confidence with its calming, serene yet bestial aura), but a Herald of Khorne had way more power than a normal Bloodletter, IF had realized. She had realized it the moment she fought one and made a comparison between their fighting prowess afterward. A Herald of Khorne was an elite Bloodletter, after all, said to be chosen by Khorne himself, imbued with the energies of their defeated fellow aspiring Heralds and their Hellblades infused with untold hate, malice, and sinister desire. Meant to lead the devilish Legions of his forces in his name on every bloody conquest they embarked on.

Just by being in its presence, IF could sense that there was a whole load of power within that being, way more than the Herald that she had fought back in the Hellverse. It made her think that this one held a lot more experience in combat, which meant its prowess would be much greater. She knew this by the infernal red aura rolling off it in waves, it's Hellblade burning brightly with the rage, malice, and howls of those that the Hellblade had slain through centuries of combat. Its beady black eyes narrowed darkly towards them, its eyes showing nothing but unrelenting, endless hatred and a desire for mass slaughter.

There was only one thing she had forgotten, however, something just as important as the rest of what she had learned about the Heralds of Khorne. That something, soon became apparent as the Herald raised its infernal Hellblade, the fierce-looking weapon almost roaring alongside its wielder whilst words escaped its maw. Words that would send chills down the spines of any mortal, not just the girls in the room.

 **"HEED me, WRETCHES, for thy DOOM cometh! ALL who PASS before MY gaze shall DIE in offering to KHORNE! BUT, before the SLAUGHTER begins, I,** **KZAR'TARK, Bloodmaster of the CRIMSON COHORT, bid thee ALL to FIGHT! to STRAIN thine UTMOST against US in GLORIOUS COMBAT! While ALL thy SKULLS shall be TAKEN for the ALMIGHTY, those who DIE on their FEET may yet FIND the BLOOD GOD'S favor! THOU may THINK the MANNER in which thy LIFEBLOOD runs out MEANINGLESS, but I can ASSURE thee that a COWARD'S suffering shall NEVER end – NEVER! So, raise whatever WEAPONS thou can MUSTER and HOPE that thy FEEBLE offering is WORTHY! I relish the CARNAGE that shall be… NOW! My CRIMSON COHORT, begin! Let the BLOOD flow! BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKUUUUUUUUUULLS FOR THE SKULL THROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!"**

 **"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

At the call of their Leader, the Bloodmaster Kzar'tark (weird name, Neptune muttered under her breath), every Bloodletter howled into the air with their unified war cry, their bodies enveloped by an aura of malice much like that of the Bloodmaster, whatever title that was. In any case, the girls each shivered, that title more than foreboding what would be happening next.

With the war cry of their Leader filling their heartless beings, each Bloodletter began stampeding towards the girls, sounding more and more like an earthquake each second. Neptune and IF gave each other uncertain looks in response to this, momentarily stunned by this new change, before they became beset by the Bloodletters, and for the first time in a long while, they became pushed onto the defensive.

* * *

While she watched from the entrance, Compa's heart thundered against her ribcage, her ears ringing from the unified warcry even while her Armour had been deployed. Her hands gripped the sides of the entrance hard enough to make miniature cracks appear where her hands were, not that she noticed, her lower lip almost bleeding beneath her helmet with how hard she was biting it. She would have run in to help her friends out, but her previous thoughts combined with the way things were going paralyzed her. Therefore preventing her from moving to assist, lest she suffers a fate she had feared would eventually happen like she had told her childhood friend back in Planeptune. It disgusted her that she was behaving in this way, yet no matter how much her mind screamed at her, her body just wouldn't respond to her commands. Horror filled her creamy orbs when she saw her friends, whom so far had shown themselves to be fighting with ease against beings that normal humans would be trampled by, be pushed onto the defensive. It looked almost like a nightmare to her, seeing her comrades whom she had always seen fighting supernatural enemies like these with unlimited ease, now having the complete opposite scenario happening.

It was because of their Leader, she assumed. It felt like it had used some form of buffing ability like Neptune did with her DEMONIC BLESSING and KARMA REFLECTOR on her Crystal Constructs. She figured that because of A: Their auras being suddenly overtaken by that of the Herald's, B: They only now acted more aggressively, if that was even possible with their violent, savage natures and C: their attack power seemed to have gone up exponentially like some form of buffing ability. Normally Compa wouldn't have seen something like this happening and understood it, but she HAD been learning under two experienced Spec Ops Agents, so she would be bound to pick up on things quicker than she used to.

Still, though, this did NOT help her unease in the slightest.

Slowly but surely, her image of them being super powerful, nigh unbeatable with their past records of combat, began to burn away before her very eyes. Neptune wisely chose to summon her Crystal knight Constructs, numbering about the same as the Bloodletters, but before she could enhance them with KARMA REFLECTOR, she got thwacked by a Bloodletter's blade, sending her spiraling into a wall. The preteen landed in a sitting position, stars twirling around her head until the last second where she had to roll out the way of another fierce slash that would have sliced her vertically in two. The resulting slash dug deep into the room's structure, more than enough to cut through a ZEN SHIYA that IF could have placed in here for recon's purposes.

Speaking of the Spec Ops Candidate, IF fared slightly better than Neptune (who whined and whined whilst barely dodging the ferocious attacks the Bloodletters were launching at her), though her situation by no means had any less peril. Thanks to her having her new build, she fared a bit better thanks to its improved instincts, physical abilities, reaction times etc, but even so IF still found herself on a defensive style of combat like Neptune did. She blocked one Hellblade that was swung upwards, using the momentum to flip over another one aimed at her legs, before she twirled into a double slash towards the first Bloodletter. She had to pull back though when 4 more tried to smash her with their Hellblades when she almost got close to her prey. Sliding to a halt, IF would quickly cross block a Bloodletter's infernal Hellblade, only to get smacked to the ground by another whom managed to blindside her. Well, not completely, she had her RYOKUGAN on (of which she thanked it numerous times in her mind since it was what allowed her to escape a multitude of brutal injuries). She didn't stay down for long though, as she sausage flipped over the heads of several other Bloodletters, landing on the ground a couple meters away with her left Blade now her Bio Cannon, something she aimed towards her opponents and let loose.

A method that the Bloodletters howled at while charging at her like lions thundering across large plains.

Yet, all of this, all of this brought back her darkened thoughts from earlier. That revelation slowly caused her eye to drop, darkening with sadness and shame, her demeanor getting worse and worse the more this combat went on. They brought back the self-deprecating thoughts of weakness and inadequacy that plagued her mind ever since this entire invasion began. Compa's lower lip trembled despite it being a bloody mess behind her Helmet, her lone uncovered eye brimming with frustrated tears as she furiously tried to get her body to move. However, it would end up in vain, her body too paralyzed by the fear of not being protected by her comrades to do anything. After all, in their battles so far Compa had to be protected since she was their healer, but the stronger her friends got, the less important her role in the Party seemed. Those thoughts constantly nagged at her until she couldn't ignore them anymore.

'They... They'll be fine, right? They'll be alright without me, right...? I mean, even if it looks bad now, maybe they'll pull through somehow.'

That was what she thought, and by the Goddesses, she hoped it would be true.

After all, Neptune and IF were the strong ones, they were the ones who kicked the most booty in their quests... she would just be dead weight to them if she got involved, right?

Yeah, that's right, what kind of place did a human like her have amongst a group of super-humans like the current Party?

Yes... that's right, she was useless to them now, even if they were being pushed back, what else could she do?

Nothing...

She could only do nothing.

Just then, one of the Bloodletters jogging towards IF's position, intending to slice her in half from her flank right through her middle, glanced sideways and noticed Compa at the entrance. Seeing her there, it tensed its muscles, before letting loose a mighty howl, roaring at her before breaking into a mad sprint with its Hellblade held high. Its beady black eyes blazed with uncontrollable rage and malice as it closed in on its new prey, electing a frightened squeak from Compa whom quickly aimed her MPCS which had its ammo set to 'BOMB', meaning explosive.

In the next instance, she unloaded a round of explosives right into the Bloodletter's face, catching it by surprise. The moment it hit its target, the ensuing explosion rocketed the creature backward a couple meters, forcing it to stab its feet into the floor to halt its motion. Fortunately for Compa, the other Bloodletters were so into their fights with Neptune and IF that they didn't notice this change or the fact that one of their own imploded from the shot which had hit it in just the right angle to pierce through its head.

A sigh of relief escaped the cream haired Nurse-In-Training, her eye closing as some of her tension escaped her body which slumped its shoulders. That one had been a close call, throughout their past battles, Compa usually got protected in some manner by either Neptune or IF due to her being their weakest link. She didn't have much combat ability, nor did she have any good talent for it. Thus, she had to be protected from the enemy on the front lines, that had been their thought process. However, seeing that Bloodletter charge at her when she was without any protection from her companions made her heart skip more than a few beats. She could only be glad that none of the Bloodletters had noticed one of their own had died like that, otherwise, they would have been on her like Donkey Kong.

However, something much worse did.

 **"OH? A mortal SUCH as YOURSELF...?"**

The moment that she heard that voice, that dark, deadly and distorted voice that sounded like multiple voices talking at once. Compa couldn't count the number of chills that went down her spine or measure the amount of bone-chilling dread that pooled within her gut. The only thing she could think of on that front was that if it were possible, she could have died from hypothermia. Slowly looking to the source, Compa found herself face to face...

With the Herald, Kzar'tark, itself, furiously burning Hellblade and all.

Its immense size of 9 feet tall, along with a similarly long Hellblade, wispy crimson aura and ferocious looking glare combined together created one hell of an intimidating figure. A figure that stood RIGHT THERE in front of her, looking like her worst nightmares come to life. She'd never told anyone this, much like a lot of her darkening thoughts, but she'd lost count the numbers of nightmares she'd had of these creatures, starting from that time she got dragged with Neptune and Nico into the Demon Prince's realm. Compa's eye looked like an eye of one who'd seen a ghost, her form couldn't stop shaking like a leaf, even with her being covered in her Armour, that was just how much this thing frightened her. A being which even her friends didn't take too lightly would be able to snap her neck like a toothpick. With so much ease that it would be almost laughable if she were capable of such.

She couldn't speak, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly inside her Helmet. She tried to say something, anything, she even tried to let out a scream or a shriek, but no sound wanted to escape her mouth, her survival instincts telling her to stay silent otherwise she may end up ticking it off even more and thus suffer a fate she did NOT want to befall her. She no longer had any control over her own body, no matter how much her brain tried to control it with the electronic signals it sent to her nerve system, none of them got the desired result. Compa, as a result, looked completely paralyzed, frozen with fear and unbridled terror. Especially with what this creature had in mind for her.

Its words from earlier rang through her mind, about how it seemingly taunted them, all but confirming to itself and the Bloodletters they commanded that they would fight in vain.

 **"Hmmm...! It APPEARS that YOU are NOT fighting... THAT must CHANGE! Like I said BEFORE brat, COWARDICE will NOT be TOLERATED by KHORNE! Now, FACE your DAMNATION like a WARRIOR! Or DIE like the PATHETIC coward YOU make YOURSELF to BE!"**

Apparently, Kzar'tark didn't want to wait for Compa to figure out how to breathe properly when around it or the rest of its kind, and thus as quick as lightning, it swooped in and grabbed her by the head in its free claw. Compa gasped and grunted as she was held just above the ground, legs flailing about helplessly like fish plucked out of a pond or an ocean. Just by feeling its large hand on her head, of which she desperately clawed at whilst her MPCS vanished into her Inventory, Compa could feel its strength, its ability to crush her head to paste right this moment. It could have done so, too, it would have been easy. After all, the power to do so lay at its fingertips, and she'd be helplessly at its mercy (hah, like a Bloodletter would have mercy, part of her scoffed despite everything)

 **"Now, COME!"**

At that moment, the Herald of Khorne did something that may very well have been a death sentence for the young girl... tossed her RIGHT INTO THE PORTAL. Her screams filled the air as she was sucked in, the Herald quickly giving chase with a howl of glee. Whilst she fell in, her cries finally managed to alert her friends, rousing them from their individual fights. Once they realized what was going on, their faces and bodies lost any semblance of color they once had, terror gripping their beings as they each cried out in the union:

"COMPA!"

* * *

Screams filled her ears, most of them not even her own, as Compa crashed into what she thought was hard earth. She couldn't get a better picture cause she'd bounced across it multiple times until she slid to a halt on what she thought was the tenth time, ending up a sprawled heap on the ground. At least when her senses began to recover, she noted that it was INDEED ground. She had almost thought it wasn't.

Pained groans escaped her lips, as Compa slowly but surely got onto her hands and knees. Dust fell off her while tiny pieces of ground rolled off her back while she moved, and hen she was on her hands and knees in a steady, table manner, she looked up and around her to see where she had ended up That WAS after all, the basic response a body should have when thrown into a new environment. Who would have thought that, in her case, it would be more literal than most? Plus, her senses still had some of that dizziness from bouncing about so many times.

Only, when she saw where she was... Compa's senses instantly became on high alert, her eyes becoming dots as her feelings of dread swooped back in with a vengeance.

'No... this is...!'

All around her was a ground shaped by millions if not BILLIONS of skulls, human and non-human alike. All of them looked to be frozen in expressions (or of what she thought were expressions) of agony and horror. Some of them almost looked like they were looking dead at her as if trying to pierce her soul with their gazes and drag her into the depths of despair. Well, if they were, they were doing a damn fine job of it, especially with how some of them seemed to have their mouths open as if to emulate screaming.

Then, when she looked down, Compa saw that she had her hands clutching the space within several sockets and moths from the Skulls her hands were touching. A frightened "Eep!" escaped her lips, similar to that of a frightened mouse, as she quickly stumbled backward, landing on her backside which elected a sharp wince from her. "O-Owwie... my bum...!" she moaned painfully, rubbing her backside which she landed on incorrectly, panic having riddled her senses to allow this to happen.

Looking around again, she saw that aside from the scary floor of skulls, there were dozens upon dozen of spike-like formations, made from (much to her horror) mountains upon mountains of fresh/rotting corpses, all of them burning up under the immense heat radiating through the air. The air itself felt heavy and like ash, making breathing an exceedingly difficult task. in the distance, Compa could see countless fires. ranged from big and small, which pretty much scarred the skies above, turning them into a murky reddish color.

She recognized this scenery, she recognized it very well.

 **"YEEESSSSSSS! This IS my MASTER'S land! HIS territory! HIS passionate DESIRE for CHAOS!"**

The same demonic voice of the Herald reached her ears, causing an unimaginable number of tremors to rock her spine like oceans crashing into a headland. Slowly, she turned around, her eyes falling upon the Demon's large form as it stepped out of the portal it had thrown her in, staying close behind it so that she didn't think of escaping. Its beady black eyes bore down on her, the usual malice and hate burning within them having a tinge of other emotions to it as well. Those were frustration, vengeance, and bloodlust. as it clutched it's Hellblade so tightly that she could hear the cries of numerous souls within the weapon. **"My MASTER... is INDISPOSED... for a TIME! Because OF that ONE mortal... As an OFFERING to the MASTER... I shall FIND this MORTAL... and BRING him to my MASTER for PUNISHMENT!"**

Hearing this, Compa's eyes widened when she had a revelation on what the Demon was saying. This Demon, it served not just Khorne, but also that Demon Prince that Nico had defeated before going to the Hellverse. She knew this because of how it spoke, how it said 'indisposed' like it meant something greater than that. It was a trait she had [picked up somewhat from Lucy and Raven when they rained her, something she felt glad about since she could be less of a clueless ditz than she originally was. She didn't know the full details, only what Nico had told her, but from what was said she guessed that this Demon Prince wasn't as dead as Nico had said he was. THAT thought caused her to shudder with ever the more dread if that was even possible right now. Memories of being tossed aside to the whims of many Bloodletters, the first time she had ever encountered them, filled her mind, and Compa could not repress the urge to tremble. It was at least better than screaming, in her eyes.

 **"BUT! For NOW... you WILL be FIRST! As the ONE who AIDED in my MASTER'S demise! I will BE your DOOM! Your SKULL will GO to KHORNE!"**

After saying that last piece while shaking off its desires for vengeance, at last for the moment, Kzar'tark stepped forwards, it's Hellblade alight with flames of hatred and malice as its footstep created a resounding sound that echoed through the entire realm. Then another came, and another, and another, until finally, it broke into a mad sprint in her direction, its speed so great that it nearly destroyed the sound barrier.

Quickly, and in a moment of her body reacting to the threat in the best way she knew how, Compa dove to the side, avoiding the monster's Hellblade as it was used for an upward ground-to-air slash. The slash created a huge pillar of flames, easily the size of the entire Leanbox Basilicom, that sent Compa flying just from the shockwaves it generated, causing her to cry out and land on her side, sliding across the skull-covered ground to a halt. Her teeth gnashed together, pain shooting up her spine from the impact until she halted, her body quickly getting to its feet.

Good thing it did, cause the moment she did Compa saw that the Herald was already on her, coming in with a wide, one-handed horizontal slash. The fierce flames radiating from the blade made it look all the more menacing, almost like a fiery beast that was about to take a chunk out of her flesh. For a split second, Compa froze up, terror filling her eyes before, in her panic, she dropped down to dodge the slash. It would only be a temporary relief though, as while she managed to dodge the Hellblade, flames and the following shockwaves, she couldn't dodge the following kick that went straight into her gut, causing the girl to gasp loudly and almost feel like she would cough up her guts along with it, before she got sent flying across the landscape.

BOOM!

Her impact created this huge dust cloud upon it happening, and within it, Compa felt like she was dying. That kick felt like it had knocked her guts out of place, tearing through her organs and shattering the bones within through sheer brute force. Barely, she managed to get a COMPA'S FIRST AID KIT Skill out, replenishing her body's vitality somewhat. It was a Skill meant more for Group heals but at this point the greater the healing the greater the chance she had to survive the next attack. Her pain had been what caused her to think of Skills rather than Items, pain can make people forget about things, just like anguish, rage, and hatred!

The exact second the Skill completed itself, Compa saw the ominous shadow of Kzar'tark looming over her, Hellblade raised for an overhead slash which she rolled aside to dodge. Her heart hammered like a machine gun in her chest, almost opening the wounds she could heel with that last Healing Skill, but the shockwaves that followed the Herald's last attack quickly reminded her brain that there were more important matters to attend to than her own pain. Landing on all fours, Compa remembered some of the moves Nico had pulled at one point, and dug all four limbs into the ground (despite the ground looking like dozens of moaning and groaning skulls), sliding to a halt.

Getting to her feet, Compa quickly raised her Arm cannons to bear upon the fast approaching Bloodletter, quickly unloading a series of long Plasma Needles on her opponent. The Plasma Needles flew true, like many tiny daggers that cut through the air as they sailed towards their intended target, only for them to dissipate harmlessly when coming into contact with the Demon's hide. Even so, up to the point where the Bloodmaster-type Bloodletter got up close enough to once again swing its vile Hellblade, Compa still retained the shots.

Unfortunately for her, this leads to the Hellblade cutting her right across the torso, slicing right through the Armour Module forming it. The Hellblade's power did allow it to cut through mortal weapons and Armour, which was the category her Armour fell into. Thus, the moment it cut through her Armour Module, it shattered and took her Armour with it. "Eek!" she cried, horror and shock filling her as she stumbled backward, feeling the heat of the surroundings in a much greater quantity thanks to the lack of protection.

Even so, a part of her couldn't help but take over, making her stomp her foot on the ground while throwing her arms downwards and adopting a puffy cheek face. "Bad mister scary demon thingy, that was a precious gift from my friend!" She didn't say that said friend was also her crush since it didn't need to know that, not that it would care either way.

 **"Hmph! WORTHLESS!"**

Kzar'tark yelled that out as it knocked that huffiness right out of her by smacking her right in the side of the temple with its Hellblade's pommel, knocking her down to the ground. Compa cried out at this but quickly forced herself to recover and roll to the side, stopping the fate of being stomped on by the Bloodmaster's clawed foot from befalling her. Getting to her feet Compa quickly summoned her MPCS from her Inventory, raising it and smacking it dab in the chest with a couple explosive rounds.

This made the Bloodletter stumble backward slightly at the impact of multiple rounds hitting it instead of one like before, but not by much, instead, it just roared before swinging its Hellblade sideways, unleashing another shockwave in her direction. Compa, now that she had no protection anymore, didn't want to risk getting sliced to pieces (she still had so much left to live for after all), so she unintentionally did the splits to dodge it. Good thing she had trained to do such a thing with Lucy and Raven otherwise that would have hurt.

Even so, though, this didn't stop the Demon from rushing forward as she slid back upwards to her feet, delivering a fierce backhanded swing to knock Compa flying into the air like a spiraling sausage. A loud "Kyaaaaaa!" resounded throughout the landscape as Compa felt the pain of the Hellblade digging deep into the very core of her being, taking parts of her life in ways that no other mortal could comprehend. Her form would have landed onto the ground below her, had Kzar'tark not appeared there first and swung with all its might to cleave her in half.

In a mad frenzy to defend herself from the burning demonic weapon, Compa quickly twirled around and raised her MPCS to defend itself, hoping beyond all hope that it would endure enough that she would be able to use it still. Briefly, just before the two weapons met, a strange bright glimmer overtook her weapon, disappearing before anyone could see it though. Still, whatever it did, it apparently did well, for the moment that the two weapons met Compa was sent flying in the opposite direction she was knocked towards, instead of her weapon breaking and getting cleaved in two like the Bloodletter had intended.

'Huh...?' Blinking curiously, Compa looked down at her weapon, wondering why it didn't break. However, she didn't get an answer in time, for she slammed into multiple fleshy rocks with great force, breaking through them and establishing Compa shaped holes in their structure.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Finally, after the fifth one, Compa slammed into the ground, leaving a Compa-shaped fissure in her wake until she finally stopped. Pain wracked her body, pain so great that it practically demanded her full attention aside from the beast that would inevitably be coming for her soon, the same beast that brought her to the place where everything about her despair began, the place where she fully realized how weak she truly was. Greater than most other things, as well...

But... there was one thing greater than this pain coursing through her like blood. One thing that caused her to give pause as it pounded away at her mind, pushing the pain to the side for a brief moment.

Why?

Why was she fighting?

Why was she continuing on when she obviously wouldn't win in the end?

Why was she struggling so hard to just keep on going?

On the ground, Compa's hands clutched whatever it could, her eyes gazing upwards at the murky red sky. Wasn't it a pointless struggle? After all, this thing clearly had the edge on her in pretty much everything. Strength, speed, agility, reflexes, the works. She couldn't land any successful hits on it that would leave much of an impact, just look at when she tried to attack it with her Armour's Arm cannons. Look at where that got her, her Armour Module that she got from Nico so long ago, gone. No more protection from that against the Herald known as Kzar'tark. Again, a silly name, but she wouldn't be questioning it. Never before had she felt so outclassed than in this moment, not even when she had her comrades beside her, protecting her due to her being the weakest link, did she feel this deep in helplessness.

She was... worthless.

She... was weak, pathetic and frail.

So why? Why was she so adamant about winning?

Why did she struggle harder than she had ever struggled before?

Before she could think further, Compa saw a faint shadow, barely visible thanks to the strange orange light it carried, descending down upon her. Her eyes widened, immediately piecing it together in her mind as she barely got up and dove out the way. Her efforts bore fruit, as she managed to just BARELY dodge the incoming Kzar'tark as it slammed into the ground where she once stood, creating a crater on the impact that would rival the space the entire Leanbox Basilicom took. Again though, her questions persisted, constantly appearing in her mind like flashing lights as the Demon charged at her, unleashing a relenting barrage of blows which she barely parried with her MPCS.

Why?

Why was she fighting, again?

What did she have to gain in a struggle that would end in vain?

What was the answer?

When did things become so wretched, so awful and lonely?

"Pft."

* * *

"Eh?"

Compa blinked, just as she had avoided a Hellblade slash to the head, everything around her froze up, like time itself ad seemingly paused like it was a TV show and the remote's pause button had been pressed. Then, everything grew distorted waving about as if something was changing, and something DID change. The entire surroundings changed from abyssal red and black to a pure white void. There was nothing harmful or negative around her, there was just pure white bliss. Bliss from everything that would dare cause her strife.

It was...

It was a nice feeling.

Still though, as Compa closed her eyes and took in this blissful environment (who could blame her?), she couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on. How did she get here? Where was here? So many times she had questioned her situation, it was beginning to make her Compa brain hurt. Part of her just didn't want to even think anymore!

"Yay, she's here at laaaast!"

"Geez, took her long enough, she was starting to get a little too emo at the end there."

"Now now, don't be too rude, it is understood her reasoning, you two."

"Unimportant. She's here now."

"Yes! Finally, it is time to get things started, gang!"

"It has been too long though, so I understand the others and their frustrations."

'Huh?' Once again, Compa opened her eyes and blinked owlishly, 6 voices ringing out from her side, at a fair distance she assumed. Each of them sounded like they had their own personality to them, yet she couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity to them. Slowly, Compa turned to face the source of the voices, or rather SOURCES since there were multiple of them. When she fully faced them, Compa took the sight of... well, 6 young girls standing in a semicircle opposite her, floor rather they floated opposite her.

What caught her attention the most, however, was the fact that they all looked like her, at least in terms of hair and eye color.

The first one had her hair tied back with a black colored ribbon of sorts, which let her hair flow downwards in a straightforward manner. She wore, unlike Comp herself, a cream-colored dress, with a set of cream and black plated armor which adorned her shoulders and waist. The Dress looked to be open at the back and made up into a black corset (which exposed a part of her generous cleavage, similar in size to Compa's bust) and a two-layered, knee-length almost ethereal looking skirt which had a pink-to-white gradient. Her hair was tied back using a butterfly-shaped hair accessory. She also wore a pair of gauntlets which have petal-like cuffs, both sharing the same color scheme as her attire, as well as a pair of armored boots. On her forehead, was a broadsword symbol colored with a glittering gold.

Next, was a girl with two cream ribbons with black outlines, much like the first one's color scheme. Aside from that, she wore a full creamy kimono, one that had a black sash around the middle and a white veil floating around her. The kimono opened at the torso so it exposed her shoulders plus most of the space above her cleavage (which was covered by this fluffy flower petal-shaped part) as well as below the waist, allowing the bareness of her legs to be shown. She didn't have any footwear on her feet and had a pair of horns sticking out from her ribbons. The ribbons also had golden flower patterns on them. On her forehead, was a symbol shaped like a Halberd with a copy of the golden glittery theme.

Thirdly, there was an older-looking girl compared to the previous two. The first looked to be 15 or so, while the second looked like she was 14. This one looked to have been 18, though. This one had her hair unimpeded by ribbons unlike the last two, with a voluptuous figure and smooth skin that looked like it had never missed maintenance. The 18-year-old girl looked to be wearing a what looked like an extravagant cream and white colored ballet dress, one that reached down to her thighs and exposed a fair bit of cleavage. The dress had large, puffy shoulders, and her hands were covered by white forearm length gloves. On her waist, she had a white large bow that had its ends hanging downwards. Beneath the dress, she wore white leggings that ended in creamy high heels with matching ankle bands. In her hair, was a flowery hair-clip, similar looking flower patterns adorning various places on her dress. On her forehead was a glittering golden symbol of a musical Organ.

Not the vital-to-life kind, something that relieved Compa somewhat.

After her, was a girl about the same age as the first one. She had her hair, unlike the others, about chin length whereas the previous girls had waist length hair. Her eyes though, they held little to no emotion in them, like they were nothing but blank slates. She wore what looked to have been a wedding dress-

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **"Grandpa, grandpa, look what I found!"**_

 _ **"Ooh! That's a Magazine, my dear Compa. Has anything in the Magazine got your fancy, my little girl?"**_

 _ **"Yessie! Look here!"**_

 _ **"... A wedding dress?"**_

 _ **"Hm! It looks so cute! I wanna be a bride someday!"**_

 _ **"Well, as long as you don't become one too early. I'd hate to have to bring out my favored "right hook" on the groom for getting you pregnant."**_

 _ **"Um, grandpa? What does being pregnant mean?"**_

 _ **"... I'll tell you when you're older, Compa."**_

 _ **(Flashback end)**_

'... Huh? Why did I think of that memory just now?' Compa blinked momentarily, surprise and confusion etched onto her features, before she pushed it aside to continue evaluating the girls she saw. The girl with the wedding dress, she wore a golden crown over her head with a white veil attached to it. When Compa looked to her neck, she saw that the girl had a white bow with a gem attached there. Additionally, there were gold extensions attached to both her hips and forearms. The edges of the skirt folded together like flower petals, while the tips of her skirt were also gold in color. On her legs, were a pair of white stockings with creamy shoes. On her forehead, was a Symbol shaped like a set of pillars around a crown.

For the fifth girl, she had the appearance of a preteen. Nonetheless, she looked to be a beautiful young girl with a voluptuous figure, with flowing long hair that reached down to her knees, even if she looked to have braided it. She looked to have her hair together in a partial Odango hairstyle, in addition to creamy and black hair extensions which, oddly enough, resembled bunny ears. For clothes, she wore a creamy and white Astral Dress. The ends of her skirt, which were adorned with constellation patterns, were divided at the edge. Additionally, she wore transparent white gloves that were also engraved with constellation patterns. Lastly, she wore high heel shoes that were attached to metallic greaves, resembling the leg armor used by medieval knights. On her forehead, was a Symbol shaped like a Key, golden and glittering too.

Finally, the last girl looked to be the oldest of the six, looking like she was in her early twenties. Or rather, a version of herself at that age. She had this sultry smirk on her lips, whilst her hair only reached her mid back. Her form looked like an hourglass in terms of the figure (part of her even wolf whistled at how good she looked, but she ignored that for the time being). In terms of clothing, the womanly Compa wore a creamy semi-transparent suit with star patterns all over it. A belt was hung around her waist, and some articles of cloth were attached to it. She wore a white cape and a cute witch hat with a pair of bat wings and a belt with a gemstone attached to its front. Overall, her appearance resembled that of a flashy witch. On her forehead, was a golden glittering broom symbol.

All of them looked at Compa with varying expressions on their faces, so much so that the Nurse-In-Training got the impression that despite looking like her, these 6 girls had their own very distinctive personalities.

Still, though, she had to wonder what they were doing here and who they were. Before she could ask though, one of them stepped forward. "Thanks for coming at last, Compa. We were kinda getting bored playing puzzle games till you came to us." she thanked her, chuckling sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head. She was the first girl, the one with the broadsword symbol on her forehead.

"Tch, she could have come a lot sooner..." the girl with the Halberd symbol scoffed, crossing her arms to the sides while looking sideways. "I get that she hasn't gotten much info about us, but she could at least try to get in here as quick as possible so the situation outside doesn't happen." The way she spoke in such a hot, cynical tone reminded Compa of flames, flames hot as the sun and it caused her to grimace as if she were burned from those words alone.

A hand from the oldest looking one fell onto the halberd symbol sporting girl's shoulder, drawing her attention to the oldest girl in the group. "Don't be like that, young Compa is already confused enough as it is, and like it or not, we don't have much time." she told her, getting a bit more serious than nurturing like she was at the beginning of her sentence.

The rest of them nodded in agreement, frowns forming on their lips whilst Compa herself only tilted her head sideways. "Um, what's going on? I'm one really confused Compa right now...?" she asked, looking like she was having a headache. Seeing so many girls who looked like herself would do that to a person's mind, she figured.

"We don't have time unfortunately for such questions." the girl with the organ symbol on her forehead replied, her frown remaining as she stepped towards Compa before stopping right when she was within talking distance. For some reason, the Nurse-In-Training found herself looking at her like she was looking at an idol, or someone who had good vocal prowess. It kinda made her feel a little more awkward than normal, something that the older girl noticed but ignored. Not important right now in comparison to what REALLY needed to happen. "Let's begin with this, Compa. Why do you do it?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you hesitate?"

"Why do I...?" Compa made to repeat the question she was asked, but instead, the words died in her throat. Memories of what had been happening passed through her mind, from prior and during the battle with the Demons and their Herald, Kzar'tark. She remembered her moments of weakness, where she questioned whether or not she should stay with the Party considering her own weakness, her own mortality. Those emotions crossed onto her features, making them darken and lose the light that they once possessed.

Seeing that she had difficulty forming the appropriate, and right, answer, the girl who had the Broom symbol stepped forwards, her expression equally as serious as the girl with the Organ symbol. "You doubt yourself, you think yourself weak. You don't feel like you have the capacity to hurt others, only to heal and support. You feel like you're dead weight, that you hold everyone back."

Those words felt like knives stabbing right into Compa's gut, each one being spoken with a calmness that made them feel all too real. The way they were spoken, with such utter clarity and statement-like, made Compa look down to the ground. Her mind processed those words for a second or two, though it felt way longer to her, and she nodded in response. "I... I'm scared. I don't want to be holding the others back..." she admitted, her lip trembling. "I mean, it's not like I can do the same things they can, I'm not a fighter, I'm not someone who can do a lot of damage like the rest of them..." she stated, sighing sadly. It frustrated her, but that was the truth. She couldn't be nearly as strong as the other girls, nor could she be nearly as courageous as Nico could. The guy practically walked along the path of life and death every day like its no big deal. Not something a fraidy cat like her could do.

The girl with the Crown symbol floated forwards, speaking for the first time in this conversation after the previous girl floated backward, allowing her space to get her own words in. "You believe in the saying: best to help others instead of hurting them. You think you have to be better to help people, that healing and support are the only ways you know how to be useful." she stated blankly, getting a tense but firm nod from the Nurse-In-Training.

"Oh, shut up with that bullshit!"

"Eek!"

The moment she finished speaking, the horned girl with the Halberd symbol growled before shouting out that one line. It caused a frightened squeak to escape Compa's lips as the same girl stormed over, looking a mix of annoyed, frustrated and angry with her, although she didn't know what she had said that pissed her off. Though, the horned girl had no problem speaking her mind seconds later. "You keep thinking of yourself like this frail little girl who can't do anything, this sickening goody-two-shoes who thinks she is hot stuff! Well, get over it!" she snarled, pointing a finger at Compa. "You're nothing like that, you get me?!"

"E-EH?!" Compa squeaked, shocked from what the horned girl told her. It didn't last for long, however, as a small flame of anger ignited within her chest. It was small, but it was there, especially when she was called a 'goody two shoes', though the frail little girl part hit way too close to home for her. Especially with these thoughts, she had been recently going through.

Before she could say more though, the girl with the Organ symbol and the one with the broom grasped her by the shoulder and pulled her back, much to her annoyance with them. Though, she did nothing but huff as the one with the Key symbol strode forwards. "What our friend here means to say..." she began, gesturing to the horned girl, before continuing. "Is that every heart has a tinge of darkness to it. Its the law of nature, where there is light, you will also find shadow. To put it into perspective every radiant light casts a shadow. This is what's holding you back, Compa, keeping you from reaching the power you crave. Allow us to show you some examples."

* * *

All the girls then parted ways, 3 going to the left and the other 3 going to the right. The entire white void, seconds later, then began to distort and change, like color, shame, and stuff was slowly being painted onto it. Compa couldn't stand it, so she covered her eyes till the shimmering was done. She felt it finish from deep within her being, somehow. She didn't know how she felt that, but she did, and when that happened, Compa opened her eyes and lowered her raised arms, allowing her to see what had happened.

She did NOT expect to see what followed.

Everything around her had changed into... well, the interior of her home. She recognized it instantly the painting on the walls, the ceiling, the tiles making PAT sounds whenever she made a step. Everything became familiar to her, the sights, sounds, smells etc. Looking around, Compa figured that it was dark when she looked out a nearby window, soon realizing that she was in her kitchen. None of the girls were around however, she couldn't see them anywhere yet part of her still KNEW that they were nearby. Don't question it Compa, just focus on what was going on, she chided herself, starting to make her way to her corridor.

Before she could question what was happening, however, Compa heard sounds of talking nearby, a silent conversation perhaps? Whatever it was, she found herself curious. Slowly, Compa crept her way through the kitchen towards the corridor, being careful to not make a sound. Tracking down the source, she found herself at the door to the Living room, where she could hear the faint movements on the Couch. She found that the door was only slightly open, so she gently bent over, leaning forwards till she could peek with one eye to see what was happening on the other side.

When she saw what she did, her form froze, and an icy cold feeling gripped her heart.

The scenery looked like it was late in the evening, with lamps scattered throughout the living room is the only source of light. It created this calm, homey feeling throughout the entire atmosphere, and the only occupants of the room were two people: An old looking man in his mid 50's, leaning back on a sofa with a young preteen girl cuddling up to him. The man had a picture book open, with him and the young girl reading it happily together. The air between them would be an air that only those who had strong familial ties could have to achieve, a sense of softness and fondness radiating from both of them.

Compa recognized this scenery, she recognized it fairly well. Part of her found itself stunned at seeing something like this, for it reminded her of one of the good times she had when Nico had moved out to follow his own path. Looking at the old man, it became pretty obvious that he was wrestling with something deep down, yet hid it from the girl cuddling him like a child would to its parent. "This... This is... when Grandpa..."

"Yes, this is the moment where you first found out. The truth about your parents..."

Spinning a complete 180 degrees, Compa found one of the six girls she had met before, standing right behind her with her arms crossed behind her back. It was the one with the Broadsword Symbol on her forehead, and more noticeably her demeanor seemed like a complete opposite of her previous one. Her face looked like a passive one, but if one looked deep enough into her eyes, then they would see the fondness burning as bright as the sun. "You were so happy back then, to be spending time with your grandfather, the only person left that was a constant in your life, ever since Ni-Ni left to find his own path..." she stated, frowning at the end as the fond flame died out, leaving nothing but hollow emptiness in its wake. For what reasons, however, Compa didn't know, however, something about that feeling resonated with her somehow, like she had seen that feeling before from somewhere. "But then, he brought up the topic of your parents, telling you the truth about them which he had kept from you for a very long time. Do you remember?"

"Yessie... I do." Compa solemnly replied, her eyes darkening with sadness when she remembered. She remembered her grandfather getting her attention, her noticing something was wrong and went to ask what it was, only for him to tell her the truth behind why she didn't have parents. Something that many kids mocked and bullied her for when she was younger. "Grandpa looked so withered and... broken, when he told me, and afterward I broke down into mountains of tears. I cried, cried and cried for as much as my small heart would allow me, constantly wailing about the loss of my mamma and papa, for the first time. I had hoped to at least meet them, learn what they looked like and ask if they even cared for me... but I never would, not from their mouths at least. Grandpa comforted me the best that he could, but in the end, I wouldn't come out of my sadness for an entire week. It took me months to recover from that truth, yet even today the scars still remain."

It had been a dream of hers, something she had wanted to do for a long time. This wasn't something she told many people, heck only Nico and her grandfather knew this, she hadn't even told Neptune or her other friends yet, but one of her dreams in the past was to one day meet her parents. Growing up with only her grandfather at her side was a pretty lonely, hollow experience as a matter of fact, which could be considered ironic. Many times she got bullied by other kids who had complete families, mocking her for her own lack of one. There were some who said kids were cruel, and at some points, she actually wondered if that was truly the case. Even though she tried not to think about it. But, the moment that her grandfather told her the truth, had become the moment where she realized that dream would never be realized, that one of her many hopes for the future had been irrevocably crushed without mercy.

Sometimes, fate can be one of the cruelest beings in the world, even beyond Demonic beings.

The other girl nodded, solemnly. Just as much as Compa felt deep inside. "That's right, however, there was more." she stated, getting a confused look from the Nurse-In-Training, prompting the girl to continue. "Think hard. What else did you feel? What else besides the anguish and despair that filled your soul for your parents was present in your mind? What else did your human-self think about, even if for a brief moment?" She questioned further. However, it seemed that Compa didn't understand where she was coming from, or rather, something blocked her from doing so. This became apparent to the girl the more she stared into Compa's eyes, which prompted a resigned sigh from her. 'Looks like I have to...' she thought to herself, frowning in both guilt and grim determination. "I see, so your mental lock is greater than expected. I really didn't want to do this, but looks like there's no other option..."

"Huh? What do you mean...?" Compa began, when all of a sudden she found herself turning back to the two other room occupants. Unlike before, the scenery had changed to one of sorrow and despair, with the young girl who looked exactly like a preteen version of Compa herself, cried her eyes out while hugging her grandfather. The old man, whom she had been reading a story with, looked down at her with supreme sadness darkening his eyes like an unforgiving abyss, his arms wrapping around her in comfort as he did his best to console the sobbing girl, a girl whom would never ever meet the parents she had been so curious about. Her heart clenched tightly, painfully, at the sight, feeling wetness welling up inside her own eyes too. However, just before that happened...

'Who... who was it?!'

'Who took them from me?!'

'Who hurt my mamma and papa?!'

'I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!'

A loud gasp tore from Compa's lips when she heard thoughts, thoughts that came directly from that little girl's mind. Thoughts that sounded so alien to her, and yet also strangely... familiar to her, at the same time. Thoughts of... anger, resentment, and rage, filled her mind, thoughts that felt like they should be recognizable to the young woman, yet not at the same time. "Wh...What...?!"

"That's right, Compa..." the broadsword symbol sporting girl stated, getting her attention once more. The girl's eyes shone with an understanding of Compa's shock, befuddlement, confusion and, dare she say it, frustration that built itself within her creamy orbs. "The shock and pain lead you to avert your eyes, but do not think I am lying to you. No, none of us are lying to you. In time, you will see this for yourself, but my task for you is complete." she told her, raising her hand and clicking her fingers.

"H-Huh?! Wait, I-!"

* * *

Unfortunately, the scenery and the broadsword girl all shattered like glass, fragments of what had happened spiraling around her as black pieces in the white void. Compa could barely see anything as they swirled around her, however, and thus found herself covering her eyes again just like when the scenery changed. Barely, she noticed how the scenery outside the pieces began warping and distorting once more, the pieces spiraling around her dissipating into nothingness once again.

Once she found that the pieces were gone and it would be safe to do so, Compa lowered her arms and opened her eyes once again, expecting to see the white void. However, what she got was something else, something much more familiar to her. Instead of the white void, Compa found herself on the country street between her home and the main capital of Planeptune: SEGA. All around her, she could see the beautiful wilderness, the serene countryside that would accompany her whenever she would walk home either from groceries, trips with her grandfather, or from school. The scenery usually didn't fail to calm her down when she had a stressful time, and she DEFINITELY had a lot of those during her lifetime. But... there were exceptions...

This scenery seemed to be one of those times, she thought, for when she noticed a feminine figure in the distance and jogged over to it, she found that it was her younger self when she was about 5 she believed. The reason why her heart became cold once more, was the expression on her smaller self's face. The expression she saw, it was one of the worst ones she ever had while growing up, one of utter despair and sorrow that wouldn't be too unfitting if it were put on someone with suicidal tendencies. Her younger self, as she trudged along the country path home from school, looked like she would be approaching that type of mentality soon, with how utterly dejected she looked. Like the world had just sucked out all the joy from her life...

Seeing such a sight from an outsider's perspective, somewhat...

"This... This is...!"

"Heh, sure took ya long enough, fraidy cat!"

A disdainful frown etched itself onto the corners of Compa's lips, a surge of anger towards the boisterous, pompous voice calling out to her from behind. Really, so far from that girl, all Compa had gotten was insult after insult from her, it was both annoying and hurtful. Didn't she realize how mean she was being? No matter, Compa still turned to face her, the horned girl with the Halberd symbol on her forehead. And like she had assumed, she had that pissed off expression on her face, whilst her arms were placed on her hips, her posture that of a parent scolding a misbehaving child. Not to mention that she had a somewhat wispy white aura rolling off her form in waves, expressing just how much her agitation levels were rising. Heck, Compa even saw how her eyes had gained what she had thought were whitened pupils, pupils of eyes that were fiercely locked onto Compa's own like missiles homing in on their targets as she glared at her.

"You remember this, yeah? You remember what happened to make you like this?" she questioned, roughly pointing towards the downtrodden girl version of herself as she walked along the pathway. The sight was NOT something anyone would like to look at, if they did then they would have likely tried to console the distraught girl. If anything, her look only got more and more depressing as time went on. The way she clutched her bag mounted on her back, holding her head down so that her hair shadowed her eyes, shadowed the faint lines of tears rolling down her soft cheeks, marring that flesh for hours to come before dropping from her chin to the ground below, created an exquisitely heart-wrenching sight.

A sight that Compa found all too familiar. Her anger ebbed away, giving way to the depression that had been building inside ever since she first took part in the Gala. This depression made her look down, not unlike that of her younger self as her fists slowly unclenched, an aura of resignation about her as she answered. "Y-Yeah... this was one of the times before I met Ni-Ni... when some kids from school grouped up on me, mocked me and demeaned me in front of an entire playground. Everyone laughed at me, saying really mean things about my parents and how I was 'one of the unlucky ones'. They bullied me all day, and not one adult tried to help me..." she replied, looking towards her child-like self. A few tears fell down her face as she recalled those brutal times.

Seriously, Nico probably didn't even realize it, but he had made one HELL of an impact on her life when he was dropped off at her grandfather's door.

"Yeah, that about sums up MOST of it..." the horned girl commented, rolling her eyes as she made a dismissive gesture. She had watched Compa during her little monologue, and she could see it. There was more work to do, but her task would be nearing its completion soon enough. It may look like she was being mean, but there was a method to her madness. This became evident in the brief, as in a brief flash of sadness and empathy she showed behind her creamy orbs before it vanished and her previous cynical demeanor returned with a vengeance. "And by most, I mean ONE crucial aspect you didn't get."

At this, Compa raised her head, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion as she rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears building up inside them. Not to mention the fact that she only sensed a slightly less amount of hostility in the horned girl's tone. "Huh?" she began to say, before her eyes widened once again when thoughts, thoughts she both recognized and didn't recognize appeared in her mind:

'I hate those kids...'

'I wished they would all disappear!'

'They are so mean, why is it that people like making fun of me?'

'Maybe the monsters will come and hurt them for hurting me, let's see how they like it.'

'Perhaps I could go hurt them instead! See how they would like that!'

Thoughts like these filled her mind, shocking and confusing the young woman even more. She would not be hiding it, but a tinge of fear began to build in her gut as these thoughts began to accumulate within her mind, merging with the ones she thought on the first scene. "What... what is happening?!" She cried, crouching down and grasping her head as she tried to force those thoughts out. Tried to push them out of her brain so that they wouldn't bother her anymore. However, none of them left, in fact, they only seemed to get stronger and clearer the more she rejected them. It scared the hell out of her, to be perfectly honest. Although, part of her wondered why she was so scared in the first place...

Looking at this, the horned girl groaned to herself, putting a hand on her face. Her task was completed, that much she was certain just by looking at this wimpy girl. However, she already began losing hope that this girl would end up doing it like the others assumed she would. She looked like she would break apart any second now, something that both angered and concerned the young girl (though it'd be a cold day in hell before she would admit that). "Meh, I'd tell ya, but where would the fun in that be?" she responded, making a dismissive hand gesture. "After all, we gotta go through a whole load more shit for this all to be worth anything, so you might as well get going."

* * *

The moment Compa heard those words, she looked up just in time to see the world quickly break down like before, showing the white void amidst the black glass pieces. She quickly closed her eyes and buried her head in her knees again, and when she could finally sense that the scenery was stable again, Compa slowly looked up while pushing away the thoughts slowly building within her mind.

This time, the scenery took the form of something... bigger something that was much more powerful in a good way to her, than the last few scenes. In front of her, was her home but this time she was outside of it. She stood in the house's garden, the serenity of the atmosphere still is how she remembered it from back then. Not something she minded, for it helped her in keeping her mind off her troubled thoughts. Nonetheless, this wasn't what brought a small smile to Compa's lips, nope, it was only the second best thing about this scene before her.

What was the best part about it, you ask?

Well, look at the doorstep, and you'll see.

At the doorstep, several people in black expensive-looking suits appeared to be standing there, conversing with her Grandfather who looked a little younger than he did in his later years. Their conversation wasn't heard though, only faint whispers of sound coming from their lips, and yet their expressions told anyone listening that their topic of conversation was serious business. As in, super serious that they would be speaking in a hushed manner, even though their faces remained passive on the outside. The Nurse-In-Training could even see her previous younger-self hiding behind her grandfather's leg as if it were her only lifeline from these unknown strangers in her eyes.

Between the two men in black suits, though, was the one person whom would become Compa's salvation, the one person Compa would learn to trust above all others: Nico himself.

The11-year-oldd kid looked like he was thinking hard about something, if the thoughtful look on his face was any indication. Compa looked at the scene with a pensive look on her face as she tried to recall it herself. She didn't remember much about it, to be honest, this scene only served to kick-start her memory of the event that changed her life for the better. However, it was the first time she met the boy who would more often than not get lost in thought a lot of the time. So much so that he would lose track of his surroundings and completely close up from the outside world.

Compa remembered how she would sometimes admire that trait of his, his ability to cut the world off from himself so he could think about whatever he wanted. It seemed so... liberating to her, and even back then, this trait helped develop his already high level of maturity. She remembered how he had taken one look at her (prompting her to shyly hide away behind her grandpa's leg, to the man's amusement), and quickly sussed out that she had problems. Problems that he had tried to ask her a few times but she didn't tell him. She even remembered seeing him asking her grandfather what was wrong, expressing more worry for her than any kid her age had ever expressed for her. It had been... strange, since next to nobody aside from her grandfather did that for her.

"Yep, he's our knight in shining Armour, isn't he?"

This time, Compa smiled when she heard that childish, older voice that still carried that tint of wisdom that only came from being older than her. This voice, she didn't mind as much since she wasn't so mean like that horned girl was. She seemed more like Compa herself, which prompted a quicker liking towards her. Quickly turning to her left, the cream haired girl came face to face with the girl with the Organ symbol on her forehead. Said girl stood not 3 meters away, a big smile on her face with a hand on her hip while the other rested peacefully at her side. Her form practically oozed happiness and joy, a trait that was mostly possessed by an innocent child.

A statement that proved itself even more true when the older girl jumped at Compa and glomped her, not too unlike how Neptune would sometimes do so after she would return from training with Raven and Lucy. A surprised squeak escaped her lips when she did this, all the while she rubbed her cheek against hers. "Oh, how you look so cute and precious! How could such a cute girl be so sad?" she cooed, before breaking the hug (albeit reluctantly) and took a few steps backwards. "Your beloved Ni-Ni entered your life on this day, didn't he? #GIGGLE# He was such a sweetie, though you didn't see it that way at first, did you? Nope, instead you treated him like the kids you got bullied from, you kept away from him with the excuse of being shy. When in reality, you wanted to know if he would be like all the other kids in your school, if he would do all the mean things that they did to you." she stated, slowly walking up to Compa. Her creamy high heels clicked on the ground as she walked, till she stopped when she was right in front of the Nurse-In-Training.

Part of her honestly thought that she would get glomped again, but thankfully for her that didn't happen. Not to be rude or anything, but she had almost lost the ability to breathe when she glomped her with such strength that seemed almost beyond her body's physical limitations. Her rib-cage could have cried out for joy if it had sentience. With that out of the way, Compa let out a larger smile than the last one, her eyes filled with affection and happiness as she watched her and Nico#s first ever interaction. "Yes... I never realized it at that time, most of our beginning would be rocky at best. I found him to be a nosy boy who didn't know when to stay out of things. Its like he couldn't help himself back then, and even now he has that trait about him. But, looking back on it, I don't regret it one bit." Whilst that trait could generally be seen as annoying, in some means it could actually help things turn out for the better, and her situation with her bullies would count as one of those times. If Nico hadn't persevered and kept trying to talk to her, then he wouldn't have ended up as one of her most important treasures.

"Yup-Yup, he's your prince charming who came to rescue you when you were at your lowest!" the older girl chirped happily, bouncing over to Compa and hugging her properly this time. When she received it, Compa found that there was nothing but innocence and childish affection in this hug, so she quickly returned it with equal fervor. After all, hugs were great, best thing in the world **(AN: Trust me, I agree with that statement, hugs are lush)** and she loved hugs. It was partially to do with this tat Nico got his love of hugs, aside from his adoptive mother. Just then, the girl leaned towards Compa's ear, whispering in a soft voice that didn't seem all that different from her other one... if one didn't count the lower octaves and the slight darkness that creeped into it like a phantom in the night. "You forgot a few things though."

Once again, confusion made its way into her heart when she heard that, and the moment that the girl pulled away looking like how she had looked before, the Nurse-In-Training wondered if she had heard right. Soon enough though, she got her answer when her head felt like something 'pulsed' within it, causing a gasp to erupt from her mouth as she fell to her knees, holding her head once again as thoughts both recognizable and alien flowed through her mind.

'He's so mean, why does he not leave me alone?!'

'He' just like the others, always trying to find ways so he could hurt me! I hate him, I hate him!'

'Why did Grandpa take him in? He should know he's going to be like all the others!'

'Maybe he could be my meat shield, such up the damage so I can finish everything off and take all the credit?'

"St-Stop it... What are...?!" Compa tried to say, however, the skull-splitting pain rushing through her mind like blood in the circulatory system refused to allow that. She barely even got all that out, and by the time she did so the pain had intensified by 1000, if she were to pull a Neptune and use gaming logic. It became all she could do to not pass out from the sheer mental agony she found herself going through. Barely, she registered the sounds of chains bring broken, but from where that sound originated would not be possible to be tracked in her current state, that was what her screaming mind told her whilst the older girl before she just stood there, watching her with that ever-innocent smile on her face.

She even had her hands behind her back whilst leaning forward slightly. "Oh don't you worry, my dear. Believe me, everything will become clear. You're a good girl, you know, and you're well on your way to your ultimate realization. Till then though, I look forward to what will come. See ya lateeeeer!" She happily called out, waving merrily at her whilst everything around Compa broke down, including the pain she had been in.

* * *

By the time the scenery reformed, Compa looked about once more, trying to figure out where she was this time. Her pain had subsided thanks to that transition,, however it left her feeling more than a little pensive about what would happen next. The past couple scenes had been scenes of various moments in her past, moments that were more sad than happy. She feared what would be happening next, although another part of her had other thoughts in mind. That part of her wondered what was happening to her body outside, her body that should have been facing off against that Bloodmaster Demon. However, when she saw the scenery that she was in this time, those thoughts flew out of her mind like the speedy bird being chased by that ever-persistent cartoonish wolf.

"This...!"

Once again, shock filled her system like that dark-skinned superhero who 'became a human fuse box' after a little something called the 'boom infant incident'. Looking around, Compa found herself in the middle of a vast plain. One of many across the Land of Purple Progress. It had been so long now since she'd last been to one without the intent of fighting monsters that she almost forgot what they felt like. She could feel the soft caress of the gentle breeze blowing through her hair like the gentle touch of a loved one, the beautiful sights of nature spread around the vicinity, the grand flowers, the chips of bird and other wildlife, and the whole tranquility of it all. Yet, part of her couldn't help but be fretful of what would become of this scenery. This was the fourth one, she believed, so were there going to be more?

At the center of the plain, Compa saw a large tree, easily towering over a good 10 to 15 meters of land in diameter. Its tall, imposing form created a good amount of shade from the scorching sun, showing that this was one of those hotter days in Planeptune. Since Lowee and Leanbox were in an eternal spring and winter respectively. Planeptune had more of a summer feel to it, whilst Lastation had an Autumn-like feel to its nature, or what little nature there was left in that Landmass since their industry was taking up big chunks of nature at a time. Even so, none of those thoughts became relevant when she saw what lay beneath the tree, basking happily whilst remaining oblivious to their surroundings...

Compa herself when she was only 11, lying on a crimson blanket next to an equally sleepy Nico, curling up together while locked in deep slumber. The two of them faced each other, soft sounds of breathing filling the air as well as the faint motions of their torso's rising and falling. Heck, his right hand and her own right one ]were interconnected between them, like they had just sealed a promise and were now holding hands whilst in their joint sleep. Not to mention, that the girl's grandfather sat nearby, watching them with a small, but very much joyful, smile on his face. Slowly getting up from his previous position and dusting off the dust on his behind, the older man approached the two sleeping children and wrapped the blanket around them, shielding them from the elements while giving them the look of two newborn infants. In response to the new comfort, both kids moaned and shuffled closer together, snuggling into each other and forming peaceful smiles on their faces.

It was... more than a little adorable to witness, and Compa had to restrain herself from squealing cutely and running over to hug the two lest she disturbs their slumber.

"You remember."

A blunt, if not blank, voice called out behind her, and when she turned around Compa came face to face with the girl with the Crown symbol on her forehead, as well as the one who triggered a flashback of her past with just her wedding dress. She stood there calmly, emotionless with her arms by her sides while looking at her dead in the eye. It... kind of unnerved her and made her feel nervous inside. She didn't know as much about this one as she did the previous ones, as the lack of well, anything on her features made identifying her personality rather difficult. Not to mention, the way she held herself, with almost military-like stature and a lack o revealing anything, sort of reminded her of what her teacher Raven was like during their training.

"Um... I remember?"

"This before you. You remember what this is. I know you do, I can see it inside your irises."

Blinking while trying not to show how weirded out she found herself, Compa slowly turned back to the scene she was witnessing along with this strange, emotionless girl. She took a moment, but she soon figured out what she was trying to say, her eyes lighting up with realization. "Oh! Y-Yessie, I remember...! this was when my school's half term started, grandpa looked super psyched that a lot of my bullies were learning not to mess with me any more thanks to Ni-Ni's interference. He even encouraged Nico top utterly break every bone in their bodies should they try anything funny with me, as in his eyes those kids wouldn't understand unless physical violence was applied." She replied, a bit awkward at first, until a soft fondness appeared in Compa's eyes. Memories of Nico rescuing and protecting her from bullies surfaced inside her mind, bringing a powerful warmth through her chest. It almost felt like the blossoming of a flower in the middle of summer, like it had been a late awaken-er only to turn out all the more beautiful from the power nap.

"Affirmative." The blank-faced girl commented, further reinforcing this military image that Compa found herself forming of her. Whatever it was that she was thinking right now, Compa wouldn't be able to figure it out. There was literally NOTHING on her features that could be a clue, it almost seemed like she wouldn't have any emotions at all. "He was your anchor, one of the few slices of heaven in an utterly hellish life. The care and affection that you have for him grew greatly the more you spent your time with him." she stated, and Compa didn't refute her, It was true after all, ever since Nico came into her life and showed himself as someone whom would be there for her when nobody else her age would, it was like her world got a little brighter. A world, which had been blackened and cursed to a state of despair and loneliness by the heartless, got a light that illuminated it in the form of that young boy. "Even so, this isn't all that happened."

... Alright, now Compa SHOULD have been prepared for the moment those words came, but even so, she wasn't. There was always another side to the coin as it were, and she had been the victim of this song and dance more than 3 times now. She should have guessed something like that would happen again, but she didn't. Therefore, when her head pulsed once again, and this time much more audibly than before with the 18 year old girl, she found herself regretting that mistake. "Argh!" she screamed, clutching her scalp like it would tear itself in half at any moment, though this time she only leaned forwards while struggling to maintain her balance.

'Ni-Ni is my light, nobody else's! Nobody-nobody-NOBODY WILL HAVE HIM!'

'Its fun watching him beat up those meanies who try to hurt me! I wanna do it alongside him!'

'They deserve it! Nobody will take Ni-Ni from me! I won't let them!'

'I won't let anyone take Ni-Ni away!'

Once again, the sound of chains being broken reverberated through her mind, only a little louder. Not only that but the pain that erupted from within her skull like a bomb going off intensified greatly in comparison to the previous times. Compa barely stopped herself from screaming to the high heavens as she held her scalp, and she SWORE she could feel something wet on her head, trailing down the side from how hard she gripped her scalp.

Nonetheless, Compa still managed to hear the other girl's voice as clear as crystal, both from within her head and from everywhere around her. "It is nearly time, Compa. You are close, close to your epiphany. I suggest you think it over, learn about yourself, realize what you really are. As well as what you will have to do to break through your current crisis." her voice told her, with a ghostly each as each word burned itself deep into her mind, like a mark being attached to her skin. Not to mention, each one felt like they were spikes, stabbing away at those 'chains' within her, as she could hear the cracking of metal echoing throughout her mind amidst the pain.

* * *

By the time the pain, as well as the blood and scenery, vanished Compa looked back up, not really wanting this cycle to continue. No., it would be more accurate to say that she definitely didn't want this cycle to continue, but the words refused to be formed in her mouth. Compa didn't know why, whenever she tried to speak, something prevented her, and she had no idea what it was... or perhaps, maybe she did? Compa didn't know, she didn't know a thing anymore.

In any case, when she looked up again, Compa found herself in what looked to be a large room. A room that looked to be the room of some form of lodging, but not one that she found too much familiarity. The room looked quite bare, with little signs of personal luggage being used to decorate the home. It was almost as if the one who owned this room, if there was an owner, didn't even bother decorating it. It gave off this... lonely feeling, and Compa didn't like it. Nope, no sir, she didn't like it at all. A frown marred her lips as she stood up, looking around to figure out where it was that she was located, exactly. So far though, she couldn't find anything of important note...

Until she saw the bed at the back of the room, next to an o open window with some lovely looking curtains.

The moment she found her gaze set upon it, a thunder-strike of realization hit her full force, especially when she saw the sole occupant of the bed, which looked to be for a single person anyways now that she got a look at it. The person that lay there on that bed, was an old man, a man who looked like he still had some form of fitness training and was now currently resting. There was a cold cloth over his head, to keep his temperature down whilst the hot sun outside shone at its apex, meaning that it was likely around lunch time. The man himself wore a gown of sorts, a gown one would wear when they were at the hospital or somewhere of similar medical purpose.

"This is... Grandpa?!" Compa exclaimed, shocked as she jogged over to her grandpa's side, surprise and confusion etched into her thoughts. For a moment, it stunned her,, seeing her grandfather again after so many months. Thanks to her going on that adventure with Neptune and Nico, she hadn't had many chances to visit the home her Grandfather resided in, her last visit being during the small break that they had inside Planeptune. Even then though, it didn't stick in her mind very much, as the visit had been both rather short and rather boring, if she were completely honest. Still, she had missed seeing her grandfather so much and when she saw him that time, Compa had to restrain herself from hugging the remaining life out of him.

Still, he embarrassed the life out of her when he began teasing her about the moments she shared with Nico. She didn't get to tell him much, but what little she did informed him plenty about how her current standing with him was. Even with her friends who also served as her love rivals, something that made her grandfather laugh when she told him. He had told her that he could see the kid getting a lot of women's affections during his travels, and had no doubts that the kid in his eyes had not done things like sleeping with those women. Little Nico had stuck by Compa's side more than any other person when he lived with them, after all. He did entertain the thought of other girls trying though.

"Yes, this is your grandfather, my dear."

"Eh?!" Slowly, Compa looked behind her (wow, this is really becoming a thing, huh?) to find the door to the room opening, revealing two people coming inside. One of them was Compa as her 14 year old self, looking positively radiant. This Compa rushed to her grandfather's side, said man having opened his eyes and smiling upon seeing her. Opening his arms, he allowed the girl to lovingly embrace him, loving her squeals of joy and happiness at seeing him once more. It was a rare thing for her back then, so she treasured what few moments she could spend with him. The ORIGINAL Compa on the other hand, couldn't help but be focused on the one who came after her, however... It was the witch-like girl with the golden Broom Symbol on her forehead.

She approached from the door, closing it behind her before walking up to Compa's side. She then pulled up a seat from... well, she didn't know where exactly, the space around her hand just distorted like ripples, and from those ripples she pulled out the chair. Pulling it up behind her, the woman sat down on it with one leg crossed over the other, a certain look of knowing on her face as she leaned forwards with her hands under her chin like a criminal mastermind. "My dear, do you remember this scene? Its of you when you came to tell your grandfather some interesting news, yes?" she questioned, a slight smirk on her lips while she used one hand to gesture towards the two hugging people before them.

Looking back to the scene, a soft, wistful smile formed on Compa's lips. A smile that betrayed the emotions boiling over inside her gut like a glass being overfilled with water. "Yeah..." she muttered under her breath while watching her 14 year old self begin talking to her grandfather. "This was when... I managed to convince the right people to let me stay on my own with the house. I had to use whatever funds I could get my hands on, as well as some contacts whom owed my grandfather a couple favors, but I managed to do it. I became the legal owner of my own house a a young age." she mused, remembering those times. There were more than a few moments where she wondered if she would even get tot hat stage, if she would be able to consider this her reality since everyone seemed dead set on taking her grandfather's house for themselves. After all, the legal age of living alone was 15 or older. However, since she was 14, she would have had a lot more trouble making it so that she could keep the house.

Honestly, the only reason she even won her rights was because of the contacts her grandfather gave her the numbers of. A lot of them were quite the influence in the business industry, and with those contacts Compa had been able to get permission to live with supervision until she reached 15, which then would allow her to live by herself. Afterwards, she was on her own, her supervisor being someone who knew her grandfather since they were children. When she was alone, that had been the moment where Compa felt like she had truly earned herself a victory, a victory all her own. It had been an amazing feeling, a feeling that she used as a means to spur on her desire to live independently, and to not let her new home fall victim to anything else.

Again, it was the best feeling.

"Yes... the thought of finally winning your uphill battle against the authorities wanting your grandfather's home was indeed a thrilling one, so much so that when you got the chance to, you quickly came to this care home to tell him all about it. He was so proud of you..." the woman remarked, smiling in nostalgia. It was almost as if she herself had been there, struggling to make ends meet, something which drew Compa's attention, though she didn't ask since she thought it would be rude to ask that of a stranger. Then, a frown etched itself onto her lips, her eyes darkening in seconds. "But then, THAT happened, didn't it?"

The darker tone she used, combined with what she was talking about, struck a chord in Compa. Her eyes became downcast, darkening with sadness when she remembered it. "Yes... that's..." she began, only to pause when she saw the door open again and a caretaker came inside. The caretaker for her grandfather looked to be a woman in her thirties, with a set of simple clothes along with a badge to state her occupation as a caretaker. Compa could only watch as the woman had a fake smile on her lips when she told her younger self that it was time to leave, that visiting hours had ended. Compa's smaller-self tried to protest, but a stern look from the caretaker shot her protests down. It looked to be clear that the woman didn't like brats, and she saw Compa as one the moment she saw her. "I couldn't stay long, cause apparently, grandpa's visiting hours had to be cut short for a time, due to his health taking a turn for the worse. Even though he looked s fine as he usually did. I felt so sad to not have thee chance to spend more time with him, I'd saved up what I could to get that chance after all, but..."

Compa didn't finish, but she didn't need to. After all, the woman looked like she knew already, she had just wanted her to say it herself for whatever reason. "That's right, those staffs were some of the stricter, meaner staff, but since your grandfather couldn't afford to stay anywhere else with his pension, he had to stay at one with such people. Not to mention that they all had very... negative opinions of you and made excuses as to why you couldn't see him when you wanted." she stated further. "You knew from that moment on that you weren't welcome here... and I think you knew your grandfather had a similar opinion as you did, but he couldn't fight against it." the woman said, a frown on her lips.

The Nurse-In-Training nodded in response, not saying anything. She remembered learning about the stuff that the staff members often said to her when she tried to go visit her grandfather, stuff that, upon starting medical school to become a Nurse, she learned were sicknesses that usually would warrant the victims going to the hospital. When she found out, Compa had all but demanded why they would lie to her like they did, but they never gave her any proper answer. It sounded like a crime to her, but since she was tight on money, to begin with at those times, she couldn't really sue them for their conduct.

"It happened then, too you know." The woman began, leaning back in her seat as she crossed her arms under her ample bosom. Her eyes gazed intently at the other occupant of the room, looking her up and down like she was searching for something. It looked like she found what she was looking for though because her lips twitched upwards. "My dear, you have to have noticed by now, yes? What's been happening to you?" she asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

Before Compa could answer, she gasped once more when pain assaulted her senses, with more of those unfamiliar yet familiar thoughts appearing in her mind.

'Those guys are so mean?! Not letting me stay with grandpa!"

'Why did he have to be put in such a place?! He should be staying with me! I can take care of him!'

'I'll become a Nurse, just so I can!

'I hate them! They should just go die!'

"Agh! Ugh... what are these... things, in my head...?!" Compa cried, holding her head whilst falling onto her knees once more. She lowered herself so her forehead touched the ground, tears brimming down her cheeks like waterfalls as more evil and darker thoughts assaulting her mind like a medieval army laying siege on a castle. Not to mention how her body itself became racked with so much pain that her tears eventually turned into tears of blood. Part of her noted that the thoughts she heard all came from the past scenes that were shown to her, thoughts that struck deep within her being. The more seconds passed, the louder that they came, to the point where her ears began screaming in protest just like her brain did, at the loud volumes that the thoughts had. It felt like they were each their own person, and they were constantly screaming at her from within. "Please... make them stop...!" she tearfully cried out, unable to move thanks to all the pain hammering away at her right now.

"You know of them, don't you...? You know what they are...?"

"...I...I..."

"You KNOW, don't you?!"

"I KNOW!"

* * *

Everything shattered around her the moment Compa screamed out those two words with all the emotion she felt boiling over inside of her. Like those two words blew away everything in existence. Everything around her became nothing but a black void, a void of nothing but pure darkness like it came from the primordial deity of darkness itself. There was no sound, no smell, no sight, nothing but darkness, but to her, that felt more like a welcome reprieve than anything. The pain inside her head, it settled down along with those thoughts. They still remained, but it felt more like bullies that showed genuine surprise over her fighting back, thus taking a few steps back to observe her. A constant reminder of their presence, though they didn't hurt or speak nearly as loud as they did before. This allowed Compa to stop clutching her head so tightly and to drop her arms to her sides, lifting her body into an upright Japanese sitting position while her head hung low.

"You know what those were... don't you? Have you finally figured it out?"

In front of her, manifested the last girl, the sixth one. The girl with the golden Key symbol on her forehead. Whilst it looked like Compa kneeled on some form of ground, the other girl floated above it like she was a CPU or something. There was this glowing white aura around her, her hair rustling constantly behind her like it was being constantly blown about by a cool breeze. The Key symbol-sporting girl looked down at the kneeling Compa, her eyes betraying no emotion while her hands remained at her sides.

No response came from Compa for a moment, a moment that seemed to stretch on forever. The girl remained silent herself, not speaking until she got an answer. She knew Compa had heard what she had said, so she just waited for her answer. An answer that finally escaped Compa's lips in the form of a broken, defeated whisper. "Yes... those were..." she began, before pausing to take a deep breath. She shuddered, barely able to get the following words out of her mouth. But still, she got them out, no, it felt like she HAD to get them out but something tried to stop them. Still, she got them out eventually. "My thoughts... thoughts that I... refused to acknowledge..."

Those thoughts, she remembered them now. At first, she had no clue as to what they were, no, that wasn't quite right. Instead, she had known what they were deep down, from the very beginning. But, everything in her being refused to acknowledge them, and thus they were treated as foreign alien entities instead. She had refused to see them as her own thoughts, thoughts that she had possessed... for quite a long time. Little by little though, they managed to creep back into her mind, slowly forcing her to perceive those thoughts.

A nod came from the other girl, though Compa made no movement to indicate her having looked up to see it. "That's right... this is the side of you that you have repressed your entire life. Your lonely childhood, your miserable existence, they created a powerful psychological change within you. 'I want to be liked', 'I want to be loved by others', and 'if I am a good person, maybe things will get better'. Those were the thoughts you had. Thus, you sealed away all your negative desires, all those dark thoughts you held, all your resentment, rage, grief and sorrow. You sealed it all up inside, hoping that by appearing as an innocent little girl, you would eventually get a better life. And for a time, things didn't change until Nico came into the picture..."

Faintly, Compa shuffled, hearing the other girl talk. "After he assumed the position of your first ever friend, showing you that he was trustworthy, you opened up to him. You trusted that he would help you, and he never betrayed that trust. This acted as the first 'unlocking' of those desires, which scared you on a level you didn't even realize existed. Therefore, you formed a 'possessive' side to you that you didn't show, to act as a means of reinforcing that 'lock' on your desires. By the time that he had to leave to pursue his own path, you didn't need that possessiveness anymore, so you placed it within the 'lock' so you could keep up your good girl self..."

All this was said with little to no emotion, yet every word hit Compa like a lethal punch to the face, one intended to behead the victim. Yet, she made no movement to refute the girl as she continued. "By the time you reunited after being apart for so long, you had well and truly sunk into the idea of being the 'good girl', a shy, meek and timid girl who conformed to the needs of others before her own. Its what people are naturally drawn too, you assumed, and you were right. In no time at all, you got bullied less and less, you were treated better by the day due to the 'moe' factor you employed. By the time of your reunion, you had well and truly sunken into such a role."

That was when the girl's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. As in, an inch, so it wasn't even noticeable. "However, during the beginnings of your adventure, that began to change, change in ways so subtle that you didn't even realize it yourself, thus you didn't stop it. Your object of affections began getting other girls' affections, those girls were way more aggressive in their approaches than yourself, thus leaving you in the dust. You began to see it, that you were way outclassed compared to them, but you ignored it for the fleeting sense of purpose you felt you possessed..."

"Until my eyes were opened..." Compa stated, but it was so silent that, if this were not a soundless void, then they wouldn't have been heard.

The other girl continued, her words affirming what Compa had said. "Indeed. You began to see at last, that in your quest to be 'likable' you became weak. Weak in both will and strength. You became caring to the point where you didn't like seeing others hurt. You became this way so that people would like you, so they would stop bullying you, but the cost was that you became like a wallflower. Everyone got so much more powerful than yourself that you began to question your place with them. You even began thinking about these in the middle of a battle, which could have gotten yourself and your teammates killed."

Compa didn't respond to those words this time, but there was no need to. Both of them knew that she had hit the nail on the head if that expression were to be used for this situation. Growing up a bullied kid, Compa wanted it to end so badly. She wanted to be liked, she wanted to be cared for by the people around her. The loneliness inflicted by her parents' deaths had inflicted a terrible desire to be accepted by her peers on her heart. That scar had been what forced her to seal away any negative urges, like the urge to get back at those who wronged her, to insult, to shout, to fight back against any injustices done against her.

By the time she had met Nico for the first time, her negative desires had been completely suppressed, in their place a meek and shy little girl who would try her best to stay away from him as much as possible. At least, until he began helping her with her bullies, showing her that not only was he trustworthy, but he could also be used as an outlet for her suppressed negative desires. Those thoughts had been right, deep down a part of her sadistically enjoyed the violence that Nico would dish out on her bullies, their screams were like music to her ears. Who could blame her for enjoying them, either? he had been tormented by them for years at this point, so seeing someone stand up to them and give them a taste of their own medicine felt like therapy for her.

Everything else was just as the girl had said it, she had gotten into her head, the role that she had used as a means to seal away her negative desires. One could say that her 'Mask' no longer was a 'Mask' but an actual face. Something that warped her sense of reality. At this point, she had been too trapped behind her 'Mask' and thus she didn't know her desires began to surface throughout her adventures with the Party. It only TRULY started breaking, however, when she became explicitly aware of just how far she had fallen behind, how weak she truly was in comparison to the other girls... to Nico.

One could say that the 'Mask' finally shattered, and Compa found herself looking towards an ugly truth that she had been denying for so long now.

"... What do I... do now?" Compa began to say, her shoulders shaking as she placed her hands on the ground, each hand clenching into a fist as frustration began to build within her. Frustration in quantities she had never felt before now. Mostly because her 'Mask' had stopped it from such. Her eyes brimmed with tears that expressed a similar emotion, yet she still had the energy to glare heatedly at the ground, her teeth gnashing hard enough to crack them. "Even... Even if my 'Mask' is gone... how is this going to help me...? All you guys did... all this... this making me realize what I have been denying all this time... how is it supposed to help me? I'm still weak, I'm still unable to fight back...! It's frustrating, so frustrating that it makes me want to punch something!"

For a moment, the girl remained silent, just floating there and not saying a word. However, when Compa looked up to show how angry and frustrated her face looked, the girl finally responded before the Nurse-In-Training could say anything. "You have finally reached the point where you are 'Capable'..."

"Eh?"

Compa, upon hearing those words, blinked with confusion as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve. She leaned back into a proper sitting position, even though she felt super emotionally drained at the moment. Even so, the girl continued. "To fight a Monster... you either need a monster of your own, or you become one yourself. These words hold special meaning, especially for you, Compa." the girl told her. "humans are not weak, but they are indeed frail creatures. Even so, this doesn't make them helpless. They have indeed lived with monsters and demons their entire lives, alone in a world filled with beings who could tear them apart with no mercy in their sleep. But, if that's the case, then how have they survived for so long? Their own ingenuity? Their own ability to train? No, it's not just those things. No, the fact of the matter is, that there are humans among them who have the 'will' to become 'monsters' to fight the other monsters. 'Those who can't sacrifice something can't change anything'. I believe that is the saying most appropriate here. In essence, that is what's been thrown at everyone's faces, the concept of human and monster is a very blurry line, there are monsters in human form and humans that can be just as monstrous as the beings they fight."

Listening to this, Compa remained silent, her eyes wide at what she was hearing. This information... it sparked something in her, something that urged her to continue listening. "In that case, I will ask you this: what is so bad about being a monster? In a world like this, those who have power get to live, those who don't are either treated as rats or killed. There is little to feel safe and secure in this world, both before and especially during these trying times with all these demonic entities returning. Humans are not weak but in comparison to the things that are coming they may as well be. Humans in comparison to everything else, are on the bottom of the food chain in comparison. Your friend, Neptune, and the rest of her Party have little humanity in them, save for you. You are the only human in a group filled with monsters. Before, you did not have the capability to 'change', due to your own mind weighing you down. However, with the 'Mask' now broken, that is no longer the case."

At the moment of saying this, the girl raised a hand, pointing it towards Compa who stared at her with shock, awe, and amazement. "Before, you never had that chance, but now the opportunity has presented itself before you. What will you choose? Will you remain on the path of being 'weak' like a human? Or will you shed your mortal coil and become 'strong' like a 'monster' like the rest of your friends? A monster whom will be able to stand alongside them, instead of beside them? A monster whom will be able to move forward, to fight for what she wants, to make it so that you can be as 'free' as you wish to be?"

Compa remained silent, her jaw hanging open whilst her eyes became as wide as saucers. Her breathing shook, her body trembled like it was hit by a megaton earthquake, and her palms began getting sweaty. The effects on her breathing became visibly apparent when her chest inhaled and exhaled more audibly, her eyes slowly shrinking inwards.

So, her choices were to either, remain human so that she could return to her previous life as a meek little girl who had to be protected all the time, or to accept whatever it was that this girl was offering, this 'monster' path and finally be of help to her friends? In that case, what was it that she really wanted? Wasn't it to become as strong as she could be? To be able to help her friends and not have to be protected by them all the time? So she could stop holding them back? Wasn't that the source of all her problems?

If she were her previous self, denial would have been her answer, as she wouldn't want to be a 'monster'.

Now, however...

Her hands began to shake before they clenched into fists. They shook a little before they became still as her breathing calmed down. Closing her eyes, Compa took a deep breath to steady her nerves. There would be no turning back from this choice, but she didn't care. She didn't need to think about her choice right now, all she wanted to do was help her friends, and to do that she needed to get back to them and help them fight. There was only one enemy, and only one of her, so what was there to be afraid of? And since this girl asked her... "I... I WANT TO FIGHT!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "I DON'T WANT TO BE USELESS ANYMORE IF I HAVE TO BE A MONSTER THAN I WILL ACCEPT IT! I HAVE FRIENDS WHO CARE FOR ME NOW, NOT LIKE BACK THEN! I WILL NEVER, EVER BE A BURDEN EVER AGAIN!"

Compa's shout shook the entire void, for it had been filled with all her rage, all her negative emotions that she had contained for so long, in addition to her resolve. Resolve, something she had seen Nico and her friends have a number of times. the resolve to fight the monsters nobody else could, the resolve to fight as monsters themselves. How could she do anything less than them, huh? They may not have had much of a choice in being what they were, especially Nico and IF, but they didn't let that get to them, they didn't let that stop them from fighting for what they believed in. She may be choosing to walk a similar path to them, but she had no right to do anything less than them.

That was her answer.

Her answer seemed to have been the right one, for the moment that the girl lowered her arm to her side, she began glowing brighter as the void became illuminated by her light. Pretty soon, the two found themselves back in that white void once more, with the five other females standing around Compa. Each of them had their own smiles or smirks on their lips, pride and eagerness filling their creamy orbs at the prospect of what would happen next.

"Yaaaay, you finally accepted yourself! This girl's super duper happy right now!"

"Heh, finally got it sunken in, huh? Well, it's about damn time."

"Hehehehehe, the complete you is so much cuter than your half you!"

"Good call. I'm proud of you."

"An excellent choice, my dear. You shall not regret your actions this day."

The five girls each spoke in the order that she had seen their scenes for, up until the girl with the golden Key symbol. Said girl simply walked forwards, up until she stood 2 steps away from the Nurse-In-Training to put her hand on her shoulder. The path before you has become one road, once again. Your true path has been chosen. Move forward, never doubt yourself again. Be confident, and remember you will always have us. It is now time for us to give you our powers, and our names, to turn you into something more than human. You may call me... Michael."

Compa blinked when she heard the girl say her name at last, confusion filling her. Wasn't Michael a guy's name? Even so, before she could ask, the girl's form turned into a white, spectral silhouette that quickly entered her body, making her gasp as she felt something 'change' within her.

Pretty soon after, the other girls followed suit, all placing their hands on her shoulders and giving Compa their names. All the while, their forms would do the same thing as Michael's, power slowly filling Compa's body and changing it from human, to... something else.

"Call me Haniel, my dear. I hope that you will find my power practical, especially for snagging your man ufufufufufu."

"I am Metatron. My light will destroy the enemy."

"Tee-Hee, call me Gabriel cutie pie! Let my songs lure your enemies in to finish them off! Maybe help your friends, too!"

"Hah, its FINA-FUCKING-LY time to kick some ass! my name's Camael, you scared cat, so better remember it!"

"Hehehehehe, this is going to be so much fun! I am Sandalphon, Compa! It's nice to finally meet you like this! Sorry, I didn't say so earlier, the others didn't let me!"

At once, as the last girl vanished inside Compa, she soon found her vision becoming white... but she didn't care.

She would be reborn as something else, shortly...

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **OH. MY. GOD! Over 27K words! Longest chapter so far, shit! A new record!**

 **This is probably one of my most character-oriented chapters yet, even more so than Lucy and Raven of Team RAIL. For those of you who don't get what's happening, it's like this:**

 **Compa has grown up as a child who got bullied a lot and didn't have any friends. That sadness, plus the lack of a proper family, made her decide to seal up her negative desires deep within herself, in order to put on the 'mask' of a cute girl who was too innocent for her own good, so that people wouldn't hurt her anymore. Now, as someone who's experienced with bullying myself, I know for a FACT that something like this can change a person's view for the worse. In this case, it's Compa masking her true feelings so she could gain friends.**

 **Throughout her life, however, cracks began to appear in the 'Mas' she wore, starting from when she met Nico as a child. She slowly felt her Mask beginning to break when she realized that Nico was someone she could trust, but due to how longs he had been bullied for, she got scared and 'reinforced' her 'Mask' by developing a strong attachment to Nico, a sort of possessiveness yet not at the same time. When he finally left, however, she cast that attachment into the 'Mask' since she didn't need it anymore.**

 **By the time they reunited, Compa had well and truly sunk into her 'Mask' to the point where she forgot that it was just that, a Mask. Throughout the Party's adventures nonetheless, this began to change as Compa became more and more aware that she was the weakest link in the Party, the sole 'human' in a group of non-humans. Think about it, she's a normal girl with a Group of a Demon God, a Goddess, and a BOW. Plus, many of the people she knew weren't completely human anymore. It was only during their encounter with the Demon Prince, did Compa truly become aware of this fact however.**

 **But because of that, she realized her weakness was holding everyone back because they had to protect her, something that would really mess with someone and make them feel terrible about themselves. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I can see Compa not saying these feelings and insecurities, just like how friends sometimes keep secrets. They just don't want to be judged harshly and they fear that they will by those closest to them. Its only through great trust that people share these kinds of emotional wounds, and more often than not people don't understand how dangerous it would be to dismiss these feelings.**

 **To those who think this is OOC for Compa, maybe your right. But I will say that I'm portraying them as best as I can to their original personalities, but I just don't see someone like Compa not having darker secrets. I mean, seriously if you look on the wiki it says that she somewhat has a dark side, and I've played the first two rebirth games. So, I know she sometimes comes off as somewhat sadistic when she is fighting, case in point "I think I've found a good test subject..." Tell me others got chills when they heard that. What I'm doing is expanding on that side of her character and giving her a proper backstory.**

 **At least, in this manner, I'm showing that Compa is much more than she appears, which I think is true for the average person. We all have our issues and problems that we have to deal with, some just handle it differently than others. More often than not they hide these problems behind smiles and such, and also, look at how Neptune is. Its true people use humor to disguise their feelings, and at least in this fic, I've taken that approach to her character. Its just been used in a more extreme case with Compa, which can be used as a means to further their friendship.**

 **Please tell me what you think in the reviews or PM's, cause this chapter has so much content to it, psychological, philosophical, and intense themes that can be related to real life. Hell, it fits the overall theme of 'Masks and Reflection# where people hide things to go about their normal lives in society.**

 **Once again, lemme know what you think, and see you in the next chapter!**

 **Peace out!**


	131. Chapter 128 - Demonic Invasion PT5

**Chapter 128 - Demonic Invasion PT5**

Fire and ash filled its vision as the Bloodmaster stomped its way towards Compa's motionless form, a form which lay on the ground back first. Its form moved with a grace only a warrior whom had fought in countless battles and had learned from those experience could accomplish, even with its mighty size. The opponent he had been fighting had been that way ever since it had knocked her down there with a swing of its Hellblade. Said blade almost burned the heated air around it with how brightly it glowed, the infernal malice within it as strong as it had ever been. That explosion she had created before managed to conceal her presence somewhat, but it could still smell her fears, her despair and anguish emotions. It had been so bad that it wouldn't doubt it if its minions over on the other side of the Portal smelled it, this mortal had that much despair running through her.

A furious snort escaped its maw as it approached her motionless form, her eyes blank as she gazed upwards towards nothingness. That desperation, that will to struggle on even though she knew it would be in vain, it was gone now. Gone like a flame being ruthlessly snuffed out by a vicious could reality. Now, all the body did was just to lay there, not moving an inch as she awaited her long overdue fate.

Coward, that was what she was.

This Bloodmaster LOATHED cowardice.

It had meant what it had said before when its Crimson Cohort had been brimming with repressed desire for combat back in that room. It was a deity that coveted the art of combat of martial skill and swordsmanship. It was born from the very fires of raw primal rage that both embodied the domains of its patron deity, its master, and the entire Devildimension. Therefore, in its eyes, it saw cowardice as a disgrace, a failure and a pathetic waste of an existence. Those who were nothing, but utter trash carried cowardice, such people were not worthy of its blade. Khorne would be disgusted with this person should they ever meet him in the afterlife, he would extinguish those cowards out of existence without hesitation, such would be the Blood God's disgust of them for not dying in glory, instead choosing to die a coward's death. Khorne LOATHED cowardice, he was a mighty warrior, after all, he had rage, bloodlust, war and conquest as his domain, and as such he expected those on the battlefield to be as such. His followers all adopted those principles.

Finally, the creature stopped right before the prone Compa, raising its right leg to stomp on her chest. There, it gripped her with its Talon-clad feet, making sure to apply enough pressure to make her feel like her lungs would be crushed by the gripping strength of a viper. Slowly, it raised is infernally burning Hellblade, the fires of its rage and malice almost rivalry the intensity of the sun itself, both clawed hands on its shaft as it aimed towards the young female's neck. Its eyes burned with hatred and twisted glee, the killing of one of those that aided in its master's temporary defeat would soothe any and all of its distaste for this weakling, a worthless piece of existence that did not belong on the honorable battlefield.

In an instant, the creature pushed its Hellblade downwards, intending on finally ending the young mortal's life…

GRASP!

Until the girl's right hand shot up and grasped onto the Hellblade's fiery blade.

 **"WHAT?!"**

Shock filled the Demon's being as it registered the sight of the girl's right arm trembling whilst it held the Hellblade by its flames, keeping a firm grip regardless whilst entering a bout of strength to keep it from impaling the main body's neck. Flames roared from the angry Hellblade, its innermost rage beyond any comprehension right now at the sight of a mortal that DARED try to block it from feasting on her blood with her BARE HAND, something that had been unheard of. It wasn't used to something so stupid, nobody would be as brazen top put their hand in the middle of a blazing inferno, so how was this any different? The flames born from the rage within its Hellblade roared in untold fury upon the hand's contact, roared like the fiery god that spawned the Demon, that forged the Hellblade in the first place at the cause that dared to stand against it.

Yet, even so, the hand refused to back down.

Even as the flames tried to burn away at the hand's flesh, something impeded their efforts. Whatever that was remained unseen, but even so, that something managed to successfully thwart the flames from a Hellblade, flames that were superior to that of the base form of Hellfire despite sharing similar attributes. Yet, this mortal was able to grasp such a weapon, to trap it and its flames within its grip and not be destroyed outright for such sacrilege.

It actually managed to befuddle the Bloodletter known as Kzar'tark, it baffled it to no end.

Breaking through the unending rage of a Demon made by the rage of the Devildimension was NOT a simple feat, in fact, it rarely happened at all. Therefore, the owner of the hand performing this befuddling feat would have no CLUE on just how much history she had put into question. Even so, however, the Khornate Demon growled and ferally roared, pouring strength into its Hellblade like a never-ending river of rage itself to try and break through the surprising grip this mortal's arm possessed. The more strength it put out, the greater and greater the Hellblade glowed with the flames that surrounded it, flames that grew and grew in their intensity. Much to its surprise, however, none of that managed to break the arm's grip over the devilish weapon, instead, it just trembled more visibly but that was pretty much it.

So caught up in its surprise, that the Bloodmaster failed to notice how the mortal's other arm clenched its hand into a fist, before launching itself up into a punch towards the leg it used to pin her down. Any normal punch would do NOTHING to a mighty Demon of Khorne, however, this was no ordinary punch, as Kzar'tark would soon find out when the punch connected with the side of its knee beneath the kneecap. Surprise soon turned into rage and shock when this happened. The amount of force that it felt from that blow should NOT have been possible for a mere human, as flames of pain roared through its system like a fierce explosion, causing the Demon to let out a sharp howl.

The Demon fell backward, barely retaining its balance in time whilst it stumbled, stabbing its Hellblade into the ground to regain its balance. The creature then kneeled on one leg, its sole good leg, while letting the pain from its sole bad leg simmer a bit before it would vanish. However, the pain it had felt for those moments felt like nothing it had encountered before in its many millennia of living. Not even the brawls it had with its comrades or those damned Demons of Tzeentch caused it to feel THAT much pain. It felt completely ludicrous that a mortal managed to hurt it this badly, it simply boggled the Demon's mind! What in the actual hell (ironic considering its origins, but it never considered that) was going on with this mortal?

After the pain subsided, which took a full 10 minutes to do, the Demon known as Kzar'tark looked upwards towards its opponent, wondering why she had not taken this opportunity to kick it whilst it was down. Shock aside, this was the battlefield, and anything goes as long as it didn't disgrace the name of Khorne. Said Blood God got power from bloodshed, regardless of who was doing it. It was one of the four omnipresent deities in the Devildimension after all this had been the way of the universe ever since the dawn of creation. The moment that the Demon's gaze found Compa, it became struck with a sight that would haunt it for the rest of existence… as well as any other Demonkind that would encounter it for the first time. If it had a proper jaw shape, it would have dropped at what it just saw.

There, standing on her own two feet, was Compa herself. Her MPCS was nowhere to be seen, likely having vanished into her Inventory, but that wasn't the main focus right now. What was, however, would be the pure white aura that her body was slowly emitting. An aura that gave off the feeling of holiness and divinity, like a messenger of the divine itself only the complete opposite of that of the Chaos Gods or the legendary DPUs. No, this power… this power felt like the light, the light of the universe, and that sickened the Demon down to its gut. It sickened it a whole hell lot, as it slowly but surely got to its feet with a ravenous growl being released under its ghastly breath.

As for the mortal herself, it could not see the look on her face, for her head was lowered, her arms hanging in front of her like a puppet being held by its strings, ready for a performance it would be making. Her hair gently fluttered from the aura covering her like a second skin, the sounds of breathing escaping her lips being the sole thing that showed it that the mortal was still alive. Her hands, lax and straight, then sharply switched into a claw-like position. In that state, the mortal's breathing hitched, and her teeth gnashed while her forehead released beads of sweat. Her form seemed to tremble, as if something were being restrained but slowly breaking through, before her hands quickly clenched tightly into furiously trembling fists.

THAT seemed to be a signal of some sort, or the fuse to a bomb, that bomb being her aura as the exact moment her fists clenched, the aura erupted like a volcano. It roared to life, cracks spreading out beneath her feet up to 40 meters in every dimension. Hell, the aura's eruption even blew the ground backward, forming a small crater where the cracks were centered. Wildly flailing about like a loose furnace, the white aura roared like a beast that had just been released from its cage, a roar filled with power, rage, and… joy. Joy to be released after so many years of captivity, it felt. It knew that kind of pleasure anywhere, for it had seen Demons make gleeful ecstatic expressions whenever they gorged themselves in the thrills of battle.

Within the power surge, it saw how the Mortal slowly raised her head, just enough so that her hair, which now flailed about like the aura she was emitting, still had its bangs covering her eyes in shadow, as she looked towards her right hand. She raised it up to her face, almost making it seem like she was looking at it, before she turned her head towards the direction of Kzar'tark, the Demon of which had been absolutely dominating the battle they had been engaged in before. For a moment, nothing happened, which resulted in this tense silence that gripped the area like a strong vice claw. It almost felt like this ice cold have had gripped the entire land and blocked all within it from functioning properly. Even the Demon's battle-hardened instincts, which normally ranted and raved about constantly sinking its Hellblade into, were rendered silent by the ominous tension in the air right now.

This silence lasted… for up to 15 minutes, and yet it felt like 15 hours for the two occupants. Once THOSE 15 minutes passed, the first one to make a move ended up being… the Mortal herself. Her mouth slowly opened, and did a single, drawn-out intake of air. The moment she did that it felt like she was sucking in all the life in front of her, for the aura that flared around her had some of itself sucked into her mouth like a vacuum. In those moments, the Demon suddenly got the impression that it was in some serious shit, for the more aura she inhaled, the greater the pressure on its chest it felt. It felt like it was in some form of a cage right now, unsure as to what to do for the first time in millennia.

Just before it could push through this suddenly more oppressive nature that held it at bay and move, the mortal reared herself backward, lifted her head towards the crimson murky skies above…

And screamed.

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

She let it out, she let everything out… and Compa never felt so good at that moment.

As she screamed, she felt it deep within her. She could feel the 'monster' inside slowly waking up and charging towards her, feasting upon what restrained her, what held her back for all these years while the power inside began changing her. Changing her from a mortal human to something… something else. Something inhuman, something that would be considered incomprehensible to normal men and women. She didn't mind though, in fact, Compa wished for it. She even RELISHED the feeling as it slowly took over her being, rewriting her into something new. She enjoyed it immensely, even to the point of ignoring the pain that assaulted her nerves due to how relieved and refreshed she felt deep down.

Oh, how she had waited for this, for this moment…

This moment where the chains that held her back, the chains that represented her doubts her hesitation, confusion, insecurities, they all shattered when the 'monster' within tore away at them, ridding them from her being forever. It felt like she was being reborn, becoming a newer, better Compa. She remembered that moment when she finally accepted everything, when she finally took off the 'Mask' she had been hiding her feelings behind. The moment that she came to accept the irrefutable fact that she too had a darkness within her. A dark side that had always been with her, that had been there since she was born. It may have been sealed away for a long time, but the hardships she had to endure had only cultivated it, made it stronger.

Now… now, she felt like she was truly herself again, like all pieces of the puzzle that was 'Compa' had finally been assembled. She felt like she was completely whole, not hiding under any illusions. No mysteries or mental illusions would deceive her mind any longer, that was the vow she had made to herself the moment she accepted that choice back in… wherever the heck that place had been. Compa believed that it was within her own mind, the cause of those scenes being her own memories of the Past, warped by her 'Mask' to hide away the darkness that was a part of them. Her mind felt fresh, clear like all the 'dirt' that was her 'Mask's' remains had been washed away with a fresh bucket of pure, clean water. It even caused her to sigh in content, enjoying this feeling of wholeness.

In a way, she could only feel all sorts of emotions right now, content, satisfaction, joy, eagerness, pain, agony, rage, excitement, a whole load of them which lead to this impasse of emotion that she found herself in.

With the new 'clarity' she had found herself enjoying, Compa began to think to herself as her body continued to change down to the very cells that it was made from. She remembered what she had been told, about the state of the world. With the clarity she now had, Compa felt like she could truly express how she felt now, she could say her own thoughts, showcase what she really believed in. Whilst she didn't feel like much had changed, she still wanted to be a Nurse, she still wanted to help people, it felt like her restrictions on Combat, they were pretty much lifted.

She didn't feel as repulsed by the idea of fighting anymore, nor did she feel as hesitant. A small distaste for it still lingered, but like a diluted liquid, she couldn't feel it NEARLY as potently as she had before. Actually, Compa felt like she wouldn't have problems hurting someone anymore, not to mention she felt like she could take on an entire army. With the acceptance of the fact she had a dark side, Compa didn't feel so afraid to 'show' that darkness anymore. It was part of her, and whilst she still didn't 'accept' it, she didn't 'reject' it either. One could say she was at an impasse with it, but for now, that was enough.

Yeah, she was NOT going to be the same Compa as before.

All those thoughts soon got washed away by the feelings welling up inside of her. This feeling, this feeling of power that swelled within her… Compa had to ask to herself as her aura enveloped her, a bright light begins to emit from her: was this what Neptune had felt when she first accessed HDD? Or what Nico had felt when he first transformed into a DPU? Compa couldn't help but ask herself these questions, or rather, they kept repeating themselves in her mind like the beats to a funky and jazzy song. In the end, she didn't find a correct answer, but one thing she did get was this:

Now that she would be reborn, she would have a chance to fight back.

Those thoughts were her last, before being enveloped by a bright light, which would start the process of which she had been looking forward to the moment she made her decision.

A moment or so later, Compa opened her eyes…

And took her first breath as a new-born woman.

Everything felt new. Her senses of sound, smell, touch, taste, and sight. Her body parts, her movements, everything around her felt new, like she had never truly FELT them before. She could feel the infernal heat radiating from the air, like this place had been the by-product of a neutron star erupting into an environment. She could hear the sounds of constant crackling, she could see the skulls that made up the ground in their entirety, as in much greater detail than before. She could practically taste the ash in the air, which sorta made her stick her tongue out and bite it while shaking her head in disgust. Not something she wanted to taste after here rebirth, thank you very much.

Soon though, she looked down at her body and found herself easily… distracted, by what she saw. Especially with how it sent sparks of shock running through her nervous system which felt WAY more electrifying than she was used to. "Ooooooooooh, niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiceeeee…!" she whispered in shock, awe, and amazement. Her eyes sparkled like glistening stars when she saw what she did.

(Play Date A Live OST: Seirei)

Compa found her body encased in an aura of pure white energy, one that covered her body like that first one she had. It gave off this mystical feeling, especially with the way it sparkled with silvery white light. She got the feeling of divinity from that energy, as well as the power that coursed through her body, finding it similar to how the energy of the Goddesses felt when they transformed. Not to mention there were wisps and remnants of it across the nearby vicinity, rising up into the air before vanishing out of existence.

As for Compa's body, it looked to have had a costume change, for she wore a completely new attire. Now, Compa wore a pair of elbow length white gloves with a golden ring on her right hand's forefinger, gloves that end large frills with white and gold metallic elbow guards. Said frills were rustling in her aura, exposing her shoulders and upper biceps to the elements. Around her neck, was a white and gold collar piece with a pure white bow in the middle, held in place by a matching gem. The bow had multiple frilly layers that went over her cleavage (which were also fluttering from her aura), while the dress itself had white on her sides and a mix of white with gold outlines on her stomach, showing the center of her chest. A bit of cleavage as well. There were armored hip guards of similar appearance to her elbow guards. From them came a multi-layered filly, the fluttering skirt which was short at the front, but long at the sides like a traditional wedding dress. The material was transparent on the sides, but not at the front for modesty's sake. Her legs were covered in white thigh-high stockings that ended in cute, golden high heels.

Then, she noticed that she stood on top of a large, golden throne where a hilt protruded from the top. The Throne itself had twice the size of Compa's own height, but she found herself instinctively wanting to take out the hilt. So, with a simple hop, Compa managed to land on top of the Golden throne and grasped the hilt. She felt power erupt from the hilt and go right into her being the moment she touched it, making her want to pull the weapon out even more than before, something that befuddled the young girl. Even so, a name appeared within the depths of her mind, a name she had heard only once before, but even so she would never forget it. Not when it had burned itself into her brain for all of eternity.

"SANDALPHON!"

Calling out the name of the weapon, Compa felt something akin to restraints unlocking within her, as she slowly but surely pulled the hilt out of the golden throne. The moment it was completely free, Compa quickly hopped down as the Throne vanished into white particles. The moment she landed, Compa raised the hilt to her eye level in a horizontal position, looking upon the weapon in her hands with awe and amazement. It took the form of a large broadsword, a gleaming silver blade with a golden and mechanical V-shaped guard. In the guard's center, was a single, purple colored gem. From there, the broadsword's blade protruded from, sporting these bluish lines that ran directly over the flat sides of the blade.

"This looks like something Nep-Nep would use if she had the chance…" Compa remarked to herself, her mouth slightly open. However, her body's new instincts then alerted her to some approaching danger causing her eyes to sharply glance towards it before she jumped to the side, avoiding a large shockwave that could have split her in two. She landed not that far away from where she once stood and looked towards the direction the source had come from.

 **"I do NOT know WHAT has OCCURRED…"**

That demonic, unnatural, insidious voice belonged to Kzar'tark the Bloodmaster, as it stomped over to her, its Hellblade in a guarded, cautious posture while its flames blazed angrily. If it had the capability too, Compa felt like the Hellblade itself would be cursing her name right now, like it had been enraged at the thought of her grasping onto those flames it emitted like that. Quickly, she put herself in a defensive stance, a stance that consisted of her placing both hands on her new weapon, Sandalphon she felt it was called, and pointed it diagonally towards her opponent. 'I feel really weird right now, I've never really used a sword before, but for some reason, I also feel like this is natural, like I've done this for a long time…' she thought to herself.

 **"… HOWEVER, it APPEARS that YOU have TRANSENDED… indeed, I sense NONE of your original MORTALITY in YOU… you are NO LONGER a MORTAL…"**

Compa looked down at herself, pulling a hand away from Sandalphon's hilt to look it over, flipping it from front to back and vice versa. What the Demon said, she didn't deny it. Her body felt completely alien to her right now, though that had been thanks to her no longer being human. It felt like she was constantly floating like she was on top of the world and everything else was beneath her. This feeling… she bet this feeling had been felt by her friends too when they transcended from human limitations. She'd have to get used to that feeling, as well as being in a new body like this. 'I hope I don't have to go through puberty q1again, that stuff sucked…' she thought to herself, pouting mentally as she thought about 'certain' memories.

 **"No MATTER! You SHALL fall all the SAME! FOR THE GLORY OF THE BLOOD GOOOOOOD!"**

(OST end)

Gripping Sandalphon again, Compa glared towards her opponent, who raised its Hellblade towards her for a backhanded slash in her direction. The resulting slash sent another one of those shockwaves towards her. As she saw the attack coming, Compa's eyes narrowed at it as she felt a swirl of information flow into her mind. 'These thoughts… they're coming from Sandalphon…' she thought, glancing down at her weapon briefly before her eyes returned to the approaching wave of fiery death that she could feel even as it was halfway between them. Briefly, Compa remembered something that Lucy had told her about her powers once they manifested.

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"Pay attention, Compa dear cause this is important. The special traits of your powers will likely be numerous, and you will no doubtedly have difficulty in controlling them at first. The best way to learn that control would be through battle, once they awaken of course. But, once they do, you will have no better teachers than the powers themselves, for they will know best how to use their abilities to the utmost potential."_**

 ** _(Flashback End)_**

'Whelp… Lucy Sensei, I'll trust in your words! Here goes nothing!' she shouted in her mind as she raised Sandalphon into the air. She did this thanks to the information she got from the weapon itself telling her to do this, like it was a gentle hand guiding her in utilizing its power. Whelp, she'd definitely need to have all the help she could get right now, at least until she could walk on her own two feet! "Hyaaaaaaa!" With that one loud cry, Compa brought the Broadsword down in a vertical arc.

The result, a wave of pure white energy leaped from her sword and rushed towards the inferno-like wave that had been intended for her. The two attacks collided with one another like two great weights slamming into one another, dissipating seconds later to leave behind large fissures in their wake. Cracks adorned the ground where the waves had churned up the dirt beneath the landscape, throwing skulls into the air like nobody's business.

Definitely caused Compa to go slack-jawed at what she saw. "Wooooooow…!" she whispered in awe, looking down at Sandalphon for a moment in nothing but pure amazement. 'This… this is…!'

Quickly however, she sensed heat approaching her from the left, and so she quickly raised Sandalphon to block an incoming strike from a familiar-looking Hellblade. "Kyaaa!" The young girl cried as she found herself being sent flying away from where she once stood. The cause of it, being the Bloodmaster Herald of Khorn, Kzar'Tark.

 **"Do NOT let your GUARD down, UNKNOWN one! One DEFENCE cannot HELP you!"**

As she sailed through the air, Compa gritted her teeth as she prepared herself mentally and physically to hit the ground below her. After all, that was the most logical assumption one would make when they were sent flying by a demonic being of insane strength. However, just as she felt herself beginning the short descent towards the skull-covered ground, Sandalphon sent her some more information, information that made her eyes snap open in shock as her body instinctively followed those instructions.

Flipping backward while still airborne, Compa did what it said and quickly visualized herself floating like the CPUs and Nico did whenever they transformed. When she did so, Compa got the strangest feeling, the feeling of sliding along a slick, clear surface yet not so at the same time. It was… one of the weirder feelings she'd experienced today, but hey she wouldn't be complaining. Once she found herself no longer filled with motion, Compa looked down at herself, finding that to her surprise she was INDEED floating above the ground… almost like she was held in the air by some unknown force!

Quickly, however, Compa pushed those thoughts aside as she instinctively leaned forward, taking off right towards the Bloodmaster. Said Demon quickly raised its Hellblade and made a slashing motion towards her, for Compa to swing from the opposite side… the resulting clash and Compa's own inexperience with flight causing her to flip over the Demon and onto her back, sliding across the ground till she halted with a pained groan. 'Ooooohh… owwie… methinks that I'm not good at flying just yet…' the former human thought to herself, before her eyes shot open as she quickly rolled aside to avoid an overhead smash from the Hellblade, flames erupting from it to form a massive pillar much like before…

Only, she didn't get blown backward.

Remembering what happened before, as well as the information supplied to her by her weapon, Compa raised Sandalphon to the air, and after pumping it with this energy coursing through her body, slashed diagonally 3 times, each slash releasing another one of those white energy waves. Each one sailed towards the Khornate Demon, who quickly raised its Hellblade to slash through them, but only managed to slice through 2. The last one exploded, it has failed to predict their speed correctly and thus got sent backward as a result.

Pain filled its senses when this happened though, pain that felt way worse than what it usually felt from a mortal weapon. It felt like poison to it, poison specifically meant to counteract the nature that it possessed. What the hell?! What was that, why did it burn so much…?! Those thoughts raced through its mind momentarily, before it stopped moving and moved its Hellblade in the way of an approaching slash from Sandalphon. Compa had, of course, jumped towards it with the intent of slashing its head off, not using her apparent flight ability due to not wanting to repeat what had happened before.

Still, it looked like she had managed to swing Sandalphon WITHOUT falling over this time, so that was an achievement in her books! Planting her golden heels into the ground, Compa remembered some of the moves she saw Neptune and Nico do, being sword wielders themselves. After angling her Broadsword so that the Hellblade slid down and away from her, Compa jumped into a rising helicopter slash, one that had its tip cut through the elite Bloodletter's hide with ease, unlike her MPCS. Howls of pain from the Demon were her reward, as Compa brought Sandalphon down to try and finish it off.

Sadly, for her, the Herald would not go down so easily, for it managed to bite through the pain that sword inflicted upon it and blocked with its Hellblade, causing the ground beneath them to buckle and form a crater. As weird as that sounded since the ground was LITERALLY made of nothing but skulls, but meh. A loud, victorious ad gleeful roar escaped it as it pushed Compa backward by applying more strength into its Hellblade, sending her away from it.

Flipping backward, Compa planted both feet onto the ground alongside Sandalphon's tip, slowing her momentum to zero. 'Whew, that was a close one…' the girl couldn't help but think while sliding. 'Any more and I'd have fallen onto my bum and had another owwie…' Looking up once she stopped moving, Compa pushed energy into Sandalphon and swung upwards, colliding with the furiously burning Hellblade of Kzar'Tark in almost a twisted parallel to what had happened before. This time though, she felt her legs tremble and almost buckle under the inhuman pressure forced upon them. If they were the legs of her human self, then they would have been crushed under this weight…

But they weren't human legs, not anymore.

Landing away from her, both competitors charged at each other, yelling out their own war cries as they entered a heated festival of slashes. Their arms became like blurs, enhanced only by martial prowess as the two duked it out for supremacy, to see which one of them was better at the art of the sword.

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH- SLASH- SLASH-SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH- SLASH SLASH!

They went, circling around each other whilst trading slashes that would have sliced through any normal mortal a thousand times over if they were to have connected. Both Sandalphon and the Hellblade viciously dueled like vicious animals competing for territory, their respective energies colliding and exploding upon contact with each other to result in powerful waves of rippling air that blew past the two fighters. Each hit made more and more cracks appear through the ground, the so-called 'trees' and the skies themselves, like the entire real trembled from the force of their blows.

Even if she found herself struggling in an uphill battle, Compa still felt like she would be slipping at any moment.

'This is bad…!' Compa thought to herself, sidestepping multiple slashed before twirling into a series of spinning slashes. Slashes that were expertly parried by the Bloodletter's Hellblade before it viciously continued its assault. Her brow sweated profusely, her own body struggling to keep up with the movement information provided to her by Sandalphon. 'Sandalphon, I dunno how I can say that name like that, is giving me know-how on how to swing a sword, but I can only keep up for so long! This thing has way more fighting skill than I do, so I need something to take it down once and for all!' she thought, quickly jumping over the Demon to avoid a wide sweeping slash aimed at her legs, before flipping forward into a slash towards the center of its back. Sadly, it missed thanks to her trajectory being off, so she landed in a crouch and jumped aside to avoid another overhead smash from the Hellblade.

Even if she had this power to fight back now, it wasn't like she was any fluent in using it right now, instead, she had found herself struggling to get used to her new body, the intensity of the battle forcing her to adapt quickly or suffer a fatal blow. She wanted to test out her body's limits, but for now, she wouldn't be able to. Fortunately, quick adaptation was a thing in Gamindustri, as one had to adapt to their situation if it changes on the fly so that they can survive. What, with Abnormal Monsters, all these Demons and foreign powers converging on their world like wolves hungry for meat, can one really expect to be safe? Plus, this thing had way more experience in this level of combat than her, she was like a novice trying to upstage a master.

Just then, information poured into her mind from her link to Sandalphon, information that formed an image of… was that a sword? Compa's eyes narrowed slightly, confusion blossoming in her chest as she landed on the ground, sliding to a halt before charging back in, swinging several times diagonally before twirling through multiple horizontal slashes and then ending her assault combo with an overhead smash. Each attack got blocked expertly by the superior Demon, superior in terms of combat prowess by the way. The image itself seemed kind of hazy, and she found that it resembled a sword much larger than Sandalphon by a wide margin, followed by the equally hazy image of a large throne-like structure.

It took a moment, but eventually, Compa realized what the Broadsword was telling her. It wanted to have that golden throne back again, and somehow that was supposed to help her get Sandalphon to turn into this larger form in her mind. 'Well, okay…' she thought with no small amounts of worry in her mind. 'Here goes!' after pumping Sandalphon with energy, Compa swung in a reverse upward motion that forced the Herald to fall back temporarily, though that one moment would be all Compa needed.

Mentally, she concentrated on the throne and had it appear beside her. The Throne appeared by her will, manifesting from the ground behind her when she raised her right leg and stomped on the ground. The instant that it appeared, Compa acted without hesitation, instinctively doing what her Broadsword told her and making a large slash onto the throne. The second that her weapon contacted it, the Throne shattered into many pieces, momentarily surprising her as she had hoped something better than that would have happened.

However, the next moment her expectations found themselves met when, instead of vanishing into nothingness, each piece of the destroyed throne began combining with Sandalphon, rebuilding it into a new form. The sounds of crackling crystal accompanied this transformation, and by the time that the Herald recovered, it was all complete. At that point, Compa had to hold the new weapon in both hands due to the weight behind it, a weapon that took the form of a massive single-edged white zanbatō-like sword with gold edges. Its name immediately imprinted itself inside her mind, and by an unknown force not her own, Compa's mouth opened to let it out.

"Halvanhelev!"

Raw power roared from the sword in this form. Halvanhelev crackled with white energy, sparks flying off it in a volatile manner whilst a similar aura took over Compa's form. Her eyes shined with a look of determination and resolve, a look she aimed towards the enemy in front of her. Feeling the power increasing through her massive sword through the hilt where she held it, kind of helped her keep up the courage flowing through her veins. The urge to run away and hide kept itself in check from her resolve, as she glanced towards the portal that had brought her here.

It was located to her right, not too far from their position. There being herself and the Herald knew as Kzar'tark. Part of her wondered who named it something so silly, but she chose not to think about that now. She had only one chance at this, Compa felt it deep within her bones. This power she possessed, she didn't know how to use it well yet, even though this fight and Sandalphon were excellent teachers. It was like what Lucy had said, the best teacher for how to use a power, was the power itself. Not to mention, she didn't know when the next time she could get a chance like this would appear with her body in its current condition.

Meanwhile, Kzar'tark growled as it held its furiously blazing Hellblade, dark power rolling off it in waves in response to the new, and definitely dangerous, power presented before it. The Herald was no fool, just from those brief moments of combat it had exchanged with this female (it couldn't call her 'mortal' anymore due to the raw power rushing forth from within) told it much. That information burned itself into its mind, refusing to allow it to be lax as over trillions of years' worth of experience cycled through its mind. As much as its instincts and pride screamed with ecstasy about having a splendid fight, it didn't blind itself to the fact that a swing of that sword would no doubt cause serious damage. Therefore, it would have to watch out, so that sword wouldn't touch it's skin.

Oh, how much it would regret what would come next…

'Alright, here goes!' Compa thought as she bent her legs and pulled the sword back, placing her hands at different areas of its hilt and looking like a Samurai about to draw her katana. Her body's aura flared just from that moment alone whilst Halvanhelev crackled ever more dangerously. It almost felt like it barely contained its excitement at what would follow. Seeing that the Demon was now in its battle stance, Compa pushed a lot of her energy into her legs as she burst forth, her white aura swirling around her legs like two small hurricanes. "Please work!"

She closed the distance between them much faster than anticipated, as in she went over 160 meters in a couple seconds, but nonetheless reacted quick enough to swing Halvanhelev. SWOOSH the blade went, and as Kzar'tark raised its Hellblade to swing against the gigantic sword that came towards it, its senses suddenly alerted the Demon to the raw amount of power REALLY contained within the weapon. If the amount of volatile, crackling energy hadn't done that already. This caused its eyes to go wider than logically possible when it realized just how much shit it had been in. Like the old meme said: it was at this moment that the Demon knew…

It'd fucked up.

* * *

It wasn't the only thing who thought that though...

For that thought briefly went through the rage-filled minds of the Bloodletters on the other side of the portal too, before being snuffed out by the flames of their unending rage that is.

The two reasons for that thought manifesting even in their minds took on two forms: the two females before them. The moment they had seen that third female, whose might seemed like an ant's in comparison to theirs due to her mortality, get thrown into the portal with their glorious leader going after her... well, the proverbial lid got flipped. It rivaled that of a volcanic eruption, though since there were two causes right now, it would be two explosive eruptions side by side, causing twice the devastation. To the Crimson Cohort, this felt remarkably similar to some of the many planets they have waged war on over the countless millennia of combat they experienced as Khorne Demons.

Still pales in comparison to the glory of fighting in their master's realm however.

Even so, these two female immortals starkly reminded them of their home. The moment she saw that mortal fall into that portal, it looked like the frail and petite one had a brief mental shutdown, her eyes losing all focus and trembling violently with her jaw hanging open. She had trembled like she was having a spas attack, mouth beginning to stammer uncontrollably. She had been like that for a long moment, which had prompted some of them to jump in and try to finish her by stabbing their Hellblades downwards into her throat, thus killing her painfully by burning her throat from within and from outside at the same time.

Then, like a bomb erupting, Neptune quickly went from shell-shocked... to mother fucking PISSED OFF mode.

At that moment, just before the Hellblades could touch her unblemished skin... a swirling vortex of blue vapor had roared out of Neptune like a beast roaring after being rudely awoken from its nap by another animal. That strange blade raged and coursed with an energy strangely familiar to the Demons, yet not at t the same time. It had felt like a... mix, a mix between demonic and divine, something that boggled their minds to no end. Even so, the rage inside of the purple haired immortal made the demonic aspect of that energy more noticeable, and the moment that she screamed, she quickly donned her Armour and went on a warpath, speeding through their ranks whilst tearing through flesh, blood, and bone with her sword. Apparently, that sword had been a special one, for they had seen that it possessed the ability to change its form into a multitude of others to suit the user's desires. If they had the capacity to do so, then they would have had huge boners from the glorious sight of such a weapon.

Even when it tore through their bodies like a fish being fillet with a knife. No, probably ESPECIALLY for that reason, as the purple haired Armoured immortal fought like she were a Demon of Khorne herself, screams of bloody murder ripping free from her lungs so much that any normal mortal would have ruptured their vocals. It almost felt like she had multiple limbs with the way she fought, not letting an ounce of blood touch her while she carved up everything around her as if she were on a bloody conquest. Her blade, it viciously glowed with an ominous blue aura, cloaking it and giving it a presence similar to a Demon of Khorne. What with the rage, hatred and such emitting from it the moment the purple haired Armoured immortal first screamed. Blood gushed around her like it was being manipulated by her will, the swing of her large sword, or the sounds of her frenzied war cries.

But that...

That was nothing...

NOTHING!

Compared to the OTHER female.

For the moment that the purple haired one screamed, it snapped the stunned woman out of her stupor, and right into the realm of the pissed off warrior. Her eyes shined brightly like green flames, almost lighting themselves up into said flames whilst her teeth clenched so tightly that a mortal person's would have literally shattered under the strain. Then, she had let out a frenzied roar of her own, and as she roared... it became more and more inhuman, deepening in tones as her rage, so great it had been that the Bloodletters ACTUALLY shuddered from it, caused her body to undergo another Mutation... one much more DRASTIC than any of the ones she had before. Not even that massive transformation into her adult self from her petite one held a candle.

It made her a stark similarity to the Demons of Tzeentch or Slaanesh.

This mutation made her as twice as large as a tank, shaped like one of those slime/canine hybrid monsters that populated this world. Only, instead of slime, it was more like a mass of oily grey, mutated flesh filled with varying sized eyeballs shaped like her own, and maws filled with lethal, sharp fangs that looked ripe for murder. Saliva and other substances seeped from them like drool whilst from that flesh, mutated limbs that formed each of her various weapon mutations formed. Axammers, Blades, Caws, Tendrils, Tentacles, Wings, you name it, she mutated them from these extensions. Heck, on top of her new form, she had a bunch of Bio Cannons guarded by Whips that rained hell upon her enemies like mortar fire.

In essence, for the enemies she couldn't reach with her vast array of mutated CQC weapons, she'd bomb them with her Bio Canons and whips.

But, if that was ALL she had done, then that wouldn't be too bad...

However, she had gone even further by EATING her enemies. Not just assimilating them, simply put she had plucked them from the ground and hungrily plunged them onto the many maws her form possessed, ravenously gorging herself on their flesh. She didn't bother doing it quickly, her rage against them made her want to slowly devour and assimilate, to see their pained cries of agony with her many eyeballs. Her many maws chowed down on demonic flesh, reveling in the sweet, delicious taste of their screams. The fluids that dripped from hose maws would sink into them to not only increase their agony by strengthening their nerves system and pain receptors, but also to stop them from imploding from within. Those out of her reach, she simply bombarded with her Bio Cannons, whacking away other opponents with the Whips or using them to pin enemies down for her other weapons to finish off. It helped that she had also detached pieces of her form to spawn a horde of 40 Replicas, something her human form would not have allowed. Something about this form, however, allowed her to do so.

Her rage was so much that, she didn't even notice her new mutated form, nor did she notice how much ass she had been kicking, all she had been thinking this moment had been this: rip, those fuckers, apart.

Something the Bloodletters happily obliged, especially as more and more smaller portals (like the ones that spawned where the three CPUs had been chatting) throughout the room. Though, that advantage soon turned moot when IF, in her new form, kept one of her many eyes on each portal that spawned, just so she could pluck out whatever would come through.

So yeah... the Bloodletters kept getting their asses handed to them... not that they cared, dying in glorious combat pretty much personified their ultimate ecstasy.

 **"GUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGGGGGGHHHH!"**

But THAT sound they did NOT expect to hear.

"Huh?"

"Nepu?"

Both IF and Neptune, each paused their respective killing sprees to look over to the source of the demonic, yet pained cry. Their eyes (two for Neptune, many for her friend), became saucers when they heard it, finding it to be eerily familiar. If they didn't notice the pained undertones behind it, their rage would have pretty much skyrocketed when they remembered what it belonged to. However, that would not be the case, as they attempted to find out the cause of the voice's cry.

This only resulted in them looking through the portal, towards where they saw a shadowy figure come flying out of the Portal, through the air, and into a wall. The figure remained there for a brief second, before it fell to the ground with a massive SPLAT sound, blood remaining on the walls where it had hit. The next thing they knew, the blood began to sizzle and burn, steam rising from it whilst the form of the figure, which turned out to be the same Bloodmaster from earlier, stood up shakily. To their surprise (and slight horror through their previous rage numbed it), the Demon now bore a vicious-looking cut diagonally draped over its chest like a piece of clothing. It growled and grumbled, grasping its Hellblade which fell beside it, the blade's flames roaring to life the moment it re-established contact with its wielder.

For a moment, nothing but silence dominated the room. It was like an icy chill had gripped the beings of everyone inside, causing them to go silent and stiff, even the ever-burning passion for battle that the Bloodletters possessed got doused temporarily from the sight. The Bloodmaster, a Demon of which had a pure dominating and overwhelming presence at the beginning like the flames of war that howled through the Basilicom, now looked nothing like what it once was. Something had done some tough damage to it, something powerful especially with the way it struggled to stay on its feet.

Then... another shadow came out of the Portal...

And all eyes focused on HER.

"WH-WHAT?!"

"C-C-COMPA?!"

Both girls cried out at the name of her friend. Thanks to this, IF snapped out of her rage and noticed how mutated and horrific her body looked. Part of her thought she would feel disgusted or wrong, but instead? Only surprising calmness greeted her emotional senses. It felt like this form was the least 'restrictive' form she had ever been in, something she felt somewhat in a lesser form whenever she morphed her body into a weapon. Nevertheless, IF quickly made her body pull itself back inwards, her instincts already seemingly knowing what her mind wanted them to do as she returned to her human form. Although, she did pull out her Armour form and morphed her arms into the Sword/Shield combo.

Took a while though, thanks to all the Biomass she had found herself having assimilated via all these Demons.

Seriously, her BOW side almost squealed with how good they tasted...

Wow, she DEFINITELY had been getting used to this kind of thing.

After these changes, IF returned her dumbstruck gaze towards her friend, of whom she had assumed been brutally murdered by now before the infernal Hellblade of this motherfucker. However, those thoughts flew out their minds when they noticed their friend calmly striding through the portal like she owned it, heaving a large sword over her shoulder like a gangster. Unlike before when she had been thrown unceremoniously arms and legs flailing beyond any attempt to control them by her panic-riddled mind, Compa strode forth with a pose and strength that she NEVER had before. Not only that, but the outfit and weapon she sported had changed too...

Both girls felt it, they felt it down to their very cores.

A strong surge of divine energy emitted from her being, swirling around her in a reserved, yet cautious manner as Compa stopped by the portal, her eyes which had been determined and stern when they stared at the Demon she had batted into the Portal with Halvanhelev (which had returned to its Sandalphon form afterward) immediately brightened upon seeing her two friends. "Nep-Nep, Iffy! Hellloooooooo!" She cheered, pulling a complete 180 whilst waving merrily as she jogged over. Tears of joy and relief fell down her cheeks whilst she laughed like she had never laughed ever before.

In response, Neptune and IF quickly charged forth, disabling their powers and returning to a fully human state (with Neptune putting Soul Calibur onto her back), before slamming into a three-way hug with the young girl who had Sandalphon vanish into white particles that went inside her. "COMPAAAAAAA!" They exclaimed. Even the normally composed IF let out tears of joy as the three girls hugged each other like their lives depended on it. They each continuously jumped up and down, laughter and tears filling their eyes and ears. What had been once worry and grief, turned to happiness and joy in the middle of a battlefield filled with bloodshed and chaos.

"You guys! I'm soooooo happy to see yooooouuuuu!" Compa exclaimed as she hugged her two friends for everything they were worth, unleashing all her pent-up worries for her friends that had stormed the warm, homely village that was her heart. That had been one of the scariest moments in her life, hey she had just been separated from her beloved friends after so many battles together! She'd been worried sick in the back of her mind, worried about whether or not she would see them again. Even if she had felt inferior and inadequate to them before, these two were still her cherished friends after all! She WAS like their caretaker after all! She even pumped some of her power into her grip, something that would have crushed any normal person. Good thing that her friends weren't normal people then, nope they sure as hell weren't. Quite the opposite really.

Happy, relief and joyful nods were exchanged in return by the two girls who each wept in joy for their friend's survival. "It's o, so, so super great to see you're ok, Compie dearest!" Neptune cheered merrily, tears streaming down her face as she hugged the life out of her friend, not even caring about the fact that she wasn't moderating her superhuman strength. Heck, she even felt the Nurse-In-Training return the hug with equal strength! "I thought ya'd be total kaput in there! Zit! End of the line, game over stuff!"

"You scared us half to death, ya moron!" IF exclaimed, laughing despite the tears rolling down her cheeks. What could she say, she did have a soft side, one she didn't like to show very often. All thoughts of maintaining her composure and tomboy image fell away as she exercised the same amount of worry for her friend. So far, in their battles, they hadn't really come up against something like this, something in which they wouldn't be able to help each other get out of. In most of their past battles, they had emerged victorious, without losing a single party member. This one, this one, however, had been the first one where they had almost come to just that scenario. It... scared her, more than she had initially expected. Not to mention it was their healer, someone who had practically filled the 'mom' role in their little group. It was Compa's cheerfulness and meek adorableness that kept them going at times for Goddess sake! With those thoughts, she tightened the grip she had on the young Nurse-In-Training. "Please, never do something like that again!"

A mix of a sob and a laugh escaped the frantically crying Compa when she tried to respond, so she just settled with a nod as the trio continued to hug.

 **"You WORMS! This is COMBAT! Stop DEFILING this SACRED GROUND!"**

Unfortunately for them, their momentary reunion got cut short (and rather rudely too they might add) when the crazed, bloodthirsty and furious voice belonging to Kzar'tark raged through the room. Its voice, louder than any speaker in a rock concert, snapped the other Bloodletters out of their funk as they each howled in a frantic frenzy. They each raised and shook their various Hellblades, their flames almost shaped like pillars. It almost seemed like they fanned each other as well, with their close proximity to each other.

"Ugh, I'd hate to cut this reunion short, but looks like our company doesn't know what the words 'patience' means." IF remarked irritably, her eyes flashing green whilst the trio pulled apart and stayed beside each other. Each of them aiming rather scornful and disapproving looks towards the Bloodletters as they began to advance on them. Her Biomass poured out of her whilst her limbs morphed. In the end, she had her Armour on whilst her arms morphed into her Claws, each of them gleaming with extreme menace. As if they reflected their user's desire to rip, tear and shred. "We'll have to think of something to celebrate later."

Neptune nodded as she held her hand out, Soul Calibur flipping out from behind her and landing in her waiting limb. She flipped it like a wheel from left to right and back, before pointing it towards her enemy. Her eyes flashed with anger as she felt her weapon's aura swell greatly. Heck, she even deployed her Armour whilst she prepared to fight with a fierce scowl on her lips that her Armour hid. "Yeah, these meanies need to pay, ruining such a nice, monumental moment! Rude!" she exclaimed with a posh, noble-like accent. She even did the scoffing whilst mimicking flicking some hair before resting a hand on her hip.

IF merely glanced at her, and though it went unseen, she did, in fact, sweat drop at Neptune's behavior. "Don't do that. Ever." she stated bluntly, a dry look given to the preteen. Even so, as Neptune chuckled behind her helmet, a certain white and cream form strode past them towards the incoming Bloodletters. "Huh? Compa, what the heck?"

"Uh, Compa?" Neptune began to ask, her own eyes becoming white circles behind her helmet whilst she made to reach for her friend. "Methinks you may wanna..." However, before she could finish her sentence, Neptune trailed off as her senses began registering something... something that surprised her as she looked at Compa to see that she began radiating this strange, white energy from her body. "Eh? Compa?"

"Don't worry Nep-Nep... Iffy..."

Compa softly spoke that while slightly turning her head, just enough so that the two could see her lips. The very lips which were curved into a comforting smile that got aimed straight towards them. All the while, as the Bloodletters and their master charged towards the trio, Compa never lost that smile as she fully turned her head to face them. Her eyes, to their surprise, remained open and, for the first time, they noticed something about them. Her eyes.. they were shining. No, that wasn't right, it was more like the pupils in her eyes were glowing a bright heavenly white color. The moment that they saw those eyes, a sense of calmness overlapped their previous feelings, helped by the smile she wore.

"I'll be just a jiffy."

With that piece said, Compa turned her head back to face the incoming mass of red, claws, fangs and Hellblades. As she did so, her look of kindness soon began morphing into the look she had on before, the look of righteous anger tempered by an eerie calmness. This was her chance, with this power that had turned her into something inhuman, something she had close for herself instead of got forced to like her friends, she could prove to them that she was not inadequate. That she could fit in better as not just the group's mom, but the badass mom who kicked booty for her littl'ns!

Those thoughts filled her mind as she mentally called her power forth, feeling the warm, sunny core within responding to her call, answering her summons. Her right arm was where the place she centered the power, before she allowed it to emerge whilst she swung the arm expecting Sandalphon to come out for an energy slash. A slash that would have knocked them back...

WHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

... Only, she didn't quite get what she expected.

"Y-Yikes!"

The girl couldn't help but squeak in shock and fright, stepping back after a light jump. The reason? A huge eruption of pure white flames, the purest white color than she'd ever witnessed before, manifested from her hand. It formed a large weapon, all the while launching a huge wave of white fire that raced across the room faster than a cheetah. Stumbling about, all the Demons tried to dodge it, but thanks to it having a large width, height, and range, it made any and all attempts at evasion pretty much impossible.

 **"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

Just before the Demons met their end, Kzar'tark saw the flames coming, and quickly realized just how much it had screwed up by not stopping Compa from unleashing such a flame. That was the last thought it had before at the next second, it got utterly obliterated by the white colored flames... along with the rest of its brethren.

By the time that the flames dissipated... there was literally nothing left of them. As in, NOTHING.

"Wha...?!" Compa squeaked, her eyes white circles. "Wha-wha-wha-wha... What the heck?! I was trying to bring out Sandalphon, but... eh?!" she cried, before her attention got drawn downwards, towards the weapon that the flames had generated before thy utterly incinerated the Demons. Her eyes glanced down towards it, and she almost fell on her backside from the surprise. The weapon, it looked like... some form of Halberd? Yeah, that was it. It took the form of a white Halberd with golden edges. It looked slightly longer than she was tall, with quite the intimidating appearance to it especially from the power she could feel from it. It gave off this primitive, savage nature, as opposed to Sandalphon's pure and, well, somewhat innocent presence. The Halberd's double-bladed ends, the back one being significantly smaller, had their edges covered in the white flames from earlier. The flames constantly, yet calmly burned from the Halberd's form, a strong heat emitting from the weapon like a bomb about to explode. Ironically, she found it similar to the Hellblades that she had seen before with the other Demons. Yet, the feelings she got from it were the exact opposite. "Whoa..."

She also knew its name just from looking at it, similar to what happened with Sandalphon:

Camael. That was this Halberd's name.

"'Whoa' is right! What the heck, Compa?!"

Blinking, Compa's shock withered away as she recovered from this recent experience. Momentarily forgetting that she had not been alone in this fight, the Nurse-In-Training slowly looked behind her and saw Neptune along with IF, both back as normal humans, walking up to her. Both of them had a similar dumbstruck expression on their faces, borderline flabbergasted, as they tried to take in what they saw happen to them. It had been Neptune whom had been the one to ask/shout that question, and with nothing hiding her face, Compa had full view of her friend's shock. It was IF however, whom offered a followup as she placed a hand on her hip. "Geez, girl. Overkill much?"

She then went and looked over the rest of the room. Much to her surprise, if one expected to see a horrifically charred room with dozens of corpses and huge burn marks everywhere the eye could see... they'd be wrong. Aside from marks which showed where the Demons had once been (which formed this arching semicircle, IF noticed), there had been pretty much nothing else that had been damaged. Not. A. Single. Thing. Holy freaking hell... "You pretty much lit the room up, Compa. And yes I get the pun there," IF began, raising a hand and rolling her eyes at the dry look Neptune sent her way. "Whilst I have more than a few questions I wanna ask about that, we can get to those later. Right now, I'd say we should focus on clearing out any hostiles that are lurking about. Nep, can you sense any?"

"Hmmmm... a few!" Neptune replied cheerily, throwing an arm upwards whilst lightly hopping on her spot. Soul Calibur on her back briefly shuddered, expressing the excitement inside it at the thought of being able to slaughter more Demons and feast on their Souls.

Whilst shaking her head at Neptune's insane enthusiasm, even as she seemingly put aside the fact that their resident Nurse now had more of a badass power set complete with glowing white irises, the brunette glanced towards the entrance to the room. Her eyes hardened as she began moving forth in confident, almost predatory strides. "Right then, let's get a move on, ladies! We still got some ass to kick!"


	132. Chapter 129 - Demonic Invasion PT6

**Chapter 129 - Demonic Invasion PT6**

It wasn't even moments after they left the room that the trio of girls noticed a HUGE difference compared to before when they were fighting their way towards portals. Not only were the enemies fewer in number (which made sense considering how A, they'd eliminated their reinforcement source on this floor and B, had already killed a bunch of them before so killing them became much easier) but they fought even more like mad lunatics than usual. That shouldn't even be possible right now since these guys focused solely on that type of combat. However, it was, and IF theorized it was because they had lost their leaders for this floor which made them go wild. It was like they had taken the beast off at the head, leaving the body to flail about like a headless chicken. Not something Compa and Neptune liked to think about though, which earned the brunette a scolding from the two, prompting a sweat drop from her.

Even after killing so many Demons and witnessing the horrors they were capable of, they still had their own childish innocence, it seemed.

Still, they couldn't deny that there was a lack of co-operation between the Demons of Khorne like IF had tried to tell them. Whenever they encountered them, they were encountered in small packs, and most of those counters were the Party stumbling on them fighting each other. It was like their leaders were the sole reasons why this force was holding itself together, and now that they were gone they reduced themselves to mindless beasts ripping away at each other. Thus, it made killing them off even easier than the trio had expected.

In the end, though, the girls figured that complaining would be the last thing they wanted to do, especially since it made things better for their side.

Even helped them get some extra surviving staff members to safety.

Not to mention, during the battle, Compa had decided to investigate and learn more about her new abilities (after a moment where she stared at her reflection and almost mistook her glowing eyes as a pair of lighthouses, to the amusement of her friends). She wasn't the only one who wanted to know more about what the heck was going on with her right now, especially with how she could now fight alongside Neptune and IF when they went all berserk crazy.

Though, the two girls DID note that Compa looked… a little scarier when she has a huge sword (that she calls Sandalphon) and holding it like a baseball bat. For some reason, they did NOT want to have that sword shoved up their backsides any more than the Syringe she had. Arguably, that may be even worse! Heck, Compa giggling in a disturbingly creepy way when Neptune offhandedly commented on this didn't help any! Even IF took a few steps back from her when she did back!

Did Compa always have this scary a side to her?!

Moving on to her abilities before even the Author starts fearing for his life (whilst holding onto his backside while whimpering like a little girl), apparently the outfit she wore seemed to serve the same purpose as her destroyed Armour. As in, it boosted all her defense stats and resistances, as proven when she got hit right on the back by a fire attack and felt little to no damage get inflicted on her. She only staggered a bit then chopped the cause's head off like it was no big deal (with a creepily disturbing amount of ease, too). Not to mention she found it easier to block the full force ramming of a Juggernaut by taking it head on (not exactly a sane move, but hey she wanted to get some idea as to her outfit's powers). Heck, IF and Neptune lost control of their jaws when she kicked the creature so high into the air that it embedded itself into the ceiling without much effort. She even felt little damage done to her when she got hit by a Hellblade, something that would NOT have been possible for her in her normal outfit.

For her Broadsword, Sandalphon, Compa found that it was a very destructive sword, for it could either be used to send destructive energy waves for ranged attacks or store up this strange energy that poured forth from within for additional attack power. That kind of reminded her of a buffing skill but being applied to the sword instead. In a Mage's terms, it would be like equipping it with a spell to give it magical properties. Because of how she had swung a Syringe as large as she was for so long, Compa didn't find it too surprising that she could swing it so well, and as if she had a moderate amount of experience. It felt like she was wielding a Syringe, plus she'd seen Neptune wield a similar sword more than a few times. As for the Throne that it came from, Compa found she could summon it even partially, as in just the top part, so she could draw out Sandalphon before dismissing it. Not to mention as a means of transport like a hoverboard (as seen when she kicked it down and Neptune used it as a surfboard to bombard the enemy with Crystal attacks).

She'd decided NOT to use the sword's final form, Halvanhelev (though she made sure to talk to her friends about it) since the destructive power that form had felt like it could have leveled this entire building, a true statement when she once showed Neptune when she bugged her about it between battles. Both her and IF had sensed a HUGE swell in power when that sword formed, thus they quickly agreed with Compa's sentiments about that weapon as she returned it to its Sandalphon form. It did that by cracking into pieces that vanished out into nothingness, leaving behind a familiar Broadsword.

As for the second weapon, Camael the Halberd, Compa found that one to be… a rather INTERESTING weapon, for a variety of reasons. One of which was that, the moment that she first summoned it, Sandalphon automatically vanished, as if she could only use one of these divine-feeling weapons at a time lest she combust or something. With that, Compa practiced it on whatever enemies they encountered, and found that its summoning allowed her to manipulate this divine-feeling fire that was as white as the white segments of her outfit. A flame that seemed to target only what Compa WANTED to be destroyed, a form of selective targeting. What she DID want gone, well, the flames did just that. Aside from that, the flames seemed successful for other things, too: healing (she found this out when she managed to put the flames on Neptune's back when she accidentally let her guard down and got stuck there), Restriction (she managed to form various fiery Tendrils which wrapped around a Juggernaut's legs to stop it's charging towards IF from the left flank) and lastly Conjuration (where she generated fireballs, constructs like whips, chains, Tendrils, beasts like Neptune's crystal beings etc), something Compa found to be the most versatile of this Halberd's abilities. Although, the more she used it, the more Compa' realized that she… well, changed when she wielded it. Her eyes would literally become more of a silvery white the longer she used the weapon, and Compa found herself becoming increasingly aggressive and savage.

Maybe she should think hard whenever she would use it, at least till she had better control.

Aside from that, Compa dabbled in her powers a bit, both in-between and during battles, and soon enough she had discovered something else: that she had 4 more weapons in her arsenal, weapons that each had their own abilities.

The third one, which she had learned its name was 'Gabriel', took the form of… well, what looked to be a golden Organ, or several small pipes for Compa's convenience. This weapon seemed to be more of the support type, like she had always been before her transformation. Didn't help that she couldn't use any other weapons when activating it, either, so she probably should only partially use it, so she could instantly switch between them. Gabriel also has various buffing abilities that she can use to help boost the capabilities of her allies. Those were:

BARD OF OVERDRIVE = Enhances the listeners' each and every physical ability.

BARD OF RESTRAINT = Primary method of defense and can be also used to restrain others as well.

BARD OF DOMINION = Brainwashes the listeners, although it can mess with its victims' perception of Compa and make them extremely devoted to her, it doesn't affect their existing views on other people. But as long as they stayed brainwashed, they would prioritize their actions according to her orders and well-being above anything else. Being sound-based, Compa's power works very effectively through the speaker.

BARD OF HEALING = A relaxing song that has an analgesic effect. It boasts one's natural regeneration like the strongest of Healing Items but has a much greater effect. As in, it can save someone from death as well as replenish their limbs or vital organs, even from a drop of blood.

For the fourth weapon, Compa found it to be a weapon that took the form of a set of golden, feather-like, pillars that surrounded her and, when put together, resembled a large crown. For THIS weapon, Compa REALLY liked its design, especially since it helped her outfit look, well, complete. Plus, it felt like it fit her best out of the other weapons. It told her that its name was 'Metatron' like all the others did, too. For combat, it seemed that this weapon was suited more for ranged combat and mobility (Khorne Demons worst enemy, hehehe), as she found that Metatron could take on various formations for different abilities.

SUN BARRAGE = When this ability was activated, the floating pillars would spin around her, gathering light particles to the space above her head, in which Compa would follow up with a heavy raining of energy blasts either in one or in all directions.

DIVINITY WINGS = By taking on a wing-like formation and folding the pillars behind her back, Compa's speed and agility would be greatly increased, to the point where she could leave an afterimage upon motion. It helped her move out of the way of enemy attacks, especially charging Juggernauts or keep out of Neptune's way when she unloaded wide scale shard barrages.

LIGHT BLADES = By breaking formation, the pillars can each act like they have their own minds, attacking targets around their user (Compa). This ability, however, had the con of leaving her vulnerable unless she could recall the Pillars in time, as she would still be unable to switch to a different weapon even when this ability was being used.

CROWN CANNON = By making all of the pillars take on a circular formation and pointing their tips in the same direction, Compa could gather energy into the center of the formation, then launch it as a high-density beam. Though, she only used this once since it had a similar result as Halvanhelev.

Next up, would be the fifth weapon, Michael as Compa learned it was called: A white and gold Key with the length of a longsword. As for THIS particular weapon… Compa honestly didn't know what to make of it in terms of function. It seemed to be a magic-based weapon though, as it had the ability to seal a target's function by impaling it with a key made from Mana and can alter the very fabric of space-time by unlocking space to create wormholes. This weapon gave Compa access to the following techniques:

\- LOCK = with this ability, Compa can seal away certain functions of the Target, such as Neptune's HDD form or Nico's DPU form. Skills, magic, and the more Mana Compa puts into the ability, the more things she can lock away. It is possible for her to lock away one's entire ability set to make them nothing but normal mortals. It even works on sealing abstract concepts like emotions, or even memories. Not something she liked to hear when the weapon told her.

\- UNLOCK = This ability lets Compa open up holes in space itself that can be used to teleport herself, summon forth meteorites, and redirect incoming attacks. She could also use these Wormholes to transport her friends to other places where she had been, the range depends on the amount of Mana she puts into the ability. Theoretically, Compa figured it would be possible to travel between entire continents or from one corner of Gamindustri to another as long as she has both the Mana and the imagination to recollect where she wants to go in her mind. But, she didn't want to try that out right now, only limited it to redirecting attacks from her enemies like the Juggernauts or Khornate Berserkers.

\- SOLUTION = The very WORST type of ability this weapon possessed. Compa felt the moment she got told of it by the weapon itself. The way it showed her how it worked also eluded to this opinion. The ability worked by Decomposing any kind of matter, no matter if it is physical or not, into nothingness. Depending on the amount of Mana put into the ability, the entire island or even the world could be reduced to nothingness, which makes this ability the most dangerous of Michael's abilities. Compa can use this ability to cause widespread devastation, destroy entire armies, even large-scale attacks that would cause terrible damage otherwise.

As for the LAST weapon, Compa learned it was called Haniel: a white Broom with a gold brush. Compa found that this was a shapeshifting-type, shapeshifting and mimicry, as with it she could transform and mimic whatever she transforms. For example, if she were to transform into a Demon of Khorne or one of her comrades, she can completely mimic the abilities she had seen them use. However, if she doesn't know that they know other powers, those powers aren't usable for her. If she loses concentration or becomes unconscious, all that had been transformed will return to their original state. She can also use Haniel's ability called 'Kaleidoscope' to send objects into a Pocket Dimension created by her weapon. In this dimension, transported objects are contained within a stasis field that Compa can use her energy to alter as she saw fit. She can then summon those objects from Kaleidoscope at her leisure, but this is a weaker version of Michael's power.

Oh yeah, there was also the fact that she now knew what it was that powered her abilities: Mana. To power her new abilities, Compa found that her transformation gave her a second energy source much like that of CPUs and their Share Energy, or DPUs and their demonic energy, called 'Mana'. Normally humans who walked the path of Mages are able to channel Mana as well (she recalled MAGES. the Mad Magician when she learned this), however, Compa's Mana reserves dwarf that of normal humans. With Mana, Compa is able to use the abilities of each Angel she possesses, as well as generate barriers, fly, as well as project barriers to defend herself. Also, she can create and compress 'Spacequakes' which are a phenomenon unique to Spirits. She can use them as compressed or expanding Spheres that cause massive damage to her enemies. Though, she didn't feel like using them since it felt like they were more for large-scale destruction than anything else.

In essence, Compa DEFINITELY no longer felt like a hindrance to her friends.

* * *

Returning to the Main Hall felt somewhat different for the trio as they pushed open the doors to the mentioned large space.

For one, there were hardly any Nobles still here, most of them having been teleported out of this place to a safer location by MAGES.' magics. Whether or not the Mad Magician was still in the game, however, would still be debated since they had heard little from her during the evacuation. By the time that the Nobles were all gone, it worried them that she hadn't said anything to them as it implied something had happened on her end of the communication. Though, those doubts were slightly doused when they saw that the magic circles that isolated the Basilicom were still going strong, and those who had astute magic sensing capabilities (Vert being a prime example) sensed no abnormal fluctuations in the magic.

It definitely felt a lot quieter than when they were all seconds away from squawking like mad chickens, but instead of complete silence, there were instead faint murmurs. Murmurs that came from dozens upon dozens of men and women dressed in white and green knightly Armour. Each of them had their own set of weapons, ranged from swords to bows, axes, shields, dual swords, spears, lances an any other CQC weapon conceived. Those weapons each had glowing green metal blades, too. There were also a few who wore the same getup as a certain Captain, and they were mostly huddled together likely around the said man.

Aside from them, Groups 2 and 3 each had the same spot on the left side of the room, keeping to themselves so that they didn't disturb anyone whilst they waited, likely for the first group to return. Well, that was what IF had assumed once they entered the Main Hall. Whether she would be right or not would depend on the next few seconds of this entry, she figured as they stepped towards the other groups. "We're back guys, the first floor's cleared!" She called out, announcing that they had returned if they hadn't heard the doors opening already.

For those who were wondering why they were returning here, it was pretty simple. It had been decided through a call by Raven and Lucy given that they were the ones with the best experience leading aside from Stefan, that they would need to regroup at the Main Hall, so they could exchange any additional useful information. Not to mention to reorganize the groups for the other floors. The groups reconvening would be the unseen signal for Stefan to send out the military reinforcements he'd gotten from MAGES.' transportation efforts, something that happened not long after IF and the others returned. Checking organizations and keeping tabs on other groups progress would definitely be an important step to survival, especially in a shitstorm like this.

Whilst the soldiers began jogging out in pre-planned groups, the trio of girls walked up to the other groups, everyone in them turning to face them when they heard the sounds of feet patting the ground and IF's voice. The first person to speak, well, that honor belonged to Vert as she quickly slammed into the brunette with a massive hug. "Iffy! My cute iffy, you're back!" she exclaimed, pulling the brunette's head into her breasts as she squealed joyfully. "Your big sister Vert was so worried about you! You're okay, right?! You don't have any injuries, do you?! Just tell me and I'll blow those nasty Demons out of existence!"

All the while, Neptune and the rest of the group watched this interaction with varying levels of amusement dancing through their eyes. "Wow, I didn't expect Vert to be such a clingy type of gal…" Neptune remarked to herself, chuckling as she saw Vert rock IF's head back and forth. "If it were anyone else, then those pillows of hers would have suffocated her at this point."

"Please don't say things like that, Nep-Nep." Compa chastised when she looked to her and gaze a concerned impression, her voice light but everything she wanted to convey would be in that tone alone. "Lady Green Heart just seems to like hugging people, there's nothing wrong with that… and it IS Iffy, so…" The young girl commented further before her eyes got drawn back to the two women. "But, um, does Lady Green Heart not notice the changes Iffy went through…?"

That was true, for the moment Compa asked that question all of the girls realized it as well. The moment that Vert had seen IF coming, she didn't seem to think about the changes that the brunette had obviously gone through, like how she had gone through a real FAST growth spurt. Or the fact that her aura seemed to be a lot more powerful than before, but that one seemed much less important than the first, for obvious reasons.

"Is she purposefully ignoring it…?" Raven muttered under her breath whilst crossing her arms under her chest whilst she eyed the two women. Part of her wanted to know how it was that IF got that growth spurt, but she attributed it towards her BOW powers mutating in some manner. She'd already deduced her abilities and their core 'theme' of rapid evolution just from seeing what she did in videos and whenever they fought together. Even if those times weren't much, she had an eye for these sorts of details. Still, it didn't look like Vert was as blind as a bat, so she didn't know why she wasn't talking about it. "No, that can't be."

Lucy then smirked, chuckling to herself which got her the attention of the rest of them. When she noticed their looks, the female redhead simply ad vaguely responded with the following. "Oh don't worry, in the next few moments this young lady will show you…" the way she said that made it seem like she thought of Vert as a 'little girl', something that confused the rest of them… save for Raven who had no reaction.

"Uhhhhh… Lucy? You're kinda implying that you see Lady Green Heart as a child."

"My dear Ivy, its Vert, and yes, yes I do."

"Oh… Ok."

IF sweatdropped, she had figured Ivan would have tried to continue that conversation, and for a moment it looked like he did when he raised an index finger whilst making to open his mouth, but instead, he just left it hanging. He simply closed it and adopted an indifferent stance. She wondered what the heck was up with that, as she looked the guy up and down for any minute details implying his thoughts. She got none, though.

Aiden however, noticed what she was doing, as evident by the way his eyes hardened in her direction. For a moment, he seemed like he would snap at her, but instead, he simply stated something short but to the point. "Mrs. VERONICA does these things sometimes, its best not to question her." He stated, before turning his attention elsewhere. Whatever that was, IF didn't know as that guy proved just as difficult to read as his companion did. Though, she guessed that would be expected since he and Ivan were part of the Spec Ops Program. In such a program, she expected them to have some level of training in how to hide their reactions and expressions, so they didn't give things away on the battlefield.

Still, whatever Lucy had noticed seemed to have came not long after she said it, as she implied, when Vert turned to regard the others watching her moment with IF with a big smile on her face. "Oh, don't be like that, of course, I'm aware of my Iffy's little growth spurt." She explained, causing the brunette to get tense inside of her grasp. She could have used her strength to break free since her grip had nothing on some of the stronger Demons of Khorne she'd assimilated, however that was when she noticed that her instincts weren't informing her of any danger. The reasoning behind that became clear in the next second, however, when Vert continued. "I'm also aware of her 'powers', I have been so since the very beginning."

"Eh?!"

"How'd you know about Iffy's…?!"

Both Neptune and Compa each gasped and had their own little comments presented before the rest of them. Heck, the only ones who didn't show that much surprise were Raven and Lucy. Everyone else looked just as surprised as Neptune and Compa. Standing alongside his friend, Guts held his Dragonslayer over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing towards Vert who kept her arms around IF's head. "Hmmmm, so she's more observant than she lets on…" he stated, Isaac nodding his head in agreement.

"She has to be." A slight jump from surprised escaped the Nurse-In-Training when Raiden interjected into the conversation, all whilst he glanced over to Noire, who had a surprised frown on her features. That was the case, before he looked back to the blonde-haired CPU of Leanbox with a look of expectations met. "She's a leader, after all, they have to have good eyes. Keeps them ahead of any who'd try to take them down for their positions."

Compa glanced towards the Cyborg Ninja when he said this, noticing the tones he used implied that he had seen something like this before. "Mr. Raiden looks like he has a lot of know-how with this stuff…" the young girl commented with a weak smile and a sweat drop, prompting a wordless nod from the man. She also couldn't help but notice how the guy seemed to just… appear, by Noire's side with so few people noticing. Aside from the Spec Ops Agents in their group, the rest of them even jumped slightly when he spoke, that spoke volumes about both his lack of 'presence' as a Ninja, and the Agents' experience with such characters.

"Sharp instincts, kid. Keep it up, you'll live longer."

"R-Right…"

Whilst that happened, Vert proceeded to explain after chuckling at the display the Cyborg Ninja showed to them all. "I noticed it not long before Iffy left, she didn't give off the same 'vibe' that normal humans did. Like the questions, she asked me back then didn't do that." She said, prompting a nervous chuckle from the brunette, whom still remained in the older woman's hold. "So, I made like a detective like that series of games where the characters are involved in a killing game by a white and black bear mascot and launched my own private investigation. I looked up official records, checked the newspapers and accounts at the Guild building, then hacked into Avenir's research labs to look at their classified data. Never underestimate a woman who wants to make sure a friend is okay."

Now THAT shocked the girls senseless, even the guys and girls from the Spec Ops Program had mild looks of surprise on their faces. Vert being a hacker? A hacker good enough to hack into an organization's network? They didn't expect that, nope not one bit. In fact, it shocked them so much that a medium-length silence took over the atmosphere around them until a stunned Noire cried out when she realized the implications behind it. "You HACKED into a Lastation Network, Vert?! What the heck?!" she cried, worry seeping into her heart for her Nation.

What if Vert had learned some hidden secrets that she could use to threaten Lastation?!

When did she do it?!

How?!

So many questions filled her mind, so many that they all seemed like they had plastered themselves onto her face. A fact that Vert had noticed (alongside the tensing of her Ninja Bodyguard) and made to snuff out before it would eventually become a problem. "Not to worry, I only hacked into Avenir's network to learn of their past exploits and what happened during the attack on your capital SONY. I assure you I do not intend to harm your nation in any way with this information." She told the black-haired CPU.

It took a moment, before Noire finally managed to take a few deep breaths to calm down, sighing afterward as she struggled to rein in her emotions. More specifically her urge to just rip Vert apart with her HF blade or THAT, as those instincts came from her past experience with the two CPUs before her. Things were changing, so she couldn't afford to be the same as she once was before, their conversation that had been the first ever civil one had been proof enough. It helped that her Bodyguard placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to silently tell her to calm down. Spec Ops Agents were quite good at disconcerting people's thoughts through simply 'looking' at their body language. A skill they likely honed from facing all types of beasts, so they could better predict what they would do on the battlefield.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it for the time being…" Noire bit out, and it became clear to everyone that she struggled immensely to get that out. Therefore, they decided to not question it and move on from her back to what Vert had been saying to them before, what with all the hacking and all.

Something which Vert gladly finished up. "Through them, I learned what became of my poor little Iffy! Your Patron CPU was so angry when she found out what they did to you, she had half a mind to go over and level the entire organization for what they did!" Vert exclaimed, an angry pout on her lips. Something which soon faded away to reveal a soft smile underneath. "Nonetheless, you don't have to worry about me, dear. It doesn't matter to me whether you're human or not. After all, I can't really say anything since I'm not human either." She remarked with an amused smirk at the end. A few quiet chuckles escaped the onlookers, save for the more serious ones.

"Lady Vert…" IF muttered when she looked up from within the woman's cleavage, eyes wide with surprise and, dare she say it, relief along with joy. No, words couldn't express the warm feelings rampaging through her like thousands of sledgehammers whacking away at her cells right now. It looked like her concerns with regarding her true identity as a non-human in Vert's eyes weren't anything to worry about then. It seemed that Vert didn't care about what she was, but rather who she was, something she couldn't help but be relieved over. This definitely seemed like a huge stroke of luck, kindness like THIS was quite rare in this world. Rarer than finding a needle in a haystack. Compassion like that made her realize why it was that she followed Vert in the religious sense in the first place.

"If you girls are done, there's little time for idle chatter."

The stern, commanding voice of the Captain of the Ostermark Order called out to them, making everyone turn their heads to face him whilst the man walked up to them after seemingly ending the conversation between several higher rank soldiers in his army. Neptune however, couldn't help but make the dry comment that followed, a matching expression on her face. "Wow, way to cut the lighter mood there, buddy…"

"Can it, Nep. Even if this chapter's not as combat oriented as the rest of the previous ones, it's still a serious situation. We can't be too lax." IF chided the preteen, bonking her on the head after finally being allowed free from Vert's grasp. She would not hesitate to say that the woman tried to keep her in her grasp, but with a bit of her newfound strength, she managed to break the hold without hurting her too much. If anything, the woman only suffered a bit of jealousy when she broke free, if the pout on her face was anything to go by. Turning her head towards Stefan, she gave the captain a firm nod, her eyes hard just like his were. "What's the situation with your guys?"

At that question, Stefan gestured to the soldiers around them, both the knights and the ones wearing his uniform. That sounded a bit strange, but what the hell, right? Anyways, the man soon answered the brunette's question in a stern, but formal tone. "I've got my men securing the first floor the moment Group 1 came back. The entrance to the next floor has been uploaded to your individual phones." He explained, gesturing to their own devices which had each made vibration sounds not long before this conversation began. "Group 2 should lead the assault this time, with group 1 acting as a rescue team and Group 3 acting as the rear guard."

Those of Group 3 (Vert, Guts, and Isaac) frowned to themselves at the organization they were following. It did seem like they were getting the figurative short end of the stick, especially since they were not switched to the position of rescue or heavy hitting. However, at the rear guard, the fighting had been less… intense, then the rest of the groups, as the bulk of it took place up in the front lines. They had just dealt with any assassination attempts from the rear or the rear flanks. Still, it didn't really matter to them, as not only would they get their turn on the third floor, but they didn't have to expend as much stamina…

Plus, these groups were mostly filled with beings not bound by human limitations anyways, so that counted as some extra brownie points.

"Alright then, we'll head over there momentarily. We'll have a quick discussion on our game plan then we'll head out." IF told the man, already thinking up several things inside her mind. For a moment, the two stared at each other, before Stefan glanced over at Raven for her input, to which she responded with a wordless nod. She wasn't one for much words anyways, actions were more her forte. With that information in mind, Stefan slowly nodded in acceptance, before turning on his heel to walk off, likely to continue organizing the counterattacks and retaking of the first floor.

Looking over to the rest of them, Compa frowned in confusion when a question popped into her mind. "Um, quick question guys." She began, getting everyone's attention. However, instead of shirking away or showing any sign of hesitation in her body language over the rise in attention, Compa stayed the same as she had been at the start. Something that both surprised and impressed the rest of them, especially those who were more warrior-like such as Guts, Raven, IF and Aiden. "Is Ste-Ste going to be sending guys to the other floors too?"

To answer this question, Raven nodded her head whilst Lucy took the role of answering in a more verbal manner, knowing her Leader's preferences. "We talked about it before you guys showed up, but once he has this floor secured, Stefan plans to send small scouting parties to the other floors to get a better lay of the land. He's instructed them to only attack demons when necessary though, as it's been proven that they can't go up against them in a direct fight. Though, this likely means he'll be relying on US to both take out the Demons…" at this point, Lucy's eyes darkened as a rather grim thought process occurred within her mind. "As well as find any survivors. Though, the deeper we go…"

"Yeah…" Noire nodded as she joined the conversation once more, her eyes narrowing as a downcast expression formed on her face. "The deeper we go, the less likely it is we'll find survivors." It was a process not many of the girls liked to think about, as shown by the various somber faces that they adopted with their heads hanging downwards slightly. Though, the more they fought the more real the facts presented before they became. Odds were, it would be less likely that there would be survivors the deeper they went into the floors, as there'll be more Demons in them and they'll have had longer to do whatever they wished. Which also included hunting down any survivors. They would likely have to steel their minds for what horrors awaited them ahead.

Though, out of these people Guts and Raven weren't as affected as it as the rest of them. One kept to herself whilst the other brought his sword from his shoulder to his eye level, looking upon all the scratches and dents along the blade that showed it's fierce history of combat. Partially attributed to their beliefs and backstories, but neither of them commented on it to the rest of them. Over time, it had become clear to them that their ideals weren't exactly popular, nor were they very common outside of the Spec Ops. To them, the strong survive whilst the weak die. If civilians were killed on the battlefield, then they wouldn't really give it much thought. After all, it wasn't their place and if they died, it only showed that they wouldn't have been able to survive in the long run.

Still…

"Hey guys, keep those frowns off those cute faces." Neptune bellowed, bringing attention to herself as she held her hands over her hips. "We won't get anywhere if we just sit around and mope. If you can't save everyone, save as many as you can! It's as simple as that!" she exclaimed, her mouth twisting into a grin whilst she beamed at them, positivity radiating from her like the sun up in the skies. If that wasn't enough, her positivity reflected itself within Soul Calibur, as it started releasing this strong, confident feeling from it into the atmosphere.

Needless to say, that pep talk coming from the purple haired amnesiac both came out of nowhere as well as taking the group by surprise. Not to mention when she randomly appeared behind Compa, whom still looked concerned, then groped her 'assets' from behind earning a shocked squeak from her.

"Eek! N-Nep-Nep, what are you-?!" The young Nurse-In-Training squeaked as she flailed about, face redder than a tomato as she tried to pry the preteen off her. Unfortunately, even with her recent powerup, Neptune proved herself to be too strong, allowing her to retain her hold.

As a response to her efforts and question though, a loud laugh escaped from the mischievous preteen's mouth as she constantly kneaded Compa's cleavage. "Ahahahaha! There's the Compa we all know and adore! Also, wowee, I didn't realize before, but your boobs are larger than they appear, huh? What did you drink loads of milk when you were a kid or something?"

"Th-That's…!"

Whilst a red-faced Compa endured the humiliation of the preteen being a perv, everyone else watched with more than a few sweatdrops, all the while a few soldiers (the ones who didn't have helmets) looked and almost fell back via nosebleeds. This prompted a few glares from the rest of the females in the room which prompted them to wisely look away. The ones with helmets managed to hide their reactions though. Whilst hearing those words the preteen spouted, both the inspirational speech and the pervy talk with Compa, Vert turned to look towards Noire with a rather complex look on her face. "I… did not expect this. Moreover, it seems to have completely drained the atmosphere of any tension."

In response, a silent sigh escaped the blackette's lips as she watched the scene, a faint tinge of pink on her cheeks when she recalled a similar thing happening to her. Only back then it wasn't on purpose like this one. "Yeah… no matter how much of an idiot she is, Neptune somehow manages to put smiles on people's faces…" she remarked, a slight smile tugging at her lips when she glanced towards the amnesiac CPU. "It makes her much more approachable, I'd say."

"That is true…"

After a moment or two of this scene of Compa getting fondled by Neptune and several small talks between the onlookers, one of them finally called them all to attention. "Alright, people let's get focused here!" IF called out with her hands around her mouth. Her form erupted with ooze, which reformed into her Armour, only without its helmet. She didn't morph her arms into weapons yet though, there would be a need for that later. Once she found herself sure that the others were paying attention (though she had to pry Neptune off Compa with a combination of her own BOW strength and tickling the heck out of her), the brunette continued. "We ain't got time to be sitting around, right now we should head over to the second floor. I don't know about you guys, but something tells me we'll only be getting harder and harder battles from here on out, so make sure to get your heads in the game!"

"Got it!"

With that unified shout, each of the 3 Groups began making their way out of the Main Hall towards where the entrance to the Second floor had been marked for them by Stefan. Leading the charge, was Group 2, with groups 1 and 3 following close behind. Soon enough, the members of group 2 though, it would be their time to shine, and boy was they ready.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whew, this Demonic Invasion Arc's heating up.**

 **Now that we've reached the second floor, I'll be showing how upgraded the older ones are in combat.**

 **Also, did anyone guess what Compa's upgrades were going to be? And do you think you can guess how they'll be integrated into the story? Cause I DO have plans for what Compa can do both right now AND in the future. I'm also thinking about giving them their own Titles after this invasion is repelled.**

 **Not to mention the fact that I doubt people will guess what I have in mind for Noire, hehehehe...**

 **Team RAIL may get powerups, too or maybe not, who's to say? Save for me of course...**

 **Side Note: shoutout to King Carlos for inspiring me with the idea for Compa's upgrades, it was a while ago so I'm not sure if he remembers, but lemme tell him here, it took a whole lot of work to figure out how to incorporate it into OEG. Check his stories out, believe me, they're better than you might expect.**


	133. Chapter 130 Demonic Invasion PT7

**Chapter 130 - Demonic Invasion PT 7**

"Heh… goddamn, this is going to be a blast." Ivan remarked to himself as he and the rest of Team RAIL (along with Noire and Raiden) journeyed down a spiraling staircase. The Spec Ops Agent cracked his arms over his head, moaning in bliss at the actions while thoughts of taking out Demons by the dozens filled his mind. One could not IMAGINE how eager he found himself to be at the thoughts of being able to prove himself, they would never grasp how much he wanted this. After all, aside from comedic moments, the last time they had gotten much action was that mission in Mojang Village, and how many freaking chapters was that again? Yes, he was being meta, don't blame him but he'd spent more than enough time with Nico to pick up that habit.

Didn't make him as bad as that ONE guy or Neptune, but still.

Looking over to his companion whilst hearing the cracking of his limbs throughout the staircase, Aiden leveled a neutral stare whilst he stated with a lack of emotion behind it. "It appears that you have become beyond combat ready." If anyone were to try and see if he shared those sentiments, they would have no luck since he was in full on 'soldier mode'. They'd not be able to see anything even if they stared right into his eyes, and that would be as long as the guy would even let them without gutting them with his Knives or shooting them with Pistol rounds.

The staircase they walked down was a spiraling one, as per mentioned before. It was also only big enough for people to walk in pairs, so the groups had to decide on who went down in their Groups. In the end, it resulted in Lucy and Raven going up front, Aiden and Ivan following suit, Noire and Raiden trailing close behind. The rest of the groups would take a moment to wait till they couldn't hear Group 2's footsteps, before they would follow suit in their own double files. According to their intelligence gleaned by Lucy, the floors would have these staircases as the only means to get down the floors till they reached the Dungeon, and each floor had been designed to be somewhat like a Maze with corridors and rooms galore as a defense mechanism to ward off invaders.

Though, right now those designers must be rolling in their graves since their decisions were being used against them.

"Of course, man!" Ivan responded excitedly, a large grin on his face since the two of them were unmasked at the moment. Once they would get to the bottom of the staircase would they each put on their Masks and Goggles, but for now, they would remain the opposite. Though, Raven would be the different one of the Team since she had her white and red Mask over her head already, her Odachi at her hip in a ready position for emergency drawing. Heck, whilst Lucy remained the casual member of the two they could see that it was just a ruse, especially with her Cleavers now strapped to her waist instead of inside her Inventory. "I mean, those hot gals in DEATHSTROKE's posse aren't the only ones who've been getting stronger, my arm," he raised his robotic arm for emphasis as he manipulated its fingers to wiggle mechanically. "Has received more than a few upgrades since it's last use. This battle will DEFINITELY be out time to shine!"

Glancing behind her, Raven then cut into the two boys' conversation with her signature icy cold, leader's voice. "If you are done trying to stroke each other's' egos, get suited up. We'll be arriving at the second floor momentarily." She stared, the chills her voice giving making Noire and even Raiden shudder. Though, the rest of Team RAIL didn't show much fear from it since they were used to it by now. It was simply a quirk Raven possessed. Her title of Ice Queen definitely wasn't just for show, after all.

"Yes Ma'am!"

* * *

By the time that they got to the bottom, with Ivan and Aiden donning their Masks and Goggles, what could only be described as hell awaited them. Something they should have honestly seen coming, yet the Demons of Khorne always found ways to surprise them, especially with what they saw.

"How barbaric!"

"Well, that seems to be the theme these bastards follow, apparently. We're just the reapers."

"Man, these guys really need to get laid, maybe that can help them deal with their stress instead of… this."

"Not everyone is a slut, like you VERONICA."

"How mean, SAMURAI!"

"Geez, these guys need to simmer down…"

"It is unlikely that they will comply with that request, CYBORG."

All around them looked like it had gone through an explosion of blood and gore, with entrails and inner organs hanging all over the place like they were decorations. Dozens of barbed wires lined the corridors, some short and others going along the corridors in their entirety. Not to mention there were countless jagged spears viciously inserted into the ground, with varying body parts hanging in the air in the messiest of fashions. There were legs, arms, torsos, heads, all sorts of them suspended on top of those pikes, some higher than others as if they were more important or had been 'elevated' up the ladder of death that loomed over this place. Not to mention how twisted, mangled and mutilated each body part looked… it almost looked like an artist's depiction of hell itself, a morbid thought that crossed everyone's minds.

Seeing something like this caused most of them to feel a bit queasy inside (save for Raven, Aiden, and Raiden) but out of all of them, Noire found it the hardest to take. The blackette trembled with unspoken anger, her anger almost white hot whilst her eyes glowed like the center of flames themselves at the disgusting sights before them. Her fists clenched so tightly that they could have drawn blood if they were the hands of a human, her knuckles turning white with how hard she clenched them regardless. It felt nearly impossible to suppress her powers and stop herself from transforming right this minute to go ahead and utterly rip these inhuman freaks to pieces. At this point, any hesitation she felt for killing beings that, underneath their over-sized Armour were still human, faded into oblivion. No, she would NOT be giving these scumbags any mercy, not after seeing all this and, once she met them herself, her instincts told her they would have no remorse for this vicious harvesting of life.

These may not be her people, these may be the people of another Nation whom she would have nothing to do with since they follow another CPU. However, as a Leader herself, seeing something like this reminded her a lot of what she had seen in the aftermath of Avenir's attack on SONY. She remembered all the devastation, loss and despair she had seen. Not just from the city itself but also the residents as well. Many had lost loved ones and cherished possessions forever following that awful disaster.

This…

THIS though…

Deep within her, she could feel IT start to resonate, reacting to her anger and also expressing its own rage. Rage at the absolute travesty this sight before her truly was to it. Something which Noire wholeheartedly agreed with as she mentally vowed to, when she finally found the ones responsible for this, to utterly annihilate them with no mercy. None of them deserve it, not for their actions this day. By the time this day was done, Noire vowed deep within her heart, and also her very SOUL, that she would make sure these monsters met their just ends. They would get their just deserts, mark her words.

"Noire." A masculine voice snapped her out of her thoughts, making her turn her head towards the source. She soon found that it was Raiden, the man having a stern yet understanding look in his eyes, which began glowing with this eerie red shine. Noire knew that look, the moment those eyes became like that, it meant that the guy wanted to kill, tear and shred his opponents with brutal efficiency. That was what he did on a daily basis after all, but if this KI she could sense emitting from him was any indication, then there would be no doubt that he would gain nothing but sheer pleasure from seeing the cause of this bleed out before his eyes. "Don't worry, we'll make these assholes pay for this. The wrongfully damned will have their revenge." He told her firmly, his hand slightly tightening its grip on her shoulder.

In response to this, Noire took a deep breath to calm herself, exhaling it seconds later as she closed her eyes and calmed her racing heart. Now would not be the time to unleash her range, no that would be best reserved for when she would go onto the battlefield. When she would eventually meet the enemy in battle, only THEN would she exercise righteous vengeance. She could only IMAGINE what Vert felt right now when she'll eventually see all this. Once she found herself considerably calm again, Noire opened her eyes and nodded in Raiden's direction, showing that his task was done. The Cyborg Ninja nodded as well, his eyes narrowed as he removed his hand from her shoulder and looked ahead.

"Good thing you got your priorities straight Lady Noire, cause we kinda have company!"

The moment that Ivan's voice broke through the slight calm but tense silence, did Noire and Raiden's eyes quickly glance towards the direction the Spec Ops Agent pointed towards. There, up in the distance, poured forth a whole flood of Men in bulky Armour as well as what Team RAIL had informed her and Raiden were called 'Northmen'. There were no Bloodletters, Juggernauts or other Demons, something of which the others grew grateful for, as they would be able to get rid of the enemy quicker. They came from multiple directions, the left, right and front lines quickly becoming filled with various masses of bodies, axes, swords, and various other close combat weapons. They broke through the Barbed wires with ease, as if they didn't even acknowledge that they were there.

At least, to them, the more important thing would be their newest prey before them.

As the enemy closed in on them, each and every one of Group 2 took out their weapons, arming themselves for combat. Ivan raised his Bionic Arm to switch it to Blade Mode. He got into a combat stance which favored his previously mentioned arm whilst glaring at his enemy. Aiden drew his Pistols, getting into his own stance while making a note to rely more on his Drive Skill. Closed areas like this weren't particularly favorable for his Jetpack and wings, since they worked best in bright open spaces, so he'd be grounded for the time being. Noire drew her HF Blade from her Inventory, it wasn't time yet for her secret weapon to be unveiled yet, not by a long shot. Raven and Lucy drew their respective weapons too, eyes hardening deeply whilst the enemy charged at them.

A whole load of bloodshed followed.

* * *

Once the fighting started, it didn't stop once. Nope, the fighting continued throughout the entire clearing of the first floor.

From the moment that Group 2 began to fight, more and more enemies seemed to crawl out of the woodworks. Everywhere they looked, turned to, whatever would be filled to the brim with different enemies dedicated to the Chaos God Khorne. The hallways, corridors whatever one would call them became nothing but masses of Khorne worshipers, with the Northmen consisting of Marauders, Warhounds, Chaos Knights on matching horses, and all sorts of Northmen. It almost seemed like the entire floor was coming at them in one fell swoop, eager to sink their axes or swords into their flesh. None of them wanted to give them a break, instead they wanted to taste their blood and gouge their flesh on their respective weapons. To sacrifice their lives to their patron deity.

Whelp, none of them would get it without a serious fight, that was for sure.

Even so, the fighting became insanely intense from the get-go, and would only continue from there on. None of them got a moment's respite as they fought throughout the floors, viciously ripping through the enemy with brutal efficiency. Ivan and Aiden worked together flawlessly, showing off their years of working as a duo with the latter being protected by the former. The former though, he definitely showed why he had been so excited to finally get a chance to shine, with how his Bionic Arm appeared to have more than a few new tricks up their sleeves.

For one, it had a series of abilities that he had gotten it through some… experimentation back at the WDD:

Whip Mode – An ability that consisted of Ivan's Bionic Arm launching its hand like a whip, said hand readjusting itself into a chopping motion, allowing Ivan to literally whip his enemies into submission. The chord part was covered in these long, metallic spikes that allowed it to bisect his opponents. Not to mention the fact that HF technology was implemented into this ability, giving this weapon greater cutting power. More than a few enemies met their end whenever Ivan would slice through them with this ability.

Drive Arm Mode – This ability came from the WDD's experiments with trying to integrate Drive Skills into weapons. It was based off implementing Plasma Technology into weaponry and look where that got them. In this case, the Buster Arm activated by surrounding his Bionic Arm with a blue aura with spirals of digital energy surrounding it. Not only did this make it more resilient to damage, but it also increased its strength to the point where it could punch through walls (and more, Ivan knew he'd checked). Plus, it used less energy than the Drive Skill CYBER DRIVE he possessed, so yeah a win for him no matter how much one sliced it.

Plasma Claw – Unlike the previous abilities, this one wasn't really a mode, per say, as it was more of an ability. An ability that was derived from Plasma Cells that the WDD installed into Ivan's Bionic Arm in a similar manner to Nico's Armour. These Cells allowed it to develop the ability to shoot a purple energy claw the size of an average Car out whenever Ivan wanted it to, and he got REAL creative with how he used it. Especially for slamming things into the ground.

For Aiden, the teen didn't really improve by gaining new weaponry per say, more like he improved on his CQC skills as well as mixed in his own Gunslinger attributes, allowing him to mix his Guns in close combat, making it harder and harder for his opponents to get shots in. Not only would he be able to shoot them out of his enemies' hands, but he would also follow up with a deadly series of shots to their heads whilst completely ABUSING his Drive Skill STORM DRIVE. Training in its use allowed him to use it for up to a day at most, something that was matched by the rest of the Team…

Whom could also use it for a day, though Lucy and Raven could do it for up to a week or two at most.

Aside from them, Lucy and Raven used a mix of their own combat prowess with their weapons, Lucy's Cleavers and Beyblade alongside Raven's Odachi, to utterly shred their opponents to pieces, limbs flying in whatever direction the weapons would be swung towards. Blood gushed in gallons, splattering against the already stained ground as the two women went on mad butchering sprees, tearing through their opponents with vicious efficiency. Yet, none of the blood dared mar their skin, not a single drop. It almost felt like the blood got redirected away from them during their ferocious duet dance of death, using their opponents as their tools in their performance.

As for Noire and Raiden…

The word 'storm' could best describe the two as they blurred throughout the constant battlefield that the second floor had become, their blades being swung with both viciousness and deadly efficiency in ways that became harder and harder for the enemy to predict. It helped that Noire spammed her ZANDATSU Skill to slow down her perception of time, so she could chop her foes as savagely as possible. She didn't like to admit it, but part of her deep down reveled in their screams of pain, relished their howls of suffering. It felt like the more she fought these monsters, the more vicious she would become. Though, considering the situation, that wouldn't be too bad since it would help her survive longer.

Raiden on the other hand, didn't have ANY problems with that part of him, even if it had a greater size and influence on him due to his upbringing. In fact, he allowed it to consume his mind right now, turning him into a nigh-unstoppable killing machine with his sword, his HF Blade, drenching itself in the blood of his enemies, enemies whom would fall like flies beneath his Blade. Blood drenched his arm, shoulder and slightly on his torso as well, whilst his eyes would shine red with insanity and madness. Something that only countless years on the battlefield, neck deep in bodies and trauma could produce. Mad, psychotic laughter escaped his lips, laughter that seemed to be a stark contrast to his previous demeanor as he lost himself to the bloodshed around him. His whole body radiated this dark, crimson aura that seemed to almost be FUELED by his own madness.

'Hehehehehehehe… this is it… my normal… my NATURE…!'

On one moment during their constant battling, a little something happened though, something that would spell nightmare fuel for any sane person. A presence got detected beside him, and by reflex, Raiden swung his blade in a reverse, upwards arc to bisect the one who dared try to sneak up on him. He then heard a loud CLANG, and when he looked, Raiden noticed that Lucy stood there, her Cleaver blocking his HF Blade from trying to cut her. How those weapons had the power and endurance to block such a blow, Raiden didn't know, nor did he ponder it. "What do you want, get outta my way if you don't want to be RIPPED to pieces!"

"Oh, nothing much, mister JACK THE RIPPER…" Lucy replied, grinning darkly as she chuckled when remembering the nickname that Raiden went by in the past. That title had been a large inspiration for her, an inspiration to name one of her Skills after it since it made her act in a similarly crazed manner. It happened a long time ago, but it wouldn't be considered important by either of them, not when they had more ass to kick. Ass which, conveniently, came in the form of a group of Chaos Knights, ones not on horseback actually since their rides had been killed by one of their comrades' attacks, charging at them whilst yelling bloody murder. However, this only served to excite the two, as Lucy tilted her head towards them whilst activating her JACK THE RIPPER Skill. "Shall we, Jackie?"

"GAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES, WE SHALL!"

That was the crazed Raiden's response, as the two dashed forth towards the Knights in the form of 2 blurs. They dashed right past their opponents, 2 of the Chaos Knights getting torn to pieces right after from the barrage of dash attacks both Lucy and Raiden did within the SECOND that they got past them, before Lucy finished off the third with an X slash and Raiden decapitated the last one, as well as sliced off all his limbs and drove his HF Blade through his chest.

Yup, you saw that right…

Raiden, in his self-proclaimed 'Ripper Mode', accompanied Lucy with her JACK THE RIPPER Skill to perform a combo…

Wow, the author actually shuddered at that one.

* * *

By the time that they actually COULD get a breather, it was when they were in front of a large door. The entire floor had been cleared by them in one fell swoop, taking about 5 minutes as opposed to Group 1's 10. Though, that could be attributed to them not knowing the same amount of info as they did now as well as the fact that there were multiple portals to take care of. As for those Groups, Group 2 didn't keep track of them due to constantly fighting for their lives, so they weren't too sure about their current position. Nonetheless, they did believe they were sticking to the formula of heir plan to search for any survivors and guard their rear flanks.

Right now, the members of Group 2 stood before the second floor's Portal, looking mildly winded. The door before them Noire recognized, it was the door leading to the large waiting room for the non-noble Guests that had been invited to the Gala. Spec Ops Agents, bodyguards, and other types of guests and staff members would have been packed inside… if the Demons hadn't invaded that is. Who knows how many were left something none of them wanted to think about. "Looks like we have the Portal…" Ivan remarked as he switched his Bionic Arm to Rifle Mode. His eyes narrowed at the door though whilst his Bionic Arm vibrated uncomfortably. The teen cursed under his breath at this, quickly pressing a hand on it to calm the vibrating down. Eventually, though, it did, but Ivan realized from its behavior that there was likely a LOT of danger behind it.

A theory that got realized when Aiden looked to the rest of them and informed them of what he found. "Scans indicate that this Portal is the only one on the entire floor. Looks to be twice as large though, and that means that unlike the first floor we may have to deal with several 'boss' monsters to shut the Portal down." He stated, frowning when he remembered what they had learned from IF (who had told them Group 1's account of what they had seen throughout the first floor). It looked like the mini-portals used by the Demonic forces were spawned by these larger ones whilst said larger ones acted more like a primary gateway. It was like having more than one entrance to a building, one primary entrance and dozens of secret ones.

"Whelp, then we have our target." Lucy stated whilst placing her Cleavers on her waist before reaching forth with her left hand. For a moment, everyone looked to her with curious and confused looks on their faces, although Raven's was more one of annoyance and realization, as they wondered what she had planned.

Before they could ask, however, their answer came to them when, right in front of them, dozens upon dozens of large vines suddenly erupted from the ground and latched onto the door, quickly throwing it open with brute force which ended up ripping it free from its hinges. Both pieces flew over their heads and into the walls behind him, creating large and VERY audible crashing sounds.

'Wha-?!'

Noire gaped at the sight, looking towards the places where the doors used to be, then back to where they had crashed. Her mind got boggled with trying to process what she just saw as well as what her senses had told her, before she looked over to Lucy with an equally baffled look on her face. Even Raiden looked surprised, though he had kept his composure better than her. 'What the heck?! What was that just now?! Just now, I thought I sensed…!'

Just as she made to voice her thoughts on what she had just seen, another person beat her to it, although they looked moderately calmer than she felt right now. "Uhhhh… Lucy, why the heck did you give away our element of surprise?" Ivan questioned with concern, as well as worry as his senses informed him of a LOT of KI being aimed their way. Though, with the amount they have dealt with already, Ivan didn't show as much hesitation to jump into that room in the first place.

"A: they already knew we were here from the star, so we didn't have the element of surprise anyway. B: Cause it felt good to release some tension. Now then, let's go and kick some more Demon ass, ladies!"

* * *

Entering the room, everyone came face to face with what lay inside… and boy was it something that shared the same themes of utter bullshit crazy. Countless corpses, corpses of Spec Ops, civilians, even some who followed the rules of Chaos. They all looked to be hoisted high in brutal mannerisms atop sharp spikes that looked to be made from a chitinous material. Not to mention countless Skulls littered the room's edges, almost resembling a treasure room only instead of shimmering gold, it was dull, gory Skulls drenched in thick, crimson blood like it was a topping on a meal. There were some hastily constructed structures that resembled trees, each of the 'branches' containing an untold amount of Skulls like they were nothing but ornaments.

A mix of a bloody treasury and a bloody forest…

"Ugh…" Noire cringed as she held her hand over her mouth, her face gradually going greener the more she stared. Eventually, she could no longer stand to look, especially when she noticed some of the Skulls looked… younger, as in they were ones of children or even infants. "Wh-What the h-h-h-h-heck is with these scum…?! T-This is…!" she tried to say, but she couldn't do it and keep her vomit inside at the same time. Therefore, Noire decided to go with the latter. The sight of what she saw after Avenir's attack had NOTHING on this in terms of comparison.

"Believe me Noire…"

"H-Huh…?"

Looking over to her side with surprised eyes, Noire found Ivan shaking his head whilst sighing and crossing his arms under his chest. Though, it looked kind of weird since his Bionic Arm was in Rifle Mode. Still, his demeanor showed that the guy, to her surprise, didn't look all that affected by the sight. At least, not as much as she felt, considering how tightly he clutched his biceps. Eyes hard, Ivan looked ahead with a look that showed zero of his joking, light-hearted nature. "All THIS? Believe me, his is actually mild compared to all the shit me and the rest of the Team saw during our Quests to suppress their activities."

Whilst Noire tried to comprehend how something like this couldn't be the WORST that these Khornate Worshippers could be capable of, Raven eyed their surroundings, narrowing her eyes whilst she kept her hand on the handle of her sheathed Odachi. "Something about this doesn't feel right… this whole room is deserted…" she commented, her eyes almost shining like that of the Demons they fought as they tried to find any hints of a trap in the room. She found nothing, unfortunately, which built up the frustration and caution that bubbled within her chest.

It constantly rung alarm bells in her mind, as so far, this entire floor had been filled to the brim with enemies, so… why were there none here?

Not good, that was what she felt, and it seemed to be mirrored by the rest of them from the way they each went into guarded stances. "Well, we should advance with caution. The Portal at the center there does seem like it's stable, which means that they will likely have already come here or something." Lucy commented, drawing her Cleavers once again in case of an ambush, something that they all believed to occur at any moment in time.

Something that, soon enough, became confirmed in reality when several loud growls entered their hearing ranges. Quickly, the group split up when a loud cry of "Scatter!" came from Raven in the form of a mighty bellow. Noire and Raiden jumped to the left, Ivan and Aiden jumped backward whilst Lucy and Team RAIL's Leader jumped to the right sides. All of them slid in the directions that they chose, coming to a stop right after, though that turned out to be the right thing to do seconds later when a large, hulking form crashed into the space where they once stood. At the rate it had moved, combined with the size and impact of the dust cloud shrouding it, if Raven had been a millisecond slower than they all would have bit the dust in a messy fashion, just like the many Skulls in the room.

"Whoa, what the hell?!"

"Tch, looks like they tried to ambush us…!"

Ivan exclaimed that first part, to which Raven took it upon herself to answer with a guttural growl escaping her lips like the beasts she fought on a regular basis. She drew her Odachi, getting into a combat stance whilst everyone else in Group 2 mirrored her actions as the dust cloud settled, like two curtains peeling away to reveal what lay behind their embrace. This allowed them to see what had caused their near-demise, showing a hideous-looking figure to their eyes.

Where they once stood, now stood what looked to be a hulking behemoth. That was pretty much the best way they could describe it in a nutshell, what with it's large and bulky yet humanoid frame. It wore what looked to be the remnants of the plate armor that the Northmen sported, with plate shoulder pads clinging onto almost unnaturally broad shoulders with a chainmail under suit beneath it that got ripped near the center. This ended up exposing unnaturally bulky muscles in the torso, with plate armor over the legs and forming a 'skirt' around the waist. The upper body looked much bulkier than the lower portion, with the limbs looking more like dual Scythe-like blades. Blades that grew both out of the arms as well as merged with them, making them look incredibly grotesque with long spikes protruding out from the shoulders. Its feet looked like they had horns coming out the back of their heels. Not to mention that the face looked to have been stretched forth into a dreadful mix of a snout and a human face that constantly drooled with thick, crimson and hot lifeblood that nobody thought was it's own, with Tendrils coming out from the sides to hang downwards.

"Okay, this is a new one…" Lucy remarked to herself as they all watched this creature for any signs of movement. She then glanced to Raven, who had cupped the bottom of her mask in place of her chin. This made her think that Raven knew something about this creature, according to her many past experiences with the leader of their Team, and so Lucy decided to see what was on the woman's mind. "Penny for your thoughts, Ravey? You look like you know this thing."

In response, Raven shook her head, a sigh being heard behind her Mask as she replied to her second. "I do not know them personally, for this is my first time seeing one. However, I did do some research on the Chaos sub-religion during some of my free time to better understand what we are fighting against. I did this by studying tomes that we acquired from Northmen Camps and other followers of this sub-religion. Best to know everything you can about your enemies, it's the most effective way about killing them. There was one term that kept coming up, however, and that term was 'Forsaken'."

"Forsaken?"

"Indeed. According to my research, the Forsaken were once Champions of Chaos like the one that DEATHSTROKE told you and myself that he fought in the Hellverse Dungeon. Many Champions, no less valiant in the service of the Chaos Gods than their brethren, find that the rewards they get turn out to be more a hindrance than a blessing. At that point, they are 'Forsaken' by their Gods who give up on them, which results in them fighting merely due to a dark, animalistic and maddening desire. Though once proud and mighty Champions of Chaos, the severity of the mutations bestowed upon them have twisted them into something less than human yet more than a mere Chaos Spawn. These unfortunates have been literally forsaken by their gods, reduced to the levels of mere animals who growl and snarl in a guttural parody of human speech."

'Sheesh…' Lucy thought to herself, shuddering at the images cropping up in her mind at what some of these Forsaken must look like aside from this one. She did NOT want to end up like those guys then, which only fuelled her desire to kill off the Chaos Gods if she got the chance, as well as to take out these followers of Chaos. Not to mention, it added to her bafflement that anybody would want to follow these kinds of deities. Then again, given her past experiences with humans, it shouldn't be that surprising since they were naturally a sinful species.

The creature simply ignored the rest of them, however, and focused its gaze, a gaze that looked to better fit on a beast rather than a masculine humanoid, upon Noire. Like it KNEW she would be the one to fight the hardest. Its eyes, shining red from the Demonic Power she could feel from it, glared at her with unending madness and ever-growing insanity. Nothing but deranged growls and frantic snarls that almost seemed like a pathetic parody of the human language escaped its mutilated lips, its teeth sharpened into horrific, deformed-looking fangs.

At that moment, however, it's snarls spiked in volume which served as their sole warning.

SWISH-PARRY!

"GUH!" Noire had next to no time to react, though, as she quickly raised her HF blade to block a slash that would have diagonally cut right through her frame made by one of the Forsaken's blades. The Forsaken being screamed and howled, constant growls escaping its deformed maw whilst it pressed harder against her HF Blade. The blackette gritted her teeth together tightly, taking a step back and applying weight onto it so she could better hold off her enemy's attack. Even so, however, the woman got forced to bend backward whilst sparks flew true like a river from the connection point between their two weapons. Dangerous sparks of electricity from her HF Blade flew off in random directions, lighting up the two competitors' faces.

"Lady Black Heart!"

Raiden quickly yelled that out whilst dashing forwards HF Blade drawn as he made to slash one of it's arms off. Just as he got within striking distance, however, the beast rolled to the opposite side, vaulted around Noire and quickly swung its Blade, hitting Raiden in the side, causing him to cry out in surprise rather than pain as he found himself being sent flying across the room. The man quickly flipped about so that he could plant his feet onto the wall before he ran alongside it and jumped right back towards it with a slash aimed towards its snout. Unfortunately, it missed by a mile since the creature jumped away before the HF Blade could reach its target.

Things got even worse, however, since, by some unseen signal, more enemies burst out of the many Skulls that littered the room, creating many miniature eruptions of both Skulls and blood in their ambush attempt before jumping out towards the rest of the group. Countless unholy roars, howls, and screams filled their ears as the plate armor wearing warriors of Khorne charged at them like a horde of violent, bloodthirsty Demons.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"

"FOR THE GLORY OF THE GREAT KHOOOOOORNE!"

"KILL, DESTROY, SLAUUUGHTEEEEEEEERRRR!"

"Sh-Shit!"

Ivan had been the one to yell that last one out, as the entirety of Group 2 found themselves separated from each other by the surprise attack made by these beings. Split away from each other and forced into conflict by these warriors.

On their end, Aiden and Ivan quickly got into battle stances, each of them holding out their respective weapons. The latter soon realized that his Bionic Arm's Rifle Mode wouldn't cut it, not with how they were completely surrounded like this. 'Tch, so that's what their goal was…' the male thought as he switched it to Whip Mode. 'They hid within these Skulls, concealing their energies and their presence, until the moment that Forsaken whatever came out of hiding. That must mean that these guys have a skilled leader, one who is capable of intelligence and decision making.' Kind of a stark contrast to the usual mindless beasts they have faced thus far, the mechanical armed Teen had to admit to himself.

"It looks like we will be put through a sieve." Aiden commented as the two went into a back-to-back position. The male glared through his goggles at the enemy around them, each of their opponents brandishing their weapons in a dangerous manner. Whatever expressions they had were shielded from view thanks to their helmets, their forms covered in plate armor. Not to mention they each had these long fur cloaks too, giving them this rugged, barbaric appearance that went well with their savage mindset. Now that he thought about it, every one of the Northmen they faced in this attack had those furry cloaks on, Aiden hadn't noticed it until now.

"Geez, ya think?!"

That was all Ivan could retort with before their Northmen enemies broke into mad sprints towards them.

* * *

Deep within Noire, one would find there to be nothing but a completely empty void. A void that represented the unconscious world where one would go to once they are knocked out. It was within there, that something pulsed, something raw, something powerful, something divine.

In the void of her heart, a dull light began to shine, illuminating the immediate vicinity around it. From that light, a presence slowly began to stir, slowly rousing itself from its slumber when it sensed something… it sensed off…

Very, VERY off…

It didn't take long for this presence to realized what was happening right now: It could sense it's wielder's emotional state… and knew. Judging by how vicious and rage-filled the emotional state of its wielder was, it knew the time for its return was upon it.

The time would soon come where the world would once again tremble at the mention of its name… where it would fear that name once again…

it would come…

And it could hardly contain its excitement.

* * *

Back outside, things looked bleak for Noire.

Well, bleak actually felt more like an understatement for the situation she found herself in.

'If I survive this, I'mma give Vert a piece of my mind for not upping security for such an important event...!'

Those were Noire's thoughts as she fought for her life right now against her enemy.

Thanks to having been separated from Raiden, the forces of Chaos surrounding her had managed to make it so that Raiden couldn't come to her aid without going through them first. That was what he had been doing right now, but unfortunately for him, it proved to be easier said than done. Every time he cut one down, more seemed to take his place, reinforcing the wall of flesh dividing the two Lastation affiliates. Therefore, the resulting situation was that the Lastation CPU now had to face off against this 'Forsaken' creature alone without any backup.

Not something she liked to think about, rather she just let her body and mind act instead of think. For that had been the best way for her to stay alive at this point since the Forsaken kept coming at her with one vicious, uncompromising strike after another to keep her on the defensive. It was all she could do to keep herself in the fight whilst also keeping all her limbs attached to her form. One false move, and she could have ended up losing a couple limbs or so... and that was one of the BETTER scenarios.

Fortunately, it seemed that the rest of the Northmen seemed content with just watching her fight this thing in single combat, not taking a single step to interfere. They each formed a circle of bodies, which separated her from the rest of the group. Some of them shuffled about to show that they weren't used to staying still, something she would have smirked in amusement in any other situation. Not to mention the fact that she could hear the sounds of the others fighting valiantly against their attackers, but right now she put that detail to the back of her mind in favor of survival.

Raising her HF Blade at a vertical angle, Noire blocked an overhead swing towards her head. The weight of the blade then left as soon as it came, prompting Noire to re-angle her HF Blade to a diagonal one to block a follow-up horizontal one. Because of her weapon's angle, it diverted the blade down its form away from her to allow for Noire to push the attack away. Unfortunately, she couldn't get a chance to strike back as the Forsaken just tore right through with a shoulder tackle, knocking her to the ground.

"Kya!"

Noire gasped as she felt her back hit the ground first, knocking the air out of her lungs. For that split second, she had her eyes closed, until she sensed KI coming towards her. This caused her to snap her eyes open and roll to the side, avoiding a blade that would have sliced her vertically in half had it landed. Rolling, Noire used the momentum to get back to her feet, using her silver heeled thigh high boots to kick her HF Blade into the air, grasping its hilt with one hand when it came down. Good thing too, cause it had already closed the distance between them and instantly began it's assault anew.

'Th-This is tough-!' the black-haired CPU thought with a twisted snarl escaping her lips as she blocked and parried one attack after another, the Forsaken relishing its use of its two blades in single combat. It constantly howled, screeched, roared and snarled like it was trying to say some human language. All Noire got, however, were the sounds that only a beast would make though. Nonetheless, her arms felt like lead just after their short brawl, each strike she had blocked or parried felt like she was stopping over 20 CPU weapons at the same time. CPU weapons definitely had a superiority to human weapons, so something that had strength comparable to over 2 dozen of them definitely left her arms in... not the best shape they could have been.

Part of her wondered if she should transform with HDD, but in the end, she decided against it.

For one, she still had IT on her side, and she'd rather only transform when it was absolutely necessary.

Before she could think any more, the Forsaken had already charged at her, breaking the ground beneath its feet whilst flipping into a sausage flip, going into a double downward slash. With her arms and experience on her side, Noire decided to NOT risk the possibility of her arms being broken, so she sidestepped around the attack and swing her HF Blade towards it's back. However, just as her weapon began swinging, the arm closest to it suddenly had ripples going down it, like something just used it as a walkway before it seemingly, much to her shock, disgust, and horror, COMPLETELY twisted a full 180 degrees to put it's Blade in her own weapon's way. The result was that her attack got blocked, obviously, before the Tendrils from its mouth quickly lashed out, elongating and lunging straight towards her with the intent to spear through Noire's stomach and neck.

'Oh crap!'

Just as quickly, Noire ducked under the first one, then sidestepped the second one. Unfortunately, this allowed for the Forsaken to get in close and ran into her with a headbutt to the side, sending Noire sausage spinning through the air with a pained cry escaping her lips. The blackette then crashed into the ground with intense force, sliding along it with enough power to make a small fissure on the ground until she came to a stop. Pained hisses escaped her as the dust settled, before Noire opened her eyes to see that the creature had retracted its Tendrils whilst jumping forwards, quickly thrusting its right Blade towards her chest.

If she didn't react right this instant, Noire would soon find herself run through in the one place she didn't want anything, or anyone, touching within a million years!

Well, maybe one person, but still!

Those thoughts left her mind, making room for the instinctual desire to stay alive and NOT have a blade ripping through her like she was nothing but tissue paper. Oddly sexual phrasing aside, Noire quickly flipped backward, landing on her hands before pushing herself upwards, flipping over the creature and whacking it upside the back of its head in the process. After she landed, Noire turned around, gasped and quickly raised her HF Blade to block a furious wide slash which had enough force to make her arms act more like vibrators, whilst sending her sliding backward. Fortunately, before the impact had come, she had applied Share Energy to reinforce her arms durability. If she'd been a split second later, then the bones in her arms would have shattered under the strain.

Once she halted herself, and then deflected several Tendrils aimed at a couple of her vitals, Noire applied the use of ZANDATSU, slowing her perception of time so that her surroundings nearly halted. With the ZANDATSU applied, Noire closed in with her HF Blade and unleashed a couple of VIBRATION ATTACKS. She had long since discovered through the small amounts of attacks she DID manage to land, that VIBRATION ATTACKS and VACUUM SLASHES helped damage her opponent better than just normal attacks. It had been shown when she managed to get a few good hits in before in their battle, striking at its shoulders and chest areas. However, it seemed that this Forsaken had some form of minor regeneration ability granted to it by its former masters, because those wounds had quickly healed over.

Even so, as she struck her opponent, sending Vibrations that ran through its body to damage it's inside, ZANDATSU ran out and time returned to normal. That was something she had to work on, but ZANDATSU, even with her energy, didn't last very long. That wasn't the ability's fault though, but if she were to keep her brain drugged with Share Energy too long, then she'd get a headache and the ability wouldn't be usable. 'Tch, at this rate, I may have to use IT to take that thing down beyond its ability to regenerate. It almost seems like regeneration's becoming a thing with these beings.' Noire thought to herself after jumping backward to dodge a slash, then sidestepping to avoid several lashing outs of its Tendrils.

Just when she thought about activating ELECTRO CHARGE for her HF Blade, however...

 **"HMMMMM, so YOU are the ONE I sensed ATTACKING my MEN..."**

... you know, Noire REALLY began hating those demonic voices whenever they appeared. Something about them just grated on her nerves, or maybe that was just her prior emotions talking, masking any utter dread that voice might have caused her to feel. She had heard once that sometimes one emotion overlaps another when there was excessive stimulus, for example, anger overriding fear or people acting more on emotion and not seeing reason. It was likely that the others had similar thoughts, thought that soon got pushed onto the wayside when they saw the reactions that the rest of the warriors had when hearing it.

Like they were recruits in a military training camp, each of them straightened up and tensed, becoming almost like sticks going upwards whilst being careful not to make a sound. Instead of primitive savages, Noire got the impression of a trained, disciplined military unit. A complete contrast to the sights they had shown previously, to be sure. Whoever this voice belonged to, must have had a great and efficient influence on these men to have this kind of effect just from his voice alone. Yeah, she figured it was a male's since the voice was predominantly masculine.

Looking to the direction the voice came from, Noire saw a masculine figure emerge from the Portal. Loud stomping sounds accompanied metallic bulky boots, the sounds being followed by the scraping of metal. Each time her ears registered them, Noire got the inexplicable urge to gulp, feeling those loud sounds echo deep down into the depths of her being. Her heart thumped wildly against her chest, and she felt IT seemingly rattling with excitement at the prospect of meeting the maker of these sounds.

From the portal, Noire found herself looking before what looked like a man. A rather large brute of a man who looked as if he could give the best of Leanbox's bodybuilders a run for their money. He looked to be clad in rounded plate Armour similar to that of the others, along with a fur cloak that came down the back of his shoulder pads. Unlike these men, however, he wore no helmet, exposing his mostly bald head and his large ginger beard. One that easily reached his torso. His eyes shined a crimson light, almost like they were comets about to catch fire from entering the planet's atmosphere. On his body, Noire noted with moderate revulsion that he adorned many human skulls like they were trophies, each of them hanging from his Armour whilst a whole upper skeleton seemed to tower from behind his left shoulder.

In his hands, there were two things: In his right, was a large sword, easily fit to be a two-handed one though it looked like he could use it in one hand just fine. The sword itself had a leather-clad hilt, with a golden end. The sword's guard looked rectangular, with two sharp spikes standing up and pointing down the blade, whilst at the center was what looked like a Rhombus with a Skull in its center. Several spikes protruded out of the blade's base, which had straps of rope wrapped around the base, before the rest of the blade was laid bare. The rest is straight with a V-shaped tip.

As for his left hand, it had bound to it by leather straps, a huge shield. A shield that easily went upwards from his feet all the way to his shoulders. That was how tall it was, and if he were to put it in front of him, it's size would cover the majority of his body. The shield seemed to be made of the same materials as the sword, with curved horns and spikes protruding from the top. That part definitely creeped her out, but what creeped her out even more was the skin-like shroud that covered the shield, it's center having a human's head that had a horn protruding forwards. The head's mouth looked to be frozen open, open into a look of sheer horror and despair which sent chills down her spine.

Not to mention, the fact that this man had a similar aura to the Demons that she had fought up to this point. There was this look of inhumanity about him, like he had gone beyond his mortal coil and had achieved heights only those who could be considered monsters possessed. The weapons he used, that sword and shield, were littered with scratch and slash marks, almost like they told a story of nothing but conflict, conflict, and death that would never end. Even so, those weapons each radiated a power unlike any that these other warriors possessed, even the Forsaken seemed to be wary of him as it stumbled over to the wayside.

Not to mention the fact that this man seemed to have an eerie silhouette floating behind him that seemed to overshadow his form, increasing the menacing vibes he gave off.

"Lemme guess, you're the leader of these men?" Noire questioned, her eyes narrowing in accusation whilst she stepped backward, keeping her HF Blade level. Just by looking at this guy, Noire could feel the word 'power' as it oozed off his frame in waves. She felt IT eagerly awaiting the chance to unleash its power and might against this person, even if this man wasn't even doing anything and just standing there. She felt her Skill ELECTRO CHARGE just moments away from activating id she perceived this guy to be doing anything that could indicate an attack. Even the slightest twitch of the purest muscle.

 **"HMPH. Yes. I am, WOMAN. I go by MANY names... CHAMPION** **of the SARL, the WORLDWALKER, Executioner OF the GODS, but** **You MAY call ME... Wolvrik the WANDERER!"**

Each word he spoke seemed to be coursing with the power overflowing from within like each word emitting waves upon waves f energy that slammed into her ears with unrelenting force. Noire scowled at the man whose eyes shone brightly with the bloodlust that his fellows possessed, only he had it in greater quantities than they ever could. Just by looking at his sword, Noire's instincts screamed at her to be wary. It may look like an ordinary sword, but something told her that would be FAR from the truth.

"... Alright, Wolvrik or whatever. What is it that you want? What's your goal in doing this?" Noire asked, a harsh and mean edge to her voice. Oddly enough, it seemed reminiscent of a shimmering blade. She remembered how IF had asked the opponent whom she had fought and... Assimilated (she so did her best not to shudder at that, IF's descriptions of that happening had been perhaps a little TOO descriptive), and he had simply responded that h didn't have a reason. He just wanted to fight to his heart's content, to collect the Skulls of his defeated enemies. Looking around this room though, she couldn't help but wonder if this would be something of a dream come true for that guy.

Well, that would never be figured out, thanks to IF.

 **"I am BLESSED with GLORIOUS purpose! The GREAT lord KHORNE has TASKED me with ELIMINATING this PATHETIC society, to SHOWER it with KHORN'S wrath! As THE GODS executioner, I shall OBEY their CALL!"**

Wolvrik answered with pride and confidence, as well as a thick layer of arrogance. He had the demeanor of someone who'd proudly go on and on about his many exploits to his mate at a tavern. He had that down pat, as far as the black haired CPU was concerned. Not to mention the way his aura swayed around him, it matched some of the more pig-headed of the Agents Noire had encountered, as well as some of the Avenir lackeys who had once replaced her staff inside her own Basilicom.

Even so, now that he had her answer, Noire couldn't let this slide. Since this guy was merely a servant, that meant he was just like the rest of these warriors, uncaring of all the pain and loss they leave in their wake. She narrowed her eyes, her own beginning to form their power button symbols that symbolized her identity as a Goddess. She remembered the pain that her people went through with the attack made by Avenir, and she could only imagine what the families of those who had died here would think. Someone like him... Noire would NEVER allow him to live another day. Normally killing a human would be something against her nature as a Goddess, but thanks to this invasion she had learned one important lesson: that these people NEEDED to die. One sword keeps another in its sheath, that would be an ideal she'd follow. Thus, that ideal ignited the spark within her, the spark that turned into a vicious flame upon ignition. She held her HF blade in a tighter grip, eyes glowering at her future opponent.

She'll have to get him riled up first though. Even with his arrogance, his stance still depicted a strong sense of a warrior's path. It had been something she'd found out about whilst she stayed in Leanbox, but many of the people she had met followed that same path. Martial pride seemed to be a huge thing in Leanbox, tot he points were Noire found herself able to recognize that kind of spirit in anyone. Therefore, if she riled him up enough, maybe like insulting his ability to fight or say she was the better fighter, then he would challenge her to single combat and, hopefully, she'll be able to end him quickly. Maybe even unleash IT for a quick finish, since IT had too much power for tightly closed spaces like this.

But first, she had to get him to fight her one on one, then things could really get rolling.

Just as Noire made to say something back to him, likely being an insult or something else as equally as fury-provoking...

 **"YOU... you FEEL like a POWERFUL opponent! VERY well! I shall CHALLENGE you to a DUEL!"**

All her thoughts and attempts at speech halted like car tires screeching when the driver instantly pushes the breaks. 'H-Huh?!' Noire gasped, blinking owlishly as she almost lost her composure for a moment there. Did he say what she thought he did? Did he really just solve her first problem for her? Well, far be it for her to look this gift horse in the mouth. Still, she didn't know if this was truly a good thing or not, so she'd be cautious for the time being.

 **"WE shall DUEL, in THE name of the GODS! It WILL be most GLORIOUS indeed, ONE of my MANY exploits on the BATTLEFIELD!"**

Just then, the man jumped forwards, landing about 20 steps away from the blackette. The moment he did, a ring of pure fire suddenly roared to life around them, sealing them up inside. Noire's eyes widened as a gasp left her lips, her head frantically looking around the ring to see what the heck was going on. "Wha?!" she exclaimed, baffled and stunned.

"Lady Black Heart!"

The call of her bodyguard made Noire look in his general direction, just in time to see Raiden break through the lines separating them only for the flames, which burned brightly in front of the warriors, to hinder his progress. No matter how close he tried to get, the flames merely pushed him back, even as he tried to jump over them as they'd simply rise upwards and form a wall, knocking him back. 'What the... what is this?! Where did...? Wait a minute... of course! This must be what IF had told me about!' the blackette thought, eyes flashing with realization.

Once, IF had told her of her battle with that Armoured man in red (she couldn't remember his name though, it definitely was something outlandish though). She talked about a ring of fire encircling them and everyone outside acting like they couldn't get into it. Raiden's actions confirmed that part of the tale at least, which meant that these flames must somehow block all entry from the outside. 'Now that I look...' she thought, glancing downwards and noticing the symbols around the edges of the ring of fire. Now, Noire by no means had adept skills in magic since that was Lowee's shtick, but she DID know enough to identify magic symbols, and this definitely fit the bill.

'So then, odds are that, with everything that's going on, the only way for me to get out would be to win this duel...' Noire thought, glancing over to Wolvrik to see him already in his combat stance. That quickly caught her attention, surprise flashing through her eyes as she stepped forwards, clutching the grip in her HF Blade. "Raiden, don't!" she called out to him. "Looks like this is the same as what happened to IF! Leave it to me, I'll take care of it on my end!"

"I... very well, Lady Black Heart."

Noire nodded as she heard the response, however reluctant it sounded, and held her HF Blade even tighter to try and wrestle the feelings of nervousness she felt deep inside. Looking at this guy before her now, she didn't know if she could beat him, even in HDD form. The way he held himself, the sheer power she could feel rolling off this guy in waves, told her much about his combat prowess. She didn't like what she found out, either. Chances were, that she might for the first time, be facing someone who could actually end her life, as she sensed that sword had killed many in its life, both mortal and immortal. Looking at that blade, Noire gritted her teeth, it was almost like she could hear the pained groans of those it had slain in cold blood, calling out to her, begging her to join their ranks.

'Looks like I have no choice... I'll have to use IT!'

That thought crossed her mind, and following it came a surge of warmth from deep within her being. The thing that chose her as its wielded, bonded with her in a way no normal weapon could, it called out to her. It wanted to be used at long last, as if this person had been deemed worthy of it to register him as an adversary. Noire felt inclined to agree, the last time she truly felt this way was when the Console War first began, when she stared down the other CPUs in preparation for intense combat. There may be a risk for it to cause collateral damage in this small space, but at this point, she may just have to risk it. Gripping her free fist, Noire nodded to herself, whispering "Okay... Okay." under her breath.

She wouldn't admit it, but her breath had been rather shaky just then. This would be her secret weapon' debut, so she had to make it memorable. With that in mind, Noire dismissed her HF Blade, returning it to her Inventory. Of course, this drew the man's attention, by the way, he arched a brow and tightened his stance, expecting something to happen soon judging by his posture.

 **"YOU would DISCARD your WEAPON, warrior?"**

A small smirk spread across Noire's lips at the query as she held her hand to the side. Her eyes closed themselves as she felt the weapon come to her, seeping down her arm towards her closed hand. "Oh, don't worry, its nothing like that. I've just got something much better for a battle like this. You'll be the first person I've used it on though." she replied, before she flexed her closed hand open as well as shot open her eyes. At that moment, a bright light began to shine as something began to materialize before them all, unleashing a downright majestic aura into the atmosphere. "Feast your eyes on THIS!"

"Come... BALMUNG!"

From that light, a huge white energy eruption roared to life, spreading across the ground throughout the infernal ring. It created massive tremors and whipping winds that felt more physical than they should have been, tearing through both air and ground like they were not even there. Noire's hair whipped about behind her like Tendrils erratically flailing about after being sliced in half, her bangs swaying just as wildly in the breeze whilst she kept her eyes trained upon her opponent. Even then, it almost felt like this was the source holding back it's power as it manifested itself into the physical world from Noire's Soul. The sight forced Wolvrik, who merely laughed out of merriment and thrill at the prospect of a powerful weapon to clash swords with, to raise his shield to protect his face from the energy.

By the time that Noire got the energy under control, a weapon had been formed in her hand as it dismissed these phenomena from existence. When Wolvrik lowered his Shield, both he and the onlookers could see the weapon in it's true physical form. It took the form of a two-handed greatsword with a blue jewel embedded in the hilt, looking like it almost boasted a powerful magnificence and enormity that made it seem as if it was created by inhuman hands. The hilt was black and made of a rather elegant metal fit for a king or a knight, with its blade being a shining grey. The blade easily matched Noire's height in length, whilst it glistened as it had just been forged in a heavenly radiance.

It looked to be a beautiful blade...

Beautiful, but deadly all the same.

 **"AHHHHH...a FINE blade. YEEEEES... I can FEEL it's POWER from HERE... it is NO blade a mere MORTAL is meant to COMMAND... What is your NAME, warrior?"**

"Hmph." Noire huffed, a proud smirk on her lips as she flicked one of her twin-tails and placed the same hand on her hip. "You may call me Black Heart, and I'm no mortal. I'm a Goddess, so you better remember it!" she bellowed, pointing Balmung towards her opponent. Her form then got enveloped in a pillar of light, and by the time it vanished, Noire had taken on her HDD form, now radiating a HUGE amount of power thanks to both it ad her new sword, which took the place of the one she usually had when transforming. Her teal eyes, clad with their power button symbols, glared heatedly towards her opponent whilst she got into her battle stance.

On his end, Wolvrik let out an even bigger bout of laughter, excitement and bloodlust dripping from him like the blood of countless enemies he had slain. Combined with the demonic multi-voice he had, it painted a rather creepy image, but Black Heart chose not to let it get to her as she readied herself...

and charged, with her enemy doing the same.

* * *

'Lady Black Heart... so you've decided to use that blade after all...'

Raiden frowned as best as he could, with his facial structure being what it was the Cyborg Ninja found some expressions harder to pull off than others. Even so, he still made a frown as he watched his CPU fight. His instincts told him that these people cared more about watching this duel than trying to kill him, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to see how it would play out. Even though they fought like savage animals, Raiden still got a sense of a warrior's path from them, this sight before him being proof of those thoughts.

Not to mention the sheer respect that this man commanded of his followers, being enough to quell their thirst for conflict and carnage which made the threat this 'Wolvrik' guy (no idea who named him that, but whatevs), all the greater.

'Still, you must be careful, Lady Black Heart. You don't want to destroy this entire City with that blade.'

Even while watching the battle begin, at last, Raiden still didn't find himself free of the complex emotions boiling in his gut. He knew well that blade's power, he'd accompanied Noire on her many trips in subduing the growing Abnormal packs around her Landmass after all. He'd seen it wipe out entire armies in one fell swing, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake. Not to mention the blade itself had more than a few tricks up its sleeve in case wide-spread destruction wasn't it's wielder's goal. Tat blade held both power and versatility in spades, which was the main source of his worry.

After all, such a blade being drawn in such a closed space could be a very dangerous act to do... something Noire had considered but found few alternative options.

He could only hope that things turned out in an ideal manner, but Raiden wouldn't bet on it.

* * *

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

Furious strikes rained down upon the two fighters, like a thousand bombs striking in a single spot on top of one another. Balmung and the sword of Wolvrik fiercely duked it out in a vicious, almost frenzied struggle for supremacy whilst their wielders kept eye contact. Both blades constantly slashed in a myriad of different slashing motions, like two animals engaging in a territorial battle with one ending up dead and the other the victor. Wolvrik sometimes pulled his shield in to keep attacks he couldn't deal with using his sword at bay, and those times his arm would tremble at Balmung's power.

CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

Both fighters circled each other, swinging their blades with a combination of skill and brutality only two experienced warriors could have accomplished. Wolvrik blocked a swing to his neck, thrusting his shield forwards to catch Black Heart off guard. However, the white-haired CPU had anticipated this, so she quickly spun into a roundhouse kick that Wolvrik blocked with the bottom of his Sword's hilt. Not letting that stop her however, Black Heart used her free leg to jump and stomp right into Wolvrik's chest, though he used his Shield to block it in time. Even so, the impact had bee enough to make him stumble back a few steps.

'Tch, this guy's defenses are pretty solid...' the white-haired woman thought, a 'tch' escaping her mouth as well as the one in her mind. She quickly analyzed her opponent's stance, and an idea flashed through her mind. 'Wait, perhaps THAT could work!' she thought. Thanks to being it wielder, Black Heart had spent days practicing and researching this new and mighty blade that had bound itself to her. The practice had revealed it to not just be any normal blade, in fact, it would be better to say that it's origins... likely had divinity involved, making it a divine weapon with special abilities of its own. She had trained a long time to discover those abilities, and even then she got the feeling that she didn't know everything about this blade.

However, right now, only one thing registered in her mind at the moment: her next plan of attack.

Gripping Balmung's hilt, Black Heart went and applied ELECTRO CHARGE to the blade. One of the Sword's powers was 'Galvanism' – a Trait that allowed unrestricted conversion and accumulation of magical energy and any form of electricity. In that case, then she could definitely apply the previous Skill to this blade since it stored her energy, and thanks to this weapon being of divine property, the energy accumulated inside would be intensified and purified, making it that much more powerful than it would be if she used her HF Blade. Therefore, Noire found herself able to apply ELECTRO CHARGE into the blade to cover it in a layer of pure white Electricity, electricity which had its divine nature intensified to optimum levels. Perhaps her HDD form helped too, she figured.

With Balmung encased in Electricity from ELECTRO CHARGE, Black Heart blasted forwards in a burst of speed, catching Wolvrik by surprise... though that only lasted for a split second as he chose to roll to the side. A good thing too, cause when Black Heart swung Balmung in an upward motion from the ground up, it created a pillar of light that would easily be half the size of the entire ring. The pillar shot through the ceiling, instantly obliterating it and leaving a giant hole in the Basilicom roof.

Black Heart mentally winced. 'Whoops, hopefully, Vert won't be mad at me for that...' she thought to herself as she twirled around and raised Balmung once more. Good thing too, since Wolvrik had already closed the distance between them and swung his blade towards her head, resulting in them being put in a deadlock. 'Still...' even so, the CPU still fond her thoughts process-able as her teeth gnashed, then two swords trembling with the strength put into them by their wielders. Thanks to that attack just now, Balmung had used up the stored energy she had put into it from the ELECTRO CHARGE. 'Thanks to that, I can now say for certain that this blade is more suited for fighting in open spaces. I only applied the smallest amount of my energy to the blade, and it nearly destroyed the entire Basilicom. I'll have to be extra careful and try not to use any big attacks.'

 **"THAT attack just NOW... your BLADE is NOT meant for SINGLE COMBAT, is IT...?"**

Whilst she made it a point not to show any of her emotions on her face aside from intense desire to kill, Black Heart still felt shocked creep up her spine at the man's insight, his eyes clearly telling her he had figured out the workings of her blade. 'Tch, from that one look alone, I can tell he knows... but how?' she wondered. "And what makes you think that?" she replied, deciding to keep her internal struggles to herself.

Breaking away from her, Wolvrik kicked Black Heart's gut, causing her to go flying backward. He too flipped backward, the two righting themselves in mid-air before they landed, sliding to a halt just millimeters before the edges of the ring. Both fighters got into the respective stances, their weapons almost glowing with their own radiance that expressed the resolves of their wielders. One of twisted bloodlust, and the other of righteous fury. Even so, Wolvrik showed no signs of fear, just a look of pure elation and joy as he pointed his sword at the CPU.

 **"DON'T take ME for a FOOL, girl! I have BESTED many a BEAST in my CENTURIES of COMBAT! It does NOT matter if THEY are MORTAL, IMMORTAL or ELSE, they ALL fall BENEATH my BLADE! Just NOW, I could SEE it, you express DIFFICULTY in HARNESSING that SWORD'S power! YOU cannot CONTROL it COMPLETELY!"**

Well, she had figured already that this guy had experience under his belt just by looking at him. The fact that he boasted about those exploits so much would normally indicate a level of arrogance which would usually doom most warriors. However, just by their recent clashes in the beginning of this conflict, Black Heart got the impression that every boast he had made just now was 100 legit. Like, he had the bite to back up his bark. It irritated her, to be honest, knowing that she would have to endure his boasting until this fight was decided, however she still believed she had a chance. Not only did Balmung have more tricks up its sleeve, but she too had many centuries worth of experience in wielding a sword.

She WAS a swords-woman after all.

"Well, I'll admit that you're pretty good in a fight. Pretty good though, maybe better without all the unnecessary boasting..." Black Heart began, holding Balmung in both hands as she angled it in front of her. Concentrating her thoughts on the blade, Noire scowls at her opponent as she felt it respond to her will. Already, she could see out her peripheral vision, the darkening of Balmung's Jewel, an indication of what would happen next. "But still, don't think that this is all I have, or you'll regret it! Now, BALMUNG!"

At that moment, the jewel seemed to almost 'pulse', before it suddenly released a very thick, black mist. The mist quickly rushed up against her arm and covered her completely, shrouding her form from view. The moment he saw that mist, Wolvrik's instincts quickly informed him to get on guard, for what had just happened likely would make this fight a whole hell harder for him. This only lasted a second thought, before the mist easily vanished just as soon as it had appeared. Though, when it did... a whole new Black Heart floated before him.

Black Heart now looked to be clad in a black skin-tight suit covering everything but her head, with silver plate Armour over her thighs, knees, feet, forearms, hands, biceps and shoulders. From behind her, the Armour formed a pair of large, abyssal black draconian wings that would easily stretch across 6 feet, and were merely connected to Black Heart by some form of gravitational pull. Just like the wings of her HDD form. This also has the side effect of turning her skin to a light brown and giving her hair a wilder, animalistic appearance, whilst her eyes...

Well, they no longer looked like the eyes of a human... but the eyes of a DRAGON... as in, they became a pair of ruby red eyes, with bloody red slitted pupils. Not to mention, it increased the potency of her other senses, her hearing, sight, smell, touch etc are all vastly increased in this state thanks to the blood.

A draconian smirk etched itself onto her lips when she saw the man's look of surprise as she felt her body go through a side effect of activating this ability. Apparently, this sword not only had a strong divinity, but a powerful soul sealed deep within the blade. She knew this due to discovering the sealing on the blade when she first found it, and after looking into some Lowee tomes she had found within her landmass's Guild Library, she found that this Soul apparently had once been one that belonged to an Abnormal. A powerful one at that. She could tell due to the wild, animalistic feel of the soul she got when she, under the tomes' instructions, tried to feel the soul out. This Soul, at the moment she would summon the Blade, quickly connect with her own, and give her a smaller boost in physical and magical resistance in comparison to summoning the Armour.

In the end, whatever sealed the Abnormal also imbued Balmung with the ability to release it's very blood, if that makes sense as even she still had trouble getting to grips with that, into her body, starting from her heart. There, the blood would be pumped into the rest of her body, giving her the Abnormal's physical and magical resistance boosts. The tanner color she sported, her eyes, and her slight draconic demeanor were simply proof of this blood working. Seemed to only happen when she summoned this Armour though. Hence, she had called it 'Fafnir Armour'. She didn't get why, but she just got the feeling that would be the right call.

Combined with the divine element from her HDD form, and Noire found her body being mixed between Dragon and Goddess. A potent combination since Dragon-like Abnormals seemed to be exceedingly tough compared to their brethren, most of them being between A to S ranks. All that power... and right now she found herself able to bring that power down to bear on her enemy. She could hardly contain herself.

In the end, Black Heart's smirk widened as she leaned forwards... and closed the distance between them in a millisecond. Her opponent reflexively raised his shield to defend himself, only for Black Heart to vanish and reappear behind him, Balmung poised for a reverse swing horizontally that would have bisected him at the waist. The second the two blades collided, Wolvrik noticed a drastic increase in physical strength, as he exerted more of his own to block the attack. He'd say that, in comparison to before when he only used about 40%, now it took about 70% to withstand that attack.

And the attacks just kept coming from different angles at once.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG,CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!

Although the Worldwalker held his own, from an outsider's viewpoint it looked like Black Heart had gained the upper hand, moving so fast that she looked to be in multiple places at once and striking simultaneously. In essence, she moved so fast that it was like she were multiple people attacking at the same time. Wolvrik furrowed his brows whilst wasting zero movements in his defenses, constantly moving about to try and hold back his opponent. His sword swung like a madman had possessed it... which wouldn't be far from the truth, honestly. Not much worked, and she moved fast enough that he couldn't strike back without leaving himself open. It didn't help that Black Heart constantly kept getting faster and faster the longer the constant onslaught went on.

It looked like this woman... she would require a bit more effort than his usual prey to take down.

He could see why she would be a worthy adversary for the Chaos God Khorne to summon him to this world to hunt down.

 **"SUCH power... HOWEVER!"**

Raising his sword into the air after a lucky parry, Wolvrik gave a mighty howl as the blade started releasing a strange, red aura. An aura that Black Heart quickly took note of, as well as the fact that what felt like sound waves, many voices colliding all at once till it was nothing by a mass of sound, radiated from its form. Immediately her instincts, honed by the animalistic Abnormal blood flowing through her right now, told her to get the fuck away from that blade lest she goes through something that EVERY being with acute senses feared.

 **"Your SWORD cannot HOLD a CANDLE to MINE! SONIC BLAST!"**

The moment that he called those words out, Wolvrik roared as he brought the blade down towards the ground in a downward slash. In the second it's tip touched said surface, a huge sound wave erupted from within, spreading in all directions. The sound wave carried many groaning voices both mortal and immortal alike, all moaning in agony and pain, centuries of torment having made them nothing but husks of their former selves. The wave quickly covered every spec of the ring's interior, and Black Heart had to quickly erect a Panel in front of her, reinforcing it with as much energy as she could, to stop herself from being sent flying. Luckily for her, she had managed to get far enough away from the epicenter that her Panel succeeded in its task... although, it was only barely, since by the end of it the Panel looked like it'd crumble just from a single poke.

Good thing she also diverted power to her ears, reinforcing them otherwise she may have had her enhanced eardrums busted.

Finally dismissing the Panel, Noire stood up from her kneeling position, lifting Balmung into position as her draconian eyes narrowed darkly at her opponent. "And WHAT was that? You nearly took out my eardrums with that one!"

 **"Hahahaha! Be GRATEFUL it DIDN'T, WARRIOR! Without your ACTIONS, you would CERTAINLY have had MORE than ruptured EARDRUMS!"**

That had been Wolvrik's response as he prepared himself to continue. At that moment, however, Black Heart saw something. Something manifested behind the man, but it looked so vague that she had trouble identifying what it was. However, the more she looked, the more she began to see it take shape, until finally, she could see it entirely, what looked like a humanoid bat-like creature with black, heavily scarred skin. Its small, dome-like head sat on top a heavily muscled body, and was dominated by a wide, toothy maw.

She did NOT know what it was, but her instincts went crazy from looking at it.

 **"... JUDGING by your LOOK, it seems you SEE it. My TRUMP card. My ULTIMATE gift from KHORNE himself. Alas, I cannot fully TAME such a BEAST myself... not YET. It is my GOAL to MASTER this GIFT I have been BLESSED with by the GODS... even so, THIS does SEEM like an INTERESTING development..."**

Wolvrik remarked this to himself, and for the first time in this battle, Black Heart noticed something. In that moment, he lost his previous demeanor and adopted a rather calm, thoughtful one instead. There was this light in his eyes, this light that could only be born from someone who had experienced a change after so many years of being stagnant. Years, meaning centuries or even thousands depending on how long one has lived. It looked like the man had begun thinking hard about something, and whatever it was it had something to do with her since his eyes kept themselves focused solely on her.

'What the heck is this guy thinking? H-He better not be looking at my chest or I'll drive Balmung through his groin!' the CPU couldn't help but think with an irritated twitching brow. She also had the strange urge to rip this guy in half with her bare hands, a deep growl rumbling from within her throat. It didn't take her long for her to realize that the foreign blood was affecting her, making her primitive side more prominent due to its animalistic nature. That was another side effect of donning this Armour and allowing the blood to flow through her system, it made her more like an animal than a Goddess, not something she particularly liked for a couple of reasons.

Especially when she thought about claiming a certain Agent for her own.

'So not the time, Black Heart! Keep those thoughts down the gutter where they belong!'

 **"MRS BLACK HEART! I have a PROPOSAL for YOU!"**

"H-Huh?!"

 **"This BATTLE, glorious as It may BE, cannot CONTINUE for LONG! We have an EXTRAVAGANT conquest before US. However, IF you DEFEAT me with ONE strike, I will CONCEDE my LOSS and BEQUEATH everything I am, to YOU!"**

At hearing his statement, Black Heart found herself gaping so much that her jaw hit the ground. Her eyes would have flown open if they weren't connected to her sockets. "Wh-Wha?!" she squeaked, pretty much dumbfounded over the situation. Did he say what she thought he said? Her ears had been enhanced, so they wouldn't be playing tricks on her. By bequeath, she felt certain that somehow included... death... but why? Why would he say such a thing right now?

 **"This BATTLE has shown me MUCH about you, WARRIOR! You are INDEED a powerful FOE, an FOE worthy of my LIFE! Every WARRIOR dreams of DYING in glorious COMBAT, and my SENSES tell me MY time is NOW! However! I will DIE on the SWORD of a WORTHY WARRIOR! That is MY dream! The ONLY one I VALUE more than CONQUEST!"**

For a moment, Black Heart found herself rendered speechless, her mind temporarily blue screening. She couldn't even begin to process the proposal she had just heard from this man.

This barbarian...

This Warrior...

This Warrior who felt like he had fought in countless conquests, more and more conquests than Black Heart could ever imagine.

And yet, he showed himself willing to bet it all on one strike, and if he lost, then...

As she heard this, a feeling welled up inside her as she gritted her teeth and clenched the hilt of Balmung. She hadn't noticed, but she had already been pumping the sword's Jewel with Share Energy, allowing it to slowly turn a pale silver color. More and more energy got poured into the weapon's jewel, allowing it to shine brighter and brighter by the second.

This... how could she turn away from this?

Looking into this man's eyes, Black Heart saw something, something beyond the eyes of a barbarian as she had considered him throughout the battle. She found experience, experience honed through battles she could scarcely imagine, as well as in numbers of a similar magnitude... in addition to fatigue. This man, he had fought for a very long time, longer than any human or immortal on Gamindustri could ever have recalled. She knew this just by looking at those eyes, as it reminded her of the old war veterans she met with back in Lastation to secure their financials.

A gulp went down her throat as a feeling of tension swept over her body. She felt like she was beginning to sweat, her hands felt clammy even though they gripped Balmung's hilt so tightly. Even so, despite the weight on her chest, despite the questions that constantly ran wild through her mind about this man, she couldn't answer in any other way except by readying her strongest attack. None of the risks she thought of earlier felt important right now, the only thing that did would be meeting this warrior's resolve with her own. She had no clue where this had come from, but she didn't think it was important. Plus, it wasn't like he would answer if she asked, the look in his eyes told her that much already.

To that end, Black Heart felt Balmung informing her that it was ready, that the Share Energy she had put into it was now of a sufficient quantity for this attack. She'll direct it all at a single point so she didn't destroy the Basilicom, but that would be the best she could do. At least, with this current level of control, she had over Balmung. Therefore, she wordlessly nodded, mentally commanding Balmung as it began to emit what could only be described as an aura born from the twilight.

That was all Wolvrik needed to be assured she would accept, as the man hardened his gaze once more after a faint look of gratitude passed through it, though Black Heart couldn't be sure. Even so, though, they had to finish this. She and him got into their stances, and began gathering their energies into their weapons.

(Play OST: Identity by mikio sakai - Chivalry of a failed knight)

On the CPU's end, Balmung's aura violently spasmed and jerked about, as if straining against the user's will to keep it in check. This made Black Heart mentally grimace as she barely exerted her will over the power, quickly subduing it and making it obey her. That was when it got started, and began to spiral and wiggle about whilst releasing a powerful vortex of wind behind her. This would be her strongest attack, so she hoped that things would turn out okay after this. She still had questions, but the warrior within her told her that this wasn't the time for talk but the time for action.

Meanwhile, Wolvrik's own attack began charging, rippling airwaves indicating the future attack's upcoming potency. The same creature from before appeared behind Wolvrik, looming over him whilst bearing its fanged maw towards her as it reached forth almost as if it were trying to grab Wolvrik's head and crush it. Though, Black Heart found that to not be the case as sound vibrations rippled around his fist, extending to his sword and causing the space around it to warp. Not to mention the violent sparks of electricity that ignited occasionally from the vibrations causing friction with each other.

In that time frame, just as their attacks began entering the apex of their power, both fighters locked gazes. No words were exchanged, there would be no need. Not with what would happen next, but their eyes each showed the same thing: the resolve to fight to the end, not just as warriors, but as individuals. Individuals with hopes, dreams, and ideals. Things that had clashed so frequently over the last few minutes that it seemed almost like they had spent an eternity together, crossing swords. Even so, none of that had been meaningless, for both parties.

After all, when two warriors clash on the battlefield, the only language they need, would be spoken not with their words, but rather the sharp metals in their hands.

Both had their attacks ready, and at that moment, they charged.

During that brief moment, time seemed to slow for both fighters. Black Heart's hair flew about wildly, just like her appearance whilst her eyes almost shined with the intent to kill. Her teeth gnashed as she moved forth while keeping her attack contained until the moment of opportunity She looked to her charging opponent, eyeing the sword that just screamed danger to her like a thousand blades were about to descend upon her, feeling a slight sense of apprehension crawling up her spine from her stomach. This would no doubt be a close one.

In a second, they were within striking distance... It would definitely be a close one, and if possible time seemed to slow even more. If it were at a turtle's pace before, now it felt more like a snail's pace. Black Heart's Balmung began swinging from her right whilst Wolvrik's sword swung from his left, aiming towards her head as she aimed for the same thing. Black Heart quickly saw how much of a disadvantage she would be in, thanks to this guy having a shield to help block her attack, whilst she had no such protection. She was no fool, whatever those sound abilities were, even if they seemed incomplete and un-mastered compared to Wolvrik's warrior prowess, something told her that she should NOT let them touch her otherwise bad things would happen.

Just as his sword neared her head, however... Black Heart ducked beneath it, pausing her swing. Her heart thumped wildly within her chest, sweat trailing down her forehead all the while she would have almost bathed in the look of utter surprise on Wolvrik's face that spawned from his attack missing... then the realization of what would be happening next. With his attack gone, Black Heart took the opportunity to slide by Wolvrik's exposed side, twirling around to prepare to unleash her attack. After all, now that she had gotten past his sword, it should be smooth sailing, right?

Nope.

It seemed that this guy's reflexes were NOT for a show, for the man had twirled around in the counterclockwise direction, so that his shield could once again block Balmung's path. He did it just as swiftly as Black Heart's slide, perhaps even swifter, moving so fast that he had not uttered a single sound like a quiet breeze in the wind. An admirable feat to be sure, considering the bulky Armour he wore.

However, if Wolvrik thought that she would let that stop her, then he truly underestimated the stubborn drive of Lastation's CPU. Her sharp eyes got even sharper, to the point that if looks could cut Wolvrik's sword would have been sliced in half more than 4 times. 'I will have one shot at this!' she thought to herself. 'One shot to end this fight once and for all! Alright Balmung, don't fail me now!'

Aiming Balmung, Black Heart quickly swung upwards as she finally let her attack out. "TWILIGHT WAVE!" She bellowed, the energy contained around and within the sword instantly erupting forth. It roared like a furious dragon, shooting forwards like a high-density beam and enveloping Wolvrik in a twilight light. Plus, thanks to his close proximity, he wouldn't have been able to dodge it either.

Just before he got hit by the attack... Wolvrik looked like he had just had an orgasm with the relieved smile he suddenly sported, his mouth opening to make two soundless words escape:

 **"THANK you..."**

* * *

The battle over, as evident by how the ring around them had literally vanished into nothingness, Black Heart gasped and panted heavily, sweat dripping from her brow as she fell down to one knee. At once, her mind realized that she had held her breath the entire time that instance, which prompted her t let out huge and heavy gasps to take in as much air as possible. She impaled the ground with Balmung and used the blade as means to help her get back to her feet, her body feeling more than a little taxed at the moment.

Speaking of Balmung, there was something she had noticed about her blade throughout the battles they had fought. Even when it was still within her soul waiting to be used. She didn't get it herself, but the blade acted somewhat like a Vacuum, sucking up the ambient demonic power in the atmosphere. Something that happened in much greater quantity when she finally drew it, though she attributed to one of the many things she still didn't know about the weapon. Perhaps that could change in the future?

Hopefully.

'Whew... looks like I... did it...'

Those thoughts passed through her mind, as broken as they may seem. She didn't want to admit it, but controlling that attack took a while hell lot out of her, even after training with Balmung for the last 3 months. Well, she didn't have time to completely devote herself to training since she had other duties as a CPU. Even so, she had still tried, n but still she couldn't really control that attack well. The fact that, out of her peripheral vision, there was a huge hole in the Basilicom's roof that led to the outside more than proved her mental remarks.

A bright light flashed, and soon enough the CPU had returned to her human form. Now that she was, her body no longer floated as it did in HDD form, though she still had the wings her Armour made for her. Her black hair did not return to its ribbon twin-tail style like it usually would have in the case of returning to human form. She attributed that to her Armour, she figured... and honestly, after today she felt like she might keep her hair like this. She didn't get it herself, but something about this new style felt... fresh, to her.

New hairstyles aside, Noire lifted her head as she looked around, deciding to see what the situation was. She had JUST defeated the leader of these barbarians, so she should at least be cautious of a revenge assault. Now, there were two things she noticed. One was that her attack had apparently done much more than she had expected. There were dozens of cracks, both big and small, throughout the room. There were faint burn marks, too which could only have come from the heat her attack must have radiated. The second thing, however, was that when she looked around, she didn't see any of the enemies they had faced before. None of them, like they had just vanished off the face of the earth. "Huh? Where are...?"

"I think THAT has something to do with it."

Turning towards the voice she heard, Noire saw Raven and the rest of Team RAIL, with Raiden (part of her felt relieved to see him unharmed) behind them, regrouping with her. Each of them looked like they had seen better days, with the two boys having various lacerations over their bodies that could only be explained as sword wounds, which they were dealing with by using what Noire realized were Hero Drinks. They healed both health and SP in Gamindustri, so they were widely popular for Guild Agents. Looked like Spec Ops could also be added to the list. Though in comparison, Raven and Lucy looked pretty much fine. Not a speck of dirt on their bodies to show that they had been fighting. Now that she thought about it though, that had been the case for when they fought together throughout the floor, too. "R-Raven! Whew I'm-" The CPU made to greet the other blackette, but then she stopped as her words then registered within the CPU's brain and Noire looked towards where Raven had pointed. When she looked, Noire could only scratch her jawline in confusion. "Huh?"

There, floating before them, was what looked like a crimson colored flame, with a black outline around it. The Flame just... floated there, doing nothing not even burning the air around it. Not to mention that it radiated a strange aura, one that fel remarkably like the many Demons populating the Basilicom right now. The difference between them though, was that this one felt... calm, tamed and peaceful, like it's chaotic nature had been satisfied to a level that the energy had never been before. Not to mention the fact that the flame's core looked distinctly like that of the head of the creature that sometimes appeared behind Wolvrik during their bout.

Speaking of that warrior, Noire's eyes widened when she remembered his proposal to her. That proposal soon led her to realize what this flame was, and what it represented. "This... This is...!" she exclaimed, stopping towards the flame before anyone could stop her. When she was about a foot away from the flame, Noire reached out towards it, intending to grasp it by its core. "So... this is your existence, your everything..." the woman mused as she grasped the core. It didn't feel that hot to her, surprisingly enough. It was almost like the heat welcomed her or something, but even so, deep within the flame Noire could sense it. the Burning passion of a warrior who fought in many battles, simply because it was his calling.

Such a feeling sparked many questions in her mind:

Who was Wolvrik?

Where did he come from?

What was his life like?

Did he have friends? Family?

Was he married, did he have loved ones waiting for him?

These questions... well, they filled her mind, and at that point, Noire gasped as she dismissed Balmung to use her free hand to clutch the side of her head. Her eyes, unbeknownst to her shined brightly as if they were the eyes of a cyborg, going with a cross-shaped light. Nevertheless, Noire's attention got caught by the searing pain echoing throughout her mind. "Ugh... what is...?!'

Before her, however, her eyes suddenly flashed, and soon, Noire found herself looking at... something.

* * *

A young boy, born within a world where combat was everything.

Where the gods they worship were deities of a foul, sinister nature.

A land where one has to fight to survive, where packs.

The boy grew into a man, a man who fought with brutality and savagery throughout many battles against other tribes.

His talent for the arts of war gave him much fame, much glory and honor to his tribe and himself...

But the man grew cocky, and that cockiness ended up being his downfall.

He found himself cursed by the Gods that he so worshiped, gifted with immortality in exchange for forever being the Gods servant, sent to accomplish tasks throughout the world that of which no mere mortal could ever hope to comprehend.

The man would have no choice to do this, or risk losing his soul forever.

At first, he despised his curse, for it tied him down to the gods and would never allow him to pursue his own ideals.

However, a plot of corruption and deceit tried to take him, and it was ironically his own curse that helped him uncover the plot to destroy it.

Which lead him to believe his curse was a blessing in disguise, thus he accepted it.

So began his centuries-long life, a life of constant combat, looting, slaughter, and pillaging.

A life where he leads countless hardened warriors into battle, fighting against an untold amount of horrific abominations both mortal and immortal alike.

None of those times were he defeated, none of those times did he die. Everyone else died around him, but the man would constantly grow stronger and stronger, earning much favor from his allies as well as the Gods.

In time however, weariness settled in. He had fought for thousands upon thousands of years, his skill with a sword making it so that he had never lost a fight, for if he did then his curse would sell his soul to the demonic legions of his Gods to be tormented for all of eternity.

His only chance of escape, if he so desired, was to die in glorious combat, to be executed by a worthy warrior ad pass on everything he has, his experience, techniques, abilities, his loot, all of it would go to that worthy warrior.

He would have done nothing less to ensure that his legacy would survive even if he would not.

* * *

Another flash happened, and Noire found herself back in the room where she had killed Wolvrik. The CPU let out a breath she had been holding as the pain all but vanished in an instant, nearly giving her whiplash. Not to mention the flame in her hand sunk into her arm and filled her with a similar aura to what it radiated before. This only lasted a second, though, before it vanished completely. "Ugh.. what?"

"Whatever happened just now, we can ponder on it later." Raven called out, before any questions could be asked by her team or Raiden, Noire's bodyguard. she knew their feelings, she too felt curious about what had happened just now, but right now they had an invasion to stop. That took priority for the moment, and since they had cleared this floor of demons anyway, along with destroying the source that powered the portal as evident by it having vanished (probably that Forsaken and that Wolvrik guy), it would be time to press forward to the next floor.

To the Dungeons where she, and most likely Lucy as well, could sense the demonic presence that lingered there, waiting for them.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Here you go guys, a new chapter!**

 **Now, in this one the first part was more of an overall summary of the conflicts that happened throughout the floor. The reason why I wrote it like this is very similar to why I wrote some of the battles in the Hellverse arc. They're mostly filler fights (save for that moment where Lucy and Raiden did the jack the ripper combo, shoutout to Mgasmsms for the idea, sorry if I got your username wrong) that show what the situation on the other floors are. The REAL juicy bits are where the portals are.**

 **Also, funny story. Originally I wouldn't have had Noire inherit Balmung from the fate series, as Vert got her weapon from To Aru no Index and I wanted to keep to that trend. But then, I couldn't find a proper weapon for her that I could understand on that series, so I took to the Fate Series. Heck, I even have plans for their further growth in powers thanks to the fate series, something I have King Carlos to thank.**

 **Not to mention, that includes the abilities Balmung has and what they do to Noire. As for the ones you just saw, Balmung basically made her look like a mix of herself and Siegfried from the fate series, with influence on her personality like the BOW instincts IF has. Not to mention that even though she's trained with Balmung, Noire still has little idea on the full potential this sword has. That'll change though, don't worry. Plus, she now has the legacy of Wolvrik, something that'll have MAJOR power boosts for her. It was also an idea I got from looking into some Chinese novels.**

 **Hopefully you guys like the chapter, and i'll be seeing you in the next one!**

 **Peace out!**


	134. Chapter 131 - Demonic Invasion PT8

**Chapter 131 - Demonic Invasion PT 8**

"Well, it looks like the second floor has been cleared… that leaves the third floor, then the Dungeon."

A serious-looking Vert stated this as she crossed her arms underneath her ample bosom, the act causing them to jiggle in a visible manner. The woman, along with the 3 Groups, stood next to a similar entrance that lead them to the second floor, only this one would lead them even further downwards to the third floor. They could tell that they were not going in circles due to two things: One, the fact that the stairs themselves lead downwards. That had been the first obvious indication that the Groups had noticed, as well as the most obvious. Two, all of them could sense the madness, the bloodlust and the insanity that seemed pretty standard for Khorne warriors down there. Not to mention those who could sense demonic power also sensed said energy beneath them. As she spoke her piece, Vert's gaze scanned through the faces of her comrades, more specifically several people.

The first of them had been Compa, the young Nurse-In-Training standing alongside IF and Neptune as she looked about curiously. It looked like there was something on her mind, Vert thought. But even so, she still found herself drawn back to her own thoughts. Ever since the first floor, Vert had noticed something very… off about her. Something that had changed since she first entered the Gala. Before, Vert hadn't seen her as much, she seemed more like an everyday civilian who had been trying their best to be useful. She definitely fit the part as she had that motherly aura around her, something that did make her chuckle a few times when she sometimes noticed her trying to mother IF when she had food on the sides of her mouth.

But now? Now, there was something else. Something else within her that gave her one of the most confusing sensations she had ever sensed. There was an energy within her, something similar to both Mana that Mages use in Lowee and Share Energy that the CPUs used. It looked like two other people she had been eyeing (not in that way get your heads outta the gutter) seemed to have knowledge of what she has become but chose to keep it to themselves. If she could, Vert would have asked them about it, but in their defense, it didn't really matter currently since it would help her survive against these inhuman enemies.

Therefore, she had dropped it.

"You're right, this should be floor number 3 next… Say guys?" Compa began to finally speak, shaking her head as she got everyone's attention. The Nurse-In-Training had, along with the rest of Group 1, been able to rescue several Survivors throughout the floor, but like the rest of them had feared, the amount they had saved had plummeted in comparison to the ones on the first floor. Odds were, that this would be the case for the rest as well. When she saw that everyone was looking at her, Compa continued. "I keep getting this earthy feeling when we go down floors. But the Basilicom's made of extravagant minerals, right?"

Noire hummed thoughtfully, cupping her chin. Just by looking into Compa's eyes, which she showed in a much more expressive way than before now that Noire thought about it, she could tell how bothered the girl had been, and felt pretty sure on what had been bothering her. Still, Compa had asked a question, and she wanted answers since she didn't really know herself, though Noire had noticed the same things the Nurse-In-Training had. "Now that you mention it, you do have a point, Compa." She remarked, glancing at the walls with contemplation. "Its been on my mind for a while, but your question does make me think of one I've asked myself a few times: are we going deeper and deeper underground?"

Looking over to her, Vert's thoughts wandered towards the black-haired CPU. Ironically, the next person she had eyed was Noire, whom stood with her Bodyguard and the rest of the group, though that sword she wielded in that battle against Wolvrik (according to her brief summary) had vanished just like their CPU weapons. That sword, actually, was one of the reasons why she had been keeping a close eye on her since they regrouped. Not only did that Sword intrigue her with its holy and divine elements, as well as it's destructive capabilities (she'd worry about the repair cost, and what the construction workers will have to do, after the invasion would be repelled). Not to mention, the Sword somehow felt… off. It felt weird, like it was trying to complete a goal by drawing in ambient demonic power. Noire likely had noticed too judging by the looks of deep thought she had seen her in since they regrouped. The other thing she noticed was that Noire's aura had felt… changed, it now felt more like Neptune's actually. Divine, but with a hint of demonic underneath… I wasn't something Vert was used to, but she could identify it easier thanks to having previous experience thanks to the preteen amnesiac.

Then, there were Lucy and Raven.

Both girls seemed the most suspicious out of everyone of them here. Not in a bad way though, nothing like that. If anything, Vert felt more curious than cautious about them. Sure, Raven came off as someone who would watch whilst you suffered a great injury, thinking that crying wouldn't help you grow, but she did command the proper respect from her subordinates. That showed she had ideal leadership qualities, though the rest of her personality seemed to be… less common, than most. That would be the NICE way of putting her survivor's mentality. Even so though, something else besides her personality got Vert's attention, and though she didn't show it, Vert knew that Noire had noticed too though she had other things to think about, apparently. That Raven and Lucy suspiciously had an energy inside of them that wasn't meant for mortals. Why that was, she didn't know, but she'd sensed them use it more and more, at least Lucy had, as they went down the floors.

"Its because this Basilicom was built that way, Compa dearie." Lucy replied in a factly manner, raising her right gloved arm to gesture to one of the walls. "It was built with underground areas so that, in the event of an attack, it would be much harder to bring the structure down. It was also kept a large secret from the other Nations so they wouldn't get any ideas during the raids." She explained. What she didn't say was that thanks to them going deeper underground, her nature powers got easier to use thanks to the wilderness around them. She liked nature, she liked it a lot, especially since being around nature sped up the use of her powers significantly. She could use them in industrial areas, but they wouldn't have the same effect.

She did NOT miss the slight look of surprise and alarm Vert temporarily sported, either.

'H-Huh?!' said CPU screamed in her mind, shock filling her system at what the woman had just said. 'How did-how did this young lady know that?! She's right, the information about my Basilicom being built underground had been kept secret, but how did she find out? Only my highest-ranking staff members, or the Military leaders, know of this place!' The fact that she DID know however, was what truly caused her to stiffen for those brief moments, as it gave her a whole LOAD of new worries to add to her mind. She didn't want to think of it, but if Lucy had known about it, who else knew? Was it still as safe as she had thought it been? Were there any in the other Nations who knew? Well, the fact that this problem originated underground answered more than a few of those questions, actually.

"Huh, so THAT'S why…"

"Well, in any case…" IF began, interrupting the Nurse-In-Training as she brought everyone's attention to her now. "Looks like these floors are going to get tougher the deeper we go. Instincts are going haywire over here, which must mean that there is going to be a lot of them this time." She explained, before looking towards Vert and her group. "You guys sure you don't need any support?" she asked them with a hand on her hip. She wasn't worried as much about Vert, rather most of her worry was centered around Isaac and Guts. Unlike Vert who was a Goddess who had her hands on a powerful weapon, Isaac and Guts were both human, 100% human. They didn't have the perks that the rest of the girls had, their bodies didn't have the same potential as theirs. And they were going into battle against enemies whom all towered above their abilities so much that one couldn't even cry at the unfairness of it all.

However, unlike the brunette's feelings right now, Isaac just cheerfully gave a thumb's up with a lopsided smirk forming on his lips. "Hey, no need to worry about us, Mrs Windwalker." He replied, IF's cheeks becoming a tad pink when she heard her nickname. "Me and Guts here can take care of ourselves, this big lug of Armour even more so." The man replied, resting a hand on one of the Black Swordsman's shoulder guards. "Guy's kill record is much higher than the average Agent, plus he's dealt with things like this a lot, so we'll be good."

In response to his comrade's words, Guts simply nodded his head ever so slightly. To those who had considerably less perception than others (#cough# Neptune #cough#), it probably wouldn't look like anything like this. "We'll be fine."

A look of conflict appeared on IF's features regardless. Perhaps it was because of her state as a BOW and seeing how frail people could be, maybe she looked down on humans a little as much as she loathed to admit it. After all, she had seen them fall like flies caught by a fly swatter whenever they fought Demons and other Abnormals, making her have a rather… low opinion on human strength. Still, it's the enemies she was most concerned for, so cut her some slack. Still, she decided to accept it for now, she'd give them some back up if they needed it, but until then she'd stay her hand. "Right, anyways we got enemies to ice, so let's get to it."

Everyone nodded, and just like they planned it Group 3 with Vert at the head, took the lead for this third floor. Whilst she did so, Vert felt her Gungnir resonate from deep within her. It shuddered in excitement, a type a warrior would face when they confront a powerful enemy. She couldn't say she didn't feel the same, but the way it acted told her that a LOT of powerful opponents would be awaiting her down there.

Whelp, far be it for her to stay away from the challenge, right?

* * *

About 5 minutes later, Group 3 had been the first of the Groups to arrive at the third floor.

Unlike the last two Groups however… they weren't attacked immediately, or even after a moment or two. Instead, all they were greeted with was the same sights they had seen in the second floor… only, much worse as there were huge masses of bodies, bodies belonging to both staff and guests impaled on single spikes. Each body had their skulls and even their spines ripped out, allowing blood to constantly fall out of them like waterfalls. Some even looked like they had their limbs, bones or even their internal organs brutally torn from their bodies as if they had been carved up by some animal. Not to mention what looked like human entrails hung like ribbons from the top of the ceiling.

'Even though I have seen this sight so many times during this invasion…' Vert thought as she summoned Beninuki, gripping it's shaft tightly in anger whilst reinforcing it with Share Energy. It was only through this way that her techniques could be successful in piercing or cutting through the enemy's Armour when she used Beninuki. Otherwise, she'd use Gungnir. The reason why she wasn't using it now was because she wanted to save it for the stronger opponents on this Floor, that weapon had WAY more power than Beninuki, but also it had way more destruction capability. Too much for confined spaces, sort of like that sword Noire had used, tough she didn't know which of the two had the greater potential for such a thing. 'Seeing how awful these horrific, savage barbarians treat my people… it reminds me of why Leanbox had been founded in the first place…'

Seeing all this, seeing all this death, gore and horrific actions… it hit her too close to home. It sparked memories within her that she had long since repressed. Memories she never wanted to think about, memories of a self that had much more naivety and innocence in the ways of the Land she had been born to preside over. Back then, she remembered how foolish she had been, how blind and oblivious she had been to the dark nature her Land had.

That hadn't lasted long however, and that self quickly died out.

"Geez, these guys don't know the meaning of the word overkill…" Isaac remarked with a disgusted grimace, rubbing the back of his head whilst he held his Plasma Cutter in one hand, the other ruffling the back of his head. Since the battle had not yet started, his RIG hadn't formed his helmet just yet. Once the battle DID start, that would be a different story, though he did get the urge to form it prematurely if only to get rid of the horrid stench that permitted through this place. The amount he could smell made him want to hurl, even after being in so many situations similar to this. He had thought he'd gotten used to such horrific stenches during his years as an Agent, but apparently it seemed he was wrong. "I can safely say that this is some messed up shit…"

Guts said nothing, didn't even react to this level of brutality and gore as he scanned their surroundings. The corridor, bare all the disturbing sights, looked pretty much deserted. The moment he'd seen it, Guts had lost hope for there to be ANY survivors here, it was much more likely that they were too late for everyone here. Still, glancing to his CPU and seeing how her shoulders trembled, how her teeth gnashed and how her body literally shook like an earth quake, he decided not to voice those opinions. She DEFINITELY didn't look like she wasn't aware of this fact, so he decided to focus on his previous observations. "This looks too deserted. It's suspicious. Where's the enemy?" he wondered, putting a hand on his Dragonslayer which rested diagonally on his back. A large part of his lack of fear may be due to experience, but an even LARGER part was the fact that he had this massive blade by his side. It's weight and the feeling of it's hilt gave him more comfort than even a woman sleeping with him would give, and for good reason.

For a warrior, a good sword that survives the same battles the warrior has, is the best sort of battle companion they could ever ask for.

Hearing his words snapped Vert out of her anger, and made her look past all the atrocities to confirm Guts' words. At once, she too adopted a cautious look, as did Isaac whose eyes scanned the area intently, like an owl hunting in the night for prey. "Yes… that does concern me, too." Vert mumbled under her breath, narrowing her eyes as she looked ahead. Something about this didn't feel right, none of this did to be honest. Even so, she got more warning bells ringing in her mind at the fact that they WEREN'T being attack than when they would. THAT spoke volumes about their enemy, huh?

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long since the enemy DID attack…

Just, not in the same way as they had before.

"Whoa, shit!"

A loud exhale escaped Isaac's lips as they quickly grouped up in the back-to-back style. The reason? From around them, four massive eruptions, similar to volcanic ones in appearance with the lava being replaced with dirt, happened around them. From those eruptions, came 4 separate enemies, each of them in crimson, bulky Armour with metallic grey highlights that indicated them being part of the 'World Eater Legion' that they had learned of.

"FOOOOOOOOR KHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORNE!"

Time seemed to slow down as these four men came down towards them, yelling out their own religious devotion to the Blood God. However, in that brief moment where the men had reached the apex of their jumps and began their descent towards the outnumbered group…

They all reacted.

SWOOSH!

STAB-STAB-STAB!

BZZT!

All 4 World Eater members surprise attacked them from below, intending to rip them into pieces like they had done the rest of the floor's occupants. Well, INTENDED was the keyword there. 2 of them got sliced in half by Guts' enormous Dragonslayer when he had countered first, swinging the large blade in a wide arc The men had not expected the blade to be as powerful as it was, and thus got their torsos as well as their heads torn off… by their left sides first. The metallic blade, with it's size, strength of it's wielder and the impact, tore through their Armour with little difficulty, and if the brunette had been there to witness that moment then she would have taken back her worries for the two human Agents.

As for the other human Agent, Isaac had reflexively put his intended attacker in a Stasis, smirking as his helmet formed over his head. "Gotcha, bitch…" he muttered under his breath before raising his Plasma Cutter and pilling the trigger. Since he had witnessed the morbid sights of how well the enemy had 'decorated' the Basilicom, he had well… more than a little desire to rip them apart. Slowly, and painfully. Thus, he would happily admit he took more than a little sadistic pleasure in shooting off his attacker's limbs and his head. Therefore, only the torso remained which fell to the ground, each limb including the head flying off into different directions.

On Vert's side…

"Ufufufufu…" a rather… creepy giggle escaped her throat, one that if they could have heard it Isaac and Guts would have felt their manhoods shrinking in fear, as she unleashed a HASSEI KAIGAN on her attacker's ass. With the nature of the technique, not only did each thrust go through it's Armour with the Share Energy helping, but it punctured each and every vital possible. Plus, there was the fact that he was airborne an unable to dodge Vert's Spear. Therefore, the World Eater member had no chance of escaping his inevitable death, as his corpse fell to the ground with a massive THUD. His blood splattered all over the blood-covered ground, though thanks to that, this fact almost got by the cause's eyes if she hadn't seen it go SPLATTER in the first place.

Once the surprise attack abated, each of them glanced around, waiting for more attackers to come. None of them fooled themselves into thinking there weren't any more of them, their previous experiences in the rear guard told them that much. Also, the reports from the other two Groups helped too. Isaac went behind the two whilst Vert and Guts moved to the opposite sides of the corridor. Up ahead, they could see how the Corridor split into 3 directions in about 35 steps, evolving into the same labyrinth-like structure as the previous floors.

"Wow, Lady Vert…" Isaac remarked, rolling his eyes in exasperation before he shifted his gaze to this Landmass's CPU. "You REALLY love to make RPG Dungeon shit, don't you?" All he got were a pair of starry eyes and a fist pump from said CPU, making a chuckle and a sigh escape his lips. Shaking his head, the man returned to looking about for any surprising enemies…

Enemies that soon appeared.

They came from the other end of the Corridor, as well as the holes their 4 dead brethren made. They came at the group in full force, various war cries escaping their lips as their individual steps resembled a stampeding herd. The sight of so many of the enemy barrelling down on them didn't feel very different to the group, they'd dealt with similar tricks in their time acting as the rear guard. "Alright, now THIS is the welcoming committee I was expecting…!" Isaac cackled when he said that, his grin hidden by his helmet.

Guts only gave him a look that just said 'shut up or I'll smite you with my bigass sword'

"Yeah, yeah…"

* * *

The fighting lasted about 5 minutes, though to the three it felt more like 2 hours. As usual, it seemed those who worshiped Khorne got massive rage boners, cause those fuckers refused to go down. The fact that they were fighting not only for the good fight but to avenge their fallen brethren MAY have had something to do with it, too. In the end though, they managed to successfully kill off all of the enemies that attacked them, though they didn't fool themselves into thinking they had killed off all of them.

"Whew… fighting a whole load of these guys is a lot harder than it looked…" Isaac remarked, his upper torso rising and falling to indicate his uneven breathing patterns. Still, his body trembled, trembled at the thundering sensations of what he had just gone through. The booming patter of heavy footsteps, the unholy and inhuman war cries, the frantic action… as a gunman, Isaac felt like THIS had been the closest he had ever gotten to what it was like for those who fought with CQC weapons like himself. 'Wow… I think I can understand guys who use swords better now…' he thought to himself, before looking over to Guts. "Man, when you talked about feeling at home against an enemy, you weren't kidding… uhhhh, Guts, man? What are you doing?

The moment that he had turned, Isaac and Vert (whom had been recovering in her own way), found their attention drawn by the Black Swordsman, whom crouched low to inspect one of the bisected bodies he had left in the wake of his Dragonslayer, said sword having been put back on his broad and muscular back. They couldn't see what he was doing from their positions, so the two walked up to him after regaining their bearings to get a better angle.

"These men… they weren't like the ones we fought before. They're different."

Even so, Guts gave a response before they got that perfect angle. At first, Isaac made to question his friend and long-time partner for their Spec Ops duties, but the moment that he looked over his shoulder, his mouth closed up faster than that cartoon wolf which chased the eternally running bird on the road. The corpse that Guts was looking at, investigating by running a finger on the plates of the arm Armour… aside from being bisected, there were a multitude of things they didn't notice about it.

One: The helmet didn't look… completely like a helmet. In fact, it looked more like a helmet and a face having merged together, with hollow eyes that glowed a bright yellow color, making it difficult to tell whether or not the enemy was still alive. There was an open maw of matching design, filled to the brim with knife-like fangs that just screamed their ability to dig into mortal flesh. That explained why some of the men tried to bite the three when they got close enough for CQC, then.

Two: the man's body, it looked horrifically mutated and deformed now that they got a closer look, with the skin beneath the Armoured almost becoming crimson red like it had been constantly exposed to an enormous amount of heat. Heck, some areas looked like they lacked any skin at all, whilst their limbs looked to have been bent, broken and twisted beyond the forms of normal human limbs. Each of them also seemed to have various spikes, made from both bone and metal protruded from them into sick, jagged formations. These limbs ended in a varied set of forms: demonic wing-like blades, elongated, massive claws with spikes varying in length protruding out from the back of their barely recognizable palms.

"Uhhhh… what the hell?" Isaac muttered, eyes wide with shock as he stepped backwards, unable to believe what he had just seen. Heck, his eyes now rivaled the size of ants as horror and disgust swelled within his stomach. "Okay, that shit looks just plain nasty…"

Vert found it hard to disagree with him. She hadn't plain many gory games, but the few she did know were more psychological than horrifying. Even so, those experiences helped her keep the bile from escaping her throat. Plus, she hadn't eaten very much during the Gala, so she would have had little to vomit anyways. "On that, we are in agreement. This IS rather horrible…" she spoke, nodding her head in agreement whilst she turned away to face the corridor ahead. Her eyes narrowed darkly, instincts quickly going off like alarms in a high security prison. "We can't afford to remain idle though, if the second floor is anything to go by, we will be attacked again soon enough."

Both males nodded, and whilst questions still persisted in their minds, Guts and Isaac nonetheless stood up and accompanied the CPU as they began proceeding down the corridor.

Vert had been right, though that wasn't really that surprising, is it?

Not one step into the labyrinth that was the third floor, did they get attacked by more World Eater soldiers. They got attacked from all side, and by that, it LITERALLY meant all sides. As in from the sides, front, back below by emerging from the ground and even above by coming from the ceiling. It was almost like they had unleashed an entire swarm of insects rather than an organized enemy.

Heck, organized could NEVER be used to describe the way these guys fought. Instead, they fought more like psychotic lunatics mixed in with combat training. Their wild, twisted bodies also looked more and more ghastly, beastly and inhuman the more that they fought too, something that honestly worried Vert. It worried her a whole hell lot. During their combat, she had noticed that their auras gradually had lost their human traits, gradually twisting in on itself whilst a crimson aura slowly ate away at it, almost like something was eating away at them from the inside out.

Reminded her of the Necromorphs Nico had told her about one time in the story's 3-month time-skip.

Still though, since she had fought alongside Nico, Vert didn't show it around anyone she had associated with during her isolation (and by the Goddesses that was a very short list) but she wanted to know how other Agents operated. Therefore, she would sometimes glance over during combat to gauge how her Spec Ops Comrades did on their sides of the battlefield(she couldn't before cause she had been busy providing rear guard)… and well, she could honestly say she wasn't disappointed.

Even with the numbers stacked against their favor, the two Agents held up quite well, relying on each other to cover their individual weaknesses. Isaac used his various arsenal of Engineer-based weaponry to slice through the limbs of his opponents and locking them in Stasis, keeping them away from him long enough to finish them off. It helped that he had CQC training to keep those who did get too close from touching him, putting them into Stasis and ending them with quick shots to their noggins. Sometimes Vert swore she could hear him mutter 'head-shot! Fatality!' under his breath, but she figured that had been her imagination.

As for Guts…

The moment that she saw him fight, Vert recognized RIGHT AWAY why Isaac said the things he did about his partner. If she were his enemy, Vert mentally vowed NEVER to get anywhere near his Dragonslayer as she watched him cleave through groups of enemies left and right. Blood flowed, limbs spun through the air, bodies were sliced to pieces, and the guy did it all the while moving at supersonic speeds. His Dragonslayer literally blurred about as if he were enhancing it in some way. Although, judging by the fact that she sensed nothing in his aura indicating some sort of supernatural help, that thought got dashed before it could take route. So yeah, lesson of the day: don't get in that guy's way or else she'll get butchered… good to know.

After fighting throughout the floor (Groups 2 and 1 doing their thing and trying to evacuate any survivors possible), Vert, Guts and Isaac found themselves by a door to another large room. The blonde CPU stood before it whilst her human companions remained behind her, their forms ripe with tension from the sheer amount of violent hostility they could feel from the other side.

"So, this is the source of the Demons, huh?" Isaac questioned, frowning as he looked upon the door with trepidation. He clutched the sides of his arms, his Plasma Cutter in hand. "Geez, creepy looking. It looks harmless enough, but I can't help shivering. These guys seem to be experts at giving you nightmares just by their energies alone." He remarked as his form trembled slightly.

On the other side, Guts shook his head with little ear in his body, none of this having much of an effect on a swordsman like himself. "No need to dawdle, we have a job to do, thus we should get to it." he stated, glancing over to this Landmass's CPU with a slightly narrowed gaze.

Said CPU merely offered a wordless nod, summoning Gungnir instead of Beninuki. Mainly because her senses told her something powerful lay within this room, and that she would need to bring her A game along for this battle. Not to mention those World Eater soldiers with those mutated bodies concerned her, they concerned her throughout this entire floor clearing though she had managed to keep herself focused in battle to keep her mind off it. She had thought about it, and she had come to a conclusion, one she did NOT like to ponder.

'Anyways, let's focus on the task at hand.' She thought, quickly spinning Gungnir into her hand and swinging diagonally. The result was a heavy gust of air that had enough strength to, upon slamming into the door, throw it open and knock down any who had stayed too close to it. She heard a series of loud, surprised roars from the other side, which all but proved that this was the source of the Demonic forces invading her Basilicom on this floor. 'I don't sense any other Portals, nor any other concentrations of demonic power, therefore this place should be the source.'

"Alright then, let us enter."

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

Inside, everything became chaos (get the pun there?)

All over the place, men with various mutated forms roamed about, crying and screaming as they clashed constantly with the Black Swordsman, whom moved so fast that he was like a blur as he brutally cut down his opposition. Thanks to having seen it so much for herself, Vert didn't feel as queasy, though she too had her own battles against these World Eater Soldiers. Most of them focused on her and Guts though, leaving few to Isaac who shot through them with his range of Engineer weapons. Not many were for close combat, so he stuck to ranged.

Even so, as Vert cut down another enemy, flipped over another whom tried to stab her from behind with a mutated spear-like limb, the woman couldn't help but wonder where the leader was. She swiftly stabbed through the one with the spear via the head, whilst tearing through her opponents with practiced ease. Gungnir blurred about much like how Dragonslayer was behaving thanks to the aggression of It's wielder, as Gungnir tore through her opponents armour like Paper Mache.

'How odd… I do not sense any leader amongst them…' she thought as she cut down more World Eater Soldiers, each one being either stabbed or bisected by her Gungnir without being able to hold a candle to her. Fighting so much like this, she could definitely feel her strength increasing, her martial prowess growing and growing like a flower heavily doused with fertilizer. 'Perhaps they are like the ones on the first floor? Only caring about the conflict to the point of not caring even about leadership…?'

Soon enough however, she got her answer.

 **"Ahhh… PREY!"**

Instantly her eyes widened as her senses became high alert when she heard a demonic voice right behind her. As if it had just appeared there without her knowing, with a burst of KI following suit. Instinctively she reacted, twirling around and swinging Gungnir towards her surprise attacker.

PARRY!

SIZZLE, SIZZLE, SIZZLE!

Instead of meeting Armour, Gungnir's blade met two long curved talons, each of them covered in both fire as well as chaotic energy. It felt so much like the energy within Neptune and Noire's auras too, only much wilder and less tamed. Before she could take a look at her opponent, Vert gasped when she saw a second pair of 2 claws coming towards her from the side, aiming to carve out her right hip.

Hopping backwards allowed Vert to avoid them, but only by a hair. She could feel the heat they packed just as they barely missed her skin, causing her to wince as she landed on the ground, digging her heels in to slow her motion to a stop. Looking forth towards her opponent, Vert finally got a good look at him whilst she readied Gungnir for it's next fight.

She did NOT appreciate what she saw.

The man before her had the same bulky red and silver Armour as the rest of the World Eaters, however, the shoulders each looked like fanged open maws with long, serpentine tongues hanging out of them like panting dogs. A similar maw, much larger than the previous two though, stretched across the man's stomach whilst remaining closed for the time being. As for the arms, they didn't look nearly as mutated as his brethren did, but to compensate for that he had these large spikes, shaped like claws, protruding out the back of his hands. Each one rivaled the length of a long-sword and were coated with chaotic energy mixed with highly potent reddish orange flames. More maws replace the man's kneecaps and elbows, whilst the man's helmet seemed to have merged with his face, showing about 6 crimson, slitted eyes bearing down on Vert with ravenous bloodlust shining from them. There was no mouth where one should have been though, but if one asked her Vert would say he had enough already.

"Let me guess, you must be their leader?" Vert questioned, just as the same phenomenon Neptune's group and Noire reported when they regrouped happened. As in, a ring of fire and symbols suddenly erupted around them, separating them from the rest of the battle. 'This must be that thing they mentioned, how this ring of fire keeps the others from interfering with whatever goes on inside…' Vert thought as she only spared a mild glance to the ring around them. There wasn't as much space as she'd like, but given Gungnir's reach Vert figured she would have an advantage in the upcoming battle.

 **"Prey… PREEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!"**

The man's response came out from every maw on his form besides the one on his stomach. He raised his arms high as the flames from them roared upwards like great pillars of untapped rage as if they howled in agreement as well as eager anticipation for combat. The man constantly let out furious roars, howls and shrieks as if he were singing some form of song, before he dashed forwards towards Vert.

Her eyes widened at this, especially when she saw his speed, as he closed in on her in an instant. 'My goodness!' she thought, quickly rolling to the side at the last second to avoid an underarm swing from his right claw. Good thing she did, cause the moment that the claw touched the ground, a large eruption of flames and energy roared forth, reducing the space she once occupied to a mass of rubble. Afterwards, the man, surprised, turned to look at her once more, which prompted a frenzied snarl to escape the maws as he roared, charging at her again.

'So, I guess that he cannot speak… no, its more like his intelligence and sense of humanity have been completely annihilated somehow, replaced with nothing but a sense of combat seeking and violent impulses…' the CPU thought, her lower lip trembling as she parried the first swing with Gungnir, twirling it in front of her like a helicopter blade before launching a series of thrusts towards the man's face. In a way, she could pity this poor fool, as whatever had happened to him stripped hm of any sense of identity that he had, replacing it with only the violent urges to kill that ran wild throughout his body.

However, she quickly steeled herself as she saw her attacks missing, her opponent bending unnaturally like he were a mere puppet to avoid them. Whatever had happened to him, she had no time to feel remorse. It was a harsh thing to think about, but right now it was a battle of survival, it was either him or her. In this battle, this person was trying to kill, her, and Vert could not allow that. There would be no reasoning in this battle, no talking, or trying to find some common ground like in a political meeting. No, there would be none of that. The time for words had long since been over…

Now, it was time for war.

'Even if I think that though…' Vert thought as she ducked under a swing that would have decapitated her than sidestepped a overhead slash which created one of those fiery eruptions. She then tried to thrust Gungnir into the space where the man's heart would have been, only for the man to shift one of his maws into the Spear's path. The result, the Maw catching the Spear's tip within it's fangs, much to Vert's surprise. 'It does not mean this creature is weak. There is also the fact that his aura feels way more demonic than human, more so than the rest of his brethren. It would be good if I can figure out how this happens… so I can prevent something like this from happening to any more innocents.'

Quickly pulling Gungnir free with a surge of strength, Vert used the Shaft to block an incoming stab that would have pierced right through her gut, much to her slight surprise as she found herself sliding backwards from the impact. When she halted, Vert looked up to see her opponent having already charged at her, roaring bloody murder with his right flaming claw roaring for a challenge. 'I must put those thoughts aside for the time being. Thinking about the future is good, but its all meaningless if I can't survive this!'

Twirling Gungnir, Vert activated one of her Skills, pointing her weapon towards her opponent. "SYHLET SPEAR!" She bellowed, a Panel appearing beside her. From it, a large Spear shot out, extending forth and making to impale her enemy. Said enemy simply smashed through the Spear however, using a Shoulder tackle, much to her surprise as she quickly raised Gungnir to parry a slash towards her face. "Hey, its rude to hit a lady's face, you know!" she called out in anger, glancing downwards and quickly sweeping Gungnir across it.

The result ended up being the man getting tripped, falling to the ground back first as Vert made to stab him to finish him off. However, Gungnir got blocked just inches before it could impale the man's helmet by his claws, before his right leg was lifted and it kicked her in the stomach. This got her to gasp in surprise as she stepped backwards, releasing her hold on Gungnir by reflex. As a result, she lost her weapon as the man got to his feet, his Maws beginning to chomp away at the weapon.

However, they didn't get very far, if at all, actually. The moment their fangs began their chomping, they each let out these loud, banshee like shrieks whilst the man did the same, holding his head as he stumbled backwards like Vert had done not so long ago, dropping Gungnir to the ground. It clattered once, before reappearing into Vert's waiting grasp.

Inspecting it for herself, Vert found there to be no damage to the weapon's blade, something that made her smile in relief. 'Well, perhaps this is a blessing too, since Gungnir seems to be the antithesis of Demonic forces...' she thought, remembering the times she cut down demons back hen she was with Neptune and Noire. It shouldn't be much of a surprise that this creature/man/thing couldn't destroy her weapon due tot heir opposing natures. However, she DID feel quite relieved thats he hadn't picked Beninuki for this one, since then it would have had no problems destroying it by eating the whole thing.'Looks like those maws aren't just for show, they have the purpose of devouring the enemy's weapons as well as a form of defense like with with what happened before. If Gungnir wasn't divine related, then it could have been done for...' she thought.

Still, the fact that this guy didn't realize the nature of her weapon, meant that his mentality had been completely shot by whatever had happened to him, something that made her realize she could play to he advantage. After all, one of Gungnir's traits was that it would always hit it's target once thrown, and would return to her hand afterwards. Not to mention that it couldn't be intercepted due to bending the space around it from moving so fast. If she were to take this opportunity she could boast that she defeated her opponent with ease. Though, that would be attributed to her opponent lacking much intelligence in the first place.

In that case...

Adjusting her grip on Gungnir so that it could be thrown like a Javelin, the woman reared it back as she prepared to throw it. Once she reared it backwards enough, the woman felt it get encased in a golden aura, mixed with sparking electricity that surrounded the bladed ends of the Spear-like weapon. The moment that she did so, Vert saw how the creature that once had been a man stop his frantic screaming. Quickly detecting the incoming threat, he looked towards her and gave a frenzied howl at seeing her Spear ready to be thrown. Instincts took over it as it charged towards her, intending to stop her from throwing that Spear.

Unfortunately for it, those efforts would prove futile, as Vert had used the time it spend reeling from it's mistake to prepare her Spear. As it covered half the distance, half the distance needed for it's claws to impale Vert and stop her Gungnir, the blonde CPU smirked darkly as she merely... chucked the spear anyways. The moment that she did, Gungnir released a loud shockwave that rushed through the air itself like an aerial earthquake. With the speed it traveled at, the shot landed in the next millisecond, impaling the man turned monstrosity through the chest right where the heart would have been. Of course, it had tried to grab it from the air itself to stop it, or at least trap it within his claws, only the bending of space around it prevented anything like that.

After a brief moment the man stumbled backwards, gazing downwards at the Spear impaling him in the heart with a look akin to one of surprise on his face. Well, whatever could be seen of his face since it had merged with the helmet of his Armour. It soon shifted into one of horror and anguish. A series of pained howl escaped his various maws, even the one that took the place of his stomach whilst their tongues flailed about like headless chickens as Gungnir released it's energy into it's victim. This ended up causing him to implode on himself from within, exploding in a fantastic display of white light.

Instantly, the rest of the fiery ring vanished, and the other monstrous looking World Eaters cried out in shock, surprise and outrage once they saw how Gungnir had destroyed their Master. Many loud unearthly howls, roars and frenzied shrieks filled the air as Vert glanced around them, not noticing how Gungnir slowly began absorbing Demonic Power from both the defeated World Eater leader, but also the atmosphere.

"Hmmm looks like I have some cleanup to do..." the woman mused to herself as she caught sight of her two companions tearing through the enemy with reckless abandon. Non stop projectiles and sword swings could be heard from her left flank as Guts and Isaac rained absolute hell on their opponents, building up more and more kills that it started to scare her at how good they were. "Hmm... well, it would most certainly be unbecoming of a Goddess to not lend a hand in this situation. Very well..." With that in mind, Vert smirked as she twirled Gungnir in one hand as she let out a devious giggle. Her eyes gleamed in the room's lighting as she darted forth, her intent visible for all to see to a point where one could cry at how obvious it was. "I shall show you all my power!"

* * *

Killing the rest of the horde, and deactivating the portal because of it, Vert and her companions stood together in a triangular formation, each of them having applied recovery items consisting of Hero Drinks and SP Chargers. There was not a corpse in sight, as upon death every enemy had imploded in a fiery and hot manner. Well, save for the ones that Vert killed thanks to Gungnir's naturally effective divine abilities, they were killed by light energy coursing through their system. There had been a whole hell lot though, which had been why it had taken them up to 30 minutes to finish them off.

"Whew, it's finally over, geez...!" Isaac mused, moaning in pleasure when he stretched his arms above his head. The audible sound of cracking could be heard from him, and when he lowered his arms the man began winding his right one forwards, working out any kinks he had missed. "Those guns definitely do killers on the arms sometimes..." he muttered under his breath, before turning his head to Guts to see him having stabbed Dragonslayer into the ground and was leaning on it. "Dude, you look like you can still keep going for days on end, what the hell?"

Looking up towards his companion, the Black Swordsman focused his gaze upon him, answering in a gruff, rough voice. "I'm used to fighting entire armies. Fighting Demons is also something i'm used to, so something like this is nothing." it was more a statement than a fact, but then again the RIG-wearing man understood where he was coming from, if that wince he made was anything to go by.

"Yeah, you're telling me..." he mused, before looking over to Vert. "So, what's next, leader?" he questioned, smirking slightly as he rolled his other arm forwards to get them massaged for the rest of the battle. "You think we should regroup with the others, yet? We HAVE cleared this floor, all we need to do now is head to the Dungeon floor and decide whose going in."

Vert hummed at the idea, mulling it over inside her head. That idea did seem appealing, and it did feel like they had gotten what they had achieved on this floor. If they had indeed missed any Demons, then the other Groups would have taken care of them by now. Stefan's plan was a good one, but one thing he failed to take into account was the fact that each of them had some form of superhuman help. Herself, Neptune and Noire were Goddesses, Nico had demonic powers, Ivan and Aiden she wasn't quite sure on, same with Compa, Raiden was a Cyborg ninja, and Guts and Isaac were 100% human. Lucy and Raven remained unknown for the time being, but she definitely felt like they had a similar situation on their side.

However, Vert recalled this floor from when she first saw the blueprints during it's construction so many centuries ago... and then an idea popped into her head.

"Actually, perhaps something else is in order today." She told them, getting confused looks from the other two Agents. Vert however, elaborated on this so that they understood what was going on. "In the Third Floor, there is a little something that is widely used by the military. Usually, it would be locked tightly with few above Duke-class being allowed entry, but I do believe that this will be a necessary emergency for it to be opened without fear of such rules. Lets pay it a visit first, we can gain all sorts of useful items, weapons or otherwise. Who knows? We might even get something that'll save our skins. Now come, we must inform the others of this change in plans."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

* * *

"So... where are we exactly?"

It had been Ivan who'd been the one asking that question with a confused look on his face, looking upon the large, metal door that the three groups stood in front of. It looked quite high tech too, at least for Leanbox's standards since it was more metal than what they usually use for their structures. There was also this terminal-like structure next to it, of which Vert was looking into it with an intense gaze. Everyone else had similar looks on their faces whilst Vert either ignored him or got too deep into her current activities to hear him.

After the clearing of the third floor, Vert had advised them to take a detour to somewhere which only she knew about. Mostly due to her being the one with the best knowledge of the place's layout amongst the Groups. She didn't tell them what it was she wanted to take them to, and the more intellectual of their Groups had most certainly voiced their objections to the idea. However, Vert had prepared her own counter to their claims by saying that since they cleared the three floors of both demons and survivors (there had been so few by the time that they reached this floor), they didn't have as much urgency as they did before. Not to mention that they'd all benefit from this detour in that they'd be able to obtain means of making the last stretch of this invasion much easier.

Thus, here they were.

Finally, Vert reared her head back with a satisfied smile on her face, just in time for the sounds of locks undoing themselves to resound throughout the corridor they were occupying. "There, that should do it. Security seems to have been tighter than I recall." She mused, before looking to the rest of the Groups. She then widened her eyes slightly when realization dawned on her, before she gave an apologetic smile. "Oh, my apologies. I assume you do not know what this place is?"

"From what I can guess...?" Aiden responded before anyone else could. All eyes turned to him whilst he looked the door over, taking note of small details with his bird-like gaze before he finally returned his gaze back to Vert with his left hand cupping his chin thoughtfully and his right on his left elbow. "I'd say some sort of bank, or an armoury. Considering the nature of our job, i'd go with the latter, as I do not believe you would lead us to the Basilicom's treasury so easily."

His response brought about a satisfied nod from the CPU of Leanbox. "Your guess and theory are right, Mr FALCON. This is the Leanbox Basilicom Armoury, where we store various items and weapons that are deemed too dangerous or unknown for common use by the Military. Of course, normally I would not even think of opening this to anyone, however with the nature of our job like you said, it would be best if we were more equipped for the final stretch."

THIS drew everyone's attention, as they now stepped inside with Vert at the head, looking about with extreme interest. The Armoury looked... kind of small for an Armoury, but with dozens of boxes arranged the way they were, it looked like it housed a whole butt-load of items and gear that not even the Spec Ops knew about. The Armoury itself looked rectangular shaped, with shelves along the walls stacked to the brim with boxes that likely contained the wares this Armoury possessed. At the back, there lay a window which would lead to the outside, with a small vent entrance to the top left corner. A fan could be seen on the ceiling, casually rotating above them next to the lights that lit up the Armoury.

Even Lucy and Raven looked and felt more intrigued by this situation than they had previously. If Vert had deemed it necessary for them to get some extra firepower, then it would likely be for a good reason. She wasn't someone to make illogical decisions... most of the time. 'Still...' Raven thought as she looked around. 'We best make this quick, we don't exactly have much time here-'

"Ooooh, lookie here!"

Suddenly, Neptune's voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention towards her. Some of them, like IF and Raven, made to scold her for being so loud, when they saw that the preteen stood in front of two things: One of them was a ring the size of a Basket ball. The ring had a shimmering green color, with a lighter green aura flaring around it as it floated in front of Neptune. If one looked closer, then they would see various arabian details etched into the ring itself. The second one was also a Ring, one of similar size. Unlike the green Ring however, this one had a blue color and aura to it. It was almost as if the two Rings were... evaluating, or something. Evaluating something about Neptune.

"Huh?" IF wondered, furrowing her brows as the groups walked over to her. "Nep, what are you doing? Where did you get those?" she asked curiously, yet also with a layer of caution and suspicion.

Turning towards her friend, Neptune pouted at the look she got given by the Brunette, feeling lightly offended by it. "Hey, don't ask me." she replied defensively. "These things just flew out of these box thingies and just stopped in front of me. No idea what it is they're doing, but hey that's not much new, is it?"

"I guess..."

"Hmmm..." Vert began, eyes shining in contemplation as she quickly summoned a Tablet from her Inventory. She then pressed on the tablet's touchscreen a few times, made a few scrolling motions, before the woman found what it was that she was looking for. "Ah, here it is. These Rings appear to have been found in various camps made by the Northmen during military raids. One of them, the green one, seemed to radiate a power that drove everything in a 20 mile radius, at the best estimate, completely bonkers. The blue one was only found by a small family of three on a picnic trip to escape the problems Leanbox was facing. Not much else is known about that one, sadly." she remarked, looking at the tablet intently.

"I guess that's your record of everything that's in the Armoury."

"Yep, a CPU has to keep tabs on what's being put in her home, after all."

Neptune hummed, ignoring the short dialogue between Lucy and Vert as she stared at the two rings. "Still, they kinda give me a creepy vibe. Its almost like they're undressing me with their eyes."

"But they don't have eyes, Nep." IF quipped cheekily, her hands in her coat pockets whilst her lips curved into a slight smirk.

She did get a stink eye from Neptune for that comment, though. "Ya know what I mean, Iffy dearest. But seriously, its strange-NEPU?!"

At once, two things happened: One, the blue Ring suddenly shot forwards, going straight into Neptune's chest and phasing through it. The moment it did, the preteen gasped and cried out, cried out louder than she ever thought possible as she fell onto her knees. She clutched her chest tightly as if trying to dig into it to pull the Ring out, to no avail as she fell onto her side, screaming and crying with tears of pain filling the corners of her eyes. Eyes that got closed tighter than a vice in order to try and stem the pain coursing through her system. Even so, the pain only intensified, growing within her like a fungus trying to take over her body.

"NEP-NEP/NEP/NEPTUNE?!"

IF, Compa and Noire exclaimed, shock and horror filling their eyes as they rushed over to kneel beside the preteen, trying to see what it was that was harming their companion so. The amount of tears and saliva the preteen released during her screams could be comparable to a medium sized puddle made by rain in the short span of 5 seconds, and it only kept growing. "Wha-What the hell?! What's up with Nep?!"

"I-I do not know!" Vert exclaimed, panic flashing through her eyes as she hurriedly skimmed along the Tablet, looking through what details there were about the Ring that they found. Unfortunately for her, there was next to nothing about the phenomenon going on in front of her. Much to her anger and frustration. "Th-There's nothing in our research data about this!" Just then, her eyes widened when she remembered something, She remembered the moment she got her own divine weapon from that cave, there had been a similar ring to those two floating alongside it, hadn't there? Vert's eyes shined with recognition, a feeling similar to that of discovery swelling inside her chest. Yes, that's right! That ring went right into Nico whist she got Gungnir!

Did... did Nico have to go through something like this as well?

She... didn't know, she'd been too preoccupied with absorbing the essence of Gungnir into her body to check!

Raven and Lucy kept watch, eyes wide whilst Isaac and Guts quickly took posts outside,just in case the noise attracted some unwanted visitors. The former quickly looked to where Neptune's chest was located, and just as quickly tried looking at her aura with her senses. What she found was that a large source of Demonic Power, much like the sword that Neptune wielded, was trying to merge it's way into Neptune's being, assimilating itself into her. Unfortunately, the way it was doing it caused Neptune's own aura to react violently to the merger unlike the energy that was already within her which had been tampered with directly for Neptune's sake. Thus, an all out war began to wage within Neptune's body.

'This.. this is...!' Lucy thought as she watched on, a look of realization dawning on her as she comprehended what was happening much like her companion. However, she recalled something else, something Raven didn't think about since it's origins seemed to be the exact opposite in comparison. 'This is almost like when Nicky-Dear got that Crystal! That Green Ring vanished into Neptune's Inventory just as the Blue Ring entered her chest. What that ring did, was sense that someone compatible with it had been around Neptune recently, and thus decided to 'latch on' to her for the time being until she makes contact with that person again!' As for the scene before her, Lucy thought much like the lines that Raven was thinking,

For what felt like hours, Neptune screamed and howled like a banshee and a wolf mixed together, flailing about on the ground whilst holding her chest like something was trying to crush it from within. None of the girls could think of anything to help, nor did the guys in their combined Group either. Amidst the fear and worry for Neptune's safety, confusion over what was happening and frustration for their lack of ability to help raged through their beings. What the hell was going on here?! What was happening to Neptune?!

Finally, at long last, the preteen Goddess let out one loud gasp, her eyes bulging wide open whilst her mouth mirrored them. Her back arched upwards, her form completely tensing whilst her arms remained in erratic positions... before she slumped onto the ground, lax and breathing heavily. Her forehead looked to be riddled with sweat, her lungs desperately grabbed as much air as they could possibly allow within whilst the preteen slowly recovered from her recent experience. "#PANT#... #PANT#... #PANT#... W-Wow... I never... thought that would... happen... geez! This feels... like that time I... went through a whole... gallon of pudding... after having a big... feast!" she tried to say, though it came out between labored breaths.

Even so, collective sighs of relief escaped the others, seeing that Neptune no longer seemed to be suffering. Although, soon enough their faces each morphed into varying degrees of confusion and concern as the preteen sat upright (much to Compa's reluctance as she tried to convince Neptune to rest a bit, only for the preteen to assure her she was fine. Better than fine, she felt Nep-level fine, she said). Looking to the others, Neptune rubbed the back of her head as she chuckled nervously. "Yeah, uhhhh... sorry bout that you guys. No idea what just happened right then."

"I'll say, you gave us a real scare, there Nep..."

"Heh-heh-heh-heh, sorry..."

Vert then stepped towards Neptune as she got to her feet. Though, the preteen did stumble a bit which prompted Compa and IF to help steady her. "I severely apologize, Neptune. I had no idea this would happen." she told her, guilt dripping from her tone. Not to mention the fact that she had noticed that the demonic aura that Ring contained, something which Vert should have detected before had completely assimilated with the demonic power that was already in her. From what she could tell, the already assimilated power absorbed the foreign power as to stop the negative reaction her body had.

"No biggie, Vert!"

"Even so, however, I must ask. Do you feel any different? Is there anything you feel is out of place?"

"Weeeeeeeeell..." For a moment, Neptune hummed to herself as she made to answer right away. However, just before she did, something 'pulsed' within her, causing her to stop and think. "Now that you mention it, my Goddess juice feels like it's just gotten an overdose, like it's being drugged or something. Nothing bad, but more like one of those permanent buffing skills you see around." Neptune replied at last, confusion laced within her tone like the laces in trainers. Her brows furrowed as she tried to make heads or tails of this strange feeling, but nothing came up. It even went to the point where her face slowly became red and began to release steam.

However, IF stopped her before she could blow a gasket. "Hey, don't worry bout it, girl." she told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We'll take a look after all this is over. For the time being, even though Nep went through what she did, we should see what other items there are in here. If what past experiences have taught me, we'll need to take risks if we want to be strong enough to stem the tide of Chaos. We HAVE to keep getting stronger."

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 **Another chapter, done! (insert Dumbledore voice) XD**

 **Now, if any of you think that Vert should have had a high-paced fight for her like the rest of them, then i'll explain. I wanted to make each floor unique, to make them stand out for each other in terms of enemies. If you haven't much of a clue what I mean, then take a look at them. The ground floor had the Khornate Berserkers lead by Roghrax the Skull collector. The first floor had the Bloodletters lead by that Herald. The second had the Northmen from Warhammer Fantasy, and this floor had the possessed Demonkin (for all you warhammer fans out there you know what i'm talking about).**

 **Also, at the end it seems that Vert has decided it be fitting that the girls get some extra items to boost some of their powers or gain new ones. I already have a few up my sleeve already, and i'll begin writing them down. However, I may only give certain characters the chance to fight against the big boss of this Invasion, not because they're weak or anything (none of them are lets be real here) but also because the big boss is going to be too powerful for some of them.**

 **Remember, there's a Poll on my profile, its a simple survey to see who likes who, so don't be afraid to say who you like. I just wish for as much opinion on my story as possible.**

 **Plus, TRIPLE DIGITS ACROSS THE BOARD! THANKS A WHOLE BUNCH, YOU GUYS! HAPPY TO KNOW YOU ACTUALLY THINK THIS STORY'S WORTH SOMETHING! :)**

 **Hope you like, read and review, all that good stuff.**

 **Peace out!**


	135. Chapter 132 - Demonic Invasion PT9

**Chapter 132 - Demonic Invasion PT 9**

"You sure you're feeling okay, Nep-Nep?"

The Three Groups now stood before the entrance to the Dungeons below, the entrance that looked to have been mutated and deformed by Demonic power. The entrance had large, crimson brass doors that stood halfway between the stairs, with large knobs that would be just enough for a hand to grab. The mutations however, caused it to have multiple groaning faces, sharp jagged spikes protruding from its top and sides, as well as dozens of skulls jutting out in various formations. All of them looked frozen in screams of pure agony and torment, so basically part of the traditional demonic shit that had been thrown their way. There were large, long spikes that jutted out around the entrance, jutting out diagonally to make a makeshift twisted crown made from chitinous material.

Not to mention the fact that, for those attuned to sensing Demonic Power (IF, Neptune, Vert, Noire, Compa thanks to her abilities, Lucy and Raven) they sensed so much down there that if it were possible they would have choked on it. Hell, the entire entrance seemed to be saturated with a crimson aura that seemed to light up each and every skull. Almost like each one was a second away from erupting into flames of unending blazes. Furthermore, each of them swore they could hear despairing moans in the thousands, echoing throughout the vicinity and originating from the open-mouthed skulls dotted about and displayed like hard earned trophies, some of them even looking like they were still alive.

It became clear to them that they would likely be facing hordes upon hordes of enemies at this point.

However, these grotesque details weren't something that Neptune herself paid any mind to as she turned towards her friend, her eyes showing just how she felt about Compa's motherly-like behaviour towards her. "I said I'm fine, really Compa. This Nep is A-ok." She replied, even resorting to making the muscles flexing gesture. "Look, these Nep muscles are still at their prime and ready for action!"

Noire however, couldn't help but snicker at the rather… lacklustre muscles on the petite arms that Neptune sported. "Pft, like there was anything there in the first place…" she muttered under her breath, her shoulders shaking slightly whilst an affronted glare towards her was made by the offended preteen.

Yeah, needless to say that Neptune didn't find her remark very funny as she pouted angrily. "Mou, Nowa's being rude! I guess this is why she's got the eternal title of lonely heart, huh?" she responded with a tone just loud enough for the blackette CPU to hear. She intended for Noire to be bristling with anger over her comment, then she could go into super trolling Nep mode to rile Noire up even more.

However, she did NOT expect a smug smirk to form on the blackette's lips, a taunting look dancing through her eyes as if she were trying to say the patented meme 'try me, bitch!'

"At least I don't eat like a slob and have next to no leadership ability." She retorted sharply, huffing with a prideful, borderline arrogant smirk, escaping her with a matching aura resonating from around her. Deep inside, she could feel some form of… laughter, echoing from Balmung. Like, it was amused with the response she gave and offered its approval. Whelp, it DID have beastly traits, as well as traits only a King would have. In essence, it basically had a sense of sassy humour that Noire appreciated.

Again, logic in Gamindustri should be thrown out the window.

A rather shocked and surprised look formed on the preteen's face as she took a single step away from her fellow CPU, leaning backwards slightly whilst holding her left arm in front of her protectively and her right arm being outstretched to the side. Kind of that classic creeped out pose in a horror movie… only, it was used more to express the absolute disbelief racing throughout Neptune's form. "Whoa! Now that's below the belt! Ya making me mad, Noire!"

"Uh huh. Blah-Blah-Blah…"

"Grr!"

Beside them, IF could only watched on as Neptune and Noire quarrelled. Well, it looked more like Neptune tried to pummel the black-haired CPU with her tiny fists only for Noire to hold her back by planting a hand over her face. "Those two…" she muttered under her breath as she sighed whilst shaking her head. 'Well… I guess its no surprise, Noire just said all that to relieve the tension… and probably to annoy Nep for all the times she teased her.' The brunette remarked, a slight smirk tugging at her lips. 'Surprisingly though, Noire has a sassy side to her. Guess she has to have one when dealing with someone like Nep…'

That smirk soon turned into an upside-down frown though, as she remembered what had happened before. 'Nep may not show it, she's likely trying to keep up a brave face but whatever happened back there has definitely shaken her up. I can tell cause her hands twitch as if she's trying to stop herself from doing something. Not to mention the way her heart is beating right now…' In the end though, IF couldn't help but understand why Neptune had been so freaked out, even if she hid it away before anyone could notice. She didn't want her friends to worry, and not to mention how they still had a load more enemies to take out before this invasion was quelled.

Speaking of that time, after it all got settled down, everyone had their misgivings about going inside the Armoury again. After all, if these items were placed in here, then they were placed here with a reason behind them. Upon checking a

Thankfully, none of what happened to Neptune happened to the rest of them… at least, not to the same extent.

For Vert, she decided to take what looked to have been a gauntlet-like accessory, one that was fitted to her right forearm. It had a large stone surrounded by a set of 4 smaller ones over the back of the palm, whilst being coloured a pale white. There was also the kanji for 'wind' on the main stone. According to the data on her tablet, it's name was 'Fujin' or 'Wind God' and it was a gauntlet that gave the wielder the ability to manipulate wind for combat purposes. With Vert's attacks being what they were, she felt a connection to this particular item, hence why she chose it. Not only that, but combining wind with her Spears would increase their range and destructive prowess, something that she saw as QUITE useful in the times ahead.

As for her second item, Vert chose a hand-sized iron ball. According to her data from the Tablet, researchers called it the 'Tetsugan' or 'Iron Ball' which, when swallowed, can be activated at will. When activated, the Tetsugan enhanced the user's defensive abilities. Research showed that the Tetsugan's defences would be strong enough for one to survive a fall down a deep chasm or break through solid iron. Thus, Vert swallowed it to allow her to have a better chance at surviving larger-scale attacks especially if somehow, she would be separated from both Gungnir and Beninuki.

For Noire, she only chose one item: A gauntlet-like item with a long tail-like appendage. The CPU had found the kanji for lightning on it, so she had decided to call it her 'Raijin'. Like Vert's Fujin, the Raijin also had a central stone over the back of the palm, as well as 3 smaller stones around it in a triangular formation. The central stone was where the kanji for lighting was imprinted, in addition to that the blackette found that the Tail would enter her body and connect to her brain. According to Vert's tablet, this was to take her energy and use it as a means to enhance it's own ability to generate and manipulate Lightning.

Ironic, that it seemed like the opposite of Balmung, which she gave her energy too, whilst this thing could take it on its own.

Next up, was Neptune. The first item she had gotten was that blue ring, so Vert had told her that she would only be allowed one more item (she didn't know about the green Ring, though). Thus, she chose a silver ring with carvings and a red diamond set into it, a ring that Vert had found to be called 'Azure' and according to research, this ring made one immune to fire and heat-based attacks. It was something that would DEFINITELY help, since Bloodletters, Heralds and similar demons possess many fire attacks, so this thing would help her resist them.

Out of the rest of the Groups, only these girls chose to have these items, the rest all abstained from choosing their own for one reason or another. Lucy and Raven because they already had similar items of their own, Guts because he preferred his own gear, Isaac for a similar reason, Aiden and Ivan because they also had their own items and Raiden because since he was half machine, none of the items would recognize him as their master anyways. This fact got proven during the selection, so nobody questioned it. Even so, everyone could tell how elated Vert had been in the knowledge that her Basilicom had provided some form of help to their efforts.

Which lead up to this moment.

"So, whose going in?" Guts questioned, arms crossed as he eyed the door with thinly veiled distaste. One could tell by how sharp his gaze became and how his teeth gritted together. Even so, it became the most emotion anyone had ever seen him express, save for Isaac who sighed in understanding.

Nevertheless, he had asked a question, thus it would be rude not to give an answer, right? Not to mention it kinda needed one anyways, since it was a good and important question to ask. A question that got answered by Vert herself when she turned to look at him, her gaze having been focused on the quarrelling CPUs too. "I already thought of that, and I do believe that myself, Neptune, Noire, and Mrs VERONICA should go inside."

"Huh?" Neptune blinked, temporarily putting aside her squabble with Noire (who also looked just as surprised as she did) to look over to the CPU of Leanbox, surprise and confusion evident in her eyes. "Why's that, Vert? I thought it'd be the main heroine and her sidekicks that got the spotlight in this arc." She questioned, getting some glares from the other girls.

Even Vert didn't look too pleased but that one but chose to let it go. She just had to get used to this current personality Neptune had. She may not be the same as she once was, but that didn't mean she couldn't be irritating. "Heroine and sidekicks aside, I chose this group because it is a small group, and each of us has different advantages that are significantly effective against Demonic enemies. I with Gungnir…" she began, summoning the divine-feeling weapon into her hand and holding it out for them. Neptune and Compa each went 'Ooooooh!' over it, which prompted the woman to continue whilst her lips twitched in an attempt to hide her amusement. "Neptune has her divine/demonic sword Soul Calibur, not to mention her Azure ring allows her to resist their fire attacks completely. That'll make her an ideal fighter against these creatures. Noire has her skills with Lightning and that strange sword she possesses seems particularly effective at destroying Demons. If a bit destructive, however considering what we're facing some collateral damage is guaranteed. Lastly, Mrs Veronica's apparent ability to manipulate vegetation will be exceedingly useful since we're deep beneath the earth."

Everyone then looked to Lucy in surprise, save for the members of Team RAIL and Noire's group. They didn't expect THAT to be Lucy's reason for being selected, and judging by the amused roll of her eyes, the woman seemingly knew about this decision somehow. Ivan and Aiden didn't show much that indicated they were displeased with the change, in fact it almost seemed like they understood the decision completely, whilst Raven had no reaction, though they didn't know for sure thanks to her Mask covering all of her face. 'Now that Vert mentions it, I did notice before, but… why does Lucy feel so similar to me, Vert and Neptune?' Noire thought to herself, confused and curious. Part of her did have a large amount of suspicion towards the redhead woman and Team RAIL's leader, however that part of her had been largely suppressed. Suppressed mainly by the fact that Team RAIL had done much for her Nation as well as had a great record of successful missions both as individuals and as a team across the four Nations.

All this however, did indeed satisfy the Black Swordsman's original question, as evident by the acceptance on his features. Like everyone else outside of Team RAIL, he too had his share of suspicions, though he didn't really care much to investigate. All he cared about was when he'd get to swing his sword once more, for that was the very definition of his existence as a warrior. "I see… and what should the rest of us do?" Guts questioned again, looking back towards this Nation's CPU. "It wouldn't be good to just leave us out here with nothing, it shows a strong negligence by the one in charge."

"Wow, this debate's getting tense… feels like that time with that robot in Lastation all over again."

Vert nodded her head once more, ignoring what Neptune commented to her friends beneath whispering levels. "You all should remain on standby, and as for command I believe Mrs SAMURAI should qualify as a substitute commander. Her experience with leading others makes her the ideal candidate for taking command whilst we are away. We may have destroyed the main portals spawning Demons and other forces throughout the Basilicom, however I am worried about the smaller ones. We should have a force stay out here just in case something happens.

GUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Almost as SOON as those words left Vert's lips, the very air itself seemed to tremble and shake, dozens of loud roars filling the air like a twisted melody of death and destruction. Following those roars, an equal amount of small portals opened up, filling the walls, floors and ceilings from which a mix of Bloodletters, those demonic-looking warriors that Vert fought, and a series of Northmen Forsaken emerged. The ones from the ceiling fell to the ground below, some landing on top of their brethren before being rudely shoved off.

"Yikes!" Neptune exclaimed as everyone got into their defensive stances. Raven slowly drew her Odachi which had it's blade an icy blue colour, whilst Raiden drew his HF Blade. Guts pulled Dragonslayer out from behind him whilst Isaac summoned his Plasma Cutter and Contact Beam, with his Force Gun appearing at his hip for a quick drawing. Aiden summoned his Pistols, lowered his Goggles over his eyes and activated his STORM DRIVE Skill, whilst Ivan quickly switched his Biotic Arm to Blade mode, lowered his own goggles whilst raising his Mask and drawing one of his Knives. IF quickly formed her Armour as well as her Claws, whilst Compa (whom had been in her Astral Dress this whole time) summoned Gabriel and began floating in the air. "Looks like we got some more baddies coming!"

The one to respond to Neptune's exclamation, turned out to be Raven, as Vert guessed she would. "This is not the time for pointing out the obvious, Neptune. We shall hold the line here, you, Noire and Vert need to head inside and finish this Invasion off by the roots." She stated coldly, her breath slowly beginning to release a frosty vapour whilst her eyes slowly gained a blue glow behind her Mask. "Go!"

"Our thanks." Vert replied simply, quickly getting Noire and Neptune's attention. "Let us be off, it is time that we finish this battle off ourselves, our enemy awaits us down in the Dungeons."

Both CPUs nodded, and with that the four descended into the Dungeons. The end was nigh, both sides could feel it.

The end was nigh, oh so… so nigh.

If any of the four thought that things would stop being so intense, then they would only be fooling themselves.

* * *

After entering the Dungeons, Neptune, Noire, Vert and Lucy jogged to a stop and looked about, the three CPUs shivering at the sights around them. The entire dungeon had that medieval feel to it, with stone floors, pillars that acted as supports, with various cages hanging up above them the size of a person, and various cells throughout the walls. Not to mention the fact that some of those cages still had rotting corpses in them, decomposing still from the point of death. Then, there were the more… demonic influences that could only have happened recently, such as some areas of the ground looking more like groaning faces, a red hue all over the atmosphere, the feeling of being choked even though their necks were not being touched, Skulls piled up in certain places to make it seem they were looking right at the girls, sharp and barbaric spikes hoisting corpses into the air, the works.

"Geez…these guys sure know how to well, make themselves at home, huh?" Neptune couldn't help but remarked, scratching the side of her jaw nervously as she had her Azure ring on her right hand's index finger. A bead of sweat rolled down the preteen's forehead, showcasing just how uncomfortable she looked with all of this. Even when she had seen such sights before, Neptune still didn't find herself getting any better at getting used to it. She didn't want to either, seriously who would want to be okay with seeing a horror fest like this?

Noire rolled her eyes, flicking one of her ponytails and landing the hand on her hip. "We can't dawdle, Neptune. Everyone's counting on us to move forwards." She stated coolly, before looking about and grimacing at the sights. She tried not to show it, but Noire felt that these sights hit her close to home. Especially when she remembered helping her Nation's military clean up the aftermath of Avenir's attack. Seeing things like this…. It made her imagination replace the scenery around her to the desolate streets that were once lively and full of citizens. 'No! Don't think about that right now, Noire! Right now, focus on the things you CAN do, not the things you COULDN'T do!' she chastised in her mind.

Stepping forwards so that she was in front of them, Vert summoned Gungnir into her hands, her eyes harder than steel as she stared in the direction they would need to travel. "Everyone, I must warn you, being down here will probably be as maze-like as the rest of the floors, as that is the way that this Dungeon has been built. Thanks to everything that's happened…" Vert began, wincing when she remembered everything she had seen thus far. "I've become attuned to sensing this twisted energy down to it's source, thus I'll guide us through to the target."

"Wow, you must have had a thing for mazes, huh Vert? Makes me wonder if you like those legends about that one monster that looks like a human and a bull that was made by some form of sea god."

"Actually Neptune, according to my Nation's Spec Ops database, that creatures called a Minotaur and it's actually real."

"Nepu?! Fore realises Noire?! I was just trying to make my references, ya know, the norm and stuff!"

When she saw the two girls commenting like that, Lucy couldn't help but crack a small smile, amusement dancing in her eyes before she quashed it. "Alright ladies lets settle down. In any case…" she began, only for her words to trail off when she sensed several presences, each one containing Demonic Power according to her senses, approaching them. Crushing her amusement, the redhead woman's features hardened once more as she got into a fighting stance, her Cleavers drawn. "It appears we have company."

Instantly after she said that, Neptune and Noire faced the direction the other CPU did, just in time to see her throw up a defensive Panel in front of them to shield them from a large fireball. She couldn't throw it down however, as many smaller ones came flying towards them with the intent to burn them to a crisp. Not if Vert had anything to say about it though, as she swiftly reared Gungnir back and, when she saw the tiniest opening, lowered the Panel and threw the Spear towards the unseen target. Thanks to it's traits however, Gungnir quickly found the source of the fireballs, or rather the sources, and impaled one.

A loud cry escaped the lips of what sounded like a masculine voice, before several forms shimmered into existence. Each form became that of men in dark robes concealing the upper halves of their faces. Each of them held various staffs, with ceremonial daggers strapped to their waists for close combat. All of them quickly began holding their Staffs out, muttering spells in the runic language before summoning a series of Bloodletters. Each one roared a victorious battle cry, their Hellblades roaring like the infernos they were. There seemed to be 40 of them in total, and all of them now glared heatedly towards Vert who had Gungnir return to her, its previous target having fallen to the ground in a dead heap with a hole in his chest where the heart would be.

Looking at their robes, Noire's eyes flashed with recognition as she summoned Raijin from her Inventory. The Gauntlet appeared in a flash, coiling around her right arm whilst she also summoned her HF Blade. "Looks like these guys belong to the cult following Overlord Momus. I recognize those robes they wear." She remarked, remembering some of the conversations that she and Nico had together. In those, he made reference to these guys' appearance, mostly when he talked about the Hellverse Dungeon and the state of affairs he'd discovered along with the other party members. Raijin's form crackled with electricity, sparking violently and dangerously.

"Indeed. Let us deal with them, quickly. We do not have time to be wasting on cannon fodder enemies." Vert replied simply, glaring with intense rage towards the Cultists. In her eyes, these men must not only have a connection to Overlord Momus, but also Maghda herself as well. After all, who else would have employed such tactics like summoning Demons within her sacred Basilicom.

At that moment, Neptune grinned as she summoned Murasama as she created a replica of it with Crystal manipulation. She also deployed her Armour, before charging forth. "Whelp, time to do what we've been doing this whole battle arc! Charge ahead blindly! What ya waiting for guys? Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" And with that, Neptune blasted forwards, holding her dual swords with a crystal slide forming beneath her feet to help her slide and boost her speed.

To that end, A couple Bloodletters slammed into her with their Hellblades crashing into her own swords like two bullet trains. However, the moment that they got near her…

SHINE

The Azure began to shine, and the flames that their Hellblades sported quickly got snuffed out leaving only the main swords left. As they dispersed, Neptune swore she could have heard the roars coming from within those flames turn into dying screams for a moment there, though she got too caught up in smirking deviously beneath her helmet. Smirking at the surprised and furious expressions in the two Bloodletters' eyes. "Hehehehe looks like the Azure's a nepping success!" she boasted, applying enough pressure to push back the infernal Hellblades before she quickly dashed forwards using TRACKLESS STEP, ending up slicing both Bloodletters' heads off at the same time.

Their death by fiery implosion followed, though thanks to Azure Neptune remained unaffected.

'Looks like these tools work as they should…' Noire thought to herself as she looked towards her Raijin, the gauntlet's tail already having dug into her and connected with her brain. Clenching her fist, Noire gritted her teeth as she too dashed forwards, empowering her legs by imbuing them with Lightning. In an instant, Noire had dashed right into a Bloodletter and placed her gauntlet-clad hand on its chest. "Go! RAIJIN!" she yelled, and the Gauntlet responded. In that second, Noire saw how her Gauntlet released a surge of pure white electricity, covering the Bloodletter and reducing it's inside too much. The Bloodletter didn't even have time to cry out, as it's form imploded from all the lightning, allowing Noire to see another coming towards her from the rear left flank of its fallen brethren.

Lucy activated her POLLEN DRIVE Skill, allowing her body to be enhanced beyond its limitations as she dashed forwards, cutting through a good chunk of the Bloodletters with her Cleavers before they could even raise their Hellblades. She then slid to a halt, jumping into the air and thrusting her legs upwards. At that point, a large platform made entirely out of what looked like spiky green vines emerged from the stone ceiling, providing a foothold for her to charge downwards.

As she fell towards her enemies, the Bloodletters each howled as they made to swing their burning Hellblades towards her, intending to char and carve through her flesh. However, the redhead woman had her own counter to this, as she flipped forwards and launched a single ax kick, smashing the back of her right leg's boot heel into multiple Hellblades to deflect them down to the ground. This gave her the chance to spinning slash with her Cleavers, literally cleaving (pardon the pun) their heads from their bodies.

"Fufufufufu, sorry boys, no killing lives for you today… or ever." The woman cooed, giggling as she flipped back to avoid their explosive deaths. When she landed in a kneeling position, the woman sensed an abundance of energy gathering behind her, and turned to see several cultists pointing several staffs towards her whilst chanting in the runic tongue. 'That Spell… if I don't do something, it'll likely cause great trouble for me in the future.' Lucy thought, before a plan of action formed in her mind. 'Well, since the time is nearly upon me anyway, I might as well. Ravey may get mad at me for this, though…'

With her plan in mind, Lucy giggled as she put a hand on her lips, her eyes flashing like a sultry seductress before she blew each of the two Cultists a kiss. Both men widened their eyes as blushes formed on their faces, though what they didn't see was the small cloud of green gas that escaped her lips, soon entering them through every hole on their faces and burrowing into their brains.

"So beautiful… she likes me!"

"No, she likes me!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"ME!"

Both Cultists glared heatedly at each other like wild animals in heat, unknowingly pausing their spell at a… rather volatile time. Thus, it ended up in the Spell detonating prematurely, killing both of them thanks to the eruption of magical energy vaporizing them down to every last cell in their bodies. None of them would have even noticed either, such was the strength of the hypnotic 'effect' the woman had on them.

It wasn't even her full power, either, another thing that amused her.

Said woman only giggled at the sight, amusement dancing in her eyes as several Vines erupted from her body, thwacking away multiple Bloodletters that tried to get close to her. 'Fufufu, its always fun seeing men fall victim to my gases… Nature is indeed one cruel mistress if you piss her off.' She thought to herself, retracting the Vines and spreading her arms out. Instantly, a series of sharpened spikes made out of natural wood rose out of the ground, impaling the surrounding enemies through multiple vital areas. Those that were cultists just died right then and there, whilst Bloodletters died in their signature fiery explosions.

At last, Vert jumped forwards, feeling the power of Fujin activate when it formed over her right forearm and hand. Instantly as the Cultists aimed their staffs in her direction in an attempt to shoot her down, a wind barrier appeared around her and deflected an incoming barrage of energy blasts. A small smirk formed on her lips at the sight, her eyes dancing with devious intent. 'So, the wind of Fujin is capable of deflecting magic attacks, is it?' she thought to herself, before she threw her Fujin-clad arm forwards. "Shred, FUJIN!" Vert yelled, the item quickly responding to her demands. From it, a huge series of wind guts shot forth, shooting through the air like bullets and tearing through more than half the cultists. Their blood smeared the stone ground below, organs and bones being grinded into a finely thick paste as she landed behind them before standing upright.

Flicking her Beninuki to the side, Vert sensed a Bloodletter coming at her from behind, raising its Hellblade to bring it down on top of her head. However, Vert made no move to counter it, something which should have made it suspicious as all hell, but since this thing was a creature of pure rage and bloodlust… yeah, no brainer. So, when its Hellblade met her head, it expected the fiery weapon to cleave right through her… only, it didn't, and instead, the Hellblade bounced off her like it had bounced off some form of uncuttable metal.

If it had a brain, then it'd be dumbstruck.

"Apologies, Demon, but I'm afraid you won't be heading anywhere but your grave!"

SLICE!

Swiftly, Vert responded the moment the Hellblade bounced off her Skin, twirling Beninuki around to perform a back-to-front decapitation. The blade of the Spear quickly tore through the Bloodletter's hide, leaving its head to the fate of flying clean off its body, spinning through the air before crashing into the ground with an audible 'THUD'. The headless corpse soon fell to the side, exploding afterward which Vert blocked with Fujin's wind. Afterward, Vert looked down at her hand, or to be more specific the Gauntlet item that allowed her to manipulate wind more freely than anything her previous Skill attacks would have let her. 'These items… so far, we know little about them, which is why they were hidden away, yet… for some reason, I feel like these things are important to Gamindustri's history in some manner…' she thought to herself, before looking to the rest of the battle. Around her, Neptune and Noire rained hell upon their enemies, tearing through them with no mercy via the sword, crystal or the use of their new items. Couldn't let them outshine her, now could she?

* * *

After taking out the rest of the enemies, Vert, Noire, and Neptune regrouped together, dismissing their items and weapons since they wouldn't be attacked for a short while according to their senses. Even so, all three of them still felt like they were on some form of 'high' after that battle, a high that could only come from the true thrill of the conflict that dozens craved. Craved to the point of becoming warmongers for.

"Whew, now THAT was fulfilling!" Neptune exclaimed, putting her hands over her head whilst grinning a toothy grin. She looked absolutely radiant right now, as if any stress she had built up had melted away during the heat of battle. "Those thingamajigs you gave u really helped, Ver-Ver, they're so cool!" she added on at the end, glancing over to the Leanbox CPU with approval.

Noire gave a sigh, a reluctant admittance in her eyes as she glanced anywhere but the blonde woman. "I… I guess that they were decent, but that's to be expected. After all, we ARE Goddesses after all. Its only natural these items are super effective." She remarked. "It was… decent of you to let us have them, I suppose."

"Awww, you're such a tsundere, Noire. You really like these items, and you know it, no need to be shy now."

"N-Neptune, what the hell?! Don't just jump on me like that!"

Lucy and Vert could only chuckle at the responses the two girls gave to each other, amusement shining in her eyes at the antics the two displayed. Whilst part of her wanted to get a move on already, it felt nice to know that the groups' morale was high, and now that she thought about it, perhaps this was the way that the girls could cope with what was happening here. A means to lighten the situation around them with comedy, and in Vert's mind, she couldn't help but break the fourth wall a little. 'Even though it's not his best forte, the author tries to do the canon proud with bits of comedy here and there…'

Eventually, the redhead woman spoke up as she stepped towards the two and separated them by grasping their shoulders and pulling them apart. "Alright lovebirds, you can suck each other off at a hotel later. Cause right now, we have some ass to kick." She told them with a sultry smile, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Or afterward, cause I don't judge."

"H-HUH?!"

"L-LUCY?!"

"What? As I said, I'm not judging. If you girls want to release your latent homosexual urges for each other, do it A: after the mission, and B: in a love hotel." The redhead second in command of Team RAIL stated with a dismissive hand gesture whilst walking down the corridor. Vert herself couldn't help but chuckle in amusement, though she stifled it behind her hand all lady-like whilst catching up with Lucy and leaving two red-faced girls behind.

"You sure do love to tease. I do say, that your reputation as a seductive temptress is well-earned."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh at the blonde woman, cackling as she looked Vert up and down. 'Hoh? Looks like someone's got powerful sexual urges they are competing against. Seems like she hasn't had any action since she came down from Celestia. Though, it also seems like she's in better control over herself than those two…' she noticed and jotted down in her mind. 'Maybe I could hook her up with a few of my contacts, give her some stress relief if all goes well… although, judging by what I'm sensing, I guess she's already found someone she's willing to bed.' Whilst keeping her thoughts to herself, Lucy responded to Vert's comment. "They're just kids if they can't take a little teasing like that. I wasn't even using half the sex jokes in my head just then, and they already folded." She stated.

Vert raised her brows in surprise at this claim, and she had no trouble believing it. She'd not been lying when she had said she knew of Lucy's reputation, heck she was one of the Agents she looked into extensively aside from Nico's. All of Team RAIL seemed to show excessive promise and potential… but each of them almost seemed like they had their own skeletons in their closets especially Lucy and Raven. Vert felt like, when she read over Lucy's file which was given to the Spec Ops branch in Leanbox by their Planeptune brethren, that she could get along with this woman and her perverted humor. "Ufufufu, I do say, you have a point there. Though, I doubt that they can truly take in the heat, if you know what I mean, just yet."

"Oh, you mean taking in the shaft? Heh, yeah, I got that impression of them, especially from Lastation's CPU. She seems like too much of a prude right now for something as sensual as that, though who knows, it could change if she finds someone." Lucy responded, chuckling at Vert's slight innuendo. It actually felt refreshing to her, finding another woman she could talk to with sex jokes and innuendos, since she didn't find those types a lot. As she giggled and laughed with Vert once they began regurgitating jokes until their next inevitable attack, Lucy got the feeling that they would be getting along SWIMMINGLY in the future. Though, behind them would be a completely different story…

"Hey, Neptune…?" A crimson-faced Noire questioned an equally red Neptune as they tried to block out the jokes and remarks the two older looking women kept tossing about and laughing on. The amount of mortification that ran through her system like a super-powered virus could only be described as titanic, especially when her ears forced her to hear what the two women were saying. Part of her bristled at being called a prude, but she couldn't help the storm of embarrassment either. Not to mention the jokes they made sent some… tantalizing images through her mind. 'AAAAAARGH! Stop it, Noire, you're better than this! Those two are just perverts, don't sink to their level!' she chanted inside her mind… though the images wouldn't cease.

On Neptune's side, the preteen couldn't help but feel light-headed as the perversion spread through her mind as well… only, in a comparison between the two, Neptune found herself experiencing it way more. Especially since she had memories of absolutely dominating Nico on the bed that one time. The more jokes she heard from those two, the more her imagination went wild, and for a girl who, whilst teasing and seductive, had a pure maiden's heart deep down, all these images definitely made her more… well, mute in layman's terms. She could understand Noire's reactions to her teasing a little better now, especially with how much blood raced to her face… and her nether regions as the thoughts in her mind outlined her and Nico doing various… raunchy things that would make even an MA rating feel like a drastic understatement. "Y-Yeah?"

"Do you…" For a moment, Noire didn't know what to say. No, that wasn't right, it was more like she got tongue tied and had to stop lest she splutters in embarrassment, something that her pride refused to allow her to do right now. After a second or two, however, she managed to regain her ability to speak. Though, it was way softer than before. "Do you have the feeling that we've just witnessed the birth of the most hellish duo of friends ever made?"

Just as meek as her friend was, Neptune responded with a slow nod, too embarrassed to do much else right now with what she had been hearing from these two. "Yes, Nowa Chan, yes I do."

"Oh good, so it's not just me."

* * *

Travelling through the Dungeons was both draining.. and embarrassing, in more ways than one.

The fighting wasn't too bad, it actually was ironically some of the less insane and embarrassment-inducing moments for the girls, or rather Neptune and Noire.

Said preteen had gotten WAY into body surfing and performing what she had affectionately termed 'stylish combat' pulling off varying attacks and chaining them together as if each one were a Skill Attack like they did at Lastation. One time, she stomped on the ground to knock some debris into the air, oddly enough each piece resembling a set of billiard balls, before she thrust her sword at one piece and demonstrating the domino effect by sending each piece forth into a group of Cultists... all the while performing the splits to dodge two Hellblades then rose into a Helicopter kick, one which knocked her opponents over and allowed her to impale with crystal spikes. She had once responded when asked by Noire, with: '"For some heroes, it's not enough just saving the world, they gotta look good doing it!" To that end, Neptune got... creative, in how she dispatched the Demons that came at her, as well as their Cultist summoners.

As for Noire, she had taken to using her new items and combined them with her HF Blade, refusing to use Balmung for the time being. Not that she didn't like the weapon, but for enclosed spaces like this it was more of a disadvantage plus with the fact that she couldn't control it very well... yeah. That didn't extend to Raijin and Nan though, and THEY definitely felt a load of 'fun' to use especially the latter when she threw her limbs forwards so fast it looked like thousands of punches were descending upon her opponents. Noire may not be a fist fighter, but she DEFINITELY felt the appeal of just clocking assholes in the face when she did that. Though, she mostly used her elastic abilities to slash from unpredictable angles, extending the range of her sword or more defensive means like pulling herself out the range of certain attacks or restraining her opponents. As for Raijin, she would either use its Lightning to attack her opponents from the inside by touching them, imbue her sword with Lightning, or her own body when her elastic powers weren't activated.

So... what was the more embarrassing part, one would ask?

Well, the times BETWEEN battles would be the answer to that, especially when Vert and Lucy would either tease the hell out of them with sexual jokes and innuendos. Seriously, for someone who had more maturity than the others, someone who was supposed to be the adult of the group, Vert had one dirty mind alright. Hell, it seemed to rival a trash bin in terms of perverted dirtiness, something that could only have been made worse with someone like Lucy. Seriously, this woman would be the death of them, both girls thought to themselves with no small amount of embarrassment. She had a combination of experience to back up her humor, and as well as a teasing side to her that went well with the perverseness Vert sported thanks to all the erotic games she played. One might say they were a match made in heaven, whilst Neptune and Noire would say they were a match made in hell, ironically enough.

One of them would be bad enough, but together... each of them feared for their sanity.

* * *

In the end, after so much fighting and teasing the girls' sanity finally got a chance to have a break from being hammered by so many sexual innuendos when the Group found themselves in what looked like a large room... a large room that once looked like it had been used as a torture chamber what with all the devices lined up around the edges of the room. Now though, it seemed to be used for a ritual of blood, as there were various symbols and wards drawn with thick, heavy crimson blood that almost seemed like it would be staining the stone materials for years to come.

"So, this is it...?" Lucy questioned, crossing her arms beneath her bosom whilst frowning deeply. Her eyes narrowed at the room as she took in the sights, memories returning to the forefront of her mind. 'This room, no doubt it has taken the lives of many during its existence... lives that were both guilty and innocent.' she thought to herself. The time for jokes had passed just as they had entered the room, which had been located at the rear end of these Dungeons. Not to mention the fact that she almost shuddered at all the bodies that were used to make what she assumed was a summoning circle on the ground. She knew this because of the large barrels stuffed with human remains at the back of the room, all of them belonging either to prisoners or captured staff members. Lucy refused to look at those any more than necessary, especially since she could feel the bile rising in her throat.

Vert glanced over to her new found friend, her friend who understood the pleasures of naked butlers just as much if not more so than herself. Even she herself found it hard to keep it together, cause these WERE her people, her staff members. Seeing them being treated like this nearly made her go berserk on the ones responsible, if she were alone that is. The reason why she hadn't, simply so she could set a better example for the other CPUs. Though, her new best friend seemed to be a whole different story. A worried frown escaped her lips for her friend's health, though she decided to answer her question instead, offering a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Looks like it." she said, getting a look of thankfulness from the redhead woman who offered her an assuring smile in return prompting Vert to remove her hand. "This is the room where the source of the demonic forces is located. I can feel a MASSIVE amount of ambient energies in the atmosphere."

Neptune shuddered whilst nodding in agreement. "Yeppers..." she added on, feeling no small amount of shivers crawling down her spine like a marching bad. Her hands ran up and down her arms as she attempted to smooth the goosebumps filling their skin. "Don't think I've ever been this creeped out in a long while. Me SO ready to end all of this already." Heh, wasn't that the truth? In fact, her feelings were shared by the rest of the group, all this shit did NOT bode well for their dreams tonight, they'd likely be having nightmares about it for a very long time. Considering practically all of them had immortality in some way, well, that prospect grew even more terrifying. To live forever in a world of nightmares...

Not something any deity would like to experience.

As she said that, each of them nodded in agreement, before Vert noticed something within the center. "Huh? Is that...? Oh my goodness...!" she gasped, a hand over her mouth to suppress the urge to throw up. As for the rest of them, each of the group found their gazes drawn like magnets to the floor which Vert had been looking at. The reason? Why, the largest summoning circle is drawn in blood that they had ever seen of course. The drawing expanded across the entire floor of the room, whilst looking so complex that it would take the most talented of Mages weeks to decipher even a small piece of it. That didn't even begin to take into consideration what that summoning circle would be trying to bring forth into Gamindustri.

"That is... one BIG circle." Neptune stated, eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. The amount of iron in the air she could smell made her feel like her face was going a little green. Before she could though, she quickly deployed her Armour, as well as her Armblades. Just for safety, if she had to draw on Soul Calibur, she'd do that easily enough. "And UGH, just what the heck is that corpse doing over there?" She wondered with her face crunching up behind her helmet. If Compa were here... suddenly, she felt a WHOLE load of glad that the young Nurse-In-Training wasn't here right now.

The corpse at the center of the circle looked to be that of a man, likely a worshiper of Chaos due to the robes he wore and all the twisted, wicked looking accessories that adorned him. Accessories that consisted of a neckless with small human skulls dangled beneath his neck. Dozens of runic carvings made from blood adorned his frame, with his eyes and tongue having been gauged out and used as ornaments. 4 staffs were embedded in corners around him, forming a square. Each of them burned brightly with the infernal demonic Hellfire, lighting up the room in an eerie, twisted and sinister manner. Almost as if the devil itself was watching over the room, it's gaze never missing even the tiniest fraction of movement. Several spiked bracelets and anklets adorned his four limbs, each limb spread out in a fashion that made the corpse look somewhat like a mutilated 8.

Something that did NOT go unnoticed, by the way. "Um, why's the corpse looking like an 8? Is it some kinda prank?" Neptune questioned, scratching the top of her helmet in confusion. Whilst disgusting and morbid with the way it was presented, Neptune still couldn't help but notice that detail.

"Its cause the number 8 is Khorne's Sacred Number." Lucy replied, getting everyone to turn their heads towards her. How the heck did she know that? That question ran through everyone else's minds, making them seek an answer out of the redhead woman. Once she noticed their curious stares, the woman began to elaborate on her words. "I looked into some of the books stolen from Chaos camps during Spec Ops orchestrated raids, and we found that whilst the reason why Khorne is connected to the number 8 is unknown, its actually a large part of those who follow him. Apparently, its been that way since Khorne came to be. His affinity for the figure, and any of its multiples, is strongly reflected in the organization of his daemonic legions, remember all the Demons and followers we fought? Their numbers are usually part of the multiples of 8."

Eyes widening slightly, Vert felt her breath hitch as realization dawned on her. "Oh yes, I did notice something like that. I first thought that it was just something off about these followers, along with all the other disgusting morbid practices they do. So, its connected deeply to their god, huh..." she remarked, thoughtfully as she glanced down to the ground. Her right gloved hand cupped her chin with her index finger stretching along the side of her jaw, with her thumb the following suit on the opposite side. "I'd like to know more about that sometime, but for now we should focus on destroying this ritual." she commented after a second.

Lucy nodded her head in agreement, and made to raise her hand to fire an attack that would destroy not just the corpse, but also the blood that made up the summoning circle. However, just before she could do that...

"Ufufufufu, how disgustingly cute..."

Instantly, everyone became on guard when they heard a sickly sweet, twisted and distorted voice echo across the room. Each word, no each SYLLABLE that was uttered by it felt like they grated on their nerves and made them want to snap, unleashing a furious rage that would bathe entire kingdoms in endless oceans of blood, ground up guts and other specs of gore. It lit their hearts aflame with the desire to kill, especially Vert herself though she had no idea why. The four quickly got back to back as they heard the voice, a voice that unmistakably belonged to a woman, let out a twisted and demented laughter across the room like a phantom in the darkness. Eventually, Vert became the one to speak after suppressing the unfavorable rage burning like a furnace within her. "Who are you?! Show yourself!"

"Oh? Someone who dares suppress the glorious fury that Khorne brings to us all? Well then, I will just have to see about punishing you for that."

After hearing those words, the various flames from the four staffs all began to converge on a single point, one located just before the corpse of the man meant to be used likely as an offering. The flames gathered there and expanded outwards, soon forming a human-sized vortex until the trails severed their connection to their sources. Whilst the fires on the staffs burned evermore, the vortex of flames soon took on a humanoid form, reshaping itself into the form that the controller wanted. In the end, the flames formed a fiery woman-like form, with eyes that were made from embers themselves, a body made of flames that wore equally fiery robes mixed with some Armour on various body-parts.

When the girls saw this, they each had their own reactions, and each of them all reacted with some level of confusion. First off, Neptune. "Huh? Who the heck is this crazy looking chick? She looks like she's constantly on her period, if ya ask me." she commented bluntly. Even if she hadn't met this person yet, her instincts screamed at her that she would be like that white-haired woman in the Monster Cave, and considering how she made fun of said woman before, could only respond in a similar manner. Plus, just looking at her seemed to tick her off for some reason. Why was that? Was it Khorne's influence?

"I'd normally scold you in place of your friends for that remark, Neptune. But honestly, I have similar questions in my head..." Noire stated, not even bothering to hide her own befuddled look as she stared at the fiery woman. Whilst she had similar thoughts to the Planeptune CPU, Noire also couldn't help but note a certain series of things she'd witnessed. Like, how the woman didn't even flinch when she heard Neptune's comments. Someone normal, if called old in such an insulting manner, would have had at least SOME form of reaction, but this person didn't and that concerned her. Whoever this was, or whatever she was, she likely had a strong sense of composure. Then, there was the amount of power she could sense. Not only did it feel like she was swimming within the shallow end of a small lake when she sensed this woman's power, but there was also something else about it that she just couldn't put her finger on. 'Wait, could it be...?'

Lucy, however, she had a different reaction. She narrowed her eyes at the fiery woman, noting in her mind that this person possessed demonic power within her in droves. 'This woman... she must command great power, for this technique... Also, I can't help but find this woman familiar for some reason. Like I've seen her somewhere before...' she thought to herself, trying to jog her memory for what this could have meant. However, she couldn't find out what that was, much to her frustration. 'Ugh, I just can't seem to grasp it! But, even so, I can't help but think that whatever that woman is, something about her just makes me want to shove a blade down her throat or boil her alive in poisonous toxins...'

Soon enough, however, Vert became the one to recognize the figure first, her eyes widening with vengeful fury. "YOU!" She yelled, raising a hand and pointing it at the fiery woman much to the confusion and surprise of the other girls. The amount of rage coursing through her right now could not even compare to what she felt before. Not to mention how much more personal it felt to her. She realized who this woman was, and what significance she had with her Nation.

"Ufufufu, I see. It has been too long, Lady Green Heart. Or shall I call you Vert now? I'm surprised, with your current state, I would have thought you'd be cowering like a pathetic little princess in your silly little room, playing your worthless games all day for the rest of your life. Will wonders never cease?"

It seemed the woman identified who Vert was just by looking at her, as well, if the slightly disgusted look hidden beneath a veil of arrogance was anything to go by. The woman had then proceeded to mock Leanbox's CPU, who looked like she would explode like an atomic bomb in rage at any second now, the more she eyed this woman's presence. Behind her, Neptune made to say something before a hand covered her mouth to stop her, courtesy of Noire. When she tried to protest, a look from the Lastation CPU quieted her down.

"And here I thought I'd have to hunt you down for what you did to my people all those centuries ago..." Vert sneered, her previous demeanor all but gone. She had none of the usual composure and maturity she usually sported, instead adopting a vicious, borderline twisted snark whilst if looks could kill, this woman would have died thousands of times over with how heated her glare was. Around the blonde woman, an aura of Killing Intent manifested, being so thick that it actually began to physically affect her by making her hair sway slightly behind her. "You have got some nerve defiling my Basilicom with your sick stench, MAGHDA!"

...

...

...

...

...

'...MAGHDA?!' Lucy screeched inside her mind, her shock prevailing just for a moment before it erupted into a fierce and intense inferno within her chest. Almost like the pits of hell itself had opened up and showered her being with their infernal flames of hatred, hell her eyes began to gain a sickly green glow as she gnashed her teeth, clenching her fists to restrain herself from showing just how DISPLEASED she felt with this woman. 'Of COURSE! I should have known, it only happened a couple centuries ago, goddess dammit! I think back then I must have been seducing some stupid noble or something, so I didn't get the full story till after I looked into it when I felt a disturbance in Leanbox! Shit, so this is her! She must have found a way to become immortal as well, fuck!'

"Huh?!" Noire gaped, as well as Neptune when they heard that name is spoken with such hateful venom from Leanbox's CPU. Noire then scowled, remembering something that Nico had told her about during their texts. She remembered him talking about a Maghda who had been the boss of the Hellverse Dungeon which had been infested with Chaos Cultists and Demons. Not to mention how she had been the one to order a kidnapping of one of Nico's friends, though to her it was more of a happy accident that it was, for their rituals. 'If this is that same person, then...!'

As for Neptune, she too glared fiercely behind her helmet, her fury swelling inside of her like a bottle about to break under the intensity of the many explosions contained within it. The pressure she could feel inside felt like it would detonate into just as big a firestorm of rage at any moment when she realized who this woman was. 'This... this nepping HARPY! She was the one who kidnapped Iffy, and blinded Tekken with Hellfire!' she thought, remembering what IF had told her about the incident at the Hellverse Dungeon since she wasn't there herself. Neither was Compa, and if she were here then she too would likely be just as enraged as she felt right now.

To see such a person right in front of her like this...

"Oh? Looks like my reputation proceeds me. In any case, it would be impossible for you t hurt me as this is just an avatar, not my real body. I'm simply here to congratulate the four of you for making it this far."

The fiery form of Maghda, the Witch that kidnapped IF back in the Hellverse incident, as well as Stefan Von Kessel way back when, spoke this with an amused chortle escaping her, embers falling from her form to the ground below.

"... As much as I loathe to admit it, she is right." Vert reluctantly admitted, clenching her fists tightly in an effort to keep herself under control. She had done her research on Maghda's actions when Stefan had returned, she had learned what atrocities she had committed. If she were here physically, as in with a full flesh and blood body then she would gladly throw Gungnir into her twisted black heart (an ironic description considering Noire was nearby), to end her once and for all. Part of her suspected that Maghda somehow knew that she had a secret killing move like Gungnir's ability to always hit her target, hence why she was doing this right now. Though, how she knew this Vert had no freaking clue. "Right now, I'm sensing only magic coming from her. Though, I do wonder why she is using magic instead of just being here in person. After all, she does follow a God that abhors Magic."

"Well, aren't we the knowledgeable one? Do not be afraid, my Lord indeed abhors Magic, however, there are ways to skirt around the issue, and I have utilized one of these. Those Staffs you see? They are actually Satanic Treasures, relics of a bygone era full of glorious combat. I will only say that they allow the one who set them up to communicate through long distances, and since I'm not the one using magic, my gracious lord Khorne makes an exception for me. Now then, how about we enjoy this wondrous little gift I have prepared for you?"

Immediately, that set off warning bells inside her head. Noire narrowed her eyes at that one, something about the way this fiery woman said the word 'gift' did NOT sit well with her. Not only that, but her gut told her that she should summon Balmung right the hell now and get herself ready, so she followed her instinct. "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously, the sword manifesting with a black sheath with silverish metal detailing on her back.

It was the same for the rest of the girls... until they noticed that the Summoning Circle beneath their feet began to slightly glow.

"Oh, nothing much, my dear. Just a little reward for facing so many of my Lord's followers and Demons. You see, it pleases him that you all fought so well, he is truly salivating at the thought of taking your souls and making you all his servants in his Brass Citadel. But before that, here's your 'gift', a gift that only a truly magnificent being such as Khorne COULD EVER CONCEIVE!"

At that moment, Maghda released a how, and that seemed to ignite some form of signal. For the instant that she yelled out, the Circle began glowing intensely, so intense that it would rival the surface of the sun itself. Each and every Girl quickly covered their eyes, hoping to protect their ocular abilities from being blinded by the intense light...

Before their minds got overloaded by a TITANIC torrent of Demonic Energy that spilled forth into the material world.

* * *

"...?! Oh no!"

Up at the Basilicom's roof, MAGES. eyes shot open wide, as a surge of horror and dread entered her system. It filled her up like a bowl being filled with water from a fully opened tap. An audible gulp traveled down her throat whilst her hands gripped her Wabbajack's staff tightly, as in enough to cause her hands to go white from the lack of blood circulation. Her skin lost its color, and a huge pressure fell onto her shoulders whilst sweat constantly fell from her brow like a waterfall.

This... This is not good! Not good at all!

If she were to use military terms, this would be between a code red and a code black level situation!

Just now, the blunette sensed it, she sensed something that she had hoped would NOT have had to happen. The worst possible scenario that she had foreseen when she had used her magic to look into the possible outcomes for this event. MAGES. would always say she was a Mad Magician, so looking into the future to see what kind of options awaited her and those she cared about fell well within her realm of madness. This magic was one of the oldest ones she had learned in her years as the Mad Magician, it entailed looking into the future to see what kind of outcome one's choices would make. Depending on how much Mana was used, the distance she could look into would vary. MAGES. would use this to predict what might happen if she performed certain actions, such as making a new invention or trying to prevent lives in the thousands from being lost. Such as with this Gala.

By no means was that magic risk-free, however, no Magic was, as sometimes the number of things one saw could end up breaking their minds and reducing them to shallow husks of their former selves. Hence why she had several means to prevent such a thing from happening. Even then though, she had always kept this magic a secret from the world, even her best friend Tekken didn't know of this Magic. It was the reason how she had been able to foresee this Gala, how she had been able to realize that it would be the stage for a Demonic Invasion of large-scale proportions if she didn't act soon.

Her actions had limited the invasion somewhat, and if she hadn't done anything then it would have spammed across the entire city of MICROSOFT...

The things that had been avoided would best be unmentioned for the rest of time.

As for the disturbance she felt, it was one that transcended boundaries between multiple planes of existence. According to her research, there were countless plains of existence that made up the reality that this planet called home. If something existed in multiple different plains, then they would not be damaged by anything other than those that also existed in those plains. Though, those kinds of items were rare in and of themselves, something she could attest to as Wabbajack was one such item.

There could only be ONE source that could have caused this disturbance, and it made MAGES. want to flee from every plane of existence and make sure that it could not find her. Even her own pride as the Mad Magician felt small and minor in comparison towards this thing. If one were to comprehend what she feared so much, they would have to know the same as she did about the Chaos sub-religion, though in her eyes it was already taking over the Overlord Momus side. Among the followers of Khorne, there were several types that could describe them, she had found out by investigating them and learning through books that had been found by the Guild and military. The ordinary ones, the bottom of the figurative hierarchy, would be the Cultists and other human followers like the Northmen. Following the ways of Khorne gave them tremendous boosts in rage and bloodlust, almost like they had taken drugs that caused them to become goddamn psychotic to the space around them. There were even those who, through a series of rituals and sacrifice not unlike that of a little something called the 'Demonic Ascension Ceremony' which binds the souls of humans and Demons together, allow Demons to enter their souls and literally possess them. They literally give their bodies and their souls up to their God in order to gain power.

The difference between the Demonic Ascension Ceremony and this possession, was that the Ceremony allows the two souls to reach an equal footing if the human soul is strong enough to handle the Demon one. Therefore, the human host doesn't lose themselves and they gain access to the Demon's powers, though there is a risk that the Demon Soul can overpower the host and turn them into mindless husks that attack anything around them. Possession, on the other hand, is where the Demon Soul is literally FORCED into the body without any kind of warning for the body, and the host allows them to take control over them.

For some of the more extreme devotees of the Chaos Gods, simply offering their souls up to their service would not be enough. Those who thirst for power at any cost would offer themselves wholly to Chaos, becoming willing hosts for the Demons. Such a possession had been recorded as an immensely lengthy and agonizing experience, as the Demons within them infest their physical forms and reshape them to better suit their particular needs. Those who offered themselves up for possession were recorded to usually spend months in rituals of debasement and scarification, offering up blood sacrifices and preparing their bodies to harbor a Demonic entity. Though the personalities of these half-mad supplicants would end up being subsumed forever within the power of the possessing Demon, mass possessions were nonetheless seen as great celebrations for the devotees of Chaos. They were marked by the more lustful amongst the devotees of Chaos with orgies of feasting and other depravity, and by the more devout with solemn hymnals of impurity.

That was the thing that Vert and her group had encountered on their Floor: Possessed followers of Khorne.

Some of the more prominent followers of Khorne, as MAGES. discovered from her investigation, were the Khornate Berserkers which could be considered the more fanatical of his followers, and more likely to offer their everything up to this particular Chaos God. Following them would be the Chaos Champions who were in essence mere mortals who had gotten the attention of their Gods and were given rewards based off their exploits in Khorne's name, or whatever God they beloved in. Then there was the World Eaters, who call themselves a 'Space Marine Traitor Legion'. She didn't know much about them, as information of that magnitude was considered scarce, but from what little she HAD been able to discover, they were an entire company of these 'Space Marines' who had turned their backs on humanity to devote themselves to Chaos. She had no idea what Space Marines were, either, as that information also was considered scarce.

Then there were the Demons that were made from the rage Khorne was constantly fueled by. Demons that serve as a representation of their master's domains. There were the Bloodletters, which were basically like the foot soldiers of Khorne's Demonic Legions. They were the more common ones, too, and the most numerous of the Demons following Khorne. Aside from them, there were the Flesh Hounds, their canine variants who track down those who dare to flee from the 'glorious battlefield' as the Khorne followers call it, or do what their God consider disgraceful acts, and punish them by devouring their souls. Finally. there were the Juggernauts which would be considered simply as the Steeds of Khorne's Demonic Armies, which hone their killing skills in Khorne's personal realm. That was just the basic summary of those beasts, which would be a whole new can of worms MAGES. didn't feel like going into right now.

But these Demons, these creatures that Neptune and the others had trouble facing at first only to get used to fighting to the point they could go toe to toe with them... They were only the Lesser of their kind, the LESSER Demons. There exist plenty of beings of higher power and standing in the Demonic hierarchy, Demons which could be considered continent and planet busters in their own right.

Thus, enter the GREATER DEMONS.

Now, unlike the Lesser ranked Demons, the Greater Demons only had one type within their ranks, but even then that would be plenty to cause untold amounts of severe carnage: The Bloodthirsters. Bloodthirsters are Khorne's ONLY Greater Demons, and each one (there is a nigh endless amount in Khorne's realm) would be a perfect personification of the unreasoning rage and savagery of total war. According to the books and tomes she had read, as well as the documentaries other researchers did on Khorne, there are no more powerful masters of battle in the entire galaxy than the Greater Daemons of the Blood God, and that none may stand before them. They were, no, they ARE the very essence of brutality, every blow ever struck and life ever taken in anger distilled into a single, towering form of iron and sinew.

As the living embodiment of war, rage, and murder, Bloodthirsters represent the bloodiest side of warfare and would be renowned throughout the Blood God's followers as the greatest warriors amongst Demon-kind. Only the boldest and most heroic of mortal champions would even stand the slimmest chance of survival in combat with a Bloodthirster, and an even smaller chance of victory. Then there was the Demon Princes, but they were a set of worms she didn't want to go into right now, not to mention the fact that the power she sensed coming into Gamindustri was a Bloodthirster and thankfully, not a Demon Prince.

That would be a small measure of comfort in the chaotic maelstrom of negative emotions swirling within the center of MAGES. heart. Even if that comfort would be like the size of an ant. Demon Princes would be considered planet busters, whilst Bloodthirsters would be considered continent destroyers in comparison. Therefore, since it was a Bloodthirster she was sensing, then hopefully he Goddesses could stand a chance.

Even so however...

She could only grit her teeth as the Mad Magician quickly began chanting in the runic tongue, the tip of her Staff Wabbajack beginning to shine brightly in its eyes and mouth sockets. Around her, the Magic Circles that formed this pocket dimension began to glow whilst MAGES. began casting spell after spell, altering the ones that were already in play. From here, there wasn't much she could do, and most of the floors hadn't been secured yet by Stefan's forces. She couldn't let them get anywhere near the Dungeons right now, unless they would WANT to be barbecued without even knowing what was going on. Fortunately, she had not neglected this scenario occurring when she looked into the future, so she had countermeasures set in motion.

MAGES. could only hope that they would be enough to stop that creature...

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alright, here we go! The final battle of this Invasion begins, and what better way to end it than with one of the Greater Demons of Khorne?**

 **For all you Warhammer fans reading this, I bet you guys saw this coming a mile away, as after all, I DID make use of various forms of Khornate following in this invasion, so why would I NOT use the Greater Demons, too? The only one I'm not really using would be Demon Princes, cause they have a different role to play in the future. Even so, I apologize if you guys thought I wasn't portraying the followers of Khorne right, it's not exactly easy to do so, though I admit I used Warhammer Battle March and the wiki to help me. Perhaps I can use the Lexicarum in the future, as well.**

 **Oh yeah, and Vert getting along with Lucy? That's due somewhat to Vert being sexually frustrated (we've seen that before so far), and one of the ways she deals with it is perverted humour. Something that Lucy can get behind which leads to some... interesting options for teasing the purer minds and even the dirty ones in the future.**

 **Next chapter will be the final battle, and it might take more than a couple of chapters to complete, since this is the epic finale of the invasion. I want to make it so that the Party of Goddesses experience the overwhelming difference in powers between the Lesser Demons they have fought so far, and the Greater Demons known as Bloodthirsters. Believe me, this experience will be one to be REMEMBERED for the CPUs, for it'll give them a better understanding just how much danger their world really is. And this is not even BEGINNING to take into account the roles the Chaos Gods will be playing in the future.**

 **I wanted to make Gamindustri a horrifying, nightmarish place to be in, and with Warhammer that is exactly what I got.**

 **Also, for anyone whose curious, don't worry the items that some of the girls got will be explained better later on in the story. There's a reason why they were introduced here, and its something to do with the DPU Era. So, look forward to that those who think that they weren't foreshadowed enough.**

 **Till then guys, peace out!**


	136. Chapter 133 - The Big Boss PT1

**Chapter 133 - The Big Boss PT 1**

Slowly, the power to process their surroundings began to return to them, as their brains proceeded to recover from being practically blindsided in every sense of the word. Blindsided by that eruption of power which had filled the room of the Dungeon like an igniting flame.

"Ugh… owwieeeeee… My head, it feels like a pile of consoles fell on top of it."

Neptune groaned in pain to herself, a twisted face marring her lips with a hand hovering over her head to rub it and sooth the thumping headache she sported. Whilst she tried to nurse her head, the preteen slowly opened her eyes. At that point, her vision became blurry at first, but eventually it recovered enough for her to notice a couple things. One of them was that she no longer was donning her Armour, which prompted her to glance downwards to notice that she lay stomach first on the ground.

Strength returning to her, Neptune groaned as she stood upwards, looking down at her chest to notice how she still had her Armour Module beneath her hoodie, which brought a sigh of relief to the preteen CPU. More relief than she would ever like to admit to herself, or anyone who asked either. The preteen even raised her hands to feel her chest where the Armour Module was to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, then her mind registered how it's spider-like legs clung to her chest like it normally did which put the final nail in the coffin for her. She didn't want to think about what could have happened if she had lost that part of her, it WAS something her beloved hubby had gotten for her after all.

That was when Neptune recalled what she had said out of the blue regarding the headache she now felt slowly ebbing away, a sheepish expression forming on her featured with a sweat drop forming on her forehead. "Though, I guess that could probably kill someone, now that I think about it. I mean, so many consoles to the noggin could hurt the head bones in there or something, I don't know I'm no bone expert… wait!" Her eyes widened when she remembered the situation that had taken place, the dungeon, the disturbing ritual site, the body, Maghda, and lastly that surge of energy that temporarily knocked her out… as well as slammed her into the ground it seemed. "I don't have time to monologue in huge paragraphs like this! I gotta find the others!"

"Ugh, calm your jets Neptune, we're all here."

Several groans accompanied an annoyed tsundere Voice which grumbled in irritation (seriously if Noire heard that I called her that I'm pretty sure shell try to gut me with her HF blade '-_-). Upon hearing that female voice, Neptune's own eyes widened as she whirled around faster than a Kangaroo to find Noire, Vert and Lucy nearby, all sprawled on the ground in various positions... very risque positions at that, she might add. Something that caught Neptune's attention and, since she sometimes said what she thought without thinking like someone with ADHD (again, sometimes when I played the canon rebirth series, I think this is a disorder she has, though nowhere near a certain Son of Poseidon from a certain book series). "Uhhhh, author? Was it really necessary to put us in fanservicey positions, cause the tone for this story is kinda…"

"Neptune, please do not break the fourth wall right now." Vert requested politely, although if one looked they would be able to see the slight annoyance behind her calm gaze as she stood up, holding her head with her right gloved hand whilst a frown formed on her lips. "What matters now is to disconcert where we are and why we are here… this certainly does not seem like the Dungeon we were in."

"Eh?"

Neptune blinked owlishly at that, she did it several times actually. For a moment, that response went in one ear and out the other with her like 80% of the things she heard about anyways, until a few seconds later when her mind literally skidded to a halt, a 'huh, wait what?' demeanor about it as it quickly reprocessed what Vert just told it. At that point, Neptune looked around in confusion, expecting them to still be in the Dungeon like they were before… only, they weren't. "Nepu?! What the heck?!"

Indeed, whilst Neptune shrieked like that, shocked surprise filling her tone, it became apparent to her for the first time that they were NOT in the Dungeons of MICROSOFT's Basilicom, nor anywhere near the capital city for that matter. Instead, the preteen and the others (once they too all recovered from their headaches) found themselves in a large, grassy plain that expanded across every direction as far as the eye could see. However, it didn't take them long to realize that this place was anything BUT normal.

Their reasoning would be made immediately apparent. The clouds above them, all of them spiraled inwards towards a centre, sort of like a whirlpool but above them in the skies instead of in the ocean. That would be the first oddity in their new surroundings, and would not be the last either, something the girls all found out when they each felt a strange, unique feeling energy permeating throughout the atmosphere. None of the girls could make heads or tails of what this energy was or its unique origins, but judging by the feel it had, all of them got a strange, yet not unwelcome mystical feel from it. Not to mention the sight of their surroundings, no matter how weird they looked, felt like a welcome change compared to what they had been exposed to throughout the last couple hours.

Yeah, a plain like this beat skulls, spikes and brutalized corpses any day.

"Whoooooaaaaa… what the Nep is this place?" Neptune wondered, tilting her head to the side whilst placing an index finger over her chin. Confusion filled her lilac orbs, yet beneath it there was a serenity about it that came from the calm, serene nature of the place that they were in. "Well, whatever it is, sure beats that nasty stuff we've been seeing all nepping day. I'd take all this scenery over all that dreadful, boring stuff any-day. Now, if only Compa were here, then we'd be able to have a cool picnic…" the Planeptune CPU mused as she lost herself to her imagination. A bit of drool fell down the left side of her lips whilst she daydreamed about all the delights that the Nurse-In-Training could whip up. She definitely had a strong hand when it cam to cooking, something Neptune absolutely adored about her friend.

Lucy chuckled at the innocent cuteness Neptune showed just now, she couldn't help but find her strangely adorable even with her quirks. She may have a thing for the man that had the D Lucy wanted, but the redhead also found herself enjoying the quirky personality the CPU had. 'Even so, it doesn't excuse the fact that she has the same mistakes on her shoulders that the rest of the CPUs have…' one part of her, a cynical part who'd grown sick and tired of the way the CPUs acted in Celestia, commented snidely within her thoughts. Something that the redhead woman also agreed with, even as another part of her counteracted the thoughts with the following. 'But she doesn't even remember what that was like, and even then, she's trying to do something about it by befriending the other CPUs and helping save the world by freeing Histoire with the Key Fragments. Its because of her and Nicky-Dear that the CPUs are slowly beginning to change from their war-like ways towards one another.' Thus, it resulted in a rather… complicated feeling inside her chest, regarding the amnesiac. "Well, perhaps if we get out of here and reunite with her, we can have that sometime. But for now," she began to say, before her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she glanced around their surroundings. "I'd say we should focus on where we are first."

"(I shall reiterate what I said before, I believe I can help you there, Mrs VERONICA.)"

This time, when they heard the voice of the Mad Magician known as MAGES. echo throughout the scenery, the girls didn't react nearly as visibly as they did before. Though, that was mostly thanks to them having prior knowledge that MAGES. could be capable of such a thing in the first place. Not to mention that she was their ally, and jumping in surprise at every time a voice interrupted their conversations would get old real fast. "Oh, MAGES.!" Vert remarked, looking upwards. She didn't know if the Mad Magician was up there, but it felt like the best way to communicate with her for now. "Is it right to assume that this place is your doing?"

"(Your assumptions would be correct, Goddess of Green. This is a special sub dimension I created when I set up my Spells in case of an emergency. I had hoped that I wouldn't have had to use it regardless though, but with the situation you all found yourselves in, I had little other option.)"

"Huh? Whadya mean? What happened back there?" Neptune queried, looking up as well with the rest of the girls following suit. It would likely become a gag, everyone communicating with voices echoing like this or voices that spoke through their minds by looking upwards. "All I can recall is this strange WHOOSH feeling and then, well… I dunno, but it felt like we were slammed into a bus or some weights or something."

"(That would not be far from the truth, yet also a gracious understatement, lost Goddess of Purple. Unfortunately, you do not have enough time, you all need to transform immediately. I would say why, but my calculations tell me you only have 2 minutes before a battle of survival will begin. If I hadn't sucked you all in here including the incoming threat you're about to face, then the entire Basilicom would have been razed to the ground from the inferno that would have followed.)"

Noire blinked, her mind quickly registering the slight urgency behind the tone that the Mad Magician used. It… perplexed her, hearing the blunette woman say something with such a tone. Normally, MAGES. would be all calm, composed with a side of chuuni (something she knew first-hand thanks to meeting her in Lastation with Nico, Neptune and the Party). But, hearing her try to tell them to transform whilst trying to keep her cool as if something unsettled even her DEFINITELY rung alarm bells in the Lastation CPU's mind. "What? What are you-?"

"(Shoot, here it comes!)"

Before she could finish her words, MAGES. yelled those words out, and despite her questions Noire and the other CPUs followed their instincts. Several bright pillars formed around Neptune, Noire and Vert as they each turned into their HDD forms, pillars that disappeared to reveal the three girls seconds later. Though, each of them had different weapons out and ready for combat right now. First of all, Neptune brandished her CPU form's Katana instead of Soul Calibur, Noire had quickly summoned Balmung in place of her CPU sword, and Vert…

Vert had taken on her HDD form for the first time since she had returned from Celestia.

The woman's form hovered above the ground like the other CPUs, bathed in a brilliant and glittering white aura that could only come from Share Energy itself. Her hair had changed from it's golden blonde color, to a mint green. It consisted of many bangs that framed her even more mature face than the one her human form possessed. It was almost as if her face passed into the divine realms in terms of maturity, something which her voluptuous figure also followed suit in since it gained an hourglass shape that would make the prettiest of supermodels go green (ironic, huh?) with envy. Her hair was styled in a single ponytail, one that fell down to her knees in terms of length, held in place by a white band. Her eyes, instead of a sad deep blue color, now became a bright amethyst color, complete with the signature white power button symbols that came with being a CPU.

Her outfit, much like the other CPUs, followed the swimsuit theme, only her's seemed considerably more revealing than the previous two CPUs. So much so that it almost seemed sinful to look at her. Her swimsuit had the white and green color scheme her Nation seemed to follow, taking on the shape of a two-piece bikini rather than anything else. The upper portion covered her chest whilst exposing some of her under-boob, whilst the lower portion barely covered the essentials, a stark contrast to the culture that women followed in Leanbox where they wore conservative dresses.

White and green Armour covered her arms up to the biceps, her forearms being encased in futuristic-looking gauntlets of similar colors and her hands having clawed fingers. Each finger was covered in black Armour, same for the hands themselves, whilst each finger ended in clawed white tips. Several black pieces jutted out the back of her forearm gauntlets, giving them a rather wild appearance. More white and green Armour went over her legs, going above the knee to just beneath her thighs whilst they ended in mechanical-looking futuristic stiletto heeled feet. From behind her, a series of pink, petal-like wings protruded out of her back, each of them flared outwards while various Armour Pieces floated over her shoulders, head, waist and feet.

Thus, Vert found herself looking over her HDD form for the first time since she came to Celestia. A slightly awed look formed on her face whilst she stared downwards at the sight, as when she trained with Gungnir she'd never really gotten a good look at herself. No, she had been more focused on the other issues back then combined with how relieved she had been to be able to transform once again at all… even though it didn't completely rid her of her problem.

"You can admire yourself in a mirror like a giant narcissist later, Vert! We got company!"

Instantly after Black Heart yelled that out, Vert AKA Green Heart sharply turned her head to look in the direction that the other CPUs, plus Lucy, looked in with their weapons raised.

WHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!

It was a good thing, too, cause the moment they did the group got bombarded with a HUGE source of heat from a TITANIC pillar of orangish red fire suddenly shot out of the ground, roaring like a demented lion of absolute carnage as it hit the skies above. The moment it did, the entire landscape began to change as fiery trails erupted from the base of the pillar, racing across the landscape and affecting it down to the smallest atom. The skies themselves changed, changed from a clear glistening blue to a charred red, orange and black similar to the remains of an atomic bomb going off. Dark, murky clouds formed from the smoke generated by the flames that scorched them, leaving their mark for all of eternity.

Whilst the sky couldn't escape the hellish touch of those flames, the ground could arguably be seen as going through an even worse transformation. Everywhere the flames touched, life got turned into sizzling ash. The grass turned into layers of charcoal, the once fertile ground became desolate and rock hard, whilst everything around it changed from what could have been referred to as a paradise, to a desolate, barren nightmare thanks to the flames released upon it. From the flames, smoke was born, filling the air itself with its taint and burning even that too. Nothing escaped their touch, like a village being set ablaze with the screaming villagers inside it, nothing would remain unscarred by the time the flames were done.

Watching what they did, the CPUs could only feel dark, twisted terror gripping their hearts like a vice.

"Thi-This…" Noire began, her eyes wide and trembling horribly whilst she did all she could to keep it cool. It didn't work though, as she kept on sweating profusely whilst trying to keep the rising pit of dark despair inside of her stomach from swallowing them whole. "Th-This is j-j-j-j-just disgusting…" she muttered, her lips trembling and her voice stuttering. None of her previous confidence survived the horror that she felt inside at seeing such a beautiful landscape being utterly decimated before her very eyes. Part of her tried to take solace in that this was only a sub dimension where life would not flourish, but it didn't make her feel any better. This reminded her way too much of what Avenir had been doing to her Nation's landscapes whilst she was away, and it caused her to feel a sharp stinging pain deep within her being.

Gripping her Sword, Purple Heart gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, furious anger flourishing within her eyes like the wilderness that died around them. "I agree, Noire…" she responded under her breath, though Lastation's CPU still heard it. Both of them had to manually keep their breathing under control, though one had more success than the other, to avoid coughing from the soot and ash dominated oxygen in the atmosphere generated by the flames, it was THAT bad.

One can imagine how Vert could feel as she watched this, having visions and flashbacks of what she had seen whenever she went out to exercise Demons and the other Demonic Forces threatening to destroy her Nation. "Unforgivable… totally, utterly unforgivable…!" she mumbled under her breath whilst she too kept her breathing even. Her form trembled, rocking back and forth as unspeakable anger raced through her like a certain cartoonish devil in a show full of cartoon characters. Now, by no means was Vert like a druid or anything like that. She was a warrior and a goddess; therefore, she knew that destruction as a vital part of the circle of life. However, when she saw the state the land was changing into, she couldn't help but imagine all the devastation and suffering her people had been going through without her being able to help them. They passed through her mind like a slideshow, the looks of horror and fear almost taunting her, mocking her for not being able to do anything. Moreover, she remembered the uselessness she felt when it happened, something which only incited her rage further. Whatever was trying to break into this realm, transforming it from the beautiful paradise it once was would pay DEARLY for this.

But this, this was NOTHING compared to what Lucy felt and looked like…

If she were a demon in disguise, the look on her face right now would surely shred her disguise to pieces.

Finally, from the pillar of flames, a creature began stepping forth, emerging from the pillar that split apart like a pair of curtains. First, came a cloven foot which, at the moment of touching the ground, erupted into even more flames that coated it, protecting it from view. Following that, came a reverse jointed leg that looked to be a mix of skin, fur and Armour. It's skin was the deep red of encrusted blood, the fur being the colour of dried up blood having been spilled centuries ago yet some areas looked like they were more recently spilled. The reverse-jointed leg looked to also be covered in bloody red, brass and spiked armour to protect everything but the joints. Another foot came out, matching the first one before the rest of the creature emerged from the flames.

If the Demons before looked gnarly, then this thing surpassed them by a wide margin in terms of being nightmare fuel. It's gore-flecked hide was covered by the same bloodied fur that covered its legs, as well as showed some skin in certain areas. Its body had pieces of crimson brass, ornamented armour over it's form, with spiked bracelets and anklets adorning it's four limbs. From its back, sprouted a pair of gigantic, membranous, bat-like wings that looked like they could make it capable of flight, a prospect none of the CPUs liked to consider. Most hideous of all was its face though, which was shaped like a canine with two massive horns curving forwards that would make the Juggernauts red with jealousy. Its maw, which currently got set into a twisted lipless snarl, showed off its fangs the size of mortal swords. It certainly won in the size department, for it stood over 20 meters tall, whilst sporting two weapons for combat: a huge double bladed, brass made spiked Battleaxe with the shaft at least about 12 feet in length with a matching sized set of blades. As for it's second weapon, it was a long, barbed whip that just screamed danger. Aside from them, it had a pair of razor-sharp claws that looked like they could tear through anything with ease.

The moment that the impossibly muscled creature stomped out of the pillar, each step creating fiery explosions about 5 meters in height, the pillar vanished as it glared hatefully at them, spreading it's wings out which released a wave of smoke into the air. It's snarling maw released a constant drool of boiling saliva, saliva that seemed to almost melt through the charred ground as if it were the lava that existed within volcanoes. The creature finally stopped when it was a couple steps away from the hovering CPUs, whom glared at it which it returned tenfold. Even so, it saw the slight fear building in their eyes, though their rage held it at bay. Something which confirmed to it that an epic battle would be imminent. The beast licked it's fangs with it's forked tongue, white pupiless eyes bearing down on it's opponents with a snort of savage anticipation.

"(Everyone… meet a Greater Demon of Khorne… a Bloodthirster)"

* * *

"Huff… Huff…"

"Iffy… are you alright?"

IF leaned forwards, placing her hands on her bent legs at the kneecaps for support, as she heaved and heaved like she had not taken a breath in years. Thanks to her BOW powers, she didn't really sweat, and it wasn't that long before IF stood straight once again as her Armour Form receded into her, her Blades returning to human arms. All around her, there were various scorch marks that were what remained of the Khornate Demons that had been attacking them for the past 30 minutes or so. They'd come at them in large droves, droves bigger than anything that they had ever fought against before. Not to mention that she got a whole load of Biomass by assimilating a large portion of the invading force.

Looking up to her friend Compa, who floated in the air above her as well as the rest who stayed behind, IF gave her a smile and a thumbs up, prompting a relieved sigh from the young Nurse-In-Training. Even after all this time, she still worried about her, worried about her health, if she were injured in a way that IF couldn't regenerate from, amongst the works. She WAS after all the mom of the group. It honestly made her smile in happiness, it felt… nice, to have someone be a pseudo parent for her for once.

After all, since her birth mother didn't want anything to do with her…

Turning her head around, Compa looked to the rest of their group, eyes shining with concern, or was it because of her white Pupils? She didn't know, nor could she tell at the angle she looked at the Nurse-In-Training with. "Um, anyone else need some healies?" she questioned nervously as Gabriel, in the form of several pipes coming out of small portals around her, pulsed with power.

IF frowned at the sight. She still had no idea on what the heck had happened to the young girl, something that frustrated the brunette the more she tried to ponder on it. Whilst it didn't seem too harmful towards Compa, nor did she seem to mind her new state very much (actually, she looked like she enjoyed it more than she probably should, if that made any sense), IF still would like to know what the heck happened to her friend. What, how, when and why. Perhaps it was because of her BOW nature, but IF found herself somewhat having a slight obsession with knowing how something worked, it felt like something of an instinctual need to know in order to survive. Like, something she should focus on finding out in case Compa were to turn on her.

But that was just silly, Compa wouldn't really turn on her friends. Nope, that didn't seem like her at all.

"Nope… we're good!" A response came from Ivan, who stood tall after having taken a moment to rest by sitting on his backside. His Bionic Arm shifted from it's Blade Mode to it's Whip Mode, whilst the teen put his Knife back in one of his sheaths whilst going over to help Aiden. Said body currently stood on all fours, panting heavily. With the amount of sweat forming on his brows, it looked clear that the boy had been fighting hard, harder than he had in a while. Not to mention that he had fought within a combat field he wasn't used to, since he specialized in aerial combat. "You alright dude? Need a lift?"

In response to that, Aiden slowly raised his head to notice his companion's approaching presence and gave a shaky nod. "That would be very much appreciated." He replied, allowing Aiden to grasp him by his left arm and pull him to his feet. "I believe… I know what I will have to do for my training." He remarked to himself, getting a slight chuckle from his companion.

"Dude, this is stuff that even us Spec Ops could never have been fully trained for. Shit like this, its nearly out of our league."

On her end, Raven stood tall, sheathing her Odachi after performing some circular motions with it, similar to how a Samurai would sheath their blades in their waist-mounted scabbards. With a quiet CLINK, the Odachi slid back into place within it's sheath, allowing her to look around at the destruction wrought upon their surroundings. 'It seems that the Demons have stopped attacking us for the time being. However, the time frame between this attack and the next one is an unknown. Therefore, caution is best to be advised…' the woman thought to herself, narrowing her eyes behind her white and red Mask.

At another section of the battlefield, Guts and Isaac were tending to their own wounds, minding their own business and not saying anything. To them, there was no need to, not when they knew each other's thoughts due to fighting together for so long. Warriors who fought side by side for a long time understood each other on such a level, it was something that many Leanbox natives believed.

IF observed all of this, before she sighed to herself.

Assimilating so many Demons had been something she had gotten used to, it was something that she found gave her a lot of Biomass to work with, sometimes she felt like she would explode from 'eating' too much. However, like always her body would adapt to containing so much Biomass and thus, she could still fight with no issue whatsoever. With how many Demons she had assimilated, IF doubted she would ever haver to worry about injuries ever again. Her Biomass levels had reached that kind of level, but even so…

She couldn't help but think back, think back to that moment when Compa was thrown inside of that portal.

When she was thrown in, IF couldn't recall exactly what had happened with perfect clarity. However, she did recall the feeling of her rage making her entire body undergo a large-scale metamorphosis into something that could be considered an 'eldritch abomination'. The brunette shuddered, as images stained with blood flashed through her mind of Tendrils slicing through flesh, mouths gorging themselves on helpless Demons that tried to escape them to no avail, of bombarding her enemies with mortar-like shots…

Shaking her head, the brunette cleared those thoughts from her mind. She didn't need to be reminded of the things she felt in… whatever form she had taken back then. Her mind may not recall it, but her body however was a completely different matter. Ever since that moment, she had been wondering if she could repeat the process… only, to control it better and maybe make a new form for her to use. Perhaps a form that could be considered like a boosted form in which her body would be able to channel more Biomass through her system than even her modified human form, where she could augment herself even further to break into a new classification of strength. Perhaps maybe then, she could learn to fight on par with higher level enemies, like the Goddesses or even perhaps match Nico to a standstill…

Speaking of which, she had to wonder how the others were doing. Hopefully they were all ok…

'Well, they ARE Goddesses, and Lucy's quite capable in her own right. They should be fine down there…'

* * *

(Play Persona 3 OST – battle for everyone's souls)

'A Bloodthirster, huh…?' The CPU of Leanbox, Green Heart, thought as she glared at her opponent, quickly sliding to the side to avoid a large Whip which left a large crater upon impact. No, crater would be too much of an understatement in describing the sheer ferocity that strike contained. Not only did it create like a miniature earthquake (something Lucy could attest to since she was the only one of them standing on solid ground, though she never lost balance somehow), but it also made a fissure that created cracks which extended well over 40 meters in all directions.

Not to mention the sheer strength put into that blow would be enough to destroy entire skyscrapers in one fell swoop.

'This being certainly has earned it's nickname…' The greenette woman added on after barely dodging that attack in time, something that didn't sit well with her if she were to be honest. Green Heart scowled as she twirled Gungnir and made to charge up a throw towards her opponent. However, just before she could throw it, the Bloodthirster let out a loud howl, creating a shockwave with it's voice alone. Green Heart's eyes widened when she saw the attack coming, and crossed her arms to try and block it, also erecting a defensive Panel in front of her. However, the result ended up being that the attack sent her flying backwards faster than a bullet in a bullet hell game.

In mid-air, the CPU recovered and landed on a Panel, sliding to a halt as Black Heart flew past her, coming in low for a ground-to-air upward slash with Balmung coursing with her Energy. She didn't use anything like the TWILIGHT WAVE though, that attack needed more time and energy to be used at it's maximum potential. Nevertheless, Black Heart gave a mighty war cry as she landed between its fiery cloven feet and shot upwards, bringing Balmung into her intended slash. A whole arc's worth of energy got released from the blade that hit the Bloodthirster dead through it's middle…

Only, it did absolutely jack shit.

'WHAT?! Are you kidding me?!' the white-haired CPU thought in dismay, feeling the unbridled fury Balmung emitted towards this being for shrugging off it's attack like that. Sure, Black Heart had been able to control the energy a bit better for a more concentrated attack, but Balmung WASN'T a weak sword, plus it had a strong affinity for killing Demons! What in the living hell made this thing so different?! Her thoughts got silenced when the Bloodthirster swung it's Battleaxe in her direction, mirroring her swing from before. Whilst the CPU managed to avoid it by strafing away, taking advantage of her ability to fly whilst her enemy remained on the ground, the winds and shockwaves erupting from the swing still caught her, thus like a fly she got swatted away.

Regaining her balance in the air, Black Heart reflexively swung Balmung in an attempt to parry a lashing barbed whip from cutting her in half horizontally. The white-haired CPU gritted her teeth when the full force of her enemy's attack slammed into her with no restraint. Then again, knowing the deity that this thing served restraint probably wasn't even in its dictionary. She barely managed to push it back by pumping Balmung with more energy, before she held her right hand out and called out for a specific item. "Raijin!" she bellowed.

Instantly the item appeared, coiling around her arm and digging it's tail into her. That was fine by her, Black Heart thought as she applied ELECTRO CHARGE to the item, then had the electricity funnel into Balmung. Since the sword could store and channel electricity as well as any form of energy due to one of it's traits, Black Heart decided to try a little experiment that, if it worked, would probably lead to her developing a new attack with this item. Therefore, she put the Lighting of both Raijin AND her ELECTRO CHARGE into the sword, and then watched for what would happen next.

In that moment, her sword's jewel began to glow as it absorbed the energy that she had sent to it, however to Black Heart's slight frustration the blade seemed to be absorbing it at a slower rate than normal. 'Tch, I guess it can only absorb one energy type at a time… Well, I guess not everything can go my way all the time, as much as it pains me to admit that…' she thought to herself, before looking up when a shadow darkened her surroundings to see the Whip coming down on her.

Just before she could dodge it though, a large hand made out of pure crystal attached to an arm suddenly shot forth from Black Heart's rear flank, grasping onto the Whip and stopping it from achieving it's target. Lastation's CPU glanced towards the direction it came from and saw Purple Heart dashing through the air with her CPU sword brimming with purple energy. 'She must have generated the arm to save me!' Black Heart thought, before faint sparks drew her attention back to Balmung. It looked to be about 75% complete if she were to guess, but that would not be enough. 'Tch, I don't think moving will be a good idea, either since Balmung will likely absorb the energy even slower! Come on, Balmung!' she thought, almost trying to urge the sword to move faster.

Meanwhile, Purple Heart scowled at her enemy as she charged at it, the Bloodthirster roaring as it yanked it's Whip free from the arm's grip after a couple seconds, before swinging it's Battleaxe towards her. Purple Heart however, tilted her body sideways, so that when the Battleaxe came down her body would be parallel to the side of the two blades. Afterwards, she finally closed the distance between them and started going for the unarmoured areas on it's body. "CROSS COMBINATION!" she bellowed, quickly erupting into a series of slashes with her CPU sword.

When she tried to kick it into the air however, Purple Heart found that the creature didn't even flinch, it just snorted with it's maw trying to mimic a mocking grin. That pissed her off, as evident by the visibly twitching brow that Planeptune's CPU sported as she quickly flung herself to the side, avoiding another Battleaxe swing before she responded with a CRITICAL EDGE.

Unfortunately, when she turned around to look at her handiwork, the Bloodthirster remained unaffected much like with their previous attacks.

'This is not good, most of our attacks are not working on it… its all we can do to survive at this point…' Purple Heart thought as she raised her hand to the air and called down a barrage of house sized Crystal shards from above to try and pin the creature down. Now that she thought about it, looking down the CPU noticed that it had not moved from that spot one bit. That spot it had been in since the start of the battle. They had just been attacking it, wailing on it like there was no tomorrow and in a sense, that would actually be the case if it's attacks hit them.

"SHYLET SPEAR!"

After her Crystal Shards got utterly deflected or destroyed by the Bloodthirster's Whip, Purple Heart noticed Green Heart launch one of her energy Spears towards the Bloodthirster's chest area. The Aim seemed to have been on point, however the massive Demon simply smashed it with it's Battleaxe before launching a vicious barrage of lashes with it's Whip, forcing both CPUs to fly about erratically lest they wanted to be bisected without mercy.

"Tch, this guy's not making it easy on us!"

"It would seem like that's the case, Neptune!"

Whilst the two dodged like their lives depended on it, Lucy ran about with her POLLEN DRIVE Skill in full effect, enhancing her body beyond it's natural limits whilst she slashed away at her opponent's legs, trying to get through it's brass Armour to get at the legs beneath them. Unfortunately for her, even with her Cleavers enhanced by her Drive Skill they still failed to dig very deep into the Bloodthirster's Armour, proving that the Armour it wore wasn't just for show. She also had to avoid the flames that burned around it's cloven feet too, as they also had dangers of their own when small spouts of flames burst from them and tried to reduce her to a smoldering pile of ashes.

'This isn't good...' the redhead woman thought during her struggles, a pit of frustration welling up inside her stomach like a disease trying to invade her body. However, she repressed that feeling in order to focus more on the fight itself. Though, the Bloodthirster seemed content to just ignore her which stung at her pride more than she would care to admit. 'My Cleavers aren't doing as much as I want them to. Even if I use my POLLEN DRIVE Skill, it's barely putting a dent in this thing's Armour. Plus, thanks to the nature around here being mostly desolate and life being pretty much gone, my powers won't work as well.' That was true, no matter how much Lucy tried to deny it.

Her powers were of the Nature Manipulation variety. Basically, she could control multiple aspects of nature itself, for example she could manipulate flora, create toxins inside her body that she can attack her enemies with, create seeds she could use to grow whatever she wished, she could do quite a lot of things with nature, and that was simply due to her true self. However, this usually relied on there being life around her for her to use for her abilities, hence why the more underground they went back at MICROSOFT's Basilicom, the easier it had been for her to use her powers. However, thanks to those flames that this Bloodthirster used, the life in this pocket dimension had been basically burnt to a crisp, making her powers near impossible to use to their fullest extent. At least, if she didn't do THAT, but...

Shifting over to the CPUs, they finally managed to get far enough away so that they were out of the Whip's reach, allowing them to launch more Energy Spears and Energy Blades (in Purple Heart's case) towards it like a meteor shower. Each projectile flew true, mimicking the rate of fire that a Gattling Gun possessed whilst they flew through the foggy air towards their target, only for the Bloodthirster to ruthlessly bat them away with it's Battleaxe and Whip, resulting in none of them hitting it. Not something the other CPUs liked, but hey, this thing wasn't here to make friends, it was here to KILL.

"Everyone take cover!"

The sudden outcry coming from Black Heart drew everyone's gazes towards her, showing that the white-haired CPU of Lastation was now flying straight towards the Bloodthirster… with a gargantuan sized sword made entirely out of pure white, violently crackling lightning. Even the Bloodthirster took a second look towards her when it saw that large sword that looked to be half it's size. Thus, it decided to see if this woman could actually damage it with that puny toothpick she called a sword before. It sensed that the sword had amplified energy that was stored inside of it, allowing it's attack power to be greater, thus it wanted to test this ability out.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

With a mighty war cry, Black Heart raised the electrified Balmung above her head, and then brought the sword down on top of her opponent, only mildly noticing how it didn't even try to block it this time…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The moment that the blade touched the Bloodthirster's flesh, the entire landscape was bathed in a brilliant white light, a light that also released gargantuan sparks of pure white Lightning in all directions which ended up scarring the already scarred landscape even more. So bright was the explosion, that even as the two CPUs shielded their eyes with their arms (and heavily reinforced Panels) they still could feel the heat that the explosion emitted. Even so, the intensity that came along with the explosion shook the two of them to their cores, to the point where Purple Heart could only shout out her confusion towards the only other person who could have heard her. "What the heck did Noire just do?!"

Without returning the purple haired CPU's gaze, Green Heart gritted her teeth whilst her hair blew backwards behind her thanks to the wind. "She must have fused her own energy with that of Raijin's, then sent it into her sword! That thing has amplification powers, if my deduction is correct!" She answered, having to respond quite loudly so she could be heard over the winds, all whilst keeping one eye closed thanks to said currents. Hey, even with their defensive measures, it had happened as a reflex, so no judging!

Still though, she had to admit to herself that this level of energy Black Heart had unleashed was both impressive... and a little concerning. It impressed her that Black Heart could generate this much power even with the faith in her not being even a fraction of what it had once been. She remembered how during the Console War, Black Heart had been at the pinnacle of her power, and the energy she released now was NOTHING compared to back then. That wasn't the impressive thing though, the impressive feats stemmed from her being able to harness such destructive powers even with this little amount of faith she had in comparison to back then. If she were to make an analogy, then Black Heart's power would be considered a single leg compared to the whole body that it once was, but the fact that she could harness two legs worth of power regardless impressed the CPU slightly.

However, Green Heart also believed that this could cause Black Heart some problems. She likely had been pushing herself to use that much power in the first place, kind of like when one pushed themselves over the edge to keep awake to write a chapter in a fanfiction (AN: believe me, this is something I have experience with). Whilst Black Heart showed great destructive capabilities, how long did she have before she would burn herself out, then become a liability to them? Green Heart liked to think she knew her fellow CPU, and how prideful she could be. Therefore, she didn't doubt that being considered a liability and thus, having to be protected like a wallflower all the time would no doubt be something she may not be able to handle.

A pitiful level for someone so prideful to fall to.

Though, Green Heart felt that this level of power was only possible due to the items in Black Heart's possession, like the sword Balmung and the item known as Raijin. If she didn't have them, then Green Heart doubted that Black Heart could have achieved a feat like this with her current power level. One of them stored energy and electricity inside of i to be used for large scale attacks, whilst the other generated electricity and enhanced it's own power by connecting to the user and draining them of their power. Judging by the nature of the energies in the air she felt, Green Heart wondered how much power Black Heart would have let by the time everything blew over. Not much, she felt.

The explosion rang on for about 8 minutes, before finally beginning to die down until it became nothing but a huge cloud of dust. The cloud looked quite thick, and thanks to the gas in the air, the poor vision the CPUs had before reduced itself even more. Even so, neither of them wanted to assume the worst about their companion, and neither did Lucy whom had managed to retreat with the speed of her Drive Skill below. Now, she stood below them, narrowing her eyes at the cloud. Peering into the smoke, Green Heart and Purple Heart searched endlessly for their missing CPU, soon locating her below them on the ground sprawled over. There was no time to be relieved though, the safest place for the downed Black Heart would be up in the air with them. The CPU looked like she had taken a marathon through a desert even if she still looked to be retaining her HDD form, the two women noted as they quickly descended downwards and picked her up, bringing her back into the air with them.

"Wow, you sure seem to like being all dramatic, Noire." Purple Heart commented with a small smirk on the corners of her lips, whilst holding Black Heart's left bicep in her right hand. Although, if one looked closely into her eyes, they would see the concern she had for her fellow CPU rummaging through her mind like an electric current.

On her opposite end, holding her right bicep in her left hand whilst making sure to keep her clawed fingers from puncturing Black Heart's flesh, Green Heart smiled at her fellow CPU. Thinly veiled amusement danced behind her eyes, though the concern showed itself a bit more than Purple Heart's. "That was a rather impressive explosion you just pulled, if a little dramatic. What, were you trying to compensate for something?" she teased.

"Sh-Shut up!" Black Heart retorted, her face becoming tinged red with what the Leanbox CPU commented about. She felt exhausted, tired, and so ready to end this day already, she did NOT have the patience to listen to some of Green Heart's dirty innuendos. Not to mention Balmung had receded inside her Soul for the time being. That little test told her there was still much about that sword she needed to learn, especially with the way it used it's traits. She had a LOT of training to do for the future, but this experiment opened up possibilities regardless. "Did we get him?" Black Heart tiredly whispered beneath her breath, more than a little winded from using up so much energy to power Balmung and Raijin didn't help much, so she dismissed the item.

The other Two CPUs glanced at each other, frowns on their lips whilst they peered at the smoke. "I am not sure... I mean, I can't sense any Demonic Power, but thanks to that explosion my senses are all messed up." Purple Heart admitted, scowling. Judging by the look on Green Heart's face, she too found herself on the same boat. Though, something about this battle sparked itself in Purple Heart's mind, something she had noticed a bit throughout the battle. It had somewhat been apparent when she fought in human form, but Gungnir compensated for it so she didn't think too much on it. Plus she was in her human form, enough said. "Now that we have a moment, Vert what s up with your power level? Why did my attacks do more to it than yours did? We should be equal, but..."

"I do believe that discussion should be best made AFTER we have saved my Basilicom, Neptune."

With that in mind, the trio slowly descended down to where Lucy was, allowing Black Heart to hover on her own when she felt herself able to do so. When they were joined back up with the redhead woman, the four then peered into the smoke, trying to see if they could locate their enemy. Black Heart assumed that the attack worked, as she had put a LOT of energy into that experimental attack just now, enough so that even other Goddesses would still feel it down to their bones if they were to get hit by it. Thus, she felt greatly confident that she had been able to at least damage the damned thing...

Only to see the unharmed Bloodthirster brush the smoke away with it's Whip and Battleaxe, a look on its features basically screaming: 'nope, surprise bitch!'

"OH YOU HAVE GOTTA BE ******** ME! AND STOP CENSORING MY CURSING, GODDESS DAMNIT!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alright, here's the next chapter. Sorry that it's not as long as the ones previously, but I wanna make it so that this boss fight is more memorable, and to do that I'm going to be splitting it into parts. To separate it from other boss battles, at least. Plus, it'll give me a chance to figure out how the secrets I wanna reveal in this battle will play out.**

 **Next chapter will involve much more action, mostly around the Bloodthirster fight, so look forward to that.**

 **Peace out, my dudes! :)**


	137. Chapter 134 - The Big Boss PT 2

**Chapter 134 - The Big Boss PT 2**

Purple Heart gritted her teeth as she switched her CPU Sword out for her Soul Calibur. The crystalline blue blade, the source of her Crystal-based abilities, appeared in her hands in a swirling misty vortex. The moment she felt the cold touch of its shaft in her two hands, Planeptune's CPU felt some of her rising fear ebb away through the familiarity of the weapon. Thanks to its PURIFIER ability, a power that she had thoroughly ABUSED throughout this invasion, she had had her blade absorb the souls of countless Lesser Demons to enhance Soul Calibur's power. Therefore, it would serve as the best weapon she could have chosen to fight such entities. Thinking back on it though, part of her wondered why she even used her CPU sword, to begin with. It was inferior to Soul Calibur in every way, with way less power and way fewer uses in comparison. Whelp, at least she could use it now, but even so, she couldn't help but note the resilience the Bloodthirster sported. "Ugh… this creature definitely has a tenacious side to it, doesn't it?"

On that, both Black Heart and Green Heart had to agree, alongside Lucy who had her Cleavers ready to strike at a moment's notice. The Bloodthirster didn't even look the tiniest bit affected by the attack that had just happened to it, not one bit and that disturbed them a whole hell lot. Since the attack wasn't a weak one, plus it did just leave a crater that seemed as large as a large City, so it SHOULD have done some damage to it, at least a little bit. However, nope, no dice, not even a single scratch had been left on the Bloodthirster's imposing frame. It just stood as tall as it had always done, it's gaze an ever-present look of demented bloodlust as it gave a loud roar, as if beckoning them to try and challenge its might. It showed no signs of fear of the four girls, not one bit, as if the previous battle had been it just merely measuring their powers. Such thoughts did NOT sit well with the four girls, which became even more apparent when the Bloodthirster gave a vicious, yet also mocking, snarl to them whilst bearing its Battleaxe and Whip in the 'come at me' gesture.

Obviously, a few reactions of the unsavory kind would be the expected response.

"Its mocking us…" Green Heart commented, gripping Gungnir's shaft. She didn't like being insulted, especially from a creature like this. It grinded her gears like never before, her eyes narrowing as her heart released a spike of rage and wrathful intent through the rest of her body. If that wasn't enough, the brilliantly glistening white aura made only possible with her Share Energy could be more visibly seen as more of it got drawn out by the woman's anger. Though, Green Heart wasn't the only one going through a myriad of different emotions, Gungnir was doing the same thing, too. The weapon itself felt her emotions pour through their link, experiencing them as it's own. Not to mention how it rattled in her grasp like it wanted to rip itself free from her grasp and impale this thing through its snout at full power. Around its form, brilliantly golden electricity sparked and danced along its frame, almost making it look like a bolt of lightning solidified into a weapon. The space around it slowly began to twist and warp from the energy it exerted, something the four girls and the Bloodthirster noticed about the weapon.

Even so, none of them cared too much, for their own personal reasons.

Though, Black Heart felt the most affected out of the four angry women at the moment, seeing as her own attack had been the one to cause so much damage to their surroundings, but against the enemy, she REALLY wanted to hurt it basically amounted to jack shit. No words could describe the boiling frustration she felt inside her gut right now, none at all. She so wanted to just push it into her hand and then punch the ground, though that would only be counterproductive since not only would it hurt her hand like hell, but it would limit how much she could hold Balmung. The said weapon also felt the frustration of its wielder and sent her waves of calmness through their link so she didn't lose it. Even though their link was a two-way street, so Black Heart also felt the waves of frustration growing within the sword as well.

Guess she wasn't the only one pissed off at their failed attack, huh?

There was also the fact that they wouldn't be able to escape this Dimension, not only because of MAGES. likely wouldn't let them, and for good reason, but also because if this thing escaped into the world of Gamindustri, they had no clue of how much damage that it would cause. No doubt it would be massive. Perhaps borderline cataclysmic level, and if that was the case then they HAD to fight it here. Since the Demons of Khorne, not to mention every other Demon the Goddesses have encountered so far, want to devour souls, they each had a very good idea of what would be at stake should they lose this battle. In a sense. This place was their cage, and this beast was here to try and take away their everything. They were quite LITERALLY fighting for not just theirs, but EVERYONE'S souls.

"We can debate later, guys." Lucy spoke, breaking the Goddesses out of their musings and bringing their attention to her. The redhead's eyes hardened to a harder state than steel itself, whilst she held her Cleavers in a ready stance. "Cause our friend here's getting restless."

True to her word, the Bloodthirster grew tired of waiting around, and gave a loud roar whilst launching its Whip at them in a sideways sweep. This prompted the girls to each fly/ jump high into the air, successfully avoiding the barbs the Whip possessed only by a hair. A second longer, and they would have lost their feet or legs thanks to the spiked Barbs tearing through flesh and bone like they were nothing but fragile specs of air to it.

Whilst in the air, Lucy responded first, her eyes narrowing towards her opponent as she dismissed her Cleavers, the weapons vanishing into Datastreams as the Weapons went into her Inventory. A second later, the redhead threw her arm to the side as she summoned her Beyblade, before she went and unleashed her following attack: the BEYBLADE ASSAULT. The woman twirled around a full 360 degrees, building up momentum before hurling the rapidly spinning weapon towards her opponent. Midway, it split into several smaller ones, ones that the creature batted away with its Battleaxe when they got close enough, only for each of them to A: circle behind it at high speeds, and B: reform into their default form to attack it from behind.

Unfortunately for them, the Bloodthirster simply shifted so that the Beyblade grinded against its brass Armour instead of its gore-covered hide, thus reducing It's attack effectiveness to nothing. Of course, Lucy expected something like this, so when she landed on the ground she instantly re-summoned her Cleavers and unleashed a JACK THE RIPPER attack on it, followed up by unleashing a POISON SLASH that was enhanced by her POLLEN DRIVE Skill. Whilst she didn't do early as much damage as she had hoped in her onslaught by the end of it, Lucy still noticed tiny scratches made by her weapons here and there. That alone filled her with a hope she didn't realize she had wanted whilst she jumped back to avoid the Battleaxe, then several times to avoid the Whip.

The Bloodthirster eyed Lucy for a moment, as if trying to evaluate her once more after previously deducing her to not be a threat. It too felt those scratches, however minor they may be, and they were caused by her, not that large-scale attack that white one did before. That meant that, while far from it's stature, this mortal had power significantly greater than this transforming mortal who boasted godly power. Though, Lucy didn't know any of this due to the way its eyes had no pupil, all she could see was the whiteness of its eyeballs, something that unnerved her more than she'd care to admit.

That was when it made to make a move on her, raising the arm that held the Whip for an attack only to notice something out of the corner of its eye.

"ATOMIC INFERNO – CALIBUR EDITION!"

Turning to face the three above it, the Bloodthirster saw the one with that demonic sword, Purple Heart, flying towards it with a clear intent in her eyes. The sword's edge coated in dark blue energy. The moment that she swung the mighty blade when she'd cleared about half the distance between them, Purple Heart unleashed an array of over 100 blue energy rays down on her opponent. Just like ATOMICINFERNO – PLANEPTUNE EDITION, this Skill was an offshoot of the original Skill Nico possessed, only Neptune had refined it with the Demonic Power of Soul Calibur. This new Skill had been the result of it, but because of it's wide range and destructive ability, she hadn't been able to use it up until now.

Flaring its wings, the Bloodthirster looked like it was about to move for the first time during this entire battle, and if that happened then it would be classed by the rest of them as an achievement in and of itself. The fact that they would have been able to force it to dodge one of their attacks meant that it saw that attack as a threat, so they would feel like they had a chance to defeat it if they could keep spamming that attack. It was a typical gamer's strategy, target the foe's weakness to strike at them 1 more time.

Sadly though, that would be proven impossible to happen, for the creature raises it's Whip and then unleashed a nigh-supersonic level of speed in it's following lashes, swinging the Whip about like the expert of combat it was to slash or knock away every energy ray coming towards it. Not even the ones that wouldn't have hit the Bloodthirster were spared, 100 energy rays and 0 of them managed to hit their target.

Even so, Purple Heart refused to let that be the end of it, as with a mighty war cry, she descended down towards the Bloodthirster with Soul Calibur shining from its dark blue aura, to the point where it almost seemed like an exact replica of Soul Edge itself. The Bloodthirster, seeing her unwavering determination to fight, howled with glee as it forewent using it's Whip on her, and went with its Battleaxe instead. Both blades met in overhead slashes, one significantly smaller than the other, though the power it emitted allowed it to go on even ground with the larger one.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

They went, trading blows at speeds that, while not as fast as that whipping it had done before, nonetheless got difficult to track for the onlooker's eyes. Purple Heart swung like she had never swung before, with the Bloodthirster responding in kind. One of them had a furious snarl on their face, and the other had a ravenous gleeful expression twisted by the bloodlust and hatred that it manifested as the personification of. Both had equal footing in the clash, the ground got neither lost or gained between the two whilst nobody could get anywhere close to the two thanks to the shockwaves that each blow unleashed upon their surroundings.

Blocking a strike to her side, Neptune decided to showcase Soul Calibur's shapeshifting abilities, morphing its forms between blows into two blue crystalline Kodachi swords, each of them as long as a human forearm and curved near the ends. With each one, Purple Heart swung faster and faster with them, quickly activating several Skills at once: PLANEPTUNE DRIVE, and DEMONIC BLESSING. Yeah, apparently the latter also worked on the user itself, and also it stacked itself on top of her Drive Skill. Thus, her strikes came so fast it looked like she had dozens of arms swinging at the Bloodthirster, which responded by swinging its Battleaxe faster as well until they were going at it with the same speed as it's whipping earlier.

"Tch, looks like Neptune's going at it in full force…" Green Heart remarked, grimacing as she watched the two fight whilst circling to the left. She had a plan in mind, and it involved how long Purple Heart could keep the Bloodthirster off her back. So far, though, that didn't seem to be a problem with how she saw Purple Heart occupying the creature. She'd also told Black Heart what she wanted to do with the creature, which she agreed with and told the Leanbox CPU she'd provide support to Planeptune's CPU.

Thus, she didn't get surprised when Black Heart, having activated her Fafnir Armour, dashed into battle to help Purple Heart from the right flank. Purple Heart herself, however, she nearly lost her rhythm with how she swung her swords such was the surprise that filled her at seeing Black Heart already bouncing back from her previous failure. "Noire…?"

"Come on, Neptune, focus on the battle!"

Black Heart's shout quickly roused her from her stupor, just enough for a Battleaxe swing to be coming towards her in a diagonal manner. If one were to gauge the speed of the swing, they'd say it was so fast that it left afterimages in its wake. However, Neptune's instincts were sharper, as she reflexively activated her SHARD TRAVEL ability to split her body int many pieces of crystal Shards, avoiding the swing but only by a hair. Once she reformed, Purple Heart once again morphed Soul Calibur into a traditional Japanese-style Katana, but with an icy blue crystalline appearance. The main hilt was just big enough for two hands, with a cross guard that had the sphere of Soul Calibur, the core, embedded within. The blade itself was the same, but with lighter blue runic symbols carved in. The blade itself had a constant dark blue vapor around it like a cloak, giving off this intimidating yet divine appearance.

Meanwhile, Lucy scowled to herself as she saw the two Goddesses teaming up whilst Green Heart circled around to prepare her attack. The redhead quickly deduced what the Leanbox CPU had been planning, it had been evident by how Gungnir kept rattling in her hands like a child who learned that he was being taken to a candy store by her parents. Something any child would be excited about, if one asked her. However, Lucy feared that the plan wouldn't work, something that kept pounding away at her mind like that annoying little nagging sensation one always get when they were planning something, whilst she avoided these fiery kicks and thwacks the Bloodthirster kept launching her way or blocking a stray slash with her Cleavers. Normally she would have been able to do this without much effort, but thanks to POLLEN DRIVE, blocking that Battleaxe and Whip would be as easy as taking a piece of cake.

After she blocked a stray swing from the Bloodthirster's Whip, Lucy noticed that Green Heart looked about ready for her own attack, as her Gungnir was reared back like an Olympic medallist making a javelin throw whilst the Spear got covered in golden energy. The energy that spilled forth from the core at the very center of its being. The energy constantly created and released violent sparks into the atmosphere, and if the smoke had been flammable then the entire dimension would have become a sea of flames by now.

'Vert… I pray that your attack works…'

Back with Green Heart, the Leanbox CPU grinned in triumph as she felt Gungnir's power reach its maximum output. The amount of energy she could feel coursing through the weapon as well as herself felt almost orgasmic to her, reminding her of when she was at the pinnacle of her own power. Before attaining Gungnir, her power had been virtually non-existent in comparison to Noire's, she knew this just by sensing her energy and doing some quick calculations in her mind. However, now that she had it, she didn't feel so inferior anymore.

With this attack though, she may end up losing her connection to what allowed her to keep her HDD form active, at least for a brief moment. This was simply due to Gungnir no longer being in her hands to funnel the energy to keep her form maintained, but that shouldn't be a problem, since the time she would have to wait for Gungnir to return to her wasn't very long anyway, plus she could still use Beninuki.

That in mind, Green Heart widened her throwing stance, allowing her to throw Gungnir with all her might. "HAAA!" She yelled, quickly feeling her transformation cut out as she fell to the ground, now Vert once again. Even so, the woman still managed to keep her head raised to see the Spear flying towards its target: the back of the beast's head. Gungnir never missed it's target and would not be intercepted when thrown, so she basically felt like they had won already.

The Spear flew true, its shimmering golden glow making it look like a meteor from an outsider's perspective. From the front, Black Heart noticed the golden glow behind it, and quickly acted like she had told Vert she would. "Neptune come on! Fall back!" she called out, grasping Purple Heart by the shoulder and, before she could protest, flew up to the skies above at record speeds. She put a lot of energy into her wings to do this, not wanting to be caught up in what would happen next.

At that point, the Bloodthirster made to move at last… only, it sensed danger behind it, and when it turned to face it the Demonic beast saw Gungnir just a second away from impaling it's face, before…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A huge explosion of golden energy, one that filled the entire area with its light and forced anyone and anything not tied down into the air. Vert herself cried out as she was sent flying from the blast, only for Gungnir to reappear in her right hand and allow her to transform once again. Now Green Heart, the CPU quickly flew upwards to meet the other two of her kind, hovering beside them over 400 feet in the air. The total height of the explosion that engulfed the Bloodthirster had been about 300 feet… so yeah, they barely escaped that one in time.

For a moment, both Purple Heart and Black Heart remained speechless, unable to process the golden explosion below them. That is, until one of them finally broke themselves out of their stupor as they turned to the Leanbox CPU with a sheepish look on their face. "I guess we have a lot of unexplained abilities at this point, don't we?" Purple Heart remarked, soon getting an agreeing nod from Lastation's CPU.

"Indeed, we do…" Green Heart admitted, though her tone also carried hints of nervousness behind it. There were many things that needed to be discussed, and a lot of them felt very personal to her. If this were someone she could trust like Nico, then Green Heart wouldn't feel so nervous. However, these two were her rival Goddesses from other Nations, so she felt more than a little uncertain about bringing them into her problems. It was both unbecoming of a leader, and a show of weakness to allow something like that to happen, yet it also just HAD to happen at this point. Too many things had been seen for her to keep the Mask on any longer. Thus, as much as she didn't want to admit it, the time had come to take that Mask off. "However, I do believe it would be best if we saved that discussion for later, we will have lots to do after-"

WHACK!

"GAH!"

Before she could finish whatever it was she was going to say, a large, dark shadow appeared behind her, looming over her like a creature of the night stalking its prey, waiting for the precise moment to pounce on them. Green Heart didn't even get a chance to scream as something large, metallic, sharp and round slammed into her from behind, knocking the wind out of her and sending her careening towards the ground faster than a meteor breaking through the planet's atmosphere. The moment she hit the ground, a loud BOOM sound reverberated throughout the entire pocket dimension, filling the remaining CPUs with shock that soon got replaced by horror and dread. They each saw what happened, but they almost couldn't believe it.

Apparently, the Bloodthirster was made of some sturdy stuff, for not only did it survive Vert's Gungnir attack, seemingly having taken the whole thing head on, but it also recovered in record time and flew up to them before they could even have noticed it's survival. It likely used the golden explosion below as a means of cover, no, they felt SURE that was what had gone down, the victorious, maddeningly gleeful impression they got from looking at it said so. Even then, it's final piece of 'fuck you' to Green Heart was to slam the Whip on top of her back, pretty much shattering her wings as well as her HDD form before smashing her into the ground with utmost brutality.

Thus, they had only one response:

"VERT!"

* * *

Luckily, she hadn't been killed from the impact, as when she bounced back into the air, a black and red blur showed that Lucy had managed to catch her in the nick of time with POLLEN DRIVE, and then had used the momentum she gained to slide to a halt. In the end, she caught the now unconscious blonde woman bridal style, a trail of dust being left in her wake.

Laying her down, Lucy gave her a look over, noting her injuries with a twisted grimace. Her front looked okay, but when she flipped the woman over and looked at her back, she saw just how bad that Whip had wrecked her. Not only did her back not have any flesh on it now, exposing the organs and bones inside, a lot of them looked to have been badly cracked and were on the verge of breaking into splinters completely. The only reason why Vert had avoided death from that blow would likely be because of her being in HDD form at the time, her endurance in that form being much greater than that of her human one. However, now that she was in human form, she didn't have the Share Energy left to heal herself, not to mention that Lucy doubted she even knew how to heal herself with Share Energy. It wasn't really a technique that Goddesses employed these days…

Quickly, she reached into her Inventory to pick out a Hero Drink, whilst Purple Heart and Black Heart once again re-engaged the Bloodthirster above her if the sounds of metal colliding against metal were any indication. Lucy didn't need to look up to sense just how angry those two were, they were releasing their energies all over the place trying to tear the Bloodthirster apart for what it did to Vert, even if they hadn't known each other for very long. Purple Heart she could get, as she got attached to people quickly plus she could somewhat see through to a person's real feelings as Nico could. Black Heart probably get angry at seeing one of her kind being treated like this, plus the fact that she worried for her safety meant she didn't view her as an antagonist unlike she did with Purple Heart back in the Console War.

Flipping Vert over, Lucy began the long process of treating the woman's wounds whilst being careful not to aggravate her back. Hero Drinks would be essential at this point, and if MAGES. had brought Compa into this she could have helped heal her with Gabriel and her own healing powers. However, time was of the essence, and Lucy didn't want to wait around to ask her either. Therefore, she would do it herself.

This had been the last straw anyways…

'Sorry, Ravey… but I'mma gonna break lose a bit…' she thought to herself once she finally finished treating Vert's wounds. The back had replaced the skin lost and her bones had been repaired through the use of the Hero Drinks… as well as some of her own measures that she wouldn't be talking about during this fight. Now though, Vert would likely be comatose for the duration of this battle, her body needed to recover from the shock of that attack Lucy sensed, therefore the task would fall onto herself to deal with this Bloodthirster in its place.

If she were to ask herself if she really felt ready to do this, to unveil her secret weapon which she'd kept under wraps for so long, Lucy would be lying if she said she didn't feel even the slightest bit nervous. Once she did this, there would be no going back, there would be many questions asks, revelations to be had, and things in Gamindustri would never be the same again. Although, on the other hand, that fact would remain so even if she DIDN'T do this, thanks to the return of the Demons and their chaotic masters. A secret like hers being revealed would likely be something relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, even so, she couldn't help but be nervous.

This could count as her interfering in Vert's affairs, no, it DEFINITELY counted.

It was something that she and Raven had argued about a countless number of times during their partnership, whether or not they should reveal they're true selves to the world, or to be more accurate to the CPUs of Gamindustri. If they were to reveal themselves, then so many things would have to change, not to mention they risked causing mass panic and anarchy amongst the zealous followers that revered the four CPUs. That had been Raven's argument, and Lucy had kept countering that if they did intervene, then so many tragedies that the world had suffered would have been able to have been prevented. When they became the way they were, they did swear to protect this world on top of the lands that they lived in, after all.

Looking upwards towards the Bloodthirster, Lucy's eyes glazed over as she recalled every memory of conflict she had with the leader of Team RAIL. Every argument revolving around every subject they quarreled over, all of it passed through her mind as one of those old movies being played from a recording camera. Afterward, her eyes returned to their calm, focused state before they gained a hard, steely look to them. Her fists clenched and her teeth gnashed together, veins starting to become visible across her body as she finally made her choice.

It was time.

The time for change had come…

No.

A change had already begun when Neptune fell from Celestia with amnesia and dragged two people along with her into an adventure that would affect everything in Gamindustri. Even the status quo amongst the CPUs.

If someone like Neptune could change, then there was no way Lucy herself couldn't change.

'Heh…' a small chuckle escaped her lips, her form calming down and relaxing all of a sudden when a flame of amusement lit up her chest. 'In the past, I could never have expected something like this to happen, nope not one bit. Here I thought that deities were never able to change… what a fool I've been for so many years…' she thought, before her eyes switched over to the two CPUs still in the air. 'Seeing them fight like this, seeing them fight so hard for a Nation that they should consider an antagonist to their own… it inspires me. It makes me want to do my best too. Even though this Nation is filled with corrupt, sick mortals I still feel the need to fight alongside them, to prove that I too can do something about this storm that is brewing across Gamindustri…'

"Whelp… the gig is up, I guess." Lucy remarked to herself, chuckling as a greenish yellow aura started to sweat itself out of her, covering her form like it was a cloak draping itself over her to shield the woman from the cold. Only, this was no cloak, nope it would be oh so much more. Lucy felt it deep within her being, the power she needed to take out once more to defeat this enemy before her. This power of which she had not used in many years, now would get the chance to return to history once more. The woman's eyes then closed, allowing the aura to become thicker and thicker…

Before they opened, and the aura erupted into a pillar the same size as those that accompanied a certain transformation.

* * *

Rage.

Pain, and rage.

Those were the things that completely flooded the systems of Black Heart and Purple Heart right now, from the moment they saw one of their comrades get struck down viciously by this Bloodthirster. It erupted within them like a vicious, merciless cancer spreading from their chests to the rest of their beings, filling their brains with nothing but the intent to maim and slaughter. Any thoughts of rationality were purged as if THEY were the disease, not the immensely intense rage coursing through their stems right this minute.

Neither of them could do it.

Neither of them could get it out of their heads.

That moment… that moment where they briefly saw the look of absolute shock like an animal which suddenly realized it was being attacked (fitting for the situation Green Heart got herself in, huh?), then to morbid horror as the realization of what happened sunk in like a pair of icy cold fangs from the jaws of death itself, and finally skull-splitting, inferno igniting agony etch itself onto Green Heart's face the instant that thing's whip fell onto her form and sent her down to the cold hard ground below. To them, it almost felt like a dream, especially when they heard the sounds of bones ruthlessly being broken apart and the sounds of organs being ruptured by those vicious barbs. If Green Heart did survive that attack, it would be a miracle, though this thought process didn't remain in their minds for very long. They didn't even think about the golden explosion anymore once that rage had settled in, nope no sir.

All they cared about could be best summarized in three simple words:

Rip.

This.

Bitch.

APART!

Indeed, the moment that Green Heart went down, a switch flipped inside of the two remaining CPUs. Like a spark igniting into a searing blaze, anger burst forth from deep within them like a dam finally erupting after hours upon hours of trying to contain an overflowing flood of water, that wouldn't be satisfied until the cause of their rage paid in full for the shit that it had done just then, the grave sin it had committed. Neither of them cared about the basics of knowing someone at this point, nope those things didn't register to them. They may not have known much about Green Heart at this time, but they had fought together, bled together throughout this invasion, and even before this invasion began they had been talking like they were old friends, truly getting to know each other through words and not their blades. Essentially, they had become almost like sisters in arms through this invasion, becoming all the closer for it. There had been immense potential for a brighter future for them, a future that this thing had jeopardized the moment that it interrupted their chat without mercy.

This thing showed their fellow CPU no restraint in that attack…

So, they'd have to simply respond in kind.

Thus, that was what the CPUs did.

Purple Heart's assault was as vicious as it was unrelenting, with how she constantly generated hordes of hundreds and hundreds of Crystal Shards to attack the Bloodthirster from all directions, manipulating them so that they were launched like riflemen firing actual bullets at the enemy rather than just simply launching them via mental command. She generated hundreds of constructs and other attacks that she launched at the Bloodthirster, arms, weapons, got in close with Shard Travel only to use it in rapid succession between a couple of attacks.

The thing was, as it had been said before about Soul Calibur, it had the qualities of both a Demonic and a Divine weapon, a Devil arm purified with Divine energy. This would be very important to the overall power Soul Calibur has, as it would have MULTIPLE sources to draw from due to its dual nature. On one side, it can draw power from the faith that others had in Purple Heart, due to her being a CPU, she relied on that stuff to exist. One could say that Soul Calibur was just like another CPU that way, the more faith people have in Purple Heart then the more power that Soul Calibur can draw from its divine nature. However, it also has a demonic side due to its origins. Its origins being that it came from a demonic sword by the name of Soul Edge, a demonic sword that formed as a manifestation of a DPU's soul. Because of this, hatred and rage were what fuelled its power, just like the DPUs themselves, and that power had been passed on to Soul Calibur when it was forged by Nico as a fragment. In essence, the greater Purple Heart's rage and hatred were, the more power Soul Calibur gained with its demonic nature.

Therefore, with the rage coursing through Purple Heart right now, Soul Calibur received a MASSIVE power boost.

Probably had enough power to rival the chaotic energies of a Bloodthirster at this point.

As for Black Heart… Well, does the phrase 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' mean anything to you readers? Originally its when a woman goes mad when her lover cheats on her and she punishes the man and the woman together. However, people have thus associated this as a woman's feminine fury reaching dangerous heights, and THAT was what could summarize Black Heart's emotional state in a nutshell right now. The white-haired woman flew about the Bloodthirster's airspace, her form bathed in her glittering white aura so that she merely looked like a simple blue whilst she bombarded the enemy with attacks. Her form also crackled with volatile energy, mimicking the form of electricity that danced around her, as if they were electronic vipers wildly hissing as they slithered through the air.

This woman's ferocity, well, it had been born in an instant, only fuelled by the familiarity she felt when seeing someone she'd considered a comrade thanks to this invasion, fall in such a brutal manner. Combined with the fact that she had the blood and animalistic instincts of an Abnormal flowing through her thanks to the Armour, increasing her physical abilities to a higher degree, and one could say that she could have enough destructive power to match a freaking titan. In her rage, Black Heart kept storing and channeling her energy into Balmung, sometimes switching over to Raijin to keep the electric and energy attacks coming from this blade. She wanted to make that thing pay, she wanted to utterly decimate it, to ensure it suffered horrendously for what it had just done.

'Kill… Kill… KILL!'

The word 'kill' constantly repeated itself through her mind, almost like a Mantra to the CPU. Though, she did not give it any thought, her goal here was but one: destroy this Bloodthirster. If Black Heart retained her rationality, then she would have figured that Purple Heart would have been on the same boat as her and they could have worked together. Unfortunately, that would not be the case, sadly enough. Both girls seemed too caught up in their emotions to do anything even remotely akin to co-operation… If Vert could see this from her position on the ground, she'd probably feel conflicted over this scenario. On one hand, she'd feel… well, more than a little flattered that they would get that pissed because she got hit for her foolishness, or be concerned for the girls' safety. After all, their rage would only last so long against the almost-infinitely longer not to mention LARGER bloodlust the Bloodthirster possessed. Even now, the Greater Demon of Khorne gave a loud how, the flames beneath its feet suddenly shooting outwards like an explosive wave that knocked the two CPUs more than 60 meters away.

 **"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

"Oh, shut up!" Black Heart yelled back after recovering mid-flight, swinging Balmung and launching a TWILIGHT WAVE at it. The Bloodthirster however, just smacked it aside with it's mighty Battleaxe, letting the wave smash through the ground and leave one of many long, jagged fissures in it's wake. After using that attack so many times combined with her ZANDATSU, Raijin and other techniques, the Lastation CPU began to feel the toll of using her divine blade, even though she was in HDD form. This little titbit didn't register completely within her rage-filled mind, but just a small part would be enough. If she were in human form, then she would have long since conked out by now due to over-exerting herself.

Purple Heart scowled, making to say something as well when she noticed something about her companion, something that snapped her out of her angry stupor. Black Heart looked like she had been drained dry like a bloodsucker or something, her shoulders constantly shifted and her breathing began to grow erratic. Not to mention how her sword constantly crackled with electricity like dying lights. These facts, along with a few other bits of hidden body language, quickly summed themselves up in her mind: Black Heart was nearing her limit, and if she were honest, Purple Heart felt the same way. Their anger had forced them, as a means of personal satisfaction to see this thing suffer, to exert way too much power in an assault that barely did any damage to the beast. There was some damage, but not NEARLY enough that their assault should have. Most of them had been deflected by it's Whip or in some cases like just now, it's Battleaxe. It wouldn't be long before they would be unable to maintain their HDD forms, and at that point it would be game over. 'We need a plan, if we keep going at it like this… we'll not last, and it'll be a game over for us.'

…

…

…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

"?!"

Just a couple seconds after she thought that, both Goddesses and the Greater Demon's eyes shot open wide when a new, and absolutely COLOSSAL sized energy suddenly roared to life like the inferno that had been their rage… only thousands of times greater, coming straight from below them. Though she had already done it, this energy served to snap Black Heart of out her anger as well, replacing her angry look with one of complete and utter bafflement as she turned to her companion with a 'WTF?' look on her face. Purple Heart herself felt the same way if anyone asked, as she tried to feel the energy out. The energy itself felt… fresh, new, and full of life, like the beginning of the four seasons, the one known as spring. It honestly reminded Purple Heart of the season in Leanbox, if she were to put her finger on it.

"Well, well… what do we have here?"


	138. Chapter 135 - Bloodlust's end

**Chapter 135 - Bloodthirst's end**

All the rage…

All the pain…

All the Anguish, sorrow, and desire for revenge…

Everything proceeded to pack up their bags and skedaddle like the wretches that they were from the CPUs' minds when they spotted someone floating up to them once that energy dispersed. Their jaws fell unhinged, and their forms tensed with their ability to move being forcibly stolen away from them. As if their entire beings now wanted nothing more than to witness the sight before them.

There, floating before them at the same space as the two CPUs, was what looked like a combination of a full grown mature woman and nature itself, an aura surrounding her like a brilliant flame from a phoenix. The woman's form looked like she had hit her mid-twenties mark, with an hourglass figure and perfectly proportioned assets to boot. Her hair, which constantly fluttered thanks to the aura, looked like it was made from many long, thin but rich green vines, extending down to her thighs in length. Her eyes, they were this dark green colour, with a lighter green sclera and pure white power button symbols for pupils.

She wore a one-piece skin tight dark green swimsuit which had a triangular hole where her upper chest was to expose some of her cleavage, ending at her neck. Her hands were concealed by detached wooden brown gloves that ended at her wrists in a leafy pattern. Brownish red coloured spikes protrude out the back of her forearms, likely for slashing purposes due to how they glinted mercilessly and their sharp structure. From her upper back protruded a pair of wings shaped like four-digit hands with no opposable thumbs, made from many long green petals, their size being large enough to make flight possible.

Her suit covered everything from her neck to her thighs, but that was where it ended. A pair of detached stockings similar to nylon ones, only a lighter green with dark brown rims, covered her legs whilst her feet were encased in a pair of knee high organic brown stiletto heeled boots. Across her body though, were various designs that were shaped like vines wrapping around her, designs located on the stockings, along with the front and back of her swimsuit. From the top of her head, the woman had two large, thorn-like horns protruding upwards, similar to the forearm spikes to give her a more menacing vibe.

In her right hand, there was a Staff as tall as she was, with the handles looking like they were cut from tree trunks. Aside from them, the dark brown shaft had been filled with spiralling green vine-like details that run from one end to the other. Both ends of the Staff ended in 5 sharp blades of a dark green colour, with the 2 blades closest to the edges curving backwards as if to mimic hooks for grabbing, while the rest of the blades were straight for stabbing. All around her, this feeling of being embraced by nature herself spread through the two CPUs, lulling their earlier emotions and filling them with a sense of calmness and serenity they hadn't felt during this entire invasion.

But then, Black Heart returned her attention to one big matter that filled her head with alarms: that she had power button symbols.

"Who-Who are YOU?! Are you a CPU?!" She exclaimed, pushing through the tranquil feeling this woman's aura gave off and focused more on the shock that had been suppressed so far. Her mind quickly shook and trembled, endless possibilities flowing through it regarding her identity. 'This woman… if she's a CPU, then that just raises so many questions! Who is she? Where did she come from? What about her Nation? Is she here to take over Leanbox Planeptune and Lastation? What about Lowee? What about-'

The woman raised her free hand, and that tranquil feeling once again nullified her shock. Honestly, this woman's aura began to scare Black Heart senseless, if she could calm her heart like this, then what else could she do? She could potentially lull her into a false sense of security and finish her off right then and there! "Calm yourself, Goddess of Black Regality, Noire." She chided gently, once again calming the raging fires within the white-haired woman's heart, much to her dismay. It was then, that her smile turned way more suggestive like the lewd meter got conked straight up, as she spoke once more. "It ruins that adorable face and those oh so kissable lips of yours."

POOF!

Once she heard those words, Black Heart's face exploded in red, her jaw falling open as she tried to get words out. Only, her mouth refused to obey her mind's commands whilst she barely processed what she just heard. "Wh-Wh-Wha-wha-wha-what a-a-a-are you g-going on ab-ab-about?! Stop insinuating such disgusting, obscene things, you!" she shouted in embarrassment, taking several steps back from the woman.

All the while, Purple Heart held a hand over her mouth whilst looking away, although the shaking shoulders perfectly implied what she thought about the situation. She couldn't help it, Black Heart, whether in human or HDD, she always had the best reactions to being teased. It was something she felt strongly about no matter the form she was in. After all, no matter the form, she was still the lovable dork everyone saw her as… even if it wasn't all she truly was.

"Oh, don't think I've forgotten about you, little Mrs Goddess of Purple Progress, Neptune." Came the woman's voice as she appeared before the other CPU, taking her by surprise. Just before she could get back and smite her with Soul Calibur on instinct, a hand reached out as the woman cupped her chin and brought her face close to the woman's. "Let's not forget just how cute and adorable your tomboyish nature in your sexy HDD form, and how 'delicious' you look in your super cute human form…" The woman continued with a coy grin on her lips whilst her eyes twinkled like a seductive temptress.

Of course, Purple Heart didn't get early as embarrassed as Black Heart did… "Th-That's not…" …nope, she didn't, that red blush on her cheeks and that stutter just now were something else. Nope, she wasn't nearly as embarrassed as Black Heart was, nope not at all. What made you readers think she was embarrassed? Hahahaha, moving on before she destroyed the fourth wall with Soul Calibur which NOBODY would want…

All the while, the woman kept her seduction levels to the max… before bursting out into laughter as she floated backwards, holing her arms over her gut as she bent forwards, teardrops in the corners of her eyes. "Bua Hahahahahahaha! Oh man, you two should see the looks on your faces right now! I-Its so priceless, I could die laughing! Hahahaha!" she exclaimed, laughing for just a few more moments before she stopped and, after having a bit, stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. "Wow, I guess I was right when I said you two kids weren't ready for the big stuff, huh?"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"… ?! That tone! Those words…! Is that YOU, Lucy?!" Black Heart exclaimed after a moment of wondering why this woman's antics felt so familiar to her. Not going to lie though, seeing the normally forward and teasing Neptune flustered like that definitely made her day. Even if she had suffered for it not moments before, but then those words the woman said, the ones referring to the teasing from earlier when they just entered the Dungeons, made her recall someone else who said those words. Someone whom also happened to be nowhere around, leading her to the conclusion that this woman was that same person.

Said woman, Lucy, just snickered behind a closed fist. "Took ya long enough, Noire." She remarked, looking her up and down with a suggestive smile which caused her to step back, more than a little creeped out. "I thought you of all people would recognize me right away just from my demeanour. I mean come on, I'm not THAT different in this form than I am in human form." The way she said that, coupled with how she shook her head in disappointment, made the two girls bristle, especially Black Heart since it targeted her pride more than anything, and THAT was something that'd always be a low blow. Even so, it soon passed as Lucy looked down towards the Bloodthirster, which now regarded her warily having lost any and all interest in Black Heart and Purple Heart. That was what she took from looking at it's stare. "You girls need to stay back, Black Heart focus on channelling the last of your share energy into Balmung. You don't have much power left from what my senses tell me. Purple Heart, you store your energy inside of it too, whatever power you have able to be used. Your too weak to be fighting for much longer, this foe's too great for you all to defeat at your present state."

Both CPUs blinked in unison, temporarily caught by surprise when Lucy suddenly began giving out orders like a military commander. The sudden shift from a teasing seductress to a veteran general who had seen many battles in their lifetime, to the point where many years of combat had given her eyes this worn look, kind of threw them off their game. It also stopped them from protesting, that and she was right. They didn't have much power left, most of it had been extinguished fighting that Greater Demon, and since Vert was out of the picture, there was no way that they'd be able to take the Bloodthirster on in their condition. It'd be similar to a suicide attempt, not something they wanted to do in a situation like this, therefore in the end, they both nodded in agreement (though Black Heart showed way more reluctance, she was STILL a prideful woman after all especially in HDD).

With that done, Lucy gave them one last smile, before she looked down towards the Bloodthirster, and her eyes grew cold, dark and stony. Her eyes, whilst like this, barely contained the storm of anger brewing behind them, threatening to overwhelm her composure which she had maintained for the other girls. One could not ever imagine how much rage coursed through her veins when she had looked upon her new friend's damaged body like she did, therefore she would make this monster pay with it's life. "Now then, as for you…"

FWOOOSH!

Instantly, Lucy appeared before it with her Staff being thrusted towards it's face. However, the Bloodthirster blocked it with it's Battleaxe, pushing her back and going for a slash to the back with it's Whip. However, the woman used her Wings to block it, each wing hardening itself till they had greater strength than steel. Even so, they still trembled a bit whilst trying to hold back the rage-fuelled attack made by the Bloodthirster's mighty Battleaxe, she swore she could hear the furious outcries of a captive Demon inside that weapon, but she pushed backwards and thrusted her Staff over 1000 times in a single second.

In response, the Bloodthirster blocked, evaded and parried each strike, using a large amount of martial prowess to avoid getting hit. Until the last strike that is, as the moment their weapons were about to meet… the Staff suddenly extended and bent itself, sort of like the Whip that the Bloodthirster had as it wrapped around and dug into the creature's arm. The creature's eyes widened at this for two reasons: One, it didn't expect such a puny weapon to be able to pierce it's hide so easily, and two: a searing pain came from it's wrist where the claws dug into it's hide.

"You feel that…?" Lucy began with a fierce glare, growling under her breath so the other CPUs, whom had circled around the back of the airspace they had, didn't hear. "My Staff is a weapon coated with VERY deadly toxins, toxins that reduce mobility and introduce paralyzing agents to the enemy's bloodstream. These toxins I made myself, so it shouldn't be long before I completely render you immobile." She stated. "But first, I'm going to make you SUFFER… for wat you DID to my FRIEND!"

At the end there, Lucy gave a fierce war cry, pushing energy into her arm and lifting the Bloodthirster overhead with little resistance. For someone like her, whose power surpassed that of the four CPUs, something like this would be nothing as she slammed the Bloodthirster into the ground below them, before expanding her wings and unleashing a huge gust of… well, what looked like pollen. Pollen that, when expanding across the area quickly began reversing the damage done to the landscapes. The grass that was once charred to nothingness regrew, even growing whole forests throughout the pocket dimension. The skies cleared up and became the clear blue that they were before, whilst vitality returned to the land with a vengeance, taking back what was once its own from the invasion of the Khornate Demon.

With the land restored, a tactic that she had employed thanks to transforming into her true form, the life within it would perfectly allow her to fight the Greater Demon to a standstill. Lowering herself till she floated just above the life-filled ground, Lucy grinned as she twirled her newly reformed Staff in one hand, before grasping it firmly. In that moment, Lucy clicked the fingers of her off hand, and at once, something happened. Something… unforeseen by all onlookers.

The entire area erupted with Vines.

Vines, big and small, long and short, sharp and dull, erupted around them like volcanos going active, each of them writhing and wriggling around them like Tendrils. In moments however, a whole legion of 80 creatures were formed, formed from nothing but plant life. Though, both Purple Heart and Black Heart nearly blanched at the smells they gave off.

"Ugh, this stench…!"

"What the heck are those…?!"

Indeed, each creature looked alike to the next. They possessed a generally humanoid form, with numerous "eyes" one their head. They are around 10 feet (3 m) in height, and possessed very large mouths with numerous sharp tooth-like appendages surrounding the outside. They also sported long claws, 5 on each hand. Each of the creatures eyed the Greater Demon with hunger and lust, drool dropping from their maws. Lucy however, remained solely content as she pointed her Staff towards her opponent. "Alright, go my Hanabake (Changing Plant)! Tear this fool a new one!" she ordered… and the plant monsters, or rather Hanabake, obeyed.

Like a legion of soldiers inspired by their leader into a frenzy, each of the Hanabake charged into battle from all directions. From both the ground in every angle, as well as the skies above them. Each one bared their maws filled with fangs, claws flexed as they eagerly awaited the moment where they could tear into their opponent and rip it a new one for their mistress.

* * *

Back on the sidelines…

"Those are…!" Black Heart gasped, eyes wide in recognition when she saw the creatures attacking. Well, she didn't recognize them right away, but after a moment of watching their movements whilst they charged at the Bloodthirster, it all clicked into place within her head.

Purple Heart glanced over to the other CPU the moment that she heard her speak, eyes glimmering with surprise and confusion. She didn't know what the heck was going on, but Black Heart did? It kind of made her a little jealous, and if she were in human form she'd DEFINITELY make that known to any who'd bother to listen. However, she had to get the information she wanted firs, that was her top priority at the moment. "Do you know those creatures, Noire? I've never seen them before. Although, with my memories the way that they are, its not that surprising."

Glancing over to her, Lastation's CPU could only nod in agreement, for multiple reasons that she soon stated in her response. "Yeah, I know of them. Of course, you wouldn't given your amnesia, you're right on that front. However, during the time we were apart, I sometimes got reports of these large plant-like monstrosities attacking Abnormals throughout Lastation, tearing through their ranks like they were no big deal and avoiding any conflict with humans. I dunno what the connection there is, but something tells me that Lucy was involved with that."

At this, Purple Heart gave a worried, concerned frown. That information troubled her greatly, and for good reason. Only, there wasn't only one reason why she felt so concerned either. "It almost seems like she's been involved with a lot of activities as of late, both with and without Nico's help… it's like we don't know them at all, even if we've fought together."

Black Heart merely nodded her head, understanding where Purple Heart came from. 'Its no surprise Neptune would think that. I like to think I'm used to her nature by now, but that personality shift when she transforms still gets me sometimes. Not counting how much she'd changed either, but according to those reports, those creatures showed up usually in large enough numbers. I'm pretty sure that's because…'

* * *

Back with the two fighters, Black Heart's prediction came true.

Instantly, the Bloodthirster reacted, swinging it's Battleaxe at supersonic speeds. It ended up in it becoming a massive whirlwind of speed and death, tearing through each Hanabake each moment a second passed. About half fell in the first minute, the rest jumped back to avoid the same fate in the following minute. The ones that survived, each fell backwards and made to attack again, when suddenly they each paused, freezing in place.

Of course, this surprised the others, before they turned to the source of them: Lucy herself, whom launched herself towards the creature with her Staff aimed towards its face. Said creature made to launch it's Whip at her to try and deter her, however Lucy simply darted around it, using a combination of parkour and agility to avoid it, then follow up with an upward slash to its head. However, the Bloodthirster stepped backwards, creating a fiery explosion under it's cloven hooves in the process, to avoid the slash before spinning counter clockwise into a reverse horizontal slash.

This was blocked by Lucy's Staff, the two weapons rebounding as the two fighters viciously followed up with a consecutive string of slashes aimed at every vital that they could see.

CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

The two went, constantly circling each other whilst flipping, jumping, twisting and spinning with the amount of grace only one whom had countless years of battle experience could accomplish. This was mostly done by Lucy thanks to her graceful warrior-like mobility, but the Bloodthirster proved to be just as agile as herself with how it moved, not to mention its absurd reaction time more than matching Purple Heart in human form's. It almost felt like this thing was specifically bred for battle… and considering what it was, Lucy wouldn't be very surprised if that turned out to be true.

Even so, Lucy wasn't only just fighting, she had been multi-tasking as well. Between each strike which was a timeframe of a millionth of a second, she quickly manipulated the life energy throughout the entire dimension and infused it into her remaining minions. They wouldn't be able to do much on their own, however if utilized properly they could do some serious damage to this fucker. Not to mention she kept her senses expanded so she could monitor the toxins that had entered the Greater Demon's body… only, not seconds into the conflict she saw how they got burned out. 'Well, this fucker's rage almost feels like flames anyways, so it must be so angry that it's reflected within their internal structure. Thus, toxins won't work on it since it's rage burns them out of existence.' Lucy thought to herself, before parrying a strike from a Battleaxe and swinging upwards, throwing the weapon upward and out of the Bloodthirster's hand. Quickly, one of her minions caught it by the shaft within it's jaws, tossing it to the ground soon after on her orders.

With it gone, Lucy reared her Staff back for a finishing thrust to the creature's heart, only for the Bloodthirster's Whip to coil around the Staff's shaft and mercilessly, forcefully yanking it out of her hands like tying to snatch a toy from within a dog's mouth, tossing it aside as well. The Staff fell to the ground on the sidelines, too far for Lucy to try and reach in time, something that the Bloodthirster foresaw whilst lunging forwards, thrusting one of it's savage-looking claws towards her own torso.

However, just before Lucy could get impaled, the left corner of her lips twitched upwards, something that the Bloodthirster didn't notice due to pretty much going on high from all the adrenaline, bloodlust and rage coursing through its system. Whelp, that should have been it's only warning… before Lucy's form suddenly turned into what looked like pollen, splitting off into the atmosphere.

One could almost feel the shocked reactions of the onlookers…

Though, the Hanabake, as if on instinct or prompted by mental command, quickly leapt forwards in a wild frenzy of roars, catching the Bloodthirster off guard which allowed them to cling onto every piece of it's body that they could, claws and talons digging into it's flesh as did their maws. Rage bubbled inside of it to replace the shock of what just happened, as the Bloodthirster released a furious roar, making to try to tear them off it piece by bloody piece. However, each of the Hanabake start growl and convulse, as if they were pained. The reason soon became apparent however, when they each erupted in an explosion of light green, quickly setting off a chain reaction to the rest of them.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM,

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM,

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM,

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The explosions went, pounding away at the Bloodthirster which howled and shrieked in pure, concentrated and unholy agony as it stumbled about, green smoke rising from multiple parts of its horribly charred body. The fact that it had Brass Armour over where it's vitals would have been had been the only thing that kept it alive from that attack, as each explosion had abut 5000 pounds of impact force. Times that by 40, and…

You get over 200,000 pounds of extreme force…

Yikes!

Even so, the creature's body still refused to go down, despite such damage that had been wrought onto it's body. One could even see trails of boiling blood seeping from some areas like superheated lava, dripping onto the ground below. Sizzling sounds accompanied those drops, showing how the lava burned through the newly formed grass like a certain acid that a certain endoparasitoid extra-terrestrial species with killer tongues possessed. Despite these injuries, the Bloodthirster still remained standing as it's wounds slowly began to close, it's body implementing Demonic Power to close them to stop the bleeding. Every Demonic Being knew how to mend themselves with their energy, it was a common skill they could use. Though, the stronger the Demon, the greater the potential. For a Bloodthirster, it would be able to heal from fatal injuries like they had been nothing but bug bites….

However, something had been off about those attacks. Even if it were a creature of nothing but carnage and rage, it was not blind nor did it have the mindlessness that came with being a savage brute. It had noticed it the moment that it got hit by whatever had struck it with the strength of a sledgehammer swung full force, how could it not when it felt remnants of that something inside it's system before it's rage-filled blood and other defenses purged it? It would have to have been an idiot not to notice, something that it's master, the great Khorne, would swiftly punish it for. The lord of blood did NOT take kindly to incompetence, it knew this due to having hunted some who proved themselves inept with a pack of Flesh Hounds. It reveled in those beautiful displays of gorgeous blood being spilled, terrified screams filling the air like sweet music which resonated within it's being. Back to those explosions, they contained something, something other than toxins. It was NOTHING like what it had been struck with before, hell it even felt some bits of it from the blades of that Staff, though the quantity and quality of what it felt now superseded what it felt back then. If it were to gauge this something, it felt like an energy of sorts, not like Demonic Power or Share Energy that the Divine ones have, but something much more… raw, primal… NATURAL.

"I guess you've noticed it, then."

No time was wasted when the Bloodthirster responded, none at all for when it heard that mortal's voice, instincts SCREAMED at it to react faster than it had reacted in a long time. Quickly turning to the source of that female voice, the Bloodthirster saw Lucy standing atop her Staff which lay impaled diagonally on the ground. It had;t been like that before though, so it assumed that she had somehow put it like that when it hadn't been looking, likely during the rapid explosions. She soon hopped off it though when it launched it's Whip at her, landing just above the ground in a floating position before she grasped her Staff and pulled it free. She then swung it lopsidedly in a horizontal motion… and then the Bloodthirster kneeled over when something seemingly invisible slammed into it's gut, forcing it onto one leg.

* * *

"HUH?!"

On the sidelines, Purple Heart and Black Heart stared in dumbfounded silence, having paused the gathering of their energies to see what had happened just then. Only, that didn't do jack shit with figuring out what the hell had happened. If anything, it only made the matter even more confusing as the two CPUs tried wracking their brains (in human form, Purple Heart would have bopped herself repeatedly on her head to further show her emotions) to figure it out.

"What the...?" Purple Heart questioned whilst scratching her jawline with a narrowed-eye gaze. 'What was that just now...? I couldn't see a thing regarding what was going on.' Her gaze zeroed in on Lucy, whom just stood there whilst eyeing the Bloodthirster which looked just as confused as the rest of them. 'Lucy did something just now, but what? All I saw her do was swing that Staff, though I'm not sure if it should be called that or a Spear...' she thought, before switching to the baffled Bloodthirster, which probably hadn't been forced to kneel before someone like Lucy in its likely long life. 'But even so, despite the distance it looked like she got herself hit anyways.'

Over to the Purplette CPU's right side, it seemed that Black Heart had a similar thought process, only it also looked like she had become troubled by something as she looked at Lucy with something akin to suspicion. Her eyes shone with it, whilst her body didn't do anything else but tense up like when something became hard when exposed to the atmosphere. The white haired woman couldn't help but get the feeling that she had felt this power before, somewhere... somewhere she should know about too...

* * *

Back to the battle, seeing the bafflement of both the Bloodthirster and her onlookers, Lucy just grinned as she repeatedly twirled her Staff into a forwardly spinning wheel… and then the Bloodthirster felt a couple dozen of the same invisible something slam into the back of it's head, forcing it onto all fours. Rage began to quickly build within the creature, as it raised it's head (ignoring the pain assaulting it when it did) to viciously glare at the smirking woman. It tried to raise it's wings to fly at her, but those somethings slammed into the wings to result in them being broken after a few hits, audible cracking sounds filling the air.

Cue the following pained roars.

All the while, Lucy just cackled like a sadist, her green eyes almost glowing with the glee she felt watching this thing suffer from the pain she had inflicted on it. 'Ufufufufufu, serves this bastard right, it'll pay for harming Vert the way it did, oh this I swear…' she thought to herself, twirling her Staff in her hand before quickly thrusting forwards having built up the power she had been using so far for this next attack.

This time, the Bloodthirster wisely chose to jump to the side, coincidentally next to it's Battleaxe whilst her attack travelled harmlessly by it. Lucy then poured bower into her wings, which began to gain this dull green shine, before she instantly blasted forth faster than a bullet train at max speed, flipping about into an overhead strike towards it's head.

The Bloodthirster responded by vaulting around her however, swinging it's Battleaxe at her back to try and tear her in half through the waist… only, for Lucy to vanish the same way she had before, becoming hat looked like the pollen from flowers only to reform beside it with her Staff poised for a reverse sweeping motion. With the energy she had been using empowering her muscles, Lucy swiftly swept the Bloodthirster off it's feet and forced it onto it's back, earning a twisted and pained snarl from the beast thanks to landing on it's broken Wings.

Throwing her free hand up, Lucy generated a large sum of Vines from the ground around the Greater Demon, each one big enough to act as restraints for its limbs like a certain Agent's CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS. Each vine coiled around the Bloodthirster's limbs like they were serpents, constricting tightly around them that they would prevent the creature from moving at all. Some even grew leaves, randomly enough, whilst Lucy floated over to the creature.

Although, this didn't stop it from resisting with all its might, furious and deranged howls escaping the Bloodthirster as it writhed and wriggled on the ground like a fist trying to pull itself off a fishing lure. Honestly, it made Lucy's dominating nature start to come out a bit more, a faint giggle escaping her mouth as she made more and more Vines come out to reinforce the other ones, absolutely denying any and all mobility to the Greater Demon whilst she floated over to it. She even made it a point to go slowly, just to let the impending doom that would soon befall it settle into it's mind like a vicious unkillable monster slowly reaching out towards the terrified child. It felt so good to see this beast try to resist her, to refute her dominance over it's life to the very end whilst she snuffed out any and all ability to do so from it.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

… Okay, perhaps she had a slight sadistic streak, but she'd rather like to see it as the dominating aspect of her true nature.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Lucy now floated over the Greater Demon's torso. At this point, it had been covered with so many Vines right now that the creature's head was the only thing that could be seen, the rest of it's body being claimed by nature. Deep within her, she could feel pangs of satisfaction from the land itself, as if this entire dimension itself had a life all it's own. This only made Lucy's interest in the Mad Magician, the one who she knew had created such a dimension, all the greater which showed in the intrigued glint in her eyes. 'Hmmm, MAGES. has done a fine job replicating the soul of Nature. I'm actually impressed a mortal with such knowledge exists in this world… I would LOVE to know how she did it, she truly did a grand job, the life energy in this world is truly of fine quality…'

The roars of the Greater Demon below her soon brought the transformed woman back from her internal musings however, so she gave a sigh and scowled. "Oh, put a sock in it." she stated, stomping one of her heeled boots on top of it's head with enough force to cause a 4 foot deep crater where it's head impacted the ground. She'd been holding back just them, too, something that this Bloodthirster wouldn't ever know about. 'Though, I will admit that I wasn't sure if my power would be any effective against Demons of this calibre due to their nature. It was a total shot in the dark there, but I guess right now that it was EXACTLY due to their energy natures that my power was so effective on them.'

For a moment, Lucy revelled in the dominance that she had over the Bloodthirster as it struggled less and less. Mostly because the leaves that spread across the vines hid the fact that they were constantly pumping toxins into it's body through long, but small spikes, kinda like they were Syringes. These toxins were the same as the ones her Staff had before, their focus being to numb the body so that the brain wouldn't have any control over it anymore. It was like how some insects had such venom in their fangs which they used to immobilize their prey before feasting on them with the savagery that all forms of nature were known for… especially insects.

Those cute little things always made her giggle, especially centipedes.

Once the woman felt sure that the toxins had taken complete control over the Greater Demon's mobility (as evident by the lack of struggle yet the defiant look in it's fiery eyes didn't abate in the slightest-her favourite prey), Lucy raised her Staff and prepared one of her invisible attacks. Invisibility was such a great tool in the field of combat, she felt. Especially if the senses weren't able to track it, and the energy she used-NO, the energy that MADE UP her being was exactly that. Hell, if she wanted, she could use it to coat herself in it's embrace and turn completely invisible, like absolute camouflage.

Glancing back down at her cornered prey, the woman stared into its eyes for the briefest of seconds. "Whelp, looks like I didn't need their help after all. Though, I do think that is simply due to them weakening you all this time. See you on the other side, dearie." with that final taunt, Lucy gave it one last look before she smirked like the Demons that she had fought, eyes gleaming with malice as she brought the Staff down… blowing the Demon's head into paste and ending it's life once and for all.


	139. Chapter 136 - Recovery

**Chapter 136 - Recovery**

"And so… the enemy has finally been vanquished. After a long, terrible ordeal, the heroes have saved the day, beat back the baddies and are feeling pretty great right now…" Neptune chirped happily, back in human form with her hands on her hips and a proud aura around her. She looked like she had gone through the wringer though, and it looked quite clear that she had been exhausted, barely keeping her balance straight whilst her Share Energy recovered to its original quantity. Though, she did feel 'something' helping her energy return to it's original state amplifying it and speeding up it's recovery which thus explained why she was still moving up and about.

She then continued. "The Demons were pushed back, everywhere in the Basilicom was taken back, and MAGES. my old pal who apparently knew another me somewhere, switched off her barrier and let the Basilicom out of her grasp. She's gone though, said she hard work to do elsewhere, so yeah. It's a shame she had to go though, I wanted to thank her for all her help, cause without her we'd have been in a real bind especially with that meanie final boss monster… what was it called again? Oh yeah #shudder#" Briefly, Neptune shuddered at the memory of those burning eyes drilling their angry gaze into her very soul, before she resumed. "A Bloodthirster, pretty much someone with eternal anger issues that no amount of therapy could fix. Yikes, buddy, would it kill you to try and simmer down next time? I mean, life is good, life is awesome and fun! No need to keep killing, killing and killing or whatever."

"After all that stuff went down, we returned to the Main Hall on the ground floor. Compa and Lucy left us to go help those military guys and any other civvies who wound up all hurt during all that fighting and stuff. Me, Iffy, Aiden, Ivan, Guts, and everyone else are all doing our own thing right now, just resting p a bit from all that ruckus." Neptune stated…

Before she heard a familiar tomboyish yet also matured voice come from behind her. "Nep, who the heck are you talking to right now?" Quickly, she turned around to see IF walking up to her with a hand on her hip. Her face had been set in a stern, grim expression whilst her form looked to be retracting Tendrils. Even so, Neptune quickly bounded over to her, jumping into an intentional aerial glomp. "Iffyyyyyyy! Lemme give ya a hug-!" she exclaimed.

However, she got interrupted when IF held a hand out in a claw-like motion and entrapped her head within it. Her hand even sported a vice-like grip which had been honed not only through experience, but also the constant mutation of her body's cells thanks to Assimilating so many Demonic beings and Abnormals. "So not the time, Nep. Stop being an idiot." She stated, groaning in annoyance whilst watching the lilac haired girl flailed her arms and legs about.

Plus, she did NOT resist the urge to glare at some of the guys around them when they tried to look down Neptune's hoodie dress thanks to the acute angle she came down on the brunette. Thus, the guys that did try to take a peak, turned away whilst tying to whistle innocently whilst sweating bullets.

Freaking perverts…

Though, in this case, it was probably more to do with the way to cope with what had just happened.

Probably.

Shaking her head, IF released her hold on the preteen and let her drop to the floor in a rather comical manner.

"THUD!"

The brunette also ignored the verbal sound that the preteen used when she impacted the ground, stood up seconds later with a red circular imprint on her face as she rubbed her nose to sooth the aches there. "Ouchies, hey what gives Iffy? I just wanna hug one of my besties, ya know!" she exclaimed as she continued soothing the pain on her face by applying cold Crystal onto it. She did NOT resist the urge to moan in pleasure as the cool feeling of the crystal replaced the burning she felt from her face.

"In any case, I saw you standing there talking to yourself, and rather letting you stew in your idiocy like normal…" IF began, hiding her urge to smirk when she heard the indignant cry of 'don't you ignore me!' from Neptune as she continued. "Vert wanted to speak with you. Well, more specifically she wants you, me, Noire, Compa Team RAIL, Guts and Isaac to meet with her in her room."

At this, Neptune's indignation got replaced with confusion, tilting her head whilst question marks appeared over her head. At this point IF just ignored it along with the other 80% of oddities about the girl. "Huh? Why'd she wanna speak with us? Plus, ain't Compa doing the healing stuff for the army guys?" she questioned her brunette BOW companion, putting an index finger on her jaw whilst adopting a thoughtful expression.

It was true though, not long after the attack Compa began to go around the rooms across the floors they had secured, using Gabriel's power BARD OF HEALING to help speed up the recovery of the injured soldiers. Gabriel's power affected those that heard it in different ways depending on the user after all, and if she had enough speakers she could probably affect a larger area. Gabriel, to her, seemed like it was heavily based off sound and perception of that sound, though Neptune didn't put so much thought into it. Though, she had seen some of the guys healed from her, and she'd seen the reverence in their eyes when she passed by.

Not to mention that Lucy accompanied her as well, At first Compa didn't know why she wanted to come or how she would be able to help, however she soon showed why. Apparently, one of her powers was nature manipulation, as I she controlled many aspects of nature itself. Plants, trees, wood, you name it she can manipulate it thanks to her ability to control Nature. In this case however, she was able to generate large trees around the rooms, each one releasing large bursts of pollen and gases which filled each room. These things seemed to have great healing properties, sort of like a group Hero Drink in that health and energy got restored to the injured soldiers. Limbs had gotten repaired, soldiers on death's door got pulled back into the real world, and a whole load of miracles could be said to have only been possible thanks to those two.

There were also cries of appreciation from those who saw the Spec Ops Agents and the rest of the Party, too. Many soldiers sung the Spec Ops Program praises for being able to fight off the Demons and reclaim what was lost to them, to suffer the brunt of the combat whilst the military secured the floors for them. Even so though, there had been Demons whom the Party had missed, which had to be dealt with by the Military. Not to mention that by the time that they even got started retaking floors, the number of injured soldiers had already reached the triple digit points. The military themselves also got praised by the staff members whom had survived the horrors that had followed, especially Stefan for being able to react efficiently and come up with a strategy to take back the Basilicom from the invaders.

Even so, whilst things got done right, this wouldn't be the end if politics and Nobles would get involved, and nobody doubted they wouldn't.

IF meanwhile, shrugged her shoulders with an unknowing look on her features, though behind that gaze lay something that Neptune quickly took notice of. "Dunno, she just told me to come get you all. Sadly, I tried to find Guts and Isaac, but they'd apparently left the Basilicom already, something about continuing their jobs. Its annoying, but I get their point, still have jobs to do, and thanks to the small number of Agents their free time is rather limited." She explained, waving her other hand, the one not on her hip, off to the side in a sort of flicking motion. "Anyways, glad I found you here and not trying to raid the kitchen for pudding or something."

For a moment, Neptune hummed in thought from what IF had said, though in reality she just took it like how the Spec Ops Candidate said it. She wasn't that good with complicated things anyways. What she WAS good at though… would be teasing the nep out of her friends! "Dawwww, you just wanna see more of Lady Green Heart, don'tcha Iffy? You wanna get some more of those booby action, eh? Iffy really has a dirty mind, doesn't she? Hehehehe." Neptune responded with a sly grin, wiggling her eyebrows in a knowing manner at the look she had noticed behind the brunette's gaze.

"Wh-What the heck?!" IF exclaimed, suddenly losing her composure as she raised her voice, stepping backwards once while her face started becoming stained pink with what she had heard. Unknown to her however, some gazes had been drawn when they heard her voice. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out as she tried to recover and deny what the amnesiac CPU had said. "Th-That's not it at all, and you know it!" She retorted sharply… though the look on her face and the way her eyes glowed with slight excitement gave her away.

Neptune merely smirked just as slyly as she did before. In fact, it could be argued that she did it in even greater a quantity. "Suuuuure ya don't Iffy. I 'believe' you…" the way she responded obviously gave away the fact she totally didn't, and that only succeeded in getting IF even more flustered. In her mind, the preteen couldn't help but try to stifle her urge to laugh at teasing her friend. Not only was teasing her one of the greatest things ever aside from the gloriousness of Pudding, but seeing IF's hidden cute side after everything they'd been through felt like some much needed downtime. She SO wanted to spend the rest of the day teasing her friends and seeing their cute blushes, especially Compas! 'Heck, it's been all fighting and heavy stuff for more than 6 chapters already, we need a small break before going back to the action! It IS a major selling point for this fanfiction aside from the lore!' she thought to herself, a sense of relief and relaxation filling her being.

IF spent few more moments trying to think of something that could dissuade the preteen, but then she eventually gave up, sighing in annoyance as she placed a hand on her forehead. 'Ugh, this brat… I kind of forgot she can be a real pain in the ass sometimes…' she thought in resignation. Trying to convince Neptune or talk to her sometimes could be considered like travelling through an endless maze. Not something that she wanted to deal with, especially after today. "Ugh, let's just go. I know that the others are here still, so we'll be finding them first before we go see Vert.

"Okie dokie, Iffy...!"

* * *

Searching through the Basilicom, as in searching through the floors that were captured and stuff, took a little bit longer than IF would have liked and that was mostly to do with how people kept holding them up to give thanks or praise to her, Neptune or the others whom the duo found. IF could get it, why they had suddenly shot upwards in terms of popularity, bu they SERIOUSLY needed to get a move on! Lady Vert had told her to gather the others and meet her in her room, Goddess damnit!

It wasn't like she wanted to spend more time with Vert than anything else, alright?!

Honest! Neptune was just trying to get into her head!

Tsundere thoughts aside (pretty sure that IF she could hear what the author was saying shed try to gut him with one of her Tendrils or inflict other severe bodily torture that the Author shudders to think about), the first person they found… or rather the first couple PEOPLE, were Lucy and Compa. They had been in one of the first-floor corridors, taking a small break with Lucy and Compa talking over a couple Hero Drinks. Quite akin to the closest thing Compa could get right now to drinking at a bar with someone. The two looked to have been talking about something, and had just finished the conversation (judging by the look of understanding on Compa's face, it seemed to be quite major) when IF and Neptune found them.

Not too long afterwards, Raven, whom had been patrolling the floors with some of the soldiers (whom were all women due to her not liking men aside from Nico, Aiden and Ivan), found them. It didn't take her long to be convinced to join them in gathering the group… although she DID give an accusing glare towards Lucy, whom had simply responded in a simple manner as she had shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. IF had to wonder what that was about, though since she couldn't exactly read minds the brunette BOW had decided to let it drop. Even though her curiosity still persisted…

Afterwards, it took a while but they eventually found Aiden and Ivan sitting amongst a crowd of male soldiers, soldiers who had looked to have suffered only minor injuries during the battle (some of the lucky ones they were), laughing merrily and drinking alcoholic beverages. Well, it looked more like Ivan drinking whilst Aiden refrained in favour of a Hero Drink. That only showed that he, Lucy and Compa had been the SENSIBLE ones in regards to underage drinking, something which had, mostly, saved them from the wrath of a certain team leader. Whilst Raven 'disciplined' Ivan in another room (if the guy's screams were any indication one would be wise NOT to inquire further), the two guys with one looking like they had went through frozen islands bare of any clothing for months on end without dying tagged along with them to find Noire and Raiden…

Whom had been found talking with Stefan back in the Main Hall, alongside some of her representatives.

None of them paid much attention to all te political talk that had been going on there, instead they just convinced the blackette and her Bodyguard to accompany them. When her reps argued against this, they simply responded with that it was a request from another political leader with the same power level as Noire, which shut their traps faster than one could say 'boo!' NOBODY wanted to incite a war right now, not with the horrors that had just happened. Its like when one just survives a fight, any SANE person would wat to avoid getting into further conflict for a time. The amount varied from person to person, but this fact remained all the same.

Thus, all of them journeyed with IF leading them, up to Vert's room.

* * *

"Ah, everyone. It appears you have all arrived."

The moment that they entered the room, Vert stood in the middle of it politely waiting for them. Several cups of steaming hot tea lay on the bedside, small steamy trails rising from them. There looked to e a cup for each of them, though there would be two spare thanks to a certain pair of Spec Ops Agents. Something which Vert quickly noticed. "Oh? We seem to be missing two of them. Would you please tell me where Mr Clarke and Mr Guts are at present?"

Stepping forwards, IF responded to the CPU's question (whilst trying NOT to fangirl over the fact he was in here again, since a certain preteen eyed her like a hawk). "They had to leave, they got requested to do extra work to hold off some Abnormals, Lady Vert." she explained. "That's why they couldn't come here on your summons today,"

At this, a sigh escaped the woman's lips with understanding and slight disappointment flashing through her eyes, It became easy to understand why, even for the dimmest members of the Party. "I see… it's saddening, but if their duty tells them to do so, then I will not interfere. I will have to find them again sometime in the future, after all they are heroes just as much as everyone else in this room." She mused, sighing.

Indeed, everyone in this room had been present during the Demon Invasion. They had seen things that most mortals wouldn't even begin to comprehend, horrors that were both numerous and best left unsee for th rest of history. Brutally eviscerated corpses of man woman and even child, desecrated bodily mutilation, mutation of a sinister variety, amongst other despicable acts committed by the Demons of Khorne and their human followers. None of them got a clear idea of which atrocity committers had been worse, honestly. Though, it did reinforce one fact into their brains, burning it there with no way of ever being forgotten…

That sometimes, humans could be WAY more monstrous than any monster.

"So, why is it that you summoned us here?" Ever the one to get to the point, Raven spoke this question which brought everyone out of their musings, then made them focus back on Leanbox's CPU. The black-haired woman, aside from Noire of course, had her arms crossed under her chest whilst putting more weight on one leg, her red eyes flashing as they focused their gaze upon Vert who shuddered slightly, more than a little intimidated by that cold gaze she possessed. It almost felt like she lacked any kind of warmth whatsoever… and if she were to ask her companions, they'd wholeheartedly support that theory.

Nevertheless, she had to act like a leader right now, and not some weak, feeble little girl scared of the dark. Not to mention that she indeed had several reasons for asking them all to come here. "Yes, we should get straight to business." The woman replied, nodding as she gestured for them to close the door behind them which Ivan did. Standing up from the bed (whilst offering the tea to the party which they accepted, which prompted them to sit/stand wherever they so choose), the woman looked upon them all… before she briefly lowered her head in gratitude. "I must thank each and every one of you. Without your help, many lives would have been lost in this great tragedy."

Noire responded this time, flicking her head to the side which made her ponytail swerve in the direction her head went. "Please, think nothing of it. If we're to be in a truce that could become an alliance, we need to show trust towards one another." She stated, and of course, EVERYONE became aware of her statement. If this were to have happened say 4 months ago, this invasion would have ended MAJORLY differently, due to the antagonistic relationship between Lastation, Planeptune and Leanbox. If Leanbox and Lastation hadn't opened the door to this possibility towards friendlier relations (not completely, since competition was the way Gamindustri moved forwards) then this tragedy…

Well, lets not think of the bullet that they had just dodged.

"Plus, we got to help people! That's something that anyone should be proud they did!" Compa chirped happily, beaming as she recalled the happy smiles she had seen on everyone's faces when she cured tem of their ailments. Gabriel's power honestly felt MAVERLOUS to her right now, since it garnered a lot of joy from those she had managed to save. She didn't try to think of the people she couldn't save though, as that would just dampen her mood some. Not to mention, was it just her or were some of those people looking at her funny when she passed them?

Even so, her words did inspire gratitude within the Leanbox CPU's chest. The blonde woman giggled at the Nurse-In-Training whilst she calmly sipped some tea. "I do think you are very kind, Compa. It is a trait I wish more people had in them than just all of you." She complimented, earning an embarrassed blush and a sheepish giggle from the girl. "In any case, I do believe that we all have some questions for each other. Would you all like me to go first, or shall one of you?"

"I think it wise that we ask you a few questions first, Lady Green Heart." Came Lucy's reply. Said woman sat on top of a beanbag, one stocking and boot-covered leg crossed over the other like a proper noblewoman would, with her teacup set balanced perfectly on her lap. She calmly sipped some of it, letting the warm liquid travel down her throat which earned a pleasant hum from her. 'Whoever made this tea has admirable skill in their craft. Though, if I were to judge, I'd say Nicky-Dear's is my personal favourite simply due to the meaning behind whenever he makes Coffee.' She thought to herself, eyes closed in fondness before she opened them with a stern gaze taking her previous expression's place. "For starters, could you tell us what happened to you? What happened to your powers, I mean."

"Huh?"

Whilst Neptune blinked owlishly in confusion after saying that and Noire narrowed her eyes (since she too wanted to know that information but hadn't had the chance to ask yet), both remained silent. Her actions got mirrored by Raven, Aiden and Raiden, whilst IF frowned in confusion and the rest just looked like dumb idiots. Vert herself however, merely gave a resigned nod, having expected this situation to have come after this battle. 'Even so, I still doesn't make explaining this any easier…' she had once assumed she'd be telling only the CPUs this information, however in light of recent events the circle of those who knew would grow by a number much larger than she felt comfortable with. Even so, she had no choice at this point, the time for secrets had passed already. Now, it was time to get everything out in the open.

"Yes, it would make sense for you all to know, so I'll start at the beginning…"

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"It was just after I had finished mastering my Beninuki #shows the Spear by summoning it#, I had been walking back from a Convention that had been happening which involved the Manga I read about it…"_**

 ** _Vert in the past, hummed merrily as she walked back to the Basilicom, grinning and looking positively radiant. Hell, stars twinkled above her head to show just how happy this convention made her, since she now had a stash of goodies inside a bag located in her arms. A bag which the blonde woman kept tightly close to her chest, allowing her breasts to nearly envelop the bag in a complete embrace. During her walk back home, several male bystanders passing by eyed the bag with a look of intense jealousy, wishing that bag were their heads. Some even imagining what it would be like to motorboat those huge honkers of hers._**

 ** _Even so, Vert found herself so happy that she didn't even pay any heed to it, or even notice the envious stares from the men around her. One could say however, that thanks to having her in-game husband already chosen, it made her no longer look at any other man in the 3D world… not like she had much interest in 3D men to begin with however, most of her princes came from 2D… either in games or in the gloriousness that was BL. Oh, she almost got a nosebleed in public just THINKING about those juicy moments in her beloved BL Games!_**

 ** _There had even been a moment where she imagined her in-game husband in some of those raunchy scenes…_**

 ** _In that moment, Vert had to exert nearly all her will to keep herself from nose bleeding._**

 ** _'That convention was THRILLING! I love browsing through all the merch, buying exclusive figurines of my sexy boys!' The woman thought, giggling to herself as fond memories passed her by. 'Those two of that cute shota boy and his tall, handsome demon butler were to die for! I just had to buy their cosplay variants right off the shelves!'_**

 ** _So, yeah… she definitely enjoyed it._**

 ** _Whilst she walked home, AKA the Leanbox Basilicom, Vert distinctly began to notice that the street she walked down began gradually noticing how the street began getting more and more deserted. Something like this sent chills up and down her spine, a cool feeling slowly spreading up the nape of her neck which made Vert's eyes narrow, her fists clenching as she deposited her goodies inside her Inventory. Gotta protect the merchandise, that was Otaku basics 101! Yep, there was a book for that, and she worshipped that thing religiously… ironic, considering her nature._**

 ** _'Something… isn't right…'_**

 ** _That thought pounded itself in her mind like a hammer being repeatedly slammed into her skull. She knew what that felt like, as during the Console War a certain bratty CPU once managed to get the drop on her and then repeatedly bashed her with the blunt side of her Axe. She almost got a cracked skull from that had a stray attack from the battling Purple and Black Heart not knocked her off in a fantastic show of luck. Though, she did erect a few Panels around herself to impede her opponent from trying a follow-up whilst she recovered from a minor concussion._**

 ** _With those thoughts however, Vert held her hand out and hopped from the street to the centre of the path. Thanks to there being no vehicles like carriages within sight, Vert felt like whatever happened next would take place primarily in that spot, and since she didn't want to damage her beloved city, she had decided to go with the lesser option. Fighting on the sidewalk definitely wasn't the best idea one could have had._**

 ** _All became silent save for the faint breeze blowing through the city streets. The once lively streets, full of laughing civilians, squealing children and parents going about their day, all of it suddenly vanished and withered away, like plant life dying out in the winter. The breeze that blew through the streets as if the spirits of the wind themselves were controlling it, carried a faint roll of newspaper which had been crumbled into a knee high ball which rolled across the street before her. Everything around her now had this… dead feeling, like all the joy, wonder and life within both it, and herself, had just been sucked out by the fangs of danger._**

 ** _'I sense… enemies approaching… they'll come out… NOW!'_**

 ** _Turned out, her instincts proved her right once more, as instantly a group of 10 men, each of them wearing hooded black and red cloaks, jumped from atop a building and landed all around her, each of them carrying an assortment of weapons. All of them glared at the woman with fierce, hungry eyes under their hoods, eyes that belonged more to wild animals rather than humans, and Vert would never admit it but the way they each growled like feral beasts unnerved her more than a little. Not to mention how they heaved and panted like they had just ran through a hot desert with no water for several days straight…_**

 ** _She did NOT want them anywhere near her._**

 ** _A fact she would soon have to accept however, as with a frenzied howl one of them already charged at her wielding what looked like a Scythe… one made of crimson flesh and pale bones, like it had been carves out of a human spine but with organs and muscle fibres still attached to it.. Vert quickly twirled her Spear, deflecting his first attack and jabbing Beninuki's rear end into his back, forcing him to stagger a bit whilst she smacked him upside the head._**

 ** _Whilst the man fell down, 2 more charged forth with the others getting ready to strike as well. These two carried matching swords, one in his left and the other in the other man's right. Not to mention that a fourth one came at her from behind with a large claymore. Quickly analysing and calculating within her mind, Vert launched a Hassei Kaigan on the front two men whom came at her from both flanks. Beninuki's wicked blades raced through the air like a predator pouncing on it's prey wen the time to ambush arrived, allowing it to tear through their sides and spines with lethal efficiency._**

 ** _Now, whilst Vert had some lingering hesitance in hurting these people, as it seemed like they had been Leanbox citizens, the moment that she saw where Beninuki had landed Verts eyes filled with confusion for a brief moment. What had happened to these men, cause when she slashed through them she had expected blood to splatter everywhere… not black sludge that looked like it could contaminate the purest of lands for centuries to come._**

 ** _'What…?'_**

 ** _Unfortunately, the KI behind her made her realize she couldn't think about that right now, as she quickly thrusted Beninuki behind her and then moved it so that it blocked an overhead swing aimed at her head. Vert's eyes then sharpened back to their previous edge as she twisted about, whacking the attacker upside the head with Beninuki whilst roundhouse kicking him during mid flip, knocking down three attacking men all the while._**

 ** _Just in time too, cause Vert quickly had to flip backwards to avoid a series of arrows fired from the sixth man's crossbow. When she noticed more arrows coming at her head, Vert angled herself so that she flipped about like a sausage, avoiding those arrows as well as she quickly threw Beninuki like a Javelin. The Spear flew true as it impaled it's target, Vert landing in a crouch whilst elbowing the 7th whom had tried to decapitate her with an Axe. She then followed that up with a backfist into the man's face, before she grabbed him with both hands and flipped him over her shoulder, slamming him into the ground back first and finally knocking him out with an elbow strike to the face._**

 ** _Sensing more danger, Vert glanced to her right and saw the 8th man spiralling towards her with a setoff bone claws coming from fleshy bracelets his wrists. The man rolled across the ground and stood up, swinging his left claw towards her neck to try and get through an artery. However, Vert swiftly hooked a leg around the arm whilst sausage flipping, launching him across the opposite end and into the 9th one, whom had tried to fire a flintlock pistol at her. He only got a single round off though before the body collided with him, and it was aimed upwards towards the 10th whom had a sword with a fleshy blade sporting a chainsaw like edge and a spine-like hilt._**

 ** _This whole fight… lasted for over 5 seconds._**

 ** _Panting heavily, Vert scowled as she heaved and huffed, her eyes wearily looking about for any more signs of attack whilst she regathered her bearings. Her shoulder shook, her hands trembled, and her breath sounded ragged not to mention heavier than a respiring old man's. Vert found herself confident in her stamina, she was a warrior whom had fought in a long war most of her life after all. However, she had only recently came out of that war and her body had spent some time resting in her Basilicom. Therefore, her body didn't have the intense stamina a warrior's body required, or rather, she didn't have it in the same quantities as before. Not to mention that she fought in that war in her HDD form, not her human one. She did have higher tolerances than a normal human, but even then, she still HAD them._**

 ** _Even so, she still wanted to know who it was that had attacked her, and for what reason. Did they do it cause she was a CPU? Did they do it for revenge? If so, what were the weapons they used, and where did they get them? Everything about this attack felt very wrong, unnaturally so, to her and Vert wanted to get to the bottom of it. It honestly reminded her of several detective games she liked to play, like that one that had the same end name as the human form of Lastation's CPU (though thinking about that arrogant tyrant did make Vert grimace to herself) though it began with the same letter as the one at the beginning of the Nations aside from Planeptune._**

 ** _With that in mind, Vert proceeded to walk over to one of the unconscious men and kneeled beside him, swiftly reaching out and pulling back the hood. When she did, the man's face became exposed to her… and it was all she could do to stop herself from vomiting. The man's face looked like something only visible in a nightmare, with ghostly pale skin as if he hadn't seen the sun in years. His eyes had sunken deep within their sockets whilst his mouth had become a maw of razor-sharp fangs, small horns protruding out from atop his forehead. Not to mention countless scars that painted the picture of the head having ben cut open at some point with the forehead having dozens of markings over it. Lastly, there was no nose, just a pair of holes reminiscent of nostrils._**

 ** _'Oh, my goodness! How disgusting!' she screamed in her mind, quickly falling onto her backside, heck that didn't feel NEARLY enough for her, so Vert quickly scurried as far away from the body as possible. Never had she felt so unnerved and horrified in her life! If this man was like that, then it was safe to assume the others were the exact same! What the heck did these men do to themselves to make them look like THAT?!_**

 ** _Things didn't end there, however, as a shadow approached her from behind with the swift speed and lack of sound reminiscent of a small breeze…_**

 ** _VVVRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!_**

 ** _"Ugh! W-What?! #gasp# KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_**

 ** _Suddenly, something touched the back of her head before she could react in time. Something touched her there, and the next thing she knew Vert could only gasp and cry out feeling something akin to a black hole sucking something into itself within the confines of her skull. It wasn't a painless separation, think of one's organs ripping themselves in half at the speed of turtles, and one could get an idea of how much pain Vert just went through._**

 ** _By the time that the feeling vanished, a sense of mortality, horror and dread filled her being instead, and with the lack of strength Vert's fatigue took over. She soon fell onto her side with an audible THUD sound accompanying her. Her eyes glazed over, losing the battle to remain conscious whilst black spots formed and grew along her vision. The woman barely heard a weird-sounding, melodramatic feminine laugh and some form of jeer, as her senses already began falling into the land of the unconscious. The last thing she DID see however, was a tall woman wearing a… rather weird looking getup, with a tall hat being the most prominent thing she could see… before finally Vert lost consciousness._**

 ** _(Flashback End)_**

Finally, Vert finished telling her story hanging her head in shame and sadness as she felt everyone's gazes focus on her. She dared not look up, for this story had been one of the most well-kept secrets she had in quite some time. She'd thought back to it an uncountable number of times by now. Throughout telling the story, she had wrestled with the urge to just stop and clam up, however Vert pushed on, she HAD to not just because it was her duty to explain the situation, but also cause if she wanted to ask for their help Vert knew she would have to be as forthcoming as possible. Even so, recounting it in front of other people felt WAY more embarrassing than when she would be alone in her room playing videogames while pondering how to answer the public's queries to keep them sated. Not an easy battle that was for certain.

For a moment, nobody spoke as everyone tried to process and take in what they had just been told by Leanbox's CPU. For a while, a lot of them had just assumed that the woman had other matters to attend to like meetings and such in order to keep the country afloat. And whilst that did feel somewhat true, the story that Vert told them painted an even deeper picture, not to mention an increasingly problematic one. The people whom assaulted Vert, they had quickly realized they were most likely followers of the Overlord Momus religion, or at least the Chaos sub religion due to their descriptions. They also sounded a lot like Khorne followers like the Northmen, likely just adept or raw recruits since experts wouldn't have attacked Vert out in the open like that.

After a moment or two, one person opened her mouth.

"… So, let me get this straight." Lucy began after Vert finished her tale, getting the woman's attention. She had assumed a thinking pose, and her eyes had a pointed gaze to them as she regarded Vert in a analytical manner. "You're saying that you locked yourself up inside your Basilicom because when you returned from a convention, some woman and her minions attacked you and stole your CPU powers from you?" she queried, and Vert slowly nodded, unsure as to where Lucy was going with. Said woman's eyes then travelled downwards towards Vert's hands, the ones that had once held the golden Spear, Gungnir. "Then, I can assume that Spear you used, that golden one, was a divine weapon who's power you used to try and transform again into your HDD form, but it only restored your transformation ability, not your own divinity am I right?"

Slowly, Vert nodded as she summoned the mentioned weapon, resting it horizontally across her lap. "Indeed. I got it when I went out on a quest with Nicky." She replied, and both Lucy and Neptune's eyes narrowed at the term of address she used. Both weren't fools, they knew whom she had referred to just then. "Gungnir restores my powers somewhat, but I still age and can get sick even when I draw this weapon. Though, I have been getting the feeling the more I use it, that I've not actually gotten all of it's secrets out of it just yet. It feels like this weapon has a lot more to show me, but what that stuff is eludes me still." She explained.

IF cupped her chin, thoughts swirling through her mind regarding her story. Her eyes flashed with realization as memories of the time they fought a certain woman in the Monster Cave back at Planeptune came back to her. 'The description of this person reminds me of that woman back in the Monster Cave. Back then, didn't she show an extreme interest in Nep before she changed targets when Nico fought her?' part of her shuddered when she recalled the first time Nico ever transformed into Crimson Soul, remembering the feelings she got from the power that roared out of him like a lion. 'She must have been after Nep's Goddess power before Nico got her interest, then. Looks like this is what she had been intending back then…'

"… At first, I was unsure about it, but now I feel like I can trust you all with this matter." Vert told them, sighing to herself as she dismissed Gungnir and placed her hands on her lap. Now, here was the harder part. What she had admitted before had been hard enough, but this next one would be ever harder, she felt. If she were to make an analogy, Vert would say the difference in difficulty expressing these matters would be like comparing a baby turtle's shell and a mature one's. Even so, she definitely had to go through with it, she had done well so far so there was no point in stopping now. She wouldn't lie when she said she once felt much freer as a mortal than as a Goddess. However, that time had long since passed, especially when she A: noticed slight aging signs, and B: fought in this Invasion. The sight of seeing so many of her people being ruthlessly massacred, their corpses horrendously mutilated and disturbed in ways she dared not think about for a second, it MORE than ignited the flame within her.

She wanted to find the person responsible and make them pay.

"Therefore, I have a request I'd like to make of you. Lend me your powers so that I might regain the powers of a Goddess that I lost."

Now THAT caught everyone off guard, even the mostly-stoic Raven and Aiden showed a slight widening of their eyes and slight opening of their mouths. Coming from two people whom rarely display any emotion other than coldness, well, it showed just how surprising Vert's request had made them. Not only that, but the way she asked it, too...

"That was... blunt." Compa muttered with a weak look on her face, before she shook her head and made a determined face instead. She'd already pushed aside her Mask so that she could become as strong and useful as the others were, no need to slip into that behavior anymore. Nope, especially not when someone had just asked her, and the others (lets not forget them, Compa -_-) for help like Vert had.

However, just before she could say anything, Neptune then jumped into the conversation, quickly throwing her arms up on a V shapes formation. "Hold up, hold up! Before we continue to an OBVIOUS plot point, could we do some contexty stuff first?" she asked them all, drawing looks of confusion from the rest of the girls... plus Aiden and Ivan. Although, the two of them along with Lucy and Raven soon got her meaning. "I mean, hasn't this arc raised some questions about certain people in the room? Cuz, I think the readers might appreciate some answers to questions they must have been asking for a couple chapters at least."

IF just groaned, face palming herself. It had been a while since she'd done that, especially since she had been around Neptune a lot, part of her wondered if the sky was falling at some point, though everything just got consumed in a flood of a little something called training. "Nep's randomness aside, she does have a point. With the situation being... marginally calmer, I feel like we should all have some questions." she said, nodding in agreement with the preteen.

Obviously, that got her a starry eyed look from said Preteen who quickly jumped at her, arms spread wide. "Iffyyyyyyy!"

"Nope."

However, IF just stepped to the side, allowing Neptune to just crash into the floor and slide along it, unceremoniously shoving her backside into the air (Raven and Lucy glaring at the three males in the room in case they tried looking. They didn't).

Noire then spoke up after sending Raiden out to keep watch outside, just in case anyone tried to spy on them. "Well, now that Neptune mentions it, I do think we all have some questions of our own." she remarked, before gesturing towards Compa, said Nurse-In-Training slightly jerking at the sudden increase in attention. "First off, I'd like to know about Compa, I mean what the heck happened to her? She no longer feels like a normal person anymore."

"She's become a Spirit."

Those words came from Lucy's mouth, the redhead woman rolling her eyes as she did so. She'd figured something like this would happen, so she had made sure to notify Compa beforehand, telling her that once this particular conversation started, she'd be the one to explain. Once she DID say something though, it became quickly apparent how her words caused an awkward tension to fill the air. It wasn't too thick that it could be described as suffocating, but it definitely reached levels that were way up there.

When everyone looked to her for elaboration, Lucy glanced idly towards Raven before looking to the others. "I figured you all don't know what that is, so i'll start from the beginning. It was early into the Goddesses reign over Gamindustri, and things were... lets just say tense. Monsters were stronger than ever, and with the growing number of humans things just kept piling up and stressing the CPU out. It wouldn't be long before the CPU wouldn't be able to do her job properly, which was something NOBODY wanted. Before you say anything Noire..." Lucy paused to speak directly to Noire when she made to say something likely insulting to the nameless CPU Lucy talked about. "This was during a time when the world was still getting used to Goddesses, and CPUs were getting used to their roles. Nobody can truly just jump into their roles you know, they have to settle in first, and some CPUs did this poorer than others."

Once Noire properly seemed suppressed for the time being, or at least wouldn't be saying anything right now, Lucy continued. "Therefore, she decided to create a set of 'Helpers' whom would be considered pseudo Goddesses. Beings who could use a divine version of the Mana that human mages do. Only, far more powerful. They were meant to help the CPU when normal humans couldn't, where humanity's assistance would fall short. Those helpers, are called 'Spirits'."

"Hold on!" Now it had been Neptune whom interrupted the story this time, getting a slightly annoyed look from the redhead woman. Even so, Neptune just couldn't hold in her curiosity any longer. "I have no memory so I can't say for myself, but why do Noire and Vert, who are CPUs, not know of this? Just look at them, their faces are like 'oh, i'm so confused! What the heck is going on, please explain to me, mistress!'"

Whilst the said CPUs gave Neptune annoyed stares as well, Lucy sucked in some air through her teeth, then let it back out through her nose. It was something she had done so that she could keep herself from yelling at the preteen, as she did make up a good point. Although she didn't appreciate the constant interruptions to the story. "But over time, there were humans who began to get a little case of being power-hungry, and wanted to try and find a way to make Artificial Spirits whom would only listen to them. You see, to make a Spirit, one has to create a Sephira Crystal, which is a fusion of both Share Energy and Mana with the latter being the dominant energy and the former only giving it the divinity it needs. A Sephira Crystal however, only chooses someone who would be worthy of their power, as well as able to handle the power at it's fullest capacity. That was a hurdle that, no matter how hard humanity tried, they could never jump across."

"I'm guessing that this didn't stop them from trying... sounds awfully like Avenir and Umbrella."

"You'd be right, Noire. A whole load of conflict and chaos erupted for possession of the knowledge on how to make a Sephira Crystal. Conflicts which resulted in the Goddesses destroying everything to do with the Sephira Crystals whilst the remaining Spirits, whom all gave their consent, sacrificed themselves to wipe out any and all memory of them inside humanity's consciousness. That way, the knowledge would be forgotten and the peace would be restored. Thus, the knowledge of Spirits would be forever lost to history... or rather, that was what was SUPPOSED to happen."

Lucy then looked towards the nervous-looking Compa, although she attempted to keep a brave face on. It made the woman's lips twitch slightly as she suppressed a proud smile from showing, as she continued her tale. "However, as we can clearly see, it seems that ONE Sephira Crystal survived the conflict, having been buried underground for all these millennia. Not to mention that it's a powerful case with not one, but SIX different weapons, which are abbreviated as 'Angels'. You guys don't know this, but back when Spirits were around, there was never one with more than one Angel, and they each awoke to their powers the moment that the Sephira Crystal entered their original human bodies. Therefore, Compa's case is incredibly... complex, new and uncertain. The limits of her new powers may not exist unlike her predecessors."

"Woooooooowwwwww... I had no idea..." Neptune whispered, more than a little shocked at what she had learned about Compa's new powers. She didn't like most of that serious talk, but she sorta got the gist of what had been said. "So basically, these Spirit-thingies are these super cool Goddess-beings who use divine Mana instead of Share Energy? And that Compa's even more unique?" At Lucy's nod, Neptune's eyes practically glowed as she blurred forth and stopped before the surprised Nurse-In-Training, quickly grasping her hands in hers and pulling them into her chest. "Woweee, looking great, Compa-pompa! You go, girl!"

"Ehehehehe, thanks Nep-Nep."

At this point, whilst Neptune congratulated the cream haired girl, IF stepped forwards with a look in her eyes that got everyone's attention. "Alright, since Compa's situation is all cleared up, there's something else I want to know about, and I'm pretty sure a lot will agree with me when I ask this..." she began, before turning to Lucy and addressing her directly. "Lucy, thanks for telling us about Compa's powers, and whilst I want to know how you know that, a part of me feels like my next question may answer that so here I go: What are you, Lucy? Are you a CPU?" She asked her.

Once again, the tensity in the room skyrocketed when IF asked that question. She may not have been around when she had done it, but IF had learned from Neptune that the redhead had the ability to transform like a CPU. Whilst the preteen was an annoying dork, it didn't seem like the dork would be too good at lying, not to mention she had been like an open book when she had talked with her about the battle itself. It had been on her mind ever since, and something told her her own mental struggles to comprehend such a possibility had NOTHING on the CPUs themselves. After all, it had been common knowledge that there were only meant to be FOUR CPUs, only FOUR to rule over Gamindustri. Each ruled their own Nations, and that through them balance would be maintained in the world. However, Lucy's power to transform completely derailed that, in all seriousness.

Not to mention, who else knew of this? it didn't feel like this fact was common knowledge, and even an idiot would be able to comprehend why that would be considered a good thing. If the Basilicom, or any religious fanatic, discovered the fact that there were more than four Goddesses it could cause way too much panic and chaos as people would be furious at being lied to all this time. Desolated streets, mobs of devotees, and most likely the faith people have in the CPUs would likely plummet to near zero levels. If not that, then some other bullshit reason they would come up with, humanity hasn't shown itself to be very logical, just look at the Overlord and Chaos religions.

So, if they could get any information about that, then it'd really help in coming to terms with what would happen in the future.

"Yeah, I wanna know that, too...!" Neptune commented, slightly pouting in mild annoyance. It wasn't directed at Lucy though, mostly anyways, as she put her hands behind her head while continuing her sentence. "I mean, it'd be nice if ya could have just old us with a nice barbecue that you were a CPU, Lucy-juicy." she remarked, getting some dismayed stares for her efforts.

Noire huffed as she took a larger mouthful of her tea, before placing it back on her lap since she too occupied a beanbag like Lucy did. Among the group, it seemed like only herself, Vert and Lucy had any womanly grace to speak of, everyone else had either some form of childishness (Neptune and Compa) or were standing up (basically everyone else). "Neptune's right, what the heck, Lucy?" she asked heatedly with a pointed. "Why didn't you tell us something so important? Who knows? How many? Ugh, I have so many questions I don't even know where...!"

Compa looked upon the black haired CPU and sweat dropped at the sight she saw. "Noire looks like she's losing her mind over this... she's not keeping calm at all..." she remarked bluntly with one of her signature smiles.

IF rolled her eyes at this, much more understanding of the blackette woman's plight than Compa it seemed. "To be honest, I can sympathetic with her. Learning that there was another CPU out there isn't something one can just handle like a weather report."

"Its something commonly used in fanfictions, so i'm A-OK with it!"

Does anyone NEED to know who asked that?

In any case, Lucy remained silent for these moments, most likely judging on what she should say and how she should say it. For a moment, she considered entrapping Noire in poisonous vines then impaling her with wood for the insolent tone she used. It would be so easy too, however Lucy curb-stomped those urges. As much as she would have wanted to slap the hell out of Noire for her rudeness, she wasn't exactly unjustified for her reaction. Even though Noire was trying to change, she still had the innermost selfish pride flowing through her being. One can't change who they are so easily, after all. It was a lesson she herself had learned after that incident with Nico on the roof which resulted in her getting his friendship.

So, in the end she decided to be forthright with this information. "The reason why I didn't share my identity with you all is simple: I wasn't supposed to." She revealed, surprising the others but she ignored that and continued on. "The fact that there are a total of four CPUs, its not really a lie per say. The reason for this is because even though I can transform, i'm not actually a CPU. You should know the difference between a species name and a job role itself, ladies. Then you'd know what I am."

It took a moment for everyone to let that thought sink in. Difference between a species name and job role? What was Lucy getting at? However, it soon dawned on one of them, as her eyes widened with realization, before she regained her composure and looked over to the redhead woman. "So, are you some sort of Goddess, then?" IF questioned, arching a brow.

At this, Lucy nodded with a pleased smile on her ruby red lips, clapping several times for her friend. "Yup, you got it right, Iffy." she responded with a teasing grin, causing IF to go flustered from someone else calling her that nickname. Even if she thought she had gotten used to it, suddenly hearing it from another person got her good still. "Aw, you're so cute when embarrassed. I might have to think on teasing you more. Anyways, yes you're right. I'm a Goddess, not a CPU. A CPU is a job role that Goddesses take, do you know how many Goddesses there are in the world? How many have followings? There are many, only the four CPUs have the largest recognition by humans." she explained, sipping some tea calmly.

She then flicked a hand out, and from it a small plant-like object sprouted from the centre of her open palm.

BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI!

Sounds of something being stretched filled the room, coming from the object in Lucy#s palm whilst the woman looked down at her tea with a complicated expression. The plant grew to the size of a basket ball, something that pretty much drew everyone's attention to it like magnets, as they could only stare in transfixed awe. When the plant finished growing, it sprouted branches which then spawned lush green leaves. Seconds later, Lucy wiggled her fingers, and those actions seemed to destabilize the plant somewhat as it shook, several leaves falling into her tea and releasing a rather... refreshing aroma. Something which made the woman moan in pleasure as the plant vanished from existence, the hand that formed it reaching down to the small plate. "Ah, that's better. Like this aroma better..." she mused to herself, before looking to the others. "That just now, plus what I did back against the Bloodthirster, makes my title as the 'Spring Goddess' known to you all. Essentially, I am the Goddess of the Spring Season, basically personifying the coming of spring itself. Spring is life, spring is the birth of new beings and organisms, and thus I have control over everything related to spring." she explained. "My transformation also reflects that."

"I see..." Vert mumbled under her breath as she processed this new information. Basically, what Lucy had been saying was that she was a Goddess, but not a CPU. Instead, she was the Goddess of a season, and given that there were more than one of those it would be wise to assume that there were other Goddesses that personified other seasons. Lucy had all but confirmed this when she vaguely commented on how there were Goddesses out there with less recognition by humanity than CPUs. "In that case, it would be wise to keep what you are between us. The knowledge of other Goddesses out there may cause strife within our nations that we do not need right now." she remarked, getting a nod from the redhead Goddess before she turned to the rest of the girls. Looking them over, she saw that each of them seemed to somewhat agree with her on that stance, something she couldn't help but feel relieved about. Afterwards, her face turned serious, as she shuffled about on her seat. "Now then, can we move back to the earlier topic? May I ask what your answer is to my request?" she asked them all.

Each of them looked towards each other, almost seeming like they were conversing with their eyes. Neptune kept blinking her eyes like a typewriter, as if that were some form of secret communication that she developed. Something which IF glared at her for, much to the preteen's wordless dismay. Compa looked slightly more pleading, whilst everyone else looked either uncertain or indifferent. In the end though, everyone looked back to Vert with Neptune being the spokesperson for them. What, she's the main character after all! "Whelp, we had a short-if a bit silent-discussion, and so we decided: yup! We'll help ya Vert!" she proclaimed, giving a thumbs up.

Noire huffed as she turned her head to the side. "Don't get the wrong idea, Vert. I'm just agreeing cause everyone else begged me to, that's all." she commented hotly, although the redness on her cheeks gave away her true feelings on the matter.

IF and Compa looked towards each other, then back at Vert. "We're going along with Nep on this one, Lady Vert. We're a party after all, and Parties stick together in these things." the brunette stated with a hand on her hip and a slight tomboy smirk on her lips. Compa nodded happily in agreement, her perkiness so apparent that it caused her breasts to jiggle in place.

Ivan dared not look lest he suffer Raven and every other girl's wrath, but he just grinned and nodded in agreement. "Well, it looks like Raven and Lucy wanna help, so i'm in. Gotta follow the leader, after all." he remarked, getting confirmation from said girls as well.

With everyone determined to help her, Vert could not help the proud, relieved smile that spread across her lips. So... this was what it felt like, to not be alone? To have people you can rely on to pick you up when you fall down? This power of friendship stuff she saw in many anime, games, manga and other media forms across her otaku life... whilst a little cliche, she couldn't help but feel it necessary right now. "I... I am grateful for your assistance."

"Think nothing of it Vert, we've fought together once, we'll do it again!" Neptune chirped, grinning just as broadly as she ever did. It was so infectious that it even made smiles spread across Raven and Aiden's faces, so it should only be natural to say that everyone else spread the same way... that is, until something registered in the preteen's mind that caused her face to shift into one... of uncertainty and worry. "Wait a minute... uhhh, guys? I think we're missing someone."

"Huh, what do you...?"

At first, everyone blinked in confusion at what Neptune had said, especially when she showed a shocked face of realization then one of extreme worry. None of them had any idea on what was running through Neptune's mind at that moment, something that they felt both relieved and worried for... not a very common mix when concerning the amnesiac Goddess, for certain. This didn't stay the same forever though, as a moment later Lucy realized it as well, if the look of horror and worry seeping onto her face whilst her body straightened up and tensed was any indication. Following her example a minute later, Raven's eyes widened, indicating she had figured it out next, followed by IF, Noire, Vert, Aiden, Ivan and Compa.

"Guys... where's Ni-Ni?"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, another one done, and a few things to address.**

 **First, the flashback Vert had just now. That was meant to express the time when Vert lost her powers itself. I've read many fanfics which copy mostly off the canon dialogue, so I wanted to mix it up like I did with Lastation and Avenir with their relations with Umbrella. I wanted to showcase some lesser action to tie off the multi-chapter final battle with the Bloodthirster. After this, though, it'll finally be time for Nico to return to the cast once again.**

 **Speaking of Nico, thats the second thing I wanted to talk about. Nico may be the MC and the main OC for this fanfic, but he's not the only badass around here you know. Him not being present in the Demon Invasion is a way for the girls to get the spotlight for a bit, to show that even though this is a harem fanfic, these girls don't need to be so dependent on him to survive. A lot of harem stuff have that kind of content like in Highschool DXD and various lesser known harem anime and manga. Thus, I wanted to show that even if Nico isn't around, the girls have their own individuality, which is an important part of OEG.**

 **Third, I wanted to talk about Compa being a Spirit, something that a lot of you will have figured out by now. Now, like I mentioned before, it was an idea I got from King Carlos, but how to implement it mostly came from myself. Its been integrated into the story as a plot device, but don;t you worry this isn't all there is to Compa's powers. By the time the CPUs gather together, Compa will NOT be one of the weaker members of the party like she was in Canon. In fact, dare I say that a nearly every character in the franchise will be super OP just like her. Its sorta like Warhammer, in that everyone is a badass and can crush groups of people easily.**

 **Fourth, Lucy. Now, I've read many fanfictions which involve there being more CPUs than the original four in one dimension. I wanted to pull a spin on it, though, and say that whilst Lucy is a Goddess, she is NOT a CPU. In my eyes, that is more like a job role than an actual species, and I get the impression that others think similar to me when I look at their status on wiki pages. With this, there is potential for a load of different Goddesses, not just the ones from the main series. As for Lucy herself, she being the Spring Goddess is actually a reference to RWBY, to be more specific the four Maidens. Like Vert assumed, there's going to be 4 season Goddesses, though whether or not they each will appear will be something i'll be pondering as so far, we've only seen 2 of the 4 Maidens in RWBY so far anyways. Believe me though, Lucy and the other Season Goddesses are NO pushovers, though then again nobody really is in this fanfic. In fact, my favorite characters are those who know how to kick ass and take names.**

 **Bet you, you won't know much about what happens to Nico during the invasion arc.**

 **In any case, read, review all that good stuff please. It'll be an interesting thing to see what you all think.**

 **Anyways, peace up.**


	140. Chapter 137 - Where's Nico?

**Chapter 137 - Where's Nico?**

In an instant, everyone froze after that question got asked, shattering the previous atmosphere with no chance of return. If one were to apply sound effects here, then the sound of shattering glass would be the effect to be utilized here. That would have been something Neptune may have imitated to try and relieve the tension, if she weren't so worried herself to the point where her worry smacked her desires of relieving the tension away like swatting a fly. It almost felt like something forbidden had been asked here. The one question nobody had thought to ask, the one question they hadn't even CONSIDERED before now, popped into their minds and with it, settled a large weight on their chest. Sweat rolled down foreheads, teeth clenched in worry, hands twitched sporadically, and eyes filled with panic alongside worry. Heck, Compa and Neptune would glance around, trying to keep their cool whilst searching for any kind of answer from the other girls. The moment it was asked, a huge wave of tension swept over the room, taking the previous tranquility by storm and freezing everything in place, not just the girls.

Where…

Where was he?

Where was Nico?

Where had Nico been this entire time?

What happened to him?

Upon asking that one question, dozens of others came to mind, almost like a chain being pulled out from the depths of their consciousness. A chain that completely blew their sense of security off the rail like a nuclear bomb going off. None of the girls had even thought of THIS particular angle to the situation, so much so that they believed the overall situation to have been largely resolved with the heroes going off to confront the instigator of this entire invasion. Now that the question regarding Nico's whereabouts had been asked, however, those thoughts had been swept from their minds completely, replaced with uncertainty and concern.

"Come to think of it…" Noire began, breaking through the tense silence nobody else dared to break, not even Neptune. The black-haired CPU of Lastation furrowed her brows as she tried to think back, replaying the events of the entire invasion inside her mind. She tried, she tried so hard to see where she could find some traces of Nico's involvement in it, but to her dismay that attempt became a failure. No matter how many times she repeated, how many angles she searched her memories from, the result remained the same. "I never even saw him during the entire thing… its like he wasn't there at all."

As she said that, it soon became apparent to the others as well. Now that they thought about it, none of them had even seen the male redhead Spec Ops Agent at all throughout this whole invasion. There had been no doubt that he had shown up for the Gala though, that definitely had been a fact due to how many of them had seen the male. Lucy, Neptune, Compa, IF and Noire, which basically meant that over half the people in Vert's room had seen the male enter the Gala. Therefore, it should stand to reason that Nico would have been there to fight against the Demons when they invaded.

But... that wasn't the case.

So... why was that? What happened to Nico before the invasion?

Noire's words, coupled with some of the implications, DEFINITELY sparked a comment from Compa at last, as she finally managed to retrieve her voice which the tension in the room had stolen from her. Spurned forth by both those words and her newfound resolve, the young Nurse-In-Training quickly turned to try and defend her childhood friend. "But that can't be…" she countered, though the volume was below a whisper. Whilst she got her voice back, the previous strength she spoke with it still eluded her, thanks to the wild thumping in her heart that pumped worry through her body. "Ni-Ni wouldn't just stand by while an invasion like this happened. Just look at Lastation, Ni-Ni went off on his own and thanks to him, a large amount of lives had been saved." She stated, her tone laced with concern.

Those words also had merit to them, just like Noire's words and everyone knew it, either through rumour or actually being part of that incident caused by Avenir. Despite their sources, all of them had a good foundation for the thought process, the thought process that Nico wouldn't have missed something like this. If he were to be his normal self, then it wouldn't be unsurprising if he had kicked the asses of every Demon in his path to save as many lives as possible, just like what he had done in Lastation. But, like Noire had said, none of them had even seen Nico throughout the entire invasion, before, during or after. It almost felt like he had simply vanished off the face of the very earth itself, which WASN'T something that any of them liked to think about. He WAS after all, the guy that most of them held a mutual attraction for, and more than a few of them had made moves on him already. The thought that Nico may have vanished didn't appeal to them, or any of the group, not one bit. But still, no matter how hard they tried to forget about it, the possibility refused to leave their minds.

That was when IF had a realization, one that got triggered in an instant so she quickly got caught by surprise, as she recalled the last time she saw him. "Wait, the last time I saw the guy..." she began, attracting everyone's gazes. Depending on the girl or guy themselves, one would be able to see different levels of anxiety for their male companion's safety. "It was on the dance floor in the Main Hall. Me and him were dancing on the dance floor, and whilst we talked, I noticed that his mind... it seemed elsewhere, like something was troubling him about the Gala. Considering that in the past, he's been going off on his own like in Lastation, I guess he must have been up to something regarding the Gala itself." She explained, thinking back to the dance itself.

Whilst they had talked (she didn't mention what they were talking about for both their sakes), IF had searched through his gaze. She had found emotions that indicated that he understood what she had been saying, and felt guilty about it, but IF had also seen something else. It was something she had noticed about the male, something she bet only those who spent a lot of time with Nico could have ever seen, like Team RAIL or Helen. Whenever Nico had something like a plan in his mind, his eyes shook in a certain way, like he was trying to keep something under wraps. The shaking was minuscule, so minuscule that one would have needed a super powerful focusing lens or a magnifying glass to see it, but thanks to her vision she had seen it. That was why she found herself convinced that Nico had something going on, especially when she handed him that diary. Using past experience, IF figured that whatever he was doing had something to do with the nobility, and as such she had decided to indirectly help him out by offering him that diary.

She had not been a fool, she'd opened that diary and looked through its contents. There had been enough incriminating evidence on that thing to put more than a dozen Nobles six feet under in the eyes of the law. Blackmail, murder plans, shady political schemes, the works. Honestly, she felt much like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders when she had handed it over to him, as that kind of heavy stuff was NOT something she could see herself handling well for very long. Even so, it gave her ideas as to what had been going on, something that went on behind the scenes that apparently, Nico was aware of. It felt like a reoccurring theme, that Nico would be aware of something before the rest of them and thus, act upon it.

Even so, it didn't mean that he should go at it alone, not when he had people whom had just as much capability to help him. Neptune and Compa she could understand, both of them were just too innocent for that kind of dirty business, not to mention Compa was someone Nico had shown extreme protectiveness over. It seemed perfectly logical for him to not involve them, but she could have no doubt helped out somewhat, Nico wasn't the only one who had connections to people throughout the Guild. Not to mention she had seen shit like this a few times during her days as a solo Guild Agent, so she'd be much more helpful in whatever it was that got Nico spooked. Hell, she'd indirectly heed him further his goals by presenting that evidence, so Nico SHOULD have thought she could be of more help.

Hence, what she had said to him back on the dance floor...

At her words, Vert gave a sad sigh, looking down at the ground as a troubled look formed over her eyes. "I guess... there were a load of plots going on behind the scenes back in the Gala, not just myself, Noire, and our mysterious attacker." she remarked sadly. It felt like Vert had found herself trapped inside a web of schemes going on, weaving their way in and around the Gala which had been MEANT as a means of socializing and downtime for the governing parties involved with the Nation's leadership. Now, it had been reduced to a political landmine, not to mention a full-on war-zone thanks to the forces of Chaos.

A slight sympathetic glance got aimed at her by the redhead, Lucy could sense the conflicting thoughts inside the Leanbox CPU's head on this one. There were just times however, where something happens in ways other than what they initially expected. Not everything happens how people would wish it to go, this Gala was a perfect example. Even so, she too began to think about the last time that she had seen Nico, and that was during that moment in the corridor. She remembered how flustered he had gotten once she approached him with her dress, and she had to use ALL her willpower to try NOT to seduce him with that dress thanks to him looking like he did. After all, she DID manage to secure something that could be JUST as precious as taking Nico's virginity.

Aside from that however… There was something else to that situation as well, something which she had indeed noticed before she had announced her presence. At that point, Lucy's eyes narrowed when the memories flashed through her mind, a certain detail coming back to the forefront of her brain, something that Nico likely didn't figure out. Not like he could, due to the circumstances. Before she had yelled out to let Nico know that she was coming, Lucy had seen the look in his eyes, a look she knew all too well. It was a look that reminded her of someone who had been thinking of something hard, something akin to a plan. The way his eyes trembled made her realize that Nico had been planning something, a sight she had more than ample experience with thanks to going on so many missions with him.

IF's words had helped spark her memory of that event, though if she had enough time, Lucy felt like she would have recalled something like that anyways. Now that she thought about it though, there had also been the feeling that Nico had been talking to someone… even though there had been nobody else around him, something she had caught him doing more than a few times when he thought that nobody would notice. It had been something she had been planning to question him about after the first couple times when she realized something was amiss, but thanks to their limited time together the redhead had little time to actually sit him down and ask… not to mention she had prioritized other things whenever she DID get some alone time with him.

Not to mention, Lucy didn't doubt that the other Team RAIL members noticed, too. Possibly IF as well, as Neptune and Compa didn't seem like the sharpest tools in the shed. She wasn't sure if Vert had noticed, since she spent the least amount of time with Nico to notice those particular oddities about him. Nonetheless, everyone had an entitlement to their own secrets, and as long as they didn't harm anybody it didn't matter if they had secrets, everybody had those, she herself was a perfect example. Nico's secrets DEFNITELY didn't seem too harmful in comparison to someone like say, Ganache's.

"Hmmm, so the plot this time has become some sort of detective manga, huh?" Neptune hummed, rubbing her chin like a stereotypical detective. She had even switched her attire to a grey trench coat, bowler hat and a brown pipe. After pretending to smoke some of her pipe, Neptune took it out and gave a low sigh, imaginary smoke coming out of her mouth. "Hmmm, looks like the plot is not done with us just yet, not even after this whole action-packed arc…" she remarked, chuckling a little uneasily. "Wonder how the readers will take this lack of break between intense moments in the plot."

…

…

…

…

…

At this, everyone rolled their eyes while sweat dropping. Now that Neptune had pretty much shattered the tension that had been building by their respective comments like when construction vehicles demolish a building, they felt like the atmosphere couldn't be recovered. No thanks to the preteen, something which they each had some level of experience. Though, some weren't sure whether or not that was a good thing. IF however, merely rolled her eyes as she looked over to the preteen in slight annoyance. The fact that she didn't so anything extra just showed how used to this she had become. "Really, Nep? You just couldn't wait a bit longer?" she asked her.

A sheepish chuckle escaped Neptune's lips at that one, especially when a pit of nervousness formed in her stomach from all the deadpanned stares aimed her way. "hehehehe, aw ya know me, Iffy. Unless I'm in HDD form, I can't take much of this serious stuff, even if this story makes me able to take it up the bootie better." She responded shamelessly, making the brunette blink several times.

'Did Nep just make a sexual innuendo about asses just now?' the brunette wondered, although when she looked towards the snickering Lucy, said sounds having been the cause of her attention's diversion in the first place, IF soon got her answer. Thus, it made her hold her forehead with a couple fingers. "I may not be human, but sometimes I feel like you just get off on giving me headaches Nep, geez." She stated bemusedly.

"But hey, that's what makes Nep-Nep so much fun, Iffy." Compa cheerily replied, Neptune's mood once again demonstrated how infectious it was, since the Nurse-In-Training's worried feelings got significantly abated by the amnesiac's antics. "We all need to keep our heads up high, if we do that I'm sure we'll figure something out!"

RING-A-LING-LING!

Just then, a phone's ringing sounded throughout the room, everyone's eyes instantly being drawn towards the baffled IF. Said brunette just reeled from what Compa had just said, before she noticed what was going on. "Ugh, you two sometimes… you need to read the mood a little… anyways, that sounds like the Phone Nico got me a while back… so who could be calling me right now?" she muttered to herself, though she intentionally mentioned how Nico got her that phone to rile up her 'rivals' for Nico's affection. If the jealous Killing Intent she got from everyone interested in him bar Compa was any indication, then her strategy worked, much to her amusement as she finally too the phone out.

"Huh?" Upon noticing whom the calling party was however, IF had to blink several times once more, this time out of surprise and confusion. "What the… why is Helen calling me? And, how did she get this number?" she muttered to herself, soon getting confused looks from everyone else for similar reasons to herself. This wasn't the person she had expected, in fact this person would be the last person IF would have thought to contact her. She wouldn't lie and say she didn't wish it were Nico calling to let them know he was alright and where he had been during all this shit. Nevertheless, she soon opened the phone up, pressed the 'receive' button as well as the speaker, turning the volume up to max so that everyone could hear it. "Hello? Helen?"

Soon enough, Helen's voice came through the other end, and the woman's tone sounded quite jovial. "Ah, Iffy! It's good to finally get through to you." Helen greeted through the phone. "And judging by the location your phone is showing, you're with some other people right now, so I'll just go ahead and say: Hi there everybody, I's ya girl Helena Dawson, Nicky-Nick's momma. Pleased to meet ya!"… Okay, IF did NOT just feel marginally creeped out by the fact that Helen had been tracking her phone, she did not feel creeped out one bit. Nope, not at all, so let's just move on, shall we?

"Um, Hel-Hel seems to be acting like another Nep-Nep…"

"Hush, don't let her hear you say that, otherwise it'll encourage her. Neptune isn't the only childish one here."

"Oh, I see…"

Ignoring the obvious conversation Lucy and Compa had with each other, whispering into each other's ears like a pair of devious pranksters, IF spoke into the Phone's speaker. "Well, that would explain why you know my phone's Number, at least, which is kinda sorta creepy if you ask me…" she remarked uneasily, before shaking her head and getting straight to the point. "Anyways, what's this call about? You need something from us?"

"Hm? Oh, that. Well, your phone number's pretty easy, as I'm the one who got that phone to that shop in the first place. A mom knows when her boy wants to give his girl a present, you know." Helen responded with a teasing undertone, something which made IF slightly blush at the insinuation. The brunette refused to think about the… quite stimulating thoughts that came with the proclamation of being Nico's girlfriend, and what that would allow her to do to him when they were alone. "But anyways, too the point I'm calling to let you all know a little something."

At that point, Helen's voice deepened, and judging by the cold, serious tone that followed everyone quickly assumed something big had happened. Even so, it did NOT prepare them for what she told them next. "I found Nico. He's with me, but… he's not at the same time."

"WHAT?!"

"Alright, it'll be hard and impractical to talk about him over the phone, so I'll send you some co-ordinates. Meet me there, and we'll talk more in person." With that, the phone line cut itself off, before a text message appeared on her phone's home screen seconds later. That could only have been the co-ordinates Helen had talked about, IF figured, and when she looked she got proven right.

Even so, that was a plot convenient bombshell that had been dropped on them. Helen knew where Nico was, in fact he was with her, that was something that confused the heck out of them, especially the Girls in the same Party as him. Thoughts about how Nico could have gotten there filled their minds, as well as other things as IF quickly pocketed her Phone and turned to the rest of the Party, a look of grave concern forming on her features. "Alright, I don't know what this is about, but I got the co-ordinates, so let's get moving ladies. One of our own has been found, so we gotta see if he's okay."

Everyone nodded in agreement with that, and afterwards quickly proceeded outside the bedroom towards where Helen had wanted to meet them. There would be no stopping for them this time, not even for someone like Vert whom would have had to do her duties in mitigating the soon-to-occur fallout this attack would bring, not when the fate of one of their beloved comrades was on the line.

* * *

After leaving Vert's bedroom, the group had to navigate through the damaged Basilicom hallways towards the ground floor. Unfortunately, that would be easier said than done since a large amount of those hallways were filled with Soldiers from Leanbox's Military whom were quarantining certain areas which got more damaged than others… not to mention, areas with brutally mutilated corpses were also sanctioned off so that people didn't have to see such disgusting horrors. Something which, whist the group of girls plus 2 guys could respect the decision to do, it nonetheless lengthened their journey to the ground floor.

Once they DID get to the ground floor, Vert along with the others got bombarded by Basilicom staff members, staff members who either expressed gratitude for saving their lives from the Invasion, or who wanted to know how Vert was feeling since her self-imposed isolation. Some acted all haughty like they were all deserving to know her secret, looking down on Vert with distain and scorn… though, they soon got rewarded with… more than a FEW weapons aimed at their 'special areas' if one knows what the author means… especially all you males reading this.

Needless to say, none of them wanted to get near her for a while, especially if they wanted to still make babies.

After they finally left the Basilicom, IF had checked the co-ordinates for the location Helen had specified in her call. Much to their surprise and confusion/suspicion (on Raven's end, mostly) it seemed to be located way outside of MICROSOFT in what seemed to be somewhere west. Looking on a map, it showed to be some place in the middle of nowhere, which only heightened everyone's confusion (and Raven's suspicions but they wouldn't talk about those).

Though, just when IF suggested they get going, Lucy suddenly swiped the Phone away from her (much to her surprise and anger), found the location, before wrapping everyone in Vines from her body and Teleporting them over to it.

Thus, here they were…

At a place that none of them would have expected to be at in this lifetime.

* * *

"Holy…"

"Shit…"

"Exclamation Mark!" Neptune yelled out at the end, though nobody bothered to look at her for that bad reference she had helped make, too transfixed on the sight before them to even notice.

For right in front of them, was one of the most LAVISH-looking Mansions that they had EVER seen throughout the entirety of Leanbox. The Mansion itself looked to be a hybrid of Leanbox and Planeptune architecture, with a wired fence all around the Mansion's rather large front yard. Around the interior of these fences, were these large bushes that seemed to stretch to over 20 metres, whilst the fences reached only 15. Some thorns also wrapped around the fences, but they did so in a way that almost made it look intentional. In the centre of the yard, a single country path ran down it, circling around a rather large fountain with water constantly pouring out of it. Ahead of that, there seemed to be some white steps, which lead along a white floor before ending at a white ad green frame. The door itself had a black colour to it, but overall the mansion itself had this very regal looking, green and white colour scheme.

"Whoooooaaaaaa!" Neptune exclaimed, going all starry eyed as she hung her mouth open. There was even a little bit of drool coming out of her mouth whilst she leaned forwards slightly, completely mesmerized by the sight of the Mansion before her. "I've heard that the rich have grand places like this, but this is just ridiculous!" she exclaimed once she got her composure back (after a couple minutes worth of admiring the building itself…). "What the heck is this place?"

IF frowned to herself, eyes gazing across the area like a security guard on patrol. "No idea here, Nep." She replied curtly, before she noticed someone sitting on a small, wooden rocking chair next to the door. "Huh? Guys, someone's by the door…" she stated, narrowing her eyes and focusing on her enhanced vision to try and identify who it was. It didn't take her long to figure it out, the black high heels, the white lab coat, the knee length skirt, all those pointed towards one person in her eyes. Something which filled her with surprise as she looked towards the others, gesturing to the woman whom calmly sat in the chair as if waiting for someone. "It's Helen!"

Lucy nodded her head in agreement. For her previous stunt, Raven had 'tapped' her (read: bonked her on the head so hard that it rivalled that of a sledgehammer) as a punishment for doing it without warning. Whilst she knew this would have happened when she had done it, Lucy still got a laugh out of seeing everyone's stupefied faces when she pulled them into her teleportation ability. Thanks to her being the Spring Goddess, wherever spring touched she would be able to teleport to, which basically meant she could fast travel to anywhere across Leanbox. "Looks like…" she stated whilst nodding in agreement, hands behind her back as she and the others stepped towards the open gate. Said gate opened by itself the moment they got close enough, rather creepy but they didn't care much. Not when Nico's fate was on the line. "Only she would have something like this on Leanbox soil."

Vert however, looked around in astonishment. None of the reports she had read to catch up on events that had transpired through her Nation when she returned from the Console War had detailed something like this within them, so seeing something like this right under her nose…. It put things into perspective for her, let's just go with that. "I did not have any awareness of this…" she muttered under her breath, frowning in concern. If something like THIS had been kept under her nose, then what else had been kept from her? She would have to look into that at some point, just in case anything dangerous may be hidden from her knowledge.

A 'tch' sound came from her right, and when she looked Vert saw that it had been Raven whom had been the source of the noise. Just when she made to ask what was wrong whilst the party walked up to Helen, Raven spoke up once more. "Believe me, Lady Green Heart, that it is likely that a whole load of injustices have been kept from your eyes. If you think THIS is something, then you have much to learn about the twisted desires in the human heart." She stated darkly, giving a sense of foreboding to the other woman's very soul, her very essence.

Aiden and Ivan stayed quiet, as they glanced to each other with knowing looks on their faces.

Walking up to the main steps, the girls finally stopped before the woman, whom turned out to be Helen just as IF had told them. Not like she would lie, since her vision had been improved quite drastically thanks to the Gala. Said woman had a serious, grim look on her face as she stood up from her chair, turning on her heels as she made her way inside the Mansion. "Alright everyone, follow me. Nico is inside here, within this Mansion."

"Um, Mrs Hel-Hel?" Compa barely managed to get out, the way the woman carried herself made the Nurse-In-Training feel like she would be gutted at any moment, such was the intensity rolling off the head of the Guild's Weapon's Development Department. "Can you please explain to us what this place is? I've never heard of such a building in Leanbox, before." Even so, Compa still managed to gather her courage (which had built up considerably thanks to the Gala, again).

Just as she opened the door, Helen paused when she heard Compa's question. For a moment, she wondered if it were best to tell her and the other girls or not. After all, tis would be one of the many secrets surrounding her and her adoptive son that these girls would be learning about, Helen figured. Her mother's intuition told her that these girls were slowly stepping closer and closer to the truth about Nico's true self, closer than anyone who knew of it would have liked… save for her. In her eyes, it was about goddamn time someone trustworthy, several nonetheless, came into Nico's life to show him that there was still good people left in the world.

Therefore, in the end she decided to let them in on this little secret. After all, her mother's instincts told her that these girls, whilst some had their personality quirks to consider, each of them cared about her adoptive son in their own way. Thus, they would be trustworthy in her eyes. "This here, this is called the Sanctuary. It's a special Villa that had been licensed to me by Nico's mother before she renounced herself as a Noble for Leanbox. It's one of the few legacies we have of them."

"HUH?!"

Each and every girl gaped at that knowledge, especially the main girls in the redhead male's Party. Of course, Nico hadn't told them about his parents, nor did he say much about them. All they had known about his parents were that they had disappeared, and that now Nico had no parents to speak of. Not to mention how secretive Nico himself was, so it sure as hell shocked them that A: This Mansion belonged, somewhat, to their crush, and B…

"Wait, Nicky-Dear's a descendant of NOBILITY?!" Both Lucy AND Raven exclaimed in unison, whilst Ivan and Aiden sighed together, having expected this reaction. They themselves had known about this place, and the redhead male's heritage, since they had been made aware of Nico's true self way back when. Of course, they had similar reactions to the girls right now. Only, Ivan had nearly crapped his pants (something Aiden sometimes brought up whenever Ivan tried to flirt with the ladies, though usually as revenge for when Ivan tried to set him up with a girl himself) when he learned of this, whilst Aiden fared much better at it.

Though, they could still understand everyone's reaction to it. After all, Nico hardly fit the type of a Noblewoman's son, nor did he fit the image of a Noble in general, he seemed more like the common person than that. Not to mention how much HATRED he had for Nobility these days, it seemed like way more than a grudge against them for renouncing his status as a Noble. Something which Nico had never even THOUGHT on, Nevermind tried. Even if he did, it would end in failure since a 'half-breed' would never be considered a true Noble in the eyes of Leanbox Law. Not like he would want to be one, anyways since they were mostly corrupt and power-hungry assholes who never knew how to treat ladies.

Their looks of extreme shock had been mirrored by the other girls too, especially those who knew of his hate for Nobility. Though, it begged the question…

Just how much did they not know about their male love interest…?

Seeing the shock on their faces, Helen gave a quick nod, the look on her face definitely suggesting how uncomfortable this topic made her. It definitely surprised them, though at this point they shouldn't be able to be surprised anymore, that Helen had some side like this to her. "You could say that, though my little Nicky-Nick doesn't acknowledge it nor will he ever, he hates the Nobles with a passion, and would NEVER want to be near them willingly even with a 15-foot pole. If he were asked, he'd gladly tear through the innards of one corrupt Noble after the other till there were none left, such is his hatred towards them. Anyways, Nicky-Nick's heritage isn't why we're here, so come and follow me. We have much to discuss about him."

Everyone looked at each other with complex expressions at first….

DASH!

Before they suddenly felt like someone was missing from their group. Looking to their left, all the girls saw was a faint blinking outline of a certain preteen, weirdly enough with a sign saying 'Neptune' above the head. Quickly looking towards the door, they all saw Neptune bounding off after the woman. "H-Hey, Nep-Nep!"

After hearing Compa's cry, Neptune paused mid stride before turning her head to look at them. Never would they admit it, but the moment that Neptune stuck her tongue out at them whilst girlishly winking did they feel any more irritated towards her. "C'mon you slowpokes! The early bird gets the worm, as they say! If ya don't hurry, I'll have Nicky all to myself to have my way with tonight." She teased, hoping to get a reaction out of the girls who wanted Nico's heart.

A pouting expression formed on Compa's features as she quickly dashed forth after the preteen. "Hey, that's no fair, Nep-Nep, that's cheating!" she cried, unknowingly accessing her Spirit Mana and augmenting her speed to catch up to the laughing Neptune.

Even so, it didn't mean that she had been the only one, as IF soon built up Biomass into her legs to take off after BOTH Neptune and Compa… though, she definitely had thoughts of pinning Nico under her fuelling her every movement. "Oh, you two are NOT gonna leave me behind, no sir!" she bellowed angrily. 'Sorry girls, but Nico's ass is mine for the taking! You kids just continue playing with your dollies or something.' She mocked in her mind.

As she watched the girls go after each other (and with the intent of trying to capture Nico for themselves), Noire frowned to herself. She had her bodyguard stay back at MICROSOFT, telling him to make sure her representatives stay in line. As a Spec Ops Agent of his calibre, Raiden would be well respected within the Military, not to mention his reputation (like every other powerful member) scared politicians witless. If he remained there, then things should prove much less complicated when she finally returned. Even so, Noire got the strangest feelings inside her chest, and she felt a swelling competitiveness overtake her (especially when she saw Vert having rushed in after them. 'Oh, hell to the no will I let them get to Nico before me! I'll make sure they won't touch a hair on his head!' she screamed to herself whilst dashing forth after them.

Not long after, Lucy and Raven gave each other looks… and well, their response could be classed as obvious, right?

Once the girls had all gone ahead, Aiden and Ivan looked at each other, their eyes set in a deadpan whilst they calmly trekked from behind. They didn't dare say anything when the girls had been in earshot, but now that they had gotten some alone time…

"Just how the heck does that guy do it?"

"Query: inconclusive."

* * *

Soon enough, inside the Mansion each and every girl managed to catch up with Helen, whom had already beaten them to where they wanted to be: which was a single door leading to a bedroom. They all knew this due to there being a sign on the door, one that said: 'Nico's bedroom – keep out', something which elected laughs from the group of girls over the childish thing on the door.

"Boys will be boys, I guess…" IF remarked whilst trying to suppress her snickers. Raven's mouth twitched a bit, whilst Lucy snickered into her hand, same with Noire. Aside from them, everyone else… didn't really hide their amusement at the boyish way of keeping people out. Behind her, Aiden and Ivan smirked to themselves, well, Ivan did whilst the other male's lips twitched ever so slightly. They DEFINITELY could agree with that statement, and nobody would ever make them feel guilty about it! They were men, and they needed their privacy for… things, alright? Men stuff, any man who reads this would understand the hidden meaning there… although, in Nico's case something ELSE took place in this room… something much more sinister… twisted and horrific beyond any boundaries.

Something only themselves and Helen knew of, out of the entire group aside from Nico himself.

A faint, if not bitter giggle escaped Helen's lips at their reactions. "Even if people see my boy as some badass hardcore fighter, deep down all he really is, is simply a young boy wanting to have fun. He just buries it deep beneath thick layers of seriousness which makes it hard to manifest sometimes." She explained, before her chuckles died down and a look of grim coldness took it's place, a deep frown etching itself onto her lips. "Nico's just beyond this door, but be warned, he's not-"

"Open sesame!"

FWOMP!

She had just begun her warning, when suddenly Neptune kicked the door wide open with just her foot. She then grinned apologetically at the surprised woman. "Uhhh, sorry bout that, Nicky's mom, just couldn't take all the seriousness anymore. Don't ya worry, we'll be there for Nicky no matter what state he's in! You can count on us!" she chirped, winking at Helen and giving her a thumbs up… whilst also childishly sticking out her tongue and then jumping straight into the room.

Bewildered, Helen could only gape slightly as the rest of the girls moved in, though the boys stayed out to comfort the older woman. "Don't worry Mrs Helen, they're always like that when it comes to Nico or anything serious." Ivan assured her. "Neptune especially, you know yourself who she reminds you of."

Soon enough, the woman regained her composure and let a small chuckle escape her throat. She of course knew EXACTLY who Ivan had been referring to, and she just couldn't help herself. "Yup, I know who you mean, Ivan dear. I know who you mean all too well. In any case, you two should head inside, I'll come in after you."

Both boys nodded, Aiden wordlessly giving his support to the older woman beforehand. It was then, that they entered the room after the girls did, something which allowed the older woman to frown to herself. 'This isn't good… once they discover Nico's current state, I fear that they may try something reckless… and considering who these ladies are, its likely that I will not be able to stop them, either.'

* * *

As Neptune stopped inside the room, the first thing she took note of, was the bed on the opposite end of the room. "Heh, a standard layout for a cliché bedroom situation, huh author?" she remarked, looking upwards and smirking at the fourth wall (which hadn't been taking many hits until recently). The second thing her eyes took note of was how... clean, the room looked. Like it had never been used, though Neptune could smell some sort of soap-like thing in the air, so that meant this place must have been recently tended to by someone.

She then looked back down to Nico's body… and when she saw him in his present state, she immediately changed her tone. Her smile became slightly more forced and something danced across her eyes, too fast to be seen as she eyed the male. "Uhhhhh, Nicky? You alright dude? Ya look kinda pale." She questioned with no small dose of worry etching onto her.

Indeed, with the way he looked right now, the amount of worry coursing through Neptune's being could not be underestimated. The teen lay on his back, clothes still on whilst the pure white blankets covered everything but his head, which rested over a soft, smooth-looking white pillow. However, that was where the 'normal' looking stuff pulled a pit stop and refused to go any further. Nico's skin looked horrifically pale, almost as white as the sheets that covered him, whilst his sun clung to his form so much that he looked like an extremely old person. One could even see the cheek bones which he sported whilst his well-kept hair hung over his head, though it didn't conceal the wide, almost soulless gaze that he possessed.

Nico's state did NOT look like his normal one. Why, if it weren't for the steady rising and falling of his chest, Nico would look more and more…

like a corpse.

"Heh..." Neptune bit back the worry rising within her throat as she walked up to the side of the bed. "Come on, Nicky, ya don't gotta keep this up anymore, your beloved's here to make everything better. She may have gone through one whirlwind of a ringer before, but nothing this sword maiden can't handle, ya know? hahahahaha..." she spoke further, though each word got progressively harder and harder for the preteen to say. The more she looked at him, the greater pain erupting within her chest like a volcanic explosion became. It soon reached a point where the young girl lowered her head, her hair shadowing her eyes in darkness as she repeatedly tried shaking his shoulder. "Come on, Nicky... jokes over, ya can wake up now..."

Pretty soon, everyone else walked inside, judging by the sounds of footsteps that she heard coming from behind her. However, with the way that Neptune looked and felt right now, she didn't even care.

"Huh? Nep, what's wrong? You're acting..." IF began, before she too noticed what had happened with Nico' Her eyes shrunk to the size of saucers whilst her form stiffened. Though, that didn't last very long, as she quickly jogged over to his other side in a burst of speed. "Whoa dude, what the heck happened?!"

"NI-NI/NICO/NICKY-DEAR!"

Once everyone else saw how messed up the male Spec Ops Agent looked, each of the girls quickly jogged over, copious amounts of worry writing itself onto each of their faces. Even Raven showed it, albeit only slightly, but even so it seemed to be much more emotion than she found herself showing so far. Each of them took up a space around the bed, taking in the horrific sight of the male before them. Panic, dread, worry and confusion spiraled together into an uncomfortable, dreadful mix within the depths of their hearts, a vicious gut-wrenching pain accompanying it the longer their eyes took in the sorry state that Nico had been reduced to.

Not to mention countless questions formed in their minds about what had befallen their male companion. What had happened? Who did this? What? Where did this happen? When? How did this come about? WHY did it come about?! After all, throughout the time they had known Nico, the girls had seen him as this unstoppable, unrepentant badass who took care of problems on his own and came out on top against some rather steep odds. Fighting undead monstrosities, godly level Abnormals, taking on one of the CPUs themselves, even outlasting whole hoards of demons whom wanted to kill him, rape him and actively fuck over everyone he cared about (even all three at once). Nico had fought dozens of challenging opponents, some of which the girls felt CERTAIN they didn't know the full extent of his roster, but through all those challenges Nico had come out on top, either through pure strength or some of his deceptive cunning. The way he took down Umbrella in a one-man war had been proof of that.

So, seeing him in this weakened, horrifically vulnerable state...

"What the heck happened?" IF questioned, barely managing to rein in her emotions. It hadn't been easy, but with the way things were, the people around her and the fact that she didn't know for certain about what was happening, she couldn't afford to lose it. She'd long since figured out the angrier she got, the quicker and increasingly unstable her mutations became Odds were, that had been due to how she got her powers in the first place, she figured, as she'd noticed a few times that when Nico got angry, his body would radiate slightly more Demonic Power than normal. That would mean that his rage and other negative emotions influenced his powers somewhat, and since those powers were what saved her and forged her into what she is today, IF felt like that structure got passed onto her somehow. Though, if anyone else were to figure this out, they would have to commend her for her mental ability to focus. If she didn't have such a willpower, than IF would likely have lost herself to her rage, and the monstrous form she took before Compa became a Spirit, well, it would PALE in comparison to what she would become if Nico's life were to be threatened. Quickly, she turned around to see Helen walking into the room, a look of grim seriousness about her as she held her arms by her stomach, hands over her elbows. "How did Nico get like this?"

Unfortunately, and much to everyone's frustration, Helen shook her head as a snort escaped her lips. "I'd like to know that myself. I found his body within a smoking crater about 20 feet deep, easily the size of a small town that constantly sparked wit violent-looking Lightning. In a way though, you girls are lucky, since THIS..." she began, pointing down to the redhead male's prone form. "Is actually BETTER than what I saw when I first found him." she explained, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to break down. It helped that, thanks to seeing him now and remembering how bad he had been when she found him in that crater, that his regeneration abilities were still active. That meant that Nico was still alive at least, though it didn't look good for him... not something she wanted to think about, lets be honest here.

When she heard that, Vert could only grit her teeth as she battled within to hold the frustration boiling within her like a steaming kettle at bay. Seeing the state Nico was in right now, hurt on so many levels. It hurt way more than seeing a thousand rotting corpses to her, heck she even remembered having nightmares like this a few times before the Gala. She'd never wanted to think that they could somehow become reality, but as luck would have it, it was not on her side. Then again, something began nagging at her, and that was if there was even a deity of luck at all. Worse, was that this right here, reminded her of the people she had seen shortly before her powers were stolen, and just the THOUGHT of comparing the two, one she really liked and the other she absolutely LOATHED, nearly sent her on a murderous rampage.

Her feelings DEFINITELY got mirrored by the rest of the girls, if the looks of restrained fury (Raven's looked more subdued, whilst Ivan and Aiden who just came in, kept their expressions tight... though, their rage shone through their intense eyes like fierce flames) were any indication.

 **'I believe I may be of assistance...'**

Just then, Neptune, Compa, IF, Noire, Vert, and everyone else in the room blinked several times. Just now... did they just hear something? Did they just hear that correctly, or was it just them? That had been their individual thought processes at that moment.

"Uhhhh, Guys? I know i'm a bit of a loony at the best of times, but I swear that I just heard a voice that sounded strangely like Nicky's for some reason..." Neptune queried, looking about from the left to the right, trying to find the source of the voice. However, it would be all for nothing, since she couldn't find anything. Then, n idea came to her. "Oh, wait!" she then proceeded to lean over the bed and grab Nico's jawline, before proceeding to try and mimic the voice she just heard... with her own mouth. "'I believe I may be of assistance...' ... Nope, Nicky's silent."

Just before IF could whack her upside the head and pull her away from the unresponsive male, suddenly a flash of red blinded all of them, causing the girls tocry out as they covered their eyes.

* * *

When they opened them...

"Whoooooooaaaaaaaaaaa...!"

"What the heck?!"

"Wha?!"

"Whoa, what the hell?!"

"My goodness..."

These reactions each escaped the words of everyone involved, when they saw that nothing had changed... save for the floating ball of orangish red energy that hovered above Nico's body. The orb itself constantly radiated a large, sinister Demonic Aura which flared around it like a calm flame. A calm flame that could ignite into a fierce storm. Not to mention the circles of orangish red lightning that violently crackled around it, each circle moving either up or down, left or right in various angles. The orb stayed there, motionless aside from the hovering whilst everyone else could only stand there, looking absolutely dumbstruck with what had just happened.

Neptune's eyes had cartoonishly elongated so much that they looked like they had flown out their sockets, her jaw hanging open.

Compa gaped just as much as Neptune had, whilst trying to say something but only 'awawawawawawawa' came out.

IF had her eyes wide as she struggled to pinpoint what the heck was happening right now. "Holy..." she muttered under her breath, taking a step back.

Noire, Raven and Aiden had similar reactions to the brunette, each of them looking as stupidifed as a certain spell in a certain series about a boy with a scar on his forehead would make them.

Lucy, Vert and Ivan's reaction looked more like an extreme version of Neptune's.

Helen just looked like a fish with the way she looked right now, so it could be said that everyone had different levels of shock when they had seen this orb come into being. Wherever it had come from, it was there now, and with the way it looked... well, it definitely had more than a little intimidation going on.

"At long last, the time for us to finally meet."

"?!"

Once again, the same voice that Neptune heard before resounded throughout the area, quickly convincing the others that Neptune hadn't been crazy before them. Sharply spinning around, each of the girls tried to search about for the source of the voice... until their eyes once again landed on the chaotic-looking orb itself and a feeling of confirmation filled them to the brim of their beings.

"Okay, this is just some weird voodoo stuff i'm seeing right now. Is this for real?" Noire exclaimed as each of them beheld the orb whilst trying to get over the fact that A FREAKING REDDISH ORB had just LITERALLY appeared out of nowhere. Not to mention, Noire couldn't help but try to feel out it's energy,and almost found herself SWALLOWED by the sheer amount emitting from that orb. It felt MASSIVE, so much so that if she hadn't pulled her senses back in time she feared what might have became of her if she hadn't. Not to mention that, strangely enough which DIDN'T go very well with her current emotions... this thing felt familiar, as in very familiar. Sure, it felt Demonic and she had dealt with more than enough of that shit for an entire population's worth of lifetimes, but still she couldn't help but feel like she knew this energy.

This mentality soon became adopted by IF as well, the more seconds passed allowing her to calm down and analyze this thing with her senses. Although thanks to her having greater experience in sensing Demonic Power than Noire, she didn't find herself drowning within the large reservoir that was the energy this thing possessed. Not to mention, she too found it familiar, and it didn't take long for her to figure out why especially when the image of a certain unconscious male Spec Ops Agent came into mind. 'Wait, could this thing be...?'

Soon enough, Vert began to speak after looking at the floating orb for a moment, having quickly noticed IF's expression and came to a similar conclusion to her... although the Leanbox CPU didn't have the same surety for her thought process. "Am I correct to assume that you are connected to our Nicky in some way? Your energy signature, as devilish as it feels, is too much like the power that I sensed inside of him whenever we met, so that is the only conclusion I can come to," she questioned, caution laced within her being. Her past experience with the Demonic had been anything but pleasant, so the fact that this thing seemed to be connected to her Nicky did NOT sit well with her.

 **"You would indeed be correct, however I am more than that. Under normal circumstances, you all would never have known about my existence, however these circumstances have to be treated as 'special' for more than one reason. Therefore, you may call me Biko, I am the personification of Nico's Demonic Powers, I am them given form and their response to encourage him to learn how to master them."** The orb replied, bobbing up and down as if to mimic a nod, since it couldn't do that with it's form looking like this after all. The orb then went on to using the flames and lightning to make pseudo appendages made from the two, appendages that it pointed towards itself. **"This form you see me as, is not my true form. It is merely a result of myself and my attempts to create a construct out of Demonic Energy, something that nether myself or Nico have attempted before now thus it remained in the experimental stages. I do not have much time, however, as this form is extremely unstable at the moment. It could collapse at any time into a violent explosion that could take out about 3 miles worth of land."**

Now THAT startled the girls, horror and dread filling the up inside at the possible risk that this 'Biko' Character had taken to speak with them. Taking out 3 miles worth of land? That sounded WAY too dangerous! Any other time and they would have tried to do something, however with the fact that it apparently was connected to their male companion (it's energy signature proving this) they didn't. At this however, did a 'huh?' expression form on Compa's features before she gestured to all of them. "Um, us? Why would you try to take such a scary risk to talk to us? Is it to do with Ni-Ni?" she questioned, nervously. Not only did she feel somewhat intimidated by the dark, distorted tone that Biko's voice possess, but she felt like if she asked something stupid then the Orb would fry her to a crisp. That was just the way chaotic energy worked on the mind, she guessed.

Thus, Biko responded by bobbing the Orb form it took to mimic a nod again, something which the Nurse-In-Training in spite of herself, somewhat felt a bit bad. Biko couldn't even show them his true form because of this unexpected situation, that just reminded her of how she couldn't express her own feelings before. **"I have formed like this on Nico's request. Since you all have proven yourselves trustworthy, combined with the situation at hand, it has been deemed necessary for me to make my existence known to you all. However, to get to the point of my intentions, I intend to explain to you what has happened thus far."**

Now THAT got their attention, something Biko noticed as the Orb shot a couple Hellfire flames up above where it's 'head' would have been if it had an actual body. These flames then took on physical shapes, and began enacting a scene of Nico and an older man talking to one another. **"Myself and Nico, we were conversing with a man named Yvoire, someone whom is highly regarded as someone with great political power due to being the head of the military."** he began, noticing the look that appeared in Vert's eyes, before he scowled afterwards. **"Unfortunately, we were ambushed by someone, and a very toxic poison entered his system."**

"... Wait, WHAT?!" Each and every girl exclaimed in a unified cry, their eyes becoming white from the shock coursing through their system. Helen took that part the worst, she looked like she was about ready to faint on the spot from something like that.

Neptune took a huge gulp as she tried not to lose it from this information. "Hey, this scene seems reminiscent of the canon scene when I, the main character, get poisoned by Evilest! What the heck, why does this seem even worse than mine?!" she exclaimed, her face losing color fast especially when she glanced down at Nico's prone form and barely resisted the urge to go on a fear-filled tangent.

Compa covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming out her feelings to the world. Whilst she had her resolve, right now wasn't the time to be shouting to the heavens, this was more of a time to remain calm and collected... although her heart pounded both painfully and quickly within the confines of her ribcage. Not only that, but her palms sweated profusely and she KINDA felt more than a little sick, especially when she realized that this 'poison' must be an advanced version since she saw the symptoms clearly visibe on the patient (Nico) Just what kind of poison could do THAT?! She'd never even heard of something like this before! Not even in Nursing School!

'Posion?! Geez, this seems way too big for something like that!' IF shouted within her mind, whilst outside she tried to keep a calm face. Not just so that people didn't see her mounting panic, panic born from her attachment to the guy in the bed, but also to set a better example for the other fearful girls. The brunette scowled in her mind, gritting her teeth behind her lips while clutching her hands into fists within her coat pockets. 'Anyways, we need information! What is the poison, how did it get into him, where did it come from? Facts, we need facts right FUCKING now!

Vert herself felt much like Neptune and the other girls did at the moment, though she had a much calmer demeanor. Didn't mean she wasn't fearful for Nico's safety though, especially when she recalled the time she spend with him. Worry seeped into her being sure, but that wasn't the only thing within her at the moment. Sheer anger towards the one responsible for this also filled her being like a cup being filled with water. 'Someone... had the audacity to try and and my Nicky's life with something like poison... how dare they... how DARE they...!' she thought, biting back the urge to growl. In her eyes, Vert didn't see herself as much of a fool, if at all. She always kept it in the back of her mind, that even if she wasn't interested in the Console War and wanted to either play games or try to seduce Nico someday, Vert felt that deep down she had a warrior side. The side of her that enjoyed battle, the side that sought to fight against strong opponents. Why else would she have started to fight in the Console War during its infancy? But this... seeing someone she treasured like this, someone whom had earned her respect and admiration as a warrior, reduced to this state...

It pissed her off to no end.

Not to mention, these responses were also adopted by Team RAIL, as well.

"B-But how the heck can that be a thing?! I thought DPU's were supposed to be resistant against poisons!" Noire shouted, interrupting the Orb's story, which made the man look in her direction. For a moment, it looked like the Orb had been about to splash her with Lightning and Hellfire, however the Orb turned out to not do that and instead remained silent. The blackette CPU felt like she had just narrowly dodged a bite from a wild animal like an Abnormal.

This had NOT been something Biko had wanted to do, not one bit. This had been one of the riskiest moves that Nico had asked of him to do for him whilst his body stayed the way it was. Biko had already expressed the dangers of possibly unveiling his existence to the girls, how it could lead to them being targeted more by various interested parties like Maghda, that silver haired woman named Arfoire, and perhaps even the forces of Chaos themselves. However, Nico had remained adamant that they now had to know the truth about what had happened, what he had tried to do and what had befallen him. Not to mention his argument got supported when they had sensed a violent clash of energies through the seal separating Gamindustri from the rest of the Devildimension. Thus, in the end Biko ad to dig through his various research notes for something to allow him communication with those in the outside world, resulting in this current situation. What had happened with Noire had just been his annoyance for having to speak with people other than Nico and his OTHER half briefly taking over.

That couldn't happen again, not when the risks this power he used posed were so great.

The Orb then continued to speak, taking into account her interruption. **"Back in Lastation if you all remember correctly, Histoire said that DPUs spun poisons from within their beings and control them, and that does indeed grant them a high resistance to powerful toxins as a result, an adaptation the DPU body makes. However, this Poison is different, for I managed to analyze its contents briefly, but when I did, I found something alarming. This was no ordinary poison, it was one specifically tailored to Nico's genetic code. In other words, this was..."**

The Demon Persona trailed off there, but IF finished his sentence for him, her eyes wide as realization dawned on her. "An actual intentional assassination. Normally poisons would only work on anyone who takes them, but if what you're saying is true, this one would only work with Nico himself due to it being altered, am I right?" she questioned.

Biko nodded his Orb form in response. Out of all these females, it were IF, that black haired woman who looked as cold as ice while dressed as a Samurai, that one bald headed boy, and Leanbox's CPU who felt the more tolerable of the group. Nevertheless, he had been asked a question, thus he would answer. **"Indeed. Nico's body is well and truly capable of poison making, he just doesn't use that particular ability. However, in order to strengthen his body's poison resistance, forging immunities to certain diseases that ravage Gamindustri, I have had him create poisons within him and then have them be released throughout his body whilst he is training, allowing his body to grow stronger through the stress of having to deal with the poison. The results speak for themselves. Some were weak, however most of them were strong enough to take out an S Class Abnormal. However, this one was genetically modified to be used SOLELY on him. Any others whom would take it in would be merely knocked unconscious for a couple days from the smell. Nico on the other hand..."**

"So, what does this poison do exactly?"

 **"Young Neptune, this poison was meant to not only kill Nico's body, something which would have happened had he not gotten strong poison resistance, but also to permanently destroy his very soul, something very dangerous to a DPU. For their souls are otherwise immortal, even if their bodies die their souls remain until they reform. This poison however, affects the** **victim** **down to that level so that they can never return to this world again as their Souls are completely destroyed, which makes me believe that the DPUs developed ways of countering it at some point. Fortunately, that last part had not happened, as his body is still fighting the poison itself. Though, not long into the struggle, something else happened that potentially spun things in Nico's favor."** Biko explained, the fiery images above the Orb showing everything he was taking about through shape manipulation. The flames then began to mimic Nico's form gasping as it clutched his chest area, where they saw additional flames take on the form of what looked like... a sword, a Broadsword the ones who know such things thought to themselves (Neptune, Noire, Raven and Aiden). **"I do not know much about it, due to not having enough time to examine this phenomenon, but something had happened to one of Nico's weapons, and it morphed itself into a new form... though not after he had to do something whilst his body remained under the effects of the poison. In any case, Nico managed to pull through, and afterwards the sword, with a new form and power, used its strength to stop the poison from separating his soul from his body... though there were some other events that happened."**

On their end, the girls each hummed as they took in this information, pushing aside their worry for their male companion for the time being, even though it had been building within them the more they heard. If what Biko said was true, then this poison had to have been something either insanely difficult to acquire, as poisons are usually brewed by alchemy or sold within the black market. In that case, then whoever obtained the Poison must have had both great resources and great knowledge on their side, which limited their lists of suspects.

Whilst they thought on it though, IF then remembered something else about Biko's story. "But wait, what about Yvoire? Shouldn't he have died instantly from this poison if its so powerful? I mean, the guy's a normal human and Nico's a DPU, and Nico's been reduced to this." she questioned him, prompting the Orb to respond after a few moments of pondering.

 **"Before Nico submitted himself to unconscious land, I noticed that something on Yvoire's person began pushing the Poison out and away from him. My theory on that is that he had something, likely an item he possessed like a ring of sorts, that he had likely inherited from his family line. It must have been something from the DPU Era, an item meant more for protecting the Soul that just barely fit the bill of protecting him from this poison. Make no mistake, both him and Nico (by extension myself as well) have had a close brush with death this day. For now however, I am uncertain as to what the outcome may be, but..."**

Just before he could continue, Biko and the Party soon started sensing the Orb becoming more and more violent. On the Party;s side it looked worse, as the orb started looking like it was going to explode at any moment, whilst the flames above it and the Lightning and Hellfire around it began to act up on their own. This made Biko groan in what they thought could have been annoyance, it was hard to tell with this guy. **"Tch, looks like the time was shorter than I expected..."** he muttered under his breath, before looking back to the Party from monitoring his current form, with his gaze returning to its neutral state and the flames vanishing. **"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you the rest for we are out of time However, do not be alarmed, even with what Nico's body has gone through and it's present states, present elements have gone under his favor, and we are going to be fighting an uphill battle against this poison. In the meantime, I humble request that you all guard his body whilst it recovers from an ordeal much like the one that you all appear to have gone through."**

"W-Wait, pl-"

Noire made to say something, but the Party soon found themselves enveloped by another flash, forcing them to cover their eyes once again.

* * *

By the time that they could see once more after lowering their eyes, the group found that the Orb had pretty much vanished, with only slight scorch marks around the bed being an indication that it had even been there at all. They couldn't even sense any remnants of Demonic Power like they could whilst leaving the Basilicom. For a moment, a session of stunned silence passed through them as their minds struggled to process what just happened. The rapid shift in environment, combined with the curve-balls thrown at them, made them temporarily shut down or more specifically blue screen for a moment. Even Team RAIL looked like they had just survived going through a whirlwind experience, something that didn't usually happen to them.

The Party remained like this for well over 10 minutes, before some of them began to blink, the first few to actually show any form of movement, as they soon came back to their senses. Those people, ironically, ended up being Raven,, Lucy, Aiden and Ivan, whom hadn't really said much during that whole conversation. "Duuude..." Ivan groaned, holding the side of his head. "What the hell was that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine Ivy..." Lucy responded, looking around and finding a wooden chair nearby. She soon sat down on it and crossed her legs over each other, looking deeply troubled all the while as she leaned forwards with her elbows on her thigh and her hands meshed together whilst she put her nose on top. "What we just saw right now... combined with what we learned..." she muttered, worry seeping back into her as the shock wore off.

Aiden nodded his head in agreement, and if he were any normal person he'd be scowling right now, but his military once again prevented him from showing much emotion. Just like all the other times in his life ever since joining the Spec Ops Program. "Be that as it may, what we were told just now... I don't think we were dreaming, for its highly unlikely for us all to have the same dream. Too many people were involved." he admitted.

"Indeed." Raven stated, glancing down to Nico's prone body. "Although we learned little, what we do know is that his body is fighting against a poison which made him look like this. He may look dead, but upon closer inspection..." slowly, Raven reached out and pressed two fingers at his neck. Just as she had suspected, there was a pulse, a weak one but a pulse nonetheless. "It appears he is indeed still alive. Not to mention I can indeed sense his energy, its weaker than normal, however it's strength is slowly returning. "

"Whew, ain't that a relief then..."

The other members of Team RAIL nodded their heads in agreement with Lucy, before the rest of the Party snapped out of their stupor. Neptune went first, as after she blinked several times to regain her focus, she soon let out her own response... one that Ivan just now let out himself. "Duuude..."

Lucy just snickered at the response whilst Ivan glared at her. "Don't you say it, you..." Ivan stated, but nonetheless that statement proved useless in the next few seconds.

"Awww, how can I not, you're sounding like another Neptune, you know." The redhead woman teased, looking unrepentantly towards her fellow Team RAIL member whom Aiden quickly restrained from trying to get at her... for his sake more than anything else. With what they knew of her, before and after her revelation of her true identity, Aiden quickly deduced that if Ivan tried anything with her he'd get his ass beat in any manner of humiliating ways possible, ways that not even he would be able to look at without flinching.

"Please don't get that image in my had, Lucy..." IF groaned after she came to and heard that comment, holing her forehead in one hand. The thought of there being more Neptunes than the one she had come to know, more annoyances that would drive her bonkers on a daily basis WASN'T something she wanted to entertain the possibility of. "One's bad enough, we don't need any more Neptune's in the air."

Afterwards, Helen gave a sigh as she looked upon Nico's body. "Be it as it may, it would seem that we at least know what has happened to Nico's body..." she stated, and the rest of them soon recalled what Biko had told them. About the poison, about how Nico's strong resistance (something which they still struggled to comprehend thanks to the sadistic nature behind it) kept him from instantly succumbing to it. Not to mention that something had happened to one of Nico's weapons that served in helping him after a while, too. Whilst it wasn't exactly everything they wanted to know, not only a little bit vague, it did somehow help them calm their nerves. At least Nico wasn't in any danger of dying... for now, at least.

They weren't sure about the future, though.

It wasn't just the poison they had to worry about either, though. Not only it, but the culprit themselves was a source of concern. It would be highly likely that the would learn of Nico's survival, as well as his bedridden state, Helen would be a fool to think otherwise. Countless years worth of experience in handling assassinations worked for her at this moment whilst she continued to ponder the implications of their situation. If their unknown enemy learned of Nico's current state, then they would likely try to send 'assurance' to finish him off. That could not be allowed, she thought, not until Nico was back on his feet.

Just then, Helen remembered something whilst she thought about the poison that must be flooding her baby boy' system. "Ah, I know!" she exclaimed, surprising the others as they all looked to her, wondering why she just shouted like that. Ignoring their states as she began to elaborate like so. "There's something I have that could help Nicky-Nick recover from this poison faster. I found it a while back before my retirement as a Spec Ops Agent, and have kept it hidden ever since." she explained, before quickly rushing out the room leaving them with more than a few questions.

Not moments later though, did the woman return with a hand clenched, obviously holding something rather small. When she walked up to the bed which Nico rested on, Helen placed a knee on it whilst placing her clenched hand over Nico's chest, soon opening it and dropping something there. When she retracted her hand, the girls all looked to see what it was, and found it to be a palm-sized, glowing green pearl-like sphere. The moment it touched Nico's chest however, it began to glow brightly and then bathe him in its glow.

At this, Helen smirked in satisfaction, a immense sense of relief spreading through her chest at the sight of the item working. "This girls, is called the Sky Poison Pearl, I found it at one of Planeptune's lakes one time after a mission, and out of curiosity I took it for myself. This kiddo didn't let me use its powers most of the time, but it has been recorded to be able to detoxify poisons. The few times it DID let me, I saw how it managed to cure people of some very potent stuff, such as Abnormal-type venom's and various other illnesses." she explained, before a weary sigh escaped her lips, her eyes showing a level of fatigue only those in their sixties and above would possess. "Though ill be honest, I know next to nothing about it aside from that. I tried looking into it, but all I got was that it was like a medical tool to heal people. We have a few more with strange, almost mystical abilities like it within the WDD's treasury, including one that's so freaking evil that Abnormals stay away from SEGA because of just it's mere presence. Even so, It'll help Nicky-Nick recover faster, but we'll have to be patient." she explained to them all, getting relieved sighs from the rest of them.

Hearing that from the woman who had the more experience as a Spec Ops than them (save for maybe Lucy since she was way older than all of them put together... except maybe the CPUs themselves), definitely set everyone's minds at ease. With everything they had gone through today, the Demonic Invasion in addition to Nico's situation, having some good news for once felt like getting bathed in water after going through a hot summer's day without taking a single break. In addition, as they saw the Sky Poison Pearl working it's magic, each and every one of them couldn't explain why, but the more that they looked at it, the more... drawn to it, they began to feel. It was like it was trying to pull them closer just with the shining glow that it possessed, all the while releasing this calm, refreshing scent that smelled like a mix between the purity of nature, and the cleanness of a hospital. Compa knew that smell best, since her Nursing School was located by a large patch of forest within SEGA.

Ivan then asked a question that appeared in everyone's minds seconds later. "Will we be able to visit him?"

Helen gave a nod, her eyes sharpening whilst she formed a vengeful scowl on her face. "Indeed, you may. Whilst he recovers i'll have the staff here keep a watchful eye on him and for any intruders who might want to finish the job. In the meantime, I'll start a search for the culprit myself, see if I can find any leads." she explained, clutching her fists in repressed fury. "Nobody tries to hurt my boy without my fist being punched through their faces..."

In response to Helen's anger, everyone else nodded in agreement, a mybrid of furious emotions crossing onto their faces, even Compa and Neptune's. Whoever just did this invoked the wrath of not only two best buds, but also a group of female capable of unleashing mighty feminine fury. If they were to find Nico's attempted killer before he woke up...

Whelp, god have mercy on their poor souls.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Here goes another chapter. Now, this cheater has foreshadowed some bits about the DPUs workings, more specifically the way the inner world works. Notice how I referred to it as a cognitive world? How I only said it was here that Nico and Biko trained by stuff like sparring and did experiments here? Whelp, this will be explained in a bit.**

 **Also, a LOT of things have happened in this chapter, Nico's been poisoned instead of Neptune, though in this fic I changed that scene in the games even more by including politics, drama and a whole Demon Invasion. It was foreshadowed the moment that the Hellverse Arc ended, and I bet you guys all noticed what had happened too didn't you? It was plainly obvious to see from there anyways.**

 **Plus, keep those poll results coming please, it seems that Nico, Noire, Neptune, Compa and IF are so far in the lead. Not sure when the Poll will end, probably when I wanna put up another one which won't be for a while unless I get an idea. As for that Spec Ops Exam, that'll be a smaller arc between the Party staying in Leanbox then travelling over to Lowee, where a whole load of shit will be going down so look forward to that. Not to mention that the surprises for the climax of the main stuff for the entire Leanbox Arc ain't over just yet, either.**

 **Please read, fav, follow, review all that good stuff. I like hearing what my readers think of the story. Now then,**

 **Peace out!**


	141. Chapter 138 - What happens next

**Chapter 138 - What happens next**

2 weeks passed by since the incident with the Basilicom the Demons and other followers of Khorne invading Gamindustri, and from then on, a mybrid of events followed. Events that, as one would expect, took up a LARGE amount of time from each person involved.

The first thing that happened had been the inevitable fallout in the Invasion's aftermath. Not only did many Nobles (save for a few select ones who didn't bother with much) and other Guests to the Gala throw a nasty hissy fit about the lack of 'security' for the Gala (whilst also secretly blaming the CPU for her shortcomings), but they also made countless empty threats and promises towards her that Stefan and the other military representatives had to calm them down for, before they could end up doing something all of them would wind up regretting. More often than not, Stefan nearly ended up losing it on the Nobility as he tried to calm them and assure them that they were still safe and sound within MICROSOFT's walls. That they could still live their lives as they so desires. Arrogant, fickle-minded assholes didn't complain very much when Stefan offered to spend some of the military's budget in compensation for their troubles, something that Vert refused to allow without them getting some form of compensation as well for all the soldiers they had lost. It ended up with the Military getting a healthy stipend, with about 80% of it going to the Nobles for them to squander on whatever they saw fit.

Slobs.

Heck, there was even a few mocking comments towards the Nobles behind their backs, made by the Military families that got invited and were part of the forces guarding the Nobles whilst at the Gala. None of them saw eye to eye with these Nobles, and many of them shared the Spec Ops Agents desires to just end them already. Hatred burned in their hearts for the Nobles, to the point that whenever they were killed or something bad happened to them, on the surface they seemed remorseful, however deep down they actually celebrated their deaths, marking their deaths as a source of joy and twisted happiness. Hell, they'd probably throw a party for the ones involved with utterly shaming the Nobles, for in their eyes a 'good deed' involving the humiliation and killing of Nobles. In essence, they resembled powder kegs ready to blow at the earliest sign.

Not to mention, that most of the deaths that had befallen the Gala's count weren't even that many Nobles to begin with, like below a dozen at the worst. The count would have been higher if Compa and Lucy hadn't done their miracle healing though, so that was at least something. Though, the Nobles even undermined that, thinking of themselves and their interests which had been threatened, reasoning that thanks to them being 'invited' to the Gala, they were 'expected' to be in a place of security and safety, of which they believed didn't happen even when THEY had been the first ones to be evacuated thanks to MAGES.' transportation Seals. Said Mad Magician had wisely chosen to leave the city in these following days, so she didn't get caught up in all the turmoil that followed and basically threw the rest of them to the wolves, figuratively speaking. Though, if any of the girls had been honest with themselves, they likely would have done the same thing in her shoes.

In simple terms, beneath all the political and complicated bullshit that followed, it simply got classified as one big hot mess. A mess that Vert couldn't help but lament that she had been foolish enough to not see happening at the Gala. Even though the few who knew of her condition constantly tried to assure her that she hadn't done anything wrong. That she had other things occupying her mind that were just as important as the Gala like ascertaining Noire's intentions for the Gala and the alliance her Nation had been building from the Truce between Lastation and Planeptune. Like learning more about the enemy that currently tore through her country with reckless abandon. Still didn't lessen the sense of defeat and failure she felt though, something that Vert would be feeling for a while to come yet… though, those ways of 'coping' could be questionable at best. Fortunately, though, good news helped keep her mind from breaking in the form of the collateral damage being limited to the Basilicom itself, and not out into the rest of MICROSOFT, something which Vert had MAGES. to thank.

The second thing that happened was that Yvoire had recovered successfully from his little 'episode' with the poison, something which had immediately gotten Vert's attention the moment that piece of news reached her. Thus, spurred on by this information combined with the knowledge she had gleaned with the others from Biko, resulted in Vert confronting Yvoire at the earliest opportunity, leaving most of the political work she had to do to Chika (whom had made a full recovery at speeds that shouldn't be humanly possible, though when it came to Vert, Chika usually went up and beyond).

Thus, that confrontation revealed to her that Yvoire had in his possession a special neckless that he had inherited from his father and all his previous fathers before him. It was a necklace that had been with his family since their founding, and as such little is known about it anymore aside from the fact that it prevents the wearer or those that touch it from being mind controlled. Though, as Vert assumed it appeared to have done much more than that, for it seemed to have saved his soul from being affected by the poison, however just by looking at that item, Vert had correctly deduced that much of the item's power had been depleted, not overdrawn thankfully, and would need time for it to recharge.

Not only that though, but Vert had learned how Nico and Yvoire had been arguing about what Count Mott had been up to, about how the guy had been conducting shady business deals and a whole load of other questionable actions that could have ended with his head on the chopping block if this were the older Leanbox. Nico had argued that something had to be done, but Yvoire had refused, explaining about how if he did anything then the long-term effects for the Nation may end up being disastrous for them. He told Vert that while Nico did have factual evidence to state the things that he did, his actions could have doomed Leanbox in the far future.

When Vert had tried to speak, Yvoire had countered with the following opinion: Who was Nico truly? Was he someone who did good and stayed faithful? In some sense, maybe after all he had done some good in his lifetime. However, when Yvoire looked at him, what he saw was SO much more than that. Instead of just what other people saw in him, Yvoire saw a powder keg waiting to blow up. He saw someone who he would have preferred to be A Noble considering his family background (something that honestly baffled him when he discovered it) as well as a follower of Lady Green Heart, but he wasn't. Instead, he showed open hostility towards anything regarding the Nobility of Leanbox, definitely making it clear what he thought of them. The teen had shown more than a few times how he did not favor any form of religion and had made his 'opinions' on the higher ups quite clear. In addition to that, he worked in a Nation that WASN'T his birth one for OTHER Nations, and had fostered companionship with an unknown amount of Agents who shared his views, powerful Agents at that. Not only that, but he had a strong charisma which, whilst not at its peek potential due to his upbringing, could very well rally anyone who believed the same as he did. All that, and he HADN'T talked about that abominable power that he possessed, that power which as much as he loathed to admit it, trumped that of the Goddesses as proven when he heard of how a single eruption of that power destroyed an entire Dungeon. He'd heard of THAT little incident not just from Nico's own mouth, but also not long after there had been reports of flames in the far distance, and after some investigation he had connected the dots. Therefore, how could he NOT be so cautions and demeaning of him? To Yvoire, Nico was the EXACT type of person who could destroy an entire Nation if he so wanted, he could bring an end to every Goddess in Gamindustri if he wanted to just from his potential alone. What kind of leader WOULDN'T be so cautious with someone like that running about?

The more Yvoire had explained why he felt the way he did, the more Vert began to agree that Yvoire did indeed have a point and a good reason for his actions.

Whilst Yvoire had been right about his views as a leader, Nico also made a good argument, and had seen potential for an even greater danger which he had apparently been trying to prevent from happening. Listening to what he had said, it told her that Nico did seem to be on a certain path to finding some deeply rooted corruption, however the talk Yvoire had given him had clearly seemed to stop those attempts. Odds were, that Nico likely didn't want to endanger the Nation that fueled her existence, not to mention it wasn't part of his creed to let innocents die, so he had refrained from continuing for the foreseeable future… even so BOTH of them had failed at that point, considering how messed up her Basilicom was.

Something she HAD to point out, and Yvoire thus let it slip that she would have understood the situation a LOT better if she had been here longer, about how much danger the Nation could be in during the long-run if he hadn't done what he could. Low blow, to be sure, but not necessarily a wrong one Vert had to reluctantly admit to herself. Yvoire then continued with how, despite his best efforts to provide the best security he had available, Yvoire still didn't have complete control over every military family in Leanbox, thus there would be holes in his security which the enemy could have exploited for this incident to happen.

A fact that the CPU had to admit that Yvoire had a point about, but part of her still felt like Yvoire could have conducted himself at least a little better.

Thirdly, was that everyone began to initiate their own types of training, evolving them from what they had once been in light of the new developments from this entire Invasion. For example, Compa had to, now that she had become a Spirit, accompany Lucy and Raven across the Nation, tearing through Abnormals at a rapid pace not to mention destroying the Demonic forces that occupied key areas around Leanbox. This form of training strengthened Compa's ability to fight with her six different Angels, the ones that were more combat-oriented getting quite the workout from them whilst support types like Gabriel, Haniel and Michael had been demoted to secondary usage, since Lucy had more than enough power in her one little finger. Heck, Compa became witness to some of Lucy's true power, and by the Goddesses did Compa find the redhead woman to be one of the scariest people she had ever met. The way she commanded the forces of Nature to do her bidding, ow she created plants and wilderness to either ensnare or kill entire encampments now that she didn't have to worry about her new comrade finding out her identity, made more than a few shudders travel down her spine. Not to mention the creepy, sadistic giggling Lucy would do whenever she saw her opponents try to 'resist' her, almost like she got a kick out of the experience…

Sometimes, Compa found her to be worse than any of the creepy, insane Demonic followers of Chaos.

Even so however, there was definitely ONE thing that she took from that experience…

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"#HUFF#... #HUFF#... #HUFF#..."_**

 ** _"Not bad, Compa, your power over Sandalphon is coming along nicely."_**

 ** _Whilst she panted heavily, kneeling on all fours, Compa barely raised her head in order to glance over to Lucy, whom stood in the middle of a crown of spikes made from wood. Each spike impaled more than a few followers of Chaos. Blood dripped down them from their impaled areas like small waterfalls, and each of them had that same look that Vert had told them about from her story of how she lost her powers as a CPU. "Th-Thanks…"_**

 ** _Both of them stood within the centre of a large encampment, filled to the brim with corpses belonging to the Chaos religion. This place had been the staging point for many raids on surrounding settlements, and Lucy had already teleported the rest of the survivors, the innocent civilians whom would have been sacrificed to their Gods (Khorne in this case) back to their respective homes. Thankfully, she used her teleportation ability to do so, ad by the time she had finished Lucy had found herself in that crown she had made early on in the battle watching Compa recover from the nonstop fighting._**

 ** _Everywhere one looked, they would only see death. The tents looked like they were made from human flesh, with bony spikes covering them while a huge circle of spikes and barbed wire encircled the camp. Ironically, it reminded the girls of a circle of dark bushes and spiky thorns… except with the various 'skulls' of both monster and human impaled disgustingly onto the spikes as a form of warding off intruders. The camp itself had small alters all over the place, ones filled with a crimson liquid Compa and Lucy could only assume to be blood, and these alters were where they sacrificed their slaves, enemies or even their own brethren in arms to the Chaos God Khorne. Since he didn't care for where the blood came from, only that it flowed, it made a… disturbing amount of sense._**

 ** _Even so, Compa didn't really think about that, instead she thought back to what had been going on. This had been what… the 500th, 510th Camp they blew up? Well, its been one of the many Chaos camps that they had destroyed by either flattening or outright just charging in and tearing everything apart. In this case, it had been the latter, and just like when fighting against the Demons back at the Basilicom, th fighting had been expectantly brutal… more on the enemy's side since Lucy went ape shit on them. Compa just followed behind her, dealing with any stragglers by knocking them down and finishing them off with one of her Angel._**

 ** _Killing people wasn't something she had thought she would be capable of doing. Nope, no sir. Demons were one story, since they weren't like humans, but actual people? More than once did Compa shudder at the thought of killing actual people. However, her hesitation… it felt surprisingly minimal in the grand scheme of things. Like, killing someone came as easy to her as it had been to summon an Angel. Compa felt like the fact she no longer masked her feelings of inferiority, the fact that she had been bullied many times by other humans when she was a little girl, and the fact that she had become something inhuman had something to do with it. Her transformation into a spirit… had it changed her more than she thought? She didn't know, but it definitely struck her as odd, though to her surprise she didn't feel like vomiting when she first killed someone. Nothing like seeing blood on her hands did a thing to her, and that confused the heck out of her._**

 ** _Plus, was killing these kinds of people… really that bad?_**

 ** _They each have done countless unspeakable horrors on a daily basis in the name of fanatical beliefs…_**

 ** _Her previous self would have been all like 'yes, it is! all life is precious, you shouldn't kill them, its not right!'_**

 ** _Now however…_**

 ** _"Just so you know Compa…" Lucy's voice broke her out of her thoughts and made her look towards her again. This resulted in her seeing Lucy click her fingers and release a wave of energy across the camp. Near instantly she began to see the corpses get absorbed into the earth, as well as the blood, spikes and pretty much everything else, until the entire camp got replaced by a large field of pure, clean wilderness. There was even this strange glow about the field that just screamed 'mystical' and 'divine' somehow. "Your no longer a human anymore. You may look human for the most part, you may not have any drastic transformations like IF that showcase her inhumanity, but never forget that you're not like the other humans anymore. This transformation into a Spirit has changed fundamentals in the human mind before, so its no surprise that it's took away your reluctance to kill." She explained, grimly._**

 ** _Whilst a shudder did escape her on that one, Compa still felt like that wasn't all there was to it, especially when she recalled what she had learned about herself when she became a Spirit in the first place. Even so however, she nonetheless took in what her teacher had been saying. Lucy had told her that her power as the Spring Goddess had everything to do with creating life, and that sometimes for new life to grow, some life needed to be taken. Compa sorta understood, since in human population, when someone dies, as cold as it may sound their property usually goes to someone else who needs it, like a small or large family or so. "So… is this the last one or do we have more…?" she questioned._**

 ** _"Hm?" Lucy began, having become lost in thought herself before Compa brought her out of it. "Oh, we still have like 100 more camps to go, I know their positions across the entirety of Leanbox. Everything touched by Spring I'm aware of as it's patron Goddess. But for now, we can take a small break, destroying over 500 camps in one day is quite an achievement." She explained, before her eyes narrowed and her tone grew darker as she summoned a small chair from the ground made out of earth, sitting down on it with her legs crossed. "Even though these guys replace their numbers fast, likely from getting more followers through those Hellgates spawning everywhere. In those camps, we only destroyed like 50 or so, so it feels like we aren't even doing anything against the real cause here."_**

 ** _A low wince escaped the young Nurse-In-Training's features as she couldn't help but nod in agreement and understanding. Compa could understand her frustration on this matter, cause she felt somewhat the same way. No matter how many camps they take out, the more followers seemed to take their place. Not to mention that even if they helped the Military take back the Nation's territory from these Khornate forces, it didn't really affect much unless they find out how to stop the Hellgates from appearing once and for all._**

 ** _"Aside from that Compa, surely you've noticed by now, right?"_**

 ** _"Eh?"_**

 ** _"Your powers. Whilst they do have great strength now, there is still ways for you to go before you unleash your full potential. If I were to make an analogy, you've only accessed one-coin side of your power, whilst the other side remains dormant and waiting to be accessed. For now, I doubt you'll be able to unlock it right away, so you should master your Angels first. I can teach you how to do the basics for them, but the best teachers you could ask for are the Angels themselves. They can teach you best, I can only point you in the right direction."_**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

What Lucy had told Compa lead her to contacting the manifestations of her Angels, inside her mind, which lead to her asking them to help train her in their abilities. Each Angel had agreed to her request, even Camael who had ever the badmouth on her, not to mention that each Angel taught her how to communicate with them mentally, so they could talk to her as well as look through her eyes at the world around them. Not to mention that some of them (Camael, Gabriel, and Haniel) each had a bit of a pervy side to them, considering how they sometimes made Compa think of various… things, she would like to do to Nico when he eventually awoke.

She hadn't been the only one training, however. Neptune accompanied IF in her hunting of different Abnormals throughout the Nation, as thanks to these Demonic Forces there weren't as many as there had been before, and the Guild wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. Apparently, Abnormals had been an impressive display of 'sport' for the followers of Chaos, as most of the time travelling to different areas across the Nation (much like what Compa and Lucy did minus the special 'transportation' the latter possessed) Neptune and IF came across entire camps filled to the brim with Skulls cast onto piles reminiscent of various Abnormals, their carcases either hung out in various forms or having been chopped up into various foods to feed their troops. Not to mention some were impaled brutally on spikes to be used to ward off uninvited visitors.

A sight that made them shudder each time. Yeah, who would want to be near somewhere like that? They sure as hell wouldn't…

Well, maybe IF would, she could use the extra genetic data to fuel her mutations.

Even so, however, during the constant fighting against both Abnormal and Chaos follower alike, Neptune only used one weapon: her Soul Calibur. She used its various forms and abilities to utterly decimate her enemies, aside from her ability to manipulate crystal the way she could. She would learn more about crystal itself through those tests, increase her understanding of it's nature, how to make it, how to apply it to her purposes and just a general understanding of it. The more she did so, the more powerful hr Crystal powers became, to the point where if she were to face a Greater Demon again in the future (which she had no doubt she would if the Party's luck had been any indication), then she would likely stand a MUCH better chance against it. Defeating one in single combat? Eh, that would be a stretch for now, since the sheer strength and physical ability needed to fight one on even grounds still eluded her for the time being.

That strength however… there still seemed to be a way for Neptune to acquire it, she felt. Why did she feel that way, you ask? Cause of Soul Calibur's dual nature, is all. The weapon was both divine and demonic in nature, a natural and complete hybrid of the two energies. Therefore, she could definitely feel like she hadn't tapped into this weapon's true potential just yet. She'd been able to use it's divine side no problem, it was what gave her the ability to develop crystal manipulation abilities, however the problem was the Demonic aspect of the sword. Aside from using the negative emotions that she felt to empower itself though, Neptune felt like she didn't have much in the way of tapping into that aspect just yet. An entire reservoir pf power she had next to absolutely ZERO access to, a power which could shorten the gap between her and Greater Demons immensely. Something which frustrated her immensely, this weapon she got from her hubby still had a LOAD of potential she had yet to tap into, and yet she couldn't for some inexplicable reason.

Thus, that was why she chose to join IF on her training. Perhaps she could find a way for her to tap into BOTH of Soul Calibur's aspects fully with her.

Fourthly, would be things on Noire's side. Now, thanks to the events at the Gala Noire had to, well, fight on multiple fronts one could say. On one front, Noire spent as much time as she could allow to train with Balmung, to learn more about the sword and get just get a little closer to being able to tap into it's full power, to tap into and fully control such power actually. Balmung didn't make it easy for her by the way, but then again when was anything in life easy? If one found that their lives were easy, then they weren't doing things the right way. Even so, she still kept trying practicing alone with Balmung or having Raiden spar with her.

Heh, its funny, for even if she had the benefits of being both Balmung's wielder as well as a CPU, she had not ONCE managed to defeat her teacher, not even get a graze on his Cyborg body. Years of experience on the front lines as a child soldier probably had something to do with that, but that shouldn't be all there was to it since Noire had fought the other CPUs for hundreds of years at this point. It truly went to show that the stronger Spec Ops Agents, the ones who took their training and roles within the community utterly seriously, had the strength to fight a Goddess on even ground…

Something that honestly concerned Noire.

Aside from that, Noire also had to fight in political battles, conversing with Vert and her representatives about the alliance that she and Planeptune were starting to veer into. Both the pros and cons of such an agreement, everything got laid out with the proper documentation to prove the claims made from both sides. Of course, Leanbox's representatives felt threatened by this possibility, therefore to appease them, and in light of recent events, Noire decided to extend her offer to Leanbox as well. That way not only would Planeptune and Lastation be in an eventual alliance, but Leanbox as well.

If she had not seen the way Vert had been acting before, then she likely wouldn't have decided to do this and instead left Leanbox to rot. However, thanks to that NOT being the case, the Lastation CPU had went and made a completely different route instead. Now, not only would Leanbox be part of this truce-eventually-alliance, but they would also be involving Planeptune politicians in this. Something that Noire found herself being sure that they likely wouldn't like very much, though they'd nevertheless not make too much of a fuss over it. If they could ally with Lastation, their arch rival, why not Leanbox, a Nation of which their animosity would be considered extremely smaller in comparison?

Part of her wondered if she would have to involve Neptune in all this, since she WAS Planeptune's CPU and as such deserved to have a say in this alliance of theirs, but she had decided against it mainly because of her amnesia. If she didn't recall anything about her Nation's politics, then odds were that she'd not be of very much help. Not to mention that she'd probably say something like 'being friends is all I care about, so do the whole signing thing or whatever'. Plus, she had her own thing going on with collecting the Key Fragments to save Histoire, someone whom Noire wanted to meet herself just to see what all the fuss was about. She may not be involved with Planeptune's politics, but at least Neptune was actively taking a roll with helping to save Gamindustri from the threats that were surfacing through every corner of the world…

And beyond, lets not forget that.

As for Helen herself, she had much on her plate as well. Not just her daily work of managing the WDD from Leanbox, she also had to take part in the negotiations between Leanbox and Lastation as a Planeptune representative. In political terms, she had become a major piece on the chessboard, though in Helen's eyes she already had become one with her current position and… interest to the higher ups in the Basilicom back in the Land of Purple Progress. Interest as in they kept tabs on everything she did in case she were to rebel against them for what they did to her adoptive son, something she had fought tooth and nail to have the rights to do she might add. One didn't need to know the hardships which she had went through to get that chance, and even then she had also been given the position of head of the Weapons Development department, though to her that position resembled something else:

A chair, a Pedestal… surrounded by searchlights and engrossed in poisonous spiky thorns.

In addition to her other duties for her position as both WDD's head and the sole Planeptune Representative, Helen also conducted an investigation of her own (with Vert's approval of course since this WAS her Nation after all). An investigation into the events leading up to the poisoning of A: one of Planeptune's Agents on foreign soil, something that could be grounds for all-out war between the two Nations due to the fickle status quo they shared (though this truce may change that in the future) B: An attack on the technical Leader of the Land of Green Pastures. Someone like that would be classified as a priority target for the Nations to bring down, as if they were to attack a Leader of such status, then what else would they be capable of? Not to mention that, as much as Helen loathed to admit it, something like attacking a highly important National figure like Vert would be seen by the Nation as much more important than assaulting a Spec Ops Agent. It was understandable, as who would pick an Agent who had done little for them in their eyes in comparison to their Goddess? Any Nation would agree to that, much to her frustration. And C: the identity of the one whom dared try to take her beloved adoptive son from her. She wanted to, like she had promised to the girls and to herself, find the one responsible for, in her eyes, one of the greatest crimes imaginable.

To her, that would always be the most important reason, politics be damned. She'd never wanted this position anyways, and she didn't give a crap much about politics in general, only her position forced her to. If she had her way though, she'd be back out there on the field, doing what she had been thought and what she felt she could do best even at her age.

A mother should never have to see her son in such a state, it was something she felt certain any mother would agree with her on. She could only imagine what the parents of those who died in monster attacks felt when they saw the mangled remains of their children, and therefore, she couldn't help but worry for her son's safety. In fact, she felt certain every time she came across Vert, Noire, or any of the girls her son had befriended, that whilst they each had their own thing going on, it was really to just mask the worry and dread filling their guts for Nico's safety.

She couldn't blame them, not without being a hypocrite herself since she felt like sometimes she'd collapse from the worry she had for him.

Heck, she arguably felt it worse than they ever could, since she herself had trained him in order to prevent something like this from happening. After all, if something like this did happen, then Nico wouldn't be able to seek medical help due to the discrimination that he constantly went through thanks to the Basilicom higher ups forbidding him from seeking such help. In their eyes, his healing factor meant that he didn't even need such things as 'hospitals' to take care of himself, though in reality they just didn't want the guy around at all. They hadn't been very happy at being told to keep him alive, so they just used him to end their problems instead. Thus, it devolved Nico into the dog that he had become.

So far though, to Helen's frustration she had gotten few leads on who it had been that poisoned him. She'd looked into this 'conversation' character and had met with some of her former associates from her Spec Ops days, people whom had a lot of experience with Lowee Basilicom figures to see if they recognized the name. Unfortunately, she didn't get anything cause Lowee's Basilicom had closed off all contact to their Nation a while ago, making it so that they had isolated themselves from the other Nations. That had rung more than a few alarm bells in Helen's mind, especially since the Party her boy was in would likely be going to Lowee soon enough, likely after the Spec Ops Exams which would be held soon so their resident BOW could join the community, thus gaining their protection from the Basilicom.

Shame that whilst they can't do anything to the Agents there, that didn't mean those assholes couldn't target other people they cared for, and the Spec Ops higher ups were largely under the employ of the Basilicom, too. How else would they keep such a group under control?

So yeah, things were getting heated, more so than when the Demonic Invasion happened…

Little did anyone else know however, that this would only be the beginning…

Especially since a huge storm began brewing in the near future, one which would soon collide with the present.

* * *

Once 2 weeks passed, things began to kick up once more.

"Alright, looks like things have largely been dealt with." IF began as she stood beside the door. Everyone: IF, Neptune, Noire, Compa, Helen and Vert, all of them stood within the blonde CPU's bedroom. Whilst Team RAIL would have been requested to come along as well, they got swamped with Spec Ops work at the last minute, making it so that they wouldn't be able to attend this little meeting that Vert had worked on. Though, since most of them were in Leanbox with one or two being delivery Quests for various monster items in Planeptune, Raven had promised them that they'd be able to return soon enough, but to start the meeting right away as the enemy wouldn't wait for them otherwise. The brunette then took a couple steps away from the wall, pocketing her hands inside her coat pockets whilst she gave everyone looks. Her eyes cast themselves over the group, taking in their individual states of being. Needless to say, each of them had a look of apprehension on their features, as thanks to there being little to do they couldn't ignore the worry rising within their chests. "Therefore, I think we can get to the issue at hand."

Vert's eyes narrowed as she crossed one leg over the other as she sat on her bed, placing her hands together over her lap. Her eyes also showed a hidden troubled expression as she gazed back towards the brunette BOW. "Yes, indeed. Unfortunately, it appears that Nicky has yet to wake up from his recovery state. How is he by the way?" Vert questioned Helen as she looked over to the physically older woman. "We were not able to visit him as much as we wanted to because of what we did these last few weeks, me, you and Noire especially." She queried.

It was true though, and it was something that honestly the girls had mixed feelings about. On one hand, each of them felt like Nico wouldn't want them to worry about him, that their training would be more important than just waiting on someone like him to recover. Many times, now they have heard him stress over the importance in priority training had to be considered as, especially in the dire situation Leanbox had been in. Vert had been busy with politics to consider training being an option, so she had that to fall back on, whilst the same could be said for Noire. However, she had also prioritized training over winding down from the events at the Gala, following her Nation's motto of 'Lastation can only do everything', thus proving just how much of a workaholic she truly was. Definitely earned some teasing from Neptune though, much to her dismay (she would never admit to almost launching a TWILIGHT WAVE at her more than a few times. Nope, not at all).

However, on the other hand, they couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for not being able to visit him. To them, the fact that he would be recovering well thanks to the Sky Poison Pearl and these 'elements' Biko had spoken of assured them enough. It wasn't like they didn't want to visit either, it was just that seeing him in such a pathetic, sorry state frustrated them so much that they didn't know what to do with themselves. Compa especially since not even her BARD OF HEALING from Gabriel showed much effect on the recovering male's body. Heck, when she thought nobody around, Neptune would let her mask fall down and showcase her extreme worry by sitting down and fretting over what could potentially happen to her hubby. If someone like NEPTUNE would feel that way, then one could DEFINITELY tell that something was quite bad.

So yeah, there had been an air of depression about the girls throughout these two weeks, and their efforts merely were a way for them to cope with what had been happening.

"Well, I've done some research, did some digging and found little on Conversation." Helen finally replied after a moment of silence. That moment, whilst short in real time, felt more like an eternity for the others. Especially for the more impatient types such as Neptune and Compa. "There's little on her background such as where she came from or who her family members are. She has no biological relatives, not even any form of identification. According to what I was able to gather, it seems she just appeared out of nowhere and fund herself part of Lowee's Basilicom staff as her Evangelist. Now, I don't need to say this, but for those who don't get it, this likely means that until about 6 months ago, Conversation never truly existed."

Helen's answer sent waves of shock through the girls, something evident by the group gasp they had done after she finished explaining what she had found. Neptune became the first to respond to this information, beating Compa by a few milliseconds as if it had been a race between them to showcase their response. "Seriously? Wow, now that's lame. I thought we could have gotten a little more info than that, like." She exclaimed, pouting in annoyance whilst kicking the ground beneath her feet. She was standing up by the way, whilst Compa sat on top of a beanbag.

Speaking of beanbags, Noire who sat on one herself, rolled her eyes at the preteen's comment. "Its no surprise YOU wouldn't get it Neptune, but it just means that its very likely that Conversation isn't actually a person, or anything at all. Its likely that name is just that, a name and nothing more, like an alias of some sorts. There are those who go by different aliases to hide their true identities after all." She explained, and as she did so Noire recalled how there were more than a few Spec Ops Agents back home, including Raiden, whom had aliases of their own to hide their identities when out on the field.

"Oh? Ohhhhhhhhhh…"

"Noire's right Nep…" IF began as she too continued off after the Lastation CPU, having sat down on the bed (at Vert's behest, and who could deny someone like her, right? Especially since IF respected her…). "Not to mention that it all seems too fishy to me. I mean, I did some research of my own, and I found records of Lowee's CPU and how she tends to do things. Now, these records date to not long after Nep fell from Celestia, so they're fairly accurate. According to what I found, she likes to deal with her problems on her own terms as shown when she's going on Abnormal killing sprees, much like a certain Spec Ops Agent we know." She explained, everyone thinking about Nico when she made that comment. "Therefore, it wouldn't make much sense for her to try something like poison, right?" IF questioned, glancing over to Noire and then Vert.

The latter soon nodded her head in agreement as she thought back to the Console War. "Yes, it does not seem like something she would do, though I cannot be completely certain. Back in the Console War, that brat had too much of a short temper and a dependence on smashing things she didn't like with her Axe to consider anything structured like tactics or strategy. She would much rather smash her problems to dust than do anything covert, so its likely that this Conversation if that is her real name, would have an agenda all of her own." she explained. However, what she didn't say was that, before hearing Helen's words, Vert had begun suspecting Lowee's CPU to be involved with stealing her powers. The reason that had been so was because originally herself and Neptune had been targeted, and the only connection between them had been that they were Goddesses. She believed that there were few who would actively try to kill a Goddess, which limited the list of suspects to the other Goddesses. Goddesses such as Noire or Lowee's bratty CPU.

However, with Helen's testimony, she began to wonder if that was truly the case. Like she had said, Lowee's CPU had a temper and a 'smash it and its dealt with' attitude, so she wouldn't bother with covert operations in favor of blowing things to bits with her Axe. Therefore, would she really try to do something so underhanded as to covertly sabotage another Goddess like that? Part of her whom had bad experiences with her said, but the rest of her wanted to confirm everything with that CPU in person first. That thought process, ironically enough, had been born from meeting and talking to the other Goddesses at the Gala, then fighting alongside them.

This would be her stance on the matter until she found a way to meet her.

This made a nod come from Noire as she cupped her chin in thought. One could almost read her thoughts as lines of text if they looked into her eyes, that was how intensely she lost herself in her thoughts. "Makes sense. From what I've gathered about this whole situation with Nico, Yvoire and this Conversation, is that she approached Yvoire first and specifically gave him a poison which was meant to be given to Nico after her first attempt to takeout Neptune using IF got foiled. Odds are, she could have originally targeted someone high up like either Vert herself or Neptune, but once she found out about Nico's power to transform, she saw HIM as the greater threat, and now he's incapacitated." That last word almost made her choke as she restrained a fiery rage inside of her from overwhelming her calm demeanor.

Everyone looked down, a mix of sadness and anger spilling like an exploding dam into their eyes as their moods darkened. The thoughts of their companion being reduced to that horrible state, something which burned itself into their minds making forgetting it an impossible dream. Eventually, Neptune hopped into the centre of the room, her eyes now shining a mix of anger and determination. "Hey guys, quit acting all downers! You guys know that Nicky wouldn't want us to be moping bout right now, instead he'd want us kicking booty and taking names! Namely, the one who did all this to begin with, conver-whatshername!"

Blinking owlishly, each and every one of the room's occupants got caught by surprise by the sudden influx of determination that shot through Neptune's words. She looked like one of those fiery furnaces that erupted to life after being cold and silent for so long, or even a volcanic erupting happening way later than it should have. In the end though, a small chuckle escaped IF's lips as her eyes started to regain their old determination. "Heh, can't believe that this is happening, but Nep's got a point. What's sitting around here being all mopey going to get us? If we want to avenge our comrade, we gotta fin out where this Conversation is at right now, then go over there and kick her ass." Let it not be said that IF had begun imagining all the kinds of torturous activities she planned to unleash on that woman once she got her claws, or hands, on her. Lets just say that expert torturers y or may not become green with envy with all the screams IF planned to hear from that woman.

"Um, Iffy. Ni-Ni's not dead…" Compa began to say with a sweat drop, before a bright and cheerful smile formed on her lips as she pumped her fists in excitement. "But Iffy's right! We gotta stay positive right now, so we can kick that mean woman's booty! For everything she's done, we need to repay her tenfold!" she proclaimed, and the combined positivity from the two 'purer' girls (Neptune and Compa) served to rouse the spirits of the others.

Just as that started to happen…

RING-RING-RING!

"Huh?" Helen blinked when a ringing sound echoed throughout the room, getting confused looks from the girls. Where the heck did that ringing come from, and why did Neptune get the feeling that this was plot relevant? She would have yelled that out too, had Helen not realized that she knew that ringing and quickly took out her Phone from her coat pocket. "Oh, it's a message from one of my contacts." She explained, opening the message tab. "Us Spec Ops are trained to type messages in all kinds of situations, even when not looking at the screen we could make an entire mission briefing just with our hands. Trust me, we have records to prove it." she said, each girl being prompted to wonder how that could be a thing.

Not to mention how Noire nodded like she knew what Helen had been talking about. When they looked at her, she simply stated "Raiden." And they each stopped questioning it. That made sense in their eyes.

"Hmmm… Oh, it seems that my contact just sighted Conversation!"

"EH?! ALREADY?!" Each girl yelled that out, their eyes wider than dinner plates when they heard Helen's words.

A nod came from her in response as Helen glared down at the screen, her eyes alight like a bonfire of anger as she read the passage she had received. "Military jargon aside, she's been sighted to be heading to Halo Mountain. I distinctly recall that place is close to the western borders of the Landmass. Why else she's going there I don't know but…"

SLAM!

The sound of a door slamming shut rung through the room, and when the girls realized what happened, they quickly looked to the source and found that it ad been Vert's bedroom door. "Huh? Wha…?" Helen began, only to realize two of them had gone missing from the room, and then a groan of realization escaped her lips. "Oh geez, I think I know just what happened…"

"Gosh damnit, those two!" IF growled under her breath when she realized that a certain pair of girls had already vanished from the room. Odds were, that the moment they heard the name and location, the two girls had rushed off with thoughts of fiery wrath in mind. Ugh, sometimes she just wanted t throttle someone with the frustration she got from their antics. "Those idiots! They're going to get themselves killed if they act too recklessly! Everyone let's move! We'll figure something out along the way!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whew! A lot of exposition in this chapter, so sorry for those who get bored of that kind of thing. But, even so I still think that it's necessary. After all, it explains what has been going on in the background of the story, not just with the girls. Politics, drama, complexity, all of it came about from this Gala, and as such this event should be seen as something with drastic effects on people's lifestyles.**

 **As for the Nobles and those who are members of the military families, the relationship between them isn't so simple as mere disliking of each other. The Nobles who didn't have much to say are staying quiet because they are some of the better ones. It just so happens that there are so many bad ones that the few good ones are just simply ignored. Thus, the military families all are under the belief that Nobles are bad and that they deserve everything bad that's been happening to them. They also showcase their violent, savage roots as well with some of their actions, which gives rise to Yvoire's claims back before the Invasion began.**

 **In addition, Yvoire is now seen as someone who is trying to do what is best for his Nation, even whilst it is morally wrong. Though, if a leader were to think of it from his perspective, it isn't really that wrong of him or unexpected. For, if you think of Nico from his perspective, Nico could be someone who serves as a personification of a Nation's end. His personality, powers, attitude, they all point to that direction. Therefore, why would Yvoire be kind when regarding him? Its like a mouse being kind to a cat which was about to eat it alive.**

 **So yeah, their relationship isn't so simple.**

 **Once again, i'd like to thank King Carlos with helping me with this. He's a great dude, and we MAY or may not be working on a little something together whilst we have our own stories to make.**

 **Then, there is Vert and her opinion of the CPUs. In CANON she believed that White Heart was responsible for stealing her powers away from her at this point. However, I've decided to go a different route, instead i'm going to do something that could be considered a much darker, more violent route. Believe me, the darkness hasn't stopped yet.**

 **Read, fav, follow, review, etc.**

 **Peace Out!**


	142. Chapter 139 - Tracking Final Boss

**Chapter 139 - Tracking the Final Boss**

The moment that they heard that name, along with the conversation, all Neptune and Compa saw was red.

No other colours, just red.

Red…

Red…

Red like the crimson blood that they were slowly getting used to even if they didn't want to.

Red like the blood of those who had fallen victim to the hands of Demonic beings, victims whom could have been saved if the military or anyone else had known where they were.

Red like the blood that coursed through their veins like rushing rapids going through the forests.

They didn't even realize that their bodies had begun to move.

They didn't acknowledge the rapid breathing their bodies automatically made.

They didn't register their hearts rapidly pounding like someone slamming their fists into a door battering ram style.

They didn't register the loud SLAM of the door which got shut after they exited the Bedroom, intent on just going to that location and utterly ripping that bitch apart.

Nothing else registered on their minds other than those directives, and it wasn't like they didn't know where they were going either. During their travels through the Nation, each of the girls had been fortunate enough to find and fight monsters, both normal and Abnormal, as well as more than a few Lesser Demons, among a variety of locations. It just so happened that Halo Mountain had been one of those locations. In addition to MS Mountain, if a Party were to go to the latter location, they would be able to see the vague silhouette of Halo Mountain towards the west.

Neither of them could help the storm of rage that overtook them at that moment, it had been just simply impossible. For the moment that they shot out that door, exited the Basilicom, all they could think about was to get to Halo Mountain as quick as possible. Just so that they could corner Conversation before she could pull anything else out of her backside. They just got consumed with so much rage that they didn't even know what to do with it. The way it worked was rather simple if one actually tried to think about it:

Neptune and Compa, neither of them were very rational people. They tended to act more on their emotions, thus wore their hearts on their sleeves. This meant several things: They would be easy to read since they didn't really try to hide what they thought from other people and instead displayed them in a display of open honesty. This allowed them to have a great way of inspiring other people and getting them to like these two girls, it was just in their nature to be too goddamn likable. If Neptune got dropped into a group of big burly men wearing war paint, her overly innocent demeanour would easily ensnare their hearts and calm raging fires of pure rage just with one big happy smile. It would be the same for Compa as well, any who met her and got to know her for a day would agree that her happy expressions, combined with her caring personality, would make it so that it would be classed as sinful just to make her cry. Therefore, any man would inflict deadly retribution on those who tried such a feet.

However, just like any person at all, they had their own feelings, their own bottled up emotions inside. Just like any other person, Neptune and Compa still had that potential for rage, hatred, despair, sorrow and loneliness. Something which they had been sealing up inside for over 2 weeks now. The worry they felt for the one they had a mutual attraction to, fear for the possibility that his life may end before they got a chance to bury themselves into the depths of his heart, the self-loathing of not being able to do much to help the male, and the rage at the one responsible for that male's incapacitated state. All of those emotions had been bottled up inside of them, emotions they'd managed to keep in check by doing their own thing, emotions that basically served as the true reason why they had thrusted themselves into training the way they did. Compa may be a practitioner of the medical arts, but she was only in Nursing School, and even qualified doctors as well as Nurses wouldn't know what to make of the poison which filled Nico's body right now. Therefore, they could truly do nothing for the one who meant so much to them.

However, an ultimatum had occurred.

The exact SECOND that these two girls got the name and location of the one responsible for their companion being in that state, it had been like a door had opened that gave a way out for that repressed emotion. A way for them to vent, for them to exercise their desire to impose their fiery wrath upon the perpetrator of that 'vile act' in their minds. The rage-filled fires that burned through their hearts, smothering their very souls with their heat, all of it took away any other thoughts, feelings or emotions aside from the ones to do with their desire for vengeance. In that moment…

They ceased being normal girls.

Instead…

They became the vengeful demons that they fought daily for days on end.

* * *

After an unknown timeframe, both girls arrived at the entrance to the Dungeon known as Halo Mountain. To the casual person, it looked pretty much like the one at MS Mountain, the Dungeon Layout would also be considered the same whilst different monsters would roam the place. Nothing very much different from the other Dungeons spread throughout Leanbox, if one is honest with themselves….

Although, none of that registered in the eyes and minds of those two girls as they landed in front of the entrance…

Neptune in HDD form, so she would be Purple Heart…

And Compa, having donned her Astral Dress and flown over, Sandalphon strapped to her back.

"Looks like we made it…" Purple Heart spoke blankly, her blue eyes scanning the scene for any signs of initial attacks. Constantly fighting against Demons had hardened her warrior instincts, especially when transformed, and with Soul Calibur in hand she felt more than ready to take on the enemy. As she scanned the area though, only one thing became clear to Planeptune's CPU. "We should be in the right place, for I sense an abundance of Demonic Power saturating the air…" she muttered thoughtfully, instincts temporarily regaining hold over her instead of her anger. If there was ONE thing she had learned whilst fighting hordes of Demons and Abnormals, then it would be to always keep a level head unless she wanted to lose it.

The fierce flame of anger still burned brightly within her however, threatening to take over at any moment.

"Yessie… I can feel it too… there's so much of it all over the place…" Compa muttered, her white eyes also scanning the path up the Mountain whilst she took Sandalphon from her back and held it in her hand. "If what Hel-Hel told us is true, then that woman is in here, likely doing something she shouldn't. Let's get going Nep-Nep, we gotta spank her good and hard…" she spoke, already moving towards the entrance… but then she stopped mid stride, quickly jumping to the side as she did so. Good thing too, cause a large pillar of Hellfire suddenly erupted from the spot she had just been at seconds ago the width and diameter of a Lesser Demon. "Eh?! Traps?!"

Purple Heart scowled at the sight, swinging Soul Calibur horizontally and using the force behind it to disperse the flames. Hellfire wasn't something that could be dispersed by ordinary means, after all it burns everything it touches. It was something she had first heard about from Nico (PANG! An eruption of pain happened in her chest at the thought of him before she pushed it aside), then experienced herself during fighting Demons as a form of training with Soul Calibur. Therefore, one needed an extra powerful weapon, something like Soul Calibur, to deal with them efficiently. Another thing she had learned through experience, aside from how crazy these Demons seemed to be. "Looks like she's expecting trouble to arrive whilst she prepares for whatever it is she plans on doing." Purple Heart remarked, thoughtfully before she began floating forwards beside her companion in revenge. "Odds are that we'll run into more traps along the way to our goal Compa, be vigilant, we wouldn't be able to get our vengeance if we're reckless and get caught in the end."

"Yessie."

With that response, Compa gave a firm nod as she held Sandalphon's hilt in a tight manner. The flames inside her chest kept burning, even brighter and fiercer than the flames Camael generated whenever she summoned that particular Angel. She'd rather wait on summoning it though, cause with her current mental state being focused on revenge, and the aggression boost which Camael sported whenever she drew on it's power, Compa didn't want to risk anything. She had one companion incapacitated, and thus, the young Nurse-In-Training turned Spirit didn't want to nearly lose another one.

She'd probably break if she did.

Still though... why did she have this odd feeling in her chest? Like, something would be going extremely wrong...

* * *

10 minutes later, did more people arrive at the same location Purple Heart and Compa stop at. Several forms landed there in a varying amount of ways, though all of them had the same result.

"Tch, looks like we missed them." An annoyed grunt came from on IF, the BOW having taken to flight by unleashing her Wings (which looked way bigger than before, likely so that they could compensate for her more mature figure) and flying the whole way here. She'd landed in a crouch before standing tall and looking around, trying to get a feel for Neptune and Compa's energy signatures. Something which she had found herself able to do thanks to fighting alongside them and seeing them show so many energy attacks. Her coat fluttered thanks to all those motions, her green eyes alight with a mybrid of fierce, hot emotions racing through them like Olympic medallists. Her hands clutched themselves into her fists, as if just seconds away from morphing into one of her many mutations. According o her senses though, things definitely would be heating up soon, if any of them wanted to wind down after all the bullshit that happened a couple weeks ago, then they were gonna be sadly denied. 'Nep and Compa's energy is all over the place… not to mention that I can sense an abundance of Demonic Power too. Looks like we'll be having some Demonic guests tonight… man, what are we gonna do?' she added in her thoughts.

After IF, several figures followed her, landing in their own unique manners. The first, revealed itself to be Noire, the Lastation CPU. Or rather, Noire in her HDD Form Black Heart, with Balmung strapped to her back for the time being. The Lastation CPU had transformed and flown here at top speed (after she told Raiden to remain in Leanbox for the time being), just barely being beaten by IF's speed. Probably cause she wasn't as worried about the preteen as the brunette was, after all she had Compa with her. Never thought she'd think that, but since Compa had joined the 'overpowered club' like the rest of them, she definitely had more of an impact in Black Heart's thoughts. Not to mention that she could sense the abundance of Compa's Spirit Mana here, heck she'd fallowed a trail of it here, her anger had probably made a trail of her energy, similar to Neptune's divine Share Energy, and that would trace them over to Halo Mountain. Like the other factors wouldn't have clued them in anyways. "Looks like the idiot took your Nurse friend inside the Mountain already. I can sense them deeper inside, along with a large array of Demons." The thought that she would have to fight MORE Demons made Black Heart want to go home already, not because they scared her or anything, but because she had had enough fighting Demons for two lifetimes. 'Ugh, those two…! Compa I can at least tolerate, but Neptune you REALLY don goofed! What would Nico say if he saw you just go in like this! It fits more with him than you!' she screamed in her mind.

"That's no good, we can't have that."

Looking to the left, both girls soon saw Green Heart, her mint green hair flowing behind her like a green trail, descend towards them and land in one of the CPU signature floating positions. Black Heart would have questioned her on why she could transform when she had said she'd lost her powers, but the moment that Gungnir's visage entered her line of sight she stopped her gob before it could release that question into the atmosphere. The golden Spear shined brightly, that shine becoming perfect evidence that it had begun sustaining Green Heart's ability to transform.

Black Heart eyed that Spear wearily, her teal orbs running their gaze down it's glowing frame as she tried to get an accurate measurement of tat Spear's energy. Just like her Balmung however, she got nothing. Whatever that thing was, it had a good way to keep its power concealed from sensors. "You sure you'll be able to fight for long? You said that Spear is able to keep you transformed, but for how long can that last?" she questioned with concern. Not for her by the way, but more on the fact that if it ran out in the next few hours, then Green Heart would revert to her human form and become more of a liability.

If the look in Green Heart's eyes were any indication, it seemed like she knew what she had been thinking about this entire time, something that honestly irked Lastation's CPU though she chose not to show it. It would be obvious that Green Heart gained some form of special insight, she had to navigate through a huge amount of politics recently, just like how Black Heart had to do. Only, Black Heart had done it longer, so she should have been able to stop her thoughts from being read so easily. The fact that Green Heart saw right through her however, irked her. "Not to worry, I have been saving up Gungnir's power, it won't run out for quite some time yet." she spoke in assurance, before looking towards the Mountain. "So, anyone got an idea of what will be inside there? Cause from the energies I feel we likely will not be facing any monsters, normal or Abnormal."

That question got answered by IF, whom looked back towards the two CPUs. Her eyes shined with intensity as she opened her mouth to speak. "Looks like, from these readings I'm getting, we're gonna be dealing with at least Lesser Demons, so Bloodletters, Flesh Hounds, Juggernauts and the like. Not sure about any Heralds or Greater Demons though, the amount of energy in the atmosphere and how two idiots have mixed their energies within has been throwing my senses off." She replied, before a sigh escaped her lips. "Well, there's no use complaining, it was bound to happen eventually. Nep and Compa aren't as logical as the rest of us, so they'd likely have lost it sooner or later. Lets go guys, we'll back them up in case this turns out to be a trap… which I'm most certain it is."

"Then allow us to provide backup."

"Eh?"

IF, Black Heart and Green Heart each blinked owlishly in unison, their faces the epitome of those whom had been taken off guard by the emergence of another voice, one that they didn't even consider would be here in this place. It was a considerably deeper, more masculine voice so it had to have belonged to a man, they thought, prompting each of the girls to turn to the source. There, walking up to them whilst a legion of 30 men in uniforms, was Stefan Von Kessal. Not only him, but Guts and Isaac were there as well, flanking his sides whilst wearing serious faces... well, Guts was, Isaac's face they thought it would be, considering how his RIG had already built it's helmet around his head. Both of them had their signature weapons (Guts' Dragonslayer and Isaac's Plasma Cutter) in their right hands, ready for them to use at a moment's convenience...

'Wait, something's up with Isaac...' IF thought, glancing towards the said man. His RIG concealed his face, but the woman managed to feel cold rage emanating from his form like a calm blue flame that the rings a cooking oven had. It felt like the sort of rage which simmered quietly beneath the surface, until the moment came where it would erupt into a fiery storm. The moment she felt it, IF had to resist the urge to groan in dismay. Honestly, with the way that things had gone so far, IF REALLY didn't want to have to deal with someone else fueled by anger so much that it may blind their judgement. Her and the other ladies were already trying to rein in another couple who had lost themselves to that anger, they didn't need to deal with another. Even so, she hid this opinion behind an arched brow as she leaned on one leg. "Not that I don't appreciate some backup right now, but why are you guys here?"

"You can thank Helen for this." Stefan replied, pulling out a communication device that looked WAY too modern for someone who looked like a soldier from the middle ages. "Me and my men were busy patrolling the paths near here, making sure that no Demons or Khornate followers came down this path, when Helen gave me a call. She given me this communicator before the Gala, so she called me and told me that, and I quote 'two reckless brats are on their way to Halo Mountain near you, would you kindly please go rein them in with their posse?' end quote." The man then gestured behind him to the two Spec Ops Agents. "These two simply took an escort Quest to help us. Thus, here we are."

After he explained his reasoning, Green Heart cupped her chin with her free hand, eyes shining with calculation gleams whilst she mauled this over. "I see..." she muttered under her breath. Now, if she were to look at these men, she saw that each of them appeared to be veterans, each of them clad with swords and flintlock pistols. Just by looking at the haggard expressions in their eyes though, Green Heart could definitely see that these men had survived more than their fair share of battles with Demons. It helped that some of them had scars which could only have come FROM said beings, as well as somehow... "And I take it you all have had previous encounters by how your men have taken pieces of their Armour to replace ones they have lost?" Green Heart questioned, pointing her Spear at some of the men who had things like bulky crimson shoulder pads, others with gauntlets or leg entire leg Armour. Judging by how some of their Armour looked a little banged up, it didn't take a genius to figure out why they had that Armour.

Stefan nodded, seeing the flashes of anger in their eyes as he raised his hands in a placating manner. "Yeah, but I had no choice. Most of the men had barely functioning Armour after a couple successful battles against those assholes, so we had to stock up on some of their gear. Not to mention that I wanted to take a look to see how they're made to see if we can make something similar or at least something that can better destroy their Armour and get tot heir vile organs." he explained, and the more he did so the more that the girls saw the man's point. Normal humans didn't have the same advantages as they did, even Stefan had been better off thanks to his Paladin gear and his Ashbringer, a sword which carried divine elements, therefore it would DEFINITELY be effective against Demons and Demonic-empowered followers.

"Anyways, if you're gonna help us, lets go. We can't waste any more time." Black Heart urged as she began floating towards the path to the Mountain. The reason why they wouldn't be flying over it, much like how Neptune and Compa hadn't was because they had sensed a powerful energy signature there and they didn't want to entertain the possibility of being shot down by Demons. They did have their Hellfire, and the aggressive nature of those flames was no joke. Without even looking back, Black Heart made the 'come on' gesture with her free arm, having drawn Balmung in case of emergency attack. "Lets hurry up and bring back those two troublesome idiots. Then give them one heck of a scolding for running off without a plan."

Glancing over at each other, each of the ones left behind soon began trailing after her, Stefan beginning to issue orders to his men whilst the girls proceeded to follow Black Heart. Hopefully, things wouldn't go too horribly...

Somehow, they just got that feeling that they had jinxed themselves.

* * *

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"This isn't right… Where are they?"

Those words soon left the Planeptune CPU's lips as Purple Heart looked around for any sign of Demonic incursion. She and Compa were slowly making their way through the Mountain, keeping their senses open for any surges of Demonic Energy that may indicate a portal to wherever these hell spawn came from. The entire area felt sick, it felt wrong and unnatural… even though the land looked completely normal. Normal as in it didn't look the slightest bit corrupted by Demonic Power, no crimson hue in the air, no vile looking decorations, no corpses, not even the faintest stench of blood. Nothing in their vicinity looked remotely changed, nothing at all. That alone served to ring alarm bells in their minds, alarm bells which caused the girls to push aside their feelings of wrath in favour of self-preservation as they gradually floated along the paths through the mountain. Not even when they entered the Dungeon itself, which looked like a carbon copy of MS Mountain's layout, had any signs of being tainted by Demonic Power…

Something was indeed wrong here, something was very, VERY wrong.

There was simply no way around that fact.

It made the hairs on the back of their individual necks stand up straight, every cell in their bodies instinctively setting themselves on high alert. Not even the tiniest movement made by small insects escaped their notice, nor did the faint motions of the wind currents. Both Purple Heart and Compa kept their eyes out for any signs of attack, but there was nothing. Not a single thing, neither Demon, normal Monster or Abnormal to speak of. Even so, there was indeed a large source of Demonic Power within the Dungeon. That much was for certain, there had been no denying that. The two girls could feel it from over 60 kilometres away from the Dungeon itself, and as they had gotten closer it had gradually made the air heavier to breathe in. It had only been their desire for vengeance that kept them going at first, but as they continuously got exposed to this energy, eventually they began getting used to it to a level where they could fight normally. Though, they didn't know whether or not that last part had been true since there were literally ZERO ENEMIES FOR THEM TO TEST THEMSELVES ON!

Ominous as all hell.

"Its like all life has just vanished from this place…" Compa muttered to herself, a faint flower of worry blossoming within her chest whilst she clutched the handle of Sandalphon for a form of comfort. In addition to that, she could feel the Angel's emotions flowing into her, sending waves of calm through the Spirit's body to help her keep her nerves from going haywire. She had to admit, that without it and these new powers, Compa figured that in this situation she would be a bonified hot mess. Still, her friend and rival indeed had a point, plus she kept getting this feeling like they were about to go out of the frying pan and into the fire, much greater in quantity than during the Demonic Invasion 2 weeks ago. Nervously, she clutched her other hand around Sandalphon's hip as she gazed at the ground beneath her feet. "But… it still looks so normal…"

Purple Heart nodded in agreement whilst she held her free hand out in front of her and closed her eyes. Focusing on her powers, the CPU managed to draw out the Crystallokinesis within her and made some small bird-like creatures from her those said abilities, numbering at 40 in total. She then opened her eyes, and made a few hand gestures with that same hand, each bird giving what could be considered a few tweets of understanding and splitting up to go in different directions. On their creator's order after all, they were to go out into the other areas of the Dungeon, to either find some sort of Demonic Being around here or find Conversation's location. At least with this, they wouldn't be going around in circles all the damn time. "I agree, Compa. Which is why we should be extra cautious and keep our eyes open. We don't know where the enemy is, therefore they could attack from anywhere." She stated, clutching Soul Calibur and thrusting it in a random direction. This resulted in the blade releasing a single, Boodletter sized crystal Javelin that pierced a random spot on the wall.

"Yikes!" Compa squeaked, jumping visibly at the sudden action. She swore she felt her heart trying to lurch out her chest when that happened, her free hand (the one not holding Sandalphon) raising itself over the space where her heart was to reassure herself that it was in it's proper place. "Wh-What's wrong Nep-Nep?" she asked, worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, Purple Heart lowered her blade whilst she released an irritated snort. "Yeah, I'm fine… just a little on edge, is all." She replied stiffly, taking a few deep breaths to try and keep herself under control. She could feel the negative emotions within her, she could feel them with a clarity she knew she never had since before receiving Soul Calibur. She knew why she had done that really, and it WASN'T just her irritation at not finding Conversation. Soul Calibur's demonic aspect was trying to feast on her negative emotions, to fuel its power and raise it to new levels. That was the only ability from the demonic half the blade had that she could use after all. She then shook her head to clear those thoughts from her mind, lest she worry Compa more. Even if she had been changed into a Spirit and gained a confidence boost, she still was the same Compa she had travelled with for so many months.

However, even when she forced her emotions off her features, Compa didn't get fooled into thinking that she was alright. Nope, not one bit. The young Nurse-In-Training knew that look, she had seen it several times across this journey, the look of irritation masked heavily into nonchalance. She'd seen it on more than a few people, though back then she had pretended not to notice so she could keep her 'Mask' in place. Now though… "Nep-Nep, do you recall what you told me a while back?" she began, getting the CPU's attention.

"What are you talking about, Compa?" Purple Heart questioned, arching a brow whilst wondering where this came from.

The Spirit continued though, as if ignoring her question. In her eyes, Purple Heart needed to hear this. "I get it, you're worried about Ni-Ni, and its eating you up inside. Honestly, its eating me up too, its why we embarked on this the moment we heard Ni-Ni's assaulter was hold up here. But remember what you said to me way back then? If someone is bullying you, don't say 'why me', instead you say, 'try me', so I'll state that back to you. Lets not forget what we really want here and let these pesky distractions get the better of us." She told her, remembering what her friend had told her back in the Monster Cave the first time they were separated from Nico. Now that she thought about it, this was sorta like a direct parallel to that time: both times Nico was elsewhere, both times one was worried about him whilst the other cheered the first person up. An excellent role reversal if she ever knew one. We want to be able to get her back after all."

Compa knew what Purple Heart felt inside, she felt the same way, but if they lost it before they could even FIND the target for their vengeance then they'd be at a huge disadvantage. It was something Compa had recalled learning at some point in time but suppressed to keep up the illusion back when she was human. Thus, this was why she would make sure that both of them would keep a level head whilst focusing their anger onto something productive. At least, whilst they got used to the rage in them enough to still think clearly, which Compa more than managed to complete during the flight here.

It also helped that she imagined all the 'sweet' things she would do to Conversation once she found her… ufufufufu.

For some reason, Purple Heart couldn't help but release a shudder. 'That's odd, why is it that I have a sudden chill going down my spine? In the words of my fourth wall breaking human form, this should only happen in rebirth 3?' Purple Heart wondered as she looked at the smiling features of her friend. Even so though, the CPU also felt the coming of a smile from her lips, as well as amusement bubbling within her gut. "… Pft, hmhmhmhm, now this is a twist, you're the one comforting me this time…" she remarked, noting the irony of this situation between them. Even so, it felt… good, to just laugh at something. How long had it been since she had last laughed? Honestly, Purple Heart couldn't even recall that last moment, something that made her sigh in resignation. 'This story's definitely gotten way away from the comedy aspect it should have, I'll make a note to change that soon enough.' she thought.

Just then however, Purple Heart noticed with her acute vision, one of the crystal birds she had sent out coming back to her. It flapped its wings madly, rushing back to its mistress and stopping right before her. In that moment, her mood dropped, and she became serious once more. "Did you find your targets?" She asked it, getting a nod from the creature. "Show us." She ordered, and the bird once again began flying away towards the direction that led deeper into the Dungeon. Turning to her friend, whose eyes also darkened with vengeful wrath, Purple Heart scowled. "Looks like we have our target. Let's go." She stated as she floated after her creation, Compa soon following behind.

After chasing the bird down for what felt like about 30 minutes, or half an hour whatever one wanted to call it, both Purple Heart and Compa finally came face to… well, back, with their loathed nemesis. The one whom had the gall to harm the one they loved. "YOU!" Purple Heart sneered, vicious anger writing itself onto her features as she gripped Soul Calibur so hard with her right hand that any normal weapon would have buckled under the strain her HDD form's strength would provide. Compa too, if she had the ability to, she could have summoned Camael ALONGSIDE Sandalphon, so she could benefit from both their powers to showcase her anger at this woman.

The duo had found themselves at a platform much like the one where they had first encountered Black Heart and unknowingly fought her there. The platform being circular and filled with earthen dirt. Deep down below the platform, there lay a huge chasm to their right which seemed to go on forever, whilst the platform itself looked just big enough for a fight to break out. Something which, in all honestly would likely be happening regardless of the intentions each one had.

Before them, a woman wearing robes befitting of an evangelist stood with her back facing them, sort of like in a stereotypical evil villain pose. She looked to be eyeing something with the way that she had her head tilted downwards and how her left arm looked to be angled. Though, what that something was, the girls couldn't see thanks to her robes getting in the way. Not only that, but the woman's stature just screamed this eerie calmness that oozed from her in large waves. Only, it managed to merely succeed in irking the two girls further as it felt like the woman purposefully ignored them in favour of looking at this strange object.

Eventually though, the woman raised her hooded head slowly, the sounds of cracking bones filling the air as if the woman had started so long that her neck had stiffened. Though, they couldn't tell if whether or not she were in discomfort over this, nor would the two girls care. Especially with the rage in their systems, as the woman spoke with a tone implying extreme disinterest. "So…" she began, slowly turning towards them, though her hood hid the top half of her face. Her lips retained a similarly detached, disinterested expression, like making any other sign with her lips would prove to be too much effort. "You two have come."

"You're the one who calls themselves Conversation, am I wrong?" Purple Heart spoke slowly and carefully, trying not to let the bubbling anger inside of her take control. She would not deny that she had thought during their flight all the way to here of how she would feel when encountering this woman. She had thought that she would be angry, and boy did Purple Heart agree with that sentiment. Just looking at this woman roused a rage in her so fierce that it would rival that of a Bloodletter's. When she didn't get an answer after a full 5 minutes, Purple Heart's patience began to wear thin. "Answer me!"

At this, the woman gave a small chuckle, one that she hid behind the back of her hand in that typical oujou sama demeanour. "Ohohoho, my how rude. Is that any way to talk to your superior? My, what a rude little girl you are." The woman replied, a strong sense of mockery about her whilst she giggled some more. Afterwards, she lowered that hand and placed it against her hip, a sense of condescension escaping her whilst she did so. "Now then, how about you-"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off, when… a wave of Spirit Mana suddenly went by her, just barely missing her body by like a millimetre so she could still feel the heat from the strike pass her by, as the wave flew on harmlessly. At once, her lips formed an 'O' shape, as the woman took a step back, hands slightly raised while if her eyes were visible, then she would definitely be showing a stunned expression right about now. "Wha-?"

"Please, answer Nep-Nep's question." Compa spoke whilst returning to a standing position after having slashed Sandalphon at the woman, just barely missing her though that ad been intentional. The young Spirit girl had a big, wide and innocent smile on her lips… but, combined with the dark shadows in her eyes and the SLIGHT aura of sadism dripping from her being, it became clear JUST what she was feeling deep inside. Not to mention how her Angel also reflected her current emotions with the way its aura fluctuated like an angry serpent. "Cause I'm getting tired of your bull crap, Mrs whoever you are. So please, like I said, answer the question or I'll not miss and this time, I'll target your genitals... maybe even make it so you can't procreate or even speak without coughing that sludge you call blood? Oh, SO many ways I could make you squeal like the pig that you are..."

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"…Holy shit." The woman muttered under her breath, all pretense of superiority dropped from her face faster than dropping a mic, as she looked to Compa's direction with no small amounts of shock, surprise and more than a little dread in her system. Heck, her skin tone rapidly lost all it's color as her mind reeled from the sudden, unexpected attack from the normally quiet and meek girl of the group.

Heck, she hadn't been the only one, either.

'… Note to self: Don't get on Compa's bad side.' Purple Heart thought with a sweat drop. Now she got EXACTLY where she felt that shiver from earlier from. Turned out Compa got much more than just a confidence boost from her transformation, for she had NEVER seen her friend act like that before. It… felt rather scary actually, the way she just so CASUALLY released an energy slash like she were walking down a street without a care in the world. She didn't want to even THINK of what she might do when royally pissed off. Plus… she got the feeling that she should probably keep an eye on her when she had a supersized Angel and would be going for her boobs.

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For a moment, everyone remained silent as they reeled from the… rather 'unique' way of expressing anger that Compa just displayed, and just when the Nurse-In-Training made to raise Sandalphon again, the woman quickly held up her hands in a placating manner. "Alright, alright! You get your wish, I'll do it already!" she exclaimed, the other girl maintaining her sickly-sweet smile whilst she stopped raising her Angel… she didn't put it down though, not to mention she didn't dismiss the building energy within it either. "hey, I said I would, aright?! So, will you just lower that sword now!?" The woman yelled, and by the Goddesses she hoped that the brat would listen to her.

"You two!"

Fortunately, the woman's untimely salvation came when the sound of IF's voice broke into the area, prompting everyone of them to turn behind them to see the brunette, along with Black Heart, Green Heart, Guts, Isaac, Stefan and his men running up to them. If they were to look at her, then the trio would definitely pick up on the rather pissed off look that IF sported, though two of them just felt nothing but relief in actually seeing her. The moment that the third saw them, Compa's eyes brightened considerably as she ran on over to them whilst beaming happily.

"Iffy! Lady Black Heart! Everyone, so great to see you!"

"Don't you 'Iffy' me, you and Nep just left without warning or with a plan! When we get back to the Basilicom, you're getting scolded young lady!"

"Hehehehehe!"

IF and Compa quarreled once again, though it looked more like one was just yelling at the other who laughed innocently. All the while, both Purple Heart AND the woman heaved a heavy sigh of relief, hands covering their boobs in a protective manner.

* * *

Soon enough however, everyone returned their attention back to the woman, the moment having finally passed to allow tension to return to it's rightful place in the atmosphere.

Once she had gotten some of her rage at her friends recklessness out of her system, IF finally had the time to notice the robed woman whom had stood there, watching all of this play out. Her eyes had been hidden by her hood, but judging by the way her mouth looked the brunette felt like the woman had the most prominent 'WTF' look on her face she had ever seen. Nevertheless, IF narrowed her eyes at the woman. "So, I assume that your name is Conversation?" she asked with a scowl, a hand on her hip. 'Whelp, at least the girls found our target but didn't engage yet, If they had, who knows what would have happened. Fraud or not, Conversation is STILL an Evangelist from Lowee. Pretty sure their Nation wouldn't appreciate losing one of their devotees.

She felt sure there would be some political bullshit in there as well, but that was beside the point for her.

The woman made to say something like a gloat, but then a look towards Compa changed her mind. She did NOT want to entertain the thought of losing her beloved breasts thank you very much. Was this what guys flt like when they were threatened with the removal of their genitals? In any case, the woman gave a coy smile as she politely nodded her head. "Why yes, is there anything you wish to speak with me about? Maybe perhaps to join the ranks of Lady White Heart?" she questioned, tilting her head in a COMPLETELY fake innocent manner.

A manner that everyone saw through whilst Green Heart stepped forwards, her eyes narrowed and her aura powered by Gungnir fluctuating due to her silent anger. "So... YOU are the one, then? Very well, I would like for you to return what should be rightfully mine, if you would." she stated, not a single trace of subtlety or beating around the bush. This chapter already did enough of that in the beginning, after all.

In the response, the woman known as Conversation took a moment to look at Vert, her gaze hidden but the way her mouth hung open sightly gave away her surprise. "What? How can you...?" she muttered, disbelief etched into her words as she regarded the transformed Leanbox CPU with shock and dismay. However, she soon noticed the glowing golden Spear that she held, and with her senses she soon managed to connect the dots. "Ahhh, I see... so, you found something left behind by one of your predecessors... something which somewhat restores your abilities as a Goddess..." Conversation mused, a tint of amusement entering her tone in a gradual manner. "Hmph, I'm almost impressed. For a gaming sissy like yourself, you have done quite well."

"My, please do not underestimate the powers of gaming otakus, if you please." Green Heart retorted, a rather cold smile forming on her lips whilst her amethyst eyes darkened considerably. Her aura grew colder and colder by the second, which sent chills down everyone but the woman's spines. "Though, I will admit that the methods you used resembled a mystery game I cleared, with some 'differences' of course." she spoke further, and whilst she smiled even colder than ice itself at this point, her eyes looked almost like the shadows of night in terms of how dark they became. Memories of the Demons invading her cherished Basilicom invaded her mind, meshing into a mass of crimson, blood, dying screams, frenzied howls, and metal meeting either more metal or flesh.

Behind them all, Stefan frowned at the callous way that this woman, this evangelist, held herself. How she held so little regard for the life of her fellow human. As someone who wielded Ashbringer, someone who'd brought hope to humanity countless times before this day, Stefan did NOT like to see characters like this woman. He'd seen them plenty of times, both throughout the Nobility AND the military families throughout Leanbox. Most of the people in this Nation viewed life with such little regard that it sickened him. Every day, he would wake up after having extreme nightmares over how he would fail his men, his subordinates and trusted comrades. Of how he would one day fail to live up to the namesake of being Ashbringer's wielder. It was one of his greatest fears, yet also one he couldn't afford to let control him, cloud his judgement etc.

Guts scowled as he held his sword over his shoulder, giving the woman an especially dark look meant for those whom he truly wished to kill with all his being This woman, something about her felt WRONG to him, he didn't know what that something was or why he felt it, but if THAT on his neck slightly heating up would be any indication, this meant that she had to have been involved in some pretty big Demonic Shit. That would be MORE than enough for him to hate this woman, not to mention how she felt so much like HIM, but less of the acting that he experienced back then...

At the CPU's, Conversation scowled, momentarily clenching her fists beside her robes. As if biting back the urge to retort as she took a deep breath, calmed herself, and gave a dark smirk once more. "Hmmm, how interesting. Perhaps I should pay that publisher a 'visit' for daring to try and emulate my plans... hmmm, yes that does sound very tempting at the moment..." she mused, seemingly losing all interest in the conversation. At that point, two things happened: One, Green Heart had to bristle with repressed anger at the audacity of this woman, to be surrounded by so many enemies and yet be ignored completely, and...

"Alright, start talking."

Suddenly, everyone blinked, more owlishly than the said animal itself, when a harsh, cold and angry voice cut through the conversation like it had become a vocal blade. Something that surprised all of them into silence, and low and behold...

It wasn't anyone of them, not even Guts.

The cause? It turned out to be Isaac Clarke, Plasma Cutter trembling in it's wielder's arms whilst he suppressed his anger, though failing, as he stepped forwards. He continuously stepped forwards till he stood between the woman and the girls, just barely holding himself back from unloading on the woman before him. "You have information I want, and you WILL answer if you want to keep your limbs intact." He spat, every word he spoke almost containing enough toxicity to rival actual poisonous venom from serpents. "Who are the ones who did it? Where are those fucking scumbags hiding?"

"Hm?" Now curious, Conversation once again returned to her coy demeanor from before as she put a finger to her jaw. For a moment, it looked like she was recognizing him from somewhere, though given how deceptive this woman had been so far that would remain a debatable subject. "Um, apologies, but I do not seem to recall anyone important that fits your description. Who might you be again?"

THAT served to piss him off even more, as ow Isaac no longer had the capacity to withhold pointing his Plasma Cutter and letting off a shot at her left leg. However, the woman merely smirked deviously at him... and kicked the shot into another section of the cliff face beside them. Even so, Isaac ignored this, as well as the stunned looks that the onlookers sported at this development. "I won't ask you again! TELL ME WHO THE FUCKERS THAT SICKED DEMONS ONTO THE BASILICOM, OR I SWEAR TO THE GODDESSES I'LL FILL YOU WITH SO MANY GODDAMN FUCKING HOLES YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO BREATHE WITHOUT COUGHING FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE FUCKING LIFE!"

...

...

...

...

...

"In any case, you're a boring one, so can we move on already?" Conversation questioned, crossing her arms over her chest and glanced from left to right, rinse and repeat. She also upturned her nose, just to mock the man further whilst she ignored this rabble's mad ramblings. Not to mention with the way she presented herself, it made everyone realize she was looking down on him, sparking flames of irritation throughout all those present. "This stain on humanity is starting to bore me..."

"Why you..."

Furious anger pumped itself through Isaac's veins. like an overflowing river coursing through his body and inciting his hateful desires towards this woman. This woman who DARED to stand in between him and his revenge. That would not, and will not stand, he would make her pay. Oh yeah, he'd make her scream as he tore open her throat and ripped out her guts whilst she still breathed air through PUNCTURED LUNGS!

Just before Isaac made to make good on his threat (something which would likely not even work considering what happened before), Conversation's eyes suddenly widened as a light bulb switched on over her head. "Huh? Oh, a light-bulb, I've been wanting one of these for a while." the woman mused, taking the light bulb that actually appeared over her head and pocketing it. "Wow, guess when ideas do come to mind light bulbs do appear. Now, what was I talking about? Oh yeah." She muttered under her breath, before a dark, wicked and absolutely DEVILISH smile crossed onto her features. "If you wanna know so bad, I may be able to tell you, but... only if you survive a little something of mine."

The moment that the others heard that, all of them felt chills run down their spines, not to mention they got overtaken by how they suddenly felt like caged animals. That gaze of hers, that evil, sinister and wicked predatory-like gaze just screamed that something bad was going to happen, and just when Purple Heart made to move forwards Isaac held up his Plasma Cutter and spoke within a low growl. "And what would THAT be?" his eyes shined with vengeful flames, flames that resembled Hellfire's weaker form quite a bit which spoke volumes about the hatred he had going through his system.

"Why..." that smirk turned into a grin, and if possible the previous opinions about that smirk evolved into something even more ominous and gut-wrenching. It was like the situation known as 'the cat caught the canary', as the woman took out of her robes what looked to be... some sort of floating crystal clear orb? It totally befuddled everyone who looked at it,, not to mention that it carried some form of mystical, eerie vibe... as well as the scent of death itself. It sent more than a FEW chills down his spine. "THIS, of course. Lets see how you all handle, a THOUSAND DEMONS of high caliber with a very... interesting head!"

Once Conversation boisterously yelled that part out, she threw the orb down to the ground, and in that moment where it touched the earth beneath them... it suddenly erupted into a bright flash.

"Guh!"

"Ugh!"

"Geez, what now?!"

"Now, this is quite vexing..."

Purple Heart, IF, Black Heart and Green Heart made startled responses whilst closing their eyes and covering their faces. Everyone else either grunted or made a 'tch' sound whilst doing the same thing. The flash also unleashed a huge gust of wind from is source, one that erupted into all directions with the force of a hurricane, blowing them all backwards by a good 20 meters.

* * *

By the time 4 minutes passed, the winds began to die down, till they pretty much died entirely as the light that blinded them dissipated into nothingness. Once they felt absolutely sure that it had gone however, did everyone finally lower their arms and open their eyes, allowing them to witness what had been apparently been brought into being. Just by what Conversation had said before, the group all assumed to be suddenly surrounded by like hordes of angry and hungry Bloodthirsters, Flesh Hounds, Juggernauts and even a Greater Demon or two. They HAD sensed the powers of the Khornate Demons throughout the entire Dungeon, that had been for certain...

But instead?

All that they got was a simple man.

No Demons,

No army,

No nothing, but that one lone man who stood in front of the dumbstruck-looking Conversation.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Purple Heart, Black Heart, Green Heart, IF, Compa, Guts, Isaac and Stefan along with his men all stared, each of them wearing deadpanned expressions at the rather... anti-climactic looking situation before them. The brunette of the group soon summed up their thoughts in one simple question as she looked towards the robed woman. "So, uhhh... what the heck is going on here?"

"This... This wasn't supposed to happen!" Conversation exclaimed loudly, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists in sheer anger. Not to mention that, as she tried to feel out the many Demons she had kept hidden for a climactic reveal and then tear these worthless fools apart. However, to her dismay none of those energy signatures registered anymore. Shifting her gaze to the man, she soon gave him an angry glare more fitting on a Demon rather than a human. "What happened to them?! What happened to all the Demons I prepared?!"

In response, the man (whom had been cleaning some wax out of his ears before cracking his neck), soon shifted his form so that his head faced her whilst his body still faced the onlookers. He looked like a mix of a man whom belonged in a Basilicom, and a man who belonged on the battlefield, with graying, decayed flesh that had holes in certain areas as well as showcased a large portion of his bones (much to the disgust of the girls, Stefan, Guts and Isaac had no reaction), wearing what looked like a large red kimono that had the left arm sleeve hanging at his waist, exposing a black clothing with golden details. Aside from that plus a white scarf, his torso remained bare. On his lower body he wore a red, black and white shihakusho, with Japanese-style sandals and black socks. On his left hip, was a single sheathed sword. His hair was wild, bushy and held in a ponytail in a way that would not hamper his battle abilities, whilst a black headband covered his forehead, just above his red eyes.

"Huh? Oh, them." The man spoke, an air of nonchalance about him as he glanced throughout the Dungeon. His red eyes carried a gaze that held both arrogance and contempt, though his lips formed a slight smirk on his lips which suggested that he had done something naughty. Something naughty like say... "I just got a little bored back there, so I decided to cut loose a bit... without realizing, I killed all those red things. No idea what they were, but they weren't anything noteworthy."

"They were needed!"

"Meh, by who? you? Please."

Hence, begun the argument (well, more one side teasing the other who reacted hook line and sinker) between the two. Completely forgetting that they had onlookers viewing this spectacle.

Said onlookers could only watch the drama unfold in front of them. Black Heart scowled in disappointment, hefting Balmung over her shoulder. "Well, that was certainly a letdown..." she remarked. It did more than grate on her nerves a little, especially with all the stuff that had happened to lead up tot this moment. It felt like such a waste to her, and Black Heart didn't like to waste anything.

Purple Heart nodded her head in agreement, her eyes now holding a slight flame of pity for Conversation as she argued with this strange guy. "Indeed, she looked t be all set for a climactic showdown but ended up with..." she began, before gesturing to the... thing, going on in front of them. She didn't even know what to call it anymore.

Their comments earned a low-grade, sadness filled sigh of agreement from the Leanbox CPU, who looked at the situation in front of them like she had seen the greatest failure of all time. Though, it soon got mitigated when she remembered what Conversation had done to her, and her eyes hardened with a cold smile forming on her lips. "In any case, the only thing she has in the end, regardless of circumstance, is an old geezer who looks like he's all talk. It will not be difficult to take them down, so shall we ladies?"

"If we must..."

The moment Green Heart and Black Heart spoke those words, the man's ears twitched, suddenly stopping his argument as he looked back to the women before him. "Oh? Wow, these girls really must not know their history. Well, since they are women, I guess its not completely impossible for them to not know about me." The man remarked, starting to pace towards them. Without glancing behind him, he spoke once more to the one who summoned him. "If you don't mind, please stand back, cause right now I have some aggression to fulfill."

Just when Conversation made to retort, all of a sudden...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

It happened faster than their senses could perceive. An INSTANT rise in bloodlust EXPLODED outwards from the man's, filling the air around them and saturating it with it's presence. It almost felt like the air began to try and choke them as the man stopped before the group, and held the sword in his right hand in a sword stance. The bangs of his hair darkened the shadows over his eyes, though not enough to completely conceal them, nor the dark grin slowly emerging onto his face. "Its been a while, so I may be a bit rusty, but hey tat was what those red things were for, right? Don't you worry, Okada Izou will show these tramps who the real swordsman around here is."

"...#GASP# Did you say Okada?! As in, THE Okada?!" Stefan shouted, his eyes widening as the color drained from his face like a vampire sucking the blood of his victims. Not only him however, every one of his subordinates also had similar reactions, fearful whispers echoing through their ranks whilst Guts and Isaac quickly got into battle stances. Their eyes shone with deadly seriousness the moment they heard that name, the name that many in the current generation of Leanbox Spec Ops Agents, not to mention every family in Leanbox, knew by heart.

Glancing over to them, Green Heart tilted her head whilst Black Heart and Purple Heart readied their weapons too, same for IF (who formed her Blades, Tendrils and Armour) and Compa who readied Gabriel instead of Sandalphon. She'd switched Angels almost out of self preservation as she took to the skies above, taking the aerial advantage. "My, whatever is the matter, Stefan? Do you know this man, or something?"

"Know him? Yes, my Lady, I do. In fact, if you were to ask any Leanbox native, you will see that EVERYONE has heard of this guy." Stefan replied, gripping Ashbringer whilst getting ready to fight. Just by this bloodlust alone made him realize that a battle would be inevitable at this point.. He just hoped his men would be able to survive this. "Okada Izou, also known as one of the four great man-slayers of the early days after you left for the Console War my lady, holding the alias of 'Manslayer Izou'. During the early days of the Console Wars, this man singlehandedly held off entire armies of Planeptune, Lastation and Lowee soldiers, either individually or when they teamed up against him, but none of them could touch him. He only had minor scratches from every battle he's fought in, and in the end he only died of old age, holding a record of never losing a dual. Swordsmen DREAM of becoming as OP as this man, and he doesn't even use any special tricks. He mainly uses swordplay, with either one sword or two." he explained in a deep, grim manner as he eyed the man's stance. "Looks like he's sticking to one-handed swordplay for now, but be warned, if he were to wield his sword with both hands... only carnage will follow."

Well... that wasn't ominous at all, now was it?

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Alright, sorry for the cliffhanger, but I feel like this would be a good time to end the chapter. Now, there had been many ideas for the cliffhanger of this chapter, ideas that cycled through my head faster than IF blushing at being called cute by Vert. You all may have guessed this already, but me and King Carlos are working on something and he's been helping me with ideas for this story. He's the one who gave me this idea of using Okada Izou from Fate Grand Order, a samurai who killed a whole load of people and had a wide arsenal of skills at his disposal. None of which he ever mastered. Sound familiar to anyone in OEG?**

 **Not to mention that Conversation hasn't revealed her identity and power yet, cause I actually have things in mind for her moveset, things that will make her a HUGELY dangerous opponent on the battlefield, an opponent that NONE of the Goddesses in their current state will be able to take on at this moment in time. Their strength simply isn't that great enough for this woman. Then there will be various other surprises thhat will come from this battle, surprises that MAY shock you all when reading them, so look forward to those!**

 **Now then,**

 **Peace out, my dudes and dudettes (no judging here!)**


	143. Chapter 140 - Okada Izou

**Chapter 140 - Okada Izou**

In the distance, far from the area where all components had gathered, a lone masculine figure stood at the top of a mountain peak, overlooking the soon-to-be taking place battle between one man with a simple-looking sword, slowly drawn from it's sheath with one hand, against a group of girls. Each of them having their own unique abilities and fighting methods. The masculine however, released a deep, dark and distorted chuckle at the sight, what looked like some form of cloak or a coat flapping in the wind. Is eyes, cloaked in darkness, glowered down towards the females and males down below, a look of barely disguised condescendence about them.

 **"Those FOOLS… they do NOT understand… WHAT it IS they will FACE… there was a REASON… why I chose THIS particular SUMMON… a SUMMON from ONE… of MANY well RENOWNED… warriors of HISTORY… It is TRULY a PATHETIC WASTE, that these MORONS have FORGOTTEN… the tales of FANTASTIC warriors of OLD…"**

The masculine figure sighed, crossing his arms under his chest although the darkness concealing him from view made it so this action would not be seen by anyone other than himself, and even then he would only feel the soft leathery feeling that came with the action. Though, if one could truly look at him, gaze into the abysses that were his eyes, then they would see that the man held little to no sense of any emotion his words may imply. As if he simply didn't care…

Which he didn't.

Not one bit honestly.

Humanity, Demons, Monsters. To him, they were all nothing but pathetic mongrels whom were the most useful as forms of entertainment. The men were best when they screamed and whimpered under the lash. The women were only useful as stress relivers, cum dumpsters, or whatever he so desired. The children, a bit of both, and this was the case for Monsters and Demons as well.

Nevertheless, as much as he looked down on these pathetic meat bags, he hoped that this next upcoming battle will provide him with SOME form of entertainment.

Maybe that faint sense of demonic power, one that would be rapidly approaching would make it more exciting. It wasn't on the level of even a low-class DPU, not to mention it wasn't that guy since it had a different feel to it…

One could only hope…

Even though that word utterly sickened him to the core.

* * *

Silence…

All was silent on the platform as both sides eyed each other, wary of their enemy. Well, one side was wary, whilst the other still had a cocky, arrogant-looking smirk on his face whilst he got in his combat stance. He held his sword in one hand whilst leaning forwards slightly, nothing else could be noted about his stance. It looked barley like a stance at all, as it left him unguarded on all sides. However, in spite of this, each girl plus Guts, Isaac and Stefan (whom told his men to stay back lest they get slaughtered. They would have protested against any other enemy, but against Okada they would comply without question) instantly noted that there was an ominous 'pressure' oozing out of him. A pressure that DARED them to try and attack him, to see how that would lead them. It… definitely set their instincts into overdrive, heightening their wariness of this man.

"You guys, I'll go in, you all follow suit." Black Heart stated, gripping Balmung with both hands as she prepared herself for her first strike. "Vert, it'd be best if you stick to using Gungnir at range for now, at least then he'll not be able to get close to you before you do it." she explained quickly, glancing to the aforementioned CPU. Thinking about it, Green Heart would be the one to stay as far away from the frontlines as possible, since her power was limited by Gungnir due to her circumstances. If she were to get in close and somehow (not sure if that would be possible though) she lost that divine Spear, then she'd also lose HDD and everything that came with it… not like she'd lose much though.

In Black Heart's mind, Green Heart looked to be like a CPU on life support. She never got the chance to think much about the way she'd manage to regain some of her powers, but in that moment, she couldn't help but make that comparison. When she was back up in Celestia, and now… to her, there was a world of difference in power between the two. It wasn't the good kind either, in fact if this situation were any different and Black Heart didn't have to focus on anything else like training, fighting Demons, other enemies or politics, then she would bitterly laugh at the difference. She felt sure that Leanbox's CPU was aware of it too, hence why the woman merely nodded as she floated backwards.

Okada just stood there, waiting for them to make the first move. It made no difference to him which one went in, they could even group up on him and it would still not make a difference. The smirk on his lips, and the mocking look in his eyes, spoke all of these thoughts clearly to the others.

Some found it reasonable…

Others, not so much.

Finally, with a war cry, Black Heart dashed forth, breaking into a mad flight path towards Okada with Balmung reared back for a spinning slash to his shoulder. A smirk spread across his lips when Okada lifted his sword and slashed, blocking the slash and creating a ripping shockwave through the air. Black Heart gritted her teeth, already startingto store her energy into the blade whilst se twisted into another slash from the opposite side, which also got blocked when Okada twisted his arm so that the sword's hilt pointed the blade of his sword downwards. Black Heart didn't let this get to her as she used the momentum to bring Balmung up for an overhead slash, one that Okada blocked as well.

All of that happened in a few seconds by the way, each strike from the man being accompanied by a loud FWOOM sound.

Gritting her teeth, Black Heart scowled as she quickly activated the Fafnir Armour, feeling the blood of an Abnormal flowing into her heart whilst the Armour formed and enhancing her combat abilities further. Her eyes quickly morphed into their draconic forms as well, her hair becoming wilder and increasingly savage-looking. The increase in strength however, did little to push back the simple sword impeding Balmung, much to Black Heart's annoyance whilst she poured energy into the blade. It's jewel slowly gaining an orange glow.

"Huh, that's interesting…" Okada mused, eyeing these changes whilst their weapons madly trembled and sparks violently flew between them. Even so, he remained with that cocky smirk of his that set Black Heart off more than she'd care to admit. Okada them, with a FWOOM sound, responded faster than Black Heart could react, quickly pushing their swords upwards before he shoulder-bashed her, and much too her surprise Black Heart fell to the ground, coughing up saliva from the unexpected attack on her person.

She quickly slammed her free hand into the ground and side flipped over another slash though, one she did NOT feel like getting hit by, her instincts screaming this at her. Turned out to be a good call, for that one slash created a huge gust of wind which tore through the space where she once lay. 'Holy…' the Lastation CPU had to think to herself, draconian eyes shrinking slightly at the sight before she pushed her hand, that still planted itself into the ground, upwards to launch herself away from the man.

What she did NOT expect though, was for him to suddenly appear in front of her whilst she was still in mid-flight, kicking her in the stomach with enough force to launch her flying into the side of a cliff. "Gah!"

"Noire!"

Purple Heart, Compa and IF were the ones who called out her name in unison as they saw her go down. The first called turned to look at Okada, who once again put his sword on his shoulder and let out a cocky grin, making the 'come' gesture much to her ire. "You…!" Purple Heart scowled, already dashing forth with IF hot on her heels, as they closed in on their opponent. IF came from the left and Purple Heart came from the right, all the while Compa encircled them from above, quickly activating BARD OF OVERDRIVE to enhance her friends' physical abilities. Unfortunately for her, Gabriel could only use one of it's powers at a time, so she had chosen to amplify her comrades for the time being. She wasn't as good as he would of liked to be at swordplay just yet, at least enough to work with the others and against this guy, her gut told her to keep herself at a distance.

Their opponent showed little care though, as Okada held his sword in front of him in a one-handed Kendo stance, and as Purple Heart, with Soul Calur in the form of dual Kodachi swords, swung at his neck to decapitate him, he parried it and the follow-up strike from the CPU that went for his face. "Wow, no honor here, huh? Targeting the face these days…" he remarked, ginning as he leaned back, sidestepped and vaulted around Purple Heart's attacks before jumping over a massive horizontal swing from IF (one that Purple Heart had to jump back to dodge because of the large reach of IF's blades).

IF quickly launched her Tendrils at her opponent, intending to spear him whilst he was in the air. In her mind, if he were in the air, he'd be defenceless against her attack…

"Hm, not bad I guess, for a lesser warrior. How about this?"

"?!"

A thought process that got smashed out of existence when she saw his sword arm become a blur of motion.

"Have some of my sword, why don't you?"

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

In that moment, all her Tendrils got sliced down to 3/4 of their original length, making IF curse under her breath whilst wincing behind her helmet from the sharp pains that came with losing so much of her Tendrils. Stumbling backwards, IF barely twisted herself out of the way in time, when Okada's sword came down on her shoulder. Just like before, his slash left a long, jagged fissure along the platform, though in a reverse horizontal sash Okada sliced through IF's torso armour faster than she could react, much to her shock.

'What?! How the fuck could he slice through reinforced armour?!' The brunette could only think as she jumped backwards, shifting her left blade into a shield merely out of self-reservation whilst her Armour regenerated. She glared at Okada, hate shining behind the eyepieces of her helmet as Purple Heart came down from above, Soul Calibur in it's default form as she made an overhead slam when Okada wasn't looking…

Only for him to suddenly vanish like a sonic boom.

"Wha-?!"

"Sorry (not really), but nope!"

SLASH!

IF gasped once again, when Okada appeared before her and dashed behind her, a slash appearing by her blade arm and completely severing it from her body in one fluid display of swordplay. Pain raced through her stump to the rest of her body, a pain that she quickly suppressed ion favour of turning around to try and morph her remaining arm into another weapon to counter him… only for dozens of slash marks to appear all over her body, spewing blood everywhere. "Guh!"

"Oh?" Okada's voice sounded as he materialized in front of her, about 10 steps away from the woman. The man's eyebrow arched as he cupped his chin, a look of almost childish curiosity about him. "I was sure that I cut al four of your limbs off with that one…" he muttered, all the while raising his sword to block Purple Heart's Soul Calibur in the form of a large two-handed sword similar to it's default form, only this one had a straight blade with a V shaped tip, protruding from a crystalline guard where Soul Calibur's core was embedded in the centre of. "I guess that little lady above you next to the green haired bombshell is responsible for that..." Okada mused as he glanced up towards Compa n the air, then to Green Heart who looked to be eyeing the battle intensely, looking for any sign of an opening. He then looked towards the sword he was blocking, and an interested expression formed on his features. "A sword which changes forms? And it combines good and evil, too…"

In a flash, Okada kicked Purple Heart away from him and hopped back, reflexively too, as he dodged a series of crystal spikes which surfaced where he used to stand. "Looks like it has other powers, too…" the man mused to himself, his signature smirk back on his face." He then repeated this action to avoid more spikes attacking him the moment he landed on solid earth, keeping him on the move…

Right into the path of a certain Black Swordsman.

"Whoa, a big guy huh?" the man exclaimed as he vaulted around a slam from Guts' Dragonslayer sword. "Armour doesn't look too shabby either, I guess." He remarked, swinging his sword at he back of Guts' neck in retaliation. Guts quickly ducked under it though, only losing a few hair strands thanks to the immense speed of Okada's counterattack, which he repaid in kind by twirling into a reverse swing, then a diagonal slash and finally a series of horizontal slashes, all in rapid succession. Okada managed to avoid all of them with ease though, much to Guts' frustration. Even so Okada couldn't help but let out a joyful laugh whilst the two exchanged a deadlock. "Fu, hahahaha! I am strong! I am a prodigy! I am unrivaled!" he bellowed, angling his blade so that Dragonslayer slid down it's edge before he used the rear of its's hilt to pommel smash Guts' face.

"Grr!"

Whilst Guts fell back, barely dodging 4 slashes at the same time thanks to the speed of Okada's sword arm, Okada flipped over a surprise attack made from Purple Heart, whose Soul Calibur reverted to it's default form. "Whoa there, steady now girl!" Okada playfully taunted, chuckling in amusement as he landed with one hand one the ground, sliding to a halt. "Your swordplay is decent I guess, but nothing too impressive." He stated, with that same look.

It made the blood of the CPU begin to boil.

"Well then, why don't you take this then! ATOMIC INFERNO-CALUBUR EDITION!" Purple Heart bellowed, swinging Soul Calibur and launching over 100 energy rays at her opponent. Each of them came at Okada from all angles, meaning that there would be no dodging this attack. That was what she thought he would do… but instead, Okada just raised his sword and simply cut through them, spinning about and becoming a blur of motion himself whilst slashing through every energy ray. Until they were all gone that is. "Wha… what the hell?!"

Okada grinned at her expression of disbelief, hefting his sword as he used it to block a Dragonslayer, organic Blade, and surprisingly a Balmung from behind him, all at once. "Never underestimate a superior swordsman girlie." He stated, before flicking his sword upwards and sending the owners of the ones he had been blocking backwards by a full 20 meters.

Several plasma rounds came at him from his right flank, and Okada reflexively slashed through all of them to look towards Isaac, whom had his plasma Cutter out. He then threw his hand out, catching Okada in a Stasis field which he then called out to the others. "Guys, if you have any big attacks ready, now's the time to use them!" he bellowed.

Several nods escaped them, and in response…

"BALMUNG – TWILIGHT WAVE!"

"GUNGNIR!"

Both Green Heart (who reverted to being Vert when it happened only for Compa to catch her) and the newly recovered Black Heart, each took this opportunity for themselves, the former by charging up and throwing Gungnir towards the captured Okada whilst Black Heart, whom had used the time away from the battle to store up he needed energy for her strongest attack, unleashed a TWILIGHT WAVE on him with both attacks slamming into Okada's position with lethal force and… explosive results.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Power, dust and smoke erupted from the point of impact, filling the air around the platform with its reach whilst everyone inside began coughing like hell when the smoke entered their windpipes. The heat and humidity of the attack also had been boosted by the two attacks bolstering each other to new heights, and anyone whom had been too close to the epicentre got blown backwards. Luckily, that wasn't anyone in the group though. But, in their minds, they felt that Okada would be a different story.

"#COUGH#, #COUGH# … G-Geez, those girls…" Stefan muttered whilst coughing, with a fist clenched over his mouth. His men also did the same thing, some even leaning onto each other for support during their coughing fits, others waving the smoke away with whatever weapons they possessed. "Th-They really don't know when to keep it on the downlow, huh…?"

Though, h couldn't blame them. any other opponent wouldn't be enough for them to resort to such large-scale attacks whilst in a mall area like this. However, Okada would be a prime exception to this rule, especially with the skills he had harnessed back In the early days of the Console War. 'Seriously, that guy… if that didn't do him in, then we will be in for a world of pain…' the man thought to himself. A twisted grimace escaped him whilst e suppressed the urge to curse his lungs out, since they were still burning whilst trying to intake some air.

"You think that did it…?" Stefan heard one of his men ask to his comrade whilst finishing up his coughing fit. His comrade didn't answer however, as he was still struggling with his own, something that Stefan could relate as he swung Ashbringer in their direction, dispersing the smoke for his men to finally regain the ability to breathe.

Unfortunately, he had to douse the small hope that blossomed within his men with a grim reminder of just who Okada really was. "If someone like Okada would be done iin by this, then we wouldn't remember him as the swordsman we know him as." He stated, getting their attention as he released a grim sigh. "Remember men, this is the man who, when holding his sword in two hands, took out an Abnormal that over 400 Spec Ops couldn't take down after a large battle… but for him, it took up to 4 minutes. Then he whipped it up into some sake afterwards, and back then he used two hands, not the one-handed sword style he's been using so far. This battle is FAR from over, count on it."

"…Is he serious…?" Black Heart questioned as she and Green Heart (Vert having re-transformed thanks to the appearance of her Spear) regrouped with the rest of them. Copa remained in the air however, wanting to wait until they were absolutely sure that their attack had gotten their target. They had just congratulated themselves, when they heard Stefan's story about Okada's skill with a blade. "He must be, that guy couldn't move thanks to Mr Clarke's stasis." She added on, pointing her thumb over to the said Spec Ops Agent whom had stood next to a panting Guts. "Stories are exaggerated all the time to make them more epic to their listers, after all." She added whilst pridefully placing hr hands on her hip and upturning her nose.

Purple Heart however, listened to his voice when he had spoken, and with what she heard the CPU felt it difficult to believe her companion's claim. "I'm not so sure, it didn't feel like he had been exaggerating when he did so, to me." She replied, caution filling her voice. That guy, he may have looked plain, but the strength of his blows definitely reached the realm of superhuman, maybe more. She knew this cause, when she looked down at her hands, especially the one holding Soul Calibur, she realized that they were trembling, trembling from the many collisions she had with that man's sword. Not to mention that he had definitely been holding back, her warrior's instincts told her so.

"Well, whatever the case may have been, there should be no way that he would have survived that strike… Gungnir would have made it so," Green Heart concluded, looking down at her Spear. One of its traits was that it always returned to her when thrown, and that only happened when it made contact with the enemy. No to mention that it bent space around it to make it so it couldn't be intercepted, therefore even with his supposed skill with a blade, Okada should have met his end by Gungnir's hand. If not by her weapon, then by Balmung's since it's attack power had been substantially more formidable.

That is…

Until a certain man's voice spoke up.

"Hate to burst your bubbles ladies, but honestly those attacks weren't all that much,"

Eyes shot open and a collective gasp tore through h their throats. Quickly turning around whilst raising their weapons (and Compa once again reapplying BARD OF OVERDRIVE), they all bore witness to a familiar sword dispersing the last of the smoke. That action, allowed them full view of the manslayer known as Okada himself, that prideful smirk on his face like normal whist he had… pretty much zero injuries on him.

"It wasn't actually a bad attempt, for amateurs I'd say. But sadly, for you all, I've dealt with many attacks like that in my time. Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me about that story gramps. I had honestly forgotten about that thing, was pretty easy if I do say so myself." He mused, reaching behind him and pulling out what looked like a small gourd. He uncapped it's lid and began taking a large swig of it's contents, releasing a satisfied sigh right after. "Ah, that's some good sake…" he muttered in bliss, before he got back into that one-handed stance once more. "Alright, now that I have had some refreshment, let's go."

* * *

Meanwhile, the Masculine figure overlooking this battle, previously with boredom…

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

… Currently bowed over, hands on his gut it seemed like, whilst laughing his ass off at the utterly dumbfounded looks on the brats' faces whilst they saw how their so called 'big attack' (he'd seen and dealt with MUCH bigger ones in his lifetime) got shrugged off like it's no big deal. A perverted part of him imagined Okada making to simply 'shake it off' like that one song made by that woman whose name began with an S and ended with an A. Even though he had been reduced to a laughing mess, the darkness around him made it so that he would not be heard even by someone with super-vulcan hearing.

Even if they COULD hear him, in this moment he wouldn't even care.

"A-And to THINK, he-he-he hasn't even BEGUN to SHOWCASE his POWER just YET! Ohohohohoho! OHH, this is just GLORIOUS!"

It took a while for him to calm down, and more than a few times the laughing fests resumed whenever he looked upon the shocked onlookers faces, even that purple haired woman's face on the opposite end looked absolutely dumbfounded! How comical! He just couldn't get enough of this! The looks on those dumb broads' faces is just priceless to him, that was pretty much all there was to it. Oh, how right he had been to resurrect that guy, even if he went on a killing spree against orders. He had made it so that guy could kill whoever he wanted, and so far, it seemed like he had only went against them at 10% of his power.

Looked like, according to his senses once he eventually DID calm down, that would be changing. It seemed like Okada would be upping the ante just a little…

Also, it looked like that demonic signature has been getting closer during this battle, no if anything it seemed to be trying to get here as fast as possible.

Well, no matter.

By the time it got here, the battle will have been truly over anyways.

* * *

Over at the platform…

"Okay, it's official, this guy's a complete nutjob!" Black Heart ranted to her comrades, coming VERY close to pulling her hair out with the frustration boiling in her gut. Not to mention it became worse thanks to the Abnormal blood flowing through her thanks to the Fafnir Armour. A furious grow ripped through her throat as her free hand twitched madly, her other one gripping Balmung's hilt. She'd put a large amount of her energy in that one attack and look what she had to show for it! Nothing!

Green Heart's eyes narrowed as she readied her Gungnir, which pulsated with golden energy in preparation for combat. "It seems that Mr Von Kessel did not exaggerate, if he is capable of surviving Gungnir like that, then he is indeed a formidable warrior. Is this what warriors in the past were like?" she couldn't help but wonder, shuddering. Leanbox WAS a Nation which specialized in Martial Arts, so it wouldn't be impossible for a warrior like this to have existed for a time. She couldn't help but imagine what the Spec Ops would be like if they were to have that kind of talent in their ranks.

"Of course," Stefan stated, holding Ashbringer at the ready with Isaac and Guts at his side, the former having stayed back a bit more so that he could be of better use. He WAS a ranged fighter after all. "This man is NOT to be trifled with, stay alert or you'll-" was all he could say before…

SLASH!

He barely jumped out the way of a slash in time, same as Guts did… although, one of them wasn't so lucky.

"Gaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"

A loud, pained scream ripped itself free from Isaacs 's lips behind his RIG's helmet, roaring into the atmosphere whilst blood splattered over the ground. Isaac's cries never listened as he fell to his knees, clutching his socket with his remaining hand whilst blood oozed out of it like a streaming waterfall, his head hanging over and whilst his expression remained hidden, one could tell it would not be a happy one. The cause: a familiar blade having gone through his arm's socket and cleaving right through with little resistance. The sword that did it belonging to Okada as he appeared behind the man, gently landing on the ground whilst swiping the blood off his sword.

"Whoopsie." Okada remorselessly commented, turning his head to look at the downed man as he swung at him once more. "Just got bored with all the chatter. Ego boosting sure but chatter nonetheless." His blade soon came down on his prey when he finished speaking, only for a familiar Dragonslayer to impede it's progress. Looking up into the furious eye of the Black Swordsman, Okada made to say something before he noticed the prosthetic hand at his face…

One that, upon guts pulling a strap with his teeth, opened up by the palm which flipped backwards, revealing a canon barrel.

Readers can guess what happened next, right?

BOOM!

A loud explosion rocketed the area once more when a large armcannon round go released from the cannon arm itself, as Guts used the recoil to slide back whilst grasping the screaming Isaac and hoisting him over his shoulder. Thankfully, it seemed that Okada didn't realize that his hand had a multitude of different weapons installed in it, one of them being a cannon with enough power to blast a demon's face off. He should know, he did it a few times. Once he slid to a halt, Guts tossed his comrade unceremoniously into the air, just high enough that Compa could catch him. "Take him and close the wound! Its quite bad!" he yelled.

"Y-Yessie!"

Compa quickly responded with an affirmative, quickly flying off to a safe area to try and heal the wounded man. She did her best to try and apply her BARD OF HEALING to the wound during the flight, as carrying an injured patient untreated could cause them to lose their life much quicker. Plus, she couldn't concentrate nearly as much since she had to do multiple things at once, splitting her focus. With her gone however, this meant that everyone would lose the effects of Compa's BARD OF OVERDRIVE, thus they each felt a sudden weight slam onto their shoulders though they didn't show it.

With that out of the way, Guts turned his attention back to where Okada had been… only to curse when he saw a sword descending on him when he wasn't looking, forcing him to bring up Dragonslayer and block it. The result, was a loud CLANG sound that almost resembled a gunshot. He quickly blocked several more slashes that came at him at almost supersonic speeds, ending up in a deadlock with the bony-looking swordsman whose face ended up inches before his own.

"Heh, not bad. Almost didn't expect that one. A second earlier and my face would be gone. You seem like the strongest one in the bunch, no doubt-"

Before he could finish, Guts headbutted Odaka and then made a wide swing towards his head. Okada however, managed to use the recoil and momentum of the headbutt to lean back, flipping into the air and landing in a crouch whilst holding his head. It brought… no small amount of satisfaction from Guts seeing the one whom had injured his comrade like that.

Heaving Dragonslayer with ease, Guts noticed several characters charging at Okada from his flanks, Purple Heart, Black Heart and Green Heart, though the swordsman blurred out of existence and dodged all of them.

"Tch, so close!"

"Don't fret Neptune, we can still-"

Black Heart began to say to her fellow CPU before she quickly flew upwards, her fellow CPU's doing the same to avoid the gust of wind generated by Odaka's sword slash. She then responded by activating ELECTRO CHARGE, amplifying her blade with white lightning as she launched a VACUUM SLASH towards her opponent, an attack which also got imbued with he lightning from her previous Skill. She repeated this process several times, resulting in 10 VACUUM SLASHES from 10 different angles. Much to her pride's dismay, she didn't expect any of them to land their mark on him, therefore when she saw how he easily swung with enough strength to manipulate the air currents around him through sheer swordplay alone (something any sword user would grow green with envy over), Black Heart flew in close and activated ZANDATSU, swinging at his head before he could bring his sword to bear once more…

Only, even in this state Okada countered so fast that she could barely perceive it.

Now, Black Heart felt like karma was kicking her ass for her previous remarks about this guy.

"Hoh, so you can alter your perception so as to increase your reflexes, that's what it looks like at first glance, but in reality, you're slowing your own perception of time. Therefore, you can strike faster or wilder whichever you so choose." Okada mused, a calculating glint in his eyes as he traded blows with the woman, using enough strength to rival a speeding truck colliding with a brick wall. The fact that this woman hadn't buckled under each stroke impressed him… somewhat. "Shame that won't work on me, lassie."

"How about THIS then?!"

Looking to the side, Okada witnessed the sight of Green Heart charging in with Gungnir crackling with energy, swinging towards the side of his face. However, Okada leaned back to avoid it, flipping backwards to kick Black Heart away from him whilst doing so. He then proceeded to swing over 30 times in one second towards Green Heart coming at her from many different angles. She of course, responded by parrying or blocking those strikes, though in her case it felt much more straining to do so. Thanks to not having much time to herself with all the politics going on, not to mention her lack of powers, Green Heart would be the weakest of the four.

Eventually, he saw an opening and slammed his shoulder into her chest, forcing her to strafe back. Then, the bony man ran at her and delivered several slashes to her shoulders and legs, slicing enough to draw blood though her HDD form helped make it so that he couldn't slice through them with the level of strength he displayed currently. "Hmmm, that form you're in is quite resilient, for the current me can't sever your limbs very easily. HOWEVER!" With that yell, Okada managed to sausage flip into a fierce knee to Green Heart's face, getting a loud scream out of her before he twisted again into a downward kick, slamming into the back of Green Heart's head and smashing her into the ground headfirst. "Not enough to challenge me. I'm a prodigy after all."

"Hey, prodigy."

Surprise formed on his face for a brief nanosecond, before he smirked and twirled around, blocking a sword slash from none other than Stefan Von Kessel himself. The blade known as Ashbringer fiercely duked it out with Odaka's nameless word, sparks constantly flying between them whilst the two held their faces close to each other. "Nice of you to warn me, buddy. Coulda just kept quiet, though it would have been useless either way." He remarked, smirking. He then glanced to this place's sole entrance and exit, finding that the men that Stefan had brought over had barred it with their bodies and had held their weapons ready. Looks of stone were on their faces, prompting him to laugh. "I see, you didn't want that woman…" he began, gesturing with his head towards Conversation whom was watching everything play out with baited breath. "Couldn't escape."

"Wouldn't forgive myself otherwise." Stefan replied coldly as the two broke off from each other, only to re-engage in multiple clashes in several seconds. Not to mention that after the second half, Stefan had activated his LIGHT DRIVE, thus becoming bathed in holy energy as well as wings of light emerging from his back, enhancing his speed and agility was well as Ashbringer. With this, he found it much easier to fight against this man, this warrior whom had reached legendary status. "We came to apprehend her for crimes against our Goddess after all. We will NOT let justice be ignored for all the lives tragically lost!"

"Whatever floats your boat, gramps."

After that, the two continuously traded blows, Ashbringer and the nameless sword fiercely and viciously colliding with each other like a pair of animals brawling over territory. Every second that passed, everything got more and more intense with one side's heart pounding faster and faster, even going faster than a Chaingun. Each strike rung loudly like the shot from a rail gun, ripping through the air and, if a normal person got within earshot, their eardrums would have burst from the sheer volume. Not to mention that they had to take small breaks since Guts, the three CPUs and IF took hotshots at Odaka with various Skills and weapon forms. Each one got either blocked, parried or deflected though.

All the while, Stefan himself during the mix of metal clashing against metal, the loud explosions, the mockery from Okada and the rage-filled responses from the girls (especially when Okada called Green Heart 'granny boobs' cause her breasts may start sagging thanks to her lack of Goddess powers), Stefan couldn't help but think about what he had said about what he had said about justice...

Stefan was no fool.

No fool would not see just how bad things were, not just in the Nation but between the people in it too. He recalled the moments where he had seen the Military families mock the Nobility for their childish and annoying behavior, completely ignoring the Nobles who actually tried to HELP the situation as few as they may be. Hell, some of these families didn't actually do that whilst others only did it when their peers forced them to join in lest they risk being humiliated by the rest of them. Peer pressure for the win everyone. He remembered how some of the Nobles did the same thing the Military families did to them, the mocking he meant, right back at them whilst a rarer few only did it because they themselves were trying to defend their names, to stop them from being dragged under the mud.

The man couldn't help but think their deteriorated relationship had only gotten worse during the years that Leanbox first started governing itself without a CPU, when Green Heart left for the Console War. He could imagine how everyone was so happy and psyched up for their Goddess, wishing her good luck and putting 100% of their faith in her, hell maybe even 1000% of it must have been placed... Whatever the case may have been, he felt sue that at the time the Console War seemed like an appealing idea. The times back then WERE not like these ones after all, one could say that those times were when the Nations each had been the most secure and stable they had ever been during their infancy.

That time, nobody must have realize just how BAD an idea that had been.

Whilst the effects of the Console War, for all four Nations, could still be felt to this day, Stefan felt like Leanbox had been impacted the worst out of the four Nations due to the lack of proper advantages over the other Nations that they had. He recalled that during the initial centuries that followed, faith began to decline as the hype settled down, and whilst he didn't know the specific, maybe it was something minor or trivial, but at some point the dissent began from there. The rift between the military families and the Nobles began to form, and it impacted the common populace in various ways. Those in power at the time should have seen this, but in their so called 'wisdom' they left it alone, they thought that the faith they had for Lady Green Heart would be enough to solve the problem. Their blind, fanatical faith which pushed away any other possibilities.

But, thinking at it from his personal perspective, Stefan had to wonder what kind of drugs they were smoking to allow that to happen.

He remembered seeing how Nobles would treat the common people like how animals would be treated, slave trading, abusing children, beating their own servants and treating them like they weren't even human. According to records however, the Nobility in the past had been WAY worse to these poor people, especially women. Children would be a secondary target,w with men being the least important unless it was for labor. Looking back on it Stefan believed that this unrest and anxiety born from the lack of their CPU would have largely been the cause for this, but if he truly believed that then Stefan would bean idiot. It was because of their human emotions, their human fears, that they began to decline, he believed. That because the one they 'believed in' wasn't here their own insecurities rose to the surface, resulting in these horrific atrocities.

The Military families, including the one whom he had been born into, weren't exempt either. No, not with their ancestors desires for war and combat spurring them to take action. How they would constantly fight to wage war against the other nations simply for the thrill of it. The thrill of dying on the battlefield as a means of honor. He recalled how brutal they fought killing anything and anyone whom dared stand in their way, monster or human. How they'd burn down entire villages that 'wouldn't support the war' or launch genocidal attacks on bystanders who couldn't meet their tax quotas, seeing them as 'no longer useful'. To them, violence was their way of life, their nature, and without the CPU to keep that nature in check, to make sure that combat aptitude was used for the betterment of Leanbox in the 'right' way, that nature went out of control. Thus, many raids throughout Leanbox's history were conducted, raids against the other Nations that either succeeded or failed.

No matter the result tough they were kept in secret from those in power, with any loose ends 'dealt with' so they could escape political repercussions. The CPU had made rules for them to follow before her departure thinking that would be enough, however she couldn't have been more wrong. The times grew tough, and once the military families had more power than the Nobility what could only be described as chaos followed. Chaos for the other Nations and Leanbox itself, the latter having it worse since the majority of the families stationed themselves within Leanbox soil. Heck, it was because of them that Okada Izou, among many famous warriors, came into being for their great and horrifying deeds on the battlefield. The blood they had shed.

In the end, both sides grew to despise each other. The Nobles despised the Military families for their barbaric and savage ways, treating them as ants to be squashed whenever they saw fit. Random beatings, blackmail, bullying in both the real and political sense, all of these and more were done against the Military Families whom they believed had become inferior to the 'greatness' that is nobility. As for the Military Families, well... sometimes, many influential and powerful families tended to just 'disappear with no trace of where they had went, usually in the night with next to nothing left of what they once called their possessions. Houses burned to the ground, unrecognizable charred corpses, corpses that were wither stomped on or buried depending on how the investigators felt like. Most of the times the blame was put onto monsters, but looking over the cases himself Stefan had his doubts about those claims. Especially since the proceeds those Noble families had would be 'divvied up' between the families whom would be affected by them, and a large amount of them were the Military ones. Even if someone looked into these shady dealings, they would either be bribed or 'silenced' as well.

Thus, their current relationship became what it is today.

Who was right? Who was wrong?

It would be impossible to answer those questions at this point. There just was no right answer.

Stefan could have sighed at these thoughts, but he was too busy engaging with Okada, then dodging by rolling to the side to let Guts swing his Dragonslayer to really do it. It truly sickened him nonetheless though, how much they had degraded themselves, how bad things had gotten. Not even when he rose to power through the ranks could Stefan even do anything to help improve the relations brought upon these two sides. Their hatred was too deeply embedded into their beings. Even so, he had tried his best, he had built up his reputation as a man with honor and dignity, he showed respect, he stood up for those who couldn't stand for themselves, he made sure that people liked him. Both the Nobility and the Military families. He set himself as someone to be respected and admired, making sure to remain courteous and dignified. At this point, Stefan often found himself: what was even the point anymore? Why should he, along with the other national leaders, try to stop what is pretty much the inevitable destruction of their entire Nation? A Nation filled with tyranny, deception, betrayal and death? If their actions only served to delay the inevitable, then why should they even bother? Those questions haunted him every day since the first time he thought about it.

But even so, he kept hoping, hoping to one day get the answer he achieved...

Starting with helping his CPU get her powers back.

And to do that, he needed to take down this warrior of legend...

Should be a cinch... not.

Finally, the two broke away as Stefan summoned up some of Ashbringer's power, and formed a HAMMER OF JUSTICE, which upon slashing at Odaka, it flew towards him spinning like a wheel to try and hit him on is head. However, Odaka swiftly slashed through the condensed holy attack, something Stefan honestly saw coming as he got in close, unleashing a JUDGEMENT Skill attack which involved him empowering Ashbringer with holy energy and delivering a wide slash to his target, or targets since it was also an AOE attack. Okada managed to block it again though, smirking all the while as Stefan followed up with a TEMPLAR'S VERDICT, which involved him rushing forth and thrusting Ashbringer forth with lightning fast speed, speed that Okada had ZERO trouble sidestepping and deflecting with his skill with the blade. Stefan didn't care, he just continued by twirling around and slashes diagonally, meeting with Okada's sword.

Behind him, the ground became a 6-foot-deep crater from the impact alone in the shape of an acute angle. LIGHT DRIVE allowed Stefan's eyes to glow brightly from the holy energy in them, something which Okada smirked at… before he abruptly vanished, letting Stefan stumble forward with those said eyes widening at the sudden movement. He almost fell into the hole itself that his own sword had made…

"Not bad gramps, you're definitely someone who trained like hell..."

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!

"Guh!"

Just then, a shadow appeared behind him, causing Stefan's eyes to start trembling especially when he felt a whirlwind of motion happen at his rear. The shadow then whispered into his ear, each word like venom, while being filled with utmost mockery for his skill as a fighter. Even so, the cold, almost icy undertones made Stefan freeze up with all his mobility lost to him. For a moment, he remained there, not even twitching. The shadow then turned away from him, making a dramatic slashing motion at the space in front of the shadow…

But Stefan didn't move. He didn't dare move or counter attack. Or rather… he couldn't, he couldn't move one bit no matter how much his brain tried to order his body otherwise. For a moment, confusion filled him, confusion on why he couldn't move when he had been fine before.

Though, the answer soon came…

When his body fell into the hole… cut apart into many fine straps with blood spewing everywhere like many fountains at once, not a single word being able to escape Stefan's lips as Ashbringer fell to the ground with a heavy clutter, it's core becoming completely dim.

"But sadly for you, i'm a GENIUS, so game over for you."

* * *

 **"OH? It LOOKS like the FIRST domino has FALLEN..."**

Once again, the masculine figure commented from his perch atop the vantage point he held, not sitting down whilst watching the show before him. Part of him wished he brought popcorn, just so he could properly enjoy the looks on their faces as they saw the demise of one of their own.

This was something that they should have been aware of. That even those that they were close to, those whom were admired or idolized according to what he had researched about that man, could fall if the foundations were destroyed. Stefan Von Kessel, back in Leanbox, was treated as the beacon of hope by the rest of the people. He himself, and the Ostermark Order by extension, had become well loved by the citizens To the point that many wished the other higher ranking officials of the Nation would be just as good as he had been. The man had the 'purest' record amongst his peers, and for once that wasn't something phony or fishy. He never actually indulged in any shady business like blackmail, extortion and those things.

In other words, he had been a goody two shoes who focused on pathetic shit like other people's problems instead of growing stronger through training. Even had a powerful weapon by the name of Ashbringer, and he STILL didn't train with it nearly as much as he should have. It didn't matter if his expectations were high, in his day, training to be stronger was everything. It utterly repulsed him that the world had 'relaxed' so much to the point that these pathetic Abnormals, monsters who couldn't even hold a tiny candle to the monsters he fought back in the glory days, could bring them trouble.

Serves him right for dying like a dog.

He would clap his hands for Okada for dealing such a waste of air such a fitting end as dying in a ditch. In fact, since he would be so well hidden, the figure did that anyways, just showing how much he LOATHED Stefan Von Kessel.

Now, if only the OTHER leaders could die in similar manners... Maybe then, this world would return to what it should be.

* * *

Time slowed itself to a craw, sound becoming non-existent as everyone witnessed the sight before them. In fact, it almost seemed like Black Heart's ZANDATSU had affected the entire area and not just her own perception, although in this case a cold, deathly chill accompanied it so it WASN'T anything like her ability. Eyes widened, pupils slowly shrink whilst breath caught itself in throats. For a moment, some of them thought that this was all a bad dream, an illusion that they would soon wake up from. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't, and that fact soon hammered itself into their minds the more seconds that passed. None of them moved, none of them dared to even speak either, their forms constantly trembling with increasing erratic mannerisms at the sight of such a death. Horror, dread, and terror filled everyone's beings at the brutal death that had just befallen one of their own, at the hands of a powerful enemy.

"This... this is...!"

The moment that Compa flew back to the scene from treating Isaac, though she had several things to report on that front, she made it JUST in time to see Stefan getting sliced to ribbons by that man's sword, which caused the color of her skin to rapidly drain from her body. "O-Oh my g-g-g-g-goddess...!" she spoke, barely above a whisper whilst covering her mouth with her gloved hands.

Down on the ground, each of the CPUs had similar reactions to her...

Though, Green Heart took it the worst as Stefan had been one of her people. The green haired woman trembled furiously, shock racing trough her system like a herd of rampaging animals. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak and her jaw hung open. Her gut clenched together tightly and uncomfortably as a fierce wave of terror raced down her spine.

Over on her side, IF could only gape at the cold, brutal way that Stefan just got murdered in, her eyes shrunken into dots behind her Armour form's helmet. Her eyes trembled and shook, her Blades mimicking those actions whilst shock and disbelief coursed through her system. 'Holy... freaking shit...!' those words constantly appeared an disappeared in her mind, like broken records being put on repeat for hours with no end in sight. She didn't know the guy very well, but she could definitely say she knew enough about him to say that he was a decent man. They'd talked whilst they had been captives after all, and the any fights they had when IF broke them out were something that helped her see his character. She remembered how he conducted himself in a manner befitting of a paladin, of how he showed honor and chivalry even in a sick, twisted world like this one. She also recalled how she had heard so many people praising the hell out of him when she came back from the Hellverse, praise and positive emotion that didn't let up until the last couple days before the Gala. It felt like the Avenir incident in Lastation all over again, just how many people would be affected by his death? Just how many will be impacted once they learn of his demise...?

On another side of the battle, Guts growled to himself, closing his one eye as he glared hatefully towards their foe. The only one who could actually express anger being the embodiment of it himself, makes sense. Guts held his sword in both hands, noticing how they trembled with the very familiar rage that coursed through his system. He may not like many people in this world, hell he could count the number of people he DID like on one hand, however those who did earn his trust he favored highly. As in, he'd swing his sword for them, and in Guts' world that would be classed as a major deal.

So... should he see one of those people get murdered in front of him...

'Should I use it...?'

The man glanced down towards his Armour for the shortest of seconds, wondering if he should use his Armour's secret to try and get his revenge for Stefan's demise. There was no way that he could think that the man would be alive after that attack, not when his form got sliced to pieces the way he had. Every fiber of his blood boiled at the way he had gotten killed, the warrior-like mentality he had inside of him demanding that Guts make the man suffer in the worst manner possible. Not to mention that he could feel his own dark desires being drawn out by his anger, anger that told him to go full nelson on this enemy, to show him just what it meant to piss a Berserker like him off.

Said enemy however, didn't notice any of this, too caught up in his own little world. Or perhaps he did and just didn't care, that seemed more likely. Instead, he just laughed joyously, spreading his arms into the air to show off several areas of his decaying body. "Hahahahaha! Oh now this is just GRAND! I've had a damn fine drink, i'm blessed with the sights of so many sexy, fine ass ladies, and i'm enjoying a great freaking fight! The only thing missing would be some snacks, otherwise this day would be PERFECT, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Those words however, DID serve to bring the girls back to their senses, as all their shock faded away to be replaced with burning fury.

"Y-You...!"

"Hm?" Blinking when he heard a low growl, Okada looked towards the source with a dumb look on his face, to find that the source came from a FURIOUS Green Heart. The Leanbox CPU trembled with barely suppressed anger, Gungnir's form fiercely glowing golden with matching electricity arcing around it's tip. It actually surprised the undead-looking man whom tilted his head in curiosity of this new development. "Whoa, there. What's with that look? Ya look much better when you were giving me that pout-like look from before."

She didn't answer, instead she bent her legs and allowed Gungnir's aura to envelop her form, resulting in her wings glowing brightly from the influx of energy and releasing electricity from them. Violent winds picked up around her, swirling around her whilst stemming from Gungnir also. This lasted like, for a couple of seconds before Green Heart broke into a large burst of speed, flying straight towards Okada with nothing but bloody murder in her eyes. "YOU BASTARD!"

"Whoa, that's some fire ya got there, girl!"

* * *

Seeing her fellow CPU charge in like that snapped Black Heart out of her own shock, her eyes rapidly blinking as she regained her focus and clarity. Shaking her head a few times to clear the remnants, the white haired CPU scowled as she saw the brutalized remains of what had once been a man whom had done right by his people. Unlike Green Heart and IF, whom had known him personally, Black Heart had only met him once and that was at the Gala. So, she didn't feel quite as attached as she did to someone like Nico or some of her closer companions back in Lastation.

But, even so...

She had heard of his deeds, and all of them good.

Black Heart may not have known the guy personally, nor very well, but she indeed felt a little bad seeing him being killed the way he did. She could only imagine what kind of feelings went through her comrades who knew him better, like Green Heart and IF, as well as what his family would be going through once they learn the news.

Not to mention, how much his death will impact the Nation as a whole.

Even so, Black Heart forgot about some people whom had just witnessed this man's death, and that lack of attention would cost her...

"CAPTAIIIIIIN!"

Black Heart's eyes widened in shock, dread and realization when she recalled the soldiers whom had been ordered to guard the entrance, and quickly looked back at them fearing the worst. Her fears got proven to be reality, much to her dismay, when she saw how utterly horrified and pale the men looked beneath the gaps in their Armour. 'Oh no... now that their leader's gone, those guys are likely going to do something stupid...!' Black Heart thought to herself.

"DEATH TO THE ENEMY! FOR THE CAPTAIN! RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

"UUUUUUUWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

...

...

...

...

...

... Yup, it happened. True to her fears, before the Lastation CPU could do anything or say anything to snap them back to their senses, Each of the soldiers, their faces now red from furious rage, drew their weapons and broke into a loud charge, many clinking sounds coming from their Armour pieces as they almost rivaled a group carrying a battering ram. Each of them held their weapons ready for attacks, each of them beginning to activate a series of Skill attacks in the intent of avenging their leader.

Okada however, noticed them after he locked his blade with Green Heart's Gungnir. He then arched a brow at them, almost as if e had forgotten that they were even there in the first place. "Oh? We had more? Well then, that's fine I guess..." he began, before he smirked and delivered a kick to Green Heart's stomach, putting enough of his strength to send her flying into the cliff face. He then kicked his leg around whilst twisting on his sole balancing one, using the momentum to wind up for his next attack.

"But you guys don't look so strong, so would you kindly beat it already? Ya'll are interrupting my fight with these lovely beauties!"

SLASH!

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

In that one swift movement, he created a gust of wind large enough to cut through the entire path that led to the Dungeon. It's speed left little to no time for the soldiers to react, nor did they have any room do dodge either. The moment it erupted, they only had time to stop and cry out when the gust tore trough them, cutting through them and leaving them as many small pieces on the ground in a huge, gory mess.

Once again, the brutality of those deaths left the girls speechless. First, Isaac got wounded so he would have to stay out of the battle, then Stefan Von Kessal, and now those men that he lead. Death seemed to have a LOT of interest in this battle, they couldn't help but think as another fact hammered it's way home into their brains: This battle would likely be the most REAL battle they have had in a longass time.

In their previous battles, death had always been a constant companion, and the greater the opponent the greater the chance for death to take hold of those who fought alongside one another. This had been especially true for those among them who had fought an excessive amount of Demons like Purple Heart, Green Heart and IF, as more than a few times they had suffered injuries that brought them to the brink of death during their training (IF being a special case since 'fatal' injuries didn't matter to her as much thanks to her new body). Perhaps it was because of that, but thanks to them surviving so many battles with that possibility looming over them, they had forgotten what it was like to fear death.

However, this one would mark the FIRST time death had ever TRULY stopped to claim those that fought alongside them... once again showing them that death could STILL claim those closest to them.

"Wow, those guys were idiots."

Each of them looked to the source of that callous sentence, to find Conversation standing there with her arms crossed, a look of mocking derision on what could be seen of her face as she shook her head. "Though, I guess that's what those nuisances get for trying to involve themselves in affairs that are beyond them." she sneered, chuckling afterwards in dark amusement.

At this, Purple Heart growled in animalistic anger, fury blossoming in her chest as she gripped Soul Calibur tightly. How the hell could this woman have no regard for life at all?! Just what kind of person was she?! "How could-?"

"What the lady says is right ya know." Okada spoke in Conversation's place, cutting Purple Heart off as he leveled his sword in front of him. He stood between his summoner and the girls, his eyes shining with mockery and a matching smirk forming on his lips. "Battle's no place for the weak, those pussies should have known this. Even so, they just rushed to their deaths instead of thinking rationally. That sexy greenhead got away with it cause she's strong, but they're a different story. The strong survive, and the weak die. That's the law of this world, better get used to it." he explained, before chuckling as he got into a battle stance. "So, shall we dance more? Cause I'm having a blast. Even though my 'boss' is the one pulling the strings, i'm just enjoying this as much as possible, nothing's better than combat for me, the man-slayer, after all."

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Alright, another chapter crossed off the list. A heavy one at that.**

 **Originally I wanted this chapter to compress everyone fighting Okada into one big package, but the size exceeded my expectations so I'll be splitting it into two or so parts. After all, some pretty big things have happened already, so I feel this would be a good place to leave it for now.**

 **Now, if those of you who like Stefan are sad or angry, hear me out. Stefan may be strong thanks to Ashbringer from WOW, but unlike the others, he is human and weaker than them. Therefore, in battles like these it would be guaranteed for someone like him to kick the bucket. The others could have backed him up, but everything happened too fast for them, and thus they couldn't react in time. Okada has shown himself to be WAY faster than they are, not to mention that he's been holding back too. Hasn't even used two hands yet.**

 **Plus, death is a thing in this world. Either in the background or with the cast themselves, death does not discriminate. Therefore, with the death of Stefan Von Kessel, it will naturally impact not only the cast, but also the rest of the Nation since he was a symbol for them, he was literally their hope for a better future aside from the CPU, maybe even just as important. The strong survive and the weak die, it's been said already but it's never really been FELT as much as it has been right this chapter. One could only imagine just how much this would impact the future, in more ways than one could ever have expected.**

 **Oh yeah, and if you look at my profile, you'll see the poll is still up. I doubt it'll be going away until I feel the need for a new poll, so please make sure to give it a shot if you can.**

 **Without further ado,**

 **Peace out!**


	144. Chapter 141 - Succession

**Chapter 141 - Succession**

If they thought that the fighting previously had been intense…

Well, the girls plus Guts would be in for a rude awakening.

Once Okada had spoken those words, he wasted no more time, quickly proceeding to do two things. He first leaned forwards whilst angling his sword so it pointed behind him, his eyes shining with controlled bloodlust. His whole aura swelled, as if he were unleashing another 'valve' to release more of his suppressed power, something that NONE of the girls wanted to think about (although they didn't want to think about him at all with what he had said and done during this battle). Okada then went about vanishing into a blur whilst making a sound equal to the size and volume to that of a sonic boom. Heck, IF would swear that she had saw the wave itself rippling from when the boom sounded, a pure demonstration of his speed which they had not even seen the full extent of…

Even now, it didn't seem like he was showing his full speed.

'Shit!'

Green Heart was the one who thought that as she raised Gungnir to block a strike against her chest from the front, as well as a quick barrage of swings from Okada's sword that followed. Stomach, torso, left breast, right breast, between the torso and stomach, abdomen, shoulders, biceps, forearms, back of the hands, all of these areas got targeted with a short timeframe of 1 second between them. Even then, Green Heart felt like this guy could go faster, though for the life of her she did NOT want him to. Not to mention that the way he grinned like a shark did little to settle her nerves… although, the anger in her prevented any form of fear from getting a hold of her being.

Rage fuelled her blows as she parried, vaulted, blocked and defended like her life depended on it (and in a way, it kind of did). When a thrust came towards her stomach, Green Heart twirled Gungnir and deflected it before performing several thrusts towards Okada's face, trying to impale his ugly mug. Unfortunately for her, each thrust missed thanks to him tilting his body to the side, going from one direction to another before twisting into a reverse slash that she blocked with Gungnir's shaft.

"Noire!"

"Got it!"

Almost like that time in Celestia, Green Heart used herself as a decoy for Black Heart to come flying in, twirling into an ELECTRO CHARGE enhanced slash with her Balmung. The Lastation CPU had forgone the idea of using her big attack right now in favour of just a straight up brawl, since large scale attacks didn't even seem to faze this guy. The moment that he saw her however, did Okada swiftly vanish from sight, leaving her swing to cut through nothing but air.

Once he reappeared behind them, Okada stood like he was sliding through a gap between a fence, narrowly avoiding a series of purple energy blades that flew right past him. He couldn't help but wolf whistle at that, chuckling as he raised his sword and brought it down, parrying the slash that Purple Heart attacked with. Soul Calibur grinded away against Okada's sword like an animal pushing the bars of it's cage, refusing to let it push it around just like how it's wielder didn't let Okada gain any ground from her. "You will PAY for your transgressions!" she yelled in furious anger, her eyes shining with her energy.

At this, Okada smirked whilst cocking an eyebrow at that statement. He didn't have any trouble holding that sword at bay, as he'd faced much stronger ones during his time. Stronger swords which he had overcome himself and had become all the stronger for it. "I supposed a night under the sheets is too much to ask for?" he retorted cockily, before jumping back to avoid a series of crystal Spikes that erupted from where he once stood. Not to mention how angrily red Purple Heart's face turned and how dark her eyes became "Guess so." He mused, sighing before shaking his head. "Shame, lady. You so need to take a chill pill, if ya don't how will anyone bed you?"

The man then whistled in surprise when he noticed the sword changed shape once more. This time however, instead of a close combat weapon, Purple Heart's sword changed into an M4 Carbine. It had the signature icy blue crystalline appearance of Soul Calibur's forms, with it's core embedded into a Scope as a reflection lense. Lifting the Rifle, Neptune quickly began unloading a series of sharp, blade-like rounds from Soul Calibur's barrel, resembling chain gun fire.

Nonetheless, Okada managed to slash each and every one of them without much difficulty, even mocking Purple Heart further by faking a yawn whilst his arm moved like a blur. "Wow, not much of a fan of me anymore? I'm hurt." He teased, only to sidestep when what looked like a beautiful, crystalline blue Halberd slammed into the space he once stood, narrowly missing his groin by an inch. It's blade was shaped like a 4-pronged trident, each blade as long as a butcher knife. "Okay, no need to-"

"CROSS COMBINATION!"

Purple Heart didn't let up, summoning her CPU sword (as well as its sheath) and entering a series of fierce and fast slashes with him. Okada had no trouble in parrying them, and when she made to knock him into the air the warrior simply jumped backwards, causing Purple Heart to sausage flip into the air and come down with an overhead slash to his head. He blocked it though, and raised a leg to roundhouse kick her in the stomach, causing her to gasp…

Whilst grasping the Halberd before she got sent flying backwards.

Not a second later though, did he meet two new challengers by the name of Black Heart who came from the left, and Guts who came from behind. The former struck first, unleashing her ZANDATSU to get a better chance of scoring a hit on him whilst also distracting him long enough for the latter to get his own shot in. Unfortunately for them, Okada simply weaved between them, their blades barely raised in time to block his slashes before he charged back at them with the determination to cut through their exposed rear guards.

Before he could get close enough though, instincts went off as Okada put his hand onto the ground and flipped into the air, vaulting himself over a stab from the side made by Green Heart (all the while leaving a few small slash wounds on her back for her troubles). Whilst airborne, Okada noticed the incoming edge of Dragonslayer made by Guts, so he twisted himself around the blade and landed opposite the Black Swordsman, who aimed his prosthetic hand at him.

Okada then dashed to the side, avoiding a hall of arrows fired when the hand deployed what looked to be a built-in crossbow, one which fired arrows at an im[pressive volley for Leanbox's technological standards. "Heh, you guys re full of interesting toys and gimmicks, aren't you?" he remarked with a chuckle, side flipping over a slash to his mid-section by Black Heart before slashing at her back. She managed to kick his sword away rom her though, as she had expected a pot shot like that to come from him.

Guts then took his cue alongside Purple Heart, who'd sheathed her CPU sword in favour for Soul Calibur. The two dashed side by side with each other, each of them carrying looks of bloody murder on their faces whilst they closed the distance between them and their enemy. Said enemy just grinned as he held his sword in his default one-handed stance, cocky confidence radiating from his form before the three engaged in a heated sword-fest.

* * *

On her side of the battle, Conversation scowled at the battle, a mix of different emotions.

'These lot have grown, grown more than I could have anticipated on my own…' she thought worriedly to herself.

Watching these girls now, it became clear to her that they had definitely transformed themselves from what they once were into strong warriors. Obviously with Okada not going all out they still had ways to go, as even with all those abilities in hand, against someone whom had a powerful specialty on his side it may as well have little effect. The closest to rivalling his strength, ironically, would have to be that Black Swordsman, Guts. The man who specialised in the way of the heavy sword from his upbringing and his nature as a big brute. If it were just him, then Okada would likely have much more trouble in this fight as Guts' swordplay would be leagues above the other women.

As for that brown-haired woman, whom had been staying out of the battle so far since it began this chapter, Conversation noticed how she had walled off the exit to this place with her Biomass, preventing her from escaping. An irritated, mocking snort escaped the dark purple haired woman's lips, and if her eyes could be seen then the irritation within them would be seen as clear as day.

'They think that something like THAT would hold ME?! Hah, maybe before I awoke HIM from his slumber, but that measly wall stands no chance against me now.'

The reason why she had been watching all this, while to see if she could get more of the Goddess's power for her goals, was also to gauge the strengths of her enemies. Especially Green Heart whom had been relying on that golden Spear from THAT era, not the DPU Era which had remnants of it scattered across Gamindustri in it's entirety, to keep her HDD form active. Although, how long would that last? Conversation would have shaken her head in derision if she weren't so focused on the battle.

Even with her dissatisfaction with their performance, as a warrior herself she had to admit that the potential these people showed definitely would be noteworthy of making them be noted as powerful foes for her to fight in the future. She wasn't meant to fight them right now though, only to observe and strategize. There were too many of them to kill right now, not to mention that it wouldn't be likely for her to get any powers today. HE had been the one to say that right to her face.

Anyone else would have met their end by her Glaive, but HE would be an exception…

Cause he utterly TERRIFIED her.

'If HE were to show up at any moment in this fight… I would almost feel sorry for these pathetic CPUs…'

* * *

Back to the battle…

'Tch, this guy's still holding back even after all this time…!' Green Heart scowled whilst twirling Gungnir and launching a side slash to her opponent's hip. However, he parried it, arched their weapons over his head and then thrusted them to the side. Green Heart used this momentum to her advantage however, and eagerly thrusted the rear end of her Spear into the man's gut. He blocked that too unfortunately, much to her swelling anger that rose and rose the more hits that failed to land their mark were exchanged between the two. Guts and Purple Heart were circling around to attack him from their flanks, something which she tried to keep him from noticing by constantly upping her attack. If she were in her human form, sweat would be flying from her form right now due to how much heat her body would be generating from all this motion.

Fighting against this guy proved to be way more challenging than the Greater Demon she had faced back at the Basilicom with her comrades had been, and this guy wasn't even as tall as that thing was, nor was he that destructive! Maybe he would be when he swung that blade, that ordinary looking blade that looked like it had seen many battles, but not the same way that thing did. Not to mention that he had more annoyance about him than anything she had to deal with before with his rude and perverted comments (she pretended not to notice how he would look at their asses and boobs during their clashes, even those times when he did it for longer than necessary just to rile them up, before getting away with it as he showed himself to be just that good).

When she got back home, she would be looking into EVERYTHING that involved these ancient warriors, as it became clear to her that she needed to do loads of research on these warriors.

However, for now Green Heart spun Gungnir like a wheel before tossing it forwards, sending it towards her opponent who batted it aside (turning herself back into her human form in the process). Since she hadn't really 'thrown' it in the way that the Spear's traits recognized, the traits of it not being able to be intercepted didn't actually activate. It was because she threw it in an unorthodox way that Gungnir's true power didn't manifest, but that was her planall along. Even with it's power partially activated, it would be enough for her to call it back to her hand.

Proven when, once she threw her hand sideways whilst dashing towards her opponent the Spear flashed back into her waiting hand, allowing her to retake HDD. The reason whys he had done this was simple, using HDD with Gungnir in hand took away its energy, and since she had flown ALL THE WAY to Halo Mountain, flew through the Dungeon itself and had engaged in a heated battle where she had used it's full power even once, that totalled to a LARGE energy deficit. Even now whilst she clashed with the man again, Green Heart could feel the Spear's power beginning to wane, something which resulted in a sight weight gradually growing within her chest and slowing her movements.

Something that Okada noticed, judging by how he tilted his head at her. "Oh? Looks like someone's been fighting on borrowed power, I see." He remarked, causing Green Heart to glare at him whilst he expertly deflected each bullet and arrow shot at him from multiple angles by Purple Heart and Guts, then parried a double slash made by IF before kicking her away. "Guess that Spear is just like your battery or something, since ya only used that big attack I found hard to avoid once."

'Tch, he's pretty much figured it out already then…' she thought to herself, grimacing. This was one of those moments where she REALLY wished she had her Goddess powers again, if she did have them then she wouldn't have to depend on Gungnir for the power to transform, and no offence to her human self, but Green Heart always got the feeling that this weapon liked her better when she was transformed… and not just because her assets got more pronounced, either.

Even so however, she could still get this done with. Soon enough, the Leanbox CPU had an idea based off what she had seen from the Basilicom, as she glanced over to Purple Heart. "Neptune, I need your assistance!" she yelled whilst Guts slammed into Okada and initiated a vicious slash fest with him, keeping him occupied whilst the purple haired CPU floated over to her.

"What is it, Vert? What do you need?" Purple Heart questioned, before she noticed the look that Green Heart sent her. Not to mention how she looked to be barely holding on at this point with the golden light from her Gungnir getting dimmer with each second. It didn't take her long to realize what the heck was happening, and an understanding look formed on her features. "Alright then, I'll do it." she told her, not even needing to ask to figure out her intentions as she held Soul Calibur out, pointing it's tip at her. "DEMONIC BLESSING!"

In the moment that Purple Heart yelled out the name of her Skill, a thin blue aura appeared around Green Heart, temporarily stabilizing the glow that Gungnir possessed. Not to mention that Green Heart's shoulders and chest relaxed by a significant margin, as if a weight had left them. "Thank you, Neptune, though I will be asking for Compa's assistance for this as well…" she stated, and as if by magic the Spirit girl floated down and landed beside her.

"You called, Lady Vert?"

"Please call me Vert, dear, and would you mind buffing me if only slightly? If I want to end this as quick as possible, I will need your assistance." She requested, getting a determined nod from Compa.

"Yessie! BARD OF OVERDRIVE!"

With that, BARD OF OVERDRIVE appeared over everyone allied with the CPUs within the vicinity. IF (whom had just retreated after losing both her arms to Odaka to save Guts' askin), Green Heart, Black Heart, Purple Heart and Guts each got bathed in a bright silvery white aura, and each of them soon felt their abilities get enhanced further. The Spirit saw how her friends got covered by the same aura she possessed something which made her beam before she looked worriedly at Green Heart. "But still, I hope you know what you're doing. I can fight, but I'm not good at swordplay just yet." she stated sheepishly. "Haven't mastered it yet, though Lucy Sensei is helping."

"Not to worry dear, I'm sure that this will work… unlike Noire's failed attack before."

"HEY! I HEARD THAT, VERT!" turning her head behind her to glare heatedly at the green haired woman, Black Heart yelled with a heated tone, before turning back to her foe and raising Balmung. She then took charge, bursting forth in a huge bout of speed as she, in the next second, clashed with Okada, giving Guts the chance to slash at his neck, for the enemy swordsman to duck underneath it then swing several times to counter Black Heart's Balmung. "Whatever you're doing, just hurry it up! ELECTRO CHARGE!"

Whilst those two distracted Okada and kept him from seeing Green Heart, Purple Heart and Compa resumed their positions whilst the Leanbox CPU began rearing Gungnir backwards. A brown blur passed her, which soon revealed herself to be an unarmoured IF whom had her arms shifted into dual whips whilst her Tendrils reared back for some lunging action. Pumping Biomass into her legs, the brunette quickly jumped into the air and launched her Tendrils from multiple angles which were left open for her by a combination of Guts and Purple Heart, Black Heart having fallen back.

Looking up, Okada quickly slashed about and deflected each Tendril, using the momentum to spin into a spinning upward whirlwind slash that launched him into the air towards her. IF however, didn't let him get too close as she sprouted her wings from her back and flapped them, launching her backwards before she jammed her Tendrils into the ground to pull her out the way of the incoming shockwave. She did NOT want to get hit by that, memories of those poor souls that were once Stefan's men flashing through her mind. Though she had no time to mourn since she was in active combat.

As he landed himself, Okada noticed that Green Heart looked to be gathering energy for a big attack, not to mention that she had several different auras around her. 'Huh… looks like that'll be her last one for the fight.' The man thought herself, before making a mad dash towards her with his sword poised to cut through her throat. Then probably everything else whilst he was at it like that one samurai who was regarded as a master swordsman, he remembered his name being something to do with atoms and the word Samurai was put in there.

* * *

However, before he could unleash that man's signature technique known as the atomic slash (basically dashing past the target whilst slashing over 100 times a second, a cinch for him), Okada sensed a large attack coming from the side, and quickly jumped back to avoid a small scale TWILIGHT WAVE, one that came from a panting Black Heart whom glared hatefully towards the swordsman, eyes narrowed whilst Purple Heart charged in with Soul Calibur morphing into another form.

'How many forms does that thing have?' he couldn't help but wonder as he readied his one-handed stance for battle. In this case, Purple Heart's Soul Calibur formed as a sword and shield form. The sword took the form of a sleek one-handed sword with two wings on either side of the base, built into a face-like structure. The blade itself curved inward towards the face's jawline at the base, but then it widened just after before curving down again into a sleek double-edged sword. Sort of gave it a V shape. The Shield formed as a shield with angelic wings on both sides, too.

The moment their blades collided, Okada unleashed the Atomic Slash on Purple Heart instead… only, she managed to block up to 80 slashes with her shield and sword combo. The rest she managed to dodge by jumping backwards, although about 5 long gashes adorned her body so she didn't completely avoid the technique. "#HUFF#, #HUFF#... Wow… did not… see that one… coming…" the CPU remarked beneath her breath. 'Not to mention I had to quickly activate KARMA REFLECTOR to stop all but those last 5 slashes, and even then it looks like he moved out of the way when they were reflected back at him with twice the damage…' she thought further, more than a little miffed at this guy.

A normal, if superhumanly skilled, man with a simple sword was making a mockery out of all of them with their varied arsenal of abilities. It felt more than a little demeaning and insulting, not to mention how she couldn't tap into Soul Calibur's Demonic side yet. 'Even so… I think I still have one Skill attack, one I intended to use against the Greater Demon. A skill which blew up an entire mountain when I first unleashed it.' she thought, furrowing her brows whilst she checked her power reserves. 'It'll be a close one, and afterwards I'll probably be unable to fight while maintaining this form, but I'll have to risk it.'

Meanwhile with Black Heart herself, she eyed Guts as he charged in and repeatedly clashed with Okada, IF soon following suit which lead to a freeway combo between them. 'IF senses the powers that are gathering: Vert's Gungnir, Neptune's Soul Calibur, and… my Balmung.' The Blackette CPU thought to herself, scowling. 'However, Balmung's TWILIGHT WAVE works by gathering Share Energy and storing it within the blade. I dot think I'll have enough time to make one strong enough to combine with the rest of theirs…' she thought further…

BA-BOOM!

…Until something 'pulsed' within her, and a strange pull began to tug at her heartstrings causing her to go wide eyed in surprise. Considering her Fafnir Armour gave her draconian eyes, it looked kind of… off, though she didn't notice nor care. 'What the?' she wondered, confusion filling her being when she kept on feeling the pulse inside of her. If one wanted to get an idea of what she was feeling, think of an irregular heartbeat, with one heartbeat not being their own. It felt… odd, to say the least, but that didn't mean she didn't like it. Black Heart only wanted to know what the heck it was first.

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

BA-BOOM!

The pulses gradually got faster and faster as the seconds went by, and as she looked towards the fight it seemed that (as she had expected) neither Guts nor IF could get any solid ground from this guy. If they didn't get anything done at this rate, then as things stood they would likely lose this battle and Conversation would be able to get away.

Gritting her teeth, Black Heart clenched her fists as a strong determination passed through her.

'Like HELL she is!'

No way would she let that witch get away with something like this! Not when she had humiliated all of them the way she did, nor would she get away with causing so many deaths with that stunt with the Basilicom! She may not have directly said anything, but the way she conducted herself showed her that she did, and THAT would be something every one of them could agree with. This woman seemed way too sketchy, nigh full-blown modern art with how she behaved. No way would she let this stand! That swordsman may be the one who killed Stefan and his men, but he was just following orders! This was battle too, so what he said wasn't even wrong, really! But she… if what their hunches said was true, then SHE had a hand in every disastrous even that had happened to all these innocent people thus far.

And THAT was unforgivable.

Black Heart knew these weren't her people, they weren't her citizens, nor did they worship her as their CPU. There should hardly be a reason why she would be this pissed off at this guy and that woman. Even so however, this entire situation reminded her WAY too damn much of what had happened at Lastation for her to NOT feel something. She may have stressed that a bit too much during her time here, but she couldn't help it, she kept getting reminded of that damned infected outbreak! It's like when people constantly remind you that you're a piece of shit and nobody cares about you, even though they do it so casually cause they think it doesn't effect you!

No, not this time. She wouldn't let them suffer like this any longer, even if they didn't necessarily believe in her. She didn't even try to deny it at this point, and if she were asked then she'd say it honestly! Black Heart, CPU of Lastation, would NOT let this injustice stand! NO! NEVER AGAIN!

SHE WOULD NEVER LET INJUSTICE GO UNPUNISHED EVER AGAIN!

SHINE!

Just then, out of the corner of her eyes, did Black Heart notice a faint golden shine. It came from the crater in which Stefan's remains (something she REALLY didn't want to think about since she'd go green if she did) were buried in by that swordsman. Glancing at the battle, then at her fellow attack chargers, the Lastation CPU saw nobody was eyeing her, and so she carefully floated over to his remains and leaned her neck forwards, allowing her to peer down the crater… and there she saw it: Ashbringer.

The sword that Stefan himself wielded up until his demise. It lay there, motionless, by the side of what remained of it's former master. The Sword looked to be a two-handed cleaver falchion, a bladed weapon that also had a striking resemblance to a Machete. The blade itself had this 'L' shaped guard above the segmented hilt, whilst the blade itself had various carvings engraved into the blade's flat sides. Near the tip though, was the glowing 'core' that housed holy energy. Energy that Black Heart could feel resonated greatly with her for some reason.

'I get the feeling that the Author somehow forgot to describe the blade when it first appeared…' she thought to herself, before groaning as she shook her head in derision. 'Great, now Im starting to think like Neptune…' Pushing those troubling thoughts aside for the time being, Black Heart lowered herself down the crater till she reached the bottom, where she kneeled beside the glowing sword.

Was it… calling her?

But, didn't this sword only let those whom were worthy hold that blade? That was what she assumed about it when she had asked Nico about it once during their talks about the Hellverse. According to him, the Ashbringer was a Holy Sword created long ago by the original Founder of the Spec Ops Program, in fact it was said that the sword was actually his main weapon for the duration of his lifetime. He'd even told her that the man's name, something Noire had been searching for, for a large amount of time, was Alexandros Mograine: whom had been one of the leaders of a group of warriors, the original Spec Ops Agents whom got coined with the name 'Silver Hand' whilst being the original wielder of the Ashbringer.

Back then, Mograine had envisioned a sword that would not lose to any other, one extremely effective against anything unholy such as Demonic or Undead-related magics, whilst also having a greater effect against monsters. He used a combination of Lowee Magic (taken from what had been 'borrowed' by the military families), Leanbox weapon crafting, Lastation Engineering and Planeptune Technology to create a sword that constantly generates a powerful holy energy. An energy that was born from the human's will to survive the toughest trials, to stand against the toughest odds. That blade literally had humanity's will to survive in it, something which Noire had no trouble believing. It was said that the process would have been easier had he used what faith that remained in the CPUs to make it, however to him it went against the Spec Op core Ideology: that they make their own paths regardless of the CPUs actions or not. It would only become Holy due to the changes it went through across the passage of time, not to mention the sheer reverence every Spec Ops Agent worth his salt had for the blade.

During the blade's development, it was imbued with not only the powers it now displayed, but also the very ESSENCE of the original Spec Ops Founder upon him finally entering his deathbed. Thus, it was partially sentient, enough to choose those of humanity whom are worthy enough to wield it. So far, it only chose those of the Ostermark Order as they embodied the very will to survive that Humanity possessed.

So… why was it calling HER? Why not someone HUMAN?

She wasn't a human, she was a Goddess: the very being whom the Spec Ops Founder had aspired not to follow. It shouldn't have been able to call her since she didn't have the same values as the members of the Ostermark Order. This blade literally, in essence, was the embodiment of the core beliefs of the Spec Ops Community, what the original Agents were meant to have been like back in their time. Unfortunately, the Spec Ops of today's society had barely ANY of the original willpower, determination and pride that they had in their prime, no longer were they any of that but a shadow of their former selves. Especially the ones who didn't get in out of their own merit and merely used their connections to bypass the entrance exams.

This, one could say that the Ostermark Order, they were the sole family whom upheld the original values that the first Spec Ops Agents had, thus they would be the ones that Ashbringer would call their wielders.

Therefore, why it was calling to her utterly baffled and confused the hell out of her.

Glancing over to Stefan's remains however, and her thoughts became silent once again. As if the moment she saw them, her brain just said, 'you know what, fuck it' and just let it all happen. Her breathing calmed down, and her body lost its tension, allowing the blade's allure to take hold. Black Heart's gaze hardened. She didn't know why the blade would be calling her, nor did she understand how it worked. However, if it could help her get enough power to store into Balmung to then use a powerful TWILIGHT WAVE, then who would she be to complain?

Plus, she would get to give this blade a chance to avenge it's fallen master. Noire may not know Stefan, but she DID know the Spec Ops Agents. She had looked into them, and as such she had spent time with them. There were indeed many whom failed to embody their core principals, many whom had forgotten what it truly meant to be a Spec Ops Agent: to survive and fight against all the odds, to survive them and live to tell the tale. That was what they should be, and whilst many didn't embody this like their ancestors, there were STILL a notable few, in Lastation, Planeptune AND Leanbox who DID. Leanbox may be a land of martial pride and honor, but that didn't mean that others from different lands weren't just as capable.

With that thought process, a small smirk formed on Black Heart's lips, her eyes shining with vengeful wrath as she reached for the blade's hilt, intending to pick it up. Just as her hand hovered over the hilt the blackette CPU gulped, a part of her wondering what kind of affects her next actions would cause. However, she pushed that part away from her for the time being whilst tightening her lips and other features, until she firmly grasp the sword's handle with the strength of a determined warrior. Once she grasped the handle, the sword seemed to 'light up' from her hand's presence, the symbols along it's blade proceeding to glow a similarly golden colour to the energy of it's core. Said core also sparking like crazy as if it were a console being activated after a long time of remaining silent. "Alright then, you. I don't know WHY you're calling me, but right now I'll just go with it. Let's go and avenge your master." She whispered to it, and the sword almost seemed to tremble in excitement. As if it understood what she really wanted from the blade, beneath everything else. Not a second later though, did she feel something like a warm light wash over her, and in that second, Black Heart felt it:

Ashbringer had chosen her as its next wielder…

Probably the first time that had happened in… well, ever.

* * *

In that moment, Okada's hairs stood on end when he felt something wash over him. Something which caused his eyes to widen slightly in surprise before he turned to the source with an arched brow. 'What the…?' he wondered, curiosity flowing through him like blood. Why the fuck did his body react this way? He knew down to the first glance at his body that he had been revived as an undead, and as an undead one would be vulnerable to divine-based attacks. Something which only those floating ladies possessed aside from Guts. Their weapons would be highly effective against undead, so if he got scratched by them it would be equal to a moderate-level injury.

Not to mention, that cute-looking white wearing girl who floated above them also had a divine tint to her energy, and it felt like an offshoot of the Share Energy that powered the CPUs themselves. However, Okada didn't know the extent of her powers since she had largely stayed out of the conflict, although she primarily felt like a support type of person, similar to those magic casters he had slaughtered that one time when Lowee decided to be all cocky and invade them… well, one of the many times they got cocky, just like the other three Nations. He hoped that there were also different forms of her powers, cause she just seemed like the type of chick he'd bang if she were a hooker.

The only other weapon in their arsenal that would have just as great a chance at damaging them seemed to be that sword that old geezer used. Apparently just looking at that sword sent icy cold chills of death down his undead body's spine, though he had no idea why. He'd been able to ignore it for a while though, simply because the difference in skill between them was just that great. Even Stefan seemed to be aware of this, especially with how he reacted to just hearing his name (it felt pretty good, hearing how he was remembered in such a way). If he had the same kind of skill that Okada did, then he would have been much more dangerous opponent to fight.

That would have been so much fun.

Though, it didn't actually mean they would defeat him, as he'd worked with similar conditions back when he was truly alive.

He wasn't the only one either, as Purple Heart and Green Heart also felt it, whilst IF's nerves shot into overdrive. Although the CPUs themselves didn't really have much of a negative reaction to this energy, heck it's nature seemed so similar to Share Energy, but not at the same time. It was like it was both holy in nature, but not exactly in the same way that Share Energy was. It actually felt similar to Compa's Spirit Mana, said girl having stayed afloat and away from the battle, though just as with the other girls she had been one step away from switching to Metatron and unleashing a heavy shower of light attacks from her Angel. The CPUs each responded with looks of supreme shock, confusion and worry as they looked around, trying to pinpoint the source whilst trying to keep up with their task of charging their attacks for their plan.

Finally, his eyes along with everyone else's, found themselves landing on the source: Black Heart herself.

The CPU floated in front of the crater, glaring heavily towards Stefan's murderer with fiery wrath in her draconian eyes. In one hand, she held Balmung which looked to be absorbing the energy that Ashbringer was radiating just from its aura alone. Not only that, but the energy filled the sword up much faster, and if her senses were right this energy felt way more compatible with boosting Balmung's potential power output than if she used her own Share Energy. Speaking of Ashbringer, the sword rested in her other hand, constantly pulsating with a golden holy aura, an aura that covered her entire body whilst mixing with the energy she naturally radiated, making this mix between silver and gold. Mix that with the bestial presence she radiated, and Black Heart looked like a cross between divinity and pure bestial prowess.

It helped that she had activated LIGHT DRIVE, discovering that Stefan's skills came from the blade itself, not his own. As a result, she had her body's speed and agility enhanced more than her other parameters, thus combined with her HDD… yeah, her body felt like it was on a heavy high right now.

Just what she would need to take this asshole down.

"Alright, let's get this over with, shall we?" Black Heart suggested, a slight coy smile forming on her lips whilst she flew forwards with Balmung being swung at his face. Okada blocked it easily enough, ignoring the instinctual fear his undead body expressed thanks to it being around that other sword. Speaking of said sword, it also came down on him from the opposite diagonal angle. Sidestepping that swing, Okada made to slash at her back…

"DIVINE SHIELD!"

With the activation of DIVINE SHIELD however, the attack got deflected by the barrier of golden energy, which allowed her to activate ZANDATASU to twirl around to swing at his head again. Okada however, jumped straight backwards to avoid it, whilst Black Heart glanced to her comrades. "You guys keep doing whatever it is you're doing, I'll help keep him distracted!" she bellowed… before she charged back into battle. Not to mention, was it just them, or did a silhouette of Stefan appear behind her when she did that?

Black Heart didn't bother with that though, as she jumped into a sausage spin whilst twisting into a double slash with Ashbringer, then Balmung. The first one Okada smirked as he leaned backwards to dodge, then he hopped over the second strike and delivered a split kick to her face, knocking Black Heart back as he landed and dashed towards her, intending to slam into her and knock her down.

Before that happened however, Black Heart managed to recover and throw out a DIVINE SHIELD, and Okada quickly responded by jumping over it, and by extension her. She made to slash hims head several times whilst he was in the air, but Okada either weaved around the strikes or parried them with his sword, landing behind her and making to slash at her neck.

Instincts screamed at him though, and the Swordsman jumped back to avoid the business end of Dragonslayer, and then he began parrying several strikes from IF's organic blades. The brunette then turned towards Black Heart, whom nodded in her direction whilst Guts narrowed his eyes at their opponent, making sure that he couldn't do anything.

"Wanna gut this guy with me?"

"Sure, lets go."

Then, the trio gave a loud, unified war cry, each of them coming in from different angles: Black Heart from the left, IF from the right and Guts from the front. All the while, the swordsman raised a brow at this development. "Coming at me in different angles to try and exploit any openings, huh? Well, I'll get behind that." Okada spoke before he laughed joyously as he held his sword in his stance while making the 'come' gesture. "Hahahahaha, alright then ladies, bring it!" he exclaimed.

Black Heart went first as she launched a dual swords combo much similar to Purple Heart's CROSS COMBINATION Skill, mixing up the slashes with either Ashbringer or Balmung. 'Wielding two swords like this...' the white haired woman thought, idly glancing to her blades whilst she slashed, before jumping into an overhead slam which Okada blocked, the ground beneath him cracking from the impact. 'It feels like i'm using two of my original CPU swords at the same time... the weight feels fairly balanced too...' she thought further as she narrowed her eyes at her opponent. "IF, go!"

"With pleasure!" the brunette exclaimed as she dashed beneath the Lastation CPU who used Okada's sword as a springboard to jump high into the air and away from him, all the while IF spun like a tornado and slammed her right blade into him... if it weren't for Okada's sword getting in the way that is. 'Geez, just what the heck is that thing made of?' she wondered, before she flipped sideways to avoid a particularly strong upward slash which sent one of those wind gusts, causing another fissure on the ground. Her arms then morphed into more forms, allowing her to swing her right one, which became her Axammer at her enemy's head whilst she flicked her left arm backwards when it formed her whip, allowing her to flick it upwards into a sweep towards Okada's legs.

Said man however, blocked the first swing, then he used the sole of his right leg's sandal to kick the Whip away from him, and once he did that the man slid his sword down and chopped through IF's arms, both of them that the same time... whilst also slicing through her torso, abdomen and severing her limbs. Gasps of pain escaped her as she fell to the ground, slamming into it with a heavy THUD. Okada twirled around though, previous experience showed him that those wounds would be easy for her to recover from... so he made to finish her off by stabbing her through the head.

Before his blade could pierce the back of her skull though, what remained of her back suddenly erupted into Tendrils, each one wrapping around his sword and tossing him away from her. 'Heh, I guess she can defend no matter which body part I cut. I guess i'll cut her into molecules next time then.' Okada thought, stabbing his sword into the ground to halt his movements. Only, when he did the man noticed a shadow looming over him and thus, promptly sidestepped a swing from Guts' dragonslayer. He didn't have much time to react, only a second or so before Guts erupted into a slashing fest towards him, swinging that large blade around like it was as light as a feather.

"Hoh, my you've got some arm strength, it seems. Though, I guess that;s to be expected from a guy with your build." Okada mused, thoughtfully. "Not to mention that Armour leaves little areas for me to get at your real body. However..." after he had deflected one of the many slashes aimed his path, Odaka quickly slid through Guts' defenses, shoulder bashing him and knocking him down. "Doesn't mean I have no options, a genius always has more than one trick!" he shouted, already making to finish him off with a clean beheading.

A second before that happened however, he retracted his blade in order to parry Ashbringer and Balmung. Sliding to a halt once more, Okada looked to see Black Heart glaring at him, causing the man to smile. "Why the long face, cutie? You're much hotter when you're grinning," he mused, chuckling at the slight falter that he saw when Black Heart angrily blushed at the comment.

"Shut up!" the white haired woman yelled as she glanced at Balmung's jewel. She could have been blinded by how much the jewel glowed though, that was just how much energy had been condensed with the blade, provided by Ashbringer which she had placed on her back so she had both hands on her original blade. Just as she made to unleash a TWILIGHT WAVE however...

 _Position... wrong..._

'Huh?'

For a moment, Black Heart blinked when she heard a fairly deep, masculine voice echo from within the depths of her mind. 'What the? Who was...?' Black Heart began to think.

 _Position... wrong... must... change..._

Once again, the white haired CPU heard the voice deep within her mind, only this time it sounded a bit clearer than before. It reminded her of a cage made from static, the voice gradually getting stronger by breaking through that static. Not to mention, when she DID hear the voice for the fifth time, her eyes widened all the more when a vision assaulted her mind...

* * *

A man, dressed like her with similar hair and style...

A woman, dressed in white and red Armour whilst holding a large sword...

The man holds his sword, one which looked disturbingly familiar, in front of him with his left hand beneath his right, pointing the blade up towards the heavens.

"Rise, my sword!"

The man speaks, much too similar to the voice in her mind.

Was that him?

His hands clutch around the hilt, and the blade is suddenly engulfed in a blue pillar of a mix between flames and pure energy, one that shot up into the heavens above and split the clouds.

The woman also mirrored his actions, and a RED light erupted from her sword.

Both swords, brilliant and pure, slammed down onto each other, and all went white.

* * *

Again, Black Heart blinked owlishly as she regained her mental clarity and returned to reality.

'What... the hell? What was that?'

Whilst wondering that, Black Heart's gaze fell upon Balmung, and upon doing so, she soon got treated to the sight of seeing it being held in the exact same position she had seen in her vision. How the heck was that a thing?

'No, don't think about that for now, Black Heart, cause right now you have an enemy to defeat! Balmung's been charged and readied, so if this position helps to even the odds...'

With that in mind, Black Heart's anger ebbed away from her, forming a sense of clarity which tempered and controlled the rage inside, giving it a purpose and changing it from a wild crimson flame to a calm blue one. Opening her eyes once more, the CPU of Lastation aimed a determined glare towards the other swordsman.

Now, or never...!

"I'm gonna enjoy this. Now... rise, my sword!"

Clutching the sword's hilt, Black Heart yelled that command out and hoped for the best. She put everything she had into the blade, hoping that it would respond...

and respond, it did.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

In that instant, a HUGE torrent of multi colored energy erupted from the blade, a mix of blue and gold that constantly crackled with matching electricity as the torrent shot up into the heavens above. Beneath her feet, the ground cracked and a small crater formed from the rush and impact that the torrent created upon eruption. Not to mention, the faint sound of a dragon's roar sounded throughout the entire Dungeon... no, the entire CONTINENT.

'Whoa!' Black Heart shouted in her mind, almost losing her balance from the eruption of power that escaped from Balmung. She almost dropped the blade, just barely hanging on when that power exploded upwards. 'Geez, that voice wasn't kidding!' she screamed further whilst closing one eye and gritting her teeth. She'd even widened her stance so she could retain her balance, that was just how much she nearly fell from he eruption's impact. 'This... This is way more than what I usually bring out!'

"N-Noire!"

Eyes shooting open, Black Heart glanced to her rear flanks, noticing both Green Heart and Purple Heart staring at her with shock. The former had her Gungnir ready for throwing, whilst the latter looked to have gotten into a stance where her legs were bent and she was making to thrust her blade forwards. Not to mention the violent, savage and yet divine aura that coated the blade. Just by feeling their power, Black Heart felt like those weapons matched hers in terms of power output. Pushing those thoughts from her mind, Black Heart gave them a determined stare as she opened her mouth. "I'm alright! I'm ready to attack, how about you two?!" she yelled.

Her words served to snap them out of their stupors though, something which made them nod in response, confirming without words that they too were ready for the next attack.

"Compa! Could you let the others know too?!"

"Got it, Lady Noire! Iffy, Guts-Guts, hurry! Please move, we're ready!"

Upon Compa's yell, which was made on Black Heart's orders, both IF and Guts (who almost grimaced at the apparent Nickname that the Spirit Girl had given him), quickly looked to each other, nodded and broke away from the swordsman, somewhat catching Okada off guard. However, that didn't t remain so for long... as Okada noticed the three attacks ready to be aimed at him. His eyes widened in surprise at this, as he held his sword in a ready stance. "Whoa there, those are some pretty big attacks there!" he exclaimed... before a grin of bloodlust spread across his face whilst his other emotions vanished like they weren't even real. "Alrightie then, i'll take this bet! Now, HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOTS, LADIES!"

"Alright then! Come Soul Calibur! ARCHONIC CONVERGENCE!"

"Bring it! Balmung! TWILIGHT WAVE!"

"You'll regret those words! PIERCE HIM, GUNGNIR!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

In that moment, Black Heart brought down Balmung, Gungnir was thrown towards it's target and Soul Calibur released ARCHONIC CONVERGENCE, one of it's strongest attacks. It was basically a high-density laser beam, colored the same blue as her crystal powers, but with the power to pierce through an entire mountain (She knew this cause she'd checked on the tallest Mountain in Leanbox. Even today, nobody knew how a hole had suddenly appeared in their largest mountains out of nowhere). Even so, it could still be empowered further by Demonic Energy, but Share Energy wouldn't work. Likely because Share Energy was so different from Demonic Energy, so yeah.

But even so, it all ended up in an explosion that was so big, it took out the entire Dungeon. As in, everything that was once Halo Mountain vanished out of existence whilst the attacks collided with their target, reducing everything to a deep, wide crater. large enough that it could fit the entirety of the Dungeon within it's gaping maw. Fortunately, Isaac wouldn't be around the area as he had, once Compa had vanished, pulled out his Eject Button given to every Spec Ops Agent and had himself warp to the nearest village for treatment. As of that moment, only Compa, IF, the three CPUs and Guts remained of the original group. Smoke, heat and energy roared from within, and if any of them were normal humans their skin would have been melted off their bones from the amount of raw heat and energy emitted by the explosion.

"#PANT#... #PANT#... #PANT#..."

Heavy breathing sounds filled the air, as each of the three CPUs soon became visible thanks to the smoke quickly beginning to vanish. First, Purple Heart appeared, and she looked like she had seen better days. Exhaustion and fatigue raged within her body, forcing her to intake a huge amount of air into her windpipe to satisfy her aching lungs. Sweat rolled down her forehead like waterfalls, whilst if her suit were any normal suit it would have clung uncomfortably to her body from all the sticky sweat which her body would have been adorned in. She still hovered in the air though, still retaining enough energy to keep herself afloat whilst also remaining transformed. 'Looks like... I managed... to preserve some energy after all...' she thought to herself.

Next, Black Heart, and she looked similar to Purple Heart, but unlike her fellow CPU she looked to have fallen onto the ground whilst remaining on all fours. Balmung lay horizontally on the ground before her, sweat dripping from her head whilst he bangs clung to her from the dampness. Not to mention that Ashbringer on her back felt much heavier than normal, likely due to her lack of energy. Also unlike Purple Heart, Black Heart could no longer remain in human form, and thus promptly reverted back to Noire. "G-Geez... that was..." she tried to say, but soon the urge to regain lost air took over and stopped her attempts.

"I... I must agree... with you there, Noire..."

Glancing over to the source of that feminine mature vice, Noire noticed that Vert looked to be in the same position she was, with Gungnir at her side on the ground. Most of it's power looked to have been expended, leaving her in her human form. As Vert, the blonde woman was kneeling on one leg like the knights that guarded her Basilicom did when being summoned by Noblemen or herself. She had one hand on the ground whilst the other lay atop her knee, for support purposes. "We just... used three consecutive big attacks... in tandem with each other..." She explained, panting heavily whilst she surveyed their desolate surroundings. "Seeing all this destruction... it is to be expected... from such an outcome."

"Yeah, you said it."

"Although we were almost consumed by the blast as well. Thanks for the assist, Mrs IF."

"No prob."

Both IF and Guts walked over to them, the former having equipped her Armour whilst the latter had Dragonslayer leaning on his shoulder. Each CPU had varying relieved expressions once they noticed the two being alright, like several weights having been lifted from their shoulders. Not to mention how, when they sensed Spirit Mana, they each looked up to see Compa descending down to them with Metatron floating around her. A huge grin was on her face when she saw that the others looked marginally okay considering what had happened.

"Iffy! Nep-Nep! Lady Noire and Vert and Guts-Guts! You're all okay too!"

"We are fine, Compa. Tell us, how did you survive the ensuing explosion? Also, is miser Isaac ok?"

"He's fine, I noticed him use that eject button thing a lot of Agents from the Guild use, so he got a clean getaway. As for me, I just used Metatron's teleporting power to escape the attack. That attack by the way, looked REALLY strong!"

"Of course." Vert interjected into Purple Heart and Compa's simple conversation, all the while looking at the spot in the centre, which would be were the attacks had impacted. Her eyes narrowed as well when she managed to muster the strength to pick up the nearly powerless Gungnir and stand on her own two feet."It was the culmination of three of our strongest blows. Something like this, it is to be expected although I do not know if this would be comparable to what happened at the end of the Hellverse incident."

IF could only weakly chuckle, knowing EXACTLY what she was referring too. Those weapons combined destroyed an entire dungeon, which is a pretty amazing feet to begin with. But, that moment at the prime of the Hellverse incident didn't lose out to it in terms of sheer power and potential for destruction. "I'd drink to that, but there aren't any taverns near here."

Compa merely smiled weakly as she disengaged her transformation, reverting to her human outfit whilst she walked over to Noire, and offered a hand to help her stand. "Iffy sounds like she's done with everything..."

"I don't blame her..." A groan came from Noire who reluctantly accepted the offer, grasping onto Compa's hand and allowing her to help pull the CPU up to her feet. Normally she wouldn't accept such help, as it would be beneath her pride and stature as a Goddess, however A: she had very little energy left even as she picked up Balmung and dismissed it. And B: Compa was a being tat was on a similar level to the Goddesses, in addition to her being someone she could call tolerable, so it felt a little more bearable to let her help. "I'd like to retire back to my hotel room and sleep for a week."

Vert allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips at the other girls comments as she herself dismissed Gungnir. "Well, when we return, once we settle everyone's nerves as they will have likely heard the destruction from here, I will make it so we can rest easy. Especially with the defeat of that one pervert." she remarked, slightly narrowing her eyes at the end there.

Purple Heart nodded her head in agreement, not just with the thought of relaxing, but also with the comment about Okada as well. "I agree. As cocky as he was, it was his casual comments about us that rubbed myself the wrong way. This body can only handled by myself and my hubby after all..."

"SO! You're already taken huh? Well, far be it for me to try and take another man's girl, i'd say!"

...

...

...

...

...

...

Everyone became silent, tensing up like they had been frozen into a block of ice together when they heard a voice belonging to someone whom they had ASSUMED to be dead, ring through the atmosphere. The arrogant tone, the cockiness and the slightly perverse intent behind it... none of them could mistake that voice for anything else.

Looking to the centre of the crater, the smoke there got swiped away by Okada Izou himself... and he looked just as fine as he always did. Little to no injury, minus some areas of his clothes being scorched to nothingness, he looked like nothing had ever happened to him... kind of weird, considering he was an undead being right now. The man looked himself over whilst dusting off his clothes, picking up his sword which stood embedded into the ground beside him. "That was a pretty strong attack there ladies, and your friends did a good job of keeping me away from you so I couldn't stop them." he complimented, and at that point the cockiness he had previously shown them was nowhere to be heard within his voice. Like he had been genuinely impressed by their efforts. "I'll admit, if you were facing anyone else, that attack might have actually worked. After all, its not every day that an undead warrior experiences so much holy energy being aimed at him. Sadly for you all, it was me who was your opponent. Shame this isn't my original body though, cause if it was then I would have only needed to use about 50% of my power to take that strike instead of 55%."

"Oh stuff it, you." Conversation soon spoke, stepping towards the swordsman from behind whilst crossing her arms in front of her. Just like him, she too looked largely unaffected by that attack which destroyed this entire Dungeon. In fact, they had almost forgotten that she had even been here, since she remained quiet throughout this whole battle. "You should be grateful that he chose to bring you back at all, if he didn't think of where you'd be."

Okada merely chuckled to himself whilst grinning at the scolding tone that the woman carried in her voice. "Aw come on, lassie. Pretty sure I saw the look of amusement a few times during that battle, you LIKED watching me have fun with them you battle pervert you." he responded with a teasing grin, causing the woman to blanch at him.

"B-B-BATTLE PERVERT?!" She shrieked, almost like the sounds the Banshees Purple Heart, IF and Compa had encountered back in Planeptune made when enraged. However, before she could do anything she might regret like try to strangle the annoyance before her, Conversation calmed herself down with some breathing techniques, before she looked over to the rest of the Party and smirked. "Well, all things considered, think of this as a compliment, for to last as long as you have against this guy, you all should be proud." she stated. "And as such, I only feel it is right to reward you with a little something."

With those words, confusion spared within the Party as to the meaning of those words. Whilst Okada looked at her like he didn't expect her to say or do this, he remained quiet as the woman pulled that transforming cliche movie villains did when unveiling their true identity (something Purple Heart and the others would agree with him on should he have said anything)...

To reveal a familiar face to some of the girls.

"Hey! you're that woman from back then!" Purple Heart exclaimed, eyes wide with recognition once she saw her. Same witch outfit, same hat, same hair and old looking appearance... even though she looked to be in her 20's like Vert did...

On her end, the witch-like woman just smirked deviously, a black nailed hand on her hip. "Hah, Conversation is my fake form, you brat." she sneered at Planeptune's CPU.

'Huh? Did I hear this right...?' Noire thought to herself, narrowing her eyes in confusion whilst an equally confused Vert glanced over to Purple Heart, a slightly suspicious look forming in her eyes. "You... know who she is?" she asked carefully.

Her answer soon came, but from Compa instead of the target of her question, said girl nodding in response whilst actual anger rolled off her frame in waves. She remembered this person VERY well, thank you very much. "Yes. She's a bad person who made a Banshee Dungeon and killed lots of people." she explained, causing Noire and Vert to go wide eyed at the name of THAT particular Abnormal. They'd heard various rumors about those creatures, and none of them were good. If what Compa said had been true...

"Consider your beat-down a repayment from last time. It will NEVER happen again." the woman spoke darkly, summoning her Glaive once more. The three main girls each shuddered from repressed anger at the sight of this woman, a feat which became harder to achieve when she formed her weapon, too. Especially when they recalled what it had done, or almost done, to one of their own. Turning her eyes over to the glaring Vert however, the woman's smirk turned downright nasty. "Though it was quite amusing to see a powerless Goddess on life support flail herself about like that. You looked like a child throwing a temper tantrum."

She then chuckled as the woman's look grew ever fiercer at the demeaning insult. "Now then, let us finish this round off. Servant, if you would." The woman commanded, turning around whilst floating away from the scene to leave Okada alone to finish the job he had been summoned for. "I grow tired of looking at their pathetic selves, so do as you were summoned to do and finish them."

At this, Okada gave a nod, a disappointed sigh escaping his lips. "Wow, what a buzzkill. And I had been willing to go all out too. That fight was just too fun..." he mused to himself, before looking to the girls with a 'what can you do?' look on his face. "Whelp, looks like the lady's spoken. I'll make sure to end you all swiftly, cause you DID give me one hell of a good fight just now." he remarked, grinning slightly as he made to dash forwards.

Since the CPUs were unable to move or do much thanks to their weakened states, IF, Guts and Compa quickly got in his way. The first two stood in front of the three CPUs, with the former wielding an Axammer/shield combo with her Armour whilst the latter held Dragonslayer in a two-handed stance similar to the one Okada had mimicked this entire time. For the latter, she re-took her Astral Dress, summoned Metatron and took to the skies, glaring down at the swordsman with rebellion in their eyes.

Just by their stares alone, the man understood their intentions, causing him to smirk. "Well, i'll commend you for your loyalty at least. You all have some guts to stand up for your defeated comrades, though it won't change anything in the end. Your friends weren't able to damage me one bit on their own, what makes you all any different?"

"Well, we're still here, aren't we?" IF retorted with her signature snark, chuckling behind her Helmet. Nobody who knew her would expect her to leave this battle, and even if she wanted to she wouldn't. The reason: Her BOW instincts refused to let her leave this battle, instead they urged her to fight on. Her regeneration would help her stay alive a little, and she had about 60% of her original reserves left. If she hadn't assimilated so many beings in the Demonic Invasion, she most certainly would have died during this battle. "That has to count for something."

Guts snorted himself. "I'd never turn my back against an opponent." he stated and that would be the end of that with him. Nothing would convince him to lower his sword. The way of the sword was his life, there would be nothing that could change that. He would remain a warrior for all time.

Compa herself had a similar expression on her face as the Black Swordsman. "I'd never agree to something as mean as leaving my friends for dead!" she spat, aiming Metatron's pillars at her opponent and readying them for combat. This would not be easy, this was something she knew. She'd only stick to ranged support right now, as using Gabriel would likely have little effect on Okada even if she increased her allies' capabilities. Restricting him would do no good either, as Isaac's Stasis attempt showed her.

"Heh, well ain't that noble of you all? I guess this fight still has some fun for me yet, even if I have to kill ya. Oh well, let's-"

"OI! GET THE **FUCK** AWAY FROM THEM!"

All of a sudden, everyone blinked when a loud, ferocious voice suddenly boomed across the area. "Huh? What was...?" Before Okada could finish, something bright and orange came crashing down into the centre of the crater, filling everything with orange. At the moment of impact, the roaring of something inhuman raged throughout the area, filling the air with an intense pressure that almost crushed everyone within it's vicinity alive. Not to mention the sheer level of Demonic Power being absolutely ENORMOUS, to the point of where it rivaled titanic proportions. Plus, it felt significantly... cleaner, if that was a way to describe it. It felt cleaner as in it's power felt much better in quality not just in quantity.

"What the... what the fuck is happening here...?"

Whilst Okada muttered that under his breath, the white haired witch quickly widened her eyes, recognition and shock filling her features as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. It was all she could do to suppress the level of panic that coursed through her the SECOND that energy erupted into the atmosphere, not to mention the black and red flames that coursed over the entire crater which felt much more refined than what Maghda had once told her. 'No... this cannot be! HE is back?! HOW?!' She raged in her mind.

* * *

"Oh?"

The masculine figure (whom had retreated away from the Dungeon before the blast so he escaped it) mused to himself when he sensed a powerful surge of Demonic Power. He sat on the edge of the crater, facing the girls' rears. If he wanted he could have blown a few sharp spikes into their backs and ended it all, but instead he waited to see what would happen.

He certainly didn't feel disappointed.

"This power... its not the same as the one I kept sensing earlier. In fact, it seems that the previous one has flown elsewhere, leaving this one to come instead. Its strange though, for it seems to be much like a DPU... wait a minute, I know this energy signature... Its not something I couldn't recognize, it's Sparda's! But how?! How can... oh, I see. SO, it seems that HE has returned, alive and empowered in more ways than one. Sparda's Champion... the one who will inherit his power, and perhaps his bloodline in the future."

* * *

Back in the crater's center...

The flames began to subside whilst the energy vanished out of existence, leaving steam to rise from the source as brilliant, fiery wings emerged from within. They spread themselves out as if to say 'hey ya'll! I'm here!' whilst proudly displaying fiery embers that singed the ground around them. The intensity of those wings almost blew everyone back along with the brief gust of wind which followed their movements, especially the weakened CPUs. However, they didn't and because of their endurance, each of them got rewarded to the sight of someone hey had NEVER in their minds expected to see out here.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?! NICO?!"

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **If anyone is upset at the cliffhangers coming left and right, I apologize. Its just how the story has been writing itself for me, but rest assured that I've been building up chapters so I can release them when its the right time.**

 **In any case, this shows that to those who have the Fate Veteran skill, that i'm trying to portray Okada Izou as a cocky, arrogant yet honorable (sort of) warrior who loves too fight, has a perverted side like a lot of men did in his time, and isn't a complete asshole. After all, I have plans for this guy, and I hope you all appreciate just how much of a hardass he was for being able to bring the girls down to this state with only simple swordplay. SIMPLE SWORDPLAY everyone.**

 **Hope to see you in the next chapter!**

 **Peace out!**


	145. Chapter 142 - Nico's Awakening

**Chapter 142 - Nico's Awakening**

Darkness…

That was all he knew, for how long he didn't know. The concept of time had long since left him at this point, but he didn't care.

To him, darkness was cold…

Darkness was dark…

But most of all, it was comforting.

The Darkness took away everything that chained him down, everything that caused himself any form of negative emotion: fear, confusion, doubt, worry, anxiety and any other negative feeling he had been exposed to over the course of his lifetime. He felt sure that this darkness had an effect unlike any other time that he had been exposed to such, for not only did it not freak him out, but it made him feel…

Whole.

To be perfectly frank, a large part of him wanted to stay within this blissful oblivion, to remain unaware of everything around him and cling to this sense of peace. This peace that he had no idea how much he needed. It made him feel calm, it made him feel safe, secure and sure of himself, for the first time ever in his long existence. He didn't know what his expression right now was, but he was willing to bet that it was one of peaceful, tranquil comfort. Of happiness in the knowledge that he had no clue on what was happening, that he didn't need to know.

…

…

…

…

…

…

But then, everything changed.

What he had forgotten to consider returned to the forefront of his mind. Every memory he had, both the good and the bad, each of them returned to the depths of his consciousness. Everything played itself through his mind like a recording, filling his mind, body and soul with it's sight. He recalled everything that made him who he was, the hardships, the darkness that he kept inside, the evils that he had seen, the evils he had done in his lifetime… not to mention the good things as well. The people he had managed to save through those evil deeds, the people he had met and had managed to protect from harm. The amount of satisfaction he had felt whenever killing those who caused harm to others, of being the monster that killed other monsters. He recalled how he had met a group of wonderful girls whom he had sworn to cherish for the rest of his existence, how he even rescued one of them from a nasty place whilst vowing that he would keep those allies whom he'd ran into alive. He remembered the resolve, the determination to face his demons and use them to keep those he considered comrades safe, free from any danger that would come to them whilst ensuring that only he may bare those burdens. He was a monster after all, and monsters didn't deserve happiness.

It was these thoughts that caused him to regain what he was and who he was as a person…

And just like that he didn't want to be in this darkness anymore.

He wanted out.

No, he NEEDED to get out.

There was too much at stake here for him to be just lounging about like a lazy bum (he knew someone who did that enough already), there were too many things for him to do, too many people he had to see. In the end, there was simply no time for him to be just lounging around here, not when he had to get back into the world and show it just what happens when you mess with someone like him.

When one messes with the bull, they get the horn, as the saying went.

In that moment of clarity, he saw a bright light start shining before him. It looked so small at first, but as he looked towards it he realized that was just cause it seemed to be so far away. Nothing that he couldn't handle, most definitely. He'd handled way worse a trouble than something as minor as distance. He would make it to that light, and as such, for the first time since waking up in this darkness, he let loose a battle howl similar to an animal. All the while his legs bent like springs coiling themselves, his upper body leaning forth… until he burst into a mad sprint. He didn't care to note anything else, just focused on his sole objective: get to that light. The light which would lead him up to that outside world he craved so much.

That didn't mean his journey would go unhindered however, as many beings made from the shadow and the dark tried to claw at him, to stop him from running to the light. They wanted him to remain in the safe confines of the dark, to remain in blissful ignorance. Well, that wasn't going to fly, not one bit. A hot, fiery flame of rage began to course through him, manifesting around him to protect him from the darkness spawns. Those things DARED to think they could restrain him? HIM?! Preposterous! No way would he let that happen, not when he was still needed!

The Monster was still needed!

It was only a couple seconds, but he managed to reach that light despite the hands futilely trying to grab him, and the moment he reached out to touch it the light shone brighter. It almost acted like it was responding to his presence, and the moment it did, everything he saw turned white.

The time had come…

He was back.

* * *

Opening his eyes faster than any person ever could, Nico let out a sharp, almost cutting-edge gasp. One that ripped through the silence of the space he was in with brutal deadliness. The male quickly shot into an upright position, frantically looking about like one of those paranoid animals when they found themselves in an unknown environment. Heavy, laboured breathing filled his maw and left it, sweat pouring down his forehead whilst he gripped the sheets tightly.

Huh…?

Wait, sheets…?

'What the…?' the male wondered once the fogginess inside his head cleared up, which took a couple moments to do so. However, only confusion took its place as he looked down, noticing that he was indeed in a bed. That explained the softness in his hands, he was holding the sheets that served as blankets in his hands. Looking down also showed him that he was indeed bare on his torso, exposing the trained body that he sported. This only filled him with more questions, questions that according to his senses nobody was around to answer. Therefore, he decided to find those answers himself by gauging his surroundings.

Alright, so far, he knew he was in a bed, but a bed in where? Looking around after lifting up his head, Nico's pursed lips fell open slightly when he saw where the hell he was. This room he found himself in seemed to be a single person room, with a TV opposite to the bed with multiple different consoles, controllers and games for them stacked up neatly around it. To the bed's left, there was a large wardrobe, filled to the brim with unused clothes, and to his right there was a large window with a set of crimson curtains. The walls themselves each had black paint over them, with crimson red flower patterns linked together by spiky thorns. In addition, he recognized the flower type as red spider lilies also known as the equinox flower, it definitely fit his nature in a sick, twisted way. The reason for this was that it, according to those experienced in flower language, referred to it as "the flower of death".

Not a room that screamed 'welcome visitors, have a seat and lets chat!' exactly, but that wasn't something that he found himself concerned with.

He knew this room off by heart at this point, so the moment that he found out his surroundings Nico realized where he was EXACTLY.

'I'm… at the Sanctuary?' The male thought, surprise and shock evident on is face due to the look of extreme bafflement on it. Now that he had answered the question of his location, Nico now had to wonder how the hell he got here, which literally resembled a whole new can of worms to open. 'How did I get here? The last thing I recall is falling unconscious to that strange item in Yvoire's office…' he thought, looking down at his lap. His eyes became pointed whilst he gripped the sheets in confusion. No matter how much he tried however, Nico just couldn't figure out how he had gotten here.

Therefore, he decided to think about something else for now: the vial.

With that in mind, Nico mentally calculated and analysed the situation revolving that thing, what it did to him and how it affected him before he had lost consciousness. It didn't take him long to realize it's nature however, and when he did Nico's rage took a drastic increase. "Poison." He spat angrily, his eyes gaining a distinctly crimson glow as he felt his Demonic Power responding to his anger. The teen didn't bother suppressing it at the moment, however thanks to being alone.

Nico was no stranger to poison, hell he figured that there wasn't anyone within the Spec Ops Community who WAS a stranger to them. Many assassins whom tried to target him during his lifetime, ones whom had been briefed on his true nature (or rather part of it, as in they learned of his high poison resistance) had tried to take him out with a multitude of different poisons. These poisons ranged from paralysis to downright life-threatening ones, depending on how the assassins operated, but their bottom goal would be the same. To take him down and keep themselves safe. Though it never worked thanks to his OTHER side allowing him to adapt to those poisons, thus foiling their attempts and allowing him to track down and kill them in brutal manners in return. As a plus though it allowed his senses to identify all kinds of toxins before they got a chance to enter his system, something that Nico found wholly useful back then. These poisons also were used during his training with Biko to speed up his training and growth, something that produced spectacular results now that he thought about it.

Therefore, this time he had been easily able to deduce that toxin's nature… but that nature also confused the hell out of him.

For one, that poison looked and felt WAY unlike any poison he had ever experienced. Not only did it harm his body, but if he looked at his soul through his mind's eye (a trick he had learned from his DPU Training), Nico discovered that it had sections of it that showed previous damage that had been healed. It was like a big puzzle box that once had cracks in it, something having mended those cracks. In addition to that, the poison itself didn't register on his repertoire of poisons inside his head, and he had learned of quite the few in his lifetime (the hard way mostly), but this one didn't seem to be anywhere in his memory. Therefore, this one seemed to be a whole new poison, not something that he liked to think about. He recalled how DPUs had an ability that lets them make poisons within them and use them as they saw fit. The redhead male had never seen the use of such an ability for a long time, but now that he had been successfully poisoned for the first time in a long while, the male began to wonder about that.

Then, there was what happened to Yvoire, as in what had happened to him? Did the poison affect him too? Did it kill him? He hoped not, the teen still had an appointment with the man for a future date, he couldn't afford to have him dead just yet. Not to mention that there was an even greater matter to ponder, which was how the hell Yvoire had acquired a poison such as that one, a poison not on Nico's repertoire. The male knew the man had a lot of resources and connections, way more than what Nico had to be sure, so maybe he had dug into those and fished this poison out? For ow, Nico would put those questions to rest, since it wasn't likely that he'd get any answers for a long while.

Then, there was to consider what he had missed. Thanks to getting out of his bed and looking upwards, he saw that it was an afternoon judging by what the sun's position was and judging by that position he guessed it was between 5 to 6 PM. 'Well, that's the time done…' the male thought, before looking down at his arms where his Bracers lay. 'How the hell did I not notice these before?' the male wondered, mentally scolding himself for not realizing that he still had his most treasured piece of equipment. Not to mention that he also noticed his Armour Module still on his person.

Lifting his right Bracer, Nico ran his hand along the metal that it was made from, getting used to its feel once more before he activated the holographic screen. When he did, the male looked up the date that he had woken up in, and he almost blanched at what he had found:

2 weeks.

2 FUCKING WEEKS he had been out for.

'What. The. FUCK?!' Nico screamed in his mind, quickly de-activating his Bracer and falling onto his bed, ignoring the sounds of creaking bed strings when he did so. His eyes once again got all wide and filled with confusion, his mind whirling with this new information. He had been out for two whole weeks, from a single dosage of poison… that's just… He couldn't believe it, and yet it was something he had to accept, the evidence placed before him wasn't lying. 'If…. If I've been out for that long… Shit, this is too much!'

He needed more information, he just HAD to know what he had missed during those two weeks. Therefore, Nico dove right back into his Bracers (figuratively not literally), in order to learn of the events that had transpired the last two weeks whilst he was out. What he learned… didn't raise his mood up in the slightest. 'I've missed… a freaking DEMON ARMY ATTACKING THE BASILICOM?! WHAT THE FUCK?! SHIT! DAMNIT, WHAT THE HELL, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!' So much rage coursed through him the more that he had read about the incident…

Even more so when he read about the aftermath of it, and how the Nobles acted. Honestly, he shouldn't be surprised by their disgusting manners, since they only cared about themselves. He expected them to behave like children and to think that the whole world revolves around them. Why, if he had his way, all of them would be-

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"Can YOU take the responsibility of knowing that you are saving thousands now and condemning BILLIONS in the near future?"_**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

However, the moment that Nico began descending into hatred for the Nobility, the words that Yvoire spoke to him echoed in his mind, reminding him of the talk he had with he man. It caused those thoughts of hatred and desire to kill the Nobility to grind to a halt. His lips twisted into a sneer, one of confusion and frustration as the teen grew a flower of conflict within his chest. His fists clenched themselves tightly, to the point where the skin around his entire hands began to turn white from the lack of blood flow. Not only that, but his teeth gnashed together to the point where his canines became visible, his eyes flaring even brighter than before.

'Goddamnit… that guy said all that stuff… and now look at me…'

For a moment Nico felt like he would go on a rampage, destroy everything around him just so he could vent this frustration building inside his torso, to give it an outlet. It certainly seemed like a viable option to him at this time, not to mention that he could easily do so himself. However, the male instead chose NOT to go down that path just yet, and instead focused on calming down by performing some breathing exercises. It helped him in more ways than one actually, as not only did it settle his nerves, instincts and pretty much everything else affiliated with negativity that he felt inside, but also allowed him to think with a better state of mind.

The first thing he should do now, would be to contact Biko. Nico had, before his temporary fall, gave him specific instructions just in case something like this happened and he needed to inform people of what had been happening. Originally, he would have liked to inform his Party about his dealings himself, but in case that wouldn't be a possibility, Biko would have to do it. He'd made it VERY clear how he felt about it, and honestly Nico would have preferred it if he didn't either. However, things would be dire in that scenario, therefore they wouldn't have many options available to them. It was with these thoughts in mind, that Nico opened a connection to his Demon Persona, before beginning the mental conversation once the connection got established. 'Hey, Biko? Can you hear me?' he thought, hoping that this poison hadn't damaged the link between them too much that they couldn't communicate.

 **'…Indeed. It has been a while since we were last able to talk like this.'**

In the exact SECOND he heard the voice of the Demon Persona, right from the first word a HUGE surge of relief flowed through Nico, tot hee point where he visibly showed it via a sigh of relief. One had zero clue how much hearing this guy's voice calmed him, if there had been any chance of his previous hatred resurfacing, it had been largely doused now. 'Well, I'd definitely agree with you on that one there, Biko. Anyways, could you give me a rundown of what happened? All I know from my end is…' and so, the male gave Biko the rundown of what he had learned from looking at the recent news on his Bracers.

 **'I see. So that's what's been going on. I thought I detected copious amounts of Demonic Power, but to think someone would willingly allow such Demons to invade… whoever came up with the idea are some nasty souls worthy of Soul Edge's pallet.'**

Deep within his soul, Nico could feel the rumbling of a certain sword, as well as a distorted cackling that could ONLY come from that infernal blade. He just KNEW it wasn't his other side at that moment, something Nico found himself thankful for. 'Agreed, I'll make sure to deliver some of our 'displeasure' down this enemy's throat. Now then, could you let me know what happened on your end? Looks like things must have been hectic for you.'

 **'You have no idea. Once that poison entered your system I had to do all I could to make sure it didn't kill you, and even then, I only managed to suppress it whilst your body naturally fought against it. Whilst fighting it, I noticed that the Poison not only affected your body, but also your soul, Nico. As in, if it were to have take full effect then it WOULD have killed you with no way for you to return.'**

'WHAT?! How the hell is that a thing?!'

 **'I am uncertain as of this time. However, this poison had the taint of Chaos handling on it, and according to my knowledge we would find more answers should we encounter the followers of either Nurgle or Tzeentch, as their God's influence was detected on the poison. Nonetheless, I believe you're forgetting something, the very thing that helped save you through it's own evolution by burning away the poisoned cells for you to regenerate yourself.'**

Upon Biko's words, Nico suddenly noticed it. He noticed that there was something off about his being, something was different about it but he couldn't quite get a grasp of what it was. He hadn't noticed it until now, but now that Biko had brought it to his attention, he could see what he was talking about. 'Huh? What the…?' He thought, slowly holding his hand out as he tried to focus on this 'abnormality' that he now noticed within himself. The moment that he did so, Nico suddenly saw the space within his hand…

Erupt into a vortex of dark violet lightning.

'Whoa! Holy shit, what the fucking hell?!' Nico screamed within his mind, almost recoiling at the sight of freaking LIGHTNING erupting from his hand like this. But what got his attention even more, was how the Lightning seemed to take on it's own distinct shape, as it moulded and morphed itself into something new. Nico could only watch this in stunned shock, feeling the weight and power that this Lightning emitted. No doubt that it had a demonic nature o it, of that Nico found himself being certain of. After all, nearly everything he had was Demonic in nature, though this thing… this thing had WAY more power than anything his other Devil Arms ever possessed. Even Soul Edge, and the only reason why that one had so much power was because it had devoured countless souls ever since the Hellverse incident, growing and growing in strength.

After what felt like an eternity, the lightning had fully shaped itself within the palm of his hand, having formed a distinctly weapon-like shape before it began to condense into a proper physical form. The amount of raw energy that he could sense whilst doing this felt HUGE, massive even, to the point where even he didn't know the exact level of. Finally, the weapon finished after a couple of seconds, and when it did, Nico could only gape at what he saw.

'Holy… shit…'

Yeah, those thoughts summed up his opinion on this matter pretty well.

In his right hand, Nico held what looked to be a large Broadsword, one much bigger than Alastor was. From tip to handle, he figured that the weapon was approximately five to six feet long, with a single-edged large blade approximately one foot wide. Looking closer to the blade, Nico saw that the blade had a lighter colour on the bladed edge, while the rest of the blade remained a deep, dark gray, and the handguard appeared to be bolted or riveted into place. From the Guard, about 4 demonic looking wings sprouted, easily being the length of a human hand each, on both sides of the guard making 8 wings in total. At the guard' centre, was a sing crimson jewel, sporting a slitted iris that looked like it was LOOKING directly at the one who wielded it. In addition, the blade itself was covered in this thick, dark violet mist, many small trails of said mist rising into the atmosphere whilst the blade itself constantly sparked and crackled with matching coloured lightning.

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

Those were the sounds that those sparks and other bits of Lightning made, and they filled his ears like they were trying to hold monopoly over any other sound that may reach them. Not to mention that, as he held this blade, he could feel some… changes, being made to his body. Changes that he wasn't sure on the identity of, but he damned well wanted to as soon as physically possible. 'Biko… what the hell is this? This sword, it feels like….' Nico began, before realizing something as he stared at the weapon. 'Alastor…! Is this… what it was doing earlier?'

 **'Indeed, I do believe it is so. To be frank, this blade no longer goes under the name of Alastor, but you would know this.'**

'Huh? What do you mean?'

 **'Give it a moment.'**

At this, Nico blinked in confusion, before gasping as he held the side of his head, memories coursing through his brain that he had not yet recalled. 'Ugh, what…?! Wait… Ah, that's it! I remember! This is…!'

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _A sharp gasp tore through his lips, eyes shooting wide open as he stood up to his feet._**

 ** _What the hell?!_**

 ** _What happened?!_**

 ** _Where was he?!_**

 ** _Nico had no idea, and as such he quickly checked his surroundings. Even so, that only left him all the more confused, as he soon found himself on top a platform that looked to be made from pure purple lightning, whilst everything he saw around him was also purple lightning. He saw no hills, no land (even though he felt like he was standing on land right now) no nothing that could be considered terrain. It was like he was in a whole new world consisting only of pure purple Lightning, a world where sparks and constant lightning strikes boomed all over the place, filling his ears as well as every other sense that Nico had._**

 ** _Not to mention this FIERCE pain coursing through him, intensifying with every heartbeat that passed. He had just now noticed it, as in he had a delayed reaction, but the teen gritted his teeth whilst clutching his right gloved hand over his chest to try and stem this god awful pain assaulting every cell in his body. It wasn't anything Nico couldn't handle, but the fact of the matter was that he was in pain, and he had NO idea why! That thought process only fuelled his confusion even more, not to mention how a pit of fear and panic began to swell within._**

 ** _'Biko! Biko! Can you hear me?! What the heck is happening?!' Nico shrieked in his mind, only for nothing to come back to him. Shock and confusion raced through his chest at that, along with how he felt a shimmer of dread bring itself to life within the depths of his gut. He tried several times to call out to Biko, but he got no answer, not to mention that his mind was eerily quiet… that, or he couldn't hear them because of all the sparking and crackling sounds he could hear all around him._**

 ** _The more he tried to call out to his Demon Persona, the more panicked he became when he got no answer. This had never happened before, ever since meeting with Biko he had been a constant companion to him and they had fought, talked and debated with each other countless number of times over the things they have experienced together. It had gotten to the point where he had gotten so used to having Biko around, that the times when he DIDN'T just seemed like distant memories to him, and Nico also really liked talking to him. It felt like he was one of the few people that Nico could truly be himself around, almost like a blood brother. Even though Biko was usually cold and logical, those rare moments where he wasn't showed him that he felt much the same way. It probably seemed weird since Biko was a part of Nico himself, but hey, talking to oneself was not truly a sign of insanity, its only when one gets answers back… okay, maybe he WAS a little insane._**

 ** _Just a little though._**

 ** _As he made to go over the edge and have a full on panic attack though…_**

 ** _"FINALLY, you HAVE… COME!"_**

 ** _All of a sudden, a loud, dominant and masculine voice boomed through the area, and just like that everything lost it's volume. All the sparks lost their edge, and the power of silence began to take back what was once its own. In essence, everything became quieter and Nico didn't feel like his ears were about to explode anymore. However, that did NOT mean Nico would let his guard down, especially with the abundance of Demonic Energy that he could sense coming from both this place AND the voice that just broke through here._**

 ** _Mentally calculating, Nico quickly turned to face the source, and his calculations soon proved him correct. For a being was manifesting itself there from the Lightning. Nico could tell because from the Lightning in this place, dozens of small trails were gathering together in a spiralling manner, forming a cocoon of sorts which soon became the height of the average person._**

 ** _Then, from that cocoon, someone came out, striding across the Lightning that was meant to be the floor with the confidence and experience of a trained warrior. Nico's eyes narrowed when he saw that it was a man, one who looked to be in his 20's, with light skin and slightly below average height, not to mention a lean, toned build. He had spiky blond hair with one particularly long spike, and blue eyes that almost seemed to glow just like the Lightning of this realm. He wore indigo pants with a sleeveless shirt, and a belt around his waist. He wore brown boots on his feet, gauntlets with a pauldron over his left shoulder and a black band on his left wrist._**

 ** _Quickly, Nico got on guard, bending his legs whilst putting his left leg backwards. He held his left hand across the front of his face whilst his right was poised downwards parallel to his hip. Something 'pulsed' in him in that moment, and the next thing he knew the male noticed that Soul Edge manifested in its default form within his right hand. 'Whew, so at least Soul Edge is here…' the teen thought, already feeling marginally more relaxed with the familiar weight of the demonic blade._**

 ** _"You're on guard. Good." The man spoke, nodding with a blank expression on his face as he held his left hand out to his side. Lightning sparks erupted from his hand, before they took the shape of a large broadsword, one that he then pointed towards Nico with. His eyes flashed darkly, and a killing intent began to grow inside of him. "Then we can get this over with."_**

 ** _Nico arched a brow at this, before he too readied Soul Edge. The Demonic Blade instantly activated PREDATOR, not to mention that it also tried to use SCORCHING AURA and BLOOD RAGE on this man only for nothing to happen to it. This caused Nico to furrow his brows in contemplation, quickly shifting his mind into a battle-ready state so he didn't suffer a panic attack. 'So, this guy has some strong willpower, to be able to resist Soul Edge like that…' he thought. "Let me guess, you won't answer any of my questions, until I defeat you in combat?" he asked the man._**

 ** _Don't get him wrong, there were THOUSANDS of questions in his mind right now, running about like children in a school playground. Questions that he REALLY wanted answers to, but just by looking at this man's eyes, told him that he would get none of those unless he did something in exchange. Judging by his stance, Nico assumed it would be something like a fight, and judging by the look in his eyes, Nico guessed right. "Yes, now raise your sword! We fight till one of us can't fight anymore!" The man yelled, before the two charged..._**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

'…That's right, I fought that guy under those conditions, and if it weren't for my skill in enduring pain, I likely would have lost that fight. That guy moved quicker than anything I've ever fought before, not to mention he kept decreasing my attack strength by taking away the kinetic energy in them. That wasn't even beginning to take in all the Lightning attacks he threw at me…' Nico thought to himself, wincing when he remembered the combat that followed. If he were to have timed it for how long he had been fighting that man for, he'd say that it took him at least a week to do so, and even then he could only speculate. Not to mention how, when Nico finally felt like he had won, the pain all of a sudden stopped, and then the man simply vanished…

 **'That wasn't all, Nico, there was more. He did something to you before everything turned to darkness…'**

Biko's urging made the main aspect frown in confusion, wondering what the hell he had been missing. However, a moment of thinking soon showed him what that was, as his eyes widened once more whilst he gazed down at the weapon in his lap. '…Yes, that's right! He said that when I'd wake up in the real world, I'd know everything! I do!' he realized, as the sight of this weapon, in addition to its aura, made him realize just WHAT this thing really was. 'This is… Alastor… no, this isn't Alastor, not anymore, it's…'

 **'Ouranos: The primordial Demon of Lighting. The very embodiment of Lightning itself, the first Demon to ever learn how to use it. The moment you won Nico, I received information from this weapon's sentience, and it took a while for me to process it all. Believe me, even I had a hard time processing this one.'**

'So… what did you find?'

 **'Ouranos is… something of an evolved form of Devil Arm. According to the Fragmented Memories, this is what is called an 'Archdevil Arm'. These are the evolved forms regular Devil Arms take. They are vastly superior to their original forms, and command powers that make them go toe to toe with the most powerful of DPUs. Once a Devil Arm evolves into this state, they gain unimaginable power. Power that makes the powers of their predecessors look like bugs in comparison. Their destructive power gets skyrocketed, to the point were continents up to entire planets can be effected if used carelessly. Wiping out an entire town or city no matter how large it is would be significantly easy for them, and if they hit the right areas then an entire Planet can combust and explode seconds later, destroying it. This would normally kill the wielder; however, the Archdevil Arms also grant them the ability to breathe in any atmosphere, which allows them to survive even if in space.'**

Nico's eyes widened at this information, but Biko wasn't done. **'Another difference between the Archdevil Arms and their lesser evolved forms is that they can consume souls regardless of their type. Originally, Devil Arms couldn't do this because they only had fragments of their original conscience. However, an Archdevil Arm has stronger versions of these, allowing them to devour and absorb souls. Your Soul Edge is an exception to this as it is a part of your Soul, and not containing just fragments. They do this in order to regain their completed souls, and even then they will continue to grow stronger the more Souls are devoured. Once they regain their entire souls, their powers... I cannot even begin to tell you how OP they will become in terms of power scaling. In addition, Archdevil Arms can freely manipulate their respective elements, as well as sub elements connected to them. With these abilities, it comes to reason that their reserves swell as well, making an Archdevil Arm VASTLY superior to their counterparts. When they attain these forms, these Archdevil arms also grant specific 'boons' of a demonic nature that activate the moment that they are drawn. For example, if a Devil Arm that specializes in sword skills is drawn, it could grant a boon that enhances the potency of sword techniques, and as Archdevil Arms consume more souls, they gain additional boons to install upon their wielder. These powers make them insanely powerful, dangerous and desirable. Lastly, with this transformation, they gain new appearances and names as well, appearances befitting of their new status. There is more, but this is what we should focus on for now.'**

'I-I see… this is kinda hard to take in…' The redhead thought in shock, hands trembling whilst he laid the sword, the Archdevil Arm Ouranos, on his lap. 'And I thought I'd seen it all…' whilst he gazed down at the weapon, Nico tried to get a feel for its power once more, only this time he barely got a vague estimate before he had to pull his senses back. These Archdevil Arms seemed much wilder than their counterparts in comparison, so much so that he couldn't make heads or tails of this thing anymore. 'Is there anything you can tell me about Ouranos? Like its abilities and stuff?'

 **'Yes, Ouranos gave me the full story of its origins and powers, but for now I'll summarize the powers for you. In essence, the powers are Lightning manipulation in its freest form, although you can use your base techniques when Ouranos was still Alastor, but they will be much stronger. By comparison to your DPU powers, I would say that right now they would be just barely below it and Soul Edge in power. In addition, you will be able to manipulate magnetism within a 200-meter radius, resulting in those who try to fight it with weapons made of metal to be ineffective due to it being able to deflect their attacks away from its wielder. Thirdly, you will be able to manipulate Kinetic Energy, as in the energy of one's motion. It can either partially drain it from any source within a 200-meter radius or drain it completely whilst using that energy to bolster its own or it's wielder's attack speeds. Amplifying it's own kinetic energy and generating it within itself is also within this sword's power, and with it Ouranos is capable of creating motions that go beyond supersonic speeds. That's the basic summary, but suffice it to say, that these Archdevil Arms will have limitless potential.'**

… Huh, well wasn't that convenient?

Once he heard the simplified version of that explanation (he'd likely look over what they got from Ouranos himself to iron out any kinks Biko had missed in his own time), his mind quickly began analyzing the effectiveness and potential this weapon had. Its pros and cons if one would. This Archdevil Arm certainly had increased power on its side, as well as increased versatility. That meant that the greater the imagination, the more useful these things will be. Plus, if Alastor could become one, why not the rest of his Devil Arms? Something which he honestly wanted to try out and see if it were possible. If it was, then he'd have a shit load of powerful weapons on his side that he could use to take out his enemies in the future.

However, on the downside, it also meant that he had to be extra careful, not just during the whole process but also afterwards, as any mishandling of these Archdevil Arms could have drastic consequences. For example, if he misfired he could end up vaporizing an entire continent if what Biko told him was accurate. Not to mention these Boons could indeed be a weakness all on their own, as if they were to be implanted onto him the moment he summoned an Archdevil Arm, what about when he dismissed them? Would they vanish? If so, then what would he do when someone faster than him comes along, someone who could take him down before he had a chance to summon on? He'd have to figure that out soon, analyse these weapons in great detail to iron out their weaknesses and plan around them.

Still though, he had one HELL (pun intended) of a new weapon to add to his arsenal.

* * *

10 minutes later, Nico had allowed himself to take care of the room he stayed in whenever he found himself visiting the Sanctuary. He would have liked it better if he could have visited here under better circumstances, but there wouldn't be much time to complain. Not when he had this much to do before reuniting with the rest of his Party. Nico felt sure that they would likely be worried for him, and he didn't want to extend that time period any longer than necessary.

Therefore, Nico took a shower (as he felt like he had sweated quite a bit in that bed, so he wanted to take a shower to freshen up), before brushing his teeth and fixing his hair in it's usual long style. Not to mention that he took his clothed and slid them on like he did so many times before. He put on his underwear, socks, slid his black shirt over his upper body, pulled up his pants whilst fixing each belt (something that would be rather tedious, but Nico took care of it fast enough), put on his boots, then his leather gloves before standing tall and grasping his Trench Coat from the bottom of the bed. He threw it around his back, sliding an arm into it's sleeve before repeating the process, finally fully dressed and ready to go.

'Damn, does it feel good to be in uniform again...' the male thought, smirking to himself as he adjusted his coat by straightening its front then the cuffs. He did the same for his gloves, until the teen felt he was ready to step out of this place.

Not to mention that whilst he had gotten dressed, IT had remade the bed, swapping out the old bedding for the new whilst putting the dirty laundry in a basket nearby.

Sometimes, it felt good to be him.

'Now... where the heck are those girls? Biko, can you sense them anywhere?' Nico thought to his Demon Persona whilst walking back to Ouranos (which he had leaning against a wall) before he picked it up by the handle, flung it over his head and onto his back. Quickly, he felt it stick to his Demonic Energy whilst outwardly appearing to stick onto his back without any harness. Something that made Nico sigh in comfort. It felt GOOD to have something on his back that wasn't a mattress. He even pulled Ebony and Ivory out of his Void Storage and stuck them to his waist ready for a quick draw when necessary.

 **'Hmmmm... strange, it appears that they are not anywhere near their immediate vicinity... oh my.'**

'Huh? What is it?'

 **'It looks like they're in trouble.'**

'WHAT?!' Nico shrieked, suddenly tensing as he froze on the spot just as he made to walk to the door. His breath caught itself in his throat whilst shudders went down his spine. Fear began to claw its way back into his mind, fear not just for himself but also for the girls. Were they alright? What was happening, who was trying to hurt them? So help him, if any of them had been harmed, if a hair on their heads had so much been ruffled wrongly...!

 **'I am uncertain, however I detect that their energies are clashing heavily against something powerful in the distance. If II were to guess the location from your memories, I would say Halo Mountain. That's like a 500 mile distance from here, north west if I'm not mistaken.'**

Oh, he knew that place alright. Halo Mountain was one of the places where Nico used to visit quite a bit whenever he had some time to himself during missions or between them (which were as rare as seeing IF without a phone in her hands). If not then, then he'd visit there to take out any rogue bandits or Abnormals that made their homes there. Halo Mountain was also once a great tourist attraction, as it had been name as such since it had once been home to a powerful company who'd made a series about a green super-soldier kicking alien asses. Shame that company had to move when Abnormals overran the place, there was practically no sign of their previous facilities there anymore. Called it the 'reach' incident, and now that he thought about it, they might have made a game about that...

Wait, that's not important right now!

'Right, i'm on my way!' Nico responded, shutting off the link as he quickly ran for the window and threw it open. There wasn't time for the conventional way, this way would be quicker!

He had to get to the girls, he just had to! Nico had NO idea what they were fighting, but he would be damned if he didn't get there in time to help them! He'd refuse to do anything less!

With those thoughts in mind, Nico gritted his teeth as he... jumped over 60 feet into the air. How that window didn't get destroyed from the force of his jump Nico had no clue but he didn't think on that right now. Instead, he clicked his fingers and summoned his personal Skimmer: Ember. The infernal Motorcycle/plane Hybrid quickly emerged from a portal of flame below him, shooting up after him as the teen angled himself, sliding onto the driver's seat. Grasping the handles, the male growled as he activated Ember's plane mode. "Alright girl, time's a wastin', so let's PUNCH IT!"

Once Ember roared after finishing it's Mode change, Nico swiftly pressed the pedal and the thrusters behind the Bike quickly blazed to life. Instantly, Nico was on the move, shooting through the air at insane speeds whilst heading towards the direction of Halo Mountain. His eyes burned with an intense and urgent gaze, mentally wishing he could go faster.

'Don't worry girls, I'm on my way! Please, let me make it in time!'

* * *

So, yeah, that would sum up what happened before he arrived in a nutshell.

After yelling out that order in an almost volcanic burst of rage and explosive wrath, Nico had aimed Ember at the space between that mysterious man and the girls. His impact with the ground literally turned the crater into a pan filled with fire, as in Hellfire, which he had directed so that the girls weren't harmed by the flames. Good thing his Hellfire was in its weaker form, too, otherwise it would have been a lot harder. As for that man, he simply swung his sword and dispersed the flames through simply using the wind blast. Well, the flames that were closest to him and the person behind him at least, someone Nico honestly didn't care much to note as of right now.

Instead, he quickly dismounted Ember, said Skimmer driving around him in a full circle multiple times. Those circles ended up fanning the Hellfire around them whilst the teen looked over the girls to analyze their states. First off, it looked like most of them were okay in the marginal sense, but Nico's senses didn't miss how their reserves were heavily exhausted. For Neptune (though she remained in HDD so he'd address her as Purple Heart for now), she seemed to be the best out of them in terms of energy remaining, and that likely stemmed from Soul Calibur that remained in her hands. He could sense it's demonic nature amplifying her power, using her negative emotions to keep her reserves going. Not to mention that she looked to have been covered in minor-looking wounds, but other than that nothing serious.

He then glanced towards the other CPUs (the male mentally arching a brow in surprise when he noticed Noire being here, before he recalled the Gala and how it was said that she would be invited). None of them looked very good, as Noire's energy levels looked to have hit an all-time low. From the fierce bonfire that her energy usually was, it now looked more like a dying ember about to go out, snuffed out by darkness. Not to mention how she seemed to be holding one POWERFUL looking sword right now, heck Biko analyzed it and informed him that the sword had great powers of the divine nature, but that wasn't all that it could do. In addition, it seemed that Noire wasn't able to harness everything about the sword as of yet, and what she had used was merely a fragment of it's power. In fact, there were three parts to that sword: Divine, Demonic and... Abnormal? How the hell was that a thing?

Whelp, putting that aside, Nico looked towards Vert, frowning when he noted how she looked like an old woman on her deathbed. Not physically, but more in terms of her energy usage. By that, he meant that she barely had any energy left, and her body looked to be so wracked with fatigue ad exhaustion that she looked like she would pass out at any second. Not to mention how her Gungnir looked massively exhausted, since it didn't have nearly as intense an aura as it usually did (and he should know, he'd seen it in action a few times over the last 3 months). Even then though, it looked like she didn't have that many wounds either, mostly just scratches and bruises which would heal in time.

Then, he looked up to see Compa floating up above them, looking downwards with a look of disbelief on her face... and the moment he noticed her, Nico noticed the different attire she wore. Plus the floating pillars, which quickly clued him in on what had happened to her, thus the male had to resist the urge to sigh in sadness. 'Well... if what I read was any indication, then it would only have been a matter of time before something were to force Compa to use those powers...' he thought to himself. He had already made his opinion on Compa's potential abilities clear during a previous chapter, but even so he still couldn't help but feel a little let down that it still happened. True it would have happened whether he wanted it to or not, but Nico had still held on to that small chance, that small hope that she would till remain an ordinary girl by the time this journey of theirs ended. At least if that happened, Compa would be able to live a long, normal life. Now, people would likely judge her and condemn her for what she had become, especially if his own experiences were anything to consider.

Still, part of him couldn't help but be thrilled too. Why was that he wondered...

In any case, his gaze shifted over to IF, and the moment he did the male had the urge to just do a spit take when he laid eyes on her. 'Holy hell, she's hit a growth spurt when I was under, hasn't she?!' he exclaimed in his mind, observing her more developed body whilst mentally analyzing the way her body operated. He could sense the power flowing through her thanks to it having remnants of his own demonic energy, and thanks to that he could tell that her evolutionary paths were going along much more swimmingly than he had initially expected. He could only imagine what she had to do to advance so far and so well, but there was one thing that was for certain in his mind. That, he felt the flower of pride blossoming within his chest along with the urge to congratulate her for her strength growth. Not only that, but Nico could sense that she STILL had more potential to realize, more ways for her power to grow and excel.

His eyes then traveled over to Guts, the sole other male member of the group, and it looked like he fared the best out of the entire group. It looked like his Armour had been the main cause of that though, as it left so very few openings to strike at his flesh. Not to mention that it was no ordinary Armour. Nico knew this for a fact, as he had once seen what it had done when he and Guts went on a mission together a couple months ago. Dragonslayer seemed to be in good condition as well, according to his analysis, though he hadn't expected anything less of that weapon especially since it was meant to kill large Abnormals like Dragons. If he were to need any assistance, it would be most likely to come from Guts in this case, but he'd rather not rule out the girls just yet. He wasn't sure if they still had some tricks up their sleeves.

Just then, the teen blinked when something registered in his senses... something dark, demonic in nature. He was certain of that, and when he looked to the source, Nico witnessed a green ring shrouded by a matching flame appear in front of Purple Heart (said girl jumping in surprise at the sight of it). 'Whoa, what the hell? Is that a...?'

 **'Indeed, it is a Satanic Treasure! Now that I look at them, EACH of the girls have one, save for IF and Compa. I have NO idea how that has happened, but be** **vigilant** **... that Ring seems to have chosen you as its master. here it comes!'**

Not needing to be told twice, Nico braced himself as the green ring shot into his chest, and began integrating itself into his body. Because he had felt the pain that followed before, the teen only showed it through a constant wincing as well as the gritting of his teeth. He clutched his left hand over his chest, feeling the Satanic Treasure merging with him from that part. It didn't take as long as before either, though Nico figured that the time it took didn't change between them but instead the pain tolerance he had increased from the first ring's entry. Making it so that he could endure this Ring as well, whilst it merged with him. Not to mention though, Nico also felt something engraving itself into his body where his heart was, something similar to ink but not at the same time. Whatever that was, Nico had no clue, but he didn't focus on it for long as he instead buried all thought relating to it for his enduring the pain of merging with another Satanic Treasure. In the end, the male released a breath he had been holding when he felt that the process had completed itself.

'Biko... make sure to look into that Ring and what it does. I want to know as soon as you have anything, there's too many things about my body that have changed.'

 **'Indeed I shall, and I agree.'**

"Well..." he began once he recovered, breaking the silence that had dominated everything in sight save for the burning Hellfire. He merely clicked his fingers, and the flames dispersed themselves like they were never even there in the first place. In addition, Ember vanished too with a fiery howl, returning to his Void Storage. "Looks like I arrived just in time." He then nervously smiled, forming a light bead of sweat as he waved at them."Hey girls, long time no see..." he spoke.

Just before any of them could respond, and by the Goddesses (ironic huh?) they had SO many things to say to him, a loud sigh escaped from behind him. This caused Nico's brow to twitch as he turned his head to look behind them, glaring at the source of the sigh. "You know, you COULD just save the reunion till AFTER all this." Okada mused, having been the source mentioned whilst holding his sword over his shoulder. "I mean, i'm all for that stuff, but the lady here's not the patient type you see."

Slowly, Nico fully turned and looked behind him, and the moment he did his eyes widened with recognition. The next second, Nico was glaring at the woman hatefully. eyes almost burning like the Hellfire he commanded whilst gritting his teeth with as much force as he could muster. There were even veins popping over his forehead whilst if looks could kill, the witch-like woman would have been dead already. "You...!" he spat, resisting the urge to summon one of his weapons, draw out one of his Pistols or even both and pump her full of holes, or other horrific actions he could think of at that moment. "I should have known YOU were involved in all this shit..."

"Ha, i'm flattered you remember me, boy." The woman, whom Nico recognized as Arfoire, responded with an equally large sneer as her eyes narrowed like a hawk locating its prey towards him. The woman held her Glaive at the ready, pointing it at him whilst she spoke. "I have been meaning to pay you back for what happened to me the last time we met." she spat, whilst Nico glared back.

Now he could see why the girls were having problems. This woman must either be very resourceful, which would make sense since she had this guy serving her apparently not to mention the access to Banshees she had, or she had a great amount of power she had yet to use. Quickly pulling out a dozen or so SP Chargers that he had bought before the Gala, Nico handed them to the girls as quick as he could whilst keeping an eye on the two enemies before him. It wouldn't do if they were to attack him whilst his back was turned, and while he felt confident in his ability to defend himself, Nico would rather the girls be fit to move out of the way if need be. "Take these, recover your strength. I'll take care of this one." he whispered to them under his breath.

"Ugh, I know he's here to help and all, but..."

"Relying on Nico like this... yeah, I feel you Noire. Its a bit of a blow to our pride..."

"Now-now Noire, Iffy, we should be able to recover our power, and then we can go assist my hubby when we're done."

"Who are you calling your hubby, Neptune?!"

The teen couldn't help but roll his eyes at the sounds of the usual scuffles that the girls got into. If they could do that in the middle of battle, then they'd be alright. But just in case, mentally he had Ember and Urthemiel ready themselves to exit the Void Storage to assist them should they get attacked underhandedly. He got several affirmatives from his Skimmer and Archdemon, something which he felt SO glad that his Desecration ability forged a mental link to his Skimmer as well as he stepped towards the enemy with determined eyes.

 **'Nico... I sense many things wrong with this woman.'**

'Oh? What is it?' Nico thought when his Demon Persona broke through his thoughts. He had to resist the urge to snarkily comment that there were WAY more things wrong with Arfoire, such as her bad fashion sense, gross overuse of makeup, her horrendous laugh, better than you attitude, and several general things about her. So yeah, he didn't like her very much, if at all.

 **'I detect several energies within her, several of which are suppressing another. I believe these energies are both belonging to this Arfoire woman, whilst she also as an energy which does not belong to her. This whole time she's been trying to suppress it, but the energy has been trying to get out, to return to it's true master. Or mistress, in this case if you know what I mean.'**

Nico DEFINITELY knew what Biko meant by that statement. Odds were, Arfoire was the one who had taken Vert's power somehow, it definitely felt like something she would do since initially, Nico felt like she had been targeting Neptune the last time they met.

Wait... did he say moving? Then wouldn't that mean...

 **'Indeed, it could be possible, but you may have to deal with her lackey first. It appears that , in terms of energy, he is quite weak. As in, he has no energy to speak of whatsoever. I wouldn't put much faith in him being a strong opponent, however be cautious all the same.'**

'I see... Well, I have JUST the way to get around that issue, and if I've looked into her personality enough, I bet this'll work AND get Vert her power back. Two birds with one stone.'

With a mental nod (as well as more excitement than he knew what to do with) Nico cut the link to his Demon Persona for the time being. The teen then focused back onto the conversation between the three of them, him, that swordsman and Arfoire. "Last time? I'm afraid I don't recall..." the male responded, pretending to look clueless whilst mimicking a thinking pose. This lasted only for a moment though, before a light bulb went off in his mind as he pretended to 'remember' that incident. "Oh yeah, was it that time when I whooped your ass so hard that you started bursting into tears and acted like a big crybaby?"

... Okay, he was DEFINITELY messing with her, and judging by the look she had on her face, Nico felt his jab had been effective, which had been all the more proven when that swordsman lackey of hers started stifling his laughter.

Several other sounds of muffled laughter echoed behind him too.

With a face that was caught between shock and anger, Arfoire glared at him whilst shouting out a vehement retort. "I was NOT crying like a freaking crybaby, you brat! Take that back right this instant!"

At that, Nico 'sighed'. "Fine."

Arfoire grinned, thinking that she had got him, only to miss the downright evil smile that spread across his lips. "You were bouncing about on your backside like a cute bunny rabbit when I set your ass on fire, though you really just looked like an idiot."

"Wha?!"

Now Arfoire looked like a gaping fish, utterly flabbergasted at what the teen had just told her whilst maintaining a straight face. Though, that couldn't be said for the rest of them, as the swordsman began laughing his ass off at the mental image whilst the girls (even the serious Noire and IF) began doing the same. Heck, small twitches on Guts' lips would be the sole sign that he too found that mental image rather amusing. Nico certainly felt like laughing his ass off at that, even as he kept his emotions in check and felt the cackling of his Devil Arms.

All according to plan.

It didn't take long for the woman's fuse to blow off like a kettle boiling over, and when it did Arfoire let out a loud shriek, louder than even the Banshee's. "You goddamn, should have killed you myself long ago!" She screamed, pointing towards the swordsman with her Glaive. "You, servant! Go over there and bring me his head! Kill him and leave nothing else left of him!" Arfoire yelled.

Once he had gotten his laughter under control (honestly, this kid sounded like his kind of guy if he were to make jokes like that), the man nodded his head when the woman gave him his orders. "Yes, ma'am." he replied, giving her a mock salute with a loop-sided grin, before turning his head and beginning his stride towards the redhead Spec Ops Agent. "Whelp, good joke there kid, but the lady's gone mad now. She wants me to end you, but meh, it was fun whilst it lasted." he remarked, grinning cockily.

'Okay... this guy seems like he'll be a tough fight...' Nico thought to himself, eyeing this man whilst he drew Ouranos (which drew some gazes to the weapon formerly on his back). 'He seems to have a lot of strength and experience under his belt, and its not like I have complete control over this Archdevil Arm either. Hell, I don't even know how to control its power one bit, so i'd say i'm at a disadvantage... huh?' Whilst he thought this, Nico noticed something, something that glinted behind the man's eyes. Something that vanished before Nico could identify what it was. No matter what it had been, Nico had been able to notice it thanks to his experience in looking through other peoples' masks. 'What was that? Whelp, no matter, I'll just stick to the plan for now.'

With those thoughts, Nico held Ouranos in front of him, holding it in two hands whilst his opponent held his sword in one. Something that the redhead noticed. Just before he could wonder why, Purple Heart answered his unasked questions. "Be careful, Nicky! That guy's super strong! He's called Okada Izou, and he's been able to beat us down with only swordplay!" she called out to him. "Make sure to stay out the reach of his blade!" She had many questions, of that Nico could tell by her voice, but right now this wasn't the time for questions, not from any of them.

As the two faced off...

"Oh yeah, before we begin, could I ask you a question?"

"Hm?" Okada hummed in curiosity when Nico suddenly spoke after a short, tense silence. The man arched a brow at what the kid might be up to, it definitely didn't feel like he was trying to stall him from killing him, no there was too much emotion in his voice for that. "What might that be, kid?" he replied, and if he were honest with himself he wanted to see what this kid was capable of. Just by looking at him, Okada could feel like this kid might actually force him to take this fight more seriously than he did with the girls, and that was saying something.

Nico however, instead of responding, focused his mind on the Archdevil Arm in his hands that looked like it could go toe to toe with Dragonslayer in terms of its size. The male had little clue on how to use this blade, but he wanted to use it's kinetic energy based powers to try and get a head start on him.

'Alright... just focus...' The male thought whilst he concentrated... though externally it looked like he was just staring heavily at his opponent. 'It shouldn't be much different from tapping into a Devil Arm's powers. Ouranos will help you, as you DID prove yourself able to withstand the process of his Archdevilification. They're essentially just a stronger version of a Devil Arm, according to Biko. So focus dude... focus...'

The moment he did focus on the blade however, Nico INSTANTLY felt a rush of energy go through his body, dark violent Lightning coursing around his form. The Lightning quickly broke the ground under him whilst generating a huge gust of wind that roared all around him. It honestly didn't look too different from the angry roar of an enraged beast that got disturbed during its slumber. Immediately Okada got on guard, eyeing the blade warily whilst wondering what the hell was happening. His instincts told him that whatever that weapon was, it was FAR from normal as normal could get even for its massive size. He didn't think it was as heavy as that other large sword (Dragonslayer), but Okada would follow his warrior instincts. He may be cocky and arrogant, but a fool he wasn't, that blade did NOT seem natural to this world.

All the while, each of the girls wondered about the blade themselves. None of them had any idea as to its exact identity, but they COULD feel that it was demonic in nature. None of them were surprised by this, either from past experience and/or knowledge, it had been clear to them for a while that Demonic weaponry was Nico's go-to in hard fights. Just look at Rebellion, he used that sword more often than even the claws of his Armour, something that Nico had yet to unveil as of right this second.

Even so...

FWOOOOOOOOM!

The moment that he dashed forwards, everything around him became a blur. Even Nico himself got stunned as he dashed so fast that he barely looked visible to the naked eye, like a dark violet meteor he went shooting right past the surprised Okada whilst finishing his question. "Don't you think it would be better, if we could fight without interference from the 'boss lady' over there?"

After he said his piece, Nico swiftly jammed his feet into the ground, sliding to a halt and stopping right behind Arfoire with Ouranos poised to strike with it's Pommel. A trail of dust had been left in his wake, and that had served to distract the woman, something he'd exploit in the next couple seconds. With a mighty war cry, Nico jammed the pommel right into Arfoire's back, focusing on Ouranos' power unleashing a huge burst of Lightning into Arfoire's body. His opponent's response: to gasp and let out a high pitched scream as Lightning coursed through her body at a voltage that would have killed her a thousand times over. Not to mention that it had another effect...

One consisting of pushing something right out of her mouth.

'Okay, one: Ewwww, that's gross. Two, YES! It worked!' Nico thought, Warping his way to the something which floated into the air about 70 feet. He did this whilst Arfoire recovered from the 'shock to her system' (bad pun, seriously), and Okada was still reeling from the surprise of his movement. Once he Warped there, Nico saw that it took the shape of a brilliant, glowing pure white light. Almost like a miniature sun, yet Nico could stare at it forever and feel no effects on his visual prowess. Not to mention that it also excluded a powerful warmth and compassion when he got near it, something that should be the exact OPPOSITE since he was of the opposing energy in terms of nature.

Grasping the light (of which he noticed no ill effects or any bad smell from where it came from, it was just that pure), Nico Warped once again, appearing before Vert and kneeling at her feet like a Knight before his queen. A small smirk found its way to his lips as he presented the light towards her. "I may not believe in any Goddess, but may I present to you your Goddess powers, my lady." he spoke, imitating a posh, Leanbox accent as if to try and play the part of a stuck-up Noble.

At this, Vert merely giggled whilst taking the light into her right gloved hand. "My, how gentlemanly of you." she remarked in a pleased manner. Who would have thought, it wasn't several girls who had promised to help that got the job done, but her hubby instead. She figured that he must have known though, there were just too many signs of that that she'd noticed when being around him. Even so, the woman smirked as she leaned forwards and whispered into his ear, a heavy note of seduction in her voice. "This Goddess should give you a reward later..."

POOF!

Nico flushed crimson, eyes widening as he lost his composure for a moment. He quickly shot up and jumped back in surprise, all the while his expression looked cute to the Leanbox CPU as she laughed at his face. "Ufufufufu, now I see why Helen likes to tease you, Nicky my dear. You look so precious when your embarrassed." she remarked in a teasing manner, much to his inner frustration towards his adoptive mother.

'Goddamnit, Mom!'

Ignoring his look of embarrassment when she had her fill (and the looks she got from the girls around her) Vert quickly swallowed the Light, an audible 'GULP' escaping from her throat. The moment she did, her eyes shot open wide when a familiar energy began to bubble inside of her, a bright light soon beginning to take over her body. "Yes! Finally, i'm back!" she exclaimed, quickly transforming back into Green Heart.

"Yaaaay, Lady Vert! You got your powers back!"

"So, this is the radiance of my Lady's HDD form without any life support... how beautiful..."

"Ugh, I know IF's a follower of Vert, but for some reason I feel really agitated..."

"You are not the only one, Noire..."

Each of the girls in this order: Compa, IF, Noire and Purple Heart each expressed their own opinions on the returning of Leanbox's CPU. One could understand the dismayed reactions of the two CPUs (since they were still salty over what Vert tried to do to Nico just now). Compa descended down from the airspace above them as she raced to congratulate Green Heart for her recovery, whilst IF nearly lost herself to her inner fangirl.

Though, one female in this scene did NOT share any of their happiness.

"Grrr!"

Arfoire growled to herself when she saw how Green Heart had her powers back. She could only blame herself too, which only added to her frustration. 'D-Damnit! I at least managed to make a copy of her powers at the last second, but the fact that a CPU has regained her power is annoying! Not to mention that it happened through that pesky DPU catching me by surprise with that strange weapon! Judging by its power level, I'd say it's one of those 'Archdevil things' HE told me about a while back, I remember him saying that if I were to fight one, I would lose faster than I could blink. Damnit!'

Not only that, but Nico quickly got over his little embarrassment episode when he looked to Okada, who looked more than a little lost on what was going on. The teen couldn't help but feel a slight amount of sheepishness come to him when seeing the 'what the fuck is going on here?' look on his face. "Uh,sorry about that. We just had to get something back that didn't belong to your mistress over there." he stated, pointing Ouranos towards the foaming Arfoire.

"Ah." Okada responded, blinking before he waved a dismissive hand. "No biggie, I only care about fighting anyways. Although..." he began, before a dark smirk began to form over his lips whilst his eyes began to dimly glow. His sword, the sword that he held primarily in his right hand, began to give of this faint crimson glow as well, a glow that originated from it's edge. The blade seemed to radiate an ENORMOUS amount of Bloodlust, as if it had just exploded from being suppressed for too long. "I won't say I'm a fan of being duped like that."

Blinking in surprise at the bloodlust (although since it was aimed at him, Nico realized that the girls couldn't feel it), the redhead remained silent... before a sinister smile formed on his lips. His eyes gained a dull red shine to them as Demonic Power swelled around him like a flame, his Armour Deploying when he pressed his hand on his chest whilst gripping Ouranos tightly. In response to it's wielder's will, the Archdevil Arm cackled and trembled within his grasp, eager for a good honest to god fight. "Yeah, I'd honestly feel the same way. How about we duke it out for real and settle this once and for all? No bullshit, just speaking with our swords."

"Heh, watch those lips, kid. Those are fighting words!"

And with that, Nico and Okada charged at each other.

* * *

 **Chapter End!**

 **Whooo boy, it feels SO FUCKING GOOD to FINALLY bring my boi Nico back into the main cast. He's been gone for a while, but now he's back, he's pissed and ready to kick some serious ass! For once I'll not say much other than shit's about to hit the fan once more!**

 **Oh, and if anyone asks, yes Nico's new sword is indeed in fact the buster sword of cloud strife from final fantasy. As if Nico wasn't badass enough.**

 **Adios amigos!**


	146. Chapter 143 - Okada vs Nico

**Chapter 143 - Okada vs Nico**

Like lions, the two men circled each other with their weapons poised to strike at their opponents, not paying any attention to the rest of their surroundings as they took up the space at the centre of the crater. Both males, one of them having been concealed by his Armour, sported bloodthirsty looks whilst their weapons shined with their intent to kill. It wouldn't be long now, for a sword fight to the death would soon begin. That fact firmly burned itself into their minds, bodies and very beings. Every cell, undead and not Undead, awoke from the bloodlust surging through the air and became red alert. Every opening would be exploited, every weakness noted, and no room would be made for any form of mercy. Not only that, but their auras may as well have filled up the entire crater with how thick and large they were, saturating the air inside and warning any and all lifeforms that they forfeit their lives should they get too close.

Yeah…

Intense would be an UNDERSTATEMENT if it were used to describe this tension between these two swordsmen.

Neither of them paid any particular attention, but the girls and Arfoire had each taken to the airspace above the Crater that was once halo mountain, as with the recovery of their stamina from the SP Chargers allowed Noire (Purple Heart regaining her strength and Vert's regaining of her powers restoring her strength anyways) to retake her HDD form. Not to mention that she had begun to be able to use Balmung to it's previous power level once more, the same thing happening to Green Heart as her Share Energy became enough to restore the power that Gungnir had lost. Compa had taken to the skies with her Angel Metatron primed and ready for combat, each pillar thrumming with pure Mana that was ready to be launched at her opponent. IF had sprouted her wings alongside her claws and armour before following them, whilst Guts had left to go after the girls too. Even tough he couldn't fly, jumping wasn't a particular problem for him.

None of them wanted to get in the way of these two men, which had been the reason why they had given them the entire crater for space. The girls and Guts because they had experience with the strength Okada put behind his sword swings, not only that though but also so that Nico didn't have to worry about them getting damaged in the crossfire. Arfoire with her Glaive at the ready, was the one whom had orchestrated everything from behind the scenes, they just knew it. She had been the one to poison Nico, she had been the one to feed intel to Maghda in addition to the rest of the enemy (although they had no proof of that one, it was just their gut instinct talking there), and she had been the one to cause untold casualties across the entirety of Leanbox. Therefore, how could they NOT want to get revenge on her for the sake of those whom had been wrongfully killed, all the innocents that had been made to suffer at her hands, directly or indirectly? Plus, there was a large part of them wanted to beat Arfoire's face in, so that was something to consider as well.

Therefore, up above the two males (not like they paid any attention to it) the sounds of explosions rang out throughout the airspace as one big attack after another was launched at the silver haired witch, whom simply used her Glaive to parry and fight back against every attack aimed at her.

But, that battle wasn't the one that would end up being the more anticipated however…

In one second, the two men stopped moving, sliding their feet across the ground. Small dust clouds formed from their foot movements that soon dissipated into nothingness, unnoticed and uncared for. The air's tension skyrocketed to unbelievable degrees, as if every particle around them became a living weapon to attack their enemy. Their stances became set, their swords became primed and ready. Ouranos pulsated and crackled with dangerous dark violet Lightning that radiated from it's blade like a thick cloak, filling the air around it's wielder with static. On the other side, Okada's sword almost looked like it was ringing, as the sword itself seemed to shimmer and shake as if it were a bell or a gong freshly rung from atop a high vantage point.

The next thing anyone would see, would be the two dashing towards one another with speed that surpassed anything a mere normal human could ever accomplish. One of them dashed forward with Lightning sparking around him whilst the other simply became a red blur, the two colliding with tremendous strength that made the crater they fought in, which was already deep enough, a full 4 feet deeper. In addition to that, vicious whipping winds and shockwaves by the dozens were released from the point of impact, ripping through both earth and air itself. This was merely one strike though, as Ouranos and the nameless sword collided and grinded away against each other with vicious sparks flying off them. The sparks being a mix of normal ones generated when weapons clash, and the Lightning sparks from Ouranos' blade.

CLANG- CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG- CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

More strikes hammered home against one another like two great earthquakes meeting, tearing through the crater and making it bigger and bigger each time. The sheer force would have blown away small buildings if they were close, never mind any people that were nearby. It had been a great call for the girls, Guts and Arfoire to take their battle elsewhere, as things down in the crater kept heating up to a huge degree, one which surpassed the amount of combat the girls managed to inflict with Okada by far. Sword strikes were made, Lightning erupted through the air, and kinetic energy was manipulated to enhance one sword whilst slowing the other.

'This guy…' Nico thought to himself, pulling Ouranos back and twirling into a reverse side slash which Okada blocked. The teen however, refused to back down and, even though he usually used this with Rebellion, swiftly activated his Quicksword technique to launch a series of high-speed Slashes. As a result of Kinetic Energy manipulation, though, Ouranos' speed increased even more, to the point where multiple Archdevil Arm blades tore through the air and rammed themselves onto Okada's blade like a pack of vicious, hungry wolves. Even so, his sword held firm, just like it had done when going up against his Party, the male mused. 'Looks like he really is no joke. I can see why the girls were having trouble with this guy.'

Finally, the two broke away from each other, taking a few steps backwards which prompted Okada to swing his sword sideways, Nico obeying his instincts and jumping to the side whilst focusing kinetic energy into his legs to gain greater jumping distance. Good thing too, cause Nico just BARELY, as in a hair's breath, avoided a torrent of wind that would be as large as the crater was deep. The moment that it hit the side, it literally blew a long, deep and wide canyon through the Landmass itself. 'Holy, fucking shit, now I see why Neptune told me to avoid that blade…'

 **'It would… be wise to not let that sword hit you directly.'**

'Yup, so don't need to be told that twice!'

"Nice job dodging that one." Okada commented as he held the blade in his ready stance. He had a slight smirk on his lips whilst eyeing Nico's form, the sword he used and the stance he wielded. It didn't look like much, and there wasn't much technique to it. "Looks like you were mostly self-taught, then some actual instruction got piled on top. That's your sword style in a nutshell, and while it's not half bad…" The man made several front slashes, swinging down once, bringing it back so that he made a wheel-like motion for another slash, before slashing diagonally to let the blade end up at his side. "Its more like a mess than an actual sword style."

Nico narrowed his eyes behind his helmet at that, not liking the cocky tone that this man was using. Not to mention that the fact was, that Okada was pretty much spot on. Nico's fighting style when he used the sword was mainly freestyle, as before he got taken under his mother's wing Nico had been training by himself. He'd only started his sword training for a short time before Helen took him as her student, but until then his sword style was simply a self-taught one and it worked for him, until Helen helped him refine it in her own… unique way. His style then evolved from there so that it could counter any kind of opponent, which was why he was so good at what he could do with a sword. Heck, swords and claws were something he found himself quite fond with, even though he had skills in a plethora of weapons. How else could he have learned to harness so many Devil Arms. Though, he didn't take too kindly to having his skills called a 'mess' though.

'Just with that short clash though, he figured out my methods… he's REALLY good.' Nico couldn't help but think. "Even if that's the case, this way of fighting's served me well since I went onto the battlefield, so I'll not let anyone mock what I spent a hell of a time refining!" he bellowed, eyes shining brightly. 'Say, Biko. You told me that Archdevil Arms give me Boons, right? Like extra perks to them that only certain ones have. So, what does Ouranos let me have?'

 **'According to my research, Ouranos is an Archdevil Arm which specializes in Movement and Lightning based Arts. As such, it's Boons follow that path. The one we should use most is 'Kinetic Vision' which is the use of Kinetic Energy sent to the eyes to perceive high speed attacks. Right now, this Boon makes it so you can perceive attacks at a speed of up to Mach 5, but the stronger it becomes the greater the perceptibility. There's little time left, so I'll explain the others later.'**

'Got it, thanks.' The male mentally replied, giving a mental nod before cutting the link and returning his focus to the battle at hand. He raised Ouranos and used it's Kinetic energy manipulation to lower the attack speed of the incoming sword swing to his head, resulting in it being a slightly above average slash that he easily blocked. 'Whew, that was a close one, **Kinetic Vision** actually saved my ass there,' the male thought, mentally whistling at the potential this Boon had.

Growling behind his helmet, Nico dragged his right leg through the ground behind him, generating his own Kinetic Energy and having Ouranos absorb it, amplifying it's own which allowed Nico to push Okada backwards. With the Kinetic Energy inside of it, Nico dashed forwards and went straight for a beheading towards the man, who quickly reacted by ducking under it to let the male pass him from overhead. He made to stab him from behind just as he passed over him, but Nico twisted out of the way and used the momentum to make a reverse slash towards him, one that Okada sidestepped.

As Nico landed on the ground and slid to a halt, he quickly sent the harnessed Kinetic energy into Ouranos, sparks dangerously flying from the blade before he burst forth in a shocking display of speed. The ground literally broke beneath his feet not that he noticed, when he did so. The two men quickly clashed blades once more and sent many sparks flying between their blades, whist winds whipped around them. Honestly, even if someone WANTED to lend Nico their aid (everyone was too focused on fighting Arfoire above them), they wouldn't be able to get one step closer to the two at this point.

With the Kinetic Energy generating itself within the Archdevil Arm however, Nico managed to push it out of Ouranos and throw Okada backwards, quickly dashing forth to swing at his exposed side. However, the swordsman simply stomped his feet, firmly planting them on the ground and brought his sword down on Nico's head… for the teen to twirl around him and swing at his back. Okada responded to this, by moving his sword so that it was over his shoulder and parallel to his back, blocking the swing with ease.

"If you're so good and such a prodigy, then what the hell are you doing with a woman like her?" Nico questioned during a slash bout between them. He had to be careful here, he didn't want to overextend his Archdevil Arm otherwise he might pay for it dearly, and injuries weren't something he was after. "Is she like your master or something?"Vaguely, Nico recalled some rumors he'd heard about how there was once a time in Leanbox that was heavily oriented around knights and their kings. Their relationship felt like a master and servant type of deal, just like with this guy and Arfoire. Though, just by the skill of his sword, Nico didn't get why he would be with someone like her.

All Okada did was shrug. "Master? I'll humbly decline from dealing with that kind of thing. All a manslayer has to think about is killing. It is more enjoyable and less complicated if you don't bother with unnecessary things. That being said..." Just then, Okada's eyes seemed to almost flash as his speed suddenly increased, catching Nico off guard as he quickly put Ouranos up for defense. With a mighty metallic sound, the two weapons clashed with earthquake inducing viciousness. "I bear no grudge against you. This too is just a job... Divine! Punishment! UAAAAAA―――!"

In an instant Nico found himself having to spam Quicksword, cause if he didn't then the barrage of high speed slashes that followed would have certainly tore him into pieces. That feeling of impending death had suddenly rose trough his gut and went straight for his head, forcing Nico to react that way as the sounds of heavy metal meeting the metal of a sword ringing in his ears, as if they were bells being rung right next to him.

Several slashes later, Nico made an under-arching swing, Ouranos digging into the ground and generating much Kinetic Energy through the friction of moving through the earth. Okada noticed however, and soon swung his sword to meet it, generating a large shockwave throughout the crater. Nico remained headstrong however as he stepped forwards, shoulder tackling the swordsman whom had countered with the same move. Not to be outdone and twirling on his feet, the redhead swung at Okada from the left in this position, which he parried so he struck from the opposite side as well. Bending his legs, Nico pumped SP into them and jumped into the air, somersaulting over the man and slashing at him all the while. Slashes that were parried by his sword until Nico landed on the opposite side, His eyes widened behind his helmet when he saw a rising upward slash coming his way, and though he jumped back in time, the sword still slashed through his Armour by going in and out of the shoulder, leaving a vicious tear in it and destroying one of it's shoulder guards.

'Guh!'

 **'Nico use your DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, it should along with Kinetic Energy, help you move fast enough to get a hit in!'**

Nico cringed in his mind but nodded at Biko's suggestion, landing on the ground and manipulating Kinetic energy to halt his movements, pushing it into Ouranos. Then, he had Ouranos pump Kinetic Energy through him once more, all the while Nico activated DEMONIC OVERDRIVE to increase his physical parameters alongside it. That ended up in him dashing back forth like a flash of lightning, his Armour regenerating what it had lost from that previous attack.

Just before he was about to clash with the man, Nico jumped into a rapid series of spinning slashes that were faster than the human eye could track, ones that Okada parried with ease before he came out into an overhead smash with Ouranos heavily enhanced by both his own Overdrive Skill as well as the generated Kinetic Energy. This ended up causing the ground beneath them to buckle when Okada raised his sword and brought it down upon the slash.

CLANG!

SPARK-SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK- SPARK!

The sounds of sparks flying resonated throughout the crater whilst Ouranos and Okada's sword duked it out in a contest of strength. Despite the size going for it, Ouranos remained in the middle ground as it pushed against Okada's sword, said sword's wielder not giving an inch either. Even so, the man looked Nico up and down and, whilst noticing the aura around him, focused his gaze upon the Archdevil Arm. "Ahhh, I see. That beasties got some nasty bite to it, doesn't it?" Okada mused, his smirk widening slightly.

"What?"

"I'm talking about your sword." The man responded, gesturing to Ouranos with his sole free hand thanks to using his one-handed sword to block Ouranos' attack. "From the way you swing it, it's obvious you haven't gotten a full grasp of what it can do, but you do have prior experience in swinging heavy swords around to compensate. This entire time, you've been trying to learn how to properly wield that sword instead of just fighting me." Okada explained with an all-knowing glint in his eye. "Please, like a genius like me wouldn't notice something as obvious as that. Give me all the credit."

'Wow... this guy really likes tooting his own horn...' Nico thought in a form of frustrated anger. He'd seen quite a few people who were like this guy in both the Spec Ops and in the Guild. People whom were so arrogant due to their skills being supposedly 'better than anyone else' to the point where they bully other Agents and harass them. The men would be beaten beyond recognition, some of them even died because nobody cared to try and give them any aid for fear of being targeted as well, whilst the women... well, he didn't want to get into that. Lets just say that they would never be the same as they once were. That one Spec Ops scumbag called Saizou was just one example, and he would not be kidding when he stated that he was actually one of the 'kinder' of these people.

Dicks, the lot of them... and Nico had been a target for a fair few of them himself. He just laid the smack-down on those assholes when they tried anything.

However, the difference between them and this guy was that this guy actually had the skill to back them up. By now, he would have had a chance to get a few good strikes onto their bodies with either his Claws, sword or whatever weapon he had chosen to summon at the time. However, this guy had much more skill than any of them, he would be classed as one of those people who were arrogant, but only because their strength allowed them to be. Those kinds of people were even more annoying to deal with cause their bite was just as good as their bark as.

 **'Nico, incoming!'**

"?!"

Quickly, Nico's eyes widened behind his Helmet as he rolled to the side, continuing it to channel Kinetic Energy to get increased speed. Good thing too cause he had avoided a thrust from Okada's sword. That thrust turned out to be JUST as deadly as that one attack which caused a long canyon to form, something which Nico would have thanked the Goddesses that he'd reacted in time if he believed in any of them in the first place. The moment that he got up again however, the teen found himself on the defensive as Okada charged at him and continuously slashed away at him. He used techniques that Nico hadn't even seen before among the ones that he had, his sword nothing but a crimson blur as he tried to defend himself against them.

Unfortunately, Nico couldn't defend against them all even with his Quicksword technique which he practically ABUSED in order to keep up with the strikes. That, combined with Ouranos' Kinetic Energy manipulation and his DEMONIC OVERDRIVE Skill being pushed to their limits, still couldn't save them when one particular thrust went right past his side... and the wind blast opened a hole the size of a basket ball. Not even his Armour managed to completely protect it, as with the power in his strike, Nico felt like it would have went through his entire abdomen no matter where he struck.

"Tch!"

Pushing through the pain whilst he jumped away, Nico quickly performed a Windcutter, which aptly got used to cut through several vacuums which Okada sent to him. 'Damnit, this guy's...!' the teen cursed in his mind whilst his wound began to heal. However, his eyes widened behind his helmet when he sensed a shadowy presence looming behind him.

He didn't need to be told anything to know who it was as he raised Ouranos in time, blocking a sharp strike towards where his neck and shoulder met that would have cleaved him in two Armour be damned, but it did send him crashing into the ground with the force of a meteor. Nico however, refused to stay down especially when he saw Okada coming down with the intend to stab through his head. The male almost felt like time was slowing down as the blade neared him, however Nico rolled out the way just seconds before the blade could reach it's target.

Rolling to his feet, Nico slashed upwards to get Okada to pause his next attempt to take his head, only to see him vanish into nothingness. His instincts saved him as he ducked though, quickly slashing towards him only to hit air. **Kinetic Vision** however, helped him follow his movements in order to apply his Windcutter to attack his opponent's near-supersonic slashes. If he could use the Shadowhunter technique which allowed him to constantly swing his blade towards his enemy's signature then that would have made this fight a whole lot easier. However, because of his undead body, Okada didn't HAVE a signature to track which meant that he had an immunity to that technique.

The Dust Eater sword technique was also out since it was too big of a risk wit the speed his opponent was capable of. The technique's weakness was that if one was faster than the user, then they could block not only their swings but strike at the vulnerable head whilst they were moving parallel to the ground. Whilst reading up and learning the technique, Nico had seen a couple times where this technique's original user had encountered that problem, which lead her to either a loss or a long, drawn out battle.

He did NOT want to give Okada that opening, especially with this ridiculous speed of his.

"Just what the heck is that sword...?" Nico muttered under his breath whilst he blocked a swing to his left shoulder, then one to his hip, torso and abdomen... although other areas got cut through by that simple blade. "It has to have some sort of name or power to it... there's no way that sword is any ordinary one." Teeth clenched as he regenerated from his wounds, just in time to get one of his arms severed by Okada as he rushed by him.

The man however, had heard his words thanks to his undead body having better hearing than his human one. A thoughtful look crossed onto his face whilst fleshy strands shot out of the severed limb, Nico's stump, and mangled together to bring the arm back into the socket with a ZOOP! sound. "The name of my blade? A blade's only purpose is to cut down others. A man-slaying blade does not need a name. In short, it's skill that matters, you know - Skill." He explained uncaringly, also making quotation marks when he spoke the last word. "I'm not like you, who has to depend on swords with strange abilities to get stronger, all your seeing right now? Its my genius strength!" he boasted, cackling as he dashed towards him to make a cut at his neck, only for Nico to block it with Ouranos.

... He would not lie and say that he wasn't pissed by that mocking.

Pushing Okada back then jumping away to get some distance, Nico quickly figured out that he needed an edge, and fast. Therefore, Nico decided to activate one of his Skills, the first time he had done so since waking up from his 2 week long coma. Skills had been a large part of his skillset before all this shit happened, he should always remember them. The male growled as he called out the name of his Skill, all the while his Ouranos being coated in purple energy. "PHANTOM EDGE!" With the Kinetic Energy and DEMONIC OVERDRIVE flooding his system, Nico dashed forwards which prompted Okada to do the same, laughing all the while as the two clashed in the middle... before dashing past each other the next second.

For a moment, Nico and Okada remained in their stances, until the redhead male gasped when he felt multiple deep lacerations, on top of his right leg being hacked to pieces all the way to it's socket appear on his body. Blood in the gallons tore exploded out of his new wounds, splattering against the ground whilst Okada merely stood tall with a cocky smirk. "Sorry kid, but Skill attacks like that won't deceive this prodigy's eyes." he spoke as if chastising him.

Even so, the teen refused to go down as he felt his regeneration kicking in. His leg regrew itself thanks to the original having been destroyed to the point where full reconstruction had to be necessary. 'Tch... shit!' Nico cursed, quickly employing the Windcutter to defend against a series of vacuum slashes, before he noted Okada's presence before him with the blade just inches from his face. However, Nico bent backwards to avoid getting stabbed there knowing that his Helmet wouldn't provide enough protection against that sword. He then used his sole functional leg to hop and kick into his chest, though Okada withdrew his previous attack to use his sword to block it in a manner of nanoseconds.

Whilst he flipped backwards and his regeneration finished up with his leg, his minor wounds being next, Nico quickly heard Biko's voice once more.

 **'Nico, start using Lightning Manipulation.'**

'You sure?'

 **'Indeed. Ouranos may manipulate Kinetic energy and Magnetism, but Lightning is it's primary ability. It's signature ability is it's ability to manipulate Lightning in all it's forms, no matter where it would be located. It has the power to freely control it, better than anything Alastor ever could. Not only does it have the power to control, but it constantly generates Lighting within it powerful enough to obliterate continents with a single cut. In addition, it is able to manipulate and absorb any Lightning based attack, regardless of its source, in order to either use it to strengthen itself or the one who wields it, by disassembling it and merging it with the user's energy, it can refill a user's power with the Lightning inside. Bioelectricity will be useless here, however, as this man's form is that of an undead, therefore he has no Bioelectricity to absorb or control.'**

'Alright then.' Nico thought, grimacing. To be honest, ever since he first laid eyes on this man, Nico had wanted to try and beat him through sheer swordplay alone. To test his metal against a warrior such as this would be a great achievement to him, he felt. Perhaps it was his inner Leanbox native speaking, but combat with the sword always felt… personal, to him. However, Nico wanted to return to the girls as soon as possible, and that outweighed any sense of enjoying this fight to the fullest.

That wasn't even beginning to take into account how he had been getting his ass kicked by this guy for a while now, the more that they fought the greater chance that he would have to resort to using IT or his DPU form, something that Nico refused to do unless he absolutely had to. Regeneration was all fine and dandy, but Nico would rather not have to risk possibly exposing his secret, cause this guy';s observational skills were uncanny, and depending on what he had known then he may figure out that his secret existed. Maybe that might be a little much, but right now Nico just wanted to get this fight ended already.

Gripping Ouranos in his right hand, Nico mentally sent it a command, and the Archdevil Arm delivered when it suddenly erupted into a blade of lightning. As in, Lightning exploded out of the blade whilst concealing it's long, wide form from view. Lightning arced across the crater, churning up dust and debris all around the two warriors like a deadly song that ravaged the battlefield with just it's presence alone. "Oh? So, that sword's an elemental type huh? Haven't fought one of those in a while…" The man mused, before setting his sword in front of him with a battle-ready expression on his lips. "Heh, then come on then! Show me the type of power that sword possesses! Like the prodigy I am, I'll take it on myself!"

"Heh!" Nico, in response to the bloodlust generated by Okada's words, could only smirk behind his Helmet whilst the Lightning from Ouranos got even wilder. "Alright then, but don't come crying to me if you lose!" he bellowed, the male could sense Ouranos was reaching the limits of it's ability to contain the lightning anyways, so it was already time to release it.

With that though, Nico gripped the Archdevil Arm in both hands as he reared it back. Having a Lightning Archdevil Arm wasn't the same as having a fire one, and it wasn't anything like Soul Edge either. However, the best way for one to learn about a weapon, would DEFINITELY be the weapon itself, and as such…

"HAVE A TASTE OF THIS!"

Alongside that roar, a roar filled with all the feelings that a warrior could possess in the heat of battle, Nico twisted the Archdevil Arm's grip so that he could perform a horizontal swing. The thing was, that when he did Ouranos generated over 20 electrical Spheres that appeared in an arch in front of him, spheres that both rivalled the size of small houses and were utterly COURSING with condensed Lightning. Each one then shot off towards Okada whilst leaving trails behind them, shooting through the air like the bullets fired from a gun as the air itself felt like it got heated up just by being near it. Some of the dirt and ground turned hotter when they streaked past.

Okada meanwhile just grinned as he held his sword at the ready…

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

* * *

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

20 large explosions of Lightning filled the crater like the bubbles popping inside a liquid inside a pan, each of them sending rippling tremors throughout the entire continent. Lightning exploded everywhere, be it into the far distant reaches of the Leanbox landmass or upwards towards the battling women (plus Guts).

"Whoa!"

"Eek!"

"My goodness...!"

"Tch!"

"What the heck?! What the heck is Nico doing down there?!"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Noire!"

"Thanks, IF!"

"No prob!"

Each of them (Purple Heart, Compa, Green Heart, Guts who used various offshoots generated by IF to jump about, Black Heart and IF herself) made startled exclamations when they had to be forced to get out of the way. It would be either that though, or to be roasted alive by vicious Lighting sparks that danced across the airspace.

Arfoire meanwhile could only growl in frustration whilst flying about to avoid the sparks... which for some reason seemed to be very much attracted to her. 'Tch, those two going at it hard down there... Though, I should not expect anything less from the famous Manslayer of Leanbox. A master worthy of heaven's wrath, Okada Izou. 'Manslayer' Izou's swordplay, while being an assassin, rivals that of the fiercest of warriors. For his involvement with numerous assassinations during the early stages of the Console War, he was eventually imprisoned and executed. Overly boastful of his own abilities, he had a tendency to look down on all other swordsmen, but reputed as 'One with the sword, swift and nimble as a falcon,' his sword arm was the genuine work of a genius. That brat down there may be strong, but against that monster he will likely have no chance of winning. He's someone who fought the CPUs themselves to a standstill, and nearly won had that brat not interfered. Once I deal with these broads, those two will be next!'

* * *

Down towards the depths of the Crater however, the smoke began to clear up, only to be dispersed by a slightly winded Okada, whose upper half had been stripped of all his clothing whilst his sword crackled with resident electricity. Aside from that, the man looked relatively unharmed, as if none of those attacks had even touched him… all the while many holes the same size as the spheres from before dotted the crater's interior with cracks spreading forth from them forming a massive web of destruction.

"Heh, not bad… you actually managed to make me get a bit more serious there…" Okada commented as he looked towards the direction of Nico's position with a cocky grin on his lips. Those Spheres had quite the punch to them, they made him think back to a time when he had to assassinate a Mage that would be attacking his contractor's home from her ship which had docked in the southern lands of Leanbox. Kind of like a knife to the back strategy, which ironically was the same kind of tactic he had used to end her life before she could even take one breath. She did however, have more than a few magical guardians that he had to take down with the best stealth possible, and when they DID manage to hit him (which was only once) they had a surprising level of strength to them. "If I had to say, that attack could have done me in otherwise, but you held that sword's power back at the last second, knowing that if you fired it off recklessly you would have likely destroyed the entire Continent with it's powers. Not bad handling, I'll say. Shame that you couldn't hit me with it… Huh?" Just before he could continue, Okada's eyes narrowed when he looked to the direction of where Nico had been standing, the place where he had been…

There was nothing there…

The kid had literally Vanished.

'What the...?' Okada thought as he looked around for the kid's whereabouts. Okada held his sword at the ready as he circled around a full 360 degrees. His eyes, sharp like a hawk's gazed throughout the desolate battleground in search of his prey. The Manslayer would not allow anyone to get the jump on him, especially a kid like this one.

"Looks like you fell for my distraction…"

"!"

Realization dawned on him as Okada, for the first time in this entire fight AND in the fight with the girls, found himself caught off guard. Caught off guard when he heard Nico's voice coming from right behind him, the redhead Armoured teen kneeling behind him with one hand on the ground and the other holding Ouranos sideways. The blade of the Archdevil Arm constantly crackled with Kinetic Energy whilst it undulated like a viper, a sign of Nico having activated the Vipersword technique.

SWING!

SCHULUCK!

"Guh!"

Then, Nico dashed forward while pushing his DEMONIC OVERDRIVE and Kinetic Energy as far as they could go. He became a blur, a blur which crackled with electric sparks while the ground broke beneath him, shooting past Okada and stopping about 40 meters away from him. The repeated use of Kinetic Energy, combined with **Kinetic Vision** , allowed him to get used to this kind of movement at this point, not to mention… he had managed to pull it off. Something which none of the girls, and any of their other comrades had been able to do for multiple chapters, but he managed to do it in one…

At that moment, Nico swore that he could have died happy right then and there cause the accomplishment he had just pulled off would likely be something that very few could have done unless they trained well over a hundred years, and even then, it would be no cakewalk…

He managed to cause damage to Okada's body.

The cut wasn't a very deep one, well, as deep as he had wanted it to be anyways. The cut went over his right breast, over his shoulder and down to his upper back with a small amount of… something being squirted out of him. He didn't think it was blood when Nico turned and looked back to him, thinking it to be more like tar or something as it dripped onto the ground like small dribbles of paint on a canvas. Not to mention that the smell definitely matched that of tar. But still, the fact of the matter was that Nico had managed to cut through Okada's body for the first time during this entire battle, that fact alone could not be denied. He recalled how his mother once told him that the first blow always was the most important one, and that he should always clear his mind of anything else when making to land that blow.

One step closer to his victory, Nico had gotten.

* * *

'Biko… the plan was a success! Thanks for telling me about that Boon!' Nico thought to himself, mentally grinning at his Demon Persona. They had done it before the moment that Okada had made that proclamation earlier about receiving his Lightning Spheres before, Biko had sneakily spoken to him, informing him that he had a plan in mind that he'd made whilst watching Okada's movements through Nico's own eyes. Thus, since he was literally the most logical of his aspects, Nico chose to listen to him, and this was the result of that action.

 **'It is a relief that it succeeded. Had he suspected we were up to something else just then, the plan would have had a 70% chance of failing… however, it appears that the 60% chance of success pulled itself into our favor.'**

What he had done was use the second Boon that Ouranos granted him, and that one was called **Warpspeed** , which was basically where thanks to it's ability to use Lightning and Kinetic Energy, Ouranos makes it to where those who can Warp have that ability bolstered to a degree where they can Warp across vast distances. Biko had stated to him that the speed was so great that he hardly made a sound whilst moving, and at the moment the maximum range **Warpspeed** was capable of was moving across Continents.

However, one problem had been addressed with this plan when they had come up with it. That was the fact that Nico had little experience or training, if at all, in controlling his newfound Archdevil Arm's power. By extension, that meant the Boon as well. If he didn't learn how to control it fast, then if he were to Warp when using this Archdevil Arm, then he would likely have Warped over to Lastation or some other far off place. The only reason why he hadn't experienced that previously when he got Vert her powers back was because this Boon was an 'Active' type Boon. Active Boons needed to be activated manually, as in through thought, in order to work and they could only be activated when the specific Archdevil Arm they came with was summoned to him.

As for **Kinetic Vision** , that Boon was a Passive one, which meant that it automatically activated and would stay active the moment that he summoned Ouranos. Biko had already classified it as such and informed him of the difference during their brief discussion with their plan of attack.

It would have been a struggle to contain that kind of power to this battlefield, which was why he limit the ability with Ouranos' Lightning power. That way, he could Warp behind Okada whilst the spheres, which were heavily influenced by Lightning and Kinetic Energy to make them move as fast as they did, without him noticing to finish him off.

Unfortunately for him, the finishing him off part was where Nico had fallen short. He had realized this the second his blade met the man's flesh that he wouldn't have been able to finish him there. Perhaps it was due to the amount of experience this man portrayed, but the way he moved more than confirmed it for the redhead. But nonetheless, Nico had felt it happen not just seen and heard it. Okada had reacted just in time, a show of superb instinct and reflexes in order to step backwards just as the blade was about to meet his undead body, limiting the blow to the minor wound that he had sustained as Nico flew past him.

'Still, this **Warpspeed** is no freaking joke. If I can properly control that Boon's power, not only will I be able to Warp further than I could without it, but perhaps I can apply it in other possibilities as well such as getting to comrades quicker, or evacuating wounded Agents…' the male mused, his mind whirling with possibilities that this Boon, and by extension the Archdevil Arm itself, granted him. Not to mention if he activated DEMONIC OVERDRIVE along with it, just who knows what kind of badass shit he could pull off in the future.

Once he looked back to Okada, Nico narrowed his eyes towards the wound that he had caused the man. His previous feeling of success soon faded away, and the serious tense expression he had through this entire fight returned…. Although, it would remain hidden thanks to his Armour. The moment that he noticed that wound, the teen couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. It took him a while to notice, but that wound finally cinched it for him. 'Hey, Biko… I know we succeeded and all, but why do I get the feeling that this guy's something of a life support?'

 **'That will likely be our senses. Now that I look at him though your eyes and senses, I too sense something very 'abnormal' about him. Its… almost as if he is like a puppet, strings being attached to him which allow the puppeteer to manipulate his every actions. There's no life in him that feels natural, or his own. At first, I thought that it was to do with him being an undead of sorts since he reminds me of those Skeletons from Leoric's Cursed Hold… but now, I am unsure.'**

'Best be on our guard then…'

 **'Indeed.'**

* * *

The sound of flesh patting against flesh filled his ears, bringing Nico out of his mental conversation with Biko and back towards the swordsman whom looked to be smacking imaginary dust from his wounded arm. Not a shred of pain could be seen on the guy's face, likely due to him being undead. But still, Nico couldn't help but feel he had gotten some headway for some reason, and NOT just because he had managed to cut the guy. "Whew, now THAT is impressive. The fact that you were actually able to land a wound on me… damn, I'm impressed kid. Like, legitimately." Okada mused, and for once Nico couldn't sense any of this guy's previous cockiness in his words. No, the teen could only feel like this would be the first time during this battle that Okada had actually said something so sincere. He may not know that much about him, but just from clashing with this guy, Nico could tell that he had experienced his fair share of battles. In that case, the difficulty he had in getting one cut in showed that he was used to getting as few injuries as possible from all of them. "Not even those two guys I disposed of, that one with the golden looking sword, or that one with the metal over his body and strange weapons, could touch me like this."

'… Wait, golden sword? Metal body? I know that last one can't be Guts, I saw him back then, which can only mean…' Nico thought, slowly widening his eyes in shock as he figured out whom Okada was talking about. "You… you KILLED Stefan and Isaac?!" he shouted, his Demonic Energy flaring around him. Those two, he didn't know all too well, but even so he had enough experience to see that they were good people! The fact that they were dead… The male looked down and refused to allow the urge to gulp and sweat bullets to take hold of him as he took deep breaths to keep calm. His composure couldn't be shaken right now, not when it was in the middle of combat!

Nico had seen many of his fellow Spec Ops Agents die on the field of battle. Gunned down by bandits with stolen tech, eaten alive by monsters of all shapes and sizes, even betrayed by their own fellow Spec Ops. He had seen many die, and thus he had become used to it… though, thinking back it had helped that he had lost faith in pretty much 95% of them at that point, which lead to him being indifferent towards them when they kicked the bucket, as people say. It wasn't like he knew about them personally, it wasn't like he gave a damn whether they lived or died… Nico was no hero, he was nothing but a monster, a beast just like the things he hunted. Heck, the Armour that he wears now, in addition to what he wore once before, symbolized that as it came from the Armour design of a villain. Right now, he'd consider himself a monster as in a demonic knight of hell, ready to rip, tear and shred his enemies with no remorse.

But, Stefan Von Kessel and Isaac Clarke? Those two had been among the 5% he could find himself placing his faith in.

"Well, one of them anyways, that guy with the ginger golden Armour." Okada replied, rubbing the back of his head whilst slashing his sword downwards. Since there was no strength behind it, it remained just an ordinary slash. "The other one got away with only a leg lost. He was the smart one, a prodigy like myself wouldn't have let him live anyways, plus my boss told me to so that was something. Still, that guy didn't really strike me as the warrior type, and those who don't have the warrior spirit on the battlefield usually end up dying first…" His mind then went over to the one that he killed, remembering the events with vivid detail. "That other guy with the golden sword and Armour though, he definitely had such a spirit. The strong survive the weak die however, and I was just stronger than him. Still, he was an interesting one, so I cut him down swiftly enough, he didn't provoke me enough to want to end him slowly."

Hearing those words… Nico scowled behind his helmet, clenching his fists as he forced himself to calm down. Rage and resentment fought for control inside his mind and body, something which he felt glad he wasn't using his Red Rage Ring to boost his powers with otherwise it would have been mush harder to control himself. The words he said with complete disinterest… they weren't necessarily wrong though. It was a harsh truth, but it was exactly as Okada had said. The strong survive longer than the weak because of the great power they wield. In jungle terms, they were the higher ups on the food chain and they had the right to dominate over the other races. It just so happened that Okada fit into the 'strong' category whilst Stefan apparently wasn't. That was al there was to it…

Even so… Nico still couldn't help but feel utterly pissed that he was dead!

 **'… Nico, I have something.'**

Just then however, Biko's words cut through his mind, breaking Nico out of his previous stupor like sharp blades cutting through air. It never ceased to amaze him how Biko, a construct from the Demonic side to his power set which SHOULD operate under rage and hatred, could calm him and keep him sane. It's one ironic situation, huh? In the outside world. Nico blinked as he heard the Demon Persona's voice. 'Huh? What is it, Biko?'

 **'I have been studying him through the use of our demonic senses, compiling what we know about necromancy to reach a theory. This man… this Undead being is not of this world, but his soul has been anchored down to it. Anchored by some external force. Normally undead are just corpses reanimated into mobile forces to fight, but this is more of a mix between undead and resurrection, just like that one technique used in that anime filled with ninjas. However, thanks to us being able to cut him, I can sense what is chaining his soul to this world, keeping it in this realm and not in the afterlife where he should have been. Its… not something I can identify, as I have never seen the likes of it before. Its not Demonic Power, nor is it Mana or SP, its something else entirely. However, regardless of what it is, I know a way we can cut the link between this power and Okada Izou.'**

Now THAT drew Nico's attention, especially when Biko mentioned the stuff about necromancy. He had more than his fair share of enemies who delved into that stinking art, and everything Biko had said rang true with those experiences. Normally Necromancers used their Mana to resurrect corpses or reanimate them into undead servants to fight for them. It was either reanimation or full-on resurrection however, therefore the fact that this was a mix (with a reference added in he might add), according to him, felt like an even worse perversion of the laws of life. He could only imagine how MAGES. would have reacted to seeing this, recalling her state in the Cursed Hold. But, the part about the energy source keeping Okada anchored to this world worried him, if it wasn't anything natural (even for necromancy), then it had to be some very bad news. Bad news indeed, what if it were a Satanic Treasure? What if it were something that was a remnant of the DPU era being used by a mortal? So much damage could be created if they were able to summon someone of Okada's Calibur into this world from the dead…

Though, this link cutting business DID intrigue him…

 **'It's a Death Parade.'**

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

'...HUH?! WHAT THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING, BIKO?! HOW THE HELL CAN WE DO THAT?!'

 **'After we defeated Logan, I began researching it myself by looking through the fractured memories. It was not easy, but I managed to find out how to generate one we can use, like the rest of Demonkind seems to be able to. Not only will it trap us within an isolated space to mitigate any damage inside, but it will completely cut us off from outside interference…'**

'…Including from whatever's anchoring Okada to the world of the living!' Nico realized, finishing Biko's speech himself. That really WOULD be of a great help to him, to be able to generate a field like that so that he could fight his opponents without anyone from the outside to interfere with him. Plus, it had already been established that these fields packed a lot of power, since not even his own power would be enough to break through one. He knew this back from his fight with Logan, when one attack caused one of his stronger attacks to fade away into the Death Parade itself. 'But, since he's been here for so long, wouldn't that mean he wouldn't return to the afterlife right away?'

 **'That appears to be the case, sadly. Okada Izou has been around for a fair amount of time, not to mention that this power chaining him to this world is quite potent. I do not believe we will be able to do anything to the energy directly, therefore this will be our only way to shorten this fight considerably.'**

Nico didn't like the sound of that possibility, no, CERTAINTY since Biko usually had sharp wits about this stuff due to his nature. The fact that he would have to waste time fighting this guy when he could be lending his aid to the girls against Arfoire. However, Nico also wouldn't lie and say that he wanted to pay this guy back for killing Stefan by defeating him. Not to mention that it wasn't really Okada who killed Stefan but the one who summoned him. One shouldn't hate the weapon but the wielder, that was something he had learned during his many missions for the Spec Ops community. Therefore, he couldn't place the full blame on this guy, only part of it. 'Alright then, tell me what to do…'

* * *

'Heh, this kid…' Okada thought to himself as he examined his wound. It wasn't as bad as it could have been thanks to his quick reflexes, but the fact that he had done one on him when his companions didn't spoke a lot about his skill. None of those sexy ladies from earlier could have cut him, even with that larger attack where he had to put in all the strength a one-handed stance could afford him to withstand it. It wasn't just that sword that gave him an edge in battle, it seemed, which had been something that Okada had thought upon initially meeting him.

To be honest, fighting in this era felt much better than he had initially thought. Just from hearing the words that witch-like woman who definitely needed to get better fashion sense, the Manslayer had assumed that he would be fighting a bunch of weaklings. Though, he would admit that they were definitely weak in comparison to him, but the warriors of this era at least had the POTENTIAL, to grow stronger. Even under all his boasting and bravado, Okada had seen such potential in every one of the warriors he had fought today, even that one whom he had killed. It was obvious that those women had been training intensely to get as strong as they were, but it was nothing compared to the training he had went through back when he was alive. The problem was that none of them had the drive to learn more, to discover new ways to get stronger aside from external forces. Though, he didn't really care much to delve deeper into that thought process. Okada considered himself a warrior, for it was in his blood. Combat was in his blood, and as a Manslayer, he would kill and kill till he had to go back to the afterlife. That was basically all that he cared about, well aside from drinking, gambling and possibly meeting some lovely ladies on the side.

For the time that he had been born in, that had been fine for him. Killing was all he was good for anyways, so why not enjoy it?

'He may have a few, no, maybe a LOT of gaps to fill if he is to reach the same level the genius me reached when I was in my prime. If it weren't for my 'boss' and this pathetic excuse for a body, then I'd have cleaned this kid's clock by now. If I were a full on human, then he would have lost practically instantly, 10 out of 10. But even with all that reliance on trinkets, anyone who can cut me even just a little bit has to have SOME skill. Maybe he could be…'

Just then, he looked around when he heard sounds of flames, only to find there to be a ring of fire around him. "Huh? What the-this is new…" he whispered, blinking when he eyes the flames. This wasn't something he had seen before back when he was still alive. Not to mention that it reminded him somewhat of Loweean magics when they tried to trap him within barriers or different traps during his assassinations. However, this definitely didn't feel like anything they would use, even if this era was not the same as the one he was brought up in that spec of snow should still have some elements that are reminiscent of his era.

He tried to slash them with his sword, but to his surprise nothing happened. He soon noticed a series of runes beneath them though, and soon it clicked to him. "Must be some type of reality marble rip-off… though even if it's a rip-off, it seems pretty powerful to be able to resist my sword…" the man mused thoughtfully. Plus, if it was strong enough to keep HIM in this small space, then that would likely be because of his undead bod yet again. If he was in his human body that would likely be a whole different story in his eyes. "Not to mention it feels like HIM…"

"Looks like it worked." Okada looked towards Nico who now pointed Ouranos towards him, and while his Armour covered his face Okada could imagine the look of fiery determination he would have on right now. "Call this the Death Parade, basically put its a violent 'trial by combat' where the losers fate is decided by the winner. No outside interference allowed, not even that energy source that anchors you to this world. Of course, since you have energy still in you, its not like you'll fade away quickly, probably in about 5 minutes."

"Heh, fancy stuff. I don't see much of a point in it as I already would be killing you anyway, so trying to lock this genius me with you is sort of stupid, but hey if you are looking to die I can help anyway." Okada said smugly, he was ordered to kill Nico and the others by his summoner anyway so he didn't have much of a choice, besides it was not like he was worried about living or dying anyway.

For him, this that was happening was more akin to extra time to let him enjoy what he liked and if there was people to fight and hot chicks around he had no big complaints.

"This is the final round, Okada! Let's do this!"

* * *

"Well... it seems like you all have gotten quite stronger since I last saw you all..."

Arfoire remarked this to herself as she floated above the ground beside the crater, having decided AGAINST flying over the place with loads of shockwaves and sparks flying everywhere. Seemed a LITTLE to close to getting electrocuted and she did NOT want that. Not to mention that each and every Spark that nearly hither had enough voltage to butcher a whole Army of warriors should it get the chance to do so. She didn't want to feel what it would do to HER. 'Tch, this is getting ridiculous. I won;t be able to continue my plans as of right now since these broads and that muscle-head are blocking my escape route.' she thought as she glanced at the people surrounding her, refusing to let her escape. Each one of them had utterly furious looks on their faces, whilst looking like they were one step away from utterly tearing her apart.

In addition, she didn't want to reveal her hand too quickly, she didn't have enough time...

"Flattery will get you nowhere..." Green Heart replied with a cold smirk forming on her lips. Her eyes shined with the intent to kill, as if to say 'shut the fuck up and lemme rip out your guts'... in a more ladylike manner, but basically that was what that look boiled down to. She twirled the rejuvenated Gungnir in one hand, before she pointed it towards Arfoire with her body radiating hostility in waves. "Now, I will make you PAY for your transgressions against Leanbox."

In response, Arfoire rolled her eyes whilst scoffing. "Oh, please. Quit trying to be the better person here." Arfoire commented, twirling her Glaive in a similar manner to Green Heart. She even placed her free hand on her hip whilst her grin spread across her face. "What I have done is HARDLY comparable to all the thousands of lives your actions ended." she stated, and when she got no response Arfoire continued. "Who was it that engaged in a war against the other Goddesses and left her Nation to fend for itself? Who was it that didn't do anything whilst so many people got needlessly slaughtered, allowed many injustices to happen across the centuries? If anything, the one who should be punished is a certain someone in front of me, not myself."

"Grk!"

Green Heart growled at that, but didn't respond due to Arfoire not technically being wrong. It was similar to Yvoire, what he did was wrong on so many levels, the same with Arfoire whose actions resulted in the deaths of a lot of innocent people, but the biggest murderer was herself. After all, it was her whom had settled Leanbox's fate when she left for the Console War. Her kill count must have superseded Arfoire's by a large margin.

"Okay, that is quite enough, you!" Purple Heart scowled as she lifted a hand and a pillar of crystal rose in a diagonal angle, aimed at Arfoire's back. The woman however, reflexively turned and blew it away in one slash,before turning back to her. "The biggest difference between you two, is at least she is making amends for her actions, whilst YOU are merely enjoying it! Green Heart is much better than you, so do not try and demean her!" she bellowed, her eyes almost glowing with the rage in them.

Though, it definitely surprised both Arfoire AND Green Heart that she would defend her fellow CPU like that. "Neptune..." the latter muttered in shock and surprise... though a warmth spread in her chest at that. 'She really HAS changed... I know I've seen it before, but its still surprising me...'

"Pft." Arfoire snorted however, waving a hand dismissively. "No matter how much you slice it, that gaming junkie is still to blame for all those lives lost. But enough of this nonesense, it is time that we continue this." she stated darkly, and with that she vanished and thus, began the fight again.

* * *

Back within the crater...

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It is not like you need to shout, after all now that I know you can take what I can dish out, I might as well-"

SLICE

"Go all out." Okada finished as Nico's left hand dropped to the floor.

'Wha... What the hell?!' The redhead thought in surprise as that happened, all the while his hand quickly regenerated. That had definitely felt like a sword slash just now, but... what the hell, that had been just WAY too fast, faster than anything Okada had done before even. It was like trying to compare an Olympic athlete who specialized in dashing to the speed of a jet engine if it could go to max momentum instantly. Nico could only barely jump to the side, but if earlier of his had saved him from injury, now it had barely saved his life.

A creepy feeling rose like the head of a lion when it noticed something off from within Nico's soul that if he were to let this happen again, Okada would already be capable of fully countering this evasion of his.

Okada did not let up, he advanced towards Nico at speeds that he had to put everything he could just to barely follow with his eyes. Eyes that were improved with his **Kinetic Vision**. Part of him wondered about using his other side for this, and in the end (which only lasted about one or two strikes), Nico managed to manifest IT in it's invisible nature to bring to bear against his opponent. After all, it wasn't like the girls were going to be able to see it or even realize he was doing this since they were too busy fighting Arfoire according to his senses.

However, even with the speed that it traveled at being as such that not even chain gun fire would be able to hit him when he was standing still, Okada merely deflected each of their strikes with practiced ease. Whether or not he even noticed the oddity that was something invisible blocking his attacks Nico didn't know, but he DID get the feeling that he didn't even care.

And, the most terrifying thing? Was that he was still only had ONE hand holding the sword. He still could cut and be more powerful, he just chose for some reason not to. If it was due to pride or something else was something Nico did not know, what he did know was that even his **W** **arpspeed** was accounted for, as every-time he tried to Warp, Okada would either interrupt it (one time nearly going for his groin. Dick move man, even if it was meant for his abdomen) or simply guess where he would appear and be ready to counter it instantly.

It was like when Nico was younger and he tried fighting his mother during the spars. It was the difference in technique as if he was just a child in front of a master.

Even so, the male refused to let this deter him. He'd make sure to last until Okada's soul no longer had an anchor to this world, of that Nico vowed on his pride as DEATHSTROKE. Therefore, to keep that vow, the teen mentally discarded all thoughts about relying solely on swordplay, as it became obvious to him that it alone wouldn't help him last against this guy.

As the two clashed once more, albeit briefly, Nico lifted his hand off Ouranos, his **Kinetic Vision** allowing him to see Okada's sword already coming at that said hand. Just a second before it hit though, Nico it his hand up in Hellfire, surprising the Manslayer and grasping the blade in a firm grip. Bit of an unorthodox method, and he could still feel the metal biting into his hand despite the flames around it, but it gave him a chance to react in time. The teen quickly slammed a knee into Okada's stomach, which prompted Okada to respond by stepping sideways to dodge it, then throw a punch to his face with just as much speed as his sword swings.

In response, Nico ducked under it and then threw Okada's sword aside, swinging Ouranos just as quickly to try and get a hit in. Just as he feared though, his attack failed as Okada easily brought his sword back to block it. Nico then had Ouranos unleash it's Lightning just a second too late, and as a result Okada managed to slice through his chest, stomach and shoulders at the same time. He would have done more, if Nico hadn't slammed IT into the space that he had once occupied,, appearing behind him to slash at his back.

Nico retaliated by Warping, where Okada dashed towards the spot he reappeared in and went for another beheading for Nico to catch it in Ouranos' grip. Pulling it back, Okada quickly slammed into him again and again, aiming for different organs each time which forced the redhead to angle his Ouranos to parry them. Though, not all of them were blocked, as some ripped through his Armour and flesh as if it were warm tofu. Nico even lost his non-weapon arm more than a few times for his regeneration to kick in and recall them.

Eventually, the redhead managed to knock Okada back by slamming a foot onto one of his feet and then shoulder. Just as he fell though, Okada used the momentum to bend backwards, slamming his free hand onto the ground beneath him to push him up into the air again. Just in time to avoid a blast of Lightning from Ouranos, something that Nico didn't let up on as he aimed the Archdevil Arm towards his foe and began unleashing more blasts the size of a truck. This prompted Manslayer to slash each of them in half with his sword, and the moment that his feet touched the ground Okada blurred forth leaving a sonic wave in his wake.

'Here he comes!' Nico thought, preparing to meet his opponent. Just as he got into the reach of Ouranos, and as Nico made to swing at his head, Okada merely chuckled as he vanished from sight. This succeeded in the task of catching Nico by surprise, as he almost lost his balance had IT not helped stabilize him. Saved by instinct once again he had been, for an explosion of KI appeared behind him whilst the sound of metal cutting through air filled his ears. That instinct caused him to Warp out of the way with **Warpspeed** Enhancing it... only for Okada to follow him and strike where he Warped back into reality, cutting diagonally through Nico's chest.

"Tch...!" Nico grunted as his healing began kicking in, before he turned to the Manslayer and held Ouranos at the ready with a look of steely determination. 'This guy... he's been holding back this whole time, and its really starting to piss me off. Its honestly taking all of my strength just to keep up with him, and its not like I've had any chances to land a hit in on him, he's just too fast. Ouranos' **Kinetic Vision** Boon is barely able to keep up with his speed, and even then I find myself relying on my instinct...!' the male thought whilst he gritted his teeth within his Helmet.

 **'Perhaps you can try to manipulate the Magnetic fields around us, such as the ones around the debris from your conflict. Deep within those pieces are bits of iron, which you and I both know has high magnetic properties.'**

'Not so sure that would work on this guy, Biko.'

 **'Worth a try... not like you have many options, this Death Parade may shorten the time of the fight, but it also is a double-edged sword due to limited space.'**

'True...'

With those thoughts in mind, Nico gripped his Archdevil Arm tightly with his hands, glaring through his helmet at his opponent. 'This better work...' he could only think as Nico raised Ouranos and called upon its ability to manipulate Magnetism. The blade quickly began emitting a large amount of Demonic Power, something which Okada took note of as he got ready for the next attack.

Not like it would do anything to him, he was just that good at what he did.

The magnetic powers of Ouranos however, didn't go for his blade like Okada had assumed. Instead, they went towards the small specs of dirt around them, as a result of their constant clashes. The debris and all the dust particles scattered about, drawn to the magnetic power that Ouranos possessed, each began to spiral around the Death Parade's interior, spurned on like a flame being fed more and more oxygen for its burning. The storm quickly grew in its intensity, swirling around the area inside the Death Parade as it reached the point of blocking any and all view. Not to mention how it blew through Okada's hair like a furious hurricane, his clothes flapping wildly in the winds. Pretty soon, the entire interior got covered with a spiraling sandstorm, something which the Swordsman noticed as he held himself ready. A small smirk etched itself onto his face as he spoke. "Heh, another one of your tricks? When will you learn that they will NOT work on this GENIUS?!"

With that bellow, Okada swiftly swung his blade in a wide arc, an arc that was swung in the opposite direction of the spiraling sand storm generated by Ouranos. Both powers collided when he did so, and just as Okada had expected, the sandstorm got obliterated with just that one slash. Something which only boosted his ego as he held his sword whilst looking for his opponent...

Only to jump upwards when a swing from behind nearly hit the nape of his neck.

'Shoot, so close!' Nico cursed in his mind, blocking a slash from his opponent as he channeled Kinetic Energy to get some distance. Though, thanks to the Death Parade he had little space to move about in. That lack of space, was why he didn't bother with any of his Devil Arms, as each of them had destructive powers that make them too much for them to be properly effective in this battle. Though, that DID limit his actions quite a bit, and since Okada was one tough cookie, Nico needed to plan his next move if he wanted to take him down before the time limit hit. If he were to win only through stalling for time, Nico would likely get a bad taste in his mouth, a very uncomfortable one at that which would be way worse than sampling the best cooked human foods the human race had to offer. Call him prideful and arrogant, but this was what he felt deep inside.

Mentally, he checked the time that was left...

And he began to curse under his breath.

'God fucking dammit! Only 3 minutes left! I can already sense Okada's soul vanishing from this world, i'll need to make this quick!' he thought to himself. 'But how the fuck can I do that?!'

It did NOT sit well with him that he would win this through outliving this man, this warrior who, whilst from an era way before his own, had more strength than anything Nico had ever experienced. None of the CPUs or many of the demons he'd fought compared to this guy, so he wanted to fight him for as long as he could... though, that was also the warrior side of him speaking whilst the other side, the one born from being around Neptune and the girls for so long, told him that this would be good since he could reinforce them if Arfoire is kicking their asses.

In addition, it didn't help that Okada had only fought him one-handed, he wanted to see that guy go all out at least once goddammit!

Oh, and just for reference, the two had been clashing in a mad frenzy of blades during his monologue.

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!

They went, circling each other whilst their blades constantly clashed with each other at speeds where they could even see the blurry illusions of them colliding with each other. Not exactly afterimages, but pretty similar which showed that the two definite superseded ordinary warriors. At least, warriors of this day and age, as the difference between Nico's era and Okada's could be seen as clear as day throughout the battles that the latter had fought in.

"Heh, although you don't quite measure up to the sods I fought back when I was alive..." Okada suddenly spoke when they clashed once more, catching Nico by surprise. This nearly costed him, as Okada twirled into a reverse slash towards his neck. However, Nico managed to barely block in time with Ouranos, coating the blade in Lightning so concentrated that, if Okada were a normal human, then he would have died by electrocution... though, the redhead teen doubted this guy had been normal to begin with. He lacked proper SP training, as his movements suggested that he didn't even bother training to utilize it. Instead, he went and followed the way of the sword in his own mannerisms, becoming a man-killing monster worse than a large proportion of Abnormals. Nico could see that, and by now the male had come to accept this difference in strength. "The fact that you're able to fight me like this at all indicates you have potential, kid. Though, I think you know this too..." he continued, before pausing and leaning forward to speak barely above a whisper. "That if I were A: in my human body, in addition to not having been just recovered from a fight with those hot chicks, then you would be nothing but a smear on the floor."

Nico growled behind his Helmet, but he didn't say anything that implied he disagreed with that statement. "Yeah... as much as it pains me to admit it...!" the male spat, each word feeling like a knife to his gut. "You're definitely someone whom I, at my current level, couldn't hope to have defeated if I fought you fair and square." he admitted, and the pain and humiliation for this revelation sickened him to the core. This... This was the first time he had felt this way in a long time, the last time he recalled this feeling was when he kept fighting against his adoptive mom in their spars. The sheer weight of the difference in strength between them, the revelation that he wouldn't have been able to defeat her even after decades of experience...

That feeling filled him up once more, after so many years of being able to emerge victorious.

It was... both a humbling experience, and a humiliating one.

"Heh, it is just a shame that I was too soft with you all." Okada commented, making Nico feel as if this was a confirmation of what he already know. That ALL of this until now, all the blood and desperation of him and the others, even the death of someone he could say was amongst the best people he has ever known, was all nothing more than a 'game' of sorts. That despite everything, he and the others never reached a point where they were worthy of being called his 'enemy'. "*SIGH*, It is as my old friend Ryoma used to say, I play too much. I guess that I can't blame him for saying that, the only ones that could ever during my life force me to go all out was him and those other old bastards. But I must say, you all are damn lucky that the one that was brought up was me instead of them, otherwise this piece of rock we are standing now would be ash long ago. Kakakaka, I guess at the very least I can show you all, show the world what a single sword can do. No fancy tricks! No depending on special powers! No nothing! All I have, and all I need is my sword to end this whole thing! Met God, slay God! Met Budha, slay Budha! Everything is just things waiting to be cut down by my sword, and this is the path I have chosen. NOW, TRY AND STOP ME BRAT!"

Now THAT caught Nico's attention as Okada jumped to the opposite side of the Death Parade. Even as his body degenerated, Okada's blood-lust skyrocketed to unnatural levels, almost causing Nico to freeze in place since not even the blood thirstiest of Ghouls could match the bloodlust that he just felt right now. The redhead quickly responded by jumping to the opposite side too, quickly getting into a stance of his own, though he then saw something that completely blew away what composure Nico had regained at this point...

Two hands.

Okada was holding his sword in TWO HANDS!

Oh shit, he would be FUCKED after this!

Nico recalled how much power Okada had exerted as someone who used the one handed sword style, of how he took out the four CPUs (though that almost seemed like a bit of a warm-up to him, he suspected) like it was nothing but a chore. Not to mention how he fought against high-level Spec Ops Agents like Guts, Stefan and Isaac. Not only did he fight them, but he killed one and wounded the other. Not something that could easily be done, though he would refrain from admitting that so this guy didn't get a bigger ego than it already was.

Now though, now that he was holding his sword in two hands, Nico INSTANTLY realized a blood-curdling truth. A truth he became all too aware of when he sensed the massive spike in power coming from the warrior before him. Not to mention the sheer feeling of 'DEATH' that came from the man in droves whilst he held his sword in the traditional kendo stance, pointing the blade at him which almost seemed like it was alive. The reason why he thought that was how the blade's aura almost felt like a living being, a wild and bloodthirsty animal hell bent on tearing through flesh and bone. This would be the first, and likely the ONLY time, where Nico would have the chance to face off against Okada at full power. Though, he partially wished to have fought him in his human body, Nico couldn't afford to be picky.

But... if he wanted to answer that demonstration with one of his own...

"I see... so THAT's your angle..." Nico muttered under his breath, as realization dawned on him. This situation, it reminded him heavily of tat time when he had a flashback to when he sparred with his mother, whom then prepared to teach him the meaning of resolve. He couldn't help but imagine her standing there instead of Okada, holding her sword at the ready with the look that promised nothing but pain. Okada's face soon replaced her, as well as her form, as he returned to reality and glared towards the Manslayer.

Nico saw, at that moment, that this would be the last attack according to this fight. Nothing but sheer power could be felt from the swordsman before him right now, but it was the type of power which would only come when the battle would reach its epic conclusion. The feeling of the end times, that was what he felt right now, and if he wanted to survive this attack, he would have to go all out. As much as his inner logic protested against the idea (even though he so vehemently wanted to listen to it this time around) Nico dismissed Ouranos which vanished in a flash of Lightning. The male quickly noted how he felt the Boons that automatically applied to him disappear alongside it. 'Hmmm, that'll need to be investigated after this...' the male thought, before focusing back onto the battle.

"Then, you won't mind..."

Closing his eyes, Nico mentally focuses, reaching deep for his Demonic Power and calling it forth, from deep within his being as flames quickly cocooned him. The signature sign of his DDD Transformation ladies and gentlemen, the first time he had transformed since awakening from his coma. When the flames dissipated, Nico now floated above the ground as Crimson Soul, his aura flaring like a wild flame whilst his crimson eyes sported their glowing black slitted power button symbols. In his hands, the true form of Soul Edge thrummed with untapped power, chaotic energies wrapping around the long blade whilst he held it in two hands. Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes as he quickly got into a battle stance one which involved him bending his legs, as if prepping to run, while his sword went behind him as if he were going to make a huge sweeping horizontal arc with it. "If I were to go all out too."

This would be it, the male thought even under the influence of his Demonic Power thanks to DDD rewriting his personality. This would be the way that he would show his respect for the Manslayer before him. Crimson Soul was no fool, through the entire battle that they shared, he felt the raw emotions present in Okada's sword. He may call a sword as a tool for killing, but in his experience when two powerful warriors clash, they can feel each other's emotions through their fists or in this case, the swing of their blades. All Crimson Soul had gotten from him first had been the enjoyment of someone who enjoyed killing people, but as the battle dragged on, slowly that began to change. Into what, the DPU wasn't exactly certain, but he could not deny that deep within his being, he grew a strong respect for this person's skills.

If things were different, he would have liked to spar with this guy again in the future, but this time with a proper body and everything. He just seemed so... interesting, as if deep within him, Crimson Soul wanted to learn more about this man. What drove him? What inspired him to become the Manslayer he was today? What was his life like? So many questions filled his mind regarding this man, but the DPU soon put them to rest. That was not what he was supposed to be thinking about right now, instead he should focus on this one strike.

One strike which would decide the battle.

"Heh, nice parlor trick, kid. Too bad that it won't save you from me." Okada sneered with a cocky smile, his eyes shining as he reared his sword back for a swing from his right shoulder. The sword itself though, it seemed to glow alight with Killing Intent, shimmering red and almost looking like it was vibrating so fast that phantom illusions of the blade swirled around it.

Crimson Soul merely readied his own sword which would be swung from the opposite angle. Soul Edge, under the influence of PREDATOR, thrummed with power as chaotic as the nature of Crimson Soul himself, a crimson hue bathing it whilst violent electricity danced around it. Hellfire fumes also danced around the blade the more he put Demonic Power into it. Not to mention that Crimson Soul focused on his Red Rage Ring, to activate it and amplify his powers with the rage it produced inside of it. "We shall see. Now, then, come!" he bellowed, and with that war cry, Crimson Soul charged forth, flying through the air with his wings releasing their flames like jet engines to increase his speed. The roar of airplanes could be heard as he flew through the air towards his opponent, who literally broke the ground beneath his feet when he moved so fast he made a sonic boom.

Both men unleashed huge war cries, cries that resonated deep within their souls whilst they swung their weapons once in range.

In that moment, everything around them lost its form thanks to the energy released.

* * *

 **"Oh? LOOKS like the BATTLE'S nearing its END..."**

The figure mused this to himself as he stood up from his former seated position. The figure's eyes cast their gaze over the battle between Nico as he transformed into his DPU form to strike his enemy, who simply responded in kind. Whatever fighting that Arfoire was doing no longer mattered to him once he saw those two sparring within the Death Parade, for not only did the intensity heighten the thrill of the fight, the figure's own heart thrummed when the figure watched it. The battle ignited his warrior-like desire to go down there and test out the boy now that he had gone all out. The desire to pit himself against him and utterly crush everything he held dear in his own hand.

"It seems like the kid will be 'advancing' too, his Demonic Powers have swollen highly in terms of quantity and quality, purified to a higher degree, thanks to that Archdevil Arm." the figure mused further, chuckling deeply and with a tone that distorted the voice the figure made. Disappointing that he didn't show more of its destructive powers, as he so LOVED that kind of thing (especially when he heard the screams of women and children as their lives got extinguished. The look of utter shock and despair on their faces was just beyond priceless to him).

It was also a rather clever idea for him to learn to activate a Death Parade like that, isolating Okada Izou (though he honestly wanted to throttle that idiot for not going all out in the first place, those bitches would have been torn to shreds if that happened, which had been his original desire in the first place) from the others. Not to mention his own power which anchored the battle-loving scumbag to this world. However, now that the battle would be concluded soon, the figure felt like the time was right. Not only did Arfoire look like she was slowly losing against those broads (he expected nothing left for a 'meager' existence like her, he only followed her out of a reluctant respect for her ambitions, ambitions that they had agreed to work together for). But, this battle had reached the point where he could no longer hold himself back from joining in.

 **"LETS see how they FARE against a SUPERIOR being, such as MYSELF..."**

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **WHEW! This was a long one, I had feared this one would end up like the Compa chapter which went over 27K words last time I checked.**

 **In any case, I chose to complete the Nico/Okada fight in one chapter cause I REALLY want to get this part done with so I can focus on the REAL bad boy of this story. No not the sexy kind that Nico has unwittingly become with his new look (it was inspired by an otome game after all) but the type that gives no fucks about skullfucking anything that gets in his way. Next chapter though will show some... interesting elements, especially with what this mystery person said about Nico's powers.**

 **Not to mention that Arfoire won't be featured in a battle like this till the end of the Lowee Arc, which is quite a ways to go yet as there'll be chapters focused mostly around getting stronger between this arc, the Spec Ops Exam, and then the road to Lowee, those in-between moments being hopefully lighter in tone than what's been going on so far.**

 **In any case, read, review, fave all that stuff please, it really makes me smile seeing how you guys like my stuff.**

 **Peace out!**


	147. Chapter 144 - Ascension

**Chapter 144 - Ascension**

The battle against Okada Izou had ended… though it did not end without repercussions.

Panting was the only thing Crimson Soul could do right now, the DPU having fallen to one knee whilst stabbing Soul Edge into the ground before him. His gauntlet clad hands kept a firm grasp on the blade's hilt whilst his chest inflated and deflated quite visibly. If his features were fully discovered, then one would find him to be sweating bullets from the recent experience he had just went through. His whole body felt like it was on fire (not the good kind, or his Hellfire either), and a lot of aches assaulted his form. Not to mention how around him, the residue embers from the attack collision still fell. His wings hung downwards almost like they were slouching, embers calmly falling from them like leaves falling from trees in the autumn. In addition, the winds generated back there began to settle down with the lack of motion to power them, all the while the dust around the battleground where the clash had taken place began to vanish out of sight, there no longer being anything that could generate it.

Glancing to the side, Crimson Soul noted how there was a lack of flames and runes around him and had to mentally congratulate himself… whilst also ponder on what had just happened for the future. The Death Parade had long since begun to destabilize, vanishing out of existence thanks to its creator no longer supplying it with Demonic Power. Even so, this would mark the first time Crimson Soul had ever unleashed a Death Parade… he could only imagine how useful this thing could be in future battles. He could use it to lock in place powerful Abnormals that would threaten his comrades, in addition to these Demons, Legion soldiers, heck perhaps even mortals. Not to mention how this power seemed unique to those who could use demonic energy, which usually meant Demonkind in general, so it wasn't something wholly unique to the DPU himself Maybe it could even be used to capture troublesome opponents, though he'd have to check if he could use it in human form too.

Even so, he had to pay the price for using so much power in one go like that… and this was it.

'Perhaps…' the DPU thought to himself whilst slowly getting to his feet. The transformed male gradually did this, before he allowed his powers to bring him back into a floating position. Although he looked slouched over at first, the DPU managed to keep himself from falling down again. Much to the protest of is body however, though he kept pushing himself since there would still be much for him to do as of yet. There would be time to rest and recover later, Crimson Soul mused whilst he finally managed to stand tall. He looked sort of like how the CPUs would look when low on power during their transformations, now that he thought about it. 'I should have reconsidered going DDD and using so much power from the get-go… I have indeed been abusing my body since I've awoken from my coma, it appears.' The DPU thought to himself, barely regaining his composure before he looked upwards…

Towards the space which Okada had once occupied, which now looked like nothing but a pile of ashes on the ground.

That attack…

Crimson Soul shuddered to himself when he recalled the attack that had pretty much nearly killed him outright. The DPU never showed much emotion during his time in this state, most of his emotion being heavily controlled by the mental state that he'd enter in this form. Only by feeling excessive emotions would he be able to display them, and right now the DPU couldn't help but both fear AND respect the amount of power that Okada had reached… with only a simple sword.

That one sword swing had contained power that made the previous powerful strikes look like bug bites in comparison. Its like that sword which, upon being revealed from its camouflage-like ability, went from 90 in terms of power to 1000 real quick, and if he hadn't pumped all of his physical power, and amplified it with his Red Rage Ring, then he would have surely lost both of his arms in one go. However, that didn't mean that he hadn't taken any damage at all from that last attack, or rather, Soul Edge hadn't. The DPU's eyes glanced down to the section of the blade where Okada's sword had hit, and there he could see huge cracks spreading across the blade like a series of complex patterns, like thorny vines tearing through with brutal efficiency, from there to the inner depths of the blade right up to just below the teeth themselves. To be frank, Crimson Soul couldn't help the relief he felt at the blade not snapping in half, though he did feel a sense of anxiety like the blade would shatter at any second.

This honestly made him so glad that just before Okada could break through his blade completely (even with his power reinforcing the blade), he had vanished into Particles just like any Abnormal would. Even so though, the effects of his actions still lingered on the young DPU as he eyed his damaged sword with cautions and anxiety in his gaze. Soul Edge was a Devil Arm unlike any other, as it came from his soul. Not to mention that it existed on multiple different planes, which meant that no ordinary sword could harm it. However, even if he had been human originally, Okada still seemed to exist on another plane, a plane that was meant only for the damned it seemed. That was the only thing Crimson Soul could think of as to why Soul Edge had taken as much damage from that swing as it had. Remnants of the Demonic Power that flowed through it quickly began mending the cracks though, but if he were to guess then the process would likely take a couple minutes to complete. Not the usual seconds that DPU energy usually took to mend his wounds. It was even faster than his Ghoulish regeneration, though Nico usually conserved his Demonic Power for his offensive powers. There were probably some exceptions to this in the past, but he couldn't recall any right now.

Therefore, for Soul Edge to be damaged by a simple sword like that which Okada Izou had used, then the strength that the Manslayer possessed definitely wasn't a joke.

He truly was one of the best swordsmen that Crimson Soul had ever fought.

'I hate to admit this; however, I do believe that this battle wasn't even a battle, nor was it just a game… it was more like a one-sided struggle for survival…' Crimson Soul thought to himself as he held the blade horizontally at his eye level. Even as the cracks along the blade faded away from the remnants of Demonic Power inside it, Crimson Soul could almost visualise them as phantom images on the blade, a deadly reminder of just how vicious Okada had been. Even in human form, Crimson Soul felt like he wouldn't be one to call himself arrogant or superior. If he were to look down on something, it wouldn't be without good reason. He could thank his countless missions against Abnormals for that, as every time he had to watch out for any surprise abilities from those creatures which could catch him off guard and result in him losing his life. Not to mention that he almost lost his life many times during his early fights against them due to thinking that they would be like any other monster in Gamindustri… though that was simply because he hadn't seen an Abnormal back then. Heck, even back then he had been pretty cautious and distrustful once his eyes had been opened, but not even that had helped him prepare for fighting against them. As he got good at killing them, Abnormals cemented themselves as proper nightmare fuel for him in terms of how they always kept secret aces up their sleeves, and some of them had remotely superior intelligence than others.

Regardless of all that, it left him with the mentality of never underestimating the enemy if you didn't want to get horribly smacked down and brutally ripped apart. Not many rookie Agents got the message as quick as he did however, and the prices they paid would vary depending on the level of lethality each Abnormal they faced possessed. Lower ranked ones just outright killed them… they would be counted as the lucky ones, whilst higher ranked ones used them for more nefarious purposes (especially the females, and if he was in human form, then he'd shudder in dread). Even with that mentality however, Crimson Soul still felt like he did during those early times in that he had just dodged the fangs of a particularly vicious Abnormal, an Abnormal named Okada Izou. Truly, he felt like a complete novice who just survived a battle against a master. Even now in his current form, Crimson Soul could feel his heart thumping like a wild beast on an overdose of aggression drugs within the cage that was his chest. He tried to calm it down by placing a hand on his chest to elevate its worries slightly, the familiar metallic sensations of his armour instead of the feeling of a blade meeting it doing no small amount of comfort for him.

'Okada Izou… that is a name that I will never forget… for whilst I managed to put all I had into defence at the last second, he would have broke through my defences and sliced me clean through had he not vanished at the last second.' The DPU thought to himself whilst he closed his eyes to do something he rarely did in all of his life: he held his free hand in a chopping position before his lips, closed his eyes and offered a one-handed prayer for the Manslayer, firmly imbedding this experience into his mind, heart and very essence of his being. Okada Izou made his mark on the world, and himself, in his last moments. Crimson Soul would loathe himself if he didn't at least do this much.

Now, it was time that he regrouped with his comrades…

Huh?

Blinking after he opened his eyes and lowered his armoured hand to his side, Crimson Soul furrowed his brow when he began feeling… strange. By strange, he meant that there was this tightening sensation in his gut. It wasn't an ordinary one either, but it did feel like when one pulled on both ends of a rope simultaneously, stretching the rope to its utmost limit. This sensation filled his gut, and boy did it feel uncomfortable. Not to mention that this hot yet cool heat (he'd register it as lukewarm if he were to use a proper word for this) which only added to his discomfort.

'What the… what is this?' he wondered to himself ad he placed a hand over his abdomen, where he could feel the source of the sensation. In addition, the more seconds passed, the more 'strained' this sensation felt, like it was being stretched so much that it could go and snap at any second. Add in the minute trembling sensations he got from the main one, and you end up with something akin to a miniature earthquake inside Crimson Soul's gut. He didn't like it, not one bit, nor did he know why he was feeling this way. As he tried to ascertain the source, Crimson Soul brushed briefly with the links to his Devil Arms, Ouranos and Soul Edge, and when he did the male surprised himself when he noted their feelings… their emotions, which should be controlled by their links, actually kept getting flooded with intense EAGERNESS. Eagerness, excitement, anticipation take a pick of the lot, and these weapons would be expressing it through these links.

That just threw him for a loop as the sensation trembled greater and greater, to the point where Crimson Soul sat in a meditative position whilst wrapping his arms around his stomach to deal with the sensation.

What the hell was up with his weapons?

Why were they excited?

Was it to do with these sensations?

If so, then what were these, and why was he getting them now?

Could it be something to do with Okada Izou?

Did he do something that Crimson Soul wasn't aware of?

The DPU shook his head on that last one as he gritted his teeth to bear the strain of this sensation, sweat rolling down the side of his forehead beneath his helmet. It would be rather unlikely that last one would be legit, since Okada Izou, according to what he felt from his sword and actions when they clashed, seemed like the type of guy who preferred no cheap tricks or to not be deceived by his opponents. Plus, it wasn't like his Demonic nature would let any toxins (if there were any on that sword, though he didn't get the feeling there was) run wild through his system.

What he didn't notice, though he would if he could see his reflection, would be how his eyes were slowly gaining a crimson glow with a white outline, one that covered his slitted power button symbols.

CRACK, SHATTER

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Just then, at the height of the tightness in his gut, Crimson Soul suddenly felt it. Something cracked within him, something deep within the very fibres that made up his essence… before he gave a loud roar, nearly falling forwards when the next thing he knew his power SKYROCKETED to new heights. It even showed itself physically when an INTENSE black aura with a red outline suddenly tore itself out of him like a beast finally breaking out of its cage and exploded everywhere, whilst shooting through the crater to deepen it. The aura swelled and swelled like something that never stopped growing, shooting through the landmass and turning the entire crater into what looked like a dungeon sized pan with the black and red aura resembling the flames that Crimson Soul used.

Not to mention that if he listened, he could have heard a centipede's screech mixed in with the roar of a dragon.

* * *

Outside the crater, all fighting between Arfoire and the CPUs plus Guts, stopped when they noticed the energy surge. How could they not when it literally just occurred right next to them? With the intensity and sheer ferociousness that not even the blood thirstiest of Abnormals could match? Quickly, their eyes got drawn to the source, and as a result, all of them became… well, more than a little bit shocked. Not to mention legit terrified when they felt the massive demonic energy signature heat up the surroundings to the point where the grasslands around the crater turned a dark black as if they were being burned alive, the skies itself becoming stormy as if the very air itself became nothing but charcoal, and lastly the entire vicinity felt so oppressive that each of the fighters struggled to even breathe. Even then, this same power felt like it was cracking down on them just for breathing in its presence.

"Wh…WHAT?!"

Yeah…

That could sum up their responses quite nicely.

 **"Hmmm… LOOKS like the KID'S power has ASCENDED… from mere CONTINENT class to… MULTI-CONTINENT class…I guess for THESE mere WEAKLINGS this POWER would class as TERRIFYING… those MONGRELS.."**

Unlike them though, the mysterious figure did NOT show any concern for what was happening to the surroundings in the slightest. Whilst darkness concealed the figure's reactions, judging by its words the figure seemed to be more on the calculating side with no small hints of distain and mocking. The figure even just flared a simple bit of its power to offset the effects this energy seemed to have on any living being close enough (not to mention unlucky and stupid too), to feel its presence. The energy it used felt so miniscule that even an atom would be bigger than it, so the figure hardly even noticed what its own energy even did thanks to it being so small in scale.

It was nothing compared to the warriors the figure was used to fighting however…

In fact, it could be said that this wouldn't even faze him if they were to square off in the heat of battle…

Something which the figure believed that would be happening very shortly.

 **"It MATTERS not, then. IT is FINALLY time for MYSELF to JOIN this so-called 'CONFLICT' that these PATHETIC beings call INTENSE… If they were BORN in MY era… then THIS would BE a mere SQUABBLE between INFANTS in comparison…"**

* * *

Down in the crater, Crimson Soul let out another large gasp once more, his eyes shooting open as his upper form lurched forwards. His wings flapped a couple times to help stabilize his body, preventing it from losing its balance. He finally felt the energy surge within him vanish out of existence, making him hunch over from the force behind it. Heavy gasps and laboured breaths escaped him for what felt like an eternity, as he tried to come to grips with what just happened… whatever that had been. 'The hell…? Why did… my energy just act like it was throwing a temper tantrum…?' the DPU wondered, shock, confusion and concern written all over his features whilst he tried to regain his bearings. It was a good thing he did, cause when he looked down to the area below him, expecting to see solid earth…

The thing that greeted him was a rather HUGE hole that went down the entire landmass.

'WHAT…?! What the hell…?!'

 **'Nico, calm yourself…'**

'Biko…?' A surge of relief spread through the DPU's chest after a brief moment where startled realization dominated his mind, when he heard Biko's voice. His Demon Persona had been quiet this whole time, not saying a word for whatever his reasons had been. But, the fact that he was talking to him now meant that odds were he had some form of explanation for what just happened to him. Whilst he took bigger breaths to calm his mind down, not to mention his thumping heart, Crimson Soul's expression returned to its normal composed state whilst his demeanour soon followed suit. His form bobbed up and down in the meditative position, with his legs crossed and his hands resting on their backs on his thighs. All the while, Crimson Soul's wings occasionally flapped themselves whilst releasing streams of embers from their forms, nearly filling both of his sides with their presence. 'Do you know what just happened right now?'

 **'I do. In fact, I would have said something earlier had what happened not temporarily shut down out link to each other. That was why you never heard me, but that isn't important right now. Nico, what just happened was… we've ascended.'**

'Huh? What do you mean, ascended?'

 **'Take a look at your energy reserves.'**

Crimson Soul did so by using his mind to check his own energy reserves. What he found though, nearly caused him to lose balance once more when he got BLOWN AWAY by how HUGE his energy reserves had swelled. He almost didn't even realize that this was his energy, not one bit cause the sheer volume and quality of it just defied what his energy felt like before. His energy reserves, they felt like the centre of a huge ocean instead of a large lake like they did before, and the deeper he tried to go into them the more he felt like he would be swallowed by the depths of his energy. 'The hell… my energy, it's…!'

 **'It has indeed swelled, in quality as well as quantity. I did some research into this, and from the Fragmented Memories I found out that you have become what is known as a 'Mid Continent Class' DPU. Its where your abilities have increased in both potency and demonic purity to the point where you can, if you didn't restrain your power and let it run wild, destroy multiple continents with a single swing of your blade when in DPU form. Essentially, you reached the next level of power in DPU Culture. Though it only applies to your identity as Crimson Soul, your human form won't receive any additional upgrades based off this ascension.'**

'Ascension, huh? Is there any more information you can tell me about this?'

' **Indeed. I will start with the ranking system DPUs possess. The DPUs each vary in terms of pure power, however NONE of them are weak, none at all.**

 **First, there is the Continent Class , which you were at before now. The lowest Class of DPUs have the power to destroy an entire continent with a single swing of their swords at 100% power. The lowest rank a DPU has is called the 'Continent Class' and these DPUs have similar level reserves. The energy reserves for any DPU rank have to be able to sustain the DPU's strikes, thus they are fairly larger than the class they are announced as,**

 **Then, there is the second rank, which you have just now achieved. Multi Continent Class. Multi Continent Class DPUs have the power to destroy, well, multiple continents at once, and can shatter single continents with much more ease than their lower ranked brethren. Those who are of mid class however, have one difference between their lower ranked brothers though, and that is the power of the Archdevil Arms. A single Archdevil Arm allows the DPU to advance to this power level. The reason this is, is because of how Archdevil Arms are formed, and also, they are seen as a sort of 'rite of passage' for DPUs. Once they gain an Archdevil Arm, their powers will skyrocket in potency, lethality and versatility. Mid rank DPUs usually have one or two Archdevil Arms however, which is why they are on this level. Though, if a mid-class DPU is able to manifest more than that amount of Archdevil Arms, they will be one step away from approaching the next class.**

 **That next class is the Chaos Class. The Chaos Class is a ridiculously high class of power even in DPU standards, a power that only the Chaos Gods have reached. This rank is only achievable for those who don't rely on Archdevil Arms, and reach a situation where their powers have evolved over time, through intense training and battles with stupidly OP opponents. Archdevil Arms only hasten this process, so those who have more of them and learn how to harness 100% of their powers ascend to this classification quicker than those who don't. This is the difference between them and Mid Class DPUs, as the latter have only partial control (like say 45% at max) of their Archdevil Arms. Till the current times only the Chaos Gods have gained this level of power, and they did NOT rely on Archdevil Arms but their own power.**

 **Finally, there is the one class that surpasses that of the Chaos Class, and that is the Primus Class. To this day, there is only one other class that is above the Chaos Gods, and that's the Primal Class, which only the four original DPUs have gained. This is solely because while they have their own power levels comparable to such a class, but they seem to have something that helps their powers become a threat to any of the Chaos Gods. What that is, I do not know, but from what I CAN tell, this power is extremely lethal in more ways than one. I'll have to do more research at a later time.'**

That… That was a lot of information to process all at once, Crimson Soul felt while keeping a neutral face on the outside to keep his inner conflicts internal. Even so, he didn't complain since this was simply how Biko did things. Whenever he explained something, he did it by going into great depth, and made sure there would be no room for doubt. It likely wasn't for everyone, but in his eyes Crimson Soul no matter which form he was in, would gladly accept this depth. For it answered more than one question that circulated through his mind. Not just about what happened, but also about the DPU era in general. There was still so much that he didn't know about it, so much that somehow he could feel would have connections to the current era somehow.

He'd love to see what that era had been like just from a learner's standpoint… even though he didn't like the way that the DPU's did things.

'Alright… so I am a Multi-Continent Class DPU then, that part I get… and judging by the way you spoke just now, do you think that…?'

 **'That more DPUs are still out there? I do not know for certain. Information about that subject is very vague at best, and the only point of reference we can use is what the Defiler told us back at Planeptune.'**

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"Unfortunately, as time passed, the truth of the matter was spun into a web of lies, some of his followers were traitors in secret. They spread their word around, convincing everyone in the Underworld to follow them."_**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

'… I get the feeling that a lot of what that guy said was merely understatements and lies, just like he had said…' Crimson Soul thought, frowning as he floated in the middle of the hole. 'If what we've learned since then has told us anything, then this 'Underworld' is likely just one of the many demon worlds out there, and they will likely have their own twisted version of those events. A long time has passed since the DPU era after all, 30 trillion years is MORE than enough time for the truth to become distorted. If one asks me, then I would say that the outline of what he said may have some truth, but if I want to know what REALLY happened, I'd have to ask well, someone who had been THERE during the war. That demon didn't feel like it was, its power level felt way too low for such a thing.'

Biko hummed over on his side of the link.

 **'I agree, the fact that there are many worlds involved in this, not just our own if all these Hellgates are what we think they are, further supports this theory. For now, however, it would be best if we regroup with the others. It is likely that they may be worried about what became of us thanks to that power surge.'**

'Right. I'll make sure to let them know I'm alright, though when all this is over… perhaps it is time we bring them up to speed on these matters.'

Biko didn't answer that last bit as he cut the connection, but Crimson Soul knew why. He wasn't the only one who still had some trepidation over the idea of informing the girls about what they didn't know about his DPU Powers, as well as his knowledge of the Demonic. He bet that, if one were to investigate then they'd find that of every person in Gamindustri, Crimson Soul would be the one who had the most understanding of Demonkind. That would look suspicious alone, but with Biko's existence finally revealed to them, he at least had a way of properly explaining things. He just hoped things would be at least okay with the girls… perhaps he could let them vent their frustration by stabbing him with something or another punishment of similar nature… probably something that could pierce through his hide since no normal weapon can do so. If they didn't want to be around him anymore, then he would accept that decision no matter how much it'll hurt. After all, it was their choice, and he would accept it since he kept these things to himself.

Shaking his head to push those thoughts to the side for the time being, Crimson Soul looked upwards towards the crater, having found that somehow, he had been drifting deeper into the crater's depths. Though, as he looked down at the hole beneath him he wondered if it was even right to call this a Crater anymore. In any case, Crimson Soul had to regroup with the girls, to see if they were doing okay. Perhaps Guts was alive too, wait in fact he KNEW that stubborn bastard was alive due to how tenacious he is. Heck, a lot of the time Crimson Soul found that no matter how beat up that guy got, he just somehow managed to spring back into action whilst every opponent he has lay dead in his wake. It was something that boggled everyone's minds to this day, be it human or non-human alike.

With that in mind, Crimson Soul flared his wings before he gave them a simple flap. The male quickly shot up and out of the Crater, looking more like a streak of orangish red fire than a human as he did so.

'I must apologize for making them wait for so long… those females…'

* * *

Outside the crater…

Purple Heart, Black Heart, Green Heart, IF, Compa and Guts all stood before Arfoire, looking like they had seen better days. Each of them looked like they had been beaten up by a bunch of bullies in an alley, with cuts and bruises dotting their forms which could only have been possible with something like a Glaive. Something of which their enemy indeed possessed. IF's regeneration however, took care of her wounds whilst Compa, whom had switched from Metatron to Gabriel, gave them all a BARD OF HEALING, taking care of the others as she used FIRST AID on herself.

On the other side, Arfoire looked like she had went through hell a dozen times over, with her body littered with wounds ranging from minor to serious, some of them oozing with blood that dripped down her form and fell to the ground beneath her. To be honest, it was a miracle that she had even remained floating with the amount of damage she had taken from these women along with their sole male companion (that other boy being still in the crater), since she had taken more attacks than she'd care to count. Normal attacks she could have dealt with, but they had each launched their fair share of Skill attacks, special moves and their weapons own unique abilities. Not to mention that she had been caught and bound in various crystal formations: a Cross behind her, stakes pinning her hands and fee to it whilst crystal chains wrapped around her, perfectly sealing off all ability to move.

Needless to say, Arfoire did NOT feel like one happy camper at this moment.

"Its… I can't believe it, but… to think that you all still had this much power… left in you…" The woman moaned whilst she glared heatedly towards the CPUs. Not to mention Guts whom had been targeting her breasts more than she would have liked during their bout. "And what about you, repeatedly aiming for my boobs like that?!" she yelled afterwards, pointing to him with the Glaive she wielded with comical tick marks over her forehead.

Guts merely shrugged his shoulders, a notable clanking sound coming from his body Armour. All the while, the man held his Dragonslayer in both of his hands towards his opponent in the traditional kendo stance. "Not like you even use them."

CRACKLE, SHATTER

The sound of cracking glass could be heard after Guts' bold statement, not to mention the expressionless face that he said it with too. Arfoire temporarily lost her furious look for one of absolute shock. No, it would make better sense to say she looked absolutely mortified at what Guts had just stated so brazenly.

Purple Heart however, couldn't resist the smirk that formed on her lips as her human self's trolling nature slipped through. "Hmhmhmhm, good one." she stated, giving a thumbs up to the man from the side whilst trying to stifle her laughter.

Something which Black Heart had even more trouble doing if how she covered her mouth with her non-weapon hand, her shoulders shaking wildly. "pfffft!"

That notion got imitated by the smirking Green Heart too, Her smirk showed just how amused she had been with that savage claim, her eyes dancing with mirth. "I do believe that would be considered a decent roasting, Guts. Be proud." She then added on in her mind, something else. 'Even though it is cliché, this victory isn't just for myself, but for all of us.' She thought, glancing down towards Gungnir which constantly crackled with golden energy. 'Yes… all of us…'

This merely made Guts roll his eyes, whilst IF sweat dropped. "Wooow… cold, much?" she remarked, before remembering who it was that was getting roasted. "Then again though, since its this old hag… Yeah, I think I'll allow it." Whilst IF didn't fancy herself a girl to hold grudges, considering what this woman has helped to do over the course of her stay in Leanbox, IF felt like this would be a prime time to make an exception.

Compa, who floated up above them still, could only smile weakly at what was going on beneath her. "Everyone's roasting the old lady… Grandpa would not like that, though…" she remarked to herself, although the darkness within her has this reaction that basically state 'Pft, so what not like its not true'.

"Wh-Wha-?! You-!"

"By the way…" Purple Heart mused as she turned her head to face her fellow CPU, completely ignoring and interrupting the fuming Arfoire who looked like she wanted to choke a bitch. "It's a relief that you have your powers back, I'm glad. Now you don't have to be so nervous about leaving your room…" her eyes then fell upon Gungnir, shining in melancholy. "Or have to rely on a divine weapon such as this, to sustain your power as a Goddess. But, there's one thing that we should be considering." She said, going serious at the end as she gestured to the weakened Arfoire.

But, before she could speak further, Purple Heart along with everyone else looked towards the crater when they each sensed a powerful Demonic Power suddenly on the move. The same one that they had sensed earlier, it shot through the crater whilst heading straight towards their position. Before any of them could react, a HUGE blur of motion suddenly shot out, shooting through the air like a meteorite before it pulled a backwards flip, then swiftly blasted down to the space before them.

By the time that the smoke settled, everyone looked to find Crimson Soul, the DPU form of Nico, floating there before them with Soul Edge strapped to his back. His wings flared outwards whilst the male floated, eyes closed before he slowly opened them. Looking towards the girls, the male remained silent for the longest time, and after a rather tense (if shocking for the onlookers) silence… he spoke. "If I were in my human form, I would hug you all right now." he stated bluntly.

That statement quickly snapped them out of their stupor however.

"… NI-NIIIIIIIII!" A completely teary eyed Compa squealed when she saw her childhood friend return to her, a whole rush of emotions swelling inside of her as she acted without thinking. Whilst completely forgetting about the captive Arfoire, she flew downwards ad rammed right into the transformed Spec Ops Agent's chest. "Ni-Ni, Ni-Ni, Ni-NIIIIII! You're alright, you're alriiiiiiight!" … Needless to say, Compa's arms wrapped around Crimson Soul's Armoured torso faster than a certain bird which runs on roads, her shoulders visibly trembling whilst the sounds of shedding tears filled the air. She buried her head so far into his chest Armour, just to assure herself that he was indeed there, that the DPU wondered if her face would leave an imprint somehow…

Through all the shock of what happened that is.

Still, the mentioned DPU looked down towards her, his eyes slightly wider than normal, his mouth hanging a bit more like an 'O' and his arms lifted slightly so that they were above the arms wrapped around him. Now, normally in this form Crimson Soul had a great deal of control over his emotions, a side effect of not only the transformation but also due to the nature of his powers. He merely showed emotion only when he felt them to strong degrees, so when he saw Compa bawling her eyes out like this, clutching him like he was her lifeline, all Crimson Soul could do was wrap his arms around her back and hug back just as fierce. A surge of strong over-protectiveness, affection and guilt for causing this filled his being, which just went to show just how protective he was of his childhood friend. "Compa…" he muttered under his breath, before he buried his head into the crook of her neck and embraced her just as tightly as she did to him. Neither of them let go as he whispered into her ear with all the softness and tenderness he could muster right now. "Apologies… I must apologize for worrying you like that…" he whispered, the DPU already realizing just why she had been acting this way.

It was because of his actions, both prior and now. Something which honestly did NOT settle well with him.

"#hiccup# N-N-Ni-Ni #hiccup#... you're a big meanie…!" The Nurse-In-Training bawled out, pulling her hands into fists and bopping his back Armour. Though, there was no strength behind it, merely frustration and worry instead which arguably made him feel a whole world's level worse about everything. "F-First you get p-p-p-poisoned, and now this?! Ni-Ni's a big meanie for making Nurse Compa worried like this!" she exclaimed, and Crimson Soul remained floating there, hugging her and letting her unleash her frustrations out on him. It was the least he could do.

"You have more than Compa to worry about, you know…"

Crimson Soul looked up to see the other girls approaching him, each of them having various expressions of conflict on their faces. It would be impossible for him to tell what they would do however, something which could only be possible due to the girls bottling everything up so that he couldn't see it like he could normally. It had been Purple Heart who spoke first with her hair shadowing her eyes, and she had also been the first to approach him by floating forwards, following after Compa whom he had made to let go… only for the Nurse-In-Training to cling onto him.

'Well… I won't blame her for that… she feels quite worried…'

 **'Nico… the amount of sorrowful emotions, mixed with frustration and grief, coming from these females is astronomical… they must have kept it all inside for this entire time-frame…'**

Biko's words reverberated inside his head, causing the transformed team to feel like utter shit. Looking towards Purple Heart, Crimson Soul made to say something… when she stopped before him and did something Crimson Soul had never thought she'd do.

Purple Heart clenched a fist and punched him in the abdomen, punched him in a way that avoided Compa who kept him from bending forwards too much.

PAWNCH!

"Ngh!"

The fist ended up near the opposite side of his abdomen, coming in with a brilliant level of force which he had mixed feelings about. On one hand, it impressed him that she had that much strength, which could only mean she had been training hard in how to use said fists in combat. However, it also made him feel like explosions were going on inside his heart thanks to the amount of negative emotion he felt in that punch. Was this what it had been like for those who had to see their loved ones, their wives or daughters, sadder than anything they had ever seen before?

It felt freaking AWFUL!

'Ugh, I guess I deserve that one too… no, that is a DEFINITE…' the male thought to himself whilst wincing at the force put behind the punch. Once again, he looked to the Planeptune CPU to try and say something, only to feel them stop in the middle of his throat. For a moment, Crimson Soul thought that he had seen something wet trailing down both her cheeks, but he didn't know for certain.

The reason? because what he thought to have seen had caused her to embrace him from the opposite side, burning her head into his Armour and flesh so that he couldn't see her face. Her hair flapped about behind her from the sudden motion she did, and Crimson Soul felt like he couldn't breathe as easily as he could before. Crimson Soul didn't even dare to think if this was out of character for her or not, as even if Purple Heart was a serious version of her, she was still the adorable innocent Neptune deep down. A girl who cared so much about her friends beneath a layer of teasing and insecurities that plagued her mind daily. For someone like her, possibly losing some of her friends would likely destroy her inside. He always DID see those insecurities and fears behind her Mask, she just tried to keep it up until only the two of them were in the same place. Then, the mask came down.

If she were in human form and if they were alone... Crimson Soul would have shuddered at the implications if he could.

"What… Compa said is true. You have been a big idiot here, Nicky…" she muttered, lips trembling as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. This would be the first for her to feel so strongly in her HDD form, and she didn't like it. Nope, not one bit, and she could tell how Crimson Soul felt (something she found quite amazing in the future since it meant that their feelings actually got through to his DPU form, not something that had happened before) judging by how his heart kept thumping away within the confines of his Armour. "Making us worry like this, keeping secrets from us... aren't we meant to be a party Nicky? Why couldn't you trust us a little more?"

Hearing those words made Crimson Soul feel like dozens of knives filled with the poison that knocked him into that coma in the first place pierced his body all at once. Goddammit, since when the hell did he get so affected by seeing these wonderful girls sad? It freaking pissed him off! What pissed him off the MOST however, was that he couldn't do jack shit to fix it! "Neptune..." he muttered under his breath, before he pulled an arm from Compa, leaving the other where it was on her back, and slowly moved the arm to wrap it around Purple Heart's back in turn. He did it slowly though, just in case she didn't want to have it there until he was certain she wouldn't slap it away or anything. Once he had been certain, Crimson Soul tightly wrapped the arm around her back, pulling her into the three-way hug as well. "Neptune... Compa..." he muttered, raising his head to look at the others. "I... words cannot express how apologetic I am right now. The fact that my actions are the main cause of this burns me inside, it really freaking does."

"Yeah, well good."

Then came a stern, cold voice as Crimson Soul looked towards IF. He soon wished he hadn't cause the heated, angry gaze she had on right now gradually made him start to feel something along the lines of... fear. Fear of the opposite sex, something he never felt in this form before. He could go head to head with monsters, demons and possibly other dangerous beings, but women? Why were they the ones who drew out these emotions from him? Was it because of his attachment to these girls? Was it these girls in particular? If that was the case, then these girls were much more deadly than anything else he'd ever fought.

"Look, I won't say more than I did at the Gala, but you REALLY screwed up when you got poisoned, Nico." The brunette spoke, scowling as she walked up to him. Her steps, each of them felt like the looming presence of doom that the transformed male could sense oozing out of her form. "You have ANY idea how worried we were? Compa was so worried sick she had to focus solely on training and had difficulty sleeping at night. It took her and Neptune sleeping in the same bed, the same bed YOU slept in to calm them down."

...

...

...

... Seriously?

If he felt bad before, Crimson Soul felt utterly wretched, like the very worst person in the world when he heard down at the two females hugging him, Crimson Soul's mind betrayed him as it conjured up the image of Neptune and Compa, both in their signature PJ's, curled up on his human self's bed with bloodshot eyes and tears rolling down their faces. Even holding each other for comfort, even though it wouldn't replace the real thing. Was this... was this what those who wanted to die in a hole felt like?

Grr! Goddamnit!

God fucking DAMMNIT!

What the hell?!

What the FUCKING HELL IS WRONG WITH HIM?!

The DPU couldn't hold it in anymore and quickly morphed his right fiery wing. That wing, after deforming into a simple mass of flame, shifted into a long arm made up of fire. One which lunged forth faster than IF could react, and before she knew it the arm pulled her into the group hug as well. "Wh-Wha-?! Nico, what are you-?!" she tried to say, and if he wasn't mistaken there was a bit of red on her cheeks when he did this, but Crimson Soul didn't care.

He just HAD to do this.

"IF... think of this as part of my apologies. I vow on my honor and my pride that I will make it up to you all for this. I will find a way to earn your forgiveness..." he told her, though he also directed it to the rest of the worried girls. Glancing down at Purple Heart and Compa, whom had looked up to him with the cutest teary eyes one had ever seen (he was so going to die from diabetes... oh wait, he can't die. Shit!), Crimson Soul held those gazes before he looked up to Black Heart and Green Heart. The former seemed to be fidgeting uncomfortably whilst refusing to look at the transformed male. Meanwhile, the latter just looked sideways, though one could tell that both of them also had their own levels of worry. "That goes for all of you. I will make it up to you all somehow, this I vow to you on my pride as DEATHSTROKE."

Hearing this caused their eyes to widen in shock, each of them looking at his face which showed nothing but resolution. No matter what form he was in, their crush always kept his word when he promised something to them. He did so rarely because of this, but when he did promise something he always kept that promise. It may take him a while sometimes, but both Crimson Soul AND Nico kept their word, it was the more honorable thing about him. So, the fact that he had vowed to make it up to the girls in some way, he didn't say what (likely he wasn't sure how), but that was okay in their books. Just hearing him vow that managed to put their hearts at ease.

Honestly, they doubted anyone else who did this would succeed, this felt more like a personal quirk belonging to this one man.

"Well, we'll hold you to that, Nico." IF stated, slowly allowing a small smirk to form on her face as she was allowed to pull herself out of his embrace. To be frank, she didn't know how much longer she would have been able to control herself if she had stayed in his arms like that. His human form was bad enough with that bad boy look he got going on for him, but his DPU form had pretty much been what he would have looked like if he went into adulthood. She had to suppress shivers just thinking about it.

Just like that, the heavy tension began to ebb away as the girls began to calm down. Especially since their male companion had promised them something like that (with every intention of delivering that promise, mind you) with such a serious face. Plus, it was a fact that he was now up and about, alive and well whilst being poison free. Just as Biko had told them a couple weeks prior to it.

Even so, Guts, who had merely stayed silent during the whole exchange, let out a slight smile when he stepped closer to the party, the clinking of his Armour making Crimson Soul look up to him. "Looks like you made a big, and I mean BIG, promise there kid..." he remarked, before his face turned serious like usual. "You better keep it. Also, what is all..." he spoke, before using Dragonslayer to gesture to Crimson Soul's current form. "This?"

"I must admit, I am indeed curious as well..." Green Heart added as she and Black Heart floated over, though the latter didn't seem nearly as confused as she felt, something the Leanbox CPU noticed but chose not to comment on in favor of getting answers. Her eyes ran themselves along the DPU's muscular yet lean Armoured physique, the broadness of his shoulders, the masculinity of his torso, everything about him just screamed MANLY. Even more so than his human for which had more of a bad boy feel. "This form... what is it, Nicky?" she questioned. 'It feels so much like those Demons back at the Basilicom... yet, not at the same time. For one, the energy signature feels tremendously more powerful than they ever could achieve, with greater control and concentration. The 'purity' of this Demonic Power feels much greater in comparison as well... Not to mention how calm, controlled and... good it feels. Definitely not like the other Demons.'

Glancing at each other for a moment as if having a silent conversation, Crimson Soul finally decided to relent and explain to her what he was right now. "This power to transform, Vert, would be that of the Demon Patron Unit, AKA DPU for short. Essentially I've become a Demon God, the exact opposite of a CPU. Been this way for a while now, though originally I was in fact, human." he explained. 'Well, mostly, though I won't say that.' he thought, referring to his OTHER side, his inner beast which felt... strangely docile right now. Was it because of the intense fight with Okada? Maybe so. "I didn't turn into this knowingly though, so do not assume that I will end up your enemy in the near future."

"Yup!" Compa chirped, grabbing everyone's attention as she continued. "Ni-Ni's really strong in this form, just like the CPUs when they transform. His toughness goes through the roof in this form, and he acts super serious too."

IF then interjected, chuckling as old memories filled her mind just when Crimson Soul had regained his previous composure from the emotional onslaught previously. "Yeah, though he couldn't control it at first, remember?" she remarked, getting sheepish looks from those who knew what she had been talking about (even Crimson Soul). "By the way, Compa... what the heck are you doing with his arm right now?"

Why did IF ask that with such a stern, foreboding tone you ask? Everyone thought that, and thus blinked owlishly when she did it. Following the direction that her eyes were glaring at (with an intensity that rivaled that of the ferociousness of Crimson Soul's Hellfire...), each of the girls noticed something particularly... jaw-dropping about the cream-haired girl's position.

She was... holding his arm close to her chest whilst in her Astral Dress... with Haniel out. The Broom had also transformed Crimson Soul's Armour and bodysuit into a handsome formal tuxedo, pants, dress shirt and slacks.

... Was it just them, or did a church bell just ring around the two of them?

"Compa... what is it that you are playing at?" Purple Heart asked her in a slow, low tone whilst emitting a dark aura. She could even feel hr human self practically manifesting herself in her mind to yell out whilst flailing her arms about. "HEEEEEEY, THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE ME THERE WITH MY HUBBY, COMPA?! WHAT GIVES?! VIOLATION! VIOLATION OF THE SIS CODE! THIS NEP-NEP DOES NOT APPROVE ONE BIT!" Behind her, one could also see a hanya mask manifesting with its gaze looming down from above towards the Nurse-In-Training...

A look which soon got mimicked by the rest of the girls, much to the DPU's confusion.

'Huh? What's got them all up in a bind?' the male wondered whilst looking down at the trapped limb. 'True I'd likely be freaking out over this situation in human form, but in this form i'm marginally calmer. Still, there's nothing wrong with this, is there?' Crimson Soul questioned in his mind. In his opinion, Compa was just holding his arm, but when he noticed the 'extra' features though his confusion only increased. 'And why the hell have I suddenly changed clothes?'

 **'I believe that may be to do with that broom, Nico. I sense strong magical energy emitting from it, a LOT of it too.'**

Biko's words filled his mind, but in this situation they only enhanced his confusion.

Compa meanwhile, simply stuck her tongue out childishly at them, giving them a cutsey wink as if that would stem the tide of jealousy radiating from the girls (including Black Heart and Green Heart, surprisingly enough). "Hehehehe, Its simple really, Nep-Nep. I've been wanting to do this for a while now, ever since I got my powers." she explained, before snuggling into Crimson Soul's arms with her face, all the while practically SLURPING their saltiness in a metaphorical cup. It was delicious, and invigorating. She could somewhat see why Neptune did it to IF and the rest of the girls when in human form. 'Hehehehehe, sorry girlies, but this Compa's not staying by the wayside anymore.' she thought to herself while resisting the urge to giggle 'Compa's gonna go full throttle without stopping now!'

By the Goddesses did it feel good to just do this without holding back. She had SO wanted to be a bride one day, ever since she had been a little girl. She sometimes even dreamed of herself, clad in a Wedding Dress like she was now (although not like how she imagined it to be) and with her crush in a tux going down the isle into married life. But, thanks to her previous self she didn't get nearly as much headway as she would like with him... that would be changing now, though. Get ready ladies, cause Nurse-In-Training Compa would be joining the chase!

"Well, good for you Compa..." IF began, grinning at her friend whilst walking over. She couldn't help but feel a sense of pride for her deep down, but that wouldn't stop her from what she would be doing next. "Even so though..." In that moment, IF quickly planted a hand on her shoulder and pulled her away from the DPU's arm with Biomass flooding her limb to enhance its strength. This act, ended up catching Compa off guard thanks to the sudden surprise of it, making her go "Kyaa!" as she nearly lost her balance had she not managed to adjust her balance correctly in time.

"Um, what is going-?"

"Hush now, Nico. Well, since Nep and the others have staked their claims on you already, I'm doing this." IF stated before she grabbed him by the neck with her other hand, and pulled him in for a passionate kiss directly on the lips, eyes closed and everything.

Crimson Soul's on the other hand, along with everyone else's, flew open wide.

"EH?! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

'WHOOOO HOOOOOO, SLAP THAT ASS, BOI! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, SLAP IT, THEN TEAR OFF THE BUTT CHEEKS AND USE THEM TO RUB ON YOU CHEEKS UNTIL THEY ROT! TAKE OUT HER ORGANS, DO ALL KINDS OF FREAKY SHIT TO HER, KING, YOU KNOW SHE CAN TAKE IT!'

IT spoke within his mind, but Crimson Soul paid no attention to it, his mind had been too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on right now, and if he were in human form then he'd be blue-screening right now. True IF had kissed him before, but when she did she always left him freaking breathless and mushy in the head. She just had that effect on him, an effect that every guy who had been in a relationship would call 'whipped', though they wouldn't say it in his presence lest they lose their testicles.

By the time several minutes passed, IF pulled away. She could have kept it up for hours on end ad still not get sore lips thanks to her Powers, but she wanted to drink in the jealousy of the others a little more. She huffed with enough pride to rival lions, as she turned and aimed a smug grin at the other girls who glared at her with deep, almost abyssal jealousy. Even Compa, which promoted a string surge of pride within the brunette. "Sorry ladies, but if ANYONE of us has an effect on Nico the most, i'd be in the lead there."

Oh yes, those jealous angry stares tasted great to her. She could almost find herself getting addicted to it, wanting to do other things in front of them to the guy just to mess with them.

'Heh, and if my life has taught me anything, it would be to 'go for the goods!' in these situations.' IF thought with no small amount of satisfaction and pride swelling within her.

On her side, Green Heart gritted her teeth, grinding them together whilst maintaining a fairly jealous look. One girl making the moves on her in-game husband candidate she could take, two on the other hand invoked the womanly instincts within her to act. She hadn't had much of a chance to stake her claim on Crimson Soul as of yet, not with everything that had happened. But, she would be damned if she didn't take this opportunity! Everyone was challenging each other, deliberately goading their friendly rivals with challenges that basically screamed 'come at me, bro!' and thus, she would not be left out. "Alright then, if that's how you all want to play..."

The CPU then appeared right beside the surprised Crimson Soul and smashed her lips into his own, giving him not only her first kiss but also proceeding to surpass even IF's with how passionate and heated she made the kiss. She'd seen the way people kiss in various hetero anime and manga, not to mention the heavy passion in her BL Games, but those had NOTHING on what it felt like to kiss someone for real. Not to mention someone who she actually had genuine feelings for that had been born from a videogame.

 **'Geez, I believe that the term 'thirsty' fits this moment with these heroines quite well.'**

'Biko, I do not believe you're using that word right, but I see you're point of view.'

Whilst each of the girls glared heatedly at Green Heart (whom took her own turn and drunk it all in with pride), Guts could only sweat drop at what he was seeing, a literal 'WTF?' look on her face as he looked to his Dragonslayer awkwardly. 'The thing about being with others... adjusting to their quirks.' he thought to himself, not wanting to get himself involved in THAT mess. He may be a warrior, but even Guts knew not to get involved with this one.

Fortunately, someone else decided to do it for him.

"Ugh..." Arfoire, whom had been chained up and forgotten about the moment Crimson Soul returned, scoffed as she made a gagging motion. "Please, get a room to have your orgy brats."

Blinking at the voice rather than what it said, each of the girls plus Crimson Soul looked back at her, momentarily forgetting all about her.

"Who is this person again?"

"Um, I think she's the one who did that stuff, right?"

"Oh yeah, now I remember." Purple Heart ended the short discussion between herself and Green Heart (ignoring the twitching of Arfoire's brows at being treated the way she was) as her eyes narrowed at her. "What shall we do with this Evangelist? She's got a lot to answer for after all…"

Looking towards the woman before them, Green Heart's eyes narrowed at their former opponent, bound and restrained by Neptune's crystal powers. "I would definitely say to bring her back to the Basilicom. We can put her in the dungeon and question her there. She does INDEED have a lot to answer for, after all." She stated, a cold smile spreading across her face. She even had a few ideas on how to 'convince' this woman to go along with her demands, ones that nearly caused her to break into a fit of… moderately disturbing giggles. 'Hmmm, I wonder which one I should show her first? There's so much BL I wanna subjugate her to, that I can't decide…"

…

…

…

…

… For some reason, the Author just shuddered along with any self-respecting male reader reading this.

Nevertheless, Arfoire merely scoffed derisively within her little 'prison', rolling her eyes. If she could do more, then she would but her restraints refused to let her do more than that without resistance. Whilst she would have done something to get out of this mess if she could, it was due to several problems that she couldn't. With her current energy reserves, not to mention the way she was pinned to this crystal, there would be little she could do to escape this trap on her own. Even so, she still didn't feel all that threatened by what Green Heart wanted to do to her. Nope, she knew someone FAR more terrifying than this pathetic trollop could ever be. Not to mention that she could feel it in the air, something that only she, who had been around the source long enough, could have noticed. 'Why isn't that bastard coming yet? We promised to work together, is he planning to betray me?! After all that humiliation?!' she shrieked in her mind. Even so, she kept her internal conflicts inside her head whilst she laughed her signature laugh. "Haa Hahahaha! You really think you trollops will be able to get anything out of me?" she questioned with a mocking sneer.

"I would not attempt to mock the ones who hold the ability to end your life if they so desired, woman." Guts retorted back, heaving his Dragonslayer onto his shoulder. He would have gone for this woman's head already for what she had done to his friend, never mind what happened to Stefan, and boy did his darker desires want that to happen so badly. However, Guts had his patience, he would be able to wait a bit before being allowed a crack at the enemy. Not to mention that this had been their mission in the first place, him and the rest of the soldiers had only tagged along. It was their right to decide her fate now that they had won.

Arfoire merely countered back with bite. "Believe me, I know what DEATH really is, and he's on my side. Oh, and I would be careful not to point an over-sized dildo at someone. What, you trying to compensate for something, you oaf?"

TWITCH!

Guts took EVERY breathing exercise he could in order to stop himself from doing something he'd regret. Nobody insults his Dragonslayer, if he were a lesser man he'd go on about how it made him more manly, able to swing such a giant bigass sword with the ease that he did.

"Oh? Are we trying to act all tough when they don't have any other options?" Green Heart questioned, tilting her head with a faux innocent and curious expression on her facial features... whilst twirling Gungnir in front of her in a threatening manner. She would have gone a little further, buuuuut...

 **"Sorry, BITCH! But I kinda HALFTA stop YA fine ASS right THERE!"**

"Eh?!"

BOOM!

In that moment, something shot through the air from above them and crashed into the space where the girls had once occupied... had Crimson Soul not grasped onto them with his Wings (which had morphed into Tendrils) then Warped them out of its flight path.

Once the dust settled after they reappeared around the male (Guts having had the foresight to jump backwards at the last second then use Dragonslayer to stop his motions), Purple Heart stumbled forwards whilst holding the side of her head. "Ugh, what the heck? What the heck was that, Nico?" she asked him, looking towards the male DPU.

Said male merely stared forwards, eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists. In his mind, he could only scowl as he sensed the Demonic Energy present within whatever attacked him. It was largely thanks to his current form, but if he were in human form then he'd probably be trembling like a scared little girl. Reason: the amount he could sense practically dwarfed his own like an ant looking up at a mountain. It was just that TITANIC in terms of scale. It didn't even feel like the presence was flaunting it's power either, which only unnerved the DPU even more. If it was this large, and the user WASN'T trying to manipulate it in any way, then this thing DEFINITELY wasn't something to be messed with.

'Biko... what the hell am I sensing here?'

 **'Trouble, with a capital T. I cannot even BEGIN to analyze the levels this energy is capable of sporting. Its like trying to probe the depths of the centre of a large ocean, practically impossible for me. This is... a first, and I do NOT like it one bit. But, what I can say for CERTAIN is that we're in deep shit. Be wary, Nico, and keep Soul Edge at the ready.'**

'Will do.'

When Purple Heart realized that she wouldn't get an answer, she along with each of them looked towards the place that they once stood at... only to see a black figure looking at them with glowing purple eyes.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alright, another chapter done. To be frank, I had a LOT of fun with this chapter, ESPECIALLY with the more... funny parts between Nico and the girls. Oh, it would only have been better if he were in human form but... I dunno, the image of a hyperactive Compa and the ever-stoic Crimson Soul reminds me of Caster from fate stay night and her master. That image will never leave my mind, I swear.**

 **That aside, now the REAL big boys are coming out to play, I wonder how the girls will be able to handle this one, cause believe me, if you all thought the Greater Demons of Khorne, Okada Izou and the World Eater Traitor Legions were bad, well this guy will take the cake for you.**


	148. Chapter 145 - Intervention

**Chapter 145 - Intervention**

If there was ever a time where Crimson Soul wanted to get his comrades over 3000 miles away from this place, then this would be it. No, perhaps 6000 would be better. In the end, the most important thing would be that he just HAD to get the girls out of here as soon as he possibly could.

The reason?

This presence had almost unclassifiable energy levels. Levels that he could not even begin to fathom the possibly of existence, levels that left Biko, his Demon Persona, completely baffled and speechless. That was what kind of levels that Crimson Soul was looking at. There wasn't even a trace of any sort of attempt to hide it either, not to mention it just flowed out of the presence like a continuous river from deep within the presence, without end nor with any limit in sight. It almost seemed like it would never stop flowing… no, that would be EXACTLY the situation regarding this energy, Crimson Soul felt. This energy… if there was no limits to it, then just how the hell could that have been possible? Why? When? So many questions filled his mind regarding this presence, but there was definitely ONE thing clear to him.

That had been something Biko had told him once, negative emotions and DPUs mix well together, cause they were formed from carnage and warfare. Any kind that could be felt within their vicinity, the range of which varying from one DPU to another, a DPU could either sense, manipulate or absorb to boost their abilities, to fuel their powers and energy reserves. Envy, wrath, lust, sloth, gluttony, pride, all emotions pertaining to those sins would be possible resources for Crimson Soul's kind. One could say that DPUs are the true Chaos Gods whilst Khorne, Slaanesh, Tzeentch and Nurgle were merely imitations of the DPU's power. Negative emotions, no matter what, could be used to boost their powers though rage and hatred were the most beneficial to a DPU. They couldn't do the same with positive emotions however, another factor which made them the complete opposite of the CPUs who DID rely on positive emotions like hope and faith, in order to both function and protect their lands, to guard their people.

But this thing? Why, the DPU wasn't even sure that it would even NEED such an ability anymore, if this limitless energy he could sense was any indication. Why would it, when its energy was so overflowing with no sign of running out? It wouldn't need it to be replenished since it never got exhausted, it wouldn't need its potency boosted since its potency felt through the roof in terms of power levels. It would be classed as 'insanity' if he were in his human form, though thanks to his DPU form being the one he was in, Crimson Soul kept his composure. What a truly fortunate perk this was, DPUs seemed to truly embody the essence of warfare and carnage to have control over themselves even with stuff like this thrown in their faces.

Heck, for even more proof on that last claim, on the other side of things he felt Soul Edge trembling with sheer excitement and joy on his back. The DPU felt it so clearly that it would be comparable to feeling something touching him there all the time. Even so, Crimson Soul felt reluctant to draw on that blade just yet, especially since his comrades were still here. Whilst it was indeed true that their powers had intensified greatly since they last saw each other, Crimson Soul still felt like, in the current levels of power they were in his power would easily surpass theirs. This thing before them surpassed even his all the same, so the situation felt quite dire. If he drew Soul Edge now and PREDATOR (an ability that made it get stronger the more powerful the opponent is) activated, then the amount of power that it would gain from the boost… he almost didn't want to imagine the amount it would gain. Soul Edge's power now (even without the boost from PREDATOR) no longer would destroy just one continent with a full powered swing. No, now it could do so much more than that, which was another one of the reasons why the DPU wanted to get the girls out of here as soon as he could.

Soon enough however, his thoughts got broken when he saw the presence, bathed in darkness, suddenly shed that darkness as if it were a serpent shedding its scales. It literally just 'stepped out' of the shadows and 'into the light' one could say if they saw the presence… which finally revealed themselves to them as the light of the sun shone down on the presence. It illuminated it's features, apparel etc, and boy was everyone shocked to see what they did.

In the essence, what they saw was an adult, tall man about 6 foot 4. He stood there, arms crossed whilst possessing shoulder length spiky violet hair with bangs that were angled to the sides, while a thick strand of it went down the right side of his chest. His eyes, they were comparable to that of purple diamonds, being pure amethyst that almost glowed in the sunlight, making it so that any normal mortal or immortal female would get lost in them (fortunately Purple Heart and the girls before him were an exception to this). In this form, unlike the darkness one he had been in before, his attire consisted of a Black Trench Coat with a large collar, with a black muscle shirt underneath. He wore black military-grade pants that were tucked into a pair of matching large boots, with various belts strapped across his trench coat (some strapped down his right side), 2 around his waist in a cross manner. He wore pure black gloves over his hands, giving him an abyssal-like appearance. Like he was a black void that will devour anything in his path.

The man, now no longer clad in darkness, stopped pacing forwards whilst his hands pocketed themselves inside his Trench Coat. His eyes scanned over them, his gaze having the same intensity as a supercomputer. No, it felt more like a… well, a ruler of a supreme nation looking down upon a crowd of subjects. If that was a thing, though Crimson Soul also felt something else. Something else about the man that he couldn't help but find familiar to him. It didn't take him long to figure out why, and looking into those sharp amethyst eyes helped out greatly. This man… he reminded the DPU of a Tyrant, the way he looked at them just now, it made him feel like he was literally sneering at them. The words that came out of his mouth following these thoughts soon confirmed them. "Hmmm, so THIS is the group of brats giving you trouble…" the man spoke, calmly and yet in a manner that just felt so aggravating. "Hmmm, a bunch of worthless mongrels is all I can see. Though I guess before was somewhat entertaining."

Arfoire, who was still pinned and chained to the cross, tensed up whilst losing any color that her skin tone originally had. Normally when someone said that to her, she would have blasted them into oblivion, erasing every shred of their existence then made sure their homes were destroyed by monsters. As Conversation, she had made sure to 'enforce' the fact that she was to be respected as Overlord Momus' messenger and thus, should she be disrespected then the Overlord would direct the monsters (normal and Abnormal), towards their homes in retribution. However, this time Arfoire did the exact opposite of that as she desperately tried to hide away from his gaze. Sadly, for her anyways, these efforts resulted in futility thanks to her restraints. "Y-Yes… they are…" she replied with uncharacteristic meekness.

Something which startled the rest of the girls.

"Huh? Why is Conversation being so… subdued, right now?" Purple Heart wondered, putting a finger on her chin whilst glancing to the trembling woman. Part of her couldn't help but drink in the fear that she was radiating, another part of her showed pure anger that it wasn't because of them, since that meant that she didn't even see herself or her fellow heroines as even the slightest bit threatening. Yet, there was also a part of her which worried for what might happen, as the reason she had changed her tune so quickly stood before them whilst radiating power like it was no big deal. For someone so bold and arrogant like the evangelist, whom had been so cocky and superior before, to be reduced to something like this rung SO many alarm bells in Purple Heart's mind.

Plus, she could feel Soul Calibur in her hands trembling… as well as a set of mixed feelings passing through their link to her. On one side, she could feel intense PANIC from the purified Devil Arm. Panic that came from the raw power that radiated from this man in such quantities that the weapon couldn't tell where it ended. Nor when it would stop, as if it were a bottomless pit of nothing but pure darkness, death and misery. Panic and fear raced through the bond as if it were a crowd of people fleeing for their lives in a blind fear-induced craze, fleeing from huge monsters which were slaughtering them left and right.

On the other hand, though, she could also feel an undertone of EXCITEMENT, BLOODLUST and HUNGER from the blade. The excitement of a good fight, excitement for the opportunity to absorb such a high-quality soul. The bloodlust that came from a stimulating conflict, the thrill of the kill, to be a warrior. The hunger for the chance to prove its power against a powerful adversary, to achieve greater heights that it had not considered beforehand thanks to the lack of such a powerful opponent. These emotions… they came underneath the panic and fear, so Purple Heart guessed they came from the weapon's demonic aspect. It only made sense since the demonic aspect wasn't as powerful as the divine one Said aspect did not radiate any fear of this man at all, in fact it felt more like it WANTED to fight him, like it wanted to exchange blows with whatever weapon he wielded and to utterly dominate him in battle. To make him realize his place beneath it's blade so Purple Heart, the Goddess form of its master, could finish him off like she would be meant to. That was what she kept getting from that aspect of the weapon called Soul Calibur right now, though she didn't know why.

All she knew right now, was that this man was dangerous.

She would soon learn how right she would be.

"Pft, if she wants to play sissy, then she has my permission." Black Heart snorted derisively, utter disgust in her eyes as she held Balmung at the ready. Aside from her hatred for the Evangelist for what she had done, Black Heart could understand somewhat what she was feeling, since she felt it in a manner herself. Her instincts, human, Abnormal, Goddess she didn't know which of them, or perhaps all of them were though right now she didn't care, her instincts kept telling her that this man was bad news. Just from the way he stood, Black Heart couldn't keep the shudders from her form. If it weren't for Balmung sending her comforting feelings through their link, then she believed she'd have been much worse off. "Not like she doesn't deserve it."

Glancing over to her, Green Heart and Guts gave her looks, both of them a mix of scolding and concern (though Guts was more on the former than the latter). "Now, now Noire, you mustn't kick the opponent whilst they're down." She gently admonished, brandishing Gungnir. Like Balmung and Soul Calibur, Gungnir also reacted heavily and negatively to this man's presence, something Green Heart noticed right away and grew concerned over. 'Hmmm, this does not bode well for us… Gungnir's telling me to stay the hell away from this person… and now that I think about it, if I were in my human form, I'd be more likely to go crazy over how this man looks like he's from an otome game. Though, I do believe Nicky is better looking if I'm honest.'

Whilst he observed all this stuff, the purple haired man eyed each of the girls with no small amounts of intrigue… although, if one looked even deeper behind his eyes they would see something much more… sinister, in them. The kind of sinister that any father would want to keep his teenage daughter from, the type that any girl would fear. "Whelp guess I have no choice. Though I will say that whoever made that crystal construct over there…" he began, but his eyes glanced over towards Purple Heart who got the feeling he already knew it was her, much to her confusion. "… Needs to get their pathetic, worthless mongrel head examined, or better yet detached, for they did a pathetic and weak ass excuse for a try, because this can't be intentional. It is too weak for that; I mean, I could just do…"

FLICK!

SHATTER!

"That, and it'd all be over." The man finished… just after flicking his fingers towards the Crystal restraining Arfoire which then shattered into many thousands of atom-sized pieces. Pieces which just vanished out of existence thanks to the lack of power and support funnelled to them. "See? Even a peasant could do better than the shit-show that was." He remarked, all the while not losing that calm, composed demeanour. He then clicked his fingers again, and Arfoire found herself being teleported via a demonic Warp much like that of Crimson Soul's over to the man's side. She only had a second to recover though, before she would have fallen flat on her face… to the man's disappointment, she didn't fail at the quick task assigned to her.

Now THAT obviously sent the girls, especially Purple Heart, into a bout of shock. "EH?! What the?!" the purple haired CPU exclaimed, nearly backpedalling when she did a spit take on what just happened. Heck, the woman nearly dropped her weapon in shock over what had taken place at that moment 'What the heck?! What did this guy do?!' she shrieked in her mind. For a moment, she just blue screened, until thoughts returned to her… though, they weren't the comforting type. 'H-He just casually flicked his fingers… and my constructs merely shattered into pieces from that alone?! That… That's…!' Yeah, her brain was still clogged up from that blue screen moment.

Black Heart narrowed her eyes in silent understanding as she gripped Balmung. 'Alright, now I understand why Balmung's reacting this way…' she thought to herself. "Looks like this guy's not that much of a weakling then." she commented to herself, though the rest of the group heard it.

"Indeed." Green Heart added whilst Guts readied his Dragonslayer. The Black Swordsman didn't pay much attention to their weapon states, he just got ready for any incoming attacks. He merely focused on preparing for whenever this man would strike next, although if he WERE to think about anything odd about this man, it would be something like as follows: 'What weapon does this man use? I cannot see what it might be, so does he have an Inventory?' Bending his feet slightly, Guts darted forwards faster than the girls' eyes could track, thus not allowing them to get any chance of stopping him with words or actions. 'No matter, I'll strike him down with Dragonslayer before he gets a chance to draw it!'

That was Guts' thought process behind why he managed to get close to the man, shortening the distance between them near instantly and cutting down on the man's neck... only to not be able to even cut one of his hairs slightly. But he had no time to be surprised because the man's hand moved towards his head slowly, painfully so, but when Guts tried to step back and evade he realized that it was already too late as the man's hand was already covering his face, making Guts feel weaker than he ever felt in his life. Like an ant being stepped on casually but with the boot stoping millimeters away from fully crushing it, every single instinct he ever had in his life said the same thing to him as he felt the cold touch of this man.

Death.

It was all there s to it, Guts was completely and utterly at his mercy and everything he did, trained, or happened in his life has been made meaningless by just this slight move.

The man glanced at the sword which he had stopped on his neck, before glancing over to the man he grabbed, or to be more specific his neck. "Hm? Oh, how interesting. It appears that this one isn't completely broken when being touched by me, normally humans' brain just gives up and turn off by the slightest touch so you really are something. For a pathetic existence who isn't worthy of being in the proximity of a true god." the man mused, though whether or nor he was actually interested nobody could tell since he said it so blandly. His eyes then shifted back to his neck as he continued with a thoughtful hum. "Looks like you… you have a date with destiny…"

'Nn?!' Guts thought, his breath catching itself in his throat as he felt air enter his lungs for the first time in what he felt like an eternity. He started trying his very best to move, to ignore and overrule his instincts by using sheer rage and furry, but no amount of it was enough to get away from this being's hands.

"So, uh…" The man began, and even without him glancing behind him Arfoire, whom had been slowly inching backward (only Crimson Soul had noticed however), quickly tensed up, knowing who he had been directing his words too. "Quick question, who the hell is this mortal, again? He kinda got guts coming at me like that so I wanted to know his name as to make sure to kill everyone who has the same name. I kind of hope it is something like Bob as it means I can kill more than just a few."

Arfoire glanced at the man for a moment, before she responded with a dry tone off voice and the deadpanned look. "That's literally his name, the fourth word in the sentence after your question."

At this, the man DID glance at her, his eyes showing little, before he looked back to the struggling man held in his grasp, who struggled to escape his grip in vain. "Huh… so its Guts, huh? Weird parents, he must have had. I bet the father was a drunk bastard and the mother was a drugged whore, otherwise no one would choose this sort of name." He then thought for a while before showing a slightly displeased face. "Cheh, now I can't go ahead with my little game of killing everyone with his name. Who else would name their child this way, there is a limit to how stupid humans can be? And their parents probably managed to both reach the limit, and probably passed it forward as otherwise how could this one even think of standing up to me?"

Arfoire merely shrugged her shoulders with disinterest. "I wouldn't know about his family to affirm what you said, but what I can tell is that his parents were killed in a massacre by mercenaries and his mother was hung from a tree from which he fell out of her womb."

"Really? Huh… wonder what she would have felt like." The man answered, shrugging his shoulders soon afterwards. "Oh well, what can you do? Perhaps I can visit her corpse later, once everything's done here."

"You mean to resurrect it for your pleasure?"

"Maybe, or just screw it whilst its dead, no way she can fight back. Not that being alive would make it any difference, every woman is a toy to satisfy carnal desires and every man is a tool or perhaps a lowly slave when you reach my level, so her being alive or not would make no real difference."

'That's a bit TOO casual for talking about someone's backstory like that, and the insults to EVERYTHING is a bit much too!' those thoughts were the consensus of each of the girls, plus Crimson Soul (whom thought them notably calmer). One could not express just ow much shock and disgust boiled within the blood of these girls right now, hearing those two so casually discuss something as horrific as what those two just said about Guts' family. Even Crimson Soul looked a minor level of disturbed, but none of the girls noticed as they were too busy trying to not to hurl at the mental image. Plus, not to go absolutely bonkers in rage over how they showed little care about something as big as a massacre that size.

Green Heart scowled, absolutely furious. 'It's like they're talking about the freaking weather…!' she screamed in her mind. This… this was what people who don't care about life look like, was it? She couldn't help the disgust welling up inside of her, and she wanted to throw up. Seriously, just how messed up were these two? Green Heart honestly didn't even WANT to know at this point. 'Not to mention… his implications for what he would do to Guts' mothers' corpse… oh my goodness I feel like I'm going to be sick, that just sounds SO wrong…'

Yeah, those thoughts were shared by the rest of them, save for Arfoire and this man.

"Meh, this one isn't too interesting, so I guess I'll leave this one to THEM."

That was all the man said before casually making a tossing motion with his arm… and sending Guts flying into the skies like a certain trio with the 'R' word in their name. Heck, when he tossed him, a sonic boom erupted from his arm which caused the ground beside him to break apart slightly even though the man did this on the same way a child throwing a toy away would do.

'Ngh?! Biko, what the-?!'

 **'Calm yourself, it appears that this one only used physical force to toss Guts away. He didn't use any kind of magic or special ability, kind of like Okada Izou. Likely Guts will survive such a fall thanks to that** **Armour** **and absurd endurance he has, however take note… with the calculations on the force this man used so casually, its likely Guts will end up on the opposite side of the continent. And, it is expected that at least 70% of his bones to be damaged or broken at the very least and that if he were to fall close to Abnormals, it is possible that Guts may not survive this'**

'Tch, you're kidding… Well, you never kid, so I shouldn't be surprised. What are the odds that this guy was the one who summoned that guy to this world?'

 **'Odds are: Very much likely, about 80 to 95%. His energy feels much like that which connected Okada to this world, not to mention that when you set up the Death Parade, I sensed some odd fluctuations that allowed me to identify this energy further. It HAS to have been this guy…'**

Well, that was ONE mystery solved, something which Crimson Soul furrowed his brows at under his helmet whilst he slowly reached his hand backwards towards the hilt of Soul Edge. With what he had been hearing, his previous reluctance on drawing the large, vile blade that came from his very soul had begun evaporating all too quickly. Plus, there was the way this guy felt to him, not only did it just feel WRONG, like he should hate this guy's very existence more than anything he had ever hated before, not just because he looked at the ones he considered comrades in a way the DPU did NOT like in the slightest, but there was his previous actions to consider.

He had mentioned this before, but Crimson Soul, in his human form way back when, had dealt with his fair share of necromancers, enough to develop a proper hatred for the arts they practiced. Maghda was merely one of the many whom he'd dealt with, and not only that but she had been one of the 'tamer' ones. However, this… whatever this guy just did was NOT just mere necromancy, since A: the resurrected being had so much free will as he actively rebelled against his creators by allegedly slaughtering all those Demons (something which Crimson Soul had no trouble believing when he learned of it from Okada during their brawl), and B: he had an energy within him that was much more powerful than ordinary necromancy. If anything, it was like comparing the blackness of a crow's wing and eternal night.

Quite obvious.

Hell, Crimson Soul could sense the states of the other weapons too. Their energies, no matter their nature, each were reacting with caution towards this person, so that would be more than enough to ready his weapon for a quick-draw.

Then, the man noticed him, but instead of saying something… he just appeared behind him with his hand on the male's sword one, stopping him from drawing Soul Edge. 'Gah?!' he mentally exclaimed in surprise. 'Holy shit, that speed! I didn't even see that fucker move!' the male thought, glancing to where the man once stood only to see Arfoire standing there. Nothing but a faint gust of wind followed the man's movement, and even then, it felt like the wind struggled to keep up with him like he managed to break the boundaries of space for a brief moment.

That HAD to mean his speed would be unparalleled.

"I guess THIS must be the DPU that I've heard so much about…" the man muttered as if deep in thought whilst looking him up and down… rather closely too, something that, if he were in human form, he would have shuddered in no small amount of disturbance. "Guess he's just entered the Multi continent class, probably from that power surge a moment ago. Though judging by your age, I'd say you are a late bloomer compared to the average, though then again you ARE his champion since I sense his power in you…" the man mumbled, pretty much ignoring the rest of the party.

Just before Purple Heart could interject however, the man vanished once more and appeared by Arfoire's side. "You COULD have just left by now, you know. Those cockroaches wouldn't have been able to stop you." He stated, leisurely pointing a finger behind him towards the Party.

"And miss you trying to straighten them out? I-" Arfoire began, only to suddenly feel a chill go down her spine when she noticed the man's gaze. For a brief moment, Arfoire saw something else breaking through his calm, composed exterior, something that she NEVER wanted to see since the time that the man began their little 'partnership'. It was that look a wild animal gets just when it was about to snap and go on a bloodthirsty rampage. It made her want to hide as a small molecule, no, even smaller, in order to avoid that gaze.

Even so, Arfoire refused to let her fear show itself, as THAT would be the worst mistake possible. People like this guy valued strength over all, even one's life, if there is even the FAINTEST level of cowardice in his sight, then one can bet that he'll snuff it out like dousing a candle. She would know, she'd seen it before. "A-Alright, I'll be going. Take care not to have too much fun without me, alright? Or at least film it for me to enjoy later." she stated, though she made sure not to have the edge she would usually have. She had been shown MANY times what he would do to her if he was ever badmouthed, and as much as she hated it Arfoire didn't want to anger the one her superior in terms of power.

None of her powers worked on him, she knew this cause she had tried once herself. He had just laughed it off after severing then reattaching every limb of her body, then severed and reattached every major organ… even though this also had another effect she hadn't been aware of until he told her days later.

With a wordless nod from him, Arfoire clicked her fingers as what looked like a black portal of darkness opened beneath her feet.

Seeing what was about to happen, Green Heart acted first, pumping energy into her body and dashing forth at breakneck speeds. Her eyes shone with violent wrath, wrath directed towards the woman whom had caused her nation so much pain and suffering. "I will not let you leave!" she yelled, making to throw Gungnir in order to impale her heart…

When her instincts alerted her to danger and she jumped backward. Good thing too, cause the nanosecond she made her move, a crater the size of a school bus from Planeptune suddenly appeared there. She glanced to the source after landing, finding it to be the purple haired man whom had flicked a finger in her direction. "One: that weapon you have… I've seen it be used before… but unlike HER, you don't have the exact qualifications for it…" he mused, eyeing the spear intently. "Not to mention that Spear is merely a replica of the real one… and even the real one is a failed product at best so your failed copy of a failure makes it sort of match." He spat. "If you want to fight that slightly useful tool though, you'll have to pass me."

"Grr… move out of the way!" Green Heart yelled as she made to charge at him, her rage fueling her whilst Gungnir crackled with deadly energy. However, just before she could charge at him, several hands appeared in front of her that were outstretched, blocking her path and stopping her from her goal. "Huh?" The woman exclaimed, blinking before looking to the sources. To her shock, it was revealed to be both Purple Heart and Crimson Soul. "You two?! Nicky?! Neptune?! Why are you stopping me, she's going to get away!"

In response to Leanbox CPU's words, Purple Heart shook her head in denial whilst she glared at the man in question. "Control yourself, Vert. If you tried to go after the evangelist right now, then she'll not only get away but you'll be shredded to pieces by her companion here." She stated, pointing her Soul Calibur at the man whom had intercepted Green Heart before. Just by looking at him, she got the feeling that he wouldn't be letting them pass, something that had been confirmed by his actions just now. "If we want to get out of this, we'll need to focus on him."

Crimson Soul then nodded his head in agreement as he gave the man a look over, trying to search for weapons as his wings flared behind him. Luckily, they didn't hit any of the CPUs, however they did cause both of the girls to look away from the sheer heat they emitted. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything which could imply what he used to fight, something which concerned him immensely. "Neptune's right, Vert. If you haven't noticed, our current adversary is right there, and he will not let us pass. I don't like it any more than you do, and I haven't even been here that long, or seen what you all have had to go through. Even so, it is still safe to say that HE…" taking a moment of pause to form a ball of Hellfire, Crimson Soul held it in a ready stance within his left hand. "Will be our opponent."

"Heh, nice to see SOMOENE's in the know amongst you cum dumpsters." The man spoke, his lips twitching as a dark look appeared in his eyes. The way that he referred to the girls however, quickly began to irritate the male, who poured that rage into his Fireball to make it the size of his entire torso. He then proceeded to hurl it towards the man, who batted it aside with a simple smack of his hand like it didn't even matter to him. In all fairness though, it didn't. "But yes, I'll be your opponent, through I do consider calling me your opponent slightly wrong, it is more like I am your DEATH really. Because, if you were having so much difficulty against that rejected product I made in a matter of instants..." he began, gesturing to the crater so they all assumed he meant Okada Izou. "Then you'll have only a SNOWBALL's chance in, I guess the sun, on beating me… fleshbags. Even if that idiot didn't go full out from the start, he should have just killed you all like I told him to instead of playing with his food like a mangy mutt. Oh well, that just shows that this ability I have needs to be refined to its original state once more as he was actively trying to not move like I wished, and was uncooperative the entire time."

'To talk so casually like that…' Crimson Soul thought whilst narrowing his eyes as both hands now sported Hellfire fireballs. Each of them were the size of a basket ball whilst his wings looked like they would morph into something else at any second. 'This guy must be VERY confident in his ability to win… though, if he could summon someone like THAT Okada, then perhaps he may not be all bark. The few feats I've seen so far only support that. We'll have to be careful, and attack very carefully.'

"…Ah, and to make this more interesting, I'll stay in one place." He stated, and to prove his words the man simply drew a circle on the ground with his left boot, a crude one but a circle nonetheless. Though, he didn't assume any combat stances and instead just crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Now then, come at me and see if you are worth keeping under my boots or if it there is no hope that any of you ca ever entertain me, maggots."

* * *

Far away from the remains of Halo Mountain, Arfoire reappeared from the Portal of darkness… or rather, it would be more accurate to say she was literally sent flying out of it from the portal itself as if it reflected the irritation it's master had with her. A loud THUMP occurred when the woman landed on the ground, a startled "Ouch!" escaping her, which she could only feel GLAD nobody was around to see.

THAT would be humiliating enough for her to blow the person out of existence…. Even if that were one of the higher ups in the Overlord Momus faction or even a village.

"Ugh, that man… the things I do for my goals…" the woman muttered, groaning as she stood up slowly and shakily, using her Glaive as a support. A sharp pain flashed from her rear, and Arfoire made to use her free hand to rub the aches away. "Ugh, my backside… Its fortunate I was able to soften the impact at the last second, not to mention that I left when I did. It felt like that man's irritation just kept rising and rising without limit…" she shuddered briefly, recalling herself some memories she had of seeing what happened when that guy went 'wild' from letting his irritation get out of hand. Not a pretty sight, and their many servants were still cleaning up what remained of their bodies.

At least now however, fortune began to work in Arfoire's favour. She would be a fool to think otherwise as she looked to the skies above, narrowing her eyes as she tried to get a reading from the stars themselves. Since it was the day though, it would be substantially more difficult for her to do so, but she got her bearings quick enough. 'Since he did intervene, it ended up saving my skin at the last moment… something I'm not all that happy about, but I'll take what I can get. Nothing will stand in my way, I will do what I set out to do, and that would be to change Gamindustri into what it truly should be. A world where the DPUs should be rulers once again, and if I do end up becoming the sole Goddess left to rule, then I'd not mind for the time being until another, stronger Goddess takes the job. Its not like I don't have an eternity after all, the former Goddess which ruled Gamindustri has seen to that.' She thought, furrowing her brows as memories flashed through her mind.

Memories she quickly suppressed, perhaps too quickly…

Once she got her bearings, Arfoire began to trek in the direction towards Leanbox's Capital MICROSOFT, intending to use that city for her trip to the next Nation. 'Now that things have progressed to this point, I do believe that the time for things in Lowee to achieve their apex has finally come. The long days of serving under that ill-mannered brat of a CPU are finally going to be over. Haa hahahahahaha!'

* * *

The fight begun with Compa going first.

Surprisingly enough she had remained silent through the entire conversation… something which meant that the man didn't even notice she was up in the skies until he remembered her energy signature and looked up. The man's features didn't change, but his aura turned into a mix of what felt like a mix, a mix between disinterest and the feelings one gets when they recall something they'd previously forgotten. "Oh right, forgot about that maggot… She just had so little power in comparison to what she COULD be…"

"Take this! METATRON: SUN BARRAGE!"

The Pillars that made up the 'crown' that shaped as Compa's Angel Metatron, quickly began circling around her, gathering light energy as evident by their gradually glowing forms. It took a second or two to charge them up, and afterwards Compa threw her right-hand forwards with a battle cry escaping her lips. In the next second, a series of 'PEW!' sounds got emitted through the atmosphere, as their tips unleashed a shower of brilliant white energy blasts. Each of them aimed towards the man's position as if they were bombs dropped from bombers onto an unsuspecting city, with the intent to burn holes through his body. such was the command of their creator whose eyes almost blinded her comrades with how bright they were glowing.

As they got within striking distance from the man however…

"Pft. Weak."

The man jut casually raised his right hand and, in a fit of boredom, swatted each and every one of them aside effortlessly… or rather, instead of his hand he just used one finger. Just like he had said he would. Each time an energy blast touched his finger, it tried to burn the digit… only to fail somehow, and thus get promptly smacked aside so it couldn't hit its target. Each one that got deflected, hit the ground uselessly and did a human sized explosion of light. Something of which, the man noticed out the corner of his eye after deflecting the last ray. "Huh, I guess you put a moderate amount of measly light power, for a mere baby maker like you, into those strikes. I'll be blunt, a weakling mongrel like yourself has no place using such a power. Yours is so inferior that I can't even make a demeaning insult its so bad." He stated coldly, much to Compa's fury as she tried to strike him again with the same attack: SUN BARRAGE. Unfortunately, like before it didn't work, and the man continued as if it hadn't happened. "To this day there is only ONE who is the true mistress of light. And YOU…"

In that moment, the man narrowed his eyes as he flicked his finger at the young girl. Her eyes widened when she realized what was about to happen, quickly diving down as she felt tremendous air pressure cross over her back to let her know just how close she had been to getting hit. She soon felt more air waves being sent her way, and with a quick use of Metatron's DIVINITY WINGS where her Angel took the form of wings, Compa accelerated so fast she left afterimages.

However, the man didn't look all that impressed. In fact, if one looked at him, they would see that he looked to be getting increasingly annoyed by the second, his eyes trailing her form's movements with ease whilst a disgusted snort escaped his lips. "Ugh, that stench... How the hell can anyone even stand such a putrid, tainted and impure light running through their veins? You, who likely rolls around in sewage all day, are nothing but a disgusting rodent compared to HER, your light is nothing but a spec in comparison." he sneered with utter revulsion. "Such worthless wretches... and as for you..."

The man stopped speaking when he sensed the 'wretch's' presence behind him, his right eye shifting behind him. She ended up appearing right behind the man, having switched her Angels and now held Sandalphon in a two-handed swing from the right to left and from way back. Just before she could swing however…

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-POKE-POKE-POKE-POKE- SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH- POKE!

The man didn't even look at her when his right arm became a flurry of motion. Motion which finished faster than she could have ever hoped to track at her current level of ability. Even so, she DEFINITELY felt the effects, as all four of her limbs got torn off by his finger being waved about in slashing motions. First of all, her breasts got poked rapidly like machine gun bullets, with enough force to tear them off with absolute bloody savagery. Blood violently exploded from her torso like two fountains, guzzling down her chest like two bloody waterfalls. Dozens of varying degrees of wounds plastered themselves all over her body as if they were glorious decorations. If that wasn't enough, then a hole appeared in her throat where her vocal chords were located... the chords having been ripped out of there by the man's right hand.

"grk, urk, grrk, grk..."

Eyes shot open wide and trembled violently as Compa saw the blood flowing in front of her vision. The sudden loss of her limbs and body parts sending a wave of shock through her system. In a way, that would be a good thing since it would be better than the pain that would surely follow once her mind registered what had just happened. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out, no sound even escaping beyond inaudible babbles thanks to not having a voice anymore.

Aside from the blood from the removal of her vocal chords, none of the blood even stained the man's clothes as, with another flick, the man sent her body and its body parts away from him and towards the ground furthest away from the crater. The girl's form landed there, bouncing multiple times before rolling to a halt, wt her body parts scattered around her. "Are NOTHING compared to that above average whore."

...

...

...

...

...

"COMPAAAAAAA!"

For a moment, each of them, no matter their state, became paralyzed and frozen stiff. Their eyes shrunk like saucers as their breaths got caught in their throats. Even so, it didn't take them long for them to finally regain their wits and scream out their comrade's name. Everyone screamed in shock at seeing the way that the Spirit girl got totally WRECKED just then, and in a manner that would give them some real nightmares too. As her form in all its pieces fell down the crater next to them, each of them made to follow suit when several THUDS impacted around them, leaving craters the size of buses in their wake.

"All you sluts don't have the luxury of worrying about one useless mockery of a harlot, you know." The man stated, having held his finger out as if having flicked several times to make those craters. His eyes held nothing but their bland looks as he made one more flicking motion, forcing the group to split up by jumping to different sides or behind to avoid the impact force. "That useless bitch will die, and its all her fault for being so weak, pathetic and worthless, just like the mongrel she is."

Oh, the group did NOT like that.

It was Crimson Soul whom acted next, not even waiting to land as he Warped right before him with a fist engulfed in Hellfire and cocked back. He threw it forth towards his face before Warping to avoid a cutting motion made by the man's hand, which caused a fissure to form in the same direction as his finger went across the ground. Once he reappeared the DPU quickly launched a succession of Fireballs, waves and created pillars of Hellfire from the ground in which the man stood at a rate faster than the fastest gattling gun. Unfortunately for him, the man's form didn't even get touched by any of the flame attacks, as if his very aura served as something that cooled the flames till they were doused. Almost like the cold grip of death was protecting him at those moments, soething that utterly baffled Crimson Soul enough for it to show on what could be seen of his face thanks to his Helmet. The man scoffed at this. "Pft, how pathetically tame. You really need to get your worthless head examined, you wimp excuse of a champion. The Hellfire of Sparda was much more powerful than that, my power could not even touch his. Yours is practically a CANDLELIGHT to his FIRESTORM, Mongrel. Honestly, why the hell did that power choose YOU if you're this level of weak?"

Crimson Soul scowled as he made to form more Hellfire in his hands, to pump it all full of rage and hatred from both himself, as well as his Red Rage Ring. But then, he stopped when he realized something: It appeared that the difference in ranks of power between the two of them had been all too significant. Not just his energy, it was likely that his overall skill was leagues bigger than his, and since he was in the multi-continent class, Crimson Soul felt that according to the DPU ranks of power... 'Oh shit, if THAT's the class he's in, then we're gonna be fucked.' The teen thought to himself with his eyes slightly wider and his jaw a bit more open, thus the transformed Spec Ops Agent felt shivers of dread crawling down his spine. Just a LITTLE bit. it was like each class was a league of its own, and he was multiple leagues beneath this guy.

Could... Could they really win against this guy?

Guys like this, coming out JUST after he had barely came out of fighting Okada alive...

Looks like lady fate wanted to whip them into shape, to so some SXM play like the dominatrix she was.

Not something the transformed male wanted to think about, so instead he mad to morph his wings into Tendrils so that he could restrain the guy, only he felt a force slam into his torso, right where his yellow core was located. This only made Crimson Soul go wide eyed, as the mind of the DPU quickly numbed down the shock and horror that the heart within experienced with this. 'No...! Not there...!' he thought, just before he got surrounded by his flames which then dispersed to reveal his human form, Nico.

'Shit, that guy hit my Core! What happened, Biko, what's the status of DDD?!'

 **'This is not good! It appears that, thanks to that attack, that core which was keeping your transformation active, has been hit! Therefore, not only have you been forced out of DDD, and will not be able to re-enter it for another 10 minutes! It would have been 10 hours, but our training unknowingly shortened the time... not to mention the ascension to multi continent class helped!'**

'Ugh! Seriously?! Shit, that sucks!'

That would be quite frankly one of the WORST things that could have happened in this scenario. The weight of such a thing happening planted itself on his chest and began to constrict his lungs, making breathing already a daunting task to accomplish. Not only was DDD his strongest weapon, for it gave him the power of a being that could destroy multiple continents, but it also meant that his Demonic powers had been severely decreased. His DPU form was the best form he had to utilize those Demonic Powers, as outside of it they suffered a debilitating decrease in potency. His Hellfire and Soul Edge were perfect examples of that. Therefore, id he couldn't access it right now for a full 10 minutes, then he would be next to USELESS in this fight against this guy...!

SERIOUSLY not what he would have wanted!

If he thought THAT was bad though, Nico would get a huge reality check, as before the now reverted Nico could do anything, dozens of long, Skeletal arms suddenly burst out the ground around him in a twisted, morbid splendor, quickly grabbing and restraining him. They grasped him by the arms to put them behind his back, his legs were pinned down by the calves and thighs, whilst Ebony and Ivory vanished into his Void Storage to save themselves from their touch. The moment they did all this, Nico found his strength quickly fading, all of his energy leaving him like it were a crowd of people running for their lives from an extreme threat. He knew what this was like, cause he;d seen it a few times during fights with powerful A to S ranked Abnormals.

'Ugh! Shit, I can't break free or call on my Demonic Power! Biko, is it these arms?!'

 **'It seems to be the case. They feel like they were made by DEATH itself... interesting, I'll look into this, but for now it does not appear that our Demonic Powers will be able to help us unless we're freed.'**

"There." The man mused, lowering his finger with a faint look of amusement on his features. A look that also contained no small amount of victory and sadistic pleasure as he twisted on his feet to face the rest of the girls, his hands now in chopping motions. "Now that the mangy mutt has been taken care of, time to beat the inferiority into these walking pussies." he sneered as he looked towards the others, whom were still in the process of Landing. After all, all of the previous actions had happened within a couple seconds. It wouldn't be like they could do anything, and if he were honest, the man had had enough of these weaklings, now would be the prime opportunity...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

... To teach them a lesson.

'Time to show these worthless mongrels, just what it means to face a god who is superior to them in every way.'

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **There we go, another chapter complete. Nearly the end of the main story line on the Leanbox arc guys, then all we have left is a few mini arcs, some downtime before we finally move on to Lowee. Though, I will say that there will DEFINITELY be a surprise during the interlude between this Arc's ending and the next mini arc which will be the Spec Ops Exam. Look forwards to that.**

 **Aside from that, This new antagonist, whom had been with Arfoire from the beginning, just showed himself to be far stronger than Okada Izou could ever be. He is someone I've been building up to for a VERY long time, and will have MAJOR impacts on the story from here on, in the past, present and future. What powers he has, and what potential he has in terms of sheer strength, well I will be showing that in a bit next chapter as, before this IF had practically no chance of intriguing him enough to use more power. As versatile as she is, her overall power level is actually one of the lower ranks. The only reason whys he would be able to take on so many Demons, lesser, and greater Demons, would be due to her insane regeneration and her ability to shapeshift. Her reserves are large too, therefore she;d be able to do that. However, this guy is leagues above Greater Demons, Demon Princes and I kid you not even the CHAOS GODS don't measure up to this guy's power. So yeah, meet the prime antagonist, everyone!**

 **That said, read, fav, follow, review etc, and hope to see you all in the next chapter!**

 **Peace out!**


	149. Chapter 146 - Realization

**Chapter 146 - Realization**

It happened without warning.

Everything began with that one opening line. The man slowly, almost like a clock hand ticking up to the minute mark, held his right hand up in a sword-like motion as he began to speak. "Alright, I've seen enough of your pussy shit, and to be honest I didn't expect much of you all to begin with. Still, can't believe that you all suck so bad, therefore I think i'll stick to one of my 'weaker' moves which I learned just so I don't waste precious energy on you shitstains." The man sneered at the end, his eyes willing up inside with disgust and discontent for the party. All the while, his hand began to act... strange. Everyone quickly got wary of that hand, as it began to look almost like it was fading in and out of reality at high speeds... Kind of like a mirage yet not at the same time, with faint air waves circling it. these speeds were so fast, that for a long moment they wondered if it was even real.

Though, ONE member of their party DID notice the phenomenon... and he did NOT like it, not one bit.

 **'Nico, whatever you do, do NOT let that attack touch you! EVER!'**

Suddenly, Biko's words, spoken with urgency that would be considered uncommon for him, since he was normally a calm, collected and logical being, reverberated throughout his mind. A combination of the urgency and the suddenness of his loud proclamation, would have caused Nico to fall over if he had been standing up. Though, he wasn't and therefore, it didn't happen but even so... every time Biko shouted like that, Nico always... ALWAYS felt like things could go REAL bad if he didn't listen to him. 'What? What do you mean, Biko? What's wrong?'

 **'I'd say everything, but that would be classed as redundant. Nevertheless, don't let that guy touch you with that right hand, whatever you do. That hand right now is using a technique that pretty much is your anti-thesis. Remember how your weapons exist on different planes? Well this technique shifts through those planes in a saw-like rapid manner, I know this due to analyzing this man's energy fluctuations and muscle movements just now while he spoke.'**

"Hm?" The man's eyes, just as he raised his hand, noticed something in Nico's eyes that grabbed his attention for a brief moment. "Huh... well then, that's at least ONE thing worth looking into..." he muttered under his breath, and was he just hallucinating or did Nico just imagine him looking a bit more intrigued that second? In any case, he'd likely not get an answer since the man shook his head before glaring at the rest of the Party. "Alright, now just go to hell already, harlots!" he yelled, beginning to break his right hand down.

"Oh no you don't!"

However, the man soon noticed Purple Heart coming towards him, shooting through the air with her Soul Calibur in its Dual Shotguns form, each of them aimed towards his face to blow his head off. The Planeptune CPU moved so fast that it would be difficult for any normal person to keep up with her, but for this guy... this guy, he just smirked darkly, a sinister light escaping his eyes as a 'brilliant' idea came to mind. "Oh? Well then, I think i'll take you out first, bitch." he sneered as Purple Heart got within firing range. She soon unleashed a mighty war cry as she made to pull the triggers of her shotguns and blast that man's freaking aggravating smirk right off his face...

Only, that would end up backfiring in the next second.

The reason? Simple, the man gave a shark like grin as he brought his hand down upon the woman in two swift motions as she slid past him... and both her arms literally flew into the air after being severed from the main body that was Purple Heart. In essence, she had both her arms severed at the same time... not to mention numerous smaller scale wounds appeared all over her body as she fell to the ground, unable to gasp or scream from all the pain that suddenly EXPLODED through her system.

All the man did afterwards whilst noting the shocked and downright horrified looks of the girls, was look at his hand thoughtfully as the air waves spiraled around it. "Hmmm, not as strong as before. Still has its edge, but I'd better refine it, even if this is a 'lesser ability', seeing something I deemed worth learning from that old coot like this just irks the hell out of me." he muttered, before looking to the others as he held his left hand in a similar sword position, the same effects from the right forming over that one as well. "Well, I guess this is a good thing, since now I don't have to worry about outright killing you hoes buy accident... yet."

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

...

...

...

... What followed afterwards could only be considered utter carnage.

Numerous explosions, some big, most of them massive, erupted around the battlefield following the movements of the man's arms whilst he absolutely tore the battlefield apart. If one were to look at it from a bird's eye view, then they would see something akin to dust clouds and explosions shaped like those left by nuclear warheads. Each one rose to be about 200 feet tall, filling the air with the sickening smells of ash, dirt and iron from the blood that got shed. Not only that though, but fissures that expanded across dozens of kilometers in all directions spread throughout the land, ripping trough the earth and spreading smaller cracks from them, leaving a dark, grizzly legacy behind them. Anything, and that meant ANYTHING, which got caught in the crossfire would have been brutally torn apart with no mercy.

In addition, each explosion that occurred had enough force to rival the tremors which shook the Landmass when Soul Edge in its true form was unleashed upon the Hellverse Dungeon... only, it happened over, and over, and over again like repeatedly getting punched in the face with over 1000 tons worth of force. Not to mention that it would be possible for one to see how various areas would tremble, tremble like children would when frightened by the possible presence of scary monsters in the night. Rubble pieces both large and small, as in from the size of simple dirt pieces to downright house-sized pieces flew all over the place thanks to the explosions breaking the ground beneath them.

And all the while, the sounds of feminine and masculine cries of fear and terror filled the air, all the while being drowned out by psychotic laughter.

* * *

By the time 10 minutes passed, everything was in shambles, there was no ifs or buts about it.

Everything got covered in dust and debris, with small clouds of the stuff still being visible throughout the desolated landscape. The ground that had once been simple flat land next to a huge crater which once took the form of a mountainous dungeon, no longer existed. In its place, another crater attached to the first one remained, with dozens of uprooted terrain in the form of spikes and jagged rock formations. Each formation looked practically lethal and in a death match, could likely be used as a means of stabbing someone and locking them in place in the air. Not to mention how craters, cracks, fissures and holes littered the interior and surroundings of the crater, to the point where it looked more like a desolate wasteland hit by a volcanic eruption, than simple flat land. One could say that the once vibrant, green and lush nature that once filled the landscape now pulled a full 180... on a spectrum one would NOT want it to go.

Now...

Now it looked more like something out of a horror movie... or, according to Warhammer fanatics, something the Chaos God Khorne would have a rage boner over or something.

"#SIGH# well..." Sighed the man as he placed his left hand on his right shoulder and rolled it backwards, all the while whistling to himself at the destruction that he had caused around him... all the while, the place where he once stood remained perfectly fine, untouched by his little 'playing' around just now. In fact, it only stood atop a tall, thin stalk of earth whilst everyone else lay on the ground, motionless but completely wrecked from the onslaught. Each of the CPUs had reverted to their human forms like their resident DPU member did, whilst sporting dozens of grievous injuries. Limbs severed or bent at unnatural angles, bones sticking out of their bodies, huge blood puddles forming beneath them were some of those injuries... so yeah. Honestly, it would be considered a miracle that they were even alive after that onslaught. "Looks like I got a feel for it again."

Looking down at the girls, he noticed that whilst they were indeed defeated with many injuries upon their person, they were still mostly alive. This made him arch a brow, before a dark, lustful smirk soon spread across his lips. "Hm, so those pussies survived then. Good, I intended to keep them alive anyways. At least now, I have some pussies to shove my dick into for the night, at least until they are all worn and useless then i'll just sell them to the rest of those idiotic mortals that slightly useful tool has gathered. Them being dead wouldn't be as fun as it would be to just break their minds, bodies and souls till they're nothing more than my personal slaves."

"U-Ugh... my arms, my knees, my back... Nepuuuu..." Neptune groaned in a pained fashion, her legs bent in unnatural ways whilst she lacked the arms to help sit herself, resulting in her being forced to lay on the ground like a bug. Pain utterly ransacked her body right now, and hearing what that man said he would be doing to them... well, in any normal case she'd be furious and want to shove a sword down his throat. Right now though, with how weak and vulnerable she felt, Neptune could only feel the cold grip of dread and fear course through what remained of her bloodstream. Not to mention that she saw how Compa looked to have regained consciousness, but constantly whimpered like a wounded puppy from all the injuries she had sustained. She'd not admit it, but her eyes got a little damper at this sight. "Y-You guys... are any of you... dead?"

Noire, who lay beside her with one arm and one leg absolutely gone, multiple bones sticking out of what remained of her body, groaned as she bit her lip, trying to suppress the fires of agony that coursed through her right now. Not to mention that she felt like blood was trailing down her forehead and over one of her eyes, forcing her to close it. Her hair? Hah, that was just a mess right now since the onslaught destroyed her ribbons which let her hair fall down wildly over her face. "Ugh, i-is that r-r-really the thing y-y-you should be asking about, you dolt?"

"Heh-heh, at-at least... you're o-o-okay... N-Nowa... heh, y-you look kinda like that u-u-undead thing which groans a lot... wi-with your hair like-ouchies, Nepu..."

"D-Don't speak, Nep-Neptune... you'll make your i-injuries worse..."

Yeah, their situation looked to be more than a little dire. That was the group consensus for the girls and Nico right now, just by looking into each others' eyes (something which they each felt way too difficult to do thanks to their present states). This could be counted as one of the closest to death experiences that they had ever experienced whilst on this Adventure, and for the CPUs this feeling of mortality felt like an utter nightmare come to life for them. To beings whom ad immortality, the concept of death was an utterly unknown, if not completely alien feeling, to them. Not to mention more frightening than anything else. Therefore, the cold feelings that the CPUs began to experience right now, they couldn't help but feel fear begin piercing into their hearts.

This...

This would be way worse than getting a bad end.

Getting one of those implied they'd all be dead...

But considering what this man implied with his words, he had a much WORSE fate in store for them.

A fate NO Maiden of virtue like these girls were would ever want to go through. One of the most vile, demeaning, degrading and utterly horrendous acts a man could force upon a woman, that was what this man had in mind for them. Something which chilled them to the bones and filled them with one of the most horrifying sensations that they ever felt in their lives. Heck, what woman would WANT to experience something that disgusting? It would definitely qualify as something from their worst nightmares, as in every girl at some point dreamed of having 'that special night' with the one they love above all else, and those like this man, whom would intend to rob them of that...

Yeah, scum of existence reward goes to this person, people.

Though, as the man surveyed his defeated opponents, a thought then occurred to him... one that had to do with the raging boner he now sported. "Hmmmm... I guess now would be a good point to take a 'sample' of the 'merchandise' sort to speak, not like they can resist me at this point anyways. Been a while since I last had a good fuck with a bunch of hot sluts." The man thought to himself, before shrugging his shoulders and hopping into the air whilst pocketing his hands into his Trench Coat. He soon landed right before one of the girls... who just happened to be Vert. He landed in a crouch for a split second, before standing tall as he loomed over the beaten Leanbox CPU's form as he eyed her with an intense hunger in his gaze. Lets just say that, there was a reason why he had chosen to inflict the least damage to THIS one than the others. "Yes... you'll do nicely with that fine ass and those melon-sized tits..." he remarked, chuckling with a heavily perverted tone.

All the while, Vert shuddered as the dread within her stomach began to intensify to almost painful levels. She would have tried to move, but her body simply refused to co-operate with her brain. The damage that this man had inflicted on her had been limited to not her body, but rather her tendons to make immobility impossible. Not to mention that her body had went into 'shock', making it so that she couldn't move even if her tendons hadn't been damaged. Therefore, she could only see the soles of his boots for a moment, until she gasped when the man grabbed her by both sides of her head and picked her up, bringing them face to face. That allowed her to, much to her disgust to the point she wanted to vomit, witness the lust-filled smirk and hungry gaze that he sported whilst looking at her adult-like figure.

'Y-You bastard... you so dare to touch me... i'll... Nobody is allowed to touch me that way!' Vert screamed in her mind, anger and fear clouding her thoughts as the man leaned forwards towards her. Images of a certain redhead Spec Ops Agent filled her mind and replaced the approaching man's visage. 'This is not how I want my first time to go!'

Just before the man could complete his task of claiming her lips as his own however...

BOOM!

Instincts acted up as he tossed the woman aside, quickly jumping backwards whilst Vert cried out as she fell to the ground. Luckily something broke her fall, and when she looked to find out what it was, to her surprised it looked like a plant-themed Tendril of sorts. 'Well, at least this isn't going in the hentai direction...' Vert couldn't help but think, all the while if she could sigh in relief at this change in situation, then she would have.

Sliding to a halt, the man slowly stood up tall as he brushed his fist over his nose, now looking audibly pissed off as an animalistic, low-toned growl escaped his throat. All the while he retained this calm, composed look which only served to make him look even uglier... weird. "Okay, who the fuck just cock-blocked me just now?!" he yelled, looking towards the source of the 2 Tendrils that A: knocked him away from his prize (AKA, cock-blocking the asshole) and B: caught Vert and gently lowered her body to the ground before they retracted into their owner.

Just then, sounds of movement filled his ears, and the ears of everyone around the vicinity as well as an amused, feminine chuckle.

"Heh... I'd be lying if... I said sorry to disappoint..."

"Oh?"

Anger persisted for a while, until it finally gave way to surprise and confusion when he saw what he did. The man's brow arched when he noticed that one of the girls was beginning to get up from her previous prone position, something which the others soon noticed as well. "I-Iffy...?" Vert, whom looked the least injured out of all of them but still enough to be unable to move (One can only guess why...) muttered under her breath in a weak manner.

Nevertheless, the sight before them could only be described as both shocking and a little hope-inspiring, as one Spec Ops Candidate slowly got back to her feet, her body beginning to repair itself after having lost its ability to keep up it's previously donned Armour. The first thing that happened would be her previously mentioned feet, which began to regenerate from being severed along with her legs. Her arms soon followed suit, in the form of several streams of Biomass shooting out of her stumps to form muscles, bones, fibers and everything else arms possess. All the while, every scratch and bruise she had suffered from that offensive closed up with fleshy manipulation sounds escaping her form. Her jaw, which had once lost its lower portion when a stray attack practically blew it clean off, reformed itself so she now had an actual, proper face. Any damage to her hair also got repaired whilst any missing body parts she happened to have got replaced with new ones.

In moments, she had completely recovered from the onslaught, and when she did, boy did she look pissed as all hell. Her eyes practically shone with barely-contained malice, almost looking like they were on the verge of... becoming something else. "Okay, now NONE of that bullshit is going to be happening, not on my watch you got that you fucking retard?" she yelled, morphing her right arm into her blade and her left into her Shield, before pointing her blade (whilst her Armour reformed) towards the man. "I'll fucking gut you if you lay a single HAIR on their heads!"

All the while, the man didn't actually listen to her, nope instead the man eyed the brunette with a scrutinizing gaze, his eyes filled with this curious glint that carried an undertone of... confusion? Yeah, that was it. He even rubbed the bottom of his chin whilst eyeing her up and down (not something she appreciated though). "Oh? That healing... its surprisingly potent, are you like that bumbling oaf who just can';t shut up and won't put his dick away? That healing ability doesn't seem to be as fast as his though, but hey if you are like that idiot then... Hmmm... Okie dokie, I'mma play with you a bit."

Just then, the man vanished into a blur, and the next thing IF knew, a shadow loomed above her from behind, her eyes widening as they began to tremble violently behind her helmet. "Please, do TRY and keep up with me you worthless existence. Not like you'll hurt me though..." he stated with no small amount of vicious smugness, before rapidly launching a snap kick that not only blew her forwards, but also formed a large, foot sized hole in IF's abdomen. "Lemme see how far you can really go, slut. Maybe i'll make you my top slave if you impress me enough, I always wondered what it would be like to do some bondage with a girl who'll take it."

IF cursed herself as she quickly regenerated from the hole in her abdomen, all the while slamming her shield into the ground and using it to vault back into the air, twist at the apex of her jump, then to slide to a halt upon landing as she faced the man's direction. 'Tch, this guy's attacks can go through my Armour?!' the brunette thought, growling like the animal she felt herself slowly becoming inside. Just the thought of him even TOUCHING any one of her comrades, not to mention her idolized Goddess Vert, utterly ignited the flames of vengeance inside her chest so hard you wouldn't believe. She could feel the rage burning like a searing furnace within her, threatening too consume her entire being within its wrathful allure, feeding her images and thoughts pertaining to this guy... dead, anyways. Dead and his body one of her many meals for nourishment.

However, unlike normal circumstances, IF didn't let the rage take hold of her as she took a few deep breaths to steady herself behind her helmet. She even ignored the rude comment this man made about her being all 'horny' and that they should 'dance under the sheets instead of out here'. That would be the 'tame' version of what he had said, and she would NOT go into detail of what he really said, no sir. 'Alright, IF, the moment of truth. You remember this feeling... you recall what it did to you back when Compa got thrown into that portal. You remember what happened afterwards, your mutations went out of whack and you became that... thing.' she briefly shuddered at the memory of the grotesque beast she had become. The monster she kept trapped inside ever since.

Glancing towards her opponent, IF saw he had already cleared the distance between them as he swung his right hand, which was covered in the same phenomenon that he had shown before only slightly weaker, IF realized, as she quickly swung her blade to counter. To her, time seemed to slow down to a c Only thing was, to her time seemed to slow to a crawl, not unlike a certain CPU's ZANDATSU as the two weapons neared each other: her blade and his hand. Just as they touched however, as in the absolute NANOSECOND they collided, IF thought she had parried that attack... the hand chopped right through her blade and severed it clean in half, throwing her state of mind completely off the rails. "What?!" she screeched.

Quickly, she flipped to the side to avoid the other hand which did an upward swing, launching a huge gust of wind out from the hand that sliced through the air itself up to 20 meters. Not to mention, was it just her or did that swing slice through more than that? She had no time to think about that, as whilst her blade recovered it's lost half and her shield reformed into another blade instinctively IF soon got hard pressed into an offensive of hand swings from the man. She managed to dodge the bulk of them herself once she got used to his movements, however before then more than 30 times she had to regenerate what limbs or organs got torn through by that man's attacks.

"Hmmm, that's odd. Aren't you supposed to be like that guy?" The man questioned halfway into his offensive, all the while slicing through half of IF's left blade and then her right leg went next. Each of them regenerated quite fast, as in during her side flip over another wide swing which created a 10 foot deep gash behind her on the ground. "Sooooo... why you not morphing your body like all hell? Make monsters, demons and all that shit? Shouldn't you be doing that, cause you REALLY should before you lose what power you have left." he stated, both in scolding and urging for some reason. "Honestly, I never could stand that guy, but then again DEATH is never discriminate for who or what life it takes. Perhaps I should have tried to kill him back then, maybe then he wouldn't have made you of all things."

'I have NO idea who the hell he's talking about, so i'll ignore him for now...' IF thought to herself as she shifted her blades into her claw (left arm) and her Whip (right arm). She cracked the Whip on the ground behind her, before launching it forth and aiming for his neck. However, the man quickly caught it in his left hand, having disabled whatever technique he had been using to do so whilst tucking it securely under his arm. He then proceeded to pull it backwards, pulling IF along with it so that they were closer, twirling around and making a back-to-front downward slashing motion mid twist. It resulted in IF losing half the Whip in one swing, something she cursed herself for as she returned the stump to a normal human arm.

Raising that arm, she quickly fired off some burning projectiles from her palm, and the man flipped over her to land at her back. Instinctively, IF's eyes glowed brightly as her RYOKUGAN, one of the powers she gained from the Gala, activated allowing her to perceive an incoming attack from her rear and to the right. Thus, she promptly avoided it by ducking under the thrust and slide tackling the man... only for him to side flip over her as if he had expected her to do such a thing. The moment he saw her eyes when she looked up and glared at him whilst getting to her feet, the man smirked in sick, twisted amusement. "Ah, I remember seeing those eyes before. What, you thought I wouldn't watch something as interesting as a mass slaughter like that? I actually had front row seats and some popcorn. Could have used a bit of a DPU's touch, but that's just me." the man remarked, all the while shrugging his shoulders.

'Don't let him get to you IF, he's trying to make you act blindly and slip up...' IF thought as she once again curbed the rage that flowed through her in such intensities that it almost scared her. However, she managed to keep it under control, if barely, and if she were mad then she would swear she would have seen an interested glint shining in his eyes for a bit there. 'No, instead of suppressing your anger, control the anger and let it be used against your opponent...'

It had been something she had worked on the entirety of this whole situation, not to mention the weeks following the Gala. The reason why she had changed into that huge... mass, that was the best way she could describe it honestly, cause that was pretty much what it was according to her memories of the event. Memories which gradually returned to her the more she assimilated and repaired herself whenever she got injured. Anyways, she had been wondering how that form became possible, and how to control it, and the conclusion she came to was that it was all to do with anger. Anger allowed her Evolution to speed up beyond what it was normally capable of within her body, that had been something that had been apparent on multiple occasions during training, not just in the Gala but that last one was when she finally got this conclusion.

Unfortunately, like everything in this world, it would prove to be one of the more difficult objectives to accomplish. Simply due to the fact that she had so little to actually go on. All she really had were a series of incidents when her anger actually affected her evolution (the most prominent being the instant of Compa's supposed 'demise' during the Gala incident), and her own theories. Not really that much to go off of, but she had not let that stop her from growing more powerful, from gaining new mutations to diversify her arsenal. Therefore, she would spend countless hours developing and testing out her theories to see if she could replicate the effects and learn how to harness this new 'boost' to her evolutionary prowess, to make herself more diverse and more more effective at what she did. Even so, she had not made much progress in her pursuit, whatever she needed back then completely eluded her. It kept itself out of her reach and more than a few times she found herself at a loss of what to do.

Only one Idea remained with her, however. Therefore, if she wanted to harness the power of evolution that being a BOW allowed her to, then she would have to focus on getting angry. Not just mindless rage however, otherwise it would be likely that she would lose control and morph into that hideous eldritch abomination back at the Gala. No, what she needed would be a focused, righteous anger, anger she could control and bend it to her will so she could destroy her enemies without losing herself. It honestly felt like walking on an extremely thin, frail string above a crowd of snapping maws determined to rip her sanity to pieces forever, and yet, as IF charged at her opponent and begun clashing with him more, the brunette soon found herself understanding just how difficult this could be. No matter how hard she tried, she just could't muster up the control she needed over such an intense rage. Like, something was actively preventing her from doing so. Even so, she refused to stop trying, not when the lives of her comrades were on the line.

Though, she would not be a blind idiot who didn't see the bigger picture, she just didn't want to admit it. To her, this fight much more... personal, than previous battles. For a while, she didn't even know why she felt this way about it, until the battle progressed further and she began to understand how she felt in this situation. To her, this battle (if she could even be arrogant enough to call it that) felt less like a fight with how much Biomass she lost from every strike, every strike she thought she dodged but in the end lost lots of Biomass anyways, and more like a desperate struggle for survival. More often than not, she would lose limbs, suffer huge gashes and holes that would have killed normal people instantly like having her body split open like a banana peel from her shoulder-blades diagonally to her waist, getting her head blown to pieces by powerful impacts with the ground, or have it crushed by falling debris. Only her absurd regeneration saved her from these lethal-sounding injuries, something she couldn't help but be both grateful and cursing of. On one hand it kept saving her life, but on the other it was being used as a means for this man to 'test' her like a lab rat, to see just what her limits were and how she measured up to this 'person' he had referred to. None of her abilities would help her, not even her RYOKUGAN would as, even if she could perceive his attacks, whether or not she could stop them would be an entirely different matter.

Her heart thumped away within the confines of her ribcage, her mind constantly played out scenes of what might happen if she fell in this moment, none of those scenes being good. Every strike that tore away at her vast reserves at a rapid pace. If she didn't pull something outta her ass soon, then not only would she likely bite the dust in this battle, but every one of her comrades as well. Nico would be dead or used as a slave for the rest of his life (which likely will be an eternity since he was immortal like herself, Compa and the CPUs were), and each of the girls would be turned into sex toys with their minds utterly broken beyond repair. The worst fate that could befall any young maiden. Heck, she had once heard of how Abnormals would kidnap such maidens to use them as breeding tools to enhance their numbers, these rumors centering around Lastation mostly, but some came from the other Nations too, second biggest source being Leanbox.

What was even worse, though?

Was that she could properly imagine it just with this guy's nature and remarks. She could imagine just how her friends would be like, screaming and sobbing as this man broke them in ways no woman should be broken by, screaming for someone or anyone to help them escape this nightmare they had unwittingly walked into. Sometimes she even imagined them calling for Nico to come help them like he usually did, unaware or perhaps not even accepting the fact that he was either dead or being forced to slavery somewhere else where he wouldn't be able to save them. Any powers they had would be useless since this guy would render them unable to fight back first before 'having his fill' with them... not to mention that those scenes served to constantly taunt and plague her mind through the entire fight. A fight where deep down, she feared that she had no chance of winning.

Those scenes, the desperation and anguish raging inside of her combined with her utter HATRED she felt towards not just this man, but what would happen if she LOST to him...

Everything sent her heart racing into overdrive. Yet... what could she do? For one, it dawned her long ago but this man had her outclassed in every way possible. Strength, this guy had way more of it than she did, shown by how he transformed the entire landscape like this which wasn't something IF was capable of. Speed, he definitely surpassed her there as he would be able to move fast enough that her RYOKUGAN wouldn't be able to keep up, and even if she could somehow keep up, then his speed allowed him to avoid her attacks with ease. Not to mention every other physical feat would likely be greater than hers anyways, plus it felt to her like this guy wasn't even showing 10% of his full power, something that constantly nagged at her as her body got torn to shreds through their battle, reformed only to get torn under again... a cycle of life and death.

It was like she was fighting an over-leveled boss monster with basic level equipment... totally one-sided.

Yet... she couldn't help but fight this guy for the consequences if she lost would be dire.

And yet... it still felt like she was only delaying the inevitable!

So how?!

How could she stop this?! HOW COULD SHE CHANGE THIS!

She wanted to win... she just had to... she had to...

All IF cared about right now, was that... she... she just... SHE JUST NEEDED TO WIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNN!

* * *

BA-BUMP!

Just after she slid back away from the man after jumping away from a recent clash with the man, IF suddenly gasped as she felt a 'pulse' ran through her heart, causing it to throb painfully. As a result, IF gripped her chest as she felt her heart throbbing again and again and again, each time becoming quicker than the last. Not to mention that each heartbeat began to feel... stronger, in addition to her Biomass reserves being sucked into her heart area like a vacuum.

BA-BUMP!

BA-BUMP!

BA-BUMP!

More thumping occurred as she fell to one knee, feeling a strong, almost searing, heat rise up from her heart which soon spread throughout every cell in her being. It almost felt like her body obtained a viral-version of Cancer. 'Ugh... uhhh... agh... wh-what...?'

 **Power...**

Huh? What the heck? IF blinked as, during the sudden surge of pain, IF heard something from deep within the shadows of her mind. A voice... a voice! That was what it was! Yet, the moment that she heard it that pain began to intensify as if it just fanned the flames of pain within her. Yet, she couldn't wonder what the heck was happening since the pain forced her to close her eyes tight and grit her teeth, her other hand gripping her skull tightly. So tightly that she began to break through the skin of her head, drawing blood. Yet, even that would be drowned out by the infernal agony assaulting her body.

 **You are weak... that is why you want power. Look at you, so weak, so helpless and unable to do more. Your enemy, a superior predator. Then there's you, the weaker animal. Out of every member of your pack, YOU would be of the weaker tier... Even though you have the most potential...**

That voice spoke once again, and through the pain that thundered through her like lighting strikes constantly striking her, IF managed to analyze the voice speaking to her. It... it felt very dark. Not as in evil dark though, more like something just that, dark. There was a sinister edge to it, whilst it also sounded like a mix of a serpent hissing whenever the 's' sound was pronounced and a faint echo. Yet, even so, IF would have tried to deny the voice... if what it said hadn't hit her harder than a sledgehammer.

 **You lack the necessary power, and because of that, you are considered as 'weak'. Not just by the enemy, but your own allies. The one you wish to mate with, did he not keep you out of his activities because he didn't think he could rely on you? He thought that you would drag him down, that you were indeed one of the 'weak'.**

The pain intensified even more, preventing IF from speaking whilst she bit back the urge to scream as her skull felt like it would split apart. However, it felt like she didn't even have to, as if the voice had already known the answer to her question.

 **Now, because of your weakness, you wound up unable to save the one you loved from that fate... your weakness made it so that what he experienced was something you could not have prevented no matter how hard you tried. The guilt, the anguish and the frustration, it all boiled inside of you. Just like when you thought you failed to save that one girl... you thought you had failed to save him, just like how you failed to save her.**

That's... that wasn't wrong, IF realized amidst the pain. She felt something grip the sides of her brain like a vice, making her head feel like it was shrinking in on itself, though she refused, she REFUSED to scream out loud. Looking back, IF had to think, to think about what the voice was telling her. Not a second afterwards though, did she feel utter disgust and loathing fill her being. She recalled the images of Compa, the images of her being grabbed by that Herald of Khorne and then being unable to stop her from getting tossed into that Portal. What she was hearing from the voice, she could not deny what it was telling her. She never said it, but IF couldn't help but feel guilty. Guilty for not being able to be there for her friend when she needed it the most.

She wasn't a fool, no way no how. Her father didn't raise a gullible fool for a daughter, if she had been one then odds were she would have never made it this far in life. It wasn't like she hadn't noticed either, how as each day passed things began to change with Compa's mentality. Of how, as time passed, she became more and more like a desperate animal trying to cling to what little fragments of life remained within it. Sure Compa had kept it hidden, sure she'd hid it behind a Mask, but IF had noticed it regardless. She just thought that training had been more important at the time, something that had been mirrored by the Nurse-In-Training as well. Whilst she didn't think of it much at the time, a part of her had nonetheless concerned. She just hadn't thought it had been anything major, not to mention that she had other things to consider.

Something that, during the Gala, IF had sorely regretted: ESPECIALLY when Compa got tossed into that portal.

None of that even BEGUN to consider the intense myriad of emotions that roared within her after the moment she found out about Nico's condition. It had felt like the words she had spoken to Nico at the Gala before the invasion began, they had came at just a moment too late, like they had next to no reason to be said anymore. Consequences would have befallen him, whether she had said them or not. If IF felt disgusted with herself for failing in trying to save Compa from having to discard her humanity like she had (not willingly by the way), then what she felt when she had viewed the redhead male she had come to have a crush on, lying in that bed in such a horrific state, the amount of conflicting rage, anguish and sadness felt so intense that she feared they would shred her to pieces.

Thus, it resulted in her just throwing herself into her training, surrendering herself to the bloodlust and primal savagery that came with being a BOW. She turned herself into a real freaking beast, tearing through Abnormals, Demons, whatever, all to take her mind off of what she had failed to do. Not to mention to push away all those horrible feelings of guilt and uselessness out of her chest. She couldn't even muster up the courage to check up on the guy due to not being able to stand looking at him in such a pitiful state even with Biko's explanation that he would recover. She had never felt so disgusted with herself, so freaking pathetic and a coward, not even when she first became a BOW. Feelings were irrational, and considering her nature, she DEFINITELY was out of touch with those.

 **In the end, what your way of thinking was... Self destructive, a cowardly way of running from the issue at hand. Not to mention utterly useless, since the number of mutations you gained during that time was barely over one hand. As a result of your weakness, you threw yourself into the battlefield, to drown yourself in an ocean of blood and gore, to bury your feelings under a mountain of ruined corpses, for that was the only way you could cope with how truly weak and pathetic you really were. Unable to save your friend, nor your mate. How pathetic is that? Very, that was what you had decided. Now, look where has that got you? On the battlefield with an animal many times your superior. In the laws of the jungle, you would lose this bout, and thus be used by the winner's whims. To be devoured, to be mated with... whatever would happen, you would have no option but to comply, THAT would be your fate. The strong survive, they control the weakling masses, and they are at the top of the food chain in this kill or be killed world.**

Again, she couldn't deny the voice's words no matter how much she wanted to. Each word felt like a needle was puncturing her brain with the speed and force of a bullet, not to mention each one sent pangs of pain running through her heart, making just breathing feel like a sin to her. IF grinded her teeth together so tightly that if they were normal then they would have been turned to dust from the pressure. Ever since the first time she fought an Abnormal, a time which she could hardly recall now since it had been so long and so much had happened since she first fought a Banshee nest with Neptune, Compa and Nico. Geez, thinking back to that time and now, things really HAD changed for her. If she could, IF would have chuckled in amusement and bitterness. Back then she had been a simple Guild Agent working to earn a living and enjoying her nomadic lifestyle. Travelling around Planeptune and secretly idolizing Vert.

Now look at her: Having gained experience fighting Abnormals, something which she'd never thought she'd do, to the events surrounding Lastation and Leanbox she had ended up this way. Her humanity stripped from her against her will, and forced to join a program that goes the exact opposite path to what Gamindustri was supposed to be like. She could hardly recognize herself anymore, and yet, IF had to acknowledge the current her as what she really is now, she would always be a monster, the very thing that she had fought as a Guild Agent for so many years. Heh, she wondered if her father would be disappointed with the thing she had become. The fact of her nature had been something she had accepted a long time ago though, but even so the weight of that accepted nature still hung on her shoulders, likely forever.

But... she was okay with that.

 **Even so... can you accept that? Will you lie down and let the 'strong' have their way with the 'weak' you?**

Heh, she had an answer for hat question before it was even ASKED! Even if she was okay with her new nature, what IF was NOT okay with was letting this guy have his way with her and her friends, nope she would NEVER be okay with that!

Not only did he constantly demean, insult and generally look down on them like a true asshole, but he expected them to just roll over and let him do what he wanted. All because of how powerful he had shown himself to be. In the laws of the jungle, he would be an arrogant predator flaunting the sharpness of his 'claws' in the most annoying manner possible to any of the lower ranked predators, intimidating them and almost daring them to try and take his spot on the food chain. That was more than enough for her to come up with an answer through the pain that she was experiencing, though she didn't say it. She didn't need to, as like before the voice seemingly knew.

 **Well then, stand up. Do not let the sheer power belonging to this predator stop you. If you're weaker than your enemy, outsmart them. If they are smarter than you, beat them with strength. Prove to the world that you are NOT the weakest link on the food chain! Prove that you CAN focus your rage, break yourself free from the chains shackling you! Prove that you are a predator and not the prey! SHOW ALL THAT YOU ARE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH, AND TEAR APART THOSE WHO TRY TO ASSERT THEIR DOMINANCE OVER YOU! SHOW THE STRENGTH OF WILL TO STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR YOUR OWN DESIRE, EVEN IF YOU MUST DESCEND INTO THE ENDLESS PITS OF HELL ITSELF!**

If she could, IF would have growled to her at that instance. It began then, but her fears, her anxieties and other negative emotions all began to melt away, the rage inside of her that was born from her desire to end the man that hurt her friends being responsible. It burned all those 'useless' and 'petty' things away, they would only restrain her and decrease her overall power. She could feel the rage making sure only it could be felt right now, and in doing so, IF gained a new level of understanding, understanding about rage itself actually.

This was what rage should REALLY be. Mindless rage is just too much like that of a child throwing a temper tantrum. What was the point of that? It didn't get anyone anywhere and instead it just resulted in one wasting precious energy. Energy which could be used to perform their goal of ending the one causing them to feel so enraged in the first place. Rage was nothing but a tool, a tool to make one pass their own limitations and reach a new plane of power. However, it can just as easily take over one if they were not careful, therefore those who fight with anger have to make sure to have strong wills. Wills that won't bend to the seductive allures of rage and instead focus on the tasks at hand. Only they may direct the true power rage possessed, and IF? She DEFINITELY felt like she was in control over herself.

She knew what to do now, she knew what that voice, her own instincts, had been trying to tell her. No longer would she let fear or despair take hold of her, no longer would she let them constrain her. So what if she had made mistakes, everyone did, but what was more important was learning from those mistakes so they didn't happen again. So what if this creature before her was strong, she would just fight it and learn how to take it down. She was a predator, she was high up on the food chain. She would hunt, she would kill, assimilate and become better for it. IF refused to let this despair take her, and let the flames of rage burn it away. Instead of just being a cowardly bitch about this, IF decided to focus on something more practical, the task of utterly kicking that guy's ass! Even if he WAS stronger than her, she would do her damned best to make sure she would leave her mark on that asshole! He would never, EVER TOUCH HER FRIENDS WITH THAT SCUMBAG DICK OF HIS OR SO HELP HER, SHE'LL TEAR IT OFF WITH HER CLAWS AND SHOVE IT DOWN HIS THROAT!

In that moment, everything stopped for IF. Pain, sorrow, despair. All of it stopped for her and soon got replaced with the white hot flames of RAGE that she had been trying to control. Only... now it felt much easier to do, like she now had the means and the 'mentality' to control such vengeful flames. The flames silently burned within her, flowing through what was once her bloodstreams. Yet, it didn't overwhelm her, no it was more like she DIDN'T let it overwhelm her. Now the flames burned as if they had a purpose, a reason to burn and a target to gesture their intensity towards. Instead of the fierce firestorm, IF felt like she now had something as a catalyst to control such rage...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

A catalyst in the form of a mighty beast... a Beast that just now began to awaken from its slumber.

* * *

Something then changed within IF, and that did not escape the man's notice.

"Hm?"

Just as he made to attack her again to continue the brawl, the man noticed these changes taking place with his 'little plaything' that caused him to take note. Though, he didn't stop his attack as he swung his hand down to send another ranged blast towards her. He didn't know what had just happened, but if she was just standing there like an idiot on the battlefield, who was he to not capitalize on this opportunity? After all, she may have a decent body, but there were other women here to screw around with (AKA: to satisfy his libido) so it wasn't like he only had her as an option. Though he would much prefer it if she were to still be alive for him to screw, he wouldn't care if he had to kill her first. He'd done it many times back in his era, not much would have changed at this point. However, it appeared that she still ad some awareness as to what was going on, for IF managed to barely roll out of the way in time. She rolled across the ground several times, before using the momentum to roll up into a crouching position, one hand on the ground to slow herself to a halt whilst the other (which was now human) was thrown to the side. Her head hung low, letting her hair cover her face from view, as well. Therefore, he couldn't see the expression on her face. Not like he cared though.

In the end, she was weak, and as a member of the 'weak' she would either obey him, one of the 'strong' or die like the weakling she was.

Standing tall, the man gave a mocking sneer as his eyes glued themselves to her form, licking his lips hungrily as he imagined plowing her into submission. To ascertain his 'dominance' as a superior being to the mongrel before him. "I don't know what you're doing girlie... but I don't care. Looks like you're on your last legs right now. So, I think we'll end this, don't you think that's a good idea? Maybe then I'll vent some of my stress by inserting my key into your hole." he mused, as he focused on... a particular spot on IF's body. His eyes gleamed with lustful desire as he looked her body over, cupping his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think i'll do that now and save the best one for last. No point wasting any more time here."

With that in mind, the man steadily strode towards her, throwing his right hand, which held that strange technique over it, to launched a wave which sent the rest of the ladies flying further away from them. Although none of them got impaled by the protrusions made by the earlier onslaught, some indeed got scratched in places where they were already wounded, causing them to squeal like pigs being slaughtered slowly and inhumanely as they fell to the ground once more. over on her end however, IF's hand, the one thrown sideways, merely twitched.

Walking steadily towards her, the man stopped when he was within grabbing distance of the brunette. The man's breathing became labored as he vulgarly inhaled her scent, nearly losing it to the urge to drool over what he would do to her once he got his hands on her. Any of that nasty kinky and freaky stuff only seen in that stuff called 'hentai' would be tame compared to what he had in mind, and thanks to having tested her healing abilities, the man knew IF would be able to take all of what he had in mind and more. Sometimes, he loved it when he met sluts like this one who held potential to 'last' until he was done. He could imagine it now, seeing that broken look of defeat on IF's face as he would be reduced to pleasured pants and grunts whilst humping her for all she was worth...

Moving on from that, the man reached out towards her, intending to grab her by the shoulder and throw her to the ground. Only then would he dive in for his 'prey'...

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Unfortunately for him... just when his hand grazed her shoulder, suddenly an energy surge ROARED out of IF's body, unleashing a 360 degree wave which knocked everything not pinned to the earth beneath her flying. That included the man as well, who let out a sharp sound of surprise as he flipped backwards whilst in the air and landed on the ground about 20 meters away from her. Once he had landed, the man looked up with an utterly furious look on his face, making to yell some profanities out... when he noticed something that caught his attention and broke through his anger. "Huh? Okay, now what?" the man yelled in a bout of frustration. "Is it REALLY too much to ask for some good fucking? I'd rather like to relieve my stress, thank you very much!"

However, his complaints would go unheard, as IF stood with her legs only slightly bent, leaning on her left side a little bit whilst her arms were spread towards both sides. A great force began rising up from the ground around her, creating this full circle-shaped field around her where there was a downright TREMENDOUS pressure which bore down on every form of life close to her. The field, so large that it was, nearly reached the CPUs, forcing their minds which strayed towards unconscious land, into a state of forced awareness. Only the man remained unaffected, his purple hair swaying from the pressure exerted from the brunette's body,

Said brunette had her bangs covering her eyes, the rest of her hair rising and falling from the pressure. Her Trench Coat flapped behind her in a wild manner, making the proportionate fluttering sounds that almost resembled wing-beats. All the while, IF kept taking low, yet very deep, breaths as if she was straining herself against something, trying to keep something in. Each breath she took, the pressure around her skyrocketed to levels where even the man had to be forced to take notice, as at the beginning he didn't even feel the pressure. As the pressure increased however, that began to change, to the point where the man began twitching his brow in a mad manner. He didn't say anything though, just waited for the prime opportune moment to attack this slut before him. He didn't see her as a threat one bit, and this would not change his mind.

Finally... IF raised her head so her bangs no longer concealed her face from view. This resulted in the onlookers (the CPUs, Nico and the purple haired man) getting a view of her closed eyes as she took one last breath. Quite possibly the largest breath of all, actually. "Alright you... I've had fucking enough of your bullshit..." she muttered under her breath... before she opened her eyes wide as if boisterously presenting something. She DEFINITELY had something to show, because her eyes had transformed. Now, instead of the state they got into when under the influence of her RYOKUGAN, her eyes turned into this light, poisonous-looking green color that emitted this fierce fiery glow in them, along with a rectangular shine. Very much unlike her usual leafy green eyes, not to mention how she now sported cat-like pupils.

If she showed those eyes in the middle of the night and in a dark alley, one would classify her as a freaking DEMON...

Or at least a deadly predator hunting their prey.

"So I'M GONNA RIP THAT DICK OF YOURS CLEAN OFF YOUR FUCKING GROIN!"

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

The exact MOMENT she opened her eyes, the pressure around IF intensified even more, but this time something ELSE came along with it. Her body began to ooze out this sickly, poisonous green aura, one that both covered her form and also had the same kind of color and shine as her eyes did. Afterwards, did her whole body begun to change, much like how her Armour Form took over her form, only... not at the same time.

BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI-BIKI!

Sounds of flesh being grotesquely torn from the body resonated throughout the atmosphere as changes began to occur with IF's body. First off, IF's forehead grew a single long, curved horn which pointed upwards. It would be about the length of a short-sword and it made a splattering noise when it emerged. From her back, grew a set of Wings much like the ones she normally used, only as her body grew up to 2 meters tall, AKA 6.5 feet in height, the Wings looked to be of equal size to each other as they grew large enough to allow the transforming body flight capabilities. Her body also became that or pure dark green flesh and muscle shaped like an adult woman (with 'breast'-like structures on her chest), with Armour plates covering her from the neck down to her hands and feet. Said limbs each looked to be made from bone-like structures down to the elbows, where the forearms became more like gauntlets which ended in clawed hands. The same could be said for her legs too, with her feet resembling a mix between a bird and a human's. From the base of her spine, two long tails shaped like an extension of the human spinal column EXPLODED out of there in a gory splendor, becoming at last 4 feet long whilst whipping the ground once fully formed. IF's hair, it turned into this long, wavy hair made entirely from these long ribbons as her eyes became much more pronounced and animalistic.

In the end though, the form that IF had turned into resembled this mix... a mix of an angel, a pixie, and a demonic humanoid being... one which glared with bloody murder towards the purple haired man.

"Whoooooaaaaa... what the heck happened to Iffy?!" Neptune shrieked from her spot on the ground, before she whimpered when spikes of pain shot through her system. "Ouchies, N-Nepu..."

Weakly, Compa made to scold the preteen for aggravating her injuries. Her own however, were slowly healing thanks to Compa using what Mana she could to summon Camael, which bathed her in its holy flames. Those flames began to regenerate her injuries, as well as replace what couldn't be regenerated like her vocal chords, all the while reattaching her severed limbs... though, in the case of her limbs and her breasts... #wince# there would likely be horrendous scars on her body which would look absolutely hideous when the treatment would be over. "N-Nep-Nep... be ca-careful, or y-you'll not h-h-heal properly..." Even so however, Compa couldn't take her eyes off of what had just happened to IF. Not just her transformation, but what she could sense FROM that transformation. If she didn't know any better, then Compa would have said that IF had done the exact same thing that she had done to gain her Spirit Powers: transcend boundaries.

Though, she had NO idea how the heck this was a thing.

"I had heard how my adorable Iffy's powers work..." Slowly due to their pained states, each of the girls looked over to Vert, who looked to be breathing unevenly. They couldn't blame her, since she almost got herself violated by this man whom had practically beaten them to near-death. "But... I do understand they are formed around mutations, yes? So... is this one of them?" she wondered, frowning from her spot on the ground. Seeing this transformation like this... it worried the blonde woman, it worried her a whole hell lot. "I do not know what has become of Iffy, but it does look like she's going to gain the upper hand with... whatever this new form of hers is."

Noire scowled in concern, though she didn't say anything. All she did was glue her eyes to the sight of the brunette and her new transformation. Noire recalled that during the Gala, there had been mention of IF mutating o much that her entire body got affected. She wasn't around during that time, and she only heard about it from Neptune whom had been there to witness it, but from what she could tell from Neptune's rather... dramatized version of the story was that the mutation heavily warped IF's body till there was nothing that could have even been called her body to begin with. All that remained had been a simple desire to kill and destroy everything around her, with only a shred of humanity keeping her from attacking the rampaging Neptune.

IF... She didn't know her as well as the others did, but she hoped that what was happening didn't affect her too much.

* * *

Back with the said brunette...

'Whoa, what the hell...?' IF wondered after she caught a glance of her right arm, just as she made to punch the man and... actually succeeded. He looked to have been caught by surprise by something, which had been why she got the hit in, something she quickly looked at herself over to see the root of why he had been so surprised. Thus, IF discovered her new form. She looked her new arms up and down, running one clawed digit over the mix of Armour plates and flesh that was her body, all the while the Tail and Wings she now had curved around/lowered themselves as she took them all in. Not to mention how she ran her left claw over her hair whilst stopping at the horn that grew from her forehead. 'Holy...'

What the... was this... had she done it? The brunette wondered about that as she checked herself over with her sensed, and thus, she became quickly stunned by what she had found. Not only did her body change completely from what it once was to a mix of demonic humanoid and pixie, but she also felt so many internal changes made to her form as well. One of the more prominent ones... was the fact that she possessed a core of Demonic Power... just like Nico did when he went into the Monster Cave. However, there were certain distinct differences in comparison between the two, and those were that IF's felt much more like a mix of a wild beast, as well as a virulent disease. Her new energy source, aside from her SP (which she didn't even use that much anymore), felt much greater in quantity, if she were to gauge it then she would guess it would be about the same amount that Nico had before that little... outburst he had recently. She could also tell her new form had very distinct abilities unique to it, abilities and performances solely accessible when she was in this state.

'Odds are it won't last for long, knowing my luck...' the brunette thought to herself in a mild sense of irritation. Not to mention that this would be the first time using this form, she had next to ZERO information about it. She didn't know its limits, nor did she know what it could do, only from what she had sensed about it. The physical abilities such as strength, speed etc did seem to have been augmented though, so she would definitely say they would be on a similar level of power as to Nico had been when he regained his DPU form at the Hellverse Dungeon. What she DID know however, was that these feelings of anger she could feel bubbling inside of her... they felt very familiar to her, as if she had felt this rage before. That clued her in onto the fact which was that THIS form had been what she had been aiming for, at least. The form where she controlled her rage and aimed it towards her opponent.

Now then... how about looking into her powers in this form, shall we?

Leaning forwards, IF let her lips curve into a slight smirk, which combined with her cat-like green eyes looked downright sinister as it sent chills down the spines of the onlookers. Now that she had this power, it would be time for her to dish out some PAYBACK! Even if this guy proved to be too powerful for her, she could maybe perhaps force him to retreat for the time being.

With this energy coursing through her being, She decided to test it out by charging forwards... and managed to close the distance between the two of them within a millisecond. Raising her left hand, IF went for a swipe in a similar motion towards the man's head, which he dodged by tilting it to the side.

He soon responded by raising his right hand, enveloped by that technique of his, and made to thrust towards her chest... only, one of IF's Tails launched itself forth towards the man's legs and wrapped itself around one of them, quickly lifting him up by the limb and causing him to miss his strike, tossing him onto his back. With this, IF made to raise her right arm to thrust it into a stabbing motion, however the man rolled out of the way before she could... even though, when her hand stabbed into the ground she created a shockwave that shot through the entire landscape, destroying every rock formation and reducing everything to flat-land once again.

So... physical strength definitely got augmented like her senses told her. How much though would have to wait till later.

IF made an attempt to make a snap kick towards the man's jaw, only for him to sidestep it and slash towards her neck. Reflexes seemed to have been improved however (not to mention how she had to wonder if she had a spine or not-likely the latter), as she bent a full 180 degrees to avoid the strike. Her danger senses kicked in as she sidestepped around a follow-up downward slash, ending up behind him as she twisted around to whack him with her Tails. 'That's the second time I managed to hit him...' IF thought in surprise, before she quickly jumped backwards, wings flapping to gain some distance when a kick was launched her way, enhanced by that strange technique. While in the air, she eyed the leg that he had used to kick her, watching as the technique disabled itself by his will in a critical manner. 'So, that guy can use it on his legs as well? If that's the case then it would be safe to assume he can use it on his whole body as well.'

Once she landed on the ground, sliding across it till she dug her feet into it, IF looked towards her opponent and narrowed her eyes. 'It would be REAL great if I could use one of my weapons, or at least something ranged...' she thought whilst she imagined one of her ranged weapons. 'Whatever that ability is, it looks like he's able to use it at range as well as in close combat, but if one asks me the ranged variant is much easier to dodge...' she added on as an extra. Just as she thought that however, IF clenched her fist as she felt something beginning to change within the entire limb. From the elbow downwards, the entire arm suddenly lost its stability, becoming this formless mass of flesh and Armour which emitted flesh tearing sounds like the ones that had accompanied her current form's manifestation.

In seconds, The limb retook solid form, but... when it did, IF looked to the limb, and found her right arm beneath the elbow had transformed into this massive organic... Bow. By huge, it was as tall as her current form was, and there looked to be several organic-looking Arrows already locked in place to be fired.

'Huh, well, that's convenient. ever thought i'd be using a Bow in battle, especially since my powers come from a B-O-W... might cause some confusion if nobody resolves that.' The brunette couldn't help but think to herself, chuckling in amusement. Raising the Bow, IF used her left hand to pull it's 'strings' from the inside, aimed, and fired the Arrows towards the man.

Said man simply twisted and turned to dodge each one, chuckling mockingly by the time the last arrow passed him. "What were you aiming for there, slut?" The man sneered at her apparent 'lack' of ability with the Bow. "Trying to hit me with those things, eh? Sorry, but you're a trillion years too early to try something as pathetic as that."

At this, IF scowled at him, part of her wanting to prepare another set of arrows (something which she didn't need to since the Bow had already formed new ones), but then a rush of motion got detected behind the man by her eyes, motion which caused something in IF's mind to 'click', and once it did, a dark smirk of amusement planted itself onto her face. "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that." She retorted smugly, lowering her Bow and mentally commanding it to reform back into her default arm.

Arching a brow as his amused look vanished, the man wondered what she was taking about, before his ears twitched and he jumped to the side... just barely avoiding a series of black arrows from impaling him from the rear. Much to his surprise, he saw that they just swerved around and gave chase to him, something which made him realize just WHAT these arrows really were. "Oh, I see..." The man mused, activating his technique and slicing through the arrows leaving nothing remaining of them. "Homing arrows, and it would seem that they would likely have had extreme physical power as well." He realized, before looking towards the brunette with a small level of curiosity in his eyes. "Though you're nothing but a slut, you have certainly piqued my interest. Alright then, show me what you can do, bitch. I'll see if your new form is worthy of my attention."

IF stared at him for a moment, hiding the urge to frown as she mentally scanned the depths of her body. If what she had just heard was true, then it still seemed this guy didn't see her as a threat. Not even worth his attention, something which pissed her off royally inside. However, this DID show her that this guy was like those old military generals who have lived through countless battles. They would end up so stuck on their honor and pride that they would agree to anything as long as they were strong enough, their pride having increased to unbearable levels as a result. It made playing on their pride much easier, so if she did the same thing and got used to her body enough to fight against this being, then who was she to not take this opportunity?

"Alright then..."

'Whoa, what the heck happened to my voice?!' IF screamed internally once she opened her mouth and spoke. First off, her mouth didn't even make the movements that indicated sound was coming out, instead her voice just... emerged from her mouth like it was nothing but a fixed hole. Then, there was her voice itself, as it sounded so hollow, so raspy, along with a second voice that merely mirrored her words as a faint whisper.

Apparently, the man heard it too, if the arching brow was any indication.

Gripping her fists, IF pushed these thoughts aside whilst she stared at her opponent, already beginning to think on what she could do whilst her Tails swayed defensively behind her. Though, her Wings obstructed their view whilst she considered her options. Mentally looking through the genetic data she had on her newest Mutation, IF noticed something that caught her by surprise. 'Huh... that might actually be helpful, considering my past fighting style...' she thought to herself, before she crossed her arms in front of her.

BIKI-BIKI-BIKI!

Sounds of flesh tearing got emitted through the atmosphere as IF mimicked a cross slash, and once she did so her forearms began to act up. As in, from their sides, came these masses of metallic mass, each one elongating and sharpening themselves into a proper solid form. In a second, IF had a pair of double ended Scythe-like slightly curving blades coming out of her forearms, each blade having multiple smaller blades protruding out of the main edge for increased cutting power. They weren't very thick like her human self's preferred Quatars, in fact they were rather thin, however the fact that she used them as a dual wielding weapon instead of single weapons reminded her of how she used to wield those weapons. The brunette would have whistled in appreciation for them, if she weren't in such an intense situation.

Readying her new blades, the brunette bent her legs, spread her Wings and broke into a mad sprint, quickly closing the distance between them and swinging down towards his head with her left blade. After she saw him expectantly dodge it by pivoting to the right, she twisted the same blade and made a curving diagonally upward swing, one that he hopped back to avoid. IF didn't let him move against her afterwards though, simply twisted into a set of strikes from her Tails which he hopped about to avoid, before he jumped back to avoid an overhead slash from her right blade. IF however, didn't let him get away as her form vanished, reappearing behind him with her right blade poised to cut through the back of his neck.

Before her blade could touch him however, the man did the same vanishing act that she had pulled on him earlier... and a second later, she found a foreign weight on her head.

Thus, the fighting continued.

* * *

"Daaaaaammmnn..." Neptune muttered as she watched IF and the mystery man duke it out, their forms becoming blurs that she could barely keep track of as they whizzed throughout the battlefield. "Look at Iffy go..." she exclaimed quietly so as to not draw attention to the fact that Compa, whom now was kneeling, had managed to mend her wounds, reattaching her limbs and boobs back onto her person thanks to Camael's flames. Her injuries then got further mended by summoning Gabriel after dismissing the Axe, before invoking her BARD OF HEALING, something which finished off the job. However, like she and anyone else who witnessed her injuries get inflicted on her assumed, she had scars over her body where the body parts had been severed from. Scars that likely would be around for a VERY long time. As for her vocal Chords, fortunately for her Compa's boy still had a memory of what they looked like, where they were meant to be and their proper functions. In addition to that, she had only lost them recently, so her healing managed to replace them. Although, it would likely be some time before she could use them normally. Right now, her friend was busy using Gabriel's power to heal the rest of them, but it was a slow process, slower than anything she could have done at the Gals. None of them knew why, but Compa had once commented that it was almost like something in the injuries themselves fought back her ability to heal, slowing it down and decreasing its effectiveness greatly.

Said Nurse-In-Training looked upon the scene with an equal amount of awe as her friend did. She could only sit on her knees in the Japanese sitting position, eyes wide and her jaw hanging open as IF tore her way through the mystery man's defenses. She watched as IF unleashed a furious frenzy of blade attacks, using her agility, which already had been high enough in her eyes, to avoid those hands of the enemy's. Few times she indeed got hit, but she usually sacrificed one of her blades to negate the amount of damage she'd be dealt, then just reform a new one. Not to mention how, just as IF lost her blades for the 15th time, she took to the skies before thrusting her right claw at her opponent. At first Compa had no clue on what she had been intending, although the next second the got her answer when each of IF's fingers suddenly launched themselves, extending forth like they were Tendrils as they moved at speeds a bullet would be jealous of. Even so, the man would either avoid them or slash them with his hands, not even breaking a sweat though tat didn't faze her friend for one minute. "This... Compa agrees... with Nep-Nep..." she breathed in amazement, her voice like a toad's as pain shot up her throat from her chords. However, she used Camael's powers to numb the pain to allow her to speak some more. "Iffy's going... super fast, I'll... be one... befud-befuddled... Compa if... I try to... keep up... with her."

Noire hummed in thought as she narrowed her eyes, watching the way IF began moving about whilst she would either extend her Fingers to impale her opponent, slice away at his defenses with her blades or use that organic Bow to fill him with holes. None of them managed to work though, and whenever he would launch his attacks at her with his hands, she would do all she could to avoid them. "Looks like IF is still having difficulty with him though. She can't land many hits in, and if he strikes her then he does way more damage." she commented, worry seeping into her being no matter how much her nature tried to hide it. This simply wasn't the time for her typical attitude, not now at least. She shook her head and focused on the fight, pushing those thoughts out of her head. When lashing out with any strikes not enhanced by that technique, though, IF would use her Tails to defend against them, discovering along the way that each of them (and by extension her entire body) became capable of forming these large maws of deformed, yet wicked-looking fangs that could eat whatever they catch within their grasp. This had been proven when IF caught a piece of the man's coat sleeve with one of the maws on her Tails, which then proceeded to devour it with rapid speeds.

"Indeed." Vert spoke in agreement, and in comparison to the Lastation CPU Vert's tone carried leagues more worry than her. Likely due to having grown 'closer' to the brunette than Noire had done back in Lastation. Not like Noire didn't care about IF or anything, but back then her main focus in the Party had been both Neptune and Nico. Even now, the blonde woman wanted to jump into the action to help her beloved Iffy, however she couldn't due to the fact that if she did, she feared she would get in the way. Right now, both IF and this man surpassed Vert in terms of ability and combat prowess, a fact that got repeatedly proven to her throughout the conflict between the two. Moves that would have killed her 100 times over, IF recovered from near instantly. "If we were to get involved right now, I doubt we will be any more effective than we were before. It is a... vexing matter, almost unbearably so. Though, it is the truth regardless." Not to mention that she had a sneaking suspicion that she had the 'preferred' type of body for this uncouth man, for she received the least amount of injuries compared to everyone else. Something she couldn't say she wasn't used to, sadly enough. Hopefully IF stood a better chance against him with her BOW powers. In fact, was it just her, or was IF's new form actually proving to be getting better and better each time she regenerated? As in, each time she lost a limb, the brunette would heal at a rate that progressively got faster and faster, as if the body was both getting used to this new form, and also using it to enhance it's own capabilities.

Even if this was the case, Vert couldn't help this bad feeling that was blossoming inside her chest. She couldn't get rid of it no matter how much she tried, and it centered around her adorable little Iffy.

* * *

"Hmmm, well it seems you're not a complete waste of potential."

That was what the man spoke after he once again avoided one of IF's blades, then hopped over a sweeping motion from a Tail then smacked the other one away with his free hand. He then back flipped away from her, and just before IF could [pursue him the man quickly swung his left hand upwards, creating a blast wave that shot towards her at lightning speeds. The brunette however, having had more than enough practice at seeing that attack coming, quickly tucked in her wings and rolled out of the way, getting back to her feet just as quickly in case of a followup attack. Her chest inflated and deflated ever so slightly unevenly, something that the brunette woman noticed as she deduced how her form had to be mildly winded from their battle. 'Tch, I don't how how, but it feels like this form my not last much longer... Why? My Biomass reserves are still above what I normally have, as in I still have extra from all those Demons I assimilated. Though, compared to when I first took this form, my reserves definitely decreased.' She thought to herself.

This battle had been one revelation after another for her. Strength, speed, agility, every physical parameter she had to notice how enhanced they had been thanks to her current form. This form also had versatility down pat with its extendable claws, wings which could be used as shields or extendable blades depending on her fancy, how her ribbon-made hair could be used as Tendrils to attack from range, her Tails ability to form mouths, among with this body's innate shiftiness abilities which felt superior to the variant she had in human form, yeah this form definitely had a major power boost to her. But, the most important one was that she had developed a Core which housed Demonic Power, just like that of a DPU's. It seemed to have taken over her original SP Reserves though, making them non-existent (which placed doubt on whether or not she could use any SP related Skill attacks, she'd have to check that out later) in exchange for a massive increase in reserves. Remember how much she had gained from assimilating all those Demons? That would be the base amount of reserves her Demonic Power possessed. What perks this would offer, she didn't know yet, but she planned on finding out. As for side effects, she'd noticed her Biomass efficiency had gone up, in addition to it feeling much 'cleaner' and 'purer', as if the flames of rage she felt inside cleansed them of something.

She'd SURELY be behaving a whole lot easier time with battling thanks to this form. The Awakened Form she'll call it, just from what she had to go through to get it.

"Even so... I think its time we finish up. Not like you would have beaten me, the epitome DEATH, anyways, as even if I'm not exactly 'whole' yet i'm still capable of killing you. Here lemme show you." The man stated, before clicking his fingers. The moment that he did, IF looked down when she heard cracking sounds, quickly realizing what the guy planned to do when she saw the faint color of bone coming out. However, even with her reflexes and improved physical parameters, IF hadn't been able to get out of their way in time and thus, the bone arms that currently trapped one other member of their party, got her as well. They quickly pinned her to the ground headfirst, one hand gripping her head like a vice whilst the others pinned her wings, Tail and other limbs to the ground too. All the while, IF soon found herself going extremely numb and cold, her form reverting to that of a human, much to her shock as a gasp barely escaped her lips. "Heh, those arms seem to have as much power as they usually do, though the fact that you and that other guy haven't 'shut down' and instead simply going numb means you have some form of resistance to DEATH itself. Interesting, it really is."

Turning around, the man focused on the rest of the girls, whom suddenly tensed as they saw his gaze switch to them. The moment they saw it, chills ran down their spines whilst they imagined what he would do to them. None of it good, let me tell you, ESPECIALLY when they saw that look of pure, unfiltered LUST building up in them whilst he walked towards them. "Heh, now its FINALLY time to fucking relieve some stress, and I have the perfect set of toys to do so. Get ready ya damn virgins, cause I'm about to rock your worlds till all you can think about is my dick hammering your small little holes." he stated with a madly perverted gleam mixing in with the original one, his lips curving upwards into a small smile that PERFECTLY mirrored his gaze. Each of the girls tried to run, but all the man did was snap his fingers and bone arms surfaced from the ground, pinning and restraining them as their effects took hold.

"OH no you don't buster! Don't you dare, my Nep flesh is already booked!" Neptune shouted at the man, anger and no small dose of fear in her eyes and voice as she realized what would be happening next. Chills crawled down her spine (chills she could barely feel thanks to the bone arms restraining her) as horrific images and thoughts filled her mind. This was NOT how she wanted her first time to go, Goddess Neppit! She didn't want this thing in her private garden, no way no how! Only one person could, and he was way better than this creep ever could be! Images of a certain redhead Spec Ops Agent filled her mind at those thoughts, somewhat calming her but not completely.

Pausing his stride, the man looked the girl over. "Oh?" he mused, before looking to the rest of them and seeing similar looks on their faces. "Meh, well too bad. Since that guy seems like a total pussy and didn't make a move on ya'll, I think I'll take that cherry of yours myself, just to show him what a real man does." he stated, shrugging carelessly whilst marvelling at the stark increase of negative emotions reaching his senses. Even if he didn't have the ability to boost his powers with them anymore (he didn't need it at this point after all), he could still sense them. Not to mention the OTHER DPU abilities that he retained even after what he did back then. He then looked to Neptune again, and this time his lips showed the first grin they had seen him do since they encountered him. "I think I'll do you first, just for speaking up against your future master." he sneered as he began advancing towards Neptune, his approaching form looming over her like a shadowy wraith ready to claim his next victim.

"Y-You better not, buster! You hear me!" Neptune yelled as she tried to keep a brave face on in front of her comrades (who struggled all the more to break free in order to try and help her to no avail). However, as her enemy got closer to her that fear that gnawed at her 'mask' began to break through the cracks as her form started to tremble against her brain's commands. "St-Stay back, y-you-you... meanie!"

"Sorry, future sex slave, buuuuut nope!"

Just as the man made to go around her and reach down to her behind, causing Neptune to panic and struggle against her restraints even more...

"?!"

SLASH!

Something came out of the corner of his vision, and for the first time since he fought IF, the man found himself caught by surprise when he felt something slash right through his form as well as send him flying across the battlefield. He flew over 20 meters away, before twisting in the air and landing on all fours whist his wound healed. 'What the-who the fuck was it this time that interrupted my fun?!' he shrieked inside his mind, before looking up to glare at whatever had the gall to try and stop him from getting his week's worth of pleasure. When he saw what he did though, his anger soon became mixed in with no small amount of shock. "What...? Is this...?"

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 **Anyways, on the matter of IF, I've always thought of her who cared about her friends, and her perceptions are much greater than that of a lot of them. Just look at Neptune and Compa, so she would likely be able to notice the changes that had occurred within Compa's mentality just as she had noticed something being up with Nico. Therefore, I made that a part of her 'awakening' process as well as Nico's own state of being in a coma. She felt terribly bad about it, and to help deal with it (since she's been alone for so many years therefore she isn't as good as the other girls when handling such intense emotions) she locked herself into the battlefield, keeping up a front before all the others. If any of them were to have seen though it, it would have likely been Vert, Lucy, Raven, Aiden, Guts or Stefan, though none of them said anything to her. Mostly out of respect or nonchalance. But this had the adverse effect of not being able to focus on her rage, something she had known sped up her evolutionary rates thanks tot he time with Compa.**

 **Now that she's figured all this shit out though (but she'll likely not be completely over it just yet) she's finally transitioned into a form that is just as powerful, if not more superior, than her previous mass-like form: the Awakened form. For those of you who've read/watched Claymore (both the anime and the manga like I have) you all should know that I took inspiration for this form's design off the original 3 Abyssal Ones and the One-horned Demon Priscilla. The latter is the main aspect, and some of the other additions to it like her Tails and hair are from them. Not to mention her abilities are a mix of the three. I haven't shown them all yet though, odds are that i'll do that after the arc is complete. But rest assured, that this Awakening of hers has had a MAJOR impact on IF's power set.**

 **read, fav, follow, review etc, and hope to see you all in the next chapter!**

 **Peace out!**


	150. Chapter 147 - Taking off the Mask

**Chapter 147 - Taking off the Mask...**

This…

This had got to be…

The most disgusting, wretched, LOATHSOME feeling he had ever, EVER experienced.

Lying there on the cold, hard and absolutely merciless ground, helpless and restrained felt like ingesting large heavy doses of sand and being forced to swallow it without complaint. Being restrained by those Arms from the ground felt so similar to being confined by the possibility of dying, something which filled him with utter revulsion to the point where he wanted to throw up. If his body wasn't so numb, then he likely would have felt the slimy, sickening sensation that bile left behind as it filled his throat, yet even as he never let it, he knew it was there. Only one second away from escaping him and out onto the ground in front of him.

It was only through sheer willpower that he had forced some sense of feeling into his mouth (causing him to become all too aware of that sensation) and restrained it. Even so, the absolutely revolting things that he heard this man say to the ones that he called comrades made him SO want to spit this bile right into that smug looking mug of his.

Those Bone Arms, in addition to restraining him, must have one something else to him as well, for not only did he feel numb all over his body, but he also felt like he was a simple human again, not a trace of his Demonic Power could be let by his senses anymore. It was like the power had just up and left him for dead, seeing that its owner would be unable to withstand it anymore or one of those people who hop from one lover to the next.

In addition, the sounds of all the girls fighting and getting beaten down by this one man, this one man whom his senses could tell possessed Demonic Power just like him, felt more like torture methods and very successful ones too. More often than not he had wanted to scream, to scream, shout and shriek like a Banshee at the man, to break free of these restraints that felt so much like his CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS and utterly rip his hands into that man's chest and TEAR out his freaking heart. To eat it right before this guy' eyes and watch the life fade from those orbs filled with sinister intent towards his comrades.

Every time he wounded them, gave those girls so much as a scratch made him want to tear that bastard apart more and more. It was like even a mere scratch invoked a nuclear explosion of hatred inside of him towards this man, fueling his murderous desire as the corners of his vision would slowly turn a fierce, bright crimson red. Almost like the life blood of the human race, the smell of heavy iron filling his nostrils. Seeing the way Compa got handled the way she did sparked those emotions, and with every wound on the rest of the girls that followed, well, one could imagine just how utterly PISSED he became.

Yeah… this summed up one Nico's thought and feelings whilst he lay there, restrained by Bone Arms, pretty well.

Though, Nico didn't wallow on those feelings, not the emptiness, nor the confusion and fear for himself. No, instead, Nico could only worry about what would happen to the girls once they inevitably lose. They may not know it, but Nico could tell that this guy was holding back a LOT of his power during this entire scuffle. The way that his power output fluctuated, that was enough of an indication but there were other signs too. For example, since Nico had better control over sensing negative emotions, when looking at this guy with his senses, he could almost throw up at the sheer malice and dark lust that he felt rolling off this man in waves.

More than any other emotion though, Nico could sense immense pride, pride that border lined arrogance within him. An arrogance which could only have come from reaching such a high peak of power that he now constantly looked down on everything. It must have been for a while too, if he was reading the intensity of this pride correctly, which Nico felt was right considering his experience in reading negative emotions.

He hesitated to even call what was happening in front of him a fight at this point, seeing as how he moved with such experience that it gave Nico the impression that he could have easily just ended the fight with the first few moves. Right now, he seemed more like he was just playing with them, and that was something Nico just REFUSED to forgive no matter what.

None of this helped in his current predicament though, and it showed by the look on his face. Just being sprawled out like this, unable to help his comrades and only being able to watch as this unknown adversary beat the stuffing out of them, it well and truly cemented itself in his mind as one of the worst things that Nico had ever experienced. Worse than any of the horrors he'd seen before, worse than any of the psychopaths he had to put away, worse tan any of the treatment he had received from the higher ups in the Guild and the Basilicom.

Perhaps that was due to how personal all this felt to him, but even so it didn't change his stance on the subject, and no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he struggled the redhead male couldn't do a damn thing to step in to help. These bone arms were doing something to him in addition to keeping him numb, something to do with his Demonic Powers no doubt. That was something he ABSOLUTELY believed without a shadow of a doubt.

I have to help them…

Must help them…

I… I NEED to help them!

Thoughts like those circulated through his mind as he glared hatefully at the battle taking place in front of him. A one-sided battle to be sure, but a battle nonetheless. A battle for survival on the girl's side, whilst to this man Nico could only believe that he saw this as merely a moment to 'stretch his legs' as people say, since he just seemed to be toying with Neptune and the others. Something which he became certain of more and more as the battle played out.

Everything became certain when he saw what the man did to the battleground during the onslaught that knocked out all but IF from the battle. Just before he did so, Nico had seen it in both his eyes and deep within his negative emotions: a simple sense of superiority mixed with dark and sadistic pleasure which could only come from bloodthirsty predators that toyed with their prey. If everything before angered him to the point of nuclear explosions going off, then this rage felt more like the heat burning from a star or two (to the point where Nico swore that he felt some form of heat around him like his Hellfire was subconsciously heating the space around him to a higher degree).

But… without his Demonic Powers, then what could he do? There was literally next to NOTHING that he could do in this situation, a fact that he had become painfully aware of. For one Nico couldn't summon his energy from within to augment his physical attacks enough to break free of these bonds. He couldn't engage DDD and transform into Crimson Soul s that option was out as well, hell he couldn't even use his Devil Arms or Ouranos due to not being able to feel their presence. This situation felt eerily similar to a few times in the past when he had few options, times he'd rather not remember.

Though, that caused him to frown, despair crawling into his psyche. Was… was there really nothing he could do? Was this really the extent of his prowess? At this point, Nico couldn't see anything that could get him out of this. None of his Demonic abilities would work, nor would he be able to feel his body enough to throw away the Bone Arms. Even if he could do that, his movement was impaired by them thanks to them pinning him at key areas for mobility. If he managed to dislocate any of his bones manually, not a single limb would have been useful in escaping.

… Yeah, he could see that he wouldn't be getting out that way.

So, what else was there, Nico absolutely REFUSED to give in to the despair gnawing at his will right now. He refused to, as he kept remembering what happened at the Hellverse, what had nearly happened to his comrades had he let those two Ghouls get their way. The stakes back then… they may not be the same in scale compared to right now, but more or less he couldn't help but see correlations with them. The only difference between them was that the 'enemy' had already set their sights on them whilst the two Ghouls had kept themselves entertained with him.

He… he was unable to keep them out of harms way…

Was… was he going to lose them?

Was he going to lose the rest of the people he gave a damn about as a result of him not being able to help them?

Was that his consequence for his prior actions?

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

… No.

No, that will NOT be happening!

Nico refused to let that happen. How many times had he managed to pull something out the skin of his teeth to keep his comrades out of harms way? How many times did he pull through? No matter the exact amount, the fact of the matter was that he had already faced situations like this many times before, and a lot of those times he'd broken through with either a pre=planned/ on the fly battle plan or sheer will power. This was no different, he realized. Honestly, Nico felt so disgusted with himself, how could he have even THOUGHT that there was nothing he could do?

He felt so disgusted with himself just now.

It was pathetic,

Pathetic,

PATHETIC!

'HAH, THERE YA GO, KING!'

* * *

"!?"

Nico felt a gasp escape his lips when he heard it. He heard the voice of IT resonate through his mind as his surroundings began to distort themselves, becoming the ever so familiar black void that constantly plagued his nightmares. The teen shuddered when he felt the darkness coldness replace the coldness of those Bone Arms, and Nico quickly realized what this was. It was a hallucination, one of Nico's many, but at least it happened inside his mind. He experimentally tried to move his arms but found that he couldn't. Confusion filling his being, Nico looked down to see why that was, and found that his body was bound by these thick, iron-spiky chains. Each of them wrapped around his body: arms, legs, knees, elbows, biceps, hips, abdomen and torso. Only his head wasn't chained down, something which he internally growled at.

If he was here, then by the logic of the Hellverse incident…

Oh no, IT was going to be coming, wasn't it?

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHE…"

Soon enough, his fears got confirmed when Nico heard the distorted, hollow cackling that he had come to associate with IT. A pit of dread formed in his stomach when he saw the white form of IT soon manifest in front of him as if it were a mirage, shimmering into existence with that wild, practically psychotic smile splitting IT's face in two. His eyes, black and red with those damned veins, bore into his own with barely repressed insanity and madness. "You…!" Nico snarled, his eyes flashing although it was brief.

However, the white copy of him didn't care as he looked down on him. He stood tall whilst Nico kneeled in chains after all.

"HOW LONG ARE YA GONNA HOLD BACK, KING?"

"Huh?" Nico blinked when he heard his white copy say that, temporarily doing a spit take on what he just said. Hold back? What the hell was he talking about? What did he mean by stop holding back?

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, the white copy gave a loud howl of frustration, using both hands to scratch his scalp so much that if he were in a human body he would have bled.

"GOD, WHAT THE HELL? WHY THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU SO FREAKING DIP-SHIT ABOUT EVERYTHING? I MEAN STOP HOLDING YOURSELF AND ALL THAT SHIT! WHAT DO YOU THINK I WAS TALKING ABOUT?! DOES THAT SHIT IN THE HELLVERSE PLACE OR WHATEVER NOT RING A BELL TO YOU?!"

The white copy of him yelled, before pointing a finger at him and not letting Nico respond to him.

"THESE GIRLS, NO ITS NOT JUST THEM ANYMORE. THESE GIRLS, THESE DOUBTS, ANXIETIES AND ALL THIS WEAKNESS! IT HAS TO GO, OR WE'LL ALL DIE! YOU LOSE THIS SHIT, AND YOU'LL GO INSANE AND I'LL DIE WHEN EVENTUALLY BIGGER PREDATORS COME TO EAT US! HELL, THE ONLY REASON WHY YO''RE SO CHAINED IS CAUSE OF YOUR OWN MENTAL PROBLEMS! STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT SHIT AND JUST LET THE BEAST OUT, YA IDIOT KING! WHAT WAS ALL THAT STUFF YA THOUGHT ABOUT IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS ALL FOR? WHO CARES ABOUT THAT OLD GEEZER?! WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT GIRLS'L THINK OF YA?! WHO CARES IF THOSE PEOPLE'LL TRY TO CONTROL YA! DON'T LET EM! TEAR APART THE ENEMY JUST LIKE YOU'RE MEANT TO!"

Nico blinked owlishly at his words as his white self (was it just him, or did that sound oddly racist? Why did he only notice it now?) before he shook his head. Soon enough he began to realize what IT wanted from him, what IT needed him to do. In that moment, Nico expected himself to vehemently deny it like he always did, trying to keep the inner beast caged and in check like he always had to. If he didn't, then so many people would die, not to mention his comrades would find out his secret, plus everything else that came with it. But… strange… why did he feel so much less reluctance to actually do it? Why was he feeling so little conflict within himself that it was barely noticeable?

"Looks like you've finally noticed it…"

"?!"

Again, Nico widened his eyes when he heard another voice, one that he hadn't heard in a long while but could ever forget for the life of him. How could he not, when it came to something as complex as how fucked up he truly was? Nico took a large, audible gulp, before he looked to the side, since IT was directly in front of him, and when he did the redhead teen noticed the childish version of himself standing there. His arms were crossed, and he had a small smile on his usually blank, emotionless face.

"You have not got as much hesitation in you, and that is for a number of reasons. You already decided on using your true self back at the Hellverse incident, the power of resolve is already deeply embedded within you. You have been training in your other side, so you can control it enough for when the moment to reveal it finally arrived. Now that this moment has arrived however, you are hesitating due to recent circumstances, which is why you are covered in chains. You feel chained by these recent happenings, tied down by conflict and ideals. Yet even so, you must break these pesky chains if you wish to prevail. You are close, so close to clearing the second of the hurdles: Resolution. You have almost completed this, most of the ground work was accomplished back at the Hellverse dungeon. This will be the final step before the second hurdle is complete. Our Recovery is going very well, oh it is going so well. We cannot wait for everything to return."

"DO YOU RECALL WHAT THAT TOME SAID, STUPID KING?"

When he heard IT speak to him, Nico almost balked as he had almost forgotten that the guy was even there. He had been silent for the duration of the talk, though if he were honest with himself Nico probably forgot he was there due to his remnants of hesitation in throwing his secret out of the open. But when his mind processed those words, Nico recalled what Histoire, the only person that could be described as a 'tome' who could speak, had spoken to him about. At first, it was rather difficult since they had a few conversations over the course of their journey, but then his eyes widened when he had a flashback to a certain moment between the two:

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _'You think you are a monster yes? What's wrong with that? If anything, why should you be sorry for being what you are, when nobody apologizes for making you into what you are?'_**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

"JUDGING BY YOUR EYES, I'D SAY YOU DO. REMEMBER? WHAT'S SO BAD WITH BEING A MONSTER, SHE ASKED, WHEN IT WAS OTHER FUCKS WHO MADE YOU THAT WAY. DAMN, GOTTA ADMIT, I DID NOT EXPECT HER TO ASK THAT. I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT SHE WOULD TRY TO SAY YOU'RE NOT A MONSTER AT ALL, WHICH IS SO NOT THE CASE. STOP LETTING THOSE STUPID GIRLS HOLD YA BACK FROM BEING WHAT YA REALLY ARE! IF THEY TRY TO DO ANYTHING JUST RIP OUT THEIR INNARDS AND GORGE ON THEIR DRIPPING FLESH!"

The childish Nico chuckled at the white, taller copy of him's words, amusement dancing in his eyes before he settled back into his previous demeanor when he looked back to the main Nico.

"What your inner beast is trying to say, is that you don't have to be so ashamed of being this way. If anything, the ones who should be ashamed are the ones who made you the way you are. Its their fault that you're like this, not yourself so what is there to be so sad about? Not to mention that with how many powerful monsters there are in this world, you being the way you are is actually a blessing. To fight a monster, you need to be a monster yourself, I think this would be an appropriate saying for this situation. This 'monster' before us is the worst of the worst, daring to have his way with what we consider ours. Can you really allow that to happen? Will you allow that monster to walk all over you?"

Nico's gaze faltered at this, his eyes falling towards where the ground would have been. "I…"

"Looks like you need more convincing. Very well, I will show you a few things…"

Blinking, Nico found himself looking at how the scenery began to bleed into the void, shapes and colours soon taking its place. It felt like he were an artist, watching a computer beginning to automatically make a copy of an elaborate, detailed painting with the quality perfectly matching the original.

When he finally saw how the scene was completed, Nico looked… and he almost flipped his lid when he saw what he did.

All around him were the unconscious bodies of the girls… Neptune, Noire, IF, and Vert. All of them lay their… their clothes stripped and stained with a certain liquid which only came from the neither regions, mixed with the liquid commonly abbreviated as blood. So many injuries, either minor or major from simple scratches to deep lacerations, donned their bodies. Some even had limbs missing.

Neptune had lost her arms, her D clip pads were removed, and her hair looked like it had been gripped harshly. Her scalp bled heavily around the space her head, almost showing her brain matter.

Noire had a similar appearance, but her hair sprawled out wildly around her and her position implied she had been on all fours. She hadn't lost her arms though, but they looked to have been horribly mutilated to prevent her from using them.

IF lay on the ground in the missionary position, but her body looked to have several wounds that imply one's hands had been plunging into her and ripping out pieces of her innards too fast for her to regenerate from, not to mention there were whip like marks adorning her body.

Vert had a similar state to Noire, only her hair looked to be coated in blood and brain matter in a manner similar, if not way worse than Neptune's. Not to mention her torso area looked to have been heavily brutalized… something that would fit.

As for Compa…

The moment he saw her, his blood ignited into a fierce, fiery inferno of hatred. If compared to before, it would be like a star to the sun in both size and intensity. It shone right through his eyes, all the while he didn't even try to stop the furious growl that escaped his lips. There she was… being manhandled in the roughest treatment he had ever seen. Her body covered in brutal looking burn marks and lashes of the horrendous sort. That alone looked sick enough, but she also had a combination of the other girls injuries as well… not to mention…

She currently lay on the ground on her upper back, her eyes dead to the world in terns of size and responsiveness, all the while her lower being hoisted up by two masculine hands whilst their owner pounded relentlessly into her. White and red liquids dripping from their groins whilst massive grunts escaped the lips of the owner. That owner being a certain purple haired fucktard that he would have NO trouble shredding to pieces.

Just that sight alone lasted merely seconds…

* * *

 **(Play Tokyo Ghoul OST - Licht und Schatten)**

"…ALRIGHT, FUCK IT!"

… Before Nico's mind snapped.

"Nuh huh! Nope, hell to the fucking no way that's fucking happening! Over my dead body!" he roared as the scene reverted to the void he had been in before, all the while the childish version of himself and IT manifested before him. "If this guy tries to lay one FUCKING FINGER on their heads then I'll FUCKING TEAR OFF HIS BALLS AND SHOVE THEM DOWN HIS SHITTY THROAT WHILST STABBING A CHAINSAW THROUGH HIS DAMNED ABDOMEN! I'LL CARVE OUT HIS FUCKING INNARDS WITH IT AND MY BARE HANDS!" Nico screamed into the void, his eyes ablaze as he saw nothing but read. He didn't even acknowledge the figures beside him, each of them looking mighty pleased with what was happening.

No, no more.

None of that would be happening, not on his watch!

Not ONE of those gorgeous girls will EVER have to experience that if he had any say about it! Fuck that, if his secret being exposed was the price to help them escape that nightmare, then so be it! They're worth it, they're worth more than anything else! He didn't even NEED to see any more of that shit to finally make a decision, screw secrecy if that man even DARED to do that shit, then Nico would show him why the fuck he is known as the Black Reaper!

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! YES, YES-YES-YES! THAT'S THE WAY, KING! I STILL WANNA TEAR THOSE GIRLS TO PIECES, BUT IF YOU USE YOUR TRUE SELF, I'LL NOT BE PICKY! KILL, DESTROY, SLAUGHTER, MAKE SURE THAT NOBODY WOULD DARE TO MESS WITH YA! SHOW THEM WHY YOU'RE THE ALPHA PREDATOR AND THEY AIN'T NOTHING! I WON'T BE ALL COMPLEX AND SHIT, JUST DO ONE THING AGAINST THAT FUCK! KILL HIM HOWEVER YOU WISH, RUN FREAKING WILD TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!"

The words of IT reverberated within his mind, but Nico didn't care, nor did he feel inclined to disagree. He could sense it deep within him now, the beast that he kept in shackles… the beast growled and groaned, hunger seeping from its being and filling his gut inside. Nico felt it rise up from its slumber as the chains he restricted it with., chains from his mind, broke… just like the ones that broke one by one from his form. Deep grumbling of satisfaction, eagerness and anticipation filled his being, the promise of being able to sink its fangs into the thick, juicy warmth of flesh and bone almost making it… and by extension himself, drool at the prospect.

But to Nico, none of that was irrelevant, all Nico cared about was simply to get out of this mess and rip apart the man who DARED to touch his comrades.

All doubts, anxieties and problems he faced? Nico no longer cared. The faces of Yvoire, the various higher ups in the Guild and Basilicom, all of them blurred together into an unidentifiable mess within his thought process, becoming completely irrelevant to the task at hand. None of them remained important or even recognizable to him anymore, not one of them. No, there would only be one thing on his mind right now… and that would be to FUCKING MURDER THE SCUMBAG WHO DARED TRY TO DEFILE THOSE ANGELS!

"… Yes… this is it. The second hurdle has been cleared. We are one step closer to recovery. We will soon be whole once more… and when we are, our true self will be reborn into this world, ready to show it why one should ALWAYS watch their backs if they are on our 'to kill' list. Do not forget these lessons again, our main self, as they will always be crucial to who you really are. Now… raise your voice, and HOWL into the night!"

Oh, he didn't need to be told twice…

Soon enough, Nico found himself back in the physical world, and when he looked to the arms restraining him, he found that they were no longer there. Not really thinking about it, not even caring about how he felt something recede into him, Nico looked towards where the man was and saw him approaching a restrained Neptune. Just from looking into his eyes, Nico remembered what he hallucinated, only this time he imagined Neptune being there instead of Compa. No matter though, the effects remained the same for him, if this explosion of hatred was to be believed.

Now…

The time had FINALLY come, just as he had always knew it would…

But it was of no regard in his mind, not when his comrades took priority for him right now.

WHOOSH!

It happened so fast that by the end of it, Nico would struggle to process it all later.

He didn't even notice that his feet had moved without his brain telling him to, all he focused on was how his opponent was nearing somehow, so he quickly raised his right hand… and took something from his left eye. The feeling of something being lifted from him, something that he had associated for so long with a mask being raised, accompanied this movement. The familiar blur of motion came from his movement whenever his secret got used, the sounds of something fleshy being released from his being whilst being used to slash through bone filling his ears. The familiar flash of red, crimson blood filled his gaze, all the while his arms plucked IF into their embrace before he moved away…

All that, and Nico felt SURE more had happened.

But that to him, wasn't as important as the absolutely stupefied look on the man's face which he saw when he reached about 30 meters before twisting on one foot to face him, holding Neptune bridal style in his arms. Not to mention that the rest had also been freed, along with IF who now sat on the ground behind him with the rest of the girls. The object in his hand, IT took away swiftly, pocketing it in his Trench Coat. He didn't need it right now, instead all Nico needed right now was both in his arms, IT now facing towards his soon-to-be opponent. His eyes remained shadowed by his hair, but Nico wouldn't let that be so for much longer.

To be frank, by the time Nico realized what happened, he couldn't even begin to imagine how he would explain this one to the girls when this was all over, not to mention the pure ELATION Nico felt blossoming in his chest. There was none of the anxiety inside him anymore, not even at the possibility of the girls not even accepting him anymore. All he thought off right now were the things he absolutely needed to do.

Killing or forcing this guy to stay away from his comrades was one of them.

'HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!'

The loud, psychotic laughter of his white copy filled his mind, and for the first time in a long while, Nico would happily welcome it. Even as he felt his connection with his Demonic Powers returning, alongside the safety of his links with his Devil Arms and Ouranos. Right now, all he could think about…

Was that it was finally time, to do something he had never thought he'd do…

To take off the Mask.

 **(OST END)**

* * *

Slowly, IF blinked as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened. It had happened so fast, with so little time for her to process it all. Something which she found herself struggling to do regardless as she blinked owlishly, head shaking visibly as she held it in one hand. 'Ugh… what the heck…?' She thought, and the next thing she noticed was that she had been freed from her restraints… not to mention that she was also back in human form, and she sat on the ground backside first, sitting alongside the rest of the group. That honestly calmed her, it was better to be close to trusted allies than a hated enemy in her book. Once she got her bearings though, the brunette looked upwards and her gaze fell onto the back of a certain redhead Agent…

Although, something quickly caught her attention.

"Um… anyone…?" Slowly, and all the while breaking IF from her thoughts, she and the girls all looked towards the source of the voice she just heard to find Compa to be sitting there, staring just as slack-jawed as IF felt inside… probably the same outside too now that she thought about it. What they just witnessed… whatever it had been, had THAT much impact on them. The Nurse-In-Training could only sit there, eyes trembling as she saw what she did, before she looked to be forcing the next words out of her mouth just to try and sate the confusion growing within. "Um… What did we just see…?"

Vert, who lay on her front as she saw the events transpire, looked just as wide eyed whilst she did keep a better composure than the two girls. Some of her bangs fell onto her face, but she didn't even bother with them. That just went to show just how much the sigh before her had gripped her attention. "Yes… I would like to know as well, Neptune…" she stated, shaking her head soon afterwards to try ad clear her mind in order to process these events better. "it seems I must apologize, but it appears my emotions are close to running out of control…"

For once, Noire actually agreed with the other two CPUs wholeheartedly. Looking towards where the redhead male was right now, Noire couldn't help but release an anxious gulp from her throats' confines. She honestly had little clue on what was happening, but she did have a gut feeling. This feeling came to her when she had sensed Nico's aura just a split second before he had burst into motion and saved IF from whatever fate that this man had in mind for her. Before that moment, it had been erratic, chaotic just like the Demonic Power that he had commanded through all this time. It had also been fairly weak, considerably suppressed by something that the Bone Arms did, she figured.

Now? It now had the complete opposite feeling.

'Why is it… that Nico's aura has completely pulled a 180? Instead of what it was before…. now it feels like he's completely morphed into something else… Something… would, crazy and unpredictable… it feels like it would try to gut me the moment I look at it the wrong way.'

Those were her thoughts as a visible shudder traveled down her spine like a bunch of athletes doing the 100-meter dash, though fortunately none of them noticed thanks to being too drawn by the sight of the situation before them.

* * *

Back towards the two…

Slowly, Neptune began to open her eyes, having reflexively closed them when she suddenly began moving in a manner that she SURELY shouldn't have been able to. "Huh? What gives? Did someone carry me into the stars for good behavior?" She questioned with the most random thing she could think of. It helped calm her nerves when she acted all random like this, that was for certain. Soon enough though, she managed to calm herself to a level where she noticed that she had found herself in someone's embrace, much to her surprise as she began to squirm to free herself. "Hey, what gives, buster? Unhand this delicate maiden, only Nicky can have his way with my Nep flesh, buddy!" she bellowed, bonking her holder on the chest with her tiny fists.

A chuckle however, was the holder's response, and as she heard it Neptune suddenly tensed up. "Heh, well I'm glad I'm me then, Neptune." A familiar voice spoke up, causing Neptune to lean back and get a good look at the person carrying her right now.

The moment she saw the smirking lips of Nico, his eyes shadowed by his hair (something she didn't really give a damn about) Neptune's own eyes practically bathed themselves in light when she perked up. "Nickyyyyyy!" she cheered, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug, burying her face into he crook of his neck. "What took ya so long, hubby? Your wifey's been waiting overtime, and that's not cool!"

Once again, Nico chuckled at the hyperactive preteen in his arms. He didn't show it, but it didn't take reading negative emotions for him to sense the hidden distress building up inside of her right now, so he pulled her a bit closer to snuggle her back. As long as he would be able to assure her, then he'd be fine before everything went to shit. "Heh, sorry Neptune, just got a little caught up there." He responded sheepishly, before glancing behind him at the rest of the girls. "You guys too, you all ok? Apologies for not getting out sooner."

"Uh, its ok Nico, but um… what are you doing?" IF questioned, tilting her head when she saw him turn around and, still without actually looking at them, gently laying Neptune on the ground before them (though he took a moment to pry the preteen off him). Something about him just didn't seem like the guy that they had all come to get used to, and that something definitely didn't sit well with her. Not only did he not feel like his usual composed self, but he also felt like one of those mental asylum patients that were about to go on a crazy rampage. That wasn't even beginning to count how many feelings of dreaded anticipation she felt while looking at him, she couldn't even feel his usual confident composure from him anymore. Every instinct in her body told her that something bad had happened, or rather it would be about to happen in the near future, and Nico had a crucial role to play in it.

Meanwhile, Nico stood tall as he turned away from them, refusing to look the concerned girls in the eyes for the time being. He could tell that IF's instincts were warning her of the imminent danger, and in his mind the redhead male hoped that she listened to them. To be frank, Nico didn't know if he would be able to maintain what little composure he had left if he saw their faces, deep inside he could feel an entire maelstrom of different conflicting emotions. Right now, all he COULD feel for certain was the nervousness and anxiety for what he would be about to do. "Don't worry guys, I plan on making this asshole pay QUITE dearly." He spoke with an assuring tone, a small smile forming on his lips, though if they could see his eyes, then they would have seen how his smile didn't exactly reach it. Though, that was what his long hair shadowing them was for.

Afterwards, he let out a small chuckle, putting his hand over his mouth whilst his aura started to sway. Oh, he would DEFINITELY be doing what he said, nothing would change that. Even if he had so many mixed feelings regarding it, there would be no turning back for him at this point. At least if he used this, this guy might have an urge to be somewhere else and leave, or he could drive him away, since outright defeat felt utterly impossible for him. But first, there was something that he had to do… "But first, I need you guys to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"Could you guys move backwards by at least about 200 meters? If what's going to happen is any indication, then I'd rather you all not be caught in the crossfire." Nico replied to Vert's question. Though, the other reason he stated this was so that they wouldn't be in the range of what would happen when IT finally came out. He could feel his inner beast straining, roaring and howling against the last of the slowly crumbling restraints. He didn't know how much longer he had before it finally came out, but he didn't want them to be near him when it did. He'd only barely used it to get them all away from this man before whom seemed quite content to just stand there for whatever reason, though he wouldn't complain.

"Hey, you know we can-"

SWOOOOSH!

Before IF could finish her sentence, a certain group of people appeared behind them in a swirl of green, unleashing the smell of every scent that could be found within nature itself. Nico didn't even need to look behind him to know who it was that came just now, not to mention that he could sense the other three members of Team RAIL behind the Spring Goddess known as Lucy. He knew she would be the first one to speak when she put her hands over his eyes through his bangs, her melodious voice filing the air and, unbeknownst to her, calm both himself and the beast inside. "Heya Nicky-Dear! Been a while, we just came from demolishing some Demon bases!" she proclaimed happily, before she looked around the area and grimaced when she saw the girls behind them. "Wow, geez you guys got wrecked huh?" she remarked, a pang of guilt exploding within her chest. "Sorry for not getting here sooner."

Vert spoke for them all when she shook her head in response, having adjusted into a Japanese sitting position as she looked up towards the redhead female Spec Ops Agent. "Please, it is of no problem. Our state is only due to the enemy being so much more powerful than us. I'm just thankful we have lasted this long without losing each other..." her lips then twisted into a depressed frown, her eyes darkening in sadness when she thought of the previous events that had happened. "Although I cannot say that we haven't had casualties..."

Lucy the others noticed this, and frowned as well. It looked like things had gotten real bad by the time that Helen had called them to tell them to get their butts over here. Whatever had happened, they didn't know, but it obviously had a major impact on everyone here. "Its okay, Lady Vert, its alright..." the redhead woman soothed, kneeling before her with utter sincerity on her features as she made to comfort the blonde CPU.

Then, she stood up and allowed Raven to take her place, as Leanbox's ruler looked towards her when she kneeled beside her. Her Mask hid her eyes well, but even so Vert couldn't help but sense the resolve behind her words through her deepened voice. "Do not worry green Goddess, we will bring you and your comrades far enough from this battlefield and cloak their scents with VERONICA's powers." She stated, glancing over to Nico with a minor head tilting, proving that she had indeed heard of what he had requested of the girls.

Even so, Ivan and Aiden stepped towards the redhead male, their eyes shining with seriousness and a grimness that just... didn't really fit them, behind their Goggles. If he were frank, Nico would gladly admit that seeing those two would be counted as a welcome sight, especially with the history between the three of them. One could say that they weren't just brothers-in-arms, but bros in other ways as well... none of the homo's however (those images tried to resurface, but he pushed them right the fuck back down). Still, he didn't bother looking at them directly in their eyes, and Nico had a feeling that the two males knew why he was doing that.

It was Aiden who spoke first, and when he did, his tone conveyed those emotions and more. "You doing it then?" he questioned, cautiously. If Nico planned to do what he thought he was doing, and Aiden felt SURE he was due to the faint crackling sounds he heard, then things would be getting dicey for all parties involved. Though, he would not lie and say that he hadn't been waiting for the time when this beast finally came out, it had been a LONG time since he had seen the looks on other people's faces when it happened. 'Hopefully, things will turn out alright in the future, though... and not like in the past.

"If you do this, you know the risks right? Me and Aiden here have experience with it, but the rest of the girls on the other hand..." Ivan stated further, his tone just as grave as his colleague's. Of course, in his opinion if he were an optimist then he would hope that they would accept Nico's 'nature' without much complaint. However, he had seen several instances when that had proven to not be the case, to the point where this would be classed as one of the few things he couldn't even be joyful about. Like previously mentioned throughout their introduction to this story, he indeed knew what Nico's secret was, not to mention the conspiracy surrounding him, therefore he knew the bigger picture surrounding him. Ivan didn't want this guy, whom he considered a trusted friend, not to mention a brother in arms, to have to suffer any more of these people's bullshit.

Nico merely nodded his head, not letting them see his eyes as he stayed facing away from them. When he responded a moment later, it took all his concentration to keep his voice level and steady. "I'm aware." he stated simply, and those words served to assure the other males. The resolve in those two words alone had been enough, enough for them to see that Nico wouldn't be persuaded otherwise. This was his choice, and he would be sticking to it. Even if they could see the undertones of chaotic conflict within.

"Alright, we managed to convince Lucy and Raven not to ask any questions till this was over, but you have a LOT of things to explain to them when this is all over."

 **(Play Bleach OST - Stand up be strong here)**

The redhead male simply nodded as he heard Ivan say this, before the two boys regrouped with the mentioned girls. Nico clearly felt the gazes of the other two members of Team RAIL, before Lucy clicked her fingers and everyone got teleported at a far enough distance away from them, he could tell thanks to the surges of sweet wilderness smells that reached his nostrils, and when he smelled them the male let loose a sigh of relief. "Alright, now that they're safe from this..." he muttered, before turning to face off against the man, his leather covered fists clenching tightly. "Now to deal with you..."

"Hmph." The man remarked, crossing his arms below his chest as he gave an arrogant huff. "You could have had more of a chance to at least entertain me by attacking with those ants earlier, but you send them away? No idea what your game is, but its your funeral. You must really want to court DEATH, don't you?" he remarked, before he uncrossed his arms and made the 'come here' motion. "Alright then, lets get this over..."

No longer could the man finish what he said, when his eyes widened in surprise as he quickly hopped to the sides, seeing the ground where he once stood become a large crater. 'Huh? What the hell...?' he wondered, surprise etching across his features whilst he flew through the air thanks to his jump. Not to mention how. thanks to his instincts he crossed his arms in time to block several lashing attacks from this unseen force. 'Was that an attack just now? It had to be, i'm being attacked right now by this worthless mongrel. But... what...?'

Quickly, he forced his thoughts to a halt and hopped about several times, avoiding the same fate that befell the ground in all those times (plus the about 2000 times he had to swing his arms to deflect an equal number of lashes from this 'something') until he slid across the ground to a halt. Out of reflex, quickly swung his right hand, which was enveloped by his technique, towards the space in front of him. However, it indeed hit nothing and Nico ducked under the wave so that it couldn't hit him. It vanished halfway between the distance between him and the onlookers though, so none of them would get hurt, though.

About 5 minutes later, after having dodged hundreds of these invisible attacks, the man couldn't help the irritated snort that escaped his lips. It had only been though his instincts that he had avoided those attacks so far, and none of his senses had been able to help him perceive them. By senses, he meant sound, smell, touch, sight and taste, so by that point, he couldn't help but be... more than a little pissed off at what this kid was doing. "Alright you brat, what the hell?" he exclaimed furiously as he glared towards Nico, who all this time hadn't lifted his head and kept his eyes shadowed. "What kind of trickery is this?!"

'Looks like he finally has asked...' the male thought to himself, taking a deep breath to quell the nervous clenching within his gut. Now was the time... he wanted the others to see what he really was, to show them just what he had been hiding all this time. The time for secrets was over, and to start it off would be this. With these thoughts in mind, Nico slowly lifted his head, showing that his eyes had remained closed. "Well, if you want to know what's going on, you fuck..." he began as cracks slowly spread across the left side of his face. The moment that the man saw those cracks, comprehension began to shine in his eyes as Nico opened his eyes wide. His right eye, well, nothing looked that ordinary about it. Noting but a normal eye...

But when one looked to his LEFT eye... they'd see that it wasn't ANYTHING normal.

After all, a 'normal' eye wouldn't have a black sclera and a crimson, madly trembling iris now would it?

"You're gonna have to ask REAL nicely, though I guess for someone as fucked in the head as your sorry pale ass, that's a bit too much for your simple brain to handle, isn't it?"

 **(OST end)**

* * *

"And WHAT, is your goal here?"

Back in MICROSOFT, Helen sat in her room on a chair next to a desk where her Phone lay, calmly sipping her tea whilst she heard the ringing her phone made. On it, there lay an 'ALERT' message accompanied by a loud buzzing. She mentally chuckled to herself, more than a little eager and also a little nervous deep inside behind her composed demeanor. 'So... Nicky-Nick has finally done it... Its about damn time...' she thought to herself before swerving on her chair to face the ones who had rudely asked her that question:

Several men in these fancy-looking robes, ones which even the most petty of Nobles would be green with envy for, with colors which could only indicate them being from the upper ranks of the Basilicom's governing party. Behind them, there stood over dozens of armed Leanbox knights, 40 of them she would have guessed with a further 20 having hidden themselves through their own means throughout her room. She wouldn't be able to escape them without at least losing a limb or two, since each of these soldiers were handpicked to be bodyguards for these Leanbox officials, even if their individual power levels would be at about just below Spec Ops classification. That is, if her goal was to escape this place anyways. "My, i'm afraid I don't know what you mean, gentlemen..." she replied evenly, calmly sipping her tea with no small amount of hidden mirth at their furious expressions. "What do YOU think is going on here?"

"Enough of your rudeness, woman! We know what you are up to!" she heard one of the officials, a balding man in his mid fifties, yell out at her. His face looked like a living tomato with how flushed with anger it was. His fists couldn't stop trembling as Helen noted a layer of fear beneath this man's fiery anger. "Among all of us Basilicom workmen, only we of the higher ups know what that FREAK is truly like! IT is nothing but a monster, a dog that only lives by our grace! If it were up too us, that filth would have been put down like the rest of his trashy kind!" he spat, hatred and disgust laced within every word. "It was only because of its 'worth' that those that you represent allowed it to live! You should be thanking us by keeping it more in check! Not letting it just releasing that 'thing' whenever it so desires!"

Just then, one of his colleagues stepped forwards, looking considerably calmer but no less furious than the first official. This one appeared to be in his early fifties, and had a set of hair around the sides and back of his head. His eyes, though, they remained as sharp and knife-like as ever, like he had once been in the military. Though in all fairness, Helen recalled that this one indeed had been in the military, as he had been one of the children of Leanbox's Nobility. "What my colleague should have conveyed to you, Mrs Dawson..." he began, his eyes narrowing like they were two lasers meant to burst through Helen's skull. "Is that you have been keeping secrets, and not completing your duties as his 'handler' as you should have. Fabricated reports, missed and unexplained checkups, we have ample evidence of your cause, of you not keeping it on a tighter leash. You do well to remember the 'conditions' behind that thing being kept alive instead of being thrown to the 'waste' like the rest of its kind should have."

"That's right! And DON'T bother lying to us, we have your very life in our hands! One word from either of us, and these men will open fire on you and everyone else in this hotel! We aren't afraid of covering up the truth, you know! One wrong move and you will be dooming everyone in this pathetic trash heap!" the first official declared, a sense of smugness entering his words as the sounds of blades being drawn out filled the air. These sounds came from the soldiers whom the officials had brought over, children of noble families under their employ that were easily manipulated by thoughts of being promoted and giving their families extra glory. In essence, the darkness that corrupted the Nobility... as well as some of the military families.

However, if they thought Helen would be intimidated enough to conform into their demands...

"Ufufufufufu..."

They would be wrong, dead wrong.

"What is funny, pray tell?" the second official questioned sternly, crossing his arms under his chest whilst giving her a confused look, though it was also a look mixed with annoyance and frustration. "Be aware that we have all the power here, not yourself. Therefore, you better comply with us and detain that creature, or else-"

"Oh, I don't think so. You all seem to think that you have all the power now, but in actually you couldn't be any further from the truth."

Helen's words, which she spoke to interject into the official's own, sent them into surprised silence. Even as the soldiers all bristled at the insult to their 'betters', as Helen simply placed her elbow on the armrest of her leather chair, uncrossing her legs and recrossing them. "Do you know why that is? Because you all..." the way her eyes gleamed right then, tossing aside the look of civility and replaced with the look of a predator, a predator about to pounce on their prey which was a look not unlike that of her adoptive son. "... Fucking stupid."

"WHAT?!" Shrieked the first official before he made to raise a hand and click his fingers. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND BELITTLE YOUR BETTERS, YOU WRETCHED WHORE! ONE WORD AND I'LL-"

Before he could finish however, the sudden smell of nature and wilderness filled the air. Something which caught the man by surprise before he looked down... and his face lost all color when he saw what looked like grass growing across the floor with vines quickly circling up the man's legs in a manner not unlike that of Tendrils. He tried to scream out a command, but as if they had sensed his intentions the vines quickly shot upwards and restrained him, wrapping around his limbs, torso, abdomen, and mouth so he couldn't speak. This wasn't just the official's fate however, for the other official as well as the soldiers: both the visible and hidden ones, all got restrained by these vines as the room literally transformed into a natural paradise.

A Paradise that... didn't even touch her, or the floor and desk near her within a full 20 feet radius.

Helen couldn't help but grin behind her hand as she gave a ladylike giggle. 'My, it looks like VERONICA strikes again, doesn't it?' she thought to herself, remembering a time when she had met with the Spring Goddess in private. After disclosing the fact that she had figured out her true identity, of which she had vowed not to tell anyone, she had requested that Lucy infuse her entire room with natural energy: essentially a trap which would spring the moment that any aggression was raised against her by these officials. Lucy HATED nobles, and she would DEFINITELY hate those in the governing roles once she would eventually learn of their role in Nico's life. There were specifics that Lucy hadn't divulged to her, but what she had described sounded perfect to her.

Of course, she would have made a different move if this had been an 'official' visit, but some of her scouts whom she had bought out herself before coming too this hotel for the Gala, some of them had confirmed for her that this visit wasn't, and would never be, known to anyone else. Not even their fellow governing officials. Therefore, everyone here would not be here according to official documents, meaning if they died they would simply be treated as MIA. Something that happened so frequently in this war-torn nation, as well as the others, that it would easily be believed by everyone involved.

Looking upon the struggling men, Helen resisted the urge to gloat towards them as she began to speak. "Gentlemen, you all did many things wrong in your lives, crimes against innocent civilians like theft, bribery, kidnappings and blackmails. Those were SOME of them, not including murder, rape and pedophilia. However, I have not a care on those. Except for the crimes you committed against my beloved adoptive son. You all aided in making his life utter hell, excessively I might add. Now, as a member of the Spec Ops community I can do little in these actions, especially since YOU all PUT me here for this exact reason. However, just like how all life finds a way to grow, I managed to figure out some ways of my own." She told them, all with that blissful smile on her face as she mimicked polishing her nails, as if she found them more interesting than the struggling men before her.

Then, she looked back towards them, her eyes now filling with a fierce firestorm of anger, of anger that looked like it had been simmering for a VERY long time. "So, you can all imagine how... frustrated, I have been with all of you. How VERY much I have wanted to rip you all apart for doing this not just to me, but my beloved son. But, I never could thanks to my forced position, where you could keep an 'eye' on me and keep me enchained by you whims. My beloved son was also not exempted from those rules and regulations, something which must have felt PRETTY good to you fucks. However, you all were fools to think that I wouldn't do something, that I wouldn't find a way to fight back. You all know as well as anyone, that I don't give a CRAP about politics. I wouldn't care if all the Nations in Gamindustri burn to nothingness, the only people I care about are my husband and my beloved son. If he finds anyone worthy of his interest, then i'll see them as worthwhile people too, but you know how many that is? VERY FEW, I assure you. But, I managed to slowly prepare my fangs, sharpening my claws for this day through those things you described and more. Now, now not only does my son finally get a chance to have some people who actually give a damn about him, but I get a chance to... vent my frustrations with you lot."

As she spoke all this, anger, hatred, resentment and sadistic pleasure slowly seeped into her words, gradually filling her gaze into a shine whilst she soaked up the look of utter fear that filled the eyes of the men around her. Right now, this would be only the start of it, but it would be something she'd enjoy more than she probably should. No doubt this would impact a whole lot of people, of families in varying states of being. Not everything was black and white after all, but if you were to ask her, she'd say... she wouldn't care. 80 to 95% of these people had been around when her boy was found once again, changed forever. That percentage of people had not done a THING to help him, heck they had pretty much condemned him too this fate, scorned and shunned him. Therefore, why should she care about them when they had done her boy harm? Nope, no parent would in her situation: a Spec Ops Agent confined to a political 'cage' and forced to stay on the sidelines as she watched the remains of her two friends go through shit nobody deserved.

Thus, one could consider this a form of 'payback, bitch'.

Yeah, Helen wasn't a good woman, hell no. Every Spec Ops Agent had traits about them that would consider them 'monstrous' in the eyes of society, especially religious ones like the ones in Gamindustri. Lack of empathy wasn't an uncommon one.

Having had enough of seeing their ugly faces for over 10 lifetimes (no, she was NOT exaggerating people), Helen turned on her chair and tucked herself in at her Desk, placing her Phone in front of her and pressing a few keys. Afterwards, a holographic screen and keyboard appeared above the phone and before her, displayed like a projection. Without looking at them as she typed, Helen spoke. "Now i'm not going into specifics of what'll happen to you, so just enjoy the last few moments of your lives like good little saplings." she sneered at them.

And as their screams began to happen whilst each of the men got dragged 'inside' the floor, as if the whole thing was like one simple plant seed using them as food for growth, Helen began to hope that Nico pulled through his latest trial. She'd view it on a satellite the Spec Ops community had launched into outer space for her so she could view his progress, but still.

'Nicky-Nick, you better get out of this alive, you hear me? Like those girls being your 'links' to your humanity, you, my few friends, and my husband are my last links to mine.'

* * *

Back with the mentioned redhead hero...

"Hmmm... wait, I've seen that eye before... Oh!" Sudden realization dawned on him as the man just as suddenly barked into laughter, holding one arm over his gut whilst the other went over his eyes as he leaned backwards. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, this is just BRILLIANT! Who'd have guessed someone like YOU would become HIS champion! That bastard always DID have the hots for Ghouls more than humans, so it makes sense he'd chose one as his Champion! Not to mention it explains how you broke out of your bonds, THAT guy DID have rumors that he had included his own power into the code of the Ghouls, making them more resistant to my power, in addition to the others! Ahahahahahaha!" he exclaimed whilst laughing hysterically. In fact, it almost looked like he had heard something both very amusing and also so typical that he couldn't help himself anymore.

Nico remained silent, his mismatched eyes conveying nothing as the man had his laughing fit. The wind passed him by, ruffling his hair whilst his coat gently flapped in the breeze like a flag would. The teen's belt-covered trousers also flapped, though not to the same extent as his coat whilst IT kept itself around him at the points of a square, ready to defend him if needed. Not to mention how he could sense the other 'fangs' he had trying to break out of his willpower to finally manifest, though he didn't let them yet. They were controlled not just by his instincts to kill which were going haywire right now like error messages on a computer, but also his own chaotic emotions.

Internally however, Nico wondered what the hell this guy was talking about, who this 'bastard' he was describing could be all the while what made him have such a mix of negative emotions towards this person. According to his senses, Nico picked up copious amounts of rage (no surprise there) resentment, frustration, annoyance and many others into this one big mass. However, Nico dared not venture too deep into those emotions, as he couldn't get over the feeling that if he did, he'd spiral out of control and into a level of darkness so deep that what he had experienced of it from his unstable mentality would be like a simple summer day in comparison.

Not to mention, the feeling of DEATH that he got from this guy, this feeling of DEATH which also felt... off, something he kept sensing and he had no clue why. Despite that feeling, he could sense the aura of this man, and if he had not decided to finally embrace IT after hiding it for so long, then Nico wouldn't doubt how he'd likely be shivering in his boots. Whenever he had IT out in the field, Nico always did have this level of calmness, a calmness that washed over him thanks to IT's presence. It was a bit of a paradox, using this power made Nico feel both safe, as well as nervous at the same time... weird.

Even so, he kept these thoughts hidden behind a face of blankness, clenching and loosening his fists whilst his mismatched eyes remained unloving. Hiding the emotional battles he waged within. "If you're done with your little charade, shall we get a move on?" he questioned, flicking his writs with an audible crack sound. This guy gave him the impression that he truly hadn't been going serious for the entire battle's duration, Nico could feel it deep within his essence that this was the case. It was like he was only seeing the smallest fraction of the tip of the iceberg when it came to this guy's power, and thus he wanted to take him down before he could amass more of it. He hadn't struck him during that laughing spree because of how during it, he couldn't shake the feeling that his guard wasn't down. That thought made his palms sweat slightly beneath his gloves, if someone like this guy was around, then he'd be more than bad news.

Plus, he could feel the inner beast within howling and salivating within, the walls protecting his sanity crumbling bit by bit within his psyche. Normally, using one 'fang' would be perfectly fine for him, two is alright, but if he used all three at the same time... chances were, his walls would break within 5 minutes and he'd be forced to undergo a transformation that at best, he could only last about 2 minutes in before he lost himself to the madness and insanity. That was why that, by revealing his true self not only seemed way too risky thanks to blowing his cover in front of his comrades, but he also well and truly felt the pressure in this situation. He couldn't afford to keep this power active for too long, it wasn't like his DPU form where he could control his powers enough to not have to worry about Berserker Mode.

Therefore, this battle...

Would likely be one of attrition.

 **(Play OST - Power to strive)**

Everything started within an instant.

FWOOSH!

One of the two fighters instantly acted, bursting into action before the other could.

Nico refused to let the guy have the first move as he leaned forwards, before breaking into a sprint towards him. The redhead swiftly hopped into the air, at about a full 60 feet, before twisting about and launching his little attack. Just before he launched it though, the male briefly noted how the mans' eyes seemed to gain this odd translucent glow about them, though he didn't think it would be that important. Even so, he took note of it since he knew so little about this guy, and anything that could lead to new information about the enemy would be a blessing, he'd learned this firsthand.

The male's attack came at his opponent from various directions, coming down on him like the hammer of a thunder god and stabbing into the ground around him to limit his movement. Perfect for the last 2 attacks towards his shoulder-blades, where Nico hoped to land two hits to end in ripping the guy's head clean off his body. A clear, clean way to quickly decide the outcome of this fight, that had been his intention so he didn't have to go as far as he feared he'd have to. Though, to Nico's surprise the man actually managed to dodge these attacks as well as take out the 'restraints with a few well-placed palm strikes.

'What?' The redhead thought with his mismatched eyes widening momentarily as the remaining composure he had slipped, exposing the shock, read and other emotions he had buried beneath. 'Can he see them...? No, that shouldn't be...'he thought further, shaking his head before he landed and retracted IT to his side, all the while twisting and launching 3 strikes all at the same time, each aimed towards his right thigh, abdomen and left shoulder. Nico didn't know what trick he had just used to avoid his attack earlier, but if he struck repeatedly against him without giving him a chance to counter, maybe Nico could figure it out.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed the man didn't want to give him that chance, as he quickly vanished before Nico's very eyes, soon appearing behind him with a reverse horizontal hand swipe aimed towards his neck. Instincts saved him however, as Nico quickly ducked beneath it, allowing him to see that the technique he had been using had been applied to his hand if the newly formed fissure was any indication.

To avoid another attack, Nico quickly slammed the other 3 forms of IT into the man's stomach, the male mentally and briefly wondering how the man had managed to NOT get impaled right through with that attack and instead be merely sent sliding backwards by 30 meters, before jumping back wards, flipping about in mid air before landing into a sliding to a halt motion in order to get some distance.

"Looks like your little appendages have more of a bite to them."

"?!"

Once he halted himself, Nico looked up as he heard the man speak, each of his 'appendages' almost recoiling to express the shock running through their master's veins. The way that the man looked at him pretty much summed things up in Nico's mind, quickly confirming his previous thoughts about his capabilities. Though, the implications and the 'how' behind his methods remained unknown.

His teeth clenched as he forced himself to inquire about that admittingly VERY alarming statement this man had made. "You... can see them?" he asked cautiously and slowly whilst his appendages each clenched up around him. As if trying to act like some form of barrier between him and any who dared attack him. This would be the case thanks to them not caring who or what it would be that would attack them, it would defend its master regardless.

In response, the man simply waved a hand dismissively, not a care in the world from his posture. "Sure, of course I can. Those things practically WREAK of DEATH, therefore my eyes can see the fog that symbolizes the death surrounding those lanky... appendages of yours." he remarked further, gesturing to Nico's appendages. The way he looked at them showed Nico a mild sense of intrigue, but that was just buried beneath may layers of a superiority complex and an arrogance that came with it.

'Great... and this guy doesn't feel like he's lying either, not to mention his previous actions support his claims...' he thought, doing his damned best not to break out into a cold sweat. This did not bode well for him, not at all in fact. The greatest aspect of these 'appendages' as the man called them was that their invisibility to all 5 senses allowed them to strike an opponent down with a 100% guarantee of success. After all, how can one defend themselves against an attack they could not perceive? Not to mention that it was his most preferred tool due to other powers it possesses. But, if this guy could indeed see them, then a large portion of their effectiveness would vanish into the wind. If the man couldn't perceive them, then Nico would likely have a MUCH easier time since they can't be seen by the normal 5 senses... 'But even so, he only showed that he could see them when he did something to his eyes, probably using that strange 'power' of his to activate their properties. Maybe if I take the eyes out, I can ruin any and all chance of him perceiving these attacks of mine.' Nico thought in an attempt to keep his calm.

Seriously, so many of these revelations struck at his last few walls of composure.

Now that Nico's weapon didn't have the advantage of its imperceptibility anymore, the male saw no more reason to hide them, since he could defend himself regardless of their state. Be it invisible or not, therefore the male mentally commanded the limbs to show themselves, and like mirages they appeared into existence. Nico would not doubt that he'd be able to hear the startled gasps coming from the girls he traveled with as his secret weapon finally revealed its true form to the world.

They took the form of... Tentacles.

Pure black, fleshy Tentacles which would look right at home within an abyss due to the shades of black they sported. They numbered at about 6, and each of them were pointed towards his opponent as if they were the limbs of a spider adjusted into a spider's attack stance. The fact that their blackness created shadows that illuminated Nico's sole red and black eye, made his form look all the more imposing.

Something which Nico didn't think would work on this guy, as he quickly charged forth towards him with the intention of resuming their bout. 2 Tentacles stabbed into the ground to push Nico into the air, the rest of the other 4 each breaking into a wild, ferocious bout of slashes and slamming attacks.. None of them even left a second's worth of breathing time between attacks, reminiscent of thousands of tiny bullets being shot out towards their enemy. Just as Nico expected however, the male noticed how the man's arms moved just as fast as they did, blocking or deflecting each attack without suffering any noticeable damage to his person.

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

Pulling his 4 Tentacles back as he hovered directly parallel to the top of the man's head, Nico quickly launched a triple Tentacle assault, launching 3 of them at the same time. The man responded by swinging those arms of his like whips though, and just as the two attacks collided Nico noticed (and mentally winced at) how his Tentacles got sliced clean through down the middle, at least down by a quarter through their abyssal black forms. It looked like that technique was stronger than his high speed vibrations, something which Nico mentally recorded for further study later whilst he analyzed the way the technique was being used. Though, at this time Nico could hardly make heads or tails of what he had just seen.

No matter, he would keep up the pressure to make an opening.

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

With the retreating of his 3 Tentacles, Nico quickly launched the sole Tentacle he had kept back, he launched it from the man's right flank and judging by the space and time between the attacks, this one seemed to be just as fast as its brethren. Just as the man made to deflect it upwards towards the rest of its brethren and then strike at the ones supporting Nico up there, he noticed something about the one coming at him. Several cracks spread from its tip, about a quarter of the way down the Tentacle itself. Those 'cracks' however, soon revealed themselves for what they really were... The upper and lower sections of jaw filled with massive fangs similar to a pterodactyl, a single crimson eye with a black sclera (although that part remained difficult to see) opening behind the long mouth.

"Whe-hey!"

SNAP!

The man made that exclamation as he quickly hopped to the side, arms raised in a placating motion as the mouthed Tentacle missed its attempt to take a bite out of him. An audible snap sound accompanied it when it did this, and just as the man made to slice through the Tentacle with a well placed downward karate chop, the man noticed several Tentacles coming at him from behind, each of them sporting their own eyes and mouths.

'Hmmm... this manipulation of his weapons... it looks like the kid's no amateur at using this power...'

That was what he had thought just then, in a rather rare for of curiosity as he raised his blade-positioned hands and delivered a series of chopping motions. He quickly carved his way through the sides of the Tentacles' maws, all the while sliding past them with little to no injury on his person. However, his danger senses informed him he was not out of the woods yet, for all around him the 4 Tentacles suddenly emerged from the ground around him to make some form of cage, the 2 supporting Nico mimicking a 'jump' like motion so their master remained in the air, if only for a second, and lunged towards him.

BOOM!

A large explosion of dust and dirt erupted afterwards, creating a smokescreen which quickly expanded to over 10 meters wide. As well as 20 meters in height. Nico himself landed a fair distance away from it, his Tentacles having supported him by stabbing into the ground and safely lowering him so that his feet gently patted against it. 'Phew, that was a close one...' the male thought to himself, exhaling audibly as he placed a hand on his chest. 'I thought he'd try something like those ranged attacks, and i'd have difficulty avoiding them in that state. Regeneration's a nice ability to have but overly relying on it will only make one complacent.' he thought, remembering many times in the past where those who could regenerate, did just that and paid the price. It was why his fighting revolved largely around offence and evasion skills, his defense was his weakest trait and thus, if he got hit by anything major it would DEFINITELY do a lot of damage. His other side's physiology could only help him against so much after all.

Afterwards, the male peered into the smoke, trying to search it for any signs of his opponent. Just from that previous attack, Nico became CERTAIN that he had done something to survive, not to mention that someone with his level of power wouldn't be done in by something like that. His thoughts soon came to fruition though, but not exactly how he thought they would... as evident by how the 2 tentacles he struck with exploded in massive fountains of blood and gore that splattered everywhere, down to half their original lengths. His eyes widened at this, before Nico noticed a blur of motion coming towards him and hastily jumped to the side, avoiding a lance-like thrust which released a huge torrent of air towards the direction his back had been facing.

Good thing he dodged, if Nico had waited a millisecond later, then he would have ended up a part of that destroyed landscape where his back had once faced.

'Geez, this guy's...!' the male thought before he recalled his Tentacles to him (the damaged ones already having fully regenerated) and begun to manipulate them. The thing was, whilst these Tentacles specialized in stealth thanks to their invisibility, Nico's Tentacles also had the ability to shape-shift into any form needed to suit the situation. This was due to Nico's battle experiences teaching him how to think on the fly, yet also be intelligent on the battlefield as well as on his opponents. This had made him hit the books to learn what he could about his foes, increasing his intelligence and versatility with his weapon's shape manipulation.

His training soon paid off however, as each Tentacle morphed their tips into a set of cylindrical-looking canons, each equipped with a series of circular maws on their ends. Each of the 6 then opened fire, their interiors briefly glowing a brighter red than previously before unleashing a set of reddish colored, hardened sinew-like projectiles towards his opponent. 'If they were invisible, these projectiles would be invisible too...' Nico thought to himself bitterly, all the while already morphing his weapon more as each projectile got sliced to pieces by the man's hands. This shapeshifting, Nico partially figured it to be similar to IF's to a degree, although the male felt like the difference between them was that hers came from mutations, his came from his own imagination.

A world of difference there, people.

Even so, none of this would make a damn difference, since this guy just kept using his technique to deal with every attack Nico threw at him. The nagging sensation that he would have to go further into his weapon's power sets felt all the greater every time as he morphed his Tentacles into a mix of weapons: Blades, claws, arms, whips, canons, hammers, fists as well as sickles, even more than a few spear-like appendages to try and fill this man full of holes. However, none of them were able to connect with the guy at all, each of them got blown to bits without being able to do even a LICK of damage. All the while, those thoughts filled his mind more and more, accompanied by a growing cold dread in the pits of his stomach.

After a few short moments, the man landed on the ground after avoiding a wide array of Tentacle attacks, taking a deep breath and inhaling with a hand on his chest. "Phew, this is quite the exercise. At least my body's getting back into the shape it had been in before that final battle back then..." the man mused to himself, before turning to Nico who retracted his Tentacles back to him. Not the most happy look was on his face, either. "Um, I think that you MIGHT want to consider doing something else, as fast as those things are they won't do jack shit against someone like myself." he sneered, though his words had much more impact than they would normally due to him not having a single scratch on him.

'He's right... I can't afford to be cautious anymore. If I don't go all out, then this guy'll get bored, end the fight with my being unable to do anything as he violates the girls.' Nico thought to himself, already mentally loosening what remained of the restraints on his 'inner beast', which howled in pleasure at these actions. It would be risky doing this, as it would make him much more likely to 'freak out' for lack of a better term, but right now Nico had no other choice. He HAD to do this. If not, then... well, one didn't need to say anymore.

'Mom... Uncle Koro... Guys... Give me...!'

CRACK!

'Courage!'

CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!

The sounds of crackling (plus the crack from his wrist flicking) filled the air as, from Nico's Tailbone and shoulders several streams of flesh and Armour exploded out of him, soon taking on solid shape whilst the man dashed towards him. He easily cleared the distance in a nanosecond, and thus promptly made to thrust his right hand through Nico's face to end this fight prematurely...

Although, what he did NOT expect was for something to catch his arm mid-thrust by coiling around the limb his hand was attached to.

"Oh?"

Despite this, the man showed no signs of fear, only curiosity mixed with boredom as he looked to the cause of his limb not reaching his target on his lazy motion... though, his hand would be just a millisecond away from impaling Nico's inhuman eye. The limb that he was restrained by, and by extension saved Nico's head, looked to be a long, large grey Tail covered in grey Armour plates. This Tail had 6 long, thin blade-like Tips for stabbing and slashing purposes, while arrow-like Talons protruded from their sides. These appearances oddly resemble a Centipede, something which the man didn't think was just a coincidence.

Glancing upwards, the man saw 3 more coming down from above, making the total of Tails about 4. Each of them looked to be aimed towards his shoulders and head whilst the one restraining his arm had quite the amount of force. Essentially, he had been trapped by this new addition to Nico's arsenal, trapped like a rat in a mousetrap.

'Heh, it won't be easy to break out, since these bad boys can catch a Bullet Train without much effort... as in, a bullet train moving at its full, unrestrained speed.' Nico thought to himself, a slight upturning of his lips betraying the surge of smugness that began to envelop his chest. He wasn't lying either, since there had been a recording of him having to stop a bullet train that was hijacked by a group of criminals from ramming into a station full of civilians. Fortunately, whilst it moved at its highest speed for the greatest damage, the male had intervened far enough from the station that it wouldn't be seen and thus, Nico's Tails swiftly caught it without any effort. In battle, raw power was nothing if one couldn't employ it in a number of different ways. This whole world practically revolved around having different powers to catch the opponent by surprise, like how a predator strikes when the prey least expects it.

Looking up at the approaching Tails, the man could only sigh in tiredness, a look of utter contempt and disregard in his face. That didn't settle Nico's nerves at all, now would it? Instantly he felt his previous emotions vanish as cautiousness and nervousness take its place. "Hmmm, I guess expecting your 'power up to actually carry any power was a bit much after all." The man said, making Nico scowl as he felt insulted.

Well, he only felt insulted until the limbs that hit said male felt like they hit a overly sturdy and impossibly hard wall. They could do absolutely nothing against him, and even as they put that absurd strength into play they could only be seen as if they were less than nothing before the man's body.

It was a pure difference in power, like a kid of 5 punching a professional sumo fighter, there was no real difference if it was 2 arms or 10 arms as all resulted in the same thing.

Useless.

The man sighed in disappointment before he vanished in front of Nico, his speed such that Nico could not follow it at all and just saw as he moving instead of teleporting due to the dust that was lifted from the ground.

Nico could only blink and gape at what he just saw, quickly retreating backwards a few steps whilst pulling his Tails and Tentacles into defensive positions. He then looked around, shifting his body whenever he needed to so he could see if there were any signs of a counter attack. Even during this though, his mind raced a million miles an hour. 'That mirage-like movement... Yeah, there's no doubt about it. He's using the same technique he used on his hands, but on his whole body to make it look like he's going intangible. That was how he vanished through the ground like that...' he thought, narrowing his mismatched eyes.

'But... if this guy thinks I'm just going to let him just attack me whenever he so damn well pleases, he's got another thing coming!'

First thing Nico did following these thoughts was to begin morphing his Tentacles, morphing them into 3 pairs of 2 black and red bat-like wings. Their bones were black, whilst they sported crimson pulsating webbing, and with just a single flap from all of them, Nico took to the skies above. He only stopped ascending when he had reached about 30 feet, flaring his wings before spreading his arms outwards. His mismatched eyes glared with bloody murder down towards the ground, his Tails each beginning to move under his command.

THROB!

'Ugh! Tch, looks like its started to happen...!'

BIKI, BIKI, BIKI!

The sounds of flesh being manipulated filled his ears whilst Nico's Tails swished about. Each Tail looked like they were trembling, trembling very violently as if they were trying to push something out of them, something which irritated them to the point where such behavior became the response. In that moment however... Nico's Tails suddenly thrashed around in every direction, and their Talons along their sides each got launched in those directions like the projectiles his Tentacles fired. These launch mechanisms, combined with the Talons themselves, resulted in them possessing a strong enough force and impact to be able to go through large pillars in a highway. In essence, they are an equivalent to a pile of jet liners crashing into someone full force. So... when they met the ground around them, one could imagine how much damage that he did to it. If it weren't for the previous damage done to this place, then Nico's Tails would have done every bit of the same destruction as all of the other attacks, his Tails Specialized in widespread annihilation just that well.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Countless explosions the size of ones made when a car erupted filled the space below him, generating a massive smokescreen which blocked everything from view. As the smoke persisted, Nico did two things: first, he landed in the centre of it whilst his Wings reformed into his Tentacles. The second thing he did, Nico used his Tails and Tentacles to disperse it by swishing them about, destroying the smokescreen entirely and allowing him to see his surroundings. Not much had changed though, since they had already been decimated beforehand by that guy's attacks not to mention his own, Okada Izou's and the girls too. Even so, Nico saw no signs of the man whom he had been fighting just now, which caused his brows to twitch.

'Alright, looks like he's not going to come out. I'll keep my Tails and Tentacles up though, even if it takes a bit of time for the Tails to reset their Talons. I still have some time left before I hit my limit anyways..."

"Well, I guess expecting anything out of you was my mistake anyway."

"Guh!"

The sound of the man's voice directly behind him, almost whispering in his ear, made Nico's mismatched eyes shrink into saucers. Instincts made him react, as he swung his right arm behind him in a reverse upward swing, or at least try as his every instinct that normally was set in destroying everything in sight was now screaming at him to run away and cry in fear, something that should not be possible for him but was happening anyway. Though, this did give said, bored man, some insight as to what Nico had generated from his shoulders: two black shields of similar state to his Tentacles, but with half an eye and half a savage grin on each of them. This also looked like something that when they're combined, they would form a single Shield with a lone red aye and a wide grinning mouth, the man thought to himself. Each of them had pointed, narrowed tips on their chins so that they could be used as smashing or stabbing weapons depending on the situation.

Still, as strong as they may be against trash it still was utter and ultimately trash in this man's eyes.

No, calling ANYTHING that Nico or the others pulled out this entire time during this entire combat as trash is a disservice.

For the trash.

Though, judging by how this kid operated, the man assumed that Nico still had many ways to go and some potential with this thing he had. But, as with everything else, he had not managed to even scratch the surface of what he should be able to do.

It was such waste that the man barely felt like even touching Nico as he feared incompetency might be contagious.

As he saw Nico manage to overpower his instincts with his will alone to stay in place, even though they screamed at him to run away from this man, the man could only shake his head.

"Why is it that something as pathetic and lacking as you was chosen is beyond me. Was Sparda that desperate or did karma finally managed to get him and gave him a weakling successor? No, this looks like something that the destiny fucker would do for shits and giggles, maybe I should ask him next time I see that asshole."

At that, Nico scowled as he gave off minute twitches. The strain of having to keep himself sane whilst using all three of his 'Fangs' had grown faster than he had anticipated. He could hear its growls in the shadows of his mind audibly, he could feel its claws buried deep into what remained of his fractured walls protecting his sanity. If Nico were to calculate how long eh had left before the monster inside took hold, he'd say something between a minute and about 30 seconds. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I mean, its a bit obvious by now, but honestly you're not deserving of that idiot's powers in the least. Fuck, as far as I can see you barely could qualify as a successor for one of the foot soldiers that we used as sacrifices during our fights." The man replied, stunning Nico when he spoke that last bit and making him wonder WHO was this man exactly. How could he have never heard anything about such man was strange no matter how he saw it. "Well, I would like to play with you some more, see if I can rise any potential out of you or just to get more material to laugh later, but it seems like some annoying guys are coming here and I don't like my chances against them right now. I am still weak and by my estimates the chance of me dying against them is about 40 to 50% as I am now so I will avoid it for now." Nico wondered who exactly it was.

Who was it that could rise such thoughts out of this man?

* * *

A few hundred miles away, a group of three people flew like torpedoes towards the place where the fight has been going on. If one wanted to know how fast their movement was, think over supersonic speeds, and one got a general idea of their speed. This group consisted of 2 males and 2 females, each of them radiating a level of extreme calmness despite the surge of power that had been detected in this direction.

Though, if one had the eyesight necessary to look at them clearly, they would be able to see how not all of them seemed to enthusiastic about their current activities. "How annoying...! Just got back from having to deal with several S ranked Abnormals working together to form a pack in Lastation, and now I'm forced onto this recon mission. The boss is really asking for my sword up his pie hole..." The first girl remarked, scowling angrily as her fists violently trembled. This girl looked to be about 13 years of age, with flaming crimson colored hair that constantly released a flurry of embers from within each strand. Her eyes matched the shade of her hair color, oddly enough resembling a Phoenix in some manner. Her stature matched that of her physical age, and her hair had the 'ahoge' hair strand over her head. She wore an all-black attire, which consisted of a shirt, some pants, boots and a Trench Coat. Around her neck, there was a neckless that hung there, sporting a palm sized black gem in the centre. At her waist, there was strapped to it a single Japanese style Katana, one that emitted a strong aura of both heat and dark sinister intent. Almost like it would explode into a supernova-like inferno of flames at any second. From her back, were two massive wings made entire of orange flames, mimicking the shape of a bird's whilst being slightly larger than her own height to allow high-speed flight.

"The boss said so, ya dumb broad. Would you kindly stop complaining before you get on my last nerve and I'm forced to rip out your ribcage bones again?" The woman in the group responded with a sickly sweet smile... among several, twitch marks. One look at her, and an average person would tell that she was NOT an ordinary person. She had a child-like stature, about 5 feet tall, yet to the trained eye they'd notice the deception her frame would display instantly. Her entire body was wrapped in bandages, with a tattered maroon cloak with droopy ears attached to the hood, which was currently hung over her head. She also wears a floral scarf around her neck, and as for her eyes, they were hidden by darkness generated by her hood and bandages, giving her a rather creepy appearance. The only reason why the males knew it was a girl flying with them was due to there being a visible set of 'lumps' on her chest, AKA boobs. From her back though, were a pair of grotesque looking crimson wings which flapped occasionally to keep her afloat. They looked like a mass of... fleshy... feathers.

... Remarkably similar to a certain someone's appendages.

Just by looking at her, one can assume that she was pissed, and they'd be right. With how her body literally radiated a black, sinister aura of intense anger and frustration, it was simply put icing on the cake. The first female shuddered and paled, more than a few chills crawling up and down her spine. There had been a time when she had incurred this woman's wrath, and she had practically had to have surgery to restore the limbs and internal injuries this woman caused her. Not to mention that her power far exceeded her own for the time being. Noticing the look and the silence that followed, the woman looked ahead once more. "The surge of power the boss told us about seems to have originated up ahead, not long now. Reports say some of our own have also went there, but the boss wants us to know, and I quote: 'went and started a ruckus without inviting the great me!' Ugh, just remembering him makes me feel foul." she remarked, though still keeping that polite demeanor... ironically making her look ever more menacing.

The first male who looked to be the oldest of the group, had his arms and legs crossed in the Japanese sitting position, eyes closed and remaining silent. Not at all interested in what was happening around him. He looked to be a man in his early 40's, resembling a tall lean man with black hair, a short beard, mustache and sideburns that pointed upwards. He wore black and red ornate clothing with a crucifix pendant that hid a little dagger, which gave him the appearance of a Spanish swordsman. His attire consisted of a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a large plume, and a long, open black coat with no shirt underneath, with red, flower-patterned sleeves and collar. He wore light purple in the anime pants held up by a decorated belt and tucked inside overly large boots in comparison to his leg size.

As for a weapon, he had attached to his back a weapon of which he'd garnered his rather fearsome reputation for: a curved black blade in the shape of a Latin cross, with a golden cross-guard decorated by blue and green cabochons, and a hilt wrapped in bandages, with a particularly big cabochon at its extremity. Unlike the others, the man didn't exactly have anything coming from him which would help him fly, instead it looked like the man simply rode on top of a thrown tree trunk, much like one of the many assassins in Gamindustri. It had to have been thrown with considerable strength though, since it easily kept up with the others in terms of pure speed.

"Stay focused. We must obey the orders given to us by the boss, this is no time for internal quarreling." Spoke the last male member of the group, whom flew forth beside the first one... by seemingly walking on the air itself. He looked to be in his 20's and had the form of an extremely tall, large, and muscular man with short spiky crimson hair and two symmetric scars on both sides of his face. He has long legs, with his thighs being equally as long as his lower limbs. His mouth, which was covered up, contained extremely pelican eel-like sharp teeth. He had sharp, intense, crimson eyes, highly arched eyebrows, and prominent lower eyelashes under each eye. He wore a massive light ragged scarf that covered his mouth and reached his shoulders. He also wore a torn leather vest with CHARLOTTE on the back that exposed most of his torso, dark gloves and pants, a belt with a skull-shaped buckle, and spiked boots with spurs. His torso looked to be very defined (more so than the average bodybuilder or those muscle-heads in those games Vert plays), having prominent abdominal muscles covered in pink tattoos, and lastly he had spiked bracelets on his arms as well as knee pads with a single spike on them.

Neither of the two dared to question him, knowing that doing so would bring this man;s wrath on them... something neither of them wanted.

With that, all of them stopped conversing as they made their way to the desolate battlefield.

* * *

"Yep, definitely bothersome right now. How can it be that with guys like that around the one chosen was you, I cannot believe it one bit. Well, then again I suppose I should give you a little something as a reward for being able to almost tickle me with your tails earlier." The man said, and if Nico's every ghoul instinct was not screaming at him to run away as fast as possible he might have been offended. "First is the right to know my name, I am Mundus, the DPU of DEATH and the one who shall one day rule this dimension and add it to my domain! Second, is giving you the privilege to feel a little taste of my powers, the power of the **edict of death**!"

Raising his hand, the man aimed his right hand's index finger towards him before gathering up his... something. It was the only way Nico could describe this, it was an energy that he felt he should know but he couldn't say from where at all. It was different from the forms of energy that he knew in a fundamental level, as if it was completely unrelated to demonic, divine, or SP energies, but it was just as if not more potent in comparison.

It just felt like something that he should know, something that he should be able to tell at a glance but for the life of him he couldn't and this power was something dangerous.

And then, he released that something towards Nico.

Every shred of his instincts screamed at him to dodge this attack, screw blocking it, and Nico swiftly reacted. Actually, he reacted so fast that his own brain couldn't keep up with what was happening... which would soon prove to be a costly error on his part as it slowed his body down enough that the attack just barely nicked him on his Shield...

And with that, his entire world suddenly erupted in pain.

A huge cry of pain escaped his lips as Nico fell to the ground, his Shields vanishing as he clutched the section of his shoulder where he had been hit. That area had already become redder than the devil's skin, with several scorch marks spread throughout whilst his Tails and Tentacles vanished back into him. "Arrgh! Urraagh! What the fuck-what the hell is this?!'

'UHHHH, KING? THIS IS BAD, THIS IS BAD RIGHT?!'

 **'Nico! Hold on!'**

His aspects tried to call out to him, forgoing any hostilities between them for the time being in the interest of mutual survival, but Nico hardly heard them over the searing pain that spread through his body from his wound. It felt like his entire body had been put inside an incinerator at maximum output, flames of pain spreading through him like the lifeblood that traveled through his veins, but with the ferocity of wild animals on a rampage. Demonic Power, now rushing through him, desperately tried to defend him against this new threat, but the odds were that it would fail since the energy from that attack simply bypassed the demonic energy as if the two were completely unrelated, as if the invading energy was more of a mirage than anything else. He thought he could feel something trying to attack his soul too, though the devil arms were throwing themselves desperately at this energy that was barely fazed by it while something else shielded it before it could do any major permanent damage. Even so, every collision between these two sides, they each got accompanied by these huge bursts of pain that made Nico's brain feel like it wanted to shut down and his inner world was being damaged with each clash. Each clash brought fourth chasms, ruptures, and destroyed a part of his soul itself simply creating holes in it.

Thankfully the energy used was FAR from everything Mundus could do, it was more of a 'testing the waters' than anything else, but it still was the closest thing that Nico has even been to death. It was as if he could feel parts of himself being destroyed by each impact and the pain of it was felt with each impact as well. By sheer luck his memories and personality were intact, but the damage being done to him was most certainly worse than if he was to be dropped in magma and shot in the head and heart 37 times all at the same time as he had every limb ripped out of him.

And this pain was continuing, even as it got a bit weaker with each clash the pain did not stop.

This felt so similar to that Poison he had from 2 weeks ago, but also many hundreds of times weaker!

What the fucking hell?!

Lowering his hand, the man gave a small smirk when he gazed upon Nico's writhing sate. "Well, I'm glad you at least seems like you will survive that much, I guess even a street dog that should have been put down can learn new tricks occasionally. Though in comparison to HIM and how anything related to that motherfucker should be, you're obviously sorely lacking. If it were anyone else you faced today, sapling, you'd be dead meat for the hounds by now. The world of the DPUs is NOT for the weaklings of this miserable piece of rock, it's filled with all sorts of beings who can and will kill you the moment they get the chance, even those failed products that call themselves demons are still stronger than you for fucks sake. Well, I think I'll leave you now with that message, though be warned, I'll not show this mercy to you should we meet again on the battlefield. Now then, taa-taa!" He ended with a sing-song tone of voice before clicking his fingers. In that instant, the man vanished like a blip on a radar...

Leaving Nico to fall unconscious at last. His mind and soul in a state that even calling him 'alive' might be a stretch.

 **(OST end)**

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Well, now THIS was one big roller-coaster huh?**

 **First, Nico's finally revealed what he really is, the beast which he has kept trapped inside. It's a POWERFUL beast as well, and while some of its powers have been shown, not all of them have. It's power has been hinted at by Biko in the past, plus the way that Nico fears its might during the other chapters of the story is NOT unfounded, for a multitude of reasons. However, as time passed since the Hellverse incident, Nico has become closer and closer to unleashing the beast within, so by the time the white Nico and his child self appeared, he had nearly reached the breaking point then. Hence, why it didn't take all that much to finally break his restraints, so to speak.**

 **It is a dangerous beast sure, but this guy he fought against, he's like the endgame boss, so of course, he'd practically overpower him. Not to mention he only used ONE technique, and not even one that used energy either, truly cementing the fact that this guy was still leagues upon leagues above Nico and the girls in terms of strength. I'll give you a shout out if you can guess what this technique was, and if I don't get any answers... we'll see.**

 **Second, Helen. Now, I know that what she has done is pretty risky, no doubt about it. She knows as well, but unlike Nico she has also the experience one has when they have her position for a long time. Even though she didn't want it, an event in the past (which has been foreshadowed several times if you look carefully) forced her into it. Only now has she finally got the chance to 'vent' and Lucy herself was more tan happy to help her out. What consequences she would have to go through probably won't be much though, since the world will be going to hell real fast so there'll not be any time to investigate the disappearance of a couple dozens soldiers and a few officials. It'll just be treated as an Abnormal case, like a lot of others did actually.**

 **Now I hope you guys get what type of world this is turning into.**

 **To quote Warhammer: in this universe, there is only war.**

 **Other than that...**

 **read, fav, follow, review etc, and hope to see you all in the next chapter! The chapter which will likely be filled with LOTS of exposition so be ready for that.**

 **Peace out!**


	151. Chapter 148 - Afterwords

**Yo guys, sorry for the late chapter. Really, I am. I've been having Laptop issues for a while now, and its made uploading and editing chapters, even working on my stories difficult. Anyways, I've got this chapter done for you all, so here it is. Odds are, the next chapter won't be for a while though due to circumstances revolving around the next one. One which has MORE to it than just my side of things. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter, thank you to those who reviewed, and by the way this chapter shall explain a LOT about Nico's backstory, though not all of it. With what it does though, all of you will no doubt be MORE than satisfied.**

* * *

 **Chapter 148 - Afterwords**

"Ufufufu, so…"

The sicky curious voice that could only belong to a businessman escaped the lips of one Ganache, the same Ganache whom had orchestrated the attack on Lastation with the infection, as he stood within the middle of a field. His eyes gleamed with the glow that came with being a superhuman thanks to viral infection behind his black shades, mirth and joy circling around them as if in a spiral. Not to mention the wide ass smile that spread across his lips which would cause children to run away screaming at the top of their lungs. His hair got ruffled by a soft, gentle breeze whilst the man simply adjusted his leather gloves after a little bit of 'work'.

If one couldn't tell by all of that shit, then let's simplify things for you all: The man looked to be in high spirits, though that might be because of two things: One, the fact that he no longer needed to wear that abysmal purple suit anymore thanks to his current 'vacation' from the Avenir Company. Even as a kid, Ganache would not deny that he had a fixation towards those who came off as edge lords with their long coats and badass fighting styles. Hence, why he had decided to try and become one himself. The edge lord Ganache… wow, that actually had a nice ring to it.

As for the second reason?

Well…

The fact that the field was covered to the brim with blood and dismembered bodies may have had something to do with that.

"This was definitely a vacation worth having. Seriously, having to listen to that woman go on and on about her new 'partner' 24/7 really got on my nerves. More than once I found myself wanting to tear her throat out with my bare hands… not something I would have considered doing when we first agreed to this partnership, but things have changed…"

His second reason for being so giddy was that he had been able to indulge on some fine ass, high quality slaughtering of these people. Well, not all of them were people, actually. Ganache DID note that there had been some Demonic beings among them, beings whom soon vanished just like any of the other Abnormals and normal monsters plaguing the Nations. Though, to him, they only meant that he had a proper good fight here, a perfect way to relax after working concussively throughout these months. Thanks to Black Heart regaining her power, Avenir had been losing not just funds, but popular opinion within the community back at the land of Black Regality. Black Heart had practically made it her mission to make their lives hell for what had happened to her Nation, something which they of course fought back against in countless political conferences. Though, he had not been chosen as a representative for these meetings, that would be a BAD idea if he ever thought of one. Who knows what Black Heart or the other Agents whom had guessed his identity would do if he showed his face around them?

No, his boss had other plans for him, ad that was to exterminate the monsters whom thought it a good idea to terrorize the company and its assets. All the while, he and the other few human representatives would be at these meetings trying to fight back against Black Heart in the only ways they knew how. Something of which Ganache found himself quite thrilled to do actually. Thanks to machines doing most of the labour, the only thing he had to do was paperwork, and no matter what anyone said that shit got boring and repetitive faster than shoplifters spending all their money at the mall. Therefore, he couldn't help but be glad that he got to go out into the field like this, for it gave him something to do, a place to vent his annoyance, as well as experience for his future plans.

Looking down at his boot, the man noticed one of the corpses having sprawled quite close to him, with several holes in his body to indicate where Ganache had struck him. This caused the man to give pause as he began to ponder, cupping his chin as he tried to stoke the flames that were his memories. If he remembered correctly, these people had been once bandits whom had then turned into Chaos followers, becoming Northmen and thus, being allowed to receive 'gifts' from their Gods. Some of them even looked to be wearing stolen military grade equipment, something which almost made the brown-haired businessman snort to himself. Leanbox always DID have the weakest security amongst the four Nations, even BEFORE the whole invasion of Chaos and the like. He bet he could blame the CPU's negligence of her duties for that.

'Well, now that I've had some time to vent, I should probably get back to Lastation. The whole Abnormal situation's getting worse, with attacks on villages and small cities becoming more and more frequent every day. Of course, the ones under Avenir's employ will be shielded from them, the rest we don't give a damn about. Let them die, at least it'll weaken our adversaries more than they already are. All the while, the people will lose faith in Black Heart due to her not being able to save them.' Ganache thought to himself, turning on his heel and making to head out towards the direction of the Land of Black Regality. However, after a few steps, an idea struck his mind, making him pause mid step while turning back to the corpses. "Hmmm… it would actually be a bit of a waste to leave all these vulnerable corpses here, if I'm honest. I do have need for some subjects back in Lastation, and we're running low on lab rats…" the man mused, before he nodded to himself. "Alright, lets get to work in bringing them back. I can carry them all with me, all the while cleaning any evidence of them being here, don't want anybody investigating me after all."

* * *

Groans, and then BANG! Explosions of pain.

That was what Nico did, and the reward that he received for his troubles, when he had come too.

Nico's eyes, once he felt that pain, shot open wide, so wide that if it were possible then his sockets wouldn't have been able to contain his eyeballs and thus, be unable to keep them from rolling out and away from him. He tried to scream, but his throat felt like it had shut down, so all he got was an open mouth and a lack of sound. He couldn't even hear himself think anymore as the pain coursed through his system like the blood cells that went through his veins. Forget trying to do anything else, Nico couldn't even ATTEMPT to look at anything as he struggled to bear and endure through this sudden nuclear EXPLOSION of pure agony and torment that erupted within him. Even the slightest TWICH aggravated him to the highest degree, and there would be zero possibilities of him being able to stop all forms of minute twitching.

If there were any movements from his arms, Nico couldn't see from all the pain.

Nether would he notice anything from his legs, nor any other body part that he possessed.

Did he even have Body parts right now?

That question never formed in his mind, not when it was too heavily focused on the utter torment that he was going through right now. If one wanted to get a better explanation of what Nico felt right now, think of those hot poles that were dipped in a furnace till they were glowing orange near their rips, which were shaped like brands, then imagine every portion of his body being literally ENGULFED in them and intensify that pain by 1000. Nico could hardly do anything other than soundlessly scream in torment as the pain coursed through him.

Nothing, and he LITERALLY meant that, could have EVER prepared him for this kind of pain. Not even being thrown into the centre of a Volcano's lava pit and sinking to the very depths whilst still being alive could hold a candle to this level of pain. If he could think right now, then Nico could have attributed to the torture that the unfortunate victims of Maghda back in the Hellverse Dungeon experienced as everything that made up their beings became warped and corrupted beyond imagination, twisting them into those horrendous abominations that they faced down there.

If his inner demons, the demons within his mind which would only surface in his nightmares were taunting him right now, then Nico wouldn't hear them. His mind and ears constantly rung in the most painful, wretched manner possible, like the most unbearable pitches that the mortal ear could experience were being played RGHT next to his ear without him b being able to cover them. If his ears were dripping with the blood that SHOULD be flowing through his infernally burning veins, he wouldn't know, every nerve in his body only registered the pain he was currently going through.

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How long had he been like this?

That thought eventually, as in VERY eventually, coursed through his mind after what could have very well been an eternity in wherever the hell he was. How long had this pain persisted for? It felt WAY too long for something like this to remain active for, especially for someone who had regeneration powers. Barely, as in VERY barely, Nico managed to regain some form of mental clarity (even as the rest of him was BLINDLY protesting in searing pain right now), just enough to try and think through everything he had been going through…

And that thought had been the first one to come to mind.

Not the most useful thought that there was, but hey his mind was in so much torment right now that ANYTHING could be possible. He could even have thought about something as stupid as Neptune with a Donkey head and it'd be legit for him at this moment.

Still, before what he had gained got lost within the scorching inferno of pain he was under, Nico desperately tried to think of something else, something, ANYTHING, to keep his mind from slipping back under this agony that consistently dove its claws into him and refused to let go. More than once however, did he fail, and for an unknown amount of time, Nico found himself back under that scorching pain with no mental clarity to do anything else but endure.

How many times, one might ask? Nico wouldn't be able to respond since he had lost count… though, that would imply that he had been ABLE to count before succumbing once again.

Remember, this pain has been presented as so great that he could do nothing but endure, and that INCLUDED falling unconscious. …

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Eventually, after SO FUCKING GODDAMN LONG, Nico regained some clarity once again, and this time he didn't repeat his past mistakes of trying to think anymore. No, Nico instead focused more on trying to regain everything else that his mind had lost through every pained cry that his body gave. If one were to describe him right now, it would be a wild animal having gone totally mad from both insanity and madness, desperately craving for a release from the agonizing matter that was life. He couldn't hear them, but deep-down, Nico just KNEW that there were many voices inside his mind, screaming and begging him to only add to his torment, to try and convince him to stop his fruitless endeavor as not ONCE did this pain he was under let up, not under any circumstance. Add in the voices of his inner demons, the ones whom had been with him this whole time, and one would realize that a part of Nico couldn't help but be GEATFUL to the pain…

At least it blocked those voices from reaching him.

After about 5 minutes or so, and the fact that he had that much sense of time again was a testament to his progress, Nico managed to regain enough focus to push through the pain and gain back his vision. His vision alone though. One could NEVER comprehend how much willpower Nico had to summon just to get this far, in addition to the time it took, but finally at long last he'd managed to do it.

His vision at first, would best be considered blurry from the pain, but after what felt like 30 seconds, it managed to clear into a crystal-clear form, something Nico could only feel relief at experiencing after so long of being unable to. Once he DID get the vision that for years he had took for granted, did the male use it to finally gauge his surroundings, to see where it was that he had ended up in.

He soon got his answer…

But that answer left him in a state of shock that matched the previous pain he had been in.

This place… he recognized it, but not after a while of staring at it. He seemed to be lying on the sands of a crimson desert, but if one were to assume that this were a normal crimson desert (though they'd likely need their heads checked if a crimson desert was normal to them), then they'd be sorely mistaken. All over the Desert, Nico could see these massive, gaping holes varying in size. Some were the size of an average car, others the size of double decker buses, and others were the size of buildings. Not to mention that each hole looked to have very jagged edges, with black cracks spreading all over the place as far as the eye could see. To Nico, it resembled the state of a mirror that had been filled with bullet holes during an ongoing skirmish.

Then, there was the skies above, and if Nico had any thoughts tat it would be at least a lite better, then he would be sorely mistaken. The sight of the sky having even MORE cracks along its entirety, with varying pieces of it falling towards the Desert ground all around him like shattered glass shards felt more like a slap to the face if anything. Lighting danced across the skies, seemingly zapping those shards out of existence before they hit the ground, although some still landed. He realized soon that they were the ones that created the holes in the desert ground, when he saw one particularly large shard do the exact thing he had just described.

Not to mention that throughout his entire surroundings, dozens of severe weather phenomenon populated the atmosphere. Aside from lightning, Nico saw dozens of storm clouds, hurricanes, twisters and cyclones on one side, while the other side of the atmosphere looked to be bathed in pure flames. Fiery trails danced through the atmosphere, some forming distinct shapes whilst others remained formless. Fireballs randomly shot at the holes in the skies like anti air missiles, while others hit the ones on the ground like mortars. Once they did, Nico noticed that the holes simply… vanished, upon contact, like the flames were trying to repair the skies and the ground themselves as the Lightning would work hard to stop the holes from getting any bigger, in addition to preventing more damage done.

In essence… All Nico could see was total chaos.

'Wha… What…?' That was his sole thought, his eyes shrunken to dots and his mouth having fallen open. 'What… What the FUCK is this?!' During his shocked spiel, Nico noticed barely that the pain he had been in before had been steadily decreasing, something he never would have noticed before since he had been deep within the depths of that pain's ocean. Now that he was above the surface however, that was no long the case. That had been why he had managed to regain the ability to think more clearly. Even so, it didn't do much in alleviating the confusion that ran rampant through his mind right now, in the place of the previous pain. 'What the fucking hell is going on here?! This place… I know what it is, but it shouldn't be like this! This place… my INNER WORLD… why the hell is it in this state?!' Nico shrieked through his mind, wincing afterwards when the pain in his body suddenly spiked. Looked like it wasn't exactly gone then, still present but slowly decreasing.

"I do believe… I can… answer that… Nico…"

"?!"

The sound of Biko's voice filled the redhead male's ears, causing another wave of shock to course through him. However, the instant Nico heard it, his gut SCREAMED at him that something had been horribly wrong, despite the pained cries that the action spurned. The way that Biko's voice sounded like a broken record just now, unable to completely maintain itself without the occasional pausing, rung more than a few alarm bells in Nico's mind. Not to mention that this also filled him with immense trepidation. There were few times in his past where Biko spoke with anything aside from a blank monotone, and even when he showed emotion, he only showed it barely, just enough for Nico to pick up on it. If it were anyone else, they'd never be able to see this level of emotion. In addition, just by listening to it, Nico felt like the guy had gone through hell and back if how pained it sounded was to be believed.

Soon, the male detected Biko's presence appearing before him, and thus with more effort than Nico remembered ever having to exert, he shifted his gaze upwards to finally gauge his Demon Persona's appearance…

And then got hit with another wave of shock when he saw what Biko looked like right now.

'Holy…'

That word pretty much summed up his thoughts in a nutshell as Nico looked upon Biko. Said Demon Persona looked like an utter WRECK though, worse than those train wrecks the redhead had seen in the past during missions. His body looked to have been stripped bare of his clothing and Armour save for the waist and thighs, whilst the skin that was exposed looked to be covered with charcoal colored scorch marks. Horrible ones at that, in addition to how he lacked a left arm, a left leg and what remained looked horribly mutilated. Trails of blood ran down his form, starting from his head and ran downwards, dripping from his form onto the ground below, quickly forming a small puddle. His lip looked to have been split open, his ears looked like they had been ripped apart from the inside out, Biko looked like hell. His left eye had been forcibly closed by an inflation in the skin as if one had punched him really hard there, and his wings looked more like dying embers than anything that resembled what they once were. He no longer floated too, something he had never seen him do before.

This shock abated after a few seconds, when Biko weakly raised his remaining arm and clicked his fingers, some of the pain he felt vanishing to result in Nico finding his voice. Thus, he promptly used it, although it felt weak and horse when he did. "B-Biko… what the heck… happened to… you…?" he asked slowly, wincing at the aches that assaulted him.

Biko slowly sat down before him, not responding to his question for the time being as he made himself comfortable. He soon sat on the ground, one leg crossed while the other remained bent as if he were crouching, the other being curling it into his chest while placing his forearm over it. Biko then hung his head, a look of resignation forming on his features that did NOT go well with his usual demeanor. The guy looked exhausted as all hell, not to mention that his injuries weren't regenerating like they should have which only worried Nico more.

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak once he got his breathing in order. "This condition… I'm in is… a result of… Mundus. What he did… to you… has had MASSIVE effects… on our body… as well as our… soul. Think of it… as a greater form of… that poison you… unintentionally inhaled… in Yvoire's room." He replied, coughing afterwards in which some blood splattered onto the ground in front of him.

Whilst he got himself back together from his coughing fit, Nico simply shuffled about on the ground, wincing through his pain as he shifted into a cross legged sitting position on the ground. It was NOT an easy process, as like he had mentioned before minute twitches were AGONIZING to him, but Nico wanted to be in a proper position to discuss, not lying front first on the ground. Now that he got a look at his body though, he could tell that his body also had similar injuries to Biko, minus the loss of limbs. Not to mention that between the two of them, his injuries were recovering at a barely faster pace than Biko's. Something he did NOT doubt that his Demon Persona knew the reasons for.

Once both of them were ready again, Biko began to explain further the details surrounding their current condition… as well as the Inner World around them. "That attack… must have been meant…to destroy our soul… completely. That was… the energy's nature… that I sensed… but the moment… we tried to dodge… we got nicked by it… and that was enough… for us to be reduced… to this state. Our Inner World… the way you see it… right now is… due to the energy… destroying our Soul… or at least trying to. This world IS… after all, within your soul… therefore it… represents your soul… to a degree." He explained, before taking a pause to steady his breathing. Having to talk so much right now felt more like a detrimental to his health if anything.

However, they needed to have this discussion, not only to verify these details but to also pass the time. While in this state it would be impossible for the redhead male to return to the real world, something that he seemed instinctively aware of if the look in his eyes was any indication. Pushing that aside for the time being, Biko frowned as he looked up at the ceiling. "If… it weren't for Soul Edge… then we… would likely have… fallen already. Its expanding… a lot of power… to try and heal and protect… us at the same time. Unfortunately, it isn't as… intelligent as a human, therefore… it is wasting… more energy than it is… actually using… the amount that's actually working… is about 2%... its like a simple raindrop… compared to a vast ocean. At best… I estimate that… by the time it is complete… Soul Edge will be… at 2% power… and I'm being generous there… It will take… much time… for it to completely recover… after this."

Hearing Biko's words, Nico looked down towards the ground as he contemplated what he had learned. According to what Biko had managed to say without coughing up blood though afterwards the Demon Persona coughed out more than a gallon's worth, worryingly enough), it seemed that Soul Edge which had the greatest connection to his Soul out of all his weapons, was the one trying to keep everything intact. It was doing this by using its own energy to try and repair his Soul, and it could have made greater progress with the amount of power It wielded and exerted. Unfortunately, due to its lack of proper intelligence, or rather lack of human-level intelligence thanks to it being only partially sentient, it wasn't using its power in the proper way. Therefore, by the time that it was finished, Soul Edge would only be a shadow of its former self, not even a spec of its original accumulated power from the ascension into Multi-Continent Class strength would remain.

Not something that could be classified as 'good', since Soul Edge was his strongest weapon out of all his weapons, including Ouranos. Archdevil Arms may be stronger than Devil Arms, but Soul Edge came directly from Nico's own Soul. In essence, it is a personification of his bestial nature reflecting his primitive status as well as other aspects of his personality. Soul Edge's power drastically surpassed that of Ouranos, including versatility, but thanks to this… Hopefully by the time they could get out of this, Nico could find a way to speed up its recovery.

Heck, since it was so deeply connected to his Soul, Nico could still use the link between him and his sword to feel what it felt, and from that e could detect the raw amount of fatigue, panic and fear coursing through the blade as its survival instincts dictated its every action. Right now, all it was doing was trying to do anything and everything in its power to keep Nico alive and heal his soul from the damage that had been dealt to it. However, thanks to its lack of intelligence, it could only do what it thought best with its current knowledge, the fact that Nico knew so little about the type of attack used on him being represented here did not go unnoticed.

In essence, Soul Edge was simply trying its best with all the information it and Nico had between them (it WAS after all, a part of him). Though, that 'best it can do' revolved around the phrasing of 'use the most brute and 'dumb' method that is wasting too much energy to heal the wound'. Not very effective, but hey, Nico and Soul Edge had little knowledge about this attack, so how could they have countered it as effectively as they should have?

Sometimes, Nico wondered what it would have been like if he had a teacher for all this DPU crap. Not just Biko whose help was MORE than appreciated, but an actual teacher whom he could learn all this from without having to rely on Fragmented Memories of the past.

Even so, Nico couldn't help but curse himself, and if he could he would have punched the ground, though that would only have aggravated his injuries more. "Tch, damnit! This is the result of our fight with Mundus…?" he muttered to himself, memories flashing through his mind. He had all but forgotten that battle in light of his previous situation, but ow that it had been somewhat resolved, that battle soon returned to haunt him. He remembered just how 'useless' his attacks had been, how he had done practically zero damage to that guy whilst he managed to reduce Nico to this state with just a small attack of his own.

One could not even BEGIN to imagine the complex emotions Nico felt right not because of this.

There was no sugar-coating it, ever: he had lost to Mundus today. He had well and truly lost to him in every shape or form. His Ghoul side hadn't been enough, nor would his DPU form since if what Biko told him about power rankings were true, then Mundus would have been far more capable than Crimson Soul at this level. Plus, it felt like his Ghoul side and his DPU one highly contrasted each other, making their use together something of a pipe dream. Even so, his enemy had not even the decency to end his life, instead allowed him to live, sparing him from that fate just because he had 'potential' not to mention that he didn't see the worth in killing him. It may as well have been Mundus viewing him as something like an ant, no maybe lower than that (probably would consider that comparison an insult to the ants, judging by his demeanor from what Nico had seen). That had been the greatest insult of all, but worse… was that Nico could hardly do anything about.

"I…"

"Don't even think… about it, Nico…" Looking over to Biko, Nico saw that the man's eyes showed something that he hadn't seen from him before: pity, and not the normal kind but the kind that showed itself whenever the user looked at someone else like they knew they were about to do something utterly and horrifically stupid. The man then shook his head, crossing his remaining arm under his chest whilst shifting his gaze to the ground between them. "We were… defeated, quite easily… as well I… might add... Even if you… were to go… all out… against him with…. your DPU Form, it… would not have… been enough, not… to mention Soul… Edge had been… mildly damaged by…. Okada, and the…. ascension had only… barely healed the… blade from that… attack. That man… no, I cannot… call him such, as… it would be an… insult of the highest… degree. That… THING… is WAY beyond us… at the moment, not… to mention that… his power isn't… even at its optimum… and he still wiped… the floor with us. You… do realize that this… enemy isn't one… we can beat, not… the way we are now. I… would advise against… fighting him for… the time being… and focus instead… on other matters."

'Other matters? Oh yeah, there's the matter of my Ghoul side…' Nico thought to himself, visibly shuddering with a pale face at the reminder, a sense of dread and fateful anticipation crawling up his spine at the realization that his secret was no longer so. People knew about it, and not just any people, people whom Nico had grown a comradeship with. That alone proved to be FAR more troublesome, as it would likely sting a whole hell lot more when they inevitably reject his existence and try to harm him. Hell, with his body the way it was (even if his and Biko's arms were halfway finished regenerating, same with their legs), he'd likely be unable to stop them should they even try. This could be one of his most vulnerable moments in his entire life… not something Nico liked to think about.

He could almost see it now, each of the girls all looking at him with utter disgust on their faces, rejecting him, some even drawing their weapons to try and finish him off…

The worst one by far was how Compa looked at him like he was the lowest form of scum in the earth… and what's more, he wouldn't blame her for it either.

After all, this had been a secret he had kept from her for a very long time, way more than the rest of the Party. Compa had been the very first girl he had ever opened up to, he figured this was so since he couldn't recall his past, not to mention the one he had spent the most time with. The thought of her being so resentful of him, to the point of outright shunning him and denouncing him as her friend felt like dozens of claws ripping his heart open from the inside out.

Similar feelings got invoked from the other girls, Lucy, IF, Neptune and Raven more so since he knew them more.

So yeah… he wasn't looking forward to what would inevitably come to pass.

It'll likely end badly, but like everything else he had gone through, Nico had to see it through to the end.

That was what he always did, after all…

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… Wait a minute, something entered his mind just now, causing Nico pause as he looked up to their surroundings. As chaotic as they had looked, Nico could not pick up any traces of his Ghoul side's personification in here, not one bit. That did NOTHING in regards to sating his worry over the situation, after all he had always been able to sense his Ghoul Persona's presence within his mind, whether he was in the real world or his inner one. Therefore, suddenly being unable to sense his presence right now, it deeply unnerved him. "Hey… Biko, where is he? My Ghoul side, I can't sense his presence anywhere." Nico questioned his Demon Persona. If anyone knew where that psycho was, it would be Biko, at least that was what Nico felt anyways.

At this, Biko's gaze shifted about, his form tensing in a VERY visible manner. Not to mention how his forehead seemed to sweat slightly, as if he had not wanted to answer that question. That look only served to raise Nico's concerns more, and when he saw that look, Nico got the dreadful feeling that something really messed up had happened. Eventually, Biko let out another sigh of resignation, something which only concerned the redhead male more. "He is… rather indisposed… at the moment." He eventually replied, though he shook his head seconds later. "It is inevitable that you would ask that, so I shall take you to him. Mind you: what you will see… is morbid, no question."

With that said, not to mention Nico's unease increased further, Biko used what little power he had left, after grabbing the other male with his weakened right wing, to click his fingers and Warp them out of the scene.

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It didn't take them very long, in fact it lasted no longer than a second, but thanks to the Warping the two males managed to arrive at where the Ghoul version of Nico was located. Though, both of them had to struggle to not fall over due to their bodies not having the required energy to move just yet. Biko would be worse though, since he had expended a little of his already severely depleted reserves.

"Whoa there…" Nico muttered as he quickly held his arm out, stopping Biko from falling forwards the moment that they Warped into existence. The moment that he had done so though, his own weight nearly caved in under the foreign weight of his Demon Persona, nearly failing and thus falling over with him, but the redhead managed to keep his ground, maintaining his balance. Once he felt sure that he wouldn't lose balance, Nico swiftly helped Biko regain his own, his eyes shining with the concern he held for him. "Don't push yourself, if you're this weak you shouldn't be moving too much." He told him sternly, a surge of worry spreading through his chest. How could he not worry about his comrade, since they were essentially the same person? Not to mention that they'd been through a whole hell lot together. More than any might suspect considering their secretive nature.

"You have my… thanks." Biko eventually replied once he regained his balance, nodding in gratitude to Nico afterwards. "It appears that… my physical state… is worse than I expected… however we must… not dwell on that right… now." He stated, before pointing forwards with a look that pretty much said that he was guiding Nico towards somewhere which would be classed as traumatic for him. "Instead, you should focus on what is in front of us. THAT, is where your Ghoul side is located."

Upon hearing Biko's words… Nico looked towards the direction his finger had been pointing, before he found his gaze fallen onto the sight of a… peculiar structure. It looked like one of those white domes, shaped oddly like those beanies one would see on people's heads in Lowee. Its size however, rivaled one of those two story houses, matching the width and length of that kind of building as well. In addition, Nico could CERTAINLY feel the raw presence that his Ghoul side always possessed covering the place. Something which should have normally left a person trembling in their boots since he was literally humanity's greatest Predator. None of the other Abnormals were built to hunt humans as well as a Ghoul was, not even the other humanoid Abnormals, but they'll get to that one later.

Right now, however, something felt… different, off about this presence. Something wrong.

'Something is definitely wrong here, I can feel it… Biko's words aren't exactly reassuring either.' The redhead thought while he stepped forth and entered the building through it's main entrance: a door the shape of a circle. When he entered, Nico found himself walking along a corridor, one with many doors that he didn't really feel like opening. All he wanted to do, was find the Persona of his Ghoulish nature, to discover what had happened to him. That was the single thing on his mind right now, something he couldn't help but be partially grateful for, and it allowed him to focus on something other than his abysmally weak body.

After about 5 or so minutes, Nico arrived at the end of the corridor, coming to find himself in a… rather spacious-looking cube-like room, one with black and white tiles on the floor. Not to mention how the ceiling looked to be completely void-like black, with crimson frames within that held the roof in place. Everything about this place quickly set off alarm bells in Nico's mind, making him wince as he held the side of his head with his right hand. Something about this just felt EERILY familiar, familiar in that he recalled something like this being a part of his past, if these images of a similar room but covered in blood were anything to go by.

However, they soon faded away as fast as they came, almost like his mind refused to acknowledge their existence any longer. Though Nico didn't pay too much attention to this abnormality as he looked towards the centre of the room… and saw something that practically nailed the final nail in the coffin for him in terms of Mundus wrecking his shit. "You're… kidding me…"

"GUUUUUUUUH... ACK... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GUUUOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!"

Loud screams, shrieks and howls filled Nico and Biko's ears, reminiscent of several thousand women screaming at the top of their lungs for a prolonged amount of time. They reverberated throughout the entire room, which served to only amplify the sound and thus, forced both males to do their best to cover their ears, as at this point their arms had mostly grown back. Same with their legs, they only needed a layer of Skin to cover each limb, but that was progressing much slower than prior times when they lost limbs. Something told them that the Ghoul persona's state had a connection to that phenomenon though, as the two walked over whilst wincing at the sharp pains spiking within their left legs.

Whilst doing this, though, Nico took note of his Ghoul Persona's appearance, and boy what a sight it was. Now Nico got an idea as to the extent of how much his Ghoul Persona had changed, for he kneeled in a Japanese siting position on the ground, holding himself as if trying to mimic a child within it's mother's womb. His form trembled horribly, violently as well as he shook there whilst mumbling incoherent babble under his breath, his head hanging low. Not to mention that he had no longer any hair. All of it had vanished, likely due to some form of stress, whilst nothing but fear and dread radiated from his form. Hell, his arms looked to be suspended in a V shape by these pure white, corporeal-looking chains, chains which also pinned the Ghoul Persona to his current position, which resulted in a constant clinking sound coming from his chains. Honestly, it completely baffled Nico to see the being whom he had despised for so long act like this... it felt so WRONG to him that it wasn't even funny.

No sooner did they take about 3 steps however, did they each get noticed by the Ghoul Persona...

SPLATTER, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

Whom didn't take to kindly to their presence, as evident when a set of white Tentacles, each looking like the complete opposite to Nico's own black ones, emerged from the back of his waist in a gory splatter of pure white blood, each of them proceeding to wildly lash out at everything around the Ghoul Persona whilst said being howled and shrieked like a Banshee, catching Nico and Biko off guard. "AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! FUCKER,GET THE FUCK BACK! I AIN'T AFRAID OF YOU, I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME! NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO YOU WILL NOT TAKE ME! I WON'T LET YOU-YOU-YOU-YOUUUUUUUU! I'M STRONG! I'M STRONG-STRONG-STRONG-STRONG! STRENGTH, I HAVE IT! YOU CANNOT TOUCH ME, YOU CANNOT-NOT-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!" He ranted wildly and with more insanity than he had ever showcased in prior discussions.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, CRASH, SMASH, BASH, CRUSH, SMASH, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, CRASH, SMASH, SMASH, CRASH, CRASH!

Throughout his ranting and raving, the Tentacles only got wilder and wilder, lashing out in ever erratic movements and wavelengths that it became impossible for the two males to get any further. The Tentacles were moving just too quickly, so quick that not even their own kinetic vision, something which had been considered high class even before they got Ouranos, could track very well. If at all. The only reason why they hadn't been shredded to pieces, much like the surroundings they were in, was likely due to how they'd kept out of the Tentacles range (something which the Ghoul Persona seemed to be unable to extend like Nico had been able to do before thanks to his insanity taking over), not to mention how they kept watch of the ground to see where the gashes were forming, then keeping themselves FAR AWAY from them.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK, FUCK ALL OF YOU! DAMN YOU FOR SHOWING UP HERE YA FUUUUUUUUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEER! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU I WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS! DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU TO FUCKING GODDAMNED HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLL!ITS NOT MY FAULT THAT I'M LIKE THIS! I'M NOT AT FAULT! NO I'M NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! WHY ME, HUH?! WHY'D YA HAVE TO COME BEFORE ME OF ALL PEOPLE?! WHY NOT SOMEONE ELSE ASIDE FROM FUCKING ME! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, I'D STILL BE LIVING IN THE PARADISE! I'D STILL BE AT THE PINNACLE! YOU BASTARD, YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU, I SWEAR THAT I'LL KILL YOU IF IT TAKES ME CENTURIES, IF IT EVEN COSTS ME MY LIFE! I'LL FUCKING MURDER YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

At this point, none of what the white version of Nico could be made out anymore, for everything he said became incoherent babble mixed in with saliva being tossed about every time he roared, his eyes shrunken with insanity whilst his veins could be clearly made out. His eyes also looked tremendously bloodshot, tears of blood raining down his cheeks that linked together on the bottom of his chin. He constantly threw himself about, rattling the Chains which restrained him as he tried to break free, only to fail each and every time.

Nico stepped back, eyes wide as he couldn't believe what he was seeing right now. THIS was his Ghoul side? THIS was the being that he had fought against all his life? The thing that haunted his dreams, turning each of them into nightmares and being at the centre of each of his hallucinations? Looking at him now, Nico hardly saw anything regarding what he had been used to. No, all he saw was the exact OPPOSITE of what he had been fighting against all this time. Was it that attack that did this to him? That attack that Mundus hit Nico with? It certainly seemed like the likely conclusion, since everything else had been caused by that one attack. To be frank, bafflement felt like a major understatement to describe his emotions right now. Nico honestly felt at a loss on what to do, seeing his Ghoul Persona like this.

It almost felt like an illusion...

One that a certain Demon Persona soon shattered when he spoke. "This is it, Nico." Biko stated, watching all of this with what could be described as a mix of a blank face but the eyes of one who was forlorn with what he was seeing at this time. Not to mention that his voice seemed to have gained a portion of its strength back from its earlier raspier version, which could hardly speak without pausing to regain breath. Though, that didn't mean he had reached 100% however, as the look of his body hadn't changed much even with his arm and leg regenerated. "This is what has become of your Ghoul Persona. Whatever that attack had done to your Demonic side, it was NOTHING compared to your Ghoul side, which had been the more active of the two during that battle. As a result, your Ghoul side has been heavily damaged, even more so than your Demonic side. As a result, its healing capabilities have slowed considerably, resulting in our injuries not healing as fast as they would have originally. In addition, your 'fangs' are going to be reduced in effectiveness severely, if I were to gauge them, you wouldn't even be able to destroy an entire street with them as they are now."

That... that sounded super bad to Nico, and for more than one reason. The most important one of them all however, had been that in the laws of the jungle, his 'fangs' had been blunted horribly, losing much of their former edge. In that case, until they recovered Nico would have to watch out for other 'predators' which might try to take his 'spot' on the food chain, and by predators he meant other Spec Ops Agents, not to mention the Guild higher ups. If they learned that his Ghoul side had been considerably weakened like this, there was no telling what they would do. Most of the time they just let him do as he pleased within a set of boundaries, never trying to do anything to him for fear of his Ghoul side. A very well-founded fear as well, since just ONE of his 'fangs' had been able to strike without any of the 5 senses being able to perceive it. Now that it had been weakened however, who knows what they would do should they learn of that truth.

Taking a single step forwards, Nico tried to get close to him, reaching out to try and touch him. "You MIGHT wan to calm down you know." Nico stated, frowning as he managed to summon a few Tentacles of his own to defend against the ones that were striking at him right now. "Mundus isn't here anymore, so you don't have to be like this. He's gone, all we need to do is..."

Unfortunately, his attempts to calm his Ghoul side down failed, as just hearing the name of the one that did this to him caused the Ghoulish Nico to scream even louder, to go even more insane as is Tentacles lashed out with even greater ferocity than normal. If Nico hadn't quickly jumped out of their range when he did, using his Tentacles for extra distance and landing just beside Biko, then he had no doubt that those things would have torn though him like a knife through sushi. Biko shook his head in admonishment, a weary sigh escaping his lips. "It is of no use, Nico." he said, drawing his attention. "I have tried many a time to appease him, but this is the result that happens every time. It looks like whatever that attack had been, has had a direct impact on his psychological state, damaging him severely. I of course, am not as effected, as you weren't using the power I represent, but you WERE using your Ghoul side, thus IT got the brunt of the attack, resulting in what you see before you. He may never truly recover at this rate."

For a moment, as his brain registered his Demon Persona's words, Nico could only stare at his Ghoulish self, stare at how pathetic and broken he looked whilst slicing through everything around him to try an make his invisible barrier of defense around him. It actually looked like a pretty cool technique, and if he had the chance in the future Nico would like to explore that technique to see if he could develop it further into something useful. However, that would have to wait though, as Nico took in the utterly crushed state his Ghoul Persona was in. For so long... for so long he had despised himself because of the very thing that this guy represented. For so long he had thought it confusing on whether or not he even deserved to live thanks to this power he had been forced to possess. A power he had no idea he had or the origins of, nor could he find a way to remove it without dying at its hand. He could remember the... darker times, the moments where not even Compa's existence helped him through the trials that he went through day by day, where he couldn't see a end to his torment, thus prompting him to do something completely reckless... only for his very burden to restore him without much problem. In fact, it felt more like the more his healing was activated, the stronger and faster it became, something which back then, frustrated the hell out of him. Nico even recalled cursing everything in existence for forcing this power, this monstrous condition and this beast onto him, for condemning him to this hellish existence, he remembered cursing even after his throat went hoarse and blood would fill his maw, yet that would never be enough to quell the immense amalgamation of emotion within him.

All of that trauma and heartache, his lack of being able to live like a normal person, all the horror and anguish... Nico attributed it to this guy and what he represented.

So, seeing him like this should have been majorly satisfying, right...?

But... it didn't.

Why did it not make him smile in immense joy, seeing this thing grovel like what he had done for so long in his lifetime? All the while this thing would taunt and berate him, alongside his other hallucinations? Why did he not feel so happy about seeing this guy finally taste what Nico had been feeling for years on end? Why could he feel nothing but sorrow and empathy for this guy?

Soon, Nico realized why after a moment of thinking.

This person, this Persona, may have been a freaking rude, psychotic bastard to him for so many years. He may have been the one who represented the side of him that Nico despised the most in his lifetime, but in the end... he was still a part of him. No matter how much Nico tried to deny it, that fact would never change. He had been there with him from the beginning, Nico felt, ever since he first woke up with partial amnesia, therefore he had been Nico's longest companion, perhaps an irritating and psychologically threatening one, but a companion nonetheless. This guy had been with him through a lot of his trials, keeping him company even when berating him or laughing psychotically within the shadows of Nico's mind, up until this point where he had finally given in, accepted the risks to take the plunge for once, to not act like a freaking coward and unleashed his inner beast, his Ghoul side, in front of his comrades. Despite his constant attempts to suppress him with drugs and other more... psychological means, he had always been there with him, through everything.

Therefore...

Seeing him right now... Nico felt like he was looking into a mirror, a perfect replica of himself way back when. When he had been in his darkest moments.

In Nico's eyes, his Ghoul Persona shimmered, and soon instead of him there, another version of Nico, albeit much younger than he currently was but not as young as his childish self, kneeled before him with his hands on his face and screaming his lungs out to the cold, harsh and unforgiving world around him.

It... made him act.

Without him even realizing it, Nico's fully healed legs began to move on their own accord, defying the commands of his brain. They moved at a speed which could only have been accomplished when any ad all limitations had been cast aside, a level of speed which not many could achieve very easily. Nico didn't even hear the urges to stop what he was doing that came from Biko's mouth, although his Demon Persona soon realized something was going on and decided to keep his mouth shut. Nico couldn't feel anything, not the Tentacles slashing through his body, nor could he hear whatever rantings that escaped the other him's mouth, no, Nico couldn't, or rather he didn't pay attention to any of that, as he went forwards...

And Embraced his Ghoul Persona, arms wrapping around their target beneath the armpits whilst his head rested on a shoulder-blade, the illusion soon vanishing to reveal the stupefied looking white version of himself.

"WH-WHA...?!"

At that moment, the Ghoul Persona's mind, which had been previously engulfed within a sea of Madness from the loss that they had suffered, went blank. His jaw fell open, his eyes widening at the, to be quite frank, BIZZARE actions that Nico just did. By his recollection, he had always been repulse, disgusted and furious with himself, refusing to acknowledge what he really was. His refusal had caused his Ghoul side to be unable to showcase what it could truly do, similar to how a piece of bone would keep an animal from biting down on its prey properly. He had tried hard, by the goddesses (whom he would kill) he'd tried so FUCKING hard, to convince the 'King' to accept him, to embrace the beast inside, but back then it had been a fruitless effort each time. So, what the hell was the king doing now, hugging a horse like him?! Did he not see the pecking order that was established here?!

Just as the Tentacles the Ghoul Persona had summoned made to 'reinforce' why it was a bad idea to get even MARGINALLY closer to him...

"Its... alright, now. There's nothing to be afraid of." Nico muttered under his breath, his eyes having closed before he'd finally registered how his body felt way worse than it had been since he first came to this place. Nico also now realized just what this place reminded him of, and much to his hidden irritation it reminded him of a mental asylum. Not something that he would likely have fond memories about, but right now he didn't need to think about any of that. Instead, all he focused on, was the stunned Personification of his Ghoul side, increasing the strength of his embrace. "There's nobody right now who is around to hurt us... Mundus is gone, you don't need to fear him right now. WE don't need to fear him. So, calm down and sort yourself out."

"Y-YOU..."

Eyes glanced towards Nico's neck as his white self stared at it, the familiar scent of flesh whiffing into his nostrils which had the effect of making his eyes enlarge slightly. All the White Nico could say was that word, stuttering it to showcase just how profoundly baffled he had become by hearing those words. The shock had been great enough that, now he remained immobile so the Chains didn't rattle nearly as much, if at all. In fact, the foreign contact, along with the words and the tone of acceptance that he heard them with felt completely alien to him. This was NOT how he expected things to turn out, first Nico lost to that purple haired fucker, then he himself goes fucking mad (though odds were he was always mad, not like he cared), and now THIS?! What the hell was happening right now?!

"You're right though... perhaps we HAVE met our match, no, we've met someone whose vastly superior to us in terms of strength. The only reason we have been able to survive this encounter was at his whims. Thus, we mustn't take this opportunity lightly, so lets us heal our wounds first. After every battle, its important to do a self-analysis, to reflect on what had happened and what we learned from the previous battle. We are strong, there's no doubt about it..." In his mind, Nico could hear his inner demons mocking him for the words he was saying, taunting and jeering at him endlessly in order to make him feel like a waste of an existence, like nothing but a piece of garbage. Just like they always did, even now he could almost feel his mind slipping into madness and insanity, just like he had been when under that massive ocean of pain before. However, Nico also knew he could NOT afford to remain like that, nor could he afford to fall into that state again. Mundus has literally wrecked him, he had wrecked his self confidence, his self-esteem, his pride, everything he had built had been a tower that Mundus had used a sledgehammer called reality to smack out of existence.

At that point, white Nico exploded from both the anger at Nico's words and the confusion/frustration born within his mind.

"YOU DO REALIZE WHO WE JUST FUCKING FACED, RIGHT?! HOW THE HELL CAN WE FIGHT A MESSED UP PSYCHO LIKE HIM?! HE DIDN'T EVEN TAKE US SERIOUSLY, AND YET HE STILL WIPED THE FLOOR WITH OUR ASSES! NONE OF OUR ATTACKS EVEN PHASED HIM, HE COULD BREAK FREE OF OUR TAILS! NOT EVEN THAT DEMON FUCKER WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO ANYTHING! WE'RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH, NO WAY, FORGET IT!"

Even as his Ghoul side screamed that, Nico took it in stride, already knowing this. Nothing would hit one as hard as life would. There was nothing that would hit any harder. However, what was most important, something he had learned from his mother, not to mention watching Noire keep going back at Lastation when they first met, was to get back up after falling down. If there was no pain, then there would hardly be any gain from the trials life would throw at him. This pain he felt, this humiliation and indignity? All of it would NOT be worthless, no, not on his watch. In fact, whilst it may be a long road ahead of him, Nico felt willing to go down it in order to recover from the shock of this defeat. He may be down, but Nico sure as hell wasn't out.

"You're right, that guy is probably the largest obstacle we have. Larger than anything we could have come across. But right now, we have to think of it in a different way: we've finally found an opponent we cannot defeat... not yet anyways. It will take a LOT of training, probably way more than what we can probably do without help, but we will have to do so if we want to eventually reach a level where he will consider us a threat, not to mention how much we'll have to train to be able to take that guy down. He's kicked our support, so lets rebuild. Whining and mopping around like a bunch off sissies? Nope, we have NOT got the time for that, not anymore. The time for whining like a pathetic bitch is over, right now we need to recover our wounds then begin sharpening our fangs.

But before he could take that crucial first step, Nico had to calm down his Ghoul side, something which seemed to slowly work as the tension in his Ghoul Persona seemed to ebb away from what he had been feeling.

Heh... wow, he definitely felt like he was changing right now. Not only was he consoling his dreaded and hated enemy side, but he was also doing it to save both of them from the madness roiling within their minds. No way did Nico think that all his mental issues and problems would be solved just like that, no there was going to be some serious work ahead of him, work he didn't even know how to freaking start. Not to mention that they didn't exactly have all the time in the world to spend fixing their issues, since chances were Mundus and his companion Arfoire will likely have some dastardly plan that he and the girls will have to stop in the near future. But for now, Nico felt like he was on the right track.

That accepting the beast inside would be a promising good start.

"And besides..."

Pulling back but leaving his hands on his Ghoul Persona's shoulders (all the while being well aware of the Tentacles pointed at his back and only being inches away from impaling him), Nico gave a small smirk, his eyes shining as through the insanity and madness roiling within, a surge of bloodlust filled his being, making it much more bearable. Bloodlust was much better than madness in his opinion. "What kind of monster would we be, if we let some fucker push us around?" Histoire's words of wisdom flowed through Nico's mind when he said that, as finally it dawned on him what she had been trying to make him do. To accept what he was for what he was, and to not be shameful of it. What was the point in hating himself for being a monster, when he should REALLY hate the ones that made him this way. To be the monster that devoured other monsters, the apex predator...

Now, after everything that had happened, Nico could get behind that.

"..."

For a moment, all was silent, a tense but immersive type of silence actually. All tree males looked at one another, waiting for the next move to be made. Be it Biko moving to protect the main aspect despite his injured state, Nico waiting for his response to his words, and his Ghoul Persona forming his own response to what he had learned...

Something which soon came out of his mouth in the form of a strangled laughter.

"YOU'RE SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS, KING. TOOK YA LONG ENOUGH TO REALIZE..."

Nico could only smirk wider at his Ghoul Persona's admission of that, all the while sporting a shark-like grin. It didn't have the same intensity it used to have, likely due to still being shaken from what had hit them, but it was a good start on the road to recovery. Nico could feel it as well, how his regeneration seemed to be working a little faster now thanks to the white Nico's composure starting to return. It wasn't at 100% still, but like previously mentioned it was a start. This resulted in several things: one, the Chains restraining him shattering into tiny pieces, freeing him from his captive state. The second: Nico pulling back completely, falling onto his backside as he let out a huge exhale, relief filling his chest inside. "Whew, that was a close one, thought I was dead for a moment there."

"HAH, WELL THEN YA SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SO RECKLESS WITH THAT STUNT YA PULLED!"

"What he says is true, Nico..." Biko began as he walked over to them, sitting down so that the trio now sat in positions similar to an average triangle if one looked from a bird's eye view. The look that his Demon Persona had spoke volumes about his opinion on what the main aspect had just done. "What you just did right now was completely reckless, you could have met your end due to this guy..." he paused to point to the Ghoulish Nico, whom huffed indignantly. "not being within his right mind. If things had turned just a little bit worse, we would all have died and the body we inhibit would have slipped into a comatose state, never to awaken again. Therefore..."

A sigh escaped Nico's lips at his Demon Persona's words, as thinking back on what he just did right now (something he still had trouble believing he did... though the level of regret he had for it reached 0%), he realized just how risky it had been. "Yeah, sorry bout that, but can you seriously believe this guy would listen to us if I DIDN'T do anything reckless?"

"...True." Biko reluctantly admitted, much to the Ghoul Nico's dismay, though he couldn't do much save for retract his Tentacles into him since he knew that Nico ad a point there. He felt sure that Nico knew it, but this was far from over. His Ghoul Self may LOOK like he's alright, but both him and Nico noticed it, how he was just putting up a cocky front. He didn't doubt that the mere MENTION of Mundus would damage that 'Mask' till it cracked and shattered, but if he were to ever FACE Mundus again, something which felt inevitable considering their record..."Despite your reckless actions, they have indeed paid off with how you managed to calm him down enough for the regeneration to kick start itself. Now, we can heal our body whilst our soul is healed by Soul Edge. Now, all we can do right now, is wait and talk..."

* * *

Things were happening so fast... that the girls had hardly any clue.

The moment that Mundus left, each of them quickly rushed over to Nico's fallen form, worry and dread filling their beings. The sounds of heavy footsteps filled their ears, their lungs burning inside their torsos as they each struggled desperately to intake as much air as possible. Even so, their hearts pounded like sledgehammers, and not in a good way, as their thoughts raced a million miles a minute.

It all started with how Nico had been acting just after he saved Neptune from being... touched in an inappropriate manner by Mundus. Though all of them, ESPECIALLY Neptune, were aware of just what length Mundus WOULD have gone to though. They had each noticed it, but none of them could understand what it was. The fact that, just after saving her from Mundus, Nico's aura had completely changed. It pulled an entire 180 on them, changing from calm and composed, to something much more sinister... very unlike that of his Demonic Aura. Instead of the sensations that his Demonic Power presented when it was allowed to be unleashed, this aura felt raw, savage and beastly, like a wild animal about to go on a blood rage after its already-frail sanity snapped. It disturbed them... more than a little.

Then, the battle began, and only THEN did they see the changes in Nico's fighting style. Not to mention the weapons he used. None of his usual weapons that he fought with, not his DPU Form, his swords, none of them were used, but instead appendages seemed to erupt from his body in a similar manner to IF's shapeshifting powers. Although each appendage seemed to have their own unique abilities, as evident by how sometimes Mundus looked to have been blocking things that weren't even there, at least in their eyes. Furthermore, when Nico began using... whatever he was, they couldn't help but note the minute changes in his personality: such as how he now had a greater wild aspect to his demeanor, with a small smirk coming onto his lips which sometimes looked like it was just seconds away to break into a slasher smile. A smile that would only be reserved for something out of their worst nightmares, a smile only a serial killer would wear when they were about to rip out the victim's innards then use them as chords to hang them in the middle of the room, all the while carving them up alive, relishing in their screams like they were some sort of bloody melody.

That didn't even BEGIN to take into account the rising bloodlust in his eyes, as mismatched as they were, along with the glint of insanity slowly breaking out onto the surface.

By the time the battle reached its conclusion though, worry and fear for his safety soon won out over their confusion on what was happening, when they saw him during his defeat by Mundus. A defeat cemented when Mundus left to do his own thing instead of finishing Nico and the rest off them off. out of all of them, only IF heard what he had said to the redhead male, and that was enough for the brunette to realize that the connection between the two couldn't be any more apparent. But, before she, or any of them could react, Mundus had knocked Nico out of commission with some strange black force, something she had n idea about although their instincts each told them to NEVER let it hit them if they valued their lives.

Among them, Team RAIL who trailed beside the girls, only Ivan and Aiden realized the scope of what was going on, about what had TRULY happened here if the looks they gave each other were any indication. Lucy and Raven meanwhile, were just like the rest of them, even if one of them hid it already.

"It looks like... That man, or whatever the hell he is, has finally left." Noire stated, her crimson eyes never leaving the spot that Mundus had once occupied, more than a few different emotions mixing within her gut. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her pride felt significantly damaged by the fact that they were all soundly defeated. No, it would be more accurate to say that they were tossed about like rag-dolls, not even worth being taken seriously. That insult did NOT go in any appreciating direction, and it made her grit her teeth in building frustration. All the power she had amassed for this final confrontation, and for what? To be tossed aside like it meant nothing? She couldn't stand that! She'll DEFINITELY be looking into this when she had the chance. Not to mention, she didn't show it, but the worry for a certain Spec Ops Agent still presented itself within her. He had taken more of the attack than any of them, even if they had been fighting him for longer, she felt.

Beside her, a similarly vexed Vert nodded her head in agreement, her mind swirling with so many emotions right now that she didn't even know what to make of the situation anymore, not to mention the thoughts in her messed up mind. "Yes, and though It is indeed quite infuriating that he tossed us about like pieces of garbage, we can take solace in the fact that we haven't taken any more casualties..." she stated, wincing at the end as she remembered Stefan's passing. Isaac hopefully would have reached a hospital of some sort with his injuries, and she had no clue about Guts' fate. She could only hope that he had made it, she didn't want to lose any more of her citizens to this monster of a man. The very same man who'd demeaned her Gungnir, yet when she replayed his words, she couldn't help but wonder what he meant deep within the torrent of worrisome thoughts swirling within her brain.

"Yessy..." Compa sadly muttered, remembering that moment as well. She looked down at the ground beneath her feet, her form that of her human one as she had already dismissed her Astral Dress. She could honestly agree with Vert's assessment of the situation, as deep in her own mind she DEFINITELY felt like his could have been way worse. They had only survived with their current numbers to that man's whims, that was what she thought anyways, and it vexed her more than one could possibly imagine. "But... just what happened? First Ni-Ni went all strange and crazy on us, and then that meanie just ups and leaves. I feel like we're missing something here."

IF, whom had been the only one to know what Mundus (she'd heard that part too) had said to Nico put aside her defiled pride and tried to come up with something plausible for this. One conclusion she reached during her thinking however, revolved around the downed Agent before them, something which made her heart clench at the sight of, something she hid for the time being. "We'll worry about that later, once we've gotten out of this hellhole and back to MICROSOFT. something tells me we've gotten ourselves into a HELL of a lot more trouble than we could have anticipated. Maybe Histoire might have something for us." she explained, and when everyone looked to her, IF reached into her Trench Coat's pocket. "Speaking of Histoire, I managed to snatch this from that woman during out fight, locked onto its signature thanks to memorizing it with my powers a while back." She said, pulling out what looked to have been...

A Key Fragment.

To be frank, in any other situation the girls would have been overjoyed at having found another one of the four Key Fragments, since it got them one step closer to freeing Histoire and saving Gamindustri. However, with everything that had happened, the prices that they had to pay for just this much, none of them had their usual enthusiasm. Not even Neptune, the happiest of the bunch, could muster up anything remotely positive since she worried that they would be losing another one of their comrades today. She SO didn't want that. Even with all of that though, but it didn't change the bottom line for them all, the fact that they each had a WHOLE load of questions for him to answer.

Too many to properly count them all.

As they neared Nico's fallen position however... something happened.

All of a sudden, his eyes, which previously had been closed off to the world, instantly shot open like a child suddenly awaking from a nightmare as he shot into a sitting position. His breathing looked labored, uneven and unstable. Whilst Compa made to yell out his name like the others, each of them quickly noticed the signs, the signs that showed something was wrong, VERY wrong. For one, Nico's eyes were still mismatched, one eye that of a human, but the other was that of a familiar species that they had rarely encountered, but got their asses whooped by. In addition, they were shrunken and unfocused, like Nico's consciousness wasn't even there as he bent forwards, crackling sounds beginning to emit themselves from his form. Not to mention how his jaw hung open and a sense of utter DREAD radiated from him just like the crackling sounds.

Behind them, Aiden and Ivan quickly lost all the color of their faces when they heard those sounds, what looked like PTSD-induced flashbacks playing through their minds. They KNEW what would be coming next...

They had to get the others out of here!

Otherwise Nico would destroy them all!

"Hey um, Nicky...?" Neptune asked as they stopped just about 6 feet away from him. "Are you...?"

SPLATTER, SPLATTER, SPLATTER!

"Yikes!"

Each of the girls made their own startled exclamations when, out of nowhere a series of masses, masses of the abyssal black coloration, suddenly EXPLODED out of him as if they were coming from gory volcanic eruptions, lashing out at everything around him as Nico's form looked like it was letting out a wordless scream, falling onto all fours before he buried his head into his arms. His body constantly trembled and shook as the masses escaped his form, each of them giving their own frenzied shrieks as if they were newborn babies freed from the confines of their parents womb. All the while, crackling sounds as well as those of flesh tearing itself filled the air at almost mind-torturing levels.

"Eh?! WH-What's...?!"

"Everyone, get the fuck back!"

The sudden yells from Aiden and Ivan, lacking any of their prior demeanor and replaced with panic and dread much like those who had witnessed the reaper themselves, quickly made the girls react to the incoming danger by jumping backwards, landing about 3 feet away from the redhead male as he... underwent this transformation. None of them could pull themselves away from the sight, not when the masses began taking on a more solid shape whilst more crackling sounds came from Nico's buried head.

Pretty soon the masses stabilized themselves, swerving about in erratic mannerisms as if they were sure that if they didn't, then they would be chopped to pieces or destroyed down to the last cell. Once they took physical form, each of the onlookers all found them to be what they really were: a set of appendages. These appendages, they consisted of a pair of Tails, each one long and thin, whilst being made with black Armour, with fractions along their frames. Their ends though, they were a set of pincers, as in the pincers of a centipede's which would help them clutch and rip apart prey. In addition to them, were these 6 long Tentacles, each one similar in shape and size to the Tails. Though, each of them may have had black Armour covering their flesh, but each of them also had crimson fractions instead of black, alongside the crimson, almost glowing, red curved talons that protruded from their sides like a Centipedes many legs. Thirdly, black Armour covered both of Nico's arms, morphing his hands into these large black claws, twice as large as the human hand with crimson scythe-like talons, their edges looking like that of HF Blades.

In short, NOT a nice sight...

Especially when Nico looked up for the first time and his face had what looked to be a black and red Mask... one which was shaped EXACTLY like the head of a centipede, covering the top portion of his face with a crimson fake right eye and one eye-hole over his left eye, pincers coming out of it...

"E-Eeek!" Compa squeaked in fright, looking paler than a ghost right now. Not like anyone could blame her. "What the heck is that?! What happened to Ni-Ni?!" she cried.

Nobody answered her question, since each of them looked to be frozen stiff at the sight. Even Raven and Lucy had looks of major shock at what they were seeing, their eyes wider than dinner plates and their jaws slacked. "What the hell...?"

Those were the words that escaped their mouths at the sight.

"UGGGGGHHHHHHHH... UGGGGGHHHHHHHHH...!" The altered Nico mumbled under his breath, his voice hollow and raspy along with sporting a glutteral growl at the end of everything that escaped his vocals. Right now, nothing could be described as remotely human about him, instead it felt like he had surrendered to the beast inside. "MUST... GO...!" Said 'beast' spoke as he just looked around sharply, his lone left eye wide and trembling with a mix of fear, anger and panic whilst his teeth gritted so tightly that normal ones would have cracked under the pressure. Some trails of saliva could be seen as well, a glutteral growl escaping his lips. "MUST... FIND... MUST... FIND... SAFETY... MUST GO... MUST GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MUST GO FAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR AWAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" At the end, Nico unleashed a loud cry, one that generated a massive shockwave which exploded into the area around them, forcing everyone to cover their eyes with their arms. Neptune, Compa and Ivan however, were forced to slide back from the force the shockwave held.

"Tch, this shockwave...!"

"Indeed, it feels like this power has gotten.. even greater than before...! Or is it... because its being motivated by something...?!"

Ivan and Aiden yelled this out whilst glaring at this Nico... this Nico which ad taken the place of their friend. Said Nico didn't even notice them there, or rather, it was like he refused to acknowledge their existence as he flared his Tails and Tentacles, as if they were wings. "MUST... GO, HIDE. YEEEESSSSSSS HIDE-HIDE HIDE...! WE MUST HIDE! HE MUST NOT FIND US! HE MUST NOOOOOOOOOOT!" Nico yelled, before the male seemingly shimmered out of existence as he burst forwards, leaving nothing but an explosion of dirt in his wake. It forced the Party and Team RAIL to quickly raise their arms again to shield their eyes... and by the time that the dust trail faded away... Nico was gone.

"Tch...!" the mechanical arm sporting Spec Ops Agent cursed under his breath, a wave of frustration and panic flowing through him as the implications of what happened sank into his mind. All the while, memories of the past that he so did NOT want to recall surfaced once more, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it. "This is so not good! Not good at all! If we don't act...!"

Aiden nodded his head in agreement, looking up at the skies above them. "Unfortunately, I cannot pick up any signs of him anymore, he must have gone outside my range in just a couple seconds... It appears his power has evolved much since we last saw it." he stated ominously, and though he spoke with his usual blank tone, seeing how his fists tightly clenched betrayed his true feelings. "If he makes it to any village in that state..."

"Okay, hold on you two!"

Both boys suddenly turned to the girls, momentarily forgetting they were even there for a moment there. Much to their surprise, before sheepish looks formed on their faces as IF stepped forwards, a look on her face that basically stated 'start talking or else i'm going to unsheathe my blades on your asses'. "You two sound like you know just what the hell happened right now, so talk. What the heck just happened? What's going on with Nico? Where the hell has he gone now?" IF questioned, repeatedly launching said questions all the while so neither got the chance to respond. One might say that IF showed extreme impatience, not willing to let them even answer her questions. At least, that was what it looked like anyways.

"Oh yeah, you're all here..." Ivan muttered under his breath, pocketing his hands inside his pants. "Sorry bout that, we kinda got in a panic there-anyways that's not important right now. What we need to do is-"

RING, RING, RING!

Just then, before Ivan could finish he heard a phone ringing coming from his pants pocket. Quickly pulling out a Phone, the Spec Ops Agent looked at the caller ID, and his prior annoyance dropped instantly whilst it got replaced with surprise. "Oh, well, looks like we're in luck." he exclaimed, sighing in relief as he answered the call and put the phone on Speaker. "Mrs Helen."

"Its alright you two, I've prepared to explain everything to the girls. Bring them to my hotel back in MICROSOFT and i'll tell them everything. I've received word that some of the upper tier Agents were sent by the higher ups to detain Nico before he causes any more damage, so rest assured that he won't be repeating his prior instances." Helen's voice said as she spoke through the phone, catching every one of the girls' attention.

Aiden gave a nod as he responded this time. "Understood." he said, before taking out what looked to be one of the Specialized eject buttons from his Inventory. He then looked up to the others, his eyes flashing behind his Goggles. "I know you all ave questions about this incident, and rightfully so. However, we cannot divulge anything right now due to circumstances preventing us from doing so. That is why we shall bring you to Mrs Dawson, she will be able to answer everything you have." he explained quickly, before pressing the Eject Button without waiting for any answers.

Therefore, all of them vanished from the area and back to MICROSOFT...

None of them being aware from the surveillance in the surrounding areas.

* * *

Consciousness returned to him, but not completely. No, not when there was nothing but blurry, distorted vision around him.

Where was he?

What happened?

All he knew so far just from his hands and breathing was that he was alive and that he was in some cave. He could tell thanks to the murkiness and dampness inside the oxygen he was inhaling, not to mention that his body felt sore as hell.

He tried to move, he tried to escape the Tunnel in case any reinforcements arrived, as distorted images of a figure tearing through various wildlife raced through his mind. They were too fast for him to identity who was what, but he got the feeling that he himself was the cause.

Thus, he stumbled and shambled across the Cave, using his aching body's senses to try and locate the way out by sniffing the air's currents and following them to where an exit might be. He didn't trust any of his other senses right now due to them being borderline shot for some reason he knew of, but didn't want to think about right now.

He didn't know how much time passed before he found the exit at last, but pretty soon all of that struggling became irrelevant when what little strength left in him instantly left, forcing him to fall onto the cold ground beneath him.

His eyelids began to close once more, and the last thing he saw was several shadowy figures, one looking like it was more of a light while another seemed almost like it was crackling, landed before him,

At that point, unconsciousness claimed him.

* * *

Later, the group appeared in Helen's hotel room, Compa nearly falling over from the sudden teleportation. "Awawawawawawa!" she exclaimed, stuttering madly as she flailed her arms about to keep balance.

"Whoa girl!"

However, before Compa could lose her balance and fall, her brunette BOW friend soon caught her in an embrace and re-steadied her. "There you go, Compa. Be more careful next time." she gently scolded, smirking at the girl whom gave her a sheepish smile in return.

"Thanks, Iffy."

"Glad to see you all made it here, girls. I was worried."

Looking to the source when they heard its voice, each of them saw none other than Helena Dawson sitting cross-legged on her chair beside her desk, her Laptop fully open for all to see. Her hands rested on her lap whilst she looked at them all with a serious expression, her eyes shifting over the girls and focusing on the... newer, members. "Ah, I see we have two new CPUs with us. A pleasure to meet you both, Lady Green Heart and Lady Black Heart." she spoke with a slight welcoming smile on her face.

"You know of us?" Noire questioned, cautious. Not many people would have guessed that she was a CPU right off the bat like that unless they had extensive knowledge of her, and in any such case Noire would always feel cautious in dealing with those kinds of characters. It of course, got reflected by her demeanor as her form tensed at the woman's presence.

Vert then stepped forwards, pushing aside her confusion for the sake of cordiality. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Dawson was it?" she asked for clarification, nodding thankfully when the woman wordlessly confirmed it for her. "I assume then that you are indeed Nicky's mother, whom Nicky is so fond of?" she questioned further.

"Indeed, however let us get straight to the point, as I am aware that you all are wishing to know about what happened to my dear boy just now, right?" Helen stated sharply, losing her previous polite demeanor for a more serious one. She didn't even give them time to calm down, preferring to get straight to the crook of the matter as soon as possible. After all, the ones that had been sent by the Community to retrieve Nico would be some of their best Agents, Agents whom surpassed Nico in every area by far if he were his normal self.

Neptune just HAD to comment on that though. "Wow, Mrs Helen's real serious, huh? I can almost cut the seriousness with a knife here, i'm not sure how I feel about this..." she remarked, frowning as she fidgeted uncomfortably, although she didn't say more when IF, Raven and Aiden gave her looks that basically said 'shut up and pay attention'. Hey, don't blame the Neps, she just did what she did best! Break tension and be the more light-hearted of the group! If it weren't for her then everything would be so dark and serious that it wouldn't be a Neptunia story anymore!

"Um, Can you pleas tell us, Hel-Hel... what happened to Ni-Ni? Is he alright? Does he need any treatment for any owwies?"

Upon hearing Compa ask her that, Helen could only smirk in a sarcastic manner. "Believe me, Compa dear, that if it were possible to cure this 'owwie' that Nico has, i'd have done it myself a long time ago, to spare us all the trouble. He's my baby boy after all..." she replied, before letting out a sigh. "In any case, i'll tell you this: what has happened to Nico is something that he has always tried to prevent, no matter the cost. When I met him at the Gala, it had become clear that he was already teetering on the edge, since the drugs his Armour administrated no longer had any effect on it. You all know of the Ghouls, right?" she questioned, several lights of comprehension shining in the girls' eyes wen they heard the word Ghoul.

That word hadn't been uttered through the main Party for a while, more than a couple dozen chapters actually. Way more, the last time it had been mentioned was during that whole Hellverse incident. The Ghouls, the species of Abnormal which had the most mystery as well as one of the greatest notoriety amongst all the other Abnormals. Simply due to their feeding habits and their ability to blend in with society due to looking completely identical to humans. The last time they fought a Ghoul, Neptune and the girls got their butts handed to them, heck even IF got kidnapped by a couple of them, only to break out of the Hellverse Dungeon and start wrecking everyone's shit by the time Nico had gotten there.

"Yeah... you could say we know of them..." IF eventually replied whilst shifting on her spot, already having a hunch as to where this was going. This hunch had been with her for a while now, not to mention that the evidence pointed to a single conclusion. She hoped still that she would be wrong though, that it wasn't as bad as she feared it would be. Just by recalling everything she had seen and heard about her crush made a real... dark and gruesome picture for him, something she DEFINITELY wouldn't want for anybody.

Her opinion did not go on un-shared by the others, if their looks of discomfort were any indication.

Helen's eyes looked like she understood and had figured out IF's suspicions, something that the brunette did NOT like. Not at all. "Well, There is a lot of ground to cover, so i'll say this then: Nico is a... unique existence, one which is tied to the Abnormals known as Ghouls." Helen stated. "This 'unique' status he has, prompts him to be treated in a different manner compared to other Agents. Its a long story, but right now we only have time."

In response to her words, a wave of confusion passed through the girls whilst Aiden and Ivan stepped to the side, leaning against the wall there. The former crossed his arms over his chest while the latter pocketed them. Both of them knew what would be happening next, since they had heard of it before. 'Hopefully these ladies will be able to handle it... at least, better than we did.' the two boys thought to themselves, although with one look they confirmed to each other that they had thought the same thing.

A tired sigh soon escaped her as she momentarily closed her eyes to collect herself. The fact that she was risking a whole hell lot for this did not escape her notice, but it had to be done for the sake of her beloved son. "Look, I will not beat around the bush, but there was an... incident in the past. An incident which has been kept top secret by the Guild and Basilicom higher ups. One which revolves around a time where a bunch of children, children from all four Nations, mysteriously vanished without a trace. Have any of you heard of it?"

...

...

...

"Wait..." One of them, Lucy, spoke up after a small silence filled with confusion, confusion generated by the girls, passed through the room. The redhead woman had adopted a detective-like pose after the first couple of the initial seconds after Helen's words had passed, something about what she had said struck a chord in the young redhead woman. Something tat she hadn't been able to put her finger on at first, until a moment later when she clicked her fingers in remembrance. "Are you talking about 10 years ago, by chance? I was in Leanbox at the time, and considering their hierarchy, they didn't show too much concern over it, but I DO remember hearing something about missing kids?"

Wow, how long had it been since then? 10 Years, man, it felt much longer than that to her. To be frank, Lucy back then had been way worse in terms of her sexual exploits than she had been months before meeting with the man whom would later become her very first friend... then, her very first actual love interest. During that time, Lucy had been wandering the streets in an effort to take a break after exposing a Nobleman whom had taken an... interest in pedophilia with his interest being 12 year old kids (something which made breaking that idiot much more enjoyable and satisfying, especially when he lost his fortune and reputation to be reduced to living on the streets. Last she heard, he had been killed by a pack of ravenous rats or something, not like she cared), when she had heard a couple middle-aged women talking. The redhead hadn't paid it much heed, and not long afterwards she had left the town she had been in to go into the wilderness. She WAS a Seasonal Goddess after all, so the call of nature would always be more appealing to her than being in an urban area like that.

To think... did something like that have a connection to her Nicky-dear?

"You'd be right about it, and to be frank i'm surprised you know anything about it at all, Lucy. Given your... nature, reputation and stuff." Helen replied, causing Lucy to roll her eyes whilst the others gave her knowing looks (even though Neptune, Noire and Compa, the more 'innocent' of the group looked much more flushed in comparison). "But yes, if you want the full story, 10 years ago, an incident we liked to call the 'pied Piper Incident' took place. You know the urban legend of how a rat catcher was cheated by a town out of his payment, so he used his skills to steal away children from the town instead? Well, we call this incident that because a large portion of children, some with parents as well, mysteriously vanished under the dead of night. There were no witnesses to explanation what happened, nor were there any signs of struggle, forced entry, or tracks. It was like they all just vanished into thin air." she explained, frowning deeply as she uncrossed her legs and then crossed them again. "The incident isn't very well known, in fact only the higher ups of every governing official, including the Guild and Basilicom know about it. Anyone else who was even remotely aware of it was sworn to secrecy, and any who broke it faced a... rather harsh penalty."

At this, everyone's eyes widened at the woman's words, some of the lesser composed women (Neptune and Compa) had their jaws slightly parted at the information. However, those of more composure capability such as IF, Noire, Vert, Raven and Lucy narrowed their eyes in silent worry/concern, though for Raven it was much less impacting for her due to her origins. "Nepu..." the preteen CPU muttered under her breath. "... Geez, this sounds like its going to be something dark. Ugh, haven't we had enough of such dark scenes already? First we get our behinds tossed about, we then lose, and now this? This fan-fiction's trying to kill the franchise, I swear!"

"Oh my goodness..." Compa muttered whilst everyone else ignored the purplette's fourth wall breaking. After all, it was only so that she could cope with what was happening, especially hearing about such an incident like this. She couldn't remember it well, but there was a time when her grandpa had been really worried and protective of her. It had been when she was 6... coincidentally that was 10 years ago. Could her grandfather have been worried sick that she too would have vanished like those children? She vaguely recalled him looking at her like she was about to vanish before his very eyes...

My goodness indeed...

'To think... something like this, something so awful happened in my Nation, and I knew nothing about it...' Vert thought to herself whilst feeling like one of the most idiotic leaders on the planet. Her inner frustration, which was quickly expanding through her gut, felt more and more like a pool of boiling hot lava that threatened to incinerate her insides from within. If the thing with Yvoire and Nico wasn't enough, the Demonic Invasion, that strange man with Conversation and now THIS just HAD to follow suit. It was almost suffocating just how much she had failed her Nation, how much all the CPUs had failed in their most important duty, as the former Goddess had decreed of them. Just how many more examples did she need to have before the world decided she had seen enough for her to realize she was a terrible leader?

"With the way you're talking about this..." IF began, getting everyone's attention as she furrowed her brows. Throughout this entire moment of silence, her mind had been whirling with possible theories and ideas behind what this could mean with regards to their resident redhead male, and one such idea was that this was connected to Ghouls, just like he was. She also had a hunch, one that felt like it would be confirmed soon, but a hunch nonetheless as to what this secret Nico had was. She still hoped she was wrong though, even with the abundance of evidence before her. "You say it like there was more to this incident than you're letting on."

Helen gave a grave nod after glancing towards Neptune and Noire, the brunette easily noticing the look of sorrow and depression in her eyes. "You would be right, IF, as this is classified as a MULTI NATIONAL incident." she told them. "By that, I mean that Leanbox wasn't the only nation effected: children from Lowee, Planeptune and Lastation also vanished, and a noticeable portion of them as well."

"W-WHAT?!" Noire and even Neptune shrieked together, not even caring that they had done so in favor of the revelation that had been dropped on them just now. For a moment, they were so shocked that their minds blue-screened, before their brains kicked it into high gear and they quickly processed what they had just heard. Thus, their reaction to this news... disturbed them more than a little, understandably so. "WHAT THE HECK?!"

The woman merely nodded at them, darkness flashing through her eyes as she remembered these events. They were the start of her grudge towards the ruling bodies of this corrupt, twisted world after all. "That's right... they disappeared and were not seen for over 5 years straight." Helen explained, giving Compa a knowing glance as the Spirit Girl blinked owlishly, an 'eh?' escaping her lips. Just a second later however, she realized what it was she was hinting a, and her skin became ghostly pale as a result. "We don't have much evidence, however 5 years afterwards children whom had been previously declared MIA were found walking back into their hometowns, having grown up from their previous ages sure, but... they were changed. This change had been permanent, and showed obvious signs that it had been that way for a long time, therefore we assume that they had this change imprinted upon them soon after their disappearance."

Pausing in her speech, Helen furrowed her brows as she twirled on her chair, going to her laptop and pressing a few keys on the keyboard, and a second later a holographic screen showing a file report appeared before their eyes. "Each of them had gone through what appeared to be some form of surgical procedure. We coined this the 'One Eyed Surgery', as one of the biggest trademarks of this change was the fact that one of their eyes, be it their left or their right, would turn black in sclera and crimson red in iris whenever these kids were agitated, some even sported crimson veins over their faces when the change happened, others didn't." she told them, letting them see several pictures of young-looking children, between the ages of 8 to 11, each looking horribly battered like they had just come out of a war-zone, clothed only in tattered rags. What was most noticeable however, as much as how horrifying their states looked, were the fact that one of theirs looked exactly like the descriptions Helen had given them.

Mismatched, one human, one not so much.

"Wait... you're saying...?!"

Pretty soon, it all began to dawn on them at this point, on what Helen had been leading up to. All the girls, including Raven and Lucy, quickly began to realize the dreaded truth of the matter. IF, on her side, cursed under her breath as she gritted her teeth in distaste. She had hoped her hunch was wrong, that Nico DIDN'T have such a burden on his shoulders in spite of the massive pile of evidence against her. 'Tch, so THAT'S what's been going on, huh...?' she thought to herself, outwardly appearing to be a mix of calm and angry if that made any sense, whilst internally...

"Yes..." Helen replied, confirming their fears as she nodded in solemn sadness. "Nico was one of those children. I don't know wen it happened, but during those five years Nico had the One Eyed Surgery on him, likely against his will. Therefore, he became something of a mix being: a Hybrid, one of human and Ghoul. a One Eyed Ghoul, as one might call it."

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

... Well, wasn't THAT something?

 **(Play Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 OST - He who howls and rages)**

It was one thing to guess and speculate what Nico's secret had been, but to actually hear it for themselves with utmost clarity was something else entirely. Not to mention that, with the look on Helen's face right now, it would be all to apparent that she wasn't lying. No mother, not one, would lie about something as major as the freaking SPECIES of their children. Any that would, well, then they were not true mothers at all, since it proved that they were on some level, ashamed of their children. There was no way around that fact, no matter how hard they tried.

Taking their stunned silence as a sigh, Helen continued as she dismissed the projection by reaching over and pressing a few keys on the Laptop. "As you could summarize..." she began, lowering her head as her hair shadowed her eyes. She placed her hands on her lap, taking a breath to calm both her nerves, and the building fury within her. It wasn't these girls she should be angry at for making her boy like this after all. "One Eyed Ghouls like Nico are a... special case, and that's saying something. Some of the children possessed a special 'scent' which is a Ghoul/Human mix, singling them out and making them "enticing" for other Ghouls. Its been recorded how some Ghouls go absolutely bonkers over them because of this 'scent', and its been shown to be the case for every child. Like normal Ghouls, however, each Hybrid is unable to digest normal human foods, it just tastes so goddamn awful to them that they end up hurling it out when they get the chance, and if they don't it drastically weakens them. Nico is no exception to this, as you all have likely seen."

It was then, that Compa spoke up, her mind flashing back to the early days of her and Nico's childhood. "But, Mrs Hel-Hel, Ni-Ni was able to eat human food back at my place when we were kids. Doesn't that...?"

"Ah, that was more of a psychological thing, Compa. Back then, Nicky-Nick had... quite the few mental problems, still does apparently if what I've learned is any indication, and as such these problems caused him to 'think' that he was a normal human. So much so, that his body 'fooled' itself into thinking whatever it ate was edible, allowing him to live like a human. It didn't last long though, but I will get to that later, there is other important stuff we need to cover about Nicky-Nick's condition."

After pausing, she soon continued her lecture about Hybrids, no matter how much it hurt her. "Like Ghouls, Hybrids do possess what they call a Kagune..." she explained, pretty much summarizing the necessary information about each Kagune type and the Kagune themselves. "In my boy's case, he appears to be an even more unique case by having the ability to use 3 types of Kagune: Rinkaku, Bikaku and Koukaku. You've seen them in action, somewhat before I believe. Each one ha its own unique attributes, developed through cannibalizing Abnormals and psychological influences, such as his Rinkaku which is invisible thanks to internally vibrating at high speeds, faster than even the fastest HF Blade, to an extent where none of the 5 senses can perceive them. But it has been recorded that the more that a Hybrid is hurt, the stronger their base abilities become, hence why most of Nicky-Nick's training under me focused around this concept, it ended up helping his Ghoul side evolve more rapidly at the cost of him needing stronger drugs to suppress it which were administered by his Armour."

"Bu... But how can THAT be a thing?" Lucy questioned, putting empathizes on 'that' as she referred to what Helen had just told them. Hearing it from Helen's mouth, made her realize that like IF, and likely Raven too, that she too had her own suspicions about Nico's species. As the Spring Goddess, Lucy had a major connection to nature, and that included animals. One such ability that came from this was the ability to identify beings by their race, after all humans may not identify themselves as such in all their hubris, but they were indeed animals, they were indeed part of the animal kingdom. Therefore, she should have been able to easily identify Nico's species from a simple glance. However, as she thought about it, Lucy realized that somehow Nico had been the exception. Se couldn't sense his species, something which she could have done on anybody and anything with her senses. Perhaps this... surgery was the case, it muddled Nico's species up so much that she couldn't have identified him as the Spring Goddess, not to mention how him being a DPU didn't likely offer much assistance. "I mean, it wouldn't have been possible for that many 'Hybrids' as you say, to have been around without people knowing about them. They would have existed in flocks by now, probably had families of their own given how these days teenagers engage in sexual intercourse like rabid dogs in heat."

"...who says that those Hybrids are still around?"

"?"

Wen Helen mumbled those words to them, each of the girls became silent when they had been seconds away from voicing their agreement with the redhead Goddess' words. The sheer ominous atmosphere that was born from those words, felt thicker than the smoke generated by vast forest fires, sinking into their throats and threatening to cut off any and all air flow. In addition to that, the already thick and intense tension in the air throughout the room, it just skyrocketed like a rocket going into outer space at that question asked by the head of the WDD.

...

...

...

...

"...?!"

It wasn't long though, before horrified realization dawned on them as to a possible idea on where those Hybrids could have been this whole time. Everyone began to sweat bullets, their guts going ice cold, colder than when they faced the sight of death that had been Mundus back at the former Halo Mountain. No... No, say that wasn't the case! Say that humanity wasn't THAT sick towards their own! That was the majority opinion amongst the girls while, at their expressions, Aiden and Ivan had to look away, unable to bear the sight especially with what was about to come. One of the Guild's darkest secrets to date, way worse than anything Yvoire could have done.

"No..."

"Please don't tell me...!"

"Nepu!"

Helen looked at each of the girls with sad, resigned eyes, observing as dark thoughts swirled behind their eyes from what she had previously said. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't offer any positive response right now, not when things had become so shitty in her opinion. Therefore, she gave a resigned sigh as she straightened up on her seat. "The children, one would expect that it would be a joyous occasion right? That they would receive the help they deserve after a most-likely traumatizing experience, being turned from a normal person into a half human half Abnormal monster? That they'd get a happy ending after so much pain and abuse?" she questioned, although it sounded much more like a brutal statement. None of the girls dared to hope that those questions weren't rhetorical, not with the tone she used. Just then, a low bitter laugh escaped the woman's lips as the memories raced through her mind, before she finally spoke once more and confirmed their most dreaded fears. "Well, hate to burst your bubble, but that was the exact OPPOSITE of what really happened. Instead of getting the help they deserved, they instead were brutally executed, either by the Military of their home nations or what few relatives they had left. Military would line them up under the pretense of them being brought to their 'loved ones' only to be gunned down in streets, or sometimes stoned to death amongst other painful ones. They would be blindfolded for these,so they wouldn't know what was going to happen to them till the last second before death claims them. Ironically, the military were the nicer ones in those cases as their relatives would 'cleanse' them through torture, especially in Leanbox's case. Lady Vert, I assume you know what I'm talking about since you've done your homework on what happened during your absence. Never-mind how they wold be disowned and seen as 'hell-spawn' by their relatives. At least the ones the military axed off got a swift death, the ones with relatives weren't so lucky."

... No.

No, no, no!

That was wrong, that was wrong on so many freaking levels! That was disgusting, degrading and downright sickening! Something that sick, that twisted and downright EVIL shouldn't exist in this world! It just wasn't supposed to happen! Those thoughts circulated through the minds of the girls, the lesser composed ones taking a step back in sheer horror and revulsion. Disgust and sickened expressions formed on the faces of the more composed ones, not to mention raw fury burning through their eyes like atomic explosions. It reached a point where their throats felt the slimy, disgusting sensation of vomit, and it almost made them want to hurl at all the revolting images that got conjured into their minds from what hey just learned.

"Those...!" Noire muttered under her breath as she clenched her hands into fists, her arms heck her whole body trembling madly from the sheer rage burning within her. This wasn't the first time she felt this way, but by the Goddesses (oh the irony) she felt so freaking livid at this information. "Those freaking BASTARDS!" she yelled finally, unable to contain her violent emotions any longer. Oh, just hearing that her citizens took part in something like this... and she even found it easier to believe since she recalled their rather suspicious behavior about Nico through the preparation for the Gala. How they demeaned him and called him degrading names when they thought she wouldn't hear. In addition to how the Basilicom staff looked at him whenever she had seen him around them before they had departed from Lastation. It all made a disturbingly grim sense, yet also made a soul-igniting rage explode within her being. It took all of her willpower not to storm back to Lastation and look into this further, t find loopholes and punish those responsible for this outrage, She doubted Vert would disagree with how she felt right now, to if the look on her fellow CPU's face was anything to go by.

Something which got confirmed by the blonde woman a few moments later. "How... despicably inhumane of them...!" She muttered under her breath with the flames of rage burning like miniature suns behind her darkening blue eyes. Her lips tightened together to bite back the unladylike snarl that threatened to escape her lips, despite how much she felt SORELY tempted to break that rule a CPU had to follow. It took every ounce pf her mental strength not to do anything reckless. lest she damage her own Nation any more than she already had. Odds were, those who committed such atrocious acts had long since wiped out any evidence pertaining to their involvement in this, so it was't like she could do anything, not to mention that if she did punish those involved, it would severely damage Leanbox's recovery for the future.

Sometimes, like right now, she LOATHED the fact that she was a Goddess. It even made her wonder if regaining her powers was the right thing to do.

"Those guys are meanies!" Neptune exclaimed with her hands being thrown up tot the ceiling. Her expression looked like an angry one, mixed with the childish structure of her features. Even so, one could not doubt the intensity of the scorching heat her rage at this situation provided. Neptune had a childish nature at heart, she loved doing fun things and being happy. Who wouldn't? So, hearing of a situation with such a gory result for the children? It left a, sickening, sour and slimy taste to her mouth, not to mention made her want to go emo and do all that vengeance , the more she learned about her hubby's backstory, the more dark secrets she finds about him, the more pissed off she got. At this rate she might just pull a Guts and go ballistic. "What the heck gives them the right to do such nasty things?!"

Sighing sadly, as well with a fierce flame of anger mixed in, Helen responded as calmly as she could in this situation, though it took a large effort on her part to do so. "Power, Neptune. Power and stature protect them from rebuttal, from justice. Nobody would speak for their innocence since the children were half Abnormal, and as such society already labelled them as threats, even though they could have been a great help to us. Not to mention that the majority of Gamindustri is so fanatical when it comes to religion, ESPECIALLY in Leanbox, that actions such as these are rendered tolerable. As long as it goes with their 'beliefs' then there's no level of low that these people won't sink to." she explained, regret and remorse mixed with hot fury in her tone. Something that could be said about the rest of the girls too.

"And um... Ni-Ni was one of them...?" Compa, whom had been silent this whole time, questioned at last as she looked up, having kept her gaze lowered so her hair had shadowed her eyes. Her knuckles had been clenched so tight that they had become white from the lack of blood flow to them, heck she could barely even feel her fists at this point. Not like she cared though, not with what she had learned about the one whom held her affections.

Helen nodded her head, confirming what all of them suspected, not just the Nurse-In-Training. "Yes... Nicky-Nick was indeed one of those children... and arguably, he got some of the worse treatment from what few relatives he has, though as of current times they have disowned him." She explained. "I won't say what exactly they put them through, because I'm sorry but talking about this makes me want to explode, and I am NOT joking. However, I WILL say that I was the one who intervened and saved him from being executed by both the military and his former relatives. Though, I couldn't meet him yet, none of my 'superiors' would let me unless I started a process to get him into the Spec Ops Program. It would have taken a while, but I wanted to at least give him some small measure of happiness, so I had him stay with your grandfather, a friend of his parents, for a time, before he was eventually put into the Spec Ops Program a year later. I had to give up my career as a Spec Ops to save him, but that is of little consequence for me. If I was able to save the son of my old friends, then it would be well worth it."

On that, the girls could COMPLETELY agree with her, not to mention that aside from their sympathy for her plight, hearing this from her made their respect for the WDD head shoot through the roof. Helen then switched her gaze towards the Nurse-In-Training, who perked up the moment their eyes met. Remember when he left your home to join the Guild, Compa? Well, that was what he was instructed to tell you, when in reality the paperwork for his initiation into the Spec Ops Program, bypassing the exam, had been completed and he was to be shipped over to us on the double. Not to mention that he had an 'initiation mission' which involved the Racoon City Incident. This information has been highly classified, and you all have only been cleared for it thanks to witnessing Nicky-Nick's Ghoul side. Nevertheless, you can bet that this is one of his core reasons, aside from all the twisted psycho shit he's seen, for his current trust issues and reluctance to share any information."

So, there they had it. Part of the truth about Nico's backstory. None of the girls could be called true fools, not even Neptune. They weren't blind to the possibility that Nico's origins held some dark, twisted nature to them all, it was clear as day in how he acted. His violent tendencies, his natural distrust towards others, his loner-like behavior, all of it felt much more reasonable to them, even more so than when they learned of the psychotic crap that he had to deal with on a daily basis. But, the more that they learned about him, the more that they began to realize, just how much of an UNDERSTATEMENT dark and tragic really were as descriptions for his past. But, even if they only got this much information, none of the girls felt any desire to know more, for just knowing this much confirmed Nico's backstory to be one of the darkest in Gamindustri. Darker than a lot of OCs out there, they'd imagine.

If Neptune had been her usual happy-go-lucky self, she likely would have made a meta comment about the 'm rating really being deserving of this fanfic' or something...

But she didn't. How could she, when she had learned that someone she cared about had gone through something so traumatic? Alone at that?

"... So then..." This time, it was Raven who broke the silence, the silence that had been filled with the girls fuming over the information that they had just learned. About the injustice regarding those children. "What we just saw before... was that Nico's 'Kagune' or whatever?" she questioned slowly, and for the first time in a long while, the amount of fury inside her heart broke through her cold shell, allowing her eyes to light up in a clear blue glow. Heck, the temperature around her plummeted to a sub-zero-like temperature.

At this, Helen (who mentally thanked Raven for continuing the conversation so she didn't explode with fury at just the memory of those moments. Not just for her son, but for the children as well) gave a nod, all the while answering with. "You'd be both right and wrong about that, Mrs SAMURAI." Her words caused the blackette Spec Ops Agent to arch a brow, allowing Helen to continue with her explanation. "For you see, what Nico just entered back there, is both his Kagune yet also not. According to our research, the Ghoul species practice cannibalism just as Demons do, though for Ghouls they can gain 'mutations' for their Kagune if they consume Abnormal flesh. These mutations can grant them physical buffs, mind buffs, or even other ones. One such example is Nico's Bikaku Kagune which, as his Party here saw, has the power to launch those projectiles with lethal explosive potential. However, Ghouls who devour Abnormals have to be careful, for not only does it allow their Kagune to mutate and develop new powers, but it also increases their RC Cell reserves as well as allows them to form a second type of Kagune. One that acts more like an Armour than an actual weapon. In this state, we refer to this Kagune as: Kakuja."

"Kakjuja?"

Upon hearing that term, IF's eyes perked up as she remembered her research into Ghouls before her kidnapping. She hadn't seen that term min the books she found, but from the sounds of it this power seemed to have reasons for it to not be known to the this look in her eyes, Helen elaborated. "Correct, a Kakuja is a Ghoul who has this abnormal Kagune, one that further multiplies their existing powers or further diversifies them, making fighting one extraordinarily difficult. A Kakuja Ghoul could easily take on the upper tiers of Abnormals and come out on top due to the seer strength and physical ability they sport. Unfortunately, when this Kagune is formed, it is almost always in an incomplete state, therefore we refer tot his state as an incomplete or 'half' Kakuja. They can complete it by cannibalizing their own kind or other Abnormals, but this process is both long and tedious, with few exceptions. Worse, during this time, when a Ghoul activates this incomplete Kakuja, their minds and sanity are totally eroded, down to a level that is best described as mad savagery, turning them into mindless psychotic berserkers who can't identify friend from foe. That is what Nico possesses, not to mention what he went into before you arrived here."

At this, IF's eyes widened along with everyone else, though Aiden and Ivan stayed out of it, as the brunette poke the question that formed on everyone's minds. "But how the heck has Nico got such a thing? I mean, it wasn't often that he had many opportunities to... hunt, when we traveled together." she questioned, but this time Helen didn't respond. Instead, she looked at IF with a knowing gaze,as if expecting her to figure it out. The brunette thought about it after a moment of confusion... before it finally dawned on her, just like the rest of the girls including Neptune and Compa. Surprising, though since it involves Nico, those two possess much more intellect than they would normally. "He's already had it since before we all met, hasn't he?"

"Yup. From the very beginning."

 **(OST end)**

* * *

In the late afternoon, early evening...

The moment that he was cleared by both Biko and his Ghoul Persona (whom suddenly looked a whole lot more beat up in a close amount of time) to finally leave after what felt like days in the Inner world (but in real time, would have only been like hours), Nico finally began to feel his consciousness return to the real world. Things in the Inner World had ended on as high a note as Nico could get right now, which wasn't very high. Not with his Ghoul Persona now traumatized just like how Nico himself was. His trauma seemed more like the quiet one which didn't let the host know it was there save for small instances, small nudges in directions which the trauma controlled, making it like those shadowy figures who controlled world leaders behind the scenes. Kind of like a back stage director of a play, now that he thought about it. There would be time for them to help cure that Trauma before it became a problem however, fortunately enough since this trauma PALED in comparison to Nico's own. The fear of death had been implanted into his Ghoul Persona through that attack, the fear of death and fading out of existence, that would have been their fate should they have completely taken that attack.

Though, when his eyelids lifted Nico soon wished he didn't once he felt what happened next.

The very SECOND that he opened his eyes and found himself in said world, Nico winced to himself when his whole body erupted with pain, pain and aches which assaulted every cell in his body. He would have cried out, if he had not already gotten used to this sort of feeling long ago, therefore Nico just hissed and made to endure it. There had been many moments in his lifetime where he'd been in a whole world of pain, so something told him that his body was starting to build up a tolerance for it. Would make sense, considering the condition his body had all the time since he first woke up with partial amnesia. He wouldn't bother trying to describe what kind of pain he was feeling, but suffice it to say that it would have driven a normal person to commit suicide. That was just how bad he always felt whenever he lost himself when using that form.

By form, he meant the Kakuja that had automatically activated after he had gotten hit by that attack from Mundus.

His Ghoul Persona told him everything, and now that he was back in the real world, the memories of that time hit him like a set of wooden bricks falling on top of his head. How thanks to that attack, his soul and mind temporarily shut down when they received that damaging attack, therefore allowing his Ghoul side to take over. In that state, Nico's Kakuja had activated, and in any normal circumstance that would have been a major sign to run, hide and pray he didn't find you otherwise you'd become his meal. He should know, after all he had experienced THAT first hand. Fortunately, this was NOT normal in terms of circumstance, as thanks to that Soul Attack as he now called it, Nico's Ghoul side had been pretty much reduced to the primitive instinct to get the fuck away from the area. Kind of like how animals would try to leave an area after just barely escaping a superior predator's path.

How it stung to think of himself in such a way after his defeat by Mundus' hands...

Afterwards, his Kakuja driven self had fled to a far away forest, how far he didn't exactly know but just from what he could remember of the journey Nico assumed it was within the southern areas of the Landmass, before his Kakuja had began eating everything that looked 'meaty' enough. AT that time, his hunger completely dominated his senses, as well as his fear of that energy. He ate and ate and ate, each meal being either a normal monster or an Abnormal, the latter being more common as apparently, from what he could recall, it had been an Abnormal dominated area. All of that food had been to simply restore himself, as if his Ghoul Side had been trying to restore his soul only to barely do anything to it, no matter how hard he tried. The last thing he recalled, was emerging from that Kakuja state, weak and disoriented, before he escaped the cave and fell unconscious.

Nico shook his head, pushing through the pain as he sat up, clutching his chest as he grimaced. His blue eyes shone with annoyance and other complex emotions, all to do with the previous events that had happened. He didn't even want to THINK about how those Spec Ops Agents that had been sent after him had managed to beat him into the ground once they found him... and according to his Aspects, it had taken them about 2 days to track him, and then a whole third day to finally beat him to a point where his Kakuja had to forcibly revert just to save his skin. Not to mention that he could recall their faces clearly, thus Nico DEFINITELY felt like he had gotten off much better than what he had in the past.

'In the end though... since the girls saw my Kakuja, its likely mom will have informed them of everything..' Nico thought to himself, frowning in resignation as he slouched on the bed, not caring that he only seemed to be in his pajama bottoms right now. Already he imagined how the girls would react, how they would be disgusted with him and no longer want anything to do with him. Whatever 'friendship' they thought they had with him would have been severed the moment they saw his true nature, and they would wash their hands of him, just like what everyone else did the moment they learned of what he truly was. Nico cursed as he recalled brief moments of that... torment... he went through before he met Compa and her grandfather, the sheer agony and depression, it almost consumed him and made him go insane.

Even so, this had been the moment that Nico both feared would come to pass... and also, sort of hoped would come sooner rather than later. He had mixed feelings, though not at first as one might guess. When did his feelings start to change regarding his Ghoul side, one might ask? If they did ask him, he'd likely not respond, but in his mind he'd say something like during the Hellverse incident when he realized that he couldn't continue hiding his full power if he wanted to help the girls on their Quest. On one side, he still worried about this any, because 90% of his mind told him with absolute certainty that when they did realize the truth that they would abandon him. It had been telling him tat monsters like him didn't deserve any form of companionship like he had been experiencing since the start of this little adventure, but on the other hand that small, 10% had been trying to bring something into the forefront of his mind, something that honestly gave him room to think about what would happen:

That at least he'd not have to worry about this secret anymore.

What he meant by that, was that once his comrades found out about his Ghoul side, he no longer would have to worry about keeping it hidden. That at least now that they knew, he would have less to hide from them, a thought process that felt like an odd form of weight being lifted from his shoulders. This process wasn't something Nico believed would happen though, not with his prior experience. If family could betray each other and torment each other like they did back then, if they could do so many heinous things without a second thought, just what was the point of thinking that his companions would be any different? Seriously, they fought against monsters in many forms on a daily basis, therefore they will have gained a vehement hatred for them already, or at least have become heavily biased towards them. So, what was the point hoping that they would accept or even give a damn about a freak of nature like him? Nico may now be fine with what he was, but that did NOT apply for the rest of the world.

At this point, part of Nico wanted to hear from Biko again, to hear his voice inside his mind which would serve the purpose of calming him. It always did feel comforting, having someone he could confide in even if it was just himself. Nobody said that he was completely sane after all, since he conversed with himself and got answers back. Not like anyone ever tried to help aside from his Mother, and even then she could only do so much. However, no dice, the link between them was for the first time... silent. Nico didn't feel much surprised from this though. Biko had told him this would be the case before he left for the real world as soon as he was able, however. He had explained that, even though his Demonic Powers weren't as damaged by that attack as his Ghoul side had been, i still ad suffered some damage. That damage resulted in Nico's link to his Demon Persona being reduced to silence, partially damaged thus resulting in them being unable to communicate. Of course, by that he didn't mean it was gone entirely, it was just that now if they wanted to talk, Biko would have to drag his consciousness back into his Inner World, something which they decided would only happen once Nico was guaranteed to be alone for a long time period, as in real time not Inner World time.

His Ghoul side DEFINITELY wouldn't be able to talk to him though, since it took the full brunt of his attacks, but it DID mean that his Ghoul Side would experience... problems, until they would recover. What those problems would be, his Ghoul side refused to say, something which somewhat made him relieved that some of its asshole personality had returned, if partially.

Glancing about, Nico finally looked about to find out where he was, and when he did Nico realized that he had wound up in the EXACT same Guest Room which he had

'SIGH... I'm alone for the first time in a long while... aside from that thing with Ouranos... but still. I'm alone now, since my Ghoul side is silent... along with Biko...'

Just as he began to sink deeper into a depressed state of resignation for his fate, the sound of his door being unlocked filled his ears, causing them to twitch as his heart rate began to thunder within the confines of his torso. Not to mention that it increased the feeling of resignation blossoming within him as well, making him mentally sigh. 'Whelp, time to face the music...' he thought to himself (also mentally struggling to control his Kakugan eye which he used to look in that direction, odds were that thanks to his Ghoul side being damaged, the lack of control over his Kakugan would be one of the problems it had mentioned). Therefore, as the door opened...

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Nico almost got blindsided by a purple missile, one that suddenly shot through the room from the entrance at bullet speed and collided with the teen's torso. Instantly, the said male stifled a gasp that threatened to escape his lips once he felt the feeling of arms wrapping around him. In the next second, Nico found a mob of purple hair attached to a familiar head bury itself into his chest, shaking itself against that body part whilst mumbles of contentment filled the air. "H-Huh? N-Neptune?"

"Ahhhhh, this is the bomb... been a while since I got to do this..." the purplette muttered under her breath though his enhanced senses caught it. Nico could only look downward at her with a look of utter bafflement on his features, features that soon shifted into shock when he felt the telltale sensation of a Rinkaku Tentacle suddenly emerging from the back of is waist. Instinctively snapping into action, Nico grabbed it by the tip before it could impale the preteen through her back. 'Whew, that was a close one!' the male thought, mentally thanking his Ghoul side (not something that he expected to be thinking about) that it gave him strong enough Skin to resist the Rinkaku's Vibrations.

The teen figured that this was another problem with his Ghoul side, that it's little 'mechanism' for self defense had gone out of whack, now recognizing anything that got into contact with him as a threat to be extinguished. It was usually something that only occurred when certain conditions were't met by the victim, such as him trusting them to a certain degree, and not just him but his Ghoul side too. Furthermore, they had to have an aura of 'strength' which spoke more to his Ghoul side than Nico himself, a strength which would tell it to not mess with them if it wanted to keep its bits intact. Now though, thanks to that attack, Nico feared that the Kagune would react to anyone who got too close right now, the male had to bite back a hiss as he felt the Tentacle in his grasp straining against his grip, trying to break free and spear the one holding him in place. 'Tch, this'll e a problem if I don't constrain this thing soon...!' the teen thought to himself. Thankfully, he had managed to rein in the other aspects of his Kagune, all three types to be frank, so it took him a few seconds to regain control over it and force it back into his body.

"Yeah, I kinda expected something like that to happen, honestly..."

Soon enough, Nico glanced to the side again and noticed that the other girls, plus Team RAIL and the other two CPUs Noire and Vert, walked into the room following Neptune's little... introduction. The more that came in, the more that Nico began to get the feeling that he was being trapped inside a cage, cornered so that he wouldn't be able to escape what would be happening next. Of course, Nico knew he could just Warp out of there, he still felt a marginally strong connection to his Demonic Energy reserves to do so. Raw power would not be best for this situation, and Nico knew it... though, it wasn't like running away was an option either. Not when he felt that he owe it tot hem to give them any explanation regarding questions about his Ghoul side. Whatever happened next would be up to them to decide... although Nico already had a strong expectation of the following outcome.

"You guys..."

That was all he muttered with surprise etched onto his features, already wanting to examine their emotions but didn't. Mostly because he had been afraid of what he would end up finding. Every time he tried to do so, he felt this icy cold feeling in his gut which stopped him from doing it at the very last second, almost like his mind would SCREAM at him that continuing that would be classed as a crime to his comrades. Comrades whom he'd spent days forging camaraderie with... so how could he just snitch on them by reading their emotions? No, he'd rather save that for anyone he would class as an enemy or at least not someone he could trust.

"You'd have been surprised at how much it took for us to convince Nep NOT to go any further than this you know."

IF spoke that while crossing her arms beneath her chest, her eyes regarding his. She had an unreadable expression on her face, something which made him feel like he had been stung by a bunch of bees at how she had closed up everything. That had to mean she was mad at him, and to be frank, Nico couldn't blame her. If this was a courtroom, he'd be the defendant and these girls would be the cold and unforgiving jury. "Originally, Nep wanted to tie you down and keep you from leaving this very room, so she could take care of you for the rest of your life."

"That's... kinda extreme." Nico commented, and whilst he looked down at the preteen whom had been giving him that look, that look any girl gives when their partner had did something naughty and they were going to punish that person for it. Didn't do much to make him feel any better, but he didn't expect anything else. Even so, a part of him couldn't help but form a pit of dryness in his stomach which became the basis for his next comment. "Sounds like something Neptune here would do."

The sounds of boots stepping forwards filled his ears, and when he looked over to the source he found that it was Raven, the black aired Spec Ops Agent having rested one hand on her Odachi's bottom whilst the other hung at her side. "Alright, lets get to the heart of the mater, no point trying to skirt our way around it." she stated with a cold tone, colder than normal along with an underlying commanding edge to it. One that could only come from a seasoned disciplined commander of a fierce and rough military unit. It DEFINITELY got the message across as IF used a couple Tendrils to yank a certain preteen away from Nico's form. Neptune didn't even try to resist, not with what would be happening next. "DEATHSTROKE, we know. We know about your Ghoul side, your mother told us about it." she stated it, she didn't try to hide the facts from him.

Something which Nico honestly found refreshing considering the circumstances. "Yeah, that's only to be expected of her..." he muttered, looking down a the sheets. He expected this to turn ugly, but it didn't stop the remorse from etching itself onto is features. "Its one of the regulations that happens whenever someone discovers my Ghoul side in action, then they are sworn to secrecy about it."

"That makes sense." IF remarked, once again bringing everyone's attention to her. as she continued. "From what we earned, sounds like a pretty big secret, one that if got out, a whole load of bullshit will fall onto the Spec Ops program for harboring someone like that. Pretty sure there'll be other skeletons in their closet too, as with many organisations these days." With everything cycling through him, Nico couldn't help but think that she had an idea as to what Yvoire and him had been talking about when she said that, but didn't say his thoughts on the matter. "She DID tell us not to tell anyone outside of the room what we learned about you, that it was an S ranked classified secret."

At this point, Raven cut into the conversation once more, looking directly towards Nico when she spoke. "In any case, it isn't surprising that this is happening." Raven said getting Nico to look at her again. "Its no secret that you have knowledge about matters that you don't share, you're not someone who disclosed information lightly. Its only to be expected of someone in this profession. However, now that we DO know of your situation," was it just him, or did the room get slightly colder when she spoke just now? Nico felt SURE he wasn't the only one who noticed. "we'd like to hear your side of the story."

...

...

...

...

... Huh?

Wait, what? The redhead Agent couldn't help the surges of confusion swirling within his stomach, replacing some of his resignation as he registered those words. "My side?" Nico questioned, his tone carrying no small amount of disbelief and confusion with his tone. That... wasn't something that he expected, where was Raven going with this? He had expected her to try and kill him already, same with the girls. Where was this conversation going now? In the past, h never got o tell his side of the story or anything really, he never got the chance to. Nor would anyone listen to him. Suddenly, Nico felt out of his element, but even so he forced himself to remain calm for this situation, even with many voices in his head screaming at him in protest. At her nod, Nico took a moment to stare at her in befuddled silence, before he finally took a risk and settled for taking a deep, shaky breath. Geez, he felt so close to losing it right now sue to the alien territory he was venturing in, but just from looking at their faces Nico could tell that this was the only option he had available to , he spoke once more, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "Well, as you all know, I am unable to recall the moment I became this way. The memories of my life from 6 to 11 are practically a void to me." He began. "I mean, there have been times where I receive nightmarish visions and hallucinations that I think are connected to my past, but i'm not sure since well, amnesia. Not to mention that through Neptune and Compa's adventure I've been slowly recalling a few distorted images but little else of use."

"Have there been others that found out before us?" Raven questioned.

After a moment of silence, Raven made to ask again when Nico nodded his head. "Yes and no at the same time. There have been more than a dozen instances through the last 5 years where someone has found out about my Ghoul side. All of them however had... very negative responses to it, and would have tried to sue the Spec Ops program, the Guild and the Basilicom for it. Therefore, the governing powers of the Nations these people lived on took it upon themselves to have these people... remain silent forever." He explained, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what he meant by that. Judging by the looks of shock and outrage on their faces, he correctly figured the girls did too. "It wasn't just limited to those people though, the rest of their families were lead to believe they had fallen victim to a different fate, and any who tried to question them ended up getting the same treatment. They would just repeat that cycle until people finally got the message to NOT talk about whatever they tell you not to talk about."

"Me and Aiden can confirm that." Ivan spoke, the two boys having followed the girls in so Nico hadn;t noticed their present. They stood by the door on the left and right sides respectively, though it had been the former who'd spoken whilst the latter remained quiet. Though, if they looked into his eyes they would tell that he agreed with Ivan's word. "Me and him found out due to some circumstances, and we were sworn to not tell anyone or else consequences would befall us. Those guys'll go to any lengths to keep Nico's identity a secret from the world, murder, blackmail you name it."

At this, Lucy narrowed her eyes distaste shining through them at the things she had just found out. "I felt something like that might be the case the more I thought about it... but to hear its true really grinds my gears..." she mumbled, though everyone around her heard it. They too shared that feeling, to hear that someone will go to such lengths to keep such a secret. Just went to show just how important this secret was, not to mention it had already been confirmed that the Guild and Basilicom want Nico as their guard dog, their hound to keep people in line. None of them would want any info of his nature to be public knowledge.

"You'd be right on the money there..." Nico responded, looking down at the sheets once more. The fact that these girls were discussing something like that threw him off somewhat, but his thoughts on the inevitable outcome this conversation had still remained firm in his mind. Whatever would happen, the end result would be the same, that was what he thought. Though, he did have good reason to think that, any who did find out were usually repulsed by him and the higher ups were forced to 'silence' those who looked like they would talk. Why should he expect anything different here? After all, HE was the dangerous freak here, HE was the monster that should be treated as such. It wasn't like he had much humanity left to begin with, you know? "In any case-"

"Oh, stop being such a downer, Nicky!"

"?!"

Suddenly, Nico gasped when Neptune suddenly jumped back onto the bed, landing on her knees on the space between where his legs were whilst facing him. Before he could react, Nico suddenly felt one of his Rinkaku Tentacles surge out of his waist, quickly curving towards Neptune#s face in a matter of seconds. 'Crap, I won't be able to stop it!' the male exclaimed in his mind, his instinctual need to save her kicking in which resulted in the Tentacle becoming completely visible. Even so, it would have about 05 seconds before stabbing through Neptune, much to his horror as his form lost all colour...

Only for Neptune to suddenly catch it in her arms and pull the Tentacle into her chest as if hugging it.

...

...

...

"Wait... wha?!"

"There's no need for any depression from your end, mister buster." She stated, waving a finger at him without breaking her embrace. Neptune's dark lilac eyes bore into Nico's own blue ones, ones which were filled with befuddlement and disbelief over what just happened. "No need, whatsoever, so Nepping stop it, got it? Your wifey will punish you, if you don't!"

... What the hell?! What's freaking happening right now?! That was what Nico thought to himself as he stared wide eyed at the preteen before him. Hell he wasn't even sure if he should classify her as before him or just nigh on top of him due to their close proximity. Shock and confusion now reined supreme over his mind, leaving him acutely stunned and uncomprehending over what was happening right now. What the hell, did Neptune just grab his Tentacle before it could impale her, then hug it? What was she doing? Didn't she know that thing was meant to only kill people, why the hell was she EMBRACING IT?!

Before he could respond however, another person joined the fray, as evident by how the bed creaked and groaned to signify this. "Ni-Ni, may I please see your eye?" The timid voice of Compa, though it definitely DIDN'T seem as such right now, sounded off making him look at her to see that she had her face super close to his. So much so that if she leaned more they would be kissing right now, not something a prudish guy like him would be able to handle. Even so, Compa continued with this earnest, intense gaze in her creamy colored eyes. "Its been bugging me since I found out about it, but... could I see it again? Nurse Compa wants to see if there's any problems with it."

Seeing that gaze and despite the confusion that was KILLING him right now, Nico could not help but acknowledge her request. It was like she ha him spellbound by her gaze alone, something which made a tinge of amusement explode inside him as Nico blinked, his left eye quickly activating it's Kakugan as he withdrew his hold over it. 'Do these girls not see i'm struggling to control my Ghoul side right fucking now? Are they really that careless?' he couldn't help but wonder whilst Compa examined the eye in its current state. A humming sound escaped the Nurse-In-Training's lips as she examined it like a scientist would a new breed of animal, all the while mumbling things like 'weird, why does it not cause heterochromic problems?' or 'how does the iris and sclera change like that?'.

"My, I must admit that, despite everything, this is still quite intriguing..." Soon enough, Vert joined the fray, sitting on the male's right side after moving onto the mentioned side of the bed. "These Tentacles match some of the hentai art that I've seen on the internet. I think one was called 'BB' or something..." The woman remarked as she observed Nico's Rinkaku Tentacle with rapt attention, several... scenes playing out in her mind which gave her a small nosebleed. Understandably, the redhead Spec Ops shuddered in dread.

A sigh erupted from Noire's lips, the Lastation CPU having been silent during the entire conversation. Finding a wooden chair in the room, Noire pulled it up beside the bed, sat down and elegantly crossed one leg over the other. "Honestly Nico, it should be obvious that this would happen, you know." she told him, before she noticed just how... crowded, it had become for the male. "Seriously you guys, could you all just give the guy some space?!" she exclaimed, quickly making to pull some of the others back to give Nico some breathing room. Though, Noire did end up making it a bit more difficult for the male.

At this point, Nico so DESPERATELY wanted an answer as to what was going on, and at this point he finally, FINALLY got an answer when Lucy stepped towards the side of the bed, putting her hand on his shoulder. He then looked at her whilst Compa lost herself in thought and Neptune aimed a jealous glare her direction that the Spirit girl ignored. "Don;t think this changes anything, Nicky-Dear. We've all been aware that you're not the most forthcoming person in the world." she told him in a calm, soothing voice that would look the best on a motherly figure, or at lest someone willing to comfort a loved one. "Myself, Ravey, Ivy, Aidy, Neppy, all of us know this, and have accepted it. This right here," she said, gesturing to his eye as well as his Ghoulish Kagune (which he didn't even realize had released itself). "Is just another thing we'll accept about you."

"B-But... Don't you all hate Abnormals? They've been terrorizing us for a goddamn long time now, took so many innocent lives, heck you all remember the Banshees right? Hell, i'm practically half Abnormal, the very same kind that we all hunt! There's more than enough reason, its only natural to hate them so why...?"

"Its quite simple, dude." IF stated to interject into the conversation. All the while, Ivan and Aiden looked like they had just dodged bullets with how much relief excluded from their auras. They now had lax positions, as well as small smirks on their faces. "Its not that hard to accept, cause look at all of us. A lot of us are Goddesses like Nep, Noire, Vert and Lucy. Raven's an unknown, and Compa is basically divine angel at this point, while I'm a walking Apocalypse. Just how could we hate you for what you are when none of us are exactly normal ourselves? Hypocritical much? In the end, to be frank you being like this actually helps you fit in even more. We're no ordinary heroes, in fact we're more monstrous than heroic anyways."

Monsters...

A group of Monsters. That was what they were.

And yet... Nico honestly didn't feel like he minded this much. If anything, it actually felt much more liberating than he had expected. And yet, all that only added to his confusion instead of solved it. Nico had no idea how this could have bee possible, how this could have been achievable in this day and age. Everything he had known to be the case had been flipped on its head in one swift speech, now combined with everything else, little made any actual sense to him anymore. As a side note, Nico's Kagune didn't try to attack his comrades right now, as if the acceptance of the girls had helped it somewhat get over its paranoia and intense fear. Right now, each of the Rinkaku Tentacles were being poked and prodded by each of the girls, whom had begun bombarding him with questions about them. Questions that, after a moment, he decided to put his complex feelings aside so he could answer them.

Thinking about that stuff could wait, cause right now, even if he had no clue how it was possible, he would definitely enjoy this little moment. For what it was worth, this...

Did this mark the first time in years that he felt so peaceful and tranquil?

Huh, who knows?

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **WHEW, a long Chapter done! Been a big one, too with everything that's happened.**

 **Now, we've finally gotten clarification about Nico's Ghoul side to the girls, as well as some of the events that have been foreshadowed for a while now. Whenever Nico had talked about betrayal, this had been it, the moment where every child whom had been forcibly converted into an Artificial One Eyed Ghoul was axed off either by their own relatives and loved ones, or the military. Can you imagine what that might have been like? To see your loved ones and think things would look up, only to have the rug of comfort pulled from under you and then death catches you at last? Nico barely survived it, and thus his distrust for others was born. Helen was an exception from the start as she had been the one to save him, showing that 'family isn't always those who are related by blood'... actually, that sounds kinda sad.**

 **Second, is the reaction to the situation by the girls that Lucy and IF told Nico about at the end. Now, there have been many fanfics where they say tat the hero instantly gets over his trauma when these words are said, leading to a happy joyous moment. However, I'm going to go down a different route, remember how in Berserk Guts is still dealing with his mental issues even with his choice to protect Casca? I'm doing something similar, which will show just how complex Nico as a character is, complex and more importantly 'human'. Nico sees himself as a monster, we all know that and for good reason, but there are monsters in anime that are more human than humans themselves. Just take a look at Cole: a Conduit from InFAMOUS. Or Piccolo from Dragon Ball. Its simply another theme that this story is tackling, the different and similarities between humans and monsters. Anyways, all of this points to the fact that, Nico just went through something that went completely against what he had been initially brought up to believe: that nobody would accept him and that he would be alone for his entire life. I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure NOBODY would get over something like that so quickly. It will take some time for Nico to come to terms with this, which I believe will be some good character development.**

 **Thirdly, is the stuff with his Ghoul side. Nico went up against something that is pretty much death itself, and he was using his Ghoul powers to do it. When he got hit at the end there, it damaged his soul immensely, as in very badly. Worse is, is that it damaged his Ghoul side the most rather than his Demonic Powers, which will be occupied for a while in restoring Nico's Soul. With some consequences thrown in. Not even his Ghoul side is immune to trauma, as it is an aspect of Nico himself. All of it, plus the way his Inner World looked and Biko's state, is to show just how bad that attack had wrecked Nico's shit. Its basically a complete defeat for him, even if Mundus spared him in the aftermath.**


	152. Chapter 149 - A Surprise Visit

**Chapter 149 - A Surprise Visit**

"Heh, so that useful broad has already escaped onto the next nation... likely she's already begun her plans with that square eyed idiot..."

Mundus mused to himself whilst standing atop a mountain peek. He held a hand over his chin in a thoughtful manner, the other one being pocketed inside his Trench Coat as he overlooked the Surroundings. All around him, there was this black fog concealing his form, his power which came from the 'Edict of Death' which made even the air around him shift away, as if the threat of death itself caused the air to stay away from him. The man had his senses crossing over the entirety of Leanbox's Landmass, having kept a track of the movements of that 'weakling' Champion of Sparda. All in case they were to run into his 'accomplice' before she could escape onto Lowee. Fortunately... for those maggots, that had not been the case. Under his instruction, Arfoire had NOT been allowed to showcase what she could truly do as of yet due to her body needing to be developed a bit more. but once hey regrouped in Lowee that would be QUITE different.

Even so, the man had to 'relieve' himself with a nearby Village. As in, he took more than a couple dozen of their women (mostly the ones in their preteen stages) to have his way with for several days on end. He then saw no more use for the village and practically torched the damn place without leaving anything that could lead back to him. He wasn't exactly at full power yet, plus he didn't want those 'annoying ones' to key in on his location. Looking at this situation now, Mundus recalled to a time in the past, a time when the continents here were all one big giant ass one, and lastly there were way more beings in this pathetic world than there were now. He remembered being at the pinnacle of his power, being known as one of the greatest beings known to Gamindustri, where everyone feared and respected him, pretty much green lighting him to do anything he pleased. Nobody would be able to question him, nobody would be able to go against him, and anyone who tried either got crushed by his legions of Demonic creations, his own cultist following, or he 'made an example of' if it were a man. If it were a woman, well sluts like that would soon learn their place beneath him.

Everything had been perfect... and then the War started.

Just thinking about that time wiped that calm look off his face, replacing it with a furious snarl which would have looked much better on a wild animal. Mundus LOATHED those that participated in that war, especially those who sided against him. He also recalled the war's conclusion, or what he could recall since he had been sealed away from the world just like the rest of his brethren, the three original DPUs. He said three, because only him and the other two got sealed away, for the FOURTH one a different fate fell upon him. He had thought that he'd gotten rid of that scumbag for good that time, so he had been somewhat relieved when he got sealed, knowing that once he broke free of his 'resting place', Mundus would be able to wreck utter havoc with nobody to oppose him.

But NOPE, that asshole SPARDA just HAD to find a Champion somehow. A weakling Champion who deserved that power the least, but a champion nonetheless.

It honestly felt like a stupid joke that one of his fellow DPUs would play on these mortals for shits and giggles (then go about screwing entire brothels just for the lols, making more Demons along the way) or whatever the shit that he had gotten into. Mundus didn't know everything about that paper-eyed geezer, nor did he care to. In fact, Sparda would be the only being whom he would acknowledge as his natural enemy, his complete opposite. Their powers for one were like that, him having the power to destroy and Mundus having power stemmed from his understanding of the Edict of Death.

Even so, he spared the kid since, whilst he was a weakling now, there was still potential within him yet untapped. Proof showed itself as him being able to use Ghoul powers, something which was known back then to be the DPUs anti-thesis thanks to Sparda. He'd feel much better, plus it'd be a much better way to stick it to his former archenemy, to take his champion down once he reached the pinnacle of his power, that would show him that Mundus was the strongest DPU. He would be the sole True God of this world, and death would rule with the iron fist that it once did before!

That was his goal... and that slut (Arboire, was it? Meh, he didn't know or care) would help him.

But first, he needed to get her into fighting shape, the standards of this era were practically abysmal compared to what he was used to back in his era. The fact that they had trouble with those so called 'X Class Abnormals' made Mundus sick, since the fighters back in his time would have ate those ants for breakfast. These 'X ranked' would be considered the bottom of the food chain back then, that just SCREAMS the difference in capability between their eras.

Hopefully SOMETHING would happen which would prove even marginally entertaining in this shitty time period.

* * *

You know… the thought of taking a break from everything had never felt as appealing to him than right at this moment. He honestly couldn't believe how good it felt to finally be able to just 'step back' and think things over, without the threat of something going wrong or unnaturally strong enemies breathing down his neck. It... helped him sort things out more than he would ever care to admit.

That was what Nico thought to himself as he hopped through a forest, jumping from tree branch to tree branch as he moved along on his trip back to Leanbox's Capital MICROSOFT, having just completed his last Abnormal Quest for the day. Now, all he looked forward to would be the chance to relax and let his body recover after everything that had happened, and by the Goddess did a whole LOAD of shit happen. It had happened so fast that the redhead male could hardly comprehend it all with his usual speed, and he did feel like his ability to comprehend things wasn't anything minor at least.

A feeling similar to an adrenaline rush pumped through his veins, filling him up and leaving him on high as if he had taken a dose of drugs. It prompted him too keep pushing and pushing, to go faster and faster, faster than anything that could have ever gone. The wind gently caressed his features like the soft, tender and loving hand of a mother brushing through her child's hair protectively. It filled him with this warmth which could only come from the air itself, a unique type of warmth which had been a companion to him for a long time now. In addition, this feeling soothed his mind, gently washing his worries and doubts away and along a gently flowing river. Honestly, this state he found himself in as he moved through the forest at his own pace, it felt almost therapeutic considering everything he felt bothered by. He only just now noticed this however, as in the past. Nico had always gotten something on his mind like a nagging voice at the back of his head. No, not his Ghoul Persona, although it did come out pretty often, rather every freaking problem that had come up in his lifetime always felt like that. If he were frank, then Nico would have wondered how the hell he hadn't got any white hair from all the stress that he'd been forced to endure. Maybe his Ghoul side had something to do with it? White hair...

Why did he get the feeling that had something to do with his past?

Shaking his head, Nico pushed it to the back of his mind as he landed on a particularly thick tree branch, then used it to jump high into the air, well above the forest-line. Whilst in the air, the male felt the urge to pull out his inner child, something he had not done for so goddamn long. In fact, the last time he did so was likely before he left Planeptune with the girls to come to Leanbox, unaware of the shit storm which would be coming their way. It, in all bluntness... made him feel giddy like a child on a sugar rush as a small smirk spread across his lips. Whilst in the air, Nico noticed a clearing rapidly approaching in the direction he was moving thanks to the trajectory of his jump. Thus, a plan formed in his mind as Nico pulled off more than a few tricks, such as back flips, twists, turns, spins and other stunts. He mixed them together with practiced ease, as if he were a stuntman jumping through a ring of fire, any mistake no matter how small potentially able to result in him suffering a great injury. Not like he had no experience with such considering what he had been through.

At the apex of the jump, Nico twirled around, and as soon as he did that he caught sight of the sun up in the skies. It looked to be setting right now, indicating that it was between the afternoon and evening hours if his mental calculations were correct. Just by seeing the sun setting before him, its reflection in his eyes (thanks to his Hellfire powers giving him a strong fire resistance allowing him to look at hot objects without suffering a migraine) making him view this sun as an exquisite piece of jewelry. His mouth looked like it was about to fall open at the beautiful sight of the colors blending together in harmony, producing this odd feeling of serenity even in the midst of all the chaos befalling Gamindustri.

'Wooooow... gorgeous...'

That sole though passed through his mind, and there was no need to elaborate any further than that.

When he found himself starting to descend downwards, Nico noticed that he was rapidly approaching the clearing, and with his position being upside down with his legs bent and his arms spread wide, Nico instantly reacted. The teen grinned to himself, biting back the cackle as the winds whipped at his face, all the while he would flip forwards multiple times like a spinning top, and when he would impact the ground the male planted both feet into it. A loud BOOM echoed upon impact as the male pulled several skating tricks, almost looking like he was sliding along a sheet of ice instead of solid ground, something only possible with high amounts of speed. All the while, Nico left a 3 foot long fissure behind his feet as he slid like he was surfing a wave on a surfboard, twisting the figure 8 more than a dozen times before he pulled one last 180 curve, one last curve before he stopped at last, a trail of dust accompanying him whilst his Trench Coat flowed in the trail's direction for a moment, until it lowered itself to his sides once more.

If there were any judges here, they'd likely rate his score... hopefully quite highly.

After he had stopped, Nico heaved a sigh of relief, eyes closed as his lips formed a whistling motion during his exhale, before he opened his eyes once more to survey his handiwork. The male couldn't help but be impressed with what he saw, especially the trail of constant wavy lines similar to figure 8's along the clearing's floor. Heck, they freaking went along half the clearing alone, a testament to how fast he had been going combined with his impact and force. 'Whew, man this sort of reminds me of those DNA Helix strands IF sometimes mentions for her research...' Nico couldn't help but think to himself whilst witnessing this sight.

This however, ended up with the male thinking back to the mess that he had spent a majority of his time ever since, trying to keep his distance from. Though, at this point the male felt like he had enough fun to finally tackle the abundance of problems which had cropped up from back then.

It had been about 6 to 7 days, give or take a week, since the events at Halo Mountain, and so far a whole hell LOT had been going on. Probably the most activity he had seen ever since the Racoon City Incident if he were to look at it in terms of scaling, the implications and the events that could happen in the future. After everything that had happened, Nico, Neptune and the rest of them returned to their everyday routines. Lucy had went off to do some of her duties as the Spring Goddess that called to her attention (although she did try to sneak a peck on him before she did so, but Raven stopped her). Raven herself took Aiden and Ivan on another series of Abnormal slaying quests, ones that took them to Lastation he believed. Seriously, that Nation has it the worst when it comes to Abnormals, and if he were to guess which had it worse when it came to Demons, Leanbox would be a hard contender to beat. He didn't know much about Lowee's situation though.

In addition, there seemed to have been a strong 'drive' born within the girl, especially Neptune and the CPUs,since as a result, each of them have thrown themselves into getting stronger through training. If one were to ask how dedicated they had become, Neptune even went as far as to forego PUDDING when asked (and quite easily too), in favor of training with either Murasama, Soul Calibur, her HDD form or other abilities.

Vert also did this, delegating the control of the nation temporarily to Yvoire in favor of training. When he had asked why, Vert had simply stated that there was a great enemy to face, one much worse than the CPUs so she would have to get stronger in order to beat it. She'd also recommended Yvoire as a representative in the truce talks, allowing them to proceed even without the appearances of their CPUs, leaving each faction on equal footing. Ironically, this just allowed them to come to an agreement on the truce much faster, as none of them had to worry abut their CPUs going all violent and killing them all.

Thinking about Vert made him think about Stefan, Isaac and Guts, prompting a sad sigh from the male. Stefan's death DEFINITELY had an impact on the Landmass. It practically shook the entirety of Leanbox, with the Nobles and Military families whom looked at him with respect to grieve for his passing. Though, they were in the minority and the majority of them just either looked on him with disdain (the Nobles) or just flat out mocked him for being 'too weak to live from the battlefield' (the Military Families). The impact shook the entire Ostermark Order the worst though, each of them practically lost themselves in their sorrows for their departed leader, his mother nearly drinking herself to death just so that she could be with her son on the other side had one of the men that had accompanied her managed to stop before it was too late. His funeral would be held by the Ostermark Order, with extended requests towards Lady Green Heart and those who witnessed his passing to come. It would be held a week from now, due to the short amount of preparations but during that time they had gone silent.

On a sightly lighter note, thanks to what had happened at Halo Mountain, Isaac had to take an extended leave from duty with his injuries. He'd be unable to stay on duty for the time being, which meant that he'd be out of commission for a while. He had been lucky though, since if he had stayed there then he likely would have ended up even worse than Stefan had. Though, every day he would end up cursing his lack of ability to protect the man, blaming himself for his own weakness. His lack of limbs meant that he would have to get replacements for them, and that would cost money. However, since he had earned himself a small fortune from his jobs, he had the money available to pay for them, so he would be indisposed for the time being. Last Nico heard, his wife was tending to him back in their small home, making sure he didn't aggravate himself any more than he already had on the medic's recommendations.

In Guts' case, the man managed to ended up at one of the smaller villages that hadn't been attacked by the Abnormals, Demons or other monsters yet. There, he had been spending his time resting and recuperating from his injuries, and likely would not be on duty for a long while just like his comrade. It could have been MUCH worse though, as thanks to that area being totally infested with Abnormal monsters, it had only been the intense, ominous presence of the Armour he wore, plus its ability to 'put his body back together' that ensured his survival. Nico honestly couldn't help but be glad that guy survived what he had endured, that guy to him literally personified what humans could be capable of if they were to truly fight for their own destiny. He was LITERALLY the walking contradiction to everything that revolved around himself and the Party he was with.

Guts needed no power up that turned him into a monster.

He needed no super-powered sword.

All that guy needed was his own Dragonslayer, his black Armour (which Biko had informed him was also a Satanic Treasure, who knew?) and he'd become his enemy's worst nightmares.

As for Noire, she went off with Raiden to some unknown location (though still on Leanbox, as he'd asked Lucy and she could sense everything that happens on this Landmass since its touched by Spring itself) in order to train with Balmung. Not to mention Ashbringer, which was a whole new can of worms to get into. Once Ashbringer chose a master, it would not accept anyone else unless that master dies. This had been the case for all its past wielders, thus Noire had talked to several people about it, and although it seemed to pain them, Ashbringer had chosen her so they let her have it, though Vert had also suggested it be a form of goodwill between their nations, to give one of their greatest treasures to Lastation instead of just stealing it. Not to mention, a lack of conflict between allies was something that Stefan Von Kessel, its last wielder, strove for, so not only would giving it to Noire adhere to those ideals, but Noire also shared those ideals since she was the one who opened up tot he other Nations to begin with. Even if it were for more political reasons, the ideals were still the same. Co-operation is a bi thing in this world after all...

Some did whine that she had already stolen it by having it bound to her, but Vert easily quashed those claims by explaining how Ashbringer chose her.

In IF's case, she trained in the same methods as she usually did, if not more intensely than before: by fighting Abnormals, Demons and anything that had been deemed a threat to the Nation as a whole. Thanks to her transformation, IF had noted how her powers had skyrocketed in potency, destructive capability and effectiveness. If she were to compare to her form before this all happened, she would see herself as an ant being looked down on by a bird in the skies. Not to mention that her powers were amplified when she entered her 'Awakened Form' as she called it, along with her shapeshifting abilities changing to accommodate her new form. Not to mention that form had a few unique abilities which she discovered could only be accessed while in that form, they were solely exclusive towards it... similar to a game made only for a specific console, unlike those world premier games out there.

For Compa, he wasn't so sure about what she was doing since she left without telling anyone what she was doing, just said she wouldn't be around for a bit. Nico honestly worried for her, he worried for her so much that he nearly flipped out and destroyed the entire hotel in his worry, though he'd managed to calm himself at the brink. He hoped like hell that she would be okay, that she would come back fine from whatever it was that she was doing. Nico had seen it himself, but the Nurse-In-Training's body now had the added features of horrendous looking scars where she had lost her limbs... in addition to her breasts. Even so, before they all did their own thing the girls each assured him she would be alright, that something like this wasn't enough to put her down. Lucy mostly since she had trained Compa for the longest time. The two had this mentor/student bond at this point, and if he were honest Nico felt like this bond did wonders in helping Lucy grow as a person, giving her someone to cherish in addition to himself and the team she was in. He got the gut feeling that deep down, Lucy had a lot of untapped motherly instincts, instincts which were slowly being awakened thanks to her taking Compa under her wing.

Thus... that left him.

If he were to describe his own situation, 'broken' would be an apt version of it. Broken, as his powers each were 'preoccupied' in a sense with things which made using them a nigh impossibility. First off, his Ghoul side had been damaged, it had been damaged BADLY by that attack Mundus had done. That damage surfaced every time he activated his Kagune, it would come in the form of a 'trauma' which would unleash a wave of 'fear' throughout his body. A fear which would consume all rational thought at even the slightest provocation, it would even put deer behavior to shame. This fear would then cause him to flee any kind of battlefield he had found himself, in, unless he was absolutely cornered then he would be able to use it to strike with the ferociousness of a cornered animal. This fear could not be any ore problematic for the male, and hell not even his Ghoulish Persona could do much to fix the issue, since it came directly from his own mind.

Analyzing it however, offered some deeper insight into how this trauma worked. This trauma worked with some Kagune types better than others, although it always had some degree of control no matter which one. Its like the Trauma existed as a 'floor' within his Ghoul Side, and would get buildings of varying size depending on hat Kagune type he had unleashed. The strongest one would be is Koukaku Kagune, whilst the second strongest would be his Bikaku. Likely that was since they were the 'visible' ones, and his Rinkaku had invisibility powers due to the vibrations it had allowing it to hide from all five senses. This made his Rinkaku the easiest to use,. which was one of the few lucky breaks Nico had from this encounter. He didn't want to even BEGIN to get into what it did to his Kakuja though, that thing was already messed up as it was, the difference between it and his Berserker Mode was that he had more of a consciousness in his Kakuja form, therefore he was more aware of what was happening... even if he forgot most of it when he finally reverted back.

Second, his Demonic Powers would remain unavailable to him thanks to all of them, including his Satanic Treasures, were converting their energy into Soul Edge to speed up its healing process. However, there was a complication on that front, one Nico had discovered a couple days ago, the 4th day in fact. That complication, was that the Sword's power and luster had been spent way worse than what himself and Biko had initially anticipated. It wouldn't be wrong to say that most of its life force, which spawned from its connection to Nico's soul, had been sucked away drastically. Destroyed down to the last non-physical atom. That resulted in the sword needing to recover on its own naturally. Its natural recovery rate would be slowed even more thanks to his soul being damaged too, therefore Nico would have to divert his Demonic Power into repairing his Soul which, thanks to their lack of experience, would likely tale a long while. He had immediately started this process on the moment he found out about it, 4 days after everything which had happened with the girls. How they... seemed to be willing to accept his Ghoul side even with what had happened.

Not something he could understand would be classed as an understatement. In fact, Nico couldn't comprehend it whatsoever, everything in his past detailed how those girls were SUPPOSED to react to his Ghoul side. None of those details had been nice once, and in that case he would always end up losing them to the authorities, for they would do ANYTHING to keep Nico's secret. Neptune may have been an exception since she was their CPU, but even then that wasn't exactly full proof. After all, she had been hiding her identity for a while now, so it would stand to reason they may not believe her and just kill her on 'accident' to suit their goals, inadvertently damning Planeptune as a whole. Nico KNEW that there were items and treasures stored within the Vaults of the Spec Ops Community (there were more than one, shows just how many they have huh?) which had the power to kill a Goddess. Nico actually heard of one called 'Anti Crystal' which served to nullify Share Energy. He once heard rumors that those were being researched in secret to counter any kind of supernatural or divine power, and if those rumors were true then Neptune and the other CPUs could be in grave danger.

But, against everything he had calculated, Nico found that the girls didn't follow any of them. They just accepted him for the way he was...

How?

Why?

Those thoughts filled his mind and constantly nagged at him to insanity. He tried, he tried so many times to figure out what it was that caused such a situation, but no matter how many times Nico tried he always came up with a blank. He honestly couldn't understand it, why the hell were they not trying to kill or betray him? Everyone and his own experiences told him that those who found out about his Ghoul side would end up hating him! They would then be axed off when the Spec Ops Community saw them as a threat to this secret, and that would be the end of it, even if the scars of betrayal will remain. It had been that way for a goddamn long time, hell it had been that way for his entire life! Even Aiden and Ivan had to have some time, and he had smelled some form of 'hostility' from them in the beginning until they gradually learned to 'cope' with his Ghoul side! So why?! Why can those girls accept him so easily?! How can they just 'brush aside' what they had learned about him so easily?! They knew he was a monster, he was something that they were MEANT to despise with every fiber of their beings! Hell, there were still some videos showing people 'cleansing' children on the internet after his mom had deleted a few of them (she couldn't erase them all thanks to her so called 'bosses' in the governing position telling her that it was 'best for the community' that they remain), so HOW?! How can they just defy logic like that?! It made no sense, it made no fucking sense whatsoever!

Before he could start tearing his hair out again over this (his Ghoul side repaired the damaged done to it the last few times he'd contemplated this situation), Nico shook his head to clear those maddening thoughts from his mind, moving up to a nearby tree and plopping his ass down before it. He leaned backwards against the tree's base, closing his eyes and allowing the sweet serenity of nature to calm him once more. Mother Nature definitely had that soothing effect on him, something he had become increasing aware of the more time Nico spent on his dilemma. After a few moments, something came to him, and it prompted the redhead male to reach forth and focus on his internal power, bringing forth one specific one to reality. A similar light show to his awakening from his coma happened around his hand, and in the end, Nico held a familiar buster sword in his hand.

Ouranos...

Just thinking that name sent waves of relief through him. To be frank, he couldn't help but be relieved that this blade was still with him. Ever since the events with Mundus, Nico found that he could hardly access his other Devil Arms, likely due to their connections with his Soul being severely strained. In fact, other than Rebellion, Ebony and Ivory, Nico could hardly feel the others at all, which would have been way worse if Biko had not put them in a similar state he had put them in when he had to recover from his Berserker Mode when they fought that Ghoul. Ouranos however, didn't have that problem, likely due to it having a deeper and stronger connection to his Soul. If anything, it had been marginally weakened, but not to an extent Soul Edge was. If he were to guess, he would say that Ouranos had a Devil Arm's worth of power right now.

'At least I can still summon Ember and Urthemiel however... their connections to me weren't as affected since they are linked more to my energy and mind rather than my soul due to my Desecration ability...'

Nico furrowed his brows as he held the large Broadsword horizontally before him, feeling its mystic yet demonic energies coursing through the blade itself as well as up and down his arm. Like lightning currents they felt, something which Nico found himself taking solace in just like he did with the natural scenery around him (although he kiiindaaa, maaaaybe trashed it partially with his prior stuntman antics). Just feeling this blade's power and presence put him at ease, something mirrored by his main Claymore sword Rebellion and trusty dual handguns Ebony and Ivory. Thinking about it, he hadn't been using his Handguns very much recently, not since they awakened their own powers (which seemed quite destructive in their own right). Perhaps he could change that sometime...

{I do believe that would be wise, those two have been whining nonstop since I woke.}

"?!"

Whoa! What the fuck?! Whose voice was that just now? Nico gasped, his eyes bulging, when he heard a voice just now echo through his mind. A voice which WASN'T Biko or his Ghoul Persona. He knew it wasn't one of them not just from the sharp masculine tones it used, but also because the links he had to those two weren't restored to a point where they could talk with him yet, at least without him going into his inner world. Heck, he nearly fell forward onto the ground when he stood up a bit too quickly, although the energy of his Archdevil Arm stopped that sensation before it could become problematic. 'Wh-what the...?!' he thought, before he began to feel the voice being familiar to him. He felt like he had heard it before, and recently too. But.. why? A moment passed, and soon after, Nico remembered a voice that sounded so much like it...

'O-Ouranos? Is that you?'

{Yes, it is I. I understand this is a... rather peculiar situation for yourself, observing these memories of you has revealed to me you have indeed been hearing voices for quite some time.}

The voice of the same Archdevil Arm echoed through his mind. Nico almost did a backtrack when he heard it again, the memory of him fighting Ouranos during its completion coming back to him. 'Huh? What? How? Okay, before that, I would like to know just what do you mean by observing my memories?' he questioned, although part of him did feel a little freaked out at something foreign looking through his memories. Though, it seemed his new companion had noticed this judging from its next sentence.

{It is a minor matter, as I was only able to see bits and pieces due to the state of your soul. Archdevil Arms like myself can read the souls of our bonded hosts, looking through their memories to better familiarize ourselves with them. What I saw seems to have been your moments with Biko, your Demon Persona, and your training with my prior form along with that Scythe. In any case, this link we now have, it is only possible because you summoned my physical form like this, otherwise I would have to relay my words to you through your Demon Persona.}

'I... see... well then, glad to meet you officially then, Ouranos.' The moment he heard that, all of his prior shock pretty much vanished out of existence, Well, if Biko had deemed it non-threatening then Nico would be fine with it. It was like anything that would be fine with his Demon Persona felt like passing a test in regards to earning Nico's co-operation. Therefore, it became easy to accept this, not to mention Ouranos was indeed correct,he'd already gotten used to having voices in his head.

... Wow, would he fit in with those from a mental asylum?

{Likewise. I have not seen someone who has such a strong bond with their weapons in some time, countless millennia since I became like this anyways. You appear to believe in your weapons being part f you on a level much deeper than what most would think. It intrigues me.}

At the words that he heard next, Nico detected curiosity, intrigue and other emotions within Ouranos' voice. Hell, out in the real world, he saw the Lightning sparks around the blade acting as if they were responding to its emotions. 'Well, my weapons have been with me for a while... plus, it just feels right, you know? Anyways, now that I can talk to you like this, can I ask you about yourself? Biko said you have origins, so i'd like to know more about you. Not to mention what he meant.'

{Indeed, that would be beneficial to both myself as well as yourself. I indeed had a life before becoming a Devil Arm, a life I can recall with clarity now that I have this sentience. In the past, during the DPU Era, I was known as the very first Demon who could use lightning whilst being infused with the essence of the Primordial Darkness, also known as a Primordial Demon. I thus, became the 'Primordial Lightning Devil' as I practically embodied the very nature of demonic Lightning. As a primordial Demon, my power was once known far and wide across the Devildimension, with my abilities allowing me to perform feats such crossing entire galaxies in minutes. My power lay not just in great strength, strength that could go hand to hand against the other primordial Demons of other elements, but it lay primarily in my speed, accuracy and ability to dodge attacks. My speed is such that I cut through stars, moons, planets and suns like they didn't even exist. Not to mention that my Lightning is capable of taking out an array of poisons so that only the strongest ones have the potential to slow it down. My speed surpasses that of the speed of light, for I would be able to cross galaxies in under minutes.}

... Wow, he didn't have much that he could say to that. 'Holy... that's freaking fast...'

{Hmph, of course. Such is the great power I once wielded. However, back then I was also known for my vicious killing spree, marking my worth as one of the strongest Demons in the DPU Era. Well, that's what I think, I don't remember it that well. I do recall cutting through a couple thousand stars, suns and planets though, not sure if they were filled with life though. My primary element, speed, made it hard for even other Primordial Demons to take me on in a direct fight, which of course would attract attention from the DPUs like hounds attracted by the cent of meat if that were to happen. Whilst killing many of them, I soon would face my... greatest opponent, and my downfall, in the form of Sparda. It may have been a fight that lasted up to 1000 years, a blink for us, but I was soundly defeated by Sparda in single combat. As such, he took my soul to turn it into a Devil Arm known as Alastor, which got sealed away by my victorious adversary before the DPU Era ended.}

Hearing this, Nico hummed thoughtfully, cupping his chin with his free hand. His mind whirled with this new information whilst trying to process it all. The existence of these Demons didn't really surprise him at this point, cause he'd already witnessed enough demonic shit to know that logic wasn't really applicable to them, but he still took note of them. 'Then, when the current era and myself came along, odds were that you were going to do something to me for your own ends...'

{Rightfully so. I originally intended to take over your mind and use your body as a means to further my power growth by feeding off you, the first of many I assumed. However, what I did NOT expect was for you to be my ideal wielder, someone capable of resisting me and using my power in an effective manner. You can imagine y annoyance at my initial attempt at taking you failing, so I didn't let you use my full power until years later. It took that long for me to become... intrigued, by you. I began seeing other ways for me to gain back the power I lost from the conversion, thus allowed you to wield my powers, though I only recall these things as hidden emotions without much sentience back then. Now, I am where I originally intended at the start, but you are still here, and thus I am bound to you. Although, it is... perplexing.}

'What is?'

{The moment I looked through those few memories of yours, I almost did not even recognize this world as the one that carries the origin of the DPUs. I only got convinced when I, through your senses, saw that Mundus character that I understood this was just of a different era. It is... perplexing, as the last I recall this Gamindustri is nothing like what I remember from my time. Back then, the entire planet consisted of 2 continents, much larger than anything that the current era could possess. If ll four landmasses were to come together, then it wouldn't even be a spec in comparison to how large these two continents were. At least it seems like that some old enemies are returning to this world.}

'So, would you be able to answer some of my questions at a later date? It would be nice to learn what it was like back then from someone who was actually there in that Era.'

{Very well.}

'Thank you... although, when you said 'great power I once wielded' I guess that means you aren't at the same level as you once were.'

{As much as it pains me to admit it, I am not. My soul is fragmented right now, even if it is self repairing thanks to absorbing small bits of your soul. Like your Demon Persona already told you, my Soul needs to be completed before I can regain and continue to develop my original powers, but even so my power as it is now would be classed as Multi-continent in DPU terms. Though, your soul had been suffering issues right now. Its past state makes this nigh impossible for me, therefore I had aided in its restoration, which is why I am lowered to a Devil Arm's strength at present, unlike what you initially assumed. I have been giving my power to your soul to speed up its recovery, although I am the only one who can do this due to my sentience.}

Huh, so THAT was why he found his soul to be largely more restored than he and Biko had originally expected. Soul Restoration had been progressing much faster than Soul Edge's recovery, in fact it had been restored up to 40% capacity whilst Soul Edge was at 20% right now. By his estimates with this new information, it wouldn't be long now before his soul would be completely restored and everything can be diverted to restoring Soul Edge. Well then, he could get behind that.

Speaking of Biko, him and his Demon Persona had been talking EXTENSIVELY in the Inner World about a variety of topics, such as the things he had obtained during the Halo Mountain incident. First off, was the Green Ring he got from Neptune, or as Biko called it the 'Green Ring of Hatred'. Nico called it the Green Hatred Ring for short, even if it did still feel/sound like a mouthful. It was practically a companion ring to the Ring of Rage, possessing a planet's worth of pure hatred within it. Unlike the Red Rage Ring however, this ring enhances Demonic Power only, as in it empowers anything that takes Demonic Power to use, not just Hellfire. This is largely due to how hatred can be blind, therefore indiscriminate. In addition, even whilst it radiates hatred in a passive manner, it also projects its hatred onto others just like the Red Rage Ring, thus it is able to be stacked alongside that ring for additional effects. The powers of Rage and Hatred, both resided within him thanks to those Rings.

They were another aspect of what allowed him and Biko to restore his Soul so quickly since they kept restoring the Demonic Power he used for the job.

Second, there was a little something on his chest, where his heart had been that he'd discovered: a Mark shaped like a serpentine dragon coiling into a circle and eating its own tail. That mark, as Biko discovered from his research and told him, was known as a 'Sin Multiplier'. According to him, this was a Satanic Treasure, but it was classed as much more unique than his prior ones. In fact, it seemed to have been woven into his DPU genetic code somehow, but that didn't concern them. What did though, was its abilities. Upon research, this Sin Multiplier, whenever activated upon him manually activating it with Demonic Power or accumulating emotions tied to Wrath, would increase physical destructive power. In essence, it raises his physical prowess based off how much wrath he generates. This power boost only lasts about 3 minutes however, and afterwards it has to wait for about 4 hours till it can be used again.

Though, none of that compared to… certain revelations, each pertaining to the thing that Mundus told him about: The Edict of Death.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 ** _It happened about 2 days after Nico had awoken from his Kakuja state._**

 ** _The male had been able to enter the Library of his Inner World due to the 'dangerous areas' which were essentially his forgotten memories, classed as forbidden by Biko, being sealed off. If one were to go there, they would find each of them being blocked off as if they were crime scenes, with repelling Demonic Power layering over the doors to keep unwanted guests out… as well as ensure the safety of Nico's own mind. Biko's warning to him, combined with past experiences, told Nico that if he were to recall these memories before he was ready, only chaos would come of it. Thus, he mentally made sure to stay the hell away from them._**

 ** _So, where do you think he went?_**

 ** _Why, to the very top of the Tower of course!_**

 ** _If one wanted to know the Library's layout, it consisted of a spiralling staircase that rose upwards, the internal library walls consisting of different doors that would lead to various Memories. Some, as mentioned before, were sealed off for the user's own safety. Others however, ended up being completely accessible. It was like the internal structure of this place consisted of nothing but doors, sealed or not. Inside the Library, gravity obeyed different laws, so while the structure looked tilted on the outside, inside one could move up and down the staircase as if climbing up a tower._**

 ** _Upon having asked Biko for advice, Nico had once tried to experiment with the Library doors by opening one Biko had deemed 'safe', only to find that when he did, his arm would end up being sucked into this blinding light up to the wrist, and from there on Tendrils would wrap around his arm, shoulder and finally impale his head where his brain would be. At last, he would relieve the memory behind the door itself, and once it was complete his arm would be set free, the Tendrils receding into the door's light before it would slam shut._**

 ** _That would be how each door worked… Until one reaches the very top of the Staircase however._**

 ** _When they did, they would find that a circular frame separated the doors pinned to the walls of the Library. What it separated them from though, would end up being a huge DOME filled to the brim with shelves, shelves containing a number of different books of varying shapes and sizes. These shelves stood on top of the frame, and at the top of the Staircase itself there stood a large, circular platform which could easily be mistaken as the ceiling If there weren't a human-sized hole where the platform met the Staircase. This platform may look like it was made of wood, but if anybody asked, then Biko would answer that it was made from heavily condensed Demonic Power._**

 ** _This would be where Nico was currently located right now, the redhead male having sat down before one of the shelves with two piles of books, one for used and ones for unused, sitting beside him on opposite sides. The male had been at this for a timeframe he had no clue about at this point, not like he cared either way though. In his mind, looking up information about Mundus and the Four DPUs themselves was more important. Nico had seen copies of those Tomes that he'd gotten from Rinjiin as a reward at Skies End, but when he looked through the one about the DPUs themselves Nico found that they were more on the race as a generalized term. The knowledge certainly proved valuable, but it wasn't exactly what he had been looking for._**

 ** _After looking through his 200th book and gently placing it on the 'read' pile, the teen gave a sigh to himself, slouching on the ground whilst he mentally reached out with his senses, mimicking telepathy to take out another book. From one of the Shelves around him, another Book suddenly left it all on its own, as if being carried by an invisible force. It then floated down from its shelf, bobbing up and down all the while, and finally into Nico's waiting hand for him to open up and scroll through its contents._**

 ** _This was one of the tings that he'd learned whilst doing his 'research' on Mundus, one of the things important enough for him to take note of. The Inner World was within his Soul, not his mind, but that didn't mean he had no control over it or anything. In fact, everything with few exceptions followed how Nico himself wanted. For example, if he wanted to have something, like say a sword appear here, Nico would have a sword appear in his hand. If he wanted a drink of water, that would be so too._**

 ** _He could even request the entire Inner World to alter aspects of its form to suit what he desired, and when he had questioned Biko about it he had explained that the Inner World may be part of his soul, but that also made it similar to a 'world of cognition'. Therefore, it functioned according to his desires, with base specifics ingrained too deep for him to alter like the overall form the Inner World had. Case in point, he couldn't change the desert into a paradise, but he could make it either daytime or night time. There were a whole load of things he wanted to try out, things which could be used to better his training in this Inner World, but for now he focused solely on his research._**

 ** _Once he finished skimming the contents for anything relevant to the four original DPUs and coming up short… again, Nico sighed once more before he stood up and clicked his fingers. Instantly, each of the books flew up into the air, sorting themselves back into their original slots on their Shelves like they hadn't been tampered with in the first place. 'Geez, these guys seem more elusive than the best of ninjas and shinobi clans in Lowee…' Nico couldn't help but think to himself, shaking his head whilst putting a gloved hand over his forehead to nurse his aching temples._**

 _ **The male then opened his eyes and looked upwards, facing the centre of the Platform where the BIGGEST change to his Inner World lay: A Tome. The biggest tome in all of the ones in this little section of the Library. If one were to gauge it's size, then think of a small cottage, and its thickness putting the thickest of Dictionaries to shame. The Tome itself had a black cover, with crimson lines which almost resembled 'veins' as in the veins of blood, forming square borders. If one were to open the book, then they would see that it possessed pages which felt like they came from human flesh itself in terms of texture and color, whilst any writing on them would be neatly written in blood. In addition, this tome constantly bobbed up and down in the space at the centre of the Platform, a thick crimson aura swaying like a gentle flame around it.**_

 ** _This was something Nico DESPERATELY wanted to know the most about. This was something which he had been almost knocked unconscious when he first saw it: The Lexicanum._**

 ** _If Histoire was the [World Tome] which recorded all the events of Gamindustri's history, then the Lexicanum would be a Tome which had all the records pertaining to the events of the DPU Era. One could say that it was the [DPU Tome]. It had came into existence not long after Nico had been hit by that attack from Mundus, according to Biko. Apparently, the Fragmented Memories, the ones which gradually filled themselves and had thus became the best/only source of information about the DPU Era Nico had, evolved into this form thanks to coming into contact with Mundus' power. It was almost like a safety mechanism, as if to say 'oh shit the enemy's here already! Quick, all bets have to be put off the table, everything has to be laid bare!'_**

 ** _The good thing about this was that they could research the DPU Era and the things that happened during along with prior to it much easier than they could before. What had been hidden in secrecy, forgotten by history, could now be unveiled thanks to this thing. There would be knowledge in here which could end up saving thousands if not BILLIONS of lives in the future. Knowledge was power, and boy did Nico understand that on an intimate level, what with everything he had gone through before and during his Spec Ops life. Now, he didn't have to rely on just memories which would only give information at… well, inappropriate moments._**

 _ **However, like all good things, there had to be a price to pay in the end. In this case, Nico and Biko had discovered this the hard way. For, when they tried to look into this thing, the Lexicanum acted the same way as the doors did alongside a regular book. In other words, it allowed them to read its contents, but it also connected with their minds to give a visual explanation to what was written within its pages. However, whilst this would likely be considered a good thing, the price was that the process itself was freaking EXCRUCIATING on their minds. If one wanted an analogy, it was like having a cobra gripping onto your brain with maximum power until the brain would be reduced to mush. Biko could withstand it better than him, but even then, it wasn't much. At most, all Nico himself could withstand would be like a full page's worth of information, whilst Biko could handle 2 of them before they would need to rest. Thus, the two decided to record what they learned into these books.**_

 ** _Where the hell do you think all these books came from?_**

 _ **Stepping towards the Lexicanum as it bobbed up and down above/before him, Nico stared towards its front page with narrowed eyes. So far, he hadn't found much about the four DPUs individually, just records of their exploits and legends about their prowess. Whilst he had little doubt about the legitimacy of these legends (he DID just fight one and barely survive), he wanted concrete FACTS to work with. That one tome about the origins of the DPUs had been his first choice to review, however when he looked at it more he realized that the details within were... well, in layman's terms, too vague. The primordial powers of light? Darkness? What the hell were those? Then the story about the DPUs emerging from chaos also felt too generalized. He wanted more specifics to work with here, these generalizing hints were no longer enough now that he had met one an barely survived by the skin of his teeth. Thus, he began to get the feeling that looking into the Lexicanum was the last option he had right now.**_

 ** _"Nico."_**

 ** _Just as he made to connect with the Lexicanum and try his hand at finding some information, Nico heard the voice of his Demon Persona behind him. Turning, he saw the said being floating there, a stern look in his eyes which spoke volumes about his opinion about the matter he would be soon speaking about._**

 ** _"Biko." Nico greeted curtly, nodding his head in his Demon Persona's direction whilst turning back to the Lexicanum. Biko floated forwards seeing this, stopping till he was right beside the redhead male. The male didn't speak for a while, there was little need to since, between the two of them, neither of them had to in order to understand what the other was thinking._**

 _ **Just by standing next to him, Nico could feel the reluctance from his Demon Persona on what he planned to do to get his information, in addition to how he sensed his urges to stop him in case he overloaded his brain and made things worse than they already were. To be frank, if Nico had any other option, he would have done so. Neither of them wanted to look into the Lexicanum unless it was the only other option they had, or if they had to look up information it would be Biko who would do so since he had a greater chance for them to gain the information they desired. However, in this situation, Nico could honestly see no other alternative, none of these books had the information that he sought. Plus, it wasn't like they could go to a library and look up Mundus or the other four DPUs for Goddess' sake, they'd make literally ZERO progress if they tried. Even if they did, they'd also have to worry about people snooping in on him during his efforts, thus learning about things that they shouldn't and causing complications later down the line.**_

 _ **"OH FOR THE LOVE OF-JUST LET HIM GET ON WITH IT, YOU DAMNED OAF!"**_

 _ **Both males cringed the instant that they heard THAT voice, turning to the sole entrance to the platform. When they did, both of them saw Nico's Ghoul Persona appear there, rising up through the entrance with his Rinkaku Kagune doing the heavy lifting. The guy literally hung in the air whilst the various Tentacles did all the work, and by the time he had passed through the entrance the Ghoulish Nico got lowered to the ground, allowing his Kagune to disperse into nothingness. Looking at him, one could see that he was putting up a front, as even whilst he looked like everything was normal with him. What, with him grinning like a total savage and looking like he would gut them if they said anything he didn't like and all... but if one looked deeper, they would find the deep unease within. "YOU KNOW WHAT THE KING WANTS, THE KING GETS SO WHAT'S THE POINT OF TRYING TO STOP HIM? HE GETS HIS HEAD TURNED TO MUSH, THAT'S HIS FAULT! MAKES IT A WHOLE LOAD EASIER FOR US, ANYWAYS."**_

 _ **"You mean yourself, since I have no intention of taking over Nico's body."**_

 _ **"PFT, WUSS."**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **"But... despite your words..." Biko stated further, and he shuffled on his spot in the air. Nico didn't even need to look into his eyes to know the conflict which burned through his body, one side going for stopping him (even if it will end in failure) and the other for letting him do as he pleased. Eventually, about 15 minutes later, the Demon Persona caved in with a resigned sigh. "It... does see like we have no other alternative. The Lexicanum is the only thing we have left we haven't tried yet, therefore... Very well. However, I will be joining you. I'll make sure everything goes smoothly." he eventually stated, then he gave a determined stare towards Nico. The redhead male nodded, already used to that stare. It was the one he gave when he had decided to do something and that there was no use changing his mind.**_

 ** _"HECK, I THINK I'LL PLAY ALONG TOO. SOUNDS LIKE THIS COULD BE FUN, PLUS ALL THESE MONSTERS NEED TIME TO REFORM BEFORE I KICK THEIR ARSES AGAIN."_**

 ** _Now THAT nearly caused them to lose their calm facades in the light of their shock. That didn't come as a very calm revelation, the Ghoul in Nico wanting to LEARN?! What the heck?! Though, as they thought about it, it soon began to make sense in a weird way why this guy wanted to join in. After all, Mundus was the guy that traumatized him, so if he learned a bit more about him then maybe, just MAYBE, he could somehow find a way to help him 'get better'._**

 ** _Thus, the Lexicanum opened, Tendrils wrapping around the three right arms before impaling each guy by their heads to feed them the images of the information which would follow._**

* * *

 ** _Prior to the dawn of creation_** _ **, only two different energies existed. The first one would be the 'Light' which would come to be known as the primordial light. This energy would feel like the purest of all forms of light that would stem from it, so impossibly pure that no normal person wold be able to even glimpse at its true splendor. This energy's purity would make it so that not a single spec of taint would be able to even graze it, it would repel all kinds of sick matters from its radiance and retain the utmost purity. Thus, it would have had the title of the 'primordial light'. If any were to come to be exposed to this light, they would feel nothing but safety and assurance from it,. for that would be the true 'essence' of the light.**_

 _ **Then, there was its direct counterpart, the 'Darkness' which would come to be known by those who find it as the primordial Darkness. Unlike the power of the primordial light, this power would be even darker than any void, a place where no light, not even the possibility of the primordial light, could touch. One could say that it was the shroud of all shrouds, this energy was. If anyone were to get exposed to this energy, they would NOT get the same feeling of safety that they would with the Primordial Light. No, instead it would feel like the most sinister, twisted and downright maddening energy that one could ever have known. one which would stand at the pinnacle of all other terrors.**_

 ** _One might expect that these energies would come to blows quite often the moment they first came into contact, but contrary to that belief, even as the energies could be called the perfect enemies of one another, they existed beside one another without any problem. Mostly because they were just that: energies. They had no wills of their own, no minds or bodies to call their own, so they would remain energies for all time._**

 ** _However... things would soon change._**

 _ **This space did not have time, matter, life, or anything of the sort, the only thing there was there were the two primordial energies. In a period that for other universes could be a second or tens of thousands of millions of years, the two primordial energies crashed with one another for the first time.**_

 _ **This would be classed as an unprecedented event by any who would witness it first hand, since it would be marked as the first ever spark of conflict, even if it were unintentional. Nor would this be the last time as, like magnets, these two energies would be drawn to each other in a motion which would be classified in the far future as the first ever 'call to war'. In no time flat, the space itself became riddles with these 'collisions' between these polar opposite energies.**_

 _ **It would be classed as a conundrum.**_ ** _Those two energies did not have a mind or anything of the sort, not even a will, so when they entered in contact with one another they simply disengaged with one another. At first, nothing really changed between these energies, but the more times they clashed, certain pieces began to mixed together, something which would be said to be impossible for common standards. Thus, as now they had traces of each other, the 'corrupted' places were segregated from the primal forces. The 'creation' of those mixed energies gave birth to four new semi-primal energies that were essentially different from the primal forces: The four Edicts of the world._**

 ** _These four Edicts did not have any form of consciousness as they simply acted, but just by existing this universe actually came to be properly._**

 ** _The four edicts worked in tandem with one another, and in the end they managed to naturally create what one day would be called the Devildimension. The Edict of Life gave birth to countless living beings, creating worlds for them to inhabit, stars, suns and moons soon followed. It created solar systems, it spawned galaxies and allowed evolution to exist. One could say that this Edict would be better known as the 'heart of all life' in the Devildimension._**

 ** _Second, the Edict of Fate was what made life have an objective, it gave birth to the idea of wanting to 'do' anything. It created all matter as well as the drive to do more than existing, it gave the soul to the newly birthed beings. One could say that the Edict of Life was the 'worker', and the Edict of Fate the 'boss'._**

 _ **Though, that could also be said for the other Edicts as well. Case in point, the Edict of Destruction worked in accelerating the selection of what exists, defining exactly what is superior by the means of destroying the inferior things and using the weak to allow the other Edicts more room to work with. In addition to that, it gave birth to the idea which would come to be known as 'natural selection', though this applied to ANYTHING within the universe. Be it physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, no matter what its classification was destruction would be able to reach it. Some may call this Edict, the 'ultimate apocalypse' which destroyed everything to the last atom'**_

 ** _Finally, would be the Edict of Death, which gave the possibility of renewal to all things after the Edict of Destruction finished its work. Once destruction left an area, the Edict of Death would 'wipe everything clean', as it allowed for the world to never fully stagnate. It gave birth to an 'end' other than Destruction, yet also allowed 'life' to grow where it had once been, creating the cycle of life and death._**

 _ **As things entered equilibrium and life started flourishing, inevitably conflict also started between the life that was created. Conflict for whatever reason, remained as simple and pure conflict. However, conflict was not necessarily a bad thing since from it, stronger and stronger beings were being born.**_

 _ **Although... something VERY interesting happened one day.**_

 _ **Through all the conflict in the Devildimension, a simple spec of energy was formed. This energy was not anything like any other energy already formed. It was not of darkness, nor was it of light. This energy could have been aligned to the powers of darkness though, with how malevolent it felt though. But, unlike the darkness which felt like this all-consuming void which would devour any kind of being it could come across, this energy felt like looking at the core of a searing inferno of negative emotions. Everything dark, evil and sinister that made up the reasons for conflict could be felt within this energy. If one wanted to summarize it all, then it felt like the living embodiment of every aspect that could be fitted into the role of conflict. Pride, Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Envy and Greed. Every emotion which could be related to conflict was within this energy as it grew and grew with no constraint.**_

 ** _This energy would eventually be called Demonic Energy, for it would usher in the beginning of one of the most twisted eras there could ever be._**

 _ **This energy constantly accumulated itself through conflict, growing stronger and stronger from it all the while managing to 'connect' with the four Edicts. This resulted in the Energy erupting into a huge mass, and from that mass four new beings emerged, the four original DPUs. Each of these godly beings related to one of the Edicts thanks to the Demonic Power that made their forms retaining one connection to the Edicts and losing the other three, resulting in all four of them controlling powers impossible to defend against. As a result of this, they reached the top of the Devildimension's food chain, and in no time flat there were more DPUs being born. Born the same way the originals but lacking the connection to the Edicts. Before anyone realized it, DPUs became an actual race of beings which settled on the planet which would be known as Gamindustri, marking it as their 'base of operations' for excursions to other planets, and before anyone knew it the era of the DPUs began.**_

 _ **Things... didn't go so well, as on might imagine with a race of demonic beings meant solely for carnage. If anyone were to look up nightmare in the dictionary, the Four DPUs would be put right next to the definition.**_ _ **The four DPUs were extremely different in how they acted, through that would prove to be absolutely pointless in the grand scheme of things.**_

 _ **First, the DPU of Destruction who called himself Sparda, didn't have much interest in anything other than fighting the strongest beings he could find, and if he ever lacked opponents he would raise someone from young to be as strong as possible only to fight them and kill them all. In addition to that, whenever he fought on other planets, he would leave few survivors to recount how unstoppable he had been. The other original DPUs would be the only ones who could be a similar match to his might, thus they formed the opinion of him having the title of 'Destruction Incarnate'. He'd even became the unintentional reason for the birth of a cult dedicated to him, though he showed little care about this since all he waned to do was fight. If anything, he sometimes visited them to 'test their strength' every decade or so, and if they didn't perform to his standards, then he'd slaughter them all.**_

 _ **Second, the DPU of death may have been one cruel sadistic son of a gun, but on the whole one could say for certain that for all intents and purposes this DPU, who called himself Mundus, remained largely uninterested in everyone. If anything, he only wanted to relieve his boredom so he sometimes engaged in constant intercourse, or revived old warriors to see them fight to the death, sometimes with a couple female slaves servicing him at the same time, or simply played with the lives of entire families by forcing their ancestors to be reborn just to see them slaughter each other. He especially loved seeing siblings be forced to rip into each other and tear each other to pieces. Depravity didn't exist in his vocabulary, since Mundus even revived fathers and had them rape their own offspring just for shits and giggles. Not to mention that when he got bored of that he'd just make a trip around the planet and burning any human settlement which irritated him. Though, his favorite pastime was undoubtedly fighting the DPU of Destruction as well as the other two. Fighting was his very nature after all, the same could be said for ALL DPUs.**_

 _ **Third, the DPU of Fate, who called himself Diadact, took great pleasure in knowing everything that the weaker beings would ever do and change it just slightly to see someone that would be a doctor kill who should have been his wife. Or, make someone who had the destiny of being a cripple turn into a mighty warrior that would swear fealty to him. Hell, he did everything the other DPUs did and more, putting sexual deviants to shame with how he manipulated the fates of women to make them his kinky sex slaves. Whatever tickled his fancy, Diadact would just do it with nobody to stop him. For him, the entire world was just a sandbox for him to play as he was the closest thing to omnipresence in the entire universe. He even stored up countless tomes and knowledge in an unknown location, not telling anyone what he planned to do with such knowledge, which would only unsettle others even more. Though, in addition to that he also fancied himself a bit of a nosy parker, so whenever he saw powerful forces being brought into being, he would alter a few fates here and there to see how the outcome would play out, like if a fierce leader got brought into existence, he would either make them go through traumatic experiences which would reshape them into things that they originally wouldn't have been. He even sowed seeds of discord throughout the galaxy, spreading lies and deceit just to make things more interesting, often resulting in wars being waged (which of course he'd convince his brother Sparda to take part in the battle nut always going there to see if he could get a good fight)**_

 _ **Finally, the DPU of Life who took the name 'Carnage' ironically enough, could be considered as one of the more 'active' of the four, like Diadact. He had decided to throw himself in researching the creation of the strongest living being possible. One could consider him the original inspiration for the term, 'mad scientist'. The reason for this was during his research, he created all manner of beings, beings such as the Primordial Demons by combining them with bits and pieces of the original 'Darkness' with the Edict of Life. He then proceeded to create countless different Demons, even tried to make several artificial DPUs that resulted in beings he would call 'Chaos Gods' that, whilst insanely powerful in their own right and possessing a number of powers which altered reality, plus spawned their own legions of Demons, none of them could match a DPU in combat. He didn't create just demons though, as he created countless beasts of varying natures, just like how the Edict of Life did during the Devildimension's beginning. Unfortunately, even with all these creations,**_ _ **for him all of them proved themselves to be far too lacking for his taste. He saw them as simply failed experiments and due to his constant failures he decided to throw himself at carnal pleasures by taking for himself all beautiful woman he could possibly find, making them his regardless of race, if they were in a relationship of not, and age. He even loved the most what most would call NTR and doing it with girls way too young.**_

 _ **Thanks to these four and the rest of the DPU race going through worlds using Gamindustri as their home base, killing and destroying anything that tickled their fancy regardless of any rhyme or reason, things in the Universe started growing worse and worse. The ones who had it worse than the ones who got killed were DEFINITELY the ones they let live as their 'slaves' though, and that included the human race which populated Gamindustri along with the Demons and DPUs. Treated as playthings, tools for the DPUs pleasure and entertainment. Warriors from all kinds of backgrounds, races and ethnicity were constantly being brought up then smacked out of existence by these Gods born from chaos and conflict. In this era, there was next to nothing that could be connected to the Primordial Light. No hope, no joy, no peace, no tranquility or serenity. Just death, decay, destruction, cardinal sins galore. Darkness reined supreme at this point in time, with millions if not billions of entities spawned from the Edict of Life which were infused with its essence, not to mention the powers of chaos and conflict greatly aligning with its own ethnics.**_

 _ **Though, like the saying goes...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **... nothing lasts forever.**_

 _ **One day, just by circumstance alone (something which the DPU of Fate could have prevented if he knew about it, but since he had been bedding his slaves at the time he didn't) a young girl whom had no real talent, who came from a random, no-name village which had long been under the oppressive, tyrannical rule, managed to do something no mortal had been able to do, something many a man had been trying to achieve for centuries to mimic the DPUs powers: feel something even more precious than the Four Edicts.**_

 _ **She had started comprehending and feeling the primordial force of Light.**_

 _ **This could be called something absurd, ludicrous even but it happened. It happened not in some glorious, over-the-top way which the DPU era had been used to, but more of a covert, stealthy approach. As for the young village girl herself, she had no talent for fighting from the start and did not, or rather she could not, understand what was happening to her. Even so, her body started succumbing to the effects of what she had unknowingly done. Her body underwent massive changes down to every last cell in her body, shifting and changing into something not yet seen before by man, beast, demon or DPU.**_

 ** _She became the first Goddess._**

 _ **In the early stages of her new existence, something that the young girl found out and realized almost immediately afterwards that something was up, she felt like she had to exercise her new powers. Thus, she did, and managed to liberate her village from the rulers whom had once terrorized them. In next to no time at all, the girl had managed to become something of a celebrity throughout her small village, and it filled her with joy knowing that somehow, from some small stroke o luck, she had gained these powers. These powers which had given her the ability to fight, thus allowing her to excel in combat.**_

 _ **This young girl had even thought once 'perhaps with these new powers, I can someday bring about the fall of all those meanie DPUs!' It wasn't something uncommon, a lot of mortals and immortals alike thought they could take the seat of power of which was held by the demonic gods. Yet, for the villagers whom idolized her and expressed relief, gratitude and joy for her, they all thought a similar thing to her. Thus, the girl began to train her powers more so she could one day wipe out the DPUs herself.**_

 _ **but as she began this journey... she saw one of them in action.**_

 _ **The DPU of Death himself, Mundus.**_

 _ **And in that moment, all her built-up bravado, pride and confidence got shattered like a fragile mirror, crushed out of existence with zero mercy. This was done by Mundus, who had no clue about her existence and had just been on one of his 'walks' strolling into her village and reducing it to nothing in a manner of a couple seconds, and all she had been able to do was watch in human form. Didn't even stop to take a look at what he was doing, as if he saw these people as nothing more than ants to be squashed under his boot. That assumption wouldn't be all that far off, in truth. Everything, everything that she had ever known got wiped out in an instant, as if it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.**_

 ** _It hadn't just been terrifying, it had been mind-breaking, soul-shattering, a cold hard dose of reality which brought back to the cruel life she had been living this whole time. That the DPUs whom ruled Gamindustri and many other worlds out there wee just too powerful for her. She had heard only stories about their strongest warriors, but seeing one of them in action, however brief it had been, pretty much validated ALL of them._**

 _ **As such, as much as the young Goddess would have LOVED to exact her revenge upon Mundus for annihilating her home, killing her friends, family and potential love interest, she had already been shown the cold, hard truth then and there that she had no chance whatsoever of defeating or even harming that beast, so she chose to hide herself. To hide with the shame and frustration of not being able to save anyone, to not be strong enough to save one single person from her beloved village. She had been in despair ever since that day, that day when everything got torn apart right before her very eyes.**_

 _ **Centuries passed, and the young girl, now a full-grown woman thanks to her body stopping her aging once she reached the age of 20 years, remained in solitude, broken and miserable thanks to her failure. She lived in isolation, hiding from the DPUs and praying that they didn't notice her. She doubted she'd ever be able to get strong enough to face those monsters, not with the sheer magnitude of strength she had witnessed being tossed about like pebbles in a lake.**_

 _ **However, as time passed the DPUs got increasingly wild, unmatched and cruel. Civilians raped and tortured. Forced to fight their loved ones whom had once sought to save them from tyranny. Soldiers forced to fight in horrendous battles to keep their small kingdoms alive, these soldiers also being used for satanic rituals by those among the DPU race whom followed the path of the mage or the Scholar, ending up inventing their own brands of magic, elemental manipulation and Wardcraft. Of women constantly being abused in was that no women should ever have to go through (a lot of them having given birth to fierce monsters which then ate them alive whilst they were weak from giving birth, all due to being raped by DPUs)**_

 _ **Finally, as she saw more and more suffering she ended up following her instincts, overcoming her trauma through sheer frustration, hatred and desire for retribution. Thus, she had commenced acting, emerging from her self-imposed exile and out into the world. To start off though, the woman began to build up her power, knowing that her goal of beating the DPUs would be a whole hell lot harder than she had thought when she had been younger. To start that long trek though, she had started helping people, either by saving them from monsters or demons, or repelling DPUs from their in the latter case though, since she didn't want them to know about her just yet.**_

 _ **In the end though, she had ended up succeeding in a goal she had not even considered before. She had created a community that was free from the influence of the Four DPUs and of a size which would have rivaled the largest of cities across Gamindustri, resulting in her being praised as a goddess and for the first time obtaining the Share energy from her believers. Something which she had received in small, pebble-sized amounts back at her home village due to the low population. It DID help her discover that her strength got greater the more people believed in her, though she had made sure she had strength to fight without relying on such an ability. Fighting the Demons and monsters, repelling the DPUs had taught her a valuable lesson aside from never trusting a DPU. That lesson had been that in this world, strength was one of the most important aspects of this world. If one had strength, they could decide the fate of millions in the blink of an eye.**_

 _ **As the Share Energy powered her up, her strength grew greater and greater. The strength constantly swirled within her, from a small whirlpool into a wild maelstrom within the foundations of her core. But, because of her drive and the lessons she had learned, the Goddess herself trained further, discovering and learning various refinement methods to make herself the best in her fields. In addition to that, her looks also transcended limitations, as if all beauty in existence was reunited in her being. That of course, led to her having a bucket-load of suitors vying for her hand in marriage, and not just straight guys either. Her body drew the attention of anyone and everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, relationship status etc. Humans were always drawn to perfection, not to mention all kinds of Demons and other beasts too.**_

 ** _None of this, of course, went on unnoticed, however._**

 _ **After a few centuries, one of the Four DPUs, the DPU of Fate, Diadact, discovered her community. One could say that this could be classed as an accident, since he was just busy chasing down rumors of a rebellion against their rule. Even so, however, it lead to the first of the DPUs to discover the home and community of the Goddess. The energies that he had sensed there, a mix of divine light as well as specs of darkness from slain demons, intrigued him to the point of him wanting to make his own appearance there.**_

 _ **In the end, he came with a proposition of making her territory come under his rule and extending his protection over this place, thus prompting other Demons and DPUs to stay away from it. Nobody wanted to anger a DPU of his caliber after all, in addition to that Demons respected strength thus, if Diadact proclaimed a territory as under his protection, they can bet that they would stay the fuck away.**_

 ** _Though, none of that sat well with the Goddess. Not when she despised the DPUs on a personal level. She knew this guy saw her community as something to be examined, a means to sate his boredom and that, if she agreed to this proposition, would give him better leeway to mess with her people. Many of them had gone trough hell thanks to them after all, so her citizens would be literally accepting a DPU's protection, pretty much going back to what they started from._**

 _ **Even so however, she had to face the facts, and that it was SLIGHTLY more fortunate that it was Diadact whom had discovered them. He was considered one of the milder DPUs as he sometimes did help others even if only for his amusement and he rarely ever made irreparable evil to others directly as he only changed the course some things would happen and it was still possible for people to do their own choices even under his influence. At least it wasn't someone like Mundus or Carnage, the former would likely turn it into an undead paradise with everyone constantly being revived in order to kill their loved ones over and over again to break their spirits. The latter would likely just use them as test subjects in his experiments, turning them into dozens of deferential monsters or 'failures' as he saw his past creations. She had little on what Sparda, the DPU of Destruction would do though as she had the least amount of info on him, but from what she did know she guessed he would either turn it into an all out war-zone to 'find the strongest out of all of them' or just ignore it altogether if there was nobody who could give him a good fight.**_

 ** _In the end though, she had to admit to herself that, much to her dismay, she didn't have any other option but to accept, as she didn't have the power necessary to face them in all out battle. None of her training would have been sufficient enough yet, plus she lacked the experience that the DPU of Fate possessed, so in the end she decided to meet with him herself to confirm a few things. The DPU of Fate, thankfully, agreed to meet her out in the entrance to her city where few could get hurt if a fight broke out, but... a problem happened._**

 ** _As one might expect._**

 _ **When Diadact saw her upon their meeting in front of a semi ovular crowd of civilians, he completely lost his mind. The sheer level of beauty that he had seen from her completely drove his lustful urges wild, images of him doing all sorts of degrading things to her filling his imagination, and at that point things would be set in stone. His mind instantly came to the conclusion that he was born to have her for himself and he started approaching her in a very direct way, trying to 'smooth talk' her, though in the end his actions ended in failure. In her justified anger due to some of the words Diadact had used like 'leaving her dreadful town to be is bed partner' and 'ill manipulate your destiny so that you'll be my devoted kinky love slave'...**_

 _ **SCHULUCK!**_

 _ **She reacted and ended up wounding him.**_

 _ **For the first time in many freaking THOUSANDS of years, one of the Four DPUs got injured by another being, and one of the original Four as well. This got taken as proof that they could be defeated and thus the people of the settlement, spurned on by their repressed resentment of DPUs, started trying to throw Diadact out. As he was far too shocked by being actually wounded and the violent rejection he did not react as the people threw him out, but as he was outside the town though... his mind instantly rebooted itself, and thus Diadact did something nobody would have expected and... exploded in laughter.**_

 ** _"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GOOD! YES, THIS IS EXCELLENT EVEN! NOW I GET IT, YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO CAN CHALLENGE EVEN ME! THIS IS JUST GLORIOUS! FINALLY, SOMETHING INTERESTING HAS HAPPENED IN THIS BORING ROCK OF A WORLD! YOU WILL ONE DAY MAKE A FINE ADDITION TO MY COLLECTION, YOUNG MAIDEN! BUT, NOW IS NOT THE TIME! YOU MUST GROW MORE, MUCH MORE BEFORE YOU CAN TRULY STAND AS MY AND THOSE IDIOTS EQUAL! I WILL GIVE YOU TEN CENTURIES, AND WHEN THE TIME COMES I WILL COME WITH THE OTHERS! LET'S SEE IF YOUR LIGHT CAN WIN AGAINST US ALL, MY CUTE QUEEN GODDESS!"_**

 _ **After that, the maniacal Diadact left, and the Goddess stood there, left speechless at what she had just heard, not to mention what she had witnessed. Only a moment later though, did she realize just what had happened, and the scope of her situation hit her harder than a brick wall. Now that she had gotten the attention of the DPU of Fate, something that would NEVER be a good thing ever, she would have to train much harder, be extra vigilant in protecting her people from Demon and Monster attacks. She would have to get as many allies as she could in order to even have a chance against the titans that were the four original DPUs.**_

 ** _Much to her chagrin though, her citizens had much different ideas on their minds from this spectacle, unaware of the true horror that would come to them. The people around her celebrated the fact their leader was 'as strong as the Four DPUs', however that could not be any farther from the truth. It would be farther than the distance between the base and height of the earth and the skies above... and that would be a generous estimation. She was just lucky, nothing more and nothing less._**

 ** _Nevertheless, what had been done could not be undone, the young Goddess thought. It wouldn't be likely that the DPU of Fate would ever alter the past so this event would never happen due to his intrigue and 'fixation' on her that had been developed from this encounter. Therefore, she knew she now no longer had much of a choice, she had to grow stronger and face the DPUs when they come._**

 _ **Thankfully, Diadact had been as far from discreet about what happened as one could get, so confident about his and the other DPUs victory against her. As a result news of her wounding him spread like wild fire, the news getting more and more exaggerated until the point that some told that Diadact had been beat to the brink of death by her in one move and he was only alive because she had been gracious enough to let him go.**_

 _ **Obviously she could not help but find such a thing as ridiculous as sheep growing wings or the DPUs turning into good Samaritans, but there WAS something good that came out of those tales. Out of all of these tales, the results made more and more people go join her side , resulting in her Share energy going through the roof, making her even more beautiful and powerful by the second. Furthermore, many powerful warriors that lived in seclusion decided to go join her, and before long thousands of powerful beings went to help her as if it was only natural. Drawn to both the promise of bloodshed as well as the chance to fight/end the DPUs at long last.**_

 _ **All the while, she trained and learned all she could, accelerating her own growth and combat prowess by the day so that she may eventually be at an equal footing with the four original DPUs. Her swordsmanship surpassed mortal limitation, her skills with magic became legendary, and her knowledge about the universe expanded exponentially the more she learned from her allies. She got experience by fighting against many of her powerful allies in spars, kings who could kill Demons and even DPUs, heroic warriors whom had broken through the limitations of the human body, nothing stopped her from getting as strong as she could, the threat of the four DPUs eventual invasion looming over her mind like the fog of death which came from the DPU she hated the most. She did command the primordial force of light, but that alone would not help her against forces who command elements of the universe itself.**_

 ** _Eventually, this news reached the other DPUs, including the other members of the original four. The DPU of Destruction, when asked about this whole thing during one of his many fights with those whom he personally trained, simply waved it all off with a lack of interest. His reasoning had been that he wasn't really interested as of yet since this supposed 'Goddess' sounded much too weak for him to properly be excited over fighting. Not to mention that he had plans to go into other worlds to fight other beings aside from the dominating Demonic forces, so his mind had been already occupied for a time._**

 ** _Second, came the response from Mundus. The DPU of Death however, didn't hear of this development for a while. The reason? Simple, he had disappeared for the first 6 centuries, and when he came back, one could DEFINITELY tell by the amount of injuries he'd sustained he was clearly weakened by a large extent. He had refused to explain why though, as he only said 'I did what I had to do to become the Overlord of this dimension' before he went quiet._**

 ** _Lastly. it was the DPU of Fate, who did NOT remain idle with this information. He'd already peered into the future and saw that there was a possibility of this Goddess beating them if he didn't pull things into his favor. Therefore, he had decided to act. The DPU of Fate went to talk with the DPU of Life about joining forces, promising to leave the second child he made with the Goddess as the DPU of Life's subject for experimentation, something the DPU of Life instantly accepted as he thought this was as good way as any to get his hands in powerful beings that may help him make an even more perfect being._**

 ** _And so, time passed._**

 _ **In no time at all the 10 centuries, AKA 1000 years, went by and in the end, it all began. The DPUs of Life and Fate marched towards the Goddess City, behind them a group of more than 60 thousand Continent and Multi-continent class DPUs from many war torn worlds, filling up the ground as well as the skies making them look more like this large dome of flapping wings, glowing weapons and shining armors. In addition, there were more Demons than the eye could count as well as all manner of strange beings. Beings who had similar levels of destructive potential to the DPUs themselves.**_

 _ **And on the other side, held within the City itself with shelters deep underground housing those who couldn't fight, were the ones who sided with the Goddess. Like the DPU army, this one looked too large to count, populating the entire city as well as 600 meters around it in all directions. The way that they were positioned, with the DPU army completely encircling the enemy force, showed that there would be zero retreat, only sheer attack. No quarter would be given, absolute slaughter would be inevitable.**_

 _ **With a single swing of their weapons, both the Goddess and he DPU armies swiftly charged at each other, spewing forth like unending tides. Large, frenzied howls broke free across the battlefield, bloodlust shining through the eyes of everyone involved as they descended upon one another, before they collided like two furious natural disasters.**_

 _ **Demons tore away at their opponents with unending savagery, spewing blood like geysers as they built up a gradually increasing kill count whilst managing to inflict more losses on the enemy side than their own. Human warriors ripping through demons with their weapons. Throughout the 1000 year wait, humans whom had gained demonic weapons under their control called Devil Arms had joined the Goddess's army. In addition to those who had awakened and tamed Archdevil Arms as well. Aside from them, the leaders of both armies fought in the airspace above them, fighting above the very clouds themselves where nobody dared to go to provide them aid. They didn't need to, since their leaders had already reached a level far beyond what any mere mortal or even immortals could acquire.**_

 ** _Up above the clouds, the leaders of both armies battled it out, reaching cataclysmic levels right off the bat. The Goddess had become much stronger since the first meeting she had with Diadact 1000 years ago, as the number of followers and their devotion to her, combined with her own training results, had become that much greater. Even so, she never expected this to be an easy battle, and even then, she got the feeling that she had severely underestimated the raw power of the DPUs. Especially the ones whom were facing her right now._**

 _ **The DPU of Life had a disgustingly powerful regenerative ability, making it near impossible to really hurt him while the DPU of Fate continuously attacked the Goddess' soul and tried changing her from the inside into a docile pet for him to keep. Even with her prior preparations, this battle felt more like a desperate struggle for her to survive against their combined might, as they performed these actions all while they traded blows with physical weapons which existed across countless different planes of existence. There was a reason why DPU weapons trumped any and all Devil Arms and Archdevil Arms, that being their ability to destroy both mortal and immortal alike. Plus because of this unique existence they couldn't be destroyed by any normal means, not even by the Goddess herself. If there was a way, then she wouldn't have known it since information about the DPUs, concrete info on their weaknesses, wasn't that well known.**_

 _ **She did manage the task of holding up during the initial stages of the battle, her powers greater than any other warrior there, but even so it still remained inferior by leagues and bounds to the combined energy of the DPUs of Life and Fate. In essence, it would only be natural for the Goddess to eventually be driven to a corner. Seizing their opportunity at this moment, both DPUs decided to activate their plan to finis the Goddess off for good. Her body got ensnared by the DPU of Life during a slashing fest to keep her distracted, creating a giant tree that both kept her tied within the base itself, sucking away her vast vitality while the DPU of Fate made to completely infiltrate her mind and change her into his ideal sex slave. He'd have her right then and there whilst his companion watched, due to his curiosity about how a union between a DPU and a Goddess would work for their bodies. After all, they were of opposing natures, so what would happen in that situation.**_

 ** _And, as she was just about to lose the battle in her mind, then be forced to endure the one thing that all women fear most when at the hands of a DPU, A Demon, or any kind of horrible man... a red flash went through the battlefield._**

 ** _A new force surged down below as an army of no more than 5000 Demons, DPUs of varying classes between the low and mid class, appeared from behind the eastern rear of the DPU army. They, without any hesitation, jumped straight into battle and tore their way through the enemy ranks till the reached the Goddess Army. One would think they would go on to kill the Goddess Army too, but in actuality... they just stuck with the DPU Army, slaughtering them by the dozens with ease. The kind of ease warriors of unparalleled ability would possess, ones who could call themselves 'elite' and actually ave the bite to back up their barks, so to speak._**

 ** _At the head of the army, the DPU of Destruction Sparda appeared, brandishing his signature sword with the Aura of the Edict of Destruction around him as he flew up to free the Goddess, to help her fight. Well, help would be a strong world since it could be fun to face two of the other original DPUs together, something he never experienced before. Though, what he hadn't expected was for his so-called 'followers', whom he had repeatedly told to stay the fuck away from his battlefield or he would slaughter them all himself, to do the following thing and join him anyways. If there was one thing he hated in this world, it was when people tried to barge into the good fights that he found either in Gamindustri or the Devildimension in general. Then again, he supposed it couldn't be helped, since he DID raise them and train them so that they would be bloodthirsty warriors just like himself. Hell, the only reason why he had so many followers to begin with was because he had somehow 'saved' them when he fought some demon which was harassing them during a time he couldn't recall due to disinterest._**

 ** _Meh, he'll deal with them later, right now he had a fight to enjoy!_**

 ** _Thus, with his power, he had been able to_** _ **eradicate the tree that restrained the Goddess, forcing Diadact to escape lest he be cut apart by the DPU of Destruction's infernal blade. Though, he didn't say why he even agreed to aid the Goddess, just transmitted his orders to not harm the Goddess Army no matter what to the rest of his followers, or 'Legion' as he liked to call them.**_ _ **With his power and forces together with the ones from the Goddess, the battlefield was evened out and before long a impasse appeared. The battle would rage on for centuries on end, with not a single sign of defeat for either side in sight. On the DPU Army's side, they had a huge repertoire of Demons to replace those tat they had lost, and the DPUs were all getting stronger through the constant conflict. As for the Goddess Army, their faith and devotion to their leader drove them forwards despite their losses exceeding the 50% point. The fact that their leader fought on against the 'true enemy' above the heavens was what kept them going, kept them from giving up and giving them the conviction they needed to press forwards.**_

 _ **However, the conflict escalated further as two more forces showed up to make this mess of a war even grander and more destructive.**_

 ** _The DPU of Death appeared for no other reason than to face off against everyone there since he wanted to further himself, he even revealed his trump card in the form of a clone made of his flesh, blood, soul, and spirit that instead of being a DPU of Death was actually one that had only been born, but was starting to learn and master the powers over the Primordial Darkness and Evil. It was revealed that Mundus, the DPU of Death had an objective of fusing himself and his clone after it fully learned about the energy of Evil and Darkness with the objective of becoming the supreme and eternal overlord of the world._**

 ** _BUT, a different force appeared to face him and made it all the more complex. The Eight Beast Kings, creatures that were born from the Edicts long ago and managed to overcome everything to reign supreme on their corners of the galaxy, immortal and existing for longer than any other being and some of the most powerful creatures out there. Those creatures sensed the danger the galaxy was in should this incident be allowed to prosper, thus brought with them a horde of beasts that were strong beyond belief, at least enough to go up against the middle class DPUs, all to destroy those forces that could destroy the Devildimension._**

 ** _In the end, one of the Beast Kings, the Dimensional Whale, used its special ability to devour and take away to a separate space most of the combatants, leaving only the DPUs, the Goddess, a few humans, some of the creatures from the DPU of Life, and the other Beast Kings. Even space and the landmass was no exception to that suction power since much of the space, energy, and everything there was was sucked inside, everything that had been 'tainted' by the Demons and most of the terrains of the DPUs was taken inside._**

 ** _Afterwards, the rest of the combatants continued fighting desperately, though thanks to the Beast Kings things had turned sour for the DPU Army. The DPU of Fate was the first to fall, as he was besieged by three of the Beast Kings. Their powers had been much of an equal to his own, as even with his ability to make their moves not hit him at all, they each managed to damage him to a severe degree. Hell, he could barely influence their minds and souls at all, much to his horror and frustration. In a moment of weakness, he was sealed away inside the Dimensional Whale, though he did managed to take down the Wolf King before he was though. The same happened to the DPU of Life as he was too sealed away, but not before throwing most of his experiments (As well as what remained of the DPU race) out of Gamindustri and all across the Devildimension so as to make sure his life's work would live on as a constant reminder to how awesome he was. Also, unlike the DPU of fate, he only injured the Monkey King_**

 ** _As the DPU of Death was also one step away from being defeated he threw a curse upon the Goddess and gave one last blow with everything he had to the DPU of Destruction. And, even as he laid immobile in what others would think was death he sealed himself so as to recover as he discarded his body and used it as a way to seal himself until he was fully back to health. His clone was then sealed away by the Dimensional Whale in a completely separate space._**

 ** _The Eight Beast Kings, now assured that their homes in the Devildimension were safe, turned towards the last two survivors of this cataclysmic battle. Instead of eliminating the DPU of Destruction and the Goddess, they'd simply turned and left, as they knew neither of them would recover from those wounds. Plus, in the state they were now they did not even BEGIN to qualify as their opponents._**

 ** _The two warriors that were left fell to the ground in exhaustion, the Goddess felt her being breaking down. Despite the amount of Share Energy given to her, the Curse Mundus had left her would not stop until she was dead. She figured she would not have much time left, since the Curse ate away at her faster than her Share Energy could repel it. Thus, in an effort to retain the line of Goddesses whom she believed would continue on with their duty to protect the human race from any other race in the Devildimension, the Goddess put a large remainder of her power into what would be later known as a Sharicite, telling her followers that once she passed, they had to put all their faith in that Sharicite. Thus, they would gain a new Goddess to protect them, fulfilling her deepest desire aside from ending the reign of the DPUs._**

 _ **Meanwhile, Sparda crouched like a knight, using his sword as a means to support him whilst looking upwards towards the distance. He hadn't been blind, that attack would be too much for him to handle. His death was coming, though he couldn't help but be satisfied. That fight had been the greatest one he ever had, thus dying on a battlefield like this, after surviving the things he had, it could not have been a better end for a warrior such as himself. Still though, there were things he had to do, therefore he forced himself to move once more. He ordered his followers, human, Demon and DPU alike, to spread across the Devildimension and repopulate their kind. To rebuild as one, to become the warriors they were meant to be. Conflict would always exist, thus more DPUs would eventually be born throughout the Devildimension. Therefore, even if Gamindustri would no longer be host to the DPUs or any Demonic beings from today forwards, they would still live on. Plus, it meant more fighting, and even though he was one satisfied warrior, he felt it a bit too displeasing to get rid of ALL fighting today.**_

 ** _Even as he gave his orders, Sparda did NOT expect the Goddess to approach him, her body weak yet her eyes still radiating resolve much like his own. Her followers behind her stayed back on her request, their looks being that of reluctant respect for the DPU of Destruction, respect for helping their Goddess even if he had his reasons. When she approached him, she had requested that they seal off Gamindustri from the outside of the Devildimension, keeping it safe from any demonic influences from today forwards. She couldn't do it herself anymore thanks to her previous actions draining a lot of her power. The look in her eyes intrigued Sparda, that and she had helped him gain the greatest fight he could have ever asked for, and he wouldn't be who he was if he didn't at LEAST repay her for such a glorious favour. He was a killer, a vicious warrior, but he had SOME form of pride in himself. Those thoughts had became the reason why he agreed to combine his power with her own in order to establish the world-wide seal. As a result, the two sealed off Gamindustri together, breathing their final moments together afterwards before their ends came once and for all._**

* * *

 **Holy... freaking hell...**

 **Yeah, those words summed up his thoughts on what he'd been shown by the Lexicanum quite well. Nico, once the Tendrils disconnected from him, stumbled back as he held his head, a wild and thumping headache assaulting his Skull. The pain he felt right now felt freaking excruciating, but it wasn't like he wasn't used to pain by this point. Plus, he had mentally prepared himself for it, so it didn't hurt as much as it should have. Still, despite that pain, Nico couldn't forget a single thing he had learned over the course of what felt like five minutes, but could have been way longer. The original Goddess, Odyssey Heart if he remembered correctly, Sparda and the four Original DPUs, the huge conflict, these 8 Beast Kings (another thing he'll have to look into...), not to mention the Edicts...**

 **So much stuff had been learned, and not just what he and his aspects had seen. For example, the Edicts themselves weren't power sources like he had originally thought, nor were they something unique to the DPUs. Instead, they seemed more like these set of rules and requirements to have specific abilities. Its more on the comprehension side than anything physical. Not to mention that if he were to try and become the new DPU of Destruction which he felt Sparda had intended from the information surging through his mind, then he would have to take something called a Nirvana Rebirth Pill, which was said to destroy and rebuild the body multiple times over, all the while he had to kill a FUCKING LOT in some place which personifies chaos in and of itself. Not something that could be easily understood by normal people of this era, but those who did would understand just how difficult this could be.**

 **Repeatedly destroying themselves...**

 **Constantly killing non-stop...**

 **These weren't things a normal person could do.**

 **"Well..." The sound of Biko beginning to speak broke the younger redhead male out of his thoughts, thus making him turn to look at his Demon Persona. This allowed him the sight of seeing him with several books floating around him, books which were covered in the guy's auras whilst from what he could tell it looked like the books were writing themselves. Letters of glowing energy appeared on the pages faster than the fastest authors could type, and Biko kept them all in his vision. "This latest venture into the Lexicanum has proven to be quite... informative. I can tell that this information is concrete too, since this seems to have been written during the time of the DPU era itself. Though, how this came to be remains a mystery for the time being."**

 **"URGH... GEEZ, YOU GUYS DO THIS ALL THE FREAKING TIME?!"**

 **The sound of his Ghoul Persona reminded both of them that he was here, thus prompted Nico and Biko to turn to him (the Books remained in front of the Demon Persona though). "Yes indeed. However, the amount of information we received just now is much larger than previous attempts, which I believe is thanks to your co-operation. All of us here** **worked together and increased the capacity of comprehension as a result. Hmmmmm... It opens up a world of possibilities with just this attempt alone..." Biko remarked to himself, although the other two clearly heard him thanks to their enhanced senses.**

 **"WELL, FORGET ABOUT ME DOING THAT SHIT AGAIN, THAT FUCKING HURTS LIKE HELL! AGH, FUCK ME!" Nico's Ghoul Side retorted angrily before he vanished from the Library, likely to never come within five feet of this place ever again. He'd probably be too focused on the headaches and the phantom pains which would come with it.**

 **To be frank, Nico could honestly not blame the guy for once. This amount of information felt too much to be processed at this time, and Biko here would likely take a while to write down everything they had learned. Odds were, he would likely take several hours to process and write down the information, even with his comprehension and writing speeds. Nico then looked over to his Demon Persona, an idea coming to his mind from all of this. "Well, a silver lining for this could be that he won't be too busy with his trauma as much now. This'll likely take a large chunk out of it."**

 **"Maybe, or he'll just try to push them both away by killing some monsters like he normally does."**

 **"... Touche. Good point."**

 **(Flashback END!**

"Ah... I was curious as to where you were."

"Hm?" Just as Nico came out of his trance right now, the redhead male heard a familiar, feminine voice. Due to the lack of hostility he could sense from it, the male figured that the voice meant no harm, and so did his Ghoul side. Honestly though, he couldn't help but be glad that the Kagune hadn't com out and skewered the person who spoke just now, that had almost happened several times during the last few days. It was getting harder and harder t restrain itself thanks to Mundus, something else that he hated the guy for. Slowly turning his head whilst standing up and strapping Ouranos to his back, Nico looked towards the source of the voice... "MAGES.?"

... And found the Mad Magician MAGES. standing there, leaning next to a tree while giving him that look a guardian would give to a kid they had been searching an entire night for. It wasn't that bad per say, but it wasn't good either... plus, it gave Nico pause to ponder his not realizing MAGES. was even close to him. Had he been so out of it that he had failed to notice her? Or, did his senses already pick her up but he had been too zoned out that he didn't care? Geez, he needed to stop with the intense flashbacks, they could cause him serious problems in the future. His Kagune could protect him automatically from danger, but the point still stood.

"It is good that you remember my name." MAGES. replied, standing from the tree and taking her Staff, that Wabbajack one (why did it look like how a combat staff would whenever it was used to hit something like a blunt weapon?) which leaned diagonally next to her before she walked towards him. "When I saw someone creating a dust trail which rose above the forest line, I figured it would have been you." she commented, gesturing with her Wabbajack towards the... fissure which Nico had caused pulling his usual stunts. "I have been standing here for 5 minutes, but it seems you were too caught up in your trance to notice me."

Yeah, he figured that to be the case, and couldn't help but wince at it. "Yeah, apologies about that. I've had a lot on my plate recently." he replied sheepishly, sweat dropping a little. He then shifted into a more serious posture, his eyes locking gazes with her own under that witch hat of hers. "While i'd like to ask what you are doing here, what I wanna know more is how you've been faring. I never got to thank you for what you did during the Demon Invasion." he asked her, then scratched his jaw while tilting his head slightly. Despite his efforts, he no longer could hold that gaze anymore as his eyes shifted to the side nervously, not to mention the shame that gradually filled them. He didn't like to think about that moment of weakness, not with what had happened.

MAGES. herself nodded as well, and though she had a strong suspicion about what bothered him, she did feel touched that he would want to know about her safety more so. She felt glad that hadn't changed about him at least. "I am well, thank you for asking." she replied, smirking a little. The light that shone in those blue eyes of hers somewhat reminded Nico of how Lucy would look at him, causing him to shit awkwardly. Lucy was one thing, but he got the feeling the more that he hung out with the Mad Magician that she shared many traits with some of the more... aggressive girls that he knew. Just a moment later though, she shifted her look to one of seriousness, just like how he had done before. "In any case, I would like to ask you to come with me to see someone."

"Huh? Someone?"

"That is correct. There is someone I would like you to meet. He's someone I believe can help you with any issues about getting strength you may be facing. He has done the same for myself, after all."

Now this got Nico's attention plus his interest. The possibility of growing stronger intrigued him, plus he wanted to know who the hell MAGES. was talking about. If it was someone she knew, then could that person be as crazy as she tended to be whenever she invented something? Nico honestly shuddered at the thought, but nonetheless he gave her a nod to show his acceptance, getting a happy look from her as the two walked away from the clearing Nico had been resting in.

* * *

About 15 minutes later, they were nearing a clearing in the forest. A smaller one than the one the Mad Magician whom had found him during a search. What she had in mind however, eluded him. Nico honestly wondered what it was that MAGES. wanted from him in bringing him to this person she mentioned. Though, he couldn't help but be concerned deep down, especially when he didn't even need to activate his emotion sensing abilities to feel the conflict within her. Like, something was troubling her, but what that was wasn't revealed yet. He didn't think MAGES. would be irresponsible enough to get into debt to any bad people (and he knew what the term 'bad person' met all too well), but he DID hope that whatever happened wasn't negatively affecting her. She had slowly begun growing on him the more time they had spent together, so he wouldn't stand by if someone was threatening her.

Once they entered the clearing, MAGES. turned on her black heeled boots towards him, her hair swaying to the side thanks to the motions. He didn't see her gaze thanks to her hat shadowing her eyes for a moment, but eventually she looked up to him. That was when his eyes shone with concern when he saw her sad eyes staring back at him. "I must apologize for this, if it were up to myself and the powers I possess, I would never take you to this person." she apologized, only worrying the guy more.

In addition to that, Nico looked confused as well, especially since he could not feel anything at all from the clearing they were approaching. And then, they finally entered the clearing to find...

Nothing.

It was just a normal clearing without anyone there.

'Huh? What the...? There's nobody here... Hey you guys, can you sense anything?'

 **'Unfortunately, I do not. My senses are drawing a blank here.'**

'PATHETICALLY ENOUGH TO SAY, BUT I'M ON THE SAME BOAT AS THIS STOIC ASSHOLE HERE.'

That... did not sit well with him. Not at all.

The redhead male made to say something about this, when he noticed that the blunette MAGES. continued walking, he shut his mouth before making to follow her. Not a second later though, he almost did a spit take at how suddenly she disappeared out of thin air as if she passed a barrier.

'Okay, what the hell?! A freaking barrier?! But, I didn't even sense anything out of the ordinary! Biko and my Ghoul Persona didn't either! I should have been able to sense the barrier from this distance!'

'KING, Y'BETTER LOOK OUT, THIS WHOLE THING IS NOT SMELLING WELL FOR ME'

'Yeah... yeah, I will'

And with that Nico took a step forward, following MAGES. into this barrier whilst wondering just who the hell could have made this barrier. Could he be the one MAGES. was worried about? He'll keep his guard up, as well as keep his Kagune on standby, so if MAGES. being threatened WAS what was going on here, he could swiftly act before anyone could react. It was just a precaution.

* * *

After passing said barrier he saw something that made his eyes twitch madly, a low growl emit from his Ghoul Persona, and a disbelieving gawking sound from Biko.

"WHAT THE HELL?! THIS PLACE, IS IT THAT FREAKING VILLAGE HIDDEN IN THE LEAVES?!" the redhead exclaimed, eyes that comical white as seen in anime, as he came face to face with a huge village-like area. It was surrounded by this strong barrier, as well as a huge forest whilst being built into this huge cliff with multiple faces engraved into it.

Not only that but his clothes changed too, becoming something that he would later swear to never repeat to anyone again: a green spandex that covered his whole body from the neck down. Not only that but his spiky hair had became a bow cut-style, plus instead of red it had become all black, even his eyebrows were thicker somehow. It may not be his worse nightmare, but his current appearance was definitely up there! Seriously, he took care of his appearance, his look was meant to signify his change from the Hellverse Dungeon after all!

Who the hell would do this?! Should he do the infamous 'One Hundred Years of Death' on them?!

"Please do not complain, for this could have very well ended up being way worse." MAGES. voice said from the side, and when he turned to her to say something ...

'Shit!'

Something that any normal guy would be glued towards... so, basically it would be a hellish nightmare for Nico.

Nico swore over 1000 times in his mind as he swiftly turned away, a hand over his eyes as he furiously banished the thoughts of what he had just seen from his mind. Especially since it seemed to... augment the deeply repressed lustful instincts that he and Biko had been fighting against. What had he seen, you ask? Oh, nothing much, just a crimson red MAGES. wearing a purple mini top that almost let him see her chest, a mini skirt that barely covered her ass, and tight thigh highs that emphasized her legs even more. Yep, if she any less fabric in her clothes she might as well go with only her underclothes.

"Uhhhh, MAGES.? Could you per chance spare both of us this humiliation and change your attire to your original one?" Nico questioned, trying so desperately hard not to flip out at the sight of the attractive woman in revealing attire. He made sure to let her know he wasn't being perverted too, by keeping his hand over his eyes and not turning to face her when he spoke.

At this, MAGES. shook her head at him, her irritation radiating from her like it was its own aura. "Unfortunately, I lack the power necessary to break this spell, for its caster is leagues above me in terms of abilities. No, it would be more accurate to say that this spell-caster is very well the strongest there'll ever be i any possible reality." she replied, though internally she couldn't help but be grateful that Nico was doing what he could to spare her dignity any more blows, even if she did enjoy him looking a bit. She had already come to terms with this person's quirks, but it didn't lessen the embarrassment she got whenever she would be subjugated to them.

"Huh? Who the hell could have THAT much power?"

"That would be mwah, young padawan."

Just when Nico asked that question in a rhetorical manner, an older, middle aged-sounding voice responded, and was it just him or did an emoji face wink at him when it appeared in front of him? Nico blinked, and the face vanished when he did so, leading him to wonder if he was hallucinating or on drugs. "Nope, sorry kid, but that stuff isn't fit for a kid like yourself." The same voice once again spoke, a snicker accompanying it as, in front of them, a small light suddenly appeared. When it did, the light grew and grew in both size and intensity, forcing the redhead male to cover his eyes by shielding them with his arms.

When the light began to die down, Nico lowered his arms, opening his previously closed eyes once more. Once he did, though, the male found himself looking upon an older, middle-aged man. The man himself just stood there in what he could only describe as one hell of a yoda look, what with all the small stature weird green face and looking like a little monster while keeping a benevolent smile on his face. Well, that was only until an explosion of confetti happened beneath his feet and from it he removed the robes standing tall with an overcoat while using a guitar while a guitarist with a big afro that covered his head started playing behind him as the two started singing together an anime opening song from a mahou shoujo story.

...

...

...

...

... Uhhhh, what could he say to that?

Honestly, Nico couldn't help but think that as he stared at the scene, looking completely dumbfounded while trying to find a response, only to get none. Not only did this guy look like a complete, total idiot that didn't even fit the surroundings, but Nico also felt the level of power that he radiated like it was no big deal. The amount of it... it forced him to stop himself from saying his default sarcastic, snide remarks lest he flip his shit and tears him apart with but a thought. With the amount he could sense, Nico did NOT want to antagonize this guy even if his life depended on it. It felt like if he did, it would be the last thing he ever did, seriously this guy's power dwarfed Nico's own. Combined with his rather idiotic introduction... Nico could only feel complex about it.

It was like that man had more energy than the entire universe he lived in multiplied by a thousand, he was so strong that Mundus could not compare to a single strand of his hair in terms of power.

And yet, he was acting like a fool. Especially when he started doing a guitar solo while gigantic Mahou Shoujo figures danced around him while flashing their panties.

A sigh escaped the lips of his female companion behind him, making Nico's eyes widen by a small fraction when here remembered that they weren't alone... not to mention that MAGES. was still here, as well as in that predicament of hers. "Believe me when I say this, Nico, that THIS is merely one of his lesser antics. He could have done so much more, so let's consider ourselves lucky he didn't destroy our sanity." MAGES. remarked, whilst covering her breasts with her arms. She didn't like how exposed she had been, but didn't say anything since she had gotten used to such behavior from this man.

"You're serious?"

"Pft, hahahaha...!" The man exclaimed, filled with amused laughter at the dumbfounded, incredulous look on the former redhead's features. He then tried to speak between laughs whilst gesturing to Nico's form. "Wow, I heard that you were one of the prude little emo type that even if he managed to get an harem would not even realize out of respect or some silly shit like that, but you are even worse in person! Hahahaha!"

For some reason, Nico already wanted to try and punch him, even though his instincts screamed at him not to. It was like his body and mind were at war on what to do here, one side wanted to knock some sense into this guy, but the other side argued that he'd be obliterated if he did. 'Jesus Christ, just who the hell is this guy...?' The male wondered.

"Uhhh, I did just say my name, its everyone's favorite undead badass over here, Zelretch. And nope, Ainz is the second best undead out there as I am the original MVP!"

'Did he just read my freaking mind! Invasion of privacy right there!'

Nico felt like he was about to reach his wits end with this guy, so close to freaking tearing his hair out in frustration with how childish this guy was. There was the good kind of childishness, which often caused a lot of funny laughs, and then there's the annoying bratty type of childish which makes everyone want to strangle them. Zelretch honestly reminded him of Neptune... only, much more of a troll than she could ever be.

Just before he could do anything however, a sigh escaped MAGES. behind him, although Nico did NOT attempt to turn around right now to preserve what little dignity she had retained. "Alright sensei, you've had your fun." she began, before making her request. "Could you turn us back to normal now?"

"What's that? What do you want me to do? You know what to say, so say it."

"Fuck you."

"Nah, you still don't have big enough boobs for me to want to do that. Besides, I bet you want to take emo boy over there into your bed anyway."

"You're seriously going to force me on this?"

"Girl please, I'm at half mast. I need to hear this."

"... #SIGH# Fine, oh mighty Zelretch, badass among badasses, the super most awesome undead apostle in the history of the world, could you please turn us back to normal?"

At this two-sided argument's conclusion, a massive grin spread across Zelretch's face. One that looked like it could have broken skin if it were anyone else. It looked like Christmas had come early for him as he began to... bounce up and down like a loony toon. "Whoo, hoo, hohohohohohohohohoho! Hehehehehe! Yes sir, thank you sir, this is the best!" Zelretch exclaimed, and just as he repeatedly jumped about, Nico noticed how there was magical energy being sent out during each jump. That energy went towards the two of them... before going straight to MAGES. alone and reverting her to her original attire, or almost.

She had a shirt over her default clothes that said 'I am a idiot with the best master out there' right above the chest with an image of Zelretch standing above a figure of MAGES. idolizing him.

Nico could only twitch his brow before pinching the bridge of his nose. 'Don't snap, don't snap, don't snap...' Nico chanted like a mantra in his mind. The anger and sheer indignity that he felt inside right now made him SO want to just break something, but he refrained. He had to keep his cool, just like he did with his annoying superiors who thought they were above him thanks to the 'restraints' they put on him in the form of his mother.

This did NOT go unnoticed by Zelretch however, as he stopped bouncing like an idiot and regarded him with childish curiosity. "Oh? Not gonna snap are you? Come on, you know you want to." Zelretch questioned, tilting his head in a manner SO reminiscent of a cute girl. "Besides, it would only show to me that you are a weak little kid with a small mind and too firm morals for doing things only your way, what do they call those? Oh yeah, a winy little brat."

'That look does NOT fit this man in the least...' Nico thought to himself, shaking his head before he spoke in a tone which practically oozed fake kindness. He refused to let his Ghoul side (his Inner Ghoul ranting and raving right now) try anything stupid which could get them both killed. "Nah, I will not give you the satisfaction, besides even if I snapped it is clear as day that I would not stand a chance." he replied, gesturing to the Mad Magician.

"Ah, interesting. From what I've heard, I had initially expected a beast lashing out at anything that did not fit in your definition of right, but it seems that you have some degree of flexibility after all. Well, you are a beast trying to fit into a role that just isn't your type, so I guess it makes sense." the man mused, causing Nico to grow tense. He knew EXACTLY what Zelretch was referring too, though what he DIDN'T know was, how the hell did that guy know about his Ghoul Side? That question almost left his lips, before he bit it back. Especially when Zelretch clapped his hands and everything around them reverted to a normal clearing... including Nico's appearance by the way. "Whelp, you've piqued my interest boy. Looks like my student wasn't lying about you." he remarked thoughtfully, now dressed in more Mage-like robes.

'Student? Wait, does that mean...?' Nico wondered, glancing over to MAGES., who nodded in his direction (although she looked reluctant to admit it). That just conformed his thoughts to him. With that out of the way, Nico looked back to the old man, a look of realization dawning on him as he put the pieces together in his mind. "By student, do you mean that...?"

"Yup this little cutie here's my latest student. Took her from her home dimension to train her when I discovered her talent, though I MAY have accidentally dropped her, and a couple friends of hers, into this one by mistake. Well, not like it matters all that much since I would drop her on a world where vampires shiny like butterflies and everything is depressing so over here is an improvement if you ask me, I did ask her to go with her friends kill to them earlier, but I sent their ultimate nemesis there anyway so it will probably work out. I'd take facing demons anytime over having to deal with those emo fuckers." Zelretch replied, shrugging his shoulders afterward. "In any case, since you piqued my curiosity, how about an opportunity?"

"Huh? What opportunity?"

"Quite simple my boy, I have been watching this pocket dimension you live in and it is too depressing, so I invite you to come to my Colosseum to fight some challenges I created. I want to get rid of some of my stuff so I will give them to those I chose, I already have my godson there but I want one more guinea rat, I mean test subject, for the trials before I bring in others to enjoy my challenges! I hope you enjoy it." Zelretch explained with a mischievous smile, before snapping his fingers. Instantly, Nico sensed something had changed drastically, but before he could say anything back to him, the redhead male's form vanish instantly.

And all the while, the Mad Magician only watched, frowning to herself before Zelretch too vanished not long after Nico did. MAGES. could only hope deep down inside, that things would not go so bad. However, knowing how her teacher acted, she figured that was asking too much.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Alright, now here's the thing guys: The next chapter will be a bit confusing for you all. Why? Because it begins after a small crossover that me and my companion King Carlos are doing. We're having our MC's from our stories OEG and 'Heroic Heir in DxD' meet up in Zelretch's alternate dimension. There, the two will likely have to team up in order to pass these trials Zelretch has in mind for them, and if they do pass, then they get some... goodies... as a reward for their troubles. Oh, and if anyone is confused, we're talking about Zelretch from the fate series.**

 **This has been a long time in the making, and is also the reason why this chapter came out so late. It started before the Hellverse Arc as an idea, before being actually developed during that particular arc. Its purpose is mostly filler, but if you read it you will understand certain decisions which are going to be made later on. Even so, I will try to do my best to explain them anyways, in case you all get confused.**


	153. Cross Chapter 0 - Bio for HH MC Castiel

**Name:** Castiel Emyia

 **Age** : 17 years old

 **Race** : Half Angel half human

 **Hair** : Golden

 **Skin** : he has very tan skin, which is surprisingly smooth to the point it looks at the same time healthy and delicate  
 **Eyes** : the left one is pitch black and capable of seeing all sins of a person; the right one was lost previously and now it was replaced by a Divine Eye of a light-related deity and it allows him to control all light energy in his line of sight as well as absurdly high reaction speed, almostin the level of the sharingan, the eye is a celestial blue by the way.

 **Other dinstinctive features** :  
-he lost his right arm and replaced it with Argetlain, a weapon created by using the energy of the world, designs of a weapon made by Merlin, and fragments of Excalibur that were drenched in king Arthur's flesh and blood.  
-He has currently 8 wings, the ones in the left are pitch black like the moonless sky while the ones in the right are golden and feel holy and sacred.

 **Weapons:**  
- **Kupriotes** – a simple sword, it is based in Alexander's sword and it only gives a slight increase to Castiel's natural charisma and lightning resistance. But it is the blade he is the most familiar with so if it comes to pure swordplay he would use this one the best.

- **Hruting** – a huge black sword. It look impractical at first glance but it has two skills that more than make up for the excessive bulk of it, the first being that once it 'tasted' the blood of someone it won't stop its attacks towards it, making it a weapon that tracks other while also making the most optimal attack at all times. Feints are useless against it. Another ability is that the more blood it is drenched in the stronger a curse in the blade becomes, a curse that makes the user insane but also raises his physical attributes further. Castiel's weapon also carries within it the soul of a World-Devouring Wolf, a divine beast that can devour entire worlds in one bite and is never satisfied.

- **Clarent** – the weapon that is most dazzling than any silver, it is a weapon that can only be used by someone who is recognized as deserving to be king. It has the ability to amplify the user's every parameter and also has the ability to amplify attacks using it to create thunder strikes or giant energy attacks. It was created to have a pseudo-will and is very competitive;

- **Gandiva** – A bow based in Arjuna's own bow. It is a divine weapon that is made of pure divine flames given shape and hundreds of rare materials, in the matter of bows it is hard to find any that could even come close to match its power. Of course its excessive power also comes with corresponding consumption of energy making it impractical for Castiel as he is now to use it. As long as you pull it an arrow appear, it is made of the user's own energy amplified by the weapon, it is possible for the user to put more power or try to put specific powers into it but if the energy goes beyond a certain threshold the arrow becomes of fire so using things like water or ice to make an arrow using Gandiva is counterproductive.

 **Argetlan** – a prosthetic arm made by using the fragments of Excalibur, energy of the world, flesh and blood of king Arthur, blueprints based in Merlin's original designs but amplified by the work of Galiei, due to a trick used by Galilei it also has managed to get a part of Kokabiel's powers as the Star of God, granting it higher light power than the original as well as some amount of fire as well. It can release and control the purest form of light energy and the amount of power it contains is no joke.

 **Left Arm Spirit Bone** – World-Devouring Wolf bone – It is a 700.000 years spirit bone that has the ability Devour, it grants the ability to devour any type of energy touching Castiel's left hand and turn it into pure energy for Castiel to use. There is no type of energy that can't be used by this and even attacks can become useless when hitting his left hand.

 **Skull Spirit Bone** – Spiritual King Baize bone – it is a 200.000 years spirit bone and carries two skills. The first is complete immunity to any and all mental attacks, ilusions and any other type of thing that damages his soul are all impossible to affect him, excluding if it is something self-used like the curse of Hruting, but it still dampen its effects greatly. The second is Complete Understanding, an ability that allows him to learn everything another has been through as if it was himself who went through it, but he can only learn it while sleeping. One thing of interest is that he can select exactly what he wants to know and no matter how strong the other may be none can escape this overbearing skill, especially since he can launch it without others ever realizing he did as it is so secretive that even noticing it is neigh impossible.

 **Left Leg Spirit bone** – Purity Dragon King's leg – it makes Castiel completely immune to any and all poison or dangerous substance, making assassinating him much harder and be able to survive some of the bio-hazard experiments that some of his girlfriends tried to pass up as cooking (but he would never call that true cooking, just a murder attempt). The second skill is called Purity Halo, it is an area of effect skill that eliminates any poison or substance he considers a taint in a large area, the bigger the area the more energy he must use but with it no poison can work against him or those close to him.

 **Angelic Foundation Armor** – an armor that is only usable for angels in the level of Super-class (the equivalent to continental class DPUs in OEG), Archangels, or those destined to be Archangels, like Castiel. It is an armor capable of accumulating twice the amunt of energy the user has, grants an increase in strength, defense, magic resistance, light energy manipulation, and lessens the needed energy to launch an attack. It is truly an armor that becomes monstruously strong when used by those who are truly strong, much like the Archangels. Using one, an Archangel can fight even those in higher level or multiple enemies at once without a informations:  
Castiel's body is an oddity. He has three distinctive features that make measuring his true potential near impossible. His first one being that he is part angel, to be more specific he was chosen by birth by Heaven's System to receive the name of Castiel, the archangel that was the Shield of God and the being with the strongest defense in the entire universe he came from, while Castiel also is son of Gabriel, the Strength of God and being her son he should have potential to have near unlimited strength. Only based on that he would definetly reach mid Leader-Class at the absolute least. An Archangel is capable of using the power of his 'name', as such when Castiel uses his the wings in his back becomes completely impossible to breach, not even those much stronger could and even those in the absurd level of strength would not find it easy, and that is because he is currently weak in comparison to what he can reach.

 **Background**

The thing is that he is also half human, a being that has true unlimited potential for growth, and considering that he is the son of Shirou Emyia, someone who was considered one of the strongest humans in the entire universe it made Castiel's potential even harder to define.

But the last part is what is troubling the most, he also was born with a fragment of the corrupted Holly Grail, carrying with it both a connection to the throne of heroes, making him possibly able to learn and copy Heroic Spirits much like a demi-servant, but also having a part of Angra Mainyuu, a god that represents and carries All Evils in the World. That makes it so that Castiel's potential for Evil and Cursed magic be just as strong or possibly even more so than his potential for holy and light elements.

This combination that should have killed him was possible due to an impossible balance of energy that made it so that he was born with all this and perfectly fine.  
A proof of his special characteristic is how his wings are half golden and half black, a perfect mix of both powers that should not be able to coexist.  
Based on that it was possible that when he finished growing up he would already be on the limit of Leader-class (the equivalent to one of the Chaos Gods in OEG), but the problem is that his mother was scared by the thought that there might be some that would start a war to kill her child due to various political motives, so she put on a seal in him.

The seal not only blocked off most of his Evil energy it also sealed his angelic powers and left him nearly crippled in the matter of power. His originally absurdly powerful magic circuits were weakened and damaged to a point where it was terrible beyond compare, the weakest of the weak, and his bright beyond compare and smooth future was cut short. To every magic that for others would be easy for him it would be hard and the pain he had to endure was greater than anyone else doing the same, but he stood tall and did it regardless. He tried his hardest and learned everything he could possibly do, every shread of technique or information about magic or physical training was already deep in his head as no one understood how much effort he truly put into it, but his powers were limited.

After losing an arm during a battle against Kokabiel he was used as a ritualistic object for the ritual to create Argetlan, his body now has not a drop of blood and all of it is instead the purest energy of the world itself, this made it possible for the seal in his body to be broken and he now has finaly regained his angelic and evil energies, but his magic circuits still are weak when comparying to what they should be, his potential still undecided.

Finally, a thing of notice is that due to all the knowledge Castiel have about various matters about magic, political, and leadership matters he already knows so much that some may even call him a genius about it, even if he can only be said to be a genius of hard work.

His unarmed combat capabilities are taught by him by Souichiru Kuzuki, his future father-in-law (yes, Castiel is the fiancée of Souichiru and Caster's daughter), and it is a stile named Serpent, it focuses in instantly killing the enemy or at least damaging the joints. Castiel is highly capable in it to the point that Souichiru once said that Castiel could potentially suppress him in just a few more years.

For swordsmanship he not only learned it with both Saber but also Assassin but also with a simulator build by the Tower using the information Shirou had about all manners of heroes of the past, Castiel was not a genius in the sword by any means but finding someone more capable than him with it was much harder than most understood.

He also learned about beast taiming with Rider, magecraft with Rin and Luvia, witchcraft and magic of the age of gods with Caster, runecraft with Lancer, and many other things.

Other thing of notice is the fact he currently have a total of four familiars. 2 of them are Cosmoems (a gem-like being with a sphere in the center that looks just like a galaxy), one Jirachi (a child-like creature with a head looking like a star), and finally Eevee (this one, I doubt need introduction, except for the fact it can evolve at will to any of its forms).

 **Relationships** : Castiel values his relationships highly, he would not hesitate in the slightest to sacrifice himself for his loved ones or the Tower. He currently has friends with all kinds of species and is engaged with Miku Izayoi (Miku from Date a Live), Yuno Kuzuki (Yuno from Mirai Nikki), Kaguya and Yuzuru (the twins in Date a Live). He also is dating Seryuu (Akame Ga Kill), Serenity (an OC that is the reincarnation of Hassan of Serenity from Fate/Grad Order), and also is relatively close to a few other females.

 **Things he likes** : getting stronger, capable people or that at least try, command, being with his loved ones, completing a mission perfectly, and pudding, never forget that one.

 **Things he dislikes** : working with others he considers incompetent, failing at anything he considers he should be able to get it right, his mother, the hero faction as a whole, senseless violence against the innocent (as long as it is a sentient life), seeing those he considers his friends hurt in any way, and not being able to eat pudding for too long (one of his greatest happiness is that even when he eats way too much sugar his Left leg Spirit bone diminishes all negative effects of it, he can eat it without a shred of worry in his mind).


	154. Cross Chapter 1 - Demon Meets the King

**Demon meets the King**

The moment that his eyes opened again...

Nico could honestly not have any clue where the hell he was.

'What the... what the hell...?' Nico wondered to himself, blinking several times before he held his head in one hand. He could feel a headache coming on, and if the male was feeling a headache right now, the teen figured it was to do with the sudden teleporting he had just experienced. 'Ugh, seriously when the hell do these moments ever end... darn that guy... he didn't give me any time to react...' the redhead male thought irritably, a low grumble escaping his lips whilst his eyes shone with irritation. The male should have probably written a book, a book about the people he got pissed off towards the most, and put Zelretch into those upper ranks.

Perhaps he could have put him up in the 3rd place, 2nd being Yvoire for his discrimination against Spec Ops and 1st for Mundus thanks to his... actions, against his Ghoul side.

Though, his mind then wandered over to MAGES. and his irritation got a new friend in the surge of worry that blossomed within his chest. Now, whilst Nico wouldn't judge her for who she had taken as a teacher, he had to wonder if her meeting Zelretch had been one of MAGES.' few regrets in her life. Seriously, the guy seems like someone who could cause no small amounts of trouble, destroyed sanity for shits and giggles, not to mention that he had perverted tendencies. Those were big down points there, as far as he was concerned.

On the other hand, the amount of raw power that the redhead had found within the man, it was DEFINITELY something to take note of. Out of all the Mages that he had fought over the years, none of them came CLOSE to a fraction of the power that man wielded. It was like he came from a whole new league of Mages, Mages who knew how to kick ass and take names themselves. Not just with their magics, either like the majority of the Mages he had been used to. If someone like THAT guy existed, then what else was there?

 **'Well, whatever the case, it does seem like we are not anywhere we have previously been anymore...'**

When he heard the voice of his Demon Persona echo through his mind, Nico blinked owlishly as his irritation from before practically vanished from his mind. That got replaced with curiosity and confusion as he finally looked around at his surroundings, finding himself within this large, open space. 'This space...' the male thought as his eyes beheld it, searching through it like a lighthouse in the midst of a super storm for anything out of place. 'This place... it feels like... I dunno. But I thought it felt similar to my Inner World for some reason. What the hell is this place?'

To be honest, this entire place felt...barren. Empty. Not quite lifeless though, but for some reason the teen couldn't put his finger on why that was. It felt more like a place that was in-between dead and alive, kind of like a deserted planet which a god or a creator of life had not yet settled on to make anything on it yet. A place ripe for the taking, one could say. The teen hummed to himself whilst he thought about it, holding his chin in a detective-like manner whilst the other remained pocketed inside his Trench Coat.

Oh yeah, he had his original appearance back, the male realized after a moment, a figurative light bulb switching on over his head when he looked himself over. 'Well... at least the guy kept his word about keeping me normal... I won't ask myself why he did that though, the guy feels like he would troll me as soon as I start thinking it. Say, Biko, can you detect anything around this place?'

 **'I can detect a mybrid of things, Nico. I can sense powerful energies making up the terrain here, energies that I can't make heads or tails of. Odds are, this place is like an** **artificial** **island, only on a much greater scale. I seem to recall that there were** **rumors** **about making those for Civilians so they can live their lives peacefully whilst he military forces remain on the mainland, so they can fight these invading enemies.'**

Biko's words made Nico think back to a rumor he had heard once about that, the creation of Artificial Islands. It was an old rumor, multiple years old if he wasn't mistaken. The goal was to isolate the civilians on these large islands, made by artificial means with only normal wildlife for sustenance, among other supplies. One could call them these small towns that dot the main large Landmasses. They would remain there, and repopulate so that they could send new recruits to the Military forces so they can keep their numbers up to fight the Abnormals, now the Demons and other foreign enemies too, until they could regain their mainlands. However, something like that hadn't been implemented, though Nico didn't know why. Maybe he could look into that during his free time, maybe it was just a rumor, a false one.

Then, Nico's thoughts got interrupted by more words from Biko, and these ones caused his lips to become a firm thin line.

 **'In any case, I also detect something nearby. Its... strong, I can definitely say that, not to mention it feels like a life form... be wary Nico, for I can sense a POWERFUL, yet unknown energy within this life form. It feels oddly enough like a mix of... Goddess and Demon God, though one side seems to be weaker than the other. Like something had damaged it to the point of it becoming fractured. In military terms, caution is advised.'**

'Hmmmm... alright, i'll be wary, then.' Nico replied with a resolute nod, pocketing both hands in his Trench coat before he began moving towards the location of this unknown energy. He didn't have many leads on what it could be, but the word 'Godson' Zelretch had said stuck in his mind. Perhaps this was his Godson? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't willing to discard that theory. Part of him also checked Soul Edge's progress to recovery whilst he walked, and found that it had been restored to 60% already. His soul was at 75%, something that completely blew his mind. 'Okay, WHAT the hell?! How the hell is Soul Edge recovering so quickly?!And my Soul! How the hell?! I thought that...!'

Blinking, Nico scowled to himself as a theory came to him before Biko could respond. It had to be something to do with that dual-natured energy he sensed over this area. Its 'evil' feels like it could corrupt him, but his body knew this so it devised an absorption method to safely prevent those risks, therefore restoring his Soul faster thanks to negative emotions pretty much being his lifeblood. He felt like, once he reached the source of this energy, he'll have regained the use of most of his Demonic Weapons, though depending on circumstances Soul Edge might not be able to fight still. It wasn't a bad theory considering what he knew about his powers so far, but he doubted that it would have much of an effect on his Ghoul side.

Shaking his head, Nico gave a low hum of approval before he continued on.

* * *

5 minutes later (it must have been another troll by Zelretch to deposit him so far into this place, seriously...), Nico finally found the source...

And it was NOT what he expected.

Before him, Nico found himself staring at what he could only describe as a mass of bodies. all piled up on top of each other. Nico could hardly recognize the creatures that they once were, as they seemed to have been massacred... rather brutally and messily at that. Nico almost found himself impressed at the level of brutality displayed here, his Ghoul instincts definitely approved in any case. The pile itself seemed to be as large as a two story building, though, which forced Nico to look up towards the top with his hands in his Trench Coat Pockets.

There, he could only see a figure, sitting down atop the piles like a king sitting on a throne made entirely out o his servants, looking out into the distance. Judging by his stance, Nico figured that he wasn't aware that the redhead male was down here, since he sat and looked like he was looking to the side. He couldn't make out much about the person, but he could see a mass of blonde hair on top of its head, and facial features which designated the figure as a male. Probably his age, maybe older. The angle too, allowed Nico to use his Ghoul enhanced eyes to see that the guy had heterochromatic eyes, one eye colored different from the other. How the hell was that a thing for this guy? Did he have any problems with his sight? Part of him couldn't help but wonder about that, thinking back to several Agents he knew with heterochromic eyes but had specific eyesight issues.

Taking a sniff of the air, Nico frowned when he smelled faint traces of this strange metallic substance, his Ghoulish nose identifying them to be coming from his arm and eye, though which one would be questioned for a while in his mind. In addition to that, he could sense a LOT of holy energy in those areas, almost as if the arm and eye were made not by human hands, but that of a Goddess or an Angel. Still, even with all this (plus the sensation of sucking something in that came from him drawing negative emotions) Nico felt like he had found his target, though he wanted another opinion on the matter just to be on the safe side.

'Biko, this the source of that energy?'

 **'Indeed, the source is coming from this person. Judging by this Zelretch character's words, I believe this may be the 'Godson' that he had mentioned. Do not underestimate him, Nico, for I sense a large amount of power inside of him. Its like I'm looking at another you, but more of a dual nature like Neptune is slowly becoming thanks to Soul Calibur.'**

'Alright then, thanks...'

Leaning on one foot, Nico kept his eyes narrowed up at the top of the pile, before he shouted out to inform the guy of his presence.

"Am I right to assume you are the Godson that crazy old timer mentioned?"

* * *

Unknown person POV

In the area uncle Zelretch prepared I could finally let lose. Normally I tried to avoid unnecessary killing, but after all the s*** I've been through these last few days I NEED to let lose for a bit.

I mean, first I am pulled in a fight that should have no relations to me, next I lose my freaking arm and one of my eyes, have to suffer more than I ever believed possible, had been captured to be a 'guest' (which is a fancy way of saying prisioner) by Heaven, had to deal with the whole Serenity situation (which was admittedly nice, her lips are delicious for sure), and finally had to meet that person.

To say I have too much on my plate is probably the understatement of the century. I had to get stronger to a point where things start going back to my control instead of just being thrown around like that again as well as to ensure that I would not be letting my loved ones and friends be wounded under my watch.  
Seriously, merely thinking about it makes me irritated and I need to put all this pent up energy into something, anything really.

That is why that I feel great now that I am using my bare hands to pierce through the body of a monster and take away its still beating heart, I just need to find some way to let lose.

But to be honest, this is getting a bit numb. Destroying monsters is great and all, but after the first two hundred it lose some of its charm. I need more to stimulate myself to let my head out of these annoying thoughts.

It was at this moment that I just finished up all the monsters that I feel uncle's presence as well as another person.

Looking at him from the distance I am slightly disappointed, he looks like what a chuunibyou kid would dress up in Halloween as far as I am concerned. Also, I can clearly feel that his energy is weird to say the least.

It is like demonic energy, but more refined and at the same time corrupted. Someone with this type of power inside should be quite strong, but the more I feel his energy the more I can't help but feel disappointed.

The way he moves is refined, constant vigilance in his eyes, but his energy has near zero actual control. He is closer to a mad bull that don't know what to do, had plenty of power but fails to live up to expectations.

Siting down on the mountain of corpses I see him approaching and he finally notices me. My white suit still immaculate as it has an auto cleaning and repair function and as I stood up I can clearly feel my power being revitalized to its peak in a fast pace.

"Am I right to assume you are the godson of the crazy old timer?" The male asked, and I had to put on a serious face with force to not explode in laughter.  
Leave it to uncle Zelretch to make anyone think of him as a crazy guy in a matter of moments.

Walking down from the pile of corpses I finally approach him enough to make up some of the finer details of his body. He is quite handsome, even if I honestly am better, his muscles also seem strong and he feels like a warrior. Maybe his lack of control is due to never needing to overly control his energy? Or perhaps he was never taught how to truly master his powers?

I know quite a bit about demonic powers due to my studies about devils, so I know that pure strength is something that most devils work with but to really reach the peak they need control even more so. To think uncle said he had similar level of potential to me but he wasting it away like this, it sort of irritates me as I had to work my a** off to get anywhere with training due to my difficulties.

He also clearly is not a human, even though he seems to want to pretend he is. What a weird guy.

"So you are the one uncle Zelretch said had potential equal to mine, huh? I expected something different, not a f*** demon mixed with monster." I said, and I mean it. A monster and a demon generally would never breed, their natures too violent to allow for such a thing. Much less produce progeny as generally stronger monsters and demons have low birth rates to a point where it takes years, maybe decades, before a progeny for either to be born.

Oh wait, looking at his face it is clear to see his shock over my words. Is he surprised that I figured out what he is? I mean, his powers are so clear that NOT realizing it just means that the person is a d*** who never trained. This is probably one of the very first things people should train in, identifying the strength and race of others is essential to guaranty a greater chance of survival so not knowing that is ridiculous.

Seeing him get all jumpy I showed a slight smile before continuing. "Calm down, did you not know how to feel the species of others with just your feeling? It is like magic 103 right after opening magic circuits and understanding how magic works, it is an necessary skill when talking to others after all."

And it is, it is one of the first things anyone would learn when training. It is common knowledge of my dimension after all and… he is not from my dimension.  
Sheesh, to think people from other dimensions would not even know such a basic skill and be surprised by it, next you will say that his word doesn't even use magic or some ridiculous thing like that. Oh s***, I almost forgot.

"F***, I almost forgot my manners, my name is Castiel. Castiel Emyia, heir to the Tohsaka Tower."

* * *

"My name is Nico, no last name since those don't mean nothing to me. Spec Ops Agent."

The tension was high as both males started seriously looking over one another.

Nico now that was closer could take a better look at Castiel. He had broad shoulders, a big but not bulky physic that clearly showed experience in battle, tan skin (something is rarely seen in his own world), wore a white coat and suit with details in golden and the world Protect in the back, but the most notable things about him are still his eyes. The left one was an extremely deep color of black, almost like the moonless and starless night while his other one was a deep golden that made him think of pure gold, it should look bad but he made it work somehow very well. His features were also quite handsome and he carried himself with a confidence that Nico has only seen on some of the big leaders of corporations or big nobles that actually cared for their nation and those beneath him, an instinctive sense of superiority without considering others weak, a sense that he knew where he was going to go and he should lead others.

A bearing that made Nico associate him with kings of old, to those who were born as kings. And Nico did not like that. His instincts as both DPU and Ghoul demanded him to be the 'alpha male' in all situations so seeing someone who felt like a king made Nico want to pull him down and put him beneath his feet as a show of his superiority.

Thing was, just from the very first second Nico felt like this guy was looking down on him. The reason for that wasn't just because of his words just now, but also due to his expressions and demeanour… and it immediately rubbed him the wrong way. From where Nico had been standing, the blonde guy in the white suit looked like the type of person who could see the flaws in people and demeaned them for it. Pretty much a common dickhead but with the power to back it up, something which sent a wave of irritation through his being. Nico could sense the disgusting sin of pride just rolling off him in waves, similar to the stuff he got from Mundus before. He could feel his Devil Arms wanting to shut his gob up on principle. The guy's white suit reminded him of the businessmen from Lastation so that didn't help his case.

The fact that he had caught on to Nico being a Hybrid of DPU and Ghoul (though likely not the specifics) somewhat surprised him, but mostly because Nico wasn't used to people figuring it out so quickly. Using Masks and all that. If this guy could do it faster tan the majority of the human population back in his world, then just how idiotic were they?

'Now that I'm closer, I can feel his energy. Both of them are unbalanced like two bricks on a weight scale, one is weaker than the other... but on the other hand, his energy feels like a sword sheathed in its scabbard, unlike mine which just chaotically roars constantly. Mine would be more like a blade without a scabbard in comparison.' The male thought, his lips set into a flat line as he regarded the blonde haired teen. Already, plans and thoughts circulated through his mind on his possible powers and how he could overcome them, like a predator observing its prey for weaknesses. His Ghoul side started to growl inside him, eagerly awaiting the chance to come out and rip into him.

Meanwhile, Castiel too noticed above all else about Nico's sins and instincts. He could see it with his left eye, the amount of blood Nico spiled was truly gigantic but more importantly, he noticed how he had a deep demonic and monstrous powers trying to manipulate him. It looked almost like a curse, but the powers and things he saw were the same as Nico which made Castiel reach a conclusion.

Nico was weak. Not physically, but mentally. He had seen before people that obtained great powers but could not handle then so instead made 'personas' to care for it, an escape mechanism of sorts that can be made subconsciously sometimes giving the person the impression that it is other beings while still being fully him. It is a mark of how he did not know what to do and is trying to fool himself, a mark of mental weakness.

Someone like that may easily, depending on the situation, do things that should not be done since it is 'other people's fault' or something stupid like that. It is not even accepting his own weakness and instead tries to find some sort of excuse and limiting himself from growing further, something Castiel could not accept. As someone who fought for years with all he had for the chance of growing at all but was denied that seeing people deny themselves power subconsciously was a disrespect for those who could not grow.

So, his image of Nico was falling by the second the more he looked at him.

"I am sorry if this may seen out of nowhere, but are you really all that strong? It is not to offend you or anything, I just don't see how you can help me in this trials right now." Castiel said while looking down at Nico. Independent of how strong he might be if Nico was mentally problematic Castiel would rather fight alone instead, it was safer than having a crazy beast that was failing in hiding his killing intent for a while now. He'd rather not have to deal with any sort of attack on his back, thank you very much.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

... Oh, he did NOT just say that.

It took a large amount of Nico's willpower to keep his emotions from showing on his features, though his ears twitched slightly. Something Castiel noticed but didn't comment on. 'Oh, he did NOT just say what I think he said!' the male roared mentally,, his patience wearing thin as well as his Ghoul Instincts being sent into a frenzy. He had had it up to here already with Zelretch's shenanigans, they had tested the male's temper with what he had done to MAGES., though he had successfully reined himself in before anything regretful could happen. But to hear this guy demean him like that, even if he didn't mean to insult him, really made him just want to lose it and just destroy everything around him. It was only through sheer willpower (plus some chanting in his head) that he had not fallen to those instincts.

'COME ON KING, SHOW HIM THE FUCK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE INSULTED LIKE THAT! THIS MOCKERY CANNOT STAND! HE MUST DIE, HE MUST HAVE HIS ORGANS RIPPED OUT, TO HELL WITH CONSEQUENCES!'

 **'Normally, I would not hesitate to disagree with your Ghoul side on these matters, but right now would be a decent time to make an exception. Someone just spoke down to you even though they have no clue what you have went through. They haven't seen the things that you have seen, they haven't had to do the things you do on a daily basis. However, we must not act rashly, for that is the quickest way to an early grave, even for a DPU such as yourself. Lets learn about this 'companion' of ours and see if he can bite like he barks. Initially, we should hold back a bit for our assessment. If he is killed then we may have to face off against the wrath of Zelretch, which would be catastrophic.'**

Both his Aspects agreed with him on this one, and as such Nico took a deep calming breath, steadying the rage that flowed through him and tempered it so he could think logically. Right now wasn't the time for him to beast out yet, not when things would be considered 'civil' right now. Glancing to the side, the male's eyes narrowed, causing the blonde Heir to arch a brow. "If you wish to know whether or not I am strong enough, I could just say that I am. Though I doubt that would completely quell any doubts you may have." Nico replied, evenly. He then gestured to the space near them, one that looked relatively free from monster corpses. "Therefore... how about we go over there and let actions do the talking? Actions speak louder than words." he suggested.

Castiel looked at the space, and weighed the options in his mind. He still had plenty of energy to spare, as he had the time needed to rest and regain his power from that bit of 'stress relief' which he called the massive slaughter that he had committed. In addition, a wave of annoyance swelled within him at the rather 'savage' suggestion Nico had offered. Some words of reassurance wouldn't have quelled all of Castiel's doubts true enough. He was a leader after all, he had to be absolutely SURE that he could rely on those he fought alongside to watch his back. However, that annoyance was also mixed with something else...

He soon felt what that was when he felt... something, pulse within him. 'Hm? What the?' the Heir thought when he mentally scanned himself. He soon found out what was wrong though, when he sensed a familiar tug within from a certain weapon of his. 'Clarent? What are you...?' he wondered, before he looked to where Nico was standing and waiting for is answer. His eyes lit up in understanding afterwards when eh sensed a surge of demonic power within. He had seen that there were two power sets within Nico's body, one of them being that of a monster, and the other that of a Demon. However, he didn't think that this demon and monster power was anything like the ones from his world, as they both felt unnaturally strong. Plus, there was something in his Demon powers which seemed to resonate with Clarent, something which dared to challenge its rule as the king. It wanted to meet that something head on in a clash, just like the heroic spirits of old did in their first lives. 'Clarent must see something I don't, which it wants to fight... Well then, that makes this MUCH more interesting.

On Nico's side, the redhead male wasn't unknowing of this feeling either, as he felt something resonating within Soul Edge itself. It was like hearing the warning growls of a predator, a predator which had found itself within another predator's domain. Something about this Castiel Emiya Character made it want to fight him, to bring it out so Soul Edge could utterly crush it under its monstrous blade. It wanted to absolutely crush everything about it, not just it, but everything it represented, its ideals, its pride, its existence as a weapon. This... agitation within the blade itself, Nico felt its recovery rate skyrocket thanks to its own bloodlust, boundless rage and overflowing hatred enhancing it. It would not be long now until the sword would be at its full power and glory once again, but until then... Nico would have to wait, distract Castiel until the time was right.

"Well?"

"Very well then. Lets get this over with. Follow me, I know a better place." Castiel replied, hopping off the corpse he stood on before walking away. Nico made to follow him, when he looked at the pile of corpses... and an idea struck him. 'Biko, do you sense any of that energy in those corpses?' he thought to his Demon Persona, who answered.

 **'I do, unfortunately. However, I do believe that your idea may provide benefits to us later in the future, especially with our ability to resist certain attributes. I will monitor them closely, and I will inform you when it would be best to stop what you're planning.'**

Nico nodded at this and, unbeknownst to Castiel, released a little something special, something which EAGERLY devoured the corpses around them with the blood included. He reached about 3/4's of the way before Biko told him to stop, when he did. Unfortunately, it appeared that something had gotten to them first, because when they devoured the corpses the two noticed how there was literally NOTHING in them. No blood, nor energy, as if something had already devoured them first. Something which had to have existed within Castiel, the redhead Spec Ops Agent figured. With an increasing annoyance, Nico followed the young Heir to where they would be fighting.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Hey guys, here's the first of the crossover chapters. If you want to understand everything fully, you should have read Heroic Heir in DxD by King Carlos. Nevertheless, even if you haven't, the previous Bio King Carlos made for me to post should help you along with that, so look it over if you just skipped it.**

 **In any case, me and him are posting these chapters on our own respective stories, as this is indeed a crossover between them. Thus, if you've read both and seen the updates, don't be too confused about seeing the same content.**


	155. Cross Chapter 2 - The Demon and King

3° Person P.O.V.

The two young men took their distance. Both wanting to know just how powerful their 'ally' was strength wise.

For a moment, neither of them dared to make a move, gauging each other intensely while an ominous tension erupted in the air. On Castiel's side, he could sense the power within his opponent's body, heavily suppressed right now but that could change at any time.

And on Nico's side, he could sense a... rather strange mix of energies within his foe that befuddled him. It was like a DPU and CPU had merged together or something, only this felt... weirdly different.

The first to move was Nico.

He took out his primary Devil Arm: Rebellion and launched himself at Castiel at high speeds. He practically became a blur, making any form of visual perception of him incredibly difficult. Rebellion: a massive Claymore with a heavy double-edged blade, notched on both sides near the tip. The pommel was a plain one, with a plain grip, but the guard is skeletal, with a skull-design on each side leading to the rib cage from which the blade emerged; on one side of the blade, the skull is that of a human, while the other uses a horned demon's skull. Lastly was the cross guard that was folded inward against the Ribs of the blade. The blade had a static aura around it, HF Technology having been outfitted into the blade itself to give it an increased damage effect. Both its edges were constantly crackling to enhance its dangerous appearance. Plasma energy canisters are on the bottom of the grip as a secondary energy source.

After his first DPU Transformation though, it had transformed into its true form, having tasted the Demonic Power during its first awakening. The cross guard had extended into a V shape instead of gripping the ribs. The skull, instead of being half human half demon, had turned into a demonic horned screaming skull. The spike crown at the bottom of the hilt had split open into separate like a makeshift crown. The HF Technology remains tough, something that Nico was relieved about upon seeing. Ever since, it is used more for enhancing its slashing power rather than creating extra attacks like static slashes, that being usurped by demonic energy attacks instead.

'Fast!' was what Castiel thought before he moved his hand moving at high speed to create a line of runes, launching fireballs at Nico.

Not one of them would hit, however, as the teen would use a series of parkour stunts like flips, spins, hops, skips etc to evade them while closing in on his opponent. For Nico those fireballs were not particularly threatening, he faced way faster and hotter flames before.

In less than four seconds Nico was upon Castiel, he still was not that impressed. Castiel could launch those fireballs fast, true, but it still was simply too far from enough to actually mean he could even be close to a Spec-Ops Agent like himself.

Maybe Nico was worrying too much and those weird energy readings Biko warned him of was just a mistake. Still, best to keep it in mind if something suddenly happens...

Like what happened next, for example.

When Nico was less than three meters from Castiel he heard Castiel say his first loud words since the beginning of the fight.

" **Weak** " And with that, Nico felt it, something slammed onto his shoulders like a large weight that left Nico feeling much weaker than normal. His movements and power dropped considerably and taking advantage from that Castiel jumped back, but not before he planted a rune using the sole of his feet.

'So, THAT's the energy that Biko warned me about...'

He could feel his demonic powers burning away at the curse, his regeneration beginning to take away its effects. Because of the nature of its effect, his regeneration wouldn't be as fast as normal, Nico noticed, but he didn't focus on that due to noticing an energy spike in the Rune.

From that rune multiple pillars of ice sprouted, trying to impale Nico.

Mentally, the teen rolled his eyes at the attack. If he thought that this attack or that previous instance of that weird energy would stop him, then Castiel would be sorely mistaken. Moving faster than the eye could see Nico used Rebellion to slice all the ice pillars.

'Okay, this is a bit better.' Nico thought. He wanted a strong ally here, who knows what he would be facing and while doing it alone would be more interesting it would still be a tad more difficult. And even IF he wanted to go alone that weird guy already said they should go together, and considering how that Zelretch could probably destroy him and his whole dimension in no time flat if he wanted to, it would be for the best to listen to him.

After Castiel took his distance he completed a spell he was casting at high speeds and low volume. A total of eight magical spheres of energy appeared around him, it was a magical bombardment that Caster preferred.

As Nico felt the energy spiking in those energy spheres, the teen furrowed his brows, eyes glinting darkly as he swiftly activated one of his Skills: a quick PHANTOM WAVE was launched from his leg when he kicked diagonally, followed by several more. This resulted in the two attacks colliding with each other and resulting in a large explosion.

BOOM!

Meanwhile, thanks to having gotten a breathing time from the explosion, Castiel started releasing his cursed dragon tooth warriors. Until the fight against Kokabiel, those warriors were pathetically weak, fragile and the curse they could carry was not strong enough, but now that the seal on Castiel was broken things changed. The seal not only blocked his angelic powers but also did the same with his powers over evil and curses, and now that the seal was gone Castiel's puppets were many more dangerous since they now released a continuous miasma that cursed those who breathed it while also being agiler now and the curse they could individually carry being that much stronger.

These warriors broke through the smoke, charging towards Nico who looked surprised at them. His senses informed him of how dangerous those things were, as they carried a similar energy around them to that moment of weakness earlier. 'Best not let them get too close... and I have the perfect weapon to do that...' he thought, switching Rebellion out in a flash of power, for his next weapon of choice: the Scythe Harvester. The Scythe had a jagged, wing-like blade with multiple spikes coming out the main edge, its colour was black, with the wing-like blade being black where the fingers were and red where the 'webbing' would have been.

The weapon oozed power and darkness, perfect for what he had in mind while Castiel noticed the Scythe's power. He didn't know why, but something told him to NOT let that Scythe hit him or it'd hurt something FIERCE.

Those concerns soon became more founded when, channeling the Devil Arm's power, Nico slashed in a wide arc of darkness spraying across the ground and forming 2 large, scorpion/wolf-like Hybrid creatures. Their bodies looked mostly like Wolves of black fire that emitted darkness, cloaking them in it. At least reaching up to Nico's waist in size while being the length of 1 meter. Their eyes burned like dark violet flames, with their teeth being as long as short swords and their mouths having glowing violet interiors. They each had long Scorpion Tails with violet stingers coming out their behinds though, with Scorpion legs coming out their backs that would extend and retract like whips, each leg ending in single violet talons. Their main arms would have elongated dark violet metal claws instead of paws, while their hind legs would be that of normal Wolves.

He had enough time to use this ability: SHADOW PACK, several times to build up his forces to 60, of which he felt was enough so Nico commanded them to charge at the other force heading their way. Upon gazing at the approaching miasma-covered warriors, they each acted like their namesake and howled, bursting into mad sprints as they charged at each other. The two sides ripped into each other, tearing into each other with reckless abandon. While the Miasma energy would have cursed Nico's forces, they were much larger in number so the weakness wouldn't matter as much. In the end, these forces destroyed each other, leaving their masters alone on the battlefield.

Nico wouldn't let that stand, however...

Engaging a TELEPORT SLASH with Harvester, Nico appeared right behind Castiel with a slash aimed at his back. The other boy quickly dashed ahead, avoiding the strike by a very small margin and the turned around while muttering another Spell, launching a gust of wind at Nico who smashed it with Harvester's power.

"Looks like you have some impressive toys there." Castiel said.

"I would say the same to you." Nico answered.

"But how about we take up a notch?" Castiel said.

Wondering what Castiel meant Nico almost failed to react when the Castiel dashed to him to engage in close combat.

'What the hell?' Nico thought, he never even heard of a mage that would try to take the fights to close combat so this action was completely unexpected. But, Nico still was a well-trained warrior and as such reacted to the sudden shift in time to put Harvest in front of his chest to protect himself.

BAMG

When the punch connected Nico was launched a distance, the power clearly much greater than anything he expected. But before he could try to move and attack Nico was again bombarded by the magic attacks from Castiel.

"SHIT!"

Nico was forced to use Harvester to teleport a distance away.

'Okay, close combat doesn't seem that good of an option unless I use either my Ghoul side or the DPU transformation, but what about long distance?' Nico thought and following that he used Harvest continuously to move at a 'safe distance' of Castiel. Nico then changed weapons to his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory. Those two were designed as M1911 handguns chambered for .45 ACP rounds. They had pivot triggers, customized sights, ported muzzle compensators for less recoil with the barrels extending through the compensators and ported to match the cut in said gun part, and both used reinforced slides. Ebony is in his left hand and colored black, and Ivory was in his right and colored white. They had bolted forward rails, double stack magazines with slam-pads, both had golden plated releases, hammers safety switches and triggers. One however, Ebony, had a hooked two-handed trigger guard while Ivory had a rounded trigger guard.

Charging them with demonic power, Nico went and launched bullets at all the attacks that approached him.

'Huh, this feels weird. It is similar to devil's magic, but somehow much darker. Maybe demonic?' Castiel thought while looking at the bullets that were approaching him. Nico's rate of fire was much greater than Castiel's, so he could not only neutralize the attacks but also attack back.

Castiel was still not impressed by this, and if anything he was disappointed since he was just too used to face tougher opponents that Nico right now. He wanted to see what were the limits of this one who had 'similar levels of potential' and to do that he wanted to pressure him one step at a time.

Nico saw that Castiel took out a weapon, a bow that gave him ALL levels of threatening vibes.

' **Nico, no matter what do not get caught by even one arrow of that bow.** ' Biko urged him from within his mind.

The fact that there was such an intensity in his voice did much in informing Nico of how much of a threat this Demon Persona. 'Is it that dangerous?' Nico asked, still shooting as if his life depended on that.

' **Yes. This bow gives me the feeling of looking at the hottest flame there is and compress it to the limit and then some more. Think of Urthemiel's flames and you get an idea.** ' Biko explained. ' **This is worse than most of your Devil Arms and the damage it could make is nothing to joke about. The only weapon you have that is even barely superior to that one is Soul Edge if fully active.** '

'Got it, avoid at all costs or I am fucked'. Nico thought, ending the communication as he saw Castiel pulling the string of his bow.

"GANDIVA" Castiel said as he released the string, an energy arrow there launched at unbelievable speeds and releasing flames that eliminated all shots from Ebony and Ivory instantly in contact.

Nico, out of instinct, quickly did something he rarely did in battles like these, and tapped into his OTHER side, He felt IT's power rush through his body like a flood, enhancing his physical powers to jump to the side and even then he barely managed to not suffer damage from that.

KABBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM

A gigantic explosion happened, taking out everything that was even remotely close to the area of impact to that arrow. The ground turned into a mirror and cracked due to the extremes that the heat and power reached there.

'I see.., so Biko wasn't joking, that thing's destructive power is nothing to joke about...' The teen thought as he flipped through the air, controlling his momentum with parkour stunts. 'In that case, which power shall I respond with? This guy's powers feel foreign, almost alien to me and it seems that he doesn't recognize SP or Devil Arms. Does that mean that... Well. Alright, then...' The way he ended that thought was a mix of grim resignation, dark finality and bloodlust-fuelled eagerness. There were distinct emotions that he felt when channelling his two powers, his DPU powers felt like the cold fury of a warrior out for blood, like he was burning within the icy depths of a fiery hell if that made any sense.

However, using his OTHER side felt like the exact opposite, it felt like he was constantly on high, high on bloodlust, violence, and death. It really got him going and almost drove him over the edge many times. There were risks to using his OTHER side, but like his other two aspects said this guy apparently has no clue about things that a normal person in Gamindustri would know. If that was the case, then...

Oh, yeeeeeaaaaaah...

This was going to get good.

With those thoughts and his new mindset triggered, something snapped within him as Nico landed on the ground, sliding to a halt. The teen hung his head low, catching Castiel's attention for the time being. "#PANT# #PANT#... that's an interesting weapon, you got there..." the male muttered, slightly panting as he dismissed Harvester.

This action set off warning bells inside Castiel's mind. For some reason, the way that he spoke just made his instincts scream at him to be prepared, especially with how the tension on the battlefield seemed to just skyrocket. This guy's demeanor had also changed abruptly, and there was this foreboding feeling coming from him. All this definitely caught his attention as he kept his bow level with his opponent. "Gandiva's a Divine-class weapon, its powers can't be matched by most weapons." he stated.

"I see... that makes sense, a Godly weapon has to be OP..." Nico muttered, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. Slowly, he began lifting a hand to his face, his demeanor unchanging from this new state. "You say you wish to take this up a notch, yes?" He asked, but continued before Castiel could give an answer. "Well then... allow me to oblige you then!"

WHAM!

Castiel's brain shook from the hit he received to his face... from practically nothing. His eyes flew open wide at this, disbelief coursing through his system. 'Wha-What?! What the hell...?!' he thought in shock. 'What just hit me, there was nothing there and then I just got hit?!' His thoughts and actions had been so caught in dismay's web, that he had dropped Gandiva, which served to be the trigger for a rather brutal onslaught.

WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM!

The blonde boy couldn't react in time as he felt like he got punched all over like the Stands did in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. He couldn't find the time to recover as Nico quickly closed the distance and, like he was parodying Street Fighter's Ryu, delivered an uppercut to his chin that knocked him into the air. Then, something grabbed him by his right ankle and slammed him into the ground with brutal force, making Castiel gasp and cough up saliva.

He thought it could end there and he'd get a shot at a counter...

Boy, was he wrong as the thing on his Ankle REPEATEDLY slammed him into the ground without mercy.

SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM!

Honestly, he could see black specs appear in his vision of how hard this thing was slamming into him. Pain wracked his body on multiple levels as Castiel FINALLY got thrown away from the other male... only for something to grab him by the head (feeling like a claw) and slamming him headfirst into the ground. "Gah!"

This something then proceeded to royally mess with Castiel's head by dragging him through the dirt in a 360 circle multiple times (practically drawing on the ground using him as a pencil) before flinging him across the battlefield, making him roll across it which he used to get back to his feet while sliding to a halt.

'Holy shit... urgh! Argh, that burns...!' the blonde thought, groaning in pain as he held his head in one hand while casting healing blessings on his screaming skull. 'What the hell was that just now? Whatever it was, it...' all thoughts stopped him as Castiel looked up to Nico, who was in a combat stance similar to the US Marines back home, but thanks to his Mystic Eye, he could see... something, behind him. They looked like Tentacles, 6 of them to be exact, of a black colour which eerily reminded him of the colour 3 of his Wings possessed. Not only that, but thanks to his divine eye, the male saw them as clear as day unlike before. He suspected that the first hit had dazed him temporarily, throwing his senses out of whack since he could see them so clearly now. No to mention how they looked like they were vibrating extremely fast judging by how they looked to be constantly spasming.

At that point, Nico looked up...

'Okay, that's a little freaky...'

Castiel thought that as he saw the guy's eyes. Well, only his right eye was normal, the OTHER had turned black where the white should be, while the blue had turned a bleeding crimson red. Veins spread across the eye and the left side of his face, too, the Pupil shaking wildly.

Maybe he could ask? Wouldn't hurt they were meant to be allies after all.

"So, what the hell was that? Feels like you put me through a paper shredder..."

"These?" Nico remarked, gesturing to his Tentacles which pointed forwards towards Castiel. He got the feeling they were 'looking' at him with an intense hunger, and he did NOT like it. "Its a long story, but suffice it to say these things vibrate at such a high frequency that not only enhances their attack strength, speed, and agility, but they can also remain invisible unless I will them not to. There's more to it, but let's save that for after this." Nico replied.

"Yeah, let's leave it at that. I got to say, you showed me a neat trick but if this is as organic as I think it is you are fucked." Castiel smirked, a few drops of blood running from his nose.

'Okay... something's not right...' when Nico saw the blood, his mismatched eyes narrowed in confused suspicion. After all, why was his blood fucking SILVER?

Not giving Nico time to think about it Castiel changed weapons again. This time, instead of a bow it was Hruting, a great black sword that almost dripped bloodlust.

When Nico saw that sword, a flash of memory triggered in his mind to when he fought against Maghda, though the reason why eluded him. Nevertheless, the teen thought that it would potentially be a problem, but his Ghoul powers faced many weapons before and he believed that his Kagune would hold up no matter what.

He was proven wrong however, when he launched the first assault at Castiel, and after the first one was deflected (Castiel having already calmed down and could see it even if barely). Following that it was like he could see every single one of the strikes he launched, no matter the angle or the speed he would always react and cut it right in the middle as if it was just a joke.

Shock only lasted a second though, as Nico quickly began analyzing the sword, trying to figure out what its trick was. The memory of when he fought Maghda kept appearing in his mind, for reasons he didn't get.

Eventually deciding that enough was enough Nico decided to change things up a bit, instead of using his Kagune in the long distance style (Tentacle lunges and slashes to a more direct approach by launching his Rinkaku at non-lethal points at Castiel as he did not want to actually kill the guy, but when it was close to Castiel...

'KING STOP!' his ghoul side yelled at him, but it was already too late.

The moment the soundless and supposedly undetectable tentacles were about to get to Castiel he reacted, all at once, cutting the tentacles down with such ease that it was like it was made out of paper.

'GHHYYAAAAAAAAAA!' White Nico screamed in Nico's head, pure and sheer pain coursing through his being and Nico as well. The difference being that Nico was not quite as connected to the ghoul side of things.

' **What happened!?** ' Biko asked his 'companion' as he never saw him even seen to feel anything that happened. No matter how damaged the main body was or if the tentacles were hurt the White Nico never showed any reaction, but now he was screaming in pain while rolling on the ground.

'I DON'T FUCKING KNOW! I NORMALLY DON'T FEEL A THING FROM THE KAGUNE TENTACLES EVEN IF THEY ARE DAMAGED OR I LOSE THEM, SORT OF LIKE NEVER EVEN HAVING THOSE PARTS TO BEGIN WITH, BUT THE ONES BEING CUT BY THAT SWORD JUST DON'T WORK THE SAME, IT IS LIKE I AM FEELING PARTS OF MYSELF BEING RIPPED APART OVER AND OVER. IT FUCKING HURTS!' The White Nico explained.

That... did not sound all too good, not very good at all. Nervousness and anxiety started spreading from his chest to the rest of his body as Nico opted for a defensive stance, summoning Rebellion back into his hand. The male's grip on the blade tightened immensely, where his knuckles turned white from the lack of blood flow. Hell, he could feel the pressure ebbing away at his Soul right now, and that was something that he didn't want to think about right now, not when there were bigger things to worry about.

Nico didn't know the specifics about that sword of his, but it felt VERY similar to those Bloodfeeders Maghda possessed, but on steroids. Hell, even that feels like an understatement, his senses could pick up the raw energy oozing off that blade, most of that energy having been drawn from Nico's own Kagune. If he were honest, then his Rinkaku Kagune would be at a huge disadvantage here. Maybe his Bikaku would help, but he wasn't certain that would work. He couldn't use his Koukaku as effective as he had been able to use it in the past either, thanks to the Edict of Death. Part of him believed that he should recall his Rinkaku though, divert what remaining RC Cells he had left (he counted up to 40%) to more defensive means within his body. If he were to switch to his Bikaku, he would only be able to generate 2 Tails, and be unable to regenerate the Talons after a total of 3 times.

Thus, that was what he did.

Looking back to Castiel while his Rinkaku vanished into him, Nico eyed the sword he used warily while his Kakugan eye (the black and red veiny one) shook slightly. "I see... so that sword is quite literally a bloodsucker with the added bonus of enhancing your physical ability. As a secondary ability, it can swing at the optimum angles like it has a mind of its own." he mused thoughtfully. As he held Rebellion in his hand, the blade itself started to thrum with power, power that came from his Demonic Power as he began funneling it into the blade. Since he had little information about this blade other than the comparisons, Nico's instincts told him that he would be better off playing it defensive for now, reinforcing Rebellion with Demonic Power, as well as a touch of Hellfire in the form of a low heat around the blade which constantly thrummed with static electricity from the HF Technology imbued within the Devil Arm itself.

Castiel nodded, holding Hrunting out in front of him in a two-handed stance in preparation for Nico's next incoming attack. Watching that Kagune recede made him realize that this sword was indeed a natural counter towards it, so he didn't feel as threatened as he did before when he knew little about this guy's monster powers. As long as he had Hrunting on his side, this legendary blade would not let him down. "Quite an accurate assumption, though it won;t help you very much." he remarked with a shrug of his shoulders. "You still managed to make me go to 30% at least, so do you have more?" he questioned.

To respond to that, Nico blurred forth as Castiel allowed Hruting to swing in the optimal direction of Nico's next attack. The blade of Hrunting and the blade of Rebellion clashed in an epic collision, releasing a massive shockwave which caused the ground beneath them to explode, forming a crater the size of a single story building. Both blades trembled violently against one another, sparks flying by the millisecond as their welders pushed against each other. If one were to look, Castiel would be the one putting less strength into his blade than Nico was, due to how much power he had been supplied by his sword, power that he had gained from Nico's own organic Kagune.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

The two boys went, their blades repeatedly colliding with one another like rabid dogs vying for dominance in a certain territory. Both boys refused to give each other an inch, as although Castiel wasn't losing any ground at all due to the strength of Hrunting, it wasn't like he was gaining any ground either. Nico's Rebellion, when enhanced with Demonic Power, held out well against the legendary sword, for its simplicity was its greatest asset. Among all of Nico's Devil Arms, all of his weapons, this one held the most simplicity in that it possessed no special powers aside from being able to cut better with the HF Technology as well as the Demonic Power amping it up.

Nico couldn't help but feel like this situation would be progressing worse and worse for him if he kept this up. Demonic Power, SP, he had both of them in abnormal amounts. The former having been made larger by his ascension into Multi-Continent Class in terms of DPU Rankings. His SP Reserves had always been abnormally large too, though he got the feeling that his DPU status had something to do with it. He would make a note to ask Biko if he were to survive this battle. Hell, his natural healing factor (a factor which DIDN'T use extra RC Cells or Demonic Power relieving enough) helped mitigate the injuries he received during their clashes, but that help could only go so far. Especially when he would reach the point of his injuries escalating. Plus, they were getting nowhere fast, and that irked the male more than he would care to admit.

Just as they made to clash again...

Nico noticed that there were magic circles appearing all around them, trapping them inside a practical dome.

'Oh no!'

Quickly, Nico made to move out of there before the Magic Circles could fire at him, although Castiel didn't let him thanks to him firing them himself prematurely. That meant that whilst they didn't have their full power output, he could at least catch Nico in the blast and possibly end this fight. Therefore, the blonde Heir jumped out of the area just as the Magic Circles fired a barrage of purple energy attacks at the redhead.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Explosions rang about like they were raindrops during a rainstorm, filling the air and the area within the dome of Magic Circles to the brim. Landing before the dome, Castiel dismissed the dome and peered into the smoke, his eyes narrowing deeply to try and pinpoint Nico's location. Whilst his eye right now wasn't as functional as it could be due to his body struggling to cope with it, Castiel's vision had been somewhat enhanced. 'That attack should have hit him, I caught him by surprise during that attack so he should have had no choice but to take it...' the Heir thought to himself. What, did you think he would resort to just simply Hrunting? he was a Mage as well as a Warrior, and Magic was a part of his arsenal.

The smoke began to clear, and soon enough a figure could be seen kneeling like a knight before a King. He knew that position well, thanks to having seen it more than a few times growing up at the tower. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a certain redhead Spec Ops Agent, kneeling down and looking a little winded. There were certain trails of smoke radiating from his form to show that the attacks had indeed hit, but other than that he looked pretty much fine. Slowly, the teen stood up whilst Castiel regarded him with confusion, wondering how the hell he had managed to dodge that attack.

'Thank you Absolution...' Nico thought to himself, mentally sighing with relief. It had been a reflexive action, something that Nico had done without thinking if he were honest. Hell, it had happened so fast he had hardly any time to even recall what he had been doing. But even so, just a millisecond before he had been attacked by that bombardment of Magic attacks, the Spec Ops Agent had managed to summon Absolution, his Battleaxe and used its power to turn him into the DC Avatar, the form of the Defiler Demon which once wielded the weapon, to withstand the attack. The DC (Defiler Corruption) Avatar was like this extra body which formed over his own, enlarging him and turning him into something else. Plus, it has quite the durability on it, thus it would have been able to shield him from the attacks until they stopped.

It wasn't a perfect attempt though, as some attacks managed to char his back before the form covered it. Most of the skin had been burned to nothing by the attack, exposing fibers muscles and bones. That area had been regenerating till the smoke died down, and during that time he had hastily switched back to Rebellion so Castiel wouldn't notice. He figured it would be best to save that for emergencies. At least his Coat had mostly survived saved for the giant ass hole in it. Though, a little something special about his outfit... it was made from RC Cells. He'd made them from RC Cells due to their better durability than normal clothes, not to mention that they were better for training and long-time use too. Since they were made with RC Cells in them, they could self-repair, which was exactly what his Trench Coat did as trails of clothing spread over the hole over his healing back and mended the damage to his beloved Trench Coat.

"Alright, I gotta admit, surprised you managed to survive that." Castiel remarked, getting Nico's attention whilst the Spec Ops Agent readied his blade. "Nor endure it so well. You must have had something up your sleeve that you're hiding right now, but no matter. You managed to get me to at least 35% so far." the Heir commented whilst getting Hrunting ready for an offensive. "Be wary though, i'm coming for the offensive!"

'Not good... I doubt i'll be able to last long if I have to go for one of those offensives again...' Nico thought to himself whilst biting back a curse. The strength Hrunting possessed was nothing to joke about, it definitely surpassed Rebellion's strength when it was enhanced earlier. If it weren't for him enhancing it with Demonic Power, then it likely would have been damaged from the initial onslaught, and he would have had to switch to another weapon whilst it repaired itself inside his Soul. Nico could well and truly feel the pressure of this battle right now, and he was NOT just talking about the oppressive atmosphere of fighting against one who rules over others. There had to be SOMETHING he could do to get past Hrunting's defenses! Feints wouldn't work since from their last exchanges Nico had determined that the blade optimized itself in the best way possible, accounting for any possible errors in its defenses. He could try to catch Castiel off guard, but how the hell could he do that...?'

Before he could think further, Castiel charged at Nico, going for a horizontal slash across his chest. However, Nico jumped back to avoid the blade, then jumped forwards once he hit the ground, practically bouncing into a spinning slash that was aimed at Castiel's neck, for the Heir to block it easily. Sparks flew from their blades once more, before the two broke apart once again. '...Wait as minute, now that I think about it, its been a while since I last used any of my SP attacks beside that earlier PHANTOM WAVE I used to block some of his attacks earlier. I think its because I got so caught up in using my Demonic Powers that I forgot about the Skill attacks that I trained myself to develop during the beginning...' Nico thought, honestly feeling rather disgusted with himself for forgetting them.

He could imagine his mother scolding him about not recalling everything he had learned right now...

'Still...' Nico thought while Castiel twisted a full 360 degrees and swung Hrunting in an upward arc, launching a huge airwave from the sheer force and strength of the sword swing itself. Nico jumped to the side to barely dodge it in time (although his left hand up to his elbow was completely destroyed by the airwave), bending backwards to avoid a follow-up slash before he twirled into a kick to knock his opponent back before he could follow with a third slash, then jumped back to get some distance. His injury regenerated as well, catching the Heir's attention though he didn't say anything. 'How could I use those Skills right now? They aren't the strongest attacks I have, plus its not like I have... oh... Oh! Wait, there IS one!' he thought slightly widening his eyes in realization when he recalled one of the Skills he had possessed in his Arsenal. Sometimes, he REALLY wanted to punch himself for forgetting!

That Skill...

The one he had used when fighting a Fenrir back in Lastation after his first encounter with MAGES.! Before him and the Party learned how to Chain Skills together!

Just before Castiel made to summon more Magic Circles to launch icicles at his opponent, Castiel noticed that there was something different about Nico that just changed right now. Something had piqued his interest and gave him a bit of hope for this situation, a situation which Castiel himself had held dominance over ever since destroying Nico's Kagune.

'What could this guy be planning...?' the Heir wondered, arching a brow as he held Hrunting defensively. 'What could he be playing at...? No matter, he won't be able to get past Hrunting, so I'll be good-'

Right as Castiel thought that, Nico suddenly appeared right behind him in a burst of speed, looming over him from behind as a shadowy specter, only his single glowing red eye being visible. The sudden EXPLOSION of bloodlust that accompanied him resulted in a layer of pressure that loomed over the atmosphere and slammed onto the Heir's shoulders like dozens of 1000KG weights. nearly sending Castiel into shock had he not faced similar opponents before like Berserker. "It would be wise not to underestimate me, Emiya." Nico coldly stated, swinging Rebellion at his exposed back.

"Same could be said to you, as well Nico!" Castiel responded as he swung Hrunting to parry his swing. That was when he noticed it, just as their weapons briefly met and broke apart with a resounding CLANG sound, that the blade of Rebellion was covered in a different type of energy this time. No, this tie the energy aura around it looked almost... transparent, like a mirage or an illusion. Although, Castiel just KNEW from his experience with Magic that it was nothing of the sort. Time seemed to slow down as their blades left each other, and as they did so, Nico muttered two words from his lips whilst getting ready for a second attack, his lone Kakugan eye (which he had kept active this whole time) shone brightly with his bloodlust.

... "PHANTOM... EDGE...!"

BOOM!

In an instant, Castiel gasped when an explosion of transparent energy suddenly erupted from Hrunting, the explosion packing enough power to send him sliding backwards. Only barely did he manage to keep himself on the ground, thus making two long skid marks along the ground till he halted. 'Holy.. what the hell was that?!' the Heir exclaimed in his mind, stunned and bewildered from the recent experience. Just before the explosion had happened, Castiel had noticed that there was this strange mark which had appeared on Hrunting following the collision between their swords. Then, the explosion happened, and now that mark was gone. What the hell, was that some type of Magic just now...? 'No, that couldn't have been Magic, I would have known if it was. Plus Uncle Zelretch did say that my 'ally' would be from another place I haven't heard of before, so is this something unique to these people? Odds are, that's the case considering the evidence before me...'

Castiel had no more time to think when, in an instant Nico was already on him, with his Sword already covered in that transparent energy from before. This time, Castiel refused to let that attack land, and as such he jumped backwards whilst muttering a curse onto that blade **"Weak"** to limit the energy surge. The Aura quickly vanished as Nico deactivated the weakened Skill, although he didn't let up on his offensive. The result, was Nico unleashing another one of his SP Skills: "PHANTOM BLADES!" He yelled, a Magic Circle appearing behind him and from it, a series of blades were unleashed in Castiel's direction.

'Oh fuck!'

That was what the Heir thought as he let Hrunting's power take hold. The blade became a whirlwind of motion as he began slashing away at the Blades of transparent energy that threatened to impale him several times over. Of course, none of them hit him thanks to the prowess he had as a swordsman trained by the Heroic Spirit Saber, as well as Hrunting as well, but the result was a smokescreen being generated all around him.

Quickly, Castiel got on guard as he held Hrunting defensively, buffing himself with reinforcement Magic as well as activating a few blessings to improve his physical ability. Whilst in this smoke he would not take any chances, plus if he left this smoke then odds were Nico would unleash those blades of his again, something which Castiel did NOT want to deal with since it took a lot of effort to block them. Not to mention that now he felt like he was beginning to work up a sweat, having to swing Hrunting about like his life depended on it, in addition to the surprising surge of Bloodlust. To be honest... he was starting to get a little excited, hopeful even. This may not be the leader in him talking though, but his inner Warrior and inner Mage couldn't help but enjoy the thrill of the fight. A fight where he didn't have to worry about things like injuring his opponent.

Soon enough, Nico's offensive continued as many PHANTOM BLADES pierced through the smoke, forcing Castiel to block them while he muttered a few spells to launch several fireballs at where the PHANTOM BLADES came from. Since they came from a Magic Circle behind his opponent, Castiel believed that they would have to come from his position in order to be launched.

Turned out he was right...

As he soon found himself looking upon an approaching PHANTOM WAVE, that same purple wave of Plasma that had been launched at him previously in their bout.

Cursing under his breath, Castiel held his Sword up and met with the attack, the impact of it sending him sliding out of the smoke... and right where Nico had appeared with Rebellion coursing with transparent energy. Castiel cursed again at this, knowing that he was too busy blocking one attack with Hrunting right now, therefore he couldn't do much but endure the second one since he had so little time to cast any Spells.

BOOM!

The moment the energy slash landed across his back and erupted, the PHANTOM WAVE detonated too, forcing Nico to jump back to get some distance while riding the shockwave. When he landed, the teen slid to a halt, stabbing Rebellion into the ground to halt his movement. Once his momentum stopped, Nico allowed himself to release an audible exhale of relief, having been unknowingly holding his breath during that assault. Now THAT had been some risk-taking on his part. Nico didn't have 100% confidence that what he had done just now would have worked, his SP Skills weren't his strongest powers after all. That didn't mean they were weak, but it was just a comparison to his more Demonic Skills. Part of him wanted to go DEMONIC OVERDRIVE too, since it would raise his physical abilities beyond his human body's limit, but he had refrained since he wanted to conserve energy.

There was no way that all that had done this guy in, not by a long shot.

His suspicions proved to be true when a single swing of Hrunting dispersed the smoke generated by his dual attacks, revealing Castiel to be standing there with his body looking little less refined than it had been before. A little more roughed up, but otherwise he looked fine. Nico didn't let this bother him, or rather he kept his irritation about not doing much damage hidden, since despite himself he had secretly wished to have done more. "... #HUFF#... #HUFF#... how about that?"

"Well, it wasn't too bad at least." Castiel replied as he rolled his right shoulder, feeling some cracks in doing so. He looked Nico over and narrowed his eyes. "Those attacks were weak, way weaker than your Demonic ones. You seem to rely heavily on that set of abilities, which for a warrior is not a good thing at all." Castiel stated, not mentioning that he had to up the power to 50% to healing himself from the damage received. That attack had not been weak by any means, it had the feeling of Nico having put in more energy and effort in than he normally would to pull it off. Plus, he DID, after all, use two attacks to get through his defenses just then, so this could only be expected.

Nico could only nod, much to his irritation as he looked down at his blade. Rebellion constantly released the humming which came with HF Technology as he thought about what happened so far. "It pains me to admit this, but you're right. Those Skills just now were ones I trained myself in for a long time, but ever since I gained my powers, I've slowly fallen out of touch with using them. Its... not something I'm proud of, both as a warrior and as a person." Nico replied, before he glanced to his left shoulder where he could see a large hole gradually closing up. "I'll have to say though, you DEFINITELY had me on the ropes for a long while. That sword of yours is a nightmare on the battlefield, to be sure with how it automatically makes the best slashes possible with any given situation. If I hadn't recalled these Skills and thought up that entire plan on the fly, then you would have definitely done me in." and all before he could showcase his full power too, Nico thought as he cursed in his mind.

Castiel nodded his head at this. "Well, that will teach you not to overly rely on your Demon Powers then, they're strong don't get me wrong, but when it comes to a time when they aren't available to you, your attack powers will decrease severely as wellas limiting oneself to only one type of power makes it so that you lose most efficiency if it isn't effective due to any reason. Anyways, lets continue. You're already halfway to making me go all out anyway, which is better than what I had expected from someone as unstable and without proper training to master anything to the apex as you. But anyways..." Raising his free hand, Castiel smirked darkly with a sinister glimmer in his eyes, making Nico scowl mentally as he got ready for whatever was coming. "Since you've been taking what I've been dishing out so well, how about I give you a little reward?"

Before he got an answer, Castiel just yelled out " _CRUEL STAR_!" followed by a 'SCREEEEEEE!' sound. The moment that sound occurred, what looked like a miniature sun, easily the size of a Basketball, formed over his hand. The sun spiralled around above his hand, floating there whilst emitting heat strong enough to be felt by his surroundings. "Try and live through this, if you can..."

Over by his side of the battlefield, Nico felt the extreme heat of the attack, and quickly realized just what the Heir intended to do. Fortunately whilst this flame had been WAY hotter than the other flames from before, his own resistance to fire helped him withstand it. 'This isn't good, that Sun carries quite the heat to it, if I let that hit me then I won't be able to escape unscathed. I COULD just switch to THAT sword and move out of the way then strike at his exposed openings, or I can have Urthemiel appear briefly to counter it with its own Primal Flames.' The male thought, watching as Castiel reared the ball backwards in preparation to throw.

However, at the last second, an idea came to him. One which would allow him to not only repel that attack, but be able to showcase more of his power so that Castiel wouldn't look down on him. It would keep him from relying on Urthemiel, too, which would be a big plus in his book. 'Oh yeah, I'll do that!' he thought, a small smile forming beneath his Mask as he narrowed his mismatched eyes at his opponent. "Heh, fire, huh? Well, ain't that a relief." the male mused, getting Castiel's attention when he raised a brow, pausing his throw at the last second.

"What are you talking about?"

"You thought you were the only one with fire, didn't you?"

Countering with a question of his own, Nico held his own hand out, generating and condensing his OWN fire ability: the Hellfire which came from his Demonic Powers. Unfortunately, its true form was locked from him unless he transformed, but this power burned at up to 3000 Degrees even in its base orangish red form, and he would be putting a LOT of fire power into this one, enough to counter what his senses were telling him. His Hellfire had the ability to devour whatever they touched, as the surroundings between the two males heated up even more when the heat from the two sources combined together. Holding it when it reached the same size as Castiel's CRUEL STAR even when he concentrated and condensed the Hellfire (which resulted in it's IMMENSE heat) the young redhead smirked just as darkly as Castiel had earlier, whilst the mentioned Heir widened his eyes in surprise at the ability. "Well, your not! Now then... LETS SEE WHOSE IS STRONGER, YOUR LITTLE EMBER OR MY HELLFIRE!"

'… Ember?! Oh, NIco did NOT just insult his flames like that. I will make him pay for that one, for sure!' That was what passed through the blonde teen's mind as memories of how he got these flames replayed themselves, of how Kokabiel burned his body to a crisp even as he tried to defend himself and how he still could feel what his eye melting inside his socket felt like. Castiel's brow twitched angrily as he resumed his throw, yelling. "Well, lets see why don't we then!?"

As a result, Nico countered as well, hurling the condensed ball of Hellfire towards his opponent's attack. The two attacks shot through the air like bullets, or great meteors on a collision course. A second later, the two collided... lasting only a couple moments in a heated struggle for supremacy. The raw heat from the CRUEL star had been immense, and Nico had seen it despite the insult he had made earlier as the CRUEL STAR seemingly expanded in size the moment it got released. As such, Castiel smirked at what he was seeing, thinking that his flames would be victorious.

However, just as the upper hand began to side towards him making him open his mouth to gloat, Nico's Hellfire suddenly ERUPTED into a larger blazing form, the condensed flames exploding from the pressure suddenly forced onto them and resulting in Nico's simple fire attack expanding in size to a similar level to Castiel's own. Coupled with their greedy and hungry nature, the advantage soon returned to a stalemate between them... until it reached its peak and-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

In the end, both attacks exploded, negating each other and leaving only a slightly hotter atmosphere behind... and two dissatisfied competitors staring each other down.

'Tch, a draw...!' Both of them thought in annoyance.

'Fucking hell... wish that attack had scorched him into a crisp! Maybe with that he wouldn't be saying that these flames are weak.' Castiel cursed in his mind as he readied himself to fight more. It would be pointless to have another CRUEL STAR attack ready with this information, since Nico could probably make more of those attacks himself. He hadn't felt much of dent in Nico's energy reserves when making them either, so e felt like the redhead could use them constantly and for a long ass time. He could probably do the same thanks to his Magic Core, but this WAS meant to be a Spar and he didn't feel like straining his Magic Core today. Castiel also felt that his attack should have defeated Nico's by a landslide, given that the flames he used were those of a Star, Kokabiel's flames (albeit not at their best since he only absorbed a portion of them from that asshole). Perhaps he could have added the flames from Argetlan as well, but if Nico could just counter with more condensed flames, then it would just cancel each other out again. Again, he didn't want to waste precious energy, a remnant of his behavior when NOT having a Magic Core. To be honest, Castiel could be wastefull and summon more of these, but he was far too used to worry about energy reserves to do such a thing.

On the redhead's side, as angry and frustrated that he felt for his attack not incinerating Castiel's strike in seconds, Nico forced himself to calm down and analyse the situation. 'Alright, so that Sun of his had a lot more heat than my attack, but my Hellfire beat it thanks to its ability to devour what they touch. If they were in their true forms, I bet that attack wouldn't have lasted NEARLY as long under their wrath, since the sun burns at 4000 degrees Celsius whilst my Hellfire in its true form burns at up to 5000. He also didn't compress them NEARLY as much as I did, which lead to mine taking the upper hand hen the pressure forced my Hellfire's compression to shatter and explode. If he had compressed them just as much as I did, then things would have turned out way differently... Maybe if he strikes with that again, I'll just angle mine differently so instead of cancelling each other out they'll move AWAY from my position... but the explosion would still have been massive in any case. Looks like...'

He/I shouldn't underestimate those flames.

Nico broke into a mad dash that broke the ground beneath his feet. Castiel expected the guy to try something funny like that feinting trick again, but instead, something else happened. From Nico's tailbone, erupted another Kagune, this one being a single long, large grey Tail covered in grey Armour plates and ending in 6 long, thin blade-like Tips for stabbing and slashing purposes, while arrow-like Talons protruded from it's sides.

Oddly enough, the blonde thought of a Centipede, seeing it.

Wait... Seeing it?

A thought hit him.

Why could he see this one completely and not the Tentacles?

Those thoughts halted when he jumped back to avoid the lunge of a Tentacle, out of reflex and instinct really. Before Hruting could slash it, the Tail jerked upwards, wrapping around both the blade and the arm holding it to halfway up the bicep. Castiel cringed, feeling Hruting struggle to break free to no avail, much to his shock. "Wait, what?!"

"Surprised?" Nico questioned, smirking again with his Kakugan eye bearing down on his prey. "Its not often I use this, but a Monster has more than one 'Fang' you know. My Bikaku, to be frank, has enough gripping strength to catch several bullet trains rushing at it at full speed. I'm not sure about you, but i'm PRETTY sure your sword doesn't have enough blood to match that. But, just in case..."

It was then that Castiel felt something nicking constantly at his arm, causing him massive pain and discomfort. He glanced down at it, and to his shock he saw that the Tail had formed fanged maws from various places on its body and were in the process of... trying to devour his left arm.

'Well, ain't that ironic?' Castiel thought as he released his left arm spirit bone, starting a counter process of devouring the Kagune maws trying to devour him. It was like two beasts trying to eat at each other, the difference, however, was in the sheer scale of devouring. While Nico's Kakugan was like a lion taking piece after piece of the enemy, but Castiel's left arm bone was more like a whale that simply devoured everything in front of it.

Sensing the danger, Nico had no choice but to disengage the Kagune or his already low RC cell's counting would reach its lowest point of his life, this being a testament of how bad a Ghoul matched up to Castiel's skill set.

'Note to self, avoid continuous contact with Castiel using any form of Kagune. Otherwise, I will lose badly.' Nico thought.

Though, he did admit that he had seen something akin to a Bone over the arm beneath the coiling Bikaku.

Both jumped back, getting some distance between each other. They took a few moments to gaze at each other, planning their next moves, before they burst forth into high-speed runs and entered a furious bout of slashes.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

They went, circling around one another. Nico mentally frowned, noting that there was an extreme difference in sheer power between them. That sword had already devoured quite a bit of blood from his Kagune, much of his RC Cells having been depleted. He didn't like that, neither did his White Copy, however the brief moments where he had been able to devour that arm before it began eating his Kagune he had stolen a tiny bit back. These strikes were no joke either, each time their weapons collided it felt like he was striking against a mountain, an effect he found familiar since it reminded him of fighting Logan back at Skies End when he entered that first Demon Form.

Not only that, but he constantly got Curses put on him like Weak, Slow, Sickness, doubt, etc, and his Demonic Power got a real workout limiting and destroying those Curses.

Jumping back to avoid an overhead smash that resulted in a large crater (even then he got scratched by some of the debris), Nico made to switch weapons, though Castiel didn't let him do that as he dashed forth, swinging at his shoulder. Nico quickly swung a Demonic Power-enhanced Rebellion out of reflex, and it was barely enough to just deflect the attack away from him. He had to angle his blade at just the right angle to divert most of the strength away from him, it showed by how much he was beginning to sweat.

'Looks like I'll have to Armour up...'

Castiel raised a brow when he saw a black light shining at Nico's chest. His unasked questions got answered when he was surrounded by black data streams, ones that vanished seconds later to reveal some... rather demonic knight-esque Armour. It had a black under suit that went from his hands and feet to his neck while the rest had crimson red Armour. The helmet completely covered his head to expose none of his human skull (not even his left eye), being made from demonic-looking, wicked crimson Armour. It had two red eye lenses from which Nico's eyes were located, while the face looked slanted forwards like a demonic snout. There were multiple ridges down the forehead that ended at the nose, which looked more like a short, stubby horn than anything. Out the top of the helmet were 4 long, curved spikes with 2 on each side, and a single ridge in the middle. Across the face's lower section was a lipless maw of crimson fangs designed into the helmet, not an actual maw. From the helmet's sides, two long horns pointed forwards, made from the same material as the helmet. Along the lower jaw and chin were short, stubby spikes like a makeshift beard.

For the upper body the sides, the torso and along the stomach were covered in demonic crimson Armour plates. There were two shoulder pads, 1 for each shoulder, that were much like those of his DPU form in that they were much larger than his actual shoulders and went outwards. They each had a single Spike-like structure similar to the horns from the Helmet protruding upwards, with stubby spikes protruding away from the Armour's wearer. The forearms were covered in crimson Armour that started with thick-looking spiked bands at the elbows and ended with another set at the wrists. Interestingly enough there were black-grey chains connected between these bands, adding to the demonic appearance the Armour had, while the Armour itself formed 4 short claws over the knuckles. The hands themselves were covered by the undersuit. More chains wrapped around his waist, which were connected to these two skirt-like crimson pieces that fell in-between behind him and beside his legs.

Speaking of the lower body, the legs had demonic crimson Armour up to the knees, sporting stubby spikes in various places and ended in single talon toed boots that had an extra talon for heels. "Huh... so you have Armour, too..."

"Too?"

"If you can push me further, maybe you will get to see it!" Castiel shouted as he activated one of his new original spells, Siegfried, to increase his body's physical defense. He could have used Brionac too, but it would not be that good since he might accidentally kill Nico. That attack was just that dangerous as Castiel was not yet experienced enough with it to not accidentally kill Nico.

Looking back at his opponent, Castiel noticed that he had re-summoned Rebellion and was already on his way to strike at him again. Castiel quickly began chanting Spells to hold him off, and by the time he had gotten within sword striking range, the blonde had healed enough to swing Hruting onto Rebellion. Or rather, that was what SHOULD have happened...

"QUICKSWORD."

With that one word, Nico's Rebellion launched a furious flurry of high-speed slashes, slashes Hruting managed to block due to its ability (though Castiel couldn't see them well like that Tail thanks to them being so fast). However, Nico combined this series of strikes with slashes from his Bikaku Kagune, really going to town on Castiel's ass. His repeated use of this Quicksword thing made it nigh impossible to get a strike in himself, so he quickly applied the ' **SLOW** ' curse on his blade, slowing its movements temporarily to get some distance...

If only he had noticed where he was stepping, as the Bikaku Tail surfaced from underground again to spear him.

Not wanting to end up like before, Castiel quickly slashed at it, the blade and the Tail's tips meeting. Because of the nature of the blades, Hruting couldn't draw any blood much to Castiel's frustration. The teen nearly recoiled when he felt two Tentacles slam into the side of his head and hip respectively, making him side flip into the air before he was whacked away by the Bikaku, which ripped itself out the ground and then retreated back into its master.

Sliding to a halt (this time embedding Hruting into the ground for support) Castiel applied some healing Blessings on himself. Seriously, he has had to use these Blessings more than he had been using in his past spars. Well, at least this too was good practice on how to use them.

Nico, who was already on him again, took note of this as he slashed towards Castiel's right shoulder from below. The Heir to the Tower felt Hruting race to block it... when he suffered a slash on his shoulder. "Huh? What the-?" was all he could say before Nico slashed his stomach, chest and opposite shoulder, blood squirting from the wounds before he kicked him away with a roundhouse kick.

"That, dude, was the Vipersword..." Nico proclaimed Rebellion angled downwards at his side. The blade, now that Castiel noticed, looked to be violently rippling like it was a living, thrashing viper. "It uses the body's natural flexibility to vibrate and undulate the sword, making it resemble a rippling snake. This illusion makes its blows almost impossible to anticipate or block. My variant is stronger, though." he explained while his Rinkaku reared back, pointing their tips at Castiel. "Got more techniques, but yeah..."

That was when Nico noticed something. He was sure that he impacted Castiel many times using his blade, but the amount of blood(?) he was releasing was simply too little. That was when he realized, all those attacks he did right now simply scratched Castiel, nothing more.

'How the hell did THAT happen?' Nico thought making a dumbfounded face behind his helmet while looking at Castiel.

Castiel noticed this and smirked.

"Did you like that? I activated an original spell of mine, it is called Siegfried and it has only one ability, it makes damaging my body just that much more difficult.I can still up my defense even further by the way, but unless you up your game it won't be necessary. And don't forget" A light appeared over Castiel as he activated his healing blessings, closing the new wounds on his body. "I can regenerate myself, even if not that fast." Castiel then stuck Hruting on the ground and with a serious pose said. "Do you still have any form to show to increase your power further? If not this spar will turn meaningless."

Strangely enough, Nico had a clear impression that Castiel was royalty somehow, the moment he put his sword on the ground and looked at him he released the same type of charisma that some of the bigger and TRULY powerful nobles and kings of old had. A clear and distinct contrast to those from the 'modern' Leanbox, it was like comparing the ancestor who built a clan with a descendent leading it to ruin.

Shaking his head to get out of this mindset Nico refocused himself. What Castiel said was infuriatingly true, even if he did not want to reveal his DPU form all that much, if he continued as he was it would just turn into a prolonged fight and this was not what either of them was after. They wanted to see the limits and full abilities of the one they should ally with, but both of them refused to be looked down upon. Nico for the sheer desire to prove his strength and that he was the better warrior, Castiel due to the fact that he was the heir to the Tower and had no desire or accepted to be looked down by someone he considered bellow himself in power or would ever accept that.

In the end, the two were hot-blooded young man and both of them wanted to show that they were better than the person in front of them. The two had a deep down and ingrained in their bones desire to be the strongest, their pride demanding victory.

The red-haired demonic teen eventually gained an idea feeling the power of ONE specific Devil Arm reaching out to him. The strongest one by far, out of all the Devil Arms he had. The Devil Arm that held dominance over his Soul, his ultimate weapon. Its power transcended forms, being available no matter if he was in human or DPU Form. It had watched this entire battle, and it wanted to show off its power. His Ghoulish Kagune retracted into him, his Kakugan returning to normal as he held rebellion in his Offhand, the sword thrumming with power and cackling with glee inside of him as he stepped towards Castiel. His posture indicating that he would NOT be bowing today.

This behavior made Castiel raise a brow, and a slight tugging sensation form in his gut. The male felt like this was someone who would challenge his rule as king, someone who would stand for himself to the very end... something he truly respected and admired. Not only that, but he could feel something coming from the other male, an energy that he had sensed at the beginning but dormant. Throughout the fight, this energy, which felt like another Clarent only much darker, had slowly but surely become more and more aware as time went on.

Now, it was deciding to FINALLY get involved...

That was the reason why he would finally draw Clarent. The holy sword, the strongest sword he had that signified his rule as a King, it sensed that power and felt that it could rival its own. It wanted to test that theory it wanted to fight against it. But Castiel knew that this guy wouldn't draw out such a powerful weapon unless he had to, it was common sense between warriors.

"Oh don't you worry, I still can go further. But... can you accompany me?" Nico said with a confident smirk behind his helmet. His eyes began too shine a dull red within it as he decided to do it, he decided to draw that weapon. He could feel its gleefulness assaulting his being as well as its power building, building and building within him. It almost felt suffocating to him, but the repeated use of this weapon got him used to this pressure. Especially when it traveled down his arm and into his hand, ready to be unleashed.

"Ha, you should be the one worried about that." Castiel said, taking Hruting on his left hand before drawing Clarent with his right one.

And just with that Nico could feel that Castiel was again even more dangerous than before. The aura of power and dignity he felt before was increased many times over, the energy Biko was feeling anyways.

 **'It is time, Nico. THAT weapon has finally recovered and is back to 100% capacity, ready to be unleashed onto the battlefield once more. Test the waters with it, first. Use its weaker form to see if its worth going DDD or not, then show no mercy.'**

"Well then, I see that new sword of yours has a lot of power..." Nico stated, feeling his adrenaline pumping like no tomorrow as he began releasing the power. Heat rolled off him in waves, challenging the dominating aura of Castiel who felt like he was looking at the fires of hell itself. Nothing like the Underworld the Devils were in, though. This felt stronger, more like a twisted depiction of hell. Slowly, Nico raised his hand, the heat intensifying every second.

"Then how about... we give it a worthy opponent?! Come... SOUL EDGE!"

Hearing the call of its wielder, Soul Edge answered. Orangish red fire roared to life from his hand, shooting up into the skies and releasing a wave of heat, dust and debris at Castiel's direction. Said male raised his arms to shield his face from them, but he still noticed the cracks spreading along the ground from Nico's feet. Though if the smirk on his face was anything to go by, he didn't see the threat he was about to face. The next thing he knew, the flames began to shrink, condensing themselves into a sword-like form within Nico's palm, which clenched them. That action made the flames take on a solid form.

'Yes, finally...!'

At last, he got to see what that power was! That power he had sensed from the very beginning that Clarent bugged him on and on about!

Once the blade was fully formed, Castiel looked... quite surprised actually. In Nico's hand was a truly demonic-looking blade, way more demonic than most of the other swords he had seen. It had the appearance of a giant sword with demonic crimson flesh filling the blunt side of the blade. At the base of the hilt, there was a single, yellow slitted eye with one side of the sword featured a fleshy blade with a metallic edge.

Soul Edge's eye, much to the blonde's discomfort, shifted about like a living human eyeball, before its gaze landed upon him and he felt a glare hotter than the fires that Kokabiel pummeled him with. Not only that, but the sword released a wave of power that pushed back the 'aura' his royal stance had developed, pushing it away from its wielder, challenging the King's rule.

Well, how could he resist such a challenge?

"So then..." Nico's voice brought him back from his thoughts. "Is this the answer you wanted, Castiel Emiya?! If you want more power then you'll have to try and FORCE it out of me!"

'A B Class Noble Phantasm? No, it is simply locked from its fullest potential. Maybe it can reach A+ class? Well, even if all the energy inside is used it still pales in comparison to Saber-sensei's Excalibur and I have no reason to fear it too, even if this demonic energy in the blade seems dangerous.' Was what Castiel was thinking as he readied Clarent and Hruting, excitement from both blades cursing through his whole body.

Once that was out of the way, both Castiel and Nico burst forth towards each other, the ground breaking beneath their feet.

BOOM!

The two collided their weapons, all four of them, together which released a shockwave that ripped the ground beneath them apart without mercy. Nico and Castiel quickly began exchanging blows faster than even their eyes could see, Nico applying the Quicksword technique with Rebellion, though he sometimes switched to the Vipersword Technique when he got the chance. This served the purpose of keeping Hruting busy while also sneaking in a few hits here and there. Hits that Castiel barely felt thanks to Siegfried. Castiel too hit Nico multiple times with Hruting, his swordsmanship being strong and developed enough that even Nico's fancy attacks could not stop Hruting's blade, but all hits were healed in seconds by Nico's regenerative powers.

On the other hand, Soul Edge and Clarent duked it out like fierce rivals, their energies and forms colliding relentlessly and constantly releasing deadly sparks that could incinerate their wielders if they didn't have the ability to regenerate from them. Soul Edge swung with enough physical power that, even in its lesser form, matched Clarent blow for blow. The blood from Hruting boosted Casitel's physical power, but Soul Edge did just as well with having unleashed a DEVIL'S BLESSING on Nico just seconds before their first contact.

Breaking away from each other, Nico raised Soul Edge and unleashed an ATOMIC INFERNO, 30 fiery Homing Rays erupting from the slashing blade that flew towards their target's position. Castiel used Hruting though, and effortlessly slashed them to pieces, but if his instincts about this guy were true, then he was likely going for a fake-out of some sort.

His thoughts turned to reality when Nico suddenly vanished in a red flash, appearing behind him with Soul Edge blazing with orangish red flames. Castiel twisted around to block the incoming INFERNITY EDGE with Clarent, then swung Hruting to counter Rebellion's follow-up slash. He twirled into a double reverse slash, which Nico dodged by teleporting once again, the slashes creating fissures on the ground. The two, as if in an agreement, headbutted each other and both felt equally painful as the two were too hard headed.

Reappearing beside him once again, Nico showed that he had both Rebellion and Soul Edge engulfed with both flames and energy. He unleashed both of them in an X Scissor slash, to which Castiel countered that with his two swords slahing together in a direct strike, the strikes lead to an explosive shockwave knocking them backwards.

Both slid to a halt, looked at each other once, before they charged back in, Castiel muttering a few spells while also creating runes to launch lightning bolts towards his opponent who used a MAGMA SHOT to deal with them, jumping through the created smoke into a spinning disk top slash frenzy, Vipersword applied to Rebellion. Deciding NOT to get hit by that attack, Castiel jumped to the side, allowing both blades to hit the ground while not expecting the shockwave born from them to blow him further backwards. The spell he was preparing was launched as spheres of pure magic energy similar to magic bombardment were launched at the red-haired teen who also avoided them but was caught in the explosion and being sent flying.

Slamming Hruting into the ground, Castiel quickly dashed forth to curt on Nico's shoulder. However, Nico rolled out the way in time, not wanting to endure one of those fissure-inducing attacks before swinging Soul Edge upwards, blocking a strike from Clarent that blew Castiel backwards slightly. Yet, even as that happened, Castiel had a pleased smirk on his lips. Pleasure coursed through his being as the fight only intensified from there.

After they fought for what felt like hours on end, Nico unleashing all his arsenal of Skill attacks combined with his skillful use of the Vipersword and Quicksword while Castiel countered with the buffs his Spell and Hruting offered him, Castiel began to notice something off about himself. Something that he only had a few moments between Nico's heavy onslaught to check.

"It seems you've noticed, too."

Looking towards Nico, who stopped before him with his blades held in a V shaped angle, Castiel raised a brow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Not sure completely, but it looks like your body's overexerting itself." Nico curtly replied, pointing Rebellion at him. "I can sense negative emotions, and your body's been undergoing stress from overheating. Odds are, you won't last much longer if we keep this up."

Castiel just smirked at this, as his eyes caught sight of the way Nico's body also seemed to be showing exhaustion, though Nico did a good job of hiding it. "Looks like you're not at hundred percent either." he commented, getting a mild tensing from the male as a result making him roll his eyes. "You're not the only observant one here, dude. Noticed it a while ago, same for you apparently."

It was at this moment, that Castiel decided to end this, and to do that he would have to go all out. It was time, not only had Nico pushed him to this point, but the way they were going it wouldn't be long before they were unable to show their full power. That could not be allowed, something both of them could agree with. This fight was to gauge each other's ultimate power after all, so something like that couldn't be allowed to happen. "How about this, then? We each go into our full power and unleash our strongest attacks. Winner is whoever's left standing."

Nico shrugged. "I'll take that bet. Now..." the teen chuckled sinisterly as he discarded Rebellion into his Void Storage while gripping Soul Edge in two hands. "Hit me with your best shot, Castiel Emiya!"

"Hah, be careful what you say, Nico! Those are some fighting words!" Castiel responded, closing his eyes and calling upon his full power. In moments, the male was bathed in a white light, which soon faded to reveal him being clad in a golden Armour, no different from the royalty that he was. Out of his back, were his 4 Angel wings purest of white that made Nico had the impression of what the first Goddess light must have been like, while his left set of 4 were abyssal black as if someone cut apiece of the darkest corners from space and made wings out of it.

Not to mention that his power shot through the roof. It clearly overshadowed most enemies Nico ever thought, and the dread Nico felt from the energy Castiel was releasing seemed to come from all his instincts. Almost like any attack from that energy that was embracing Castiel's full body was poisonous to Nico.

However, Nico didn't falter as he held Soul Edge in a ready stance. "So.. this is your full power, is it?" he remarked, slowly. 'There's his Armour too... reminds me of a royal king becoming a knight to protect his people...'

"Yup, now, show me this power that rises against this King, Nico! Show me the power that rumbles within you!" Castiel bellowed, stabbing Clarent into the ground which cracked the earth and made it rise up behind him, a golden holy aura surrounding him.

Well, if this guy wanted to see his full power, who was he to argue? At this point, it would be considered cowardly NOT to transform.

Closing his eyes, Nico then concentrated, reaching into the depths of his being to the DPU Core within him. It soon answered his call, and from deep within, the primordial power of the DPU flooded his being to begin the transformation.

Outside, Castiel remained silent as he saw his opponent get engulfed in a cocoon of flames, flames that roared like a vicious beast rebelling against its masters who had subjugated it for so long, before they subsided to reveal Nico in a brand new form. Now, Nico stood as a grown man standing at 8 feet. His red hair had turned completely black, his eyes unknown since they were closed. His body is covered in orangish red Armour, as well as a fleshy skin-tight suit. The head of his Armour covered much, save for his eyes, which were seen through empty holes in the helmet, and the mouth. The helmet had a large crest-like shape, with the muzzle AKA the mouth bare to expose his mouth. The chest, shoulders, arms, legs and waist were all completely Armoured, everywhere else being covered by a fleshy skin-tight suit. The Armour had an orangish red sheen to it, with the hands being shaped into clawed Gauntlets with spikes coming out the elbows. More spikes protruded from the shoulder guards and the knees. On the chestplate there was a glowing yellow core of energy, as well as matching veins that spread across the man's body. out the back of the man's tailbone, was a long, segmented crimson red Tail, the same length as his height. Out his upper back was a pair of flaming wings like a Phoenix's, shaped like the namesake, and reached down to its feet which had several long talons protruding out of the front, 1 extra from the heel. Though, what caught his attention the most was the admittingly powerful orangish red aura flooding through his system.

All around him, Nico's new form affected his surroundings, heating up the atmosphere way more than his Hellfire had done previously whilst his aura flared just as wildly. KI and BLOODLUST surged from his being, as well as from his weapon like two large beasts roaring in unison. His grip on Soul Edge tightened as he eyed his opponent, who just floated there with his mismatched wings staring right back... with no small traces of excitement in his body language.

"Alright..." Nico began, speaking as if he had two different voices as he opened his crimson eyes, showing the glowing black slitted power button symbols in them as he held Soul Edge in its true form and glory towards his opponent. In this form, while Soul Edge retained a Greatsword-like form, it possessed no eyes this time, along with sporting multiple edges with it's middle having a row of long, large teeth going to just beneath its tip, shrinking in size the more they neared. It had a semicircular Guard shaped like a talon, with a shorter one opposite it. "This is what you wanted, Castiel Emiya. Are you satisfied that you see my full power, yet?!" he asked him.

"Very, for uncle Zelretch to say that you are on the same level as me I would admit nothing less. Now, let's release our most powerful strikes and define once and for all who is the strongest right now." Castiel answered with the unchanged kingly and dominant aura around him. It was less like he was proposing a course of action and more like he was ordering as such.

Nodding his head Nico entered in a stance and started releasing his full power, and that would be best utilized by one of his most dangerous attacks: FIRE SCORCHER. Truthfully, he hadn't pushed himself to use it with Soul Edge's full power before, but there's a first time for everything. Raising the monstrously large blade, the black haired DPU began pumping all his power into it, both his Demonic Power and his SP Reserves. The two energies spiraled together, combining into a deadly, violent mixture erupting from the blade's form to the tip. When they reached the tip, the energies gathered together into one big ass meteor that rivaled half the battlefield in size. The meteor crackled chaotically, like it was the center of a raging storm with a furious layer of electrical energy. Nico also added in the power of his Hellfire in its true form, resulting in the black and red flames ROARING to life beneath him, spiralling upwards and merging with his attack, turning it into a black and red version of itself with similarly crackling energy. The energy made waves that ripped through the air that blew away the dirt around its maker while pushing the ground behind him upwards... an equal amount that Castiel did before.

Seeing this Castiel did the same. He put Hruting away so as to focus his entire power on his next move. Putting his two hands in Clarent he put it in an overhead strike and started preparing his full strike. A ray of crimson thunder-like light was released from the blade as pure magic power was transformed into pure power by the blade, but in contrast to how it originally was now it also released a ray of holy light and silverish flames that came out of Argetlan. The holy energy Castiel had, the flame power of the star carried by Argetlan, and the magic energy with the unlimited amount by his magic core, all three were uniting as one and being amplified further and further by Clarent. The energy was easily comparable to the one coming from Nico's strike, especially when the three colors of energy fused together to create a crystalline-like red beam of concentrated energy.

The two glared at one another, knowing that this was simply too much for any spar but neither would accept backing down or show weakness. The two were Warriors, not just normal civilians, with a lot of pride and this ambiguous situation that deciding who is the stronger was still on the air was something neither of them would accept.

With this in mind, both teens raised their blades backwards, rearing their attacks back.

"You ready?!"

"That's my line!"

Both unleashed their own respective war cries before they launched their attacks. Each one looked like it would cause extreme amounts of damage not to the users, but to their surroundings including the entire dimension as well. Such was the level of power that these attacks had reached.

Just before they could though...

"Alright, I think you two ave gone far enough."

Another voice broke through to them making the two males go wide-eyed in surprise. The source appeared before the two attacks from the side, simply glaring at the attacks. That glare alone destroyed the attacks, leaving nothing left of them. "I'd rather you two NOT destroy each other and my pet project. I do need my two beta testers' after all."

'Shit, I didn't even sense his presence...' Nico thought, eyes wide as he mentally checked his reserves. Looked like he still had a flicker of power in both his energy sources left, enough to remain transformed for a good 10 minutes. 'I knew he must have been powerful when I met him before, but geez...!'

"*sigh* I guess that is it, huh?" Castiel said, relaxing enough to dispel his armor but leaving his wings open. No point in taking then in if they didn't had any draw back anymore, they simply helped him to fly and some little things, they were not like Nico's DPU form that had to be dispelled since it consumed energy to maintain. Castiel then turned to Nico and said. "No hard feelings for me trying to kill you, I hope."

Nico could only release a chuckle, it is like Castiel had multiple personalities or something, he could go all serious, then be kingly, and now he seems like a chill dude. In all honesty Nico rather liked it this way, different actions to different environments.

"Sure, no problems." Nico said before turning to Zelretch and said. "I am just surprised you could stop both attacks with a stare, was it a secret technique?"

Zelretch looked surprised before giggling and saying.

"Nope, I just released a fraction of my power and tried to copy Jiren from Dragon Ball Super. To be honest I just had to think to stop this attack and that would have been enough, but it was fun to imagine myself like a buffy alien."

Nico could only release lot's of cold sweat from this. If it was true that Zelretch could stop all of that energy with just a thought then he simply was too much of a monster. He went straight to the new list of his mind, one entitled 'Never to piss off'.

"Anyway," Castiel said, drawing the attention of the two other people there. "Now that we finished the introductions and everything how about you tell us what are these things you want us to test, uncle Zelretch."

"Excited, aren't you? Wanting to grow strong already to deal with those problems?" Zelretch asked, but seeing the fire in Castiel's eyes was answer enough. "Fine, this is how this will work-"


	156. Cross chapter 3 - Treasures

"This is how it works. There are a total of 5 'floors' for you two to challenge, each floor has its own unique characteristics and enemies inside and if you can finish the floor you will receive a reward equivalent to how well you went. The reward is determined by how many points you can get, and the points come from killing the enemies. But, the most important is that there is a Floor-Master, an ultimate challenge for you to face. If you two can beat this floor master you can obtain a special item or more points to buy more regular items, whatever you want really." Zelretch explained to both young men.

This was quite similar to most RPGs out there, the main difference being that it was a Zelretch's approved 'game' so it would never be THAT straightforward.

Nico, having returned to human form to maintain power till he had a chance to have some items, heard it all and nodded. This seems like it would be quite interesting. Maybe he could sharpen his abilities further there.

' **Nico, ask about those rewards now.** 'Biko said.

'Why the hurry? We haven't even entered the floor yet and if we are too focused on the rewards we might face some problems later on.' Nico countered. He had already seen this sort of situations way too much, a rookie that was too excited about the reward and lost focus when he shouldn't have. And Nico was no rookie.

' **Nico, this man can travel through parallel dimensions so maybe he has that pill we are looking for.** 'Biko said, earning a raised eyebrow from Nico. It was just then that Nico realized the truth of these words, maybe he could get the Rebirth Nirvana Pill here because goddess knows when he would get another chance elsewhere.

'Okay.' Nico answered to Biko before turning to Zelretch and saying.

"I get what you mean, but can we at least know what the different rewards are?" Nico asked, with which Castiel only shocks his head. Castiel was much more used to Zelretch's excessively large treasure collection so if he really could get anything in there he already knew that it would be quite valuable, so there would be no point in wanting to see it now. If anything for Castiel who doesn't have an exact objective right now it would simply be a waste of time, and so he simply sat on the floor and started meditating about the fight he just had to visualize how it could have gone differently.

"Okay, here is a list." Zelretch said as he took out a book with MANY pages.

Nico looked at this and could not help but think that this was just too much. It probably meant that most of this treasures were nothing that special. Well, he thought that until he opened the book.

 _The golden fleece - A healing item that can heal virtually every wound and is continuously active, it can also make plants grow faster and, if someone wears it, it heals any wound at incredibly high speeds;_

 _Moku Moku no Mi - a special fruit that after eaten can turn the user's body into smoke. The user then can become nearly invulnerable to any attacks that don't carry heavy amounts of magic or special energy, while also allowing for the user to expand his body and fly by using its new power. A weakness is that the user cannot swim no matter what;_

 _Cloak of Invisibility - a cloak that can turn the user invisible for all visual effects, no matter how good or mystical a vision may be there simply won't be a chance of seeing the user. However, it cannot hide smell or sound;_

 _Bashosen - A fan that allows for the use of powerful attacks from all elements, the only real drawback is how it drains considerable energy from the user but the sheer fact that it grants high versatility and allows for using any element and attack instantly by simply waving the fan is more than compensation enough;_

 _Legendary Hero's Sword - a legendary sword that continuously grows stronger by being fed materials and other swords. There is no absolute limit to how strong it can get and the only limitations are the necessity of having a strong enough body to support new forms for the sword (with more materials new forms are unlocked) and to have the right materials;_

 _One Moon Divine Medicine - A pill that can elevate the amount of Ki of anyone by a large margin. It is to such a point that even someone who never trained can have more ki in their bodies than a genius that trained his whole life non-stop until he was over thirty. There are no big drawbacks except for the high amount of new energy that the one eating said pill must distribute and be ready for._

 _Kido Manual - A manual of how to use soul energy to attack with special spells that focus on direct physical combat. It has a total of 99 spells and can be learned with relative ease by anyone, it can be divided in Bakudou (defensive and sealing spells), Hado (offensive and destructive spells), and Kaido (healing spells)._

 _The Midnight Lost Child (Reiji Maigo) -_ A spher _e of pure energy that replenishes ones own energy reserves, but only if the reserves haven't been completely exhausted. Only works every midnight._

 _Shingan ( Mind's Eye) - A ring that allows its user to read as well as transmit thoughts to people nearby. Its user can choose whose thoughts to read, but not which thoughts to read._

 _Seimei Kikan - Tome - A technique which allows the user to control their hair and bodily functions. Something like this could be used in conjunction with his Kagune, especially its morphing ability. using it to make a numerous amount of thin Kagune strands to trap his enemies, then strike them down with the main Kagune or something else sounded too useful to ignore._

 _Nirvana rebirth pill - A pill that destroys the user's everything and then reconstructs them from the ground up. The destruction is absolute and is insanely strenuous to the intaker's body. The result, however, is that the user will undoubtedly grow physically and mentally stronger but wil also have greater potential and most abnormalities that work against the user's well being are undone and remade to work for the user instead of against him. It also raises the sensitivity of the one using it to make detecting, understanding, and using attacks that much smoother._

 _Horn of the Goblin General - it allows the one using it to summon an army of goblins to their command. This army will follow all orders and are organized and equipped with great weapons and excellent coordination to the point that all possible divisions and even strategists are present. In terms of power, they can possibly overthrow a weak nation by themselves and are capable and knowledgeable in all forms of warfare. Each individual goblin is also capable of growing stronger, the only drawback is the food to feed this army._

He could only imagine what his Desecration ability could do to improve these items further.

But, like Zelretch said, it all depends on what amount of points he got at the end. If he got the wrong amount, then he could end up with something unlike what he was aiming for, not something he liked to think about.

"Would we have a period of rest between trials? Or would we be taking them non stop?" Nico questioned. It would only make sense to ask that as simply having them compete nonstop without rest would, while increase their stamina, be a bit too un-beneficial for the beta testers in the long run. He could keep himself going with demonic power and his RC Cells, but they were practically at rock bottom for him at this point.

Perhaps he could take some healing Items from his Void Storage soon.

"Sure, you two have two weeks to complete as much of the five trials as you can. Please go right ahead and entertain me." Zelretch said, and just as he was about to teleport away.

"I have something to ask." Castiel said.

"Shoot." Zelretch answered, a smile on his face. He knew Castiel well enough to know that he would not simply let things like this.

"I want to know if it would be possible to get a few points before we begin. It is normal to have at least a few points before the first mission anyway so I think this should be alright, what do you say uncle Zelretch." Castiel said, earning a raised eyebrow from Nico and a surprised face from Zelretch.

"How could I have forgotten that?!" Zelretch said in mocking shock, which earned a roll eye from Castiel. "Sure, 1000 points each. But be careful with what you will buy since you might need this points later on. And here is the list of what you can buy with just points." Zelretch said as he gave the two young man a list.

The two started looking at it with rapt attention before each decided in what they would want.

"I want 1 vial of Phoenix tear (250 points, capable of healing flesh wounds), a spirit calming pill (500 points, capable of calming the spirit and revert the overheating of magic circuits and magic core), and three blood replenishing pills (50 points each, capable of replenishing the blood lost swiftly)." Castiel said, keeping the last 100 points for later use. From what he saw on this list there were a few must-have items here that he needed much more than new weapons or techniques.

"I'll have 3 blood refreshing pills (50 points each - 150 in total). Don't need much else since I have my own supplies." Nico stated, downing a Healing bottle which revitalized his injuries along with a Nep Bull EX, which fully restored both his SP and Demonic Power Reserves. Though, he didn't expect that last bit. 'Well, what do you know? Looks like it really does heal everything...'

their requested Items soon replaced the list they were holding in a bright flash, of which Nico and Castiel stored them away for later.

After the two made their purchases they looked forwards towards the oldest male in the area. Castiel was the one who asked what would be the first challenge.

"Simple, the first one is a challenge of the EARTH. You just have to go until the pyramid on the center of the desert and defeat the boss there, oh and do remember that special actions can give unique rewards." Zelretch explained, clearly enjoying all this way too much.

With that the two boys were directed to a portal, their first mission was about to start.

* * *

"Fuck, I have sand in places I didn't even know it was possible TO have." Castiel complained for the 100th time as he moved in the desert sands. If anything the two could only think that it was good that Castiel's rune-craft could produce water because they were walking for over two hours already and there still could not see themselves approaching the pyramid in the distance.

While Castiel was complaining like hell, Nico ignored it as he gauged their surroundings, making sure to not let anything escape his gaze. He couldn't sense anything nearby, at least nothing hostile, and with his Bracers Motion Tracker there wasn't any hostiles making their way to them. It wouldn't be good if they couldn't react to an enemy ambush, especially in a wide open space like this.

Up in the distance, the far, far distance, the two boys could vaguely make out the silhouette of a pyramid, as well as a bunch of green to signify the forest. Though, no matter how much they walked it just never seemed to get closer.

Raising his Bracer, Nico activated the Void Storage on mental command, quickly summoning a bottle of water. "Want some?" he questioned to his sole other companion so he would stop complaining.

Castiel looked at him weirdly, eyebrow arched. "Just what kind of stuff do you have in there? And thanks by the way." he replied, accepting the offered bottle and downing it in one gulp. He even refilled it with runecraft water so he could have some more later. Castiel was never really one to carry much with him as he usually would just take care of what he needed on the spot. In the worst case scenario, he would simply use his runecraft for water and he could last around 1 week without food and not affect his combat capacity by much thanks to his training in survival. Travel light and move fast when in a mission was his motto most of the time.

"You'd be surprised at how much I have to stock up." Nico replied dryly, before looking around the Desert. If they kept going like this they would waste too much time which could be better used in completing the five trials. They needed a better mode of transportation, Castiel probably wouldn't be able to fly thanks to the apparent restriction to flying that was placed here, they would have to pray for the restriction to flying be lifted while in a fight or it would complicate matters by quite a lot. It was while Nico was thinking in efficient ways to travel on this desert that the figurative light bulb erupted in his head as he palmed his left hand, a look of 'oh, right!' on his face. "Aha! I MIGHT have an idea." he stated, getting Castiel's attention.

"Yea?"

Without replying, Nico pulled out Harvester from his Void Storage, and used its power to summon one of his shadow monsters. The one he chose was that Wolf-like one, which appeared in front of them. This one however, was made without any battle capacity and the only skill it had was move through the sand and earth as fast as possible. Due to its giant weakness and incapacity of fighting the creature was even faster on the ground.

Nico never really had the need to summon one of them before, using Harvester's SHADOW PACK thanks to already having his bike, but considering how it did not work well on the sand and that flying was not really an option this worked well enough, plus he had felt the Devil Arm's desire to be useful in this situation. Not only that, but he was used to utilizing the whole amount of the creatures Harvester's SHADOW PACK ability granted, one of them barely even nicked his reserves.

"Okay, why the hell didn't you do this earlier?!" Castiel asked as he hopped onto the back of this creature, not at all disturbed by the other being capable of creating this beast. He already knew someone with a similar skill and at least Nico was better than the other person he knew, at least Castiel felt no need to try and kill Nico, something that the other person could brag to be on the 'to kill list'.

Nico bluntly responded while flipping onto its back, keeping his eyes forward, the wind ruffling his Trench Coats' sleeves as the creature launched itself from the ground at extreme speeds. "I was too busy hearing you complain while doing nothing. You really complain about things too much, maybe you should hear others more."

Castiel only responded with an eye roll, trying to keep it together and not explode at Nico for some words that at the moment were not the best for personal reasons. They then continued racing across the forest at top speed.

* * *

Approaching the forest at last, both boys looked up at the Pyramid.

"Whew, we're here at last..." Castiel remarked, sighing in relief when Nico made the creature slow down. Castiel raised an eyebrow and asked, even if already could imagine the reasoning. "Why are we stopping?"

"Simple, we don't want to alert the wildlife as much as possible. We need to understand our enemy before anything else." Nico said, and by then they already were close enough to the forest to go by walking.

"I see your point, and I do agree that it is important to try and not alert them that much, but I think this would be a waste of time." Castiel rebuked. "For Zelretch to put them here it means that they are strong and capable enough, they also are in a closed environment with no contact with whatever you or I am so we would be a completely different being in here. I don't know about your dimension, but on mine, there are places like this, separate spaces with no contact with any external life form and that live in harmony, however you can trust me in that they might have a balanced ecosystem right now but the moment we enter we are fucked. To live in the wild like this their noses and ears must be particularly good, maybe they can also sense ground vibrations so sneaking on them would be easier said than done."Castiel explained as he finished his analysis.

Nico hummed thoughtfully at those words, processing them in his mind before he decided to agree with the guy. It made sense, what he said, certain Abnormals back home have adapted to different environments. He had to say, he was impressed. He doesn't know anything about Castiel but from his battle powers and this analysis alone he could say that he would most likely be a Spec-Ops in his home dimension.

* * *

After that talk the two stayed close to the borders of the forest to set up camp. The two talked and agreed that entering like this would not be on their best interest, they had to first and foremost watch the ambient and try to identify the creatures that lived in there They had to understand what they would be facing and what they could do and what they could not do.

Right now, they stood within a small clearing, discussing on what to do next. Nico's Bracers didn't pick any hostiles up with their Motion Trackers, so that was a thing.

"We need to scout the forest, do you have any solution for that?" Nico asked after he released his Recon Drone from his Void Storage, but saw that said drone could not even take flight. This would be quite the headache for Nico since he did not want to waste energy on making shadow creatures that would most likely die before obtaining any useful information.

"Well, actually I do have something." Castiel said before activating a summoning circle to summon his familiar.

"Eevee!"A loud cry escaped the lips of one of his closest companions, who just appeared from the circle in response to his summons. Eevee was excited beyond belief to see Castiel again. The last time was too much of a scare for the young dog and it would rather never pass through that again.

Castiel could not help but release a few tears of joy from this affection he was receiving. After all that happened to him these last few days, just receiving some affection for being happy to see him meant a lot to the young heir.

Nico did not understand exactly what happened, but what he did get was that this was a moment for the two so he did not intervene or said anything.

"I am so happy to see you Eevee." Castiel said while hugging Eevee. After some time like that Castiel left the dog to go back to the ground before saying. "Eevee, can you go on mode Leafeon and see if you can communicate with those plants. We need to know what sort of enemies we will be facing in there."

"Eevee!" Eevee said happily before the green jewel on his neck shined. His normal features changed, with his fur receding almost completely, his ears and tail looking like big leaves, and leaves sprouting from his legs, chest, and one especially big on his forehead. "Leafeon." Leafeon said before walking to a tree and putting its head on the tree. An aura of nature passing through Leafeon to the tree.

Nico only looked at this without knowing what was happening. He had to ask later what that Eevee thing was all about, and if there was anywhere he could find one. If it truly could identify everything in a forest that easier than it would be invaluable to many of the guild agents and some spec-ops, he doesn't even WANT to know how many promising cadets died before they could reach their full potential due to not knowing what they would be facing.

After a while, Leafeon returned to the two and when Nico was imagining how exactly were they supposed to know what this little guy knew Leafeon changed forms again. The time, instead of returning to the base form he turned into its psychic form Espeon.

Nico had to admit that this one was a truly beautiful creature. He could even visualize Neptune hugging it while trying to force feed a pudding to it while Compa trying to stop her.

Well, those images just went until the moment that Espeon's eyes released a quick shine and a torrent of information entered the brains of both of them. It was not all that there was to the forest but at least they now knew at least some of the details like the geography and some of the animals they would find.

Though with what they learned, it didn't seem good.

"So... Looks like you were right, Emiya." Nico stated as he cupped his chin, frowning thoughtfully. "Looks like the wildlife are already aware of our presence." The reason he says this was because the information transferred to them by Eevee's Espeon form revealed to them that this place was full of various wild creatures, both every kind of animal one could think of in a forest and desert environment. Creatures that were dominated by this one other species. The information about that species was scarce, but they did get brief pieces of information about it. They were mostly small, were fast but not overly so, had great numbers, and were gross.

Not much to go on, but hey that was what recon was for.

"Yep." Castiel boasted proudly, before he became serious once more as he looked about this area. "We should turn this place into our camp for the night. It is a decent location, there's a freshwater stream 4 minutes walking distance to the east (they were in the southern sections of the forest according to Eevee). We can use that for supplies if we ever run low, there are ample vegetation and animals for food, so even if we stay here for a day or two we won't be without resources. I'll set up some bounded fields, they'll repel any lesser animals while informing us if there's anything truly threatening going our way. Plus, I don't know about you but I would rather rest for a while now, it is not like we are running out of time or anything."

Nico thought about it for a moment. While he wanted to get this over with, it would not happen if they didn't know what they were supposed to be doing. His gut instincts told him that they should get to the Pyramid though, since it was at the very center of this forest. In the end, he relented to Castiel's statements. "Affirmative. I shall set about setting up the camp equipment, I have some sets from when I go on longtime jobs for my work." Nico stated, getting a nod from the other super-powered teen as they each set off to commence their respective tasks.

* * *

That night, Nico and Castiel sat on two logs, perpendicular to each other while being around a large bonfire. The Bonfire was powered by Castiel's Runecraft, as while Nico's Hellfire (Castiel almost got accidentally singed when he tried to compare their flames for curiosity's sake, though Nico shared the blame due to being curious himself) offered more heat, it proved to be too powerful for the wood to handle, and thus the Runecraft fire was what they went with. Aside from that incident, there was little else to report on that front.

Nico had set up traps around the camp that would halt those that got past the Heroic Heir's Bounded Fields. Traps that he'd camouflaged by using the wilderness to his advantage while letting Castiel know where they were so he wouldn't fall into them. Though, he did say how he would be able to sense the traps having done training in creating and disarming them as a kid.

Right now, the two just stared at the burning wood that Nico carved from some trees with his Kagune, Castiel having Eevee sleeping on his lap in an adorable looking fashion. Nico himself had Rebellion resting on his lap while he thought deeply.

This didn't go unnoticed, however. "You thinking about what we're supposed to do here?" Castiel asked him, to which he got a silent nod in return. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'd say that Pyramid has something to do with it."

"Agreed, I thought so the moment I saw it. However, judging by what your friend said..." Nico replied, slightly nodding towards the sleeping Eevee who snored quietly. "It seems that we will encounter heavy resistance from the local wildlife."

Nodding as well, Castiel cupped his chin as he pondered this information. "Yeah, I can see that happening, we are a foreign animal intruding on this previously stable ecosystem after all. They will likely see us as a threat until we finish the trial. Still, if we want some form of an answer, maybe heading to that pyramid tomorrow would be our best bet. Perhaps we can gain some form of a clue there, uncle does love his phoetic justice and this over the top situation just screams that it is the next step."

That was just what Nico had been thinking. "Agreed. I can make sure we don't get ambushed by using my Holomap and Motion Trackers. In addition, it would be wise to consider moving stealthily through the trees, making fewer vibrations which will lessen the chance of us being discovered."

"What, like a ninja or something?" Castiel joked, smirking in amusement at the idea of doing ninja work as he honestl doubted he could do even half a decent job. Just the thought of the seemingly calm collected red haired teen before him doing that made his day.

Arching a brow, Nico nodded at him while he tried to figure out why Castiel said that the way he did. "You could say that." he remarked slowly and carefully. "However, if hostile contact proves unavoidable, some quick and silent killing techniques should be applied. I have my Rebellion, my Kagune and my Sword Techniques, what about you?"

"I've got some silent killing moves of my own." Castiel replied with confirmation, which ended the conversation for a while as the two stared down into the flames. Thoughts of what they planned for the following day filled their minds, occupying them for the longest time.

That is, until Castiel looked to Nico and examined his energy. He had noticed it before, how dark the energy was compared to Devil's magic. It was much darker, denser, and more potent, to the point where it even surpassed that of a Demon's. Call him crazy, but that kind of power wasn't that well known where he came from, so he wanted to know how the heck Nico got his hands on it.

"Say, dude. Quick question."

"Yeah?"

"Are you either a Devil or a Demon?"

Not expecting THAT question, Nico looked up at him in slight surprise and bafflement. A rather weird mix which formed on his features, before Nico composed himself and asked a question back. "That's... a rather strange thing to ask someone. The way you seem so nonchalant too... why is that?"

"Oh, its because where I come from we have all kinds of races, Devils, Demons, Yokai, Angels, Fallen Angels, Fishmen, Demi-Gods, etc. Yet you have energies in you that aren't quite like those, so I'm just curious." Castiel replied, though Nico detected a brief spike of anguish when he said the 'Angel' word. He resolved not to ask till much later though.

However, this information about his companion intrigued the Spec Ops Agent, if what he was saying was correct (and he could sense no negative emotions like deceit in his being which indicated that he was being truthful) then perhaps speaking to him about this would be okay. 'What do you think, Biko?'

 **'It would be an interesting change of pace. This one is not of our world, and judging by what we have seen he seems to be fairly open-minded. In addition, he is not of our world, thus our concerns needn't apply.'** Biko replied, solidifying his decision.

'Very well, hope this doesn't come back to me...'

That was his thought before letting out a sigh. "Well, its a long story, but i'll summarize it for you." Nico began, Castiel shifting in his seat on the log so he was more comfortable. "I'm what is known as a DPU, a Demon Patron Unit. You could say I'm sort of a Demon God or a demonic deity, though I originally was human." he explained. "Before you ask, I'll say this: I was human once, but a while ago I came into contact with this crystal called a DPU Core, which entered my body and turned me into a DPU. Ever since, I've had to train in these new powers lest they take control and try to devour me till I'm nothing but a shadow of my former self."

"... Huh. Well, that explains that." the Heir responded after a moment of silence. "But are you sure? I mean, the gods in my world give off way more power than you do. I'd say you wouldn't even be counted as the lowest ranked deity if I used my world's measuring stick."

Nico responded without giving away what he felt at that statement while gazing into the flames, memories passing through his mind. "That would be accurate, as I am merely on the lowest end of the DPU Spectrum. Low-class DPUs like me still have the effect of destroying Continents though if push comes to shove, so do not think of me as weak. Low Class DPUs can barely be called such under normal ratings. Mid Class DPUs can destroy multiple continents with their powers, which is why they are called 'Multi-Continent' Class, and there are High Class DPUs, or as they liked calling themselves the Chaos Class. Basically their powers are so great that their actions have various impacts on reality and space itself. And above them is the Ultimate Class, which only four DPUs, the original four, have been able to access due to having gained the perfect understanding of 1 of the 4 Edicts of the universe."

"The four Edicts?"

"Hm, These are the four Primordial energies that embody the concepts of destruction, death, life and fate. Each of them give those that understand how they work the absolute control of each of those concepts. For example, those who go the path of the Edict of Destruction gain the ability to destroy anything they want, as in LITERALLY anything. They can manipulate destruction, delaying/hastening when destruction happens, speeding/slowing down destruction, determine what parts of anything should be destroyed. There is literally nothing they cannot destroy. The Edict of Life allows the user to manipulate the life of a living things, granting extra lives, change the lifespan, grant life to anything, resurrect/reincarnate dead, as well as complete control over it. On the opposite side of it is the Edict of death, which controls every aspect of Death you can imagine, death causes, the events leading to death, sensing when death is to take another victim, recreate causes for death, promote death in certain areas, this Edict is super dangerous in that it gives the users complete control over it. Not even gods can escape it. Lastly, is the Edict of fate, which gives the user the ability to create, control, manipulate whatever, the absolute control over someone's fate. Users are able to perceive, shape and manipulate destiny allowing them to affect reality in several ways both overt and hidden. They can tell ones fate, change fate, deny fate, they have complete control."

At the end of that lengthy explanation, Castiel didn't look too good. In fact, it would make sense to say that he was as pale as a ghost at the powers these Edicts possess. "Geez. These things sound dangerous... especially in the wrong hands."

Nico could only chuckle without mirth, his eyes darkening. "That's actually ironic of you to say, considering that my main enemy is the DPU of death himself, having been freed o run rampant across my dimension. Odds are I'll likely have to face the DPUs of Life and Fate as well, but that's a story for another now, we should get some rest, it won't be long before we head out, so let's take a short rest. Also, we have 2 weeks to complete these trials, and something tells me that they will vary in both time consumption and difficulty."

"Amen to that."

* * *

An hour later, Nico and Castiel woke up and quickly gathered their weapons. Nico didn't need any, but during their prep, Castiel made time for some quick grub before heading out (though he wished he could have some pudding right about now. He missed his beloved treat). They had to be prepared for any confrontations they might have with the inhabitants of this forest on their way to the Pyramid. There was no telling what they would find there, after all.

Also, Castiel had his first experience with Nico's hooded mask appearance where he lifted his Trench Coat's hood out of the compartment, put it over his head, then donned a Mask. The Mask covered the lower half of the human face. Being black in color with a leather-like feel to it. it had a lipless mouth which was frozen into a maniacal grin, befitting someone who had been to an insane asylum and back again. The Mask's eye-patch attachment was of the same material and covered the right eye, with a band that when it was on, it would be like it was part of the Mask. On the sides of the Mask where the Jaw would be, there were a pair of bolts, like the tops of screws.

His reaction: wow, a Jason wannabe.

They had decided to leave the came as it was since Castiel's Bounded Fields would keep away unwanted visitors, as well as Nico's traps. Also, it would be nice to have a place to fall back to where they WOULDN'T likely be swarmed by hostiles, take a breather, and discuss battle plans. Both of them agreed on that part, with Castiel reinforcing the Bounded Fields just in case, and with that, the two rushed off.

In current times, the two were jumping through the trees like the ninjas from Naruto, their forms blurry to the naked eye as they made their way to the Pyramid, with Nico at the front since he was using his Holomap to guide them. While they had a fairly good idea of the Forest's geometry thanks to Eevee (whom Castiel had decided to send back till he would need him again) it would be best if they had a more... physical source of information on where they needed to go. Good thing Nico had his Holomap, otherwise it would be a lot harder.

Well, there WAS the fact that the Pyramid was so large that it overlooked the entire forest, but meh that was just a thing.

While the two jumped through the trees, both teens kept their senses sharp and alert, in case they got ambushed by some ferocious predator. It wouldn't be good if something like that got the drops on them, especially when they weren't aware of the full powers these creatures possessed. It was like Castiel had told Nico before, these creatures have lived her in an undisturbed environment for a long time, and they were the foreign parties here. They would likely be targeted outright and if they knew Zelretch like they thought they did then those creatures would be super powerful... not to mention lethal to their health.

"Say, Emiya!" Nico began suddenly, getting the young Heir's attention.

"Yeah?"

"I have a question for you, since you asked me one yesterday."

"Alright, shoot."

"How long have you known that Zelretch guy for?"

Castiel honestly thought he was going to ask about his nature like he had done the previous night, but not this. Well, he felt glad t that since he didn't want to think about that can of worms right now. The wounds were still fresh after all, and Zelretch wasn't so sensitive a topic. "All my life. He's my godfather, though I call him Uncle. He does try to get me to call him 'my favorite person in the world Zelretch' but nope. Not in a million years." At that, Castiel couldn't help the fond smile that spread across his lips. Memories of his godfather flowed through his head (the ones that involved family bonding, not the tormen... I mean training that puts the rest of his teachers to shame). "Why do you ask?"

"Honestly, I'm trying to figure out why he would bring someone like me here." was what Nico replied with. One branch he landed on was too thin and broke under his weight, but the teen flipped into the air and then landed on another one like it didn't even matter. Though, both winced at the sharp sound the snapping made. "I can understand you, since you're his godson and all, but why did he bring me here? Not like I have much of a connection to the guy."

Castiel rolled his eyes at this information, though he didn't do it to be insulting. It was a legit question if one doesn't know how Zelretch operates, and even as his godson the young Heir sometimes didn't understand him. "Well, you could ask him when we finish these trials, then. Don't worry, he won't bite. But, a fair tip to you, I wouldn't bother asking. There is no point in trying to understand chaos, after all, chaos is just what it is." he joked at the end with a lopsided smirk.

'This guy reminds me a bit of Team RAIL's Lucy, Ivan and Aiden mashed together...' Nico thought to himself while taking his turn to roll his unmasked eye. Though, a similar smirk found its way onto his lips. He had actually thought about asking Castiel a different question about his true nature like he had done last night, but then he remembered the brief spikes of negative emotions when he listed them too, thus had changed his question. "Maybe. Let's just focus on the task at hand. I don't sense anything heading our way, Motion Trackers read no hostiles either, you?"

"Nothing's coming up on my radar. I get the impression that the forest isn't as 'alive' through the day as it is through the night."

"Well, let's trust your gut, in my experiences the gut is the best thing to listen to when in situations like this."

"Yeah, ain't that the truth."

* * *

It was honestly a miracle that they hadn't encountered anything, but that fact formed at the back of their minds as they finally reached the entrance to the Pyramid... which looked to be blocked off by some sort of magic-based barrier. It formed as a wall of pure goldish energy, with what Castiel recognized as Magic Circles scattered around larger version at the center. Though, he did find the symbol on the center of each of them to be fairly familiar.

"Hmmm... looks like we can't proceed without breaking this barrier...' Nico remarked thoughtfully as he cupped his chin under a leather gloved hand, eyeing the barrier intently.

"Seems so. Doesn't look like a normal barrier, either. Feels like a Bounded Field of some sort, though." Castiel added on, doing a similar pose. He looked across the barrier, before his eyes narrowed when he noticed something. "Hey, you see those? aren't they... symbols?"

Nico looked to where Castiel had gestured, and true enough there were some strange pictures designed into the barrier They were of various shapes and sizes, but to Nico... "This looks... almost like a language." he noted, thoughtfully as he proceeded to Scan them with his Bracers. "I'll see if I can decode it, but let's see if we have other ways just in case I can't."

While nodding to the red head's statement, the young Heir cast his eyes over the symbols, and for a moment he thought he felt something familiar about them. It wasn't till he leaned forward to get a better look that he realized why that was. "Hey, I know this language!" the teen exclaimed, getting a surprised look as well as one of intrigue from his companion. "It's ancient Egyptian, a language from my country. Though it's not used anymore by the masses, I still learned about it growing up as the Heir to the Tower."

"Can you read it?"

"My Ancient Egyptian isn't too bad, but I may be a bit rusty. Even so, I can try..." Castiel replied, he had long since studied virtually any language he could catch his hands on as a way to search old documents about any possible way to get stronger. The heir analyzing the symbols like a scholar would ancient artifacts. "Hmm... looks like in order to break this barrier, we must first find this thing called the 'Bracelet of Anubis'. Apparently, this thing is the key to this Pyramid, and is also the way to enter the 'Tomb of the Scorpion... King... Oh, ok seriously Uncle?"

"What is it?"

"Oh, its nothing..." Castiel replied, though Nico didn't look like he believed it. So, he decided to elaborate a bit. "Let's just say that Uncle Zelretch likes older movies way too damn much." With that though, Castiel shook his head before turning around to look upon the forest. "Anyways, we have our objective. In order to get in, ww have to locate this Bracelet of Anubis. According to those symbols, its located within the camp of the living dead which are said to be most active at night."

Looking down at his Bracer, Nico brought up the time and furrowed his brows in concern. "We don't have very long, then, cause the sun's going to show up in an hour. What's the play?"

"From what we know, we'll have to lure our prey from hiding. Odds are they're using the wilderness to their advantage since none of the plants had much clue about what these guys are. All they gave us was the geometric layout and the general appearance of the wildlife. I could search this forest with Magecraft, but it would take forever and Eevee would lose all his energy before we Even get a lick of information."

At this information, Nico cupped his chin some more, as an idea hit him seconds later. "I can do something about that." he said, drawing Castiel's attention as the young Heir turned to him. "I can summon some Shadow Monsters and have them head into the forest, cause a disturbance. Odds are, these creatures will want to know what the disturbance is, and for good measure I can summon multiple SHADOW PACKS with a few SHADOW SERPENTS among them. That way we cover more ground." He then raised his Bracer and activated the Holomap function. "I'll keep track of them with this. Once Harvester feels them get destroyed, we can get a better idea of where these 'undead' are located and we can press forward from there."

"Wait, I have a better idea." Castiel suddenly interjected before Nico could summon his Devil Arm. This prompted his companion to look back to him, the young Heir lowering his hand as he held the palm upwards. From there, the same magic circle Nico had seen before a certain summoning appeared, and in a flash, Eevee appeared. The little Familiar squealed in joy at seeing his master, who had a similar expression on his face.

That expression morphed into a serious one, and the Familiar instantly became aware that this was serious business. "Eevee, Flareon mode. Use your fire to burn this forest to the ground." he commanded, getting a nod from Eevee who flipped off his master and landed on the ground. A vortex of flames rose upwards from around its feet the moment it landed, and in moments, it faded away to reveal Eevee's Flereon form.

Quickly turning to the forest, Flereon reared its head back, took a deep breath before unleashing a torrent of orangish-red flames from its mouth, streaking through the forest and burning everything in sight. Flareon shifted his head about to get every bit of forest as it could, resulting in the forest before them becoming nothing but a sea of flame that would eventually consume the entire forest.

'Okay... that is impressive...' Nico thought to himself as he watched the flames. They seemed hotter than the flames Castiel had used on him during their sparring match, but nowhere near the levels Hellfire could reach. Still, they seemed hot enough to cause a forest fire which must be what Castiel was aiming for. Thus, he didn't need to ask what his end game was.

Glancing at his right hand, Nico brought it to his chest level and looked down at his palm. By his will, a ball of Hellfire appeared in all its orangish red splendor. The ball fluctuated wildly and chaotically, the male's will being what restrained its innermost violent nature. He kept it in check while he examined it, before he projected a question to his Demon Persona. 'Say, Biko, I probably shouldn't add this to the mix, should I?'

 **'I wouldn't call that a wise action, yes Nico. Those flames may not be at their strongest, but they will definitely devour everything they touch much faster than these flames could ever hope to. Thus, if they were released, they could destroy even what we need to acquire.'**

'Right good call.' The teen thought back, clutching his fist and dispersing his Hellfire.

* * *

It didn't take long for things to... get maybe a LIIIIIITLE too out of hand though.

The reason why this was so?

Simple:

Because a whole HORDE of creatures poured out of the flames, burning and cawing as the flames licked away at their flesh making them look all the more sinister. This horde consisted of 40 giant centipedes. 60 large frogs with slitted eyes, 20 four-armed Gorillas, and 70 small creatures that looked like a mix between undead and Pygmies...

Undead Pygmyes...

...Gross.

Nico quickly face palmed at this revelation, biting back the urge to groan. 'I am strangely starting to feel the same way about Zelretch as Emiya over there.' he thought to himself in a mix of irritation and frustration.

Though it couldn't be helped now, especially since they had drawn a crowd. Looking into their ranks, both boys noticed that there were a bunch of larger undead pygmies, at least rivaling Castiel in height with long crooked swords. These versions hunched over, growling and snarling ferally while glaring at them with empty eye sockets. They didn't look at all bothered by the flames, either, in fact none of the undead mummies did. They just moved like they weren't being burned alive while the animals looked like they were about to keel over.

Within the group of larger Pygmies, there was one that was a full head taller than them, wearing primitive-looking Armour that shielded it from the flames while sporting an equally primitive-looking shield and sword combo. On its right arm, there lay something that made it stand out even more, however: a golden Bracelet with the statue of a Scorpion on it.

"Looks like we have our target..." Nico noted, gesturing to the armored Pygmy. He also deployed his Armour, clenching his fists and activating his Obliteron claws. He could feel his inner Ghoul stirring at the prospect of combat at last, and it was a good thing to since he planned on utilizing his Bikaku in this fight.

Castiel nodded in agreement, already drawing Hruting while Flareon returned to Eevee form and vanished once more. "You're right. Can you do something about these numbers? Thin the herd a little?"

Nico just smirked behind his helmet. "Oh yeah, I can do that. You take out the bodyguards then we take on the leader together?"

"Sure."

After this decision, both males smirked to each other, like fellow predators agreeing to work together on a single hunt, before they went their separate ways.

* * *

On Nico's end, the male proceeded to walk leisurely towards his opponents, his Helmet hiding the predatory look in his eyes as he felt the signature signs of a Kagune being readied within him. "Sorry boys... nah, not really." he stated darkly. The Kagune got released moments later as his Bikaku Kagune, but unlike before when he fought Castiel, Nico now had fur Tails of the same appearance as before swishing behind him, before pointing their tips towards his enemies.

See, while his Rinkaku specialized in silently killing his opponents, although it was no slouch in the pure combat department, his Bikaku could be counted as his mist destructive Kagune out of the three he had. Bikaku, Rinkaku, and Koukaku were his types, and each of them was super dangerous in their own ways. For example...

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

In 4 consecutive swishes, all four Tails whipped through the air, their Talons detaching as they got launched like projectiles towards their targets. Each one generated a whistling sound as they broke through the air space between them and their targets, like the coming of aerial bombs. None of them could react in time to what came next, and THAT would be their undoing. Each target ended up exploding into a gory mess when they got hit, holes ripping through their bodies when they got in contact with the Talons like tissue paper as each Talon had the deadly striking power to destroy highways. In essence, they are an equivalent to a pile of jetliners crashing into someone full force.

Thing is, Nico's Bikaku, unlike his Rinkaku, specialized in widespread annihilation, way more so than his DPU Form's prehensile Tail. Its why he preferred the Bikaku to that form's Tail, for the Kagune version was much more versatile. For not only does it's speed rival his Rinkaku, but its space-striking abilities rival that of his sole other unseen Fang, his Koukaku. That means it has both these qualities intensified for its own purposes, a 'you may see them, but you cannot dodge them, you are too slow' kind of situation.

His Bikaku reared backward while there were crackling sounds originating from them, a sign that new Talons were being made from within them. While it wouldn't take long for them to reset (especially since he had been training his Bikaku to shorten the setting time), it didn't mean these babies lost any of their destructive power. Quite the opposite, in fact, they didn't lose anything at all.

Then, as if fate weren't done showing these Monsters just how fucked they were, Nico's Bikaku gained various cracks through them, before each Tail split into 6 longer, thinner versions of themselves with a single set of Talons ready to be launched, as well as single blade tips. This meant that now, Nico had TWENTY FOUR Bikaku Tails swishing behind him like wild vipers, slashing the air around him before they slammed into the ground and then pointed towards his enemies. Each Tail looked poised and ready to crack some heads...

Though that wouldn't be all it would be cracking, and not just cracking either.

These Tails would slash for greater striking power and accuracy as they would be able to cover more angles than their larger forms. Each one moves at super high speed, and every one of them can release their Talons with just as much speed. Arguably, in these forms the Talons were stronger and faster than when they were in their bigger forms. Furthermore, when they hit something, it doesn't matter what, these Tails' Talons detonate and explode, sending shrapnel made from these Talons into their surroundings that make smaller explosions. This ensures that their enemies may have dodged the initial attack (even with how hard that is) but they will still not escape unscathed.

While the Animals instinctively felt like they were in over their heads, Nico slowly walked forwards, his Bikaku rearing back...

Before, like the serpent that it was described as before, striking forth.

* * *

While Nico started to release hell (which was putting it lightly according to what he saw) upon most of the enemies Castiel gave a slight smile.

He admitted that he wasn't that proficient in battling large number of people at once, but practice leads to perfection and with this many facing him at once this would be quite the practice.

'Ok, let's test how ueful my curses can work now that I can put more power into them and don't have to fear accidentally killing someone I sort of shouldn't.' Was what Castiel thought as he connected himself to the source of evil energy on himself. The young Heir had to furrow his brows once he felt the feeling of his evil abilities washing over him like a waterfall. To him, it felt quite different than his angelic powers, those powers came from the magic core inside himself while the source of his Evil Powers felt like it had been scattered all over his soul, almost like broken pieces of glass. Odds were it was thanks to his so called 'mother' for sealing those powers away for so long instead of letting them develop.

This could be seen as one of his objectives for these Trials aside from getting stronger and diversifying his Skills, to try and make this evil source more unified and maybe a bit more powerful in magic energy generation since his angelic core did not give him any energy to use these powers. If one looked at it like weighing grams, then his angelic powers weighed far more than his Evil ones right now, to the point where it would be considered unfair.

" **Betrayal; Rage; Hatred; Confusion.** " Castiel muttered under his breath, yet the words could be heard by every enemy within the vicinity (this effect only applied itself to the enemies since Nico as A: an ally, and B: he was currently slaughtering his foes like someone committing mass genocide) as he used these four curses at once. Individually they are not particularly powerful, but together their effect was truly devastating.

Case in point, how after he activated those curses those who could be seen as 'guards' before slowly turned to their Leader with vengeful eyes, and began attacking their leader out of their own 'free will'. It was even funny in a sadistic fashion, as Castiel did not need to raise a single finger and the number of guards and others around the leader fell just like that, slaughtered by their own kind as they too hurt and damaged their leader immensely.

Like a civilization 'rebelling' against a tyrant.

Seeing the results of his magic Castiel could not help but show a warm and peaceful smile. It was always great to see your enemies dying that easily while not even reaching you. In the end, Castiel might be a wonderful leader and someone that always strove to do his best for the Tower, but he still was more than ruthless enough to deal with any situation that presents itself. Case in point, his severed arm to trade it for the life of a subbordinate and how he decided to use a method now that many would see as underhanded.

He just cared for one thing in a battlefield, to reach the best results with minimal effort and sacrifice. Even his life was put on the balance during battle, anything was allowed in combat, as long as it didn't involve innocents.

When Nico saw this 'fight' between Castiel and the pygnies while glancing to his companion's side of the battle (while his Bikaku tore his opponents to shreds via Talons and sharp whipping motions) he could not help but shiver.

This was undoubtedly a good way to feel with this situation. What's more, part of him couldn't help but wonder what kind of catastrophic damage this ability could do to a large civilian population but imagining this happening to an army or a city was more than the agent would ever want to see.

* * *

After a while, the number of enemies dropped significantly, but those who were left were all wounded and weakened. Either by Castiel's curses or by Nico's Kagune, their foes had little chance of surviving. Not only had they been unable to display what they could do, but neither of the two intruders ion their home had any scratches on them. One because he had been causing them to fight each other in a rather brutal, sadistic and almost tyrant-like fashion, and the other because those long appendages spawning from him were too damn fast, struck so much space, and had deadly ranged Talons that tore through them without mercy.

It was then that the four curses started to stop their effect, Castiel couldn't activate them for long even if he wanted to thanks to the state of his Evil Powers, and so the infuriated monsters started running after him.

"Well, I guess it is time to show some actual work." Castiel said as he proceeded to cast various curses such as **"Slow, weak, Nausea"** which halted his opponents in their tracks and forced them to become vomiting messes. Castiel winced though when he saw hoe they literally vomited what looked like poo from their mouths.

Yuck.

Not wanting to waste this opportunity either, the Heir dashed forth and cut through one Pygmy's shoulder, lopping off its arm before he twirled around and slashed off its head. He then raised Hruting and brought the sword down on another's head, the blood that the blade drunk from those first two slashes amplifying its power enough to smash the second Pygmy Mummy's skull to bits. More blood got offered to the sword, and tit graciously accepted.

Kicking another Pygmy Mummy into the air and jumping after it to avoid two others lunching at him, Castiel slashed at it several times before twisting into a sausage spin and exiting into a Mana-empowered kick that slammed into the Pygmy Mummy's stomach, sending it crashing into the ground with enough force to make it go SPLAT.

Quickly following up his onslaught, Castiel landed on the ground and quickly started scribing Runes on the ground with his feet at high speed as he jumped back while also casting some of his witchcraft.

When the monsters got close enough it was already too late as the runes took effect and multiple roots emerged from the ground, almost like the forest itself was attacking the monsters.

They tried to evade as much as possible, but the number of roots was simply too large and as such the already small numbers dropped roots then began to tighten their grips on their prey, on accordance to Castiel's will which was signified by the clenching of his off hand into a fist. When he instantly applied a burst of strength to his fist a moment later, the roots jerked as well, ultimately crushing the organs of their prey while ripping them to pieces.

In the end only the leader had barely escaped, but it was not for long since it was then that the spell from Castiel was finished and the space around the leader was frozen. This resulted in its feet and legs up to its thighs being encased in a block of ice, much to its shock as it tried to stab away at the ice to set itself free. Shame that A: the sword it used was too primitive to break the Ice, and B...

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!

Nico wasn't that gentle to leave this sort of chance to go unattended.

* * *

Those swishes came from Nico's Bikaku, which had returned to its default four large Tails form. 3 of them had lunged at it, one slicing off its arm, another going for the opposite arm and taking the Bracelet for its master, while the third slashed its head off with a clean cut through the neck. Blood squirted out from these areas like waterfalls as the body slumped forwards, motionless and very much DEAD.

His Bikaku retracted to him, the Tail holding the Bracelet dropping said Item into Nico's waiting hand. Afterward, his Kagune vanished as did his Armour, exposing his hooded, masked form as he held the Bracelet. Looking over to the side, he saw his comrade walking up to him. "Looks like we were able to get the Bracelet this time... though I will admit, I feel kind of let down."

"Agreed, that was too easy..." Castiel remarked with suspicion. The teen held a hand out and Nico quickly understood that he wanted the bracelet, just for analyzing using structural grasping since he was not into Egyptian jewelry. So, the teen made to give it to him by placing it into the outstretched hand... when something happened.

"?!"

"?!"

Both boys gaped when the Bracelet started to vibrate in Nico's hand, almost like it was quivering before it unleashed a bright glow, blinding the two boys and forcing them to cover their eyes.

"What the heck?!"

"Ok, what the hell, Uncle?!"

By the time the light died down, the two boys uncovered their eyes and looked to where it had originated from. Neither of them were prepared to see what they did though: the Bracelet having attached to Nico's left arm over his Bracer, almost as if it had reshaped itself to fit on top of it. "What the...?"

"This is..." Nico began, eyes wide just like his comrade as he and Castiel gazed down at the Bracelet. What the heck had just happened? Why did it attach to his arm like that? Neither of them knew the answer to this, but there was one thing they could do to find out.

Looking over to the redhead, Castiel frowned in concern, pointing to the covered Bracer. "Dude, you think you could scan that? Cause I doubt you can activate your bracer with the way it's looking right now."

"You're right..." Nico replied as he tried to activate it via mental commands. Unfortunately, it didn't respond, almost like something was blocking the Void Module he had installed at Skies End from sending the necessary signals. Activating his right Bracer though, the teen quickly set to work scanning the Bracelet, his eye sharpened like a dagger. This shouldn't have happened, he should have been prepared for something like this. Objects of unknown origin were dangerous to be around, he should know since this lesson was why he had become a DPU in the first place.

Fortunately, the scanning didn't take as long as he thought that it would, and the results showed themselves on a holographic screen filled with writing across it. There was also a big image of the bracelet as well, constantly spinning about from every angle. "Hmm... peculiar." Nico stated as he read the information without missing any detail. Looking up and seeing Castiel's arched brow, he elaborated. "From what my Bracer scans tell me, this Bracelet isn't only a key to this Pyramid, but it has a special microchip inside it meant for downloading information. Which leads onto this next thing I have to do..."

In a few moments of tinkering with his right Bracer's interface, Nico found his Void Storage and sure enough, there was a special icon there that he hadn't seen before. "Aha!" he whispered under his breath with a triumphant glint in his eye. Pressing on the icon, his Bracer soon got a message saying that new information had bee downloaded, and when he pressed the okay next to the message, Everything switched to what looked like a holographic 3D image of the entire Pyramid. "Looks like this information is actually a map, and from what I can see this Bracelet seems to be the key to multiple devices inside it." manipulating the Holographic image, Nico and Castiel saw that the map also contained the whole internal layout of the place's interior. Meaning that they wouldn't begetting lost.

"Looks like we have the main level, an underground level, and then one big level that looks suspiciously like an ancient Egyptian Tomb entrance." Castiel remarked as he looked at the map. This Bracer Nico had looked like something Franky could find use in implementing into his machines, but he chose not to ask since it was already apparent that the guy was too professional to hand out secrets like that so easily. "When we get inside, we can go along this corridor to this big coliseum-like room, which leads to a shorter corridor that ends with a set of spiral stairs. That leads to a series of tunnels and rooms, before it ends up at the entrance to that tomb. Odds are, that's where we need to go."

Nico nodded in agreement, and with that, the two boys started making their way to the Pyramid.


	157. Cross chapter 4 - inside pyramid

After their planning was completed both young men walked towards the pyramid. The blood filled path that lay before him, caused by both of their efforts, didn't even make them flinch since this was completely normal to the two. Though the many body parts proved annoying when they stepped over them. Part of them wondered if they should burn the corpses and the blood so they didn't have to deal with them, but in the end both boys decided against it.

Moments later, the Pyramid entrance finally came back into view, the structure's massive form looming overhead like a giant. As the two approached the pyramid, Nico shifted his gaze to his companion, a question that he could not help think about escaping his lips. "Say, Emiya?"

"Hm?"

"Hey, how those curses you use work? They seemed much stronger now than before when you used them against me."

Castiel smirked when he heard this. Explaining how his powers worked was not something he normally would do, if anything he would not do it at all if at all possible, but this was a place where there wouldn't be any consequences even if he explained and maybe if he did that he could help the other party to get less wary of him. Plus, it wasn't like he wasn't the only one who explained something about themselves, this guy did so earlier. One could say that this was him getting even.

"My curses are more of a soul and mental attack. They seek to influence others condition and mentality of my opponents with varying effects depending on the Curse, for instance if I were to use the curse hunger on you, you would suffer from a feeling of hunger that would never be satiated. But right now my curses are still too weak and only work for short periods of time, however the period do increase with how mentally weak someone is." Castiel explained. "You shouldn't be that worried, since your mental strength is high so the curses would have a limited effect on you."

Nico nodded, taking in this information as his mind began weaving ideas, plans and examinations about this power. The thing that he did for a lot of weapons, just like his sword. From what he learned, it seemed these curses were like debuffs, and if they were debuffs then the times when he healed himself must be from some form of buffing ability. Its like two sides of a coin, or yin and yang. One half is more on the offensive side and the other is more on the defensive side.

Still, questioning his comrade would confirm more things for him, so he did so.

"But if that is so, how could you influence that many targets at once?" Nico asked while thinking about all the creatures that were influenced at once earlier. He also noticed how Castiel used multiple different curses up until now and how most of them were different. From what he could guess the words he muttered under his breath were part of it, but he had to be sure. "And how many of those curses you can use?"

"Oh, these questions are simple. First they were beasts, they had barely any will beyond their instinct and that made those creatures weak to this form of attack. And about how many I can use, well I suppose it would be all possible evil thoughts or acts a human being can suffer or do." Castiel explained, smirking even more while he put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out, feeling a bit proud of himself. Talking about his powers helped him to see how he wasn't hopeless and how much he accomplish even with the interference of Gabriel.

At this confirmation, Nico felt a shiver on his back as he heard those words. Looked like he was right, it was for the best that Castiel wasn't in his dimension otherwise this ability alone could cause untold disaster. Just thinking about how chaotic any battlefield would be if Castiel could use this ability liberally was more than the agent wanted to imagine.

 **'With our Demonic Powers, we are safe from those Curses. Our problems would start with those healing abilities, but we can get around that if we ever spar again,'**

'Yes, indeed...'

It was at that time that the two appeared in front of the pyramid, but this time instead of the barrier stopping their progress, it simply deactivated when the two got close enough to it. Looked like it was some form of sensory mechanism, Nico noted. If they went down to the tomb through those corridors, then they would probably face the beings that lurk within.

Castiel saw this take place, and could not help but give a playful smile as he gave a polite bow to Nico, all the while indicating for go ahead as he spoke with a classy accent.

"Ladies first."

TWTCH

Nico's eyebrows twitched as he heard those words. The way that this guy just said that while bowing, like he was a butler, it just grinded away at his nerves like a blade on a whetstone.

'What... did he just...?'

Gripping his fists, Nico slowly spoke while trying to hide his irritation.

"And how exactly am I a lady?"

"Well it is not me who is wearing a golden bracelet, and I was raised to be educated to girls, especially those who like to keep their hair so well treated and long." Castiel said with an honest and serious face, but he was doing his best not to laugh at Nico's face as he said those words.

'AHAHAHAHAAHA, SUCK IT, KING! YOU JUST GOT OWNED!'

'Shut up, you!'

Castiel would pay, oh yeah he would pay DEARLY. He just didn't realize what he had started. There was a reason why the Party he was in back in his dimension knew not to tick him off.

Though, as the saying went, revenge was a dish best served cold.

* * *

Entering the pyramid, Nico and Castiel walked through the corridor in silence. Well, save for the young Heir's slight chuckling as he gave an amused smirk in Nico's direction, and because he was walking in front of him the redhead didn't see it.

Though, a certain pair of aspects sensed the looks he gave.

The Corridor they walked along was illuminated by torchlight, which came from the various torches aligned high up on both walls. They each illuminated the corridor in a brilliant orangish light, some of the walls having animal carvings in them. It gave off this mysterious, ominous and almost scholarly impression to he two boys. The Spec Ops Agent consulted his Holomap the entire time, his senses kept on high alert for any signs of enemies.

"You sense anything up ahead?" Nico asked his companion, who shook his head while ceasing his laughter. It was time to be serious, and serious was something he could do.

"Nope, I got nothing. Something tells me that this place has more than a few surprises up its sleeve though, so lets be on guard." Castiel said. "Just wait a second, I will try something different for scouting."

As Castiel said that he started to release a few bugs made of evil energy, a variation of his normal cursed dragon tooth warriors that was usable for scouting and for small things. It wasn't that strong but it was another interesting thing he developed during his days/months in coma. He had this idea when he remembered Shino Aburame from Naruto and how those insects of his could be dangerous.

After he released those imsects Castiel sat down and waited as multiple magic and mechanical traps were activated one after the other. Castiel's eyes and senses were completely focused on them, trying to discover how they worked and to see if disarming them was possible.

Nico hummed in thought as he watched this play out, slightly more impressed. From the times he saw magic users on his world they were usually quite weak physically and they had the habit of preferring to explode things, diversity was not something many looked into among most magicians in Gamindustri. MAGES. was an unusual mage that actually had more than one or two tricks up her sleeve, but even she obviously paled in comparison to Emiya. The boy seemed to have a wide variety of Spells under his cloak and knew how to use them well, all the while while not neglecting the physical side at all.

'But I am stronger.' Was what Nico thought, which was also reflected in Castiel's way of thinking.

The two were simply full of pride on their respective hard earned powers.

After a while Castiel turned to Nico to tell his verdict.

"From what I see there are about 27 bounded fields in here and expecting easy passage is but a pipe dream. There are also around 14 mechanical traps that could probably kill or incapacitate either of us." Castiel explained, getting a nod of understanding from his companion. "The best option I can think is for the two of us to take different roles right now. I will start disarming the traps as I learned long ago how to do this, but it will take a while that must not be disturbed or I may cause an accident so I will need you to guard me while I am working. Knowing uncle Zelretch the moment I start dissembling the traps something is bound to happen and it will be up to you to stop it."

This made him furrow his brows, both in annoyance and in resignation. He would have asked if there were another way, like the possibility of the Bracelet being able to disarm the Traps. However, Biko had stopped him, informing him that the Bracelet served as a different piece to the puzzle. Not only that, but the Scans from earlier stated that the Bracelet wouldn't stop those traps anyways. "Alright then, i'll form some defenses to guard you. I don't like it, I can see several problems with this plan but seems like this is our only option if we don't want to get sliced to ribbons. While I can heal myself just fine, you seem to require those buffing abilities for yours."

"Well then, lets get started, shall we?"

* * *

The moment that Castiel sat in a meditating position, put his hands together on his lap and closed his eyes to begin the trap disarmament, Nico sprung into action by summoning Harvester and quickly forming a SHADOW SERPENT, which quickly wrapped its body in a protective circle around the young Heir and keeping him protected from approaching attackers.

Attackers that came the second Castiel touched the traps.

From ahead of them, as well as the entrance they had come from, many patches of pure black ooze spilled out onto the floor from within the cracks, expanding across the ground before something began to rise out of each of them. It almost looked like those Demons summoned by those Cultists Nico had fought in the Hellverse Dungeon, only there were way more watery and crackling sounds accompanying these creatures.

In the end, from those patches came what looked like 80 or so humanoid creatures with canine heads, each wearing few bits of cloth-like clothing while carrying an variety of different weapons. 40 were ahead of the m and the remaining 40 populated the entrance the two boys came in from. All of them aimed ravenous glares in Nico's direction, killing intent and bloodlust overflowing from them when they began to charge.

Neither his main or demonic aspect liked the look of those creatures, nor did they like the feelings those two gave off. It was like these creatures wore the aspect of death over them like a cloak or a badge of pride, and considering they had a... not so nice dance with the DPU of death not too long ago,. his distaste for them showed itself to be anything but peachy.

Nevertheless, this was combat, so he quickly assumed the mentality for such an event.

Nico quickly shifted into gear, putting aside whatever questions formed in his mind as he summoned a SHADOW PACK to deal with the ones approaching them from the entrance, while the other side got his personal attention. Nico quickly channeled Harvester's power and used TELEPORT SLASH, appearing in front of them before activating another technique called HARVEST: basically where Harvester's blade turns into a larger, purple astral version of itself as he slashed horizontally, cutting the whole of the pack in half.

The sounds of flesh being torn resonated behind him, and one quick glance revealed that while his SHADOW PACK was inferior in number, the enclosed corridor space allowed them o use the walls and ceilings to their advantage. Quickly, Nico shifted his attention back to his enemies when he heard sounds of movement, only to see how they were still moving using their limbs as support. Needless to say, Nico wasn't too happy about that.

'Tch, tenacious bastards, aren't you?'

 **'Lets try and play some zombie logic and take off their heads. Beheading usually works for most enemies, and I don't sense any regeneration at work with these beings.'**

'Got it.'

With that short conversation, Nico quickly formed a ball of Hellfire, then threw it at the crawling warriors to burn them to a crisp. This attempt succeeded, as nothing, not even scorch marks, were left when the flames were done.

However, before Nico could think that his problems with them were over, the teen noticed twice as many patches forming in the distance, quickly releasing more warriors into the mix. There was about a total of 80 there, which wasn't exactly something the teen wanted for his birthday but hey, what can you do?

'Tch, looks like there's going to be a lot of them...' the redhead Spec Ops Agent thought as he quickly summoned more SHADOW PACK monsters, sending them to reinforce their brethren. Now that he thought about it, the bloodlust in the atmosphere helped him sense how there were more and more warriors like these converging on their position, almost like an unending flood. The sounds of Castiel's actions ringing throughout must have been the trigger, just like he had guessed. He probably couldn't do much else outside the disarming like call on his Familiar, either. After all, he had all his focus on his work right now and to take a break from that wouldn't be wise.

Summoning more Hellfire, Nico threw a dozen or so blasts of it at his enemies, burning them to ashes with nothing left remaining of them. All the while he kept summoning more and more SHADOW PACK Monsters. making sure to keep their numbers up so he only had one side to deal with. Not only that, but he could feel... something, beginning to change within this Devil arm the more he poured his power into it so it had power for its abilities. Just like what happened to Alastor, now that he thought about it, but he couldn't focus on that right now.

More and more enemies kept coming at him in large waves, forcing Nico to expel more and more power from Harvester to deal with them all. He would take out large packs with HARVEST, summon SHADOW PACK Monsters and send excess energy into his SHADOW SERPENT. Nico also had his Harvester use SHADOW ANIMATION to turn his shadow into an Armoured version of himself (his old Armour not his new desecrated version) to help him fight while spamming both his DEATH GRIP and TELEPORT SLASH. It was like literally stemming a never-ending tide of darkness, an evil flood that intended to wash him away without remorse. Well, not if Nico could help it. that was for certain, and right now Harvester was getting more and more of a workout as Nico pumped large amounts of power into it, forcing it to suck up all that delicious power to help fuel and enhance its abilities. If it does start undergoing THAT then all the better.

2 of them closed in on him despite Nico throwing Hellfire at their brethren, forcing the redhead teen to stop his assault temporarily to jab the rear end of his Devil Arm into one's stomach while kicking the other into the ground. He twisted into a beheading slice, taking off its head while using the momentum to make an overhead stab into the other creature's head. Not stopping there, Nico lifted the creature by its impaled head, then had HARVEST activate, blowing the rest of it apart. This allowed him to notice something, something... that he didn't n notice before but now that he noticed now, he realized applied to EVERY creature killed by either his shadow monsters, or Harvester itself.

Each time one or a group of these fell, the Bracelet seemed to... suck up something, something that was to do with those creatures. Whatever that was, Nico didn't know, but even if his Hellfire scorched them without anything remaining this effect still seemed to work.

'Biko, you know anything about what that Bracelet is doing? Scans didn't say anything about this.'

 **'Unfortunately, I do not. This Bracelet is an object that is beyond me at the moment.'**

'I see... oh well, just hope that this doesn't end up biting me in the ass later.'

After about 2 hours worth of fighting (Nico could DEFINITELY feel changes happening inside Harvester at this point, it was clear as crystal), these creatures ceased attacking them... for now. It was like they were restrained by some force and only allowed to attack once the traps were in danger of being disarmed.

Something told the DPU that Zelretch played a lot of video games.

* * *

"FINALLY! God damnit this traps were a bitch to deal with. Why did uncle Zelretch had to make triple fake keys in all those traps anyway? It just complicated my work further! God damnit this traps sucks." Castiel started complaining as soon as his work was done, much to the annoyance of Nico. Said teen just had enough of this guy's whining, it was what he did quite often and it grinded against his nerves.

"Won't you shut up about it? You complain too much."

Castiel turned to him and responded equally heatedly.

"I sure complain a lot, but why should I keep quiet about things that annoy me? I already have to deal with more pressure and expectations that you can imagine on a daily basis so when I get the chance to complain and say whatever comes to mind I will do it." the teen sneered, panting slightly. He then finished with a few more choice words. "Besides, you probably don't know how hard it it to dismantle this traps, they were on a state that the moment I started I could not stop or they would blow up in my face and even one mistake could kill you up so I could not relax for even an instant and had to work my mind to the absolute limit for the last two hours, so if I want to complain about it you can be sure I WILL."

'Whoa!' the teen thought, hiding his surprise deep within himself and making sure to remain neutral faced. Though, with his Hood and Mask most of his face was hidden anyways. 'Geez, the negative emotions just spiked right now. Like when spikes suddenly shoot out the ground to impale you.' he thought, hiding away the brush of rage ignite like a fiery inferno (trust him, he knew what those felt like thanks to his Hellfire powers) inside of him. But the teen quickly pulled those senses back, cause for some reason going too deep into that pool felt like his own life was being sucked out of him. While he was indeed immortal, he didn't want to waste his energy thank you very much.

Right now, that outburst triggered Nico immensely, and part of him wanted to unleash his Rinkaku and tear the asshole to pieces. to hear him scream in agony as his organs were ripped out of him by force before he could defend himself. He wanted to see blood, hell his vision was already starting to get a bit red as the stirring of his Ghoul side became apparent within his gut. Oh, how great and satisfying that would be. However, he refused to listen to that part of him, as well as forced his Ghoul side back into slumber, as one: the Negative emotions there were a key, and two: It wasn't like the guy was wrong either.

He wasn't wrong, but not right at the same time.

Then, the teen blinked when he realized something. Something the heir said that confused him. "Wait a sec, why do you say that I would die even though you are closer to the traps? My regeneration is better than yours so shouldn't you be the first one to die?" Nico asked.

"Naah~~, my defense is much better than yours. If I am to be honest here I doubt your full out attack from before could have actually hurt me if I were to have focused on defense earlier. You could say my strongest point is that." Castiel said before opening his wings and removing a single feather from one of his white wings. his sudden and quick drop on energy was clear for Nico to feel, but as it was just one feather Castiel quickly recovered. "Here," Castiel said while giving Nico one of his feathers. "If you see one attack you can't deal with coming your way put some energy on it and throw it in front of yourself, this will generate a barrier surrounding you in all directions. Also," Castiel then pulled out a vial of Phoenix Tears "Use this if you need to heal fast. I don't know how well your healing work but I doubt that it is that free of 'charge' so you should give preference to use items to replace your natural healing as much as possible. If you have the energy you should focus it on using it to eliminate your enemies first and foremost."

Castiel did not like Nico's earlier decision of not getting any healing items, he had met many people that had powerful and fast recovery abilities so he understood that there was no way that what Nico had was that excellent and unlimited of a healing ability. If it was Nico wouldn't fight trying to avoid attacks but go right through them without batting an eye. If he thought of accumulating points or was just that self confident Castiel would have to call him a fool, looking down on a unknown enemy and challenge was simply unacceptable on the heir's mind.

Maybe of he saw the effects of the Phoenix Tears on person he would see their utility and get some for the next mission.

As he accepted the two items, depositing them inside his Void Storage, Nico thought about revealing what his Void Storage really was, but decided against it. After that incident with Mundus, the redhead had the bright idea to spend a small fortune of his rather large amount of Credits on supplies, health Items, SP items, etc. That battle was the closest that Nico had ever come to dying at the hands of an enemy, and he NEVER wanted to feel that way again. It was also the first time that he had kept thinking 'I don't want to die' over and over, something he had never done before. Now, thanks to his new Void Module that he got in Skies End, he had access to them with a single thought.

Then there was how he had two sources for his regeneration, one of them being bigger than the other. His RC Cells helped regenerate even the most fatal of injuries (one Ghoul even had the power to regenerate her entire head, another regrowing after being sliced in half), while his Demonic Power reserves were even stronger. Plus they were larger in reserves , even if he was supposedly destroyed, his soul would be guaranteed to survive thanks to the DPU's powerful. immortality. Even if he 'died' it is only his body that was killed. His powerful soul would remain and float about until his energies can be recovered enough to reform his body. Essentially, him and the other DPUs were immortal across multiple planes of existence, making truly killing them a near-impossible task. That is why the older DPUs are terrifically feared and respected, for they have had the experience and combat prowess needed to survive for as long as they have in a dimension where only the strong survive.

After that little talk the mood between the two males was very awkward, neither talking and the two were irritated with each other.

However, this was not something that could last for that long since they finally got on the room with the stairs for the next floor.

"We should advance with caution, my puppets could not identify anything before I lost all contact with them, my guess is that this is a separate space and is probably the equivalent to a semi-boss room so we should be careful and advance with caution." Castiel said while equipping himself with Hrutting, the feeling the blade transmitted to him was just like the perfect mix of a obedient guard dog and a mad beast looking for its next victim. The bloodlust emanating from the blade was stronger now as the curse on the blade seemed to have changed a bit as instead of going back to being completely black it still carried a red hue to it. Maybe it was as he heard beforehand and when the blade fully accepted him and he could sustain it well enough the curse on it would not be fully dissipated every time he unequipped the blade.

Castiel wondered of when he fixed his evil 'core' he would be fully accepted? This was a cursed blade after all so it would not be that much of a stretch to think like that.

On Nico's end, the teen decided to change his weaponry, it would likely take a while until Harvester would complete itself and by then hopefully something good will happen. Last time this happened was with Alastor, though Biko had suppressed the negative repercussions on his mind with his powers, confining that Devil Arm to an enclosed space within his soul until the process completed itself. Biko would do the same with Harvester soon, of that he had no doubts.

In the meantime, Nico decided to go with Ebony and Ivory (still strapped to his waist beneath his Trench Coat) Rebellion for its sword techniques especially, and the Devil Arm he hadn't used for a while since the Hellverse Dungeon: Absolution, which sat diagonally opposite on his back with Rebellion, making an X shape on his back. He also told Biko to keep an eye on the Bracelet, s there was something about it that concerned him.

* * *

After the two were ready they stepped foot into the room and it instantly changed. Gone were the plain walls because now they were looking at a space many times larger than the original room. It was somewhat similar to the previous desert, but the shine on the sand was different and there even was a unique and special smell over the whole place.

A sweet smell.

Nico felt like vomiting the moment he felt this smell,but for Castiel the smell was wonderful. It was like he was in a land made entirely from pudding for him, which out a big smile onto his face. Nico though, he barely resisted the urge to gag at the FOUL smell that filled his nostrils. To him, it smelled like car fuel combined with oil then intensified with various perfumes.

Not a nice smell.

"Now THIS is a paradise...!" Castiel remarked, stretching his arms upwards. This place already got into his good books with the smell, unlike that last desert. However, this didn't last long as Castiel's eyes narrowed when he began to wonder. 'But just HOW did this happen? I sensed a Bounded Field being activated, but shouldn't my bugs have picked up on it? I must not be as experienced as I thought with this ability in the real world, yet. That's the only thing I can come up with to explain why I didn't get this. Also, if this is the case, odds are I likely missed other Bounded Fields throughout the Pyramid. Caution is advised at this point.'

Nico had made to say something about this being an illusion, when he saw the shifting of expressions on the young Heir's face, which stopped him. Though he did question on why he even bothered, it wasn't like they were comrades. To him, it felt more like they were single people instead of two warriors with a common goal on the battlefield.

As he looked around, Nico pushed the smell out with his mind so he could take in the surroundings. He had to admit that this desert had a much more serene look to it than the last one, which felt absolutely wild and dangerous. Though just by thinking that put him on high alert. Nico's eye sharpened to a blade-like glare as he examined his surroundings again with a lot more scrutiny than before. Something was wrong here, something was seriously wrong. His danger senses were tingling, his instincts screamed that he should be on alert as well as the warrior within.

This reminded him an awful lot of certain Abnormals he had fought in the past, now that Nico thought about it. There were some out there like the Teufel that was responsible for King Leoric's downfall that could influence those that get near it into doing its will, until they were ripe for feasting upon. This was one of the few times Nico thanked his Ghoul side for his sense of smell.

Just then, his eye widened when he felt something shake in the ground beneath them, and judging by Castiel's face he felt it too. Both boys quickly jumped to opposite sides, avoiding what looked like a large purple tail that erupted from the ground where they once stood. The two landed away from it, before they each had to jump 3 more times to avoid more Tails that followed the first.

"Nico, lets get some distance!"

"On it!"

Castiel yelled that out which Nico promptly responded. The former got back by using his wings to extend his jump time since flight was a no-go, while the latter used his Hellfire powers as makeshift thrusters to propel him further away. When the two landed, sliding across the desert sands to a halt so that from a birds eye view they were in a V shape with the new attacker at the bottom, they looked up to see something surfacing through the sands.

By the time they could see it clearly (with some bits of sand trailing off it, both boys lost some of their facial color (though Nico's was more hidden thanks to his attire). "Oh. Shit." they both said in unison.

There, standing before them was one of the BIGGEST scorpions they had ever seen. It was a giant purple-shelled scorpion with a body length of about 15 meters and weight of approximately 12 tons. It had gleaming red eyes that glared down at them, a gray lower jaw, two large pincers and a spiked growth growing from its head. Its most notable feature however, was its eight large tails which whipped about behind it, and its grotesque stingers that looked like they packed a deadly surprise.

'Uh oh, this isn't good...!' Nico thought as he sniffed the air. 'There's something coming from this thing... great, those stingers have poison in them, and judging from what I can smell each one likely has a different poison. Its like fighting an elder dragon Abnormal with more than one element under its belt. Last one I fought like that was the Alatreon.' Nico thought with a shudder. 'Bet it has other surprises, too.'

While Nico was thinking this Castiel was thinking something quite different. 'I could swear I saw this creature somewhere, but where was it?'. Castiel, as someone raised in the Tower and being the closest thing Zelretch has of actual family, has studied many creatures on his life. He studied over 9000 different creatures, their weaknesses, habitats, and utilities. It was to such point that he had difficulty on remembering everything fast, but in the end he did know about many things.

Instantly after the stare down the scorpion jumped at them at high speed with undeniable ferocity, itseight tails coming from all directions at the two boys.

'Oh, I remember it now.' Castiel thought as he recognized what this creature was, and he definitely knew what he should do next, stop Nico before he released that hell fire that he was preparing.

Meanwhile, Nico did not recognize this creature, but as far as he was concerned it should be like many other beasts he has faced up until now.

Burning it would probably work just fine. He had a ball of Hellfire about the size of its head ready to launch that would incinerate it before it could cause them any more trouble. But, before he could release the Hellfire Castiel interrupted him by saying

"Don't you dare ruin my dinner." And with that Castiel was already upon the beast, a smile on his face as he activated his field to detect and evade all those poisonous pincers that tried to wain down on him. He didn't even stop when the creature tried to use those clamps to cut him down, he simply skipped bellow them and when he was close enough to the monster he used Hruting to impale said scorpion and then proceed to remove the head.

But the tails did not stop, the vitality of this monster was such that as long as the heart or head was intact it would be alive for a while more. Castiel was surprised by this, he tried to evade them all but due to the proximity he was still pierced by 3 of the 8 tails,. but the smile did not leave his face as he quickly turned Hruting to the creatures direction and stabbed it on the chest, this time truly killing it.

Nico saw all this and was confused. He wondered why did Castiel said to not use the flames but killed it anyway, and more importantly.

'Does he seriously intend to eat this thing?' according to Nico's senses the creature had plenty of poison and the meat must be just as poisonous so how could he do so much for just some dinner?

Castiel turned to Nico and saw his dubious face and could not help but laugh in delight. This was a GREAT catch, and if this was as good as promised it was more than worth those small wounds.

"Why did you do that? I could have killrd it much faster and cleaner if you hadn't stopped me." Nico said, not understanding Castiel's smile.

"Oh, it is because this creature here is called Eight-Tailed Scorpion, and it is a wonderful dish when made right. I think we could use a small break and this thing here will work well as our next meal." Castiel explained, much to the displeasure of Nico. Not for the words or anything but because of what they entail. Nico and human food did NOT get along, his many times forcing himself to look normal when eating in front of others proved this. But, Nico wasn't willing to explain it to Castiel because he simply did not trust him, or most others for that matter, with the reasons as to why it was so.

And so Nico had no choice but to sit on the side as Castiel removed the outer shell piece by piece and threw it to the side, but getting the biggest piece to use as a frying pan for the slices of meat he removed from the beast.

He then proceeded to create a small heating and fire runes below the pan so as to heat it up to start the cooking process.

The smell quickly spread, but not before Castiel put some runes around the 'camp' as to make sure that there wouldn't be any interference from other creatures. It however had an adverse effect, the delicious smell was concentrated on a single location now, and Nico was there.

Nico was trying his darned best to hold together, but he felt sick just by being there. His nostrils were almost screaming in pain at the smell of the food being cooked, his body's natural gag reflex struggling with his will to escape into the atmosphere. He could only thank his foresight for equipping his hood and Mask, as otherwise his struggle would have been a lot harder... as well as a lot more noticeable.

Eventually, Castiel finished prepping the food (much to Nico's hidden relief, and at last he used some of the shells as plates to drop the slabs of meat onto it, passing one over to the other teen whole remaining unaware of the redhead's internal struggle. "Here, try some. Believe me, its good." he urged.

Nico slowly, but surely took the plate and set it on his lap. His eye gazed down upon it with heavy trepidation, all sorts of thoughts and emotions racing through his mind. This was one of the things he HATED about his Ghoul side, how he couldn't eat human food and everything apart from... a certain food tasted horrifically disgusting. It was almost like he was looking down at a pile of sand that he would have to shove every grain of into his mouth in order to keep the facade up, to keep the illusion of that side of him being kept secret.

The monster he kept trapped inside.

There was a reason why he felt that way, and it had a lot to do with his Ghoul side...

But enough of that for now, at this moment he had to focus on downing this human food. Food that, as he used a Rinkaku Kagune Tentacle that he willed to uncloak out of invisibility, he held no doubt would taste horrifically...

Horrifically GOOD!

'Wh-What the hell?! This tastes good! Great, even! Better than those times I went out hunting or the packs I get from the Guild!' Nico thought in shock, eye wider than a saucer when, instead of the urge to vomit, Nico felt nothing but pure glee when he had the Tentacle bring up a slab by morphing its tip into a clawed talon and pop a piece of a slice into his mouth (another Rinkaku Tentacle, cloaked, having pulled the zipper to the other side to open his Mask beforehand). Pure euphoria filled his being as he chewed and swallowed the meat piece, and the moment he gulped it down, Nico felt like he was on high. Still didn't take away from the shock, though. 'I-I thought that...!'

"Good huh?" Castiel remarked, getting the redhead's attention. Because he had seen his Kakugan eye (which was active right now) he had forgone its usual 'protection' and just let it out. Therefore the young Heir got greeted to his Kakugan eye only thanks to his Mask. While Nico began eating with repressed savage hunger, Castiel began to explain. "This little thing of beauty carries special cells called Gourmet Cells, and they taste excellent. Heck, I heard from my Uncle that this stuff goes great with alcohol." Castiel then sheepishly chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. "Though I'm kinda underage for that right now."

'HEH, I AGREE WITH THE BRAT, KING!'

Nico nearly jumped when he heard the madness of his Ghoul self raging through his mind. He sounded exactly as Nico felt, too, on high from an overdose of drugs. One couldn't even imagine how happy his Ghoul side, his inner beast, seemed to be in save for Nico himself, since he WAS connected to it. 'H-How is this possible, though? I thought that...'

'LEMME PUT THIS IN LAYMAN'S TERMS, KING! THIS LITTLE SUCKER APPARENTLY IS MADE UP FROM CELLS THAT ARE BASICALLY MASSIVE MASSES OF CONCENTRATED RC CELLS ON STEROIDS! YOUR GHOUL SIDE IS FUCKING REVELING IN THE POWER! THEY ALSO SEEM TO BE INCREASING YOUR GHOUL SIDE'S STRENGTH, AS WELL AS YOUR SOUL'S. SO, STOP YAMMERING ON AND DEVOUR THAT FUCKER!'

Well, Nico didn't need to be told twice as he began eating in earnest. He couldn't believe it though, even with what his Ghoul self had said. This was the first time in YEARS that he got to eat human food that tasted good. Something that not only tasted heavenly, but vitalized his Ghoul powers, too! Even now he could feel his RC Cell levels increasing with every bite. It was like one bite from this thing was similar to 10 Ghouls worth of RC Cells. This was freaking amazing! Nico sure felt glad as all hell that he had found something as tasty as this! 'Thanks, Emiya, for stopping me before I would have made possibly the worst mistake of my life thus far!' the teen thought, finishing his meal...

And there was much left to go, too.

In the end, Castiel and Nico both devoured the rest of the carcass, the latter detoxifying the Tails with one of his Spirit Bones (much to Nico's shock) to allow them to fully enjoy their meal.

"Hey, now that we have eaten our fill how about we take a small break? I for one am I mentally exhausted after disarming all those traps." Castiel said, before looking at the sand and, much to Nico's shock, took some of it on his mouth. After a few seconds that Nico expected to see Castiel spitting out the sand Castiel swallowed it and showed a knowing smile. "If memory serves me right this place is a replica of the desert gourmet minor realm that exists in my dimension. If what I said is the true, then all monsters here are absolute delicacies that we should try to take away as much as possible."

"I agree that we should hunt more of them" Nico responded with an agreeing nod, already calculating how many of these creatures he could store on his storage and liking the results of his calculations quite a bit. Also, if he gave these ingredients to Compa, perhaps she could whip something up that he could eat so he could at last taste her cooking for real once again. That thought sent waves of warmth through his body. "But I don't think we should stop for much longer. We don't know how long this mission will last so we should continue to move now." he explained, worried about the time they would spend of they continued here to rest as they had a limited time to complete the 5 missions.

The young Heir waved him off dismissively though, mildly irking the redhead male. "Well, if you want to go ahead please be my guest, but disarming those traps was too exhausting and I need to some more time to recharge. But if you want to do something meanwhile I have an idea, how about you go hunting for more of them? We can share the results with a 70-30 split."

Nico did not like what he heard. First he had to wait for Castiel and now he even wanted part of his spoils while he stayed in the camp resting? Nico did not like that at all.

His sole uncovered eye narrowed into a stern glare. "And WHY should I share my spoils with you?" Nico asked, not being able to mask the quite a bit of sarcasm in his voice as he asked that.

Castiel gave a slight smile as he replied coolly. "If you don't want to share it is fine with me, but I do wonder how you intend to hunt this beasts correctly?"

"Hunting is hunting, I will just avoid killing them while destroying them too much and it should be fine." Nico said. On his dimension there wasn't any beast that could be eaten and on his experience from there hunting was something quite direct.

Castiel released a sigh when he heard that, maybe he should have asked for a bigger cut if he would have to explain THAT much.

"You couldn't possibly be more wrong. This creatures here are different to whatever things you have in your dimension. Killing them may not be that different but there are a few key differences, first is that they have a very strong life force so killing them is not that easy, second is that eating their bodies are treasure troves. For instance this eight-tailed scorpion's shell is very resistant to blunt impacts and is great to enchant and creation of armor so it could be used by an experiment blacksmith to create great protective gear. The sacs of poison can be used for the creation of antidotes to dozens of different poisons, the meat we have just ate helps make the body stronger while also helping raise the body natural defense against poison. And this is just one of the species here, if memory serves me right there are about 33 different species that habits this lands, and each one has a specific capture method and if you don't follow it correctly it is likely for you to waste away the entire beast. I don't think asking for a 'small' cut to be that much in exchange for these information."

'I see... so, there's more to it than what I first thought...' Nico thought, the irritation rolling off him in waves as he realized that for now, Castiel was in the dominating position here. He knew that the guy knew more than Nico himself did about these creatures, proof being in their bellies right now. He was exploiting that right now, too, like a politician, much to his annoyance. Worse still, he couldn't do that much to change it, since he wasn't that knowledgeable about these creatures. Even if he wanted to keep the larger cut for himself, Castiel wouldn't agree to that and if he followed that path, he would lose his only chance of getting information on how to capture those creatures. As much as he hated to admit it, whatever he said goes, and Nico never went back on a deal no matter what kind it was. His decision also got solidified when he heard how his inner beast growled at the thought of hunting those animals down and feasting on their remains.

"... Very well, 70-30, you get the cut." the Spec Ops Agent stated reluctantly, before sighing in resignation as he offered a hand for a handshake, sealing the deal.

Castiel smiled slightly more, eyes shining victoriously as he took the hand and gave a firm shake. He half expected Nico to try and crush his hand, but to his hidden surprise he didn't. "Deal. Now, to begin there's the Sand Flower Fish..."

* * *

With the deal struck, Nico went off with the information he needed to hunt down the animals throughout the desert while Castiel began to take a nap to recover his energy. If he were honest though, the food and benefits were only secondary to him. Nico felt like he wanted to establish his dominance as the apex predator in this environment, to show the animals here that he was top dog. It was an instinctual reaction that was triggered by his Ghoul side, the animal that he kept caged within. Also, as much as he would hate to admit it, Nico would honor their deal by gathering the spoils, store them inside his Void Storage and when he returned he would give Castiel 70% of the spoils. He was a man of his word, and even if this guy irritated the hell out of him, Nico refused to let that get in the way of his code of macho honor.

The teen spent what felt like 3 hours hunting and gained quite the substantial haul. If one wanted to have a picture of how big his haul was, think a single story building before he decided enough was enough and he returned to the Camp. By the time that he arrived, Nico noticed that his companion was still deep in slumber, lying on his back on the sand snoring away like there was nothing wrong with the world. The sight of this brought back the redhead's irritation as he deposited his haul next to the now extinguished fire runes...

When suddenly an idea entered his mind and a devious grin formed on his lips under his Mask. This idea might end up limiting his catch even more if Castiel was that childish, but right now the opportunity was just too good to get his revenge. Revenge for that ladies comment by the way, not the whole political deal that he recently did.

Sitting at a far enough distance that he wouldn't be suspected, Nico sat in the Japanese sitting position and prepped himself to be working on his right Bracer while his Rinkaku Kagune emerged. Since this was a desert, his Kagune's high vibration would allow it to pass through the sand easily. His Rinkaku did do that, entering the desert sands as it soon emerged from all around Castiel. There was no killing intent radiating from the Tentacles since this wasn't an assassination attempt, nor bloodlust. Plus thanks to their vibration there was no shadow to put any shade on the target.

Thus, each Tentacle got into position over his four limbs, 1 over his face...

Before they swiftly pinned him down and the single Tentacle began slapping his face like a bitch with a newly formed feminine hand just for adding salt to the wound.

SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP-SLAP!

The tentacle that was exacting sweet revenge moved with the speed that his Rinkaku was known for, not wasting any second between slaps. The ones gripping his arms and legs stopped the slight jerking motions his limbs did from the force of the slapping. The teenage redhead remained impassive, looking up his Void Storage and checking some of his healing items over. All the while, Nico used the remaining 3 Tentacles to lay one of the fishes he had caught near his side, just close enough to the Heir for his cover.

Sometimes, his Kagune and detaching skills came in SUCH good handiness for pranks.

* * *

By the time that it was over, Castiel looked like he had been bitch slapped by a thousand angry women at once, stars circling over his head while his Kagune used its speed to retract into its wielder before he could recover. It was all Nico could do not to burst into laughter as the Heir managed to finally snap out of it.

"Wha-wha-wha-the fuck?! the hell?!" he exclaimed, putting his hands on his burning cheeks that had two hand marks on them. A string of curses escaped his lips when this happened as he bent over after sitting up. "Fucking shit, fuck!"

"Huh, looks like you're awake." Nico remarked flatly looking up from his Bracer. "You were sleeping soundly so I decided not to wake you and placed my haul over there." he said, gesturing to the haul he got. "Though judging from what you're doing right now, I'd say that a fish wasn't as caught as I thought since it fell off the pile and onto you." he explained while Castiel put some blessings on to numb the pain.

The pain stung so much that Castiel didn't even question it, quickly obliterating the fish with a magic attack and more than a few curses. He also set about taking his share of Nico's spoils, muttering and mumbling all the while.

All Nico did was look back down to his Bracer while doing his best to contain his laughter.

His Kagune bitch slapped him. A lot. Now his Kagune was tired.

He DID say that the guy would pay, and pay he did.

Castiel took a deep breath and calmed down, after this more than unwelcome awakening he had, at the very least, realized that his mind was back on it's normal state. While giving the stinky eye to Nico he said. "Was this the 30% of your hunt?"

Arching a brow at this, Nico felt confusion foil his being. His lone eye showed this as he gave the answer floating about in his mind and nagging away at him like a naggy grandmother. "No, this is the 70% that you said was your share."

The moment those words left his lips, Castiel facepalmed when he heard this. "And since WHEN did I said that the 70 part was for me? That info was only for 30% and nothing more, I am not that much of a bastard to get this much for so little." Castiel said, much for the embarrassment of Nico who had thought the worst of his 'partner'.

To break out of this embarrassing situation Castiel simply said. "Keep it all with you for now, after this whole mission finishes I will see if I can get a space artifact to help ma carry my part."

After that the two started walking together on a single direction, simply hoping that they would find the exit soon enough, and surprisingly enough it wasn't that hard to find.

The problem, however, was the beast guarding the stares.

As the two observed from the distance Castiel recognized the beast, and he knew how troublesome this beast was. It had the appearance of a African lion but with sabertooth-like teeth, scars all over the body as proof of it's fighting experience, every fiber of it's body being a killing machine and full of energy. But, the most striking characteristics was the blood red fur that gave the illusion of being covered on enemies blood, the aura of a predator and the size. It was over 6 meters tall and from head to tailor it had over 50 meters.

Castiel looked at it for one more second before turning to Nico, hie eyes shining with seriousness that made Nico glance over to him. "I don't know if you have ever seen this creature, but considering how you have never seen a beast with gourmet cells I will suppose you haven't and will explain it anyway. This beast is a Gaoh, a type of mammal beast that is known for it's absurdly high appetite and how it usually hunts down an area until extinction, it's main capacity is in it's explosive power burst and how every attack of it carry enough weight and speed to crush a mountain. To be fair, considering how much strength i saw from you before, our best bet would be to go all out or we could be killed just like that. Also, the fur and muscles of it are known for it's hardness comparable to metal while being as flexible as a snake. Again, do NOT hold back. Our best shot is if we can kill it on the first move or at least hurt him on a leg so as to show it down. Also, it's senses are absurdly developed so your invisibility trick or traps would be useless. The only way is for fighting head-on."

Nico frowned at this information. If what Castiel was sating was true, then they will have to give this all they have got from the get-go, and this meant that he had to throw aside his usual reluctance to transform into his DPU self, Crimson Soul, and unleash Soul Edge's full, unrestrained power. He hadn't full control over the blade yet, but he was indeed close. He could control up to 90% of its power, any more and he would have ran the risk of destroying everything around him. Believe him, he once tested the blade's full strength inside his Inner World which, in hindsight, may not have been the best idea as his Inner World barely contained the eruption of power that followed. Biko had scolded him for it, telling him that if the Inner World were to vanish, then he would die as well. Even if he was immortal, that type of damage would make reforming take MUCH too long for their liking, as in centuries worth.

"Alright then, I'll go in first with my full power, i'll give you an opening so you can use your strongest attack. As of right now, I doubt that we can kill it if its really that strong, but if we injure it enough, we could force it to retreat to lick its wounds." Nico suggested, slowly getting up wile being careful not to make any noise. He didn't want the beast to hear him, and if what Castiel said was true even the slightest noise would catch its attention. When he took several steps back, Nico closed his eyes and begun the transformation. Although, this time he made sure to keep the flames and Demonic Power as downgraded as possible.

Once the transformation completed, Crimson Soul looked over to Castiel, his eyes shining as he gave a confirming nod. Castiel nodded back as he summoned Clarent. The sword wouldn't be too picky about fighting a beast like a Gaoh, considering the amount of power it possessed. He also began applying EVERY Blessing he could on himself for this situation, as to boost his chances of injuring the beast.

With that done, Crimson Soul summoned the true form of Soul Edge and began channeling all 100% of its power, forming a blackish red aura around the blade that looked more like a chaotic storm/foggy mix. It oozed power and bloodlust, power that the DPU would use on his opponent right the hell now. Flaring his wings, he pumped them with additional energy and shot forwards like a blur, releasing a shockwave that blew everything behind him off into the distance.

Instantly, the Gaoh turned to his direction when its instincts told it danger was coming and the creature roared, releasing a shockwave that blew everything away from it while advancing towards the DPU.

'So, its screams create environment-affecting shockwaves... I sense that it indeed does have great physical power and senses. Hopefully this next move works!'

Said DPU simply Warped out the away though, appearing at its side with Soul Edge poised for a reverse swing. However, that wasn't the only thing different about him, as his body had erupted in power, forging an aura made from his Demonic Power that caused his energy output to skyrocket. He had his buffing Skill DEMON OVERDRIVE to thank for that, a Skill he had neglected to use on Castiel during their fight. If he had, his attack would have done considerably more damage, due to how it enhanced his body and forced it to achieve higher power levels by pushing the body out of its limits. He'd already gotten used to skill through his long history of combat.

Not only that, but Soul Edge had been engulfed completely in Hellfire while SP was pumped through his body alongside his Demonic Power. Using both energy sources in tandem like this wasn't something Crimson Soul had done before, so he wasn't sure of the limits he could go. Hell, in his past battles he had only relied on them separately, and if he counted his RC Cells then he had 3 sources of power that he only used individually. Using them together like this hadn;t been something he ever thought of before. However, this place was a perfect opportunity to test this theory out. Crimson Soul's eyes shone with a rectangular crimson light from the amount of power he was releasing

He would hold nothing back, everything would be put into this one swing. He'd obliterate this thing out of existence if he had to!

"Take this!" Crimson Soul bellowed, swinging his blade upwards. The moment that the blade met the Gaoh's skin, a sky high pillar of energy and Hellfire roared into existence, burning everything around it even the air itself. It practically concealed both the DPU and the Gaoh from view, filling a large majority off the desert with it reach. The full power of Soul Edge did massive damage to its surroundings, making a huge smokescreen which shielded the result of his attack from sight.

Warping a reasonably safe distance away, Crimson Soul reverted back to his human form, falling on one knee as Soul Edge vanished in a flicker of flames while he used Rebellion as a makeshift crutch. The redhead Spec Ops looked like a knight with his sword on the ground, quickly summoning a (Portable SP) Charger 2, one of a few new items that he had bought in bulk after the Mundus Incident to restore his SP and Demonic Power reserves. His RC Cells weren't replenished however, due to not taking a Nep Bull or a Blood pill, so he took one of those as well. He had to do that fast otherwise he wouldn't have enough energy to feed his Devil Arms. Using his full power always ran that risk, but it also served as a way to increase his reserves. A method occurring throughout his life since they latched onto him.

Mentally checking his reserves, Nico heaved a sigh of relief when he felt his return to a level that was satisfactory... for now. His instincts told him the enemy wasn't finished yet, and he had used up a lot of power in that one slash, Soul Edge having pumped in a lot of power as well. Hopefully he had done something right there, at least scratched it or this would feel utterly pointless.

 **'Nico, quick Warp!'**

Eyes shot wide open as Nico quickly followed Biko's advice at the last second, Warping put the way of a large Paw coming down him him from above. When he reappeared, Nico thought he would have been able to look upon his attacker... but the shockwave that came from that one strike alone broke those thoughts to pieces as it sent him flying further backwards. Shock and disbelief coursed through him, but Nico quickly composed himself so he could use the momentum to flip about in the air, landing on the ground and sliding to a halt.

'Holy-I didn't even sense it moving!'

 **'Neither did me or your Ghoul side until it was almost too late. Looks like Emiya was not kidding about this beast's power.'**

Looking upwards, the teen saw the Gaoh, the one responsible for that sneak attack, glowering at him with its beady red eyes, its white mane swaying from the winds that came from its attack. When he looked to the place Nico had slashed earlier... to his dismay he only managed to make a gash that didn't even reached the bones, and the worst part is that it was regenerating from the damage at a visible speed. 'Oh you have GOT to be kidding me! Emiya was right, this thing's tough, like a final boss in an action game!'

The Gaoh released a small smile at the dismay it could smell from Nico, it loved to play with it's pray and for it Nico was no better than that.

At that moment Castiel advanced, Gaoh too focused on Nico to react in time as the energy accumulated on Clarent exploded in a red thunder that reached the beast, paralyzing it temporarily. This time was enough though, and Nico quickly got back of his feet and advanced. With that exchange, the teen now knew that extreme attacks like before would could not possibly be the key for winning this fight, continuous attacks at it to deplete its strength was the best and only real way to go.

Using the time bought by Castiel Nico hacked the beast as much as possible. There wasn't even one wound deeper than a finger thanks to him not having the strength to go all out again, but he compensated by using his fast Rinkaku and Bikaku Kagune respectively, slicing through the creature's fur like a hot knife through butter. The fact that he wasn't damaging it as much as he would like was irrelevant, instead the fact that he was damaging it faster than it could recuperate was the main thing.

Unfortunately, the paralysis lost effect after around 2 minutes, Castiel had to stop or risk damaging his already weak magic circuits, leaving Nico to try and run after the beast, even while it did short work of him by smacking him flying with just one pawn swipe.

'It seems that this battle may be out of our current league...' Nico remarked to his Demon Persona when he saw how the cuts he had done almost fully healing back in just this few seconds he stopped.

 **'It will be hard. Probably only in Berserker mode you would possibly win this one.** " Biko answered, but even he knew that it wasn't a good option since this wasn't their final enemy and they had other challenges in the near future.

Nico knew this too, but this was getting into an uphill battle since he could now damage this creature in any significant way.

However, this hesitation costed Nico dearly when Gaoh ran in such a speed that it was akin to teleportation, it was to such point that Nico, out of reflex and instinct instead of logic, raised Rebellion in front of himself to defend his vitals. But, Gaoh was not aiming for a quick victory anyway. It had suffered many wounds due to these two and it wanted to make them suffer for it.

SLASH

Gaoh went right through Nico, its pawn now covered in blood as Nico's arm fell to the ground.

'Guh...!' the teen thought, barely managing to keep his form level from the jerking motions that followed his arm's severing. Fortunately he had managed to limit it to his non-weapon arm at the last moment, but still the fact that he lost an arm just now caused shock to run through his system. He didn't really feel PAIN from the wound, he had felt way worse pains than this to the point where he was mostly numb to it, as in only the most intense of pains could have an effect on him like the pain he was in when he created Urthemiel accidentally. Physical pain, anyways. Mental and emotional pain however? His numbness didn't extend to them sadly. Even now, he could feel his regeneration kicking in, the stump that was once his arm beginning to bubble.

However, it was slower than normal, which was something his opponent made to utilize. Gaoh pounced at the two again, but this time he was met with an arrow from Gandiva right on the center of it's right eye.

The beast growled in pain, stumbling a bit as Castiel readied another arrow, he knew that it would probably miss but he had to try and make more damage. Maybe if he could blind the beast and damage it's nose they could slip away from the beast.

It was at that moment that something unexpected happened, the beast started digging on the ground and even when Castiel shoot another arrow at it's back and burned a large section of it, but beast ignored it and continued digging to get away.

In the end, the beast succeeded and the two young man could do nothing but watch this beast that almost made dinner out of them to get away.

"Tch." was what Castiel said. He knew that it was now too late to run after it as by now it could be miles away. A Gaoh can be a real fast digger when it wanted to be. Releasing a sigh Castiel approached Nico, who held his arm while trying to regenerate his wound. It was working, as half an arm had already been regenerated at this point, and his severed arm was nowhere to be seen. It would soon be complete, but that wasn't enough for the young Heir. "Here, let me."

Nico wondered what he intended to do, but considering everything he could give Castiel the benefit of the doubt. Also, he was still wondering how to fix the damage bit if his partner had an idea he might as well listen.

Castiel took out a vial of Phoenix Tears, he dropped a few drops on the regenerating arm and when it released a slight light Castiel nodded before putting the item away. It was like he received a surge of RC Cells from his Kakuhou, as his arm fully regenerated from the damage done before. Nico widened his eyes when he saw this. Don't get him wrong, there were plenty of wonderful medicines on his dimension, but speeding up regeneration like this wasn't something normally possible. He was fortunately lucky enough to have regeneration abilities, but if a normal person lost their arm reattaching it would have taken lots of money and intense surgeries.

Now satisfied that his regeneration had healed the limb, Castiel looked back to the limbs owner and began to speak. "This is why I said to go all out at all times there and that you should have gotten a phoenix tear, this is thing here can heal almost any wound while also not leaving scars. It is also very fast and effective to any early wound you might get. I Know you probably have your own healing items, but you shouldn't look down on other items or EVER think you have enough of them."

Nico furrowed his brows, his lone eye shining in contemplation as he looked down at the limb. He held his hand up t his chest level, palm facing him as he clenched and unclenched it. Something about that Gaoh had slowed down his regeneration, no, that wasn't right it was more like his regeneration was trying to heal a Kagune-based wound. That was what slowed it down, and because of his limited energy reserves he couldn't have used DEMON OVERDRIVE to speed it up. In that situation, he wouldn't have been able to use Items either given how fast that creature was. Maybe if he managed to think up a strategy things could have been different, the versatility of his Skill set allowed for various possibilities, but his lack of knowledge about that creature limited him somewhat.

Now that he had experience in fighting it, though, he had ideas on how to kill it.

He had made mistakes there, mistakes he won't be making twice.

The potential for Phoenix Tears was now a possibility for his home dimension, too. there were many healing Items in his home dimension, but they were quite expensive and thus were hard to access for normal citizens. If these Phoenix Tears were easy to make, he could hand them to his superiors and they could mass produce it. It would make dealing with their enemies a whole lot easier, and after everything that happened in Leanbox, this would definitely be a godsend.

Offhandedly, the to boys noted that the Desert had shimmered out of existence, replaced by the plain walls of the interior of the Pyramid. "Looks like what we went though was inside a Bounded Field..." Castiel remarked thoughtfully, furrowing his brows.

"You sure? Wait, the Bounded Fields you said you disarmed before were traps, so this one must not have counted as one."

"That, and I haven't as much experience with these bugs that helped me detect them as I would have liked. Anyways, lets go."

With these thoughts in mind, Nico nodded and followed his companion as they descended down the steps to the Bottom floor, the last floor before they visit the Tomb. Whatever lay within, thy would have to be wary. Neither of them intended to underestimate it after what they just went through.


	158. Cross Chapter 5 - New Gear final boss

There was a distinct feel of ominous tension approaching them when the two boys reached the bottom of the stairs. Ahead of them, was this seemingly deserted-looking corridor that had several doors aligned sideways and one bigger door which had several humanoid statues with similar heads to those black warriors that Nico had fended off earlier when Castiel was disarming the Bounded Fields.

"Is it just me, or does anyone else not like the looks of this?" Nico questioned, his lone uncovered eye narrowing into a deadly gaze as he scanned the corridor, looking for any signs of traps. He checked his Holomap and Motion Tracker, only to get nothing which only heightened his suspicions. Corridors like this were usually filled with traps that would spring the moment they began walking, so he didn't want to take any chances. The last time they saw a corridor like this was also just as deserted... as well as just as deceptive, too.

"Its not just you, dude." Castiel replied as he sat down and summoned some more bugs with the powers of evil. The Heir had the same suspicions with this Corridor, for the same reasons as his companion too. He had them scour the entire corridor to see if they could find anything suspicious, and after 7 minutes, they each returned, and then vanished but not before telling the Heir what he needed to know. Opening his eyes, he stood back up and looked to his companion. "You were right, I can sense several bounded fields, set to trigger some form of summoning from what I can tell. I guess that they are meant to summon some enemies for us the moment we step foot in that corridor."

Was that all? That was what Nico wondered, his lips pursed within his Mask. There had to be more to it than that, simple summonings wouldn't be enough to hinder them... unless these enemies were extremely powerful, or a large number were ready to be summoned. Either way, it didn't seem like they could progress if these Bounded Fields were active. and according to his Bracer's newly gained data, this was the only way to reach the Tomb of the final boss. He knew that last bit because it got labelled as such when they had gotten halfway down the stairs. "Then it seems a repeat of earlier is in order. I'll hold off any troublesome foes while you disarm?"

"Sure. I should be able to have an easier time, there aren't as many Bounded Fields this time, nor are they as complex."

* * *

Moments later, he was done as Castiel opened his eyes once he had disarmed the rest of the traps in front of them. "Whew, that was a light workout.." the Heir mused, before looking to his companion who had that Axe of his on his shoulder like a delinquent, all the while he stared at the corridor ahead of them. Following his gaze, Castiel saw a whole load of spikes, Tendrils and various other things made from this strange, gooey substance. A substance he didn't like the look of the moment he saw it. "Guess we had a welcoming committee?"

"Not the most welcoming, but yeah." he replied swiftly, re-tethering Absolution to his back. "There weren't as many as i had thought, and it was the same as last time, too. I was able to deal with them regardless, however." he explained, his eye narrowing at his Bracelet. "Though I am starting to get concerns for this Bracelet. There's something about it that is bugging me."

"What is it?"

Looking back to his companion, the Spec Ops Agent began to explain while lifting his arm so he could see the Bracelet. "Every time I take down an enemy, this little thing seems to be absorbing something from it, it did the same with those animals in the desert too, so the state of the body upon death isn't something it is concerned with. I've tried numerous times to scan it to see what was going on, but I did not gain any additional data about this thing." Nico could tell that Castiel could understand the meaning behind his words, this guy wasn't one of the ignorant masses after all. He had that air of well-trained warrior/scholar/leader mix to him, similar to the original Nobility that filled Leanbox after its founding. He wouldn't dismiss something like this as a trivial matter.

Castiel frowned at that. That DID seem a little suspicious, and more than enough reason to be concerned. From what he could tell with this guy, wile he may do hings that seem arrogant and foolish, that didn't mean he was stupid. No, the guy was far from stupid, he learned that especially when they fought and how, after one collision, deciphered Hrutings' abilities and even found a weakness to it. If something was concerning to him, then it was important to take note of it. "Yeah, i'd say that does sound off. We'll keep an eye on it, if it starts acting up, lemme know so I can destroy it. I know it seems rather helpful, but if it proves to be a hindrance we should dispose of it as soon as possible, so it doesn't cause us to fail the mission and possibly die."

Nico nodded at that, and just when they were about to move, Nico's Bracer began beeping, drawing his attention. "Hm?" He wondered, bringing the Bracer up ad manipulating it. Soon, he had he Holomap active, and his eye narrowed at the display. "That's odd... it appears that these rooms are giving off some unusual energy readings, abnormal ones even."

"They are probably treasuries." Castiel stated, his eyes shining in contemplation while he pondered this information. Unusual energy readings were a double edged sword. On one hand it could mean that they would find something of value within those rooms, something that could help them fight the final boss in this world and beyond, but on the other hand there could be dangerous things ion there. Things that could be hazardous to the both of them, and he wasn't planning on visiting Hades of the underworld anytime soon. "Those readings mean that there may be things in those rooms that could be of value to us. We should go inside and see what they are, but lets be cautious too. No telling what we may find in there."

"Agreed."

As the two started walking down the corridor they sensed many strong energy from each of the doors. The two didn't know what they were looking at, but after approaching the first door a notification appeared in front of them.

"Congratulations for getting up until this point. As a gift you both can choose one door each, the item inside is yours. The item may be something useful for the boss fight on the next floor or completely useless for it, so choose with care.

PS: After the fight there will be an option of keeping the item you just got or whatever you may have obtained from the boss, it will be your choice.

Sign: the most amazing magician of the multiverse, AKA myself ;-)"

Both Nico and Castiel did not know how to react to that last comment, but the info from the start of the message was what they saw as the most important thing in there.

"Okay, of this is how it is we probably are lucky. Knowing uncle Zelretch he is not lying about it and we can choose one of these doors each to obtain whatever is inside. There probably isn't any danger here, but we must know that we WILL be facing something bad the moment we pass through here." Castiel said, already looking around and trying to identify which door he should choose.

Nico agreed and also started walking around the corridor. The two knew this was an extremely rare chance and they would take as much advantage of this as possible.

Castiel was the first one to choose a door. It was a weird one with a weird energy inside, but he choose it due to the wonderful and invigorating floral smell inside. Just a tiny breath was enough for him to feel his entire body full of energy, almost like he has just drank 2 litters of energetic drinks.

As he opened the door what he saw was an eight petal orchid. The petals tremble minutely, entirely lustrous snow white, giving people a noble and virtuous feeling while the smell was so deep and wonderful that it engraved itself in one's heart while making Castiel's mind clearer just by smelling it for a bit.

"Fuck, I can't believe it is a Eight Petal Immortal Orchid! This is just too perfect for me right now! Yes, yes yes yes YES! This is totally worth all that I did here and more. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Castiel shouted in extreme glee.

This made Nico turn around from his investigation and ask him the obvious question. "What is it that is so great about this plant that you have to make all this racket?"

Castiel however, was just so happy that he could not atop smiling as he answered without any hostile elements to his voice. "It is because this is worth it! You may never have heard of it but I did. This is a special Herb that is called mystical and a immortal treasure, how could it not be amazing?! This Herb here is capable of reinforcing the body's foundations, make someone's soul, mind and body reach a whole new level of potential while also cleansing the body of it's impurities, which allows for the smoother use of one's powers and making the body stronger. It is even said that once someone with no talent whatsoever took one of these and within a few decades he reached a point where he was comparable to deities. Now you answer me if this is amazing or not!" Castiel said, the smile on his face was so big that it would not be out of place on a certain maniacal clown.

"That... does indeed sound useful..." Nico remarked, thoughtfully, an index finger on the right side of his jaw while his eye rolled upwards. Though his experience with magical items told him that there had to be some form of trial or test to get past first before they could reap the benefits of said item. That was what had happened when he found his first few Devil Arms, after all.

After that Castiel walked into the room, he almost danced in joy from this sudden windfall with every step of the way. When he reached the herb he carefully, almost as if he was afraid of breaking it somehow, took the Herb on his hand. He then turned to Nico who was standing on the outside of the door and said.

"Don't get me wrong, but I will NOT wait to consume this treasure here. After I start I will enter a meditative state for some time so you will have to wait while I am absorbing this little one. And before you say anything against it, remember that this will raise my powers quite a bit and considering how the Gaoh almost kicked our butts back there any chance of growing stronger should be taken first and foremost." After that serious talk Castiel went right back to smiling in absolute happiness.

He then sat down on the floor and started consuming the Herb. He opened his mouth wide and put the entire thing inside, following that he swallowed it as it was after giving it a single chew, the taste more heavenly that it could even be described. Following it he started training, leading the medicinal potency and the energy from the Herb to circle all around his body, raising its potency by many times over.

While Castiel did his own thing, Nico looked to the door he had chosen, raising a hand and grasping onto the shirt there. He clutched his shirt where the Symbol for one of his Satanic Treasures, the Red Ring of Rage, which lay within there. The Red Ring had been quiet throughout this entire ordeal, only recently becoming active slightly when he had been arguing with Castiel, then a bit more when he had that business deal with the haul he'd gotten. Nico and Castiel may have sparred, but neither of them showed their entire hand. He himself had various things that he hadn't used yet. but he got the feeling Castiel did the same.

'You think you have anything, Biko...?'

 **'Unfortunately, I do not. All I can decipher has already been delivered to us through Emiya. Nonetheless, I bet that the items here will definitely be useful to us in the future...'**

A short conversation took place between the main and demonic aspect, before Nico cut the link and went inside. When he did, Nico noticed that he was inside what looked to be some form of treasury, as various golden items piled up around the back and sides. He could see noting but gold wherever he looked, and it started to feel like he was looking t the sun with how bright they were shining.

Holding a hand up to his chin, Nico furrowed his brows as he eyed everything. All of this stuff looked pretty nice, but none of it looked like it would be of any use to him later non when they faced the final boss. Those words the notification gave them rung through his mind constantly, but he still didn't see anything that would be considered useful to him...

That is... until he looked to the center of the room.

His eye quickly landed upon the form of what looked to be a Scepter, a scepter covered in this dark orb-like miasma. He could only see its form briefly through the miasma, but Nico managed to identify that the Scepter was a golden one with detailed carvings into it. There was also this golden star-like top it had, but that was only seen in the briefest moments.

'What the... What is...?' Nico began to think, slowly approaching the miasma-bound Scepter. He stopped when he was right before it, when he was only a step away from touching the Miasma cloaking it from view. 'I don't know what this is, but my senses tell me that this thing is indeed quite powerful. It feels oddly like one of my Devil Arms, but without the same level of sentience. Judging by what ii'm sensing, this Scepter has a lot of built-up power within it that is just waiting o to be unleashed.'

Then male's thoughts then got interrupted, by what you may ask? Well, the fact tat an eerier black glow began enveloping the Bracelet on his Arm of course. Nico looked down at it, his eye slightly widening in shock when he saw it reacting this way. 'H-Hold up here what the hell?! This reaction,..!' he exclaimed in his mind, seeing the Bracelet's glow.

 **'It seems to be resonating with the Scepter. I believe this might be to do with what we have been seeing from the Bracelet recently.'**

Biko's words seemed to ring with more truth than usual, and why? Well, because Nico's arm, as if it had a mind of its own, lifted itself up towards the Miasma covering the Scepter. The arm that held the Bracelet that is, and the glow only began to get more and more intense. Nico quickly covered his sole uncovered eye with his other hand when the brightness became too much for him, a slight hiss escaping his lips all the while. If there were windows in this treasury, then they would definitely be illuminated by this intense light.

Moments later, the glow died down, allowing Nico to uncover and open his eye once more. This allowed him to gaze upon the sight of the Scepter itself... without the Miasma covering it. This allowed Nico to witness the Scepter's full shine, to let him witness it inits full appearance. The Scepter looked quite small, like it could be held in one hand like a club of some sort. It just floated there, bobbing up and down in a slow, gradual manner yet also in a way that seemed eerily similar to a succubus trying to tempt her prey into getting close so she could go in for the kill.

That was only for a few LONG seconds though, before it slowly floated over to him and landed inside his hand, the hand of the arm that held the Bracelet. The moment it did, Nico gasped as he felt something 'click' within the Bracelet itself, like a new piece to the puzzle had been put with the first piece. Both the Bracelet and the Scepter seemed to resonate with each other if the way they constantly glowed and pulsated was any indication. It was like seeing two lost friends finally reuniting after years of conflict.

 **'Nico, I don't know what is going on, but I can hazard a Guess as to what might be happening. Your analogy about them being pieces to a puzzle may not be too far off, for I can sense that... whatever this is, is almost complete. We need only one more thing to complete this power, and odds are we will find it before the first mission is complete. Keep the Scepter at your side for now, my guess is what it iis meant for will be revealed intime.'**

'Alright, then. I'll do that.'

After that... moment of randomness that he didn't know how to describe, Nico exited the room and sat down behind the door he had went into, to wait until Castiel woke up from his training/meditation. It was quite boring to him but for Castiel it was most certainly not so.

While he waited, Nico hummed as he closed his eyes and focused on his Demonic Senses, trying to feel out any sources of bloodlust or other negative emotions. The teenage made sure to ignore the ones coming from Castiel like a whirlpool of darkness, as if he stayed too close to that, it felt like they would suck the life out of him.

'I... cannot sense anything above us, there's no sources of bloodlust in the Pyramid sections above us, while below I can sense that there is a large buildup of it. Not as large as Emiya's, but still large.'

 **'Odds are, we will have to engage that being, if what we have done so far. Also, I can sense that whatever we need to complete this new power is down there as well. Even if we do not need to get there, I do believe we should spend time exploring down there.'**

Nico mentally nodded in agreement with his Demon Persona. He frowned while opening his eyes and looking to the walls while breaking the connection. On one of the walls, there lay a mural, a mural that Nico recognized, at least part of it. The Mural was located opposite the door that Nico had chosen, so the two of them wouldn't have been able to notice it before.

Thus Mural... it didn't seem whole, instead it looked quite cracked. Still, though, Nico could see that there was some form of man in cloth-wear looking like he was petting a canine... or rather, he was petting the same Goah.

'What... the hell?'

For a moment, Nico remained there, confused as all hell. But then, he decided to sit back down by the door he had chosen (having stood to walk to the Mural) to wait for Castiel.

For the next two hours Castiel continued in his training.

After that period of time something started to change in Castiel's body, he started secreting a dark ooze from his entire body. The smell was terrible to say the absolute least as the weird ooze continued to be released for the next ten minutes, it was to such a point that Nico wondered if he would fully liquefy if this continued.

Yet, after that period of time the ooze stopped and Castiel stood up. His calmness despite the ooze covering him was surprising for Nico as he got the impression that Castiel was not the type to see himself like this and stay nonchalant about it.

What Nico did not know was that this ooze was exactly what Castiel expected. That ooze was the impurities that the body accunulates naturally, especially when you are training since the magic energy that enters the body during training usually is full of little particles that can't be properly processed. It is like the air on a metropolitan area, it may seem clean at first glance but ot is full of dust, gas, viruses and many other things that with time may cause problems for the one living there. Yet, now that Castiel had undergone this cleansing of the impurities hia body was in much greater condition, his magic circuits, while still quite weak, now worked much more efficiently, and his body now was also much stronger and more flexible than before.

It was to such a point that he was now at least 25% stronger than before.

Castiel accessed all this and showed a smile, this was probably the most comfortable he has been in, in years now.

Turning to Nico, he started walking over to his direction. That was when he noticed that Nico was staring pretty hard at something, and when he followed the direction his gaze was facing, he too noticed the mural. "Huh... well, this is something." he remarked, thoughtfully, announcing his presence to the redhead.

Nico glanced at him, noticing that he looked much better than he did before. The male figured that the herb he had taken worked, though he soon focused on the Mural itself. "Looks like our old friend Gaoh must have been related to... whoever this guy is. Though the picture's too damaged to properly confirm this."

"Yeah..."

Noticing Nico's look, the Heir furrowed his brows. It looked like Nico had been thinking hard about this information and what it could mean, if the intense look of concentration was any indication. Castiel made to say something before he noticed the golden room he was close to. While it is true that the gold there did not interest him, there something else there that did.

It was a pool of water that was reflecting different scenes depending on the angle looked. Castiel looked at this and could only think that uncle Zelretch really was stupidly rich, but considering how the pool was put it would be impossible to take it away.

'I guess even he doesn't want to give this one, huh. Well, I will not take it away but that doesn't mean I can't use it now.' Castiel thought as he approached the pool and was just about to enter before he turned to Nico and with a VERY pained face he spoke. "You should enter it too. This is chaos water, the energy of this water is useful in reinforcing the body and make it more durable."

"But the message said that we can only take one item from here." Nico responded, furrowing his eyebrows.

Castiel rolled his eyes and countered. "And we will not 'take' this pool, we will USE it. Understanding how to work others words to your advantage is diplomacy 102, right after learning how to lie." the Heir explained, making the Spec Ops Agent unable to figure out how exactly to react.

'So, manipulating words... sounds like something a politician would do...' Nico thought to himself. None of that gave him a particularly good feeling, as it reminded him of the Nobles that populated Leanbox. Although things were beginning to change thanks to Vert, he didn't like the thought of being associated with them. Still, if this would make them stronger so that they could eventually get a rematch with the Gaoh, then he'd be all for it.

* * *

In the end the two entered the pool. It was like dipping in highly condensed magma that could turn into colder than out space the next instant, before it feeling like it was trying to rip them apart to then pressure them to reach a point that they felt they would turn into a single particle. And all of this happened in a matter of 0.3 seconds.

The two managed to resist this pool for only about 3 minutes before they had to leave. Castiel managed to last 30 extra seconds due to the effect of the immortal herb, but even then it was as far as they could possibly go.

And yet, the effects were obvious for the both of them. Their bodies now felt much more resilient, to the point that Nico doubted that most Kagune save for only the strongest ones could even pierce him and Castiel believed that he would at least received only second or light third degree burns from that attack from Kokabiel that originally almost killed him.

"Well, I guess this is it. We should get going now." Castiel said as he knew that more exposure to the chaos water now would be useless. Their current bodies were already on the limit to what they could go for now. They could only advance further if they used some immortal herb or if their spirit could advance further.

Nico, while not as knowledgeable as his partner about all this occult matters, understood that he would not be able to use this pool for now anymore.

With that the two started walking away from the treasury and in direction of the boss'room. A boss that was patiently waiting for a chance to kill the mongrels that dared to invade his home.

A crime worth of death.

* * *

Finally, the two reached it, the boss room. Well, more like the entrance but hey. The entrance definitely fit the bill of an ancient pharaoh's tomb in Castiel's eyes, with all the gold carvings and statues on either side looking like those warriors they fought before. There were these large pyres as well that were lit with flames, illuminating the entrance and giving it a rather sinister, evil and ominous atmosphere.

Just before they could head down to the tomb where the final boss lay, Nico had a thought. He knew about Castiel's curse abilities, though he suspected that there was more to it. He figured that since Castiel had experience in politics that he would try to keep aspects of his powers under wraps, something he could understand himself due to being secretive over his own powers too.

However, there was this uncomfortable sensation in his gut, a sensation that he soon isolated the source from: knowledge. Knowledge about each other. Nico knew some of Castiel's powers, but he hardly knew much about Nico's own. Now normally, Nico wouldn't mind something like this, as the less people knew about his abilities, the better. However, this world was not connected to his own by any means, and so far while irritable, Castiel had proven to be a fairly open-minded individual. Therefore, wouldn't it be alright for him to know? He knows about Nico's DPU form after all.

Not to mention, the fact that they weren't on an even playing field when it came to knowledge, and that revelation bothered Nico more than he had expected it would.

Therefore, just before they could head into the final Boss area, the Tomb, Nico decided to speak up.

"Hey, Emiya."

"Hm?"

"Since I asked you a question about your powers earlier, would you like to ask me anything about mine? It seems only fair, and perhaps the knowledge might help us in some way during this final boss fight." Nico questioned.

"Hmm, I think my only doubt right now is if your stronger attacks take too long to charge, if they have some form of cool down time and what is the limit of your defenses, both physical and soul related. I would like to know that to better strategize the next fight and to know what you and I should look out for now and in the next missions." Castiel explained. He already understood that Nico was the excessively secretive type so he didn't want to force him to reveal a lot since the chance of lying or half truths would be far too high and he'd rather not have the information than incorrect one when planning a fight.

It is better not to pressure the other too much, and this degree of information isn't that much and is completely acceptable to share as it can be seen as essential for planning.

"Why do you need info about my soul defenses" Nico asked, wariness in his lone uncovered eye as he doesn't have any good memory about soul related attacks. Te last time he had one was when he first fought the DPU of Death after all, an if he hadn't dodged it in time then that attack would have killed him. Just a graze and it nearly extinguished him, something that he did NOT like.

"Because more than half of the traps I disarmed were soul related. Most of the illusion or charming types so we can expect the boss here to either have a soul related ability or to be some form of trap or effect inside this room related to soul skills. I am good about it since it is almost impossible to use these on me but I must know about your side as well." Castiel explained. Thanks to his skull spirit bone he was mostly invulnerable to this sort of thing, unless someone many levels stronger used them on him but this sort of being could just kill him with one move so why bother to use a soul related attack.

'Great, looks like I found myself one of my biggest weaknesses...' Nico thought to himself with well-hidden agitation. It always pissed him off knowing that there was something he was absolutely weak to, especially something so uncommon in his world. Nico mentally searched for ways to convey this, before he finally went and reluctantly told Castiel that he had little to no defense against such attacks, explaining the attack that had almost killed him the best he could.

Didn't make Castiel any happier, though. "So you are useless to soul attacks. Sigh, to think just a single burst of soul attack almost killed you before, you really are useless against them."

"Hey, that attack was incredibly strong." Nico retorted angrily.

However, Castiel just looked at him as if he was dumb. "Yeah, but that is LITERALLY the weakest and most basic form of attack against the soul. It can be easily guarded against as it has limited capacity. The truly powerful soul attacks usually involve illusions or charming others for a while to make them lose themselves long enough to allow for an attack on the soul or the body. Heck, there are a few that can fuse soul attacks with illusions and physical attacks too, and if what you said about the edicts is any true than that attack he used on you IS the weakest possible. So how can I call you anything but useless on soul related attacks?" Castiel said.

"Okay, I'll admit that my main weakness is soul-related matters, but to be fair back in my world my first experiences with Soul Attacks are only recent." Nico countered, evenly.

That information caught the Heir's attention, his eyes switching from exasperated to understanding. "Ahhh, that explains it. Your world is focused only on the faster to learn physical attacks, I get that now. But, you should REALLY look for ways to overcome this weakness as fast as possible, we don't know what we will face on the next missions and training how to defend your soul isn't a instantaneous thing either. Maybe you should look into getting a soul defense item, I already have one but you should look for one as fast as possible too." Castiel explained.

"On that, I'll have to agree... if that guy uses the Edict of Death on me again, I'll need something to help me protect against that." Nico eventually nodded in response, though it wasn't easy. Hey, admitting ones own weakness was never an easy thing to do.

Castiel's look showed that he understood this just as well as anyone. "Well, at least this gives me an idea of how to plan our next strategy. Lets go, odds are we'll get swarmed the moment we enter this Tomb." the Heir commented as the two entered the Tomb.

The moment they entered, the two boys drew their weapons, Hruting for Castiel and Rebellion for Nico. They each got into their battle stances just in case they were to get their own asses swarmed by any number of enemies... only for nothing to come to them. For a moment, they just waited to see if anything would come, but nothing did.

"Well, that's a letdown..." Castiel remarked with disappointment, lowering Hruting. Though he still hoped something would prove him wrong. Still, this gave him a chance to look about the room, and he got the impression that this was not a normal Tomb. For one, right across the middle was a long, large crack, beneath being countless screaming humanoid torsos with arms. All of them hissed and shrieked when they sensed the presences of the two males, like they were going to be getting some new playmates soon. Judging from the heat he was getting, there was likely a river of lava down at the bottom. The Heir spies dozens of pyres scattered throughout the area, along with statues holding an assortment of different weapons.

But the most important thing he, along with Nico, noticed was that there was this large door at the opposite side of the room, a door that had a golden gong next to it. The gong had the same emblem that they had been seeing throughout the entire Pyramid, making each of them wary. Whatever this place was, with all the heat around it gave off a feeling of approaching the entrance to the underworld itself. There were some statues that looked like scorpions in various poses as well, drawing Nico's attention for a bit before he refocused on the task at hand.

"It looks to me that we will have to do something about that gong." He stated, pointing to the Gong. "Its positioning next to that door leads me to suspect it is used to wake up the final boss, like a final key to resurrecting a dead god."

Castiel hummed in thought when he said that, cupping his chin in is free hand as his mind went into tactician mode. "Lets shoot the damn thing from over here. That way, if there are any traps they won't be triggered, by us anyways."

Nico wondered what he meant by that, before he quickly figured it out and complied. Both of them switched weapons, Nico switching to Ebony and Ivory, while Castiel switched to Gandiva. The two then unleashed a single set of shots each, the three projectiles flying parallel to each other until they met the gong with enough impact force for it to let out a loud sound.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Almost immediately after the Gong resonated, a loud masculine roar ripped through the Tomb, making it treble just from the roar alone. Shock-waves ripped through the place, causing cracks to appear all over the ground while the boys used their swords (the same ones from before) to keep their balance. The many humanoids beneath the main crack all began squealing wildly and excitedly, flailing their arms about to make sea of limbs like fans at a stadium supporting their team. Total chaos dominated the room, and to one of its occupants chaos was NOT a good thing.

"W-Whoa! shit!"

"You're telling me!"

By the time that the shaking stopped, the two boys heard creaking sounds that came from the door itself. The sounds of stone scraping across the ground filled the air as the door opened ever so slowly, all the while Nico and Castiel separated, each adopting their own stances while eyeing the opening door warily. Whatever power lay within, the moment that door began to open they began to sense it. That power, both boys had felt something similar to it in their own worlds, a feeling of death and despair that no mortal could ever hope to match. This power surpassed that of the Devils in Castiel's world by leaps and bounds, while also rivaling the Demon Princes of Nico's world.

From within the darkness, a shadowy figure opened its eyes, lifting its head to notice the doors to its slumber had opened, revealing two prey for him to slay. A low, dark and twisted snarl escaped its lips as many legs brought themselves to bear, gripping the walls to help it climb down while it dragged claws along the stone. This made scraping sounds much more audible to the boys compared to the scraping the opening door made before.

Soon, the being stepped out of the darkness, thwacking the doors opening to expose its form to them both in all its splendor. Nico and Castiel gazed upon the sight of what looked like a mix between man... and scorpion, there was a human torso, shoulders and head, with black mid back-length hair. matching eyes too. However, that was where the human ended and the scorpion took over, for his arms down to where the elbows should be became chitinous flesh, ending in scorpion pincers the length of a human forearm. The stomach and a portion of the torso was similar as it connected to the front of a scorpion body, many legs on either side as sharp as blades themselves. Two longer arms protruded from the side of the connection point, ending in deadly crab claws. At the back of the body, was a long tail, tipped with a classic scorpion stinger.

Not only that, there was a special aura about him that Castiel recognized. A familiarity that he couldn't place. For a moment he didn't know what the heck it was, but when he tried to feel out the energy within this guy/scorpion thing (even though he wondered how it was capable of HAVING energy since he could sense insanity and madness roaring within it) he could sense something, something powerful within this being. Something that far surpassed this being in every way possible. Yet, it was not doing anything, not one bit.

It quickly reminded him of that power he had sensed sleeping within Nico before they fought. A power that did not deem them worthy of its time, rather it found sleeping to be more worthwhile. Even now, he could feel Clarent's power starting to boil inside of him, outraged at being taken lightly by this being. This would not stand, not in its eyes. It was a weapon worthy of kings, how dare it try to demean its might so easily.

Nico himself felt something similar. It felt like Soul Edge wanted to rip itself out of him and tear this thing apart. Though not because it was taking its and its wielder lightly, no it was not so fickle that way. No, it wanted to fight, it wanted to do so much worse: it wanted to rip, tear and shred this enemy staring them down. To tear apart everything this opponent believed in from the foundation, to take everything it had away from it. Those were the feelings he was getting from the Devil Arm of his soul right now... thing is, the OTHER Devil Arms he possessed felt the same. This was one of the few times, the first being that time near the end of everything that happened at Leanbox, that these competitive weapons all unanimously agreed on one thing.

Throughout the room, various Magic Circles, bounded fields and runes formed from nothingness, almost illuminating the room with their power. More importantly though... "I may not be an expert, but I get the feeling these things are meant to keep both us, and this motherfucker, trapped in here." Nico commented as he readied Rebellion. The Devil Arm in his hands shook with intense glee, excited for the prospect of fighting once more. Nico narrowed his lone eye at them, his instincts telling him that they were NOT to be messed with by inexperienced hands.

This made him note to himself to ask MAGES. for help in identifying their functions next time he saw her...

"Yeah, not only that but these all seem to enhance this guy in some way. There's too many for me to tell what though, these are far more complex than the ones I'm used to. This definitely feels like a final boss to me." Castiel responded, nodding in agreement. He got the same feelings as Nico just from reading some of these highly complex arrays, though he wished he could read more, Castiel would rather have done so when there wasn't a Scorpion/human hybrid monster getting in the way. Said being was slowly stepping towards them like a lion baring his pincers while snipping them threateningly, glancing between the two of them. While it did so, both boys had one thought cross their minds.

This would be a tough battle.

Still though, upon looking him over, Castiel had another epiphany, and afterwards he couldn't help but growl in annoyance while shaking his fist in the air. "Goddamnit Uncle, where the hell did you find this 'the rock' wannabe?" he shouted to the skies.

As if to respond, there was some sad saxophone music that played 'mew-mew-mweeeee' electing an "oh fuck you too!"

"You can fuck your Uncle later, we got trouble incoming!"

Castiel, upon hearing Nico's shout (though he did give him the stink eye for that fucking his uncle comment), noticed that the The Rick wannabe had already made its move, lunging towards them at speeds that left him a blur. His instincts saved him as he raised Hruting to block several legs from spearing him, deflecting several more strikes from them before rolling underneath it and attempting to slice open its bottom. Unfortunately for him, the moment that Hruting's blade met the creatures flesh, it felt like he had hit a magically reinforced wall as his blade easily bounced off the creature's being.

Before he could react by like rolling out from under it, the creature made to slam itself on top of the Heir, crushing him under its weight if not for a set of nigh invisible Tentacles to slam into the creature's side, doing no damage to it either but sending it sliding away from Castiel, who got grabbed by one of Nico's Bikaku Tails by wrapping around his waist, lifting him into the air and then lowering him to Nico's side. Nico himself had his Kakugan out, having just pocketed something while grasping Rebellion and infusing it with Hellfire.

Raising it to the air, Nico brought Rebellion down and unleashed a mighty Hellfire wave from his blade, a wave that trailed across the ground towards its opponent. However, the Scorpion Man turned to look at it, releasing a dismissive snort (much to Nico#s irritation) as a magic circle appeared in front of it, catching the blast before it could even touch the creature. The user's irritation soon changed to surprise when he saw how the flames got absorbed into the Magic Circle, then unleashed back at him with the intensity of its true form.

This time, Castiel became the one to save Nico, repaying the debt by forming multiple Barriers in time to catch the Hellfire before it could hit them, though the teen had to grit his teeth when he felt the force of the flames pushing against his defenses, causing his feet t dig into the ground beneath them. 'S-Shit!' he cursed in his mind.

'Tch, looks like this creature can repel our attacks back at us with twice the damage output...' Nico thought to himself during this. He would have tried to cancel the blast out with his own Hellfire, but he didn't want to cause an explosion that would definitely damage him and Castiel severely. He didn't want to test the limits of his companion's healing, and while he had the capacity to regenerate, he would rather not potentially overtax it. 'Biko, can you think of anything?'

 **'Grasp onto Castiel's shoulder and activate a Warp. It'll take him along with you since he is connected to you through physical contact.'**

'Got it.'

With that conversation over, Nico quickly grabbed onto Castiel's shoulder, electing a surprised glance from the Heir before Nico activated his Warping ability. Both vanished in a crimson red spark, avoiding the Hellfire blast which surged uselessly across the room.

Reappearing beside the trail of destruction, Nico and Castiel looked to the said destruction, whistling before looking to each other. "Okay, that was a canny ability, but what now? Looks like our attacks don't faze it." the Heir questioned, frowning in thought. "It has to be to do with those Bounded Fields, they must be supplying it with strength and abilities, ones we haven't seen yet from the short conflict we already had."

"Agreed..." Nico responded, tethering Rebellion to his back before summoning Harvester and using SHADOW PACK, summoning those wolf/scorpion Hybrid along with a SHADOW SERPENT to keep their opponent busy. Biko had told him how risky using the power of a Devil Arm undergoing the same process Alastor did was, but right now they needed to keep it occupied while they formed a strategy. Each of the darkness constructs began to attack the Scorpion Man with reckless savagery, with the SHADOW SERPENT leading the charge. All the while, the Scorpion Man let out a gluttonous roar as it charged back, slamming into the horde and whipping about. "It appears that one of us will have to distract him while the other finds a way to weaken his abilities. I'll play the decoy for now, you focus on the Bounded Fields, since you're the better experienced one out of us two in that field."

Castiel nodded, just what he had been thinking. "I'll make sure to be as quick as I can, don't want my companion for this shit to bite the dust too early, now do we?" he remarked, smirking at his companion.

Said companion made an eye roll, his expression hidden behind his Mask. Though judging by the glint in his eye, the young Heir felt like he had the same sentiments as him. "Right back at you. Soul Edge would rather not lose a potential rival without the chance for a rematch."

"Same here."

'Wow, talk about complex. I don't have a single fucking clue about how to go at disarming this ones... wait a sec, why should I disarm them? I heard since long ago that it is much easier to simply destroy a bounded field. I just never did destroy the ones before because I feared that their destruction could cause some problems down the road but now there shouldn't be any traps or other stuff to worry about. Destruction it is!'.

And thus Castiel started to focus in identifying the location of the centre of the bounded fields.

* * *

It was not being that easy of a job as he had to pass through many smaller bounded fields that were focused on defending the main ones, Castiel did not care even as multiple rocks hitted his body over and over, he simply trusted his body's natural defense to mitigate any impact.

Thus he continued his personal fight against the clock.

While his companion began dealing with the Bounded Fields, Nico jumped about the room, making sure to constantly remain on the move. He had planned for a constant harass strategy using his two Devil Arms Harvester and Absolution, the former to keep the Scorpion Man focused on the darkness constructs, while the latter would harass it with DC spike attacks. Since these weapons were made to be two hands, it would have been difficult to use both of hem at the same time, but luckily for him Nico had experience in dual wielding.

Things went well for the redhead teen, until the Scorpion Man gave a larger roar out of nowhere, rattling the entire room. From there, dozens of black masses came out from the ground, peeling through it and rising upwards, until Nico had about half a room's worth of those jackal-humanoids surrounding him and his forces.

'Oh goddamnit...'

They all roared, charging at Nico and his forces for their master. This made the male quickly resort to literally ABUSING his Devil Arms' powers by overloading them with his power, Harvester more than Absolution as he conjured up more and more Darkness Constructs with SHADOW PACK and SHADOW SERPENT by the dozens to keep up with the assault coming down on him like rainfall.

Now, not only did he have to keep his forces occupying the Scorpion Man (who kept tearing through them with its Claws, Pincers, Legs and Tail) but now he needed help to get these jackal humanoids off his back.

Good thing then that was something Absolution could help with, as he had the Devil Arm engage its DC AVATAR Form. The Weapon quickly unleashed is ooze, ooze which covered him in its embrace as the transformation quickly applied to him. In seconds, the DC Avatar form of Nico completed itself, and with a furious roar Nico charged at his opponents, swinging his two weapons left and right with the fury and bloodlust not unlike those of the Khornate worshipers back in his home dimension.

One of their blades managed to scratch his DC Avatar form through the constant combat, deep enough to barely touch his form within. The moment it did though, Nico nearly screamed out as a huge surge of pain coursed through him, a pain that his eye within the DC AVATAR Form bulged in recognition. He recognized this pain as his current Form regenerated the damage and allowed him to slice through that warrior by cutting off its head. 'Shit... these blades! Biko, these are...!'

 **'Indeed, this is most alarming. These weapons, they have been enchanted likely by the Bounded Fields. Unlike before, they now have the power to inflict damage to our Soul directly. It is like what Emiya said, these Soul Attacks are our greatest weakness so far. However, the damage this time was nothing compared to the Edict of Death that we got hit by back then. In comparison, its like an ant to a Serpent. In addition, it appears that the damage was limited due to the DC AVATAR Form concealing your true body.'**

'My thoughts exactly, Biko.'

With that in mind, Nico quickly tethered Harvester to his back with Rebellion, for his next idea he had to have both hands on Absolution to work. He then swung vertically in a 36 degree angle, sending a similar DC WAVE towards his enemies whom couldn't react in time. They all got covered in the ooze, which sunk into their flesh and onto their bones to slow them down considerably. A chorus of furious roars showed that his tactic worked, making Nico chuckle darkly when he saw how his collection of Darkness Constructs tore his enemies apart now that they couldn't react as quickly.

By the time 5 minutes had passed, all of the warriors had been slaughtered, none of them remaining whilst the Bracelet, even under the DC AVATAR, absorbed something from each of them. Though, Nico made no indication that he noticed at this point as he charged against the Scorpion Man, whom just finished killing the last of his Darkness Constructs.

The two collided once more, entering the next stage of their battle.

'Emiya, you better be doing good otherwise I may take this guy out myself...'

* * *

'Shit, I must hurry up. Nico doesn't seem to realize that everything he is doing is meaningless right now. He should have just focus on delaying his opponent, so why does he keeps trying to face him head on while wasting his energy?' Castiel thought as he saw the two fighting, he too was on a sticky situation since he has fallen into a small trap that forced his body to face a higher gravity the closer he walked to the focal point of the bounded fields.

Right now the gravity was 30 times Earth's gravity, and every step raised it one more time. But the young heir was displaying a small smile as he felt this.

his existing ones, increasing the destructive power of his Arsenal. Despite his... disposition towards overall destructive capability, power was still needed, so he needed to up the ante here.

'Well, at least this gravity will help me in training my body to better distribute the new energy I just absorbed.' Castiel knew that this sort of explosive gains in any area could easily lead to problems down the road if there wasn't a stable base, and this gravity was a great way to make this new found physical capacity a resilient and strong foundation for future development.

* * *

Nico quickly learned how every strike he launched against the Scorpion Man amounted to being completely useless, for no matter what level of power he put into his swings, they never even pierced its skin. He couldn't even put a dent into it, not even when he resorted to his Rinkaku one moment before re-assuming his DC AVATAR Form. It seemed to him that those Bounded Fields provided it strong immunity to physical attacks, hell even his Skill Attacks didn't do as much as a graze to it. Still, during their bout the Scorpion Man would summon small groups of his jackal-headed warriors to attack him, of which he would have to focus on tearing them apart with both Absolution and Harvester.

Whilst he did all of that, Nico had his Demon Persona try to analyze the dark power slumbering within their enemy, to try and see what it is and why the Scorpion Man wasn't using it. One thing that they did uncover was apparently that this creature had suffered from a severe case of madness, for its insanity levels had been through the roof. Nico had almost lost control over himself when he sensed how much there was roiling within it, and aside from that there was little else that indicated this thing had intelligence.

'Biko, do you think we can get anywhere with these Bounded Fields?' The teen questioned his Demon Persona.

 **'Unfortunately, but it does not seem to be the case. I can sense how these Bounded Fields are amplifying its powers, as well as granting these boons to its body like THOSE. I doubt Soul Edge would be able to do much either, unless it was in its True Form when its power is at its greatest. Though, I do not believe it wise to transform within here, we do not know the limits this place will enforce upon the DPU Form. Our only chance is to keep this guy occupied while Emiya disables the Bounded Fields...'**

This made Nico curse under his breath, quickly sidestepping a stab from one of the Scorpion man's claws. He swung in a reverse upward swing, knocking the arm upwards butt not damaging it in the least. With that, he twisted into a reverse back kick, knocking the enemy backwards. A glutteral chuckle escaped its lips as it dug its many legs into the ground, slowing its motion to a halt.

Deciding that Absolution wouldn't do much, Nico decided to dismiss the DC AVATAR Form, switching completely to Harvester as the weapon rattled within his grasp. The teen quickly used a TELEPORT SLASH to appear behind it and knock its legs out from beneath it. He then jumped backwards to avoid it's Tail which had tried too stab him from overhead.

Being smaller would mean that he wouldn't have as great an attack power, however right now thanks to everything that he had learned about this enemy, it would be better to be small and nimble so its attacks would be harder to hit. Not only that, but Nico had evaluated its fighting patterns, apparently it liked to make charges into wide curving stabs that would come from different angles. The type of angle depended on which Pincer was used, and if that attack missed, the Scorpion Man would have used the Claw beneath that Pincer for a follow up.

Case in point, when the creature got up and rushed him, Nico sidestepped its right pincer first, then side flipped the opposite direction over a wider sweeping motion from its right Crab Claw. He then ducked under a swing from the other claw, raising Harvester to block the following strike of its Pincer. The teen gritted his teeth as he found himself sliding backwards, quickly unleashing a Rinkaku Tentacle to whack it in the face with enough force that it would be sent sliding backwards. One good thing though, was that even with its protection Nico found that it couldn't see his vibrating Rinkaku Kagune, and since it didn't have the same abilities as Hruting, Nico didn't have to worry about rapidly dwindling RC Cell reserves.

Raising Harvester to the air, Nico brought it down while activating HARVEST, the Scorpion Man jumping to the side to block it. Harvester thrummed with power, dangerous and volatile power but power nonetheless, as Nico held it in a ready stance. He could feel the Red Rage Ring inside of him pulsating, the male mentally activating it for the rage inside. The result: an explosion of pure anger and malice ripping through his body like a gushing geyser, one that he focused into his Demonic Power reserves. This made them swell in intensity, size and potency, before he pumped it into Harvester to make 6 SHADOW SERPENTS. He then, through Harvester, ordered them to restrain the Scorpion Man while he had noticed a familiar purple symbol on its abdomen area.

While the SHADOW SERPENTs quickly did their jobs, slithering over the creature and pinning it to the ground by its 4 arms and tying its legs together, a Magic Circle appeared beneath it and allowed many Plasma Chains to burst out, further restraining it. The Scorpion Man yelled out in shock, surprise and outrage at this development, pulling at his restraints like a furious bloodhound on a sugar rush, only to not get anywhere. Normally it wouldn't have much difficult breaking out, its physical ability had been determined by the male to be no joke whatsoever. But, that was before Nico had activated the Red Rage Ring, which amplified his own powers enough to have them become much more effective than normal.

Now, all he had to do was keep it there while Castiel did his thing.

* * *

Meanwhile, Castiel was facing a challenge of his own. The gravity was now around 100 times Earth's normal level. It felt like a mountain was sitting in another Mountain that was laying down on his back. Not only that but he also was feeling waves of heat and cold continually. He was certain that if it was before the use of that Herb he would have already reached his limit long ago.

Now he was just facing serious problems moving forward, but a smile appeared on his face as he got a look at what was in the center of the boumded field supplying the energy.

'Fucl yeah, it is a pure solar crystal and a midnight gem. These just might be what the Cosmoems needs to finish its evolution!'

As he saw the crystal a maniacal smile surged on his face. He activated his goulden foundation armor while also releasing his wings as he used the power of his name to withstand the pressure and with one move he rushed forward to snatch those two treasures.

'Well, some of their energy has already been sucked away but these still might help.' He thought as he ignored Nico trying to act cool as he used his Ring's power to increase his skills, but was swatted away with a move from the monster's tail when he got too close. There wasn't much damage on Nico, but the fact remained that the scorpion king still hasn't suffered a single actual injury.

'Sigh, couldn't he focus more on simply delaying the enemy? Is he that used to head on confrontations? He should change that already, or this might get him killed one day. I think I will tell him that later... oh who am I kidding? He wouldn't listen to a single word of advice from me anyway, he is too prideful on his skills while only being just close to low super-class.' Castiel thought in resignation and a bit of disdain. He might not know about how dangerous Nico's world is, but Castiel's world is packed full of beings that could destroy entire countries in a matter of instants. On his perspective, victory isn't always a straight forward thing. He also noticed how Nico seemed to show a bit of disdain for anything he considered morally wrong, and that was ridiculous in Castiel's eyes. Learning and actually adapting for the situation is what he learned since young, and seeing those little tells from Nico annoyed him to no end.

Castiel then took out Clarent and with the power amplifier ability it had Castiel took a deep breath and jumped at the monster with a mighty slash he managed to cut down one of it's legs.

"It can be damaged now! Attack!" Castiel shouted at Nico.

* * *

The moment that Castiel had yelled that out, Nico quickly registered it alongside his companion's recent action. Seeing it for himself convinced him that the heir wasn't lying, not to mention his senses had told him something similar just before the Heir had attacked. 'Alright, now that this fucker's on the defensive now...' The male thought when he noticed the abrupt change in posture their opponent had. The moment that the Scorpion Man felt the Bounded Fields protecting it vanish out of existence, it had let out a startled yelp whilst stepping backwards away from them... not like Nico would be letting that happen. His mind quickly formed a plan to end this battle now, cause he just wanted this thing to be dead already.

First, the legs. Nico started off by dismissing Harvester (his creations had been knocked aside and killed already, the Scorpion Man having just broken free before his companion did the slashing thing), and releasing his Rinkaku. The 6 invisible Tentacles quickly lunged forth, their immense speed and power fuelled by the redhead's own killing intent as they tore through the creature's legs in one go... all 8 of the scorpion legs being severed at the same time. As a result of this, the main Scorpion body and the humanoid upper half fell to the ground, the creature shrieking in pain all the while as it snipped the air around it wildly with the Pincers.

Second, get in close. True Nico could have just torn into it with his Kagune at that moment, but he wanted that fucker's heart in his hands as he crushed it for all the trouble it had caused. That, and he didn't want to risk that dark power suddenly striking at his Kagune and infesting it (much like what happened with his Koukaku against Mundus back at Halo Mountain). Thus, Nico chose to, when he saw it about to use some sort of Skill just then, seal it within his right leg Spirit Bone whilst he charged towards it with Harvester vanishing into his Void Storage and Rebellion replacing it. All the while, the redhead noticed Castiel doing the same thing, charging in from the right flank with Clarent radiating pure power.

Both of them had a single thought together as they reared their blades back for the finishing blow...

'This is the end!'

But just before they could land that blow...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!


	159. Cross Chapter 6 - New Gear Final Boss 2

The dust began to settle, and groans were heard within. Nico groaned to himself, lying on the ground while his body recovered from the initial aftermath from their attack. He gripped the floor with his gloved hands, his fingers digging into it while he pushed himself upwards, groaning at the feeling of cracking bones throughout his body. His regeneration was already hard at work repairing his body, he could feel it, and his Demonic Power was speeding things up. His mind whirled, his vision hazy, and Nico almost fell onto his backside had he not balanced himself in time while getting to his feet.

When his vision cleared, Nico noticed that Castiel, his companion in this fight, had also stirred into the land of the conscious, and was quickly getting to his feet while muttering curses under his breath. 'Well, looks like he's alright...' the redhead couldn't help but think. Looking around, he finally found Rebellion laying sprawled on the ground, so he bent over and picked it up by the hilt. A rush of joy, thrill and happiness filled him which came from his link with this Devil Arm, emotions that originated from the recent clash they had done with their opponent.

'Ugh... this smarts... haven't felt like this in a while...' He couldn't help but think as his regeneration finished up his internal healing. At least it wasn't as bad as when he lost all his limbs in the Hellverse, THAT had been one hell of an eye opener. Mentally, he checked his reserves, and found that his Demonic Power was at half its reserves, his SP was at a similar level, and his RC Cells were only a quarter used. Made sense, since he hadn't used his Kagune as much as his other energy sources. Still though, this battle hadn't been easy, not as difficult as say the battles with the World Eater Legion, the DPU of Death Mundus, or some of the stronger Demons he had fought throughout Leanbox, but still way up there compared to Abnormals.

 **'It would be wise to regroup with Emiya, Nico. If by some chance our enemy hasn't been defeated yet, then we must be cautious.'**

Biko's words gave Nico pause, his lone eye narrowing as he tried to get a feel for the Scorpion Man's emotional state. If the thing was still alive, a whole load of negative emotions should be coursing through it by now. 'I don't sense anything around here, but I'll keep your word, Biko. Besides, we need to know the condition Emiya is in. If he needs any assistance, we can provide it if necessary.' he thought to his Demon Persona, getting a hum of agreement from him before he cut the link and proceeded to make his way over to the young Heir.

* * *

Castiel was doing considerably better, his body was extremely resilient thanks to the new improvements he has gone through and he also activated his personal magic **Siegfried** so he was mostly fine. His only real problem being that his body was covered in superficial wounds and that he had suffered a contusion making him confused for a while.

Sensing someone approaching, the Heir looked to see Nico walking up to him, and gave a nod of acknowledgement to him. "Nico."

The male curtly gave the same response "Emiya." For a moment, the two remained silent, with the exception of Castiel getting back to is feet and dusting himself off. Then, the redhead turned away as he cast his gaze across the area, searching for any signs of early attack. None came, something that set off alarms in his mind. "You think that the enemy's dead?" Nico questioned, his hands in his leg-wear's pockets while looking about for the remains of their enemy. He didn't think that there was a chance the mission was over, not by a long shot. Nothing had changed, no transport out of this dimension, no 'game complete' screen that he had guessed Zelretch would spawn at the end, nothing, and that was more than enough for him to remain on guard. Also, if anyone was curious, Nico's Armour had receded into its Armour Module by the time he had come too, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.

After recovering from his previous state, Castiel surveyed their surroundings, which were still a bit too dusty to tell, but he had an answer ready for Nico anyways. "Not sure, but if I know Uncle Zelretch, then I bet that this will be some sort of extra to the battle, like the final boss has a stronger form to take type of situation." He then frowned, eyes glimmering as an idea came to him which caused him to turn to face the redhead. "You say that your Spirit Bone has the ability to seal away Skills right? You think you can check to see if it still has it?" Castiel asked. If he was interpreting what little info he knew about Nico's Spirit Bone right, then if it still had the Skill sealed within it would determine their enemy's fate.

That sounded like a promising idea, Nico thought to himself, as he looked down to his right leg. He could feel the weight on his leg that accompanied a Spirit Bone's summoning there, which would mean that it hadn't vanished yet. Therefore, Castiel's idea should work. His gaze found itself on the Spirit Bone itself, and when it did...

They saw that the Spirit Bone was still quivering like it was trying to hold something in.

"Lemme guess, that means that it's ability is still active?"

"I call it 'Blockade', but yeah, which means the enemy is still breathing."

Both boys nodded to each other, their eyes reflecting the seriousness in them. After their brief conversation, both Nico and Castiel quickly got into battle stances, looking throughout the dirt to see where the enemy might be hiding. They hadn't been attacked right away, which hinted at the enemy going for a stealthier approach (well, as stealthy as a human/scorpion hybrid the size of a small car could be, at least).

The air was silent, not a sound in their ears indicating any hostile movement. Their eyes scanned the are around them, searching for even the slightest hint of hostile movement. None of that was found however, and it only caused them to be more on the defensive. The air became deceptively calm, with an intense undertone that layered itself onto their chests like the curse that had been there before. If there was any background music, then it would have to be one that pronounced the ominous tension in the atmosphere.

"You see anything...?" Castiel questioned, making to expand his senses to see if he could feel the enemy's signature. However, he got nothing, and that worried the young Heir. Not only would not sensing the enemy make him think of Serenity's stealth skills (something that intensified his hate for this creature tenfold) but it also provided the Scorpion Man with an ideal opportunity for a surprise attack. Not something he liked to think about considering the ways that it killed that one guy in the movie the mummy returns.

Nico shook his head in denial. "Nothing on my end..." he replied, his head slowly turning from side to side with his lone eye taking in as much detail as he could. Unfortunately, even with this he could not detect anything to indicate a surprise attack, something that deeply unsettled the male. He couldn't sense much either, not with his senses, both normal and emotional, and not even his Armour (which he had deployed for its Motion Tracking abilities) could track anything to do with it. He had Rebellion Tethered to his back, with his Obliteron claws out, illuminating their surroundings.

Neither of them liked this, not one bit. They didn't like how they couldn't sense the Scorpion Man's presence no more, not even a pip from it. It felt wrong, unnaturally so, and that was saying something considering how the Scorpion Man had been during their bout. It had been all physical, violent and always on a rampage, going from one place to another. It didn't move with much intelligence, and both boys had their own ways of confirming their own methods of identifying how much insanity was hindering its thought process.

 **'This may be not the ideal time, but there was something I noticed before the initial collision.'**

'Biko?' Nico questioned, frowning while looking like he was still keeping an eye out. His senses on full alert, his Kagune ready to whip away at anything that showed even remotely small signs of hostility. The instincts of an animal were much more acute than a human's, after all, so he let his body handle that while his mind began focusing on the conversation between himself and his Demon Persona. 'What are you saying...?'

 **'I'm saying that this is something that only just happened, I noticed it before. Just before we collided, I noticed that this strange power within it quickly** **activated. It was the millisecond before our weapons clashed, so I couldn't get a good read on it, but I am positive that something has happened. Odds are, Emiya may have noticed as well, he is not someone to have not noticed these things.'**

That... did not sound good, not at all.

Now that he thought about it, Nico did recall that there had been something... different about the Scorpion Man right before their collision. It was subtle, so subtle that it was almost like an illusion that a Mage would cast. However, if someone like Biko, who was reliable as all hell, noticed it then he would have to believe him about it.

On his end, Castiel had similar thoughts to his own. The young Heir didn't get it, but there had been something... different about their enemy's signature just before he clashed with it. Not to mention Clarent felt... off, it felt anxious. It felt like a King would hen the King would learn of a great threat to his Kingdom, a threat that may very well topple his castle and reduce the Kingdom to ashes. Throughout history, there have been countless examples of this happening, of tyrannical kings getting toppled by outside forces.

'This feels off...' Castiel thought while hewing non the inside of his gums with his teeth confusion and agitation fighting for dominance within his gut while he gripped Clarent's handle tightly. He could feel himself sweating slightly from his forehead, the tension in the air becoming thicker and thicker with each passing second. His heart beat became harder and harder to maintain, its steady beat slowly dipping into a ragged state. 'I don't like this, something about that collision feels very off. The moment that me and Nico clashed with that Scorpion King clone, I felt something 'erupt' within it just before it happened.' he thought, scowling to himself. If only he had Eevee here, he could go Umbreon Mode and then possibly confirm the feelings that he was getting. Glancing behind him, he noticed the agitated state that the Tentacles and Tails were in, and quickly concluded that Nico felt the same way.

Then...

It happened.

FWOOOOOOOOSH!

"Whoa!"

"Oh shit!"

Castiel and Nico quickly ducked below, getting on all fours to avoid something that flew over their heads. Any second later and they would have lost their heads. Not something they would have wanted for themselves, thank you very much. The moment it passed overhead, it felt like an explosion of thunder right in their earbuds, tearing through both the physical and astral planes of existence. Whatever it was, they couldn't see since it flew so fast, but they could still see how it exploded upon impact with the ground.

Slowly, they got up and looked around, searching for the source of the projectile. None of them thought it wasn't, since it had been launched to kill them utterly dead. Plus, with how close it came to doing just that, neither wanted to take any chances. Yet, none of them got any breaks, for right above them dozens, and literally DOZENS of Magic Circles appeared over them, covering the entire ceiling and aiming right at them. All of them instantly glowed, like the barrels of a gun prepping to be fired.

Instincts saved the two as Castiel switched from Clarent to Hruting, and Nico unleashed his Rinkaku plus his Bikaku Kagune. Good thing too, cause the next second, the two boys got bombarded with a shower of light projectiles. On the move they became, Castiel letting Hruting slice through the particle attacks without letting them get close to him, though there were more than a few close calls. Nico on the other hand parried and slashed with his claws, while his Kagune parried the rest of them. Tentacles and Tails tore through the air like thousands of ravenous canines tearing through some unfortunate prey. Their ears rang with constant exploding sounds, energy laser sounds, and almost made them deaf if they were normal people. Yet, the barrage never ceased, never relented or slowed down. In fact, the longer it went on, the greater the speed, ferocity and intensity became.

Then, just as fast as it came, the barrage ended...

Followed by a blast of wind that forced them to cover their eyes.

By the time the wind ended, Nico and Castiel lowered their arms from their eyes, Nico's Kagune lowering as they turned to where the source of the wind originated. When they did however, their eyes (or eye in Nico's case) almost flew out of their sockets from what they saw.

"Holy..."

"For once, we agree Emiya."

Their eyes lay upon their opponent... or what they THOUGHT was their opponent. Originally they had expected to be the Scorpion Man. However, that was FAR from what they saw. Now, standing before them was this hulking humanoid being of 8 feet tall. It had a pair of Chitin clad legs that ended in sharpened hoofs for kicking. The legs were connected to a muscular upper body reminiscent of the original human section of the Scorpion Man, and at the centre of the stomach was what looked like a hole that ran right through, they could even see right through to the wall behind the being. The shoulders were bare, and just beneath the biceps more chitin could be seen, ending in two large hands. From the base of its spine, the duo saw what looked like a Scorpion Tail protruding from it, swaying lazily behind the being while its face looked exactly like the Scorpion Man's. The same skin tone, the same features, just with a Mask covering the left side of its face that looked reminiscent of a Scorpion's, with the human side of its face sporting an iris-less eye and the mask sporting a single crimson pupil less eye. On its back, was this large greatsword shaped like a Scorpion's Pincer, although the two boys could sense that this was NOT a normal sword.

"Ahhhh... this is much better." the enemy spoke much to their joint surprise, no trace of the animalistic furry he carried present in his tone. "I should thank you two for freeing me from that detestable form I was locked in before."

'This thing... did it just speak?' Nico wondered, something shared with by his companion. His Rinkaku and Bikaku shifted into defensive stances, ready to act in case the enemy were to try something. Rebellion rattled within his grasp, almost quivering in excitement from the thought of fighting a newer opponent. While it sent those emotions to its wielder, Nico couldn't ignore the trepidation in his gut about this, either. 'Biko, has this thing somehow gained intelligence?'

 **'I am not sure how, but it does indeed to be the case. I sense that its insanity is present, though it does not nearly have the** **amount** **of** **dominance** **over its rationality as it once did. You two better be cautious, this battle has escalated to a new level, we do not know WHAT this creature is truly capable of.'**

Castiel furrowed his brows as he tried to make heads or tails of what had happened here. So far though, all he had gotten was that somehow, that dark sensation he had gotten from this guy had removed the 'shackles' of insanity that bound the creature before. His experiences with curses and mind attacks told him this, as well as that this creature far surpassed its previous form in power. Not just power though, due to the lack of control its insanity had over its mental faculties, it now had greater knowledge on how to use its powers in the most destructive of ways.

If these observations were true, then it would be best to stay on guard.

"Yet, I also should punish you for invading my most glorious home." He spoke once more after spending a moment to look over its new form, experimentally cracking a few limbs to get the kinks out. The sound rivaled that of breaking pipes, sending chills down their spines, and despite looking at the two they got the feeling that he was most certainly talking to himself. "Now, what to do? What to do? ... Oh I just got an idea! I, the Scorpion King Mathayus, will kill you two fast and leave you with full corpses, so your loved ones have something to cry over. Ain't that nice of me?"

And with that the scorpion king launched itself forward with such speed that neither Nico or Castiel had time to react as it reappeared behind the two. Its motions were swift as the wind, yet held the impact of a high level earthquake as it kicked Castiel so fast and strong that if it wasn't for his recent improvement on the body he would have snapped in two. Nico quickly spun around and tried to cut through the enemy with a wide diagonal swing with Rebellion, but it was stopped on the being's arm without leaving more than a slight mark.

'What?!' He could only think while the creature simply shrugged the damage and launched a ball of concentrated crimson crackling energy directly at him. Due to the way that it was launched, the teen quickly realized he had no chance to dodge it, even if he Warped, so Nico used his Bikaku to guard his face, but...

CRACK, SHATTER

It had the adverse effect of breaking his Bikaku Kagune into pieces.

Cursing under his breath, Nico retracted his Bikaku into him so his RC Cells could focus on repairing it, all the while the teen quickly jumped to the side when he saw another concentrated energy ball charge right at him. Another came afterwards, and Nico finally responded to Warping out of the Way, reappearing above the creature with his Rinkaku raised for an overhead slam.

BOOM!

His Rinkaku slammed into the ground with enough force to bend it under the Kagune's weight, the impact force great enough that in his mind, he should have at least done some damage. 'Did I... get him?'

"No, you did not."

His eyes widened as Nico reflexively turned to the source of the voice, only to get a kick to his non-weapon arm that utterly broke it into an unnatural angle. Nico growled in frustration while he got sent flying from the kick, crashing into the ground and bouncing into the air again. The teen used this to right himself though, slamming his Kagune into the ground to stop his motions. Once halted himself, Nico raised two of them to parry the sword that would have cleaved him in two had he not acted as soon as he did.

"You... do not seem to be in pain even after I broke your arm." The creature, no Mathayus, remarked thoughtfully, though it sounded disinterested to the Spec Ops Agent. It's sword constantly quivered while pushing against Nico's Kagune which responded in kind.

Nico rolled his eyes at that while his lips set into a snarl. "Believe me, losing limbs is..." he paused when he felt is arm bend itself back into proper place thanks to his regeneration, allowing him to use it again as he shrugged its shoulder. "Nothing new, I lose them all the time, and that's just Mondays."

Before Mathayus could respond, it sensed someone coming from hits left flank, but made no effort to dodge the strike Clarent made on his unguarded back. Like Rebellion, it didn't seem to be able to pierce his being, much to its wielder's surprise as its Tail thwacked him away. This did give Nico an opportunity to Warp behind his airborne companion and catch him by his leg. "Got you." He stated, flipping Castiel so that he could land on his two feet.

"Thanks." the Heir simply stated, grimacing as he rubbed his shoulder where he got thwacked. He groaned as he felt like the shoulder dislocated, so he applied the training his teachers taught him and quickly moved it into the proper position, a resounding CRACK echoing through the room while he applied healing Blessings to numb the pain.

"... Hardcore."

"Says the person who didn't scream when his arm got broken. Anyways, looks like we have a problem here, our weapons can't pierce this guy's skin." Castiel replied, looking at their opponent who seemed to be more interested in his sword than actually killing them. It completely disregarded them as threats, and honestly that pissed him off more than he cared to admit. But, that didn't mean he would act recklessly. That would lead only to suicide, as they could plainly see. "While it practically mopped the floor with you, I took the chance to observe our new friend a little, so I have a basic idea of his movement patterns."

Nico mentally scowled at the wording, but didn't respond as he listened to Castiel explaining what he knew from their brief clash with this guy. "From what I can tel, this guy likes to use energy attacks to dismember opponents, then go in for the kill with one strike to the vital areas. Most prominently the head, though other areas may be possible depending on the situation. That could mean it isn't as good in prolonged combat as it is in single strike killings, but I'm not holding my breath."

"I noticed something else, to add to your assessment Emiya." the Heir glanced over to the Spec Ops Agent when he heard that. "From what I saw from his energy, it seems that his body naturally condenses a portion of his power over himself, creating this steel-like skin that excels in repelling physical attacks. Odds are its a defensive technique, but like all techniques it has to have a weakness. My guess is that we need to adapt to its energies, cancel each other's energy output before we can land any critical blows on him."

"Or, and hear me out, we hit him REALLY hard and try to pierce his defense." Their suggested, and Nico rolled his eyes at Castiel's words. That did NOT sound like a decent strategy to this guy, and in a bit of role reversal, Nico looked at Castiel like he was the dumb one. "What? Do you honestly want to try to fine tune energy with an enemy with unknown capacity, techniques and that you have never met before?" Now that he thought of that, Castiel did have a point there, hitting something till it dies did seem like an easier situation, but if not then Nico could always amplify his powers to a similar level to their enemy's based off their observations. If it didn't work, then they just had to keep trying till they found a way. "In case you are overwhelmed just run behind me and you will be safe, also don't forget that feather I gave you before." Castiel said, he did not believe that Nico or anyone for that matter could actually pull of this sort of suicidal strategy and honestly he did not want to try his luck. Sometimes, when all tips are out and only a head on confrontation is possible, simple IS better, this is what he learned with one of the greatest hero from all times.

Goku, and it was both the normal version and the abridged one.

Deep down, one of Castiel's dreams is to, when he had enough power, add THE Kamehameha on his list of skills.

In Nico's mind, the teen felt like he was in a war, such was the nature of the thoughts conflicting within him. He could feel his inner Ghoul squealing in delight at the possibility of a straight up fight, something he had expected from it due to its primitive nature. Also, if he were to be honest, simplistic fights were the ones that were the most familiar to him, sine he fought Abnormal monsters often as a Spec Ops Agent. Not to mention, a fight like this was what h e lived for, he was a warrior, a warrior who had been forced to fight in a battle of politics recently, so another battle he was used to in terms of style would be more than welcome.

While Nico was debating with himself Castiel ran ahead. Opening his wings and donning his armor he took out both Hruting and Clarent, the former on his left hand and the latter on his right, and using his fastest speed tried to cut down the enemy.

"Why don't you understand that it is useless?" Mathayus proclaimed while he raised one hand dismissively, swinging it in the form of a backhand... but the results were quite different than before.

SLASH

The fingers of Mathayus went flying, he face revealing surprise from this fact.

"Hard, but still cut-table." Was what Castiel said, his physical strength showing its effectiveness as he followed that slash with a kick that sent Mathayus flying. Castiel than drew on the floor at high speeds, ignoring the fact that Mathayus flew out of the hole he was and launched himself at him with a renewed ferocity.

'A worthy foe...' is what Mathayus thought as he tried to use his blade at Castiel. However, this was not to be since one of Castiel's wings entered in the way of the blade.

CLANCK

The blade was completely and utterly incapable of leaving a single mark at the wing. Honestly speaking Castiel didn't even feel the attack.

"How is this even possible?" is what Mathayus questioned in surprise, and this was the instant that the spell Castiel was preparing got completed.

From the magic circle he made dark currents followed out.

 **"Binding Resentment Chains"** Castiel proclaimed as he jumped back 10 meters as the chains disappeared from Mathayus' body.

"Insignificant trick!" he shouted as he tried to run at Castiel, but whem he was one meter away from Castiel. "Huh?" he went right back to where he was before.

"Did you like this trick? It is a little something I created while researching my curses. I am not proficient enough to activate it instantly but with some small preparations it is plenty possible to use. It is a curse that forces the target to not leave a certain area no matter how much he tries. And now for my next, what did you call, oh yeah my next trick." Castiel said with a evil smile. "Have a taste of one of my original spells! **BRIONAC**!"

With this shout he activated the spell he was charging from before, creating a focused flame blast so hot that Mathanyus' shoulder was pierced right through, electing from him a grunt of pain.

"And don't worry, there is MORE! **failure, weakness, sadness, despair, vanity, hunger, mistake, abandon, greed, misery, decomposition, agony, betrayal, envy, incompetence, loss, cowardice, torture, punishment, death, death, DEATH!"** With this series of curses the very air around Mathayus hurt to breath, pain and suffering an all encompassing reality for anyone that even approached that area.

If that wasn't enough, Nico joined in the battle by summoning Soul Edge. Immediately its PREDATOR ability activated, amplifying its energy through its own bloodlust. While running, the male's thoughts briefly went over to the spells that his companion used, his mind quickly coming up with thoughts and ideas about them, their workings and applications. He had to admit. the versatility of these Curses, judging by the effect they had on this enemy of theirs, was something to be feared. The male definitely wanted to find something that either grants him or boosts any kind of resistance to attacks like those in the future, cause their potential on the battlefield was staggering.

Soul Edge, now that he thought about it, had something similar with its BLOOD RAGE and SCORCHING AURA abilities, since they influenced their target's mental state. Same thing with the curses, both of them influence their targets, and depending on their target's mental states their effects can vary. From what he could tell though, these Curses are a lot more numerous than just his few abilities.

Though, unlike them these curses influenced the soul as well. Soul Edge just influenced the mind, which is also powerful in its own right as the mind is the biggest source of human emotion out there.

He ran around the side, making sure to keep far from the enemy while he held Soul Edge at the ready. Th massive sword narrowed its single eyeball towards Mathayus with a deadly glare, the rage overflowing from within its very being. Nico also felt some small amount of bloodlust aimed towards Clarent as well, but he didn't focus on that one. 'Biko, Soul Edge's ranged abilities should work here, right?' He thought to his Demon Persona.

 **'Indeed they should. From what I can tell, Emiya's spell has a limited range, and those curses he is spouting off like a fangirl ranting about her** **favorite** **male character in a videogame seem to impact a certain area as well. ****If we use Soul Edge's ranged forms, we should have a significant advantage over our enemy.'**

That was all he needed to hear, before mentally commanding Soul Edge to do his will. The sword rattled in his grip and a surge of acceptance entered his being from his link to the Devil Arm, before Soul Edge deformed itself into a mass-less state that reformed into its Bow form. For those who don't know, Soul Edge's bow form is of a traditional Longbow, but with demonic flesh for the base, an entrails-like string, and multiple eyes. Stopping all motion, Nico stood tall and drew the string back, Soul Edge swiftly forming an Arrow from its fleshy frame that Nico coated in his weaker Hellfire for good measure. Taking his hand off the string, Nico let loose the Harpoon shaped Arrow and watched it fly true towards its target.

When he noticed it coming, Mathayus frowned under his breath, still weary from those onslaught of Curses. He felt their effects draining quickly though, his insanity empowering his mental strength so that hey don't remain active for long, however the rate that Arrow flew true meant that he wouldn't be able to block it in time. "Fool." Even so, he still felt confident that the flaming arrow wouldn't be able to do anything to him. That boy couldn't damage him once, and yet Mathayus had been able to break his arm in one strike. "Such a primitive weapon won't-"

Unfortunately for him, Mathayus was once again proven wrong the instant the Arrow made contact with his body. To be more specific, his non-weapon arm''s shoulder. His eyes widened as searing pain exploded from the point of impact, the arrow tearing right through the Shoulder area and destroying it, the Hellfire consuming his entire arm along the way. "What?!"

"Soul Edge isn't known as my strongest Devil Arm for nothing, you know!" Nico proclaimed, a dark gleam in his eye behind his Helmet while his Armour clinked from slight movements. "The damage these arrows do normally, is rivaling to the shell of a Tank's main gun. When they are released however, they show their true fangs. The longer the distance between the arrow and target, the stronger the Arrows become as the energies inside them accumulate, leading to them being potentially able to level entire buildings or armies from a safe distance." he stated. "Here, have a few MORE!"

In that instant, Nico unloaded a whole volley of Arrows, each coated with Hellfire till they looked like the volley of bullets from a Gatling Gun. Mathayus quickly got his wits together and became a blur, avoiding the Arrows by a hair lest he let his body suffer the same fate that befell his arm. Every time one of the Arrows nearly grazed him, he felt the fierce heat of the flames that coated them, a heat that could only come from a warrior whose resolve was equal to that of a firestorm. It was like he was looking at the personification of an Infernal deity itself, the raw heat, malice and wrathful intent that he could sense from those flames was enormous.

'Yet another worthy foe...'

At first, he had expected these two to be pure weaklings, nothing even worthy of its time. Its power dwarfed theirs by a wide margin, and they had been unable to fight at full capacity due to fighting him in that detestable form he had been in before. That form of which he had no sanity or control over himself. However, even weakened these two boys managed to cut them.

As such, these two would have to be defeated with the prejudice of a true warrior.

Meanwhile, Castiel eyed the Bow Nico wielded, and furrowed his brows when a realization came to him. "You've been holding out on me." he stated dully. Although he did feel like a hypocrite since he had done the same thing. It looked like they both had powers in their arsenal that they had yet to share, that was what he thought while quickly reinforcing his onslaught, mixing in his Curses as well so that the enemy had a harder time dodging their combined offensive.

"Right back at you." was what Nico countered with before resuming his offensive, releasing 2 Rinkaku Tentacles which were manipulated to be small yet still big enough to pick up Ebony and Ivory to operate them. They added the two pistols into the mix of projectiles to the mix, making his assault ever the harder to avoid for the mask-wearing being.

As a result, the Scorpion King found himself hard pressed to defend against two attacks from different angles. One felt much more demonic, sinister and twisted than the other, while that other felt like a mix of holy and ravenous, like two opposing forces that should not be able to co-exist yet they do at the same time, These two forces constantly pelted away on him, pounding at his defenses both his sword and his iron skin. His sword remained strong due to it being bound to his very being, but his Iron Skin slowly started folding under the pressure, the constant attacks steadily breaking it into pieces. Any longer, and they would soon be able to break through it completely to his flesh just like those attacks before had done.

"ENOUGH!"

Eventually, Mathayus had enough, and with a mighty war cry he unleashed a large energy wave from his body that blew everything back, forcing Nico and Castiel to employ defensive actions. Castiel summoned forth a barrier in front of him, enhanced with reinforcement to withstand the debris while Nico formed a wall of Hellfire in front of him to burn the debris before it could even get close. Soul Edge reformed into its default form, too, ready to be used against their opponent.

By the time the wave ended, both boys lowered their defenses, allowing them to see how tattered and damaged their opponent was. Not only did he lack an arm, but he had scratches and scorch marks all over its body. Some were deep enough to draw blood, while some scorch marks looked like a mix of black and a horrible purple. Still though, the masculine monster remained resolute, defiance dancing in his eyes as he looked down at his blade.

"I grow weary of these petty tricks." Mathayus snarled, before looking up, raising and holding his sword in an offensive stance. "It is clear to me that your blades are capable of cutting me, thus I shall see you both as warriors of which I must defeat. Therefore, it is time that we settle this with nothing but our blades. Show me the strength of your resolve, warriors. But before you do, I will have your names."

"Castiel Emiya."

"...Nico."

Both boys said their name, Castiel first then Nico who followed after reluctantly. Both boys now stood side by side (Nico having teleported to said side by Warping) and were holding their weapons at the ready. Soul Edge, Clarent and Hruting thrummed with power, the first one amplifying itself with its own bloodlust via PREDATOR. Its power filled the air around it, forming a thick miasma that crackled darkly with electricity over the weapon. The feelings of impending doom radiated from the bloodthirsty blade, which looked eager to sink itself into the flesh of its prey, namely Mathayus.

Meanwhile, the holy Clarent and bloodlust-fueled Hruting radiated their own auras, both giving off feelings of royalty and felt like two sides of the same coin, yin and yang, that type of thing yet co-existing through the body of their wielder. Their auras generated feelings of awe, charisma, violence, death and bloodlust all mixed into one grayish package. It was like looking at two sworn enemies, enemies who followed the opposing paths to each other, then decide to team up against the threat of a third party.

All the while, their wielders kept stern gazes at their opponent (Nico's being hidden by is Armour's helmet). Castiel quickly deployed his Golden Foundation Armour, completing the look that they unknowingly were presenting.

Two knight-like figures stood before Mathayus. One looked like he was clearly from royalty with the ferocity of an animal, a mix of elegance and brutality. The golden shine of his Armour glimmered menacingly, yet with an air of leadership and charisma that only a King could possess. It was like looking at someone capable of being the pillar that supported an entire people, a pillar that would be a natural born leader, someone to look up to, someone to rely on when the going got tough... which was mos of the time.

The other, a complete contrast to this holy royal knight: instead of one who projected both royalty and brutality, this Knight looked like one who had came from the battlefields of the infernal hell after conquering countless territories, surviving countless battles against creatures that may could only speak of. Creatures only few could have the privilege of boasting they could defeat. Even then however, this Knight f hell, this Demon, it had slain many in its path of carnage, leaving nothing but blood and gore in his path. Now, this Dark, Devilish Knight from the infernal levels of hell itself, faced off against Mathayus, ready to duke it out with nothing but pure swordsmanship.

Yet, neither realized it, but in Mathayus' eyes, the being noticed that there was a... similarity about them. Something that he did not feel the need to comment as it was not related to the battle that would follow.

With three war cries breaking through their helmets/half Mask, the three charged at each other, starting the final battle.

* * *

The first strike went to Castiel, who moved faster thanks to his Wings. He jumped into a spinning disk slash assault, slashing at his opponent while aiming for vital areas. Each one got blocked, parried or missed however, the ones from Hruting always being parried while Clarent either got blocked or missed thanks to the black sword's auto-aim ability. After one such slash, Castiel twisted into a high curve kick to the side of Mathayus' head, but the being just stepped back to dodge it and followed up with a slash to his face.

That one got blocked by Nico, who planted Soul Edge in the way while Castiel jumped backwards just in time, circling around while Nico traded a few blows with his large blade. Soul Edge seemed to fare much better than his other weapons did, it seemed as it would strike with enough force to resist the overwhelming power of Mathayus' blade. By the fifth strike, Nico slid side ways to allow Castiel to jump back into the brawl, swinging at Mathayus' back. However, its long Scorpion Tail blocked his swing before tossing Castiel back.

Sliding to a halt, Castiel looked up to see Mathayus about to make a reverse swing that would have sliced his head off if his Armour wasn't there. Quickly raising Hruting, he blocked the strike before swinging Clarent at his exposed side, only for the being to vanish out of thin air. His eyes quickly widened, searching for any sign of their enemy. Instincts warned him to look up, and he did, just to see the approaching Pincer-shape blade coming down on him with enough force to make a jetliner bend into a V shape.

Fortunately, Castiel rolled out of the way in time, letting the blade pass harmlessly into the ground and creating a resounding shockwave. He dug his wings into the ground upon landing, raising one to block another swing to his chest before Castiel unloaded a snap kick on his enemy's jaw, knocking him back. Using the power amplifying ability Clarent had, the young Heir dashed forth and slammed both blades into his enemy who raised his sword to block. This resulted in the Scorpion King being sent flying across the room.

A red flash appeared just outside his Peripheral vision, making Mathayus look backwards to see Nico having Warped behind him and revers swung Soul Edge upwards. Twisting his body allowed Mathayus to barely block it in time, but he got sent flying into the air as a result. Though, his strike did leave Mathayus disoriented thanks to Soul Edge's own magnified power. He got sent crashing through the roof, but thanks to the curse Castiel placed on him, Mathayus reappeared in a flash of purple in the same spot that he got those chains at.

At that moment, he realized something about these two which made his eyes narrow at them.

'These two...'

Also in that moment, both Nico and Castiel grunted, feeling something wash over them, then the feeling of something being lifted. Like their shoulders felt considerably lighter. Then, came a feeling of weightlessness, like gravity no longer had an effect on them.

"Uh, Nico?" Castiel questioned, arching a brow behind his helmet as a thought occurred to him. He soon began experimentally flapping his wings, and when he did he got the sensation that they were not as hindered as they have been the entire mission. "I'm thinking that we MAY have a bit more of the case of flyingness on our side..."

Nico, whom had felt the same as his companion, quickly accessed his Demonic Powers and activated DDD, transforming into Crimson Soul. He hadn't tried it yet before because he feared what might happen if he did, like what restrictions would be imposed on him if he transformed. After all, his Recon Drone hadn't been able to even hover, so he figured some restrictions would have been applied in a similar manner to his DPU Form. However, if this weightlessness indicated what he and Castiel thought it did, then...

Both boys made mighty leaps, spreading their wings and flapping them for hovering purposes. The result: their flight capabilities kicked in as they flew up towards the Hole Mathayus made when he got sent flying by Soul Edge.

"Looks like our powers of flight have been restored! The limitation's been lifted!" Castiel realized, flaring his wings in a grandiose manner. In all honesty, if his Armour wasn't on, then Castiel's large grin would be clearly visible on his face. He may not have had them for long, but Castiel LOVED his wings. Flight and flying enemies in general always gave him a hard time in the past. It was why really hated those who had wings and used them unfairly against him and any of those under him. Now that he had his OWN wings that would no longer be an issue.

Now however, he just wanted to finish this so he could practice some flying skills. He hadn;t had the chance to do this for a while, now and he wanted to change that.

While he floated alongside his companion, Crimson Soul eyed their opponent, humming in thought. This battle had gone ion way longer than necessary, and it would be too tedious to continue this the way that they have. Simple is better in some situations, but according to his senses, he could sense that this guy wanted to end this battle fast. Therefore he will likely try something large to get them both at the same time. For a moment, the warrior within him cried out in outrage at this, feeling like he was being insulted, but Crimson Soul didn't feel any resentment towards Mathayus for this. Simply due to the fact that he agreed. The time to end this battle had come, it had dragged on for long enough.

Glancing over to Castiel and looking into his eyes through his helmet (though not his emotions as his human self had experience on what that was a bad idea), he saw that the Heir had a similar thought process.

"Emiya." Crimson Soul stated as Soul Edge crackled with energy. He got into a battle stance and activated EVERY power amplifying ability he possessed, including the items he had on him at the moment, before infusing them all into Soul Edge. This made the Devil Arm roar with power, power which released trails of energy across the skies around them. "This fight has gone on long enough. It is time that we end this farce once and for all."

Biko, watching everything through the main aspect's senses,then noticed something, something none of the three had noticed. Interestingly enough,he saw how the golden Scepter that Crimson Soul's human self had picked up, had flew up after them this whole time, though it went unnoticed by the trio, and infused itself with Soul Edge. Why that was, Biko didn't know, but he guessed that it would only be revealed when the last blow landed.

The Heir to the Tower nodded in response, agreeing with his companion. "You bet. Lets finish this, I wanna get outta this heat already. Its killing my tan." he remarked, slight mirth in his tone as he prepared for a strike of his own. He discarded Hruting for this one, putting both hands on Clarent as he began powering up. Golden energy erupted from the blade, roaring from it as it spread across the air like the demonic energies of Soul Edge.

This did not go unnoticed by the Scorpion King, whom raised a brow in interest as he held his blade at the ready. "Hmmm... I see. So you two intend to put everything you have into a single strike. Very well then..." In that instant, crimson energy rolled off the masculine being in waves, sending rippling air waves from his position that collided with the waves Castiel and Crimson Soul were releasing. Behind him, the silhouette of a human Skull formed, its wide eyes hollow sockets while its maw opened and let out a fierce roar. "Allow me to do the same."

"WITH PLEASURE!"

Both boys reared their weapons back, their energies getting increasingly volatile. It was almost like their swords were competing against each other to see which one was the most dangerous. Neither wielder paid much attention to the behavior of their swords however, focusing their gazes solely on their opponent who responded in kind. For a moment, all was tense and silent, as if the forest itself was watching them eagerly awaiting the final conclusion to their duel. It was like watching 3 colossal titans about to duke it out to the death. The level of scale to this battle felt as such to anything or anyone watching.

Finally, they were on each other in a second, swinging their blades at one another.

The moment those blades touched, they were engulfed in a bright light, making it impossible to see what would happen next.

* * *

Several moments later, both boys fell to the ground as smoking bodies, landing right before the entrance tot he pyramid and rolling to stop. Both boys had reverted to their regular states, Nico without his DPU Form, Armour, Mask and Devil Arms and Castiel without his wings, Armour and Clarent..

"Ugh..." the redhead teen mused, sitting up while groaning, feeling his regeneration quickly repairing what damage was dealt to his body. Putting his gloved hand on his head, Nico cleared the cobwebs from his brain. "Well, that wasn't unexpected, but still a whole lot better than being dead..." he muttered under his breath before he looked up. His eyes widened when he saw what he did.

On the ground though, Castiel groaned as he too started getting up, casting healing blessings on himself. He didn't have the time to activate **Siegfried** during the collision, so the damage he got dealt with was more than what he had expected. Good thing that he had eaten that herb as well as bathed in that pool that increased their physical endurance, otherwise he and Nico would have likely bit the dust from the resulting energy eruption.

Glancing over to the red haired male, Castiel noticed him looking upwards and followed his gaze, finding himself looking upon the massive cloud of smoke rising through the air from their collision. His eyes slightly widened at the sight, his mouth becoming 'O' shaped as he witnessed it. "Well... at last that confirms it." he stated, drawing Nico's attention.

"Confirms what?"

"That we kicked that guy's ass."

To further prove the Heir's words, Nico and Castiel noticed a message screen, similar to those one would see on a chat group, appear in front of them. They both had the same message inscribed on them, in big capital letters for them to read as clear as day:

MISSION COMPLETE

POINTS - c: 200 - N: 12000

"Huh?! What is this bullshit?! Why the hell do you have way more points?! that's totally hax!" Castiel exclaimed when he read that part. Irritation and anger roared within his chest at this 'injustice', as in his eyes he had done a whole lot more than what would be worth this amount of points. He should have gained more than what he did, that was what he thought.

Nico hummed in thought, frowning as while he felt happy about the large points for him, he still felt similar to how Castiel was feeling. Though that didn't mean that his ranting didn't annoy him, quite the opposite actually. He just forced himself to think of a possible solution to this problem. In the end, Nico felt that he wouldn't have been able to get as far as he did without Castiel's help, so it felt like he was stealing unfairly from the guy. After a moment of pondering, an idea came to him and Nico turned to the frustrated Heir. "Perhaps its because I killed considerably more enemies than you, even if you dealt with more of the Bounded Fields than I. If we consider this as a game, RPG or hack'n'slash, then I have accumulated more kills than you by a wide margin, therefore I gain more points." he explained.

Castiel made to yell some more, but calmed himself down with forced breathing exercises taught to him when he was a kid, something that his teachers said would help him deal with stressful situations like in politics or with incompetence. The more he thought about it, the more that he began to see the logic behind Nico's assessment. This whole mission was filled with tons of game vibes to him, and hell Zelretch's explanation carried similar vibes to it. That way, seeing as how Nico had killed plenty more than him made him having more points than him made sense, as much as he loathed to admit it. He also felt a little bad at his ranting just now, it was not behavior that was befitting the Heir to the Tower that he was. Fortunately, none of his teachers were around to see this and they never would know.

He'll take this secret to the grave if he had to.

"Still, this does not sit well with me." Nico continued, scowling which drew the Heir's attention. "It does not feel right to take so many points for myself when most of the more important work was done by yourself. I would not have gotten this far if it weren't for your efforts in breaking the Bounded Fields." He admitted, though he didn't like it. Immortality or not, Nico didn't want to experience what it would be like as a disembodied soul waiting to reform. If Castiel's words were to be believed, and he didn't doubt them since he had more experience with them than him, then he would have likely had to experience that pain himself. "Therefore... how about this? Remember that deal we made in the desert? The deal with the information you gave me in exchange for 30% of the catch? How about we revisit that, and say that instead of 30% of the catch, you receive 50% of it, in addition my total points as well. That way you captain a significant reward from something like this."

Much to Nico's surprise however, Castiel shook his head before responding. "No need, that wouldn't be fair to you. You earned those points so keep them, we'll just keep to the established terms before. in any case, we should be able to get back for the next trial, so lets go."

* * *

After they confirmed the deal and exchanged the rewards (a tedious affair indeed) Nico and Castiel found themselves back in the same area they first sparred in. They should call it a training area for the time being, maybe even take time to rest in between trials here, but that would be food for thought later. Looking around, they soon found Zelretch standing nearby, looking upon the two with his ever present grandfatherly grin on his face.

"Not bad, not bad you two." He stated, clapping his hands while walking up to them. "You cleared your first trial. A bit later than I had expected, but It seems that would be partially thanks to your little break in that mini desert I built in." He remarked, before giving a sly look to Nico. Said teen raised a brow, doing his utmost to remain the blissfully ignorant person in that matter. He knew what that look meant, but he felt no remorse for 'executing his vengeance' on Castiel's face with his Kagune.

It WAS payback for those lady comments after all.

Castiel pretended not to notice this, while he responded to Zelretch's words. "Well, it was a trip, but nothing we couldn't handle. Say, is it alright if I do something before we continue?" he asked, getting a knowing nod from his Godfather who looked like he knew what Castiel wanted to do before he did. Odds were, that was the truth since the guy DID have some experience under his belt.

Pulling out the Stones he got from those Bounded Fields within he Scorpion King's tomb, the Heir summoned his two Cosmoems. "Hey guys, guess who?" he exclaimed happily, the familiars squealing in joy as they hugged their master in affection. He hugged them back, unable to keep the grin off his face. He had missed all his familiars, and intended to let them know he was ok as soon as he could.

But for now, it was time for them to finish their evolution. Pulling out the Stones, Castiel held them before the two familiars, his smile becoming smaller and more affectionate if it were possible. "Alright guys, I just found something that'll help you two grow big and strong. Here." he said, holding them out before the Cosmoems.

Said Familiars beamed at him, before they pressed their heads against the stones, and became engulfed in bright light. This made Castiel, Nico and Zelretch place one hand over their eyes to shield them from the intensity that the light produced. By the time that the light died down, two beings now stood before the Heir to the Tohsaka Tower.

One of them was a large, white lion. It had a blunt muzzle with a blue-gray nose and pale blue eyes. The top half of its face is a deep blue area that shows a constantly changing starscape. Four yellow spikes framed its head like a crown and two more pairs of spikes adorn either side of its lower jaw, and each spike separates large tufts of the creature's mane. Solid ridges—red nearest the head and yellow farther away—poke out of each tuft along the middle, except on the tufts on its cheeks and chin, with the topmost part wrapping around the tip of the tuft. Overall, its mane creates the impression of a stylized sun. Around each leg is a dark orange band, and there is a black spot on each foot. It has three black toes on each foot with long yellow claws. At the tip of its tail is a large black spot with a thin yellow rim. If someone who had a powerful enough sensing ability tried to track him they would sense this mighty beast as if it was the sun itself as all its light was like the scorching and vibrant light of the sun, alight more fitting for pure combat.

As for the other, it took the form of a large skeletal, legless bat. It had a short snout, dark pink eyes with white centres, and a deep blue area on its upper head that shows a constantly changing starscape. A rigid, raised hood wraps around its head in a crescent shape and drapes around its neck as well. The outside of the hood is yellow, while the inner part that curves around its head was a pattern of deep blue and white streaks. Its torso resembled a rib-cage with a slightly curved spike on each shoulder and three spikes extending from the bottom toward its tail. Its massive wings resembled a bat's wings with the skeleton exposed, except that they have a total of seven "finger bones": four running through each wing, one running along the edge to the outermost tip, and two pointing upwards that may act as claws that are more functional. The four "bones" through the wings were only visible in segments. The skin of the wings is an iridescent deep blue, and a light blue light source appears to glow from behind its rib-cage. A large, pale yellow crescent connects the outermost tip of each wing to the next two inner tips, and the remaining two innermost tips are adorned by yellow, four-pointed stars. The bottom of its tail is also lined by a yellow crescent, with a ridge running up the middle of the tail towards the rib-cage. The light it had was of similar and equal scale to its brother but the nature was that of the moonlight, a gentle but all-encompassing light that could reach everywhere and was much more mysterious but also accepting of change, a light more fit for healing and more mysterious uses instead of head-on confrontations.

"Solgaleo!"

"Lunala!"

Both creatures cried out their names to the heavens, victory and joy in their roars. The sight nearly brought tears into Castiel's eyes as he watched it. The sight of his beloved Familiars finally finishing their evolution definitely felt like a tearjerker to him, and he had to admit that they looked as awesome as all hell. He could only imagine what they could do out in the field, something he would love to find out. "You guys, I'm so freaking proud of you two right now you have no idea!" he exclaimed joyfully, rushing forth and hugging the two. Both familiars beamed happily at the affection displayed by their master and nuzzled him back, showing their appreciation for the gesture. At this moment the three were simply happy that they wouldn't need to worry for each other as much, Castiel knew that the two have grown immenselly strong and already were close to reaching Low Super-Class, the only thing stopping them was that they still needed time to stabilise their energy before reaching that level and even further considering that the Solgaleo and Lunala species were species that naturally reached mid to high Leader-class when fully matured, while the two in question were happy that they would now be able to properly support their master/elder brother/surrogate-father (he had taken care of them since they were eggs, what else to expect?). If someone were to ask if Castiel would say that this trip here was worth it based exclusively in what they managed to obtain already, the perfect evolution of his two familiars was something that Castiel could only laugh in happiness for. The two were strong now, the connection between them and Castiel also intensified and he could sense the power of the sun and moon enter his body and strengthening his light magic, starting to change it fundamentally to unite the light of the sun, moon, and star to reach a more balanced and perfect level. Not that this even registered for Castiel, his familiars, his family in all but blood, was fine and this was all that mattered to him.

While Nico and Zelretch watched the moment, the former looked to the side, feeling a pang of pain in his chest. Not the physical kind, but the emotional kind as the moment reminded him of the people that he had come to care for through their adventures. The people whom had accepted him for who and what he was. They must be worried sick, wondering where the hell he was. Nico had planned to spend some time with them after the whole Mundus incident, and there was a lot they needed to do before they moved to the next landmass, Lowee. So much had happened between them, that it felt like a crime to be away from them for so long.

Deciding to try and focus on something else instead of his companions back in the Devildimension, Nico summoned his OWN in-game reward from that place, the Scepter. Aside for the distraction part, Nico wanted to see if this Scepter had anything worthwhile to know about it, and also if it had anything to do with why that, now that he had a chance to look at his arms, the Bracelet was not there. However, the moment that he did, the teen got the shock of his life when he found something ELSE appearing in a golden flash in front of him, similar to his Devil Arms.

"What the...?" the teen muttered, looking at the weapon in his right hand with a mix of awe, shock, and surprise. Instead of a Scepter, Nico held what looked like a golden SCYTHE. The blade was long and curved, coming off the tip of the snaith at its heel. The snaith itself looks to be made out of golden, and it has two grips protruding from opposite ends that resembled long curving hooks. Its pommel looked reminiscent of the Scepter's main body, golden with intricate designs. Even while he had so many questions floating about in his head regarding this, Nico couldn't help but find this weapon considerably more fitting for him than a Scepter would. He WAS known by the nickname 'Black Reaper' after all.

"Well, looks like my guess paid off."

Looking to Zelretch, whom had been the one to break his concentration, Nico arched a brow at him, curiosity in his eyes on what he meant by that. "What are you talking about?" he questioned, experimentally twirling the Scythe in complex arcs, flips, twists, lunges etc like a dance, while making use of the external grips to perform wheel-like spins. He had to admit, this thing felt pretty good to wield, just like how Harvester did. Eventually, he finished his 'initiation' with the Scythe and tethered it to his back with Demonic Power.

"You see, this item I have been trying to make for a while now, but I never got all the kinks for it. I had to split it into 3 parts, the soul, the grip, and the shaft, Then store them in the Pyramid until I could find a way to complete the weapon. Then, I stumbled on your world after one of my experiments with time went awry, and learned of Devil Arms. Quite the battle tools if I do say so myself..." he explained, looking at Nico knowingly. The teen didn't like the way he looked at him though but made no move to show his displeasure. After all, this guy could do whatever the hell he wanted with the amount of power at his disposal.

Though, Nico DID finally get confirmation that there was another reason as to why Zelretch brought him here.

Fortunately he didn't keep that look forever, choosing to continue the explanation. "My time there, along with my friendship with Sparda, taught me that this weapon would be best operational if it had sentience and intelligence, so I went back, developed a prototype device called a 'Hogyoku', and inserted it into the soul. Unfortunately it was only a prototype not the real thing, so while the completed being would have knowledge of the techniques it held inside, it wouldn't be able to perform them. Even so, the soul still had the power to control the Army of that old codger Anubis, something that, when this Scythe was made, has been inherited along with some of those abilities."

Nico frowned as he took the Scythe from his back, and held it by its shaft in front of him, gazing down at the weapon with contemplating eyes. This information sounded quite interesting, and it made him feel like he was with the WDD back home learning about how different technologies worked. However, there was still more truth to know, hence why he questioned Zelretch again. "Interesting... I won't ask how you created these components, but may I ask how this weapon came into being?"

"Simple, you." the elderly man replied. "You see, since you collected the three components: the Bracelet, the Scepter, and Mathayus' Soul when you killed him with the Scepter infused into your weapon..." Nico made to object to that when he got a confirmation from Biko, who told him about what he noticed during the final battle. Thus, he shut his mouth and let the elderly man continue, "A bonus was triggered: These components fused together in a way that I have been failing to replicate for ages. During the process, it bonded to your own Soul like those bratty Devil Arms you have, allowing it to be used by you and you alone. Its also got the ability to summon forth and control the Army of Anubis thanks to having the Soul of Mathayus inside it, along with a few abilities from the Hyogyoku."

The man then pointed his index finger at it, and a special sealing array formed over the Scythe, much to Nico's surprise as he looked towards the man. "Don't worry, I'm not destroying the Scythe, I wouldn't be able to anyways thanks to it being too integrated into your Soul. If I did, it'd damage you severely and I don't want that. Instead I'm sealing the Army of Anubis so that you can't summon them until AFTER you complete the trials. That army has a LARGE potential within it, and I don't want to have to clean up after them. Those doggies love to shit over everything, I swear..." in the end, the man mumbled that last part to himself as if he had a personal experience with them or something. Something that Nico didn't doubt honestly.

 **'I have looked it over myself, Nico. It appears that while this weapon is indeed sentient, it is not the same as a Devil Arm. Therefore, this weapon will not try to take you should you show any weakness, nor will it drain your energy. Should another incident like the Berserker Mode happen again, it will not need to be sealed away like the other Devil Arms.'**

"... So basically, this guy's got a super-weapon you've been making for a while bonded to his Soul that has the power to summon a literal army of death? Sheesh, you make some weird things, Uncle."

Looking to the side, both men saw Castiel walking up to them, his two Familiars right behind him while his hands remained at his sides. He looked at the new Scythe with a low whistle escaping his lips. "You know that thing's name, at least? A weapon like that has to have a good sounding name." he questioned, Nico and Zelretch drawing their gaze back to it.

"Osiris." Nico stated, bluntly. For a moment he seemed surprised, but then disregarded said emotion. Knowing the name of a weapon instantly after touching it didn't seem so shocking anymore, since he had so many other weapons now.

Zelretch then clapped his hands, getting the attention of the two boys again. "Whelp, this has been a fun little trip, but I must be off. the second trial starts a couple hours from now, so use this time wisely. Access the catalog, train with your buddies, talk, do what you feel is necessary. I'm off to binge watch some One Piece episodes while chewing bubble gum." he spoke, before vanishing out of existence like he normally did...

It was Zelretch, what do you expect?


	160. Cross Chapter 7 - Rewards, 2nd Mission

**Rewards and New Mission**

Now that they had gotten Nico's Osiris out of the way, it was time that they give Castiel his own rewards. Zelretch wouldn't be here to witness this however, having left them already to do his own thing. Fine by them, after all they had a lot of time on their hands if what their instincts told them was any accurate, so might as well make the most out of it.

And both boys had their own means of doing so.

On one side, the Spec Ops Agent showed little reaction to the lack of an elderly man in their area. He didn't really mind all that much since he had his new weapon, it was more than enough for a reward from this mission. It rivaled some of the rewards he would receive from his Quests back home aside from Credit sums. A weapon like this, feeling so similar to a Devil Arm yet not at the same time, it would be an ideal substitute for Harvester considering how it would be going through somewhat of a metamorphosis.

Turning to his companion, Nico hummed in thought. His eyes ran across the sight of Castiel's two new familiars, taking in their elegance and beauty. Even Nico had to admit that he was a little impressed with them, they seemed so much stronger than they were before. In fact, while he wasn't aware of their biology, the short time that he had seen them in their previous states made Nico aware that they were in an incomplete state. Not only that, but his senses told him that these two beings had ma much greater power boost compared to before, though he had little idea on what they were like.

Nevertheless, seeing them gave him a bit of an idea to do with his OWN companion, his own little creation from his Demonic Powers. Whether or not it would be related to him due to the nature of its origins would be debatable, though. Still, this did pose some ideas for Nico to increase its powers, which were already strong enough to begin with.

In the past, Nico would have focused on increasing his OWN powers so that he could fight the battles that nobody else could. It had worked for him so far, and he had been able to achieve much on his own, with little to no help from other people. it didn't help that there were few in his experience who were that competent enough to stand by him, those few slowly increasing though. However, if anything about recent events taught him a lesson, it would be that he wasn't the only one needing to get stronger, there was his companions as well. Not only his companions back in Gamindustri, but his sort of familiar as well. No longer could he afford to be the only one who needed to get stronger, he had to upgrade the rest of his companions as well.

'Hey, Biko, do you think it might be possible for us to find something that could help Urthemiel out in this place?'

 **'I do not see why that would not be the case. According to this man;s words, as vague as they were, this place is full of different treasures, treasures connected to his countless exploits in alternate dimensions. This would mean that there would likely be something of use to our Archdemon, Urthemiel.'**

Wasn't that the truth, the male mused to himself. The fact that there were other worlds had already even made known to him by the time he first met with this guy, who MAGES. said was her master, hadn't prepared him for the possibility of alternate dimensions. It had only been through all this crazy demonic shit that he hadn't lost himself to his urge to squeal like a fangirl at the possibilities this could provide... as well as his discipline training from his mother.

Meanwhile, Castiel had been focusing on petting his new familiars, a broad smile on his lips. He couldn't say with words how happy he was that he had these guys now, how much he would LOVE to see them in action. Not only did they look cool as all hell, but they also felt immensely powerful, way more so than most familiars. They WERE meant to be legend-class familiars after all, and their powers could go up against the toughest opponents while holding their own.

He couldn't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when they saw his new friends,especially a certain pervert. He may be changing his ways somewhat, but Castiel would regard him as a pervert till the end of time. As long as he kept that side of him reined in though, he would try not to be a dick about it. After all, he was only an asshole to those who either annoy him, were his enemies, or he held no respect for whatsoever.

Not to mention, all this felt like therapy for him considering how much stress he had been under since coming here. Much of it had already been worked out of his system, but the core problem still remained. Nevertheless, he had a couple weeks to ponder that, so he wouldn't be in a hurry to solve those problems. He could think about them some other time.

Even so though, his mind STILL worked a million miles a minute, thoughts and plans racing through it like racers on a course competing for a championship, on what this could mean for future missions. As well as how he could protect his comrades and those under him in the future once he returned home. He would have to look into how he could use their powers, see what they were first. Whether or not they had gained new ones or enhanced their old ones.

Also, there were their special traits, traits that unlocked themselves when certain conditions were met. That familiar catcher guy (he didn't remember his name) once called them special abilities, which Castiel disagreed with. A LOT of powers could be classed that way, so it would be redundant to call these specific traits such. Therefore, special traits would be what the Heir would go with.

Just then, he caught sight of Nico's pondering, but before he could speak, a notification appeared in front of him. 'Once a gamer, always a gamer, eh uncle?' he couldn't help but think while his lips twitched upward slightly. 'Hmmm... it says here I can choose a reward for completing the first trial. I can chose anything i'd like, huh? Well then, I think I have just the thing...' he thought to himself, before opening his mouth. "I'd like a Ying Yang Pendant."

As Castiel said that a pendant appeared in his hands, it was rather dull and old, there was not a single trace of anything special about it whatsoever to anyone looking at it without extreme focus. However, Castiel was not just anyone.

He was someone who had secretly studied thousands of books from all sources including some that were originally from Zelretch's personal collection, anything that could be used to obtain strength or that could work to help train was something he had learned. So, when he held the pendant the smile on his face was as hungry and extreme as a smile could be, something that shocked Nico who never expected the 'grumpy' Castiel to be able to show such a smile.

As Castiel held the pendant with one hand he cut the skin of his free hand before dropping some of his blood into the pendant. The instant the blood touched the stone, it was absorbed and a chain reaction started as blood and energy from Castiel started being drained at extreme speeds. A glow surged forth like a ship sailing through the ocean from within the pendant. A purple glow appeared on the pendant as Castiel's body was covered on an equal glow. The light covering him was intensifying quickly and before long he looked like a purple sun as he stood there before the glow vanished just as Castiel did.

'What the hell?!' Nico thought to himself from his position in the training ground. During that light show, he had to cover his eyes with a single leather glove-clad hand, so he didn't get blinded from that intense purple light. Whilst that happened, the redhead, who had experienced teleportation and other such things before, suddenly felt changes in the air that he had found familiar. When he lowered his arm to see what had happened, Nico saw that Castiel had vanished off the face of this entire dimension. Obviously, the redhead remained baffled for a short time before his mind regained its ability to think. 'Did he just Teleport or something? Cause i'm PRETTY sure that this guy couldn't do that before!'

 **'Hmmm, interesting... it appears that pendant is the cause of this.'**

'The Pendant? Oh right, when Castiel dropped the blood in it, that's when the light show happened... you think that did something to him?'

 **'Most likely. If I were to guess, then I would say that the pendant acts like a key to an Inner-world of sorts. A key in which he has to put blood on it, like a blood sacrifice, to activate. Whatever place he has been taken to, I am unaware of the actual benefits he will gain from it, but I can imagine that they will be significant. Obviously, it won't be ANYTHING like an Inner World like the one we know of. If anything, it seems to me like a special place which the pendant brings him to that cant be accessed so easily. In the end, its similar to the Inner World, but not at the same time.'**

Now that he heard Biko's words, a light of understanding flashed by his eyes as Nico calmed down. For a moment, he had feared the worse for the blonde Heir, but hearing that had doused those worries to nothingness. Instead though, he began to think about what he had learned from Biko. Part of him felt a little unsettled about Castiel having access to something similar to his Inner World, but he dismissed it since it wasn't like he didn't have ANYTHING to compare it to. He was fine with his Inner World being what it was, so that guy could enjoy whatever it was that he had gained. He'll just stay here and reap the benefits he'd gained for himself.

* * *

Castiel's P.O.v.

As I opened my eyes a grim appeared on my face. If my calculations are correct this is the Fourth Layer of this place. The realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, a special space connected to the pendant I obtained. What makes this space extra special is that is decently big (right now it has around 66.000 meters of diameter), the density of energy in the air is the most suitable for me and being about 20 times heavier in amount than in the external world, and that could be used for many things like raising herbs and other such matters.

However, the most interesting part is time. The flow of time here is 100 times faster than on the outside world, and considering that I can spend around 4 hours here by each day it means that while normally I would sleep I can spend around two weeks and then some in here on an ideal place to train. Also, even when I am not here the time still flows 100 times faster in this place so any herb put here gets older 100 times faster, no more than that as the ambient is just too suitable for them to grow.

Looking to the side I see some trees already here, getting closer I see that they are three trees that produce some interesting fruits, Fruit of Vitality that increase lifespan for 50 years, Energy Enhancing Fruit that can increase the physical strength by about 300 kilos, and the Agility Enhancing Fruit that by consuming it the person grows 50% faster. Truly wondrous things. I, obviously, took one of the Agility Enhancing Fruit and ate it, instantly I felt a energy enter my body and I could feel something within me change a little, I am not sure yet but it likely worked.

Now, looking around I saw a giant plaque in the middle of the place. In it there was some writing from the hand of someone I know all too well.

' _This place is my extra dumpste... I mean another secret treasure of mine. Uhum, deffinetly not just somewhere that I threw things like roots and stuff like that because it was occupying too much space. Anyway, originally this place had some special trees and other things that I took away as their leaves and fruits were good to make food better, so as compensation for the 'flawed' product I left a gift on the pond._

 _Enjoy!_ '

As I finished reading the message I took a deep breath before looking over the pond. Inside there wa just water but in the middle, there was a separated island inside the pool, with a decisive heart I moved to the smaller pond and as I looked at it I could feel my eyes shining in pure excitement.

Inside there is a tree, it is a bodhi tree that is releasing a peaceful mood in this place, almost like if it is a sacred place. Just by being near this tree I can sense my mind relaxing and I feel like if I could sit under it to think I could grasp at all I have to learn much faster, I can also see some small fruits on the tree and I can already predict that this whole tree is special in ways I still don't understand.

With this my speed of learning will be even higher, I will be able to ponder and learn things even better.

Looking around I summoned my familiars who quickly moved to make this place their new homes, each went their ways as they relaxed on this great ambient. I also noticed that there are a few creatures around like a 1000 yers old Clam whose blood could be used on the creation of pills and there is also a 5,000 Year Old Golden Medicinal Turtle that has a similar effect. Finishing noticing all that I sat down beneath the tree and started thinking back to all the fighting I had before I met Nico, my fight against him, and also the trial. I tried to understand everything including the inner workings of the magic defenses protecting the trial grounds like the barriers that could stop us and other such matters.

As I sat there my mind cleared and calmed, it was the calmest I've been in probably weeks or perhaps a bit further. However, even this distraction left my mind as I immersed myself on my thoughts, I don't know how long I will stay here but I asked Eevee to come 'wake me up'in a day or so before going back to warn Nico that I will be staying here for longer. I would go there now but I just can't avoif the impulse of sitting down here now and learning more.

And with that I immersed myself in figuring out myself, the nature of my powers, runecraft, and even if I could take this star light I had from the 'partially stolen name of **Kokabiel** '. Power is power, this light could be used and I wanted to know how to use it better than a brutish method like the one I currently am using. There is a lot to learn and I want it all, I am a ganancious man after all even if I don't look much like it most of the time.

* * *

3° Person P.O.V.

About fifteen minutes later or 1 day on the realm

As Nico was ttalking with Biko, suddenly Castiel flashed into existence without a trace of sound or fluctuation of energy. It was like a moment there was nothing and the next there was Castiel.

"I guess you'll be training, then." the redhead stated, not really caring much about these events, since he'd seen way weirder stuff.

"Yup, since Uncle's leaving us to our own devices, I'll make the most out of it with this baby." The young Heir replied, before once again activating the Pendant and vanishing into space once more.

'Whelp, looks like he's gone.'

 **'We should focus on our training as well. We have things to refine after all.'**

On that, Nico nodded as he sat down in a cross legged position, closed his eyes, and entered his Inner World. He and Castiel would be this way for the duration of this interlude between missions.

Before starting the training, however, Castiel suddenly reappeared, and after a quick statement of "just forgot to do something", he decided to take a better look at the things that could be bought with just the points. This caught Nico's attention, just stopping him from finally entering his Inner World.

Something definitely caught his attention, if the contemplative expression on Castiel's face was anything to go by.

"Wow, this might be a good call." he said. Seeing the questioning look on the Agent's face, he elaborated. "It says here that we can buy info about the ext mission, to be more specific what is the general objective and special traits of the place. I will buy this." he said, losing a total of 500 points and receiving Intel in the form of a holographic screen in front of him, showing him what to expect.

And it did NOT look good.

"This will be a metal-based mission, we will receive a total of 30 soldiers each to lead inside a city that will be getting attacked. If the city is destroyed or if over half of the soldiers dies we will lose. And to make things worst the soldiers can refuse our orders if we can't captivate them enough and neither of us can use anything of metal." Castiel explains it, furrowing his brows in thought.

'That... That doesn't sound good, Biko.' The Spec Ops Agent thought worriedly to his Demon Persona. 'My Devil Arms are mostly made of metal anyways, and if that last mission was any indication, then even the slightest traces of metal will render those weapons unusable.' he added, already feeling the dissatisfaction coming from said weapons.

 **'Indeed, this does pose a threat to us, as our powers are highly influenced by our Devil Arms. However, this does not make us helpless, especially with how our Hellfire powers are progressing. Not only that, but the Red Rage Ring does not have an ounce of metal in it, but rather crystal. Not to mention even if it did have some metal in it, since it is part of you like Emiya's arm, it should pass the criteria anyways. So for now, our restrictions would limit us to our Hellfire Powers, Demon Skills and their normal variants. Not to mention we have our hand to hand combat skills.'**

'True... hey wait, how did you know that Emiya's arm has metal in it?'

 **'The life flow within it feels off compared to the rest of his arm. I tied not to look into it too much because with the level I went, I risk exposing myself to a lot of negative energy. You know the harmful effects that could cause, especially since this amount would have overwhelmed our mental resistance.'**

Those words made the redhead shudder, clutching a gloved hand tightly. However, the more he thought about it, the more that Nico noticed details that were omitted. "You say that we can;t use things with Metal in them, yes? Is there anything else about that condition? Like why this is, if there are areas where this condition doesn't apply? Are traps an exception? What are the condition's limits, specifications etc? Just seems too vague and generalized for a condition like that."

"Nope, doesn't say anything like that. Uncle probably wants us to discover that for ourselves." Castiel replied, checking the info again. He hid the slight bristle he felt coming on when Nico asked that, instead of what a leader would ask such as what their men would be equipped with. The guy didn't seem like a leader type, more like a soldier being forced into different roles. He'd seen that as well during the last mission, too, hence why he wasn't so sure about Nico being a leader being a good idea. "Well, I at least know what I will have to buy now." Castiel remarked seconds later, shrugging his shoulders before turning to the system in place and requesting a large amount of precious stones.

Not mystical stones, but Rubies, Saphires, Esmeralds, Diamonds and other such things.

Castiel was super excited seeing all those gems of incredible purity, his eyes were sparkling immensely and while carefully taking them he seemed to be one step away from drooling. He then proceeded to go inside his Pendant, ignoring the disgusted looks that Nico was giving him.

'Seriously? Jewelry?' the redhead questioned in his mind, frustration building within him at the choice of item that Castiel had bought in bulk like that. He didn't see the point of making requests for what seemed to be ordinary gems. Why the hell would he waste valuable points on something that obviously wasn't a weapon or anything like Spirit Bones or Satanic Treasures. Heck, he could feel his inner Ghoul growling in frustrated anger as well.

 **'Calm yourself, Nico. Remember what we have observed from Emiya so far. He is someone whom is from a different world than us, therefore he may have ideas up his sleeves that are different from ours. Therefore, it is wise to assume that someone like him, who carries himself as a capable leader, would know what they are doing.'**

Biko's words reverberated throughout his mind, and Nico calmed himself down. In the end, his Demon Persona was right, even if he could sense the hidden distaste with his negative emotion sensing. Castiel Emiya wasn't from Nico's world, therefore he would know things that he didn't. The proof came from that time in that desert in their previous mission. In that case, he had to do something he usually frowned upon, making business deals, to acquire important information on something that he had been doing for a long time, now.

'Goddamnit, I almost lost it there... I almost acted like those assholes I hate... thanks Biko, for steering me away from that.'

 **'It is of no problem, we are one in the same. We help each other, it is our way. On another unrelated note, Emiya's actions intrigue me. Perhaps we can use the system to gain something we could use to our advantage for our next mission.'**

That... actually sounded very interesting, Nico would not lie. He would admit that sounded like an interesting proposal, he would like to know what kinds of items he could get from something like this system, they wold have to be lower grade items compared to the rewards that they would receive/gather during the missions, but they could still hold other interesting uses.

Therefore, Nico went and accessed the system like Castiel just did, and while searching for anything interesting he came across an... interesting tome. Quickly buying it for 200 points, Nico sat back down, placed the book in his lap, opened it and began reading.

* * *

 _Two warriors stood on opposite sides, staring each other down with utmost conviction._

 _Both carried large swords on their backs, but there wasn't anything special about them at first sight. They didn't have any charms, enchantments, nothing. They looked like any normal two-handed swords... but was exactly what made them feel like the scariest thing in existence. It was BECAUSE they looked normal that it would be wise to treat them as anything BUT normal._

 _Normally when someone carried a sword, it is seen as unnatural and it attracts attention. Not something unexpected, since swords were signs of conflict, and very few liked conflict these days, preferring peace over war. However with these two, there was no such thing, it was so natural to them that it was like this should be the norm from the very start, this is just a small show of how close to the way of the sword both of them were._

 _The two men, clad in wicked-looking armour that looked to show a long, utter ferocious history of conflict due to the tears and wear on them, started talking about something, but what that was would remain a mystery, a mystery that would soon be lost to time._

 _In the end the one on the left slowly, almost painfully slowly, pulled his sword out The moment that he started this action, its effects started as the world itself seemed to change around him._

 _Scenes of carnage and violence passed the minds of all of those who dared look at the deceptively ordinary blade, and while moving it there was this… illusion of the sword getting a red hue of blood, it was like the blade and the user were covered in the blood of thousands of enemies. A devil-like person, an entity of pure slaughter. But, unlike what one might assume, there was not an ounce of evil on it, like there was not one evil thought around him even as he drenched the world and reality with blood of dozens of thousand._

 _The other also took out his sword, and everything around him was cut in many pieces by the light alone of the blade. As in, the light that gleamed so menacingly from it that it actually acted like it was a blade itself, tearing through everything in sight. A feeling of desolation, like he was the topmost God of the world and everyone else was below him from the start. Even the air was being cut around him, and THAT was because he wasn't even trying to cut anything right now. It is just his presence that made this a reality, as if nothing shall be left whole when facing his sword._

 _After they started at each other for some time more, they finally moved. They closed in on each other instantly, their first strikes at the ready. Both struck out with enough strength to eliminate entire armies with one swing of their mighty blades, and with such amazing speed that following the movements was nigh impossible. However, no matter how much they attacked the two remained equally balanced. Like two titans that matched each other in every shape or form._

 _After more than 10000 attacks, it seemed that the two men wanted to 'stop playing games' and took each other seriously. For they started going faster and faster, throwing more and more deadly strikes with illusions of thousands upon thousands of attacks raining down upon each other without mercy. This constant onslaught utterly wrecked their surroundings, yet neither noticed or cared. Both evolved as time passed, the swords of the two leaving after images and the space itself started to crack on the point of impact._

 _It was a fully different level of swordplay that was rarely ever seen, the terrain itself changed until the woods and mountains turned into flat wastelands._

 _But the two just kept fighting._

 _The duel undecided..._

* * *

'Holy...' Nico thought, eyes wide as he stared down, captivated by what he was reading. 'This... this could be uber useful in improving my sword skills.' He added on in awe. Even if he couldn't use his Devil Arms, Hellfire-based weaponry would be a suitable alternate, and if he learned some of the techniques shown here, then maybe he could boost the strength of his own techniques. Not only that, but skimming through the menu, he noticed some books on Sword training, as well as Halberd and Scythe manuals too, which meant that if he got them, he could increase his versatility with his Devil Arms even further.

With that course in mind, Nico spent up to 600 points in buying books with similar titles, storing them in his Void Storage for later reading. For a brief moment, Nico realized just how USEFUL this opportunity presented before him (albeit forcefully) became, before his mind got consumed by the desire to learn more about these warriors and their sword play. Swings which split oceans, cut through the skies and shattering mountains, the amount of skill he had seen in them defied the logic that Nico had been aware of until now, something which he DEFINITELY got blown away by.

Whilst he did his little shopping frenzy (wonder if this was how Compa and Neptune felt whenever they went out to get stuff and he'd have to manage their budgets so they didn't splurge), Nico soon came across something... particularly interesting.

"Huh?"

Blinking owlishly, the redhead's mind screeched to a halt when he saw the next book on the Menu screen, humming in thought as he stared at it. The item itself had the icon of a book, but when he looked at its title, it only had a '?' on it, with no description of its contents nor a preview of the object itself. Although, there WAS a note which said that this item would remain 'locked' if bought and would only be available after the second trial. 'Huh, I see... its similar to some weapons gained in videogames, predominantly RPGs where one needs to be a certain level to use it. I remember a Leanbox game about 4 characters surviving a Zombie Outbreak with similar mechanics, what was it called, dead something? Meh, whatever. Anyways, the price looks to be quite hefty for a single item, if i'm honest...' Nico thought, frowning when he noticed the price. 'What do you think, Biko?'

 **'I would say buy it. If its this guy, then although we haven't known him for long, I believe it is because of him that Emiya has the items that he does. This means that if he made this item act this way, then its likely it is very useful in some manner. If not for you, then perhaps we can use it in other means.'**

Biko stated his piece, so Nico decided to heed his words. In the end, the male bought the item, and some notifications appeared on his right Bracer's main Screen, telling him pretty much the same thing as the description had. Nico could only hope that he had made the right choice with this, cause he SO wanted to make sure to get great benefits from whatever treasures Zelretch had in store for him and Castiel.

Pushing those thoughts aside for the time being, Nico decided that he'd spent enough points, took the first sword manual from his Void Storage and began reading, immersing himself within the contents.

* * *

3 hours passed for the two boys, and each of them performed their own forms of training.

For Castiel, he trained more in hand to hand combat alongside his Familiars, all the while learning more about their new powers and how they could be used on the battlefield. This was due to them having joined the Heir to the Tower within the realm of the Violet Jade Immortal in an attempt to be with their master, something that warmed Castiel's heart the more he thought about. He let such feelings fill his mind, pushing away any thoughts of his troubles that awaited him back home while he trained to his heart's content. He trained in CQC due to the fact that they were going to a place which wouldn't allow them to use metal, so any combat capabilities that didn't involve such things would be absurdly useful here.

Not only did he train his CQC skills, but he also trained his magic abilities as well. His Curses likely wouldn't be as useful to them as they were before, given how that they would likely be fighting against something robotic and robots don't usually have souls to attack. Like he explained to Nico, his Curses were both a mind and soul attack, but if a being lacked both of those like a robot or a formless entity, then those things wouldn't do jack shit. Therefore, he focused on his Blessing and other Spells, since his Blessings could work on himself and possibly those that were under him (plus seeing as Clarent was made from metal he couldn't rely on its charisma, nor could he rely on Hruting either).

Then there were those Gems, Gems that Castiel planned on forming into Mystic Codes at the end of his training. If his possible subordinates were to not have proper equipment, it would be his job to provide. He would not have anybody dying under him if he could help it. Plus, it would likely help him earn their trust since according to what was learned, these people can refuse their orders if they feel that they are not worthy enough to lead. Castiel would not let that happen, otherwise he would disgrace himself as the Heir to the Tower. Those three hundred hours or a bit over 8 days were quite useful for that as he had the time and the energy to do a lot of things during the time period.

Meanwhile, on Nico's end thanks to his Inner World slowing time down for longer than Castiel's Time Dilation Field, he had a lot more time to accomplish what he intended. First off, was training. This Training, instead of focusing on his Devil Arms, focused on everything else other than them. Hellfire, his Spirit Bone, his Ghoul Side, his Demon Skills, Normal Skills, pretty much everything non-metal based. He had to train his Hellfire so he could use it better in closed spaces, to make it so that he only destroyed what he wanted to and left little collateral damage. Normally he wouldn't do something like that, as in the past Nico had been well into the belief that collateral damage was unavoidable, but in this case he had no choice. The damage had consequences if what he interpreted from Castiel's summary was accurate.

In addition to his Hellfire, Nico had to train his Ghoul Side in its detaching ability. Thing was, his Kagune may have a metallic appearance like his Bikaku, but it was actually completely organic. Yet it can defend itself like it were metal, hence why Castiel's Hruting couldn't cut his Bikaku. This was the basis for his hypothesis that his Kagune would be usable in the next trial. Moreover, the Kagune had the power to detach itself from the main body, then form into anything the user wants. That meant he could use it to forge weapons that he could use in place of his Devil Arms at the expense of RC Cells, or objects like traps. If what he felt like about the mission was any accurate, then he would have to do what he did when he fought alongside Theta and his CMA (Cornucopia Military Academy) in fighting the Coalition a couple years back: lead a battalion of soldiers into battle. Not something he found himself growing particularly fond of, but it looked like he had no choice. At least now, unlike back then, he had the will to access his Ghoul Side to aid in the war effort.

As for those sword techniques, they were integrated into his Hellfire training in that him and Biko trained till he could use them with Hellfire made weaponry. If he could perform them even if barely with these weapons, then an actual metallic weapon would allow him to use those techniques easily. It was like if a baby ran before walking, and when it finally tried to walk it found that it was super this training with training in his Demon Skills, normal Skills, and one got the majority of Nico's training in a nutshell.

Near the end though, he had decided to take a break from training to think up plans and ideas that he could use for different scenarios based off his own hypothesis on what would likely happen in this next trial. He didn't have much to go on, but it would be enough for some of these ideas at least. Plus, he factored in what he knew about Castiel's abilities as well, making calculative predictions and ideas. Hopefully this guy had additional tricks up his sleeve, otherwise this would be a lot harder than the previous trial.

All this, lead to the current times...

It was about 10 minutes before the Trial would begin, and both boys had exited their own training routines, refreshed and ready to go. Castiel had used blessings to recharge his stamina, dismissed his Familiars till he would need them again, and refreshed his energy reserves. He would be in tip top shape to fight in the next battle, and he looked goddamn pumped for it.

On the other side, Nico had woken up from his trip to the Inner World, putting away the books he bought by putting them within his Void Storage, before standing up and walking towards Castiel with his gloved hands in his pockets. "You ready for this, Emiya?" He questioned the Heir.

Said Heir nodded in response. "Yup, as ready as I'll ever be. You?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

For a moment, there was silence, before Castiel finally decided to speak up. "Listen, I'll be blunt, I know you're the type of guy that is very secretive about things, but this next mission may have surprises that we will likely not be prepared for, this is Uncle Zelretch we're talking about after all so we should have an idea of what powers we can use when we start the trial. As you might have guessed, I'll use my magic mostly with my familiars helping. Its versatile, and will serve as an all-rounder when things go awry." He explained, refraining to mention about the Gems since it was clear to him that Nico looked down on him for using them. "What about you, what have you got thats non-metal?"

For a moment, Nico debated on whether or not to tell this guy about his skills. He was proud of what he got,m how he trained like hell to get to the level of where he was, but like Castiel said Nico would rather not reveal to much about his powers if he could help it. Nico thought that of the young Heir, since he too could sense that the guy wasn't being completely forthcoming. Not to mention that they were on unstable terms enough as it were, thanks tot hat little argument that they had in the Temple on that last trial.

However, memories came back to him, memories of the times he fought alongside his comrades back in Gamindustri, how he revealed secrets pertaining to his abilities though it was mostly out of necessity at those points. One case being his Ghoul side, the power he had hid for so long from them. Nico refused to allow what nearly befell those girls and any other of his remaining comrades to befall another. Not this time.

But still, best to get some advice...

'What do you think, Biko? Shall we say what we can do?'

 **'From what I can tell, you both have secrets, emotional baggage that has yet to be expressed. Ideally it would have been best if you two could resolve that baggage, but I know you and it seems that Emiya won't be so forthcoming for a while, anyways. Nevertheless, revealing that information is a step in the right direction. To make an analogy, its like slowly taking steps towards rehabilitation.'**

Nico mentally hid his grimace at that word, and what it meant for him.

Remembering how he had been silent for a good few minutes, Nico finally let out a sigh as he dropped his tense guard. He hoped that he wouldn't come to regret this decision as every instinct in his body said he would. "You are correct, Emiya. It WOULD be helpful to know at least what each of us can use so we can plan around any surprises heading our way. Most of my powers and my weapons will not be usable, however I still retain my Skill attacks, normal and Demonic-based, I retain my Tentacles and Tails, Hellish elemental powers, Red Rage Ring, and other non-metal based powers."

"Right, got it." Castiel stated with a nod. It appeared that this guy had suffered similar blows to his powers as Castiel himself, since Hruting and Clarent were metal-based weapons, but at lease he himself had his arm. Most likely because it was well, his arm, and his Tyrant eye would be counted too. He would have to stick with ranged combat mostly, but if CQC was unavoidable he could always rely on the cobra style he was taught.

Soon after, the portal to the next trial appeared before the two boys, and with that, they walked in while wondering what would happen next.

* * *

When they opened their eyes, the two boys saw a perfectly normal city, much to their hidden surprise. Part of them expected it to be some form of ruined city landscape, for some reason. There were small buildings everywhere and there was a large dome covering it all.

"Well, this is interesting." Nico mused thoughtfully as he scanned the surroundings, his eyes as sharp as a hawk while taking in all the surroundings. It didn't look like they would be ambushed here, but looks can be deceiving.

Castiel did not answer as he opened his wings to fly high and watch the field. The fact that now this was possible was a relief since flying was quite convenient (and if it wasn't for THAT woman he would have been much better at it than he was right now).

Once he had reached a proper height, Castiel looked around and he saw that the city was covered in a dome-like structure and that there were towers in each cardinal direction, a river crossing from one side to the other and a great tower in the center that had soldiers sitting on top. The city was constructed close to a chain of mountains on the east that finished close to a sea that also connected to the south side that the river descended to.

"Good location, still need to worry about possible marine enemies and aerial attacks but the sea and mountains will greatly hinder invasions from two of the sides. I need to look out for attacks from the west and north, but this is not impossible with the given troops in case they are sufficiently equipped and prepared." Castiel thought out loud, just as Nico flew up to him through means that weren't all that visible. Although with the faint vibrations behind him, it seemed that his Ghoul side was at work somehow. Nico hadn't expected the Heir's actions, but it didn't take him long to reach the same height and see the same sights.

However said heir was uninterested in talking to Nico, for all either of them know they could potentially be attacked at any given moment and every single instant counts.

'In a war what decides the winner is preparations, not heroic acts' this is what Castiel's teachers taught him since he was young.

He decided to go straight to the main tower as it was likely the location of his troops.

It was a short flight, but an interesting one. Stepping on the floor he looked around as half the soldiers were wearing yellowish military clothes reminiscent of those used on the military on mission in the middle east, while the other half was wearing heavier and darker clothes that would be great for the night but perfectly useless on the day as they would be seen miles away.

"You must be our commanding officer, Castiel Emyia, correct?" One of them approached him first, he noticed that all of them had pale skin, white hair, and red eyes. 'Homunculus, huh?'. This is what Castiel thought.

"Correct, my name is Castiel. I have been declared as your commanding officer for the defense against this imminent invasion. I would like details about the security measures of the city, provisions, and any Intel you might have of our enemy. Also, what way of transportation do you have to deal with combat?" Castiel asked.

"As of right now we only have cars and a few motorcycles to move around, the Towers are mainly full of gattling-guns and a few missile launchers. We are good for a one or two day period of fighting when it comes down to ammunition, about the food I can say we have plenty enough and the soldiers are more than ready." the soldier said. "And about the enemy, we could not detect with precision what they will be sending but we know from experience that anything they send appear at a 500 meters distance from the city at maximum. It is just infuriating that they appear out of nowhere and we have no way to attack back as they move by portals that only they can use. Also, we have confirmed that we have about two and a half hours before they start to move."

"Do they have any way to pass through the mountain range or the sea?"

"While not impossible to appear from those places they generally send one or two monsters from the mountains and the sea is usually peaceful, but when they attack from there they send devastating strikes with multiple carriers filled with many enemies." The soldier explained.

"Okay, this is what we will do, I will go to the other towers and send you guys there. When you arrive I want you to prepare for battle, I will go set up traps around the area while also preparing via magic circle faster Communication and transportation system. Also, give three of each of these to the soldiers, explain to them that in case an enemy approaches too much he must throw this one at them as it will delay the enemy long enough for escaping." Castiel said while delivering a bag of sapphires for the soldier.

As soon as the soldier nodded his head Castiel took of. He still had to go to the four towers to set up basic teleportation circles, following that he had to set up more barriers around the city and also set up a magic scouting for the area on all sides.

But strangely enough he was enjoying this, he always wanted to fight this sort of battle as it was one that he knew a lot but had little contact with. At the same time he was worried since an unexperienced and bad leader of troops would cause more trouble than it was worth it.

How was Nico doing anyway? Nah~, he probably is doing fine. He seems experienced enough so he probably is doing what he believes is right.

* * *

Nervousness and anxiety filled him as Nico made his way to the central tower not long after Castiel flew off. He sported some invisible wings made by his Rinkaku Kagune to help him fly, in light of Soul Edge not being able to be used at this moment in time and his reluctance to damage the city with Hellfire. Though keeping it hidden behind a calm, composed facade, Nico couldn't help the turmoil boiling in his gut.

Nico never was a leader-type, nope he was more of a soldier who fought on the front lines. He wasn't someone who typically made the important decisions that could cost him the lives of his subordinates. He was the person who took his own initiative and did what needed to be done himself. That was the way he had gone about the majority of his battles, so the fact that he was now in a leadership position once again made him question his own abilities. It made him doubt himself, after all he wasn't someone who would be suited for such a role.

Few people truly are suited for it, they just... well, settle in.

 **'Things could have been worse, you know. You could have had your memories of back home temporarily wiped for this trial, leaving you much worse off than what you are now.'**

'Ugh, you're telling me...' Nico thought back to his Demon Persona. Luckily for him, Nico had prior experience leading a small band of forces back in Gamindustri, when he fought against an organisation called the Coalition, who went about trying to promote more modern methods of Combat. Though they didn't do it through the right means. That experience was something that helped him keep a level head, as without it he would be a shivering wreck by now, composure be damned.

 **'I would suggest, when we meet with our forces, to request the following: Intel on the situation, the enemy, the weapons available, vehicles, supplies...'**

'Do you think we should ask about prior attacks, if there have been any? Cause I've seen some areas that looked like they were once war zones throughout the city...'

 **'Possible, they could have some form of pattern to them that we can use to predict where they'l strike, so we can lay traps there...'**

Biko and Nico thus continued their discussion on what to ask his future subordinates as they flew.

* * *

It didn't take them long to reach the central tower, and when he did Nico swiftly landed before a series of men in dark military gear, each of them sporting gas masks, helmets and full-bod suits. All of them were masculine, though, as he realized by examining their body structures.

Standing from his landing, Nico walked over to them with his composure calm and professional... while inside he struggled not to break out into a cold sweat. From his prior experience, the first impression was key to earning a good reputation with the men. One of the men, actually, noticed him and jogged over while carrying what looked like an assault rifle in hands. "You must be our Commanding Officer, DEATHSTROKE, correct?" he asked.

'So, they use my Codename here, huh? Well, that makes things a little more bearable.' Nico thought to himself, feeling a sense of calmness coming from the use of his Codename. Something familiar to latch onto to hide how nervous he felt deep inside. Even with that conversation with Biko, his nerves felt like they were on an all time high. "Correct, I am DEATHSTROKE. I'd like to receive any Intel you have on our enemy, troops, supplies, weapons and the general situation."

"Yes sir." The soldier responded. If he could sense the nervousness Nico felt inside or not, he couldn't tell thanks to the mask. His emotions didn't seem too bad either, from what his senses told him. "So far, we know very little about our enemy, save for the fact that they use portals only they can use to appear out of nowhere. They usually send few monsters down the mountains, but their primary forces come from either the west or the north. Not often, but they do send carriers filled with many forces down from the seas to the south." he explained. "For weapons, we have the towers that are filled with Gatling guns and a few missile launchers. We have our men here as a main force, but we have a small reserve force to the east. Vehicles include motorcycles, and a couple Humvees for mobility."

'Alright, this is what I have to work with. Now, what did Theta used to tell me...?' Nico thought, cupping his chin and taking on a thoughtful pose. The soldier remained silent, waiting for him to speak. 'The winner of a war isn't the one who fights, but the one who survives... in that case...' An idea came to mind, but for now he needed more information. He hoped this would work regardless though. "Are there any civilians in the city? Also, have there been any previous attacks so far? We could possibly work out a pattern to predict where they are targeting."

The soldier snapped to attention when he spoke, soon replying. "Sir, there aren't any civilians on the surface, they have been evacuated to the underground bunkers beneath the city. Furthermore, previous attacks have happened but they have been mostly random and uncoordinated." he replied.

Nico furrowed his brows at that, while that didn't help much in predicting where the fight will likely take place, it did give him some idea of how these enemies likely operated. If that was the case, then he had an idea of how to proceed from here. "Then that means we will likely be facing a stronger force then. Its an advanced tactic, to send out uncoordinated weaker attacks to weaken the enemy defensive lines. Odds are, we haven't seen their real destructive power yet." Nodding to himself with this assumption, though in his mind he also began thinking of contingency ideas as to how to make up for possible failures, Nico looked back to the Soldier with a gaze as hard as iron. Nervousness, anxiety, Nico felt these emotions roiling within his gut, and he probably would till the end of the trial. However, if his combat experience has taught him anything, it was to keep a level head no matter what. "Alright, send out your men to the east and south. As you must have seen, the other officer Emiya's covering the west and north, so in case of surprise attacks we will focus on the left over sides. Those with Missile Launchers stick to the rooftops, you'll provide air cover, those who find Gattling Guns use what you can to make makeshift barricades on the ground."

"Sir!"

Soon enough, the men began moving about, prepping to head down the tower to where they would find their transports. While he did this, Nico himself began thinking to himself, thinking of ideas, anything for distracting himself from his emotional turmoil. First things first, traps. He could set traps throughout the city using his CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS. There were more than one ways to use a Skill, you can use one to trap opponents for other Skills to take down, you can use them in ways other than what they were intended. Nico, to be honest, hadn't considered this before, as he was used to fighting solo. Alone on an ever-changing battlefield, with only his weapons as company, the only thing he'd known being battle. That was how it had been for him, and odds are he would always be part of the battlefield. However, the intense pressure on his chest and the weight of the situation forced his mind to try to come up with ideas, ideas he had never thought possible. It was an... unexpected development.

But not unwelcome...

"Oooooh, this looks promising..."

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as everything turned grey. The soldiers became frozen in mid run, their expressions unable to be seen thanks to their masks. However, Nico didn't need to look into their emotions to see that they would have had frantic expressions controlled through years of discipline training. The voice's speaker appeared behind him, shimmering into existence like a mirage. The speaker stood back to back, almost touching Nico's back while the redhead male refused to look or even acknowledge the speaker... he didn't need to. After all...

Why would he need to acknowledge himself?

A small upturning came from the other Nico's lips, the lips of the childlike Nico wearing rags, as he stood there with his hands behind his back. Nico didn't respond though, his hair shadowing his eyes to hide them from view. However, the childish Nico remained unperturbed by these events, almost like he had been expecting this behavior.

"Now, looks like we;re taking a big step, huh? Turning into a leader for these men. We cleared the 'resolution' trial back with that meanie DPU, yet it wouldn't hurt to refine what we already have. Perhaps this can help in our rehabilitation in some manner, whose to say? After all, the future we have is no longer certain, of that we are certain."

Nico remained silent, as the child shrugged his shoulders as if he had found the answer to an unasked question. Things were going quite smoothly, definitely, the child thought, an odd sense of excitement filling his chest. The child then looked up at the skies above, his eyes becoming glazed as he raised a hand as if to grasp onto the skies itself.

"The skies look so vast, don't they? Maybe one day, we too can soar through them as free as the definition of the word... But, until that time, please continue your rehabilitation. Our true self will return one day, after all."

With that, the child vanished in the same manner as he appeared, Nico's surroundings returning to normal. The male remained as motionless as he had been though, standing there while keeping his head slightly downwards. If it would rain here, he wouldn't even notice it, that was just the nature of the state he was in right now, thanks to that visit.

 **'Nico... are you...?'**

'I'm fine, Biko...' Nico replied to his Demon Persona, swiftly pulling off the thing on his eye and dismissing it to his void storage. This allowed him to unleash his Kakugan as he stared into the vastness of the city. His eyes remained vacant, like he was distracted by something, while he did so though. 'I'm good...'

"Um, Sir?"

Blinking, Nico looked to the one who spoke to him, well, an outside voice this time. It belonged to the same black wearing solder whom he had spoken too before, Nico could tell thanks to the way he spoke and the similarity of his emotions. "What is it?"

"You looked like you were lost, sir. Are you feeling alright?" the Soldier asked him.

This prompted a response from the male, and while outside he looked as composed as ever, his Kakugan having vanished the moment he registered a new voice, Nico felt like his heart had skipped a few beats inside. "I'm fine." He stated, before turning completely to face him. "I'll be alright, just lost in thought. Say, while you're here, I need to ask you something I almost forgot to, earlier: do we have any equipment for communication?" Nico questioned, frowning. He couldn't believe he had forgotten that important fact, communication would be key on the battlefield, especially in stressful scenarios. It would be best if they all had communicators or something of similar function.

The Soldier saluted the male as he responded evenly. "Most of our communications with the outside have been cut off by the invasion, however our former Officer possessed a device that aided greatly in our long-range communication. If you like, we can take you to it, the last Officer stored it within the eastern tower."

At this, Nico nodded his head in agreement. "Alright. I'll meet you at the Eastern tower in 30 minutes. Until that time, i'll be setting up traps throughout the eastern and southern city areas."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

Time almost flew by, both for the Spec Ops Agent AND the Heir to the Tower. Each of them did their own thing in sections of the city, securing them for the future attack in a couple hours time.

On Castiel's end, the teen used an assertion of magics to create bounded fields throughout his sections, setting up traps that would either slow down the enemy or outright kill them. He didn't know much about how they would work, what their resistances were, so he prepared a bit of everything just to scope out the bases. He set up special Fields that would inform the rest of where the enemy would be, as well as Bounded Fields like the one that he had around his house to keep the girls he loved out of the Kitchen (since none of them can cook to save their lives, and the only one who could would just as son put poison or worse in the meals).

In addition, Castiel summoned his familiars to have them explore the City they would be defending, having them get to grips with the layout as well as the defensive lines. Some of his men would get a chance to be near them, and Castiel allowed it. Better relations between soldiers meant they would fight better without hindering each other, that was something he'd learned early on in his lessons under his many teachers.

At one point though, the Heir swore he saw a fiery silhouette over on Nico's area, but he soon dismissed it.

As for his familiars, it seemed that their powers would be more helpful than he thought, especially Solgaleo. Apparently, thanks to his evolution he had gained several abilities that would be greatly incorporated into the future battles ahead. One of them was Teleport, where it could teleport to a certain location, get something or someone there and then teleport back. Something like that could be invaluable for rescue operations or getting any wounded soldiers to their medical sites to receive treatment. No doubt they would be getting a fair amount of those, this was WAR after all. Casualties would be born on both sides.

Another was a Solar Beam, an ability that Castiel discovered used the power of the sun (which would be unclouded in this battle, much to his joy) to fire a concentrated beam. He could just imagine how useful that could be in sniper's role, or an anti-tank depending on the power. Not long after he discovered it, Castiel learned that the beam's power depended on the energy gathered from the sun, and if the sun was covered by clouds the beam would take longer to charge. Hopefully in the future this weakness wouldn't be exploited, but Castiel doubted that. There were a LOT of competent enemies out there, and if what he feared was true, then he would no doubt be involved with them at some point.

On the other side was Lunala, and that Familiar would have... well, a bit less of a role to play, but still a big one. Like Solgaleo, it could teleport about the battlefield, however most of its powers were based off the moon. The moon which would be overshadowed by the sun, so its powers will likely be less effective if that was the case. Castiel had discovered this during their training, as well as the fact that it had the ability to hypnotize any living object. If their enemies had humanoid or anything commanding them that had a brain, then Lunala would likely be able to hypnotize them if given the opportunity.

So yeah, Castiel found himself doing well.

Meanwhile, Nico took it upon himself to set up defensive outposts along strategic areas throughout the sections he would be fighting in. He had them arranged so that Gatling Guns had easy access across wide areas, and Missile Launchers would be able to easily shoot enemies out of the skies while simultaneously having secure defensive options. Options Nico had provided by making Kagune-based walls to protect his men with. A part of him laughed at the thought of using something meant to KILL as a means of protection, but he ignored it. He also made Kagune-based structures for his Gatling Gun wielding soldiers to give them better defense too.

Secondly, Nico summoned Urthemiel, his Archdemon. He would act as his second in command, covering the southern seas by flying overhead. This way, they had some access to air support in addition to transportation of wounded soldiers behind their defensive lines. Wounded soldiers were hindrances on the battlefield, Nico knew this thanks to prior experience with the CMA. Of course, he had expected the startled, fear-filled reactions of his men when they saw the Archdemon erupt from a pool of flames that appeared behind him, but he quickly assured them that it would be on their side.

Thirdly, was that equipment his men said was for communication, They had journeyed to the Tower it had been stored in, before the soldiers told Nico to wait outside while they retrieved it. He didn't have to wait long though, for one soldier soon came back out while holding it in one hand. When he saw what it was as soon as they placed it in his hand, Nico nearly flipped his lid if it weren't for him needing to remain composed.

That 'device' they had been talking about was the 'Shingan' the Minds Eye shaped ring. To give a refresher, the Shingan was a ring that allowed the user to have several abilities: One the ability to read the minds of anyone they chose though the thoughts they read weren't under their control. Two, they gained the ability to transmit their thoughts towards others, making communication quite easy for the wielder, and three: allow the user's hart to be read by anyone they chose worthy. Nico, at the moment of seeing it, couldn't think of a better means of communication for him, since he communicated better with his thoughts than words anyways. He had to practice using the Ring by putting it on his left hand's index finger (and if Castiel made any feminine comments he'd get some hellfire burning his dick off, see how he likes being 'feminine'), and he discovered things that made using it even BETTER.

Aside from that, things went smoothly for the two boys... but how long will that last?


	161. Cross chap 8 - The Second Trial Begins

**The second trial begins**

 **'It seems that the time has finally come...'**

'Yes indeed...'

Nico hummed to himself as he stood atop a building in the south, overlooking the entire sector. The male gripped his hands into fists, his left eye in its Kakugan form to indicate that his Ghoul side was awake. Heat rolled off him in waves, almost burning the air around him without causing it to actually steam. His Hellfire coursed through him like blood, ready to be unleashed upon the enemy en masse. He could feel his inner Ghoul squealing in glee, glee that it would be one of the primary powers he would be using for this battle.

5 minutes left.

There was exactly 5 minutes before the estimated time where the enemy would invade.

Things had been prepared, soldiers under his command had been stationed either on the rooftops if they had rocket launchers, or in special fortifications on the ground if they had Gatling Guns. They would not be killed so easily, he hoped, but then again this was WAR and death would always be inevitable. This was a fact he had learned when he fought with the CMA against the Coalition. Those experiences would be drawn on a lot for this battle, Nico realized, but he didn't dwell on it for too long.

While he looked out to the sea, of which he expected his first batch of enemies to come, Nico suddenly jumped when a magic circle appeared by his ear. A magic circle he found himself unfamiliar with since he wasn't that experienced with magic unlike martial prowess. Hey, he was a warrior, not a mage! "Whoa, what the?!" the male exclaimed, but when he heard a masculine voice chuckling from the Magic Circle, he quickly realized who it was. Eyes narrowed, Nico calmed down and regained his composed demeanor, before speaking with a level tone of voice that didn't betray the anger burning inside. "Emiya."

"So, while you were busy screaming like a girl, I'll let you know that I set up a communication system between you, me and our men. It'll work wonders for us, and if you wanna use it, channel your energy into the space this Magic Circle is taking, it'll activate instantly. Say I have to ask, did you get anything done these last few hours? I was too busy prepping things on my end to ask."

Castiel's voice spoke through the Magic Circle, and while Nico had some choice words for the Heir, he decided not to voice them. This was like a military operation he participated in the past, so there was a time and a place for childish antics like that. "I did, Emiya. Here's the rundown, my men have been outfitted with anti vehicle weaponry, as well as anti-infantry. I garrisoned them in the buildings and had them build fortifications for use during the battle ahead. I'll worry about anti-air on my side, but I have ways of defending against that, case in point being my Familiar and anti-air capabilities. I have a communication device that'll work for my forces, but I'm a little concerned if they have artillery. Our lack of Intel about the enemy doesn't help."

"Well, I guess this was as much as I could expect from you." Castiel remarked, hiding the annoyance burning in his chest. It was clear to the heir's eyes that Nico was a warrior through and through and while this was good in and of itself this most certainly did not mean he would make an effective leader. "Anyway, I already set up a defensive barrier on the outside, multiple traps, a surveillance mechanism to allow for quick identification of any and all enemies around us, a communication Circle for us to communicate not only amongst ourselves but also amongst the soldiers, set up smaller platoons so as to allow them to rest in fixed intervals so as to not exhaust our troops, AND prepared multiple teleportation points all around the city for quick deployment and retreat of our soldiers."

Great, this guy seemed to almost brag that he was better than him at this, Nico mentally remarked while hiding his urge to just throw a ball of Hellfire where he coudl sense Castiel's annoyance. It made him bristle with irritation and frustration. Both at Castiel for him looking down on him for not being the 'spectacular' leader that got everything right, and at himself for not doing more. He was not a natural born leader, there was little about him that would inspire others to rally behind him. Not to mention his strong independence and lack of trust in others. Needless to say, someone like him wasn't meant to lead a legion of soldiers into battle, and while a thought crossed his mind on transferring command to Castiel (who had more experience at leadership than him, his instincts said), Nico didn't know if that was even possible at this point.

"Anyway, I am sending you a soldier that is carrying a lesser copy of my surveillance mechanism. You will see that it is effective in detecting them whenever they appear. I am just annoyed that there wasn't enough time for me to prepare two more barriers to protect the city and the magic bombardment mechanism that I was planning to, I guess there is just so much I can do with this limited amount of time." Castiel said with a shrug. He was admittedly annoyed but he knew that he did at the very least the barest of the minimum for the mission.

But he guessed that Zelretch only allowed for this much time because he knew that giving too much prep time for Castiel would take away the challenge from this trial. He was, after all, taught by the Tower about how to defend territory and many different techniques centered on this.

"Alright, I'll notify my men of your embassy. They'll get the mechanism set up for the time being." Nico replied. He guessed that was something he should have thought about himself, perhaps he could have Urthemiel keep an eye out from a high vantage point as a means of a secondary alert system, but that'll only be as a last resort since Urthemiel would have other tasks to do. Before he could say any more though, Nico and his companion heard various noises on the latter's end. Their eyes hardened at this, realization dawning on them that they would have their first of what would likely be many battles.

"Hey, I have to go I just detected my first enemy. Call you back later." Castiel said ending the call.

* * *

On the Heir's end, he used the teleportation circle to move closer to the point where the enemy was. It looked like a giant knight'ish blue robot and the energy it emanated was around the low high-class.

'Ok, not that big of a problem. I could try to let the soldiers deal with them, but I'd rather not for now. I think the best option is to get as much of a impact on their minds right now, a show of power to make them not even think of questioning my authority as I am sure some must already be.'

Castiel knew that while his focus on protecting the town was clearly seen there must be at least a few that did not really understood him or would think and do something stupid, this was just human nature and war more often than not brings out the worst of people. Normally he would rather communicate with them and work together with them to build trust, but time was limited and he needed results instead of emotion right now.

He would show all soldiers that he was NOT someone to mess with and that crossing him was worse than death itself.

Finishing his decision Castiel took flight towards the enemy. Said enemy swung his sword in such way that he uprooted many trees with his only swing. Castiel could easily evade this one but for this plan to be more effective he chooses not to and instead simply put one wing in the front of the blade and whispered his name very quietly.

CLANG

The sword entered in contact with the wing and was completely and utterly useless, now that this show how superior his defense was, and when that was done he had to show offensively how powerful he was.

To do that he decided to go overkill, raising his right hand he concentrated his power at it, a great ball of light and flames appeared on his hand as he aimed at the enemy that was preparing another swing at him.

" **Cruel Star.** "

He released the ball of light and flames at his opponent, a huge explosion surged that looked one step away from a nuclear bomb due to how strong it was. The windows of many building were destroyed as the shockwaves passed through the city.

After seeing his work, a crater that now was closer to a perfect mirror due to the extreme heat, Castiel released a small smile. It was then that two new enemies appeared not far from him.

'Well, might as well show a bit more.' Was what Castiel thought as he released his other hand, from it a dark power concentrated and he released a small ball made out of pure dark energy.

" **Blackout**." He said as the ball expanded when it was close to the enemies, enclosing one of the two on a ball of pure dark energy. Before long the darkness started taking away everything from the beings inside, the energy to move, the capacity to answer, even their form was slowly taken away from them as both turned into nothing more than accumulated dust.

Castiel then aimed one finger at the other and concentrated light essence there, he wasn't a fan of using light spears like most angels so he decided to go with a separate way.

" **Salvation Arrow**." And with that a bean of focused light essence shoot from his hand, the light piercing right through the sword that tried to deflect it and going through the head of the last enemy as if it was nothing while leaving absolutely nothing behind.

Seeing his work done Castiel turned back and returned to the city. He needed to make sure that the soldiers also pulled their own weight or else they might become dependent on him, and cowardly soldiers are the worse type there was.

He turned to take a look at the new round of enemies that surged, it seemed that there would be more and more coming now and he knew what he should do. He must only act in times of crisis, otherwise, he would use his time better coordinating the soldiers and preparing a possible second layer of barriers.

He knew time was not on his side, but preparing more is essential.

* * *

On Nico's end, the male sighed to himself as the Magic Circle disappeared from view. He glanced to the city below him, and his eyes glimmered. 'Well, that could have gone better...' the male thought, cracking his knuckles. Felt a little more human than cracking his fingers at least. He could hear the sounds of conflict coming from the sectors his companion presided over, telling him exactly what was happening. 'But still, it seems that the attack has finally begun.'

 **'I do not know about you, but there is a difference between this and the men at this CMA. These men do not know you by you reputation, thus you will be considered a stranger to them. I do not think this will be meager, therefore shouldn't you check it out with your Shingan?'**

Biko spoke within his mind, and after a moment the male decided to do so. Like Biko said, this wasn't his world, there wasn't anything to make people aware of his reputation. He would be considered a complete nobody by his men, so there may be some doubt and conflict regarding his ability as leader. 'Looks like its like where a pack leader has to show his underlings whose top dog, a display of strength will decimate any attempts at a coup.' Nico thought to himself. Also, to confirm these thoughts, Nico looked down and raised his hand to chest level, showing him the ring on his index finger.

The Shingan.

Originally this thing had a rather limited range of 5 meters, just enough for one to hear their opponents thoughts if they were close enough. However, Nico had managed to figure out that, upon infusing it with his Demonic Power AKA using Desecration like he did on his Skimmer Ember and his Armour, then the thing's range increased by a wide margin. More than enough to cover the entire city. Because of this ability though, its appearance had become increasingly more demonic, with the band part becoming a chitinous black with sharp spike-like edges, while the jewel on top looked more like a slitted demonic crimson eye. The picture of his underlings appeared in Nico's mind, and with that he activated the ring by focusing on it.

All at once thoughts bombarded his mind, most of them random and distorted. Nico figured that was due to him not having much experience with the Ring's use yet, but then the thoughts became ones of confusion and hesitation... hesitation and doubt towards Nico himself. 'Looks like Biko was right, these guys doubt me already. Not surprising, considering human nature. At least the CMA had a cause to fight for, which kept them in check.'

Just then, Nico's eyes sharpened when he heard the sound of a portal being opened by his enhanced sense of hearing. 'Already?' he thought, hiding his look of surprise behind a stone-like mask of indifference. 'I doubt the guy has arrived yet with Emiya's detection system, therefore it looks like I'll have to do this myself.' He'd rather it be this way in any case, since it was what he was used to. Nico did things alone, it was just how it was. He wasn't the best kind of leader, he was a soldier, a fighter, a warrior. 'But for now...'

Clicking his fingers, Nico summoned Urthemiel behind him from a portal made purely from Hellfire. Taking one look at his familiar, Nico mentally linked up with it and gave it a command. 'Urthemiel, stick to the highest vantage point here and keep an eye out for any enemies. I'll take them out myself, let me know either though our link or by roaring.' He told it.

Urthemiel roared in acknowledgement, spreading its wings and taking flight. That done, Nico did the same with his invisible Rinkaku Kagune, taking flight towards the direction of the portals while simultaneously using the Shingan to order his men to stand by, that he would take this problem out himself. Though his emotion sensing powers, Nico sensed confusion and curiosity, as well as frustration and anger, circle through his men.

Hopefully once they saw him in action, they wouldn't doubt his ability to defend them.

* * *

It seemed the first attack wave would appear within a four way crossing. Good, at least there he could do some damage without worrying about collateral, and he had JUST the idea for it.

Nico finally landed before the first enemy, and judging by what he saw, it seemed that he wouldn't have as much of a problem as he thought. For in front of him, was what looked like a blue futuristic-looking robot. Its frame was slim but in a humanoid shape, it seemed to carry a rifle on its left side while the right hand sported a large sword.

Pft, childsplay.

That was what Nico thought while rolling his eyes, holding out his hand and concentrating. His Hellfire soon roared to life within his hand, before he focused it and condensed the flames into a solid black Javelin. Sweat formed on his brow while doing this, as controlling the chaotic nature of Hellfire by suppressing it like this did NOT come easy. It was like trying to predict when and where a storm would appear and calculate exactly how much damage it would cause. Still, Nico managed to pull it off, and so far he could only do Javelins and Sickles with the amount of training he had put into it. But that would have to be enough for today.

Once the robot saw him, it quickly charged towards him at high speeds, determined to chop his head off before he'd complete his ability. Nico however, snarled as he let the Javelin loose on mental command, watching it fly into the robot's face and embed itself there. The moment it did, the Robot's movements halted, as it stumbled back while trying to take the Javelin out. If that weren't enough, the second after it impacted, the Javelin... exploded, roaring into a fierce and spectacular inferno that raced upwards towards the heavens.

'#WHISTLE# geez, I only put a small bit of Hellfire into that Javelin...' Nico thought in awe, before Urthemiel's roars made him look to see more Portals opening around the area, revealing more Robots.

 **'Hellfire is chaotic by nature, as you know, it does not like being contained. Therefore, when compressed and released the flames are doubled in strength. Enough of that, it appears that these fools need to learn NOT to anger a DPU.'**

'You just read my mind...' Nico thought back, his hand twitching being the only warning before his invisible Rinkaku lunged forwards, tearing through the Robots without mercy by slicing them in half at the waists. They even beheaded, smashed, and tore apart the others before they could know what was even happening, such was the speed his Rinkaku was capable of achieving.

Not one to leave anything to chance, Nico made balls of Hellfire to shoot towards their remains, burning them till there was nothing left. He would rather not risk them coming back to life through some plot bullshit, and while part of him questioned whether or not they could have gained any information from their corpses, Nico didn't want to risk it. Although fast, the rate they burned and their heat was only second to their true forms when he went DDD. Unfortunately, that form had metal for Armour, so he couldn't use it. Still, at least these flames weren't pushovers either.

'Hey, Biko, how's everyone's emotional spectrum doing?'

 **'The amount of** **dissatisfaction** **has decreased significantly, mostly when you used that Hellfire javelin the first time, but there were some who saw you 'rip them apart without even touching them' according to them. Not to mention, some of them are actually female... and they may or may not want to pin you beneath them and have their way with you.'**

Now THAT caused Nico to shudder. His brow shot up, his teeth gnashed and sweat trailed down his head like waterfalls. Great, just what he needed, more fangirls. He figured that they knew how to remain professional when around their colleagues, but thanks to him knowing their hidden emotions it would be like they were just throwing them out there for all to see.

Still though, Urthemiel's warning that more robots were incoming in another area snapped him out of his thoughts, his eyes hardening as Nico decided to Warp to the next area. He could have used those teleportation circles he'd seen about, but he didn't want to risk losing time figuring out something he had no idea how to work. In war, time was precious, he knew that Castiel understood this.

Hopefully, he was doing just as well.

* * *

On Castiel's side, he was honestly quite well.

The barrier was working without a hitch and the soldiers were pulling their weight well enough. The weapons that were available were not that effective against the enemies so Castiel was now inscribing some rune patterns on the muzzles so as to give them higher penetrative capacity.

It wasn't that much of a difference on actual power, but it was clear that it was effective enough since the enemies were more easily brought down when the attack had magic properties.

Castiel was staying on top of one of the towers there and whenever he was in full capacity he would stop his work and shoot a Salvation Arrow on the enemy's side. He knew that killing these enemies was the whole objective and that leaving the work all to the soldiers would limit his points, so he still was killing them but managing himself to never overwork his magic circuits or his reserves of energy.

'Hum, that one seems different.' is what he thought as he saw a new model coming out of a new portal. This one looks similar to the previous models, the difference is that this time it had metalic wings and propulsors and he lost the sword and riffle in exchange of getting two canons in the place of their hands. And the worse part is that it felt like it was equivalent to a high high-class individual.

"Well, still isn't a challenge but I guess I should start moving myself some more here anyway. Besides, I must understand how strong this guy is." Was what Castiel said before yelling for the inner parts of the city. " **Solgaleo**!" and with that, his familiar ran to him.

Without even making his familiar stop Castiel sat on the beast's back and darted towards this new enemy.

Solgaleo roared in happiness when he felt his master on his back, this is what he and Lunala always wanted, a more active place when their master's fought.

Approaching the enemy it tried to take a flight to escape the approaching lion as its sensors could clearly tell that it was just too strong, and the censors were most certainly not wrong since Solgaleo was equivalent to at least the topmost of the high ultimate-class, a fact shared by Lunala but their new power levels were only like this because they were still growing. After all, both of them had the potential to, with time, become as strong as Leader-class at the very least.

Well, the fact the enemy tried to escape was ultimately irrelevant since Solgaleo looked at it with disdain while activating one of its skills by gathering its energy on its mouth before releasing in one mighty bean at the enemy piercing him right through.

When Castiel saw this he was torn between his pride in how his familiar was finally showing his fullest potential, and worry.

This was going too easily, simply way too easily. He understands that this is going this smoothly mostly because they were prepared from the start, but it still was simply too simple for him to defend this is if this was all he had to face.

There was a catch here, he just wasn't seeing it yet and THIS terrified him.

* * *

Over on Nico's end, the male also noticed something was wrong.

Not first though, during the beginning of the battle he hadn't paid it much mind. Especially amidst the tearing apart of his robotic enemies. His Kagune did the work there, with his Hellfire powers being secondary in immolating them till nothing remained. They had begun focusing more and more on him rather than destroying the city. It was almost like they saw him as a greater target, which was something he didn't mind. To focus on him and instead of his men would show them that the enemy would feel threatened, which will boost their confidence in him. Honestly, it felt more and more like him asserting his place as a dominant leader of the pack.

During the time between the early and the middle of the battle, something began nagging at his mind while his Rinkaku tore apart his opponents by ripping off their limbs and ripping out their circuits from within. Something bugged him, yet he didn't think much on it still since he had way too little time to think while his enemies laid it on thick on him. Though, Biko had the time to think on it since he wasn't the one fighting like Nico had been. He had the time to maul this suspicion over, to ponder it himself.

It confused the hell out of the Demon Persona, this was just WAY too easy for them. He couldn't see why this would be considered a trial, so far everything seemed to be right up their alley. Fighting monsters and keeping the weaker links out of the fight, that was something he and the main aspect were used too. After all, in their world, they were the strongest of their group. Nico knew this as well, he just didn't think on it much. It was more on the lines of instinct than anything else, since he was so used to being on his own.

Finally, there came a small respite where Biko informed Nico of his suspicions, allowing Nico to realize he had a similar suspicion in his gut. Something wasn't right here, he thought with narrowed eyes. He may not be a leader, but he definitely had good instincts largely thanks to his Ghoul side. Right now, those instincts told him that he had way too much ease in how he had been ripping through the enemy. This trial HAD to have something else to it, there had to be something more to it than this. There wouldn't be any way to call this a 'trial' if that were the case.

His gut also told him Castiel had some suspicions as to this, too.

Before he could think more, two new enemies came before him, emerging from portals in the air. Nico looked up, and narrowed his eyes darkly. These two looked the same as the others that had come before them, only one difference: they both rode these large, futuristic looking crimson armored dragons that moved on two legs, had large main bodies, long necks and elongated mechanical heads. Not to mention they wielded these long ass swords that seemed much larger than the usual ones that he'd fought earlier.

'Thee ones look tougher, but its nothing my Hellfire can't manage...' Nico thought to himself, already prepping a fireball in his right hand. Accounting for the beast's size, Nico felt it better to increase the destructive power of his Hellfire by condensing the fireball till it was the size of a golf club. However, he hadn't done that before, his training mostly considered on helping him manipulate its shape, not its mass and size. Thus, it took too long for him to prepare and thus, one of the dragons fired its own fireball at him.

Quickly, Nico formed a wall of Hellfire in front of him, one that spread across the entire street that caught the fireball and quickly devoured it. Hellfire flames were some of the most aggressive, yet severely powerful, flames there were. They lost it to Urthemiel's primordial flames though, s they were the hottest flames in the dawn of existence. Once the fireball had been consumed, Nico manipulated the wall into several smaller fireballs, shooting them towards the Dragons.

While one got hit, the other one ascended upwards and flew over the rest, much to Nico's annoyance. Its maw opened, and judging from the glowing of that thing's interior, Nico realized it was going to launch another one at the very city around him. His eyes widened at that. 'Sit, is it planning to take out the city along with me? If that's the case, then they must see me as a Threat, but what about Emiya? Meh, no time for questions, gotta react fast-!' he thought...

Before the loud roar of his Archdemon echoed through the skies as its shadow flew overhead.

Urthemiel, having seen the situation it's master found himself in. roared in fury, fury towards the enemy for daring to try and take out its master. That would not stand, therefore these wretches needed to be punished. Severely. It quickly coated itself in primordial azure flames like a phoenix, ripping through the other dragon with ease. The Dragon's Armour, while looking more defensive than the basic soldiers, seemed to be unable to withstand the heat of primordial flames, folding under them like they were smashed by a powerful wrecking ball.

While its partner was distracted, Nico quickly gathered more power for his own attack, putting it into a Fireball and hurling it towards his opponent. He decided that, instead of compressing the fireball, just to add more power to the base one instead of compressing its chaotic nature. He REALLY needed to train more with these flames, the male thought when he saw his attack hit, burning the dragon and rider with it to nothingness.

Once they were burned out of existence by the two flame types, Nico saw Urthemiel land before him, sending rippling shockwaves through the ground upon its landing. There, the Archdemon lowered its head, almost purring when the redhead male smirked as he softly rubbed its snout. Only he, alongside anyone Nico approved of, could do this and any who didn't meet this requirement would be eaten alive.

Unfortunately for them, more portals opened up, both on the ground and on the skies to reveal more robots and robotic dragon riders. 'Ugh, this is going to be a LONG trial...' Nico thought to himself, groaning mentally while both he and Urthemiel turned to scowl at their enemy. Their eyes blazed like the fiery elements they commanded at the sight of their foes getting reinforcements.

Taking one quick look to each other, Nico nodded in the enemy's direction, and thus the Archdemon understood its master's intent, showing this through the grunt it gave before they both took off, Nico on the ground and his familiar in the Skies.

* * *

It has been 12 hours, and Castiel understood clearly enough what the real problem of this trial was.

A test of endurance.

There was never an enemy that was simply too strong or anything of the sort, the problem was that the sheer amount of enemies was staggering. It was like a never-ending tide, they just kept coming and coming non-stop.

After using a magic blast to blow up another one of the robots Castiel decided to call Nico, mostly to confirm how everything was going on his side. Castiel realized long ago that Nico was not used to commanding large groups (Castiel at least had those terrible simulators of war to guide him), and he knew how an inexperienced commander could screw over a perfect army without much problem.

And the mood of the soldiers was growing worse as the time passed, but at least it was manageable since Castiel requested part of his hull from the meat he had with Nico and gave it to his soldiers to eat while resting.

He was wondering if Nico at least thought about doing that much or if he just let them eat the food from the city? If he chose the second option then Castiel had to know, mostly to stop Nico from committing any idiotic actions that could prejudice the whole mission. After all, Nico had not programmed rest groups so his side was more heavily guarded but also his soldiers must be getting exhausted, and if he did not share his food then the soldiers would see him in a bad light since he did not provide anything for them beside his own martial powers.

If he really fell on this trap he would not be seen as an actual leader, just a strong mercenary.

Preparation was the key for any war, and this irritating fight most definitely could count as one.

"Nico, I want to talk to you."

Soon enough, the redhead's voice responded after a god solid 4 seconds. Though when it did, Castiel noted how Nico sounded like he was in a mix of emotions. "Yea? What do you need?"

"Just wanted to confirm how many enemies have your side faced."

"Oh, about 300 until now. Why?" Nico answered.

"Nothing, nothing. Just wanted to make sure how pressured your side is right now. After all it must be around time for them to eat, right?"

"Yeah, I guess? I mean, I think they can hold up a while more before stoping to eat." Nico said, earning a mingraine from Castiel at this words.

"Wait a sec, correct me if I am wrong but you did plan for regulat rest troups, right?"

"And why should I do that?" Nico asked annoyedly. "They are soldiers, they just have to keep fighting and that is that. When they are tired they will probably just fall back and rest anyway."

"Wait a sec, you mean that you ALLOW them to do as they please?"

"Well, no of course not. I did put my familiar to watch over them and make sure that they do not slack off. We are here to win this war." Nico said proud of the idea that his instincts guidedhim to. His instincts never lied before so this must be the right answer.

Castiel was honestly speachles when he heard that, it was WAY worse than him ever expected.

'Shit, I am working with a freaking amatheur. A fucking noob is the one supposed to watch my back! Wait, he must have done something, ANYTHING for his soldiers. He couldn't possibly be this stupid on how to lead an army.'

"Do you still have that food you got from the desert? Did you not think about giving some to your men?" the heir asked, bluntly. There was no sense beating around the bush with him anymore, he just had to know if Nico had done at the very absolute least this much.

"Uhhhhh... no, of course not. This is my food so why should I share it with them anyway, they do have food in this city after all."

Nico himself could continue fighting for a long time yet. He had thought that tightly packing them together while diverting the majority of the enemy's attention to himself would have worked. It was his default strategy when in a team and it haven't failed him.

Yet.

Back to Castiel...

Twitching eyebrows could be seen on the heir's face as he groaned, facepalming so hard that the nose of any normal human would break in many pieces, before he finally decided to say it. He'd been holding back for a while now, but this was just the last straw for him. "You really are a stupid neanderthal at this, aren't you?"

"What?"

"What? Were my words to complex to your maggot self to understand? You don't get what it means to be a leader and don't seem to care about getting it either. As you are now you are more of a liability than a resource, honestly speaking you're not leadership material. Freaking going with his fucking shitty instincts, goddammit this is worse than fighting those damn Iscariot again. As you're now you can only amount to a powerful mercenary or a watch-dog. You shouldn't have ever gotten that position in the first place if you only think with instinct and guts. I honestly can't fathom what the hell was uncle thinking when he chose to put the two of us on this trial? Was it to test my freaking patience with your hopeless self or was it to make sure that he would get some laughs when you fail?" Castiel questioned, ignoring the anger in Nico's voice. "*SIGH* Listen here because I don't feel like repeating myself. A leader shares with their troops, prepare his troops for victory and ready a plan for defeat, he protects his troops, and when they're in distress they help their troops through the trials. You've only been doing ONE of those things, you idiot. You also DON'T listen to just your gut, you use your head when leading an army."

"Oh yeah, then why don't you try and lead them then? See if you can do better!"

"Okay." The heir replied, shrugging his shoulders. It seemed that riling the guy up wasn't that hard after all, and honestly if he had only handed leadership over to him before then this wouldn't have happened. It was all on his head right now, so yeah. Castiel was the one with leadership experience, since he HAD been raised to be the leader of an organisation one day.

All Nico had to do was fight and fight, he was a soldier not a leader.

* * *

On Nico's end, the male groaned and snarled, breathing heavily while his eyes, mismatched thanks to his Kakugan being active, glared heatedly downwards. His Rinkaku, affected by his emotions, shook off their invisibility to show themselves while performing a quarter on a nearby enemy. A ground soldier whom had tried to get a quick strike on him while he was distracted. His Bikaku also came out, 2 Tail's looming over his shoulder and the other two circled beneath his sides so their tips pointed at his face. All of them quivered though, like they were stopping themselves from going on a rampage to reflect their wielder's anger.

'God that guy can be fucking irritating, sometimes...!'

As he thought that, a tail smacked the ground, ironically going through another robot's head along the way. The headless robot's corpse fell to the ground, front first with a loud bang, though Nico's frustration-riddled mind didn't even attempt to acknowledge it.

Yet even as he thought that, Nico found one thing that kept coming into the forefront of his mind, something that only worsened his irritation at this whole thing. That something, was the fact that the Heir had a point, that he wasn't acting like a proper leader would. If he commanded an army of monsters, he doubted it would be the same as leading humans into battle, but right now he had humans to lead. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't been doing such a good job of it. He had thought that packing them together and providing defensive measures would have been enough. He didn't even think about if they should have food rations provided for them, or organize them better.

The word 'watchdog' struck a chord in him, too...

Two robotic dragon riders charged at him from above and behind, intending to get past his Kagune's defenses to rip into him since their fireballs had been unable to pierce through the male's Rinkaku. However, Urthemiel stopped them by unleashing many fiery attacks of varying sizes and shapes, incinerating them. From their carcasses, a rain of embers fell down upon Nico, the male swatting them aside with his Rinkaku so they didn't even touch him.

Though, that first one could be attributed to his Ghoul side working against him. The thing about Ghouls, was that they weren't really leader material or were the type to share their food, or anything really, with others, often just taking it all for themselves.

If another tried to intrude on their meals, chances were that a Kagune or two would end up flying, usually leaving one poor sod going to the afterlife and the other enjoying the spoils in peace. Those instincts were part of him, and he listened to them regarding practically everything. They hadn't gotten him killed yet, but that was the thing. They hadn't gotten HIM killed, they didn't give a damn about those that he leads. Going with his gut wasn't a bad thing as a warrior, hell it's actually preferable. However, Leaders couldn't do that as much, instead, they had to go with what their brains told them. They had to think more about their soldiers then themselves.

If this battle didn't go the way it had, then Nico likely wouldn't have realized this. It had become quite obvious to him what this was, a battle of endurance and attrition. Attrition warfare was a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and material. That was the way that these enemies were planning to win, by exhausting them and the forces of their supplies before going for a final assault. This had been something he had looked into during his time with the CMA, though he hadn't much experience with it himself, being someone of... well above average stamina thanks to the events in Leanbox.

 **'I know you are blaming yourself, for this Nico. However, being a leader isn't** **something** **neither of us are used to, therefore we are prone to making mistakes. This is just one of them, at least be** **grateful** **these people aren't anyone we know of.'**

Biko's words sent shivers down Nico's spine, horror-filled thoughts rising through his mind. Outside his eyes widened and he tensed, his Kagune momentarily freezing up in response to his emotions. His enemies saw this coming, and in a bid to get one up on him, rushed to overwhelm him with severe numbers. They cut him off from escaping from all directions, but before Urthemiel could lend some aid to its master, Nico's Kagune lashed out in a wild frenzy, shredding through Armour like a hot knife through butter. Or perhaps a lightsabre through practically anything since his Kagune didn't seem to have any difficulty tearing through even the greatest of Armours.

Yeah, he could DEFINITELY take solace in that. He didn't want to THINK about what might happen if one of his reckless decisions costed the life of one of his comrades.

 **'Also, think of it like this, now we know what we can train on in the future, instead of just improving our strengths. We can improve our leadership skills, and we have someone perfectly capable as a mentor. Training solo is good, but mentors are there for a reason.'**

Again, that was also true, though asking Castiel for anything left a disgusting taste in his mouth. No offense to the guy intended, but he would have liked to got better on his own, he was just that independent of other people. It had been how he had lasted this long, and he feared to ask for others to help him. Even with what happened in Leanbox... Then, he remembered the faces of the girls he called comrades, how they could have been hurt by his actions, and his eyes steeled themselves.

He would likely have to swallow his pride, but... if it were to help his comrades in the future...

But before that, he had to notify the men that they would be getting a new leader... while he mentally decided on what percentage of the gathered meat to send to them.

"Sure, if this is what you decided commander." Is what the soldier that should relay his orders said.

Nico looked all around and noticed how the dark emotions that he was originally feeling bubbling up deep on his soldiers lessen considerably when they heard that they would exchange commanders for a while with the commander of the other troops.

Seeing this was quite the shock to Nico, though he maintained his Mask of indifference when the time came. However the bigger shock was when he arrived on the other side of the battlefield to 'command' Castiel's troops.

It was overwhelmingly different.

The number of actively fighting combatants was smaller, but it was the right number to defend the place without any major difficulty. The resting group was perfectly divided into a small platoon to prepare food and ready the ammunition, one number was separated exclusively to treat any wounded soldiers with maximum efficiency and the resting troops were having warm meals and enjoying themselves talking and exaggerating about their exploits on this and previous fights.

Even if an enemy managed to get closer there were traps prepared all around and the barrier on the city stopped any large-scale attacks.

Heck, there was even more ammunition since, apparently, Castiel managed to improve their heavy weaponry lessening their waste.

This was such a huge attack on Nico's pride, he saw someone his own age that was just as strong as him that could do something that he was incapable off.

Heck, the soldiers on Castiel's side directed him on where to fight instead of the other way around. This was a whole different type of humiliation, a clear-cut demonstration of how he lacked even on a battlefield. Somewhere that he never thought he would fail at.

This... this couldn't continue. That was what he thought as he followed the orders that were given to him, making sure to mask his inner thoughts while doing so. As he continued to fight against his opponents, all the while using the Shingan to familiarize himself with the way things were run by reading everyone's thought patterns, Nico confirmed it to himself.

The difference between him and Castiel in this situation was too great to ignore.

Unfortunately for him, during the battles he got some lip from his Ghoul side, whom had a few words to say to those white-wearing soldiers. Especially when they started directing Nico throughout the battlefield. 'ARRGH, THOSE FUCKERS! THEY THINK THEY CAN ORDER US AROUND LIKE THEY'RE THE TOP PREDATORS IN THIS JUNGLE?! FUCK IT, KING WE SHOULD TEAR OUT THEIR INNARDS FOR THIS-!'

'Shut it, you.' Nico stomped down on his Ghoul Persona's rantings, the finality in his voice curb stomping him into silence. He didn't like it either, but this would serve as to remind himself of the lesson he had learned from this. Ghouls may be creatures of instinct, however it didn't mean they didn't learn. It was how their Kagune became better versatile, after all.

He should know, he'd made his Kagune as dangerous as it was BECAUSE of this... though he felt like his intelligence had taken a blow from all this.


	162. Cross Chap 9 - Continuing the Trial

**Continuing the Trial**

Things slowly got from bad to worse.

That was what both Castiel and Nico thought to themselves while they constantly fought the barrage.

Thanks to Castiel's idea, the black-suited troops fared much better off than when they were under Nico's command. The fact that Nico had not been a proper leader did irk the Heir immensely, however there was an upside he had not considered during the argument he had (or rather him ranting). That Nico's strategy to draw all the attention and aggression to himself also served in preventing casualties. Thing is, while his actions irked him a whole hell lot, when he arrived and counted the amount of soldiers still remaining, part of him had been surprised at the lack of casualties, there were many more than what he had expected. It was like Nico had drawn in the majority of the invasion force to his position just by existing on the battlefield, allowing his troops to take pot shots at the enemy. In turn, Nico was able to exploit more openings.

The guy may not be a good leader, but he did do SOMETHING right at least.

On Nico's end, the teen just kept the system previously established going, no need to change it that would mess anything up. Things were done much more effectively than what he had done, which did irritate and humiliate the male, but it also proved to him that he had a lot to learn yet. It also showed him the difference between a human and a monster in terms of combat limitations... if he were to command an army, he would rather do it with his own kind, monsters instead of humans. Though, this didn't detract from the issue that he currently took to heart, and THAT was something he refused to ignore.

After all, Emiya had been right... about everything he said, as much as it pained him to admit it.

Nico felt his pride was important, but if it prevented him from growing stronger...

However, there had been one good thing to come out of this that the white suited Soldiers noticed whenever Nico was deployed to certain areas. And that was that enemies seemed to target him more than others. The teen had explained that thanks to his Red Rage Ring (a piece of equipment he told them) that he had managed to make them overflow with anger towards himself that it took over their higher reasoning. Hence, why they were attacking him more than anything else. Still, while that did SOMETHING right before, it didn't make him seem like a better leader, it made him seem like he was more of a warrior, which ironically proved Castiel's point even further.

Still though, despite the two's efforts, none of this would make any difference if they didn't find a way to stop the invasion...

* * *

'Hmmm... if these guys are attacking us like this, then they have to be taking orders from something, right?' Nico wondered as two invisible Tentacles impaled a robot in the chest, then ripped it apart from within. Something told him that these attackers had previously given orders, he noticed this because despite their random spawning times, there were specific targets that they ALWAYS attempted to get to. Though, he had made them come towards him thanks to his Red Rage Ring (even now he was using it to draw the enemy into traps and stuff that Castiel had set up previously).

 **'It would make sense, these robots attack in far too organized a manner once they exit these random spawning points. My guess is the enemy is waiting to show themselves... we should confirm this with Emiya, even if you hold disdain for him thanks to that argument.'**

That was an understatement, but Castiel didn't say all that without reason, Nico reluctantly admitted to himself (while shooting down his Ghoul Persona's ravings with a figurative mountain). That was something both humiliating yet true for the male, however that wouldn't stop him from conversing with the Heir over tactics. He not a leader type, never was, but he could at least do something. Thus, he made to activate his Shingan, he didn't understand fully how the communication circle worked and he wasn't sure if it would accept his energy or not.

'Emiya, can you hear me?'

 _'HUH?! What the hell, Nico?! I thought I told you to speak to me through the Com circle I set up.'_

Castiel's voice yelled through his mind thanks to the Ring, which glowed while his Kagune protected him from multiple projectiles.

'You did, but this is important, I'm in combat right now, and I'd rather not use something i'm unfamiliar with. I'm not as familiar with your magic as I am with this Ring i'm using to send my thoughts to you. Never-mind that, we need to talk about the enemy.'

 _'Ugh, can it wait? I'm kinda busy here, we're dealing with a pretty big load of enemies that just spawned...'_

With a single thought order, Nico commanded Urthemiel to act, and it obeyed. With a roar, it let loose a barrage of fireballs from its position over the city (after tearing through a couple air forces) that destroyed the force attacking his former troops. He knew this thanks to the sounds of fiery explosions and the azure flames he saw in the distance while his Kagune took care of a bunch of dragon riding robots.

'Are you free to communicate now?'

 _'... What is it?'_

'Its the enemy. I believe that they have pre-conditioned orders given to destroy specific structures. After they spawn, I've noticed they head in the same direction depending on where they spawn, with no deviations from those courses. My theory is that the leader see's those structures as targets. Odds are, with the way things are going, if we concentrate our defenses around them we can cause the enemy leader to change his plays.'

' _Wow, and you only took a fucking ENTIRE DAY to figure that one out. Congrats.'_ Castiel sais with a voice dripping with sarcasm. ' _It should be freaking obvious after the first ten MINUTES of this shit show that there would bean leader organizing these troops. I mean, come on who do you even think IS our final enemy? Stop putting all your cards in instinct and guts or whatever else you think with your little head, think rationally at all times and ALWAYS fight your best and be ready for the worse. A leader must ALWAYS be thinking about his next step, don't let the battle you see overwhelm your rational thinking or you WILL cause a disaster. Fuck, as far as I know, the only reason why half your troops haven't been killed was dumb luck and coincidence that you just happened to have something that just happened to work for this. Well, you know what, focus on what appears in front of you and stop fucking stopping me to say the obvious! Just talk to me when you hear about something that ACTUALLY matters.'_

* * *

Castiel cut off the communications at that point, putting a bit of energy on his skull spirit bone to cut off the conversation with Nico for the moment. If he wanted to talk again, then try using the magic circle THAT CASTIEL ALREADY PREPARED! This was just another reason as to why Castiel was with ZERO patience to Nico, his unwillingness to learn anything from others.

Honestly, can't this guy understand even a little bit of what he was saying? He was supposed to be LEADING an army, not fighting on his own. Fixing his mess here was more headache inducing to Castiel than the actual battle, all because Nico could not even copy, COPY, what he was doing and telling him.

When dealing with someone that was overconfident about something that they are not actually good at, the best way was to show them their problems. Make sure they are forced to see their mistakes, even if they don't want to.

Sigh, Castiel was too young for this shit.

Anyway, he now had bigger fish to deal with. Mainly the fact that the ammunition was getting dangerously low. Of this continued then the soldiers would not be able to fight anymore. Seeing this Castiel decided to make something about it, he asked for Eevee, Solgaleo, and Lunala to go crazy on the enemies while he walked back to the base where the soldiers were staying.

"Commander." One of the soldiers gave a respectful salute as soon as Castiel got close. The respect in the soldier's eyes was clear to see, something that put a small shadow of a smile on Castiel's face.

"Stand down soldier. I will need a quiet environment to what I plan to do next so I will need you and your men to focus on only eliminating those who get too close to here. Otherwise, focus on collecting as much metal parts from these fuckers as you possibly can."

"Sir, yes Sir." He said as a small group of soldiers went out to bring me metal while the others continued to do as ordered.

I guess this is as good an opportunity as any other to work on my golenmancy, not that I am any good at it but this metal is of high quality and is a great magic inducer so this could probably help me bridge the gap.

And with this much metal to work with and my time dilator field, I can start on one of my childhood dreams.

Commanding a robot army to save the day!

'Now all I need is to get to work. This will be a good chance to improve as well, constant evolution is something to be happy about.'

He would get stronger, he would NOT be contained by the powers given to him by that wrench.

* * *

'Wow, isn't he being a jerk...?' Nico thought, sensing the abrupt severing of the connection. Something told him that he shouldn't talk to the guy for a while, at least until after this failure of a trial had been taken care of. Seriously, Castiel had already proven his point about him being better than him at leadership, no need to be a dick about it. He himself didn't see the guy in too good a light, but he at least tried to be civil with him. Not to mention, Nico didn't even NEED to look into his emotions to sense the chaos that was slowly getting a grasp on Castiel's being. 'Odds are...' he thought while listening to an order from the Commander of the white suits via a magic circle, then proceeding to head to the next area. 'That he doesn't even realize it either.'

 **'Indeed. as a personification of Demonic Power, I can handle his emotions easier than you. Nevertheless, even I don't exactly feel comfortable with how his emotional state his being has. In fact, If things go on this way...'**

'You're right, a confrontation is inevitable... best set it straight with him after this trial, no more distractions, no more bullshit. Emiya may think he's better than me at this stuff, and he's right about that. Guy's a natural born leader, even I can see that. But right now, whatever's bugging him is slowly getting a foothold, I don't care WHAT kind of mental or soul resistance he has.'

Shaking his head, Nico decided to focus on his opponents, quickly calling Urthemiel back to him. The giant Archdemon quickly flew to its master, landing before him while crushing a robot soldier beneath it, roaring into the atmosphere. The roar itself sent any nearby enemies away from it, of which it grabbed them with its tail before smashing them into the ground, destroying their remains with Primal Fire. It then looked towards its master, a happy roar escaping its lips as it lowered itself into a sitting position. It became clear to the male what it wanted from him, and he didn't feel exactly complied not to.

With a quick motion, the male hopped up onto Urthemiel's back, utilizing his Kagune to whack away several robots who tried to slash his head off, before Urthemiel got into a standing position and roared, unleashing a wave of Primal fire that burned away more of the soldiers. Though it soon became useless as more soldiers kept spawning from the portals. Soldiers and dragon riders to be frank.

Just as he was going to deal with them...

"SIR!"

A shout came from one of the soldiers by the use of the magic communications (which still irritated Nico when he had to use, why can't it just be something he is more comfortable with like ultra futuristic walk-talks or something demonic, maybe that can shoot lasers or that eats souls? You know, the norm).

"Sir, this is urgent! There is an invasion on the west side, a strange beast appeared and the people that were guarding the west are all getting excessively sick. It is a hairless, indigo and purple mollusk mammal beast, with two pieces of hair coming out of its snout-like nostrils, forming whiskers of a sort. The backside of the head shows several veins. The beast is quadrupedal, with all the legs resembling hoofs that are actually tendrils formed around large spikes within. The mere air around it is poisonous enough that even our bullets don't manage to get close before just 'dying'. We need reinforcements there pronto!"

Narrowing his eyes, Nico scowled. That didn't sound good, not at all. Poison enemies weren't something he particularly liked to fight, especially with his recent experiences with that kind of attack. The fact that there was one such enemy having appeared from the West did NOT do their army any favors.

"Understood! Gather any of the sick and injured and get them away from the beast, its likely that the beast is generating that sickness by its aura! Getting them away from it should help!" Nico responded. He looked to Urthemiel's back, and after a moment's thinking, steered him towards towards the West side. If this was a poisonous enemy, he would rater like to attack from a distance so that poison didn't reach him. Nico knew one of his weaknesses was poison, but he didn't know what kind of poison that was, and his resistances to it usually came from his DPU form. It had of course, granted him minor forms of those resistances, but if what the soldier said was true that wouldn't be nearly enough for this one. While flying high, Nico looked down from his perch on the Archdemon he saw Castiel sitting in his lion familiar, which admittedly looked awesome, and going straight south.

Nico decided to ask him, however thanks to is prior conversation, his instincts told him that his Shingan wouldn't work on the Heir right now. His gut proved to be right, as the Ring simply didn't activate when he wanted it to. At first, he didn't know what that was, but then figured that the Heir was blocking it on his end somehow, making him groan in irritation.

 **'Nico I believe the boy wishes for us to use his Magic Communications, and is stopping us from doing our own.'**

'Yeah, I know. Geez, this guy's annoyance levels are going through the roof! #SIGH## alright then, lets see how this ting works...'

Feeling even MORE frustrated Nico decided to use the magic communications for the FIRST TIME, and realized that he only had to transfer a minimal amount of any form of energy for it to activate. 'Seriously?! It was THAT easy?! Shit... okay, now I feel like an absolute idiot... not too far off then, if what other people have likely been thinking, too.'

With that thought attacking another spot of his pride, Nico felt the line form by his ear, in the form of a Magic Circle, and with that he spoke into it.

"Are you hearing me Emiya?"

'Y _eah, what do you need now? Did you decide that screwing up and almost losing HALF the city wasn't enough and make some dumb shit on the side that I already organized?'_ Castiel responded irritably. He was never fond of sharing authority and having to do that and putting the lives of many on the hands of someone incompetent was something that brought bad feelings to the young Heir, especially when he already was NOT in his best state of mind, to begin with.

Mentally, Nico rolled his eyes. The guy was still a jerk, then, he didn't even need to use his emotion sensing abilities to see that. Part of him wanted to just tackle the guy and rip out his intestines before he could react. Still, this was combat, like Castiel had said, and thus what he was feeling shouldn't be allowed to distract them from the task at hand. Nico mentally pictured having to hold his tongue in front of authority figures, and he found his 'Mask' calming him down. "Just reporting in: There is a strange monster invading on the west side of town, attacking via poison. I am going to intercept him now." Nico explained.

' _Tell me the details of this monster.'_

"I heard it is a hairless, indigo and purple mollusk mammal beast, with two pieces of hair coming out of its snout-like nostrils, forming whiskers of a sort. It-"

' _Yeah, I know what it is. Sheesh, I have different orders for you. Go to the south, there is a gigantic aircraft carrier approaching with many others together, all carrying many of these annoyances with them. There are plenty of enemies there and this is probably the best spot for your skills to shine. Don't worry about the north and east, for now, I used these last few hours to create a small army of golems that are creating ammunition to replace our used stock and to fight head-on against the enemies on those two sides.'_ Castiel explained, already feeling relieved that his work had done much more than he expected.

"Wait, I am closer to the west, shouldn't I go and face this beast? It will be faster." Nico questioned. It seemed like the logical step, and he HAD fought some poison based Abnormals before. He had equipment that could help him resist poisons, not to mention his DPU resistances and his Ghoul side. The side of him that would be able to hold off the poison's effects long enough for him to do something about it. Hell, if that didn't work, he could perhaps use his Leg's Spirit Bone to seal the poison away.

' _Are you fully, completely, and undoubtedly immune to all poisons in existence?'_ Castiel asked, bringing back memories of what Nico went through on the hands of a poison not long ago. Hearing the lack of answer Castiel put a small smile and said. _'Well, I am so you should listen to me on this. If I am not wrong this one is an **Invite Death** , a beast known for its potent poison that can kill anyone below Leader-class in a matter of minutes, and sorry to burst your bubble but you are most certainly NOT on that level. Heck, this beast is another one that is marked as a KILL ON SIGHT due to how absurdly poisonous its very presence is; if Gaoh is dangerous because of excessive predation than the Invite Death is more so due to its presence alone as it can destroy an entire forest just y sleeping CLOSE to it.'_

That shut up Nico's complaints, if only barely. He knew that he was most certainly not immune to poison, resistant to most maybe but not immune, so this threat struck too close to home for him. Not to mention, this aircraft carrier interested him the moment he had heard it from the Heir's lips. Multiple thoughts and ideas raced through his mind, thoughts that he found himself somewhat eager to test out. If he left this to Castiel, then he'd be able to pursue these ideas. Though, it still didn't take away the bitter taste in his mouth for listening to this asshole...

Almost as if he felt pain to say these next words Nico said.

"...Understood..."

Nico had a clear understanding of one thing as he mentally steered Urthemiel towards the Aircraft Carrier, his pride was being broken piece by piece by Castiel during this mission. And he was NOT enjoying it.

* * *

Why, just why can't one thing go my fucking way? I wanted to prove to myself that I am a good leader, this place being a perfect opportunity to test myself, to show me that the disaster that was the fight against Kokabiel wasn't my fault.

But what happens? I must share command with someone inexperienced that is too full of pride to ask for help but keeps making mistake after mistake and I have to spend more time thinking on how to fix his messes then on my own objectives!

Solgaleo felt my agitation and turned to look at me with concerned eyes, but I simply put my hand on his head to calm him down. I understand that he is worried, but it is still my duty to him as master to show him a facade that everything is fine.

Well, at least I already have an objective for right now in sight. A purple cloud approaching fast in my direction, seeing the enemy getting closer I jumped out of Solgaleo and sent him back. He was powerful, true, but he was still susceptible to being poisoned and even if I can easily heal him I do not want him to suffer.

Looking at the enemy in front of me I can clearly see his ugly face, surprise that there actually is someone that can survive when this close to him.

Well, guess what ugly thing? I will do more than 'survive', I will fucking kill you for harming my troops.

* * *

As Nico flew through the air on the Archdemon's back, he couldn't help but appreciate the calming feeling of the draconic being's wingbeats. They moved about i is pattern that, strangely enough, seemed quite calming like a gentle breeze across a peaceful plain. The feeling had been more than welcomed by the male, anything to distract him from the turmoil in his being.

The more he talked to Castiel, the more concerned he began to grow. Not just for him (his preference for female MAY be playing a part in that, part of him figured, though the fact that he felt worry for him AT ALL felt like a massive improvement on that), but for the rest of these trials. Even a blind man would notice the way he was acting wasn't quite healthy, In fact, it could be said it was the opposite. He may not be the natural leader type, much, but even he knew that kind of mentality was NOT fit for battles like this. Granted, his own mistakes didn't exactly help, but if this kept up then Castiel might go down a dark path further down the line. He knew this cause he himself once went down that path, and he KNEW that it wasn't a path fit for someone like him. He'd had his suspicions since the first trial, but now they were almost completely confirmed.

He needed to get some time to talk to the guy, preferably time between the trials. To talk the guy down and set him straight. Nico wasn't the most patient type, and his methods didn't always work. Not to mention he didn't do this sort of thing for many people. He wasn't that kind of guy, but he could o it when the need arose. His methods may be a bit unorthodox, but sometimes that was exactly what someone needed. To him, Castiel didn't seem like a character liked those who beat around the bush, yet held somewhat more patience than someone like Nico (though with his state of mind, that part was up for debate).

But, how could he do this?

 **'Why not... ask that man who calls Emiya Godson?'**

'What? You mean Zelretch?' Nico questioned, frowning as he stopped listening to Urthemiel's wingbeats. They were nearing the southern seas, and he could see the silhouette of the Aircraft Carrier in the distance. The male didn't know about that, for starters they didn't know where the hell that guy was during these trials. They may not have a way to communicate with the guy, and even if they did, it wasn't guaranteed that he would hear them out. After all, the man would probably side with his godson over him, the two off them didn't even know each other so that would be the logical thing to assume. 'Not sure that's such a good idea... What if what I have in mind makes the guy pissed enough to wipe me off the face of existence? Guy sure does seem like he could so that with ease.'

 **'True, however even HE must have noticed what was wrong with Emiya, much sooner than either of us. It would only make sense that he brought Emiya here so that he could unwind and think about things. However, what he didn't expect was for Emiya to close himself off and try to come to terms with everything alone, which could be why he brought us into this. Though I could be wrong about that last statement. However, it is likely that Zelretch is just as concerned for his Godson as any other parental figure, he just doesn't show it, keeps it behind that eccentric demeanor of his. You and I BOTH know what that is like, having parents mask their worries for their kids.'**

Yes, yes Nico DID know what that was like. He remembered his own mom, Helena Dawson, head of the Guild's Weapons Development Department. He remembered how sad she had been when he refused to let her help him with his Ghoul side. Mostly for his own sake, his own pride at being able to solve his own problems. However, it was also because there was nothing she COULD have done to help him, and she knew this. THAT had been the hardest pill to swallow for her, a parent unable to help their child when he or she was suffering.

Zelretch may consider himself Castiel's Godfather, but even he should have SOME feelings of that nature towards the Heir.

In the end, Nico decided to risk it, and see if he could use the Shingan to send his thoughts over to that crazy man. He didn't know if it would work, but by the Goddesses he would damned try. This problem had to be nipped in the bud, otherwise who knows what could happen further down the line. If he failed, he'll still do what he intended to set Castiel straight, and if he were to get erased then Nico would damn well put up the best fight he could. That way, he would die without as many regrets as he would otherwise, though he would always regret breaking his promise to Neptune, to come back alive after his reckless stunts.

With those thoughts in mind, Nico raised the hand adorning the Shingan, and closed his eyes, focusing on the Ring. Once he felt the Shingan's power activating, he projected his thoughts out towards... well, anywhere he could, hoping that Zelretch would hear him. 'Um,... Zelretch? Can you hear me? Its me, Nico. I need to talk to you, it concerns your godson...' When he finished his thought, Nico felt it get projected outwards from his position, which was just over the beach connected to the southern sea. He hoped to the Goddesses that this would work, otherwise he may not live to see the faces of his precious comrades again...

 _'yea-ello? This is Captain Zelretch speaking! What seems to be the trouble, young'un?'_

If Nico had any less composure, he would have jumped right off Urthemiel. However, he had his Demonic Power tethering him to the Archdemon's back, so that wouldn't happen. Even so, it didn't stop the surprise from etching itself across his face when he heard the ever-jovial voice of Zelretch echo throughout his mind, sustained by the Shingan itself. Holy shit, it actually worked?! What the hell, how was that possible?!

 _'Yeah, I have an advanced version of that ring of yours with me right now, I use it s a telephone service, just in case things went awry. Also as a means of ordering pizza! Hmmm, Piiiiizzzzaaaa...!'_

... Okay. Now Nico could see why the guy had such a relationship with Castiel, and why he found the man to be more than a bit insane. Nico could only sweat drop at the thoughts Zelretch sent back to him, before he shook his head to clear them from his mind. Nico had to act fast, the Aircraft Carrier was coming up hot, so he had to get his words out quickly before he would eventually be bombarded by attacks. 'Alright, then. Look, please hear me out. I know you've noticed how Emiya's been acting recently, and my fuck-ups haven't helped. But I fear the guy might lose it later down the line, so I was wondering if I could share with you a plan I have, with some of your advice? You may be eccentric, but you're his godfather so you MUST have noticed how damaged his mind's becoming.'

 _'I think you should think this over. Castiel is still dealing with more things than you know of, making anything drastic now will most likely take him WAY over the edge. I must warn you, if he goes there and truly goes all out on you the chance of you dying is quite high, and yes I am counting your healing factor in this. Castiel is carrying more on his shoulders than you can imagine right now.'_ Zelretch said in an unusual moment of seriousness. He knew what was going on with his godson and he knew how Castiel still needed some time to get all the hidden stress out of his system.

'Even so, I have to try. Not just for the trials, but for the guy himself. I doubt anyone would want to see him like this, especially those close to him. They'll be worried sick, especially if he has a love interest or not. That's why I have to do this.'

 _'... Alrightie then, sure lay your plan on me! Oh, that's a song, too! laaaaaay onnnnn meeeee...!'_

* * *

Once Nico had finished outlining his plan to the man, Zelretch cut the link so the teen could focus on the enemy rapidly approaching him. Though, he did say something that threw Nico off, and that was 'think about what Castiel told you at the beginning before the trial began'. Another one of his cryptic hints and all, and Nico figured it was about the information that Castiel had bought before their training. He didn't think much of it for now though, as he had finally closed the distance between him, Urthemiel and the Aircraft Carriers.

 **'Nico, I sense that the Carriers are not ready to fight yet. We managed to get here faster than they expected.'**

Biko's words rung through his mind soothing some of the redhead's trepidation as Urthemiel grunted while hovering over what he assumed was the main Aircraft Carrier. He said this because there was a strong energy source hidden within, one that seemed to be powering the soldiers stocked inside. He couldn't sense anything like it from the rest of the vessels that supported it from the rear, so yeah. The male could sense frantic panic within, and judging by the amount he could feel, there was a LOT of enemies down there. Easily enough to make a large army if it were to ever escape the Carrier.

Well then, he couldn't have that, now could he?

With his mind, Nico commanded Urthemiel to do two things: shower the fleet with as many Primal Fire attacks as it was capable of, leaving nothing remaining save for the main vessel. The second: to form a circular perimeter around the Carrier, to keep any enemies that escape into the air away from the city. Any that tried to escape, then Urthemiel was ordered to either turn back or turn to ash (although Nico figured out which option it would be going for easily, if the bloodlust he was sensing was anything to go by).

It soon followed its orders, roaring as it unfurled its wings. From that gesture, Nico saw what could only be described as over 1000 fireballs form from the space around the Archdemon, all of them formed from Primal Fire. The male felt glad that he practiced with his Hellfire so much, cause goddammit the heat from those flames would have incinerated him alive if he hadn't. Thankfully using Hellfire so much allowed his body to build up a strong heat resistance. In the next instant, all of those Fireballs fell upon the fleet like water droplets from a shower-head.

Of course, the ships tried to fire back, as each one aimed their gun emplacements at the approaching threat, however the Fireballs exceeded them in two areas: seed and strength. Even if some of them got a few shots off the Primal Flames making up the Fireballs burned them to nothingness before they could even touch their targets. Therefore, once the shower fell onto the fleet, all but the main Aircraft Carrier erupted into an azure blaze. A blaze that even burned through the waters around them thanks to the heat they emitted. It created this steamy mist that concealed the Aircraft Carrier from view... as well as emitted enough heat that should anything get out, they would be melted to nothingness in seconds.

Gotta love that Primal Fire.

Meanwhile, Nico himself planned out his assault in his mind in a second, and with that the teen jumped off Urthemiel's back and shot downwards like a hawk to the main deck below.

BOOM!

The male's impact rocked the Aircraft Carrier back and forth, disturbing the oceans beneath it by creating rippling waves. Thanks to the previous attack, the steam resulting from it hid the Aircraft Carrier from view if one tried looking from the land. However, the heat wasn't strong enough to melt through the hull, which likely meant that the Aircraft Carrier had better Armour than the robot soldiers or dragons. Nevertheless, the redhead didn't let that get to him as he stood up, Orangish red Hellfire fireballs forming in his hands. Turned out that was the right thing to do, as portals quickly opened throughout the main deck to let about 20 or so robots soldiers come out to face the intruder attacking them.

When they saw their opponents come out, Nico gave Urthemiel a quick mental command, and with a loud roar the Archdemon erupted in Primal flames, releasing them from its body. The flames roared like millions of tormented souls, groaning in their torment while they spread around the perimeter the Archdemon had set up, forming a sphere-shaped barrier of Primal fire. Now, combined with the steam generated by both fire and water, NONE of that so called 'large army' will be able to escape this place alive.

Just as Nico liked it.

Instantly, they attacked him, with gun emplacements turning to fire on him only for Nico to generate a rainstorm of Hellfire from the top of the barrier. The Hellfire, true to its aggressive nature, succeeded in melting right through the gun emplacements, scorching them and reducing them to nothing thanks to their heat. None of them would get a chance to fire... now or ever.

As for the robots... well, they ran into a little something called Nico's Kagune.

Seriously, his Rinkaku was a beast, especially with its invisibility. With how it couldn't be detected by the five senses, it made perceiving it almost impossible unless they could see vibrations well enough to make them visible. Something that few could do. Not only that, but thanks to those vibrations, their speed and power definitely held up against some of his stronger weapons and attacks. This proved itself when Nico's Rinkaku lashed out, ripping through groups of enemies at a time by going through limbs to immobilize them, then either tear their chests out or behead them.

Up ahead, Nico could see the main doors to the Aircraft Carrier's interior, which were slowly opening up to reveal a LOT of enemies having gathered behind them. As in, there was nearly over 100 of them, each of them narrowing their senses towards Nico, whose Bikaku swiftly came out while he pulled up his hood, took off the thing over his eye, and donned his Mask. Now, his Kakugan found itself visible to the world, while his Bikaku reared itself back like a set of spider legs. All the while, the male stared impassively, slowly striding forwards towards the army which broke into a mad sprint. Some of them shot at him with their guns, but his invisible Rinkaku took care of that assault. None of the bullets got through to him, which only made sense considering this Kagune could keep him dry in a rainstorm.

Just as he made to call forth a large Hellfire blast to erase this wretched thing from existence, Biko sudden;ly spoke within his mind.

 **'Weren't you going to test out these ideas you thought of before? Destroying this carrier would go against** **that...'**

Those words gave Nico pause, surprise welling up inside his lone Kakugan eye. Whoa there dude, hold your horses don't destroy the thing that piqued your interests! That was what he chided himself with as Nico disengaged the Hellfire, letting it recede back into his being. The male lowered his hand, which had been lifted above his head, allowing it to fall to his side limply. He had been so caught up in the thrill and the adrenaline, that he had almost forgotten what he had originally came here for in the first place. Destroying the Army was his primary objective, but not the carrier itself. Originally, he would have done as Castiel ordered and destroyed this place, but then an idea had piqued his interest, and thus he couldn't allow this idea to go investigated. Also, if he was right then they would have a MAJOR boon against the final boss, the leader of this enemy force.

An Aircraft Carrier, or any vessel built, always had data stored in their archives, archives that were either secured by passwords or security codes. If he were to access that archive, then he could gain access to a whole truckload of useful information. It could make up for his previous blunder with the men back at the city, and it wasn't like the Army would be able to escape Urthemiel's flames. That meant he could destroy them at his leisure, but Nico would prioritize destroying them first. He didn't want to leave any of them left alive to fuck things up more than he already had.

Odds were that this thing's archives had their data protected by passwords and all sorts of software, though. If that was the case, then he would have to try hacking into the mainframe to get past everything and into the archives. Attaining information wasn't always easy, he didn't always have the option of interrogating live people. He remembered back in Lastation when he had to learn how to crack pass codes and security measures to break into Umbrella security laboratories to get at their classified data. Accessing that information had taught him much about hacking into software and hardware (through trial and error though, but still that was the best way to learn in his opinion), though it wasn't often that he used those skills. Not that many knew of those skills either, since he had been kept mostly out of the public eye. Much of his involvement had been mostly covered up, his presence replaced to keep his existence a secret. However, Nico hadn't let many people know of his hacking skills, there were many eyes on him after all.

Still didn't let them get rusty though, having practiced them by himself ever since. He practiced them through his lone searches for criminals across the Nations, whenever he was told of their existence through quests. Made information gathering through technology like the internet a HELL of a lot easier, and he was definitely aware of that ironic statement. Even if he had them though, Nico didn't want to use them unless absolutely necessary, he knew how dangerous hackers could be in a technologically-specialized Nation. Or anywhere with technology as a part of its lifestyle.

Those thoughts made Nico scowl to himself, dark memories resurfacing in his mind, all of them being about the Raccoon City outbreak. He remembered what it was like, seeing countless civilians getting chowed down on by ravenous infected, to hear their screams for help only to be unable to do exactly that. Simply thanks to knowing that the moment they are bit or scratched, then it was game over for them. That they would turn into an infected monster just like the ones that bit them in the first place. He remembered the helplessness he felt while helping his fellow Spec Ops team get civilians to safety, how he had to watch come of them die for others to remain alive.

At that thought, a picture of an old man filled his mind's eye's view for a moment, before he vanished it.

Thinking back on it, that was probably the biggest reason why he struck out on his own, aside from not trusting many people. The utter helplessness to do anything significant, combined with the fact that it was covered up and made to look like an accident, spurned him into action. He had dropped off the grid, 'disappearing' in order to take the public eye off him and then wage a one-man war against Umbrella. Probably not the best idea to go at it lone, most would say,. But to Nico, he would retort back that he had to do this alone, as there was nobody else with the desire to do so other than himself.

In the end, no matter what kind of opinions one might have, not only did he learn hacking abilities, but he also brought the entire organisation into the light by releasing their classified data about the outbreak and the viruses involved to the public. They had been put on trial, and he remembered the looks on the faces of their board of directors when their fates were decided. That had been honestly one of the most satisfying things he'd seen in a long time. That incident always remained fresh within his mind, especially with the recorded footage he kept. It showed him that, with the right motivation, one can do a WHOLE load of stuff if they put their minds to it. Which was what he planned to do with this Aircraft Carrier. Gather as much data as he could and then depending on the data decide on what to do about this vessel.

Things go south, then he'd destroy the Aircraft Carrier regardless. Then face the consequences.

Couldn't let things get any worse, after all.

With those thoughts in mind, Nico broke into a sprint as he made his way towards the Aircraft Carrier's interior through the doors that USED to house those attacking robot soldiers from looked to be on the verge of closing when he did, however the male had used his Kagune to wedge them open, enough for him to get inside and then wrenched them shut behind him.

* * *

Destroying the army had been... rather easy, actually, much easier than Nico had initially expected.

Apparently, the entire army he had faced on this thing, having destroyed a quarter of their total forces (he found this out by scanning the Aircraft Carrier with his Bracers between each battle)had been hooked to this artificial AI unit that had been located deep within the vessel. Nico managed to locate and destroy it though, by using a combination of his Holomap, Motion Tracer, and the many battles he'd fought. The closer he had gotten, the m,more enemies Nico had to the time he had destroyed it by introducing it to his Hellfire, a loud 'ALL PERSONAL: INITIATE SHUTDOWN' had echoed throughout the vessel, and the sounds of hardware powering down had registered to his enhanced senses.

Whelp, that was step one, at least.

Then, with the use of his Holomap, Nico had managed to locate the Vessel's archives, and from thereon he found himself locating any form of control device for accessing the Archives. It took him a while, but eventually Nico found a control terminal. There, the male used his Bracer to access the Terminal, thus began to access it. 'Alright, so far so good...' the male thought to himself while doing this. Standing in front of the control terminal with multiple cables connecting it to his right Bracer, the male looked at its holographic screen, which showed a series of numbers floating about while the programs ran themselves. Honestly, sometimes he found it similar to letting a bunch of hounds loose to search for the location of the prey. His opposite hand worked overtime, constantly moving like it was a blur on a holographic keyboard, keeping the program running.

However, like he had assumed earlier, there had been some tight security installed in the form of defense software, anti-viruses, firewalls, etc. However, compared to the things that he found on the hardware of Umbrella this was indeed NOTHING. It almost made him snicker had he been any less composed, though he didn't let it hamper his work. Not when this stage of the hacking was underway. That Company had specialized in many fields, protecting their classified data would only make sense to be one of them.

Fortunately, things didn't go wrong, and the male finally found himself on a home screen of sorts, allowing a small smirk to form on his lips under his Mask. 'Alright, i'm in...' the male thought to himself, pride swelling within his chest as he began digging through the archives. Searching for information that could help himself and Castiel in the trial. His eyes occasionally and slightly shifted directions as he read one piece of data after another. He also downloaded copies of it into his Bracer for reviewing later, a habit he had formed thanks to his war against Umbrella. It was always necessary to have a copy on the side, just in case something happened and he lost the main files. It was something he learned from hacking into the mainframes of Umbrella's various research facilities.

'Hmmm... Oh! This could be interesting, let's see... oh shit, now i'm glad that I didn't destroy the Aircraft carrier!'

* * *

"Okay, then what to do with you?" Castiel half-asked himself as he faced the Invite Death. It was truly pathetic, the beast spent most of the time launching wave after wave of poison and viruses at Castiel, but his complete immunity make him not even feel the slightest effect of it.

In a way, it could be said that Castiel was the most perfect counter to Invite Death. The only reason as to why he hadn't defeated it yet was that he could not lock on the creature. It was immune to his curses, probably due to how scattered and unfocused they are and he never going too far with them, and locking it in place was hard as it could simply evade most strikes he would launch and it transformed the field to his advantage due to its acid poison.

"Oh well, I guess I could try and see what are my limits anyway." Castiel commented while evading a jab from one of the tendrils this beast had.

Deciding that this was a perfect opportunity for an experiment Castiel started focusing in summoning the cursed powers from the pieces of Angra Mainyu's polluted grail that resided within him.

It was, strange. Like calling out to a group of kids to wake up. Some would wake up and start moving instantly, others would take their time, slowly waking up or refusing it all together. In the end Castiel only could summon around 30% of all the pieces within himself. He wanted to see just how strong what this truly was, how deep was the power that he was born with truly was.

And so Castiel flew above the Invite Death and released his curses.

* * *

 **'WHAT IS THIS?!'**

Both aspects of the Spec Ops Agent (including his Ghoul Side who freaked the fuck out within the Inner World) shuddered when they felt it, a whole load of evil and negative emotions suddenly explode out from a nearby position. The eruption felt like that o a volcano or a geyser shooting out of the earth, roaring into existence in all its chaotic splendor. Not only that, but deep within it Nico and Biko sensed MUCH of the dark emotions that they had detected within the Heir himself, which along with memories of what Castiel had told them about his Curses, meant he had just used either a ridiculously powerful one, or just unloaded a whole barrage of them at once on an unfortunate opponent...

Nico thought it was the latter.

Still, if this was the power of Castiel's curses, Nico could only imagine what they could do in a wartime situation. From what he could tell, these curses were powered by sin itself, the sins of an entire species which made their negative emotions particularly thick. Condensed, even. If that was indeed true, then if they were at their full power, who knows what terrors they could cause on an unsuspecting force.

But still, if Castiel used that much negative emotion, then surely he would have emptied himself of some of that stress he had sensed, right? That was what Nico hoped, but he would only get a chance to confirm it for himself when he would talk to him momentarily. At least, until then...

'Maybe I'll hold off on my plan, for a while longer at least. It seems that there are variables that warrant revision of it.'

 **'Agreed.'**

* * *

"Well, I guess it was a bit much." Castiel mused to himself as he looked around. If before the poison make the area ugly to see now it was empty.

Empty of everything really, all that could be seen was a whole were PART of the Invite Death escaped and black.

And so much black and evil that it developed physical form. It was like a sludge covered everything with all manners of atrocities playing on each drop. Fake promises of glory, manslaughter, betrayals, any and all forms of evil really.

It was like this piece of the world itself was tainted, somewhere that even in a thousand years would still leave others feeling dread inside, even the plants would avoid growing here with just a few exceptions.

This mountain was now truly toxic to all life, with the only exception being Castiel himself who was feeling comfortable there. A feeling of acceptance and calmness within him for his place just felt right to him.

It was like the most peaceful place he has ever been, somewhere that would bring dread and death to others was a 'home' for Castiel right now.

But, even as he felt that he could see now. Why it was that his powers were sealed when he was younger, this power was intoxicating and dangerous beyond belief. But, he still could not forgive his 'mother' for putting this seal on him, for abandoning him, for all the pain he felt when practicing magic and how damaged she let his magic circuits be. He still could remember, even after years trying to forget, how he had to feel like molten magma was flowing through his system when he started practicing, how it felt terrible and how he waited all those birthdays for his 'mom' to appear just to be disappointed every time.

He would not forgive it.

Anyway, now he was quite sure that even if Invite Death manages to survive he would not live for long and would likely end up dying in the near future even if Castiel did nothing. Heck, he was quite sure that no more attacks would come from the mountains as even these machines would not advance through here.

Just then, he received another transmission from a particular 'annoyance' when a Magic circle appeared.

"Hello, this is Castiel talking. If this is a message about you screwing up something just tell me what you need me to fix, if something else then thank God for SOME good news from you."

 _'Is the Invite Death dead yet?'_

"Sure is. Well, dead is a powerful word, I'd say that he ran away in a similar fashion to Gaoh, but if we consider it then we will not be facing him again."

' _Was he hard to beat? I mean, I felt the dark emotions from over here and there was a big load of it coming from your area, like you had to go all out and everything.'_

"Actually, it wasn't hard for ME at all. The beast was launching God killer level poison like it was its birthday, melted half the forest and area with poison, but couldn't do SHIT against me. I am really lucky that my spirit bones focus more on immunities instead of pure power. And to be fair, no it was not that I HAD to use my curses full force, but I wanted to experiment with them."

' _And the results?'_

"I used around thirty percent, which is as much as I can due to a few problems in my body, and I can safely say that I eliminated everything in the area and the Invite Death will die soon enough even if I don't go against him. I think that using **All the World's Evil** in its raw state was a bit much. Oh well, I think all the evil and curses that humanity ever committed are not so easy after all." Castiel admitted with a nonchalant shrug.

 _'Well, t-that's something at least,'_ Nico responded, trying to hide the chills coming forth from down to even his inner world. All this power he was feeling from kilometers away was just 30% and in its raw state? Fuck armies, he could see why Zelretch said that Castiel could kill him period. He would DEFINITELY hold off on his plan if that was the case, and perhaps he should start thinking about not just rewards that could help entire groups of people, but also ones that increased his overall power levels. That mental and soul resistance stuff seemed oddly more appealing as time went on. 'A _nyway, I've found some information you will want to hear. It concerns the final boss of this Trial.'_

"Oh" Now THAT got the Heir's attention, his mix of nonchalance/annoyance towards the other male now having a tinge of curiosity and excitement to it. Information? Well, looks like the guy had done SOMETHING possibly good then. "Now that IS interesting, tell me more about it." Castiel questioned eagerly, leaning forward slightly. Information was an essential thing in the world and anything that could help him win this tiresome battle was an advantage.

 _'I destroyed the fleet except for the main Aircraft Carrier, destroyed the army inside and left the vessel intact. I feel like we could use it to our advantage, and that it had valuable info for us. I'm glad I did, cause I was right. It works like this, after both the army and the Invite Death are destroyed, the final boss is set to spawn right smack dab in the middle of the city. Not in the same manner as the other troops either, once it appears the vicinity is practically destroyed, half the city would be gone.'_

"Well, then this info ought to be wrong in a few details." Castiel replied, furrowing his brows. "If it instantly destroys half the city then we automatically lose the battle BEFORE the final match. It is just not fair at all."

 _'Since when is anything ever truly fair? FORTUNATELY, it seems that whatever you just did altered its plans somewhat, as according to the data I've acquired, its changed its spawning time to 30 minutes from now. It's been put off by your attack and will be recalculating the ideal place to spawn. There's a lot more intelligence I've gleaned, but it's best if we share it in person. I'll bring the Carrier into port with Urthemiel, could you let the soldiers know that the Aircraft Carrier's harmless so I don't get shot at? It would be both inconvenient, plus I strongly believe we can use this vessel to our advantage. It is your call on that one.'_

"Ok, we will use this vessel alright. I want you to approach the harbor, I will send the soldiers there while the metal golems go straight to the center of the city. Also, I will be planting a few of my unique seeds around to help safeguard the city itself as well as I can. Put all the soldiers inside and see if the main weapons are still functional, if they are use your hacking skills to learn how to use them even if marginally and put the soldiers to work. Let's win this bitch." Castiel said.

 _'Understood.'_

After the call ended Castiel turned on his heels and went straight back to the base he had been working on before, he had left there a few seeds he inscribed with runecraft and of a... unique type, a last minute gift he had received as a reward before entering here.

These few seeds will probably help him make sure that the boss's arrival was NOT an instant game-over.


	163. Cross chapter 10 - Second Trial Finale

**Second Trial Finale**

After twenty minutes of that talk, many things were done.

First was that all the soldiers were pulled back, the casualties surprisingly enough were Zero at this point in time. Nevertheless, their fight gradually came to an end, if the Boss Monster was going to be coming soon, then this fight would be best left in Castiel and Nico's hands. No matter how he felt about the other male, the Heir did acknowledge his strength as a warrior. It was obvious that he was not weak, that was for sure.

However, there was a need to replace those soldiers with something at least somewhat more expendable. Replacing them were the metal golems, they were not particularly strong but they would work somehow and they were armed with the same swords that the enemy possessed, so it wasn't that hard for them to battle. But it was an undeniable fact that they would not last long if not for the long ranged support from Lunala and Eevee.

The evacuated soldiers were all quickly moving to the inside of the carrier, some learning how to navigate it and control the weapons with Nico. A lot of the weapons had been damaged severely thanks to Nico's onslaught, however, whilst he had it dock at the city's port, he had discovered and activated the self-repair mechanisms on the Vessel. By the time he had docked it, the Vessel had been about 80% operational, and as an extra bonus, Nico had been able to hack the AI as well, allowing what remained of the enemy army to be reprogrammed to fight for them instead. Sure as hell gave the Soldiers a Heart Attack, though Nico calmed them down and assured them (whilst showing proof by commanding the robot army to do things with his Bracers) that it was fine. Aside from that, utilizing his Hacking Skills, Nico had begun showing the Soldiers how to operate the machinery, so they could operate the Aircraft Carrier to its fullest potential.

Not to mention that they had found stacks upon stacks of rations inside the Vessel, thankfully untouched by Nico's Hellfire. So hey, that was a plus.

Meanwhile, Castiel found himself deep within the city's confines. The male had been spending the majority of his time quickly planting some of those seeds he worked with all over the place in the middle of the city. The work being extremely sensitive as if he moved wrong it could spell problems later on. Just one of them he planted and let grow from the start, even transferring large amounts of his energy to put more power in order to make it grow faster. Quickly enough the seed grew and after putting his power in it for 5 minutes the plant finally reached adulthood.

"Heh, I guess this is as far as I can let you grow huh?" Castiel remarked thoughtfully, all the while craning his neck to look upwards at the HUMONGOUS tree in front of him. This was a VERY special tree, one that could probably give them a considerable advantage on this future fight. "Well, now that the Fall Tree is ready and the Protection Tree's seeds and the Binding Trees are also in place I suppose it is good enough. Now, let's go and get a few extra points." Castiel whispered under his breath with a sadistic smile.

He knew that his own killing points were probably lower than Nico's again, due to him spending longer trying to get things ready and taking care of the soldiers, but this was only temporary at best and even if his points were fewer it didn't bother Castiel as he was after something else for this trial, a confirmation of sorts. With that in mind, the Heir unleashed his Wings to take flight, ascending high into the air. When Castiel reached enough of a height, he looked to the surroundings of the city. His eyes narrowed at the large mass he could see blocking any and all escape routes by land. There was an enormous number of enemies there, easily reaching hundreds if not thousands. Apparently, this was supposed to be the final wave and as such there were that much more enemies spanning.

Just as Castiel wanted.

Putting his hands together, Castiel closed his eyes and connected himself to all the traps that still were not used, for this final stretch he deactivated all traps while putting his faith in the golems and the barrier he created. After all, it was much better to catch 10 enemies in one trap than a single one. He even was lucky, these last few ones all were similar in that they were focused in exploding. And considering how they had grown a bit stronger every time one of this enemies was destroyed and its core ended up close to said trap, taking away the energy inside, it could be well imagined what they would do.

And DO they did with Castiel next few words.

"KATSU!"

What, he was a fan of some of Naruto's characters and he liked the Akatsuki members in special. There was no better way to release a salvo of explosions then this one.

And the explosions happened.

* * *

On the Aircraft Carrier. things were going along swimmingly, much more than Nico had initially expected.

He stood on the Main Deck, overseeing the various colored soldiers as they attended to various tasks that he had assigned to them while he looked at the blueprints of the Vessel he had downloaded onto his Bracer. These blueprints formed as a Holographic 3D image of the Vessel. Much of its damage had been repaired thanks to the auto recovery system he had found through looking over the Blueprints, and it had been an extraordinary sight to behold. Watching pieces of the ship, destroyed by his Hellfire, slowly mend themselves, replacing what had been lost wand adjusting what had been damaged. By the time that the ship had docked, Nico estimated that the ship had reached 80% operational capability.

But, the system couldn't repair everything, it seemed. Its Engines remained damaged by 10%, making complete mobility that the ship previously possessed impossible. Not only that, but some of its sensory systems were rendered inoperable, as well as a portion of the weapons. Fortunately, the main guns were still operational, as well as the more necessary systems required to operate it, so Nico had used the blueprints as a basis to instruct the Soldiers on how to operate the Vessel. Some of them had once been under his command, and had at first many dark emotions at being commanded by him again, which he had expected. After all, Castiel had been right, that was something he had taken a while to completely accept. He had been right that he hadn't been a good leader, something he had realized when he arrived at the white soldiers camp.

Thus, in order to learn from his mistakes, Nico had tried to organize the soldiers into different groups, one group would work on the Vessel, with another overseeing them. A third group would be spending their time learning the more technical aspects of the Vessel under Nico's guidance. After five minutes or so, he would rotate the teams, the one working on the vessel being allowed to have a food break with both the rations on the ship (a Goddamn blessing in Nico's opinion) as well as some of the food he AND Castiel had liberated in the previous trial. Mind you, it had almost been AGONIZING to hand over a portion of his own food rations, his Ghoul instincts 'lightly' expressing their disdain for the idea. However, he had pushed on, memories of both Castiel's words, as well as... someone else's, flashing through his mind.

Perhaps... perhaps he could get some answers to these questions he had been harboring.

 **'It appears that so far, your 'apology' to your former subordinates is going well. Your 'attempts' are reaching them, as I sense fewer dark emotions towards you than when we began.'**

A wave of relief escaped Nico's lips when he heard that from hid Demon Persona. Even though he had felt those emotions decreasing from his men in a gradual manner, it still helped that someone else had already noticed. 'You've got that right, Biko. Still, now that I'm actually trying to follow that guy's example, it's becoming slowly clear to me... that being a leader is freaking tough!'

Seriously, this was a WHOLE new territory for him. He felt so lost, like he was on an unknown spec of land with no idea how to get back to his home. He honestly felt like that time when he fell into the Monster Cave and 'accidentally' stumbled onto that DPU Core that turned him into what he was now. Not to mention that he no longer saw things the same way as he once had, not the previous black and white state that he had been used to for many years. No, everything had blurred together since the events at Leanbox, turning everything into a confused grey. Was this how Theta had felt back then? To command a whole resistance of men and women willing to fight for a cause? How often did he have doubts about his cause in his own time? Was he ever unsure? These might be questions that he would have to ask the man when he eventually got to Lowee.

Taking himself away from his thoughts, Nico looked to the side and found several soldiers looking at him, wearing black uniforms. They looked like they needed something, so he gestured them to come over. In the end, they wanted to know what it was that was happening, as the men hadn't been briefed on their newest enemy. It was a valid concern, and Castiel had decided that they would not have the time for a specific briefing (he knew, caused Nico had asked), so Nico gave them a quick rundown of what had been going on. He even told the groups that were experiencing their turn learning under him, enough to satisfy their curiosity. It was a move he had figured might ease their nerves slightly, and while it did the male sensed that some were a bit more apprehensive about it. Though, that had been mitigated by the fact that they would be spending THIS part of the battle AWAY from the city where the boss would have appeared.

Afterward, a white-suited soldier jogged up to him, looking like he'd been running a long time. "Sir, you're needed down in the Engineering decks. Some of the men have discovered something you may want to see."

Now, THIS got his attention. It seemed that the Soldiers had managed to get access to one of the few areas Nico himself had difficulty getting into. Mostly because here was debris blocking the entrance, and Nico didn't have the time to get it all moved safely himself with everything else he had to prepare before the men got on board. Not to mention the fact that he had to clean up as well, while gathering all his willpower to ignore his raging Ghoul instincts regarding the food he caught. Now though, NOW he'd finally get a chance to see what was inside there. 'I wonder what we'll find...' the male thought, swallowing some saliva while giving a notification to his men via his Shingan and Bracer, before following the soldier inside the Vessel.

 **'Unknown, but I do hope that it will be worthwhile.'**

'You and me both, Biko...'

* * *

After walking through the Aircraft Carrier, Nico and the soldier found themselves at the entrance to the Engineering Bays, cleared of all its debris. The door itself looked as futuristic as the rest of the Vessel did on the inside, whilst the Soldier imputed some codes on a terminal next to the door. Those codes were what Nico had provided for him when he had hacked into the Mainframe to gather as much information as he possibly could. Once he entered them, the door slid sideways, opening the entrance up to the two as they went inside.

The moment they did, the two men saw that the room looked to be quite large, and housed many inactive-looking robot warriors that Nico and Castiel had been facing the majority of the Trial. They all looked like they were slouching, evidently expressing their state of being. "Looks like these things aren't going to be giving us any trouble..." the male mused thoughtfully, cupping his chin with his index finger and thumb while nodding.

"The boys managed to cut the links this Vessel's AI has with them, so even if it does activate these things would not be able to be used." the soldier explained, furrowing his brows. Nico didn't blame them, they probably had some negative feelings and wanted to vindicate themselves against them. Still, though, they could have been useful as an emergency defense against any invaders, though he figured that was his personal bias against humans talking. He well, REALLY didn't want to think about humans in a general manner at the moment.

Soon enough though, his thoughts got broken when he saw the soldier walking to something else something located to the left side of the Engineering Bay. Walking up to him without asking questions, Nico finally saw what it was that the Soldier had wanted him to see, his eyes widening to large margins at what sights presented themselves before him. 'Oh... my... Goddess...!'

 **'This... This is...!'**

Suspended before them, was a suit of Armour, much like that of the robot warriors before. However, aside from some visual similarities, that was pretty much it. Unlike those things, this Armour looked like the size of a seven foot tall human. Ironically, it looked a lot like those Armours those World Eaters sport back in Leanbox. However, they were a mix of blue with gold outlines, with strange golden symbols on the shoulders and chestplate. Sloped pauldrons, or shoulder plates, adorned the shoulder areas which were likely used to deflect enemy fire. in addition, Flanged poleyns (knee-plates), looked to provide extra protection over vulnerable joints. The Greaves had these incorporate gyroscopic stabilizers and can magnetize the soles of the Armour's boots, allowing one to walk on metal surfaces in treacherous terrain, including zero-gravity environments.

'What the hell...?' Nico wondered, gaping with his jaw unhinged. 'Why is something like THAT here?'

 **'I don't know, however I do believe that Zelretch is the cause somehow. This place IS full of different treasures from different dimensions. Perhaps he has visited ours multiple times and taken certain things to keep here. Though, this one DOES seem to be the only Armour of its kind so far, perhaps these robots intended to make them as vanguard soldiers before this invasion happened, or something along those lines.'**

Biko spoke within his mind, his voice as flat as normal whilst the male detected a slight sense of awe within. He couldn't blame him, either, after all Biko WAS a part of him and Nico could DEFINITELY feel the awe in himself too whilst looking at this Armour. An idea came over him, and Nico quickly raised his Bracer and accessed the information he had downloaded from the Vessel's Mainframe. Soon enough, he found the name of this particular set of Armour: Mark X Power Armour, this one being the Tacticus variant. According to this Data, it was made from this metal called 'Ceramite', a form of heat and shock-resistant ceramic material. To his surprise, Ceramite was capable of absorbing and dissipating even the most extreme thermal and directed-energy attacks, and conducts many other forms of electromagnetic radiation in such a way as to disperse it across a wide area. This makes Ceramite especially effective at providing protection against directed-energy and particle-based weapons. The thickest layer of Ceramite is over the chest-plate, protecting not just the Power Armour's cables, but also most of one's vital internal organs.

This 'Ceramite' seemed WAY superior to Silver Steel, in Nico's opinion.

 **'Touch it, Nico. I think we can use this Armour to improve our own.'**

Nico nodded his head to his Demon Persona's suggestions, and soon enough stepped forth till the male was right before the Armour. Slowly, he reached out to the Armour, placing his hand on its chestplate and closing his eyes. "I'd like to be alone for a bit, could you wait outside till I have completed my task?" he requested, not even looking at the Soldier behind him.

"Yes sir." The white suited soldier replied, saluting him before jogging out of the Engineering Bay.

This left Nico alone with this Armour, and once he felt this revelation, the male quickly applied his Desecration to the Armour. He intended to change this Armour to something more powerful, imagine just how much his or someone else wearing this Armour empowered by demonic power would be wearing it. He could imagine Tekken having a field day with it... if he could mold its size to suit her frame. Hell, he also would like to see how it would fare when Demonic Power augmented every atom inside the Armour's form, making them each stronger than they were previously.

However, the moment he did so, Nico's chest-mounted Armour Module began to shine brightly, right through his clothes. The light practically forced a gasp from the male, making him cover his eyes until the light died down... revealing that the Armour was nowhere to be seen when he lowered his arm to look at it. "Huh? What the...?" the male muttered, but soon got the answers his mind asked from his Demon Persona.

 **'Hmmm,** **interesting** **. It appears our own Armour has decided that this one could be used to improve its own systems. It has absorbed the other Armour into itself AS it was being Desecrated by your Demonic Power. Therefore, the boost it will gain will have been tremendous once we are able to deploy our Armour again.'**

Before Nico could respond to this, the male heard a large rumbling sound in the far distance, his eyes widening when he did so. The rumbling sounded like it was coming from somewhere on land, and if he thought it was what he thought it was, then odds were that Castiel was somehow involved. He had heard from some of the men that there was a final wave coming, but he had assured them that the Heir could handle it himself. They hadn't been too sure at first, however they had been quickly reminded that out of the two of them, Castiel was the better leader. Thus, he had ways of fighting that neither of them would expect.

'Still...' Nico thought as he quickly notified the soldier outside that he was finished, and that he should report to the rest of his comrades up on the Main Deck, before he himself Warped up to the Main Deck himself. 'Something tells me that guy is getting a lot of combat done as well. Probably an entire army judging by the sounds of those rumblings... i'd say he had been using explosions somewhat, too...' Nico knew PLENTY about explosions, he'd seen many of them during his many battles after all.

Hopefully the guy wouldn't get too caught up in the fight, though.

* * *

 _"_ Neat."

This is what Castiel remarked to himself thoughtfully, as he looked to the ground beneath him. Oh yeah, by the way, he was still in the air, suspended by his mismatched wings. In one fell swap, he had managed to eliminate at least a few hundred of the enemies, something that he had to smirk to himself about. Whilst he wasn't as good at taking down multiple opponents as he would have liked he had to admit to himself that he did, in fact, liked to experiment in large scale destruction. This trial was truly quite easy for the Heir, despite the fact that he could see why it could be hard for others. The key was the preparations, Castiel was someone who prepared the field for his absolute advantage and adding his experience in leading, this Trial was much easier to him than to most other warriors. For him this trial was less of one that he just needs to win and more of one he would win perfectly to make a point to himself, a point he felt he needed to make.

"I think this might just be enough. I doubt the wave of enemies will continue to appear considering how it is close to the time of the last boss to show up. But just as a precaution..." Castiel mused to himself before connecting to Lunala and Solgaleo. "Lunala, I want you to come to me now for this next fight, Solgaleo I want you to guard the north of the city until the start of the boss fight and if by then no enemy appears you are to come here to help too."

After hearing confirmation Castiel only had to wait for less than a minute to a shadow to appear below him for him to ride. Lunala was quite different than Solgaleo, he gave a heroic and upfront vibe when riding, almost like a General prized stallion riding to war. Meanwhile, Lunala gave him a more dark vibe, like he was a dark Asura leading an evil army to a greater goal. While on top of Lunala, Castiel felt a sense of calm that was hard to come by, but it was a shame that it was not to last as a new portal started opening in the space above the city's center.

Castiel also noticed how this portal was immensely bigger than the others before and that many smaller portals surged outside the city. 'Leaving Solgaleo outside was a good call after all.' the Heir couldn't help but think, a shiver traveling down his spine as he looked at the scene in front of him. He knew that these next few enemies would come in large numbers, and even if the soldiers in the carrier shoot them using the weapons there it would hardly be enough, especially when the enemies got closer to the city, making the option of using weapons against them impossible. Solgaleo could help there well enough, his abilities more than strong enough to deal with these numbers in the north where the portals were opening.

The main problem, however, was the big ass portal in the center of the city. This could easily spell doom for the mission if this is the size of the enemy, luckily Castiel was already prepared for protecting the city in the first place. "Grow, Protection Trees!" Castiel yelled while throwing his arms out, activating the runes he prepared beforehand to make the seeds bloom. It was surprisingly fast how the trees grew, equally matching the falling speed of the boss for this mission. And boy was this boss monstrous.

Seriously, it was gigantic in size, easily reaching over 35 meters tall, was completely robotic and looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but bigger and with two BIG AS FUCK cannons in his back. To be frank, the moment Castiel saw it, he instantly came to a realization in his gut. This beast would be a strong motherfucker, and by that he meant SERIOUSLY strong, hell the Heir could feel huge amounts of energy radiating from its core, which was already scary enough, but more than that he felt pretty sure that the metal it is made of was from the same kind that Kupriotes is made.

In essence, this was DEFINITELY a fitting final boss for this Trial.

Beating this motherfucker would not be easy. But at least he could see that the plants he'd put around had already begun taking the proper effect, protecting the buildings from the weights and simple moves of this creature.

Still, a hard battle would be fought... whelp, time to take charge of this situation by beating down this motherfucker.

* * *

 **'It looks like the final boss has appeared...'**

Nico nodded his head to his Demon Persona's words, scowling as he glared at the city. Or rather, the center of the city where he could sense the emergence of the final boss here. Nico didn't know what it was, but whatever it was DEFINITELY packed some punch behind it. He knew this because the MOMENT it had appeared, Castiel had done something and several tree-like structures has grown around the buildings, seemingly protecting them from being damaged by the creature's movements. No idea what they were, but as long as they worked then Nico would pay attention to more important things.

For example, like monitoring these troops.

It hadn't been stated, but Castiel HAD wanted Nico to remain with the troops at the Aircraft Carrier, in case of an attack on them. The Vessel had already been ordered to head out into the open sea by the Heir a couple of moments ago, and Nico had been all too eager to comply. With them being about 20 minutes out onto the ocean, they would be able to send in reinforcements with the robot army they had acquired, or dish out long ranged bombardments with the many gun emplacements dotting around the Vessel itself.

'Still, those smaller portals up north concern me. It's like those games where minions spawn in the boss room to help their master fight the player, becoming distractions for their master to land fatal blows easier.' Nico thought ominously, standing at the edge of the Vessel's Main Deck. His Trench Coat blew behind him from a breeze, his hair being ruffled alongside it while his eyes remained unflinchingly focused upon the city itself. Not to mention how his hands dug into his pockets, hiding how his Shingan ring had been glowing constantly since their departure. The constant glowing signified that it was active, as Nico constantly transmitted his thoughts over to the other troops, organizing them and keeping them monitored. Up in the air, Urthemiel flew in a circle, keeping an eye out for its master.

Part of him had considered letting Urthemiel turn the entire ocean into a wasteland by causing a drought with its flames. It had been before the initial assault on the vessel, though he hadn't given it much acknowledgment. It was in the heat of battle, after all. If he had done that then the Vessels from before wouldn't have been able to close in on the city, and he would have had an easier time taking care of them. However, thinking about it, Nico realized that would have been counterproductive in the long run, as then they wouldn't be able to use the Vessel nearly as well as they could now.

 **'Perhaps we can send Urthemiel over there. If I know Emiya like I think we do, then he will likely have sent something there already. Perhaps Urthemiel can lend his assistance.'**

Sending Urthemiel, huh? Well, ever since Urthemiel had been created (a rather painful memory as well, the male noted with a wince), it had been slowly developing with the experiences gained. It couldn't use its full power thanks to lacking experience, which was why Nico needed to have it involved in constant combat. The experience was best gained that way, after all, heck with enough it could probably learn how to send its thoughts to him like he did to it. Right now, it only sent him its emotions, which sometimes could be difficult to interpret. Once it got its thoughts and intelligence up, perhaps that could help it learn to use the full extent of its powers. Not to mention the Chaos Core and Armour he had yet to give it, he'll change that after this Trial.

Thus, Nico could understand the logic behind Biko's suggestion.

As if sensing what they were thinking (which if that were the case, Nico wouldn't doubt it), Urthemiel looked down, halting itself in the air for a few moments. It then proceeded to descend slowly, its two hind legs being the first to touch the Main deck before the rest of its body followed suit. Standing on all fours, Urthemiel looked towards his master, and while it couldn't speak, its eyes showed a depth too them that could only be expressed by emotion. Looking into his eyes, Nico could sense its desire, its desire to fight.

Urthemiel wasn't like those two familiars Castiel has gained, nope, far from it. Those two have this sort of familial bond between them. Like a pair of pets with a loving owner who gives them lots of affection and care. The IDEAL kind of pet/owner relationship.

It somewhat reminded him of slavery, and by the goddesses, he HATED slavery with a passion, but it seemed that they consented to it judging by how they were acting, he even felt that making any sort of insinuation about that would be answered by violence more likely. For Urthemiel however, it didn't have that kind of feel to it, instead of the relationship between them, aside from Nico having created it accidentally, felt more like the relationship between two warriors. They felt like they were siblings-in-arms, fellow fighters who could relate to each other on a level that very few could reach.

Even so, the type of relationship didn't matter, as one thing remained certain: both of them treated their Familiars with respect and honor, they would make sure to be there for them when they were in trouble.

With a nod, Nico decided to mentally tell the Archdemon to fly over to those portals. If there were enemies there, then it had to burn them to nothingness. If Castiel had sent anything there like Golems, his Familiars, or some detachment of troops, then it would have to treat them as allies.

Urthemiel nodded, roaring in acceptance as it took off towards the north, flames erupting around its wings that increased its speed. If it had put them around its body, Nico would have mistaken it for a Phoenix.

'Now, with that out of the way...' the male thought, before he cupped his chin. 'Time to see to how I can be of more assistance...'

* * *

Up in the north, perched atop a Building, Solgaleo growled and glowered at a force consisting of 700 enemies. About 300 Robot soldiers, and 400 Dragon Riders. All of them wielded swords and guns, each of them trained upon the Familiar, which was radiating this strong, white aura from its being. Not to mention, with its powers, it could sense more portals that were only an instance away from opening. Like they were on stand by in case these current forces The Lion-like creature had been sent there by its master to eradicate those who dare interrupt his fight with that metal monster, so that was what would happen.

However, it did not misunderstand one important fact, and that was the fact that these forces WOULD NOT END. Even if there was a set number there, more would be pouring in. There was a certain thing about familiars, and that was that they were better in tune with the nature around them. Solgaleo was no exception to this, it instantly knew that this place, despite it being artificial, had a 'nature' all its own that it could tune itself into. With that knowledge, it realized that until that monster in the city was defeated, none of these enemies would stop appearing. It was like trying to cut off a hydra's head, cut off one, two more shall take its place.

It was with this in mind, that the Lion-like being had been gathering energy from the sun above it since it arrived here, though it appeared that this army had no clue on what it was doing. That had been the reason why it hadn't attacked yet. they were waiting to see what it would do, which in essence would prove to be a MAJOR mistake on their parts. After a few more seconds (it had been standing here for a good few minutes), Solgaleo had its beam ready. With one loud roar, the Lion-type creature shot the pure white energy beam out of its mouth, curving the beam so that it swiped through a large portion of the army.

BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

A huge explosion covered the entire army as a result, completely shrouding them from view in a mass of smoke. Debris flew freely from the impact the beam had, and by the time that the smoke cleared up moments later, the Familiar saw that its attack had cleaved right through at least two thirds of the enemy ranks. One third was made of the Robot Soldiers, and the other was that of the Dragon Riders, but even then the rest of them didn't escape unscathed. All of them had some level of burns on their forms or another, and judging by how they gave ferocious glares towards Solgaleo, it looked like it wouldn't have the chance to charge up another Solar Beam.

In response, a grin slowly spread across its lips as it raised its paw, making the 'come hither' gesture.

And come they did.

Instantly, it teleported to a nearby building roof when an array of lasers came towards it from the front. The moment it reappeared, a pair of Dragon Riders made to charge at it from multiple flanks, intending on stabbing through it with their blades. Not something that Solgaleo felt afraid of as it bared its claws, each of them glowing pure white before reforming as steel claws. Claws made of this brilliantly stainless steel, that looked like they could cut up even the souls of their victims. Waiting for the perfect moment, Solgaleo roared as it leaped forth, slicing through the dragons and their riders in a couple of swift claw motions, landing on the ground whilst its targets fell to the rooftop floor dead.

Looking to the rest of the army, Solgaleo made to charge at them to continue its slaughter, when suddenly it sensed something approaching them at a VERY high speed. A speed that nearly rivaled its own, something it didn't believe was actually true. Looking to its source, Solgaleo and the army didn't see anything at first, just this blue spec in the distance... until it suddenly came upon them and Solgaleo quickly Teleported back to its original position. Something that, in hindsight, had been a great move, for the blue spec had sped right through the army's ranks, releasing these huge azure flames as it went that literally devoured everything they touched. Air, metal, nothing escaped their grasp.

All the airborne foes quickly rushed towards it, intent on cutting it down, had the spec not halted its motions in mid-air, hovered in place, before unleashing an orb-shaped wave of blue flames that pretty much wiped out the rest of the army in one fell swoop. The flames dispersed afterward, allowing Solgaleo to see that it was the Archdemon Familiar which belonged to that companion to its master. Solgaleo's eyes narrowed at the beast, watching it flap its wings in the air while using its senses to identify its energy. Never-mind its demonic, chaotic nature, those attacks had taken more than a substantial portion of its power from it. That was what it had sensed, as more portals began to open up.

A grunt escaped its lips as it shook its head in disappointment, this creature had similar problems to the one it is connected to. Its master criticized the other one for that one's pride, borderline arrogance, and it saw the same in its familiar. Solgaleo saw the same thing in the Familiar, which made it think that the two fit well with each other, two beings that didn't think things through nearly enough for their own good or that of the long run.

On the other side, Urthemiel took one look at the grounded Lion-like creature and searching through its memories told it that this creature was aligned to the companion of its creator. It remembered seeing it let its master ride it into battle, with considerable battle prowess being under its belt. However, it cared not for those accomplishments, all it cared about was its own creator. Nothing else mattered, whatever he said was law. Looking down, it noticed that there were more portals forming, which elected a snarl from the airborne Archdemon's maw.

These fools would REGRET angering it, they would rue the day they dared fight against it. That was its thought process whilst it dove down to engage them, paying Solgaleo no more attention.

* * *

Meanwhile, Castiel faced off against the boss, which he managed to recognize as looking eerily like Machinedramon from the Digimon franchise, only bigger and with a more diverse skill set. For instance, it had missiles that it could release from its arms, shoulders, and chest, or the constant presence of those annoying little satellites that were (while he monologued) launching lasers at him. Dick move, man. He also had those huge canons that was still not active but who knows how long this would last. Heck, even just moving already was an attack in and of itself as the sheer weight was more than enough to cause quite the damage.

But, Castiel managed to succeed in dealing with it somehow. Mostly due to using his wings as shields while also raining down as many attacks as he could on the boss. Unfortunately, it was only effective at getting it madder without any significant damage to speak off. Think of it as trying to destroy a steel wall with a few door-nails, and you get an idea of what his attacks had been doing. 'It seems like he has a minor magic resistance, magic attacks that I can spam freely are not effective against him at all. And adding the fact that I can't use my swords it creates a picture of disaster.' Castiel thought dispiritedly. Ultimately he was restrained in the magic department due to how relatively weak his magic circuits were making him capable of spamming weak attacks easily, but big ones were much harder and he needed a 'cool down' time after using them a certain number of times.

'Well, luckily I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.' Castiel thought as he dashed towards the Fall Tree with Lunala. But before he went he went out of his way to enrage it further by asking Lunala to destroy those annoying satellites. It wasn't even hard, Lunala also had something similar to those satellites from the start. A group of biological satellites came out of her wings, and all of them moved really fast and with plenty of penetrative power breaking the ones from Machinedramon quite easily.

And with that Castiel had managed to succeed, he had truly pissed it off, making it so infuriated that it decided to follow him. A bad choice considering that when they were close enough to the said Tree (that still was quite a bit taller than Machinedramon) Lunala teleported the two of them to right behind their enemy. It made to turn and face them, but its momentum, unfortunately for it, proved too big to be stopped this quickly. And the fact that Lunala used her Moongleist Beam, knocking it forward while leaving a large scorch mark on its back was NOT helping him stop in time.

And then, finally, he entered the Heir's trap. Castiel had to stop himself from griming from ear to ear as he saw that plant start doing its job, dropping drops of water that could as well be compared to a mid high-class water mage attack, but instead of one or two at second it was more along the lines of 7 to 8 THOUSAND water missiles. Even its defenses were not enough to come out unscratched, when it managed to get out it was already covered in kneads, it was clear that it took quite the damage. It was about to aim at Castiel, try to get close and all when its feet couldn't move anymore.

Castiel could not hold his smirk as he saw his trap working. Binding Three doing wonders by holding its feet in the ground, making it a stationary target.

BOOM

Ready for Nico to blast him away.

As if on cue (which Castiel knew to be so) a dozen or so shell rounds came from the skies and peppered the Machinedramon, falling onto its form like rain and sending it crashing to the ground. A furious roar escaped its mechanical maw, faint sparks flying from its form before it was pelted again. Soon enough, it would began getting pelted by shots every 3 seconds or so, and considering its bulk, it wouldn't be able to react in time to these barrages.

That had been Castiel's plan from the beginning, to draw this fucker to a place where they could strike at him with the Aircraft Carrier's heavy ordinance and restrain it there long enough for the shots to land. It had been a risky bet, as a whole number of things could have gone wrong. For example, it could have ignored Castiel to go crazy around the city, blasting everything in sight. After all, the Heir was merely a bug to it, in terms of size. Nothing worth giving a damn about. Not to mention his Trees wouldn't have formed their protection over an entire city as he didn't have enough of them. In another scenario, this thing could have had a better reaction time and thus fired those back cannons the exact MOMENT it crossed through that portal into the city, blowing it up before the trees could be fully grown.

However, thankfully that hadn't happened. Mostly due to surprise and lack of information on the enemy's part, but meh.

'Looks like this could be the loophole that we could use.' the Heir thought to himself, remembering what the information said about this trial before they had arrived. It had been said that they couldn't use anything metal, but NOTHING had been said that anything else couldn't. For example, the soldiers using the enemy's own technology against them. It was something that had been done throughout human history, using an enemy's technology to form some kind of counter to their attacks, that is. There had also been a signal as well, one that he had told Nico about before the battle had begun when the enemy came.

A signal that took the form of the water missiles hitting the enemy dead on the moment it had been caught in this trap. Once that happened, Nico would launch shooting after shooting till the enemy would be too weak to do anything, and then Castiel could use some of his stronger magics to finish it off. It was a sound strategy, and it should work against this adversary.

Just then, Castiel noticed something, something that made his eyebrows furrow. That something, was the back cannons shifting till they were aligned in a certain direction, a direction that was away from him... and in the direction of the Vessel bombing it. 'Heh, fool. The Aircraft Carrier's too far out for that to do any good. Its just a wasted effort...' he thought to himself, smugly with eyes twinkling in amusement. He had calculated the distance the shots of the carrier would likely travel without losing momentum or destructive force and told Nico about how he should keep a set distance based on it, damage to the city would be innevitable but it would not be that significant and the safety of the soldiers would be ensured this way as the distance would allow for evasive measures to the carrier in case the enemy attacked.

It was a solid plan, one that would work.

Looking in the direction the Cannons were facing though, something caught Castiel's attention, again. Didn't the vessel look... closer than he had originally estimated? Like, way closer than what he said should be the limit of how close they could be, and still approaching at fast speed? No, Castiel said to himself, Nico wouldn't be stupid enough to ignore the plan for no good reason and not say a single fucking word just like that, Castiel had to tell himself that as proof of the contrary was shown to him.

That had been his sole thought before the sounds of wingbeats, cannons prepping to fire and curse words towards a certain redhead filled his ears.

* * *

'Target hit confirmed! Reload, then fire again!'

 _'SIR!'_

Nico mentally smirked to himself, having embedded his Rinkaku into the Aircraft Carrier's main deck and made it elevate him to a height where he could see the rounds that he had launched hit the target. The Shingan ring stayed strong, helping him transmit his thoughts as commands to the minds of his men, each of them working double time with the motivation that they were indeed getting back at the final boss that dared destroy their city. Not to mention, he could feel Urthemiel fighting over at the north with his senses and their link, alongside something that seemed to be made from the heat of the sun itself. Nico figured it was one of Castiel's familiars that was the source.

 **'Looks like the first barrage was a hit.'**

'Yeah, looks like. We'll keep the pressure on until we have no ammo left, that should be enough to weaken it so that Emiya can finish it himself.'

 **'Agreed.'**

That had been the signal, Nico realized. The moment that the Final Boss monster had been peppered with those water projectiles (and Nico would NOT underestimate water considering his experiences in the past), he had quickly ordered them to start shooting the monster with the canons. However, Nico also found that thanks to the damage that they had taken, their long range ordinance wouldn't be as accurate as they should be. It had been something he'd been informed of by his men, so he had made a decision to bring the carrier closer to the enemy, so that they could have a better chance of hitting it and not the buildings as he didn't want to lose the points from the loss of the buildings. Unfortunately for him, this had been reported WAY too late in the preparations to tell Castiel and he got too caught up on the moment to remember informing Castiel of this information and when he remembered to relay this it was already in motion so he could only bite the bullet, there was no going back.

Thus, he had this constant nagging feeling in his gut, this anxiety that plagued him every second. It felt like every breath may very well be his last, and that he could have very well done something completely and utterly stupid. Moving closer carried risks, he knew that but the benefits were too good for him that wanted the extra points. What was this feeling though? Why did it feel like he had done something stupid again? He didn't have much of a choice, it was either this or risk their ordinance failing and then the enemy may target them instead! Well, that was what Nico tried to tell himself, but his gut refused to settle down.

Still, Nico had to place everything in his own power, his power to stop any attacks from getting near the carrier. He placed faith in his own power before, so now should be no different.

The barrage's continued to fire like short bursts of rainfall, Nico mentally keeping tabs on everything whilst he confirmed the hits for his men. He used the Shingan to keep orders coming, to keep the organization for the men as strong as possible. There had been no room for doubt, no room for error. Just a single mistake or a moment's hesitation could be costly.

Even so, the feelings in his gut STILL wouldn't leave him. Why the hell not?!

Just then, a soldier's voice broke through to him via a Magic Circle at his ear, his voice filled with panic whilst alarms rang through the background. "Commander DEATHSTROKE, we have trouble! The enemy has locked on to us! There's a mass of energy gathering where Commander Emiya is located!" He yelled, causing Nico to feel like he had dropped his stomach. Eyes widened as horror filled him, a sense of impending doom as he saw the light gathering from the city. 'Oh sit, not good, not good at all!'

'KING, YOU IDIOT!'

* * *

It happened so quick that Nico could hardly keep up with it all. All his brain could register at the moment was the brief flash of light, a loud explosion and loads of different sounds. Sounds that he couldn't identify right now.

By the time that he could have grasped himself, Nico found himself... well, facing one situation alright. A very unsettling one.

The feeling in his gut? Whelp, it intensified.

Finally, Nico managed to look around, slowly at first though, as he took in his surroundings.

Death.

No one in the command center was left alive, all of them are dead.

This realization was like a bucket of cold water over Nico, especially when he saw that feather that Castiel gave him disintegrating in front of him. He didn't even feel anything, but it was clear that there should be a large amount of damage.

He was protected, he failed again and again during this mission, made more mistakes that he could count, allowed for those who he SHOULD have protected, those who followed HIS orders, to die while he did nothing.

'STOP BEING A BITCH, KING!' the white Nico said when he noticed the train of thought that Nico was going through. Good thing he had managed to use their combined instincts, exercising the limited control he had over Nico's instincts, and even then it had been due to the shock of what had happened, to save them from that attack. 'THEY WERE INFERIOR AND WEAK, THEY DIED AND THAT IS THAT. WHY SHOULD YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT IT?'

 **'I find myself agreeing with the white one. In the end, they were just too weak. It was not your fault that they died. You should now focus on your mission, this is all that matters now. If you win the fight then everything is fine.'** Biko commented on the side, trying to make Nico let this go. However, it was also true that he did not care about these soldiers, his demonic nature made him much colder to others that were not intimately connected to him or the main aspect. It wasn't something that was unexpected, at least to Nico, since he knew him the longest.

Nico ultimately listened to them, it was just easier to push the blame on those who die and the enemy.

Putting on a resolute face he flew away, focusing on completing his mission. This is what he was good at, and this is what he was going to do.

* * *

Castiel was not going great. He managed to stop most of the shot using his own body, but the problem was that his instincts ended up moving faster than his thoughts and he moved to the front of the blast BEFORE he activated his name. It was only a fraction of a second, but this alone was enough for him to have plenty of burn marks and he could feel some bones being dislocated.

'Not too bad' was his current impression of his situation, and that was because he took into account the fact that he was currently with **Siegfried** activated. He was still quite used to getting MUCH worse to wear during his fights, to the point that all he did when he felt this amount of pain was grimace a bit before pulling out a Phenex Tear and drink it.

Instantly he felt his bones getting back in place and the damaged skin and bones returned to normal at high speeds.

After the healing was complete he realized that the barrage stopped, which means-

"GGGRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

That the mechanical dino had the time to free himself.

Evading a right hook from his drilling arm Castiel flew high, and it was then that he noticed that his magic circuits were far too heated up, their weakness limiting him yet again, again he felt how he was not enough.

'Shit, is this my limit already?' Castiel thought while evading another attack from the monster. In the end, his circuits limited him simply way too much, he could not use magic nearly as much as he would like, and without the capacity of using his weapons, the situation was quite dire. 'I probably hit my limit while stopping that canon.' was what Castiel mused with a grimace while avoiding the enemy pursue and missiles.

His situation was too dire to ignore, it was to the point that he chose to mount on Lunala so as not to force himself any further and try to cool down his magic circuits as soon as possible.

Just then, he noticed a black and red blur suddenly fly past him at high speeds.

"Did I took too long?" Came Nico's voice before he went right past Castiel to fight the boss.

This raised an eyebrow of Castiel, this should NOT be happening, as far as he knew Nico should be on the carrier trying to salvage the situation. Or at least making sure that there would be no soldiers left unsaved.

Calming down Castiel decided to leave Nico to do the rest, he still needed quite a while before his circuits were back on track and he did NOT want to risk frying them any further.

'Let's call there, just to make sure that everything is going alright and to hear a status report.' Castiel decided before calling.

A few moments later, while ignoring the explosions happening everywhere around him, Castiel's face got quite interesting. Deathly pale, to the point that he looked like a ghost while also a furious glare formed the more he heard.

He gave several MUCH needed orders to various personal and then closed his eyes. He was not mad, nor angry, no those are just too simple words to describe the utter EXPLOSIVE HATE he felt this instant. He had decided, then and there, that he needed to talk to Nico to set some things straight.

And it would NOT be a pretty sight.

* * *

BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, ,BAM, ,BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM!

Cold fury flowed through his blood, setting it alight like the flames that he commanded. An indescribable heat ROARED within his gut, matching the kind of intensity that his Hellfire possessed when he could use its true form. The fiery sensation within fueled him, filled his mind, body and soul with a murderous desire, a desire that pretty much became his sole focus, forming a single purpose within Nico's mind:

Rip, this fucker, to shreds.

Nico didn't care anymore, he held nothing back when he charged at the beast, he held nothing back at all. He poured everything he had into his blows, his Rinkaku descending upon the creature with his Bikaku in a hybrid of frenzied slashes, stabs, thrusts and smashes like a deadly dance of death. His Rinkaku and Bikaku could hardly be distinguished between each of their strikes. It all registered the same towards the mechanical dino-whatever, as it struggled in vain to hold up against the vicious, animalistic onslaught against its form by his Kagune.

His Kagune, the two 'fangs' he was able to use anyways, descended upon it with rapid attention, leaving barely any time for the creature to comprehend what was happening before the next onslaught began. Gradually, it began getting forced back, step by step it moved backward, trying its hardest to block the appendages from getting too close to its vitals. The thing was, that there were still some attacks that got through, ones made mostly by the Rinkaku though thanks to its high cutting ability. An ability formed from its cloaking via vibrations which would have made the creator of the High-Frequency blades jealous as all hell.

Yet, that wasn't all Nico used against it, he DID say that he wasn't going to hold anything back.

His hands, which were practically concealed by orangish red Hellfire, blazed as bright as the flames of hell themselves as Nico hurled fireball after fireball at speeds that would rival Gatling guns, his arms a blur as he poured all his emotions into the flames, the biggest feeling being his rage. Rage at this thing for killing off the men that he commanded, the men that he SHOULD have protected as they were weaker than him. They hadn't known the things that he had, they hadn't seen the shit that he had. They should have lived with their families after this, they should have survived this war! They didn't have to die like dogs, they should have at least survived the aftermath of this battle! Things had gone off rocky at first, he'll admit that, but they had gotten better! Now because of this fucker, it had all gone down the drain.

Nico couldn't hear the voices of his other aspects trying to speak to him, nothing registered to him anymore but the desire to make this fucker pay for what it had done. For the crime of killing the men, he had been trying to make it up to for his mistakes.

The attacks that landed thanks to his Hellfire did their thing, burning their way through the monster's Armour. It had to have been fire resistant, because his flames had been barely able to heat it up for the longest time. However, thanks to the constant barrage from them, the Armour began to give way to the heat. The male saw this, the proof being how the various holes that had formed on the being's body gradually turning a deep orangish color. Not so different from when metal was put inside a furnace by a Blacksmith tying to forge a sword.

Rage reaching a new height, Nico unleashed the Red Rage Ring's power on himself, letting ALL of its rage explode into him and fuel his desire for vengeance further. Also, hidden under his Trench coat, a certain mark on his right shoulder began to shine a brilliant crimson light, and with that, the male felt his desire for vengeance, his WRATH, intensify even further. If he were to make an estimate (though he didn't right now due to the combat) then he would think that he had multiple planets worth of raw fury and murderous vengeance coursing through him right now. Hell, his whole body glowed an eerie red light thanks to the Demonic Power coursing through him, responding to his emotions.

Flame wisps burned from his being, heating the air around them to an immense degree. Yet, with all of this going on, Nico still managed to retain some sense of self, enough to stop any damage from being dealt with the buildings and the trees protecting them. As furious as he was, Nico had no desire to endanger the mission any more than he probably had. Why the HELL did he have to be a leader for this trial? Why the FUCK?! He wasn't a leader, he was a soldier, a killer, a warrior! He wasn't meant to lead people, if anything he felt like he'd only be able to lead an army of MONSTERS, rather than humans! At least they would not mind a loss or two, they would only care for the strength of the leader, something he had in spades! That's simply what he was, a monster!

Eventually, Nico saw that the beast tried to strike back by bringing its drill-like claw down on him. It had sensed an opening, and exploited it he figured, though thanks to his emotions, Nico felt like he was on high at the moment. His Rinkaku whipped upwards, slamming into the arm and blowing it back, which made the Dino stumble backward even more, electing a dark look of satisfaction from the teen. Nico swiftly pulled up the hood of his Trench Coat, donning his Mask and pulled off the thing over his eye, allowing his insanity-filled Kakugan to be shown. His Bikaku then swung all 4 of its appendages at once, unloading on the monster.

All of them hit their mark, impaling the robot at every hole his assault had made, no matter how big or small. With a grin so savage it resembled a patient in an insane asylum, Nico clicked his fingers and every projectile inside the robot exploded, the force making it howl in agony as it got sent flying out of the city. He could faintly make out the sight of its back cannons exploding into pieces, each one unceremoniously falling to the ground below.

Not wanting it to get away, Nico morphed his Rinkaku into wings, and then took off after it.

* * *

His prey landed on one of the plains, which one Nico didn't give a flying fuck about, rolling backward till it used the momentum to get back on its feet, digging its arm into the ground to slow its movement. The moment that it stopped all motion, it looked up and growled at the approaching Nico, who looked more like a flaming meteor as he shot down towards it with a furious look in his sole Kakugan eye. It opened its shoulders and chest, some of the few areas that were less damaged than the other parts of its body thanks to Nico's Kagune, before unleashing a salvo of 60 missiles in total at him.

'Hah, that fucker thinks mere MISSILES will stop me?!'

If he wasn't so angry, then Nico would have laughed at the thought.

Instead, Nico unleashed his Bikaku and Rinkaku (the former having already regrown its Talons) in a frenzied mass of wicked slashes. Each one sliced through the missiles while the heat from the crimson aura burned the rest into nothingness. He soon landed in front of the creature, and when it swung its claw at him Nico had his Bikaku block it, wrapping around the limb before lifting it into the air. The weight didn't come as an issue to the male, for his Kagune had lifted things MUCH heavier in comparison.

At that point, the male had done something that, if he was honest, felt fucking therapeutic right about now.

SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM-SLAM!

... Basically, Nico commenced the process of repeatedly slamming his opponent into the ground whilst pouring his intense emotions into each slam.

A moment later, the male then tossed the creature away, his Rinkaku slamming into the ground to propel him upwards, launching him high into the air. This allowed the creature to get its bearings and look up... only to quickly raise its hand to fire a large energy beam to blow up a barrage of those pesky explosive projectiles from the redhead's Bikaku.

'So, it thinks THAT'LL be enough to stop me, huh? Well, let's show it how WRONG that way of thinking is!'

That was what he thought whilst Nico cackled evilly, his Kakugan eye pulsing with power, his insanity-filled gaze making his look all the crazier. Twisting himself, Nico expertly dodged the energy beam, rearing his right arm back before thrusting it forwards, launching a Fiery fist towards his opponent. On the halfway point of its journey though, the fist instantly enlarged itself so that it would rival the monster's size, much to its shock.

It quickly jumped out the way of that attack, not wanting to get burned into nothingness like its missiles. Its processors had calculated that if it had been hit by that, the odds that it would have been reduced to cinders had been well above the safety threshold. Not something it wanted to think about, as it instead focused on unloading more missiles at him.

In response, Nico deflected them with his Kagune after landing in a kneeling position, then he threw his right arm upwards, a series of fiery geysers made from Hellfire erupting around the beast, restraining its movement.

"Not letting you get away this time!"

The beast roared at him, intending to just forgo ranged attacks and charge at him directly... when it noticed that its feet wouldn't respond to its command. Looking down, it noticed that, to its shock and horror, that Nico's Bikaku had buried into the ground and surfaced beneath it, coiling around its legs to hold it in place. The machine-based monster growled as it tried to break free, but to no avail as the Bikaku's strength proved to be greater than it had anticipated. Hell, everything about this variable hadn't been anticipated very well. It had assumed that the multi-winged blonde human would be the greater threat of the two, and that this one simply had the ability to draw attention to himself...

How wrong those calculations had been.

For a moment, Nico swore he saw a look of shock form on its face, but how could that happen? Nope, not going to think about it, he had his prey right where he wanted it, immobilized and unable to get away from his final attack. Thanks to his move of knocking it out of the city, Nico didn't need to worry about the damage that his next attack would cause, since it wouldn't reach the city with how far they were from it. Thus, Nico decided to end it, putting all his remaining emotions and Demonic Power into this last attack whilst throwing his hand out.

From his hand, a small hand generated itself. Its size didn't last though, as the flames expanded and expanded the more power was pumped into it. In seconds, Nico had a fist that seemed ten times the monster's size in front of him, set in a closed fist for a punch that would be the deciding factor for this match. The difference between him and Castiel, was that Nico wasn't limited by his own powers, or his body for that matter. He had accepted himself as a monster before coming here, so he could use his Ghoul side to a greater extent that he had been, and his demonic powers were growing at a consistent enough speed, too.

"Now... BURN!"

With that calling, Nico thrust his hand forwards, and the fiery fist shot forth like a bullet. Its size did not give away how fast it would be, and in one moment it had closed the distance between him and his opponent. In the instant that they connected, an explosion the size and shape of a nuclear warhead erupted in front of him, a loud 'BOOM!' filling Nico's ears.

It was over, Nico had won... by a landslide, actually.

* * *

The battle over, Nico grunted and heaved heavily, his upper body leaning forwards before he fell to one knee, placing one hand on the ground for support whilst his other one went to his kneecap. His Bikaku stabbed itself into the ground around him, his Rinkaku laying itself instead like someone who was lazing about on a beach. His aura vanished out of existence, his body restoring itself to normal levels whilst sweat dripped from his forehead from his prolonged exertion. Hell, he felt drained in both the physical and the emotional sense, thanks to the insane level of negative emotion that he had used to fuel his powers. His reserves may not be the same as Castiel's whose holy power seemed almost endless, but he had ways of amplifying his reserves for similar levels of destruction.

Heck, when he looked up Nico noticed that half the entire plains had become one big smoking hot crater. Smoke trails flew throughout the edges and interior, whilst heat could be felt on his face from the amount of Hellfire he had used. Whilst it had not been in its true form, the level of heat he had felt from this devastation definitely felt like he had. Yet, he hadn't, and with this, he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he used his Hellfire's true form.

Nico shuddered at the thought.

'Wow... that... has to be the angriest I have been in a long while...' Nico thought to himself, hanging his head to give his body a chance to recover his stamina. 'Can't believe I lost it like that...'

 **'It seems that, despite what we said, your mind continued to think about the losses you were dealt back there, and wanted vengeance...'**

Mentally, Nico frowned as the memory of that attack came to the forefront of his mind. He remembered the emotions that had came through him the moment he set off to take out that fucker:

Shock,

Disbelief,

Despair,

Regret,

Frustration,

and finally... RAGE.

This battle, Nico had fought it with everything he had, and despite the exhaustion running through his system, Nico still felt some sort of pride fill him inside. Pride, pride in that he had done it. He had taken down the enemy that dared kill those under him, he had won the fight in the end by his own strength. That was enough to at least make sure that he had done something right, that he didn't fail completely even if some of those under him didn't manage to survive. They were what can only be called weak, he had seen more deaths of the weak that he could care to count in his world so this was actually relatively very normal in his eyes.

The strong survive and the week dies, this is what was like in his world.

Before he could think more, Nico felt a presence approaching... and for some reason, he got a bad feeling about it.

* * *

Upon landing and retracting his wings, Castiel approached the tired warrior, his footwear making incredibly audible sounds to both of them. Nico noticed him approaching, but his fatigue was responsible for him failing to react much. On the Heir's end, he tried to hide it but it was clear that the other guy was still feeling pride from this fiasco. When he got close enough he did not wait for any talk, he had something of much more important to do, his emotions as someone raised to lead and that was raised for such, that was raised to care first, second, and third more for his subordinates than to his own safety, that saw clearly how much of a pure mistake it was to trust Nico to do even just what was agreed, it all was just too much. His emotions were too much and there was only one way he could vent them right now.

PUNCH

He punched Nico, right in the face. Or rather, he would have had a Bikaku Kagune not instinctively defended its master, still having strength left to do so, by wrapping around his limb. Still, the force of the shockwave created this headwind that slammed into Nico with just as much force, ruffling his hood and pushing him back for a few centimeters. Because of the direction it came from, it didn't blow the hood off, a small benefit if nothing else.

Nevertheless, it DEFINITELY caught his attention.

Slowly, Nico raised his head, his lone Kakugan eye narrowing at the angry look on the blonde's face. "What... the hell? Why... the FUCK... did you.. just do that?" Nico questioned, irritation and fury rising in his voice again despite his fatigue. Even in his current state, Nico already began steadily showing signs of wanting to rip the heir to pieces to daring to doubt his capacity, he did give the final strike to the monster and if anything he just did his job and slain the monster, at least the objective was done right! There were many mistakes, true, but being punched without being told anything was not right. That is what was in his mind as he turned with hate to the heir who had attacked without any good reason as far as Nico was concerned. Though, if his Red Rage Ring hadn't been used so much, it would have responded and amplified his anger.

Said heir, however, didn't care, however not one bit as he continued looking around and seeing the scene around him. The disaster that was their surroundings.

"WHY? You, of all people, have the gal of asking me WHY?" Castiel yelled with such fury that even Nico took a step back, his Kagune throwing the arm it had caught aside in favor of a defensive stance. It had been so bad, that the dark powers within the Heir stirred and the feeling of foreboding became such that even the other personas of Nico shut up after feeling it. "You don't have the RIGHT to ask me WHY I did that! You already screwed up ENOUGH for this whole mission and more! Why do you think you have ANY right to question anyone? Because you beat the boss in the end? Just being strong is far, FAR from enough to deserve praise after your screw ups. If you doubt that come with me, I want you to still feel pride for what you did after you see this."

With his piece said, although there would be so much more, Castiel turned his back and started flying towards the carrier, his face stoic as he tried to supress his emotions and the evil energy that was starting to react in his soul making his mood even worst. Meanwhile, baffled, and yet still angry, Nico ended up following him by morphing his Rinkaku for flight while keeping his Bikaku out, not because he felt he had to know but more because he just could not say no to Castiel right now. There was just something about him, a charisma of sorts, that compelled him to follow his orders.

After the two got close enough Castiel looked impassively at the wreckage in front of him. The soldiers were desperately trying their best to rescue any survivors, cries of pain and loss echoed all around as a man cried for his dead brother, a dad cried over his two sons, as people were desperate to find ANYTHING of their dead friends. This scene was a visage of hell for the two teens, but the next few words of Castiel made Nico feel many hundreds of thousands of times worse.

"This happened because of YOUR decision. Not only because you approached the carrier beyond what you should if you had just followed what I have instructed clearly but also because of your hastiness." The heir explained. Castiel's eyes almost glowed with righteous anger as he turned and glared at Nico, whose Kagune readied itself for a potential defensive measure. "As soon as this disaster happened you didn't think for a second about it, you just ran to fight without a second thought, without considering even for a moment about the soldiers that were putting their LIVES on your hands, that were trusting their very lives to you. You could have organized a rescue party in a matter of seconds, heck you could have rescued them yourself if you wanted by using those tentacles things of yours quite fast considering what I've seen so far of your skills, but all you did was run to do battle on your own terms. You should have done better than this."

Castiel's words rung like a bell through Nico's mind, purging him of the anger and other emotions he had felt. Instead, they were replaced by shock, horror, and a painful twisting sensation in his gut. He had felt this sensation before, as in before the Vessel had been attacked. Only this time, it had felt much worse. His hands clenched into fists as his lone eye, still in its Kakugan form, cast its gaze on the horrendous background that Castiel showed him. A sight that he had caused with his own actions. Perhaps his earlier thoughts were true, that he WAS better off leading monsters instead of humans. He was more the former than the latter anyways. "I-I should never have led them..." Nico muttered under his breath, Kagune trembling alongside the shaking, furious Heir as he heard those words loud and clear. "I-I-I-I should only lead monsters and never hu-"

PUNCH

Castiel punched Nico again, this time the punch was even stronger, to the point that even though his Kagune managed to catch it, the headwind that came from it made Nico slide away from him by 20 meters, his Kagune taking Castiel along with it. Nico didn't notice, and neither did Castiel, that something happened to the Rinkaku Tentacle used to catch the punch, as energy seemed to surge through it and hardened the entire structure to a state stronger than steel itself. As such, Nico hardly felt as much of the force as he should have.

Biko and his Ghoul Persona did somewhat, though.

He would have lost balance if he hadn't jammed his feet into the ground, same with the redhead.

"So turn to those who DIED on your orders and tell them this. That they were wrong in trusting your judgment, that THEY are the responsible for this and not you. Go on, are you going to face your mistakes or be a coward about them?" he spat, pumping what remained of his power to free his arm from the Bikaku. Ordinarily that wouldn't have been possible unless he activated his left arm Spirit Bone, but he had too much anger in him to care. It just reminded him too much of Castiel's own previous mistake, the overconfidence that could have ruined everyone that cared for him was just too clear on his mind, the marks of it still on his body because of it, and right now he was seeing someone similar but even worst about it. Castiel was overconfident about his strategy before everything went to shit on his world, Nico, however, wasn't even thinking at all and being even worst, and that infuriated Castiel.

Nico did not know what to say, his two personas talking to him without stop trying to explain things in a way that agreed with Nico, to make him feel better with himself. But, this all changed when one man crawled forward. He didn't have any legs, and it looked like bandages had already been applied to them, but even so he seemed to be glaring at the Heir, much to Nico's shock. "Stop accusing commander DEATHSTROKE, he didn't run away from his responsibilities!" he yelled with his entire soul. The redhead recognized him, he had been the one that he transferred orders to the most with his Shingan, as well as had been the one that he talked to first.

And with that, like the domino effect occurring, other voices started agreeing with him, but instead of feeling better Nico felt worse as he noticed how many of them were lacking members or were extremely hurt. Castiel looked at Nico and continued.

"So, is this all you amount for? Someone that would run away on the time of need, that would run away from their responsibilities? Can't you even man up and actually try to make it better now?" He then spits to the side and said. "You make me sick." With this Castiel left, he still wanted to look over the wreckage of the boss to see if there was anything that could be used on the future, maybe see if he can get anything to help his friends back home as he wanted them to be safer, one person being disabled like he was is enough. Meanwhile, Nico stood there, hearing the praise of those he failed while standing above the marks of what he felt were his mistakes.

A visage that he would never forget.


	164. Cross Chapter 11 - Trial Interlude

**Interlude between trials**

Well... this was probably the worst of the trials so far, Nico decided to himself.

After that discussion, neither of the two boys talked to each other for the rest of the trial, preferring to do what they wanted. Nico had no clue on what the Heir had been doing, but judging by the direction he had left, Nico guessed that he would have tried to find the wreckage of that beast. However, Nico knew that would be a wasted effort, he had subjugated that thing with so much Hellfire that there would simply be nothing left of it. The male had been so furious with the beast that he had just... he had lost all control. He pumped way too much power into that demonic element, and because of that whatever Castiel thought he would find there, he would be disappointed to find nothing.

Meanwhile, Nico himself had decided to see more, to see more of what he had done. No matter how much he tried to convince himself, or his other aspects, the sense of failure and defeat loomed over him like a cloak. Similar to that time where he had faced death itself, only a thousand times worse. It was a good thing that he did, though, as everything he had seen served to give him a much needed perspective on what his actions had lead to.

Moving throughout the carrier, Nico had seen the state of the men, the men whom tried their best to find any survivors amongst the wreckage. Men grieved, men cried, and they raged. Many raged at him, no longer able to keep their negative emotions in check when they saw him, the one they saw as responsible for the deaths of their comrades. The one that they saw as the one who could have saved them, if only he hadn't left them to rot in order to fight that monster. If it weren't for his Bikaku Kagune, then he would have had many punches to the face this day, but thanks to it remaining out, that hadn't happened.

This DID alert him to the oddity of his Kagune suddenly shifting between its normal state and to a state where it became harder than the hardest of steels though, which prompted him to query with Biko about it as a way to keep his mind sane. Turns out that Osiris was the answer, as according to Biko, the weapon's Soul, which they both recalled had something called the 'Hogyoku' inside it, had unconsciously (meaning it wasn't aware of it and neither had they) transferred some of the Techniques inside of its Soul into his mind, ready for him to learn about and master at his leisure. As such, Nico would have access to even more techniques for his arsenal, though with everything going on he didn't think he'd be able to focus on training. When Zelretch had explained it to them before, he mustn't have realized that this would have been how the abilities he'd mentioned Osiris would have had worked, which meant that whilst the weapon itself had physical ability on par with a Devil Arm, it didn't have that much power. Just a form and a Soul... a soul which housed an entire undead army.

Perhaps Nico could do something about that, since he was no fan of necromancy.

Even with this sense of defeat, Nico refused to leave himself defenseless. Nor would he allow himself to be hit right now. If he did, then not only would he lose what remained of his self control and composure, but a LOT more blood would be shed. That was just the way his Ghoul side worked, and these attacks on him weren't helping his composure any. Some had tried to stop their comrades from it, but Nico didn't let them. After all, it was their right, in his eyes, to try.

None of them got through his fortified Rinkaku and Bikaku's defenses, but the attacks felt like they hit his heart all the same...

Funny, it had seemed like he still had one, which surprised him. Guess that was one thing that kept his humanity from completely disappearing, since his body no longer had any.

Not all of them kept this mentality though, as some showed immense gratitude, even with their injuries, to him for ending the monster that plagued their hometown. Nico had asked them why they were grateful to the one who just left them to rot, to which they had replied that they didn't care, that they had already lost loved ones to this invasion and that they probably would have done something similar, since they had little left to lose anyways. That only served to hit him even harder than the punches thrown at him. The thought that these soldiers, whose lives he had practically ruined, didn't even care that they had such injuries thanks to him, all because they had nothing left to lose anyways.

It... hit him, more than he had thought possible.

Also, it had solidified a decision in his mind, although it also felt like an excuse. Still, he had to do something, he needed to, just so that he could feel somewhat better with himself after all this shit as selfish as it also felt inside. That decision, was to exhaust his supply of healing items in an effort to help them heal their injuries. Some of them would remain limbless for the rest of their lives, or be reminded of their injuries, but at least in this way, Nico could contribute himself somehow in their recovery. Not only did he use his healing items, but Nico also had his Kagune lift heavy debris, allowing him and what remained of his men to find what few survivors remained alive this long. There were barely more than a single digit's worth of survivors, and many more dead because of his actions, however those that they DID find alive Nico quickly gave his medical items to them, helping them heal enough that they would no longer be in critical condition.

By the end of the Trial, Nico had only 20% of his original supply of healing items, and about 30% of the food he got from the first trial, but he didn't care. Many of the men had expressed their gratitude to him for helping, but it only resulted in him having mixed feelings, most of them bad though. His actions DID wind up lessening SOME of the negative emotions directed at him, but Nico didn't let this convince him that he did nothing wrong. Nope, not even his other aspects could have let THAT happen.

This trial was a failure... in Nico's eyes, even when the 'MISSION SUCCESS' sign appeared before him and listed the amount of points he had achieved.

Because he had killed the boss himself, as well as killed an even amount of enemies with Castiel, neither of the two had more points than the other. Heck, the Heir had a few miscellaneous items given to him as an extra reward (probably Zelretch's doing, Nico figured), whilst he himself kept only points. That felt about right, he didn't deserve anything extra, anyways. That was what Nico thought, at least, and by the time that they returned to the sparring area, Nico and Castiel parted ways.

Neither giving each other a look.

* * *

Right now, Nico sat on his backside, leaning against the side of an equally exhausted Urthemiel who curled around him and kept him warm with its body heat. He did have a mental conversation with the Archdemon through emotions, when it sent him memories of what had happened to it. Apparently, it too had had a shitty time, as it had, in a desire to prove itself, exhausted a LOT of its powers in taking out the enemy horde. It had been never-ending, thanks to the boss monster (which Nico now knew as a Machinedramon thanks to the rewards menu), thus Urthemiel had to be saved by that Lion-like familiar of that blonde angel guy's. Didn't do Urthemiel's pride any favors, but when Nico heard it he couldn't help the bitter snort that escaped his lips.

If he was of a different mental state, Nico would note how Urthemiel 'did' get the 'experience' Nico intended for him.

'Looks like he and I are the same right now, we are both warriors whom have experienced 'defeat' in ways we'd have rather not otherwise...' the male remarked, smirking sardonically. Thanks to how Urthemiel curled around him whilst the two rested (apparently, they had 6 hours before the next trial, another thing Zelretch did for his godson's sake, Nico figured), his form would be concealed from the rest of the outside world. Urthemiel's size could count for that.

'BAH, I THINK YOU'RE JUST BEING SOFT KING, THAT OTHER GUY TOO! THOSE FUCKERS WERE NOTHING BUT WEAKLINGS, DEAD WEIGHT! IN OUR WORLD, THOSE IDIOTS WOULD HAVE MET THEIR END SOONER RATHER THAN LATER, AND WE WOULD NOT EVEN BAT AN EYE!'

Nico mentally sighed, sensing his Ghoulish Persona's distaste through their link. It looked like his aspects didn't really understand what had happened themselves, or rather, his Ghoul self didn't while Biko seemed to be mulling it over. Biko may not care much about others, and like him saw his men as weak, however their constant communication DID allow him to learn faster than his Ghoul side. Hopefully, with everything that would happen in the future, maybe that would change. That felt like wishful thinking on his part...

Fuck, this shit really got to him.

From within, an urge took form, and Nico followed it by holding his hand out in front of him. In a swirling vortex of flames, the imposing, intimidating form of Soul Edge appeared, the redhead grasping its handle before it could fall from the air. Holding the blade horizontally, Nico eyed the monstrous-looking weapon critically, his eyes showing nothing but the eyes of a dead man. The eye of Soul Edge looked back to him, its form simply coursing with unimaginable, unrelenting and savage bloodlust. The blade obviously hungered for blood, as did the rest of his Devil Arms. However, he dared not summon them at this time, as his chaotic emotional state may lead to him having difficulty controlling them. Of course, he'd be able to use them still, nothing would stop that, however this dilemma he faced would make controlling them harder than before.

Still, as Nico looked into the blade's eye, the male couldn't help but think to himself, along with the bitterness creeping up inside his gut. It honestly made him snicker at how pathetic this all was, how RIGHT Castiel had been about him. He wasn't meant to have passed that trial, he just knew it. That trial would have been better suited for just Castiel, it seemed obvious now that he thought about it, he shouldn't have been put in that position, he shouldn't have been made a leader. He wasn't fit for the role, heck Nico could hardly call himself a warrior whilst he looked upon the dark, savage appearance of this Devil Arm, a Devil Arm manifested from his very soul itself. The sinister growth the weapon had, the way its eye jutted about in madness, the pure BLOODLUST he could feel from it... It was a truly savage weapon, yet it was also a representation of Nico himself, a twisted beast with powers that make it all the deadlier. The way it has to have him transform for its full power to be revealed, it seemed almost symbolic, symbolic of the 'shackles' that hindered his Ghoul side for so long.

Yet, even with those shackles 'gone' Nico still felt chained, chained down to a moral coil.

Just then, Nico noticed something out the corner of his vision. Apparently, the menu screen for this Arena's shop had opened beside him whilst he had been too busy on his conflicts to notice it. 'Huh? What the hell...?' the male wondered, lowering Soul Edge onto his lap to bring the menu to the front so he could see it better. Curiosity filled him as he stared at the menu, his eyes narrowing at it. Something about this menu didn't feel right, there were only two items listed in the shop right now, and both had '?' in the names, plus the descriptions and an 'EXCLUSIVE' sign.

What the fuck?

Still, this could help him take his mind off it, he felt like this could be a much needed break from his current situation. His mind wouldn't focus on trying to find a solution like this, he needed a distraction. He looked at these items, and realized one of them had been that book he had bought earlier. Apparently, thanks to that trial, Nico had finally met the conditions to see what this book was, something which his mind formed mixed feelings about. Still, with the way that things were, it would be better to focus on this, plus even with everything he still wanted to learn more about this item. Thus, he pressed it and allowed the item to appear from his Void Storage into his waiting hand.

"Hmmm..."

Nico hummed thoughtfully as he stared at the Book in hand. The book itself didn't look all that special, and its title looked to be called 'Solitary World God'. Still, the title baffled him somewhat, as just by reading it he got the feeling that this purchase had been way more than what it had seemed. 'What the hell is THIS, I wonder...' he thought, sensing curiosity from his other Personas too.

Opening the tome, Nico found a contents page, then went straight to the introduction chapter:

* * *

 _[Solitary World God] is a high ranked Body Refinement Technique. Body Refinements focus on cultivating the body's physical properties, granting boons for the body's internal structure. Body Refining is, as recorded, a straining task, yet the rewards for it are just as worthwhile._

 _This Method has a series of stages to complete._

 _The first is the ' **Houtian** '. this is the initial foundation stage, which focus on preparing the body for the later stages. Any and all components the body possess will be refined by this method, their functionality improved. One's lifespan shall also increase by over 100 years._

 _The second level is called ' **Xiantian** '. Upon reaching the Xiantian level, one would be able to control water and fire, and also possess astonishing physical strength. One's body would be light and agile, and all six of the senses would be sharpened. Severed limbs would regrow. In addition, those who reach this stage gain a photographic memory alongside powerful souls._

 _The third level is called ' **Zifu** '. Upon reaching the Zifu level, one's regeneration powers would strengthen yet again: as they would be able to regenerate from merely a single drop of blood. Those who reach the 'Zifu' level will have souls powerful enough for them to split their mind in two and will gain the One with the World level of insight ability._

 _Fourth is called **'Wanxiang Adept'** At this level, one will possess a soul powerful enough to utilize 'Divine will' (move things through the strength of their soul), Depending on the nature of the user, they can live for 800 years (human) or 10,000 (monster)_

 _Fifth, is the **'Primal Daoist'** Stage. Upon reaching this stage, one will cease aging, instead having an eternal lifespan. They can create clones due to, at this stage, their souls will be fused with their bodies. A primal daoist's soul will be powerful enough to open the eye of heaven and manifest 'Divine sense', a technique which allows them to see the karmic merit of an individual, whether they have done much good in their life or much evil._

 _Sixth is the **'Void Immortal Stage'** Upon reaching this stage, one experiences a massive surge in physical ability._

 _Seventh is the **'Empyrean God'** Stage. The Level of ability this stage has depends on how many Lightning strikes of the 81 strikes one can handle before succumbing. Even so, its physical abilities are superior to those of lower stages at it's base. _

_Eighth is the **'True God'** Stage. Similar to the last Stage_

 _Ninth is the **'Elder God'** Stage. Similar to the last Stage._

 _Final stage is the **'World God'** Stage. Upon reaching this stage and completing this Body Refining technique, one will be capable of destroying entire planets with their strength. At this level, only those of similar or higher power will be able to injure them as their bodies are sturdier than that of a world itself._

* * *

...

...

...

...

... Holy shit.

There, that summed up Nico's thoughts on the matter as he read about this Body Refinement thing, the more he learned the more excited he became all the while. The thought of having such power at his disposal, power he'd gained through hard work and excruciating effort. it filled him to the brim with excitement and joy. To Nico, power would feel the best when one earns it through blood, sweat and tears. If he could get stronger this way, then he'd certainly do so. Plus, he has his Inner World which gives him great boons in training capabilities. This would help him refine his body with this method, and gain the benefits from it. This thing would be GREAT! It also helped that the book described in great detail on how he should be able to advance through the stages, even if it mentions how it would be much harder to break into the later stages whilst the early ones would be fairly easy.

Now, for the SECOND exclusive item.

Thus, Nico pressed on this 'EXCLUSIVE' item, and when he did the menu vanished. Then, out of nowhere a flash of light appeared before him, vanishing seconds later. Once it did, the redhead lowered his other hand, and saw something that utterly surprised him.

'Huh?'

Seriously, he used that word a lot recently.

Anyways, floating in front of him, was what looked like a seed, a seed that had the same color as the blood that flowed through his veins. Crimson red, yet it didn't radiate any mystical power. No, this thing just felt... normal, unassuming and harmless as it floated before him. Yet, Nico couldn't help but be transfixed on it, his eyes glued to it and unable to look away even if he wanted to. This feeling felt so goddamn familiar to the Satanic Treasures he found on his travels. It felt like the Red Rage Ring, the other one, and the time he first summoned Soul Edge in human form. 'What the hell...? what is this?'

His thoughts reaching an unfavorable conclusion, Nico reached forth towards the seed, which was the size of a basket ball. His hand gently grasped the object, pulling it closer for a better look. For a moment, the male wondered what the hell this was, not the first time though. Seriously, this seed looked unusually strange, yet the next thing he knew, the male suddenly conked out, his mind falling unconscious whilst the seed released this red pulse from it. That pulse had been what knocked him out... as well as what would allow it to do what came next...

* * *

By the time Nico awoke, the male felt like he had a head-splitting headache, electing a huge groan from his lips. The teen cursed several times under his breath, placing a hand on his throbbing skull whilst he sat up. Since there had been little to no sound from him, Urthemiel hadn't been disturbed from its slumber, nor did anything else seem out of the ordinary. At least, that was what Nico first assumed, though. This headache felt way worse than that time he had his entire body in agonizing pain when he expelled Urthemiel, THAT moment felt like a mere prickle compared to this thundering headache.

When it eventually began to subside, and he managed to look down however...

'Okay, WHAT THE HELL?!'

Nico mentally shrieked, looking down and almost falling over when he looked himself over. His shouting woke Urthemiel from his rest as it's eyes shot wide open, raising its head to look for some unseen threat. It then looked to see if its creator was alright, and if it were capable of it, then it would DEFINITELY have its jaw dropping.

No idea how resting could do this, but when Nico looked down, the male saw that his body had underwent some... changes. Before, he distinctly recalled being 5 foot 8, NOW however he felt like he was at least 6 foot 9 (a full feet taller), with his form gaining slightly more muscle mass to compensate for the changes. Although he still had this slimness about him, the muscles he had felt much stronger, stronger than even when he had dipped himself in that pool back in the first trial. Not only that, but his body felt like it had been RADICALLY changed, not so much on the outside (aside from the height and slight visual muscle increase) but on the INSIDE. Hell, when he looked down and tried to see what his blood was like when he cut his hand with Soul Edge's blade, the male saw that his blood seemed to be a brighter shade of red than that of his blood before.

Furthermore, his eyes and ears felt unlike anything like they did before. With the former, Nico looked up and found that his sight seemed to have gained one HELL of an upgrade, cause he could make out details in the skies that he couldn't before. For example, he could clearly make out stars hidden behind the sunlight itself, well enough that the rays may as well have not been there at all. If that wasn't enough, then through the gaps between Urthemiel's embrace, the teen could see at a distance far superior than he had before.

As for his ears, the male heard the distinct sound of blood pumping, organs thumping, as well as sounds from incredibly far away. Sounds so distinct that Nico couldn't believe that he was hearing them like this. Feeling them both revealed that they didn't look any different, they remained the same size and shape of a normal ear.

Quickly, Nico chose to do a quick scan of his body using his right Bracer. It's Scanner had the ability to scan object, and he himself could count as such, so maybe it could find out what had happened to him. Now that he thought about it, didn't he have some form of seed before? Part of him wondered why the hell he hadn't scanned it earlier, making him palm his forehead. Though, in his defense, Nico wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind to be thinking logically at the moment. Hell, the only reason why he hadn't flipped out from all this stress was his curiosity to know more about his changes.

A few beeps broke him from his musings, as well as indicated to him that the scanning had been complete. Looking down at it, the male pulled up the results and looked them over. What he saw was well... a shock to the system.

* * *

SCAN RESULTS

22 NEW ORGANS/IMPLANTS DETECTED

NONE SHOW SIGNS OF DEFECT

ORGANS RESPONSIBLE FOR BODILY FUNCTION ALTERATIONS

LIST OR ORGANS/FUNCTIONS STATED BELOW:

 **Maintainer** \- A secondary heart, resembles a smaller version of the human heart - implanted in the chest cavity and connected to the rest of subject's circulatory and pulmonary systems near the original heart.

Function \- To enhance the performance of subject by supplying more oxygen and nutrients to the muscles by increasing blood flow well-beyond that capable for even the most fit normal human being. The Secondary Heart can often save subject's life in combat. In the event of combat damage to or failure of original heart, the Secondary Heart is capable of pumping enough blood through the circulatory system to maintain survival until regeneration repairs the body.

 **Ossmodula** \- Second organ, placed alongside the subject's pituitary gland at the base of the brain, thus becoming a part of the subject's endocrine system.

Function \- secretes a specially engineered form of human growth hormone. Synthesises the rapid growth of the skeletor-muscular system which results in an superhuman strength and massive size compared to a baseline male. Results, skeleton is larger and exponentially stronger than a normal man's with growth with an equivalent amount of skeleto-muscular mass. In addition, the rib cage has fused into a solid mass of bullet-proof, interlaced bone plates. The resulting structure protects the subjects organs from damage in a way the normal human skeleton never could.

 **Biscopea** \- This organ enhances subject's physical combat ability and survivability to superhuman levels. When formed inside chest cavity, scans show this to be at the same time as the Ossmodula's creation.

Function \- This small, spherical implant bolsters skeleto-muscular development and density throughout the body and regulates the Ossmodula's synthetic human growth hormone secretion levels. This initiates a growth process that ultimately causes the adolescent human male implanted with the organ to reach the massive height and gain the superhuman strength and muscle density the subject now possesses.

 **Haemastamen** \- Implant located in subject's aorta.

Function \- The Haemastamen alters subjects' blood's biochemical composition to carry oxygen and nutrients more efficiently. The actions of the Haemastamen turns subject's blood a brighter shade of red than that of normal humans because of its greatly increased oxygen-carrying capacity. It also acts to biochemically regulate the actions of the 2nd and 3rd gene-seed implants, the **Ossmodula** and **Biscopea**.

 **Healer** \- Shaped like the human liver but only the size of a golf ball, this gene-seed organ is placed within the chest cavity and manufactures the synthetic biological cells.

Function \- These biosynthetic cells serve the same physiological purpose for subject as the normal human body's platelets, serving to clot the blood lost from wounds, but act faster, more efficiently and more effectively. When subject is wounded and incurs blood loss, such Cells are released by the circulatory system, attached to the body's normal leukocytes (white blood cells). At the site of the injury, they form scar tissue in a matter of seconds, effectively preventing massive blood loss and infection of the wound. These actions enhance regenerative capabilities to unknown degrees. Further scanning required.

 **Catalepsean Node** \- Organ, implanted into the back of the cerebrum, just above the brain stem.

Function \- When deprived of sleep for a long period of time, the **Catalepsean Node** "cuts in" upon detecting a rise in stress and fatigue hormones. This allows the subject to consciously "switch off" sections of the brain sequentially, while remaining awake and alert. This ability comes at a price, as prolonged use of this ability is predicted hazardous, possibly inducing hallucinations or psychosis.

 **Preomnor** \- A second or "pre-stomach" spliced into the human digestive system above the original stomach.

Function \- Allows subject to eat otherwise poisonous or completely indigestible materials. The **Preomnor** is capable of biochemically analyzing ingested materials and neutralizing most known biochemical and inorganic toxins, and many others that remain unknown save for their toxic effects. Deadly poisons are either neutralized or isolated from the digestive tract by the **Preomnor**. The **Preomnor** can also be isolated from the rest of the digestive tract to deal with particularly toxic substances that subject may expel via vomit. Often these extracted toxins are rerouted and then molecularly stored in the **Betcher's Gland** for future usage.

 **Omophagea** \- Organ that has been implanted into spinal cord, then wired into the central nervous system so that it is directly attached to the cerebral cortex, to the stomach. Four new nerve bundles are also implanted connecting the spine and the stomach wall.

Function \- Allows subject to gain part of an individual person's or creature's memory by eating its flesh. This special organ is implanted between the thoracic vertebrae and the stomach wall and is designed to absorb information and any DNA, RNA or protein sequences related to experience or memory. This implant thus allows subject to literally "learn by eating.". The **Omophagea** transmits the gained information to the subject's brain as a set of memories or experiences. This enables subject to gain information, in a survival or tactical sense, simply by eating an animal indigenous to an alien world and then experiencing some of what that creature did before its death.

 **Multi-lung** \- A third lung implanted into subject's pulmonary/circulatory systems in chest cavity that absorbs oxygen from environments usually too poor in oxygen, allow normal human respiratory functioning. Breathing is accomplished through a sphincter implanted into the trachea, allowing all three lungs to be used at full capacity. In toxic environments, a similar muscle closes off the normal lungs, thus oxygen is absorbed exclusively by the Multi-lung, which then filters out the poisonous or toxic elements. The Multi-lung has highly efficient toxin dispersal systems.

 **Occulobe** \- An organ which sits at the base of the brain after being implanted along the optic nerve and connected to the retina.

Function \- and provides hormonal and genetic stimuli which enable subjects' eyes to respond to bodily procedures created by subject's brain for regulation purposes. These procedures, in turn, allow the brain to make adjustments to the growth patterns of the eyes and their light-receptive retinal cells. The result is that subject has visual acuity that is far superior to that of baseline humans and they can see in low-light conditions and near-darkness almost as well as in bright daylight.

 **Sentinel** \- Organ that replaces both ears, indistinguishable to base human ear size and shapes.

Function \- Not only does this implant's improved inner ear structure make subject immune to dizziness or motion sickness, but it also allows subject to consciously filter out and greatly enhance certain sounds over the capabilities of normal human hearing.

 **Sus-an Membrane** \- Initially implanted within the Neophyte's cranium, this membrane has merged with subject's cerebrum, becoming a full part of neural architecture.

Function \- The organ's functions allow subject to use this implant to enter a state of suspended animation, consciously or as an automatic reaction to extreme trauma, keeping the subject alive for years, even if subject has suffered otherwise mortal wounds.

 **Melanochrome** \- Hormonal implant attached to the human lymphatic system and controls the amount of melanin in subeject's skin.

Function \- Exposure to high levels of sunlight will result in subject's skin naturally darkening to compensate. It also protects the Space Marine from other forms of radiation.

 **Oolitic Kidney** \- The organ is implanted within subject's abdominal cavity, becoming part of excretory system.

Function \- An emergency detoxification organ that allows subject to survive exposure through the respiration, tactile contact or ingestion of poisons, toxins and gases that are too powerful for even his rugged immune system to normally process without this organ's help. However, this detoxification process renders subject unconscious once it begins, thus very dangerous if required during combat. Under normal circumstances, the **Oolitic** **Kidney** also acts as a regulatory organ for Subject's physiology, maintaining the efficient action of subject's advanced circulatory system and the proper functioning of his other organs, implanted or natural.

 **Neuroglottis** \- The organ is implanted within subject's upper nasal passages.

Function \- After it is functioning, chewing, tasting or smelling a substance allows Subject to biochemically test it for toxicity and nutritional content, essentially determining if the substance is edible or poisonous. The organ also allows subject to identify extremely subtle odors with the same fidelity as the average canine bred for tracking, allowing subject to even track quarry by smell or taste alone.

 **Mucranoid** \- This organ is implanted within the central nervous system and responds to specific chemical stimuli in the environment, causing Subject to secrete a waxy protein substance similar to mucus through his pores that seals his skin.

Function \- The Subject is cocooned in this way before they enter suspended animation, and the process can even protect them from the harshness of the vacuum and other extremes of temperature, particularly deeply frigid environments.

 **Betcher's Gland** \- Consisting of two glands that are implanted into multiple locations inside subject's mouth, including the inside of the lower lip.

Function \- In the salivary glands or in the hard palette, these two glands working in tandem transform subject's saliva into a corrosive, blinding acid when consciously triggered. This allows Subject's to spit a wad of corrosive acid with the effect of blinding, wounding or even killing an enemy outright. These implants' more common use is to aid in the digestion of unusually difficult or impossible things to digest, such as cellulose.

 **Progenoid Glands** \- Glands implanted in the neck and another in the chest.

Function \- The organs hormonally respond to the presence of other implants in body by creating germ cells with DNA identical to that of those implants via cellular mitosis. These germ cells grow and are stored in the Progenoid organs, much like sperm cells or egg cells are stored in the testes and ovaries of normal men and women. When properly cultured, these germ cells can be gestated into each of the 19 gene-seed organs needed to recreate organ implants.

 **Black Carapace** \- Neuroreactive, black organic fibrous material that are implanted directly under the skin of the Neophyte's torso. After a few solar hours, the material hardens and invasive synthetic fiber bundles that will serve as connection points for neurons grow inward and interlink with subject's central nervous system.

Function \- Black Carapace allows user to use Armour increasingly effectively, but the Armour itself does not need implant to function. It allows Armour to provide better protection, and increases connection to Armour's AI, along with other functions.

 **Sinew Coils** \- Subject's sinews are reinforced with durametallic coil-cables that can contract with incredible force, magnifying strength as well as giving subject's body another layer of defence. Subject can, along with crush a man's skull in his hand, break Flak Armour to flinders, or even bite through a metal cable should the need arise, will be able to endure severe deity-level trauma.

 **Magnificat** \- A small, thumbnail-sized lobe that is inserted into the brain's cortex.

Function \- The Magnificat secretes hormones that increase the body's growth functions whilst also intensifying the function of its other transhuman implants, especially those of the Biscopea and the Ossmodula. As a result, Subject's alternate form is much bigger than the human variant.

 **Belisarian Furnace** \- This is a dormant organ that connects to Subject's two hearts.

Function \- In times of extreme stress, or should the warrior's body undergo violent, damaging trauma, it expels great blurts of self-synthesized chemicals - a hyper-cocktail that simulates the biological action of combat stimms while also aiding in the rapid regrowth of tissue, bone and muscle. The gland then falls dormant again, and takes some time to metabolically build itself up once more for the next usage.

* * *

Finally, the male finished his examination of the Scans, though that was simply thanks to him becoming too bewildered to continue, falling backwards onto the Urthemiel's side. A low sigh escaped his lips, his eyes closing as he put a hand over them. His mind couldn't even BEGIN to comprehend on what he had just heard. Never-mind the genetic implants that had been 'grown' inside of him according to this information, but the fact that aside from immense physical improvement, he now had night vision, acid spitting, poison immunity, increased regeneration to unknown levels (he'll have to see about that later), plus the ability to freaking LEARN by EATING. Not only that, but he now felt like a new person, and if this was accurate, even his DPU Form had improvements made to it, as well as his Armour (though he kinda already knew that thanks to absorbing that Power Armour).

'Holy shit...'

"Hey, this is the favorite dead apostle for everyone, Zelretch! How is everything going kido?"

Looking forwards, Nico noticed the old man that was Castiel's grandfather standing within the circle Urthemiel had made. The Archdemon remained asleep though, and he had a feeling that this man had been responsible for it. The way he looked right now, made Nico think back to what happened before. At that, his earlier depression returned, and the male fell onto his backside. "If you want to say you're disappointed in me, you don't need to. Its just adding salt to the wound, and I've already realized I messed up. Honestly, not even sure why you let me pass the trial in the first place, I royally screwed it up." he stated in a depressed manner, Soul Edge's gaze landing on the older man, its eye showing just how much it wanted to tear into the man. It WAS a personification of his being after all.

"Hmmmm, I wouldn't say disappointed. To feel disappointed with someone you had to trust him in the first place after all." Zelretch pointed out, making Nico feel even worse if that was even possible. "But you should forget all that, weren't you going to talk with Castiel? You know, the good old man to man talk to see why he is so angry?" he questioned him curiously, like he was simply watching a show when it started having technical issues.

Knowing this guy, that just might be true. "Hah, why should I bother? It is crystal clear that he is angry because I kept messing it up, what other reason could there be?" Nico countered self mockingly. He remembered Castiel's words, the angry face he sported throughout the second trial whilst he showed him what had happened thanks to Nico's own decisions. The male pushed those memories back for now though, not wanting to think about them lest he lose what composure he had regained.

Zelretch kept his eyes on Nico for a while before sighing. He then crossed his arms below his chest and proceeded to speak his mind. "You really are self-centered."

"...what?"

"I meant what I said. You don't really put yourself on the other person shoes, simply trying to put labels on others and believe your own decision about what others are like before even knowing the person right. If you decide by yourself who other persons are and why they act the way they do base only on your perspective and your opinions, how can I call you anything but self-centered." Zelretch explained.

This was just one more shock for Nico, especially since he remembered Yvoire all too well right now, thanks to those words. Memories flashed though his mind of their little talk, the talk that Nico and him had before the whole demonic invasion happened. Whilst he didn't like thinking about THAT either, it did present some things to him that seemed relevant to this conversation. Didn't Nico also put a 'label' on Yvoire and acted as if he was a senile old man that was blind to the world around him?

And what was the result back then? Reality slapped him in the face.

It was the same with the guild, with the military families, with who knows how many others. Heck, he even thought that the CPUs did not care about their nations at one point, only worried about themselves, a huge mistake on his part no doubt. "B-But what should I do? He won't talk to me and I can't use my powers to read his mind." Nico questioned, glancing down at Soul Edge. His hand gripped its handle, the blade not showing any signs of discomfort. Why should it, since it wouldn't break thanks to it existing on multiple planes of existence.

"And THAT is your other problem." Zelretch stated, gesturing to him with one hand before putting it back under the other one below his chest. "You want the easy way out, you unceremoniously read other's minds to understand them, but this is only the most superficial thoughts and not their feelings or reasons. You are just being a coward if your first thought when faced with this situation is to read the minds of the other people here." he stated.

THAT had been the final blow, the final blow to Nico's mind that shattered the barriers against the one thing that he wanted to ask all this time. The one thing he wanted to ask, yet did't. The reason? like he had said, Nico had unknowingly been acting like a coward, something he hugely frowned upon back home. He didn't cower when one of his comrades was in danger back on Gamindustri. An example of this was when he nearly got sent out of Gamindustri trying to save MAGES., this guy's student, from that very same fate. "T-Then how could I fix this?" Nico almost shouted, he hated being called a coward but with his flaws, again and again, being shoved down his throat he had little to no choice but to agree on some level.

The man's answer, his face now morphing to one of eager parental anticipation, was to point over to Castiel's direction. "Why don't you start by getting out of your comfort zone and talking to my godson? He is easier to get along then you think, but he TOO is going through some stuff right now, talk to him and he just might tell you." he told him.

At that, Nico shakily nodded, slowly getting to his feet. Urthemiel remained asleep, but Nico didn't mind that. The Archdemon deserved a good rest after what had happened. For comfort, he strapped Soul Edge to his back, tethering it to said body-part with Demonic Power. His mind, body and soul vehemently screamed against this, that this wasn't the way to solve this problem. Memories of his distrust with other people came to the forefront of his mind but Nico pushed past it. Not only because he didn't want to be called a coward, but he also wanted to prove that he could do something right for once. So many things happened that made him question his beliefs and ideals, so much that he had almost gone numb from it all. That couldn't be allowed to happen, thus despite being wholly uncomfortable with this idea, Nico mentally pushed his feelings aside and called on the resolve that he ALWAYS possessed when taking action.

Resolve was the very thing his mother taught him after all.

* * *

When he approached the Heir, Nico saw him intently choosing which item he would receive as a reward. Briefly, he felt a flash of fear fill his lungs, but he pushed it aside and strode towards him. Soul Edge's presence ca;med him at the least, so if he would be attacked he had means of defending himself.

On Castiel's end, the Heir looked at the menu with intense scrutiny, he knew that he needed to address his magic circuits soon but he had one item that he saw that he REALLY needed amongst the items to choose.

"What are you doing?" Nico asked, approaching the male with his hands in his pockets. So far, so good. He managed to get a decent start to it, but this was only the beginning. Whether or not things would remain this way.

Without even looking at him (something that made Nico mentally grimace), he got a response from the Heir. "Choosing an item as a reward, it is quite a bit harder than I expected." Castiel replied plainly, cupping his chin while placing a hand under his elbow.

"Which ones are you in doubt amongst?" Nico asked, from what he could tell, the guy seemed fairly relaxed now. He could hardly sense much negative emotion in him aside from emotions pertaining to lack of surety, though he made sure not to delve too deeply into those. Zelretch's words rung through his mind, when he used that ability almost like it was second nature to him.

He got a response quicker this time, which made Nico feel a little less uneasy. "Well, I am between Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections to fix my damaged magic circuits, or an Aromatic Silky Beauty that can suppress poisons to help one of my girlfriends." Castiel explained.

At that, Nico paused and frowned, not having the clue on what it was that he was talking about. However, his old habits kicked in, and he began deciphering what Castiel had said. So far, it seemed that he had found himself torn between two objects, one that could help himself and the other tat would help one of his 'girlfriends' (part of him realized that Castiel had a Harem, he didn't know or want to know more about that right now). Though, all of that in of itself proved quite intriguing to the male.

Still, there was something else that he wanted to bring up, something more important. "Hey, you keep saying magic circuits and magic circuits, but what are those?" Nico asked, simply because in his own universe people did not have these circuits. Instead, they had SP, Mana etc for magic users. Practices that came from the next Nation he and his Party would be going to after this, Lowee.

"Magic circuits are a pseudo nervous system that allows for the use of Magecraft in my universe. They reside in both the body and the soul of a person, the greater the quality the more energy they can use at once and the longer they can use and produce. To be honest, I need something to fix this damage and another one in my body and soul because of some of the stuff that happened to me, but I don't know if I should take this chance or not." Castiel explained.

Well, Nico could somewhat see what he was talking about, but a thought entered his mind that was related to something he had told the redhead back in the second trial. "But don't you already have that method to suppress poison? Why should you put this flower above your own health?" For Nico this did not make much sense, growing stronger was something that was primordial in importance for him and if he had these problems he would grab whatever chance to grow stronger than he could grasp.

Fortunately though, it didn't seem to piss the heir off, instead it made him merely snort to himself. Better than yelling at him, Nico would say. "Heh, I suppose it might seem like this at first glance, but I don't want to let even a small chance of one of my girlfriends to suffer one more day with what she is going through." Castiel commented. "In the end, I have to put those that depend on me above myself sometimes. It may sound weird to you, but this is a necessary aspect for a leader and king."

Putting others before yourself... Nico furrowed his brows, his mind flashing back to Yvoire and his words to him. They indeed sounded somewhat similar to that, actually. These two boy say that Leaders hep their underlings before themselves, which reminded him of the original Nobles of Leanbox. They, along with a rare few figures down the line of Leanbox's history, had such mindsets. This had led to them having many enemies, but also an equal number of allies in their times. They commanded the honor and respect of many under their service, and had been loved by their people.

But, it didn't really make sense to him. As someone who believed that the stronger you are, the more chance of survival you get, it felt pretty hard to understand the concept of a Leader's role in society. To him, a Leader needed strength to keep the battle going, a Leader had to be stronger than the rest. Strength had to be place first if you truly wanted to enjoy life. This philosophy however, wasn't unique to just him, as that kind of thinking had been pretty much ingrained onto the Spec Ops lifestyle where they have to fight against insane odds just to live another day.

However, with these constant realities that Nico had now been discovering, the scale of life had just gotten all the bigger. Not to mention how grey his worldview had been slowly becoming. He didn't know what to think anymore, and thus his idealism hadn't been as strong as it once was.

"Hah, I will choose the flower. Even if I may not be able to solve my own problems I can deal with them myself, later on, she is more important than just this small damage."

Nico ponce again felt surprise hit him at the roots of his being, it was... well, rare seeing someone who was yelling at him for being a failure not long ago now only thinking about others. Actually, if he thought deep enough,was THIS the reason why Castiel had been so mad with him before? Not because he was NECESSARILY messing with the mission, but more because he was endangering others?

 **'He is selfless, far too selfless.'**

Biko commented to Nico after he too realized this point. Selflessness... this wasn't something Nico saw very often, not even in himself. Coming from a lifestyle where one has to be strong to survive gave one a hell of a selfish viewpoint. It was simply human nature to be selfish, yet there were some exceptions to this rule it seemed. Exceptions that Nico hadn't seen before, until now. Practically every leader of every major organisation back in his world didn't have the same mindsets as Castiel did. Thinking about it, the CPUs had their Nations' backs too.

So... could this...?

'You guys, could this be... what we've been looking for this whole time? The answers we seek for the Yvoire problem?' the redhead male questioned.

'BAH, WEAKLINGS! THE LOT OF EM! THE STRONG DEVOUR THE WEAK, THAT'S THE WAY THINGS ARE AND WILL ALWAYS BE! JUST LOOK AT THOSE KHORNE FUCKS, LOOK AT THEIR STRUCTURE IF WE CAN CALL IT THAT AT ALL, KING! THOSE GUYS ARE TRUE WARRIORS, SAVAGE ONES, BUT HECK THE FUN IS ALL IN THE SLAUGHTER!'

Well, Nico could tell that would have been his Ghoul Persona's response from a mile away. That guy was Ghoul traits personified, so it would make sense for him not to care about others, rather he'd prefer to prioritize his own survival. To a Ghoul, a creature that eats other people or monsters to survive, even its own kin, there would be little fucks for it to give if a life is extinguished. In the world of Ghouls, that is pretty much the norm, every man or woman for themselves as well as survival of the fittest. Not even their own kind are spared from this, in fact racial cannibalism was pretty much encouraged. Often resulting in powerful Ghouls that could easily take on A to S rank Abnormals.

 **'Perhaps you could be correct, the answer to our recent dilemma could be right in front of us. However, it would be unwise to question him without at first learning more about him. Considering our usual methods are out of the question at this moment, I believe that conversation would be the most ideal solution.'**

'You sure?' Nico questioned, uncertainly. This step could have severe repercussions if it went south, but with the things that were going on, the ideals he held for so long coming into questions when new realities were being shoved into his face, perhaps a risk may need to be taken. After everything he had seen thus far in Leanbox, concerning his Ghoul Side, Yvoire, the revelations about his DPU powers plus the rest of his kind, as well as just how BIG the upcoming war between the divine and the demonic would be, Nico may as well question everything he had come to learn was fact.

After all, if there had been anything he had learned so far, it would be that being a leader meant so much more than what he had initially assumed.

 **'Indeed. Think of this as that time when you convinced Noire to talk to Neptune back in Lastation, look at the results of that. This should be no different, its just a different gender than you're used to. Even if you have had problems with this gender in the past, we have started seeing select individuals whom are an exception to those prejudices.'**

'Well... alright, I'll take a shot in the dark for once. Hopefully I won't regret this later...'

"Hey, could you tell me more about yourself? Not just your powers but about, well, the rest too? I want to know you a bit better." Nico asked, the words being so unnatural for him that it was almost as if they were scraping his throat.

Castiel thought about it for a while, on the end this might be a good idea as he could just talk to someone else about what was going on with him, and honestly speaking Nico was the only other option (repetition, yay!) since Zelretch would be prone to sleep in the middle of it or just throw him to face giant monsters instead, case in point, where he was right now. "Fine, I will talk to you about myself." He relented, sighing as he dismissed the menu and began walking to a nearby bonfire. Zelretch had set the Arena to Night time, so that was why he had set it up with some fire magic, putting some logs on opposite sides for sitting on.

Both boys sat on opposite ends, Nico on one and Castiel on another. The Heir took a moment to gather his thoughts, staring deeply into the flames with a melancholic look in his eyes. Nico remained quiet, waiting patiently even though he had little patience. The desire to not be a coward however, proved to be stronger than his impatience, though, and for good reason.

Eventually, the Heir began to speak, his tone level and civil. "Now, where to start? Well, I suppose explaining how I grew up would be good. You see, my dimension is what could be called a mess. There are far too many powerful beings there, too many organizations too, and one of those organizations is the one I was born into: the Tohsaka Tower, or just the Tower. Not long after I was born it was decided that I should be the next head of the organization, probably because I was the first one to be born amongst all those who created it."

A few seconds passed with silence, before Castiel continued. "My infancy was packed full of impossibly hard training, but it was overall quite fun. Being with so many kids my age, growing stronger with them, it was invigorating. I wanted to help them all, to make sure that we would all grow up strong and that I would be able to protect them all. For that I put myself on more rigorous training than anyone else, experiencing more pressure than anyone else, I don't even know how much blood sweat and tears I spilled in hopes of getting strong enough to protect those I cared about."

Thoughts began circling through Nico's mind, but he didn't think on them since the story was still going. "But, when I reached 10 years old, and went on my first mission to exterminate a stray devil, we failed to get there in time. I failed in saving an innocent girl, her family dead in front of her and her arms gone too. The guilt I felt was heavier than you can believe, so, after she told me she wanted to fight for justice and to be a hero I put everything I could to make this a reality. I bowed and pleaded for my Aniki to get her a pair of arms that could allow her to fight, and he did just that. Seeing her happy face when she had her arms back made all the lashes I received for bowing to someone else more than worth it. At least, I believe that it was worth it and it was not like there were any marks left after the lashes as they did heal me back to full health, it was more for the pain that they did that but considering how I was sometimes used like a golf club by one of my teachers back then I didn't really mind that level of pain."

Briefly, Castiel noticed Nico wince, as if he recalled something similar to that event, but paid it no mind for the time being."Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. I was ten by that point, and after realizing my weakness I put even more effort in my training and on the missions. I HAD to get stronger, otherwise, the damage the others could go through was something I could and will NEVER accept. But, the reality was cruel. MY magic circuits are just too weak and damaged to get that strong, I simply could not grow even one millimeter after I reached 12 years old."

'Wait, is he talking about his growth being possibly STUNTED?!' Nico mentally exclaimed, shock and horror filling him up inside. As someone who constantly trained to improve himself, something like that sounded worse than a DEATH SENTENCE! If you couldn't get any stronger in his world, chances were you would likely die the next battle you were sent into. Not easily, either.

His other Aspects agreed with him there.

"No matter what I did, it was as far as I could go. I could not grow at all, and so after some time, I decided to leave for a while. Go out there, live more and maybe discover a chance to get better. There were a few girls that wanted to come with me, but I did not let them. They still had room to get stronger, they didn't have to limit themselves for me. The only one that came with me was my friend Emily, she too had hit a 'road block' and wasn't capable of growing stronger, but now that I think about it she probably did not want to go pass that point just to be together with me for a while more. You can laugh if you want, great leader I am making those I care about worry about me like that." Castiel said, but Nico could not laugh. Not. One. Bit. "Anyway, after that we spent one year by ourselves on the most part, it was quite relaxing and I had the chance to discover two of the best things in the whole wide world: anime and pudding! The perfect dessert, snack, or, to be honest, meal! It is just SOOO good." Nico had to sweat-drop hearing this, and the more he heard more he noticed something.

Castiel was like a strange mix between Neptune (love for anime and pudding), Noire (on the worry over those under him), IF (on his desire to get stronger and prove himself), and Compa (with his 'mother hem' like actions and worry for others).

Was THIS person he was afraid to talk too before?

Seriously?

The sense of being an idiot filled his being. Not the first time he'd felt it, either. "Anyway, not long ago we were on our latest mission. Stop a warmonger that wanted to restart a stupid war that would probably damage the world at large. It wasn't so complex of a mission, we just had to stop him from completing a ritual and that would be enough, but, but I failed to predict his moves. He went after US, and after he threatened to kill one of those under my protection, the same girl I am buying this flower for, unless I turn myself into him. To let him do as he pleases. If I was strong enough, if I wasn't damaged from the start, I would be more than his match, I wouldn't have to have put others or myself on that position, but it was not to be. I even had to cut my own arm off just for him to let every one of my companions go."

A part of him told him that he could tell where that would be going, but Nico remained silent. "I turn myself in, was put into a strange ritual where all my blood was drained from my body while I felt more pain than anyone should EVER feel, and ended up helping him complete his ritual. Luckily, he was an arrogant prick so he let me fight him one more time. And surprise surprise, I lost again. My body was burned to a crisp, my eye melted while IN the socket, and I let the others put themselves in danger. But, surprisingly, my mom, the woman who had NEVER talked to me, that I have never met and abandoned me on my birth, came to my 'rescue'."

At this point, Castiel made quotation marks before continuing his tale. "And by rescue, I mean that she kidnapped me after dealing with Kokabiel, I had NO control over myself or my destiny at that point. It was also then that I discovered that I was a half fallen half pure angel, that I was an abomination from the very start and that my own mother sealed those powers from me. All because I was born with part of an evil power that I had not choose to have, that I had part of All the World's Evil in me."

Rage began to bubble inside Castiel when he remembered that WOMAN, the woman who had caused him so much pain. The utter bullshit that escaped her mouth felt more like venom to the Heir every second he remembered it, but he pushed on regardless. "She said she wanted the best for me, but in her haste SHE was the one to damage my magic circuits. If not for those actions of hers, I would be strong enough to protect my loved ones, and now, now after suffering more than ANYONE should suffer, she came to me to ask for forgiveness. Can you even imagine? To see the one person that should love you do that to me, and then just say 'I am sorry'. That was why I coming here was good for me because I need somewhere to vent all this frustration, and that was why I was so stressed on this mission.

"This was my chance, the chance to prove to myself that all I did was NOT a waste, that I truly am capable of making the right calls and that I am capable of leading others on the best way possible. That I am capable of not failing those who will be putting their LIVES on my hand, and that I am more than just an heir to the organization and child of my parents. That I am a good leader, that I can too make the difference and that I can save others despite the evil I was born carrying. So, is this enough or do you want more?"

Baffled, Nico could only shake his head. This guy, he seemed like he had went through a great deal, a whole lot more shit than Nico had expected. Not even his other aspects disagreed with them there. The first thing was the guy's childhood, it seemed that the kid didn't have it easy from the very beginning, the way he spoke about being made heir to a large organisation from birth, pretty much sealing his path through life, reminded him eerily of his own linage. How he was, despite the circumstances around it, descended from Leanbox Nobility. How would his life have been if he had been raised as a Noble? Well, it wouldn't have been nearly as grand as the other children, he'd be labelled a bastard for being of mixed blood. His father wasn't a noble, but his mother was you see. No matter how much he tried to think about it Nico felt like he would have been meant for discrimination.

Nobles were such simple-minded creatures, that way.

Unlike him though, it would seem that Castiel had a LOT more help in that department.

Second, the thing about him getting harsher training seemed quite appealing to the male, Nico could understand the need to get stronger. At least, that was the concept he COULD get, but the reasoning behind it befuddled him. Getting stronger he could get, but to do so to protect strangers? People you may not even consider friends? It sounded like he DID consider them as such, and it DID sound like some form of military boot camp. Nico wasn't that well versed with the way militaries outside the Spec Ops operated aside from bits and pieces, however the redhead teen knew for a fact that men and women in boot amp tend to form bonds with each other. If it were in that sense, Nico could somewhat get it...

Thirdly was the stunting, and by the goddess that sounded like utter hell (BOTH his aspects agreed with each other there). He did NOT want to imagine the kind of pain that would have been like, if he had been stunted like that back in his world then chances were that he would NOT have lived long. The best time he could think of that was somewhat similar would be the time when his Demonic Powers were stunted by his Berserker Mode shortly after his arrival into Leanbox with his Party. The sheer frustration of not being able to train in his powers, to not even be able to use his DEVIL ARMS felt like hell on earth. Fortunately he had to deal with it only for a short time compared to Castiel.

The fact that he had comrades who could still grow all around him probably added salt to the wound.

Everything else, Nico could somewhat find relation to throughout his own past, a past that he didn't feel like he could share at the moment. Not with this sense of shame and guilt gnawing at his being. "I see... then that was why you seemed so stressed. I can sense negative emotions because of my powers, and during that trial the level yours had been at had me concerned."

"Yeah well, that's my story." Castiel stated, sighing as he leaned backwards. Wow, he didn't realize it, but talking to Nico about his problems felt better than he thought it was. He was in no state of mind to ask about his past yet, plus according to his calculations they only had about 4 hours left to train/ relax before the next Trial. Whatever that may be.

That was when he noticed something, something on Nico's face that hinted that he wanted to ask something, but his body language hinted that he didn't know how. "What is it? I'd rather you speak your mind than just hide your thoughts." he questioned him, much of his previous anger leaving him. By no means did he forgive Nico for his conduct, he couldn't do that unless the guy showed SERIOUS change. But thanks to that talk, he felt marginally better. Better than he had felt in a while, at least.

"... Alright, look. You're right about me, i'm an idiot, I utterly screwed up on the second trial. To be frank you have every right to refuse what I'm about to ask, but i'd appreciate it of you could..." At this point, the next set of words struggled to leave his lips with how discomforting they felt. However, Nico would NOT allow this to continue, he would NOT allow himself to remain this way. Leadership seemed like one of his weaknesses, but the male found himself willing to do what it took to change that. Didn't make this easy, but hey when was life ever easy? "Could you teach me how to be a better leader?"

"Huh, you? Wanting me to teach you?" Castiel asked without understanding the abruptness of the talk. For him, this was just way too sudden and out of nowhere, after all, Nico was the one saying that he should never have been a leader and Castiel just told him about how he failed. Why would Nico even WANT to learn with him?

Nico looked down, his persona's being silent, sensing the resolve burning within the redhead male. Despite his pride, Nico willingly chose to throw that away from knowledge, knowledge, and understanding. Regret filled his being, regret at his conduct, disgust with his actions, and the desire to b better. He wanted to prove to himself and these two ales (Castiel and Zelretch) that he could change, that he could be a good person and not a pathetic coward. Not to mention, now that he thought about it, that his Soul Edge may be a personification of his soul, expressing his true nature as a savage beast. However, its shapeshifting abilities symbolized his adaptability, his power to change people.

All that was shown on both his face and his eyes.

"If you really want me to teach you, I don't mind. But I must tell you, your mentality is all wrong for a leader." Castiel said.

"Huh?"

"You are always focused on yourself, on how YOU can win the fight, on how YOU can survive, on how YOU can become stronger. A good way of thinking for a lone wolf, for a warrior, fighting by himself, but not for a group and especially not for a leader. A leader should first and foremost think about how to make the ALL win the fight, the ALL to survive, the ALL to get stronger. This is the first thing you should work upon." Castiel said, already entering in 'teacher-mode' so to say.

With this Castiel started discussing and explaining many things to Nico. About the importance of allocating and managing the group to how a nation works, how to read in the lines, he even entered in theories of leadership from his dimension and taught many miscellaneous facts to Nico.

Nico heard it all, he mulled over what he was presented and understood how badly he dealt with so many things now, with Yvoire, and even with the party he is on. Heck, he didn't even THINK about seeing anything that could work for the others yet, just looking at how to make himself stronger. How he really was WAY over his head when he confronted Yvoire that night. And how his actions throughout the last mission were terrible decisions, all were shown to him clearly when he heard Castiel explain more and more about leaders.

They were almost a whole other species to Nico, one that he never really understood at all until now.

But, even after he heard it all Nico still could not find an answer for his own question on what to do to his situation back in his dimension. He could have asked then and there for the answer, as he felt Castiel could provide a perfect answer for him as he seemed to be a genius on the subject, and yet he choose not to.

They could not waste too much time here, they had a limited time frame to deal with all these missions and to ask his question Nico would have to explain a lot of things that would take quite some time.

It was best to go to the mission already.


	165. Cross Chapter 12 - The Third Trial

**The Third Trial**

It wouldn't be long now, the trial would begin shortly.

Both Nico and Castiel stood side by side, each of them making their own preparations for the next trial. It was hard to describe the atmosphere between them, but the best way to describe it would be... lax, for lack of a better word. Both boys did their own thing, Castiel checking his reserves, equipment and making sure his Familiars were up to snuff. Nico himself checked his own equipment, made sure his Items were ready, all the while consulting with his Persona's as well as his sole Familiar Urthemiel. It looked like the two wouldn't be conversing for a while, but that felt satisfactory to them.

A short while ago, Nico had beaten the Heir to the punch figuratively, by buying some information about the next trial. Like the last one however, there wasn't much that they could have gone on, all that they knew was that it would be a fire trial... and that they would only be allowed to use two weapons, with few exceptions being Nico's Kagune and Castiel's left arm spirit bone, since they were part of their bodies and thus, weren't classified as ordinary weapons. It hadn't taken them long to decide which weapons to use though:

Castiel chose Gandiva and his right arm/Argetlan.

Nico chose Soul Edge and Rebellion.

"You ready for this, Nico?" Castiel questioned him abruptly, getting the male's attention. He'd checked himself out, finalizing his preparations and wanted to make sure his companion was up to snuff as well.

After giving the Heir a confirming nod, Nico made to respond. "Affirmative on my end, too. Judging by this Trial, I assume we will be needing access to the opposing elements to fire, including fire resistance. Do you have anything for that? Cause I got my Hellfire for mine."

"Well, I don't have much in the way of fire resistance, but I still can use some fire-based skills and using runes to create water or ice isn't particularly hard so it won't be a problem."

Once the two finished their checks, the portal finally appeared before them, and the two went inside.

* * *

When eyes could be opened, Nico did so, lowering his arm from his eyes to gauge his surroundings. It looked like the male was in the middle of what looked to be some kind of tunnel. A tunnel lit by these torches aligned over both sides of the tunnel's roof. The tunnel went diagonally downwards, ad looked to be just wide enough for two people to navigate through it.

 **'Nico, you MAY want to look around you once more. You have missed one detail.'**

'Huh?' Blinking at that, Nico looked around himself, finding that indeed, there WAS one detail that he had been missing from the initial gauging. That Detail, was that eh was alone. He couldn't see Castiel anywhere,nor could he feel his emotions. 'What? What happened? Where's Emiya? I can't get a read on his location through his emotions!' the male thought in shock, eyes wide whilst he clenched his fists.

What the hell happened?! Did the portal malfunction? Granted that hadn't happened before, and that had made him assume that wouldn't have happened. The last few times they used portals to get in and out of trials had worked perfectly, bringing them in and out in prompt manners. However, in this case that wasn't happening for whatever reason.

Alright, Nico...

Calm down, calm down and think.

That couldn't be what happened, not considering who it was that built this place. Nico figured that Zelretch would have had contingency plans or something like this if it wasn't meant to happen, and so far each of the Trials had something about them. Well, at least the second one, which made his theory on that a bit moot. However, even if it was weak, he didn't dismiss that possibility since for all he knew, Zelretch could have done something else. Now that he thought about it, were;t these trials like teachers in a way?

Perhaps he could look for a way out with his Bracers, they never failed him before...

Looking down, Nico made to activate his Bracers, however all he got was static. His eyes narrowed at this as he gnashed his teeth. 'Tch, something must be jamming them somehow, looks like my Bracers are out, too... wait a minute, didn't that information say we could only bring two weapons in with us? Could that mean...?' Just then, a thought appeared in his mind, one that he did NOT like the feel of. Especially when he could barely feel the links he had to his other Devil Arms aside from his Rebellion and Soul Edge.

"(... oy...)"

'Huh?' Nico again blinked owlishly, lowering his arms as he frowned. Did he just hear something right now? He thought he did, an old man's voice that sounded NOTHING like Zelretch's. In fact, it sounded like a mix of old man and a fiery blaze, if that made any sense whatsoever. Though, considering what he had see thus far, Nico didn't feel like much could surprise him anymore at this point. 'Biko, did you hear that?'

"(...oy...)"

 **'Indeed, I do hear it. It seems like someone is trying to reach out to us telepathically. Unfortunately for it, Soul Edge seems to be hindering its attempts, leaving its words distorted, it seems. Hold on, i'll have a little 'cat' with the sword.'**

Nico mentally furrowed his brows at that as he leaned sideways on a wall, crossing his arms under his chest while he waited for Biko to finish whatever it was he would be doing to get this connection properly established. Soul Edge would always feel unnerved whenever foreign beings tried to contact him mentally, and would shield his mind from it. It came from having some... unwanted guests invade his mind not long before he fought Mundus. On could say that it incorporated a 'Bio Boost' of its own. It probably assumed this foreign entity a threat and tried to block it out.

The feeling he got from the weapon after that thought pretty much confirmed it.

Soon though, he felt reluctant acceptance coming from the link between him and Soul Edge, meaning that the connection wasn't being tampered with anymore. 'Alright, whoever you are. Me and a close comrade of mine have secured the connection on our end. If you can hear me, can you tell me who you are?' Nico thought, trying to project his thoughts outward. Since his Items were unusable for now, same with his equipment, he couldn't use the Shingan to read the mind that tried to talk to him. Though considering Zelretch's words, perhaps that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"(Ah, I see... So that is why my connection attempts seemed off, and I had trouble speaking with you. Very well, I must thank you boy, and thus I will repay you by introducing myself. I am Amon, a fire Djinn whom inhabits this land.)"

'A fire Djinn? You know what, i'm not going to question it and just think 'its Zelretch' for now. Anyways, call me DEATHSTROKE, its my codename.' the Redhead thought back to the being talking to him, a Djinn. Nico hadn't talked to one of these before, so he wasn't sure on what to say to it. Best be cautious till he had a better grip of its nature.

"(Someone who is from a Military, I see. Very well, I shall oblige. You see, young DEATHSTROKE, this land is under the control of a very specific deity, and that deity has decreed that you, and your partner, be separated and forced to undergo specific 'tests' to regain what you have lost, before it will face you itself. I am merely a guide for you and your companion, whom I will be speaking to after this discussion. I will tell you where you need to go soon enough, as my time is limited. For now, head down these stairs, at the bottom there is going to be a corridor with doors around it. These doors will lead you to your tests in numerical order. Follow the numbers, and you will regain your weapons and powers.)"

'Huh, I see... ok then.' Nico thought back, feeling the connection switch off. That conversation felt shorter than he would have liked, but it DID carry a whole load of useful information. For one, it seemed his arsenal being defective wasn't thew case here, instead something about this area had sealed them away. His Devil Arms seemed to be taken from him somewhat, since he could still sense their links, and he would have to complete some 'tests' to get them back before facing the final boss. Part of him wondered what it could be, but nonetheless Nico started to see this trial to be much more interesting than the last two. Perhaps he wouldn't suck as bad as he did on the last one.

With that note, Nico began his descent down the stairs towards his Tests, wondering what it could be.

* * *

"So you are the one that is to guide me?" Castiel asked as an illusory figure was in front of him.

 _'Yes, and I even had to go out of my way to make this clone just because I cannot communicate with you otherwise. Your mental defense is far too strong.'_ The illusory being said.

"Thanks for the compliment, I do try. After all, how else can I assure myself that no one will be able to control my mind or thoughts? A king and leader must be worried about these sort of things." Castiel commented to the being.

 _'Quite.'_ The illusory being said while nodding his head. _'At least I got a proper person to introduce to this place. Anyway, this is the fire-trial, you must search for the weapons that you are missing right now. After that, you will be free to go to the final hall.'_

"Interesting." Castiel commented. He had three weapons that he still had to find so it was at least more direct than the last trial. And, with this, he would not need to worry about anyone else for a while. "I got to ask, but is there any sort of side missions here? I mean, if this is an RPG-dungeon crawler style 'game' there must be something."

 _'Yes, there is one. But there isn't any reward for it, your only objective there would be face one enemy and that is just about it.'_

"Okay, and what is this enemy exactly?"

 _'A lesser Vermilion Bird.'_

"Okay, when can I go and defeat this being? I need its corpse badly." Castiel instantly said.

 _'What, are you this bloodthirsty for a challenge?'_ the being said, a mix of curiosity and disgust in his voice as his opinion of this person dropped. He was talking about being a king and leader but now he was outright looking for an unnecessary fight just for satiate himself.

"What? No, no, no. It is nothing to do with WANTING to fight. I admit that I would like to see how I measure up to a divine beast, even if a lesser one, but this is not why I said that. What I want is to obtain its corpse so as to see if I can produce some items to repay some of those who fought for me. They risked their lives for mine so how could I not give them anything in return? I want to make sure they will see that I really care for them and their work." Castiel said, earning an approving nod from the being.

This being had seen plenty of those who said fallacies of carrying for their subordinates but forgetting them later on, so seeing this young man looking to fight BECAUSE he wanted to give something for his subordinates was a 'wave of fresh air' so to say.

' _It is best this way. I have seen too many who forget their subordinates when they aren't around. For you to pay attention to them is admirable.'_

Castiel shrugged his shoulders, for him this was far too natural to even deserve a complement. It was almost second nature really, to look for ways to protect those he cares about and making them stronger is as good way as any.

When they were about to start moving Castiel decided to ask something.

"Hey, I am sorry but I don't think you told me who you are exactly."

 _'Is that true? Oh well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt. My name is_ Astaroph _, a Djin of the eternal fire!'_

Castiel head that and grimaced a bit as he said.

"Oookaay, but I have to ask you one more thing. Are you a deep shit asshole?"

 _'How DARE you even ask that? Of_ course _, I am not one!'_

"Sorry, it is just a precaution. I know someone else who goes by that name and he is someone who can only be described like this." the figure relaxed a bit, even if it didn't like the comparison.

' _Humph, if you are quite done you should go ahead, there are still many challenges for you to face.'_

* * *

Approaching the end of the stairs, Nico found himself entering what looked to be a circular room. The floor, walls and ceiling seemed to be made of the earth itself, with torches lit throughout to give this place a rather sinister, heated appearance. It also felt like he was in the middle of a lair belonging to a bunch of Cultists. Tat comparison sent a wave of heat through his being, and not the heat from his Hellfire. 'Feels somewhat like the Hellverse was like before...' he thought to himself, a wave of irritation following suit. Good thing that he hadn't got his Kagune out (he could still feel it plus his Gene Seed Implants. Likely because they were more a part of himself than normal weapons) otherwise it would likely destroy everything around him.

 **'Hmmmm, interesting. Look at the walls, there are certain entrances to tunnels here.'**

His Demon Persona's words allowed him to break free from his thoughts and focus more on his surroundings. Like Biko had said, it seemed that there WERE tunnels aligned around he room, each one having a torch above them that illuminated these numbers made from stones from 1 to 7. That meant that he had about 7 trials, Nico figured, to get back his Devil Arms. At the centre of the room's floor, there looked to be something like a door, but to what he didn't know. Still, Nico decided not to pursue tat mystery for the time being, as he had to focus on the more important matter of regaining his Devil Arms.

To be honest, he didn't show it, but Nico REALLY wanted to get his Devil Arms back as soon as possible. He LOVED his weapons, they were essentially his brothers-in-Arms, weapons he had worked to the bone to learn how to use them and master their abilities. Plus, they felt much easier to relate to than people. People were... complex, and a lot of his distrust for them had been from past experiences. Thus, it had given him the mentality that 'weapons were far easier to understand than people' Nico had fought long and hard with them, developing a strong attachment to those weapons. To the point where he couldn't see them as weapons anymore. It was like Guts' relationship with his Dragonslayer sword, he'd been with that sword for a long ass time, as in years as far as Nico had learned through their conversations. The guy had been socially awkward as all hell, though Nico didn't blame him, but the moment that they started sparring with their swords, it almost felt like a switch had been flipped in the man's head, allowing him to be much more open to the other male.

Thing was, the two of them had an... above-average attachment to their weapons, though compared to Guts, Nico's attachment to his Devil Arms out shined that due to circumstance. Still, that connection along with the combat-filled lifestyle had been the basis for their camaraderie. That, and they both had some badass titles like Guts's which was the 'Black Swordsman' and one of his being the 'Black Reaper'. They had quite a few things in common too, their cynical nature, their distrust for others... a whole lot of stuff.

Focusing back on the task at had, Nico cast his gaze towards the left, where there was a stone-made '1' above a tunnel-like entrance. There were several torches and candles lit, illuminating the area around it. Nico got the feeling that THIS was the first test he needed to undertake, since he remembered that Djinn Amon saying that these trials were in numerical order. 'Something tells me this might be the longest Trial to date...' Nico thought to himself, sweat dropping whilst rubbing the back of his head. Sometimes he wondered what drove him to do all this stuff, before Neptune came into his life he had been just another Spec Ops Agent. Someone who stayed in the shadows, but thanks to everything, he'd been dragged into the limelight...

Something he wouldn't have any other way.

With that in mind, Nico proceeded to enter the Tunnel...

And then found himself engulfed in a bright flash of light. When Castiel entered a great hall he saw three tunnels and a crevice on the side, it wasn't big at all but could probably fit one person if he squeezed enough.

"Well, I suppose this will be my trial grounds. Three tunnels for my three weapons. Could be worse, I can only imagine that for Nico this is WAY worse, he just seems like one of those types that carry way too many weapons than he could possibly use at once." Castiel mused earning an approving nod from Astaroth.

In the end, both Castiel and Ashtaroth were getting along quite well and they both believed in not needing that many weapons in the first place.

And, Astaroth knew that Nico's trial would be at the same time harder and easier than Castiel's. If for no other reason because the difficulty on the tunnels for Castiel was twice those from Nico while Nico had more than double the number of tunnels.

This would be interesting, especially since Castiel chose his first trial. The trial of unlimited fighting.

In one instance, Nico's pores almost went up when he got hit with a huge source of heat. A source that came from all around him, but thanks to his strong defense against fire he didn't feel it as much. Perhaps he could find something that could stop fire completely instead of a resistance to it. Poison resistance had been vastly improved thanks to his Gene Seed implants, so perhaps complete immunity could be possible.

Opening his eyes, Nico lowered his arm to find himself in... something quite unlike what he had expected. Indeed, he found himself on a circular platform at least 30 meters in diameter... surrounded by a pool of Lava. It seemed that this was within the centre of an underground chamber, with small pieces of earth scattered around the lava pool that looked significantly smaller than the main platform. The strong heat he could feel had apparently came from the Lava, and with the size of this place, it surprised him that he had even gotten here.

'Holy... if I didn't have my fire resistance, then I would definitely have been charred to a crisp...'

'BAH, THIS IS NOTHING, KING! HELLFIRE IS WAY HOTTER THAN THIS, AND YOU BATHE YOURSELF IN THAT SHIT EVERY SINGLE-FUCKING-DAY. DEFINITELY, NOT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BEATEN.'

The scolding words of his Ghoul Persona filled his mind, making Nico roll his eyes. After that near-defeat by Mundus, combined with what he had been doing here, Nico doubted that he'd ever have too much confidence in his own power ever again. He didn't expect that white version of him to get it, since it was instinctual survival of the deadliest manifested into an actual form. Ghouls always DID follow their instincts, even those with high intelligence. No Ghoul was ever completely free from their instincts, as they were literally their greatest weapon, greater than even their Kagune.

In response to those thoughts, his inner Ghoul almost squealed to show its agreement.

"(Trial Number one will begin in five minutes, thus I shall tell you what it is..)"

Nico's eyes narrowed when he heard Amon's voice, Soul Edge and Rebellion manifesting over his back in a crossed shape, sensing the Djinn's voice and deciding to take physical form to get ready for what would be to come. Nico trusted his weapons and their judgement, as he too felt like there would be intense moments following this talk. 'Okay, so what is this test about, and what are the conditions for victory?'

"(It is simple, the first test is to survive 10 waves of fiery elementals, elementals that will take all sorts of shapes and sizes. Each wave will be bigger than the last. The first wave will have 50, the second will have 100, and by the time the last wave arrives, you will have to face over 500 Elementals... along with a stronger one called the Hellion Serpent Elemental. Should you win, you will receive several rewards: The tome of 'Extreme Mirage Lightning', in addition to the Tome of 'Great Way of the Buddha'. That is, if you clear the conditions for this Test)"

Hearing its response made Nico arch a brow, confusion filling his being. Extreme Magic Lightning? Great Way of the Buddha? Those sounded almost alien to him, but... if they were held as rewards, they had to be worth something. All for fighting a bunch of elementals? Something had to be up there, that sounded way to easy. When it mentioned conditions, Nico mentally heaved a sigh of relief. At least that made sense, there HAD to be a catch to this test, and odds were that this would be the same for the other tests. "And what are these conditions?"

"(For the duration of this trial, you must sacrifice one or more sense. Sight, hearing, taste, touch, that sort of thing. You will have to give them up once the trial has begun. Be wary, for if you choose to sacrifice one sense, you will only gain one reward. This test is meant to accelerate your own growth as a warrior, by robbing you of the senses you so greatly admire. Therefore, I must ask you which senses are you willing to identify for the sacrifice?")

Ah, so sacrificing his senses was the catch, huh? That was the thought that filled Nico's mind as he contemplated on what to do next. He didn't feel too nervous, though he would be lying if he said he didn't feel nervous at all. Wouldn't it be natural for that to be so, though? He hadn't had to fight without the five senses before, hell his senses had been enhanced by the Gene Seed implants as well as his Ghoul Side. Therefore, it would be... something, to not have one of them to fight with. If he were to rate his panic levels from 1 to 10, he'd be more or less on the number 6 right now. If he hadn't dealt with scarier things before, then his panic levels would have been MUCH higher.

'But still... if I have to sacrifice my senses... which one could I do without...?'

 **'I would suggest that you go for the sense of sight. If you do not ave your eyes, you will be able to hone your other senses to better heights. Remember how some of the warriors in those Tomes we got from Rinjiin back at Skies End had crippled senses in some cases? They didn't have the same pros we do, yet their legends were great enough to be recorded by the DPUs. Think of it like that, and then this should be manageable.'**

'I'M TRUSTING YA A LOT HERE, KING! DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON US, CAUSE WE'LL BE FORCED TO JOIN YOUR SORRY ASS! I'M NOT DOWN FOR DYING TODAY, FUCKER! A GHOUL'S INSTINCT PERSONIFIED AND SENSES ARE PART OF OUR INSTINCTS! I'M PRACTICALLY GIVING UP PART OF MYSELF FOR YA, YA HEAR?! YOU BETTER NOT MESS THIS SHIT UP!'

Heh, well Nico didn't really expect anything less from his Ghoul Persona. Of course he would not be down with sacrificing any senses, they were literally wired to his instincts as he said. To be honest, it sounded like Biko didn't seem totally into it either, but was rational about it, and he did have a good point. Some of the warriors he read about knew other warriors whom had crippled senses, yet they proved to be just as dangerous as the rest of their brethren. Not to mention, this could hone his own skill as a warrior, like Biko had said, and judging from his Ghoul Persona being apart of him, he could sense that he didn't necessarily disagree with that part. He just didn't like the thought of him losing something that was so integral to his Ghoul side.

As his thoughts continued, Nico suddenly felt something, something calling him. It felt like this warm candle close to his being, coming from his right shoulder, and goddamn did it feel as soothing as hell. He knew instantly what was generating the feeling, and when he looked, true to his belief Soul Edge was there. Its eye looked up to him, its form having risen so its eye could be visible to his face. When Nico looked into said eye, he got a whole new meaning of the words 'eyes are a window to the soul' for Soul Edge practically oozed confidence. Confidence that this could work in their favor if they utilized their combined abilities right. But, where did it get this confidence from? Why...

Wait a minute... could it...

The moment THAT train of thought entered his mind, Soul Edge and even REBELLION exploded with eagerness, their emotions so great that their forms started radiating crimson auras of power. It was as if they so very much WANTED, no, they NEEDED this kind of thought process from him. Like, this would end up being something truly magnificent in the end. Seriously, it was things like this that made him think these weapons were more than just ordinary weapons. Soul Edge was a weapon that personified his soul, and Rebellion had been his first ever Devil Arm, so these two had a big connection to him. They both had a connection unique to them, and if he were honest, then every weapon in his arsenal had their own connection.

 **'Nico... you must think of the risks...'**

'Yo, WHAT THE FUCK, KING?!'

'Guys, don't worry, I know the risks. Fighting in THAT manner is pretty much like a gamble, a massive one. If I lose this test, then I would have come all this way for nothing. Not only that, but it will prove once and for all that I'm unable to be better, that I won't be able to defeat those who want to harm my comrades. Think about it, if I can't do something like this, then not only will I fail as a warrior, but also our pride as a person will be impaired for the rest of our lives. Besides, remember what Emiya said in the first trial? Finding loopholes in words is pretty much business 101. May not be the exact words, but that was the point he was trying to get across. I didn't get it much back then, but with what he told us it makes much more sense. Its a risk, I know, but I'm willing to take it if I can get as much out of this as I possibly can. Not just for me either, but for those who fight by my side.'

Heh, Nico honestly found it funny, the more he went on about this comrades, the more humorous he found it when recalling the desire he had at the climax of the zombie invasion in Lastation.

He got no response from his Persona's which meant that they wouldn't try to stop him. Nico, in spite of this, felt a little bad about it. But still, this would be the start of his change. Things had been put into perspective for him a while ago, pretty much rattling his beliefs to the core foundations and making him question tings that otherwise he wouldn't have even entertained the NOTION of. Mundus, Yvoire, and now Castiel. Heck, even the villains and allies he had met across tis journey like Rinjiin and the Ghouls somewhat influenced him in their own ways. Even so, Nico knew one thing about himselff which hadn't changed, and that would be that he would be too far gone to change completely. He was a warrior, he was a lone wolf, and nothing would ever truly change that... BUT, even so, even a Lone Wolf would need a pack sometime. THAT was somewhat of a conclusion Nico had come to. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Opening his eyes, Nico looked up, drawing Soul Edge and Rebellion whilst holding them at his sides. "I choose... all of them. All five senses. You didn't say I had to specify the number of senses I could sacrifice, so I go with all five."

"(Are you certain of this? That is a pretty big gamble you're risking boy. Your military training should tell you that is not a good gamble. Or is your lust for power that great?)"

Amon questioned, and if Nico could see him the male wouldn't doubt that he would be frowning in disapproval. No doubt he would also be a tad disappointed with him too, but Nico refused to let that assumption stay for long.

"I'll admit, I do have the desire to be as strong as possible. So much so that I have difficulty understanding and trusting others with my problems. I would rather help them with their problems than let them help me with my own. I'm not worth such good treatment, its been my thought process for a goddess damn long time. However, in recent times, something has changed... and right now, if this Gamble pays off, I'll be able to atone for that mistake. The mistake of not being able to see there were people who I find myself ABLE to trust, people who've shown themselves to be trustworthy. I got no right to do anything less for them, to repay them for actually giving a damn about some fuckhead like me."

"(I sense that there is more to it than that.)"

"Well, I guess that I trust my weapons to that kind of level, the kind where i'd take gambles like this just to improve myself in their eyes. They chose me as their master, and I can't betray them by looking weak."

"(I see... I do indeed sense a powerful bond between you and your weapons. What you say does not betray you. Very well, once the test begins, you will have all your senses removed from you. I hope you will be prepared for the consequences should you fail.)"

With that, Amon's presence vanished, and soon enough Nico felt like a test was about to begin. He could already feel his senses slipping from him, so he looked down at his swords. He could feel Soul Edge's power start seeping from the blade, entering his body as he soon got himself the feeling of being controlled like a puppet. To be more specific, a marionette, with Soul Edge pulling the strings. It also took hold of Rebellion, the demonic sword not resisting due to the power difference between them. He would not resist either, he would let the blade's power take hold of him, as like he said before, Nico trusted his weapons highly. He would let them have this, a warrior had to have a bond of trust between him and his weapon,otherwise he was no warrior at all. Just before his senses vanished completely for the sake of this test, Nico had one thing to think to them. 'Alright you two... Soul Edge, Rebellion. I entrust you with my body, my soul, my mind, my life. I entrust my entire being to you both. Now... go wild."

* * *

It had surprised him slightly when he had seen how the layout of these trials looked when he proceeded down the stairs that he had found himself on. A circular room with a couple doors with numbers above them. Numbers equal to the amount of weapons Castiel would have. The Heir of course figured out that would be the number of tests he had to face to get his weapons back, and had wasted zero time in getting into the first entrance. Once Castiel entered his first test,the Heir found himself inside what what looked like a small, ovular chamber. Like those that stored Lava in volcano, only there was mostly rock for him to stand on. Lava pooled itself to the left of him, and from it, Castiel narrowed his eyes at it whilst drawing Grandiva. His senses told him that life had some how 'birthed' itself within the Lava, and that definitely brought up his guard.

Well, life seemed like too much a strong word. More like the first signal of something, which didn't sit well with him. It was like the magma in the pool was granted life instantaneously, and the moment that Castiel thought that, something suddenly EXPLODED out of the pool. howling at him reminiscent of a panther. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Castiel looked up, seeing something large, fiery and furious, falling towards him with the intent to maim him. However, Castiel would not allow that, no sir, so he rolled forwards and ducked underneath the creature's paws, rolling back to his feet before twisting around to aim an already drawn Grandiva at the enemy.

Said enemy had used one of its paws to twist a full 180 degrees to face him, growling and scowling as it lost its residue motions. The moment that Castiel saw it, the Heir couldn't help but blink owlishly, surprise slightly forming on his features. This was... a new one, he didn't think he'd seen this one before. If he were to describe it, then he would say that it looked like a cross between a panther and a bird. The reason he thought this was because its main body had that large (probably the size of the average car) and yet still slim panther-like appearance. Its front arms however had these large wing-like structures attached to them whilst ending in clawed paws. The Tail looked to be as long as an average Car was, its end having flattened spike-like protrusions before the solid magma-like tip...

Oh yeah, aside from the hollow red eye sockets glaring murderously at him, the whole thing looked like it was made from Magma.

If he were to describe this thing, then he would say that it would be around mid ultimate-class. It jumped at me at fast speeds and I dodged by jumping sideways, having caused a missfire with Grandiva thanks to being caught by surprise by its speed. Despite its size, the creature didn't lack in the speed department, apparently. He could only barely avoid its claws, but the tail was another story altogether.

WHAM!

"Ugh!"

Boy did he feel the impact from that one, even with the herb he had ingested from the first trial combined with bathing in that pool didn't do much to stop this thing. Castiel found himself being pushed back as a burning feeling scorched his belly. The impact felt quite strong and it knocked the breath out of him, sending him flying across the room. Since he didn't have his Angel wings right now thanks to the Trial, Castiel forced himself to a stop by slamming his Argetlan into the floor, stopping his motions after a short slide.

Looking up after putting Grandiva onto his back, Castiel saw that the creature was already on him, swinging its right Wingblade to his face. Obviously, he didn't appreciate that. 'Shit!' the Heir cursed, bending backwards to avoid it. It missed, but only by a hair, barely grazing the tip of his nose. However, this time he managed to sausage flip over the Tail when it made for a follow-up attack, not wanting those flat spikes to pierce through his hide. With his lack of magic abilities thanks to this Trial, he couldn't afford to get injured too much.

But then, if things weren't already screwy enough...

Eyes widened as Castiel glanced over to the Pool of which the lava-like panther came from, in which case he noticed that there was more life being birthed by the Lava. From that Lava, over hundreds, no, up to a THOUSAND creatures all burst out like a constant stream coming out of a water fountain, all roaring in maniacal glee as they landed throughout the battlefield.

Fortunately, they didn't attack right away, but Castiel did NOT like the looks of them. They stood at over 8 feet tall (not as large as other things he'd fought, but still imposing) and had a roughly humanoid shape. Their bodies, like the winged panther, also seemed to be made from Magma, with certain parts solidified as if to resemble clothes and accessories... like a loin cloth and a series of skulls. Human or monster skulls. Sharpened fangs protruded from their jaws which salivated magma, with long serpentine tongues that constantly flickered in the air. Almost like they could taste the silver blood that flows through Castiel's veins. They had these large curved horns coming out their elongated heads, whilst their legs remained bipedal in structure, ending in three toed talons. In their right hands, were these large, black wicked looking two handed greatswords, weapons that almost simmered with repressed anger and malice.

And all of them glared with maniacal bloodlust towards him.

Castiel's response: "oh, fuck me."

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Castiel refocused on the current enemy. This panther-like thing had already proven itself to be quite annoying, and the heat it constantly released was even more so. 'I need to move forward, I cannot prolong this for who knows how long' Castiel thought as he dashed to the panther-thingy. He decided to change tactics, considering how there were already hundreds of enemies on his back already just about ready to pounce on him. The Heir cursed under his breath while dodging those large blades that were aimed towards his vitals, he had to end this enemy as fast as possible while getting in the best form possible, so he took a gamble.

As the monster saw him it roared before changing its body to make one of its arm larger, this being done by draining the magma from the rest of the body and launched a devastating punch. The others all backed off though, not wanting to get involved or hit by that punch accidentally which would be exactly what Castiel wanted.

However, Castiel saw right through it. His new eye, the Emperor's Eye was something the Heir had been in the process of getting used to, but even then he had advanced with his training with it, the pressure he felt during these trials and the batch he had on the pool of Wordly Primal Liquid (even if it was far too little Wordly Primal Liquid there in the pool, it was far from enough honestly) was enough to more completely assimilate this new eye to his body. Now he had a much easier access to the eye's capacity. And boy, was this eye like the love child between the Sharingan and Byakugan. It gave him an absurdly high eye capacity, Castiel could probably count the number of dust spots on an old pot over thirty meters away instantly.

And, he could see clearly the path the attack from this enemy would go and what is the best way to avoid it.

Moving one step to the right and dropping his head 20 centimeters he passed right through the attack without suffering anything. When Castiel was close enough he put his left arm on the enemy and, while ignoring the burning, activated his left arm spirit bone to devour the energy that was keeping this thing moving. The monster tried to move, but it was simply too late as Castiel devoured the base energy that moved it. The 'soul' itself was devoured. As Castiel felt the energy run through him he smiled a bit, his energy was right back to the best possible as he turned to the enemies who were advancing towards him. Castiel then took out his bow, aimed it at the front of the enemy lines and said.

"Come and get me, if you can."

In that moment, Castiel unloaded a quick salvo of arrows, tearing through the enemy hordes as they advanced on him. The sheer power this bow possessed, shredded through the army in droves, taking out more than a dozen with a single arrow. They would shoot so fast that they would almost rival Sonic the Hedgehog, though that speedster would be way faster, and tore through their prey with relentless ease. Castiel refused to let up either, his eyes sharp and focused like a hunter of old whilst peppering his foes. Fighting multiple foes may not be his forte, but he slowly but surely began to feel like he was getting a grasp of how to do it the more this battle dragged on.

However, soon enough the magma beasts began changing tactics, encircling him and preventing Castiel from escaping, all the while limiting the space he had available. Now, Castiel noted that he had enemies on all sides, something that would prove to be quite problematic. The Heir cursed under his breath, realizing what they were planning instantly. It seemed that these things had intelligence, since thanks to them encircling him it would be harder to fend them off with Grandiva. He quickly twirled about and followed his senses like his life depended on it, shooting the closest magma creatures with as much speed and precision as he possibly could. If he had his magic, then he could have reinforced his body to be faster, then he could have REALLY gone to town on their asses, but since his Magic had been suppressed, that wasn't an option.

Eventually, one of them got too close for him to use Grandiva effectively, racing towards him from behind as well as his left flank, roaring bloody murder while raising its sword for a slash to his head. Thus, Castiel responded by dismissing the god class weapon, switching over to Argetlan by channeling the holy energy within it. If he were honest, Castiel would say that he had mixed feelings for this arm, as while its powers felt like it could be a valuable asset for his goals as Heir to the Tower, it also felt like his Angel powers thanks to being a holy-based Noble Phantasm. Powers that he had inherited from HER, which Castiel would rather not have at all so he could spite her as much as possible.

Nonetheless, Castiel would use it at this point, since right now it was his only means of close combat, his own feelings for it didn't matter in light of his own survival as it were. As the first magma beast closed in on him, swinging at his head, Castiel swiftly allowed the energy within the arm to elongate and stretch, shooting out the back of his wrist and over the back of his hand to form a double edged, elongated blade of pure light energy. Castiel used this to block the creatures blade, cutting through it before proceeding to grab it with his left arm and use the Spirit Bone there to devour the life inside. It then vanished soon after, the energy used to power it no longer being there.

With that out of the way, Castiel flipped over the second one, slicing off its head with his light blade before thrusting Argetlan forwards and allowing the energy within to erupt into flames, shooting a streak of white fire right out of the limb to burn the creature to cinders. Not even the life within would be left when he cut the power save for his Light Blade, which Castiel used when he charged at the third one and cut it in half at the waist. Its form fell downwards, allowing the male to stab into it and devour the life within.

He swiftly pulled the weapon back and twirled around while jumping, mimicking a human twister when several magma beasts tried to dog-pile on him, before he raised the arm and let it be engulfed in white flames. With that done, Castiel came back down to the ground, slamming the arm into it and releasing a large blast of white fire which spread in every direction. The flames pretty much consumed the beasts near him, while the ones further away only escaped with minor burns... if that even made sense, considering what they were.

Castiel's instincts screamed at him, and he rolled to the side, avoiding a blade that would have cut him in two whilst he slashed at the attacker's left thigh, causing it to grunt while falling onto one knee. Using his momentum to get onto his feet, Castiel quickly flipped over it, time seemingly slowing down as he reached forth with his left arm, placing his hand on its back and devouring the life within. As the creature dissolved away, Castiel landed in a crouch whilst jumping through the air, swinging Argentlan's Light Blade in wide arcs similar to what Saber Sensei had taught him, cutting through several Magma Beasts until he rolled to a stop, getting back to his feet afterwards.

'Huh, now that I've used this thing, I can't help but notice how it has some sweat moves...' the Heir couldn't help but think to himself, glancing down at the arm whilst his eyes ran along the blade of light emitted from its wrist. Slowly, a sly smile spread across his lips as a particularly amusing thought passed through his mind. 'Its like i'm doing a no-death run of dark souls, dark souls 2 and 3 at the same time...'

The roars of his remaining foes brought the Heir out of his musings and made him look up, allowing him to see that they were all practically rushing him now. No longer giving a damn about army tactics in favor of just rushing in for the kill. This made the Heir frown as he stood tall, throwing both limbs to the sides before he lifted Argetlan into a pose that mimicked his Excalibur-wielding instructor whenever she unleashed her special skills. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm his raging nerves. 'Alright, Saber Sensei... wish me luck.' he thought, mentally praying to his sword teacher before he opened his hardened eyes. With that done, the Heir rushed towards his opponents, prepared mentally for one hell of a long fight.

* * *

Panting and gasping, Nico fell to one knee, stabbing Soul Edge into the ground. Or rather, Nico's body did whilst his mind watched, the sword making his arm do that action for support's sake. Rebellion was clutched in his other hand, almost vibrating from the heavy exertion of his Quicksword technique, yet it still felt like it was ready for more. The only reason why Nico knew his swords were in his hands was thanks to Soul Edge, after all it was controlling his body right now.

'D-Damn... didn't think that this could be so exhausting... letting Soul Edge marionette my body seems to have drained me more than I thought it would.'

The male had done well, he felt at least though with his senses gone he couldn't tell. With the way Soul Edge aggressively controlled his body, the male assumed that it had been under constant stress from the heat of battle, swinging his limbs so fast that he sometimes wondered if his regeneration was all that stopped them from falling off. Without his senses, Nico couldn't even tell what was happening to his body, everything to do with the world had been closed off from his mind, which was why he had spent his time in his Inner World with Biko and his Ghoul Persona. Because of Soul Edge taking control however, Nico couldn't really use his powers, even the ones that weren't sealed, lest the control the sword had suffered and Nico's body paid the price. He wouldn't even know if he would get run through or not, which more than worried him.

However, the male refused to let that get to him. This had been his choice, he had decided to sacrifice all five of his initial senses to fight off whatever had attacked him before the test had began. He hadn't gotten a good look at what had attacked him, but suffice to say that they did look extremely grotesque and disgusting. Nothing he wasn't familiar with though, since he spent years fighting monsters of all shapes and sizes back in his home dimension. Stuff like this could be said to be just part of his daily life now. Nico had made the choice of sacrificing his senses, but more than that he had chosen to place everything he had in his weapons, his Devil Arms. He chose to trust them with everything he had, practically giving himself up to them.

It had been a risky gamble, and for so long now (his sense of time was practically non-existent, so he didn't know exactly how long had passed) he had no idea what was happening. Soul Edge couldn't respond to him or his questions since it had its full attention on controlling his body. Nico had never allowed Soul Edge to have this much control over his body though, never, so he didn't know if there would be any side effects or something else. It had never been tested before, but now had been as good a time as any to see how it would play out. This tactic should be best used as a last resort though, since Nico wouldn't be able to do anything while Soul Edge controlled him with telekinesis.

Still, something about this apparently had SOME merit, as both his Devil Arms felt like they had a HUGE increase in respect towards him. He could just feel it...

And that made him feel like everything was worth it in the end. Even if he failed the test.

"(Well, I AM impressed...)"

Suddenly, Nico heard Amon's voice in his mind, causing him to go wide eyed as all five of his senses returned to him. As if some switch had been flipped inside his head, like he was merely a machine. Not a comforting feeling, and Nico swore he nearly fell over from the backlash of his senses returning to him so sharply. However, Nico had managed to prevent himself from falling backwards, and for a moment he wondered why he was standing upright. However, Soul Edge told him everything through their link via emotions, showing him what it had seen with its eyeball. It showed him what had happened after he lost his senses and allowed its telekinesis powers to take hold over him.

Apparently, Soul Edge had to control Nico's body against what had been 10 waves of enemies, each one having 50 more than the last. In the beginning, there had been 50 enemies, and like Nico had thought each one looked horrifically malformed, grotesque, every disgust-related adjective one could think of. Hell, one of them looked like a ball made from humanoid yet deformed faces that spat out liquefied magma for crying out loud. Some would rush Soul Edge to try and since Nico's body apart, while others would launch attacks from a safe distance, creating quite the challenge for Soul Edge to take them out. However, it had found the life energy within them, almost like artificial 'Souls' so it had used its many abilities to even the playing field. Shutting down mental functions with BLOOD RAGE, debuffing their attack and mobility through SCORCHING AURA, dealing wounds to their internal structures with BLUTSUCKER, heavily taxed the blade's capacities. It couldn't use the AKUMA NO ME however, thanks to that ability needing to be activated by Nico himself first. PREDATOR however, helped the blade greatly since its powers were amplified from its own desire to kill, the more enemies there were, the greater the power boost.

Soul Edge was truly a wicked blade when used against multiple opponents... and it hadn't even been in its true form, either.

Rebellion had also been a huge help, the knowledge Nico had learned from his sword training allowing Soul Edge to replicate those techniques to cover its bases. Quicksword, Vipersword and the Windcutter had been the most help there, more than the others since they weren't as ideal for taking out groups of enemies. The moment the second wave had come, though, the numbers had gone up by 50, until the last wave where he had faced 5000 enemies in total. To boost his defense, Soul Edge had even used its powers to make a makeshift Armour from its flames, an Armour reminiscent of INFERNO that formed over him for extra protection. Soon after he noticed it, the flames and the armor itself evaporated out of existence, the Sword's telekinesis retreating into the blade. Though, this had left his arms aching like all hell, an ache that his own regeneration took a moment to take care of.

"Well... it was indeed a gamble..." Nico replied, breathlessly. He then strapped Soul Edge and Rebellion to his back, his Devil Arms deserved some sort of a break for whatever duration there would be between these tests. "Putting all my faith in my Swords isn't something I normally do... but, well... I don't know, it felt like trusting my weapons to that level felt like some form of a change. Or at least the start of one." he replied, bending his legs and placing his hands on his kneecaps for support. His head hung low as well, this position being the one he remained in for a moment or two before he finally stood tall, having regained both his breath and his composure.

"(indeed it was, a very risky Gamble in which you could have very well lost. The odds of you winning that battle had been stacked against you, however it seems Soul Edge pulled through for you. Let this be a lesson for you, trust can go a long way to motivate others. Be it weapon or human. It can work wonders, but enough of that, now it is time for rewards.)"

Just when Nico looked up to the skies, the male assuming that was where the voice was coming from, the male blinked when he saw a menu screen appear before him. It contained the 'MISSION COMPLETE' screen that usually came whenever a trial was completed, as well as a list of points and reward items. 'Well, lets see what I earned...' he thought to himself, looking up the rewards:

Points - 500,000

Weapon - Harvester - Osiris

Book - Great Way of the Buddha

'This... This is...!'

'HOLY FUCK, DUDE!'

 **'... Interesting, how truly interesting. Seems like that Gamble you made has paid off...'**

Nico, Biko and his Ghoul Persona each had matching 'WTF' looks on their faces whilst they looked through the rewards screen. Neither of them could believe what they had just seen, these seemed like a generous amount of rewards, definitely surpassing the number that he had gotten from the previous trials thus far. And the fact that they could be used in his Inner World? Was that really possible?

"(Since you gambled with all five senses, your rewards must be equally as great. Believe me, DEATHSTROKE, this book will have powers that you will never have known otherwise. They will also be modified to your 'Inner World' as you call it, allowing you to use them in there as well as in the real world. Your next test will need time to be prepared, thus you will have a 15 minute break. I would suggest that you take that time to recover your stamina. Though, I will say this: should you take high risk gambles like this for the rest of the tests, not only will you receive high points, then you will also gain a bonus item at the end.)"

After Amon said this, Nico found himself engulfed in a bright light, disappearing from the lava-like area.


	166. Cross Chapter 13 - The Third Trial PT 2

**The Third Trial PT2**

Up in his private room, Zelretch grinned to himself, enjoying himself for once in his eternal life. The man sat on an expansive looking two-seat sofa, with a bucket of popcorn and a cup of cola, both collected from a world that food and gourmet ingredients mean everything, while watching his current favorite show on his 70 inch, plasma wide-screen TV (that also had Netflix).

His godson and the emo kid completing their trials.

It was just so fun, seeing them fight so much for things that were honestly trash in his eyes.

Now, don't get the wrong idea, here. It wasn't necessarily that the items in question were weak per say, instead it was that, in the end, he was simply powerful enough and virtually omnipotent. If he wanted something, then there would be very few that could TRULY stop him. Even those 'deities' from Nico's and Castiel's worlds would not be able to even faze him (Zelretch would know, he had checked), there truly was little for him to look forward to as he already reached the absolute peak. Hell, if he wanted Zelretch could crush all these problems the two kids faced himself, but A: He'd promised some friends not to interfere, and B: Where would the fun in that be? In any case, the mad man simply wanted to find entertainment, and so far, he had found some that intrigued him enough for him to pay attention.

As he mused this he saw Nico completing his first test.

However, the way he did so gave the man pause, stopping him from raising his cup to his lips so he could frown. For a moment, he became serious as he analysed what Nico had done. It wasn't a pretty sight, the boy simply showed unwavering confidence in his weapons to guide him. A novel idea no doubt, but unrecommended, to say the least. No matter how 'smart' a weapon was, it was still a weapon, letting it control you wasn't really something that should be so readily done. Yet, the kid did it with no hesitation, something that made him concerned.

If he were to give points it would be a 7 out of 10, good but simply not enough.

Now, for his godson... oh my.

"This is more interesting." Zelretch said as he looked at what Castiel was doing.

' _No, it should flow more. Light should be more unrestrained, more flowing and faster. No, it still could be faster, faster, faster, craftier, more flexible, more mysterious and hard to predict, faster, Faster, Faster!'_ This is what Castiel continuously repeated in his head as he moved with increasingly more grace throughout the battlefield, the light sword in his hand getting harder and harder to follow. The light itself was getting more crafty, it was like he was copying Emily's style of using threads but with the sword, making it thinner and capable of changing angles a bit faster with every passing second.

"Huh, so he IS learning how to control light after all. I guess this could be a good thing, at least this may help him use Clarent better in the long run." Zelretch thought out loud. not worried about disturbing anyone, not that he would care anyway. He was the type of guy that would eat potato chips during a lord's conference on the magic organization just to see those stuck up magus squirm.

Now, it was only a matter of time for Castiel to clean this trial, a reward already prepared with him in mind was waiting for him. What? He is the closest thing Zelretch has to actual family, there is no way he wasn't going to give the boy a helping hand. But honestly, to think he would be getting the hang of using light energy this fast, it was either his heritage as someone who would inevitably become a Archangel even without training or it was just pure natural tallent, but if he was getting this good with light this fast, there was no way to tell exactly how strong he would become if he did use the gift Zelretch prepared for him.

After all, he did prepare an item to fix Castiel's current main physical problem.

* * *

Nico himself appeared in the same room with the tunnel entrances he had seen before,. He had seen it the moment he could see again, though there had been one distinct difference. That was that each entrance had been sealed off by a row of spikes, almost resembling the teeth of a worm or something along those lines. 'That must be what Amon meant by needing to prepare the second test...' the teen thought to himself, scowling whilst he cupped his chin.

 **'Nico, I sense that we may be able to use our Bracers again.'**

Biko spoke from within his mind, and that allowed the redhead male to widen his eyes in surprise before they narrowed sharply. Almost rivalling the edge of a dagger while he looked down at his forearms where said devices were. Sure enough, when he tried to start them up they activated like normal, which made him feel a wave of puzzlement course through him. 'Huh? What the hell...?'

 **'I do not know the cause, but perhaps clearing the first trial allowed us the use of our Bracers. We did get a book that we could use whilst in our inner world, something normally we wouldn't have been able to do before.'**

'Seems like you may have a point Biko...' Nico thought back to his Demon Persona, all the while opening his Void Storage and scrolling through the list of items he had in it. Soon enough, he had found the book that he had won in his Void Storage, titled 'Star God's Broken Shadow', looking like a plain brown book but with golden edges. Its seam was also gold, while the front and back of it had a golden fiery star symbol etched onto them. Well, he could read it right now in his Inner World while he waited for the next test to be prepared, or he could do something else and hold off on it till after this fire trial had been completed when he had more time. That did sound silly knowing about his Inner World and its time dilation, however Nico would rather have real world hours and minutes to do such extensive training, as he got the feeling it would require.

Therefore, he would go with an alternative: trying to figure out what this 'Gene Seed Implants' stuff was all about. If he had been able to before, then he would have had his Bracers scan each organ more thoroughly whilst in combat, as to get a better description of how they would improve his body. With the Implants, he had already noted that he had an increase in both speed and strength, as well as endurance and other physical abilities had been notably improved. That was something he had learned from Soul Edge, since his senses at the time were sealed by the first test.

With that in mind, Nico activated their scanners and had them perform a considerably greater scan on his body, more specifically the new implants that he had. Once they began, Nico took a moment to sit down and lean against a wall, placing the top of his head on the wall behind him before closing his eyes and exhaling in relief. For some reason (though he had a feeling the implants were part of it) he didn't feel so tired, in fact he felt like he could fight for weeks on end without stopping. His exhale felt more on the lines of emotional relief than anything, and even then his sword hadn't tested any of the abilities granted to him by those Implants. If he could, Nico would have seen to transforming so that he would be able to see how his DPU Form would have been impacted by the Implants.

Perhaps he should call them GSIs instead.

Then, the thoughts of his Armour came to mind, allowing Nico to open his eyes and narrow them at the ceiling. His Armour also had likely been affected, not by the GSIs but by the absorption of that Power Armour back in the second Trial. If one of the Implants, called the 'Black Carapace' improved not only his connection to the Armour but also its physical defences, then Nico's Armour would have much more a use than before. Perhaps it could go up against greater demons of the Chaos Gods or even Demon Princes without taking as much damage. Nico didn't know, and he would continue to be in the dark until he got a chance to deploy it and then scan the Armour himself.

After about 6 minutes, Nico heard the sounds of beeping from his right Bracer, letting him know that the scans were complete. 'Huh, took shorter than the last time, I see. Either its because they had already scanned the same object before, or they have also been improved in efficiency. If this place is any indication, then I'm willing to go on the latter...' the male thought, before pulling up the results on a holographic screen. His eyes cast their gaze on the lines of text showing the results, including holograms of the Organs themselves beside each paragraph that explained in great detail about how each organ worked.

Nico could not have been more stunned by what he read if he tried.

What was most interesting, was the fact that the 'Healer' Organ's Biosynthetic Cells had a rather strong connection with his Ghoul side. Not only did this connection increase their regenerative capabilities, it also boosted his own healing factor by leaps and bounds. As in, while before Nico could recover from having his heart blown to pieces or his head smashed in (which would take about 2 minutes to regenerate), now that regeneration would only take a couple seconds, and he could also restore himself even when his body could be reduced to a glop of flesh on the ground. Any lesser injuries would also be healed quickly, nigh instantaneously thanks to his Ghoul Side and these Biosynthetic Cells.

As for the Black Carapace, it did indeed create a better connection to his Armour, by linking his nerves to it as well as better connecting his thoughts, emotions etc to it. All the while enhancing his durability and capability with it. Enough so that he could probably withstand the powers of Khornate Greater Demons with greater ease than before. Perhaps he would be able to hold out better against Mundus, something that he would love to do if he were to face that DPU again. Further improvements would require his Armour to be deployed, but he'd rather not risk it at the moment since A: it was sealed away, and B: he'd rather not get punished for breaking the rules.

Aside from them. the rest of the Implants seemed to work like they said in the initial scans, enhancing his physical ability and giving him enough stamina to fight for days or weeks on end. The thought of not sleeping for multiple days on end made him wonder on the possibilities, especially for his training within his Inner World. If he could pull off over 48 hours worth of training in there, just how strong could he emerge at the end? Nico almost drooled at the thought had he not caught himself at the last moment, wiping bits of it from his mouth with his Trench Coat's right sleeve. Combined with that, there was perfect night vision, better digestive abilities, acidic powers, and overall resilience boosts thanks to these CSIs, something that absolutely amazed him. The thought of having last ditch resorts, like that suspended animation within a cocoon or that 'emergency healing' type of shit combined with his new eating abilities opened up quite the bit on the possibility spectrum. He may not be able to eat human foods like in the past, but this felt like a nice enough equivalent.

Part of him said that they didn't do much for his greatest weakness yet: the Soul stuff that Castiel had mentioned in the first trial, which Nico made note of.

 **'Nico, I have a suggestion for you.'**

Blinking, Nico looked up before casting his gaze diagonally downwards. He didn't respond verbally this time, but barely bobbed his head up and down to let Biko know he had his attention.

 **'I do believe that we should look over what we have learned regarding those Hollow Techniques we inherited from the First Trial. I managed to skim through the data myself a while back, and let me tell you, I feel like these will be WELL worth our troubles...'**

Well, with Biko's seal of approval, how could he not do what he said? If he were asked, then Nico would proclaim that he too got a little excited about those techniques especially when he recalled just how difficult a fucker that Mathyus had been back then. With that in mind, Nico closed his eyes and, under Biko's instructions, managed to locate, isolate then bring up the information stored within his brain to the surface for viewing purposes.

In the end, he found out the following information, and what he learned made a shark-like grin sweep onto his features. According to this data, Nico had gained a whole SET of Techniques to practice which came from that 'Hyogoku' thing Zelretch had talked about, techniques which, the more they got trained and refined the greater they would become in the future. Apparently, their past wielders only trained up till a certain point, as they would have reached the pinnacle of their potential growth as beings. However, Nico's potential had yet to be fully realized, thus who knew what kind of developments could happen if he trained with these abilities.

Plus, the more he learned, the more he began to notice how... excited, glad and eager his twin Devil Arms Ebony and Ivory would get. Perhaps they had a connection to these techniques somehow?

The techniques he had inherited were as follows:

 **Hierro** \- A defensive Technique, one Nico felt QUITE eager to develop since he had very few defensive options. Offense and evasion maybe, but little defence, mostly due to how his Healing Factor remained so potent. In any case, in order for the technique to be used, the user has to infuse every skin cell in their bodies, creating a skin-layer which would be harder than steel itself o hold off against attackers. The more energy put into the technique, the stringer the technique will be as a result, which makes it possible for a weaker user able to tank attacks from much stronger enemies. On the other hand, this technique requires one to split a portion of their energy from themselves into their skin, and once done they cannot gain it back. As such, the user must be wary about how much energy they infuse into their Skin. In addition, the strength of an individual's Hierro is entirely proportional to the potency of their own energy, which Nico realized confirmed his earlier analysis.

 **Sonido** \- A high-speed movement technique, one which has potential for great distance coverage such as crossing entire battlefields. Sonído appeared to be on the instinctual side, which makes it easier to perform. When utilized properly, produces a booming or static noise, though this technique is not as easy to predict as other Techniques such as teleporting, although it can sometimes reach that level of speed. The proficiency with which it can be performed is limited only by the individual themselves, hence the strong potential it had in his hands.

 **Pesquisa** \- An advanced perception technique. To use this technique, the practitioner sends out a radiating pulse which reacts to any sources of energy within a certain proximity, allowing the practitioner to determine the location of any sensed individuals and gauge how powerful they actually are. Upon using this technique, one must close their eyes and enter into a meditative state of mind in order to attain the necessary heightened sense of awareness, although with training this no longer becomes an issue. Whilst it seemed similar to simply sensing an enemy's presence, Nico realized soon how different this technique actually presented itself especially with the accuracy it could detect an enemy's strength. Plus, if he could develop this to a point where he could constantly keep track of high-speed moving targets...

 **Resurrección** \- The final, and most complicated technique of them all. This technique could only be utilized with the essence sealed within the Osiris Scythe, as upon using this technique which required a release phrase, the essence sealed within the weapon (which he realized came from Mathyus himself) would be sent directly through it and into his body, resulting in a transformation not unlike that of his Berserker Mode, Kakuja or DPU forms. This Transformation radically boosts his physical abilities as well as gives him traits similar to a Scorpion much like how his Kakuja made him resemble a bit more of a Centipede. Whilst Nico had PLENTY of forms to choose from even before attaining this technique, perhaps he could do something with this one similar to chaining together Skills like he and his comrades did in Lastation, or maybe even fuse these forms together to create something new. The possibilities would be endless...

So yeah, all in all Nico felt REAL glad he had what he did. Now, if anyone were to ask him why he would like to have so many abilities in his arsenal, or just complain that he has too many, they must remember how his life had been. He'd grown up in a world where there's simply WAY too many Abnormal Monsters walking around, each with their own unique abilities with more daily being reported about. Then take into account the returning Demons, the Chaos Gods, Arfoire, Mundus, Maghda and you'll get just how many enemies he would have to fight. Although he wouldn't be fighting alone, it still helped to have as much versatility as he could. Plus, these techniques would be unique to HIM, not his weapons which gave him unique powers of their own to use. These would be HIS, and if he were questioned then he'd say how he could use more of those he could call his own in his arsenal.

He REALLY wanted to just go to his inner world and get started practicing these techniques...

Soon enough however, Nico found that task to be for naught, when he noticed the spikes over the tunnels receding near instantly, telling him that the time of his break was at an end. 'Wow, has that much time passed already? Must have been thinking for a while, now...' the male thought, getting to his feet as he approached the second test entrance. His hands dug themselves into his coat pockets, all the while he wondered what the next test would be.

"(The Second Test has been prepared, DEATHSTROKE. You may enter at your leisure.)"

Nico mentally arched a brow at the lack of details, wondering what that was about. However, he decided to think on it later when he was about to attempt the trial. With that in mind, the teen walked into the tunnel and allowed it to close up behind him, signalling that the trial had begun.

* * *

When Nico arrived at the end of the tunnel, the male expected to find himself in some barren wasteland of something of unfamiliar territory. That was usually how these tests went, and he knew this by experience.

However, this time, that was not the case.

'What the...?'

Nico could only look on in extreme surprise, as he found himself at a house. It didn't look like anything special, it looked simply like a creamy colored house with a beautiful garden that showed the owner's care for nature. There was this air of serenity about it, a serenity that hit him with full force with its familiarity. There had only been one thing in the world that could make him feel this peaceful, and look like this.

Compa's home.

He was at Compa's home.

But why? Why was he here? What was this test going to be about? Nico frowned at this, mentally trying to contact Amon but to no avail. Apparently the test must have started already, cause he couldn't get in contact with him.

To his surprise, when he tried to call for Biko or his Ghoul Persona, he got no response. No, that wasn't quite right, it felt more like they were never there in the first place, like he had never had them before in his life.

What?

What the hell was going on here?

Nico didn't know, nor did he understand. However, the male soon found himself getting into a defensive stance when he saw the door to Compa's home opening. Normally he wouldn't do something like this regarding the home of someone he cherished, but everything about this test felt freaking suspicious as hell. He didn't think this was REALLY Compa's home, he refused to believe it. Her home existed back in his home dimension, not here!

Soon, the door opened, and when it did, Nico nearly dropped his jaw, his eyes bulging from what he saw next.

A child, no, Two children came out and began playing in the garden, laughing and giggling. If he were to guess, then their ages would be around 3 to 5 years old, with one being female and the other male. The male seemed to be the younger one, with hair that was a creamy color while his eyes strangely enough matched Nico's own. He wore simple clothes that one would expect a child to wear, and had a matching innocent smile on his face. As for the girl, she seemed to be the older of the two, also with creamy hair. However, her eyes remained a matching color while she sported a creamy colored dress.

The two of them rolled around together, playing and laughing within the garden. Hell, Nico swore that the garden almost glowed with positivity, as if the innocence of the children touched it on a personal level. Their laughter filled his ears, eyes and all his other senses, and strangely enough Nico found himself lowering his hands from their defensive posture. The more they laughed, the more aware he became that there wouldn't be a threat nearby that would warrant such caution.

'Still, this scenery... something like this feels very familiar to me... This house is most definitely Compa's back in Planeptune. I know it all too well, I used to live here after all. Before I became a Spec Ops Agent, I lived here with Compa and her grandfather, some of the best memories I've ever known, to be frank. Not to mention, those kids... could they be...?' Nico wondered, taking a few steps backwards till he was behind the house's wooden fence. He held his hand over one section of it, watching the children play together with a look of confusion and uncertainty.

That is, until the door opened again and another familiar voice yelled out.

"Kids, time to get dinner!"

... Wait a minute, Nico knew that voice!

Yes, yes he did, there was no mistaking it!

That voice... it was his own!

Nico's jaw fell downwards, his eyes boggled like before whilst the owner of the voice, an older version of Nico who looked to be in his late thirties, exited the house to tell the two kids that they were needed inside. The man wore simpler clothes, like a shirt, pants, and a dad cap over his head. Even so, there was no mistaking those eyes and what he could see of the man's hair, that this was Nico in an older form. The teenage version of himself barely recollected his thoughts, before the children each gasped at the sight of this older him and ran towards him.

"Daddy!"

The two jumped at him after breaking into a short sprint, laughing and giggling merrily. A matching laugh escaped the older Nico, sounding so foreign in his ears that it may as well have belonged to a different person entirely. The older Nico held them both by their waists in his arms whilst turning to walk inside. Only for someone else to walk out. When that person did, Nico almost fell backwards when he saw her.

It was Compa... an older version of Compa who looked like she had reached her late 20's. Holy hell, Nico could only think as he looked at her. Compa's older self didn't look that much different than her current self save for a growth spurt. She now had a similar height to Vert, with her hair flowing down behind her and not being restricted by any head-wear. Her eyes, instead of showing just innocence, now had a mix of innocence, wisdom and maturity that only came with age, while her features took on a more womanly, sharpened design. Not to mention that she now wore what looked like a Nurse's outfit without a cap. There were white stockings on her legs with matching heels, with a loose-looking dress covering her main body down to the thighs.

A giggle escaped the older Compa as she looked upon the three, a hand over her mouth just like how Vert would react. "You taking them in for their dinner?"

"Yeah, It should be ready when I do. It's their favorite chicken curry, then spag bol for tea."

"Ufufufu, I'm looking forward to it. But for now I have to go, the Hospital says they need me for an extra shift since a colleague called in sick."

"Alright, i'll hold the fort down for you. Say bye to your mother, kids."

"Bye mommy!"

Nico watched on as the older him and the older Compa conversed, the looks exchanged between them showing more than anything just how deep their bond had went. Nico also noticed the rings on their fingers, marriage rings, which baffled him all the more. His older self had married Compa?! And even helped give her children?! What the hell, what about his Ghoul Side?! Shouldn't he be more aware of how bad that food will taste?!

What the hell was going on here?!

* * *

Everything else that followed felt like a dream, that was all Nico could think at the moment as he watched things play out before his eyes. He watched how his older self played with the apparent kids he had with Compa, he watched how he showed no signs of being affected by his Ghoulish senses or anything. Instead, he looked completely content with his life, a life of a civilian and not a warrior.

Even so, the redhead managed to pick up enough snippets of dialogue between his older self and the older Compa (goddamn did she look freaking hot as hell) to form a conclusion in his mind as to what he had been seeing throughout these hours. Apparently, this had happened when instead of Nico choosing to become a Spec Ops Agent, he was allowed the chance to remain a normal citizen under the watchful eyes of Compa's grandfather. His adoptive mother would be allowed visits to him, and after what seemed like years of living together, him and Compa had gotten married, resulting in the family of four that he was seeing right now.

Something like this...

How could something like this have been a thing?

Nico didn't understand, he didn't understand at all! At this point in time, his eye should have been opened to the truth about his Ghoul side, that it would forever inhibit him from having a normal life! Why the hell hadn't that happened here?! What was different, and why did the Basilicom allow it? Nico didn't understand, he didn't understand one bit as he watched everything play out.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and soon enough Nico could no longer tell how long it had been since he had started this test. He could only watch as his older self, his self that gradually Nico wished he COULD have become, had the life of normalcy despite his Ghoul side appearing every now and then. Hell, it looked like Compa had ACCEPTED his Ghoul Side, not even being fazed when one of his Kagune types would come out of him. Neither did the kids, really, though for Compa he guessed he shouldn't have been so shocked. Especially when the first time she found out happened near the end of the Leanbox incidents. She always was a caring girl, able to see the good in even shitheads like him.

So it was fine, right? To enjoy this, to live this life, right?

For the first time ever, he felt so refreshed.

.

.

.

.

.

"No... No! This isn't true! This ISN'T true, no way, no how! This can't be MY WORLD!" Nico finally yelled at the top of his lungs, refusing to comprehend this being his world.

In that moment, everything broke down into pieces, like a mirror being destroyed by blunt force, leaving nothing but hazy, empty void.

He could not see or hear anything for a while, but then he could again.

This time he also saw himself, but a different version.

* * *

This one was a noble from Leanbox, and Nico was one such Noble. In this one, Nico's parents didn't migrate to Planeptune, they stayed and had him there. This version of him commanded armies expertly and was hailed as the perfect general. It was to such a point that he never lost a single battle, he conquered everything under the heaven and was crowned king of Gamindustri itself.

The goddesses descended, but they too were defeated under his sword and turned into his concubines. He enjoyed his life until old age as he saw his Empire crumbling in front of him, but he had lived life as he wanted and he got everything he ever desired.

One again, everything went black before a new one formed.

* * *

In the next one he was a mercenary (not so different from his current lifestyle), he fought from day to night enjoying drinks, food, and women until his death.

Again, more blackness till the next vision assaulted his senses.

* * *

The next one he saw, Nico found this alternate him being an assistant to Yvoire, his protege. They shared everything together and when Yvoire eventually died from old age, Nico was the one chosen to lead Leanbox to glory. However, he saw first hand the pressure and could not hold it right.

War exploded everywhere, but he did find a solution for it. A way to end these pointless war and bring peace.

However, tragedy struck when he was assassinated the same day by a guild agent working under another Noble.

* * *

Then the next life, he was a killer. He was raised as such, lost his emotions when he had to kill every single loved one he ever had. The eyes of Compa as she suffocated on his hands as he snuffed the life out of her, it didn't make this him feel a thing. He lost the capacity to feel even remorse as she barely released a 'Why?'.

He then continued killing, he was simply a killing machine for others to use.

He was a tool.

* * *

The following one was him living his life as a Ghoul, as in he decided to walk the path of the Ghoul at the moment he had his eyes 'opened' and he had none of the experiences that he had now.

As a result, this Nico drastically differed from himself. He drowned himself in enemy blood, taking pleasure in destroying entire villages with either his Kagune or his Kakuja form. Most of the time it was his Kakuja form, having grown disgusted with his human side and opting to remain a monster for all time by staying inside his Kakuja. Every battle yielded him more and more RC Cells, so it would very well be possible that he could do so. He ended up committing all types of atrocities and violence that no man should even see, enough to make even the most twisted psychopath embarrassed to watch...

And he took immense pleasure in every single second of it.

* * *

The next one was him living on the streets, this version of him not having his Ghoul side or anything supernatural-related. In fact, it seemed that this self had been abandoned at birth, growing up alone and then becoming a Guild Agent.

Things had been better for a while, until he had lost his arms during a mission, he could have obtained new ones but he didn't have the cash. Not to mention that no one would bother with a simple guild agent that had a sob story.

He had to enter the trash to look for food, savaging what he could and trying his best, but he got sick in the end and died slowly, and painfully, without anyone to care about it.

* * *

Following that one was a self who decided to end the world once and for all, taking apart each nation piece by piece. He first killed off Planeptune, killing everyone on it with his Ghoul side, quickly unlocking his full Kakuja thanks to devouring so many monsters of both the normal and the Abnormal variety.

After he killed off Lastation, he met up with Arfoire, and the two worked together to destroy Leanbox and Lowee, getting into a sexual relationship which would last for eternity (much to Nico's disgust).

He would be granted immortality by Arfoire and live forever as her mate.

* * *

The next one seemed much lighter compared to the others, it was of himself with Neptune and Compa, travelling the world together beating monsters and being heroes. Only thing was, Nico was simply a normal human, no Ghoul or DPU powers. Not to mention there were no Abnormals, and everything was all sweat not to mention girly.

It was an adventure he enjoyed, and by the end of it Nico had gotten married to the Goddesses and would live happily until his peaceful death.

* * *

At this point, when the blackness came, Nico didn't know anymore.

He lived for how long? Was it centuries, millennia, weeks, days, hours, was anything real?

When did the ilusion ended?

Was there ever a ilusion there?

What was happening to him, no, better yet.

Who IS Nico?

He didn't know, he couldn't tell anymore who he was and what was the truth.

Everything was all wrong.

All of it.

He was never a family man.

He was never a conqueror.

He was never a mercenary.

He was never a killer.

He was never a beggar.

He was never a destroyer of nations.

He was never a... what was the first one again, the very first illusion that was just trusted on his head?

Oh, right.

He was never a spec-ops agent.

He was just... who was he again?

Flames danced on his mind as 'Nico' ceased to exist here.

All that was left was a husk, something that was alive but didn't even know it anymore.

After all, for it there wouldn't be a difference.

It was just what it was, but even it didn't know anymore and wanted someone to tell it.

Who was it, and what was a 'Nico'?

* * *

"... No, it should move a bit faster. It isn't as unpredictable as it should either." Castiel continued his fighting, he didn't even see his own actual condition or all the enemies and their corpses anymore. All he comprehended and saw was light and how to use it, it was quite similar to a moment of epithany on those wuxia novels or 'the zone' from Kuroko no Basket, he simply moved with pure instinct while comprehending more and more about how to use light energy.

He was closing the gap between his current knowledge about light and what he should have reached if he was never sealed in the first place.

"Is it like this? Yes, that works but how to make it even better? Maybe like this, or this, or perhaps this. Yes, yes this works well but there still is room for improvement." Castiel said as he cut down the enemies faster and faster, his light sword changing forms, size, and intensity with every passing moment.

Castiel didn't even saw the burn marks and the wounds that were covering his body, about how his body was releasing conspicuous amounts of sweat and that he was dehydrating at a fast pace. For him all that mattered was enjoying the feeling of new discoveries that he was making as the knowledge about light that only the Seraphs (the Super-class angels) would normally have.

However, after over three hours of non-stop killing anything that moved the enemies finally stopped spamming. More than 10 thousand were already cut down and Castiel was standing on top of a large mountain made from the corpses of the bigger syzed monsters, not that Castiel even remember slaying these guys.

It was only then, when no more enemies remained and there wasn't any more beings to test his theories that the wondrous state he was on stopped.

"Well… that happened." Castiel mused as he saw how the trial seemingly ended without his knowledge.

He then started looking around, hoping for more enemies to be around as he wanted to try and understand more about light energy and the best way to learn this sort of thing ultimately is fighting followed by moments of training.

He did not find what he wanted, but he found something even better.

A flower, to be more specific it is a lotus with 81 petals. Each one gave off a feeling of power and a strong healing energy flowed through it.

"Amazing, isn't it?" A elderly, and very annoying, voice said right behind Castiel's ears. "This _Buddha Heart Lotus of Nine Resurrections_ is one special little one, I chose to let you have this one to fix your little circuits problem."

"Thanks, uncle Zelretch." Castiel said, taking a more attentive look at the flower in front of him, wondering if it would release some sort of fart on his face or something like that.

Normally Castiel would jump in joy if he were to see this herb, but he was more frustrated than anything else since there was a limit to the time here and this herb took 81 days to be properly absorbed and until this time passes he to stay in place as his body will simply be unable to move.

"Hey, go on and take the flower. You should absorb it here, I will accelerate the time here so as to let you work things out faster." Zelretch said, making Castiel raise an eyebrow, even appearing here like this was not really like the old bat much less go out of his way to directly help. Seeing the dubious face Zelretch gave a nervous laugh and said "Okay, okay, sheesh I will tell you. I may potentially have gone a tidbit too far with Nico and he needs some help, I could do it but I don't want to as it is too much emo teenager funk for me, so I am making you do it."

"Sigh, I should have known better." Castiel said with a sigh. Ultimately Zelretch liked to look for things to entertain himself, Nico being dead or whatever is probably boring so he wanted to fix that and making him fix it would be more interesting anyway. "Well, fine let's get this started."

Zelretch nodded before pulling a single one of the petals from the lotus and feeding it to Castiel.

"Ghh, GGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Castiel screamed in uther and absolute pain. This was just as bad, no it was worse than the ritual he had went through on the hands of Kokabiel.

He felt every single one of his magic circuits, of the parts of his very soul, be destroyed bit by bit agonizingly slow before regenerating again even more slowly and painfully. It was worse than most could ever hope to understand, the pain being too much for anyone to support his mind as this happened.

And so, the first day of this suffering started. For each day he went through this process, again and again, feeling pain like none other that increased with each passing day.

The pain was enough to make most desire to die instead of pass through this, and amongst the others who wouldn't desire to die many would go crazy by the end of this.

Zelretch left Astaroth to take care of Castiel and to apply the herb to the boy. It would not be a pretty job and Zelretch didn't want to do this, nor did he have to consider that he has others to do it for him.

And so, 81 days passed with the only sounds in the battleground being from Castiel's grunts as his throat could not produce any sound anymore after spending so many hours screaming at the top of his lungs.

* * *

Castiel's P.O.V.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Huh?

Is it over?

Is the pain finally done?

Seriously?

YES!

Finally that hell ended! I can't even believe it finally ended.

Well, I will throw this one right at Gabriel's feet. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have had to go through...that.

I can't understand how some herb can cause this much pain, I mean at one point I could swear I saw father telling me to not come there as he was surrounded by a bunch of strange people and darkness.

I must really have gone crazy there for a while.

"It seems like you finished it, impressive." A male voice said to the side. Turning around I saw that it was Astaroth, he was looking with eyes of respect to me almost as if he was impressed by what I just did.

"Well, thanks I guess." I said to him as answer. Honestly, the only impressive thing I did was not try to kill myself and recoveriing from the pain faster.

"Good, but was the effect as good as you imagined?" He asked, making me realize that I still haven't tested my circuits.

I started inspecting myself, looking for any problems and the state of my magic circuits.

Oh my, this, this is amazing.

All of the before were dried up and full of little wounds, now it was far from this.

Very, VERY far from it.

My circuits were of the highest quality possible, even comparable to Caster's circuits and she is a magic caster that reached mid Leader-class depending exclusively on magic for it.

And if you add the absurdly high number of circuits that I have, I may as well start going more towards the highly destructive side of things instead of controlling my power too much.

With my magic core and this circuits I just have this much power to spare.

If I was like this and with my current level when facing Kokabiel I would not fear even 5 of him.

Seeing my face Astaroth showed a slight smile and said.

"It seems everything went fine. Good. Now, shall we go?"

"Sure." I said before being dragged away.

Let's go and fix the mess that Nico was now.

Sigh, will he ever stop worrying me? He isn't my subordinate for God's sake, I shouldn't have to be helping him all the time.

* * *

Well, this is more than I expected.

I found myself standing in a room similar to the one I used to get through my tests, only he had about 7 tunnels unlike my own. Its like this guy had more tests to go through than me, wonder why that is. However, the sight at the base of the second test is the thing that I was drawn to the moment I saw him.

That thing being Nico... only, he is just standing there, motionless. His eyes looked blank, like there wasn't even a soul in them anymore while his mouth looked slightly open. His hands remained at his sides, not even doing minute twitching to indicate their having blood flowing through them. If I could not see his chest moving I'd say he was long dead by now, that was how unresponsive he is.

Walking up to him, I cautiously looked him over, furrowing my brows in thought while cupping my chin thoughtfully. I will admit, part of me is intrigued on what uncle Zelretch had done to get Nico like this, but right now those answers will have to wait. "Well, what do I have here?" I whispered, more to myself than anything else. You know, since me and him are pretty much the only ones in this place right now since Astaroth had vanished. No idea WHERE the other guide for Nico is, though.

An answer soon comes to me, after a moment's worth of looking him over and calculating in my head. I suppose I should start by giving him a blessing centered in clearing his mind, since from what I can tell this is a mental thing. I do recall that the guy said a while back, that he is weak to soul attacks, and THIS definitely has the makings of one.

Soon enough, I place my hand over his face and began to focus, and whilst I do that I couldn't help but bite my lip in preparation. I can only hope this works. My power soon forms as a white glow in my hand, before it leapt forth from it and latched on to Nico's being. A second later, I see that the energy is quickly enveloping his being, starting from his head down to the rest of his body. Briefly, I sensed a spike in demonic energy within him, a spike probably directed at the 'unknown' energy before it just as quickly calmed itself.

That made me arch a brow. What the heck was that about?

It didn't take even 10 seconds, before Nico's eyes suddenly blinked like an owl's their life returning to them in an instant while the teen soon started moving again. He shook his head a few times, confusion wrought over his facial features while a hand went to his forehead. "Ugh, what happened...?" he mumbled, shaking his head when a small migraine assaulted his mind. Fortunately, he felt his regeneration take care of that, before he looked up and spotted Castiel before him. No doubt that he became stunned at the sight, as well as confused as all hell. "Emiya?"

"Yo." The guy replied with a small wave, before he continued. "That's what I'd like to know, Nico." after his reply, the Heir went about crossing his arms under his chest and releasing a weary sigh. "You know I can't keep covering for you like this, you should REALLY look into strengthening your resistance to Soul Attacks. That's what apparently made you seem comatose just now, and thus I had to snap you out of it." he told him.

Hearing that made a pang of rage and anguish explode within Nico's gut, only shown on his features through the grimace he did. THAT didn't sound like something very fun, for either of them. Himself because of his strong sense of independence from others, and Castiel due to it interfering with his own tests. Nico wanted to prove that he wasn't just a mindless beast, and then the next thing he knew he was being attacked at the Soul much like what Mundus had done to him. It filled him with shame and guilt, which resulted in Nico clenching a fist in anger. 'Ugh, how humiliating! Emiya shouldn't have had to help me, what the heck happened just now?!' the male mentally raged.

"(Its called the Trials of Samsara, Nico, and unfortunately you were unable to complete the trial.)"

Amon's voice rang through Nico's mind, making his eyes widen in shock and horror. Also, there was a side of disbelief in his gut as the male looked down, his eyes smaller than a teacup plate. 'Wait, you're serious?!'

 **'Unfortunately so. I felt our link, myself and your Ghoul Persona get suppressed to the point where we were put in a dormant state. Meaning that we could not have been of any assistance to you, to keep you in the test as it were.'**

After hearing Biko's voice, a mix of relief and grimness assaulted the redhead male. Relief in the knowledge that both Biko and his Ghoul Persona weren't gone, but also the fact that there was a logical reason why they weren't able to talk to him. Then, the grimness settled in as he realized that he would likely have to face some form of penalty for not passing the trial. 'Wait, not just me, but could Emiya also be punished since he used Magic to heal me...?' the male suddenly thought, eyes widening again as he looked upon Castiel with stunned realization.

 _"Yuppers, I don't like doing this but since he used something he wasn't supposed to in order to save your sorry behind, Castiel has to have an additional penalty imposed on him."_

Zelretch's voice spoke through their minds this time, and in a second the golden haired Heir found himself suddenly feeling like a part of himself had been stripped from him. After a moment of scanning his body, Castiel found it, he found a 'weight' in the place of his Golden Foundation Armour, which likely meant he would have to fight on without it.

Well, it wasn't a total loss, but still it did have its own problems presented to him.

SIGH, the things he did for others...

Meanwhile, Nico gritted his teeth when he sensed the 'weight' taking hold of Castiel's Armour. He could senses it quite well, as well as the slight burst of annoyance from his companion when he realized it too. A strong sense of shame fell onto the male, draping over him like a bed sheet that constantly gave him itches no matter how much he tried to find a comfortable position. 'Shit... fucking shit! Goddamnit! This is EXACTLY what I had been hoping would NEVER happen!' the male cursed himself under his breath while thinking this, and an urge came over him. An urge he didn't resist as he breathed a shameful sigh out of his nostrils. "Apologies for having to tend to my weakness, Emiya." he said, lowering his head apologetically.

"Heh, stop saying this nonsense. We are in this together wanting to or not so helping each other was obvious. Besides, I would rather not have to deal with a vegetable as a partner, I don't think your body is tough enough to work as a weapon so I would rather a fighter than a soft cub. I just hope I don't have to come and babysit you anymore as the next thing they would probably take away is my fucking right arm!" Castiel said, not bothering to put nice words when talking to the agent.

He was, after all, understandably pissed considering how he had to stop his own trials to help someone who SHOULD HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF TALENT AND POTENTIAL AS HE! God dammit why did he have to go out of his way to save someone who should by all rights be more than a liability?

Sighing once more, Nico sat down in the cross legged position, crossing his arms under his chest as he placed one hand on his chin, his eyes narrowing. His demeanor suggested that he had gotten into deep thoughts, and that would be JUST what Nico had done. He began brainstorming with his various aspects on what to do to resolve this situation. They couldn't let this stand, not when Castiel had unwillingly given up something that could have helped him with these tests. It would be beneath them to do anything else otherwise.

'Hmmmm, we could ask if we can retake the trial, changing one of our rewards for something like restoring Emiya's ability to use his Armour. It would at least help him pass his tests faster, as well as repay him for having to save our sorry asses.' Nico thought to his other aspects, his breathing slowly coming back to a calm, composed rhythm.

 **'I am unsure if that is even possible at this time. Moreover, it may be that we might have to sacrifice something, like our points or a possible reward, if we want to retake the test. Though, I do admit, not passing that test for us is** **unacceptable** **, for we would be ****forsaking** **one of our Devil Arm weapons when we have vowed to ourselves NOT to do that.'**

Biko however, didn't think that would even be allowed due to the nature of these tests. Not to mention, he had noticed Soul Edge had blocked the connection they had to Amon for this discussion, keeping it private between the. Biko wondered about that actually, could this be somewhat of an ability slowly coming into being? True it had happened before, but for some reason Soul Edge slowly felt like it was... changing. similar to how IF's BOW powers mutated and evolved constantly. Perhaps its prowess will gain a new power in the future, since Soul Edge WAS capable of evolution much like IF's powers, being a manifestation of Nico's soul after all.

'BAH, WHO CARES, GOOD RIDDANCE TO HIM... IS WHAT I'D LIKE TO SAY, BUT I'MM NOT DOWN FOR THIS SHIT! I'D RATHER NOT BE INDEBTED TO SOMEONE OTHER THAN MYSELF, THANK YOU VERY FUCKING MUCH! YOU TWO GOTTA THINK OF SOMETHING, STAT!'

 **'Us? Why not yourself, then if it vexes you so much?'**

'CAUSE I'M NATURAL INSTINCT GIVEN FORM, YA DUMB SHIT! I'M NOT ONE FOR THINKING, I'M ONE FOR ACTION!'

Nico mentally sweat dropped at that, that explained quite a bit about how his Ghoul Persona acted, actually.

Still, they needed to get this problem sorted out, pronto. That was something all three of them could agree with each other on, no matter what anyone else says. Not just for themselves, but also because they don't like owing people anything. It would probably be why he would not b a very good businessman, he'd be too into fairness in his business dealings to actually get anywhere. Like Castiel would be regarding protecting those under him, Nico would not let a debt go on unpaid, it would be beneath him and would make him more like the deceitful scumbags he dealt with on a daily basis. That would be Nico's own principals, his own sense of honor and pride.

 **"OOOOOOOH, now THIS... is INTERESTING!"**

BA-BUMP!

"Guh!"

Nico gasped, hands clutching the space where his heart would be as a hug pain shot through his being. A pain that he quickly recognized as it spread through his body with a swiftness that far surpassed the fast-moving viruses that destroyed Raccoon City. 'Oh shit, not now!' the teen thought to himself, falling onto his hands and knees. Well, one hand and his knees the other remained tightly gripping his chest as a black aura started forming around him, pouring from the depths of his very soul.

He knew what this was...

Biko knew what it was...

His Ghoul Persona knew what it was...

But Castiel didn't! That thought raced through his mind as he looked up, noticing Castiel having turned sharply towards him when he heard Nico's loud grunt. "Emiya! Whatever you do, don't get too close!" the male exclaimed as darkness began seeping from his being. Within his clothes, a stormy grey Scythe-blade symbol formed over his heart, the presence of a certain Devil Arm quickly spilling forth into the atmosphere.

While this energy clearly started running rampant inside Nico Castiel could only look curiously, the energy swelling inside the agent was enough to impress Castiel somewhat. Not that he was THAT worried about this level of energy, living with multiple individuals of Leader-class and having to deal with them when they are having a hangover and are cranky did prepare Castiel to deal with this level of energy like it was just curious anyway.

Besides, the energy of evil and the angelic energy inside him were of a higher purity and 'level' than this one so the suppressing effect that the energy Nico was releasing was outright negated by Castiel's own powers. Especially now that his energy was finally managing to circulate throughout his body without feeling like he was trying to push magma down his veins (a feeling he was getting eerily familiar with).

"Hey, are you having problems controlling yourself? If you want I could try and send some blessings to help alleviate the problem you are havi-"

Before Nico got a chance to respond or of Castiel to finish his words, a huge explosion of darkness erupted out of him like a gushing river, expanding across the entire room in a second and engulfing everything within its grasp. The energy tried to enter everything and corrupt it all, but even its instincts did not try to invade Castiel.

The power of Angra Mainyuu and the angelic powers from an Archangel were just too much, instincts took over the original desire of this energy and made it only circumnavigate Castiel, not touching him in the slightest.

* * *

Opening his eyes, Nico once again cursed his luck as he floated about. Not just seconds before he had found himself within a black void, but now he was in another. Only, this one felt way different compared to the other one. That other void felt empty, devoid of life, the literal definition of a 'void'. There had been practically NOTHING inside it, no space, no sense of time, nothing.

THIS darkness however... it felt MUCH unlike that.

No, this felt increasingly more Demonic, and he knew exactly why. This had happened once before with Alastor, a Devil Arm he once possessed. Where its power caused it to goo erratic like that whilst entering the final stages of its evolution. Biko had coined it 'Archdevilification' since it was a metamorphosis into its ultimate form: the Archdevil Arms. If one were to try and compare the two, it would be like comparing a normal meteor to an entire asteroid belt. Alastor back then, had undergone the transformation whilst his body was being poisoned by that elixir that Yvoire had kept in his room, mostly out of nervousness about using such a means as even he had been too unnerved by it to even attempt to use it. If he had that kind of reaction, Yvoire didn't want to think about what a normal person would do with regards to it. Now, it had become its ultimate form, with a new name and power unlike anything its previous form could ever hope to achieve.

Back in the first trial, Nico had sensed that the use of Harvester's creation-based abilities had allowed it to start its own metamorphosis into an Archdevil Arm

"Alright, let's get this over with." the male muttered under his breath as he stood on his own two feet again. The sensations he'd felt back there had more or less subsided at this point, allowing his body mobility. In these times, he knew that Biko and his Ghoul Persona wouldn't be of any help, but unlike the Trials of Samsara Nico had prior experience to help him cope with the loss. Back with Alastor, he had been severed from his two Aspects leaving his mind silent, and he had almost had a panic attack when that happened. Luckily for him, that Devil Arm had its... traits, and the final stages began before he could completely lose it to his panic. He did NOT want to think about what would have happened if it happened differently...

In any case, each Devil Arm's transformation differed. From his experience and Biko's investigation, each Archdevil Arm operated differently when in its final stages, and these stages usually only came if the user was powerful enough. So, if a Devil Arm reached this state and the wielder wasn't strong enough, then they would instantly be devoured by the weapon and reduced to husky remnants of their former selves. Should the person be strong enough however, and have a sufficient mastery of their Devil Arm's abilities, then they would be pulled INSIDE the Devil Arm itself while it approached its final transformation. It usually took the form of an entire world created by the Devil Arm itself, sort of like his Inner World, but rather the Inner World of the Devil Arm itself. There, the wielder would be tested by the Devil Arm, and if they pass... well, they'd become the proud owner of an Archdevil Arm with all its benefits.

Failure, well, failure lead to the same fate as one would get if they weren't strong enough.

 **"AHHHHHHH, it SSSSSSSSEEMSSSSSS that... you INDEED do not FEAR... That ISSSSSSSSSS good..."**

Once again, that silky feminine voice spoke through the darkness, sending chills up his spine though Nico mentally suppressed them. It was important to not look weak in front of the transforming Archdevil Arms, and he DID note that the voice now had a serpentine element to it right now. This was not something that he had heard before, but this didn't surprise him. In this world, the Archdevil Arm took to its true form, a true manifestation of it's will, desire and power. Each manifestation, as one would suspect, would be different depending on the abilities and nature a Devil Arm possesses.

Turning around to face the source, Nico finally saw the owner of the voice emerging from the void. At first, all he could see were a pair of sinister, crimson glowing eyes like that of a devilish predator, before more features became visible. It almost looked like the darkness was peeling away from the source's being, like curtains being drawn to the sides as the source phased through it, emerging into view even though there was hardly any light at all in this dark world. Hey, nobody ever said Archdevil Arms were logical. If anything, they'd be ILLOGICAL, considering their unnatural nature.

When the source was fully presented before him, Nico furrowed his brows at what he saw. 'What the...?' the male thought. There, standing before him, was what looked like a human woman. Unlike Alastor's manifestation, this one didn't appear to have any demonic features, and if he didn't know any better then he would assume this woman to be normal and harmless. However, Nico's senses quickly took those thoughts away, as the moment he tried to sense this woman's energy, Nico quickly realized just how wrong it would be to consider her 'normal' and 'human'.

The woman herself looked to be in her 20's, with ashen-black hair and bright amber eyes, while her fingernails looked to be painted dark red. Nico noticed that she wore lipstick on her lips, and violet eye-shadow. She had this confident, borderline arrogant smirk on those lips, yet she carried a sense of strength about her that Nico felt gave her more bite than her bark. Thus, it quelled the small rising irritation in his chest. 'Not to mention she looks hot as hell...' a more perverted aspect of Nico's mind remarked, much to his internal annoyance. Seriously, without Biko interfering he seemed to have more difficulty with these goddamn hormones! The look on the woman's face showed him that she seemed to notice this as well, much to his humiliation.

She wore a very black outfit, which he figured went with her themes and abilities, and it actually reminded him of an infiltration outfit that some of his fellow Spec Ops Agents wore. It consisted of a sleeveless jacket, bicep-length gloves, stiletto heeled boots, a black glass mask, and several straps with containers lined across her pants. The gloves, boots and pants each had black mosaic designs that Nico found himself wary of. He didn't know why, but they seemed like things that he would want to keep a close eye on should he get into a fight with this woman.

Something that he found to be inevitable at this point.

"So, let me guess... could you perhaps be the manifestation of Harvester?" Nico questioned, caution laced within his words whilst he checked internally for his powers. The other Devil Arms Nico possessed were unable to be used within this world, this world created by something infinitely greater than them. Not to mention, he didn't feel Biko or his Ghoul Persona's presence, though he again wasn't surprised by that. Checking internally, Nico found himself fortunate, for he found his Ghoul side, his SP and Skill attacks, as well as his Demonic Powers including his DPU form and Soul Edge, to be available to him. The Devil Arms he had in his soul weren't however, though he COULD feel the presence of his sole other Archdevil Arm. 'Not surprising, an Archdevil Arm is greater than the lesser Devil Arm, so one could not suppress another of its own kind so easily...' the male thought with a calculating gleam in his eye.

The woman before him, tilted her head with her smirk ever present on her features. As she opened her mouth to reply, Nico found that her voice matched that of a human's not carrying the demonic multi toned stuff that previous Demons he'd encountered spoke in. "You would be correct, young child. I am indeed Harvester... It does seem that you are experienced with this. I half expected you to be wetting yourself or sporting a boner before me at this point. Though, I believe that your previous exposure to this process is the cause." she commented, stepping towards him.

Nico made no move of his own, not wanting to cause her to assume anything about him whilst he kept his eyes locked on hers. The male remembered what he felt from her energy, all the while keeping his form from tensing through sheer willpower. 'Her power... by the Goddess did it feel dark... way darker than the average demon. If I were to make a comparison, i'd say that her energy feels more like an abyss than even the Greater Demons that I've encountered through my journey across Leanbox. Suspiciously, it feels somewhat like Mundus's power, albeit he didn't show much of it whilst kicking my ass so I couldn't fully tell...' Nico thought to himself, mentally frowning. "In that case, before we begin, may I request a wager?"

"Oh?"

"Your power... it feels much unlike any Demon I've ever encountered before, it feels much darker than them, almost on a primal level like it was the first darkness in existence. If what my previous experience with this process tells me is true, then during the final stages your power will become its apex and ultimate form, becoming 'pure' darkness in its entirety, so I can't even IMAGINE how strong you'll become. Not to mention how once this is complete, you'll require Souls to return to your full strength then evolve further, meaning that like all Archdevil Arms, your powers could be very much limitless in the future. Therefore, my wager is this: if I successfully pass this, would you tell me about yourself?" Nico requested, making sure to keep his voice level and firm. Raw and primal power radiated from this woman in droves the more he had spoken, confirming his earlier impressions of her energy so he wanted to get to the point.

At least by that point, he had succeeded in piquing the woman's interest. He knew this not only from the innocently (hah, he almost scoffed at that) pondering look on what could be seen of her face, but also from the momentary relapse from the oppressive pressure tat had been building in his chest. A pressure born not just from her energy, but from the process itself, as if it had paused to hear what he had wanted to say. "Hmmm, you propose an interesting offer, child. What would you give me in return, then?" The woman finally answered, her lips forming a predator's grin as her eyes almost glowed with their crimson light. The sensation of looking upon a superior predator filled his being when he looked at her.

Nevertheless, Nico refused to back down, his eyes remaining focused as he responded immediately. "You'll have my body, my soul, my memories, everything without any fuss from me. I'll let you take everything and I will offer no resistance. And as proof of my word..." Nico began, raising his right hand... and stabbing it into his chest.

To her credit, the woman managed to keep most of her surprise hidden when she saw him do that. Even more so though, a flower of curiosity blossomed within her as she witnessed Nico... tear out his own heart from his chest in a spectacular show of gore. The organ still pumped and throbbed within his hand, since it was connected to his arteries, but the male quickly sliced through those arteries before offering his heart. "Your possession starts with the heart, I know this from prior experience with Demonic weapons. The heart is the greatest key to the soul aside from the eyes, due to them being so interconnected, so I place my heart on the line." he stated, never losing his resolute features.

For a moment, nothing happened, well, aside from Nico's arteries receding on their own into his chest and a new heart beginning to manifest from his own RC Cells. All the while the sounds of flesh being stretched could be heard as the hole where his previous heart would have been closed up in a mass of crimson fleshy Tendril strands. However, it soon changed when the woman let out an amused chuckle into a closed hand, waving her free arm to have the realm around them produce a Tendril.

A Tendril of darkness that latched onto the heart and pulled it into the abyss. "How interesting... yes, it is interesting indeed!" the woman stated, unable to pause her chuckles at the scene before her. "I did not expect you to offer your heart to me like that, one might wonder if you have a death wish for doing something so reckless. Why, I dare say that this has a somewhat romantic feel to it. Still, you have indeed impressed me so far, child, therefore I accept your wager. The last stage of the metamorphosis will begin now, so prepare yourself." Flinging her right arm to the side, Nico noticed those mosaic designs in the said arm's clothing begin emitting this black glow. From that glow, trails of darkness erupted forth, spiralling around her arm and gathering in her hand, soon elongating and forming a wicked-looking Scythe of darkness for her to grasp.

Once it fully formed, Nico quickly tensed up, feeling the pressure from before restart itself with vigor. It layered itself onto his being, quickly sending waves of pain through everything inside of his body, even twitching felt like agony for him. The male figured that would happen however, as the Devil Arm showed through that action its own glee at his wager. He had literally offered it the easiest way to his soul should Nico fuck up here, impressing it with the risk he was willing to take to prove to it that he would be a worthy wielder. Still, the male had felt this pain before, so he didn't tense as much as he had before and thus promptly raised a hand to point it at her. The next second, Nico formed a sword shaped like Rebellion in his right hand from Hellfire, gripping it as he and the woman charged at each other.

* * *

"Ooooooh, now THIS is interesting." Zelretch commented to himself, taking some popcorn from his bowl and downing it inside his mouth as he watched TV. The TV showed the moment that Nico's 'weapon' went wild and enveloped the area around them (not touching Castiel though, but that would be expected for his Godson's powers). Even so, the man saw Castiel remaining motionless, trying to figure out what was happening. Even if his powers gave him safety from this darkness, he didn't know all that much about it and thus didn't want to try anything. "Looks like it is finally happening."

Zelretch was no fool, he was someone who was all-knowing after all. He had noticed the changes happening to the emo kid's Scythe the moment they began during the first trial. He had looked into it himself on his own time during setting up the next couple trials, and whilst he found everything that could be perceived as powerful trash, there were few things that caught his attention.

More specifically, this weapon known as Harvester.

The man may call the kid whatever he wanted, but what the man also kept in mind was that the kid wasn't stupid. He already seemed to know that there was something about his Scythe that made it unique even amongst Devil Arms. For one, its energy did indeed feel potent (by their standards) but there was potential there, potential for it to be greater than it already was. To become 'pure' like his godson's evil powers. Zelretch knew this cause he had sensed the incoming transformation when he met the kid after the second trial. Instantly, he knew that it would become something great, something truly deserving of the adjective 'powerful'.

Even so, the man didn't feel worried in the slightest, in fact he found himself excited for the prospects of what may happen in the near future. Whilst that weapon would definitely be inferior to someone like Zelretch himself, once it completes itself its power will magnify beyond anything those two boys would consider possible. Not to mention, once that happens the instincts of that energy coating the area in shadow, devouring any and all light in the vicinity, will no longer be afraid of the dual nature that his godson possessed. Though, instead of worry for his godson who could take care of himself, Zelretch just wanted to see what would happen.

* * *

'Yep, fighting this woman feels like i'm fighting a dozen or so Demon Princes at the same time...' Nico thought to himself as he parried a series of swings from the woman's Scythe. She had swung at supersonic speeds, making it so that thousands of strikes were raining down on him, forcing Nico to unleash the Quicksword technique to block it. The speed of this woman couldn't be comprehended by mere mortal eyes, which was why he had to resort to using his Demonic Powers as well as his RC Cells to enhance his vision, his Kakugan clearly visible, to keep up with her movements. But even then, she still managed to surprise him and get in some good hits of her own.

Hits that he REFUSED to allow to touch his skin for more of than a few seconds. The reason? Simple, her energy seemed to be more than just useful for creation (and even then her ability of creation felt practically limitless), but it seemed to have other properties as well. One of those had been the ability to 'Devour' and by that he meant that this darkness of hers devoured anything on contact. Be it energy, matter or even certain bits and pieces, it seemed like this woman's darkness could devour anything in its path. This ability kept getting stronger and stronger by the second, too. He knew this by gauging the time it took for his Hellfire powers to burn out the darkness in his wounds from her hits. The more time passed, the longer it took, which meant he had to trust his instincts and his senses with his life if he didn't want to get hit.

Even then though, the raw power behind each blow was nothing to scoff at either. If he were to make a comparison, then he'd compare it to over 20 Demon Princes worth of strength, and even then he felt like she was holding back a lot of her power. No idea why though, but soon enough that changed about halfway into the fight when she saw that he was getting used to her movements and decided to up the ante. NOW, not only did she become fast enough that she literally broke the sound barrier, but her strength went through the roof. He wouldn't doubt that she would be able to crush entire stars with her physical power alone, a thought that sent chills down his spine.

He could SO imagine her breaking the penises of any man who tried courting her.

Not to mention the fact that aside from INSANE creation and devouring, it appeared that the woman's dark powers extended to many different areas, including barriers, projectiles, constructs, debuffing (by that he meant that sometimes she'd mutter under her breath and he'd be enveloped with this dark aura that lowered every physical ability he had, something he used DEMONIC OVERDRIVE to counter and even then his parameters returned to normal only), going intangible (by simply wrapping darkness around herself the woman managed to make his attacks go through her and leave no damage behind, like she was never even there), and the most broken power of all able to attack from literally anywhere,, though he suspected that was only due to her realm being one of darkness which allowed this feat to be possible.

All the while, he fought everything she had thrown at him as his heart and every cell in his body felt like it was being stabbed over and over. This pain however, was the proof that Nico needed to know that the Archdevilification process was under way. It represented the process's completion, the greater the pain (that he ignored with the adrenaline of battle) the closer the process was to completion. This was usually how the trials boiled down to according to Biko and his previous Archdevil Arm. They all respected power, so fights like this whilst under extreme pain and stress isn't really that surprising.

After he just killed a freaking dragon of darkness the size of a skyscraper (something that he swore he heard the woman mutter 'not as impressive as the ones before' which could only mean that she could make bigger ones, the fuck?), Nico created more blades from his Hellfire and threw them at the woman to stop her from creating any more monsters for him to kill. After all, before she had been making him fight hundred of Centipedes, spiders, scorpions, an entire army of Anubis which he assumed didn't bode well for Osiris, an entire Zerg Swarm, countless darkness-made Abnormals, some 8 headed dragon thing, and last but not least 10 Demon Prince-type demons at once. Yeah, he did NOT want her to continue spamming such creatures. Hence why he threw those Hellfire blades at her.

However, the woman just smirked, as if she had expected that to happen and simply swatted it aside with one simple backhand. This made Nico scowl in his mind, before he closed his mismatched eyes and unleashed his Ghoul side, letting his Bikaku and Rinkaku manifest. With a quick burst of speed that was empowered by his DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, Nico sped towards her till he was by her left side, swinging his Bikaku towards her from multiple different angles all the while weaving in his Rinkaku between the strikes. His Rinkaku's speed was slightly superior to his Bikaku right now, but that was merely due to its purpose, therefore he hoped that it would be enough to break through her defences.

Unfortunately, it was not to be as a wall of darkness appeared before him and blocked his Kagune successfully.

'Shit!' Nico cursed, withdrawing his Kagune into him before she would have a chance to try and devour it's RC Cells. That devouring ability reminded him heavily of those Axes Maghda wielded as well as Castiel's Hruting, that lesson being firmly engraved in his mind. Do NOT let that darkness try to devour his RC Cells otherwise he'd be in big trouble. It sorta helped that he remembered what his Ghoul Persona was like when he first encountered Castiel's Hruting.

Jumping backwards, the male quickly unleashed a large torrent of Hellfire towards the woman after pointing his right hand towards her. The torrent roared like the dragon she had manifested without much effort before, racing across the void towards her with the intent of burning her out of existence. Nonetheless, like with most of his other attacks, the woman raised a brow in curiosity as she saw it coming. "Hmmm, the potency of these flames isn't half bad, they show signs of intense training in cultivating their prowess..." she remarked, before snapping her fingers and wrapping herself in a cloak of darkness. Thus, she became intangible and allowed the torrent to pass through her harmlessly. Once it finished, the woman allowed the cloak to deform with a smirk forming on her lips. "But still, darkness is the supreme being, hun. Not something mere flames can erase."

'Tch, looks like I may have to use Soul Edge at full power to even the score...' Nico thought to himself, quickly activating DDD to become Crimson Soul. The flames that emerged from the transformation process temporarily stopped the woman from attacking him, but she made no motion to. Instead, she just stood there and waited for it to finish. Her eyes betrayed her curiosity at what she would find once the flames withered away.

Opening his crimson eyes with black slitted power button symbols, Crimson Soul brandished Soul Edge that appeared within a vortex of true Hellfire in his hand towards the woman. "If that is the case, then I shall stop holding back." he stated emotionlessly. In his mind, Crimson Soul felt grateful to his DPU form. Especially because in this form, he felt like it was harder to shock his emotions, to rattle them and send them into disarray. In this state, he shouldn't have as much trouble, but by no means would this be an easy fight. He couldn't afford to hold back Soul Edge's full power, either, not if he wanted to successfully withstand the final stages of Archdevilification. He could feel it being about 70% complete already. Not to mention the fact that by going DDD, Crimson Soul felt the bite that came with the final stages of this process in greater intensity. Fortunately, he didn't show how much pain he found himself in on his face.

'Now then, lets end this shall we Soul Edge...?'

The said Devil Arm cackled as it responded to Crimson Soul's desires, PREDATOR increasing its power. The amount of power it got from simply being NEAR this woman though, it felt freaking TITANIC. Even the normally-stoic DPU found himself caught by surprise, the amount of power this woman must have had in her body must have been more insane than he had thought in his human form. It likely helped that Soul Edge had his own nature of wanting to fight strong opponents, being a manifestation of his soul and whatnot.

With those thoughts in mind, Crimson Soul Warped behind his opponent with a reverse horizontal slash towards her neck, only to re-angle the blade's motion to block a strike from above. Apparently, the woman had swung her Scythe over her head to try and impale him through his helmet, so he quickly put a stop to that. He twirled around and brought his blade don on her, only for the woman to do the same but with a upward slash. The moment they collided, a shockwave with the same force that a meteor hitting the planet's surface would have rushed through the realm that blew away most of the darkness. Of course, nothing was revealed, this entire REALM was darkness, but then again illogical things happening her was part of the course.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Nonstop slashes were traded between these two fighters, Scythe vs sword with the powers of deities in a vicious duel of supremacy. Hell, if this were any ordinary landscape, it would likely have become a desolate wasteland during the onslaught and would remain that way for centuries to come. Each slash created large booming sounds between them, the addition of intense and bright sparks being enough to temporarily illuminate the darkness around them. It helped that every time she debuffed him, Crimson Soul could respond by debuffing her as well with Soul Edge's SCORCHING AURA and BLOOD RAGE. The clashes were too brief for him to try for a BLUTSUCKER however, an unfortunate happening but it mattered not.

After blocking a swing to his neck, Crimson Soul morphed Soul Edge into its Hammer form. In this form, it manifested as a long, crimson shaft made from demonic flesh,small slitted eyes scattered through the shaft save for the hardened chitin grips. Its end is reminiscent of a single-ended bushing hammer, with a rear end shaped like a twisted, wicked curved claw. Between the two ends was a large slitted eye, while demonic growth keeps the metallic ends attached to the shaft. The shapeshifting surprised the woman as she erected a darkness wall in front of her to stop the golf swing that Crimson Soul attempted with a multi-spin for increased striking power.

The result, was that the wall became unable to hold the mighty weapon at bay and crumbled into pieces, allowing the weapon to pass through... and hit air.

Instincts screamed at him, and Crimson Soul Warped away from his position, avoiding his opponent whom appeared from the shadows behind him to try and behead him. He quickly morphed his fiery wings into a series of Tendrils that he launched at her from multiple angles, only for the woman to skillfully deflect them with her Scythe.

She then burst forwards before he could retract them, smirking as she swung at his head. However, Crimson Soul bent back to avoid it, aimed his free hand at her stomach and shot a stream of his TRUE Hellfire at her, causing the woman to quickly phase into the darkness to avoid it in time. 'Hmmm, looks like the times for her darkness cloak and her shadow travelling are different. She could have cloaked herself and made my attack useless, but she didn't and instead faded into the darkness. I see...' The DPU thought as he observed what happened, his Tendrils reforming into wings.

They then enveloped themselves into a formless state and reformed into large blades, ones that cut through a blade of darkness that came towards him... only for more to come at him from every direction. Crimson Soul responded to this however, by once again morphing Soul Edge from its Hammer form into a pair of swords to slice through each blade with. Both swords had the same fleshy grips, with hand-guards that had human skulls built in, their heads sporting curved demonic horns that curved around the fleshy hilts. Above the skulls were wide open eyes, akin to Soul Edge's large sword-like form. The sides of the hand-guards were crimson chitinous fingers merged together to form a pair of demonic wings, with the main blades protruding from the base of the Skulls' chins. Each blade was an identical length of a sword, composed mostly of crimson metal but had fleshy interiors.

By the time they all vanished, the DPU crossed them in front of him to block the woman's blade from digging into his chest. The constant struggle that followed resulted in the streams of sparks that came from their deadlock. It highlighted the woman's pride-filled features, however. "Only 10% more to go, child. Hope you can last that long."

"The sexual nature of that quote aside, I will comply." Crimson Soul replied blankly, pushing the woman back before morphing Soul Edge into a two-handed Cleaver, rivaling its base form in length. Its main blade is organic and crimson, with its Eye located at the end of the weapon, while it sported a multi-curved metallic edge for slashing. In this form, Crimson Soul Warped forth, appearing before her with a swing to her neck. The woman blocked it though with her Scythe's shaft, twirling the weapon into a downward slash that he parried.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

There were several more clangs as the two traded blows, the woman pumping her Scythe with darkness as she circled around him. Several surges of demonic energy above him, alerted Crimson Soul to the fact that many spheres of the said element had formed above them without him noticing. No, it was more like they were formed nigh-instantaneously, and when they were launched the moment the woman phased into darkness, Crimson Soul found their speed to be that of bullet trains. Quickly, he Warped out of the way, not wanting them to hit him.

Appearing, the DPU morphed Soul Edge again, making it turn into a purely metallic 8-bladed Beyblade, with the blunt sides being a demonic red with the edges being silver. They form in layers of 2, and rotate in different directions for better cutting power. Twirling a full 360 degrees, Crimson Soul launched Soul Edge towards where he sensed the woman's titanic energy. The Beyblade, spinning so fast that the space around it warped, flew true and the woman forced herself to cloak in darkness to avoid it... though she had to phase into her realm to completely avoid it since it used Telekinesis to chase her down.

With a snap of his fingers, Crimson Soul had Soul Edge return to him, the weapon rotating the space around it to avoid spikes and Tendrils that the woman summoned to try and stop it. Once it was back in his hand, it reverted to its true form, allowing the male to make a wide arc slash that he reinforced with Hellfire, causing a MASSIVE wave of the element, similar to the wave that destroyed all those Demons back at Skies End, to scorch the realm whilst charging at her.

However, where there is light, there was always shadow, a fact that Crimson Soul realized when he saw his opponent emerge from the shadows his own Hellfire generated without a spec of dirt on her, before she dashed forward with a burst of purple and black energy. She appeared right before him, her Scythe having grown large enough thanks to all the Darkness imbued in it, to have been able to cut the wave vertically in half.

Eyes slightly wider, Crimson Soul raised Soul Edge and enveloped it in Hellfire, the demonic weapon intensifying the flames with its own power to that it could block the incoming attack.

An explosion of darkness and flames followed.

Emerging from them seconds later, the DPU noticed his opponent appear above him, quickly swinging at him like that last attack was nothing at all. He responded in kind, swinging Soul Edge in a rapid series of slashes.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

They went as they fell downwards, until the two used each other's feet like springboards to get away from each other. The first one to land on the 'ground' (since there wasn't any in the typical sense. Again illogical is logical here) was Crimson Soul. The moment he did so, the DPU burst forth with Hellfire burning from his Wings, increasing his speed as he added in the speed of his DEMON OVERDRIVE to result in speed that nearly broke the sound barrier. Then, the woman landed before him and dashed forth as well, matching his speed with her own as the two collided.

"Hmhmhmhmhm, this is the most fun I have had in a long time..."

"I see. Well then I will up the ante."

"?"

The brief exchange ending, Crimson Soul flicked his left hand downwards, releasing a spark of Hellfire... that erupted into a ring around them. It was just wide enough for them to do single combat in, but its flames rose to such a height then into a dome-like shape that everything looked like an inferno. "I've simply limited the places you can shadow travel. cloaking yourself will likely take longer with the lack of darkness around yourself." Crimson Soul observed.

At this, the woman hummed thoughtfully. She could still feel the connection to the realm she had created, but the connection wasn't as strong as it was before. The DPU would be right about those remarks, too. Whelp, she was having fun anyways, even if her power wasn't at its maximum. "I see. Looks like this will be it. You are at 99%... one last attack should finish up the process." The woman stated, twirling her Scythe above her head in one hand before resting it on her shoulder. Not to mention that she reinforced it with every bit of power she could. Her full strength wouldn't have been available to her until the metamorphosis was complete anyways, but nonetheless the boy had done well. As she had expected of him.

Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes, deciding to do the same with Soul Edge as he pumped loads of Demonic Power as well as his own Hellfire into the blade. The result was a larger-than-normal Soul Edge made entirely of black and red Hellfire, something that almost made the Devil Arm go catatonic with the level of pleasure coursing through it right now. This would be it, the pain that he had been ignoring through this entire fight had felt like it was at its apex right now. It wouldn't get any more intense than it was right now, so one last attack would definitely settle it, like this woman said.

And settle this, they would.

In an instant, the two charged at each other, and with inhuman war cries only they could have made... the two clashed.

* * *

Outside, Castiel found himself in an... interesting situation.

The moment that darkness came to this room, he had been surprised and a little impressed. The amount of power that it possessed felt a lot like the leader class people he had been surrounded by all his life, so he didn't worry about it too much. Living with such people gave him some knowledge of how there were intense energies out there. Heck, it didn't try to hurt him because of his dual nature, the light of an archangel and the evil of Angra Mainyuu would prove too much for its original desires to swallow everything in the room. That was what had been happening from the start...

But then, things began to change. Castiel began to notice something... off, about the darkness. The more time passed, the more... well, concentrated, pure and intense the darkness became. It was like it was refining itself over and over like a continuous cycle, and every time that this happened the Darkness grew more and more in power.

Whilst he didn't feel worried thanks to Angra Mainyuu, Castiel did have to thank his lucky stars that he had this protection in the first place. The more and more the Darkness refined itself, getting closer and closer to 'pure' darkness, the more his powers began to react to it. It felt like his **all the world's evil** was slowly but surely becoming more and more cautious of it. It didn't try to attack Castiel, since its instincts told it not to, but the way everything else became so drenched with dark power it may as well have been formed from **all the world's evil** anyways. The scenery became more and more like the remnants of what he did in the second trial.

Then, Nico's body (the origin of the Darkness which was so condensed around him that Castiel didn't want to get close), suddenly spasmed as he opened his eyes with a startled manner. Instantly, the Darkness receded into him, sliding into him faster than sonic the hedgehog. He would not be ashamed to admit that he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that, as Castiel walked over to Nico who fell onto all fours, breathing heavily as the Darkness receded into him.

Once it was almost gone however, it then converged onto his back, taking on a solid form which caused him to pause his movements. In the completed form, a Scythe rested on top of Nico's back. The Scythe itself had a slightly bent Shaft made from this dark organic chitin, two grips shaped like human spines indicating where it should be grabbed. Out the bottom of the Shaft, there was this long Tendril-like extension which ended in an eel-like head with dark purple slitted eyes. As for the top of the Scythe, the weapon now sported a curved blade which looked quite jagged at the base, with small curved spikes coming out the back edge that went backwards. The rest of the blade reached to about 2 forearms worth of length, looking like it could cut even if someone was looking at it. From the back of the Shaft's top end, 3 long extensions protruded, being the length of a butcher's knife. Beneath them, was a single, large purple eye that almost lit up in matching flames.

The entire weapon radiated an aura of malice that pushed caution onto the Heir's being.

Soon, Nico seemed to have recovered from... whatever that was, and now managed to pull the Scythe from his back when he noticed its weight, and rested it on its lap. He looked... quite peaceful, holding that thing in his lap like nothing before had ever happened, however if Castiel assumed he was just that then he wouldn't have noticed the slightly strained look the teen sported. "You ok?" he finally asked after a moment of pondering.

Looking towards him, Nico nodded. "Yeah... everything's good..." the male looked to have been thinking about continuing that sentence. Why that was,Castiel wouldn't know since he chose to remain silent. That is, until he changed the topic and asked him something else. "Would you like... to know what just... happened?" he asked, his voice hoarse and strained.

"That would be very much appreciated."

"Well, my weapons are called Devil Arms, and they have a process in which, if they have so much power pumped into them, they start undergoing a metamorphosis into a stronger form. The difference between them is so big that you can't even compare them, but so is the risk of getting one. I call these ultimate forms, Archdevil Arms, and believe me, they earn their name. This one..." he began, motioning down to the Scythe on his lap. "This one is even more unique... out of the ones I have. You remember... the stuff about light and dark fighting... I told you about?" Nico questioned, getting a nod from the heir as he sat down opposite the male.

'Geez, whatever this Archdevil Arm thingy is, it sounds like a fucking pain in the ass. Powerful, most likely comparable to an B+ or A class noble phantasm but still a pain, I would rather my own weapons than ones that ACTIVELY are trying to kill me.' the Heir couldn't help but think as Nico continued.

"This one... this one is called 'Erebus', and this one... was made from a Primordial Demon. Basically, the Darkness directly created it like it did the DPUs, making it far superior... to other Demons. Its why this thing... has a primordial feel... to it..." he explained while taking deep breaths and adjusting to the strain of another Archdevil Arm. Fortunately, this wasn't as bad as the first one. "When it was defeated long ago... Erebus's powers were stripped from it, and a fragment of its soul became the Devil Arm known as Harvester. It was then sealed away, for if that Demon regained its full powers whilst as a Devil Arm, then it would cause an untold amount of damage, the one who sealed it thought... and they'd be right. Thing is, regarding Archdevil Arms... is that they have a chance of regaining the rest of the powers they once wielded originally, due to using the wielder's soul as a means to restore their own. Its why this weapon now has 'pure' darkness under its command, in time even though it has fully turned into its Archdevil Arm form, it will continue to grow even AFTER it regains the power it once wielded..."

"Okay, I think I get it. In other words you strapped a ticking time bomb to your soul, called it a weapon, and don't care that if what you say is true it will inevitably kill you someday. Sorry, but please don't come to my dimension we already have more than enough craziness there without ticking time bombs." Castiel said, making Nico feel awkward inside.

To be honest Nico didn't know exactly what to feel hearing this as it sounded like Castiel was calling him a suicidal idiot, but it was necessary for his survival that he used such weapons so he would do his best anyway.

After hearing that, Nico mentally sighed before he leaned back against the wall. He wouldn't argue with the teen on this anymore, as he had other matters to ponder, one of them being the aftermath of this trial. His strength had begun returning faster than the last time he had done one of these Devil Arm's transformation trials, which likely had to do with the fact that, thanks to him completing it, everything about his Demonic Power had been refined, increasing not only its quantity,but also its quality and purity. He could feel it rumbling within him, ready to answer it's master's call even though it still felt like a raging firestorm within him. He got the feeling that his Demonic Powers would be oh so much more lethal thanks to this little occurrence.

Looking down towards the Archdevil Arm known as Erebus, he knew this because the woman had told him her name before pretty much shoving the information on her backstory, powers and abilities into his head. Though right now, he decided to review that knowledge later, as there were more immediate problems to solve. Namely the second test he had to take to retrieve his Devil Arm, whichever one that would be. Once he felt like his strength was back, Nico stood up and turned towards the second tunnel entrance, his resolve recovered. 'Amon, if it is possible, I would like to retake the trials of samsara.' he thought to the Djinn guiding him.

'(It is possible, however if you fail this time you will not get another chance. You will lose your Devil Arm forever, lose any points you have gained as well as previous rewards. Even so, will you do this?)'

A steep price to pay, but Nico would risk it. Not only so that he could rescue his Devil Arms, but also for himself. He could not stand any more of this, this being a liability and a coward. These last few trials and tests, combined with what he had learned from Castiel and even Zelretch have given him much to think about, much for him to question about his previous ideals. It... well, it gave him the opportunity to expend his horizons. Now that he thought about it, perhaps all this could be a learning experience for him. A means to learn more whilst growing as an individual. He could broaden his understanding of things, and then he could do more for his world than he had been capable of before. "I will."

"(Very well.)"

With that, the male went through the entrance with a plan in mind. He'd complete this trial, and then start his repayment to Castiel as well. He'd rather not leave a debt unpaid after all.


	167. Cross Chapter 14 - The Third Trial PT 3

**The Third Trial PT 3**

Several things happened after that conversation between Nico and Castiel ended.

Whilst Nico walked towards the entrance again, he began to think about what he had told the Heir about his new Archdevil Arm, Erebus. The male didn't tell him any lies, but rather he told him a simplified version of it when in fact there was a whole lot more to the process and the Archdevil Arms themselves. Archdevil Arms are the evolved forms regular Devil Arms take. They are vastly superior to their original forms, and command powers that make them go toe to toe with the most powerful of DPUs, which are beings whose full powers are capable of either transforming or outright leveling Planets.

The Origins of the Archdevil Arms are based around the DPU era, back when the war between Sparda and Mundus, the two strongest DPUs of their time, was being waged. A Devil Arm wielding human fought in single combat against a powerful Demon Prince after his whole military regiment was wiped out by the Demon Prince's armies. Enraged, this human took up their Devil Arm and fought the Demon Prince, emerging as a stalemate between them.

The malice, desire for vengeance, combined with every negative emotion that the human had poured into the Devil Arm during that battle caused it to mutate drastically, changing it's form and caused it to overwhelm the human with it's power. It ended up taking over his soul and turning him into a demon that was the reincarnation of what the Devil Arm had once been as a Demon itself. However, because of its wielder's past emotions, it had been strengthened to a new degree compared too it's previous form, making this power it had enough for it to devour the Demon Prince's soul to permanently stop it from reviving ever again.

While the former human's vengeance was served, the human lost all semblance of humanity and began rampaging across the lands, tearing apart both demon and human alike with the new powers gained from it's rebirth, devouring their souls and adding them to it's swelling powers. That is, until a group of 5 DPUs teamed up to take it down.

The Archdevil Arms are a powerful force, capable of destroying planets with their powers if the user so desired it. However, they work in a similar manner to their original forms. They have similar feeding habits, and if the user does not have an immortal soul, or a powerful enough will to resist the change and re-subdue the Archdevil Arm then they are transformed into demonic beings that can handle their power. These beings hunger for souls, either monster, human, demon, Goddess or Demon God there is no difference. These creatures are considerably more of a threat than Abnormals, Biko had noted, and lose all traces of their humanity.

Like Devil Arms, the Archdevil Arms feed off their hosts energies, but unlike their counterparts these weapons don't have to worry about incompatible energy types. This is because they will already have had a preferred energy source to feed on prior to their transformations. After Their transformations, they will feed on their users energies to stay alive, however the difference is that one they feast on energy, that energy is immensely intensified into a violent, chaotic energy that the Archdevil Arm commands. It is considerably harder to command for the wielder, it is like trying to make a super storm work the way one wants it to which is nigh impossible without the powers of prediction. The violent energies of a Devil Arm cannot even compare.

Awakening an Archdevil Arm is a…. complex procedure. The wielder has to pump into it excessive amounts of power, which starts the beginning of the process. The process takes a varied time frame depending on the Devil Arm in question, how much it is used and how much power is pumped into it.

Not only power, but it must have a significant source of negative emotion though whatever emotion is poured in the Archdevil Arm will always radiate two things: Malice, and death. Demons are usually filled with negative emotions, and Devil Arms are no different. Negative emotions influence their power, thus an abundance of it will trigger the mutation.

When the transformation begins, the Archdevil Arm's power erupts violently, overwhelming the soul and turning it into that of a Demon. Unless the soul is strong enough and that the soul is immortal, then they will transform into demonic beings that hunger only for souls. The awakening also changes not just the body, but it also changes the mind by influencing their deepest, darkest desires. It is what allows them to transform their wielders into powerful demons that are on par with the Demon Princes and DPUs.

Should the user have either a powerful will to resist the change or an immortal soul, then after a trial which is basically fighting a manifestation of the Devil Arm whilst it is transforming, they gain an Archdevil Arm in all it's splendor.

There are aftereffects of an awakening however. These effects include a greater hold on the hosts' souls, as well as stronger fragments of demonic conscience. This transformation makes it possible for the weapons to restore what fragments of their original souls were lost, then evolve further to terrifying levels. These effects result in not only increased power, but also increased strain on the user's soul. Unless the host learns to co-exist with that burden, then they will find using this Archdevil Arm much harder to handle than normal. In addition, they lead to a swell in the user's energy reserves, and if those wielders have multiple energy reserves then they all have the same effect. This swell also refines the energies, making them increasingly potent and 'pure' which adds to their destructive ability and their versatility in combat.

Once a Devil Arm evolves into this state, they gain unimaginable power. Power that makes the powers of their predecessors look like bugs in comparison. Their destructive power gets skyrocketed, to the point were continents up to entire planets can be effected if used carelessly. Wiping out an entire town or city nom matter how large it would be significantly easy for them, and if they hit the right areas then an entire Planet can combust and explode seconds later, destroying it. This would normally kill the wielder; however, the Archdevil Arms also grant them the ability to breathe in any atmosphere, which allows them to survive even if in space.

Another difference between the Archdevil Arms and their lesser evolved forms is that they can consume souls regardless of their type. Originally, Devil Arms couldn't do this because they only had fragments of their original conscience. However, an Archdevil Arm has stronger versions of these, allowing them to devour and absorb souls (Nico's Soul Edge is an exception to this as it is a part of Nico's Soul, and not containing just fragments).

In addition, Archdevil Arms can freely manipulate their respective elements, as well as sub elements connected to them. For example, if a Lightning Devil Arm achieved this form, then they could not only manipulate Lightning, but it could do the same with thunder, shockwaves, create lightning constructs that vary in size and power depending on the energy put into them, negate electric attacks on their wielder and freely manipulate any and all forms of electricity. With these abilities, it comes to reason that their reserves swell as well, making an Archdevil Arm VASTLY superior to their counterparts.

When they attain these forms, these Archdevil arms also grant specific 'boons' of a demonic nature that activate the moment that they are drawn. For example, if a Devil Arm that specialises in sword skills is drawn, it could grant a boon that enhances the potency of sword techniques, and as Archdevil Arms consume more souls, they gain additional boons to install upon their wielder. These powers make them insanely powerful, dangerous and desirable.

Lastly, with this transformation, they gain new appearances and names as well, appearances befitting of their new status.

Just before he stepped inside though, Nico suddenly stopped mid stride, a problem soon registering in his mind that made him pause to think. If he went in there right now, whose to say that he would be able to hold on to his mind when he did? If he didn't learn from his experiences, how the hell would he stop himself from making the same mistakes a second time? Nico couldn't afford to do that, especially with his Devil Arms on the line. They were HIS weapons after all, his comrades on the battlefield. No way would he make decisions that would endanger them unless absolutely necessary.

 **'Yes, that does seem like a problem... How will you retain your mind and your will when you lost it before? Not to mention myself and your Ghoul self, whom you have yet to think of a name for. will be able to pull you back.'**

Biko's words rang true through his mind, as Nico furrowed his brows in pondering. That was true, the moment he began those Trials of Samsara Amon mentioned, he would be separated from his other Aspects for the duration of the Trials. They would not be able to help him out when he needed them, something that honestly filled the teen with dread. He just got so used to those two voices in his head that he found it difficult to imagine life without them. He did manage before, but back then it was mostly the Ghoul Persona he heard, amidst everything else that went on in his fucked up head. So, to regain that sense of silence felt quite daunting to the male.

'BAH, YOU CAN DO IT, YA IDIOT KING! JUST GOTTA DO YOUR HARDEST EVEN IF IT'S THE SHITTIEST TRIALS WE'VE FACED SO FAR! HECK, IF IT WERE THE OTHERS I'D SAY GOOD RIDDANCE, LETS YOU USE OUR KAGUNE MORE! BUT HOT DAAAAAAMN, DOES EREBUS LOOK FINE IN THAT OUTFIT... HUE-HUE-HUE...!'

Uhhhhh... oooooookay, Nico did NOT want to ponder on that train of thought when he heard that dark, creepy chuckle coming from the distorted hollow voice that his Ghoul Persona possessed. Also, was it just him or did he hear a feminine giggle coming from deep within his soul accompanying that chuckle? A shudder ran down his spine at the thoughts, before he completely banished them from his mind.

If he hadn't he'd likely have nightmares for weeks on end, and he did NOT like to go through that experience any more than what he already had. Though, knowing his luck with his fucked up mind...

 **'How about we ask Emiya for advice? I am aware that it would not be the best solution for us to ask the one we are indebted to for advice, however if we are to complete these trials, then we should swallow what pride we have left (as much as I hate to admit it) and ask for help. We did it once, we can do it again, and for added incentive, which is more important to us? Our pride, or our Devil Arms?'**

Now THAT... was likely one of the easier questions Nico had to answer in a long while. Of course he valued his self-dependence, he valued that a whole hell lot. It was what helped him survive for so long against so many of these Abnormals, some of which having the power to destroy everything in Gamindustri should they be allowed to wander free like that one super sized black scaled serpent that coiled around an entire mountain range with room to spare. However, if he were to chose between that, and his Devil Arms which he had already begun growing an increasingly powerful attachment to, along with some revelations he had at the end of the Leanbox incidents, then he'd choose the Devil Arms.

Now, to actually ASK the favor, even though he KNEW that the Heir would rather be doing anything else than saving his sorry ass...

"Hey, Emiya..."

"Hm?"

"These trials, the Trials of Samsara... have you heard of them? If so, could you help me by offering some advice? I'd be a fool to think that if I go in there without prepping beforehand, things would be different. So, could I ask for your advice on how to proceed?"

"I think it isn't that complicated to deal with, this trial of yours I mean. I heard of this trial, they basically just show different possibilities of your own life. Every single one is just the result of different decisions, different aspects of yourself. Denying everything just means that you are denying your own self, you should see and accept that those were also possibilities of your own life. You just need to try and remember what was the choices you made that took you to where you are, remember and accept that those were your decisions and only you made them in the end. Remember that and everything will be okay, this is more of a chance for you to learn about yourself more than a trial so go there and enjoy it." Castiel said with a slight smile, for him this trial of Nico barely qualified as a trial as he already accepted basically everything of his life well enough, except the latest problems that happened to him but he already was dealing with it in his own way.

"Thanks, I'll be heading in then. I'll take what you say to heart, Emiya. Good luck on your remaining tests."

"You too."

* * *

"Well, now that this is over can we go back to my trials?" I asked, already more than a bit pissed that I had to come here and help Nico again from a mistake he made again.

"Sure," Astaroth said before a bundle of flames covered our forms and I saw myself back into my area. "This next one is simple, you just need to hang in there for 10 minutes, nothing more and nothing less."

Okay, this may seem easy at first glance but knowing uncle Zelretch this is anything BUT easy.

"Fine, let's give this a try." I said.

"Oh, and one more thing. As a reward for helping the other guy and due to how *COUGH* complex this trial is you will have three chances at it. You will need it."

Well, let's see how bad things are.

It probably ain't that bad.

* * *

No more than three minutes later a human-shaped body fell in front of the trial door.

Its entire body was more burn marks than anything else, there was not one full cm² that wasn't burned to a crisp.

"...You lasted longer than I expected." Astaroth said with a snicker as he saw me on the ground, the only sound I could produce was slight moaning of pain as I reached out for a Phoenix Tear.

That was awful in ALL degrees.

How exactly is ANYONE supposed to go through THAT for 10 full minutes?

I was lucky to have lasted 3, and I honestly don't know if I can do any better as I am now.

When I appeared on the trial grounds I was surrounded by great rivers of lava. Large chunks of dark red rocks floated in these rivers even as they seethed with heat, forming isolated islands or even more dangerous areas.

 _Plop! Plop!_

Every bubble of air that popped up from the lava emitted a thick stench of sulfur. These gasses were astoundingly hot; anyone with insufficient training and energy would have their lungs burnt away.

As I tested things around me with a simple magic of my own design (which Yuno-chan helped me develop) I became aware that this was no ordinary lava. This lava was at least 10 times hotter than lava from the mortal world (some other smaller dimensions and Pantheons had even more extreme heat though).

 _Bang, bang, bang!_

I suddenly heard deafening sounds from above, like great thunderclaps. As I looked up, he could see that thousands of crimson shining lights lit up the sky. These lights were just like vorpal swords, shooting towards me at incredible speeds, as if trying to bury me beneath them.

"Those are fucking meteors! I HATE YOU UNCLE ZELRETCH!"

This was all I could say before an onslaught of flaming rocks, lava tsunamis, and heat waves that could burn a normal human to a crisp by just being close to it.

How was I even supposed to beat that?!

The best I can probably do is to try and raise my vision further and try to make my body less fearful of heat.

And for that, I know of one thing that could probably help.

But, facing this guy without my armor and with only Gandiva (which would probably be useless as the guy is basically made of fire), Airgetlan, and Clarent this would not be an easy fight.

But, then again I never expected it to be one.

"I will go and face the lesser Vermilion Bird."

These creatures' bodies were basically a treasure trove as any and all parts were absurdly useful. The heart could be used as the center of a reactor to produce a near unlimited amount of heat and fire; The feathers could be used as reagents to make clothes fire resistant; the blood, if transfused on the body, could help someone reach much greater heights in fire magic making even those without talent in the area genius overnight; the beak and claws could be used as parts to create extremely powerful fire mystic codes; the meat could be used to help make the body and soul of the one who eats it even purer and stronger, raising ones talent and making their progress even more smooth in the future; and do not forget the magical core that on this sort of beast was an actual object, it could be used to power the entire Tower's magic energy needs for years without any problem.

If I were to obtain it I can transplant some of its blood into myself and eat some of its meat, this should help my body to get a higher resistance to heat and fire attacks which in turn would probably help me in surviving this shitty trial.

That is my best shot, but doing it like this will be such a huge pain in the ass!

Sigh, if at least I still had the armor it would be somewhat better but without even it I can only pray that everything will work out.

* * *

Over on Nico's end, the teen stepped into the tunnel entrance, once again attempting to complete the Trials of Samsara.

After Castiel had given him that advise, he had decided to ponder on everything he had been through inside his mind, both the good and the bad. He had made sure he'd memorized it all so that once he started the trial, he would be able to keep better track of himself. Castiel said that he should guard what he truly considered parts of who he was, what truly defined him as a person. To that end, it became clear to him what reflected him as a person: his own sense of self-independence, his drive to fight, his desire to be a good person to his comrades, and his identity as Nico the Spec Ops Agent. His DPU powers and Ghoul Side he had started to consider those as well, so he decided to put everything into the 'important' folder in his mind.

'Whelp, wish me luck guys.'

 **'Good luck, Nico. It would be wise to keep what we learned inside your heart.'**

'DON'T LET THIS TRIAL KEEP YA BACK, KING! YOU JUST FUCKING BROKE OUTTA YA SHELL, I'LL NOT 'AVE YA BE DRAGGED BACK IN!'

Those words were what he had exchanged with his other Personas until he started the Trials once more.

When he opened his eyes once again, Nico found himself experiencing every world he had seen before, each of those alternate worlds where he had seen a different version of himself and watched how their lives played out. He saw all the good versions where he was a good man, a good lover and husband, and he saw the ones where he became the most vicious and feared person in the entirety of that Gamindustri. He saw it all once more, and memories of that time when he lost himself filled his mind. He started to feel the pull into that darkness once more by that point, however Nico refused to give in this time. He didn't turn way from any of it, not one bit. He refused to let these trials best him once more. He took the advice that Castiel gave him and implemented it, remembering whom he was and sticking to it.

Nico didn't turn away from what he saw, but instead he concentrated on it. He watched his other selves each live their lives, either in joy or in fear. He watched it all, taking it all in and letting it play out, refusing to pull his eyes away for even a split second. The redhead male watched it all, and just accepted it. As hard as it seemed to be at first, it gradually got easier and easier for him, the reason being how he would ponder on what options had changed and how they had affected the other him in that world. Essentially, he gave his mind something to do to help it accept what it was processing through his visual receptors.

Through his pondering over every world he saw up to the 50th one, Nico gradually began to realize something. It was small at first, but gradually it got bigger and bigger the more worlds he saw, until Nico couldn't deny it any longer.

The power of choice... it was an overwhelmingly powerful tool of fate.

It reminded him of a theory he'd once heard about how there were parallel universes where, if one made one choice in one universe, the same one in the other Universe would have made the opposite. Choices were what cultivated one's life, they were what shaped them into the people they become in the future, for better or for worse. It was a very neutral, unassuming force that seemed almost as primordial as the two conflicting powers of light and darkness. It had been there since the dawn of creation, ever since the first life-form was ever created the power of Choice accompanied them. That was what the power of the Edict of Fate must be like as well, to control the power of choice to inadvertently change the way people would turn out. If they had the power to time travel along with manipulating fate... geez, hat could be terrifying.

This also gave Nico a new found perspective on the way the Chaos Gods worked too, with their domains and their powers. Khorne was the Chaos God of War, something he had been intimately familiar with thanks to Leanbox, so if it understood the principals of the Edict of Destruction as well, at least to a lesser extent than Sparda did since Khorne was considerably more one-dimensional than the strongest DPU.

All this knowledge...

All these changes...

And Nico thought himself graduated from any type of education.

'Hmmm, I guess its true that you learn something new every day...' Nico thought to himself after witnessing the 80th world (he'd kept count to help his mind retain its individuality). In that one, he had been a womanizing pervert who managed to somehow attract a harem of girls and ended up living with them as his wives, loving each of them with every fiber of his being. 'Now that I think about it, after realizing all this... that these selves are me and not at the same time, just with different choices and circumstances made... I somehow feel like I've somehow grown. I don't feel the same as I once was.' Looking at himself, Nico saw that he didn't look any different, but even so he DID feel mentally different.

He felt... better, better than he had felt in a long time. Looking back on his past, Nico thought about many of his life choices, choices that at some point he regretted, and others he wished he had the chance to have made... but now, now he didn't feel much for them anymore. True some part of him still slightly regretted the bad ones, but they were all in the past now. They defined him as a person, and he could learn from them. That was the best way to handle those problems, Nico figured. Not to mention, if he hadn't accepted Zelretch's offer to come here, he would never have learned any of this. He wouldn't have achieved this level of understanding. Now that he thought about it, perhaps gaining more power and abilities for not just himself but for his comrades too, wasn't the only reason Zelretch brought them here. Perhaps it was also a journey of discovery and knowledge, too.

Tzeentch would probably want to compare notes with this guy since part of his domain was knowledge.

Finally, Nico found himself at the last world, a world which took the form of a vast, empty plain. Nico looked around, one eyebrow arched as he surveyed his surroundings. He didn't recognize this place, but his instincts told him that this was NOT the same as his original world, that this was the last one. His mental counting of the worlds he'd seen helped confirm that. Still, this place... even whilst it had a very bare, barren feel to it, Nico couldn't help but admire the beauty to it, something he had rarely done in his lifetime since he focused mainly on survival. That was how his world worked, after all.

Looking around, Nico finally spotted a figure in the distance, standing atop a tall hilltop looking to the side. 'Huh, someone else here... Maybe I can see them and watch, see if I can get a bearing of where I am.' the teen thought, walking on over to the hill. It wasn't a very tall hill, not from far away. However, as he got closer the male found that it definitely had a bigger height to it than he expected. Nevertheless, Nico climbed up the hill without much trouble, his Trench Coat flapping about in the wind that generated the more he climbed. It felt almost like the wind was trying to stop him from getting up there, though Nico refused to let that stop him.

Once he got to the top, the teen got a good look at the figure before him, and from behind the figure looked a lot like Nico himself. As in, the same size shape and clothes he wore when he first started training in his Ghoul side after a while of keeping it under wraps.

"Who are you...?"

Blinking owlishly, Nico didn't say anything when the figure before him asked him a question. He almost didn't expect a question to be asked to him at all, since he wasn't really here. Even though he was, technically. The figure slowly turned his left side around, so that while his legs faced the front, his upper body was turned sideways allowing his head to look in his direction. This allowed Nico to confirm in his mind, that this indeed was an exact copy of him. His light blue eyes shined with a lack of caution, yet Nico still saw them as his own. He still noticed that this was himself, and yet not at the same time thanks to everything he'd seen from the last 99 Trials.

For a moment, both Nicos stood there, silence being their only companion. The two males stared into each other's eyes, a slow but quiet breeze rustling their hair which forced their bangs to flutter in the breeze. Following their example, were their Trench coats which constantly flapped in the direction that the wind was blowing from, the lower parts of said clothes anyways.

Finally, Nico himself responded to the other him's question.

"You should know... i'm you after all..."

The other Nico didn't reply for a moment, and as they stared into each other's eyes, the redhead deduced correctly that the other him used this time to search though his eyes, which were widely known to be the best way to identify someone's nature due to them being 'windows', for any signs of deceit. His expression softened even further afterwards, too. Likely due to realizing what was going on here.

"You're right... you are me... and I am you... the power of choice is a really powerful thing, isn't it me?"

Nico could only chuckle in mirth, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"Yup, it sure is."

* * *

Blinking, Nico once again found himself in the middle of the starting room. The male blinked again, temporarily befuddled before he shook his head, grimacing as he held his hand over his forehead. 'Ugh, that never gets easier...' the male thought to himself, before looking to the second entrance he'd taken before. Like the first one, it looked to no longer be accessible, and to him that meant only one thing. 'Looks like I completed the second test: the Trials of Samsara...'

 **'Indeed you have, I can feel great growth in your mind and your soul. It appears that these tests are also their own rewards in a way, offering knowledge as a secondary prize, knowledge and understanding.'**

Nico mentally grinned at the words Biko spoke, as well as the fact that he was hearing them again. 'You have NO idea how glad I am to hear you, Biko. It felt like an eternity in there...' he thought to his Demon Persona.

'HEY, WHAT ABOUT ME?!'

The teen nearly fell over when he heard his Ghoul Persona yell through his mind, the sheer volume and the suddenness of the act being the primary reasons for that action. Just when he recovered, Nico made to scold his Ghoul Persona for that, but then stopped. He recalled what he found out through the Trials of Samsara, of the acceptance of his past that was filled with regrets and despair. In that moment, the male gave a sigh, as he decided to be honest with his Ghoul Persona for once. 'Heh, you're as annoying and loud as ever, but hey I'd say yeah to you too.'

'...OK, THAT SAPPY SHIT IS NOT YOUR STYLE, KING! NOPE, NO WAY IN HELL!'

Just by that tone alone, a tone of shock and angry surprise, Nico realized that he had just caught his Ghoul Persona by surprise. That it hadn't expected THAT to be his answer. Whelp, the Aspect better get used to it, fast cause Nico did not emerge from there without changing.

Just then, a screen appeared in front of him, detailing his rewards and the victory for clearing one of the tests.

CONGRATULATIONS:

REWARDS:

Points: 200,000

Weapon: Ebony and Ivory

No new rewards this time, it seemed, but the points were definitely worth it in his eyes. Plus, he felt the returning of 2 of his Devil Arms, the dual Pistols Ebony and Ivory. Those two must have been identified as one Devil Arm since they were best used together than as one. That was what Nico thought, anyways as he summoned those particular Devil Arms. In two flashes, they appeared above his outstretched hands, before falling into his palms. The moment he grasped their grips, Nico mentally grinned as the familiar feelings of smooth texture filled his nerves. 'Ebony, Ivory, missed you girls...' Nico thought to his Devil Arms, feeling a sense of giddiness from said weapons in return before he twirled them by their triggers and slipped them onto his waist.

"(Now that you have cleared the second test, it will take 5 minutes to set up the next one. Use this time wisely.")

"Got it, Amon."

* * *

As Castiel entered the crevice, it didn't take even a second for a wave of heat to launch an assault on his face. The blonde teen scowled as he tried to cover his face from the heat with his hands. The entire place was so hot that even an iceberg would turn into gas in a matter of instants. If not for his training in how to deal with absurd temperatures, he would probably fallen without even battling.

It was just that bad.

The entire place looked like an open sanctuary, there were pillars of stone that emitted an unbelievable amount of heat, it must have probably been sun crystals, a material used to energize some more unique bounded fields back in his world. It was rare, but not enough to make people go crazy over. Except that the amount here would DEFINITELY be enough to make most go crazy and want to do whatever they can to take them away.

He would not be ashamed to admit that even he felt quite tempted, but sadly enough, the Heir had to press the pause button on such thoughts. He had to do this till after the fight as he shifted his gaze to look at where his enemy currently is.

And there it was, sitting on top of a platform made of some weird material that he couldn't recognize. However, with just a glance, one could tell it was of high quality and rarity. His target: the lesser Vermilion Bird.

even if he called it a 'lesser' Vermilion Bird, it still could be considered monstrous.

This bird was at least 10 meters tall and had a wing span of more than 50 meters, it's beak was extremely sharp and the claws were even more so, the feathers covering its entire body were of a vermilion tone that made one associate it with blood and its eyes were of an even deeper crimson.

But, the worse part? Whelp, that was the aura of power it emanated.

Mid Super-class.

Even if it was just a beast that couldn't use its power correctly and even if its power wasn't pure as it was just a mix blood, it still was a beast much stronger than Castiel.

Much, much stronger.

And he couldn't even try to outlast it, as it too had a magic core, even if probably of lesser quality than his own.

... huh, looked like he really WAS growing into a power-type that just won't go down, huh?

"SSCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The beast roared upon discovering his presence, likely by smell then sight. Remember the Metal Gear series which has that sound accompany where Solid Snake was seen by an enemy when sneaking about? Whelp, Castiel swore he heard such a sound when it visually spotted him, as the beast released it's screech whilst it opened its wings to take flight.

The Heir would happily admit, that this creature had the word 'beautiful' written all over it. He may be going to kill it, but it still is undeniable that it was a beautiful creature to an unbelievable degree.

An aura of dignity spread from it, as if it was a ruler that commanded the skies while looking down on everyone.

Including him.

That thought gave him pause, and for the first time in his life Castiel found himself looking up to something. He didn't feel like a King, but a peasant, he felt like someone on the streets, not sitting on a throne. It... wasn't a nice feeling for the Heir, as his lips twisted into a furious snarl. 'Damn it! Who gave a beast the right to look down on me? You aren't even a true legendary Vermilion Crow; you are just a close descendant!' the teen thought in his mind. 'You are not superior to me in anyway, and I am going to prove it!'

With this thought in mind Castiel took out Clarent with both hands as he opened his wings. He would not lie, this thing could probably (read: most definitely that its not even funny) fly circles around him. The difference between him and this beast in terms of flying ability was as big as the moon and the sun. Perhaps even more than that. It was just too far from his current flight ability. Just looking at it could give Castiel an idea of what it was thinking. It disdained his very presence, moving a wing in his direction as if trying to swat Castiel away like he was an annoying little bug. But THAT would not be considered a smart move since he moved his sword in time to meet it's swing.

CLANG

The feathers resisted the impact as if they were casted steel, but even so Castiel swinging Clarent, a powerful Noble Phantasm in it's own right, wasn't something it could dismiss so casually as the Heir managed to ultimately bent it' body a bit, disturbing his flight.

'Chance!'

Taking the opportunity, Castiel flew towards his eyes, one of it's few weak points, and tried to stab it there.

EXPLODE

Unfortunately, though, that proved to be a mistake on Castiel's part, and the Vermilion Bird took great pleasure in what happened next. When he was centimeters away from the eyes, it exploded in flames, blasting the Heir away from itself as it looked mad at me. It probably realized what I intended to do and did not appreciate my decision.

Then again, what else was new at this point?

Turning in his direction, an extremely powerful concentration of flames appeared in its mouth.

The moment he saw that action, Castiel's features paled as dreaded realization filled his gut. He instantly recognized that attack, he had to defend himself RIGHT FUCKING NOW!

" **Castiel!** "

Instantly, Castiel called out the power of his name as he put his wings in front of himself, each one curling in front of him to form a protective cocoon. Just in time too, as a ray of flames hit him where his chest had been. This caused quite the sweat to break out over his brow whilst he held the attack at bay. If not for his ultimate defense, he would certainly have died, but after the attack had stopped, the male lowered his wings to see that he had been thrown almost an entire mile away and that his energy reserves had took a large hit.

Thankfully, now that he had an active magic core and his magic circuits were of high quality, he didn't have to worry so much anymore about his reserves or them overheating. But, this definitely proved itself troublesome. Getting close to it would definitely be considered hard, as it can release to strong of a flame for Castiel to be close and its physical defenses were too strong as well.

"I guess the best way is long distance, huh." Castiel said as he decided that this was the best he could do.

And so, he aimed his Airgetlan at the Lesser Vermilion Bird, focused light energy on it and decided to use his bigger knowledge of light to compress the light until its absolute limit. He then proceeded to launch it using Clarent to take advantage of its amplification ability, launching a small ball of concentrated light that was powerful enough to pierce right through the Lesser Vermilion Bird despite its absurd toughness.

As he saw the bird screech in pain Castiel smiled.

"I guess I will call this one Judgment Bullet, as it is a bullet that judges my enemies and makes them be punished by death for being my enemies. Sort of poetic I guess." Castiel said to himself before jumping to the side so as to avoid the tackle from the giant furious bird.

It was a being considered mythological on the world he came from, he could do whatever he wanted and no one would dare do anything against him as he could simply vaporize the offensor. It believed itself God, until he met someone who was much closer to that definition than it cold ever be, since then he was captured and put in this small dimension. It no longer could enjoy all the pleasures and glories he once received, instead he had to stay put into this small dimension and serve as 'prize' to whoever comes.

It could be said that the only reason it didn't kill himself instead of going along with this was that it wanted to defy the capricious deity that put him in this situation by killing all future challengers (and because this flying chicken was afraid of dying).

When Castiel saw that the creature was up close he decided to try his luck, he changed things a bit and instead of launching the Judgment Bullet as before he used it to raise the slashing power of Clarent, managing to create a large gash across the bird.

"SSSCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The bird was feeling more pain than it has ever felt in his entire life, and more hatred than he felt towards the damned vampire that locked him here. Its eyes were blazing in crimson red before it flew higher and opened its wings as a column of scarlet, with a tint of golden, flames began burning in front of him. This column of flames was not intense; instead, it shone with a strange light as it began to glow with a strange glow in the air.

Castiel heard of this attack, he knew how terrifying it was and so he immediately turned around and began flying to get as far away from the bird. Said bird only showed what could only be called a smirk before he released the attack. In the instant the attack was released, nothing happened, but, in a matter of instants, the temperature in the entire area was transformed from what could be said boiling hot to surface of the sun hot.

It was simply impossible for anyone without a good enough trick or heat resistance to survive this. Thankfully Castiel did have a trick to survive it, he curled himself in as small of a space as possible before he released his wings to cover himself and use the power of his name to protect himself into a protective cocoon.

'To think this monster could even use Yellow Spring Ashes, just how pure is its bloodline?' Castiel thought as he remembered studying mythical creatures before. Most of them were only really strong but a few had some special techniques they developed throughout their lives that they managed to put into their bloodline so as to let their descendants to learn their best skills. The purer the bloodline the more someone would be able to learn and use the skills, the Vermilion Bird had a total of 9 skills and, while Yellow Spring Ashes was only the third one, it still required some considerable bloodline for someone to use to this degree. It was even said that the Phenex family had managed to obtain its regeneration and fire control due to managing to infuse the bone marrow of a true Phoenix into themselves long ago and the blood still circulated through them all, less pure than ideal so they couldn't use the mythical beast's skills but enough for them to get some great advantages.

He could only drool as he imagined what it would be like if he managed to transplant this beast's bloodline into himself, perhaps it would have the equivalent to five or six blood drops of a true Vermilion Bird inside him. If this was to be true then Castiel could get quite the boost in his magic ability to deal with fire, a subject that he was admittedly less than ideal in dealing with.

After more than two minutes the attack finally ended, Castiel slowly came out of his shell and saw that the bird was still looking at him from up above. Its eyes were full of ridicule from the fact that Castiel had to hide from his attacks in such pathetic fashion.

Castiel noticed how the wounds of the best were already closing, making him release an irritated 'Tch' as he analyzed the situation.

'This will be trouble, this creatures life force is too strong. No injuries that are not fatal will be enough to deal with it for long and it is too fast and had too good reflexes for me to be effective in CQC. Besides, if it can release flames with a golden tint it probably can use more advanced skills too. I can only say that I am at least happy it isn't a direct descendant or I would give up here and now.'

Castiel took up his sword and pointed it towards the bird, the only option he saw was one simple but effective one.

Overwhelm him with so much fire power that he cannot defend himself anymore!

And so, Castiel started releasing his Judgment Bullets at as high speed as he could, he didn't even care if there was waste during the process as now he could afford it. What he lacked the least was magic power, and he was going to use and abuse this advantage by combining excessive power with an instinctive fine control he obtained after years of training.

Besides, even if he was attacking in a hurry there was barely any difference between these hasty attacks and the ones where he spent that extra time to build, it was undeniable proof that all the time he spent hammering down the best way to use what energy he had turned into his the base of his strength. The ability to always make an attack with no waste, every single move wasn't wasted in anyway, taking 1000% of his power into play with every move.

* * *

During the wait for his next trial, Nico himself decided to check some things out.

The FIRST order of Business would be his DPU Form. He hadn't noticed it before during his battle with Erebus's manifestation (he may take some time to get used to calling his Scythe that), but that form felt significantly different. At least, compared to before. Not only did it feel stronger and faster, but every physical ability he could think of seemed to have grown quite a bit. The male figured that two things were involved here: Erebus the Archdevil Arm, and the Gene Seed implants. It DID say that whilst his human body had a growth spurt, his DPU form had been more significantly affected by it. He recalled how his last Devil Arm, Alastor, had mutated into it's Archdevil Arm form and how his reserves had skyrocketed because of it. Not only did they feel greater in quantity, but also in quality and refinement, sort of like a katana sharpening it's edge to cut through solid steel.

Therefore, Nico decided to transform and see what happened.

As usual, his form had been cocooned in flames, and when they died down the newly formed Crimson Soul looked down at himself to see what had happened. His form, now stood at up to 10 feet, a full 2 feet increase from his base height of 8 feet. His form's Armour clung to his increasingly muscular form, clung to it like a second skin, whilst the Armour itself got a slight bulkiness upgrade. Not to mention what when he looked into it's hardness, Crimson Soul found that it's physical properties had been enhanced. If he were to judge, then he figured that if he fought a Greater Demon of Khorne or any Demon Prince, then this Armour would fare largely better than it would have previously. Aside from that, nothing really changed much outside, but on the inside was a whole new ball game. Not only did his physical attributes seem to have swollen in potency, but it appeared that his energy reserves have swollen as well. He could feel a greater connection to his reserves, one that seemed much better than his original connection, which meant that he could likely draw on is power much quicker than he had previously. As a plus side, when he glanced behind him to his wings, Crimson Soul found them to no longer drain ANY of his Demonic Energy reserves. Instead, they felt more like actual limbs that he could manipulate at will, without having to worry about his reserves being affected.

When he summoned Soul Edge to his hand, the DPU found that the weapon's true form also grew to match his new size and physical stature. The amount of power he could sense from this thing felt astronomically better than previously, as the sword constantly released a dark crimson aura with black colored lightning arcing around it.

"Interesting..." the man mused, returning to human form as Nico held Soul Edge in his hands still. Though it had indeed turned into it's weaker base form, the aura and lighting around it still persisted, it just didn't feel as chaotic as it did before. His eyes glistened as he gazed at the demonic-looking blade, as it's eyeball looked right back at him with the same look of bloodlust a Demon of Khorne would. "Looks like Soul Edge and my DPU powers have been enhanced to a high enough degree."

 **'I agree... it looks like, if I were to gauge your strength, i'd say you'd be able to crush large buildings like skyscrapers with just a single swing of your sword. As in, that is your human form's BASE strength now. You'd likely be able to bench press those huge Bloodthirsters with ease with this level of strength.'**

'Really? Huh, I might have to give that a shot sometime...' the male mused after shuddering at the thought of his base strength being able to cause such damage. Originally, it had been stated in his Spec Ops profile that Nico's physical strength allowed him to destroy small streets with ease, if he were to swing a weapon wit the intent for destruction in mind. However, that wasn't his FULL strength, as he had restrained himself with his Ghoul side being suppressed. Thus, when he pulled those restraints away in Leanbox, his strength combined with his Ghoul side became large enough that a single punch or a swing with no restraints, large buildings could fall to his might (he knew this cause he'd checked once when he had to destroy a large building in a Leanbox village after Halo Mountain). Once he turned into his DPU form however, that strength was magnified tenfold, reaching continent class, where his full physical strength in that form could destroy an entire continent (for a perspective, Nico had actually run a test in his Inner World, destroying a replica of the entire continent of Planeptune from the force of a full-powered DPU Sword swing).

To think that large building class would be his HUMAN FORM's base level now...

After that little revelation (though he mentally scoffed at calling it 'little') Nico dismissed Soul Edge in a flash of flames. He then held his other hand out and closed his eyes, reaching deep inside himself for what he wanted to check. Soon enough, he found it, a dark, sinister and chaotic power that reminded him of the ever-lasting darkness throughout outer space. He had his focus latch onto it and pull it to the surface, before opening his eyes. He soon got greeted to the sight of the Archdevil Arm Erebus forming from a vortex of darkness, darkness that seeped from his hand like a flood. His eyes narrowed at that, as it reminded him of Mundus' darkness powers.

Even so, Nico pushed such thoughts aside as he focused on the Devil Arm itself. Like he had told Castiel before, this PARTICULAR Archdevil Arm had a strong uniqueness to it, in that it's origins came from a primordial Demon which was created by the darkness itself. Thus, it has a certain amount of darkness based abilities that it retained in the form of Harvester. Erebus had told him though information transfer, that she had spent much of her life in the DPU era, fighting and killing anything in sight, proving her might as the daughter of darkness as she had been called. She had fought and killed numerous demons, both lesser and greater ones, as well as any other type of foe that came her way. Even mid to high class DPUs fell beneath her Scythe, which proved how powerful she had been back then.

That was, until she came across the strongest DPU at the time: Sparda.

Their battle lasted for over 300,000 years nonstop, neither deity getting an edge over the other. Sparda had the power of absolute destruction on his side, whilst she had the purest darkness in the Devildimension. One may be greater than the other, but that didn't mean that the other would lose out either. Not when her darkness had been enough to devour destruction itself. Even so, it ended after 300,000 years with Sparda's victory, and as a result Sparda destroyed her with his absolute destruction capabilities.

However, a piece of her soul had survived by freak accident, and she would go on to form a Devil Arm named Harvester. It hadn't been long since she got found by Sparda, kept hidden and then sealed away for over 30 trillion years. Which brought them to the present era where she had found him worthy of being her master whilst her powers returned to her.

Nico shook his head once more, holding the Scythe horizontally at his eye level, said irises flashing with calculations. Fighting Erebus, plus the information transfer she did, allowed him to find out just what this Archdevil Arm was currently capable of, and by the Goddesses it definitely surpassed Harvester by leaps and bounds. It was so great that he couldn't even laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Now, Erebus had the following capabilities in it's arsenal. The first one was Creation. Unlike Harvester, Erebus is not limited to certain creatures that it creates, With absolute Darkness, Erebus can create any kind of creature in existence. Nico had seen the act through the transfer , however there had been one unexpected occurrence: Osiris, apparently Erebus devoured it upon completely forming, taking its power and giving it the power to summon the Army of Anubis, but with the essence of Darkness flowing through their veins. Fortunately for him, it was still possible to use the abilities both Harvester AND Osiris once possessed in the form of creation, however they are no longer limited to small numbers and have increased strength, speed, and stamina. Not to mention the techniques he had inherited through Osiris like Resurrección could still be utilized. With Erebus, Nico found himself able to communicate with them telepathically, able to give them commands and receive messages from across long distances as well as see and hear through their eyes.

Kind of like the Shingan, but on steroids.

• **Tendrils** \- Aside from constructs, it was possible to create a large number of Tendrils from anywhere on the user's body, which could stretch to considerable lengths and were just as strong as Erebus itself.

• **Devil Heads** – Erebus was also capable of manifesting two eel-like demonic heads attached to Tendril-like extensions from the upper back. Only 2 can be made, however they are considerably stronger than the Tendrils.

Secondly, was the power of absorption. The Darkness that Erebus possesses, has the ability to absorb and devour any kind of target. Originally, it had been able to devour the attacks created by the four Edicts due to it being a primordial force that existed since the dawn of time. However, with it's recent return as an Archdevil Arm, that kind of effectiveness was no longer present. Even so, Erebus was still capable of devouring entire landscapes with ease, absorbing attacks that would otherwise injure it's wielder, as well as anything else that touches it. There are few things that can stand against the Darkness with this ability, and those that do (Such as Castiel's Angra Mainyuu) were exceedingly rare and nigh-impossible to acquire.

Thirdly, was the power of Darkness/Shadow manipulation. As an Archdevil Arm that uses Darkness, Erebus can manipulate both it and anything connected to it like shadows to the whim of it's wielder. Such as travelling through shadows themselves, using Darkness and Shadows offensively and defensively depending on the wielder's situation. It can strike from anywhere where Darkness resides, such as from other's shadows, shade etc. It's powers become even greater once the sun goes down and night takes over, for it will have complete domain over everything that it touched by darkness. It is also possible to cover the wielder in darkness to make them perfectly intangible, making any physical attacks useless.

Furthermore, like all Archdevil Arms, Erebus came with it's own Boons, boons that instantly activate upon summoning it. Such Boons were:

 **Despair** – debuff's the enemy's physical and mental abilities which is evident by the dark aura that overtakes them. This Boon can be applied on more than one person, depending on the wielder.

 **Shadow Gauntlet** – This Boon covers the wielder's Arm that touches Erebus in a dark aura, amplifying the wielder's strength. As in, in addition to their base strength the wielder will be able to strike with an additional 5000 pounds of force.

 **Dark Shroud** – A Boon which shroud's the user's senses in darkness, protecting them from mind and soul attacks as the darkness would devour them upon contact. It works on curses, debuffs in addition to enemy buffing spells, making them all like mortals with great fears of the dark.

Heh, he mentioned it once, he'll mention it again: these things are freaking broken.

Now, whilst it looked like an OP weapon, and in reality it definitely had that title like all Archdevil Arms, Nico quickly identified a few weaknesses to it. For one, these abilities didn't work as well when in bright areas. Such as the day or in brightly lit rooms. He figured that would make sense, since darkness and light were polar opposites to each other. If Erebus was summoned in such conditions, Nico could see how it's abilities would be slightly weakened, as for example in a brightly lit room there would be few shadows for Erebus to use, and it's other abilities could be hampered. Even so, Nico could see something like this being countered with something like smokescreens to disperse the light enough for shadows to form, destroy the light sources or summoning Erebus at night when it was at it's most powerful.

Another weakness he saw was a common one amongst Archdevil Arms, and that was the fact that their boons and other abilities were ONLY available once he summoned them, otherwise they wouldn't happen. If someone figured out a way for him to be unable to summon his Archdevil Arms, then he'd lose a large amount of his advantage in a fight. Nico wasn't a fool, he knew that everything had to have weaknesses to them. It was something he had learned through fighting countless abnormals, each with their own powers and abilities that made them unique amongst their brethren. Versatility was key, key to compensating for one's own weaknesses, and if one found out those weaknesses to exploit them, then they'd no doubt live a little longer.

Thirdly were the Boons themselves. Nico doubted that, despite the power originating behind the darkness, that they would completely work against something like Angra Mainyuu or something of equal primordial presence. As Erebus had told him, whilst her power came from a primordial being, she herself couldn't be considered as such only a stronger force than a regular Demon. The primordial forces would still be stronger than her and if she were to take one on it would undoubtedly end in her loss. Therefore her Archdevil Arm form would likely be in the same boat, so **Dark Shroud** would likely not be enough to protect him from Angra Mainyuu should it be used on him. Everything had it's limitations, and as long as one managed to notice these limitations, they would be able to learn to overcome them.

Still, it quickly became apparent that Archdevil Arms had few weaknesses regardless... which was why he wanted to have ALL his Devil Arms reach this state.

If they were to become Archdevil Arms, Nico had no doubt that he'd be able to fight his opponents better, he'd be able to take on Chaos Gods, Greater Demons and perhaps get closer and closer to reaching Mundus's level. That bastard practically wiped the floor with him the last time they fought, and Nico felt quite eager to return the favor the next time they met.

With this knowledge, Nico twirled the Scythe and strapped it to his back. When he let go of the shaft, the male expected the boons he felt to just vanish since he wasn't touching it with his hands, but that didn't happen. His eyes widened by a small fraction at this, before understanding filled them when he figured out why this happened. 'Huh, I see... so, as long as I have summoned it, it doesn't matter where it is, I'll be able to enjoy it's perks regardless. Good to know.' he thought to himself.

Just then, he sensed a link establish itself between his mind and the mind of a familiar voice.

"(It is time. The next test, your third test, awaits.)"

Nico's eyes narrowed when he heard the voice of Amon echo through his mind. For a moment, he wondered why Amon as still able to speak to him since the Boon would have prevented it from doing so. Though, that moment had been short when he looked the Boon's info over again and came to a conclusion shortly after. It appeared that **Dark Shroud** didn't really consider Amon's voice a threat thus let it through to connect to him. Whilst powerful, Erebus was still sentient, thus this proved possible for it, further proving that Archdevil Arms were in a world of their own. He had felt the presence get halted by something, sort of like going through a security checkpoint, before being allowed through. Not to mention the fact that it sounded slightly more strained than normal. Must mean that the Boon was working, then. Still, it would be nice if he could have his own mental defenses, and not just that of his Archdevil Arm. He'll keep an eye out for what he wanted whilst attempting these tests, then.

'Got it, I'll head on over immediately.'

With those thoughts in mind, Nico proceeded to head towards the next entrance, his eyes shining with determination whilst he clenched his fists. For a moment, Nico wondered if he would be able to ask Amon for any advise on these tests, after all he WAS his guide. However, Nico didn't know for certain if that was truly possible, as evidence presented by the previous test said that it wouldn't work. Then again, the first test had been explained to him by Amon, which could indicate that it could explain the tests, but other times it can't. Therefore he would only ask when the test would begin.

 **'Be careful, Nico. We do not know what this next test may be. I suggest you remain on guard, and prepare for the worst.'**

'I will, Biko, don't worry. That last trial taught me a valuable lesson. Don't let your guard down otherwise the trials will do you in.'

In the end, Nico went inside the tunnel entrance, and soon enough he felt himself vanish into the location of his third test.

* * *

When he finally got the ability to see back, Nico lowered his right forearm from it's spot over his face to get a picture of what he was seeing. In the end, he found himself standing in the middle of what looked like an underground chamber, made entirely from earth. Immediately, Nico kneeled down to inspect the ground, his eyes narrowing as he ran his fingertips over it to check it's texture. 'Hmmm... this ground feel's hot, which likely means there's a strong heat source nearby... it also has the same texture as the dirt of a cave,, which means I've been dropped in the middle of a cave-like place...' the male deduced in his mind, eyes glistening as he stood up and pulled out his hood from his Trench Coat over his head. After he pulled out his Mask and donned it, Nico closed his remaining eye and then opened it again, revealing it to be in it's Kakugan form. 'There, now my Ghoul side is ready, I should be good on defense should anything attempt to ambush me.'

 **'It also seems that our connection has not been interrupted this time. I can sense it is as strong as ever, including the connection between yourself and your... other side.'**

'YAHOO! WHAT UP, BITCHES?!'

At hearing his other aspects voices, a surge of relief rushed though his system, the teen visibly calming as his shoulders dropped and his form lost some of it's tension. The fact that he still had them felt like a huge weigh had been lifted from his shoulders, they were some of the people he confided in the most after all. Biko more so, but even then his Ghoul side, no matter how much he hated to admit it, helped keep his sanity from breaking down at that Hellverse arc, egging him on till he had accepted it at the end of the incidents in Leanbox. The rather jovial and sadistic cackling it did when it spoke just now only served to make Nico roll his eyes in exasperation.

Standing up on his own two feet, Nico looked around in order to find anything of interest. The chamber he was in looked pretty large, with dozens of these large, yellow crystals dotted about that served as lights, illuminating the entire thing. Funny enough, it reminded him of the Monster Cave back in Planeptune on his world, though he pushed that aside and began walking forwards. Though, it didn't take him long to come across something rather... interesting.

"Oh?"

A river... of fire. A river of fire ran down the cave ground in front of him, it's heat easily being felt by the male due to it's concentration. The river looked to be quite deep too, as he couldn't see the bottom even with his enhanced vision. "Interesting..." the male muttered as he kneeled beside the River, quickly scanning it with his right Bracer. "I wonder what this is..."

Moments later, he got a response from his Bracer:

SCAN COMPLETE

SUBJECT: UNKNOWN

UNKNOWN PROPERTIES DETECTED

COMPONENTS UNKNOWN

RECOMMEND AVOIDANCE IF POSSIBLE

'Well, I guess that's understandable, given the situation...' the male thought to himself, sweat dropping. What made him think this thing would have had a clue on what this river could be? Perhaps Amon would know, since this WAS his next trial after all.

'(You may call this the River Styx. The River that separates the world of the living from the underworld. Your trial is to hold out inside the River, fully immersed within it's depths, for over 30 minutes.)'

"Oh?" Nico wondered, furrowing his brows. That was all? That couldn't be it, that sounded way too simple. Call him paranoid, but so far it seemed that everything in this place, wherever it was, had another side to it. Nico refused to believe something so basic could exist in this place, there had to be some kind of catch. Looking at the river cautiously, Nico kneeled before it once more, and then dipped one of his fingers in... "Ugh!"

He then quickly retracted it, flailing the arm about to get rid of any water droplets that still clung to the now crimson finger. "The hell?!" the male exclaimed, stunned as he looked the finger over. His regeneration already kicked into high gear as the redness swiftly vanished, but the sight alone had caused him some alarm. His lone eye widened to comical propositions whilst his pupil trembled violently.

'(Of course, the River Styx will be hot, it is a river of fire. However, it is also containing other properties, properties that you will most certainly find useful. Dive deeper and the process quickens... although you will feel like you're right next to the sun itself, so its your choice.)'

Amon spoke, almost sounding amused or perhaps stifling his laughter.

Nico however, didn't share the same sentiment as he glared down at the golden flames that made up the river. 'Ugh, so that's the catch. I have to endure that pain for over 30 minutes, a pain that I felt so clearly even with my fire resistance born from my Hellfire. I was right to think that this test had more to it than I was initially told.' he thought to himself. Nonetheless, though, his desire to retrieve his Devil Arms outweighed everything else, if a little pain was what stood in his way then so be it. He'll endure a whole nightmare's worth of torment to get his weapons back, they were THAT important to him after all.

With that in mind, Nico jumped into the air and dove straight inside.


	168. Cross Chapter 15 - The Third Trial PT 4

**The Third Trial PT 4**

Pain.

Pure, agonizing PAIN!

That was what coursed through every cell in Nico's body the exact SECOND that he fell into the river Styx.

The moment that he had, the male had been bombarded with this pain that assaulted him from every angle, filling up his nerve endings like a bowl being filled wot piping hot boiling water. That had been for the first few seconds or so however, before it exceeded to the levels he went through during the birth of Urthemiel, his first time obtaining a Satanic Treasure, then the first time he obtained an Archdevil Arm, even more than that slight 'graze' he got from that Soul attack Mundus did to him back in Leanbox.

No, if he were to summarize the pain he was in right now, it'd be a mix of all of those things whilst trying to bathe naked in the centre of an active volcano's lava with none of his resistances helping him.

So yeah, it hurt like a freaking 'bitch'!

'URGH, FUCKING HELL! THE FUCK, SHIT! SHIT, THIS FUCKING BURNS! WHAT THE HELL, THIS BURNING FEELING... WHY THE HELL AM I EVEN FEELING IT?! I SHOULD HAVE GREAT FIRE RESISTANCE, GODDAMNIT! ITS WHY I'M ABLE TO USE HELLFIRE FOR GODDESS'S SAKE!' The teen thought to himself, screaming like the Banshees he fought long ago in his mind as he fell deep inside the River Styx itself, his surroundings nothing but a murky golden color. He could hardly see the surface above his head at this point, not even the lights of the other crystals that dotted the cave. After his hitting the river's surface, it felt like his body became completely paralyzed, unable to move even the tiniest muscle. So even though he found himself in some severe pain that could have killed him a thousand times over, his features remained calm with his Kakugan remaining open.

That only made the pain initially worse, and it intensified even more the more his form fell towards the depths below. Like, the more he fell, the worse it got.

And he was supposed to stay here for 30 minutes?!

 **'This pain... calm yourself, Nico! Focus on my voice, got it?!'**

'Huh?! Biko?' Nico thought to his Demon Persona whilst his form, which as spread out like a star, fell downwards gradually. What the hell, the male wondered, why did Biko's voice get fainter and fainter every word he said? Was the connection dying out? Was that what was freaking happening? Mentally performing a check on himself, Nico found that the link between them was still as stable as it could have ever been. No problems with it existed whatsoever, so what the fucking shit was going on?

Soon enough, the male could no longer hear his Demon Persona, the pain he was in combined with whatever was happening to their link drowned him out completely leaving the teen to suffer alone. He couldn't even feel the ranting and raving of his Ghoul Persona anymore, something which he honestly didn't find any more appealing than he did the rest of his situation.

Not to mention the fact that he felt something... off. He didn't know what it was exactly, but whatever it was, it was being funneled into him beneath all the pain.

It was almost like there was something alive and foreign, almost alien trying to ENTER him, a stark contrast to that time with Urthemiel trying to ESCAPE him into the outside world. A stark contrast indeed.

Nico began to feel faint, the pain slowly overcoming his senses. The male began to see black spots dancing across his vision as his form, as pain settled in, descended ever so gradually. It almost made him want to scream and shout if it were at all possible. The more seconds passed, the more spots formed in his vision. The ones already formed gradually got bigger and bigger, and Nico soon began feeling the grip of unconsciousness start to try and take him.

It felt so good, so refreshing...

A safe haven from all this pain, all this torment...

Perhaps he could...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Oh, FUCK THAT!

Memories of the second test he had taken returned to the male, and if it were possible right now his Kakugan would have narrowed. A white hot burning desire, burning greater than the pain trying to shut his system down, ignited within his chest, filling him with a strong sense of purpose. He remembered that feeling, it came to him shortly into his second attempt to complete the trials of samsara, as well as the aftermath of the failed first attempt. Roaring like a dragon in his mind and soul, Nico pushed through, shoving both the grip of unconsciousness and the pain aside as he retook control over his mind. He ended up pushing away the thoughts of unconsciousness and retreat out of his existence.

Nico refused, he REFUSED to fall to something as meager as something like this! He would NOT allow himself to have something like this deter him! He'd vowed to himself not to let what happened on the second test to happen again, and he would make damn well sure that he kept that vow! Nico, DEATHSTROKE, whatever name he used, he ALWAYS kept his word, ALWAYS. Something as small and minor as this pain he was under would never equate to the amount of bullshit he had gone through over the years.

If he fell to something like this, he could never hold his head up high again!

And so, Nico persevered. He endured the pain, he allowed it and whatever had came with it to do whatever it pleased with his body. By the time 30 minutes would pass, his regeneration would take care of the damage his body would be going under. He'd get his Devil Arms back, and he'd be on his way to finishing this damn Trial. At this point, all he cared about was showing whatever this pain was being caused by, most likely the River, that it would NOT beat him in a battle of endurance. He had TOO much riding on this, the life of one of his weapons was just THAT important to him, after all.

* * *

By the time 15 minutes passed, Nico found himself gazing downwards to what he assumed was the river's floor. The only reason he could tell, was thanks to his Gene Seed implants, as if he didn't have them then he doubted his Ghoulish vision would have been able to interpret it nearly as clearly. Not to mention the fact that his body had started descending at a slightly faster rate... until he found himself adjusted as if an invisible force was moving his body to a vertical position, and then he landed on the bottom of the river's floor.

The moment he did so, Nico suddenly found whatever was controlling his body before, keeping it from moving, reduce its hold on him till it had the same weight as any other time one would be under water. Nico raised his hand and swished it about,watching as bubbles and waves accompanied his arm's motion. 'Well, at least the physics of being underwater are accurate, so I can at least focus on that...' he thought to himself. When in great pain, it was best to focus the mind on matters other than the pain, so it could endure it better. Nico had done that for the last 15 minutes or so, thus the male had found himself getting used to the pain a little. Not to mention that when he saw his arm, he saw how it kept getting redder and redder at one point, then the redness would decrease the next, which proved that his regeneration was still working.

That was something, at least.

'Well, lets see if I can at least get a bead on where I am...'

Now that he could somewhat focus a bit, Nico decided to check more on his surroundings, even if the male was to not get much, getting any sort of information would be crucial. Plus, it would help him get used to this pain. Looking around, Nico didn't really get much of a clue as to where he was, only that this River obviously had a large deep end that went across the entire thing. Part of him wondered if there were anything that could have lived here, and if so would he be encountering them in the future? Nico hoped not, he didn't know what kind of life could live in something like this or what kind of strength they had. In addition, he felt sure that he wouldn't be able to fight to his full potential, as whatever had paralyzed him before now limited him to just his human strength and skills. At least he still had his Large Building class strength as his base strength now. Perhaps Nico could see if his Ghoul side allowed him to go to multi large building, small town or large city class in the future...

Food for thought.

'So... now what?' the male wondered as he pushed through the pain once more. Well, it was always there, constantly filling every cell in his body like overfilling a bath. Therefore, he should have really said that he was constantly pushing through the pain. The male decided to try and reach for his SP reserves (something he hadn't done for a long time now), to try and enhance his body with it. It wasn't something usually done, but if he could help his body adapt to this pain via his Ghoul side's RC Cells and his Bio Boost from his DPU powers, perhaps then things might start looking up for him. 'Wait... perhaps I can do THAT! Hey, Amon, can you hear me?'

'(Of course I can hear you, you're in one of my tests after all. What is it? Oh, you're at the bottom already, that's surprising. With the last trial, I had expected you to give up by now)'

'Charming,' Nico responded with sarcasm laced between each letter in his thoughts. Really, who did this guy take him for, a coward? Well, in his defense, Nico did fail one of the tests, so perhaps he had some leeway. 'Well, anyways, i'd like to talk to you for a bit, since i'm going to be stuck here for another 15 minutes.' he replied.

'(Oh? Interesting, I did not expect you to ask me that. I had half expected you to ask me more abut the test, which would not have been possible.)'

Yeah, Nico figured something like that had to be the case. Even whilst this pain coursed through him like blood, the male still kept his thoughts steady as he sat in a meditative position on the river's floor. 'Well, I figured that out based off prior experience. Anyways, I just wanna talk to you, to well, know more about you. You're my guide, but I hardly know anything about you. I'd honestly like to change that, since you haven't really had much malicious intent from the start of these tests.'

'(Hmmm, it has been a while since someone last wanted to talk to me. However, I feel like this would be an impolite way of communication. Hold on.)'

After hearing Amon say that, Nico began noticing a figure manifest itself in front of him, creating a physical body out of the fiery currents beneath the river. It took on a vortex like form at first, that lasted a second before it turned into a crimson colored figure. The figure eventually formed completely, and in the end Nico found himself sitting before the form of a genie-like being. As in, the being lacked a lower body but a ghostly tail instead, whilst having a humanoid upper body. This being took the form of a bald, bearded old man. He wore a white cloth that covered his back and arms, with his hands having long claw-like nails and a third eye on his forehead.

Nico quickly guessed who this being was, however. "I'll go on a whim and guess that you are Amon?" he questioned, earning a nod from the old man looking Genie, his eyes closed yet he still got the feeling that he was looking at him.

Yeah, Nico gave Amon a gender, deal.

"(Yes, this is my physical body. Thanks to that improvement that... thing you carry, did to your mind maintaining that connection between us was gradually getting increasingly harder. This way, we can talk face to face. However, it should be a two way street, so if I talk about myself, you talk to me about yourself. Deal?)"

"Sure."

And so, began the talk between the redhead and the Genie.

* * *

As I finished resting I brought closer to me the body of the three times damned bird. I must start processing it now and hope it works, if I manage to obtain even 3 or 4 drops of divine blood from this creature this whole thing will have been worth it.

Seeing the entire creature I can only be glad I am in this place and any droll evaporate instantly or anyone looking would see me drooling all over it. Calm down, me, you need to calm down and be rational. This thing will not be fast to process so I need enough time for it.

First I put down my time dilator field, as I feel it activating I gave a slight smile before creating some smaller bounded field around me to keep away the flames and the heat, anything to make sure that nothing would happen to potentially damage the ritual I will be doing.

I have never done it before, but I have studied it and everything I could find that could help me grow stronger even if just a bit, everything in my desperation to be able to help those I ought and want to help, and this is exactly why I know some of these more obscures rituals such as this one.

First, I created a small knife using some of the ores around here (the fact that sun crystals are the most suitable for this specific ritual must mean that the old bastard wanted to help whoever came here, or just laugh if the person didn't know how to take advantage of this sort of present and wasted it away) and delicately I cut open its head.

When I finished opening the skull I took out the brain and put it into a smooth superfycy I hastily drew a circle using some of the creature's own blood. After this part, I went to the main part of the body and removed the following parts in this specific order: Heart, Lung, Liver, and the spine (taking care to take with it as many nerves as possible.

As I finished this part I collected all the blood I could get from it, enough to make sure that I got most of it. with me for this.

In the end of this process, I had about 30 liters of blood, this should work well enough as I start using some of it to draw an even bigger circle in the ground. There are hundreds of small details that must e absolutely right for it to work and even some drawings of a Vermilion Bird dancing across the sunset was all put into the circle.

And everything is ready now, I put the pieces I collected and the blood into the center of the circle, deactivated both the time dilator field and the bounded field to repel heat and flames while I also started purring in all energy I could get into a constant wave of magic energy.

Normally, this process would take about a few days or even a week to get done but this environment I am in is a great help. The ritual I am doing is called Vermilion Ascension Ritual and the circle's main function is to work as a transformer of energy into heat and flames that can somewhat emulate the actual flames of a Vermilion bird. It is highly inefficient as most of the energy I pour into it is wasted and the flame generated is a pale and pathetic imitation from the real deal, but it is enough to do the ritual. Thankfully, due to the fire already here I could take advantage of it and transfer the excessive heat and flames to this circle to help the process.

Now, instead of days I will only need a few hours.

As the vermilion flames soured to the sky I could only hold my breath as sweet rolled down my body. My magic circuits, for as resilient they might be now, still have an upper limit and keeping close to top performance for more than 5 hourst apparently is beyond that. Thankfully, I have so much experience in abusing my circuits to beyond what I should that I am still hanging on, even if just barelly.

The flames around me are mostly gone by now, this world of perpetual burning is close to stopping burning for good as the ritual is one step away from being complete. I can see a blurry figure of four small points appear in the center of the fire, all the flames are being condensed in those spots as it was close to the finishing touches.

Now I only have to be extra careful, any misstep can end this whole thing for go-

"Have you ever watched The Good Place?" Zelretch said to my side as he simply appeared on my side.

Huh? Why is... shit!

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT?!

The fire started changing rapidly and losing control due to this distraction! Fuck, if I don't do something to stop it now everything will have gone to waste!

No choice, I have to bet it all!

My energy started going haywire as I started purring more energy into the circle, hoping to haste the ritual enough for it to still work. The excessive burst of energy is such that despite my best efforts I ended up coughing my blood into the ritual when it was close to be done, but thankfully it didn't seen to influence the results as I managed to get the drops of blood.

Phew, this was WAY to close.

Turning angrily to Zelretch I was ready to berate him for this when he simply disappeared from that spot.

I, I want to say this is a surprising behavior, but I can't. Sigh, I guess I should start the assimilation now.

Turning back to the position I was before I must have my eye twitching as I see Zelretch sitting on a sofa there, a beer in hand as a tv was turned on in Netflix while he started browsing for something to watch.

"So? Do you recommend it or not?" He asked.

"...Sure, why not?" I said, resisting my burning wish to attack him. He almost costed me the entire ritual I spent the last hours doing, only to ask for a recommendation.

I guess I should have expected this, it IS Zelretch after all.

Seeing that he started the series I decided one thing, it is better to ignore him and start to assimilate this blood into myself now. Even if I moved away from him it is likely that he would simply pop up out of nowhere and startle me.

Setting up the time dilation field again I activated it before I drew a new ritual circle, this one is called Vermilion Rebirth and it helps to assimilate the divine blood of the Vermilion Bird.

I put down quite a few sun crystals of high purity, some rubies charged to the brim and full of fire energy, and ground some of the bones of the Lesser Vermilion bird, everything to help this circle to reach higher levels. I need everything to be as perfect as possible for this.

And so, taking a deep breath, I put all four drops of blood in my hand, that might I add feel at the same time like molten lava and the heat you feel when holding the hand of a beautiful girl, and put this blood directly on my chest.

Right above my heart.

The effect was instantaneous, the blood pierced my skin and started wrecking havoc inside my bloodstream. The drops were hot enough for me to feel like they were trying to melt my body whole, but I also felt they were not fighting as strongly as they could against my own blood. I guess it makes sense, in the end, my blood too is quite amazing as it is world energy concentrated, but it still isn't the same.

But, don't get me wrong, I said it wasn't as bad as it COULD be, it doesn't mean it isn't TERRIFYINGLY PAINFULL! I mean, have you ever burned your finger accidentally by touching a pan while cooking? Now imagine that multiplied by 10 thousand and put it into your entire body inside out. It just isn't as bad because for most it is the same as 20 thousand times, I am 'lucky'.

And so, another tortuous experience started. This one will be in my blood vessels that are being burned and restored quickly enough before being burned again, everything to make sure that my body gets more adapted to fire as it would already be used to the burning, kind of like when you break a bone the fixed place grows stronger than before but in this case it is in the whole body and it is more like a few hundred times.

After this is done my body will not only be able to handle heat and fire much easier than before but I will also be mostly immune to any fire bellow a certain level. Also, the flames of the Vermilion Bird work as a nemesis to demonic energy so if I were to face any devil I would get a distinct advantage over them.

It would be perfect, if the suffering wasn't so fucking terrible.

* * *

"Heh, finally started the process. I think he owes me one for saving his ass." Zelretch said as he looked to the side to see Castiel already in the middle of the process of assimilation.

Zelretch sudden appearance might have seen random, but there WAS a reason behind it. The blood of the Vermilion Bird carries a blood inheritance that is quite strong. Normally, if anyone were to take it they would be able to use the techniques to some degree but if Castiel were to take the normal blood it would hardly be that effective.

It would clash with the corrupted fragments of the grail inside him, it would be a disaster that could potentially damage his body and soul enough to make him forever incapable of reaching the Leader-class unless he were to get many divine materials to slowly fix the problem and even then it would take hundreds of years for it to get back to how it should be.

But, if during the process of formation of the blood some of Castiel's own blood that already experienced the evil energy and was the condensed form of the world's energy got mixed in it would be enough to stop the rejection of this new blood and his own body. Also, the techniques would be modified a bit to make them connected to his own power more easily. If it would be stronger or not than the original was anyone's guess, but, it would be different.

'Well, at least this series is quite good. The Good Place, what a interesting series this is, and funnily enough its description of heaven is not so far from the actual thing in most dimensions out there. Maybe I will invite Ophis-chan to watch it with me later, she would probably enjoy it and maybe even stay to watch the kids' facing these challenges as it is quite entertaining.' Zelretch thought as he saw that a new episode was launching, making him completely and utterly forget about Castiel and everything else.

He wanted to see what will happen next!

* * *

"(It appears that it is finally complete.)"

Amon spoke up after a long moment of silence. The red colored Genie looked around the watery flames around them, his eyes looking like they were literal calculators with the gaze that he sported. However, it wasn't like he was looking at anything that wasn't different, for everything around them had become a dull version of the gold that the River Styx didn't have before. The flames didn't flicker as wildly as they used to, no it looked more like they were on the verge if dying out. The river itself seemed like it had become... well, tired for lack of a better word. Like something had sucked the life out of it.

Judging by what facts Nico had, he found a VERY likable cause of these events. Amon's words only confirmed it in his mind.

As for that Genie, Amon had told him a lot of things, most of them Nico would have found difficult to believe if he hadn't experienced similarly messed up situations. Apparently, Amon was called a Djinn, not a Genie, and he came from a world where the energy of the earth could be accessed by people called Magi,whereas normal humans used the powers of the Djinn in things called metal vessels to gain power. Not to mention they could use the energy of the world, but not to the same extent as a Magi. From Amon's description of them, Nico figured them to be similar to shepherds, or in this case royalty shepherds. Since they directed those who had the potential to become kings.

'Emiya would love to meet those kinds of people...' Nico had recalled himself thinking, and if Amon had heard him he didn't make it a point to show it.

Djinn resided in dungeons, similar to the ones that Nico had in his world from what he was told, where those guided by Magi would venture into, conquer and then retrieve the Djinn for their powers. Sealing them within an item they hold most sacred so they can harness the Djinn's power. Nico honestly didn't like that part, cause it sounded way more like slavery to him, taking something against its will and using its power for their own ends. Even if the tests proclaimed that the Djinn would have to chose the conqueror as a Master, it still had those elements in it, and THAT didn't sit well with him. It was similar to how Nico had discovered the ability to create monsters of his own, spawning armies from his power alone. Not something Nico wanted to do, cause it made him feel more like his predecessors... something that he didn't want to happen the more he learned from them.

In Amon's case, the King candidate he had been bound to at one point was a man named Alibaba, and he had been (through some manipulation of the flames around him to show various images), a noble, considerate candidate who had his own insecurities. Nico ESPECIALLY liked how he got one of his future companions out of slavery, that person ending up being a badass CQC fighter. He'd have loved to fight her somehow, though that wouldn't really be likely now would it? Nico also learned a bit more about Amon himself, about how him and the other Djinns had once been normal people until this guy called Solomon created the Dungeons foretelling a major disaster would ocur.

Judging by how the Djinn had sounded, Nico didn't doubt him.

Of course, true to his word, Nico had talked to Amon about himself, his world and stuff. He talked about Gamindustri, about Abnormals, about the Spec Ops Program, and what he was doing back on his world. He told the Djinn about how he had been fighting for most of his life, to the point where it pretty much became ingrained into him as a part of his true nature. To him, fighting was the sea he swam, the air he breathed, and Nico found himself all the more monstrous for it. He talked about his Ghoul Side, his new (in comparison) DPU powers, and that he too was facing a potential disaster, though if he were to consider the scale of the ones Amon and himself were familiar with, Nico wouldn't be able to say which one was bigger. Therefore, he'd kept that little thought to himself. Though, he swore he heard a bit of a debate going on between his other aspects inside his mind, along with a familiar-sounding feminine voice... He really was going insane, wasn't he?

Though, then again when was he really sane to begin with?

However, that wasn't important to him right now, what WAS important was the fact that Amon had spoken, and if his mental calculations were correct, something which felt completely how it should be for him even though he was still inside a flaming river, then it had something to do with the Trial. "So... does this mean I pass?" he asked him.

The Djinn, for a moment, said nothing. Perhaps he had been waiting for something, Nico wondered as he just floated there with a blank expression on his face. No, it almost looked like he... wasn't really there, sort of. Though, Nico soon figured out why when he saw one of those screens appear before him:

The screen that stated he had cleared the Trial.

With that in mind, Nico swiftly checked the rewards section and checked to see what he'd gotten:

Rewards: Absolution

Tome - Star God's Broken Shadow

'Star God's Broken Shadow? Why do I get the feeling that, unlike the Great Way of the Buddha I got on the first trial, this one focuses more on speed than strength? Now that I think about it, I haven't actually used those tomes, huh? Whelp, I'll have to look into them when I get the chance.' Nico thought to himself, frowning in contemplation.

"(Alright, it should be complete by now.)"

"?"

* * *

Before Nico could comprehend what happened, he suddenly found himself back in the centre of the red room. However, the moment that he did so, Nico IMMEDIATELY noticed several things that were off about himself. Not so much externally, but internally would be a whole different story. Nico noticed that his body felt WAY better than before he got into that river. He felt... clean, refreshed like a newborn baby. Now that he thought about it, that pool he went into with Castiel back in the first trial had a similar serenity to it, but why the hell was he feeling this way now?

Just then, Nico narrowed his eyes (his Mask had been put back in his Void Storage when Amon had insisted it would be ok to do so) in realization. 'The River...'

 **'You'd be right, I looked over your body whilst you were in that river, and it was indeed doing stuff to you... multiple things, actually. Our body has gained a MAJOR overhaul in power, Nico.'**

"(Your friend there is right.)"

"?!"

 **"?!"**

Instantly, Amon materialized before them, looking as stern and disciplined as usual. His eyes cast their gaze down on the male DPU/Ghoul Hybrid, who looked like a sheep caught in a den of wolves.

"(The River Styx has entered and judged you, boy. It looked through your soul, it looked through everything you've done and it found you worthy of its gifts.)"

"Gifts?" Nico questioned, arching a brow in confusion. What he did get was that there were changes made to his body, and Amon DID confirm that it had installed those changes in him.

 **'I see... unfortunately, I lack the knowledge to** **ascertain** **what these changes are, unfortunately.'**

Biko spoke this from within his mind, and like before, Amon simply spoke about it.

"(I cannot explain them in detail, as that would break the rules. Therefore, let the system do it instead.)"

Just when Nico made to respond to that, A screen appeared in front of him, remarkably like the one he used himself to scan his body when he got the GSI's. Taking a look, the male saw a list of things on it, each of them being... quite unexpected and eye-opening.

* * *

RIVER STYX PERKS

BERSERKER PACKAGE - Multiple Skills associated with the Berserker class:

\- Berserk (A) - A combination of the perks Mad Enhancement and Bravery. These perks allow wielder to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination. It also has the bonus effect of increasing melee damage.

\- Magic Resistance (A) - Only the stronger of Magic-based attacks will have any effect on the wielder. Lesser magic attacks will simply disperse on contact, with a sixth sense identifying the standards of each attack.

\- Aptitude for Slaughter (Tools) (A) - The Wielder is now capable of greater damage against human opponents with whatever implement that they carry, be it a weapon or a non-weapon.

AVENGER PACKAGE - Multiple Skills associated with the Avenger Class:

\- Memory Correction (A) - The wielder will never forget the feelings they have experiences in their lifetime, and will be able to manually replicate them.

\- Avenger (A) - Wielder has a greater ability to draw in negative emotions and turn them into either physical or magical power.

\- Presence detection (A) - An ability of high class, wielder is capable of detecting anything via the Earth from other beings no matter their nature, to water sources clear across more than ten kilometers. If used on things at close range, an equal or lower rank of Presence Concealment ability can be nullified.

EIGHT PETAL IMMORTAL ORCHID ESSENCE ASSIMILATED - BODY IMPURITIES REMOVED

HELLFIRE MANIPULATION DETECTED - FIRE RESISTANCE ADMINISTERED

NOTE: A - advanced case of Perk.

* * *

'What...the hell...?'

Confusion racked the redhead's brain as he tried to make sense of these 'perks' that had been applied to bis body. He could understand the essence of that herb being used to cleanse his body of the accumulated impurities it had as he'd seen more than a few trails of black dust coming from his form before they disintegrated from the heat of the River Styx. Then there was the fire resistance thing, as whilst he had flame-based abilities before, his body had grown a notable resistance to it as an adaptation. Now though, it felt like his Fire Resistance had gotten close to being maxed out, not a bad deal if one asked him. However, the rest of these perks confused the hell out of him.

 **'Even with this knowledge, I do believe the terms 'Berserker' and 'Avenger' do fit us rather well, Nico. In the last few months, we did have moments where we either lost ourselves to madness like against that Ghoul, and had the desire for vengeance like in the Hellverse Dungeon. This may end up irrelevant, however it is something I nonetheless noticed.'**

Biko spoke, a slight note of curiosity and wonderment in his tone. If he could see his Demon Persona right now, Nico had his suspicions that Biko would be looking like a detective thinking hard about a murder case. Still though, what he said indeed made some level of sense. Nico could see himself as an avenger, either for the wrongfully damned, his comrades or even himself. He recalled a few times were he desired such things against those who wronged him, and there were a few times where he'd gone crazy and destroyed his surroundings.

Not to mention that these perks didn't seem like abilities that could be activated, but more like those permanent buffs one sometimes got from consuming specific items in MMORPG's. Not to mention, each Perk fit him in some way, they fit him almost inhumanly well. Looking towards the Djinn, Nico questioned him about that. "Could I be right in assuming that this River Styx not only burned away my body's impurities, but also chose these perks based from what it saw in me?" Nico queried.

"(You would be correct. Each Perk received has been geared towards your nature in one form or another. Due to the potency of those aspects of your nature, each Perk had to be elevated to an appropriately high ranking, meaning you got an overhaul in terms of upgrades. Now then, you must prepare for the final test before you may fight the final boss of this Trial. It will take a couple moments, but please remain here whilst I prepare it.)"

After answering his question, Amon vanished in a vortex of flames. Nico watched this happen, then stared at the spot where the Djinn used to be for a moment, before looking down at the screen again. Nico eyed each perk, reading their descriptions over and over again. Each time he did so, the teen couldn't help but let a smile slowly break out onto his face. 'I may not know how it is that the River Styx got that ability, maybe it's an experiment made by that weird guy... actually, that seems more than likely. However, I will not be complaining about these results...'

'HAHAHAHAHAHA, NOT GONNA DISAGREE WITH YA THERE, KING! THESE THINGS LOOK LIKE THEY'RE SICK AS SHIT!'

The male sharply tensed when he heard his Ghoul Persona speak for the first time in a long while, before he slowly relaxed. Though, he could share the sentiment that these perks opened the doors to some interesting possibilities here. Especially the Presence Detection Perk. If he could detect as well as it said he could, then he'd definitely be able to track down rogues, assassins, items, and a whole bunch of things within ten kilometers. That was the way that the description had been worded to imply, and he liked that idea. He liked it a whole hell lot.

Now that he had gotten most of his weapons back and would have to wait till the last test to retrieve the last one, Nico wondered what it might be. This last test may be the hardest one yet though, as the male's last weapon was just like Erebus, an Archdevil Arm that he had mutated from Alastor, his former Lightning Devil Arm. That weapon he had just gotten recently, and it had unlocked some of his DPU powers too. He could only imagine what these guys had in store for him, though Nico would be lying if he said he wasn't excited for the prospect.

Maybe that was his Ghoul side talking to him, but meh.

 **'Nevertheless, it would be advisable for us to test these perks out. We have an elongated amount of time for this if you come into your Inner World. We'll use our training methods to evaluate each perk, get a feel for their uses.'**

* * *

As the trial got finished in it's preparations, the testing itself proved quite fruitful.

For Berserk, it oddly enough reminded him of Neptune's Soul Calibur with's its dual nature. On one hand, this Skill had a side to it that buffed his physical abilities, enough so that if he had any doubts about his strength being capable of destroying large buildings, they were gone now. Potentially, he could destroy multiple buildings, so Biko estimated that their strength would be between large building class and small town class. Destroying large town, or to be more specific an entire city would only be possible if he had his Ghoul side activated. Then, his DPU form's power would be enough to destroy multiple continents. On the downside however, Nico and Biko had discovered how it also boosted one's own madness and insanity, limiting their mental faculties or stripping them of them entirely. That apparently had been what the Bravery part, the other half, was for. It was meant to negate the cons of mad enhancement by reinforcing one's defenses against mental defects.

To be frank, this seemed so similar to their Berserker Mode that it was almost scary. Though, they always made sure that power was carefully monitored ever since they got the Red Rage Ring. Not to mention their other power amplifiers that they had, they didn't want to use that form unless absolutely necessary, not to mention there were changes being made to it, changes that neither of them knew much about thus they kept it under tight bravery part though, they wished that had been applied to their Berserker Mode, then perhaps they could control the insanity that came with that particular package.

For the second perk granted to them by the 'Berserker Package', Magic Resistance had been a little harder to experiment with, and by little, they meant VERY difficult. This was usually thanks to the fact that they sucked at magic, due to Nico's body not having anything to do with Mana but SP instead. Thus, Nico had simply attacked himself with an SP Skill, thus saw how the Skill literally disintegrated into nothingness the moment it touched his body. He'd even had this 'awareness' which told him that it wouldn't have affected him either. That had confirmed the fact that common magical-based attacks didn't affect him anymore, though he'd like it if they could spar with Castiel again just to confirm it. Though, that would likely not be very feasible considering the nature of their relationship right now.

The third Perk though, now THAT one Nico especially liked. He could say that aside from Berserk, this Aptitude for Slaughter (Tools) Perk apparently did boost the amount of damage he could do against human opponents, as when he sparred with Biko and his Ghoul Persona at the same time, because their forms resembled that of a human the perk had activated. Thus, Nico's strikes managed to damage them more than they had in previous spars, something EACH of them took note of (the fact that Nico had been able to watch his Ghoul Persona run around whilst his ass was on fire just felt like some additional brownie points. He got a few laughs out of that one).

Humans can be the worst kind of monsters at times, Nico would know this.

For the perks from the Avenger Package, Nico personally liked the fact that he could replicate the feelings of anger and hatred with this Memory Correction Perk, then amplify them with the associated power amplifiers. This strength could do WONDERS for his DPU form, and he shuddered at the thought of how much damage Soul Edge could do hen under that much concentrated rage. It had become multi-continental at full power, so if it got amplified even further... yeah, the results definitely scared him. Hell, if he amplified it when he was using it's weaker form, could he possibly make it so that form could release levels of power comparable to its true form? It certainly seemed possible with this perk.

He may not like destruction, but Nico could see how useful suddenly amplifying his power output if only for a brief moment could work in his favor. It can catch the enemy off guard, not to mention how it reminded him of that time with the guy who wore that orange gi got stronger when he took off his clothes which had training weights on them. You know, that guy that takes so freaking long to power up and screams a lot.

Speaking of powering up, the second Perk known as Avenger... Nico felt like this one should have applied more to his DPU form, but experimentation showed it worked with his human one too. Not only could he convert negative emotions from the atmosphere, as in ANY negative emotion no matter how small or big, could increase his physical or energy based abilities. For example, if he took in enough negative emotions, he could convert them into power for a punch that could destroy an entire forest with one thrust, he knew this cause he checked. The amount of potential to this Perk honestly staggered him.

As for the last Perk... need he say anything? Whelp, Nico and Biko had discovered the description had been incredibly accurate as no matter what his Ghoul Persona did Nico had been able to tell his exact position from anywhere within 10 kilometers in any direction. He even tried suppressing his presence, only for Nico's senses to pick him up anyways. He'd also sensed books when Biko had placed one randomly within the desert and had used his Warping ability to appear there for confirmation, pretty much proving his original theory of being able to sense the presence of items. If he somehow combined this with the Pesquisa technique he inherited from Osiris, just what else could he do?

His thoughts got broken when he saw multiple things: A, the last test cave entrance opening, and B: Amon's form appearing before him in all his stern glory.

"(The last test is ready. Be prepared to fight for your life, boy.)"

Nico needed not be told twice, and simply nodded before proceeding into the entrance whilst wondering what this test would be like...

* * *

...Now, he regretted asking.

 **"RRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!"**

Why?

Whelp, it went like this.

The moment that he had appeared, Nico had found himself in what he could only assume to be an island-like area of some kind. It had craggy, rocky plates of various elevations, as well as flowing rivers of lava that both surrounded as well as gone through the plates, somewhat like a lava paradise since some rocks dripped with lava like they were waterfalls. A full moon had been seen against a clear sky when Nico had looked around, and an ocean is visible in the distance. Though, his battle-honed instincts quickly made him deploy his Armour over his form (believe him, deploying it had never felt so good since he felt like there had been restrictions placed on it until now. It didn't seem to have changed appearance wise either). At first, it had been a rather safe, serene experience which would go against the way it looked...

But then, it happened.

The enemy he was supposed to fight (apparently, as Amon had told him through their link) dropped down from the skies above to land before him.

Nico could not even BEGIN to comprehend the creature he had been sent to fight, and likely kill, his breath kept hitching in his throat and his form sweated bullets at the sight beneath his Armour. Also beneath it, his skin lost all color, and he felt a strong urge to turn and go 'fuck this shit, i'm out!' Though, he never did that as he examined the thing that he needed to fight:

A Fatalis...

A CRIMSON Fatalis.

A Normal Fatalis resembled a traditional black dragon, with a long, serpentine neck and tail, along with a pair of large wings. Its body is covered in rigid black scales and lined with white spines. Its head featured four backwards-facing horns and a row of enlarged bottom teeth. However, a Crimson Fatalis was a Fatalis whose shells and scales have become a reddish-crimson color after generations of exposure to the Volcano. One of its four horns, accurate to the recordings by the Spec Ops Agents, looked extremely overgrown in comparison to the rest.

The instant that he saw it, he found himself imagining the old undead Mage giving him a thumbs up whilst yelling 'TROLOLOLOLO!'. It... made him want to seriously try to kick his ass for this. If Nico didn't think Zelretch had been a sadist, he fucking did NOW! The Fatalis were part of a family of dragon-like Abnormals called 'Elder Dragons', and had been proven to be some of the most dangerous motherfucking Abnormals there were. Of course there were countless Abnormals with similar levels of power throughout his world, but still. The Fatalis however, had been recorded to be able to lay waste to entire kingdoms in a single swoop, it's massive hatred for humanity shining through its deeds. Usually they were as black as night itself, with immense control over fire that it wasn't even funny. Nico's own Hellfire likely wouldn't even faze one if he had been able to face one.

And this was a CRIMSON one. A Fatalis which had been living in a volcanic area like this for a goddamn long-ass time, enough for its scales to turn from black too a mix of black and lava-like orangish red thanks to adapting to its environment. Now, the damn beast had o much more firepower that it literally gouged out city-sized chunks of land PER SECOND with its fire breath attack, its heat would rival that of a full-powered true Hellfire blast, and if he hadn't gained a strong fire resistance then he likely would have been charred to a crisp by its aura ALONE.

Nico had almost not time to think more on this subject, as the beast had unleashed one roar that rocketed the landscape, sending waves through the Lava and making the rocky plates tremble.

Hence, his current predicament of trying to avoid countless meteors falling from the skies upon the Fatalis's will, amongst other fire breath-like attacks that, whilst he could survive them with his resistance and regen, they would hurt a whole hell lot.

Once again for old times sake...

'DAMN YOU, ZELRETCH!'

He almost swore he heard the man's laughter echo in the distance.

Whelp, it wasn't a completely hopeless cause though, Nico mused to himself, the Perk Bravery soon removing the influence of his emotions from his rationality. It also boosted his strength, something he found absolutely necessary as he jumped out the way of a meteor before it fell on him. He then jumped upwards above the creature's lunge, and would have summoned a weapon had he not had to cross his arms so that he could block it's whip-like Tail in time. The result, was that he had been sent flying across the arena and slammed into the Lava hard enough to cause a major splashing noise.

Though, it wasn't long before he jumped right out and used Hellfire to burn the lava off him. Once he landed, Nico snarled at the creature as it charged towards him, roaring all the while. He'd not placed a Marker on the beast the moment it smacked him with it's tail, as there had been no time to do so. That thing moved crazily fast, he'd seen, and so the male quickly made to halt it's charge. He did this by raising his right hand and shooting a small puff of Hellfire towards the ground it approached. The moment it hit though, it erupted like a fiery volcanic eruption, surprising the creature and catching it off guard. Just long enough for Nico to throw his other hand out and summon Erebus.

This battle would also serve to give him a chance to see how well he can use this new Archdevil Arm's power, which felt like an apt thing to do since the last reward for him was his sole OTHER Archdevil Arm, and one that had great importance to him. Well, all his weapons were that important to him, so that wasn't saying much. Still, as he held the Scythe in his hands, Nico quickly felt the Boons it possessed activate as well. **Shadow Gauntlet** activated in the form of covering the arm that held Erebus in a dark aura, whilst **Darkness Sight** formed as a miasma covering his mind, he felt this one more than saw it though. Pointing the Scythe at his opponent, Nico quickly proceeded to activate **Despair** to lower this creature's physical and mental abilities.

Though, considering how long this thing has likely lived, Nico felt like this boon may not work as much as he wanted it to. Even so however, the moment that the Fatalis got engulfed in Erebus's aura, he quickly noted how much power got sapped away from it. His senses estimated that it lost about 50% of it's total power, and for a beast like the Fatalist that was quite a lot. An impressed whistle escaped the redhead teen's lips as he saw this, eyes shining with appreciation for this Scythe's power. 'Geez, girl... you sure have some sharp claws, don't you...' he mused, glancing down at his Archdevil Arm.

{Awwwww, you're gonna make me blush, you know. For shame, tut-tut,}

Soon enough, Nico heard the familiar voice of Erebus echo throughout his mind, though unlike the first time he heard his other Archdevil Arm speak to him when he summoned it, the teen didn't flip out. Actually, he kind of guessed this would happen. When summoned to the world of reality like this, an Archdevil Arm not only activates its boons, but it also gets the ability to speak to its wielder through the same kind of link he had with Biko and his Ghoul side. This marked a stark contrast to the brutally animal-like sounds from his Devil Arms and the Archdevil Arms, the difference in sentient intelligence. Whilst those traits persisted inside the Archdevil Arm, the sentience it had would become much more prominent. 'Hey there, Erebus. Sorry its been a bit longer than you would have liked for me to summon you into battle. Bet it was pretty cramped in there.'

{Oh, don't you fret my dear, your white half is very wild company. Ufufufufu, I could just EAT HIM UP with his cuteness.}

The teen could only sweat drop... whilst suddenly getting the feeling he should feel sorry for his Ghoul Persona for some reason. Even so, Nico shook his head as he held his Scythe in a ready stance, eyes narrowing behind his helmet whilst he eyed the wary-looking Fatalis. 'Well, i'd love to chat some more with you, but this fucker here is wanting to have some good thrashing. I trust that would be alright with you?' he asked the voice of his Archdevil Arm.

{Of course, dearie. Do be a good sport and show this PUP what it means to bite at his superiors for me, will you?}

Nico only chuckled, before swinging his Scythe at his opponent and firing what looked like black homing rays of Darkness, much like his ATOMIC INFERNO Skill he used for Soul Edge. However, this one felt quite superior, in that instead of just a couple dozen, this one launched THOUSANDS of rays at his opponent, said enemy being the Fatalis which quickly took to the skies to avoid them. Nico didn't let it escape though, as the rays continued to pursue the Crimson Fatalis no matter where it flew with the intent of utterly devouring it. When he saw that the creature was getting close to being out of sight, Nico quickly morphed his Rinkaku Kagune into their wing forms, before taking flight and shooting off after it.

* * *

Up above the island, Nico looked around for the sight of the Crimson Fatalis, and soon found it flying through a large canyon to try and lose the homing rays. Upon counting them, Nico saw only a couple dozen, similar tot he number Sou Edge released, remaining which meant that the others had hit something other than the Fatalis since he saw few wounds on it. 'Although, I do feel small remnants of darkness flowing through it, pretty much acting like poison to its system. However, its body seems to be reheating itself in an attempt to suppress the poison of the darkness.' Looking around, Nico once again found areas that had been filled with Darkness, Darkness and shadows that rapidly expanded to conceal all forms of life from view... plus, likely devouring it all as well. 'Entire landscapes, huh...?'

This reminded him of when Erebus awakened, with how it pretty much formatted the entire red room into a Darkness nightmare during its evolution into its Archdevil Arm form.

Even so, Nico noticed the Fatalis quickly flying up into the air above the island before halting there, using its Wings to keep itself afloat while batting it's Tail towards the remaining rays. Each one got sent back into the canyon, which now looked pretty much overrun with Darkness at this point. The Elder Dragon took one look at the redhead Armoured male, it's eyes burning with immense fury and malice towards him. Nico didn't blame it, he HAD just corrupted parts of its home with Erebus after all. It then unleashed a mighty roar, and following after that a HUGE shower of meteors, each one the size of a human, falling onto the island.

Having to Warp around to dodge them felt like a pain at first, however he then recalled Erebus's powers, and shrouded himself with it's Darkness, thus the Meteors simply passed through him.

Problem solved.

Though, he did get the feeling Erebus was laughing as he thought that...

Meh.

Nico quickly realized what the creature did however, when he saw flames start to spread throughout the entire island as well, some flames even colliding with the darkness areas which began to battle each other. He could see constructs formed from fire and darkness charging at each other and entering a full on turf war below them, determined to win the island for themselves. 'Fire vs darkness... light vs darkness. Oh the irony...' Nico couldn't help but think to himself, chuckling slightly at his thoughts while twirling Erebus in his hand. He twirled it a full 360 degrees multiple times, before firmly grasping the Shaft.

Instantly afterwards, Nico swung Erebus after gathering more power into it. The result, managed to be a large wave of Darkness that cut through every spec of air between it and it's target. The Crimson Fatalis responded by launching a large fiery blast. Both attacks slammed into each other like great weights clashing with each other, resulting in a mix of fire and Darkness erupting into an explosion. Following that attempt, Nico swung Erebus several times and sent homing rays at it,, before unleashing it's power of creation to form a cage around the airspace the two shared. The cage itself looked like one of those one would see in the gallows, and since the thing was made from Darkness it would be difficult to get rid of due to it's absorption properties.

Nico phased through it however after avoiding several Fireballs the size of a small island by the Crimson Fatalis, and then hovered above the cage. His eyes narrowed as he held Erebus above his head, it's form heavily bathing itself in Darkness. "Now... clench it, Erebus! Show this fucker what it means to FEAR THE DARK!" he bellowed straight towards his Archdevil Arm, which cackled in glee through their link as it responded to its master's will. In that moment, the cage began to shrink at high speeds, attempting to trap and devour the Crimson Fatalis still inside of it. At the rate it shrunk, Nico theorized that the beast would have but a few more seconds before darkness would claim it.

Those few seconds though... turned out to be everything that the beast needed.

One moment the cage was shrinking in Nico's eyes, the next though the teen almost got blown away. The reason, a tornado of fire erupted out from the shrinking cage, completely obliterating it whilst enlarging to the size of the island beneath them. Heat and flames roared from the torrent like a newborn phoenix, proudly and boldly displaying both it's fury and glee at having broken free from the cage that he had entrapped it. Nico guessed that the cage of darkness had only about a couple seconds to remain so before it had been destroyed... and this beast had generated such flames to destroy it... he could see how this thing could have destroyed entire kingdoms on its own...

Nevertheless, Nico allowed Erebus to pour its Darkness into the atmosphere above them, faint black wisps rising from the back of the blade being the sole hint to what it was doing. Those wisps however, had an immediate effect on the atmosphere, so quick that it hadn't even been funny. The skies immediately began to darken as clouds of Darkness covered them, blocking out and devouring any sources of light. That would be no problem for him though, thanks to his Gene Seed Implants being able to let him see in even these conditions. The flames burning within the Fatalis not only gave away its position, but also allowed it vision in this darkness too.

According to his senses, Nico estimated that so far, Erebus had only used about 40% of its total power, there was still a whole bucket load of energy to go through. Even as right now when he channeled the power of Darkness within it to generate a whole shower of Darkness balls above his head and sent them to his enemy, Nico felt that it didn't even reach the weapon's half way point. Not to mention the fact that the more he used it, the more attuned the male found himself becoming to it's power. It had been similar to his previous Archdevil Arm, too. As the blade lit up with fumes made by Darkness, Nico made to charge forwards when he saw the Crimson Fatalis having destroyed the previous attack he made, his next one aiming more towards it's exposed stomach, when...

'OI, KING! HOLD UP A SECOND!'

'Huh?! What now, you?!' Nico exclaimed in his mind, almost jumping when the mad shout from his Ghoul Persona tore through the silence that was his mind. Not to mention the fact that Erebus's **Darkness Sight** didn't feel the need to block him or Biko out. Guess Erebus liked those two then, if he thought back to the previous instances between it and those two, hence why it allowed him to hear them still. 'I'm in the middle of something here!'

'NOT MY PROBLEM, KING! BUT WHATEVER, YOU GOTTA THINK! IS KILLING THIS THING REALLY THE BEST WAY TO PASS THE TEST?!'

...

...

...

...

...

Did he just hear that right? Nico almost didn't even try to believe what he just heard, so surprised he had been that he'd even stopped Erebus's next attack. The only reason the Archdevil Arm didn't show any frustration at that, had been because it too heard his Ghoul Persona's question and wanted to know more. Did it just say what they thought he said? That this was the best way to go about this test? Was his head loose or something?

Well, wait maybe it was.

'UGH, SHOULDA EXPECTED THAT, BUT C'MON KING, AREN'T YOU MISSING ONE 'PECULIAR' DETAIL ABOUT YOUR GHOUL SHIT?! LIKE, HELLOOOOOO, THIS THING'S A POWERFUL BEAST, YEAH? AN ELDER DRAGON AT THAT! AND WE'RE A GHOUL, A CREATURE THAT GETS STRONGER EATING OUR OWN KIND OR OTHER ABNORMALS! I THINK YA CAN GET THE PICTURE THERE!'

As he heard those words, Nico blinked owlishly as he surrounded himself in Darkness, allowing himself some form of protection whilst the Crimson Fatalis tried to attack him to no avail. Physical attacks remained useless, and the fire attacks it launched merely got devoured... thus, it stopped attacking and waited for Nico to make the next move.

'What the hell is this guy's mindset? I mean, he's said it himself he's instinct personified, so he literally shouldn't be thinking anything complex at all...' Nico wondered inside his Darkness. It was only because of Erebus that he wasn't being devoured by his own Darkness, since it controlled said element. Still, this fact didn't really register inside Nico's head as he continued to ponder...

Until an idea hit him.

Could...

Could his Ghoul side be talking about THAT?

Back in Gamindustri, Nico sometimes had to sate his hunger by hunting other Abnormal or other Ghouls. The problem with his Ghoul side was that it had a ravenous appetite, an appetite that it couldn't sate with just humans alone as a diet. Therefore, other monsters had been the way to go, and whilst it was an acquired taste his Ghoul Side eventually began finding monsters more delicious than humans. Although humans still tasted like a five star hotel's full course meal to him, monsters started tasting better.

Though, they also had other benefits too.

Not only did devouring monsters sate his hunger, restore his RC Cell reserves and increase their quantity thus increase his appetite for them, but they also enhanced his RC Cells to make them stronger. To make them better, more resilient and more versatile. It was theorized to be how his Kagune began to develop new traits such as it's invisibility or its projectiles, hell even the powers that his third fangs now had were a viable result of devouring Abnormals. There had been just something about eating Abnormals that resulted in Nico getting stronger and stronger the more he ate. Therefore, the Guild along with everyone else in a position of power aside from the CPUs who knew about him, decided to restrict his feeding habits to a few Abnormals only, with strict rules regarding them which forced Nico to return to devouring the humans he was 'sent' after.

But back to the Abnormal devouring thing, Nico LOVED eating them, in fact eating that meat he'd hunted thanks to Castiel in the first trial reminded him heavily of those times. But in none, NONE of those times had be been fortunate enough to consume an Elder Dragon. There had been a time when a Chameleos, which could be considered an Elder Dragon, had wandered into his path which then resulted in his Kagune getting increased vibrations to the point where it eventually DEVELOPED invisibility, but yeah. Aside from that, he had been forbidden from eating such monsters as it had been theorized that the power-up his Ghoul side would achieve would be 'too dangerous' for them to handle.

Tch, bastards just didn't want their 'dog' to break their leash.

Well, considering that he had started using more of his Ghoul Side at this point, plus Zelretch HAD once told him between trials (sneakily he might add) that he would be 'free to do whatever', why should he stick to that rule here? Not like those guys would find out anyways, since this WAS a different dimension. 'Heheheheheheee, I like the way you think...' Nico couldn't help but remark to his Ghoul side, a dark grin slowly spreading out across his lips beneath his helmet, his eyes slowly blazing to life.

'HEH, DON'T GIMME THAT SHIT, JUST GO 'BON APETIT' ALREADY, YA FUCKTARD!'

And with that, his Ghoul side's Persona vanished back into the recesses of his mind... only for Biko to take his place.

 **'Nico, whilst I do still dislike that guy, I do admit he has a point. Eating this Fatalis will definitely enhance your Ghoul side, and perhaps it may even get you one step closer to completing THAT form. Not to mention it'll give you some other benefits as well. In addition, I sense something within it that may help us.'**

Nodding inside his shell, Nico allowed the connection to cut itself, and he swung Erebus to disperse his cover. When he did so, a hundred or so ideas popped into his head with this information, ideas that soon formed into a concrete plan of attack. 'Alright, if I want to do this...' Nico began, though he paused his thoughts so that he could Warp out the way of a Fireball to the face. He reappeared, then Warped again to avoid a fiery claw as well, caused by the Crimson Fatalis as it turned around and breathed another Torrent towards him. Sensing that his Magic Resistance Perk wouldn't be able to handle such a concentrated attack, Nico quickly engulfed himself in Darkness, allowing him to let the attack harmlessly pass through him.

'I'll have to ground it first, then I can focus on the main Course. However, I can't get too close as this thing's been recorded to be able to excrete explosive gases everywhere around it, gases that detonate. Though, if it does, I do recall records saying that it takes time for that gas to be replaced, since it doesn't just fill the entire battlefield with it. If it sees me trying to get onto it's back, I bet THAT would be what it will do...' the teen thought to himself, before an idea struck him. 'That may work!'

With his idea in mind, plan fully forming Nico quickly swung Erebus and pulled out a large portion of it's power. He guessed he;d used 60% at this point, as a massive dragon of Darkness formed behind him that looked to be shaped just like the Crimson Fatalis itself. Only, where red would have been purple took it's place, and it's eyes were made from violently blazing fumes. The black dragon roared at the Crimson Fatalis, which roared back in challenge before, under Erebus and Nico's command, the being of darkness charged towards it.

Of course, the Crimson Fatalis responded by blasting it with flames, however thanks to the absorption Nature of Erebus, the Darkness being didn't receive any damage from the flames, passing through them with ease. At this, the Crimson Fatalis narrowed it's eyes, contempt and arrogance seeping from it's being as it kept itself from charging at it's opponents. Instincts and experience combined told it not to let that thing touch it since it was made from the very thing causing it so much trouble in the first place. Its suspicions on this being screamed at it to be wary of what it might do...

Those suspicions quickly became apparent when the entire thing just up and exploded, covering the Crimson Fatalis's face and vision with Darkness soot. The Creature wildly thrashed and flailed about, quickly trying to get the soot off it as it felt the power it had begin to work it's magic. Flames began to generate across it's body, seeping through the cracks that the soot didn't cover before it unleashed it's gas. A gas that detonated soon after, blowing away all the Soot so it couldn't hinder it's vision anymore. Howling in victory, the Crimson Fatalis looked around for it's opponent, determined to gloat about how it's puny darkness didn't manage to hurt it...

Only, it couldn't find it anywhere.

"SURPRISE, BITCH!"

* * *

Calling that out had never felt so good in that moment.

Nico could only think that as he slammed into the creature from behind, having appeared behind it by jumping through the darkness that the beast he made generated when it exploded before engulfing himself in a meteor shaped from Darkness to slam into the creature's back. The moment he had done so, Nico saw hos his Darkness quickly began eroding away at the Crimson Fatalis, every hit from that darkness so far had been weakening its defenses against Erebus's power, and at this point it wouldn't last long until the Darkness would be able to get a proper foothold within it's body. After all, every time Erebus hit it with either physical or Dark attacks, a portion of the enemy was absorbed by it, letting the Darkness get better accustomed to devouring beings of that magnitude. Its like climbing up a hill, gradually the Darkness would finally be able to get inside the Crimson Fatalis and, despite the flames within hammering away at it, the Darkness would reach it's heart to corrupt and devour it.

Though, that wasn't his goal...

No, his goal was MUCH different.

The moment he slammed into it, Nico quickly released his Bikaku and stabbed each of the four Tails into the creature's body, rooting himself in and securing his stability all the while. Even as the Crimson Fatalis tried to flail about and wrench him off it, Nico's Kagune managed to keep him strapped securely onto his back. Though, this would be the risky part of his attack plan, since thanks to this position Nico wouldn't be able to dodge the gas if it excluded it at this time. Maybe Warping could work, but he didn't want to leave even a bit of his Kagune behind to do so.

Therefore, Nico instantly acted on his next move, raising Erebus and gathering the Darkness around them. This included that which was on the Fatalis, and it resulted in him forming two eel-like demonic heads attached to Tendril-like extensions from his upper back, their size more than rivaling that of the Crimson Fatalis's head. Guessed those ere the **Demon Heads** Erebus had told him about via the transfer. Each one however, gripped the beast's wings tightly in their jaws, their grip colder than ice as their nature began to eat away at the Crimson Fatalis's defenses. Said beast roared and howled in pain at the feelings that grew within it from its wings, a rising fear becoming present within as it realized that it's defenses were slowly failing it.

Noticing that the beast was beginning to release the gas as evident by the fumes Nico spotted around them, the redhead teen quickly made his next move. 'This better work!'

Upon his command, Nico made the heads pull themselves backwards, calling upon all the power that he could muster, as he put in every bit of Demonic Power, RC Cells and SP into his next move. The perks and boons known as **Shadow Gauntlet,** Berserk and Avenger worked overtime in using their effects, as well as the various Satanic Treasures that he had collected such as the Red Rage Ring, the Green Hatred Ring, and the mark on his chest known simply as the Sin Amplifier. All that energy, all that power, it went straight into the Archdevil Arm known as Erebus, which almost flt like someone high on drugs as it eagerly lost itself in the power coursing through it like blood... whilst funneling it into the demonic looking Eel heads.

In the end...

SQUELCH!

Nico's demonic Eel Heads tore the wings right out of their sockets with dozens of squishy noises accompanying it.

 **"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

A loud roar of intense agony enveloped the Crimson Fatalis's maw, forcing itself out into the open air as the Elder Dragon, stripped of its ability to fly, spiraled down towards the ground like a falling rock, soon slamming into the ground with enough force to replicate a powerful earthquake that caused the entire island, which still had been hosting the battle between Fire and Darkness, to tremble down to its roots.

* * *

Down on the ground...

Nico had to do all he could to stop himself from coughing as a huge smokescreen blanketed half the island from the impact. It didn't surprise him, not only was that thing large, but Elder Dragons could be considered S to X Ranked Abnormals since their very presence causes natural disasters to take place. They came in many shapes and sizes too, something which Nico had experience with himself thanks to fighting a few of them. Never before had he, aside from that Chameleos, devoured one whole like this. If he HAD done so, then his Ghoul Side would be WAY more than a match for his DPU powers, its buffing prowess would definitely be closer to continent class than his current state's base strength.

Even so, the teen had little time to waste as he used his Rinkaku and Bikaku (the Demon Heads, had already receded into him at the moment of collision) to disperse the smoke. The Fatalis had been known to have immense regenerative capabilities. One time when one met its end by the hand of a Spec Ops Agent and had its corpse made into an Armour, that Agent lost himself to the Armour as it took over and reformed the Fatalis, with the human inside it who only died when the process completed. Not to mention that the Fatalis usually screw humanity over in the worst way possible by picking up defeated Agents and sticking them to its boy, using the flames within to melt them (those alive would be screaming during the process) onto its body to make its own Armour. This one seemed to have been here for a long time, so he didn't see any remnants of Armour on it (thank Goddess).

Therefore, the redhead needed to get a move on before the beast regenerated its wings.

Looking to his prey, the male saw it lying on it's side next to him, winded from the recent loss of its appendages and staggered by the slamming into the island. His senses told him that remnants of Erebus's Darkness had entered it and disabled it's mobility functions by corrupting and eating away it's nerve system. Not to mention that it devoured it's spinal column to make sure it couldn't escape. They had landed right where Nico had first appeared coincidentally, and the heat did not do its wounds any favors. Even so, Nico noticed how the wounds were rapidly healing, and would take a couple milliseconds to close. In addition, the stumps where its wings had once been were already bubbling, they'd take at least a millisecond to start regenerating right now. Its healing capacity would definitely surpass his right now... though the possibility of gaining that regeneration boost nearly made him drool with eager anticipation.

With that in mind, the redhead male eagerly dismissed his Armour and launched himself at the Elder Dragon, cutting a hole inside it's chest with a few quick Bikaku slashes and unleashing hell upon its insides with his Rinkaku, strapping Erebus to his back and shielding himself with Darkness to ward off the flames. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't be able to touch things like this since the Darkness wouldn't let it, but Erebus allowed him to at this moment since it wanted to see him grow stronger from eating through the Crimson Fataliss's future corpse.

CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP, CHOMP, CHOMP, SCHULUCK, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, CHOMP, GULP, SLURP, CHOMP, CHOMP SLURP, GULP!

Not only did Nico's mouth work overtime, but he also formed extra mouths with his Rinkaku, mouths that eagerly dug into his prey and began feasting upon it with the Crimson Fatalis unable to respond. All it could do was lay there as it's life began to die and get consumed by the predator that had attacked it... oddly enough, this situation seemed starkly similar to the habits of how a Centipede would eat it's prey. Many mouths descended upon it with the intent to leave nothing remaining, not even the faintest drop of sweet, mouth watering blood. All of it would soon go into the belly, then the eagerly waiting body, of the young One-Eyed Ghoul which had begun feasting upon it.

One Predator had finally triumphed over the other.

* * *

By the time Nico finally finished his meal, the teen rubbed the last specs of blood from his recent meal off his face with his forearm, then licked it all up with his tongue. His eyes held a look that could only be explained as that look one gets when truly reaching the pinnacle of satisfaction, glazed over with moans of delight escaping his lips. A sweet, content sigh soon followed suit as he fell onto his backside, using his hands as supports by placing them behind him and leaning backwards on them. By the time that he had finished, Erebus had already vanished back inside him, inside his soul where the Archdevil Arms preferred instead of his Void Storage. The redhead male then looked up at the Skies above, his eyes looking upon the clear skies that came from him having dispersed the Darkness there with this battle.

His Kagune had already receded into him, but boy did that meal taste fucking GREAT! It had been some of the best meat he could ever have tasted, absolutely high quality stuff right there. Devouring an Abnormal as exquisite as that had been one of the few times where Nico truly appreciated the taste buds his Ghoul Side made for him, as he felt almost godly in terms of contentment. Not to mention that he had to use his Kagune to make more mouths to devour the Crimson Fatalis with, nothing had been spared not a single drop of blood or the useless wings that he'd pulled from it. In all honestly, they were more like the end desert of a full course menu...

Not to mention the ADDITIONS that had been made to his Ghoul Side and the rest of his body!

Standing back upwards, though he did nearly stumble from the amount of eating he'd done, Nico spent a moment regaining his balance before he internally checked his body out... and honestly, he couldn't help but jump and down like an excited schoolgirl (the urge to squeal like one also felt prominent, but Nico resisted that part) when he found out what he did.

To start, Nico saw through his inner eye how the RC Cells had adapted to the new surge of meat, making huge improvements to his body. The Fatalis's blood cells merged with his RC Cells, expanding their vitality, endurance, speed, power, attack strength, defense, the works. Not to mention he now had that thing's healing abilities stacked onto his own regeneration. It would be nigh impossible to truly kill him even with the thing about a DPU's soul never dying due to multiple plane milarky. It's bone marrow fused with his own, strengthening that too whilst his skin felt as hard as dragon scales. Though it retained it's human appearance, Nico could not say that he hadn't felt any changes to its hardness when he ran a finger over his arm. Not only that, but when he looked at his blood by cutting himself with one of his nails, he had seen how the redness that his blood possessed seemed to glow a vibrant crimson color before it receded into the wound which healed over. Like he had thought, his regeneration for minor injuries was instant now.

Now to see if his Kagune looked any different.

Unleashing his Rinkaku and Bikaku, Nico circled them around him so their tips pointed at his face, allowing him to look them over. It didn't seem like anything had changed about them appearance wise at first, but when he let the Rinkaku show itself, the male saw that instead of pure, organic flesh, the Rinkaku showed itself as being made from hardened, abyssal black dragon scales. Not to mention the increased parameters for his RC Cells could be detected within them, the male thought as he once again cloaked his Rinkaku. Looking to his Bikaku, Nico noticed similar internal changes, and when he experimentally released a talon projectile, he INSTANTLY noted how it tore a clean hole through a cliff face before proceeding on it's flight course. He even saw it make a slight twinkle in the skies like those three guys who constantly get blasted away by a 10 year old.

He had no clue on what his third fangs got from that meal, but he certainly felt like it got similar power boosts.

 **'Not to mention the fact that you now have absolute fire immunity, Nico. The crimson radiance from your blood all but proves it. This creature, it possessed a powerful core which you devoured, one which allows someone to become perfectly immune to any type of fire or heat based attack. I would have never heard of such a thing if we did not notice it whilst we were getting books about swords before the second trial. I implore you to look into that market once again when this trial is finally over, so we can find out what other treasures we can acquire. Not to mention that by devouring it whole, your body gained some... unexpected treasures.'**

The moment Biko said those words, the male arched a brow whilst wondering what the fuck he had meant by that. That is, until Nico felt a weight on his left leg, and when he looked down there... Nico's eyes bulged, nearly flying out their sockets cartoonishly. "Wh-Wha?!"

There, clinging to his leg, was a Spirit Bone. It was shaped like the leg of the Crimson Fatalis whom Nico had devoured, and glowed a similar shade of orangish-red that the creature did. It constantly oozed malice and rage through it's aura, a rage that Nico quickly attributed to the rage Khornate Demons possessed whenever they fought.

 **'I saw it attach to you whilst you were inside devouring that Elder Dragon, though you were otherwise preoccupied. Apparently, it must be something akin to a Spirit Beast of considerable age for the power I sensed. According to my investigations, it offers two abilities:** **Meteor shower - the user to summon meteors from the skies like it's original form once did. The size and power of a summoned Meteor depended on the level of energy put inside the Spirit Bone, and the user can target certain areas or everywhere around them. Then, there's** **Gas Eruption – The Spirit Bone releases a cloud of highly flammable gas, which the user can detonate at will. The quantity and range of which depend on the user themselves.'**

'Huh, I see... so that thing was a Spirit Beast, huh? Well then, that would make a lot of sense, and honestly part of me thought to make it's corpse into something useful for the girls back home, but honestly that would have been a bad idea. It could have destroyed them whilst reforming the Crimson Fatalis, or reduce their minds to insanity. It was for the best that I eat it the way I did... at least now, it won't have a chance to ever regenerate and my power can keep it from coming back.' Nico thought as he gazed down at the Spirit Bone. He could feel the evil and sinister power within it, a testament to the Fatalis's rage. No way did he want something like THAT anywhere NEAR Neptune or the girls, he'd clobber any who tried to do otherwise no questions asked.

Just then, a screen appeared before him, showing the signature sign that the trial had been passed and that he had earned a reward. Looking almost expectantly, Nico smiled when he saw the reward that he had gained:

REWARDS:

Ouranos

Ouranos... the first ever Archdevil Arm he had ever gained, and one of the greater achievements he'd gotten too. This Archdevil Arm, well, it had WAY more of a connection to him when it was just a Devil Arm, as this thing had powers that opened his eyes to just how dangerous the Devildimension really was to him. Through it, he'd seen many things, many horrors on a planet-wide scale that he didn't even want to think about. Though, he didn't regret seeing them even if they were nightmare material, cause it showed him just how good a being Sparda had been by sealing Gamindustri off from the rest of that war-like Dimension. So many OP bad-asses existed throughout the space outside the sealed away Gamindustri, and he wanted to fight them all. To refine his skills enough so that he could fight on equal grounds against Mundus.

Therefore, Nico welcomed the Archdevil Arm back into its soul with a massive grin on his face.

That was when another screen popped up in front of him.

 **Hey there, emo kid.**

 **Thanks for getting rid of that pest for me, i'd captured it while on a bit of a stroll through worlds and put it here as a toy, but it may have been a bit too insane for even my tastes (it would ruing my mood dealing with that, I am watching The Good Place and dealing with that would eat away at my TV time). All that rage inside it probably turned its brain to mush (not that it had much to begin with, even though it is a poor idiot for losing the intelligence it should have for his age), but even so that rage turned it into a 100,000 year plus Spirit Beast that would have been too much of a pain to put down myself, then I thought 'why not let the emo kid have a crack at it?' Anyways, since ya got your powers upgraded, its time to get this trial's last boss revealed! So, don't leave your seats folks, cause this is gonna be a doozy!**

 **Oh, but you got to wait on Castiel as he is dealing with some... stuff.**

 **Zelretch the awesome, badass dead apostle! #smiley face#**

... To be honest, Nico wasn't even mad at this point, he'd expected it to be something like this. That, and he had been in too good a mood to care about how Zelretch had basically used him to do his dirty work. Hey, it got him some neat power-ups, so it wasn't completely worthless. Part of him wondered if the expression 'a method to the madness' applied to that guy... then that part got snuffed out, as OF COURSE it applied. It was a dumb question that needed no answer, since they had experience to prove it.

These were his thoughts, before Nico found himself teleported away from the now barren Island.

* * *

Now, the male found himself back in the red room... only there was a slight difference.

Instead of many small entrances, there was one big one in front of him, one that comically had a big sign next to it saying 'go through here!' Nico could only sweat drop, whilst Amon appeared before him with his arms crossed. Though, his features did soften slightly when he appeared, so maybe he was getting somewhere with this guy?

"(Looks like you have completed the test, boy. I'm impressed, you actually hung in there, after that second one, I had half expected you to wuss out. In any case, the last enemy of this trial awaits, however you have to wait for your companion before you can proceed. Therefore, this entrance shall lead you to the one that leads to the boss area. Go there, and wait for your companion, do whatever you please in the meantime.)"

'Huh, so Emiya isn't finished yet then... Well, I'll wait for the guy, its the least I can do for him since the second test incident. Maybe I could look for something that could help him or his companions out on the market shop thing this dimension has. There should be something there, and I have more than enough points to spare too. Plus there might be something the girls back home could use too.' the redhead male thought to himself. In any other circumstance, he'd likely be pretty annoyed for having to wait on someone else, but right now he perfectly accepted it. He'd been an idiot and made Castiel waste his time helping his stupid ass, so something like this should be fair in exchange. Plus, it wasn't like he couldn't do anything whilst he waited either, so that was a thing. Perhaps he could see about looking into those tomes he got for those Great Way of the Buddha and Star God's Broken Shadow techniques, plus those Osiris Techniques too, while he waited.

Ideas flowed endlessly through his mind.

With that, Amon vanished and Nico began walking into the entrance.

* * *

Castiel POV

As the ritual ended I could only sigh in relief. This was probably my top 4 worse pains ever, which the list goes:

1 - The whole thing with Kokabiel, including the battle with him and the subsequent boiling of my right eye while I still had my original one;

2 - The use of the _Buddha Heart Lotus of the Nine Ressurections_ and the subsequent breaking and restructuring of all my magic circuits that, by the way, are directly connected to my soul;

3 - My fifteen birthday where the girls decided to house a surprise party with only homemade dishes... Now that I think better this one might beat the other two, I am just not sure because I passed out on the middle of the 'party' because one of them mixed what was supposed to be salt and what was ferment, and when she realized she decided to fix it by putting salt there even though what she actually put was sugar. That was on a turkey that for some reason had the filling of mayonnaise that I believe was rotten (after that I forbid any of the girls from even trying to cook);

Anyway, I got to admit one thing. This Divine Blood is freaking awesome! I can feel the power coursing through me right now and boy is it strong.

I think this flame I now have is enough to make my flames from Airgetlain at least ten times hotter and with the added attribute of being the bane of demonic powers. It is just a shame that I don't have enough time to properly study these flames and try to make techniques that use them properly or my power would sky-rocket even further.

Now, it is time to go and see that last trial again. With my current affinity for fire and heat I don't fear that trial nearly as much as before, perhaps I can even use it to learn more about fire and try to learn whatever I can from it.

"Astaroth, I am ready for that other trial." I said to the empty air, but the entity appeared just the same before me.

'If you says so then we ought to get going. No point in staying in this place when it doesn't even have the fire energy it had some time ago.' He said as he put his hand in my shoulder before teleporting me back to the place where we can select the challenge. 'Out you go, remember that as long as you manage to stay there for 10 minutes you pass the test' he said before adding 'Oh, and I will guard what is left from the Lesser Vermilion Bird's corpse. No point in carrying it around when fighting there.' he said.

"Thanks, and nice haircut by the way." I said cheekily as the fire snakes that formed his hair started nodding in approval and smugness. It is sort of cute, if only ruined by how they are connected to a guy that is as jacked as possible.

* * *

Entering the trial place again I no longer felt the heat I felt before. If anything it was just like a warm morning to me, my body now used to much hotter flames and much more adept to dealing with heat than before.

I turned to the sky, and sure enough, meteors started falling from the sky one after another, one faster than the other with the smaller ones being a tad faster than the heavier and bigger ones.

Disrupting the rhythm as the meteors fell I continuously moved from one point to another, analyzing where the meteors would fall and how they would impact things around me. But, the more I managed to watch it the more shocked I am. It is like there is a certain rhythm and, at the same time, it completely lacks any sort of law of how it works. It just keeps trying to annihilate everything, everything the fire is doing is trying to consume everything, even itself as many of the meteors hit one another consuming and growing more and more all-encompassing.

However, as I moved from one point to another I could spend more time analyzing it as I no longer feared the fire here, just the impact that the meteors created.

This, this is how fire is then, this search for destroying everything, to consume all, this is what fire is all about. However, even though the destruction was everywhere I also saw how the destruction build in itself, as if it grew with time and made things more whole.

I was entranced, the divine blood in me helping me understand what was happening as my understanding of fire and its variations and uses deepened with time. This would have endless benefits for me as I continued learning here about fire and its infinite variations. I was making a foundation for me to grow later, to be able to truly use fire as I see fit to either save or destroy my enemies.

I continued admiring and studying all that I could from this scene that could only be thought off as a 'end of the world' scenario, I cut down meteors and waves of magma that approached me while I continued trying to deduct and learn about everything. Like that, time passed without I even realizing, my understanding on how to use fire increased by the second as I learned and simulated more and more about what was going on. I learned in special how fire can be explosive and how it can carry 'weight' despite the fact it be pure energy.

Lost in time I simply forgot the fact there is a time limit for me to complete this trial, I simply lost myself in deductions as I continuously learned more and more as the fire and the power here grew more and more potent.

I only stopped when I was hit by a meteor that was at least a few hundred meters in size accelerating at extreme speeds while covered in very destructive flames.

* * *

'I see that you finally came out of the trial grounds.' Astaroth said as he looked at Castiel who had an empty gaze as he continued moving his mouth as if he was reciting something, not that he was actually as he simply was trying to fixate everything he learned deep within his mind for latter studies. After about one minute he finally snapped out of it and quickly turned to Astaroth.

"You said before that I have a total of three chances there, I will go in again." Castiel said as he stood up while already moving towards the door, ignoring the dumbfounded look Astaroth gave him.

'He already passed, heck he managed to stay there for a whole 18 minutes! Why did he decide to go in there again?' Astaroth asked to no one in particular as he saw Castiel entering the trial ground again.

What Astaroth didn't understand is that Castiel was now in a state where he is trying to understand everything that he possibly can about fire. At this point in time what he wanted to be able to learn more about fire was exactly what was in that trial he just re-entered.

Pressure, the danger of getting close to dying being the key for him as he wanted to force himself to learn anything and everything. For him right now this was more important than any reward, this was a chance to grow stronger and pave the way for him to be strong enough to protect those he cares about.

And, this desire to grow stronger to protect is exactly what will make him truly shine in the future.

So, a total of thirty minutes passed before Castiel was expelled out of that world of destruction. His body was covered in wounds, bruises, and he was covered in magma on many places, but his face continued mostly blank as he continued learning more and more. His understanding deepening by the second as his control over fire and fire magic grew exponentially.

If he were to use his **Cruel Star** as he used on Nico during their spar right now the results would be a crushing and absolute victory by comparison. The fragmented star power that resided in Airgetlan was growing more and more complete as Castiel used his own knowledge and power to fill in the blanks and make its power grow to something completely unique to himself. Just based on this alone he already could be called as being one of the 'strong' ones in his world, and while his powers still remained as ultimate-class his accumulation to reach super-class was reaching scary levels.

He was strong, and was only growing stronger.

* * *

After meditating/assimilating everything he could from what he saw in this trial Castiel was taken to the final one. He now had just one more trial to face, but before he entered this trial (which he had a BAD premonition when he saw the door) he had something else he had to do.

Claim his reward.

"So, did I get anything for that one?" Castiel asked, not really hoping for much as he had already got plenty with his previous victory against the Lesser Vermilion Bird.

'You do, this one may be one that you will appreciate in special as you do seem to love learning.' Astaroth said with a slight smile, he also liked learning and people that relentlessly searched for knowledge to help those he cared about.

Astaroth then took out a stone. It was black, damaged, full of very small runes that were paced together extremely close but with extremely rough lines, and gave off an ancient and powerful aura but if you were not sensitive enough you wouldn't even notice.

Castiel gaped when he saw this stone, it was something so valuable that Castiel has only read about it and didn't even think about one day obtaining one for himself.

This was a Chaos Stone, a stone created when a universe was born and that was naturally engraved with many unique mysteries of the universe and how it worked. Any centimeter² of this stone carried in itself more knowledge than all the books on Earth combined!

The number of things that was possible to learn by studying this sort of natural treasure of the universe was impossible to define. And, the piece he received was almost 2 m³!

It was enough for him to study and learn for hundreds of years and still not get everything.

It was something that would help him in many ways, he just needed time for him to study it carefully as it was a very time-consuming thing since the knowledge was all chaotically put and it was hard to understand. However, the benefits that this sort of thing could give him on the long run were simply incalculable.

Castiel carefully touched the stone, he did not dare start studying it now as he knows that when he does start he doesn't know how long he will stay lost studying it, but he had a feeling that the least amount of time would be five months straight.

Thanking Astaroth he turned around to his last trial, hoping that it would not be too crazy.

* * *

He had to have thought that, he just had to sign a red flag.

"So, this is who that moronic idiot sent to face me?" A human said this as he looked down at me.

He had waist-length hair with shoulder-length bangs framing the sides of his face, covering most of his right eye. He had a crimson armor with numerous metal plates, forming protective guards along his chest, waist, shoulders, and thighs. He had a non-folding fan that was almost his size and a scythe in hand.

But, the most striking thing about him was his eyes, they were red, with three black tones in them.

Yep, uncle Zelretch managed to go well and beyond with this one. He actually managed to either create or find UCHIHA MADARA to face me on this trial!

I can only hope he can't use magekyo and wood release, otherwise I might as well just give up right here and now.


	169. Cross Chapter 16 - Castiel Uchiha'ed

**Castiel get's Uchiha'ed**

Looking at fucking Uchiha Madara standing tall opposite him, Castiel shuddered in both dread and eager anticipation as he clenched his shaking fists. He could only imagine how bad things could and would turn out. Uchiha Madara was one of the prime antagonists in the naruto series, and since Zelretch was someone who traveled between worlds it would not surprise him that he found this guy on one of them. The multiverse was a large thing after all. Even so, Zelretch had clearly went and done it this time, bringing a living legend like this guy from the Ninja world over here to fight him in this Trial. Castiel knew that Madara had took on an entire army of allied shinobi forces on his own, literally decimating them and would have finished the job if the bullshit protagonist Naruto with his talk no jutsu hadn't stopped him.

Unfortunately for Castiel, he was NOWHERE near that strong or had as much reserves as that guy did, and even then Naruto had his heritage and Jinchuriki status to go on. Therefore, his best option would likely have to be to try and overwhelm him as fast and as hard as he possibly could. No other way about it, this fight NEEDED to be as quick as possible or this hardcore badass would be prepared for all of the Heir's techniques soon enough.

With that in mind, Castiel gave a war cry as he launched himself at him at the best speed he could without much enhancement from his Magic, if at all. His hands had two weapons, one Kupriotes in one hand and Clarent in the other, having drawn them the moment that they started moving. However, Madara didn't seem to mind what he was doing at all as he simply looked down at Castiel as if he were simply a clown with two sticks.

Part of him bristled at being looked down on, the part of Castiel who saw himself as a king who should be looked up to and not underestimated like this, but he pushed that side down for the time being. It wasn't really like he would take the Heir seriously anyway, even in the anime he had a serious case of gloating and a holier-than-thou attitude going on.

When the two of us were close enough, Castiel flipped through the air and crossed blades for the first time with him, Kupriotes being the weapon Castiel had chosen to collide with his battle fan. Something he had drawn in the instant before his sword could have sliced through his flesh... well, not like it could have, his Armour was built to resist such strikes, and this guy was OP enough to endure a slash from a Noble Phantasm like this sword anyways.

"Hooh, this is not a bad level of arm-strength." Madara casually noted. his eyes locking onto the trembling form of their weapons with a slight calculating gaze whilst he held his battle-fan against my Kupriotes. "At least you seem to somewhat know your way around a blade, however that alone will not save you." he stated, something which Castiel refused to show his reaction to. That strike just now showed him that Madara wasn't taking this seriously, but the moment he did the Castiel would be royally fucked.

The two then broke away, pulling their weapons back and away from each other. Castiel then followed this motion by twisting his body using the momentum and moving his right arm holding Clarent in a reverse upward slash at him, which he saw coming and moved just enough to avoid the blade.

Well, that would be true if it wasn't for the fact that when Castiel had been centimeters away from him, he had used some light manipulation combined with Clarent and Airgetlain to release an instantaneous Judgment Bullet when he had been close enough to the older man's body. Not that it worked though to my hidden frustration, Madara's eyes were just too good, honed through countless battles on a scale of which Castiel could only dream of. He simply moved his head to the side slightly as a small cut was made on his cheek.

Even so, the man simply glanced down at the cut, as if he had not expected something like that to happen and had mitigated his emotional response to it. "Interesting." He remarked with curiosity, before lifting his right leg and entering a roundhouse kick, kicking Castiel in the stomach with immense force that any normal person would have had their spines broken.

"Ghaa!"

As Castiel got sent flying away, he barely managed to ope his eyes in time, for the male soon saw him going through many hand signs with his hands before inhaling lots of air.

Castiel's thought process: oh fuck, he's going to blow!

" **Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!** _(Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation)_ "

With that, he launched a veritable wall of flames right at the heir's face. remembering that move he used in the Anime, Castiel couldn't help the heart-pounding his said organ was going through. Wonder if the shinobi in that world felt the same thing he just did. There was nowhere to run or hide, so he simply took it head on by concentrating light energy on Airgetlain and then using Clarent's amplification to launch a wave of holy energy to cut open a way for Castiel to pass through the fire.

Even so, the teen couldn't help but grimace as he felt the flames pass by his sides. Indeed, they had the 'hot' factor down pat, seriously even if the fire wasn't touching him and he had already garnered an obscenely high resistance to fire, it had still been quite hot, enough for him to feel it. Guess that was to be expected however.

As soon as Castiel got out of the flames, he saw Madara's fist almost nearing his face from the right side. With a quick curse inside his mind, Castiel managed to avoid it by the skin of his teeth by ducking underneath it, but it still surprised him as Castiel's reaction wasn't that much slower than his own.

"Impressive." He mused, before his fan got swung in a follow up attack and with a THWACK, hit the Heir from the left side. Unlike before however, his reaction speed had not the same effects, thus it succeeded in launching him away again. "Is your left side weaker?" He asked, eyes focused intently on his opponent whilst a range of theories cycled through his mind. "Perhaps your eyes are capable of different things, interesting."

At this, Castiel could only gape at him after digging his swords into the ground and sliding to a halt. 'Is this for real, he already is getting close to figuring out what my right eye can do? The fuck?' he thought in shock, dread and slight fear. This felt WAY worse than dealing with Kokabiel, this felt worser than anything that crow could have done to him.

"Now, try again." He advised, no commanded while readying his battle fan. "I am guarding this trial, if you want to pass you must force me to go at least forty percent serious. If you manage to actually wound me for more than just a pathetic scratch you will even get a bonus."

'Oh, so it is not like I have to KILL him (not that I would manage that, considering what I know about him if he truly is Madara as I think). If what I am seeing, feeling, and know about him is anything to go by this is a HUGE relief on my part.' the Heir thought to himself, almost losing the urge to show the emotions welling up inside of him from that revelation. 'Even so, however, I must make this fight be at my top condition to deal with him, but considering everything my first move now is the most important. First, let's put Clarent away for now.' he thought to himself as he dismissed the mighty weapon, much to Madara's confusion whilst readying himself for an impending attack. 'This is a great sword, possibly my best one, but what I need now isn't simply power, but mastery over my sword. His eyes are just too good, I need to bring out my best swordplay that I possibly can and it was only recently that I started being able to wield Clarent more freely. I still have ways to go with it, but when it comes down to the blade I can bring out my best techniques in swordplay there is no doubt that Kurpiotes works the best for me even if it is a weaker blade.'

With those thoughts in mind, Castiel got into a better stance than one with duel wielding. "Fuuuhhhh," he sighed, exhaling the air from his lungs whilst calming his pounding heart to a steady rhythm. Castiel's energy began circulating back through his own body as he focused in strengthening his body to the absolute limit. Every single cell must be strengthened to the breaking point, he had to focus on bringing himself to the point where he would be at his fastest as well as his strongest. Nothing would be left un-enhanced, nothing would be untouched. everything had to be maxed out to its fullest capacity right now.

Everything else, such as outside battle thoughts like his worry over his comrades, his grievances towards HER, everything else would be classed as unnecessary. Castiel had to erase any other thought from his mind, forming a clean slate that any swordsman would need so he could simply connect himself with his blade and attack.

Something which obviously Madara would notice, if the slight arching of his brow was any indication. "Hoho, I did not expect one so young to be able to reach this level of focus. If you were on my world you probably would already be famous by now," He said, still not showing the slightest worry even as his eyes continued focused on myself.

'Where is it, where is the limit of my body right now? I must be at my strongest but this is taking far too long!' Castiel thought to himself as he began sensing an attack coming.

Something which would prove to be correct, as Madara moved his hands in a chain of movements (his hands being like blurs) before inhaling deeply.

" **Katon: Haijingakure no Jutsu** _(Fire Style: Hiding in Ash Jutsu)_ "

With that, a wave of ash left his mouth. It quickly enough covered the entire area, but Castiel urged himself forwards and continued steadfastly. 'I can deal with the heat of this Jutsu well enough and I must hone my instincts and skill if I am to ever hope to beat this challenge.' he thought to himself.

TWITCH

Just by simply twitching, he turned quickly to the side and slashed at the flaming kunai that tried to pierce him from his left flank.

STEP

He had not time to recover, and so the Heir put weight onto his right leg and jumped to the side, using his sword to attack the place he had been mere seconds ago.

CLANG

Castiel's sword hit the scythe that was trying to reach where he had been previously. However, as soon as he felt the strength in that blade, the male suddenly felt it go light. That wasn't good, not at all. Spinning in mid-air, Castiel quickly resorted to using his wings as shields as a fan came to hit him right where I was a millisecond ago. However, it wouldn't be enough as thanks to physics Castiel found himself launched away from that place, which in hindsight had been what he had wanted but before he flew too far, the male kicked the ground to launch himself higher so as to avoid any traps. Which, by the way, turned out to be a great call as seconds later, a pack of flame spears hit where he had once been, nearly touching him with their sharp tips.

However, Castiel knew that this position he currently found himself in was far from ideal. Staying in the air meant that he was an easy target, and so the Heir dived back to the ground by using not only a mana burst, but also by launching a chain of holy energy and pulling himself closer.

He, however, was already completing a whole new set of seals before launching about 100 shurikens that he put fire on. Those shurikens all had a tracking capacity as they launched against Castiel, and when he touched the floor they already were upon his body.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG

Instantly, he had to raise Kupriotes and managed to parry away every single one of them, using his right eye to detect their movements with as much precision as he could take even as his body couldn't follow the speed to the level his mind could calculate. 'I guess what I lack now is mostly general speed and flexibility, but that is something I should think about when I am not with this guy, nor anyone else this close to me for that matter with a sword aiming right at my face.'

Even so, Madara might have mostly be covered in smoke and would normally be hard to see when he made that offensive, especially since he was coming from Castiel's left side, but it was actually a mistake of his to come from this side. After all, Castie's left eye was still his original one, the Mystic eye that could detect and see the amount of good and evil on others, and no matter how much smoke there was concealing him, on this line of sight Castiel still could easily enough see his presence approaching.

In that moment Castiel turned his body, already moving his sword towards that direction even as he moved, resulting in him parring ,Madara's attack with a straining CLANG!

"Oh, so your left eye is also unique. It seems it is similar to a sensor ability, and it also is capable of discovering the real me." He remarked analytically, before Castiel felt a chill running through him, not liking what those words meant. Without bothering with him seeing through some of my tricks, the Heir released an omnidirectional wave of energy to feel up his surroundings (a small trick he had learned while on the first trial of fire, it worked similarly to a bat's sonar and it felt quite practical).

As he felt two other versions of him approaching from his blind spot, Castiel kicked the real Madara away. Unfortunately, this wouldn't be enough for him to even truly feel much of anything from that attack, but it ought to be enough for now because Castiel still had to focus on eliminating those two.

While the real one was sent away, Castiel turned towards the to that were close at hand. The first one came with a punch and the other was launching a fireball, he divided his attention between the two things by using Kupriotes to cut down the fire attack with his right hand while using his left one to kill the clone coming from up close. His left arm looked basically boneless as Castiel moved it like a snake around the punch the clone delivered, redirecting the attack just enough for it to not be a threat anymore and then reinforced the tip of his fingers for them to work as the tip of a spear that cut away at the clone's neck.

As the clone was defeated, it dissolved in flames, proving it is some sort of fire clone. Castiel then avoided the real Madara that launched more flaming kunais at him from his left side, just barely managing to avoid them. One even managed to touch his skin, but thanks to his newfound stronger skin it was incapable of wounding him in the slightest. Before he had the chance of doing anything else and joining up with the clone. Castiel moved in closer to the remaining clone, a wild, animalistic yet trained ferocity in his eyes as he fought him up close using a swordplay reminiscent of one of the sword users his father recorded from his reality marble to help his son train on the sword. Castiel used the manslaughterer style of Okada Izo, the killer from the Edo period and a heroic spirit with one of the best skills with the sword when it comes to cutting down people.

Personally though, Castiel didn't like using this one very much. It was just too brutal and its intention of killing everything is too strong, but right now it is a good one to use. The clone of Madara might be strong, but right now Castiel's speed wasn't that much different from his and, considering the close distance, the fight was centered in pure skills, and for as great as he can be when it comes down to simply fighting one on one, at this close a distance this swordplay simply beats his.

When the Heir cut down this clone, he to exploded in flames that tried to cover him, however Castiel's resistance to fire now became simply too strong for him to be injured by this level of flames. He then turned to the original, looking straight at his eyes as he tried to put the Heir under a genjutsu, or at least this is what Castiel figured he had just tried to do, because he just now felt some energy try to enter his head, even as it failed miserably.

"Hoho, high reflexes, good movements, dexterous, good strength, impressive swordplay, daringness to face me but attentive enough to know how to properly guard yourself and good physical and mental defenses. I guess beating you will be hard if I don't take this at least until my 40% margin, be honored as you will be facing me slightly seriously." He said. "And one more thing, you already can pass this trial now if you want, but the more of my power you force me to draw out the better your reward will be, so make sure to entertain me to the best you can."

With that his eyes changed into the Mangekyo Sharingan, a Susanoo appearing around him to protect him fully. Madara Uchiha's Susanoo was dark blue in color, just like the version in the anime. Also like back in that show, his Susanoo was made up of two entirely different sides that were conjoined along their spine, both of which had distinct faces: The front face had these elongated canine teeth within its lower jaw bracket and two tusks growing from that very said jaw, while the back face also had similarly elongated canine teeth in its upper jaw bracket alongside a single horn protruding from its forehead. It's four arms each had distinct, undulating blades that resemble krises, held in each of the four hands.

For one side, this meant that Castiel had at least passed the test and now that he is a much larger target, the Heir could start using his more destructive abilities.

On the other side, as he could feel his powers rising exponentially with his Susanoo formation Castiel realized one thing alongside the rapidly draining color on his face.

He was SO FUCKED!

* * *

'Hmmm, it looks like we've made some good progress...'

That was what Nico thought to himself as he sat on the ground, cross legged and consume with meditation like those Buddhist monks he sometimes met during missions in Leanbox and Planeptune. The teen sat in the middle of the Colosseum, drenched with sweat born from intense training. Thanks to the time dilation of his inner world being an hour for every second, Nico had achieved quite a bit on his training, enough for Biko to warrant him being allowed a small respite before they resume training.

Thing is, he had started to train with the Archdevil Arms he had in his possession so far. Those two being Erebus and Ouranos, but when he had done so, an interesting little fact had become clear to them. Thanks to their transformations, each of them gained a small little world to call their own, which merged with his own Inner World, kind of like installing a new room in a house. As such, if he wanted to train in the usage of an Archdevil Arm, he would have to go to that 'World' in order to properly manifest its weapon form, then its manifestation would be able to appear before him to help him train. Nico had to figure this out the hard way though, as despite his vast amount of knowledge on the procedure, Biko largely remained clueless on how they worked afterwards. Aside from their benefits and that they would need to devour the souls of other beings to regain their original powers, thus becoming weapons capable of destroying planets, Biko knew little else about them.

Ouranos had been 'okay' during their training, with Biko helping out... but when EREBUS manifested...

Well, lets just say that Lucy herself would be given a run for her money in the flirting and seduction attempt department, even worse knowing that she could literally trap him in her world, and he nearly did until Biko managed to get him out safely, therefore protecting his chastity. Nico SWORE he heard his Demon Persona pull out his Soul Edge and yell out 'Begone, THOT!', but meh perhaps he'd been hearing things. He couldn't help but wonder if Erebus would even try to steal his Ghoul Persona and pull him back into that world, as it had been shown that they could leave their little homes, but not for long.

Aside from training with Erebus and Ouranos, his Hellfire and finally managing to master the basic forms of Sonido, Pesquisa, Resureccion and Hierro for later development, Nico had devoted a LOT of time for his training in his Inner World towards learning the Star Gods Broken Shadow technique. According to the Tome he had read, once the Skill is put to use, the user's speed will instantaneously explode and become so fast that even their afterimage wouldn't have enough time to fade away. There were up to 9 stages of it, and the more stages one reached for the technique, the more Afterimages they could leave behind. For example, for the first stage one could only use this movement ability once thanks to only being able to make one afterimage. However, one who was at the 5th stage could use this Skill 5 times in repeat succession, and wouldn't even have to wait very long, like a couple seconds or so, to be able to use that technique again. Thanks to Nico having his Warping ability, he could have something else to use during those seconds, making hitting him a HIGHLY difficult task.

Sometimes, he wished he had this technique when he fought against Mundus way back when, cause tat guy moved like this but with much greater ease.

With the instructions from the Tome on how to use the technique, Nico had spent a large time frame, easily more than an entire months' worth of time in the Inner World and as a result Nico had learned not only the first stage of the technique, but had advanced it to the fifth stage so he could use this technique up to five times in a row in rapid succession. He had used this Skill to dodge attacks from monsters that this Inner World possessed, he used it to dodge the Kagune strikes his Ghoul Persona used (geez, that Rinkaku had been fast as fuck, and it had been plainly obvious that the guy held back too), and countless other speed-based exercises like trying to escape a quicksand pit with the pull of a planet's gravity at the centre which COULD have crushed him if he made one mistake, he ran through a section of the Inner World which got slowed even more than normal, he'd even ran against the roaring flames of Biko's Hellfire, using his own to shield him from the winds generated by them.

After that, Nico had spent a similar portion of time in developing the Great Way of the Buddha. The Great Way of the Buddha (also known as the "Forbidden Heavenly Tome") apparently had been what was called a "forbidden Divine Art", and it belonged to a "True God from the Primordial Era" back on the world this tome came from. Unfortunately, normal humans cannot cultivate The Great Way of the Buddha without exploding since it puts a heavy strain on their bodies; but thanks to Nico's body having inherited the power of Sparda when he turned into a DPU, becoming his champion practically, he had fit the bill. In addition, the Great Way of the Buddha was an arduous art to practice, due to its extremely harsh requirements on the cultivator's comprehension abilities. The Great Way of the Buddha affected one's blood, meridians, muscles, skin, and hair since it relied on the strength of the soul and nature instead. Its development was absolutely not from battle, but from comprehension. In addition, the Great Way of the Buddha materialized as a Silver Pagoda upon the comprehension which then embeds itself into the recipient's forehead, and the Pagoda transitions in color and shines in later stages of its cultivation.

That wasn't all there was to this art however, as Nico soon found out when reading the Tome. The restoration power that Great Way of the Buddha enables is a powerful concentration of the power of Heaven and Earth. Upon entering the Intermediate stage of The Great Way of the Buddha, not only was it capable of healing the cultivator, but it also allows one to heal others absurdly fast, albeit much more slowly than healing one's self. Thanks to Nico having his Ghoul side and DPU abilities though, that slow healing could be sped up further, so it wasn't that big of an issue. However, one must be incredibly familiar with the human body, the knowledge of the location of every muscle, bone, tendon, meridian, orifices, organs and more coupled with medical experience to be able to successfully and explosively heal both external and internal damage of another person. If the cultivator of The Great Way of the Buddha attempted to heal someone via injecting the power of Heaven and Earth without prior knowledge and familiarity of the body, including the necessity of medical experience, the intense concentration of power will not only destroy the internal organs of the person getting healed, they may also die due to bodily explosion.

According to it's Tome, the 'Great Way of the Buddha' had a total of twelve stages. The purpose of the first stage of The Great Way of the Buddha was to absorb the vitality of the world; to allow the world's vitality to fill, refine, and transform the body. Including the flesh, hair, blood, bones, organs, and marrow. Allowing the body to be born anew. Every following elevation of the realms in each stage will also result in a new reformation of the body, and every new reformation of the body signified a slight separation from the mortal realm. One's lifespan would also increase exponentially. The first three realms could be considered the initial stage, but from the fourth realm onward, it becomes the intermediate stage.

For Nico, this one could be considered a bit harder for him to do, especially since this art revolved around the mind and not the body, even though its effects applied to his body and soul. However, the teen also understood something else about it. That if he were his previous self, then developing this art would have been nigh impossible. The Trials of Samsara however, indeed changed him in many ways, allowing his mind to 'open up' to newer possibilities. Thus, Nico managed to complete the first stage of this Art, and boy did he feel the effects from it.

It appeared that even in his Inner World, his main body got affected whilst training in this art, for his form quickly got the strength of up to 1500 Kilos as promised by the Tome itself. Absorbing the Vitality of the World through his Inner World, well, it took a lot longer than he had expected it to, but he figured that to be due to the time dilation effects messing with the process. It hadn't been easy, and more than once Nico felt like dying over and over again. This process essentially killed and revived him at the same time, his organs having felt like they were being melted and turned into acid within him, then being remade with pins and needles constantly burying themselves into them with the sharpness of finely honed blades. By the time that process finished, Nico felt like he had gone through a human sized shredder then got reformed from scratch...

Although he got the power boost, so that was something to be celebrated. He'd completed the first stage.

As for the second and third stages, they weren't so much tricky as they were painful once he broke into those stages. Meditation and comprehension had been key there, but Nico relied on what he had learned and his own understanding to pull it off. Nico remembered what he learned from every trial he had taken so far, not to mention all his past experiences, taking out the feelings behind them for they weren't necessary and focusing solely on the facts. It honestly felt like trying to go through those trials of Samsara once more, but not at the same time. The teen however, did ask for Biko to help him study what they knew from the library from the Fragmented Memories, so as to better help his comprehension of the way things were. That resulted in clearing the second and third stages, and turning the Pagoda he got from the first stage from silver into a faint gold color.

Unfortunately though, soon enough after he completed the fourth stage (His Pagoda becoming a dull gold in color and the shine becoming more pure and radiant, along with a gild tint entering his blood), did Nico's comprehension abilities no longer help him progress any further. If he wanted to know more, Nico would likely have to learn more, to understand bigger subjects and to also comprehend them. Even so however, Nico didn't feel mad or frustrated by his halting of progress, for this training allowed him to progress to these stages. The fourth stage even upped his physical strength to that of over 4000 freaking kilos, that just boggled his freaking mind! Not to mention that he now had a body that was as strong as pure steel, and a healing capability that no ordinary person could possibly understand anymore. If he thought it had been good before, it certainly paled in comparison to now, that poison he got hit by before would have ZERO chance of hurting him now.

All in all, he had spent a HUGE amount of time in the arts of cultivation... and he didn't regret it one single bit.

This progress would serve him well, and Nico couldn't wait till he mastered both of those.

Heck, he DEFINITELY felt like he'd be more of a companion in these trials now!

* * *

"Heh, so the kid's started them, has he?"

Up in his living room, after finishing the last of the first season of the Good Place (he'd re-watched the first season more than 10 times already for the laughs), Zelretch had decided to switch channels over to the boys to see how they were doing. Castiel seemed to be coming along nicely, what with his understanding of fire now growing at a massive rate, he'd definitely be fit for those Vermilion Bird flames once they completely merge with him. Not to mention the witty smugness that he used on Astaroth there, that was definitely worth a few laughs.

Then, he had switched over to Nico's side, and... wow.

Whelp, he had to give the emo kid credit, he certainly had the drive and the talent once he actually opened his mind to the possibilities. The vampire recalled meeting the original user of those things he got, how it took him a good month to learn how to use Star God's Broken Shadow like that, though to be fair he did have other things to worry about as well. Same with the Great Way of the Buddha. Still, to progress to the fifth and fourth stages of those respectively showed a strong sense of determination, and his understanding seems to have swollen thanks to the Trials of Samsara. He didn't even use any of those fancy toys he has, just that broken Inner World in his opinion (though compared to his power it seemed like an ant in comparison, since he'd reached the pinnacle). Guess the kid had more of a mental strength than previously thought. 'Still an emo, though. But I foresee that changing soon, especially once my godson is nearly done with his tests.'

Zelretch gave himself a pat on the back, creating this trial had to be one of his best experiments so far, since it did WONDERS for the emo kid's character. He may not notice it just yet, but these trials were a MAJOR positive plus for his personality, who knows perhaps he could wind up getting even more popular back in his home world as long as he doesn't let it get to his head. 'Although I bet my student wouldn't let that happen...' he thought in self amusement.

'Whelp, since Castiel isn't done yet, back to the Good Place!'

* * *

Castiel POV

The Susanoo is a hack, there is no two ways about it, this thing has got to be some sort of cheat!

How else could anyone explain Facing Madara using the Susanoo was a nightmare. His defenses were rock solid, he barely had to avoid any of my attacks and his attacks were heavy as fuck.

It was a miracle for me to survive this long against him, but I was doing my best to do it anyway.

Thanks to the amplification effect from Clarent I was even faster and stronger than when I was using Kupriotes, and while my technique suffered due to how I still am not fully used to using Clarent (especially since she isn't responding that well right now [what a diva]) I could not move nearly as dextrouriously as I would have liked to. But, with such a big target, technique isn't a necessity.

"Take THIS!" I yelled as I used my sword in a way similar to how a barbarian would use an axe. As Madara was thrown away from me I already was preparing for what he would do next. Right now I am using a style similar to the one used by the original owner of Clarent, the knight of betrayal Mordred. It is a rough and wild stille that mostly depends on simply overpowering the opponent with brute force.

As he finally stopped Madara took a good look at me, I simply stared back as he gave a slight smile.

"Your physical powers, while not as strong as Hashirama's, are still decently close enough. While I will defeat you if we keep this up it is not my style to keep doing the same thing over and over again. Let's see how you deal with 60%." He said before he extended one hand. " **Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu** ( _Wood Style: Giant Forest Jutsu_ )."

And just like that from his arm, a pack of trees started sprouting at high speeds. The trees advanced towards me in such a way that avoiding them was hard, so I simply didn't avoid them from the start.

Putting my right-hand's finger pointing forward I focused a high amount of light energy pointing straight at its tip.

" **Judgment Arrow!** " and with that, I launched a large amount of pure light energy towards the trees that were coming towards me.

The trees were still coming, but the ones ahead of me were gone with that one move of mine. I don't need to worry about them right now as much as I do with the man who created them.

I think I must put an end to this, keeping doing this here isn't going to work and I must end this right now before my strength starts falling due to tiredness. My vitality isn't that outstanding and keeping this level of combat for long isn't on my side.

This guy is playing around, my limit in strength is close but he still is far from this. It is better to do this in one fell swap.

"Madara, I will launch my strongest attack now! Try and take it if you can!" I yelled as I put Clarent above my head before a bean of pure energy starts overwhelming from it.

He looks at it with slight interest before he says.

"Sure, I want to see how far you can go. Now COME!" He yells at the end before his Susanoo got in a defensive position and most of the trees around started surrounding him.

No matter, what I need to do remains the same. Purring my energy to the limit of what I could I combined the energy from Argetain, the light aspect of the star power I stole from Kokabiel, and the power from Clarent, generating my strongest attack possible.

As I was swinging the blade the light was so strong that even I was momentarily blinded by it, but I did not care as I simply continued.

" **True Holy Salvation!** " I yelled in a moment of emotion, naming this as an independent attack.

BBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I fell to my knees as I ended this movement. I was beyond tired and my energy was nearly empty, but when I looked to see the result of what I did I did not see Madara just standing there.

What I see now is him, in all his glory, on the head of a giant as FUCK Susanoo. His complete Susanoo, and it was terrifying as all hells combined and in steroids.

Seriously, this thing is made of an energy similar to flames, but the sheer basic power of him is enough for him to compete against most Leader-class guys back in my world.

As he saw me kneeling on the floor Madara looked at me and gave a VERY tiny small smile.

"You passed with flying colors. You actually managed to force me to use 90% of my total power for once there. This attack of yours is very strong, but you should work on faster moves in the future." He said, almost as if a teacher. He then took out a scroll from the inner parts of his armor before he said. "The things inside here are your rewards, normally it would only be one but you did enough to deserve more." And just as he threw the scroll to me he stated. "Now I got to get going, the vampire did capture me and Hashirama and both of us have a fight that should be starting about now. What an interesting and unique afterlife."

Did uncle Zelretch somehow got their souls in here and reincarnated his favorite characters from anime as some sort of pseudo heroic spirits? I think I should be surprised if it was so, but I honestly can't anymore.

As Madara left I opened the scroll. There were some weird symbols on it so I tried purring some energy on it.

POOF

Three different things came out of it. One was a small jar that I could feel some powerful energy from, the second was a copy from some scriptures that I cannot quite understand as the words are just too mangles up together but I think its title is **Alchemy God's Grand Canon** , and the third one is three equal herbs; they are a seemingly common white flowers, palm-sized, a bit like a tree peony, without leaves, the stalk connecting to a pitch black big rock that had an astonishing weight. On that white flower are a few flecks of red, scarlet red like blood, and looking at it all I instantly recognized as a **Yearning Heartbroken Red** , a herb that may as well be called a divine treasure.

The most interesting thing is that I simply cannot use those **Yearning Heartbroken Red** no matter how much I might desire them. The effect of this herb is quite overbearing in the sense that as I still didn't finish absorbing the **Eight Petal Immortal Orchid** it is possible for the effects of the two fight inside my body and I end up not enjoying either herbs. Besides, this plant can only be taken by someone who is capable of putting all their love in just a single person and wholeheartedly think only of this one person, and I do not fill the bill for that one. Its effect was to raise the level of the one who eats it at least to twice the current amount, sometimes even more depending on how much its energy can be retained in the body. It also remodels the body internally, making the one who eats it to have a body that will ensure that one will not have any sort of problems growing stronger and suffering problems due to lack of talent. It is like this one herb can make a normal person a world renowned genius instantly, that is how amazing this herb is.

From the other two this Alchemy God's Grand Canon must be quite amazing, but I see that it is still a damaged thing as the tablet it is on is obviously broken, but if even so it still is considered equal to the others it must be quite amazing stuff I can learn some stuff out of it, and if it isn't suitable for me I can just give it to the Tower to let them try and figure this one out.

Now, for the last thing. The small jar is actually absurdly heavy now that I take it in my hand, it weighs almost 40 pounds while only being as big as three fingers put together. I slowly opened the bottle, and I felt a wave of power oozing out of this with extreme power and wildness.

The thing inside was blood, white and crystal-like blood that I could recognize quite easily. This is blood from the White Tiger, the Divine Beast that represents Metal and is known for its immense bodily strength and unparalleled speed on the ground. There was even a rumor that said that one such White Tiger once fought against Great Red, and while it obviously lost it managed to wound that great dragon slightly. That is how powerful that thing was, and right now I have its blood in my hand.

I quickly set-up the Time Dilator Field, focused my mind for a while before starting the same ritual to inherit the blood that I did previously. This time, however, things were a bit more complicated. This blood was much harder to refine and fuse with myself, almost as if it refused to fuse with me. I kept having flashes of visions from the White Tiger's life, the battles it did and the pride and bloodlust that could cover the sky and frighten everything away at any moment it so desired. These feelings and actions were the most pure inheritance this sort of creature had, it means this blood wasn't from a descendant that got the techniques from the White Tiger passed down but from the true White Tiger. Not only that, but this also means that this that I am going through right now is an absurdly rare lucky chance.

It is the chance to feel what it is like to have power close to beyond Leader-class, this will help guide me during my training after I reach Leader-class! So, even if I feel like my body is being devoured from the inside out, I still will preserve and try to perceive whatever I can from it.

* * *

"Heh, so he managed to get all three? Good job." Zelretch said while looking at how Castiel was doing (he was waiting for Netflix to charge, he still cannot understand how it is malfunctioning when he literally has the best net from the multiverse). "But, I gotta say that he is lucky to have that left arm spirit bone I gave him or he might have died already."

The truth was that this White Tiger in question was personally killed by Zelretch. Before it died it managed to put all his instincts and slaughter intent inside his own body, making it nearly impossible for anyone to use his body after he died. It didn't really matter all that much for Zelretch, he could wipe this last struggle from the White Tiger in a matter of a few minutes no problem, but it was too boring of a process.

The Divine Blood Castiel was fusing with had the accumulated experience and carnage from the White Tiger, most people would lose their minds when they take this much negative energy and rage, but things were different for Castiel.

Thanks to his spirit bone he automatically _Devoured_ the energy and information inside the blood and turned all of it in something useful. Now, the last struggle from the White Tiger has turned into a benefit for Castiel, he doesn't even need to try much as all the information, battles, instincts, and most techniques were all engraved inside Castiel's brain. Understanding them properly would take a LOT of time, no two ways about it as this was the life experience from someone who lived for tens of thousands of years, integrating all of that would be a long process, but when he did manage to do that he would be tens of times stronger than he is right now even if he were on the same level of power he is right now.

THAT is just how great his instincts would be like, almost like that Super Instinct thing from Dragon Ball Super.

"...Let's watch Dragon Ball Super next. I want to see Goku kick some ass." Zelretch said to himself as he turned to his intergalactic super TV with all the content available of the multiverse (and there still wasn't an end of One Piece in sight).

* * *

Back with Nico, the teen just woke up after finalizing his training with the two tomes.

The results had been quite fortunate for him, as whilst he didn't break into any other stages for each of them, the Star God's Broken Shadow and the Great Way of the Buddha would definitely serve him well in facing future to mention that his physical ability, his vitality, all of it felt greater than he had ever felt before in his lifetime. He almost felt like a brand new person.

In addition, training with Erebus and Ouranos helped too, especially in learning how to harness their powers and the effects they had on his own skillset. Ouranos would DEFINITELY be quite useful with what it was capable of, as well as Erebus. He hoped to one day restore their souls to their original power levels though, cause right now they would be well up the power spectrum of his world. Nico didn't know exactly where yet though as he wanted to do some more tests first, but they potentially could level large cities with their powers individually.

He could only DREAM of what it would be like to use two Archdevil Arms at once...

Returning to the inner world, the male opened his eyes and stood up, sensing that Castiel had FINALLY finished his trials. He wouldn't deny that he wanted to see what kind of beast would await them as the fire trial's final boss, it made him hop up and down in eager anticipation. Anticipation largely born from his Ghoul side, as well as his warrior-like mentality... though, he would not mind to opening his mind to newer horizons.

'Maybe if me and Castiel had a rematch in the future, I'd stand a better chance...' he thought to himself, just as he sensed Castiel's power approaching the teen's position.

However...

 **'I would advise holding off on fighting him as of this moment, Nico.'**

'Huh? Why?'

 **'I sense powerful divinity coming from him now. If I were to guess, some of the rewards he got would be something related to divine entities, entities that our CPUs wouldn't even dream of being able to defeat. If I were to gauge our chances of winning, in DDD or in human we'd likely have about 75% chance to lose... horribly.'**

Narrowing his eyes at that, Nico nodded his head as he curbed his Ghoulish instincts that told him to fight Castiel for the time being. If Biko said something like that, then he'd listen to him. Nico would definitely improve himself if the odds that he would lose to him were that big, to be sure. Perhaps maybe he could master the tomes first in his Inner World... and he had ideas for how to do so. But for the time being, he should probably greet Castiel.

Looking towards where he appeared, the male raised a hand in greeting. "Sup, you good?"

Castiel snickered and said.

"Better than in a FUCKING long time, still can't believe I got that blood."

Nico lookd confused at this words. He have never even heard of such thing as a blood that can make someone stronger, if it was from birth it could be understood but in the way he was saying it it was clear that it was something completely different.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

Castiel looked just as confused at Nico as he answered.

"Dude, I got blood from a White Tiger and a Vermilion Bird! Three drops each, isn't this lucky as hell?" Seeing the lack of reaction Castiel felt like facepalming in pure frustration, how was it possible for someone of Nico's strength to not know even such a basic knowledge?

Was his world that late on this sort of matters or did Nico simply never searched for knowledge before?

"*Sigh* If you don't know what I am talking about thinking about it this way, imagine a creature that is born with the power to destroy entire planets if they so desire, now multiply that by a factor of 10, THAT is how strong those two creatures I told you about are." Castiel explained, making Nico think of someone simply being born as strong as the DPU of death and it came to him how utterly terrifying those creatures are and how lucky he is to never have met one before. "The reason for the strength of these creatures is their blood and body itself, even a single drop of their blood can be used to make miracle medicines, make a weapon many dozens of times stronger, or, if correctly transplanted, give the user some unusual powers they normally shouldn't have.

"For instance, the power of the White Tiger that I managed to analyze is to make me capable of helping me reinforce things one step further making my attack and speed higher, this is an example of what I mean." As Castiel finished saying that he activated the power of the White Tiger's bloodline, disappearing from where he was so fast that even Nico's trained eyes lost him for an instant.

Turning around, Nico's instincts suddenly SCREECHED, and he barely had time to reflexively bring his Bikaku out to block the attack coming at him, but with sheer brute strength, Castiel almost crushed it completely with just one single punch.

As the enormous pain coursed through his system, realization dawned on him in the form of Nico's eyes shrinking into dot's. How utterly terrifying this speed and power was, and it also solidified that he should REALLY send some time learning new things or he might get caught unprepared by someone that truly wanted to kill him by using something he didn't yet know."And as for the Vermilion Bird, well it is capable of letting me use the vermilion flames of the Vermilion Bird. Here it is."Castiel said as he released a small flame from his hand.

FEAR

Undoubted and unrestrained fear sprang from within Nico as he saw the flame, or to be more specific a fear originated from his DPU's powers and his devil and Archdevil Arms. Constant shrieking, frenzied shouting, and devilish screeches assaulted his mind and almost made him blue screen from the mental overdose. It was like how a rabbit fears a wolf even if they have never met one, an instinctive fear that almost overpowered his every sense as he felt the aura and energy of this fire.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Nico asked in pure instinctive terror, even if he tried to hide it which resulted in a very anxious look on his face. Within, Biko started trembling inside him as if he was seeing the most horrifying thing he has ever seen, and he had seen Mundus and his power over Death!

And yet, this flame was dozens of times more terrifying to him than even that.

Seeing Nico's overly exaggerated reaction (in Castiel's perspective) Castiel dispelled the fire, making Nico relax somewhat but every single consciousness inside him still trembled in the memory of that fear that suddenly overtook them. "This that I showed just now is the flame of the Vermilion Bird, it is the third hottest flame in existence and is the ultimate nemesis to all demons. This flame is a mix of divine and flame energy and can negate any demonic powers AND can purify them to the point that no matter how 'immortal' they may be, they can still be purified out of existence by it." Castiel explained, before commenting. "Quite handy, don't you think?"

He expected to hear some answer, but instead, all he saw was Nico showing even more shock than before.

Those flames that Castiel now possessed could potentially destroy his devil arms, something that he always believed to be impossible. Or rather, the male thought, that these flames would pretty much erase them from existence, multiple planes of existence or not. His weapons, even with their strong conditions for being destroyed, they feared these flames immensely. They were one of the few things that met the requirements to truly damage them... and he didn't like that thought at all.

It was then as well that Nico realized one thing, he was over-reliant on demonic energy and items. Don't get him wrong, those powers and items are extremely useful and powerful, but just as this flame existed who knows if there were other things that also could counter his demonic powers completely? And, if this did come to pass what was he supposed to do?

Roll over and die?

'Okay, you two. Serious talk here, we have come across a problem we need to rectify like, RIGHT the FUCK now. These bloodlines seem to have various advantages to them, not to mention they are extremely dangerous. I barely kept myself under control just then, and even THEN I wound up being all shy and anxious like a school boy!'

 **'You and me both, Nico. You may have felt it, but in reality it was I who bore all that fear, you just received a fragment of what our weapons and powers had going through them. If Emiya had left that flame out, or worse used it against us in our spar, then we would NOT have been able to survive it. It would have been like you dying with no chance of reforming thanks to their purification powers.'**

'ALRIGHT YOU TWO, SIT THE FUCK DOWN! WE NEED TO HAVE A TALK ABOUT THIS, LIKE THE KING SAID, SO NO WUSSING OUT! OKAY, YOU ALL MARGINALLY CALM NOW? NOT GOING TO ACT LIKE BITCH PUSSIES FOR NOW? GOOD! NOW, THINK OF SOMETHING BEFORE I WHIP OUT MY KAGUNE AND WHIP YA'LL INTO SHAPE FROM LOSING YOUR SHITS JUST NOW!'

'...What that guys says is right, as much as it pains me to say it. He worded it badly but we do need to come up with a solution. Wait a minute, this guy was talking about Bloodlines as in plural, yes? Well then, do you think we can find something that could match up to those flames? He DID say that they were the third hottest flames, so if we somehow find a way to obtain the higher tier flames, we should be able to keel calm enough when around them.'

 **'I would agree with that statement, and according to the Devil Arms, Archdevil Arms and our power in general, it would seem that they too agree to this idea. Please do ask him, now that he feels marginally calmer compared to before, perhaps we can gain a huge amount of information from him. Information is power, after all.'**

'Will do.'

"Emyia, do you know other types of strong bloodline out there? One that can help me obtain unique powers as well?" Nico asked, he did not like to admit but the more he talked to Castiel more he saw how his information about the world was lacking, how he still had so much to discover.

"Well, there are plenty of good ones out there. In this multiverse there are at least one or two dozen creatures that I know off that are around the same level as the White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird from birth, so you must be more specific. What is it that you would be looking for?" Castiel said, and it was true. In this entire Multiverse there were new miracles appearing at every instant and who knows how many creatures of that level there are out there? Even the World Devouring Wolf that was killed and had a spirit bone extracted could be seen as a similar existence to those Divine Beasts.

"...Well, considering my overall power set, I'd think that the strongest destructive flames would be right up my alley." Nico responded after thinking for just a few seconds. He had a certain degree of experience with fire so it wouldn't be nearly as bad to master than if he was to ask for thunder or something of the sort. Not to mention that 'destruction' was slowly becoming a greater part of his skill set whether he liked it or not. As long as he trained himself to control that destructive power, then he would have little problems in the long run.

"If it is that you must be looking for the Divine Blood of a Golden Crow. It is a bird that released flames so strong that many confused it for a sun and, if enraged, could create nine smaller suns to burn whoever is his enemy instantly. It is widely known as the number one flame when it comes down to destruction." Castiel explained, making Nico realize how utterly terrifying such creature could be.

If it were to ever create even a single sun then Gamindustri would be at risk of destruction, if it was to go all out with Nine Suns then his entire world would collapse.

Even so however, there were still many questions the teen had about this particular subject. Questions that he could ask and receive the answer to, now that Castiel was somewhat calmer than before. Not to mention that he was literally like a fountain of knowledge at this point, plus it made taking to people a bit easier for him the more he tried to speak. "But, how is it that just its blood can be used?" Nico asked.

"Because, these sort of creatures are born from the multiverse itself. Their own bodies represent some basic aspects or the more advanced levels of certain powers, I even dare say that these creatures are what inspired the creation of the different uses of magic. For instance, I heard that once a human saw a Phoenix fighting and getting inspiration from that managed to learn the very first fire magic. Of course, these are just conjectures and could be dead wrong, but the facts remain that these beasts are mighty enough to make these sort of rumors! And, this sort of creatures have these powers completely due to their bodies, so even if someone only has a single drop of its blood they can still use it to simulate the powers those beasts had." Castiel explained almost as if he was a teacher.

After that Nico and Castiel talked some more, Nico was getting more and more solid confirmation that he simply had to try and take more advantage of the chance of getting more diverse information from Castiel. The dude simply knew too may things from too many subjects.

Castiel, on the other hand, was discreetly trying to comprehend whatever he could from that Alchemy God's Grand Canon by using Structural Grasping magecraft (one of the very first things he learned so as to try and be more like his father, even if he never got on the same level of his father when it came down to this).

The more he analyzed and understood of this thing the more shocked he was. It was a type of alchemy that did not follow the same thing that the Tower studied, it was not about changing elements or breathing life in something that otherwise would be dead (A.K.A. the Homunculus the Tower have) but it focused on the creation of pills by extracting the purest essence of herbs and other things. These pills could help extend someone's life, make their body stronger, giving a quick boost of energy to resupply what is lost during the battle, making someone's energy raise, unlock Ki and other unique powers in those who normally would not have it, and even raising ones talent altogether!

But, it was incredibly hard to understand what was on this thing, there was just so much information here that Castiel doubted he even understood 0.00001% of what is in this thing and experimenting on it is even harder since it could take years before he was capable with it, but even so if he managed to create just a few such pills the results would be incredible.

Right now Castiel was more focused on the Spirit Fusion Pill. It is a pill that allows for someone to fully fuse himself and another spirit that is co-existing its body.

It was a dangerous pill, but if he managed to perfectly recreate it according to this recipe he could not only fully fuse himself with whatever remnants of Angra Mainyuu residing in his body but also completely dominate it and make it just a supplement and power for future use, thus eliminating the risk of he ever losing himself due to its power.

It was a gamble that Castiel was trying to do, instead of fearing the possibility of something go wrong in the future he would take the reins himself and use everything to make himself as strong as possible. To become another deterrent against those who might plan to act against the Tower and those he loved and loved him back.

He had decided to not look at the Chaos Stone as it simply was too hard to get ANYTHING out of it, understanding this one was a project that could span months before any effect could be noticed so he decided to hold on until he managed to make his mind as sharp as possible so as to make sure that he could understand it the best way possible and the fastest way possible.


	170. Cross Chapter 17 - Third Trial Finale

**Third Trial Finale**

It didn't take long for the two teenagers to finish up their talk, as they still had stuff they had to do. Both of them turned on their heels and, side by side, walked to the entrance to the fire trial's final area.

Nico had a BUCKET-LOAD of new information to process about many different matters, matters he had never given much thought about. Mostly because he hadn't known they were even possible. If this information was truly accurate... then perhaps he had to do some exploring when he got back to Gamindustri. There were multiple pieces of evidence that stated that the DPU era still had secrets that were left buried beneath the sands of time, secrets that could be unearthed and used to better him and the Party against their enemies. He could imagine some of these techniques being added to the girls' arsenals, especially sword skills for Neptune and Noire, Spear skills for Vert, medical items for Compa, even a few that could help IF develop her own skill base (although hers were more viral and she was already well on her way down that path). These Bloodlines seemed extremely interesting to the male, especially these flames of the Golden Crow which seemed to be the strongest flames in terms of destruction. If he would have the chance, then Nico would ask for them not just to grow stronger, but to also satisfy the cravings for safety that his Demonic Powers felt whenever he thought about those Vermilion Bird flames. They craved safety, and since he cared for his weapons more than anyone did for them, he'd settle their fears. If he had something to defend against them, then they wouldn't react the same way as before.

On the other side, Castiel couldn't help the beaming grin on his face, clutching his hands into fists in satisfaction with the two new Bloodlines he obtained. The blonde Heir didn't think that he would get something as grand as those when coming here, even with all the countless treasures that his Godfather Zelretch had gathered over the many years he had been alive. Castiel would have thought he'd gain some other bloodline, though he wouldn't be complaining one bit. Nope, no sir! Images of Kokabiel now seemed to be a distant memory to him, as if he were to fight him again with these powers, it would be MUCH easier than before. He even wondered if he could perhaps find some Divine Blood from the other two Guardian Divine Beasts, the Azure Dragon and the Gembu (also known as the Black Tortoise), as he had heard once that combining those four could result in something amazing as those four had a capacity to, if activated together, enhance each other to many times over. Kind of like a cycle of power, where the power kept going between the four bloodlines and getting stronger each time it made a full trip, that kind of thing.

There might even be a unique power, who knows. According to Castiel's knowledge the last person to obtain the four bloodlines was Qin Shi Huang

However, neither of those things was important right now. What was important was that they finish this damn mission already and go to the next one. That was something both males could agree on, as they had already spent way too long here and there wasn't much more time before the 14 days were up. Once those 14 days were done, then they would have to leave altogether.

* * *

Entering the last trial they found nothing in specific that could help them see what exactly they should do. All they saw was a desolate land with fire pits all around and a gigantic volcano in the middle of it. And by gigantic it means humongous so. The thing was easily 700 meters tall and with a radius reaching many kilometers too. The heat and smoke that it released were enough to make even Nico and Castiel think it unbearable, almost as if the air itself was magma due to the heat.

"Damn, that is one big volcano." Castiel commented as he saw the mountain in front of him, looking about to survey their surroundings. It was much bigger than any volcano he has ever seen and even as a mountain there were few he has ever seen that were bigger than this one. The heat in this place also had an impressive level to it, and if he hadn't gained as much fire resistance as he had before, then Castiel would have felt WAY more effected from it than normal.

He soon got an agreeing nod from his redhead companion, whom looked to the surroundings in a critical manner, eyes scanning every detail for any sign of what they needed to do. In addition to that, in his mind he also noted that the extreme fire resistance he had gained through his own methods worked fairly well in this molten place. If he hadn't had it though, Nico doubted his Hellfire training would have afforded him the same level of resistance. No, he was SURE that it wouldn't. Much to his frustration however, he couldn't sense anything indicating what to do for this trial. "Yeah, but what is it we should even do here?" Nico wondered out loud, sort of expecting an answer to his question from Amon or some other entity.

Well, he got his answer quickly enough as the mountain trembled as from it a ginormous turtle appeared. One big enough to have that entire mountain on its back. The thing was probably the biggest creature that either male had ever seen, and if not the biggest it was definitely right up there.

"Damn, to think it would be a Mount Turtle would be the challenge. This will be difficult alright." Castiel remarked, eyes wide and his breath catching in his throat. Not to mention that this time he decided not to wait until Nico asked before he explained about it. "This thing there is a living mountain so to say. It is incredibly resistant to impact and has a disgustingly strong vitality. But, the most troublesome thing is that it can shoot missiles made out of magma weighing over 1 ton of pure molten rock at speeds almost the speed of sound. Not only that but it also can use its own body to attack as its weight is simply too much and any of its movements carry an immense moment. To be totally fair this one is much worse than Gaoh to face and as bad, if not worse, that the Invite Death."

'... I see. This foe does seem like a powerful opponent. Size, range and firepower all in one deadly package. Good thing then that I have Ouranos with me, not to mention the Star God's Broken Shadow and the Great Way of the Buddha, otherwise this may end up being a difficult fight for me... not sure about Castiel though, he seems to have confidence in his power however.' the male thought. Gripping his fists, the male held his right hand out to summon that mentioned Archdevil Arm. It was finally time to bring it out, he'd been searching for something else to test it on, and this bad boy seemed like a perfect candidate.

Instantly, Lightning erupted from his hand. Dark violet Lightning surged forth and took the shape of a weapon, before it soon turned into a physical weapon for the teen to wield. The weapon in question, took the form of a large Broadsword. From tip to handle, the weapon was approximately five to six feet long, with a single-edged large blade approximately one foot wide. The blade had a lighter color on the bladed edge, while the rest of the blade remained a deep, dark gray, and the hand guard appeared to be bolted or riveted into place. From the Guard, about 4 demonic looking wings sprouted, easily being the length of a human hand each, on both sides of the guard making 8 wings in total. At the guard's centre, was a sing crimson jewel, sporting a slitted iris that looked like it was LOOKING directly at the one who wielded it. In addition, the blade itself was covered in this thick, dark violet mist, many small trails of said mist rising into the atmosphere whilst the blade itself constantly sparked and crackled with matching colored lightning.

'Ouranos... been a while, old comrade...' the male thought to his Archdevil arm before he lowered the blade and looked towards the enemy... Which had already noticed them and was making to open fire. 'Oh, shit!' The teen scowled in his mind as he quickly began sensing a huge buildup of flames from within the creature's maw. That only became possible thanks to his fiery upgrades from the Crimson Fatalis he'd devoured, his heat sensing and Hellfire manipulation seemed to have grown quite steadily. He'd measure its growth after this trial in the Inner World, as he'd been more focused on the other things he'd trained in.

Thrumming with power, Nico glanced to Castiel to see that he had begun flaring his dual nature wings (honestly, if his Ouranos was in it's Alastor form, then it would be more disturbed by the 'black' wings). Looked like the guy had his own plan in mind, so Nico decided to keep his focus on his side. "Alright then, if that's the case then lets go for its underside. I can get some Warping done, and my Lightning attacks will be enhanced thanks to Ouranos. Speed won't be a problem for me, what about you?"

The blonde Heir swiftly drew out Clarent, holding it in his right hand as he got ready for the attack. The timing had to be just perfect for him to get out of the way, and once he did, he could start his own counter. "I'll dodge it then go for its head. Nico, you go and take out those fins, try and slow it down. That'll give me more time to pummel the Mount Turtle's face in." he replied, getting a nod from the redhead male.

"Alright, i'll take the left you take the right." That would be all the two males could talk about, for the Mount Turtle already begun firing a single blast of molten rock from is open maw and extended neck. Nico reacted swiftly, gripping Ouranos as he Warped out of the way whilst Castiel flapped his wings at the last second, easily twisting around the attack that had came at them at the speed of sound.

* * *

On Castiel's side...

Shoot! That was the sole word that echoed through Castiel's head as he flared his wings and dodged the shot from the Mount Turtle. Just in the nick of time, too, as if he had been a second later then he would have been smashed into by that thing. Odds were it wouldn't have hurt as much with his resistance to fire, but it would have still hurt like a freaking BITCH!

After he avoided the attack, Castiel flapped his wings several times before he looked towards its head, narrowing his eyes as an idea struck him. The White Tiger Bloodline would increase his physical power in every manner possible, but like all new things, he had to break it in first. When he had used it on Nico earlier, Castiel should have broken through his defenses, or rather they shouldn't have had time to react at all. That only meant he needed to refine his control over the Bloodlines he now had.

'Whelp, no better time than now!'

With that in mind, Castiel decided on his plan of attack as he broke into a high-speed flight path towards the creature. With what he had in mind, Castiel planned on making a curving arc since the space between them was filled with magma pits, and thus Castiel didn't want them anywhere near him regardless of his fire resistance. The Mount Turtle eyed him, its eyes shining with both pride and arrogance, arrogance in the belief that he would not be able to damage him one bit thanks to its size, pride and magnitude.

Therefore, it opened its mouth once more, firing off one blast of magma at him after another.

'Heh, cute...'

Though, Castiel merely thought that this looked cute as he swerved out the way of each missile, all the while avoiding the Lava pits which resulted in him pulling off some... interesting aerial manoeuvres. Loop de loops, circles, figure eights, you name the aerial manoeuvre, and Castiel had to do it in order to not get hit by the Magma. One of his arms did get singed a few times though, but luck would be on his side since the amount of magma he received would be fairly small in quantity, therefore he would merely shake it off to continue his flight. Not to mention the brilliant radiance of Castiel's wings served to burn away the magma which landed on them too, something which he found himself fortunate for.

PULSE!

The White Tiger Bloodline pulsed within him as it activated upon his will. In response to this, the young Heir clenched his fists as he dashed towards the creature with immense speed, speed that made him look like a blur in it's eyes. The Mount Turtle, caught by surprise at this sudden development, quickly reared its head back to try and launch another magma blast, only it would soon learn the error of such an action.

For Castiel...

Merely appeared beneath it's head and delivered a straight uppercut, then flew up above it and then dove down whilst spinning his body like a bey-blade to slam his feet into the top of its head. The creature howled into the atmosphere as the force of the impact sent it slamming into the ground, creating tremors which spread across the entire land.

* * *

On Nico's side...

'Looks like Emiya wasn't joking... that guy never does though.' Nico thought to himself after using Kinetic Energy to improve his speed and dodge the attack coming at him. Just like what happened with Castiel, he had avoided it by a hair's length, he practically felt the heat from it when the projectile passed him.

Afterwards, the male set himself off for quickly Warping across the land whilst avoiding the fire pits, they'd only be an annoyance to him as he was right now but it would be better to save time.

All the while, he kept an eye on his companion for these Trials, watching as he blurred and moved about to avoid the magma blasts whilst getting closer and closer to the Mount Turtle. The male had to admit, he couldn;t help but be impressed with his mobility skills in the air. If he were to think on it, then perhaps this could mark the first time that he had gotten to see Castiel fly in the air during a combat situation, since their trials have been separate until now.

The male soon found himself behind one of the creature's massive fins. One of Ouranos' Boons, **Amplification** , activated when the Archdevil Arm began crackling with violet Lightning, intensifying its own power. Lucky for him this Boon worked on its own Lightning, since he had decided against learning other elements until he had at least mastered his Hellfire, and even then that would only come after he had increased his martial prowess.

The Fin he had appeared behind, the male noticed it beginning to move backwards so he ascended upwards, having formed wings from his invisible Rinkaku to fly above it... and then he swung the blade down to release a wave of Lightning, one that slammed into the Turtle's fin with massive force. The following shockwaves would be enough to blow away anything that wasn't nailed down save for the Turtle, Nico and Castiel. Normally he would have held back an Archdevil Arm's power, as its powers would be on the same class as his own thanks to them being attached to his soul, but right now he didn't want to waste any time. He wanted this thing dead and he would make sure that happened. Electric jolts coursed through the damn thing which caused it to howl in pain whilst it attempted to shoulder bash the male.

'No you don't!'

However, Nico REFUSED to be caught with his pants down and Warped out of the way, **Warpspeed** another one of Ouranos' Boons having activated the moment that he wished it. This allowed Nico to extend his Warping distance before he reappeared behind it... then looked up to see how the volcano on it's back began to rumble and tremble. His eyes widened when he realized what would happen next. 'Oh shit...'

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Countless explosions roared like masses of lions roaring in savage union, as the whole shell released over thousands of large explosions. From those explosions, came showers upon showers of molten rock projectiles came down upon him. Instincts took over as Nico donned his Armour, then proceeded to Warp to the ground and smash his fist into it, creating a crater the size of a person which he then dove in. Once he landed in it, Nico retracted his Rinkaku wings in order to raise his right hand, shooting a constant stream of Hellfire to form a 'wall' over the Crater, sealing himself inside as the molten rock projectiles fell around him.

Good thing that he also left a little 'gift' for the Mount Turtle before he had made his little safe haven.

* * *

Outside, the Mount Turtle stopped it's barrage when it noticed that one of its prey had vanished. brows twitching became its response as anger surged through it. Fury coursed though its veins at the one that put a shock to its system earlier, only for the creature to suddenly become aware of the other human that dared challenge its might. Turning its head around, the Mount Turtle noticed Castiel coming at him at high speeds, wings curled in so he looked more like a hawk than a human.

The Mount Turtle roared as it made to charge at him, intending to bash into Castiel and turn him into paste... though the Heir anticipated such a thing. 'Alright, here goes nothing. I showed it off a bit earlier, but I need to get the hang of activating these Bloodlines, not to mention that the Vermilion bird flames still haven't fully integrated within me yet.' Castiel thought as he quickly activated the White Tiger Bloodline. As a result, Castiel literally vanished from view as his speed exploded.

Well, he did reappear when he hit head on the turtle's shell/rock, and by 'head on', it means that he hit it with his head directly.

'Ouch! Note to self, master these bloodlines and fuse with them properly. My control with them is about as bad as it can go, if I try to put any power into it I just explode in speed and physical power but I have no control of how much it will grow and how it will be. I will use it only as last resort or when I can manage if I screw up.'

After making this decision, Castiel took notice of where he ended up. He was above the creature's head, and as he realized that a wicked smile spread on his face, the type of smile that no angel should have. Though, then again it wasn't like Castiel was an ordinary angel or even half-angel anyway so he'd be safe... probably. "Heh, I guess lady luck is finally on my side." he spoke darkly, a wicked chuckle escaping his lips. As he said that and did the following action, the creature that was big enough to see the two teens as nothing more than bugs felt a deep chill run down its back. Not something that should be possible thanks to the volcano on its back but yeah. Especially when the creature saw the swords Clarent and Hrunting in Castiel's hands shine on a dangerous light. " You know Mr Mount Turtle, I heard that your meat needs to be cut thinly to be any good as it is quite hard. Good thing for me, I have just the tools for that."

HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH HACK SLASH

Castiel jumped at the beast's extended neck and started hacking with both swords in a mad rush. Both blades swung themselves around in a mad rush not unlike that of a frenzied animal, even the afterimages were hard to see as he moved so fast that they basically disappeared from any normal person's eyes. Plus, with the smile on his lips turning into a full on savage grin, Castiel looked less like an angel and more like a demon as he tore into the back of the Mount Turtle's neck.

Definitely got a reaction out of the towering beast, that much would be certain. In seconds after the attacks began, the Mount Turtle started yelling and howling in pain as it happened. It hurt more than anything it felt during its life, it felt while shaking it's head around wildly, trying to shake the Heir off his perch. However, Castiel managed to root himself in place and keep his balance by adjusting his wings, flapping them occasionally when he needed to. No matter how hard it tried the Mount Turtle remained unable to shake the DAMN BUG off its head.

That pissed it off more than anything else it had witnessed in its long life.

"GGGRRRRRRRRRRR!" The turtle snarled as it did the one thing its instincts were telling it to do in this situation: It shrank its head and retraced its head inside the shell.

"Woops!" Castiel exclaimed as he saw the beast re-enter its shell and he lose his place to stand. He could only look as the only thing visible now was the eyes glaring at him from inside the shell. Red blood and angry eyes, that were quickly replaced by a lava missile that came so fast that Castiel could not evade at all. He managed to put his Wings in front of himself and activate the power of his name, but even so, he was launched one kilometer away before he managed to stop due to using some Mana bursts.

"Well, at least now it can't move." Castiel commented, but a second later he regretted saying those words with every fiber of his being, as flames started leaving out of the holes where the members were, and with the fire it started spinning in place at increasingly high speeds while covered in flames.

It was like it itself turned into a gigantic meteor, and one that probably could destroy a whole nation or small continent if hit directly.

And the worse part? It started spinning so fast that it managed to launch itself towards Castiel.

"Oh fuck this shit! **CASTIEL!** " He again activated the power of his name while putting his wings in front of himself. Thus, it resulted in the Mount Turtle slamming into this defensive measure with the impact force expected of a creature it's size, making Castiel grit his teeth and sweat profusely as he tried to restrain the beast from breaking through. Wasn't easy though, as the continuous force for the rotating Mount Turtle constantly strove to tear down the walls that were Casiel's Wings. However, even like this, there were still some flames that managed to bypass his defenses by going through any little gap there still was.

In the end, his defenses would still not be all too perfect, since his eight wings could not fully and perfectly protect him. It would be like not having all the pieces of a shield, incomplete and unable to cover all areas. It would only be possible to call it perfect after he reached 12 wings, when he was on Leader-class.

Fortunately for Castiel though, a certain someone managed to intervene, someone who appeared behind him and tapped his shoulder. "Need a hand?" Nico's voice came through to Castiel as he grasped him by the shoulder, activated **Warpspeed** and Warped out of the creature's movement pattern.

They reappeared right where Nico had made the crater, but more importantly they appeared somewhere where Castiel didn't have to endure such a straining prospect as blocking that Mount Turtle's attack. The teenage Heir almost immediately heaved a heavy sigh of relief, the sudden lack of exertion being further pronounced by the lowering of his mismatched wings. "Man... that definitely is one thing to cross of my 'to do' list..." Castiel commented, before getting his breathing back in order and glancing to his companion who floated beside him with his invisible Wings. "Thanks."

"No prob." Was Nico's response.

Both males then looked towards their enemy, seeing how it had stopped rotating like a Beyblade and was now bringing its limbs out of its Shell, facing them with a fierce and angry glare that it aimed towards Nico this time. The one who stopped it from crushing one of the bugs that dared to take out its neck. Neither of them looked repentant for their misdeeds either, which ticked it off all the more.

"Now that we have his attention, lets focus on dishing damage to it." Castiel stated as they witnessed the massive creature charge at them once more. "Gimme something that can keep it busy, and i'll go for the head again this time. Once it retreats inside its shell, grab me and do that Warping thing to keep us out of the way till it comes out."

"Alright, but there's no need."

Huh? Castiel blinked when he heard Nico say that, and thus promptly looked to him with a raised brow. "And WHY is that, Nico?" He questioned, for the redhead male to point Ouranos upwards. Both Castiel and the Mount Turtle looked up, and what they saw...

Were 9 large Spheres of HIGHLY condensed, utterly focused dark violet Lightning. Each of them would be the size of tall buildings, yet none of them made so much as a sound as they floated up high in the air above the battleground. Upon using his senses, Castiel picked up QUITE a lot of power condensed within them, and if he were to compare them it would be like full-sized Tailed Beast Bombs from Naruto.

"I made them whilst Warping towards the Fins, and they would have hit it when I went under, but the Beyblade thing happened." Nico explained simply, before bringing Ouranos down in a slashing motion.

In that moment, the Spheres descended upon the now stunned Mount Turtle, slamming down on it with such force that the entire creature's form got concealed by a dark violet explosion. The shrieks that followed? They sounded more like the squeals of a girl as it raised its head reflexively, HUGE amounts of Lightning coursing through it and shocking pretty much every part of its internal structure. According to their eyes, it looked like a mountain sized nuclear explosion.

"Hopefully this does some damage to it... Not sure if its got any resistance to Lightning, but that much Lightning should REALLY have hurt it." Nico stated as he held Ouranos in front of him, just in case that there would be something coming at them from within the explosion. He didn't know if Castiel's information missed anything, so he'd go for a cautious approach.

"Heh, not bad. It isn't quite how I would do it as lightning is not that effective against fire and rock creatures and it needs much more energy to reach the same results, but if you can use your energy like this and still not feel too strained then I think it is fine." Castiel pointed out, making Nico twitch an eyebrow.

In Nico's world, and especially in his line of work, all that mattered was killing the enemy as swiftly as possible so studying and learning things that were not directly practical was not the norm. In general it was the best approach since there was simply too many enemies in Nico's world and there isn't time to think too much about stuff.

However, this was not the time to think so much. The turtle might have stopped but it was still very much alive in there.

Nico was about to go and face it, but before he could Castiel interrupted him, having stepped in front of him whilst speaking. "Wait, let me handle this." He spoke, Nico mentally frowning as he stood back, strapping Ouranos to his back whilst avoiding his wings. As Castiel said that, he put Hruting away as he put both hands on Clarent. Putting the sword above his head he started charging up. A ray of energy of the holy attribute emerged from the blade, reaching an terrifying level that even Nico felt could threaten his life.

However, even that was not all as Castiel's right arm lit up with light as Argetlan activated as well, and together with the star energy from it, the energy over the sword exploded to a whole new level. As he watched this, Nico found himself certain that even with his DPU's biology that was pretty resistant in its own right, if he was to be hit by this, he would be vaporized. Mentally, he vowed to become powerful enough to take this kind of attack and still at least fight beyond it.

"Now, enjoy the true power of the light! **CLARENT!** " As Castiel yelled the last part he descended his sword, the energy enough to terrify most beings.

As the giant turtle saw that blade falling it too was terrified, but as it was thinking if it should try to defend by returning to its shell a sudden change happened to it and its eyes got very empty before it ran away underground.

It was an unsightly escape, and even part of its flesh was burned by the light but the creature was unaffected as it simply continued to run. The mountain on its back and the shell stayed behind as it was attacked by the light blade from Castiel were mostly crushed as if they were an egg against a rock.

But, as the dust settled down it was possible to see that not everything was over. In the middle of it all the rubble that once was the volcano there was a temple made out of pure Sun Crystal and Scarlet Nova Gold, a material even rarer than Sun Crystals. The temple had strange runes etched all over it and this was what made the light be unable to damage the temple in the slightest.

As Nico saw the destruction and was still feeling the power of light that was so different than the one he saw in Compa, and the holiness that was so different from any of the goddesses in his world, his senses informed him that the light before him... was the most pure and refined energy he had ever felt. As in, it felt purer than those from his own world almost as if this was how those powers were supposed to be, though Castiel showed no happiness from his achievement.

"Tch, and I wanted to kill the turtle. I guess this might be dangerous later on." He made this proposition mostly to himself. He was worried because for each trial a creature of considerable power was escaping whenever it was close to dying, if it was a normal place Castiel could understand but this was a 'game' so everything had some degree of purpose.

He wasn't the only one who had noticed this, as Nico had also noticed by evidence of how he had narrowed his eyes as where he had seen the Turtle escape from. 'Leaving its shell like that... Something isn't right here, I just can't put my finger on it.' He thought to himself. Just before the Turtle left, Nico couldn't tell what it was but... something about it had changed. Something big, and also something that his gut told him he SHOULD be aware of. It nagged at him in an irritating manner, nearly making him grimace to himself.

 **'Nico, I noticed too.'**

'HAH, YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE THE ONLY OBSERVANT ASS HERE?! WE NOTICED TOO, YA DUMB IDIOT KING!'

The voices of his alternate aspects filled his mind, prompting the male to wonder if they had noticed anything he hadn't. Just by looking at Castiel, Nico knew that he had not any voices or other beings in his head that could be of any use to him, not like Nico himself. Therefore, a difference between them would be that Nico would have aspects f himself which could notice something else about the situation other aspects might miss. 'Alright then, can you tell me if you guys know anything? Just before the Mount Turtle vanished, I sensed something. I don't know what it was, but it definitely felt major.'

 **'Indeed it is, just before it left, I could no longer sense any of its** **blood-lust** **. As in, it LITERALLY had its** **blood-lust** **wiped out by something, similar to an** **overwrite** **or a hacking attempt. Quite similar to your hacking skills back during the Racoon City incident or in the second trial. It is very strange... not to mention concerning, one can't simply just FORGET its bloodlust. There's also the way its eyes became so empty at that last moment before Emiya's attack hit, that has to be a clue... Then there's how it ran away like the Gaoh did on the first trial, and the Invite Death on the second one according to Emiya... hmmm, perhaps there could be a link there? Maybe you could ask him, this HAS to have a meaning behind it.'**

'HEH, I DUNNO ABOUT YOU PLEBS, BUT ITS SO LIKE THE LAWS OF THE JUNGLE! THE FEELING I GOT BEFORE THAT FUCKING LARD JUST COCKED US BY LEAVING LIKE THAT WAS SIMILAR TO AN ALPHA PREDATOR ORDERING THE SUBSERVIENT BEASTS TO DO ITS BIDDING! THINK OF IT LIKE... UHHHH, WHAT WAS IT, AGAIN...? DAMN, SO NOT GOOD AT THINKING HERE... OH! YEAH, A HIVEMIND, KINDA LIKE ANTS!'

 **'Ants actually don't have a Hivemind like in the movies, they in fact...'**

'Biko, you do realize this guy would have a fit if you try to correct him, you're logic and he's instinct after all. Anyways, from what IT says, i'm interpreting it as he believes something exorcised its will over the creature, applying the logic of jungle rules. If that's the case, we may be facing something that is way stronger than what these beasts can dish out... Honestly, I both want to fight that creature and yet stay the hell away from it until I have enough power to fight it. You guys think we should share our collective thoughts with our companion here?'

 **'Probably** /MEH, HE'S SHITTY, BUT WHATEVER DO WHAT YOU WANT, KING.'

"Emiya..."

"Hm?"

"This Mount Turtle... Do you think it, the Invite Death and the Gaoh are connected somehow? Its odd that they keep running away before we can kill them, and I keep getting the suspicion that something bigger is here. Just before the Mount Turtle left, I detected absolutely ZERO negative emotions in it, as in they simply VANISHED. That's not normal no matter how you put it, you don't just LOSE emotions like that. It reminds me of a hacking situation, honestly. With how its eyes became so empty just before your attack hit... I get the feeling that this is similar to a Hivemind-like situation. Of course, this is just guesswork, but yeah."

"I don't know about that. I am not so sure of how a Hivemind would work but as far as I know this must not be quite it. I would say possibly some sort of parasite to control their movements or something different altogether. None of those creatures were quite at their full potential, almost as if all of them was relatively young so it is possible that they are all related somehow. Another thing I noticed is that there are clear signs of life and struggle here even before we started attacking, so maybe they were all feeding. Perhaps there is something else we are missing entirely, but that doesn't matter." Castiel analyzed.

"Huh? Shouldn't it be important?" Nico asked, not knowing what exactly Castiel meant by those words.

"Simple, this whole world is a game so in the end, we will be either seeing them again or something similar. In other words, everything we need to do is get strong enough to kill whatever is going to show up later. Slaughter whatever is in our way, simple right?" Castiel answered making Nico sweat drop.

"Are you sure you are an angel?" Nico asked because he never heard of angels being anywhere near as bloodthirsty as Castiel was showing himself.

"I am, but I also have part of all the evils in the world sealed within me so I am not your typical angel.

"Then again, would you rather I be a goodie two shoes that admonishes you for every little thing? That is for saints and shit, I am me." Castiel answered with an unquestionable confidence oozing out of him, making Nico again have that same feeling he had before. The feeling of Castiel being someone born to take the lead and be a leader.

Well, not like he would lose anyway. Castiel might be a born leader but Nico was a born fighter, that is all there was to it.

* * *

As this little discussion ended the two teens decided to move in and go to that temple that could most likely be the objective of this whole trial.

Entering it the two got impressed by the engravings in here. Everywhere was packed full of runes that gave of an artistic sense to the place while also making it many times harder to destroy. Nico only admired it for its beauty that was almost unheard off in the whole of Gamindustri, he himself have never seen a temple or structure more pleasing than this one he was standing in now, but Castiel was trying to decipher and understand the runes here.

It was the difference between the two, Nico was still too dependent on memories of others and knowledge he obtained by his DPU shard, sort of like someone who has received a cellphone with Google on it many information was easy to find and even easier to absorb. Castiel, on the other hand, had no such thing until much recently, and even so, he put more emphasis in learning things himself and to learn more about many areas of knowledge instead of a lot of only a single are. Castiel was like the student who had buried his head on the books to learn everything he could.

This made him proficient in many things and make him more able to take advantage of many things in comparison to Nico's situation. Kind of like how someone innocent may see a diamond as nothing more than a pretty rock while an expert will see its true worth.

Well, to be fair Nico's world was mostly centered in demons, so him knowing more of that area wasn't that bad of a deal anyway.

'How fascinating... this place... I've never seen anything like it...' Nico thought to himself as he observed everything around him. His head swerved about, sometimes making him twirl a full circled to look at everything that was within their surroundings. Just by looking at those runs, Nico could tell. There would be no way that he could understand these runes, not by a long shot since he had nothing in regards to Ward craft training. Perhaps he could ask MAGES for advice in that are at some point in the future, especially if he were to head into battle with the Chaos God of sorcery Tzeentch. Even so, the sheer beauty of this place, something which he likely wouldn't have appreciated as much as he did now if it weren't for these trials, astounded him. Was this what it felt like to enter Celestia? A land practically designated as a divine realm?

Looking over to his companion, Nico made to ask him what the hell these runes meant, but his mouth closed up just as soon as he saw him. The reason? Castiel looked to be studying those runes with the posture of a scholar, something he had come to know from his companion since he explained more than a few thousand different matters to him regarding things he'd never seen before. He constantly mumbled under his breath, and even with his enhanced hearing Nico dared not try to understand the babble that escaped his mouth. Like he had said before, the redhead had no experience in this 'magecraft' thing or the DPUs apparent variant known as Wardcraft.

Therefore, he'd leave the guy alone whilst he worked.

In the meantime, perhaps he could theorize with Biko on how to advance through the stages of the two tomes he had.

* * *

 **'Nico... something is wrong, very wrong here.'**

As the two boys made their way through the temple, Bikos' voice suddenly reverberated through his mind. The redhead male heard him, but he made no outward expression to indicate he did as he and Castiel wandered through the many corridors. Each corridor they passed through looked mostly the same in terms of looks, stone walls, ceiling and floors, with lines of torches illuminating their path. It gave off this spooky, ominous atmosphere, though if he were honest, Nico felt like it was trying way too hard to be scary and tense. Though, perhaps that was something to do with how he had seen such places several times in the past, not to mention scarier ones so he wasn't affected too much.

Glancing over to his companion, Nico felt like he was on a similar wavelength... No wait, perhaps Castiel didn't even care or was just ignoring the atmosphere, cause he looked like he was having WAY too much happiness with the amount of excitement he saw. The dude was positively GLOWING with how eagerness to continue this trial, and judging by his expression Nico guessed that he was wondering what kind of final boss they would likely be facing. If he were frank, Nico felt curious about it as well, though Biko's interjection had paused his thought process. 'You thinking something's up too?'

 **'Indeed. The heat here feels... different. Not like anything harmful, but the deeper we go, the more I get the feeling that something has been 'fanning the flames'. Its like something is trying to burn us alive before we even get a chance to approach the final area.'**

Now THAT aught his attention as he reached out with his senses. True to Biko's words, Nico soon found himself getting a similar feeling as hey walked through the tunnels. Not once did he feel like they were walking in circles, either due to this very same feeling. The male got the impression that they were supposed to follow the torches on the walls because, whenever they got to a corner they would sway in a certain direction. Given how Castiel had been so far, Nico felt like he had a similar suspicion deep down... either that, or he just wanted to get this trial over and done with.

Perhaps both.

'Alright, I'll keep an eye out. For now, keep a watchful eye out. If you see anything amiss in our surroundings, let me know right away so I can address it.'

 **'Very well.'**

* * *

Finally, the two boys came to the very centre of the Temple which had been in the Turtle's shell. The moment the two males entered it, they saw themselves entering what looked to be this large, square shaped room. The room looked to be made from the same materials as the rest of the Temple, the boys noticed while looking around. In addition, there were these runic sigils across each and every one of the walls, including the floor as well. Each Sigil looked to have been drawn in this thick, crimson color, but the moment Nico stepped inside the room he knew, he just KNEW what that color really was. 'Blood... this is blood...' the redhead thought, his eyes narrowing as he felt his Ghoul Side start to get a bit more... active, at the sweet smell of blood which whiffed into his nostrils. It didn't matter to him if it were dried or not, just the very presence of blood seemed to be enough to set his inner beast off.

"Huh, now this is interesting..." Castiel remarked as he looked around while being careful not to step on the sigils on the ground. He knew what these were, since his sensei Caster had taught him about them when he was a kid. She had been VERY thorough on that subject, not leaving a single detail out since the topic of discussion... wasn't something Castiel or ANYONE who had a decent personality would EVER want to attempt. "These Sigils... they remind me of the ones that were used in the past to summon or trap demonic beings..." he remarked further, kneeling into a frog-like posture to examine the sigils further. Across the room, he noticed Nico looking at a set of sigils on the walls, causing him to sigh in his direction. "You thinking something there?" he asked, frowning. He got the correct assumption that this guy didn't know how to read things like this, but even so... Since he was a Demon God or something, these Sigils should provoke an instinctual response.

Judging by his shoulders tensing the way they did, Castiel assumed he had been right, only to be confirmed a second later. "Can't read this, but I've seen sigils like this used for summoning rituals before back in my world. So, there's no need for me to understand them." Nico replied, before turning to the centre of the room. His gaze focused there, and when Castiel looked there too he noticed a rather... complex looking summoning circle. "I don't like this. Something tells me that this place is NOT meant for those who don't have a death wish."

"Yeah, but this place is the place where the last part of the trial's located. I figured that out by reading the runes on our way here." Castiel sharply replied, sighing as he approached the summoning circle. As he looked it over, the young Heir took a look at it, his brain quickly kicking it back into gear as he figured out its workings. It took a few moments, before he soon opened his mouth. "Looks like we need an offering, a blood offering to activate the circle. Or rather, we BOTH need to make one to fully activate it." He explained, already making to cut his hand by summoning Clarent.

Nico made to question if whether or not this was a good idea, due to past experience with stuff like this, but then he shut his mouth at the last second. He quickly forced his mind to look over the facts, and soon enough he found that there was little else that he could do in this matter. This was where the flames had lead them so far, not to mention that the source of the feeling Biko had gotten. If anything, this place would be where he'd finally get some damned answers to his questions, honestly not something he could say happened often... aside from his conversations with Biko, but that was beside the point. In the end, he decided to wordlessly not and go along with it. Even with his instincts screaming at him that he should turn the fuck away from this, he wouldn't be a wuss and hide. Not like he was afraid of losing a little bit of blood either, he'd suffered worse.

With that nod, Nico walked up to Castiel (making sure to not touch the sigils), all the while summoning Rebellion into his hand and using it to cut his own hand. Nodding at Castiel who nodded in return, the two held their arms out and let two trails of blood fall down onto the summoning circle.

That was when everything began.

...

...

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

For a moment, nothing had happened. Well, nothing except the Summoning Circle starting to glow this ominous, dull red. That glow also gradually took over the rest of the sigils in the room, filling the entire place with its presence. Though, both males only had one moment to take a step backwards, their eyes widening in startled shock when they saw the entire thing ERUPT into a swirling hot supernova of flames. The flames roared into existence, taking over the space where the Summoning Circle had been as they swayed from side to side in their infernal splendor.

"Okay... did NOT see that coming."

"Doubt that anybody could have seen this coming Emiya."

Both boys got into their ready stances, ready for whatever would be coming their way. Even with their complete fire resistance, both boys could still feel like they could have combusted at any moment. Just went to show how hot these flames seemed to be, heck some of the stone around the room itself looked to be freaking MELTING from the heat, steam rising into the air from some places. Nico himself held his Rebellion while, under Biko's advisement, summoned Ouranos onto his back. Just so that he could use the Archdevil Arm's various Boons whilst he could use a different weapon. In addition, Nico released his Bikaku whilst deploying his Armour, every fiber of his being told him to be massively prepared for whatever would be coming out from that thing. On the other hand, Castiel held Clarent out and summoned his Golden Foundation Armour too, holding Clarent in both hands whilst he pumped himself up with various Blessings, such as **Speed, strength, agility, defense, evasiveness** among others.

After a couple seconds of this infernal head, both boys began noticing something beginning to emerge from within the flames in the form of a black figure. The figure itself looked more like the slit of a demon's eye at first, however it soon took on a more humanoid shape afterwards. Both males kept their swords up regardless though, ready for whatever it was they were about to face.

Soon enough, the figure granted them their unspoken wish of coming out to face them, throwing an arm-like appendage across its form to disperse its flames. Much to Nico and Castiel's surprise, they saw their opponent being a humanoid being made from both flesh and flame. The being's lower half looked like a human's, with baggy pants covering them to the feet. There seemed to be a tail coming out the tailbone though. The being's upper body looked to be that of a muscular bodybuilder's, with fiery markings over its torso. The creature's arms looked similar as well, with his wrists looking like they were made from flames themselves. In addition, flames covered the back of its head as if to mimic a lion's mane of fire. On top of his head, there was an elongated bone mask, complete with two curved horns pointing upwards. The being floated above the ground, surrounded by flames which almost looked like they were levitating it with just their heat.

Like a game, it also had a name floating above it: Ifrit, the flame demon.

 **'Be wary, Nico. Although we have absolute fire resistance, this battle will not be an easy one.'**

'HAH, RIP THAT THING'S INNARDS OUT, KING!'

With the aspects of his mind in agreement, Nico mentally nodded as he held Rebellion in a ready stance, the clinking of his Armour feeling more than a little comforting right now. Still, the heat emitting from this guy felt immense, sort of like a mini sun. If he hadn't got the resistance to flames he had now, Nico had no doubt that its aura would have incinerated him by itself.

Castiel on his end, felt very much the same way, although beneath his golden Helmet, one would feel... more than a little disturbed by the slight bloodthirsty smile spreading across his lips. 'Heh, with all the resistance I have, this guy will be a cinch. Still, better not get ahead of myself. Learn the opponents abilities and then make a plan of attack'. he thought. "Nico, you and I will focus on learning its move set, if it has boss spawning abilities use those Tails or those invisible Tentacles of yours to take them out swiftly before they cause problems."

"Got it."

Holding a single hand out, the beast before them created a single, golfball-sized flame on top of its clawed finger. That ball soon flew off its finger, splitting into three and forming these large, gargoyle-like dragons with their maws spewing these constant flames. The sight of them made exasperated sighs escape the boys lips as they each quickly began to descend upon them at various angles.

However, Nico promptly reacted faster than any of them, giving them a 'tut' as he flicked his head upwards. "Tch!"

CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

Instantly afterwards, his Bikaku Kagune reacted. Like a series of wasps going on a wild frenzy, several Tails flicked their forms with super sharp precision towards the Dragons, 2 for each one. It wasn't even a second before they then promptly released their Talons, and it soon became all the dragons could do to dodge them by sharply strafing sideways in quick bursts of speed. Surprised then furious roars escaped them when this happened, as the Dragons all encircled around Nico and made to charge up fire blasts.

Big mistake on their parts.

BIKI-BKI-BIKI-BIKI-BKI-BIKI-BIKI-BKI-BIKI-BIKI-BKI-BIKI!

However, Nico had expected this. He knew that his initial attack would more than likely fail, since there would be a 40% chance of the attacks missing according to what he could sense from these creatures. They weren't weaklings, if he were to guess then Nico would say they would attribute between A and S Rank Abnormals back in his world. Thus, Nico had his Bikaku split into many thinner Tails, each loaded with their own rows of Talons ready to fire. None of the Dragons noticed till the last second, and by then it would already have been too late for them since they A: had nearly charged up their shots, and B: Nico's Bikaku had already finished its morphing. With a smile that fit more on a serial killer on his lips, Nico unleashed the Talons everywhere across the room.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

'Whoa, shit! Castiel thought quickly erecting a barrier around him using Magecraft to repel the Talons. However, the barrier only held up by the skin of is teeth if it were to have any, and he had put more than 40% of his Mana into that barrier. He even noticed how each Talon made these large holes through the entire Temple, showcasing how destructive they really were. 'Holy... those Talons are dangerous, not only did they take a lot more than I expected to repel them. but I get the feeling that if there were more of them that hit my barrier, I wouldn't have been able to emerge unscathed.' the heir couldn't help but get the feeling that, whilst his skill set was a great counter to Nico's Ghoul side, it did NOT mean that it no longer had any bite to it. It was like playing a game about catching and having monsters fight one another in a separate world (he remembered it being called Digimon, similar to Pokemon), even if one had a type advantage, it didn't necessarily mean the battle was just about over. A big advantage sure. but definitely not a game, set, and match type of deal.

Still, what he had done just now DID just shred through the Dragons with unmatched ferocity, turning them into nothing but Swiss cheese. On top of that, Nico even launched several Hellfire fireballs, burning their remains into nothingness before he looked to the final boss. "Alright Emiya, you go on the offensive and i'll provide ranged support?" he suggested, holding Rebellion defensively whilst Ifrit regarded him with narrowed eyes and a bestial glare. He didn't even need to sense its emotions to know it wanted to gut him on its claws for that last stunt. On a side note, it appeared t have used its flames to burn his Talons before they could reach it. Smart.

"Yeah, you stick with those Tail and Tentacle things, I'll stick to its front." Castiel replied, already dashing toward the beast with Clarent in hand. He also unfurled his wings and took flight towards his opponent, closing the distance between them in a couple seconds. In those seconds, the flame demon had unleashed flames onto its hands, enveloping them in them before it clashed with his Clarent.

Both of them gritted their teeth whilst they grinded against each other, sparks and fiery wisps flying from their point of collision. 'Tch, from afar those flames had been intense, but up close like this feels even worse!' the blonde heir thought as he pushed himself forwards, finally succeeding in forcing the Flame Spirit backwards. He then charged forwards and aimed a diagonal slash across its chest, capitalizing on its lost balance. However, the creature managed to use its flames to [propel itself up and above him in order to avoid it, twisting in the air to aim its right knee at his back.

However, it soon had to cross its arms in front of its chest to block a large Bikaku Tail when it lunged at him, sending it flying in a spiraling motion towards the ground. Just before it hit though, it managed to soot streams of flames from its hands towards the ground, breaking its fall and allowing it to lad on the ground in a crouching position. It then jumped to the side to avoid several Tails that emerged from the ground to impale it, then it felt something smack it right in the chest several times over.

A bestial snarl of confusion erupted from its maw, only for Castiel to close the distance against it once again, intending to quickly finish it off by slicing its head off with a horizontal slice. Behind his Helmet though, Castiel noticed how its 'mane' began to get all erratic and volatile, a sole indicator of what would be happening next. Just before it happened, Castiel quickly flapped his wings and flew backwards in a quick burst of speed. Just barely did it in time too, since the next second was occupied by a huge ball of flame that erupted from the mane itself, covering everything around Ifrit in a 20 meter radius. Since the whole room would be about 40 meters wide, over half the space got taken.

'Okay, that is going to be annoying.' Castiel thought, narrowing his eyes behind his helmet. He didn't do it for long, but out of instinct he had activated his White Tiger Bloodline to boost his speed, not caring about limitations at that moment. It was one of those moments where instinct overwritten all reason, something that he honestly disliked but at least he was alive right now. Once he unfurled his wings, stopping his motion abruptly and ending up beside Nico as the two stared at the scorching hot flames.

"This guy's going to be one huge pain in the ass..."

"You're telling me." Nico remarked, clenching his fist as he formed a Hellfire fireball around his hand. He then thrusted forwards and hurled the fireball forth. When it hit the flames spiraling around their opponent however, the Hellfire just got disintegrated like it was no big deal, much to Nico's surprise. "Tch, damn..." he muttered beneath his Helmet.

 **'That won't work, only your Hellfire's true form has a chance to pierce through that barrier.'**

'NOW THAT'S FUCKING ANNOYING, IF YOUR HELLFIRE IS THAT SUCKY AGAINST HIM, YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT THOSE TALONS! YOUR GHOUL SIDE WON'T BE OF MUCH USE EITHER!'

'Well, that certainly blows...' The redhead male thought to himself. The fact that he would have to transform in order to deal with those flames in front of him did NOT sit well with him. He only used that form when absolutely necessary, but if he had no other option, then... hang on. Just as he made to mentally prepare himself to transform and use his true Hellfire to break through the barrier, Nico's eyes widened when a thought occurred to him. 'Wait a minute... yeah, that could work!' he thought in realization. "Hey, Emiya?"

"Yeah?"

"This barrier must take a lot of energy to maintain, so its likely it will come down soon. You think that, the moment this barrier falls down, you could hit it with that curse you used to keep that first final boss we fought back in the first trial to keep it in place? I'll hit it with a special ability of my own that will seal off its movements. With its strength, it'll break free after about 5 seconds, but that should be enough for us to land two strong solid blows onto its body."

For a moment, Castiel thought about it, before nodding his head in agreement. "You mean the **Binding Resentment Chains** right? Yeah, I can do that. It'l take some time, but I'll manage. Afterwards i'll focus on charging Clarent, you do your thing and i'll finish it off with a holy attack. I just wanna get out of this damned place already." he replied, sighing in dismay. He had been holding it back for a very long goddamned time, but he was slowly getting sick of being in here. He hoped that the'd be able to get out soon, if he wanted to save his sanity.

With their plan in mind, Nico and Castiel then looked towards the barrier, determination radiating from their forms. Determination to get this trial over with already, that is. Pretty soon afterwards, the duo of males saw the flame barrier begin to destabilize, Something which they took as a sign that they needed to get their asses into gear as Castiel readied his Curse whilst Nico did the same for his own Skill.

By the time the flames completely vanished to reveal the unharmed Ifrit, both boys were ready for him. First thing's first, Nico acted by charging in, closing the distance. Pretty soon he raised Rebellion, which looked to be thrumming with Demonic Power, as he brrought it down on his opponent. Said enemy raised its forearm to block it, its legs shaking from the strong impact that it had before it had to use its forearms to block the following onslaught.

SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

Nico's Rebellion tore through the air like a wild beast as he engaged the fire being in a high-speed slash fest, circling around his foe like a lion and, unbeknownst to the being, slowly guide him towards his companion's position. He didn't give it a single moment to strike back, and whenever he began to notice the demon being about to use its flames again, he would distract it with a Hellfire attack to the face or a Bikaku slash to his shoulders, stopping the attempt. Behind it, Nico quickly sensed that his companion had already moved from the target zone, and once his senses told him the prey was in place, a smirk formed on his lips beneath the helmet as Nico jumped back, confusing it. Then, its confusion turned to realization as Castiel quickly unleashed his Curse.

" **Binding Resentment Chains!** " he bellowed, a magic circle appearing beneath it and forming chain-like markings over its form. They soon vanished though, much to its confusion before it made to snort in a smug manner, thinking that their so-called 'plan' had failed. It then made to charge at Nico, intending to cleave his head off for the 'slights' he had made against its pride, slights it would make sure to make him pay DEARLY for... when it instantly found itself back where it started.

A look that could be best described as 'WTF?' appeared on its face, only for a flash to temporarily blind its vision for a second. When it vanished, it opened its eyes an saw Nico right in front of it, placing his hand on its chest before he vanished just as it released flames onto his position. "Sorry buddy, but not sorry. CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS!" Nico yelled, and in that moment another magic circle appeared beneath it. The Demon looked down in startled surprise, wondering what would be happening next when, from the Magic Circle, came chains of a similar purple color... but more physical as they swiftly span around it to restrain its movements to nothing, binding its arms to its sides, pretty much covering everything save for its head with Chains. Fury, raw and primal exploded from within it, as the Demon roared and howled whilst making to break free of its restraints. These chains felt weak, WEAK and pitiful, so it would be able to escape from them easily.

That is... what it THOUGHT would happen, but...

"Emiya, now!"

"Don't have to tell me twice! CLARENT!"

A surge of holy energy got detected behind it, and try as it might the fire Demon couldn't turn its head fully to see what was going on. Even so though, it managed to turn just enough to see a large, golden light appear behind it, radiating a magnificence which made every fiber of its being just SCREAM at it to not let that light touch it no matter what.

Shame though, that it couldn't have reacted in time for as the light fell down upon it... thus, the Demon's dying screams echoed throughout the entire Temple.


	171. Cross Chapter 18 - Third Trial Interlude

**Third Trial Interlude**

Back in the training area, a simple golden portal opened up, and two familiar figures stumbled on through. Both of them soon revealed themselves to be two exhausted looking boys: Casitel and Nico. Both of them were now in their human forms, their Armours having deactivated, with Castiel no longer having Clarent or any of his boosts. In Nico's case, he simply had no longer had Rebellion or any of his Devil/Archdevil Arms (Ouranos still feeling a bit salty at not being used not even for his Boons) on his person. Not to mention that his Kagune had receded inside of him the moment the enemy had been finished. One could say that Castiel looked to be the more exhausted of the two, since he had used Clarent a consecutive amount of times that battle. They'd be right on the money, the guy felt like he had ran a million times through the Sahara Desert whilst being chased by some of Bon Clay's 'fans'. #shudder#

Once the two had existed the portal, the two collapsed onto the ground face first, groans escaping their lips as they commenced spreading themselves across the cold, hard floor. Though, the fact that they were able to FEEL cold right now felt SO good right now. "N-Never. Again. I, NEVER want to go in there again." Castiel remarked, sighing in relief while hugging the ground. If he had any less dignity, he'd freaking kiss it right now. When he got back, he'd be having cold showers for months on end! "I never really noticed this before, but the ground is just sooooo gooood, it is so fresh and no flames."

"Yeah... true that..." Was all Nico said as he too was sprayed on the ground, enjoying the cold ground instead of that hell from the latest trial. If he were honest, those words felt like a DRASTIC understatement of how much he REALLY appreciated the cool feeling the ground gave off right now. If he had the chance, Nico would take one HELL of a cold shower. Perhaps he could make one in his Inner World sometime, that would be quite interesting. It was absurd, the temperature there was simply absurd to the final degree as the final trial almost made the two understand how a piece of barbecue meat feels.

And, of course, Zelretch just HAD to be there to receive them...

With an ice cream of coffee flavor in hand.

Both teens looked at the cold and delicious treat as if it was the promised treasure judging by how starry eyed they looked, but before they could try to snatch it Zelretch smiled and threw the whole thing down his throat.

...

...

...

... You hear that? That was the sound of shattered spirits, two of them right there.

Looking at the two's dejected and furious appearance, Zelretch just released a... not so small chuckle of amusement which would not look too bad on a sadist. He practically drank in their torment in a white cup labelled 'salt' (not joking, he really had a cup called that), as he cheerfully commented. "What, you wanted some? Sorry, but there is no more ice cream here, I made a buffet of all flavors imaginable with only the best ingredients but you guys took too long so I ate it all myself." The old bastard explained, reveling in the hatred and indignation directed at him as if it was the most delicious treat there was. "BUT, I am not some heartless monster despite what many think. I did get something else for you two to eat after all that heat of the last trial."

He then snapped his fingers and a sudden kaleidoscopic light surged on the ground in front of the two something that made both teens twitch their eyes.

A barbecue. A FUCKING barbecue, after all of that.

Seeing their expressions, the guy had the 'decency' to shrug his shoulders. "Hey, I am gonna let you two here to enjoy your meat now. Sorry if the AC is broken, I kind of forgot to fix it but if it helps the AC of my private room is still working as well as my minifridge with all the best drinks out there. Enjoy your barbecue and don't forget to claim your reward later."

And, with that, he was gone in a flash of light he was gone.

"..."

"... Fuck you, uncle." Castiel said, breaking the silence. The answer was a smiley face emoji made out of energy that appeared in front of him.

Again, Zelretch is kind of a dick.

After that, the two simply went to look for what they could get out of this whole thing. Nico decided to take a small rest and sit down, almost moaning once he did so since the tension left his legs. 'Ahhhhh... this feels JUST right...' the male thought to himself, putting one hand on the ground behind him and leaning on it. He pulled one leg up so that it arched whilst the other just laid there on the ground, sprawled out with no regard for manners or decorum. 'Jesus... feels like I haven't had a rest in forever... much like mom's or Biko's training...' the male couldn't help but think, knowing that Biko would be able to hear him.

The male just KNEW that he'd be in for it during their next training session, but right now he felt too exhausted to care.

He also didn't care what other people thought, staying for so long in that place felt more taxing than anything he had ever been in before. Nico may have a lot of stamina, he could go for hours in combat after all (a lot of his fights against stronger Abnormals tended to be that way after all), but fighting in a place like that for as long as they did drained him quite quickly. One good thing though, would be that he had managed to at least clear another trial, not to mention amp up his stamina from the experience. Only 2 more trials were left though, and then he'd be back in his own world at last. Once he did though, the first thing he would do would likely be to spend some time with the Party he was with, cause things had been way too hectic recently with all the Demons and the Mundus incident. He wanted to at least take some time to himself before he went off on his next trip.

To be frank, combined with the Lexicanum having given him a whole hell lot of information he hadn't even BEGUN to look through as of yet and how many books he had been buying between trials, Nico felt like he had a LOT of research to look forward to once he got back. There were just so many things that he had yet to learn about, things that came from both those books as well as what Castiel had informed him about. Part of him wanted to figure out a way to repay the guy for the charity he had shown him, even though there wasn't much in it for himself. But, how the heck could he do that? He'd only known the guy for a couple days, so he wasn't exactly sure about how he would return the favor just yet.

Then there was the situation with Yvoire and THAT can of worms, but he won't go into that right now, he didn't want to think about ANYTHING related to politics just yet.

Nico then looked to the barbecue, his eyes narrowing at the dick move Zelretch pulled. Just when he thought he had been used to Zelretch's behavior, he went and pulled the rug out from under him like he just did. He began to understand just how much Castiel had to have gone through with an uncle like that guy around, if only a little. The teen mentally winced with sympathy, though he wouldn't say that to the Heir's face. From what little he DID know about the guy, Nico felt like the guy held himself in a high standard, a huge form of pride. In essence, he figured Castiel to be very prideful of himself, yet with the level of strength he has the guy had enough bite to go with his bark. Therefore, if he showed him sympathy, Nico felt like he might take it as an insult. Not to mention that beside that sympathy, there lay this begrudging level of respect which was slowly growing in him the more he got to fight by the Heir's side.

Whilst he thought about this, Nico released 2 Rinkaku Tentacles, visible to the naked eye since there was no need to hide them for what he wanted them to do. With his willpower and imagination, he had them reform their tips from their default pointy forms to a series of hands, before he had them go towards the Barbecue. What? He was hungry and exhausted, plus if the first trial was anything to go by, Zelretch had probably added in something for him so he could eat the food without barfing. The Tentacles took a plate, cutlery and began putting some of the food on the plate. Afterwards, the they brought it back to Nico before they began feeding it to him. The moment that the food entered his mouth, all of Nico's fears of being unable to feed got doused, and a moan of delight escaped his lips. 'Ahhhhhh... it'll be a shame when I leave here, i'll never be able to eat food like this again... or any kind of human food really.' he thought to himself, mentally sighing as he enjoyed this temporary pleasure. Not like he would be able to ever again after this.

He would look at his possible rewards later, right now he just wanted to rest for once. He could feel the agreement from his Ghoul and Demon Personas as well... especially when the rest of his Rinkaku came out and shook like a dog wagging its tail.

* * *

Castiel decided to first spend every point he got from this challenge in more jewels. Unfortunately, there wasn't much in the way of points as most of the rewards were actual rewards during the trial so the number of points they both got was meager at best. Though, Nico DID get some points from his trials, not like Castiel would know this. Still, seeing as how Nico had become indisposed for the time being, the blonde Heir decided to take the first plunge on the reward front. "I guess I will go first." Castiel said as he started browsing for anything that might be a good reward for that shit show.

He saw some Spirit Bones, rare herbs, incredible items, but nothing like what he wanted. He desired above all else was something that might help him with his situation with the fragments of the corrupted grail. That was something he had to take care off, he knew that keeping those fragments as they were could bring a disaster in the future since he could not fully control and rule over them that way. However, just as he was about to lose hope in finding anything that might help he saw one thing that might actually help.

"Evil Typha Seed, a seed from an evil tree that took all evil energy around it and had immense destructive powers. The seed as it is can work as a center of collection to all evil related energies, it had its ability to further grow fully destroyed but the seed still had the function to reunite evil energy so planting it in an cursed land will take away all the evil inside and make it a land of prosperity where no taint is left." The male muttered, looking over the image of the seed, black just like the evil he commanded yet pulsating like a beating heart. Well, ain't that convenient. It was nothing much for most, to be fair it was quite useless compared to basically all other rewards, but for Castiel it was a godsend. It was a way to make sure the fragments of the corrupted grail inside him were fused properly, and if he was lucky enough he may even be sure to not get any leftover consciousness that might be hidden there as the corrupter energy would all be taken away.

The results were still unpredictable, but it was worth a shot so he chose that one. As he selected it a shining light appeared and in the middle of it a seed was resting there. Looked just like it did in the picture, honestly. It was completely black, pulsating like a living heart with many weird runes all over it that made Castiel lose himself looking it over, his eyes shining with contemplation as he memorized all those tightly packed runes and tried to understand their secrets.

Almost instinctively Castiel activated his Pendant and entered the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal, it was the last thought he had before fully focussing on the seed in his hand. The more he examined it the more he came to realize that this alone was already proving an immensely valuable experience, just those runes by themselves already had many things that made him learn about not only evil and darkness energies but also runecraft in a whole new perspective that differed from the one he was more used to. Those were runes generated naturally, they were not nearly as intricate as those made by magus like himself but they still were extremely mysterious and the more he studied those runes the deeper his knowledge over runecraft and evil grew.

* * *

After about two full days analyzing the seed, or a bit over two hours to those outside the field, Castiel finally learned all he could. It was time for him to take the seed.

He decided to do something that even at the best of days might have been considered an absurd and stupid, he made the seed conceptually fuse with him. It is hard to explain, but in simpler terms, he fused the seed directly into his soul. It was a risky bet, but he followed it through anyway.

As the seed entered his body it did nothing much for a while, but as it entered in contact with the dark energy inside him it started reacting to it, a suction power emerged and from it all the fragments that were spread out and slowly tainting Castiel's soul were sucked into the void as well as the taint there. It was a weird feeling as even though the fragments of the grail were supposedly impossible to remove the taint they still were slowly but surely cleansed of the influence of Angra Mainyuu.

The fragments were still a bit spread out at first, but as they no longer were under the influence of any evil energy they were slowly being disintegrated and fused with Castiel's own magic core. It was, after all, a ritual object made out of pure energy so it happening was not impossible, but the most surprising thing is that as the fragments fused with Castiel's magic core the core started changing in nature slightly.

It was not much, far from it actually, but the difference was there. It was like it was 'granting the core's wish' so to say, not that the core had a consciousness but it was undeniable that a body so 'human' as Castiel's was not quite perfect for an angelic energy so it started changing some of the core's powers to make his angelic powers more fitting for his human heritage. In the end, his core grew to about twenty percent its original size and he now had a pseudo core for his evil energy.

It could not be said that Castiel's powers grew, far from it actually, but it was undeniable that his powers now were finally as they should have been if not for all the problems he suffered growing up. His magic circuits were as good as when he was born, his magic core was working at 120% efficiency, and his evil energy was fully under his control.

Castiel never felt anywhere near as powerful as he did right now, and it was then that an interesting idea sprang in his mind.

'Is it possible for me to use True Form?'

True Form is an ability that Devils had, it was hard to obtain since the devil had to have full control over his own energy or it would backfire since it would make all the energy inside and outside of the user's body be saturated with the devil's energy. Normally only some Leader-class warriors could use it as usually only them had such control, but Castiel just might be an exception to the rule.

As he grew up practicing control over all else his basic control was superb, to say the least and considering how now he finally had everything about him under control and in balance, it should theoretically be possible. The power boost if he managed to achieve such form would be immense, but he had to go VERY slow since he did not know how well it would go. At least the theory he had down, but the practical aspects were still a mystery for him. The only reason he even imagined himself doing it was due to a sudden instinct, a sensation that he might succeed. And, for him this was more than enough.

* * *

Back with the resident redhead Spec Ops Agent, Nico had finished up his resting period, having taken a moment to rest and recover his energy. All three types by the way, his SP, Demonic Energy and his RC Cells. At this point, the male felt ready to take on the entire world, though in the back of his mind the redhead figured this to be just the high from resting. He had a lot to do right now to make up for lost time, especially since he had spent the last few days resting his body and refocusing on prepping himself for the next Trial in his Inner World. So far, he had only learned how to use his various Gene Seed abilities, made halfway progress in advancing to the next stage of the Star God's Broken Shadow, whilst nothing had been done for the Great Way of the Buddha. Even so, Nico still didn't feel like his progress had been halted, since he had been able to also look up some of the books inside the Library within his head. A lot of them were about subjects Castiel had already informed him about, among others that he hadn't even conceived the idea of before. That just HAD to mean that a LOT of the things in this world, had to have counterparts in his own, which meant that if he found some of them, he could potentially help his comrades get as strong as he was, perhaps stronger.

Possibilities were opening up to him right now...

All thanks to this venture.

He'd have to make sure to figure out a way to repay MAGES. for bringing him to Zelretch someday (even if he was a big fat dick).

'Ahhh, that was refreshing...' the male thought, standing up as he did some stretches, groaning in pleasure when he felt the tension in his body leave him. Now that he was back in the real world after spending so long prepping/reading up in his Inner World, Nico felt ready to choose the reward for the last trial. Though, if he were honest, then Nico already had an idea of what he'd would like, though if it wasn't there he wouldn't be too fussed about it. Judging by the last few trials, the redhead teen figured that any treasure here could be useful when applied the right way. Just had to know how.

Thus, he opened up the reward screen to see what he could find. Once he did, Nico found many things on there: Spirit Bones, Spirit Rings (spiritual items like the Spirit Bones), dozens of divine and demonic-looking treasures, so many to choose from. Shame he could only choose one right now though, but... just as he scrolled through the items, one of them in particular caught his eye:

The Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World... complete with a vial of its bloodline.

'Holy... is this what I think it is...?' Nico could only think as shock filled his system faster than time could record it. He almost didn't think he was awake right now, still in his inner world or at least resting and in dreamland. However, his senses confirmed that this was reality due to how he could sense that... thing that Castiel had nearby. In addition to that, this place was definitely the training ground, NOT his Inner World. Thus, what he was seeing right now could only be considered to be real as fuck too. That... honestly felt harder to grasp than it should have. 'I did say to Emiya that I would like to have the flames of the Golden Crow since, like it or not my move set is evolving to be more destructive... but still...! Is it really ok for me to have this?'

Somehow, Nico couldn't help but wonder if he should really have gotten something as rare and important as this so easily. It just seemed like something one would put as a reward at the end of a game or something similar, but here he was, getting it for practically free. Though, to be fair, Nico DID sort of earn it with that fire trial, but still. The complex feelings in his gut wouldn't really settle down regardless.

 **'Think of it this way, Nico. Bloodlines like this are always going to be rare to come by, no matter where you get them. In this world that Zelretch created, this is going to be the place where you could easily obtain treasures like these. If you don't choose them now, they'll likely be much harder to find later on. I can safely say that this opportunity we have... we should take as much advantage of it as we can. If we don't find certain treasures here then perhaps we can at least learn about them. Then we can put the effort in to help the others grow stronger as well.'**

'YA NOT GETTING MUCH OUTTA ME YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW, KING. JUST FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS, ITS WHAT YOU DO BEST, AFTER ALL.'

'I... guess...' Nico remained unconvinced despite the help of his two Aspects, but ultimately chose to toss his hesitation aside. They did have points there, even his Ghoul Persona (Nico swore he heard a curse from his Ghoul Persona just then, but it sounded muffled so he just ignored it), in that he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth like this. If he were to obtain the Bloodline of the Golden Crow like this, then he would do it. He recalled what Castiel had told him about how he achieved his Bloodlines, the four divine beasts. Before, he wouldn't have a CLUE about how powerful those things were, even with Castiel's demonstration of the White Tiger. However, after looking up the books he had, Nico honestly couldn't help but consider himself a freaking idiot when he first came here. He didn't really want to consider what would have happened if he HADN'T gotten access to this information in the past.

Still, it made him think back to what Castiel explained about how to acquire a bloodline and what hehad to do beforehand. All the while, the male pressed on the screen to receive the vile and Tome, before in front of them they appeared. The vial appeared first, looking to be the length of his hand's height. It looked to be filled with blood, and if Nico had not gotten ANY of the fire resistance he had when he went into that fire trial, he did NOT doubt his hand would have been burned the millisecond this vial touched it. Seriously, it made the flames of ifrit look like a joke, and he wasn't going to be laughing about that any time soon. Second, the tome appeared before him, looking to be quite old, yet still in pristine reading condition. It had a brown cover with golden outlines, including the corners. Lastly, there was a symbol shaped like a crow in front of the tome, showcasing that this tome belonged to the Golden Crow.

Almost like these two were intrinsically linked or something... if that was the case, Nico wouldn't be surprised.

His eyes narrowed as Nico gripped the Tome and Vial firmly. Talking with Castiel had taught him a few rituals which could help him absorb the Golden Crow's Bloodline, and whilst he could copy him exactly, Nico did know of a ritual which would be perfect for this situation.

If he had to guess, Nico doubted he'd have much time to do this, but hey, that was what his Inner World was meant for. Thus, he sat down and closed his eyes, jumping into said Inner World and feeling both his new items following him for the ride. Kind of like two children curiously following their parents to their destination.

He just hoped it worked.

* * *

By the time Castiel returned to where his companion was after exiting the Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and absorbing the seed, the young Heir found himself greeted with a rather... interesting sight.

There, sitting in a meditative stance, was Nico. The redhead male had his eyes closed, a calm, serene look on his features as flames, not the orangish ones that signified his Hellfire, but GOLDEN flames, spiraled around the ground around him, forming a circle. The way those flames moved right now, with such swiftness and control, honestly made Castiel feel like he was at a theater watching a dance show. Castiel could sense powerful heat rolling off him in waves too, way more powerful than his Hellfire ever felt in his human form... even so, it still just clung to him like a second skin, like it was trying to wrap itself around him. In contrast to his serene demeanor however... One could say that the surrounding ground looked like it had been boiled to death by lava, it had become so black that it actually looked more like a volcano's shell than anything.

He could guess JUST what had happened here.

"So..." Castiel began, and as if by magic Nico opened his eyes and looked towards me, taking a deep breath to 'inhale' the flames back into him. Although it looked like it took a moment of effort to do so. Nico then stood up to face him, putting his hands in his Trench Coat Pockets before walking over to him. "You got your reward?" To be frank, Castiel already had an idea as to what reward Nico had chosen, he just wanted to hear it from the guy himself.

Something which got confirmed seconds later when Nico nodded, a... rather childish light slowly creeping into his as he responded to his words. "You bet! Remember the talk about Bloodlines we had before? Well, one of the rewards I found just now was a Vial of blood from the Golden Crow..." he said, before holding a hand out and a tome that Castiel DEFINITELY recognized appeared in his hand. "Along with this baby. Though, it took some time to get the Bloodline adjusted to my body, longer than I expected. Though, my being a DPU probably didn't help much."

"How long did you spend trying to integrate the flames?

"Over 5 hours... I think."

Now THAT made Castiel look at him like he was an idiot again, although this time the redhead male felt too good about himself to notice. "Okay, I'mma have to call bullshit there." he said. "I mean, it took me a while to integrate the flames of the Vermilion Bird and the White Tiger into me too, but 5 hours? A, that sounds cheap as fuck, and B: pretty sure that if you're telling the truth, that time frame just feels wrong." Not trying to demean the guy or anything, but Castiel honestly doubted that Nico could have pulled off integrating the flames as well as he seemed to have. Not even sensing the calming flow of the golden fire within him convinced the Heir.

"Ah, that's probably cause I have something similar to your Time Dilation field Generator." Nico replied after a moment of confusion before he realized what had Castiel so confused just now. In all honesty, he couldn't exactly blame the guy, as he didn't know about his Inner World. But since he had shown Nico respect by explaining things to him, not to mention that for now his Ghoul side didn't seem to regard him as something that needed to be taken down (likely due to the energy that Castiel gave off, both the holy and the evil sides of it. Holy because, well , its holy energy what else do you expect, and the latter because it reminded him of the Edict of Death... although right now the Edict far surpassed Castiel's powers even now), Nico decided to explain to him. Perhaps it could help him get used to the idea of explaining everything to the girls, as in everything he now knew and the things he kept to himself. After all, he never got much of a chance since he had been so preoccupied before coming here. "Its something that all DPUs have, called an 'Inner World'. Basically its a world that forms within our souls which has a powerful time dilation effect, in addition to being controlled by our desires. One hour in there is actually a second out here, and I merely transitioned the Bloodline into me in there."

"First, cool BS power you got there, but you shouldn't be overly dependant on it since actual testing in the real world can help much more since the internal world and external may be different. Also, from what you said you did a shity ass job in integrating with this bloodline and probably didn't realy integrated even half the power of the Divine Blood otherwise you would have a certain aura of the Golden Crow about you, something that you do not have. If I were to guess your process failed in integrating the whole thing and as such you wasted a divine material." Castiel said analyzing the whole thing Nico said, earning a glare for an answer as Nico REALLY didn't like when people pointed out his mistakes.

'He is just like a kid, refusing to listen most of the time while prefering to talk with his imaginary friends. Seriously, he needs a therapist or some good medicine to try and stop those interanl halucinations. His internal 'aspects' are just figments of his soul that he let take control over his powers to limit himself, it is just a proof of weakness as far as I can see' Castiel thought while looking at Nico. This may not necessarily be the exact truth, but it was undeniable that those other 'personalities' could be seen as just repressed memories and his way of interpreting himself, as if he was not the one controling his instincts and he was also not the one that was connected to his demonic aspects.

If anything Castiel felt pity for Nico as he was limitating himself by thinking this way. Letting himself be limited while complaining about powerlessness is something so stupid for Castiel that he did not even had the energy to complain anymore.

Nico sighed as he glanced to the left when he sensed a build-up of energy. "In any case, looks like we have a new trial ready for us." he stated, gesturing to the portal. 'Hey guys, you got anything on what we may be facing next?' the redhead questioned, frowning as he smelled hydrogen coming from the portal. Did that mean they would be going somewhere with water? Was water the next trial they had? After the last one, he honestly felt like he could appreciate some water in his life right better than being scorched to death fire resistance be damned, heck it could be possible to develop extra resistance or even absolute immunity to water or ice-based attacks.

 **'Our thoughts align with your suspicions, Nico. I** **addition** **, I request that you start using Ebony and Ivory for this one. They have been getting ****restless** **from their lack of usage.'**

All Nico responded with was a nod. Though, he did agree with his Demon Persona in that he hadn't been using Ebony and Ivory for a while. Hell, he hadn't been using their special abilities ever since he got them when he went to that Cave with Vert, getting the Red Ring of Rage as a result.

Looking towards it, Castiel also gave a nod, though obviously for different reasons, as he proceeded to head towards it. Already his mind raced with calculations in regards to what the trial could be by process of elimination, plus his mind worked on deciding which weapons to actually draw on based off those theories. He glanced towards his companion to see him summoning Rebellion and his dual Handguns, strapping them to his waist before deploying his Armour. "Not much, but if I were to guess I'd probably say its water. Just from the last trials, I've summarized that these are based off the five elements, so going by that logic, I'm willing to go with water. After all these trials are following the order of the five elements connection: Earth that leads to metal that leads to the fire that leads to water that leads to wood and finally goes back to earth, it is the basis of quite a few magic theories so you must have heard about it for now." Castiel said, before smashing himself in the head. "Sorry, I almost forgot that you are mostly a warrior so you probably never bothered studying something as 'boring' as magic theories to at least know how to deal with enemies using them. It must be nice, living in a place like yours."

"Fuck no, our world lives under the threat of all sorts of monsters and there are now demons invading too!" Nico said in rebuttal.

"And you chose a flame that is known for being extra destructive instead of a Phoenix Flame that is great to face impure energy like demonic type powers, or maybe the blueprints for all sorts of machines that may help your people fight of this threat, or perhaps seeds that can grow quickly regardless of ambient to make food supplies to those who need more available, or perhaps one Billion Bird that can probably save everyone in your world from starvation? I mean, if you are so worried about the world you really are not showing with thinking about personal power again and again." Castiel said, making Nico feel weird as if he had done the wrong choice.

Not only had he done the ritual wrong making the blood not be fully assimilated by trying to get a shortcut he also was only now seeing how selfish he acted just now.

He knew that increasing his powers was important, but he also had the responsability as someone who knew what was happening on the world to try and help it. There were more people suffering and dying of starvation and diseases than from actual demons, but he only thought of the right now again.

'A leader must keep his eyes on not only the present, but also on the future.' Yvoire's words rang again on his head, making he again see how unfit for this whole thing he was. Just looking at how from the three rewards until now all three for Nico were for himself and only one was for himself in the case of Castiel made him see again the difference between the two.

"Let's just go already." Nico said while ignoring both aspects of himself that were trying to convince him that he was right about everything and that he was not mistaken in trying to increase his strength, but despite that he kept remembering the people in the back alleys of most cities, people dying in starvation and disease that he mostly ignored while he went to rescue other people from danger.

It was another shock for Nico, one that he would rather do without.

Both boys then headed into the portal, wondering what they would get thrown at them this time.


	172. Cross Chapter 19 - Water Trial

**Water Trial**

Entering the trial grounds, the first thing the two did was give a sigh of relief. They were a bit worried that the first thing they would get is being drowned, but instead, they found themselves on firm soil in what looks like a gigantic bubble. At least they still had some rocky ground to walk on instead though, that was something to note for the two males.

As the two tried to walk forward, looking around the area allowed them to realize that they had been locked inside a small space that, according to some attempts, showed them that they could not leave. Though, it didn't mean either of them were worried, since there was still oxygen, not to mention that this place still had the same vibes as the other Trials. In the end, they just had to wait for a while before everything would be explained to them.

Well, the wait didn't last for long, since in an instant, a whole army of people arrived in the place they were. They all looked like a humanoid fish, so the exact MOMENT that he saw them, their appearance made Nico reflexively draw his Ebony, leveling it at one of them with his right eye, even while hidden by his Armour's Helmet, aimed down the top of the Handgun. For him those were not human, thus he should kill them. Past experiences reared their heads in his mind, prompting his actions as well as how each of them seemed to have weapons. It made perfect sense for him, but before he could shoot Castiel put Hruting in front of him and turned an eye at his direction.

"And why exactly do you think it is okay to just kill them without even knowing what this trial is all about? And for that matter, why do you even look disgusted by just some fish-man?"

"They are Abnormals, killing monsters is my jo-"

PUNCH, THWACK!

A punch was launched at the redhead male's face, though his Rinkaku came out, its tip a claw, and caught it before it could do so. The punch did its job of shutting Nico up though, as he stared with an arched brow behind his Helmet at Castiel who looked furious with what he just heard.

Fish-men, that is a race that he had many friends with and he saw first hand how they actually acted and how others treated them, the discrimination and how many of them were captured as slaves for no other reason than them being 'monsters' and 'abnormal creatures'. Hearing those words from Nico pressed a few too many buttons with Castiel, enough for him to want to rip Nico a new one for daring to utter such stupid words.

"I don't give a flying fuck what your 'job' is, but try and say that a fish-men is a monster just by being what he is again and this trial will be the smallest of your problems." As Castiel said that he flashed his energy by accident, and that was enough to cause Nico to stiffen behind his Armour. His heart almost skipped a dozen beats when a flood of terror spewed forth.

He had never before felt anything like it, it was like the epitome of what Evil should feel like and it terrified him as even his demonic side and his demonic weapons (Erebus being an exception due to her origins and nature, though even she felt it to a lesser extent) felt powerless before it out of sheer instinct. It was something he did not feel even when in front of Mundus, it was just so evil that even death felt like a blessing in comparison. 'Is this the energy he is controlling inside his body? How the hell can anyone control this?' The male wondered, all the while mentally noting how his Ghoul Side seemed to suddenly become a whole lot tenser. Likely due to the trauma Mundus had caused it, he figured.

After seeing Nico stay quiet for a while Castiel calmed down before saying. "Fish-men are just another species out there, treating them like monsters just because they have a different biology is stupid no matter how you look at it. In my universe, I have friends that are Fish-men so I don't want you to go around calling them or any other Fish-men monster just because of what they are. A monster is only defined by their actions, not their biology." Castiel explained, retracting his hand which allowed Nico's Rinkaku to return to its place within his being, before sitting down. He knew it may sound weird for Nico, but for Castiel, this was the truth he learned after interacting with many people.

Judging others just because they look different or have different alimentary habits is stupid, only your actions can tell if you are a monster or not. If Castiel did not believe this he might have even called himself a monster, just as many others probably do thanks to being born what he was, an angel that has the energy of Evil and Holiness running through him, but he'd rather die than give those fuckers who call him names the satisfaction of knowing their words had any effect on him. He would live as he wanted, taking the responsibilities he had and living the best he could without turning away from his own life, and if anyone had anything to say about he would present them a nice gift of a sword through the gut.

On Nico's side, the male could hardly make heads or tails out of what the young Heir talked to him about. Part of him wondered if he had been on drugs or something else just as stupid. How the hell could he say stuff like that with just a straight face? Not to mention put his usual passion into it like it was something right? Nico could hardly understand, nope, he couldn't get it one bit. Though, to be fair in his universe pretty much everything non-human has tried to kill him in the past, the Abnormals either from their instinctual detection of his Ghoul side, their predatory hunger, or recently the Demons who wanted to take his soul for their own. Not to mention how humanity itself back in his universe was being assaulted on all sides by beings whom weren't human. He wasn't anyone special though, as all of humanity had been victimized by them, so finding someone who sympathized with Abnormals was like finding a needle in a haystack if one went to his universe.

Granted, there were humans who did the same, and not just from the usual direct methods either. Assassins, poison, you name the underhanded tactic and he would have been afflicted by it at some point. It wasn't always low-grade criminals who tried it either, crime bosses, nobles, officials who were too fanatical for their own good, a whole bunch of different people all from different backgrounds have tried to kill him. Either due to his Ghoul side making them identify him as one of the monsters he fights, or to settle a petty grudge, even as a business arrangement. Thanks to his Ghoulish biology though, combined with his instincts, senses and keen training, Nico had survived these attempts. Therefore, he didn't have much faith in pretty much anyone, be it human or not. Plus, he'd seen more than his fair share of assholes and psychotic freaks in his time, therefore Nico pretty much saw little difference.

Castiel was wrong in what he said, it wasn't because of their nature that Nico had tried to kill them, he couldn't give much of a damn about what they looked like. The moment that they held any sinister intent towards him or brandished any weapons his way, then Nico would consider them an enemy of which he would show no mercy towards. Human, Abnormal, it made no difference to him anymore. It was merely his instincts telling him to get on guard, since thanks to those experiences, those who had similar intents towards them these guys had, well he'd show no mercy.

Kill, or be killed. That was the law of how his world worked on a basic level.

It was also a world every Spec Ops Member found themselves in.

Before he could say any of this however (and incur Castiel's wrath likely), the voice of Zelretch spoke up, getting their attention. Though, it looked like only the two males could hear him. "Alright you two lovebirds (cue glares towards the outside of the bubble by said 'lovebirds'), here's the next trial. Your job is to fight your way through a horde of enemies and reach the commanders. They won't appear until you'e defeated a significant amount however, so fight hard. Oh yeah, I should probably mention that large-scale attacks are both disabled and ill-advised thanks to the bubble your in being inside a deep ocean. Lastly, its going to gradually fill up with water, so you kiiiinda have a time limit. Now then... 3, 2, 1... LETS THE FIGHTING BEGIN!"

... Why did Zelretch sound like some announcer at the end there?

'... In that case, I should be able to go at them, then.' Nico thought as he shifted his gaze from the outside, slowly, towards the rest of these 'Fishmen' people, according to the Heir next to him. Looking them over, Nico searched for any signs of hidden weaponry, whilst Castiel got into a ready stance with Hrunting. His eyes narrowed into a gradual predatory look, whilst he felt a twitching sensation in his left eye. Within the Helmet, the eye itself gradually shifted, the iris becoming crimson and the sclera darkening into an abyssal black. Crimson veins spread across the eye and onto the side of his head, and before long Nico's Kakugan had formed. He held both Ebony AND ivory out towards the Fishmen whom each readied their own weapons, causing Nico to look them over more carefully than before. It looked like to him, that these beings sported things like swords, axes, pitchforks and other primitive weapons... though, that wasn't to say him and Castiel were any different since they too wielded similar weapons.

Both males ended up jumping towards opposite directions, one going to the left and the other going to the right. Both ad determined stares whilst they prepared to fight in one heck of a large brawl.

* * *

On the left side, Nico landed in a crouch, sliding to a halt before he stood up, holding Ebony and Ivory out before him as the Fishmen all began charging towards him, unified battle cries echoing from their mouths. The moment he raised his dual Handguns, Nico closed his eyes, time seemingly slowing to a crawl as he thought backwards. It... must have been a while since he had last used these guns, the fight against Castiel in the beginning not withstanding. Perhaps it had been due to Leanbox's atmosphere, but Nico found himself hard pressed to recall very many times where he had used these particular Devil Arms against the enemy. The one time that DID stick out in his mind however, was the time when he had unlocked their powers while helping Vert out with that decision of hers.

 **'Alright Nico, here we go. This battle may proceed to be long and tedious, however if we want to correct our earlier mistake, then we will have to endure this. It was our arrogance, our opinion that relying on the Inner World for this kind of process was the right course of action, which brought this current situation upon us. It may cost us dearly, but correcting our mistakes is a large part of what we do,'**

'Oh, i'm aware of that, Biko. Though, I will admit that...'

Now, part of him, the part of him that still believed that he needed Castiel's knowledge on how to properly apply the bloodlines of other beings, couldn't help but wonder if, through their talk, that he should just go in for the kill. Not like he would play with his prey as he usually just tore them apart without hesitation, but if he wanted to be as efficient as possible then Nico would likely have to do some ground control. After all, Zelretch did say that this place was on a time limit so it wasn't like he could afford playing around. If he wanted to make a comparison, perhaps the urgency he felt when he felt the girls being in danger the moment that he had awoken from that 2 week long coma after being poisoned at the Gala. If he were to lose the biggest source of knowledge he had aside from the Lexicanum, it would likely be a whole lot harder for him to undo the mistakes he had made previously.

Thus Ebony and Ivory, much to Biko and even his own fortune, actually became their most viable option for this Trial due to their powers. Rapidly firing bullets of the demonic enhanced or... some of the other kinds would surely fit this scenario to a T. Should he come face to face with the commanders though, then Nico felt like he would have to get serious somewhat.

Speaking of powers...

Opening his eyes, Nico glared at the enemy before him, the desire to kill burning inside his eyes like fiery storms as he began drawing on the knowledge of these Handguns. 'Odds are, i'll have to stick to normal demonic bullets and those 'Balas' which they mentioned when they awakened. Ceros sound like something comparable to large-scale destruction, which isn't allowed in this trial...' he thought to himself as he began going through the 'process' for a pair of Balas. From the tips of the barrels of both Devil Arms, circles of crimson electricity formed, crackling constantly as energy began building up within the barrels interiors.

Both eyes bulged at the last moment. 'Now, fire!'

In a second, the barrels unloaded two hand-sized orbs of concentrated Demonic Energy, both of them shooting straight into two of the Fishmen. None of them noticed the balls being fired until the moment they were launched, and thus when they did each of them tried to slow down their charge to try and dodge it to no avail. For the moment that the balls were launched...

BOOM-BOOM, SPLATTER-SPLATTER!

...

...

...

They pretty much zoomed through the air at impossible to perceive speeds, and ended up reducing the heads of two Fishmen to nothing, not even mush was left behind as their corpses soon got propelled backwards from the force. They got sent flying through the air and crashed into the ground, leaving small craters in their wakes.

'Holy shit!' that was all that the male could think, eyes wide from being... more than a little bewildered by the sight he had just seen. It definitely paused the approaching Fishmen, whom looked at their fallen comrades with shock, and then fear. None of them had seen something move so fast before, heck even Nico had a hard time keeping up with those shots.

All the while, the redhead male looked down at his Guns, Guns which looked... somewhat friendly in his eyes, as if they were two children eagerly awaiting praise for the 'good deed' they did in protecting their wielder. 'Geez... those Balas have SERIOUSLY surpassed the force of the default Demonic bullets I regularly use with these babies. I can see why it said that those things were 20 times faster than a Cero, in exchange for sheer attack power. The force behind them more than compensates.' Nico thought in analysis, examining both his black and white guns whilst the Fishmen, now getting over their shock of what had happened, turned absolutely livid.

Their combined roars filled his side of the area, which made Nico look up from his inspection of his Handguns to see them coming. His eyes narrowed as he got the feeling of bloodlust from Ebony and Ivory once again, along with irritation that these enemies dared interrupt their 'time' with their wielder. Raising both Handguns, Nico made to fire a series of Balas at them in rapid succession, creating a long stream of them which blew countless heads to nothingness. He made sure to aim for their heads, to make sure to guarantee a swift kill whilst he kept them at a safe distance whilst the Fishmen charged.

Not too long afterwards though, Nico decided to switch tactics a bit. Whilst he kept is two Devil Arms out, he decided to change the technique he had been using for them to better deal with the crowd of approaching enemies. Firing Baalas was all well and good, but he recalled one specific technique which could accomplish his goals much faster, one which he unleashed just now:

A variant of the Cero known...

As the METRALLETA.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-!

Upon firing it from both guns, dozens upon dozens of Ceros rained down upon his opponents, shredding through them with practiced ease. It almost looked like he had two handheld chainguns in his grasp, tearing through his opponents like they had been nothing but tissue paper. Screams, howls and cries of agony filed his ears as Nico kept a straight face. His eyes shone with a blade-like coldness, the flashes of the Ceros being unleashed from Ebony and Ivory's barrels lighting up his face like lights in a disco.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES, YES, YES! THIS IS IT! THIS IS WHAT WE ARE MEANT TO BE! RIPPING APART OUR PREY WITHOUT ANY SHRED OF MERCY, WE ARE THE ULTIMATE MONSTER, WE ARE THE APEX PREDATOR! NOW, IF ONLY YOU USE THE KAGUNE AND RIP THEIR STILL-BEATING HEARTS OUT OF THEIR CHESTS, THEN WE'D BE SET!'

The ranting Ghoul Persona cackled in a demented manner, but Nico ignored him for the time being.

About 6 minutes in though, the Fishmen seemed to close considerable distance between them, enough so that they were about 3 meters away from entering the range of one of his larger swords. Though, if it were just that then Nico wouldn't have been that bothered by it, since it would only have been a matter of time before he would eventually be forced into close quarters combat. However, there was a little... something extra which he had to contend with. Amongst the Fishmen ranks, Nico noticed several of them getting into a stance that he recognized as Karate. It was a stance which he recognized from some of his fellow Agents, a lot of them originating in Leanbox.

If that was all though, then he wouldn't have been worried, but the moment they began unleashing these complex-looking movements, Nico's Ghoulish eyes honed in on tiny droplets of water being drawn in from the surrounding atmosphere. They were then launched towards him at surprising levels of speed and force, making his instincts go wild as they screamed at him to tilt his head aside. The teen of course, followed his instincts since it was the most natural thing eh could do right now, which thus caused the attacks to miss... and destroy the ground behind him.

'What the...?! What the hell...?! Ok, that's it...! I'm fucking pissed.'

THAT earned them some of Nico's ire, since he had been keeping them away so he could pick them off groups at a time (even if some had used their weapons to shield their faces, his Balas just busted them as well). He had no idea what this new style of Karate was though, but judging from the attacks he had seen thus far, it seemed to be both versatile in its multitude of ranges, as well as powerful as all hell. However, if these guys began using these ranged water attacks, not only will he be distracted in blowing them out of the skies, something which he had discovered to be quite durable, but it would keep him from keeping the rest away for a few precious seconds. They could succeed in distracting him long enough for their comrades to close the distance. That could not be allowed, no matter what. 'Tch, they're getting closer. It won't be long before they force me into close combat, and I doubt they will let me draw any of my weapons out. Hmmmm... in that case...'

Flashbacks to his fight with Logan back in Skies end filled his mind, more specifically near the end of the final battle between them, prompting Nico to smirk darkly beneath his helmet. His eyes shone bright red with Demonic Power, as Soul Edge suddenly manifested on his back from a fiery vortex. 'Alright Soul Edge... your task is simple: guard me while I pick these guys off from afar. Using Soul Eater is unadvised for now, however. Use Hellfire to make your Inferno form to do so, your form should be enough to intimidate them enough to snap them out of their rage temporarily.' he spoke mentally, commanding his strongest Sword to do his bidding. Several rattlings on his back signified that his sword had accepted the orders, before it practically leapt off his back, spinning through the air like a person doing front flips, before Hellfire ERUPTED out of the blade.

By the time it landed, Soul Edge had already manifested it's Inferno mode, the fiery knight from hell stood tall from its crouching position, its form leering menacingly towards the Fishmen as it brandished the Sword and roared like a banshee.

SCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Its shriek filled the air itself, causing the Fishmen to each pale in fright and horror at the sight. Startled gasps and loud exclamations of fright escaped their ranks at the sight of the roaring flames which rose from the dreaded Hellfire-made knight. Just the visage of this infernal knight gave them the feeling that they would be consumed by the fiery depths of hell itself for their sins, burned to nothingness with no regards to any kind of relief from their plight. Raising Soul Edge, the Knight Inferno brandished it at them using one hand, holding it with its demeanor just screaming 'come at me, bro!'

* * *

While Nico was throwing himself in the enemies, Castiel took a deep breath as he analyzed the situation.

'It is clear that these are not real Fish-men, the fact they disappear after death is a dead give away for that, but that doesn't mean I am THAT okay with killing them. It just means that I don't have to love this, but seriously I am just glad Nico will never go to my world or he would die within a week with his half-assed strength and his tendency of only looking at things from his own side. It is almost like he is a child trying to paint the world in black and white and not understanding the shades of grey and other colors.'

When he finished his internal rant, Castiel changed from his bow to his two swords, Hruting and Clarent, so as to wreck havoc around the place. However, that didn't mean he would stop paying attention, as it seemed to be clear that the more they kill, the stronger these Fish-men became. Proof of this came when he saw how some already knew the basics of Fish-man Karate, a martial arts style which manipulated the water in the atmosphere and on other people's bodies. A brutal Martial Arts to be sure, especially when wielded efficiently. After dodging one particular strike by reflex, Castiel recalled a few masters of it back in his universe and the sheer destruction which followed it.

As he started moving ahead, Castiel finished his chanting for using Siegfried while also activating Blut Vene to raise his body's defense to higher levels. He knew that while Nico's 'strategy' of fighting like crazy and hope for the best was 'viable', that was something those more warrior types would do, trust in their guts and all that nonsense of thinking himself invincible. However, Castiel was trained and raised differently. In his core, he was still a magus that was raised and trained as such, a close combat magus, true, but a magus nonetheless. If he could make things favorable for himself he would take that extra step.

Besides, with the way this test was designed, it was most likely a test of endurance, not on taking too long in the test but in fighting enemies on all sides for a long time frame. This was something that became obvious to the Heir shortly into the battle itself. Raising his defenses and preparing to tank properly instead of exhausting himself sounded better since he could waste less energy in evading enemies.

With his preparations set, Castiel reinforced his body before running towards the first fishmen. He cleared the distance between them in record time, not bothering with evasion thanks to making himself like a literal tank. He did not even bother using his sword as he instead used his knee to hit him squarely in the face with a satisfying *CRUNCH* by the end of it.

A loud series of exclamations, both shocked and fearful, erupted from the Fishmen as they beheld one of their own getting absolutely destroyed. Not stopping, he used both blades to become a whirling of death, with his defenses now reinforced to absurd levels he could instead focus on attacking with abandon much like his head haired ally, but without wasting time and energy evading.

If looked from the outside it was terrifying, he not only attacked with both swords with extreme speed and power he also released light energy arrows from his arm all the time, writing runes with his feet on the ground to create ice, fireballs, pillars of rock, and other natural phenomena, he also started mass summoning his Cursed Dragon Tooth Warriors to help as well. It could be said he was doing everything, he even launched a few jewels in the distance to create large explosions after testing one.

'So my own abilities of mass destruction are not allowed, but if it is an item unrelated to my own energy and that I possess I can still use them properly. Thanks for the loophole, damn uncle!' Castiel shouted in his mind (although really, what was the point? Since his Uncle was... well, Zelretch) as he started launching multiple small gems all around him.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Countless explosions erupted around him, filling Castiel's vision with the sight of black from the smoke and orange from the heat. Not to mention the smell of charred sound of rumbling filled his ears, making Castiel remark to himself. 'Geez, uncle you made this real life-like...' The blonde Heir thought. As a result, he cleaned great areas all around him. Even when someone managed to hit him all attacks ended up causing a shower of sparks, no damage to his body.

However, it was clear that the more he advanced and the more enemies he killed, the stronger and stronger the enemies were getting. Hell, it gradually became more apparent that he needed to rely on his offense more the more time passed, since his combined defense of Siegfried and Blut Veine gradually lost its effectiveness. Defense was all well and good, but sometimes the best defense was a good offence...

Though some brain would also help.

'This will not be nearly as easy as I thought, there have been some new variables that I wasn't aware of beforehand. Thankfully, I at least prepared myself beforehand.' He thought as he continued fighting. Blood flowed around him like ribbons of liquid, almost as if it were being guided by his hand as he took out groups of Fishmen at a time. One second practically got filled with the falling body of a Fishman, and Castiel sorta lost track of time a little, as in he didn't know how many seconds had passed shortly into the fight. However, no matter how many enemies he took out, Castiel still didn't see much of an end in sight. There was practically ZERO end to the enemies, and he honestly knew this was getting a bit harder with time as they seemed to be moving a bit better with time, almost as if they knew what his next move would be like.

After a while of this, the blonde heir's eyes narrowed, the light of comprehension shining behind his eyes like searchlights. It became all too clear how he had realized what this was all about. Especially with how he looked at the eyes of the still-standing Fishmen and noticed a similar look to some of a certain set of clones back at the Tower.

'Oh, I see now. So they are like the SISTERS back in the Tower. They can transmit knowledge for the others, probably after they die, so they get harder and harder to beat as they keep learning our moves. Odds are, it is likely based off their own individual experiences, after all according to biology, the eyes ave visual receptors which feed signals into the brain through waves. That's how sight works, somewhat. Well, that is going to complicate things, especially if the knowledge they have on Fishmen Karate gets united. That would be terrifying.' Castiel thought as he examined the situation, clenching Hrunting and Clarent in each hand whilst he adopted a defensive stance. Throughout the a battle, he could hear the sounds of explosions ringing over on the opposite side, so at least while Nico's plan wasn't the 'best', he still seemed to be hanging in there for the time being. Odds are, he'll likely mess up somehow and ask him for help so he'd best mentally prepare himself.

* * *

As time passed, things only escalated from there.

Both boys had noticed by now, how the strength of their opponents gradually got greater and greater. Their attacks gained increased strength, ferocity, speed and versatility. Not only that, but the Fishmen's intelligence gradually became sharper as well, allowing them to form co-ordinated battle plans to thwart the efforts of their two main opponents. Aside from that, their Fishman Karate styles each grew in strength the more time passed, making dodging/blocking/evading them increasingly difficult. Their initial attack strategies would have had to change, and thus change they had.

On Nico's side, the redhead Spec Ops Agent had noticed what had been happening, referring it to a Hivemind-like situation similar to the Banshees and Necromorphs back in his home dimension. Part of him wondered if destroying the head would make this process invalid, however he quickly crushed that little spark of hope. There were several reasons for this: One, from what Nico knew of Zelretch, he didn't seem like a guy who would let something like that happen in any of his Trials. Nico would have been a fool to consider otherwise. The man was as intelligent as he was strong, after all. In addition to that, information traveled at speeds similar to lightning, so even if he kept destroying their heads with his Balas, the information processed will already have left for the other Fishmen, something which was proven thanks to the rising difficulty in fighting them even though he was still ramping up headshots like a child collecting moths.

As a result, the redhead male forced himself to change tactics, and adopt a new strategy to combat this threat. Thus, he decided to keep Ebony and Ivory firing their Bala all around him, scoring headshots by the milliseconds, all the while he would use the Perks in the Avenger and Berserker Packages to artificially generate his rage. That rage would go to Ebony and Ivory's Demonic Power, increasing its potency and concentration to result in further attack power. Since he was using their power and not his own, his own reserves remained in tip top form, too, something which he would take full advantage of thanks to how his fiery Knight Inferno keeping the enemies at bay with a mixture of Hellfire blasts, slashes, geysers, wheels, manipulating its shape and form to best suit its purpose of keeping them from getting close to its master. The Knight blurred about the space around him, covering any and all angles Nico couldn't, and if he were honest, then he would say that Inferno's swordplay rivalled that of a master while the Hellfire prowess matched such a skill.

Over on Castiel's side, the young Heir decided that, since his opponents were learning his moves, he would just adapt accordingly. He became nothing but a blur on the battlefield, passing through one section after another and leaving next to nothing in his wake. Nothing but destroyed Fishmen, to be more accurate. In contrast to Nico, Castiel kept on spamming dozens of Dragontooth Warriors, telling them to group up on stronger Fishmen to wear them down for him to finish off himself. As for the weaker ones, Castiel would quickly take them out with his swords, arrows and curses, inflicting the last one on groups of enemies to make them kill one another. Not something he would have liked seeing, so he always looked away when he did do this... though, to be frank the sounds of their pained cries and fierce howls filling the air did little to calm the Heir's agitation.

He didn't like killing these guys, even if they weren't real.

Even so, however, Castiel refused to lose in this Trial. Not just because of the rewards which would help him get stronger, but also because a straight-up brawl like this wasn't something he came across every day. No tricks, no illusions, no hidden intentions, just one big brawl which got harder and harder as time went on. This was actually reminding him of the Greek Pantheon a little bit from the few times he had went there for diplomatic reasons, as well as to learn how to be a proper leader. Zelretch may have been a troll-like asshole at times, but there were more than a few times where he meant well. It was just his way of helping people involved some serious migraines on the receiver's side, something that Castiel wondered if he would forge into salt and then drink it out of a cup. Meh, he probably would, maybe then take some cocaine since his body was unaffected by practically anything, just to get high. Wait, wasn't that a song made by some rockband back in his universe or something? Huh... well, the more you know.

At that point, however, things got real... uncomfortably so, in fact.

The reason, the first few semi-bosses appeared. One of them headed for Nico and looked like a small Fish-men with large teeth and a wicked smile, while on Castiel's side it was a large and fat Fish-men that was part hammer shard and carrying a big hammer.

Castiel could feel that this guy was far from being his equal, only around low Ultimate-class, but this did not mean that he would take him lightly. Jumping at him quickly he tried to use Hruting to finish him quickly only for the fish-men to swing his hammer at him with enough strength to actually equal Castiel.

'Fuck, I know I am better at defense but my strength is nothing to laugh at and he still equals me in it?' Castiel thought as the hammer-wielding Fish-men continued his onslaught towards Castiel. The bigger problem is that there were hundreds of enemies around that kept attacking him, making him smile at the fact he had the foresight of putting on his defense properly before.

As he tanked most attacks from others he continued to evade those from the giant enemy in front of him, and he noticed how he always left an opening right after an attack.

'You are mine." Castiel yelled as he jumped ahead and used his sword to cut a big gash over the shoulder and almost cut in half his enemy by changing from _Blut Vene_ to _Blut Arterie_ , even if it was far from that efficient since he barely could use the attacking focused Blut Arterie, but even if weaker it still was enough to raise his powers and make him able to deal enough damage in the enemy.

Seeing this as a job complete he decided that this was a 'job well done' and was about to leave the area to keep fighting the enemies when the Fishmen took out a pill from his jacket.

"I will not be defeated by the evil humans, dosun." He said before taking the pill.

As he ate the pill his powers sky-rocketed and he instantly reached the top of mid Ultimate-class, he came attacking again but this time his eyes were red as he grew even bigger.

Castiel decided that it may spend too much energy, but he had to deal with this guy fast and if he would just possibly keeping standing up again and again then he had to eliminate him now. With that set he thought of something good. If he wanted to quickly increase his energy than at least this would be of proper use to him.

With that he ran at the enemy while cutting down all fish-men in his path as he saw the hammer approaching his head to splat him against the ground, Castiel opened his wings at the last moment to redirect himself and avoid the strike before using said wings to jump at the enemy's back of the head. This was a position that most would think would mean an possible instant victory and he could easily crave his sword at the base of the skull and be done with it, but instead Castiel put his left arm on the enemy's head as he locked his legs on his neck before activating his left arm spirit bone.

The feeling of energy that the enemy was exuding was quickly being devoured by Castiel as his reserves were replenished and even his vitality was returning, the use of his left arm spirit bone being the greatest during this sort of situations where there were plenty of enemies to fight against. The giant tried to attack him, but the weird position limited the number of ways the hammer-shark Fishmen could actually reach him and even when he did Castiel quickly evaded or blocked the strikes using his wings. As the giant's energy was lessening he tried to keep eating more pills, but no matter how much his power grew it would all be devoured and by the end all his energy and even his soul was eaten away.

'Well, at least now I am back to how I was at the start. Also, with this extra energy, I could try and release some good curses around to spend the energy.'

As this thought entered his mind he pulled from the energy of his evil core (a name he decided instead of calling it seed or something of the sort) and mixed the evil energy with the one he obtained from this enemy before he put his hands forward, a curse he imagined and developed a while ago but never found a proper chance to use sprang from his mind.

" **True Evil Series: Gluttonous Servants of Beelzebub**."

With that thousands upon thousands of black grasshoppers appeared from inside his mouth as he expelled them all, they were made based on one of the plagues made to be used by Moises and they had similar effects. Eat.

Eat everything in their path, and as he could not control their curse to never be full and there is no way for him to control who they could or could not eat then this was as good a chance as any to use it, the only one else that was there beside Castiel that could be affected was Nico and considering that he was not close to the area of attack of this spell then it was fine.

It was a good thing that Zelretch did not think much on what exactly defined large-scale destruction, this attack clearly had a large area but it also could be seen as thousands of small attacks so it could pass just as his creation of cursed dragon tooth warriors could work.

Thinking outside the box and exploiting flaws no one else notice, this was the very crux of a magus.

* * *

After blasting another Fishman's head off, Nico glanced to his right when he sensed something coming. When he looked to the source, Nico noticed it to be a cookie cutter shark-looking Fishman . It looked... pretty small, actually, much shorter than the ones whom Nico had been blasting to oblivion so far. Heck, even Inferno looked at it weirdly, as if to question 'the fuck are you doing here, kid?' before screeching and resuming its rampage.

As for the Fishman, aside from its height the Fishman had circular eyes, a flat nose and sharp teeth. Nico noted how his arms seemed to be quite notably larger than his hands in comparison, and his skin tone wasn't any shade of blue like the rest of the Fishmen he had seen, but red. It also wore a distinctive head gear composed of a hat similar to an aviator's, with two massive protrusion on both sides of the head, pointing upwards, and decorated on the front, paired with a plumed crest on top of it. It also wore a dark, sleeve and zipperless open jacket with a fur collar and a pair of Bermuda shorts.

While it ran towards him on all fours, the sight of it seemed to rally the other Fishmen. Those of them whom had been too frightened by the sheer destruction Nico and Inferno wrought on their rampage, now felt the courage from its appearance knock aside their fears. With unified howls, all the Fishmen charged at Nico like furious soldiers laying siege to a castle.

Swiftly, Nico raised his twin handguns and began unloading Balas onto the creature's ass. In his eyes, it didn't seem too threatening, not enough to be completely bothered with. Soon however, this changed to slightly threatening when he noticed how each Bala... got chowed down on when the creature chomped on them with its teeth. Didn't even slow down when doing so, nor did it even try to dodge the well-aimed, precise attacks coming from his practically blazing Ebony and Ivory. 'What the...?'

 **'Interesting... this creature seems to be able to withstand the Baalas, Nico. Those teeth it has are likely highly reinforced, if not just by calcium then perhaps its natural biology is superior to that of an ordinary human. Looks like its different from the small fry. If I were to guess, this guy would be a semi-leader. Meanwhile, close combat may be your option soon enough.'**

Before Biko could continue, Nico noticed how it was getting way too close for comfort, and upon glancing to Inferno, Nico noticed it had been pinned in one place while colliding with multiple weapons at once. Therefore, Nico swiftly reacted: holstering his Handguns and pulling out Rebellion from his Void Storage to bring it to bear against his opponent. The instant that the creature leapt at him, Nico raised his sword and then brought it down in a downward slash, intending on cleaving it through with one swing from it's HF enhanced blade.

However, the moment the two met...

Nico's eyes narrowed darkly behind his Armoured helmet when he saw the creature practically chomp down on Rebellion's blade. As a result, sparks continuously flew between them whilst electricity constantly flew from the connection point. Yet, the creature didn't react all that much, in fact it would be safe to assume that it didn't even feel the sparks at all.

Not the same for Rebellion though...

At the moment of collision, the male mentally winced when he heard a high-pitched whistling sound coming from the link he had to this particular Devil Arm, so instantly he pulled out Ebony and aimed at its exposed stomach. A Baala soon shot out with a loud FWOOM, slamming into the creature's gut to send it flying and forcing its maw to let go of Rebellion.

Looked like he'd have to watch out for those teeth.

'KING! SHOW THIS FUCKER WHAT IT MEANS TO STAND BEFORE THE TOP BEAST AROUND HERE! BEAR THOSE CLAWS OF OURS, RIP OUT ITS GUTS, TEAR THROUGH ITS INTESTINES AND FEAST ON HIS ORGANS! SHRED IT TO FUCKING PIECEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!'

'... That's all I needed to hear.'

Nico mentally nodded, already forming a plan to counter this new threat while holstering Ebony. He soon noticed how the creature had already jumped into the air, maws open wide... before burying itself into the ground. 'Huh?'

"Lord Daruma has Burrowed underground! That evil human has no chance of getting to him now! ATTACK!"

With the cry of one of the frenzied Fishmen, the rest of them charged forth with the intent of supporting their leader. It would be at this point, where Nico could see Inferno getting overwhelmed bit by bit. Of course, it wouldn't be easy nor would it take a short time to overpower a fiery warrior such as Inferno, however Nico could see it beginning to lose ground at a pace which, by all means, concerned the heck out of him. Even so however, Nico had a plan to deal with the Fishmen around him, as well as this one called 'Daruma'.

Quickly, Nico sprung into action, noticing how the ground below him seemed to be rumbling, just like when he fell into the Monster Cave so long ago. However, unlike back then, Nico jumped high into the air. Nico managed to jump up to 200 meters into the air just a SECOND before Daruma could surface. Much to the Fishman's annoyance, as he howled with fury while shaking a fist at him. "Argh! Curse you, human! How dare you not let yourself be engulfed by my jaws! Come back here!" he yelled, jumping up after him. The instant that he did, the Fishman quickly erupted into flames, making him look like a fiery shark as he flew up after his opponent while prepping his jaws to bite into the redhead Spec Ops Agent.

However, Nico just grinned at him as he swiftly held his hand out. The moment he did, Inferno suddenly howled as, in an instant, it erupted into a 10 foot tall vortex of Hellfire, incinerating dozens of Fishmen in all directions. The sword it was controlled by, Soul Edge, soon shot through the Vortex and back into his waiting hand. 'Alright Soul Edge... time to showcase your power!' he thought to the blade, clutching its hilt as he raised it to the space above.

"Hehehehehehehehe! Your puny stick will have no effect on me!"

That was what Daruma yelled as he closed the distance between the two of them quickly. The flames covering his form shielded him from the winds, making him look more like a meteor rising up to the heavens. Just as Daruma made to bite down however, Nico struck first, bringing his sword down on Daruma's head.

However, that was not the only thing that happened, for the sword itself got engulfed in flames as well... Hellfire flames to be exact, which came directly from Nico himself.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSH-SLAM!

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The instant that the blade met Darums's form, the flames covering him practically gave way to the superior Hellfire-covered Soul Edge. The strike which had the reinforcement of Hellfire, as well as its scorching hot nature. The blade itself thus, promptly took advantage of the opportunity and, without any restrictions, slammed into Daruma's shoulder-blade with absolute strength. The strength, sharpness and overall impact pretty much shattered the creature's collar bone, as well as sliced right through its arm to sever it completely from Daruma's body.

Nico himself, followed up with a 360 degree twist, smacking the Fishman with the flat side of his weapon to send him crashing to the ground below.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A huge sound erupted upon impact, the Fishman Daruma's body being the cause. The moment that he crashed to the ground, creating a massive crater in its wake, the other Fishmen paused their attack, eyes enlarging into black and white circles while their maws hung open. Shock raced through their ranks, as well as disbelief in what they had just seen.

Meanwhile, Nico just landed opposite the fallen fishman, smirking darkly whilst holding a now bare Soul Edge towards his right flank, his landing having caused the ground beneath him to shatter like glass. Standing upright, the male glowered at his opponent, having pulled his hood up to shadow his face in darkness. Before those Fishmen surrounding him could get their bearings to attack him again, Nico quickly swung his Soul Edge, igniting its flames to create a semicircular wave of flame This resulted in each of the Fishmen around him screaming as the flames burned them to nothingness, incinerating them without anything remaining. Not even their weapons were spared, such was the power of Soul Edge.

With that done, Nico sought to identify the corpse of his opponent. Using his Ghoulish senses, the male checked the space before him for any life signs for the Fishman, just in case he hadn't killed him just yet. He would not make the mistake a lot of rookie Agents made and turn is back on an enemy unless he was SURE they were dead. He'd even seen that happen more than a few times during some of the Quests he'd taken over the years, and it would NEVER be a pretty sight.

'I can't detect any life signs there, you think that attack would have killed it?' Nico thought to his Demon Persona.

 **'Likely. Even weakened, Hellfire burns at over 3000 degrees Celsius. Such a flame would have burned everything it could get its hands on, so the enemy should be-'**

Before Biko could finish however, both of them sensed something erupt from the ground behind them. The redhead male's eyes widened at this, before he shifted his head to gaze behind him, happening upon the sight of an armless Daruma jumping up at him. Hellfire burns coated his entire right side, thanks to that being the side he had slashed, all of those burns being high degree.

Not to mention, that something seemed to have... changed, within the creature. This had become apparent by how it had its muscles expanded, grew to the height of an average fishmen, and its eye sockets showcasing nothing but mindless bloodlust. "You well NEVER defeat me, puny huuuuummaaaaaaaaaaann!" he yelled, jaws open wide while attempting to bite Nico's head off...

For the male to Warp out of the way, leaving Daruma to chomp at nothing but air.

"Huh?! Wha-?!"

"Idiot."

STAB!

"GAAH!"

Nico shook his head in mocking, having appeared behind the Fishman and impaled him through his back and out his chest with Soul Edge, imbued with his own Hellfire. Maybe it was a bit of an overkill move, but the male didn't care. He wanted this thing incinerated, just like the rest of them.

That was what the flames did next, after all.

Once the flames died down and nothing was left of the Fishman, Nico looked around, seeing more Fishmen coming at him with fury in their eyes. Apparently, they must have seen their commander's demise by his blade, thus wanted to avenge him. That was what he could tell judging from the negative emotions saturating this place. instinctively, Nico went about shifting Soul Edge's form into a pair of Dual Swords. Both swords had the same fleshy grips, with hand guards that had human skulls built in, their heads sporting curved demonic horns that curved around the fleshy hilts. Above the skulls were wide open eyes, akin to Soul Edge's large sword-like form. The sides of the handguards were crimson chitinous fingers merged together to form a pair of demonic wings, with the main blades protruding from the base of the Skulls' chins. Each blade was an identical length of a sword, composed mostly of crimson metal but had fleshy interiors.

Instantly, Nico got into a battle stance, holding his dual Swords and imbuing them with Hellfire. Afterwards, the male burst forth, beginning his own little thing called 'Mass Genocide'. Something he did on occasion when Bandits or other criminals were his targets. All the while, Nico deployed his Armour and then had Soul Edge infuse it with Hellfire too, making him turn into another version of Inferno and multiplying its defenses even more. Thus, the Demon descended down onto its opponents, intent on leaving ZERO survivors.

About 5 minutes into the slaughter...

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Nico shifted his Helmet-covered head to the side, socket-covered eyes narrowing when he saw countless explosions erupting like those of a volcano, heat and ash roaring into existence as the sounds of dying Fishmen filled the air itself. Nico himself scowled behind his Helmet, eyes shining in confusion as he quickly deduced the cause of such explosions. Spinning a full 360 degrees and launching a wave of Hellfire from Soul Edge, pretty much immolating his surrounding opponents and incinerating them into nothingness, Nico frowned. 'What the hell's up here? Didn't Zelretch say that there was to be no large scale attacks? So, why is Emiya using such offensive measures when it CLEARLY goes against his rules? Does he even care about this trial at all?'

It was then, during that bout that an idea hit him, one which came from Biko himself. If Castiel was doing that shit, why not him? All the while, Nico engaged one of the swords Soul Edge appeared as in its dual blades form with a Quicksword technique, alongside launching continuous waves of Hellfire to his surroundings which resulted in a shower of Hellfire attacks slamming into groups upon groups of Fishmen at a time. He also returned Soul Edge to its default form afterwards, then manipulated his Hellfire into his free hand till he had a basketball sized fireball over it, tossing it into the air afterwards.

Once it reached the height of 50 feet, Nico mentally commanded it to initiate its attack... which resulted in it spitting out golf ball sized fireballs down at the Fishmen which would have the impact force of a double Decker buss slamming into a wall at full speeds. Bones got shattered, organs melted, and entire bodies got set aflame, all the while he remained untouched.

Despite the glee he felt from the blade, Nico kept an eye on his surroundings. 'Even if Soul Edge is enjoying this slaughter, it would be wise to keep my guard up. Emiya's probably doing is business 101 thing and manipulating the rules to better suit his own ends. Though, its not like I'm incapable of doing something similar, the events at the Hellverse come clearly to mind there. Still... perhaps we can put SOME of the knowledge that he shared with us to good use here, see how effective it really is.'

 **'Indeed, and since I'm a part of you, I can sense your mind already beginning plans to see how far we can take this new information. Try using that new Spirit Bone we got from that Crimson Fatalis, along with the one we got from that Boar creature back in the Hellverse.'**

When Biko said those words, Nico's eyes shone with remembrance, flashing as he remembered those two encounters all too well. 'Oh yeah! I almost forgot about those!' The male thought to himself. The male then mentally commanded those two Spirit Bones to appear on his legs after focusing on their presence, deep within his legs, and with two flashes, the two Spirit Bones appeared.

Although, Nico didn't show any discomfort from this as he looked upon his opponents, whom had once again surrounded him and were once again on the charge. Just by looking at them, Nico could feel the hatred and other negative emotions rolling off them in waves.

Although, Nico didn't necessarily feel too threatened by them at this point, as he mentally recalled what his two Spirit Bones could do.

The first thing he did as he saw the Fishmen close the distance between them and him, to a point where they were a sword swing's distance from him, was activate his Boar Spectre's Spirit Bone on his right leg. Thing was, the male also activated his Rinkaku as well, sending 2 Tentacles towards his opponent. The energy from the Spirit Bone, true to his internal theory, transferred over to his Kagune, which ended up using its devouring powers on the Fishman with his Rinkaku as a medium. As a result, he fell to the ground and looked like he had lost all energy.

In contrast, Nico felt like he was on high, likely due to the energy surge. 'So, it looks like I managed to gain energy from those strikes... though, it felt marginally weaker in comparison to using just the Spirit Bone. Transfering its ability to my Kagune weakens the overall power, but it lets me attack multiple foes with the ability as an offset.' Nico mentally noted.

Startled exclamations ran wild through their ranks, wondering what had happened all of a sudden... none of them expecting it to have come from the Bones on Nico's legs.

Meanwhile, said male recalled what his Spirit Bone's rules were after his little revelation. 'Mental fortitude determines how much energy this thing can absorb using its powers... the greater the fortitude, the lesser amount of energy absorbed. Looks like these guys are just grunts after all, if they are affected by just this...' the male thought to himself, frowning before the male looked to his other Spirit Bone.

'Calling down Meteors over a wide vicinity sounds like too big a risk for us to take, judging from the rules established. It would feel to me like it would be classified as a large-scale attack by Zelretch's pre-set rules, which means I can only use its other ability safely: the flammable Gas.' The male thought to himself before closing his eyes. Memories of his fight with the Crimson Fatalis, as well as records he had seen of its other variants in the Spec Ops records, played in his mind.

This gas had been used in a multitude of ways by this beast, for example it would imbue the gas within its claws and fangs, thus making its attacks cause huge explosions seconds later, explosions which would make his PHANTOM EDGE look like a small itch in comparison. Either that, or it would breathe it out of its mouth and form a straight line by swinging its neck at the same time, resulting in a line of explosions triggered by each other's detonation.

Nico felt he could make a few means of using this gas from this Spirit Bone.

With that opinion in mind, the redhead male Mentally commanded it to start exuding the gas, something which followed right after when the Bone started radiating this orangish, blackish colored smoke from its form. After this, Nico looked to his opponents, each of the Fishmen having slowly gotten back to their feet and looked to be reorganizing their ranks. Several of them looked to be organizing the rest into groups once more, for the process of resuming their attack. Some groups had already began to charge at Nico, intending to get revenge on him for the humiliation he had caused them.

Though, none of them dared to treat him as any less of a threat than they would an opponent which could cause city-wide devastation, as evident by the lack of mindless rage shining in their eyes.

'Looks like they're wising up...' The redhead thought, narrowing his eyes behind his Helmet as he analyzed their movements. He could sense attacks coming from behind, and according to his calculations, they would end up getting the chance to strike first in comparison to the ones up front. 'Well then, lets throw them off their game even more.' With that, Nico raised his left leg, causing the Fishmen to tense as they quickly made to slow their movement down.

Too late however.

For the moment Nico performed the back kick, the gas radiating from the Spirit Bone had launched itself like a herd of angry bulls, rushing through the air and down a straight line. The gas rushed down the teen's rear flank, ending up right at the edge of the bubble surrounding the battlezone for the Water Trial. None of the Fishmen within the gas's embrace would have had the chance to wonder what the fuck just happened, for in the next second...

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

A chain reaction occurred within the Gas itself, causing this long trail of explosions the size of a single caravan to erupt into existence. These explosions took the Fishmen which had gotten caught up in them by storm, leaving no survivors in their wake as the smell of charred Fishmen filled the air around them.

Those that didn't get caught?

Well, Nico didn't let them have the chance to register what had happened as he quickly began using a combination of his Quicksword technique and his Hellfire blasts, ending up causing massive destruction around him with each swing of the massive blade claiming groups of lives into smithereens and absorbing their Souls. All the while, since nothing had happened to him that the rules of the game didn't say that his attack just now had been a large-scale one.

Looked like Emiya was right about what he had been talking to him about business. This would DEFINITELY come in handy later on.

* * *

It was during the mid point of the battle, when the two boys found an opening in the army and thus, promptly regrouped. Castiel arrived at the regrouping point (something which he had told Nico about via magic circle com array to which Nico agreed) via simple running. All the while, Nico arrived in a more... stylish manner flipping through the air while doing multiple tricks and spins before landing on the ground beside him with a crash. Once he landed, the redhead teen walked back to his comrade as the two stood opposite each other.

After evaluating Nico's energy, Castiel found himself pleasantly surprised when he noticed how... little of it was actually used. In fact, it barely looked affected at all, like he had never used it. 'Huh? That's weird, I could have sworn I had sensed him using some fire attacks before...' he thought to himself, before looking to where he had been fighting.

That was when the heir noticed looks of heavy fatigue across that side of the fishman Army, like they had their whole energy reserves drained out of them. 'Ah, that's why... he must have something which drains the energy of his opponents, just like my World Devouring Wolf Spirit Bone. That's actually some useful information...' he thought to himself, looking Nico up and down before his eyes landed on his legs. Or to be more specific, the Bones that glowed while attached to them. 'Looks like that Boar Spirit Bone's the one, and its ability isn't anything to scoff at. Alongside with that ability to seal one skill at a time inside itself, if Nico uses it correctly that Spirit Bone will be someone's nightmare on the battlefield. That other one though... feels like something from a powerful spirit beast. At least 100,000 plus years or something... wonder what it does.'

On Nico's side, the redhead Spec Ops Agent also analyzed his companion, noting that the guy also had suffered very few injuries to his person, even less than himself for what he could see. Not even had his Armour on unlike himself, although Nico used it since he didn't like relying too much on his regeneration powers. Having good healing matters shit if you rely on it too much and end up overtaxing it, thus Nico had gotten quite good at defending and dodging attacks, but in pure defending he could see that Castiel had an edge over him, especially considering that disgustingly defensive wings and how tough his skin could be.

Furthermore, the guy's clothes looked to have minor rips and tears in them, something Nico noticed that he got every trial they had been in so far but got magically restored when it was over. 'His energy looks to be barely affected throughout this whole battle. Looks like he has something similar to my Boar Spirit Bone, then, likely that same thing which tried to devour my Bikaku during our bout.' he thought to himself, before mentally nodding in satisfaction with his analysis and beginning to speak. "You look like you're doing fine on your end."

"Yeah, you could say that. Truth be told big battles are kind of a perfect stage for me." Castiel said as he used his eight wings as if mobile shields. It was not even that hard for him after all his defenses were impossibly tough to begin with, and considering that he knew how to divide his mind to execute multiple things at the same time he felt confident that even if the numbers were that much bigger he would still be on the winning side.

Besides, he still had not used the power of his mystic eye until this point to anything besides the better vision, and now that so many 'practice dummies' were around, it was as good a chance as any to see how much he could use it.

Castiel then turned to the thousands of enemies and decided to try it out. Putting energy into his right eye he turned it a shiny gold with no irises, but the strangest part was how everything in his line of sight started appearing with tints of gold, almost as if there were small stars around everything ahead of him.

That is, until he made those stars connect between one another, eliminating anything in between. It was a bloodbath of absurd speed, everything in front of him started being consumed in sparks of light as bodies started dropping everywhere around.

It was a surprising skill for Castiel himself, he could see the light energy before in the air but manipulating it was almost impossible before, but now that his understanding of light has increased a bit more he could start manipulating light to a degree.

Meanwhile, seeing the prowess of this person, Nico refused to be inferior by any means towards anyone, especially someone he had developed something of a rivalry with. Thanks to what he had learned with the Boar Spirit Bone, Nico had an idea in regards to his Fatalis one, as he unleashed his Rinkaku and Bikaku. He split the power of the Spirit Bone into each of them, the gas swirling around each appendage of his Kagune, making it so that when they connect with things, they will leave behind the gas which would cause explosions. After doing that, he held Soul Edge in its Default form as he reignited his Armour, becoming a flaming inferno as he burst into motion, blurring throughout the battlefield and tearing apart everything in his path.

One could say that, if they saw these two unleash their powers on these Fishmen, would say that it looked like a freaking MASSACRE of the highest order, neither of the two surpassing each other but remaining mostly equal. There was a difference between the two however, and that was their opposing Natures. On one side, one looked like a holy spectacle, like a divine angel of death descending from the heavens to punish the wicked in the most brutal manner possible due to how Castiel constantly sent out rays of light from his wings which both blinded and burned his opponents en masse.

On the other side, the other looked like a sinister, twisted and disturbing disaster as if the entire landscape was being terraformed by Hellfire, explosive gas, blood and soot, making it look like the legions of the underworld had emerged from their fiery pits. Their task being to drag down the souls of the unjust back into their domain, where they would be punished for all of eternity. Blood flowed, limbs were being torn apart, holes got made in bodies by the dozens, it was just an all-out merciless slaughter.

In the end, though, the results from both of these approaches were the same.

Death and destruction to all in their path.

RRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

It was then that a roar echoed in the distance as three giant shadows appeared, a giant squid with dozens of tentacles with all having almost one hundred meters, a giant humanoid Fishmen with a stupid face, as well as a monstruous creature with five eyes, hairless eyebrows, a wide jaw with large teeth, amphibious fins on its head, 7 octopus tentacles lining his chin like a beard. It is bipedal, with a big broad chest, a large belly and muscular arms with octopus tentacles sprouting out of its forearms and it has an enormous amphibious tail.

Sensing that they had some new arrivals , both the bloodstained 'Angel' and the 'Demon' looked towards them and registered their presence. As a result, both of them regrouped and stopped their destructive onslaughts for the time being as they began marching their way towards their opponents.

"I get two and you get the other." Nico suggested, or rather stated as Soul Edge almost squealed in delight. It honestly wouldn't are as long as it could revel in the bloody slaughter some more, the brutal savagery shining in its eyes at this point.

Though, that didn't sit well with the Angelic Heir as he aimed a narrow-eyed glare Nico's way. "Fuck you, I get two and you can be with the other one. Or if you think this is absurd I can go and get all three." Castiel yelled back while advancing towards those three.

In the end... it resulted in the two arguing like little toddlers. Shows that down to the core, that they were just children, huh?

"NO, I am the strongest one so I should face the danger and you stay with the small fries!"

"NO! I am the strongest so you can go and do whatever!"

"Ugh, you're insufferable, you know that?! You know what, lets make this a race! Who beats three can be the leader during this mission!"

"Fine by me, I am a natural leader after all!"

And so, both fighters approached the next challenge of this trial.


	173. Cross Chapter 20 - Water Trial 2

**Water Trial PT 2**

Stepping across the ground towards their opponents, both boys narrowed their eyes, one behind a helmet and the other exposing his gaze for all to see.

Now that they had gotten their little argument out of their chests and calmed their nerves down, both of them gauged their opponents. It became clear to them that, thanks to their evaluations, that these would definitely be unlike their prior opponents. Even more so than those sub bosses that they had slain, since their auras spoke f much greater strength, experience and knowledge. Something which, thanks to their own individual experiences, taught them to be absolutely on-guard. Their opponents also leered at them, radiating a killing intent which didn't seem anything like the 'small fry' which was keeping a fair distance between them and the two boys at this point. the fact that they couldn't defeat the two humans had been driven home by their recent slaughter, which resulted in unadulterated terror being driven like a wedge deep into their hearts.

On one side, Castiel scowled as he held his Clarent in a defensive stance, his wings curled but ready to spring open at a moment's notice. Just by looking at them with his left eye, the Heir could tell that these guys had sinned. Sinned a LOT, likely killed a whole load of innocents in their lifetime, something he did not condone even with his leader-like stance on life. They honestly felt similar to Kokabiel in terms of personality and demeanour, and with the memory of how he had almost gotten mauled by that guy still fresh in his mind, Castiel did NOT like the reminder. Not. One. Bit. 'Now that I look at them... one of them feels like those things we have been fighting throughout the trials, those large beasts which keep running away at the last moment before either me or Nico deals the final blow. Odds are that somehow, some way, that one of them will pull that same pattern. Fucking hell, that shit's seriously starting to get old...' Castiel thought to himself as he readied Clarent, the holy blade shining with matching energy. Looked like it would like to have a shot at these things too. He didn't have a proper grasp of his golden eye just yet, and like he had told Nico earlier this eye seemed more like it would shine best on huge battlefields with lots of opponents. So, he'll rely on his other skills for the time being.

As for Nico, the redhead teen had similar thoughts to the Heir himself as his eyes, mismatched thanks to his Kakugan having been activated and his dual Kagune Types swaying peacefully behind him. Whilst he walked however, the Tentacles and Tails quickly shifted into a more alert posture, flipping forwards and looking like they would be ready to leap towards their opponent at the very microsecond of which the enemy made a move. He felt Soul Edge's eagerness for a good fight, too, though that to him was only common sense. Especially with its power boosted by PREDATOR like it was, but even so he would be a fool to think this would be as easy as it had been earlier. That thing called Daruma had surprised him, so he wouldn't let himself make any careless calls like that regarding these Fishmen. 'Looking at these creatures, seems like one of them will perform that little 'strategic withdraw' strategy. Annoying... Ugh, that's it, if I get the chance, I'm going to look those things up somehow, those things just HAVE to be part of something bigger. Maybe I'll do it if I can't correct the mistake I made with the Golden Crow Flames.' Nico thought to himself whilst keeping an eye out for any suspicious attacks.

"Hmmm..." just then, one of the three hummed while looking between the two. It caused both boys to pause in their strides whilst regarding him with medium to high caution. "Ugh... so much noise. And here I was hoping to spend the day napping..." the one which spoke had been the one with the size of a giant, wearing only a raggy brown cloth over his neither regions. Now that the two had a better look at him, this Fishman looked like one of those people who'd be classed as incompetent. The kind of idiot who would flatten an entire town on accident and, when getting scolded for his carelessness, he'd act like one big annoying baby. Not the kind of person Nico and Castiel would particularly like to associate with, the former due to having other people who had those qualities but were much more likable, and the latter cause it reminded him of the father of one of the girls he cared for.

At the moment that the Giant's eyes landed upon Nico, his eyes narrowed and shudders ran down Nico's spine whilst Castiel's suspicions arose. "Hey, I know you! You're that meanieface who hurt so many of my friends and made fun of us! Don't deny it, I know it was you who was calling us names!" he snarled, anger prevalent on his features while he raised his fists. He let out some furious howls while banging on his chest like a gorilla. "Uggggghhhhhhhhhhh…! I'm so mad now! i'll crush you under foot for my friends!" The Giant yelled, before proceeding to stomp on Nico until he would be nothing but a mangled mass on the ground.

Castiel made to jump in front of Nico just as he made to counter, wanting to get in on the action first. "Oh no you don't! You're fighting me-!" he made to say...

POW!

However, the Giant swiftly smacked him aside with one of his feet when he had been close enough and continued on his journey unimpeded. The Heir had blocked with one of his super tough wings, but the impact caused him to go flying off to the side. "Buzz off, cockroach! You're not my target, the mean guy is!" the Fishman spat, before he charged at Nico with bloodlust shining in his eyes.

'Shit!' Nico thought as he raised Soul Edge, the ensuing collision sending both of them flying away from the scene.

* * *

Castiel's P.O.V.

Fuck, Nico took the giant Fishmen away. And worse, that damn vermin dared to call me cockroach!

As I was about to go at him for the insult the other two giants encircled me. One looks like the monster King Octopus Kong, famous for its reach, physical power, and regenerative abilities while the other looks like a much, MUCH smaller version of the Kraken in Poseidon-sama's Atlantis. It is obvious that both are quite strong, but I am not in the mood for facing them fairly. If anything I only want to go and kill that annoying giant that disrespected me such.

The king octopus kong (K.O.K. for short) moved first, punching in my direction which I quickly evaded, only for a tentacle to shot out of his arm and almost piere me. Almost since I used my Hruting to slice it up.

Its curse started taking effect since this guy is actualy made of flesh and blood instead of a fake body like those Fishmen from before, thus I shot directly towards the K.O.K. and started slicing him in a direct path towards his heart. He tried to stop me by using his hand to swat me away using his hand, only for me to swat his hand away using my own. The power entering my body from Hruting being drenched in blood makes my already ridiculously powerful body that much stronger. I now feel like I could go until 90 or even 100% of the curse of my blade!

However, before I could go and reach the heights I always wanted to the kraken moved. He did not shot one of his tentacles since he saw how that turned out to the K.O.K., instead, he took a deep gulp of air before launching a heavy amount of ink in my direction as if a bullet of 1 ton. I could only release a 'tch' sound as I flew away to evade that one. Even if I defended against it that would make me locked in place and an easy target to all to gang up on.

As I was out of the hole I created in K.O.K. I was about to aim at the Kraken when I felt like my body was being impacted by something. Turning to see there were about ten Fishmen using their special karate movements to wound my body from the distance secretly. I wanted to go and eliminate them but the K.O.K. released another few dozens of tentacles at my direction while the kraken started releasing more ink bullets at me.

This is annoying. This is far too annoying! Everywhere there are enemies ganging up on me, so much so that I can't focus on anywhere without being attacked by others.

But if they want to play this way I WILL give them the experience of being overwhelmed instead!

Pulling from the power of the Divine Blood of the Vermilion Bird a flame appeared over my right hand. I used my wings to cover my body as I started putting more and more energy inside that tiny flame over my right hand.

There were dozens of attacks all trying to wound me, but I did not care as I simply continued drawing the energy from my magic core and putting it in that tiny flame, compressing all that energy and flames into a tiny ball of flame. It was turning more and more blood red with time, the shine of the flame was even compressed and only a vermilion collor could be seen as even a hint of pure golden light appeared in it. When the Divine Blood reached its limit I started drawing the light and fire energy of the stars that was now residing in Argetlan, and it too was fusing into that sphere of pure fire. It was a dreadfully slow process, one that would normally be impossible to do against most enemies but that was possible for me due to my current understanding of flames and light as well as the fact that my defenses were absurdly strong enough for me to defend against almost anything if I focus on defending myself.

The name 'shield of God' isn't meant as a joke. It is the power that can defend even someone who has gone beyond Leader-class from all harm, even if I am currently not at that level my defenses are still crazy tough.

When I no longer could pull any more of the energy I decided that enough was enough. With this I simply let the small ball of fire to drop bellow myself as I covered my body even tighter with my wings as I waited for it to end.

' _Heaven Punishment_ '

As these words echoed in my mind the ball of fire exploded. Hundreds upon hundreds of fire spikes went everywhere, they were, however, not stopped after piercing one enemy. They cleaved the entire place as if someone pierced the entire battlefield with a giant rapier hundreds of times. Even the Kraken was pierced more than two dozen times with it being possible to look at the other side from any of the holes in his body. K.O.K. was equaly wounded but he still managed to make a hole in the floor and escaping somewhere else.

Well, not that it matters much. Looking at the Kraken I saw that it looked at me with hatred and indignation, it probably feel wronged since he did not had time to show off his actual powers and instead was killed just like that, well I don't give a damn.

Aiming my right hand at him I focused some light energy in it.

" _Ark_." With that a giant cube appeared in front of my hand and covering his body. It was a trick I devised in my mind after thinking about the power of my right eye and it is actualy not that complex.

I use light energy from my body to designate a location, lock it in with a similar power like my _perfect cube_ in that the space inside and outside become separated entirely, remove all energy from inside using my _Devour_ skill and use the energy I took as combustive to create light energy that I put inside there, manipulate that light energy into using the basic principle from Newton of the transformation of mass and energy by combining the light energy into alchemy's basic process, and voila!

Everything inside the cube becomes pure energy that I devour back to replenish myself. The giant and powerful Kraken is now nothing more than a supplement for my power, I am only sad that using _Ark_ still takes a few seconds since I am not that experienced with it. Maybe in the future I will be able to use it instantly.

That would be nice.

* * *

Falling towards the ground, Nico cursed himself at the surprising speed displayed by the giant. It looked like even with his guard up, that guy had enough power to send them both flying. 'Fishman must have good physical ability, I see... if they were in my world, their abilities would let them be quite remarkable amongst the many Abnormals infesting Gamindustri...' Nico thought as his descent neared its conclusion. The male took the time to notice that his Kagune had receded into him from the moment that they had been sent flying, too, something which he figured be best. After all, launching it as a surprise attack could be quite the strategy.

Unwilling to crash though, Nico set about to save himself from that fate and quickly threw an Armoured hand out to slam it into the ground, pushing himself back into the air, flipping backwards several times before landing on a crouch. Because of the motions he had been in though, Nico had to slide to a halt for more than 8 meters. 'Okay, that was one fat strike. Looks like this guy has the speed department down pat...' the male couldn't help but think to himself as he finally halted. Although, it wasn't ANYTHING compared to the speed Okada Izou held the last time they fought back at Halo Mountain, that guy felt like he could slaughter all these 100,000 Fishmen in a single night without taking that much damage. Probably even while drunk, too, knowing what little he did about him.

The very instant that he stopped his movement, a curse escaped his lips as the male had to quickly apply his Star Gods Broken Shadow technique to avoid another leg stomp. An attack which had been launched without the owner ceasing his movement. Seeing how his 'target' had evaded his preemptive strike, the Giant growled whilst aiming down at his opponent. "Argh! Stop moving and lemme crush you!"

"How about nope?!" The redhead male replied as he held Soul Edge, raising it up to the air and bringing it down to launch a vertical wave of Hellfire towards his opponent.

In response to his attack, Nico saw how the Giant tried to waddle out of the way, but his massive size pretty much made that impossible. The guy had been way to big to move quick enough to avoid it, so when he did move, he still ended up getting hit. Thus, the wound itself erupted into a rising pillar of Hellfire. As a result, a loud howl of pure AGONY erupted from the giant's mouth, causing him to stumble backwards and try to pat out the flames. "OOOOWWWWWWWWIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE! OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE-OWIE! iT HURTS, IT HUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSS!" He wailed, tears filling up behind his eye sockets at the searing pains.

Nico meanwhile, scowled in annoyance behind his Helmet. 'Ugh, this fucker's going to die now... I don't want to waste a second more with this guy than necessary...' he thought to himself, making to move forward and continue his assault. However, just before he could...

 **'NICO! DODGE TO THE LEFT RIGHT NOW!'**

Nico's eyes widened when he heard a shout come from deeep within his mind, andinstinctively he followed it. His whole form vanished into a Warping gesture, the male reappearing several feet away from his previous position. 'Huh? What the hell Biko, I was going to...' he began to say... before his mouth stopped moving and fell open, any control over his jaw vanishing into the breeze. The reason? oh nothing much, jus the sight of Castiel freaking TAKING HIS KILL by showering the battlefield with fiery Spikes! Fortunately, Nico had been spared thanks to how he had been standing before the Giant, which allowed him to be covered from the spikes. In essence, it had acted as an unwitting barrier between him and those spikes.

What the freaking hell?!

"Oi, Emiya! What's with stealing my ki-?!"

Just as Nico made to say something to the culprit, his words got caught in his mouth when he saw how Castiel literally converted the entirety of the Kraken into a mass of energy for himself... all the while looking like one of those Abnormals who had just sated its bloodlust and hunger with an entire town. The look of extreme bliss on his face... 'Okay, I get the feeling that, if that technique or any of these light abilities Castiel hits me, I'll be toast. Hell, Demon Princes at least will try to stay clear of it, even if it proves impossible.' The teen thought to himself, looking absolutely dumbfounded. Not to mention that the guy had taken pretty much all three kills for himself.

 **'From what I can tell, Emiya seems to be using the power of that Cube as if it were a prison, then whatever is inside is being converted into pure light energy via basic newton processes. Its like bringing lambs to the slaughter, or in reverse. The only way to avoid it would likely be something like Warping the exact SECOND before the Cube traps you, otherwise you would not escape. Either that, or you could have Erebus devour the light with darkness, release so much of it that the Archdevil Arm devours all the light around it and thus, the cube would go with it. At least, that's what I think. Still, even if we find a way around it, it would be wise not to rush into a situation where we would have this happen to us. It would be most disadvantageous.'**

Nico mentally nodded his head in agreement with his Demon Persona there. This ability DEFINITELY surpassed the more common Skills he had seen throughout Gamindustri. Manipulating light energy like this wasn't very common amongst the warriors in his world, in fact Nico didn't think it was even possible to manipulate light like Castiel just did right now, and so easily too. Even so though, the male had to wonder, if he had something like this in his arsenal, why could he not perform it sooner? Like, throughout ANY of their previous battles? He could think of multiple instances where it could have been used to save their asses from too much trouble...

Maybe it was like he couldn't? It wasn't uncommon in his world where people couldn't use their abilities as effectively as thhey should have, though those people had their own reasons for it. Doubt, lack of confidence, issues which would have gotten them killed on the battlefield. Some of them even went through that fate, but honestly he didn't see Castiel as that type of pushover. Instead, Nico remembered what Castiel had told him about his past before coming to these trials, about how he had been unable to access his full power for a very long time (something which still made him shudder). Could that have had something to do with it? Or maybe he just didn't understand? Nico wasn't exactly sure, but manipulationof Light and fire like this definitely required a good dose of intelligence, of the ability to comprehend what was happening. Perhaps he had always been capable of this, but thanks to his lack of understanding the laws of light and his lack of actual ability with it due to the seal, it resulted in him being unable to use it as effectively as he was now.

But, despite his mental issues with this sudden unveiling of this ability, Nico also had to admit that the ability itself felt quite impressive. To take things and turn them into pure energy like that... it could have so many benefits, yet also just as many cons. One such benefit would be huge supplies of energy for one to use to power their more destructive abilities. Should someone have this ability like a Demon, then they would be able to spam continent destroying attacks with ease, something which made Nico shudder. However, a con for this would be that it could be dangerous for those whose bodies can't take in that much energy From what he could tell, Castiel's body didn't have that problem, however if someone with a weak physique and their bodies couldn't take all that energy at once... they'd likely explode like a balloon no longer being able to contain air. Seeing something like this, made Nico wonder if he could do something similar with his Hellfire, since he HAD previously formed solid objects with it. Maybe he could make a sort-of prison which burned out the oxygen and hydrogen in a certain space, which would be replaced with carbon dioxide which is basically like poison to the normal person. Or at least suffocate them into unconsciousness before his Hellfire would incinerate them.

'In any case, we should probably regroup with the guy once he has finished... whatever he's doing. At least then, we can plan our next move.'

 **'Right...'**

With that in mind, Nico proceeded to step forwards, walking towards the direction his companion was in. Just as he made the first step however...

 _'DING!'_

'Huh?' Nico stopped the moment his second step was in the air, pausing mid stride in essence as he looked around, his lone eye wider than normal. Surprise could be seen flickering within as he looked about, confusion dominant. Just now, did he just hear a bell chiming in his head? It definitely seemed to be echoing throughout his mind, but he never recalled something like that in his hallucinations in the past. 'What, am I hearing more voices now? Come on, one would think I'd be used to something like this happening at this point...' the male mentally mused while his lips curved downwards into a frown behind his mask.

 _'Congratulations, you have finally become qualified to complete the bonus challenge.'_

Once again, the teen heard the voice, but this time he was able to identify it as... somewhat feminine, and delicate like a fragile piece of crystal. If he were to compare it to anything, then it would be Compa's voice, she always did have an angel's voice... even before she literally gained Angels as weapons. A small fond smile spread across his lips beneath his Mask when memories of the Nurse-In-Training popped into his head, taking away his earlier conflicting emotions. It honestly felt nice to hear, instead of the usual insanity-filled voices he heard from his nightmares and hallucinations. He couldn't stop the relief that spread through his chest when he heard it, but even so Nico remained on guard. 'Whose there? and what do you mean by bonus challenge?'

 _'Who I am is of little importance. All you should focus on, is that you have the option of temporarily leaving the bubble to engage in a duel with a specified creature. It does not impact the trial in any way, nor will it affect the number of rewards given out. However, should you choose to attempt it and succeed, you will gain something extremely special, potent and powerful.'_

Any doubts he had practically went up in smoke when those words got processed by his brain. Hearing those words piqued Nico's interest, especially at the end there. Until that point, he had thought about simply declining it, but hearing that there was an optional reward which didn't impact the trial definitely got his attention. Didn't Castiel get something like that once, or was he not remembering it correctly? If he thought about it, Nico recalled how he got his Vermilion Bird flames from taking an optional quest... so, if he were to do the same...

 **'Lets converse with Emiya first. The way it was worded stated we would deal with this without help from him, which means we'll be leaving him to deal with whatever is coming next. I doubt he would appreciate us galivanting off for whatever reason.'**

As he heard that, the teen paused moving for a moment, blinking to himself. He had been so excited for the possibility of discovering what this 'something new' was, that he had almost forgotten about that. Nevertheless Biko's words rang true, it would be a bit of an asshole thing to do and leave Castiel here without any explanation. As much as he disliked the guy on a rival-like manner, Nico wouldn't be as stupid as to leave him without explaining why, he wasn't THAT much of an asshole. As such, the redhead nodded and proceeded to head back to his companion.

* * *

Castiel's P.O.V.

As I ended the _Ark_ I was replenished of the energy I spent during the use of _Heavenly Punishment_ , I am so lucky to have this right arm spirit bone as otherwise, it would be a whole lot harder for me to deal with these many enemies. Not so much in pure magic energy but more in my vitality and spirit that would be spent during such combat. The ability to devour any form of energy and use the energy for myself is so much of a cheat that it isn't even funny.

I wonder if the next time I should try to get a new spirit bone, these ones I have are fully focused in increasing my survivability and none have any attack property, which makes me wonder if I should try to find a new spirit bone later on.

As I was thinking that the enemies started floding in on my direction just like the water that was entering the place. However the damage made on the whole battlefield was not small so the amount of Fishmen is now not nearly as great as before.

With a smirk, I decided that I wanted to change things up a bit. Pulling away both Hruting and Clarent I took out Gandiva, the beautiful beyond compare bow was full of so much light energy that it is outstanding for me now that I know how to feel for it.

With a smile I pull its string to the limit, the fishmen approaching are yelling while brandishing their's swords and spears as I keep the string pulled. It was then that the arrow of light energy appeared and I focus in my next attack.

" _Licht Reigen_ (rain of light)" I haven't used this attack in a while. Before I really just used such a crude form of its power that I feel embarrassed when compared to what I can do now. If before each arrow I launched with this attack could pierce the ground for about 20 centimeters deep now it had enough piercing power to enter about 5 meters. This may not seem like much, but considering that I am right now launching about 300 such arrows per-second, each killing between five and six of the fishmen in front of me.

Honestly, this trial being like this just makes it way too suited for me. If there were just a few small but powerful enemies, or someone like Madara, I would lose and run away 10 out of 10, but this way here? I could go on easy.

It was at this point that Nico approached me, seeing the damage and pain I was spreading around he gave a weird smile as he embarrassedly addressed me.

"So, I know we are dealing with this whole thing and all that, but would you mind if I go and do something else for now? It is just that a sub-mission showed up and I want to go and face it now."

"Hmmm, sure, you can go there and I will hold up here. But the price for my help is still 70-30, you want me to deal with this whole thing and possible sub bosses alone so I ought to get something in return or there will be no deal." I said. It is a bit abusive to demand 30% of all the points he obtained during the trial, but in the end this is just about fair since I would have to do both of our works for who knows how long.

He nodded his head after probably talking to the voices in his head (I still think he might be closer to insane than he likes to admit, but then again considering his work, life, and situation I will not put this against him so much). With that he left to do whatever mission he could while I stood here to fave a few tens of thousands of enemies.

But honestly, my skillset is just way too suited to deal with one strong enemy or a group of weaker ones, this barelly counts as a challenge anymore.

Let's just wait and see how it will be going forward since I doubt things will be so easy in the future.

* * *

Now that he had his companion's permission (Biko having told him to just agree to Castiel's demands), Nico had decided to go at this all out. He did this just as he got teleported out of the bubble itself.

By the time that he had reappeared, the male was in DPU form, his Soul Edge in its true form and radiating the bloodlust of over 1000 Demons on violent blood rages. Crimson Soul opened his eyes slowly as he took a look at his surroundings, finding himself to be floating just above what looked like a massive ocean floor. He could tell because of the sand which lay beneath him, with random insects and the like scattered throughout, and as for the surface of this ocean, Crimson Soul couldn't see it. Though, the waters looked clear a s crystal to him, something the DPU didn't mind one bit.

'As for oxygen, I can feel my Demonic Power replicating my oxygen levels, keeping them at standard levels so its like I'm breathing without actually breathing. Not only that...' while he thought, Crimson noted how his Hellfire had formed fins on his elbows and knees, whilst his Wings had become massive blazing fish Tails. They swayed gently within the water's embrace, yet unlike any normal fame the Hellfire refused to be quelled by water, burning just as bright as it normally did. 'but my mobility problem has been solved automatically, impressive. Though the physics side of things is still up for debate...' the adult version of Nico remarked.

With these thoughts in mind, the DPU began to look around, his crimson eyes glowing as they searched through the waters for any signs of his opponent. whatever it may be. The only reason why he had taken on this form, the form of which he only used when absolutely needed, was because he hadn't been too sure of how strong this unknown creature was. Though, considering the list of enemies he had faced throughout these trials, Nico could only assume it to be quite powerful. This WAS Zelretch's doing, after all.

As he expanded his senses to see if he could detect anything, the black haired DPU's eyes shot open wide when his senses picked it up: a HUGE amount of bloodlust not that weaker to Soul Edge's right now. The amount of raw bloodlust aimed at him right now, it would have made any of the people in his world, probably those World Eater soldiers or those Demons piss themselves with fright. Though part of him argued that Khornate Demons knew no fear, instead they'd likely orgasm at the feeling. 'Whoa... now THIS is a lot of bloodlust I'm sensing here...' the male thought to himself. If he were in human form, then likely the hairs on the back of his neck would be standing upwards.

 **'This feeling... it reminds me of that time when you were surrounded by all those Tigrexes who got angry at you interrupting their... business.'**

'AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHHHH, NOW THAT WAS A FUN TIME WHEN HE FINALLY WENT 'FUCK IT!' AND LT ME HAVEA CRACK AT EM!'

Both his alternate selves made their own comments about it, but Crimson Soul paid them no mind as he looked for the source, occasionally turning around to see where this being who released such bloodlust would be attacking from. Pretty soon however, Crimson Soul noticed a silhouette in the distance, a silhouette which gradually got bigger and bigger the more seconds passed. 'Hmmm... judging from this Bloodlust...' Crimson Soul thought as he narrowed his eyes towards it... all the while raising Soul Edge for a slash. The infernal blade, at the moment of it being raised to its maximum, already began activating PREDATOR whilst Black and red Hellfire erupted from its form like a volcano coming to life.

Once again, water physics were ignored at this.

Before the beast could strike or even reveal itself for that matter, Crimson Soul struck first, getting in close with the Star God's Broken Shadow to cross the distance of over 8 miles, then appear behind it, before finally bringing Soul Edge down onto the creature...

SLASH!

Only to feel his left arm get severed from his body.

'What?!' The DPU exclaimed in his mind, Warping away from the creature whilst his limb reformed itself. That allowed him to look down at the limb in absolute surprise, enough for him to show it even in this form. 'Wow... to bite through my Armour and flesh like that makes this creature... all the more dangerous. Going into my DPU Form definitely was the right choice.' the transformed teen thought to himself. Shifting his gaze over to what had taken his arm, Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes as it just stayed there, chewing on his former limb like it hadn't ever tasted him before.

That allowed him to gaze upon it for the first time... and boy what a sight it had been.

The creature before him, it looked to be twice as large as what had been recorded as a Great White Shark back in his world. Their bodies looked to be quite robust, bulky and the complete opposite of the word 'sleek'. Its body looked to be coloured a mx of grey and black, with a freaking ENORMOUS head filled to the brim with teeth which looked more like blades than actual teeth. Its eyes shone crimson with wild, bloodthirsty and tyrannical power, its maximum length EASILY being over 15 meters long. Its Fins looked more like elongated blades, with its fins looking equally as sharp and deadly.

 **'N-Nico... I think I know what this is...'**

'Hm? What is it, what are we facing?'

 **'... It is called an Evil Spirit Orca.'**

'Evil Spirit Orca?' Crimson Soul questioned, his face remaining neutral whilst he stared at the furious-looking beast down. 'Sounds dangerous just by its name alone. Doesn't look like its anything to scoff at either, anything which can get through my Armour is a sure-sign of how dangerous it is.' Crimson Soul thought, narrowing his eyes slightly at his opponent. From what he could sense, this being held power which could rival a Bloodthirster, according to what Biko had show him one time after the Gala when he had learned what had happened. The amount of chaotic intent, desire for murder and mind-numbing insanity felt something similar to those kinds of creatures. If he were in human form, then perhaps Crimson Soul would have broken into a cold sweat.

But he didn't, thanks to his DPU Form's mentality suppressing most of his emotions.

Instead, his current mentality focused more on what to do next, and because of that, Crimson Soul quickly began analysing his opponent. 'Alright, first thing I have to do, is to ascertain this creature's abilities. First off, I know that it will likely be able to shred through my body, Armour or not, with just its fins and fangs. I'm not too sure about what had torn off my arm just now, but it would be safe to assume it was one of those two things so I'll stay clear of both. I should also look into its ability to deliver ranged attacks, judging from its body structure I believe that its built more like a Heavy Tank than a Jeep, meaning its got more strength than speed. Even so, its fins combined with what happened just before tells me that this thing isn't slow by any means. Furthermore, I have to assume that this thing could be with others, simply due to a gut instinct I'm getting. This beast feels like some kind of pack animal, I remember a few times I encountered such Abnormals and nearly lost my life assuming they were lone hunters. Soul Edge's Akuma No Me will help me keep an eye on my surroundings by predicting the attacks coming at me, and I can use its debuffing powers to lower the enemy's physical prowess all the while enhancing my own. I'll have to go with the dodge and counter strategy, don't let this thing hit me in the slightest.'

All this information flowed through Crimson Soul's brain in a manner of seconds, and all that time the Evil Spirit Orca didn't make a single move to attack him. That alone showed the DPU that this creature had at least human level intelligence, as that was what he had seen when looking into its bloodthirsty crimson eyes which lit up the depths of the ocean. All the while, Crimson Soul held the massive form of Soul Edge in both hands, angling the blade diagonally forwards towards his enemy, a defensive stance which got reinforced by the blade's PREDATOR ability. All over the blade, it emitted a crimson aura which filled the area with its malice and eternal thirst for destruction, something which would not lose out to the Killing Intent emitted by the enemy. He could feel the unending bloodlust, undying hunger and animalistic frenzied nature of the chaotic blade coursing through him via their link, way more than Crimson Soul could ever feel when using this blade in human form.

 **'Nico, whatever you do, do NOT underestimate this creature for even a SECOND. I got some information about this creature from the Lexicanum, it was a creature which existed during the DPU Era, one of the many beasts which filled that era and as such, it would have an extreme hatred towards DPUs. An Evil Spirit Orca does indeed have power in spades, as well as ranged capabilities. It has the ability to launch ginormous crimson energy waves from its body, and by ginormous I mean over 50 meters long. Add to how they can fire pure water from their blowholes, and you get one dangerous creature. You are right to assume they are a pack based species, however... as proof will soon present itself to you,'**

Biko's words soon got proven when, much to Crimson Soul's surprise though it didn't show on his face, over 30 pairs of bright crimson eyes suddenly opened up throughout the depths before him. Each of them soon showed themselves to be more Evil Spirit Orcas, up to 31 of them... but if that were the only thing then Crimson Soul wouldn't be so unnerved. No, the moment their eyes opened, another, much larger pair opened up as well. Pretty soon, Crimson Soul found himself facing off against over 300 Evil Spirit Orcas, with one of them dwarfing the others in size being over 40 meters long. Odds were, that one had to be the flock's ruler, and even then, the amount of malice in the air made him remember the first time he ever assaulted a Demon Prince to protect his comrades. Blind rage and pure bloodlust had contaminated the atmosphere, even worse when he and his comrades had been brought over to its own domain shortly into the fight. He honestly believed that if he hadn't caught that Demon Prince by surprise with his invisible Rinkaku, then they would have bitten the dust.

Still though...

'This is bad... it seems I am outnumbered here... ' The DPU thought to himself while gauging the different Evil Spirit Orcas. Each of them formed as between 15 to 20 meters long, with an appropriate size and mass to match. 'Hmmm... there's a lot of energy within these creatures, and according to my senses... it would appear that the king has over 100,000 years worth of experience.' Sort of like the Crimson Fatalis, something he took out fairly easily but only because it had been on its own. Plus he had prior knowledge of how to take it out, THIS time though that was not the case.

As he witnessed the flock slowly start advancing forwards, Crimson Soul quickly unleashed an ATOMIC INFERNO, unleashing a couple hundred fiery rays made from his Hellfire towards them. Each ray thus, burned at over 5000 degrees Celsius as they flew towards the enemy like a hundred or so bullets shooting towards their opponents. Though, the moment that they hit, the Evil Spirit Orcas that got hit only emerged from the attacks into a wild charge, their massive heads charred by the flames. 'So, they can resist flames which burn at over 5000 degrees, then...' the male mused to himself, his eyes glimmering as the whole flock instantly burst into action by shooting towards him like a couple hundred angry ravens flocking towards their prey.

At once, Crimson Soul found himself to be exposed to dozens upon dozens of large, grey water blasts fired by their blowholes, each of them aimed towards Crimson Soul's vitals. Upon noticing them, the DPU quickly figured out that, if these creatures could get through his armour, their ability to launch water at him would likely pose similar results. 'However, I can use these attacks to my advantage...' the male thought as he held his defensive stance. His heart rate calm, his breathing steady and his pulse even, Crimson Soul held himself as the attacks came close to him... and just when the attacks were about to make contact, Crimson Soul used the Star Gods Broken Shadow to get out of the way, as well as their sight.

Once he reappeared behind the flock, Crimson Soul raised his infernal blade with the intent on launching a blast of Hellfire at them... unfortunately, before he could do anything about it, Crimson Soul noticed the Evil Spirit Orca King suddenly twisty itself around and launch one of those 50+ Meter long crimson energy waves at him. 'Huh?' The male thought in mild surprise, Warping out of the wave's way and appearing beside it. 'I see... so that was the energy wave which Biko warned me about... looks like they all have their own energy reserves too. The fact that the King located me after my evasion means they are using some form of echolocation with their energies.' Crimson Soul thought as the flock all curved around to try and attack him before he could counter.

 **'You'd be right, they do indeed use something like that through their energy. Although it takes some energy out of them to do so.'**

Biko's words got recorded inside the DPU's mind, making him hum while thoughts circulated through his mind. The moment he emerged from the wave, Crimson Soul had already positioned himself for a horizontal swing, launching it right after. The moment that he did, a wave of Hellfire the same size as the crimson energy wave the Evil Spirit Orca King had launched got released from the blade. The Wave, the moment he saw it, made Crimson Soul think back to the time he launched a similar wave back at Skies End, as it sailed towards his opponents... only getting about 50 Orcas and reducing their numbers to 250. Their Souls instantly got sucked into Soul Edge fuelling its power and making the blade visibly SHUDDER in Crimson Soul's grasp. This result however, only made Crimson Soul frown as he began avoiding blasts of water and smaller energy waves left and right, flying all over the depths like a madman trying to avoid a bullet hell.

'A wave that took out an army back in my world took down only 50 of those creatures... Looks like there really is a difference between the beasts of the DPU Era and the beasts in modern current day society. The power difference I mean. If any of these attacks hit me, then I may as well be toast...' he thought, and while he thought that, a couple blasts actually hit their mark, blasting no small sized holes through his Fin-like wings as well as his right and left shoulders. The DPU Winced at the force applied, but refused to slow down even the tiniest fraction. If he did, then he'd be in for a world of trouble. 'In any case, that King of theirs is going to be a nuisance, I COULD just fight them all myself and ignore the king, but that wouldn't be very productive in the long run. In addition, I must take the least amount of time possible and return to my comrade's side. I'd rather not leave him alone too long, or he'll bank up way more points than myself.' Even in this state, Crimson Soul did not want to lose out to the guy in terms of points. One could say the two were developing one HELL of a DIVINE rivalry.

But no, Crimson Soul refused to waste any time, and he had a good idea as to how to get the King away from his Flock...

For now however, Crimson Soul had to focus, if he didn't then he would likely get shredded to pieces thanks to these water attacks. Their concentration seemed high enough so that one blast could tear a hole through a full grown man's torso, probably more too. Not like he was willing to find out, though, as Crimson Soul swiftly shifted Soul Edge into it's bow form. Whilst the sword and most bladed weapons were Nico's specialty, the sword most of all, he wasn't much of a slouch in ranged combat either. To be frank, he preferred guns but it wasn't like he couldn't see the appeal of a Bow either, especially since this one had arrows which got stronger the more distance they travelled, making it perfect for destroying large armies to entire cities. Though, his personal opinion on destruction had already been stated.

With Soul Edge in Bow form, Crimson Soul swiftly and rapidly began launching arrows with rapid speeds, his hands moving insanely fast like they were blurs, all the while they moved as if they were on autopilot. Whilst they did that, Nico circled, figure eighted, flipped, spun, zoomed, he did all sorts of aerial manoeuvres so that eh could avoid the blasts of water raining down on his ass. It didn't help that the Orcas kept splitting into different numbered groups to flank him from multiple sides, forcing him to keep an eye on all of them in case they tried to sneak any pot shots at him. Occasionally, one or two of them would pause their ranged attacking in order to zoom forwards and try to take a bite out of Crimson Soul's body, the first time actually succeeding since he got so caught off guard by it. Though, after that he never got hit again, thanks to his use of the Star God's Broken Shadow and Warping.

If it hadn't been for his opening coming right at the perfect moment, Crimson Soul felt like he would have been shredded to bits.

* * *

Now, this Prey would prove itself to be much more annoying than most.

None of them had been aware of that fact more than the King of the Evil Spirit Orcas.

As a being which had spent over 100,000 years learning and developing its power to what it was now, the creature could tell that this opponent they had faced would not fall as easily as any common prey. No, not when one strike from that blade took out 50 of its clansmen. In addition to that, it proved to be just as evasive as some of their more difficult targets, proof being when it had avoided their combined attacks the first time, then its own attack which was faster than a flash of lightning, and now was currently evading their blasts like a pro. Even its own pride would not let itself get in the way of its judgement, that would be how it would have fallen before reaching its current point. It would recognize the skill of an enemy whenever it saw it, as a result, and whatever this prey was, it certainly had that kind of skill in spades.

Still though, it couldn't help but look forward to the moment where it could pay this prey back for killing its clansmen like it had done. This puny bug compared to itself may not fill its belly would like its meals usually did, but at least it would leave it satisfied with the knowledge that it had avenged its fallen brethren. The massive creature's eyes narrowed sharply towards the small finned being which constantly evaded their blasts, not giving an inch as it seemed to do something with that small toothpick of a blade, switching it to what looked like a Bow of sorts before pulling back the string, Arrows made from the same organic mass as the bow itself forming from the bow itself, before it would launch them back at its hunters. Of course, the arrows got destroyed by their own attacks, but with how he constantly pulled the string each second, this bug got some more breathing room due to the lessening number of close calls from their attacks.

Seeing such a sight, the Evil Spirit Orca released a cold snort from its blowhole. Especially when it noticed how some of its' Clansmens' attacks had broken through and put some holes through those wings and shoulders of their prey. Though, l soon after those areas repaired themselves rather quickly, letting it know that this prey would take some time to kill. Though, to it, that would hardly be considered a problem, more of a tedious time really.

As a result, the beast became convinced that it would take a while, but before long this prey would become vulnerable. Pretty soon, their prey would tire, what with the numbers still favouring their side and all. Not to mention that it could sense the desire for vengeance building within its brethren towards this prey, for its killing of 50 of their brothers. At that point, he himself would strike their Prey down and they'd be dining on its flesh, bones, everything.

At least... that was what supposed to happen.

Instead, the Evil Orca Spirit King's eyes shot open wide when it saw the prey they were chasing vanish into thin air through a crimson flash. The King quickly realized that it was a technique similar to the movement technique it had used before, only used once when it had evaded his own energy wave. But where? Where did it go that they couldn't see it? Just as quick as realization had dawned on it, the Evil Spirit Orca King probed the waters with its energy, hoping to find some trace of their prey before anymore damage to its flock could be dealt. The memory of those 50 smaller Orcas being burned to cinders, their bodies not large enough to resist those flames that their prey possessed, filled its mind and fuelled its desire to prevent something like that from happening again.

Searching through the waters, the Evil Spirit Orca King did not find a single trace of their elusive prey, not a single vibration within the waters. It was as if the being had practically vanished in all of its entirety. Something which completely baffled the mighty creature, as it used any method it could think of to try and locate their elusive prey before anything more could befall its many subordinates. It was a KING, it would NOT yield to something like this! Those were the thoughts which coursed through the beast's mind as it searched endlessly for their opponent.

Just then, something inconceivable happened to it.

One second the mighty beast had been looking around from within the protection of its flock... and then, the next thing it knew, its entire vision briefly turned red before it returned to normal...

And it found itself far, far from its flock, about 40 meters or so.

'WHAT?!'

That word shot through the Evil Spirit Orca King's mind like a loud alarm suddenly ringing at 5 am in the morning, sending all of its senses into overdrive as it quickly tried to figure out what had just happened. One moment it was with its flock, and then the next thing it knew it was a considerable distance away! How the heck was that a thing?! Even in all its 100,000 years of experience, the mighty creature couldn't figure out what the heck had happened... until a moment or two later when realization dawned on it.

Only then though, it had been far too late.

* * *

'This is most fortunate for me. If I was inhuman from, I'd be exhaling in relief right about now.'

 **'Yes, yes indeed...'**

Crimson Soul mentally nodded towards his Demon Persona as he beheld the results of his efforts. The transformed male floated above the Evil Spirit Orca King, which had been bound with more than a could dozen purple chains of plasma with Soul Edge in its true form impaling one of the links. This allowed the blade to augment the chains with its power, allowing him to have his retainment sill be active for much longer. It helped that each of the chains had layers upon layers of heavily condensed Hellfire infused into them, increasing their effectiveness by leaps and bounds with the secondary effect of causing burns to whatever may be restrained by the chains. The sounds of clinking chains filled the oceans around them as Crimson Soul felt the beast struggle to break free of its bonds to no avail.

By no means was what he had done just now not as risky as fuck, but it had just as many rewards. The risks involved the Orcas suddenly figuring out his ploy whilst he distracted them by negating their attacks with Soul Edge's bow form. While the arrows got stronger the longer the distance they travelled, the calculated distance would have resulted in them shattering against their tough hides. It had been proven when one stray arrow hit one of the smaller Orcas and it shattered into pieces upon contact. Showed just how tough these hides were, though Crimson Soul never intended to strike them down with the Bow form of Soul Edge anyways. Instead, all he wanted to do was to take out those water blasts and even then there were risks. One such thing was the distance, if the distance between the arrow and the water blast was too small, the arrows wouldn't be able to negate those water blasts.

That wasn't the only problem with this strategy though, another was the King. There was a difference between them in terms of intelligence, something Crimson Soul noted when he saw how the creature co-ordinated the attacks on him, forming complex attacks which made it a 'bit' more difficult too dodge them (almost lost an arm and a leg like that older of the two el brothers a few times, there). Therefore, he didn't want it to figure out that his real target was actually it all along, shooting arrows at the incoming attacks had merely been something secondary. If he could separate the King from his clock, then their lack of co-ordination and leadership should set some unease and hesitation throughout their ranks. It was like taking away the general of an entire army filled to the brim with convicts on death row, take the general away and they would all either try to split away or turn against one another.

Fortunately, the King also held a strong arrogance to him, something Crimson Soul felt thanks to sensing its dark emotions. A strong, powerful arrogance which could only have come from time itself, which was something Crimson Soul decided to use in order to execute his plan so flawlessly. Though, right now it had only been halfway complete, 50% one could say. Right now, he had to deal with the Orcas whilst their King had been restrained with his CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS and his Soul Edge which was enhancing its effectiveness with its power. This idea came from how Soul Edge used most of its power to restore his soul after the Halo Mountain incident, he just manipulated it so that instead Soul Edge was reinforcing different Skills, buffing them whilst debffing his captured prey.

It helped that Crimson Soul had summoned and activated his Boar Spirit Bone to drain some of the energy the Orca King possessed, all the while manifesting some Arms from Hellfire which were restraining it further by grabbing onto specific bodyparts.

Precautions, mostly.

'Now that this part's complete, time to deal with the Orcas...' the male thought as he looked to the gathered flock. All of them looked like they were scurrying about like rats, trying to locate either him or their leader since both of them had just vanished. However, Crimson Soul wouldn't let that happen, as he had pretty much ABUSED the Star Gods Broken Shadow to whack them al upside their noses, which would scramble a lot of their senses to the point where they wouldn't think to use echolocation to find them. He already had a way of dealing them in mind, and it was an idea that came from several places: A, Castiel's 'Cage' like actions as well as his own ability to generate arms and limbs made from his Hellfire.

With that in mind, the DPU held out his arms as if he were making to catch something falling from above him. In the space above him, a ball of Hellfire gradually came into existence. At first, it had been the size of a golf ball… but then, the moment that it completely formed, the ball itself swelled in size, becoming as large as a meteorite. Its brilliant crimson glow, combined with the abyssal black core and surface, shone brightly through the oceans, and thus if it had been a regular ocean where physics were adhered to, then this ball would have pretty much evaporated the entire ocean within minutes, burning away all life within. This kind of attack... of course the Orcas would have noticed it, and when they did each of them almost got blinded by the heat emitting from the damn thing, heck some even looked like they were about to turn away and flee from the immense heat belonging to it.

Not something Crimson Soul would allow however, as in response to this his fin-like wings quickly deformed their prior shapes, becoming a series of arms numbering at the 250 mark. Each one were as thin as a rope, with tri pronged claws on their ends which, upon them launching forwards, grasped onto the Orcas just seconds into their movement, grabbing onto their tails. The moment that they did, pained howls and screeches could be heard from the Orcas as they felt their hides being melted away from the infernal flames that threatened to immolate them just from their very presence. Though, that wasn't what the DPU wanted, oh no... he had something MUCH more fitting in mind...

'Since my Hellfire is my strongest flame aside from the Golden Crow's, I'll use this to make a pseudo FIRE SCORCHER and incinerate them to nothingness. They won't be able to run now that I have them in my grasp as well...' he thought, his eyes gleaming with untapped bloodlust while rearing the ball backwards. The next second however, the teen pumped his arms with energy and flung them forwards, throwing the large Hellfire attack towards the enemy. The moment that it left his control, though...

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

The entire ball erupted, becoming this raging, swirling torrent of fire and heat the size of a meteorite. The torrent surged with chaotic hellfire which roared with all the bloodlust and madness which could be expected of a demonic entity, like a thousand hungry Demons willing to sink their fangs into the souls of their victims. He of course, knew that feeling from experience, memories of the Bloodletters and that Demon Prince coming to mind. Crimson Soul shook his head, clearing his mind of them before looking to where the Torrent had travelled...

Straight towards the restrained Orcas.

GWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

Pained howls and shrieks of agony ripped free from each and every Orca that got caught in the Torrent, all 250 of them. The very SECOND they came into contact with those flames, each of the Evil Spirit Orcas got absolutely destroyed, burned right into nothingness thanks to how much heat had been condensed into them. Their souls, they wouldn't get ay respite either, as they were absorbed into the ravenous Soul Edge to be used as fuel for its power for all of eternity. None of them had been able to get away, thanks to their Tails being restrained by Crimson Soul's many fiery arms. By the time that the Hellfire had vanished, Crimson Soul's attack had wiped out ALL of the 250 Evil Spirit Orcas.

'It is done... the majority of my enemies have been defeated, therefore I shall now focus on the one I am currently restraining.' the DPU thought to himself, glancing down at the Evil Spirit Orca King which looked to be visibly trembling with untapped anger. 'At my current power level, repeating that attack on a scale like what just happened will be impossible. I will have to make do with what I have left, though if I know tyrants like I do, then it should be fairly straight forward to exploit his anger, now that I am not dealing with his followers...' Crimson Soul thought, before his instincts told him to hurry the fuck up and dodge. His eyes sharpened till they were like blades as he Warped out of the way, furthering the distance he had moved by using the Star Gods Broken Shadow once he reappeared.

GUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Good thing too, because the second after he moved, Crimson Soul witnessed the sight of the Evil Orca Spirit King letting loose one of the LOUDEST roars he had ever heard, it nearly made him cover his ears had it not been for his Armoured helmet. Even so, the roar itself pretty much shook the entire landscape, ripples becoming visible in the water whilst everything looked to be cracking and breaking at the seems. Such had been the furious FURY which had been infused into that roar, as it pretty much shattered the restraints binding it to nothing, like they had never been there in the first place. If the beast had been furious before, the amount of raw hatred coursing through it right now would match that of the Chaos God Khorne himself. Its fury knew no limits, and it kept rising by the second as memories of its clansmen being completely wrecked filled its mind.

Its killing intent washed over him, but the DPU just shrugged it off, no literally, he just shrugged his shoulders and calmly gazed at the beast as it readied itself to take him down once and for all.

 **'Looks like we pissed it off...'**

'YEAH, NO SHIT SHERLOCK!'

Crimson Soul meanwhile, narrowed his eyes as his fiery fin-like wings reformed, all the while his infernal Soul Edge returned to his waiting right hand. The transformed male raised the blade and held it in front of him holding it with one hand whilst the other formed a small ball of Hellfire. Looked like the final showdown was here...

Though in hindsight, Crimson Soul wouldn't have any other way.

The first move soon got made, and by the furious King Orca as well. The creature howled as it opened its mouth, and from there dozens of long, sharp spears mad entirely out of water shot forth. No normal water had been launched at Crimson Soul though, that much had been for certain, the DPU thought as the projectiles came at him with the fury of an earthquake condensed within them. He could sense a powerful concentration of energy within them, almost like they had become the heavy cores of their own planets. Their speed had been nothing to scoff at, and Crimson Soul found himself thankful that he knew the Quicksword technique. The moment that it was activated, his arm became nothing but a blur, deflecting each and every projectile with ease...

Although, that soon proved to be a mistake, as the Orca King had closed the distance between them and, with flexibility that would have astounded him if he were in human form, Crimson Soul found himself barely raising Soul Edge in its true form up in time to block a tail smash, one which sent him spiralling down towards the seabed. It didn't stop there, the DPU sensed, as it simply repeated the motion and launched one of those energy waves at him with the intent to slice him in two. Almost like what had nearly happened when those fuckers had been bombarding him back there.

Fortunately, he had the right frame of mind to Warp out of the way in time. Now, if one asks why he didn't use the Star God's Broken Shadow, it was simple. Warping was like a teleportation technique, instantaneous and uninterruptable. However, Star Gods Broken Shadow was a technique which required movement to work. It may not have been visible, but motion DID play a part in it. The way that energy wave had been launched, combined with distance and time, had made it so that he couldn't have used it to escape without injury, so Warping had been his only option aside from defending, but Crimson Soul didn't have Castiel's level of defence. Thus, he didn't even entertain the thought of that kind of option.

Once he reappeared about 10 meters to its right, Crimson Soul threw his free hand forwards, launching the Hellfire ball at his opponent. The instant that it left his hand, much like his ATOMIC INFERNO, it erupted into over 60 long rays of Hellfire. Those rays flew through the air and, like dozens of black and red snakes, slammed into the Orca King from multiple different angles. Of course, despite all of them hitting, the creature's hide remained largely undamaged aside from a few light degree bruises, nothing more.

'Hmmmm… whatever energy it uses, it has imbued its hide with it for so long that it has been strengthened permanently, increasing its denseness so that attacks will find it more difficult to penetrate it.' Crimson Soul thought, before he quickly strafed to the side to avoid the Orca King when it lunged at him, attempting to bite his head off. He had to make a couple flipping manoeuvres though, since that was the only way he could avoid its metallic fins. He even tried striking them with the Tail that he rarely used, but no such luck came from such a strike much to what he had expected. Twisting and turning, Crimson Soul manoeuvred himself so that he had once again regained his balance, before twisting around to face his opponent and unleashed a barrage of waves made from his Hellfire. Waves which came at the creature with the speed only those who knew the Quicksword could pull off.

Instead of just taking them like the beast had before, instead it managed to avoid them by strafing to the right, circling around them and ending up charging at Crimson Soul's left rear flank. Its speed, the DPU noticed, had ben something which surpassed the other Orcas by far, and not only that but... he could see some sort of crimson energy trailing behind its Tail, meaning that its energy was likely being used to boost its speeds to levels where it felt Soul Edge's Akuma No Me wouldn't be able to keep track of it. Though, sadly for it, there were no such limitations on this eye when Soul Edge was like this, so when it made to slice right through him by the waist, Crimson Soul had one of his wings morph into a duck-like hand, of which it curved downwards then swung back upwards, deflecting the fin away from his form before morphing back into a fin.

Once again however, Crimson Soul frowned when he noticed how the creature expertly moved its Tail so that it could whack him sup the back of his head, making the all Warp out the way and end up behind its head. The DPU then raised his sword, engulfing thee PREDATOR clad blade in a furious tornado of Hellfire. Although, when compared to what he had unleashed in the beginning of the battle, the Hellfire circling the infernal blade felt... weaker, less destructive yet still chaotic in nature. Obviously due to his reserves not being as large as they once were... perhaps he should practice such attacks more in the future, so he wouldn't be wasting any power but the required amount.

Still, it would get the job done, as Crimson Soul dashed forwards while pumping his body with Demonic Energy. His form became a blur as he zoomed through the air, slamming into the back of the creature's head whilst performing his next attack. Since combining his techniques lead to a better result Crimson Soul decided to do so again: this time combining the Quicksword with the ever so dangerous Skill INFERNITY EDGE. The flame coated Soul Edge got driven into the creature's back via a horizontal slash. Flames then spiralled down his arm from his wings, converging onto Soul Edge and making it enlarge to twice its original size. THIS would be where the Quicksword technique came in though, as the male made several dozen high speed slashes across the Orca King's back... resulting in many large fiery explosions that dotted the creature's form as if it were trying on a new fur coat.

'Still seems that I cannot break through its hide... this creature is tough...' Crimson Soul thought as he saw the creature turn around and swat at him with its right fin, however the male refused to let that happen and he dodged it with the grace of an expert. It helped that so far, the Akuma No Me had been foretelling these attacks by reading the enemy's Soul. Sliding to a halt, the DPU looked up and saw the beast already on the offensive, lunging at him with the intent to bite into him once more. As a response to this, Crimson Soul Warped out of the way once again, then once more when he reappeared only to see a crimson energy wave racing towards him. 'That was close... looks like its beginning to understand my Warping patterns... then again, with how many times I've used it even a blind man could figure it out.'

Nevertheless, the DPU could tell that he needed a plan on how to beat this creature. He didn't want to waste time hammering away at that freaking TOUGH hide it sported, that would just be tideous and counterproductive. Despite his prior failures, Crimson Soul felt that he had some confidence in being able to break through that hide it had... if he were at full power, but unfortunately he had used quite a bit of his strength to take out those Orcas. As a result, he wanted to take this beast out as soon as he could so he could conserve and recover his Demonic Energy. He had yet to use his Red Rage Ring or his Green Hatred Ring this entire battle, so perhaps...

Yeah, maybe THAT could work.

Soon, a plan started forming in Crimson Soul's mind, a plan which revolved around a two step process... exactly like his plan to take out all the Orcas in one fell swoop. All he'd need was a little bit of prep work...and some luck.

As such, Crimson Soul immediately set to work, his Soul Edge buffing itself with PREDATOR, while its various debuffing abilities got to work in lowering the fighting prowess of the Evil Spirit Orca King. SCORCHING AURA and BLOOD RAGE were applied to it, decreasing its attacking power, mobility and shutting down its higher brain functions. At least that, whilst it would be more like a berserker, which could be problematic on its own, at least Crimson Sul didn't have to worry about those energy and water attacks anymore.

Because of his actions, the DPU saw how the creature let loose another loud roar which shook the entire ocean. Its eyes, clouded over by its now chaotic bloodlust to the point where reason and logic had gone out of the window, glared at him with utmost animosity. The loss of its clansmen, the humiliation at having its people wiped out by a single small bug, the sheer indignity that its pride had suffered... all its prior experiences with him collimating into the sole desire to end Crimson Soul's life...

Perfect.

Instantly, the beast raced towards him once more, intent on finishing this fight now and enjoying his body between its teeth. Just as it had gotten within striking distance... within a couple seconds (its speed had been enhanced by its own bloodlust, who knew?), Crimson Soul acted, unleashing the Star God's Broken Shadow to dodge the attack just in the nick of time. Any later, and he would have been a monster's chew toy, the fate many Spec Ops Agents fell to. Reappearing beside the creature at over 23 meters away, the DPU held Soul Edge as if he were to make a slash.

Obviously, the maddened King saw this, but dismissed it. Its rage dictated that the only thing that mattered was its prey to be within its gullet, digesting in despair at having been killed by it. The beast roared once more, intending on slicing him in two so that he couldn't escape. It once again circled through the water, though with a much more savage movement pattern than it usually would, before once again charging at Crimson Soul.

However... instead of just launching another attack with Soul Edge...

Crimson Soul activated one of it's Skills: DEVIL'S BLESSING, and had it supply him with just enough rage to leave I with 1/4 of its power left. That power went to refuel his Demonic Energy Reserves, which got boosted by his Red Rage Ring... which also boosted his Hellfire's potency, power output, pretty uch everything thanks to that gathered rage. As a result, Crimson Soul Clenched a fist and reared it back instead of attacking with the weakened Soul Edge. He then threw the fist forwards just as the creature got within striking distance, and as his fist flew, a huge, as in HUGE, arm made of black and red Hellfire roared into existence beside him, smashing itself directly into the side of the beast's cranium. The moment it connected, the furious blazing inferno that was the Hellfire attack practically burned a hole on the creature's head, incinerating and charring the beast's hide whilst it struck with enough force to flatten a mountain range.

A loud, prolonged howl of pure rage, pain and agony erupted from the mighty creature's maw thanks to the attack, as it began flipping backwards repeatedly with its balance disrupted. Fortunately for it, this only lasted a couple seconds before it righted itself once again. With its mind restored from all effects under it, including the BLOOD RAGE and SCORCHING AURA, the Evil Spirit Orca King refocused its attention onto its opponent with enough fury to melt an entire continent and evaporate it into a gas. Only, when it did so, the creature saw something which caught it off guard.

Crimson Soul stood with his legs in a crouching position, his right leg in front of his left while his sword arm was reared backwards... with his arm looking like a coiled-up spring.

'Alright... looks like I've managed to increase the number of rotations... to 60...' the black haired DPU thought with a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. His arm had been twisted, twisted and twisted backwards by his own Demonic Energy, sounds of rackling being emitted by the arm to showcase the manipulation of his flesh. Not to mention all the veins which popped onto the arm's surface, his blood vessels only remaining stable and not exploding from the pressure thanks to his energy.

This only happened whenever he used one specific Technique, one which he had learned alongside the Windcutter, Quicksword and others... the Drillsword. 'Heh, it may be interesting to note that this is the first time that I've used this in battle... mostly due to the time it takes to fully preop this technique... being in DPU Form helps though.' Crimson Soul thought... before he had his wings morph into large jet engine thrusters which exploded two streams of flame from them, propelling him forwards with speeds far surpassing said plane model. All the while, his sword arm unwinding rapidly and spinning his sword around like a drill.

For a split second, the Evil Spirit Orca King widened its eyes in absolute ALARM when it saw this attack coming. It had been fairly confident in its ability to resist attacks, something which came from infusing its flesh with its own energies for over 100,000 years. As a result of that, it had one tough as hell hide which was only enforced by its natural toughness. However, the moment it saw that thrusting attack coming its way with the speed behind it, the Orca King almost felt like it coul pierce right through it. Therefore, when it moved to try and stop him...

It had been too late, and Crimson Soul's attack shot right through the creature's mouth, through its innards and out of its Tail.

The moment that the DPU had done this, he disengaged the technique before looking down at his right arm. The male would have winced at the sight the moment he'd seen it if he were in human form, as the arm itself looked like a worn out sex toy in comparison. Veins could be seen everywhere as the arm hung at his side. He could barely feel anything inside of the arm, even as his Demonic Power began to repair it alongside his RC Cells. 'Note to self... this technique should not be used in repetition like the Star God's Broken Shadow.' the DPU thought.

With that in mind, Crimson Soul then turned around to face the results of his efforts, and witnessed how the Orca King now floated lifelessly on its back, looking well and truly defeated. As more proof, its soul which manifested as this colourless light in the shape of a Skull, floated out of its body before Soul Edge greedily sucked it inside itself. Seeing that, the DPU heaved a heavy sigh, knowing for himself that the creature had been felled by the attack. He had originally been aiming for the Fin, then he could have flown into the hole made by the Drillsword then caused an implosion with his Hellfire, destroying the beast from within. He didn't expect it to try and bite him like that. Was it mad? Or...

Well, whatever... the main thing was that Crimson Soul had emerged victorious. That was the main thing here, the DPU thought as he saw the corpse begin to disintegrate into nothingness. His eyes narrowed however, when he noticed something... green, something green and glowing as well as heading towards him at a leisurely pace. 'What the...? Wait... is that...?'

 **'It does appear to be so, Crimson Soul. Interestingly enough, this one appears to be quite powerful, much more than your boar one. Likely as a result of this creature's age.'**

Biko spoke from within his mind as Crimson Soul felt the need to raise his right arm. The moment he did. the green light, something which he then discovered was a sea green, latched onto said arm. The light gradually grew dimmer, until finally Crimson Soul could see the actual shape behind it... revealing it to be a bone. A bone shaped like a hand which attached to his right forearm. Judging from its shape, the DPU figured it came from the Orca King, likely one of its fins if he remembered ths shape of an Orca's skeleton correctly.

Even so, he knew what this was: A Spirit Bone, and a strong one at that.

'Wonder what it does...'

 **'I'll look into it, perhaps you should focus on returning back to Emiya. Though he'll likely have encountered little difficulty considering his combat prowess, we should remain punctual at times like this.'**

Nodding at his Demon Persona's words, the DPU flared his Fin-like wings and made to move, when he fund himself covered in a bright flash.


	174. Cross Chapter 21 - Water Trial 3

**Water Trial 3**

To Castiel, this battle could be described with one word, boring. It was not that the enemies were weak, per say, if anything the fact that they were adapting and growing stronger is reason enough to concern, but the fact of the matter is that he had far too much of a natural advantage over most of them.

Fishmen karate is the primary weapon of them, it was made to control water in the ambient on his surroundings and the water inside the body of the enemy. The problem is that Castiel's body was far from normal.

His body's muscles were compacted and 'forged' to the point that even if someone were to try and control anything of it he could counter it perfectly, not only that but his blood was pure energy and his body was systematically different from any other there is. If anyone were to ask why he had never learned touki despite his gruesome training from young, physical training that would not lose even when compared to Sairaorg Bael, it was because touki would be achieved when someone trained their body beyond the limit of it, but the fact is that Castiel's body was absurd.

It was the perfect mix of the perfect creation of the Christian God and a human, the creature with the highest potential for growth, and considering that both his parents are just that amazing in the physical aspect it could be said that Castiel's body was a temple that would not allow for any half-assed attempt from the Fishmen to control what water there is in his body.

Not only that but Castiel also knew well how Fishmen Karate worked due to studying it during his visit to Poseidon's realm, Atlantis. He just didn't use it due to how he lacked the correct body type for it, to learn Fishmen Karate you must either be a fishmen or have some special bloodline related to a sea creature by some mean, it is the only way really.

Thanks to his knowledge, the knowledge that he had about all different areas from anatomy to magic and special martial arts and occult knowledge from dozens of schools of knowledge with some not even from his own world (he is the godson of Zelretch, that explains a lot really) it could be said that things he truly did not understand at all are fewer than those he understands, and one such matter he knew from studying martial arts of all sorts of schools and the Fishmen Karate was how to avoid all the more dangerous attacks. Right now he decided that he would take this as a chance to sharpen himself, he would use this fight to the express purpose to learn how to better use everything he had.

Thus the situation he was now, using the Blut Vene to harden his body as he jumped around while punching and kicking everything that moved. There was hardly any area of his body that he wasn't using as a weapon or helping the rest, his body was a machine of combat that was improving in the close physical combat area. It was to such a point that he even decided to start using his wings as blades by using reinforcement in them, learning how to maneuver them more properly by the second.

It had to be said that the effects it was creating was shown clearly by how his speed of slaughter was not slowing down even as the enemies grew constantly stronger. If anything it was getting faster and faster, but after a while, he entered a state similar to how he got during the fire trial when he lost counsiousness and simply analyzed his body's movements and how to better use it. He turned into a machine of slaughter that killed over 4000 enemies using only his hands by this point. It was to the point that even when enemies started using magic bullets to attack him he started using mana bursts to throw the bullets of course, but with the passage of time of this happening the mana bursts started getting more and more focused and controlled, it was to the point that he was managing to use mana bursts with each tiny point in his body that could release mana.

He was so lost in this state of fighting and comprehension that he did not even noticed when two more sub bosses appeared. One looked like a giant squid Fishmen and the other looked like a Japanese wobbegong fishmen, both exuded energy of around low Ultimate-Class and were strong in their own right, but as soon as they appeared they happened to be close to where Castiel was moving. His whirling of death was still ongoing and it showed no signs of stopping, even as these two appeared in front of him all they could do was defend themselves as Castiel focused in these two tougher enemies.

As the flurry of attacks continued more and more the two enemies suffered. Their specialties completely ineffective against Castiel since he gave neither of them time to use their skills. It was at this point that the two started eating some red pills, their energy soaring higher and higher as they finally managed t counter the puppet-like Casforcefullycefuly waking him from this state of comprehension.

* * *

"..The fuck? Who is the bitch that interrupted my comprehension? I was one step away to reaching a whole new level, so who is it that disturbed me at this time?" I asked, more irritated than most could understand.

Such special states of comprehension are hard to find, it can only happen by luck and not induced directly by the one that reaches it. I was starting to fully understand my body's current limitations and what I could do, with what I was learning I am sure I would be able to match Madara in hand-to-hand combat directly without depending on reinforcement that much or taking so much of a beating.

But these bastards stopped me just as I was close to the next step of my physical capacity, integrating mana bursts of different elements in my attacks as well as turning my entire body into a determined element much like what True Form works amongst devil-kind.

And just as I was about to reach this, these bastards got in the way? It is decided, they die.

"Huh, did you like my special attack _super surprise stopper_? With this you were forced out of your peak and now will die by the chain of me, Zeo-sama!" the Japanese Wobbegong Fishmen said while spinning a chain over and over again. The material for what I see is demon ore of high quality and purity, meaning that it would be a good ingredient for me to futurely use.

"How dare you ignore us-ch. We are the chosen ones that are destined to bring down you human scums-ch. I will pierce you with the lance of me, Ikaros-ch." The Giant Squid said, each of his arms holding a spear that I could see was made from Ancient Adam Tree, a type of wood that was very good in transmitting magic energy and adding its elasticity and impossibly hardness it made the perfect material for a sword handle or a spear shaft.

Well, at least these two are holding good stuff. It is just a shame that it is not yet in my hands, but that can be solved quickly enough.

As I smirk thinking that Zeo's chain hit the ground strongly, raising a wave of dust that covered both of them. It will not work, idiots! I use my Field to lockdown on everything around me and identify any and all attacks and things in my surroundings.

With my power's growth, I could finally start to show exactly why I spent so long researching and improving this specific technique while growing up. If before the area it covered was relatively small now it covered a 50 meters radius around me, nothing could move inside this that I would not notice as even space movement for teleportation would be noticed instantly. Not only that but thanks to my constant researches about bounded fields, one of the areas of study that I could learn more even after my power stopped growing, it now not only could change the course of any long distance attacks coming my way that are not absurdly too overpowered for me but an also create all sorts of unique attacking effects to my surroundings.

I decided to play with it by changing the area on the border of my field into a microwave hell that made any Fishmen dumb enough to try and get close to exploding inside out due to their blood turning into gas and expanding while inside their bodies. I also started using this limited area to release all the evil energy I could but that would not corrupt or taint the materials I want from my enemies. I smirk as I see the previously smug faces of the Fishmen in front of me curl up in pain and suffering, I take sadistic and guttural pleasure out of it really.

They that previously were acting high and mighty are now curling up in the floor and puking blood. I think that perhaps making my curse power into _plague_ and releasing it in such toxicity may be over exaggerating, but I don't care. They disturbed me on the worse moment possible, they deserve what they get.

Ikaros started launching bullets of spit, all of them strong enough to pierce even 50 centimeters of pure metal as if it was cotton, but they all are subtly redirected to not hit me, instead, piercing and killing a few more of the Fishmen around us.

They then started eating those red pills as if they were candy, it was probably giving them just enough energy to survive and fight in this place as they manage to stand up again, their eyes turning red as Ikaros dashed at me. Neo disappeared from sight but I could 'see' where he is due to my _Field_ activated, stealth that was not at least of Serenity's level was just as useless as it could be. Ignoring Neo that is currently trying to circulate me Ifocused on Ikarus.

The Giant Squid Fishmen used his six arms and six spears in tandem, he was controlling all of them with considerable skill and I could see that he was manipulating the water around the weapon and inside its tip (that coincidently looked like a squid but was full of very dense water energy and water) to make the weapon's cutting-edge stronger and increase the viscosity of the air to make my movements harder.

Tough luck, I trained in underwater in extremely strong pressures growing up too, this level is FAR from enough to faze me at all. Ah, fighting these Fishmen makes me think back to the time when I was younger and practiced with Poseidon's kid Fishmen karate, I was truly desperate to get stronger by any means and even if it did not work in the slightest it still was a great practice to make my body much more accostumed to deal with pressure.

I started avoiding his movements as I saw that his body was starting to look black and purple in the corners, a clear indication that the curse power is damaging his whole body by now and that unless I myself act he will die regardless of what happened within a few minutes. If he had ran away from my _Field_ he could have avoided that, but I can see the anger in his eyes. He would not back down, and as such is destined to fall.

"Gotcha!" Zeo said as he threw the chain at my head directly, the speed and angle are perfect and it would be enough to kill anyone at my power level.

Well, anyone except me really. I simply took out Hruting and blocked the 'perfect strike' as I was already watching out for it. As I heard a good CLANK sound of impact I smirked as I pointed to Zeo and modified the area around him to lock down space, it was not so strong of a seal but it was more than enough as I focused a whole lot more evil energy upon him.

Ikaros stopped attacking as he saw his friend be covered in a jet black viscous and evil cloud, and as if it was acid his body melted away to nothing as _decay_ took effect on him. Honestly speaking my cursed and evil energy limits me a great deal, when I use it fully most of my angelic and holy powers are impossible to be used and I can't use the Vermilion Bird's flames since they are the highest level of purifying and divine flames, it is completely not possible to use them in tandem. It also makes my head heavier and I have to put up actual work in not letting my mind be flooded with evil energy or risk becoming a mindless beast, but while this all is true there is still a simple fact that can't be overlooked.

My evil energy is simply too OP. I can, just by existing in a place, damage everyone around me so much that no life can exist except my own. Create plagues, voodoo incantations, controlling man-eating insects, instigating dark emotions on others to make them commit terrible acts if I so desire, it is a power that could be classified as an anti-world level. And looking at this once lively enemy turning to dust just like that without being able to counter, it put on the whole definition of what I could achieve in need of serious evaluation.

I can't use it on a big area like this, if I was back in my dimension and something goes wrong I could end up destroying entire countries or continents if my control slipped for just a second. What I need is to focus it inside and around my body, it is similar to what True Form is but at the same time different since I will not try to change myself.

Well, at least Ikaros is already close to death enough since his body's blackening is close to completion. He only turns to glare at me, his hatred is still going strong so I decided to try something unique.

My left arm spirit bone can devour anything in existence while my evil core is a magnet to evil energy like none other, thinking that I decided to test to see how it would be as I moved closer to Ikaros. He was already kneeling on the ground since he could no longer support himself and the only thing moving him is his hatred for me and everything else.

I will devour it.

Avoiding a painfully slow jab with his spear I put my left hand in his head. A suction power started pumping and I could feel all his personal hatred and evil emotions being devoured away, all to be turned into energy that was promptly devoured by my evil core. I could see why he was so furious to the world, but only slightly. It was like he himself did not understand the reason WHY he was furious towards humans, like he could not understand why things were this way just that they were. And boy does he hates and curses humanity, his whole reason for being is this, he is nothing but an incarnation of anger by now and even his few good memories are surrounded by the anger. I took all of it away, he died almost as if he could not remember a thing since I took away all his dark thoughts, but a peaceful smile graced his face as if he was having a good dream before falling to the ground and leaving behind his spears that I promptly took away the evil energy of and guarded with me.

And just look at that, mister emo finally came back.

* * *

After recovering from the flash. Crimson Soul reverted back to his human form, becoming Nico once again. According to his senses, his Demonic Energy reserves weren't at their optimum efficiency, and right now what remains of the power in his Satanic Treasures were focusing on restoring it back to its optimum quantity. During that time, he'll take care not to transform till he was more or less recovered, as any sooner and he'd likely be unable to fight to his fullest potential.

The teenage DPU opened his eyes moments later, finding himself back inside the main water trial area. 'Whew, looks like we're back...' The teen mused inside his mind, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. That little side trip had been rather... trippy (he wanted to kill himself for that pun) for sure. Suddenly finding himself fighting a flock of superpowered Orcas with a much larger boss monster... it made him think back to some of the Abnormals he fought back home.

Just then, the male frowned as his senses picked up a large exertion of evil, sinister energy. He quickly picked it up as Castiel's energy, which caused him to wince as he realized that, thanks to his senses the energy had been released onto a large space similar to what had happened in the second trial. 'This energy Castiel has can be qualified as OP as all hell...' the male mused to himself, glancing towards the direction of said energy and noticing the corpse of some Squid Fishman. Poor bastard probably never stood a chance.

 **'Indeed, however you may want to look at your right arm again, Nico. There's a surprise for you there.'**

'Huh?'

His thoughts got broken like a record suddenly screeching to a halt, when he heard that. Bikos's words made the male's eyebrows arch together in curiosity, prompting him to look down while not noticing how there were a group of Fishmen who, instead of trying to take out the wall that was Castiel Emiya, decided to choose him instead. Not really a better option considering how many other Fishmen met their ends at his hands, but meh.

When he looked at his right arm, Nico found himself widening his eyes in surprise when he saw the sea green, glowing Spirit Bone he had gotten from that Evil Spirit Orca King still latched onto his forearm, covering his Bracer. 'Huh... and here I thought these Spirit Bones would be limited to my human form...' the male thought. 'Guess not, then. Interesting...' At that point, had been the point when he noticed his incoming aggressors, and a sigh escaped his lips. "#SIGH#, and I just HAD to get a welcoming committee..." the male muttered under his breath. Raising his right arm, Nico summoned Rebellion and twirled around into a slash.

Now, here's the thing. When Nico made the slash as the Fishmen jumped at him, the male didn't think anything of it. Instead, he focused more on what he would have to do next, such as how to maximise his use of Hellfire despite the limitations. That battle had taught him that his previous training and methods would have to be much more... creative. Hellfire WAS supposed to be very aggressive and chaotic in nature, so Nico never really used it very much and instead relied on his Devil Arms. Even when he kept up training in it throughout these trials. If anything, when the slash was launched, Nico had imbued Rebellion's blade with his orangish red Hellfire as a means of increasing its offensive power along with its HF Technology.

Thing was... he forgot one thing.

That he STILL had that right arm Spirit Bone, the Evil Orca Spirit Bone, still summoned, which prompted it to activate.

In a second, a crimson energy got released from the Spirit bone, condensing around the blade of Rebellion as it slashed. It practically took over the Hellfire there, extinguishing it and becoming the dominant energy surrounding the blade itself. As a result, from its blade erupted a blade made from highly condensed, crimson energy that launched at the Fishmen faster than a bullet train. In a second or two, it reached the very end of the Water Trial Arena, cutting through the attacking Fishman as well as anything else unlucky enough to be in its path.

"WH-WHOA!" Nico shrieked in a startled manner, his eyes bugging out while he stumbled backwards, completely caught by surprise at what had happened. The moment that energy blade came out of Rebellion, he quickly recalled a similar blade of matching power and speed from that Evil Spirit Orca King he had defeated. Though he held no fond memories of it, the fact that he had just sent one out like that baffled him like all hell. 'Okay, WHAT was that?' he wondered, glancing down at the Spirit Bone on his Right Arm in curiosity and shock. 'Looks like this Spirit Bone has some power to it...'

 **'From what I can tell, this Spirit Bone surpasses that of the Fatalis and the Boar Spirit Bones by a wide margin. This one came from that Orca King, which according to my senses, has energy reserves and quality of a being which had lived for over 150,000 years. That attack just now is simply ONE of its abilities, the ability to compress the air or water around it into a crimson energy then fire it as a blade. Small or large depends on yourself. I sense that it has another ability, one which was used on us a fair number of times when we were fighting that creature's minions, but I must look into it further myself for confirmation. Perhaps you should refine this current ability first while I investigate, we're getting more guests.'**

Right on cue, Nico sensed Fishmen coming from all around him, each of them wanting to get revenge for their fallen comrades. Over several dozen water attacks got aimed and launched at him, causing Nico to frown. The moment he saw them coming, Nico decided to... test out, this new Spirit Bone's ability by gripping Rebellion's hilt... and then launching a Quicksword attack whilst coating it in that pure energy the Spirit Bone created. As a result... several smaller versions of those crimson energy blades, but no less powerful or fast, erupted in all directions.

As a result, deeper into the battle Nico found himself utilizing this Spirit Bone in a multitude of different ways, such as combing it with his various Sword Techniques like the Quicksword, Vipersword and Windcutter. The Spirit Bone almost seemed to take great pleasure in those, and whenever he combined It with his SP Skills such as PHANTOPM EDGE or PHANTOM WAVE, heck any of those Skills, he noticed how they got a considerable boost which put them on par with his Demon-based powers. He even combined it with his Kagune itself, getting his Tentacles and Tails to launch thousands upon THOUSANDS of differently sized crimson blades that very few could avoid.

Nico, through the use of one Spirit Bone, practically became a whirlwind of death and destruction.

Meanwhile, Castiel saw this happening and noticed Nico's new spirit bone, a very complete one and OFFENSIVE one at that, so yeah, he was not annoyed by this. He was NOT annoyed by the fact that while he was fighting here for the two of them the guy managed to get an offensive type Spirit Bone, something that Castiel doesn't have as all his bones are mostly passive in nature and don't help directly in a fight at all.

Nope, that was not true, and to prove that it was SSOOOO not true he did the mature thing and sat in the ground while letting the dark and evil energy surrounding him expand to cover a bigger area with the curse of _depression_. He noticed how when he himself feels a dark feeling and uses a corresponding emotion the curse generated gets a considerable boost, but the fact that the curse around him was extra strong was just a pure and simple accident.

* * *

And so, both continued their genocide. Castiel kept using his cursed and evil energy all around him to weaken his opponents and eventually ill them, whilst Nico himself kept unleashing his Spirit Bone's offensive abilities, combining them with his sword techniques and other Skills. as a result, the thousands of Fishmen who remained even after the onslaughts of the previous hours, got reduced to only about 2000. Not like either of the two noticed since they were so caught up in their own activities. It was funny how two people who normally would be civil could become so demonic-like and fall into killing so easily.

After this continued for more half an hour there was only ten minutes before the bubble fully exploded and they were submerged in the water, but there was only around one hundred or so enemies now for them to face. The problem is that EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. was very strong, in like they would be mid Ultimate-class or high Ultimate-class (close to Spec-ops level).

On Nico's end...

 **'Nico, look behind us. We have some new opponents.'**

'Huh?' the teen thought, momentarily pausing in his killing spree to turn and look towards his rear. That was when his gaze set themselves upon 2 Fishmen approaching him with... some mildly intriguing auras around them. He'd say mildly intriguing, but the moment that he saw them, the teen quickly realized they were like those other sub bosses he'd faced, like the giant, that burrowing one and those ones Castiel's been killing left and right.

The first one looked to be a... tall looking individual with beige-colored skin, a rather slim build, and lanky limbs. What caught Nico's attention about him was the fact that he had four legs, though, making him wonder if he could use them to quickly make sharp turns on the move of a dime. The Fishman had a short, scraggly goatee, a long and wavy mustache with spiky edges, with similarly, long, wavy and spiky black hair. He also had some sharp teeth, though Nico had seen sharper on some of the Demons he'd faced. There were also bigger webs between his fingers than the previous fishmen Nico had mercilessly butchered, a very thin, pointy nose and a prominent hunch that put his head on equal level with his shoulders.

For attire, he wore three golden bands on each of his ankles, and two pairs of sandals. He sported green overalls reaching just below his knees, with ruffled edges and decorative buttons on both the straps, over a white shirt with ruffled edges. He also sported a yellow cape, also complete with ruffled edges, draped over his shoulders, and two massive beaded necklaces hanging on his chest. He had a yellow fedora with a purple band on his head, whilst his right hand was concealed by a crimson glove.

As for the second one... this one looked more threatening in Nico's opinion. Not really by appearance, but by demeanour. This one looked like a professional killer, unlike the other one who looked more like a buffoon than anything. Though, Nico wouldn't be underestimating him for that. This guy, though, took the form of an octopus merman, one which had six massive orange octopus tentacles in place of legs with large motifs vaguely reminiscent of eyes on them, making eight limbs with his two arms. He had a... somewhat standard, slim pink upper body and two human arms, with black medium-length hair in dreadlocks. The guy moved with this sleepy look on his face, though Nico looked and saw that was just an act to lead his opponents to let their guard down, though the large mouth that he had on his face definitely made him twitch a brow.

In regards to his clothing, the guy had a toothpick in his mouth, whilst he wore a blue unbuttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up, an untied tie hanging around his neck over his chest, and a jacket which is draped over his shoulders like a cape. His left arm looked to be pulled through from his shirt and, in his hand, Nico could see him holding a katana that lacked any sort of guard, sheathed in a sheath covered in elongated spot motifs. On the guy's left side, Nico could see a small gourd being strapped to his person there, likely to drink something from. Though, why he would carry something like that into a battlefield where someone could EASILY just shoot it to pieces was beyond him.

'So... looks like these two want to kill me...' Nico thought to himself as he fully faced them, holding Rebellion in a guarded position whilst his Kagune retracted into him (not before putting his Mask back on though), his Spirit Bone remaining however. His Kakugan also stayed active despite his Ghoul side not being used now, though as he focused on these two adversaries, Nico got the impression that the octopus one would be more of a challenge. "I'm guessing you two are some kind o officers or something?" Nico questioned, his voice deepened thanks to his Mask.

"Bahohohohohohohoho!" The one with the four legs exclaimed in laughter (though Nico nearly shuddered at the tick that came with that laughter). "So, this is one of those damned humans who has been giving us Fishmen so much trouble!" The man yelled whilst rummaging behind him... and pulling out a pair of large battleaxes the size of the guy's own torso. "Well, my master wants you to be taken down a notch, human! You should know your place beneath us, and I shall shove it down your throat!" Just after Nico heard him say that (although the teen nearly rolled his eyes at it) the guy... started to swoon like a lovesick fool. "Ohhh! The I can get back to wedding my beloved Ohhh! Shirahoshi, my darling You and I are fated-!"

BONK!

"Cut the nose, Decken." The one with the Octopus Tentacles stated gruffly, yet with an undertone of anger and exasperation to go with it. Apparently, he had used one of his Octopus legs to swat the guy upside the back of his head, nearly knocking off his Fedora hat in the process. Aiming a disdainful look towards the other Fishman, the man continued. "Keep yammering on about your 'obsession' and I'll make sure you won'; have your tongue anymore. It'd do the world a favour at least, probably as much as our conquest over the humans." After that, the one known as Decken, albeit begrudgingly (whilst fondling his own gloved hand as if it were a piece of fur on a cat's back), calmed down, and thus the octopus Fishman turned towards Nico. "So, yer the guy, eh? The one the boss wants to make an example of? Can't say you look like much..." he stated, before noticing the sword in Nico's hands. "Oh? But you DO have a mighty fine sword on you... maybe I'll take it from your cold, dead hands when this is over."

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

… Oh, he did NOT just say that.

'This... MOTHERFUCKER...!'

The moment that Nico heard those words, the teen's hidden features turned into that of someone about to explode from sheer rage. Hell, one could tell that he looked freaking LIVID just from looking at his sole uncovered eye. He almost exploded like a nuclear warhead hitting its target right then and there, but just barely managed to control himself. How Dare he... how DARE he treat Rebellion like it was just another weapon! Acting so confident that he'd win before the battle even started.. that Fishman had just earned him one hell of a slaughtering by Nico's hands. He'd show that fucker no mercy, none!

Hell, hearing those words pissed Rebellion off as well, judging by the feelings he got from it. Even if Nico was the only one to know that Devil Arms only obey those they see worthy, and would kill those who don't measure up to their standards, hearing him say things like that about his sword really grinded Nico's gears.

With fury seeping from his words, Nico let a growl escape his mouth, his Mask deepening it as he snared at his opponent. Gripping Rebelion's hilt, Nico covered it in a spiralling mass of Hellfire, before condensing it further and further till the blade itself resembled that of a Khornate Hellblade. This was something he had been trying out during his slaughter, condensing his Hellfire into a solid shape was good enough, but doing that around another shape served to amplify both shapes even further. He'd say that at its current state, the Hellfire he was using would be at the same level as his true Hellfire in DPU Form. "Well then, if you think you can beat me, then come the fuck on then, no need for any speech bullshit!" Nico yelled out in rage. 'That fucker's gonna pay for insulting Rebellion like that!'

"Hoh? Confident in our sword skills, are we...?" The Octopus Fishman remarked with a cocky sneer, his previous lazy demeanour slipping away like flesh being peeled off one's face. All the while, he held his Katana in a quick-draw like stance as the one called Decken readied his Axes. "Well, you may address your killer as Hyouzou, the strongest fishman swordsman! And as a fellow swordsman, how can I not oblige your challenge?!"

In that moment, both Decken and Hyouzou broke into their own sprints and charged at Nico, who responded by charging back with just as much force.

* * *

Castiel POV

As Nico found two sub-bosses I turned, maybe he needs my help dealing with them. Especially that swordsman, a fishmen like that is quite troublesome to deal with since it is from a species that can produce a poison that can bypass any purely biological defense. After all, it is no so much a poison as it is a existence known as lust poison, the one who is touched by it needs to copulate with a female within three hours or his body melts from inside out.

It is nasty stuff, that is for sure.

But, just as I thought that, a sudden attack came for my back, directly from a 'blind spot' that could have killed me had I not been using my _Field_ as a means of detection. Jumping to the side I managed to avoid the worse as the speed of the projectile was too fast for me to properly defend.

Looking at the projectile it was a water construct in the form of a shark, it pierced the ground and went for more than twenty meters in extremely solid rock.

"Hehehe, to think that a human would dodge that. I would congratulate you if the mere sight of you did not make me sick." A raspy voice said from a distance away. Turning to it I saw a big Fishmen.

He is a grey-skinned great white shark fish-man. He had a large belly, with a tattoo of the New Fish-Man Pirates design on the right side as well as a long scar on the left, and muscular arms and legs. His facial features include glaring eyes, with long and distinctive eyelashes, a mouth full of sharp, triangular teeth, and a stub nose. He had long black curly hair, with a long tuft hanging on the left part of his face. His left arm is intricately tattooed with the design of a shark in it he also has some spikes protruding from his bare wrist and circling it all, possibly decorative piercings.

He sported a pink newsboy cap, with a little trident represented on the left side, and a massive scarf seemingly made from a dog-like animal around his neck, with the animal's head hanging on the left side of his chest. He was wearing a red open shirt with short sleeves, a wide collar and dark-red spots on the lower part, short blue trousers with a similar pattern but with light-blue spots, a pink sash tied around the waist, and sandals.

Overall, he seemed like the type that was closer to a hooligan that would cause more trouble than not on my eyes. But, this is not the most striking characteristic of his, no the true key characteristic is his hatred.

Since the formation of my evil core, I could sense dark emotions with some clarity, and his feelings are so concentrated and repugnant that I almost feel like vomiting just by sensing it. How can anyone live carrying this much hatred in his heart?

I would have long either killed myself or tried to kill whoever is my target even if I had to die in the way if I was in his shoes.

"Who are you?" I asked, my tone serious since I identify this incarnation of anger and hate as someone worthy of being my enemy. I am not looking down on this thing at all, we both look at each other as if predators looking for the chance to bite and rip the throats of those we consider the enemy.

"My name? Normally I would not give it to someone with your filthy blood, but I am in a good mood since today we finally got some guests after being captured by that old monster so I will tell you. My name is Jones, Hody Jones the captain and leader of the New-Fishmen Pirates and the one who will kill you!" He said, confidence in his voice as well as some degree of boredom, like he finds talking to me as something boring.

"Tough chance, shark bait." I said before using a mana burst and clashing with him directly.

He used his trident to block my strike with Clarent. Looking at the Trident I felt a chill running down my back as I identified what exactly this weapon is.

The trident of Poseidon. It is a weapon that if I were to compare is way above anything either me or Nico has in store. It allows the user to completely dominate the ocean's energy. Create waves, walls of water, water dragons, control and do whatever he so desires using the water around or even creating water, while also making the user much stronger as it can grant the entire energy of the ocean to the user himself.

If before using it the user has a strength of 10 when using the spear he becomes 10 thousand. I don't know how but this weapon is the real deal, I can discount this into my 'it is Zelretch's fault' archive as he is giving me one hell of a fight alright.

But despite that I could only smirk to myself, somehow I feel like this fight, fighting against an enemy of my size (almost) and having to be careful as I might lose at any time is what I need.

Only under pressure can I grow stronger. And I will become strong enough to make any idiot that might try to do anything against those I care for, my world is far too dangerous and the Tower's political position is getting complicated because of me. Unless I get strong enough I will be just a trouble for others, and I will not let this happen!

I am the Tower's heir, how could I ever let it comes to danger?

* * *

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! CLANG! CLANG! CRASH! BASH!

'Shit!'

Falling towards the ground, Nico cursed himself at the surprising speed displayed by the Fishman. The beginning of the battle him, Decken and Hyouzou had went like this. Him and the octopus Fishmen colliding rapidly in a bout of Rebellion vs that nameless Katana. Although despite it being nameless, Nico didn't think it would be a weak weapon, the fight against Okada taught him the mistake of thinking that way. Still, it felt like the guy had been holding back during those clashes, and Nico always trusted his gut.

Turned out that was what saved him, since this fucker proved himself to be one crafty son of a bitch. He had caught feinted slashing at him in favour of slamming a Tentacle into Nico's chest, something which he had managed to block with Rebellion in time but still got sent flying backwards. It looked like even with his guard up, that guy had enough power to send him flying.

'Fishman must have good physical ability, I see... if they were in my world, their abilities would let them be quite remarkable amongst the many Abnormals infesting Gamindustri...' Nico thought as his descent neared its conclusion. The male took the time to notice that his Kagune had receded into him from the moment that they had been sent flying, too, something which he figured be best. After all, launching it as a surprise attack could be quite the strategy.

Unwilling to crash though, Nico set about to save himself from that fate and quickly threw an Armoured hand out to slam it into the ground, pushing himself back into the air, flipping backwards several times before landing on a crouch. Because of the motions he had been in though, Nico had to slide to a halt for more than 8 meters. 'Okay, that was one fat strike. Looks like this guy has the speed department down pat...' the male couldn't help but think to himself as he finally halted.

Although, it wasn't ANYTHING compared to the speed Okada Izou held the last time they fought back at Halo Mountain, that guy felt like he could slaughter all these 100,000 Fishmen in a single night without taking that much damage. Probably even while drunk, too, knowing what little he did about him.

The very instant that he stopped his movement, a curse escaped his lips as the male had to quickly apply his Star Gods Broken Shadow technique to avoid a slash made by Hyouzou. An attack which had been launched without the owner ceasing his movement. seeing as how his 'target' had evaded his preemptive strike, the Fishman smirked in mild intrigue. 'Hmmm, so this human has some speed to him...' he thought, reappearing behind Hyouzou with the intent to decapitate him with his Hellfire-enhanced Rebellion.

However, before he could actually DO that, decapitate the guy or anything, Nico noticed how the man ducked beneath Rebellion's blade, causing him to miss his target. But, if that was not enough for the annoyed teen, his lone eye widened when he noticed a flying Battleaxe, spinning faster than a car wheel at full speed, heading towards... his own head. 'Oh shit!' the teen cursed, ducking underneath it just a SECOND before it could chop his head off. He only had a second to do so, exactly, any more and his head may have been decapitated (he got a feeling that like the Katana, the Battleaxe had the capacity to pierce through his Ghoul enhanced flesh).

'What the hell? Where did... oh yeah, I forgot about that other guy...' the redhead thought to himself as he flipped back several times to get some distance between him had Hyouzou. So far, Decken hadn't been taking much of a part in the battle the three were having, he mostly stayed on the side-lines like a vulture waiting for the corpse of his next victim to appear. The guy didn't do much save for observe and cackle deviously, his eyes shining with the insanity and psychotic glee building within them. Thus, Nico would deal with him now, so that Fishman wouldn't become any more of a problem, or an annoyance since so far Nico saw Decken as less skilled as Hyouzou.

It wasn't long before Nico locked gazes with the said Fishman, who made his signature laugher whilst jovially crossing his arms over his chest with each of his hands holding two fingers in a 'victory' sign, making the male twitch his brow. The guy literally had no sense of awareness, or any sense of danger, he simply acted more like a clown than an actual warrior. And it pissed the teen off greatly. "And WHAT is your reason for waving at me like that?" the male questioned with his sole Kakugan eye narrowing darkly.

Again Decken just laughed his signature laugh, keeping his arms in their crossed position. His mouth twisted into a grin, one which caused no small amount of annoyance in the teen as he responded to the question. "Bahohohohoho! Oh, its noting much, just that my dear, sweet innocent beloved is getting closer and closer to my grasp...Not like you would ever need to understand my love!" he replied, before Nico sensed danger behind him and reflexively ducked. Once again, the male avoided death by a hair when he saw the Battleaxe spinning overhead, and when he looked up, the sight of it curving back towards him like a boomerang met his surprised gaze.

'What the? Is this thing like a homing missile or something?' the male wondered, frowning as he quickly swung Rebellion and deflected the weapon away from him. If dodging it wasn't going to solve the issue, then perhaps deflecting would help. After all, blocking wasn't an option since the blade spun too fast and the momentum was nothing to scoff at. If Nico were to try and block it, the teen didn't doubt that the combined momentum would take a heavy toll on his defences, leaving him open for attack for Hyouzou who was currently circling around him, awaiting a possible opening. However, that wouldn't help much, as the Battleaxe simply curved around to strike at him again.

Just after Nico once again deflected the Battleaxe, Nico felt a strong killing intent coming his way, quickly making him react. He reacted by using his Star God's Broken Shadow to avoid a surprise attack by Hyouzou. The male reappeared by Decken's side, with a reverse slash already launched towards his neck for a quick decapitation. Nico scowled behind his Mask though, when suddenly Decken stomped his right pair of legs and tilted himself so his left legs could be raised, and from his sandals several blades slid out, much like the hidden blades on his Armour.

With those Hidden Blades, Decken swiftly blocked Rebellion's blade. Nico's lone eye widened at that, before he quickly jumped back to avoid that spinning Battleaxe, quickly deploying his Armour whilst Decken cackled in amusement. "bahohohoho! Sorry not sorry human, but that Battleaxe won't stop till it goes into that wretched heart of yours! That's my power for ya!" he exclaimed boisterously, continuing his laughing spree.

"Bahohohohohohoho! Since you so LOVE my Battleaxe's love..." the insane Fishman proclaimed, giggling whilst reaching behind him... and pulled out several more Axes, these ones slightly smaller but still large in their own right. "How about you have a whole harem to choose from? A lovely harem you'll likely DIE FOR!" he yelled, quickly preceding to hurl them with his non-covered hand at Nico.

As a result, the teen had to exercise each and every one of his evasion skills, practically abuse the movement skill he had obtained, as well as keep his senses sharper than ever to avoid being turned into a shish kabab. Some of the weapons showed that they could cut through his restorative Armour with ease like when an Axe sliced though a portion of Nico's helmet, and whilst it reformed, the redhead realized that these weapons would be DEADLY if he were to allow them to hit him.

His regen could take care of any wounds he sustained, but again he didn't like relying on such a thing. Its there when he needed it, but that was it. 'Tch, this guy's SERIOUSLY beginning to get on my nerves!' the redhead teen roared within his mind. Now, he regretted not going after Decken first, feeling like he had underestimated him because of his lack of any visual fighting prowess.

In response to Nico's actions, Hyouzou simply chuckled as he vanished into thin air in a burst of speed. Thus, not only did he avoid Nico's attack, but he pretty much escaped Nico's visual perception, to the redhead male's surprise.' 'Fast!' the male only had time to think before he ducked, just barely avoiding a strike which would have cut his head off. He could feel how the Katana nicked one of his Armour's horns, proving to him that it could cut through his defences should it be allowed to. The moment that Hyouzou appeared before him again, this time aiming to slit his throat, Nico raised the infernal Rebellion and blocked the attack, plating his feet into the ground and ensuring the two of them enter a deadlock together.

Sparks flew between their weapons, and Nico quickly noticed how Decken kept circling around him, pulling out more and more weapons from seemingly out of nowhere to hurl at him, all with that same uncovered hand. He had to rely on the release of his Rinkaku to deflect them all, eventually, its invisibility and high speeds proving to be damn invaluable in defending himself. Looking back towards the smug grin on Hyouzou's face, Nico mentally scowled, feeling like he wanted to rip that look right off his damned face.

'Jesus Christ, I already want to stab Rebellion through him...' the male thought to himself in irritation. He'd dealt with people like this guy before without much issue, yet how was it that this Fishman's smirk irritated him more than they ever could? Several moments later, both broke away, jumping back about 3 meters to avoid several flying Axes...

Before dashing towards one another again and entering a festival of slashes, slashes that practically left afterimages of each other. All the while, they deflected or evaded the flying weapons launched by Decken.

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!

They went, some slashes giving ground to each other whilst others took that ground away. Not only that, but throughout the slash fest one could see human sized explosions of fire and ash, which originated from various Hellfire attacks made by the redhead's Rebellion as it flailed about like a furious beast on a warpath. Its oppressive and tyrannical form constantly hammered away against the much smaller katana with extreme force, empowered by multiple different factors. The blade's aura and Hellfire coat constantly shifted as Nico repeatedly hammered away against his opponent, careful not to let any of the flying Axes hit him (although a few times he failed to avoid an attack and thus paid for it with some parts of his Armour. He'd been fortunate enough in that to be the extent of the damage though).

Still, even in this situation, part of him couldn't help but analyse and evaluate this ability that Decken possessed. It seemed that he had somewhat of an ability to hurl objects at his opponent, but enhance them so that they always hit their mark. For example, if he wanted to hit someone, then he would just have to throw a weapon and no mater how many times the person dodged it, that weapon would ALWAYS find its target, like a seeker missile locating its target through heat signatures.

It also didn't escape his notice how Decken had thrown these Axes at him using only his uncovered hand, which meant that there was some sort of limitation to this power, probably that his 'targets' had to be touched with one hand in order for the ability to work, and the thrown objects have to be thrown by that same hand. Nico wasn't sure on why he kept the other hand covered by that glove of his, but if he were to guess, then he'd say that it had something to do with this 'Shirahoshi' character this guy seemed to be obsessed over.

In essence, this ability could seriously be useful for those who have lots of weapons in their arsenal, since throwing them would guarantee them hitting their intended target.

Didn't make dealing with it on the receiving end any less annoying though!

'At this rate, if things don't change soon I may find myself in a spot of bother which Castiel might come in and pull me out... not going to happen! The humiliation would be immense!'

 **'Nico, quick, activate your Orca King Spirit Bone's other ability! Trust me, it'll help!'**

Just as the male felt like things would go even further south, some timely intervention from Biko served to make him pause... which seemed to not be a good idea considering all the weapons coming at him from all directions. Curtesy of Decken, of course. He could have just used the Star God's Broken Shadow to avoid them all, but the interruption by his Demon Persona alerted him to a little something: he still had his Orca King Spirit Bone out. A weapon he hadn't used at all during this entire bout. Unintentional rhyming aside, Nico mentally smacked himself upside the head for forgetting a bout it, and as the weapons closed in... Nico quickly held his right arm out and had the Spirit Bone activate its other ability.

The effects became known instantaneously.

?!"

Decken gaped at him like a fish (ironic, huh?) when he, along with Hyouzou, saw how every weapon in the air became frozen in place, a faint crimson energy wave being released from the Spirit Bone which pretty much froze them all in motion. "Huh!? Wha?! What the hell's going on?! Is my power not working anymore?!" Decken shouted in dismay, looking down at his hands before trying to make the weapons move himself by waving them around. However, much to his dismay, it didn't work at all. "What's going on here?!"

Hyouzou on the other hand, narrowed his eyes when he noticed the Spirit Bone, remembering what it had done BEFORE the weapons started moving. "I bet... that thing has something to do with it..." he muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, Nico himself lowered his arm and looked upon the Spirit Bone with intrigue shining in his eyes. "Well, I'll be... what the hell is this? I just felt something erupt from this Spirit Bone just now... Some kind of locking ability or something, like my Boar Spirit Bone?" he muttered as well, shifting his arm about so he could look the Spirit Bone over from multiple angles.

 **'No, Nico. It would be an affront to the Spirit Bone to compare it to something weaker than itself. This Ability wasn't used much on us during our battle with it, but the Evil Spirit Orca King DID have the ability to manipulate the space around it in a limited manner. By limited, I mean it could lock multiple opponents into one place, leaving them unable to attack or defend themselves for future attacks. Or, it can lock the 'space' of a set area around itself, effectively immobilising everything within that radius. Hmm... If I were to guess, right now I'd say that the Spirit Bone's maximum coverage would be up to 15 meters all around us, anything within that space will not be able to move. Its what immobilized all those weapons.'**

'Huh, I see... in any case, this is one hell of a reward we got Biko.' the redhead Spec Ops Agent mused to his Demon Persona, awe clouding his thoughts. Hearing Biko's words made him instantly fall in love with this thing, already Nico could imagine the sort of uses this Spirit Bone could have for him on the battlefield, the possibilities nearly making him grin so wide that the slenderman would become terrified by it... beneath his Armoured Helmet of course. 'I'd say it was WELL worth the unplanned swim we made just to get this bad boy.'

Putting those thoughts aside, Nico glanced at the area around him affected by his Spirit Bone's area of influence, before he lit a Fireball of Hellfire in his free hand and threw it to the ground. The moment it hit the solid earth, the Hellfire ball instantaneously roared to life, becoming a massive expanding wave which concealed both the user as well as the weapons. It vanished seconds later, but when it did only Nico seemed to have been unharmed, as for the weapons... well, lets just say there was nothing left of them. 'There, now those things will not be as much trouble...' he thought, before glaring heatedly at Decken. 'Time for that guy to be eliminated before any more weapons can be launched!'

Immediately, Nico vanished via Warping, catching both Fishmen by surprise since he hadn't used it in their bout until now, and appeared right behind the four-legged Fishman. Decken, sensing that there was danger behind him, swiftly turned with his quad-like legs to try and deal with the threat, only for all his mobility to be halted. The culprit, Nico's right arm Spirit Bone, briefly glowed when this happened, and Nico swiftly finished the Fishman off by slicing him into several pieces with Rebellion, having unleashed a Quicksword attack at close range.

Poor bastard never stood a chance.

'Phew, now that that Fishman's dead...' Nico thought after pulling his sword back into a defensive stance, before getting into position to face off against Hyouzou, who slowly approached him with his Katana at the ready. "Now, to deal with you, fuckface..."

At this, Hyouzou gave off a sick, evil cackle as he examined the infernal sword which had been holding out against his sword skills. His eyes shined with contemplation when doing this as he gave his opinion on their bout so far. "Well I'll be, looks like you DO have some tricks up your sleeve after all. Few would have executed those movements as well as you di under that kind of pressure." the Fishman commented, before shrugging his shoulders. "Alright, I will admit that you're not terrible at swordsmanship. Our fighting so far, when that buffoon wasn't using is weapons to interrupt us, shows you're at least somewhat trained to handle a blade. But your style lacks the refinement of a master swordsman." he stated, something Nico didn't visibly react to since he knew it was the truth thanks to his battle with a certain Manslayer. Compared to back then, he felt like his swordplay had improved somewhat, but he wasn't exactly sure until this battle.

"Still, I'll give you credit where credit is due noise-maker. Your skills aren't bad and you've lasted this long against me, despite my so-called 'support'." Whilst speaking about that, Hyouzou reached into his pocket... and pulled out a handful of red and white candy. The moment that Nico saw that Candy however, the redhead quickly got a bad feeling, like something real bad would happen to him should he let this Fishman eat that candy. Yet, before he could do anything, the Fishman pushed him backwards and broke the deadlock, before wolfing down all the candy pieces at once. "But now I think I'll FINISH THIS WITH A BIT OF A BOOST FROM MY ENERGY STEROIDS!"

'S-STEROIDS?!' Nico shrieked in his mind, shock and fear spreading through him as he held Rebellion defensively and had his Rinkaku go into an equal defensive position. 'Shit, is he for fucking real?! Steroids may give you a boost in power sure, but there are side effects afterwards! Doesn't he know that?!' Even as he thought that however, something told him this guy would be crazy enough to not care about any of that shit.

Something which got proven correct in the next few seconds.

At once, the changes began to take effect, for his body underwent a rather... mild transformation. At least, in comparison to the transformations Nico had seen in the past. The guy's black hair, swiftly turned into a white colour whilst swaying like grass being blown by the wind. His skin color turned from a pale pinkish tint, to a deep crimson red with veins pulsing throughout his body. His body also bulked up till it was twice as large as before, whilst the sclera his eyes had turned from pure white into a sinister, glowing red. Not only that, but his eyes lost their grip on sanity as they gleamed menacingly towards Nico, only bloodlust and the desire to maim, slaughter and rend remaining.

 **'Tch, this is not good, it looks like he's completely lost it. Those drugs seem to have the side effect of eroding away his higher brain functions. This situation is getting worse, Nico.'**

'Yeah, tell me something I don't know.' Nico responded to his Demon Persona, quickly dashing towards his opponent. The teen had to think of something to turn this around, whatever those Steroid things were about, prior experience with Daruma told him that they work like Drive Skills, amplifying power beyond its limits. However, there had to be the drawback of straining the body, power always came at a price no matter the form. Nico's own power came at the cost of his humanity and began his constant struggle to stay in control over his emotions.

Before they collided, Nico's Rebellion blurred forth as a result of its wielder activating the Quicksword technique. However, just as the technique set off to slice into the crimson Fishman, all of a sudden dozens of blades erupted from him, lashing towards Nico like a whirlwind of blades. Instinctively, Nico Warped out of the way, but not before feeling one such blade slice right through his shoulder Armour and into his shoulder-blade, causing the teen to wince and grimace when he reappeared 10 meters away.

Looking back to his opponent, the redhead soon saw what it was that had hit him, the sight being how Hyouzou had lots and lots of saber-like blades now within the grasp of his Tentacles. Not to mention he had a second Katana in his other hand, the Fishman laughing loudly like he had already won the battle between them. "NOW THEN, PREPARE TO DIE BY MY SUPERIOR BLADE, NOISE-MAKER!"

* * *

Castiel's P.O.V.

This battle, it is weird.

When I found out that Hody had a Trident of Poseidon I figured he would be monstrously strong, but I was wrong.

As I avoid a stab from him I feel like he is just a kid playing with a stick. He has no finesse and his capacity of using this godly weapon is embarrassing. Heck, if it is just a matter of technique I bet I was already superioror to him when I was 6 years old.

Seriously, he is pathetic.

It is like I am fighting Berserker-sensei without him being able to use any technique and with zero experience against anyone that can actually fight back. Even the trident in his hand is being used wrongly and he doesn't take advantage of it at all.

"Stop avoiding the inevitable, human!" He yelled as he simply forgot he had a fucking super weapon in hand in proll of pushing me with a Fishmen Karate strike that completely lacks in true content as only the superficial form is there. If he did not have an absurdly high physical strength he would possibly be no better than the soldiers I killed.

Ignoring his remarks I jumped to the side as he launched a wave of water in my direction from that one punch. Jumping at him I focused holy energy from Argetlan into Clarent to then focus it all on the edge of my great holy sword.

" _Divine Separation._ " I said as I executed the cut. Giving names to specific attacks may hint the enemies that know me well what to watch out for, but despite this demerit it also helps me in visualizing the attack in my head by associating the name of the attack with the method of using it, accelerating and refining its usage.

My sword cut him from the hip until close to the stomach. It was quite dangerous but I feel like it won't be enough to kill him. His body just has too much vitality and his hatred is too strong, taking him out needs me to behead him or remove his heart while destroying his other organs.

Thinking that I did not wait as I went for the neck. I must behead him now while I have the chance.

CLANG

As I was about to hit him some swords appeared in the way. Before I could look at who did it I felt a pain in my gut as I was kicked back before a magic bullet of the size of a basketball hit me almost straight to the face.

"Kyaahh, to think he would fall for that. Pure humans really are dumb." an effeminate queer said. He looked quite human but his teeth and pair of horns said another story. He was wearing a long-sleeved green shirt with a giraffe-like design on it, blue shorts, and dark purple stilettos that I think are probably reinforced with evil diamond, the toughest material of the evil element. It is not the type of material I enjoy due to how heavy it is, how expensive, how little there is, and how it is far too tough making it impractical for a long weapon since it would vibrate when hitting something and the strength of the vibrations could shatter my arms.

If he can use it on his feet it means his body or at least his legs are impossibly tough.

"Humph, don't get so full of yourself just because you are half Fishmen, Dellinger. You are still half dirt." Another one said. He had dark blue skin with a lightbulb attached to the top of his head. He was looking down at the effeminated queer who was smirking his way. He also had a curved blade made of deep water stone, a type of stone that could only be found rarely in the deepest points of the ocean. It is not overly strong as a material but when combined with others it can help harmonize different natures and help hide the blade's innate power.

Basically, it is prime material for the production of a good assassin dagger, which means Serenity would do great with it.

"Don't go speaking to me as if you are stronger, Noro. Don't underestimate my Fighting Fish heritage." Dellinger said to the dark blue skinned Fishmen, his eyes turning sharp as his energy was showcased for all to sense. The energy in Dellinger is easily much greater than anyone else here excluding Hody, but I feel like Dellinger can actually put his power to good use.

And finally the last one was closer now. He is a slim-looking bright yellow skinned Fish-Man with medium-length, puffy orange hair and a long and squarish neck with a small beard. His facial features are quite sinister: they include a long and sharp beak-like muzzle, razor-like teeth, and dark, glaring eyes. He was sitting on top of a golden chair being carried by... I can only think they are slaves.

My blood runs cold as I see this, slavery is something I can understand until a certain point, but cruelty for no good reason towards these workers is NOT amongst the things I can let it pass. I can see many whip marks on the backs of those slaves and some are even missing an eye or a hand, there are many cuts and it is obvious that they have not eaten for days now.

The Fishman scum was holding a bazooka in his hand while many other guns laying around. They are probably all made of rare materials but I couldn't care less right now.

"Keh, to think this human trash would survive a shot from the bazooka of me, Hammond. I guess he is somewhat capable in the end."

He is gonna die. No, everyone here is going to die.

Thinking that I launched myself towards Noro. His sword blocking mine as I went for a sweep but as he tried to pull me in I smirked as I gave him a good headbut, shattering the lightbulb in his face as well as damaging his eyes.

I jumped back by kicking him in the belly as Hammond's bullet hit exactly where my head was milliseconds ago. My _field_ helping me keep track of him while I had greater matters to take care off.

Matters being the kick by Dellinger that almost pierced my neck. The power of the kick is such that I noticed how a rock about 30 meters away was pierced by the wind pressure alone. Well, if his kicks are this strong the best way is to run for now.

He is strong enough for possibly defeating me but if he cooperates with the others I don't think things will end up any good for me in the slightest. Besides, I have a time limit and I can see Hody taking those red pills as if they are going out of style. Taking him out is needed before he becomes an actual threat, but the moment I show my back to these three things will definitely end badly for me.

I ran from Dellinger, but not from the battle since I ran towards Hammond directly.

KICK

Suddenly a kick hit me on the back, sending me flying away. I felt like at least one or two ribs are broken even as I used Blut Vene to raise my defense in that area by instinct. The power truly is no jocking matter.

"Kyaahh, don't go running away like this, idiot. If you turn your back to me I will end you." Dellinger said as he went for another kick. I am laying down on the floor as he did that due to how he hit me.

Not that it connected since I used a mana burst on the floor's direction to make me be launched above. Dellinger looked surprised as I took aim at Hammond. He aimed at me at the same time and as I used my _Execution Arrow_ he used two of his bazookas.

BOOM

The two hits collided and unbelievably the two ended up matching one another and nullifying themselves.

These guns he is using, I must obtain them and take them back to the Tower. With luck we will be able to reproduce them in large scale and give them to every Sister there.

* * *

On Nico's end...

His predictions came true.

Though, Nico would not find this any more amusing than he did when he first fought a Demon Prince back when he was ambushed. The Teen currently found himself on the receiving end of an unyielding, unending barrage of slashes from the berserk Octopus Fishman Hyouzou, using only Rebellion to block and parry each slash which came his way. Because of the unending assault, Nico didn't have as much time as he would have liked between strikes to use his Orca King Spirit Bone to lock the guy in place, nor did he have much time to do anything other than swordplay. Something which Nico suspected that Hyouzou had intended from the start as the teen hopped about and parried his attacks, attacks which came from either those slimy Tentacles carrying those thin sabers, or his twin katanas held in his hands.

After a while of blocking and parrying, Nico foresaw that if things didn't change soon, then he would likely end up becoming worn out before long. Nico held great confidence in his stamina, however he didn't like the thought of draining it all before being able to fight the big boss where Emiya was. As a result, Nico finally managed to utilize the Star God's Broken Shadow to get some distance between them, holding Rebellion in a defensive stance before slashing and sending a wave of Hellfire towards his opponent. Hyouzou however, simply vanished into thin air before the attack could hit, and when alarm bells rung in Nico's mind, the teen quickly flung his off hand downwards, shooting a single blast of Hellfire to the ground beneath his feet, resulting in him being propelled upwards to avoid a horizontal slash from behind. Although, Hyouzou didn't let up as he appeared before the airborne Spec Ops Agent once again, swinging t him to try and cut him into tiny chunks of flesh.

Nico however, Warped out of there before his blades could touch him, appearing further away whilst frowning to himself. 'This isn't good, both for me and for this guy, though I can hardly say I care about what happens to him. Whatever these Energy Steroids were, they've REALLY boosted his ability to fight by a large margin. His strikes carry much more weight behind them than what they should, and those swords seem o have been built with a metal which can handle this newfound strength. Therefore, its obvious this guy knew what he was getting into beforehand. Still, this strength has to have some form of price to pay at the end, which in some cases can be crippling. Still, this state will make it impossible for me to restrain him with CHAINS OF HAEPHESTUS Skill due to the sheer power it has, and my Demonic Abilities need time to recover. I'll have to rely on my Spirit Bones, Devil Arms and my Ghoul Side for this one.' The teen thought to himself, before becoming beset by Hyouzou's attacks once more.

This time, to better respond to his opponent's attacks the teen released his Rinkaku Kagune and began using it as a means to parry his opponent's sabers whilst he dealt with the Katana slashes himself.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

The sounds of metal meeting scales resonated throughout the battlefield as Hyouzou's Sabers collided with Nico's Kagune, which constantly launched several attacks in less than a second, with Hyouzou's attacks meting the Tentacles head on. Though, what he noticed was that, due to the berserker state that Hyouzou had apparently entered when this transformation occurred, he didn't seem to notice that his invisible Kagune was deflecting his attacks, instead just kept slashing at him. Likely, he didn't care though, something which Nico felt was more true, due to how the guy kept laughing like a crazed lunatic... and he'd dealt with enough of those people back home to last a lifetime.

'Jeez, this guy's tenacity is nothing to scoff at...'

 **'It would be wise to retreat, however you will likely only have a second to breathe at most, Nico. Perhaps you could try slowing him down with the Spirit Bone the moment that you disengage from him this time, make the first move before Hyouzou can counter.'**

'Not that easy to accomplish, but i'll try...'

Eventually, Nico did Warp away from his opponent, and this time before Hyouzou could strike him again, Nico had already aimed his right arm (which held Rebellion) at him, activating the Spirit Bone it had. Instantly, the effects became known, as Hyouzou suddenly found his ability to move, become restricted instantly. Like chains had sprouted forth within him to hold him back completely, even in this state he had entered. "Hooooh? I seeeee… a reestriiicting Speeelll, Ehhhhhh?" Hyouzou commented in a speech manner not unlike that of a drunken slur, like a bar customer who had WAY too much to drink and no longer could be considered even the slightest bit coherent. "Nooooot baaaaad, I will saaaaaayyyyy thaaaaaattt…"

Just then, one of the Tentacles jerked into motion, since under the restraining power of Nico's Spirit Bone, that was all it could do. That jerking motion however, served Hyouzou well since it allowed him to toss one of his Sabers in Nico's direction. Surprised, the teen's eyes widened behind his Armour's Helmet before he jumped to the side, cutting the spatial restriction on his opponent. 'Sh-Shit!' he cursed mentally as realization dawned on him when he gazed upon his Spirit Bone, noticing that its shine wasn't as vibrant as it had been before. 'Looks like this guy's on its last legs...'

He didn't get a response from Biko, since he already got beset by the guy, and didn't get to parry many strikes before getting whacked upside the head by on of the Tentacles. Sizzling sounds erupted from were he got hit, resulting in Nico looking down to see the spot he'd been hit by being covered with this greenish coloured liquid which seemed to be eating through his Armour just as fast as his Tentacles moved. 'Tch, looks like I was right to be wary of those Tentacles, then...' the male thought to himself when he had about only a quarter's worth of Helmet left. Fortunately, he just managed to use his Hellfire to burn the liquid away before he could lose his Helmet completely, resulting in the Armour quickly beginning its restoration process.

As he slid to a halt, Nico looked up, one eye concealed by his damaged helmet and the other bare for all to see, when he saw Hyouzou already on him, a mad smile and a crazy look on his face whilst prepping to strike with all those blades at once. Nico however, mentally prepared himself for this as e held up Rebellion, quickly unleashing a PHANTOM BLADES Skill to thwart Hyouzou off. Sadly for the redhead, Nico saw his opponent vanish before the blades could even touch him, his senses quickly alerting him to killing intent at his right side as he puled off a Star God's Broken Shadow to avoid what could have been his end...

Only for his opponent, in one ABSURD display of luck, to guess where he was by instinct and appear there, knocking Rebellion out of Nico's hand before making to stab his head off.

Pale faced, Nico quickly responded by summoning Ouranos as Rebellion vanished into his Void Storage once more, the extra Tentacles being deflected by Nico's Kagune... before they got shredded to pieces by a series of saber slashes. 'Crap! Those swords will have the power to cut through a Fatalis, if they can cut trough my Kagune...! Got the feeling those Steroids help make that possible, but still!' Using his Boar Spirit Bone, Nico drained some of Hyouzou's energy (the berserker state letting him take a LOT), before using his Fatalis Spirit Bone to kick a line of explosions the octopus Fishman's way. Even with the deficit of energy though, Hyouzou managed to dodge it with ease, appearing a further distance from him before dashing towards Nico just as quick.

Afterwards, Nico swung Ouranos back towards Hyouzou with the intent to cut into him, whilst Hyouzou responded by lunging forth with his many swords. The Sabers/Katanas and the large blade clashed, resulting in a 10000 slash fest which happened in less than a couple seconds, Nico's speed being enhanced by the Lightning which originated from his current demonic blade.

'G-Goddamnit, that's a first! Having my sword knocked away from me like that... if I didn't have so many weapons, that could have seriously been my end! My body has insane poison defense thanks to what I've got, but I'd rather not experience what this guy has to offer in terms of poison anyways!'

Afterwards, the teen Warped further away, switched Ouranos out for Rebellion again. To him, Nico truly began to feel the pressure as his Rinkaku began regenerating itself. He couldn't keep going like this, if he did then Nico would be in a bigger disadvantage when he finally got a chance to defeat the big boss whom seemed to be fighting his companion at the moment.

Still... what could he do here? Waiting for his Demonic Powers to recover from his previous battles did NOT sound very promising, his full power wouldn't be accessible for a while even with all his healing items in his Void Storage. Not like Hyouzou would let him use any healing items in the first place, but still. So, what could he do right now? What other options did he have at the moment besides his swordplay? Something which the male felt like was one of his weaker suits in comparison to the rest of his powers...

For some reason, Nico got the image of a certain manslayer in his mind, and...

Whether it be consciously or not...

The Redhead imagined his base stance, remembering the movements that the guy possessed and fought him with. He remembered the way hes truck,the finesse, the footwork, the sword position, everything. Nico remembered pretty much everything he could about the opponent known as Okada Izou he had fought at the Halo Mountain incident. As a result of these actions, the male pretty much assumed the same battle stance that warrior had taken during their bout, a bout which he had pretty much burned into his brain as one of the most important fights he had ever had. Now, Nico honestly felt like he'd likely suck if he were to just imitate that guy's style, since he had never imitated another's style before. Not to mention that in comparison to that guy, Nico could very well be considered a child trying to swing a stick about and calling it a sword. But, even so, Nico felt like his swordplay would be the only thing he could properly rely on aside from his Ghoul Side. His Rinkaku would be best utelized here, since his Bikaku specialized in widespread annihilation and not in single combat, whilst his Koukaku still had that 'fear' afflicting it so he couldn't display its full power until he could deal with that.

'Alright, hope this works...'

("Awww, hell no..!")

'Huh? Wha-?!'

Nico blinked behind his Helmet as he soon found his entire body tensing up, like a serpent had coiled around every muscle within him. The second afterwards, the teen felt like... a bucket of water had washed over him, the 'splash' pretty much smacking his consciousness into next week...

* * *

"Ehhhhhhh?"

Hyouzou, in a moment of clarity which didn't come often, noticed something which caused him to give pause in the midst of l his motions. The Octopus Fishman looked upon the form of his human Armour Clad opponent. It had only been for a short instance, so short that he almost didn't notice it, but he did. And as such, Hyouzou briefly felt a wave of energy, energy belonging to something not of this world pass through the atmosphere. It originated from his opponent, who now had his arms hanging in front of him whilst his head hung low. The Helmet itself looked to be pretty much restored already, so he couldn't see the kid's expression...

So he just decided to ignore it and go in for the kill. Not like that worthless human could stand up to someone as skilled with a blade such as himself!

Thus, Hyouzou arched his torso forwards, before he broke into a mad sprint. His form practically burst into a blurred state as he charged towards the motionless Nico, cackling all the while. His eyes, wide and crimson in sclera, shone with madness and bloodlust while a matching grin formed on his mouth as he neared his prey, Katanas and Sabers at the ready. But, just before he could swing...

PARRY!

In a flash, the kid's sword jerked upwards, moving with a speed unlike anything of which he had demonstrated before. The sword arm practically broke through the sound barrier, making a small 'BOOM' sound while accompanied by a shockwave. Thus, at the moment of collision with Hyouzou's Sabers and Katanas, Nico's sole Rebellion sword managed to perfectly block each and every one of them. Not a trace of any extra exertion to show him having difficulty holding Hyouzou back, either. "Huuuuhhhhhhh…?" The Octopus Fishman drawled, looking upwards towards Nico's helmet-clad head, which now was looking up into his own eyes as wel like the attack had woken him up from whatever stupor he had entered.

"So, this is the brat the kid's been having trouble against..."

The moment that Nico spoke just then, alarm bells rang inside the crazed Fishman's gut, sending irreversible chills down his spine as he backed off faster than the road runner and got some distance between them. "Hoooh? Now thiiiiissss is interesting..." the Fishman mused, holding his weapons at the ready to make his next attack, all the while Nico (?) seemed to shrug his shoulders. Not even caring much about him to give him a second look

"Whew, been a while since I last walked the earth ina body like this, wonder how rusty I am. Maybe I should do some stretches first... Ugh, this Armour's way too foreign for me, back in my day we didn't need such stupid things. Whelp, not like I need it anyways, so... just a little peek at the kid's mind..." The redhead before him mused, groaning in annoyance at the Armour covering him. Raising his bare hand a second later, Nico (?) clicked his fingers and thus, the Armour Vanished into its Module on his chest. At the moment it did so, the redhead groaned again, this time in relief, as he proceeded to stretch his arms. "Ahhh, that's better..."

All these features served to unnerve the Fishman even more, to the point where his previously gleeful expression born from his transformation got replaced by a look of bewilderment and confusion. What the hell just happened right now? One moment this foolish human looked to have been on the ropes from his successive assault, nigh caught in the jaws of death for his folly in defying the superior Fishman race. Now? Now the kid looked to have completely changed his demeanour, his persona and rhythm. Everything about him changed, like he had become an entirely different person. It felt... wrong to him, way worse than using energy steroids, that's for sure. Every instinct in his body, born from years of assassinating Targets for the highest bidder, told him to run for his life. Only his own arrogance kept him rooted in place, though.

Seeing this guy's continued dismissal of him, caused Hyouzou to develop a twitching eyebrow, annoyance and anger at being so casually dismissed like no big deal rearing their ugly heads within him. "My, nooow thiiiiiissssss is some... change of baaaaaalllllllllllssss… to blatantly ignore me, ME, the strongest fishman Swordsman, like this. You must have some form of death wish, brat!" the Fishman yelled in a slurred manner, tossing some of his Sabers at Nico's vital areas. Now that he hadn't dismissed his Armour for whatever reason, with the speed he had thrown them at Hyouzou felt certain that they would hit their targets and end this fight. Teach that kid to treat him lightly in the middle of a fight!

Just as the blades neared his vital areas though, once again the kid (although a growing part o f him was beginning to doubt that he was really a kid. Had he been holding bac all this time?) swung his sword in a series of well-tied, flawlessly executed slash attacks, each one deflecting one Saber away from his main body and letting the blades impale the ground around him. Gaping with hock, Houzou could only watch as the redhead Spec Ops Agent paused his stretches to look him over, as if he had forgotten that Hyouzou was even there. "Oh, right, yeah...kinda forgot about you. Been a bit busy doing stretches, so could ya wait a bit? Ah, actually never mind..."

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!

In an instant, Nico suddenly blurred forth and appeared behind the Octopus Fishman before he could even register the kid moving. "Guh… Ugh...! Wha…?!" Startled sound of choking escaped Hyouzou's mouth, a small spec of blood escaping as well. His eyes widened, trembling violently as a feeling of numbness spread throughout his entie system, not even being able to feel the energy Steroids coursing through his system anymore. All across his body, across his Tentacles and limbs, slash marks appeared like they were drawn by a masterful yet savage artist, soon leading to each of his Tentacles being severed at their roots whilst Hyouzou's limbs and neck got hopped to bits, letting the dying Fishman fall to the flood in a crumpled heap. "H...H...H-How...?" The Fishman muttered with his dying breath, the last thing he saw before the cold grip of death claimed him at last being the way the kid flicked Rebellion to the side to wash it clean of the blood, in a way only accomplished by a master swordsman.

Well, that and a slightly insane cackle which escaped Nico's lips. "Sorry squid-legs, but compared to a prodigy like myself, someone like you is nothing but a child holding a toothpick... or toothpicks, in your case."


	175. Cross Chapter 22 - Water Trial Finale

**Water Trial Finale**

Well...

This surely was something.

That was what Castiel Emiya thought as he took in the situation at hand.

The blonde teen stood hunched over slightly, a bit winded judging by the look of exasperation on his features. A mild bead of sweat rolled down his forehead whilst he held both Clarent and Hrunting in his hands, with his Wings deployed. Though, he didn't deploy his Golden Foundation Armour just yet, even as his instincts told him that would have to change in the near future. Not only that, but his pants looked to be shredded up to his knees, while his upper clothing looked to be missing its sleeves. Other than those things, he didn't have that many injuries aside from some bruises and a minor concussion from that one hit to the back of his head.

As for the other two: Dellinger and Hammond, well they could be described as being in similar states to him, the former more than the latter though since he kept his distance while the former kept Castiel occupied with close combat. Dellinger himself looked to have lost the hood section of his hoodie, as well as his sleeves with a single gash over his stomach area. A gash which came from Hrunting and seemed to be profusely bleeding. Though, the guy looked like he was trying to stop the bleeding with his willpower alone, either that or he didn't consider it as much of a problem... not like it had even in the beginning when he freaked the fuck out and bawled like a little bitch. He had to stop when he had seen the Heir try to exploit this to go after his comrade on that large golden throne of his. Aside from them, his legs didn't look like they were in very good condition judging by all the cuts and bruises adorning them either from Castiel's own light attacks or his sword slashes.

Other than him, Hammond the one on the large throne, looked to be much better in comparison. He didn't have as many wounds, or rather it would be more accurate to say he didn't have any at all. Instead, his Bazooka lay on the ground behind him, discarded when he no longer had any ammo for it for him to switch to a rifle instead, one which fired rounds which would have put those at least mid to ultimate class down like rabid dogs. Castiel would know, he'd seen them in action himself, and only by manipulating the light energy around him did he manage to stop them from hitting him. Those rounds had moved so fast that even with the absurd abilities Hrunting had, the sword itself found it difficult to keep up with the barrage. That, and Dellinger usually kept it occupied leaving Castiel with few options to deal with them. Thankfully, his wings defended him well against those rounds, though every time he would miss Hammond would order his Slaves to move him to another position. Not to mention his atrocious treatment of them, whenever a Slave fell down unable to work anymore, he would just let them be dragged by the collars of their necks, not even caring one bit about their health.

It was something which spurned the Heir on through this fight..

Although so far it had been a stalemate.

On one hand, the human/Fishman Hybrid called Dellinger had been keeping up with the Heir to the Tohsaka Tower, keeping him on his toes with the use of temporary duplicates to fool him and strike at places where he would have expected the least. Fortunately, he had his perception-based prowess to thank for being able to keep up with the guy, though sometimes perceiving them didn't mean he could block in time. Even with his defences being enhanced by Blut Veine, this hybrid definitely packed a wallop. If that wasn't enough, the guy tried to pull a few sneak attacks from out of his ass by trying to gore Castiel with some spear-like headbutts, using his horns as makeshift weapons of their own. Fortunately Castiel had been able to keep those things from impaling him, this asshole even having the nerve to try and target Castiel jr a few times.

Prick.

As if sensing his thoughts, a sadistic chuckle escaped the effeminate bird's lips, revealing his large fangs as his eyes grew progressively redder. "Kyahahahahaha! You liked the thought of me cucking you, don't you deny it."

At that, Castiel's brow twitched irritably, though the past attempts at making him an eunuch already irritated him enough. "I'm so going to 'enjoy' ripping off your freaking horns for those stunts, you fuck tard!"

"Oh, now you're talking my language! Come on then, lets go! It'll be more fun when I stomp on you beneath my heels!"

After yelling that out, Castiel folded his Wings defensively, quickly succeeding in blocking several kicks which were aimed at his vitals... although he positioned two near his junk for precaution's sake. Dellinger's laughter filled his ears, mocking him and grating on his nerves immensely. Just as the effeminate Fishman Hybrid flipped backward, Castiel thrust his Wings forwards and released a series of bullets made from Light. They moved that fast too, though Dellinger practically weaved through them with ease.

Tilting his head, the Heir reflexively dodged a bullet aimed for the centre of his skull. Although, with _field_ he knew that it had been coming right away. Still didn't deter the reflexive action he'd done, but anyways he glared towards the source of the bullet: the slave master guy sitting atop that throne of his with that signature arrogant, smug look on his face.

Yeah, how could he forget that ugly mug? Hammond, who took on the role of artillery like the mortars used by the human armies throughout the world, was a way worse piece of shit than Dellinger could ever be. Sure the latter was a sadistic asshole in combat, but Castiel had dealt with such people before and he could tolerate them a bit better. It helped that he'd been dealing with Nico's shit for a while, and he had so far proven that even with his flaws, he wasn't necessarily a bad person. THIS guy though? Utter shit head, no doubt about it. Over a thousand spells from Caster felt like a light punishment for him in the Heir's eyes.

In battle, he'd be even MORE annoying if that were even possible. He would launch sneak attacks from long range, either with his rifle or a series of cannons which were arranged in various positions around his throne. Cannons which bombarded Castiel's position like no tomorrow without even a care for Dellinger's safety. Though, considering the banter that the two had shared previously, Castiel rightfully assumed there was no love between them whatsoever. It helped that the mentioning of Dellinger's status as a hybrid between human and Fishman had been exposed prior to this battle, since it struck a chord in the young Heir.

Thinking about the lessons he had learned about the Fishmen from his teachers when he was a kid, Castiel recalled how hybrids between Fishmen and Human were greatly looked down upon by the majority of both races. They'd be hunted on sight, worse than the supposed witch hunts back in medieval times, or the Roman's hunting of Christians back during their campaign to conquer the world. Then again, Hybrids of different species were generally disdained by the various mythological races anyways, since they went against the norm, and yet still the majority of them had such Hybrids simply due to how powerful they were, so they could use such Hybrids as weapons over other races.

The life of a Hybrid would never have been easy, ever.

Shaking his head to push those thoughts aside, Castiel put his focus back onto the battlefield. So far, he had analysed the movements Dellinger used against him so far in this fight, how he attacked with his legs down to the muscles which were used for the whole process. Ge ran it through his brain like a thousand or so times, deciphering everything about it down to the tiniest detail. No way would it surprise him anymore, though he couldn't help but note the differences. Dellinger may be considered fast, but that would only last him so long against someone who could strike over vast distances. Someone like Castiel himself or even Nico, he'd seen some of his moves like how he would Warp around launching those red orb things all over the place. Guy could run circles around some of the faster opponents, even if Castiel felt like it wasted movement. It worked for him, and that was all that mattered in his eyes.

Aside from him, Hammond didn't seem like the type who would last very long in direct close quarters combat, and in ranged combat the two of them seemed mostly equal. Though, that would only last until he either A: got knocked out by a surprise attack to the back of his head or B: expended all his Ammo Clips (though Castiel got the feeling Zelretch wouldn't let something as minor as that interfere with one of his trials). If he wanted toget rid of that asshole and the Slaves unwillingly accompanying him, then he'd have to either pull a fast one on Dellinger and get in close, or he could play the attrition battle and wait for his chance to strike. His mind worked overtime, and soon enough the blonde Heir concluded that the former plan held more of a chance to succeed than the latter.

'Alright, time to go kick some ass...'

With those thoughts in mind, Castiel got into a battle stance with his dual swords at the ready. As a result, his opponents did the same, though he didn't look that worried. After all, when the arrows of Grandiva clashed with the bullets from that Rifle of his, Castiel quickly determined that his weapons had different levels of firepower to them, much like a certain half-cyborg badass from a certain movie sequel revolving around a fourth-wall Breaking troll of a Mercenary. Dea-something, the Heir couldn't recall it since it had been a while since he last saw the movie (though Emily sure as hell loved it). However, as a downside to having so many weapons, Castiel had noticed that the Fishman Slave owner hadn't used them all at once, just kept switching them out. However, just before he moved to attack, Castiel noticed him taking out another weapon, one which seemed like it spoke a very 'different' story.

It looks like one of those older machine guns that spin releasing a whole fucking lot of bullets, and look and behold it started spinning quickly and magical bullets started being launched by it.

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

However, as the bullets flew at him, Castiel found himself quick to react, remembering the time when actual human technology caught him and his people off guard when they were on bodyguard duty that one time. " **Castiel** " He muttered under his breath, putting his Wings in front of him for protection, again thinking how ridiculously unfair his Wings really were. The reason? Oh nothing much just that every bullet which tried to hit him got deflected as if they were hitting their equivalent of a brick wall. The name power of the _Shield of God_ seemed just way too practical, though like all powers, they had a downside. That downside or this power was that whenever he attempted to pull more energy from his Evil Core, his angelic capacities waned and, depending on how much evil power got taken, they may even stop in its entirety, which now that he thought about it, seemed kinda weird since his angelic holy power perfectly counter balances the evil energy.

Why couldn't both be used? Why was it that whenever he tried drawing too much of either the other gave him trouble?

Before he could ponder more however...

" _Pistol High Heel_!"

A voice suddenly shouted as a piercing pain erupted like an explosion from Castiel's back, exactly the spot that was less guarded by his multi-natured wings and where he had put a lot of defences and reinforcements to protect. If hadn't for his paranoia of doing that, then Castiel felt that he would have been gravely injured just now. Not that this pain didn't suck dick though, as he felt some of his internal organs shaken out of correct position. Not only that, but Castiel distinctly noticed that his spine got a few cracks, and considering how his body wasn't to be underestimated at all, he can only say that this was a good assassination attempt.

"Kyaahh, what a big dummy. To keep showing your back to me, you got to be dumb." Dellinger exclaimed in his already super annoying voice, bouncing from one foot to the other. All the while, the young Heir spat some silver blood from his mouth, wiping his lips clean with his forearm while glaring heatedly at the Hybrid of human and Fishman. 'Fuck, I already am sick and tired of this charade.' he thought to himself from within his little barrier of protection. 'Looks like I'll need to deal with him fast, otherwise he'll make things way too annoying. But first...'

As the bullets keep hitting Castiel's shield, he discreetly opened a small hole in it, nothing too big but more then enough for him to look outside from it.

And that was already more than enough.

Using his Divine Eye, the blonde teen controlled the light energy that was naturally in the area around Hammond. There wasn't really very much though, since this place was currently heavily empowering for water, something of which the Heir admittingly sucked dick at, but despite this there was still enough for what he wanted to do next.

With some discreet Light Manipulation, Castiel promptly transformed it into a sphere of small knives and launched them directly at the slaves holding the palanquin. When they launched, the Heir couldn't help but frown to himself, while he knew they weren't doing of this in their own accord, and were actually being forced to do this, in the grand scheme of things this was his best shot in utterly owning this bitch, so he would take it anyway.

SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK- SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK-SCHULUCK!

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Screams rang out throughout the area underneath the slave owner's platform, screams which came from his Slaves when the knives quickly and promptly impaled their bodies, more specifically their various limbs. Not to mention that some of them even lost several senses like their sight, hearing etc when the knives impaled the bodyparts responsible for the usage of those senses. Their screams soon got followed with gargling sounds as a result of this, before the Slaves lost what little strength they had left.

With their bodies pierced, Hammond fell to the ground and stopped his fire for a brief second, looking completely startled at what just happened, and that alone would be all Castiel would need as he stopped using the power of his Name and insted took out his trusted bow Gandiva.

Pulling the string, Castiel quickly released an arrow just as Hammond managed to try and counter fire against him, but if that Fishman expected the result to be the same... then he'd be kicking himself in the ass soon. See, the difference from last time was that while Gandiva's arrows are about as destructive as his _Execution Arrow_ , their penetration ability couldn't be matched and its capacity of combining light, fire, and the Divine Flame of the Vermilion Bird are an extra good reason for him to use it.

The result was that the magic bullet Hammond sent my way was pierced like tofu together with his brains that splattered everything behind him before the arrow hitting the ground far away and exploding in flames.

Not wasting time, the Heir used a mana burst from his left leg to launch himself to the right, Dellinger's leg missing his head by a single breath. Not waiting for him to continue his annoying kyah kyahh thingy, Castiel quickly launched himself at him, his sword cutting through his neck easily. Though, he soon narrowed his eyes when he noticed something had gone wrong with that statement. It had been too easy, way too fucking easy compared to the previous instances of this fight. There wasn't even sound of flesh being teared apart and blood gushing out, which means-

" _Danto High Heel!_ " Came the voice to his side as a kick was already right by the side of his neck. Instinctively, Castiel reacted, his senses informiong him just how dangerous that kick could have been should he have allowed it to connect. Though, he could only focus in protecting his neck and not attack, so he jumped following the trajectory of the kick, putting all he had into his _Blut Venne, Siegfried_ spell, and _Reinforcement_ magecraft while hoping his Angelic Foudation Armor would keep him alive. Nevertheless, it may as well have contacted him without those things for all the good that they did, as a sharp pain coursed through his neck, all the while he got launched more than 100 meters away. If it weren't for all his focus in pin point defence, Castiel could have become like the tens of thousands he'd killed in this trial, nothing more than rotting meat.

Cursing at his lack of tact, the Heir spotted the ever annoying Dellinger springing towards him like a bullet, also noticing that the other Fishmen who had been blinded before was waiting quietly on the side, his position in a iai form, ready to attack anyone that approached him. Smart, considering that he can't see it is better to stay in the defensive and be careful of possible attack instead of running around literally blindly.

Anyway, Dellinger was the biggest trouble right now. His smirk as he saw Castiel's neck sprouting a large bruise that was likely in all shades of the rainbow already made him even angrier at the bastard.

Deciding to try out something potentialy stupid, the Heir decided to put away all his weapons. If he had kept using them, then chances were that it would be potentially harder to hit him, as using a weapon like mine may expand his attacking area, but it also created trouble in super close distance. hand to hand combat however, didn't have that issue, instead hand to hand fighters suffered from long range problems depending on their styles. In Castiel's case, he had short to medium range down pat thanks to the style he got taught since his childhood.

As his weapons vanished into the breeze, the young Heir closed his eyes and emptied his head of all thoughts. He had his energy focused for a one hit and finish it kind of attack, no flashy moves and no tentative of making more than necessary.

'Like Kuzuki-sensei taught me when teaching me the principles of his Snake art of killing, when you face an opponent bear handed you must focus in preferentially vital areas and in case of necessity to incapacitate by attackig the joints.' The male recited in his mind, opening his eyes with a steely expression shining from them, enough to give Dellinger pause. 'Reaching the opponent in the most perfect way, never miss a second and never let an opening pass me by, end it with the least amount of fanfare as possible.'

As he focused in this, Castiel saw Dellinger close the distance between them once again, his kick aimed right at his head so he stepped slightly to the side and in front. This resulted not only in his attack missing, but for Castiel to close in and get right up into Dellinger's space, perfect for his counterattack. Getting closer, the Heir put his right hand and left hand upon his extended left, and put enough strength to bend his leg to the side on the knee. Dellinger cried in pain to respond to this, but the moment Castiel finished that, he continued his offensive, karate chopping him in the neck to stop his breathing before punching him in the liver and at the same time hitting his head on the side to destroy his ear drums.

Several vital areas hit and some of his senses lost put the Fishman Hybrid into a state of panic, something which Castiel noticed and couldn't help but smirk at, delight shining in his mismatched eyes like a ravenous beast. To try and save his own skin, Dellinger tried to blindly bite on Castiel's neck with suddenly appearing teeth, teeth shaped like shark fangs. He probably wanted to use this ability that he hadn't used till now to catch he young Heir off guard, however that attempt failed fiercer than Castiel's flames when said teen dropped his centre of gravity and body to avoid the impact, before taking advantage of his new position to focus his energy in one finger and pierce him right into the Femoral artery, an artery that carries a considerable amount of blood. If one got cut open like how he had just done, one would DEFINITELY call this a fatal injury, one with no chance of salvation unless one had strong enough healing abilities.

But, Castiel didn't plan on depending on this to kill him. It would take too long for it to take effect and take away his life, but the reason for him to do this was much easier to understand: Blood loss. With less blood circling through his veins, his body would weaken considerably with time as a result, and with his damaged mobility and balance he would be hard pressed to run away or evade the Heir's strikes as the continue fighting.

This match is over...

SLICE

...And just like that a kill steal happened, as that three times dammed Nico decided to come and take away my kill after I had secured it. He literally appeared from out of nowhere like a blur, right beside the Fishman. Just as he did... Dellinger's head flew off his shoulders and landed somewhere in the distance, bouncing several times before coming to a stop.

Not like he cared though, Castiel found himself way too salty over what his 'companion' had just did. Turning to him, the Heir glared at him, indignation and anger shining in his eyes like search lights. The next thing he knew, Castiel could not help but speak in a scolding voice. "Dick move man, I was going to finish him off and you just HAD had to go and butt your head in where you were not required. The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Oh, calm your panties dumb face." Nico retorted, holstering his Rebellion sword over his shoulder like a gangster. "I was only in a good mood to kill and saw a nice target so I decided to take a swing." He continued, his voice a bit weird and his tone even weirder as if he was more frivolous and relaxed than Castiel had ever really seen him before. He had to admit, it caught him by surprise a little. "I gotta say, you have some decent moves for a brat. Not as good as mine but not everyone can be a genious like me."

Hearing those words however, ignited a sense of rivalry inside him, not liking the fact that Nico was looking down on him. It basically insulted his pride as a leader, and he would not have that. Castiel crossed his arms in response, turning his head sharply to the side in indignation and annoyance, especially when he recalled how this battle even started. "Humph, if only it wasn't for those two dip shits that decided to stop me in a moment of enlightenment…" he began, gesturing to the now dead Fishmen known as Dellinger and Hammond by throwing a thumb behind them. "I would be able to beat your demonic ass with a hand behind my back."

Instead of causing him to shudder in nervousness however, Nico (?) just chuckled merrily at him, finding no small amount of amusement in those words judging from the smirk he wore. "That is the spirit, keep going like this and maybe one day you can become as awesome as this manslayer here." he stated... before the sound of his stomach growling reached his ears. Looking down at it for a moment, Nico (?) stared like he didn't know what was going on, until a flash of realization dawned in his eyes and he looked over to his companion. "Anyway, do you have some food and booze? I need something after the last fight."

'Well, isn't this something...'said companion commented sarcastically in his mind. Still, there wasn't any hostility radiating from him right now, so he didn't feel the need to teach him some manners, he wasn't that petty. Shrugging his shoulder. the Heir took out some summer whisky he had bought on the last trial and a few apperitizers and gave it to him. 'No idea if he can even eat those but he did comment how Gourmet Cells work for him and these have those cells so they might work. I did prepare many things for this trial, food and drinks of all kinds was just one of them for obvious reasons.'

Taking those in his hand, Nico (?) started gulping down the Whisky as if it was waterbefore releasing a burp. "Good drink! Fuck, if I could take this sort of drink more often I would be made!" The teen yelled in refreshed joy, all the while those Tentacles of his came out and devoured the other dishes that he had received, sending the taste sensations throughout his body. They ate by splitting their tips in two, showing a series of long maws filled to the brim with sharp, crimson fangs and hollow red interiors. They soon retracted into him afterwards, almost too fast Castiel noticed. "But hey, are you going to face that fishy freak there?" He questioned, while pointing Rebellion to the side where the Fishmen was still in position to strike. "I think I'll be having this body go on a complete sword overhaul whilst I go and lecture a certain someone about idiotic swordplay."

You know what? No longer could he give a fuck anymore. He'd already faced way too many enemies today, so if he wants to take that one go on.

"Go on, just be sure that most of the points of these two goes for me, I did more than half the work for them anyway." Castiel replied with a shrug.

"Keke, I am liking you now kiddo. Thanks."

"I am happy that you feel this way, but I don't swing to that side. My namy girlfriends and fiancees would kill me if I were to be with a man. Also, even if I were into this, I could do better." he retorted with a smirk, and Nico could only laugh even harder at this.

Who would say, he'd obviously being possessed by a Heroic Spiprit (Castiel had been used to it thanks to Sereity and Achilles), and in all fairness it actually made him more approahable. Maybe if he were like this more often he would not look and feel like a downer who would be making sad poetry on the side, A.K.A. a emo edge lord.

Seriously, he hoped he learns from whoever spirit is possissing and fusing wih him, it would do him some good.

* * *

Opening his eyes, Nico groaned as he felt his consciousness stir once again... which also meant that an insane headache would soon follow, which it did. The teen cursed when a pulse of pain shot through his mind like a waterfall colliding with the ground that was his brain, forcing hi to cover his head with one hand while getting to his feet. The last thing he could recall was fighting against Hyouzou and their fight being a stalemate. Though, it had felt like his opponent had the upper hand the moment that he got those damned Steroids in his system. Then, he had tried to do something (something he couldn't quite recall yet, for some rason), before something happened and he felt like... someone took his place, or something. Or rather, someone had tossed him aside while he still was in his body, taking the wheel sort to speak.

"Ugh... what the heck...?"

"Kekekekekeke! About time ya woke up, brat."

His eyes opened wide the moment that he heard an unknown, foreign voice. 'Either I'm even crazier than I thought, or...' the teen thought soon trailing off as he examined the voice inside his head. It wasn't Biko's, his Demon Persona sounded sorta like how he did whenever he entered his DPU Form. Nor was it his Ghoul side, as it had this distorted, hollow-like tone to his voice. Not to mention the bouts of twisted inanity, madness and the loud volume. Even so however, hearing that voice felt very familiar to him, and there was only ONE person he could think of who had that kind of laugh...

Looking up, Nico saw two things: One, he was still standing within the vast desert of his Inner World, and according to his senses he wasn't that far from the Coliseum which represented his desire to fight. Two, there was someone standing before him, arms crossed with a look of annoyance and exasperation on his face. His making him a male... but one that Nico quickly recognized. Though, there were a few difference. "I... I know you... you're Okada Izou!" the male exclaimed, pointing a finger at the speaker whilst his headache pretty much disappeared without a trace.

Yeah, that was right, he remembered this voice from when they fought so long ago. Only, this guy looked a lot different than back then: for one he didn't look a tiny bit like his previous form, his skin looked like a full-blooded human instead of an undead, his strength felt much greater than back then since he felt no such restrictions made by Mundus. Not to mention that, instead of one Katana, the guy had two in a crossed position at the back of his waist, positioned so that he could draw them easily in case of an ambush.

He also looked, like he mentioned before, quite annoyed. "Ugh, if THIS is what my bloodline has come down to, I'll have to go find the Shinigami and beat his ass so I can come back and kill you on sheer principle alone." The man remarked, a sigh escaping his lips before he appeared right before the redhead, poking him on the forehead. "And you call yourself a swordsman with such shoddy swordplay? Ugh, that just makes me gag! Watching you fight was like seeing a child trying to swing a stick in the most clumsy of mannerisms possible! Seriously kid, did you grow up in a cave or something, cause that display was just downright cringeworthy!"

Whilst the man went on his... ranting, Nico could only stand there, gaping jaw and all, with shock coursing through his system and replacing the normal blood. He couldn't even muster up the sense of self to get mad at this guy insulting his self-taught style, such was the shock that he found himself in. His brain temporarily ceased functioning, unable to process what the heck was happening before his very eyes right now, all the while memories of the LAST time he had met this man constantly plagued him. This ended up in him releasing simply one word, and even then the word was spoken barely over a whisper. "...What...?"

Eventually, as in after a full 3 minutes, Okada Izou finally finished his rant, and heaved a heavy sigh afterwards. "Whew, now that THAT's outta my system..." he mused, now looking much less annoyed and more... stern, for lack of a better word. He then turned back to Nico, who just shook his head and recovered from the verbal assault that happened just now. "Alright kid, now listen up." he stated, getting Nico's attention. "We're here, talking, pretty much because I can't stand it. The way you fight with your sword, relying on mystical bullshit like its your everything, its just atrocious. If it weren't for that, then I wouldn't have even bothered solidifying this connection and starting this fusion process with you, but your sword skills are so freaking PATHETIC that I just can't ignore you any longer. As my descendant, i'm not going to let this stand. Once the process is complete, during which I'll be keeping control over this body to show what a TRUE genius of the sword is like, i'll let you retake control. BUT!" He stated sharply, before Nico could ask him any questions. "Once you finish up with this fucker of a trial, you get your weak ass back in this Inner World you got here, and we'll spent that time rebuilding your sword skills from scratch. No lip, you hear? This genius will ignore you otherwise, maybe chop off your tongue since you can take what I dish out."

Nico... could only nod, all the while managing to regain enough mental clarity to note to himself to ask Castiel what the fuck was going on with him right now.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside...

"#Whistle#... looks like whatever Heroic Spirit is Possessing Nico is a sword-based one..." Castiel muttered to himself as he sat on the ground, watching the goddamn massacre happening before him... whilst eating some popcorn with a cup of pudding for desert.

In front of him, like he said, a massacre was taking place between the Possessed Nico and the last remnants of the Fishmen. Between the frenzied shrieks of rage, screams of fear and pain, he could hear the guys' mad cackling as he tore apart each and every one of those poor sods with just a simple sword. Rebellion he recalled its name being.

Looking at the style and movements, Castiel quickly determined who the Heroic Spirit was who'd went and possessed his companion in the first place: the Assassin-type Spirit known as the Manslayer, Okada Izou. Castiel could tell that this was the case due to how the style he was using, the Manslayer Style, rivalled that of that Heroic Spirit. Looked like a similar case to Serenity back home, he figured (gods, he missed them, Serenity and his girls. He'll try to spend all the time he could with them to make up for this) since Nico showed similar symptoms to what happened with his girlfriend.

The Manslayer style... 'If I think about it, it actually fits Nico's combat style... a little too well I'd say.' the male thought, frowning. All the while, he just watched the massacre take place, finding the manslayer style Nico was now using to be a superior version to the one that he himself used. No surprise there, considering who he'll likely be learning it from in the near future. Although, part of him wondered how the hell this could be a thing, since Nico wasn't a part of his world and thus shouldn't have any connection to the Heroic Spirits there.

'Maybe I'll ask him when this is all over..' Castiel thought, before something else caught his attention. 'Cause now that I look around...' looking around, the blonde Heir couldn't find any signs of the Fishman leader, Hody Jones. The one who had that Trident of Poseidon under his control. Not a single damned trace, something which concerned him. Only when he looked upwards, though, did he finally find the guy... floating outside the bubble in a fairly muscular form with the Trident about to be thrust forward to puncture something... he instantly figured out what his plan was, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance. 'Looks like we'll be having some trouble on our hands, soon!'

True to Castiel's predictions, the moment that the possessed Nico slaughtered the last of the Fishmen, he quickly detected a bloodlust source above him and looked up, his eyes narrowing as an annoyed groan escaped his lips. "Ah, shit..."

POP!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Instantly, the mad-looking Hody cackled as he pierced the bubble with his Trident, popping it right after and filling the whole place with water. It poured in like a rushing tide, instantly pulling the small island into its depths, destroying it alongside any surviving Fishmen thanks to the surge of water pressure. Any chance they had to scream, the possessed Nico had took it, leaving them unable to even scream in their last moments on this plane of existence.

All the while...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hody laughed, throwing his head back while spreading his arms up into the seas above him. "HAHAHAHAHA! YES! THAT WILL SHOW YOU PUNY WRETCHED HUMANS! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO DEFY DESTINY! WE ARE THE CHOSEN FEW, WE DESERVE THE RIGHT TO RULE OVER THE SEAS AND THE LANDS! THE HUMANS WILL PAY WITH THEIR LIVES, THEY WILL BE OUR TOOLS, OUR TOYS AND OUR SLAVES FOR ETERNITY, JUST LIKE THEY DID TO US! ANY FISHMEN WHO DENIES OUR GLORIOUS KINGDOM WILL ALWAYS MEET THIS FATE AS WELL! WE WILL RETURN TO OUR WORLD, OUR WORLD WITHIN THE DEPTHS AND CONQUER EVERYTHING LIKE DESTINY INTENDED FOR US! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Back with Castiel, the teen frowned to himself, having cast a spell to help his body function better underwater. His whole form looked to have been covered by a bubble layer shaped like him, fitting him snugly like a second skin. Nothing like normal bubbles though, as it wouldn't break even under intense pressure, allowing him to fight at his optimum potential underwater. Still though, eh couldn't help the sheer fury escaping him at how callously Hody had killed off his men, writing them off like they were nothing. It was an affront to him, an affront to the leader inside, thus boiling fury kept him warm in these cold depths. He'd make that disgrace of a leader pay with his life for sure, if it was the last thing he did, but first...

"Hey, Okada, Nico, whatever! You alright, or do I need to save your ass again?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good kiddo." Nico, still possessed by Okada, responded dully whilst rubbing the back of his head. An aura of crimson energy radiated from his form like a second skin, similar to Castiel's little bubble spell the Heir noted. "Still, those Fishmen were fun, been a while since I got to strut my stuff so freely..." he began, before glaring towards Hody in annoyance. "Though this future piece of sharkskin ruined it for me, so i'm a little annoyed."

Castiel nodded, feeling particularly annoyed himself. "Yeah, I feel you there, dude." he remarked, fighting in the depths like this would be far more annoying than fighting on dry land, mostly because Fishmen had better combat ability underwater. They had more water for their fishman karate, they could move faster and strike fiercer than they would on land. They didn't even need to worry about breathing since they had both gills and lungs, meant for different environments. 'Is there anything I can do to bring things back to an even playing field...? Oh yeah, there's THAT! Its a long shot, and I may pretty much lose any semblance of my angelic powers during it, but its damn well worth a try.' he thought to himself, before looking to his companion who looked to be readying himself by entering a combat stance. "Say, before you go in there, mind keeping this guy off my back for a bit? I wanna try something on him that, if it works, will bring things back to an even playing field."

"Huh?" Momentarily, Nico blinked when he heard Castiel speak, getting his attention before he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Sure, whatever. I'll whip this fucking shark into some sashimi, maybe roast him for a barbecue. Quite fancy some sharkskin myself." he remarked thoughtfully, a small smirk forming on his lips as he made to charge at the enemy.

Castiel smirked at this as well, finding some competitive spirit rising within him at those words. "Hah, don't get TOO ahead of yourself, but sure. Go right ahead, I'll be sure to pick up your scrawny ass when I'm done." he retorted, getting some amused laughter from the possessed Nico as he blasted forth. All the while, Castiel closed his eyes and began to gather his evil energy. Readying it for what he wanted to do. 'Whelp, here goes nothing...'

* * *

As he flew through the waters towards the insane Hody, the Possessed Nico chuckled to himself as he sensed Castiel's body start getting overtaken by that Evil Energy inside of him. Oh, how he would RELISH the thought of being able to take on the sword once more, that Fishman would serve as one of the many victims he would claim before letting Nico take control. He knew that had been Okada's thoughts just now, but honestly thanks to this fusion process he didn't feel like himself right now. It felt... it felt like their personalities were clashing with each other, mixing and meshing like two animals but of opposite sexes sniffing each other out, examining each other.

Just before he could do anything though, Nico noticed something in the mad Fishman's hands, something which he twirled like a pair of helicopter blades whilst cackling insanely, then charging back at him. The entire thing looked to be a Trident of sorts, but it was coloured a glowing sea green colour with a rather large, pointy tri pronged end with each blade being shaped like waves. The entire thing looked to almost feel... alive, similar to the feeling he sometimes got with IF, a feeling which originated from every cell in her body working like they were all of a hive-like mentality. Though, Nico didn't feel this as much as when it had been on land.

At first, he wondered that the hell kind of weapon that was, what abilities it had, how it was going to be used by the enemy, but then the possession's effects kicked in. Slowly, but surely, Nico's thought process shifted from the 'what' to the 'how', such as how it would be used in combat, how long its reach could be in comparison to a sword, how he could get past its guard, and how skilled Hody would have to be to use it to its fullest potential. Thoughts, ideas and plans for different scenarios flowed through his mind like a river...

Which then got pushed down into the depths of his mind when the possession simply told him to do one thing: Kill.

Instincts took over, and when Nico noticed Hody's Special Trident approaching his head for a quick stabbing, the redhead twisted himself to the left, ending up a the Trident's right side whilst swinging from an upward position downwards. This resulted inn Rebellion slamming into the Trident's shaft and, with a quick jerk, Nico slammed it into the base of the tri pronged blade, forcefully yanking Hody forwards with the combined force of the Great Way of the Buddha and his own physical ability. With that done, Nico used the momentum to twist around and slammed Rebellion's pommel into the back of Hody's head, causing him to stagger before he launched a series of slashes over his back.

The slashes cut deep, way deeper than what Rebellion could have done normally. Though, it may be because of Nico currently being possessed by a swordsman whose skills were way up there, way better than his current level, but meh. The cuts drew much blood, almost like miniature pillars themselves, turning a deeper colour when they mixed with the water. Hody however, didn't let that stop him, as he twirled around to face his opponent, all the while swinging in a backhand which Nico dodged by flipping over it. "Puny human! Don't think such scratches will kill a chosen one!" Hody bellowed, laughing as he charged forth, swinging his Trident towards the redhead's neck in a series of rapid fire stabbing motions. If one were to attribute his speed currently, then they would record it as quicker than lightning.

Nico however, had the reflexes of a Heroic Spirit thanks to his current possession, which allowed him to practically dance through them like an expert before dashing past Hody and stopping behind him. Several slashes adorned the Fishman's arms. 'Hmmmm, looks like these Fishmen are no joke under water... something about it hardens their flesh and raises their defensive power. Not only that...' The male's eyes narrowed when he noticed that there was water covering Hody's wounds and, when the water vanished, it revealed untouched flesh. 'Looks like that Trident's using the water surrounding us as a means to heal him. Odds are, that it has some other abilities too... too bad that this guy...'

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Die, worthless human! Diiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!"

'His intelligence stat is at an all-time low, so using those abilities in this condition he's in will be impossible.'

Nico hummed in thought as he ascended upwards, dodging a torrent of water that the Fishman launched at him via his Fishman Karate. Thanks to his current berserker-like state (which honestly reminded him of his OWN berserker mode now that he thought about it), he likely wouldn't be able to use that weapon's full power. That was what his 'normal' self, or what remained of it that he could bring to the surface thanks to his current state said anyways, all the while the Heroic Spirit Possessing him made Nico scoff while rolling his eyes. "Man, this is such a chore, I've already had over 30 chances to kill you already in that last chance, but all I'm meant to do is stall you fucker so the kid and his companion can pass this stupid excuse for a trial." Nico muttered to himself, although his voice distinctly took on the vocal tones of Okada before reverting back to normal near the end. "Well, at least I got to sample some fine booze."

His musings got halted, when he sensed a burst of danger right in front of him. Nico's eyes sharpened, narrowing like the Trident which was coming towards him whilst being covered in a layer of water, cutting through the ocean depths like a blade. Nico quickly and promptly twirled his form around the strike, weaving past Hody and unleashing over 80 different slashes in one instant using about... well, 60% of his full power. His full power with the Manslayer Style was meant to absolutely kill the enemy with no mercy, and he only restrained himself thanks to the favour that he was doing for that blonde kid. Not to mention that, thanks to his possessing of the redhead kid, he can't use any of his mystical bullshit since he himself was blocking them. Nico could probably have forced say his Kagune to come out, but such a thing could have interrupted the fusion process, something Okada knew fist hand that Nico was well aware of.

Hody didn't let up this time however, as the possessed Teen quickly found out when he turned around, injuries healing from the water around them before dashing towards him at high speed, quickly launching an all-new offensive. They consisted of a series of wide-angle, open-ended slashes, stabs, thrusts and the like to try and get at Nico's vitals, putting in some of his Fishman Karate into the mix. However, Nico merely dodged them with ease, sidestepping some of them and parrying others, making use of his footwork even when in the depths. If this were in other circumstance, Nico wouldn't have been able to perform some of these manoeuvres... thankfully for him, that wasn't the case.

'Tch, this guy... his berserker behaviour makes predicting how he'll attack next real fucking annoying...' the redhead male thought to himself, twisting about and pivoting through the onslaught. He also deflected several strikes away from him, leading to a series of watery explosions all around them which were caused by a combination of both of them. These explosions filled his ears with sound like he had been in a chaotic, unending warzone, making anything else that may be happening around them to be pretty much unheard of. It was a good thing he had experience then with berserker opponents, such as the Khornate Demons and those affiliated with him, otherwise this would have been much harder.

Flipping backwards, Nico vanished in a burst of speed to avoid a torrent of water from Hody's Fishman Karate, reappearing behind him. Hody then pushed himself upwards, avoiding a series of powerful sword swings, then backwards whilst he twisted himself around, ending up lunging at him with his fangs bared, intending to bite into Nico's shoulder and tear his arm off. Unfortunate for him, at the last second before he could chomp down, the redhead swiftly pivoted multiple times around him, allowing him to avoid the lunge as well as deal several deep slash attacks. Hel if he hadn't accidentally messed up the trajectory of one of the slashes, then Nico could have indeed chopped of Hody's weapon arm. 'Fuck! The Kid's body's not that easy to control. That must be because his skills as a swordsman aren't like this genius me, which makes it harder for it to keep up. Whelp, no matter, this me isn't renowned as a genius for nothing so I'll just work with this. The process still seems to be going strong as it should be...' the internal Heroic Spirit thought to himself.

Whilst he thought of that, Hody laughed like a hyena, rearing his head backwards as his injuries healed themselves from all the water around him. "Hahahahaha! Yes, now do you see?! Your futile struggles to survive are pointless against those chosen by the gods! This artefact!" Hody, after yelling that, held up his Trident in a revering manner. "This came to me from the Gods of the oceans themselves, they blessed me for my glorious conquest of the pathetic human species! Nothing will be able to stop me, not without incurring divine retribution!" he proclaimed, before laughing his ass off-

"Oh, fuck off already!"

SLICE-SLICE!

Dashing past his opponent, Nico swiftly swung Rebellion and perfectly severed Hody's hands from his body. Shock registered onto the Fishman's face at this happening, his bleeding red eyes trembling violently whilst his maw hung open. "Gods? Deities? Meh, they don't concern me very much, all I need is a good sword, and I'll pretty much slice through anything. Super Powers? Don't need em, as I'm sure you'll be finding out soon, fishface." Nico retorted, shifting his head so that he could glance behind him out the corner of his eye. This allowed him to see how the water around them pretty much reattached the hands back to Hody's arms, though the male simply rolled his eyes at the sight. The aura of the Heroic Spirit possessing him flared slightly, and inside him Okada felt a certain 'clenching' take place within him, as if he had finally gotten an anchor into the real world like when a Magus summoned a Heroic Spirit for the Holy Grail. This caused him to smirk inside. 'Looks like the process is just about done. I think I'll let the kid handle himself for now, looks like things will be wrapping up soon... and this guy's getting boring, plus I wanna see how these 'other people' inside the kid's head fight. Hopefully they won't be as boring.'

No sooner had Okada thought that, did the possession diminish, leaving Nico in full control over his body. A sharp gasp escaped his mouth, eyes widening temporarily as his body slumped forwards, before the teen straightened himself up again and held a hand over his temple. "Ugh... looks like... I'm back in control..." Nico muttered, shaking off the cobwebs inside his mind before he looked towards Hody, who looked positively livid at him. Whilst he had SEVERAL questions about what just happened, right now he'd have to push them aside to do what he had to for the time being. Fighting whilst being possessed by Okada showed him a couple things, things which he felt... quite hard to take in. The fact that he was probably no better than a retarded idiot for thinking that he actually was decent with a blade. Compared to Okada's swordplay, even when he and Nico fought back at Halo Mountain, the redhead felt like an utter dumbass.

 **'At least we were able to buy enough time for Emiya, Nico. Take solace in that at least...'**

'Huh? Wait... I can sense a large build-up of sinister power coming from...'

Nico's eyes widened when he realized what Biko meant, recalling what e had originally been intending when he had been possessed still. Glancing over to where Castiel had been, the teen could only smirk as he held Rebellion in a ready stance, his left eye turning into its Kakugan form when he detected what he did. 'Whelp, took that guy long enough...'

* * *

As Nico was thinking that and facing Hody Castiel was going through his own battle. He had decided that if he could use the fact that the Evil and Holy energies cannot mix and one repels the other he could use that to his advantage.

He first created a 'cocoon' using his wings, his black and golden wings covered his body as he started focusing on what to do next. he first pulled as much holy and sacred energy from his magic core and put it all around his own soul, protecting every magic circuit until its origin to the best of his ability before he simply let the evil energy flood his body.

It was like a sludge covering everything, he only focused on making sure that the Evil energy would never leave his body and spread, instead he started actively tainting his entire being with evil and curses. It was painful, excruciatingly so, as if he had put needles passing right through his body in every pore he had and was filling them with pure concentrated pain, but Castiel soldiered through it.

Little by little he felt like his body was, for the first time, fully tainted by Evil. Only his magic circuits and soul were not affected by it due to how Holy energy repealed and stopped the infiltration, but it was not enough. Castiel wanted more.

And so he started pulling more and more Evil and Curses towards his body. His body growing more and more grey as his hair lost color and started enlogating, his flesh was covered in claw marks as if he was attacked by a beast but as more and more evil energy covered him the claw marks started to change, where before it looked like something made by a mad beast in anger it now lookied like something artistic. The marks slowly and painfully changed to become like tattoos cut open by a knife, words describing every type of evil thought, feeling, or action covered his entire body, but despite that and the nausiating feeling those words would cause to anyone who saw it there was still a certain type of evil beauty in it.

As Castiel started opening his wings they also changed. No more were they covered in dual colors fethers, now it was a dark black tainted with a red similar to blood, in the fethers now appeared mouths with the tougues out and blood shot eyes, it was like his entire being came out straight from a nightmare and if not for his absurdly strong willpower he would have long descended into madness.

As he stopped the transformation from going any further Castiel could not even breath properly, everything in his body hurt and every more hurt as well, but the fact that this power was strong, it was undeniable.

Raising his eyes slowly towards Hody he saw the mad monster trying to launch a wave of water against him, the trident of Poseidon shining as he made a torrent of hundreds of tons fly towards Castiel.

It was useless.

" **Failure**." Castiel murtered, and with that the attack failed and dispersed without managing anything. A darkness spread from his form and corrupted the water and everything around him, even the power from Poseidon's weapon could do nothing against this corruption.

Hody saw this but due to how his mind was growing more and more insane he could not understand what this truly meant, but due to sheer instinct he avoided as from that darker and muddy water that now surrounded Castiel hundreds of tentacles and creatures started appearing. All were deformed and had twisted expressions like if they were crying in pain. They launched themselves at Hody, no control was over them as they advanced as if a flood towards Hody who started desperately defending himself.

SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH

Hody tried his best, his control over water ensured that he cut down most of the monsters and attacks that approached him, but with time despair started appearing in his crazed mind as the water around him was getting harder and harder to control, his body getting constantly weaker and he could feel as if his entire body was being damaged in a way much deeper than what any flesh wound could ever compare.

But it was just the beggining of the terror that Castiel now simbolized. The monsters started circulating around Hody instead of attacking him, the body of the creatures dismantled and instead of taking form as a beast they now were just a dark smoke, but when tens of thousands of them were around it covered the entire area into a dome.

The dome negates all light from appearing, Hody could not see anything and even the sea's energy seemed to have been cut off and no longer could he feel the power of all the sea empowering him. Castiel just stood there as he muttered quietly to himself the next curse.

As the word was said it took effect, Hody suddenly felt like ants were eating his body, every vein was in fire and every nerve felt like it was drowned in cold. His body was fine one second but suddenly his long white hair started falling as blood started leaving his mouth. Cough after cough pieces of flesh were released as his body started shivering in cold. If there was any light there anymore he would not be able to say, his eyes were no longer able to see even if there was light around him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT IS THIS?" Hody asked, before coughing out his own toungue!

"H _o **h,**_ **t** o t _h_ _i_ nk **y _o_** u _co ul **d** **st**_ **il** l **t** ** _h_** _i_ nk, i _m_ _p_ r **e _ss_** ve. **You _now_** suffer f _rom_ ** _SICKNESS,_** _a cu_ **rse** of hu _man_ **ity. _Enjoy_**." Castiel said slowly, the curse taking effect with time as Hody felt dozens of terminal sicknesses hitting him at the same time.

But that was not enough. That was FAR from enough.

He waved his hand slowly and Hody felt a different type of fear as his mind started slipping away. He started to forget about everything, his home, his first years, his friends, his family, his objective, even his own name was forgoten by the time the curse of _forgetfullness_ passed, just an empty shell was left.

But even so it was not enough, Hody was still holding the trident due to its own mystic powers, and for Castiel that is something that should never happen. That weapon is a symbol of someone he respects, a weapon simbolizing an ally of the Tower, and for it to be held by a parhia like Hody was an insult to its glory.

And so, Castiel decided how to kill him. With a thought two more curses ran through the area, and suddenly Hody started to beat himself violently. Even as his body was barelly functioning and his mind was no longer there he was still affected by the curse of _Violence_ and _Self-hatred_ , causing his already weakened and empty mind to register itself as the enemy. Hody started biting himself, punching his own face, and using the trident to clean his bones from the meat in it. When Hody finally died he was no more than a bag of broken bones with some flesh attached. But even so Castiel decided to give the finishing touches as the darkness started consuming all that was left of Hody, his power and soul was no more than a healthy meal for the darkness within Castiel.

As this ended Castiel started receding the evil energy, pulling it back in was not easy as the evil wanted to continue wrecking havock, he could feel as if the evil was acting like a rabbid dog trying to find ANYTHING to attack and defile, but as time passed little by little the evil receeded and everything returned to how it was before.

And like that this trial ended, the whole ocean covered in a gloomy and dark energy as Castiel floated in the water more relaxed than he was for longer than he could say. Like if a suppressed desire that even he didn't know about was satiated, even if just a bit.


	176. Cross Chapter 23 - Water Trial Interlude

**Water Trial Interlude**

'Okay... that was seriously some of the more awe-inspiring and nerve-wracking things I've seen so far...'

The moment that the two males returned to the training area they occupied for their stay here (Zelretch already having spoken to them about this being a longer interlude since he wants to 'create an epic finale' his words), Nico had quickly retreated to an isolated section of the area, sitting down with Urthemiel curling around him protectively. Even though his Archdemon hadn't been around during the Water Trial, it didn't mean it couldn't feel some of the dread which coursed through its master like blood right now. The moment that Nico thought those thoughts pretty much summarized all his complex feelings on the matter, that moment that Castiel went into that mode... it reminded him starkly of that feeling of ultimate darkness Erebus gave off. The primordial darkness of which she had been spawned from, and likely would be a match for when she finally regained the full extent of her powers.

 **'Indeed... That power definitely felt more concentrated, more evil, than what we have seen from Emiya so far. It felt like all the evil in the universe just gathered together, used him as a host, and exacted their dissatisfaction with that Fishman's efforts. Although it pained me to do so, I did also examine how the process worked.'**

'Huh? What do you mean?'

 **'Erebus helped me, but that's not the point. What Emiya did was empty out his holy energy, retracting it inside his angelic core which allowed his Evil Energy to fully take over. As a result, his wings turned completely black unlike their normal mismatched selves. My theory is that he cannot use both powers at the same time, they are like oil and water within his body. As a result, should he use one side, the other is weakened to the point of being nearly useless in a fight between strong enemies. But, to compensate for this weakness, Emiya decided to let one of his halves 'become whole' as it were... though I doubt he will be able to use it for very long. That energy, I could sense it trying to corrupt Emiya's mind, just like how your Kakuja does the same with yours Nico. He must have strong mental fortitude to resist this however, which makes me wonder just what kind of beast has been brought into existence.'**

Hearing that explanation sent shudders down the male's spine as he leaned back against the warm side of his Archdemon, Urthemiel's calm, steady breaths working wonders in calming him down from that recent experience. And he had thought being possessed by Okada was bad, though that in itself felt like a whole new can of worms. Still, what Biko said nagged at him, it made sense that Castiel couldn't use both powers at once, they felt very extreme. Way more than what Nico had experienced before. To let one take over completely though, it felt... way too similar to his situation with his Ghoul side, especially when he went Kakuja and allowed the madness inside it to take hold of his sanity before tossing it aside. Perhaps Castiel's would be much more extreme than that, but he could still understand the sheer risk of using such a power.

Not only that, but if he could do it with his evil side, then what about the holy side? Would something similar happen if he were to let it take over? If he could do one, it would stand to reason that he could do the same with the other energy too, although considering that Castiel didn't do it until now likely meant that he couldn't or at least hadn't thought about it until now. Remembering what Castiel had told him about his backstory, Nico assumed that it was a bit of both somewhat the seal he had been forced to carry by his mother (Nico still shuddered at that) limited his potential and his ability to grow. Only with it gone now thankfully, could Castiel explore what he could do in its entirety. Its like he now could finally reach the levels that he should have had should he not have gotten stunted at birth. His potential...

It felt way more vast and optional than what he could do at the moment...

('Oh, don't you start any of that bullshit!')

A sharp, annoyed yet steely voice cut through Nico's thoughts, making him sit upwards sharply while lightly gasping, even though it took seconds for him to realize the owner of it. 'Okada?! Oh wait, that's right, since the process was complete, you and I can think to each other like I do with my other Personas...' the male thought, suddenly feeling sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

('Yeah, your future instructor is here, so listen up! So what if that kid has some fancy ass powers, all you will need is a sword to deal with him and that will be it! Who cares about what he has, as long as you have a sword in hand, when I'm one with you you'll be able to defeat all opponents with just that! You won't even need all these other powers you possess! One sword will be fucking enough!')

Nico himself, found his jaw dropping when he heard Okada's declaration like that. If it were any other person, then he likely wouldn't have believed them very much, hell if Biko or his Ghoul Persona would have said all that stuff then he maybe would have believed them a whole lot more. But Okada Izou? Someone whom he KNEW would be able to fight on par with the top dogs of his Dimension with just his swordplay alone? Those words spoken from his mouth held a whole lot more meaning. If he said them, how could he not believe him? He definitely had the credentials...

('Oh yeah, before I forget, try choosing a reward already. That trial thing's stopping me from pulling your ass down here for some long overdue revamping! Pick what you want already so we can get started!')

Just as Okada said that, Nico noticed that there was a screen before him, one which he recognized from the previous trials as the reward screen. It displayed numerous items for him to choose from, and as he looked at it, he could only think of the Golden Crow's bloodline that he wasted, causing him to frown to himself. He still wanted to know if he could salvage that situation, it was what had been on his mind the most during this whole trial...

"oh, heeellllooooooo, little emo booooooyyyyyyy!"

"Wha?!" Nico gasped, his eyes widening as he practically jumped, his skin nearly leaving his body. Right in front of him, Zelretch appeared before him with... some bikini-clad women in police uniforms pole dancing all around him. All of them had huge boobs and curvy figures too, and were making these erotic moaning sounds towards the redhead... who could only twitch his brow in annoyance. "Hey there, Zelretch…" he stated through gritted teeth, annoyance shining behind his light blue orbs.

In response, Zelretch waved a hand like a cheeky monkey, not something unsurprising considering what he had experienced with him so far. "A little birdy told me that you've been thinking about that bloodline and book you bought in the last trial, am I wrong little chick?" he questioned, getting Nico's attention as he became serious. "Oh, don't sweat your pants off, actually seriously don't do that, I'd rather see a sexy woman do that instead of an angsty teenager. Anyways, your situation with the flames..." At this, the older man's tone dropped a few levels as his eyes turned serious. "I'll be blunt, its not good. If you had just asked for help you could have made the perfect fusion with those flames, but you relied on yourself like you normally do." he stated, each of his words like knives plunging into Nico's being.

"Yeah... I'll admit you are right, alright?" Nico responded, sighing instead of being angry at the guy. He wasn't a fool, he knew when to admit that he had his flaws. Zelretch wasn't wrong either, he had thought about it many times during these trials, not only did he have serious flaws as a swordsman but a lot in other areas as well. He had much to learn, and a long ass road ahead of him, a road likely filled with perils. Still, he'll not let this get him down. It would betray everything he had done so far if he forgot his resolve at this point. 'Move forwards, never stop... if you retreat you age... be afraid and you die... move forward and never stop trying. The resolve to move forwards... I'll NEVER forget it!' the male thought to himself.

Something must have been leaked however, since Zelretch noticed his train of thought. "Seeing that you have your flaws and are still willing to work towards correcting them is a step in the right direction. Even if you have been focusing more on your body and less on your mind." The man commented, grabbing Nico's attention. What did the guy mean by that? Nico wondered about it, and gears began to turn as he reflected on what he said. Something about those words bugged him, and he could feel like there was an answer on the tip of his tongue. "But anyways, not all on your end is lost. The amount of blood you got with that dusty old book was actually the purest sample of the Golden Crow's blood, one of the rarest samples I've found yet. Because of this, when you ingested it the blood didn't properly fuse, at best you have a 30-35% absorption so far. However, the rest of it remains dormant within your bloodstream instead of dissipating like it should have. Probably because despite your methods, you actually have a strong affinity for this flame. Thus, all you need to do is work hard with those flames, train them, strain yourself in using them like for example use them inside super hot areas, and the fusion percentage will rise. You'll need to get up to 110%, but it won't be easy. That shouldn't be a problem for you though, mister copy of the orange haired death god."

When he heard that explanation, Nico heaved a heavy sigh of relief, glancing behind him at Urthemiel who was quietly sleeping despite Zelretch being within his defences. Nico figured that he was doing something, but that didn't matter to him right now. The knowledge that not all was lost to him immensely satisfied the male, not to mention that Zelretch was right. This would NOT get him down, and in fact this would be preferable for him. "You... are right about that." Nico began. "I'd honestly rather earn the right to wield this bloodline instead of just gaining it, makes it much more satisfying when I can actually use it." he replied, sighing. Now that he knew that, Nico decided to focus on something ese, something eh had been thinking about for a long while. "Say, can I ask you something else quickly?"

"Sure, hit me with it."

"Um, its about your Godson. He told me his story, about how he felt like he had failed as a leader and wanted to prove to himself that he wasn't incompetent. He told me that he felt like his comrades got hurt and it was all his fault, and thanks to what I've been learning recently I can' say he's completely wrong, but... doesn't it seem like he's making a huge deal out of something very little?" Nico questioned, causing Zelretch to frown. Just before he could say anything, Nico continued. "I mean, I'm not insulting the guy, that's not what I'm saying, but a leader can't possibly know everything that was about to happen, that's just not how it works. They can TRY, but ultimately they'll eventually fail. A leader from what I can tell is someone who shoulders many people's lives on their shoulders, not something I can do. But, nobody's perfect, and even leaders are bound to make errors at some point. The best way to deal with these times, to me at least, is to learn from these mistakes and make sure that you don't repeat them. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, at least that's what I think."

At this, Zelretch gave a sigh, shaking his head. "Ordinarily, you wouldn't be wrong, but the fact of the matter is that mot of the comrades Castiel has were those that he's in love with, his fiancés and girlfriends. He took it worse since they all suffered grievous injuries and he couldn't help them. The enemy he fought back then would be comparable to some of the more powerful Demons in your Dimension, one which if he wasn't stopped, could level the entire city and start a great war. Not good for the planets complexion, if you ask me. Then there's the fact of his little mother situation which only made things worse for him."

Nico nodded, understanding where Zelretch was coming from. "If that's the case, then it makes my point even more valid." he replied. "The mom thing I'd rather tell him face to face, since that's a whole new can of worms. But my point is that since Castiel has such a bond with them, he should know that he will eventually make mistakes and his comrades will get harmed. That's pretty much war in a nutshell. However, since they chose to follow him, they had to be confident in their abilities beforehand, and they trust him as their leader. I can sorta see it myself, since I have comrades I consider precious myself." Memories of that time before he reached the Hellverse Dungeon to regroup with IF came to mind. How he eased his conscience by providing Neptune and Compa with means to protect themselves better against the Demons, then how he vowed to make sure Tekken and MAGES. would survive that experience, pretty much temporarily becoming the leader in that situation. "There will be times when this will happen, I learned this myself and I'm far from leadership material we both know that. But Emiya? He can do it, my mother once told me that nothing will hit you as hard as life will. The important thing is bouncing back and hitting hard afterwards like its no big deal. I think this situation is one of those times, though its not my business so if I've overstepped my boundaries, I'll apologize. I say these things cause I respect him, and hey, maybe an outside opinion could help him in ways he didn't foresee."

There, he had said his piece. Nico doubted Castiel would be pleased if he heard him say all this, and he had a whole lot MORE to say about the mother situation but he'd rather tell that to him face-to-face. If he wanted him to say what he said just now, then he would. Nico would not cower from that, but he had been thinking about this on the side for a long while, ever since Castiel had told him about his story, about his recent failure. Nico may not understand the whole depths of the situation he faced, but that didn't mean he couldn't necessarily offer his own opinion on the matter. It'd be up to him whether to listen or not. Like Castiel though, Nico too could understand his frustration. The worry for his comrades surviving a great battle, he knew that feeling. He felt it a lot during the Hellverse incident, hell in the later stages of that time he spent with the CMA fighting the Coalition showed him a few things too. He could also understand some other things about Castiel's story, but he would save them for if the guy would ask him. Whilst it wasn't his business, like he had said, but Nico respected the guy from the short time that they knew each other. He respected him as a leader and as a rival, so offering his own opinion felt like lending a helping hand. Its not a bad thing, not only that but Nico would do the same for any other whom he respected, since there were so few in the world that fit the bill. Even with his current problems, these facts remained ingrained into his brain.

"Hmmm, interesting..." Zelretch commented to himself. He wouldn't show it right now, but he honestly felt surprised. For a beast like him, Nico showed some maturity there. No doubt, it took a LOT out of his pride to say these things, but Zelretch could see the effect his godson had on this emo kid (who right now was looking anywhere but Zelretch's direction, amusingly enough). He himself had seen how his godson had been getting better since opening up to the kid about his sob story, but he had been focusing a lot on these trials. Not actually sitting down and thinking these things over. Hell, the two had been getting closer unknowingly through their series of conversations, one of them losing some of his edgy persona in a bid to pursue more knowledge, and the other regaining some confidence in himself as a leader. "Looks like you were slightly more mature than I thought, kid. Though your right in the not understanding part. The scales between you two aren't that similar, but neither are they that different. Looks like my godson's had an effect on you, albeit unintentionally. The fact that you're connected to a heroic Spirit due to my Godson's presence not withstanding."

At the last part, a look of realization crossed onto Nico's face, before a smirk slowly reached his lips. "Heh, I figured he had something to do with it. Looks like I owe him again... Well then, I know what I'm going to do with my points then. Thank you for listening to me rambling anyways, I could tell you were about to fall asleep for a bit there." Nico remarked, slightly chuckling.

This earned a snort from the man, but not an ill-mannered one. "Heh, at least it served the purpose of getting you off that edgy shit for once, kid. Anyways, I'll be going now, was curious about what you were doing, but this is much different from what I expected." he said, before vanishing again. Urthemiel remained asleep during the whole experience, to which Nico mentally sighed at.

'Whelp, time to choose my reward then head off to my Inner World to meet with Okada... This will likely be a long session... but it'll be worth it.'

* * *

Castiel POV

'Wow, that is a lot of points'.

That was my first thought as I saw how many points I had obtained. It was an absurdly high number, but oe thing I found interesting was the semi-rewards put there too. It was likely that it was something like a system to give extra rewards for the demi-bosses I faced as I did face more of them then Nico anyway, and killed more of the Fishmen.

Seeing all the options there was one thing that attracted my attention in the semi-reward list, katana that carried the soul of a black dragon. The name of the katana is what called my attention the most, Flayed.

It is funny to think there would be a weapon actually named this way, but I can see why this weapon would be interesting for me. Due to how I practiced and learned under Assassin-sensei I know all there is to know about katanas, according to him I am probably amongst the very best of the best katana users in my world, but I never found one that actually matched me. It was sad really, but I only ever trained with a general purpose one, and while it was enough for me to practice it was not good enough for me to use in battle. I am not on the same level of Assassin-sensei and in the end my world was too filled with strong people and a simple katana would not cut it.

Besides, I was already trying to master so many things that I had no time for one more type of sword, but now that a good katana is in front of me that would likely compliment my powers as well as the fact that I have time due to my Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal so I have the time to learn it properly.

"My first option is the sword _Flayed_." I said, spending three of the semi-rewards with this. The other semi-rewards went straight into buying starlight stones, much like most of my points as that is something that I need for Jirachi. I can feel it is one tiny step away from evolving and I feel we might need its help to whatever it is that will be the final challenge, especially since uncle Zelretch sent me a message informing that the form I used before is forbidden in the last trial.

Shame, it would be much easier to win with it. Oh well, at least I have it now. I guess I will call it Evil Spirit form, as I really become the spirit of evil in that form.

Anyway, after that I bought hundreds of gems of high quality and many magic reagents and rare metals to take to the Tower. I analyzed the guns used by Hammond and knew at least the general metals used so it was not all that hard to buy the right metals.

Thankfully the number of points I had was simply absurd, more than enough for me to buy tons of rare metals, all will find good use back in the Tower. Zelretch even threw a freebie in a special cubes that could contain all that metal instead of taking it in ingots as it would be too troublesome to carry them like that.

After that I moved to the main thing, but as I looked at the Reward list for mission accomplished I saw two items shining brightly, like literally shining.

One is a Demon King seed(?) and the other a Hero egg(?), which I honestly have no idea what means.

"Hohoho, to think this would happen. This is truly interesting." A voice came from my back, and without even needing to turn I know exactly who it belongs to.

"Why do you say this, uncle Zelretch?"

"These two items are special, unique really. They are items from an unique dimension with very strong beings and these two items are the key for the strength of most of the strongest ones there. The Demon King seed is an item that is closer to a special ability, when a demonic being or monster absorbs 10.000 souls that he himself killed he will be able to evolve into a demon king, an entity that is many times stronger than what you can possibly imagine right now. The stronger ones are able to control the flow of time, causality, all energy, space, and many other things with their skills, truly a strong type of being.

"Their reserves of energy are also amplified and their abilities rise exponentially no matter how strong they were before. They may also lose some of their original skills and abilities but it happens to form an ultimate skill that combines them into a stronger form.

"A True Hero is much the same, they grow strong and they stop being human to become semi-spiritual instead, it is sort of becoming a Demi-Servant but of yourself. And the difference in power between before and after becoming a True Hero is much like the difference between a human and a Demi-Servant. The True Hero also has an Ultimate Skill and is normally a bit stronger than a Demon Lord, but nothing that is truly definitive." Zelretch explained, and I must say that this is interesting.

If this truly is how he said then it might be interesting to have this thing.

"Of course, there is also a risk. If someone don't fulfil the requirements after obtaining these then they are useless, only if the requirements are fulfilled can they be of any use. The requirement to become a Demon Lord is 100.000 souls creatures that must be killed by the user himself and the requirements for True Hero is to have a strong willpower and be admired by many while you must also do something that is truly good and heroic."

Oh well, it is risky so I m not 100% sure I should take this offer.

It is tempting, but I still want to obtain spirit bones to my torso, right arm, and right leg and try to see if I can form a full spirit armor, if I could manage that my power would raise exponentially.

"Maybe I could be of assistance..."

* * *

"Maybe I could be of assistance..."

Approaching Castiel from behind (after overhearing his words just as he had been able to choose his own reward), Nico interjected whilst putting his hands in his pockets, carrying an aloof demeanor whilst Zelretch gave him a knowing look. Figures that he had insight into what he was doing right now, that guy DID have some unnaturally high IQ. His godson, at the moment of hearing him, turned to face the redhead with an arching of an eyebrow in confusion when he responded to his words with a question of his own. "Be of assistance how, Nico?"

"What I mean by that, is that I can cash in a couple of my rewards for defeating a few of the sub bosses in that trial, in order for you to buy some of those Spirit Bones you seem to wish for so badly, considering you got annoyed when I returned from my bonus match." Nico explained,eyeing Castiel knowingly. He had been able to sense the guy's agitation whilst he performed the tests on his Evil Orca King Spirit Bone. Though, he had quickly put it to the back of his mind in favor of learning exactly what his new addition to his arsenal could be capable of... something which resulted in him liking his new Spirit Bone QUITE a bit. "That okay with you?"

"...And why would you do that? Sorry for being sceptical and all, but one thing I've learned long ago is that if there is some deal that seems too good to be true, then it probably is bull-crap that will screw me over later on for sure." Castiel said hesitantly, he realized how good the proposition was for him, but it was just too good and as such he could not simply accept it just like that.

In politics and when talking between two parties too much benefit to one party is not a positive thing, it is more suspecious instead.

At hearing the response of his companion, Nico shrugged his shoulders while taking out his hands from his Trench Coat pockets. The teen did a good job in hiding how... complicated, he felt inside from these two though. It didn't feel very easy to admit all this after all, especially to this guy. It would be FAR from Nico's own comfort zone, especially since he hadn't known the guy for very long. "Its simple really..." he began. "One thing I always do is pay back my debts, Emiya. In this case, you've given me lots of advice, you've born with some of the shit I've done in these last few trials, you've unintentionally set me up with a connection to Okada Izou, so yeah I have a few debts to pay. This is just my way of paying you back, otherwise, I'd feel like an absolute idiot."

At hearing that, Castiel's doubts got lifted as he nearly heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment, he forgot that Nico wasn't exactly a politician, so when he had offered that deal he had fallen back onto his leadership training. If he was honest, it felt kind of refreshing. "Well, if you are sure than it is fine. But first I have to ask something for you uncle Zelretch." Castiel said before turning to the Vampire who, for some reason, was sitting in a chair while playing Fortnite in 8k in a 100 inches TV, his character was dancing a little dance of victory due to him have shot someone named LittleTim63.

"Say it quick, I have more noobs to kill and you two are getting boring!" Zelretch said without turning to look at the two.

Without missing a beat Castiel asked.

"Uncle Zelretch, if I decide to buy both the Hero egg and Demon Lord seed can I do it with just one reward?"

"Sure, why not? I don't give much of a damn for those things anyway, they are just accumulating dust here anyway and even if I wanted to give them to others to get rid of them it is not like there are many these things would even accept anyway. If anything you getting the two is just fine by me. But if you intend to give the Demon Lord seed to Nico, he can take it but it may never hatch. A Demon Lord seed is an item that CHOOSES the user, you can forcefully implant it now, but the result might be that he loses it due to not fulfilling some of the requirements, such as being a leader amongst monsters or demons. YOU could work with it regardless since you are in the leadership of the Tower and they command an army of 20.000 homunculi but Nico doesn't. It will all depend on his future, how he will develop from here on out, but if you want to take the risk then go right ahead." Zelretch explained before yelling at the TV "FUCK! BigTim64 shot me in the head! And he is dancing above my corpse! I will freaking kill him for this!"

Ignoring that end, Castiel turned to Nico and said. "I will buy the two, you can decide if you want to risk with the Demon King's seed or not, if you want it is yours." Castiel said without hesitation.

Heh, Nico didn't even NEED to think about it, even with the risks involved. The teen shrugged once more, a light shining in his eyes which would only be reserved for those whom he would vow to kill with his own hands. "Sure, I'll take the risk. Not like I'll have much of a chance in the future and besides, this kind of thing sounds like its a perfect fit for someone like me." he replied, and he would not be wrong. A Demon King Seed definitely fit someone like him who practices demonic powers, and any chance to make them even more lethal than they already were, would be a welcome addition.

"Okay, so I buy the Demon King's seed and Hero egg, the Hero egg is mine and the Demon King's seed is for Nico!" Castiel proclaimed, and a flash of light happened. After the light settled down both did not feel any different, there was no difference in any part of their bodies whatsoever but one thing was felt by both.

There was something, it was hard to say what exactly even as they tried to investigate it, but there was something that was decidedly different.

Deciding to not think too deeply about this Nico proceeded to buy the Spirit bones to Castiel. With 4 semi-rewards he bought a 200.000 years old Right Leg spirit bone from a Holy Qilin, a divine-type scaled unicorn spirit beast that was known for being a spirit beast that only appeared when a noble leader appeared in the lands, it would work as a protector of the innocent while punishing the evil-doers and those who tried to harm those it cared about.

The second was a Right Arm spirit bone of a True Phoenix! That one costed the reward and a lot of points for both Castiel and Nico, but it was an 800.000 years Spirit Bone from a Divine Beast, it even had the characteristic of coming with some of its Divine Blood into it as an added extra! That was a surprise for both Nico and Castiel, but both just rolled with it and decided not to complain much about it, even as Nico thought it was pure preferential treatment.

Oh well, Nico was not going to complain much. His very presence here was just a whimsical decision made by Zelretch just to make sure Castiel had someone to talk to, Nico knew this whole thing had literally been one giant lucky chance for him, the fact that he had obtained it had simply been pure luck.

Castiel saw this though and decided to talk to Nico for a bit.

"You should buy these if you can." I tell him, gesturing to several items on the list of rewards. "These metals are the basis for the weapons used by a Fishmen's gun that could match my light attacks, if your side can produce enough of these babies it should be enough to give you all an edge during your battles. Also, if you want, I can try and write down a list of runes and their inner works to you. It may not be so useful to you, but with this I think you might be able to introduce it to your world and maybe help evolve it further for its defense." Castiel then scratched his head a bit and with a troubled face said. "Look, I know that I have not been exactly the best guy to be around these last few days, and I know you are trying on your side too, so let me give you some help in helping those from your word."

"Are you sure? I mean, this would be great, but shouldn't it be a secret of your side or something like that?" Nico asked, frowning. This sounded like a great favour to his mind, but he couldn't help but feel complicated about it. That type of firepower felt like it should remain with Castiel's side to him, and he had no right to access it for his world.

"Don't worry, we are from different words anyway and after this we will likely not meet again. My word is a great mess of politics but yours seems like a mess of war, from what I got you need more and your world needs more just as well, so let me give you a hand on this one. Okay?" Castiel said. "Besides, I always wondered how much the knowledge of the Tower could be of use in somewhere that would invest wholeheartedly into it and would use it to the fullest." Castiel said that one with an evil grin, and for some reason Nico again doubted if Castiel could EVER count as an angel.

But that smile also made him shiver while imagining the fate of the many Demons in the near future. He still did not know how it would turn out, but the sheer and absurd amount of information in Castiel's mind would help reshape the war in Gamindustri.

And Nico was going to like it VERY much.

* * *

In any case, Nico decided on accepting the offer, and with that the two got to work on doing their thing. Nico used his points to buy the specified materials to make those weapons, whilst Castiel wrote down the runes alongside their workings with the speed of a cheetah down in one hell of a large book he had pulled out of nowhere. Kind of like Nico's own Void Storage, the redhead mused to himself whilst Zelretch just did his own thing. You know, just being Zelretch. Though, the man DID once sneak a liiiiiittle tiny peak at them and noticed how the two seemed to be getting along gradually. The more Castiel talked Nico through the runes, during which the redhead slowly started to grasp the concepts of runes before questioning and getting answers (something which pleased the Heir), and the more that Nico lost his 'edgy' aura around him... it made the man smirk knowingly.

After a while, the manual and the materials were deposited inside Nico's Void Storage, and just as they were about to finish, Nico suddenly thought of something. The moment that he did, the impatient-feeling Okada soon arched a brow with mild intrigue, while Biko and his Ghoul Persona wondered where this idea would take them (the former more than the latter cause, you know, instinct personified and all). "Hey, Emiya."

"Yeah?"

"If I recall correctly, you had gotten a new sword, yeah? Why don't we have a Spar with only our sword play?" The redhead offered, summoning Rebellion and pointing to a large space near them. He then continued his explanation without breaking eye contact with his companion. "That way we both get something out of it. Okada wants me to remake my entire sword style into the Manslayer one, but to do that I have to relearn swordsmanship under him. As for you, you can get used to your new blade so it doesn't feel alien to use when in future battles." There was another reason why Nico had offered this, and that was due to him taking some of Castiel's earlier advice, advice given to him when he had told the guy about his Inner World. Sparring was something that he often did with people like Guts or his comrades, it was a nice way of growing closer to them since the only thing one needs to communicate with would be their blade.

Actions speak louder than words after all.

Castiel accepted it since there wasn't much of a reason not to, the two were already inside his Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal anyways, so it was practical enough to do it then and there.

"Sure, I don't mind but let's agree not to use anything except pure swordsmanship during this fight. I want to see how much I can use on this katana since I never found one that matched me well enough. Oh, but I got to ask you something first." Castiel said while taking out Flayed from space, pocket dimensions are so practical that it was almost cheating.

"Sure, tell me your question." Nico said while taking out his Rebellion. His sword was clearly much stronger than Flayed, but for some reason he felt like he was not going to like what is about to happen and started regretting it just a bit. It was somewhat similar to the feeling Nico feels when he asks Helen for a fight, it increased his battle spirit but he could not help but doubt his own sanity a little bit when he does that.

Oh well, he constantly talks with himself and for him this already is normal, so this whole thing isn't nothing new.

"Is your regenerative abilities strong? I ask because this might end up a bit bloody since with a katana I am not proficient enough NOT to aim for the kill." Castiel said before taking a stance equal to what Assassin uses.

Nico felt something wrong as soon as he looked at that stance, but it was Okada who said something first.

('Phew, this kid is good. That position works perfectly for defense and attacking, the size of the blade being so large ensures this while also raising the difficulty to use said katana, but he doesn't seem to have a problem controlling this sword at all. He might not be so much of a trash as I thought he was. Maybe he is a genius too? Well, let's wait and see, right trashy descendant of mine?')

And that last remark made Nico gain a tick mark in his forehead. He never enjoyed being considered badly and being called trashy is not exactly something he was enjoying.

"My healing property is okay, don't need to worry about tha-"

And that was as far as Nico managed to go before he saw a sword tip centimeters away from his eye.

Reacting quickly, he crouched to avoid the strike, and readied his own strike. But it was not a good idea since Castiel did not instantly withdrew his Katana and instead pushed it further ahead in empty air before swinging it down. Nico abandoned his strike to instead launch it upward to block the downward attack from Castiel, but instead of the pressure he expected there was no energy in the downward attack that clearly had power before.

But by then he noticed this way too late, his attack ended hitting Flayed and wasting his attack. No, not wasted since Castiel took advantage of the energy used to move his sword even faster and with more power, hitting the ground and launching dust and rocks at Nico's eyes.

Nico cursed as he jumped back while cleaning his eyes. Still in mid-air he managed to open his eyes again but failed to see Castiel.

THUD

The moment Nico landed, trouble waited for him. He felt something from his rear, and before he could turn to see Flayed was upon his neck, Castiel was standing behind him with a sword in the ready to strike. "Your sword, you depend too much on extra powers and unnecessary things. If you want to reach the top using the sword you still have a long way to go." Castiel explained before removing his blade from Nico's neck.

Nico turned to him and almost opened his mouth to complain about the dirt in his eyes, but in the end he closed his gob and decided against it. He was no fool, this was indeed a fight, only the winner had the right to say anything and the method used to win wasn't relevant. There was no such thing as a right method to win, there was only a winner and a loser. Right now, Castiel was the winner and Nico himself had been the loser.

What Nico failed to see was Castiel's approving glance he had for a moment there, Nico not complaining proved to him that he had not been an idiot at all. Seeing the seriousness in Nico's eyes Castiel nodded in approval before declaring they will only practice for one hour since he still had to absorb the Spirit Bones, give the items to Jirachi to evolve, and finish writing the essay about different stuff for Nico. Honestly, he had a lot on his plate and couldn't accompany Nico for that long a period of time.

Something the teen redhead teen nodded in understanding as he got himself ready.

Though, just as Castiel charged at him again with his Katana about to slice through his neck from the right side, Nico made to counter...

('On your left')

Okada's words made Nico snap his gaze to the left, making him see a previously unseen strike aimed for his abdomen. Nico sharply reacted thanks to this, and instead of attacking blindly like he had before, Nico focused on blocking both strikes... only for one of them to break through and he suffered a gash up his right arm's bicep. A Particularly large gash too. 'What the? Was that some sort of effect? For a moment, it felt like I was facing against two blades instead of one...' The teen thought in confusion.

That is until he pushed it aside to twist his body and clash with Castiel again since during his thinking, he had gotten into his right flanking area. Nico had blocked Flayed by angling Rebelllion's blade downwards, then when he recalled his fight with that Fishman leader he shifted the blade to allow Flayed to slide down it, sharply raising a leg to kick his opponent.

However, Castiel disappeared before he could and, instinctively, Nico retracted his leg just a millisecond before the Heir could slice it off with his Katana. Nico then stomped his foot onto the ground, propelling himself forth into Castiel's space of attack with the intent of cutting through his shoulderblade. He did so with an upward slash, for Castiel to pivot around him and swing towards his back... only that Nico back flipped over it to swing Rebellion at his head during the apex of his flip.

Castiel responded by headbutting him before the strike could land, sending him in a diagonal direction away from him.

Grunting as he had managed to use an arm to block it at the last second, Nico slid across the ground and made to stand up, before the tip of Flayed got pointed at his face between his eyes. 'Tch, lost again...' Nico thought to himself as his mind replayed everything, analyzing his movements and mistakes.

On the other end, Castiel saw this and mentally nodded in approval. "A bit longer than the last time, but you're getting better." He stated. "Keep an eye on the opponent's footwork, that can mean the greatest difference between life or death when in a sword fight. Footwork is practically the foundation for every master swordsman, before you've sorta been using this concept without realizing it, evidence of your self-taught fighting methods. After this hour is done though, I believe that your future instructor will be far worse in his teaching than I am."

"Yeah, I'll have to agree with you there..." Nico replied with a nod, getting up and, out of instinct, raising Rebellion to block the incoming strike to his mouth.

With this action, Castiel nodded, it seemed that what his uncle had told him wasn't for show after all. "Good, you've got the instincts down." he stated, before launching a complex series of slashes, feints and thrusts with faints of their own in under 5 seconds. Nico managed to barely hold out on them, any injuries he sustained regenerating way too rapidly to be seen with the naked eye.

As the hour passed on, Nico and Castiel continued to spar with the Her practically dominating it through half of the time. It took a while, but as they sparred, Nico's hidden potential with the sword started to shine through the more he exchanged pointers, not to mention the sneaky little titbits of advice that Okada provided him through their connection, forcing Nico to look at things from different angles to decipher them whilst blocking and repelling at the same time. It wasn't easy, but let it be known that when he focused on something, Nico didn't do a half-assed job at attempting.

After the halfway point though, THAT was when things turned to Nico's favour, his footwork got remodeled from his prior failures and he began to rely more on his senses and his sword skills than anything else, refining both at the same time. He would learn how to detect minute changes in the atmosphere to help him dodge attacks, he would learn how to time his attacks so that they came without warning and lessened their unpredictability, he'd learned how to parry and repel at just the right times with the right parts of his weapon, and not only that but Nico began to... see something. Something he wasn't sure of right now, and felt similar to the thing he felt before with the Demon King's seed, but he felt that if he practiced the art of the sword long enough he would be able to see it. As a result, the progress that Castiel had made training through Assassin, Nico managed to up his swordplay to match his own...

Though Okada would not have that, his descendant needed to be the BEST, to be a BEAST with the way of the sword.

After that they went to do their own thing.

Castiel started trying to use Emily's trick with strings made of light to move a total of eight pencils at the same time, it was harder than he expected, making him feel even more respect for the crazy control over light his best friend had. More like a sister to him really, even if he found it weird how sometimes he would wake up with her sleeping on top of him half naked while the two were living together alone, or how she sometimes left the door open when she was changing clothes, and how she liked skinship by sometimes hugging him way too long while not wearing a bra, and how she never dated anyone despite being so popular, but that was all a coincidence. If she was into him she would have said it, after all every girl he was with either said it directly or was in an arranged marriage with him (not that he minded that, he was close to them anyway and worked things out with them), Kuroko is special basically jumped on him naked at least twelve times while they lived in the Tower and he was taking a shower while yelling 'Onii-sama! I love you!', that is how he knows someone likes him.

Anyway, Castiel was writing down all sorts of knowledge to Nico take back to his world. Medicine, poison making, monster taming, beast raising, alchemy, runecraft, schools of magic, theory about war and combat in groups, training regimens to advance more in body cultivation, ways to protect mind and soul including several techniques to train those as well to become stronger, mystic codes creation, light based weapons and how to use and create them, strategies against different types of enemy, herbs and their uses, really a lot of different things. These books Castiel is writing are more like a resume for him but for those who hadn't seen them they were extremely complete and complex to an incredible point, but all of it could be of use to Nico's world. This was Castiel's way of paying back the favor since he didn't really considers what he did all that much.

Besides, the more he wrote down the more inspired he got as his own ideas and knowledge started reorganizing and becoming even clearer, not only in paper but in his mind too.

As for Nico, the teen stayed in his Inner World, pretty much getting grueled to death by Okada in the ways of swordsmanship. The man would waste no time, as the very SECOND that he had arrived in his Inner World, Nico found himself pulled into a large open area by the Heroic Spirit and being thrown headfirst into one HELL of a brutal training regimen. Remember what he had said about his instructor before? Whelp, he had been right... in more ways than one, not like he could be happy about it. In fact, Okada would have given his mother and Biko a run for their money in terms of being a sadistic asshole when it comes to combat. He had made absolutely sure to thoroughly drill into Nico's body the essence of swordsmanship in order for him to start learning how to use the Manslayer Style of combat. In the Heroic Spirits eyes, all other styles would prove inferior, the Manslayer style essentially could absorb the techniques and styles of other warriors and make them better, merging them with itself like a certain Slime protagonist whenever he used 'pred####'

The training itself would likely redefine the word 'brutal' in Nico's mind. The reason why, was cause it consisted of non-stop sparring with Okada who would literally BAT the SHIT out of Nico, stomping out his previous swordplay that remained after his spar with Castiel. He would then remake it into the Manslayer Style, pretty much turning Nico into a clone of himself in terms of swordplay. Thing was, Nico did NOT complain at least ONCE during this training, if anything Nico wished it could be even tougher so he could iron out all the mistakes in his sword style. He wanted to challenge Okada at full power, he wanted to surpass him in the art of the sword, this desire sprang forth in him thanks to Castiel's instructions, but grew even further with Okada's training... which sort of acted like a bomb which, when exploding, unleashed the hidden potential Nico held inside. As a result, he completely assimilated the Manslayer Style, reworking his swordsmanshp to a level where Okada could be satisfied... if only a little.

After all, even with Nico's absurd learning capabilities, along with the hours they spent in the Inner World and his unlocked talent for the sword, he would still be no match for Okada at full power. At least by the time his training ended the kid could make Okada take the battle at least moderately more seriously. But that alone had been WAY better than what he had started out with, and looking back on it, Nico shared his sword mentor's feelings wholeheartedly.

Aside from that, Nico focused on researching more on the Lexicanum's knowledge alongside the knowledge that he had gained so far rom his companion in these trials. Learning what he could from the floating Tome had provided Nico with a few more books worth of knowledge that were stored in the Library. He learned more about the DPU's culture, what Gamindustri had been like back when the DPUs had ruled over it. He learned what had transpired during the 'preparation period' of the war, those many decades of tense and uneasy peace between the Goddess Odyssey Heart and the other DPUs. Though, he had to admit, that the more he learned about them the more disgusted with his predecessors he became. Sure all of the DPUs were broken as hell in their own ways, what with their wold conquests and fighting prowess, but the way that they acted towards others, it truly sickened him. It made him wonder what he would do should he encounter other DPUs, as according to what he had learned from the Lexicanum, the DPUs as a species... were FAR from dead. If anything, they had never died to begin with, not even during that massive war which destroyed Gamindustri back then. He focused on learning more about the DPUs themselves, the more notable ones who cared fierce legends about their exploits and their abilities. More specifically the ones who were stronger than most but could not break into the third rank: the Chaos Class.

That class almost seemed like it had been reserved for the Chaos Gods alone, since no other DPU had gotten to that level. Which begged the question: Why?

* * *

After a total of 5 hours, Castiel finally stopped writing, as he believed he wrote down enough. His hand lightly ached from all the writing he had done, but he honestly found it rather refreshing, since it had been a while since he had done something like this. More than 9 thousand pages of content, all organized with more knowledge than most could ever understand in a life time.

Seeing this Castiel smiled for a second before taking the two spirit bones and putting them above his right arm and left leg and starting the process. The right leg bone fused with him almost instantly, the spirit was known to appear around rulers and he could be considered someone made to be king so it was relatively easy for him to fuse with that spirit bone. The abilities he gained are two, _Cloud Walking_ in that Castiel can create small clouds underneath his feet to be able to walk in the air, and ability that may seem useless but was great for sword fights in mid-air since flying was not the same as walking and flying moved the body in completely different ways; the second ability was especially interesting for him, _Weight of Sin_ allowed him to put a weight in someone equivalent to how many sins and evil actions the person has done during her life. That was useful for Castiel that could see exactly how many sins someone has and will know how great a pressure the person will be carrying.

The right arm spirit bone however, that one was harder to deal with. It and Argetlan were not too compatible and it took much longer for the two to unite as one, but the result was definitely worth it. Not only did Castiel gain more control over fire in his right arm he also could create Phoenix fire in it, star fire, and Vermilion Bird fire, it could be said that in the fire department there would be few beings with more powerful flames than his, except perhaps Illyaelia but her existence is cheating by itself. Castiel also got a second ability from this Spirit Bone, Rebirth Nirvana in that once every day he could recover all his wounds and energy as if he was reborn while also growing stronger physically and with an even greater potential, but this ability just works once every day and it will only be possible to activate it a total of nine times during his whole life. With each new Nirvana his potential and body will grow stronger but he will need an even greater base level before the next one, it was an ability that could be called a saving grace in case he ever was close to death, as if he had gained a total of nine lives.

Not only that but with these new bones Castiel could feel that the spirit bones were linking together, as if they were becoming a unity. They all carried different auras and powers but they all carried the same regal disposition and ruling power, as if each of these beasts was king amongst their race or something along those lines. But the link was not working so well due to the fact Castiel still lacked a Torso Spirit Bone and how, even if they linked, they wouldn't match perfectly due to how different their powers were by nature. But one thing was for sure, with these two new Spirit Bones Castiel's body and potential was stimulated further yet again, they now were even greater than before and Castiel had no doubt he would be able to beat up Kokabiel easily and with no injuries if he were to face him now.

* * *

Later on...

"Yo, the last trial's been prepped and ready to go, brats."

Zelretch's words quickly roused the two boys from their activities. Castiel looked up from his process of training his Spirit Bones, whilst Nico opened his eyes after returning from his Inner World, as well as one of the MANY torturous spars with Okada. The guy, whenever he wasn't pounding Nico into the ground, often spent his days fighting the monsters generated by Nico's mind, either that or drinking and flirting with Erebus' manifestation (or simply sparring with her, one or the other). He had once commented how she would have been a fine piece of ass to tap if she hadn't already 'gotten her eye on someone' as she had apparently stated, though wasn't unappreciative to some flirting every now and then. Whatever that meant, Nico didn't know, but he DID get the feeling that his Ghoul Persons would be keeping his distance from her.

Both boys looked over to the old Vampire, who stood beside a large, practically enormous green portal which looked to be about the height of a single story building. The Portal spiralled in on itself like a swirling vortex, and if the two boys focused they could sense HUGE torrents of energy gathering within its core. As they approached the portal, Castiel furrowed his brows as he eyed it warily. There were suspicions about this portal circulating through his mind, suspicions which wouldn't have been brought about if he hadn't already been giving his brain a bit of a 'light jog' when he wrote that tome. 'This portal...' he thought, before glancing at his Uncle. "Am I right to be assuming that this one will be leagues tougher than the last?" he questioned, also voicing Nico's own suspicions as he nodded alongside the male.

"Why of course, little guinea pigs, how could mwah EVER leave you guys with just an average trial?" the man replied, scoffing like he was offended. Although, both boys knew that this wasn't the case, should Zelretch be offended then they would DEFINITELY know it. "tut-tut-tut, dear godson, you should have some faith in this badass apostle. Anyways, just a quick reminder your Evil Spirit Form's been disabled for this Trial, can't you having something that breaks the game after all. Oh, and as for you emo oy... piece of advice, not something I give lightly: eat your greens."

Now THAT got Nico's attention, those three simple words merging into his brain as he recorded them with zero possibility of forgetting them. Before he could ask what they meant however, Zelretch vanished to signal them to get into the portal already and begin what would hopefully be the final trial of this place... damn, they missed their comrades back home. Thoughts of their comrades filled their minds, although it didn't blind them to the fact that this trial, would likely be one serious motherfucker to contend with.

With those thoughts in mind, the two boys glanced at each other, nodded, and entered the portal, finally facing their last trial.

Neither of them realizing what awaited them on the other side.


	177. Cross Chapter 24 - Last Trial Begins

**Last Trial Begins**

"Hmmmm…"

Biko hummed to himself, cupping his chin with his left hand's index finger and thumb whilst his right had been placed on his left elbow. The being floated before something he had been noticing recently, ever since Nico first encountered Castiel actually. It had only passed by until now due to him not thinking much of it at the time, but now though... something big was going to happen from what he could sense, and it had to do with Castiel. Or rather, the energy which he constantly radiated from his person, energy which Nico's own body, which was always quite sensitive to negative energy, sucked up like someone sucking up water.

Now that he had noticed this... he realized something else too. Nico's power was that of a multi-continent DPU, yet... he had remained largely the same. Perhaps that battle with Mundus had been the cause, but right now that final change seemed to have begun taking place. It would take time though, but it did seem to be on the final stretches of its process. He decided to wait on informing Nico about this though, since this seemed to be some sort of delicate stage.

By delicate, he meant how even his GHOUL SIDE had decided to stay clear of it upon noticing the change...

If it was something with that kind of effect, one must know how delicate it could be.

* * *

The moment that the two boys jumped through the portal...

"Whoa, holy shit!"

"Ugh, Uncle Zelretch, Why? Just why?"

The two had their own little reactions, surprise from Nico while Castiel Facepalmed. The reason? Oh nothing much, just that they had been tossed out t... lets say 600 feet from a desolate wasteland down below.

"I'll be blunt, Emiya: Your Uncle's a lunatic."

"I'll also be blunt Nico: you're completely right, and he'd probably take that as a compliment."

Immediately, gravity kicked in and the two began to fall down towards what would be certain doom to a normal person. However, thanks to their own circumstances, these two quickly responded to their new situation. On Nico's side, the redhead swiftly entered a Skydive as he summoned Soul Edge onto his back, allowing its Telekinesis to take over his body and slow his descent. All the while, Castiel simply deployed his Wings and glided down towards the ground without much care in the world.

Once they were near enough to the ground (which only took a few seconds), the former's Sword made a jerking motion in the upwards direction, shifting Nico into an upright position so he could land in a crouching position with one hand on the ground and the other thrown to the side. Beside him whilst he stood tall, Castiel landed softly and elegantly, like an angel descending down from the heavens... even though if one considered his previous actions his 'angelic' heritage could be questioned. The moment he landed however, Castiel made a light jog to break some leftover motion whilst regrouping with his companion, retracting his wings into him whilst summoning Hrunting.

"Whelp, that was certainly something..." The Heir couldn't help but comment, looking around at the desolate wasteland that they had fallen to. The male didn't like it, it reminded him heavily of what COULD happen if his evil side ever went out of control, memories of his 'tests' coming to mind. Sure he didn't mind doing it intentionally since he could limit the damage somewhat, but an out-of-control burst? Well, lets just say nobody would live to tell about it and lets leave it at that. Not only that, but something felt... very off about this place. There was like... no life, no liquid, nothing of the sort at all within hundreds of meters in any direction. No matter where he looked or how much he strained his senses, could he detect any lifeforms. That served to ring his alarm bells, so he turned to his companion to see if he could get anything. "You got something?"

Nico however, shook his head negatively, lowering his right Bracer which he had been using during the Heir's monologue. "Nothing on my end, motion tracker's not picking anything up so we won't be getting any surprise visitors, not to mention that this... place..." Nico paused, looking over the wasteland and grimacing. This honestly made him think that this could be what could happen to any of the Nations in Gamindustri if the Chaotic forces won the war. Part of him couldn't help but be thankful to Castiel for providing him with that book of his (he'd given it to him for Nico to store in his Void Storage before the trial had begun). "Scans show that there's no life within the immediate or the vast vicinity around us. Kind of reminds me of your sword, Hrunting, but only on a much larger scale."

Castiel nodded his head at that. "Fair point." he stated, before something caught his eye in the distance, it not being long before Nico did the same. 'What the...? What's that...?' he wondered, frowning as he squinted his eyes. There, about 600 meters away from them, there looked to be... something there, something spreading something else out and just hovering there doing nothing. He didn't know what that was, but the moment that he saw it, Castiel got a very bad feeling. "Hey, Nico, remember that time when you suggested something o be amiss with those creatures?" he questioned.

"Yeah."

"Well, we may be getting an answer to that theory soon, come on we should head on over to investigate. My hunch tells me Zelretch has really pulled out all the stops on this one."

* * *

After that, the two boys took off, Castiel with his wings and Nico with his Soul Edge strapped to his back by Demonic Energy, towards the shape they had both noticed. As they got closer and closer, the detected object got bigger and bigger, taller and taller till they realized that it had been MUCH larger than they had initially imagined. Enough to dwarf an entire city in size, almost like the creatures which they had fought throughout the trials. Not only that, but as they closed in, Nico's Bracers scanned it and identified that whatever that object was... it was indeed alive, since life signs had been detected within, making him inform Castiel that he believed this thing to be a living organism, likely trapped in some cocoon or based off plant-like origins.

"If what you said is true then we might be facing something quite troublesome. Plant monsters are amongst the most annoying to face since their regenerative abilities are top notch and they are capable of some annoying attacks, generally having some control or defensive abilities. If this monster is absorbing the life of other monsters it probably would be useless to try and attack right now." Castiel commented, rubbing his jawline all detective like as he scanned the creature before him. The more that he looked at it, the more unnerved that he got, since his instincts kept telling him to be extra wary... and even then, it may not have been enough.

Just went to prove just how intimidating this new being could possibly be.

The redhead beside him frowned at his words, finding little essence in them before he glanced over to the Heir. "Why is that? In personal experience it is usually better to kill the ones being absorbed before they become the bigger monster's energy." Nico countered, he had seen similar shit during his many missions, one instance he could think of being that time when he had first fought Maghda back when she had been trying to awaken that beast responsible for turning King Leoric into a madman. In his eyes, this smelled bad already. Hell, he could feel his various demonic weapons shuddering in agitation, their instincts screaming at him alongside his own to take that thing down as soon as possible.

However, the Heir already had a counter to it. "Because who knows what it might trigger. If we interfere we might cause it harm, true, but it also might mean that all the still living monsters will attack us together. I prefer dealing with only one enemy instead of a bunch at once. Also, it is likely that this forest has a lot of interesting herbs and fruits that can be used for many things." Castiel then took a breath, before continuing. "If we were to simply attack now we might lose out on many treasures that would otherwise be destroyed in battle, and I don't know you but I want to get as much things as I can to bring back home." Castiel explained, making Nico's eyes shine as he understood what his partner was talking about.

Considering that this was the last trial it was quite likely that this was were the most number of treasures could be obtained, Nico's world was almost being overwhelmed from all those enemies appearing everywhere, and with the demonic workshipers that idolized the Chaos God of disease running around, it would only end up growing worse. If these things here could help turn things around it was not only a good thing for him to take it but also something he should do no matter what as a person.

'Now I get it, this is pretty much like the calm before the storm, we have a small period of time to gather treasures in this forest that can help us and our worlds in the future... gotta remember that.'

Seeing Nico's eyes shining in desire Castiel gave a slight laugh before saying. "Remember to check up on the books I gave you the parts about botanic, especially identifying herbs and the correct way of taking them to not lose their efficiency." As he finished saying that Castiel did not hesitate in the slightest as he felt an interesting energy source coming from nearby, he doubted his own senses but if he were right it would be a windfall like none other.

* * *

Menawhile Nico took out the heavy books Castiel prepared and looked for where the part about botanic is. He read it quickly, absorbing the knowledge with facility since he had some experience with plants due to his life as a Spec Ops, it was not rare for him to be sent on missions to obtain especial and rare plants for the guild or some client, but the things in the book still made Nico sigh in awe.

'To think there was so much to know about something I thought was simple...' Was what was passing through his head as he immersed himself in the books, he used his demonic powers to try and copy them directly into his Inner World, and it worked quite easily. In his mind, the moment that they appeared in the Inner World's library, Biko took the books and started analyzing them just as well, he started indicating Nico on where to go and how to do it. It was an interesting thing indeed, to think that these simple weeds he could have ignored had so many fantastical properties.

The more he heard of it the more he thought that he had to take some of these plants with their roots as well to plant them back in his word. Luckily there was a section of the book about that too, with these things Nico could already imagine how many lives he would save, and it had been enough to put a small smile on his face.

After a time of reading, Nico stood up and deposited the books back into his Void Storage, before having Soul Edge carry him into the eastern section of the Forest. One of the two sections which had not been touched by the wasteland of which he and Castiel had landed. Something about that forest drew his attention, some strange energy readings that he felt would be worthwhile looking into. All the while, Nico had Urthemiel appear and remain by where the two had once been, with orders to keep an eye on the organism in case it tried pulling anything like sneak attacks. Secondly. he had Biko keep the books open in the Inner World so they can use the correct methods for extracting these Herbs when he found them.

Throughout his flight over the forest, Nico descended down into the depths more than a couple dozen times, finding al sorts of herbs and materials which, according to the books, once harvested could increase one's combat ability. One of those Herbs had been called the 'Moon Wearing Autumn Dew', something which could enhance one's eyesight. By how much, one might ask? Well, think of an eye belonging to an ordinary person with little to no training in combat. With one of these administered, especially at the quality that Nico had found (These Herbs had over a thousand years of energy to them, according to what he could sense) they could gain the eyes of a Spec Ops level Sniper. Of course one would have to train in the sniper ways first, but you get the gist. Nico had a small bit of trouble with harvesting that type of Herb at first, but quickly got the hang of it.

Nico also found an abundance of materials of which, according to the books he had, would be able to be refined into these pills which would increase one's combat ability by leaps and bounds, essentially creating stronger fighters out of people in much quicker times. With these pills once refined, a Guild Agent's strength would increase to where they would be similar to a Spec Ops Agent, pretty much allowing them to jump up a classification of power, but that would be another story for another time. He found medical Herbs which could be made into medicine to cure some previously thought permeant diseases back home in Gamindustri, increase one's resistance to diseases (he would LOVE to see the look on Nurgle's face should he ever encounter people immune to whatever diseases he dishes out onto whatever Continent he has chosen). As a side bonus, he found that each Herb he collected had seeds in them, so it would be possible to mass produce them back in his World.

More and more, Nico found coming to this place (albeit against his will originally) to be worth it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Castiel was dancing in joy as to what he was seeing. This was something he only dared to dream about in the past, a wonder of nature that demanded him to be happy beyond words.

It was a hot spring, it isn't even that large only being around a few meters from one corner to the other, but a curious thing about it was how it was evenly split into two sides. One was hot beyond words and the other so cold it would freeze a soul at the merest touch. Despite that it was in perfect balance even as the temperature around was so weird, at one moment it was hot, the next it was cold, and after it was neutral, the temperature is just impossible to predict.

However, the most mystical aspect was how mystical this place truly is. The name of it is Ice Fire Ying Yang Well, it had only one main function, make special herbs grow.

If a treasured and mythical plant normally would take 1000 years to develop and would need special circumstances now it would simply take 10 years to reach full maturity and without need for any special circumstance. Proof of that was how dozens of unique and absurdly rare herbs were just laying around. There were so many it was scary to have so many growing in one spot, but Castiel did not mind. He wanted to and picked them all.

Not only that but the trees around were also rare items and the fruits being filled with power, If Castiel could take all this back to the Tower and added his new found knowledge in alchemy he was confident in making all his friends reach Leader-class within one or two years, it was just that absurd of a chance encounter.

But don't get Castiel wrong, it was not like only because he cleaned this place clean to the point that even the earth was being taken away (the earth was valuable to grow things later) he started flying through the area, collecting herbs so quickly it was perverse.

The forest was still big and unique herbs and fruits could be found anywhere if the person knew where to look, and if there is one thing Luvia's obsession with money and Rin's obsession in not being poor teched the young blondie was that if given the chance he must take whatever he could from all situations in front of him. For instance was how he took absolutely anything of even slight value, the bark, roots, leaves, and anything else from any tree he found that could be used, the fruits were all taken and by the time he ended it all Castiel had cleaned the state clear and there was nothing else left.

Even some small animals that were there were all captured and any useful part stripped away with care and effectiveness. By the time Castiel finished with this part of the forest it looked even worse than were there was nothing. Not that this stopped Castiel, he was going to get everything he possibly could from this whole place before it was time to fight, this sort of location being simply far too great to not use it up correctly.

Castiel knew exactly how important strength truly is, in his own dimension the only reason why the Tower was originally able to stabilish itself so well was due to the interference of Zelretch, and even if now they had enough strength to not need Zelretch's protection it was still an undeniable fact that they could be bullied by other factions with relative ease.

Castiel hated this, he loved the Tower far too much to let anyone even possibly damage it and he would not allow for that sort of thing to happen as long as he was around. But he still was too weak, so he at least ould try and improve the Tower with all he had. A confident smile on his face as Castiel used reinforcement to accelerate further, not wanting to let any chance or oportunity to pass him by.

He was determined. If this is the last trial then no matter what he must make it count, he would get everything this place has to offer without failure. He had to do at least this much as the next leader of the Tower.

* * *

It was about twenty minutes after the two teens started that tremors started happening all over the ground. Roots started breaking out of the ground as a pressure started rolling out of the center of the trial.

"What do you say we should do?" Nico asks.

"I think we should try and continue what we are doing. This place is a paradise of useful things, somewhere like this should not be dismissed so easily to the prospects of a fight. Instead we could go try and obtain more of this place before whatever is happening gets to us. In any case I was thinking my familiars needed some degree of fights to truly bring out their potential, so this might be a chance for them to go and fight for a while and experience fighting for themselves." Castiel proposed the idea, there were still hundreds of things to obtain in this place and losing even a single one was like a dagger to the heart to Castiel so of course he did not want to leave.

He also knew that while his familiars were strong they too would need to train and fight, extreme fights like this would work the best for it and considering that they would be together they might start learning how to cooperate more.

On this, Nico could agree wholeheartedly, having experience in things ended up way better than just skipping ahead with something like items in the long run. "Sure, you do that. I think I'll have Urthemiel follow your example and have him fight things here. It'll do the same as it will your familiars, plus I feel he's getting bored of just watching that damn thing." That, and these tremors made Nico realize that having Urthemiel merely keep an eye on it would be pointless. These Tremors would do that work for him.

Nodding to Nico Castiel summoned three of his familiars, he chose not to summon Eevee since he was not quite on the right level but the other three are a different story entirely.

First was Solgaleon, a large, white beast resembling a white lion. It has a blunt muzzle with a blue-gray nose and pale blue eyes. The top half of its face is a deep blue area that shows a constantly changing starscape. Four yellow spikes frame Solgaleo's head like a crown and two more pairs of spikes adorn either side of its lower jaw, and each spike separates large tufts of Solgaleo's mane. Solid ridges—red nearest Solgaleo's head and yellow farther away—poke out of each tuft along the middle, except on the tufts on its cheeks and chin, with the topmost part wrapping around the tip of the tuft. Overall, its mane creates the impression of a stylized sun. Around each leg is a dark orange band, and there is a black spot on each foot. It has three black toes on each foot with long yellow claws. At the tip of its tail is a large black spot with a thin yellow rim.

Second was Lunala, a large Pokémon resembling a skeletal, legless bat. It has a short snout, dark pink eyes with white centres, and a deep blue area on its upper head that shows a constantly changing starscape. A rigid, raised hood wraps around its head in a crescent shape and drapes around its neck as well. The outside of the hood is yellow, while the inner part that curves around Lunala's head is a pattern of deep blue and white streaks. Its torso resembles a ribcage with a slightly curved spike on each shoulder and three spikes extending from the bottom toward its tail. Its massive wings resemble a bat's wings with the skeleton exposed, except that Lunala's wings have a total of seven "finger bones": four running through each wing, one running along the edge to the outermost tip, and two pointing upwards that may act as claws that are more functional. The four "bones" through Lunala's wings are only visible in segments. The skin of Lunala's wings is an iridescent deep blue, and a light blue light source appears to glow from behind its ribcage. A large, pale yellow crescent connects the outermost tip of each wing to the next two inner tips, and the remaining two innermost tips are adorned by yellow, four-pointed stars. The bottom of Lunala's tail is also lined by a yellow crescent, with a ridge running up the middle of the tail towards the ribcage.

But the last one was the one to surprise. If before Jirachi was cute and cudly now that he evolved he was anything but that. His new name is Necrozma and its body appears to be constructed out of black crystalline material; its disproportionately large arms have three claws jutting out of them, as well as a single large whitish crystal protruding backwards from each arm. Its small legs bend backwards like a bird's and have three toes each. A single small, hook-like wing grows out of each of its shoulders. The large protrusion attached to its head is its tail, which is white in the back with a dark gray symbol resembling a star in the center. This part of the tail glows while absorbing light that it converts to lasers. The sides of its head and the top of its tail are covered in spikes. Its face is actually a prism-like object known as the brain prism, which possesses a collection of multicolored shapes that resemble eyes. Despite being pitch-black, Necrozma's body constantly refracts light like a prism.

But one thing that none could deny was how each of them felt incredibly strong, especially when together side by side. It was like the three were beings of light that united could make the entire world shine like a gew, it was just that strong of a presence. After all, those three together with Eevee were personally chosen by Zelretch to be Castiel's familiars and help protect him, anything bellow the best is simply impossible.

Not like Castiel himself knew exactly how exauted and strong the potential of these three or of his Eevee truly is, if he knew he probably would cry out in happiness, but right now it wasn't that important. All he had in his eyes was love and care for his familiars, even if he was sending them to battle it still did not chang the fact they were closer to him than most could ever understand.

* * *

With everything that happened between the two, Nico and Castiel split up once again to do their own things.

Whilst the Heir immersed himself in gathering, Nico returned to the eastern section of the forest and, deciding to follow Castiel's example, summoned Erebus. Thinking to his previous actions, Nico found that if he REALLY wanted to get more out of this trial, then he would have to be a bit more... creative, with his powers. Since Erebus had creation as one of its powers, the Scythe would be able to spawn many excavation teams to harvest as many materials as they could

He mentally communicated with her, giving her the instructions of how to harvest as many items that this book had that were scattered throughout. The Archdevil Arm complied, and within moments Nico found himself witnessing an un-countable amount of humanoid constructs scouring the forest, harvesting as many useful items as they could before bringing them back to him. At that point, Nico would put them in his Void Storage, ready for later use back in his world. He felt like, if he were to provide them to Gamindustri alongside the new knowledge he had gleaned here, then perhaps the many NPCs in the military and Guild would stop sucking like little baby nooblets. Not only that, but perhaps the Spec Ops Agents would increase their powers too, making more powerful ones which could go toe to toe with Bloodthirsters, maybe even Demon Princes if they were lucky. Goddess knows that Leanbox and maybe possibly Lowee would benefit from these since, according to his predictions, their situations should be almost abysmal at this point.

As Nico travelled the forest, constantly being handed items of varying sorts by his many constructs of Darkness, the teen felt the sounds of conflict raging nearby, and mentally smirked. It looked like Urthemiel was having fun, he thought, sensing the Archdemon's ecstasy at being able to drench its claws with blood. Killing was in its nature, as a Demon created by Nico himself, thus it would enjoy this bloodbath IMMENSELY. Who knows, maybe perhaps Urthemiel might be of some assistance when that beast finally awoke. He could feel it proudly exerting its control over its fire powers nearby through the drying atmosphere around him, uteliing heat to its advantage against its opponents. 'Man, Urthemiel's going to be a BEAST when he finally gains his intelligence...'

 **'It shouldn't be too long now, this combat is going to serve as quality experience for it, hastening its mental growth as it learns how to use tactics and plan according. Using experiences to keep itself as sharp as a finely honed blade. Nevertheless, Nico, I must inform you that I have... discovered something, something of GREAT value?'**

The moment that Biko said those words, Intrigue and curiosity blossomed inside the redhead's being. Nico, in response, tilted his head and questioned his Demon Persona in his mind. 'Oh? And, how great are we talking about here?'

 **'I'll say... on the level that Mundus's little slashing technique he did on us will no longer be a problem... and more.'**

'... Now you've got my attention. Show me where it is, then...'

Biko did so, and if the redhead wasn't any less sensitive then he would have sworn that his Ghoul side had begun chuckling in excitement. Biko installed the directions to whatever he had discovered inside Nico's mind, like a computer downloading new updates to its hardware. It didn't take him long, in fact it only took a couple seconds, but when it finished Nico informed Erebus to have her constructs continue working on harvesting the items, then using her Darkness to preserve them until he was done with... whatever that he would end up doing. He wasn't that worried about the Darkness trying to devour it, sine Erebus assured him that it wouldn't happen, that the Darkness would obey him through itself, so that was a plus.

It took him about 1o minutes to get there, mostly through literally ABUSING his Star God's Broken Shadow's instantaneous bursts of speed, but when he managed to get to his destination... Quickly, he became aware of just WHY Biko had said the things that he did. 'Looks like he wasn't joking after all...' the redhead thought skidding to a halt. Good thing he did, since he didn't want to topple over. Especially since... he had found himself at the edge of a pool. A large, LARGE pool which rivalled the the size of a volcano's chute. Not only that, but the pool itself carried a pure crimson colour, and almost seemed to glow with a brilliant radiance hat just SCREAMED power and mystical origins. He could also smell the presence of a powerful toxin in this place, though thanks to his previous exploits Nico didn't even NEED to worry about poison anymore.

'Biko... is this what I think it is...?'

 **'Yes, indeed Nico... This is what was referred to as the 'Blood Pool of Fiery Poison' Its a pool literally filled with Blood and powerful arcane energies, if I remember correctly from one of those books we looked into. This Pool's powers, will allow us to gain an untold amount of benefits which would not lose out to pretty much consuming every Herb we have gathered and will have gathered when this Trial is over. Not only that, but as you have no doubt summarized there is a potent toxin within the Pool, which would kill any normal person seconds after coming into contact with it. A very potent poison, but luckily for us we have means of being immune to poison. If we were to jump into here, then reach the very depths where its energy and poisons are at their peak... just imagine the benefits it will have for our body.'**

Now, when Nico did exactly that, he would not be ashamed to admit that he almost salivated at the thought of such power being infused with his body. His body, which had been refined by the Great Way of the Buddha and various other factors, it could always be refined even further, and hell maybe it could lead to some... potent shit for his Ghoul side, since that side of him was largely organic in its design with the Fatalis flesh having dragonified it. Should he train in this pool by absorbing its energy, he could only IMAGINE the sheer lengths that his body's ability will grow to. Before he jumped in however, Nico remembered something else about the pool. 'But, don't we need it to like overflow for the maximum benefits possible? And isn't that during something called an 'energy tide?'

That was something he had learned a while back, during his research about the Blood Pool actually. Apparently, it reacted to immense energy waves, waves which were specifically dawned on it when the energies of the mountain formed what had been called a 'high tide'. When this phenomenon occurred, the pool's power explodes with potency, allowing for greater benefits, not even considering the bonuses which lay within the depths.

 _'Yuppero, boy! Glad you're using your noggin for once! Here's a little reward for that, don't say that I'm not generous #smiley face#'_

Nico's brows twitched in irritation when he heard the voice of Zelretch echo throughout the atmosphere, but afterwards that irritation vanished into the winds. Why? Because right afterwards, what Nico could only describe as a ray of aurora energy came out of nowhere... and directly impacted the pool like a pillar of light shining down from the heavens. As a result, the pool's waters began to boil whilst rising to the tips of the ledge. Seeing this, Nico mentally grinned, his eyes shining with glee as he prepared to jump in. 'Sometimes, that old man really knows when to time things just right...' the male thought.

 **'Nico, you MAY be forgetting something...'**

Right before he did though, the teen stopped when he heard Biko's voice, prompting him to raise a brow in confusion. For a moment, he didn't get what his Demon Persona meant, but then it clicked in his mind. He couldn't rush in right now, since it would mean that he would be disconnected from his constructs leaving them unable to store the Herbs and other valuable materials inside his Void Storage. Before he could jump in, Nico had to solve THAT problem first. Mentally, the redhead commanded one of the nearest constructs to his position, having to wait about 5 minutes before one came to him. He then did something which he had never done before...

He gave it both of his Bracers.

The moment that he did, Nico sorely wished he could take them back and bring them into the pool with him. He knew they'd be able to handle the liquid, since they were water proof (he knew, he had checked), but they would be of more use here. Things had changed, now that he had this opportunity to refine his Ghoul powers like this and had what could be akin to a mining operation going on, Nico had no other option. It would be best if he left them with his constructs as much as it pained him to do so, though he made sure to give Erebus EXPLICIT instructions on how to handle and operate his Bracers, and told the construct to ONLY activate the Void Storage for storing all the materials inside.

With his orders given, Nico back flipped into the air, before skydiving down like an owl swooping in on its prey, into the crimson waters below.

From the very NANOSECOND that Nico entered the waters, all the male could feel was pain.

Pain coursed through every cell in his being, easily comparable to the time when he first got hit with a Soul attack by Mundus, but Nico pushed on. Whilst he didn't necessarily like pain, he had more than enough pain tolerance built up from all the hardships that he had to endure growing up. Thus, the teen found it much easier to swim deeper into the depths towards the very bottom. According to his source, the very bottom would be where the purity of the energy within this pool would be at its optimum... as well as the poison, though he didn't feel too threatened by that. 'Jeez, this pool is freaking MASSIVE! Just how large is it really? I know that its being boosted by the Energy Tide, but still what the fuck?' Nico wondered in his mind, before shaking his head and doubling his efforts to get to the bottom. 'Alright, since I'm heading to the bottom, i'll think of a cultivation method. Now then, lets see... aha! That's the one...!'

After selecting the best technique that he could think of from within the knowledge gleaned from those books, Nico tripled his efforts to reach the bottom... which turned out to be just what he would need since he finally got to the very bottom. He knew this due to how, whilst the area around him had been crimson for the majority of the dive, this small spot shone with a brilliant golden light. This would be the point where the energy and poison originated, so THIS would be where he would begin cultivating the energy of this Pool. He didn't intend to just cultivate it however, he planned to do oh SO much more...

Whilst he dove however, something caught Nico's attention and made him pause his descent towards the depths of the Blood Pool. He shifted his gaze to the left, where he noticed the thing he had barely perceived due to focusing on reaching the Blood Pools' depths. 'Huh? What is...?' The male wondered, staring at what could only be considered an... abnormality in the pool of sorts. Whilst the Pool Itself remained the colour of crimson blood, with a purely golden area for the depths. However, the moment he laid eyes on the oddity, he immediately realized it as such as, in comparison to the others, it... didn't look like it fit. There, imbued within the Pool's walls, lay what could only be seen as a pure blue light, one which shone through the crimson depths around them piercing through it as if it were a blade plunging into and out the back of a massive body.

'Biko... do you know what this is?'

 **'Unfortunately, I do not. Perhaps we should hold off a little on the Blood Pool and investigate.'**

Mentally nodding in agreement, Nico swam through the waters and reached the place where the light originated from. When he did, Nico saw that it was shining through what could possibly be a contender for the smallest gap in a wall he had ever seen... except maybe that one time when he caught a bunch of peeping toms trying to look through a finger shaped hole into the locker rooms of the changing female Spec Ops Agents. He had almost wanted to let them get caught by those girls to get their just deserts, but in the end he had decided to intervene himself. But anyways, back to the topic, focusing his senses on the light, Nico tried to feel out what this thing could be...

Only to nearly rebound when he felt a pure, fiery hot feeling from behind the wall.

'Whoa! That was... I see... so there's some sort of hot object buried behind this section of the wall, huh?' an intrigued Nico thought to himself, shaking his hands to get rid of the numbness that had assaulted them temporarily. 'That light really is beautiful, and this IS pretty much the last of the Trials, so perhaps I should try and see if I can obtain it for myself. I'll have to keep it on me though since I left my Bracers back up on the surface...#shudder#, lets not think too much about that otherwise bad things will happen.' the redhead mused, analysing is results before shuddering at the naked feeling enveloping his arms.

Rearing a fist back, Nico thrusted it forwards with a large portion of his strength, smashing it into the wall where the light originated from. Thanks to his flame immunity, Nico didn't get burned by the hot object, as the wall collapsed before him. This allowed him to see what lay behind it, and when he did... Nico's mouth partially opened as a light gasp escaped his lips.

If he thought the light before had been beautiful... then the source of it looked freaking DIVINE!

Floating within what looked to be a small chamber built into the walls of the Blood Pool, its heat not affecting its surroundings thanks to constant exposure to it, was what looked to be a pure blue, white hot flame. It looked to be in the shape of a lotus, one which could match the size of an average vehicle in his world, and it just... floated there, doing its own thing. The amount of light he saw emitting from it made what he had seen before look tame in comparison, not only that but... he could feel POWER within that flame, not just beauty. Like a rose, it had its deadly thorns, it seemed.

More importantly, Nico recognized what this flame was. At first, he hadn't a clue what it was when he had seen the light before, but now that he had seen it in its full glory, an image appeared in his mind and instantly the light of recognition shone from his two sockets. "This... This is an Essence Flame! The Blue Lotus Geocentric Flame!"

Essence Flames, or rather Heavenly Flames as they were also known as, were flames in which were given birth by natural forces. These Heavenly Flames are incredibly powerful, with a wide reach and devastating destructive potential much like the Hellfire under Nico's command. However, these things were also very wild, and explosive, not to mention extremely rare (like, legendary weapon rare), so even if one ever encountered a Heavenly Flame, it would still be difficult to absorb and control it. Again, kind of like Nico's own chaotic Hellfire but not split in power between multiple forms, so it kind of works out. Still though, when an Heavenly Flame is present, all other flames fear and follow it because they are the kings of flames and all other flames naturally serve it. Heavenly Flames were formed through the slow accumulation of the world's Heavenly and tend to have their own unique shapes. For example, The Blue Lotus Geocentric Flame, the one in front of him right now, is shaped like a lotus. It is formed deep underground and has experienced the polishing, fusion, pressure, and carving from a planet's flame. It forms a spirit in ten years, takes shape in a hundred years and turns into a lotus in a thousand years. When it is completely formed, its color would slant toward the bluish side and the lotus core would form a cluster of blue flame. The strength of this flame is unpredictable, though. When it is near volcanoes, it can cause volcanoes to erupt, forming massive destructive strength.

Thus, Nico understood just how RARE these guys were, and now that he had encountered one... there would be ZERO chance he'd be missing out on this opportunity! Even if this one was actually one of the weaker members of the Heavenly Flames.

With this intention in mind, Nico reached forwards, intending to grasp onto the Lotus shaped flame. However, just as he made to touch it... the Lotus suddenly shrunk, latching onto his hand and beginning to travel up his arm. 'HUH?! Uh oh, looks like the flame's trying to devour me! It must be trying to test me to see if I'm worthy of using its power by trying to take my life... well, what else is new, practically every power I have gained in my life has tried to kill me, so why should this be any different? The books mentioned something about this, too... well, not on my watch, you don't! My life is mine, not yours! You don't decide my fate, nope not happening!' Nico thought with resolution Eyes wide, alarm bells rang in his mind as Nico quickly pushed his Demonic Power into his arm, hoping to assimilate the flame whilst hardening his arm's defences by buffing it with RC Cells from his Ghoul Side.

Thus, a battle of wills erupted between him and the Essence flame...

* * *

Upon the 5 minute mark, a huge gasp escaped Nico's maw as he nearly hunched over, his body wreaked by the exertion of willpower he had just done but recovered fairly easily. His arms, now bare of any RC Cells, burning flames or Demonic Power, hung at his side, limp like they were numb although they weren't. Nico however, didn't mind nor care, as he kept his mind focused on the task at hand especially when he closed his eyes and looked inside himself. He searched inside for the Essence Flame he had been fighting, and low and behold, Nico managed to find it within him, close to the flames which represented his Hellfire and Golden Crow ones, electing a small smirk from his lips. 'I... I did it... I freaking did it...!' the teen thought in joy, his smirk widening into a shark-like grin.

 **'Indeed, you did. You fully absorbed the Essence Flame into yourself and have gained its power. Its power carries much weight, I can feel, making it more than a match for your Hellfire and could even give the Golden Crow flames, in their current state, a run for their money. Originally, you would have been limited in regards to controlling these flames with help only coming from one of the herbs you harvested, a Fire Lotus Seed which is mean to increase flame attributes within a person. However, due to your affinity and previous usage of it, this is not the case for yourself. I will analyse this flame myself Nico, see how we can implement it, in the meantime you focus on what we came here for.'**

Again, Nico agreed with his Demon Persona, and resumed his dive to the depths. Having discovered and absorbed that Essence Flame, Nico had almost forgotten just what it was that he had came down here for: the chance to absorb the energies of the Blood Pool and refine his Ghoul powers. At least to a level where he could safely say they wouldn't lose out to his Demonic Powers, shortening the power gap between them. It hadn't taken nearly as long as he'd thought to absorb it, probably due to his affinity for fire, but he didn't care right now. Power and refinement dominated his thoughts as he made his way down to the depths of the pool.

Once he reached the very centre of the Pool's depths, Nico's body screamed as he shifted into a meditative stance, closing his eyes and beginning his work by unleashing his Kagune. a HUGE wave of fear unleashed itself upon him when his Koukaku formed, almost mind-crippling with its potency, but he pushed through it for the time being. He couldn't allow the trauma burned onto that part of his Ghoul side to interrupt his cultivation right now, not when he had such a DELICIOUS opportunity to refine it into something better. Something which could go on par with his current Demonic Power.

Since he could still feel Erebus on his back, it meant that things upstairs were going well too, the harvesting operations seem to be handling themselves nicely, so when he would be done here, Nico felt like he would be swimming with rare treasures once he took his Bracers back and looked into his Void Storage.

* * *

While Nico was going through this, about 40 minutes passed until Castiel found something that made him delirious in happiness. It was a lake filled to the brink with pure energy, it was like the magic energy that you can find in the world but much more refined. Seeing this a crazy thought sprang to his mind.

'This is my chance, let's go to the next level using this!'

Thinking that Castiel calmed his mind and soul, entering the most peaceful state he possibly could while opening to the maximum all his spirit circuits as well as wings before entering the pool of pure energy. There was a root stationed in it draining the energy from this pool, but it was inconsequential since when Castiel entered the place he used the power of his left arm spirit bone, his Devour ability showing its power by pulling all the energy of the pool to Castiel extremely fast.

He instantly started feeling bottled up, like if his body was inflating and all his spirit circuits were getting to full, but he persisted in what he started. It was then that he could truly sense how his body was completely different from before. If previously he would not be able to use this for more time as he would fear to damage his weak spirit circuits they now could carry an almost limitless amount of energy without a problem. He even stopped feeling like acid was running through his veins to instead feel comfortable, something he never once felt while training previously.

Focusing on the work at hand, Castiel nonetheless continued his work. The energy inside his body was integrating with the power of the outside, his soul itself being covered in energy and he could clearly sense how the drops of divine blood of the Phoenix, Vermilion Bird, and Golden Crow were burning away any impurity that might still be inside his body. More and more his body started becoming perfect, but the most important thing was when, by the time the energy of the pool was around half its size, the energy in his body finally reached the absolute limit to what he could reach, but instead of finishing it there it was almost anticlimactic how his energy took one more step.

Castiel, as if nothing happened, reached high ultimate-class.

He was at first ecstatic, but quickly he frowned and wanted to curse. Previously any advancement in class took weeks of hard work or even longer, his body would feel like it was being torn to pieces, reconstructed, and then broken again by a rusty chainsaw, but now that his body was how it should be and even a bit better the same experience was painless and instantaneous.

Ignoring that Castiel continued taking the energy to himself before focusing on an even better font of energy. Until now he avoided touching any of these roots, but considering that he was now more than twice as strong as he was minutes ago he decided to risk it. First he collected all the energy that was still in the lake and sealed it using a little space magic trick he learned from Kuroko before collecting everything still inside the place where the energy was, including a few drops of Divine Water of Absolute Beginning, an item that could be used to make someone's body tougher than any normal magical steel. He honestly did not expect that, and not only that but Castiel got the feeling that most would use them to themselves. Not him though, he wanted to ensure the safety of those from the Tower. This will work well as a way to make at least Kuroko and Yuno, the two troublemakers that don't understand the meaning of limit, to have bodies that will not fall that easily. There is not all that much of this, but these 10 drops ought to be enough to do something, at least.

Anyway, now that he had collected everything, the young Heir knew exactly what to do. Moving to the side of the root, he set about putting one hand on it. Just one hand and he could clearly feel how immense the energy this plant held within was. It would just be a shame if a parasite were to appear and take some of this energy for itself to reinforce his power and try to reach a higher level like the limit of ultimate-class.

Castiel could only smile as he felt the near unlimited amount of energy of this plant be devoured by him. He could easily tell it is also devouring the energy of other creatures right now, but he only smiled at that. 'No matter how great you are a weed is still a weed, and I will remove it.' The blonde Heir thought.

The energy of it was quite revitalizing to my body, it was like every cell in my body was being filled with energy over and over again. But after a while I felt something. In the center of it I could clearly sense that the place where the energy was most focused was closing in on itself and separating from the rest. If he were a betting man, he'd say the boss of this trial was about to get up and start fighting. At this, Castiel frowned, knowing that he could wait no longer. 'Time to get the emo and prepare to fight as our familiars distract the enemy...' Castiel thought as he already sensed his Familiars, along with that flying Dragon, closing in on the cocoon, their instincts telling them exactly what he had sensed.

* * *

Later, Castiel began hunting down for is companion. He could hear the sounds of combat being brought about as his three familiars, along with Nico's own, unleashed their powers on whatever this trial's boss was which caused him to hasten his speed. He didn't want to spend too much time looking for the emo, though, since he felt like the boss's power would be too much for their familiars to handle currently... although he wasn't sure on how powerful Urthemiel was to begin with, he DEFNITELY felt like his own familiars weren't on that level just yet.

'Where is he? Where's that guy at now? Ugh, if he's gotten himself into trouble...' the Heir thought tiredly, before remembering seeing him heading to the eastern side before going on his harvesting frenzy. Thus, Castiel spread his wings and flew over there, hoping that he'd fetch the guy as soon as possible. A second he spent finding him meant more danger would befall his familiars, and Castiel REFUSED to allow that.

Whilst the flew over the eastern forest, the Heir looked down noticed how dozens upon dozens of darkness constructs had been gathering and storing all sorts of treasures and materials found throughout the forest. They'd been stored in...those Bracers Mr Emo used, which lay in the grasp of one of the Constructs. That one had to be the one in charge of this little 'operation', which made him wonder if he could have done the same with his dragon tooth warriors. Have them made and gather as many materials as they could and then bring them to him whilst he did his business. But then again, their curses might impact the Herbs, and that wasn't something Castiel found himself willing to practice at this stage in the game. 'In any case, if his Bracer things are here, then that means he must be nearby. Better make this quick then, lest our Familiars get overwhelmed.'

Eventually though, he landed at somewhere he found... quite astonishing, really. 'Well... now what have we here?' The male Heir wondered, observing the crimson Pool that bubbled madly before him.

He didn't have to wait very long, as it looked like Nico was about to finish up... with quite the upgrades from what he could sense.

* * *

Inside the Blood Pool, the redhead's eyes slowly opened, feeling unimaginable power flowing through his body. His body, which usually got this feeling when he felt and used his reserves of SP or Demonic Power, felt like it had been overflooded with rich, raw and POWERFUL RC Cells. Cells which filled up every spec of his bloodstream and vitalized themselves with the energy the Blood Pool provided. He could hardly stay still as the last stage of the absorption process neared its end. He felt the rich, gleeful cries of his inner Ghoul, the mad and almost psychotic hollow laughter from his Ghoul Persona filling his mind. However, instead of being disturbed by it like he normally would... Nico could only feel ECSTATIC at the changes having occurred within.

The raw vitality that coursed through his Ghoul side... Nico could hardly describe it. It felt like the energy from the Blood Pool had completely remade his RC Cells from the genetic strand upwards, braking them down and rebuilding them by the second and making them better each time. If his Kagune, once powered by his RC Cells, could strike with enough force to destroy entire large buildings, right now according to his and Biko's calculations, he felt like they would be able to lay waste to a large city at this point, several leaps from what he had been before. Strength wasn't the only thing improved though, speed, endurance, flexibility, reflexes, every physical aspect of his Kagune felt like it had gone through a MAJOR overhaul. If he were to clash with Castiel's Clarent of Hrunting with this Kagune, he could FEEL just how different the outcome would be thanks to the increased physical attributes.

Upon examining himself as the process began finishing up, Nico found that his RC Cells... now had a special ability all their own, one which spread to each of his different Kagune types. According to his senses, his RC Cells now had one HELL of an acidic quality to them now, which could be used as a skin layer over his Kagune or a liquid... kind of like that Octopus Fishman's Tentacles with that liquid of theirs but his had much more potency. By potency, he meant that if he sprayed enough of it, buildings would become mush within seconds. Just imagine what that could do to a PERSON though...

Oh, the possibilities...

Though, upon further testing, Nico found some changes having occurred to HIMSELF as well, similar to his Ghoul Side although to a lesser extent. He felt like his strength had been increased to... well, about small City Class if he were to weigh the power levels in his mind. His Speed, well, that and his other physical attributes being increased in potency would be a given if his Strength had been affected.

If he had any less self control, then Nico would have gladly jumped up and down like a hyper school girl at the new developments for his Kagune. As for having each type gain their own specific upgrades... Well, thanks to recent developments, Nico felt that his stance on that subject may need to change if he wanted to improve it's overall effectiveness.

Shaking his head, Nico sensed that there would be only ONE thing left to do in this Pool... something he found himself all too eager to do.

* * *

Outside of the Pool, Castiel soon noticed something occurring within it, and he soon realized what would be about to happen. 'Looks like he's finally coming out, took him long enough...'

Instantly after he thought that, Castiel became witness to all the liquid inside the pool just spiralling together into the middle, as if forming a whirlpool. This Whirlpool's force became intense enough to cause a small wind to pick up, forcing the blonde heir to put an arm over his forehead, all the while EVERY darkness Construct gathered around the Pool's edges, including the one possessing the Bracers (after storing what they had found inside the Void Storage of course). At that point, the entire pool just exploded into a massive pillar of pure energy, every spec of liquid evaporating into nothingness as the being within leapt out of its centre and landed before them in a crouching position.

Of course, Castiel and the Constructs recognized the being as Nico, he still had Erebus on his back. Aside from that though, nothing looked really different about him... if one didn't count the raw energy radiating from his body.

"...#Whistle#, that felt like over 300 meters in height... guess that pool really ran deep, then..." Nico muttered to himself, getting to his feet as he sensed someone approaching him. Looking up, the redhead noticed it was the Construct he had assigned as temporary Leader of this little operation, and when he noticed the Construct holding out his Bracers for him, a wide smile lit up his features. "Thanks, buddy. Thanks for keeping them safe for me." he thanked, grinning like a loon when he finally put his Bracers back on. 'Oh, it feels good to be in uniform, again...'

Just then, several explosions rang in the distance, causing both boys to look in their direction with narrowed eyes.

Looked like things were getting out of hand over there.

"Alright, I know you've just come out of a big thing right now, but we need to get back there and see what we're dealing with." Castiel urged as Nico dismissed the Constructs as well as Erebus, switching immediately to Soul Edge as he nodded sternly towards his companion.

With that done, both boys immediately took to the skies before heading over to the battlefield.

* * *

Upon approaching the battlefield about 4 minutes later, did both Nico and Castiel FINALLY get to see what was causing so much ruckus in the first place... and boy did they get the surprise of their lives when they saw it.

There, looming over the surroundings like a massive floating island fortress, was what could only be described as one of the UGLIEST looking Plant Monsters that each of them had ever seen. It seemed to resemble... what looked like a gigantic, plant-like, mixed breed creature that resembled a bulb, with many protruding root like appendages stretched in all directions. It had a face with sunken in black holes where eyes should be and a large grinning mouth with numerous teeth like protrusions. Its size... well, it could EASILY shroud an entire city with its shadow alone, which should be enough explanation in and of itself, and currently this beast looked to be engaged in combat with the four Familiars scattered around the battlefield.

Oh, yeah, the battlefield...

Yeah, BATTLEFIELD.

If what they had seen before had been a wasteland, then this could be counted as a freaking hellish warzone. Simply put, the entire landscape looked like a mix of hell on earth and heaven on earth, as if those two planes of existence had touched their surroundings and infected them like diseases. Light and Demonic energies filled equal spaces on the ground, contaminating it which just showed how intense each of the Familiars had been battling. Solgaleo and Lunala combined their attacks together to create a union between light and shadow, resulting in their attacks having two different elemental affinities and doubling their original damage output whilst their third ally Necrozma kept the endless onslaught of the many Tentacles protruding from the creature at bay. In essence, it used various support abilities to keep the load off its allies whilst they fused their respective elements together in their attacks. They would have to have worked together, the three had summarized, as only that way could they have any hope of escaping certain death by this creature's hands. Not to mention the oppressive aura surrounding it which made movement difficult for them

As for the demonic Urthemiel, an equal focus had been placed on it since the Archdemon would use each and every aspect of its powers to attack... and not just because it didn't have NEARLY as much trouble with its overbearing presence, in addition to the fact that even while on its own, it held its own fairly well against the incoming onslaught. Its wing flaps generated constant gusts the size of double decker buses, which tore apart every Tentacle that tried attacking it, whilst it burned others out of existence with its dark Blue Primal Fire breaths. It's Tail kept busy too, whacking away other Tentacles like a mad bull on a wild rampage. Unfortunately, the venom within it's Tail didn't seem too effective on this plant creature, something it had learned the HARD way. Some Tentacles got through those measures, which had been why it kept itself covered in Primal Fire like an armour to burn them before they could touch it's defensive hide... something which it had learned early on that they were easily capable of penetrating. Aside from that, it constantly bombarded the creature with an arsenal of primal fire-based attacks, conjuring different shapes, raining down large fireballs like meteors, surrounding them in a Firestorm which damaged only the beast as that was its intended target. It truly showcased why it held extreme mastery over the art of wielding fire.

It held a warrior's mindset, and thus it REFUSED to let this beast humiliate it so.

All the while, their two masters stayed on the side-lines as they watched the battle play out, their eyes analysing every movement the beast made and ascertaining its identity. Nico was the one who spoke first while cupping his chin. "Hmmmm, looks like we're up against the Four Beasts, I remember glancing over it a while back during my research. Apparently, this thing's a beast which hunts by generating these four creatures, the ones we've been fighting that fled during the trials, but most importantly this thing's superior to all four of em combined. Any ideas on how to take it out?" he questioned his companion. All the while, he began running through different ideas in his mind on how to take the beast down, analyzing its movements. 'Looks like getting through any openings in its defenses won't work very well, since those Tentacles it has seem to be able to grow from anywhere within its body. Leaves zero openings to attack, and they regenerate quickly, too fast for our companions to damage the main body. Seems like they can form eyes and mouths like my Kagune can, too. Its physical ability must be nothing to scoff at, and I can feel that its getting stronger by the second.'

"If I understand it somewhat I believe this monster probably has immense defensive capacity due to how obviously powerful his body is as well as having great regenerative powers. We probably should focus on fighting it for now to obtain more information, attack with caution and try to not waste energy as best as you can as this might be a fight we need everything we have and more. Try to 'eat' him with your kagune and spirit bone so as to keep your reserves full. Our priority must be not getting injured for now and obtain as much info as we can to the moment we counter it and end this fucking trial." Castiel said. He had learned long ago that if you don't have enough information of the enemy a decent enough strategy was to attack and feign weakness to make the enemy overconfident and show all its cards, after that, it is just a matter of countering them and ending the fight or run away if needed.

"Alright then, lets initiate the mission."

"Yup."


	178. Cross Chapter 25 - Last Trial PT2

**Last Trial PT2**

BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG!

Sounds of explosions, shockwaves and tremors filled the atmosphere across the entire Trial area. Explosions the size of skyscrapers littered across the landscape, utterly decimating the areas surrounding the competing titans that were Nico, Castiel and the Four Beasts. Each attack exchanged between them resulted in earthquake like tremors which shook the entire landscape like a doll being shaken by a baby toddler, all the while the sounds of roaring fire, blinding light and darkness could be heard from the various familiars: Urthemiel, Solgaleo, Lunala and Necrozma. Each of these four creatures of immense power, speed, and dexterity evaded like their lives depended on it (which it sort of did) whilst launching all kinds of elemental attacks (Urthemiel's role) as well as applying buffs alongside Debuffs to the opposite factions (Necrozma, Solgaleo and Lunala's role). The latter three belonging to Castiel's service kept themselves close to their master according to his orders, allowing him to help protect them when he activated his various light powers, shielding them from a lot of the incoming Tentacles the Four Beasts launched at them as if they were on one big bargain sale.

As for Urthemiel, the Archdemon had orders to follow from its master Nico, and those orders were to fight alongside him on the frontlines, launching sneak attacks in any exposed opening to the creature's defences, getting it to rile itself up enough for the to see any more tricks that it might possess. These attacks consisted of large-scale fire attacks using its Primal fire (which Castiel saw and remarked how it rivalled that of the Golden Crow's flames at their peak), whilst it did all it could to keep those Tentacles from touching it. Just like before when its master had yet to arrive, pretty much. As it fought, the redhead male kept getting the feeling like the Archdemon would be 'peaking' soon, and by that he meant that it would likely be finishing maturing its sentience soon enough, allowing for communication between them and better co-operation for big scale attacks. Maybe even spawning its own little batch of soldiers for them to use to fight their many opponents back home.

Food for thought, maybe.

Nico himself had already see how those Tentacles could easy rival the strength of a continent class DPU once it recognized them as dangerous threats, threats which would make it start being serious for once. Nico also noticed that the creature would split its attention between him and Castiel specifically, and not their Familiars unless they specifically aggrivated it. A small conversation with Biko informed him that this creature had, similarly to the Gene Seed Implants, absorbed the minds of the four creatures they had fought throughout these trials so far, which allowed it to learn what they had learned about their moveset. As a result, the Four Beasts knew the majority of their attack patterns, making exposing ny openings it might have even MORE difficult. A cold snort escaped his lips at the thought as he kept frantically dodging llike hell whilst slashing everything coming his way with his Rinkaku and Bikaku.

His role within the fight, to keep at it whilst eating as much of those Tentacles as he could with his Kagune, had not been an easy one (though to be fair, neither had any of their roles been 'easy' per say). For one, having to slice through and eat parts of the Tentacles before they regenerated themselves left Nico with little room to attack the main body, which had been why he had stuck to constantly firing his Bikaku's many Talons to sever large portions the Tentacles, then let his Rinkaku form may large mouths to devour the severed pieces, keeping up his reserves of RC Cells. Nico didn't try to use much of his SP and Demonic Powers, relying solely on his Ghoul side for the moment, but he did also use his Boar Spirit Bone to occasionally devour any excess energy that the beast unleashed, weakening its attacks if only slightly.

"Tch, this guy really LOVES to be a hardass, doesn't he?"

"My thoughts exactly, Nico."

Castiel had been the one to say that, and he himself had a similar expression to Nico. Both boys then found it wise to do something they should have done since the beginning of this fight: Activate their respective Armours. In the Heir's case, Castiel swiftly activated his Golden Foundation Armour, his mismatched wings shining brightly with their respective elements as he constantly launched curses and blessings all around the battlefield. Even generated a couple dozen Cursed Dragontooth Warriors to help provide a distraction for their foe. Although, that attempt barely bought them a second, as the Four Beasts promptly SMASHED them to nothingness with the tips of its many Tentacles. 'Whelp, guess that's a bust then...' the Heir thought to himself, resuming his support duties whilst strafing side by side, dodging whatever Tentacles came his way and launcing a series of light blades from his wings, allowing him to cut through those Tentacles like paper mache. Not a lot of good it did him though, since they just regenerated whilst receding back to their master's side. 'Motherfucker...'

"GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Just as the young Heir thought that, the root like body of the Four Beasts instantly unleashed a loud roar, blowing each of the creatures as well as their masters backwards by about 250 meters. Gasps escaped his mouth, Nico himself cringed behind his Helmet whilst trying (and failing) to anchor himself into the ground using his Kagune, whilst his companion had to struggle to re-open his wings to halt his movement. Castiel nearly got blown away, just as Nico had almost done, though both had managed to avoid that particular fate. Their reactions got mirrored by their Familiars, Urthemiel slamming itself into the ground and digging all four limbs into it. All the while Solgaleo helped Lunala keep stable by grabbing onto it whilst Necrozma grabbed on to the Lion-shaped Familiar. That roar also served to create many long fissures in the ground, at lest 60 feet deep and wide on all sides bloated itself, expanding rapidly in a matter of seconds.

By the time that they had managed to halt themselves, Nico, Castiel, and their familiars had all regrouped over at one spot, their breathing slightly uneven thanks to all the fighting they have been enduring along with their endurance. The redhead had been the one to speak first, scowling behind his Helmet whilst his Rinkaku pointed its Tentacles towards their foe in a spider-like formation. "Looks like... we were right on its defensive options. Looks like its smarts are as great as its size, I saw more than a few tactical moves with those root-like Tentacles it has. Its healing abilities aren't anything to scoff at, either, no matter how many pieces I slice off they just keep restoring themselves." Nico muttered under his breath, his hands beginning to heat up as a sign that Hellfire was about to form over them. "From this, we can assume that such a large creature like this MUST have a whole load of energy reserves, it'd need such to be able to function properly. More mass, more energy."

"Yeah, though there were a few things I noticed too." Castiel replied, frowning as his eyes narrowed behind his Helmet towards the Four Beasts. More specifically, at certain parts of its body, something Nico noticed. "Looks like it has some way to reflect the damage our more direct attacks on its body outwards. A few times, I managed to land what few hits I could, and I noticed some other parts of is body explode outwards, which is how I confirmed this theory. Physical strength is a given, and... Wait, what the...?"

Soon, Castiel trailed off as he, Nico and their Familiars became witness to a... rather peculiar and surprising sight. The creature's form, it took on a more humanoid appearance, with two black sockets for eyes and a mouth of razor sharp teeth on it's circular head. Its lower body no longer looked like it was buried beneath the ground anymore like its plant-based origins, implying to the two boys that it now had the capacity of mobility, something which it had lacked previously and thus remained stationary. Aside from that, the creature looked like one of those overly muscular bodybuilders who had way more brawn than brain. After this process finished, the Four Beasts glowered at his opponents, its mouth open wide as if trying to mimic a smile, but instead allowing them to see the abyss-like interior of its internal structure. "Well… that explains a lot." The heir stated after pondering on this for a moment, all the while noting the agitated, nervous and cautious states of his Familiars. Looked like round two would be beginning shortly.

Nico nodded his head in agreement, having had a similar discussion with his alternate Personas. Though when he spoke, his tone indicated that he had confirmed his words before speaking them, leaving no refute on their validity jus like his companion had done. "Yeah, I hear ya. Looks like those creatures we've been fighting have finally been fully absorbed by this thing. My guess is, that because you were hurling curses at it, I was slicing away like a madman, Urthemiel was burning it and your other Familiars were doing their things, it delayed the process What we're fighting right now, will likely be this fucker's full power." He then glanced to his companion Archdemon, and noted the creature's reaction. Urthemiel stood on all fours, each of them spread apart with it's wings open, ready to flap them to make an instant launch into the skies if necessary. It constantly released low, cautious growls, as if aware that this creature would be no small task to overcome. 'Just seeing Urthemiel like this shows me we need to be even more cautious now...'

Just then, the group of them tensed when they saw that the Four Beasts had made the first move. It did so, by rearing its head backwards and moving its mouth as if to blow out air, before exhaling green air out of its mouth and creating one HUGE green cloud which covered over 600 meters in every direction. Just by looking at the cloud above them, Nico and Castiel found themselves glancing at one another through their Helmets and thinking: 'Uh oh, not good...'

"Shit, looks like its a poison." Castiel stated after looking back to the cloud and cursing under his breath. He remembered researching different poisons on his free time in order to better understand Serenity's condition, as well as when he was a kid since he had been curious. This poison had been one of the poisons he'd discovered about back then, but he didn't expect to have to face it. "Nico, whatever you do, do NOT stray too far from my position, the same goes for your flying dragon. Lunala, Solgelo and Necrozma, you do the same."

In response to this, Nico frowned in confusion, wondering what the Heir knew of this cloud. Instinctively, Nico had felt like this was poison, is Implants were already taking care of it. However, it felt like there was something more to it, something he wasn't quite familiar with. Thus, he decided to inquire. "Lemme guess, this isn't your average poison?" he questioned.

"You bet your ass this is no regular poison." Castiel replied, scowling as he prepared his countermeasures. "This poison's called the Green Rain, never mind trying to get away once your beneath it, just being touched by the rain ensures your poisoned by it. Those who have been poisoned by the Green Rain would normally have no more than an Hour to live, as the knowledge of how to make an antidote isn't well known to anyone since it is so damned rare. I honestly forgot about it when I looked it up in passing, but anyways. You guys stay close to me, so the poison can be treated while we fight." the Heir ordered, before continuing when Nico made to open his mouth (though the question of him knowing Nico was about to do that could be debatable in this situation) "Also, your resistance to it will be quite effective, but if I were to calculate, with the lethalness of this poison, you'll last about 5 minutes before the poison weakens your abilities. Same with your dragon friend. It likely won't kill you two like it would a normal person, but it will surely weaken you guys heavily."

Hearing this, Nico scowled as he looked back up at the Green Rain, before his gaze fell onto the Four Beasts again as it began to stomp towards them, leisurely swinging its arms like someone jolly walking through a park. Obviously, this thing didn't see them as proper threats at this point, just seasonings with its poison. "I see. Alright, I'll stick to launching projectiles for the time being, Urthemiel, you do the same, we'll regroup with you every 5 minutes so the poison doesn't weaken us, sound good to you?"

"I would rather a period of 4 minutes to ensure no mishaps happen as this still is a battle and most likely a battle of attrition, managing timing and yourself is the most important. But hey, if you insist in going for five minutes it is up to you." Castiel replied while dismissing Solgaleo and Lunala, much to Nico's confusion until he had sensed their dwindling energy reserves. That prompted him to try and feel for Urthemiel's, resulting in him finding that Urthemiel still had the capacity to fight for a bit longer. At that point however, Castiel had also begun summoning Eevee, the small creature manifesting in his arms as he squeaked happily up towards his master.

A small smile formed on Castiel's lips when he saw this, but soon reverted to a serious demeanour. "Eevee, go to Fairy mode." Castiel stated as Eevee changed forms to his Fairy mode in a bright flash of light. When the light vanished, Eevee had become a quadruped, mammalian being, covered primarily in pale cream-colored fur with pinkish feet, ears, and tail. There were two bows on its body, one on its left ear and one around its neck, from which two feeler-like appendages adorn it. The bows looked to be a pale cream colour, with pinkish centres while the feelers sported pale cream with pinkish and blue tips. It had short, slender legs and small paws with three visible toes on each foot. Its eyes were blue with white pupils and no visible sclera. When its forming finished, the small creature let out a cry like one would when waking up in the morning, two pointed teeth being seen on its upper jaw when it did so. Its furry pinkish tail is slightly curved in a crescent shape.

Needless to say, this one would rival Eevee's base form in terms of raw cuteness appeal alone, let alone the abilities it had. Mentally, Nico began to wonder what kind of powers this form possessed, since from what he could tell this creature held the ability to shift into different forms upon command, each one having their own attributes and abilities. That meant that if one were to discover the weaknesses of one form, Eevee could shift into another before they could be used against it. Although, he wasn't too sure on the specifics.

Hey, cuteness may be nice, but practicality held more importance here!

Though, the question of why his companion had summoned his Eevee and had it shift into this form soon answered when the Heir held his currently active Familiar out to him, the young creature having sat on his forearm whilst regarding Nico with curiosity. "Nico, take Sylveon with you. This little one has purification abilities and probably can help mitigate the poison effect if something happens, just remember that if it obtains even a scratch I WILL hunt you down and inflict you so much pain that you will think everything that happened to you up until this point of your life is easy by comparison." Castiel explained with a threatening tone.

Hearing that, the redhead rolled his eyes behind his Armour whilst Sylveon hopped off his master's embrace and onto his head... mindful of the various sharp edges his Helmet sported. Nico honestly doubted Castiel could even imagine what he has gone through, nor would he understand how much pain he suffered. Though, Nico didn't hold it against him since he had long since deduced that the Heir held the sin of Pride, that self-assuming idiot. But, his instincts and understanding of the other teen told him clearly that trying his luck would not end well by any means of the word, especially since the Heir had such oddly countering skills against most of his abilities and that evil energy of his was not one he wanted to truly face in combat if at all possible.

But to be honest, when Nico shifted his gaze to his shoulder where Syveon had SOMEHOW managed to occupy whilst avoiding the tall spikes his Armour, he could only sweatdrop inside his Armor. 'I'll be frank, Biko. its just luck that dictated Neptune and Compa to not be here right now. If they were and came into contact with this Sylveon creature, then I have no doubt in my mind that they would kidnap this little one just out of how terribly cute it is.' he thought to his Demon Persona, who readily agreed with that notion.

Why did he get the feeling that his Ghoul Persona wanted to hug it, though?

* * *

"Whelp, looks like the climactic conclusion's about to begin..."

Sitting in his living room, Zelretch put some popcorn he had conjured from nowhere into his mouth, taking a break from his daily gaming on fortnite to see how his little Guinea pigs were doing with their trial. It seemed that so far, both of them were doing quite well, though that would have been expected of them. One of them WAS his godson after all, and the other had a particularly… interesting legacy hanging over his shoulders. Wonder if his Godson might do something about that in the near future... meh, none of his concern. In any case, both of them looked to have overcome their differences for the most part, as they're working together with their Familiars much better than before. Before, they had each tried to go about things on their own, using their own specific methods. Now though, now it seems that the two were finally beginning to get some common ground between them.

Though, with the finality that he had prepared for them, Zelretch doubted that they'd find it easy.

'Lets see how my Godson will handle this threat to him and his subordinate... his power over purification and poison resistance will likely be used here, not to mention his curses will slow that big ape down some... though, what he doesn't seem to be getting is that these curses have additional affects on his company...' Zelretch thought to himself, raising an amused eyebrow when his eyes, as super talented that they were (all hail glorious science research!), spied the energy released from Castiel's curses gradually floating over towards the emo kid.

Although this wasn't something either of the two boys would have noticed right away (due to currently fighting for their lives against this trial's big boy, and even then unless they were actively looking for it they'd only barely find it), it would be practically GLARINGLY obvious for someone of HIS Calibre (and for once, Zelretch WASN'T tooting his own horn there). Heck, it was happening with both his Godson's energies, his evil energy being absorbed by the kid's body starting to gradually absorb the purifying energy of the Archangel as well. Bet the kid would FLIP if he found that out... maybe he'd even drop the bomb on him like he did with his Godson on the Fire trial, tee hee.

In all honesty, Zelretch had been waiting for something entertaining to happen with these two, and this seemed like a good start. The emo kid had already said it himself when they fought: his body had experience with sensing negative emotions, but what he HADN'T said was that his body could ABSORB them too... and his Godson's curses could sort of count as something like that so it qualifies as negative energy for him to absorb. 'Hmmmm, wonder how that will turn out... looks like the emo kid's going to go through some intriguing developments of his own... but who cares, really? As long as I'm not bored, then that's the main thing!'

* * *

'Man, this fucker's annoying...!'

Castiel could only think this as he wrapped his wings in front of him, using his name **Castiel** to block a barrage of Tentacle attacks from the Four Beast's muscular form. The Teenage Heir gritted his teeth when the Four Beasts tore into his defence with a rapid barrage of strikes from dozens of them, all the while sparing some to try and swat his companion aside like a fly. Unfortunately for it and fortunately for said companion, those Tentacles despite their size, still remained fairly easy for those invisible ones Nico had to cut through like paper mache. Obviously that Blood Pool had indeed made major improvements to it, but Castiel didn't put too much thought into it right now. He had to focus on defending himself and his recovering Familiars from this barrage after they had depleted a lot of their energy with their most recent dual attack.

Like him and Nico had suspected, the full power of this creature hadn't been made available to it just yet, their actions having delayed the process. However, now that it DID have that power, its strikes reached a whole new level of lethality. If it weren't for the defence provided by his name being as absolutely broken as it had been, then any one of these strikes would have knocked him out cold in an instant. Even now, the Heir couldn't help but feel the pressure the strain his Name put on him for blocking these strikes, making him realize just how physically tough this creature had been. Just went to show that he could not afford to hold back, though if he had the chance to he would have tried to access his Evil Spirit Form to try and utterly wreck this guy with evil energy (if his Uncle Zelretch hadn't blocked its use that is, as he felt such a block present on his mind).

Not only that, but in the following combat, Castiel had to use his Purity Halo in order to counteract the poison that the Four Beasts had unleashed into the atmosphere. If it hadn't been for his broken ass purification powers, then Castiel felt like this Green Rail would have killed him within the first hour of combat, for sure. It had also been thanks to these abilities that his powers had not been damaged by this poison.

Eventually, the attacks ceased, allowing Castiel room to breathe and lower his Wings, which had been just enough for him to peek through and see how the majority of them had been burned down to 3/4 of the way by that flying Dragon's azure flames, the creature itself having floated directly above the Four Beasts. More Tentacles grew out of it to try and chase it down, however the creature smashed them to ribbons with just the gusts from its wings, allowing Nico the chance to cut halfway through its right leg. Not only that, but when he looked up towards it, he noticed how his beloved Sylveon was riding on its back, and how when the Four Beasts countered by shooting its own barrage of projectiles from its mouth it reacted swiftly, unleashing waves of primal fire to burn the initial wave before moving out of the way like its life depended on it.

It seemed that Nico had indeed taken his warning seriously, as throughout the fight Castiel had noticed how his Familiar stayed relatively out of harm's way on that dragon's back, which would shield it by using its wind gusts too keep the attacks launched it at it at bay. That way, whenever it was needed, Sylveon would be there to help since the dragon had a great lead in the speed department. That... actually had a bit of a reliving effect on him, more than the Heir would freely admit. An exhale of said emotion escaped his mouth at seeing this, his eyes closing whilst a small smile spread across his lips. Having something as strong as that flying Dragon (he could still feel it's strength during this whole battle, like it had never lost an ounce of it) protecting his beloved Familiar soothed some deep part of him. 'However, should that thing falter for even a second and my beloved Sylveon gets a scratch, Nico better watch out or he'll have to get a new Familiar...' Castiel thought to himself.

Anyways, threats aside Castiel noticed how the Four Beasts now had its attention focused on him, if the massive fist coming down towards him was any indication. 'Good, focus on me...' the heir thought as he unleashed a burst of flames from his body, causing a shockwave which blew the arm to smithereens. The Four Beasts recoiled at this as its arm began to regenerate, only for it to e destroyed AGAIN by one of his companion's sneak attacks. Castiel didn't pay that much attention to it, as he had focused on destroying the emerging roots that tried to ensnare said from the ground. 'Sorry buddy, but you're gonna have to deal with me for the time being...' Castiel thought, his grin turning downright maniacal as he flared his mismatched Wings. At this, he reinforced himself with Mana, before dashing down and smashing the ground with a fist supported by the White Tiger Bloodline, causing a small earthquake which sent the creature off balance. This gave his companion a chance to recover from some of the poison by having Urthemiel bring Sylveon to him, whilst he went on to slice through the creature's body with his own Tentacles and Tails.

Fury building within its core at these attacks, the Four Beasts got up and roared, dozens, and I mean THOUSANDS of roots erupting around them like one big jungle rising through the earth. Castiel didn't wait for them to properly surface though, as he quickly formed a CRUEL STAR to hurl at them whilst his companion and his Dragon flew out of the roots' reach. Just in time too, since the CRUEL STAR pretty much evaporated them out of existence, leaving a residue heat in the atmosphere whilst Nico flew back up towards his companion via his Rinkaku Wings. "Thanks for that."

"No prob. Looks like this guy can grow those roots endlessly, that's like the 50th time this has happened. guess he's got a whole lot of energy."

Nico nodded at this information, looking down at the ground with narrowed eyes. "My guess is that its been absorbing the energy from the soil to refill its powers, and who knows how much is left down there. Its a Plant, and plants take the soil as nutrients after all." he remarked, cupping his chin before Castiel went in front of him and shielded them from a projectile barrage.

"Less conversing, more attacking. Try to see if you can take away its limbs and eat them, keep it still for a moment so we can generate our fire attacks: my CRUEL STAR and your Hellfire, we'll use them to freaking ROAST this turkey!"

"On it!"

With that call, Nico dove down beneath his comrade, dodging several roots which came up to ensnare him, and in the end diving deep into the mass of destroyed roots which had been so un-salvageable that the Four Beasts had just left them there. Whilst Nico advanced through them towards his prey (with Urthemiel floating above them launching fireballs at some roots which tried pulling some fast ones on the two), Castiel glared towards the Four Beasts whilst cracking his knuckles. "Alright you fucker, since you love your roots so much..." he began, a sick grin emerging o his lips hidden behind his Helmet. "Time to RIP them out from under you!"

In response, the Four Beasts roared, launching a fist towards him with the intent of swatting him like a fly. Deciding against taking it head on even with his defence being so high, Castiel spread his wings and flapped them all at once, shooting upwards into the skies in order to avoid the fist. He then began angling his body and twisting it through various evasive manoeuvres, in response to the dozens of Tentacles which tried to impale him, cutting through them with his Wings before launching a series of Light blades from said appendages back towards it. They impaled it on the surface of its skin, although sadly for him, the blades couldn't even put a DENT into the being's hide.

Good thing that this had only been a destraction, then.

A small smirk formed on his lips beneath his Armour, when Castiel held his arms upwards and generated dozens of light blades above them, easily enough to cover a radius which wouldn't lose out to the Green Rain. Each sword looked to have been generate for the sole purpose of stabbing into something, which had been the intent for them in the first place. Kind of reminded him of Yu Gi Oh's 'Swords of Revealing light' that he'd heard about a few times from his fellow Tower agents while growing up. Anyways, that thing about the stabbing? it soon became something which the Four Beasts would soon learn as Castiel, within his protective Wings, brought them down on it causing the Four Beasts to summon a whole army of roots from beneath the ground to defend it. As a result, the swords collided rapidly with the roots, tearing through them thanks to the raw heat that light emitted burning through them faster than a knife through warm tofu.

Seeing his chance, Castiel shot forwards like a bullet, activating the bloodline of the White Tiger and slamming himself directly into the creature's forehead, causing the Four Beasts to stumble backwards whilst nursing a steaming him-shaped imprint on its forehead. An angry glare got aimed at him for that, and in response the Four Beasts roared, peppering Castiel with projectiles fired from its mouth. It did NOT look all that different from a Gatling gun, if he had been in the comparative mood. To counter this though, the Heir commenced flying in erratic patterns in the skies above, zigzagging through the air like a bullet whilst flipping, twisting and spinning through the various projectiles. He eve decided to get some practice in by having his wings swish about like blades to cut through the ones he couldn't dodge.

Though, in the end he sensed a certain someone closing in, and quickly began prepping for the next move too...

* * *

Navigating these Roots felt like moving through that one trial with the forest and pyramid again, Nico felt like as he moved about like a wraith. His mismatched eyes kept glancing about as he closed in under the debris of destroyed roots, using them as cover to get in without being seen by the massive beast. His Bikaku Kagune slashed and hacked through the roots like they were nothing but air, whilst his Rinkaku aided them with their superior speed and cutting power.

Up above, the redhead could hear the sounds of fireballs being launched, the cutting of light blades, the furious roars of the Four Beasts and some mocking insults from his companion. 'Looks like that guy's having a blast...' the male thought to himself when he heard the mad laughter of his partner in this when he showered the many roots attacking him with Phoenix Flames. Once again, he began wondering if that Castiel should REALLY be an Angel. Then again, he did know a Goddess who happened to be one hell of a tsundere, so personalities not being what you'd expect kind of had a common occurrence. He wasn't sure I that was a good thing or not, though.

'Still, despite his... quirks, it doesn't feel half bad fighting alongside him like this...much better than fighting against him.' Nico added in his mind, a wry smile ebbing onto his lips whilst he neared the Four Beast's rear. Watching him like this, as well as recalling how he acted in the trials, it gave him much more insight into a... well, a lot of things. Even if he didn't get the chance to ask him about the whole Yvoire situation, with what he had learned from the Heir Nico felt like he could come up with an answer all on his own.

As for this creature, his eyes turned predatory in an instant. He had an idea which had entered his mind not long before that recent regrouping, an idea he wished to test out. 'If fighting with him is this much of an intriguing experience, I wonder what kind of daily life he has... Not an easy one, I'll bet.' Still, his thoughts concerning his companion lingered due to the lack of attention to him that the Four Beasts paid. Under normal circumstances, Nico would have been pissed that this thing didn't regard him very much, but right now with the plan his comrade had devised, it would be a godsend.

Also, he could hear the roars of Urthemiel as it dodged each of the stray attacks from both parties, making sure not to let even a SCRATCH form on Sylveon's body. Castiel's warning aside, Nico recalled some of the past mass extermination operations he'd heard of, and how important the medics of the teams had been. Medics were pretty much like their backbones, essential to their health and mobility. Thus, if they were to be needed, then they'd have to get there pronto. That was why he had Urthemiel carry Sylveon, as its speed would ensure that they could regroup quite quickly.

Shaking his head, Nico pushed those thoughts aside when he came out of the destroyed roots, ending up about 60 meters away from the Four Beasts rear. It had not noticed this, due to paying too much to the storm that was the colossal calamity before it, unaware of the approaching danger behind it. At his, Nico almost chuckled at how exciting this made him feel, both in a battle sense and in a primitive one. He guessed he had to thank his Ghoul side for that, as his Rinkaku wings flapped once to propel him upwards in a diagonal angle.

As he approached it, Nico looked at the various limbs on the beast's body, eyeing their joints and their movements. Fortunately, whilst his main role had been that of the attacker, Nico had also been observing and calculating the motions of his enemy to guess where the joints would be. Or rather, the sockets connecting the Four Beasts limbs to its main body. It may have had a humanoid-esque form, but he doubted human anatomy had a play here. Thus, he wanted to get a clear picture in his mind for what he would be doing in the next few seconds. 'Hopefully this works...' Nico thought to himself, rearing back his massive Bikaku Tails. He could hear the cackling of the Talons, a sign that they were ready to be launched, and thus slashed all 4 at the same time, each one aimed at the socket of a specific limb.

Time almost seemed to slow down as the Talons tore into the creature's body, ripping through their flesh and digging deep into the creature's limbs. Thanks to this, they managed to get inside the Four Beasts as their holes regenerated, allowing them to be securely locked inside... something which caused thee fighting to pause for a brief moment. All parties began to wait for something to happen, and just when it seemed like nothing had...

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Four Explosions ripped through the Four Beast, severing it's arms and legs from its body with dozens of sickening squelching sounds escaping them. Each of the severed limbs fell to the ground beneath them, releasing large smokescreens around them from all the dirt that got uplifted. Howls of pain escaped it as this happened, and the Four Beasts fell forwards thanks to the loss of support. As for the limbs, they each tried to reattach to their main body, however Nico didn't let that happen and engulfed them with his Hellfire, burning them to nothingness. Whilst loving the sight of his beloved flames, the redhead looked back to where Castiel had been floating, shooting some flames into the air and forming the words 'Prep complete!' from them.

* * *

Time for the grand finale, Castiel thought to himself as a dark grin split his face in two beneath his armour.

Part of him recalled the time of their first spar back before the first trial when they had been gauging each other, as he held his right hand upwards and generated a CRUEL STAR. The moment that it appeared, Castiel sensed the power building within it, something which had sharply increased thanks to his newfound understanding of the mechanics behind fire. If he were to try and compare it to the one fired back then, he'd feel immense shame for even CALLING it a CRUEL STAR. 'Heh, how far I've grown since then...' The Heir thought, a wry chuckle escaping his lips as he gazed fondly at his attack. The surface of this attack looked more and more like the core of a star the longer he looked at it, spiralling in a clockwise rotation whilst radiating MUCH more heat. To the point where even Castiel himself with his immense fire resistance could feel it.

Sensing a presence, Castiel shifted his gaze from his attack, and looked to its source to find Nico rising upwards to a similar height that he had occupied. The redhead held his hand out with a similar Hellfire ball which he had used back then appearing with a barely audible 'SCREEEE!' Sound. Much like the one made when he generated his CRUEL STAR. The more that the Heir looked at it though, the more that he realized how that Hellfire had also changed, no longer being like it had been back then. In his opinion, his CRUEL STAR beat it in terms of sheer power in this state, but thanks to their greedy nature being stronger, they wouldn't lose out to the current attack in his hand.

Still, this situation called for some quick witty banter before they finished it, they had a couple seconds before the Four Beasts would regenerate all four limbs. "Alright still think this bad boy's a little ember?!" he yelled.

"Ha! Try asking that AFTER we roast this motherfucker! HAAA!"

"HAA!"

Both boys yelled that out whilst flinging their arms downwards. As a result, both their respective attacks slammed downwards with the force of massive meteors, their speed being faster than any kind of bullet ever conceived. The Four Beasts, upon looking up when it felt the immense heat steaming its back, saw the infernal damnation heading its way. If it could, it would have pissed itself at the sight... which would have evaporated thanks to the combined heat coming down on like the gods of flame had decided to smite it off the face of the continent. Desperate to survive this incoming attack, its instincts telling it to haul ass due to the combined threat level, the Four Beasts let out a furious, ear-shattering roar of defiance before the two attacks filled its vision...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sight of the two attacks erupting into one big mass of fire, heat and scorching death forced the two boys to cover their eyes, huge whipping winds whistling through the air and forcing them back by a couple hundred meters as EVERYTHING in the area began to burn. The ground became a sea of demonic flame, the forests got reduced to heavenly fiery nightmares, and the very skies themselves looked like they had been scorched beyond recognition. wisps of fire could be seen floating through the clouds as if mimicking lightning bolts, one could say that the heavens themselves had become an abysmal, scorching wasteland. Pretty much everything became an infernal wasteland… so pretty much just like the fire trial except... they were the responsible ones, not Zelretch.

After Nico Warped back to Castiel's side, the redhead and the Heir looked up to see Urthemiel coming down to thir level, a thankfully uninjured Sylveon riding atop its back. Just by seeing his Familiar, Castiel's eyes brightened in joy as he dismissed his Armour, exclaiming "Sylveon!" whilst holding his arms out.

A squeal of joy escaped the Familiar as Sylveon, after patting Urthemiel on its head with its feelers (Something which, to Nico's utter bewilderment, caused him to purr softly), hopped off the Archdemon and into the Heir's arms. After finding the familiar warm arms belonging to its master embrace it, the small creature squealed more, nuzzling his chest with its face in the cutest manner possible.

Was it possible to get diabetes from cuteness? Cause if this kept up, that would be what Castiel felt would be happening to him.

Looking his Familiar over, Castiel checked him for any signs of injuries, not even the tiniest of details would be unchecked by him during this examination. As he did this, Nico got the feeling like is life would be hanging by a single thread as he floated there, awaiting his response. Even if his Archdemon would try to protect him, it could prove useless in the end. 'Why do I get the feeling that this is what being judged by the court of the damned feels like?' the redhead wondered to himself, before shaking his head to get rid of such thoughts.

Eventually though, the check-up finished as Castiel gave a nod of approval towards his companion. "Not a scratch on Sylveon's form, so you get to live." he stated, and whilst the Heir didn't admit it, the way that Nico sighed in relief much more than he had intended gave him no small amount of satisfaction. Castiel would have skinned Nico alive if his Familiar got hurt, he just loved each of them THAT much.

At this, the redhead could only sweat drop as he too dismissed his Armour, the Armour receding back into its Armour Module on his Chest. Looking up, the young Spec Ops Agent furrowed his brows as he looked at the Green Rain. "Looks like the cloud's dissipating, that combined fire attack must have incinerated it to the point here it can't sustain itself anymore." he theorized, before closing his eyes and mentally checking his health over.

Castiel came to a similar conclusion, whilst Nico then looked back to his companion. "Not a bad plan you made... guess that nobody normal would have been able to do what you did with that thing, stalling it for that long and all..." he remarked, before scratching the side of his jaw with a leather glove bound finger, a nervous and uncomfortable expression forming on his face. "I'll be honest, I'd have just kept fighting until I discovered a weakness. Back where I come from, due to there being so many different enemies throughout my world, properly identifying and learning everything about them is practically impossible. We've had to adopt a 'survival of the fittest' mentality because of this, where we have to keep observing our opponents for any signs of weaknesses, then exploit them as soon as possible. Kill or be killed, its largely why I don't do anything other than fight and kill." he explained.

"... Huh, I see. That does answer a few questions I have had about you." Castiel responded thoughtfully. Looked like he had been right on the money when he had compared Nico's world to one messed up by war instead of politics like his own. Thinking back to his companion's previous battles, this information soon verified a lot of things about him, and whilst he didn't necessarily like them, he could at least understand why he did them the way he did. "That kind of thinking wouldn't do as well in my world though, since like I said before there's so many beings who could destroy it just casually living amongst humanity. Each of them being engaged in politics being why they haven't gone bonkers yet, though I wouldn't say that all of them are happy with the current state of things." He could think of a few examples, like those DAMNED HERO FACTION ASSHOLES, some of the Hindu Pantheon and a FEW other ones. To be frank, his world had so many powerful beings in it, ranging from gods to mythological beasts, that it was a wonder why his world still existed the way it did.

"... Sounds like a hassle. My world's a bit more simple than yours, but both worlds aren't what you would say 'normal'."

"Then again, normal is overrated. If everything was 'normal', then it'd be a pretty shitty and boring world we'd live in, huh?"

"True, true..."

With that conversation (and a bit more understanding between the two), Castiel and Nico decided to wait for something to happen.

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Only, nothing DID happen for some time, causing them to be confused. Both boys looked around, their eyes narrowing in contemplation and concern. "Strange... would have thought that a sign to say this trial was done would have popped up by now..." Nico mused, his senses telling him something wasn't right here. His Ghoulish instincts screaming at him also helped in confirming this.

"Yeah... odds are that the Four Beasts might not be dead yet, see if you can get something on that Bracer thing you have, I'll expand my senses my own way." Castiel ordered, getting a compliant 'roger!' from Nico as the two set about their tasks. The former opened his right Bracer and activated his Motion Tracker, as well as expanding his mental senses to see if he could pick anything up. He also sniffed the air to try and see if he could smell anything to indicate life. On the other end, Castiel muttered a few incantations under his breaths, casting spells which covered a wide area to analyse them for any signs of enemies. He also expanded his own senses, flaring his wings whilst looking around the vicinity.

After a couple minutes, both boys drew their gaze downwards... and then made startled exclamations when a large pure white BEAM made of pure energy shot out of the residue smoke from their combined attack.

"Goddamnit!"

"Oh, fuck!"

Both of them quickly avoided the beam using their own methods, Castiel by empowering his speed with Mana, and Nico by using the Star God's Broken Shadow so that it only hit an afterimage of him. As a result, the two had ended up facing each other on opposite sides of the beam whilst looking down. Peering into the smoke, the two noticed a shadowy silhouette amidst it, two large eyes looking up at them with a glare so fierce that it would make some of the stronger beings in their respective words cringe from anxiety. The smoke soon vanished... which revealed the culprit to be the Four Beasts, arms and legs fully regenerated and kneeling on the ground with its arms being used as supports. Aside from that, the creature looked relatively fine, no signs of damage on is person.

"Oh, that's just fucking perfect...!" Castiel cursed under his breath, scowling down at the beast. He didn't make to activate his Armour though, as he decided to summon Clarent instead. "Looks like this guy's still not dead, this is one persistent motherfucker." Just as he said that, the Heir narrowed his eyes when he noticed something... off, about the creature. Said creature already attacking them by opening its mouth and shooting projectiles from within, forcing them to dodge for their lives. "Hang on, something about it feels... different." he noted, his senses telling him that its power level felt WAY lower than it did before. Its energy reserves had also decreased significantly, only adding to his confusion.

Nico however, soon found an answer when he scanned the Four Beasts with his Bracers. He soon shouted over to his comrade whilst dodging projectiles left and right. "Looks like this creature is more damaged than we think, Emiya. I just did a scan just now, and it detected none of the life signs in it's roots beneath the ground. Looks like even in this form, it still had some roots underground, hence why it could make so many attacks from beneath us. It seems that this thing sacrificed the majority of its roots to prevent our recent fire attack from completely reducing it to nothingness. What we're seeing right now is similar to a fountain that is disconnected from its water supply, the final stretch as it were."

Hearing those words, Castiel heaved a frustrated groan, just wanting to have this trial over with already. He was already done with this shit, he wanted to get back home to his loved ones already. 'Not long now, Emiya, not long now...' he thought, before looking back to his companion. "You still have power for one last attack then? To end this?" he suggested, clutching Clarent.

"Yeah, sure do... huh?"

"Hm? What is...?" the Heir began when he heard a confused exclamation from his companion. Glanding over to him, Castiel soon saw him slowly getting covered by steam, and according to his senses something was beginning to act up with his Demonic Power. "Uhhhh, dude? You doing ok?" he questioned, about to move over and see if he could try to stabilize Nico's energy. He recalled what had happened with that Scythe of his, and did NOT wish to make a repeat of that. "You ned some help, or...?"

Before he could finish his sentence however, Nico suddenly gasped when, in one instantaneous moment, his whole form erupted into flames. Not just any flames though... but BLACK flames, the true form of the Hellfire that Nico commanded. THOSE flames emerged from his body, wrapping around him and forming a large sphere, making it impossible to see what was inside. The Four Beasts below them, thought that this could be an opportunity to take down one of the ones who had injured it so extremely, and promptly fired another beam at it. The creature knew that, thanks to its injuries, its life wouldn't be lasting long even if it DID win, but if it could take those humans down with it, then it would die satisfied.

However, just as the beam touched the flames, the black sphere did NOT get destroyed contrary to what the Four Beasts had intended. Instead, it looked like those flames were eagerly EATING the beam's energy, devouring it and using it to make themselves stronger. It didn't even take that long for Castiel, who had super powerful resistance to fire, to cover his eyes due to the intensity the Hellfire generated. It was NOTHING like what Nico used in his human form, he realized, though that thought flew out of his head and got replaced with 'What the fuck's going on here?!'

 _'Oh, I can answer that, little Godson of mine.'_

'Uncle?! You know what's happening here?!'

 _'Yup, you should see your face right now, haha! Its quite funny seeing you freak out like this. Don't worry though. Little Emo there is just going through an overdue metamorphosis. Think of it as a caterpillar entering a cocooned state later than expected.'_

Right as Zelretch said that, the Sphere of flames dissipated, revealing what lay inside, and...

Holy Shit.

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Was this the feeling of giving birth? Cause if it was, then Nico's respect for the female gender SKYROCKETED right now.

Whatever had bee happening, it felt like his body had been reduced to the size of an infant and forced to go through 16 years worth of development all over again... the timespan being in about 5 minutes rather than years however. His Hellfire, the TRUE form of his Hellfire, it surrounded him in darkness, filling his vision and entering his body. He could feel it remaking him, burning something away only to replace it with something else. During this time, Nico tried to contact his other Personas, but sadly he couldn't, making him think that he had been cut off from them during this time.

Still, with what he felt right now, he hoped it would be over soon, cause he had a FEW questions about this phenomenon.

All the while, Nico decided to wait and endure this feeling until it would be complete... whilst enjoying the feeling of being embraced by his Hellfire whilst it did... whatever it was doing. It was like his Hellfire was... merging, with him in some ways, he felt it both inside and outside whilst his body seemed to be undergoing a similar transformation to DDD. But, it didn't exactly feel like the DDD he knew of, so he felt stumped on it.

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… Finally, after what felt like AGES, Nico felt like the process had finished, as evident by the specs of light breaking through his Hellfire shell. Pretty soon, he found himself back into he world of the last Trial, floating in the air with his Demonic Power surging through his veins. That obviously told him that he had transformed during this little... event, he would call it. That meant he had become Crimson Soul, thus he made to inform his companion of this, until he noticed that the guy was looking at him funny. "Is there something of a matter?" Crimson Soul questioned, his multi voice echoing though the atmosphere and shaking Castiel out of his stupor.

"Oh not much, but you MIGHT want to look yourself over."

Crimson Soul arched a brow at this, but did what Castiel said anyways. Though, when he did, then he'd have showed more surprise if he were in his human form. 'Hm? This is...?' he thought, looking himself over. If he had thought he'd see his usual DPU Form, then he'd be sorely mistaken, as instead of his crimson Armour, his DPU Form looked QUITE different. His body looked to be covered in a skin tight black latex suit from the neck downwards. His body's Armour had also changed, as his head now got covered by a pure black helmet, with several black horns protruding upwards, 2 larger ones and 2 smaller ones. The Helmet had areas showing his eyes whilst sporting a V shaped jawline, like a spike while two empty sockets showed his crimson DPU Eyes. Aside from the suit, his neck remained bare, whilst his torso got covered in black slim Armour made from multiple layers of plating. The shoulder Armour looked bulkier and bigger, with multiple plates, super sharp edges curved spikes pointing upwards. More lean armour covered his arms from below the shoulder Armour down to his hands, with larger forearm Amour over said body parts. The legs looked to be covered in this slim Armour as well, ending in sharpened boots which, if they kicked, looked like they could stab someone. Behind him, Crimson Soul still had his Tail, only now it looked more black and skeletal, like an extension of the human spinal column with a sharpened, narrowed blade-like Tip with its length rivaling his height. As for his back, Crimson Soul had Wings of flame still, but these Wings were made from pure Crimson colored flames, shaped like the wings of a Demon that angled downwards... sort of like his Demon Persona's now that he thought about it. Plus he now had a second pair of wings, making 4 in total.

"Hmmm... interesting..." Crimson Soul muttered, furrowing his brows behind his Helmet while looking himself over. He held his hands out at torso level, flipping them about to examine them in their entirety. "It appears that this is similar to an evolutionary shift." Crimson Soul muttered, before he glanced over to Castiel and questioned him. "Was this what you had been surprised by?"

At this, the Heir nodded. "Yeah, Uncle Zelretch told me that apparently this had happened because of you absorbing the ambiance of my Evil Energy, as well as somehow my purifying energy as well. This resulted in you being changed into... well, this, alongside you being 'purified' from some sort of taint or whatever." he explained, frowning. He seemed to be unintentionally throwing this guy a lot of boons, didn't he? The Heir honestly had rather mixed feelings about it, on one hand he felt glad that someone was growing stronger thanks to him since it reminded him of his own power, but on the other it worried him since if Nico ever became an enemy of the tower Castiel himself would feel partially responsible for it.

On his end, Crimson Soul narrowed his eyes, a thoughtful hum escaping his lips. "Is that so...?" he mumbled, trailing off at the end while mentally requesting confirmation from Biko. In the end, the Demon Persona agreed with his companion's assessment. Though, he added on that this was actually part of the DPU's levelling process, each time they broke into another classification of power, their forms would undergo a transformation, overtaking their previous forms like an Evolution. It would happen again too, whenever he entered Chaos Class as well as Primus Class, though Biko also added that this would have happened regardless of absorbing so much of Castiel's evil energy. The only reason why he hadn't done this sooner was due to him not using his DPU Form as much, as well as that Soul Attack he had tanked from Mundus and that Poison, otherwise it would have happened the EXACT moment that he'd broken through into his current class. In addition, regarding the purification, he had explained how his energy had small remnants of Sparda in it, as it had originally been from that DPU of Destruction in the first place, but thanks to this purification Crimson Soul could now truly call himself a successor to Sparda, his own person independent from his influence.

Just as they had this discussion, the furious Four Beasts roared at them, launching several Tentacles the width and size of Skyscrapers towards them. This resulted in Crimson Soul summoning Soul Edge (which had turned into an all-black metallic version of itself, he noticed) to swing it once, releasing a large gust of wind which toe the Tentacles apart, right down to their bases which caused the Four Beasts to how,, stumbling backwards while the creature regenerated its wounds. "Interesting, looks like the healing process has been reduced significantly." Crimson Soul muttered as he observed the creature, before turning to face his comrade. "Shall we finish it off?"

"Sure, I want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

With that said, Crimson Soul glared down at the Four Beasts which looked to be fully regenerated from his last attack. It must have focused its remaining power on healing itself, and as he picked up the energy reserves it had left, Crimson Soul deduced that this last round would not be as easy as he had thought. 'It appears that its energy is only half of what it would normally have been, half of what it had been at the beginning of the fight. In that case, it would be wise not to underestimate it...' the transformed DPU thought to himself.

Still though, thanks to this new form he was in... Crimson Soul couldn't help but feel something was a little off. He didn't know why, but when he looked deep inside himself, the DPU felt like there had been a... change, somewhat to his power, a change which had happened recently. It wasn't that of his current form's though, no since it felt way too similar to Castiel's. As he raised Soul Edge and put it on his shoulder, Crimson Soul glanced over towards his comrade. "Your orders? If we go in without a plan like I usually do, it'll end messy."

"Hmmmm, ah yes that'll work. Alright, Nico, see if you can go and distract this guy for me. I'll do what you did before and sneak behind this thing to get in its blind spot. I'll use my Left Arm Spirit Bone to do the rest." Castiel responded after a couple seconds, already making to descend downwards like an owl. "Keep its attention for me, just think of it like that!" And with that, the Heir had dove down and out of sight.

The Four Beasts noticed him, but couldn't do anything since a few shockwaves from Soul Edge slammed into it like a couple sledgehammers able to reduce entire cities to nothingness, intentionally weakened to keep its focus on him. This resulted in Crimson Soul becoming the target of its ire, its rage making it forget about Castiel for the time being. 'That's right focus on me... it'll keep you blind to the real sword behind this offensive.'

* * *

Down below, Castiel flew low till he was just about to hit the ground, then banked to the right whilst bending backwards, resulting in him flying parallel to the charred earth beneath him. He of course kept enough height between him and the ground to allow his wings to flap, but other than that the young Heir focused solely on getting to his target. Since the Four Beasts would be occupied in the front, the Heir wouldn't risk approaching directly or the flanks. Instead, get intended to go right for the back of its head, where he would then stick his left arm into it and begin devouring this damned thing's soul.

This plan of his didn't have much room for error, and he didn't want to waste any more time than necessary. After all, their joint fire attack my have severely weakened this fucker, but he doubted that it would let that stop it from going wild. When a beast was cornered, it would be prepared to do whatever it took to survive, making it increasingly dangerous to those around it.

That mentality would be absolutely HAZARDOUS with something of the Four Beasts Calibre.

However, even whilst the soul of this creature would serve as one HELL of a delicious treat for his Spirit Bone, the Heir wouldn't be as foolish as to think it would happen quickly, unlike with regular victims. Those Victims weren't beings who have existed over hundreds of thousands of years, and from what Castiel could tell from this thing's life force, it had indeed lived for a similar length of time. That meant it's Soul would be EXTREMELY powerful and full of vitality, which would mean it'd probably take a while before the Spirit Bone of the World Devouring Wolf would be able to completely eat it up. If he had used this Spirit Bone to try and devour Kokabiel's soul back in that battle, then he felt like it would have quickly eaten it due to the lack of years that this Fallen Angel had been alive IN COMPARISON to the Four Beasts. That guy had way more experience in combat than Castiel though, so he didn't try that since it wouldn't have worked.

Still, the Heir had to try, especially if the rewards for killing this thing would be any incentive. Not only was this one hell of a long-lived beast, but the years it would have lived likely would have garnered it the ability to drop a Spirit Bone or something when it dies. A Spirit Bone which came from THIS fucker of a beast... Castiel honestly had to fight his own desires to drool at such a prospect. The amount of sheer POWER, POTENTIAL and VERSATILITY that kind of Spirit Bone would possess... it could be considered unfathomable.

Shaking his head, Castiel quickly forced his mind back into serious mode. He could fantasise about the potential upgrades he could get later, right now he had a job to do. He'd not make the same mistakes back in the Kokabiel incident, nope not when he had subordinates under his charge. A determined, downright steely look formed on his features thanks to these thoughts, as Castiel flapped his wings with extra strength poured into them, propelling him forwards at a faster level of speed. He didn't have time to waste here, every second was a second wasted.

Not something he'd allow.

* * *

Definitely felt wise not to underestimate with what he had been seeing.

That thought passed through Crimson Soul's mind whilst he strafed about, avoiding several Tentacles which tried to impale them, then pulled a circular manoeuvre to avoid a fist larger than he was. The Four Beasts attacks remained ruthless and aggressive, with it mixing it up between its projectiles, energy beams, Tentacles and arm swipes. Urthemiel had been dismissed a while ago, its strength implying that some recovery time would be necessary for it. Not to mention, Crimson Soul had told Biko to try and see what the hell this change he had sensed before was, resulting in this current situation.

'Biko, have you got anything out of it yet?' Crimson Soul questioned his Demon Persona, all the while using his Star God's Broken Shadow to evade the successive Tentacles that the Four Beasts launched. Perhaps it was because of it being desperate, but those things moved about way more erratically than before. He then swung Soul Edge, and thus launched a shockwave with at least continent level destructive power towards it. He intentionally held back his power just like he'd done before, since A: the Beast would be able to mitigate the damage so using his full power felt like a waste, and B: he could sense Castiel rapidly approaching their prey, so if he used Soul Edge's full power carelessly then he didn't doubt the Heir wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.

Like that had happened before though, these hits served to aggravate it even more which prompted it to fire more projectiles that Crimson Soul dodged.

 **'I have indeed, it seems what we now possess is the ability to use Curses, similar to what Castiel uses. I believe it is due to you constantly absorbing that evil energy and, albeit unintentionally, understanding how it works thanks to constantly reading his negative emotions. However, do not think that this would be on the same level of his, this feels more like a basic version which needs to be refined before getting to that level. Try it out, and we will see what it does and how we can improve it.'**

Crimson Soul nodded, understanding the urging his Demon Persona had been exuding with his request. Having a lack of understanding on one's own abilities would certainly cause problems down the line, which had been what he had thought about any new powers that he'd awakened and/or gained through external sources. As such, with this knowledge Crimson Soul swiftly raised his hand and pointed it towards the Four Beasts. He had no idea what would happen once he activated this new power, part of him hoping nothing seriously detrimental would result from this, but if he didn't try then he would never know. Soon, his mind connected with the deep seated darkness and evil which rested deep within himself, and Crimson Soul repressed the urge to shudder from the feeling. He soon remembered one of Castiel's Curses, an decided to try it out. **"Weak!"**

The effects were instantaneous. His hand got overtaken by this black miasma, which then appeared over the Four easts and slammed into its very soul with the force of a dozen sledgehammers. The Four Beasts groaned, feeling a sudden surge of weakness, it didn't even matter how it had only been a slight drop in strength, its soul could STILL feel it. For a brief moment, the creature shuddered under the effects of the Curse as it persisted.

However...

'UUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!' Crimson Soul resisted the urge to curse or let out any kind of sound from his mouth, as he put a black armour-clad hand over his forehead whilst losing quite a bit of altitude. Only by sheer willpower had he not fallen unconscious from the sudden burning headache that assaulted his mind right now. He had to forcibly remove his connection to that evil power lest it cause even more effects, something which would NOT be very helpful right now. 'UGH,...! This is...!'

 **'Hmmmm, this is most unfortunate. It seems that this power is indeed a type of Soul attack, similar to what Castiel said. The power output it has corresponds to the energy we put in, and we put in enough to destroy a city, which is the only reason why the Four Beasts is even effected by this. The Vitality on its Soul must be exceptionally powerful, however using this power ourselves has a serious drawback. This power must corrupt the minds and very spirits of those who use it, I sensed it try this myself when we used that Curse, only thanks to Soul Edge shielding us did nothing serious happen. Not to mention, it'll likely only be able to be trained outside of your Inner World, due to their corrupting effects.'**

Biko's explanation served to answer the unasked questions circulating through his aching mind, though Crimson Soul had a hunch that this was the case. This just proved to him that he would eventually have to find something that could shield his mind and very spirit from these kind of attacks on his Soul, or at least be able to train his soul to be stronger. It was just like Castiel had said during the first trial, this power indeed was his biggest weakness, since his Soul would be considered a free buffet for Soul Attacks due to lack of proper guard. Soul Edge could only do so much as an extension of it, too.

Even so however, Crimson Soul's determination as he recovered from the assault didn't waver, allowing him to avoid the sudden strike of a Tentacle which tried to smash him into the ground. Now that he had the knowledge and the experience with this, he felt more resolved than ever to find some way to deal with this problem. Once he did, and he could start training in these Curses, then they'd be one HELL of a leg up in dealing with masses of enemies. Just recalling what Castiel could do with them had been enough for him, but the potential for... well, MORE, could not help but be more appealing.

As such, the battle between him and the Four Beasts continued.

* * *

If he were frank, then Castiel would admit he honestly didn't know what to expect from that sudden move.

He'd noticed what Nico had been trying to do after dodging all those strikes, as well as the aftermath which he couldn't help but wince at. That reaction to using a Curse for the first time reminded him SO FUCKING much of what happened during the early processes of figuring out his own powers when he was a boy, that it scared him. He remembered the feeling of mind numbing pain, of feeling his mind being torn to pieces thanks to his own Curses. Not to mention that for Nico, he didn't even have the fragments of the Holy Grail inside of him, so he felt like the pain would have been wholly worse for him.

Even so however, Castiel wouldn't call him an idiot just yet, as he had only used one Curse, albeit putting a LOT of energy into it which resulted in the Four Beasts being staggered (a plus in of itself) before stopping. Odds are he likely realized just how much of a bad idea using those Curses with how weak his mind is, but he didn't put too much thought into it right now.

He'd used this chance to get closer to his prey as quickly and silently as he possibly could. Only by reaching the back of its head, did the young Heir slam his left arm onto the green muscular surface and activate his Spirit Bone's power.

Of course, the Four Beasts noticed what had happened, feeling an unfamiliar lump on the back of its head. However, two things prevented it from taking any action: One, it already had its hands full with the barrage of attacks this other flying human had been launching at it from the moment it faltered from its own abilities. It hadn't used that power again, leading it to suspect it to be similar to a double-edged sword, harmful to the enemy sure, but also harmful to the user as well. The second reason was that it felt like its energy was being drained, something which it didn't concern itself with for the time being. Its energy may not be unlimited anymore thanks to these wretched humans, but the fact that it still held a LOT of power that it could afford to be wasteful for it still existed in all its glory. As such, the Four Beasts decided to ignore Castiel for the time being.

Something which the Heir noticed, and though the creature didn't see it due to not being able to see behind it, Castiel slowly allowed a wicked, demonic smile to spread across his lips.

This thing had pretty much declared its own funeral with these actions...

* * *

BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH-BANG-BOOM-BOOM-CRASH!

Hours passed, and slowly Crimson Soul began to realize something amidst all the explosions generated around him like some Michael Bay movie. Something which caused him to frown whilst he avoided attacks like a pro.

His power was draining fast.

The DPU had been fighting this thing for a grand total of 13 hours already, and only 2 hours had passed since he had sensed his companion beginning to use his Spirit Bone. As a result, he had resorted to using his own Spirit Bones to keep his own energy up. His Right Leg Bone kept glowing brightly whilst it continuously got used to devour portions of the Four Beasts energy, using it to replenish his own Demonic Power. It helped that he was using the powers of his two Rings to amplify his Demonic Power as well, leading to stronger attacks too so he had lasted this long through them. Hopefully, this battle would help his body grow more accustomed to fighting like this for long time periods, cause Crimson Soul got the feeling that he'd be doing this a LOT more in the future.

His other Spirit Bones were also put to use, his Left Leg Bone constantly being used for either to generate large explosive trails to stagger the Four Beast and knock it off balance, or to bombard it with Meteors the size of Skyscrapers. Though, when using THAT particular ability Crimson Soul focused more on the creature's limbs and surroundings, careful not to get his companion caught in the crossfire. As for his Evil Orca King Spirit Bone, he either kept some of its attacks locked in space enough for him to dodge in time, or even lock it completely in place. That would allow him the chance to combine its other ability to launch crimson energy waves with his Quicksword, resulting in large showers of crimson energy Waves the size of large buildings to descend on the damned creature. Cutting its limbs and Tentacles off was a piece of cake for these waves, though it just as quickly regenerated them.

Even with all of these measures however, 13 hours (just above half a day) seemed to be the limit to how long Crimson Soul could fight in this form for, likely because the transformation had destabilized his Demonic Power resulting in him using a lot more than what he would have originally. If that hadn't happened, then even with how chaotic his power was, he could have fought for a full 24 hours. Perhaps he would have benefited from learning how to control his energy better, something he'll have to do in order to properly stabilize his foundations again in the near future.

Fortunately, there were a few blessings this form granted him that did NOT require the use of his Demonic Power: such as his Wings and Tail. His Wings always had the ability to reform their shapes into whatever he willed them to, so in this case he had to will them into various weapons and forms to keep up with the Four Beasts' speed and strength. Launching quick successive attacks with his Tail wasn't something he did very often, but with the use that it provided in this battle, Crimson Soul began to see its hidden potential. Perhaps he could incorporate it into his combat style better than he had in previous fights. Additionally, he had the power to use his SP Skills in DDD, something he never really tried before since his Demonic Power took the primary role as a power source in this form. He just had to dig a little deeper to reach his SP, a process which would be flipped whenever he used Demonic Power in his human form, but it worked out.

As a result, things reached the point where Crimson Soul's various energy reserves reached their last legs. His Rings used up their rage and hatred, thus they would need time to restore themselves, whilst his Spirit Bones found themselves in a similar state of powerlessness. His SP reserves got into the same situation as his Demonic Power, not to mention that because of this form, Soul Edge refused to allow him to use the Archdevil and Devil Arms he had on him, probably a sign of its dominance over his Soul. He couldn't use his Ghoul side, either, as his Demonic Power kept it mostly suppressed in this form, not to mention it wasn't exactly at its peak condition either.

At this moment when he was truly running out of options a rune appeared on his side.

"Hey, are you done already?" Castiel's voice came from the other side. Crimson Soul, who was more than tired enough and could feel himself about to fall at any moment, turned to the rune and opened his mouth.

"Where are you? Did you find out a way to finish this thing?" Despite being used to tough fights, the transformed male had to admit that this one was a cut above the rest. It was a dreadful experience where he had to create more and more attacks to counter more and more things this creature did and it was infuriating how it simply would not fall at all. Its regenerative powers were enough to make even the toughest ghoul bow in humiliation, its defenses were hard to pierce, it could redirect most attacks, and it had near unlimited power levels.

Honestly, he wanted nothing more than to end this damn fight already. Of course, Castiel next few words only made his feelings even more full of hate.

"Oh, that? I can go at any moment since like three minutes after I got in position. Since then I was honestly just taking some of its energy little by little to reinforce my current energy level to be more ready for my next breakthrough. It is not easy to find something so easily filled with unlimited energy to work in my behalf in helping my training."

'This asshole... if I get a chance, I will shove a Hellfire blast right up his ass or rip off his balls so he can't procreate.' Crimson Soul thought while gridding his teeth. Castiel, despite feeling good with himself for managing to get so much energy that the next level of energy was not that far away, noticed Crimson Soul's highly veiled irritation and rolled his eyes at it.

"Oh, grow up. You were fighting desperately to survive, true, but it was on a truly controled inviroment where I could stop it if you ever was in danger of actual death. If anything what I did let you experience further with your limits than what you had before. Also, you got a bunch of stuff and, with this final experience, you at least are now more knowledgeable on what your capacity with it is and is now definitely better than before this fight. And, if you are curious, this beast is one that the more damage you give it the more tender and delicious the meat gets as well as it gets more filled with energy and the capacity of evolving the body of the user grows with it, so quit complaining and just accept that it was a good shot from me to let you do this." Castiel explained.

Hearing these words served to ignite more of his internal fury despite the mental state of his current transformation... at first, as he soon began taking deep breaths to calm down and think things over. His own experiences alongside his instincts and... what had happened before, told him that acting rashly would NOT end well for him, or anyone. Thinking about it, Nico soon found himself agreeing with the air. This battle with the Four Beasts had been one HELL of an eye opener for him. It informed him of his current limits, as well as his targets for future training. He had plans thought up mid-battle through all the observations he had made, but if he wanted more concrete ones he would have to go over the experiences he had here in further depth... preferably in a place of isolation with LOTS of time on his hands. As such, Nico begrudgingly put his annoyance aside for the time being. He DID have an opponent to hold off after all.

Speaking of which...

"Then, can you finish it or what?" Crimson Soul questioned, as he avoided a punch that could destroy mountains no problem.

"Sure, give me three seconds." Castiel replied, and in the end he DID count.

'one' he avoided a punch and used his sword to cut the flesh of the beast that regenerated instantly.

'Two' Surprise filled him despite his mental state when Crimson Soul suffered a sneak attack from the back as he got distracted for a second, his body flew straight at the beast's face.

'Three, oh boy.' He thought as the beast opened its mouth to devour him whole, he used what fire power he had left to propel himself away from the beast's open maw and escape it as fast as he could. But one thing weird happened, the beast never even closed its mouth as its eyes turned dim and it completely stopped moving.

At first, the transformed male thought it weird, so with caution he floated over to the beast's back. There, Castiel was sitting calmly on a cloud his right foot spirit bone generated, he had a calm face as his spirit bones were out in the open and seemed to be glowing somewhat. They all seemed to be growing more complete and perfect at every passing second as Castiel bathed on a four colors light that was turning green and all being taken by him.

The moment he saw him, Crimson Soul knew what was going on, he had seen others do what Castiel was doing but his method was who knows how many times more refined and at the same time deprived and powerful than others. He was devouring the soul of the beast itself. Not only that but it was like he had devoured the soul and turned it into pure soul energy and was using it to improve his spirit bones, it was a method similar to the devil worshipers used on extracting souls and using them, but comparing them was like comparing building construction of the first few men against those used on skyscrapers, they were essentially the same but the method and refinement are completely different.

But, it still made the DPU feel a sense of unwell as he could not even imagine how it must feel for the soul to pass on this process, the pain it must feel is beyond anything he could imagine and suddenly Castiel's threats of making him feel more pain than anything he ever faced if anything happened to Sylveon became all the more terrifying.

When the process ended Castiel nodded in satisfaction, his spirit bones had all evolved on about 100.000 years in level making them all systematically more powerful. Not only that but with his higher energy levels he was confident he would be able to advance to Super-class soon, and when that happened he could not begin to imagine how strong he would actually be.

Turning to see Crimson Soul and saw closer the state he was, it was quite clear he had seen better days and was not all too happy with what had happened. Castiel wanted to shrug it off, but this was probably the last time he would be seeing the DPU so it was better not to leave in sour terms.

"Hey, I will cook this thing here for me, do you want some? It is a delicacy, I can assure you that much. One of the best meats there is in the multiverse."

hearing that, Crimson Soul hummed, skeptically. He did not usually could eat anything and with all his recent history with poison, he was fearful of eating things made by others, but he decided to give Castiel a vote of confidence. Not to mention that, if the Four Beasts made those creatures, which he distinctly recalled to be made from something called Gourmet Cells which his Ghoul Side loved, then combined with the fact that Castiel had claimed then the benefits that this would have for his Ghoul Side would be astronomical. It may even rival that of Castiel's powerup, since his Ghoul Side grew with each Abnormal he consumed. Thus, it resulted in him nodding in confirmation.

Castiel gave a slight laugh seeing how seriously his companion debated something so simple, Castiel was on a good mood and was not interested in any more conflict, especially since he already had released all his pent up emotions and was now relaxed and no longer was he focused on the past that much.

He was now strong, strong enough to at least not depend on others at all times for survival and he was on the right track to be the one protecting. And anyway, now that he was calmer he decided to at the very least her that woman's side of the story, she was in the end the one that gave birth to him and the one responsible for his angel body and the fact he was Castiel and **Castiel.**

Anyway, ignoring that thoughts Castiel moved. With swift and agile moves to the point it was hard even to track it down Castiel started his cooking. He not only used the meat of the Four Beasts but also some precious medicinal, potatoes and other vegetables filled with Gourmet Cells, and water filled with energy and vitality he had collected on the way to take it to the Tower. The end result was a soup that had a smell so divine no one could ever resist it.

Not only that, but as Castiel wanted to show off and so he did not hesitate in using even taking out a Shining Gourami, a species of fish that he only caught by contracting all his energy except for releasing the minimum necessary as well as releasing only light and good energies. It was tiresome to do, but he was confident the taste would make it all worth it.

The cooking took about half an hour total, it was just enough for Nico to at least let his energies return to more normal levels, but he was sure he was in no way ready to fight another such battle any time soon. That had been his conclusion after returning to Human form, shuddering right afterwards when h felt the shifting. For some reason, it felt oddly... weird, shifting back to human form, maybe a side effect of a transformation? The male shook his head, resolving to think more about it later. It was then that the most delicious smell ever entered his nose. '... Holy... shit...' Nico thought to himself, eyes widening as his mouth began to dry. 'What is...?'

'OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH! NOW THIS SMELLS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DIVINE! KING, YOU BETTER NOT SCREW THIS ONE UP LIKE YOU HAVE IN THE PAST, OR YOU'LL FUCKING GET IT FROM ME, YA HEAR?!'

Once the shout that came from his Ghoul Persona happened, Nico blinked in an owlish manner to snap himself back into reality. That had been... something, lets just say that. It wasn't often that a scent so delicious that it would throw his senses out of whack would have went into his nostrils, though he bet that the cause had been the cooking that his Companion looked to be doing. He began to get the feeling that his earlier musings about this so called 'delicious meat' that had once been the Four Beasts had been one of the better choices he had made in his lifetime, a fact which got reinforced the more he smelled it. He even had to restrain his Ghoul Side from running wild just so that it could hungrily devour the fleshy hide of the monster.

* * *

After a short while, Castiel served everything out, having chosen to split it into three sections. There was one section for him, another for Nico, and the last piece would be for Saber Sensei and Berzerker back at the tower. Those guys would LOVE something like this, given how much of a pair of food nuts they were. Their portions had been split evenly between them, something which both boys couldn't help but be grateful for. Though, this would be mostly something pleasurable to celebrate this passing of the final trial for him, the young Heir felt like he would relish it nonetheless.

Currently, he and Nico sat on opposite sides of a camp fire, having found small bits of wood which had survived the battle and used Nico's weaker Hellfire to start it. Both of them had a small feast behind them, with Nico having released his Rinkaku and Bikaku Kagune to help him eat (something his Ghoul Persona nagged him to do for some reason, he didn't say much besides that he will be able to showcase 'better potential' in his evolution). Though, whilst on the outside of the redhead's body not that much was happening, hut if one were to look at his insides...

'So... this is what you meant when you wanted to enhance your battle potential...?' The redhead thought as he ate, feeling no small amounts of changes occurring within every single RC Cell inside his body. Though, it felt different in comparison to the Blood Pool, if he were to describe it it'd probably be something like each Cell rapidly decayed and restored themselves every second, remaking their very genetic makeup into something new. Something... strong, powerful, dominating to almost tyrannical. Whilst the Blood Pool increased the overall battle ability his Ghoul Side had to the sheer limits of a Spec Ops' power level, in this case it felt more like he was beginning to break into a new bottleneck of power. Stepping into a new level of power which only had been accessed whenever Nico transformed. He honestly liked it, and worried at the same time, though those thoughts paused when he heard the scoffing of his Ghoul Persona.

'HAH, OF COURSE THIS IS WHAT I MEANT, YA IDIOT KING! THIS IS QUITE POSSIBLY ONE OF THE GREATEST CHANGES I COULD EVER GO THROUGH RIGHT NOW! YA KNOW HOW THERE WERE THE BEAST KINGS BACK IN OUR HOME? THOSE GUYS HAD THIS NIFTY LITTLE THING CALLED GOURMET CELLS, EXACTLY LIKE THE ONES IN THOSE FOUR FUCKERS, AS THEIR MAKEUP! WHEN THE FIRST GHOULS EMERGED, THEIR RC CELLS WERE CONSIDERED CHEAP KNOCKOFF VERSIONS OF THESE CELLS! THAT ABSORPTION THING MY CELLS DO IS LIKE A BASTARDIZED VERSION OF THESE FUCKERS! THANKS TO CONSUMING SO MUCH OF THIS THING, MY RC CELLS ARE GOING THROUGH A METAMORPHOSIS INTO THEIR SUPERIOR FORMS! IT''LL BE A WHILE, BUT I'LL LET YA KNOW WHEN THEY'RE DONE, YA WORTHLESS KING!'

Hearing those insults made Nico roll his eyes mentally, already having grown used to those taunts whilst he ate with both his mouth and his Kagune... which seemed to act more and more like a rabid animal the more cooked food from the Four Beasts it ate (likely a sign of this metamorphosis). Still, he didn't stop the intrigue rising within him about the way his RC Cells were behaving. the thought of them being able to evolve into a new, more powerful form (with the possibility of better control) kind of excited him. He wondered what would come out of this evolution, would he be able to eat different foods like a normal human could? Could he finally be like his comrades and experience Compa's cooking again? By the Goddess he hoped so, Nico wouldn't lie and say he hadn't dreamed of this in the past.

All the while, Castiel would have some of his Dragontooth Warriors (having their curses temporarily removed) hand him one plate after another whenever he finished. One could say that he was the refined, elegant type whilst Nico himself would be the ravenous beast type when looking at their eating methods.

Thus, here we were, seeing two boys leisurely having soup after a hard-fought battle.

"... Wow, Emiya. I will happily admit, this is indeed a great meal." Nico praised, albeit reluctantly. Perhaps it was due to the ingredients involved in this, but he hadn't tasted something so good in a long while. The many Abnormals he devoured didn't even compare to something like this, which... pretty much said a lot in and of itself. He honestly didn't know who would win between them in a cooking battle, him or Compa. Though, that could possibly be attributed to how he could no longer taste her cooking anymore due to his physiology. After taking a sip from his soup with a spoon he made with solidified Hellfire, the redhead finished his sentence. "How did you learn to cook like this? Must have taken a whole long time..." he questioned the Heir.

"To be honest, not so much. I dunno why but I think my father's genes must have made me have a good idea on it somehow, but the effort I put into knowing how to cook was definitely real." Castiel said, he was relaxed enough that he just started talking with no real inhibition. "Back in the Tower I received all sorts of training, one being survival where they would literally drop me in the middle of a forest with no food and water and filled with beasts all around. I knew there were instructors on a safe distance to ensure I would not die, but that is just about it. If I was not on the point of death they would not intervene in the slightest, I had to deal with this sort of situation a lot and I had to think on my feet on how to survive and especially had to think on how to survive well so learning how to properly cook meet and make a decent meal was first priority back then."

"Huh, interesting..." Nico replied, thoughtfully whilst trying to picture what he had been told by the Heir. Honestly, Nico could already picture it in his mind, and deep down his respect for Castiel began to swell even more. For a moment, the teen debated on whether to open up a bit to him or not, since this wasn't something he normally did. Having to be forced to work at a job where he had to kill a lot of fucked up people for a living often tended to do that. In the end though, Nico recalled the last couple events which lead him to meeting Zelretch for the first time, and decided to roll with it. "Honestly, back where I'm from, I also know someone whose a wiz at Cooking. She's a member of the group I'm travelling with... her name's Compa, and she's a childhood friend of mine."

… Now THAT caught his attention, as evident by the slight widening of his eyes in surprise at Nico actually talking about himself. Although that soon changed when he processed what the redhead had just said, and for one Nico suddenly got the feeling that he had made a mistake somehow. "Heh, I never expected that." Castiel remarked, tilting his head slightly with a teasing smile on his face. "Who would have thought mister emo who seems to only think of fighting actually had a girl waiting for him back home?"

"...And what is that supposed to mean?" Nico questioned after taking a small gulp of his soup and lowering it back to his lap, his voice without a hint of emotion as he looked at the Heir with a focused glare. He did NOT like the implications that his companion had been insinuating, in fact if it had been his previous self before coming here, he would have had to restrain his Ghoul side from ripping the person's guts out.

Castiel, however, didn't seem too threatened or offended by Nico's sudden defensive demeanor. To be frank, in a world like his there were way too many times he had to deal with similar people. As such, he was too used to speak under pressure and considering he was not weaker than Nico by any means it was not a situation he would care much to speak without a single care for the stance of Nico. "I mean, you look like someone that is so serious about everything that I can't see you skirt chasing at all. And even if someone does like you, I think you would run away from the said person, boy or girl by the way, I won't judge your preferences. But to think there is a girl there for you, are you a secret playboy...? Nah, now that I think about it, I doubt that one myself." Castiel replied seamlessly with a small laugh, getting a groan of irritation for an answer. Though, it only resulted in his amusement to increase.

"And what about you? You said that you had a bunch of girls back home, so are you a playboy or something?" Nico questioned in annoyance, his opinion on Castiel's comments before about how he had multiple partners being evidently negative. It reminded him far too much of the nobility back home (as well as the majority of the male population) and this was not a happy thought.

"No, not really." Castiel answered, shaking his head as he leaned back on his log. He lifted his left leg and placed his foot on his right thigh. "I right now have a few girls I am on a relationship with. Amongst them I am only dating Seryu, and am engaged with Miku, Kaguya, and Yuzuru through agreements of the Tower and as political marriages, not that I don't like them or would not do whatever it is needed to make sure they are happy and only accept an engagement after the girl herself accepts it too, I would never lower myself to the point of forcing another into an unwanted relationship." Castiel explained, holding up a hand and lowering some fingers to symbolise the girls he was with.

'Well, at least it seems like they are mutually consenting, I can take solace in that at least...' Nico thought to himself.

'SHAME... I WANTED TO TRY AND CASTRATE HIS BALLS, BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE COULD DO THAT...'

 **'Your eagerness to cut off genitals is disturbing...'**

Whilst Nico's alternate selves took turns sharing their thoughts, Castiel's face turned a weird expression. "Then there is Serenity, someone who I honestly am not fully sure of what our relationship is right now but I guess dating would be fitting, she is the reason why I decided for the _Aromatic Silk Beauty_ , her body constantly produces a deadly poison. She suffered a lot because of it and was turned into a killing 'machine' for others because of it, after seeing her past and understanding her I decided that I would be the one to protect her, I do have a skill that would allow her for some degree of freedom of movement without fearing killing others after all. I may not consider myself a hero or a saint, both concepts make me cringe and want to vomit in my mouth, but I would not stand to see someone suffering for something they have no control over." Castiel said that with such determination that Nico could see that it would not lose out to his desire to protect Compa, and that was saying a lot for sure.

Thinking about what he said, Nico honestly couldn't help but think of IF, another member of his comrades. They both had ailments in their bodies which changed their lives forever, though it seems only one of them had much more misfortune befall them. The other only had a bout of depression in the beginning, before finally accepting herself for what she had become and fully assimilating herself into her role. One had poison and the other had a Virus in her system, not to mention that they likely had some differences in their use.

But then, Castiel's face turned a shade of red, embarrassment written all over his face as he continued whilst looking upwards towards his forehead. "And then, there is Yuno, my first fiancee." he stated, scratching the side of his jaw with his index finger. Just reciting that particular memory made him revert to this demeanor, it wasn't exactly one of the more macho moments of his life.

Noticing Castiel's tone and expression, Nico honestly couldn't resist the temptation to ask, probably due to having never seen him look this way before. Nico had always seen him as this domineering kingly figure, but right now he actually seemed more like a teenager struggling to overcome the embarrassment of having his mother show his future wife a book filled with baby pictures. "And why exactly you singled her out? Is her marriage with you different than with others?" he questioned, leaning forwards with a lightly intrigued look on his features.

"It sort of is. When we were small she ended up buying a promise of marriage from me, it is still embarrassing to remember it."

"And what exactly did she pay with?" Nico asked once more, his curiosity again taking the best of him.

"... She exchanged my promise to marry her in the future for one pudding."

...

...

...

"... To be frank, I'm not that surprised." Nico remarked bluntly, his face set in a flat expression whilst he looked towards the Heir. "I know someone who exercises just as much importance in pudding. Though, if you were to ask her, she would likely proclaim herself to be the best devotee to Pudding, praising some form of Pudding God." he remarked, though in his mind he also added on to his words. 'Yeah, she likely would... though, I'm surprised she hasn't tried to bribe the others with Pudding just yet...' the teen couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

"Oh? Interesting... who?"

Nico mentally sighed, since he had started this conversation it would be best if he just rolled with it. "Her name's Neptune, and let me tell you, if you look up the definition of 'pudding-a-holic' then she would have her picture right next to it. She has it for breakfast, a couple snacks between breakfast and lunch, lunch, snacks between lunch and tea, pretty much as often as she can. She and Compa usually get into all sorts of antics, and sometimes I have to play the voice of reason between them. If not me, then another of our group, IF who reminds me of you in terms of being level-headed takes my place. We sort of have some others in the group, there's Noire, Vert, Raven, Lucy, and two other guys: Aiden and Ivan. There's a few who could become part of our group too, but its mostly just the ones I mentioned. We go about between the Nations, fighting monsters and Demons whilst doing what we can to live life." he explained, having had the urge to explain the people whom he had hung out with since Castiel had done something similar.

Just before Castiel could say anything though, Nico narrowed his eyes at him. "... and no, I do NOT act like a player around them. We're comrades on the battlefield. In essence, we're people who fight alongside one another to survive, there isn't much else. Like I said before, fighting to survive is the most important thing, something like... copulating... is pretty much a death sentence. As such, anyone who dared try to harm even a hair on their heads... well then, lets just say they will never find the bodies." he stated firmly, his eyes shining with a look of determination similar to a storm.

Castiel looked towards the redhead, being slightly impressed by the determination in his voice. It even reminded him slightly of his own determination to ensure the safety of his loved ones and those he decided to protect, the same kind that he had when he cut off his own right arm to please that tyrant in exchange for Serenity's life, someone that he decided on basically a whim to protect. And yet he didn't hesitate in the slightest and would never hesitate if this sort of situation happened again.

After a couple seconds however, that storm shifted from one of determination, to one of confusion as he shifted his head to the side. "Though, recently, some events have caused some... strangeness. As a result, its caused me to begin... rethinking things." he remarked, furrowing his brow as he clutched his chin with his left hand.

This caught the Heir's attention. "Oh?"

"Thanks to some special circumstances, the girls I'm with have found out about my Ghoul side, which is a highly classified secret by my superiors. There have been other times when people found out about it, but they always... ended rather negatively. As in, they were forcibly silenced due to their harsh reactions to it, sometimes turning into lines of blood till they got the message: don't talk about it. These girls, they found out about it, and I was ready for them to end up the same, but in the end..."

Soon enough though, Castiel figured it out. He then spoke his thoughts with a knowing look in his eyes. "They didn't care, did they?" To be honest, Castiel honestly saw it coming, especially with how fond Nico had showed himself to be. The guy probably didn't realize it the way that Castiel did, but judging by how he spoke about them, the Heir had deduced that these girls wouldn't be like most of the others he'd probably killed. In his opinion, Nico wasn't the kind of guy who'd trust so easily.

Nico shook his head, frowning as the lights of conflict danced within his eyes. "Yeah... they didn't give a damn, not one bit. It honestly baffles me, since I've seen so many react negatively to it. It completely blew my mind out of the loop, and when I tried to ask for an explanation, their response baffled me more. They said that, even though I'm half Ghoul, it didn't matter since it would be hypocritical for them to hate me. 'We're all monsters in our own ways so what's there to hate'? Ever since then I've been trying to figure it out." Throughout his explanation. Nico's voice grew more and more frustrated, confusion and puzzlement battling within him before he made a tired, weary sigh leave his lips. He let his soup stay on his lap whilst his hands fell to both sides of his thighs. "Even now, I still haven't found the answer."

"...Seriously? What is it so hard to understand here?" Castiel said exasperatedly, already praying for the well being of the saints who had the patience to try and get through the thick head of this guy.

Hearing that question, Nico's brow twitched though he did try to suppress it. What did Castiel mean by that? He DID just finish explaining his personal dilemma to the guy, and he just responded with that? Trying to suppress the indignation about that response, Nico replied. "I just finished explaining it, but why the hell do they accept me so easily? They themselves have seen how the world works, they know what our enemies do, and I'm no different from them. So why the hell are they accepting me so easily?" he stressed, scowling downwards.

"And that is the problem. You are too used to think yourself the monster, you only think of yourself for what I see here." Castiel said, earning a glare from the other teen.

"Yeah, how so?"

"First, you said they all are not humans and neither are you, you never cared if they were not humans but you think they should care if YOU aren't one. Second, while I understand that you suffers for being who you are, it is completely stupid if you ask me. You are you, your species don't define who you are in the slightest, I mean, look at me. I am a fucking angel that should not exist by any logic, but I couldn't care less about it, but you try to define yourself by something you have no control over. And even now that you, apparently, are learning to have the confidence about who you are yet you just continue blinding yourself for something so obvious that it is ridiculously so. Also, if you like them and they like you but you are holding back because of YOUR feelings of inferiority that are uncalled for and is even causing pain on others, then what else can I call you but a self-righteous pessimistic brat emo?" Castiel countered, the rage within Nico getting so strong it was ridiculous but Castiel would not care.

Since the water trial he had absorbed the rage and evil within the fishmen he eliminated, the hatred without a direct reason he felt and how it twisted others was something that made Castiel realize that his own hatred without knowing what happened exactly back then when he was born being ridiculous, and the hatred he felt then, the baseless hatred he felt in those Fishmen, it all could also be felt in Nico's own opinion of himself.

It was not something Castiel wanted to feel or sense again, call it his angelic side or whatever but he wanted to make sure to eliminate such dark and ridiculous emotions the best he could. Nico's thoughts and little tips he gave here and there painted a clear image of someone tormented by who he was due to the environment being so human-centric, and it was a ridiculous, toxic, and pathetically petty view of the world as far as Castiel was concerned.

Everyone had the right of search for happiness, and everyone should have the right to be who they wanted to. Labels such as race, nationality, language, or whatever else were ridiculous concepts to him. All that mattered was that you are alive and that you will get fair retribution for your actions, innocents should never be involved, those who do good deserve better things and those who thrive in suffering and pain of others, well for them the edge of his swords was as good an answer as any.

Hearing his words like that, Nico could not help the shock that flooded through his system. He honestly forgot the budding fury which he had felt before, in place of these new emotions surging through his system. Even his alternate personas were silent by what they had heard from the Heir, and that said a LOT in and of itself. One's species doesn't matter? One didn't have to define themselves by what they were? That basically, in his mind, meant that there wasn't any real need to wear masks, to hide your true self away from the world and can live normally no matter your race. That to him, who came from a world which defined itself on Masks and Reflection, could be considered as unheard of.

Just, who the hell would think that way? None of the people back in his world, that was for certain. In Gamindustri, the world was full of over-zealous, religious fanatical pricks who each devote themselves to one deity and overly rely on them to solve their problems. It was something which disgusted the original Spec Ops Agents, which had been another big reason why they had been founded in the first place over 500 years ago. To be a Spec Ops Agent was to take on the whole world for ones own ideals, to reject the way the current world worked to follow what kind of path one believed in. His world could hardly be considered simple because of this, but thanks to complexity being visible all over the place, the simple truths of the world weren't as visible as they should be. This situation between him and his comrades, for example, was one of them.

But... was that really the case? Could it... really be that simple?

Did Emiya hit the nail on the head with these problems he had been struggling with for weeks?

No matter what answer he arrived to however, Nico did NOT feel like he would be forgetting something like that anytime soon.

It was with that thought, that Nico shook his head whilst chuckling with mirth. "You know something Emiya…" he began, feeling his earlier fury ebb away and a tranquil calm take over him. It was as if he had found someone who could be considered as rare as a legendary item. someone who, under the right situations, could be someone he could let his guard down against... not something Nico would find often, he'll say that much. "You're really something else." he continued, aiming a slight smirk in his direction. "I can only imagine how pissed any religious zealots would be if they heard you say that."

At this, Castiel scoffed whilst crossing his arms. He had to take a break from eating so he could get this off his chest, otherwise he wouldn't be able to eat without the feeling of being tainted, "Oh, fuck them then. I would not fucking care if some religious zealot hated me for doubting his opinion anyway, it is pretty much their function to be idiotic assholes that believe they are the owners of the universal truth. They are only good to go explode somewhere far away or suicide as far as I care, they are on my list of types I hate right with pedophiles, rapists, and people who say they hate pudding. Besides, why should you care if some idiots like you or not? If they don't, screw them, if they try to attack you, kill without mercy, if they try to attack those you love, kill without mercy, and if they try and force your hand on any matter that goes against your principles or desires, then kill without mercy as well."

Taking a moment to take a breath, Castiel exhaled before continuing. "As someone who studied diplomacy a long time there are some things I understand. The most interesting is that only with enough power your opinion comes to matter, if you have enough of it than you can force others to listen to you. If you are weak, then you are meat. And if another side is the weaker link, if they are ones who can't do anything to you, then THEY should be the one watching their words. It is like an adult talking to a child, if they enter a discussion the adult is in the right as he is the stronger side. Strength, only with enough to be an actual treat can you start talking. If those zealots were so strong they would have long since ended you, and those other demons. If they didn't, if they are relying on YOU, than why should you bend your knees to their every whim. For me at least, I would never do as such. If they want to bark, yell, and complain, then let them! Why bother with the empty threats and nonsense others will spread of you? And if they do go too far, well, you do need a bunch of souls to awaken as a demon king anyway."

… Wow. Just, wow. Nico remained dumbfounded as he looked upon the blonde Heir, struggling to find out how the hell this guy could be in the leadership position he had. He could understand somewhat what that guy was trying to tell him, but if he were to try and do that, how would he be any different from those he kills? True, killing was part of his nature, not to mention he would find it easy to kill anyways. But, if he went about killing people who he didn't like, he didn't think there would be much difference between him and those he killed. "Uh... then, what should I do exactly?" he questioned whilst tilting his head, confused on what Castiel was trying to convey to him. "I mean, mindlessly killing people sounds like it'll be one big determent or something..."

"And what is the problem you are having anyway?" Castiel asked. "I mean, if it was just some clowns making noise and you were being this indecisive than I would have to look down on you out of sheer principle, but I somehow doubt that this is what is on your mind troubling you. So spit it out."

Nico was doubtful about what to say next, but deciding to just be honest he opened his mouth and started talking about the problems he was facing. About the situation of his world and how corrupt it was and the fears he has about it all. As Castiel listened he had to suppress the desire to face-palm multiple times, but when Nico finished explaining things the heir could no longer resist it.

"And you guys are troubled on how to deal with something like this? Seriously? Fuck, you guys must be bloody stupid overall if this level of problem is enough to stop you all."

Nico, already with a tick on his forehead hearing such an infuriating answer, was about to answer it with more than a few choice words when Castiel continued.

"Seriously, this seems pretty obvious to me on how to fix it all. First, the problem with the corruption is not that it exists, as that fact is inevitable on any and all societies and pretending it doesn't is simply naive, but the fact it influences dealing with emergencies is a problem. To fix that you must cleanse all of the worse types of corrupt nobles, don't be afraid of causing panic as you can simply position capable people to take their places right away, spares always exist after all. What you must do, however, is to make sure to strike fast enough, make them an example, and don't let it be associated with you. There is a reason why assassins are so darn useful, their capacity to kill undetected is what makes them the most useful by far. As long as you ensure what you do can't be traced back to you and that only those really guilty are killed you don't even have to worry all that much about lesser nobles and weaklings doing anything or even try to explain why you did it, people tend to explain things on their own leisure and they would likely believe it is divine intervention or something along those lines.

"Now, for the second problem. No, you shouldn't wantonly kill anyone that is against you. There will always be those who will hate you, for as much as you obviously and for some weird reason want their acknowledgement too. Don't be afraid of facing them, if they try to attack you must destroy them but if they just want to talk and are too cowards to do shit, why should you care? You are a strong person, a lion doesn't care for the words of the sheep.

"And third, about your situation with these girls that obviously like you, I can only tell you one thing really. BE A FUCKING MAN AND GROW SOME BALLS ALREADY! What do you need to understand the obvious, if both sides like each other, then why care about anything else? If you worry about offspring or something, then don't. This is a problem and concern for future Nico, not the blue balls virgin in front of me." Castiel said, making Nico annoyed at the last comment.

"And do YOU have experience with woman in general like that to tell me this?"

"No, but not by choice I assure you. Yuno, cute as she is, made me sign a magic binding contract that made me swear to make her my first time, and her parents showed me the plethora of torture devices they would use on me if I were to ever cross that line with her before marriage. And trust me, if not for the real fear of having to eat my own dick and balls before regrowing them and make to repeat such an act, I would have long since used it for more fun objectives." he explained, already imagining something like that in his mind. Castiel sometimes wished he could just accept the advances made by the girls in his harem, but the threats that their families made to him kept him from raising his hands.

On the other side, Nico frowned to himself, his mind whirling from the information that he received from this talk, information which successfully answered pretty much all his questions about the problems that he had been facing recently. There was WAY too much for him to sort through in the snap of a finger though, he'd have to spend some time pondering it, if he even had the chance to. However, Nico recognized that he finally had the answer to the problems with Yvoire, a possible compromise which could satisfy both their wants. Nico with his desire to end Count Mott before he could cause greater damage (plus to keep him AWAY from Vert since he did NOT like the thought of her being near a creep like him), whilst Yvoire would be able to help his people in ways he couldn't have done before. Perhaps when he got back, Nico and that man could have a talk, but first he felt like he had to get some research done. He needed to plan this, he needed a LOT of planning, research and information. With this new perspective in front of him, Nico needed to re-check everything, he needed to see it all with this new mindset.

With that in mind, the two boys continued their chatting, moving on to lighter topics such as their respective lives with their comrades. Castiel talked about the hijinks that happened in his world, and soon Nico began opening up in a similar manner, explaining about some of the stunts his group pulled over their travels together. They even went over each other's training, Nico quickly realizing that whilst his training focused primarily on enhancing him via pain and difficulty, Castiel's seemed way worse in comparison. Having one sadistic teacher was enough, something the redhead could attest to, but having SEVERAL? Well, that just sounded like nightmare fuel right there.


	179. Cross Chapter 26 - Last Rewards

**Last Rewards**

After everything was finished, their food portions eaten and the fires exhausted by their wills, Castiel waved his hand and magically stored away his cooking utensils back into his little pocket dimension. This was the fate of the portions Castiel had been intending to give to his comrades and teachers back in the Tower too, already he could imagine Saber and Berserker salivating at such delicious meat being handed to them on a silver platter. It had been enough to make Castiel chuckle in amusement, ignoring the confused looks that Nico sent his way.

Shaking his head, Nico pocketed his hands in his Trench Coat before looking up to the skies above. His eyes carried a melancholic gleam to them as memories of the trials flashed through his mind like a fast-paced movie. "Whelp... looks like we've finally cleared all this shit. The last trial's been completed." he stated, already seeing the massive 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' drawn in the skies with smoke. To be frank, part of him almost didn't believe that this was real, that there would be some 'surprise, bitch!' moment where thy would have to complete over 1000 trials or something as trollish. It sounded like something that crazy old timer would do anyways.

"Pretty much, yeah. Not long now before we can get back, but first we gotta choose our rewards for this Trial." Castiel stated as screens appeared before them, full of different items that could be rewarded for them. If any were to ask, he would say that he kind of understood the feeling coursing through Nico right now, as he felt it too. Now, at long last, they had FINALLY cleared the trials that they had been tasked to complete. Gaining all sorts of different goodies from someone who would be classed as, quite literally, a 'multiverser'. He almost couldn't contain himself with the inevitable reunion with the girls he so dearly treasured. To him, none of these treasures were as important to him as them. In his eyes, the girls along with anyone who ends up being lead by him, were worth everything to him. Castiel felt like his father would have been similar to this method of thinking, from what he had learned of him from his teachers.

Turning to his companion, Nico formed a question in his mind that he asked soon after, a curious glimmer in his light blue orbs. "You think that these rewards would be in higher quality now that we've cleared the last trial? You know, like in games where you get really good rewards for beating the final boss?" he queried before shifting his gaze over to the screen. Thanks to his question, Nico had a harder time choosing which kind of reward would come from this. It didn't help that his overly cautious nature was acting up right now, either.

Castiel however, had already thought of this possibility. He wasn't an idiot who played no games in his life and instead masturbated to anime porn all his life. If he had, then his teachers would have had something to say, and THAT thought had been enough to fill him with dread. "No doubt on my mind that this will be the case." he stated, cupping his chin as he gazed down the list of rewards with a calculating glimmer in his mismatched irises. "Knowing uncle Zelretch, he likely saved the best for last since he likes to mess with people that way. People, but not games. He loves how creative people could be." the Heir explained. 'All these rewards seem quite good, and I can only imagine how beneficial they could be for myself, my comrades or the Tower. But since I can only choose one, I'll have to pick carefully.'

"I guess so..."

"Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, what is UP everybody?! How's it shakiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin'?!"

All of a sudden, whilst they deliberated on which reward to choose from, both boys suddenly heard the loud, boisterous for the 'gamemaster' of this little dimension. Both of them rolled their eyes in unison, before looking over to where it originated from to see the familiar smug grinning face belonging to Zelretch. The only thing was, he was dressed like a thug with a massive bat in his hand which says 'put me up an emo's ass!' whilst having WAY too many ornaments draped over his outfit. Not only that, but he had several large women holograms doing the hula-hula in tight police outfits.

...

...

...

...

"... #GROAN#, hey there Uncle Zelretch/Zelretch."

Seeing this man enter the level like this, both Nico and Castiel exhaled with irritated groans, addressing the man before them whose smug grin only widened at their emotional responses. One thing they likely would NOT miss from these Trials, would be having to deal with the 'creative' entrances this man made all the damn time. Fortunately, he hadn't done too many of them throughout their stay here so they could leave with their sanity somewhat intact. Though, neither of them dared to push their luck in this case.

 **'I wonder what he would do if he met Slaanesh…'**

'Please no, this troll and the prince of pleasure? Fucking hell, that'd be a nightmarish pairing if I ever saw one...'

Whilst Nico shuddered at the thought of Zelretch in cohorts with one of the more... sensual of the Chaos Gods, Castiel looked over to his uncle and questioned him about their recent topic of discussion. Always better to have confirmation than just assumption after all. "Hey Uncle, are these rerewards greater in quality now that we're at the end of your trials?"

At this, the old Vampire chuckled with a nod of the head. "Yup, since you both beat the boss, I saved the best rewards for last." Zelretch replied, finally confirming both their thoughts as he gestured to the Heir. "Take a look at the G section, I'm petty sure you'll like what you will find there." he suggested thoughtfully, though with that smirk on his face, it painted him as a mischievous trickster.

"Well, at least there are a lot of good options." Castiel commented as he saw many things that would be great for him. One thing in special caught his eyes as an idea flashed through his head but he'd need more information over what it would entail to know if it would really be worth it or not.

"Oh yeah, just before you go off on the deep end with your thoughts, kid, look at the rewards. There should be something that is QUITE fitting for this situation we're in. I'll leave it up to you to figure out what it is." Zelretch stated offhandedly after Castiel gained his stuff, catching Nico's attention.

What did that guy mean by that? That question repeatedly flew around Nico's brain, waiting to be answered. As such, the redhead looked at the variour rewards, searching through them with rapt attention. Each item he examined, Nico would review what he knew about them, ruling out those he had nothing on and considering the ones he did. However, this only happened for like 4 minutes, before his eyes landed on something that REALLY caught his eye.

'Primal Twin - A clone of the original user which forms when the original places half their soul within a vessel made from the solid manifestation of a primordial element. The Primal Twin is a second body which can communicate with the original over any distance, be it in alternate dimensions or universes, whilst also being able to grow in power alongside the original. A Primal Twin can fight alongside the user once strong enough, but once created the user will have to spent some time to restore their weakened Soul to its previous condition. Should the Primal Twin die, it will not impact the user too much, for they will merely need to split their soul into a proper vessel in order to make another one. Unfortunately, vessels for Primal Twins are rare, thus losing Primal Twins is not considered a wise strategy. Hmmm, interesting...'

After reciting what he read about the technique in his mind, Nico's brain whirred with thoughts, plans and ideas around this ability. He could honestly see how this could benefit him greatly, especially if he could have this clone reach his own level after restoring his Soul back to normal (Soul Edge would help there, alongside his Archdevil Arms). He could use this Primal Twin to explore the countless Hellgates and venture across dozens of Demon World, wrecking untold having behind enemy lines whilst unleashing the full might of a Multi-Continent Class DPU. They'd still be able to communicate between one another like Biko, his Ghoul Persona and himself. Being in multiple places at once definitely sounded like a powerful tactic, one powerhouse would do tons of damage, MULTIPLE powerhouses however...

There was indeed a downside though, for one this Primal Twin wouldn't be very useful in getting stronger, they'd be like two separate people in that respect. If he DID want to use it for training, then he'd have to make it powerful enough so that it could count as a sparring partner, and then train that way. Not to mention its physical strength wouldn't be very good so close combat training would not be feasible. Additionally, it would seem that making a Primal Twin continuously if he kept losing them, wouldn't exactly be doing his Soul any favors, and considering how he had the biggest weakness to Soul attacks... yeah.

In the end though, weighing the pros and cons against one another, Nico eventually decided to go for it, but first he needed some information. Information which Zelretch expected him to ask him about judging by the look on his face right now. "... Could I possibly have the resources needed to make one alongside the technique? I'd like to make a Primal Twin, but in my own time."

"Sure, kid..."

* * *

After Nico was done Castiel moved to his uncle.

"Uncle Zelretch, I have a question for you."

"Sure, as long as it isn't my three sizes I can answer anything." Zelretch said, Castiel's bows twitched slightly but he quickly stoped that.

"Can you help me identify everything I collected?" he said. Honestly speaking he caught so many things during this last mission that he honestly didn't know over half of them, a interesting but terrifying prospect for sure as Castiel had too much knowledge when compared to most others.

"Oh, that? Sure, let me see them." Zelretch said as Castiel opened the pouch he had obtained on the first trial. AS he took out hundreds of items Zelretch and Nico sweatdropped seeing this.

'The hell!? You foodie, why did you even snag the dirt?' both thought as lots of mud and earth were removed from the pouch.

Ignoring that Zelretch started to explain everything Castiel had obtained. The more Castiel heard the more he made connections with some of the stuff he heard in the Alchemist God's Grand Canon, and the more excited he got. With what he had and with enough time he would be able to create divine medicine that would make him and his friends much stronger and some are also good to help pass by bottlenecks like the one between the Ultimate and Super classes.

However, the best part was when Zelretch explained a final detail to him.

"These three are called Spiritual Stoves. They are items that would reside in your soul and evolve with you as time passes, the one in the right is called Saitn Spiritual Stove and has an ability called Pull that forces an enemy into focusing exclusively on the user regardless of what is going on around him. The other is called Spiritual Stove of the Demonic Darkness, it is a dark element spiritual stove which is not harmful or overbearing which is comparatively rare amongst the element, the characteristic is that you can take the blood of someone who has some specific way of using darkness and copy its effect, the more blood used the larger the duration of the copy. The final one is called Spiritual Stove of Lights Blessings, a light-based Spiritual Stove that can create a barrier around the user with a radius of 10 meters, those inside this will not only be protected but also helps them and you in recover all energy twenty times the normal speed they would if resting properly." Zelretch explained, making Castiel's jaw drop.

But it was the next thing that Zelretch explained that made it truly shocked Castiel's system. "And this one here is called Lifeseizer Flower, it is a very dangerous item and must be used only as a last resort. If you pour energy into it directly until it is filled completely it will bloom and when it does anything below a certain level will be instantly killed no matter how formidable they might be. It is an item to use when there is no other option as it kills everything on an area of several kilometers without regard to anything else, even the user will be killed if he is too close when the flower blooms."

As Castiel heard this he had one very simple thought on his head. 'Hell no, I don't want to carry the equivalent to a nuclear bomb around, fuck no.' As he thought until this point he turned to Nico and threw said flower to him.

"Huh?"

"Hey, you said your world is in trouble, right? Wars everywhere and things like that, so this might help on desperate circumstances. But, I'd advise you to get a Clone Technique before using it as I don't think you would be truly of the suicidal-type."

Deciding to ignore whatever talk Nico was having with himself Castiel decided on what he wanted. Actually, it was not that hard to choose considering everything.

"I want this." He said pointing at an item that made Zelretch raise an eyebrow to.

"Hoh, to think you would want a pill furnace of all things. Any specific reason for it?" Zelretch commented.

"Simple, this pill furnace was great enough to be on this list and I want to make the best use of all these herbs and the Alchemist God Grand Canon I obtained earlier and this should help me towards it." Castiel explained.

"Well, I can't deny that one. Especially since this pill furnace is quite special indeed, it has been used to create tens of thousands of medicines and just the aura around it makes any pill created through it much easier to make and of higher quality, not to forget that it has absorbed the fire sources of hundreds of different types of flames throughout the multiverse and can release flames that would not lose out to the ones used by the Phoenix or True Dragons like Great Red. Truly a good choice." Zelretch said nodding approvingly.

* * *

In the end this option would lead to the highest rewards in time, he had much to learn about alchemy and fire control but with this pill furnace and the Alchemy God Grand Canon in hands he was sure he would become great in time.

Now that both boys had their own rewards completed, each of them took a moment to reflect on what they had gained, comparing it to what they started with when they began these trials (albeit against their wills).

Needless to say, they felt OH so glad they had.

On Castiel's side, he found this to be the PERFECT place to get stronger in order to better protect the Tower and his precious comrades. He got items and powers for them, as well as for himself. If he hadn't come here, then there would have been absolutely ZERO chance that he would have achieved this kind of result so quickly. The Tohsaka Tower had many enemies in his world, enemies which had already made their moves against them. Therefore, someone like him would need to get stronger as well as make his forces as strong as possible too. Heck, he'd even managed to solve some of his body's own internal problems, a MAJOR plus in his book. Sure there were things that he hadn't gained much progress on if at all, like the hero seed, but he wasn't too worried there. To him, it felt like he was a weakened lion, finally regaining the strength it had long since lost after a period of humiliation, and now would be to re-assert its dominance once again.

As for Nico, the redhead couldn't help but feel like lady luck had decided to cut him some slack for once. Even though Zelretch merely brought him here on a whim, Nico couldn't help but revel in the benefits it had brought him. The skills added to his arsenal aside, he had already gained a few insights in how to improve his skills further, not to mention he had gained answers to the problems plaguing his mind recently. Though, some of those answers seemed harder to comprehend than others, especially the ones revolving around the girls he was with. Though, Nico felt like he'd be able to come to his own conclusion with them if he pondered on it some more... hopefully. Gaining another Archdevil Arm, testing the abilities of his Dual Pistols, gaining anew Spirit Bone, and all the stuff which happened to him on these Trials really opened the doors to him. It was like a sleeping demon had finally awoken from its long slumber, ready to run wild and WRECK UTTER HAVOC.

All the while, Zelretch just quietly watched in the background, an all-knowing smile planting itself on his lips.

Back with the boys though, just as he finished admiring his newfound power, Castiel got an idea. He glanced over to Nico, who looked to be thinking, although the blonde Heir got the feeling he was probably talking with his other selves at the moment. 'Now that I think about it, we never DID get to finish our fight thanks to Uncle. I'll admit that I MAY have gotten a little carried away back then, but then again I refuse to let someone weaker than me not know his place. I may have underestimated Nico back then though, as my defence is immensely powerful, but his is not weaker. I'll not be making THAT mistake again, plus I can get a chance to test out some of my tricks on him. He'd be the perfect test dummy-I mean, sparring partner for this...' he thought, an excited smirk slowly spreading onto his features. "Yo, Nico?"

"Yeah?"

Castiel advanced towards him with an eye smile like that of Kakashi Hatake, though when Nico saw it he immediately went on guard... though he kept it hidden. "Since it won't be long before we head back to our worlds, why not have a little rematch? See whose strongest between us. You and I BOTH grew in strength these lest few trials, plus we never DID finish our last one." Another reason, one which went between them in a bond of mutual understanding, was that neither of them would accept a draw between them. Both boys felt like they were stronger than the other, a form of masculine pride one could say. Thus, neither of them could accept the outcome of their last battle.

When he heard his question, Nico's eyes widened in surprise. He had JUST been thinking about that! Challenging Castiel to a rematch, he meant. He didn't want to take away a draw from this little outing between them, plus it wasn't like he didn't have anything he wanted to test out on this victim, either. Castiel had more than proven that he could take a beating, just like he can, plus previous spars with him proved to be valuable learning experiences. If they fought again, Nico wasn't sure on the outcome anymore, but he doubted it would be a walk in the park for either of them. In any case, no way was he backing down on this one, his competitive side rearing its head within him whilst he felt his various weapons squealing in delight for this opportunity. A dark grin spread across his face whilst his Kakugan manifested. "Heh, i'll take that bet Emiya. Lets see who is strongest between us then, shall we?"

"Heh, watch what you say dude, them's fighting words. Anyways, lets head on over to the side, and hopefully uncle won't have to step in this time."

Later on, both Nico and Castiel faced each other, standing with a good 30 meters distance between them whilst eyeing each other with their own looks of tension. Their surroundings became silent, nothing even doing a damn thing, for if they did, then they felt like they would have been sliced to pieces. Both boys generated their own vicious, domineering and borderline tyrannical auras, on one side Castiel's divine and evil aura swelled around him, spiraling like a tornado whilst the surroundings crackled in the air. All the while, Nico's demonic aura on the other hand pulsated around him, beating like a living heart, Demonic Power coursing through the surroundings with such a toxicity that any life who would have gotten near him, would have been choked to death.

Even so, both of them stared each other down like two cowboys about to have a shootout in the wild west.

Just then though, one of them acted...

And low and behold, unlike before it wasn't Nico, as Castiel burst forwards whilst drawing Hrunting. 'Alright, unlike before, I'll not let him get the drop on me! I'll just end it with this one attack, then he'll see I'm the stronger one!' The young Heir thought whilst he had acted first. Unfortunately for him, Nico didn't even blink as he closed the distance between them, summoning Rebellion and getting into the combat stance which Okada had taught him best fit his build. This resulted in it looking like this: his body bent forwards slightly like a hunchback, with both hands on the hilt of Rebellion which was angled downwards. His legs were in a crouching position, with the right leg in front of the left.

Just before Castiel slashed at his neck to try and cut his throat (he wasn't too worried about fatalities, Nico could heal from way worse), the redhead angled Rebellion into the blade's path, as well as to the side and forcing the blade away from him. Castiel didn't let this stop him as he stomped his foot onto the ground, launching a vicious snap kick towards the redhead's defenses, although said redhead simply pivoted around the swing and swung towards the exposed side of Castiel's defenses. However, thanks to Hrunting coming in for a clutch moment, that strike got blocked, though the blonde heir found himself surprised at the sheer strength behind that strike.

Though, that would only be for a second before they broke off, Castiel kicking up a cloud of dirt to try and knock out Nico's eyesight like he had before. Unlike back then though, Nico didn't fall for it as he covered his face in one hand just in time, bringing it down back to Rebellion and parring the following slash fest. Castiel then blasted forwards, pumping his legs with Mana as he slashed towards Nico's legs, only for the redhead to suddenly Warp away from him and catching the Heir off guard. 'What the?!' he thought, only to suddenly gasp when he felt a series of slash marks appear over his body.

Stumbling forwards and applying some healing Spells, Castiel turned around whilst the magic healed his wounds (fortunately they had been shallow), he found Nico to be standing there and... licking off some of the blood from Rebellion's blade. A look of utter revulsion escaped his face when he saw this, causing Castiel to call out. "Dude, what the hell, man?! That looks unsanitary as all fuck-"

BAM!

Instantly, he got shut up before he could finish, as Castiel soon got himself hit in the side of the head by an invisible Tentacle which had came from his right flank. Fortunately, Hrunting protected him and he'd managed to reflexively apply Blut Vein to improve his defense some, but the sheer impact behind the Tentacle's attack sent him rolling across the ground. Quickly using the momentum to get to his feet, Castiel looked up and saw the Nico licking Rebellion suddenly shimmer out of existence, revealing another Nico standing where the Tentacle had came from.

Pretty soon, his look of confusion turned into one of understanding. "An afterimage, huh?"

Nico nodded his head at this, retracting his Rinkaku into himself. He had to admit, he felt glad that Hrunting hadn't been able to absorb any of his Kagune's RC Cells just then, otherwise that sword would have been WAY more annoying to deal with. "Yup, the Star God's Broken Shadow. Pretty nifty trick, if I do say so myself. Anyways, now that the two of us are warmed up..." Nico replied, swiftly switching out Rebellion for his dual Pistols Ebony and Ivory and pointing them at him. The moment they were primed, both Guns began charging up large crimson orbs of condensed, dangerous and violently crackling Demonic Power, something which INSTANTLY rang alarm bells inside Castiel's mind. "How about we kick things up a notch?"

"Well, if you want long distance I don't see why not. Come, let's see what you have." Castiel said, confidence exuding out of him as he caught his Gandiva while his right eye shined a bit.

"Whelp, since we're doing this, I might as well see how this attack steps up. Ebony and Ivory: METRALLETA." Immediately after speaking, Nico's Pistols began unloading a massive shower of Ceros upon his opponent, descending upon him without any form of mercy.

However, said opponent didn't mind as he pulled the string of his bow.

"LICHT REGEN!" Castiel said as instantly light energy concentrated in his shoulders as thousands of arrows of light energy were launched at Nico. Not only that but Castiel also used his eye to manipulate the light energy in the air before dispersing after the shock to reinforce the other arrows, making his arrows faster and stronger the more time passed.

This led to Nico having to use his Rinkaku's fast attacks to try and overpower Castiel in mid-long range, but that only managed to keep them in balance as Castiel now could clearly see all the movements from his Kagune, due to actually focusing his right eye. The result was that in this fight of long distance Castiel was winning, in contrast to their first bout when that Kagune made him resort to using Hrunting to keep up.

'Okay, but how will you deal with this?!' Nico thought as he used one of his Tentacles to hit the ground and launch himself high into the air. this ended up helping him the arrows that were already gaining up on him. This would be the chance he needed to test out one of the fiery techniques he had come up with during his training, though he had required multiple types of fire to do so. Luckily for him, he now had those. While in mid air, he raised his left arm to the air and focused on his three flames (Hellfire, Blue Geocentric Lotus Flame, and Golden Crow Flame). These three flames manifested above his left hand, spiraling together and combining into...one HELL of a twisted, demonic looking crimson and black Lotus flower with a massive fiery aura. Its size easily matched that of a single story house, heat racing through the surroundings.

"Try this: Buddha Fury Flame Lotus!"

As Nico said that he flung his arm downwards, launching the massive Lotus at Castiel. Normally he would have long since used his wings to defend himself but this time he wanted to test something out. Taking out his Heavenly Pill Furnace with his right hand and activating it together with the fire energy from his right arm spirit bone, the result was an explosion of flames that actually matched equally Nico's flame Lotus, but as it was something that Castiel could keep suplying energy while the one from Nico was something he launched, he eventually managed to overpower the Lotus flame. However, something strange happened as instead of exploding the flames from the Lotus were absorbed by the cauldron.

Castiel was confused by it but didn't have time to think about it as Nico came in close distance and used Rebellion to try and cut Castiel's shoulder, which was only stopped by an instinctive usage of Blut Vene.

"Fuck, this still is fucking hard! Did you already used that Siegfried spell to make your body even harder to damage?" Nico complained as he jumped back to avoid a swipe of Castiel's right hand that was still holding the cauldron, fear of receiving its flames making Nico's body be covered in cold sweat.

"No, no I did not. My body is just tougher now. Now, please imagine how it will be after I use the spell, combined with Blut Vein AND put on my Armor."Castiel replied smugly, pride oozing from his form.

'Tch, yeah that sounds like some tank-like Defense there!'

Taking a split second, Nico mentally calmed himself from that brief spiel and analysed the situation. His mismatched eyes narrowed into a calculating gaze. 'Okay, it looks like from that collision, his body indeed has greater base defense stats than it had before. My flame attacks likely won't yield that many results either if I use them simply for attacking, too. Odds are, it'll only get harder to cut him with just Rebellion alone, which means I'll have to use something a little stronger...' Nico thought, as an idea came to mind.

"Heh, I see." Nico replied, a smirk forming on his lips. "So I'll just take you as If you were this colossal Tank who hits as hard as he blocks." he mused further, dismissing Rebellion and activating his Bikaku alongside hi Rinkaku. He then flicked his hand, and in a burst of dark violet Lightning, appeared the first Archdevil Arm he had ever gained: Ouranos. The massive blade thrummed with Electrical power, the surroundings being affected by this demonic energy more than a little bit. "Since you do so well against fire, I think a change of elements is in order."

With that said, Nico held Ouranos in his Two-Handed Killer Stance, one of his Tails flicking forwards to launch its Talons at Castiel. Said Heir merely swung his sword in well-timed arcs, deflecting and blocking the Talons from hitting. The Heir felt them hit, but their impact was nothing he couldn't handle, didn't even make him step backwards. However, what he hadn't taken into account was them exploding all around him, creating a whole smokescreen which ended up covering their battlefield.

However, utilizing his right eye, Castiel's vision sharpened, allowing him to see through the smoke. 'If Nico thinks this will stop me, then he's got another thing coming.' Castiel thought, looking around for any sign of the redhead fighter. However, instincts stopped him when he looked down and noticed the cracks on the ground, memories of before coming back to him whilst he jumped backwards, dodging a Bikaku Tail which had been aimed... right at his balls.

Sliding to a halt, Castiel glared at his opponent, who appeared at his left flank in order to swing Ouranos at his neck. Castiel responded by dodging by jumping upwards, when suddenly he felt all his motion instantly leave him, as well as his form instantly freeze in place. "Ugh, shit!" the Heir cursed, especially when he saw Nico's Evil Orca King Spirit Bone shining on his arm. He quickly deduced it had some kind of spatial manipulation ability, but couldn't act on it when he saw the redhead rearing his sword back for a thrust... whilst his arm coiled around itself like it was becoming a Spring. "Okay, dude, that looks freaking nasty..." he commented, shuddering at how his arm looked.

"Meh, but hey at least I have something I can use to break that pesky 'shield' of yours." Nico retorted, his sword Technique DRILLSWORD prepped and ready to go. Add in the enhancements of his recently activated DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, activating his Sin Multiplier, the Demonic Power enhancing abilities of his two Rings of Rage and Hatred, Ouranos having absorbed the Kinetic energy Castiel had generated before being locked in place by his Spirit Bone, he hoped this would work. Maybe this would be a bit overkill, though, but he ignored that. Nico didn't want to lose to Castiel, and that would be reason enough. Plus, Ouranos held much more power than Rebellion in terms of destructive capability, so it should he able to deal more damage to him than it.

At once, Nico launched himself towards the locked-in-place Castiel, his Sword arm rotating so it looked like he had a large, electrified drill for an appendage. As a result, the attack hit, and Castiel bit his lips to prevent from crying out in pain when he felt Lighting surging through his system in huge quantities. Thanks to the fire trial, he had strong resistances to fire, plus there was the cauldron which had absorbed Nico's flames. However, that did NOT mean that he had the same benefits for lighting. 'That's right, I forgot Nico has an arsenal of weapons which try to kill him in exchange for power! Fuck, this burns!' he Heir thought. Heck, he even felt his body instinctively activate Blood Vein to defend himself, but it hadn't lasted long as the Archdevil Arm cut through his skin like a butter knife thanks to the technique and power enhancement.

In the end, Castiel got sent flying across the battlefield, crashing into the ground while creating a 10 meter long fissure. Once he stopped, the Heir looked up to see Nico already on his way to finish the job, Ouranos dangerously crackling with energy. 'Don't wanna get hit by that again! I'll test out my right leg Spirit Bone then!' Quickly reacting, Castiel sprouted his Wings, healing himself with his magic (though it took WAY longer than it normally would have due to the sinister nature of this Lightning), and activated his Right Leg's Spirit Bone. Immediately he hopped into the air, several floating clouds appearing wherever he stood which allowed him to charge towards his opponent. He'd also activated it's 'Weight of Sin' to put a weight proportion to the sin Nico had committed in his past to slow his movements.

To that end, Nico IMMEDIATELY halted himself when he felt the weight. 'Ugh! This feeling…!' he cursed within his mind, quickly glancing to his enemy and figuring out he was doing something. 'Feels like a Spirit Bone Ability! No matter!' But instead of ceasing his attack, Nico just gritted his teeth and continued on, pushing through the weight through sheer WILLPOWER as it reminded him of his resolve and the hellish training he'd went through, partially impressing Castiel as he charged forth with Flayed in hand, the two colliding like two colossal titans.

Nico's weapon was strong, stronger than Castiel's easily, but when the two had just impacted once and Nico's weapon stopped for a second Castiel moved quickly. His breath held as he simulated an attack he had seen hundreds of times while growing up and one he always aspired to copy some day.

"Tsubame Ganesha." As Castiel said that Nico had the clear impression that space itself distorted in front of him as Castiel's katana appeared in three places at the exact same time. He had no option but release all the energy of Uranus to explode in front of himself while also throwing himself back desperately. The result was Castiel being thrown back by the explosion but no big damage to himself due to his ridiculously tough body and Nico getting three cuts on his body, all deviated from vital areas.

'Okay, the FUCK was that all about?' Nico thought as he showed a incredulous face, he had never seen ANY sword do that before, and the fact it looked like pure skill instead of energy that did that didn't help his doubt.

"Oh, I see. You didn't understand this one. Well, if this was too hard to understand I hope the next is easier." Castiel said as he launched sword first at Nico. This time he was ready and was going to try his damn best to defend against that previous attack, however this was not the attack Castiel was about to execute. "Mumyou Sandan-Zuki"

As Castiel said that when already close to Nico the effect was something that Nico's mind couldn't wrap around as he had put his Ouranos in front of the attack and he still was sent flying, Uranus 'unbreakable' as it was, now had cracks along its form of varying sizes as Nico was launched more than a hundred meters back.

Turning to see Castiel he saw the young men with a relaxed expression.

"That was the second technique my mentor in katana usage taught me. The first one was an original of his that could compress space and time to strike at three separated places at once. A technique that goes beyond True Magic. The second one is one he heard by my father and copied to himself, it is similar to the first one as it attacks three times at once, but instead of being three separated spots it is all at one point combined. The result is an attack that pierces even space and time, completely unstoppable.

"Then again, I couldn't copy it properly otherwise your fancy weapon would be cut in half by now instead of just having some cracks." Castiel explained.

"Okay, first the hell is wrong with those techniques? That should be impossible! I have seen the apex of what pure sword skills can reach and-"

"Don't speak nonsense!" Castiel said, shutting down Nico. "The path of using a sword is nearly endless, how can someone say he knows everything? Even my master, someone who can use these techniques to the apex and even fuse the two don't dare to boast he has even caught a glimpse of the apex and limit of swordplay so don't go speaking nonsense anymore. Now, let's continue." Castiel said as he finished casting Siegfried as well as stimulating the White Tiger Divine Blood in him, his body surging with energy as he launched at Nico like a tiger attacking a prey.

Nico didn't have much of a choice but retreat using his Star God's Broken Shadow as the physical strength Castiel was showing was just outright cheating.

'Okay, this is fucking ridiculous. How the hell is a freaking MAGE stronger physically than ME!?'

'I fucking HATE this technique of his! Attacking his fake bodies all the time is making me look fucking STUPID! I am LITERALLY almost pulling my hairs out in frustration, his speed is just too cheaty!'

'I call HAX!' the two thought the last part at once as this continued, really angering both to no end. For the next five minutes, the two duked it out like vicious animals, explosions dotting the entire training area which had spanned across the entire pocket dimension. Energy crackled through the atmosphere, and if there were any signs of life in this place, they would have been annihilated from the two male's combined sheer energy output alone.

Yet, even so, neither Nico NOR Castiel gained any ground in terms of their fighting. Whilst Castiel on one hand EXCELLED in physical destruction, defense and energy control, making huge AOE attacks on the fly and using massive amounts of energy, something he could afford to waste thanks to his Magic Core, he couldn't take Nico on in terms of sheer Speed. The guy wasn't any weaker than Castiel, but his speed, like the Heir had said, simply outclassed anything in Castiel's arsenal. Likewise, Nico may have gotten more hits in thanks to his speed, but nothing truly got through this defense Castiel possessed, neither could he beat him in sheer destructive power. It was like trying to destroy an entire mountain range, his strength boosted by the Great Way of the Buddha being the only thing which helped keep him on a level playing field with him. Even then, he had to rely solely on his Speed, amplified by his Star Gods Broken Shadow as well as Ouranos's WARPSPEED and KINETIC VISION.

All the while, Zelretch watched it with some popcorn and coke.

After one of their struggles for supremacy which resulted in the two breaking off, both boys slid across the ground for well over 200 meters, prompting them to switch weapons once more. Grandiva appeared in Castiel's hands, which he followed up with puling back the bowstring and launching a LIGHT REGIN, wanting to fill Nico's body with holy arrows. On the redhead's side, instead of just countering with a smaller barrage of Ceros, AKA the METRALLETA, he instead went with another option. His Ebony and Ivory, pointing at the incoming wave of Arrows, each unleashed Two MASSIVE Ceros at once; the Cero MIRADA. These two massive beams flew forth from their guns, straight into the hail of Holy Arrows and colliding with them.

At first, Castiel thought his strikes would have been able to pierce it with Grandiva being a divine weapon, however thanks to the MIRADA being constantly powered by Nico's Devil Arms the beams overpowered the arrows and continued on their path towards him, causing the Heir to cursed under his breath when he crossed his arms in front of himself. The moment the Beams hit, a massive explosion occurred, one which looked to be able to reach the very heavens above them. Nico meanwhile, switched out his weapons, going for Absolution since Erebus wasn't needed yet, and Rebellion plus Ouranos were still reeling from their previous uses. His Rinkaku and Bikaku remained out in case of any sneak attacks.

Good thing too, cause the moment Castiel burst out into the scene, his mismatched Wings spread for all to see. "Sorry, but that won't work on me, buddy!" he yelled. His eyes shined with ferocity as he dived down towards him, Hrunting in hand.

"Figures, but hey I believe this weapon will be Hrunting's weakness!"

"Oh Yeah?! prove it!"

"With pleasure!"

Holding Absolution at the ready, Nico swiftly activated its DC Avatar form, Castiel recalling it as the weapon he used to fight the Scorpion King. He recalled everything he'd seen about it, which wasn't exactly much considering he'd been 'occupied' at the time. The form completed itself instantly, and with a loud battle cry Nico spread his 4 Bat-like wings to take flight RIGHT towards Castiel, intending to engage in a head on collision. At first, Castiel wondered if this guy had some screws knocked loose, half-expecting this to be another one of those fake bodies of his, but to his surprise the guy didn't do that one bit. Instead, it really was just a head on collision, the two entering an extremely vicious deadlock with sparks flying from their specified weapons.

After a few seconds, Castiel succeeded in breaking their deadlock and sliced through the form's shoulder, expecting it to empower Hrunting due to its organic appearance. However, upon looking at the blade, he soon realized WHY exactly Nico had said what he did, as instead of blood there was nothing but black ooze. 'I see! So this form uses ooze instead of blood, which makes it so that whilst it looks organic, since its not made from blood Hrunting can't power up from it! I can only rely on its auto counter ability then!' the Heir thought, rearing back and going for another strike to the form's face.

Unfortunately for him, Castiel forgot about Nico's Kagune, which still protruded out of the body he was inside as the Bikaku coiled around the blade itself to halt its movements. All the while, his Rinkaku set about wrapping around Castiel's legs like serpents, causing Nico to smirk darkly behind his new Form as he swung the guy around the space above his head like a cowboy rope. "Yeeehaw! Get along, little doggy!" He shouted, mimicking a cowboy's accent whilst slamming Castiel into the ground below with a massive BANG!

Nico didn't stop there however, as he swung Absolution and Launched a black Tidal wave of DC mixed with Tendrils towards his opponent, retracting his Kagune at the very last second. The wave descended, and immediately covered Castiel's body, entrapping him within its embrace. 'Ugh, disgusting!' he thought, flexing his muscles to break free. Fortunately, his cheat-like strength made breaking through a piece of cake, something he took pride in. After all, despite the sheer power and versatility it possessed, a Devil Arm wasn't ANYTHING in comparison to a bloodline from a divine beast. The White Tiger as well, at that...

Only for Nico to appear right behind him with Absolution's reverse end ramming into his back.

'Ugh!' the Heir cursed when he fell down from the surprise of the attack, sliding along the ground and then using the momentum to twist towards the redhead's direction and grind to a Halt. What Castiel didn't notice until later, was that Nico had also tried to cut him in half with another unseen swing, only to miss thanks to his fast reflexes. 'Sneaky bastard... he used my distraction as a way to get in close and deal another blow! Like Siegfried himself, this defense Spells marginally weaker when targeting the back, the area where Siegfried was said to have a weak-spot. In that case...!'

Mumbling under his breath, Castiel swiftly experimented with his Curse power, applying various ones on the body that Nico was in as it charged at him. Almost instantly, did the form start slowing down, something Nico noticed, and didn't take very long to deduce the cause. Therefore, he deactivated the form and closed the distance between them via Star God's Broken Shadow, swinging at Castiel's head. The Heir of course, blocked it, and the two traded a few more blows before Nico retreated via his movement skill, further annoying the half Angel.

That annoyance didn't last for long though, as he soon saw a trail of black spikes rising out the ground in his direction, making him swing Hrunting and smash the ones in front of him. "Hah, that all you got?!" Castiel sneered at his opponent, who merely smirked darkly. The reason why soon became apparent when Castiel's instincts screamed at him to move, and he did so by jumping backwards. This ended up serving him well, since a second later several masses of DC converged on his position, promptly exploding afterwards.

Sensing danger beside him, Castiel glanced and saw Nico already there, having Warped to his position with his weapon of choice being Ouranos, the massive blade coated with Lightning as he swung towards Castiel. The Heir felt Hrunting race to block it, only for something to lock it in place. Castiel immediately deduced it was that spatial Spirit Bone, so he instead jumped away from him, flapping his wings to get some distance. He intended to charge right back in with a flying kick to that bastard's face... but then he saw the Ouranos swiftly begin another swing, glowing red all the while.

'Another offensive!'

Oh, how right he was, when he saw a human sized wave of crimson energy race towards him from the blade.

If it was before fighting side by side with Castiel Nico would have thought he got the heir there. It was just near impossible to not at least get injured after this sort of attack exploding so close to oneself, but as Nico now accurately knew Castiel was impossible to fully get an attack in right. So, when he saw the heir put his hand in front of the wave despite the energy of his spirit bone locking the space and taking the entire attack on his arm just for the attack to be absorbed by that same arm.

"Spirit bones, you gotta love them." Castiel said with a grim as the energy around him was devoured by his left arm spirit bone, the speed it devoured energy now was such that energy attacks like the one from Nico just now were near useless against him, the only way they could be useful were if he was to be aught in surprise or if the energy was too much for Castiel to devour.

Seeing this both simply continued ducking it out, Castiel created a total of eight magic bombardment attacks around him using his previous knowledge adding the runes he saw during the fire trial, the effects were great as the runes and the whole magic theory behind them worked as a way to better contain energy making him able to push more energy into the same attacks before releasing them, the added benefit of it slowing slightly sealing the enemy when hit was also an added bonus. Meanwhile, Nico used his Star God's Broken Shadow to avoid the majority of the attacks, not letting a single one hit in a critical place, even if the ones that grazed him still pained him greatly. Ouranos had the specialty of movement under its belt along with Lightning Manipulation. As such his movement speed with this weapon made hitting him a near impossible task, even for the improved magic attacks Castiel generated. The redhead even followed up with a Warp to Castiel's rear, intending to decapitate him in one fell swoop. Of course that never worked as, while Castiel was slower than Nico, the difference wasn't that absurd as Castiel used Mana Burst and the power of the White Tiger Divine Blood within him to have a higher explosive speed than Nico but less maneuverability.

This continued for around five minutes until both jumped a distance away, both not wanting to continue on a pointless struggle when they obviously were, again, equally matched.

"Okay this is getting ridiculous, let's go with our respective Armors before we just waste more of our time." Nico groaned in frustration, something which go mirrored by his opponent whilst Castiel nodded, following that both males summoned their respective Armour's.

By the time that they finished, both boys stood opposite one another like two sides of the same coin. The two's armors looked, again, equally strong but total opposites as Nico made him look like an executioner demon from hell Castiel made him look like a sacred angelic warrior descending to bring salvation.

However, before the two started Nico opened his mouth.

"Hey, if we are doing this, and we ARE doing this, how about you try entering that same state as you did during the Water Trial?"

"...You do realize that facing me on that state is a BEYOND stupid idea, right? I seriously doubt most people could never hope to defeat me in such state and I don't even understand it well yet. I could accidentally curse your soul into a twisted thing that would want death and not ever be able to obtain it." Castiel explained. No one else really understood how utterly terrifying that mode was, how he'd NEVER use it unless he was facing someone he wanted to suffer and there was no one else around.

"I know, but back in my world I feel that I will be facing others with crazy powers that could even match that one you showed so I want to test out and use this chance to try and figure out a way to defeat these sort of odds." Nico said.

Castiel sighed.

"Fine, but I will instead try it on my Holy energy instead as it is likely less dangerous." Castiel said before closing himself with his wings.

'Huh, if the wings still have the same characteristics of before about defense then he still has air-tight defense even under this transforming situation. But there still are some small holes I could use here and there.' Nico thought to himself.

 **'Yes, but do remember him mentioning how with his power increase he'd get two more sets of wings.'**

Biko spoke within his mind, making Nico dread at the thought a bit. Castiel was already ridiculously hard to injure, if he were to get two more sets of wings and be able to completely seal himself then facing him would be an utter nightmare.

Regardless, he was thinking about the wait. Last time it took about 5 minutes to complete so this time it will probably take that long aga-

And not even two full minutes in and Castiel started opening his wings. His appearance didn't change much, but what changed was the 'air' around him.

It was like Nico was standing in front of the sun. Limitless, endless light and fire was all Nico could feel from Castiel but the worst part was how he also felt a wave of unwillingness to attack Castiel. Like his mind was slowly starting to desire to prostate before this man, this God of salvation that would bring him to a glorious fu-

 **'NICO! YOU HAVE TO DEFEND YOUR SOUL RIGHT NOW!'**

Biko's voice echoed in his mind as Nico instinctively obeyed, circulating his Samsara Intent with all he had, applying the Berzerker and Avenger packages he got from the River Styx, and used his energy to get as far away from Castiel as he could.

'Whoa, dude what the hell?!' The redhead exclaimed in shock when he did so, especially when he sensed something go HORRIBLY wrong just now. Circulating the Samsara intent to protect his soul wasn't something he had done too many times, since he'd been preoccupied with other things let alone those packages which he had to manually activate, but the moment he did Nico felt like... well, like something had been reflected off a mirror. Yeah, he'll go with that. Each of his Archdevil and Devil Arms all cried out in instinctive fear and anger, each of their ire focusing on Castiel's current form.

Obviously seeing this happen, the young Heir smirked in amusement, knowing that Nico had foreseen the danger just now. "Hoh, so you did manage to stop it." Castiel commented in good humor. "Sorry about that, I almost ended up making you forget everything to instead become a servant of mine. Sigh, these states of mine are just too dangerous."

"The hell did you do?"

"Me? I used an untrained power without knowing its results, that is what. This mode, I suppose you could call it Scion of Light, has a few effects. First, it is much less dangerous to my mind so I can keep it for longer, second is that the light I emanate naturally makes others feel reverence towards me and if they are exposed to it for too long they will lose themselves in this reverence and become little more than slaves, and the final one is that my body now is light itself." Castiel explained what he managed to understand from this power, there was likely more he could unravel but this was his first try.

'I see... so THAT's how it works...' Nico remarked thoughtfully, absorbing this information with his mind running a thousand miles an hour as it threw around all sorts of calculations and plans. Plans on how to deal with such a power, a power which would be for all intents and purposes his arch nemesis. He could feel it right now, how the energy seemed to be suppressing his Demonic Powers, he could sense it very well. That meant that he couldn't transform into his Crimson Soul form, nor could he use many of he powers associated with that trait. Only Ouranos and Erebus were available to him right now, as well as Soul Edge thanks to this suppression, everything else felt like it wouldn't be enough to stand against this holy energy. He gripped the handle of Erebus which trembled in his grasp, narrowing his eyes behind his Helmet. Perhaps he could use the weapons in his Amour to deal with this problem, but then again something told him that they may not be as effective as he hoped.

Wait, didn't he say something QUITE important just now...?

"Wait, what you mean by 'my body is light'?" Nico asked, already imagining what he meant and dreading the answer.

BANG

A kick to the gut before he could react and being launched half a mile away really did wonders in Nico's starting to understand how bad things were.

'This speed, it is simply unreasonable.' Nico thought while seeing Castiel approaching slowly, Nico's mind fighting with all it had to not let him fall to his knees in worship.

Crashing into the ground, rolling for several seconds before using the momentum to get up into a crouching position, Nico slid to a halt and looked towards his opponent. Said opponent merely leapt forwards, and kicked towards him whilst having immediately closed the distance between them.

'FUCK!'

The redhead cursed, barely using Star God's Broken Shadow to evade the attack in time, and even then only a millisecond passed before the beam of light which shot from Castiel's kick reduced the image to nothingness. Not a trace of it remaining, ringing more than a FEW alarm bells in Nico's mind. 'Shit, that's fast! If Light is meant to be the fastest thing in this universe, then this form's speed surpasses mine with or without Erebus's help!' he thought in dismay. In addition to that, Nico hadn't been feeding his Archdevil Arms many Souls, which meant that they were slowly draining the strength from his own soul, which replenished faster than they could leech, in order to regain their lost powers. In essence, their full potential wasn't available to him, which put him in a tight spot right now.

Yet, even with that, Nico STILL tried to search for a way to regain some form of advantage in this fight. He did NOT like the thought that he would have to run and hide all damn day till this power of his expired this 'time limit' that he talked about. He had even said it was longer than that of his Evil Spirit Form, so the thought of having to play defence for a while did NOT appeal too highly to him.

In a flash, he saw an opening and Warped over, swinging Ouranos towards one of Castiel's arms.

SLASH!

Nico, after using all of this managed to get a clean hit. Castiel's arm was sent flying away as Nico smiled in pride, he had managed to do some damage. Now, he only had to keep going and he could win!

PUNCH

However, when the severed arm simply flew back at light speed and punched Nico with a power that could make even most Demon Prince's shy away in embarrassment he felt his bile and a bit of blood come out of his mouth.

"I said that my body is light itself, even if you sever a part of it or destroy it entirely there is no way to truly damage me as I can simply create another body part to replace it with my magic core. And with my Skull Spirit Bone helping the only real way of dealing with me on this form is to either outlast the time I have before deactivating this mode, outlasting my reserves as I don't have infinite reserves while on this mode, or seal me away." Castiel explained, even he thought he was now pure BS in this mode. Seriously, if it was not for the time limit and the fact he doubted his power would make two shits when against someone much stronger than himself then he might have actualy believed he was invincible.

'Well, in that case... I guess... there's no other option for me.' Nico thought as, thanks to this brief exchange, he understood how dangerous Castiel had become. If he wanted any chance of victory, he'd have to stall for time till he can't use it anymore. It sucked in his eyes, realizing that for the first time, he found a foe he couldn't defeat, it damaged his pride, but he would do what he could to pass this hurdle.

As such, a war of attrition it was, Nico thought while switching to Erebus. He'll use its power to keep on the defensive, spawn countless constructs to keep Castiel away from him while defending his mind with the power of darkness. This and his speed were his best weapons at the moment.

Just at this moment Castiel extended his hand, he was clasping Clarent for the first time during this entire fight and it only made the powers he was subconsciously exuding that many times worse. But, to really put a cherry on the top Nico could see Clarent changing to become more golden in color and his instincts of both DPU and Ghoul screamed at him to NOT be touched or even face that blade head on.

Of course, even then it was not like he now WANTING something meant it wouldn't happen.

Before he could bling Castiel was upon him, the modified Clarent pressing down on him from above. He readied Erebus to stop it but upon impact he felt like it was not a sword that was bearing down on him but instead an entire planet.

'Heavy' was all Nico could think as he used Erebus's power to teleport away. He saw that Castiel didn't press down on him right after but he was thankful as he needed a second to heal the damage in his arm.

"...It wasn't quite right, it was supposed to be harder and to have such an attack it should be more flexible." Castiel mumbled to himself before moving at Nico again. This time Nico again defended just like before but he focused more power in his arms to defend himself from damage better. However, in impact the blade was even harder now and part of the light continued even through the impact, the result was that now it was Nico's arm that was severed.

Something which prompted him to immediately create an army of 60,000 black Bloodletters with purple Hellblades, 30,000 Juggernauts and a hundred Bloodthirsters. Nico even followed up with the Army of Anubis, spawning 100,000 ghostly humanoids with dog heads, every construct having flaming purple eyes which glared at the approaching Castiel.

Thus, the fight continued. Even if 'fight' being a strong word as Castiel didn't need to do a single thing as his light shown it's effects by turning the creatures that Nico created against him as soon as they approached Castiel.

"The fuck?" Nico said as he had to start dodging attacks in masse coming from his his own creations. "How can you even do that? I made these myself!"

"*SIGH* Do you really think that the light I am emanating is incapable of rewriting something like loyalty in a fake being like those you made? My light makes a sensation of reverence in others strong enough to make even rational beings give up everything to follow me, now imagine if there wasn't even a rational mind inside to begin with. Creating those was a mistake by trying to take a easy way out." Castiel said, his voice gentle but distant all the while.

When he heard that, realization dawned on him, and Nico couldn't help but facepalm himself. His Armour's Helmet made it so that he couldn't ACTUALLY palm his face, but it felt like one. 'Ugh, Nico you dumbass, you just HAD to summon an army filled with mindless drones against someone with a hypnotic ability which has massive levels of efficiency. Note to self: make sure to bop myself on the head to NOT do this again in the future.' he thought to himself, shaking his head while sighing.

Still, seeing as his own forces were approaching him, the redhead knew he had to act and fast. 'Fine, then I will just dispel them...' Nico thought, raising Erebus to dismiss the army... but nothing happened. Confusion filled his mind for a brief second, before he put together the information he'd gotten from Castiel and realized he couldn't do that either. 'Shit, fuck! Since they're under Emiya's control, they will be sustained by Erebus's power, but Emiya will be able to keep them around indefinitely.' he thought, scowling as the light of comprehension shined from his eyes.

These thoughts soon got confirmed by the transformed Heir himself, seconds later. "These forces are mine now. You made them and it is your power sustaining them but they will not disappear unless I tell them to." Castiel said before jumping in mid air. "Yasakani no Magatana"

As his words fell more than a thousand light bombs were launched at Nico who couldn't avoid them due to the army swarming him. If not for Erebus controlling the Darkness which spawned from its form, providing some defense and Castiel deliberately avoiding hitting Nico directly, the boy might have died. Even his Demonic Armour provided little defense against the raw potency of the light element attacking him.

'It can't get any worse... and I just jinxed myself, good job, Nico...' Nico thought, panting heavily whilst his Armour mended itself at high speeds, same with his body. Thankfully for him, his regeneration had become as powerful as it was right now, otherwise this so-called 'fight' (really more like a one-sided slaughter), would have knocked him out long ago. His Bikaku had succeeded in wiping out the Army attacking him by splitting apart into its smaller forms and launching their Talons, destroying everything around him including the Army. It WAS meant for widespread annihilation after all.

Of course, though, the fact remained that he'd jinxed himself. A fact proven moments later by Castiel suddenly raising one hand as the sky changed, from the sun a light dozens of times stronger than normal descended while tinted in holy golden. This had the effect of Nico's strength being sucked away from him like he was being caught in a vacuum. His throat dried, and his energy consumption increased exponentially as well. And, to rub salt in the injury, Castiel also released the effect of his Left Leg Spirit Bone, Purity Halo, to weaken Nico's demonic energy further by purifying it as well as his Right Leg Spirit Bone's Punishment of the Sinner, the result was that Nico was unable to even move properly as Castiel pointed his sword at him.

That state continued for about 5 seconds before Castiel ended his transformation and relaxed again, the energies surrounding Nico dispelling at that moment.

"Phew, sorry for that last bout there. I guess I failed in reigning in the Holy aspect properly and it's instinct against Demonic energy made me almost kill you."

Nico sighed when he felt his power returning to normal, his Satanic Treasures helping him restore his reserves using his powers whilst his Kagune receded into him. Erebus vanished as well, allowing his arms to fall to his sides, though his Armour remained active. That had been one of the weakest moments he had ever felt in his whole life, he'll mentally admit that but never out loud. To feel something suck away his ability to use Demonic Power like that, he did NOT want to ever deal with it ever again. If he did, he'd likely have to rely on his Ghoul side or his SP powers, which were both weaker than his Demon Powers.

Speaking of powers...

'Huh?' The moment he looked down, Nico found that his body had suddenly transformed, becoming Crimson Soul before his mind could even realize it. This of course, surprised and confused him, though the mind of a DPU had been efficient in stabilizing his thought process for logical thinking. 'Hmmm, this is indeed curious... My body and mind have turned into that of Crimson Soul's without me realizing it...' the male thought, before closing his eyes and feeling out his Demonic Power. When his mind brushed against it, they INSTANTLY shot open when he felt it.

Rage.

Raw, primal, storm-like FURY.

A fury which was unlike anything which the chaotic energy had ever been before surged within the depths of his being, struggling to lash out at the cause of its irritation in front of him. 'My power... it calls for his blood, it is angry... Biko, is this due to...?' he began to ask his Demon Persona, who soon gave him a response to this situation.

 **'Indeed. It appears that the Chaotic Energy does not take too kindly to being suppressed, let alone suppressed by something like Light energy. As a result, when it was finally released from its imposed 'prison', it quickly transformed you into your DPU Form without you realizing it, and as a safety precaution, your mind unconsciously began restraining it before you could go out of control in a Berzerker Mode 2,0 holy and Light Energy within Emiya is still enraging it, though since you've been used to it so long its not influencing you. My guess is, that this is a natural reaction to your opposing energy, not to mention the wild and untamed nature of your energy makes it so that it gets way more agitated if someone forcibly suppresses it.'**

'I see... i'll have to take a few moments to calm it down then, otherwise things could get out of hand... i'd rather not let what happened to Emiya happen to me as well.'

After a few moments, Crimson Soul did indeed calm the raging maelstrom which was his Demonic Energy, preventing it from causing catastrophic damage to his surroundings. Castiel, using his energy sensing abilities, took note of this as he realized something. 'Looks like Nico almost lost it just like I had right now... well, at least we're on the same boat there...' he thought to himself, though thanks to everything they had went through together, Castiel didn't feel too miffed at Nico having lasted this long. It just began making him think along a certain thought process.

Back with the transformed Redhead, Crimson Soul glanced back to Castiel, floating atop the ground whilst summoning Soul Edge's true form. The mighty blade pulsated with latent energy, creating a foreboding atmosphere around it as its wielder levelled it towards his opponent. "Yeah, I get it. Do not worry, I understand how unwise it is for suggesting that you transform like that..." he stated solemnly, before his eyes lit up. "On the other hand, positive outcomes indeed happened because of it: A, you got a taste for how it works, which will help you control it in the future, and B: I myself managed to gain a few insights on some things. Hopefully that'll help me develop my powers further."

"Sure." Castiel replied, before noticing something with his senses. "Looks like your energy's back to its original levels before I put my foot down, so what say we continue where we left off? Aside from those Transformations, I think we both can agree we need to settle the rest of this fight like men." he suggested while holding out Clarent. His mismatched wings (the extra pair from his transformation having vanished) spread open wide, while his Armour gained a slightly more holy glow to it. Clarent got covered by this aura as well, and slowly began to shine like a miniature sun. The raw POWER which the Heir emitted right now would have staggered his friends and family if they could see him now, plus behind him one could see a vague silhouette of what looked like a tall 12-winged Angel, clad in brilliant golden Armour and expressing an angelic presence through the surrounding areas as the pure golden color started to also have tints of red from the automatically stimulated Divine Blood of both the Vermilion Bird and True Phoenix...

A presence which got beat back from Crimson Soul's position thanks to the ROARING surge of Demonic Power which affected the atmosphere, even if it only covered the DPU's side of the arena and couldn't go further than that as the golden light was just too eye catching and strenuous to observe. Castiel then decided to take things up a notch by also bringing forth Hruting on his left hand, darkness and evil abounded from his left side as the angelic figure that was behind him curved slightly before positioning behind Castiel's right side. Meanwhile, on his left the darkness and evil that remained even purer than the demonic energy from Crimson Soul made manifest as a silhouette behind it as well, a silhouette that looked like a purple evil humanoid god as the energy around Castiel turned from pure black to a sickly and evil-looking purple. This humanoid's eyes shined purple, reminisced of violet fire whilst releasing unending killing intent that was inherent from the Divine Blood of the White Tiger.

However, as if in reaction to that, behind the DPU, a shadow appeared as well, hovering behind him whilst floating slightly above him. It took the form of a crimson haired man, whose very presence emanated an unending power of slaughter that looked like could kill all that existed. His form remained concealed behind a crimson coloured veil, similar to the thick black mist which concealed the evil-feeling God behind Castiel, though it failed to hide the bloodthirsty shine that protruded out from the crimson haired man's eyes.

Looking at them from his place Zelretch shook his head. 'Truly, I might have created two true freaks.' Is what he thought as he looked at the faint images behind the two teens, the meaning behind them were clear as day for Zelretch and their meaning as well.

Racksha God, Angelic God, and Asura God. Three beings that reached beyond Leader-Class just as Zelretch did but that died long ago, even if dying might be the wrong word as they were powerful enough to never truly die as they left their power and will behind to chose new receptacles, others that would be able to take their legacy forward and it just so happened that these two young men were compatible with them. Now how it will become and even if they will truly become the second coming of those guys was something that was hard to say, but the possibility existed because of where they are as this was not locked into any pre-existing dimension the talents of both Castiel and Nico were more easy to connect with these, something that would normally be impossible where they were before.

Whilst this happened, as well as remaining unaware of the events happening around him (same with Castiel), Crimson Soul nodded his head in acceptance, his own aura covering his body like a cloak. He held Soul Edge in the Two-Handed Killer Stance, his eyes narrowing behind his Helmet while his own fiery wings spread out as well. His Tail swayed to and fro behind him, pent-up energy clearly visible from its movement whilst experimental cracks rang from it. All the while, Soul Edge's aura caused the sword to become dark and menacing, its PREDATOR ability boosting its power so that it didn't lose out to the level that the Heir to the Tohsaka Tower was emitting. Behind him, the crimson haired male strafed to one side for a moment to allow something else to manifest on Crimson Soul's right: The silhouette of a Demon, tall and imposing just like Castiel's angel and evil manifestations, manifested with glowing hellfire pits for eyes, sharp fangs and a vicious demeanor which promised pain for any who dared go against it. Tendrils emerged from its back, mixing with nightmarish bat-like wings whilst its arms pulsated like they were their own being, resulting in a truly intimidating figure.. if the fact that it also had features from his Ghoul side wasn't already enough of an indicator of its ferocity. "Agreed, let us see once and for all... who is the BEST out of us."

"Hah, you read my mind!"

With that, both men gave their own war cries, breaking forth into mad sprints towards one another. At that moment, the silhouettes had vanished, leaving these two to their last strike. Even so, the atmosphere remained a sign of their appearance whilst their movements not too different from bolts of lightning. Instantly they closed the distance between one another, Castiel using a Mana Burst Spell for an explosive speed boost, while Crimson Soul strained the limits of his Star God's Broken Shadow. Raising their blades, Clarent, Hrunting and Soul Edge each madly pulsating with their own violent energies, the clash which followed...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

… Yeah, it resulted in an atomic explosion which pretty much filled the majority of the arena's centre. Thanks to their attacks however, the smoke and stuff which would have remained from the explosion got dispersed by the following shockwave, one which blasted both of them over 400 meters apart. As a result, both boys ended up suffering high damage and not being able to move from the explosion of energy that was greater than what it should normally be from this one clash. Heck, both of them became unable to maintain their respective states, and as such returned to their normal human forms whilst lying on the ground, their bodies completely numb like they had been hit with tranquilizer darts.

However, neither was that unsatisfied. Both knew that they could still stand despite their bodies suffering this much damage, but they couldn't really go much further than that as while Nico took more damage, his regeneration remained leagues faster, but as a payoff his RC cells ran dry and he'd ended up using WAY too much demonic energy. He wouldn't be able to restore his reserves with his Rings either, as they had expanded their power too and needed time to recover. Instantly after he stopped moving, the sounds of sizzling could be heard as his regeneration kicked in, mending the damage done to him rapidly.

Meanwhile, Castiel had taken much less damage by comparison, something he personally knew would have been the case due to his better defence and endurance. but the payoff here though, was that his healing did not surpass Nico's ONE BIT. Plus, he still didn't know nearly as much as he wanted about healing magic effectively in a body like his that was absurdly durable now (something he intended to fix as soon as possible) not to mention both his evil and normal energies were dangerously low.

If they wanted to compete with only their bodies now they could, but neither wanted that. Castiel's body was not one Nico thought he could damage that well using only his hands and feet without any demonic energy or weapons (note to self:: possibly upgrade his martial arts skills when he got the chance), while Castiel knew that even if he did fight hand to hand his entire style was made to kill or man an enemy, kill was out of the question as this was just a spar and even if his energies were low Nico would be able to return a twisted arm to place with no problem. Plus, without his transformations and powers, Castiel knew it'd be nigh impossible to truly kill Nico due to the broken abilities afforded to him by his various halves.

In short, neither of them could truly defeat one another. They wee well and truly opposites in fighting powers yet also equals at the same time.

The two, realizing that... pretty much exploded into laughter, pleasure and satisfaction shining within their hearts at how this battle turned out. Whilst parts of them still wanted to defeat the other completely, their masculine pride being the source of these feelings, they couldn't help but be satisfied with their current standings.

"Hahahahaha...! #INHALE, EXHALE# Heh, you're something else, Emiya. You know that?" Nico remarked as he sighed in relief, feeling his body already in the final stages of his regeneration. Only a few more seconds until his body was back to optimal mobility, though he had no intentions of continuing the fight when it finished. Not even close, instead he had to admit to himself that Castiel Emiya provided him with one heck of a good fight. He felt like he had been pushed to his limits and beyond right about now, his problems back in Gamindustri not dampening his mood in the slightest. "Been a while since I had such a fulfilling fight like that." Whilst saying this, the redhead let 2 of his Rinkaku Tentacles emerge, using them to help his upper body lift itself into a sitting position until it could support its own weight. Only then, did they vanish back into his Kakuhou, as his RC Cell reserves would need to recover for some time before he could use them to their fullest capacity again.

At these words, Castiel himself smirked smugly, then winced as he kept applying what limited healing magic he had on his form. Right now, his right hand glowed in a pale green light whilst he constantly casted the healing spells he knew from his teachings in Magecraft. Ugh, he REALLY needed to see what he could do about healing, but right now this pain served as a pleasant reminder of these events. Events he likely wouldn't ever be forgetting in his lifetime. "Yeah... you could say that." He felt glad that he'd done more damage to Nico than vice versa, no doubt about it, but that healing he had seemed to be pretty BS in its own right, just like that speed of his. Still, he had gotten a LOT out of this little stress rel-SPAR, yes spar! Yeah, he'd gotten a lot out of this spar, with how he could develop his skills further (one big point of interest being the Spirit Stove which had absorbed that lotus. He mentally noted to look into that later, then there's his transformations). "Still, since neither of us can fight on with a definite winner, perhaps we should do a rain check for when we're stronger. Its obvious that we still have room to grow before we reach our full potential, so our fights don't end here."

What he didn't say was that he wanted to absolutely crush Nico under him, bring him into his ranks as the king and him the servant. That was merely his kingly pride talking, as he knew Nico would NEVER let that happen. If Castiel himself was the king, then that guy was the Demon.

"Sure, I don't want to leave our fight like this anyways." Nico replied with a nod as he slowly got to his feet, stumbling a bit before he regained his balance. He held the side of his head with one hand, feeling like one hell of a migraine was assaulting his senses, although it vanished alongside most of his other injuries moments later. Taking out some healing items from his Inventory, Nico healed himself and restored his various reserves back to full power. Something which Castiel also did when he took out some Phoenix Tears, as well as a small sack of green bean-like things which he put into his mouth. Instantly, he returned to full health just like Nico had, something which made the redhead's brow twitch madly. "Showoff..."

"Pot calling the Kettle black there, dude."

"... Touche."

* * *

"Alrightie ladies. The time for your lovers quarrel is up, i'm afraid."

The moment Zelretch stepped in whilst clapping his hands, Nico and Castiel glanced over to him, seeing two portals having opened up behind him. "Looks like you two have duked it out long enough. Time for you two to get your scrawny asses back to your own worlds." Zelretch told them, before gesturing to the one to his right. "This one is yours, emo kid. It'll lead back to where you were when I found you. Minus the whole wardrobe... maybe." he spoke with a teasing, trollish grin on his face.

Nico rolled his eyes at this, having finally gotten used to Zelretch's antics. He didn't feel like this was the last time he saw the Vampire either, though he didn't say that in favor of counterattacking. "What, like how you dance about like a ballerina on a sugar high whilst on cocaine and showing some swag like a snoopdog ripoff?" he remarked, a lopsided smirk forming on his lips while he pocketed his hands into his Trench Coat.

"Oj please, you are making this old man blush. I just did something to see how it would go and it was quite fun. And as for you, godson o'mine." The man continued, gesturing to the opposite portal. "Ya gonna be going back to heaven in your world. Gotta be there for that peace meeting of yours."

At this, Castiel groaned, mentally face-palming at the reminder about that. True he had some of his girls back at Heaven, but that place would HARDLY be one of the places he'd want to be at right now. He'd rather like to see if his friends at the tower were alright. "Ugh, all this fighting actually made me forget about all that shit..." he moaned behind his hand, causing the redhead to look at him oddly.

"You, a part of heaven? Um, no offense Emiya, but you definitely don't fit the bill. You feel more like someone who belongs in the underworld ripping through countless sinners than being in a holy place. Maybe charm a few angels fall from grace while your at it. God must be rolling in his grave in your world, huh?" Nico commented, an amused twinkle in his eye to show that he was just messing with the guy.

"Sorry, I doubt he is rolling on his grave as no one knows where grandpa was buried. But, I must explain that I am more of a 'guest'/prisoner of Heaven due to some reasons, politics are a bitch when you don't yet have the power to do shit about what the higher ups decide. Also, I do know the Underworld well since some of my friends are devils anyway and I trained there for quite a while, nice place really with a lot of energy in the air and many enemies to face. If given the choice, I'd much rather be in the Underworld even if now I don't know how well things would go, being an angel now and all that."

"Huh? How would that be-"

"Politics, lots and lots of complicated politics." Castiel said, making Nico shudder a bit. Politics, the very bane of the redhead's existence. He'd already set his own opinions on them, but even so, the level of annoyance they must cause may have even exceeded his expectations. Thus, whilst he somewhat admitted that he needed to understand more of politics to better understand people's thought processes, it clearly seemed that it was not something he would like knowing more about.

After all that stuff got settled, Zelretch vanished from their sights, leaving the two portals behind for them to step into. As the boys approached the two portals, each of them felt a sense of trepidation and excitement. They'd spent at least 2 weeks in this place, so it would take some time for them to get back into the swing of things in their own worlds. They would have to get used to their problems being relevant again, and odds were it was likely that they would never come to this Dimension again... unless it was a whim which Zelretch had and in that case they would have to prep their buttocks for some SERIOUS ass whooping.

Just before the two could get inside though...

"Yo, Emiya?"

"Hm?" Blinking in surprise when Nico called out to him (although he had a mix of annoyance for being held back from seeing his girls again, and curiosity on his intentions), Castiel turned towards him with an arched brow.

As a result, he became witnessed to Nico offering a hand for a handshake. "It was a pleasure fighting with you. I'm sure we'll meet again, we still have a score to settle." Nico stated, a competitive fire in his eyes.

"Heh, don't bet on it, but if it happens i'll welcome the challenge." Castiel replied, before he grinned and shook the redhead's hand. Maybe it was because of the fight they had just had, but the guy seemed a bit more easygoing right now. Definitely made him look less edgy and more approachable, as far as the Heir was concerned maybe he could make it so that he's less of a wimp towards the ladies, THEN he'd be set. "But yeah, when we fight again, do NOT think i'll go easy on you."

"That's my line, you'll be dead meat in my fangs."

Both males chuckled after concluding the handshake, grinning like sharks with a competitive spark flashing between them. Eventually, Nico shifted his gaze away and back to his Portal, offering a two finger salute whilst turning as well, letting his coat flutter in the generated breeze.

'Heh, showoff...' Castiel thought, making to enter his own portal...

"Oh yeah, Emiya: Here's a little advice, as little as I can give considering the knowledge gap between us: Never weep for the stupid, cause you'll be crying all day."

"Humph, truer words have never been spoken, dude. Guess even the spineless harem-protagonist has some sense, eh?" Castiel retorted with a slight laugh as he created a slight wind to make the coat of his suit of pristine white and gold flutter on the wind, though since Nico had already stepped towards his portal he didn't pay that much attention. Instead, a competitive smirk formed on his lips which gave way to the following counter attack.

"Says the King of Blue Balls himself."

"I at least show I want to, unlike a certain edgy redhead I know."

However, in the end Nico's trollish laughter echoed as his portal closed behind him, same with Emiya's. Neither of them knew for certain if they would meet again, but one thing felt certain. Both boys had influenced each other in their own ways. Castiel had gained a new rival (one he DIDN'T want to kill... most of the time), and Nico had gained a whole new WORLD's worth of insight.

Now that they HAD these improvements though, how they'll act upon these improvements... well, that's for the authors to decide!

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Here we go guys, the last of the crossover chapters, which means this arc is DONE and now we'll focus on the next arc. One which takes place back in Gamindustri on my end of things at least. But believe me, this arc has MAJORLY influenced Nico as a character, giving him weapons, powers, resources and insights that he'll be using against the enemy. After thhis arc is some prep bbefore the spec ops exam, then some winding down chapters before we finally get to the Lowee Arc, and BOY will THAT be a doozy to write. Also, if you can please read the side story, I know it might have its problems, but it does highlight what Noire is giving through up until the Spec Ops Exam. If anyone would like it I might make another side story which focuses on Vert and her dealings, but that's up to you and we'll be focusing more on the main story anyways.**

 **Anyways, hope you like, let me know your thoughts, and peace out!**


	180. Chapter 150 - Coming Home

**OEG Chapter 150 - Coming Home**

"So… it appears that the Demons failed to destroy that Basillicom…"

A thoughtful hum escaped her lips as one Maghda, leader of her very own Coven, mused to herself whilst she sat on a twisted-looking, black throne. The throne itself looked like a human sitting cross-legged, with its hands held in the air as if it were surrendering to someone, whilst the head remained the sole thing about it that WASN'T human. Instead, it was that of a goat, its eyes peering across the throne room which it sat in whilst the occupant of the throne sat with one leg crossed over the other. She calmly sipped some luscious-looking crimson liquid, one that smelled way too off to be considered normal wine. The woman gave a low moan to herself when the liquid raced down her throat, quenching her thirst as she listened to tormented screams down below.

Yup, tormented screams.

They rang throughout the bottom of this place she was in, a throne room which had a sick, twisted yet royale feeling to it. The fortress itself almost seemed 'alive' with how many groans escaped its walls, the feeling of being watched always being present above her shoulders to fill her with a mounting tension. The walls themselves were almost like an abyss, with sharp, metallic pillars with large gargoyle statues protruding out of platforms way up on them. The very air itself seemed almost like it was a heavy weight which slammed into her shoulders, as well as every other part of her body in an attempt to utterly wreck her, making it so that any normal mortal with no experience in handling this energy would be crushed under the strain. Aside from herself and her most devoted of her Coven, only Demons and slaves forced to fight one another populated her Fortress within this place, one of the most sacred to any worshipper of the Chaos Gods.

The story of how she had gotten to this place and gained this Fortress… one could say it was an interesting one. Because of her efforts in aiding in the Demonic Invasion, sating the bloodlust of many Demons of Khorne not to mention the efforts she had made to take out the majority of Leanbox's military might, Khorne had seen fit to reward her in ways a mortal could only dream of, and even then it would never even BEGIN to compare to the real thing. What she had now was something incomprehensible for average mortals, her previous shell that was her body having been remade in the glorious image of her treasured Khorne. In addition to this marvelous Fortress, she had been given the gracious task of kidnapping and corrupting mortals into her servants, servants whom came from backgrounds from COUNTLESS different worlds, not just in Gamindustri. Here, she would have demons force these slaves to fight one another with cruder demonic weapons, some even with a rare Devil Arm, battles which raged without end throughout the underground of her Fortress in a means to appease the Blood God's endless thirst for carnage. She herself would also take part, lest she suffer Khorne's wrath, which resulted in her spilling more than a few dozen slaves' blood through the entire conflict.

A small chuckle escaped her lips when she thought of that. One where she would soon toss aside the glass which had once held the liquid in which would then vanish as if it were a mirage seconds later. If one were to tell Maghda that she would have sworn off using Witchcraft to please a God whom awarded the strong instead of the smart, then she would have boiled them alive right where they stood, either that or fed them to her beloved pets. It had seemed so ludicrous to her, that she would have ended up in such a position of power the likes of which her mortal self could have only dreamed of. Now, instead of trying to take over one measly little island, Maghda found herself opened up to a whole galaxy's worth of opportunity, the chance to get started with conquering and killing in the name of the glorious Khorne.

But still, she paid attention to the news in Gamindustri from the scouts of her Mortal followers, and news of the Demonic Invasion failing reached her ears.

She wasn't surprised, to say the least.

Not like the Demons were weak or anything, but the main purpose of that Invasion was to 'test' the resolve of the Goddess in charge, to get her to showcase what kind of power she has in her possession. Khorne wanted to know what it would be like if he were to fight her, he spoke of this to her in her dreams. He wanted to fight that Goddess, or rather he just wanted to quench his eternal bloodlust with the divine blood of a Goddess running down the blade of his sword, which could cut through reality itself to spawn his endless legions of Demons from within his realm of blazing fires, suffocating ash, soot and incomprehensible destruction. Not to mention that the group that Nico had been with had taken the fight directly to the enemy leader, using sheer power to take them down. It taught Maghda that those sluts travelling with her prize that they would not be trifled with, thus she would treat them as enemies on the battlefield.

Speaking of her 'prize' Maghd grinned to herself when thinking of him. She stood up from her metallic throne, a throaty moan escaping her lips at the thought of taking her prize to her quarters, binding him to her bed with chains then having her way with him for all of eternity. It was unbecoming of a Khornate follower to indulge in such things due to the aspect of pleasure being something which empowered Khorne's rival Slaanesh, however since she had been a Necromancer in her prior life, a Necromancer whom had sworn loyalty to the Blood God, she had been allowed to make an exception by said God. After all, it had taken over several mountains worth of killings in the Lord of Skulls name to earn this boon, so she would NOT waste it on an average mortal.

Luckily for her, Nico was no mere mortal, but a DPU.

It was something she had been granted knowledge about by Khorne after she had lost to him, a disgrace to the warrior ways of Khorne to be sure, however the moment the Blood God had heard Nico's name, its otherworldly levels of primal fury and wrath seemed to quell themselves greatly, as intrigue had found its way into the mighty deity's soul. Something about Nico being a Demon God, something which Maghda had been stunned about when he first told her, made Khorne want to fight him all the more. More than many beings existed throughout this Galaxy, and even more so in the entire Devildimension, all of them in some form of conflict, which Khorne thrived off of. Thus, if it were connected to him… then Khorne would make a few exceptions to his everlasting hunger for bloodshed and warfare.

Still, now that most of Leanbox has been taken by her forces, with the civilians there being either enslaved or offered to the Blood God's throne of Skulls, Maghda had to wonder how better to test these mortals. Through observing them with some relics of her past as a Necromancer, Maghda had noticed a fair few Leanbox Mortals with great 'potential'. Especially those of the Spec Ops program there, the upper echelons that is. These people had taken a fair amount of territories back, granting the Lord of Skulls his desire by taking down his various followers and Demons. If it were them, then whole armies of ravenous Lesser and Greater Demons would flock to their location with their Hellblades drawn and their fangs bared. It would be wise to 'sweeten' the Nation up for her god, and finally be rid of the damn place since it now served as a reminder of what she had once been. Her last connection to her mortal life.

Then, just as she began thinking about it, an idea hit her which stemmed from looking over some of the books she had 'appropriated' from some of the libraries owned by some of the now deceased Noblemen. An idea revolving around one specific Demon, one whom would give even the Undead King Leoric himself a run for his money in terms of wicked deeds. The more she thought about it, the eviler her smirk became as her eyes danced like the fires that burned throughout Khorne's realm. The entire Fortress trembled, as if it were laughing alongside her whilst Maghda strode out of the Throne Room, eager to make some well-maintained preparations for the following act. 'Ufufufufufu… oh, this will be delicious… and if I loan out a few of my followers to this creature, along with fighting the others myself, then my lord will be most pleased with my offering. Ufufufufufufu…'

* * *

Meanwhile…

In the same forest in which Nico had vanished from, the forest in which there was no longer any Mad Magician in sight, a portal appeared. The portal itself looked to be one of those unstable, violent-looking types with crimson electricity arcing around its edges. The sudden appearance of the portal, as it had appeared like a thunderclap during a raging storm, sent dozens of animals into hiding, many terrified sounds escaping the wildlife. Just the 'sound' of the Portal opening had scared them witless, plus the sheer 'DANGER' which sparked through their senses when they sensed what had been about to emerge from it made any attempts to resist their natural instincts moot.

From within the human-sized portal, a familiar red haired Spec Ops Agent flew out of, twisting and spinning in the air and ending up with his head about 15 metres above the ground. The male didn't note this, or rather he did but he didn't focus on it too much, as he flipped forwards several times before landing on the ground with a loud 'THUD!', landing knightly while a shockwave rippled through the air at his landing. Behind him, the portal looked like it had just lost its power source, before it acted like a blinking eye and vanished from the scene, leaving no trace besides remnants of ancient power where it had once been to show any sign that it had even existed.

Though, that didn't really bother him all that much, not when he had other things to think about…

Like how freaking GOOD it felt to be back home, back in his home dimension even with all the bullshit that went on in it. The teen couldn't resist the urge to breathe in a huge sigh of relief the moment he got the chance, a wave of tension being released from his shoulders. It felt WAY better than what he had to go through in that mad bastard Zelretch's little pocket dimension. He could surely understand at this point why MAGES. had been so reluctant to take him to that guy, he got the feeling that Zelretch was the kind of guy whom only a certain type of person could handle… without losing their sanity that is. Seriously, if he had any less pride in his own skills, then Nico would have kissed the very earth that he now found himself on, the familiar sensations travelling up his legs and arm making him feel all giddy inside.

Returning from... wherever the hell that dimension had been in via a Portal had been one experience which Nico had been incredibly grateful for, especially with everything that had happened there. First off, meeting that blonde haired guy Castiel had been… a rather-eye-opening experience, especially with what he had learned from the dude. Nico and him may not have been very friendly with each other, though he could attribute that t them being the way they were. Not to mention that they naturally wanted to be the better fighter in the camaraderie they were forced into by Castiel's godfather… Zelretch. Yeah, honestly Nico could understand how he had developed that 'meh, i'll roll with it' outlook. The Heir had opened his mind to numerous possibilities, possibilities which could be considered both very good… and very bad. What'll happen because of this however, now THAT would have to be within what Nico planned to do with this knowledge. It would be all up to him at this point onwards… if Zelretch doesn't feel the need to make a return trip to this Devildimension, that is.

One can only imagine how things would turn out if that had happened. The second thing from that Dimension that was noteworthy for him, was the new set of powers which he had gained, powers and items by the way. He had to record them down due to having gained so many things, so he raised his right arm, activated its bracer and began jotting down a list of all the items he had gained from the place. Just so he could remember them all (and partially so the readers of this fanfic had a summary of the rewards he had in his possession). The list would be as follows:

* * *

 **Shingan** \- a special demonic-looking ring, consisting of a metallic band with sharp spike-like edges, with the top containing a jewel shaped like a crimson, slitted eye. A ring which allowed him to telepathically communicate with others and read their minds, though he can't control what thoughts he would read from them. Originally, this ring would have had a... rather limited range of 5 meters, just enough for one to hear their opponents thoughts if they were close enough. Thus, it wasn't a broken tool like a lot of his weapons, even if it still had its uses. However, Nico had managed to figure out that, upon infusing it with his Demonic Power AKA using Desecration like he did on his Skimmer, Ember and his Armour, then the thing's range increased by a wide margin. More than enough to cover an entire city's worth of land. Within that land, he could hear the thoughts of anyone he could sense, as well as relay his thoughts to them. One could not even BEGIN to imagine how useful this freaking thing would be.

 **Osiris (Scythe)** \- A white Scythe which had installed within his brain various Techniques upon him grasping it for the first time, although it took a while for him to utilize one of them accidentally. Those techniques, he hadn't had much of a chance to master them as he would have liked, since he got so much stuff back there, but he still wanted to test them out. Those techniques consisted of the **Hierro** , **Pesquisa** , **Sonido** , **Resurrección**. Sadly, he can't use the weapon no more since it fused with Erebus permanently in the Third Trial.

 **Erebus** \- An Archdevil Arm he gained out of nowhere, but one which took the form of a Scythe after being born from Harvester, an evolution basically. The Scythe itself had a slightly bent Shaft made from this dark organic chitin, two grips shaped like human spines indicating where it should be grabbed. Out the bottom of the Shaft, there was a long Tendril-like extension which ended in an eel-like head with dark purple slitted eyes. As for the top of the Scythe, the weapon now sported a curved blade which looked quite jagged at the base, with small curved spikes coming out the back edge that went backwards. The rest of the blade reached to about 2 forearms worth of length, looking like it could cut even if someone was looking at it. From the back of the Shaft's top end, 3 long extensions protruded, being the length of a butcher's knife. Beneath them, was a single, large purple eye that almost lit up in matching flames. Its powers lay in darkness, creation and devouring, which more than qualified it as a worthwhile member of his destructive arsenal.

 **Star God's Broken Shadow** \- When utilized, the practitioner's speed will instantaneously explode and become so quick that even the afterimages created by the movement will not have enough time to fade away. In fact, the 'afterimages' are just about indistinguishable from the original body, making it seem as if the user has been cloned while moving at breathtaking speeds. If the practitioner can achieve peak mastery of this skill, even if the opponents are over three to five levels higher than the user, they still wouldn't be able to easily defeat the wielder of the technique. Nico had developed this to the fifth stage, so he could make up to 5 afterimages which are nigh indistinguishable from the real him.

 **Great Way of the Buddha** \- A Sentient Skill which, when learned, sets the user up on a series of stages, there being 12 in total with their own conditions. Once those conditions are met, then the Skill remakes the user's entire body, amplifying their strengths and boosting their vitality. He was currently on the fourth Stage, which meant her had a striking force of over 50,000 kilos added onto him by the Skill. The restoration power that Great Way of the Buddha enables is a powerful concentration of the power of Heaven and Earth. Upon entering the Intermediate stage of The Great Way of the Buddha, not only is it capable of healing the cultivator, but it also allows one to heal others absurdly fast, albeit much more slowly than healing one's self. However, one must be incredibly familiar with the human body, as otherwise would cause the subject to be destroyed by the energy surge.

 **Gene Seed Implants** \- A series of Genetic Modifications which apply different effects on his body, for example he now had a second heart which basically functioned like a life support system, a skeleton which can endure even greater hits than it normally could have, become nearly 7 foot tall, improved his regen prowess by increasing the effectiveness of his clotting in addition to being able to heal even if he was reduced to mush and making lesser injuries be healed instantaneously, stay awake for days on end (though risks are involved), practical poison immunity (though he would either vomit those substances out or store them for later use), gain memories by eating brains like a zombie (Nico was half Ghoul, so he didn't feel too bothered by this), insane visual acuity as in being able to see in the dark and with just as much effectiveness in daylight, greater hearing which came with the added bonus of immunity to dizziness and motion sickness, an emergency hibernation ability if trauma is too great for his body to handle, radiation resistance, the ability to spit sure-killing acid, better connection to his Demonic Armour, and the best part of all being that he could make more 'seeds' to implant into those he sees as worthy so they can get these implants grown in them too.

 **Solitary World God training manual** \- A training manual which was focused more on developing the physical body, tempering it and, after passing through the stages, results in the user developing a tremendously powerful physique, one which is nigh immortal in terms of vitality and longevity. Healing, strength, speed, endurance, all physical traits are consolidated in this Manual, so anyone who follows it would gain great benefits to their combat ability. Something Nico felt would be EXCELLENT in adding to his arsenal.

 **Avenger Package** \- A series of activatable perks which focus on channelling anger from memories and experiences, to convert it into power for himself. Since he already had negative emotion sensing before, this would allow him to convert anger into power for his attacks, intensifying them.

 **Berserker Package** \- A series of activatable perks which focus on improving his combat ability at a moment's notice, similar to a his DEMONIC OVERDRIVE Skill.

 **Golden Crow flames (Bloodline and Record of the Burning World included)** \- An incomplete Bloodline of the Golden Crow which he had obtained during the third trial. This flame was considered one of the hottest flames ever made, as its strength allowed its original user the golden crow, to generate 9 suns to attack and destroy its enemies. Easily the most destructive flame out there, surpassing his Hellfire by a wide margin. He even managed to obtain a tome listing all the techniques he can learn to use these flames for, making this reward even better for him. Unfortunately, due to the infusion process he used, Nico couldn't completely merge with it, and thus he would have to spend time and effort in extremely hot situations in order to correct this mistake.

 **Fusion with Heroic Spirit Okada Izou** \- During the fourth trial, the water trial, Nico had unknowingly caught the attention of the Heroic Spirit whom he had once defeated, Okada Izou. He'd performed a fusion between the two of them, turning them into two inter-connected entities upon seeing how bad of a swordsman he was, something Okada refused to allow one of his descendants (yeah, Nico apparently was descended from that guy, not really that surprising considering his nature as a killer) to suck with a sword so bad. Got retrained from the ground up by the guy, and whilst it hurt like a bitch, Nico could definitely admit that, thanks to it he managed to develop better swordsmanship, even adopted a few stances of the Manslayer Style Okada used.

 **Evil Crimson Fatalis Spirt Bone** \- A 100,00+ Year Old Spirit Bone from an evil Crimson Fatalis encountered during the fourth trial. A Spirit Bone which forms over his left leg (right one being the Boar Specter one), that has two abilities: Meteor shower, basically to summon meteors either over a space or all around them, their size depending on the spent energy, or gas eruption, the power to release and detonate a flammable gas which can be manipulated freely.

 **Evil Orca King Spirit Bone** \- A 100,000+ year old Spirit Bone which formed as a fin over his right arm, during the water trial after he defeated an Evil Orca King Spirit Beast. This offensive type not only possesses spatial manipulation, but it could also launch high speed energy waves which, combined with its spatial manipulation trick, could prove downright LETHAL. That made this one his THIRD Spirit Bone so far, two leg ones and an arm one.

 **Essence Flame (Blue Lotus Geocentric flame)** \- An essence Flame which was formed from natural energies, one which Nico had found in the last trial. The Essence Flame he found being shaped like a Lotus, hence its name, but its power would not be losing out against something like his own chaotic Hellfire.

 **Demon King Seed** \- The Demon King Seed, was a Seed which imbeds itself within a non-human body only, and has to have 2 conditions met before it can activate. One, to be a leader in the eyes of a large amount of non-human beings (something Nico would find the hardest to do), and to feed it over 10,000 Souls that Nico HIMSELF has to have slain. Once those were met, then it would hatch and make him into a being known as a 'Demon Lord', giving him a powerful Skill the likes of which would easily decimate the enemy on the battlefield depending on how well he used it. So far though, Nico had only absorbed it into himself for now, with no progress made in hatching it just yet. Fortunately its been sustained by his Demonic Power for the meantime though, so it wouldn't die on him.

 **All kinds of Books herbs, natural ingredients from different sources** \- Aside from the last trial where he used Erebus to gather all kinds of Herbs and other valuable items to store them in his Void Storage, Nico had also gained all kinds of books from Castiel as a reward for helping him out, books on so many topics that, for a warlike world such as his, would be a massive boon to them. Not to mention the metals which Nico had indeed bought on the guy's recommendation, in addition to what food he still had left from the first trial's monsters that he had hunted successfully with the Heir's help. In the end, he had a large reservoir of supplies in his Void Storage, it would be classed as LITERALLY insane.

 **Various physical improvements** \- Throughout the various Trials, Nico's body had gained all sorts of improvements to it, like absolute fire immunity from the Crimson Fatalis, the transformations from other items, and each of them had their own benefits to his body. It happened so much now, that Nico doubted his human form could ever have been compared to the time before it got sent here, its almost LAUGHABLE in comparison.

 **DDD Change** \- Now THIS one Nico had the MOST fun with, for this one should have come as soon as he had ascended to Multi-Continent Class in terms of power, but it had been delayed due to special circumstances. Now, though, his DPU Form had evolved, gaining a much darker, deadlier looking appearance similar to the really edgy demonic armour that makers of that one game about dragons returning made, Da#'d#ic Armour he thought it was. Not to mention he now had four wings, FOUR shapeshifting wings to play with as he willed...

* * *

… Yeah, Nico DEFINITELY felt like he had achieved some major stuff back there, thanks to that mad bastard Zelretch.

He'd have to remember this for if he ever met that crazy guy again, the redhead teen mused as he started making his way out the forest once he stood up from his kneeling position. He felt like stopping by the Leanbox Capital, MICROSOFT, for a bit before continuing on his way.

Aside from that, he had his Armour fuse with this other suit, absorbing it and gaining upgrades down to the fundamentals. Now, aside from just Desecrated Silver Steel which was abundant in his universe, Nico's Armour now had been made from Desecrated Ceramite, a metal which excelled in both defence, and resistance against energy and particle-based attacks. As a bonus, defence against physical attacks was increased too, along with the ability to walk on pretty much any terrain including zero-gravity zones. It retained its appearance mostly, though.

But for now, Nico decided to cut his musings short when he stopped in his tracks. His hands had unpocketed themselves from his Trench Coat, his muscles tensed and his individual cells promptly went onto high alert. His ears repeatedly twitched from the wind while the redhead's eyes jerked from side to side. Nico found himself at the edge of the forest, along a dirt-covered path which would lead him straight towards MICROSOFT. Though, if he were to guess, Nico figured it would take him a few hours to get there by walking. If he were to summon Ember or Urthemiel, perhaps it would be like an hour and 50 minutes, although right now this wasn't what caused him to break his stride.

What was though?

Well… how about the fact that he had picked up the traces of demonic presences heading his way?

Almost as SOON as he had thought that, Nico narrowed his eyes when he noticed how, from all around him, dozens of shadowy figures leapt from the wilderness with weapons brandished in the open. Their forms gleamed menacingly thanks to the light of the sun above them, Nico noted, before he reflexively Warped out of the way to avoid their attacks. The male soon appeared about 40 meters to the left, humming thoughtfully to himself alongside brushing the imaginary dust off his cloak. All whilst his newest 'attackers' stabbed into the spot where he had once been, and if he could see their faces then Nico would have figured that they had become confused about their failed ambush.

'Now… this is a surprise… an ambush this early on in the game? Man, I have to be breaking a record here…' The male thought as he held a hand out, readying himself for a quick summoning of one of his weapons. Judging from their brown, hooded cloaks that looked to have been victimised by all sorts of elements, plus the crusty-looking weapons they had, Nico assumed they had been assassins sent to kill him. By whom, Nico didn't know but he could ask them… or read their minds with the Shingan. However, that had a chance of backfiring since he didn't have control over which thoughts he read. Even so, however, there had been this one silver lining in this situation.'Though… I have to admit… this feeling of being ambushed at any time, it feels… honestly quite refreshing.' The male thought, feeling an excited smirk forming over his lips.

To him, the sight of assassins coming to kill him should have been a major annoyance, since he had been the victim of such attacks more times than he could count. However, with the things that he had gone through recently, Nico honestly found this familiar sight to be more than a little comforting. The sense of normalcy that this came from this, it felt QUITE appreciated to him, and he felt like 'rewarding' them for their unintentional assistance for relieving him of some accumulated stress. .

"Well, then… after the weeks I've had, all I'll say is this: Hello, misplaced aggression!"

* * *

After some… venting, a rather satisfied Nico turned tail and left the forest, dismissing Rebellion with a full belly, RC Cells replenished and a whole lot more relaxed. Like he had mentioned previously, Nico could have rode back on Urthemiel or his Skimmer Ember, but to be frank the male felt like taking a stroll today. That, and there wasn't much else to it there, aside from how this would give him some time to think on what he should do next. First off however, he wanted to return to the city and locate his mom.

This wouldn't be a social visit though, there were motives behind this trip. The redhead intended on passing to her some of the things he'd gotten from the Zelretch Trials, like the blueprints on how to create those light weapons along with the metals which used them. Perhaps some alternatives could be found in Gamindustri once they ran out, but it should be quite a helpful addition to their assault against the enemy forces. Not only that, but he had a BUNCH of stuff to give to her outside of all that, stuff which could be used for all kinds of purposes like advancing medical research, decreasing their casualty rates against the forces of Chaos etc. Part of him WAS concerned for the higher ups of the Guild potentially interfering with his life by inquiring where he got these items, but considering the situation Nico didn't think they would bother with him for now. Especially with the emergencies which would have piled up back at their office.

Furthermore, they had... that, to solve. Before the Gala, Nico had passed on a Chip to his mother. A chip which had contained a recording of him explaining the fundamentals of what he had learned up until that point. As in, what he had learned about the Demons, Maghda, the various forces, etc. About Devil Arms, the Demonic Ascension Ceremony pretty much everything he had kept inside… though he had simply generalized it, he would rather explain the full details himself. 'Say Biko, have you been researching that materialization thing you did when I was in that Coma? I mean, if mom asks me more about you, it would be best if you explain it to her.'

' **Unfortunately, I have not made as much progress on that technique as of yet, Nico. This is mostly due to not having much time on my end due to having my time divided between different tasks. Your Ghoul Persona no longer being restrained however, makes it much easier on me so I can focus on such a task. Although, I have begun seeing this as fairly odd…'**

The way Biko trailed off at the end, with his uncertainty barely slipping into his words at the end there, got Nico concerned. It was never a good sign whenever Biko was concerned about something, and this time would likely be no different. He didn't like the tone, so he decided to inquire about it. After all, they had some time on their hands until they were to reach MICROSOFT, so why not? 'What do you mean? Is it anything dangerous?' he questioned cautiously.

' **Not dangerous per say, more on the lines of very odd. Remember, I told you that I was spawned from your Demonic Power, as a means of helping you learn how to control it better so it can get more chances to be used, correct? However, something has been bugging me ever since I discovered this technique of mine, this technique of directly manifesting outside your body and into the physical world. This technique, despite the risks involved, shouldn't even be possible for a being like myself, Since I came from that energy, I should be tied to it intricately, thus preventing me from going anywhere away from your soul. If I were to leave it, I should have just been forcibly returned the very second that I touched the physical world. However, as you have no doubt summarized already, that is not the case. It is odd… but very curious. It makes me question things that previously I had thought for fact.'**

'Well, now you know how I feel right now, Biko. Learning all that information, learning just how large the universe really is, it makes me wonder as well. Still, now that you mention it, thinking back to our many interactions, part of me also feels like this is weird… Hmm, this could be something that we could investigate… just one more thing to add to the pile, sadly.' Nico mentally replied, his lips set in a firm line until the end where he released a deep sigh. Though, now that Biko had mentioned it, the redhead male began to think back to when they first met, a reminiscent look on his face as memories he had not recalled for a while (not as long as the ones he'd somehow repressed, but still) returned to him. He remembered their first meeting, their first few training sessions and then everything that followed. Honestly, it felt more like a wild ride that Nico had went on with his Demon Persona.

Still though, the fact that Biko had noticed these oddities implied a few things. One of them, was the fact that his mind had been altered somehow, not exactly amnesia per say since amnesia was more geared towards forgotten memories. Still, the thought that Biko may be like him felt oddly… relieving yet also annoying at the same time. Relieving in that he had a fellow amnesiac, but annoying in that this had only been discovered now and not before. 'Still then, do you think you'll be able to use it to speak to my mom if she asks for you?'

' **It should not be an issue. However, you must make sure to warn her that I cannot remain outside of you for long, otherwise a lot of people may die in horrific ways from the implosion. You and I wouldn't, but everyone else is a different story.'**

Nico nodded his head in response to his words, and with those mentioned words flowing through his mind, Nico began to converse with his Demon Persona while outside, his body casually trekked along the pathway back to MICROSOFT. It would likely be a while, so he would talk to the ones that he could talk to right now… right after sending his mom a message letting her know he was coming of course.

Yeah, if anyone (correctly) called him a momma's boy… well, nobody would ever find their bodies.

* * *

"And WHERE have you been young man?"

The sound of sternness and controlled anger reverberated through the hotel room belonging to one Helena Dawson, head of the Guild's WDD as she sat on her seat, looking crossly over at her adoptive son who sat on the ground in a seiza position. Her legs were crossed whilst her arms were crossed under her chest, an aura of unbridled anger radiating from her shapely frame. Clearly, if one were to enter the room right now, they would likely be blown straight out just from the oppressive nature of her aura alone.

An aura which only a worried mother could have had.

Meanwhile, a certain Spec Ops Agent couldn't help but mentally scowl in guilt and bitterness. Even though it hadn't been in his hands much, he had still worried the life out of his mother. After all, there was a reason why those Assassins were targeting him, and it was to do with how she had lost track of him for a time frame that hadn't been allowed when she saved him from his torment. The strict limitations placed between them made it so that there was little to no way that either of them could 'get any funny ideas' without a blade being put to their throats.

After Nico had returned to MICROSOFT, talking with Biko about possible training tactics as well as other things, like the state of their powers or his Ghoul Persona's trauma (Nico had half expected it to come out at that time, but nope no dice), the first thing he did was head to his Mother's hotel. He had received her message not long after he had sent his (as in near-microsecond afterwards with more profanity telling him to get his scrawny ass back to the City), something which had sent no small amount of chills down his spine. Thus, it had prompted him to seek her out as soon as he took his first step back into MICROSOFT in a goddamn long time… at least, for him. Whilst he wanted to see his Comrades as well, possibly hug the life out of them to feel the relief and comfort they usually brought him, Nico wanted to get this stuff with his mother done with as soon as he could.

If he didn't then Nico didn't know if he would ever get another chance. He already felt guilty enough keeping this stuff from her, and that wasn't even taking into account her situation with the higher ups in the Basilicoms and the Guild. "I…. I went to train…" Nico tried to say, although he soon found how his words refused to form within the confines of his throat. No matter how hard he tried, his ability to speak almost seemed like it had been robbed from him by the oppressive nature of his worried mother's aura.

Just… Just how the hell could he tell her what he went through the past few weeks? It would be foolish to assume she would just believe that a dimension hopping, undead Mage dragged his ass out of his dimension into his own little pocket one, to take part in some tests with the Mage's Godson. Who the hell would believe something so outlandish? Not to mention the changes that had been made to his own power set because of those trials, nevermind her believing him Nico felt like if word got out to the higher ups about his new powers then they would probably start trying to target him more to keep him in line. The Assassins back there had likely been a searching group to try and track him down, thinking that he had gone 'rogue' and were sent to take him out before he became a threat.

Maybe it would have been easier if she had learned everything he had learned beforehand, but that was a BIG maybe.

'HAHAHAHAHAHA, SHE'S GOT YA WHIPPED, KING! YA BETTER SHOW HER WHO'S BOSS, OTHERWISE YOUR KINGSHIP WILL BE THREATENED BY YOUR BITCHINESS!'

'Shut it, you!'

After he mentally scolded his inner Ghoul when it made those comments about his mother (something which only made it laugh all the more maniacally), Nico tried once again to explain what had happened to him. It was the best he could do for now, since he had so little time to prepare a believable argument beforehand. Thus, one could say that he had been caught with his pants down, metaphorically of course. Any who tried that physically… well, it would NOT end well for them, not. One. Bit. Just as he made to open his mouth to explain however…

"SIGH…"

…?

Much to his confusion, a sigh escaped Helen's lips as she leaned forwards a little, her aura all but vanishing out of existence. The male felt it as clear as day, the feeling of oppression leaving him quicker than a cheetah. It nearly made him exhale in relief as deeply as he had when he finally returned to the Devil dimension, though his sheer willpower prevented it. "Apologies, my son… I just had to vent my worries there. A mother's worries cannot fade so easily you know…" she told him, and just by looking into his eyes, Helen saw how he understood her feelings. "Your friend MAGES., she came along to me not long after you vanished. She told me that her 'master' came along for a visit and, when she told him about you, he decided to take you away from here so he could teach you a few things." she told him, frowning in worry. "You know just how complex that makes our situation, right?"

Nico nodded in response his eyes just as firm as her own. "Yeah..." he muttered under his breath, uncertainty and concern ripe from his words like fruit having grown to their peak from a tree. How could he not? His mother was supposed to 'keep watch' over him in case he were to go out of control. If there was no way they could rein Nico in whenever he went berserk, typically if he were to lose control over his Kakuja, then he would have to be treated as an Abnormal and killed by the nearest Spec Ops Agents. The restraints around his life, well… one could say they were abnormally tight (mind the pun there), with little to no room for any leeway. Honestly, Nico wondered what his mother had done in order to make it so only those assassins came, and not some of the tougher Spec Ops Agents. However, with the prospect of his powers having grown to an unknown level, then if it got out and he was proven to be too powerful, then the higher ups at the Guild and Basilicoms would likely try to take him out regardless of him being in control or not.

If not him, then maybe his comrades as well...

That couldn't be allowed to happen... at any cost.

Still, there was one piece of silver lining that could be taken from this, and that was the fact that MAGES. had seen fit to talk to his mother about what had happened to him. From what he had heard, it seemed like she had explained his meeting with Zelretch, but twisted the truth a bit into him taking Nico on a training trip instead of... what had actually happened. He didn't think MAGES. would try anything else like, since the information about Zelretch likely wouldn't be that well received by his mother from a Spec Ops Agent's standpoint. A world like this, where monsters of an unknown quantity, each with their own abilities, intelligence and powers would constantly tear away at humanity's defenses, wouldn't welcome someone like Zelretch with open arms after all. Even if he was a bit of a loony, Nico doubted that guy would want to be the cause of innocent lives lost.

Looking into her godson's eyes, Helen saw that there were a range of emotions roiling inside of him right now. Emotions which wouldn't settle down in a day. not to mention that he looked like someone who had a lot on his mind. Something like that, must have meant something had happened during that training trip, and whatever that was, had affected him in more ways than one. Thus, it wouldn't do to probe him for more information on that trip like she should have, so for now she would recall that conversation for a later date. Instead, she decided to bring something else up that likely had been part of Nico's worries this whole time. "I took a look at what you gave me, Nicky-Nick. It seems that a lot of things have been happening to you since we saw each other..." she told him, attempting to push the conversation forwards.

When he looked up again from his slightly downcast expression, Helen noticed the look of relief that formed behind his gaze, making her mentally smile in relief. Whatever had changed with her son, she at least knew that he was still the same deep down, the same sweet, childish little boy whom she loved like her own. The relief also came from the fact that it was still true that Nico wasn't able to hide how he really felt from her, her path through his 'Mask' was intact still. "Y-Yeah! That's largely why I came here, aside from you beckoning me over, that is..." he replied, looking more than a little sheepish whilst chuckling in a similar manner. Afterwards, the male pretty much explained everything he could to her.

He explained about the Demons, the DPU Era, the Devil Arms along with the ones which had evolved into Archdevil Arms. He explained all of what he had known about the four original DPUs, and how one of them had been the enemy him and the girls had fought back at Halo Mountain. Nico also talked about the Seal made by the original Goddess and Sparda, the supposed '8 Beast Kings' which he had yet to look into. He explained pretty much everything to her in as much detail as Nico could provide, not leaving the slightest knowledge out, as well as providing evidence to support his claims either from reciting passages in the Tomes he read, showcasing his Demonic Powers, etc. It was what his mother deserved after all, since she had always been by his side, ever since the beginning, more than proving herself trustworthy to him when she had given up so much for him. He had no right to do anything less, and by the Goddess Nico felt majorly grateful how she hadn;t asked him to verify Biko's existence by summoning him, probably because she had been around when Biko had manifested himself for the first time, now that he thought about it.

By the time that Nico had finished his explanation, Helen hummed to herself, having remained silent during his talk in order to absorb all the information into her brain, process it, and formulate a response. This silence continued for what felt like a measly five minutes, but to them it seemed to go on for much, MUCH longer. Finally, the older woman spoke, her one carrying no small amount of exasperation. "This is... a lot to take in, Nico. How have you kept so much a secret all this time?" she questioned him. She didn't bother feeling any hurt for him keeping all this from her, since she knew that in his Nature, Nico kept secrets. Largely due to self-preservation and because he was smart. He knew how dangerous this information could be if the 'wrong' people got a hold of it, somethings he respected about him. She then shook her head whilst putting an index finger and thumb on her temples, a sound escaping between her teeth. "In any case, what you've told me actually coincides with our own investigation." she told him, much to Nico's surprise, and that of his other Aspects.

"Huh?"

 **'Come again?'**

'WHAT THE DUCE!?'

"What, did you think I wouldn't do some digging of my own?" Helen retorted, a rather rebellious smirk finding its way across her lips that sort of made Nico chuckle in amusement. "Of course, its nothing compared to what you have, but throughout these last few months, I've been conducting investigations into destroyed Demonic encampments which were liberated from their... former residents." she told him, and Nico had no doubt on what she meant by that. "That, and I got some help from Rinjiin who explained that some of the books we found were only readable by beings with Demonic Power in them. Odds are, you'd be able to, while we on the other hand, can't since we don't 'qualify'. Despite this however, we've stored all sorts of artifacts and books in vaults across the four Guild Buildings, some being transferred to different Vaults across the Four Nations. These 'Satanic Treasures' seem to be in abundance at this point thanks to this, thus if what you say is true then we may be able to use some of these artifacts against the enemy Demons and their cult followers."

'... Why the hell did I not see that coming?' Nico mused to himself mentally, just barely suppressing the urge to hang his head. Instead, he just palmed his forehead, earning an amused giggle from his mother. Really, just who was he trying to fool, for thinking that his mother, whom had much more access to resources than what Nico did, not to mention a much greater aggression in regards to her approach wouldn't try to look into these matters on her lonesome? It was like he had assumed she wouldn't be competent at her job, or she would just lounge about like a lot of pen pushers he knew about. Nico couldn't help it at this point, he freaking like a total idiot, and not the first time in these last couple weeks. At least, it was things like this which reminded him that, whilst his mother may be unwillingly retired, she was STILL a veteran Spec Ops Agent at her core, and one of the stronger ones too.

Even so however, the fact remained that a major load had been raised off his chest with this talk, the teen felt like he could breathe and think much easier now. Something he DEEPLY appreciated since he had a LOT to think about. "Well, i'm glad I was able to let you in on all this right now." Nico remarked, heaving a heavy sigh of relief. Then, looking back up at his mom, Nico had a thought, one which could end up making things go pretty good or pretty bad. Even so, he still wanted to try. "Hey, um... mom?"

"Hm? Yes, my boy?"

"Do you know... um... well... Its about the girls, and..."

One would NEVER comprehend how much guts this was going to take for Nico right now. The thought process for him was this: now that he was back in Gamindustri, the problems that he had left behind here would return in full force by the time tomorrow arrived. Ever since the girls reacted to his condition, Nico had tried to avoid them as much as he could, with the reason that he had to train and get stronger. Well, he didn't have to worry since the girls were pretty much on the same wavelength. All of them felt like they had to get stronger, so each of them had went on their own training routines. The only time they were together, was during the night time when they would sleep, and even then it would be brief. Heck, they'd be too tired to even try to sneak into Nico's room to crawl under his bed for the night.

Nevertheless, the biggest problem he felt he was facing, would be their reactions to his Ghoul side. Of their lack of... negativity around it. He could sort of understand how IF reacted to it since she likely had her own suspicions, but even she reacted in a way that befuddled the life out of him. Therefore, in his eyes ALL of them were just one big box of worms which Nico had ZERO idea how to sort out. It was incomprehensible for him, how they responded... but... maybe, just maybe... maybe his mother would be able to shed some light on the subject? She definitely felt like the more experienced one in the subject, not to mention how she had repeatedly tried to tell him something similar to this. With the apparent 'success' this talk had been so far, this thought process inevitably surfaced within his mind, and then escaped before his mind even knew what it was doing.

True Castiel had shed his views on this, but... he was him, and Nico was Nico. He still wanted some more advice before tackling this problem.

Pretty soon after he spoke those words, Helen's eyes widened with realization. She quickly figured out what he had been trying to say with little difficulty. Especially with the way Nico shifted uncomfortably on the spot, how his eyes shifted from left to right and vice versa in addition to the twiddling of his thumbs. His thoughts were practically n open book for her to read, though Helen knew from past experiences that he only showed this side of him, his weak and vulnerable side, to her specifically. Shows just how much he valued her trust in him, huh? Pushing past the surge of joy at him trusting her, Helen spoke with a knowing look on her face which matched the tone of voice she had. "You're wondering why the girls reacted to your secret the way they did?"

In a sense, Helen could understand what Nico's mind was thinking right now. He had seen so much of the bad in people, and so little good. She could count the number of good people Nico had seen on her own two hands, whist most of the entire human population showed Nico only their darker sides. It didn't help that the higher ups didn't even LET him see the goodness in humanity, instead they just kept him shrouded in their 'darkness' in order to turn him into the monster that they wanted him to be. The dog which would howl in response to their call. No matter how much it infuriated her, no matter how hard she had tried to get him some form of happiness, those freaking ASSHOLES up top just didn't let it happen, which resulted in Nico not having... well, pretty much any experience aside from Team RAIL of the positive kind. Therefore, for him, the thought and memory of a GROUP of people, not just one, whom showed him the exact opposite of what he was used to, completely threw him for a loop.

When she saw him hesitantly nod, Helen gave a sad, depressed sigh. "Nicky-Nick... this is what I've been trying to tell you since the moment you first met those girls. They aren't the same as those whom have hurt you in the past, I could tell from them the moment I first met them, that they were different. Granted, I did worry about Raven and Lucy at first, but from the looks of things my worries were unfounded." She told him, softly, standing up from her chair and walking up to him. Because of her sudden movement, and the way his mind pretty much got compromised by opening up to her, Nico looked up sharply with a fierce gaze of surprise on his face. Helen heard the faintest crackles of his Kagune beginning to emerge, but before it could she was before him and pulling him into a warm embrace.

That stopped the crackling and settled the beast inside.

"Huh...? Wha...?"

"My dear boy... you have to learn that there are people out there who WILL accept you." Helen whispered soothingly, rubbing the back of his head softly with her hand. Her other hand rested on his shoulder whilst her arm wrapped around his back, the soothing aura of a mother radiating from her being. Any and all forms of chaos running through her boy's mind became silent when she did this, allowing her to continue with her words. "Those bastards up top may have told you otherwise, the world may have unintentionally embedded their words into you, but right now, you have a chance. A chance that has been denied you for a goddess damned long time. The chance to finally have people who accept you for what you are, not just the human in you. The human, the Ghoul, the Demon, those girls have accepted every part of you, because they are ALL you. They aren't anything like different aspects of your mind, they aren't separate beings, they are a part of YOU, my dearest son."

Within her embrace, if it were possible, then Nico's jaw would have dropped open whilst his eyes would have bulged to the limits of their sockets. Those words that his mother had said to him, reverberated through his mind and left a colossal impact each time. So many in fact, that for a moment his mind became a complete blank, making him become unable to decide how to react. It was like his brain couldn't even properly process what he had just heard, almost like it was said in a foreign language. Word for word. Silence, Nico stayed in a bout of silence, all the while Helen waited for the inevitable, the inevitable event that would soon follow. This state lasted for a few moments, moments which seemed to last much longer in the male's point of view in comparison to Helen's, but when they passed his brain finally rebooted once again.

The moment it did though...

"w...wha...?"

Nico tried to open his mouth, he tried to speak, to refute those words which he had heard time and time again from his mother, to freaking say SOMETHING. However, none came out his mouth, instead all he got were strangled-sounding letters. His voice regularly cracked, and his vocal chords felt like they were getting uncomfortably tight. His eyes began to sting after they gradually shrunk down to normal size again, a stinging which got accompanied by a feeling of wetness. His stomach began to feel like knots were forming between every part of it, resulting in this uncomfortable sensation down there. His heart sped to supersonic speeds with how fast it pounded within his torso, all in all things were quickly destabilizing within the male's usually calm demeanor. Pretty soon that wetness became too much for the male to bear, and as a result trails of it went down his cheeks whilst his eyelids shut tightly, his shoulders trembling violently whilst sounds of choked sobs filled the room.

Was he... crying? How long had it been since he had cried? Nico could hardly remember, in fact he didn't even want to think about anything right now.

All the while, Helen held nothing but a soft, tender smile on her lips. The smile she reserved solely for Nico himself as she brought him even closer to her chest, if that were even possible. Noticing the failing strength in his legs, the woman solved that problem by shifting into a kneeling position, refusing to lessen the comforting grip she had on the crying teen one bit. She could hear it in his sobs, as well as feel it from his body. She could hear the floodgates to his heart, which had been closed for such a long time, slowly beginning to open like those cranky doors to abandoned buildings. Within, so much emotion Nico had suppressed, his sadness, despair, hopes, fears, failures, everything that had been built up over the past few years which would have reached a boiling point eventually, spewed out of him like a rushing torrent. And as his mother, it was her duty to be there for him during this trying time. This... would likely be one of the FEW tings she could do for him that a parent could.

"I...I-I-If... what you're s-s-s-s-saying is true..." Nico began from within the older woman's embrace, his arms trembling as he slowly raised them towards her back. I this moment, gone was the usually composed Spec Ops Agent, gone was the beast which would kill and destroy anything in its path, gone was the demonic being which heralded from an era of nothing but pain, misery and despair for the human race. All that remained right now, was what Nico truly was inside: a sad, broken young man who just wanted to find his proper place in the world. To be acknowledged for his own existence. "Th-Then... why...? Wh-why couldn't I have m-m-m-m-met them s-s-s-s-sooner...?" The male asked her at last, now completely and utterly broken. all he could do was vent his mixed emotions, to empty the pool within which had been building up pressure for years on end.

And all Helen did... was hold him tightly, rubbing the back of his head to help him let out everything in his heart.

It was all she could do, as not even Helen had the answer to that question.

* * *

Over in his inner world...

"... This... is unexpected..."

One would not be inaccurate when they say that this would be a rare moment for Biko to clearly express his emotions.

Not just in his eyes like Nico usually figured out, but have them completely visible all over his features. As of right now, anyone would be able to tell what he was feeling with how his eyes bulged open, his jaw dropped while his form looked upwards. As if the skies itself were a pair of eye holes into the outside world. Biko's form floated just above the ground, his form completely restored since the battle with Mundus. His body returned to being wound free, whilst memories of that event would remain etched onto his being for all of eternity. Since it had been the eye-opener to the world of the DPUs that had laid before him. Him and the other aspects that made up Nico's being.

Even so, the Demonic Persona watched from within the Inner World, as Nico's mind and pretty much his essence practically broke down with a few words from his mother. No, that wasn't quite right. The damn had been degraded, filled with many cracks of varying length for a long while. A major step towards this would have been ow the girls completely threw off Nico's perceptions of the people around him by doing what they did, it had impacted his minds like a colossal thunderstorm wailing on him without mercy. At this point, it had only been a matter of time before he finally broke down, Helen's words were just the final strikes before the damn would have to burst.

"To think... that Nico would have the affinity to cry like this... even after everything..."

"BAH, GODDAMMIT KING! WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO MUSHY AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!"

Biko glanced to the side the moment he heard that distorted, hollow voice echo throughout the Inner World, unheard by Nico thanks to the ongoing rush of emotion spilling over. When he did, the Demonic Persona noticed the Ghoulish version of Nico standing there, looking up at the skies with no small amount of irritation in his eyes. Although, to Biko's trained eyes... there was much less irritation towards Nico than he initially portrayed. "Oh? You are upset, beast who resides within Nico's essence?" he questioned, getting the Ghoulish Persona to turn to glare heatedly at him.

"OF COURSE I DON'T LIKE THIS, WHY WOULD I?! THE KING IS MEANT TO BE AT THE TOP, IMMOVABLE AND UNCHANGING IN HIS CONVICTION! MUSHY SHIT LIKE THIS IS NOT MEANT FOR SOMEONE LIKE HIM! HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG, HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE BEST, HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE TOP PREDATOR AFTER FINALLY THROWING AWAY THOSE USELESS, PATHETIC FEELINGS OF HESITATION WHEN USING HIS TRUE NATURE! WHY, IF I HAD THE CHANCE I'D TAKE OVER HIS PATHETIC BODY RIGHT NOW AND GUT THAT WOMAN FOR REDUCING THE KING TO THIS!" The Ghoulish Nico responded, going well into a rant about the 'annoyance' he felt in all of this.

Now, in any other time Biko would have struck the Ghoul Persona down for saying such things to his face. He would have quickly drawn his version of the newly restored Soul Edge and used a quick Quicksword to slice him to pieces, so he would have to spend a lot of time to rebuild his body. Demonic Power has been able to suppressed the Ghoul inside for a long time now, so it would not have been any bother, and if Nico were to question him he would explain everything that happened. Nico likely would have accepted this, and things would have progressed as normal.

However, just before he could summon that infernal sword into his hand, Biko noticed something. Something that he soon realized wasn't just unique to the Ghoulish Nico but to himself, and the Inner World as a whole. While the Ghoulish Persona ranted, Biko noticed the minute changes in his voice, so minute that if he hadn't noticed by accident before then he wouldn't have noticed the rest. Now that he WAS looking though, it definitely became apparent, especially with the way his eyes minutely twitched, shaking about like they were wondering what to do. After he saw the white Nico breathing heavily, his rant finally over after more tan 10 minutes, Biko finally chose to voice this opinion, as unbelievable as it may have seemed to him. "You're lying."

"HAAAAAA?!"

"You may be just a beast in everything you do, you may be Nico's inner nature as am I, however we are still part of him. As such, we both have a portion of the feelings that he does. That includes his connections with those around him, thus when you were ranting before, I could tell you were lying about your intentions. You don't REALLY want to kill that woman, not at all. In fact, it is the exact opposite." Biko spoke, and as he did so he expected the Ghoul Persona to suddenly go on a rampage and attack him, maybe even go Kakuja and try to rip him into pieces. However, even though he looked to be twitching so madly that he looked like someone about to have a spas attack, the white Nico actually never did go all beastly on him, which proved to Biko that his words weren't just some idiots ramblings. So, he continued. "Instead, you want to keep that woman safe from harm. You claim to hate her and those women, you claim to want to kill them in the goriest ways possible. Perhaps your claims were true at one point, but recently, I believe that is beginning to change. Change into what, only time will tell."

At this, the Ghoul Persona remained silent. He remained silent for a short while, before he finally huffed, turning his head to the side and crossing his arms beneath his chest. "PFT, SHOWS WHAT YOU KNOW, YOU SHITTY IDIOT. THINKING I WOULD CARE ABOUT GODDAMN ANYONE BESIDES MINE AND THE KING'S SURVIVAL, HAVE YOU GONE ABSOLUTELY FUCKING BONKERS? YOU PROBABLY HAVE, YOU SENILE OLD FUCK, I COULDN'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THOSE USELESS HARLOTS. THEY COULD ALL GO TO HELL, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, YA BASTARD." He retorted, fury laced within his words. And yet, even while this was happening, Biko noted the strange... lack of edge that the white Persona usually held in his offensive mannerisms. To him, it looked more like a child desperately trying to deny what was right in front of him. Perhaps in the past, Biko believed that those words would have been the truth, especially with what he had done to Nico over the years in trying to forcibly make him unleash his Ghoul side in front of others. However, right now...

"Ahhh... this is a development, an extremely GOOD development indeed."

"?!"

"?!"

Both Personas gasped when they heard a familiar, childish voice. A voice hat they only heard when they were alone. Heck, the Ghoulish one looked to be even more stunned than Biko looked, as if he knew something that Biko didn't. Odds were, that would probably have been the case since he had been with Nico longer. Both of them twirled around in the direction the voice came from, and when they did they found the childish version of Nico standing, or rather FLOATING there with a small smile on his lips.

However, changes to his form had already became apparent. Not only did his face express way more emotion of the positive sort than in his past appearances, but there was this sense of... life, which came from his being. As if he were a prison inmate that had just gotten the chance to finally stretch his body without the usual restraints placed on him. It both baffled the two... as well as caused a tiny bit of excitement to grow within them, although neither of them knew why they were feeling this. Finally, the Ghoulish version of Nico managed to locate his ability to speak once more, and when he opened his mouth he only spoke one word. "Y-You...!"

"It is good to see you both again... especially with this change taking place..." the childish Nico commented, tilting his head to the side while putting his hands by his sides. He then slowly floated over to them, glancing at both of the Personas individually. "You both feel it yes... his walls are coming down. he is opening up to us all, both in mind and in heart. It will be a slow process, and it may take some time, however we have been patient up until now. What is there in waiting longer?" he remarked, all the while intentionally providing the answer to their unasked questions.

Biko soon found his ability to speak, and unlike the Ghoulish Persona, his voice came much more steady, not to mention it became a full on sentence despite the confusion and uncertainty within. "You talk... like there has been a great change within Nico's mental state. It is... not unnoticed that he has begun to drastically change, we all exist on a plane that he does not see. Therefore, we can view the changes to his mind much greater than Nico ever could. But... what has caused this...?" he wondered, frowning as he attempted to get these... changes occurring within him under control. It wasn't an easy process to handle, especially for a being whom would otherwise have heavily suppressed emotions, but he managed. Soon after, an idea hit his mind, and his eyes widened when that realization dawned on him.

The moment that he saw it, the childish Nico smiled knowingly, practically proving Biko's internal theory which only stunned him all the more. "You would be right. Those trials have indeed influenced us, more than we could have anticipated. What we learned there, what we experienced, it has progressed the healing much greater than initially predicted. The first two Hurdles, Admittance and Resolution, have been cleared. Now, the third Hurdle: 'fusion', begins. By the time that this hurdle is cleared, no longer will there be any doubt or hesitation. We will no longer be separate entities, but one being with multiple bodies. We will be one person, one mind and one body." the childish Nico explained, no small amount of eagerness in his tone.

"SO WHAT, YOU'RE SAYING THAT WE'LL FADE INTO NICO'S MIND AND SHIT?"

"Not necessarily." replied the smallest being with a shake of the head. "We will retain some form of individuality, as thanks to the time spent with us, Nico will see us as people he will want to spend his days with. You all have impacted his life, regardless of your methods, therefore you will not fade away for he will not wish it. This world does respond to his desires after all. Think of this as 'becoming closer together, more powerful together than you could ever be apart.' You will hear him, you will feel everything he feels, he will feel everything you feel, and most importantly, ALL of us will understand one another as how it should have been. Rejoice, for our true self's return has been accelerated to a high degree. Our return will soon be close at hand."

With those cryptic words, something that both Personas had come to expect from this Nico, he soon vanished like a mirage, a series of child-like giggles fading into the background of the inner world. Thus, this Nico left them, both Biko and the Ghoul Persona staring at where he had once been, wondering what the heck will come of this next hurdle.

Neither of them knew he answer to that question... and that was what unnerved them the most.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Alright, another chapter done.**

 **If you haven't please read the crossover ARC between my story and King Carlos' 'Heroic Heir in DXD', cause the filler in that crossover would explain a LOT in both of them from this point onwards. Otherwise some things in OEG and HH won't make sense. Though even if you didn't, I tried to make a summary in the chapter of the powers and improvements Nico has gained from the Arc, things which will be developed later on in the story.**

 **Aside from that, hope you liked the chapter, from the foreshadowing to the future chapters, up to the more emotional and psychological ending at the end. If anyone is confused, what this means is simply the start of another batch of character development for Nico, something which will be quite impact for him in regards to his views on things. Unlike what a lot of people say in their stories where, once the character gets their answer to a question thy just forget their previous states, it will take some time for Nico to come to terms with what he has learned. All he is doing right now, is simply venting his built-up sorrows with his mother, and from then on he will slowly begin to change... that is, if nothing happens to speed up that change, that is. Not to mention the beginning of another 'Hurdle' which will lead to Nico's eventual recovery. Suggest what I, in addition to the childish Nico could mean by that in the reviews if you want. Heck, even PM me. I'll not give it away in the story though. Hehehehehehehe...**


	181. Chapter 151 - Strange Encounters PT1

**Chapter 151 - Strange Encounter PT1**

The next morning, Nico could be seen walking down the streets of MICROSOFT, gloved hands in his pockets whilst his Trench Coat lightly fluttered. The redhead male looked up at the skies above whilst he walked, feeling winds rustling his hair not unlike a brother playfully ruffling the mane of his younger sibling. Today was a bit of a windy one, a rather uncommon occurrence in a Nation like Leanbox, though considering everything which was happening around this Nation, it wasn't something people would focus on. Still, the sun shone brightly in this particular morning, so it wasn't anything majorly worth noting. Plus, Nico could hardly detect any negativity in the weather today, likely due to a certain Goddess's mood being decent for the time being.

'It's a good thing Lucy can control her emotions and not let them impact her powers… otherwise she we would likely have FAR different weather than what the Citizens of Leanbox regularly experience…' he couldn't help but think to himself, all the while people passing him by seemed to not pay the wind much heed. Merely focused on whatever it was that they were doing.

With the day being like this, it wouldn't be unnatural for one to feel much more at ease than in the last few ones. With the lack of Demon attacks on the Capital, major cities and minor villages, the residents slowly but surely returned to their average routines. Politics would be a whole new can of worms, but that topic would be for a different time, when things were appropriate to talk about that stuff. The Military situation hadn't changed all that much, and the small numbers of Spec Ops Agents had so far managed to hold back the larger incursions into Leanbox's remaining territories.

A major change in comparison to the months of chaos prior to the Gala.

It was almost like everything had finally pounded itself into the minds of every Noble and Military official… pft, yeah like that would ever happen.

Whilst Nico didn't believe that things had gotten nearly as better as it seemed to be in the eyes of the average citizen, he HAD heard how the Nobles and Military families had decided to put their quarrelling aside for the time being in what could be considered an even shakier truce than the one which Noire had been attempting with Leanbox and Lastation. The Truce apparently consisted of them not bickering like a bunch of total idiots as much as they focus more on defending their own territories, recruiting new blood to replace that which they had lost and making Mercenares permanent members of their armies. These Mercenaries were either from the Guild themselves, or were former outlaws whose crimes would be pardoned in exchange for joining their ranks. Not ideal, but they needed every able-bodied soldier to protect their territories from the Demons and their followers. The skills on the battlefield they possessed far outranked the ones possessed by the human defenders, so each of the Dukes had to compensate in some way or form. Nico wasn't sure on the specifics there, but he didn't investigate further for the time being.

In Nico's eyes though, his biased mind believed this to just be a front at this point, with both sides aiming to one up one another in terms of reputation with the population. To him this would be done more on the Noble's side, since the Military Families would be more focused on the outside forces invading Leanbox, but hey that was just his opinion on those things. Still, even someone like him could tell that neither side truly enjoyed their current situation (he got this idea by quickly reading some of the minds of the Soldiers he'd heard were guarding such nobles as well as the former Banditry. Apparently, some of them became outlaws JUST to escape the dominion of the nobility, something the teen could understand on a spiritual level). He wouldn't be surprised if he were to sense mad bloodlust from either side whilst still passing by.

Speaking of Truces, the one between Planeptune and Lastation seemed to be progressing steadily, according to what Nico had looked up online and through the Spec Ops Database on the Guild Website. Apparently, it had been finished about 2 days ago, but wasn't official yet. Odds were, that they were going to wait for news of the possibility of Leanbox being added into the agreement. As for the specific details regarding the Truce itself, there had been talks of exchanging technologies, military forces and trade fluttering about between the various officials. It was similar to sharing items between inventories, but more on a national scale. Nothing concrete as of yet, but it was indeed a start. So far, Lastation's military seemed to be handling their Abnormal problem sufficiently with the help of the Spec Ops Agents over there, those Agents having been given additional funding by Noire's decree.

Avenir must be besides themselves with resentment towards her at this point.

As for the Spec Ops in Leanbox, things could be considered 'peculiar' with them, as well. It didn't matter the levels of strength that they possessed, each Spec Ops Agent was being put to use to the best of their abilities. The ones whom could be considered on the 'weaker' end of the Spectrum would be either sent to the lesser populated areas to maintain a vigilant guard, or used as Scouts to identify the next target of attack from these beings. Well, used would be considered a strong word since every Spec Ops Agent got an Urgent Quest with their name on it (thus taking advantage of their rule of mandatory appearance when issued such a quest), which was used to sort them into groups and thus, where they would go. It almost resembled how the military would operate, if anyone pondered about it.

The ones that had the greater strength, such as the ones whom had come to retrieve him when Nico had entered his half Kakuja state, had all been assigned throughout the various Duke Territories, the ones closer to the borders between them and the ones under enemy control, to try and hold the Demons and their followers back. This was so that their powers would be put to greater use in dealing the most damage to in the initial part of every battle which would allow the rest of the military forces a better playing field.

As a result of this action, about 50% of the territories now remained under enemy occupation, with the other 50 being back in Leanbox's hands. If any of the human forces expected these Demons to be furious with these events, they would have been sorely mistaken, with the reports of Demons actually whooping for joy, bloodlust and carnage whenever they were encountered on the thrill, rush and adrenaline that fuelled one in battle seemed to be the only thing that they cared about, the fight itself as it were. That… that only worried the Nobles, as well as the more experienced war veterans even more. To fight such an enemy would take one hell of a long time, since enemies like that would not retreat, only attack until they were all slain by the enemy's blade.

It almost felt like those Demons saw this as another day living…

They would not be wrong.

In the end, it had reached a stalemate between the two sides, with little conflict between the two. Instead, reports would come containing the fruits of minor skirmishes between small groups of Demons and defenders, sometimes a few would be between defenders and human cult followers, but it would mostly be either Demons or those beings in red. Hell, the redhead male himself got a few requests by his superiors to be part of some of these battles. Only a few though, then he had went missing for a small time period. That period being when Zelretch took him away… unbeknownst to them.

Honestly, if he were in his right mind right now, Nico would have been quite worried about this. However, he couldn't even muster up the strength to do even that. Right now, he felt more occupied by thoughts on what had happened last night between him and his mother. Those thoughts constantly nagged at him, refusing to abate even for a second. It would have frustrated the hell out of him, if he had the ability to be even that in the first place.

Thanks to what Helen had told him that night, Nico had cried. He had cried a whole damn hell lot. He had cried like a storm, unable to stop the onslaught of tears from escaping his eyeducts. It had been almost like he had never cried before now… come to think of it, when had the last time he had cried been? Nico honestly could not remember it, maybe this was ACTUALLY the first time he had cried at all? If he had never cried before now? No matter, the point was that he had cried a whole hell lot that night, and because of that Nico had practically drained 100% of his strength, promptly falling into the blissful land of sleep soon afterwards.

That night, Nico had one of the best sleeps he had ever gotten in years.

And thanks to that sleep, he had woken up completely refreshed, his mind prepared and ready to tackle his current problems. Problems which had mounted themselves quite a bit since he had vanished entirely.

The first order of business had been the matters with Yvoire, and to that end, Nico had spend a portion of time investigating the Nobility throughout the Landmass. He had to take a few trips out the Capital and back though, having enhanced his speed with Ouranos and his DPU form (mostly one or the other). He wanted to see if there were any merits to Yvoire and, indirectly, Castiel's words about there being lesser Corrupt Nobles and ones who actually tried to be GOOD leaders to their territories. This came with the strenuous task of looking at things objectively, putting his own bias against them aside since it would only hamper is judgement and stop him from finding what he truly needed to find. To that end though, Nico had to scour the Continent, searching for proof of these so-called 'good' Nobles...

And he found them.

Much to his shock, Nico had found quite a few Nobles whom, whilst looking outwardly corrupt in the eyes of the public outside their territories, they actually did quite well for themselves in terms of providing refuge, food, water, even some more... pleasurable company which in hindsight, were used more to stop people from grieving, towards those whom had lost their homes, families and livlihoods. There were also those who, likely inspired by Stefan Von Kessal and his family, tried to proclaim a better relationship needing to be established between the Nobles and Military families, that their current situation made these squabbles pathetic in comparison. He also found various areas which had been experiencing problems of multiple kinds which, whilst dire, apparently the Guild had sent Agents to clear up but in the end only made things worse for the people, showing a lack of priority to them, though even they managed to get SOME support from surrounding Nobles. More than what the Guild had been getting at least.

All this made him wonder, just what the heck he had been doing back when he was searching for information about Count Mott back before the Gala. How could he have missed all this? With his efforts back then, Nico SHOULD have come across these people back then, but he hadn't, he'd only seen truly terrible deeds from Count Mott and didn't seem to have paid much heed to anything else. He'd been so focused on THAT goal that he had ignored other evidence, a terrible case of tunnel vision. Yvoire and Castiel were dead on the mark, he really HADN'T been looking at the bigger picture, which only confounded his confusion over how to proceed even more.

From his search results, Nico had concluded that he needed more preparation before solving this issue. He would return to that old coot in time, but for now he had bigger fish to fry.

Case in point, the second problem:

Training.

When he had woken up this morning, Nico had found a note in Compa's own handwriting telling him that they had all gone on their own training methods for the day like they had the previous ones, and that they would be back when night arrived. Nico figured that none of them would have known about his meeting with Zelretch thanks to this, all of them assuming that he had simply returned and sneaked by their rooms. As a result, the redhead Spec Ops Agent hadn't been able to see the girls, to speak with them before they had set off on their own plans for the day. To be honest, Nico felt kind of lonely without them, and had felt more than a little sad that his reunion with them had been stalled more than it needed to be. Without the quirky antics Neptune brought into the group, without the adorable innocence Compa had, or the cool badassery that IF possessed in spades. Though, Nico also felt a bit relieved, since thanks to this it would be unlikely that they had noticed his disappearance. Not to mention that each of them would be getting stronger.

On the other hand though, the fact that they were taking their training as serious as they should (especially the normally lazy, pudding obsessed Neptune), made Nico smile to himself. He did approve of that, the majority of them NEEDED to get stronger if they wanted to survive in this cruel, chaotic world that is Gamindustri. He may have fallen to Mundus, but at least HE had managed to fight back against someone like him. Neptune and the others just got their asses HANDED to them on a silver platter, heck they couldn't even take out Okada Izou. Although to be fair, that guy had already been monstrously powerful, even if back then the strength he displayed couldn't even come close to what he could truly do (Nico would know, he sparred with the real thing back in Zelretch's dimension).

Still… Nico didn't know what to do about them, in terms of responding to their declarations regarding his Ghoul side. Pretty much everything regarding them felt like one big mess to him. A mess he had unknowingly made himself when he revealed his Ghoul Side to them. Far better this was though, compared to the alternative scenario, but that just made dealing with this all the more difficult. As he had mentioned previously, this made everything he knew get flipped upside down, pretty much pulling the rug from beneath him and sending him into a mass of confusion.

Just… how did he intend to go from here?

Remembering Castiel's words to him, Nico frowned in thought, slowing his stride a bit so he could contemplate more. To just go for it and not mind it all... those words could never have been said by anyone in this world save for a few, and even then Nico would note hesitance in those who would have told him such. He had no illusions over his eyes about being NEARLY as confident as that guy had been, and that mostly came from mostly having to worry only about his own self for so long. He wasn't used to situations like this, at all.

Of course, he had done what he had set out to do and provided his mother with the metals and blueprints to make those light weapons, as well as provided the books which Castiel had wrote for him (He'd made copies in his Inner World so he could use them how he wished), as well as a majority of the medical items he possessed. The older woman, stunned by how much he had found whilst out 'training', simply told him she wouldn't mention that he had gotten this stuff, just so they could delay the higher ups finding out about him and, by extension, his rapid increase in power. A whole SLEW of problems would arise if he did.

Taking a moment to calm himself, Nico paused his stride, mentally noting how he had apparently wandered off the main streets. He knew this due to his surroundings being more… primitive, more deserted, barren and like they hadn't had any maintenance in years. The moment he took note of this, Nico quickly figured out where he had ended up: the rather shady side of the Capital. Every city had something like this to them, a hidden skeleton in their closet so to speak. Even if one were strict as all hell with the laws here, someone would always find a way to set up something like this. Not to mention that the poor state this land was in had only been this way for so long due to the abundance of criminals here and the Nobles not giving much of a shit. One could say that he had arrived at a place full of people whim Nico would have personally slaughtered in any other circumstance.

'Now that i'm here though, it would be wise if I show that i'm armed to the teeth or something… ward off any pick-pocketing attempts as well as send a message to not mess with me.' Nico thought to himself, already summoning his gear for the job. He strapped Ebony and Ivory to his waist, pulling out Rebellion from his Void Storage while internally, he prepared his Kagune for activation through even the slightest hint at provocation. The Rinkaku would be the best option for him, since it would be imperceptible to the normal and even the trained eyes. In addition to that, Nico prepared his Rings for activation, as well as readied his demonic powers, which resulted in him beginning to emit an aura of 'do not mess with me or you'll die'. As for his Armour, well, since it's Module was always on his torso and he could mentally command it to deploy, Nico saw little need to actually use it right now. Especially with his Ghoul skin helping protect him from normal weaponry.

Interestingly enough, the moment he did Nico sensed several presences hurrying away from his location. He could practically SMELL the negativity from them, and instead of just anger and hatred, there was fear and creepiness mixed in somewhat, meaning that these retreating presences had been afraid of his new aura. With his weapons strapped to his Person. Nico heard several loud, animalistic chortles from deep within his soul, and at first he wondered what the hell they were until he came to the obvious conclusion.

His Devil Arms.

'Well, I guess they are somehow reacting to all the negative emotions in the atmosphere… strange though, that they were doing it now.' The male thought to himself, frowning in contemplation while rubbing his jaw with his thumb and index finger. Just then however, the male's eyes instantly shot wide open, a loud grunt escaping his lips as he bent forwards slightly, clutching his chest like it was about to burst. Sweat rolled down his forehead whilst his temples crunched up, hisbrows creasing tightly together. 'Ugh! Guh! This… This feeling…! What… What the hell, what's going on here…?!'

Deep within Nico's being, the redhead male felt all sorts of emotions suddenly rush through the links he had with his Devil and Archdevil Arms. All manner of feelings surged forth like a flood breaking through a damn, filling his soul with their presence. If he had been an ordinary person with an ordinary will, then this surge would have reduced his soul to nothing but a mindless mass of spiritual energy, completely decimating it and giving the Demonic Weapons much more leeway in controlling his body. It felt like these guys were trying to start a fight from deep within his soul, like thousands of screaming citizens scrambling for some sense of safety. Hell, Nico SWORE he could hear such screams echoing through his mind, though instead of focusing on that Nico chose to isolate and examine these feelings. 'Rebellion, the Devil Arms… even the Archdevil Arms Ouranos and Erebus… all of them are reacting heavily to something in the atmosphere…! That just HAS to be what this is, there's no other explanation! But… what could that even be?! I'll have to use my senses and find out what it is for myself!'

With those thoughts in mind, Nico clutched his chest tighter as he expanded his senses. Something which unintentionally held the consequences of exposing Nico to the rioting emotions of his Demonic Weaponry. Upon feeling out the surroundings though, Nico quickly found that, much to his surprise, the amount of negative emotions in the air felt much, MUCH greater than when he was in the more… civilized, part of the city. Like, if he were to compare, then it would be like comparing a small house to a large city.

So yeah, it felt quite large and vast here.

Nico honestly felt glad that he had finally learned how to tap into these negative emotions without losing his mind to them, otherwise he would have fallen to those emotions right then and there. In addition to that, Nico noticed a particularly… potent, surge of negative emotions in the distance, much deeper into this slum-like district. It was as if a large amount of people (way too large to go unnoticed) controlled by their negative emotions had gathered in one place, one place in order to vent these excess feelings out into the atmosphere. If it were a smelly gas, he would have had to cover his nose just to block it out, and even then it wouldn't have been guaranteed to work..

'What the…? This isn't good, why the hell is there so much negativity in one spot? I'll have to look into this in case these guys are planning something insidious for the rest of the Capital… Not to mention that this is driving my weapons crazy with bloodlust.' Nico thought to himself, eyes narrowing in seriousness as he made to track down the source of this surge in negative emotions. His hands dug into his pockets after he had taken out of his Void Storage, his Mask and put it on his face. From what he could tell, these emotions consisted of mostly greed, the kind of greed which only something like money or something like a priceless artefact was on sale could invoke from the human soul. In addition to that, there were a bunch of different emotions buried beneath it, lust, envy, malice and others. If Nico were to try and name it something, he'd call it one big pool of dark feelings… and those feelings were starting to influence his Demonic Weapons… though, he tried not to think about that too much for the time being when more important matters needed to be dealt with..

Thus, Nico continued on his way…

* * *

While he trailed the negative emotions to their source, jumping onto a rooftop and travelling that way, a thought struck the masked male. As it did, he proceeded to take out from his Void Storage one piece of equipment which he hadn't yet put back on. Nico honestly didn't want to have anything to do with that damned thing, because of what it represented to him and how he had obtained it. Well, obtained may be too good a word to describe the circumstances behind it...

The eye lens which would have fit over his left eye, the eye of the Ghoul that he possessed.

Once the object appeared in his hand, the redhead male felt deep, utter revulsion course through him as easily as he breathed air while he looked down at it. The lense stared right back up at him, the object not having much of a mind to return the glare though. Nico's teeth gritted together, as if they were struggling to hold back sounds only an animal would have made. All the while, he had to exercise no small amount of willpower to NOT just crush it within the palm of his gloved hand, something which his instincts SCREAMED at him to do.

This object…

'This damned thing…'

One could not even begin to imagine what it felt like to wear this thing, nor would they be able to grasp the underlying hatred Nico had for this thing. He had only worn it due to the surrounding circumstances around it, but through every second he detested it with every fibre of his being. Heck. a lot of this hatred he felt towards it stemmed from his Ghoul side as well, considering what this was though it shouldn't be that big of a surprise.

This Lens, it wasn't an ordinary lens. No, this one was made in a collaboration project between Lastation, Planeptune, Leanbox and Lowee. During the time when his mother had taken him under her wing and suffered the consequences. This Lens was special, in that it had been made with Planeptune metals, Lastation engineering, Leanbox oversight and Lowee's magic expertise specifically for someone like him. It was enchanted so that his Kakugan eye would never be shown to the world even when activated, not even the veins would appear when this mutation activated. However, if he were to use his Kagune at any point with it on, then the higher ups of the Nation he was on would be automatically informed via the enchantments. One could say that it could be considered a camera on his person, one which recorded the state of his being regarding his Ghoul side. Should Nico ever lose control over himself and be too far gone to return to sanity, then this Lens would activate its second ability, one which involved shutting down every major organ he had without his regeneration ever being able to restore them in time. It did this by sending an artificially induced command straight into his brain, one which would overpower his own will and forcibly end his life.

So, practically a death trap. It WAS made with his regeneration in mind, after all.

As long as he were to use his Ghoul Side without going too crazy however, then this Lense merely served the purpose of shielding his identity as a Hybrid from view, as it perfectly replicated Nico's normal eye color and movements. Heck, nobody suspected him when his Kakugan activated, as this Lens perfectly hid it from any kind of visual prowess. The higher ups in the governing powers of the Nations had been EXTREMELY zealous in guarding this secret, especially with what people's general opinion of monsters, normal and Abnormal alike, was. Nico normally would not have been able to take it off either, as if he were to do that then the Lens would send a warning to the relevant authorities and then he'd be beset by no small amount of powerful Spec Ops Agents. That, and if he were to, then his mother would be 'disposed of', something that the higher ups used as leverage over him. So, yeah… a bit of a complex situation surrounded this Lens.

He figured that those Spec Ops Agents who'd came to 'retrieve' him had been called as a submission team by the higher ups when he had taken the Lens off. Nico was the Basilicom's watchdog after all, he was just too precious of a 'resource' to give up so easily. If there had been any visitors to his mother's hotel, then Nico wouldn't be surprised. Odds were that Helen had measures of her own to 'deal' with them, she wouldn't let them get her without a fight. Even if Nico couldn't do anything on his end, Helen would be a different story since she had much more of a devious, twisted nature deep down than even Nico himself. One might consider Nico himself a demon, but compared to his mother? Well, if one dared to slight anyone close to her, then even a Demon Prince would quiver before her wrath.

If Helen had been his actual blood mother, then people would see it in their demeanor as clear as day.

Right now however, Nico faced a dilemma. Because he had taken the Lens off when outside of the Devildimension, none of its magics had been triggered. None of them, not the communication magics, none of the destructive ones, nothing. The last time he had put this on was shortly after the events at Halo Mountain, therefore to them, it would be like he had never taken the Lense off. The proof of this had been the Assassins, when he checked them over he had discovered that they had been from the Chaos side of things, NOT the Guild's like he had initially assumed, as if anything happened to the device people would be on his ass faster than he could blink. That meant that he well and truly had been separated from this damned device, and THAT alone caused him to sweat anxiously. He hadn't told his mother this, nor could he, since it was such a huge situation that he didn't want to bother her with, that and he didn't want to endanger her further than he likely already had. She had enough on her plate with being confined as a head of that department, he didn't want to add to her burden. Nico therefore, could do either one of two things:

One, never put on the Lens again and make it so that he would never unleash his Kakugan unless he was well and truly alone. Either that or he would have to be extra careful not to lose control over himself, as in that case there wouldn't be any Spec Ops suppression teams who could last against him in that kind of rampaging state. This could be a trump card for him since it would mean that if the higher ups tried to pull anything with him, or his comrades and expected him to back down under threat of them remotely activating the Lens, they'd be in for a rude awakening. Oh, the look on their faces would have been priceless in that case, something Nico honestly would have liked to see.

As for the second thing, he could put it on again right now and secure his own safety, as well as that of anyone around him in case he were to go berserk again. The Kakuja and his Ghoul Side had been a problem for many Spec Ops Agents in the past, with few who could actually stand against its might and versatility in battle. Even if they could handle one Fang like his speedy Rinkaku, either his Bikaku or Koukaku could finish them off instead. One of them WAS designed for widespread annihilation after all. He knew fine well just how dangerous his Ghoul side had been, and with the recent trip with Zelretch it would only grow in potency, heck he remembered back when he truly 'woke up', how many skilled Planeptune Agents lost their lives till it blew over, and even then he still sensed there were resentments from the families involved in it. But… that would also be the same as shackling himself once again, chaining himself down to their rules and allowing their oppressive control to once again dominate his life. If he were to put it back on, then Nico would go back to being what he was before: a mindless lapdog who answered the call of his masters no matter the cost. He would remain under their thumb for however long left Nico would have in this life. If one discovered his newfound immortality thanks to his DPU powers though, he could picture the white walls of the laboratory they'd throw him in and experiment on him for all of eternity. To see if they could make duplicates of his power.

Freedom to be himself or imprisonment for the sake of others, more specifically his comrades… That was the choice he had at the moment.

Not an easy choice to make, seriously.

'Mom… what would YOU do in a situation like this... ? Would you let yourself be their slave in order to protect your comrades? Or would you… reject it and risk this anyways just for the selfish desire to be yourself…?'

Clutching the Lens in his hand, Nico gritted his teeth and closed his eyes whilst those thoughts of confusion ran about, before he pocketed the Lens back into the Void Storage. For the time being, he would have to focus on his current task of tracking down this source of immense greed. That would be much more important than this choice, the male felt as he shook his head and reformed his features into a resolved glare. A glare he aimed towards the distance as he quickly made to accelerate his pace.

* * *

In the end, Nico managed to find the source of the mass of Greed he had sensed, landing atop a ruined building without destroying it, and kneeling before the ledge to get a better look at what he had found. The moment that he did though, Nico scowled as he formed a firm line with his mouth, instantly feeling a pang of caution filling his being. 'This is…'

The male found it to be what looked to be large, desolate looking building…though, despite this appearance the building itself looked to be dazzling. Filled to the brim with life and activity. There were lights on its walls, put up there as decoration and illuminating the entire thing like a beacon in the darkness. Even though according to his senses when he looked up at the skies, Nico figured it would be mid to late afternoon. One could hear a large amount of noise coming from within, even if they didn't have the Ghoulish senses that Nico did. 'This place… It wasn't here when I last visited this place for information on Count Mott…' Nico thought, a concerned frown slowly spreading across his features.

Then there were the guests themselves. They all were lined up in front of the main entrance where what looked like a muscle-bound man with a tux, dark shades, and an attendance board stood taing names. These guests each looked like they were well off in the money department, and Nico could recognize a few of them as Nobles. Nobles from various lower-ranked families, yet still somewhat financially stable. Though in comparison to someone like Count Mott or the Dukes, heck even Yvoire, one could say they would be on the lower end of the Spectrum.

'What the…? Well, one thing's for sure, I can sense a MASSIVE amount of Greed here. Helps that my weapons have been getting increasingly louder and wilder the more I got close to this location. Looks like I've found myself exactly what I've been looking for…'

 **'It does appear to be that way. Nico, I would suggest using your Armour's Reaper Mode to infiltrate the facility from a rear entrance, for the main one looks to be something too crowded for these people to recognize you. In addition, I would suggest you keep your Mask on when you infiltrate it, if any were to see your true face, it'll likely complicate things. The fact that these Nobles are also wearing Masks confirms this.'**

'Nice to hear from you Biko, but yeah, I can get what you're saying. Wearing a Mask will help me blend in, good thing i'm VERY good with Masks, i've been practically wearing one my whole damn life. Still, something about this is bugging me… there shouldn't be something like this in the slums of MICROSOFT. I mean, where would they have gotten the funds? It seems way too fishy… Wait a minute… these Nobles, if I remember correctly their families… oh shit, don't tell me… But, I had been under the assumption THAT had been banned a while ago!'

 **'Likely it still is, which is why they have an Auction House in these parts of the Capital. To hide from the law and perhaps purchase illegal goods. It wouldn't surprise me if that was indeed the case, since not everyone is in agreement with the ban. I can also see some people from the Military families in line as well, others being used as guards either for the building itself or the guests. Guards, police and other authority members will not go looking for something like this here. You yourself should know this, given your experience with humanity's darker nature.'**

With that conversation, Biko closed the link once more and Nico, now more determined than ever to unravel the mystery of what was going on, of that he swore. At least this would give him something to focus his mind on instead of those damned problems he'd been dealing with.

He'd get to the bottom of this himself…

If the authorities would turn a blind eye to this, then they wouldn't mind if the resident 'beast' took a sniff about, now would they?

"Ah, a visitor uncommon, how interesting…"

* * *

"?!"

Just as he made to jump from his ledge, land on top of the building as silent as the wind itself, Nico suddenly tensed when he noticed something. He felt someone's eyes on him, someone whom conveniently seemed to be down where the Guests were. That was what Nico felt as he looked about, his eyes glancing from side to side like an alert animal aware it was being watched. His instincts screamed at him to locate the source of this gaze immediately, like the longer he had no clue where this being was, the greater the chance that the person could get the drop on him. Obviously, Nico's Rinkaku Kagune would prevent that if he let it, but he'd rather not do that unless absolutely necessary.

Finally, his eyes landed upon the source of the voice, and it was located right at the very back of the que. 'Man, that's the most convenient place where it could have been…? I get the feeling Neptune would have made a comment about that…' Nico thought to himself he moment his eyes landed on the owner of this new presence. Though, the moment that he did so, Nico instantly became on guard, his instincts screaming at him to remain like so.

Standing by the back of the que of guests, was a lone man of a rather… short stature. If Nico were to guess, then he would have said that this man's maximum height would be at least below 5 feet. The man wore a hat over the top of his head although Nico noticed some curly locks with his enhanced eyesight. The hat had a flap that went all around his head, though it didn't cover the mask that went and covered his face, sporting two large circular orbs for eyes while a curved nose could be seen on the front. Across his form, the man wore a matching grey Trench Coat with a medium length collar, showcasing his while dress shirt, brown overcoat and black pants with matching dress shoes. The guy also sported a cane in his right hand, making him look like a typical polite gentleman… aside from the mask of course.

'Who the hell is this guy?' Nico wondered as he eyed the man below him warily. All the while, he just stepped away from the que as if they didn't even know he was there. Looking at him though, the redhead male identified right away that there was a DISTINCT difference between this guy and the other guests. It was in the way that he carried himself, the other guests moved all daintily and posh-like, as if they were used to going to large luxurious parties in big mansions where loads of security would make it safe for their presence. AKA, the typical Nobleman or woman who had been raised in high standards. However, this guy held himself differently, as in whilst there was still a similar level of refinement in his movements considering how he walked all posh-like out of the que, using his Cane as a walking stick, there was also an underlying amount of caution in his stride. A caution which could only come from being exposed to the horrors of war, the ways of the battlefield or places similar to this one which ended up in him always having his guard up. Nico didn't like the guy the moment he first laid eyes on him, and as seconds passed this caution increased all the more.

 **'It will not help, but I sense a surge of Demonic Power coming from him, Nico. It feels similar to a Demons, yet those Bloodthirsters would be nothing for him. No amount of them would be able to touch him, if anything nothing short of a Demon Prince or a Chaos God would be able to put a scratch on him. I'll do the sane thing and advise extreme caution when approaching this person, not to mention propose that you meet with him face to face. Now that he's seen you, we'll likely be unable to go along with our previous plan.'**

When Nico heard those words from his Demon Persona, he could only show a complex expression behind his Mask, his lone uncovered left eye narrowing at the man. The man whom right now stood below him and craned his neck upwards so he could look at the redhead. The fact that his previous plan had become a no-go had dawned on him since the moment that he got called out, Biko had only confirmed it for him. Nico could also sense the surge of Demonic Power within this man too, and definitely agreed with Biko's assessment. As a result, the redhead male mentally nodded at his Demon Persona's suggestion before he hopped off the ledge, landing right before the man in a kneeling position, before he stood tall and pocketed his hands in his Trench Coat. That though, would merely hide the signs of him prepping to summon a Devil Arm in case things went awry.

"It is rare to see someone of your demeanor around these parts. I have been here for a long time, yet I do not recognize you…" the man remarked, looking him over while cupping the bottom of his Mask. The way that he analyzed Nico made him want to shudder and cringe at the same time, the male did NOT like that look at all. So, Nico summoned his Shingan and discreetly activated its powers, allowing him to peer into the man's thoughts to see what the hell his intentions were. Unfortunately, when he did this Nico saw nothing but a black void, much to his surprise and dismay. Fortunately, he concealed his shock so that the man didn't catch on, though Nico couldn't tell if he did or not thanks to the man's own mask. It was at this point, that the man made this sound similar to a gasp of realization, as he clicked his fingers in front of his Mask. "Oh, now I remember. I DO recognize you, you're that DEATHSTROKE character people were talking about months ago."

THAT just made things all the worse for the redhead male, nearly causing him to grit his teeth in frustration had he not held himself JUST barely. 'Shit, looks like this guy is aware of me. The fact that he does makes me feel like I have to tread carefully, normally i'm not as well known as the other Spec Ops Agents. Its been a while since the Lastation incident so people shouldn't be talking about me as much, heck the music video didn't show me in my Spec Ops Gear. Therefore, it shouldn't be the topic of discussion anymore, especially with the girls rescuing everyone at the Gala. Just how much does he know about me, and what is his goal here? That's what I want to know, but somehow he is able to stop my Shingan from reading his thoughts. Not a good sign…' The male thought to himself. Normally, Nico wouldn't be so on edge when he heard someone knew about him, surprised maybe since he again wasn't that well known in comparison to the other Agents but nothing like he was right now. The recent unveiling of his Ghoul side along with the following revelations however, had all but shot his nerves and made him… well, more than a little edgy regarding his reputation.

For a moment, Nico didn't reply, wondering what he should do with this new revelation that someone knew about him. However, he soon realized that A: he couldn't exactly do much at this point, and B: the damage had already been done. Therefore, eventually he did reply to the hat-wearing man with great reluctance. "... It is as you say." he replied, and he couldn't help but thank his past self's foresight of putting on his Mask, since it hid his gritting teeth from view. Still, Nico didn't let his frustration show, and instead used his default neutral stare through his lone uncovered eye. "And you are...?"

The man looked at him for a moment, as if he was deliberating on something, before another sound of realization escaped his lips. "Oh my, I must have forgotten my manners back at my mansion. You may call me Gelmudo. I am a Count, serving under Count Mott." The man known as Gelmudo spoke, doing a formal butler-like bow with the hand holding his Cane between its fingers being put on his chest, the other being thrown sideways whilst he leaned forwards. Even though he remained in this state, Nico got the impression that he'd not be able to strike him down even now.

However, that wasn't what caused him to gain red flags in his mind, setting off every freaking alarm inside.

No, that honor went to the fact that he was in league with the very same Count whom had been linked to a multitude of problems Nico had had to deal with.

'This guy's... with that bastard, huh? Well, honestly I can actually see something like that being the truth. These two... while I haven't met Count Mott in person yet, I DO believe that he and this guy would have a similar demeanor when meeting strangers for the first time... if they were meeting the same class of people though.' The redhead male thought as his shoulders tensed briefly, before he forced himself back to a calm state of being again. It wouldn't do to have one of that guy's underlings know that Nico was onto his master, otherwise things may get a little... problematic for him. Still, if this guy was working for that asshole, then maybe he could get some dirt on that Count, at least then maybe the Spec Ops will put him on a mission to rip out his innards and strangle him with them. Oh, how he would LOVE to be there to witness that man's final moments be of agony and despair, knowing that his plans (whatever they were) would crumble all around him. Once he had acutely calmed himself though, Nico glanced over to the long line of Guests, then at the building itself. "Say, this place seems to not have existed for long, what exactly is it?" Nico questioned. Hopefully he could bleed some information out of this guy about this place, then he could decide on what to do afterwards. Burning the whole place down with some Hellfire from his DPU Form sounded promising...

At this, the man gestured to the building with his cane, tilting his head sideways. "This?" he questioned, before using his Cane as a walking stick again. "My boy, this place is what you would call a... secret pleasure, of sorts." Nico did NOT like the creepy chuckle the guy did just then, not at all. If he went anywhere NEAR his comrades, he'd best expect his dick to be torn from his body. "Its an underground Auction house, just recently created by some... interested benefactors. Pretty much what happens, is that once a week a load of 'goods' are held here for a fee, and if one is able to outbid their opponents, then they will be able to buy some fairly exotic treasures." Gelmudo explained. "The process works like this: the announcer proclaims a starting price depending on the treasure, and people have to start setting up how much they would be willing to pay. The objective: outbid the rest of the audience and thus, win the prize. Pretty simple, yes?"

'Hmmm... I see... now that he mentions it, looking at this place I sense faint traces of Demonic Energy within it... not to mention my nose tells me there's a bunch of fresh items stored inside. Feels like they're well-maintained somehow, too...' Nico thought to himself as he took in this information. Nevertheless, part of him hoped that there wouldn't be anything like Slavery in there, as that had been banned long ago aside from being pathetic, wrong and idiotic. Slavery did NOT sit well with him, and he had seen his fair share of how female servants tended to be treated. Count Mott would actually be one of the nicer ones, which speaks VOLUMES about how they are usually treated.

Yeah, that bad.

"Say, you look like the sort who has some cash to spend, why not head in with me?"

Looking up in mild surprise, Nico thought that he heard the man wrongly. Did he just hear him ask if he would like to partake in an auction? An auction which COULD have a possibility of Slaves in it? Nico almost exploded with rage at that, but one thing kept him from doing so. That one thing, was the presence of exotic treasures inside the place, call him a greedy bastard but hearing that such things were inside there honestly intrigued him. It reminded him a lot of Zelretch's trials too, that guy had some VERY enticing goodies, some of which Nico had been allowed to take back to the Devildimension with him. Not to mention, that if he was sensing Demonic Energy inside this place, then there would be a good chance there could be Satanic Treasures hidden inside unbeknownst to these Nobles. They looked like the sort whom would just look at something nice and say 'oooh, that's shiny i'll take it for my own' without realizing it was actually something very dangerous.

Satanic Treasures may not be on the same level as Devil Arms in terms of effectiveness and lethality, but they would NOT be classified as weak by any means. This came from one who had multiple ones with him.

Plus, even with that small fortune he had spent on healing items before meeting Zelretch, Nico still had well enough Credits stashed away in his account, so he could afford to splurge a bit.

"Hmm... Very well then, lets see what this is about."

* * *

After that discussion, the two males waited till it was their turn, going down the que while standing side by side. Nico meanwhile made sure to keep an eye on his 'companion' in case he were to try something by idly glancing at him occasionally. Nothing really happened during that time, but one could never truly be very careful, that was his thought process. By the time that the two arrived at the Bouncer, this Gelmudo character gave the bouncer a series of Credits, with an almost meaningful phrase of words indirectly telling him to let Nico in as a companion of Gelmudo's. For some reason, the Bouncer agreed, although judging from what Nico could sense from his emotional state, it didn't seem like he was too happy about it. This guy might have been a frequent visitor, AKA a regular, something that only raised his suspicions about him.

Nevertheless, he said nothing to the guy, merely kept his thoughts between himself and Biko. He would have brought in his Ghoul Persona, however Nico didn't believe this type of thing was his style since he was more on the instinct side of things.

Anyways, the two soon found themselves in the main hall, where the Auction was apparently going to take place. If one wanted to imagine what this place looked like, think of a massive theater, with rows of seats split into large sections that rose upwards. There were several metallic railings going along the walls way above the seats, while at the front was a semicircular wooden stage, with two large curtains behind it hiding what would likely be backstage. There was little lighting in the room, likely to add suspense though there were a few at the four corners of the room itself. All of them pointing at the stage yet not active seat would be occupied by the Guests of this Auction, each of them looking like eager wolves ready to sink their fangs into play.

As for the males, the two stood on top of the left platform, close to the back left corner to overlook the proceedings from their vantage point. Apparently, this place wasn't used very often due to the guest preferring to 'sit on their seats of luxury' according to Gelmudo, and since Nico sensed zero deceit from those words he decided to somewhat believe it. Then again, these WERE Nobles that they were talking about, Nico truly detested their kind no matter what people said. If there were exceptions to the mold, then he'd make them like he had done for the Von Kessal family, but if not well, all of his hate.

'Still... This place seems quite packed...' Nico thought to himself as he looked at everyone assembled here. 'Their greed is just saturating the place, I can hardly breathe without some of this Greed entering me... Biko, how are the Devil Arms, Ouranos and Erebus fairing? What about Soul Edge?' he asked his Demon Persona.

 **'I have managed to restrain their destructive urges somewhat, enough so that they wouldn't lose themselves over so much negative emotion in the air. Due to their demonic nature, they are naturally drawn to these types of things, just by being in this vicinity their powers are growing at an accelerated rate. Its like when you were restoring your powers from your first Berserker Mode... but grander in scale. I'm currently controlling their absorption input, so you should focus on the Auction. It is apparently starting now.'**

Just like that, Nico returned to reality as he looked towards the Stage, where he saw how several lights had come on whilst the previously bustling audience quietened down. Nico could feel the tension in the air as all eyes remained glued to the Stage where they seemed to expect something to happen. Now, Nico wasn't that familiar with how Auction Houses worked in general since he usually got his items from various treasuries that Abnormals collected. One would be surprised at what they would find in those places, it was how he had gotten some of his own stock like his Miniguns which he'd used with the girls back in Lastation.

Soon enough, a person stepped out onto the Stage from behind the person, drawing all eyes to them. This person looked to be a man, a man in his mid to late thirties if Nico were to guess. He couldn't say for sure since, aside from the white suit with green polka dots that covered his form (yeah, he wasn't going t question that one), his facial features were covered by a Mask too. One that resembled a smiling clown face now that he got a better look at it. The darkness in the room was hardly an issue for someone like him either, thanks to the Gene Seed Implants he got from Zelretch''s trials containing the ability to see well in the dark itself. Still, the moment that he showed up, Nico sensed how all attention was put on him, so he figured that this guy would be the announcer.

He soon got his guess answered correctly, when the man pulled a Microphone from within his suit, walked up to the Stage's centre, and began to speak in a showman-like manner. "Greetings to you all! I am No-Face, and I will be your host this fine evening. Now today, e have a bucket load of goods... appropriated from some sources into our possession. Goods I DO believe each of you will be QUITE interested in, given the situation here in this Nation."

Murmurings passed through the audience as they each shared their own opinions about the stuff at had been said. Apparently, they felt the same as each other, that they just wanted to get their money's worth. Some of them wondered what they would see this time, would it be weapons, trinkets, Armour, heck even special items? Well, that was what the ones connected to the military thought, the rest just looked like they wanted jewels and riches from this Auction. Those kinds of people... well, they would have ZERO idea on how to utilize this opportunity.

After a short while, No-Face clicked his fingers, and from that movement, from behind the curtains in walked a woman in a Bunny Girl outfit, pushing a wooden trolley along to the man's side. Some of the men eyed the woman with lust (much to the irritation of both genders) while everyone else just, well, stared at the item that was being displayed in a glass jaw the size of a basketball.

Most, if not all, exclaimed in shock and surprise at what they saw.

Meanwhile, Nico could only look on in horror and sheer anger.

In the container, there lay a Collar. A brown leather collar, but with a metal lock on its front. There was a key right beside it, which should be the only way to unlock that collar. However, if one were more attuned to the ways of the arcane, such as for sensing energies like Nico was, then they would notice the copious amounts of Demonic power oozing from this Collar's form. It just overflowed from the damn thing as if it were a hilltop, and the energy being a river. It more than identified itself as a Satanic Treasure, and NOT a nice one as far as Nico was concerned. Although, very few members of the audience down below could notice this energy, since most of them hadn't even touched a training regimen in their entire lives.

"Yes ladies and gentlemen, you are all seeing what you think you are seeing! Please note, that everything we present to you does exactly as we say it does. May I present you: the Binding Collar. Think of this as the ultimate enslavement tool, just put it on someone or something's neck, and this collar will forever bind them to your service. It'll go the extra mile and rewrite their entire personalities, reformatting them top be the perfect slaves for your every pleasure. Perfect for those who were... vexed, by that ban on slavery by the Basilicom." No-Face announced as he gestured to the collar. "Unfortunately, we only have one, so the price has to be quite steep to compensate. Lets start us with... 200, 000 Credits..."

Instantly, the bidding commenced, with a starting number being 200,000. Over 70% of the audience instantly got captivated by the Collar, as if years of sexual tension were about to be extinguished in the blink of an eye. Nico's eye could only take this all in with absolute disgust with a sickening feeling being born within his stomach. It became ALL too clear to him just what kind of guests these Nobles were, just from these actions alone. One of the few things that those shitty guys in power did right in his opinion, was ban the slave trading system which reminded people of their origins. Even so, it didn't blind him to the fact that many families profited from such a system back then, and as such they would try anything they could to find a loophole around that law. This thing looked to be one such loophole.

Up on their little perch atop the audience, Nico scowled down at the audience behind his Mask. "Wow, I can't believe it, but my already low opinion of these Nobles has gotten even lower. To want to fork over such high amounts of Credits for something so useless..." he remarked thoughtfully. Though, he didn't really expect to have anyone answer him.

Which was why he found himself surprised when he heard Gelmudo hum in agreement. "You'd be right there, these Nobles are blind by the thought of having Slaves again after the ban made by the Basilicom." Gelmudo remarked, shaking his head while a sigh escaped his Mask. This drew Nico's gaze to him, and when he noticed the man shrugged his shoulders before proceeding to explain. "What, why would I want just one human for my master? If anything, i'd rather enslave an Abnormal, one of the more powerful ones since the Collar binds only one being to your service. Why would I want to give my master a weak human servant when he has so many at his beck and call? The collar's true worth is so much more than what these foolish idiots are thinking. At least then, the Slave bound by the Collar could get more work done. Absolute enslavement may be an appealing concept for most, but if the slave is incapable of performing tasks, then what's the point? My master only deserves the highest quality goods."

... Well... Nico honestly didn't know what to feel about that. On one hand, being willing to go about enslaving an Abnormal drove it home for the male that this guy was NOT a good person by any standard. If he were to enslave someone the fact that he'd chose an Abnormal, a powerful one according to his words, for effectiveness reasons showed that the guy had an intellect to him, preferring quality over quantity. It wasn't always bad though, since the more options one had on the battlefield, the greater their chance of survival was. On the other hand, the fact that, him regarding this Collar as insignificant made Nico wonder just what he would find as valuable. Part of him wanted to go down there, stop the Auction and burn everything to the ground, the guests and the auctioneer to nothing, but he repressed it for now. After all, if he did that,who knows how many innocents like the Bunny Girl woman would get caught in the crossfire? That, and any damage may get traced back to him and give him no small amount of trouble. Him, and his comrades, something Nico held no desire to achieve thank you very much.

In the end, the item went to some low-class Noble (whom Nico mentally noted to keep an eye and ear on) who looked at the Bunny Girl with unending lust, invoking a polite, if not strained, smile from her as she lightly waved at him. Though, even a blind man could tell that smile wouldn't be genuine. As the man sat back down clutching his little trinket, which had been sold for up to 900,000 Credits, the Auction continued. As it did so, Nico got a better idea of both how these things worked, as well as what kind of items were being displayed here.

First off, the item displayed after the Collar being sold, appeared to be a sword of some kind. It looked to be similar to a straight sword, or perhaps one could say it looked like that divine weapon: the Kusanagi he recalled its name being. Unlike that weapon however, this one DEFINITELY had Demonic Power coursing through it, Nico could tell from the aura it possessed. Soon, No-Face began to explain about the sword, all the while Biko would inform him of the more... detailed version thanks to the Lexicanum having information about all sorts of Satanic Treasures, this being one of them. Apparently, this sword was called the 'Shadow Sword', also known as the 'Blade of Demonic Invocation', or the 'conjuring blade'. Its blade had the ability to turn anything it cuts, into a demonic entity which would serve the wielder of the sword for eternity. There was an antidote for it in the hilt, but other than that there would be no cure from such an item.

Biko did inform him that those like Nico himself, or beings who are already demonic to begin with, wouldn't be affected by the sword. In addition, he informed him that the sword's power would be on par with a Multi-Continent Class DPU if wielded properly, especially with its ability to create Demon servants.

THAT little trinket went to some guy with black hair with blue outlining and white streaks, who'd bought it for over 700,000 Credits. Nico didn't pay much attention to the specifics there, but he did hope that he never got to encounter that sword's power.

Nico also noted that Gelmudo's emotions flared when he saw that sword, a surge of greed and warped want like a drug addict finally getting to see the item which would satisfy his cravings. Better keep an eye on him in the future, part of him suggested.

The next thing on the agenda, was a hand-held mirror (something which got the Noblewomen's attention, to be sure). Biko informed him that the Mirror itself was a Satanic Treasure called 'Forlorn Hope' and it had the ability to grant the user any one wish upon a full moon. However, what Biko told him that No-Face didn't was that that there was a cost to be paid in the end: the user's life. In addition to that, the artifact also somewhat had a will of its own, similar to Ouranos in that it was intelligent and could choose not to take the user's life if it was impressed enough. Whenever one were to use this mirror, it will 'speak' to the user, kind of like a magic Djinn like the one Nico and Biko had met during the trials. According to his Demon Persona, the mirror had next to zero limits on what wishes could be granted, something that No-Face also presented to the crowd which got MANY of the Nobles shrieking already. He could swear that someone just shouted 'shut up and take my credits!' somewhere in that crowd.

It got sold for about 900,000 Credits by some guy with red hair, who then vanished into the winds. Nico also got the smell of fox fur when the man did that thanks to his Ghoul side and Gene Seed Implants, making his eyes narrow in suspicion.

Interestingly enough, Gelmudo's emotions didn't go any more negative from the sight. If anything, the male felt distaste coming from the man, and when he glanced towards him Nico noticed the man mumbling beneath his breath. Of course, Nico managed to hear what he had said thanks to his enhanced hearing, not to mention he was RIGHT there by his side too. Apparently, he didn't like the fact that the mirror took the lives of the users, something which made Nico wonder just how the hell he had such knowledge of the Satanic Treasure. Those thoughts soon vanished when he heard how the man commented how he'd have to find 'replacements' among the servants of Count Mott's mansion if he were to get his hands on the mirror.

Next item that came would be an... interesting one, lets say that. It got presented on a pedestal which rose from the stage beside No-Face, whilst the bunny girl just left the stage with the trolley in tow. The moment Nico saw the item on that pedestal, he quickly had to silence the sudden shrieked and outcries within the links to his Devil Arms. 'Whoa, dudes calm the fuck down!' the redhead male yelled in his mind, forcibly exerting his will to them in order to quell them. The Demonic Weapons persisted for a moment, before they finally calmed down when Nico gave them a surge of Demonic Power. 'Biko what the hell was that?! This item, it...!'

 **'Their self preservation instincts took them over, Nico. This item... i'll do some digging, for now listen to the announcer. Perhaps we can learn a thing or two about this item... nonetheless, this reaction... reminds me of that guy's evil powers Nico. Be wary.'**

The thing that was there, looked to be a crimson seed the shape of a... living, beating heart. It had various Tendrils growing from it which searched around, as if they were looking for something, whilst the seed itself 'pulsed' every now and then. The seed looked to be contained within a glass box, with just enough soil for the seed to 'feed' from, but not much else.

No-Face, unperturbed by how disturbed the audience looked when they saw this item, simply continued the Auction as if nothing was wrong. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it has come to my attention that the slight 'Demon' infestation plaguing our beloved Leanbox has caused you some issues, yes?" he spoke, getting some confused murmurs from the audience. Confused, but confirming murmurs. "Well then, today is your lucky day, for right beside me, I present to you: a Satanic Tree seed! This little beauty, when implanted into your gardens, will grow into a fine plant-guardian which will lay burrowed into the earth. Within several hundred kilometers, any Demonic presence will not be able to get anywhere near your territory with this beast around, since its roots will seek out any Demonic presence to absorb into itself. Ground Demons will be stabbed by roots, seed missiles will shoot out the ground to knock down flying Demons, and any who seek to travel through the ground itself will die faster than a second! It is the ultimate defense against these Demonic Incursions!" He proclaimed, and as if it were a child hearing the name of its favorite snack, the Satanic Tree Seed suddenly jerked about, flailing its Tendrils in wild, erratic patterns.

Now THAT got the audience's attention. Dozens of them had come from families which were... admit-tingly much less financially secure than the Counts and Dukes. Therefore, they couldn't afford the same luxuries or defensive measures that those influential Nobles could, so something like THIS, which costed practically nothing in comparison, well... it would be more than a LITTLE enticing for them. The fact that the Seed itself had a grotesque looking appearance didn't seem to register on their minds anymore, as thoughts of finally being 'safe' entered their minds, hearts and very SOULS.

 **'Of course, what No-Face doesn't know, either that or he deliberately didn't say it, but this Satanic Tree Seed is a Satanic Treasure that comes from those beings we call 'Demon Princes'. In essence, they are Demons with THAT level of power. Their maximum distance would be 400 Kilometers in every direction, but if a Demon of similar power level or greater such as a Chaos God were to come by, then the Seed will 'hide' since they would be able to take it out. So** **really, it being an 'ultimate** **defense** **' is a misunderstanding. Though, I now understand why our Devil Arms reacted to it in such a way...'**

'Yeah... something like this would definitely be enough to set them off. My Archdevil Arms remained quiet though, I guess that means their full strength would have been enough to make the Seed 'hide' then?'

 **'indeed. Also, remind em later to bring you up to speed on the Demons, I have some information about them.'**

Oh? Well, wasn't THAT interesting? It looked like Nico would begetting some more insight onto these Demons, soon. Perhaps he could share this information with his mother and the girls when he got the chance. In any case, Nico could NOT help but notice just how frenzied the crowd suddenly became, with offers and bids being thrown by the seconds. Even Gelmudo seemed to be getting into it, which made Nico frown to himself behind his Mask. 'If Gelmudo wins the bid, then perhaps he'll use the Seed and plant it beneath the center of Count Mott's territory...' the redhead male thought to himself, wondering just what kind of events would be stirred within the territory itself should that happen. Part of him wanted to join in the bidding, since he hadn't done anything with his Credits yet, but Nico refrained. None of these items so far would benefit him in any way so far, ESPECIALLY not that FUCKING binding Collar. Whoever bought that item, Nico would make sure to keep an eye on , and if he got wind of that collar being used, then he'd be on that asshole faster than one could blink.

Luckily, it wasn't that masked gentlemanly guy who won, but a random Noble in the crowd. Said man simply leaned back on his seat, waving a fan in front of his face to cool himself down from the 'heated' bidding process. Hell, Nico faintly made out some sort of... scent, coming from his neither regions. Not to mention that there was something beneath the table that tried to hide itself... 'Ooooookaaaaay, lets NOT go any further there...' Nico thoughts suddenly to himself, body tensing up while his face quickly losing its color behind the Mask. Not to mention the bile that threatened to erupt from within his throat at the 'images' assaulting his mind. Seriously, do these Nobles not know any tact at all?

Beside him, the male caught the irritated snort even during his little freak-out.

Afterwards, the Auction continued, with numerous different items being sold left and right at varying prices to different people. So far, this Auction stuff really bugged the male, especially since it was so discreet which would allow for some 'unsavory individuals' to bend the laws to their favor by gaining items that they wouldn't have otherwise. Heck, one such case came int he form of a woman wearing rags and unconscious in the middle of a cage. Nico nearly lost it at the sight of such a thing, knowing the fate of that poor girl as soon as he saw the looks the audience gave. Slavery still seemed to be apparent, it seemed, just done beneath the law's nose so nobody would suspect anything. That woman had been a Noble's daughter, he had learned, but her father had disowned her since she had been born from an unwanted mistress. One could already imagine what kind of life awaited her, and as much as Nico wanted to intervene and save her, Gelmudo held him back. He'd insisted that saving her would be pointless in the long run, since this would happen all the time in other auctions. Saving one life would be pointless since it wouldn't change the grand scheme of things.

Aside from those instances, Nico could also see how versatile these Auctions were. Some of the items had been Satanic Treasures, of THAT he had been certain thanks to his Demonic Powers, whilst other items didn't seem to originate from Demonic origins. There were over dozens of different items, some of which could have been useful if Nico had intended to buy anything here. But he hadn't, instead he had simply came here to scope things out and see what was going to happen, so as such he refused to buy anything from here as of yet. Heck, Nico didn't know if he would even want to with some of the disgusting things here, even if some of the items tickled his fancy, his mental morals weighed heavily on his mind. Heck, that slave girl he had previously been unable to do anything about had been sold to that same Noble who had been doing something... questionable under his table, something which made his mood all the worse. Even to the point where his Demonic Power began to leak out, forcing him to lock his emotions tighter to prevent it from going wild.

All in all, Nico had mixed feelings about it.

* * *

As the Auction neared a close about 4 hours later, Gelmudo looked towards his newest companion and hummed. "Well then, the Auction nears its end now. There'll likely be another within the following week, so its worth checking these places out for any goodies of interest. So, what do you think of them Spec Ops Agent?" he questioned, eyes almost leering at him behind that gentlemanly demeanor he presented. The man leaned on his back against the railing, hands tucked into his coat pockets whilst asking Nico this question.

What did he think? Well, Nico had a LOT to say about something like this, but instead of going on a verbal rant like a wild beast would, lashing out against anything that he deemed wrong, the redhead male also pocketed his hands and released a sigh from his lips. "Well... this place certainly seems... something." he remarked, looking down at the audience. "The fact that something like this is held weekly without people knowing is impressive in of itself. One would have thought the law would have cracked down on shit like this already."

"Aye, its quite easy to get around that stuff... if you have the Credits and knowledge to do so." Gelmudo mused, shrugging his shoulders while stepping away from the Railing. "People will do anything for money, even look the other way when the 'big boys' want to have others do their dirty work. Though, in the end that's pretty much how the underworld of Gamindustri, same with the human heart, works huh?"

At this, Nico had to resist the urge to wince, personal experience causing him to agree with this sentiment. Nico had not been to an auction before, but he certainly had experience with the criminal underworld. He had to visit it frequently in order to track down his targets, to 'make them pay' in accordance with the rules the Basilicom set for him. He may be a Spec Ops Agent, but he was also nothing more than a dog on a leash thanks to his circumstances. He had more than enough experience with the scum of society to know that in many cases, humans could be even worse than the Abnormals that he hunted. He'd seen their greed, their corruption and how twisted they could be. It was why he had dealt with them in increasingly vicious manners, one of them having conducted a plan to make a 'human centipede' just because he could.

The Human Centipede: one of the worse things that Nico had the misfortune to encounter. It was created by a Surgeon in Planeptune whom had lost his sanity, or rather never had any to begin with since he'd uncovered evidence that he had done this several times in the past. This Surgeon almost had a boner for kidnapping people, men women or even children, and then stitching them together from the mouth to the anus, forming con-jointed sets, the human centipede. He had done it to women, men and even CHILDREN, taking them from their homes and families to force them into his sick experiments. Worse, it had started from a 'joke' he had made with some of his equally insane friends about 'punishing' his ex wife for leaving him by stitching her mouth to the back of a fat truck driver. Only ONE victim had managed to escape, and she had the fortune of winding up in Nico's path. The moment she told him what had happened, Nico quickly took her to the Spec Ops section of the Guild to have her testify to his superiors, who decided to give him the 'green light' to go all ape shit.

Thus, that was EXACTLY what he had done.

As such, Nico could understand what Gelmudo talked about so well that it practically sickened him. "Yeah..."

Just then, the two got drawn out of their musings (thankfully for Nico since he felt like unleashing his Ghoul side from the memories alone), and towards the stage, where No-Face stood. "Now then, ladies and gentlemen, since it is nearly time for this Auction to end, I must inform you all, that we have ONE last item to sell today. A particularly MOUTH-WATERING one for any of you who have 'fine taste buds', I assure you all." He proclaimed, getting everyone's attention. Some of them looked a little tired from these events, whilst others still looked like they could go all night, surprisingly enough. "May I present you a little something we like to call, our 'treasure'."

The moment that he said that, a huge 'PSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!' sound escaped the stage alongside the smokescreen, covering the entire stage. Nico's lone uncovered eye narrowed at this, suspicion and caution building within his chest. Since the 'nature' of these items varied from generous to downright horrific, he found himself developing a sense of tension whenever a new item would be presented. He dared not call anything to do with slavery items, since most of them tended to be young daughters of noble families or even normal girls like Neptune or Compa. That thought filled him with a sense of terror, terror at the thought of them being captured and sold like this. No way, no, NO THE FUCK WAY WOULD HE LET THAT HAPPEN!

Whilst he mentally raged, Nico looked to the Stage with a deadly gaze as a... cage, rose up from within the smoke. Nico gripped the railing tightly, so much so that it practically snapped in half, although everyone (including Gelmudo) had been too busy paying attention to the stage to notice. Finally, the cage had reached a height which would allow him to see what was inside... and what he saw made Nico grind his teeth so much that he wondered if sparks could have been ignited from the friction.

There... huddled in the fatal position in that cage, facing away from them all...

Was a young child... no older than 11 and no younger than 9.

* * *

 **Chapter End**

 **Whelp, a cliffhanger's here, but I think that there is enough content for the average viewer to sink into.**

 **Not only are there political situations unravelling around Leanbox as well as the ongoing war between the Leanbox forces and that of the demonic ones. I'll only let you all GUESS where Maghda might be hiding, but safe to say that nobody in Gamindustri will be able to fins her. That will lead to her being able to pretty much direct her troops with no fear of garnering attention to herself, whilst also fighting about to keep her lord satisfied. Khorne cares not where the blood comes from, only that it flows. Not only that, but Khorne's forces care more about the battle rather than achieving the end result, causing an unimaginable amount of slaughter and butchering strong opponents wherever they find them. So, if I were them, i'd be pretty trilled at the fact that my adversaries were starting to learn from the experiences given to them and are proving themselves more of a worthwhile opponent. That's my reasoning for making the situation between these two what it is as stated by this Chapter.**

 **Also, the matter of the auction, and this whole arc actually, was inspired by a wuxia I read called 'Against The Gods', and if you've read my story and its side one so far, you might see some elements of it already being included. There are some I still want to include , cause in terms of scale, these wuxias seem to have much more going for them than the average shounen manga. I think one that could go up against these wuxias would be Dragon Ball, but then again that depends on the wuxia. But believe me, this arc is going to be... an interesting one to say the least, as its general theme serves one purpose, I'll explain that later on, though so good luck figuring out that theme.**

 **In any case, hope you enjoy, and i'll see you in the next chapter.**

 **Peace Out!**


	182. Chapter 152 - Strange Encounters PT2

**Strange Encounters PT2**

The moment that he saw the child in that cage, Nico's blood ran cold, his skin paling to a horrible color. All the while his brain lost control over his jaw, and if it weren't for his Mask then his jaw would have hung open. He had been so stunned that, combined with the lack of fear for his Ghoul side he had apparently discovered from his comrades, that his Kakugan swiftly activated. 'What the... ? Are they fucking serious?! I get that this is an example of Slavery just like the others, but still! A child?! A fucking CHILD?!' The teen mentally raged, raw and primal fury rising within his being. Not to mention that when he looked down towards the other guests, none of them looked surprised or appalled at what they saw. Instead, all he saw were either intrigued or curious stares, none of them showing any care about the more… ethical and moral problems here.

Furthermore, the child looked like he had gone through hell and back multiple times over, since his clothes looked to have been sliced through in multiple areas by something akin to blades. His form looked to be covered in fierce lashes and bruises, yet none of the crowd noticed or even cared. Worse still, was when he saw the look of absolute defeat and submission on that child's face, from what little he could see anyways since the child was doing his best to try and keep his face hidden from the crowd. No doubt he wanted to not see the hungry, if not ravaging looks on their faces as they eyed him like a sack of meat. No, it looked more like they were wishing to take the child for their own… and not in a good way.

"Hmmm, now THIS is curious…."

Hearing Gelmudo's voice snapped Nico out of his thoughts, causing him to blink as he glanced over to the man. His Kakugan had quickly deactivated before he could have seen though, since it was STILL a highly classified secret, his true nature anyways. It wouldn't be good for him if he just kept showing it off recklessly, not with how much he had done to keep it under wraps for all these years. What he had done for all that time would not be unravelled just from anything recent, it had been too long for something like that. Still, Nico found that the man's eyes (or from what he could tell thanks to that damned Mask), had stayed glued to the child, and his form radiated what could be considered no small amount of intrigue upon seeing the child. "It seems that these guys really have been 'saving the best for last' as the human saying goes… I wonder how things will play out this time?" The man mused thoughtfully, a similar hum escaping his lips within the confines of his Mask.

As his ears processed what he had just heard, vengeful fury roared within Nico's being as he did all he could to keep his stare level, then shifted his gaze back to the Stage. Just like the rest of the audience, it didn't seem to even faze him that there was a child, a FUCKING CHILD, being sold like a damned toy for other peoples' ends! These guys truly disgusted him in every sense of the word, not to mention that their actions made levelling this place in a sea of Hellfire all the more appealing.

'CALM DOWN, STUPID KING! YOU'LL GIVE YOURSELF AWAY IF YA KEEP IT GOING LIKE THIS!'

Just as he made to snap however, to his surprise Nico heard his own Ghoul Persona speak up this time. Something which he didn't expect, and thus Nico almost lost his cool in that moment there. Fortunately, he had managed to keep that one last strand of sanity intact though. 'Whoa, y-you?! What the hell, why are you talking instead of Biko?!' the male wondered, shrieking in his mind towards that side of him. He for one, had NEVER expected THAT to happen, maybe from Biko but NOT from his Ghoul Persona. If one was confused, then think of it like this: the times where his Ghoul Persona ACTIVELY told him NOT to give in to his instincts would be as rare as IF spending any time away from each of her Phones or not getting stressed at all from Neptune's antics.

So… yeah, call him justifiably freaked the hell out inside.

'HEY! I AIN'T TOO EXCITED FOR THIS EITHER, YA KNOW! I'D LET YOU RUN WILD ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, SADLY THOUGH THERE'S A FEW THINGS WRONG WITH ME AT THE MOMENT! YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN! IN ANY CASE, LOOK AT THAT BRAT MORE CLOSELY! TRUST ME, YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN!''

Furious at the tones used on him, the Ghoul Persona ranted against Nico's thoughts, though beneath that the redhead could feel a sense of agreement between them regarding their ideals. Still, Nico could quickly figure out what his Ghoul Persona meant on 'having problems', and could not find it in himself to disagree. While largely still the same, that encounter with Mundus must have changed him significantly, hence the reason for this display of behaviour. Lastly, Nico arched a brow when he heard the last bit of what it had told him, his curiosity aroused which mixed with his prior emotions. As a result, Nico glanced back to the child and narrowed his lone eye, already taking a few sniffs to catch the child's scent. Then, just like that, Nico got it, and instantly he understood what his Ghoul Persona had been talking about.

That child… it wasn't human.

No, it had the scent of an Abnormal…

Since it WAS one.

At that revelation, Nico's fury reignited once more after a moment of shock. Shock that had been born from the fact that someone had actually DARED to bring in a live Abnormal into a place such as this. Just what were they thinking, didn't they know how dangerous that was? Didn't they think of the public's safety when doing this, cause he sure as hell didn't think so with idiotic moves like this! Things like this were freaking dangerous as all hell, and to a Spec Ops eyes, something like bringing live Abnormals into a civilised population was the very same thing as practically handing that population a DEATH sentence! He would know, since he'd seen something like it happen several times in the past.

Soon, the shock wore off, and fury reignited within his chest. Fury against the Abnormal which had been brought into the Capital, of which it no longer registered as a child to Nico but a dangerous being which could destroy everything around it. His eye fashed with this rage as memories filled his head, memories of seeing Abnormals pop up out of nowhere whenever he was on a group quest with fellow Agents (read: indirectly forced), either Guild or Spec Ops. He remembered seeing how dozens of Agents got chowed down on before they could even react, like animals being caught unawares by the predators hunting them. He remembered some of those cases happening to him, only for a quick reflexive use of his Rinkaku Kagune as in those situations, attention wouldn't be drawn to him but the monsters about to rip them apart. There was a gimmick to his Kagune, a gimmick which had almost killed Neptune back then but for now he wouldn't focus on it.

Instead, his fury took hold of his thoughts, making him want to launch his Kagune at the Abnormal and tear it into pieces before anyone could open its cage. At least then, the threat of casualties will be minimised as much as possible, though he had to restrain himself due to the nature of his Ghoul side not really being public knowledge. He had seen many Abnormals in his time, all of them varying in shapes and sizes. Ghouls weren't the ONLY humanoid Abnormals out there, unlike what people would like to believe, and he had been witness to his fair share of them. Therefore, seeing that Abnormal in that cage sent off warning alarms within his mind, making him want to act now before any damage could be caused. Not to mention that he practically forgot where he was and the people who were actually around him being the type which he despised the most.

Not only that, but he couldn't help but be furious at the ones whom had thought it a SPLENDID idea to bring it within the Capital's walls. It was like taking a wild Lion from the desert and not even training it before putting it out for presentation. Didn't they realize the danger here?! Were they REALLY as idiotic as to bring Abnormals within this premises and think that it wouldn't lash out when their guards were down?! Abnormals had varying levels of intelligence, but NONE of them could be considered anything like 'foolish'. In fact, many who go up against them have this thought process in mind, even Nico himself at one point. In his case, only his Ghoul Side had saved him from an early grave, as for the rest… well, suffice to say that they didn't have that luxury.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering what exactly this could be, my fine audience." Just as Nico made to initiate a move, the male heard the announcer speak up. It also brought back his sense of time, making him realize that he had been lost in thought for only a couple seconds. Wow, perceptions of time really did get altered when he thinks to himself, huh? He had been so pissed off that he didn't even pay attention to anything else. "Now then, as you all can see, this little beauty here is one rare gem in this world full of Abnormals! May I present to you: A Nature Elf! Not just any Nature Elf, but its bloodline is… quite special! Special in that… it is of the ROYAL bloodline itself! The last of this kind!"

Nico arched a brow above his lone eye, confusion evident at that statement. Why did the announcer say that like it was some big deal? For the moment, his burning fury got pacified by a sense of curiosity, at least he wanted to know something about this Abnormal which would help him gauge how much of a threat it was. Not only that though, but the male nearly backpedalled when he saw a huge uproar erupt from the audience themselves. The amount of greed he felt from them practically SKYROCKETED off the rails, with an underlying hatred beneath it. That just caused his confusion to grow, and since he only had one source of info at this place, Nico glanced over to Gelmudo whom looked to be deep in thought (like he had been this whole Auction). "Say, what's with the crowd here? They're going wilder than horny male teens at a strip club."

"Oh? Been to a Strip Club now, have we? My, what ever will the missus think?" Gelmudo replied, a sense of teasing about his words which caused the redhead to glare hatefully at him. He just barely stopped his Ghoul side from lashing out at him too, even though he desperately wanted to. The only reason he knew what that looked like was because one of his Targets on a prior mission he'd undertaken had hidden inside one… It was a VERY eye-opening experience and one of the things which repulsed him. "In any case, if you're wondering what that thing is, It's called a Nature Elf, it's a special breed of Elf which are quite valuable in a multitude of ways. It's said to be as delicious as 10 5-star cooked meals in one package when eaten raw, but it's said to be even better when cooked. It's said that if one eats a Nature Elf, then their base stats gain a boost that not even a dozen Drive Skills used in one burst could provide, and you yourself must know how powerful they are. Not only that, but if one drains their blood dry, they can use that blood to forge over countless medical tablets which have the power to even get one's heart rate beating again while healing any and all injuries. If one ingests it themselves, as in a full body's worth of blood, then they will no longer have to worry about any kind of ailments afflicting them for the purity of the blood will eliminate them. Poison, paralysis, any ailment you can think of will no longer be able to affect you. But, their best little ability is locked deep inside of them, their 'hearts' one could say. They're known as 'Nature Spirit Cores' which, if one were to successfully extract one, not only would they gain a HUGE boost in lifespan, but they will also be able to become absolute geniuses in medical fields due to these Cores usng their energies and inborn knowledge of healing to ensure high quality medicine." He explained like a professor at a university. "Also, these effects are even greater if the Nature Elf is of a royal bloodline, much greater in fact. Then there's that rumour in which they can see into one's soul to see if they are good or not, but that's not very important."

Processing that info, Nico hummed before turning his head back to the Stage, his eyes shining with a calculating light. The thought of something like what Gelmudo had said intrigued him, as much as he disliked admitting it. Though, his dislike stemmed from his previous thoughts about his matter, no matter how much info he got about this thing he would NOT get over the fact that these idiots brought something so dangerous within the Capital's confines. Still, it resulted in dozens of thoughts racing through his mind, all the while the voice of his Demon Persona managed to break through that conflict and get the attention of the main aspect.

 **'What he says DOES intrigue me greatly, Nico. I detect no deceit from Gelmudo's words either, so his account is viable. This 'Nature Elf seems to be something of a rare commodity, if we were to take it out then harvest what remains, then we may be able to provide benefits to your Ghoul side. This Blood intrigues me there, if it were assimilated into your Kagune, you would gain a huge boost from it, especially with our lack of immunities to the elements. Remember how in the trials, we got lectured in how certain elements worked better against certain monsters? This would make it so that our body would be able to repel practically all of them, a huge boon for our defensive options. It seems to also be a passive effect, therefore we wouldn't have to worry about having to turn it on or off, and thus focus more on offensive tactics. Should we have your Kagune feast on the rest of the creature, then your Ghoul side's stats may increase to the upper echelons of the Spec Ops Agents, probably even break through the base limits of your human body. It would be wise for us if we were to attempt to buy this merchandice.'**

'HECK THE FUCK YEAH, I'LL DO THE INSANE THING HERE AND AGREE WITH OL' CALCULATOR FACE HERE! FUCKING EH, THIS IS A TREASURE TROVE OF TASTY GOODNESS HERE! MAN, I'M GETTIG SO HARD, JUST THINKING ABOUT THAT TENDER MEAT IN MY MOUTH, GUSHING DOWN MY THROAT AND DRIBBLING DOWN MY CHIN! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! YOU BETTER FUCKING BUY IT, OR I'LL TRY TO FORCE YOU INTO A KAKUJA FORM TO EAT EVERYONE HERE, FUCK THE CONSEQUENCES!'

Now normally, Nico would have scolded his Ghoul Persona for that last bit, since there would be ZERO chance of something like that happening. However, the male could understand where it was coming from, since thanks to it being a part of him he could feel each and every fibre of his instincts screaming at him. Screaming and begging him to sink his fangs into that child's body and drain the blood from him. All of it too, so he could become immune to all the elements out there. Not only that, but to increase his base stats as well, strength, speed, agility, endurance etc, to the levels of the strongest Spec Ops Agents? Well, that just sounded like a freaking bonus! The Great Way of the Buddha apparently only allowed him to have increased physical strength, the other aspects of his physical abilities remained largely unaffected by it. Therefore, to have something which could possibly increase the rest to balance his stats out, well… it proved itself to be more than a little… mouth-watering.

Maybe he should do it, buy this Abnormal away from these people so he could deal with it himself. Preferably outside the City where it couldn't cause any casualties to the rest of the Capital, but if he were honest, Nico would say that the potential benefits that Biko and Gelmudo had highlighted sounded particularly inviting. Enough to clash with his Spec Ops Ideology, resulting in this conflicting feeling in his chest. Killing Abnormals was his job, he was always supposed to do that whenever he were to encounter them. Either on a normal or even a Spec Ops Quest. One less Abnormal meant lives would have been spared in the future, a mother would be able to give birth to her young in peace, a father would be able to return home to his family, all that stuff. Not to mention that while he used Abnormal flesh to… sate his hunger, Nico's body REALLY grew stronger from eating them, which had caused his superiors to restrict the amount of flesh he was allowed to digest. Mostly so that he would remain under their control and ability to kill should he go too far to be any more useful.

Then again, what those guys don't know won't hurt them… and it's not like he couldn't learn to hold his strength back, he'd proven that it would be possible thanks to restraining his Ghoul side for so long…

But then… just as Nico made to start bidding since it had been approaching that time…

His lone eye locked its gaze with that of the Abnormal's when one eye poked out and looked right at him.

And Nico completely FROZE.

All his cognitive thoughts stopped in their tracks, screeching to a halt like tyres on a car. All his previous thoughts? You know readers, about the plans he had for it as well as his anger at the others for bringing that Abnormal here and his dislike for Abnormals in general? All of it just up and vanished. Gone with the wind without any hope of coming back, thanks to the vast shock that now occupied his mind.

Why did it occupy his mind, you ask?

Simple, the moment that Nico locked gazes with that Abnormal, something that deep down he had expected to see nothing but mindless hatred, wrath and desire to destroy everything around it. Something shared by many of the bloodthirsty Abnormals around these parts, but… when he saw the look in that Abnormal's eyes, Nico saw NONE of that. Instead, all he saw was a… vast emptiness. An emptiness which could only come from someone whom had lost everything and had given up on life. Someone who had been reduced to a state where they may as well have been absolutely DESTROYED inside. It had been the look of absolute defeat, of ultimate despair and loneliness…

And for the first time in ages, Nico found himself unable to speak. Heck, he even tried to look into the Abnormal's emotional state to see if this was false, his Spec Ops mentality as well as a majority of his mind screaming that this had to be fake. Unfortunately for those parts, when he looked into this further Nico could only sense defeat, resignation and begrudging acceptance for whatever was about to come next. Nico even summoned and used the Shingan to see into what thoughts that the Abnormal was having… but he only got a blank slate as a result, and it wasn't like the Abnormal was blocking the Ring's power, either. It didn't feel like that unlike with Gelmudo at all, and THAT only served to scramble the male's thoughts even more.

Just… what the hell?

Yeah, that could sum his mental state up best right now.

'What… is this…?' Nico finally managed to think after about 30 seconds of non-stop bluescreening, although to him it felt much longer. Heck, he had even forgotten to breathe in that time, something which was essential for the body to function properly. Still, it didn't lower his internal shock values any less than what they had been before, and as he locked gazes with the Abnormal, Nico began to feel something. Something…. Familiar. Why did he feel something familiar? Even in this state, it soon dawned on him why he had felt that way, looking into that Abnormal's eyes. Although right now a small, as in VERY small, part of him wondered if he should really call it an Abnormal anymore.

He knew that look, he knew that look all too well. He had seen it before on many people who had mental problems. Problems of the mind like split personality disorder, multiple different phobias after being exposed to them for a prolonged time (a lot of those times revolving around bullies using these phobias to make fun of these victims, assholes), and even those who had been proven to be clinically insane. Hell, he'd even seen it from those suffering from PTSD like soldiers, policemen, adventurers, Guild Agents and even Spec Ops Agents. None of them had been exempt from mental scars like that, it practically came with the whole job package. Of fighting monsters and keeping the innocent from harm, that is. He had once heard rumours that rates of people suffering from PTSD from engagements with these Demonic Forces grew by the day.

But… there was one case with whom he had seen this the most… and the one case that he got reminded of the most when looking into that Abnormal's eyes…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

… Himself.

Nico's mind nearly blanked out when he finally managed to admit that, trembles erupting like earthquakes from deep within his being vibrating throughout his body. Nico never liked to think about his forgotten memories, or even what was related to them. His memories carried many scars, and often enough, he would enter a panic attack which had a higher chance of triggering his Ghoul side. THAT would never be a good thing, so he had tried not to think about it too much. Even though sometimes, it would have… failed. But… seeing that Abnormal with that gaze… looking at him the way it did… It sparked one such memory from his past…

A particularly horrible one at that.

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" GYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_**

 ** _Screams. Great, horrible, agonizing screams ripped free from a containment cell deep within the Leanbox Spec Ops section of the Guild. The screams there had been super loud, intense, and particularly disturbing. They put even the most deranged of criminals swearing endless profanities to shame, and if those kinds of people, insanity plaguing their minds like that epidemic known as the 'BD' which had pretty much OBLITERATED a third of Leanbox's population way back when, heard these screams… they'd be shrivelling in their boots. Not just from insanity, but from traumatizing fear. Nobody, NOBODY would ever want to hear those screams, not when they erupted with the force and intensity that they did. They practically sounded like a mix of a wailing infant, as well as a patient in an insane asylum going through one hell of a mental break down._**

 ** _Inside that cell, one could call it an empty, blank slate. There was next to NOTHING in this room, not any windows, decoration, just grey tiles everywhere one looked. A fitting design for something meant to contain someone who had been proven exceedingly… dangerous, and even that word would be classed as an understatement. The only thing in that room aside from the tiles, was a single, small and hard-looking bed with a single sheet and hard-looking pillow. Not something very ideal for comfortable sleep, but then again that wasn't what this bed was made for. There was a lone male occupant sitting on the bed, holding his head while it hung downwards._**

 ** _That male…_**

 ** _Well, his hands were where his eyes would be, and judging by their movements, they looked to be tearing at something. His bony, fickle-looking hands, heck every spec of skin looked pale as hell, as if he hadn't seen the sun in days. He wore a set of raggy clothes like he had just escaped the hospital and had wandered the wilderness for months before being forced into that cell. Droplets of blood constantly fell from his face and down to the floor below, creating a puddle at least 30 meters in diameter. The sounds of grotesque flesh tearing resonated throughout the room gave a PRETTY good indication of what had been going on in that cell… none of it good._**

 ** _Just then, the figure's actions got interrupted when he heard the sounds of footsteps, and when his ears twitched in response to this, he heard the sound of something sliding along the ground. Almost instantly afterwards, however. He began to smell the smell of something… delicious, something tasty and juicy and better than any five-star meal anyone could ever have cooked for someone before. That… only sent chills of terror and dread down his body at the implications, implications that sent his mind off the rails that dictated its frail, unstable sanity._**

 ** _Just INSTANTLY after the sliding sounds stopped, the sound of flesh extending erupted within the Cell and something lashed out, slashing the thing which made the sliding sound to nothingness. Nothing remained of this as the male lifted his head, his messy hair as white as snow hanging wildly over the bandages which covered his bloody eye sockets. Gave an even BETTER idea of what his hands had been doing there, didn't it? "AAAARGH! I DON'T NEED THIIIIIIIISSSSSSAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"_**

 ** _His screams, louder than any speakers ever could produce, and also as mind-jarring, sounded throughout the room. Not to mention they lacked anything HUMAN about them, like they were more along the lines of screams a monster would make. His voice sounded so… frantic, panicked and horse, like he had lost the ability to do anything else but scream at the top of his lungs. Even if his lungs had been burning in agony and intense stress from his constant shrieking, it would be doubtful that the guy would even notice… or care, for that matter._**

 ** _BANG- BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG- BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG- BANG!_**

 ** _In an instant, he was at the door to the Cell, repeatedly banging on the door to the corridor which would lead outside of this containment area like one of those furious crimson zombies whenever they locked on to the smell of prey. His fists slammed against the metal door so hard that it caused these fist-sized dents in the metal, although it didn't give way. Heck, sparks flew from that door, since it had been reinforced with an electric charge strong enough to cause a brain to implode in on itself, although the male's actions didn't cease one bit. It didn't seem like he had even noticed the slowly-forming burns on his flesh nor the pain that wrecked every cell in his arms during his mad slamming. "LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOUT- LEMMEOUT-LEMMEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!"_**

 ** _More shouts rang throughout, erupting from his mouth like bullets from a machine gun with the ferocity to match. Hell, his ranting didn't stop even as his throat looked to be shredding itself apart from all the stress, blood spewing forth and down his jaw. If anything, it just caused him to go at it all the more as he repeatedly bashed the door containing him here, screaming and raving like a broken record. Near the end of his rant, which lasted over 30 minutes and consisted of non-stop banging, the male slammed both bloodied fists onto the floor and began to receive constant sparks from them. Electricity surged through his arms and charred the already damaged flesh around them, yet he remained undeterred. "PLEASE, LEMME OUT! I NEED TO GO, I NEED TO FIGHT, I MUST FIGHT I MUST FIGHT-FIGHT-FIGHT! PAPA WILL KILL ME IF I DON'T-PAPA ALWAYS SAYS TO FIGHT!" he yelled, pressing his fingertips on the door so hard that his nails were forcibly separated from his fingertips and then bent backwards, completely down to their bases._**

 ** _"AAAAARGH…! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH….! I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I…!"_**

 ** _After what felt like an eternity however, the male's insanity-driven strength began to wane, fatigue finally taking hold over his mind. His mind, body and soul to be frank, as his hands finally fell from the door. Their flesh had been seared in the most horrific, grotesque fashion with the smell of charred flesh filling the room. Though, if he were sane to be frank, it would be much more preferable than smelling the sweet, delicious taste of raw flesh. There was no blood dripping from his hands thanks to the tissue having been hardened from all the sparks racing through those hands, the burns extending all the way up his forearms._**

 ** _As they hung by his sides, the male already felt the tell-tale signs of self-healing begin their work… although, he didn't have the energy to care about that at this point. The sounds of shifting liquid made him commence looking down at the smaller pool of blood which had formed during his rant. There, as his wearies self-gazed down upon the puddle itself, he saw his own reflection stare back at him, a reflection he… surprisingly found was his exact one, and not what he usually saw._**

 ** _His eyes stared down at that reflection, which stared up back at him, mimicking the emotions which his eyes portrayed. He could somewhat make out his own eyes through the bandages covering them. Nothing but blank voids greeted him, a look of utter nothingness and blankness staring back at him. Ever heard of the saying: stare too long at the abyss and the abyss will stare back'? Whelp, that could be applied here, as it reflected the current state of being he felt himself in._**

 ** _At long last, his remaining strength faded away, as he fell onto his back and out of consciousness into the sweet realm of sleep. All the while, his body began its usual repairs to his bruised, battered form._**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

Blinking as his mind returned to the present, Nico's lone eye shone with conflicted emotions as he stared down at the Abnormal below him. Yet, the more he used that word in his mind, the more Nico found it harder and harder to do so. It was like he had been staring at a clear mirror, this Abnormal… it perfectly reminded him of a time when he himself had THAT EXACT SAME LOOK on its face. Glancing downwards after barely mustering the strength to break away from the gaze which caused his spine no small number of chills, Nico gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Just… how…?

How can an Abnormal make a facial expression like that?

None of the ones he had seen made that facial expression before. None of them, ever.

It oddly enough, reminded him of a few of those 'Fishmen' creatures which he had fought against in the Water Trials. Some of them, seeing his powers and prowess being something that they could never have surpassed, had just looked at him with those eyes although he had been too caught up in his slaughter to notice. He'd just cut them down swiftly like all the others. Now though, now that he was thinking about those looks on their facts, putting them onto that child's features and finding ZERO differences, it caused Nico to think back. Think back to what 'that guy' had once told him regarding the Fishmen.

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 _ **"** **A monster is only defined by their actions, not their biology.** **"**_

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

Lone eye blinking several times, Nico soon found himself returning back to reality. The surroundings once again distorted and shifted, transforming from that horrid, nightmare-inducing containment cell to the sickening, oppressive atmosphere which came from this Auction he had attended. Still though, Nico found himself still reeling from the flashback he had to the time during those trials where that guy had explained to him what he felt about 'discrimination' as he called it. Back then, Nico didn't get what he was trying to say, or rather he COULDN'T understand, since he had never seen Abnormals as anything else but that.

But… seeing what he was seeing right now… those words suddenly felt like they were containing much more weight to them.

Now that he remembered those words, looking at the Abnormal down below, Nico could only feel a series of complicated emotions. Not just anger this time, but confusion and curiosity, as well as a struggle to form one coherent opinion about this. To be frank, Nico could hardly call his mental state stable right now, in fact conflict and chaos reigned supreme within him, behind his blank expression. Just… what was he supposed to feel in this situation? On one side, should he still remain angry? Should he still see this Abnormal as that? Or, should he do something similar to what Castiel seemed like he would do and get this thing out of here? One thing was for certain however, and THAT had been made apparent to him several moments into his confusion-based debate:

That… was that he could NOT let anyone else have this thing.

And Nico had the PERFECT way to both retrieve the Abnormal as WELL as execute his wrath on these assholes.

* * *

"Alright ladies and gentlemen! Time for the bidding, now because of the specialty and rarity of this prize, we will be starting with a particularly high price! The starting price will thus, be 800,000 Credits! Alright, whose up for a once-in-a-lifetime divine good meal tonight?!" No-Face bellowed into his mike with much more enthusiasm than someone of his profession should be showing. Not something that could be picked up by the casual observer, but those with trained eyes and senses would DEFINITELY be able to see it.

Almost immediately, the entire audience went nuts, huge cries of excitement, greed and hunger filling the air. None of them seemed to care about the more 'moral' dilemmas of the actions they took, something which could be said for a lot of people actually. It actually made the child locked inside that cage like an animal, whimper a little as a small flame of fear rose behind his eyes. He began to tremble, then seemed to try and retreat deeper into himself by curling back into a ball and burying his face into his knees, as if to try and escape their hungry gazes.

Quickly the bidding process began, starting with 900,000 credits just as No-Face had proclaimed. The first bid came at 910,000, and soon enough people all over the room began to bid, offering the required sum to try ad outbid the other Nobles. Heck, even Gelmudo joined in on the bidding action, easily beating the other Nobles by offering up to 980,000 Credits right off the bat. The males who bidded wanted to simply have a grand meal unlike anything anyone else had ever eaten before, some even already began ravenously licking their chops in ager anticipation for what would be coming their way. As for the female bidders, some of them had similar intentions to the males but the majority of them just wanted something they could… vent their frustration on, if one could catch the meaning in those words.

At this point, Nico found himself deciding to make a move NOW. His Archdemon Urthemiel was in position, hiding above the clouds for the order to strike that its creator would give it. Once he gave the order, Nico's Archdemon would descend down and 'bring an end' to this little fuck fest by having Urthemiel crash through the roof and incinerate the entire Auction in a pool of Primal Fire. Then, during the distraction, Nico would Warp in, grab the Abnormal (damnit, why the hell was that becoming harder and harder to say?) and then Warp out. At least then these assholes would pay for this shit, plus some few less Nobles in the world wasn't entirely a bad thing in his opinion.

But just as Nico mentally made to initiate the order for the attack to begin…

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Instantly, Nico found himself nearly gasping, all of the air in his lungs quickly leaving him when he got exposed to a WHIRLPOOL of pressure. A pressure which felt similar to having to tank some of the strongest Abnormals head on, and even that felt like an understatement. In that moment, it felt like gravity itself had extended a hand and grasped onto him, leaving only his head able to move at all whilst is body remained completely paralyzed. 'Ugh, what the…?! Wait, this oppressive feeling…!'

However, his mind quickly registered the familiarity that the feeling possessed. He knew this feeling, he felt it ever second during this entire auction! Right freaking beside him no less! Turning to the source, Nico noticed Gelmudo looking at him, and not just sideways glancing like he had been for a while before, but ACTUALLY looking at him. Nico felt like he had garnered the man's full attention now, something that hadn't been the case beforehand. "Y-You…!"

"Heh, apologies my good man, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to stop you right there…" Gelmudo drawled, lowering his head while tipping his hat forwards, practically mimicking a gentleman's bow. However, Nico didn't even think for a SECOND that was what he was truly feeling inside, not with what he could sense from his emotional state right now. "For you see, this Auction is actually all fair and balanced, much fairer than most of the other things that happen in this world. Not to mention that its sponsored by some of the Guild and Basilicom's higher ups. Even some of the Spec Ops members are involved, therefore I don't think I'll allow you to do what you were about to do, boy. It'd be stupid of you to try anything."

'Wait, what?!' Nico thought, his lone eye widening as he barely suppressed his Ghoul side from manifesting its Kagune. Simply put, even the slightest amount of anger could set it off, and with the current state of things Nico knew that unleashing it wouldn't be a good idea. 'Are you freaking KIDDING ME?! Why the hell would they do something like this?! And here I thought these guys couldn't get any lower, whelp guess I was freaking WRONG! You know what, why am I even surprised anymore, those fuckers are all assholes hands down. When this is over, I'm going to be paying more than a FEW visits to certain people…!' He yelled in his mind. All the while, outwardly Nico merely scowled behind his Mask, a dark sneer escaping his mouth. "You're not kidding… damn them, do those fuckers realize how hypocritical that this is? Bringing dangerous items here is one thing, but bringing the very beings we fight on a daily basis? These guys truly know no idiocy…!"

At these words, Gelmudo sighed as he put his had back on his head, straightening up before shaking it derisively. "Wow, it honestly impresses me how narrow-minded and naive you're sounding right now. Not to mention you're being hypocrite too considering your behaviour in the past and through this Auction." He stated, sneering right back at the Spec Ops Agent. It took a LOT of Nico's willpower not to spear him with his Kagune at that moment, but Nico pulled it off. Even so, the man continued to push his buttons, like a parent disciplining a child.

"I'll be blunt then, so you can understand: everything in this Auction is very much normal and acceptable among society. We each get what we want, the customers get special items they can't get anywhere else with the least amount of risks involved, and the revenue built up goes to the economy. The Military, the medical facilities, Mercenary groups like the Guild and the Spec Ops Program. All of them need the money for the efforts against the Abnormals and Demons this auction is a very normal thing and the revenue is used to equip agents everywhere to fight against the Abnormals and demons." He explained, and much to Nico's horror when he tried to think of something to counter this, he couldn't.

Therefore, he kept his mouth shut as Gelmudo, whom had noticed his actions and couldn't help the slightly smug tone which bled into his next words, continued. "You should know this better than anyone, but researching and developing new technologies isn't cheap, the costs for everyone's weapons, armour and other supplies HAS to come from somewhere. And besides, at least this way we can know who has what item, which allows us to keep tabs on people with more… dangerous items. Pretty genius system, if you ask me."

'B-But…!' Nico tried to think of something, anything, to counter what Gelmudo had been saying. Sadly, for him however, just like before the words wouldn't form in his brain. Especially since, thanks to his experiences as a Spec Ops Agent, Nico knew that the man was talking sense. Money HAD to come from somewhere, that was true enough. And if one's economic resources were running low, they had to take drastic measures. Taking advantage of human greed and desire for money, power and glory was simply one of those ways, and just look at how effective it was in this Auction. Even with all this however, it didn't stop him from wanting to utterly rip his hair out to vent this frustration building inside his chest. 'Well, the fuck can I do now? Urthemiel won't attack unless I give the order, something which is likely going to be impossible right now. Not to mention that it seems that Gelmudo won't let me commence anything while he's here, plus this place apparently has protection from the very people I'm with! Fuck, this shit really makes me want to rip everyone apart! What the fuck else do I have right now…?'

 **'Nico, calm yourself. We still have one option available to us. We can still obtain the Abnormal there…'**

Just then, the words and presence of Biko intervened, washing over his mind and filling his mind up with themselves. However, the words he gave did have their intended effect, as they caused Nico's lone eye to shrink back to normal when I had been in a panicked state prior, then it narrowed when something dawned on the male. Biko was RIGHT, there WAS something that he could do. It wasn't something that he found himself favouring very much though, not one bit. Though, considering his options, no not leaving the auction that was a stupid thing to think about, there really wasn't much else that he could do. If he wanted to get that child-like Abnormal away from here, and possibly prevent anyone else from getting their grubby mitts on it, then he had no choice.

Gripping his fists, Nico told Urthemiel to hold fire for the time being, before he lowered his aggressive stance and relaxed himself. This caused the pressure on him to recede, Gelmudo having noticed his diminished intent to cause trouble. "There we go, now why don't you join in? All you have to do is bid, and that prize could be all yours. Though, I bet you won't be able to beat me with whatever measly funds you might have. I've got a noble on my side after-"

"2,000,000 Credits."

…

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…

…

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…

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…

Silence took over the room when the number that escaped Nico's mask-covered Mouth reached their ears. Shock, bafflement and confusion filled the minds of every Noble that had attended the auction, even No-Face looked like he had tensed up upon hearing that number. Everyone then turned towards the source of the voice, finding themselves looking upon the platform of which Nico and Gelmudo had stood looming over the proceedings like two hungry animals. Though many of them had bee to Auctions like this, none of them recognized Nico like they did the male's companion since they'd seen that hat-wearing guy before, so they all figured Nico as the one who spoke.

"Who the hell is he? Some noble's son?"

"If he has that much money, he has to be way up there in the rankings."

"What's up with that Mask? Hardly befitting of any Nobleman here. Does look quite intimidating though, like he's about to murder everybody…"

That last one nearly made Nico's bloodlust ignite again. Oh, how they didn't even realize how fortunate they were. If only Gelmudo wasn't here… these scumbags had dodged a particularly painful bullet.

Still, his words had definitely impacted a whole load of people just now, and it wasn;t like he was bluffing either. After all, it had been said several times throughout the story, but Nico's fortune from years of service to the Spec Ops Program had gifted him with quite the stipend. He could bet even 10,000,000 and it would only make a tiny dent in his wallet. Even wit that shopping spree on medical items. Most of his fortune came from selling anything he had deemed not practical for missions like treasure, gold, jewels etc to the authorities while also reaping the rewards of his Quests. He'd done this for YEARS and hadn't spent a lot of it on much of note, so forgive him if his fortune was a bit much right now.

Eventually, the announcer regained his ability to speak, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs of his mind in order to return to reality. "O-Oh my, a silent bidder? My, now that IS interesting! Well then, lets see…The man began, taking out a holographic attendance board and looking up the name of that person. "Hmmm… oh my, how INTERESTING! Looks like this person's claims are legit everyone! 2,000,000 is it? Well then, lets continue with the auction now, everyone! Can anyone top that? Come on, don't be shy!"

One Nobleman stood up while holding a hand out. "2,000,100!" He yelled. He looked to b in his 30's, yet also inspired to be a sumo wrestler with how… large, he looked. He evenm looked to have a dick for a head in terms of head shape, as well as a mocking gaze towards Nico. His eyes just screamed arrogance, likely thinking Nico would not be able to top that offer he had just made. The identities of the customers weren't allowed to be public knowledge, only the Auction Staff were privy to them. Therefore, their identies were safe as long as they remained in here, not to menition that Mask told the Noble that the guy was likely from the military. Hence, his assumptions of Nico not being able to do anything.

"3,000,000!"

… Only, for Nico to go even further byamping up the price beyond that Noble's expressions. His cold gaze never changed for even an instant, like whatever that Noble would do would end up being completely insignificant and pointless in the end. Even if his frtune wasn't small, Nico didn't like the fact that he was using it in an underground auction like this, especially with what was circling through his head right at this moment. Therefore, he would start off small then work his way up to that 10,000,000 mark. Still, the look of utter bafflement on that Noble's face just now felt practically divine, so internally Nico couldn't help but erupt into hysterical laughter.

Hah, in their faces!

… By the Goddesses, he didn't realize hw fun it was to knock these assholes off their high horse.

Nor did he realize how fucking therapeutic it was.

One more Noble, a young woman who looked like she belonged in a brothel or something similar, stood up then and held her hand out. She looked almost crazily at the announcer as she did this, her eyes those of a demented patient whom had just entered an insane asylum. "3,500,000!" She bellowed, spit flying fromher ruby red lips. Her eyes filled with arrogance and pride, just like the previous Noble as she thought that Nico wouldn't be able to go any further based off his clothing. Unlike that Noble however, she had some idea as to who Nico was really, as that Mask reminded her of a certain Agent whom had worn such a Mask during a quest interview her husband once issued out.

"4,000,000!"

Sadly for her, she underestimated Nico's bank account, thus she paid dearly when Nico raised the stakes even higher. The woman shifted her gaze from one of pride to one of complete stupification, looking back up at him with those eyes and her jaw dropped open. She almost looked like she would become catatonic as she fell back onto her seat, all the while Nico's cold gaze ignored her like the insignificant bug that he saw her as.

"4,000,000? Alright, that's the current bid. Anyone else? Anyone? This may be your only chance to get a Nature Elf, are any of you as eager as this young man to get a taste so exquisite that they will be in pliss for eternity?" No Face called out once the man had seen the woman step down, both onto her chair and in defeat. He could practically FEEL the aura of shame exuding from her form, so he figured she wouldn't be bidding any time soon. If ever.

Since nobody else dared to bid, not even Gelmudo (who looked like he was regarding Nico in whole different light compared to before), which then prompted No-Face to proceed onwards. "Very well, then the final bid is 4,000,000 Credits, congratulations young man! You are now a proud owner of the likely last ever remaining Nature Elf of Royal Blood. He is all yours now."

At this, Nico mentally exhaled in relief. Thank god this shit was nearly over so he could move on from it all. Nico did NOT feel good about this, not one bit. Not only did he take part in an auction, but with that Abnormal having a gaze so similar to one he used to wear in a time he'd rather not remember, Nico's mood looked particularly sour. He wanted to get this over with quickly, so he could just move on and get other things done, such as training and possibly exploring a bit to see if he could find anythingeven REMOTELY similar to the treasures in Zelretch's dimension. The Lexicanum had told him that there were dozens of aretfacts, Satanic Treasures, Bloodlines long forgotten, and so much more hidden throughout Gamindustri. Remnants of the DPU Era which made them all monstrous powerhouses. If he were to get his hands on some of them, maybe even enough to help his comrades get stronger, then he could perhaps… rely on them a little more.

In addition, he could feel the resentment and other intense dark emotions boiling beneath the surface within doozens of minds around him. Glancing about, it didn't take a genius to notice how, as Nico hopped off the platform, landed by the back of the room and walked down to the Stage, each of the Nobles were giving him rather dirty looks. Looks which conveyed EVERYTHING they wanted to say to him, but didn't. He didn't even NEED to use his Shingan to determine what their thoughts were, since he already had a good idea of what they were already. 'Seriously, if these guys were in a Demon's stronghold, their negative emotions would fit right in.' Nico couldn't help but think to himself.

 **'Do not pay them any heed, Nico. They are merely 'salty' as the humans would say, that you were the one to take the most special prize this Auction had to offer. Typical behaviour for these mortals.'**

Biko's words reverberated through Nico's head, making the teen mentally nod in agreement. The saltiness in the air was so thick that he felt like he could liquify it and store it in a cup then drink it… he'd probably say it was delicious, too. Drinking in their salt also felt IMMENSELY satisfying, and it took a lot of willpower not to smugly smirk in their direction just to rile them up even more. Finally, Nico reached the stage and approached the cage where the announcer was. He noticed how the child-like Abnormal was shaking in place, looking up at him with all sorts of emotions. EmoitIons which Nico didn't put much stock into for the time being as his priority was to get out of here as fast as possible.

As he approached, the announcer held up his tablet in which Nico held up one of his Bracers. There was a few moments of silence, before ean audible click was heard, which seemed to please the man as he proclaimed the following. "The amount has been transferred, so your ownership of the prize is now complete. If you wish to stay, please return to your seat, if not take the exit over to the left. Happy gambling now."

… Did this guy try to make a cutsy face right now?

Nico shuddered and did his best to remain expressionless, a feat he barely succeeded in as he gave a sharp, curt nod before the Cage opened. The Child, seeing what was going to happen to him, obediently stumbled out and followed the redhead male out into the exit. Leaving the Auction at long last.

* * *

Outside of the Auction, Nico made sure to continue walking until the male had existed the southern District and out of the Capital itself. During the trip, the two of them would have encountered thievs, bandits and other 'unsavoury individuals', though with just a burst of Killing Intent from Nico each of them got driven away. Not even those who got contracted to do so by foreign Nobles who wanted the Prize Nico had won for themselves managed to get close, in fear of the absolute mauling that the redhead's aura promised them. That, and that well… it would be fair to say that the male held a bit of a fearsome reputation in these parts. He WAS known as the Black Reaper after all.

'Say, Biko. Back at the auction, you said that you had some information about the Demons, right? Well since my aura's preventing those idiots from getting close since none of them have a death wish. You said you have some information that you wanted meto remind you to share some time.'

 **'Indeed, I do. Now, as you have seen, Demons are malevolent, otherworldly entities born from the deepest and darkest emotions of all mortal creatures. They are also born from either Coitus/creation from a DPU, though no matter how they came to be they all remain demonic energy beings in essence. They constantly roam the outer spaces of the Devildimension, waiting for their chance to cause utter carnage and chaos. When the time finally arises, these demonic entities seize upon the opportunity to break through the Seal aurrounding Gamindustri, greedily spilling forth to rampage and slaughter. Demons mainly fit into 4 categories: Lust, Anger, Magic and Decay. These emotions and thoughts fuel the main four Chaos Gods: Slaanesh, Khorn, Tzeench, and Nurgle respectively, which is how the DPU of Life designed them to be. And before you ask, yes the DPU of Life was responsible for the Chaos Gods coming into being.'**

'…You know, that last part isn't that surprising to be honest. I'd expect those assholes to be like that if Mundus was any indication. Continue, please.'

 **'As you have seen, these Demons have their own specifications: Daemons of Khorne are muscled and brutal, driven to slaughter and murder, whilst those that serve Tzeentch are whimsical and devious, shunning physical combat in favour of the sorcery that Khorne detests so. Nurgle's daemons are by far the hardiest of their kind, if somewhat moribund in thought and deed, whilst Slaaneshi daemons are lithe and whip-quick, as delicate in form as they are vicious in temperament. However, there is much more to Demons than just this, as I just found out.'**

'How so?'

 **'Demons exist in a huge variety of forms, appearances and abilities, similar to the Abnormals plaguing Gamindustri. However, if a powerful Abnormal of today's standards fought a Demon, they would more than likely lose to them, as Demons are inheritly stronger. Even so, it appears that even with their versatile appearances, Demons are classified in terms of power as well. Ground Class, Sky Class, World Class. To begin with, Ground class Demons are the weakest class, as in they are the 'footsoldiers' of the Demon species. DPUs and other races refer to them as 'Lesser Demons' as a result. They are not that strong like I said, but when I do say that I'm taking DPU Classes into account. They are below the weakest DPUs, but the toughest Abnormals will find themselves hard pressed to fight them. Bloodletters, Minions, Traumas, the Defiler so far you and I have encountered mostly this class of Demons. Therefore, do not underestimate them if you do not wish to pay for it.'**

'Hmmm… Ground Class Demons, huh…? I guess Primordial Demons would have to exist somewhere in that classification too…' Nico thought to himself whilst glancing behind him, looking towards the child Abnormal he had bought. The Child looked to be keeping his head low and followed him a couple steps behind. He couldn't sense any intent to try and rebel against him, so far, so that was at least something. Still, judging from what Biko had told him, if this kid fought against a Demon then it would no doubt get itself killed. Guess there really was a difference between Demons and Abnormals after all, he would not lie and say part of him hadn't been wondering if that was the case.

 **'Correct, but I will get to THEM later. The next class is Sky Class. Also being referred to by DPUs and other races as 'Greater Demons' These Demons have power levels that rival Continent Class DPUs. These Demons can have strength which blows away continents, reducing everything there to rubble, but do not have the power of destroying planets. That is not within their abilities, but what they DO have is strong Souls. Souls in which, if THAT GUY we met in those Trials were to put his curses on them when they are at full power, then they would simply last a couple seconds before they are burned away by the chaotic Demonic Energies coursing through them. They are nigh immune to any kind of attack on their Souls, save for the absolute strongest of them. It would take several Agents of the stronger calibres to take these ones down, Agents like the ones which retrieved us after the Halo Mountain incident. The beings known as Bloodthirsters, much like the one which the girls encountered during the Gala, are one such creature.'**

… Huh, interesting. So there WERE stronger Demons than the ones he had encountered up till now, he just hadn't met them yet. Nico had also been wondering about that at one point, since he had killed so many Demons and Demonic-possessed people like the Northmen and the World Eater Legion. He had started to wonder if these Demons weren't exactly all that, but now that he knew THIS information... it honestly filled him with eager excitement and great anticipation for when he eventually fought these stronger Demons. Also, since these Sky Class Demons rival the weakest of the DPUs, then that would mean that the upper classes could potentially be even greater... made getting stronger all the more important. Also, if he had been killing so many 'lesser demons' then could greater demons be rarer to encounter? Or was the weakened Seal involved?

Something that, as much as a growing part of him began expressing conflicted thoughts about, this Abnormal behind him had qualifications for.

 **'Next, is the World Class Demons. Now, a World Class Demon CAN destroy planets just like a Chaos Class DPU can, however it takes much more out of them and it is not as easily achieved. DPUs of the Chaos Class find this much easier to accomplish, not something these Demons can emulate. Even so, Demons of this class are not to be trifled with as even Chaos Class DPUs don't underestimate them, even if they don't rival such powers and are more in-between Multi Continent and Chaos Class. In addition to this, they have absolute immunity to anything related to Mind and Soul attacks, so if we had used any such attacks against them, then they would have failed before even reaching them. Not to mention that, some of them have an immunity to death, if they were to die their souls would live on and their bodies would reform. Either that, or they become Devil Arms or leave Spirit Bones behind. These are their fates should they fall in battle. Demon Princes are such Demons.'**

Now THIS information intrigued Nico greatly, especially the fates of these types of Demons. The fact that they became Devil Arms, while not as strong as their original forms, meant that the base Devil Arm's power would likely be at least compatible with the Sky Class Demons. Something Biko then confirmed with him a moment later. Thus, when they became Archdevil Arms, thus beginning their journey to regain their full powers from when they were pure Demons, then they could pretty much become planet busting weapons... Oh geez, and Nico had several of them... the strain they must have on the soul must be MASSIVE. Could it even be possible that if he wasn't strong enough to handle it...

Even if he had strong confidence in his fortitude and endurance, but perhaps finding something which could help strengthen his Soul resistance might make things just a little bit easier...

* * *

After a while of walking, Nico and the child Abnormal were at least a hours worth of walking away from the Capital. Fortunately, the child hadn't been walking away from him, simply followed behind him without any thought of rebelling or attacking. The male himself, during that time, had been pondering the information that Biko had explained to him whilst keeping mental notes on the child's emotional state. He had said that Primordial Demons were a classification of World Class, essentially a sub class which were much stronger than the DPUs. Though, there weren't nearly as many of them as the other Demon Classes, and most if not all of them had been dealt with in some way BY the DPUs, making them a seriously OP Race of Warrior Gods. Still, even with all that information being somewhat difficult to process, Nico couldn't help but find some form of familiarity to it. A sensation which honestly he would have fondly smiled at if he were on his lonesome or with his comrades. The familiar feeling of Biko sharing information with him, information in nearly too much quantities, felt much more appreciated than normal.

Some familiarity in all this madness felt pretty freaking good. Almost like seeing a familiar face in a foreign environment. It was a form of comfort, not something which could often be found in this world.

Once the two had reached the point Nico felt that they could talk without being observed, Nico whirled around towards the child, about to release his Kagune. However, the moment that he noticed the Abnormal's gaze, Nico stopped just like before. Within the darkness of the night, the many stars illuminated the youngling's features. Thanks to them, Nico saw how the younglings' eyes shone brightly just like those stars, emitting a dazzlingly brilliant green glow. A glow which the Abnormal had NOT been in possession of when all this first began. A complete contrast. In fact, all Nico could see was this... sense of 'life' to him, life and innocence which would not be unfit for someone of its shape and age. "Um... thank you very much, sir..." it spoke in a soft, pure and innocent voice which made Nico find it all the more difficult to see it as an Abnormal.

In that moment, Nico's gaze glazed over, and for that moment those words reverberated within his mind. Did... an Abnormal just... thank him? Shaking his head and regaining his mental faculties, Nico's unmasked eye narrowed into a dark glare. "You HAVE to be some sort of idiot. Do you really think I would spend so much on you just to save your life?" Nico questioned, a fierce blade-like edge to his voice as memories of his prior battles with Abnormals filled his mind. They don't talk, they were his enemies and he shouldn't see them as anything else, right? Nico almost cursed himself when he didn't feel as convicted as he usually was.

Yet, even so, the child's eyes didn't lose any of their clear glimmer to them, nor did they lose that spark of life they held since this conversation began. If anything, after a few seconds of staring into his own angry ones, the child's eyes almost shone even brighter. A wide smile, one not unfit for an innocent child, suddenly spread into existence. "Its okay, I'm sure I'm right. Cause I know you sir, are certainly a good person." he exclaimed with no doubt or anxiety in his voice.

On the other hand however, in contrast Nico's lone eye widened slightly in surprise. Well, surprise didn't quite fit right, more like pure bafflement than anything. He honestly didn't expect this, what the hell was going on here? In seconds however, that bafflement turned into indignation... well, more like that among a mix of other emotions, ones that felt, well... indescribable to him. Anger? Annoyance? Rage? He wasn't quite sure, and the more that he looked at it, the more Nico found himself conflicted. Just... what the hell, what the fuck was going on here?! Was this thing messing with him?! Just looking at this thing made him question his resolve! If that wasn't enough, then there was the fact that this thing's damned eyes looked so... pure, wholesome and innocent. Way more than anything he had ever seen. Nico never thought something non-human could have such eyes, just looking at them made his tension ebb away into the breeze. Just... how the hell could something like this-NO!

Shaking his head, the teen stopped those thoughts from continuing any further, since they would not serve any potential purpose. 'This thing has GOT to be more naive than logically possible if it thinks that about me!' Mentally, Nico wrapped up these thoughts into a bag and locked them away, instead opting to give nothing but the fiercest glare he could muster. "Me, a good person? Hah! That's rich! The amount of blood on my hands is would fill up an entire ocean, brat. I'm so bloodied that my clothes would have been drenched in it if it were possible. There's only one reason why I even bothered to get you out of that damned Auction..."

As fast as a flash, Nico's Rinkaku erupted from the back of his waist. All 6 Tentacles burst out in an explosion of gory, crackling splendour, their forms completely visible thanks to Nico's will. 2 Tentacles lunged forwards and, faster than the child could react, 1 wrapped around the Abnormal's neck and the other wrapped around the waist. They then set about lifting the Abnormal right off the ground, holding him just above it so that it couldn't escape. As for the other 4, they each poised themselves to impale the Abnormal from both the left and right sides. "Is so I have the pleasure of ripping you apart with my bare hands! Then, you won't be able to cause any more damage to the city!"

What he didn't say was that he also planned on feeding this child's corpse to his Kagune, since through that he would be both digesting a whole corpse's worth full of blood which would make him highly resistant/nigh-immune to pretty much all elements. At least then, his defences would be much better than before so he could focus on dodging and attacking his opponents. He could have mentioned it, but he got the feeling that he didn't have to, since the child likely would have known just by looking at him.

Something he became even more certain of, when he saw how the Abnormal's face contorted into fear and panic. His body tried to shrink back and retreat, but he must have forgotten what just happened right now for his Rinkaku held him in place. Something he quickly remembered when Nico's 2 Tentacles began to constrict slightly. "I... I... Please no, please don't do this." The child-like Abnormal begged with its gaze filling with tears. "I know you're a good person! Please, don't do this... Please let me go. I'll do anything you ask of me, even give you my most important treasure!" he pleaded. In response to that, the Tentacles around his neck and waist constricted tighter, forcefully cutting off his air supply and making him gasp.

'That's not the face a child should make...' part of his brain commented to him. Although, that part was now the size of a hand whilst it tried to wrestle control over Nico's thoughts away from his killer instincts. However, The redhead Spec Ops Agent, even as his heart clenched at the sight, crushed that part of him into nothingness. Even if he was beginning to have conflicting thoughts about this, there was no getting around the facts: he was a Spec Ops Agent, and this was an Abnormal. As such, these two HAD to fight, and the loser would bend up being killed in the end. It had been this way for over 500 years now, so why should this be any different? At its core, it wasn't anything THAT different... right?

Nico soon got the feeling he was trying to make excuses for himself behind this façade.

'AWWWW, DON'T FUCKING THINK ABOUT ALL THAT SHIT, KING...'

Just then however, Nico's lone Kakugan eye shifted erratically as he felt the phantom cold feeling of his Ghoul Persona's hands gripping his shoulders. Quickly, Nico realized he was beginning to hallucinate, and tried to fight against it, although to his horror, none of his usual coping methods worked. He had thought his hallucinations would have stopped when he managed to reveal his Ghoul side to the girls in his party, so why the hell were they happening now?! What the fuck was going on, what-

'HAH, LIKE I SAID, YOU DON'T GOTTA THINK SO HARD ABOUT IT... JUST LET THE BEAST INSIDE FEAST... YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. IN THE END, ITS ALL LIKE YOU JUST SAID. YOUR AN AGENT, AND THIS IS A BEAST. IN THE END, YOU HAVE TO SLAY IT, RIGHT? WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT THAT? ITS THE NORMAL THING TO DO, RIGHT? YOU'VE DONE IT SO MANY TIMES ALREADY, ONE MORE ISN'T GOING TO MEAN ANYTHING. EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST A BURDEN, SO WHY NOT JUST SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE? YOU'RE NOT JUST AN AGENT, YOU'RE A PREDATOR. THIS THING IN OUR GRASP IS OUR PREY. #SNIFF, SNIFF# AHHHHHH, DOESN'T THAT MEAT SMELL JUST... DIVINE...? THAT ANNOUNCER WASN'T KIDDING... THIS PIECE OF MEAT REALLY DOES SMELL DELICIOUS. HOW GODLY WOULD IT BE IF WE COULD JUST... SIMPLY FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING AND EAT? LIKE WE WERE MADE TO. YOU WOULD LIKE THAT, RIGHT...?'

As his thoughts spiralled into chaos, Nico heard-no, rather he FELT, his Ghoul Persona start whispering into his ear. His ear, and the back of his mind as well., practically speaking to EVERY part of him. As it did so, Nico felt the grumbling and growling noises coming from the beast within. His Rinkaku began to tremble whilst his prey helplessly flailed about like a fish caught on a hook. Just by looking at it, Nico could feel himself slipping, slipping into the madness of the monster he held deep inside. It was worse because his Kagune was out, which means his Ghoul Side would be much more active than previous times, like that time before the Hellverse incident when he nearly attacked Compa. THAT wasn't something he particularly liked, nor would he ever like it. Yet, even as he tried to struggle, tried to contain the urges as his Rinkaku slowly but surely got closer and closer to its goal, his mind began to teeter over the edge...

…

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…

…

…

… Maybe, his Ghoul side had a point. After all, all this stuff which he had been thinking about recently really did stress him out, and its not like he had any ways of arriving at an answer any time soon. So, why should he worry about it? Why not just do what his instincts tell him to and devour? He was a predator, and this was his prey. Why should he think any more than that? There was simply no point, no need, to do anything else like that. All he needed to do... was kill. Kill, rip, tear, shred, gorge himself upon the innards and fresh flesh of his enemies. To tear open their bodies and shred through their organs, feeding their innards to his Kagune, going on mass genocides on a daily basis, helping himself to whatever he wanted. That sounded like so much fun... so much... bliss…

His Kakugan eye slowly, but surely, lost its grasp on sanity as did Nico's mind. All his moral dilemmas, everything that had lead up to this point became a blur to him, to the point where all of it pretty much became unrecognizable. Even the faces of those he had recently met like that guy with the hat (?) and that weird masked guy with that... suit, was it? He didn't know anymore, nor did he find himself caring all that much. His breathing gradually got heavier, like there was this weight that suddenly landed on his chest with the only way to relieve it being right in front of him. His mouth began to drool a little, all the while his Kakugan shrunk and grew along with his heavy breathing. The beast inside roared in its urging to follow the instincts which guided them. Instincts which told him to ignore the flailing and cries of his restrained prey in order to dive in for what he REALLY wanted. Not to just KILL this piece of delicious meat, but to savour the sweetness of the iron-like taste from thick, crimson blood that gushes through this prey's veins. He could feel it pumping, rushing through its body like a flood with the Tentacles around its neck. It felt... enticing, intoxicating even. Like a drug, and he himself felt like an addict just a second away from getting his fix...

Yes... Yes, this will be what he does.

He could hear the prey within squealing like a pig right now, its tiny little limbs which looked way too pathetic to be of any use, grasping his Rinkaku to try and pull it away from his neck and waist in a desperate attempt to break free. How amusing, how very amusing... it honestly made him chuckle in a mocking manner as 2 more grabbed onto his wrists and held them apart, making him look like some guy whom had been impaled on a cross. What was that guy's name again? He forgot, and honestly didn't care much for right now. Yeah... right now, the only thing his mind, filled with voracious hunger and dripping with an ocean of thick, heavy and cloudy bloodlust as it was, registered was that he wanted to take a sample of this delicious meat he'd caught in his grasp... then, he'd DEFINITELY devour it post haste should the flavour prove as divine as his senses were telling him.

Slowly, Nico had his Kagune bring the prey closer to him, hearing some mad laughter echoing within the confines of his mind. Whatever that was, Nico wasn't in any state of mind to care, his sole Kakugan eye simply focusing on the prey that he had caught. Thoughts of the sweet ecstasy he would soon feel upon tasting the jelly that was inside this creature filled it instead, making the beast inside roar joyously as he brought the boy's shoulder to his lips. As he did so, Nico slowly opened his mouth, exposing his teeth whilst drool cascaded down his chin like a waterfall thanks to all the thoughts swirling within his head. One bite would be all it would take for him to get this done... one bite...

And yet...

...

"#SOB#,#SOB#... Mama... Papa... #SOB,#SOB#... big sis... I'm-I'm... so... so sorry...#SOB#'#SOB..."

Words? Did his prey just speak right now, even though he had restrained his windpipe? Now that he checked, Nico felt that his Kagune had lessened somewhat unknowingly around the prey's neck, allowing it to speak once more as well as breathe. Annoyance filled him at this, how dare its prey dare to speak and ruin what would be a divine-class meal for him. He should shut it up by biting its lips clean off so it can't speak no more! Yeah, that sounds promising, he remembered that the mouth and the tongue was where the greatest concentration of blood was, so they'd make perfect appetisers. Thus, with that goal set in mind, Nico gradually lifted his head up in preparation for the biting off of the prey's lips and tongue, thoughts of their juicy fluids only spurring him on...

When he saw the prey's face... and instantly all his thoughts screeched to a halt.

Tears. Tears of despair and loneliness. They fell down the prey's face like waterfalls, gushing forth from its tear ducts like exploding tides. They released droplets from his chin down to the ground beneath him almost like a steady stream themselves, as his arms and legs hung themselves limply, not a single strand of strength used on them. Almost like they were discarded dolls, their use having been expanded a long time ago. If it weren't for the Tentacles holding his wrists, then Nico would assume them to be hanging by the preys' sides. But... the most important thing for Nico right now, lay in the prey's eyes. Amidst the loneliness and despair... was resignation. Resignation to a fate which it seemed to understand would not be avoided, for he wouldn't be able to escape no matter how hard he tried.

Green eyes became peach coloured,

Green hair became peach coloured,

Facial features became more feminine,

Body features became feminine,

Their surroundings warped and shimmered, becoming a deserted town bathed in flames that lit up the night sky.

and all Nico did at that moment... was stare in absolute shock, then horror, and them mortification. His brain having finally rebooted and dispersed it's previous state just from this hallucination alone. Heck, his face had moved away to about 10 inches between them just to analyse the expression more, though right now he sorely regretted that option.

All the while, everything that had happened previously came back to him in a mad rush of thoughts, images and emotions, nearly overwhelming him. Just... what the hell had he almost done just then? Had he just nearly did... something which he had sworn never to do again? Did he just nearly discard all the morals of which he followed just to satisfy his own inner cravings? This Abnormal... this CHILD... He... he just tried to eat this child, a child whom had been a victim of slavery and had just gone through a horrific trial in the form of that horrid Auction. Right now, even, it looked like he had gone some rough family issues as well, mentioning that he was likely the last of his bloodline, meaning that his family... his family had...

Oh shit...

What had he almost done?

Shit... shit, shit, SHIT!

DAMNIT! GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!

All that horror quickly got replaced with anger and hatred, all targeted at himself as he quickly reinstate his control over himself, retracting his Kagune back into him faster than the speed of sound, unintentionally dropping the child onto the floor like a sack of potatoes. Yet, he didn't notice as he took a couple horrified steps backwards, clutching one hand over his mostly-Masked face with his eye, now back in its human state, trembling violently as images played out in his mind. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on one's point of view, he remembered everything that he had been thinking at that moment, that moment where his inner beast took hold over his mind. He remembered ALL of it, especially what he intended to do just then. In his opinion, that was NOT a good thing, but worse... was the hallucination he just had, a hallucination which PAINFULLY reminded him of something that had happened in the distant past. Something he sorely regretted and had hoped to never recall again.

 **...co...ico…NICO! Thank the nine hells my connection is back! Are you alright?!'**

'B-Biko...! What happened, was...!'

 **'I know, I know don't worry. Phew, its good that my connection has returned, it means your mind is stable once again for the time being. I must apologize, it seems like I was unable to be of much assistance this time. I only noticed just seconds before it happened, but the chaos born from these conflicting opinions within your mind made it easier for you to... well, you know what... it just happened, you losing control over your Ghoul side. Since you were actively using it to restrain this Abnormal, it meant that you couldn't use your Demon powers. The Powers of the Ghoul and the Powers of the Demon are separate, and because of your current opinions it is impossible for them to co-exist. At least to a point where I can stop it from going out of control like that. In battle, you wouldn't be able to use both the Ghoul and the Demon in you against your opponent because of our current states. Essentially, what many people have been telling us in the past is the truth... we are unable to access our full potential because of this 'status quo' between us.'**

'Y-Yeah... I know...'

Hearing that did NOTHING in soothing the horrendous guilt that flooded his mind right now, and Biko didn't feel like he could say anything to help either. Only to explain what had happened on his end, and though he didn't show it much, he DEFINITELY had panicked when this had happened. Its always so sudden and spontaneous when his mind acts like this and his Ghoul side takes advantage. While he could normally suppress its activity, something he had been doing for a while under Nico's request, if Nico's mind got too chaotic and became unstable, then his Ghoul side had the chance to 'breath through' those chains and wreck utter havoc. Even with him around, the dangers of that happening were still there, something Nico had been INTIMITELY aware of. Still, not like he could do much about it, as according to Nico this used to happen much more often in the past before he became a DPU. Biko could only imagine what Nico had went through, even if he could see his memories.

On Nico's side of things, the teenage soldier felt like the worst person on the earth, much worse than the most cruel of criminals Nico had caused the downfalls of in the past. Now, the male couldn't help but see the being on the ground before him for what it really was, though right now he felt too... well, emotionally compromised to actually say it in his monologues right now. Even so, the weight of what he had been about to do just then... it hit him harder than a shower of bricks used to build skyscrapers. Because of those times when he failed to quickly rein in his Ghoulish nature, many lives had been lost. A lot of them innocent too. Heck, right now he had almost done that exact same thing, something he had sworn himself to prevent as much as possible. Even now, Nico could sense the sheer terror coursing through the Nature Elf right now, and since it wasn't fading away nor was it doing anything, it was safe for him to assume that the boy was rooted to his spot on the ground. Unmoving in case something were to trigger him, like an animal one second away from erupting into a berserker rage.

After a while passed, that while being filled with the most intense, heart-gripping, pulse-rising silence one would ever feel, Nico looked into the terrified being's eyes and shifted his gaze to the side. His fists fell to his hips whilst clenching themselves so tight that, if they were normal, then they would have bled. "You... retreat from this location, effective immediately!" Nico eventually yelled, and yet despite the cold and harsh look on his face, the male couldn't help but feel relieved inside.

At least.. things didn't end up like what happened back then...

On the kid's side of things, after he had landed on the ground in the most unceremonious of mannerisms possible, the child had taken a moment to catch his breath. or rather, he had no other opinion but to let his instincts take over, which forced him to do that instead of moving away. Away from the danger of death which had almost claimed his life. His hand held his throat where several marks could be seen, red mars to indicate what had nearly happened to him, whilst he entered a coughing fit to force much needed air back into his lungs. Once he got back his ability to breathe though, the child looked up at the one who had almost killed him with the widest eyes anyone could ever see on a child. A look of shock and curiosity erupting onto those green orbs of his. "R-Really...? You'll let me go...?" he asked, unable to stop the trembling of his lips.

Nico however, kept his gaze away from the child-from the SIN he had almost committed. He couldn't even look at him in the eye without recalling what he had almost done and the bullet he had barely dodged in time. Even so, this new clarity soon allowed his previous thoughts of conflict to resurface, pushing away the ones which thought of the child s that, a child. What the hell was going on with him? He was a freaking monster, so why the hell did he stop doing what his instincts told him to? No, Nico knew the answer to that one, but he just didn't want to address it. Especially with a stranger. Even so, Nico aimed a one-eyed glare at the child whilst putting all his effort into resisting the hallucination that would have happened. "Go... Leave here, before I change my mind and gut you where you stand, Abnormal." he snarled.

He figured that would force the Abnormal to leave him be, so tat he could focus on reining in his chaotic emotions once more then head off to forget everything, but...

"I... I knew it!" The boy exclaimed, the prior expressions on his face fading away. Instead, joy and relief filled his eyes as a wide smile formed on his lips. Raising a and, the boy made to wipe his tears away, brushing his arm across his eyes. He wasn't afraid of dying, no that wasn't what he had been crying about. He only cried since by dying, he'd essentially be dooming his entire race to extinction. That to him, was way worse tan merely kicking the bucket. "I knew it. You really are a good person...!" he exclaimed whilst stepping backwards, his eyes never leaving the male. He had just came close to death, and had seen how the guy had snapped himself out of that 'state' he had been in at the last second. Something which, unlike a LOT of people in his situation, the boy couldn't help but feel gratitude towards him for.

Good Person.

Those two words reverberated throughout Nico's mind, causing the redhead male to nearly explode into laughter like that time in the tent between him and Lucy. Him? A good Person after what had almost happened just now? How stupid was this thing? How could it call someone like him, whom had just tried to eat it, a good person? Also, the more that those words repeated themselves in his mind, the more he began to get a sense of familiarity to them. Soon enough, the teen remembered something which Gelmudo had said to him when explaining about the Nature Elves.

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 _ **"Then there's that rumour in which they can see into one's soul to see if they are good or not, but that's not very important."**_

 _ **(Flashback END)**_

'Ugh, that guy... don't even know him, and already I want to kill him. He could have at LEAST given a little more info on that part of their abilities.' Nico thought to himself with a wave of irritation. Seriously, he felt like the man knew more about these creatures than he had been letting on, simply from how the guy seemed to have an extensive knowledge of their biology. Especially what happens if one harvests them right. Heck, just thinking about that made him feel disgusted with himself for some reason. If he DID know more about this ability to tell who is good or not, and didn't tell him... Oh, he'd be having words with him when they next meet.

Whilst Nico immersed himself in a bout of self-scolding, he heard the steps of the child Abnormal getting fainter and fainter away. He figured that it was leaving the area, and honestly he felt glad about that. At least he could put all this shit behind him and move on with his life. Something anyone would want to do in his situation. But then, the steps stopped getting distant, and he could still smell the Abnormal, as its voice rang out. "Um... Sir? Is it alright if I ask you a favour?"

Ugh, seriously? The moment that Nico heard the Abnormal speak, the teen resisted the urge to let his Kagune back out again. The male did NOT feel like going on an escort quest right now. "Really? You're really asking me that when I was just about to rip your stomach open and feed on your innards?" he retorted sharply, once again sporting a blade-like edge to his voice.

Of course, hearing that brought out the sharp tensing from the Abnormal, and Nico's sensing of dark emotions didn't help either. Still, the child took an intake of air and swallowed his fear. What happened may have been life-threatening, but it showed him much about the person who had almost done the deed. Thus, he felt like this guy would be trustworthy for what he wanted to do. "I... I know it is an odd thing to do, request the aid of someone who tried to kill me, but still.. could I ask your assistance in accompanying me home?"

Now THIS made Nico arched his lone unmasked brow. "Your home?" he questioned in confusion and befuddlement.

The child Abnormal nodded at this before proceeding to explain. "Yeah. Um, I know the way back there, but its quite the distance and, sadly, I'm unable to fight any enemies myself. Its what lead to my being captured by those scary people. But, if you accept, I'll be more assured that I'll be brought back home. I'll even do anything you want if you're wondering about a reward." He explained, before lowering his head in a bowing gesture. "So please, please help me return to my home village."

Humming, Nico scowled behind his mask as he ignored his indignation for the time being, in favour of pondering what to do next. Whilst all he really wanted to do was to leave all this behind him, Nico also admitted begrudgingly to himself that, thanks to this encounter, he had... more than a few questions that he wanted answers to. Answers which he could acquire by accepting this unofficial quest request. The fact that it was an Abnormal which was requesting this of him plus the twisted irony that came alongside it was not lost on him, either. 'What do you think Biko? Should we do this?'

 **'I would say go for it. Normally, I would not do so since A: this is an Abnormal and B: I share your desire to move on from this, however these events have... given me much to think about. Also, I do not say this often, but this child... he intrigues me. It is not often that a child his age is brave enough to act around you like he is, it has piqued my interest. In addition, I calculated our odds, and unfortunately if we don't accept then chances are we may never get the answers we want. Not to mention that your Ghoul Side's being... distracted for the time being by killing the monsters in here, which spawned from your suppressed lust-based desires.'**

… Honestly, he really didn't want to talk much about his Ghoul side, but knowing that for the time being it won't be acting up felt like a damn blessing. 'Alright then, thanks.' he replied, cutting off the link before fully turning back to the child Abnormal. "Alright then, lets go. Oh, you may want to introduce yourself, and as for me call me DEATHSTROKE." He didn't say his actual name, since it was more of a formal, professional relationship right now.

The boy nodded, a huge beaming smile erupting onto his face once more before he responded. "Its He Lin, and thanks for the acceptance, Sir-I mean, DEATHSTROKE!" He replied, and with that the boy soon began making his way away from the Capital, with Nico pocketing his hands inside is Trench Coat and following suit.

At least he would be getting away from that damned auction, the redhead couldn't help but think to himself.


	183. Chapter 153 - Nature Elf Village

**Chapter 153 - Nature Elf Village**

You know, if one were to tell him that he'd be escorting an Abnormal back to a village with similar Abnormals to it, then likely he'd run that person through with Rebellion whilst insulting their intelligence. With no small number of curses, too.

That was what Nico thought to himself as he and He Lin (a weird name, if he was frank. Though, in all fairness, he didn't know much about Nature Elves in the first place, something he felt necessary to correct) rode on the back of his Skimmer Ember through the Leanbox Countryside. His small head had been buried into his back, something which sent shudders down his spine in the beginning though Nico got used to it fairly quickly. As with the arms wrapped around his waist holding onto him for dear life. If he listened carefully or paid more attention to this being he currently had the mission of transporting back to his home, then he would have heard his faint whimpers of slight terror as he did his best not to cry out and annoy his so-called 'saviour'.

Ugh, he hated that word, it COMPLETELY felt like the opposite of what would have actually happened if he hadn't snapped back into his senses...

'Tch, how annoying...' the redhead thought as he glanced idly behind him at the young Nature Elf. He looked so feeble and weak right now that it didn't take him by surprise anymore that he got captured by humans. If anything, he looked like someone who wouldn't even hurt a fly, although in his line of work it wasn't good to assume something as weak unless you have adequate information beforehand. 'Just looking at this guy irks me slightly, heck this entire scenario feels... weird, wrong even. On multiple fronts too...' He thought further, glancing back to the distance ahead of them and keeping his lone eye narrowed into a slit.

Throughout his work, Nico had encounter all kinds of Abnormals, each of them varying in shapes, sizes, powers and abilities. Each time, they had quickly proven how 'monstrous' they could be just by showing off their abilities and what they had shown off beforehand if he had already encountered their species before. Such examples included those Bull humanoid Abnormals he had fought back in the Hellverse incident, Abnormals with an almost insatiable hunger for combat and bloodshed. He had once even heard of a time when a massive army of them had once been formed with an abnormally strong one as their leader. Every time they pillaged a Village back then, they wouldn't actually destroy the village completely, oh no, they would do something a whole lot worse in his eyes. Instead of just killing off the village and the villagers as well, they would take every citizen whom hadn't fled and stored them away in cages... and when it came to meal times or times of needing to replace their numbers between battles...

Well, they really DID like the young ones.

So many civilians lost their families that way back then, and it had been declared as a national-level emergency, declared a high priority threat target by the higher ups. Back then though, Nico hadn't been around when that incident had happened, but he HAD heard of it from his mother, as she had been one of the Spec Ops Agents tasked with bringing that hoard to its knees. Despite his mother having one hell of a vicious reputation as VALKYRIE, it had taken them weeks to track the damned beasts down and kill them all, sometimes the leader would manage to escape and start a new hoard, eating and breeding with any female it could find to do so. Kind of like a never-ending cycle, in a way. He didn't even NEED to try and imagine the kind of horrors she must have seen, as with his work experience he pretty much COULD. He'd seen similar cases throughout his time as an Agent, both from Abnormals and humans alike.

SO... yeah, one could guess just how conflicted Nico felt about his current situation.

Still, in the end he decided to stop thinking about it and let the roar of Ember's engine lull him into a sense of tranquillity, something that Nico felt he would desperately need right about now. It actually made him start thinking back again, actually... but on a bit more of a positive note. Shortly into their little trek, the male had opted to let the Bike have some fun by transporting the two of them, although it DID nearly incinerate He Lin to cinders when he got near it until Nico told it he could mount the Skimmer. The reason for this was since He Lin had told him that the forest in which the Nature Elf's home resided in was a fair distance away, located within the south western lands of Leanbox's forestry, it would be best if they could get there with better transportation than just walking. For a moment, Nico had considered not bringing Ember out, as his sentient Skimmer/Motorbike wasn't too friendly with those Nico himself didn't trust, but in the end it had been either Ember or his Archdemon... He Lin definitely knew which one he preferred when first seeing that creature.

Currently, the child clung to the back of Nico's Trench Coat for dear life, obviously not used to this kind of transport. Now that he thought about it, if his hunch was correct then this Abnormal had never ridden on transport like this for an entire lifetime, if he had been captured by people then he likely would have only experienced those slow moving carriages that Leanbox use nowadays due tot heir lack of proper technology. Thinking about it from that perspective, Nico could sort of understand (although it still baffled him how it had been so) why He Lin was doing what he was.

Same could NOT be said for himself, however.

'Ahhhh, god-DAMN, does this feel like one big stress reliever…!' the redhead teen thought to himself, a not-so small grin forming on his lips beneath his Mask whilst listening to the calming sound of Ember's engine. He even slightly leaned more forwards towards the moving Motorcycle's hood, wanting to savour the sound as much as possible. His gloved hands gripped Ember's handles tightly yet with a gentleness which could only be described as 'tough love', something which Ember seemed to appreciate immensely if the roars of delight from its Engine were to consider... nobody take that out of context, alright? The wind blew through what could be seen of his face, his trousers flapping against them whilst he kept his gaze focused on the space ahead of them.

Since he was driving Ember, Nico had opted to pull his Trench Coat's hood up over his head, concealing most of his head from view whilst casting shadows over his lone eye. An eye which glowed just as brightly as it did when it was in Kakugan form or that of his DPU one. If anyone were to ask him, Nico would say that at this point, he had developed a love for Motorcycles, his Ember being his one true ride that he'd use for eternity. If there was a way to make her even faster and stronger, then he'd take that too. Thanks to his choice to summon and drive Ember to the directions He Lin had provided, he honestly felt a whole lot better way quicker than what he normally would take to get over his problems concerning his Ghoul side. The rush, the thrill, it felt freaking invigorating, and it NEVER got old.

Inside, he could even hear the manical laughter of his Ghoul side as it lost itself in killing off those pesky monsters inside his inner world, going on an absolute rampage in there from what he could tell. Even Biko, who had a front row seat as it were, had to comment on how the slaughter this time seemed much more... excitable than usual. Therefore, that meant it was having just as much fun his Ghoul Persona was having...

Made sense, since both were technically one being, thus shared the trait of being a mad lad.

Up in the skies above them, hidden behind some of the clouds there, Nico could sense the presence of his Archdemon, Urthemiel. It flew throughout the skies in various formations, occasionally letting out loud roars to let him know it was still up there, all the while He Lin would look around, startled as he tried to find the source of the sound. Nico mentally chuckled in amusement at this, since the kid seemed to be under the imporession it was an enemy Abnormal coming to kill them.

Thanks to this rush of adrenaline calming him down and brightening his mood, Nico found himself thinking about what had happened so far. If he had thought his world was grey before, he certainly felt it now, especially with what he had learned about that Auction. Honestly, it made sense, since Nico knew that the money the Guild received and put into its Spec Ops Program had to come from somewhere. It only made sense that it could come from.. morally questionable areas, when push comes to shove a desperate humanity would be willing to do anything to survive. Not to mention that Leanbox Nobles were quite stingy with their own funds, so it had to take something like an Auction where they could access items which otherwise they wouldn't have any access to, to get them to fork over the dough like that. Though, Nico still didn't like the fact that slavery was still going on, even if Vert had banned it before the Console Wars.

Plus, it felt similar to the words that Yvoire had told him way back when, not something he held any particular fondness over though.

Not to mention that the fact that it was sanctioned by the Spec Ops community as well as the guild, showed him that they held it with high regard, and as such likely would condemn anyone who tried to mess it up. Similarly, to anyone who tried to change Nico himself from being their little 'hound', the teen couldn't help but note from the bitterness. Nico now could see what Yvoire meant by how the people Nico had once claimed were 'just' had their own little dirty secrets to hide, their own thoughts about how Leanbox should be run. A shudder ran through his spine at the thought of slavery becoming a Legal, practiced activity once again, especially if somehow, any of his comrades were to be captured and sold like this Abnormal behind him at those kinds of Auctions. Images of his comrades being treated as objects, their own wills ignored and trampled over like they were nothing but ants, filled Nico's mind when he thought about that, causing him to growl in anger under his breath. It made him feel sick to his stomach, disgust and revulsion mixed in as well.

Then there were those other matters as well, like with Yvoire, Mundus, Arfoire, his own training, the girls…

'Geez, these matters have been piling up and I didn't even notice. Though to be fair, I WAS a bit more preoccupied with Count Mott's actions…' the male thought, frowning. The more he thought about this, the more problems began to surface inside his mind, problems which kept increasing with each passing second. But then, he decided to shake his head and push those thoughts to the side for the time being. For now, he had other more immediate concerns to address, and those matters revolved around the Child-like Abnormal on his back. "You, Nature Elf." He spoke, getting his attention as evident by the shifting he felt on his back.

"Hm?"

"Back there, I heard an implication that your kind is limited in number. It'd explain why I never heard of Nature Elves before you, plus I know for a fact that Leanbox citizens hate Abnormals more than the norm thanks to them having to deal with them more than in any other Nation. So, how the hell has your home village not been found by anybody as of yet?" Nico questioned whilst keeping his head focused on the direction in front of him, the roaring of Ember's engine filling both his and the Nature Elf's ears. It had been one of the thoughts on his mind for a while now, especially with what he had learned about the Nature Elf race from Gelmudo. Although, with this situation Nico felt like he could extract more concrete information from a much better source. Plus, if he felt there was any deceit then he could just use his Shingan to see into the Abnormal's mind. Well that, or perhaps use his Kagune to ingest his brain and look through his memories that way… oh, who was he kidding? How the hell could he do that when he had stopped himself from doing something similar before?

Mentally shaking his head, Nico awaited his answers from the Abnormal.

He didn't have to wait very long, as behind him He Lin's eyes darkened as they became ever more solemn. As if a reality he had been trying not to think about had been brought back up from the shadowy depths from whence it came. "Yes… it would indeed be a weird action in the eyes of many. However, its not like we can leave Leanbox either. Not only is Leanbox our birthplace, but it is also the only place which houses the perfct living conditions for my people. We Nature Elves thrive in the season of Spring, for that is where the world's vitality is at its peak. Planeptune could have been a secondary option for us as summer is not that bad in comparison to Spring for us, however the deity that governs the Summer has disappeared, and as such we cannot rely on that nation's conditions. Therefore, it was decided that we should stay in hiding within our homeland, you yourself should know how difficult it is to leave one's own people behind."

When he heard this, Nico hummed thoughtfully, mulling over this new information. The male did indeed understand that feeling, as at several points he had indeed wondered what it would have been like if he had just, left the Spec Ops Program and gone out on his own. Away from his mother, from everything he had ever known. However, not only was that a bad idea, it was also impossible for him to leave due to the Guild Higher ups not allowing it. They wanted him to be where they could keep a tight 'leash' on him and the Spec Ops Program was the best way for him to do so. In essence, whilst freedom to act was the bottom line for a Spec Ops Agent, to him it had its own guilded cage of thorns surrounding it.

Still, it did leave him with a few more questions he wanted answers to. Plus, he sort of felt the influence from THAT GUY's words driving him at the moment. "Say, since your people decided to stay here, then how many of your clan are actually left?" he questioned, glancing behind him momentarily before returning his gaze to the road. He didn't take much of an optimistic approach to it, since according to what little he knew it would likely be a very small number. Smaller than the human population in Gamindustri and WAY smaller than many of the other Species of Abnormals they had recorded.

For a moment, the child seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to keep that to himself. Though, those thoughts left Nico's mind when he eventually heard a reply. "Among my people… we have about 100 of us. Though, I have been gone for a while now, so if any of them left to go look for me, the consequences could have been grave with all the Abnormals surrounding our village." He Lin replied, somberly but with more worry than one could ever truly convey with words.

 **'** **This being… he reminds me so much of that Emiya…'**

'Indeed… although compared to that guy, this one's far less annoying…'

Nico responded to his Demon Persona's thoughts as he pondered once more on what he had said. It certainly confirmed to him the dire situation his species was having at least. Not to mention that, deep within the recesses of his mind, a small pang of… something, something Nico wasn't quite sure of, exploded. He didn't like that feeling though, plus it caused him to temporarily grip his Skimmer's handle's tighter. "And… how old are you exactly? Also, you mentioned about a mother, father and a sister…" Nico questioned… though, he had to wonder why the hell his lip trembled when he asked that question.

"Hm." He Lin nodded in response, though his mood comparably got even more depressing. Nico didn't need to see his face right now since he felt the depressing emotions radiating off the Nature Elf. "I'll be 11 this year. As for my family… A couple years back, a disaster struck our race. As a result, our clans' numbers were significantly reduced. My sis… she… we ended up being separated, but I'm sure she's alive! I can feel it…" He explained, trailing off at the end as he once again buried his head into Nico's back.

The hidden message did not go unnoticed by the teen, who mentally winced as he decided not to prob any further. The fact that this child-like Abnormal had something like that happen to him so young, not to mention how he didn't mention anything about his parents… yeah, he didn't need to think more on the possible answer when the implications said what they said. In addition, it actually surprised him how… human, this Abnormal acted. He honestly tried to find something that indicated any sort of deceit or faking, but nothing worked. All of the Abnormal's emotions showed nothing but genuine honesty… something that baffled him deep inside. It sparked a serious question, one which bugged him immensely and, if it were answered, had MAJOR inplications depending on it. How the hell could an Abnormal… be so human? Were there more like that? If so… then how many could he have killed? How many more were out there? So many questions flowed through his mind, generating conflict within him as the two drove forwards.

* * *

"Here sir, I have the reports from the Auction."

Within the confines of his mansion, a low, relieved sigh of bliss escaped Count Mott's lips as he leaned back on his bed. He sat within his bedchambers, with a pair of female servants he had been recently having his way with. Both of them lay, dishevelled and looking like disposed garbage instead of actual people, with numerous white stains over their bodies whilst their eyes lacked any kind of life to them one bit. Kind of made sense since, until recently, the man they called master had been rather... busy as of late, and as such he hadn't had time for much of his 'nightly activities' with his 'pets'. Which had made the moment he had been able to utterly ravage these two sluts beside him all the more satisfying...

Especially since he had taken them both from their husbands/boyfriends in a fit of NTR hentai-like scenarios, practically breaking their minds into submission without them being able to do a thing about it. Their former lovers had already been 'dealt with' so they wouldn't have caused him any more problems, not to mention that he had also, in addition to utterly shattering them into obedient slaves... he had them dressed up as a certain lilac haired and peach haired girl respectively. Clothes and all... well, before he had torn them all off and utterly ravaged them like a frenzied beast. Goddamnit, he so wanted the real thing VERY much right now, how he loathed the fact that they had been denied him for so long now!

After having sent numerous assassins after them, baiting them into situations where they would have wound up close to his territory, none of them had worked. He had expected them to be somewhat capable in combat, since their records proved as such with how many quests they had been undertaking, but this had been absurd! It seemed like no matter how many he sent after them to bring them back to their rightful place under him, each of the sluts resisted with all their might. Not like they knew the reason why they were being targeted so much since the assassins perished either from their wounds or by their own hands so no information could get out, but nonetheless it seemed like he had greatly underestimated their power.

With everything else going on, his building frustration hadn't been able to get vented either, another downvote for him.

Last night however, he had FINALLY managed to secure some time to himself and away from all the chaotic politics which had been going on, well he said politics but in reality it was just those foolish brats he called Nobility not doing anything productive. Well, he would make sure he'd obtain those sluts if it was the last thing he did, if he wanted something nothing in this entire WORLD would stop him from getting it. He got what he wanted, end of story, any who stood before him got knocked down without mercy. If there was anything that he agreed with the Spec Ops Agency of the Guild on, it was that there was a time for talk and there was a time for action. Sadly, those bigots in the Nobility didn't even pick up on that lesson in grade school, and this would be the result.

Made the desire to see them all perish beneath wicked, demonic blades all the more thrilling when it inevitably happened.

When he had heard the voice of his trusted head Butler Brian, Count Mott glanced his way to see him standing by his bed, being one of the few if not the only person able to be in here with him even if he had been 'active' in bed. In his hand, he held a piece of parchment, something which he offered to his master. Taking it from his hand and using it to slap the backside of one of the sluts beside him who moaned in pained ecstasy at the contact, Count Mott opened it up and read the contents. All the while, Brian stayed by his side, delivering his following report in a professional manner. "As you predicted, this Auction's supply chain turned out to be quite profitable for your cause, Sir. Multiple Nobles have decided to align with you thanks to achieving the items thy require there at your recommendation. Even some of our own hidden servants managed oto obtain some items you specifically requested for."

"Hm. Any reports on those two?"

"Ah, I'm afraid Mrs Neptune and Mrs Compa did not arrive there, Sir. It appears that they were out training today, just like most other days." Brian responded, lowering his head in apology.

Count Mott sighed rolling his eyes. "Don't be, it is to be expected of them. Now that I have a calmer head, I can see it now. These sluts aren't like the ordinary, common soldier. They appear to be able to get shit done and have some degree of competency. Can't say the dame for our soldiers though." Still, what he didn't mention was that he had been planning to catch them at the Auction with his hidden Servants, thinking that they'd be lured in by the rumours he spread around which would have appealed to their discovered tastes. Pudding and interesting medical supplies. However, if they hadn't even been in the city to hear them, then its no wonder why they weren't under his bed servicing their rightful master. "Another matter, what of the Spec Ops sponsoring the event? Have they been behaving?"

"Indeed, sir. They acted just as they have been ordered to, now that we have convinced them to start sponsoring more Auctions, we can make more use out of them to bolster our current abilities. In addition, we now have material to use against them should they try to double cross us in the immediate future. However, there is ONE thing I believe will interest you, Sir." Brian replied, and when Count Mott looked up at him with an arched brow, he continued with his hands behind his back. "It appears a rather... interesting item appeared on the market today. A young Nature Elf, I believe you are familiar with them?"

At THAT, Mott shot straight up into a sitting position, eyes widening in surprise. "Nature Elf?! How can that be?! I thought we had exhausted their numbers already?" he exclaimed in shock, and it wouldn't be that surprising either. Nature Elves after all were quite a delicacy among the Nobles, and it had been confirmed by sources that they were pretty much extinct at this point. Heck, in his youth he too enjoyed a few Nature Elf dishes... as well as some of their finest women too until they were no longer useful or he was bored. So, to hear that one was discovered at the Auction, PARTICULARLY interested him.

"Indeed, Sir. This Nature Elf in particular, also seems to be of their Royal Blood, meaning that it truly can be one of the finest delicacies so far. Not to mention their Cores could be of great value to your goals of conquest, Sir." Brian stated, further rousing Count Mott's interest. However, he then dipped his head down apologetically again, which informed the fat Noble something bad had happened. "Unfortunately, a Spec Ops Agent unaffiliated with us managed to obtain this Nature Elf before any of us could swipe him, Sir. This Spec Ops Agent in question is also particularly troublesome, his reputation and his power are not to be trifled with."

What?! Some random dog of the Guild managed to claim what was rightfully his?! Count Mott gritted his teeth in fury at the notion, already planning to ruin the reputation of this Agent before his Head Butler could finish what he was saying. However, by the time that he finished, the Count managed to calm himself down and think rationally, enough to notice the particular grim undertones which his Head Butler sported. "You say this like this Agent poses a threat to me? One Agent out of many other dogs in the masses." Count Mott stated rhetorically, as if he didn't believe that Brian would even THINK of such a thing. However, out of his years of service, Brian had not been that wrong many times, so his words did carry some weight. He would have to nip this Agent's growth in the bud soon, depending on the answer to his following question. "And who is this Agent that dares steal what's mine?" he questioned with a dangerous tone of voice, his eyes promising noting but pain to whichever bug tried to land on his possessions.

"It is DEATHSTROKE sir."

"?!"

Upon hearing the Agent's name, Count Mott's face changed and he immediately stiffened. If it had been any other Agent whom dared go against his wishes, then he would have had ZERO problem with disposing of him. With the influence being a count afforded him, it would have been a cinch to ruin this bastard's life in the snap of a finger. However, the moment that he heard the name DEATHSTROKE, such things quickly left the Count's mind. That name... that name may not be as well known as other Agents, o even the public in general, however Count Mott knew, he KNEW just how dangerous this Agent could potentially be to his plans. His reputation as a brutally savage killer for one, but the amount of influence he had in the Spec Ops community was much greater than the kid realized. The fact that he had been able to meet with the Goddess of Leanbox, as well as Lastatinon's from what he had dug up about the kid, showed him as someone not to be taken lightly. If the kid knew the extent of his status, if he knew the political fame like any politician, then he could be a major force to be reckoned with. He had a ruthless efficiency which made him quite infamous amongst the Spec Ops Community, not to mention rumours surrounding him which were PARTICULARLY worrisome. So, since it was HIM who got in his way...

Count Mott gritted his teeth, growling as he leaned back on his bed to begin thinking. He couldn't go at this blindly, not with the potential landmines surrounding that Agent. He had just too much going for him, and as such he needed to be brought down a peg or two, but it had to be subtle and discreet. That kid had to be reminded just who it was that was in charge in this world, he needed to know his place. However, this called for some different tactics, but first he needed more information about this. Thus, he turned his head to Brian with his words screaming his question for him:

"Tell me more."

* * *

Back with the MC of this fic (no, not you Neptune, and no that spike at my genitals won't change that), the glow of morning began to illuminate the night sky, though as the two drove through the Leanbox countryside, Nico noticed a forest approaching in the distance. 'Huh? I can sense a powerful concentration of natural energy from there. Guess being around Lucy for so many years really did pay off, huh… in any case, Biko you think we're nearly at our target?' he questioned his Demon Persona.

 **'** **I'd say so, it is intriguing that we got here without any dangers on our end. Perhaps the Abnormals didn't come for us due to our natural 'aura' triggering their danger instincts. Abnormals may be named as such, but they still function similar to the common animal.'**

Nico nodded his head mentally in agreement, Abnormls did have better instincts, though the one on his back at least. Glancing behind him, he soon began to speak to his passenger whilst the forest neared them. "This Forest… is this place the one where your home resides?" he questioned, wanting to get confirmation from the boy himself. If they were on the right track, then he had a good idea of how they could clear those trees.

In response, the boy looked towards the forest, and the instant that he did, his eyes lit up like the lights in a living room when switched on. Just by seeing the forest, Nico could almost FEEL the positivity radiating from him, as if he could sense them like he could with dark emotions. "Yes, yes that's the place!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking like he was restraining himself from bouncing up and down, something which Nico honestly felt a little glad for. "We're definitely close to my home! I can feel its aura as we get closer…!" After yelling that out, his excitement seemed to ebb away, replaced by a relieving yet serene expression instead as he smiled warmly at the forest. "Yes… finally… I'd thought I'd never see my home again when I was captured…"

Hearing those words made Nico think about how the child had been captured by those Auction people, and it made the insides of his stomach churn. Now that he had been seeing how 'pure' and 'honest' tis Abnormal had been, way more than most of the humans he had met, Nico began getting this feeling of being unwell the more he recalled what had happened. Even back the, he had been disgusted and furious, although for entirely different reasons, right now his disgust felt a lot more… well, morally aligned, one could say. Although he didn't quite get it himself yet. 'If I get the chance, maybe I'll pay those staff a visit…' Nico mentally pondered.

Deciding to put those thoughts to rest for the time being, Nico held a hand in front of him, quickly generating a ball of concentrated Hellfire the size of a baseball. He clutched it in his hand as if about to rear the arm backfor a throw, something which He Lin took notice of. But, before he could ask what was going on, Nico threw it to the ground, whereupon it erupted into a small rising pillar. At least the height of the average adult, knocking Ember into the air. Quickly, Nico had Ember switch from ground mode to Flight Mode, revving his Skimmer's Engine before they took off towards the space above the Forest. All the While, He Lin held on for dear life, not daring to look down lest he be scarred for life.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, under He Lin's directions the redhead male found a small Clearing in the Forest where he could land his Skimmer, angling it downwards and shifting it back to Bike Mode before it could touch the ground. All the while, Nico could almost feel his waist being crushed by how tight He Lin was holding onto him behind the male, prompting him tothink to himself. 'This behaviour, coupled with he emotions I'm sensing, shows that this thing's likely afraid of heights…'

 **'** **That would be a likely conclusion. That, or he may never have been in the air like that before. Last I heard, Skimmers have't been mass produced as of yet thanks to all the politics going on.'**

Mentally nodding at that, Nico revved Ember's Engine whilst he grinned behind his Mask. 'OI oh so love this next part…' he couldn't help but think to himself as they began to descend. Pulling off a successful landing which involved the Skimmer bouncing upon impact with solid earth, Nico pulled off a splendid U Turn which created a curvingdust cloud whilst he used his left leg as an anchor. The moment that all motion had halted, Nico promptly dismounted Ember, thanking it for the ride which prompted an approving pur from the Motorcycle's engine. With one final smirk and chuckle, the redhead glancedback towards his 'client', whom shakily stumbled off the Vehicle with the bad case of wobbily legs. "W-Wow…" he muttered to himself, shaking significantly.

"Guess you haven't ridden on something like Ember, before?" Nico questioned, though it had a rhetorical edge to it as he had Ember vanish into flames. Ready to be summoned once its master wishes it back into existence. 'Note to self, learn where Ember and Urthemiel vanish off to when I dismiss them…' he added mentally when he felt the Archdemon's presence vanish as well. All the while, the child shook his head at the much older male whilst holding his hands over his kneecaps to recover from his experience, pretty much confirming his answer. "Well, in any case we should get going. Abormals may be instinctual beings, but I don't want to take any chances here."

After recovering a bit, He Lin looked up, shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry, DEATHSTROKE, there's little to fear thanks to this point. My home village has a Barrier which wards off Abnormals and any other predators, we're practically home free right now. Anyways, lets go! We're almost home!" he exclaimed happily, already running off into the forest with Nico easily trailing behind. Soon, he'd finally have the chance to inquire as to the answers he wished for, very soon…

* * *

Finally, it seemed like they had arrived at their destination, Nico figured as the two stopped their short treek. By short, he meant like about 6 to 8 minutes, that clearing had been pretty close to… whatever this place was. Looking forwards into the distance, Nico saw these HUGE trees, looming over the rest of the forestry while being gowned in big, dark greenish black vines. Vines which, as of right now, currently blocked their path forwards. 'Reckon we could use some Hellfire to burn it to nothing?' Nico wondered, questioning his Demon Persona,

 **'** **I would suggest not, since that has the risk of spreading around the entire forest.'**

Whilst Biko spoke those words, dissuading the cautious-looking redhead from that course of action, the yioung nature Elf looked to be the exact opposite. In fact, he looked downright giddy before he bounded forth with an excited skip. As he approached the vines themselves, He Lin made this quick hand gesture which looked like he was pushing curtains to the side. At first, Nico wondered what he had been doing, but his answers soon camewhen vines practically came to life like that experiment that one mad scientist did where he went "Its alive, ITS ALIVE!". Thus, the vines shifted and scrambled about like serpents, pulling themselves to opposing sides just enough to form one heck of a narrowed pathway.

'Whoa… looks like this passageway is meant only for a single person. A large group would have to go singe file…' Nico thought to himself while comparing it to some of the past dungeons he had explored, either alone or in a small group. Lot of them didn't end well… for the group that is.

"Quick! Come on, DEATHSTROKE!"

Either oblivious or ignoring the male's current mental state, He Lin swiftly raced back towards him and, before Nico could respond, grasped and pulled at the redhead's arm, before dragging him into the pathway like a kis showing off an amusement park to his parents.

Walking through it, it became all too clear to Nico how this passage way would turn out to be a long one. Therefore, the teen decided to occupy his mind by asking a question to Biko whilst his body got pulled by the ever-excited He Ling. 'Say, Biko. Where do Urthemiel and Ember go when I dismiss them?'

 **'** **Another plane of existence, one in which they reside in comfort until they hear your call once more.'**

'Oh, I see. Well, glad to know they aren't bored in there.'

After that short and… riveting discussion, Nico and Biko began to talk about… a multitude of things. They discussed various training methods, plans for their next move once the stuff with the Nature Elves is finished, etc. Biko after all, was practically the one whom Nico could talk to the most, since he was the one most readily available as well as knowledgeable about topics Nico had interest in. Especially Demons, oh how much that guy knew now about the Demons.

Finally, the two boys managed to reach the exit, and just as they made to step through Nico's instincts got sharply triggered, forcing him to look up. Almost immediately after he did, the redhead made to release his Kagune when he saw several masses of dark greenish black vines suddenly explode into motion from the ceiling, lunging at the male like wild snakes. However, before he coud do anything, He Lin walked by him and waved his hand like he had done this so many times it had become routine for him. In any case, his hand released this brief, yet still fierce, green glow. The moment it touched the Vines, they quickly froze, like someone who just realized that they had attacked someone in a position of power, before retracting into the wilderness faster than bullets. Nico couldn't help but coment mentally about how his bullet analogy held quite the sway here.

"Granny Qing Ye! Aunty Kui! Uncle Mu Han! I'm Back… I'm back!"

'Okay, WHAT is up with these weird sounding names? Could this be part of these guys' culture?' Nico couldn't help but think to himself, slightly dismayed at the weird-sounding names, likely of the residence of this place… but the moment that he noticed the place itself, the redhead's complaints vanished as his lone unmasked eye glazed over. If his Mask wasn't on, then he would have dropped it as well as lost any breath within him when he saw what he did. 'Holy…'

 **'** **This… This is…!'**

Before them, lay what they could only call a natural paradise. All around this large, open space, lay a massive field, rich with thousands upon thousands of lush, life-filled plants. One could literally BATHE themselves in the risch, pure natural energy which flowed around this place, something Nico honestly wouldn't have noted very much if he hadn't learned to slow down and explore his surroundings more. Sniffing the air a few times showed him that the air itself held a freshness to it that just screamed peacefulness and serenity, like no worries would ever taint this land or how no blood had stained this place in eons. A bit further away, Nico could see some… quite strange yet unique, flowers and vegetation about, forming fields and fertile grassland. Some areas even had butterflies fluttering about some of them, likely to get inside and feed on what lay within.

It…. Just took Nico's breath away.

'This place… its absolutely freaking beautiful…' he male muttered in his mind. He had seen many places during his time as a Spec Ops Agent, places which had led him far and wide all over Gamindustri. But, very few could truly compare to the beauty which he had seen just now, and back then he hadn't thought of using any of the software on his Bracers to try and record those places, so he could view them on his downtime. Something which Nico wanted to correct as soon as possible at this point in time. Absentmindedly raising his Bracer and activating a Camera function on it, a 3d Hologram of a Camera appeared over the Bracer's screen. After pressing on the Camera in a certain spot, Nico saw the screen beneath the hologram flash, signifying that the photo had been taken. 'Its almost like I've stepped onto the garden of eden or something as stupid as that…'

That had been when Nico heard the kid's voice call out to the rest of the forest, and when he did…

"Lin… Lin'er! Lin'Er! LIN'ER!"

"?! Could it be…?! It is! The young Patriarch… Everyone, quick! It's the young patriarch!"

"Lin'er!"

At once, several different voices rang out through this paradise. Voices which sounded so excited that they reminded him of lonely people finally having company after so long. Of course, no sooner had Nico thought that, did he see dozens upon dozens of jade green figures, each of them wearing varying degrees of shock and glee, rise from the fields before jogging over to them. He had to suppress his urge to summon and draw his Ebony and Ivory, all too aware that action wouldn't be too advisable. Not to mention unprofessional, and he was sticking to that right now.

 **'** **Nico… these Abnormals have nought a shred of negative emotion in them right now. I must admit, it is making me nervous…'**

'Heh, I can understand the feeling, Biko…' the redhead thought to his other self, before he saw one of them walking with a bit of an unsteady pattern to them, likely due to being old Nico figured due to the being's wrinkled-looking appearance. The old figure looked to be a man, who had the same elfish features as He Lin did though it had been clear the guy wasn't a relative of the kid's. In addition, he along with the others, wore clothes made out of leaves and vines, the men wearing knee length 'kilts' which exposed their slim torsos, whilsty the women wore… some incredibly tight form-ftting bathing suit-like apparel. Not unlike those of the CPUs when transformed, actually, something which Nico restrained the urge to grimace at.

Even so, the amount of joy and relief shining from this old guy's aura did NOT lose out to the rest of them, if anything Nico got the feeling that it was a bit more personal for him, as he wrapped his arms around the smaller He Lin in a huge hug. One which reminded him a lot of how his mother would hug him after a long mission. In response, the child known as He Lin (who had tears in his eyes as well), wrapped his smaller, shorter arms around the elderly man's frame as well. As if he was afraid to crush the man with how frail he looked and thus, holding some of his desire back.

"Lin'er… thank the heavens! It really is you! You have returned to us… When you left weeks ago, we feared the worst when you had not returned. Being captured by human poachers would have meant the end of the entire Nature Elf race… Thank the Goddesses you have returned…" The person exclaimed softly, tears of joy flowing down his cheeks while holding him as if he were the life support which kept the figure alive. Though, in a sense, that analogy wasn't that far off the mark.

Mentally, Nico counted each of the apparent Nature Elves which he had seen approach the kid, quickly coming to th conclusion that there were indeed 100 of them remaining. 'TSeeing this… for some reason, I'm reminded of a dying ember, moments away from finally vanishing into the void…' the male thought, also feeling no small amounts of ominous tension from those thoughts. Still, the teen couldn't help, even in his conflicted statem, be completely taken aback by the display of human emotions. It would be one thing for one Abnormal to exhibit human emotions, bhut an entire race?

Deep within his being, something strred. Something he didn't know the name of, but unconsciously became aware of it.

After a couple seconds of hugging, He Lin pulled back just enough so that he could talk to the elderly person face-to-face. His eyes also glistened like emeralds in the sunlight, unshed tears still building up whilst others fell down his cheeks. "I'm… I'm so sorry… Granny Qin Ye… I'm sorry all of you… to have made you all worry so much for me… mom and dad would likely scold me immensely for it." The boy stated in apology lowering his head slightly. He then continued to speak before any of the others could do the same. "I… in truth, it was as you all had feared. I… I had been taken captive by humans…"

"#GASP#" Audible gasps escaped the mouths of ever Nature Elf present, each of them looking towards one another in shock for a moment, then confusion took root in their gazes since He Lin had returned to them.

 **'** **Nico… it would be best if we got ready, in case they turn on us.'**

'Already way ahead of you…' Nico replied to his Demon Persona, already making to summon Rebellion from his Void Storage. Make no mistake, he still felt… complicated about this whole thing, but right now his baser instincts had taken control, since scenarios like this reminded him of a few instances in his past. Instances where people unexpectedly turned on him for one reason or another. It wasn't uncommon, since the Spec Ops were more powerful than regular Agents and thus got used for bigger ploys fairly often. As a result, the redhead male mentally prepared himself for such an encounter. When in doubt, show your sword, then the enemy will think twice before attacking you, THAT was a lesson he had learned through a large portion of his survival training.

Just as he did so, he heard He Lin's voice again, and prepared for the worst. "But… But not all was lost, since the moment I was meant to be sold off like a lowly animal…" He Lin began, getting tense looks from his brethren. "The Goddesses blessed me, since I came to know a real good guy. A real powerful, super duper mega tripper good, powerful Spec Ops Agent. He saved me and, instead of harming me for our… benefits, he instead chose to bring me back here." At the end of his explanation, He Lin wiped away his tears, seeing that there was no more need for them, before turning back and running up to Nico's left side. He took the guy's hand in his own while turning back to the rest of the Nature Elves, a huge grin on his face. "This is that Agent, his name's DEATHSTROKE, and if not for him… then… the worst really WOULD have happened."

At that moment, Nico tensed up as he felt all of the gazes become fixed onto his person. There were rare times when he felt so… vulnerable from a gaze alone, such as when he encountered some of the stronger Spec Ops Agents. This time, however, could certainly be counted as one of those times. For the moment their gazes landed on him, Nico felt the urge to quickly summon and Draw his twin Handguns and begin blasting everything around him. It was usually his go-to approach if he were to be surrounded by powerful Abnormals, like those damn Tigrexes or even their variants. Hell, practically any dangerous Abnormal. But, even so, the touch that He Lin had on his side served to help him calm his nerves. Maybe it was the familiarity of that touch, despite the lack of time knowing the kid, but whatever he did, he DEFINITELY succeeded in helping him stay cool and professional.

Then, just as Nico made to summon his weapons or even unleash his Kagune, a little something happened that, once again, blew his mind off the rails. What was that, you all wonder, readers? Oh, nothing much just the oldest Nature Elf, that one whom He Lin had taken to calling 'Granny Qing Ye' slowly walking forward and then kneeling before Nico like he was a god to her.

No biggie…

…

…

…

…

Just kidding, it felt like a MAJOR big deal to the redhead, heck he practically stumbled backwards when it happened. Her head hung low, and her aura practically screamed pacifism, not to mention that he sensed no ointention to kill him from her being which helped in calming his Demonic Powers down. Though, part of him wished that wasn't the case since this did NOT seem normal for him. Then again, his 'normal' got destroyed long ago, so it would only make sense for other things he had perceived to suddenly be thrown onto their heads.

'Please tell me this isn't happening…!'

 **'** **Unfortunately, Nico, I must tell you that this is not a dream. This is real, you are being bowed to, and look, she is not the only one.'**

Upon hearing those words, a now utterly and completely stupefied Nico glanced around to see that the other Nature Elves had followed Qing Ye's example. Both the males and the females, much to his shock. Before he could completely loose it from all this strangeness happening, he glanced back to the elderly Qing Ye as he heard her words. "Young Human… thank you." She began, and Nico could really FEEL the gratitude in her voice… he didn't know what to think about that. "We thank you sincerely for bringing our Patriarch back to us. Even though we despise most of the human race thanks to prior experience, you found mercy in your heart and rescured our patriarch from a horrid fate. You will henceforth, have our unending gratitude."

If what he had heard just now was anything to go by, then Nico would have thought that it was now over and he would be able to speak. However, he once again found himself interrupted before he could, this time by another Nature Elf who looked to be middle-aged. He had looked to the rest of his brethren when he spoke the following words, emotion coursing through his voice like blood flowing in an artery. "Our Patriarch, in one of his outings to the dangerous outside, met with peril the likes we could not protect him from. The fact that he then met a unique member of the human race, it's definitely the blessing and protection from the Goddesses themselves,"

… Yeah, what Nico felt at this moment in time had already been stated beforehand, only now he had felt it in even greater quantities than before. He no longer had the mind to summon any of his Devil Arms or unleash his Kagune, heck his Ghoul Side had remained silent during all of this. Odds were, it would have been just as baffled as Nico himself, something which CLEARLY had bee the case with his Demon Persona. None of them had any words to say, as if their ability to speak had been robbed from them, thanks to this development.

Just… what the hell was going on? Why were things suddenly changing around him?

Part of him just blamed Zelretch, even if it was unjust.

* * *

Deep within a certain mansion…

"So, this is the field report submitted by Gelmudo, is it?"

The voice of one irritating Count Mott rang throughout his study, the man having sat down a short while ago after spending some… quality time 'relieving his stress' by banging a group of female servants at once. Sex was one of his favourite past times, after all… save for looking into his Mansion's underground research labs wherein his secret projects would be located. Projects next to bobody outside of this mansion knew of, for the few males he had they had been bribed/blackmailed to keep quiet about them. He'd even put them under a… special spell which he had found whilst out on an expedition once, one which would force them to remain loyal to him even if they had thoughts wich didn't align with his wellbeing.. Only those he well and truly trusted were the exceptions, and he had only a handful of those. As for the women… well, since to him they were nothing but toys to relieve his stress, there wasn't much of an issue there especially when their minds were broken. He'd een took a few wives from some troublesome families and 'convinced them to not do anything in echange for their safety, when in reality he had already marked them as his playthings.

As for the 'mess' that they had left afterwards, Count Mott didn't pay too much attention to it. He'd had just made them put away the 'equipment' after they'd went at it for more than 6 hours straight, he'd always had great stamina. Not like they had any complaints since he'd broken them to such a point where they wouldn't even THINK of going against him. The power of mind breaking through sexual pleasure… The man just couldn't help but let out a satisfied hum which carried some left-over emotions from his 'activities'. That power was such a useful tool to gain what he wanted, it was almost unfair (not like he gave a damn).

Afterwards, he had retired to his study to fulfilsome documents, make calls to some people pertaining to his Territory, etc. He'd done this for a whole 4 hours, before one such report got devlivered to him, which came from one of his subordinates out in the field. It was a reort detailing the results of the underground auction he'd received word on this morning by Brian, combined with a list full of names of people and which items they had bought. Normallly this information wouldn't have been available made outside of the Auction staff, however, Count Mott had considerable influence thanks to his connections with powerful Nobles. It had been simple enough to gather this information, not to mention that some of the Staff had been under his payroll anyways, unbeknownst to many…

Looking down at the list of the names and items they had bought, Count Mott memorised them and hummed thoughtfully tohimself. Things have been going all according to plan so far, with those whom had sworn their loyalty to him had been able to 'crash' with him, whilst other Nobles whom hadn't got served up to the Demons on a silver platter. If the Gala hadn't turned out the way that it had, then so many Nobles would have been ousted and he would have gotten much closer to his goal of joining the Basilicom staff where he could usurp the CPU and control Leanbox himself. However, Count Mott knew that it wouldn't have been likely to have gone in that way, especially when Lastation had gotten involved, so he had devised a plan B, a plan based off the recorded notes that his spies had recorded about the girls in that 'delicious' looking Neptune's party.

Just thinking about them made Count Mott want them all the more, his already used dick starting to harden at the thought of taking them into his bed, of pinning them under him and utterly ravishing them. Just by watching their antics, Count Mott had already figured out that Neptune had been the CPU of Planeptune, a being on par with his own Nation's CPU. Thus, that part alone had been reason enough to pay attention to her party's movements. The fact she looked absolutely pure, innocent and easy to corrupt only made the temptation harder to resist.

But, he had refrained so far. He didn't give in to his instincts for a couple reasons, even as when in the past when he had wanted to take something, he would take it. One of those was the Demon incursion into Leanbox territory, of course he knew moee about it than probably any other Noble in the Nation, but he still needed to keep an eye on it in case it threatened what he had built. Why, Having Gelmudo 'pay a visit' to some of these families and 'cause accidents' to take their items sounded very promising to this. He wouldn't be doing anything wrong per say, either, since Count Mott himself wouldn't be 'taking part' in the 'festivities' so he'd be safe from the authorities.

Second, was because of that woman, Arfoire. The man, at the mention of her, felt his lips curl up in distain, his normally perverted eyes gleaming menacingly with no small amounts of disgust for her. That old hag, Count Mott held no particular fondness for her. Hell, she wouldn't even serve to bring his ship at even half mast, something which normally any woman did. Mostly because of her 'willpower' being so strong, as to command the attention of the being which now travelled with her. Count Mott was NOT a fool, he knew that this 'Mundus' character held a lot of potential danger to his plans. Should he get his way, then maybe Leanbox would be destroyed before Count Mott could even claim it as his own. Hence, why he disliked Arfoire just as much as anybody who encountered her. Still, her movements needed to be recorded, so he had several spies monitoring everything she had done in case of something which could be worthy of immediate action came up.

That had been how he had known about the impending attack on the Gala and used it to his benefit after all.

Another reason was simply because his 'projects' were nearly complete. Thanks to the events at Halo Mountain (he had Spies there recording everything that had happened, which meant he knew about that lone redhead's powers), he had retrieved some very interesting 'Samples' which had practically evolved the specimens to a whole new level. A level which they would have had to take years to develop if this boon hadn't come their way. He'd have to keep a better eye on that IF girl. That girl... whose powers came from those events in Lastation a while back... a biological weapon... Her powers... perhaps they could be put to use, in a bunch of different ways. As for his specimens, Count Mott had to hand it to her, her powers definitely worked wonders on them. According to his researchers, they had been specified to be in the Prototype stage at this point, absolutely fit for a test run.

Looking down at the report, Count Mott noticed one of the names out of all the others. One which caused even his eyes to momentarily widen in surprise. This only lasted a few seconds though, before he calmed down and let an evil, sinister and twisted smirk break out onto his features. "My… now THIS will be interesting…"


	184. Chapter 154 - Truth About Nature Elfs

**Chapter 154 - Learning about the Nature Elves**

Raw…

Astonishment.

RAW ASTONISHMENT.

That was what floated around inside Nico's head as he beheld an entire race of Abnormals called Nature Elves kneeling before him. His eyes had bulged wide open, his pupils shrunken into dots whilst his jaw had fallen open. One could say that the shock coursing through him like blood through veins had completely robbed him of any ability to think, move or even breathe. The guy looked so far out of his element that, if any of his fellow Spec Ops saw him now, they would wonder if he was even the same person still. Though, someone like Neptune would probably burst into laughter at seeing his face, since she'd likely link it to the look of someone who'd been roasted by a meme of some sort and yell out 'got him!' or something.

Just… how the hell was he supposed to take this?

The teen could only stand before these creatures kneeling towards him, rooted to the spot that he stood on, completely unable to respond to the genuine reverence of which he was being showered with by these Nature Elves. Despite that, some form of mental ability ran back into his mind to retake control… even if it only resulted in his ability to think his thoughts coming back. Even then though, his thoughts remained influenced by his shock as his throat felt like it had been gripped by a viper, coiling around it and keeping his ability to speak sealed away. His eyes could never leave their forms, nor could he regain any more mental clarity than he already had as Nico remained glued to his spot.

So… yeah, one could say that he looked completely stupefied.

The previous question which had been uttered inside his mind once again did so, bringing his shocked thoughts into order slightly… only to throw them into chaos once again. These beings… these Abnormals, creatures of which he had been brought up to think that they were the enemy of humanity, and that they had been trying to wipe the human race off the map. These creatures of which he had killed countless times before in cold blood… and sometimes it wasn't just killing either, since he also used them to sate his hunger, and by extension satisfy his ever-ravenous Ghoul side. He had killed, he had eaten… he had maimed, shredded and torn such creatures to pieces like a hungry animal, he couldn't even remember the number of kills he had under his belt anymore. Not only that, but at the first sign of these creatures, Nico would have just gutted them on the spot for trying to attack him, as they usually did. If they hadn't attacked him, then he'd well… it depended on the circumstances, but generally he didn't have much of a positive opinion about them. If one were to have died before him, Nico in the past would have doubted he'd even bat an eyelash. Heck, he'd likely finish it off himself and then reap the spoils for his Ghoul side…

It was the same for the other Agents too, not just Spec Ops ones. Generally, Agents and adventurers do not have much of a fondness towards Monsters, especially not Abnormal ones. Friends, families and lovers had been lost to these creatures whenever they attack after all, so the idea of befriending an Abnormal wasn't something which would be considered by any of them. Hell, Spec Ops Agents had even more reason to despise Abnormals, as the… 'saner' Agents sometimes had parts of them, hidden deep within themselves so one would have to stretch their awareness to notice them, which would wish that there weren't any Abnormals at all. They would much rather prefer just normal monsters to fight, for they were much easier to handle in comparison. At least then they were moderately respected for their work, but reality wasn't that kind. Though, eventually those parts of them vanish into the winds and become replaced with a rather… primal mentality.

To survive another day, you have to fight.

That was what pretty much EVERY Spec Ops learns early on into their career, which then turns them from weak ass bitches into hardcore combat veterans. Their hearts would harden, their minds focused solely on their tasks while slowly but surely tossing away everything that wasn't relevant to their jobs. They would slowly lose the desire for any of the simpler pleasures in life, becoming more like machines than actual people who wouldn't rest until they were either dead, or devoured by their enemies. They would thus, end up exactly like the monsters that they fight. To fight a monster, one would either need a monster of their own or become one themselves. To most, this process would be considered a 'daunting' one…

… But to Nico? He didn't need to have this process done to him, nor did it happen to him. He already considered himself a monster thanks to his Ghoul side, he had the mentality already, so honestly being a Spec Ops Agent perfectly fit him. If anything, one could say that it was the only place he actually COULD go, a place where he felt like he could belong to something. Compa's house was great don't get him wrong, it was like a wonderful slice of heaven in the midst of the hell that he considered his life. A small garden of eden in a world filled with hellish nightmares… that was what he considered that place, as well as the inhabitants within it.

As a result, the possibility of Abnormals who would rather converse instead of fight… Abnormls who used their brains instead of their brawns… it never occurred to him that such creatures could exist until now. Now that it was happening, Nico honestly felt more conflicted over himself than he'd ever been in the past. Conflicted on what to believe, what to do… he didn't even know anymore. The one thing he DID know, was that he would like to get some answers, answers to some questions he harboured. Questions which also had to do with his hidden conflict if one thought about it. He'd put those other worries to the back of his mind for the time being…

Finally, those thoughts served to clear away the cobwebs spreading through his mind and allowed him the ability to speak once more. "You all… you guys don't need to bow to me." He tried to say with a straight face, although if one paid attention to his voice and recalled how he normally acted, they'd easily be able to tell the difference. Nevertheless, he continued. "I mean, you don't have to bow to me so dramatic-like like this."

His words however, quickly got the attention of one of the Elves, and when they did, Nico soon found himself feeling like he had committed a grave sin when he saw the indignant look on that Elf's face. "That will not do, we Nature Elves always honor our debs, the huge debt we are in to you being one such debt." As she spoke, the redhead tried to think of who this person was, he had been s stunned that momentarily, he had forgotten the names of some of these Nature Elves. Soon however, he recalled this one being the Granny Qing Ye that He Lin spoke of. From the looks of things, it seemed that this Nature Elf held dominance over the majority due to her age, therefore her words likely held a lot of weight to them. Looking at the stunned face of the Spec Ops Agent, she continued to speak with gratitude flooding from her voice. "Young man, if you require anything at all, you are free to tell us. As long as it is within our power, we will do our best to repay you."

Again with the gratitude…! Nico didn't know what to make of this, and for a while, the teen remained silent as his eyes shone with complicated emotions. Just as his mind nearly reached the point of snapping which would result in him fainting…

 **'Nico, perhaps we CAN use this gratitude to our advantage. Remember why we saved He Lin in the first place?'**

Biko's words came thundering to the rescue, snapping the teen out of his funk as his lone eye widened in realization. ''Yeah… I do remember! Thanks, Biko, I was about to lose it there…' the teen mentally replied to his Demon Persona, before he took a deep breath and calmed down. Looking back to the old and likely knowledgeable Nature Elf, Nico reached for his Mask and began unstrapping it, slowly lowering it from his face before dismissing it into his void storage. Opening his closed eyes, Nico didn't notice several of the younger, almost teenage, female Nature Elves get lost in looking into his eyes as he focused entirely on Qing Ye. "Then, if its no trouble to you or your people… I only saved He Lin because he could get me some answers to some questions I have."

"Questions?"

When hearing that, the Nature Elves each looked at Nico in a mix of different expressions, although each of them could spawn from the main expression of confusion. What kind of questions would lead a human, and a Spec Ops Agent at that, to this humble village? They must be of great importance for him to come here. As he sensed their curiosity building, Nico mentally gulped as he began preparing himself for what could happen. Afterwards, his mouth opened, and he began to slowly speak, his words etched with caution yet with no less emotion poured into them. "Originally, I was one of those evil humans your kind seems to despise. I HATED Abnormals due to what they have done to us, since they've been attacking us for over 500 years. In fact, right now I still dislike Abnormals immensely for the trouble they've caused us the last 500 years, However… recent events have caused me to question my ideals, questions I never thought needed any answers until recently when some... disturbing revelations were brought to my attention. But, in all that time I never heard anything about your kind. From what little I learned today, I… I wanted to learn more about your kind. Reserve my judgement for once and try and see your side of things. Therefore, what I would like is... well, to talk is all."

There, at last he had gotten it out. He finally managed to express what had been building up in his chest all this time, but never quite got out. Part of him just scolded him for not getting to the point sooner, something he absolutely LOATHED when others did it to him, now he felt like a bit of a hypocrite for doing the exact same thing as them. There MUST have been times when he did this before as well, but that wasn't as important right now. A lot of his repressed emotions, anger, frustration, confusion, anxiety and doubt, got put into that speech just now, and more than once the teen found himself temporarily at a loss for words to say next. However, he had done it without too much of an issue, and by the time he had finished the teen felt like he had lost a lot of the weight on his shoulders. Like a huge burden had been lifted, causing his shoulders to feel looser than they had ever been in a long time. With his peace said, Nico waited for the Nature Elves response, all but expecting it to be thrown aside like part of him still believed they would.

That part of him soon got obliterated from existence when the Nature Elf Qing Ye, after snapping herself out of a momentary stupor, gave a small, but bright smile which seemed to light up the entire village. Even though it would be quite close to morning at this point. A small part of her had thought that his young man be wanting to take one of their cores or worse, have one of them for supper to gain the benefits associated with eating their kind, just like the rest of humanity. She could see that there was a desire for power in his eyes too, but more than that, there was conflict. Conflict over ideals, she realized now that she heard his speech. Something like this… in all her years, Qing Ye hadn't thought she'd encounter a human who would question things which have been set in stone for so long now, putting aside his personal qualms in order to gain answers.

It caused many of her worries to fade away faster than a kangaroo. "Such a request… it will be easy for us to grant. Please, follow me, I will take you to my home, there we can talk it out as much as you please." She suggested, smiling softly with a motherly glint in her eyes. A glint Nico recognized from his own adoptive mother. It made hating this species all the harder for him, but for the first time… he didn't mind that as much.

Regardless, Nico nodded his head, gratitude filling his gaze as he gave his response. "Your help would be much appreciated, Mrs Qing Le. Thank you." He stated, gratefully. Geez, if any of his fellow Agents saw this right now, they'd look at him like he had gone full on psycho for being so forthcoming with an Abnormal. Though, honestly if Nico looked inside himself, the number of fucks he would give would be… zero. He wanted his answers, and to get answers one had to either force it out of his opponents or be cordial with them. Normally he would have went for the former but considering the circumstances… the latter option seemed to be the better choice, something that surprised him.

As a result, Nico slowly stepped forwards, trailing after the old Nature Elf whilst the assembled crowd parted ways for them. Not even then did he notice the looks some of the female Nature Elves gave him as he was led into the pure little world of the Nature Elves.

* * *

Purity.

That was pretty much all Nico could think of as he got lead by Qing Ye through the small village that housed a race of merely 100 Abnor-no, Nature Elves. Whilst he walked, the teen could only shake his head in a vehement manner when that word started rearing its ugly head again. Honestly at this point, Nico could no longer see them as something so degrading no more. Instead, the redhead didn't know what to think anymore, not with what he had seen of this small little place. A place which carried a purity that Nico had NEVER seen before in all his travels across Gamindustri for missions and such.

 **'I'm surprised you didn't ask for some sort of Nature Spirit Core or another reward from these Abnormals Nico. It could have advanced our cause significantly were we to have obtained one...'**

'NOT OFTEN WE AGREE ON SOMETHING YA DAMN BOOKWORM, BUT WHAT THE HELL KING?! WHY'D YA PASS UP ON A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THAT?!'

'Because right now we need something else much more than just a mere power boost: information. Unlike what people might think, I'm not exactly BLINDED by the powers that I hold, I can see when it is important for such things and when its nor. Right now is one of the latter, this is my chance to learn more about the world around me... a world I feel like I've been in this whole time yet have remained completely ignorant to.' Nico replied when his alternate personas questioned him on his intentions. Biko of course remained the calm and collected one, and on the opposite side his Ghoul Persona felt like he would be blowing a gasket right now. Once again, they did their roles of logic and instinct personified pretty much perfectly.

Then again, neither were wrong with their opinions, given how much he desired to become stronger to ensure his comrades survived the future trials. Ordinarily he wouldn't have even HESITATED to ask for such things, but considering the recent events like the trials of Zelretch and the recent revelations he'd witnessed, Nico felt it necessary to stock up on more information. The pen is mightier than the sword, that expression could be considered true here, alongside the fact that it wasn't time to start fighting, but the time to start talking. Words he had said to Noire so long ago now, and look how she had turned out...

The space itself looked to be a quarter of a small town in terms of size, like Mojang Village for example. Just big enough to fit a small number of residents such as the 100 Nature Elves. Their houses looked to have come in the form of great trees, very much like the treehouses young children play within the interiors of their family's yards. Those trees looked fresh, ripe with life as if they had neve tasted anything to do with the corruption that mankind had brought into existence, leaving them to be the purest trees Nico had ever seen. Not only that, but the grass and flowers served as seats for the residents, no signs of man-made materials or damaging constructs in sight.

This world… Nico had never beheld something so pure in his life, thus it left him awestruck.

Glancing behind her as she walked, Qing Ye noticed the look on the young human's face, and a small knowing smile formed as a result. "Are you curious about something, young man?" she questioned him, getting his attention. "I you would like,, I can listen to your recent thoughts."

"Well… what can I say…?" the teen replied, still completely dumbstruck by what he had seen. "This place…. This Village, everything I've seen so far… its just so breath-taking." He admitted, and surprisingly he found himself doing so quite easily. When he admonished himself for saying that, he felt even worse inside. "This… This place is just so breath-taking… I've honestly never seen anything like it…" the male muttered at the end, and even then he felt like those words were a severe understatement to describe his current feelings right now.

Even though he did that, the older Nature Elf heard his remarks, and her smile broadened in pleasure. "Your words warm this old heart of mine, sir. You have a point, thanks to the actions of humans, there are very few places untouched by their greed in some shape or form. This is one of the few places which remain pure…" a tint of sadness entered the woman's tone after saying this though. "Our original homeland was another… before it was destroyed by zealous humans wanting to take us for themselves."

Hearing this, Nico felt a familiar surge of anger start to surge through his veins, causing his hands to clench to fists though no other sign got made. In his mind though, the teen could imagine very well what the fate of the Nature Elves would have been if those humans had indeed captured all of them, just from what he had heard from Gelmudo at the auction. He could imagine them being treated as merely slaves, or worse pigs to be fattened up before being slaughtered. It would be even worse for the females, since they'd likely be forced into sexual relations just to breed more Nature Elves for them to use. And when they were no longer able to do that… yeah, let's not go there, Nico could feel the purity of the rage inside of him as it increased the more he thought about it. Any more and his DPU powers would have reacted on his surroundings.

Still, he couldn't help the sick feeling in his stomach. Thanks to humaniy's hatred of Abnormals, along with their own greed, this race seemed to have born a heavy burden, and looked to be on the verge of going extinct. As a result of such a fate, they should have a huge hatred for humans that Nico would have been able to sense with his powers. It was only natural, and if he were honest completely understandable. He wouldn't have blamed them in the slightest, but neither would he have let them kill him if they tried to, that was not how the law of the jungle worked.

Yet, whenever he passed by some of the Nature Elves since they had returned to their normal routines, no matter how many he met at once each of them welcomed him with open arms. For some strange reason, the teenage girls and even some of the older looking adult female Elves went as far as to hug him, a seemingly innocent gesture. Although to him, hugs were the greatest thing ever, even better than what he had been told sex was like. Thus, he had almost automatically returned the hugs, and when he dd that he swore he heard some squealing from somewhere but didn't pay much attention to that, thanks to his internal disbelief. From the very start, Nico had only sensed some minor caution, but shortly afterwards that caution pretty much vanished from their minds!

 **'…Perhaps… what Gelmudo said… may have some truth to it after all…'**

Biko's words triggered a flashback in his mind. Remembering what that man had said, despite the situation, made Nico think that as well. Gelmudo may be a bastard in Nico's eyes, but perhaps he knew what he had been talking about with this sensing ability these guys apparently have. Although, Nico didn't get why they apparently thought he was a 'good person', the purity in these creatures slowly but surely caused his guard to slowly drop. Whenever Nico saw displays of this purity, the redhead felt something inside of him clench and twist in on itself uncomfortably.

Something like this, again, had been practically UNPRECEDENTED in Nico's lifetime. Even if he were to face a foe way mightier than himself such as Okada or Mundus, his gaze would never cower. Hell, Nico had fought tons and tons of different Abnormals in his lifetime, including Ghouls, and these Abnormals each had their own powers which they used to varying levels of effectiveness against him. Most of those times however, Nico came out on top, proving to himself that HE would be the top predator in this 'jungle' called Gamindustri. However, the clear purity in every one of these Nature Elves emerald eyes made him not dare to look them straight in the eyes...

This kind of race ought to receive the utmost protection of the Goddesses, the CPUs whatever. But, they don't, instead they get the exact opposite. Such a revelation nearly made Nico's lips twist into an ugly snarl of fury and confusion. Why do they have to bear such a cruel, unfair fate... No, Nico knew that answer just from looking at their constitutions, no matter how much he tried to deny it for the first time in ages.

Because of humanity's evil and greed...

And because they were weak.

* * *

Eventually, Nico and Qing Ye arrived at the latter's apparent home: a rather small-looking tree but still large enough to afford her a nice view of the surrounding village. The tree itself had a set of leaves shaped into staircases which, surprisingly, allowed one to climb on them. Stairs which spiralled around the tree itself like a double helix. Something which Nico discovered for himself as they made their way up it and entered the treehouse within.

The treehouse's interior looked to be quite spacious, with very few actual belongings. There was a simple mat made from straw on the centre of the room, with two cushions made from leaves on either side. There weren't any windows, but the walls looked to be bare anyways, while the entrance to the room had a curtain of vines similar to the ones barring the passageway to this little world. Some sections of the room had these nice little pots filled with rich, life-filled soil which fed several flowers that the teen failed to recognize.

Walking into a place like this, the redhead teen honestly felt like a serpent invading a divine garden as Qing Ye sat down on one of the leafy cushions, prompting him to do the same. She did offer to have some tea prepared for him, but Nico decided top politely refrain since he wanted to get to the point.

"Alright then…" Qing Ye began, smiling softly as she sat in a Japanese sitting position with her hands resting over each other on her lap. An aura of serene calmness appeared over her, radiating from her body like an aura of tranquillity, pretty much taking Nico's breath away with one simple glance. "What is it you would like to know then, young man? I will answer any questions you deem necessary."

After hearing those words, Nico took a moment to try and collect himself, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs in his mind. Once he did that, the teen thought of which question to ask first, since in his mind there were so many. Soon however, one question DID come to mind, one which would answer a LOT of the others in that noggin of his, thus Nico opened his mouth and asked. "Um, well the first question would be: what is the truth behind this ability to see into souls? I heard about it before I helped your patriarch come here, and was wondering what its about exactly…"

Qing Ye's eyes widened in a show of surprise and bewilderment, but no signs of deceit from what Nico could sense (even when he discreetly used the mind reading powers of the Shingan Ring hidden beneath his right glove) for a brief second, before understanding lit up in her eyes like flames on a warm, gentle candle. "Ah, I see what you mean. We of the Nature Elves were blessed by nature itself. All four Seasons bestowed upon us the strongest kind of purity there is. Because of that purity, we are able to see into the hearts and souls of any who enter our gaze."

 **'… Fascinating, this ability feels similar to our ow ability to sense dark and negative emotions. Ours is seemingly much more dangerous in comparison because it takes a mind well in tune with those emotions and a strong willpower to keep under control, just like with every aspect of the Demonic Arts. In comparison, this ability seems to look into the people down to every fibre of their beings, showing the eyes of the wielder just who they truly are without any masks to hide. Its.. so similar to us, that its actually mildly alarming.'**

Biko couldn't have been any more right, Nico mused to himself as he stared at the Nature Elf, positively astounded by what he had heard. He sensed no deceit in her words, no lies or any misleading, all of it looked to be the absolute truth. Now, Nico himself was someone who could see though people's facades, he prided himself on looking behind their 'masks' to see what they truly felt deep down inside. It was a skill he used constantly, like when he had read the letter written by his comrades a while back, he had quickly figured out that there would be more to it than just training, but he'd have to meet with them if he wanted to find out more. 'Wait, that sounded kinda… weird, wrong even…' the male thought to himself, feeling a sense of distain welling up inside him at how… nosy those thoughts had sounded. Still, the point was he was an excellent example of someone who saw past facades, but this ability to look into one's soul… it seemed to be even deeper than what he could do, and the only thing he could compare it to would be Soul Edge's Akuma No Me.

Even so, learning about this ability… it sounded quite amazing in his eyes. If these Nature Elves were hunted just because of this ability…

"I see… so that's how the ability works…" the redhead used, crossing his arms under his chest while cupping his chin in a thoughtful manner. With that information catalogued inside his head for future pondering, Nico decided to ask his next question. "Though, that hardly explains why the Nature Elves like me so much, cause I'm no saint. I've killed a LOT of people to get the title 'Black Reaper' among others, enough so that I could be considered the exact OPPOSITE of good."

At this Qing Ye rolled her eyes, a small chuckle escaping her lips as if she had expected him to say something like that. "It is only natural for you to deny it, but deep down you are a good person at heart. My Patriarch saw it in you, our people saw it in you, and I too can see it. You will see for yourself one day, young man, trust me. I know it will come." She told him, though Nico had to resist the urge to snort at her words.

He was NOT a good person, period. No, he was the exact OPPOSITE, in his mind.

Still though, this ability of theirs… he could foresee it causing a LOT of problems for these beings, that was for certain. "Was that ability why you were hunted? I heard something about your kind being a 'delicacy' according to a lot of folk…" he questioned further, trailing off to suppress his Ghoul Side's surges of instinctual desire. It was a creature bound by its instincts after all, of course it would still want to sample some off that flesh.

At this, Qing Ye's features saddened as she looked down towards her hands. Her eyes shone with remorse though, Nico could see it as clear as day as would anyone, before she responded in confirmation. "You would be correct, mostly. Our ability to look into souls got grossly exaggerated by the humans when they first heard of us, and we were seen as a threat to their survival like most other creatures in this world. 'Demons who can manipulate masses of innocents' and 'abominations who have the hearts of mortals under their thumbs' were some descriptions. However, they also discovered that by consuming our flesh, their own bodies would gain incredible benefits from us, I'm sure you've heard of them, yes?"

Nico nodded solemnly, he felt terrible discussing all this for some reason, but he ignored it for the time being. "Yeah, from what I heard of you, I got the impression that it included ailment immunities, lifespan prolonging, using blood too develop tablets with healing properties, among other things…" he recalled, furrowing his brows, looking up from his contemplation towards the older Nature Elf. "Though my sources were a tad… biased, in their opinions."

"It would only be natural for them to desire us; evil people tend to be that way." Qing Ye nodded in response, her brows furrowing as creases appeared over her forehead. Nico could sense agitation beginning to rise within her, alongside that gradually rising sorrow. "Our bodies do indeed have those benefits when we are… eaten, your source was not wrong. Those Benefits are included when one harvests us for their own purposes, and many powerful warriors got their powers boosted from using our kind as stepping stones. In addition, if one got a hand on our royal bloodline, not only would these powers become even more effective, but additional ones would become available especially if they have our Royal Nature Spirit Cores. But, what most people do not know about us anymore, was the fact that originally were not… from this place."

For a moment, the woman became silent, and in that moment part of Nico wondered if she would have stopped there. He could certainly sense the hesitation in her voice building up to that moment, which caused him to frown internally. Seemed like there was something she wanted to say… but was hesitating about revealing it for some reason. Why was that? That was the question his inner self asked the rest of the being called Nico. Eventually though, the older Nature Elf gave him the answer she had, although it would NOT be what Nico had expected. "No, it would be more accurate to say that we are otherworlders."

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…

…

…

'…Okay, WHAT?!' Cue a surprised look from Nico as a soft gasp escaped his mouth. Did she say what he thought she said? Otherworlders? The FUCK?! Did she mean that her and the other Nature Elves aren't exactly native to Gamindustri?! That was what it sounded like to the male, and if he were frank then the teen honestly couldn't be completely be shocked by this information. However, it still caused him to be surprised yet, hearing that something like this had been a thing. It also provoked some questions about the… other Abnormals in this world, questions revolving around the Abnormals' origins.

Seemed like Qing Ye had deduced his thoughts from his expressions, judging by how she sighed in acknowledgement just now. "Yes, it's expected of you to react that way. None but myself and the oldest members of our kind know this however, for it is something we do not like to recall. Originally, we came here from our home planet Darkya, to escape the hunters which constantly sought our kind out for our Nature Spirit Cores, as well as our bodies. We escaped from slavery, from death, all the way to this backwater planet and hoped that, as the centuries pass, we would have gotten a clean start. For a time, we actually DID have a little peace, with our kind remaining relatively isolated from the world around us and thus, allowing us to focus on mending our wounds. We even managed to build a place to call our homeland... Sadly, that was not to be, and now, we are limited to the 100 in this village."

…Ouch. Nico felt a wince coming on yet couldn't stop it from appearing over his features. So, if he was thinking this correctly, then these creatures had been trying to escape being hunted by countless races from other worlds, thus being forced out of their original home world of… 'Darkya' as she called it. Hearing that, it just began making him want to rip the ones who hunted them to little tiny pieces, especially when he recllled the faces of the Nature Elves especially the ones whom hugged him. He couldn't help but think of them like the girls in his party… therefore, imagining what those Nature Elves could have gone through made him think about what would have happened to his comrades…. So yeah, Nico got more than a little bit pissed.

Still, it DID point to an answer to one of his questions, and when he spoke again Nico had to force his tone to remain civil and level. "So… that must mean that when you killed humans, instead of them being innocent people they were really for…"

"Self-defence, yes." Qing Ye replied, pretty much confirming his thoughts right then and there. "Because of what we are though, we couldn't risk explaining our side of the story, especially considering humans wouldn't have listened to us, us being 'Abnormals' in their eyes. Their eyes were already clouded with hatred and lust for the benefits our kind brings, making communication between us impossible, and as a result, our only option had been to hide away from them. Several years ago, however, we were found and reduced to the state you see us in now. Even at this current time, many of us worry we will be found once more… since we cannot fight back."

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **Alright guys, new chappie.**

 **In this one, I wanted to show you all that, whilst highly prominent, Demons are not the only beings which exist in the Devildimension. There are countless other races out there, which gives rise to plenty of potential options for the future of this series. These Nature Elves being from another world may sound like some sort of isekai bullshit, but it is not I assure you. This is also showing you parts of where these Abnormals have originated too, but trust me there is still more to come.**

 **Also, to anyone who thinks that Nico should have asked for more power and all that shit, remember this: power without knowledge will just end up causing more problems than it solves, as Nico says in this chapter actually. He's been looking for ways to gain strength so quickly up till this point, that now his power outweighs the vast knowledge inside his brain. That's not good, so he is simply using this opportunity to, in some ways practice what he preached to Noire way back when, and LEARN. Ask the questions which weren't ever asked before, instead were put to the side in favour for the blade and shield.**

 **Anyways, hope you have enjoyed the fic, review when possible, and i'll see you next chapter**

 **Peace Out!**


	185. Chapter 154-5 - Experiencing Nature Elfs

After their talk concluded, Nico had requested that he have some time to maul things over, something which Qing Ye accepted and allowed He Lin to come and show him around the village. Despite his nature, Nico had been their first visitor in a very, VERY long time, and a visitor which they didn't mind having. Not something which could have been said often considering how these creatures ended up the way they had, from what he had learned from Qing Ye. Even then though, it had sparked a huge, chaotic debate within the male, a debate which seemed less like one and more like a freaking WAR deep within.

With everything that he had learned,, Nico felt like he would have needed years in order to sort through all these feelings raging inside him right now. Feelings which he had been used to feeling on one hand, yet on the other they also carried a foreign element to them which he hadn't been used to. Seriously, everything he had learned about the Nature Elves left him feeling more and more complicated and confused. It would have been easier if he had learned that the Nature Elves really were as bad as the other Abnormals he had been used to killing, that they weren't as pure as they seemed. It would have been so much easier to reach a conclusion to everything he had dealt with thanks to that damned auction, however that had not been the case.

Now… now he felt even MORE lost on what to do.

Just… when did everything become so complicated?

Why had it turned out this way?

Part of him longed for the days when everything had been simple, of when he would simply go about his day fighting and killing, with no need to think about anything other getting stronger and keeping his Ghoul side under wraps. At least back then, in that thorn-filled 'cage' he knew what he was and what he had to do, he had a sense of direction and purpose. Even if he despised himself and most of the people around him because of it. Heck right now, he would have taken a hallucination or two, at least then a sense of normalcy would have returned to him, something Nico SERIOUSLY wished he could have right now to escape this situation he found himself in.

But… that wasn't the way to go about things, and he knew it. He knew that down to his very soul. Right now, Nico had found himself confronted with a reality that had been surmounted by a variety of factors. Factors consisting of Yvoire, these Nature Elves, things said to him by THAT GUY, Zelretch, Mundus, Gelmudo and pretty much the entire political situation in Leanbox altogether. All these factors piled up in Nico's mind, pretty much warping his perception of the world around him. Where there was once simple black and white, his perception slowly but surely became grey, devoid of any meaning or identity between the good and bad.

He just felt so… lost.

Lost… devoid of meaning… of who and what should he fight for…

Nothing made sense to him anymore…

However, Nico couldn't wallow in his conflicting thoughts for too long, especially with what happened next. The moment that he had left the treehouse and walked down the leafy staircase (still had no clue how that had been a thing, but he just rolled with it), He Lin had seemingly appeared from out of nowhere, like an assassin springing into action to end his target, and quickly grabbed his hand before dragging him off towards the rest of the little Village. He'd even exclaimed something about having been waiting for him so he could show Nico around his home, as an extra for saving him back there.

* * *

Which had ended up with Nico in this following predicament.

"Big Sister Qing He!"

For what his internal clock told him had been about 10 minutes, He Lin had went up and dragged Nico all the way to the ends of this little world. To where, the redhead hadn't been too knowing about the destination, but he had kept any questions popping into his mind to himself. After all, he'd learn soon enough, right? Whelp, he sure got his answer when they reached the supposed destination. Sprawled out before them, Nico and He Lin beheld a huge garden that stretched far and wide, with all kinds of blossoming flowers flourishing in an explosion of colors. Not only that, but a calming breeze reminiscent of a warm, loving embrace blew through the winds, soothing the worrries of anyone and anything it touched.

'Wooow….'

The awed Nico could only think that as he stared at the sight. Again, he just couldn't help but be impressed at the beauty of this place. It inspired him to make sure this place was kept a secret till these Nature Elves no longer had to worry about being found out, a time when humanity would have forgotten about their existence so they only had to fear the Abnormals surrounding this forest.

Though, when He Lin made that exclamation, Nico found his eyes being drawn to the centre of the magnificent Garden. A place where a colorfully dressed young teenage girl was at the centre of the garden, gathering wat looked like morning dew from the petals (Nico wasn't completely sure since he was no florist). Still, his few observations of her showed that she did indeed have some grace to be able to pick what she wanted from the flowers with such finesse. Her graceful, lithe figure resembled a colorful, elegantly dancing butterfly within the myriad flowers. The look on her face, Nico could recognize the serenity she had on anywhere, he had a similar look whenever he was with his comrades. They were his beauty, in this twisted world.

Amidst He Lin's high-pitched shout (though Nico almost found it similar to a squeal), the girl within the garden swiftly raised her head, momentarily surprised at the breaking of the sweet silence she had been enjoying. She then turned, her soft gaze following shortly after before landing upon the two boys who walked up to her. He Lin introduced the Redhead with rosy cheeks. "This is Big Sister Qing He. Oh, her father is Uncle Qing Mu. Big Sister Qing, this is the Agent who saved me. He's super duper powerful, you know."

He Lin spoke with heavy excitement, his bright green eyes shining with almost fiery joy. Where the heck did he get all this energy from, was he just WAITING for Nico o be done with his business? The DPU had to wonder about that, but it only lasted for a few short seconds. Afterwards, Nico regarded this female called Qing He, someone whom reminded him of the woman he had just been talking to. 'Must be a family relative or something.' The colorfully dressed girl looked to only be around fifteen or sixteen. Her bright face contained a young girl's charming immaturity and a Nature Elf's beautiful purity. Upon seeing him, she gently did a bow in Nico's direction. "Thank you for saving our young patriarch, big brother." She spoke. Once she said those words though, she didn't dare to look him in the eyes a second time. She lowered her head as a slight flush spread across her cheeks.

'Huh? She seems like a lot of the other teenage females in this Species…' Nico thought to himself, a worried frown over his features. He thought he heard facepalming in the back of his mind, but he didn't pay it much heed, instead Nico wondered if this person was suffering from over-exertion or stress, so he mentally examined her for any dark emotions. Much to his confusion however, there were none, so the teen couldn't help but wonder what the heck was going on. 'Also, I can't help but get reminded of Compa from this girl… they do have similar shy demeanors after all…' the teen thought further as his brain hallucinated an image of the Nurse-In-Training before him. He missed her, he really did, as well as Neptune, IIF, Noire, Vert, Raven, Lucy, the guys his mother pretty much everyone whom he could consider comrade.

"Ah? Young patriarch, so you've brought our benefactor here, no wonder I couldn't find you anywhere!"

The sound of a girl's voice, which resembled clear spring water, came from behind them. It served to break the teen from his thoughts as a girl around the same age as Qing He gently fluttered over on some almost transparent looking wings. She had a different hair style though, whilst Qing He's hair fell to the middle of her back, this one's hair fell to the back of her waist in length, with a princess brain going around the back of her head. Plus, she wore an... extravagant looking dress if he was judging the Nature Elf culture right.

Behind her followed a handsome, tall and slender young Nature Elf who looked to be around seventeen years old. His hair was short and similar in looks to Nico himself, with his clothes consisting of a leafy shirt with overalls made from vines. He looked to be at least 5 foot 7, himself. As Nico regarded this one, he instinctively began analysing him for any signs of combat ability. This one DID look older than He Lin after all, so Nico expected him to have some form of ability. However, when Nico looked at him, he saw that the guy looked only... average, in regards to combat proficiency. His energy seemed to be below average though. 'Looks like Qing Ye's fears are even more solid than I thought...' the teen thought worriedly. 'They literally have ZERO combat strength amongst any of them...'

"Big Sister Fei Yan, Big Brother Qing Zhu!" He Lin excitedly shouted their names in a clear voice, bounding up to them in greeting in which Nico and Qing He (Nico had long since gotten used to their naming sense at this point).

When the two arrived, both of them looked the black wearing Spec Ops Agent for a long while. During this time period, Nico himself shuffled under their gazes, the teen sensing how they were simply looking him over without any ill intent. Still didn't make him feel all that comfortable, despite his attempts to keep straight. The young Nature Elf named Qing Zhu then deeply bowed toward the redhead, once again surprising him. "You saved our young patriarch and… I don't even know how we can repay you."

"Thank you, kind human." The Nature Elf girl named Fei Yan graciously bowed as well. Her clear, beautiful eyes then continued to curiously size Nico up. Whatever she thought about him, the teen wasn't sure on and he did NOT want to use the Shingan on her to find out. The thought of using that item to probe these pure creatures felt... wrong, to the male. "There really are good people within humans too." she eventually commented.

At this, the redhead nearly scoffed at his supposed 'goodness' but didn't say anything back.

"Of course," He Lin replied with some pompousness. "When father and mother were still alive, they used to tell me that all the time. I knew that DEATHSTROKE was a really good person at first glance."

Though, just as he said that, Nico nearly jumped in surprise when Fei Yan gained a tick mark on her forehead. "Hmph! Young patriarch, you still have the gall to say that!?" Fei Yan yelled as she raised a hand and heavily bonked He Lin on the forehead, fuming. "Do you know that you almost scared all of us to death!? Granny Qing Ye cried so many times! You…!" She tried to say more on the scolding front, but eventually gave up when she saw the look on the younger boy's face. With a heavy sigh, the older girl continued. "If you dare to do something like this again, I'm going to ignore you from then on."

A low, pained groan escaped the boy's lips while rubbing his forehead where he got hit. Nico mentally swore that he saw a bump slowly forming there with a plaster on it, though he didn't comment. He Lin covered his hurt forehead and didn't dare to retort, looking like he had experienced this kind of feminine wrath once before. . He weakly answered quite pitifully, "Big Sister Fei Yan, I know that I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again. I only… I only wanted to go out to see the outside world. I never expected to be that unlucky… Uuu, I really won't do it again."

Fortunately for the young heir to the Nature Elf race, help came in the form of the flower-picking girl from earlier. "Fei Yan, don't speak to young patriarch like that. He will definitely be obedient from now on," Qing He protectively said in a gentle voice. When she was speaking, she sneakily glanced at Nico before hurriedly lowering her head again.

"Hmph, in any case, I'll be firmly looking after young patriarch from now on!" Fei Yan replied while puffing her cheeks.

All the while, the embarrassed and flustered He Lin chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head in an awkward manner. "Hehehehe, Well I..." he began, before trailing off when he suddenly tripped on his own two feet. "Ah?! Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!" His eyes widened in a startled mannerism as he flung his arms about to try and retain balance, to no available.

Each of the Nature Elves made to help him before he fell, but a simple elongated silhouette shot right past them, wrapping around He Lin's waist and lifting him jus lightly above the ground. For a moment, the onlookers blinked owlishly as they took that time to properly register what had happened to him... before they looked to see what had stopped their future Patriarch from falling. It looked to be... some sort of black Tentacle? It reminded them starkly of the night sky but even blacker, like the very essence of darkness itself. Looked really long and strong, too. But... where did it come from?

Meanwhile, Nico's eyes widened when he realized what he had reflexively done just now. When he had seen He Lin fall just now, he had acted out of instinct, unleashing a single uncloaked Tentacle to catch the young Nature Elf. The redhead tried to think of what had suddenly come over him for him to do this, but he had just revealed the existence of his Inner Ghoul to these people. He honestly hadn't known what had happened, but just as the kid had been about to fall, Nico recalled that time when he had almost devoured him and had that hallucination... which pretty much resulted in that instinctive response.

In the end though, it hardly mattered at this point, since he had just dug himself into one hole he should NOT have done.

'This is bad, this is bad, this is bad...!' Nico thought, already aware of what will happen next as he made to release the rest of his Kagune. He practically all but forgot his previous observations of them in favour of his previous experiences, all the while his mind got flooded with waves of panic and anxiousness. The words 'I'm in a land infested with enemies' registered in his mind, his Ghoul side making it so he could only think of those words. Part of him felt like using He Lin as a hostage just to get a head start, his mind already slipping as memories of his previous instances of being discovered replayed themselves.

Just as he made to unleash the rest of his Kagune including his Bikaku…

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, what are those?"

All of a sudden, a cute yet curious feminine voice rang out as Fei Yan, whom had been the closest to Nico's Kagune, stepped towards the Tentacle holding He Lin by the waist. Her eyes shined brilliantly with childish curiosity whilst she eyed the appendage used for killing. "This thing... it looks so wiggly and yet..." she experimentally poked it, nearly giggling from the shudders that it did as a result. Looking up when she felt eyes on her, Fei Yan tilted her head in confusion when she saw the look of bafflement on Nico's features. "Mister DEATHSTROKE? Is something the matter?"

"... Huh? Oh, um..." For a moment, Nico had lost himself to his internal shock at what he had just seen, but thankfully managed to regain his sense of self before he could go too far into THAT particular abyss. After he had regained himself though, Nico found himself dumbstruck once more, hesitation and confusion filling him about how to answer this question. It had been way easier for him to answer this in front of his comrades, since he had made the decision to use it in front of their presence, but to accidentally reveal it like this? To these strangers, practically? Not so much. "Its-Its nothing, its just my Tentacles, is all..." he tried to say, but found himself fumbling over his own words.

"Can we touch it?"

That question came from Qing Zhu, who stepped forwards and looked like he had been thinking about asking something for a while, but had decided to postpone it in favour of this new development. His eyes held an equal curiosity and childish innocence of which Fei Yan possessed when she saw his Rinkaku in action. In fact, there had been NOTHING in his body language that indicate any sort of fear or anxiety towards the grotesque black Tentacle. Nothing at all, which only befuddled the redhead more.

To that end, Nico had no idea how, but reluctantly he had unleashed the rest of his Rinkaku Kagune, and now had become witness to the group of teenage Nature Elves playfully poking, prodding and rubbing their hands over the many appendages. Almost like they were revering it, had it not been for the sheer wonder and awe in their eyes telling him their true feelings. Fei Yan had even once commented about his Kakugan and how 'cool' it looked, only serving to increase his befuddlement. Nico honestly didn't get it, what the hell was up with this situation? Why were these creatures not afraid of his Ghoul side in any ways?!

Glancing over to He Lin, Nico tried to believe that he himself would show a more... normal reaction to his Ghoulish self, a reaction which he had seen dozens of times in the past. If not from him, then when others saw other Ghoul's Kagune. Usually, their reaction would be one of fear, and the more cowardly people would even have pissed their pants at the sight of these killing appendages. However, the moment that Nico's eyes landed on He Lin, he once again found himself puzzled beyond imagination when he saw NONE of the previous reaction he once had when Nico nearly ate him alive after saving him from the auction. 'Wha…? Why...?'

"Because you're a good person."

"?!"

When He Lin suddenly spoke, breaking Nico out of his confusion, the redhead teen looked towards him like he had gotten a second head near instantaneously. Nico began to feel real irritated at this 'good person' crap these guys were spouting, he was no good person, no way in hell! He killed! He butchered! He devoured! He ripped, tore and shredded! He was a killer, a beast and a monster all at once! So how, how the FUCK could he be a good person?! This 'seeing into the souls' stuff must be getting to him...

Even when he saw all this flash across the Spec Ops Agent's face, He Lin showed no signs of being deterred, in fact they just kept going. "Big Brother DEATHSTROKE is a good person, I've seen it in your soul and your actions, now so have the rest of us. True you have done stuff, we've seen that, but at your core you still have a great heart. You haven't tried to do anything untoward any of us either, which is only a big plus for my people." he explained gently with a smile, even whilst he had been held above ground by a single Tentacle. This feeling did remind him of that time he almost lost his life to it, but moreover he saw none of the blind insanity that had plagued Nico's face back then. He had been in control, and that alone had been enough to keep him calm in this situation.

Meanwhile, Nico could only look at him like he was this complex puzzle that he had spent hours trying to solve... not too far from the truth, in Nico's eyes anyways. Had it... really been so easy for them? To just look passed all the bad stuff he had done and see what little spec of good still remained inside of his rotten self? This stuff mind boggled the fuck out of him...

* * *

30 minutes of the Nature Elves playing with Nico's Kagune later...

At this point, Qing Zhu couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. On the flipside, Nico had noticed for a short while that the guy had been getting restless, more so by the second which passed. As a result, the Spec Ops teen did wonder when he would finally make his move, as he asked somewhat eagerly. "Young patriarch, what happened after you snuck out? And how is the outside world? Is it really as magical as what Granny Qing Ye and Uncle Qing Mu said it was? Tell us!" he questioned He Lin, mentioning the names of the woman whom had been talking to Nico and one of the few males in the race left, Qing Mu. A man nearly as old as Qing Ye.

"T-This…" He Lin began anxiously, some memories he'd rather not like to think about entering his mind. It must have been quick though, since it passed on pretty quickly, either that or the young boy held a bravery in him that not many his age would have. "I got caught by someone not too long after I snuck out. A-After that, I was always scared, so I didn't have time to think about anything else." he tried to explain to the others, before an idea came to him as his eyes widened in realization, "Ah! Right!" He Ling's eyes suddenly flashed as he turned to the sole member of this little group who actually LIVED in the outside world with little issue compared to them. "Mister DEATHSTROKE, how about you tell us about the outside world? Is that okay?"

He Lin's words, like a lightning bolt, served to practically instantly bring the three to their senses. Qin He, Fei Yan and Qing Zhu all immediately turned and looked towards Nico… who was the first human that came to their little world from the outside world. "Big Brother Benefactor, you must know a lot about the outside world. We really, really, really want to hear about it."

Four pairs of emerald eyes flashed with the same anticipation and longing. These gazes made Nico's very soul suddenly clench, as though it had been pricked with a needle. These people... these kids, pretty much. They had always lived a life on the run and spent it amidst terror and caution. something caused by the hands of the residents on this world, and if Qing Ye's words were true they hadn't even seen the worst of it. Their years up and off of Gamindustri sounded like it had been way more horrible than being here. They were only safe in this little place, their own little world like a chuuni trying to make their own reality to feel safe and secure in. To them, every place in the outside world could be said to be an abyss of death.

One could say that this little world they were in was their only safe haven... in the midst of an abyss which would swallow them whole the first chance they got.

Still, even with this, Nico still felt hesitant to talk about his many ventures across Gamindustri, his mind weighing what to tell them and what not to. No matter how pure these creatures were, no matter how different they had shown themselves to be from the norm, Nico couldn't shake the years of caution and paranoia he had been a companion to. There was a saying he had heard of, called 'rome wasn't built in a day'. He wasn't sure what the 'rome' part was, but the sentiment he could get behind. Having been doing something for so long, it would be impossible to just change like that, anyone who said otherwise needs to get their heads examined. They'd be even stupider than some of the psychos he'd ripped to shreds.

 **'Nico, perhaps you could tell them about the places you've been to, like those mountains in Leanbox, or that snowy field in Lowee? Tell them what the entirety of Gamindustri is like so they have a decent idea, even if they could never truly imagine it.'**

… Biko just seemed to have MASTERED the ability to come to his aid whenever he needed it, didn't he?

Nico mentally chuckled to himself as he recalled the countless times Biko had aided him whenever he had been lost. That was what made him be ever so grateful to his Demon Persona, but for the time being, Nico decided to focus on the task at hand as he looked at the curious eyes upon him. "Well, if you all want to know so badly... how about this? Originally I was born in Planeptune, another Nation of which your elders once thought of moving to..." and so, Nico began to tell them about the... less extreme of his adventures. He didn't want to traumatize them with some of the more horrific shit he had done. He would describe the places he had been to as much as he could, some of the 'lesser extreme' of the creatures Nico had to fight, as well as some of the cultural achievements made through the recent years. But most importantly, he explained to them the various environments he'd been in, describing them in explicit detail just from recounting them.

Though, he had to thank the Avenger Package which awarded him skills to do with recollection.

And all the while, his little 'audience' listened to his words with rapt attention, their eyes sparkling with innocent joy and wonder. Heck, during the storytelling, all of them (including Nico himself) had sat down cross legged on the flower garden, letting the male's words fill their minds. Now, don't be fooled, the Nature Elves wouldn't have been able to imagine it clearly themselves, since they lacked the experience which came from the outside world. Even so however, to them, a race whom had been caged up in this small little world, the sheer wonder and mystery of it all served to bring them excitement just by itself. That was what Nico saw in their eyes at least...

"Wooowww… a land filled to the brim with brilliant white snow... as if looking upon a field of white which glistens in the night..." Fei Yan muttered under her breath in a mesmerised manner. The look in her eyes spoke volumes about her opinion on the matter, and if anyone were to look at her right now, they would just want to hug her to preserve that innocent expression she had on. Only, a second or two later, did she blink as a realization hit her, causing her to look down in a mass of sadness. "But... even after so many years, I've never even seen snow before..."

The same opinion got passed around the other Nature Elves, creating a sense of solemnness throughout the area.

At those words, Nico frowned to himself, wondering what he could do to change that. He hadn't spent very long with these beings, but even then Nico surprised himself. He surprised himself with how fond he was beginning to become for these beings. Their purity, innocence and honesty... how long had it been since he had seen something like that? That wasn't a question he wanted to entertain though, as he needed to figure out a way to pacify the young Nature Elf... just then, an idea popped into his head. Afterwards, a small smirk slowly spread onto his lips as he held up his right Bracer. "Really? Well then, mind if I... SHOW you what I'm talking about?"

His words, like lighting up a candle, lit up the curiosity and hope for the young kids (though one of them was actually older than him, now that he thought about it) before him. Raising his free hand, Nico then proceeded to manipulate the Bracer upon activating it, causing a holographic screen to appear. The teen then selected the camera option, and with a few presses... the teen had brought up a rather LARGE image of what looked like a Snowy Mountain. The photo itself had been taken from the ground, but it had been taken quite well. It captured the beauty and the 'scale' of the entire mountain, not to mention that it was snowing all around, so the full beauty formed from a bed of snow had been captured too.

"WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW...!" an almost chorus-like sound escaped the lips of the Nature Elves as they each gazed upon the photo with captivated eyes. All of them practically looked like they wanted to just jump right into the photo itself to see if they could experience what it was showing them, though Nico switched photos before they could do that. He showed them various photos of the places Nico had been to over his many missions, well, the ones that he had taken photos of anyways.

Seeing their faces, the male couldn't help but feel a swell of pride flare inside of him for some reason, and before he knew it, his mouth opened up and words came out... not of his own accord, it felt like. "These are some of the many places I've been to over the years. Your elders may tell you that the outside world is a perilous place, full of death, deception and pretty much every reason you could think of to remain in this village..." and they would be right to warn these young Nature Elves of that, he mentally added on to himself. Part of himself wondered why he wasn't shutting up right now, but when he'd look at their eager expressions that part of him just vanished into the winds.

Was this his... so called 'goodness' coming out?

No, that couldn't be, he wasn't a good person in the least!

But despite his current thoughts on that matter, Nico's words didn't stop flowing. "But with all these things, the world still has a sense of beauty to it. The world is cruel, but it is also very wonderful and beautiful if you know where to look. Think of this whenever you are in despair, and you'll be able to go far in life." At that point, did control over his motor functions return to him, and Nico promptly closed his mouth. Since when did he ever say anything like this? Also, why was it that he found himself believing in those words he just spouted like they weren't total nonsense? Before, Nico would have definitely called those words bullshit, saying how this world was ugly, disgusting and not worth a second look. So... what the hell changed? Nico had honestly been asking that question in his mind QUITE A LOT lately...

…?!

But, just as Nico looked towards his little 'audience' he became SURE his mind had begun making it a damned hobby to play tricks on him, cause he SWORE that the four just shimmered out of existence... becoming a familiar quartet of girls. The brown hair, the cream pink, lilac and crimson hair all became dead giveaways, along with the rest of their features: Neptune, Compa, IF and Lucy. Each of them looked at him with their own expressions, Neptune in He Lin's place beaming up at him, Compa taking Qing He's place looking up at him with that innocent look on her face, IF taking Qing Zhu's place looking at him with that slight smirk on her lips while Lucy who took Fei Yan's place had taken up the role of smirking seductively at him.

'...ahhh… I see...'

The moment that he saw them... Nico slowly began to understand.

* * *

After spending some time showing them the photos of places he had been to while telling them stories about them (stories he had looked up in his free time simply because he had been bored), Nico deactivated the camera function and his Bracer. Unlike what his internal expectations had been, this hadn't been as bad as he had thought. In fact, Nico had found it rather enjoyable, though considering what he had just realized, Nico could sort of see it.

Beneath the excitement they had never before felt, the faces of the four Nature Elf youths were all currently flushed. The eyes they looked at Nico with seemed to shimmer like bright stars—just a moment ago, they felt gratitude and curiosity toward him. What they felt now, however, was a sudden, intense, all-encompassing worship.

"I really… I really want to go see the place mister DEATHSTROKE talked about," muttered the sole male of the Nature Elves, his eyes looking glazed over as he lost himself in his own delusions. Nico could tell this was the case, since he'd seen it many times during his time with Neptune. Though, seeing it on a guy this time felt like... an interesting eye-opening experience.

Still, it didn't feel right to leave here without giving them something to hope for. Though, Nico knew for a FACT that if these guys wanted to see the outside world, then their journey would be one hell of a long, perilous one. "I'll be blunt then: One of the most important things for you all to know about the outside world, is that out there strength will let you go a long way. Might makes right is the basic rule of life in Gaminsdustri, if you're not strong enough to fight, then people will trample all over you like you're nothing but a pile of straw, and you will surely lose your life out there. Therefore, I you all want to see the outside world, you must train yourselves to handle any kind of combat situation."" Nico explained, and in his head he couldn't help but think something. 'Geez, I feel like one of those senior agents advising the younger generation on how to pursue their own careers without conking out early.'

His words however, seemed to have reached them though, judging by how all of them looked at him in that moment. Nico strangely got the feeling like he had inadvertently don something to them that he hadn't intended to. "Mister DEATHSTROKE… oh! Can we…" For a moment, Fei Yan showed herself as earnest as the rest of them, completely spellbound for some reason Nico didn't understand. However, soon into this state, an idea came into her head and snapped her out of it. Yet, the moment it did, her entire face became filled with nervousness as she shuffled about on her spot on the flower-covered ground. "Can you... perhaps tell us your name?"

Hearing their female brethren's words, stars lit up all their eyes as He Lin, Qing He and Qing Zhu also looked at him. Each of them quickly adopted the same nervous yet excited and hopeful expressions Fey Yan sported, all of them sharing the desire to learn the real name of the one whom had reunited them with their patriarch... and had asked for such a small price in return!

On his end, Nico however didn't have the same attitude. For a moment, the teen's eyes widened in surprise as his body tensed. It was only through his quick thinking that he had managed to suppress his Kagune and by extension, his Ghoul Side, from lashing out at them in response to that invasion of privacy. Even if these people reminded him of his own comrades, it didn't mean he saw them AS his comrades, no it as more like he saw them as their own beings, and as such his trust in them… well, it wasn't the same as the girls. Even though Nico could gladly admit that they were definitely more than strangers.

Still, considering what Fei Yan had asked him... to reveal his true name to these creatures? These Abnormals who seem so far away from what is initially expected of their kind? Such a ting would never have appeared in Nico's mind, no instead Nico likely would have just sliced them to pieces by this point. Very few would ask him what his real name was without knowing him for a while first, since Nico casually projected an aura of secrecy and reservation. That meant that any who tried poking their noses where they didn't belong got... a rather sinister response from him in return. Several people have already tried poking into his business, his past and whatnot... and none of them met very fortunate ends.

So... why should these creatures be any different?

 **'Perhaps it's just their innocent natures, Nico... These creatures, these Nature Elves... they simply want to know your name, nothing more and nothing less. There's literally NO hidden intentions, NO ulterior motives, NO desires to end you. I can tell because not ONCE did any of them form any sort of dark, sinister emotions. This is quite possible one of the purest species we have ever encountered, a race where even yourself and myself can let our guard down and be okay in the long run. It boggles my mind that such a creature exists... a creature of such purity that anyone would want to be friends with them.'**

Biko's words reverberated through Nico's mind, and after a moment of consideration o his part, taking in his Demon Persona's testimony Nico finally came to a decision. It would go against what he normally did, it would even go as far as to turn every aspect of his ideals revolving Abnormals on its head... but then again, that had been happening a lot today so what's one more? Not like it hadn't benefited him so far, in fact Nico would dare to say that this trip benefited him quite a bit, and NOT by increasing his strength or anything. If anything, Nico felt more... at peace, in this place. Like this place was the garden of Eden in a world full of sin and corruption.

Such a thing...

Nico never thought it would have existed, but here it was.

At the question, Nico's lips slowly, but surely, widened into a small smile. His eyes gained this soft, tender look which, unbeknownst to him, would make quite a few girls' hearts melt at the sight of, as he gave his answer. "My name's... Nico."

"Nico..."

Each of them muttered his name under their breaths while looking down in comprehension. F or a moment, Nico wondered if they even liked the idea of his name being so... different, at least in comparison to theirs. Their culture and his own held different naming standards after all, not to mention Nico had discarded his last name a long, long time ago. A name which only served to remind him of the origins of his heritage, a subject worthy of scorn in his eyes. Perhaps if things were different with those Nobles, then MAYBE he'd have a different opinion about them, but as of right now, that wasn't the case.

In the end though, none of his previous concerns regarding these few came to fruition, especially when he saw one of them grin so brightly that it rivalled the sun. "Big Brother Nico!" Qing Zhu hollered excitedly, his broad grin accompanied by the brightness in his eyes whilst he stopped himself from bouncing up and down in excitement.

An irritated Fei Yan then gave a glare in his direction, although the more Nico looked, the more that he saw how it was jealousy and not irritation. He could even sense that emotion starting to rise from within her. "Y-y-you… big dummy! You stole my thunder again! I want to say it too…! Big Brother Nico!" As Fei Yan called out, her eyes bent into thin crescents. Then, she tugged at the Qing He beside her, who seemed to be quite quiet as she shuffled about on her seat, looking like she was trying to be as small as possible. "Big Sister Qing He, you're not talking much today. Hurry up and call him Big Brother Nico!"

In response to her companion's urging, Qing He slowly stood up from her prior sitting position, before she then took a small step forward. Though, she still had yet to lift her head, to the redhead teen's confusion. Eventually however, she stopped right when she was within talking distance of him, and was it just him or did Nico see some steam slowly rising from her face like a certain female ninja who stalked the blonde future leader of their village? Nico brought himself out of those musings though, when he heard her mutter out something under her breath which, if he didn't have his enhancements from the Gene Seed and his Ghoul Side, he likely wouldn't have been able to hear. "Big... Brother Nico..."

The way she spoke so softly and slowly, without looking up at the male very much, it brought on a bout of worry from the others, prompting her to get questioned by Qing Zhu. "...Qing He... what's wrong? You… ah? Why is your face kind of red? Are you sick?" he questioned in confusion wen he saw slight red on Qing He's cheeks, tilting his head to the side much like how Nico sometimes did.

It... kind of surprised him, seeing something he himself did, but from the opposite perspective.

After a second or two of looking at her, a sound of exclamation escaped the other girl's lips. "Ah! I got it!" Fei Yan shouted, clicking her fingers while swishing her hand across her chest. She then pointed towards Qing He with a look of triumph, like she had figured out something amazing and very difficult. "Big Sister Qing He must have fallen for Big Brother Nico!" She proclaimed...

definitely getting a response from the other female Nature Elf.

"N-NO I HAVEN'T!" The faint color of the red dawn instantly became a gorgeous sunset and immediately spread to her jade colored neck as her head dropped even lower. Then, she gently stamped her foot all of a sudden and turned to run like a startled butterfly… never daring to shoot Nico a single glance during the entire process.

"Wahaha! I guessed right!" Fei Yan exclaimed, laughing with satisfaction whilst she bent forwards with her hands clutching her stomach. Then, she her bright eyes looked directly at Nico with mischievous, downright playful look that the redhead compared to those Neptune made whilst pulling pranks. "Big Brother Nico, Qing He ran away due to embarrassment, you'd better take responsibility!"

""H-Huh?" Nico exclaimed, surprise on his features unlike embarrassment which had dominated Qing He.

'BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DAMN KING, EVEN WITH ABNORMALS, YOU'RE A FREAKING PIMP! WHAT, CAN WE EXPECT SOME NAUGHTY ACTIONN WITH MONSTERS NOW?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!'

'...Biko, please pull out the flamethrower.'

 **'... Can I bring out that rusty katana with the really painful edges? Molotov Cocktails? Shotguns?'**

'Knock yourself out.'

 **'Thank you.'**

'HUH? WHA? WAIT, WHERE'D YOU GET A FLAMETHROWER?! WAIT, WHY ARE YOU COMING AT ME WITH THAT RUSTY THING?! OH SHIT, YOU'RE NOT GETTING MY BALLS! EN GUARDE!'

Nico mentally sighed once he began hearing sounds of conflict through his link to Biko, shutting it off seconds later. That'd keep them busy for a time, he thought. Just then, he recalled something He Lin had told him when they had been riding over to this forest on Ember, something about his culture and people. According to the Patriarch, Nature Elves bore the purest of nature energy. As a result, the females tended to be gentle and beautiful, while the males extremely pretty. However, because of this, they would lack masculinity. To Nature Elf girls who were accustomed to their girly (possibly #SHUDDER# trap material) male counterparts, the moment they got close or became curious about a guy like Nico, the redhead's 'manliness', along with his sharpness tempered by countless hardships, would produce an attractiveness that would most likely be fatal.

Remembering that information, Nico couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. Embarrassment, anxiety, doubt, worry and fear. Embarrassment came from having an obviously attractive woman thinking that he had those qualities, qualities she likely didn't even know about herself. It did... something to him, though he couldn't call it inflating his own ego, since he didn't see himself as a good enough person for it. Instead, the more dominant emotions were the latter emotions, Nico worried that if someone who... well let's just say had less than pure intentions towards her, and Qing He still wasn't used to how 'men' looked, then that could lead to something... something he didn't even want to think about.

Then, just as he felt himself about to spiral into the... darker areas of his mind, areas born from his hardships and his own insanity, Nico caught sight of the uncomfortable look on He Lin's face. The child looked to be trying to restrain himself from saying something, judging by how he gripped the hems of his clothes tight enough that if he tugged, they would have ripped. Not only that, but Nico could sense a whole MAELSTROM of chaotic emotion swarming wildly through the child's core right now, their state being so chaotic that even himself had difficulty ascertaining them all. But, from what little he could tell though, Nico felt that it was something he REALLY wanted to get out "What is it, He Lin? What seems to be troubling you?"

"Ah... ahahaha…" Surprise suddenly etched itself onto the child Patriarch's features, as if he didn't think Nico would have noticed him given the situation only to be proven wrong. Nervously chuckling, He Lin then rubbed the back of his head, looking down towards the ground whilst he spoke. "He Lin was a fool to think big brother Nico would not notice... little brother He Lin will remember to always be aware of big brother Nico's observation ability..." he commented, before he lowered his hand to his side and gave a sad, conflicted sigh. "Um...Big Brother has done a lot for me already... bringing me back to my people, saving my life when no human would have done the same..."

'What is his deal...?'

That thought raced through the redhead's mind as he tried to get a grasp of his thought process via the Shingan. Honestly, the things he'd seen and sensed concerned him, and considering his demeanour Nico doubted that He Lin would speak properly. However, before he could even use that item, the redhead saw that the youngest Nature Elf had already gathered his courage, judging by how his features morphed into a face of determination. "But... if big brother doesn't mind... may I request something of you...?"

Taking a small breath. He Lin steadied his nerves whilst his heart threatened to explode out of his chest. "I...If it's not too much trouble, I mean... big brother has no obligation to hear my request... but, please... would it be alright if you could... help me find my sister?" At the end of that overdrawn out sentence, He Lin lowered his head in a dramatic fashion, bowing lowly and deeply towards him.

'Wait, what?!'

"Young Patriarch?!"

Nico exclaimed in his mind, whilst externally the astonished exclamations from his fellow Nature Elves. Each of them looked at He Lin like he had grown a second head. Qing Zhu looked like he had lost the ability to speak, his eyes bulging so much that they threatened to come out of their sockets while his jaw had dropped. Fei Yan looked absolutely stunned, alarmed even, at her Patriarch whilst he remained in this bowing position. Not even looking up at them once this whole time.

The redhead male on the other hand, looked on in absolute bewilderment, unable to believe what he was seeing. Not to mention what he had been hearing too, about the kid's sudden request. This chid… he had seriously, SERIOUSLY asked him to help him look for his sister. The sister that, according to what he had learned, had apparently been separated from him for a while. He had asked for Nico's help in finding him... why would the kid ask him that? Nico soon found himself wanting to kick his own shin for that stupid question, of course He Lin would ask him that, the kid saw him as someone unbelievably powerful, and he could trust him. Especially with what Nico had done for him so far, along with those soul sensing abilities his kind had. Not only that, but Nico finally began to feel some negative emotions from Nature Elves, since so much purity had been hurled Nico's way. He could sense the selfishness in the kid at those words, but Nico didn't sense any hostile intent towards him. Heck, it had only been a spec in a massive pool of purity, or to make a better analogy, a small seed within a planet's soil.

But... Nico didn't know how to answer this kid's earnest plea for help, he really didn't. In the past, Nico would have likely just decapitated the kid for even suggesting that he go along with an Abnormal's request, as in his self before he had started this journey with Compa and Neptune. The self who hadn't experienced the trials of Zelretch yet... but now? Now, things had been different, and THAT had been a major impact on his thought process right now. He Lin had shown him that he wasn't like the other Abnormals, and had even shown him a full species, albeit an endangered one, who had similar views which pretty much threw what he knew up on its head. But... even with this, Nico had his own stuff to attend to, and a lot of it had to do with training, exploration, getting stronger and helping his comrades get through what had happened on Halo Mountain, Nico was no fool, he knew it had an impact on them all, some worse than others. Not to mention his request... with the lack of information Nico had about this kid's sister, it would likely take a long time, and he wasn't sure he would be able to do much about it. At least for the time being.

Fortunately for Nico however, he didn't have to. Especially since he sensed a presence coming towards them at a leisurely pace. Turning towards the presence's source, Nico noticed it was one of the more elderly of the Nature Elves, that one guy whom had hugged He Lin back when they arrived at this Village. Qing Mu, Nico remembered his name being, the guy being about as tall as Nico's base height had been in the beginning of the story, wearing leather clothing and carrying a wooden cane. The moment that he saw that Nico had registered his presence, the old Nature Elf unleashed a sigh from his chest.

That sigh managed to get the attention of the other Nature Elves.

"Uncle Qing Mu!" That exclamation escaped both Fei Yan and Qing Zhu at the same time, their eyes white and circular whilst they hastily got up and moved out of the way. That allowed the man to approach the youngest of the Nature Elves, his eyes having a light scolding look in them as He Lin looked up towards him at last. Seeing the look in his uncle's eyes, He Lin could only assume what would be happening next.

Something which came in the next few seconds as the older Nature Elf shook his head. "Young patriarch, you should stop inconveniencing our benefactor. You are only a child at the moment and the most appropriate thing for you to do right now is to depend on us to grow up. Once you've grown up, you should then try your hardest to become someone on whom we can then depend, as well as repay our benefactor for saving your life." He stated with a mix of bluntness and softness... in a rather weird mix, but that was the best one could ascertain from that tone. One could also say it was of a grandfatherly nature, yeah let's go with that.

As he listened to the elderly Nature Elf's words, Nico mentally sighed to himself. The more he heard, the more he felt this urge to do something... something regarding the resigned look which slowly formed on He Lin's face. Just looking at the kid's face sent his heart into a clenching overdrive, and he did NOT like it one single bit. 'Ugh... sometimes, I wish I didn't have this heart... it gets so annoying when I just want to get shit done...' the teen thought to himself. Glancing over to the future Heir to this species, whom had the look of someone who had been utterly defeated, the male released a sigh through his nose, raising a leather glove bound hand and pinching his nose's bridge, his eyes closed. 'Man, I know I'm going to regret this...'

Just as he thought that, He Lin finished listening to Qing Mu's light scolding with his expression one of defeat and resignation. After making sure that he didn't look like he was about to cry at having his hopes for reuniting with his sister dashed out of existence, he turned back to Nico and lowered his head apologetically. "This younger brother apologises to big brother Nico. I was selfish, so please for-"

"What's your sister's name?"

"?!"

Just as he had been making to apologize to him, Nico suddenly asked He Lin the name of his older sister with a straight face, his hands inside his Trench Coat pockets. The teen may look neutral, but inside his mind the teen cursed himself inside. Just by looking at that face Hel Lin had sported, Nico had felt the desire to help him. To see that kid cry like that, it reminded him so much of when his childhood friend would fall into despair a few times during their time together. He NEVER wanted to see that expression on Compa's face and seeing it on He Lin's seemed to provoke the same feelings inside of him... thus, it resulted in his desire to fulfil the child's request no matter how difficult it would be.

Just how the hell did he change so much? What the hell? "In the future, I get the feeling that my travels will take me to places far from the norm in Gamindustri. During those travels, the chance that I may encounter your sister and perhaps a few of the Elves who protect her, is quite likely. I may not be able to intentionally locate her due to lack of information..." he began, continuing when he noticed the slightly dejected look forming on his face. "But if I happen to see her, perhaps I could refer her to this area. Or even bring her here myself since I know the way."

Though, despite his own opinions on the subject, Nico felt like he had done something drastic towards He Lin's mood. Especially when he saw how shocked and filled with disbelief he looked right now. Like, he had lost hope he had in the possibility of reuniting with quite possibly the only family member he had left. Not adoptive family members as he seemed to see his brethren, but actual family. Though, a few blinks later, the male observed another change in him, as that shock soon got replaced with an overwhelming sense of happiness, joy even. "Ah!" He Lin's eyes shone brightly, and he started to tremble with excitement, "Big Brother Nico, my older sister… her name is He Ling... He Ling!"

He Ling... That name...

When he heard it, Nico mentally noted to record it into his memory. Even Biko recorded it under the redhead's request, recorded it inside the Inner World. All the while, Nico inquired further as to her characteristics. He needed a better description of her than just a name, since names could be faked and manipulation using them wasn't uncommon. Plus, they could be aliases to hide their true identities. "Can you tell me what she looks like? Can she be differentiated from other Nature Elves?" he queried further.

As a result, He Lin eagerly gave Nico an apt description of his older sister. Apparently, she should be beneath the age of 20, but well into her late teens, with long emerald green hair and grassy green eyes. She had a bright skin tone underneath a green dress normally, with a rather innate timidness to her default expression. Every bit of intel Nico got from He Lin about this person, the teen burned it into his mind, so he'd remember it in the future. 'Whoever this He Lin is... wherever she is... I hope that i'll be able to find her before the wrong kind of person does...'

 **'I get the feeling that you may have jinxed us there, Nico.'**

'Please don't, I'd rather not think about that...'

Seeing the act that took place in front of him, despite what he had initially thought, a soft and warm smile graced the elderly Elf's lips as he gazed fondly towards them. More specifically at the redhead."Thank you benefactor, I truly don't know how to say thank you enough." To Qing Mu, the man could understand what He Lin truly wanted, to reunite with his sister and have somewhat of a family again, it was something which drove his mischievous ventures outside of their quaint little village. As he saw the child as a surrogate son of his own, since his own wife had passed away thanks to a disaster years ago. Thus, he could tell what He Lin wanted the most, and to see that someone would be willing to help him... yeah, this young human, he may not see it himself, but there was a strong sense of compassion within his heart. Buried beneath oceans of dark mist, hidden from view.

Nico, unaware of his thought process since he wasn't looking it over, waved him off with a single hand, before returning it into the confines of his Trench Coat. "It is of no consequence to me, sir Qing Mu." he replied evenly. Though, he got the same feeling that this man would treat this in a similar manner to Qing Ye did when she had vehemently told him how the Nature Elves repaid their debts. The two looked like they came from the same generation after all... and honestly, seeing that they indeed held their words to him, Nico began to grow all the fonder of them. Seeing beings who stick to their words, showing a sense of honour and proper conduct, it was not a common sight to see.

Made him wish there were more like them in the world...

* * *

By the time that he had thought to check the time, surprise awaited Nico. When he had checked the time on his Bracer, the male had discovered that it had been almost half an hour since he arrived in this tiny desolate world of Nature Elves. That showed him that he had spent way too long in this place, and no longer needed to stay any longer. Not when he had his answers, not one part of him even ENTERTAINING the thought of cannibalising them. He didn't let his Ghoul side out for a moment during this entire time, even though it almost had a couple times. He just couldn't, not with what he had learned today.

These Abnormals...

No, these PEOPLE, they were just too good for this world, a small spec of innocence in this otherwise sick, wretched existence. Their way of life, their past, their culture, the personalities of each Nature Elf, none of it had any signs of the common Abnormal, in face they seemed way too human to be such. Hell, he'd believe it if they really were human, ad for the first time... Nico honestly didn't feel any need to hurt them, and now that he had brought some manner of hope into their lives by bringing He Lin back to them, Nico felt this swell of pride inside his gut. Was THIS what that guy had been talking about? When he had been so cold about killing the Fishmen back at the water trial?

As a result, Nico did NOT want to taint them with any more tragedy than they had already suffered, thus he would forever remember these people... as the first Species of Abnormals Nico would refuse to kill. No matter the circumstance. He'd die valiantly on that hill, he swore it. This had been the conclusion Nico had come to during his short stay here, an uncommon occurrence since normally he'd only trust someone beyond acquaintance if he had been with them for a long time. It was how he came to trust Neptune and the others, after all.

Whilst the teen walked back to the entrance, hands in his pockets and a pondering look on his face, the greenish black vines automatically unwoven themselves, revealing that same narrow passage. Just as he had mentally assumed, the male couldn't sense any Abnormals within the immediate area. Perhaps he could spend some time within the wilderness, do a bit of camping and unwind from all the stress that had built up from all the revelations today. 'I'll set my Bracers to automatically detect anything which gets to close, but first I'd have to find a proper camp site, set the proper traps, among other things. Now that I think about it, its been a while since I last did any sort of Camping...'

 **'Perhaps you could do some camping as a social activity with the Party. Constant training is good, but not many people can sustain that kind of regimen like you can.'**

'HAH, WE COULD ALWAYS GO AND HUNT SOME MORE ABNORMALS YA KNOW! EATING THOSE FUCKERS BACK IN THOSE TRIALS WAS EXQUISITE! WE CAN ADD PROPERTIES TO MY POWER FOR MORE VERSATILITY!'

'... I'll think about it, both of those things, you two.'

Behind Nico whilst he conversed with his two Personas, a group of Nature Elves gathered together, intending on bidding him farewell. A lot of them had been teenage girls though, ones whom had been allowed to hug him in thanks for saving their Patriarch. Speaking of said Patriarch, He Lin was among the group—his eyes having become red from crying tears of joy when he had been alone. Tears which had came from the possibility that he would be reunited with his sister in the near future.

Just before the male could go into the passage however, his thought process got halted when he sensed one of the Nature Elves approaching him from behind. Like the sound of grass being patted down underfoot didn't do anything at all. Slowly, the male turned to face whom had approached him, to find that it was Qing Ye, carrying some... strange looking bottles in her hands. The moment she was within talking distance, she stopped before him with a look in her eyes which could only be described as reverence. "Young man, a few questions will NEVER be enough to repay your kindness. If you don't mind, how about you take this with you, perhaps it might save your life in times of crisis." After saying her piece, Qing Ye placed the three small delicate jade bottles into his hands.

For a moment, Nico shuddered as he wrestled with his instincts to slice away at the person touching him, invading his personal space. But thankfully as soon as they had come, they had left once their 'cargo' had been 'delivered' to his palms. Looking down at the jade bottles, the male wondered what the heck they were, his eyes sharp as he tried to figure out their identity. Putting 2 in his Void Storage (which prompted some intrigued looks from the Nature Elves when they saw his Bracers), Nico held one of the bottles at eye level. "This is?"

"This is something unique to our clan, the 'Nature Elf Miracle Dew', which is collected from the Spring of Origin that flowed from the land of our ancestors. It contains the magical powers of nature, that when consumed, will heal your wounds and restore your strength in the blink of an eye. These are the last three drops that we possess, we sincerely hope that they can be of great assistance to you in the future." Qing Ye replied whilst proceeding to explain the item that she had given him. As he listened, the male eyed the bottle intently, almost as if he were a scanner trying to identify even the tiniest errors. Although the male had no clue how powerful the restorative effects would be, if these guys claim it had been from this 'spring of origin' thing, then he doubted this would be like ordinary medicine. There WERE the Phoenix Tears of which he'd gotten from the Trials, too. Thus, Nico accepted the gifts with a thankful smile and a nod, depositing the last bottle into his Void Storage

Once again, he gave the gathered Nature Elves one last look over, before turning to leave...

"Big Brother Nico!"

The voice of a young girl yelled out from afar, carrying a sense of urgency and intense need to say his name. Although anxious, it still held an ethereal tone to it, like wind brushing past tranquil water. Still, it succeeded in its goal as Nico halted his steps and in front hi, not to mention the surrounding Nature Elves' surprised gazes. Turning towards the source with his Trench Coat flapping in the direction of his motion, Nico soon gazed upon a familiar Nature Elf Girl rushing towards him from a different direction, thus not having to waste time barging through the assembled crowd.

Once she was before him, Qing He stopped in her beautiful, colourful clothes. Her cheeks looked flushed from extensive running, even so her eyes glimmered and her slightly swelling chest heaved as she struggled to control her breathing. The teen's nose twitched as he smelled the sweat rolling off her form and is Ghoulish instincts to devour started to stir. Though, the male kept his neutral façade up as he wrestled to keep them at bay.

It was easy for him to subdue them however, and once he did Nico allowed himself to look back towards the young Nature Elf girl. "Qing He, I have to go." he said, a small confused frown planting itself onto his lips whilst he wondered just what the heck this girl had been doing to get here like this. 'Obviously she must have ran for a prolonged time, and with her current frame, I doubt she has much stamina...' Nico added in his mind.

 **'Agreed.'**

"Big Brother Nico … " Qing He began once she got some control over her breathing once again. She then slowly lifted her hands and within her beautiful, delicate palms, lay a bracelet, strung from seeds of different flowers, completed by a small emerald-colored gem. "This is.. this is a charm I made with my own hands, i-it can definitely protect Big Brother Nico..." she tried to say, without looking at him in the eye that is.

All the while, Nico couldn't help but feel... something, deep within. Something akin to the warmth of the sun when he stared at this girl. Was this what... being moved was called? Thinking back, the male tried to remember the last time any girl tried to do something like what Qing He was doing for him... but only remembered the few times Compa made him some trinkets before he left her home for good all those years ago. He still had them in his Void Storage, even to this those feelings surging from within, Nico stepped forward and received the bracelet with both his hands. The scent of the fresh flowers and plants flowed into his nose—indeed informing him that the seeds had just been picked not too long ago, meaning that the bracelet was crafted very recently. The little crystal green gem had a girl's fragrance… This aroma could only be emitted because it was fortunate enough to stick closely to the skin of a young girl.

He would know, he'd been surrounded by such girls for a long while now.

Staring down at the bracelet in his hands in utter surprise, for a moment Nico honestly didn't know what to say. The last time he had gotten anything like this was years ago, and that time he got Compa that charm didn't count since he had been the one to get it for her. Though, thinking back to what Compa had done to him when she got the charm, Nico looked back to her and spoke with a soft, pleased smile as he patter her on the forehead. "Thank you, Qing He... I'll keep it with me all the time." he told her, and he meant it. It wasn't often this happened (after all, he didn't talk to many people voluntarily outside the girls and his few guy comrades, so yeah), so he'd be damned if he didn't treasure a gift such as this.

Though, there was one thing that the teen, despite his experience in dealing with girls for a long time, didn't expect to happen. His words made the Nature Elf girl lower her head, softly biting her lips before she then found the courage to raise her head. "Big Brother Nico, in the future, will…. will you come visit us often?" she asked him with a volume that just barely got above whisper levels. The way she shuffled about on the spot like she did, pretty much spoke volumes about her confidence levels right now as she glanced to the side a couple times.

Despite this state, Nico quickly peered through her façade, his previous experiences coming into effect when he saw her look. To be frank, Nico got reminded of Compa whenever she wanted to ask something of him, from Qing He. Thus, he could tell EXACTLY what she wanted, and that was to be able to see him again in the near future. Normally, he wouldn't have promised this to an Abnormal of all people, but he'll make an exception for this race. They weren't Abnormals in his eyes, not anymore. His eyes sharpened, and a serious yet determined stare formed on his features. "I will." He replied firmly, adding a nod for extra reassurance. Her gaze, her whisper and the sheer purity he could feel oozing from this person's core… Nico couldn't help but get the feeling that even if one's core was made out of stone or steel, never would they have the heart to cruelly reject her or let her down.

She looked just that precious... just like Compa.

* * *

After finally leaving the village, Nico leisurely walked out of the Nature Elves' hidden sanctuary. He held his hands in his pockets whilst gradually beginning to radiate the crimson aura that came from his Demonic Energy. All the while, the secret passage disappeared under the weaving of the greenish black wines. It was as if it vanished into thin air. From what the male could tell, other than being hidden by the vines, the entrance seemed to be protected by some sort of illusion ability, or perhaps it was something to do with Lowee since they specialised in Magic. But Nico could sense that the thing protecting and hiding that village from view was to do with nature, so perhaps it had been some sort of illusion unique to the Nature Elves. One that interfered with one's vision and energy sensing capabilities. An interesting feature... though, when he used his Demonic Energy to help his senses, Nico noticed that he could sense the village just fine. Abnormals had nothing on Demons themselves then, it seemed... just like what Biko had implied when he explained about the Demons and their rankings.

Still, if one's ability to sense was advanced enough though, or they were at least on Nico's own level, then they wouldn't need to concentrate to detect it. This was probably why the Nature Elf race mostly chose to take refuge in a place where there were few humans who could reach this level of destructive potential, at least in comparison to Planeptune, Lastation and Lowee. Though, their own needs had to be taken into consideration as well, something Nico found himself... surprisingly able to empathise with.

And yet, as Nico walked out of the passage way and into the forest itself, the redhead male glanced behind him for a brief moment, gazing at the section of vines which hid the passageway from view. His eyes flashed with many different emotions, emotions which appeared way too fast for anyone to disconcert, before he turned forwards again and walked off towards the direction of the Leanbox Capital MICROSOFT. The stay he had in that village... it showed him a whole lot of things... but there was one thing that he felt certain about amidst the whirlpool within his being...

That being that he hoped to the Goddesses that those people wouldn't have to suffer any more...


	186. Chapter 155 - Venting Stress

**Chapter 155 - Venting Stress**

After Nico had left the sanctuary of the Nature Elves, it didn't take him long to decide to head out deeper into the forest, wanting to savour this peaceful tranquillity for a little bit longer before he had to return to the Capital. Since he had been out here for an entire day without messaging anyone to tll them where he was, Nico assumed that his comrades would be somewhat worried for him… either that, or they were neck deep in training, something which he hoped was the case. Someone like Mundus walking around was bad enough, but then if one took into account the Abnormals, Arfoire and the various Demonic forces invading Gaminustri like unending tides, then they'd see the overall shit storm that this world would be heading into in the near future.

More than that though, it showed that the girls were independent warriors, strong female leads who didn't rely on others to shape their fates for them, something Nico respected in people.

Nico respected independence, he valued it highly to be frank. It was why he went on so many solo missions and usually took care of matters on his lonesome. He loved it when people didn't rely so much on others but their own strength, since it showed a strong sense of self in the person, as well as increased their chances of survival in this world. To a Spec Ops Agent, overly relying on others when in a combat situation was pretty much a death sentence,. That kind of attitude stopped people from training themselves, making themselves stronger and better than what they originally were.

He wasn't the only one though. His mom, his comrades in Team RAIL, every one of the colleagues he had, pretty much everyone in the Spec Ops community respected this trait, they encouraged it in each other even. It was something that held deep weight and relevance to them, more so than the Guild or even the Military since they didn't face the same dangers as Spec Ops Agents did. No matter who they were, be it weak or strong, self-dependence for them had to be a must. To them, every day was a struggle to survive, so how could they afford to rely on others? Sure, pack strength was a thing, but in the end one isn't going to get anywhere in this line of work by relying on others and limiting their own growth. The strong survive, the weak die after all.

As a result, Nico hoped that the girls were making use of this opportunity to dive into their training, because of this defeat and the looming threats around them, none of them could ever afford to be lax. There were tons of ways for them to grow in strength, ways which they would have to discover themselves. Nico wouldn't help them unless absolutely necessary, as he didn't want to impede their training in some misguided notion of helping them. Lending one's assistance to another may not be considered a bad thing, lending too much assistance becomes coddling, and Nico DESPISED that notion with every fibre of his being. Coddling was what a lot of Agents had when joining the Spec Ops at the beginning, and if they didn't toss that side of them away soon then Abnormals would not hesitate to devour them.

He himself wanted to do some training when he got the chance, learn more about the powers he now possessed.

At least then, he could test out a few theories he had been developing.

* * *

About 12 minutes passed with The male simply walking, walking through the depths of the forest at a leisurely pace, immersing himself within the sounds of the wilderness around him. His nostrils kept track of all the scents in the surrounding vicinity, whilst his Bracers were each set to mapping this Forest out for him, since he'd decided to name it the 'Natue Elf Forest' in a tribute to the hidden race here which impacted him so. Quietness and serenity surrounded him and embraced each and every one of his senses, frming in a strong tranquillity which soothed the teen down to the very depths of his being. Not something he encountered very often recently, and part of him even suggested that he take his comrades here some day for a camping trip, maybe even bring Team RAIL along for the ride if they weren't too busy. It would be worth even enduring the attempts at seduction Lucy would likely attempt, just to ease the minds of his comrades. Especially with the whole Mundus stuff.

Though, it didn't take him long to begin thinking about what had happened to him.

Whilst he walked through the peaceful wilderness, Nico's expression slowly but surely grew more and moretroubled. His eyes darkened slightly whilst his hands, still within his Trench Coat, gradually clenched into fists. 'Seeing those Nature Elves in the state they were in… damn, it really puts things into perspective…' Nico thought to himself, taking his right hand out of its Trench Coat pocket and using it to clutch his chin in a contemplative manner. 'I… I don't feel like what I did back there was the wrong thing to do, especially when it comes to my ideals… but…'

Flashbacks to what Gelmudo told him rung through his mind, causing Nico's frown to widen, almost becoming a scowl as anger started to bubble deep within. Anger which his Demonic powers started to react to which showed itself as his body started to gain a thin red cloak of energy. The male quickly suppressed it though, using his own willpower as well as taking deep breaths to try and calm himself. It only got worse though, when he remembered what Yvoire told him, about how the Spec Ops were a lot shadier than Nico could have ever expected. That old bastard had the gall to say such things when he knew of Nico's situation, his condition, but considering what he had seen oday the redhead male felt like he had much more evidence to support his arguments. Nico's backstory wasn't the only skeleton in their closet, it seemed, especially if slavery was being used in an illegal method despite the ban on it passed through by the CPU.

Now, what was worse what that he had been opened up to the possibility of there being innocent Abnormals like the Nature Elves. Even now, the male scowled at the mere THOUGHT of associating them with those creatures, like ti was an affront to his comrades themselves to commit such an act. Now that he had his answers from them, Nico couldn't help but begin to wonder: Were there others like them? Were there other Abnormals who were innocent yet were hunted down anyways? Who just wanted a peaceful life but didn't have a choice to it due to their very nature? Worse still, how many of those Abnormals had he killed unknowingly? How many had he killed without realizing what he was actually doing, killing innocent creatures which had done practically no harm to anyone? He wanted to think that his hands weren't tainted with such blood, but if he were frank, then he'd admit that his hands were practically gushing with red blood, his kill count so high that he couldn't recall them all.

 **'Pondering these thoughts won't help you, Nico.'**

'Biko…' Nico called out when he heard his Demon Persona speak, his words echoing through his mind while carrying a sense of sternness and slight scolding. When he heard him, the teen had paused his stride mid step, before stopping completely as he glanced behind him, checking to see if there were any enemies using is various detection methods. Once he'd confirmed the enemy count to be zero, the teen then focused back on the link between him and his Demon Persona. Biko's intervention had timely struck again, the male mentally mused, though the teen didn't joke around about that right now. Not when he had instead focused more on what he had just been told. Though, it wasn't nearly as much information as he would have wanted, not to mention that he wanted an actual answer to his questions, not something short like that. The teen thought about his words, but didn't get a chance to reply, since Biko had already begun his next sentence.

 **'What's done, is done. Even if you have been killing innocent creatures under the guise of 'they're Abnormals, so they're bad', you were also simply doing your job. Your part of a mercenary group no matter how much you try to justify it. Killing enemies, you are contracted to kill is your job, you go out there, kill the enemy and get paid for it at the end. As much as I abhor the notion, something you'll agree with me on, you simply didn't have the 'responsibility' like that old coot said. You could use that as an excuse to justify your past actions, but that would be the cowardly path, and I know you damn well enough that you wouldn't even CONSIDER the cowardly option. Those trials alone are proof of that. For the ones you killed outside of your job, you were simply following your instincts, not to mention lot of those times you were attacked first, usually in an ambush. The times when you struck first may not be small, but those times you attacked those you considered dangerous. You had to make calls, and quickly at that, nobody can rightfully mock you over that.'**

As much as he didn't like to admit it, Biko had made several important points just then, points that he both found agreeable, and others not so much. He had been right in saying that most of his kill count came from doing things like Quests or urgent jobs issued by the Guild. The Clients too, they each held the belief that Abnormals were the enemy since they caused a lot of problems for them such as kidnapping, murder and non-consensual breeding. Those were just a FEW things, others included destroying livelihoods, ruining homes and separating loved ones from each other forever. Though, there were a select few who just wanted to 'vent their stress' by having them kill off a selective amount of Abnormals in an area, but even then it was a job, and someone had to do it no matter what. Sometimes it had been him, other times it wasn't.

Not to mention, that Biko's comparison with Yvoire's words spoken to him during their talk made even more sense than they did back then, something which filled his throat with bile that his body wanted to hurl. Though, Nico refrained considering the validity of those statements being as high as they were. The more that he began to think about it, the more that Nico began to believe that Yvoire's words held more truth to them. More truth than even that old coot himself would have expected. Of course, Nico didn't believe he was 'wrong' completely per say, he DID consider Count Mott to be a dangerous threat out there, not to mention the Demons and the other hostile forces would make it quite beneficial to remove any 'corruption' which could prevent the military from defending to their fullest potential. Like for example tightening the military's budget for his own needs like Avenir did in Lastation. Or having the more experienced forces defend only his own mansion from invaders whilst leaving the rookies and other similar experienced soldiers to fend for themselves, thinking that would solve everything.

As for his killing of Abnormals OUTSIDE of his job, Nico indeed attributed them to mostly doing what Biko had indeed said he had. Making the calls based off prior knowledge of them, experience, as well as the general rule of 'the strong live and the weak die'. This mentality wasn't as simple as people made it out to be either, strength didn't just mean physical strength, but the ability to calculate what an enemy's weakness might be and to figure out their exact weaknesses or where to hit to strike the most damage. Then, there was the aftermath to consider, should on take out an enemy they would have to wonder if the enemy was operating alone or in a pack. If it was the latter, then they would have to conserve their strength unless they took a shot at and killed the pack's leader, breaking the unison and forcing the pack to scatter. Pack leaders were like pillars of stability and strength, something others looked up to. It wasn't that different for leaders too, the Goddesses being fine examples of this ideal. Should a leader fall, then those who follow that leader will scatter away in the hopes of finding a new leader to rally behind. Strength in body and strength of mind, both of those were adhered to in this mentality.

Though, the most important aspect of it, was indeed survival. To live to fight another day.

Looking down at his right hand, Nico brought it away from his chin to look it over, his eyes shining with thoughtfulness. As he looked at it, the teen imagined himself, fighting and killing any and all Abnormals who stood in his way. Abnormals, humans, it made no difference to him. Nico remembered hos past deeds, many of them being horrifying and brutal to the common witness. There had been few times when he had saved someone's life, to be sure, but compared to the times he had taken lives, leaving nothing but death and destruction in his wake… there could be no comparison.

There was a GOOD reason why he had been nicknamed the 'Black Reaper' after all, he wouldn't be surprised if there was a way to make a mountain which pierced the clouds above out of the many corpses which lay at his feet, slain beneath his claws or his blades. His weapons of choice dripping with rivers of thick, crimson blood which gushed down from them like waterfalls. His whole body being the same way with his clothes carrying the stench of death with crows circling around him from overhead, his head reared upwards towards the heavens whilst his mask covered his features… his sole eye hidden from view yet still covered in the life liquid.

A snarl ripped free from his lips as Nico clenched his hand into a fist. 'What those Nature Elves said about me… cannot be anything but a lie… I'm no good person, I'm nothing but a monster… a Demon which destroys everything he touches…' the male thought to himself, throwing his fist downwards and shaking away the image of himself standing atop a mountain of corpses. It felt like a sin just being near those creatures of purity, and he would likely be committing that sin repeatedly in order to keep his word to some of them.

Those being Qing He and He Lin.

Afterwards, a tired, no, exhausted sigh escaped Nico's lips as the teen closed his eyes in resignation to his fate. It wasn't something he could escape, nor would he ever escape. The reason why his comrades had accepted him would likely never be properly understood by his primal mind, nor would his instincts allow him to. He was nothing but a freak of nature, nothing more and nothing less. That was truly how it should be for him… None of this aiming shit, Nico should stay in the way of biting at whoever tries to get into his personal space, rip out their throats and tear their lives asunder.

Just as his thoughts began to spiral further downhill into the depths of madness, something which would trigger his Ghoul side if he did any more, Nico's eyes sharply swung open as he suddenly tensed. His instincts told him to, his nostrils detected foreign scents in the air and according to the Motion Trackers in his Bracers, there were enemies incoming. Or rather, there was simply ONE enemy incoming, from the east according to his detection methods. 'Huh? What the hell, why is one enemy heading my way? From what I can sense, it feels like a Demon of sorts, similar to a Bloodletter only stronger. Probably a Herald…' Nico thought to himself, before remembering the classifications and Rankings of the Demons.

According to Biko, Heralds of Khorne were in between Bloodthirsters and Bloodletters in terms of power levels, so between Ground and Sky Class. This one he was sensing however, seemed to be more on the Ground Class though, which told him that Demons all had varying levels of power, power which would come with their age and how much they trained themselves. Thus, whilst Nico didn't feel like he would have much of a problem dispatching it, especially with his current Arsenal, he DID have to wonder what a Herald of Khorne was doing out here. They were meant to lead groups of Bloodletters into battle according to what he knew about them, so one coming here on its own seemed rather… unusual. Enough to be a cause for concern in his eyes, anyways. Still though, considering the kind of day that Nico had, the male honestly welcomed the chance to vent his stress through combat… he'd been meaning to test out some of his powers against some worthwhile opponents, Demons were WAY better sport, especially the Khornate ones (although he didn't have any experience fighting the other three Chaos Gods or their many demonic hoards).

'Now then, what should I use to take this fucker out? Odds are, he won't be alone, so... hmmm, yeah, that one will do...'

It was with that thought, which Nico prepared to fight with, as he hopped back from where he sensed the incoming Herald of Khorne. The moment that the male landed, the sounds of crackling flesh resonated behind him, filling his ears as his invisible Rinkaku Kagune erupted from the back of his waist. All six Tentacles exploded outwards, whipping the air around him before smacking the ground around him, lifting themselves in rapid jerking motions before pointing towards the direction of the incoming enemy. With them out, Nico's left eye turned into its Kakugan form as the teen swiftly slipped his Mask on. All the while, the male decided to light his hands in Hellfire, forming a pair of swords shaped like his Ouranos in them. Recalling what he knew about them, Nico recalled that Khornate Demons prided themselves on martial prowess, they didn't use anything like trickery in favour of just enjoying a brawl in its purest form, relishing the slaughter like men masturbating while watching porn.

Finally, the Herald showed itself, jumping out of the wilderness with its burning Helblade a literl manifestation of rage itself. Nothing compared to its patron Chaos God, according to what he knew, but still. Nico could practically bathe himself in the amount of burning rage and scorching hatred which got emitted by the Demon and its infernal weapon, as it landed before him and ghave a mighty roar. The roar ended up shaking the ground all around them, causing the trees in their vicinity to rattle like they were slightly destabilized bowling pins. Not to mention that it released this large heat wave that, if it were able to, it would have set this entire forest on fire.

'Alright, time to get back into the swing of things… goddamnit, I've missed this.' The teen thought with an excited smirk spreading across his lips beneath the crazed grin of his Mask. His lone uncovered Kakugan eye shined with dark, sinister and fiery killing intent, almost like his eyes had become the Hellfire flames that he commanded. The moment that the Herald saw this expression, its own eyes blazed brighter at the prospect of an actual opponent. Its tongue fell out of its maw as it mimicked licking the space where its lips should have been, practically SALIVATING at the thought of the upcoming fight.

FWOOOM!

Instantly, Nico burst forth into a mad sprint, amplifying his speed with a certain movemtne Skill he had learned during his trials: The Star God's Broken Shadow. In essence, it was a speed skill which allowed him to move so fast that he left an afterimage, one which wouldn't be able to keep up with his movements. This would be one heck of a useful skill for him, since before meeting Zelretch Nico didn't exactly have that many means of dodging attacks. Aside from his own physical ability and his Warping, then his DEMONIC OVERDRIVE, but none of those were proper evasion-type skills. He'd relied mostly on either his own ability or the abilities that Nico's various Demonic Weapons possessed. Not something which he could do forever, since there would likely be times where Nico would be separated from his beloved Devil Arms. The Skill came in a series of levels called 'Stages', and there were up to 8 of them, meaning the max number for those who fully master this technique would be 8. Though, fully mastering it gave HUGE advantages in the speed department.

Right now, he was only on the fifth stage, and if he got the chance he'd learn more Skills like these, but for now, what he had would be enough.

After that speed boost, Nico appeared right behind his opponent, who suddenly tensed when he brushed passed him. The very next second, the Herald of Khorne howled when dozens of slash marks, both light and deep, formed all over its person. Not only that, but all its limbs got cleaved off, several holes opened up in its body, and its head got separated from the rest of its body. The poor Demon's mind couldn't even register what the fuck it had just went through, or what its opponent had done, the only thing it knew was that it had been damaged severely, dealt life-threating injuries. Of course, the creature didn't feel any sense of fear or anything of that like, if it did then it would have shamed the name of Khorne! Fear didn't even register in their dictionaries, they were nothing but rage incarnate after all.

Nico, however, didn't stop there, no he had something ELSE in mind, something which refused to let the Demon explode like the rest of its kind did when they were defeated. If his idea worked, then he'd be able to deal with multiple birds with one stone. Not only would he be able to protect the hidden Nature Elf Village, but perhaps he himself could get some well-deserved 'stress relief' from this whole ordeal. Goddess knows that he wanted to have some after the shit he had just went through, physically and mentally.

Instead of letting that happen, the redhead teen mentally commanded his Rinkaku to act. The set of appendages quickly obeyed the commands of their master, and swiftly lunged forth at speeds which surpassed the falling Demon's body detonating. A split second before they contacted the bodyparts, including the head, each Tentacle seemed to... split their tips open at least a quarter downwards to reveal a series of mouths filled to the brim with crimson coloured fangs, fangs sharper than any sort of blade imaginable. They even formed their own eyes as the Rinkaku eagerly scooped up the fleshy bodyparts of the Demon before it could detonate, devouring the flesh with fervour.

That included the head.

Closing his eyes, Nico felt one of his theories about his body's new powers come to fruition when, like a camera in a theatre, images played through his mind with HD level clarity. It was like watching a movie inside his own head, something which made the teen smirk to himself. Thanks to his Gene Seed Implants, Nico now had the ability to gain the memories of those that he ate, as long as his Kagune or he himself devoured the opponent's brain. He figured that if the brain was damaged in any way, then the memories would have been affected as well, too. He wasn't completely sure, but sure enough that he didn't want to put that to the test for the time being.

Especially since, thanks to those memories, Nico discovered that there was a camp of Demons being set up nearby, consisting of over 8 groups of 80 Bloodletters, making the total number being 640. In the centre of their camp, there stood one of those Obelisks, the same kind of one that the Defiler had come in through. It seemed to serve as their rallying point, and the Demons were using the forest as a means of cover. It also looked like infighting was a common occurrrance, not surprising since those Bloodletters were what they were. Any deaths seemed to get quickly replaced, making him wonder just exactly how many Demonic Legions Khorn had.

Probably a whole hell lot, his brain answered him.

 **'It is relieving, to know that we have a chance to let loose. I will admit to wanting to see how far we've come up to this point. Still, it would be wise for you to not underestimate the World Eaters, they ARE a Legion of Warriors who have WAY more experience in combat than you. It DID take you a whole day just to finish some off way back when, if you recall. Odds are, some of them may give even the current you a run for your money.'**

'To be blunt Biko, I'm hoping for that. Thanks to everything so far, haven't had a chance to properly let loose. My body's practically SCREAMING at me for some action.'

Going for so long without actually having to fight something like this… wasn't exactly Nico's thing. Back in the trials he could at last occupy himself with some training either in reality or in his Inner World, since it involved his body moving and his adrenaline pumping through his veins in some way or another. Heck, even before then, Nico rarely foun himself standing still and just taking everything in. He'd been pretty much constantly on the move, always doing something be it fighting or training himself. Of course, he spent SOME time with his new comrades, but that had been a secondary priority to him as difficult to swallow as that sounded, training and getting stronger had been more important to him. How could he spend time with others if he was too weak and got mauled to death out in the field? Plus, its not like they spent a lot of time winding down since they fought a lot in Quests against Abnormals and Demons. So, it essentially meant that he sorts of didn't need to worry about that stuff.

So, to him notfighting or having that surge of adrenaline pumping through him for an extended time… it felt foreign, alien and weird to him.

Thus, Nico wanted to get back into the action.

Rolling his right shoulder, Nico nearly moaned in relief when he felt some satisfying cracks coming from it. Thoughts of the upcoming battle filled his mind, and also extended through his links o his various weapons, making each of them howl with delight and almost salivate with bloodlust. Each of them shared his feelings regarding battle, unsurprisingly considering their true nature. At the thought of more combat, Nico felt his Kagune tremble as if it had a will of its own, trembling at the thought of sinking itself into more flesh. Sometimes he really did wonder if it had its own consciousness, or semi consciousness especially with its abilities…

'Meh, food for thought later, right now I've got some skulls to smack, kneecaps to shatter and a whole lot of shredding ahead of me!' The teen thought to himself with an eager smirk, adjusting the cuffs of his Trench Coat then his black leather gloves whilst his legs seemed to move forth towards the direction of the camo of their own accord. Looks like the body wats what it wants, the teen mused to himself. A mirthful cuckle escaped his lips wilst he continued his stride, his Kagune retracting back into him. Ready to spring out into existence again at a moment's notice.

Time to HUNT…

* * *

Making his way through the forest proved to be a disadvantage, since Nico couldn't get a good visual. Therefore, the teen summoned Soul Edge and had it carry him up into the air. Nico COULD have morphed his Rinkaku into one of the many forms he could turn it into, but to be frank he wanted to use it for offence instead. It held him from its position on his back, all the while he held Rebellion in one hand whilst a fiery replica of it, made from his Hellfire, got grasped by his other. He did this so he could get a better visual, using the memories of his recent victim to locate the camp whilst also to identify it.

 **'Nico, I can sense the Demons better, it seems that they are getting close. I know you have a strong desire to kill, but do you have a plan? Or do you plan on just winging it and relyon your instincts like you usually do?'**

Biko's voice resounded through Nico's head when he asked that, causing the redhead to tilt his noggin before he responded. 'Of course, I'm going in like I usually do. Fighting with my instincts is what I've done for along time now, its not like I'm going to be changing anytime soon. If anything, I wanna showcase some of my powers that I gained before.' Whilst he responded to this, Nico mentally kept his senses active and honed in on the Demonic Energy signatures. Since he was going fairly fast through the air, I wouldn't be long before they would come into focus.

 **'Very well. Fair warning, if you plan on utelizing your Archdevil Arms, you will only be able to use one at a time for the time being. The strain on your soul is much greater hen using one, when in comparison to a normal Devil Arm, the difference is like comparing a mountain to a small lump on the ground. Using two at once will be impossible for the current you, but you SHOULD be able to sustain one Devil Arm alongside one.']**

Hearing the warning, Nico's mouth tightened whilst his eyes narrowed in contemplation. Memories flashed through his mind, memories of when he had just started out in using Rebellion, the once-named Alastor, the once-named Harvester and his twin handguns. Each of them had a link to his soul, with his Handguns being the weakest... at least if he used one of them. Otherwise Harvester won, but that was beside the point. He recalled his drained he'd become after using just one of them, of how he felt like he could sleep for multiple hundreds of years at a time due to his tired he became. Learning how to wield Devil Arms effectively had NEVER been easy, so to hear that the Archdevil Arms would be WORSE than them put things into perspective. He figured that he had only managed to wield Ouranos that effectively when he fought Okada was due to his own urgency and his prior experiences in soul weapon-related matters… then there was that poison to consider too.

'Thanks for the warning then, Biko. I'll keep it in mind when I go about murdering these sons of bitches.'

* * *

Finally, it happened: Nico found the Demon's camp.

The male had seen it come into view moments after Biko's warning about the Archdevil Arms, and when it did he saw a large camp, surrounded by a large wall made with long, tall sharpened tree trunks. Their leaves and branches had been pretty much severed from them with their tips like those of stakes. Even from here though, Nico could smell the smell of blood and death from within, not to mention that he could see the many masses of Demonic Bloodletters and their Heralds mangling within. It… caused him to gulp in order to try and contain his building excitement.

'Looks like they're preparing to move out…' Nico thought as he closed his eyes and expanded his senses, immediately picking up on a TITANIC level of bloodlust and twisted joy from these Demons. 'Probably found a target that they wish to bring down, like a fortress or a military outpost….'

 **'Furthermore, it seems these Demons are moving in groups of eight. Peculiar, but then again I recall that Khorne has a very… close, almost religious, relationship with that number. One could say its his Sacred Number. It makes me wonder if the other Chaos Gods have their own Sacred Numbers like this guy does. Odds are, it will likely be the case.'**

'Sacred Numbers, huh? Sounds kind of interesting, might want to look up on that in the future. Anyways, this camp looks like it'll be trouble in the future for the military to handle… meh, I'll just kill them all now and have my thrill. Speaking of which, now that I look at it, it does look more like an outpost than a Camp…'

'BAH, CAMP SMAMP DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL SHIT, KING! JUST BATHE IN THEIR BLOOD ALREADY! I WANNA SEE CARNAGE!'

'That's ALL you ever want to see though.'

'YOUR POINT…?'

Nico shook his head, dismissing the link he had to his Ghoul side before he focused back on his newest prey. His opened eyes began to gain a dull red glow, his Kakugan having reformed as he deployed his Armour. A small smirk tugged at his lips from beneath his helmet as he reared the Replica of Rebellion backwards, twisting the grip he had so that it resembled that of a Javelin. 'Oh, I'm SO going to enjoy this…' Nico thought as he ignored the maniacal cackling resonating from deep within his mind…

And then with a spear-like thrust, threw the blade.

The moment that Nico threw the Hellfire blade, the male clicked his tongue, and when he did so… the blade suddenly exploded, erupting into a freaking rainfall of Hellfire missiles which landed upon the unsuspecting Demons. Demonic howls and roars of inhuman fury erupted within the camp, their owners outraged beyond comprehension at the surprise attack. Nico swore that he heard some of them yell out 'damned Slaaneshians!' or something. How strange…

Shaking his head, Nico opted to throw his free hand to the side, and when he called upon his Hellfire powers, the male flicked his hand out… and thus, over 700 basket-ball sized fireballs morphed into existence above his head. Nico himself, held a massive bloodthirsty grin beneath his helmet, the shadows born from the flames signalling his location to the Demons. However, Nico didn't give a damn as he flung his arm downwards and his shower followed suit. If he thought the roars from before had been ear-piercing, the onesright now would have practically rendered him deaf with their volume and intensity. A mix of pain and rage could be sensed by him down below.

Instead of causing fear and dread though, inside Nico he could only feel the elation that came with having a good slaughter. 'Heh, honestly don't see much diffence between me and Khorne at this rate…' the male thought to himself. If he were in a saner state of mind, then he'd feel disgusted by the fact he'd just compared himself with the things causing so much death and destruction on a needess scale, but right now he didn't give a damn. All he wanted was a good fight…

And soon, he would get one.

* * *

After his little pre-emptive attack on the camp, it was time for the main event, something which his Ghoul Persona drooled over inside his Inner World. Nico bathed himself in Hellfire, becoming somewhat of like that one guy ho got th ability tturn into a fire man from cosmic energy alongside his three companions, before shooting down to the surface like a meteor. The flight had beenshort lived, but the moment that Nico crashed into the ground, the Hellfire covering him expanded outwards in all directions, taking the form of a huge wave which filled the entire camp. Each and every Bloodletter, including the Heralds which commanded them, fell to the ground from the impact that Nico had made, his strength in human form making the shockwaves from his little manoeuvre resembling a low tier earthquake.

Of course, none of these Demons got axed off during this, or any of his previous attacks. Their skin, their very blood, burned like searing infernos of rage and hatred, allowing them to resist most fire-based attacks. As such, Nico had over 600 Demons to fight against, Demons which would make fighting that army of 100,000 Fishmen back in the Water Trial look like a walk in the park in comparison. Those guys had tstarted off easy at the beginning then got progressively harder as time went on. These guys? They'd got much more experience from the get-go…

Good thing then, that he ALSO had that kind of experience under his belt.

The moment that Nico landed on the ground, he switly sprung into action, not paying the various small remnants of his own Hellfire which were scattered across the burning Camp any mind. He quickly stood up and reached behind him, grasping Soul Edge's hilt and drawing the massive blade. With Soul Edge taking up his free hand, Nico then burst into a sprint like a rocket and jumped forwards, not even caring who he landed on as he stabbed Rebellion into the nearest Bloodletter he could find. The momnt he did so, Nico's ears registered the sounds of the beast choking on its own blood, sending no small bouts of euphoria through him. It felt goddamn GOOD to be back…

 **'Eyes on the prize.'**

Biko didn't need to say anything at that moment, but he did so anyways when he sensed the Bloodletters approaching them. After devouring his first victim's soul with his sword's SOUL EATER, the male quickly moved on to the next Bloodletter, cleaving it through with Soul Edge before flicking Rebellion upwards, knocking an attacking Bloodletter's Hellblade right out of its hands, kicking it in the stomach. That resulted in him knocking it down, of which Nico exploited the opening and hopped onto its chest, stabbing it in the head. He then used Soul Edge, which was embedded in the dying Demon's noggin as a post to flip his body into the air, performing a split kick which knocked away several Bloodletters attacking from his left and right flanks. He even twirled himself around and parried several slashes to his person, before launching a double kick to a Bloodletter's face and used this attack as a springboard to propel himself backwards.

This resulted in Soul Edge jerking itself fre from the impaled Demon just before it detonated in its signature explosion, further propelling nico away from the horde of Bloodletters as they began to get reorganized by the Heralds. As he flew, the Armour-clad redhead noticed that the Heralds were staying within the depths of the horde iself, regulating orders to the rest of them. Though, judging by what he could sense, Nico got the idea that they wished to join the battle themselves but restrained themselves in order to better lead the other Demons.

'Heh, if Neptune was here, she'd make a joke about them, probably…' he couldn't help but think as he landed, sliding to a halt. Holding Rebellion in one hand and taking Soul Edge out the ground in the other, Nico held them in a combat stance taught to him by a… very gifted mentor, way more than what his mother could have been. Well, maybethat wasn't necessarily true, but the fact was that the one who taught him on swordplay… well, he came from a different background, and his skills Nico had seen for himself.

Still, that wasn't important right now. What WAS, was simply that he just wanted to vent.

And these guys would be his unwilling targets.

"Alright now boys…" Nico began, as he began to release all his own pent up bloodlust, murderous intent and desire for mass slaughter ontot he entire camp. It practically erupted like a roaring blaze, intent on burning everything else out of existence and scorching like a literal flame. The moment that he released it, it followed suit with everything, EVERYTHING he had contained within himself, resulting in this chaotic STORM of emotion. His anger at how twisted things in the world really were, his confusion at his comrades seemingly accepting his Ghoul side so easily despite his experiences telling him that wouldn't have happened, his frustration and oppression at being unable to do anything which only got fanned by the searing flames of rage at all the injustice he had seen. It all just EXPLODED out of him, worse than a nuclear explosion and far more impactful than one of those could ever have been.

His inner chaotic emotions had been so great, that even the Bloodletters and Heralds nearly got caugt off guard, although soon after they all shared their own variants of warped glee. Laughter, joy and ecstasy born from the promise of bloodshed filled their very beings as they raised their Hellblades to the air above, roars of excitement filling the Camp. As they roared, each of the Bloodletters stormed through the Camp towards him, with the Heralds having mixed into them in order to keep the horde in line with their target.

All the while, Nico just grinned savagely under his Helmet, his eyes shining a crimson red light.

"Shall we dance?"

* * *

"Hmmm... so THAT is what happened..."

In a far of location, a familiar man wearing a hat, also known as a fedora hat, floated in the air space overlooking the forest itself. The very same forest in which Nico had guided He Lin back to as well as the one filled with the Demonic Presence. Though, only Nico and the man himself knew of it, heck only they could sense how palpable the energies generated were, though there were other signs for people to notice should they even open their goddamn eyes to look. For one, the skies themselves turned red, as of flames were burning them to ashes, while a crimson hue took over the atmosphere like a fog rolling over a beach to conceal it from view. In addition, the energy itself affected the forest somewhat, some of the areas having already been Desecrated and transformed into twisted variations from its presence.

Though none of this piqued his interest one bit.

No, what HE had more interest over was the fact that there had been a whole Nature Elf VILLAGE located within this forest, right under his very nose as a matter of fact.

Nature Elves were seen as quite the rare commodity in the world of Gaminustri especially by those who yet still knew of their existence. They were highly valuable just from their taste alone when cooked by an expert chef, turning them from rowdy brats into delicious meals which could cause a swarm of nhungry Nobles to salivate in joy and ecstasy. That wasn't even beginning to take into account how eating their flesh gave so many benefits to the consumer aside from the taste, the longevity itself being one such bonus. When they had been hunted in the past, most people believed them to be a threat due to them having the ability to look into one's soul, although anyone with a brain would have known that to be a simple farce, what humanity REALLY hunted them for was the longevity that their bodies promised them when cooked to perfection. It would be every chef's dream to cook with such fine ingredients, while it was every mortal's fantasy to be able to live as long as what they would be promised when sampling such... exquisite cuisine.

Nowadays however this didn't happen nearly as much, mostly due to how they had mostly faded out of the public eye thanks to there being so few of them in existence. One could call them an endangered species, thus when he had heard there were so few of them remaining, he had lost any interest in taking them for himself or his master. Their benefits would be lost in time, due to them being hunted to extinction either by humans themselves, or the other Abnormals, as even with their identities as Abnormals themselves they would be considered some of the weakest of the Abnormals. Not ONE of them would have been a threat to say an X Rank, or even an E rank Abnormal.

So, when he got wind of there being an entire VILLAGE full of them right under his nose... excitement and glee didn't even BEGIN to cover what he felt inside.

The very THOUGHT of being able to sample such fine delicacies like the flesh of a Nature Elf when cooked to perfection, made his mouth water. His own fantasies however, weren't as important right now, as despite what he wanted, he was more of a practical man even before... what he had done to make himself stronger. That meant that, despite his great joy in discovering this SPLENDID news, he still had to about how to go about this. Perhaps when he brought them home he could turn them into breeding material, have them forcefully breed to make more and increase their numbers. Turn one of the many potholes of land his master owned into a farm for these Abnormals. Raise them up like pigs before selecting the 'juicy' ones for the feeding of his master's pallet, hell if the master wanted any company for the night, he cuold just select one of the more attractive ones from this flock and have them be one of his many toys.

One thing was for certain though, and that was that he'd be taking them back to his master whether they wanted to or not.

'Hmmm, good thing that the trail here isn't cold yet. I'll simply pay some... colleagues of mine a visit, have them track down this Village of merchandise with some pets of theirs, then bring them back to the Master. Odds are, they'll try to kill themselves by destroying their Nature Spirit Cores. Doing that is like a death sentence to all those lovely benefits, as their destruction releases a wave of energy through their bodies which pretty much destroys all the interior. Leaving them as nothing more than useless fleshy sacks. Once they attempt to do that, we'll knock them out with a paralyzing Agent or something, should they want to have FUN with the merch then that should be fine too. Everyone has needs, after all, it would also serve to break their spirits some more...'

Thoughts like that wandered through the mind of one Gelmudo, as he turned on his heels and flew back towards the Capital.

* * *

 **Chapter end**

 **If anyone has noticed anything like repetition with the power descriptions, its because I made this entire arc way before some changes had been made tot he other chapters pre release. Just consider them as reminders of what these powers are like and what Nico can do with them. Also, if anyone wants to they can try and draw some fanart of Nico and the characters, maybe even a battle between them and some Demons. It'd be pretty cool and this fanfic has no shortage of potential for fanart, at least in my eyes.**


	187. Chapter 156 - A Leanbox Obelisk

**Chapter 156 -A Leanbox Obelisk**

"#GASP#...#GASP#..."

Rugged gasps escaped his lips, gasps which took in much more air than normal and almost stressed the limits of the user's lung capacity. Steam filled his vision like a potent fog covering an entire area, trapping it within its murky, bleak embrace. As the steam continued to persist, the sounds of sizzling reaching his ears like a constant hum, he himself kneeled on one leg, embraced by the scorching heat which pretty much outshined any form of sauna in terms of hot air. Although, considering how a lot of it came from the boiling blood which got scattered throughout this entire camp, one couldn't really misunderstand. Not to mention that thanks to the quantity of steam all around him, there was really a strong lack of vision for him, even for his own Gene Seed Implants enhancing his vision along with his Ghoul Side.

Panting hard and heavily, a now unarmored Nico himself focused on regaining his bearings in the midst of this steam, steam caused by his own hands by the mass slaughtering of so many Bloodletters, that their blood got splattered all over this Camp and generated this steam as a result. In addition to that, there was the fact that his Hellfire had also been used to great quantity, which contributed to the immense heat filling the vicinity. Although, thanks to his absolute immunity to fire, his body didn't sweat in this scorching temperature of over 3000 degrees Celsius one bit, if anything he only had a light bead of sweat forming from all the action he had taken so suddenly. His body had just started getting used to the idea of not fighting 24/7, not something that he would allow for hiss line of work.

His hands now had become bare save for his leather gloves, his swords vanishing out of existence via wisps of flames and data particles which receded back into his Void Storage. Without them, the redhead used 2 of his Rinkaku Tentacles to keep himself steady, by impaling the ground beside him as well as planting one hand on the ground before him. In essence, he looked like a knight with his head lowered like it was, with sweat dripping from his forehead down to the ground below. His eyes, faintly glowing red, showed a heavy sense of exertion, his mouth open as he took in as much oxygen as his lungs could store. His upper body heaved and heaved like there was no tomorrow, all the while the male felt his body being wrought with intense respiration from the brutal workout he had done...

Something which he couldn't help but elatedly grin at, despite the fatigue coursing through his system.

'Man, that was a GREAT fucking workout...' The male couldn't help but think to himself, his heart almost soaring with the elation and life which now coursed through it, greater in quality than even the blood within his veins. His body, wrecked as it looked, also felt positively BRILLIANT, lighter than it had been in a while. Thanks to all this ventintg, Nico felt positively lovely, lighter than a feather and much more relaxed than he had been for a long while. His muscles no longer felt heavy from lack of use, his bones didn't feel like lead anymore, his stress from everything that had been building up no longer existed, and his body overall simply felt… better. Somethig of which he could not help but be BEYOND grateful for, especially with everything that had happened.

Although, what Nico had NOT expected was for all this steam to be generated from the blood of those Bloodletters and Heralds of Khorne, combined with his Helfire. He honestly felt glad that his Hellfire had been caged inside this Camp by the large walls of stake-like tree trunks, as he didn't want to destroy this forest with how chaotic his powers were. Though when the question of HOW they could endure the infernal heat from his Hellfire, Nico looked with his senses and had sensed large amounts of Demonic Power coursing through each stake. Pretty much screaming at them that they had Desecration applied to them to make them more resistant, at least that was what Nico assumed when he had glanced at them during all that fighting. Raw power would be best to keep more raw power at bay, that seemed to be the thought process going through the limited intelligence governing this humongous force.

Well, not anymore, not after he pretty much launched a mass genocide on their asses.

Something which felt so goddamn GOOD, seriously Nico just couldn't get enough of this relieving feeling.

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES, YES-YES-YES! THIS IS IT, KING! THIS IS WHAT WE ARE MADE FOR! WE SLAUGHTER THE WRETCHES WE CALL OUR FOES WITHOUT MERCY! WE EAT THE FUCKERS WE DEEM AS SINFUL YET DELECTABLE! WE WRECK EVERYONE'S SHIT WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT! WE RULE WITH OUR INSTINCTS! WE ARE CHAOS INCARNATE, WE DESTROY WHAT WE DON'T LIKE, AND THAT'S FUCKING EVERYTHING! WE DON'T CARE WHO WE KILL, AS LONG AS BLOOD FLOWS AROUND US FROM OUR KAGUNE, IT MATTERS NOT WHO WE SLAUGHTER! DEMON! MONSTER! HUMAN! ALL WILL FALL VICTIM TO THE MIGHT OF THE GHOUL!'

Nico mentally winced however, when his Ghoul Side ecstatically squealed with sadistic, twisted delight through the confines of his mind from his Inner World. The male felt some of his good mood vanish with what he had said, but after thinking about what he had done and his behavior during it… to his horror, Nico couldn't really find much of a fault in his logic. Back then, Nico hadn't really cared about the fact that there were Demons nearby, beings which could destroy everything peaceful around them if left unchecked. Sure enough. he HAD acknowledged that fact, he had registered that they were a threat to the endangered Nature Elves whom he had grown fond of in such a short time… but the moment that the slaughter began, none of that seemed to remain inside his mind's awareness anymore. Nothing did, except for the sheer pleasure and sinful desire to shed blood. To rip his claws through flesh and to sink his fangs into the necks of his opponent. Desires which stemmed mostly from his primitive true nature, something he had been fighting against for as long as he could remember.

Just… what did that mean for him?

What did that… his brain tried to find an answer, even though it was already right in front of him.

 **'In any case, Nico, now that the Demons have been defeated, there should be one last thing we need to do to ensure the Nature Elves safety from them.'**

Before he could completely lose it and fall into the… darker corners of his mind, Nico heard his Demon Persona break through the chaos within his mind to advise him on how to proceed next. He was no fool though, Nico got the correct idea that Biko had spoken just now in order to prevent him from losing himself to the madness inside. Nothing EVER good happened when he did that, and Nico would know this. He'd seen what happened in that case…

Shaking his head, the redhead teen shut out those dark thoughts and freed himself from the pleasure coursing through him. All so he could swing his right arm and disperse the steam as well as the boiling blood in one fell swoop. Pretty much cleaning the entire camp with one swing. It helped that he'd applied Demonic Energy into his arm to reinforce the swing as well, though, as he lowered his arm to gaze up towards the last remnant of the Demonic taint: The Hellgate.

The Hellgate, shaped like an Obelisk, stood tall in the center of the Camp, untouched and unwavering in the light of the recent slaughter which had taken place around it. Its black, metallic-like structure shined in the sunlight, glimmering like it possessed some form of demonic beauty to it. The structure definitely had that sleek, deadly beauty to it Nico would readily admit that. However, like a rose this thing definitely held its own thorns hidden beneath its beauty. Raw beauty could be used as a weapon to catch people of guard, especially if the user is doing it on a member of the opposite sex. He should know, he knew someone who did that kind of thing on a daily basis. Gazing up towards the top of this structure, Nico recalled the first time he'd seen this thing back in Planeptune when he fought the Defiler, then gained Absolution. Though, he only knew that last part a while later. 'Heh, even after all this time and all the Demons I've killed, this thing still has its own kind of magic...' the male couldn't help but think to himself, a bitter chuckle escaping his lips.

Afterwards, Nico raised his right arm and pointed his hand towards the Hellgate. Calling upon his power, the male saw Hellfire flames erupt all around his arm, like a second layer of skin. They then slid down towards his hand, as if being sucked in by a whirlpool before he held in his hand a basketball sized fireball. Nico gazed at the flaming ball of fiery death for a moment, as if contemplating the flames for a moment, before making to shoot it at the Hellgate. He DID have enough power focused within the fireball to burn the structure to nothingness in one shot, just as he calculated...

But before he could...

 **'Don't do it just yet, actually.'**

'Huh?' Blinking owlishly, Nico paused in his attack, regaining his control over the Fireball but not lowering his arm just yet. 'Biko? Why are you saying to not destroy this thing?' he questioned his Demon Persona, soon getting an answer.

 **'Normally I would have just let you blast this thing into oblivion and have zero complaints about it. However, while you were fighting, I took a look at the Hellgate with your senses, and have been detecting large fluctuations of Demonic Power within. They were large, larger than anything i had ever seen before, almost like they were a whole new world or something along those lines. Nico, I believe that this structure may be something we can get some use out of for the time being. How that can be done, I'm not so certain, however I do feel that it** **wouldn't** **be in our interests to destroy it just yet.'**

So, that was his angle, huh? The redhead furrowed his brows as he lowered his arm, dismissing and absorbing the Fireball back into himself before looking back to the Hellgate. Now that he looked at it more closely and analyzed it with his senses, Nico could see what his Demon Persona was talking about. He could indeed sense a MASSIVE build up of Demonic Power inside, larger than anything he had felt prior to this moment. If he were to make a comparison, it would be similar to looking upon an ever-expanding ocean or something along those lines. The more that he looked at it, the more curious that Nico became, until eventually he decided to take a look at the other side himself. It wasn't like he'd done that before, as with the first one any Hellgate Nico had come across got destroyed by his hand. 'Hmmm, yeah, it likely would be quite interesting to see whats on the other side of this damned Gate... maybe then I'll be able to learn more about my opponents, the Chaos Gods. Though, i'm still a little worried that this Gate will be used for more Demonic incursions through the forest, the threat to the Nature Elves is still here after all.'

 **'You could shroud it in Darkness from Erebus, then. It'll keep the Obelisk shrouded and bar any access to it save for you yourself.'**

Once again, Biko offered a solution to his dilemma, getting a nod from the redhead male. 'Alright then, i'll do that. How is Erebus doing anyways? Last I heard, she had an... interest, in my Ghoul Side.'

 **'... You sure you want to know?'**

'...With that ominous tone you just used, probably not...'

Dismissing the link for the time being, Nico shook his head as he fully released his Rinkaku Kagune and narrowed his mismatched eyes towards the Gate. Stepping towards it, the male saw it reacting to his presence, as right before his very eyes... the Gate began to open. All along it's flat, smooth surface, flames of a similar color to his Hellfire erupted, covering its form before shaping into a spiraling whirlpool, revealing to him what looked to be some sort of walkway. Using his senses, Nico quickly realized that the Hellgate had sucked up a portion, small as it may be, of his Demonic Energy in order to activate. So, one could say that he had unintentionally activated a demonic Hellgate… though, he wouldn't give anything on the other side a chance to cross over. Not when he had a say in the matter.

Just by standing there, Nico could hear the countless distant roars of furious Demons, Demons overly zealous in their fanatical conquest for bloodshed, warfare and slaughter. They constantly roared, shrieked and screamed as they seemingly battled it out in an eternal conflict. He could even hear sounds of explosions and the roars of erupting flames. Taking a deep breath, Nico took a moment to mentally prepare himself for whatever he would be seeing on the other side...

And stepped into the Walkway.

* * *

Things were hell… there was no doubt about it.

Thoughts such as those plagued her mind like a thousand of tiny, annoying bugs, unable to be swatted due to their sheer numbers as she looked over the reports of her latest… attempt, at taking back what was hers. To retake what HAD been hers before shit went down, how it went down in a way not even her worst nightmares could have performed. She sat within her bedroom in her own little hideout, a room she had modified to be comfier and welcoming for her to reside in… although it admittingly would be nothing in comparison to the Basilicom. Where she REALLY should have been staying… had things not turned out the way that they had. Just thinking about it made her grit her teeth as a building fury rose from within her being. It caused her to grip the report in her hands tightly, although thanks to prior events she had to rein in her temper before she shredded the report to pieces… though, with what she read on it, it DEFINITELY didn't help matters.

Looking down at the report in her trembling hands, she could feel a huge, terrible weight slam onto her shoulders with ever word she read. The report summarized how the raid had went, what they had discovered, and whom had returned from the attempt… alive and uninjured that is. Originally, shehad sent out over 300 able-bodied soldiers to try and raid a nearby convoy belonging to her enemy. An enemy whom she could NEVER have known existed back up in Celestia nor could she have ever prepared for. She didn't have that large a force, and she had been banking a lot of her chances on these raids she had been limited to thanks to her lack of manpower. These Raids she had been ordering had served to bring in a boost to their own war funds, bringing back valuable resources like supplies, intelligence etc. They were practically crucial in keeping ahead of her opponents while finsding chinks in the enemy's armour, sort to say. Not like she found very many, not to mention the state of the Nation… she had nightmares about it every night, leading to a lot of sleepless nights which did NOT help her mood. Not in the slightest, if one wanted to know how bad they were, then any dream revolving around Thunder Tits… would be like a paradise in comparison.

However, whilst the Raid succeeded they lost about 90% of their forces as a payoff. Most of them fell during combat, which wasn't something she felt good. Not just because they died (she would have had to write condolence letters to their families, if they even had any proper familied to begin with). However, it would have been better if they perished AWAY from the enemy, since they had their… methods, in using the battlefield and everything in it to their advantage. If they weren't on the battlefield, then she could have retrieved their remains herself, but in the hands of the enemy…

She almost didn't know why she even bothered anymore, if her enemy had this much power and control, how could she hope to fight against them? Her powers hadn't been enough when she had been at her freaking damned PEAK! The power of the Goddess had failed, goddamn FAILED! Something which she hadn't been able to grasp till a week after the incident… but she still had to try since if she gave up, then everything she had fought for would have been a waste. Fighting the Console War, teaming up wit those damned broads including that aggravating CPU from Leanbox would have been wasted. What point would it have been if she had given up right as she had finally taken out one of her rivals? There wouldn't have been any point, that was the answer which she always concluded whenever she thought about it.

This enemy she had fought… she did NOT overstate how twisted, evil and powerful it was. In fact, she felt like whenever she thought about it's strength, she felt like she would be grieviously underestimating it. Even the prospect of meeting it once more, something which happened more than she'd like to admit, caused her no small number of shudders which fell down her spine like a violent river. That, and the champions it had chosen to fight her had been just as tough, and before she even knew it, her Nation had already fallen. Isolated from the other three so she couldn't figure out what the heck was going on with them, Lastation, Leanbox or that goddamned PLANEPTUNE. None of the Nations would be able to send scouts into Lowee, nor would Lowee be able to contact the outside. Not with the barrier set up around the Nation, blocking any and all access not to mention communication between these parties. It honestly worried her, Lowee's isolation, after all it would no doubt cause the other Nations to get suspicious about her home and, should they try to send forces to investigate… then the barrier would NOT be pleasant for them.

Which would only make things worse in the long run.

Just as she felt like her mind would have lost it to her internal tendencies to go on a rage when things were too stressful, a wave of subh zero cold washed over her body, dousing the flames which burned through her heart. When she had begun forming the shadows over her eyes, this cold feeling set her expression back to normal, causing her to sigh in relief. 'Things may not be very good right now… but thanks to this thing, and everything that followed, I can at least say I'm getting more prepared for the battles ahead…' she thought to herself. 'Even with the state my people are in, this resistance is still around mostly due to how these powers have been helping me keep them safe… as long as I keep on training, learning and growing, I'll be able to at least keep these people alive…'

Still, she hoped that one day, things would start looking up for her people… especially soon.

If not… then while it would be kinda ironic, she'd pray for her people's salvation.

* * *

Okay… when he had entered the Gate shaped like an Obelisk, he did NOT expect to see this coming.

'Duuude, this is just waaaaaaay too trippy…' Nico commented inside his mind as he leisurely strolled through the… apparent whirlpool of crimson energy yet not at the same time. Ironically, it gave him more of a corridor like feeling, and one time he had reached out and actually felt an invisible wall, or something. That meant that this was INDEED a corridor of sorts, but the whole visual aspect of it all, well, it didn't share that aesthetic. After all, the entire place looked to be one crimson red and orange whirlpool, with the exit being the centre while spitalling inwards. It SO did not feel like a walkway or anything of the sort, and for a bbrief moment Nico felt like he would lose his balance and fall to his knees in a dizzy daze. Fortunately, he remained steadfast in his strides, not breaking his pace no matter what he had seen.

Still had to give them points for trying, though.

 **'Hmmm… interesting, very interesting…'**

'Hm? What's up, Biko? I know this walkways curious and all, but you seem to be more into it than normal.' Nico questioned his Demon Persona as he strode through the Walkway. Despite his own intrigue about this Hellgate, he felt more intrigue coming from Biko, and considering his mass of knowledge about the Demonic aspect of things, thus he had designated it with a reasonable question.

 **'This Hellgate… no, perhaps all ofthem. Remember when I said they were portals to the Underworld way back when? Perhaps I wasn't that off the mark, after all. I can sense more and more Demonic energies coursing through the other end of this walkway. They do not seem to be particularly threatening, as I they aren't the energies of actual Demons wanting to whip us up into a nice sacrificial dish for their Gods. But stil… It feels like we're crossing the very boundaries between Gamindustri itself and the rest of the galaxy in this Devildimension.'**

Once he heard this, Nico hummed thoughtfully, before disconnecting the link when he found himself approaching the entrance. Though, the redhead DID sense the buildup of Demonic Power increasing by the second the more he got closer, he didn't feel all that worried. The quantity may be great, but the quality of the energy itself felt quite poor, so it likely wasn't anything too serious. Still, when he got there, Nico felt like he would see for himself if this was as serious as his gut told him.

Inside his Inner World however, Biko just let out a sigh a troubled frown slightly forming on his lips. There was more to it than that though, but Biko wasn't so certain about it yet so he didn't say anything to the main aspect. These things, however, didn't revolve around the Hellgate specifically… but rather, Soul Edge itself. Like he said, he didn't have much, hell he only noticed something off briefly with the blade, but he had paid it no mind considering how short it had been. Stll, he wanted to keep an eye on the blade just in case he was wrong.

Both thoughts filled their minds, just as Nico stepped into the walkways exit, soon finding himself being blinded by a bright flash forcing him to cover his eyes.

* * *

By the time that the flash died down, which took more than a couple dozen seconds or so, Nico finally lowered his forearm back to his side and opened his eyes. He blinked momentarily at first to get his blurry vision back into focus… but the moment that he did, his eyes shot wide open like dinner plates as he nearly did several double takes. 'Wh-what the…?'

If one had asked him what he was expecting on the other side of this Hellgate, then he'd be unable to answer them…

But it DEFINITELY wouldn't be this.

From the moment that he first stepped foot into this side of the Helgate, Nico nstantly sensed something was wrong. In fact, he could say that this situation he found himself in would be an abomination against the very fabrix of nature itself. The moment that he stepped foot onto what felt like solid ground, Nico could only gape in shock, horror and dread as he beheld the spectacle before him. Hell, Nico felt so stunned and helpless the moment he entered this side, that he instinctively summoned Soul Edge to his hand.

Everywhere he could see was a mixture of red and black. The male found himself within the depths of a forest… or rather what looked to have once been a forest. Now, the forest looked more like some grotesque, twisted abomination, a shadow of what he had once seen back in the Nature Elf Forest. As someone who ad seen such otherworldly beauty for a while, seeing such a grotesque, demonic sight, the polar opposite, made him do several double takes.

The trees, they looked like the ones one would see in the winter climates of Lowee… if they weren't carrying any snow or ice on them. All they were made from, simply seemed to be thin bark, their trunks looking thinner than his own right arm. It almost felt like all the life in them haqd been greediy sucked out, leaving them in this shrivelled, disgusting state. Not only that though, but from them Nico could see dozens upon dozens of… Skulls. Lots of them, all being different in both shape and size, hanging off the limb-like branches like ornaments in a trophy room. Gazing across each of them, Nico could see human, Abnormal and even Demon Skulls, a lot of them beig species that he recognized, whilst many more failed to be recognized by him. Each of them looked to have been frozen in a state of contant torture, groaning in agony and… pure rage that they had been reduced to such a state. Their eye sockets may have been bear, but Nico did NOT doubt that if they were real, then the flames of hatred would have burned brightly within them, like two scorching infernos of raw anger and malice.

If that wasn't enough, then the skies themselves looked different. The Skkies themselves looked to be redder than the blood that Nico had seen in his lifetime, as well as containing a darkness and sinister feeling the moment that he looked toit. As if he was looking into the purest form of the word 'chaos' with his senses identifying countless blasts of energy coursing throught them. Energy so violent, so chaotic, wild and untamed that it would cause those with high level ensing abilities to enter a freaking COMA just from BRUSHING with this energy. It coursed through the skies, swirling into whirlpools in more than a few places, all the while crackles of energy danced across the skies. Thunder boomed, as if a great beast was roaring through the hells of tihis world, causing inhumanly large and vast tremors to shake the planet to its very core. These thunder strikeskept happening within these titanic sized ash clouds, which filled the skies and showed where the energies were swirling inwards by following their flow. Just from what he could see fro his position, Nico could see and sense over a couple thousand small/big whirlpools of this chaotic energy, making him feel a size smaller than even an ant.

Glancing downwards, Nico saw that the ground itself wasn';t that of soil or eatrth like he was used to. Kneeling down to inspect it, the male reached downwards and plucked a piece of it into his hand. Something which baffled him so since he didn't expect to be able to do it with such ease. Way more than when he was back in Gamindustri. The feelings he got when it was in his hand, the smells and the looks of it confirmed one thing for the redhead male, and that was that this ground looked to be made entirely of soot. Burned ash as iif the very landscape itself had been the victim of countless battles, battles which raged on and on, almost as if for eternity. He could sense traces of twisted energies from large-scale attacks still staining this soot-like ground, as he twisted his hand and dropped the soot back onto the ground below. Sniffing the air, Nico could smell the smells of charred corpses in the air, the air which seemed to carry an unholy amount of heat. Enough to make it worse than the sun's surface at the very least. The winds felt like they were animals, biting away at him like they were trying to devour his very flesh... though, from what he could feel the winds weren't doing a very good job of that, since his body had various means of defending itself. Though, the fact that those defences had to be employed meant that this wind had one hell of a bite to it.

Fortunately for him, Nico had devoured an entire Crimson Fatalis back in Zelretch's Trials, which allowed him absolute fire immunity across the board. That meant that any type of fire or heat-based attack would end up failing…. Failing epically against him, leaving no signs of damage to him one bit. It would be something Nico would come to be extremely grateful for, since fire immunity would be a freaking GODSEND when fighting against Khornate Demons and their followers. As a result, he didn't find this climate very uncomfortable in the slightest. Part of him wondered what it would be like to just strip into some swimware and catch a tan to take advantage of this heat. Thoughts like that elected a small smirk from the redhead, just imagining it inside his mind.

Though he soon shifted back into serious, or in some (read: a LOT) people's opinion, edge mode.

Twirling to face the direction behind him, Nico gazed at the Hellgate of which he had just come through. He noticed that the gate seemed to be inactive right now, probably having shut itself down the moment that he had stepped through. Nico had been so engrossed in identifying these… abominable surroundings around him that he hadn't even noticed. Not to mention that the Hellgate on this side, seemed to radiate with similar remnants of energy that the soot possessed, something which spoke volumes about its users. These observations, were MORE than enough to ring thousands of alarm bells in Nico's mind, sharpening his instincts as he glanced about again, searching for any signs of attack since everything around him (the wind, ground, skies, trees etc) felt like they would come to life at any moment. The intense, ominous atmosphere he found himself in didn't exactly helpt o ease his nerves, either. "What the hell is this place? I doubt I'm anywhere on Gamindustri anymore, since I hardly recognize the layout of this place. Not only that, but if there was a place like this on Gamindustri, then I would have surely known about it. That, or large forces would have been sent to clerar this place out since it would have been used by Abnormals or Demons to stage their attacks…" the male summarized, frowning in worry.

 **'I can tell you, but you must enter your Inner World first. Do not worry, your Ghoul Persona will connect with your Kagune to provide defence for your body should anything dare attack you.'**

Biko's words flowed into Nico's head, making his eyes narrow in concern and confusion. Why did his Demon Persona sound so… nervous, when talking to him just now? No, it felt like everything in this strange new place just, unnerved him to the point of being almost jittery. He had no clue why, but anything which had the ability to draw something like THAT kind of emotion out of Biko, Nico would treat with extreme caution. There were few things which could cause him to express such emotion after all, and with that thought crossing his mind Nico closed his eyes and entered his Inner World.

* * *

Opening his eyes, Nico found himself within he entrances to the Library building of his Inner World, something of which he had been paying more and more visits and attention to in recent times due to the information stored inside. Information about the abilities, history among other things regarding the DPU Era. Information was what he needed in these trying times, not just training. Whilst he would need to get INSANELY more powerful if he wanted to get onto even footing with Mundus, something which would likely be hellish in and of itself, he would also need to have enough information about the era his powers had originated from. Information he could use soon, such as info about the powers that were left behind in secret by the many residents of that age.

When he laid eyes on it though, Nico quickly noticed that Biko was already floating there, with a couple books floating behind him. The look on his face, Nico wouldn't forget it. It was the look he usually had when something of grave importance, as well as something worth troubling over, got his attention. Those books seemed to be a part of the reason why, the male thought as he stepped on over to him. "Your message to me sounded like it was pretty urgent, so I came as quick as I could. What is this place I was in, what's so dangerous about it that got you spooked?" he questioned. In Nico's mind, it HAD to be something Demon related, a lot of things he had seen in Gamindustri seem to be related to the demonic arts in some way or form. Thus, the redhead male wanted to know EVERYTHING about it before he would proceeed, something which got mirrored in the eyes of his Demon Persona as the books finally closed themselves and floated behind him.

"Unfortunately, the situation we are in is of grave importance, Nico. We must tread carefully, for even the slightest mistake could prove fatal to us. We could lose our lives here, and we wouldn't be able to register it until it already happened and our souls will reform somewhere else. Where we are right now, is what Gamindustri would literally call hell…" Biko explained to him, his tone and demeanor almost deadly in its severity. It was almost similar to him talking about the end times, something whichNico suppressed the shudders crawling up his spine from showing. "We are what is called… a Demon World."

The moment those words left Biko's lips, both males narrowed their eyes when they felt waves upon waves of earthquakes shake the entirety of the Inner World. Waves which would have caused them to be thrown off balance if A: Biko didn't float as his default way of moving, and B: Nico not reflexively dig his feet into the depths of the desert sands he stood on. Not only that, but the moment he heard those words, Nico didn't understand why but he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, cold chills of dread filling his gut whilst his lungs felt like they were being squeezed to death by some powerful python.

When they passed, the Demonic Persona soon began to explain once more, his tone never dropping that grim pretext from before. "A Demon World, in its essence, is… what will happen to Gamindustri should the Demons belonging to one particular Chaos God take over an entire planet. These Demon Worlds are planets, Nico, PLANETS corrupted by Demonic Power coming from either a Chaos God or a Demon Prince. When these Planets are made, they are made to become unbound by the laws of physics and reality, instead their rules appearance, everything is bound to the whims of their Demonic Masters. They are normally ruled by a Demon Prince, who can shape the entire world's environment to his or her liking. Any attempts to take these worlds are usually met with failure, as the reality warping effects they have made any attempts to invade them from outer space… pretty much impossible."

Warping reality… just hearing those words spoke volumes about the situation Nico had found himself in. Reality Warping wasn't something that Nico had no experience in, he had seen it a few times himself during his travels. Some of the Demons he'd fought also displayed this ability, but in minute, limited scales. Nothing so massive like being able to warp an entire Planet's environment at, quite posiibly according to Biko's testimony, the whims of their masters. He rcalled the power system Biko had used to describe Demon Princes as well as the hiarchy between these Demonic entities, suddenly understanding a whole lot more why Demon Princes were above those like Bloodthirsters in terms of sheer power. Probably the only reason why he had defeated that one Demon Prince before regrouping with IF at the Hellverse, was likely due to him taking it by surprise with his Ghoul Side. A side of him which was, in hindsight, weaker than his DPU form. Quickly, he began to think, and soon enough a realization dawned on him: the fact that these Hellgates and other entrances where Demons came from, originated from such worlds where Demons were the main governing party. Where they dominated the planet and forced any other species remaining after their conquest to become their servants at best… and slaves at worst. It made sense, since those entrances just oozed with Demonic Energy, he would know since he experienced it every day of his life since becoming a DPU.

And he had unknowingly stepped into such a world…

"Shit, that's bad…" the teen mused, cupping his chin with one hand and cupping his elbow with the other. His eyes gazed downwards, sharper than a blade as millions of thoughts pertaining to his next move rushed through his brain. He had to think carefully here, he couldn't afford to take on a Demon Prince at his current level, and who knows what the numbers for the Demons were on this so-called 'Demon World'. He had so little information about Demon Worlds, or rather he didn't know much about this world specifically, so he opted to look towards Biko and question him further. "Do you know anything about the world we're on right now?"

Much to his fortune, Biko nodded as well. "I do not know much, but there is some that I do. It was revealed to me when I looked up Demon Worlds in the Lexicanum and recorded what I could. Unfortunately, the details themselves are sketchy at best, but this is what we know for a fact: this world was once called Bulwark: a highly militaristic planet dedicated to the art of combat and strategy. Only fitting that it is now ruled by a Demon Prince serving the Chaos God Khorne, then. The name of this Demon Prince is Krakiota, and he usually seems to occupy his throne at what seems to have been a Temple once, something akin to a Basilicom only desecrated beyond recognition by its new occupant. As a result, this world is under Khorne's control through his Demon Prince, and across it battles are constantly waging. I can sense dozens across the face of this Planet, battles between aspects of the environment, battles between various species such as Humans and Demons. Its one of those words which embody the ideal: everything is out to kill you." Biko explained, furrowing his brows. "Luckily for us, none of the Demons controlling this world know that we crossed through the Hellgate, simply due to you activating it from the opposite side while remaining in human form. It may be a door which opens from both sides, but such actions are indeed possible. We can still, for the time being, roam this Planet without attracting too much attention to ourselves. However, there is one problem tat must be addressed: should we wish to activate the Hellgate and return back… that will require much more energy than when you. activated it before. The reason for this, is because the Hellgate itself requires energy to function, the one which appears on Gamindustri needs much less than the one in the Demon World due to there being a bigger supply of Demonic Power. Thus, for the time being, we are indeed trapped in this place. A proper estimate for the energy consumption needed, I haven't figured out yet, but when I have I'll inform you immediately."

After hearing this, Nico hummed in thought whilst scowling. That didn't seem too good, it didn't seem good at all in fact. Not only did it mean that they were practically stranded on this Demon World, filled to the brim likely with beings who would want to kill him and devour his soul, but it also meant that he couldn't return to his comrades. He couldn't return to his mom, the Party he was in, none of them. He couldn't even let them know where the hell he was due to him being on a completely different planet. He could only imagine the worry his mom would be going through, even worse the girls who he considered comrades… he could totally imagine Compa going absolutely berserk at the thought of him vanishing, same with Neptune and IF. Hell, practically all of the girls he ascosciated with often would likely do the same thing, none of them would be all weepy and in despair. He didn't think they were that kind of people, Compa maybe but ever since her ascension into… what she was now, he felt like a drastic change had occurred within her. A change which could bring forth pretty much anything.

Though, if they vented their frustration on some Noble's back yard, Nico wouldn't complain, heck he'd likely give them patts on the back while saying 'good job!'

Still, the fact remained that he couldn't get into contact with any of them whilst on this Planet, this Demon World ruled by a being serving Khorne. Nico had to admit, it made sense that such a world had a Hellgate leading to Leanbox. Khorne's been lusting like hell over it from what he could accurately assume, so if he figured out which Chaos God wanted which Nation, he'd be able to accurately judge what kind of enemies he'd face, both in Gamindustri and in the Demon Worlds. 'Anyways, I can think more on that later, right now I'll have to see if I can possibly train in some of the powers I have regarding martial prowess… hmm, lets see…'

Soon enough, a list began forming inside his mind, a list Biko was privy to due to being part of him. He would have to use some powers which didn't rely on his Demonic Energy, as according to Biko he would likely need to access a LOT more than what he did with the Hellgate back in Gamindustri.

One such would be the Star God's Broken Shadow, something which if mastered, would give him a HUGE boost in the speed department. If he completely mastered it, then when he'd inevitably find someone way stronger than him, it wouldn't matter very much since his speed would prevent him from getting hit very often. Not only that, but with his regeneration factor being as potent and powerful as it was, Nico doubted there would be many people who could permanently bring him down. Though, the male would have to be cautious and not let even a single possibility of his healing being overtaxed happen, nor become dependant on his healing. hat sounded like a perfect way to bring out his own demise, not something he particularly looked forward to. He preferred evading to defending anyways, and even then he still had some defence thanks to the Great Way of the Buddha, which at its current stage allowed his body to strike and defend with 50,000 kilos.

Another thing he could start training on, was the Golden Crow Flames. Because he tried to absorb the blood of the Golden Crow he got while in his Inner World, Nico could only absorb up to 30% of it, with the rest laying dormant within him. As a result, the Golden Crow Flames would be NOTHING in comparison to their full power, which would only be available if he absorbed the blood up to 110%. The perfect fusion process, which Nico learned would only be achievable if he strained his body whilst using those flames. Something he would have to do in the real world, not rely on his Inner World unfortunately. Once he fully absorbed the blood to that level, only THEN would he begin developing the techniques recorded in the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World: a Tome which he got with the blood that he kept within his Void Storage. It had a series of techniques which were only compatible with those golden flames, but once he mastered them... then he could potentially generate up to nine suns which would destroy everything in his path.

Not that he LIKED destruction, he did see himself as more of a technique type... though a part of him began to realize he would slowly transition into that kind of character soon enough...

Next, would have to be his sword skills. Now, Nico would no longer lie to himself, his sword skills could be classified as abysmal in comparison to someone like Okada Izou, hell he wouldn't be surprised if even Guts secretly thought the same way. That was a fact that had hit him the hardest in the water trial, when he had been possessed by said man and fused with his soul, gaining a connection to him which allowed Okada to instruct him in the ways of the Manslayer sword style. If only so that he would stop sucking at swordplay like a little baby nooblet. After that Trial ended and the process happened, Okada pretty much forced him into his inner World and trained him to the bone, breaking down what he knew about swords from the get go in order to build the foundations for learning the Manslayer Style. In essence, his sword style was no longer that of his own, but rather it had completely transformed into the Manslayer Style of his mentor. It had been that style which earned him his infamous reputation, and the fame his self in Nico's own Dimension had earned was also because of it.

According to Okada, the Manslayer Style is a sword style which constantly refined itself for the sole purpose of killing the opponent. Its name was actually a bit misleading though, since no matter who the opponent was, their gender their race, ethnicity etc, everything would be considered equal in this style's presence. Its true purpose nonetheless, is to ruthlessly and efficiently kill the opponent. There would be no wasted movements, no wasting of precious energy. All the style required one to focus on would be to kill. That would be the essence of the Manslayer Style, not even armies would be able to take down a master of this style, since its more on killing than actual fighting. Back then though, Okada only showed Nico the basics of the style aside from some intense sparring, imprinting him with the knowledge on how to advance it to his own level and beyond one day (even though he doubted that he would ever reach the same level as a genius like himself). Refining wat he knew about it would be a huge advantage in the future. It went well with Nico's own techniques, as practicing them allowed Nico o start refining them into better forms. Nothing had happened as of yet, so it hadn't been worth mentioning back in the trials, but he DID feel something beginning to change, what that was though he didn't know... yet.

Then, there was the stuff in the Library of his Inner World, the Lexicanum. There would undoubtedly be a lot more information gleaned from it, information stored there by Biko. Now that he knew more about Mundus and the original DPUs, he could focus on learning everything else they had gleaned so far. Information which could help him as well as his comrades fight against the battles that would surely occur once they got stronger. Hell, maybe there were a few things he could use to help the girls progress, if they truly wished it. All of them had strong stubborn streaks after all, not to mention most of them were leaders. They tended to have a lot of pride in what they do, and don't accept help so easily.

And so, the thinking continued…

* * *

After a bit of thinking (try about 4 hours real world time, making it about 240 hours worth of contemplating), Nico returned to the real world, opening his eyes and strapping Soul Edge to his back. He had a plan for his training within this Khornate Demon World, but for the time being the male wanted to explore this place and check out the landscapes. Get at least a decent map of this forest by having his Bracers scan the surroundings, despite how worthless it could end up being later on if this World's Demon Prince were to discover him. After strapping Soul Edge into its proper place, Nico raised his arm and activated his right Bracer, as well as its scanning abilities. The Left one's motion tracker didn't register any hostile movement as of yet, but Nico didn't kid himself into thinking that would be it. No, it would likely be that Demons would discover his existence eventually, he DID activate their Hellgate from his side after all.

Before that would happen though...

'Biko, have you made any progress on the Hellgate situation while I was within the Inner World?' the teen questioned his Demon Persona. Sometimes the male wondered if Biko got affected by the time dilation effects his Inner World had, though he never voiced anything so he didn't question it much. While he asked that question, Nico gazed upwards towards the chaotic skies above, watching the many lightning strikes which filled them. His eyes narrowed at them whilst he felt Soul Edge lift him off the ground and just above the forest's skull-clad trees. Just by moving though, the teen felt the bite of the wind grow ever harsher, not enough to break his defences but still enough to be noticeable. No normal person wouldn't be able to survive in this world if they hadn't grown up in this environment, surely...

 **'I have not made much progress unfortunately, but I do have this: The Hellgate's energy consumption will likely take more than a couple days for me to decipher, so we can use that time to refine your various powers. I sense that there is an ideal area nearby where you may train in harnessing the Golden Crow Flames, it seems to be an active volcano to your north west. Be warned though, using Demonic Power will indeed draw Demons to your location like moths to a flame.'**

'I'm aware of that, Biko, but thanks for the update.' the male replied, cutting off the link and shifting direction to the North West. Thanks to the skies being what they are, Nico couldn't see through the stars even with the Gene Seed Implants and various visual enhancers on his eyes. Just went to show how thick and heavy those clouds were, as well as the denseness of that damned chaotic Demonic energy. Though, he had already noticed where the sun was thankfully, and had used that to judge where the North West direction would likely be. Refining of the Golden Crow Flames had been made his top priority in those last 240 hours. refining something that he had damaged had been deemed more important than the rest for the time being, with refining his swordmanship his next line. Since his Inner World couldn't be used for these flames, was another reason.

Thus, Nico tilted his body forwards and with a WHOOSH!, dashed through the air thanks to Soul Edge.

* * *

It didn't take him long to arrive at the top of the Volcano, about 15 minutes actually (though Nico attributed it to Soul Edge having a Multi-Continent Class DPU level of power now). Though the fact that he hadn't been able to see the Volcano until now (and the fact that for a brief moment skulls had fallen from the skies like rain) showed him a small portion of the reality warping powers that Demon Princes had. The first one he fought must have been made only recently or something, since he didn't display anything close to this sort of scale.

Right now, Nico stood on the edge of a HUGE volcano, one which felt like it was half as tall as the space between the ground and the skies themselves. The volcano itself looked to be made from skulls and blood, with the rocks forming from clotted blood like the scabs which would form on little scratches. Not only that, but the Volcano constantly erupted with bloody lava, showering the surroundings with it and erupting small building sized explosions. Thus, it made sense when Nico saw how it had desolate ash lands surrounding it which expanded to over a hundred meters in every direction. 'Now that I think about it... this might actually be the first time that I've actually been to one of these... Volcanos are kinda rare in Gamindustri these days since we live on floating islands and not on some crust...' the redhead thought to himself, his Trench Coat flapping wildly in the gushing winds.

 **'Be warned, Nico. I sense a large build-up of Demonic Power within this Volcano. Likely a powerful Demon, at least Sky Class, should be slumbering inside. Once you enter, it will undoubtedly notice you and try to have you for lunch.'**

'Got it.' Nico replied curtly, closing his eyes as he called upon the flames of the Golden Crow. He held his hands out in front of him, positioning them as if he were clutching two basketballs in the when he managed to locate their essence within himself. The essence within him hadn't been that hard to find, but the moment he did Nico honestly found himself appalled. The flames felt more like embers that were dying than the raging firestorms that they should be, all due to the method he'd used in gaining them. It filled him with revulsion that he had done this without getting some advice first, but then the male shook his head to clear such thoughts aside. All he wanted to do was summon them into existence, preferably through his hands, so he could get them to work. If he couldn't use them, then what would be the point?

Instantly, his hands lit up, and as a result, two fireballs the size of basketballs roared into existence. They roared like the bird they came from, fierce, brilliant with unimaginable radiance and raw destructive power. The most powerful flames he had ever seen aside from Urthemiel's Primordial Flames. even in heir weakened state, they still provoked these feelings from the depths of his being. They shone brightly with a pure golden colour, carrying a powerful divinity which felt opposite to his own Demonic power set. Thankfully his Demon powers didn't feel afraid of it, since they were a part of him now. They were firmly clutched in Nico's hands, the male staring into them with no small amount of pride. For a moment, Nico had feared that he wouldn't be able to do anything with this incomplete Bloodline he possessed, but this just proved him wrong. The Golden Crow Flames, whilst weaker than they should be, could STILL be used. That alone satisfied the male as he dispersed the flames and clicked his fingers.

When he did that, a swirling vortex of Hellfire erupted beside him, soon vanishing to reveal his treasured Archdemon Urthemiel. The moment that it formed into solid mass, the Archdemon gave a small howl of happiness, before looking down to its master, waiting for him to speak. It didn't have to wait long, as Nico began stepping towards the Volcano's chute. "Urthemiel, your task is simple. I'd like for you to stay here and guard the Volcano for me. If you see any signs of hostile activity, please report it to me or Biko. I must train within this place to increase my power." he told it, getting a nod from the Archdemon as it stretched its wings and took to the skies, unafraid of the chaotic climate.

Whilst he watched it fly away, Nico then thought of something. 'Say, Biko, how strong do you think Archdemons would be using that classification system you told me about.'

 **'Since it can go toe to toe with Demon Princes, definitely World Class at the least. With everything Urthemiel has gone through, that level of power is naturally its own to command. However, Chaos Class DPUs or the Chaos Gods would be way beyond its limits, and don't even get me started on Mundus or the originals.'**

'Got it.'

With that thought, Nico jumped down the chute into the fiery depths below.

* * *

THUD!

A loud sound happened when the redhead finally hit something solid after a good 10 minute fall. The moment he did, Nico kneeled like a knight with one hand on the ground in front of him, whilst the other was thrown to the side. During the fall, Nico had been trying to sense the presence of whatever Demon lurked within his Volcano, making sure to not let the magma spouting from within touch him, but had no luck. It appeared that this Demon held quite decent intelligence, considering how it was using the heat to hide its presence. The moment that he landed however, did the male stand up and look around, gauging his surroundings.

'This looks to be the place.'

 **'Indeed. I was right, it will momentarily appear before us to try and get an easy meal.'**

'Whelp, sorry mister demon, but ' freshly cooked Nico' is not on today's main course menu...'

The male found himself in a place eerily reminiscent of the platform and lava area of the Fire Trial where he had entrusted himself to Soul Edge. The volcano's interior seemed to be quite large, way larger than what he had initially expected. The ground beneath him looked like superheated rock, with its size being about 300 meters in all directions. The platform floated endlessly within a pool of molten hot crimson magma, so even whilst it had the colour of blood Nico could feel the heat it emitted. Not only that, but he could sense a HUGE amount of rage and hatred coursing through this place. If it hadn't been for his previous exposure to intense negative emotions, Nico wondered if sensing this hatred would have pushed him over the edge. The interior of this Volcano had countless skulls, arms, legs and other bones protruding out of its walls, crimson magma pouring down like streams from their eyes, mouths, hands etc.

His senses informed him that there was a MASSIVE collection of Demonic Power in the atmosphere, too. He could feel it all over the place right now.

'Fortunately this platform has solid enough foundations that a fall like mine wouldn't shatter it...' the male thought, glancing downwards before walking to the edge of the platform and kneeling, his eyes narrowed as he reached into the crimson liquid with his hand. Moments later, he retracted it, finding no damage done to his crimson coloured limb as he shook it to clean the liquid. 'looks like my fire immunity still works in this world...' Nico thought to himself, mentally sighing in relief. Now that he had this fact reinforced within his mind, Nico decided to try to sense the Demons presence once more... only, soon after he found there to no longer be a need for such things... since the Demon was actually making its way towards his position.

'Well, now THAT's just peachy...'

The moment Nico thought that, a massive roar which shook the interior of the volcano sounded, causing rippling waves to expand across the crimson magma's surface. Raw power could be felt in that roar, though it did little progress in shaking Nico's desire to face it. In fact, it actually got him a little excited, the prospect of finally fighting something powerful on the level of the being his comrades fought at the end of the Gala sending his blood pumping. With those thoughts in mind, the male used to confirm his Demon Persona's testimony. 'Yep, definitely Sky Class...' the teen thought to himself as he held his right hand out, a fireball made from the Golden Crow Flames. 'Still feels a bit stiff, but like a muscle this power can be trained and harnessed...'

 **'It is here.'**

It didn't take him very long to finally track down the creature's position, something of which Nico mentally sweat dropped when his eyes beheld his incoming opponent. 'Well, subtle doesn't seem like something in this guy's category...' the male thought when he saw it. The Demon emerged from the depths of the magma, rising from it similar to rising from a grave before stepping onto the platform, glowering menacingly at him. If Nico were to describe it, then Nico would call it a 'gigantic humanoid mass made entirely from flames themselves'. The creature's height, the male judged to be about over 30 meters, with two hollow crimson eyes brimming with intense, raw anger and bloodlust. Atop its skull, Nico saw a pair of fiery horns at least about 10 meters long, a roaring flame seemingly burning by itself in the middle of these horns.

 **'Nico. I've took a look at the Lexicanum, and this creature appears to be called a 'Purgatory Flame Demon'. Excels in using fire attacks, and is capable of using any source of heat as nourishment. They are usually formed within the depths of volcanos or other such places filled with heat, very territorial, carnivorous... pretty much our idea of a fun time.'**

'Well, now doesn't that get you going on a good day?' Nico quipped in his mind, a grin slowly spreading across his face as he held his Fireball-occupied hand to the side. 'Since fire attacks will likely be ineffective against it, we can see if we can surpass the limits of the threshold this Bloodline has for me. Only then will I be able to train in it effectively' He didn't see the Demon as much of a threat right now, at least it seemed that he didn't though Nico merely wanted to rile the creature up some. Make it show its hand on what it was capable of, so he could properly counter it in battle.

Nico's tactic however... seemed to work a little TOO well, though, as the Purgatory Flame Demon opened its mouth. From there, a series of super-charged Fireballs, ones strong enough to wipe out about a couple hundred meters of land in one strike, got launched towards him with the speed and rate of fire a Gattling Gun possessed. Nico stopped his movements upon seeing this and narrowed his eyes, frowning as he remained motionless while the Fireballs descended upon him. 'These Flames...'

As that thought passed through his mind, Nico's body collided with the Fireballs, which kept hitting him without a second's distance between them. Forcibly, each Fireball erupted into a mushroom-shaped cloud of fire and heat, with the force behind them capable of shattering huge skyscrapers with ease. However... just as the flames did attack Nico's body... they pretty much self-vaporized on the spot, not leaving anything behind not even embers. All the while the teen had slowly started to move towards the Purgatory Flame Demon, his strides slow but firm and determined. Eventually, the last fireball descended upon him and Nico backhanded it away, all before dashing towards his opponent and arriving before its foot. Thanks to the sheer height difference though, Nico couldn't eve reach the top of its foot, though he didn't really give a damn about that. However, facing the Purgatory Flame Demon which was around a hundred feet, his body seemed far too miniscule and he could barely be considered to have reached the bottom of its foot.

Not like it mattered to him as he leapt over the foot activated the Bloodline slumbering within. As a result, Nico's right fist got enveloped by golden fire, fire which surged around it and created a fiery gauntlet of sorts which he used to throw a single punch, slamming it into the top of the Demon's foot. At the moment of impact, Nico saw the flames making up the foot get devoured by the hungry golden flames, their destructive quality (although severely weakened) managing to emerge superior. However, because of that weakness, the flames didn't last very long and extinguished themselves, allowing the flames once being devoured to completely reform the foot.

'Tch, looks like this thing's durability is commendable... if it weren't for my Bloodline's weakness then it would have been devoured by my flames...' Nico thought to himself, frowning. At least, in that moment he had seen a glimpse of the creature's body beneath the flames, a section which informed him that it likely had a pitch black body.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Unfortunately, Nico couldn't do more in time when the creature released a mighty roar, one born from the pain it briefly felt from those flames licking away at it. Nico DID note that this big fellow had a temper, a short one too, since it got this angry over a mere flesh wound, all the while it made its own move to counter attack him. The creature's right claw swung itself in a horizontal manner, releasing an even denser shower of fireballs upon him than what it had done before which fell down on top of the redhead... as well as covering a 100 foot radius all around him.

Said redhead mentally scoffed as he jumped back, not to avoid the fireballs since his fire immunity protected him from them, but to avoid the foot which tried to stomp on him. Fire immunity protected him from flames, but Nico did NOT fool himself into thinking that it could also protect against the physical force behind the attack. Sliding to a halt, the redhead Spec Ops Agent threw his arms to the sides, generating more Golden flames and forming about 60 Fireballs around him. He then threw both arms forwards, and the 60 Fireballs shot straight towards the creature's chest, slamming into it and making it step backwards...

Though to Nico's annoyance it only stepped back a couple inches. 'Tch, annoying... Looks like I'll have to be a bit more creative!' the male thought, conjuring flames beneath his feet and having them explode. Thus, the force propelled him forwards as well as into the air, allowing him to constantly hurl fireballs at the creature with speed rivalling its first attack. The Purgatory Flame Demon roared in anger at this attack, and as he hurled one strike after another, Nico noticed how its wounds reformed faster than he could strike, making him narrow his eyes at it. 'Biko... is this creature doing something weird? Its restoration ability is effective, but...'

 **'Its not going full out because it doesn't wish to destroy the volcano. Not only that, but this environment is perfect for it in a battle sense as well, since it is using the heat and the flames here to increase its restorative prowess. If you plan on defeating it with the bloodline you have right now, then it will likely be a prolonged fight... then again, that is what you intended to have to begin with, didn't you?'**

'Hmph, you know me so well, Biko...' Nico quipped, a smirk forming on his lips while he hurled fireball showers at his opponent, before switching tactics and Warping behind the creature's skull. Raising his arms Nico conjured golden flames above him, shaping them like two fiery gauntlets similar to the one he used before, only large enough to rival the creature's head. After that, the following event would be simple: Nico raised both gauntlets by raising his arms, the gauntlets mimicking them, and brought them smack down on the back of the beast's head.

WHAM!

"ROAARRRRR!"

The pain that the Purgatory Flame Demon had eaten violently enraged its temper after stepping forwards a few times, causing it to twirl round and swing towards the teenage Spec Ops Agent with its left claw only for Nico to Warp out of the way. It then followed up with another offense, rearing back its head before opening its mouth to roar again. When it roared this time though, an instantaneous wave of heat got released from its body, which forced everything around it not nailed down to go flying, preventing Nico from launching another attack.

Not like he planned on doing it so directly anyways.

When he reappeared, the male did so close to one of the clotted blood-like walls, planting both feet and one hand on it before making several jumps across it as he circled around to the creature's left flank. Once there, Nico gathered the golden flames beneath his feet, forming two small spheres which erupted a split second later, propelling him forth through the air towards his opponent. More flames gathered around his hands as he entered a spiralling twist, becoming a human-shaped spinning top as he flew right past the creature... all the while taking its right arm for himself when he did so, having sliced through it with a single hand swiping motion.

Whilst the creature let out a pained and angry howl, Nico landed on the ground in a crouching position, then stood up before turning to face his opponent with a look of satisfaction, even as the creature's arm reformed itself as it drew power from its surroundings. Power which he could sense now, flowing into the Purgatory Flame Demon as its arm completely restored itself, the one on the ground vanishing out of existence. 'No, wait that's not right...' the male thought, mentally correcting himself when he focused his senses a bit more. He felt the energy which had once been the creature's severed arm, merge with the environment, fuelling its energy which would allow for more reserves for the creature to draw on. 'I see... so its body parts nourish this place, whilst it nourishes the creature... its like a never-ending cycle...'

 **'That just goes to show how long it has lived. If it had been at least under 80,000 years, then this symbiotic relationship would not have been possible. It also means it has experience under its belt, for I sense that it has killed and devoured the souls of many adversaries to get to the point that it is at today.'**

'That so, huh...'

That was what Nico thought, when all of a sudden the teen gasped. His hands reached for his chest when instantaneously, a surge of energy started pouring into him from where his Heart was. As it did so, the surrounding atmosphere also changed, the hot air quickly feeling like each particle carried 1000 tons, more so when one got closer to the cause: Nico himself. The teen thought he would have fallen over from the sheer surprise that he felt at being so caught by surprised thanks to this new development, but luckily Nico found himself able to retain his posture, if only barely. 'Ugh! G-Gah…!' the teen cringed, feeling like his insides were starting to heat up, and not even his Fire Immunity was helping him at this point. No, it rather felt like whatever this was, had begun trying to melt him from the inside out but his Fire Immunity prevented that, thus he could only feel this sensation as a constant. Fortunately, the teen found himself able to bear it, since he had felt way worse in his many years of combat. 'Th-This feeling... I... I-Is it wh-what I th-think...?' Yet, even under this feeling's oppressive nature, Nico couldn't help but think of only one answer to this new problem his body had begun facing. Looking down to his chest area where his heart was, Nico also noticed that area of him also sported a fierce glow, a glow so brilliant that it illuminated even the lighting of the crimson magma around him. It had been shaped like a Crow, brilliantly glistening in all its beauty as it began spreading its wings, almost like an imprint on his chest, causing him to quickly grit his teeth. His eyes narrowed sharply as an idea came to him. 'Biko... is this...?'

 **'Looks like, it appears that the fusion process, thanks to your continued drastic use of the Golden Crow Bloodline, has finally been initiated. I can feel the Bloodline now, slowly assimilating into you through your bloodstream. You must keep this power going, Nico, let it run wild within you while you fight this monster. Only then, will the fusion percentage increase towards the targeted 110%.'**

Standing up straight while taking his hands away from his chest, Nico stared forth in determination mixed with a pained grimace. Hearing those words pretty much confirmed what he had suspected the moment that he felt this sensation. 'Is that so, then.. well, looks like I have even MORE reason to prolong this fight. Biko, keep monitoring the Bloodline for me, I'll do some more 'playing' with this hot-headed Demon.' Nico ordered, standing tall as he generated more golden flames. As he did so, a pulse of pin shot through him, one of which he endured with no change in his facial expression. Just from this sensation he could tell that this process would NOT be a quick one and more than likely he would have to feel it multiple times in order for him to fully assimilate the Bloodline. As a result, the teen took a deep breath, exhaled and closed his eyes... before he opened them and his features settled back into his usual serious expression. Like nothing had even happened... the only thing reminding outsiders of this event would have been the glowing Golden Crow symbol over his heart.

All the while, the Purgatory Flame Demon howled as its recovery finished and it proceeded to charge at him, intending to finish Nico off for good... plus, possibly take his soul for its newest meal.

Like he'd let THAT happen though.

* * *

About 4 hours later...

"Ugh... Hufff… Guh…!"

Heavy pants escaped his lips, sweat trailing down his forehead like a waterfall whilst Nico remained standing. Albeit, with his upper torso hunched over like a certain hunchback inside a bell tower, with wisps of Golden Flame vanishing from several parts of his body. Internally, his body quickly began settling down, like a rapidly heated object suddenly being cooled by a waterfall. Although, he could feel faint remnants of the heat still persisting, something which made a small smile form on his lips when he felt it... though it vanished soon after when he went back to heaving. All the while, his form no longer had that intense, ominous pressure which accompanied that glowing symbol, vanishing into nothingness along with said symbol while Nico felt his body already start repairing itself from this experience... all the while, his Ghoul side memorized every second of this experience, so that he would be able to build up a tolerance for when it would happen next.

Glancing upwards, Nico looked to wards his opponent... or rather what was left of it, since he had strained his Bloodline quite a bit to utterly destroy it beyond recognition. There was LITERALLY nothing left of it... not after all the successive attacks he had launched with the Golden Crow Flames, he'd made sure of that by straining his Bloodline as much as he possibly could. Aside from it, Nico had only used more evasive-oriented abilities, such as his Warping or his Star Gods Broken Shadow, to evade the enemy's attacks. He didn't focus on any other ability he possessed, not his human, Demon or Ghoul related powers, focusing solely on harnessing and fusing the Bloodline with his body. Throughout the battle with the Purgatory Flame Demon, Nico had gotten the impression that the longer this process went on far, the more strenuous the process got... which was why he had lasted only four hours before finally forcing himself to use one last attack to completely erase the creature entirely, leaving nothing behind for it to regenerate from.

 **'Well… that definitely yielded some interesting results...'**

Biko could definitely say that again, the male thought (right before he stopped the guy from actually repeating it), as he looked himself over, patting himself down to wipe away any imaginary dust from his Trench Coat. Rolling back his left then his right shoulder, Nico grunted as he felt bones cracking from the experience. Tat fight had been some intense sit for him, not only physically but mentally, but it had been worth it in his mind. Why? Simple, because now that he had done it, Nico understood better about the fusion process for his Bloodline... as well as how much he will have to train in the real world for it. Thanks to that battle, Nico found that the fusion process had increased his connection to the Bloodline of the Golden Crow up to a whopping... 50%. Not even halfway to his intended target.

Apparently, it had been discovered that fusing with the Bloodline took a LOT out of his body, Nico felt more exhausted from the process than he did from even fighting that Demon. A Sky Class Demon at that. The process involved pretty much setting every blood cell going through his veins on fire, allowing them to merge with the Golden Crow's blood cells that were laying dormant within those very same veins. As a result, aches and faint eruptions of pain filled his bloodstream, something which Biko had investigated and told him that, should he try to continue, the process would start to fail without question, and then he would explode from the stress. Literally. Not only that, but once those hours passed, Nico would have to wait for up to 4 hours before he could start the process again, to let his body recover from the intensity that the Golden Crow Flames provided... not to mention that the more the fusion percentage increased, the less time he would likely be able to stand it without risking his body.

Nico would happily admit to himself that this information about his Bloodline felt... more than a little vexing, to say the least. It frustrated him that he would have to take such delicate measures to securely fuse with the blood, since it wasn't something that he was used to. However, according to what he knew, Bloodlines themselves were an extremely complex lot, especially when one uses a poor method of fusing with them like he had, thus he couldn't completely blame the Bloodline for its requirements, but he didn't feel discouraged by it either. If anything, Nico felt even more determined than ever to do so. Still, that would likely not bee happening again for a while, so the teen began to wonder what else he could do whilst in the centre of this Volcano, sitting down in the cross legged position in the very centre of the platform.

'Surprised that this platform hasn't been destroyed from all the explosions that happened...' the male thought to himself, a small chuckle escaping his lips at the image in his mind. Though, he didn't find it too bad considering that, whilst he enjoyed a perfect fire immunity, Nico preferred it if he WASN'T submerged in lava thank you very much. In any case, perhaps he could check in with his Demon Persona about the amount of energy required to power that Hellgate of theirs, the male mused as he held his right Bracer at torso level and activated the Holomap function. He manipulated it so that it could show the Hellgate and the forest surrounding it, allowing him to stare at the structure with intense, burning eyes. 'This thing... its worth now known to me, perhaps I can use these worlds in order to train myself further... Say Biko, what do you think about all this?'

 **'It is a risky move, I will admit that, Nico.'**

'That sternness in your tone... please elaborate.'

 **'These Khornate Demon Worlds do indeed have their own benefits to train in, benefits which could speed up one's training ability by large amounts. Thanks to them being able to warp reality, Demon Princes tend to shift the time zones of their Planets often it seems. I've been keeping an eye out, and it appears that time moves much slower in this world than compared to Gamindustri. If we were to stay in this world for a whole day, only about 6 hours would have passed in Gamindustri. That means we could spend a lot of time honing our skills here instead of in the Inner World, not to mention you have a wide variety of opponents to consider. You don't have to worry too much about destroying anything either since the ruling Demon Prince's power would just warp the reality around the damaged areas, making it so that they didn't exist. They do have ABSOLUTE dominion in their respective Demon Worlds, which makes defeating them in them exceedingly difficult. I will say, that the Demon Prince we fought prior to the Hellverse incident likely wasn't even trying to fight us, we only won due to catching it off guard. We could even gain access to various treasures that normally we wouldn't have had any hope in accessing if we stayed in Gamindustri all the time.'**

Hearing all this, Nico couldn't help but frown. All those benefits (aside from that Demon Prince stuff since he already figured that) sounded like they would be excellent. Especially in his case where he could develop the Bloodline for the Golden Crow in peace, maybe even get his daily dose of Demon killing as long as the Demon Prince didn't hone in on his location. However, the redhead couldn't help but detect the 'but' in those statements. 'And what's the bad side of this arrangement? It would have to be pretty serious if its got you unnerved.'

 **'I'm getting to that. As you know, Khornate Worlds are controlled by Khornate Demon Princes. However, that means that each world will have different time zones, so while we may spend a day in this world and only lose 6 hours in Gamindustri, that will not always be the case. We could wander onto a world where we could spend a day and a whole century could pass on Gamindustri, or worse a thousand years. The Demon Worlds themselves cannot be completely trusted as a Training source unlike the Inner World all DPUs possess, think of it like a 'rock' whilst the many planets occupied by Demon Princes coming together to form a river. It is the best constant in that 'river' of planets. You were lucky in this case, but once you return and destroy this Demon World's Hellgate, what about the next one? Or the one before that? Then there are all the Demons and creatures on this world, there could be ones which far surpass us in power, excluding the Demon Princes as the moment we MEET one, we may as well hand in our life discount card right then and there.'**

At the moment of hearing those words, understanding flashed in Nico's eyes, his mind already comprehending the extreme gravity of the situation. What Biko had tried to tell him, he understood. Whilst Demon Worlds were a great place to train due to their time dilation effects, and since he was not training inside himself he could still use them to train his other techniques as well as his Bloodline, they were also a double-edged sword. He had a point that once Nico returned to Gamindustri, he indeed WOULD be destroying the Hellgate to protect the Nature Elf Village, which meant he could only use this world once without much risk. However, who was to say that the next Demon World Nico would encounter would have the same benefits? Just considering it from that angle alone would be risky, he didn't even need to think about the other risks Biko had highlighted since he could understand them already. 'I see... got it, i'll make sure to be careful whenever using these Hellgates. It should be possible for you to analyse the amount of time that passes between our worlds, right?' Nico thought, getting a confirming hum from Biko. 'Then we'll make sure to conserve power when entering Hellgate, enough to use one a couple times at least. In that case, we'll be able to quickly determine the worth of staying in that world.'

 **'True...as long as we'll be able to supply the Hellgates with enough power, we should be able to return should things not go in their favour.'**

Yeah, that would indeed be the case, Nico mused to himself. He honestly had no proof that this was the case don't get him wrong, there was still a possibility hat the Hellgates functioned differently to what they would have expected. If it were anyone else talking to him about this, then he likely wouldn't have spoken those words. However, Nico would rather place his trust in his Demon Persona than most others. Speaking of which, just as Nico made to ask him about the energy consumption, the male suddenly twitched his brow when... something weird began to happen. 'Huh...?'

'...Come...'

"Wha…? Did I just hear something right now...?" Nico muttered to himself, putting one foot on the ground in order to stand up once again. Confusion filling his eyes, the redhead glanced from the left to the right and vice versa, trying to locate the source of the strange voice he just heard. Not only that, but deep down inside, Nico could feel this strange... tugging sensation. It felt... sort of like ow a team of people would pull on a rope in a tug of war, that sort of intensity. 'Hey, Biko, did you ear that as well or is it just me...?'

 **'Its not just you, I heard it too... Most** **peculiar**...'

'...Come...'

There it was again, and this time the tugging sensation within him felt even greater than before, almost doubling in intensity. The teen frowned to himself, his confusion only becoming more prevalent as he looked around some more... before his eyes got drawn to the space beneath his feet. He didn't know why, but as the tugging feeling grew, a sense of... direction came from it, a sense which told him that the voice was trying to call to him from BENEATH the Magma... 'Biko... I can't help but get the feeling that...'

 **'Yes, I sense it too. Something is... lurking beneath the Magma. It is most interesting... perhaps the Purgatory Flame Demon's power was masking it, making it so that I could not sense its presence earlier. Whatever the case may be, there is indeed something deep within the magma's death, Nico. I advise you to seek it out, for I am nearly complete with my calculations on the Hellgate.'**

With those words, Nico gave a sharp nod in the real world, before kneeling down on one leg and running a hand over the molten rocky ground he currently occupied. Rearing that very same fist back, Nico finally set upon his task of smashing it onto the platform, using just enough force to create a small hole in it to expose the Magma beneath. He managed to create a small shockwave which sent ripples throughout the crimson coloured magma, but Nico ignored it as he hopped into the hole and dove into the crimson blood-like Magma.

* * *

'So... this is what is its like beneath Magma...' Nico thought to himself, narrowing his eyes as he dove deeper and deeper through the crimson depths. Heat bombarded is form with great intensity, bubbles surrounding him after they escaped from his nostrils and his lips. Thankfully, Nico had his heat immunity to protect his body from the Magma around him. Not only that, but it honestly felt more like he was bathing in a warm hot spring at just the right kind of temperature... a very nice feeling, though he bet that if a normal person dove into this place then they would have melted and evaporated in seconds. 'I have to admit, should I find any volcanic areas back home, then I'd like to take a bath in one, maybe even take some coffe there and watch videos on the internet. Sounds way better than bathing in a public bath house...'

It didn't take long for him to push those thoughts back however, especially when a faint 'throbbing' occurred within his gut to alert him that the source of the sensation was getting close the deeper he went. However, it had only been through the use of his Gene Seed Implants that he'd been able to navigate through these depths... sort of like the oceans of the Water Trial as he fought those Evil Spirit Orcas. Partway into his descent though... an idea came to him, and with two quick explosive bursts two rocket flames made from his Hellfire roared to life, propelling Nico further into the depths. 'Though, I'll have to maintain them at a low intensity to avoid crashing into the Volcano's walls...' the male thought, mentally chuckling at the image of him crashing into walls all over the place. It reminded him of pingpong for some reason, which made a part of him question his own sanity if he found that amusing.

Though, considering what he had gone through so far...

After a while, Nico finally reached the place where he had felt the sensation originating from, a section of the depths which seemed to be much clearer than the rest of the depths, practically spotless. It was like he had found a section of a piece of floor in a house untouched by dust in over countless centuries, which to be frank roused his curiosity and willingness to learn its cause. As for the cause, his eyes soon fell upon it...

And when he did, he almost felt his breath get caught in his throat.

Deep within the centre of the clear magma, there was a single, untouched altar-like structure, circular in its design but covered in ancient looking carvings. From it, a bright red glue illuminated the surrounding areas, like a beacon within a grave storm. It consisted of a circular platform with dozens of ring-shaped fractions, the stone seemingly filled to the brim with carvings in a language that... honestly Nico found rather familiar. They reminded him of the words used for Runecraft THAT GUY used, but felt more... Demonic. It instantly clicked to him that they were Demonic-based Wards like those in the Hellverse incident, ones which were likely responsible for keeping this place clear of the murky depths. Around the platform, there were several stone pillars, about 8 of them with similar carvings and arranged to look like an octagon, whilst at the platform's centre was an altar... one which held the source of Nico's intrigue: A single, lava-like crystal, engraved with dozens of Wards as if a story was written on it, held in place by a set of metallic fingers.

'What is that...?' The male wondered to himself as he went closer to the altar. The moment that he did, the male felt like he had lost all his weight as his form moved on its own, lowering itself onto the stone surrounding the structure as he suddenly found himself to breathe like he was intaking air normally. 'Is this the Wards' doing? Or is it the reality controlling shit that Biko mentioned...?' the male wondered, frowning to himself at this development, although he didn't necessarily dislike it. Breathing air felt particularly nice, thank you very much.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Nico strode forwards, feeling the familiar sensation of his boots meeting stone. Though he mentally questioned if this really was stone or something else, since his place bent itself tot he whim of its ruler. As he stopped when within arm's length of the altar, Nico stood there, motionless as he silently stared at the jade crystal with various emotions swimming behind his light blue pools for eyes. Just by looking at this thing, the sensation within his gut swirled like a whirlpool, then began moving as if being drawn like a magnet. Drawn towards the crystal that is, almost as if it sensed that he was here, that Nico had answered its call.

Strange...

Very strange indeed.

'Biko, what do you think about this thing...?' the male questioned his Demon Persona, walking around the altar whilst inspecting it from various angles to check for traps. Prior experiences worked with him in this case, and he didn't want to get caught by surprise. He'd also scanned it with his right Bracer, only to get some weird readings from the Crystal, not much he could make out but what he COULD had been... lets say, thought-provoking. Fortunately, his Scanner didn't detect any traps of any sort, so odds were that there really weren't any... nonetheless, he wanted to remain on the side of caution.

 **'Hmmm... interesting. I recall having seen this particular crystal once before when skimming through one of the books in the Library. I'll try to do more, but for now I believe it is a safe bet that you will be able to take the crystal for your own.'**

With those words echoing in his mind, Nico finally relented and decided to risk it. If he did take the crystal and traps would be activated, then he would have to deal with it as they came, not like he'd make taking his life easy for them. Whenever he would learn of something unknown in the past, he always cautiously examined and scanned it with his Bracers. Anything unknown could be dangerous, and a more times than he'd care to mention this habit had saved his skin. Stopping in front of the Altar like he had been before, Nico slowly reached out with his right hand towards the crystal, gently grasping onto its form and pulling it out of the Altar without much difficulty.

Two things followed suit after that: One, Nico tensed as he looked about for any signs of traps activating, straining his senses to the limit to pick up even the slightest traces of abnormality or mechanisms. Those Wards worried him particularly, since eh didn't know their exact functions even if he could guess. Having a solid answer was better than a guess after all. When he didn't hear anything off or feel any kind of motion beneath his feet, the teen slowly began to calm down, heaving a heavy and relieved sigh.

But before he could completely calm himself, the second thing happened: the moment he began calming down, the crimson crystal began to glow brightly, slowly at first until it eventually forced Nico to cover his eyes. The teen grimaced as he did this, before a sharp gasp tore from his lips when he felt like his mind had begun bearing the full brunt of rushing water exploding from a burst damn. "Guh! Wha-What is...?!" The teen grunted an exclamation as he used his other unoccupied hand to grasp his face, hunching over whilst falling onto one knee. A searing pain shot through his skull, like thousands of sledgehammers repeatedly slamming into it with full, unrestrained and merciless force. All the while, he could feel... what he could only describe as information, information being download into his brain's receptors as if it were a super computer. Information which came directly from the crystal, Nico realized as he saw through one barely open left eye, lines of demonic Wards flying right off the surface of the crystal, flowing around his arm like water streams spiralling together, all the whilst travelling up to and impaling his forehead.

That was the last thing he had seen, before passing out.

* * *

By the time Nico came to again, the redhead groaned as his eyes blinked open, his head aching whilst he groaned as his consciousness stirred. Slowly, the teen got onto all fours, before shifting into a Japanese sitting position whilst holding the side of his head with his right hand. 'Ugh... Guh… d-damn, that as one hell of an experience... remind me to never touch alcohol if this is what a hangover feels like...' the teen thought with no mild irritation, especially with how his face twisted into an ugly grimace. After a moment, the teen's eyes snapped open as confusion filled him, his eyes glancing towards his right hand of which he had used to hold the crystal... a crystal which no longer resided there. 'Huh...? What...?'

 **'Do not worry, Nico. You need not concern yourself with it, that crystal only had one purpose; to pass on the information stored within it to someone strong enough to take out that Purgatory Flame Demon. It shattered into nothingness when the transfer completed itself, and before the area could return to what it should of been thanks to the Wards being disabled, I took control just enough to Warp you back onto the Platform on the surface. Whilst you were out, I went ahead and analysed this information which got placed in your Library. You will not believe what I found.'**

Biko's words filled his mind, and caused Nico to heave a sigh as he let his hand hang by his side. The mire he interpreted his words though, the more confused the teen became. Just when had Biko been able to take over his body like he had said he did, albeit only temporarily and just enough for him to Warp them out of the Magma? He didn't know what that was all about, but he decided to not put too much thought into it for the time being. After all, they had other things to talk about, like whatever it was that Biko had learned. 'What did you find that I will supposedly be unable to believe, Biko?' he questioned his Demon Persona with an arched brow.

 **'Judging from what have observed, it appears that this crystal has downloaded information for a martial technique into your brain. A particularly useful one if I'm not mistaken, one which can match that of your Star God's Broken Shadow. Like it, it seems to be a movement Skill, which if I am honest we are sorely lacking in those compared to our other options. Evading and offensive tactics are our forte, but we have so little in the way of mobility techniques in comparison to offense-based ones. As for defence, we don't have to worry too much about that for the time being thanks to the Great Way of the Buddha, but I'm getting off topic. The name of this Skill is called 'Extreme Mirage Lighting' and it is a movement Skill which, unlike the Star God's Broken Shadow which is more like a quick speed burst that leaves Afterimages, allows us to travel at speeds which break the sound barrier for a sustained time-frame. Its like firing a shotgun round and rounds from a machinegun, one's which the other's more continuous.'**

At hearing that, Nico nearly stumbled at the surprise of what he had just learned. A movement skill on par with one from Zelretch's trials? How the hell did he get so lucky to find that? He had thought the extent of his luck ended when he had been invited to that dimension to earn a chance at these rewards, so why the hell did he find something like this so quickly? It didn't make sense! He found it odd that Biko didn't comment about the Skills he'd inherited from the Arrancar back in the first trial, but in the end he didn't question it for the time being. Just as Nico thought that, he felt a pulse of electrical energy rush through him, and when he did Nico quickly tracked its source to the link between him and his Lightning-based Archdevil Arm. 'Ouranos...?'

Mentally reaching out to it, Nico summoned the Archdevil Arm into his hand, sitting down into a meditative stance while looking down at the blade while it rested horizontally on his lap.

{Thank you for summoning me, I wished to speak with you about the Martial Skill you just found.}

'Okay, so what is it you wish to discuss?'

{That Skill of yours, it was left in this World by myself a long time ago, since before the DPU Era ended and I was sealed away by Sparda. It wasn't much of a plan, but more of a whim, I implanted the knowledge of this Skill into that crimson crystal and hid it in this world, setting it so that nobody but one whom has myself or a similar level of potential for Lightning element could grasp it. The reason why you could grasp it, is because it noticed that you are my wielder, and by that logic it satisfied the requirements.}

Blinking at that, Nico hummed thoughtfully. It was true that Ouranos was originally the first Demon who could use Lightning back in its prime, so it would make sense for something like this, a Skill attributed to movement, to be connected to it somehow. Seriously, one of its powers WAS movement enhancement (Kinetic Energy Manipulation) after all! 'Huh, I see... so, that would imply that you could use this Skill, and as such can understand it in the best way possible.' he mused, getting an acknowledging hum from the sword as it vibrated on his Lap.

{Indeed. However, the way I constructed the information made it so that the technique itself is split into two parts. One Part I eloquently called 'Hidden Flowing Lightning' whilst the second is the 'Extreme Mirage Lightning'. In this case, you can only learn the latter after fully mastering the former, so whether or not you arecapable of leaving this damned Demon World, you will e training yourself here regardless. Do not fret, for I shall teach you how to use it, as my wielder I will not allow anything under complete mastery of one of MY skills.}

Whilst the thought of spending ANY time longer than necessary (even though he had his Inner World to help) in this Khornate Demon World, as it increased his chances of attracting attention, the fact that Ouranos would be training him in this Skill made Nico heave a sigh of relief. Self-development is god and all, but it wasn't a bad thing to find an instructor to teach you, as Nico had experienced first hand through his swordsmanship and Okada. Thus, his relief stemmed from the fact that Ouranos would be helping him learn how to master both parts of this 'Extreme Mirage Lightning' Movement Skill... though, one part he DID dread ould be that he would likely be going through some hell when he entered his Inner World, if his luck with instructors was anything to go by.

Why were instructors the ones with the most sadistic streaks?

Maybe he'll never know...


	188. Chapter 157 - Coming Back

**Chapter 157 - Coming Back**

Whelp, he had predicted the thing about his instructor being a sadist about teaching.

The moment that he had stepped into his Inner World, Nico had been greeted by the Archdevil Arm in its manifested form that he'd seen during its… birth, he guessed. They didn't so much as exchange pleasantries, as Ouranos simply grabbed him and dragged Nico into where he usually resided within Nico's Inner World… apparently, that little world he had found himself in before fighting Ouranosd' manifestation? Tht world was said home for the Archdevil Arm, like a little pocket world as part of the main one in his Inner World. He guessed it made sense, since they pretty much WERE connected by their souls, so their Inner Worlds being connected didn't seem too out of the ordinary. Still, that little discovery made him wonder if Erebus had her own Inner World… and if his future Devil Arms would have their own once they ascended. The teen couldn't help but shudder at what could happen if EREBUS dragged him into her own little world of darkness… he kinda feared for his life there. At least she seemed qquite intrigued by his Ghoul Persona though, so he'll guess he'll leave him to his fate.

He was a bastard, he knew.

'FUCK YOU, KING! I'LL FUCKING RIP TEAR AND SHRED YOUR ASS TO PIECES, I'LL REND YOUR INNARDS TO STRANGLE YOU WITH THEM...!'

For some reason, Nico got the reason that someone somewhere was insulting him...

Meh, maybe it was nothing.

'...DFNAFLACNDSL;CISA;FOI;SD?! HDOHPADJKSNCAI;OSJI...!'

...Yep, definitely, definitely nothing...

Right now, Nico stood before the Hellgate, a determined expression on his face as he held Soul Edge in its default form in his right hand. The mighty demonic blade coursed violently with raw energy, supplied to it through its own reserves as well as the large amount of twisted Demonic souls trapped inside, fated to be tormented for eternity to fuel the blade's might. Someone might think about the ethics of using such a blade, but if Nico were frank, he didn't mind it as much. A monster needed a monstrous weapon after all. 'Now… its finally time…' the teen thought.

 **'Indeed, the previous events have certainly been most advantageous for us…'**

Nico couldn't help but agree with his Demon Persona, mentally nodding with a small smirk as he held Soul Edge up horizontally at his eye level, allowing its sole eye to gaze back at him. Its eye showed nothing but mindless hunger, a desire to rip, tear and shred through his enemies and claim their souls as its own, leaving nothing but desolation and ruin in its wake. Though, thanks to Nico's own willpower the blade had been calmed and controlled, especially given what had been happening as of late.

In any case, just as Nico had expected, that training he had with Ouranos? It had been a nightmare, though thanks to prior experience he had the means to adapt to it pretty quickly. Ouranos had been one hell of a strict instructor in having Nico develop the mastery of the first part of the Skill Extreme Mirage Lightning: Hidden flowing Lightning. According to him, this Skill was more for concealing one's presence in a given area dependent on the user. It was a stealth based Skill, so it wasn't technically Nico's forte since he preferred the way of the warrior to the assassin. However, thanks to the constant number of hours in the Inner World he had spent training under Ouranos to finally learn it, he managed to master it just before coming here. Aside from that, the second part of the Skill had not been touched yet, but Ouranos wanted to give Nico a small break from training, which in their language meant that he'd likely not be having a peaceful sleep tonight.

Shiver...

Though, Nico hadn't spent ALL that time just training that one Skill. No, as during his training Biko had to interrupt them due to Urthemiel having reported a large amount of Demons, about at least 80,000 of them, encircling the Volcano he had been hiding in. Apparently, they had sensed something had happened to its resident Purgetory Flame Demon and wanted to experience the pleasures of tearing the flesh of its killer apart with their own hands. As thus, it had been only natural for Nico to emerge from his Inner World, Soul Edge in hand before he and Urthemiel worked together to eliminate them swiftly, leaving no survivors and taking their souls.

Good thing they hadn't been he Demon Prince's lackeys, otherwise he'd be way worse off.

Apparently, that had been a wise move on his part, as not long afterwards Biko had determined that the level of power needed to operate the Hellgate had been reached. According to him, if they hadn't taken out that army of Demons, then Nico would have had to use MULTIPLE Archdevil Arms worth of Demonic Power to open the Hellgate and return to Gamindisustri. Sure, that meant that if he had opened it sooner, then he would have lost the usage of Erebus and Ouranos or a time till they regained their power. Though, thanks to the training in the way of the sword he'd done, Nico didn't think he'd be all that helpless without them as much anymore.

As a result, he had spent only a day in this world, training his backside off in his Inner World on the Hidden Flowing Lightning, the only other training he had done being to fuse with the Golden Crow Blood within him, having taken the time to come out the Inner World to do so… and getting it to 55%. Seriously, that thing would be taking a LOT of work to get it right… but goddammit would Nico get it done, no matter what! He won't let a bloodline of a divine beast beat his ass, nope, no way no how! If he could do it, then so could Nico! Hell, it'll be thousands more satisfying to have achieved that state than to just have gained it like that!

'Alright, now that we've got enough power, its time to head back. I'd rather not have a Demon Prince breathing down my neck right now...' the male thought as he followed Biko's mentally transmitted instructions. The teen raised the blade, flipping the grip so he held it in a reverse grip like a knife, before plunging it halfway into the very base of the Hellgate's structure. The moment that it touched the demonic structure, Soul Edge's eyes bulged as veins spread across it, the entire blade beginning to emit a powerful, violent crimson glow with matching crackling electricity and scorching fiery embers along its form. As this happened, the Hellgate itself soon began to emit the same kind of phenomenon as the energy inside the blade, gathered from over countless souls held captive within it, got sucked into the structure like a vampire sucking the blood of its victims. It didn't take long for the Hellgate's front to soon become the same spiraling corridor, the same one which Nico had traversed to get to this damned place.

Finally, everything stabilized themselves, and Nico had a passageway safely back to Gamindustri, something Nico grinned to himself about since he couldn't wait to see his comrades again. Thus, Nico raised his hand to take his Devil Arm back into his hand, but the moment that he had been about to grasp Soul Edge's hilt, his hand stopped as Nico ceased all motion. An idea suddenly came to him, one which made Nico's grin turn all the more evil. 'Say... Biko, remember that time when you said that Soul Edge could destroy continents? And that thanks to my ascension, Soul Edge at full power destroys even multiple ones at once?' the male thought, getting a bout of confirmation from his Demon Persona. 'Good then, perhaps this world could do with some... remodelling.'

Before Biko or his Ghoul Persona could ask what he meant (although internally they nearly grinned-yes even Biko as well when they figured it out a second before it happened), Nico grasped Soul Edge by its hilt and pulled it out swiftly. But that wasn't the end, oh no not by a long shot, as the redhead swiftly spun around whilst gathering force and momentum for a horizontal swing, Soul Edge practically glowing with its own bloodlust. The moment that It was swung, a huge, and by huge we mean seriously HUGE wave of sheer power erupted from within the blade, like a centipede unleashing a mighty shriek which could rival that of bats. As a result of this...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

… The Forest, combined with the Volcano and anything caught within the vicinity, got reduced to dust. There was practically NOTHING which remained of what this land had once been, all of it having been decimated by Soul Edge's forceful swing. In front of Nico right now, would be nothing more than dust-covered flat land, some areas piling up more than others. If that wasn't enough, then the following second Nico clicked his fingers and the entire plains suddenly lit up in his demonic orangish red Hellfire, shooting countless fireballs into the skies above whilst countless formations could be seen from miles upon miles on end. If he were some ordinary mortal in this world, then he would have either long since suffocated instantly under this intense heat, or he would have been quickly roasted alive from his Hellfire.

'... NICE!'

 **'...I detect less stress built up inside of you, Nico. I believe that this was your way of... relieving it?'**

The way Biko said that last part, made Nico realize that he already knew and had just asked for the sake of it. Though his Ghoul Persona's response had been pretty much guaranteed at this point. 'Pretty much yeah, though its also a little... reward, for the Demon Prince of this place to contend with. Now then, lets get back and destroy this damned Hellgate so those Elves don't have to worry about impending Demon attacks...' Nico thought, smirking darkly as he strapped Soul Edge (which only chortled in glee at the thought of more destruction) onto his back. Now that he had given this place a... taste of his appreciation for its hospitality, Nico decided not to waste any time. The Hellgate would be closing soon according to what Biko had told him about it, so he promptly turned to face it and jumped right through, the Hellgate closing right behind him.

* * *

A short moment of walking later, Nico finally exited the crimson spiralling passageway, hopping out of the exit, flipping through the air several times just because he could (if anyone didn't notice, Nico liked performing stunts, regardless of their danger to himself) and landing before Gamindustri's exit in a crouching position. The moment he had exited, Nico had found it to be night time, as evident by the stars and moon looming over the world of Gamindustri in the skies above.

Standing tall right afterwards whilst a low wave of dirt got blown from his landing, Nico idly glanced behind him at the Hellgate's passageway, the sole eye he had trained on it narrowing sharply as it slowly vanished, leaving nothing but the metallic flat surface which it would usually have. 'There… now that I've come bac, its time to blow this thing to kingdom come.' The male thought.

Right after doing that, the teen swiftly reached behind him and grasped Soul Edge's hilt, drawing the massive weapon and holding it above his head. Gathering its energy till it had a sharp, crimson glow to it, the blade's eye widening with bloodlust, Nico swiftly swung downwards and promptly sliced the entire structure in two…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

…right before it got blown to pieces by the pure force from his swing. A huge eruption of dust and dirt got left behind as remnants of the once mighty-looking structure which lead to another world, something which caused Nico's lips to curl upwards in pleased satisfaction whilst he hoisted Soul Edge onto his shoulder like a gangster. 'Whew… for a moment, I thought I might have overdone it and destroyred part of the Nature Elf Forest like I did over on the Demon World…' Nico thought, heaving a sigh of relief. Being able to control the amount of destruction Soul Edge could cause felt OH so damn good. He'd rather NOT destroy something which had been protecting such a race of creatures, otherwise who knows what could have happened to them.

 **'Nevertheless, now that the Hellgate has been destroyed so completely, those Demons from that word will have to wait a long while before they can startinvading Gamindustri again. You should probably do the same for any other Hellgates that you find, since each of them is connected to a Khornate Demon World. Bulwark is NOT going to be the last we see of them.'**

'On that, we can agree, Biko…' Nico thought, his lips now set in a concerned frown as he twirled around and began making his way out of the former Chaos Camp, his boots creating audible stomping sounds as he went. It honestly amazed and concerned the teen at the same time, at how these Hellgates lead to completely different worlds like they did. He had always thoughtthey were simply like beacons, allowing Demons to teleport to the space around them. Thena again, Nico had never actually SEEN them in action himself, so he had only been speculating. Knowing how they DID work though… it honestly made him wonder. What would happen if all of a sudden, EVERY Hellgate acrss Gamindustri opened at the same time, and those thoughts served to send shuddrs down Nico's spine. '…Geez, fuck that sounds like one hell of a time…' the tee thought while shivering.

As he made his way towards the camp's destroyed exit… Nico paused mid-stride, his eyes sharpening whilst his foot remained in the air. His form suddenly tensed, and Soul Edge's bloodlust started to rise as the blade's agitation grew near instantly. All the while, the hand clutching its hilt clenched its grip tighter than before, to the point where veins could be seen being about to pop. Not only Soul Edge, but each and every one of his Devil Arms and Archdevil Arms felt a similar way to it, so if all of THEM felt like that then one would DEFINITELY find something off. 'Biko… do you feel it, too…?' the redhead thought to his Demon Persona.

 **'Yes… Something is wrong… very, very wrong… I can sense remnants of a huge idal wave of greed nearby… from the looks of it, it seems to have come from a human group of sorts, but… oh no…'**

Nico had sensed the same level of greed in the atmosphere near them as well, and had been just as confused as Biko had been during the initial stages of his speech. Not to mention, that during it, Nico had been honingin on the source of this greed, and found that whilst he main cause had seemed to have vanished already, the remnants of the greed could still tell him where it had originated from. The moment that Biko finished his speech though, did Nico end up realizing the very same thing that he did. 'No… No, no, no!' Horror and dread built themselves up inside of him, a thought opccuiring in his mind that sent no small amounts of those emotions chaotically through his body. It felt like warning bells had gone into full throttle within his mind, his heart and lungs clenching as he lost theability to even speak. His eyes dilated and his breathing became labored as terrifying thoughts began spilling into his being.

This Greed…

Please, let it not be coming from where he thought it was!

Instantly, Nico was off, Soul Edge strapped to his back again as he raced through the forest at high speeds, blurring through the place. His form left Afterimages in groups of 5 thanks to the use of the Star Gods Broken Shadow, boosting his speed in those short, quick bursts. Yet, even with that, if Nico had the mastery of this Sklill combined with the Extreme Mirage Lightning, the teen stlll felt like it would have been too slow to get to where he wanted to go. Even with it being so close to his position that it would be like just a couple steps for him… no seriously, it literally took him a couple minutes to clear the distance between the former Chaos Camp and his target destination…

The home of the Nature Ellf Village…

* * *

 **(Play Devilman OST - Crybaby)**

Just as Nico slid to a halt, skidding along the ground till he lost all kinetic motion, the teen quickly looked towards the secret entance into the village, the one that was usually guarded by vines hoping that his fears were misplaced… that hope sunk significantly, when he sw how open, bare and damaged it looked, with vines laying sprawled out all over the place like a wild, bloodthirsty beast had run rampant through them. Not only that, but when he tried to sense the Barrier which was supposed to repel the Abnormals in the vicinity… he couldn't find one spec of it anymore.

'Fuck… Fucking hell do NOT tell me this is…!' the male thought, his horror building within his gut which left him with the feeling of sickness in his stomach. He gulped, especially when his senses informed him that within the specs of Greed they picked up in the atmosphere… there were distinct hints of twisted lust. Lust so ick, twisted and demented that it could match some of the worst kind of crimes Nico had found during his few years of service. Clenching his fists so tightly that they could have bled whilst sweat rolled down his palms and forehead, Nico sloly strode over, hoping against all hope that what he was thinkiig hadn't happened. That he was simply overthinking things… or perhaps, his mind didn't want to admit what it was REALLY thinking as images of the Nature Elves he'd been with, more specificallythe ones whom had named themselves to him and hugged him, filled it.

Passing through the passageway, Nico looked around and saw various markings along its walls. Upon closer inspection (although it was quick since he was lightly jogging through the passageway to get to the village) the male found them to be traces of blades cutting through the walls, likely meaning that large weapons had been carried through here and in greatnumbers. This Passageway wasn't meant for something like that, so the blades would have left scratch marks such as these if more than a few people came through here.

'This is bad, Biko! This is really bad, real fucking bad…!'

 **'Unfortunately, I fear it may be getting worse Nico... Look to the exit…'**

The redhead did so, and when he did he conveniently had reached the exit to the passageway. His breath became ragged as his lungs burned for air, his throat lightly aching as he felt his breath getting hitched. The moment, the very SECOND that he saw what he did, that dread spiralling ithin him, along with that sickness, it exploded into full throttle like wildfire. It was all that Nico could do in order to not fall over from the surge of disgusting emotions right now… especially when the sight before him… pretty much confirmed everything he had been dreading and worse. No matter how much that his mind tried to deny it, the proof had been bluntly slammed into his face like a hammer and anvil.

'No… NO!'

All round him… was Hell. It wasn't unlike that of the Khornate Demon World, or anything that remained after a Demon Attack, but considering that he himself remembered what this place used to be… the sight hit him harder than anything like that. The World ahead lay still, mirroring the picture of silence with great perfection, a silence filling the air which chilled the bones like this was the personification of the afterlife. The air, which had once felt so vibrant and full of life, now felt the exact opposite and if this place were anything else then Nico would have heard crows cawing in the skies, attracted like moths to a flame to what lay within this place.

Deep inside of him, Nico's heart abruptly stopped beating for a moment, making the deep emptiness within worse when combined with his other sensations. For once, not even his various personas could be heard as they all, as in literally ALL of them, took in what they saw. He fixed his gaze ahead as he felt a cold surround him. He stood there in a daze before slowly advancing forward. The sound of each step he took treading on the broken vines underfoot pierced at his soul.

What had originally been a vast land of emerald and jade flora, filled to the brim with vibrant life and happiness, had now been terraformed, reduced to a scene of destruction and despair. There was literally no green to be seen anymore, nothing but charred ground remained as if the flames of conflict had consumed everything, mall smoke trails still rising into the atmosphere in specific locations. Ancient trees looked to have nbeen uprooted and toppled over, wooden houses looked like they had been violently torn apart, pretty much everything bore the scars of fierce combat. What remained of the picturesque land was now only dried green blood stains and a deathly silence.

Nico took all this in without even breathing once. This sight wasn't anything new to him, he'd seen it countless times whenever he had arrived too late to save some people during a mission. He'd seen it all over Lastation during the Racoon City incident or the Incident with New Tristram and their undead problem. He remembered those incidents well, and what he saw here only reminded him of them… but, seeing this once happy and innocent village reduced to such a horrific state hit him way harder than any of those ever incidents ever could. Back then, Nico had bee able to stop further bloodshed from happening, he had been able to find and destroy the perpetrators of those incidents. He had gotten vengeance and it had been meaningful since there were survivors… but in this case? Nope, no survivors and nothing to indicate who had been responsible for this.

Thing was, the destruction he saw before him was only the tip of the iceberg, something Nico soon regreted realizing when his eyes gazed across the charred ground. One lifeless body after another of the Nature Elves could be seen, strewn across the blood dyed ground like ieces of junk in a scrap yard. Each of them looked like they had ben ruthlessly tormented before their deaths, the males seeming to have lost a few limbs whilst their bodies had horrendous looking injuries, their expressions being those of pure fear, agony and despair. Clearly, they had not died painlessly, and as for the women… well, they looked to have gotten even worse off. One particular body closest to Nico's current position still had his eyes wide open. The emerald green light had already faded from his eyes, what remained was a look of fear and hopelessness... Even in death, his resentment had never left.

"Ah… AHHH…"

Seeing that state, Nico's lips began their shaking, and his pupils dilated in shock, nearly covering the whites of his eyes. Standing there with his coat flapping sideways with the breeze, the redhead tee couldn't move, as if both his feet were nailed to the ground by the sheer magnitude of the horror unfolding before him. All around him, Nico found his vison getting blurry when everything began losing focus, his centre of gravity swaying back and forth as the sky around him started to spin.

To stop this from making him fall, Nico croched onto the ground, the sick crackling ofcharred remains filling his ears ansd piercing his very being. He grasped his head with one hand, his fingers shaking like that of an old man at the end of his life whilst his dilated eyes shook like they were the epicentres of powerful earthquakes.

'Dead…They're all dead... Each and every one of these pure creatures, are now dead…' The male thought, and each timethose thoughts repeated themselves in his mind, slamming into his brain with brute force, the realization never lost any of its potency. Forget blades embedding into his soul, what h felt right now could be better described as his soul breaking into millions of tiny pieces. Even though h was used to the ways that his world worked, the strong surviving and the weak getting axed off… the sight before him reminded Nico of the very dffirst time he'd opened his eyes to this truth. The raw pain, hurt and all those other emotions which he'd felt back then came swooping back with a vengeance, slamming on topof him like weights stacking on top of each other.

But… why?

Why were the Nature Elves all dead?

Why…

Why?!

WHY?!

He hadn't told anyone of this place! He'd kept his promise to not reveal their location to the outside world! Heck, he hadn't even had a chance to go back to civilisation thanks to dealing with that Hellgate and all those fucking Demons! None of them had escaped his wrath when he murdered the fuck out of them, and when he had entered the Hellgate he'd made sure that it had been blockaded by some or Erebus's Darkness! There shouldn't have been any way for them to have been found out!

"Huff… huff.." dozens of deep, heavy breaths before both his mind and eyes finally regained clarity after a moment of regaining his wits enough to regain the ability to move. His left leg went first, lifting and stepping forwards, followed by his right whilst he slowly stepped forward. As Nico trudged trough the desolate wasteland, his vision still slightly blurry, he took note of each body, each drop of fresh green blood. Everything got imprinted clearly in his soul... Each sight feeling like a piercing cold dagger, stabbing straight through his very being. Not only that, but the memories of these Nature Elves working on their daily lives, enjoying what they could, filled his mind and overlapped with what the male saw now. That only served to make things worse for him.

Every now and then, the redhead spotted various splotches of crimson blood, human blood from what his nose told him. He could tell between humans and Abnormals due to smelling their blood, since they each had their own unique scent to them. They stood out like bloody dirty stains which desecrated this now ruined sanctuary. Like remains of the sinful serpent which had succeeded in violating the lord's sacred garden and the original humans. Thus, Nico realized that it had been by humans' hands, this desolation before him. Somehow, some humans had found out about this place and thus, did what any greedy fucker would've done: tore the place down from its roots. That knowledge took a moment to sink in, but when it did…

grrrrrr…!

'Whoever did this, is going to fucking play… with BLOOD!' the male thought, taking in another deep breath. Color (albeit crimson from the sheer rage coursing through his veins) returned to his face and his eyes grew steady once more. Before he could lose it however, Nico simply took a few breaths to calm down, lest his Demonic Power run rampant. Nico refused to contaminate this place anymoe than it already had, and besides, despite the sheer pain it would cause him, he needed to properly explore the destroyed village to get a grasp of the situation. The extent of the damage so that he knew what had happened and how much pain to inflict on those responsible. He took a step forward, carefully walking across this now ruined world.

Crrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaak! Bang!

Not too far from his position, a heavily damaged tree suddenly toppled over, causing Nico to look in its direction as his eyes shone with recognition. The reason why? Simple, he recognized the tree due to its owner, and thus when it fell, it ended up revealing a lifeless Nature Elf which toppled out of her house, and lay there sprawled over the charred grass. She was thin and small; her old and wrinkled face bore an expression of eternal calm. Nico couldn't recognize her any better as he approached the corpse, kneeling before it and examining the features. Even with her body looking like it had been ripped apart by wolves, her calm serenity didn't seem to have diminished in the slightest. Almost like she had predicted this would happen and was fine with it.

"Granny Qing Ye…" Nico whispered under his breath, his form trembling visibly at how badly her corpse had been treated. He lowered his head and slowly closed his eyes. He Lin respected her the most. Back then, she had been the most senior and eldest Nature Elf in this little world, one of the few who knew of their origins as otherworlders. Not that long before, he had even personally received the Nature Elf Miracle Dew from her, so he knew for a FACT that she deserved better than this. She'd been one of the reasons why he had begun seeing these creatures as people rather than damned animals, after all.

"Apologies, Qing Ye… if I hadn't found this place, then perhaps those who did afterwards never would have either…" the male whispered, hanging his head in shame. Slowly, he raised his head and reached for her still-open eyes, eyes which looked properly dead to the world, and closed them. There hadn't been anything he could have done to change this at this point, not with everything that had happened. The die had been cast for this tragedy and all he could do now was offer a simple apology.

Afterwards, Nico stood up with his breath becoming slightly better than before, his heart and Soul still chaotic with rwild emotions that he struggled to keep in check, however. Looking around, he teen quickly had Soul Edge take him to the skies, the teen wishing for a bird's eye view of the area to see if there were anything he had missed.

Soon, his eyes found themselves gazing upon a ruined hut, and in there Nico saw a well-built middle-aged Nature Elf. No longer was there any life in him, but even in death, those who had taken his life had not treated his corpse nicely. No, not with how they had impaled him on a cross the sze of the average person with swords green with Nature Elf blood, stripped of all clothes and impaled with arrows all over. Beside the cross lay a broken spear, its tip stained with green and red, something which Nico queasily recognized as Blood. On his chest, was a large and bloody hole... Because he had fought until the end, he didn't even have a chance to self destruct his Nature Spirit. Without a doubt, the male summarized that his Nature Spirit Core had been forcefully taken away after his death.

"Qing Mu…"

Nico gently mouthed his name, both of his hands trembling, fists clenched. All around the elderly Nature Elf, lay the larger portion of similarly aged members of his kind. Each body looked to have bee treated with just aqs much disrespect as the impaled elder, with limbs lost and vicious-looking wounds which would make grown men wet themselves in fright. All of their eyes were wide open, filled with expressions of fear, hopelessness, and hate... None of them were shut.

Memories filled his mind, memories of how that man had looked at him with kindness, of respect and gratitude for saving their patriarch from the Slave Auction. Memories of how he treated his brethren and obviously had seen Nico as someone 'good'… something which made him want to hurl even more. How could he be good when something like THIS had happened because of HIS idiocy? Nico didn't get it, nor would he for a long ass time. Especially as those memories overlapped with what he was seeing in the form of hallucinations, forcing Nico to snarl and shake his head before floating onwards, lest he go completely crazy... though, he did make some time to shut their eyes. It was the least he could do for them, since he had failed them so royally.

That battle would still rage on inside however, increasing in difficulty by leaps and bounds with heach horror he would end up witnessing. As Nico continued floating around, he felt like he would end up exploding from all the sheer rage coursing through his veins, rage and self-loathing for no doubtedly causing something like this to happen. Further ahead in this little world, he saw one Nature Elf child after another. Some were hugging each other, some were hugging the old… and the youngest, his soft little body was run through… A long black bladed knife was lodged in his body. Nevertheless, all of them looked to have suffered quite viciously, as if their killers revelled in their suffering and decided to prolong it in any means possible.

Slowly, Nico found it harder and harder to breathe, his eyes trembling violently as that bility slowly got taken from him. It was only thanks to Soul Edge carrying him that he could still move at this point from all the gore that he was witnessing. Just who the hell had done this?! Why?! For what reason was there to perform such despicable acts?! He struggled to move his gaze, when he caught sight of the large garden where he had spent the most of his time on his first journey here. Thousands of flowers were scattered roughly on the ground. There were no more butterflies...

At the end of the flowerbed, two girls were hugging each other tightly. If Nico had been raging in his heart BEFORE though, then when he noticed those two girls, then he found himself one step away from utterly snapping and unleashing his Kakuja. Those two girls looked to have been trying to hold onto each other but had been forceibly split apart. Their eyes looked to be frozen wide open, expressions of pain and despair permentantly frozen onto their faces whilst dark green slits ran down their cheeks. Obviously, they had been in tears of matching emotions, with their bodies looking to have been manhandled in the roughest ways imaginable. Their clothes looked to have been torn to shreds by the greedy claws of a ravenous beast, one he had all too many experiences dealing with. Nico didn't even need to think about what had happened to them, but the white stains on their neither regions, mixed with green blood with more stains on the charred grass, pretty much said it all.

In pure horror and disbelief, Nico landed and stared blankly at them, his lips moving before his brain even commanded to. "Fei Yan… Qing He…" he whispered under his breath, his throat feeling like it would be choking from the lump forming within. Their states right now… Nico could hardly look at them anymore and turned his head to the side, eyes closed with a pained look of resignation on his features. That fate which had befallen them, wasn't something any woman alone should have had to go through in their last moments, let alone pure young maidens like these. The fact that they did…

Opening his eyes, Nico glanced around, noticing something else. Outside the flowerbed lay a fallen youth. His body was full of scars, evidence of the brutal wounds he had suffered in battle trying to protect the two girls behind him. Judging by how he looked, the youth had fought valiantly to protect them, but it had been of no use. If he had been alive in these two girls' final moments, Nico wouldn't have been surprised. Though, he hoped that he hadn't been, and whilst that would initially sound heartless of him, think of it like this: if he had been alive then, he'd have been forced to watch, begging and pleading with his eyes brimming with tears of blood, as his friends were violated right in front of him. Unable to do anything.

"Qing… Zhu…"

The strong sense of suffocation which was finally receding came back full force once more, flooding his entire soul, stronger than before.

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"...I wish I could see the outside world for myself…"_**

 ** _"This is a charm I made with my own hands, it will keep you safe…"_**

 ** _"Big Brother Nico… Will you come back often to visit us..."_**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

"…"

Qing Zhu… Fei Yan… Qing He...

One hand clutching his head, the other over his heart, Nico slowly crouched down whilst feeling like a thousand barrels of lead were suddenly thrust upon him. Not only that, but his heart felt as if it were pierced by thousands of poisonous needles. It had not been that long, but before they had looked at him in wonder, with such pure and eager eyes. They held onto every word that he'd said, as if they feared missing out on even a single one of his words. He had clearly felt a deep desire of hope and yearning in every one of their beings. Hell, Nico had even been reminded of his own comrades through their actions, which only hastened his growing fondness of them. It had been like a little slice of heaven in a world full of hell. If this place had been a fragment of celestia, then Nico would have DEFINITELY believed in it. Unfortunately, Fate had been far too cruel to them. What was the norm for others at a similar age, would now be nothing but a pipedream for them. They had been in the prime of their youth, but now...

"The… the one… who… caused all this... Was... was me..." His heart convulsed and his teeth began chattering. To try and somewhat cope with this physical and emotional pain, Nico dug into his head with all five fingers, digging into his flesh, yet he felt not an ounce of pain. This wasn't the first time that he had felt this horrible, there have been several times where mistakes on his end had ended up costing numerous lives. Lastation's Racoon City Incident, that incident which opened his eyes to the truth of his state, those were some of the many times Nico had felt this way. This time around, one hundred wood spirits had perished. Although not by his hands, he still felt the same strong surging pain as back then.

Why did this have to happen...

What were these innocent Nature Elves guilty of!?

Was it only because they were too kind and weak?

No… It was because of me. If not for me… how would they have met with such a disaster? They would have been able to continue their normal lives!

It's all because of me!

If it wasn't because I just had to look for answered to my damned questions, if it wasn't because I showed mercy and brought He Lin back here, this wouldn't have…

…

Wait a minute… He Lin!?

As if a cold bucket of water was poured over him, Nico sharply lifted his head and immediately stood up, an audible gasp escaping his lips. What about He Lin? During his mad search through the village, Nico hadn't seen one sign of the Nature Elf Heir. That information told him that He Lin wasn't among these dead bodies. Where had He Lin gone? As if woken up from a nightmare, Nico had Soul Edge start flying them about and once more expanded his senses as fast as possible, covering the entire Nature Elf secret grounds. He scanned every inch of soil, every blade of grass, every wood spirit corpse.

He didn't detect He Lin at all.

His mind rapidly cleared up, a new sense of purpose filling him inside and replacing the cold, painful emotions building in his gut. Thanks to this drive, Nico could focus on something OTHER than his mistake of unknowingly bringing down these Nature Elves. He expanded his senses to the furthest he could spread it to and still he didn't find the corpse of He Lin. He Lin could still be alive… No, this was definite. He Lin was definitely alive!

Whoever did this HAD to have been connected to that Auction, which also meant they knew of He Lin's Heritige. And He Lin being the only one that had a royal bloodline, even if he stepped into the most dire and desperate circumstance, he would never allow himself to die! Yes, he was definitely still alive! The highest possibility right now was that he had been captured and taken away. The blood on the ground hasn't dried yet, they couldn't have gone far. With that in mind, Nico flew higher into the air and closed his eyes. He gathered every bit of concentration he could muster to locate him.

It didn't take long for results to come forth. Towards the east, he sensed a trail of Greed and pride, mixed in with a bit of despair, making a path through the jungle. The Greed and Pride ikely belonged to those responsible for this, and he didn't even NEED to question who the despair belonged to. Thus, with great force, Nico had Soul Edge put him back on solid earth and then immediately EXPLODED into a mad dash, heading eastwards with thin sparks of Demonic Power exploding behind him.

'He Lin... you better not die, you hear me?!'

 **(OST End)**

* * *

The storm brought forth by the depths of Nico's speed tore apart the trees around him as he ran. His form remained unseen to the naked eye, the Hidden Flowing Lightning technique suppressing his presence so nobody could sense him either. Everywhere he went, a trail of dust followed until he hopped up onto a tree branch and began tree hopping through the forest land. Thankfully, from what he could sense of the trail it seemed that the capturers hadn't left the forest yet, so he should be able to catch up to them fairly soon. The male had weathered countless dangerous and stormy situations before, and was always able to keep his composure through them all, but this time around... nope, this would be one of the few exceptions. If one were to look at his heart and emotional state right now, they wouldn't be wrong in saying that it was in a chaotic mess right now, one which junkyards would pale in comparison to in terms of messiness.

Following the traces left, he continued eastward, not slowing down for anything. Despite this, he indeed did notice something off, and that was the lack of Abnormals in the vicinity. Even while moving at high speeds like this, Nico would have still been able to smell them or sense them with his abilities, not to mention that his Motion Tracker hadn't picked anything up either. Perhaps the reason for this was due to these kidnappers either using something like Pheromone Bombs (which said a lot about these people if that was the case) to lure them away to the outermost reaches of the forest and away from the Nature Elves. Either that, or they had already went and killed the majority of them in this Forest beforehand. The only way for certain would be if he were to confront those people...

Though, it wasn't like he particularly cared at this point.

No...

All Nico had on his mind was to get to them as quick as possible...

To get to He Lin and get him to safety. Not all of the Nature Elves would die today, not on his watch!

Eventually, an aura belonging to a human appeared within his perception range and it wasn't just one person. Judging by what he could sense, Nico assumed that this human would be a mercenary of some kind, as he could feel the greed and desire for power boiling inside of him. Though, that alone wouldn't be enough, so he went on to using his other senses, as well as activated his Motion Tracker. Sniffing the air, Nico got the scents of seventeen humans no more than five kilometers ahead of him... Including an additional fainter scent belonging to that of a wood spirit.

It didn't take him one millisecond to realize that this would be the people he was looking for.

Going at a pace which had still yet to slow, Nico concealed his presence as he descended into the forestry, gradually approaching the auras up front. As he neared their position did he start to slow down, as according to his senses these people weren't moving, so it would be likely that they had just set up a small camp or something. Upon reaching the vicinity, Hidden Flowing Lightning had already been mobilized and not a single person detected him, thus Nico managed to land on a branch overlooking the small clearing the party of 17 had settled in without being detected.

Only when he stopped, did Nico look them over whilst searching with his senses for He Lin. Down below him, the redhead saw that these people were all of masculine stature, defining them as adult men whom were at least middle-aged. They each wore black hooded cloaks which concealed most of their forms from view. However, the redhead's sight did pick up some black armour similar to the Berserker Armour Guts wore... only, it was more streamlined and fit for men with slim builds. Not huge and bulky ones like his acquaintance had. They also lacked the... inner ferocity that the REAL Berserker Armour possessed, the 'thing' imprisoned inside it which constantly attacked the user psychologically. Though if one wanted to know more, they would have to ask either Guts himself or the one who crafted it, and given that fact that the former would likely cut one in half for asking that with the reasoning that they were potential enemies, whilst the original creators likely no longer existed anymore...

Yeah.

Aside from that though, Nico saw that they each carried longswords strapped to their hips, abyssal black ones whilst their armours bore a simplistic sword-stuck-in the-centre-of-a-cross insignia... something which Nico INSTANTLY recognized. 'These men... I know them! They're from the Abyssal Black Swords!' thee teen thought to himself, eyeing each of them warily during his search for He Lin. Just like with Rinjin who was currently living at Skies End with his pet Teostra, there were other groups of Spec Ops Agents through their ranks, groups who operated together and fought together like brothers. The Abyssal Black Swords was one such group, but unlike Rinjin's group, the Abyssal Black Swords were rather... notorious, shall we say, with many unconfirmed rumours about them which only made their picture worse. It didn't help that their behaviour would be classed as 'less than stellar', what with the harassment of females, extortions behind the back of the law with some of the Nobles contracted with them shielding them from such things. Before, Nico had only heard the rumours and had never seen them for himself, so he didn't have a good picture from the get go, but looking at them now.. Nico could somewhat see how they could be trouble for the public. Yvoire's words about the Spec Ops Agents being just as corrupt as the Nobles rung through his mind as well, making him grit his teeth.

But, what was the MOST important thing was, aside from their biggest contributor/sponsor being Count Mott... Was the fact that one of them (who looked to be the leader of this little group), had a certain someone hoisted over his shoulder like a rucksack.

The moment that he saw it, Nico's mind immediately recognized him as the Nature Elf He Lin, and for a moment the teen nearly blew his cover with the exhale of relief that escaped his maw. Relief in that He Lin was still alive and well. He didn't look like he had any bruises, nor did he look as roughed up as the other children back in the Nature Elf Village. In fact, if one were to look at him right now, they'd see that he was actually completely unharmed by these Spec Ops Agents. However, that relief soon ended when he caught sight of He Lin's eyes, the young Nature Elfs' eyes were open but they utterly LACKED that distinct green brilliance. Rather, they looked like an unseeing pair of grayish-white eyes belonging to the dead. Instead of looking like someone who was alive, he looked more like an empty shell drained of its soul.

"Hahahahahaha!" Laughter escaped the leader of the men, holding He Lin over his shoulder whilst lightly slapping his knee. All of the men looked to be sitting around a camp fire roasting some killed rabbits, so it can be safely assumed that they were taking a small break from their travels. "Looks like we have had the best harvest we have ever had in a long time, boys! Now, with what we were promised for our assistance, we will be able to hold our heads up high in front of our boss." he proclaimed, tapping the motionless Nature Elf (Nico now noticed that he looked to be restrained with rope tying his legs and feet together with a gag over his mouth). "This Little one thought he could escape us deeper into the Forest when we visited the first time. If it weren't for our benefactor's orders though, we wouldn't have had to spend the better portion of a day tracking him down."

Another one of the men chuckled heartily, completely agreeing with the leader. "True, true. This little tyke gave us a lot of trouble, wonder who he was trying to find? Some Agent who would help, perhaps? Meh, not like that would ever happen." The man then gazed at the fires, his smirk turning into a frown as he recalled the memories of the past. "It's just a pity that that bunch of tree huggers were so goddamn stubborn, not hesitating to self-destruct their Spirit Cores. There were so many of them yet we only obtained a few Nature Spirit Orbs in total." he remarked, spitting to the side. He then looked to one of the others, who had taken out a whetstone and was in the process of sharpening his blade on his lap. "Though, those girls were DEFINITELY worth that bit of trouble, am I right?"

"Pft, true that. It wasn't expected, but those green women definitely had fine ass bodies, made ravaging them all the sweeter. Their tears looked more like fine jewels than liquid, how could I not relish them? Most of them were virgins, too, would you believe it? Popping so many cherries back there, our boys will likely be super jelly when we get back." The one sharpening his sword replied, his eyes shining with a dark, lustful perverted smile. "Far better sluts than the whores back at the Capital are, I'll tell you that."

A round of laughter erupted from the men, completely unaware of the looming threat overlooking them and listening to EVERYTHING they were saying.

After the laughter settled down, the one who had spoken secondly, looked over to the Leader and couldn't help but be curious about his little 'package' there. "Its quite interesting though, those green skins definitely seemed like they were ready for us. The moment that they were about to lose, each of them tried to destroy their Nature Spirit Cores. Its like they had predicted our attack or something. Though, as for this little wood spirit kid, boss… what is his background? Why did we have to capture him alive? Even the leader flipped his lid when he managed to escape us the first time."

In response to those words, just like a classic tsundere the atmosphere suddenly changed from jovial to tense, in a matter of seconds. The source of it came from their leader, who radiated a thin black aura of killing intent when he heard the questions being asked him. The black robed man in the leadership position, then glanced towards his lackey, coldly replying. "Some questions are best left unanswered. Just keep an eye on him, if he escapes once more, let alone us, even our group's leader's head will roll." He stated ominously, his eyes being illuminated by the campfire.

This sudden turn in the conversation left everyone in shock. He Lin's captor tightened his grip and exclaimed the following. "This… What's this all about? Are you saying that this Nature Elf kid is something our benefactor wants?" He questioned, frowning deeply in concern. Part of him began to suspect that there was something fishy going on behind the scenes, something which he himself or the rest of the group weren't privy to when they got this job.

"Hmph!" exclaimed their leader. "I'm afraid the situation is even more dire. When the Leader returned to us after getting a call from an 'old friend' he had told us about, I vaguely heard a mention of 'Count'"

'What!? C-Count...?! But, the only one we've worked with who has such a position is...!"

"Shut up!" their leader gruffly shouted, cutting the lackey off and making him go 'eep' like a scared little girl. "It's enough as long as you understand in your hearts. Don't talk about it and no more questions. If you don't want to die, stay vigilant. Once we meet up with the Leader back at Camp, we'll have to immediately hand this kid over to the Leader. There can be no slip ups. If we lose this kid, I can guarantee that none of us will be able to keep our lives."

"Yes, boss!" everyone shouted in harried unison. Then, the second speaker looked back to their leader with a self-assuring smirk on his lips. "Boss, you can relax. In all of Leanbox, especially with all the shit that's going on, no one has either the ability or gall to dare…."

 **(Play Hellsing Ultimate OST - Zakuro)**

BOOM!

Before any of them could continue speaking, all of a sudden a heavy, almost colossal BLOODLUST exploded out into existence, slamming on top of them like a massive fist slamming on top of their heads. Startled gasps escaped their mouths, filling the air as each of them nearly fell over from the instantaneous bloodlust which caught them by surprise. All the while, a large silhouette fell to the ground a fair distance from them... before shooting by them and appearing about 10 meters away from them.

"Wha?!"

"Huh?!"

"Ugh! Who the hell-?!" the leader yelled sharply, his face reddening with anger until he blinked. He blinked several times, before he noticed something off which stalled his anger a little bit, allowing pure puzzlement to slip by. How come he had been feeling suddenly lighter all of a sudden? Looking downwards slowly, he saw exactly WHY he had felt lighter, for now... he lacked a little something that he had been keeping this whole time: He Lin.

Meanwhile, the shadow which had been Nico, gently carried the unconscious He Lin bridal style, slowly setting him down to the ground and creating a ring of Hellfire around him. That would make it so that anybody who dared try to take him right now would get one HELL of a nasty reward for their troubles. Nico didn't even care about the unintentional pun he had just made, simply pulled up his hood and Mask so only a bit of his crimson hair and FURIOUS blazing Kakugan could be made out from the darkness. Nico would not risk ANYTING happening to He Lin right now, not when he just found the last survivor of the Nature Elf Village... not to mention, he had finally, FINALLY found the ones who had done all those horrible things to the females of their village. It was one thing to kill the whole village and that alone would grant them no mercy from him... but to do THAT to them as well... just rubbed salt in the wound.

NONE of them would be escaping from here tonight.

'Qing He... Fei Yan... don't worry, you will be avenged soon...'

With the ring put up, Nico slowly turned around to face the 17 mercenaries, his form shadowed by the brightness of the flames behind him whilst his sole uncovered Kakugan eye shined with a predatory gaze. His hands pocketed themselves in his Trench Coat Pockets whilst Soul Edge had been strapped to his back this whole time, shuddering in its desire for carnage as Nico advanced towards them like the grim reaper about to claim his next victim.

On the other side, this sudden turn of events drained the color from each of the mercenaries' faces, faster than the time a millisecond took to pass. They could not move one inch, rooted to the ground in fear thanks to the immense bloodlust in the air that came from the approaching redhead, and before they could even utter half word... Nico dashed into action.

The first thing that he did, draw Soul Edge from his back and slice through the first 7 men in one swing... or at least, that was what it looked like before each of them exploded into tiny chunks. Behind them, Nico crouched with his massive sword remaining in the end position of a horizontal swing, before he stood up and twirled around, holding the massive blade in a threatening position with madness shining in his eye. So much rage, so much hatred an wrath burned within those eyes, not to mention a faint glowing symbol over his chest where his heart would be could be seen, surrounding him in a deadly crimson aura. The power of a Sin Multiplier, one belonging to Wrath, flowed through Nico right now... but he hardly noticed or cared, not even with this power raising him to the power levels of a Continent Class DPU in human form would stop the rage burning inside of him right now. Nothing... but these men lying in a pool of their own blood that is.

'Kill... Kill... Kill...'

In his mind, the word 'kill' repeated itself like a religious chant or a mantra, as Nico held Soul Edge in a ready stance for another offensive.

Meanwhile, shivers of dread fell down the spines of each and every Mercenary as they beheld the literal manifestation of their grim reaper before them, oozing a presence which made him seem taller than them and even the forest itself, holding a wicked scythe meant for harvesting their souls. His body radiating such malice, wrath, bloodlust and hatred mixed together obviously helped such an impression be made, too. They realized that in less than half a second, whoever their mystery assailant was, had not only seized their captured Nature Elf, but also killed seven of them in one sword swing. Like a ghost, he had came out of nowhere and without a word, ruthlessly made his move.

"You…"

As a frightened shout barely began to leave one of the mercenary's mouths, Nico once more dashed towards that same Mercenary with Soul Edge glowing crimson, energy crackling from PREDATOR all the while. The pupils of the black robed man enlarged as he raised his weapon in defense with the fastest speed he had ever achieved in his entire life…

Only for it all to be sliced in half, along with his body, when Nico passed him.

Startled, horror-filled cries escaped the rest of the men as they turned tail and tried to flee, only for Nico to dash past them and block their way, his sole Kakugan eye glowing ever brighter. Pretty much to the point where it created a rectangular shine from his rage. His simple motion of doing this only served to pound the reality that they would be dead in the next couple minutes, into each and every one of the Mercenary's minds.

Seeing their expressions Nico gritted his teeth behind his Mask, memories of seeing the corpses of the Nature Elves returning to him. Where had their mercy been when those same expressions had been on their faces as they were butchered? Where had their pleas for justice gone? Why did these Mercenaries think that he would spare them when they had done something so fucked up towards those who didn't deserve it?! WHERE WAS THE JUSTICE THERE?! With these thoughts filling his mind, Nico dove towards his opponents with Soul Edge gleaming with bloodlust into the night.

Pretty soon, only one of them remained: the Leader.

The pupils of the leader had shrank, his body shaking like a sieve as he beheld the reaper before him whilst he had butchered their last remnants of his men, his sword dripping in their blood. Shaking madly, the Leader held his sword ready for combat, but it looked as clear as day that, thanks to his mad trembling, that he wouldn't be putting up much of a fight. If things were different, if he had all the cards, then he would have behaved WAY differently, but right now he found himself in the same position as a mouse caught by a hungry cat. A cat which wielded a massive sword and looked to be ready to go in for the kill.

How...?

How could this have happened to him?

Just moments before, he and his men, they were so full of themselves, patting themselves on the back for a job well done. They didn't only successfully complete their mission, they had also chanced upon a large windfall. They'd even got to sample some f the delicious flesh action with the targets, hearing their delicious screams as they all neared their climax during their 'fun'. They got to enjoy the looks of ultimate despair on their faces as they were violated in many different ways, ways painful for them, but fun for him and his men.

However in the blink of an eye, they suddenly fell from the heavens, straight into hell. The men whom he had cheered and celebrated with had all been brutally, ruthlessly cut down by a blade so ugly, distorted and FOUL that he would not be surprised if it were actually made by the denizens of hell itself. These men, whom had been practically untouchable in the eyes of the Spec Ops Community due to their position and protection from the Nation's nobility, but in front of this monster, they were nothing but sixteen pitiful bugs that were easily squashed into bits.

Just... How? HOW?!

When Nico's gaze finally landed on him, he shuddered all over, his face turning completely white as his pants started to feel slightly damp. He could hardly control his own bladder anymore right now, the raw and primal Bloodlust saturating the air with its taint, combined with the menacing eye that was staring him down with predatory hunger, kept him rooted... preventing any hopes of escape. Besides, even if he did, he didn't think his boss would have let him live anyways since he wouldn't have been able to escape with the Nature Elf AND keep his head.

Using one sword and killing sixteen of his men within a few seconds… Even if he were an idiot, he wasn't so naïve as to think that he could defeat this... this THING stalking towards him with the intent to kil so think that it was actually visible.

"Who… Who… Who are you?" The leader of these men exclaimed, sweat dripping down his forehead like a waterfall whilst slowly stepping back as he cried out in the most frightened voice of his entire life.

For a moment, he thought he saw this... this absolute MONSTER pause its stride towards him, his question catching him by surprise...

SCHULUCK!

Only for his head to go flying off his shoulders, his expression frozen into one of complete confusion and befuddlement before a Tentacle emerged from Nico's back and devoured the head by forming its mouth and biting into it. This allowed him to see into the guy's memories, but Nico had Biko record the information tat they provided for future reference, as he had more important matters to attend to. Like say for example, He Lin who still lay motionless within the ring of Hellfire. Twirling on his heel, Nico swiftly jogged over, almost gliding as he snapped his fingers to disperse it, allowing him to kneel on one leg before him. Reaching for his head, Nico pulled down his hood and Mask, his Kakugan vanishing alongside his Kagune as he grasped the Nature Elf's shoulders and gently shook him back into reality. "He Lin! get a grip, kid! You alright?!" Nico shouted in earnest concern.

His actions did succeed to rouse the Nature Elf child from his bout of motionless, causing him to look up into Nico's own light blue orbs. After doing this, the bound He Lin shook his head slowly whilst Nico's Rinkaku released itself in its fully visible form to slice through his restraints, freeing him. He felt nothing inside, neither excited nor teary. One could say that He Lin had been experiencing nothing but a hollow feeling inside ever since what had befallen his village, resulting in a look which Nico found himself all too familiar with. That only served to stab him inside even worse than before. It didn't even matter that there weren't any injuries on him at this point, the injuries which had been inflicted on his heart and mind would be enough. A short moment later, he gave a faint, weak smile as he spoke for the first time since being captured. "I'm fine. Thank you, Big Brother Nico, you've saved my life once again."

In response to his words, Nico blinked owlishly in surprise, before he looked blankly at He Lin. After saving him, he had expected He Lin to be distraught, to be filled with anguish and hurt. He expected him to cry his guts out, releasing all the sadness and pain. He was even prepared for him to pass out. After all, with what he had just gone trough, it would only be natural for that kind of burden to be too much for a small child. However, not only did He Lin not shed a single tear, he could still smile and even thank him.

Nevertheless, Nico could see just how damaged that his actions had made him, and he did not like it one bit. Clutching his teeth behind his lips, Nico tightened his grip on He Lin's shoulders as a strong sense of unease filled him. "He Lin… I'm sorry… because of me your clansmen… if I didn't…" he began to say, until a shifting got felt by his hands making him look back towards the Nature Elf.

Said Nature Elf gently shook his head in denial, his eyes still dull but shining a small light beneath the emptiness. One which could only have been "No, this is not Big Brother Nico's fault. You're my benefactor. You're my savior and also the best person I've ever met." he told him, stunning Nico into silence. "Not only that... but you finally came, just like I believed you would. You came right when I... I thought it was all over. I... I tried to find you for help, I had put all my hopes into finding you, but just as I was captured... you came back."

Honestly, this heartfelt admission from such a young child made Nico feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Knowing that someone who wasn't one of his comrades actually gave a damn about him to this extent. He had been so certain that, aside from his small group of comrades, that next to nobody would ever truly care about him. This reminded him so much of when these beings had not been so afraid of his Ghoul side, just accepted it as part of him without much fear for their own safety. Such a pure, kind being... it only made him more aware of what had happened.

After saying that, He Lin turned around and looked into the distance... the secret place where the Nature Elves had once resided. "Big Brother Nico, can you please take me home one more time? I… would like to give them a proper burial."

"...Alright." after a moment of consideration, Nico eventually nodded his head sombrely. Giving them a proper burial... that sounded like the least that they could do for those poor people, He Lin especially. Hoe he must have felt when he had seen what had befallen his people… Nico could hardly comprehend it. Not only was he so young, he also had the burden of being a future leader for his people. Thus... seeing all that... Taking a small gulp, Nico grasped the small Nature Elf by the shoulder before he mentally commanded Soul Edge. The mighty blade's telekinesis took over them, and with that, He carried He Lin and started to fly westwards... back to the destroyed village.

* * *

Upon their return to the desolated, Nico once again felt the same feelings as he had felt before, and they did NOT hit him any less than they did back then either. Thanks to the fact that there was no barrier anymore, Nico could just land square in the middle with his Soul Edge, and that had been exactly what he had done, landed square in the middle while holding He Lin close to his side by wrapping an arm around his waist. The moment that the two landed, Nico let the kid go, and they commenced the burial for the dozens of Nature Elves scattered throughout.

During the whole thing, Nico couldn't help the sickening twisting sensation in his gut, the feeling of failure slamming into his shoulders whilst he worked. He had his Ghoul side releasing his Rinkaku Kagune to help him make a proper burial for them, but all the while Nico never got rid of the self-loathing that he felt inside. He could only imagine what it felt like for He Lin, having to bury his own people as their sole survivor, when he had originally been meant to lead and protect them. It must be crushing him inside... and whenever Nico looked over towards him whilst they worked, Nico could see it, the emptiness in his eyes and the sense of defeat permeating through him.

By the time that they had finished, Nico and He Lin stood before an entire line-up of dead Nature Elves, each of them prepared for a ceremonial burial: their hands interlocked over their chests, their eyes closed and their expressions now ones of peace. It didn't take them long to bury them within the earth itself, the redhead having done this with the skilful use of his Ghoulish Rinkaku and Bikaku. He Lin had done his part by kneeling before them and offering his last goodbyes as he watched them get buried, ever silent and unresponsive.

When the burial had been finally completed, Nico felt like there was one last thing he needed to do, and it didn't take him long to figure out what. He stretched his hand out and the middle of his palm lay a bracelet which consisted of a colourful variety of flowers and seeds. It not only held the scent and spirit of the Nature Elves, it also held within the warmth of heart and the feelings of a young girl. Yet, in his hands, it felt heavier than anything he had ever carried before in his life. The weight of a trust being betrayed felt WAY worse than his previous experiences.

Kneeling on the ground, the redhead used two Kagune Tentacles which had formed clawed hands, to push away some soil on the ground and carefully buried the bracelet underneath. Once the bracelet had bee safely tucked in, he put the dirt back over it before he lifted his head, eyes dim with depression. In Nico's memories she had been the Nature Elf girl who had looked upon him in bright eyed wonder and hero worship, hanging on every word of his. Those words made the feeling of nausea inside swell tremendously as he ran his hand along the ground of which the Nature Elf girl lay buried under. "Qing He, I am the demon who brought this disaster upon your entire race. I'm not qualified to accept your wonderful gift. I hope that in your next life… Fate will be kind to you." he muttered under his breath solemnly, closing his eyes.

Beside him, He Lin stayed there kneeling. He didn't shed a single tear and he didn't have any kind of emotional reaction to all of this... which only served to unnerve the redhead even more.

Yet, even so...

"He Lin... I know I might sound like a jerk for asking, but... could you tell me how this happened...?" Nico questioned slowly, feeling like his very soul cracked from those words. Whilst he had been aware of how cold that question sounded, making a child recall such horrific scenes, Nico really wanted to know how the hell this could have happened.

It didn't take long for him to get a response, and by that he meant how the young lad turned his head to look at him, resulting in them holding each other's gazes before He Lin let out a sigh. "Of course... you haven't told anyone and yet this happened, so you'd be right to be confused..." he stated, before he began to explain. Apparently, according to him not long after Nico had left, some of heir brethren having old the that he had headed deeper into the forest, they were invaded by those Mercenaries the Black Swords. They had invaded with a large force at first, way too large for them to handle on their own which had lead to their defeat and mass slaughter. They had been intending to capture them as slaves to take to the 'benefactor' they had been informed of, so they had all tried to commit suicide by destroying their Nature Spirit Cores. Most of them had succeeded, preventing any of their benefits from falling into the enemies' hands. But Qing Ye, as the eldest Nature Elf, had told He Lin to try and escape into the forest to find help.

At this point in he story, Nico felt like she had been referring to him... If things had been different, Nico felt like he would have DEFINITELY tried to help.

He Lin had successfully sneaked passed the mercenaries whilst they had been 'having their fun' whilst trying to block out the dying cries of his people, and had successfully managed to get deeper into the forest to begin his search. As for the Mercenaries, they had managed to acquire a small collection of their Nature Spirit Cores despite his people's efforts, as well as stored their chopped up bodies away for later, He Lin had heard this from the soldiers themselves. Unfortunately, when the Mercenaries had left their leader had apparently noticed that he wasn't among the ones they had slain, and apparently He Lin himself had been one of their prime targets during that genocide, thus he had ordered a smaller detachments of his troops to hunt him down. Which had resulted in He Lin's capture not long afterwards.

The rest...

Well, Nico already figured that stuff out since he'd seen that part.

"You know... seeing you again like this... it made me realize something." If he had thought He Lin wouldn't have talked anymore and instead returned to being quiet, then he'd have been in for a rude awakening when he hears the child say those words. "In the past, there was a time when I saw my people and thought: fate is really cruel' for reducing them to the state that it had. We couldn't fight, we had no dignity we had nothing but the hate and fear in our hearts of those around us. However, right now, at the very end of my life I met you. The god of nature has been watching over me all this time after all."

Nico shook his head, having mixed emotions as he heard those words… when suddenly he realized with a jolt...

'Wait a minute... oh no, shit, don't tell me...!'

 **'Don't tell me its what I think it is...!'**

The moment that both him and his Demon Persona thought those thoughts, blood left Nico's facial features as dread slammed into the bottom of his gut with heavy force. Faster than he had ever thought possible, Nico whirled towards He Lin, and true to his fears, the kid looked to be losing his strength fast even though there was nothing wrong with him physically... that is, until Nico noticed that the kid's energy readings had begun to plummet at an abnormal rate of speed. He even held that soft smile still, like nothing had gone wrong as his body began to fall backwards.

"He Lin!"

Almost activating his Star God's Broken Shadow in his haste, Nico swiftly caught the falling child's form in his arms, ending up in a one-legged crouch. The moment that he did do this, Nico became witness to the feeling of He Lin's core temperature plummeting at rapid speeds, even as his smile remained plastered onto his features. Shock ran through his system at the sight, and try as he might Nico didn't find there to be anything wrong with He Lin to explain this phenomenon. "This... This... What's happening!?" Nico exclaimed, looking He Lin up and down. A couple seconds later however, his eyes suddenly grew wide as he recalled something, something which he had heard about from one of the Nature Elves, and shouted in shock. "You… You're self destructing your Nature Spirit Coe?!"

Panic spread through Nico's system as he began taking out medicine after medicine from his Void Storage. He could have used the Great Way of the Buddha too, but he wasn't as familiar with the bodies of a Nature Elf enough t be able to do so without killing them. It WAS a risky procedure to heal someone without much medical expertise. Though, no matter what kind of medicine that he pushed into He Lin through his mouth, none of it had any of the effects that he had strove for, only resulting in Nico becoming increasingly desperate to keep the Nature Elf alive. "He Lin! What… What are you doing!? Why are you doing this!?"

'How did it come to this!? Why was this happening... I should have noticed that something was off!' Thoughts like that filled his mind as Nico finally, in a moment of panic and desperation, placed his hand on He Lin's chest to try and heal him with the power of the Great Way of the Buddha, The mystical power of the Rage God flowed into He Lin, but it didn't do anything to help the situation. Weakly, the young Nature Elf raised an arm and grasped the hand on his chest, getting Nico's attention by holding it with his own, also stopping his attempt to heal him.

"Big Brother Nico…" He Lin spoke softly, his voice growing weaker by the second. Even so, there were still things that he had wanted to say to his benefactor, things that couldn't wait any longer. He gazed upwards into the shocked eyes of Nico and gently replied. "I knew it, you would definitely not throw me aside and leave me by myself… but, how can I… My belief in you was right, after all. Big Brother Nico will one day become a very great and powerful person, furthermore, you're my benefactor. How could I… become your burden…?"

A sharp gasp escaped Nico's lips when he heard those words, as he grasped the weak hand in his own. His whole body shook uncontrollably as he hollered "What burden!? How would you ever become my burden!? I know a place you can be safe in, I've taken people there before, trust me, they'll be good people to you! Don't do this, kid! Don't throw your own life away!" Nico hollered, his body trembling as those words felt like sledgehammers rapidly banging against his very being.

Even as he spoke this, Nico tried to think of something, anything, in his arsenal that could help salvage this situation, but he came up with nothing. That Dew he had gotten from the Nature Elf Elder wouldn't have worked since this wasn't a bodily injury, not to mention that his lack of knowledge on this phenomenon worked against him this time around. If he had known more about what was going on, if he had just learned more about this race before he had left, then maybe he could have prevented this! He Lin shouldn't have to die like this! He deserved to live a long, happy life with those who care about him?! Why the fuck was he dying now of all times, when his people would be forgotten since he's the last survivor?! It didn't make any sense to him, not one bit.

He Lin didn't deserve to die!

These Nature Elves didn't deserve to die either!

This would be one of those times when he utterly cursed the laws of this world with every fibre of his being.

Just as Nico began to spiral downwards into insanity from his own helplessness in this situation, he heard a small cough from the Nature Elf in his arms. "Big Brother Nico... can you… promise me one thing? I have a wilful request to make," He Lin whispered, a small trail of blood rolling down his chin from the side of his lips. Yet still, he had mustered some of his depleting strength to speak.

Something which impacted the redhead hard if his mournful expression was any indication. "You… Just say it. Whatever request you have, I promise to see it through." he told him, now kneeling Japanese style with He Lin's head resting on his lap. If Nico couldn't save him, as much as that pill had been insanely bitter to swallow, then he could at least listen to his last request.

"I beg of you… In my place... Please find my sister…"

Sister?! Nico's eyes widened to when he had heard He Lin and Qing Ye talk about the royal bloodline. That there were two siblings with the royal bloodline whom were separated from each other long ago. Those memories sent a ray of hope through his mind, his stomach almost lurching at the revelation. "Yes!" Nico replied, his voice growing shaky. "I'll find her! Definitely!"

He Lin weakly shook his head "I know it myself, my request is very excessive, selfish even… but… I… I can't… I really have no other option… I am the last of the Nature Elves royal bloodline. I was the hope of the entire race… However, I'm just that useless… I couldn't protect sister, I couldn't protect my people… I couldn't do anything at all... If I carry on living, I'll only bring disaster upon Big Brother Nico who has been nothing but sincere and good to me…. This useless me… I cannot find sister and I won't be able to protect her either… I can only… only be so selfish as to beg Big Brother Nico…"

"Don't speak any more." The mentioned redhead urged, his chest feeling so heavy he found it difficult to breathe. His low voice continued, regardless however. For if he didn't, Nico feared he may never get to hear him again. "Don't worry, even if I have to travel through the entirety of Gamindustri, even if I have to travel beyond to different worlds, I will definitely find your sister! I will protect her… I'll freaking rip and tear apart ANYONE who desires to harm her! Nobody will touch a hair on her head while I still draw breath!" To cement his oath, Nico held He Lin's other hand and placed it on his chest where Nico's heart thumped. His eyes shined with anguish and firm resolve too. "You have my word!"

The tears in He Lin's eyes trembled and he weakly lifted his arm. The thought that this colossal being of power and potential would do his best to keep his beloved older sister safe soothed any and all doubts floating through He Lin's mind, as evident by the smile that spread across his lips and the tears streaming down his face. "Thank you, Big Brother Nico. If its... If its you, then I know... big sister will be safer than she will have ever been her whole life. This is… the only… way I can repay you…"

When he said those words, He Lin pulled the hand that was on Nico's chest and held it above him, clenching it into a fist. For a second or two, the whole limb trembled like it was having a spas attack, and before Nico could ask what he hell was going on, the fist opened once more... revealing a brilliant greenish white light floating there. The moment that Nico saw that thing, his jaw dropped, and if it were possible it would have fallen to the floor. His mind became overflooded with different sensations the second he laid eyes on it. Gazing into the light, Nico could feel an unmatched, rich and brilliant soul force inside it, a direct contrast to when he ingested that poison in Yvoire's room. He felt as if he was transported into whole different world, his eyes, body, and even soul… they seemed to be bathed in the purest and gentlest of lotions.

Entranced, Nico stood for a while, in a daze under that beautiful, bright emerald light.

He had instantly recognized what this was: A Nature Spirit Core, one which belonged to a member of the Nature Elf royal bloodline. He recalled just what had been said about these Cores, the powers that they possessed, and according to the Nature Elves the ones from the royalty of their kind possessed additional powers as well. He remembered what the people from that damned auction were like, and thought to himself: None of them would ever have dreamed of seeing such a treasure like this! If they could, they would have clambered all over one another like rabid wolves just to touch it!

"This isn't all..." He Lin spoke more, getting his attention again. "Just now... I placed a spell of preservation on myself... my body will be in perfect condition for hours after my death... perfect for you..." he explained, coughing a bit more.

Nico however, wondered why he had done that... until a moment later when he recalled what Gelmudo had told him about the bodies of Nature Elves. "He Lin... don't tell me you...!" He made to say, but then He Lin stopped him by nodding his head in confirmation.

"I don't have... long... but, if my useless body... can be of any help to big brother Nico... then it is worth it. Please, big brother... you have my permission... please... Take me in... let your body be immune to any and all ailments... let your blood be able to be used to heal your comrades, to bring joy to others... the blood of a Nature Elf of the Royal Bloodline... will also make it so you have immunity... to all elements of nature... fire, water, ice, any element that is... part of nature, will no longer affect you... not once you ingest my body..." He Lin explained, his eyes carrying no small amount of urgency even as his strength plummeted even more thanks to his prior actions.

As for the redhead however, Nico pushed aside his Ghoulish instincts which were telling him to do just that, in favour of grasping the hand still interlocked with his own leather-covered one, his eyes wide as he hollered. "You don't have to do that, He Lin! You don't have to offer your body like this, I can...!" he tried to say, but the look in He Lin's eyes told him everything he needed to know. Actions spoke louder and words, and the look in He Lin's eyes showed his firm refusal to budge on this stance. His throat felt tighter than ever all of a sudden when the weight of this revelation crashed down on him. "And... what of the Nature Spirit Core...? What will...?"

He Lin took a moment to gather his dwindling strength, resulting in a couple of blood filled coughs, as he began to explain. "My Core... not only will it... enhance your lifespan by... 50,000 years... but you will be able to... bestow upon others... your ailment resistances... through pellets of blood... though it will be of one element alone... As for other powers... you will be able... to understand the ways of every element... out there... the easiest being the... ones you have.. an affinity for... I sense you have... three such affinities... on your person... My parents once told me... that our Royal Nature Spirit Core... is very special. They called it a... Miracle Seed. One day, I hope that... big brother Nico will gain... a miraculous wonderful power..."

All that sounded good, grand even, to a normal person but Nico could only feel an uncomfortable weight on his chest when looking at this Core. He felt like he shouldn't have something so wonderous and beautiful, and when he made to say these complaints the Nature Spirit Core floated into his chest, gently beginning to merge with it. 'What?! No! Biko, is it...?!'

 **'It seems to be resonating with you... almost like the core itself shares the beliefs that its original user has in us...'**

Biko's words confirmed it in his mind, and it made him feel all the more horrible, yet with an additional feeling of warmth which blossomed within his essence. The fact that this child thought of him this way, even though he had every right to hate him for bringing disaster upon his people, befuddles his mind beyond comprehension... yet he slowly, slowly began to understand just how 'good' these Nature Elves really were from all of this. As he thought this, the emerald brilliance touched upon Nico's heart source, including the DPU Core floating within it, whereupon it rapidly started to stretch out and encompass his entire body. In a short moment, wave upon wave of incredibly pure life force started to pulsate through every part of his body like tidal waves.

He Lin, as weak as he had been reduced to thanks to his own actions, smiled gently as he sensed this process occurring. "Big Brother... I was right... to give it to you. If... you really can't... do the second thing... then please... let me ask you this instead..." He whispered weakly, raising himself upwards so he could whisper something into his ear. To an outsider's perspective, what He Lin spoke couldn't be heard except only between him and Nico, but upon hearing his words, the redhead Spec Ops Agent's eyes widened into dots, his jaw dropping as he looked back at his dying companion who lay back down on the ground, unable to hold himself up any longer.

"Y-You... He Lin..."

A pale white hand slowly started to fall. As he felt Nico's life force continuing to change, He Lin's little face displayed a gentle smile. His eyes now started to slowly close... "Father… Mother… He Lin can finally… see you again…" His voice slowly trailed off as his last breath disappeared along with the gentle but seemingly cruel breeze that passed over them...

Thud—

The weight on the redhead's arms immediately grew light. A flash of emerald light emanated from He Lin who was in Nico's embrace, and from his chest came what looked like a floating green star, radiating natural energy by the dozens. Like a spritely snowflake, it flew toward the ground where the Nature Elves were buried. Immediately, blades of jade green grass started to sprout from the soil, swiftly growing and releasing a dull yet brilliant green light. The entire area was then shortly covered in a patch of beautiful green, while hundreds of flowers budded and opened at the same time, filling the entire place where the Nature Elves laid in their final rest.

Perhaps… this was He Lin's final gift of protection to his people.

For, in his eyes, failing to protect them even in their last moments...


	189. Chapter 158 - Rage and Resolve

**Chapter 158 - Rage and Resolve**

 **(Play Drakenguard 2 OST - Growing Wings)**

Lost.

Loneliness.

Despair.

Coldness.

Nico felt all of these emotions and more, in great quantity as he just kneeled there in the middle of a grave filled with a species who bore a cruel, unjust fate. He could feel the winds blowing in sorrow of their passing, of the injustice which had befallen him. The place hardly had any of its beautiful luster anymore, not in his eyes anyways. His hands, frozen in place where they had once held He Lin's corpse after it had eventually disappeared thanks to the Spell he had cast wearing off. His eyes looked blank, like two dark voids as he stared at seemingly nothing, though if anyone were to ask him, Nico would not have answered the question of what he had REALLY saw for all this time.

After all, all he saw were phantom images, hallucinations of the Village as when he had seen it the first time. He hallucinated the Elves going about their merry lives, happy and content with their lifestyle even if it had been one brought about by a cruel fate. A fate of being powerless, unable to stand up to their oppressors and thus being forced to hide. He hallucinated the areas where he met various members of their race, hearing phantom echoes of their laughter and their cheery smiles. He saw the children playing with each other, laughing happily under the watchful eyes of their loving parents. Of teenage girls simply gossiping and giggling, making jewellery out of the wilderness for their friends. Possibly even love interests, if they had them.

Those hallucinations served to bring back the feelings that Nico had experienced with those Nature Elves, of all the mix between joy and confusion, delight yet bafflement, and tranquillity mixed with anxiety. Oh, how he remembered just being cautious around them at first, of how he saw them as potential threats in the beginning. Threats which hadn't ben his priority to kill since he had decided thanks to Biko to get information out of them first. It had been why he had come here after all, aside from bringing He Lin back to his home after almost eating him. A harrowing experience which Nico would not be forgetting easily. But, after that talk with Qing Ye, he couldn't help but become more confused, lost ad unsure what to do all the while experiencing the ways that the Nature Elves lived. He got exposed to their happiness, their purity... something which they could not have hid one bit if they tried. They had been so unlike what he had known that Nico didn't know how to properly act around them. If this had been any other Spec Ops, they would have had no qualms with burning this place themselves.

Then, the phantom imagery shifted. The phantom trees and houses became massive of fire, burning with the cruel, maniacal laughter of the Mercenaries which had came. Mercenaries whom Nico could have stopped if he had known they would come. The once happy faces the Nature Elves had turned into ones of fear, despair, rage and resentment as they struggled to defend themselves against an impossible opponent. He saw the images fall, with the Mercenaries slaughtering the males with ruthless, brutal efficiency, their corpses desecrated without care by their wretched killers, unable to protect their homes thus dying without being able to rest in piece. Things only got worse from there, as the females were treated as nothing more than perverted playthings, tools to satisfy their carnal desires. He could hear their shrieks and cries of pain, mixed with some moaning, as they were deflowered and killed without any kind of mercy.

And He Lin had called him a SAVIOR... no, Nico felt like that word would hardly be fit to describe him, after what he had done. He could only despise that name all the more.

All in all, Nico could only see this vision through his own mind, repeating itself over and over as if to constantly hammer home the cruelty and injustice which had happened here.

Injustice he could have prevented...

But he hadn't.

After what had felt like an eternity, Nico slowly looked down, noticing for the first time that He Lin's body no longer rested on his lap. His hands simply remained where they had been when He Lin HAD been there, almost trying to reach out to something which was no longer there. As such, when Nico finally saw the reality that he had gone, his hands fell onto his lap, almost like a lover when she gave up on their significant other coming back. Looking down at his lap, Nico remembered something He Lin had told him... something about his last request to him regarding his body.

To eat him.

He Lin had OFFERED his body to Nico, to let him eat his corpse after he had passed on. Just… as he thought about it, when the hell did anyone just, offer their body to another like that? Nico tried to think of one such instance, but he could hardly come up with one. This might be one of the first ever times someone actually WILLINGLY offered to be eaten by a Ghoul, to said Ghoul. Blood was literally like the very 'essence' of life itself, the vehicle which carried the very souls of the bodies they inhabited for a set number of years. To take the blood of another, well, some say it was not unlike taking another soul into themselves. That was why that, according to some cultures, it was accepted that there was a HUGE difference between OFFERING one's own blood to just TAKING it by force. Nico himself had taken countless lives, he had devoured so many in his existence, both human and non-human alike. Because of this, Nico had found himself used to the idea of taking their flesh for his own nourishment. Never, not even in his wildest dreams, had he thought that he'd encounter someone who would willing offer their bodies to him like He Lin had… it just didn't happen, it was against the very laws that he understood. Though, considering his past few experiences, perhaps not having any expectations at all would help him stop being surprised by all of this…

As such, those thoughts served to finally snap him out of his stupor, breaking the hallucination and allow his fists to be clenched together. He clenched them tight, hearing the sound of the leather when it encountered such a force grinding on it, but Nico paid it no heed. 'Sorry He Lin... but I cannot comply with that request of yours...' the teen thought to himself. Not only because the corpse was no longer there to be eaten, and if any Ghoul stumbled across it, he'd rip that Ghoul to pieces before they could even TRY to devour He Lin like that. But also because, well, it wouldn't sit right with him, eating the corpse of a dead child. For once, his species didn't matter to him anymore, all Nico could see was a young boy whenever he imagined He Lin's corpse.

Just the THOUGHT of someone devouring He Lin like that, after his final moments, sent numerous waves of hatred and malicious wrath through his system. He was a demon, and also a Ghoul, but Nico would be damned if he allowed himself to devour the corpse of a child. Even more so if he knew that child, it just didn't agree with him or his own pride, and he'd feel like an absolute shithead for the rest of his life if he had. Not only that, but if he did, then he'd be no better than the many assholes whom he had put down, a lot of them being Cannibals. Some of them had even been Ghouls who targeted young kids specifically, which had earned them much more of Nico's Ire. As a result, the redhead took GREAT pleasure in ripping them to shreds, so he felt like he'd be contradicting himself should he have devoured He Lin's corpse like that. Instead, he decided to bury him with his people, allowing his body to return to the earth. If he could, Nico would have took out the Nature Spirit Core from his body as well, but at that point it had already merged with him, so that had been impossible.

Was this... was this what HE had been talking about back then?

Nico wasn't sure anymore, hell he didn't even know what to think at this point. This guilt and despair within him felt so suffocating, so consuming that he couldn't think straight. He could feel the presence of the Nature Spirit Core within him, so he knew that it had worked. Slowly raising a hand, Nico gently touched his chest, where his heart would have been and where he could feel the presence of the Core the most. This core... he would forever see it as a reminder, a reminder of what had happened here. Of the tragedy falling onto a race of creatures who didn't deserve it, not one bit. It would also remind him of his failure... and the lesson that he had finally begun to learn: that it wasn't right to kill by one's race, but by their actions.

Slowly standing up, Nico turned on his heel and walked out of the grave site in his eyes, he couldn't stay here any longer, if he did then Nico felt like he would lose his mind to the despair crawling through his system.

 **(OST - END)**

* * *

After finally leaving, did he start looking into what had happened to his body thanks to He Lin's core merging with his own, no matter how he felt about it.

This Royal Nature Spirit Core ad been way more potent than Nico had initially thought, when Qing Ye had told him it would award him additional powers, she had not been kidding. This had been where his senses had told him the resistances to the elements came from, the Royal Nature Spirit Core pretty much inserted the blood of a Nature Elf into him as if it were a Nature Elf itself. This blood merged with his own, which allowed it to spread into his Ghoul side as well. As a result, Nico's body found itself forming an EXTREMELY high resistance to the elements, as well as impervious to all ailments instead of just fire and poison. He could bet that only the purely strongest of elements would stand a chance of injuring him at this point, if he had this when fighting the four beasts then he'd have had a WAY easier time with its toxins. Even so, he could still feel like whatever damage to his lifespan, something which would have happened thanks to that soul poison and soul attack he had somewhat survived, had been healed instantly, his lifespan now filled with 50,000 years worth of vitality.

Though, that had been NOTHING when compared to the benefits given to him by the Nature Spirit Core upon it fully merging with his body. Not only did it indeed ensure all that resistance he had gained became powerful immunity, Nico also found within himself the ability to infuse these immunities into his blood, allowing him to potentially be able to transfer them to other people. Though, he mentally made sure to adhere to the warning He Lin had gave him in that they would only be able to become immune to one element at most, as he didn't feel like learning the consequences of going against this specific rule. Aside from that, he also felt something akin to… well, information, being stored within the back of his mind upon it's merging, information which, from what little he could dig up with his senses, to be regarding the 'elemental affinities' which He Lin had spoke of. According to him, Nico had three different elements he had an affinity for, one of them being fire. Nico didn't know the other two, but he DID have an idea as to what they COULD be…

Still, the circumstances which he got these new upgrades made them feel more bittersweet than anything.

These abilities… they came with the price of stepping over what could be amounted to a literal genocide, so many had to pay the ultimate price for him to even have the opportunity to GAIN these abilities. If the Nature Elves hadn't been in such a situation, then Nico would have never had the chance to gain such potent powers in the first place, hell he doubted that he would have even wanted to when he had learned of their kindness and purity. Traits within them so powerful that they didn't even fear his Ghoul side when they discovered it, in fact they just innocently played with his Rinkaku and even commented positively about his Kakugan. They pretty much had similar reactions to the members of the party Nico had traveled with, bonus points for the Nature Elves there. Still… they pretty much got annihilated, just for these powers by those Mercenaries… just how the hell can anybody call this fair?

That was the thought which floated constantly through his mind whilst Nico trudged through the streets, his hood up to cover his features whilst his coat had been fastened together, resulting in him moving more like a figure used to moving in the shadows, an assassin, through the common populace. It was an early morning at this point, but there were still a few early risers coming about. Honestly, thanks to the merging of the Core, Nico felt like he could pull multiple all-nighters at this point, not to mention that even if he didn't, the redhead doubted that he'd rest easy knowing what had happened to those innocent creatures. People whom had done no wrong, yet got axed off regardless… Was this the only time it had happened? Or had there been other races which had suffered wrongly by their hands during their mentality of 'they're Abnormals, they're the enemy and thus, they deserve to die'. Thinking more about it, Nico became convinced that this may have indeed been the case, and it disgusted him, it made him feel like an utter wretch. How many innocents had he really killed? How many more would have to die? Those questions hit him hard and fast, but never got answered.

"Did you hear, it seems the Abyssal Black Swords recently made a move..."

The sound of a couple Agents talking to each other filled Nico's ears, prompting him to pause mid stride when he heard that it was about the same group of Agents whose members Nico had killed in an act of hatred and wrath not too long ago. Judging from their appearances, Nico suspected these Agents to have been around for quite some times, so they likely had some experience under their belts as well as no small amount of combat prowess to have survived this long. Not to mention that they were sitting in the outside section of a café, whilst Nico stood on the opposite side which had been separated by a fence with a small line of bushes. Enough for him to remain unseen by the two Agents, who would have no clue that Nico was eavesdropping on them. What he heard though, nearly changed things for both sides…

"Yeah, I heard they had eradicated an entire village of Abnormals recently, though they didn't get many spoils…"

"Really? Aw, fuck man. Abnormals usually sell for a lot, especially their materials. We could have used them to further our war efforts."

"Meh, good riddance regardless, I say. It just means they did their jobs and butchered the ruthless bastards like the dogs that they are. They deserve it in my eyes, and I doubt I'm alone in my opinion."

"What were they called? I can't remember, there's just too many of their stench in this world for my taste, they should all just die already…"

"Doesn't matter, they're all dead anyways, no use in questioning things now. Lets just move on and continue ripping those fuckers to shreds on our next mission. Maybe we can have some fun on the side, if you know what I mean."

Both the Agents conversed naturally, completely unaware that they were being eavesdropped on whilst commending the Abyssal Black Swords for their 'latest mission' whilst condemning the Nature Elves. All the while, Nico's features, hidden by the darkness of his hood, became increasingly furious with what he had heard. His teeth gnashed together, his eyes flashing crimson whilst his inner Ghoul screeched and raged. He felt his Demonic Power reacting to his emotions, reflecting his own rage whilst the Red Rage Ring and Green Hatred Ring enhanced those feelings. His hands clutched into fists so tightly that they actually DID bleed whilst Nico wrestled with the urge to go over there and utterly rip those assholes a new one. Mostly due to the fact that, unlike him, they had never seen an Abnormal which didn't deviate from the norm. They didn't have the same experiences he had, nor would they have the same feelings towards this that Nico had. It just wouldn't have been possible unless they witnessed everything themselves, that was what his rationality told him.

Still didn't mean that he liked it, as Nico hurriedly left the area he was in to avoid losing it and attracting unwanted attention.

* * *

By the time that the evening appeared, Nico felt more exhausted in the mind than he had let in a long goddamn time.

The reason? Throughout the entire day, he had wrestled with not only his own complicated thoughts on this current matter, but also had to restrain himself from ripping into people who called the Abyssal Black Swords 'heroes' for 'defeating an Abnormal threat' that supposedly would have been 'too dangerous to do anything else otherwise'. From the Spec Ops Agents, the Guild Agents, adventurers, even the civilians within the whole of Leanbox. In fact, if the other residents of Gamindustri had heard of it, Nico would not have been surprised if they had similar reactions. Either disinterest or a lack of care about what had happened to the Nature Elves. All that bullshit had been fed to him whenever he listened in on the populace, it was almost like they had nothing else to talk about other than those damned Spec Ops Agents. There, that was something he'd never thought he'd say…

It all got worse when he realized that they weren't even wrong to say all these things.

Since, in their eyes, they WERE the heroes.

They WERE the ones who supposedly 'helped' by killing a large amount of Abnormals.

They DIDN'T get much out of it, which simply raised their reputation a little in the eyes of the public.

Instead of being condemned for causing the genocide of innocents, they were being PRAISED for it.

Through it all, he couldn't have reacted to them if he tried. Nico could hardly contain his disdain and loathing for those damned Mercenaries now… along with the majority of the civilian population. His hatred, his wrath and desire for retribution. Yet, to be unable to VOICE these feelings to anyone, resulted in his frustration being taken out on himself, something he honestly found was quite the common occurrence since he had begun his life as a Spec Ops Agent... though, as he thought about it, he wondered if it had taken place even before then? Nevertheless, the fact that this was the reality that he had found himself witnessing, the fact that he now had to open his eyes to the truth that people have been showing him, it... it really put things into perspective. It almost made him lose himself to his inner turmoil, which wouldn't have been good cause at that point, combined with all the negative emotions Nico had been feeling both around him as well as within his soul... it had caused him to quickly leave the Capital lest he explode and destroy the whole damn place. It had been WELL within his power to do so, and it had been OH so tempting to just 'let go' like how he had so desperately WANTED to...

But, Nico didn't, he didn't want to kill off the entire capital for it would negatively impact Leanbox's CPU, Vert, not to mention that he detected her presence in the Capital, so if he DID destroy it, he'd likely have destroyed her as well...

Not something which he would have allowed, either.

As a result...

* * *

The current Nico right now, simply sat on top of a tall peak on MS Mountain, far, far from Leanbox's capital. The peak had overlooked a vast space below, easily hundreds of meters as far as the eye could see. Because the day had been slowly turned to night, the male could see the sun setting in the distance, and when he did... Nico couldn't help but feel like the darkness of the night had perfectly symbolized with his current feelings. Thanks to his choice of location however, Nico knew that there would be a sizable monster presence at MS Mountain. Any Monster which had fled Halo Mountain when shit went down would have come here, mingling and mixing together with the monsters here. With his current mood, though, he constantly radiated a powerful, DEADLY demonic aura, coupled with the fact that his Ghoulish RC Cells had begun circulating through him meant that NOTHING would be coming within a hundred foot radius of his position. Thus, he would be free to do whatever he wished... which right now, was to watch the sunset and try to calm down...

Which was failing epically, as he clutched his teeth and slammed his fist into the peak beside him. Almost breaking it had he not mitigated his strength at the last second. "Damnit!" Nico shouted out into the heavens, pretty much scaring any beast below his level of power away from his position... if there were any, though. "Shit, shit, shit! Fucking hell!" The teen ranted on and on to himself, with nobody being the wiser as his pent up emotions exploded within his chest, causing them to erupt out of him followed with waves upon waves of demonic power. Thinking back on it, this situation with the Nature Elves reminded him of the water trial, how he had been so quick to judge the Fishmen as enemies only to be rebuked by that guy. The look of rage on his face back then... Nico felt like he himself was mirroring that guy's expression right now. The Abyssal Black Swords were what he had been, and now he found himself in that guy's shoes back in the water trial. Comparing the two incidents, Nico reflected on his actions during that trial (as well as everything else regarding Abnormals), and growled in self-loathing.

"Why?! Why the fuck?! Shit, Goddamnit, those fuckers just HAVE to be praised as heroes, don't they?! Hah, don't make me laugh, they're nothing but scumbags who mass exterminated a race who did nothing wrong! Fuck, just hearing their names makes me want to vomit!" Nico raged, his waves of demonic power increasing in quantity and quality over time. "Why?! Why did it have to be that way?! Why the fuck did those people have to die like that?! Won't anyone do anything about this?!"

 **'Nico... you already know the answer to that question... and all the others.'**

'Biko...'

 **'It is unfortunate, but this is the way of the world. You have said it many times yourself, the strong survive and the weak die. That is the way this world works, and yet whilst you have seen many harsh examples of this truth... this particular incident hit you the hardest due to how it was so closely connected to you. You couldn't help but see yourself and your comrades within them, thus you grew fond of them despite knowing that they could die very easily. As a result, you are going through this internal turmoil because of your quick connection to them. Power is great, it is capable of ensuring one's safety, but unfortunately people also rely on their connections to survive. It is an underhanded, dirty method which keeps the user's hands clean whilst others do all the legwork, but it is another form of skill nonetheless. Odds are, those connections were used to bring about the Nature Elves destruction, and by who I think you know...'**

Biko's voice trailed off at the end, but he didn't need to say any more, for Nico had already figure out who the grand mastermind behind this plot had been. His eyes narrowed intensely as Nico gritted his teeth and clutched his fists over his lap. 'Yeah... There are several factors, but I believe that someone connected to Count Mott is the cause of this. For one, the Abyssal Black Swords are sponsored by that guy, records in the Spec Ops Archives show this alongside some personal dealings between the two. It can be safe to assume that those two are close associates of each other, as they hardly deal with other Nobles nearly as much as that Count. Not only that, but they would have gotten the information from the only servant of his who had been at the Auction where I had found He Lin, and that HAD to be Gelmudo. That implies that somehow, that man followed me and He Lin when I rode us back to his village, but how that could have been remains a mystery. Not even Urthemiel had noticed him, which speaks volumes about his ability to hide himself.' At that point, a bittersweet chuckle escaped his lips, his eyes dancing with mirthless amusement as he thought of something. 'Heh, its kind of fitting, isn't it? Count Mott's quite stealthy in the political world, manipulative too, so his servants would obviously have those traits too...'

 **'Indeed... and because of his actions, not only are the Nature Elves gone, but because of their natures the Abyssal Black Swords which are full of bastards who deserve to die, they are being hailed as heroes for exterminating a great threat. The populace has no care for those they consider monsters... something you yourself should know all too well, Nico. Its why your Ghoul side has become such a classified secret that the Higher ups guard so zealously. What we've seen right now... it is nothing more than another example of how utterly disgusting, ugly and wretched this world called Gamindustri truly is.'**

Yeah, wasn't that the truth? Nico understood this truth, or rather, he had thought he did before. He had seen a LOT of fucked up shit in his life, so much so that he had thought he'd gotten used to how utterly sick and twisted the human heart could be. Murderers? Psychopaths? Deranged lunatics? Nico had seen pretty much every crime imaginable, not to mention no small amount of unspeakable horrors committed by humanity, so him having this thought process couldn't be considered arrogance. However, this incident? It had went and proven him wrong yet again. It showed him how there were practically zero lengths that humans weren't willing to go to eradicate what they perceive as 'evil' as long as it existed.

Yet... even so... He still couldn't help but feel like something had to be done. Something had to be done against those damned Mercenaries, and it had to be done as SOON as possible. Thinking about how they were reaping their so-called 'glory' for 'killing a bunch of dangerous animals' made Nico feel sick and furious at the same time. They didn't deserve such praise, they didn't deserve to be recognized as damned HEROES! No, not in his eyes! They slaughtered innocents who hadn't done anything wrong, they had ruthlessly butchered, raped and caused an entire species to commit suicide! They freaking FORCED a young CHILD to die in order to be with his people! Yeah, something had to be done, but what?! What could be done in order to fix this?! Nobody would believe him if he spread the word about the Nature Elves not being like other Abnormals, their expectations had been too solid. Not to mention that he didn't believe in any of those people anyways, if they could have the audacity to ignore what those Mercenaries have done just because they had done some 'heroic' deed, then they weren't worth Nico's time. But still, something had to be done, but what?

'OH, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT, KING!'

All of a sudden, Nico's thoughts halted as he gasped, all the while his consciousness got pulled inside himself, resulting in his vision growing black...

* * *

Blinking his eyes open, Nico found himself once again within his Inner World, standing in the middle of the expansive desert with next to nothing in sight. However, There was something different about it this time, something Nico clearly saw when he looked around. The whole landscape looked off, with chaotic storms covering the skies above. Thunder and Lightning danced through them like thousands of soldiers racing into battle, with the clouds making up these storms mimicking what he had seen during his time in the Khornate Demon World of Bulwark. It was almost like an exact replica, something which he honestly felt kind of fit his current emotional state right now. Not only that though, but there were countless Tornados, Cyclones, and other chaotic natural disasters scattered throughout the desert, with thousands of furious roars filling the air all around him.

"This is..."

"YA FINALLY HERE, YA IDIOT KING!"

Turning to the source of the voice, Nico saw to his surprise, his own Ghoul Persona standing before him... alongside Biko as well as the childish version of himself. They stood there, together, and were giving him looks, looks as if they were expecting something from the redhead, although he didn't exactly know what that something would be. Well, it felt more like Biko and his child self were giving those looks, it was his Ghoul Persona which looked at him like he was one big idiot, though then again what's new with that front? Though, there was no Okada in sight, probably doing his own thing or watching these proceedings with a bit of popcorn. Either that, or flirting with Erebus, whose to say? "You three...!"

"YOU REALLY ARE AN IDIOT KING, SO I'M GOING TO BE NICE AND SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU: SO WHAT IF THE NATURE ELVES HAVE BEEN AXED OFF, WHO CARES? ITS OT LIKE ITS THE FIRST TIME PEOPLE YOU'VE GROWN FOND OF HAVE BIT THE DUST EARLY IT HAPPENS ALL THE DAMN TIME! HELL, THE CREDIT OF SUCH THINGS WOULDN'T GO TO YOU, BUT T SOMEONE ELSE, NOT LIKE THAT'S NEW EITHER, IT HAS HAPPENED SO OFTEN THAT YOU'RE USED TO IT ALREADY, WHY CHANEGE NOW? WHO CARES, YOU SHOULD BE USED TO IT BY NOW, THOSE NATURE ELVES WERE WEAK ANYWAYS, YOU SAID SO YOURSELF, SO WHATS ALL THIS FUSS ABOUT REALLY? IT DOESN'T TAKE A GENIUS TO SEE YOU'RE OVERTHINKING THINGS WHEN THE RESPONSE TO THIS IS FUCKING SIMPLE! JUST DO WHAT YOU DO BEST, YA GODDAMN WIMP!"

Hearing his Ghoul Persona say those words ignited an additional fury inside Nico's heart, a fury born from outrage more than just long-term rage like he had felt before. He simply couldn't believe the audacity that this version of him had, saying all that shit. How dare he! This asshole sure as hell had a lot of gall to do that, but as Nico made to say something back to his Ghoul Persona... something about his words suddenly pulsed inside his mind, giving him pause.

All of a sudden, the male detected something amiss here, something about what the Ghoul Persona he had said bothered the redhead, and not in any small quantities either. 'Wait a minute... there's a few things off there: one, why the hell did he just refer to them as Nature Elves, their real names? From my past experiences, he never does that to anyone else, not my comrades, not even my mom. If anything, he merely refers to people aside from myself using degrading nouns like weaklings or cockroaches. There's been no small amount of profanity being thrown at those people too, by this guy's hand... Second, it almost feels like he wants me to do something...' After a moment of thinking, just as he felt his brain about to collapse from the confusion...

...

...

...

...

… SNAP!

...Oh.

Oh!

OH!

All of a sudden, Nico found something clicking in his mind, like a string which had been binding him had been sliced apart allowing him to think on a whole NEW thought process. That thought process, allowed Nico to reach a whole NEW conclusion, one in which he couldn't help but smirk a little towards his Ghoul Persona. "Ahhhh, I see... so, you really DO have a heart under all that madness, eh?" He responded, a teasing glint in his eyes.

Something which caused his Ghoul Persona to glare at him.

"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU USELESS KING?!"

"Its honestly quite intriguing. The fact that we encountered people who accepted the fact that we were part of the existence known as a One-Eyed Ghoul, not even caring about the possibility of being devoured. They merely asked us about it, talked to us, and actually complimented it a few times, which was rare enough for you to take noticed. Enough for you to stop degrading them with those alternative names and actually SPEAK their racial name instead." Nico replied, his smirk slowly widening bit by bit with every word he had said. "Why, I bet that you can remember the faces of each Nature Elf by name now, can't you? Looks like I wasn't the ONLY one who was affected by their purity."

Nico's words serve to put the Ghoulish Personification to silence, as if he refused to answer in favour of just glaring heatedly towards him. Nico however, noticed that there was a lack of edge to that glare though, especially when compared to their previous talks, something which Biko (whom had remained silent through all of this) also noticed. For a moment, the white version of him began to tremble, seemingly about to explode...

After over what felt like 50 hours worth of profanity (which also involved confirming Nico and Biko's hunches) later...

A sigh escaped the redheads' lips whilst he crossed his arms beneath his chest. "But anyways, in all seriousness, what you say isn't exactly false. If anything, its pretty much the truth in its bluntest form. This is simply one of those times when the weak were dominated by the strong and made their bitches, something which we've all seen many times before. Therefore, we shouldn't be so worked up about it..." he began, keeping his cool and his tone level, until the end when he trailed off. This lasted for... about approximately 4 seconds, before everything began to crack. Before the other Personas knew it, his cool and collected demeanour shattered like glass, exposing the infernal rage burning within as he opened his eyes, his anger-fuelled emotions shining forth from within. "But still, it doesn't change the way I freaking feel about it! Those assholes are NOT going to get away with this! Nuh uh! No way!" he yelled, shaking his head furiously.

"UGH, GODDAMNIT, ALRIGHT FINE I'LL FUCKING SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU!"

At hearing that, the fuse within the Ghoul Persona exploded, causing him to yell that outburst out in a fit of frustration, catching both Nico AND Biko off guard.

"YOU AND I BOTH KNOW NOBODY'S GONNA GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY! THEY'RE JUST TOO STUPID TO REALIZE THAT THEY'RE BEING PLAYED BY THOSE PANSIES WITHIN THAT STUPID MERC GROUP! THE GUYS HAVE THEIR PENISES UNDER HOSTAGE, AND THE GIRLS WITH THEIR VAGINAS! OUR OPINION WILL NOT BE HEARD BY THOSE FUCKERS, YOU ALREADY KNOW THE EFFING REASON WHY! IN THAT CASE, THERE'S ONLY ONE COURSE OF ACTION WE SHOULD TAKE! YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, SO STOP DILLYDALLYING, MAN UP AND FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY! OTHERWISE I'LL POUND IT INTO YOUR THICK-AS-HELL SKULL UNTIL THAT NOGGIN O'YOURS FINALLY FIGURES IT OUT!"

Hearing those words ringing though the atmosphere, Nico found himself dumbfounded, creating a tense silence in the area. For a moment, Nico remained blank, unresponsive as he tried to think of what his Ghoul Persona was trying to say exactly. Its not like he was being very direct about it, preferring that Nico figure it out himself. Plus, like he had once said, this guy was the manifestation of his instincts, so thinking logically wasn't really his forte. That would be more on his and Biko's specialty, although right now the male wondered about that claim as he struggled to figure out the meaning to his words.

...

...

...

...

…

…

Wait, instinct? All of a sudden, a sense of curiosity overcame him as, once again, a new thought process happened in his mind. His Ghoul Persona came from his instincts, and his instincts came from countless battles, hatred, wrath and other negative emotions. They told him to kill, butcher, maim and slaughter everything that threatened him or his comrades. Thinking along those lines, he mentally placed himself in his Ghoul Persona's shoes, looking at the recent events from his own perspective... and then it happened.

An answer dawned on him, causing Nico to go wide-eyed from the revelation, whilst his mouth opened without his consent. Slowly, his mouth began to move as the words got uttered from within, almost like the faintest of whispers. All the while, his eyes looked like the sunrise was beginning to happen within them as alook of realization dawned on him. "... You mean, me...?"

Did this guy mean what Nico thought he meant?

That he should...

"AHHHHHHH, FINA-FUCKING-LY! NOW THE KING GETS IT! YES, YES-YES-YES, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! WAS ABOUT TO BUST A MIGRAINE OVER HERE TRYING TO GET YOUR USELESS ASS INTO GEAR, GLAD WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE ALREADY! YES, THAT'S THE THING I WAS TELLING YOU: GO DEAL WITH THOSE FUCKERS YOURSELF! IF NOBODY ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT DUE TO BING TOO WIMPY, THEN WHY DON'T YOU DAMNED DO IT?! YOU HAVE THE MEANS, YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE THANKS TO THOSE SHIT HEADS YOU ATE, YOU HAVE THE POWERS TO DO SO, WHAT'S STOPPING YOU? OH THAT'S RIGHT, YOUR OWN PANSINESS!"

The moment that Nico showed that he was finally beginning to understand where this was going, his Ghoul Persona looked like he had been about to bust a nut from the relief and joy. He even went on a tangent, erupting into a mass of words which flew out of his mouth alongside some bits of saliva, yet those words resonated deeply within the young redhead. The more he thought about it, the more Nico began to realize the truth behind those words, if there really was nobody that would stand up to this injustice, and there surely wasn't, then why not do it himself? He had the knowledge from those memories recorded into his mind, so he could just dig up the information and find out where their camps were, so there wasn't anything to really stop him. Heck, he didn't even have to worry about his superiors anymore, not with how they didn't have a hold over him anymore (not like they even knew that just yet), so in essence... he had found himself in a position he had NEVER expected to find himself in a million years:

Free, unrestrained, and ready to WRECK UTTER HAVOC.

'Yes... yes, this would be excellent...' Nico thought to himself, this idea bringing up a whole new set of thoughts into his mind. Rebellious thoughts, which did not stop even if he wanted them to. 'Since nobody's willing to put down the 'real' assholes in this situation, I wouldn't mind doing it myself. Hell, if I'm completely honest, all that politics crap isn't my style anyways. There's no way that I'd ever be a capable politician, but there's no need for me to. All I have to do in this world, is... to kill.' the teen realized, raising a hand to his chest and pressing it down where the spot he could feel the essence of the Nature Spirit Core was located. Memories of his time with He Lin and the Nature Elves, as well as what he had learned in the Trials, resurfaced in his memory, only adding fuel to the fire.

Then, at that moment, Nico recalled the words He Lin had whispered for his alternative wish for him should he decide not to eat his corpse:

Make them pay.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what the young dead child had meant when he'd requested that, any who didn't figure it out would be labelled as idiots compared to the rest of them. He Lin had been a good kid, a kind and honest kid with a nice heart. However, back then when he had been at death's door, Nico couldn't even begin to imagine what he must have been feeling deep inside. Pain, regret, anger and frustration hardly did those feelings justice to him, since he would never get the chance to avenge his people, a right which definitely belonged to him. Heck, if he were alive Nico would have GLADLY helped him out there, but instead he hadn't been able to do so due to lacking the strength to achieve said goal. So, he had done the next best thing: empower the one who had the power to do so, and then make the request...

Nico wouldn't lie, when he had heard those words, he swore he had started hallucinating as He Lin's visage in his mind turned into something else, something he didn't quite recognize completely, but he did notice a few things: a humanoid shape lying on some metal floor, blood everywhere, staining some sort of hair in its taint, and lastly a feeling of both helplessness and fury mixed together with sorrow, anguish and frustration... just like how he had felt at the moment.

At that point, something within Nico SNAPPED.

His eyes then sharpened, a spark of flame igniting within Nico's light blue orbs. 'But, this time... I'll do it not because I'm told to, but because I WANT to. I want to kill their entire mercenary corp, I WANT to utterly OBLITERATE them from existence. This is.. For the first time in years... I get to choose, and goddamn it am I going to DO it! I'll not let them cut my resolve, I'll protect who I want to protect, I'll kill any who I want to kill, i'll be my OWN master for goddamn once! If they are near any Demon-controlled areas, I'll simply destroy them too. I honestly don't give a crap about the political situations in Nations, all I care about are myself and my comrades... everything else is secondary to me.'

Yes... that was the way he wanted to live from now on.

THIS would be how he would define his future choices.

This would be how he would hold his head up high and live without regrets.

If Nico wanted to do something, then he'd damn well do it, to hell with what any of those assholes thought about him. Its not like everyone will suddenly start liking him, so why should he cater to their whims? They try to harm his precious comrades, or goddess forbid his mom, then the edges of his blades will be the LEAST of their worries. He'll put in 110% into everything he wanted to do, to hell with what people thought of him! Yvoire? Pft, didn't matter to him anymore, he didn't need to justify himself to that man. He already had been developing plans for him, and if he refused to listen again, then tough Nico would just have to go about it his own way.

The fact of the matter was, that up till this point Nico had been living according to the whims of others. He had been the dog of the higher ups in each nation for something which had been out of his control for a long time, years even. But, what kind of life was that? No way was it one worth living, that was for certain in his mind. If one treated him with respect, then he'd do the same, someone badmouth him, then he'd tear them a new one. And if someone, ANYONE, dared to mess with those whom he considered comrades... then nobody would EVER find their bodies. Yes, these would be his principles, his OWN ones. They would be his ways of living and his PRIDE.

Everyone would die sometime. but one's own beliefs were the essence of immortality! As long one adhered to their beliefs, then they would never truly die! They'd exist on for eternity!

Thoughts like those filled his mind, and he felt something inside of him begin to change... to shift, reform and harden. He felt like the chains which had bound him to those who had oppressed him finally get severed... permanently this time. The beast in him? It roared and howled with victorious joy, shooting up from its former prison and through his very soul... and Nico gladly let it.

One could start calling him an edge lord right now, cause his thought process DEFINITELY began to align in that direction... well, if anyone brought it up he'd just have to own it.

Looking back to his Ghoul Persona, Nico's hardened gaze focused on him resulting in a surprised look from the white copy. "Alright then... looks like NICO has some killing to do." he stated, his lips twisting upwards into a smirk. A smirk which would NOT be unbefitting of a demon, were it not for the fact that he even added a monstrous quality to it, resulting in an expression which just SCREAMED sinister, promising no small amounts of pain in the future.

Though, if he were honest, his Ghoul Persona couldn't be any happier as he perfectly mimicked that expression.

"HEHEHEHEHEHE... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! FINALLY, YA GET IT, KING! FINALLY, YA LOOK LIKE SOMEONE WORTHY TO SIT ON THE THRONE, LIKE SOMEONE WORTHY TO BE THE PET HORSE TO! SEE, ITS NOT THAT HARD, ALL YA HAVE TO DO IS USE THAT NOGGIN O'YOURS AND EVERYTHING BECAME CLEAR!"

"Oh, there's still more that we have to do, first..." Nico continued, causing his various personas to blink at him owlishly. Momentarily, they became confused, wondering what it was that Nico was getting act. Though, they soon began to understand when Nico pointed towards them individually. "Demon..." he began when pointing to Biko, then shifting his finger over to his Ghoul Persona. "Monster..." he continued, before finally settling onto the childish him (who had been silent during this whole process) "and whatever the hell I was before... All of these titles people have used on me, labelling me from them. I've been called a Demon, a Monster, a freak take your pick and I'll have been called it at SOME point in my life... well then, from now on... I don't give a damn anymore. Let them call me whatever they please, I only care for one fact: Monster, Demon, all of them are simply me, nothing else. I am Nico, that fact will NEVER change. Do you three get what I'm saying?"

At this point, a look of shock, surprise and bewilderment formed on the child him's face, before it got replaced by the look of unbridled excitement. "Are you saying that... you accept us?" he questioned hopefully.

Nico, at this point, grinned at them, his eyes shining with positive emotion for the first time all day. "Heh, its much more than acceptance. I still don't have a damn clue about who I am at this point, but if I'm frank I don't really consider it a big deal. If I recall it, then that's that, I'll face whatever my 'true self' is. Judging by what we've gone through so far, its only a mater of time at this stage till it all comes back to me anyways, so its not like I need to rush or anything." he replied, before towards them. Eagerness had wrote itself onto their faces, only two of them expressing it more than the other though, as they walked towards him too.

This was it, a major turning point for him. Nico understood it best of all, no matter how deep one could see into his psyche, nothing would match his level of understanding. At east in this topic anyways. Nobody better than him understood that his mind, had been fractured, weakened and damaged through countless years thanks to the traumatic situations he had born with. Nobody would have helped him due to the higher ups efforts, and nobody would have sympathised due to their prejudice against Monsters. As a result, his trauma caused him to think that his powers weren't part of him, that they were separate beings with their own personalities and traits. That thinking wasn't right, but at the time it was the only way that his mind could cope with his situation without shattering into a mess of insanity. It had just been him and his Ghoul side at first, but now that he was also a Demon instead of a human, he had that to contend with. Because of this lack of acceptance, he didn't feel as connected to them as he should have, which caused him problems. Problems which he hadn't even realized since nobody even gave a damn to correct them.

That would have to change. Seeing what happened to the Nature Elves opened his eyes to a whole world of truths, ones which he would no longer deny.

If he wanted to avenge the Nature Elves, then he would have to 'get his shit together'.

"You are going to embrace us? Seems to be quite interesting, Nico. The moment that you do, you will be just as connected to what we represent as we are, and we shall be the same for you. A complete synchronization, as it were. I believe THIS will be solving more than a few problems for us... as well as induce a few side effects."

"WHO CARES, LETS JUST DO THIS SO WE CAN GET TO KILL ALREADY!"

Nico chuckled at the almost childish eagerness his Ghoul Persona had shown to be sporting, all the while from where their hearts were on their chests, what looked like pure white Tendrils erupted, launching themselves towards one another. The moment that they touched each other, it formed a triangle, which pulled the three even closer to one another. "Oh yeah, I also figured out a name for you..."

"HUH?"

"Byakko: combined the 'o' of our last names with 'Byakuya' meaning white night. Kinda fits you, what you being mostly white but with a sclera as black as night,"

"HEH... NOT BAD, AT LEAST IT AIN'T ANY OF THAT 'SHIRO' NONSENSE LIKE FANS OF THAT ORANGE HAIRED KID DID!"

Those were the last words stated by Nico and his Ghoul Persona, now named Byakko, as the four collided with one another...

* * *

Opening his eyes, Nico found himself back in the real world, sitting atop the mountain peak.

The scenery around him had well and truly been taken over by the shadows of night. The skies no longer had any traces of sunlight to them whilst the stars glimmered brightly in the night skies. All around him, traces of carnage could be seen: the ground around him had dozens upon dozens of scorch marks, with some looking like they came from miniature nuke explosions. These scorch marks looked to be companion to large, as in LARGE, amounts of charred grass, which had turned into piles of soot scattered all over the place. A HUGE portion of the Mountain side no longer existed, having nothing but a gigantic hole in it which looked to have been from something of enormous heat. What that was, Nico had a few ideas, since he knew of a FEW things hot enough to melt through an entire mountain side.

Nevertheless, Nico didn't pay much attention to anything revolving his surroundings at this time, as he had much more... important, critical even, matters to attend to.

Closing his eyes, the young redhead got into a meditative stance before looking deep inside himself, checking his body over to see if what he had done back in his Inner World, had worked or not. His answer had been FAR from disappointing, as when he checked his Demonic Energy reserves, Nico felt them respond to his will. He felt them respond MUCH easier than they had before, he didn't even need to think about it or will it. It had been like the chaos within him had finally acknowledged him as its master, not even when he generated his own artificial anger from his various Satanic Treasures did his powered react negatively. It almost felt like there was a guiding hand, pushing his power in the direction he himself wanted to. Nico in his mind, doubted that he'd have any problems with it now or in the future thanks to this.

Then, the redhead shifted his focus to his Ghoul side, in which he found even MORE discoveries. Thanks to... his actions within his Inner World, Nico found that his Ghoul Side seemed to be constantly circulating RC Cells through his body, instead of just keeping them in his Kakuhous like it normally did before. They flowed naturally, like a gentle river, but upon his will, they instantly hardened like teeth, which resulted in Nico feeling the benefits usually associated with his Ghoul side increasing his physical attributes. This likely meant, that now that he'd embraced his Inner Ghoul, his RC Cells would always be circulating through him instead of being just 'contained' within his Kakuhous like they were prisoners in a cell. Thus, his RC Cells would INSTANTLY activate their powers the moment that he willed them to, leading to a quicker formation of his Kagune.

This all confirmed one thing for him: that accepting himself for what he had become, to finally form his own ideals and rules, had been EXACTLY what he'd needed.

Nico did NOT think himself foolish, even with everything that had happened, thus he didn't expect ALL the problems he had with his Ghoul side to be fixed, but whatever problems he encountered with it, Nico would face them head on instead of just denying it like he had been up until now. Seriously, if he didn't have any humanity, then what was the point of him being human? Why restrict himself when it came to being his own master? Sure he can make comrades, sure he CAN be a good person, but if the time came then he would DEFINITELY become the beast that tore apart anything which dared to threaten those he considered close to him. these thoughts filled Nico's mind, making him break out into a large smile, his eyes shimmering with unrepressed joy as he hopped into the air, going to about 300 feet, before shooting down to the ground and landing with the grace of a panther.

'Ahhhh, its so good to feel more 'whole' now...' Nico thought to himself, grinning happily as he stretched his arms leisurely above his head. He practically MOANED when he felt a few 'crack' sounds come from his arms, before he heaved a sigh whilst letting them hang at his sides. 'Now then, since my powers now feel much more connected to me than before, it obviously means that I have indeed accepted them into myself. That'll make things easier for me in the long run, no more fighting myself just to remain 'in check' as people apparently call it...' the redhead thought, frowning before he unleashed a small chuckle.

A chuckle which soon vanished however, when he recalled everything regarding the Nature Elves. 'Now then, since nobody's gonna avenge you guys for the horrible ends you suffered, then I think I'll GLADLY do it for you. Abyssal Black Swords...' The redhead thought, his eyes sharply narrowing like twin blades as they began to glow a sinister red. His body began to radiate Demonic Power whilst heat filled his surroundings, a sign that his DPU Transformation would be happening in the next few seconds. 'If I don't reduce your group to nothing but a single bloody smear, then I'll NEVER rest in peace again! Time for you fuckers to go to hell where you belong!' Nico thought, his lips twisting into a furious scowl.

At once, his surroundings began to change whilst he mentally accessed the power of the DPU which resided within. The entire area around him began to darken, at least in his general vicinity as black flames gradually rose from the ground, resembling the jaws of hell opening up to swallow unlucky souls to be tortured for eternity. This lasted only like a millisecond though, as in an instant they roared to life, wrapping around him like dozens of infernal Tendrils and forming a fiery sphere. The Sphere persisted for a moment,, before it split apart with both halves falling to the ground beside their contents, vanishing soon after and leaving no traces of their existence.

Though, the person they had covered had indeed gone through one HELL of a major transformation.

Instead of Nico's original DPU Form, the redhead looked more like an eldritch knight from hell, arising from within those abyssal depths to claim his victims and drag them kicking and screaming back for eternal torment. His body got covered in a skin tight black latex suit from the neck downwards. His body's Armour had also changed, as his head now got covered by a pure black helmet, with several black horns protruding upwards, 2 larger ones and 2 smaller ones. The Helmet had areas showing his eyes whilst sporting a V shaped jawline, like a spike while two empty sockets showed his crimson DPU Eyes. Aside from the suit, his neck remained bare, whilst his torso got covered in black slim Armour made from multiple layers of plating. The shoulder Armour looked bulkier and bigger, with multiple plates, super sharp edges curved spikes pointing upwards. More lean Armour covered his arms from below the shoulder Armour down to his hands, with larger forearm Amour over said body parts. The legs looked to be covered in this slim Armour as well, ending in sharpened boots which, if they kicked, looked like they could stab someone. Behind him, Crimson Soul still had his Tail, only now it looked more black and skeletal, like an extension of the human spinal column with a sharpened, narrowed blade-like Tip with the Tail's length rivaling his height. As for his back, Crimson Soul had Wings of flame still, but these Wings were made from pure Crimson colored flames, shaped like the wings of a Demon that angled downwards.

Looking down at his new DPU Form which he had gotten thanks to Zelretch's trials, Crimson Soul held his hands and experimentally clenched his fists, unclenching them afterwards. 'Guess that's my new form's transformation Process, instead of a pillar of orangish red flames, I get concealed in a sphere made from my true flames...' The transformed teen thought as he summoned Soul Edge into his hand. Not only that, but Crimson Soul also felt something... else, something odd. There was this strange, yet familiar feeling of foreign weight behind him in places where only ONE type of thing should occupy whenever he released it. Glancing behind him, Crimson Soul witnessed something which would have sent his human form reeling. 'Hmmmm, now THIS is intriguing..'

There, sprouting from his individual bodyparts, were his Bikaku and Rinkaku Kagune, just seemingly frozen in place like they normally would when he didn't have a command for them. Raising a hand to the left side of his head, the young DPU ran his hand over it, feeling the telltale signs of veins to indicate that his Kakugan had activated. Must have meant that his eye now looked like some kind of mix between his DPU eye and his Kakugan. 'Looks like... this is the ultimate result of me properly accepting my Demon and Ghoul sides: they are now capable of being fused together in unison. Looks like my DPU Form's Tail is mixed with my Bikaku, but then again it has similar functions to it so counting it as another Tail wouldn't be too farfetched...'

Memories of what happened with the Nature Elves resurfaced, causing Crimson Soul to shake his head and narrow his mismatched eyes, a deadly, devilish and sinister fire starting to burn within their depths. "Now then... according to the information Biko recorded, the camp for the Abyssal Black Swords will be located deep within Abnormal Territory, figuring that would deter any intruders. Its only been a day, so I doubt they will have done much, this information tells me they will be celebrating their harvest still whilst reaping the benefits of the Nature Elves. Even if its too late to save their remains, vengeance shall descend upon them." he muttered under his breath, flaring his wings as he got into a floating crouch. A low tremor echoed around him, his helmet shielding his eyes in shadows when he doubled over, before with a single flap of his crimson Demon wings, Crimson Soul went FWOOSH! Shooting up into the skies at speeds which broke past mach 3. Just shy of Urthemiel's speed, though he felt like that would change in the future.

Though, one day he hoped to be able to go up to Mach 20 like his Uncle could...

'Just you wait, guys. Those swordaholics are gonna get an unwelcome visitor...'

* * *

With the moon shining in the night sky, the stars glistening as they accompanied it, one would not expect it to be accompanied by the promise of massacre. It certainly wouldn't be what these people at the camp belonging to the Abyssal Black Swords... would have expected.

The entire camp looked to be buzzing with joyous celebration, cheers and howls of delight filling the atmosphere as the residents all stayed within the central area, where there was a massive bonfire filled to the brim with Demonic corpses of a bunch of Northmen who thought it wise to try and raid their camp after they had returned from one of their most glorious conquests. It had been a decent strategy, attack the camp just as its tired, weakened and weary soldiers returned from an epic battle... or so they had thought. Since those measly Abnormals put up such a pitiful resistance against them, not only were the men not that tired at all (most of them seemed to have the 'glow' forming from sexual release...), but they also hungered for a good fight to replace the one they had thought they'd have gotten when ransacking that village.

Surrounding the camp was a fence made out of wooden planks, doused with anti Abnormal perfumes which would keep them away by emitting disgusting pheromones to them, causing them not to try and get near them. Behind the planks were walls of stone, which they had constructed behind them in case someone tried to ram through expecting only minimal resistance. Around the camp's interior, were dozens of tents with their own little decorations, pretty much a standard Camp by Leanboxs' Standards. Currently. most of the Mercenaries were gathered around the centre, laughing uproariously whilst holding tankards filled with various alcoholic beverages. Some would be dancing with their comrades, others would be telling jokes and others would be playing card games. Pretty much a celebratory occasion, if the feast they also had on the side hadn't been from the few intact corpses (their Cores harvested albeit leaving said cores without their complete efficiency) that they had liberated from that Village.

But, that wasn't what would be the focus here...

"Thus, our business venture has been concluded."

In the back of the camp, 3 men were talking to a man with a hood. All of them had been male due to A: their body structure, and B: the sounds of their voices. The three men looked to be sweating bullets, nervously awaiting the hooded stranger's departure so they could rest easy. This stranger of course, they had learned long ago not to mess with him. Last time they had tried, not only did they get their asses handed to them, but a large portion of their group had mysteriously vanished, with signs pointing to an Abnormal attack. Though, each of them had their suspicions about that...

Speaking of whom, the Hooded Stranger clad in a brown cloak with his face shrouded in darkness, looked down at the sack containing the Cores, just below 10 in number. Nobody would be able to tell what expression the Stranger had been making due to the shadows, but if they were to guess then these men would think that the Stranger would have been disappointed by such a small haul. Something which got confirmed a moment later when the Stranger sighed as the sack vanished, most likely into his inventory. "It is a shame, but indeed it has. Disappointing that you only got so few, but that is to be expected. From what you've told me, these beasts seem to have been prepared for their discovery, like having practiced drills for when fires erupt." he mused below his breath, although the men before him could tell how displeased he felt.

"We apologize sir, if we-"

"Don't, what's done is done, and you three did your job. It cannot be helped if those freaks were prepared, Abnormals are named as such for a reason, its been proven countless times over the last 500 years. In any case, here's what I promised." The stranger interrupted, clicking his fingers and having a sack appear in the centre man's hands. That obviously identified him as the leader, if the massive Axe on his back, his various scars and gruff appearance weren't enough of an indicator. Gently, the men pried the sack open and saw no small amounts of Credits stored inside, and for those who were wondering, Credits were shaped like pieces of paper with the four Nations Symbols on them, each one having a shadowy portrait of their CPUs next to them. "You boys should know the process by now: we never met, we know nothing about one another, and don't speak a word of what transpired here. Anyone asks, silence them."

The three men nodded their heads in understanding, having heard this speech before. They would never show their annoyance of having something like this being a chore to them, since this guy wreaked of danger in their senses.

With that done, the man nodded, before he bent his legs and jumped upwards, shooting into the skies and flying off towards some random direction. Only the fact that it was away from the Camp registered in their minds, allowing the three men to exhale in relief. "Thank goddesses he's gone..." The leader muttered under his breath, though his two subordinates had heard him. "That guy always gives me the creeps."

It would not be an understatement to say that, in his eyes, the leader saw that hooded stranger as a threat worse than any kind of Abnormal. Not just due to his mysterious demeanour, something which unnerved him simply due to his Spec Ops lifestyle basically pounding into him the lesson that dealing with the unknown can sometimes be a death sentence. There wasn't much mystery now though, as the man had seen fit to divulge some sensitive information to him behind closed doors, who he had been associated with. As such, knowing who this person was connected to, the Merc leader BURNED it into his brain, in order to not offend this person otherwise... well, a lot of shit would befall his group. Especially with the rumours of strange occurrences happening close to that guy's territory. The other thing which unnerved the Merc Leader was how this stranger with powerful connections, had an inhuman aura around him, similar to an Abnormal but worse... quite much like a Demon now that he thought about it. Spec Ops were better suited to fight such forces since fighting against overwhelming odds was kind of what they did on a daily basis, but it would take more than a few of them to take down Demons. Their stronger members likely wouldn't have as much trouble, but they had been stretched thin on different fronts, making relying on them kind of fruitless.

Thus, whenever this stranger contacted him, the Merc Leader would NEVER let his true self show in favour of wanting to stay alive. If his men acted up however, he'd just say that he didn't know them, make up some false accusation which would result in that guy's death at the stranger's hands.

He'd done it more than a dozen times now, and it worked out so far.

"Well, not to worry boss Maximillion, now that 'nobody' is here, we can just focus on what we should be doing: getting utterly fucking plastered for a job well done!" One of his subordinates commented, attempting to placate the leader with the upcoming chance to partake in their festivities. "Heck, we may even get lucky at those brothels we visit frequently, I hear some of them want to ride your balls if you know what I'm saying." he added suggestively wiggling his brows at the end there. A couple nods came from his other subordinate, eagerness shining trough the perverse gleams in their eyes.

Their leader, Maximillion as he had been named, turned to them slowly, his earlier worries vanishing into the wind at the prospect of hitting the brothels with his men. Call him whatever one wished, but the chance to frolic around without a care in the world with those sluts was pretty much the best thing ever in his mind. He agreed with a lot of the Nobles in their opinion of the female gender, hell he sometimes fantasised and masturbated to thoughts of pinning the CPU and Oracle beneath him then having a threesome with them. Oh, how delicious that would be, hearing their cries and moans of mind-numbing ecstasy as he boke their wills to resist him, turning them into his loyal sex slaves for the rest of time, then having them 'service' his men when they got too stressed from work. Now THAT felt divine, to him. Thanks to these thoughts, a perverted and sadistic smile formed on his lips. "Yes, you two are right. Once we've had our little victory celebration, we'll go on a brothel spree to fuck bitches and get money! How does that sound, lads?!"

"Whooo hoo! Fucking time, yaaaaaaaay-!"

FWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!

In a single moment... everything ceased to be as it was.

All around them lit in up a sea of black and red, heat surging through the entire camp and pretty much setting everything alight. Tents, walls, stone, the bonfire, everything began to get greedily devoured by the instantaneous surge of infernal heat. The source of this heat came from the very centre of the fire, where the Bonfire had once been as a stream of black fire with a red outline, a crimson red which reminded anyone who could see it (since the heat was pretty much melting them alive in an almost deliberate slow manner) of the colour of blood descended from the skies above. The blackness however, resembled the darkest of nights, and even then it could be considered even darker than that as well.

Any who saw its entry, only had a couple seconds to witness though.

The moment the stream crashed into the centre of the Camp, did a huge TORRENT of similarly coloured flames roar into existence, rising up in a circular motion around the Camp's boarders and shooting up to the heavens in the form of a wavy inferno. 'SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE!' Sounds filled the air thanks to these flames which got mixed in with the startled, agonizing and tortured cries of the Mercenaries caught within the flames. An explosion of heat slammed into him from all directions alongside a powerful pressure, and almost made the leader feel like his eyes were melting inside their sockets, forcing him to cover them with his hands.

Though, Maximillion gritted his teeth to bear the brunt of the heat, whilst his subordinates weren't so lucky. Flames literally layered themselves all over them, causing them to scream out in intense agony as they got burned alive. No mater what, they couldn't do anything to stop these flames from devouring them whole, like they were predators and they their prey. Those who had once been celebrating their recent victory, began to slowly get burned alive by these newly emerged flames, not just his two closest subordinates.

'These Flames...! Shit...If I don't hurry up, my goose is going to be cooked...!' The man thought whilst gritting his teeth as his mind whirled into action, already having decided on a course of action. He wasn't someone who had survived over countless battles against all kinds of evil Abnormals for nothing, as he kicked it into gear before he could get devoured by the flames. With that thought process in mind, the Leader put a hand over his eyes whilst the other lowered to his chest, patting on it and getting surrounded by datastreams. By the time they disintegrated, the man emerged to be covered in large, bulky black armour reminiscent of a humanoid Rhino. A Visor covered his face whilst he held out a hand, summoning from his Inventory his signature weapon: A Halberd with a blade shaped like a V as long as his height of 6 foot 8.

Just at that moment, the flames suddenly up and dissipated, a great wind passing through the area. They didn't leave a single TRACE of their presence, disappearing just as fast as they had appeared to result in the Leader looking around. He tried to see if there were any survivors from this sudden ambush from the flames... only, much to his shock and horror, he found the entire camp to be... none-existent. "Wh-Wha…?" he exclaimed, almost taking a step backwards at the sight. His eyes were shrunken into pupil-sized dots whilst his jaw dropped behind his Armour's visor. His Armour had immense fire resistance, which was what had saved him, but the rest of his forces? Not so lucky, there had been LITERALLY nothing let of them. He could only see a simple charred area which had once been his pride and joy, now reduced to absolute nothingness.

Finally, his eyes laid their gaze upon the source, the ball of flame floating in the centre where the Bonfire had been. Only, he just made it to where he began witnessing the sphere split itself in half, both halves falling to the ground and disintegrating upon contact. This revealed something in which quickly made the Leader's instincts SHRIEK at him to defend himself, resulting in him pulling up his Halberd in a defensive stance. That thing: what he could only describe as a simple black, humanoid... thing, an abomination, a perverse form of life which floated just off the ground as if mocking the ways the Goodesses were meant to move. Way more sinister than any of the Khornate Demons or other Abnormals he had killed in the past. There were very few things in which the Leader could admit to himself that he feared, but the being before him, clad in that abyssal black, wicked-looking Armour whilst holding that huge sword that looked like it could easily cleave an entire fortress in two, could count as one. Just its form sent chills down his spines, not to mention the dark, sinister gaze in its burning red eyes that looked to be about to blow up like nuclear Warheads nearly caused him to wet himself... not like he'll admit that part however.

Just a nanosecond after he raised his Halberd however...

SHATTER!

CLUTCH!

"GAH!"

A sharp gasp escaped his lips when the man felt a large, black armour clad hand shot forth like a blur and grasped onto his throat, mercilessly crushing the metal underneath meant to protect it... just after his Halberd got shattered by a single well-timed swing of that massive sword. His form jolted, dangling helplessly like a fish caught on a hook when the hand lifted him off the ground to the being's eye level. In that moment, the Leader's wide, trembling eyes gazed into the burning crimson orbs staring back at him, and in that moment... the Leader swore he could see every kind of sin he had ever committed, all the murders, all the rapes and every plot he had ever devised, being replayed from an outsiders perspective in those orbs.

The sounds of movement reached his ears, as the Leader barely managed to pull his gaze free from the bewitching glare the being sported, towards the space behind him. The creatures large wings, demonic in their design, flared sideways whilst that infernal Sword constantly had black and red flames swirling around it like a double helix, only intensifying its domineering visage. Slowly, the two floated upwards, as if ascending towards the heavens whilst the Leader tried in vain to regain his breath, the hand clutching his neck not giving any form of leeway. All the while, it allowed the man to briefly look past the Wings, to see the Tail which was sported behind his tormentor.

That just nailed the final nail in the coffin, that this thing could not be anything human.

Finally, the two reached about 100 feet in height, so the being stopped right there. The being then held the Leader closer to him, so their foreheads could be close to touching whilst leering at the Mercenary Leader in his grasp. The Leader tried to kick the creature away from him, not even considering the drop he'd make if he was released, but that only served to make the being swing it's Tail at him... causing his leg to get completely severed from his body. "GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, howling upwards into the heavens watching this scene with their ever-impassive gazes. All the while, the Leader barely managed to gather enough of his strength to speak, and when he did speak it came out in ragged gasps. "Who... the fuck... do you.. think... you are?!" He yelled, glaring with a mix of pain and fear towards the two crimson orbs leering at him. "Don't you think.. that this... will be tolerated... by my... benefactors?! Your home... whatever family... friends, lovers... all of it... will be destroyed... in retaliation... for this!"

 **"Don't CARE."**

For the first time, the being spoke, and when he did, the Leader nearly wet himself from fright... again. The sound of that voice, so dark distorted and sinister, along with sounding like multiple voices speaking at once, gave him no small amount of chills. He could barely keep himself together, focusing on the pain which blazed from his severed leg. **"Do you... KNOW why I did THIS? Do you KNOW... what your CRIME is?"** The being questioned, although the Leader felt way too much pain to respond properly so he just opted for a confused glare.

Something which irritated the being, resulting in the grip on his neck tightening. The man screamed some more, rivalling a shrieking fangirl, when he felt the tip of the creature's Tail touch the socket where his leg had once been, setting it alight with those flames of its to cauterize the wound. The being didn't want them to die just yet, oh no there was WAY too much it wanted to make this scum suffer for. **"YOU... you BELIEVE that YOU are in the RIGHT...? That YOU would remain FREE from your ACTIONS... just because PEOPLE favour** **YOU…?"** The being snarled in the Leader's face, holing its other hand up and igniting a fire over its palm. **"THAT is... the PEAK of ARROGANCE... thus, YOU shall PAY. Pay for the SIN... of causing MASS GENOCIDE... of COMMITING grave INJUSTICE against THOSE who CANNOT fight BACK... those who did NOTHING wrong. The WORLD may call you HERO, but YOU will be nothing but SCUM in my EYES... your actions DOOMED them... THUS, you will NOW... SUFFER!"**

With that said, the Being shot his burning hand over to the man's groin, faster than lightning by the way, and grasped forcefully onto the man's manhood. He gripped it with such force that if he just applied one tiny bit more, his balls would have been crushed to nothingness. Though, the Being saw no need to do THAT though part of him wanted to... that part however remained satisfied with the addition smell of burning balls accompanied by its scorching flames. Alongside the man's screams (the Being having loosened its grip so he could hear them), the searing heat generated by his actions reduced the armour there, as well as the armour coating the Man's waist and remaining leg to nothingness. If he were in his capable mind, the Leader would have realized that this meant the only reason why he had survived the first attack which had pretty much destroyed his entire camp, killed all his men... had simply been the whims of the flames' master.

That would allow him to foresee the even worse fate intended for him.

Leaning forwards, the being allowed a small, sinister and cruel smile to spread across its mouth whilst it whispered into the man's ear directly. **Ever HEARD of the SAYING... an EYE for an EYE...? How about... YOU experience it... WITH your BODY?"** it whispered, its soft voice betraying the cold, devilish malice polluting its tone resulting in no small amounts of chills going up and down the man's spine.

Ever so slowly, the hellish flames consumed the man's manhood, agonizing him whilst reducing him to the mantle of an Eunuch in one of the most torturous ways possible. Drool escaped the corners of his lips while his eyes trembled, his mouth hanging open in an 'O' shape whilst spasms and tremors ransacked his body without remorse. The sounds of fire burning flesh filled the atmosphere, as well as the smells of flesh being charred to a state beyond a crisp... as well as the sorrowful wails of the flesh's owner whilst the cause of this owner's pain only stared on without showing an ounce of the inner delight it felt seeing all this. If anyone asked it, the being would not be able to describe how gleeful the man's screams made it, nope not one bit.

Once the Being felt nothing in his grasp anymore, it retracted its hand, allowing both it and the Man to witness the Being's handiwork. Now, where there had once been one functional reproductive organ, nothing remained, not a tiniest hint of his manhood remained, nothing but a scorch mark which would serve as the flames 'mark', the mark which would signify their abyssmal work. Though, if one were to look at the expression on the Being's face, they would easily see how dissatisfied it seemed to be.

Not enough...

There was not enough suffering from this scumbag amongst the human race.

In its eyes, there had to be more, and it knew JUST how to get that suffering.

Pulling back its hand and dismissing the, the being held that hand between the two of them, before proceeding to crack the index finger with an audible CRACK sound, causing the man to twitch erratically as if his very body recognized that sound to be a sign of future pain to come. From out it's back, came a series of 6 long, black Tentacles, ones which looked large enough to pierce through and fill a grown ass man's abdomen. They looked to be constantly spasming too, like they were always moving to the point where visually perceiving them would be one HELL of a difficult task. These Tentacles, each slithered through the air towards the man's sole remaining leg... and the proceeded to chop it up into tiny pieces like chopping a carrot on a chopping board.

CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP!

Each chop served to increase the pain exploding through its prey's body, his howls of agony filling the atmosphere in great volume. Not only that, but in a desperate struggle to try and break free and clutch his legs in pain, the Leader clenched his teeth and tried to throw a punch at the being's face. His mouth twisted into a large, demented grin when this happened, thinking that this... demon, this freak, abomination, wouldn't be able to defend himself against a surprise attack from its prey. However, that grin soon got wiped off its face when the Being's tail shot upwards, wrapping around the limb and firmly locking it into place. His twisted grin turning into on of shock and horror made the Being grin in a similar manner, in an ironic twist of fate, especially when its Tail abruptly twisted anti-clockwise, breaking the entire arm in the process.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

More screams got released from the man, who tried to clutch his arm but the Tail grasped his sole remaining limb too, holding it to the side whilst each of the Tentacles took their turns whacking away at the limb, with the being's free hand holding into it by the hand to stop it from moving. Of course, the onslaught of slamming attacks with the force of a large mountain easily caused the man's screams to reach new heights, tears beginning to run down his cheeks like two overflowing waterfalls. "PLEASE! LORD! MASTER! PLEASE, SPARE ME! I'LL DO ANYTHING, PLEASE!" He cried, his mind utterly breaking from the sheer pain and pressure he had found himself under.

At hearing those words, the Tentacles froze in place, none of them making any moves on the broken arm as if they had been encased in a block of ice... Save for the spasming that they did. All the while, the creature looked over towards Maximillion whilst tilting its head in a faux innocent manner. **"SPARE... you...?"** It mused, almost seeming like a mix of surprise, confusion and bafflement... before it erupted into a chuckling fit which sounded WAY too disturbingly similar to a cute innocent elementary school girl with long black hair wearing a red dress who ruthlessly people. **"Ufufufufufu… THAT'S rich..."** It stated, before its amusement vanished into the wind whilst pulling the man close to him so their foreheads touched once more. **"Now LISTEN here... THAT is EXACTYLY what all... those COUNTLESS innocents... YOU have PERSONALLY... slaughtered FELT... when you had... THEIR lives in... YOUR hands. But... But what DID... you DO? Why should... I do ANYTHING... you say? WHY... should I SPARE your... PATHETIC, miserable LIFE?"** The being whispered, hot rage oozing from his tone like a magma waterfall.

To respond, Maximillion made to say something, but then the being tightened its grip on his neck, choking the air out of his throat as well as his words. **"NO... I THINK not... I know a... MUCH better WAY... of DEALING with YOU...!"** It said, before clicking its fingers as black and red flames suddenly engulfed the man for a few seconds, and in those few seconds Maximillion howled in intense agony, feeling the flames licking away at his flesh in the first second thanks to their heat melting away and disintegrating his Armour. Almost like they were eating away at it like a bunch of ravenous bloodthirsty Abnormals. This lasted only a few seconds, but to him they felt like an eternity, until the flames dissipated to reveal him having been stripped completely bare. All forms of clothing having been eaten away by the flames which left him as naked as the day he was brought into this world. Oh, how unfortunate that day had been...

In any case, it was time to get to the finale. First off, the Being let the man's arm go, replacing its grip on it with that of one of its Tentacles. This allowed it the free hand to form some black and red fire, elongating it and reshaping it into the form that it desired. In seconds, it held in its armour clad hand a meter long, 10 inch wide Javelin, one with a harpoon-shaped tip with jagged edges. It had been made from condensed, solidified fire, thus emitted a light feeling of heat to its touch... though that 'light heat' if it touched a human would have singed them horribly.

Just like it planned.

With a swift tossing motion, the armoured Being tossed it down to the ground, the Javelin's rear tip embedding itself into the ground leaving its main end facing upwards and gleaming menacingly. One could almost see the laughing, howling faces of many vengeful-looking eyes and mouths within the fiery javelin, as if it were the manifestation of wrath itself.

Looking down at it, the man wondered what this beast intended to do wit such a thing instead of just impaling him with it... until he figured it out moments later and his face went white with pure horror. The grip on his neck tightened the moment this happened, blocking his ability to scream for the time being, almost like the being wanted to save those for when things REALLY got dicey... like when it flew down and SLAMMED the man right down on top of the Javelin's tip, which shot right through his asshole and up his backside.

Only THEN, did the man find the ability to scream return to him, and he took ull advantage of it screaming like a little girl up into the heavens above. Screams which got mixed with two things: the horrible sounds of his insides being set aflame, and the maniacal, downright psychotic laughter that echoed from the Being's mouth whilst it leaned backwards, relishing in delight at the GLORIOUS sounds it heard. **"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! Yes! SCREAM for ME! Yes! Yes! YES! THIS is YOUR punishment! Your SIN! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"** Once its laughter died down into a fit of disturbingly girlish giggles, the being grabbed onto his right shoulder, and whilst relishing in the man's whimpers, pushed him downwards to force the spear deeper into his ass. Cue more screams which resonated throughout the surrounding environment.

After about 10 minutes or so, though, the being's giggles vanished as it looked upon its handiwork, the man known as Maximillion having been impaled on his own ass via a Javelin made from its fire, with one arm broke, no penis anymore and one arm broken. Looking him over, the being began to think, why did it feel like I was lacking something? Its own Tentacles soon answered tat by grabbing the sole remaining arm, twisting it then having one of them same into the elbow to break it, resulting in the sound of bones shattering. For good measure, they each sliced through the man's body, leaving shallow cuts which got set alight seconds later, cauterizing them and leaving horrendous wounds on the man's person which would torment him for the rest of his final moments. Then, to add icing onto the cake, the Being covered its hand in fire and shoved it into the man's mouth, utterly charring it and rendering him unable to speak. It followed this up with putting that hand over his eyes, melting the eyeballs within to permanently destroy the man's ability to see, enjoying his agonized cries all the while.

Not like he'll need to, his vocals would be needed for screaming soon, anyways.

 **"There... THAT should DO it..."** The Being muttered under its breath, cupping its chin with a thoughtful gaze in its crimson eyes. All the while, the now broken mess of a man struggled to look upwards, spitting out some blood during the process, and managed to level what strength he had left into a weak glare. One which the Being caught, which prompted it so chuckle in amusement. **"Oh, DON'T worry... YOU will have some COMPANY on the PATH to HELL soon ENOUGH... but FIRST, I think SOME guests will be ARRIVING soon..."** it stated, and if he had any strength left then Maximillion would have wondered what he meant by that. But at this point, it didn't seem to mater anyways, his body had been damaged beyond repair, even if he was saved at this point he wouldn't likely want to live if the alternative was to no longer be a man.

Soon enough however, the sounds of pounding feet slamming ono the ground was heard, prompting the Being to slowly start floating upwards into the air. All around the vicinity, dozens of Abnormals of varying shapes and sizes emerged in the distance, each having their own unique shapes and sizes. All of them had one thing in common though, their jaws constantly released saliva as if they were hungry dogs looking over a delicious pack of meat. **"Whelp, LOOKS like The PHEROMONE Bombs I planted AROUND here did THEIR job... ENJOY some DELICIOUS Karma... SOUL on their WAY to HELL..."** The Being spoke, an evil, dark laugh escaping its lip whilst it left the area, leaving Maximillion to his fate of being devoured by the rapidly converging Abnormals.

His dying screams soon followed.


	190. Chapter 159 - Meeting Nep Again

**Chapter 159 - Meeting Nep again!**

The next morning came by faster than one would have liked, especially after what he had done.

Rays originating from bright morning sun shone through the bedroom of a certain someone like the light of heaven, waking them up from their slumber and rousing their consciousness into the land of the awake. The moment they did, the Spec Ops Agent known as Nico awoke with a groan, dissatisfaction at being rudely awoken present on his features whilst his face scrunched itself up as he shifted himself into a seated position. Nico raised his arms and did his stretches, pleasurable moans escaping his lips at the feeling of stress leaving his limbs. 'Ugggghhhhh… man, that never gets tiring…' the male couldn't help but think to himself as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. After doing that, the redhead looked down at himself, noting that he only had his PJ bottoms on right now and noting else, leaving his torso bare. 'Fufufufu… honestly, part of me imagined this part of me being covered in bandages, for somereason…' the male mused, chuckling afterwards.

All the while though, he couldn't help but smile to himself, feeling much more refreshed from the previous night's sleep he had than he had ever been in YEARS. A bright, warm feeling spread across his chest, and for the first time in a long while, themale didn'tfeel any kind of conflict within him, no emotional conflict, no mental, heck even his various sides seemed to be symbiotically co-existing peacefully with one another. They weren't trying to fight for control anymore, his Ghoul side remaining docile and tranquil which could be said the same for his Demonic Power. He felt so LIBERATED, free to do what he desired without any of the previous fucks he had given regarding those who called themselves his superiors. Not even thinking about them caused him to grow irritated and have his Demon Powers react to that negative emotional spike, that just went to show just how good he felt right now.

As to WHY he felt this way, Nico felt like it was obvious: what had happened to him the previous night with those Mercenaries. Thinking sbout it brought back the memories of what had happened like a calm river, with such clarity that Nico got vividly reminded of looking at stainless crystal. That night, it had practically been the breaking pont for him both mentally and emotionally. He had so much baggage built up inside, either from outside sources or his own internal struggles, that he had literally been like a bomb about toexplode. Though, it hadn't been just the recent baggage though, but baggage which ad been building over the last 5 years of constantly being suppressed by those who dheld his leash. Events like the one at Halo Mountain only served to speed up the process some, but the GREATEST breaking point had been the moment when Nico FINALLY decided to accept the monster inside, when he decided to go 'fuck it' and create his own code of rules to adhere to. He had his own parameters now, his own directives instead of fighting battles he didn't understand, for causes he didn't believe in.

Hell, that little torture session he had given their leader felt like he was giving himself some much-needed therapy, to sort out the majority of his mind's issues with the current state it had found itself in so that it could function properly. Heck, his DPU Form's mentality had served as an anchor for him, a way for him to regulate control the madness and insanity he had suffered whilst reorganizing himself inside. If he had been in his HUMAN form at the time, then Nico didn't doubt for a SECOND that his Kakuja would have activated, and THAT would have ended badly. He COULD have just ate his head and gained his memories for more confirmation on his end of things, but Nico had chosen NOT to do so purely so that he could make the guy suffer as long and much as possible. THAT felt to him much more worthwhile than whatever snippets of information he would have had, plus considering how Count Mott operated it was unlikely that he knew anything anyhow.

All the while Soul Edge had pulled a sneaky and absorbd all their Souls, including that of the Leader's during that night resulting in them facing an eternity of torment to fuel the blade's power. Honestly, something like that felt way too fitting for scum like them, and Nico didn't even need to worry about anyone finding out about his actions. If anyone were to investigate, they will have only found nothing, like they vanished off the face of the earth. They'll likely be unable to ascertain anything since there wasn't anything left of the Camp by the time Nico had finished, not to mention that he had disposed of any Pheromone Bomb residue via Hellfire, so they wouldn't know a Spec Ops was responsible. Plus any remains would have been feasted upon by the Abnormals, they tended to... not leave anything behind, if you catch his drift. It was like committing the perfect murder and absolutely getting away with it... Something which honestly made him feel giddy inside, like how a prankster felt before their traps were sprung.

As for the other changes he had noticed about his body, Nico didn't give them as much thought as he should have, simply due to wanting to return home already and get some rest. He had been fighting and travelling for a while, and whilst he had been used to longer trips, sometimes one just wanted to get back. Thus, Nico had returned home, exited his DPU Form, went inside and fell asleep on his lovely, comfortable bed.

Thus, it led to this point in time.

Shaking his head, the redhead pushed those thoughts aside for now, he had more important matters to deal with. Mentally, Nico tried to feel out his connections to Biko and Byakko, searching through both his mind and his very soul. Thanks to having embraced the Ghoul and the Demon, he had felt a MUCH stronger connection to them than he had before, but Nico also worried about what would befall his two closest confidants. He was so used to their company, so not knowing if he would ever hear from them again (and he could NOT believe that he spoke that in his monologue about his Ghoul Persona) didn't feel too good for him. 'Biko… Byakko? Can you two hear me?' he queried mentally, moving into the shower for his morning routine, and after he had done everything Nico played the waiting game as he put on his usual getup. Though, something did seem off when he slid his Trench Coat onto his form, something only someone like him would have noticed. Was it just him, or did the RC Cells making up his outfit feel different compared to before?

Nico didn't get the chance to ponder though, when two VERY familiar voices spoke in his mind, so clearly that one could mistake them for being right next to him.

 **'** **We hear you, Nico. Loud and clear.'**

'YO, WASSUP, IDIOT KING?'

The two voices belonging to his aspects speakings o clearly to him nearly caused Nico to weep tears of relief and joy, the teen letting out a bubbily laugh under his breath whilst he responded to them. 'You guys…! Its SO good to hear that you both are fine, I'll be honest: I was a little worried that you two would vanish once I accepted you both…' he mentally spoke to them, sighing in relief whilst glancing towards his Bed. With a twich of his brow, the redhead raised a hand, cracking his index finger (huh, been a while since he had done that, how strange) whilst his rinkaku Kagune erupted from behind him. Each of the 6 Tentacles lunged towards the bed at their usual high speeds, quickly making the bed with the professionalism of a masterful maid.

 **'** **Of course, we would remain, Nico. The Inner World of your soul is a cognitive one, and as such we are part of it. You never wanted us to go away due to being so used to us, so we wouldn't have vanished at all at that moment. However, thanks to you accepting us, we and you have a 100% connection now, not to mention our powers aren't attacking each other no more.'**

'NO MORE BULLSHIT TRYING TO SUPPRESS ME, ANYMORE! FEELS QUITE GRAND BEING ABLE TO STRETCH MY LEGS PROPERLY FOR ONCE! BUT DON'T GO THINKING THIS CHANGES SHIT BETWEEN US, KING! I STILL STAND BY WHAT I SAY, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! YOU BETTER NOT BE SUCH A PUSSY WIMP AGAIN, OR I'MMA GONNA TRY TO TAKE OVER ONCE MORE AND SHOW YOU WHO'S REALLY DESERVING OF THE THRONE!'

Byakko and Biko responded to him, the former after the latter, making the redhead chuckle. 'Oh, don't you worry, I'm not going to go back to that wimp who lets others push him around. I DID say I was going to make and follow my own rules, be my OWN master for once in my life, after all. Not so sure on the girls though, we'll have to see there, but I'm DEFINITELY going to tell them a few things.' He replied to them, and thanks to this new connection he could feel the acceptance coming from both of them.

'THAT'S FAIR FOR NOW, I'LL ADMIT FOR ONCE.'

 **'** **In any case, how about you leave observing these new changes to us, whilst you recuperate from everything by finding your comrades. Its been a while since you all saw each other, so its likely that you all have some catching up to do.'**

Biko's words rung true, and Nico knew it. After all, the last time he had spoken to the girls was when they had pulled the rug out from under him and accepted his Ghoul side, accepted HIM for who he really was. Ever since, he had been isolating himself in his thoughts and his actions, thus he didn't exactly know what to expect with them anymore. However, he'll be damned if he didn't try to make up for lost time. Nico had a LOT to tell them, but he wanted to make sure that he could properly convey his feelings to them at the best possible time. A time which would only come when they were all together in one place, since he wished for all of them to hear what he wanted to say.

Speaking of communicating with others…

Glanncing down towards his right Bracer, Nico raised it to his torso level when he noticed the Message Icon at the top corner. 'Looks like I got a message. Wonder what it could be…? Odds are it'll be from mom, since she's one of the few who would message me…' Nico thought whilst opening the message and reading the contents. What he saw made the light of comprehension shine within his light blue orbs.

 ** _To DEATHSTROKE_**

 ** _It is with great confidence that I infom you that the start date for the Spec Ops Exam has been confirmed. It will take place 7 weeks from today, due to political reasons and will be held in Leanbox's Guild Agency Centre. Below is a list of the times when registration starts at what area, who to speak to for advice and further information. I had intended to inform you earlier, however circumstances on both our ends prevented me from doing so, please receive my condolences for this error._**

 ** _Looking forward to future success._**

 ** _Yours Sincerely, Helena Dawson_**

After reading the message, Nico took a moment to process what he had just learned. 'So… the Spec Ops Exam's coming up soon…' The redhead thought, furrowing his brows. Had it really been so long that he had forgotten about that? With everything that he had gone through so far, that had completely slipped his mind. It had been less of a priority for him since so much else took his attention, and now there was barely 7 weeks before the appointed start time. Nico knew that IF would have received a similar message due to her circumstances, so he didn't worry about her not preparing for it. Though, he did wonder how she had been preparing herself for it, but one thing at a time. He needed to take a small break from everything related to training, let his body rest and recover from all the transformations and mutations it had underwent. Not to mention that he needed to look into what his new limits in human form were, as they likely were WAY above what those assholes up top would allow if they discovered.

Again, one thing at a time, Nico chided himself whilst deactivating his Bracer and heading out of his room.

* * *

Just as he closed the door behind him and took a few steps into the hotel's living room however…

"HEEEEEEEELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NIIIIIIIICCCCCKKKKKYYYYYY!"

"What the duce?!"

A shout filled the air which came from above, and almost immediately Nico reacted with surprise etched over his features. His instints commanded him to move, and he did so with the Star God's Broken Shadow, pretty much making an afterimage as he moved to the side about 5 meters, resulting in the sudden attacker crashing to the floor.

BONK!

"Owwiee…!"

Before Nico could respond by doing something drastic like pulling out one of his demonic weapons, Kagune, his Hellfire or DPU Powers, the teen's eyes widened when he looked upon the attacker. The white and purple of a familiar hoodie, the messy bob of lilac coloured hair, the D-Pad hairclips and that annoying yet endering tone of voice, all of them made him realize just WHO this person was. "N-Neptune?!" he exclaimed, stunned and bewildered as he beheld the lilac haired Amnesiac Goddess of Planeptune. She looked to have landed quite unceremoniously with her backside right up there (fortunately Nico didn't see beneath her hoodie, as THAT wouldn't go down well), her arms spread forwards like she was lunging to catch something, lastly her legs bent themselves like a reverse 'L' with her feet hanging. "Seriously girl, what the hell?"

"Hey, I should be the one asking you that, buster-buster! Why'd ya dodge ya wifey, who hasn't seen you in ages, when she was trying to hug ya?" Neptune retorted with a pout when she looked up at him. Her forehead looked to be sporting a cartoonish bump which pulsed in a painful manner. Next thing he knew, she had shot right back up to her feet, looking no worse for wear, though that bump still perseervered. "Isn't it the hubby's role to like, catch his wifey when she falls?" she remarked while soothing the bump. "Meanie...! We've been apart for so long, so shouldn't this be like our tear-stained reunion as destined lovers...?! Nicky is an idiot...!"

Nico twitched his brow in annoyance as he approached her, arms crossed over his chest as he responded to her words with a slightly irritated tone of voice. "We aren't even married, Nepune, so don't go all saying that we're engaged or some shit, people might get the wrong idea." Just then, his twitching stopped, as well as his indignation vanished when his eyes widened whilst his arms fell down to his sides. He remembered this feeling, he remembered the times when Neptune would try to do these things. He remembered having to scold her when she did something stupid. It all served to confirm something for him. 'This… this is really Neptune…!' he thought, suppressing the urge to have his body tremble at the realization as much as possible.

A surge of familiar warm emotions blossomed within his chest like flowers in the spring, joy and happiness rapidly surging through his body at the familiar antics that he had been presented with. How long had it been since he had done something 'normal' with someone else? How long had it been since he had been able to talk to the Party members like this? Way too long in his opinion, that was for certain. He had almost forgotten how it felt having too deal with their crazy quirks and their personalities, but Neptune brought all those feelings that he had forgotten over the last dozen or so events back to the surface.

This was Neptune…

This was Neptune…!

THIS WAS NEPTUNE!

"Eh?!"

Suddenly blurring forwards, Neptune pretty much jumped when she saw Nico grasp onto her and pull her into an embrace, wrapping his arms firmly around her petite body. Not quite like a serpent, but pretty close, though she honestly didn't mind it. Her head lay chin first on his shoulder, whilst surprise danced through her lilac orbs at the actions her hubby had performed. "Eh? Nicky? Whoa, hold the phone since when did you get so tall?" she questioned, her arms wrapping around him and for the first time, she noticed that Nico didn't look… physically the same anymore. Not only did he seem to have hit a growth spurt, but he seemed to have a bit more muscle on him now. Not much though, which still meant she could call him lean built, but it had been enough to take notice of. Still, one part of her couldn't help but make her comment on something. "No fair, I wanna grow tall too, though I guess my fans want me to stay the height I am. This is my cute self that everyone loves and wants as their waifu, ya know."

Her words, combined with the random changes in topics, made Nico smile widely whilst he dug his head into her shoulderblade, savouring the familiar warmth which surged through him from the close contact. Oh, how little he had realized, how he had missed something so simple as hugging his comrades like this. In his mind, Nico felt like he was the kind of person who liked the simpler things like hugs and… well, hugs, when he was with his comrades, hugs in his mind were the simplest yet most effective form of affection there was. None of that copulating stuff, that stuff was for idiots who only wanted the pleasure and not the aftermath. Still, this didn't change one fact which surfaced in his mind from the depths of his being: that Neptune had ZERO idea of how happy he was to see her. "Heh, I guess I can see your point there, little Nep..." Nico replied, a soft yet amused chuckle escaping him which caused his shoulders to tremble slighty, something both of them felt.

Suddenly, Neptune blinked owlishly once his words properly registered in her mind. A stunned expression formed on her face as she leaned backwards yet did not separate from the hug, allowing her to gaze into his mildly confused eyes. "Huh…? Little Nep?" she questioned, tilting her head curiously. "Was that a nickname, or…?"

For a moment, Nico wondered what Neptune had been talking about, before he realized what he had said a moment ago, prompting to blush pink as he broke the hug and looked around. Anywhere but at Neptune who now had this teasing smile on her lips as she leaned forwards, humming expectantly whilst her hands got put onto her hips. "Ummm, well… I guess that, since everyone else has a nickname for you… I guess it was time for me to think of one for you, two…" he muttered, scratching the side of his jwhilst looking to the side. Part of him worried though, since if he didn't think of a nickname for his childhood friend Compa, then she would likely react all too negatively to him nicknaming Neptune. She always DID like nicknaming her close friends. He could FEEL the gaze burning through his cheek from his comrade right now, only furthering his embarrassment. Then, the teen backpedalled a bit and waved his hands in front of him, feeling much shyer than he normally did. "N-Not like its anything, if you want I can just stick with calling you Neptune…!" he stammered, his face reddening by the minute as he struggled to retain his composure.

Seriously, what?

What the fuck?

Did ANYONE have an idea on what was happening to him right now?

For some reason, amused chuckles flowed though his mind, and Nico got a PRETTY good idea as to who the culprits were.

Before he could inquire about them though, Neptune suddenly giggled, getting his attention. "Its okie dokie, Nicky. Little Nep, Neppy, Neptuna, Nep, ya can call me whatever, though the gesture's really appreciated…" she stated, a hand over her mouth to hide the amused snickers she suppressed while observing her hubby's behaviour. Afterwards, an excited glint shone in her eyes as an idea came to her. "Say, Nicky, do you think we could do something together?" she asked, grasping his right hand in hers and looking up at him with the so-called 'moe eyes'.

Eyes that Nico nearly went beat red over due to how cute they looked. 'Please tell me that there's not something like getting heartburn from cuteness, please…!' the redhead thought while doing his best not to gulp. "Um… sure…" he replied, managing to keep his tone level and calm despite the look on his face. "What is it you wanna do?" he questioned.

* * *

'Well… This isn't how I pictured spending my morning…'

 **'** **Though, you will have to admit that the realm of unpredictability is pretty much Neptune's playground…'**

'True, true…'

"Hahahahahahahaha, the internet is a beautiful place, alright…!"

"I guess so…"

Currently, Nico sat on the living room's sofa, with Neptune seated beside him. Their footwear had been neatly arranged by the base of both arms, leaving Nico in only some black socks whilst Neptune had her stockings on. The preteen rested on her side, tucking her legs in behind her whilst she leaned on Nico's side. Not something he minded though, since the close contact with his comrades offered a comfort he had been missing for a long, LONG time now. He even had to resist wrapping an arm around her, since he didn't want to come off as a total creeper.

Aside from that, what were they doing, one might ask? Simple: the redhead male had his left Bracer activated, showing a screen which had a video playing on Youtube, apparently by these two guys who were both separate youtubers but had decided to do a video together. This one apparently was about Memes and Haikus, when done right, and the video had just started. They had been just sitting there, Neptune eatinjg some pudding (that he had no idea where she got it from), whilst he himself had a glass of water, as they just sat there watching videos on Youtube about Internet Memes. Something which Nico felt was RIGHT up Neptune's alley. She freaking loved them, spouted them any chance she got and often at the expense of the rest of the group. Smetimes they had been funny, most of the time, not so much.

Yeah, that's right…

They were just chillaxing watching freaking Memes.

May the meta gods have mercy on our souls.

"Oh yeah, hey Nicky, tell me where you've been. Me and the others tried to contact you a few times, but our calls went over to voice mail. Not cool, ya know, you wouldn't be like those jerks who would string along a helpless maiden, have your way with her then never call them again!"

"Ugh, no, I would NOT do that Neptune, if anything I'd do NONE of those things. Geez, if you really want to know then I'll tell you. I kind of owe it to you guys for isolating myself for so long..."

Those two lines pretty much encapsulated what had transpired leading to Nico explaining to the preteen what had happened to him in the last few weeks. He had explained how he had pretty much isolated himself in order to try and deal with everything that had happened, such as the revelation of Mundus, the battle with Okada, and most of all the fact that he had been accepted by them so easily. A couple weeks into it though, he had been found by MAGES., whom had been told by her teacher to bring him to him to see if he was 'able enough' before he got taken to a far off area.

He would have said other dimension, and he REALLY didn't want to lie to her, but Nico doubted that she would have believed him, so he would rather have MAGES. help him explain that part.

In his place, Nico had become able to complete a series of tests, each one having their own themes and foes to fight, allowing him a multitude of rewards for passing them. He had someone else there, a relative of the teacher's, to fight alongside, and eventually he got through them, earning a series of new goodies to look into as well as discovered his body's new limits. He didn't really have too much that he could have used to discover them earlier. As a result, once he got back front hat place, Nico had pretty much done his own thing, and when Neptune pressured him to tell her more, he ended up explaining to her about the Nature Elves, the Auction, etc. Her reaction to it all: pretty much what one would expect.

Several moments of Nico trying to restrain Neptune from transforming and telling her he'd already dealt with the Mercenaries later...

"To be frank, Neptune, I'm surprised you never tried to set up an account and post memes of your own, I can totally see you trying to fill the internet with 'Nepu!' Memes." Nico commented to himself whilst they both shared a chuckle as one of the commenting guys spoke about how one could only meme for a certain amount of credits, due to Net Neutrality (not gonna get into that, like the guy said, since viewers might get triggered).

Neptune looked over at him with a big smirk on her lips. "Ya shouldn' worry, Nicky, neither should the author. I mean, its 2019 over there, and people still tend to get triggered over anything these days." She remarked thoughtfully, remembering some days she spent surfing the web herself.

At this, Nico smirked. "I can't believe you just said that."

The moment he said that, Neptune snickered, both fo them aware of the joke Nico had helped her pull off. "Yeah, oh and about that Nepu thing, I already did. The result is a Nepu video for 10 hours." She replied, chuckling. She ignored the surprised look from her hubby when she said that, before looking out to the fourth wall and waving her arms like a promotion advertiser. "Just go to youtube search for Nepu, and see the light, my young disciples, mwahahahaha!" Then, she pouted, her cheeks all puffy. "Still, staleness is the archnemesis of comedy, people! Wish there coulda been more Nep memes, c'mon all you weebs get to it already! Chop-Chop!"

As they watched the video, one clip got played which caught Neptune's attenton. "Oh!" she exclaimed, leabing forwards till her head filled up the screen before him. "This happened a couple years back, huh? Some company getting trolled? Bah, I can troll better than any troll, I have the 'troll face' after all, mwahahaha!" she proclaimed, before sitting back to her previous position when Nico tapped her on the shoulder with a knowing look in his eyes.

Soon, the clip played, and when the bomb dropped both Neptune and Nico looked absolutely shocked, covering their mouths when the announcer at this event whined about having to pay for a microtransaction or something, before announcing the game. At that pont, the two bursts into laughter, and if he could Nico would have joined Neptune in clapping in celebration.

"Ahahahahahahaha! Nepping Nepped the Nep outta them!"

"Now THERE is a hero right there, hahahahaha!"

Glancing over to Nico, the purple haired Amnesiac grinned broadly at him, her eyes shining with a glint behind them that Nico shared. "Ya know, I get the feeling that whoever this company is, is pretty much acting like a warmup for this Net Nutrality thing and having to pay for everything. But, they do need to make money somehow, right?" she remarked, getting a shrug of the shoulders from Nico. What, it wasn't like he cared about the business side of things unless they did something which would be considered immoral. THEN the swords come out.

* * *

After that video finished, the next thing they did would be to load up another video, pretty much repeating the same cycle over and over. They spent the entire morning, watching various videos about internet Memes, simply having a fun time and laughing merrily at how stupid some people can be. Stupid in a way which made people laugh both with them and at them at the same time. Considering what the two had been dealing with in the last few weeks, Nico more so at least in his mind, it would be considered as a welcome reprieve. Neptune felt like she had been completely immersed in her element the most though, since she practically lived and breathed on the internet, and likely she had ways to bypass the rules established by IF ever since that naked Purple Heart on top of him incident. Nico wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

One such video they had been watching was made by this YouTuber with 'Defib' in their name, who made a video full of these things called 'Anime Cracks'. This one got filled with jokes and memes revolving around a series full of muscular macho men going 'Ora-ora-ora' and smashing their opponents into dust. Neptune even mimicked some of the things that she saw there, like going 'WRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!' like a certain evil vampire did, complete with the poses too... all the while trying to turn Nico's face into a volcano by making the poses more... suggestive, than they needed to be. They looked even better when she went HDD and did them, causing Nico to look away lest his face literally turn into his Hellfire with how red it became... all the while she kept making teasing remarks at him, furthering his embarrassment.

Only after she had calmed down (once she finally saw the cutest form of embarrassment the redhead could make-he swore he saw her pull out a phone and snap a picture) did they resume watching videos... with Neptune sitting on his lap in HDD form whilst securing her butt into his groin, much to his dismay. They had watch only a few videos about Memes until she reverted to human form, to Nico's relief although she hadn't left her spot on his lap. He didn't mind that as much though, since he got the chance to hug her... and hug her he did.

If there was one thing Nico could admit he enjoyed more than fighting, it would be hugs.

Hugs are best.

Hugs are life.

By the time lunch arrived, Neptune practically raced off towards the Hotel's fridge in order to get at the Pudding she had stocked up there apparently, leaving Nico on his lonesome. The redhead remained seated on the sofa, andas he listened to her footsteps getting further and further away before her humming resonated through the atmosphere, Nico allowed himself to exhale lowly. Just so that Neptune wouldn't hear him as, like a mask being discarded, his expression shifted from amusement to concerned. 'Biko. Please tell me you have sensed it too.' He thought to his Demon Persona, getting an answer immediately.

 **'** **I have. Neptune's heart must be in turmoil, as underneath that pool of positively excitement, I can sense a deep-rooted anxiety and nervousness. I noticed it almost immediately when she tried to jump on you and have been monitoring it during the investigation into your body. It seems like this young one has something that's been eating away at her, likely for some time now. According to my analysis…'**

'Don't need to continue, Biko, I already know what your thinking, plus I've seen it since the beginning too. She flinched a little when I mentioned the Halo Mountain incident before my explanation, not to mention she's been showcasing other signs too. I'll wait a bit more before bringing it up, I get the impression that this is the first time that Neptune's been able to relax so much in weeks, she may have done a decent job in hiding it, but I can see the signs.' Nico thought back, furrowing his brows. He honestly felt sad that Neptune tried to keep her feelings inside, especially after what he had said she could do with him, but lets be honest: whenever someone has a problem they tend to want to solve it on their own first. It was a matter of pride more than anything, foolish maybe but its not so foolish to some people.

He only hoped that he could do something to actually help with her problem though.

* * *

After a while of deliberating, Nico began to wonder where the heck Neptune had gotten herself off to. It had been a couple hours since she had left to get something for lunch, so he began to get concerned. 'Please don't tell me she's going to try and play a prank on me at THIS point in time…' the male thought to himself in weariness, expanding his senses just in case. In any other circumstance, Nico would have more than welcomed the challenge to catch him in a prank, after all he and Neptune were prank rivals still (even if they had been recently distracted). However, with the way the male had been pondering on what could be bothering his companion, he hadn't the desire to care for that.

However, just before he could get up and track down that elusive Nep, Nico smelled the surefire smell of Pudding as it entered his nostrils, forcing him to cover his nose from how awful it smelled to him. 'Ugh, goddamn smell…' the redhead thought to himself, closing his eyes and trying to block it out. 'Judging from potent this scent is, Neptune likely must have brought back a whole ton of Pudding, somehow…' with that thought in mind, Nico turned to address her as she approached the sofa… only to blanch at what he saw.

'WHAT THE DUCE?!'

Unpreturbed by Nico's reaction, Neptune hummed a merry tune to herself as she plopped down onto the sofa beside him… all the while putting a whole carrier bag filled with unopened Pudding Cups beside her. Looked like they were te common type bought at markets, too, so they weren't anything that Compa had made. "Ahhhh, Pudding! The sole joy of this world!" Neptune exclaimed, praising her favourite desert like it was a gift from the heavens whilst plucking out a spoon from within her Hoodie Dress. "Alrightie, Nicky! Lets look at more Memes, this time that new thing that's been coming about: Tik Tok Memes!"

'I know I should be used to this, by now, but…'

Whilst reining in his shock, the redhead Spec Ops Agent couldn't help but note the elephant in the room that Neptune had brought to the sofa. "Before that Neptune, I just have to know, where did you et so many pudding cups?" Nico questioned, pointing at the bag which, upon closer inspection, reached up to Neptune's own waist in height. "Seriously girl, I'm pretty sure IF and Compa wouldn't have let you go overboard with the Credit Spree like you did that tme in Planeptune." He referred to a time when, during their short stay in Planeptune, Neptune had somehow gotten access to a bunch of the groups Credit resources, so she ha dbought every Pudding she had seen within several supermarkets.

IF and him had to scold her like hell for it, Nico having to burn a good ¾ og them in an incinerator nearby.

Neptune swore vengeance for the loss of Pudding at that time.

Looking at the bag (Nico wondered if she remembered the same incident he did too), Neptune waved it off dismissively. "Meh, no big dealie, Nicky. Since that whole shebang with Arfoire and her buddies…" Nico DEFINITELY noticed some mild signs of trying to repress a bodily reaction there. "Me and the girls have been questing and training like CRAAAAAZYYYYY! Though you know how much I need my daily pudding fix, so the gals and I bought large stocks of Puddingto help us last in our training schedules! Mostly me though." She explained, summoning her Soul Calibre in its default form and resting it on her lap horizontally. Talking about that training she had immersed herself in ever since the Halo Mountain stuff got her all sentimental, since she got a chance to connect with her sword on a deeper level.

'Hmmm, interesting…' Nico thought to himself as he eyed the sword and then its wielder, occasionally shifting between them. It DEFINITELY showed that she had been training with it, as when he saw into it the redhead had noticed that the weapon must have been absorbing and purifying countless souls. These Souls likely were Demon ones, since he could sense the more… demonic aspect of the sword having grown immensely in strength. It almost rivalled that of the divine aspect of the sword, in percentage terms it would be at 95%. If he were to make an analogy, then it would be like a shaken bottle of beer about to pop its cork and explode. 'Though, something seems to be hindering it at this point, a bottleneck if one wanted to get technical…' Nico thought, humming under his breath as he looked back to Neptune before she could notice him staring. "Okay, I can see them doing that, at least. Stocking up for training marathons isn't a bad idea…" he admitted, scratching his jaw. "And how's it been going for you?"

"Hm?"

"Your training, I mean. You progressing well?" Nico asked her again, slowly edging closer and closer to the source of the problem he had sensed. He could feel it, as he had been monitoring her negative emotions, and had just stopped short of using the Shingan ring to monitor her thoughts. Nico didn't activate it for her cause A: it would invade her privacy, and B: he'd rather do it on his enemies or when he wanted to gatheer information during those more…. Politicial battles.

At the mention of training, Neptune's eyes brightened… all the while, the negative emotions within pulsed like a living heart. "Its going fan-dably-do, Nicky. This little kiddo…" she began, grasping Soul Calibur and raising it whilst pointing her finger at it's core. "Is one greedy daughter, since she keeps getting hungrier and hungrier with each fight. Got some ideas how to make her even better, too, though I'm still working on the kinks as annoying as that is since I wanna just laze about on a sofa all day and eat loads of delicious pudding. Techniques are comin' along good, and I get to eat loads of pudding all the while!" she exclaimed at the end, going through a mybrid of different emotions faster than a cheetah. Honestly, if Nico had been focusing on that, then he wouldn't have been abe to keepup with her randomness… especially when she acted out various scenes in front of him, like reciting some epic tale about an adventurer kicking ass and taking names.

But at this point, Nico finally saw the opening he needed, and decided to take the plunge. "But getting stronger is becoming a greater concern to you, isn't it?" Nico questioned, though it also felt like a statement at the same time. Especially since the moment that he spoke those words, Neptune made a posture which pretty much statedhow much he had hit the nail on the head sort to speak.

"… Well, I guess I can't say no to that." Neptune eventually admitted, dropping her arms down to the sides while sighing profoundly. Her eyes changed, and to both his joy as well as concern, her mask dropped to showcase just how complicated she felt inside. "Sorry for keeping up with the act around ya, Nicky, I'd honestly forgotten that I could since we've been apart for a while." She apologized, rubbing the back of her head while chuckling nervously.

Nervousness which faded faster than the wind when Nico shook his head with an equally guilty smile spreading across his lips. "Don't worry Neptune, I'm just as at fault here." He replied, before looking to the side as his mood dropped as well. "If it weren't for some… things that I found difficult to comprehend at first, I wouldn't have been spending so much time away from you all."

"Huh…. Kinda figured it was something like that." Neptune mused... right before bonking Nico right on the head. "Nicky, is a dummy! You do realize you could have talked to us, right? If you didn't get something, we would have been more than happy t help, ya know. You're one of us after all, we help each other. We're a party, but more than that we're friends." Neptune stated, her tone neither filled with malice nor scolding. Instead, she simply spoke those words as if they truly were what they were… and to be frank, Nico found himself being able to interpret them that way as well. If he hadn't seen the things he had the last few weeks, then Nico doubted he would have this mindset.

But, when she spoke one word, Nico couldn't help but freeze up, his eyes widening as his body became tense.

Friend…

To describe it, friendship was considered to be a relationship of mutual affection between one and another, or even multiple beings at the same time. There was truly no limit to the amount of people it could influence, a beggar gaining a friend could turn them into a respectable citizen, a prisoner could become a civil conversation partner, the possibilities were endless. Friendship, in a broader sense, would be classed as a stronger form of interpersonal bond, much greater than that of an association, or an acquaintance.

But to Nico, that word had become so foreign a concept that it had been recognized as alien. The reasoning could be seen as clear as day through his past interactions with people, as well as his own experiences with the ugly nature of the world. Nico had seen just how despicable people could be, and as such he didn't see any sort of light in the tunnel, as it were. As a result, Nico hardly called ANYONE a friend… no, that word to him felt way more powerful and precious. To truly call someone a friend, well, hat would mean he would be caable of trusting that person on a level that he didn't believe was possible for him. Not when the world had proven to be so shitty in his eyes.

No, friends weren't something that he considered necessary, instead he valued those who he could sort of trust as 'Comrades'. The term comrade had been mostly used to mean "friend", "mate", "colleague", or "ally", but in his case Nico referred to it as an ally, nothing else since he didn't see them as such. To him, comraderie had been the most important thing, if someone proved themselves to be an ideal comrade, someone whom he could trust even if it were a little, then not even godly deities would stop him from ensuring that person's survival in this world. True comrades were heard to find, like trying to navigate through a murky lake and being unable to see the dephs beneath. Not Something which he didn't have any experience with, seriously.

So, for the first time… Neptune caling him a friend… it made him wonder if now would be the best time for him to change that stance for once. Since Neptune and the others had accepted him for who he was, couldn't they be the first true friends he ever had?

Shaking his head and putting those thoughts aside for now, Nico focused back on what the preteen had told him, offering a mirthless smile and a chuckle in return. "Heh, maybe Neptune. Sorry, its just that... well, I'm not used to having people I can talk to about these things..." he admitted, looking down at the ground beneath his feet. "You know as well as I do how I've been for the last few years, so I'm… not that used to having people I can trust, to talk to about my own worries and such."

"Yeah, I can get that..." Neptune admitted, a frown forming on her lips when she remembered everything she had learned about his past and his current nature. Remembering it caused her to want to bonk the heads of those who made him end up this way for being absolute jerks in her eyes, even though that wouldn't actually be possible. She then continued with a more upbeat, chirpy tone than previously when she, ever the optimist, focused on the silver lining. "Well now you do, so get used to it Nicky. You let me tell you my worries, so it should be a two-way street, Nep it?"

A laugh escaped Nico's throat after a moment of bewilderment, before he reduced it to a snicker as he responded. "I Nep it, don't worry. Also, you should really take your own advice, there Neptune. Lecturing me about trust when you yourself are bothered by something." he stated knowingly, all the while bringing the conversation back to what he REALLY wanted to talk about. Well, that stuff about trust WAS something he wanted to get off his chest, but Nico felt like their worries were much more important than his own. Call it a remnant of what he had went through, but he couldn't shake that trait of his completely. That would only take time and effort to do, and even then it may have become so ingrained that it would be part of him forever.

"Eh?"

At first, Neptune blinked a few times at him in confusion, prompting Nico to look at her with his features blank. He would NOT lose in a battle of Masks, especially not to someone who hadn't born the same Masks as him over the years. Finally, after a few intense moments, Nico saw how the preteen deflated and assumed a tired, 'i'm so done with this' look forming on her features. "Yeah... kinda hypocritical from me, huh...?" Neptune remarked, chuckling in an embarrassed manner. "Yeah, well, I MAAAY or may not be thinking about a lotta stuff that's kinda been on my mind and won't leave me alone like one of those things a naggy parent does to their kid." she explained.

When Nico gestured for her to continue after wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close (not something she minded, by the way), Neptune laid her head on his chest as she cuddle up into him. "Ya know... its not easy, you know. Regaining yourself after a big blow, right? Well... its started since that mean jerk back there wrecked our stuff without even trying..."

"Mundus..." Nico muttered under his breath, though Neptune heard him. Not to mention how he gripped her a bit firmer as a small burst of anger erupted inside.

Neptune nodded her head, looking down into his torso whilst his grip softened upon her wiggling, telling him to pretty much ease up on the grip. "Yeah... him. He wiped the floor with us, and he nearly got his hands on this hot bod. This protag bod, something which is only reserved for that R18 Movies and games, not this normally fun, silly franchise." she commented, and Nico couldn't help but mentally roll his eyes at how meta she had just sounded right there. But he didn't say anything and just let her speak, sensing just how her emotions seemed to be on the verge of boiling over. "Even when you went all beastly for us and stopped that meanie from doing... R18 stuff, we still didn't technically win since he just... ya know, left like he had just been playing with us this whole time."

'I can honestly admit that to be the case...'

 **'Agreed.'**

'AAARRRRGH! THAT FUCKER, THAT FUCKER, THAT FUUUUUUUCKKEEEEEEEERRRRRRR!'

Looked like Byakko still held that trauma, he realized. That reminded him, he and Biko REALLY needed to find some way to help him with that, cause haring Byakko whine like a little bitch felt WAY too out of character for him. But hey, being out of character is essentially what trauma does to people, right? Mentally shaking his head, Nico focused back on the preteen, who shuddered in his embrace. "But that wasn't what REALLY got to you, was it?" he whispered, knowingly. Mundus had well and truly defeated them, even if they had been weakened from fighting both Arfoire and Okada. If they each had been at their best, with Nico himself at full power too, then he doubted that they would have been able to land a scratch on him. That guy didn't even use a spec of his full power, just one technique which pretty much wiped the floor with them. 'Speaking of which, Biko have you got anything on that technique he used?'

 **'After some digging in the Lexicanum, I indeed do, but it would be wise to listen to Neptune first. I sense this will serve her greatly in finally breaking that bottleneck of hers.'**

Biko's response nearly caused Nico to showcase his surprise in the real world, though he successfully suppressed it as he looked down towards Neptune, whom at this point had put her forehead on his torso so he couldn't see her face but only her hair. "Yeah... that meanie beating us I could live with... cause that'd only mean I could just train and get stronger to beat him next time. But... Nepu… what he did to Compa…" she muttered, and at that point BOTH of them trembled in both anger and sadness, memories of how Compa had ben taken out of the battle back then filling their minds. How gory, brutal and ruthless it had been.

Yeah, he could imagine. Nico himself has been so mad that he'd only seen red at that moment, but thanks to the restraints on him and the 'restraint' towards the idea of using is Ghoul side, he didn't actually get a chance to pay that asshole back.

"I was... so mad back then. Furious even." Neptune admitted,, shuddering in his embrace as the flames of rage burned inside her to this day. "Never before in my life have I wanted to utterly DESTROY someone as much as I wanted to right then. Thinking back on it now... it actually scares me, it scares this Nep Nepless that I would want to kill someone so much, ya know? Its never happened to me before, sure killing monsters I can deal, and they're usually attacking me anyways..." she trailed off, taking some time to regather her thoughts.

On Nico's side, the redhead realized a bit of what Neptune had been shaken by. 'Ah, yes. The first time one wants to kill. A prelude to their first ever kill. Its not exactly something they et used to, and those that do tend to act with less humanity than those around them. For someone like Neptune, who likely hasn't had any malice-based intent towards anybody before, then suddenly feelings such a surge of desire to murder, its not exactly something she would be used to. Or like, for that matter. She's too... well, innocent for that.'

 **'Unlike someone else I know.'**

'Yup, I won't deny it.'

"But, when Compa went down like that, I just... I didn't even realize it, but nothing else became important anymore. I was so angry that I just didn't care. I wanted to hurt him, I wanted to torment him, I wanted to make him pay by having him suffer just as much as Compa had suffered. You have no idea how many thoughts of murder went through this noggin o'mine… its really the first time I've EVER thought something so out of character." Neptune admitted, as she thought back to everything which had taken place on that Mountain. She remembered the feeling of massive anger and rage that erupted inside of her at seeing one of her best friends getting manhandled in such a horrific manner. Getting her breasts damaged like that, the way her vocal chords got ripped out, not to mention how she had been tossed aside like yesterday's garbage had REALLY set her off. True on fanfictions scary things happen to them that could be considered horrible, not to mention comical a lot of the times. Heck, just look at what happened to them in the beginning of rebirth 2! But, in this case, what had befallen one of her friends had well and truly mortified her beyond belief. It was like she had seen into the depths of depravity that people would be willing to go to get what they wanted.

Though, even with all that anger, all that hatred and bloodlust coursing through her, what had happened afterwards had been the real kick in the groin for her. Under all that hatred and bloodlust, Neptune had tried to avenge her fallen comrade, her best friend and more importantly, her first EVER friend aside from Nico. True Neptune treasured her friends deeply, she may tease and play pranks a lot. She may scarf whole bowls of pudding on a daily basis, or have her own pervy moments, but if she were frank, then Neptune couldn't be more grateful to have someone like Compa around if she tried. She had been around since the beginning, helping her out when she didn't know a darn nepping thing about herself. She could EASILY see herself losing it or following darker, eviller path should the situation have changed. It would have been so easy, as she had been pretty much like a blank slate at the time. The worst kind of position anyone could be in, since they could literally change into the worst kind of person imaginable.

But, Neptune had been lucky. She had found friends in the ever-innocent and lovable Compa, as well as the external edge lord and internally sweet Nico. Because of those two, Neptune felt like she had made huge progress into the right direction, becoming the person who she was today thanks to being around them. So, seeing someone dispose of not one, but TWO of her friends like that, one by restraints and the other... well, that didn't even need to be said at this point, but in the end it REALLY grinded her gears towards a darker mindset... a mind set she had been entertaining the thought of ever since the Demonic Invasion. Although, she had only TRULY started contemplating it after Halo Mountain. It had only intensified from there, since she couldn't even do a single thing to avenge her friend, since Mundus' power far surpassed her own. Hell, it would be foolish to even CONSIDER comparing their power levels at this point, it would be like a small toddler trying to punch that spiky black haired money guy who had so many transformations.

Ever since then, Neptune had begun training her backside off, not even sparing a minute to do the things she would do normally. She did the impossible and decreased the intake of pudding she had daily, she didn't laze about nearly as much anymore, practically all her time and effort had become focused solely on getting stronger. The images of Compa lying on the ground in pieces refused to leave her alone, like the hallucinations that Nico endured so often (not like she knew that though). She never wanted to feel that useless again, she NEVER wanted any of her friends to end up in a similar state to Compa, EVER, which had been her drive to get stronger in the first place. It just... reached a whole new level thanks to Mundus.

Yet, as she trained herself by fighting the demonic hoards whenever they popped up, Neptune slowly began to notice a few... things. Things which made her shudder in dread, confusion and slight fear. She began to actively seek out more Demons than she had to, in order to satisfy her training schedule. She began to enjoy the sight of Demons dispersing via explosions, almost giggling at their distorted cries as they imploded. Her fighting style became more and more primitive, vicious like a beast's where her enemies would end up being ripped into pieces before her without any hope of fighting back.

It had been these things, which had caused her to wonder while training herself...

What was happening to her?

Why was she changing?

She didn't know the answers, but whenever she tried to stop on her training, she would always think back to that fight, which would spurn her on again. It was almost like she had been turned into some form of marionette, thus she didn't even have control over her own body anymore, and THAT scared the living crap out of her.

Neptune's talking ended there, as the one she'd been talking to absorbed this information in contemplation. "... I see... so that's it..." Nico muttered after Neptune finished her story. His eyes darkened as he held the young maiden in his arms, he held her tight enough to exude the intent of comforting her whilst she poured out her feelings like this. She didn't seem like she wanted to cry though, no it felt more like she had been both scared and confused about what was happening to her. That made Nico gain a newfound respect for the preteen, it looked like it was happening slowly, but it seems like she had been gradually increasing in strength. It wasn't anything major for the time being, but to him it would still be noticeable. However, when he looked down at her, Nico began to wonder about something as he thought to his Demon Persona, all the while examining the weapon attached to her Soul with his senses. 'Hey, Biko, do you think that...?'

 **'Hmmm... it seems like it is the case, Nico. Under normal circumstances, I do believe that Neptune wouldn't be as confused with herself. She is someone who likes to have fun with her friends, enjoy life to its fullest and generally a person who does not view killing in a positive light. The same could be said for the other Goddesses too, as their very nature compels them to protect their lands and to guard their people. That was what they were originally meant to do from the beginning, if you think back to the DPU Era. However, things have changed for Neptune, and perhaps Noire and possibly the others as well. In Neptune's case, she has gained a weapon which, while carrying a strong divinity due to her being a Goddess, it originally came from the Demonic soul in you. DPUs are naturally different in comparison to Goddesses, as they are a warrior race. As such, killing isn't something as meaningful to them as it is for a Goddess.'**

'Huh, I get it. It maybe obvious to our viewers, but we're like two sides of a coin, yin and yang. As a result, her having a weapon which originated from someone who is the exact opposite of her...'

 **'The Demonic Power within Soul Calibre, the demonic aspect which has been steadily growing the more souls it has absorbed, is finally showing signs ls reaching a similar level to the divine aspect. As a result of this, she will feel the things a Demon would feel, things she normally wouldn't. The demonic influence, the instincts to slaughter her enemies without mercy, the thrill of combat that could only come from life or death battles. Everything not associated with humanity's representation of a Goddess will now be felt by her. All this is merely a side effect, however, the REAL deal will only happen once that sword's demon side is equal to the divine.'**

… Huh, was that how it was, huh? Nico hummed thoughtfully in his mind before looking down at his companion. His eyes then hardened with a determined look forming on his features. If that was the case, then he knew exactly what to do about it. But first, he needed to do one thing, first. Putting his hands on her shoulders, Nico gently pried her off him so he could look into her eyes. "Alright Neptune, I think I get the gist of it. You never wanted to see Compa like that again, or any of us for that matter, so you went on a training marathon. But things began to change, and you began to see new changes in yourself that confused and scared you. But instead of stopping, you found yourself continuing despite these things scaring you, right?" he stated.

This earned him a nod from the preteen. "Yeppers." she remarked, frowning in confusion and nervousness.

"Well, I may not be the best person to handle this for you, Neptune. A 'good' person would tell you to stop training and learn how to rely more on others. When fighting powerful enemies, it would be important to work together and eventually overcome it. The power of friendship and all that jazz. That's what a 'good' person would say. " Nico began, almost vomiting over those words like they were vile puss. He managed to stomach it barely though, and continued with a lopsided smirk forming on his lips. "But lets be real here, I'm no 'good' person no matter how you slice it. I'm a Demon, hell a Demonic godly entity if you wanna get technical, as well as a Ghoul. its pretty much my nature to kill in the first place, if you point me at an army, by the time the day's done they'll be nothing but corpses. So, i'll say this: These changes your feeling? Accept them." At the end though, his face turned serious as his eyes narrowed into slits at Neptune's wide ones.

"Nepu?"

Figures, she didn't get his meaning. He didn't exactly state what he wanted to say, but hat was fine. Nico had just wanted to lay the groundwork for his next point, anyways. After all, like he said Nico didn't see himself as a good person, and that was a fact. He wasn't. In the simplest form, Nico was a Demon/Ghoul hybrid, a monstrous creature which had an immense potential for power. He didn't deny it anymore, he had embraced his true nature of his own free will. Any hallucinations he would have about his past? He'll roll with it. Any time his mind became unstable enough to form his Kakuja? He'd deal with it. He was his own master at this point, thus nobody would be making him do things he didn't want to do.

Whelp, time to elaborate, Nico mentally thought whilst continuing. "At this point in time, its pretty much the best option you have at the moment. You've just fought an enemy whose power dwarfs yours. Probably one of the few where the power of the Goddess isn't enough. That means you HAVE to find a way to get yourself stronger, some way which your goddess powers cannot grant alone. This results in you training yourself, whilst unknowingly strengthening the demonic side within your sword. THAT there is the key. Everyone has their own inner beast inside, the side of them that they don't want to show to the world so they hide it behind a Mask. Therefore don't be afraid of these changes, instead you should embrace them, cause like my beast it will open the doors to greater potential in strength for you. Potential to make it so that you will NEVER again be that helpless."

...Accept... it...?

Those two words echoed in Neptune's mind whilst she looked at her hubby in bewilderment. Accept these changes? Was that what Nico was telling her? To accept that there was a beast in her and that she would have these new... instincts? The preteen hadn't expected that, she had thought Nico would have told her something else, like to confide in her friends and help her overcome these new changes. But, that hadn't happened at all, instead it had been the opposite. Looking into his eyes, the preteen looked for any signs of doubt or other intentions, but instead she had seen nothing but strength and determination in those light blue orbs. A determination which seemed all too similar to a raging fire yet had been allowed to run its course. Controlled emotion, that was what she had seen.

But... if that was what he was telling her...

Why did she feel like, in her mind, it was the right thing to do?

Flashbacks of Compa filled her mind, and all of a sudden it clicked inside her mind, a determination not unequal to the one Nico sported beginning to burn inside her eyes. Of course, she knew. She knew this from the beginning, but she had been so caught up in this confusion and fear that she hadn't realized it, but confiding within Nico had helped her see. Whatever changes were taking place within her, they didn't really matter in the long run, not to her. As long as she grew stronger from it, as long as she gained the strength to NEVER let Halo Mountain happen again, then she would do anything. Neptune wouldn't let something like so minor as confusion or fear to deter her, not when the lives of her friends were held at stake. Its a bit cheesy, but her friends were the world to her, so if anyone dared to harm them, then she'd retaliate with extreme force!

This wasn't the normal Gamindustri that many rebirth 1 fanfictions were about! This one is approaching war, and in war one should not hesitate to take up arms.

Thus, Neptune felt like it had finally been time for her to embrace her inner beast. If her hubby could do it, then why couldn't she?

With those thoughts circulating through her mind, Neptune looked up at her hubby who noticed the changes in her state of being. As a result of this, a small lopsided smirk formed on his lips, eyes dancing with various emotions as he questioned her knowingly. "Figured anything out yet?"

A matching smirk formed on her lips as Neptune nodded. She pulled back, allowing Nico to release her from his embrace and allowing her to hop to her feet. "Nep yeah, Nicky. Not sure where all this fire came from, but Nep likes what she sees!" she proclaimed, her smirk widening into a toothy grin as Nico chuckled knowingly, standing up with her and placing his hands in his Trench Coat pockets. "Thanks for helpin' me out, hubby, means a lot!" she proclaimed.

"No problem. Say, mind if I join you? You look like you know what to do, and i'd like to be there to witness it."

"Sure! I mean, I was gonna drag you there anyways, so why not?"

Sweat dropping at her answer, Nico merely let Neptune grab his left arm(after strapping Soul Calibur to her back) and pull him out of the Hotel's living room, deactivating his Bracer all the while.

What, he loved those babies, don't judge!

* * *

Later on, the two had exited the city (after several times Nico had to get her back on track when she saw something she wanted to buy, which was mostly pudding related), and found themselves in a large, open field. Large enough for what the duo intended to do, not to mention how as they had neared their destination Soul Calibur gradually began to shake with ever growing intensity, as if it had been aware of what would be happening next. The field looked to be at least an hour's walk from the main city, which they had cleared in half the time since Neptune had been like a toddler on a sugar rush in her excitement. Not like he could blame her, if what he theorized was true, then this would likely be something crucial to Neptune's growth.

Once they got there, the two stood opposite each other with about 6 meters distance between them. They each had their swords out, Neptune choosing her Soul Calibur and Nico with his Rebellion. They stared at each other, the winds blowing through the vicinity rustling through their hair like hands were rubbing over them, yet they didn't mind nor care. Not with bigger things on their minds.

"So... you mind telling how this will work?" Nico questioned as he held his Rebellion in a ready stance. His stance had been the stance taught to him by Okada Izou, which resulted in it looking like this: his body bent forwards slightly like a hunchback, with both hands on the hilt of Rebellion which was angled downwards. His legs were in a crouching position, with the right leg in front of the left. Nico had been told by Okada that this was called his 'Two-Handed Killer stance', which was the default stance for the Manslayer Style that Okada had taught him. Any complaints the male had, had been pretty much crushed to nothingness by the sheer training the man forced him to endure, but to Nico the rewards definitely had merit. There WAS a One-Handed Killer stance which merely revolved around him being upright instead of crouched with everything else being the same, but Nico liked this stance. As for why he had taken this stance, well he WAS using a two-handed sword, and there were different stances for different styles of swordplay.

Plus, it had been advised to him by Neptune during their travels here, though as to why this was so she hadn't told him yet.

Neptune soon took her own stance, and when she did, Nico noticed that it was different from her previous one. Instead of her previous stance, Neptune had changed it so she stood with her right side facing towards him, with her hands holding onto Soul Calibur with the blade pointing behind her. This however, didn't stop him from hearing Neptune's reply though, which came promptly afterwards. "Weeeeell… ya know how these edgy Demons love to fight and all? Well, I discovered the best way to develop this sucker's naughty side was to fight, so I've been fighting like crazycakes to make my baby stronger. Soooo, I just kinda figured that a spar might help me finally break through." she explained, deploying her Armour. She then leaned forwards, and though he couldn't see her features, Nico felt willing to bet that she had a smile on her lips. "Better be ready, Nicky! Not going easy on ya!"

"I expect as much, now then come at me bro!"

Instantly, Neptune broke into a dash, clearing the distance between them instantly and, with the use of her TRACKLESS STEP, managed to slip past Nico's external defences. She then swung her blade at his neck, which prompted Nico to duck his head under it and aim a slash upwards, for Neptune to twirl around it. Whilst she twirled though, the redhead shot his foot out and slammed it into her ankle, causing her to go off balance, though this didn't remain so for long as she used her free hand as a means to perform a handstand to kick at Nico, making him block with Rebellion as he jumped backwards by a couple meters, before he charged right back at her standing upright self.

Even as he cleared the distance in a couple milliseconds, Neptune promptly raised her sword and cross blocked a downward slash, as well as sidestepped several kicks to the face. Twisting in mid air, Nico followed up with another slash from the mighty Rebellion, slamming it into Soul Calibur with enough force to crack the ground beneath him... without the use of any form of empowerment abilities. However, Nico put this achievement to one side as he landed on the ground behind her, resulting in them being back-to-back. This allowed them to exchange slashes in a way which seemed QUITE reminiscent of the time Nico fought Arfoire back in the Monster Cave, until he flipped away from her and vice versa, resulting in them facing off with each other.

All that happened in like a couple seconds.

After this clash, the two charged at one another once more, entering a vicious slash fest which sent massive shockwaves ringing through the air. Every millisecond the two slashed at each other, their respective weapons bouncing off one another with loads of sparks flying between them. They each made use of each other's strikes to follow up with their next one, resulting in two endless chains of sword swings ramming onto one another. Feints, energy-less slashes, twists, blocks, counters all of these tactics got employed in a deadly dance of death between them. Gradually, the fact that this had been a simple spar faded from their minds as the two lost themselves in the heat of this intensifying sword fight.

During all of this, Nico kept an eye on Soul Calibur as it blurred about, its speed making it almost look like it was sporting afterimages like in some of the tomes he had read. Each blow felt light against Rebellion, though thanks to him cultivating the Great Way of the Buddha, Neptune lacked the proper arm strength to win against him in a head on power struggle. Something she had learned early on in their little slash fest. As he eyed it during their bout, Nico noticed that the sword gradually began to sport these dark splotches, like a colourless artwork slowly being dyed black. This phenomenon caught his attention immediately as he parried several strikes then reposed towards her neck, forcing Neptune to divert the swing upwards then strike with the pommel of her sword, something Nico diverted away from him with Rebellion's own pommel.

 **'Hmmm, it appears the young goddess' sword technique has rapidly improved since we last saw her.'**

'Yeah... say Biko, how's Soul Calibur fairing?'

 **'The more you fight, the more I'll be able to see, but it does seem to be going through a development. Based off my observations, it appears to be undergoing the final stages of some kind of metamorphosis, like caterpillar cocooning to become a butterfly. It seems to stem from her Demonic Power, thus it must be what has been influencing her all this time. It needs to be completed however, for these changes to no longer be an issue. From my calculations, its at... 45%, not only will it take some time to complete, the rest will likely be up to Neptune...'**

'Figures... Aright, keep me posted on this metamorphosis' process.'

After that conversation, Nico and Neptune broke away from each other, entering the next stage of their spar when Neptune switched Soul Calibur to its Dual Kodachi Swords. In response to this, Nico summoned Ouranos into his other hand, remembering what his Demon Persona had told him about his weapons. 'Rebellion's a Devil Arm, so I should be able to have it out with Ouranos which is an Archdevil Arm. My soul should be able to take it...' he thought to himself as the two faced off.

This time, Nico closed the distance between them with the Star God's Broken Shadow, swinging Rebellion towards her neck diagonally. The moment Neptune blocked with one of her Kodachi's though, she instantly realized there was little power behind the strike, a bit too late however as Nico swiftly used the momentum from Rebellion bouncing back into a horizontal slash, following it with a diagonal slash from Ouranos. Neptune quickly responded though, swiftly twirling around to avoid the fist strike then swing her other Kodachi towards the approaching Ouranos. This resulted in a loud CLANG erupting through the field as the two weapons slammed into one another with great force.

Neptune then pulled a fast one on Nico, by flipping her sword upwards and making a riposte-like manoeuvre, deflecting Ouranos upwards and launching a snap kick towards his stomach. Out of instinct however, did the redhead use his Star God's Broken Shadow to evade it, appearing behind her with a thrusting Rebellion towards the back of her head. This movement elected a jump from the preteen as she black flipped over him and slashed at his head with one Kodachi. Nico blocked with Ouranos, then parried the second with Rebellion before unleashing a QUICKSWORD technique on her as she landed, sending her flying backwards. 'Phew, I used Rebellion's flat surface on that last slash there, otherwise I might have gone right through her...' Nico thought to himself...

Only to blink when he found Neptune already on him.

When he saw one Kodachi being flung towards the centre of his forehead, he swiftly deflected it towards the right, only for Neptune to slide right past him with her remaining one aimed for his side. Had he not put Rebellion in the way in time, he would have suffered an injury there. Not something he couldn't handle thanks to his regeneration powers, but his stance on them had already been made apparent. Twirling around, Nico positioned both his blades in a cross block, catching both Kodachi's in their grasp before cross slashing, deflecting both towards opposite directions before bringing both blades towards his opponent. Said opponent utilizing her MARGINAL COUNTER to flip the grips onto her Kodachi's and block both of them as if she held knives in the reverse grip.

At that point, Nico used his 'SGBS' (Shortened version of his movement skill) to evade any future slashes, ending up getting about 7 meters distance between them. His breathing remained calm when he stopped, his coat flapping in front of him thanks to his motions, whilst he held his dual weapons in the Manslayer Style's 'Dual Killer Stance': The stance being similar to the Two-handed Killer Stance but he wasn't as hunched over, with one sword angled downwards and the other angled diagonally upwards towards his enemy. Of course, using two swords like Rebellion and Ouranos, two massive swords, wasn't something any normal swordsman could do, but thanks to his constant use of Soul Edge, it hadn't been an issue for him.

Glancing towards her swords, Nico noticed that only one of the swords seem to have been completely blackened, the other only having minor splotches here and there.

 **'Progression rate... 60%.'**

Nodding at Biko's mental confirmation, Nico waited for Neptune to make the next move, eyeing her up as he did so to see how this process was affecting her. Almost immediately did he see it, how her body was hunched over like a predator stalking its prey, her form blackened by a heavy aura of Demonic energy which allowed her to have glowing crimson eyes with a maniacal shine to them, like some twisted psychopath on steroids. Her smile had turned to one of a slasher's, sending chills down his spine though he didn't express it. It honestly reminded him of that show with that silver haired woman who used a sword and was part of a species of superhumans who got 'winged' by kissing destined partners or something. 'Looks like its worse than she said it was. This process must be influencing her greater than she realized, since she only remembers fractions of it. Her opponents must not have lived long enough for the process to finish, otherwise Neptune wouldn't have had this problem...' Nico thought to himself.

At once, did Neptune shift Soul Calibur once more, becoming a traditional Japanese-style Katana, but with an icy blue crystalline appearance. The main hilt looked to be just big enough for two hands, with across guard that had the sphere of Soul Calibur, the core, embedded within. The blade itself was the same, but with lighter blue runic symbols carved in. The blade had a dark blue vapor around it like a cloak, giving off this intimidating yet divine appearance. Gripping the Katana in both hands, Neptune sharply broke into a mad sprint, dashing towards him, before pulling a feint and going to the right, then jumping forth into his right flank.

'Ah, the Katana form. Neptune told me once that her Soul Calibur has a total of 8 forms: a Railgun, a Halberd, a Katana, Dual Shotguns, Zweihander, Rifle, Dual Kodachi Swords and the Sword and shield, aside from its default form. So far, I believe the viewers have only seen everything aside from the Railgun and the Katana, which they are seeing right now.' Nico thought, breaking the fourth wall in the process as he dismissed Ouranos for Rebellion, holding it in the Two-Handed Killer Stance as his opponent approached him. The first strike formed as a downward slash aimed for his right shoulder, so Nico angled his sword diagonally to the right, deflecting that strike as well as its energy.

No sooner had he done this, did Neptune follow up with a series of other slashes mixed with a few thrusts, all linked together into a deadly chain with hardly any openings. However, by angling his sword in various ways, the redhead defended against each of them without losing any ground before, in an interesting display of footwork did the male slide right past her. Seconds later, several deep cuts appeared over her body, cutting through her clothes and drawing blood, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. 'Huh, Mentor Okada DID say how the Manslayer style was meant to kill the opponent as effectively as possible. If it weren't for angling my Sword at the last second, I would have hit multiple vital areas.' Nico thought to himself, frowning as he held Rebellion in the Two-Handed Killer Stance once more.

Snarls and grunts, ones not unlike those an animal would make, escaped Neptune's lips as she turned and snarled at him, most of the blade she wielded now being completely black. 'Looks like this process attacks her sanity too, making it so she cannot speak and instead fight with all she has.' Nico observed, readying himself as he dashed forwards, using SGBS to close the distance then form about 4 Afterimages. Each of them were in various attack positions, thus it caused the primitive Neptune to look at them each for a couple seconds in caution, holding her Katana in a defensive stance.

'Instincts seem to work still though, perhaps better than before, but even so...!'

Before she could react, all 4 Afterimages shot towards her, each going for different areas of her body, flying through the air like 4 powerful blades, for the preteen to swiftly enter a series of 360 degree resulted in her EASILY taking out all four Afterimages like they were nothing but air... ironic, since that had truly been the case as she soon realized when all four vanished into nothing... instead of her sword eventually meeting the flesh of the one she wanted to slice. A startled grunt escaped her lips, before she looked up and saw the redhead diving towards her with his sword already poised to slash through her neck. Only by reflexively using her MARGINAL COUNTER did she dodge the first slash in time...

Right before Nico twisted like a sausage and swung Rebellion again towards her stomach.

SLAM-CLANG!

Reflexes saved her again as Neptune slid backwards by at least 20 meters, causing two foot sized fissures to form beneath her feet. At this point, the aura surrounding her got denser, swirling around her like a vortex as her eyes begun to shine even brighter. They pretty much had a rectangular shine to them, similar to a certain cyborg whenever he activated his Ripper Mode. Snarls and beastly growls escaped her lips, anger and frustration at not being able to have her sword taste the flesh of her opponent radiating from her form. That... as well as excitement, glee and impatience, born from the very sword itself as if it had sensed that the threshold which it and its wielder had been stuck in had long since been passed.

 **'Nearly done, Nico, 95%.'**

'We're nearing the home stretch...' the redhead summarized from his Demon Persona's report, switching to the One-Handed Killer's Stance as he eyed his opponent. At this point, since things were going well for him thanks to learning under the user of the Manslayer Style (part of him still worked on believing that guy and him were relatives, the rest not so much), he felt like his own sword techniques should be utilized from this point onwards. If what he thought was going to happen happened, then its likely that her combat ability will be bolstered by the Demonic Power coursing through her body.

A hunch which soon proved itself right when in the next second, Neptune had appeared behind him, and thus Nico held Rebellion by his side in a downward angle, blocking a slash which could have decapitated a normal person. He then twirled around, spinning their connected blades in an arc above their heads before snap kicking Neptune back and jumping into a helicopter kick, following it up with a rapid thrust barrage towards her head. Blocking all but the last thrust which shattered her guard, Nico swiftly headbutted her, leaving Neptune dazed long enough for him to dash past her, dozens of slashes appearing over her body.

She didn't fall however, not like he expected her to since he didn't aim for her vitals. Instead, Neptune's Demonic Power repaired what damage had been done, and was it just him, or did that aura of hers reduce the damage he had been able to inflict on her? Cause, when he struck just now, and pretty much the rest of the times too, his sword felt like it was being swung through one HELL of an ocean of resistance before striking her flesh. It wasn't anything major, since he could get through it pretty easily, but still for him to notice it meant a lot.

'Think about that later, focus on defending yourself.'

Thoughts like that filled his mind as he twirled around and parried several slashes from Neptune's Soul Calibur, which had formed its Halberd self before she switched to a Katana and launched more slashes, ending up with reverting Soul Calibur to its default form to make an overhead smash. Blocking all but the last and using the SGBS to dodge that last swing, Nico appeared beside her with a slash to her arms, activating his QUICKSWORD to do so. MARGINAL COUNTER activated though, and Neptune managed to parry each of his swings. This MARGINAL COUNTER of hers must have been trained immensely, since according to her it took stamina to use. 'She must have a LOT in this state of being...' he thought to himself, jumping back when Neptune crossed slashed at him, then jumped to give chase.

Immediately her sword began to glow, and Nico quickly realized what her intent had been as he unleashed his QUICKSWORD, countering her CROSS COMBINATION attack with ease. What he did NOT expect, was for her to chain in a CRITICAL EDGE afterwards, causing him to loosen his hold on Rebellion. The sword flew out of his hands and up into the air, spinning like a wheel whilst Nico somersaulted backwards into a jump, shooting through the air at high speeds. He could sense the approaching Neptune jump after him, intent on catching him before he could catch his weapon, causing a small smirk to form on his lips.

'Fool...!'

Unfortunately for her, Neptune in this state, underestimated Nico's speed, and thus he grasped onto Rebellion's hilt just in time to launch a downward slash, making her raise Soul Calibur to block it. As a result, Nico's strength empowered by the Great Way of the Buddha, as well as the other natural enhancers he'd gained over the last few weeks, outdid hers to force her to go crash into the ground below.

Just seconds after that...

* * *

 **'There, it should be done, Nico. 100%'**

'Got it.'

Landing on the ground, Nico hopped backwards about 14 meters, landing with a slight skid before getting into his default Two-Handed Killer Stance. His eyes narrowed, calculating caution shining through them as he peered into the generated smokescreen, searching for any signs of his berserk companion. Don't get him wrong, Nico trusted his Demon Persona and all, but he was the cautious type, ya know? Not to mention this was unfamiliar territory, he'd not had any experience in dealing with a Goddess learning how to use and understand Demonic Energy like this. Though, looking at it somewhat reminded him of the Evil Spirit Form that guy used a bit, causing shudders to go up his spine.

Not to mention that Biko's words had somewhat caught him by surprise, so he didn't really have much time to calm his sharp, bloodthirsty instincts yet.

As he peered into the smoke, Nico reached out with his senses, trying to feel out any signs of Demonic Power whilst he calmed his nerves. His mind and gut told him to be wary still though, so he kept his Stance up. 'Now then, Neptune... how will you turn out after this, I wonder...?' Nico wondered, smiling to himself even with his spar with her crazy self. Honestly, sparring with just sword skill like this, even if he used his movement skill a few times, felt quite fun. It had been a while since he last sparred with the girls, and though this wasn't like their usual ones it still held that special feeling that kind of magic which only came from sparring. It had been so long that he'd almost forgotten, but right now all he focused on was the smokescreen containing his comrade.

A Goddess with Demonic Power undergoing a transformation...

What would come out of this, he wondered...?

Part of him naturally worried for her wellbeing, as both Demonic Power and Share Energy were opposing elements. Elements which were quite violent when in contact with each other, almost like poison. Proof was when Noire got infested with his power back in West Wind Valley, however Neptune had managed to find a way to house both energies inside of her. What kind of changes to her power level would be happening would be anyone's guess. Yet, Nico also found himself excited at the prospect. A Goddess was learning bout Demonic Power, able to use both in perfect harmony. It oddly resembled the recent harmonization between his very own Demon and Ghoul powers, so if he could do it then Neptune surely could. He believed in her.

...

...

...

...

...

… After about 5 minutes... it happened.

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

In an instant, a huge whirlwind erupted out of the smokescreen, pushing away the smoke as well as anything not tied down in the immediate vicinity like the roar of a wild beast. A sharp, high-pitched whistling sound soared through the area, almost ripping his eardrums apart if possible.

'Whoa!'

 **'It has begun!'**

'Yeah, I can see it!'

After conversing with his Demon Persona, Nico quickly covered his face with one forearm, moving it to his forehead so he could see what was happening. Before him, the male stood in the presence of a black semi-sphere, blacker than night with bloody crimson fumes radiating from their very core like a living flame. The air itself began to get heavy, like thousands of 1000KG weights suddenly appeared over every atom whilst the sphere had many long wisps spiralling around it like a tornado. The feeling of the air losing all its liquids filled the atmosphere, nearly causing Nico to feel like he was suffocating had his Demonic Power not emerged to shield him from the feeling.

As for the semi sphere, Nico saw how it rose from the ground till it revealed its full glory as a complete black sphere, crimson mist spiralling around it whilst forming dozens upon dozens of crimson, wild, ferocious and wicked-looking crystals, hundred upon hundreds even which spiralled around it. These Crystals each combined together, forming larger Crystals which soon became the size of a humanoid torso each. Each one had an appearance which basically screamed this 'evil, I will destroy anything which dares to touch me' kind of feeling.

After a couple moments, the sphere looked like it was beginning to grow unstable and volatile, with how its surface started to bubble madly, so Nico prepared himself for any sort of explosion. However, instead of that, something inside it seemingly made a swiping motion, dispersing the sphere as well as the Mist and Crystals effortlessly, as if they never existed.

The moment he saw it, Nico's mouth dropped.

 **(Play** **High School DxD OST Watashi no tame ni, Ikinasa)**

"Wow..."

That word escaped his lips as Nico beheld what he had the fortune of gazing upon. There, floating at least 8 meters above the ground from where a certain preteen once fell, was a young looking woman of 20 years of age, staring down at him directly, locking their gazes together and rendering him speechless, numb to his surroundings and unable to tear his eyes away from her. Almost like they had bewitched him or had the charm of a dangerous succubus, ensnaring him with that thorny gaze of hers. Her eyes, by the goddess those eyes, they carried a uniqueness to them which had him starstruck, being equal in parts crimson like pools of blood, as well as black like a starless night, the former beneath the latter whilst in them, two slitted demonic power button symbols could be seen, each one the reverse colour of the surrounding eye. Black when surrounded by red, and red when surrounded by black. Long, abyssal black hair flowed down her back like gentle waves in a calm ocean in the night, straight and true unlike the dual braids of a certain someone he knew. Over her head, he could make out a crimson headpiece, shaped like a pair of demonic crimson wings with black mechanical webbing.

Her height matched that of Purple Hearts, with a matching curvy figure to boot, a figure which any man would probably lose heir sanity to the desire to touch. Not to mention would make even supermodels go green with envy. This figure seemed to be covered from a tight, dark red full-body bodysuit which covered her from the neck down, clinging to her like a second skin. There were black areas as well, thus being reminiscent of the colours of a Demon. Then, he took in some... other details, like how her hands up to her elbows were covered by black clawed gauntlets with crimson sharp nails, nails sharp enough to rip through flesh and bone. Her legs were similar, the leg armour reaching her thighs and ending in sharp, blade-like stiletto heels. From the base of her Spine, erupted a single, 6 foot long black tail which had a chain-like appearance, the tip shaped like a dagger. Protruding behind her upper back, were a pair of elongated, sharpened crimson crystal wings, each sporting 3 digits and shaped like a Demon's, large enough to support flight.

If he looked at her boobs, then he'd realize they were the same as Purple Heart's.

In her right hand, there existed in her grasp, a long Tachi sword, a sword similar in shape to a Katana. The Tachi had a pure black blade with crimson symbols etched into the flat sides, crimson electricity constantly sparking along it like the blade was constantly vibrating like a HF Blade. The shaft itself had a black leather grip, with a crimson pommel and hilt. Although nothing when compared to Soul Calibur's default form in size, the sheer power radiating from the blade could NOT be underestimated. It wouldn't lose out to even Soul Edge in its true form, THAT just went to show how much power had been contained within the blade. Strapped to the left side of her waist, was a sheath which the Tachi looked to be meant to be sheathed in when it wasn't needed, though it felt like it had just as many hidden talents as the Sword itself.

This, combined with the many Crystals floating around her, caused Nico to be entranced by her.

Especially those eyes... by the Goddess those eyes...

'Holy...'

Nothing came from his aspects, since they too shared his feelings, none of them even noticed how deep within his Inner World, the manifestation of Erebus gritted her teeth in jealousy.

After one heck of a moment staring, Nico finally got his shit together and shook his head, clearing the cobwebs from his mind as he held the side of his noggin. 'Okay, I was sorta expecting something drastic, but THIS took the cake...' he thought to himself when he heard the telltale signs of the womanly form descend towards the earth. Once her heels nearly touched the ground, she floated over to him like he would in DPU Form, and for a moment, Nico couldn't help but look into her eyes once more, any attempt to raise Rebellion for defence thwarted by that gaze alone.

Once she was before him though... the woman's crimson coloured lips curved into a small, amused smile, her eyes dancing with dark, yet entrancing amusement at him. "Awww, why the long face, Nicky? Do you not recognize your wifey in this bod?" she questioned, snapping him out of his stupor.

"N-Neptune...? Holy, I had thought something like this would happen, but... wow..."

Obviously, Nico had few words to say right now, too stunned by her current form to say much else. This caused Neptune, in her current form, to chuckle to herself in a similar manner to her CPU Form. "Well, its of no surprise, it appears that my personality in this form is like that of my HDD self. Though, I do sense one distinct difference..." she spoke, her voice like roses inside Nico's ears as she reached out and cupped his cheek in her clawed hand. Her gauntlet had vanished in a flash of red by her will, so she didn't hurt him when doing this. "I feel like in terms of seduction, this form beats my other form by far. I DO seem to recall that you liked my hair down..." she remarked, causing Nico's face to go red at the memory.

'G-Goddamnit, why the hell did she have to bring THAT up now of all times?!' he shrieked mentally as his thoughts began to turn towards the... raunchy side, much to his dismay. 'This form of hers may be similar personality wise to Purple Heart's, but its got its own dangers...!'

Coughing to clear his throat (and to try and clear his head whilst he was at it), Nico tried to take some control over the situation by bringing up the obvious topic. "W-Well... I can safely say that this form is... well, reminiscent of your CPU Form in terms of using Demonic Power instead of Share Energy as a means of transforming. Your Demonic Power Core seems to have taken over here, your Share Energy taking a back seat. This likely means your Share Energy will be like your Demonic Power in HDD: there, but limited in use. Like one big switcharoo." he mused, before glancing to her sword. "That Tachi must be Soul Calibre's base form in this state, not to mention it feels quite strong. It doesn't feel like a DPUs though, it feels way more like controlled chaos instead of the wild chaos which our energies feel like..." he mused, the more he speak the more confidence which came back.

As she watched him try to regain himself, sometimes fumbling like an idiot, Neptune couldn't help the giggle that formed in her throat. Oh, how she missed this, teasing her hubby with her body and seeing his cute reactions. 'Even if he's an edge lord, he's one big softie inside still. Oh, I just can't WAIT for the day when I can finally 'corrupt' that innocence of his, it'll be SO much fun...' she thought as images raced through her mind. Images which she would have had a nosebleed from if she were human, but it seemed like the 'calmness' aspect of Nico's DPU Form seemed to have passed into her DT Form. Perhaps it could be used for battle, too? It WAS possible, since this form came largely from her hubby's Demon powers. She did wonder if any of the other Goddesses would gain this 'Devil Trigger' ability in the future. Part of her wished they wouldn't so she would have a lead, but her gut told her otherwise.

Oh well, she can at least enjoy him for what remained of the day, and boy would she...

But first...

Looking herself over, Neptune hummed in agreement. "Well, Lets pull a reference from that guy with white hair whose half demon and call this my 'Devil Trigger' Form. I feel a lot more like a Demoness like this, anyways, and according to traditions, I think I'll call myself 'Blood Heart' to refer to my mostly red colour scheme." she stated, to which Nico shrugged nonchalantly since he didn't have any complaints. Afterwards, an idea came to her when she looked to her Tachi-shaped Soul Calibur, prompting her to look back to Nico with a look he knew all too well, since he sometimes had it on the battlefield: bloodlust. "Say, Nicky... shall we not test this form out? You still have quite the spunk left after keeping me entertained before..." she suggested, her tone thick with sultriness which would have made any mortal go weak in the knees.

A fight against a powerful opponent, huh? At that moment, Nico's eyes lit up with his embarrassment being replaced by excitement and bloodlust. Quickly transforming into Crimson Soul, the young DPU held his Soul Edge in the Two-Handed Killer Stance, his eyes shining with competitive spirit.

No words needed to be said as Neptune, now Blood Heart, got into her own stance...

Thus, commenced the Sparring.

 **(OST END)**

* * *

 **Chapter end! (been a while since I wrote an AN, huh?)**

 **Alrightie guys, another one bites the dust. Now, a few things:**

 **One, to any who feel like this may be a bit forced, remember I've been hinting at this kind of thing since the beginning of the Demonic Invasion Arc. This is something that I've been planning to implement even before that too, so I know what I'm doing here. I gave it the name Devil Trigger since I wanted to make a distinct difference between this form and that of the DPUs. The thing is, because Soul Calibur has been absorbing Souls and getting stronger, its demonic aspect has gotten to a point where its equal to that of its divine side, which resulted in this transformation happening. It became this way through combat, since Demons thrive on the 'strength is survival' mentality, but Neptune needed someone who could last against her to complete the process. That's where Nico came in, and if you haven't seen the foreshadowing for the other CPUs at the end there, then I'll simply tell you to reread that end scene. Its not like this form won't become stronger though, and no, that Katana will NOT be Soul Calibur's final form. I still have a LOT planned for this form, don't you worry hehehehe…**

 **As for its design, the bodysuit resembles that of Zero Twos from Darling in the franxx, but with black instead of white bits and no cap. The sword itself is shaped from the Blade of the Archfiend from Ninja Gaiden, whilst everything else is from my own design. If any of you want to try drawing fan art of her, Nico or any characters, then go ahead. Surprise me.**

 **Oh yeah, in the side story I released you see how Noire develops her Devil Trigger as well.**

 **Two, the arcs. Sorry if it feels like I'm stalling, its like I get distracted way too easily or something. Now, there will be a few chapters focusing on light hearted character interactions with a bit of combat sprinkled in (cause I'm honestly itching to write action), but then the next major point will be the Spec Ops Exam, which I have a few things planned for. Then, finally after some more downtime the Lowee Arc will begin. Oh, and through these next few chapter I will drop hints about the next Landmass Arc and what will be shown in it to tide you all over, like I've done in previous chapters as well if you look hard enough.**

 **Aside from that, have a nice day y'all!**

 **Peace Out!**


	191. Chapter 160 - Compa Makes A Move

**Chapter 160 - Compa makes a move**

For the next couple days, Nico spent a lot of time with Neptune, either just lazing about with her or sparring with her in her new Blood Heart Form. Whenever they were just chilling, Nico and Neptune would either watc TV together whilst talking about what animes and Mangas they liked (Nico found himself more on the Shounen badass side of things whilst Neptune was more of an all-rounder), which gave way for lots of topics to go on about.

It even went into games, and how even though they were so popular in Gamindustri, there were still other mediums which still clung to life and did quite well for themselves. One of which was music, and by the GODDESS, did Neptune have a few things to say about that. ESPECIALLY when she found out that Nico Had been the one to release that Youtube Video of 'Real Gone' with his two guy comrades.

Lets just say Nico had been glad his Kagune had been revealed, cause without its ability he'd have likely lost his V card already...

Other than that, whenever Nico sparred with Neptune as Blood Heart, he would mostly do it as Crimson Soul, with few times in his human form. This was mostly due to him wanting to learn how to harness it better, possibly learning how to channel the Demonic Power in that form better (which would then transfer to his human form, improving his control overall), and thus possibly prolong the time he could remain in it. increasing the fusion rate for his Golden Crow Bloodline to 69% was a good plus too.

As a result, Nico managed to prolong his time in DDD by a good 2 hours, making it 15 hours in total. Not a bad thing considering how he'd only started Sparring with Blood Heart for a few days, but there could be more improvement. They say that life or death battles make one stronger, plus provide adequate training results, and Nico found himself believing in that statement wholeheartedly.

Aside from that, Nico had been doing his own research in his spare time, not just investigating the Lexicanum. He'd been pondering how to activate the Demon King Seed, but not much progress had been made there. According to Zelretch, it had 2 conditions to be activated, and even then it actually CHOOSES the user. Those conditions were to be recognized as a 'leader' by non-humans like Abnormals or Demons, as well as to gather over 100,000 Souls to feed to it to allow it to hatch. The soul condition Nico didn't feel like he'd have a problem with. However, it was the leadership Cndition which he would likely have more trouble with.

But that had been on NICO's side of the sparring…

Neptune's side on the other hand…

Well, where the hell could he begin? Hmmm, perhaps it was best to start with time limits. Like her HDD Form, it seemed like her Devil Trigger Form couldn't be held for long, at best it could last up to 8 hours whilst her HDD Form can last up to 4. However, one advantage her Devil Trigger Form had over HDD was that with training, it was possible for her to extend the time she could use it for, whilst Share Energy was born from faith. Even with the help of her Demon powers to generate more of it, the Demonic Power could only simulate so much.

On the matters of energy, true to his thoughts Neptune's Share Energy had limited access while in Devil Trigger, whilst Demonic Power would be limited in HDD. It would create this balance between her different forms, use one energy source in exchange for another. Whether or not she could fuse these two energies together would remain to be seen, but for the time being Nico didn't see something like that happening.

As for overall combat ability? Through their Spars (and the occasional hunting of Demons), Nico and Neptune had learned that her Devil Trigger form surpassed her HDD one by far in terms of combat ability, which was to be expected. It had the power to rival Sky Class Demons, maybe even those between Sky and World Class Demons, but that would be pushing it.

In the form of an equalizer however, Soul Calibur had been locked into this Tachi form without any ability to change into the others, like it could in human and CPU. Though, since Neptune had seen how good Nico had gotten with just the way of the blade, sparring with him ending up granting her some insights into how to polish her own swordplay, maybe that won't be so bad.

* * *

In current times, Nico sat in the living room of the Party's Hotel room, his right Bracer displaying research notes he'd made, whilst in his left hand, a book was there, floating in the grasp of a hand made from solidified Hellfire. Fortunately, Nico had found out that thanks to this new transformation, it had impacted his Hellfire in a way that made its dark, devouring qualities all the more dangerous if applied correcty. Now, he could CHOOSE what these flames devour, burn or whatever, something he felt would be QUITE useful in the future.

But that wasn't too important to him right now, what HE had been focusing on, was examining and reviewing information he had collected for the last couple hours about the recent politics taking place. It brought a snort out of him that people honestly believed every Noble had good intentions in mind when it had been stated that they were starting to work together with the Military families to protect themselves from the Abnormals, THAT alliance just screamed trouble waiting to happen.

 **'** **Say, what do you think this Spec Ops Exam is going to be like, Nico? As an Agent yourself, you may have some leeway into learning what its like.'**

'Even if that was indeed the case, I'd be unable to tell anyone about it, either due to secrecy, something that a lot of Spec Ops and higher ups have been shown to do these days, or someone else might overhear and tell the wrong kind of people. We can't have weaklings in our ranks after all, since we fight the beasts that nobody else can.' Nico replied, frowning as memories of the Nature Elves came back to his mind, making a pang of sadness erupt in his chest. Even if he had already avenged them, this pain inside still lingered.

Shaking his head, Nico forced himself not to travel down THAT route, lest bad things start to happen. He felt like whilst he had accepted his Ghoul and Demon sides, he also felt like his mind wasn't completely 100% yet. A few times over the last couple days, he'd been having hallucinations still, but they weren't of his Ghoul self but rather some of his… well, past memories, memories he could recall and memories he couldn't. Thus, Nico found that his mind had still been as fucked up as ever. Fortunately, the rate they had been happening had decreased compared to the past, meaning his mental fortitude had DEFINITELY increased.

Still, regarding Biko's query, Nico did have SOME clue as to what the Spec Ops Exam would be like this time around, but he refused to say more on th subject. He figured that the reason why Biko had been asking revolved around IF, whom he had heard had immersed herself in research abou the Spec Ops Program. Unfortunately, he had so much going on that he didn't exactly have time to visit her, and even if he could it seemed like she had been getting around, since he found it difficult to track her down. Girl was getting a hang of not wanting to be found pretty quickly, huh?

In any case, Nico didn't have time to think about that right now. Since Neptune had gone off to hunt some Demons (something which could potentially be a new hobby for her), Nico had been left by his lonesome, so he had decided to try his hand at figuring out the scope for the alternative suggestion given to him regarding Yvoire.

Nico may no longer care like he had once did about that naïve idiot (he knew the hypocrisy behind that statement, don't worry readers), but Nico STILL cared a lot about Vert. Taking out those Nobles even if Count Mott might be excluded due to his power, and replacing them would definitely help her out. He'd been working out the kinks ever since, and had become quite immersed in his work…

But he didn't miss the presence of someone approaching him.

Immediately identifying it through its signature, Nico deactivated his Bracers after storing the book away and dismissing his Hellfire, before turning to the source of the presence. His eyes widened a little before a smile formed on his face. "Hey there, Compa. Good morning." He greeted with a warm smile. Seriously, the moment that he saw the said Nurse-In-Training emerge into the living room from the entrance, the redhead felt all these building headaches become irrelevant, melting away in the breeze. It looked like she had just gotten back from the groceries, since she had a few bags in her hands. "Need a hand?" he queried, standing from the sofa.

Looking over to him, Compa perked up as she saw her childhood friend and crush coming over. It had been so long since she'd last seen him that just seeing his smile right now made her pretty much drop her bags to the floor, rush towards him and glomp him in one big hug. She squealed happily, especially when he returned the embrace with gusto, feeling so much like when they first reunited before they found Neptune, the feelings now and then being ALL TOO similar.

Before, she had just been going about her day, getting some groceries for the group. Today, Lucy had decided to give her the day off so she could rest from all the training and hunting Demons she'd been doing. Having to gain a better mastery over her various Angels, eventually beginning to learn how to summon and use multiple Angels at once (something she hadn't accomplished yet), took a lot out of her. She didn't feel too worried about the various forces gaining ground from this though. Her teacher and Team RAIL would be able to keep things in check whilst she was gone.

"Good to see you again, Compa. I know its been a while since we last saw each other, so I'm very sorry about that…" Nico whispered to her whilst they hugged, savouring the warm comfort that Compa exuded whenever she did that. 'DAMN, have I missed this. Compa, you give good hugs…' he added in his mind.

From his position, Nico felt her sake her head, as well as saw how her hair waved about from those motions. "Hm, its okay Ni-Ni. I don't mind, especially now that I have you right now…" she muttered in a reply, clutching his form a little tighter as if she didn't want to let go lest he vanish from her sight. Just like with Nico, Compa too savoured the best thing that could have ever come into their lives aside from each other: the warmth they provided when hugging.

Nico may think that she gave good hugs, but she thought the same towards her crush. The temptation to just stay in this embrace for all of eternity filled her mind, and by the Goddess did she really wish to, and judging by the comfort she'd been put under, Nico felt the same.

Unfortunately, time moved on as the two eventually and reluctantly pulled away from one another as things surfaced on their minds. The first one to speak their minds, had been Nico as he held her by the shoulders whilst looking into her creamy eyes. "Would you like some coffee? Feels like we haven't had time to catch up..." he queried whilst walking over to the kitchen segment of the living room and preparing a couple cups of coffee. The BEST kind of drink for pulling all-nighters in his eyes.

"Yupy, I've been working hard a lot these days Ni-Ni." Compa replied as she skipped over to the opposite side of the counter, beaming at him whilst putting her hands together behind her back. Leaning forwards slightly, she tilted her head to the side whilst giving a cute smile up to him. "Lucy Sensei taught me all sorts of things to help me control my new powers better, so don't be afraid to get injured, cause Nurse-In-Training Compa'll just fix you right up."

At this, Nico just sweat dropped at her whilst setting the cups onto their little plates, all the while blending the coffee Beans together. 'Pretty sure that sentence needs to be worded better, but then again that is one of Compa's traits. Been a while since I last saw it…' the male remarked to himself while putting the unneeded items back where he had found them. Thinking about it, this sadistic side of her sometimes came out of nowhere, and while he himself (along with the other girls in the Party) were used to it, to any random stranger danger alarms would blare in their brains. "Heh, you do that, Compa, you do that…" the male stated nonchalantly.

Though, why did he get the feeling that he'd be seeing it more often from now on?

* * *

Soon, the Coffee had been prepped and poured into the cups, so Nico and Compa moved over to the Sofa and sat down together, the former handing her one cup and plate whilst keeping the other for himself. After a polite 'thank you', Compa held the plate in one hand whilst holding the cup in the other, raising it to her lips and taking a slow sip. She shuddered when the liquid slithered over her tongue. "Hm! Its quite hot!" she squeaked, lowering the cup away from her lips and blowing on it, making a face where her eyes became X's while she held her lightly red tongue out as if sticking it out at someone.

"Ufufufufu, ya have to blow on it first, Compa, its just been brewed ya know." Nico gently chastisied her, all the while following his own advice as he sipped some from the cup. 'Honestly never noticed till now, but these hotels have quite posh tea sets even for commoners…' the male thought to himself whilst enjoying his drink. It wasn't often that he got to drink coffee, but whenever he did Nico would always love the occasion since Coffee had been the thing he'd used to help stave his hunger for a time if he needed to.

As it touched his lips, Nico relished in the warm liquid as it travelled down his throat, before pulling the cup away from his mouth and lowering it onto the plate over his lap. "So, I see you've been getting groceries? Also, since when did you come to like Coffee? I mean, you used to hate it when we were younger, but you didn't even stop me this time."

Compa, after following Nico's advice and sipping her coffee, replied soon afterwards. "Well, I kinda… go a taste for it when you left…" she spoke, pausing as she stared at her reflection within the cup. Her eyes softened as she remembered nights when she would have a cup of coffee and think about her childhood crush for nights on end. "I only brew it when I thought about you back then, since it made me feel closer to you. Otherwise, I would just make tea." In the end, the fondness she had in her eyes shined like two brilliant pure stars, almost forcing Nico to look away from the sheer purity radiating from her.

'G-Geez, how the hell has she not found someone yet? With stuff like that, I… Well, they'd have to get my seal of approval though, Compa deserves only the best in my opinion.' The redhead thought, honestly completely blown back by how beautiful his childhood friend look right now. It was like he was staring at an angel, and soon the irony of that opinion became known to him. "Y-You did, huh…?" he tried to say with a straight face, but the embarrassed blush on his features betrayed his true feelings, and Compa noticed this which elected a giggle out of her, much to his dismay.

Experiencing feelings like these, they reminded him of what had happened between him and the girls, when they accepted his Ghoul side and him completely. What Neptune had done back there couldn't have been more concrete proof of this if it tried, too. Now that he had sought advice for his problem understanding it… the thought that these wonderful girls accepted him made him feel a surge of warmth spread through his chest… and not the Hellfire, Golden Crow Flames, or his Essence Flame (which he had been neglecting to query to Biko about now that he thought about it).

"Yup, and we were running low on supplies again, so I went out to buy some more. Nep-Nep's been stuffing her face with Pudding as usuall, so I usually make weekly big shops to keep our supplies up." Compa, unaware of the thoughts and feelings surging through her childhood friend, continued when she realized she hadn't answered the other question he had asked. She held her index finger over her chin, looking up at the ceiling above whilst holding her cup in the other hand. She then looked towards him (Nico having schooled himself before she could notice how she affected him) and queried back. "What about you, Ni-Ni?" she asked, motherly concern in her voice. "You've been eating alright, haven't you?"

Eating.

Now THERE was a word with a whole different meaning to someone like him compared to everyone else.

When she had asked him that, Nico had no doubts she had been referring to his Ghoul side, and how he had to eat the flesh of others be it Abnormal or human, not human food. The way she looked at him right now supported this theory, and inside Nico felt his heart sink. He remembered whenever Compa would ask if he wanted something at meals, only for him to go with just some sandwiches and water, or even flat out deny her along their adventure.

He remembered the worried and concerned looks she would give him back then, as well as the looks of disappointment that he wouldn't let her cook any of the meals he used to like as a kid for him anymore. Even though she had no clue why back then, Nico couldn't help but feel like scum every time he thought about it. Heck, she may now have researched about Ghouls and Coffee if their resident Iffy hadn't told her already, so this worry could have been sprouted from his own actions.

'Speaking of my Ghoul side, hey Byakko any news on this metamorphosis my RC Cells are going through? Haven't felt them changing as much recently…'

'ALMOST DONE, KING, HOLD YA FUCKING HORSES, GEEZ!'

Mentally rolling his eyes at the rude and crass response, Nico looked back of his companion and gave her his comforting smile. "I'm fine, Compa. The Ghoul in me is sated for the time being, I'm not having much trouble with it right now. It may have a bit more of an appetite than normal Ghouls, but I've dealt with it for years, I know what I'm doing." For a moment, Nico deliberated on saying more about his condition. Part of him, the remnant of his past self, said no but the rest of him curbstomped that idea. Nico NEVER liked the idea of keeping things secret from the girls, either. Therefore, he continued. "To be honest, it might get a bit easier, since thanks to some… things which happened, my Ghoul side's been undergoing a sort of evolution. Into what I don't know, but I feel that when its complete, my Ghoul self will be unlike what its been before."

"Huh… alrightie, Ni-Ni…" Compa eventually replied, putting her worries for him to rest. After all, Nico did have a point, he DID have experience with his Ghoul side, having dealt with it since before she had even met him. So, it would be best to presume that he knew what he was doing. Part of her worried about this 'evolution' he had mentioned, but since he didn't look too distressed about it, Compa let it slide.

In any case, however, there was something that she wanted to do, and right now it felt like the right time to ask. This revelation to her didn't come easy however, as a profound nervous feeling of discomfort began erupting from the depths of her stomach to the rest of her body. Thanks to this, Compa rubbed her thighs together in anxiety, her eyes shifting to and fro from Nico to her Coffee. She didn't even notice how her hands shook even as she gripped the cup and plate, considering how she kept her gaze solely focused on the cup. If she looked up to Nico right now, Compa wasn't sure WHAT kind of face she'd end up making.

'Uuuuu… I tried to practice in my roomie when I was alone, late at night… but doing it for real is so hard…!'

What was it that Compa wanted to ask Nico, but found herself getting nervous at the thought of doing so?

Whelp take a look at this flashback, readers.

 ** _(Flashback)_**

 ** _"_** ** _Oh? Now THIS is intriguing, Compa. You want advice for asking a guy out?"_**

 ** _It was mid afternoon in day time, and Compa stood with her Teacher Lucy. The two had returned to some random village to inform one random Client that they had taken out the hoard of Northmen who had been massing for an assault upon them. According to the client, this Northmen force had been accompanied by a hoard of Khornate Bloodletters and had been lead by a Bloodthirster, something wich they had confirmed for themselves. Compa had seen a few of them already thanks to this training, but never had she fought one directly due to not being strong enough, according to her teacher's observations. Well, that wasn't quite right, her power HAD been quite large, but she didn't have much skill to take them on before._**

 ** _As such, Lucy would have taken it out herself, as taking out a Bloodthirster was well within her power, she wanted to test how far Compa had come with training her powers. It had been a while since they last found a Bloodthirster in Leanbox, plus Lucy had been making Compa fight against Chaos Champions whilst she disposed of the 'canon fodder' to have her student improve her combat skills. From her own experiences, the Spring Goddess had observed how brutal yet grand the fighting prowess each Bloodthirster possessed, despite their massive size. As such, she had been reluctant to have Compa face one, taking any they did encounter herself._**

 ** _In the end however, Lucy had found herself to be quite satisfied with his battle. Not only had Compa managed to hold her own against the Bloodthirster, but she'd also been able to reduce the Bloodthirster to nothing but a smouldering pile of ash, through the use of Metatron's light incinerating it with as much light as she could have generated through that said Angel. She still even had power left to spare, thus she'd retained her ability to stay in Spirit Form to continue the conflict. Good thing too, cause when this happened, it had caused her to become the target for the other Bloodleetters in an attempt to avenge their master. Unfortunately for them, Compa's ability to switch between Angels had become pretty much instantaneous, thus allowing her to switch to Camael and incinerate them completely in holy flames._**

 ** _Once they had returned however, Compa (who returned to human form after she'd determined that her Spirit Form could be held for up to 9 hours) had popped a question to her teacher, a question which had caught Lucy by surprise._**

 ** _Thus, it lead to this moment._**

 ** _Not even daring to look at Lucy's eyes, Compa nodded as she shuffled nervously on the spot. This had taken a LOT out of her courage to ask, and several attempts had already been made to ask Lucy, the one person she knew could best answer her question… aside from Helen. Though, she chose Lucy instead since Helen likely would figure it out WAY sooner than Lucy did, she WAS the mother of the guy she crushed on after all. A Mother tended to worry about these things. Though, that didn't mean that asking Lucy carried its own risks, since she got the feeing that Lucy had 'been around' for a while. Plus, she'd been training er for a while, so she knew what to observe with her._**

 ** _On Lucy's end, the redhead woman couldn't help but smirk behind a closed fist, knowing EXACTLY what had been running through Compa's mind. 'Honestly, it's about damn time, woman.' She thought to herself. 'You thought you were being discreet? Puh-lease, I've been around the block more times than you doing the mandatory breathing thing, so I picked up the signs piece of cake. Pretty sure I know who it is your crushing on, too… and he has the gall to think he's not a ladies man…' Lucy mentally snickered at that last part, already imagining what THAT guy's reaction would have been if he found out about this._**

 ** _"_** ** _U-Um… yes…" Compa muttered under her breath, but Lucy pretended not to hear._**

 ** _Leaning forwards slightly, Lucy cupped her ear whilst pointing that ear towards her student. "What? I didn't catch that, mind repeating?" she questioned, hiding her amusement._**

 ** _"_** ** _U-Um, Yes!" Compa shouted, face red as an apple, so flustered that she unintentionally shouted it out, which attracted more than a few onlookers. She nearly shuddered when she felt some… less than pure gazes fall onto her, but she did her best to ignore them. If it hadn't been for Lucy hmmering it into her head that she needed to be more sure of herself, then this conversation would never have happened, so she had to use those lessons in that case too._**

 ** _Nodding in satisfaction (though Compa hadn't seen it due to having her eyes closed), Lucy crossed her arms and aimed a bit of Killing Intent at the onlookers, causing them to pale and scatter whilst doing their best not to attract unwanted attention. 'There, now that those annoyances are out of the way…' she thought, before addressing Compa. "Well, if you want advice for asking someone out, it depends on the personality of the guy in question." She began, getting Compa's attention as she opened her eyes with a look of confusion about them._**

 ** _"_** ** _Take it from me dear, every guy has his own 'personality' when being asked out by girls. Some will look for it and be bold about it, not hidjng their intent while others can be more… deceptive, in their actions as well as forcefull. Then there are those like a certain someone we know who are too dense for any kind of beating round the bush, and requie it to be said straight to their faces. Those kinds of guys can be annoying to deal with, especially with how they're portrayed in Anime and Monga, but when you finally get them to see you for wo you are, then they can be the best kind of relationship partners around."_**

 ** _Taking this information in, Compa hummed in thought, as Lucy continued whilst the Nurse-In-Training absorbed the advice she was being given. "Depending on the guy, you will have to approach them differently, so its up to you. Gauge how he is first, then just pop the question. If all goes well, you'll be able to go on your first ever date, and maybe even get some action at the end… though I doubt you would be THAT bold yet. You're still young after all."_**

 ** _(Flashback END)_**

Blinking as she returned to reality, Compa clenched her fists whilst biting the inside of her cheek. Her eyes shimmered as all manor of thoughts raced through her mind, triggered by the recent flashback she had. Asing Lucy for advice had been pretty much the best thing she could have done in her situation. Since A: she'd been too shy to ask Neptune, the other CPU or IF for advice (the fact that, even if they were friends, they were still rivals in a sense for Nico's heart withstanding), and B: Lucy held WAY more experience in this field than any of them did. Even more than Helen potentially, so she'd been the perfect choice. Thankfully she hadn't teased Compa TOO bad about it, she could only imagine the embarrassment if that would have happened.

In any case though, back to the problem at hand.

'Ni-Ni's quite dense, several hints have already ben dropped before buthe never got them. Also, I remember a few times when we go to get groceries together he attracts a fair amount of female attention but never notices. He has this 'bad boy' apparel which makes him even more appealing, but his personality is like the very opposite. He's like an innocent child in that respect… which makes him fall into THAT category Lucy Sensei told me about…' she thought, remembering everything she knew about her crush.

However, Compa wouldn't let this deter her, not when she had finally started facing herself. Thoughts of what had happened back at the Gala filled her, causing a mounting determination to blossom in her chest. Her hands clutched into fists and her body began to calm itself. Acknowledging the darkness within her, 'taking off the mask' she'd been wearing as it were, had been her pledge to be more confident in herself. She didn't want to lose out to the other girls who had their eyes on her childhood friend, but more than that she wanted to finally be able to showcase who she truly was. She didn't want to hide anymore, not when the stakes were so immense, and even if they weren't she doubted these feelings would be any different.

Thus, she took a deep breath, and mentally prepared herself. "Um… Ni-Ni?" she spoke, her volume low at first and only increasing by a small percentage at the end. Alright, here it went, she thought as Nico looked at her with a questioning look on his features. Clearly, he hadn't thoughts he would be asking questions at this point.

"Yeah? What is it, Compa?" he replied with a question of his own. Though, when he noticed how her body slightly trembled, worry surged in his chest for her wellbeing. "You look like your having a stroke, is something bothering you?" he questioned while mentally adding the following. 'If anybody's doing something to her, NOBODY will find their bodies!' he raged mentally.

Nobody harmed his childhood friend and got away with it, not on his watch!

Sensing the thought process his mind had begun to wander down, Compa hurriedly waved her hands in front of her in a placating manner, carrying an awkward smile on her features. "D-Don't worry Ni-Ni, nothing bad has happened, really!" she stated in a reassuring manner, before she began poking her fingers together whilst trying to regather her courage. "There's just… something I wanna ask you, is all…" she said, trailing off at the end.

"Oh?"

"Um… would you mind if we… would you mind…"

"Would you mind…?"

"WOULD YOU MIND IF WE GO OUT TOGETHER?!" Finally, unable to contain herself any longer, Compa shouted that last sentence out, eyes closed, and face flushed a light pink color. There, she had done it! She'd finally popped the question she had wanted to ask for a long time, now. Compa hoped beyond all hope that Nico would understand her intent, though give his track record with women it wasn't going to be very likely. He WAS a dense kind of guy after all. Only a second after this though, did her mind spiral into overdrive, thoughts racing through it like cars on a race track. 'Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod! I Did it! I actually asked him! How's he gonna respond?! Wait, is he busy? Should I have asked that first?! What if something has happened and he can't?! What if he doesn't, what if he…?!' Panic began to fill her mind as thoughts and doubts began to assault her mind like thousands of bullets ripping through her very being.

Whilst Compa had her little panic attack though, Nico just sat there, confused and surprised. The former emotion came from how loud she had shouted that seemingly harmless question out like she had. It didn't SEEM like such a taboo question to him, so why did she shout it? Confusion came from her state when she asked it, her flushed face and subsequent panic attack she began to have but kept suppressing in a thinly veiled show of confidence. As if something like that would fool someone with eyes like his. 'Still, its clear that for some reason, this question is very important to her. She seems like she had built up a lot of courage to ask it, though the why eludes me…' Nico thought to himself.

As such, the knowledge that she had prepped so much to ask that question caused Nico to enter a period of deep thought. He wouldn't put any less than what she had into that question, into his own deciphering of its meaning.

'Alright, lets start from the beginning. I know that these odd symptoms of hers began a moment before she popped this question, she began shaking and trembling, fidgeting in a sign of discomfort. Her features implied she had been in deep conflict with herself, before she seemed to come to a resolution. At that point, she got my attention, but then she faltered a bit which caused her to repeat the previous steps. Like an explosion however, it all came out in one loud sentence.' Nico thought, analysing the background information to a T and forming a summary in his mind.

Now that he had THAT sorted, Nico went to try and see if he could find any kind of reference somewhere, somewhere in his memories. Unfortunately for him, that would be easier said than done, since he mostly had memories involving fighting and killing, not much on the whole 'social' aspect of life. Not like he would have wanted any either due to trust issues. Even so, Nico still kept searching his mind, pretty much ravaging it for even the tiniest detail which could help him conclude Compa's intentions.

Just then, fortune smiled upon him when he distinctly remembered coming back one day from a Quest, and saw Neptune and Compa sitting together on the sofa in her house, watching this romance movie. At the time, Nico had returned from taking out a couple Abnormals and further relishing in the return of his Armour, so he hadn't paid this much attention. Thus, he hadn't seen much of it, but he DID recall how the girl acted like a nervous reck in front of this guy, and it was in a highschool setting too, so there were lockers and small numbers of students around. Recalling that girl then applying it to Compa's demeanor, Nico quickly realized she was exhibiting MANY of those SAME symptoms.

There, that sounded like a possible lead in his eyes. Nico had heard rumours once that sometimes movies tend to sometimes influence people's actions, some being more easily influenced than others. Not to mention, he knew Compa liked those kinds of cliché romance movies (especially when the couple gets married at the end), she'd said so during one of their many text convos. That was how he knew of her wish to be a cute bride one day (though anyone who tried anything funny with her would get a Hellfire blast to the balls) But it all began with one thing, something apparent in LOTS of those movies.

What was that again? Wasn't it a…?

Hold on...

Oh...

OH!

Nico's eyes shot open wide as something dawned on him. 'No… Don't tell me, she…!'

Nah, he must be imagining it, it couldn't be THAT, could it? But... the evidence before him checks out, especially with how right at this moment, Compa had begun giving him this intense look, as if deeply anticipating his response. There were a whole RANGE of different emotions in her eyes, emotions which Nico couldn't really identify due to both how many there were AS WELL AS his own thought processes. Over and over, did he recheck the evidence, weigh one theory against the other, try to see if he had made any mistakes anywhere, but nope. He felt pretty confident in his deduction skills (they'd saved his ass more than he'd care to mention), so he couldn't be wrong this time.

Was this... really what he thought it was?

Was Compa… ASKING HIM OUT ON A DATE?!

* * *

Deep inside Nico's inner world...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHOOOOO BOOOOIIII, LOOKS LIKE THE LAD'S FINALLY GONE AND DONE IT! HE'S FIGURED OUT THAT A GIRL WANTS THE D! AHAHAHAHA!"

Byakko yelled those words out as if screaming through a microphone, whilst laughing boisterously, amusement burning within at the startled reaction their 'king' had at this revelation. About damn time, he'd say, if he wasn't laughing so hard that his gut might have split open. Just hearing the raw panic that Nico's mind went into caused him to burst into hysteria, all the frustration he had felt towards the king for not noticing those 'concubines' feelings vanishing into the winds.

Ever since they had been accepted by Nico, forging their strongest ever connections to him, both of them had found each other much more bearable. Likely due to them now being connected to each other much deeper than they normally were. They had been sparring with one another, Biko in his true form (Crimson Soul-like one), and Byakko in his incomplete Kakuja form but without the madness, when the convo Nico had with Compa reached them.

Hence, what was happening now.

Biko frowned as he floated beside him, rolling his eyes at the Ghoulish Persona's mockery of Nico. "I will admit that it... took some time for him to notice. Then again, I feel like you, along with the readers, misunderstand. Its not like he was DELIBERATELY being dense, its more like he has no such experience with women and as such does not know how to read the signs." he stated, looking up at the skies. "Somewhat like a lot of guys his age. Think about it, males are raised in a way that makes them pay attention to certain things more than others, which creates HUGE blindspots later on. Think about his situation, then ask yourself: how can someone like that even COMPREHEND the fact that a girl likes him? I get the impression that humans generally focus more on cliché tropes, forgetting or worse IGNORING that these tropes originate from REAL human behaviour."

"BAH, NOBODY SWEATS THE SMALL STUFF YA KNOW, SMARTASS. JUST BE GLAD THAT THE KING FINALLY SEEMS TO BE STARTING TO GET OUT OF HIS 'DENIAL' PHASE. PROBABLY BECAUSE HIS MIND HAS FINALLY RECOVERED ENOUGH FOR THIS TO HAPPEN, BUT MEH."

Hearing Biko's words, Byakko's response made it look like he didn't care about what the Demon Persona was saying... though, that didn't mean he wasn't wrong. It just meant that the Ghoul Persona didn't really care, the difference between them was their behaviours. One was more logical and tended to go off on tangents, overloading people with information till their eyes resembled swirls. The other merely had a more simplistic approach, preferring actions over talking, and that pretty much summed it up for any who hadn't figured it out yet.

Still, now that Nico had been confronted with THIS problem when he had so many other maters on his mind, how would he respond to this? At least he didn't outright reject her for no reason other than panic, THAT would have only made things worse.

That was what Biko focused on for now.

* * *

By the time the afternoon came... things had begun to be set in motion.

We switch over to the main marketplace in Planeptune, in which something monumental will be happening to one redhead youth. Said youth, Nico for those who haven't guessed yet, stood by a bus stop whilst observing the civilians as they went about their daily lives. His eyes scanned each of them clearly, almost like a hawk's, and if anyone were to look at him, they would look away quickly so as to avoid that gaze. It was almost like looking into one's very soul, not something one wanted to experience.

But, if one were to look past that, they'd see that Nico right now had been utelizing his experiences with Masks to hide behind one of nonchalance... when in reality his mind kept chaotically rioting in the form of a mental breakdown. 'Shit, shit, shit, shit! The time's should be right, I arrived early just in case she did! I managed to make myself presentable in every way I could think of, but what the hell is this? Is it going to be enough? Why did this happen now? How long has she been waiting for this?'

… Yeah, Nico wasn't of perfectly calm mind right now, but could one blame him?

This may not be the first time he had went out with his friends, but this WAS the first time that he'd seen it as something called a 'Date'. Back with Neptune and Compa before, he had seen it as mostly them hanging out together and bonding over difficulties as well as life choices. It was something he could understand, something he could accept. But a DATE? A date with ANY of those wonderful Angels? How the FUCK did that happen?! If it weren't for Biko's intervention that beautiful bastard, then Nico would have been WAY worse than he felt right now.

'Okay Nico, calm the fuck down, take deep breaths and focus on calm blue oceans. Calm blue oceans... Calm blue oceans...' the male chanted mentally whilst practicing some breathing exercises. Gradually, he felt his mind begin to calm itself, the chaotic storm inside it dissipating until nothing but tranquil silence remained. Thankfully, accepting the Demon and the Ghoul boosted his control over them, making it so that his powers didn't get negatively influenced by his mental state anymore.

Once he finished this, Nico began to ponder the situation he had found himself in. The whole 'never been on a date' thing wasn't something new, Nico knew that for a fact. No. he would rather focus on Compa's response to him accepting her request, on how her expression practically lit up the room and how he would have died from the hug she gave him. She seemed to literally BECOME an angel, ignoring his questions as she raced off to prepare some suitable clothes to wear. Though, she did tell him that she wanted it to be in Planeptune, specifying a place for them to meet up.

Thus, it resulted in him being under this bus stop.

Nico brought himself out of his musings and looked down at his right arm, where his Bracer lay under the cover of his new outfit. After the apparent 'date' acceptance thing, the cream haired girl practically steamrolled him into changing his outfit for one more fitting for a date. His base attire, his civilian outfit, none of them fit the idea of a proper date according to her. It was almost like she was his mom, nagging him to fix himself before the Goddess herself. As such, Nico had been FORCED to change his gear (an incentive came in the form of her 'evil eye' which terrified him more than any Demon or Abnormal, even Mundus).

Right now, his current outfit consisted of the following: A white formal dress shirt tucked into some equally formal black dress pants, a black belt with a silver buckle wrapped around his waist. His feet were covered in some matching dress shoes, highly polished and refined like master craftsmen and their katanas. His shirt got concealed by his black tailcoat, one which fortunately had pockets thank god, plus the sleeves covered his Bracers so he could still use them. His hands remained bare though, something which Nico was NOT used to seeing since he usually saw the leather gloves which concealed them. As for his hair, the redhead had styled it so that it didn't look AS messy as it usually did, but it still retained the sharpness that he got identified for.

One could hardly call him a bad boy with this apparel, instead he looked more like a talented child of a businessman or woman.

'Glad I forged these from my RC Cells. They may be growing stronger, but their abilities still work fine for me...'

 **'It was a good decision, especially given our limited time. I believe we were able to jot down some possible ideas for how to go about this 'date' business, too...'**

On that, they could agree. Frantic could best describe his actions following his acceptance of that date. With such little time, his own predictions on how long it'd take for him to get here earlier than scheduled, it meant that Nico would have to cut it pretty close. Though, in the end the redhead felt it would be worth it since he'd be able to at LEAST make this a 'decent' date. Hopefully this didn't go TOO badly, otherwise he'd never forgive himself.

Still, the fact that he was actually prepping himself to go on a DATE, an actual one for the first time, rattled his nerves like a rattlesnake's tail. Before coming here, he had to spend a large portion of time just doing breathing exercises to try and keep his cool. Though, even now he still repeated things in his mind like a mantra to distract him from the nervousness and anxiety warring within him, causing his palms to lightly sweat.

THEN, there had been that phone call he'd had with his two guy companions Aiden and Ivan...

 _ **(Flashback)**_

 ** _'This is bad_** - ** _This is bad_** - ** _This is bad_** - ** _This is bad_** - ** _This is bad! Shit, fuck I'm totally freaking out here!'_**

 ** _Geez, only a few moments after Compa had left to prepare for the... um, #GULP# date between them, and already Nico felt like he was having a nervous breakdown. With the panic flooding his system, the redhead could hardly think straight and sweat poured out of him like rivers. One could honestly describe him as a jittery mess, and they'd not be wrong cause at that moment, if someone prodded him even the tiniest bit, Nico felt like he would have lashed out with his Kagune on REFLEX._**

 ** _It was THAT bad._**

 ** _'Nico, calm yourself! Take deep breaths and think this calmly, like you normally do! Go DPU if that's what it would take!'_**

 ** _'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, SORRY, YA BOOKWORM FUCKWAD, THAT'S NOT GONNA FLY THIS TIME! IDIOT KING'S SO CHAOTIC RIGHT NOW THAT HE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO INITIATE THAT ANIME TRANSFORMATION POWER RIGHT NOW, EVEN IF HE WANTED TO!'_**

 ** _Both Personas (well, one more than the other) tried to calm him down, but to no avail. No, it felt more like that their words failed to reach his brain no matter how hard they tried. Nico's mind had reached a HUGE level of panic and dread at the thought of a date, something so ALIEN to him, that any efforts they make would turn out futile._**

 ** _He was a goddamn KILLER, not a lover after all._**

 ** _Eventually, Nico came to the conclusion that he was WOEFULLY underprepared for such a fierce task, and as such he needed to seek help from SOMEONE. He couldn't ask his mother, or risk getting teased to no end for it. He could honestly see her doing something like that instead of actually HELPING matters, preferring that and making things worse for him. Nico also got the feeling that none of the girls would help him either, he didn't know why but he just did, so they were out too. That left only two people, and fortunately for him as he made to call them on his right Bracer Nico found that they were able to answer swiftly._**

 ** _"Yo Nico, what's crackin'?"_**

 ** _"Greetings. What seems to be a problem?"_**

 _ **Never had Nico felt more relieved at hearing two voices belonging to fellow guys, as his companions Aiden and Ivan answered his call. In situations like these, he CLEARLY believed that they'd be more reliable than his mother, since they wouldn't tease him over something like this knowing his own experiences. As such, Nico quickly told them his situation, explaining from start to finish without leaving anything out. By the time that he was finished, Nico honestly felt like he had ran an Olympic marathon a hundred times over since he hadn't stopped to take a break through it al.**_

 _ **But still, his companions got the message...**_

 _ **Enough for Ivan to reply first.**_

 _ **"Dude, I know its scary, but I'm saying this: Calm down and be yourself. You're overthinking this situation entirely, which I guess is reasonable considering who I'm talking about. Girls like guys who can keep it cool in tough situations, heck that's probably why so many girls want your D for crying out loud."**_

 _ **Nico made to counter that statement by saying nobody wanted him that way, but then Aiden cut into the call.**_

 _ **"What this fool says is correct, Nico. This is one of those many situations where you must retain a calm mind, as well as the ability to focus. You must keep yourself clear of these useless worries you have, for they will cloud your judgement and untimately ruin everything. Treat this like you do with your missions, calmly and professionally."**_

 _ **Aiden's words cut through the haze of anxiety clouding his mind like a knife, making a light gasp of realization escape his throat. Evaluating everything like he normally would? It was true that Nico did indeed think things through very carefully, maybe even too carefully at times which was something he was aware of. People whom knew of his methods would often comment this, but he didn't pay them much mind since it helped him survive longer... whilsta lot of them wound up dead. Still, not all his worries got doused by just those words, something which became apparent in the next line he said. "But, you guys KNOW I have got practically ZERO experience in this, so the liklihood f me screwing up by saying the wrong thing is almost guranteed! What the hell should I do then?"**_

 _ **At THAT point, Ivan was the one to respond, almost like he had predicted it.**_

 _ **"Dude, CALM DOWN. Its like we said before, your overthinking it. From what you told us, it was Compa who asked you out first, not the typical way to start a date but it can happen. That MUST mean she sees something in you, and she's one of the more OBVIOUS ones. As such, its clear she must have the patience of a SAINT to be able to slowly grind her way into that thick skull of yours, so just go for it. Be yourself, cause that's the best thing you can do right now. Not something like being a wimp which you are VERY capable of doing if you stick to this thought process."**_

 _ **(Flashback END)**_

Returning to the present, Nico repeated their words in his mind to try and calm his nerves, and though it remained a slow start, it DEFINITELY helped. Be himself, huh? If someone actually cared about him enough that his daily quirks didn't immediately repulse them, then they' be a saint in his eyes. Nico knew VERY well that not everybody would be able to take his shit, he sometimes acted more like a robot than a person, not to mention wasn't the most sociable or talkative person around. He could count a HUGE number of guys in the Spec Ops force who were WAY more experienced in dating than him... which was a lot to begin with, since he had none at all.

Still, Compa had gone out of her way to do this. She had taken the big leap of faith in order to get him into this position, so he'd be damned if he didn't at least try his best to be a good date. Being himself, if THAT was what Compa had wanted from him when she'd asked him out, then he could try that. Nico felt like he should think of this as a battle, one which was fought not with swords, magic or mythical abilities. A date was merely a battlefield he never set foot in before, so he should probably proceed with extreme caution... just not in the way that would creep Compa out...

Shit, this was going to be a nightmare for years to come. Any tightrope analogies he had made in the story so far could be better compared to this...

"Ah, you're here, Ni-Ni!"

* * *

"Ah, you're here, Ni-Ni!"

Soon, Nico turned towards Compa's voice when he heard it, making to address her... only, he stopped right as he did so. His form resembled an iceberg with how stiff it became as he lost the ability to even breathe. 'Holy...'

If he were told to recount some of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen in this world, the sight before him would be one of them. Compa waked towards him looking mildly embarrassed and nervous, clad in a white thigh length dress. The dress covered her breasts whilst showing of her shoulders and neck, a creamy cardigan over it. Her hands and arms had this cloth-like material over them, similar to what Vert wore on her legs, whilst her legs were concealed by matching creamy coloured stockings, her feet encased in black gladiator-style high heels. Her hair had been held back by a pure white headband that had a silver coloured rose on it, whilst her face had pink lipstick and a decent amount of makeup. He could smell the scent of peaches from her, a perfume she had used no doubt.

But, most importantly for him... was the necklace around her neck: the very same one which he had completed for her after waiting so patiently.

'She... she's kept it...'

 **'I do believe that this is something called a 'good sign' though I'm uncertain.'**

He almost didn't hear Biko's words just now, but he barely managed.

As a result, she, to him, looked absolutely stunning.

Unfortunately for him, though, it seemed that he'd been staring at her for too long, as Compa soon shuffled on the spot once she was in a hand's range from him. "U-Um..." she tried to say, but couldn't get any words left. 'N-Ni-Ni's looking at me... does he think i'm hideous? Did I put too much makeup on?! Oh no, please tell me that's not the case! Please tell me all those hours I spent fretting about what to wear weren't meaningless! I don't want him to say I looked ugly or anything! Papa, Mama, what would you do?! What should I do?!'

One could say that, once her crush had accepted her offer, Compa had spent the next few hours frantically preparing herself for this Date. She struggled on deciding what to put on, what kind of clothes went well with what. Eventually, a little something happened: She got contacted by Sandalphon's human personification. The thing was, that her weapons each had their own wills, they were fully sentient and were capable of helping her learn how to properly utelize their power. Usually, they manifested as transparent forms only she could see, thus Sandalphon assisted with the preparations.

Apparently, each of the weapons within her each shared her care for Nico due to being part of her... not like it had calmed her nerves about this any.

What she DID manage to get out served its purpose though, as Nico quickly shook his head to get rid of his stupor. "O-Oh, sorry bout that, I was staring, wasn't I...?" Nico stammered, his face reddening as he looked to the side as if that would ease things up for her... when, in reality, part of her whined in disappointment. 'Fuck! Fucking-fuckity-fuck! Goddamnit, what the hell do I do?! I hope Compa's not offended with me, I wouldn't be able to bear it if she hated me! Fuck-fuck-fuck!' Nico screamed within his mind as he desperately searched for something to remedy this situation, plus to not look like a total idiot like he was right now. First time he had ever gone one a real 'date' and already he began making a fool of himself.

For a moment, an awkward bout of tension filled the air, rendering any attempt to get near them useless for the civilians. They just passed on by without paying them much heed, or rather just ignoring them for their own sakes. The silence between had been thick, suffocating so, to the point where if either of them tried to say something and looked into the other's gaze, they'd shift away in discomfort.

This went on for an unknown length of time, and even in the future when these two looked back on it, they wouldn't have figured this out.

'Ugh, this can't continue. I have to think of something, anything to get through this with our dignity intact! Okay brain, do something useful for once and think of something to get us outta this mess!' Nico scolded himself mentally, rummaging through his noggin. Soon, an idea formed as he glanced over towards his childhood friend, one which he hoped wouldn't backfire on him. "Y...You look really n-n-n-nice, Compa… b-b-b-b-b-beautiful, even..." he tried to say, stuttering like a shy schoolboy around his older idol. 'DAMNIT, NICO! GET A FUCKING DAMNED GRIP!'

Fortunately, his words served to snap Compa out of her own stupor, her form lightly jumping as she hurriedly gave a reply... whilst looking like a ripe cherry. "A-Ah, than-thank you, Ni-Ni..." she said, mentally thanking him for taking charge of the situation as she hadn't found herself able to do the same. Just then, a surge of warmth filled her, one which emitted from the very depths of her Soul, something which she had INTIMITE experiences with.

A small smile formed on her lips at this, before she aimed a wider one with closed eyes at Nico. "You look quite dashing yourself. Did you..." she then paused, glancing at his clothes with her expression becoming one of curiosity. "Um, d-did you use your um... thing, to make them? Sorry about springing this onto you, Ni-Ni..." It as true that he only had over 4 hours to prepare, but most of that had been panicking.

"I-Its ok, and um, yeah that's right. I m-m-make all my clothes from em, they're better at res-res-resilience, and serve as good means for t-t-t-training. They self repair too, a plus in my books." Nico hurriedly explained, not wanting that silence to return. So far so good though, since he'd finally began talking about something they could talk with each other on. 'I don't do this much, but... Goddess bless you, Compa, for EVERYTHING you've helped me with...'

Hearing this, Compa gave a shy yet jealous-looking pout, puffing out her lower lip. "Muuu, Ni-Ni's so lucky... Ni-Ni gets to make his own clothes so easily..." she could do the same, however hers came from her Spirit Powers, so as such she had to be careful. Sure it didn't use much energy, but constantly switching clothes she'd see in fashion Magazines would definitely waste it. Shaking her head, Compa decided to get the ball rolling, since she didn't want to stand around here acting like an awkward moron in public. "Um, i'm not that hungry, so if you want, could we take a stroll together...?" she offered.

Something which Nico quickly and readily accepted, having picked up her true intent. A big grin formed on his face despite the pink hues on his cheeks. "Y-Yeah, sure. that sounds nice..." he spoke, trailing off when he heard a suggestion from Biko. One which caused him to redden to Compa's cofnfusion and concern, soon becoming embarrassment when he, albeit red-faced, offered his hand to her. "Um... would you like it... if we h-h-hold hands...? I... I heard that people on d-d-dates... do this kind of thing, right?" he questioned while looking away from her, face so red that steam rose from out the top.

It took a moment for Compa to register what he had suggested, and as she looked at his offered hand, before her brain rebooted and a shy smile along with a blush appeared. "I'd love to, Ni-Ni..." she gently replied, grasping her hand in his. Looking down at their connected hands, Compa couldn't help but marvel at the size difference between them: her slender and dainty hand and his large, masculine one. The difference between genders and experience, people!

With that done, Nico and Compa left the area, hand in hand.

* * *

Honestly, never had walking around seemed so peaceful as well as nerve-wracking at the same time.

That was what both teens thought as they wandered the Planeptune streets, taking in everything that they hadn't seen for so long now. It had been at least over a month since they had left for Leanbox, and so much had happened to them back there. If one were to ask them if they would end up in the position they were in now back then, then they'd call them mad, whilst Compa would have tried to pull out a Syringe to 'give some shots' which would supposedly cure that person.

These events however HAD happened, and because of this they had been changed by them, changed them so thoroughly that it was hard to call them the same people as before. Looking at everything felt like a new experience to the two as they wandered about, hand in hand as they gradually lost themselves to the feeling of each other's company. Bit by bit, their nervousness got swept away by each other's presence.

Both of them felt that way, and it had been Compa to bring it up first as they walked along a street which lead to the entrance to a park. "Everything... feels so new, yet not so much at the same, Ni-Ni... it feels like I'm seeing everything for the first time." Compa remarked, admiring the scenery. Though, she had to admit that she liked both Nations, Leanbox and Planeptune if only for their nature. She always DID consider herself a country girl, after all.

Nico nodded his head in agreement, smiling merrily as he too admired the buildings, though for different reasons to his companion. He rather liked the more technologically advanced nations than the lesser ones, simply due to growing up around them. Though, that didn't mean he didn't appreciate the more country life styles which Leanbox offered... "Yeah, I feel you there, Compa. Its been a while since we last seen this stuff, it honestly baffles me that I didn't pay it as much attention as I should have." he remarked.

This caught Compa's attention though, especially the wistful tone he had used, as she tilted her head curiously at him. "Do you mean when you were doing all your Spec Ops work...?" she questioned.

As a response, Nico nodded, furrowing his brows as he recalled life back then. "Yeah... I guess the hellish life of a Spec Ops Agent didn't let me enjoy these things previously..." he murmured under his breath, though Compa heard him and a question popped into her mind.

"Um, Ni-Ni? Why did you, um stay if its so bad? I mean, you and Mrs Hel-Hel could have done so any time you wanted, right?" she questioned, turning her head to look at him.

This resulted in Nico looking back at her as memories flashed through his mind, his mouth opening on its own accord. "Because it doesn't work that way, Compa. Me and my mom, they used each of us against each other, we were literally their own weakness. By forcing my mom into the position she has today, they were able to keep an eye on her whilst keeping me on a leash, threatening to dispose of her. On the other hand, Helen couldn't refuse ever since I was spared since my life had been put in her hands. She didn't want me to die after she lost her friends, so mom had no choice but to allow them to do what they wanted." Nico explained, sighing.

'Nice going Compa, you totally ruined Ni-Ni's mood with that question!' Compa scolded herself, feeling like she had just stepped on a landmine, one in a minefield filled with political hypocrisy and the depravity mankind was capable of. 'Pretty sure that's not even a question you should be asking on a date, you idiot, and of course they were manipulated! Its pretty much confirmed before I even asked him if I think hard enough...! Even if I let steam come outta my ears!' externally though, she didn't let these things show on her features, though she remained downcast.

Maybe Lucy had been right when she'd once told her to have gotten some dating experience first before asking Nico out, maybe the she'd- 'Nope, don't think that, Compa!' once again she scolded herself for going down such a thought process. 'Ni-Ni's the only guy you trust like that, remember how other guys treat you when you were small?! They don't deserve your attention, not one bit! But what shall I do? How can I change this? I don't know! I've never done this before, but I gotta think something! C'mon Compa brain, pull out something useful!'

Whilst this war raged on inside Compa's mind, Nico himself remembered all the things that he had seen the higher ups do when it came to keeping his secret under wraps, reflecting on how even if he had wanted to tell them about the stuff he did before, there had been no guarantee that the result would have been what it was. Still, it wasn't really Compa's fault for being so curious, after all how often was it that someone came out to his or her friends with such a secret? It would only be natural for them to want more.

If it had been his previous self, Nico knew for a FACT that he would never have told her anything about it, rather he would have tried to find a way to stay clear of the topic. Though, that would only happen if she or the others even ASKED him, since none of them had any suspicions save for IF before, and even SHE didn't question him at first.

So, if Compa was getting worried about that, he'll have to correct her on it... soon, anyways.

* * *

Eventually, the two came to the Park itself, finding there to be few people inside of it. A brief exchange between one another pretty much confirmed their thoughts to be the same, so the two went to one of the vacant benches to take a break. Looking over the nearby space, Compa and Nico watched how a couple of children played together in what looked to be a sandbox, heir eyes shining with nostalgia.

"Reminds me of the times when we used to play together like that with your grandfather..." Nico mused to himself, recalling those times with utter clarity. They were some of the few good memories he had, quite literally the best year of his life. A little slice of heaven before the hell that he fell into soon after he 'woke up' to the nightmare that was his true nature.

Compa nodded, thinking about the same memories herself. She then giggled behind her hand, causing him to look at her in a confused manner. "Remember that time when grandpa challenged us to build objects out of that sand? We had been boasting to be like construction workers at the time, well you more than me." she questioned with a smile, Nico chuckling in response as the woman continued. "I ended up making a... really bad attempt at a wheel, whilst you ended up making a literal human body the same size as you were back then."

"Heh, what can I say? I guess I had my calling since before I even realized it." Nico replied, chuckling nervously. Especially when he recalled the look on her grandfather's face at the time. He may have looked pleased with them on the surface, but thinking back on it now he DEFINITELY had a bit of concern for Nico's future there. Concern which turned out to be well-founded.

Glanding over to his childhood friend for a moment, Nico deliberated on revealing something to her, and decided to do so. They'd be even after this, anyways. "Mom told him, you know. About me." he began, catching her attention if the look on her face was anything to go by. "She told him how I suppressed my memories and was 'living in a dream', and that she wanted him to help me keep that dream alive for as long as possible. He didn't even deny her once..."

At this, Compa smiled sadly, looking down as she realized she hadn't been able to visit her grandfather for a while now. "I see... so he knew, huh...? How many do you think knew before you knew they knew?" Compa questioned.

This caused him to smirk in amusement, "what, doing some knew-ception stuff there, girl?" he teased, causing her to blush a bit in embarrassment. "Heh, well, I dunno, but I guess anyone with the brains and experience might have an indication. Chian definitely, my gut tells me so. It'd be good for them if they didn't reveal this knowledge though, just so they don't get onto the higher ups radar." he added, frowning at the end as he remembered those that got literally killed by his own secret.

"A-Ah, yeah..." Compa stated, frowning as she looked to the ground with a depressed cloud hanging over her head. She just seemed to ask all the depressing questions, didn't she? But, how couldn't she? After all, there was so much she wanted to know about her crush that she hadn't been able to ask before now due to not knowing his true nature. Now that she DID however... "Sorry for being so thoughtless Ni-Ni..." she began, getting his attention. "Its just that... I tried to ask you out, and... I ended up going into depressing territory over and over... I'm a terrible date..."

'Okay, now THAT'S enough of that!' Nico thought the very SECOND that he heard those words come from Compa's mouth. "No need to be so sorry, young missy." the redhead stated, grasping one of her shoulders. "Its only natural that you be curious about it. If you want to know something, then just ask." he told her, already knowing what she had been thinking in her mind, and it couldn't have been any more WRONG. "I don't mind that you're curious Compa, I would be too if I were in your shoes." he spoke sternly, before arching a brow, leaning back while crossing his arms over his stomach with a smirk on his lips. "After all, how often is it that one of your companions turns out to have, well... A secret like mine?"

For a moment, Compa just stared in absolute bewilderment at Nico's attitude towards her prying into his other side. That... was not what she had expected. Seriously, before he had been like a nervous wreck when she and the others had learned of his true nature. They had seen how guarded he had been, they knew how he acted all secretive and kept things to himself, so she had expected to see a, well... different reaction to this.

Heck, when things finally went down and his secret had been exposed, Nico had behaved in a way which resembled a cornered animal about to get eaten alive by predators, ready to fight if necessary to escape with its life. He had well and truly disillusioned himself of any hope for them afterwards, which had likely been why she and the others accepting his Ghoul side had pretty much turned his life upside down. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but THIS definitely hadn't.

That didn't mean she didn't enjoy this unexpected change however.

"Um... well, okay. If you say so..." Compa eventually muttered in uncertainty, before slapping her cheeks together as if to say 'get a grip, girl!' as she looked back to him. "Then... do you think that-"

Just before she could continue though, Nico held up a hand. "Hold up, its probably best if we talk about it in somewhere isolated, just for secrecy's sake." he stated, frowning as he visually scanned his surroundings, even activated his Bracer's Motion Tracker for any onlookers. Despite his own newfound stance on his condition, Nico wasn't unaware that it was only him who had this stance, and that others wouldn't take too kindly to them talking about it in the open. Heck, maybe there was someone watching his every move in this city right now, which would be bad if his recent actions have anything to say. As such, moving to somewhere else felt like a good idea.

Compa's eyes remained confused, but then she realized what he had been thinking and nodded, getting up after he did. Just as they made to leave however...

"Waaaaah, waaaaaaaaaaaah…!"

Both of them heard the sounds of a child's crying, no it sounded more like wailing to them. Glancing to the source, both Nico and Compa found the source to be a child slightly far off from the sand pit, looking to have tripped and scraped his knee. There weren't many parents around, according to their previous observations, so the child just remained there.

Nico frowned when he saw this. 'Now THAT'S some quality freaking parenting right there...' the redhead though sarcastically, a spark of anger igniting within.

However, he didn't get a chance to look for the child's 'parent' as Compa had already begun making her way towards the child, kneeling beside him with a look of motherly concern over her features. "Are you okay, little one...?" she questioned. "Where's your mom...?" She then shook her head, deciding those answers would best be saved for later as she examined the wound on the child's leg. "Here, I'll take care of this for you."

With that said, Compa quickly begun disinfecting it by the time Nico had caught up to her via a casual job, But by the time that he had, the redhead's eyes widened when he noticed something, something which had appeared in her hand as if summoned by her own will. It looked like a small, pebble-sized pearl, one which constantly oozed this sense of life and serenity the more that he looked at it. 'Holy Hell... I think I recognize this thing. Biko, isn't this...'

 **'Indeed. It appears to be a profound treasure, similar to the ones we found in the Trials, however in this dimension it exists as a Satanic Treasure: the Sky Poison Pearl. An item said to be able to clear any kind of poison, no matter its origins, as well as detect medical items, refine items to better quality pills, and so forth. Though, like a rose, it has its own deadly thorns in that its capable of releasing so much poison that an entire city can be turned into a desecrated wasteland easily.'**

'Odds are that this was something to do with the DPU of Life. It did say in the Lexicanum that this guy was a mad scientist who often created anything which tickled his fancy. That's how the Satanic Treasures came to be. Although how she came to possess such an item should be investigated later.'

 **'Agreed.'**

Their short conversation over, Nico turned to look at the Nurse-In-Training as she used the item to disinfect the wound by purging it of any and all potential bacteria. Afterwards, she used her FIRST AID skill to heal the cut up, since it wasn't too deep that required some of her other talents. By the time that the cut had fully healed, the child had stopped crying and looked towards Compa as the Sky Poison Pearl vanished. His eyes lowered themselves in a display of timid shyness as he got up and bowed his head. "Um, thank you very much miss..." he stated.

As such, Compa gave a beaming smile as she stood up. Seeing how happy she had made this child by healing him made her feel a surge of pride inside... whilst a small tinge of pain slipped in too. Not something that went unnoticed by a certain someone though. "You're very welcome. Say, do you know where your parents are? If you want, we can bring you to them." she offered, whilst Nico remained silent. He didn't say anything to refute that statement, since he intended to do the same anyways.

The child gave them both a hopeful look, pouting with big eyes with no small amount of pleading, thus with that the trio set off to search for the parents.

* * *

After locating the parents and returning their child to them, Nico and Compa left the park, though if one were to say that their mood was completely positive... then they would be completely wrong.

"Muuuu… why didn't that mommy look any kind of worried for her child's safety…?" Compa whined, remembering the experience. The moment that they had returned the small boy to them, the mother just looked her child in the eyes and simply nodded in nonchalance, not even a shed of care for her child in her eyes. That couldn't be said for the child wo hugged his mother like she had been his lifeline, heck the father on the other hand looked like he was about ready to commit a massacre, something which concerned the redhead since he had noticed the negative emotions first.

Something which his companion didn't it seemed, thus Nico felt it prudent to point it out as they left the park. "Well, there are those kinds of people out there, Compa. Not everyone is a saint or a law-abiding citizen." he stated, his eyes sour with his fists clenched in his waist coat's pockets. He'd hoped that she wouldn't have had to experience that type of person for a while yet, but thinking about it made him realize that it would have been pointless to delay it.

Looking over towards him, Compa frowned in worry. "Do you think... that poor child will be okay?" she questioned.

Nico thought about answering it as blunt as he usually did, but he closed his mouth when he was about to say that response. Thinking about it for a moment, Nico wondered if that would really be the right way to go about it, since Compa indeed had been sheltered highly thus didn't understand the true depths of cruelty, especially fate. Despite her childhood being what it was, she had actually gone through some of the... lesser forms cruelty took, and he would know.

That was something which made him wonder what the DPU of Fate was like, but didn't put too much thought into it as he eventually answered in a softer, more reserved tone. "Not sure, Compa. The kid didn't look like an abuse victim so far, plus we can't assume everything is bad at first glance."

"I guess..."

The rest of the walk remained silent, as the two navigated through the streets. They DID take a quick stop at a nearby coffee shop for a small break, but there wasn't really anything noteworthy about that place. If anything, Nico detested the low-quality of the coffee that they served, but didn't say anything that would cause a scene. This was his and Compa's 'Date' after all, so he didn't want to ruin it for her.

Though... did what they do today really count as a date? There wasn't that much awkwardness between them, so there likely wasn't anything BAD, but it wasn't like either of them knew what to SPECIFIICALLY do for a date. If anything, all they've been doing was just walking around, taking in nostalgic sights and that's pretty much it. It didn't seem like Compa had been very hungry, and even if she was then why hadn't she had anything to eat? The answer however, simply lay with her curiosity about his Ghoul side, since she must have been aware of how... violent his body became when ingesting human food.

Plus, didn't the word 'date' mean 'a social or romantic appointment or engagement.'?

So... was this considered a date? Or just simply two friendly people walking together?

Those questions filled their minds, causing worry and confusion to blossom within them.

"Ooohhhhhhhhh, now what do we have here? These are some faces I never expected to see..."

"Oh? Are those two who I think they are?"

"Yup, no doubt about it. Looks like its that redhead freak and that stupid cream haired weakling."

Though, when they heard several male and female voices from nearby, their previous emotions disappeared. In their place, new ones were formed when they glanced over to the sources, revealing it to be a group of a mix between men and women. Each of them looked to be their ages ranges, wearing various forms of adventuring gear, but all of them looked upon Nico and Compa with their own expressions.

The former's eyes shined with the intense rage that burned within them, like the hellish flames that he commanded. If his powers had ben as uncontrollable as they had been before, then this entire city would have been overtaken just from the effects of his rage influencing his Demonic Powers. Rage and searing hatred felt like an UNDERTATEMENT for how he disliked these lot, especially for how they harmed his childhood friend when they'd been younger. These bullies looked to be adventurers now, but back then one could call them thugs and they wouldn't be that inaccurate.

One could imagine his reaction when he found all this out as a KID...

As for the latter, all sorts of different emotions flashed through her eyes as memories, bad ones, replayed themselves in her head. Many of these people had been bullies to her growing up, the boys attempting to beat her into submission had it not been for Nico's intervention each time (awarding them a taste of their own medicine), and the girls always insulting and mocking her. They always demeaned her whilst saying how she would always be alone and nobody would want her from a young age. That she was nothing but an airheaded idiot who didn't deserve anything good in life.

Uncaring for their facial expressions, each of the group looked the couple over. The girls looked over Nico's form with lust and wanton desire, eyeing his well-developed form up and down like they were lions looking at a delicious sack of meat. Some of them even made flirtatious winks and other gestures, and seductive intent radiated from them like a thick miasma. One could only guess what kind of fantasies these women had in their minds regarding this physique before them... Not something Nico liked to think about, shudders travelling up and down his spine as he remembered the Chaos God of Pleasure and excess: Slaanesh.

Meanwhile, similar looks were directed towards Compa by the guys, whose expressions reminded her of starving wolves wanting to devour a certain part of her... a very SPECIAL part of her she had retained for a very long time. Each of them leered at her with dark grins, grins containing a sense of perverse lust and eagerness to enjoy her body in more ways than one. Combined with how they bullied her in the past... well, little else needed to be said on that front.

Though, these people had bullied and tormented Compa relentlessly when she had been younger... they forgot one crucial fact: That had been that Compa had changed... something that they would soon find out in the following moments, especially when one of the guys noticed the necklace hanging around her neck. The same one Nico had completed for her during their last outing together.

"Hm?"

One of the guys looked upwards after leering at Compa's chest, noticing the necklace which hung around her neck. His eyes, after momentarily widening in surprise, then became glued to it like a thief eyeing his or her next target, as he stepped towards the teenage girl. "Now, what do we have here? That's a nice piece of jewelry you got there." The guy remarked, slowly reaching out towards it. "Give it here, I'm sure that I can make better use of it than someone whose likely gonna wind up dying alone and unloved by the world."

As he reached for her necklace, Compa's eyes shrunk into dots, time almost slowing down for her. Her mind, whilst usually kinda dim-witted, suddenly kicked it into high gear. In that moment, several facts became clear to her: One, this guy who had bullied her in the past was trying to take something from her. Two, that something had been an unimaginably precious gift she had received from her crush, a gift which pretty much symbolised the immense devotion that her crush had for her (although he wasn't aware of its significance). Three, and perhaps the most important one of all...

She didn't want him to get even one INCH of his grubby little mits on her precious treasure.

Looks like something Nico had once said on one of their quests needed to be implanted into her mind: Time to nut up or shut up.

In a flash, just as the guy tried to grasp the necklace from the perceived 'Weakling' Compa's arm shot up, grabbing onto his wrist which resulted in startling the guy. "Huh?!" He shouted, eyes widening in alarm and shock, something which got mirrored by the rest of the guys ion the group. Each of them stepped backwards save for the one being grabbed thanks to the sudden action.

The guy in front though, he tried to pull his hand back, shove it forwards, anything, but the grip that Compa had... it possessed the strength of a viper, coiling around its prey. "Ugh, you bitch-let go! Let go of me now! Don't make me hurt you!" The boy yelled, struggling even harder to break free to no avail. "You bitch! Don't you know?! My father's part of the Planeptune Government, do you think someone like you can touch me?!"

His frantic, fear and anger-filled yells reached Compa, going in one ear...and straight out the other. All Compa focused on, was on the things she had wanted to do for a VERY long time. Everything this guy and his companions had put her through in her childhood, all the bullying, beating and verbal abuse, all of it reared its ugly head inside of her, resulting in Compa's eyes losing ANY of their previous bright light as she stared blankly at him.

His own kept gradually filling with more and more panic as the strength in her grip increased bit by bit, the sounds of cracking bones soon being audible between them casing the boy to start crying out... Though that didn't stop her from what she did next.

POW!

Twisting on her left heel, Compa launched a vicious, speedy side kick at her former tormentor, one which looked more like the thrusting of a spear than a leg shooting out towards an opponent. The guy had been so focused on her eyes, and her grip, that he hadn't even considered her legs as a means of attack... which resulted in the absolute WORST thing any man could ever experience: a heel to the manhood, the force beind it rivalling a speeding double decker bus ramming into a building.

"Ohhhhh!"

Startled and horrified gasps escaped the male members of the group, each of them clutching their manhoods as phantom pains caused them to shudder like they were stripped naked and [pushed into the icy cold depths of Lowee. Each of them trembled violently as the target of such an attack fell to their feet, unconscious from the pain with full white irises and a frothing mouth.

As for the females, they each yelped in surprise, fear and bewilderment, gazing at the normally meek girl like they were seeing a whole new person... someone who now scared the living daylights out of them instead of made them want to bully and demean. When Compa idly glanced towards them with that blank gaze of hers, the image of a vicious creature about to unleash its wrath upon them entered their minds, causing an extra dose of fear to enter their systems as quick as a drug would when injected into the bloodstream via artery.

Apparently however, one of them managed to regain some bit of his backbone as his face reddened with anger, something which provided him with the strength to take a single step forwards like their apparent 'leader' had. "You freaking SLUT! How dare you rebel against your betters! Believe me, you will NOT get away with this, you or any of your slutty friends! One way or another, my blade or my dick will be penetrating that virgin soil, mark my words!" he bellowed, his words giving some strength and morale back to the bullies behind him.

However, Compa just tilted her head at them, not at all afraid of this threat to her or her friends. After all, in comparison to them, her power alongside the rest of them had become as vast as lakes piled on top of one another. It would be laughable to even CONSIDER these guys a threat to them. However, something had to be done, as she didn't want these... these fucking BASTARDS near any of her friends.

That was when she heard a faint whisper in the back of her mind, one which belonged to the manifestation of Camael, as her mouth opened to release EXACTLY what she had convinced her to say. "Um, I would rather you do the blade thing, cause at least then I might be able to feel something, and even then it might barely register."

At that, the expression 'bitch slapped silly' could be applied to the speaker, his eyes wider than dinner plates whilst his jaw dropped open, Shock and disbelief, as well as utter humiliation, filled his being at what this girl had the gall to say to him. Worse still, was that some of the girls behind them seemed to share the sentiments judging by the light snickers that were heard.

'#WHISTLE# Naaawwwiiice…! Compa, you go girl! If we were alone, I'd laugh my ass off while hugging you, right now.' Nico thought to himself, a small vindicative smirk etched onto his lips when he saw what had happened. Don't get him wrong, for a moment he had been just as stunned as them at Compa's sudden personality shift, but that had only lasted a few seconds before a sadistic sense of enjoyment replaced it as he watched them squirm. Oh, how great it felt, seeing the bullies become the bullied, the bullied getting their own back.

Part of him did indeed worry for Compa's mental health right now, but he instead revelled in the 'darker' emotions coursing through him.

What, nobody ever said Nico was a saint...

Speaking of saints, glancing over to him, some of the girls decided to instead try their luck with him, forgetting about their male companions OH SO CONVINIENTLY. "Hey there, handsome..." One of them called out whilst crossing her arms under her bust to enlarge her boobs, attempting to entice the redhead male. "Would you mind coming with us? We can make it worth your while..."

Now, to the ordinary male, this would sound like a good time...

Nico however, had other ideas.

"What, you mean with all the STDs you guys might have contracted by being those guys stress relievers all these years? Apologies, but I'd rather pass." Nico responded bluntly, rolling his eyes. He did NOT speak falsely either, as he could smell the remains of intercourse from these girls, something which he had to resist cringing in disgust at. Either it had been recent, or they didn't even bother cleaning up after themselves, in the end though it stank his nostrils, something he didn't exactly appreciate very much. Mentally,. Nico revelled in the maniacal laughter Byakko was emitting, heck he swore he could hear light snickers from Biko as well.

Of course, the look that second male speaker had soon spread over each of their faces like a plague, at the blatant insult that he'd made to them. Each of them almost became numb in sheer bewilderment at what Nico had just said. For women like them, being called something like that so bluntly... well, one could guess how offended they would become.

"Oh yeah, I would suggest that you leave before you piss me or my comrade here off any further." Nico suggested when he sensed that Compa was about to summon an Angel. Looked like these assholes had seriously pissed her off (he got the feeling he was the reason since he sensed a HUGE spike in rage within her when those flirty comments got sent his way), and whist he would LOVE to have seen the carnage that would have followed, it wouldn't be very good in the long run. As unfortunate as it was, they needed every able-bodied fighter they could get in the war against the Demons.

It looked like they were going to respond with some kind of comment though, so Nico decided to go a little further. "Plus, if you don't, if my comrade doesn't get to you..."

BANG!

A loud gunshot rang out, causing the girls to each jump with their skins going pale with fright. The reason? There was a small crater on the ground in front of them, caused by a bullet which had been fired from a newly summoned Ebony, its barrel steaming from the recent unloading whilst Nico aimed the handgun at their faces. "Then don't mind me if I take a crack at it myself, and BELIEVE me, whatever she would do to you PALES in comparison to what I'll do. This Gun here can reduce your heads to fucking PAINT, after all." he snarled, and no the redhead did NOT joke just then.

At this point, each of the girls lost their will to continue with all this, as well as the guys when Compa summoned a HUGE sword (Sandalphon) and cut a crater next to one of them. Fear filling their beings (and causing some wet stains on their pants), all of the bullies soon ran away with their tails between their legs, vanishing out of sight before anything else could befall them.

'Whelp, that takes care of that...' Nico thought to himself, twirling his trusty handgun by its trigger over his index finger before making a holstering motion, storing it back into his Void Storage. Though if he were frank, he felt grateful that those bullies showed up, as he got to vent a LOT of his internal anxieties right then. Nothing like a good old death threat alongside a demonstration to calm the nerves, he'd say. 'Though, part of me wishes I could have put some holes through those guys manhoods for even DARING to look at Compa that way...'

Turning to his companion, Nico noticed how she shook on the spot, hair hanging over her eyes as her Angel shimmered with burning anger. Looked like she had REALLY wanted to unleash more blasts with Sandalphon there, not like he'd blame her. That is, until she then took a deep breath, the glow vanishing as her power receded into her. "You okay, Compa?" Nico questioned, striding up to her side with his lips curled into a frown.

"I'm... fine, Ni-Ni..." she replied evenly, taking a few more deep breaths before looking back to him. Nico swore he saw the last bits of white leaving her pupils there, but dismissed it. "Just.. taking care of a few things, is all." she elaborated, before she tilted her head with a look of curiosity on her features. "But um, Ni-Ni? Did you really intend to follow through with what you said earlier?"

Nico, remembering what he had said to those females (though he wondered if they should even be called that, as REAL women in his eyes were people like Neptune and the rest of the ones he knew), nodded his head firmly. "Sure would, not gonna lie. You know me Compa, when I make promises I damn well keep them, nor do I ever go back on my word." For a moment, he wondered if he had offended her with this, and mentally prepped himself for the worst...

"Goodie, cause I was about ready to carve them up, myself."

However, the moment that Compa said those words, with a shadow cast over her eyes and a sickeningly sweet smile on her lips, his previous thoughts vanished as shudders went down his spine. 'Wow, looks like her scary side's cropping up there...' Nico thought, before grinning as he crossed his arms under his chest. "Well, if they come around again, mind if I watch? Sounds like an interesting festivity."

"Yup-Yup, now lets get going Ni-Ni. There's somewhere I wanna go."

"Sure."

* * *

A while later, it was close to the end of the day, with the sun beginning to set in the distance, allowing the cycle of night and day to repeat itself like it as done since time immemorial. Already, if one could look to the skies above, the sights of twinkling stars would be visible as time went on. To those with greater eyesight though, this would become even more apparent.

However, this wasn't that relevant compared to the things taking place right this moment.

After everything had been settled with the bullies, Nico had messaged the other Party members to inform them that he and Compa might be back late, whilst also inquiring as to how they were doing. As usual, each of them seemed to be doing their own thing:

Neptune being busy learning the ins and outs of Devil Trigger,

Noire apparently had begun training with Balmung,

Vert had seemingly begun searching across the lands for something. What that was, she didn't say, but Nico didn't press too hard for such information.

As for his comrades in Team RAIL, Aiden and Ivan remained as hardworking as ever, ranking up hundreds of Demonic kills and keeping the front lines from being overrun.

A shame, cause Nico had found himself developing a few new songs that he wanted to practice with them some time. The same could be said for Lucy and Raven too. He didn't know what Guts and Isaac were up to though, but he felt like they were doing their own things, so no worries were there.

Still though, none of this remained relevant to him the moment Compa and him arrived at the place she had wanted to visit. The place she had taken him to, Nico could NEVER have forgotten it no matter how many years had passed. He and her, they found themselves standing within a huge ass plain, one of many that Planeptune possessed. In the middle, just like before, there was that huge ass tree, which also seemed to have grown up to 20 meters in height, much bigger than what he remembered. "This... Compa, this place is..." he whispered under his breath.

"Hm mm!" Compa hummed affirmatively, twirling around to face him with her hands behind her back when she had gotten under the tree's expansive shade. "Yup! It makes me happy that you remember, Ni-Ni! This place is the same one where we slept together when we were 11. Do you remember how Grandpa covered us up in that blanket?"

At that, Nico let out a boisterous laugh as he walked up to her, embracing the cool sensations of the shade in place of the setting sun. "Hah, yeah I could never forget. Not to mention how we made a pact, didn't we?" Nico replied, grinning as the two sat down at the base of the tree, looking towards the descending sun. "It was that even if we were far away, we'd always think of one another. Heh..." Nico then held his hand up, his smirk resembling that of a child as he held the hand upwards, one index finger straight and his thumb stretched sideways like an upside down 'r'. "Wasn't this the symbol we used?"

Seeing the hand gesture like that, Compa nodded her head as her heart hammered wildly within her chest. "Y-Yes, that's it..." she replied, beaming so happily that she felt like she might burst into tears at any moment. She even made the same hand gesture he was making right now, holding it up to the tree above them. She didn't need to say it, cause she could tell Nico was aware of this.

But a small part of her always fretted that Nico would have forgotten about her, or worse the memories they shared together. It was an irrational fear though, given the exact nature and personality of her childhood crush. But then again, when had the heart ever been so logical?

Spending this time with him, away from all the chaos in this world, felt so much like a slice of heaven within a hellish world to her.

'Man, seeing Compa smile like this...' Nico thought to himself, doing all he could to suppress the face-splitting grin trying to form. Even if he couldn't sense positive emotions, Nico could still FEEL the amount of happiness and joy radiating from Compa in colossal sized waves. 'It makes everything that's bee happening so... irrelevant. Unimportant...'

This, THIS right here, would be one of the best feelings he ever had, besides fighting of course. Just chillaxing with someone he could trust, something which Nico had been searching for, for a goddamn longass time, felt freaking amazing. This wasn't something he felt like they would be doing often though, due to how things were progressing, so for the time being he'd simply take what he could get.

To that end, both Nico and Compa sat together, side by side watching the sunset before them. A calm, tranquil air washed over them, gently brushing through their hair and ruffling their clothes. Some of her hair nearly went into Compa's face thanks to the wind direction, but before she could take care of it, Nico's right hand moved seemingly on its own, brushing those loose hair strands behind her ear.

"E-Eh?"

"Huh?"

For a moment, both of them blinked, before looking away from one another, their faces tinted pink (Compa) and red (Nico) respectively. That action, the moment both looked at each other, they had instantly realized the instinctual nature it had, which only made their base embarrassment increase tenfold. The Nurse-In-Training had put one hand over the side of her head where Nico's fingers had gently caressed, face pink but a small smile was on her lips. Meanwhile, Nico resembled a tomato right now as he looked pretty much anywhere but where his companion was.

This would be the first time for him, but... Nico quickly began to feel... something. Something within him was beginning to change. It wasn't anything to do with his abilities, Nico would have identified it immediately if that were the case. No, for the first time, at the thought of Compa's smile his body began to heat up, his heart rate beginning to reach gattling gun speeds whilst his palms and forehead began sweating slightly. Holy shit, what the hell was this? What the hell was going on hee, why was his body acting this way?

 **'Instead of wondering about this, how about you strike a conversation with her?'**

'Yeah, good idea Biko. I'll look into this later, but... what can I talk to her about?'

 **'Your condition could be a decent starter.'**

That was true, Nico DID say that it would be best if they were in an isolated place before talking about that. Plus, since this place had been only known between him, Compa and her grandfather, it would be as good as any. "S-Say, Compa?"

"Hm? Yes, Ni-Ni?"

"Remember what I said before? About my condition?"

"Ah!" Compa's eyes blinked in confusion for a moment, before memories dawned on her as an excited gleam shone in her eyes. "You mean...?" she asked whilst displaying this excitement for all to see.

Something which made all this much easier for the male, her honesty would forever be something he'd treasure about her. How he had thought of her as someone dangerous regarding his secret, Nico no longer had a clue about. "Yeah, if you want... you can ask now." he admitted, whilst wondering what she would ask. Hopefully he'd be able to at least answer a few.

Seeing this chance, Compa took a moment to think about what she wanted to say. She'd been waiting for a while to ask these things, but she had never gotten the chance to actually do so. Now that she had however, she soon found herself unable to think of what to ask first. After a moment of thinking though, one question came to her. "Then, um... remember when Nep-Nep took that Tentacle of yours into her chest? Why did it look like it was attacking her?" she questioned.

'I should have figured that to be the case...' Nico thought to himself. Of course she would ask that, but he did say he would answer, so here he went. "Well, that answer's a bit complex, so i'll summarize it as best I can. I think in the past, my traumatized mind impacted my Kagune, for you see psychology effects its evolution. It resulted in my trauma having my Kagune developing the ability to strike as if it had its own will, attacking anyone who it perceives as a threat to me. Usually, I'm able to restrain it from attacking people out of the blue, but that's a lot harder when they are emitting killing intent. Its automatic, so it happens independent of my will, which resulted in many an assassin losing their lives without me even realizing."

Though it didn't need to be said, this ability may SOUND useful, but for someone who had been trying to keep it under wraps, it could be considered a double edged sword. Nico had lost count of how many times his Ghoulish Kagune had tried to come out to impale his enemies when it didn't need to, prying eyes or not. Nico had done many different things in order to sate its bloodlust, like using it on solo missions, killing monsters without being on quests, or letting it feast on the flesh of his human victims.

However, one would still say that he had trouble controlling that specific ability, memories of it nearly breaking free from his will multiple times across his journey with the party filling his mind. His Rinkaku would have been the more manageable one due to it being invisible via its vibrations by default, but the Bikaku and Koukaku?

No dice.

"Huh... that sounds tough, Ni-Ni... any idea on how you got it?" Compa questioned, her mind reeling as she tried to imagine what it would have been like, to have to always restrain oneself so they don't go on a bloodthirsty rampage, slaughtering everything they saw. To always have to be aware of such a thing, to always monitor it even when one was alone... no, Compa couldn't even BEGIN to imagine it. 'And... Ni-Ni's had to deal with it on his own... nobody would have been able to help him with it, either...' Compa thought, frowning to herself in sadness.

Nico then sook his head, dejection filling his being from that question. "Honestly, I've only got bits and pieces, and even then its only come back to me recently." He replied, looking up at the branches above. "I... well, you already have experience with this, but I usually have these... hallucinations, these visions and nightmares. They used to occur much mire frequently in the past before you and me found Neptune, but lately they've slowly gotten better. In any case, these hallucinating have always been about my past... and they've shown me snippets, like a large room, a chair, a... man, I think anyways. Other than that, I believe something like an organization was involved, its the only thing I could think of which could have taken so many children from the four nations."

"I see... then, you had one when I tried finding you when Iffy was taken by those meanies?"

"... Yeah..."

"..."

"..."

* * *

For a while, the two continued talking about Nico's Ghoul side, him explaining its mechanics, going into details (as much as he could without treading into classified territory) about the missions where he had to use it, about how his comrades Aiden and Ivan found out when he had to use it to save them from a couple powerful Abnormals, the likes of that. He tried his best to make it so that Compa got the whole picture with what he could say, and judging by her features Nico felt like he'd done a pretty decent job of it. Though, she did giggle at the more... comedic moments his ghoulish Persona Byakko (having told her about his mental state) had with his Demon one Biko. Since she had known about him, he didn't feel the need to hide those parts.

Though, he did feel MUCH better when he got to talk about it, it felt much more liberating than he could have ever imagined. Like this massive weight he had been carrying for a long time, finally got removed from his shoulders. Would this have bee what it would have been like if he had opened up to his childhood friend sooner? Had he really been THAT much of an idiot? Nico certainly FELT like he had, and it wasn't a good feeling, for sure.

 **(Play Date a Live OST: Secrets)**

Right now however, something much more important was flowing through his mind as he looked towards his childhood friend: the various scars that littered Compa's body, scars Nico had done his best not to pay attention to until he couldn't hide his irritation and guilt over them any further. Also, to be frank he had been so focused on the date itself that he had forgotten they were there, but right now he could see them a bit, the most prominent one being the one where her Vocals had been ripped out before, along with the snippets he could see past her dress and cardigan. Those Scars, they reminded him so vividly of what he had seen to make them come into being, of what he had failed to do because of his own weakness, his own hesitation to do what had to be done. If he had been quicker to realize it all, then he would have been able to at least spare her from that torment...

Who know what kind of trauma she had gained because of such injuries.

Thinking back on it, Nico realized that she must have been even more nervous than he ever could have been, since wearing the clothes she did revealed more of those Scars than her regular attire did, the brutal savagery which had befallen her without mercy. And he had been staring at her for that long time, even though she tried to put up a front to hide it... This realization only made him feel like an even greater dick, how could he have done something so insensitive towards her feelings? Normally, he was good at perceiving those, that had been a fact up until now!

"Compa, I..." he began to say, only for the cream haired girl to shake her head, shushing him with an index finger to his mouth.

After these actions, Compa softly began to speak, her tone like a sweet melody which enriched his ears and made his very soul start to sing. "Its alright, Ni-Ni... you don't have to feel so guilty about these..." she stated, gesturing to some of the scars on her body. Thankfully her dress hid a lot of them, but... yeah, what happened back then would DEFINITELY leave a scar on her mind which would never be completely healed. "To be honest... I never did get over that time, not even up till now..." she began, taking her hand away and curling her knees up into her chest. She then gazed down at the ground before her heels, her eyes darkening as depression started settling in. "In the beginning, I always wanted to become strong, like the rest of us, and for a time, I had thought I'd finally reached my goal. That i'd be able to fight alongside you all like an equal instead of just some supporting character... like i'd be able to become an actual main character... but that guy changed it all for me."

Just thinking about what Mundus did to her back then sent no small amounts of chills down her spines, making her grip her legs tighter as phantom pains assaulted her body. "When we first fought that meanie Mundy guy, I... I was the first one to go... and also the one who did the least amount of damage to him. Not like we all did any to him, even you Ni-Ni, but the fact remained that... I was still the weakest out of all of us. I was still the runt of the latter, the link which our baddies will try to conk out..."

Nico wanted to, oh he SO wanted to tell her that wasn't the case, that Compa wasn't the weakling she thought she was, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Mostly because in all practicality, she was right. He wasn't one to sugarcoat things, and out of all of them Compa had done the least amount of damage to Mundus in their fight. Hell, if one wanted to ask who the one who did the most damage to him was, then it'd be a tie between Nico himself and IF, but they'd strongly argue against that since they both failed in the end.

They ALL did... and it got made all the worse when the enemy just spared them when he COULD have just axed them off right then and there.

"It was so humiliating, so agonizingly frustrating that I screamed into my pillow when we got to our hotel room into the night... I even had nightmares of the event, almost hallucinating it through the entire day had Mentor not begun training me even harder than she'd done before. I guess she had sensed what was happening to me, and wanted to help out the best she could... I'm grateful to her for that." Compa explained, her tone gradually losing the light and chirpy manner it usually had and becoming replaced with a melancholic, depressed one. "But, I still had them, and they kept making me question if my choice to gain this power was the right one, would it have even mattered? Power or not, I would have lost to that guy anyways no matter how much you slice it, Ni-Ni..."

At this, the redhead couldn't take it anymore as he began to say something. "You may be right there Compa… power or not you likely would have bit the dust. I'm not going to lie there, cause that would be stupid..." he stated, bluntly, making Compa do a mirthless chuckle.

"It would have been... nice if you did though, Ni-Ni..."

"Sorry, Compa. But, I just can't do that. You know me, I'm not one to sugarcoat things, I deliver facts as they are, not what we wish them to be."

Another chuckle escaped her, with a bit of light returning to it. "Yeah, I know Ni-Ni. You're not that type of guy, your someone who isn't afraid to say what he believes in, what needs to be truly said... your not trying to be someone your not... and that makes me happy. That honesty is what I expected from Ni-Ni... which is what I thought when in my darkest moments..." she told him, looking up at the stars. "This revelation was what drove me onwards ever since... I've been wanting to train my power, to master it at a level which I can safely say 'I am strong'. I want to be able to fight alongside everyone, Ni-Ni..." She spoke, shifting her gaze to him with a soft, fond smile breaking out onto her lips. "You especially. I want to be a main character, not a side character like I've been before."

"Compa…"

At that point, Nico honestly found himself floored by the young woman beside him, to the point he could only look at her in awe and amazement. If anyone thought this would be a typical 'friendship is power' moment that populated anime these days, they'd be sorely mistaken since Compa simply stated she wanted to get stronger so she could establish a better identity for herself. Not just because she wanted to fight alongside them, which was true, but to 'be her own main character' which basically meant to be her own person. That to him, felt WAY more powerful in comparison...

Still, this didn't detract him from what he wanted to do. "Even so though... if you would like... I could get rid of these Scars if you want..." Nico suggested, catching Compa's attention IMMEDIATELY, her eyes shifting into true shock and befuddlement. "I'm not lying before you ask, you know I don't lie. I... recently came into the... possession of something which has powerful healing powers. Therefore... if you want to have them gone, I think I can do that for you-"

"That would be lovely, Ni-Ni! Please do that so Nurse Compa doesn't have to see them in the morning every day!"

Apparently, she wanted them gone just as much as he did, since she interrupted him like that. Though, Compa soon realized just how ahead of herself she'd gotten and leaned away from him, flushing in embarrassment.

Well, far be it for him to not oblige her.

With that said, Nico released a single Rinkaku in its decloaked form, the Black Tentacle molding its tip into a Syringe like form. When she saw the Tentacle, Compa flinched, though Nico quickly assured her that this would be a painless procedure. This would be something that Nico would remember the Nature Elves for, whenever he used the power that the Royal Nature Spirit Core gave him, Nico would always think of those innocent creatures...and right now, he wanted to use their power to heal the old wounds of his childhood friend.

'Please, work...!'

That thought in mind, Nico allowed the Tentacle to plunge into Compa's neck, piercing an artery there to allow the Tentacle to inject blood pellets into her body faster. One could tell this was happening due to there being bulbs which flowed towards the Tentacle's tip into her form, and the moment this procedure began, Compa felt like she was being bathed in the warmth of nature... more so than she already was given her surroundings. It was a calm, gentle and wonderful feeling, something she treasured deeply... that, and it came from her crush, so her treasuring it felt like a default reaction to her by this point.

A few seconds later, did the Tentacle pull back, which allowed her to open her previously closed eyes to look down at herself, wondering if the procedure had worked or not. Just by looking at herself though, did Compa's eyes suddenly widen in shock, then joy, when she noticed unblemished skin where her Scars had once been. There had been practically nothing remaining of them, even as she looked down her dress in a way that Nico, who sat beside her retracting his Tentacle into him, wouldn't be able to see down her dress. This allowed her to see her body having been fully healed of its scars, not a single trace of them remaining.

"...NI-NIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Cue one MASSIVE hug from a jovial Compa, one in which he returned with just as much joy and affection.

 **(OST end)**

* * *

By the time that Nico and Compa finished, night had fallen as evident with the moon taking the place of the sun in the night skies. Stars twinkled endlessly, filling it so completely it would resemble looking at this huge ocean's worth. The winds which had been only slightly chilly before, now raced through the plains with greater intensity.

'Looks like we should head back. The others will likely wonder where we are if we don't leave now...' Nico thought to himself when looking upwards, noticing the changes. "We should head back now, its not only getting late, but I doubt either of us would want to ruin this... date..." Nico paused to try and say that word without blushing crimson... he didn't succeed. "By having to get out clothes dirty. Not counting what Neptune might insinuate."

"Y-Yeah..." Compa replied, blushing at what Neptune might say if that had indeed been the scenario. Not only that, but she had to smile at how meek and timid Nico had been when regarding this as a date, having seen it as such for the entire time they spent together. She would admit to not having the slightest idea of how a standard date should go, but even so she still felt like this date had been WELL worth going out on. She could feel the joy of her various Angels too, which meant they agreed with her on that.

With that in mind, both Nico and Compa stood from the tree, blushing when the redhead took her hand in his (he didn't know why, but Nico liked the feeling of her hand in his) before beginning their trek back. A trek which took place under one of the beautiful night skies which Gamindustri got to see as a common occurrence… well, save for Lastation.

 **'I may not be an expert on human traditions, but I do believe that this has been a resounding success, has it not?'**

'Not sure I can confidently agree with you there, but I do get that feeling too, Biko.' Nico mentally replied to his Demon Persona, glancing over to the Spirit Girl beside him who looked as cheerful as she ever did. Still, even with this feeling of success, Nico couldn't help but frown to himself. He wasn't the only one of the two who didn't have any humanity left in them anymore, Compa wasn't human anymore either. She was a Spirit now, and that fact would forever be irreversible... just, how could she live with something like that?

It disgusted him, but part of him wanted to use the Shingan to invade her thoughts and get her feelings on that matter. Most of it due to remnants of his previous insecurities, before he mercilessly crushed them. As a result, Nico mentally gathered up what courage he could find, and opened his mouth. "Say... um, Compa?" Whelp, no turning back now.

 **(Play Unravel Piano Cover by F.B. Piano Anime - Disclaimer)**

"Yes?"

When Compa responded while looking towards him as they walked down the plains, Nico took mental notes of what he wanted to say, before he finally popped the question which had been plaguing his mind for a while now. "Are you... alright, with this? Being what you are right now?" he asked her. "I mean, you know it yourself the best, but you aren't human anymore. There's no humanity left in you now, and... I was wondering how you're coping with that fact. True, this means you'll have the power to fight back against these creatures threatening to kill us, but... it will get quite lonely." Nico explained, sighing sadly as he glanced to the side. "Believe me, I know. Not being human can be the worst thing imaginable to people, it can get cold, it can get dark, depressing and isolated. One who isn't human, will get pushed away and outcasted…"

What Nico tried to say, was that he'd been worried that Compa hadn't thought of the consequences of ascending into a Sprit, a non-human being. If the world found out, they would definitely try to kill her off for some fanatical reasoning, not something Nico would allow, but the fact remained still. He knew the situation she'd be in meant she had little option, and in some ways that made it all the worse. She had forcefully lost her humanity, and had become one of the MANY monsters in this world... a fate Nico had hoped wouldn't ever have befallen her. She shouldn't have to go through the same hardships as the rest of them, she deserved to live an ordinary civilian life, away from all this madness and chaos.

"I don't mind..."

"?!"

Eyes wide, Nico heard Compa's reply, swerving his head around to face her. He did this so fast that time almost had to speed up just to keep pace with his sudden movements. His eyes shrunk to the size of dots whilst his mouth hung open, pure disbelief shining behind his current expression. "Wha… what...?" he whispered, almost thrown completely for a loop.

"Well... I'll admit, I was a bit scared at first..." Compa admitted, looking away from him whilst scratching her jaw sheepishly, though her eyes told a different story. "I was a bit nervous since I had nobody to guide me, to help me learn about what I could do and what I could become in the future. After all, apparently my kind aren't supposed to be around anymore, but here I am: a Spirit and one who has multiple Angels, too. I will say that I felt scared and alone... but then... well, a few things happened, and I ended up being okay with it."

She then looked up to him, her eyes shining without any kind of doubt or anxiety on her part as she spoke. "First, I learned how to accept not thinking like a human. Despite being a Spirit, I'm still me, and that's the most important part of all this. Second... well, Ni-Ni, you're not the only one who wears Masks all the time." At this, Compa's lips curled downwards into a sad frown. "For most of my life, people have been bullying and tormenting me, making my life miserable... it was only when I began 'pretending' to be a good girl that they let up, and that just allowed them to walk all over me... but as long as I wasn't being hurt, I was fine with it. Though, I just deluded myself... this power? It showed me why that thought process wasn't a good idea, it helped me understand that, at the end of the day, i'm NOT that kind of girl. I'm me, and I shouldn't try to please everyone. Then... today, I came to another realization."

At this, Compa turned away from him, looking towards the direction of the Capital. "There are a lot of mean humans out there, real jerks who want to hurt others... and there are very few good ones... good ones I was fortunate enough to find. I'm not alone anymore, so... why should I care about people like them?" Turning back to him, Compa beamed a happy grin, leaning forth whilst hands were behind her back. "Why, when I have such wonderful friends instead? I still wanna be a Nurse in the future, but... I dunno, it feels different from before. I wanna be one... for myself. I wanna do what I wanna do, and that's to become a Nurse, I guess that would explain the gist of it." Compa explained, humming thoughtfully, before she returned to her previous demeanour. "So don't worry about me, Ni-Ni, I'm real fine with what I am, I don't regret it one bit. Neither should you."

Her piece said, Compa continued on their trek by skipping along the countryside, unknowingly leaving behind an absolutely bewildered Nico. Whatever he had wanted to say to her had pretty much been doused by her words, not to mention the sheer happiness behind them. She... she pretty much said she would rather be like this, than be a human with everyone else! Then again, she WAS surrounded by super powered people, thus if given the choice, and she had, Compa chose them instead of the fickle-minded masses. She chose them because, like she said, there were many assholes in the world, and few good folk out there, so if one's lucky enough to find them, then they should stick together like glue. That was the essence of her speech just now, and it absolutely ASTOUNDED him on the level of maturity he had seen from her.

Someone like her...

'She... really has grown, hasn't she? Compa… if it weren't for you, you who had remained from the beginning, I doubt I'd have made it this far. If this is the path that you wish to travel, then I'll be damned if I didn't help you as best I can along the way. The road ahead will likely be fraught with twists and turns around every corner, but if this is your resolve, then I believe you'll come out on top...' Nico thought, eyeing Compa from behind with a small smile on his lips.

This revelation also served to help him come to terms with something as well. 'If... if Compa was able to accept me like this... and the others would do the same... then I HAVE to figure out some way to repay them.' he thought further, his mind steeling itself with this resolution.

Thanks to everything he'd learned today, Nico FINALLY understood. He understood that there WERE people in this world who could accept him for who he was, even if he was a monster. It didn't matter to them, after all this world was full of Monsters so what's one more to worry about? As such, Nico NEEDED to find a way to show them his gratitude, no he WANTED to. He wanted to show them how thankful he felt inside, the immense sense of joy, gratefulness, relief, everything inside him he wanted to showcase to his comrades... no...

His FRIENDS.

They weren't just comrades on the battlefield, they weren't just brothers and sisters in arms anymore. Hell, if he would get technical, they weren't even just his friends... if he were to try and put a lid on it, he'd say that they were a strange mix of the three, combined with these... new feelings he felt inside. No matter what hey were however, Nico still felt ONE resolution hadn't changed in all this. In fact, it had been strengthened: His resolution to make sure they survive this mess. He'll lay down it all for them, since in his eyes THEY would be worth it.

Oh, how they indeed were...

 **(OST End)**


	192. Chapter 161 - Spec Ops Prep

**Chapter 161 - Spec Ops Prep**

Now THAT had been one HELL of a first date.

The moment that he had returned to the Hotel, Nico had thought that whilst he flopped onto his bed, revelling in the sweet sound of the creaking mattress as his head fell onto the pillow. A soft moan escaped his lips as he sent a mental command, his outfit changing into his PJs. Seconds later did his Kagune come out, his Rinkaku more specifically, and tuck him inside, making sure any and all entrances were locked up, before receding back into him. Nico hadn't even paid this much attention, since it happened fairly often now that he had accepted his Ghoul side, plus it brought the benefit of him being able to fall asleep sooner.

Still, if one were to comment on him taking this date well…

'uuuuugggghhhhh! Darn it Compa, what have you done to me?!'

… They'd be proven wrong.

In his bed, Nico groaned to himself whilst rolling from side to side, his face flushed crimson red in such a state that, if he were with others righ now, he'd have hidden his face in both embarrassment and humiliation. His eyes gaze down at the mattress beneath him, shimmering with varying emotions like a schoolboy having been caught off guard when a girl he was into kissed his cheek. The fact that he had been on a date, a date with someone he had known for some time, hit him full force in this moment. It also served to bring out memories he had thought he'd gotten over a short while back, memories of seeing alternate versions of himself living a peaceful life with Compa… living together… dating… marrying, forming a family… Nico remembered all those scenes vividly, almost like he was looking at them again and with the same intense experience as the first time.

'Come on, dude, get it together! This was just a freaking DATE, why the fuck are you so flustered for?! Its only just a date with someone you consider yourself close to, someone who you've learned to trust, is amazing, beautiful, gives a damn about you… uuugggghhhh!'

Honestly, this was the first time Nico had ever felt this way, before whenever he hung out with his companions the redhead never lost his composure like this. Not even with Lucy did he feel anything as intense as this, though in recent times it had gotten a bit more intense than normal. Was it because it had been COMPA who asked him? Could it be because it was her that it caught him so off guard that his compsure slipped up at the end? It did seem plausible, as Compa hadn't really done much of her own volition and instead followed th other girls' cues. This marked the first EVER time she did something on her own, and… yeah, this would be the result for him. Nico felt like a damn idiot, a child again for reacting this way, but despite his attempts the redhead couldn't help himself.

Unfortunately, the things at the end of the date could have turned out MUCH better than what they had, due to him having been called in to the Guild out of nowhere for an Urgent Quest. Not something he appreciated, since he just wanted to head back into bed, but Compa had been the understanding type. She'd known how one had to commit to their job as a Spec Ops Agent, something which Nico nearly squeezed the life out of her for when he hugged her. Part of him screamed at him to kiss her, but he had refrained… well, mostly. Apparently, his instincts wanted to do something for her no matter what, so he'd pecked her on the cheek before hightailing it over to the Guild Building, unaware of Compa's pink face when she went inside.

The quest itself wasn't anything too special, simply put he had to investigate some severe changes in Demon activity. The Northmen were building more of those Hellgates, faster than the military and Spec Ops Agents could take them out, something which alarmed the major powers since that could only mean something had been in the works. He'd been a part of a small task force, assigned to scout out some of these sites whilst remaining hidden in the wilderness, then return to a designated meeting point to be picked up and brought back for a debriefing. Unfortunately, they didn't get much info due to the sheer amount of forces, both human and Demon… sure, Nico could have torn them all apart himself, but he wasn't exactly ALONE, he didn't exactly want to have any unwanted attention brought to himself.

As for the date … Well, it had been amazing, as during it he felt like he had gained a few answers to his questions regarding the recent matters, most of them involving the girls. He'd gained a whole new level of respect for Compa as a person AND a comrade. The way she chose to stride forwards despite the trials ahead of her, trials she wouldn't have had to face if she were human, as well as pretty much everything she had done today, pretty much left him in awe of her resolve. She well and truly looked like she was growing up.

Therefore, Nico didn't feel as confused on why she had… well, asked him out in the first place. She DEFINITELY had the courage to do so…although he didn't think her choice of date was necessarily the correct one. He didn't know, some part of him still felt like there could have been someone way better than him, but even so Nico felt…happy, nonetheless. Her actions took guts, thus how the FUCK could he have rejected that?

Plus, there was a small part of him, one which he had been fighting against for a long time, which… had really WANTED to go on that date with her. A piece of him that, despite its size, held great control over his psyche.

Still though, this day did open up some questions for him, regarding the other girls, as he remembered signs that they showed which were… well, similar to what Compa had displayed now that he thought about it. Did that mean that they too, were looking at him in that sort of way? Could they be in a similar boat to Compa? Nico wasn't exactly sure on WHAT Compa and them looked at him with, only that they didn't see him as just a comrade. That alone however, had been more than enough to set off a few alarm bells inside his mind. First, Neptune, she was someone whom he fund it easier to recognize the signs, as despite her Mask hiding how she felt Nico could see right through it, plus there were some obvious signs as well which were expressed to him no matter which form she took. The same could be said for IF and Lucy too, but he wasn't so sure about Vert, Noire, Raven, Tekken and MAGES. though. For one, MAGES. and Tekken he knew the least out of the others, plus Raven wasn't exactly the emotional type. He'd readily admit she was one of the few people he found difficult to read. Noire and Vert were CPUs, Leaders of Nations like Neptune but unlike her they focused heavily on their Nations' problems as of late. He'd rather not do anything which might endanger that at the moment, especially for Noire since he was well aware of her desire to always strive to be the best since she 'failed' her Nation before.

'Whelp, I'll ponder on it some more tomorrow. The Spec Ops Exam should be my main focus, it would be better for me to help IF with her studies. That exam will likely be QUITE gruelling, but she'll benefit greatly from an actual Agent's assistance.' Nico thought to himself, closing his eyes and let the grip of slumber claim him, feeling his consciousness drift out of reach…

* * *

When the next day's morning arrived, Nico began his day in earnest the moment his eyes first opened. The moment he got dressed in his default outfit (preferring it over the formal one he wore to Compa's date yesterday) after doing his morning routine, Nicohad pretty much dashed out of the Hotel to head to the Guild Building. He didn't stop to see if anyone else was awake, as by this point every one of them had become immersed in their own training methods.

His intentions for the Guild Building weren't anything quest related though, as he instead intended to gather research materials from the Spec Ops Archives on what the activities of the chaotic forces throughout Leanbox were like. He could have just observed them from above the clouds in his DPU Form, but Nico felt like some more concrete information, limited as it may potentially be, could be found there. After all, there were those within the Spec Ops Community who specialized in information gathering and hacking, to the point where an entire company's financial infrastructure could come collapsing down from just ONE of their hackers.

Shame Leanbox didn't have that many major companies here unlike Lastation or Planeptune, though.

But if those hackers went to those Nations though…

Whilst the redhead strolled leisurely through the streets, Nico began to wonder about something. 'Before I arrived at the Halo Mountain and participated in the events there, I distinctly recall sensing another Demonic presence beneath me, but I'd been so focused on getting to Halo Mountain that I didn't bother paying much heed to it. If I re-imagine the presence in my mind, I feel like it held a level of power in which that, if I'm not mistaken, rivals that of Sky Class Demons. A power like that, could only come from something well and truly demonic in origins, but… I dunno, if that were the case wouldn't I have been attacked by it? Demons are all into that strength is right stuff, after all.' The redhead wondered, thinking back to that incident. There were also things like this presence's alignment, personality, threat levels etc that he should ave thought about before, but honestly Nico didn't care all that much.

Part of him wanted to go investigate the surrounding areas, see if he could find traces of that presence somewhere, but he doubted that would do anything concrete. It had been weeks since then, and thus any kind of residue presence must have long since faded by now. It kind of left a disappointing feeling in his gut, but then again what was life without its own disappointments?

'Okay, no need to go down that road just yet…' Nico though, shaking his head whilst he looked upwards at the Leanbox moring sun. The sight of it reminded him of just how much the seasons reminded him that, even in this hellhole of a world, there were still flickers of beauty left in it. For someone like him, who had seen the worst of the worst in so many places, things of beauty felt WAY more appreciative to him than normal. The sight caused him to slow his stroll to an ordinary civilian's pace, something which helped calm himself deep inside. 'Say, Byakko, any updates?'

'HUH? OH, YEAH, THE CHANGES ARE COMPLETE, THEY FINISHED WHILST YOU WERE RESTING LAST NIGHT, SO OUIR GHOUL BODY SHOULD BE GOOD TO GO.'

'I see… interesting, then do you know what we can do then?' Nico questioned, concealing his surprise that this had worked. Now that his Ghoul side, under the influence of those Gourmet Cells he'd discovered in those trials, had evolved into a new form, Nico wondered what kind of new powers that it possessed. Considering he had been feasting on the Gourmet Cells of some powerful beasts, beasts which could rival continent class DPUs in power and ability… yeah, the benefits didn't seem that all that small. He'll admit, he honestly felt quite excited about what they coul find.

'I DUNNO, BEST WAY TO FIND OUT WOULD BE TO JUST USE THE GHOUL INSIDE AT SOME KIND OF BATTLE OR SOMETHING, AND EVEN IF I KNEW I'D REFRAIN FROM TELLING YOU, IDIOT KING! WHAT'S THE POINT OF ME TELLING YOU ALL THIS SHIT, YOU'D NEVER GET ANYTHING DONE LIKE THAT!'

At Byakko's rebuttal, Nico mentally flinched before rolling his eyes. He couldn't really refute what his Ghoul Persona had said, since it kind of had some merit to it. Finding out for himself what his Ghoul side could do held its own kind of rewards, plus it didn't feel like it was in character for Byakko to justtell him everything like Biko did. Instinct and logic, they both represented these aspects of himself, thus it would make sense if their behaviour reflected this.

Whilst Nico reflected on this as he approached a T shaped junction…

"Whoa, look out mister!"

"?!"

Eyes snapped open wide when Nico sensed someone heading towards him in a collision course. His mind instantly whirled to life, figuring out the few seconds he had to react to this new situation. 'Someone's coming my way!' his mind shouted at him, dismissing his connection to his Ghoul Persona for the time being. Nico's instincts activated right after, and with reflexes only one trained in the art of combat could achieve the redhead twirled around the approaching person, wrapping an arm around their necks and stopping all their motion in one go.

WHOOSH!

A small gust of wind churned beneath them, Nico's cat flapping in its direction for a moment, before setting back down. By the time the redhead stopped all their motion, Nico mentally heaved a sigh of relief. 'Phew, that was a close one, I remember seeing a few anime where the MC clashed with someone while walking down the road to wherever, then getting himself into some sort of lewd situation. Good thing that didn't happen to me, otherwise I'd rip off my own arms…' he thought in relief.

 **'** **Hold that thought, Nico, and look down…'**

Relief which turned into curiosity and confusion at Biko's words. He didn't get why, but the exact SECOND he had heard them, a sense of dread filled his being like a glass being rapidly filled with water. He didn't know why that was, but the moment that he shifted his gaze downwards, he SOON found out… his eyes shrinking as his face gradually drained itself of color when he noticed that his arm had wound up DANGEROUSLY close to a pair of breasts. '… HOLY FUCKING SHIT!'

In seconds, Nico's reflexes kicked in as he hastily removed his arms from the person before him, pretty much confirmed to be female as he took a few steps backwards. His face literally lit itself on fire whilst his eyes remained as white circles, trembling violently whilst his mouth opened and closed without any sounds escaping. "Whoa there, fucking hell! Shit, fuck! I am SO sorry, it wasn't my intent!" Nico exclaimed, bowing his head repeatedly to try and showcase his regret for what could have happened. If his arm had did the stupid thing and sunk even lower… shudders filled his mind as well as memories of all those stereotypical harem animes.

"I-Its okay, really, I wasn't looking where I was-Oh, Nico, is that you?!"

Just then, the redhead heard the person speak with a tone which he found exceedingly familiar. His brows arched when he felt memories flash through his minds, blurry at first though. Why the hell did he feel like he had heard this voice before? It certainly seemed like this person knew him, but then when Nico looked towards the person' sstunned face his own eyes became the shape of saucers. He almost did a spit-take, as well as take a step back as shock filled his system. Standing before him, looking a mix of shocked and flustered, was none other than a certain black haired CQC fighter. "Huh?! Wait, is that you, Tekken?!"

Standing before him, looking just like how he had last seen her, was none other than Tekken herself. 'Holy hell, it really IS her! Man, she looks like she's been doing well since I last saw her!' Nico thought to himself, awe and amazement soon mixing with the shock that flooded his being. "W-Wow…. Tekken, how you doing, girl?" he questioned, soon shifting into a small smirk which showcased his excitement... something which his eyes showed in much greater quantities. "You look like your doing well." He commented further.

"Hehehe, you've been doing well for yourself, too!" Tekken chirped happily, looking equally as glad to see him again as he did her. They hadn't been able to meet again since the last time they'd partied up, something which she immensely regretted. Remembering that time, Tekken shifted her gaze to the ground, not looking back at him whilst she tried to get something out of her. "Its… good that I found you, it lets me do something I've been wanting to do for a long time now…" she said, and before he could inquire as to what she meant, Tekken lowered her head in a graceful bow. "Thank you for helping me so much back then! If it weren't for your assistance, I'd have been unable to continue on like I want to!"

This sudden behaviour change quickly caught the redhead off guard, especially with the dramatic presentation of it. Quickly reacting before attention could be drawn to them (like anyone, people in Leanbox love their gossip, which could turn ugly depending on future events), Nico waved his hands in front of him in a rushed manner. "H-Hey, its alright. You don't have to be like that around me, I'm just glad that you're able to be helped before it was too late…" he remarked, before his eyes darkened at the end. "Believe me, I'd been worried sick since, if I hadn't acted when I did, you'd have suffered some peranent damage…"

Just thinking about what had happened between him, Tekken and Maghda back in the Hellverse Dungeon sent waves of fury through his system. It was one of the few things about that incident which he truly regretted, after all he had vowed to make sure her and MAGES. Got out of that situation ALIVE, so Maghda doing what she did back then REALLY pissed him off to no end. Even so, the outcome back then could not have been any better other than her escaping without any injury whatsoever. Good thing MAGES. Had helped sooth his worries a bit with the news of her situation, but still the guilt from it persisted.

Seeing this expression and figuring out his thoughts, Tekken beamed at him before lightly notching him on the left shoulder with her left knuckle set. "Hey, no need to worry about me, Nico. Your mother spared no expense with healing me." She commented. It looked like to her, Nico hadn't changed all that much since she had last seen him, still the concerned worrywart she'd come to know in the Hellverse. It honestly cheered her up more than she had expected, knowing this. Though, she wouldn't say she felt happy knowing that he'd been tormenting himself thanks to it.

At hearing those words, did his facial expression change. Nico exhaled, a small smile forming on his lips afterwards as the image of Tekken being tended to by his mother filled his mind. "Yeah, that's true..." he remarked, chuckling at the end. This girl had NO idea just how lucky she had been. If it had been any other hospital, then they would have written the young maiden off as a lost cause, knowing that there had been no salvaging her situation with their feeble-minded natures... though that could only be considered BY COMPARISON to Spec Ops technology. Then, there was his mother who would stop at nothing to help someone if he asked her to. She doted on him that much, even though such opportunities came rarely for her.

Speaking of his mother though...

'Hey, Biko, do you see what I'm seeing...?' the redhead thought to his Demon Persona as he examined Tekken's body with his senses. The reason why he did this could be considered simple: before, Tekken had a strong demonic presence bound within her, a presence they had rightly assumed was some sort of Devil Arm. This Devil Arm he was sensing, it felt like it was on a similar level to his Ebony and Ivory before he had went with Vert to those ruins that time after he'd learned of the Lastation-Planeptune truce. Right now, this demonic presence seemed to have grown immensely in power, ferocity and activity. He could sense it taking on its own roles within her, not to mention that her own body seemed to be completely that of a Demon now... what was up with that?

In any case, it looked like much had changed since Nico had last saw her.

 **'I sense that she has indeed awakened her Devil Arm. For now, it is in its standby mode within her Soul, but she seems to have learned how to harness its power the way it was meant to. I believe that Helen could be the one to have helped her down this path, although I'm not as sure about her other abnormalities. You would have to ask her yourself on that one, Nico, but I CAN say that this reminds me a little of Logan's Demonic Power for some reason.'**

A nod came from the redhead. 'Yeah, I get that feeling to. Though, now that I think about it...' Nico thought, before an idea sprung like a spring into his mind. One which made his smile turn a TAD more competitive, something Tekken noticed. "Well then, since your all better, and I am WAY overdue at this point, perhaps we can go somewhere isolated for a bit of sparring? I distinctly recall promising you something like that before." Nico suggested, eyes twinkling with eagerness. He could look up the whole Demon stuff later on, cause right now THIS held his current focus. He could also identify the changes that had taken place within Tekken, not to mention that IF wasn't someone who needed much guidance anyways. He could hold off on looking for her for the time, being, though he would DEFINITELY look for her before the day was done. He did wanted to talk to her still.

At this, Tekken soon matched his grin as she smacked her fists together, almost making like she would be cracking her knuckles soon. When she did this, Nico noticed a faint flicker of crimson lightning cover her forearms and gloves, before vanishing just as fast as it had appeared. 'Probably something to do with her powers...' He thought in observation. "Hehehehe, now THAT sounds like a fun time! Lets a go, then Nico! I wanna see just how strong you really are!" She bellowed, already breaking into a mad sprint towards the Capital's exit, with Nico in hot pursuit.

* * *

POW!

CLANG!

SMASH!

BASH!

CRUSH!

Sounds of conflict raged on through a large plain, one which housed two combatants going at it with eager violence shining from their eyes. Their bodies radiated killing intent, yet neither of hem went for killing blows, which simply meant it was a mere by-product for this fight. Explosions rung around hem just from the shockwaves generated by their collisions, fissures and craters soon forming when these shockwaves passed by.

Breaking away from his opponent, Nico grinned under his Mask, having donned it as well as pulled up his Hood to allow his activated Kakugan to shine brightly within the generated shadows. Within his right hand, lay his trusty Rebellion, the blade crackling with Demonic Power as well as HF Electricity, its aura of bloodlust polluting the air around him like a dense fog. 'Looks like Rebellion shares my eagerness to fight Tekken...' Nico mentally noted, feeling the sheer exctscy, pleasure and THRILL Rebellion felt through their link.

 **'Of course it would, Rebellion is a lot like Byakko in many ways.'**

'HAAAAH?! WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOUBEEN SMOKING OLD MAN?! HOW THE FLYING HELL AM I LIKE THAT OVERGROWN LETTER OPENER?!

 **'For one, both of you enjoy the thrill of conflict. You both enjoy the feeling of blood being shed, you are wild, primal, savage and bestial. Need I say more?'**

'... TOUCHE.'

Nico mentally shook his head at his aspects quarrelling again. Even as they were now in a better relationship with one another, some things never changed. Looking towards his opponent whilst he slowed his body to a stop, Nico eyed Tekken's form which got into its standard battle stance, prompting Nico to adopt the Two-Handed Killer Stance. Tekken's body currently radiated a thin aura of Demonic Power, the absolute lowest of outputs with faint flickering sparks of the previous crimson Lightning. She had this excited grin on her face though, and that look in her eyes... oh, how it sent CHILLS down his spine right now. It reminded hm oddly of those looks Lucy, Neptune or IF would sometimes give him, looks which automatically drew his notice.

To any husbands or boyfriends out there, you know that look. The look she gives you when she wants to rock your world...

Only in Tekken's case, it was all about fighting.

… Something Nico could get behind. Oh, how he could DEFINITELY get behind it.

Holding Rebellion in the Two-Handed Killer Stance, Nico charged forth, looking like he was going for a frontal assault. Tekken rushed to meet him... only, Nico used te SGBS technique to dash to the side, avoiding her spinning reverse helicopter kick. A startled squeak of surprise escaped her lips when her foot smashed through nothing but the air the Afterimage took place over then vanished into nothingness, before she sensed him appear right behind her instead. Sensing the blade which rapidly descended down towards her right neck at the base of her shoulder, Tekken swiftly reacted before she could get decapitated.

She did so by raising her right arm and backhanding, deflecting the blade away from her before aiming a snap kick to his stomach. Nico responded quickly though, as he adjusted the grip on his sword and brought it back to defend him, catching the limb with the blade's flat side before he swung upwards, hoisting Tekken's leg right up into the air above her head. With that out of the way, Nico cut downwards in an attempt to cut through her exposed left thigh, Rebellion eagerly awaiting the chance to feel the sweet life nectar running down its blade.

Unfortunately for it, it didn't get a chance to do this as Tekken used her position to her advantage, hopping backwards into a similar flip, landing a couple meters away from him before she raised her left fist, crimson lightning coursing around it before she slammed it into the ground with a yell. The second she did, a medium sized shockwave ripped through the ground, surging towards Nico who flipped forwards and over it slow motion style... all the while clearing the distance between them in a front flip, multiple 360 degree twirls then a somersault down towards his opponent with Rebellion poised to cut her in half vertically.

Just a second before he could strike her down though...

CLANG!

Instantly, Tekken put her left forearm in the sword's path, her lips curving upwards into a sly smirk as a fierce light flashed through her eyes. In that moment, as if time itself had slowed down to record it in the annuls of history, Nico sensed something change within her body. He attributed it to something like a burst of water gushing out of her very being, pouring out into her arms and legs whilst shifting the very foundations of those limbs to accommodate it. Only, a second later, did her 4 limbs suddenly flash, and just before Rebellion could clash it instead collided with strong, hard metal.

The resulting collision sent Nico flying backwards, even as he recovered and landed on the ground, he soon figured out that he'd been knocked back at LEAST 25 meters away from his opponent. 'Sheesh, whatever happened just now, it cannot be underestimated...' Nico muttered in his mind, getting sounds of agreement from Biko and Byakko (although the latter huffed and did so begrudgingly). After overcoming his initial shock at what had happened just now, Nico slowly got to his feet from his previous kneeling position, getting into his One-Handed Killer Stance out of reflex in case of a follow-up attack made by his new comrade. This allowed him to get a look at her, and boy did he find himself surprised by what he saw.

'Th-That's...!'

There, standing in her signature battle stance, Tekken grinned at him with excitement... all the while her arms and legs sported some new apparel. They looked to be a set of black gauntlets and greaves, each one sporting an animalistic design to them, reminiscent of a wolf or a similar breed of canine. The gauntlets vaguely resembled the shape of a wolf's head, with equally metallic fangs and a matching mane to go with them. The greaves looked like clawed legs, covering half her legs like the gauntlets covered half her arms. They also sported these glowing veins through their forms, veins that had an ominously glowing white light flowing through them.

 **'Indeed, it appears to be so... this set we see on young Tekken appears to be her Devil Arm, awakened at last. It feels like a particularly powerful one as well, at least able to fight on par with bottom tier DPUs if they were to go all out. Not to mention, I can sense that this Devil Arm focuses on close combat, as well as looks to have some light manipulation abilities. Although compared to that guy, it seems inferior, but that's to be expected for the level this thing is at. In this state, it appears to be like your Devil Arms before the Hellverse incident, it hasn't unleashed all its power just yet.'**

At this knowledge, Nico thought back to when he first began using his Devil Arms. Aside from Rebellion, the rest of them each had their own powers to use, but until Hellverse Nico didn't really know of them, or at least to their true extent. At the time, he and Biko had speculated that it was just them being stubborn and wanting to have a proper opponent, so if that was the case for Tekken as well, then it might not take as long as it did for him. She DID tell him and the others she liked going around fighting strong opponents, no shortage of opportunities there. Still, one thing about this bothered him, so he inquired to Biko about it. 'You think it has a chance of Archdevilification?'

 **'Not in the near future, remember this process only begins when the Devil Arm has been exuding enormous amounts of energy in a constant manner, something you would have no problem with. Someone like Tekken, I'm not so sure on, but if she DOES end up starting it, it won't be for a long time yet. Archdevilification is a complex procedure, and a dangerous one at that where even the slightest show of weakness could spell doom for the wielder. AT this level, she doesn't have to worry about it, that is until her Devil Arm finally decided to lend her its full powers. Although...'**

Hearing that for the time being, Tekken didn't have to worry about such a danger occurring filled Nico with relief, though that relief soon became short lived when he sensed confusion and befuddlement in his Demon Persona. 'What? You sense anything else?'

 **'Yes... something about Tekken feels off, here. I don't get it myself, but I feel as though I've sensed this before somewhere... keep sparring with her maybe I'll be able to glean more information.'**

"Your swordplay seems to have gotten much better, Nico!"

Tekken calling out to him cased Nico to sever the link between them for now, his eyes focusing on the black haired martial artist. The redhead couldn't help but smile despite the topics they'd discussed, a strong surge of pride and happiness flowing through him as he eyed Tekken's Devil Arm. "Heh, thanks, been raining like hell, part of me even wondered if i'd get blisters." he quipped, eyes shining with mirth which prompted a small chuckle out of Tekken. Although happy, Nico also noted mentally how that same feeling he'd gotten a few times before with Rebellion kept nagging at the back of his mind. It felt like there was an opportunity for something, something which his mind nagged at him to do, but for the life of him Nico honestly had no idea what it was. Perhaps he could look into it some time, but he'd been so busy in recent times that he had never gotten round to it.

Mentally pushing these thoughts aside for now, Nico focused back on his opponent, feeling the trembling of his Devil Arm in his grasp. "Maybe after this, we could possibly catch up?" Nico suggested before he could stop himself. Momentarily, he wondered what had come over him for him to ask something like that when he had things to do, but for some reason Nico REALLY wanted to learn what the martial artist had been up to. Part of him felt a bit guilty since he had intended to spend some time with IF today, but this was indeed a rare chance to learn more about a potential comrade... plus, thanks to the girls he now felt more open to the idea of getting to know those around him, so why not start now? "I REALLY wanna know how you got your Devil Arm, you see..."

When she heard his words, Tekken grinned back at him, her eyes shining with excitement. "Hehehehe, sure, I don't mind." she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "There's a few things I wanna ask you as well, actually, so this works out for me. Lets talk more after we've finished sparring, cause its been WAY too overdue!" she proclaimed, her legs bending as she took off into a forward sprint. Nico easily noted how her clawed legs now broke the ground beneath her feet, an obvious sign of increased strength and speed provided by her Devil Arm. Not to mention the brilliance of the glowing light increasing as if aware of what was going to happen next.

"Hah, your on!"

* * *

They duelled for the majority of the entire day, only stopping at around the mid to late stages of the afternoon. Though, if the multiple Personas in Nico's mind hadn't been keeping track of the time, they felt like the redhead would have continued sparring with the martial artist for days on end. Something which the latter wouldn't have minded one bit. Fighting strong opponents was the biggest part of martial arts, after all! As such, they had decided to step in once they had deemed it necessary for them to do so, informing the redhead of the time which prompted Nico to end the fight there... though, when he saw the visibly deflated look on Tekken's features, for some reason he felt like he HAD to assure her that they could spar again sometime in the future.

Byakko once commented that he was 'whipped' within his Inner World, though Biko had a few choice words (and a few Molotov's) to say about that...

Despite this however, Nico felt like this spar had been QUITE helpful to him, in more ways than one. Although he hadn't used his Ghoul side during this battle (Byakko advised that it would be best to test it on more 'monstrous' opponents), he did gain a few insights of his own, like how to better combat a person bare handed whilst wielding a weapon himself. The Manslayer Style revolved around taking other styles and making them better, according to his mentor's teachings, and as a result Nico felt like his Manslayer Style swordplay got a substantial boost vs unarmed combatants thanks to learning from Tekken's movements. Nico hadn't used much else other than Rebellion and his swordplay, preferring to sharpen the skills of the blade that he had been developing recently to a more satisfactory level.

As for her Devil Arm, Nico had evaluated it mentally whilst they fought, reaching a conclusion by the end of it. Like he a well as Biko had suspected, this weapon set specialized in CQC, using the powers of light to amplify each punch and kick upon contact through a white explosion of light. If it doesn't hit however, the light remains within the Devil Arm itself, not to mention how in terms of ranged attacks, this Devil Arm fell short due to only having the ability to shoot balls of light down a linier path. So basically, its pretty much MADE for Tekken's fighting methods, with the power of light added in, and boy did he have awareness of the irony here: a Demonic weapon using light elements: what a contradiction. Though, this light definitely rivalled that of Compa's Spirit Powers, according to his calculations, and to compensate for its lack of range, Tekken had already developed some AOE attacks to hit multiple foes.

All in all however, Tekken probably realized it by now, but she had one HELL of an addition to her arsenal... and he felt UNAPOLOGETIC about that pun he had made.

After they'd concluded their match and returned to the city though...

"Eh? You're serious?"!"

"Yup, its true! Here, let-oh wait, that's probably not a good idea."

Nico and Tekken found themselves at a small café, having picked a table for two near a window (one of Nico's favourite areas in his opinion), to sit down at and have a long overdue talk. The café wasn't exactly the most crowded right now, which could be attributed to the time of day it was currently. Inside, there lay this calm, tranquil atmosphere filled with the remnants of different scents, each belonging to many drinks served throughout the day, with a jukebox in the corner playing a soft-sounding melody. Outside, one could see the fading rays of the setting sun in the distance, whilst the streets looked to be slowly turning into their deserted forms which happened whenever night fell upon Leanbox. As such, there weren't many people who could disturb these two as they went about their business.

Pretty much catching up with what had gone down since they'd seen each other last was what they'd done, so far. Nico regaled Tekken with tales of what he and the others had been up to, albeit twisting a few topics such as Zelretch's dimension though that one was more for her own safety than anything else. Judging by her power level, Nico didn't think she'd be able to survive one DAY in that hellhole, especially with a supreme candidate for one of the biggest trolls ever. The whole incident at Halo Mountain, apparently MAGES. had somehow viewed it on a crystal ball (which had included his Ghoul side's reveal, though Tekken and MAGES. had reacted the same as his comrades, so nothing bad there) and told her, so he didn't need to say much on THAT subject... though, she did look more than a little squeamish when he talked about what Mundus had done. The same could be said for the Gala as well, including the invasion during it, and lastly the state that the Nation was in as a whole.

The redhead thought that nothing the Martial Artist had would top this stuff, and for a while, that seemed to be the case. Her awakening of her Devil Arm Beowulf definitely had him intrigued, as apparently his mother had, after discharging her from medical treatment, took her to one of the various training facilities she had and pretty much forced her to train in order to get it to manifest. When Tekken had gotten a chance to ask her why after being put through hell (to which Nico couldn't help but sympathise), his mom had reasoned that an unawakened Devil Arm was, in her eyes, 'wasted power' which would do NOTHING productive in the long run. Not to mention that Devil Arms themselves carried a danger to them that the users normally aren't aware of, something Nico realized was the possibility of them completely taking over their users bodies and wiping out their Souls, so if she helped these people prepare and train them in how to these weapons, then tragedies could be avoided. Not entirely fullproof, but its a step in the right direction according to Biko. It was essentially utilizing the knowledge she'd gathered from Nico's own situation with these demonic weapons to help someone in dire need for it.

There were two other things she'd spoke of that surprised him, but out of the two only ONE registered in his mind properly...

And that was the fact that Tekken had... Apparently become a Spec Ops Candidate.

"Yeah, that would likely be for the best..." Nico commented, nodding his head in agreement as he glanced about with a cautious gaze and arms crossed under his chest. Even though they were in a fairly empty café, there were still a few customers around and there were still staff who could have easily overheard this conversation. Nico recalled how, despite the ongoing situation unfolding around them, there were still those which clung to their zealous discrimination against the Spec Ops Program, finding it offensive and insulting to their Goddesses. Even whilst there was some dissatisfaction towards them for their actions in the Console Wars, there would always be those zealous fanatics which kept the religion going. Religion was pathetic in that aspect.

Hence, why Nico had stopped Tekken from showing him proof that she had become a Spec Ops Candidate, at most any who heard her with those beliefs would think she was just joking around and wouldn't take her seriously. Good thing she seemed to understand this, which kind of surprised him in a way, since Nico got the impression that Tekken preferred the company of animals rather than people. What, with how often she trained in the wilderness instead with others, heck the fact that she'd been admitted as a Candidate at all could be considered shocking enough. "So, supposedly how could this have come to be? Just curious..." Nico questioned quietly.

At that moment, a few new customers came rolling in, it looked like they were soldiers from the military based off their damaged weapons and Armour. Likely they were here from a large quest given how damaged their armour looked, and came to seek refreshment instead of just splitting up to go back to their homes. Each of them sat at a table, ordering a tab from the barkeeper who nodded at them before getting to work. All the while, each of them began to talk, soon convincing the two to listen in.

"Man, that quest was a killer on my feet. You guys think the boss wasn't in his right mind with what he said?"

"I hear you. Apparently according to some folks in the area, a powerful Abnormal wreathed in fire appeared out of nowhere and trashed their village, reducing it and several hundred miles of land in all directions to pure ash. Apparently they'd gotten away with some set of emergency eject buttons supplied to them previously. Probably an idea made by those stupid Spec Ops boys to limit civilian casualties..."

"Pft, those asses have their uses after all aside from just being barbaric idiots."

"Though, they say that some pint sized little blonde girl was the one who beat it somehow, not even offering any proof, and when we questioned her she didn't even LOOK like the type who could bring such a creature down."

"True, I heard they got themselves set up in another village further north, closer to our Capital, though its more like a refugee camp there. I say we shoulda just gutted them for spreading such lies, especially with all this 'Demon' bullcrap they're spouting."

"Boss told us not to, you hear? You know what happened to Thomas when he tried talking back to the boss."

"Got beaten within an inch of his life. Boss sure has changed when his daughter got rescued by these two cute chicks, one purple and the other cream coloured if that makes any sense."

"Like my boys at home say: anime logic."

NOW Nico felt like they should be a bit more cautious, but more for Tekken's sake than anything. These guys reminded him WAY too much of those Abyssal Swords he killed, not to mention twat they were talking about sounded suspiciously like Demon work. Demonic threats were WAY more serious than Abnormals after all. Should they get any ideas... well, the edge of Rebellion would always be willing to accept some more bloodshed.

Maybe even a few extra souls for Soul Edge would help too.

Still, Tekken spoke with a smile on her face, though with a lower volume as despite her smile, her eyes shined with a knowing glimmer. "Well, I'd just finished rescuing these Spec Ops girls from a horde of Demons who'd ambushed them after they killed this Abnormal, they called it a Rathalos or something, but anyways, I after I beat em they offered to escort me back here as thanks, so I accepted. I was running low on provisions anyways, but didn't feel like living off the wild that day, so when I came back to the Guild Building, I saw a booth for registering Candidates for the upcoming exam, and..." At that point, Tekken shuffled nervously on her seat, poking her fingers together with a mildly flustered look on her face. Nico honestly got reminded of Compa when she did that, but remained silent as she continued. "Well, I thought of you, and how strong you were back in the Hellverse Dungeon, taking out so many meanies. I got inspired, so..."

'OOOOOOOOH, SMOOTH KING, SMOOTH INDEED! TRYING TO INCREASE YOUR GROUP OF CONCUBINE BITCHES, ARE WE? BETTER NOT LET THEM HOLD YA BACK, YA HEAR?! YA KNOW WHAT I'LL DO IF YA DO THAT!'

'... Biko?'

 **'Got it.'**

Once again, mentally requesting his Demon Persona to 'discipline' his Ghoul one, Nico felt a headache come along whilst explosions rung throughout the other end of the breaking down link. That guy just didn't learn, did he? Then again, he WAS Nico, and Nico's instincts ALWAYS remained in top form, even in these situations.

Still, returning to the topic at hand, Nico leaned backwards whilst placing a hand on the back of his head, looking mildly embarrassed when Tekken had practically told him HE was her inspiration for joining the Spec Ops Program. Wow... he didn't know how to take this, part of him felt honestly quite flattered, learning that the reason why Tekken was aiming to become a Spec Ops Agent was to be more like him. Though on the other hand with everything Nico had accepted about himself he didn't know if that was a good thing anymore. '...I feel very complex about that...' he thought to himself.

"Wow, well... thanks, I guess. Though I'll just ask this out of curiosity, but is there anyone else i'd know whose becoming one?" Nico questioned, filing away those complex feelings. After all, Tekken was someone who liked fighting strong opponents, so if she became a Spec Ops Agent she'd have no problem finding such adversaries. He or the girls may be able to slay Abnormals and Demons in their sleep, but that wouldn't apply to everyone. One could call them special in that respect. Still, part of him DID wonder if there were other potential rookie Spec Ops Agents he should know about, since if there were then he should devote some time till the exam to help them out as best he could. More so if it were someone he knew.

As Nico thought this, Tekken gave him an answer. "Well, there is one..." she began, a sweat drop falling down the side of her head as she scratched the side of her jaw, chuckling nervously. "MAGES. is also applying. She didn't tell me why though..." she said, to which Nico stared at her blankly.

'MAGES., huh? Why the heck would someone like her...? Oh wait, maybe THAT could be it...' the redhead thought after a moment of contemplating. A sigh escaped his lips whilst leaning forwards, his eyes shining in acknowledgement. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't that unreasonable for MAGES. to pull something like this off. "Well, if she knows that Spec Ops Agents have access to all sorts of information, including about various items that aren't publicly acknowledged, then THAT would probably attract her attention. That, and probably the money since her experiments must need SOME sort of funding..." he mused, to which Tekken weakly chuckled again.

"Yeah, that DOES sound like her... Iffy said something similar as well when I told her."

"Oh?" When he heard THAT titbit of info, Nico looked towards the Martial artist, his curiosity piqued. Tekken had met with IF? If not today, then at some point in the past? Well, THAT definitely piqued his interest, as unlike before he didn't know how she was a Spec Ops Candidate just like IF. Now that he did though, it felt much more interesting that these two had met. "You've seen IF today?" he questioned, trying and somewhat failing to hide the sudden surge of excitement exploding within his voice. "How's she doing? She doing okay? I've been meaning to look for her, but we crossed paths, and..."

Trailing off when he realized how lame he might sound just now, Nico looked downwards whilst hiding his face, especially when the laughter he heard from Tekken crept out. "She's doing great, Nico. Really well in fact, out of the three of us, whenever we got together for study sessions, something MAGES. pretty much strong armed us into doing..." Nico and Tekken shuddered at the thought, both of them could imagine someone like MAGES. who likely didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to gain increased funding for her experiments, forcing them to help her increase her chances of passing the academic side of the exam. "... we'd often spend entire days studying it. Not going to lie, its quite fun, especially with friends." Tekken commented, before becoming bashful when memories played out in her mind. "Though, I kinda get stuck on the material we study together. She always picks the hardest subjects..."

 **'Hmmm, a study group... that might actually help their chances, indeed. I see the method young MAGES. is coming from. For a student of that old man, acquiring knowledge in such a... manner, isn't out of the unexpected territory,'**

'I know Biko, but still I think I can help them out a little. That fire demon thing will have to wait, since this is more important. Offering some advice as a Spec Ops Agent myself will also further their studying...'

 **'True...'**

"Well, if you want I may be able to shed some light on some stuff. I AM an experienced Agent, plus I do lots of field work and test things out, so I'm even more qualified if you wanna ask some questions." Nico offered, all the while putting that issue with this supposed 'fire demon' behind him for the time being. After getting one HELL of a hug from the martial artist for his offer (not like he minded since hugs were the best in his eyes), Nico began helping Tekken with the problems she found difficult. Perhaps in a roundabout way, this would help each of these girls not just IF, and considering he knew them on a deeper level, it was just some additional brownie points. He could think on their romantic intentions if they had any, later. Helping them succeed was WAY more important.

Until the café shop closed, that was pretty much all they did besides small talk and joke exchanging...

Well, that was what they had intended, but much to their surprise, a little surprise event happened next.

All of a sudden, the lights in the café began to darken, something which immediately grabbed their attention in the form of Nico and Tekken looking around in confusion. "Huh? Why's the lights going out so early? Its not closing time already, is it?" Tekken questioned, scratching the top of her head in befuddlement. She then took out an iPhone from her Inventory, gazing down at its screen to see what the time was in case they had overstayed their welcome here... but even more confusing, it read that the time was that in which the shop should have stayed open. "Well, the time's not wrong, so that means we aren't overstaying..."

"I think THAT might have something to do with it..." Nico replied, pointing over to the centre of the Café floor, which had somehow whilst they been talking.. been turned into this large space, with the few people in this Café having assembled in this place having gathered there. Not to mention that on a wall nearest to the back, Nico managed to make out a poster attached to it by hammered Nails, a poster detailing that at this time, there would be a small disco coming on. 'Why did I not notice this when we entered here...?' the redhead wondered, confused just like Tekken though for a different reason. Not only that though, but to be frank Nico felt surprised that discos were even a thing in a martial arts dominated Nation like Leanbox, he would have expected this over inn Planeptune or Lastation but DEFINITELY not here.

 **'Hold on, Nico. I distinctly recall skimming over a piece of information during one of our investigations during our time here. Apparently, as a precursor to the truce between the nations, they will be sharing some of their weapons, food, and activities between one another in a form of good will. This looks to be something that came from one of the other nations. Otherwise, a Nation like Leanbox which, like you mentioned before, wouldn't tolerate such an activity.'**

'So... they're spreading bits of culture into other nations to help people get access to better entertainment, in order to ease their minds from the whole situation? I dunno if the Nobles were forced to agree with that, since its not like them to do something so blatantly against their traditions, but it seems like things might start getting better. Then again, I'm not getting any hopes up, this IS politics we're talking about. Totally not my thing.'

'HECK NO IT AIN'T! WISH WE COULD JUST RIP OUT THEIR GUTS AND SHOVE EM DOWN OUR THROATS ALREADY, THAT'D SOLVE THOSE PESKY PROBLEMS IN A JIFFY!'

'No it wouldn't, Byakko.'

Seriously sometimes he just couldn't believe that this was how his instincts worked. Byakko indeed acted this way due to him manifesting Nico's own instinctual thoughts and desires, but would it kill him to be a bit.. ell, more? Wait, Nico already knew the answer to that, such a possibility wouldn't happen no matter what thanks to him. Before his Ghoul side could comment back (likely through a profanity-filled anger fest rant), Nico's senses picked up the sounds of a musical radio beginning to play The moment that he heard the song in its beginning, his eyes widened in stunned disbelief, his jaw slackening as his form lost all its tensity. 'Is this song... what I think it is?!'

"Hm-hm-hm-hm hm hm-hm...Hm-hm-hm-hm hm hm-hm..."

Sounds of humming came from his side, and when he turned to the source Nico found Tekken to be shifting from side to side, swaying like a drunkard whilst having her eyes closed. She gently hummed to the intro tune of the song, a song that she seemed to recognize due to how she hummed the song's tune like she'd rehearsed it over and over. "Hey, uhhhh, Tekken... you doing alright?" The redhead asked her after a moment of listening to her hum the tune. Part of him couldn't help but be impressed she knew it so well, while the other wondered what kind of history she had with it in order to even WANT to learn it. From what he knew of her, Tekken was someone who practiced primarily martial arts. He hadn't seen her interested in much else, though then again he didn't exactly know her for very long. Perhaps she had other hobbies than Martial Arts and that... masochistic side to her.

"Hm? Oh!" When she heard a question from a masculine voice, Tekken opened her eyes with a faint sound of surprise coming from her lips. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, before her eyes shifted over to Nico and her features turned into sheepish ones. A matching chuckle came out of her as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. "heh-heh-heh, yeah i'm fine, Nico." she replied while resisting the urge to continue swaying from side to side.

However, the redhead would not be fooled, not when he plainly saw right through her weak attempt to suppress these symptoms. She should have known he'd see through it, but he figured getting to the bottom of this was more important. Although, Nico already had an inkling as to what it could be when he spoke with the bluntest tone he could muster. "I can see you wanting to dance to this song's beat, you know." he stated plainly, looking at her with the deadpan face, the same one he would use whenever he caught Neptune trying to pull one of her shenanigans.

"Ah!" Tekken gasped, realization striking her as she soon realized that her ploy hadn't worked. This only resulted her to feel even more embarrassed, with a tad bit of shame mixed in since she should have known this would have happened. "Eh heh, sorry Nico. Its... not exactly something I tell everyone about me... but I do like music. In fact, I even have some songs from famous idols on my Phone." she explained, a mighty red flush on her features. "Especially when i'm training, listening to some good music while training or exercising really pumps me up!" at first, she looked to be struggling to continue on with her sentences, even poked her fingers together in a shy manner. But, as she continued and got more into it, these emotions vanished to let the TRUE feelings she had rush to the surface. "This song, undisclosed desires, it always gets me dancing... so I just went with the flow without realizing it."

'She just went with it, she says...' Nico thought, slightly surprised and intrigued. Tekken looked like she really enjoyed this song in his eyes, so it must have been MUCH more than that. However, he didn't need to ask her on this, since he could see the happiness shining from her eyes like search lights. Heck, the previous fatigue from the long day seemed to have been replaced with this newfound energy, making him realize the truth to her words. 'Undisclosed desires, huh...?' Nico thought as he began to listen to the first verse:

 _I know you suffered_

 _But I don't want you to hide_

 _It's cold and loveless_

 _I won't let you be denied_

'...Whoa... what is this...?' The moment he began listening to this song, Nico didn't understand how but... his heart, it just got swept up in the song. He didn't understand it one bit, nor did he wonder how or when it'd happened, but the moment the first verse began, his heart, mind and soul seemed to be sucked into the song. It entrapped him within its embrace, almost like it was singing to him directly. Inside, he could feel Biko and Byako's usual activities cease as they too began listening to the song... heck, it felt like his whole usually chaotic being seemed to just sooth itself over, thanks to the melody invading his brain through his ears. Undisclosed desires, was that the song's name? He got the feeling that he'd learn something from this, especially if he paid more attention to the lyrics. He didn't even notice how Tekken had already begun her rocking again, whilst he himself began lightly swaying to the song itself.

 _Soothe me_

 _I'll make you feel pure_

 _Trust me_

 _You can be sure_

 _I want to reconcile the violence in your heart_

 _I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask_

 _I want to exorcise the demons from your past_

 _I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart_

This song was... amazing! Nico couldn't find any other words to describe it, he just got way too mesmerized, practically borderline hypnotized by this sweet melody which pierced him right down to his soul. The more he listened to the song, the more attracted to it he became. Nico honestly didn't know why this was happening, but the more he listened to the lyrics the more he began to think about his own situation and feelings towards Neptune and the others... including the female beside him. He remembered the faces of everyone whom had accepted him, he recalled everything that had happened between them the moment Neptune had crashed into their lives, and placed a hand where his heart would be. The moment that he had thought of the revelations the date with Compa, along with the moment the girls accepted his Ghoul side, there no longer seemed to be any kind of chaotic confusion... just plain, simple and yet oh so PURE understanding.

It was like this song had been the final hurdle he would have needed to FINALLY get a grasp of what he wanted to do with this information.

Those girls... for the first time in a long while, Nico felt like he had severely underestimated them, and NOT just in a battle sense. They had well and truly thrown his conceptions of reality and ideals upside down, they had pretty much caused his entire perception of how the world worked to shatter without restraint. They had unknowingly mercilessly cut through the barriers in his being, barriers he had put there himself out of distrust and paranoia... and now? Now Nico found himself changing his stance a bit. It wasn't like a whole reversal compared to what he had seen before, but it was the beginning of something more, he could feel it. Thanks to this song, Nico found his answer to the dilemma of the girls and how he felt towards them... or at least, a part of it. If Compa and the girls did INDEED like him in that way... well, whether they liked him or not, there were things that he wanted to tell them in person. It was about time for him to be goddamn honest with them for once, for so long he had kept these feelings inside of himself, never letting anyone get too close to hear them.

But now... now he felt like he wanted something else. Nico WANTED to get closer to them, he WANTED to let them in and trust them with every fiber of his being. He WANTED them to know just how grateful, just how THANKFUL and LOYAL he felt inside thanks to their acceptance. They'd given him the ultimate gift in this world, and no for any of you horny teens out there it wasn't their maidenhood (get your minds out of the gutter!). No, what they gave him had been something he had desperately wanted, something he'd asked for back when he and Team RAIL had been Camping with Isaac and Guts: Trustworthy comrades. Hell, he felt like they'd given him something else alongside it as well:

A family.

Just then, an idea swept through Nico's mind whilst he listened to the melody coursing through the Café. A melody which had caused pretty much every one still inside to go to the centre of the room and stat dancing together, throwing away their worries for the night. Much better than sexual intercourse in his opinion, but anyways. As he glanced over to Tekken who had been the inspiration for the idea, Nico noticed how she looked like she wanted to getup there and join them, but as to why she didn't... well, he guessed it might have something to do with him. Honesty he couldn't believe he was even asking this considering his lone wolf methods, but seeing the way Tekken looked right now made him unable to help himself. "Say Tekken?" he began, doing his best to hide his nervousness.

"Yeah?"

Soon coming out of her trace when she heard his voice, Tekken turned back to him and responded with a smile, tilting her head in curiosity as to why he had spoken to her.

"Looks like you really want to join them on the dance floor, so... why aren't you?" he questioned first, wanting to get to the bottom of that first before anything else. It was clear to him she wanted to, especially with how she acts, so the reason why she remained here eluded him. Was it himself? Honestly, Nico wasn't certain if that was the case, and the only other possibility he could think of would be...

Before he could finish his thought process, a look similar to one a child would make when admitting a huge secret to his parents crossed onto Tekken's features as she shifted about on her feet. "Um, well... Its true, I'd REALLY want to join in on the fun, but... Hoonetly? I'm, not that comfortable around crowds. Much more so if they're guys." she admitted, shaking her head in a shameful manner with a matching expression. Much of the life and vitality she gained from listening to the song left her at this moment, surprising Nico as she began to elaborate. "When I was little, about 14 or so I had an... encounter, with a group of men, gangsters. Luckily, I only got fondled a bit before police forces came, and afterwards I became wary of guys in general. But when I came to THIS Dimension with MAGES., I had another encounter... this time these men were certified Guild Agents, I think they were called the Abyssal Black Swords or something at the time. Back then, I wasn't nearly as strong as I am now, so..." trailing off, Nico saw Tekken's eyes darken as shivers travelled down her body. His senses quickly picked up the signs of terror, sadness and despair which overtook her thanks to these memories. "You can guess what they did to me."

Yes, yes he could, and it pissed him off all the more. Especially with how she looked like some of the many victims of such a crime he had been too late to save back then. Plus, he DID recall a time when the Abyssal Black Swords were a Guild Agent group who became Spec Ops, only back then it had been more on the unofficial side of things than anything, really. Hearing that Tekken had been one of their victims however, nearly sent him over the edge again. Only served to make him even more glad that he had chosen to slaughter them all when he had. If he had known this sooner... on another note, Tekken hadn't shown signs of it, though he rationalized that he hadn't spent that much time with her in comparison to the others. "I see..." he muttered simply, whilst thinking that his idea may not have much of a chance to work after all. However, that only lasted a couple seconds or so as he quickly activated his right Bracer, shifting through the various applications on it till he found the one he wanted.

'YA REALLY GONNA DO THAT, KING?! SHE'S NOT EXACTLY-'

'Yes I am, Byakko. I'm doing this, no ifs or buts about it.'

'THAT LACK OF HESITATION... HAHAHAHAHAHA! I LIKE IT! YES, THAT IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE, KING! AHAHAHAHAAHAHA!;

Ignoring the laughter which filled the darkest corners of his mind, Nico searched for the song Undisclosed desires, paid for it, and downloaded the song onto his Bracer's music track list. Nico wouldn't lie, part of him actually felt excited right now with what he was going to do next, especially since he wasn't really a social person either. Nor did he like crowds as big as these guys too much. "Well, if you had a chance to dance to it, would you?"

"Eh? What do you...?"

"Tekken. Do you trust me?"

There, now THAT would be the billion dollar question, he thought as he awaited Tekken's answer, though he didn't deny the nervousness he felt inside. This would be the first time he had ever been this... well, direct, with complex situations like this, and he wasn't sure if he could keep it up, though he'd do his best to try. When an ordinary person asked that, it didn't mean very much. It was merely a question, no complexities around it to speak of whatsoever. However, in Tekken's eyes, Nico wasn't an ordinary person, not with what she had known about him. Forget his Ghoul side which she had learned (not from him, sadly though he didn't seem to mind thankfully), Nico himself valued trust in a greater sense than most people. But, what he valued even more were people who he could trust, who he could rely on. However, if one were to ask him if he wanted to have people trust him, then he'd counter with 'if I wanted someone to trust me, I would do all I could to earn it.'

On Tekken's side, her answer didn't come to her straight away. After all, to someone like her who had a... history with the male gender, being asked if she would trust someone from that gender would make her hesitate to answer. If someone were to ask her, Tekken would say that she wouldn't normally trust men with her insecurities, she would much rather prefer women than guys due to how easy to get along with them it was. Combine this with her bad encounters with them... well, one got the picture. It had led her to have more female friends back in her home dimension, and even more animal friends whom she trained and sparred with, something which only got fortified in this Dimension. Heck, her being a martial artist which had begun as pure as a dream could be, had then turned into a way for her to not have to go through that experience ever again.

However, when she thought of Nico... she didn't feel the same way she normally would, and when she pondered why, the reasons became clear to her. When she had first met him, it was in a public place, plus she didn't talk to him as much in favour of the girls. He had instead just... hung back, for lack of a better word, staying in the shadows whilst she got to know the rest of the party. Still, Tekken and Nico had interacted somewhat, especially when they promised to spar in the future. That battle with the Ghoul, she may not have been there to see it completely, but even she could tell from what she had heard in the aftermath that Nico had been the one who ultimately ensured the others survival. Afterwards, she had went into her training, kind of forgetting about the promised spar between her and him...

Until that time they met in the Hellverse Dungeon.

Thinking back to that time, Tekken had long since realized that it had been a major turning point in her life. If the events at MS Mountain had introduced her to the true world of the Abnormals, then the Hellverse Dungeon had introduced her to the true world of Demons. All the horrors, all the war-like battles, the emergence of the undead, everything that happened there... even the moment she had nearly died from that Hellfire attack... all of it. It all served to teach her a valuable lesson. That if she didn't possess power, then she would be nothing but an ant, a bug which would be fated to be wiped clean from the earth, to any Demon which came her way. Sure, MAGES. had been there to help her, and she would always be grateful to her friend for helping her make it to the Hospital she'd gotten treated at, but... if she were honest, then... It had been Nico's intervention which had been the biggest contribution. From the strategies he came up with, the talk he gave her when she freaked out about the undead, to the point where he'd saved her from that Hellfire blast. The contributions to her he had given to her far outstripped what MAGES. had given to her.

She had heard so much about what had happened to him from there. From the Gala, to the events at Halo Mountain, she'd heard everything through MAGES., thus she had been aware of just how messed up the male's world had become... or rather, how it had always been for him. Even when they reunited today, she could tell that things have been eating away at him, his eyes having lost a lot of the 'light' that they once had. Now, it looked like he had completely lost faith in the world, yet that loss of faith also seemed to have empowered him, she didn't get it just yet but it felt somewhat like that. Yet, even so, he had still treated her with the respect and honour which she had thought long since passed.

All those things, had served to make her realize just how different he was to normal men. To the men she had been accustomed to, the ones who would give her those dirty looks whenever she paid trips to civilisation, those times when she freaked out when crowds of them surrounded her and tried to have their way with her. This had been in her previous dimension, but in THIS one, a lot of the guys she had met had been WAY worse. She thought she had seen monsters before, but seeing how horrible people were in this dimension pretty much shattered that believe with zero mercy. If it weren't for meeting Nico, then she doubted she would have ever trusted another guy in this dimension ever. So many of them just seemed like total psychopaths with twisted, evil natures. Not only that, but one's own strength was the sole truest thing which guaranteed their safety. If one was strong, then they'd be able to fend off any dangers which came their way. A LOT less forgiving than her original dimension.

So, when she heard him ask her if she trusted him, she FELT the weight behind it more than comprehended it. Still, that didn't mean her answer would be any different. Thus, with a firm nod, she took his offered hand when he had asked her this question, noting just how firm and large it was compared to her own. "I do trust you, Nico." She just HAD to add in a bit of humour at the end though, a joking tone slipping into her following words. "Pretty sure that I've shown you that already, though in a less direct way I guess."

At that, Nico smirked and chucked in amusement, nodding his head in agreement whilst feeling like a HUGE weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He considered himself more... in tune, with his emotions than a lot of people, mostly due to how much he valued his comrades, so hearing that she trusted him for this meant he could feel much better with what he wanted to do. 'Heh, this one will DEFINITELY surprise the lads if they find out.' Nico thought to himself, as he clutched her hand in his. "Alright then, close your eyes. We're going somewhere I think you'll enjoy?"

Nico gave her no chance to respond, quickly activating his DPU Powers to Warp them out of the café.

* * *

Later...

When it felt like she could open her eyes again, Tekken requested for Nico's permission, to which the Spec Ops Agent chuckled and accepted. When he gave her his permission, Tekken slowly opened her eyes.

"Okay, here I go... Huh? This is... ah?!"

By the time that she could open her eyes, Tekken went wide eyed when she found herself and Nico inside... what looked to be some sort of Basement. She didn't think it would be THAT kind of scene though, not even close when she saw the rack filled with musical instruments on one of the walls. There were even a series of loud speakers and a massive space at the centre of the floor which had been set up, almost like a private disco. Tekken could only stare in amazement at what she was seeing, especially after she recovered from transitioning from hearing sweet music to hearing nothing in a matter of nanoseconds.

"Surprised?" Nico questioned whilst he proceeded to the laptop which was connected to the Speakers. His hands remained in his pockets until he reached it, in which he began to boot it up the light of the screen illuminating his features. "This here is me and my lads little sanctuary, you could say. By lads, I mean the boys from Team RAIL, if you've heard of me, you'll have heard of them too. It was developed when we last got together for some guy time, when Raven and Lucy were doing their own things." Good thing that he didn't pick up any signs of life upstairs, which meant they would be able to do their thing in peace. Nico had Warped them here with the help of Ouranos (which he had dismissed before Tekken could open her eyes to see it), with one intent in mind. "Don't worry, its just us here, nobody's around to interrupt."

As he explained this, Tekken saw various lights switch on, illuminating the basement like it, again, was their own private disco. Her eyes saw a whole mix of colours, blue, purple, violet, green, yellow, all sorts. Good thing she wasn't colour blind, or blind at all especially from the help Helen and her Devil Arm had given her. She honestly had no words to describe this, this stuff before her just blew her mind away leaving no room for any response, her eyes wide whilst her mouth remained open for flies to come in. By the time she managed to regain er faculties and shut her jaw, Tekken noticed the familiar sound of a song's instrumental beginning to play through the speakers, the lights moving throughout the Dance floor. Immediately, her mind connected the dots from what Nico had done, to his words and their previous conversation. "Nico, you...!"

"If you don't want to dance in front of a crowd..." Nico began although a part of him hesitated. He didn't know if this would be a better idea of his (after all, his ideas so far have been suffering a streak called bad luck. Huh, he wondered if there was a black cat around). Still, this was for Tekken's sake, and since she had proven herself trustworthy this would be the least he could do for her. So, with that in mind, Nico continued with firm resolve. "Then, how about when its just the two of us? Mind you, I kinda suck at dancing, but at least you'll be able to 'disclose your desires'... ugh, forgive me, that pun was bad," Nico groaned at the end, resisting theurge to facepalm. Tekken didn't respond, and for a moment Nico wondered if he had done something wrong. Looking towards her, he made to say something...

Only, Tekken stopped him from saying anything by barrelling into him and yelling words of gratitude over and over, squealing happily. If it weren't for his endurance and that he'd tanked blows from things much greater than her, then Nico would have fallen over. Soon the instrumental began to make way for the first verse, so Nico hurried the fuck up. "So... would you like to, or...?"

"Yes, yes, of course yes! Also don't worry, I'll tech you how to dance, its the least I can do for you!" Tekken exclaimed, just as the first verse started playing:

 _I know you suffered_  
 _But I don't want you to hide_  
 _It's cold and loveless_  
 _I won't let you be denied_

 _Soothe me_  
 _I'll make you feel pure_  
 _Trust me_  
 _You can be sure_

 _I want to reconcile the violence in your heart_  
 _I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask_  
 _I want to exorcise the demons from your past_  
 _I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart_

 _You take your lovers that you're wicked and divine_  
 _You may be a sinner_  
 _But your innocence is mine_

 _Please me_  
 _Show me how it's done_  
 _Tease me_  
 _You are the one_

 _I want to reconcile the violence in your heart_  
 _I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask_  
 _I want to exorcise the demons from your past_  
 _I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart_

 _Please me_  
 _Show me how it's done_  
 _Trust me_  
 _You are the one_

 _I want to reconcile the violence in your heart_  
 _I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask_  
 _I want to exorcise the demons from your past_  
 _I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart_

* * *

Dancing till it turned into the late evening away, wasn't something Nico had thought he'd be doing today when he had planned his schedule this morning, but he'd be damned if he said he minded.

Tekken must have REALLY liked this song, because no matter how many times the song played, she would get into it 110%. She would dance, sing and drag him along for the ride, as though she had entered her own little world and her surroundings were props for her to dance with. Heck, the dance moves she pulled off... the MOVES!. If Nico didn't know any better, he'd say that Tekken may as well be a damn temptress with how slow, soft, nigh sexual her movements became when she lost herself in the song (having asked him to put it on loop). The way she moved, the way her mouth opened and expressed sounds of content and delight in a way which would NOT be unfit in a strip club, nearly sent Nico's heart racing into overdrive. Tekken may not see it herself, but when she danced to this song, she turned from a seasoned martial artists into one HELL of a manipulator, pulling the eyes of the redhead into her grasp and holding him there with no hope of escape.

Lucy, Neptune and IF could learn a thing or two...

Then Nico had to suppress those memories immediately lest the feelings of lust which empowered the monsters inside his soul get any stronger...

Yet, when Tekken then pulled him into the song to dance with her, it felt as though it didn't even matter. Undisclosed desires pretty much forced all his barriers to open, allowing him to express what he truly felt through dance moves. Moves which Tekken had deigned it necessary to teach him so they could both enjoy this to the fullest. At first, Nico didn't know shit about how to do the dance moves right, especially for someone who was used to suppressing his own emotions. To suddenly start expressing them through music, with a song SPECIFICALLY for that very same purpose... it went completely against his own nature. But with time he got the hang of it... which resulted in him dancing the afternoon away with her.

Right now, Nico walked through the streets late in the night, a light wind making his Trench coat flap behind him, with his arms lightly swaying to the side. He'd just dropped Tekken back off at her and MAGES. apartment after the Mad Magician had called asking where she was, which had put an end to their dancing session. Though, before he had left after escorting her home (it had been his responsibility since he DID bring her there after all, and who knows who would try anything with Tekken in the middle of the night. She may be strong enough to handle them, but it was the principle of the matter! That... and his own pride and worry kicking in). She did hug him afterwards, Tekken did, not like he minded though, if anything it was the exact opposite.

Glancing upwards, Nico eyed the moon shining in the skies. 'Haaaah, now THIS is an ideal night. The full moon shining bright, the air being as clear as it can be. No wonder Erebus is feeling so happy right now...' the redhead thought, mentally smirking when he felt the emotions of his Archdevil Arm through their link. Thankfully, with the acceptance of his true nature before, he had gained stronger connections to both his Ghoul AND Demon God powers, which improved the links he had to his other weapons. He still hadn't figured out how this impacted them fully yet, but some training would help fix that though.

The moment he thought about training however, did Nico's eyes narrow into slits. 'Training, huh...?'

Yeah, training was something he would HAVE to do, and a lot of it, if he wanted to be able to get back at Mundus for what he did to Nico's comrades back at Halo Mountain. The guy hadn't even been at full power, despite being one of the original four DPUs of the DPU Era. Thus, it would be likely that he would be getting stronger until they met again. Training was also something everyone else had been doing, aside from IF, MAGES and Tekken who had also begun studying for their Spec Ops Exam. Something which all of the Party would likely gather together again to spectate. Nico may not e able to participate in it as a proctor or an examiner for it due to the bias against him, but he could still watch from the sidelines… but until then, he needed a fine place to train. Now, where he could find one such place without getting disturbed was another matter entirely.

The Inner World suddenly didn't feel as OP as it had in the past, not with beings like Mundus and the implication of there being more like him. If Mundus could return, then the other two original DPUs could as well. Plus, there could be more DPUs too, since from what he had learned from the Lexicanum the DPUs weren't completely eliminated, instead they had survived with few numbers, but then again a long time had passed so they could have restored and grown in number for all he knew. Still, Nico COULD use it for research purposes, since it slowed time to like 1 second out in the real world being one hour in the Inner World, which would help him learn more from the information extracted from the Lexicanum by Biko.

Speaking of his Demon Persona...

 **' Nico. Since you're wondering about where to train, allow me to help. I've discovered something which could be a potential benefit to us... though, it'll only help us for the time being due to our level.'**

'Oh? What is it?'

 **'It would be better if you saw it first... so transform, and then head to the Hellverse Dungeon where you rescued IF. I'll explain how to get there on the way, but what you CAN expect is a DRASTIC increase in power... perhaps, although his could be a stretch, it could serve the purpose of solving a multitude of our problems.'**

Nico furrowed his brows, pausing his stride through the quiet streets of Microsoft to ponder this information... or lack of it. He didn't like the thought of going somewhere he didn't have a clue about, as his past experiences told him just how often that could turn into a bad idea, however since this had been suggested by Biko of all people, Nico decided to trust his judgement on the matter. Though, first he needed to do something important, since this sounded like he wouldn't be returning to Leanbox till the exam, thus he would have to inform the girls.

He made a text to them all with his Bracer, telling them he would be going on a training trip and would be back the day of the exam, even informing his mother too. Once that was done, Nico deactivated his Bracer, before closing his eyes. He reached down deep within himself, searching through the void that was his unconsciousness, till he found the power of the DPU which slumbered within. Connecting with it and bringing it to the surface, Nico allowed it to envelop him in black and red flames, transforming him into Crimson Soul. Once the process finished, the armoured male spread his burning crimson wings, before he took to the skies in a hard ascend, and then shot off like a bullet into the night, nearly creating a sonic boom.

* * *

Desolation. That would be the best word to describe it.

This foggy place, that is.

Everything here had a dull, boring grey colour, as if the light of life had long since left it, allowing the touch of death to take its place. Silence dominated the atmosphere, with no bird cries, no wind, it didn't even look like there was any air to breathe in, even though there was. There were little to no grasslands, everything looked to be like the inner mantle layer of a planet, and varying shaped rocks looked to be everywhere. Some formed intricate shapes whilst varying in size, whilst others formed the entrances to dark pits which lead into underground sections. Not to mention, that the skies themselves looked even worse. Not a single spec of light broke through the dark clouds which coveted the skies in near complete blackness.

Yet, as that old movie about dinosaurs being brought into the modern world said: Nature always finds a way. Thus, it seemed life really DID flourish here, the proof being how monster with a body fully covered with black scales was skulking around in this area, looking for unlucky prey to sate its ever growing hunger. If one were to see it through the fog, then they'd describe it as a beast which came from children's' nightmares. This monster loomed over its surroundings at over 3 meters tall, its whole body fuming like a volcano about to erupt with frightening thick, black mist. It only had one single glowing crimson eye with sparks of electricity dancing around it's circumference, which seemed to be positioned vertically right in the middle top of it's face. It also only had one nostril and one huge mouth below the eye. The eye, nose and the mouth, they were all lined up in a straight line, resulting in it sporting this fearsome and savage appearance. Across its body would be a coat made from sharp spines, similar to a hedgehog's back, with a long tail protruding outwards, whilst its arms had sick, long claws protruding out of them.

The monster was roaming around, its eyeball was rolling around in full alert, as if it was searching for something.

Yet suddenly, without any warning...

BANG!

A loud banging sound could be heard from the skies above, being as loud as a fierce thunder strike which sent the entire atmosphere into a shuddering mess. A couple seconds later, a hole in the skies above appeared, sporting all kinds of dark colours whilst sparks of energy and gale force winds blew out from inside, implying a truly chaotic interior. From that hole, a figure shout out from it like a bullet, wreathed in black and red flames. Down below, the monster became shocked by the sound, as well as curious as to its nature. Therefore, it raised its head to look towards the direction the sound came from, spotting the source of it. This only left it a nanosecond to react, so by then it became too late... in an instant, an unknown object fell onto its head.

PLOP!

The arrival of this unknown object was so sudden, this monster didn't even have time to react. Also, the object carried a COLLOSSAL amount of force when fell onto his head, this monster cried out horribly and started rolling on the floor like an infant being injured for the first time.

ROAR!

A loud roar got released from the now FURIOUS monster's fanged maw, as it immediately stood up from its former position on the ground to look at the unknown object. Though, to its surprise, it looked like a sword, a large, metallic and DANGEROUS sword in which its instincts all but SCREAMED at it to not touch, lest it suffer a fate worse than death itself. Even now, as it gazed at the sword with a mix of amazement and fear, it could sense power rolling off it in waves, energy it had felt in the past spreading out into the atmosphere around it.

BANG!

Then, another loud bang sounded out from above. Once again, another unknown object fell onto its head. When the unknown object hit its head, the monster could hear it scolding out loudly. "Damn it, now THAT was one hell of an entry way!"

* * *

Groans escaped Nico's lips amidst pained curses after he had shouted that last sentence out, as his body regenerated at a rapid pace from his little 'trip' which Biko had encouraged him to do. He had been told it'd be a painful experience, but even that hadn't prepared him for how much BS he would have to endure for this to work. Heck, in order to make it to this point, he had to toss his Sword Soul Edge through the chaotic tunnel, which Biko had explained had actually been a chaotic link between the place he was travelling to and the Hellverse Dungeon's remains (one big crater about 400 meters wide and 800 meters deep), made from Demonic Power. He had figured that it'd be a bit volatile just from this description alone, but actually experiencing it pretty much kicked those low expectations out the water. Even as he crashed into something, likely incinerating that space till not even charred remains existed thanks to covering himself in his Hellfire, he hadn't expected the result to be THIS bad.

 **'Still, this could have gone MUCH worse, Nico. Should you have not acted when you did, there would have been a 95% chance for you to remain trapped in that gap forever, and even if you perished with your DPU side's reformation ability, you would still reform within it. Thus, you would have suffered for an eternity without any way to escape. Nevertheless, it appears that this trip definitely took its toll if you being forced back into your human form was any indication.'**

'Huh?' Nico thought, only now realizing as he looked down at himself, that he had indeed switched back after being ejected from the chaotic gateway. Though even then, his clothes looked like they had suffered about... lets say, 70% damage. His coat had been reduced to tatters, his pants and belts had been largely blasted to bits, his shirt had varying sized holes through its material, whilst his hair looked like it had gone through an electrocution. That didn't take into account the rapidly healing burn marks over his exposed flesh either. Even if he healed over in seconds, something like this definitely counted as an extreme reaction. "Shit... damn, that place really put a number on me..." the redhead mused as his hair regrew to its original style, all the while his clothes automatically began repairing themselves as he pulled his (thankfully intact) hood out to cover his head.

Looking around his surroundings, the first thing he tried to do was locate his sword, Soul Edge. The blade must have turned into its default sealed form back when he had reverted, and true to his theory, he had found the massive blade impaled on the ground right beside him at a diagonal angle. Even now, he could sense the agitation within the blade, its energy coursing wildly through it like a vicious beast trying to rip apart its elusive prey. Stepping towards it without much fear, Nico reached out and grasped the blade, pulling it out of the ground before finally registering his bleak surroundings with a surprised gaze. "... Okay, now THIS is one desolated looking place if I've ever seen one..." he muttered, reaching out with his senses to try and feel anything out of the ordinary (a bit redundant given his situation, but meh), before he sensed faint traces of... resentment? All around him, too?

 **'That's due to you crashing atop one of the MANY residents of this place. Odds are though that our entry here has caused a disturbance which has been picked up by surrounding lifeforms. Better retreat and find somewhere to lay low, Nico. I'll explain everything then.'**

* * *

It didn't take the redhead Spec Ops Agent to locate a cave he could use for hiding in, and it had been over 700 meters away from his previous location, so that was something he could use. Since he had found it, and it was a rather deep cave at that, Nico had taken shelter there whilst setting up some traps by the entrance, in case he got any uninvited guests whilst he recovered his lost energy. His Demonic Power had been drastically lowered thanks to coming here, no thanks going to that damned gateway, but once he found himself secure in this cave, Nico sat down by one of the darkest corners before he closed his eyes and allowed his body to relax. With his eyes closed, Nico finally sent a mental message to his Demon Persona, whom had remained silent this whole time, same with his Ghoul one now that he thought about it. 'Alright, Biko. I'm in a secure location, and there's not a hint of negative emotion around me. Now, can you PLEASE tell me where the fuck I've ended up? This place feels WAY unlike anything I've ever felt in Gamindustri before, as much as a cliché that line is.'

 **'... #SIGH#, yes, it is finally time to explain. You're not the only one who has been impatient, much like Ghoulie over here. In any case, Nico... I welcome you, to the Inferno Hell. Now, to explain what this place is, I'll have to go on a brief history lesson, alright? So bare with me.'**

Of course there would, if he were honest then Nico would admit to expecting something like this. More often than not this happened whenever he wished to know something, but it worked with Biko since it gave context to the topics discussed. Thus, with a sigh of resignation, the redhead nodded in the real physical world. 'Well, history lessons with you tend to be about the DPU Era, and I'm always willing to know more about it. Feels like we've got much to learn yet about it, so hit me with it.'

 **'Very well. This all starts in the DPU Era, with Sparda. Back in those days, as you know Sparda had quite the following, even if he didn't care for those things. Back then, he was revered by many as the strongest DPU, which you and I both know is very subjective and naïve considering. In any case, due to having so many followers, Sparda had soon come to the realization that he needed a better training ground for them, so he could better refine their skills for their future death duels, as he called them. As a result, he poured his power out and combined it with what I have learned is called 'Dimensional Energy' which is something similar to space and time, but more on the space side of things. In any case, this ended up creating a specialized sub-realm mostly adhering to the Edict of Destruction. Everything around us being desolate like a huge war drained every spec of life is proof of this.'**

Sensing a pause, Nico didn't mention anything as he looked up to the cave's ceiling and let the information sink in. So far, he got what Biko was saying, pretty much he had said that Sparda wanted an ideal spot to refine future opponents, and as such made this realm with his powers like he had the capacity to this whole time. To be frank, he wasn't that surprised he could do this, since DPUs tended to bend the rules and physics of reality to their whims like it was a hot day to them. Still, the fact that he created his own personal realm to train his future opponents made sense according to what Nico knew of him. His Predecessor WAS a battle-maniac to his core after all. 'I guess him using his Inner World wasn't as good an idea back then, either huh?'

 **'Heh, that would be a gross understatement. Sparda actually grew 'bored' with it, and started using this Inferno Hell realm instead. Not only was it more powerful than an Inner World, but it provided 'better quality goods' in a sense. It truly did as, now this was something I recently discovered, but back then the thing called 'time dilation'? Yeah, it was pretty much a common practice, one of these things called 'Daos' but I'll get into THAT can of worms another time. What's this got to do with the Inferno Hell, you ask? Simple, like the Inner World it has a Time Dilation effect, to compare the two would be like comparing a pebble to a mountain. If one second in the outside world equals an hour in here, then one hour actually rivals a DAY in the Inferno Hell.'**

'Okay, WHAT... the FUCKING. HELL?!' Now THIS caught Nico's attention, almost making him fall over from his seated position. He still looked like he had digested his own vomit even when he pulled himself back together, which would be quite impressive considering the amount of BS he heard in that statement. 'You're serious, right?! You're not pulling my leg, right?!' How the hell could THAT be a thing?! To just shit on the laws of time like they did, did the DPUs have respect for ANYTHING besides strength? Just hearing it from Biko's mouth was what Nico eventually decide to place his trust in since he never lied to him, but still that truth remained a bitter pill to swallow. 'Now that's some high quality bullshit right there!'

 **'You, myself and Byakko here, who right now is being tor-I mean, played with, by Erebus agree on this, its pretty Bullshit, but nonetheless it is the case. You know for a fact how much of a battle nut Sparda was, so this would be something he would dream about in his sleep... if he even slept properly, guy probably even trained and fought like a wild madman in his sleep. Wouldn't be surprised if that's the case, but back to the Inferno Hell. Back then, it had only been a small realm, which served as Sparda's primary training ground for his 'followers', filled to the brim with Sky and World Class Demons. He even went and added powerful Abnormals into the mix, to truly make it as dangerous a realm as possible. For him, more danger means a better chance to unlock latent potential. There's a reason why Sparda and his followers were so good on the battlefield, a small task force of 100... capable of beating nearly 900,000 enemies... and that's just one of their daily routines back then. He even decided to call them for the heck of it: the 'Sons of Sparda'.'**

"Now THAT's egotism right there..." Nico mumbled under his breath, face palming whilst lowering his head at his Predecessor's mannerisms. Though, the more he thought about it, the more he began to see legitimacy in Biko's words. Feeling out the surroundings with his senses made him become aware of the ancient, borderline primordial, energies flowing through this place like it was its lifeblood. It almost made her think this place had its own heart, making it like a living organism. It actually felt like he had been SURROUNDED by the very ESSENCE of destruction itself, no Demonic Power, just pure and chaotic destruction. Then, Sparda's love for training and battle... yeah, no more needed to be said there. 'So… is this what the Edict of Destruction feels like...? Its probably diluted at this point due to how many years have passed, bit if just this causes my hairs to stand on end... I NEVER want to fight a DPU of Destruction, ever.'

 **'This Realm is so powerful, that even when the seal was erected, the entrance to this nigh-primordial place remained, and the realm remained fully intact like it was never even touched by the seal. As a result, any who ventured here, if they were weak were either destroyed by the chaotic gateway to this place, and if they were strong, then they had to be REALLY strong if they didn't want to get mauled to death by the creatures inhabiting here. According to what I can sense and have learned from the Lexicanum, instead of just staying stagnant all these years, this Inferno Hell has actually grown to be its own little dimension, and by little I mean compared to the Devildimension itself which was created at the dawn of creation itself. Though, in reality, there isn't much difference between them in terms of size. If you search around, you will also find barbarian cities and civilisations, born and bred in a dimension where strength is even more prevalent than in Gamindustri. Hell (mind the pun), calling them civilisations is a stretch, considering how lawlessness seems to be the norm here. Thievery, murder, rape, any crime is permitted in this place, as long as one had strength to back them up.'**

… Yeah, Nico could see something like that happening. The redhead groaned as he looked back towards where the entrance would be, part of him contemplating whether coming here or not was a good idea. It sounded like this place would be RIPE with people he would despise and want to kill, rape and pillage to their hearts content. People who had the strength to back up their crimes though, and THAT was something he focused on. Normally, the criminals Nico punished would be at his mercy once he caught them, thanks to his Ghoul side, however hearing Biko's words caused him to... well, feel like he had LOST that edge, LOST his status as an apex predator, the top of the food chain. It wasn't a nice feeling, it reminded him WAY too much of Zelretch and his trials. Still, what he ALSO took from this, would be that he would be able to fight people who could actually fight back, which also meant he could refine his skills here with double the amount of time. This place felt like a freaking HAVEN for those who wished to practice their martial skills, something which honestly excited the redhead. The thought of being able to train so freely, and since this place was actually in the real world he could fulfil the 'experiencing' part of this no problem, unlike his Inner world.

Of course, Nico knew for a FACT that there had to be an opposite side to this 'coin' of 'luck' which had come this way. There was always a con to the pro, something which he had learned since a long time ago. The two-faced nature of people and the world... it was well known to him. Still, judging from what had been explained so far, Nico felt like he could draw a few theories inside his mind. Nothing conclusive, of course, since he could only speculate, but he shouldn't assume any of them to be fact until any confirming evidence presents itself. His own biases towards people may have to change if they interfere with his reasoning and judgement, especially since right now he had already seen proof of this in the form of the girls and his guy friends, now that he thought about it. 'Are there any downsides to using this, Biko? This place sounds way too convenient for me to be truly a positive improvement to the Inner World.' The redhead male questioned his Demon Persona.

 **'Of course there are downsides, everything has a flaw to it, its all just either perspective or finding out about it. In this realm's case, there is only ONE access point, a 'Node' if you will, across all of Gamindustri, and that is the one in the Hellverse.** **Originally there had been 28 of these Nodes, however they have all been closed off save for this one from this side. Nobody knows how to open them, only the creator Sparda would have, and he is long gone as you are well aware. Therefore, you will only be able to access this place here in Leanbox, which leads me to the second point. Although the nodes in GAMINDISUSTRI are gone, the ones from 'other' places seem to still remain, which means as you have already assumed, beings from other worlds who pride themselves on their strength have always been gathering here. I'm talking about beings who could crush cities with their pinkies, ravage continents till there's nothing left, and then there's the possibility of meeting other strong DPUs. While none of them SHOULD be at the Chaos Class, many of them would likely be at the very peak of multi continent class, with high amounts of knowledge on different techniques and greater energy control the likes of which we have NEVER experienced. This kind of expertise means that if one wishes to survive in the Inferno Hell, then they will HAVE to have an insane level of power and potential for growth, otherwise they'll just be taken advantage of.'**

There it was, some of the cons to this place. A lack of accessibility, its INSANTELY strict requirements for growing stronger in it, and it wasn't limited to just one person, was what Biko had been trying to tell him. Therefore, if he himself were to leave Leanbox, then Nico would have to rely on his Inner World for growth. Not only that, but if he could use it, any villain on Leanbox could do the same, though that just took into account he enemies on Gamindustri, who know how many from other worlds Nico would eventually encounter. Suddenly, it dawned on him just how freaking NUTS this place had truly been... exactly why Biko had brought him over to this place. It was so NUTS that it would be PERFECT for him to train in, to learn more and develop his powers in a rapid succession. Not only that, but if he wanted to experience things, then he would DEFINITELY be able to do so since this was a LARGE Dimension. He bet that there were countless things he could find in here, things which could baffle even the greatest minds of his world.

Slowly, as it dawned on him just WHAT kind of opportunity had presented itself before him, his lips slowly curved upwards, an excited grin forming whilst the competitive blood began to boil inside. 'This place... sounds PERFECT for me! I'll train here till the Spec Ops Exam, and when I return if the situation with Lowee hasn't changed any I'll bring the others back here so I can elevate them to a similar level! Our power boosts will be ginormous!' he realized, already imagining the badassery his comraded would exhibit once they had trained here. Still, he had no illusions that he would have to play it smart, as eventually he would be forced to fight this place's residents, and if Biko's words were to be believed, then he would have to go all out from the beginning unless he wanted to die. Not very good since that meant exhausting all his trump cards at once, but he would have no choice at his current level. Thus, Nico needed to train in seclusion for a while, refine his already existing skillset and human body so it can take at least a LITTLE more punishment. His battles showed him to be the weakest in endurance, especially when going up against real big foes, which had been why his speed had been his greatest ally aside from his versatility.

With this plan in motion, Nico closed his eyes and began planning what to train in first.

Be prepared Gamindustri, cause you're about to see a whole new Nico!

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whew, that was a doozy, this one! Lots of stuff's been going on, especially at the end! Now, fun story, I had to rewrite that last part several times, those times I actually wrote Nico dropping Tekken off and heading to the Hellverse under Biko's instruction, till this time when I chose not to include it. It wasn't really needed anyways., unlike the Inferno Hell realm. Now before anyone lynches me about it, I'll let you know this was from a wuxia I read called 'Dragon Marked War God', which is actually where I'm getting a lot of ideas for Nico and a certain other Goddess's powerups.**

 **I've altered it a bit though, so as to give it a more dangerous yet rewarding vibe, a bit of a high risk and reward situation as it were. While its a pretty BS level place, more so than the Inner World, its not like just anyone can go there. They have to survive the journey, and even then if people weren't strong enough then they'd be either taken advantage of by others, or they'd get lynched by the monstrous residents. If you wanna know how strong these monsters can be, well... think this: even a DEMON PRINCE would be wary of them, whilst a Chaos God would fight one of his or her brothers in one v one combat just to get a CHANCE to have these guys on their side.**

 **Plus, if you've read it, you'll notice some foreshadowing of future events in there which will become quite significant. I also chose these weaknesses to the realm just so that its not some OP tool which can be used any time, that would ruin the flow of the story. I even added it as a cultural thing to mess with the flow of time, cause come on, these guys were warrior gods who liked destruction, of course it would involve meta physical concepts such as time. Also, whilst the heroes get these amazing powerups, its not like Mundus and Arfoire aren't growing more powerful either. They'll have tricks of their own to play against our heroes. Believe me, by the time these two forces clash, the scale difference between then and Halo Mountain... it'll be pretty much impossible to compare.**

 **In any case, wish me luck cause now I'm going to prep for the Spec Ops Exam mini arc... Oh yeah, if I haven't said it before, I'll say it here: Read the side story since it focuses on Noire's dealings throughout everything up till the Spec Ops Exam and if anyone wants to do any fanart for these characters feel free to do so.**

 **See ya laters!**

 **Peace Out!**


	193. Chapter 162 - Spec Ops Exam PT 1

**Chapter 162 -Spec Ops Exam PT 1**

"Ahhh… here it is…! I've finally arrived!"

The voice of a young female figure spoke, said figure being shadowed by the sunlight as she stood atop a small hill, but one big enough to overlook the city of MICROSOFT, the place where she needed to be by today. Her time had finally arrived, the beginning of her journey would finallu begin. With the way things had shaped up for her, she hoped that she would be able to succeed where her father stopped at, so she could have more of an impact on the world… plus, some other things.

"Its… so huge… I've never been to the big city myself, so seeing it for the first time like this is… kind of scary…"

The female figure spoke, no small amount of nervousness being audible in her tone as she shook a little. Seeing the huge city spread out before her, what with all the walls and the people and the buildings it had, made her feel like a complete ant. Especially since she came from a small village which only looked to be a ¼ of the City's size. MICROSOFT, more like COLLOSSALSOFT, this place completely DOMINATED the surroundings with how big it was! Part of her worried that, if she were to head closer to it which she inevitably would have to in order to fulfil her purpose for coming here, then the city might squash her like a bug. She was already small enough, much unlike the tall girls her age back in her village, this just seemed downright unfair! A feeling of frustration and sadness formed within her chest, and her shadowed eyes began to tear up because of it whilst she began to glare at the ground like it were her mortal enemy. Memories filled her mind of times back in her village, memories she didn't have very high fondness for. Why could she not be born with a taller height?! Boys back in her Village called her a pint-sized midget because of her height, and she was in her late teens already! Not even a single boyfriend in her 19 years of living, and girls her age are more likely to be engaged by this point!

After a few moments, the girl took a deep breath and tried to calm herself back down, nothing good would come from her venting like a naiev, immature brat. She had learned this lesson long ago the hard way, a lesson taught to her by flames and ashes, alongside the fact that if she truly wanted to make a difference, she needed one thing above all else: power. In this city, many people with power existed, people who could destroy buildings and cities with ease. Destructive power was dangerous, but it seemed to be the one thing which people paid attention to, case in point her village… but she didn't want to think about that right now. However, she also knew something else, and that was to not underestimate this city, especially with how peaceful it looked. Not only did it have the size and intimidation factor going for it, but she had heard from her mother how there had been a huge political war going on between the various Nobles and Military Families with MICROSOFT as their battleground. Some of her female friends had once told her of times when they briefly visited the city for one reason or another, only to get sexually harassed by a passing Noble whom had been irritated with the status quo between the two sides. It kind of reminded her of the situation in Lastation, as she'd heard an incident had happened there and thus, control over the Nation was currently split between multiple factions. A civil war just seconds away from acting out, she'd say. According to recent events however, her mom had mentioned how things had begun to settle down on THAT front… only to get heated by the fact that Leanbox had a huge threat greater than even the Abnormals knocking on their door.

A threat she herself had a firsthand experience with.

Whilst her form remained shadowed by the sunlight, the young girl DID have something… something LARGE strapped to her back, something which sent a wave of fiery passion into her being through the connection that they shared. The feeling brought back some… recent memories for her, memories which caused her hidden eyes to narrow as she gripped the clothing covering her chest with her right hand tightly. It had been all because of THAT… whilst it did so much damage, most of it being nigh-irreparable for many, however it also became the source of her golden opportunity, the chance for her to finally achieve the dream she had ever since she was a small child. Even if it were comforting her right now, and she DID appreciate the gesture, the memory of its origins still continued to plague her nightmares to this day, though that would only be expected since she had only gotten this thing recently… still felt quite painful even holding it in her hand, but she had been training herself to endure it.

'Just hold on guys, I'll do it soon… I'll pass the Spec Ops Exam for all of your sakes…!'

With that thought in her mind, the female figure took off, jogging down the hill in order to head towards MICROSOFT.

* * *

Inside the city of MICROSOFT, things were absolutely BUZZING with excitement, excitement which rarely came for these people thanks to recent events concerning the demonic forces.

Everyone eagerly chatted and gossiped amongst themselves, as rumours of the Spec Ops exam being today circulated throughout the community. The common folk couldn't help but be excited, because thanks to the recent changes with the Demons and other enemy forces, this year's Spec Ops Exam had more applicants than ever before whom were going to be fighting against them, and whomever had the galls to apply for such a gruelling test HAD to have some quality to them, otherwise they wouldn't have had their applications accepted. A small minority of them didn't have as much eagerness as the rest of them, and these people had been victims of the Nobility in one form or another. They themselves knew how powerful political influence and connections were, and each of them believed that many Nobles had strongarmed the Guild into letting their own heirs to pass this Exam regardless of their results, letting them enjoy the prestige without even working for it.

Speaking of the Nobles, many of them also had a vested interest in this year's Spec Ops Exam, and mostly for the reasons those in the minority believed in. They wanted the fame, prestige and honor which came with having relatives whom had served diligently in an advanced military branch like the Spec Ops. Not only that though, but they also wanted to see just what kind of new blood could end up surfacing from it to recruit them into their fold. Spec Ops Agents are monsters in all but name, so having them as part of their personal armies made sense. The idea seemed detestable in the past, but considering the weeks that passed since the Demonic Invasion and the fighting which had happened since, a lot of Nobles had decided to keep their grieviances to themselves and actually GET THEIR ASSES into gear so they don't lose their assets… or their lives, that's WAY more important.

However, none of this registered in the mind of a certain woman who'd prepped for the Exam…

"Heh, looks like things are getting a bit hectic…"

This woman spoke, currently sitting cross-legged on a chair sipping on some tea to recover some of her composure, having recently had to reject the 20th 'confession of love' from several of her fellow applicants. She was located in a newly made yard outside the Guild Building, a yard which had a wooden fence separating it from the rest of the City. In it, were all the applicants for the Spec Ops Exam, each of them having their own leisure time which was meant to both prepare their nerves for the upcoming tests as well as give the applicants time to gather whilst the tests were prepared inside the Guild Building. Currently, the weather particularly leaned on the nicer side too, although that was to be expected given the season Leanbox was closely related to, so that helped too. Looking around at the various applicants whom either chatted excitedly or seemed to be seriously studying last minute, the woman couldn't help but snort mentally whilst rolling her eyes. She remembered what her cherished one and his mother/mentor had told her about these exams and about what a 'true' Spec Ops Agent was like, so she didn't resist the disdain she felt inside. Whilst she COULD see a couple of the applicants taking this seriously, the amount of them compared to the rest was like a 5 to 1 ratio. If this had been what the standards had been reduced to, she honestly pitied those up top who had to deal wth the Nobles… then that pity vanished when she remembered how they treated someone she cared about a whole hell lot, a slightly sadistic image of them being beaten within an inch of their lives by her entering her mind, prompting a small smirk to form on her lips. "Well, it could have been worse, I guess…"

"Ah, hey there IF! How's things going for you?"

"?!"

Just then, a female voice spoke up to her, to which the woman known as IF the Windwalker of Gamindustri, turned to the source of it after being broken from her thoughts. Looking towards the entrance to the yard which had two Spec Ops Agents guarding it, IF saw a certain red glove-wearing martial artist walking up to her, waving in greeting with a massive smile on her face. The moment she saw her, IF's eyes brightened up as she waved back at her, her lips curving into a shark-like grin whilst the hand gripping her cup's handle clenched it tighter. Not enough to break it, she'd been holding back that urge, but enough for it to tbe noticeable. "Hey there, Tekken, didn't think you'd show up on time." She greeted warmly, yet her eyes screamed just how excited for battle she felt inside. Her BOW instincts acting up right now, people!

"Heh, sorry bout that IF." Tekken apologized, laughing nervously with her hand resting behind her head. She then took a seat opposite IF on the same table after receiving a visual gesture of approval from the brunette to do so, heaving a sigh of relief at being able to sit down. "MAGES. has been running me ragged recently with searching for materials for her research. I've been able to fight some tough opponents though, so its all good. Though this, combined with my own studies for this exam… you can say I'll look forward to when this is all over." she remarked, getting a chuckle of amusement from her fellow woman. It was then that she noticed something about said BOW, something which caused her eyes to brighten in surprise and amazement. "Ooooh! You've went for a wardrobe change, eh? I didn't notice until just now, it looks super awesome IF!"

Looking down at herself, IF's smirk widened into a grin not unbefitting for that of a Demon. "Yup, I did. Figured it was time to make a change, since I wanted to step into a new chapter in my life." she replied, gesturing to her new look. Now her colours had changed with a darker blue coat which neared the black category, like the ocean depths. The cooat had a high collar around the back of her neck, with a small compartment that had a hood inside. The collar also sported these sharp, nigh blade-like edges to it which looked like they could be used as piercing weapons, whilst the collar's interior almost looked like it was… pulsating, or something similar. Dangling from the collar's sides, were a pair of dark green chains similar to a sickly person. Her coat's sleeves each had these long, vine-like designs travelling down them from the shoulders, going into some dark green rolled backwards cuffs which had some bladed leaf-like shapes protruding outwards up the arms. The coat fell to her ankles in length, with its edges being tattered like they were shredded by animal claws. Around her neck, was a black choker covered in dark green spikes, whilst her tank top and short combo now had black colouring with dark green highlights where the white had once been. The last, most notable change to her wardrobe, was the fact that instead of her usual blue and white boots, IF now sported a pair of thigh high stiletto heeled black ones which covered the matching nylon stockings beneath them, stockings which were connected to some garters which went into her shorts. Lastly, IF had her stash of Phones strapped around her waist instead of her coat, nothing would make her part with those after all.

In essence, IF looked like a mix of beauty and deadliness, seductive woman who like a rose, had deadly thorns underneath.

"Guess you got inspired by Raven and Lucy, eh…?" Tekken remarked with a smile, remembering a few times when IF and the mentioned Spec Ops Agent conversed. If Lucy had taken to Compa like a mentor and her student, then Raven took to IF in a similar manner. Only, instead of a mentor/student relationship they were more like fellow warriors who fought on the battlefield. Perhaps given time, Tekken believed it COULD evolve down that route, but that would be depending if Raven let go of that icy cold stoic behaviour of hers, something which Tekken doubted would ever happen. Still, IF having been influenced by her made sense, since that Agent really kicked ass with the high Abnormal kill count she had, plus she did so with a decent fashion sense as well. How could she NOT be inspired?

Nodding her head in response, IF plucked out one of the Phones from her belt, which had become a black one as well as one which could hold all her phones in place. "Heh, what can I say she's quite a badass character…" she responded. "You probably don't know this, but throughout the days since the Demonic Invasion, Raven and her team have been throwing themselves at Demons left and right, countering many of their invasions just by themselves. Heck, last I heard Raven's been killing off Greater Demons even by her lonesome, whilst her comrades take on their minions."

"EH?!" Tekken screeched out, her eyes bulging as she leaned forwards on her chair. Did she just hear that right? Team RAIL had been taking on Greater Demons, Demons which three Goddesses working together couldn't defeat, and WON?! What the heck, what's up with that?! "J-Just what the heck are those guys, then? If it were the four of them together fighting Greater Demons, that'd be more believable, but Raven soloing Greater Demons?! That's just…"

A sympathetic gaze fell onto the BOW's features, knowing just how Tekken was feeling at the moment. "You heard me, and I thought the same way as you once. Then, one time when a Greater Demon appeared close to a nearby village with a legion of Demons and World Eater soldiers, Raven let me in on the action too so I could test my metal… I only got to kill the lesser ones, but I saw it myself. You should have seen it, Tekken, her and Lucy are both more monstrous than MANY of the Abnormals throughout Gamindustri." She had once heard from Neptune that it had been Lucy whom had been the one to finish off the Bloodthirster back during that attack on the Gala, so she could understand it better if Lucy could solo Greater Demons, something she'd seen for herself as true as well, but for Raven to do the same… she guessed it just went to show that Team RAIL were NOT a bunch of pushovers.

If the whole of the Spec Ops community had power similar to theirs… IF shuddered at the thought.

"That's so unreal…" Tekken mumbled, before she sighed in defeat, slumping down on her chair. Since it was IF whom had told her this, the young martial artist didn't think she was lying to her, IF wasn't someone to lie to her about something like that. If anything, Tekken felt like she was seriously underestimating just how powerful those four really were. It didn't take her long to get excited again though, as stars took the place of her eyes as she shot up into a sitting position again. "Then that's all the more reason why I should be a Spec Ops Agent too! I'll be able to fight strong monsters as well, then I'll be able to challenge them myself!" she proclaimed, pumping a fist in front of her face with a determined grin erupting from her lips.

Something which IF snickered at behind a closed fist. Havin studied by Tekken's side for a while, she knew the girl pretty well, and as such seeing her act like this was quite normal for her. Heck, IF could understand her feelings since her BOW instincts pretty much made her feel the same way, the thoughts of being able to sink her fangs into potentiall worthy opponents filling her with brutal, animalistic joy. 'Betchya daddy dearest would have flipped if he could see me as I am now…' part of her thought, and for a moment her mood dampened as her grin fell, but it didn't last long. Whilst IF believed that her father was a good man, she also felt aware of how much he disliked monsters, so it would always be left up in the air whether or not he would have still accepted her as his daughter as she currently was. Much of IF's faith in humanity had gone out the window with all the things she'd seen and heard at this point, leading to this thought process.

Not only that, but IF also wanted to pass this exam not for protecting others, although that was still a reason albeit diminished significantly on her priorities list, but she also wanted to have much more freedom in what quests she could take and her methods for operating. Spec Ops taking on solo quests which usually only groups of Guild Agents or Adventurers would usually take had been one of their norms. Aside from better pay, they actually had higher kill counts, though that was to be expected. IF looked towards her friend afer thinking this, and then she noticed something she didn't expect about her, prompting her to question the martial artist. "Say, where's MAGES.? I would have thought she were with you or something."

"I'm right here."

"Guh!"

All of a sudden IF nearly jumpd, barely suppressing it and her instinct to form any bladed weapon to decapitate the source of her sudden fright. Looking to the source instead, IF saw MAGES. standing not too far from her, leaning on her sinister-looking Staff which stood tall on the ground beside her. Unlike IF, MAGES. seemed to retain her original wardrobe, but IF knew for a FACT that something had changed inside of her, and recently too. She couldn't quite place her finger on it just yet, but she felt that if she saw MAGES. fight with that Staff of hers, she'd be able to figure it out. All the same though… "Geez, girl! Don't scare me like that!" IF yelled, putting a hand over her chest. Also, if one looked closely at her used hand, something which both MAGES. and Tekken did, they'd see how its form returned to its original state from a previously veiny and pulsating one, implying how close it had come to morphing its shape entirely.

"My apologies, walker of wind, nevertheless it is understandable that you could not perceive my presence, for I have been dabbling in concealment magic in the past 4 days." MAGES. explained, taking her Staff in her right hand and pulling it out of the ground, sitting on the only other seat available. Glancing at the ground, both girls noticed that the space where her Staff had once embedded itself had a sizable hole left behind, which explained how she was able to lean on it for support, though it raised questions in their minds of its true nature. Crossing one leg over another for comfort, MAGES. placed her hat on the table whilst ignoring the looks which she received from the more… perverted of applicants and rested her Staff horizontally on her lap. "Concealment Magic seems to be progressing nicely, if neither yourself, nor the martial demon here managed to track me." She then gazed over at IF whilst her eyes shone with a gleam which sent shudders down her spine. "Reminds me of that time I asked you to be my test-I mean, research partner for a bit…"

At hearing her tone and remembering what MAGES. did to her, IF could not help but shudder uncontrollably, especially when she tried to keep her body under control. It ad gotten some VERY dangerous vibes off MAGES. whenever she got that look in her eye, the look of a scientist about to go crazy over a promising specimen for research. Not to mention this concealment magic threatened her safety, since she could jus kidnap-well, take, IF away whenever she so pleased if she didn't do anything to counter it, for whatever diaboloical research sessions she had planned for. Part of IF wanted to see if she could dabble in some magical studies just so she could find out a way to mutate an ability to grow an immunity to Magic, just so that MAGES. or any other Mage would be unable to hide from her. It came from her instinctual need to root out any weakness, what with how her Cells constantly evolved under the threat of others destroying and assimilating them. Nevertheless, those thoughts got pushed aside for the time being, as IF shook her head and forced herself to regain her composure. "Yeah well, that sounds about right Mrs mad scientist." She remarked, getting an amused smirk from the Mad Magician in return. "That aside, I gotta ask: are you guys prepared for this? We studied all we could about the Spec Ops programm, making sure we have a lot of 'Ammo' for this 'battleground'…"

Tekken and MAGES. nodded their heads, both becoming stone cold-faced whilst they each pondered the incoming task at hand. Passing the Spec Ops Exam like this wouldn't be easy, each of them knew this. For such an elite section of the Guild, they'd likely have some twisted tests planned for them to weed out the weaker ones and select only the strongest to continue as one of them. Each remained aware of this situation like a looming threat about to destroy the city, which had been their main driving point for them to study as hard as they did to prepare for their Exam. Although, one session IF had to scrutinize Tekken like a computer scanning a document when she made mention of having run into Nico a while back (Tekken had looked really happy when mentioning this, so the brunette's womanly instincts screamed at her to be wary of a potential rival). She herself knew just how well she saw the redhead since she had learned of Nico's actions regarding her at the Hellverse Dungeon, so if it became reality that Tekken would end up falling for him… well, she would be slightly annoyed, but she wouldn't be surprised.

Their silence and expressions told her everything that she needed to know, prompting IF to nod in satisfaction. It was then that she and the others heard the sound of a bell ringing, similar to when a schoolbell rang and the children playing in the yard had to come back inside for classes, indicating to the applicants that the Spec Ops Exam was ready for them. "Looks like its time…" IF noted as the three of them stood up, noting the seriousness of the atmosphere.

"Indeed. Looks like the battle will be beginning. Whatever trials await in that corridor of darkness, this Mad Magician will not falter…" MAGES. declared, and a second later she smirked in a shameless manner. "Those resources will be mine, no matter what…" she mumbled, but the other two heard her which caused them to sweat drop in her direction. Trust it to the Mad Magician to desire the resources of an elite military group for her research. Her title as the Mad Magician definitely wasn't for show.

Shaking her head and oushing this aside, knowing how her friend usually acted to the point she was used to it, Tekken pumped a fist in front of her face. "No matter what we face, its nothing that a marital artist can't solve." She proclaimed to herself, psyching herself up as she recalled the memories of all the studying she had done (read: got forced to by MAGES., ending up having sleepless nights only to wake up to more studying. The Mad Magician was also a slave driver when it came to knowledge…).

The doors to the Guild Building, which remained closed throughout the previous prep time, slowly opened like the entrance to an evil overlord's castle, and the Applicants soon stepped inside.

* * *

Once inside, the doors closed behind them, leaving the applicants to be inside the main Guild Building where they would have normally gone to the quest counters for Quests. However, this would NOT be like their ordinary days not by a long shot since all but one of the counters was empty, that counter having a woman whom looked to be dressed in formal military wear. This woman sat doing some paperwork behind the counter, and when she heard the doors closed, she shifted her lips towards a Mike located beside her and spoke into it telling them the following:

"Spec Ops Candidates, you all are gathered here today for your exam, the last thing separating you from a world with REAL monsters. You may THINK you know Abnormals, you may have EXPERIENCE with them, but they are only a mere FRACTION of our world, a world where even the slightest mistakes will end up with you having a hole through your vital areas. I am EVA, and I shall sort you all into specified groups for the first half of your exam. After the first half is over, there will be an hour's break in this area here, before the second portion of the Exam will begin. Now, I will call out your names and you will each be given a Card as said by the messages we've sent you all. These cards will determine which group you will be part of for the remainder of the Exam. Now, we shall begin…"

And so, began the process of grouping up the Applicants, likely so the tests could be initiated easier than they would be if they were just one class. IF mentally kept note of each person assigned to a different group, there being about 6 groups in total. Each group had a total of 40 people in them, with there being about 240 Applicants for this exam. Kind of put into perspective how many applied for an Exam like this, the brunette felt but didn't mention it verbally since she was currently alone with her thoughts at the moment, even if she stood alongside a bunch of strangers she didn't know. Strangers who, much to her chagrin, kept giving her looks of lust and desire, especially on certain… parts of her body. 'Now I understand how Vert, Nep and the other big breast faction feel when they're oogled… Guess some of their complaints weren't so fake after all…' IF thought to herself, glancing at her enlarged chest area.

Now, don't get her wrong, IF really LOVED her new body, the body she had gained thanks to assimilating World Eater soldiers back during the invasion of the Gala. Not only did she look more womanly, her body actually had greater physical ability, not to mention her powers functioned much better with it, it was almost like her body had evolved to an almost perfect level, even though IF kind of despised and looked down on such things since, really, there wasn't anything else beyond that. No room to be better, no ways to improve, its all just one big dead end. One can CHASE perfection, but never catch it cause if they did then that would well end up with nothing to go further with. She loved the heck out of it since she had always DREAMED of having a body like that, however both her genetics and her overall luck seemed to be against her since she never quite developed beyond what she had when first meeting Neptune and her comrades. The fact that she had this body only due to throwing away her humanity and becoming the textbook definition of a monster wasn't lost on her, but IF didn't really care much about that, not when she had so many perks and so few drawbacks to her body. However, now that she had it, IF noticed things that she never did before due to lacking the proper 'equipment' back then, and soon enough she began to see that maybe the girls with bigger boobs ad rocking bodies that she'd seen throughout her life… may not have necessarily been kidding about the attention they got. It definitely irked her now, since she already had someone in her sights whilst everyone else seemed to want to have a piece of her.

By the time that the groups were formed, IF discovered that each of her friends were placed on different groups, making it so she would not bhave ANYONE she would know on hers. Kind of made her feel like fish out of water, but then again this could also be a golden opportunity for her to scope out her fellow applicants, no matter what kind of looks they were giving her right now. 'They said in the message that the first part is an academic one, so I should be alright. Things will likely only get interesting when the second half comes around, since they never revealed what it was till today.' She thought whilst cupping her chin. Part of her thought about enlisting the other members of her group to assist her, but she soon thought better when she gave them a look over each and noticed just how… frail, and weak that they looked. She quickly figured out that, aside from this and their rather posh clothing and rather snide behaviour, that a lot of these were children from Noble Families who wanted the prestige of their relatives being in the Spec Ops. A lot of them looked like they lazed about all day, with the few female daughters looking like they were built for one specific purpose in mind (perverts know this purpose well, as much as it sickened her). Furthermore, she could see some of them looking down on her, their eyes shining with both lust and slight disdain for how she dressed, as if they thought of her as just some slut who wanted to have a good time. As for the worst thing about them, was that beyond these traits, a lot of them looked like they had hardly even picked up a weapon in their lifetimes, let alone seen the true terror of the battlefield, something which caused her to groan to herself inside. 'I'm surrounded by idiots as well… whelp, doubt things can get any worse than this, but I'm going to not say that, so I don't jink myself.'

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention, before your all going to your assigned rooms for the first half, you will also be gathered for your own group photos, just for a commerative memory so you don't forget the progress you all have made."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

'… Me and my big stupid mental mouth.'

* * *

After a moment of sheer humiliation, IF and her group got sent on their way to their class, as in they got sent deeper into the Spec Ops section of the Guild Building though the brunette doubted, they'd see anything TOO amazing along the way. If anything, the more interesting stuff like unknown technology, spoils of war, etc would be put in a secret vault or something either in another city, the Basilicom, or in another Nation where they would be better guarded due to better technology and security policies. These guys were proper professionals after all…

Hardly like the idiots whom she had the misfortune of being partnered with.

The walk there had been just as bad as the photo itself, what with so many males layering their arms around her like they were better than her and she belonged to them. Meanwhile the 'hussies' as she mentally dubbed the nobleman's daughters, just glared hatefully towards her, like they thought they were more worthwhile than her. IF would have scoffed at them at that moment if she weren't putting on a neutral air and expression to hide what she truly felt inside. She just didn't want to deal with these morons any longer than necessary, any more than that then she felt she just might snap, rip one of them apart or perhaps even more, then cause a political fallout between her party and the Nobles who'd sustained those losses. Her party didn't need that, plus she wanted to get this over and done with so she could regroup with her friends quicker. Apparently, once the first half was done, she would have been able to socialise with whomever she wanted for the hour before the next half of the exam started. IF SO couldn't wait for that to happen, a sentiment which grew more and more with each passing segment. A few of the guys tried chatting her up but the brunette just remained silent, though she did want to thrust some of her weapons into their guts more than a few times, one of them more so than the others.

This one noble boy looked to be about 17 years of age, and had a traditional 'prince' like appearance, wearing a red suit with a white dress shirt beneath it, a crimson tie and some black dress shoes. Looked more like a businessman or a beurocrat, not a warrior in IF's eyes (she got that description from a movie she'd once watched about vampires fighting warewolves, she liked it as well as the heroine). His name had been Simon, and the guy's personality irked her like all hell, not only did he constantly flirt with her and flexed his 'handsome' appeal to her, something IF just wasn't into whilst other hussies just swooned over him with hearts in their eyes like useless, dumb fangirls. He had the GALL to try and discreetly feel her up when he thought she was distracted. Fortunately, she'd managed to keep those advances at bay for now, but if he dared try anything then she would make sure to slice off his groin with a claw then make it so he can never talk again, cause that voice of his just irritated her like all hell.

One time he even compared himself to Nico, calling him by his Codename, and saying how he was better than that 'useless guard dog' in every way with his little posse supporting him. He belittled him and his recent accomplishments, saying things like he'll eventually 'learn his place' under his heel like he always had been and always should be, all the while making comparisons between Nico and himself… although the brunette felt like Simon was simply taking credit for things which he'd never done before judging from how fragile he looked. Seriously, one pinch from her felt like enough to shatter the bones in his arm, almost, but the insults towards her interest continued non-stop till they reached the examination room.

Never had she come so close to butchering someone before, and if the others heard that…

By the time they reached the examination room, IF had it up to here with that Simon jackass, and so as soon as she got the chance the brunette pulled herself away from them and sat at one of the desks located at the farthest top left corner of the room. The room itself looked like those one would find in a university, all circular with a hill-like format and each desk shaped like a semicircle. The others each took their places, with Simon attempting to sit beside IF had the brunette not 'looked' at him with such killing intent and bloodlust that made him see nothing but thousands of grotesque abominations floating around her. All of them looking DIRECTLY at him making the rich-looking boy become pale as a ghost before wisely choosing to sit on the OPPOSITE side of the room, just in case he needed to make a quick getaway. IF herself got a couple dozen glares from his fangirls for that one, but she ignored them whilst everyone else got seated.

Immediatelly afterwards, the door to the examination room opened and someone stepped inside. The moment that her eyes laid their gaze on him, immediately IF tesned up and straightened on her seat as she put her full attention on him, such was the aura and dominating presence that the person, a man, gave off. The man looked to be middle aged, yet that did not look like it diminished any of his ability one bit, it almost looked like he could still throw down with the best of Agents. The man had a large, imposing figure, which he complements with a rugged head and face covered with old wounds and scars. His head was covered by a black beanie, yet that did not detract from his intimidation factor in the slightest, in fact it actually enhanced it. The man's eyes remainded IF of black holes in outer space with how black and… well, blank they were, expressionless being a better word to describe them. For clothing, the man wore a military vest underneath a flak jacket, a pair of black pants which were tucked into some military boots. Over this, was a thick, black Trench Coat, something which made the thought of Trench Coats usually being associated with badasses pop into the brunette's head alongside images of herself, this guy and a certain redhead.

Even so, none of this distracted her from realizing just WHO this man was just before he started speaking.

"And here I thought the other times were bad…" the man mused, his eyes casting their expressionless gaze across the classroom. His eyes did linger on a few of them longer than the others, with IF being one of them, before he continued speaking. "Guess I shouldn't have opened my mouth back then. These Nobles… Anyways, listen up pieces of garbage, although you may THINK your wealth, status and political power means anything here, I'm here to crush those foolish ideals to the ground. My name is Ibiki Morino, I'm the head of the Guild's Torture and Interrogation department, and I will be the proctor for this first half of the Spec Ops Exam. Now, look down at your desks!" The man known as Ibiki commanded. Whilst the various Nobles all grumbledunder their breaths at the rude insults to their families, a flash of illing intent from Ibiki quickly shut them up as they did as instructed. At least there were a few among them whom had marginably better attitudes as they only slightly grumbled whilst looking at their desks, where each of them noticed some papers and writing tools. Things which none of them had noticed were there before, not even IF much to her shock. "Before you, are your exam papers. Answer the questions correctly, and you shall pass. The tests are graded with a point reduction system, and unlike what you may thing each person starts with a total of 10 points. Points will be deducted based off how many questions one gets wrong, so if you get 4 wrong, you will have 6 points at the end. The final question however, will not be available until the end of the testing period. However, if any of you even THINK of trying to cheat and are caught…" the man spoke, pausing to click his fingers.

Upon doing this, several men and women in similar garbs to Ibiki seemingly shimmered into existence, lining up on all sides of the examination room with cold, blank expressions on their faces. Not to mention that each of them possessed a similar 'feel' to them as Ibiki had, something which only IF and a few others managed to notice and sense to the fullest, making them think that these people worked with Ibiki either a lot or in the same department. Now that she had thought about it, IF remembered hearing some rumours about the TAI department, how some Nobles have been trying to tie them down in scandals or bring them undertheir heel due to how effective they were in their respective fields. She'd also heard rumours about how much even Spec Ops Agents feared them for their brutal efficiency in acquiring information. Of course, more information about those rumours had been pretty much scarce, but IF had a good idea as to why that was, so she didn't question it. "These are your fellow exam proctors, and they will be keeping a CLOSE eye on ALL of you for even the slightest signs of cheating. Those who are caught 5 times are thus sent out of the exam and are unable to retake it for the next 5 years!"

Cue shocked gasps from the rest of the applicants, even IF although hers was more subdued than the rest. If what this guy said was true, and she had no doubt about that in her mind, then that would definitely mean that a lot of Nobles would lose out on getting their kin into the Spec Ops ranks for their own benefits. It was like they were specifically making a statement, one which spoke on how they would not tolerate ANY kind of slippery behaviour like they may have done in the past to bolster their ranks. It seemed almost like they had started to shift from quantity to quality in terms of priority potential in their recruits. Mentally, she couldn't help but grin in excitement, knowing that THIS Exam seemed to be tailor made for a specific purpose rather than just an easy breeze that these people would have been expecting, one which she found herself agreeing with wholeheartedly. If those Nobles thought their children would get a free pass this year, then they would have another thing coming, and THAT felt more than enough to make her day just a little bit better. 'This written test will be a cinch for me, then...' she thought, recounting all the studying she, MAGES., and Tekken had done together. Something which she doubted that the other Nobles' children had done nearly as much, in favour of getting cosy wit each other for political agendas she had no care for.

"Alright, settle down worthless swine's! Let the first half of the Spec Ops Exam... BEGIN!"

Instantly, the atmosphere changed, becoming increasingly tense and oppressive as the applicants hustled to begin their work. IF did the same, not caring much for any of the others since she wanted to get this done as soon as possible. 'Alright, which one should I start on...' she thought to herself as she looked through the content. To her, thsi would be a cinch since she had prepared herself for it, so she couldn't wait till she could leave these bunch of pansies. As she did so, her eyes cast their gaze across each question, and the more she read them...

'Huh?'

… All of the knowledge she had amassed, everything she had thoroughly memorized with Tekken and MAGES. in their sessions... most of it didn't return to the forefront of her mind. She couldn't even remember most of it all, and her memory usually had been pretty solid what with how her powers worked. She would have been able to remember the scenery of when she had been 5 years old and travelling with her father, so the fact that she couldn't recall nearly EVERYTHING she had researched on about these Spec Ops guys completely baffled her. 'What the hell, what's going on here?! Why can't I remember a goddamn thing about this?! I'm SURE I researched this shit thoroughly for weeks, so why...?'

None of this made any sense to her, and that began to unnerve the brunette a little even as she retained her composed demeanour. A flower of panic blossomed in her chest, but she suppressed it as well as the agitation, anxiety and dread which tried to grip her heart in its cold vice. She didn't give away the slightest hint of her inner turmoil, perfectly manipulating her body's functions thanks to her powers as a BOW. Idly, she heard a few names get called out, which made her realize just how good these guys must be. A quick glance at the clock had told her that only 5 minutes had passed and already about 10 or so Applicants had been kicked out of the exam, truly demonstrating the skills these practical 'watchers' had in their jobs. She could see why they were chosen for this appointed task, which also made her realize that if she slipped up even just a bit, then she would likely be tossed out just like the rest of them and unable to retake the exams for a while.

She could only IMAGINE the humiliation that would bring her

As she thought about all this, IF randomly glanced towards the front of the Examination room, where Ibiki sat behind a desk with his hands clasped together in front of him whilst... looking right at her. That caused her to stop all thoughts inside her mind faster than a DJ hurriedly halting the song he played on those disk records. 'Huh? That guy...' she thought, resisting the urge to shudder under the intense, scrutinizing gaze that he possessed. 'He's... watching me. Creepy much? But, more than that, WHY? Why be watching ME of all people, since its obvious he's not like the guys in this damn Exam. It looks more like he's... judging me, trying to analyse my reaction to something.' the brunette thought as another thought process took hold. 'Could he be aware of something I'm not, like the whole knowledge thing? Could he have done something to me? If so, then what was his purpose? It couldn't be to sabotage me, he doesn't seem like that kind of guy. No, there has to be some other reason...'

Whilst IF thought about all this, she decided to answer the one question she DID know about the Spec Ops Agents: What the name of their founder was... which turned out to be question 1. 'Ugh, now That's some useless info, the worst kind of thing to remember...' the brunette thought in bitterness, before gazing down at the questions. The order of the questions were as follows:

 **What is the name of the Spec Ops Founder?**

 **How are the Spec Ops Ranked?**

 **If a Spec Ops were to be given a choice between completing the mission or saving a comrade, what should they choose?**

 **What are the preferred method of transportation for Spec Ops Agents? Give reasons why**

 **When acquiring gear and resources from Monster Dungeons, what is the protocol for such actions?**

 **Who are the Military Families most prevalent in the Spec Ops Program?**

 **How long has the Spec Ops Program been in use for?**

 **What are the rankings for the Abnormals?**

 **On what conditions can a Spec Ops Retire?**

These were the questions on the paper, but IF knew for a FACT that Ibiki had one last question to share with them at the end of this session, something which she kind of dreaded but not NEARLY as much as her sudden loss of knowledge. 'Ug, this sucks... if I can't remember what I've been able to amass up till this point, then how am I going to pass this? Alright, calm down IF...' before she could suffer a mental overload, IF quickly regained her wits and mentally forced herself to calm down, running through the facts in her mind. 'Lets assess the situation here: I can't seem to recall what I revised for the exam, the reasons of which continue to elude me. People have been literally cheating in the exam judging by the fact that people have been sent out, don't know why they would do that though. I know these questions seem hard, but... hold on... thinking about it, Ibiki's words before about cheating...' whilst thinking, an epiphany struck her as she recalled the words that the man had said. 'He mentioned about being CAUGHT cheating, but never said anything about NOT cheating... even made a fuss about these other examination watchers being used like lookout posts for cheaters. Then, could that guy possibly intend to...?' the more IF thought about it, the more she began to realize it, the true nature of the exam, and it WASN'T just what she had initially assumed regarding the Noble sons and daughters whom, according to her senses, were also having as much a difficult time as one another. Some made some suspicious movements, some getting caught whilst the others kept their actions tightly concealed behind some thought-out disguises.

All this just confirmed it in her mind: the goal of this exam...

WAS to cheat.

Now that she thought about it, that made sense. The way the exam was structured, what with the examiners, the teacher in question, the rules dictating the exam as a whole as well as the protocols regarding cheaters, all of it just SCREAMED 'try to cheat but not get caught'. Thinking back to his introduction, IF realized that he had SPECIFICALLY called himself by his job title, that had been the first hint as to the exact nature of this Exam. Everything else soon became so obvious to her that it seemed like it was being sent right into their little idiotic faces. Why Ibiki had set the Exam up like this eluded her for now, but she had a strong suspicion that the man had his job as an influence on this. 'Alright then, if we're meant to cheat, then how should I do so without getting caught...?' IF wondered, before the solution came to her a couple seconds later, and if she weren't being watched right now then she would have grinned like a criminal mastermind would. 'Well, then, lets see about using THAT...'

* * *

Later, it finally reached the 10 minute mark of the exam, and IF finally managed to finish the Exam questions, letting out a small sigh afterwards as she recalled her little 'helper through the sole of her feet.

Now that she had known what the goal of this test was, she had to figure out how to best use her next move without giving herself away. Her end result, her ZEN SHIYA, a prototype ability for her Ocular one known as the RYOKUGAN, in which she manifested it as a blob of Biomass through the sole of her right foot beneath her Desk. She'd planted it on the ground and had it slip through some of the old cracks, before allowing it to spread across the entirety of the underground floor then the room itself, infesting it and setting up surveillance for her benefit. She also made sure it didn't interfere with anything inside the space between the walls of the room like any wires or electrical appliances, since that could give it away. The reason why she used THIS ability and not her ocular one, was simply due to how every time it activated there were some OBVIOUS visible changes to her face which even an idiot could take notice of, and right now this task required the utmost stealth. As such, the ZEN SHIYA which basically allowed her to be informed of other people's answers so she could make an educated guess of what each one could have been.

With the help of her ability, she had managed to ascertain the best possible answers to the questions she had laid out for her, which were the following:

 **What is the name of the Spec Ops Founder?**

Mograine

 **How are the Spec Ops Ranked?**

The Spec Ops are Ranked by a class system which is calculated based off their overall destructive ability, as well as their physical combat prowess. The Weakest Spec Ops for example, is at least put at Street Class, since their abilities can level an entire street if not careful. Then there are the small and large Building Class Agents who have been known to destroy entire buildings, with the next one being small Village Class Agents, the previous explanations apply to this class too. These classes belong to what is commonly known as the 'lower Echelon' Category Agents, but then there's the Upper Echelon Agents whom are Small City, Large City Class, Small Mountain and Large Mountain Class respectively. These Agents have extremely dangerous capabilities and have proven to be as such from their missions, and when an Agent showcases that their strength has increased be it from their missions or simple training, it is possible to be promoted to a higher classification.

 **If a Spec Ops were to be given a choice between completing the mission or saving a comrade, what should they choose?**

It largely depends on the circumstances of the mission at large, as well as the supplies available and the extent of the Comrade's injury. If the goal is simple and quick to accomplish, then the mission should take priority as one can then go back and save the comrade in question. Should the mission be harder beyond the Leader's capability to complete such as if time was short and they wouldn't be able to complete the goal then the mission should still take priority, but the Comrade may have to use their Emergency Eject Buttons to return to their base of operations.

 **What are the preferred method of transportation for Spec Ops Agents? Give reasons why**

In terms of Transportation, it depends initially on the Agent themselves, because each of them have their own preferences such as walking, running or other means. A Spec Ops Agent is expected to have prepared for multiple types of transport, such as having fuel, a spare ride, or anything along those lines prepped beforehand in case the original transport is unavailable for any reason. When it comes to group missions or Urgent Quests, transportation is usually provided by the Spec Ops Program in the form of either an aerial or land transport, more commonly air if its in the territory of another Nation whilst land Transport is reserved only for the home Nation if the mission takes place there.

 **When acquiring gear and resources from Monster Dungeons, what is the protocol for such actions?**

Item disputes are rare in the Spec Ops Program as to an extent it is stated that each Spec Ops Agent can keep the items that they find in Dungeons, so long as they aren't beyond the pre-requisite danger/threat levels. If an item is beyond that level, then it is protocol for the Agent to hand it in to the Program for storage or research purposes on how to use it safely without threat of injuring allies o the field. To judge whether a item goes beyond this threshold or not, the Agents have to manually hand them in at the Guild Building, however there is technology available which does this for them like Bracers belonging to one DEATHSTROKE, or certain other Agents.

 **Out of the Four Nations, which are the ones with the most Spec Ops Agents in numerical order?**

The Nation with the most Agents is Planeptune, as they have the most technological advancements and tests needed to train potential Agents, not to mention that they have the lowest Abnormal count out of the rest of the Nations. Following them is Lastation, wit a slightly less Spec Ops Count, but with recent times have surpassed Planeptune in the Abnormal count. The same can be said for Leanbox as they have surpassed Lastation with their Abnormal Count, but have less Spec Ops Agents to fight them. Lowee may have the lowest Spec Ops Count, however those that they do have are part of the Upper Echelon which allows them to keep many of the weaker Abnormals in line.

 **How long has the Spec Ops Program been in use for?**

500 Years

 **What are the rankings for the Abnormals?**

Abnormals are ranked using an alphabetical System, starting from the weakest Abnormals which are F ranked. These rankings go up depending on the Abnormal themselves and not their race, as it has been shown that these creatures can gain strength through unknown means as well as additional abilities. An E rank Abnormal for example can potentially grow into a B rank threat, with more extreme examples being prevalent. The ranking system views these Abnormals individually due to there being far too many Races out there to properly document, so this ranking system is there for Agents to measure the power of an Abnormal at first encounter or if Scouts have already confirmed the likelihood of what ranked Abnormals are in a specific area. Furthermore, the ranking system determines on what classification of Agent is necessary for the mission to be completed, for example any Abnormal below the A rank is liable to be defeated by the Lower Echelon Agents, but beyond that like with the S and X rank Abnormals it is recommenced that the Upper Echelon Agents be mobilized.

 **On what conditions can a Spec Ops Retire?**

Spec Ops Agents generally don't retire till they die, as it is generally accepted that once they step into the battlefield, they are resigned to the fact that they will never leave it. A Spec Ops Agent has a low life expectancy because of it, even though officially the retirement age is in the late 60's, the average Spec Ops Agent tends to die around the 40 - 50 mark.

By the time that the 10 minute mark came by, IF had to recall the ability into her whilst looking like she had finished her work and was now waiting patiently for the next 10 minutes, pulling off what she would LOVE to call her 'legendary poker face' whilst twiddling with her thumbs. Nothing had been able to escape her and into the ever-watchful eyes of her opponents, which was something IF had WANTED to sigh in relief for, but she didn't want to give anything away so she had kept it all to herself. She couldn't stop now, not when she had gotten herself so far. 'Still though, that was ROUGH...' the brunette mused in her head, stretching her legs once the ZEN SHIYA returned to her completely. 'I had almost given up there, if I hadn't figured out the intent behind this written test then I would have been BUSTED...' let it be known that IF had TRULY felt the pressure of the situation back then, and had to use all her mental fortitude to make sure she didn't give away anything regarding her own misfortunes. However, even with this she still felt like she had gotten it off easy, especially with how over HALF the original Applicant count had just gone, having been caught cheating way too many times so they would not be able to retake the Exam for the next 5 years.

'Whelp, sucks to suck for them...' The brunette thought to herself, her inner BOW cackling smugly and throwing all kinds of smug retorts at the vanquished Applicants. ESPECIALLY that Simon guy, he had been one of the earliest Applicants to go, as his deception Skills had proven to be ABYSMAL to a point where she had to wonder if the idiot had even known what being deceptive even meant. 'Maybe the guy just didn't grow up right or got hit on the head too much when he was a baby or something.' Yeah, she didn't like the guy period, not to mention she hadn't missed the few looks he'd given her once he had thought nobody would be looking at him.

Dick...

"Alright, you maggots, time's up!"

Instantly, IF's form straightened like when a rookie hears a sergeant's booming voice in boot camp, when she heard the commanding voice from Ibiki echo throughout the examination room. She wasn't the only one either, as every remaining student did the same thing with an even greater urgency about them due to the Nobles not being used to such a commanding aura before. IF had seen it more than a few times with her encounters with the military, so she wasn't as affected, but Ibiki still commanded that response regardless.

Standing up from his Desk, Ibiki stepped in front of it and placed his hands behind his back, observing the rest of the class. "Alright since you've made it this far and the 'truly hopeless' have mostly been weeded out, lets end with the tenth question." he stated to the rest of them, causing each of the Applicants to grow either tense or excited, wanting to get this test over with yet also weary of what the question might be.

IF, for once, didn't blame them since she felt the same way.

"However...!" Before he did so though, Ibiki gave them a hard stare, his eyes shining like an approaching predator about to leap onto its prey, The amount of intensity coming from those black pools could very well rival a Khornate Demon in the brunette's eyes, something which caused her to shudder in anticipation. "Before I give out the question, there are a few MORE rules you will need to be made aware of."

'MORE RULES?!'

The whole set of Applicants thought this in unison, but still kept their complaints to themselves. Ibiki so far seemed like the type of guy who specialized in playing mind games, and only a few of them had a good idea of how right that statement truly was. The atmosphere, thick with tension and hidden unease, filled the air and gave it a murky kind of feel to it, the kind of oppressive aspect which could force someone to kneel over to some higher power in fear of being harshly punished. Not to mention that Ibiki now had turned away from them, so they could no longer see his face but his bare back instead... something which honestly felt even scarier than his front if that were even possible. In IF's case, she realized he was deliberately showing his back to them to prove a point: that he didn't think any of them would be good enough to even scratch him, let alone fight him one-on-one... and she didn't think he was bluffing either.

"These rules are unique to question 10, so listen up and at least TRY not to let them frighten you. Rule Number one: You may choose whether you wish to or not to answer the tenth question."

"?!"

Shocked looks crossed over onto the faces of each Applicant still in the running, the atmosphere only INCREASING in its volume thanks to his words. Each of them wondered just what the heck it could mean, his words anyways, as in why the heck did he say that they could choose whether or not to answer this last question. That sounded kind of counter productive, especially with how much the guy had been hyping it up all this time.

"Sir..." IF began, no longer able to keep quiet anymore. This got the attention of not only Ibiki, but also the rest of the class including those Watchers. Even so, she retained her composure despite the intense pressure forcing itself on her shoulders, even though Ibiki had said he wouldn't answer any questions at the beginning of the exam, these circumstances felt necessary for this one to be asked. Plus, since nobody else had the balls to do so, she'd do it instead, and it wasn't like she had faced tense situations before, she'd fought in life or death battles all the time. "Say that we don't want to take the question, what happens then?"

Ibiki answered her promptly, making sure to keep both eyes trained on the brunette who did the same in return. "If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words. you FAIL." his words got accompanied by an evil, sadistic smile like one which promised no small amount of pain for those that it was directed to.

Well, one can expect the audience's reaction, right?

"Eh?! Whats the choice in that?!"

"Who would want to fail after getting it this far?!"

"No way will I let my family down after hearing that!"

"Lets do it, then!"

All sorts of comments made in hushed manners were made, but it just boiled down to these sets since they pretty much were of similar minds. Heh, how ironic, for next generation Nobles to be unified by a previous generation Spec Ops Agent, despite their relationship not being the best of one. IF remained aware of it, even though she herself had foreseen this to be one of the outcomes this Exam could go. She could also guess what Ibiki would be saying next judging by what she had observed from his movements, his words and mannerisms.

"Not so fast. You didn't let me finish. If you all choose to undertake the tenth question, but answer it incorrectly... YOU WILL BE BARRED FROM EVER ATTEMPTING TO RETAKE THE SPEC OPS EXAM, EVER AGAIN! THAT INCLUDES GOING ON SPEC OPS DESIGNATED QUESTS AND ANY BENEFITS PROVISED BY US!" Ibiki bellowed at the top of his lungs, staring down each of the now HORRIFIED Applicants with an aura of pure, unadulterated bloodlust. "And before each of you complain like the whiny brats that you have been till now... I haven't been the one to make the rules before, but I AM now. Of course, you can all choose NOT to take it, then try again NEXT year, that is if your parents will even let you out of your diapers after this... hmhmhmhm!"

Deep, dark chuckles of sadistic amusement filled the otherwise silent room, as each and every complaint that the Noble Children could have thought to make against Ibiki's words got smashed into nothingness, brutally and without mercy. Those chuckles, to the receiver, sounded nothing like that of a human, but a beast in human flesh, the way Ibiki looked at them only cementing this feeling even further as if he had claws aimed right beneath their necks ready to tear their throats out... and he wasn't even doing anything outwardly threatening, either. He just stood there, enjoying the reactions they were giving to his words, words which they knew for a FACT weren't a bluff. Only NOW did the true terror of this Exam hit them like a truck going at full speeds, taking away their ability to breathe as silent gasps escaped their mouths involuntarily. The atmosphere got tenser than it had ever been, with none of their foreheads bare of sweat as everyone felt like their entire beings were gradually being crushed by the sheer WEIGHT behind their next choice. On one hand, they could choose to accept the question and preserve their pride as Noble children, but the problem there was that they risked losing the right to EVER get involved with Spec Ops related matters forever, matters which didn't just pertain to this Exam as Ibiki so carefully mentioned.

The opposite path may make it so they could try again next year, but the stain upon their pride, the one thing which Nobles all valued more than anything, wouldn't go away no matter what. It would remain with them till the end of their lives, and that was something none of them felt like they were EVER prepared for.

'Tch… even I'm being shaken...' IF thought, gritting her teeth behind her lips as the tension affected her completely, just like the rest of the Applicants. Not only did she clench her fists tightly to the point where veins could be seen from them, but she couldn't remain completely upright anymore, what with the thick and heavy weight now present in the atmosphere. She had to take a gulp, an unusually human gesture if she were frank, but with the emotions swirling within her gut like a violent whirlpool in the middle of a maelstrom, she doubted she could regain her composure so quickly. 'This... this is no joke, I would have thought this to have been easier for me since I prepared myself, but... that was just an arrogant as hell way of thinking about it. I feel like those damned Nobles right now for thinking that this would be a cinch to pass... if Nico or the others were here they'd scold me immediately for making light of this exam. I guess I've been so disconnected from humanity for so long now that I forgot one thing: that even humans can pressurize monsters into unfavourable situations if they knew how...'

STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-STEP-!

The sounds of footsteps reached her ears, but IF didn't look up to see who they belonged to. She already had a good idea that they belonged to some Applicant, probably multiple judging by how infrequent they sounded, unable to cope with the pressure of this situation and had decided to go the easy way out. She honestly couldn't blame them either, if she were her past self IF wasn't so sure that she wouldn't have joined them since, out of all her life and death battles before meeting Nico and the others, IF had NEVER felt such pressure as this. This pressure sort of reminded her of her days training under her father's tutelage to becoming an independent mercenary, learning the tricks of the trade whilst he supervised her with intense scrutiny that it made her feel like something monstrous was crawling up her back. 'Shit... this is tough... but I can't give up now!' she screamed within her mind, crushing any and all urges to leave so she could remain in her seat. 'I've come too far to give up now, and even if I fail I can at least say that I gave it my all and stuck to my guns the whole way through. I may end up endangering myself without their help due to my... condition, but I'll bear that burden myself. Despite that, I'll make sure to answer this question as best as I can, hope for the best, expect the worst and take what comes...'

With that out of the way, IF managed to find the resolve to steel her nerves and remain seated, the steel in her eyes pretty much speaking volumes about her decision.

Ibiki looked at her for a moment, realizing quickly that the brunette had decided to stick around and wouldn't be moving. 'Hmmm... so she's staying, as expected... looks like Helen wasn't wrong about her...' he thought to himself, before looking to the rest of the group. Out of all of them that had started this test, about 18 remained with the rest having either been thrown out or having just given up. 'Looks like these brats aren't leaving either. There's something within them that's changed, something which got sparked by the pressure... no, its not that exactly. Moreover, its like they've started to understand the true nature of the world they are stepping into. In that case...' With his thoughts cleared up, the man pocketed his hands in his Trench Coat before addressing them. "Well, I'll admire your resolve, if anything. In that case, for those of you whom have stayed, there is only one thing left for me to do..."

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"... And that's for me to tell you..."

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"...That you've AL PASSED THE FIRST EXAM!"

Finally, after an almost AGONIZING silence which seemed to just be for messing with their heads, Ibiki said those words with an approving grin on his face. A grin which evolved into full blown laughter when he saw the absolutely dumbfounded expressions form on the Applicants' faces as the entire previous atmosphere just got OBLITERATED right before their eyes. Now, instead of intense and foreboding, everything just felt... normal, like what had happened before was nothing but a pipe dream of theirs. For a moment, only the older man's laughter filled the air... until each of them returned to the reality of the situation before them.

"EEEEHHHHHHHHHH?!"

… Yup, that's pretty much the best way to summarize their response, if a bit too much like an Anime or something.

"There never was a tenth question to begin with." Ibiki explained, grinning like a fox as he eyed them all. "Or rather, your decision to stay for it WAS the correct answer that you all had been looking for."

"Now hold on a moment!"

Just then a young looking noblewoman, something which IF looked surprised at especially with the ratio now being more female than male Applicants in the room, shouted. "Then what was the point of those first nine questions?! I refuse to believe they were just a waste of time!" she yelled angrily and, well, more than a LITTLE frustrated. Although a bit rude, she did have a point plus she had gone through that ordeal just like the rest of them, so she had room to talk. Plus, she pretty much just spoke as the voice of the entire Applicant population.

"Heh, a Noblewoman with some balls, quite rare these days but not uncommon." Ibiki mused, getting glares from the women in the room (although IF just snickered to herself). "Well then, let me explain. The first nine questions DID have a purpose to them, they were meant to test both your individual drive, willingness and ability to discreetly gather strategic intelligence under stressful circumstances. Whilst most Spec Ops missions won't require this, it is an essential skill when learning how to properly defeat an enemy whilst limiting casualties on your end. In addition, learning about a new ambushing Abnormal you've never seen before during battle will be the key difference in saving your life, I've lost count of how many Agents who've died from such tactics, rookies too. Any Spec Ops you ask will agree with me on that one." he explained, causing the woman to frown to herself before nodding in acceptance, seeing the logic and sitting back down to contemplate this information. "Of course, this test was DESIGNED to make you have to cheat, practically demand it, so I even snuck in a couple Spec Ops Agents who'd already wrote out the answers among you." he explained further, with some of the 'Applicants' raising their hands to show their true identities.

But Ibiki didn't stop there. "Those nine questions, as you all realized, were difficult, too difficult for rookies like yourselves who aren't familiar with our world to be able to solve. However, there is also this." The man took a moment from his explaining to pull out a stick-like device from his coat pocket, and when she saw it, IF's eyes widened when she remembered the commemorative photo, having seen the stick being used on them back then as well. "This here was used on all of you before assembling here, it is a memory alteration device which we used to seal away all memories of prior preparation that you all may have attempted, save for the answer to ONE question. That one question always took the first spot on your list of questions due to what these devices would and wouldn't block. In other words, you would be guaranteed to have at least one answer on those questions, but the other 8 required you to recon and search for possible answers."

'THAT'S why I don't recall anything! This guy set it up from before we even assembled here so that we would have to learn how to recon under pressure and keep it discreet so our foes wouldn't pick up our true intents!' IF realized, as well as becoming impressed with Ibiki's Exam design choices. She had to admit, that when it came to the amount of Abnormals in Gamindustri, that the ability to figure things out about them on the fly would most certainly be the difference between life and death on the battlefield. It also extended to normal monsters and other non-abnormal threats too, since it provided quick improvisation skills whenever tactics went awry for whatever reason. 'So, this is an experienced Agent, huh...?' If the Program had people like Ibiki in it, she guessed she could see why it managed to help humanity survive for so long.

"Those who were caught, failed. Better not to cheat, than to cheat clumsily." Ibiki further explained whilst reaching for his Beanie. Whilst he did so, everyone reflected on just how much wisdom those words contained, but when he pulled the Beanie off, those thoughts quickly vanished as shocked gasps ran through the remaining Applicants, even IF's eyes widened in shocked surprised at what she saw. For the moment Ibiki took off his headwear, they saw that beneath it... lay nothing but a bald scalp covered almost COMPLETELY in all kinds of battle scars. Burns, cuts, bruises, you name it, there was a scar of it on that head of his, and yet he just gave them the same look which he'd given them since declaring that they had passed. "INFORMATION! It can be the most valuable weapon in battle, not your super powers, not your special gear or weaponry, or even your tactical advantages. How well you can gather information determines whether or not you can call yourself, and any missions you undertake, a failure or success. There will even be times where you will have to risk your LIFE to get it, though you must also consider your sources, as enemy intelligence tends to not be completely accurate, always bear this in mind. Disinformation can be WAY worse than no information at all." he explained, almost like a professor in a university. "It can mean the loss of valuable comrades, the loss of a strategic position or an innocent settlement. It can BREAK you if your not careful, which is why I forced you to gather accurate intelligence, cheating in order to survive, which is why the inept were weeded out from the beginning, leaving only the rest of you."

This time, it was IF who spoke, as she just couldn't get enough from this exam. It was proving to be more thought-provoking than many of the conversations she had taken part in her life, plus when else would she get an opportunity to converse with an Agent as experienced as Ibiki? "Then, what was the last question about, sir? Was it to test our willingness to go beyond the norms for information?"

"Partially correct." Ibiki answered. "This is by far the most important part of the Exam. For it not only tested your abilities as individuals, but whether or not you were truly Spec Ops Material. We pride ourselves on our individual ability, but more than that if we are put with other Agents we are MORE than capable of standing up to the challenge. The final question gave you two difficult choices, either play it safe and choose the easy way out, or you could try and potentially fail, a true no-win situation. This is the sort of thing us Spec Ops Agents have to contend with every day. Let me give you a hypothetical mission, say you and a squad will have to seize a document from an enemy stronghold. A document which contains knowledge of the enemy's plans, tactics for management, or even orders from their leaders themselves. You have no idea of the enemy count, their weapons and armour, what training they went through, their organisation, and yet you have to complete the mission whilst risking the lives of yourself and any squadmates that you are with. Now, do you have a choice of 'taking the easy way out'? in this hypothetical situation? Of living to fight another day with your comrades like some picturesque fairy tail? No!"

At this point, Ibiki's speech grew more and more passionate, yet despite their prejudices against Agents like him none of the Applicants dared to interrupt, so engrossed in his words they were. "There will ALWAYS be missions which may seem suicidal if one thought about it, but you DON'T. Think only of the goal and how to achieve it, those are the qualities needed of a Spec Ops Agent. Those who choose the easy path, those who cower in the face of danger, or would rather risk the lives of their comrades to preserve their own, do not deserve to be part of our program! At least while I have a say in the matter." he explained, and at that moment, Ibiki gave them a fond smile of approval, the first one he'd made throughout this whole exam. "As for you all, despite your snobby backgrounds you chose to answer all 10 questions I put out for you, passing through the first gate, allowing me to declare this half of the exam complete. There's nothing else for me to say other than good luck."

'WHEW...!' IF exclaimed in her mind when he finally said those words, allowing herself to slump backwards on her seat. 'Finally, this is over! I thought I'd fail more than a few times there!' the combination of both the trials this test provided, her own worries, and the lecture on what it meant to be a Spec Ops Agent from an actual experienced one, pretty much wore her out mentally. She honestly couldn't wait till they were finally let out for that hour long break, something which appealed to her more and more by the second.

Hopefully Tekken and MAGES. passed alright, cause if SHE had this much trouble, then what about them?


	194. Chapter 163 - Spec Ops Exam PT 2

**Chapter 163 - Spec Ops Exam PT 2**

With the first half of the Exam completed, IF and the remaining Applicants were allowed to leave the examination room and rejoin the rest who'd be located back at the main hallway. Once she had left that place, there wouldn't be any other time in her past where IF had heaved a heavier sigh of fulfilment, knowing that the Spec Ops Exam whilstprimarily meant for normal people, unlike herself, it still had ways of testing oneself in approaches one might not expect. It definitely felt like she had almost fallen off the edge a couple times back then, only to come out on top by the skin of her teeth. Though, she did have a few susupicions about the guy Ibiki, suspicions which she had since the first moment that Ibiki ad looked at her, since she had caught something behind his gaze, something which had only been there for a brief nanosecond, but with her perceptionary prowess IF had caught it. She didn't get a chance to confirm them with him though since she had to head out with the rest of the Applicants for their hour-long break. That aside, not everything was all deception and mystery with her right now.

If there was anything IF felt glad for aside from the lessons which Ibiki had provided them as well as te relief that the first test was finished, then it would be the MAJOR reality check that he had given to the Noble sons and Daughters that she has the previous misfortune to be put with. Throughout the whole journey back to the main area, IF noticed several key differences from them compared to how they had been originally. For one, the females of the group hardly acted ike any kind of fangirl at all, now they just remained quiet and immersed within their thoughts. Some even looked at one another as if they wanted to confirm something with just their eyes alone, something which they must have received since their visual targets gave them silent nods of confirmation. As for the guys, similar events could be seen with them, although a lot of them had already been showing signs of this since before the exam had begun. The guys looked like they were also jotting down notes on notepads, and from what IF managed to see through a quick use of the RYOKUGAN, it looked like they were jotting down specialized training methods and possible battle plans.

'Looks like what Ibiki said back there has inspired these guys… maybe there's hope yet for those Noble assholes.' The brunette thought to herself, before she heard a faint beeping from within her coat. An eyebrow arched in confusion at this, as she recognized the sound as a ringtone for one of her phones whenever someone texted her, but she didn't think anyone would be texting her at this time. Nico was nowhere to be found, Neptune and the others should be training still, and her two fellow Applicants might still be enjoying their break at this moment, so who could be texting her? Pulling out the ringing Phone whilst flipping it open, the brunette looked at the screen to see the identity of the sender, only for her eyes to widen in surprise when she saw said identifier. 'Helen? Why's she texting me? I know she has all my numbers since they're on my file, if Nico can glean it then so can she, but still…' she thought in suspicion, before opening the message and reading its contents under her breath:

 ** _To IF,_**

 ** _Just received word that you managed to pass Ibiki's little test of character there, congratulations. He's got a bit of a reputation within the Guild for being absolutey ruthless since he specializes in mental torture to extract information from criminals, but other than that he's a decent guy to have on your side. I should know, me and him go way back along with Nico's parents, plus we work together pretty often as heads of our own respective departments. If your wondering, then I'm the reason why he was selected for your test IF, I asked him to make it harder than the norm for you so you would be able to show other Agents that you can still overcome the trials ahead of you like any other Applicant. Now, I can't say more than this, but know that the Spec Ops Exam's trials aren't done yet, not by a long shot. Oh yeah, and you're not the only one this is being done for, since there's one other whose been recommended by yours truly. I'm looking forward to when you two finally meet, ufufufufu._**

 ** _From Helena Dawson WDD Head_**

That was where the message had ended, plus there was a small smiley face at the end with a hand holding up two fingers in a V shape, V for victory. It honestly elected a small chuckle out of the Spec Ops Candidate, really that woman. She may be the head of an important department in the Spec Ops Program, but she may as well have the same level of immaturity as her adoptive son. Still made her a lot easier to communicate with if she were honest. Once IF finished reading the message, checking it over to see if she had missed anything, the brunette sighed through her nose whilst strapping her now closed phone to her waist. Now she understood what Ibiki had been doing back then, it had been a favour from Helen, to increase the difficulty of the Exam for her so she could better prove that she was worthwhile as a Spec Ops Agent, so people wouldn't belittle her for being recommended in unlike normally when one had to have proper experience to even CONSIDER it. Wonder how she managed to pull that off? 'Then again, the guy and her supposedly have known each other for a while, which makes sense given their age and occupations.' She thought to herself. 'Though, the fact that she said someone else in this Exam is in the same boat as me, has me curious. Who could Helen be talking about? MAGES. and Tekken applied the old-fashioned way, so it couldn't have been them, so…'

When it became clear to her that she wouldn't be getting anywhere with just thinking about it, IF shook her head and decided to put those thoughts to the back of her mind. If what Helen had implied was true, then she might as well be meeting this mystery person anyways, so she might as well not put too much thought into it for now. If she DID end up meeting that person, maybe then she could query with them on their circumstances, plus since it was HELEN whom had recommended this person, then it would imply that this person got her attention more than any other Applicant, which would be MORE than enough for IF to give this person a chance. Someone who had the codename VALKYRIE giving out her approval to someone would DEFINITELY count as a big deal in the entire community due to her reputation, one which was NOT undeserved in her opinion, as the potential Spec Ops Agent had looked up videos online of Helen in sparring matches with other Agents. She may have been younger back then, but from the few times she'd seen her IF didn't think her age would dim her skills all that much.

To that end, the brunette focused on keeping up with the other Applicants as they returned to the Quest taking section of the Guild Building, each of them eager as all hell to have a well-deserved break.

* * *

"Hi there, IF! You passed too!"

"Hmhmhmhm, as I expected of the bearer of the scourge to have passed this most trivial of trials. Something as minor as this must have been childsplay for someone under MY tutelage."

"Hah-Hah, you guys, very funny. Anyways, looks like the two of you did it alright then?"

About 5 minutes later, IF and her group of Applicants had returned to the now designated 'breakout room' by the Spec Ops and Guild Staff, as indicated by a few signs spread throughout. Upon arriving, the brunette had practically wasted NO time in making sure to track down her friends from their energy signatures with her RYOKUGAN so she could catch up with them since they had been separated for their respective first tests. It hadn't taken her long to find them, and when she had the brunette had deactived her ocular ability and made her way over, grinning broadly at the sight of her two friends who each had stood by a table which sported a couple glasses of punch. Made this whole place look like one of those parties' teenagers these days attended, but the livelihood of the atmosphere really cheered IF up from the sheer intensity she had experience before. It felt like a bunch of fresh air to her, like she could finally breathe again after having to hold it for so long.

Then the two started to converse like old war buddies having just gotten back from an intense battle where their lives had been put on the line… and for two of them, it might as well have been. According to what she had learned, it seemed that the nature of the written test IF had taken wasn't just limited to her group, but the other groups as well jus with other proctors. However, each proctor gave out different numbers of questions with a different number of Watchers for the Applicants, depending on the natures of each Applicant she ifigured. Also, all of them came from the TAI Department, IF realized, which meant that Department had to have been chosen to oversee this Exam. Well, that was what the brunette had felt when talking it out with her two friends, whom had each turned out to be in separate groups from the other. The one who had little trouble passing their exam test was, as expected, MAGES. herself whom just chuckled in amusement. "It is funny that you thought something as minor as memory alteration technology would work on someone as grand as myself." She proclaimed, placing a hand on her face and adopting a chuuni-like pose. "This Mad Magician has seen into the depths of the abyss, so no such technology will work on her." She declared, laughing afterwards like an evil overlord.

… Would it humiliate IF if she admitted that her inner woman-child found that behaviour awesome?

Yup, yup it would. She DID name some of her attacks like DEMON FLAMES and LA DELPHINUS after all.

"Heh, well I guess I should have figured YOU wouldn't, MAGES…." Tekken remarked whilst laughing with a slightly forced smile on her face at the Mad Magician's antics. She knew for a fact how smart her friend was, plus she had literally met with her 'master' once herself… she could see where she got the chuuni from as well as her craziness, though her Master far surpassed her there, and THAT frightened the life out of her. "Though unlike you, I thought I would have been done for. Those questions were hard, girl! You guys know how bad I am at written tests, you remember MAGES. right? Back when we were back in our home dimension and I had struggled getting into a decent college due to how bad I was under pressure!" Tekken whined, pretty much rambling on to them as if to get the worries she had went through off her chest. MAGES. looked at her with a gaze of sympathy, understanding the martial artist's plight whilst IF hummed thoughtfully at this new information. She could actually picture Tekken not doing all that good academically, as to her she was more on the wild and physical side… mentally pausing, IF quickly gave a mental groan at the unintentional sexual innuendo there. "I didn't even realize that these guys have such tech at their disposal! If they could alter or manipulate another's memories so easily then they could do a LOT of scary stuff!"

MAGES. nodded her head at this. "Why of course they do." She stated, drawing their attention whilst glancing down at her punch. She gazed into its liquidy form whilst twirlingthe glasss idly, the same arm hooking around her staff which leaned into it diagonally in front of her. "These Spec Ops aren't very common in their approaches to things, if anything they are the complete opposite to the Military of each Nation. Such is this overlord's opinion, anyways. For them to have their own technology which they keep under wraps shows us that they have a deep understanding of the power that they wield, thus know not to use it carelessly. Both of you, note how the effects of the mind wipe have faded by now, yes? By my reckoning, these people have already developed permanent mind wiping technology but have not disclosed it to the public." She remarked whilst putting her metaphorical thinking cap on. The Mad Magician firmly believed this to be the case judging from her own experiences with the written exam, plus she had been tipped off to the exam's nature mostly by chance, having recognized the functions of those sticks beforehand and thus protected her memories with a simple spell she had made. After that, it had been smooth sailing from there, but MAGES. had made a point to hide this fact from the other Applicants she had been with, as well as the Spec Ops Staff hosting the exam. "It only makes sense with the attention they get from the Governments as well as the stakes that they contend with on a daily basis."

"Now that you mention it, your right…" IF mumbled thoughtfully, glancing upwards at the ceiling when she remembered a few details she had heard a while back. "Nico once told me how he helped test prototype technology for the WDD and would be allowed to keep the prototypes in return should they prove functional enough. They can only do something like that if they have strong confidence in their Agents as well as the fact that they can develop stronger versions of the same tech. I wouldn't be surprised if those memory sticks were just prototypes, and the real thing is somewhere else for a different purpose." She mused, getting nods of agreement from the girls. But, inside her mind IF also had a different thought process, one which related to the most recent information she had heard about her object of affection from his mother. 'Though, this tech can also help in covering things up, depending on the scale of how its been developed…' She thought, a sense of ire bubbling inside her chest. Despite knowing the strength and efficiency of this sub-branch of the Guild, IF also remained aware of the darknesss hidden within it, their true nature as monsters especially when regarding people like Nico and the Half Ghoul children whom they butchered way back when. Technology like this could have been used to manipulate the memories of those involved in order to hide the fact that Nico still lived, or it could have been used to cover up disasters relating to him or people like him. She wasn't sure, but she wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be the case.

All of a sudden, a thought popped into IF's mind, one which she hadn't really thought about until now as she looked around the vicinity. "Now that I think about it, I didn't see Nep or the others around, not until I and the rest of us went inside for the Spec Ops Exam. Wonder where that idiot galivanted off too…" she mused It was one thing to wonder where Neptune might have gone, andif it were just her then IF wouldn't be as curious/worried. However, she hadn't seen any of the girls they worked with, not Noire, Vert, Lucy, Raven, none of them. She would have thought they would have at least came to see her before her Exam started.

Hearing this, MAGES.' eyes widened slightly as she remembered something. "Ah, do not blame those souls for not seeing you, Gamindustri's Windwalker." The Mad Magician began, getting the brunette's attention. "You probably overlooked this fact, but on the day of the exam, Candidates aren't really allowed any visitors, mostly so they can fully focus on their Tests without distraction. As such, any who tried to disrupt the Exam in any way would be met with… well, not so light punishment from the Spec Ops involved. Its likely that they would have tried to see you but ran into those blockades called Spec Ops Agents."

"Huh, now that you mention it, I DID see a fair amount of security posted around the yard…"

"Well, let's not focus on that stuff now, alright ladies?" Tekken's voice then cut into the scene, breaking IF from her thoughts and directing her attention to the Martial Artist, who had a huge smile on her face with eyes practically brimming with positive energy. Looking at her, one wouldn't be able to tell that she had any connection to the Demonic World, but IF and MAGES. sure could, since they were well-versed in sensing Demonic Power. They'd known an avid user of it plus they'd fought against many such beings until now, after all. Holding out her glass whilst remaining unaware of their thoughts, Tekken beamed happily at them whilst speaking further. "Let's propose a toast, a toast to us surviving the first half of our Exam and making it 50% of the way to becoming official Spec Ops Agents!" a low shudder travelled down the girl's spine as she repressed giddy emotions building inside her chest. "Oh, I can't wait. To be able to officially go out and fight super powerful opponents, it'll be great…"

IF rolled her eyes at Tekken's words, especially the slightly dreamy expression which formed on her face whilst saying them. "Well, battle junkie tendencies aside I can see what you mean." She admitted as she too raised her glass, continuing on from where Tekken had left off. "Becoming a Spec Ops Agent means more freedom for me, and you know what I'm like, a Windwalker always loves her freedom." She remarked, chuckling whilst mentally adding the following. 'Plus, It'll give me an edge over the others whilst also assuring a better potential situation for my condition as a BOW…' In the end, that last one was pretty much the biggest reason IF had for becoming a Spec Ops Agent. If she hadn't become… what she was back in Lastation, then she doubted that she would have gotten the drive to continue up till this point, and thus would have remained as an ordinary Guild Agent. Perhaps there were more good things about becoming a living, walking viral apocalypse after all…

As for MAGES., she didn't raise her glass just yet as she had adopted a thinking pose. "Hmmm… I see… a celebration and a pick-me-up all at once…. I can understand the purpose of such a festivity." The Mad Magician commented, cupping her chin with her free hand and nodding in comprehension. Back in her home dimension when she had attended university there, MAGES. never really did do this kind of thing with the other students there, not even with her short-lived boyfriend back then, so this would count as a first for her. A nice change of pace one could say, since she'd be doing it with some people whom she could call friend for once, instead of just total strangers she had no idea on their trustworthiness. "… Very well, I, the Mad Magician, shall acquiest to your request, Tekken." She eventually decided with a firm nod of confirmation, the left corner of her lips twitching upwards before she finally raised her own glass as well.

"Cheers! X3"

CLANG!

Three voices cried out as their glasses linked together, providing an audible sound from their actions which echoed across the rest of the room, though nobody but them heard it due to how lively everyone had become. It didn't matter to them though, since as far as they were concerned, the only noteworthy individuals in their eyes were each other, after all the three of them could be considered to be just as 'abnormal' as the monsters that they fought, two of them more than one even if that one had talent to be considered such. IF, MAGES., and Tekken each shared a similar look of satisfaction and pride, their eyes glistening with matching emotions. Looking at the remaining liquid in their glasses, one could see their reflections which also showed how happy the trio felt at coming this far. Satisfaction coursed through them at their progress so far, with the knowledge that whilst they may not know what the next trial held for them, they'd face it just as they had with the previous one and come out victorious.

"Hmmm, how fine. Check it out boys, this one looks like a keeper."

"E-Eh? Um, b-by keeper, you mean…?"

"Heh, your right, man. This one looks like she gets around, if you know what I mean…"

"You and your fantasies, I swear."

Just then, their atmosphere shattered when several voices, most of them being male and one being female, rung out. IF's brow twitched in annoyance when the trio looked towards the source which turned out to be at one of the farthest corners of the room, so nobody else would have heard them. Unlucky for the males in question, whom looked to be adult men in their early 20's and Noble children who seem to have snuck in some alcohol somehow, IF had as she glowered at them. "Tch, should have expected some people like them to be around still…" Even though motivational speeches like Ibiki's, there remained those too steadfast in older generation methods, especially when it came to members of the opposite sex. Though, looking at them, she soon realized that they weren't members of her group, which made her realize the incorrect nature of her previous statement.

"Hmmm. Looks like those two misfortunate souls are harassing a young, innocent one." MAGES. commented thoughtfully when she noticed the female in question, looking like a fish out of water whilst struggling to keep herself from fidgeting awkwardly. Her expressions made the Mad Magician theorize that she hadn't had any prior experiences with people like those noble children before, causing her to nod to herself. Furthermore, she could sense some… interesting things from the girl, more specifically things originating from the thing strapped to her back and hidden from view by some sort of black leather case similar to those one would store away a Guitar or another such musical instrument. "A pure white flower born to bloom within a field of red… not something one could say they see every day."

As for the third member of their little trio, Tekken let out two puffs of air from her nose as her features morphed into angry ones… which looked to only make her even cuter in appearance if any self-respecting male were to look at her at that moment. "Girls lets help her! She looks like she's about to faint from those guys' advnces…" she proclaimed, as despite how bad she was around guys, especially strangers, seeing a girl getting assaulted like this wasn't something she could stand. Tekken saw how the girl looked to be VERY uncomfortable around those Noble Children, so she felt even more convinced to go and help her. It made her want to knock those blockheads' lights out on sheer principle alone, proof being how she held her fists up towards her chest like a boxer trying to defend herself.

With her friends nodding in agreement, the trio closed in on the bunch of boys with IF taking point, the other two knowing full well how she had experience in dealing with these kinds of people the most, growing up in this Dimension after all. When they were close enough for talking purposes, IF whistled by blowing out, catching their attention. "You know guys, if you want to pick up chicks, its best NOT to corner them like hungry wolves." She stated a hand on her hip.

"Huh? Who the hell are you?" The leader of the group, an unremarkable looking Noble nidely commented, turning to face them along with his buddies. The moment that he caught sight of her though, did the man quickly change his toon however, as his eyes looked her up and down. His eyes then glazed over and a 'pretty boy' smile formed on his lips, his mind completely disregarding the girl behind him for a much more 'worthy' prey to seduce into his service. "Well well, lookie here. Now THIS is what I can call a babe, alright. I was beginning to think that all these so-called female applicants were just plain and dumb." He remarked in a joking manner, though his eyes spoke otherwise through the snickers of his lackeys.

Mentally rolling her eyes at the mans' claims, IF resisted the urge to slug the guy, since it wasn't the best moment just yet. 'So, this is how Vert must feel if she is ever harassed by some unsavoury people… whenever she even DOES go outside since she stays mostly in her Basilicom…' she thought to herself, feelings of disgust welling up inside when she felt his gaze examining her like a sack of meat. So, she decided to get this over with as evident by the sigh she released along with the shaking of her forehead with one hand's fingers pressed against her temple with the other on her hip. "You know something, it amazes me how idiots like you are allowed into a place such as this. I know its not the fault of the staff since the Nobles like to shoehorn in their heir like they own everything but seeing this myself just makes me disappointed at the level of idiocy before me." She stated bluntly, her eyes narrowed into slits as she stared at them. "Seriously, can you guys even contribute anything without using your backgrounds as weapons?"

"Huh?! What did you say, you bitch?" Hearing her words quickly made the leader showcase his true colours, his eyes becoming vicious as anger rolled off him in waves from the insults, she had launched at him like repeated gunfire. Stepping forwards with his chest puffed out as a means of intimidation, the boy tried to look down on IF, though her height was level with his own, so this didn't really work all that well. "Want me to ruin your freaking CAREER?! I can do so with just aflick of my finger, so don't test me! You should know your place like sluts like you-"

BONK!

"GUEEEEEE!"

Before the man could finish speaking, IF simply and silently launched her right boot forwards in a kick, landing it right up there in the space between his legs and impacting his groin. Poor guy hadn't been able to even PERCEIVE the attack, nor his buddies behind him, since IF had moved beyond the speed of a human without any magic enhancements in that one single moment, making the following scene all the more unavoidable for him. Furthermore, the moment that her heeled boot collided with the dude's manliness, IF held back the urge to snicker at the sounds provided by the hit, no small amount of sadistic joy blossoming within her chest at her action. Part of her once wondered when it had happened, but over time since her arrival in Leanbox, IF had begun to develop this sadistic tendency to crush the balls of those who'd dare tick her off, balls if they were guys, breasts if they were women. However, since most of her target as had been men who'd thought she'd be an easy catch, they'd came to call her by a rather... funny name:

IF, Gamindustri's Ball Crusher.

Of course, in this situation IF still retained some semblance of restraint when lashing out against this asshole, although she had been sorely tempted not to and just go full rising kick on those precious unmentionables, but her logical side held her back at the last second. There wasn't enough power to let's say, utterly shatter his ability to make kids in the future, something which had been intentional on IF's part, but still it was enough to get her message across. As soon as her boot landed in that precious place for any man, the boy before her turned orribly pale, her face scrunching up in a… rather cartoonish expression whilst tears built up in the corners of his eyes before he slumped down, covering his damaged groin.

"B-Boss! Bro!"

His lackeys stood there, absolutely dumbstruck at what had just happened, almost as if they were looking at an illusion or something. Reflexively, they covered their groins with their hands and legs, looking rather silly which caused both MAGES. and Tekken to snicker behind their hands. As much as they disliked these kinds of people and wanted a hand in making their lives miserable, seeing IF slam into their pride and crush it like she did felt more than a LITTLE vindicating.

Meanwhile, IF turned to the rest of them, her eyes cold like a blizzard as she held a hand before them in a claw-like position. "Now then, take your 'boss' and leg it, assholes. Or would you like me to ripyour balls off completely and turn you into an enouch?" she threatened, no, she PROMISED with her hand making clenching motions, and behind her both her friends noticed faint veins starting to bulge along her arm. This made them realize that IF had become a few steps closer to morphing her arm and making good on her promise if these guys didn't comply. That, and the killing intent mixed with the bloodlust she radiated helped a ton too which resulted in the lackeys losing any kind of drive they could have amassed in order to fight for their boss's pride. In the end, they quickly nodded, fast enough that I could have beenl possible that their heads could have snapped off, before quickly grabbing their leader and hauling their asses out of the scene as fast as their legs could possibly carry them.

* * *

Upon seeing them go, IF let a relieved exhale escape her lips as she pocketed her hands inside her coat, shaking her head afterwards. "Good grief, I nearly lost it there…" she mumbled as she retracted her powers from transforming her arms. The young BOW, throughout the entire scenario, had to restrain herself from unleashing herself on those assholes and snapping their necks like toothpicks, something which would be a piece of cake for her to accomplish. 'Though, if I did end up doing that, I doubt I'd be living for very long since the Spec Ops community would be on my ass as if there was an Abnormal around. What I did back at the Examination room was risky as all fuck, but it was the best thing I had to gather the info I needed to answer those questions… even if that wasn't the true aim of the Exam.' She thought, before deciding to glance over to the girl whom she had helped out. "You alright? Sorry bout that, guys like that aren't all that uncommon around here…"

"E-Eh? O-Oh, that's alright. Thanks for helping me, um, mrs…" the girl replied, lowering her head to the brunette in gratitude. This reminded the brunette to examine the girl ad take in her features, the girl herself being as tall as she had been before her transformation during the Gala inident. The girl had dirty blondish coloured hair which formed bangs around her face with a few over her forehead, and a ponytail behind her head which reached down to her upper back. Her eyes shone a dark blue colour, eyes which currently showcased uncertainty and confusion as she looked at her, IF quickly realizing that she didn't know anything about her at all.

Whelp, time to change that, the brunette thought. "The name's IF, and behind me are MAGES. and Tekken respectively." She said, not only introducing herself with a thumb pointed towards her chest, but also introducing the two girls beside her on her flanks whilst thumb gesturing to them respectively. When their introductions got made, both of them performed their own gestures alongside hers, with MAGES. nodding with a slight smirk on her lips whilst Tekken gave her a cheery wave and a bright 'hello' from her. Kind of showed how they were as people, if the brunette thought about it, but IF just continued instead. "We're candidates for the Spec Ops Exam, and judging by you being here, I guess your in the same boat as us." She explained, shifting her weight onto one foot whilst pocketing the hand she'd used for gestures back inside her coat.

"I-IF? Huh, I feel like I've heard that name before… Ah!" for a moment, the girl blinked at them upon hearing their introductions, but then after a few seconds she widened her eyes as realization dawned on her. Once it did, the girl immediately perked up as a surge of joy overtook her. "I remember now, you're the Windwalker of Gamindustri, whose been racking up Abnormal kill counts by the dozens on each assignment you take! Everywhere you go, you seem to leave behind defeated monsters and saved lives all at once!" she proclaimed, excitedly. Though, afterwards, she let out a sad and disappointed pouting expression as her shoulders slumped. "Though I had heard you were just as tall as me… guess one can't believe everything they hear…" she mumbled dejectedly.

Whilst she had been pondering, IF had also gauged the outfit the girl wore. To start, the girl wore a shoulder mounted cloak which reached down to her waist in length, being predominantly black but with silver and golden highlights. The shoulders had a silver circular symbol with a line going vertically down their centres, with gold lines running through both the vertical lines and the circles. The edges of the cloak also had silver as their colour with black lines going through them. Undernath her cloak, she wore a sleeveless black coat with silver designs on the high collar which also sported a matching tie, where as silver arrows curved around the coat and stopped on both sides of its front. The coat split down the centre, held together by some belts which could be seen stretching horizontally just below her chest and just above her crotch area. At these areas, the coat had golden lines running up these edges with circles where the belts could be seen. Beneath this coat, there was a white underdress which covered the majority of a black multi-layered skirt with each layer shaped like flower petals. Her arms were covered by a set of black gloves which reached her elbows and had gold lines tracing those ends. A similar getup covered her legs, as she wore black thigh high boots with golden lines going along their edges.

'That's-!'

But what caught IF's attention the most was the thing strapped to her back, something which QUICKLY sent her nerves into defensive mode and IF had to stop herself from instinctively morphing her arms to defend herself with. For strapped to her back diagonally, although it was mostly covered by bandages similar to a certain spike covered shark-like sword, IF could sense it. Whatever those bandages covered; they could NOT conceal the pulsating Demonic Power which resided within. The Demonic Power pulsed like a living heart, not making itself known to the outside world and staying within its confines, but there was a thin string of it entering the girl's body and connecting to her very Soul. The brunette knew what that was the moment she sensed it, as only one name came up which could match the sights she had been seeing:

Devil Arm.

A Demonic Weapon, one which was capable of generating great power and destructive ability based off the Demon which it had once been. IF had heard about it from Nico one time, whom had explained to her the basics behind it, but she had gotten a better idea of it the more they had fought together, this time being before the Hellverse incident. Devil Arms held great power, the power to absolutely wreck opponents in ways they could not even begin to imagine. Not to mention they were the exact anti-thesis for anything divine like the CPUs and Spirits. Chaos, violence and absolute savagery came with the Devil Arm package. To wield a Devil Arm was to have a deadly dance with the epitome of death itself, for if one proved unworthy of it or too weak willed, the Devil Arm could posess them and drive them to go to insane rampages until they were finally put down. 'This girl… does she even realize what had happened to her? Does she know what kind of power she holds, now? What of the potential risks and consequences of wielding one? Nico's been able to use multiple, but he's a rare case. Wait… didn't Helen say that she's looking forward to me meeting someone? She said it before, and now I meet someone like her…. It may be a long shot, but still it wouldn't hurt to ask…'

By the time she finished that thought, IF mentally frowned and made to query with the young girl, but before she could the brunette heard the last few words that the girl had said, causing her to stop. Glancing down at herself, then making a comparison to the two of them, she quicklyrealized that her 'current' body 'outshined' the other girl's, causing her to wince and feel a surge of sympathy for the poor thing. "O-Oh, yeah, well don't worry about that, I actually DID have that kind of body, but then I had a recent growth spurt, one could say…" she explained, whilst mentally she mused on how describing what had happened as a growth spurt would be a COLOSSAL understatement. She then shook her head and continued with her previous line of thought. "By the way, this may sound strange to you but do you know someone by the name of Helena Dawson, mrs…?"

"E-Eh?! You know her, too?!" the girl shouted in shock, unknowingly drawing several outside gazes to her. Something which she noticed a minutelater and blushes in embarrassment, especially under the light glares from MAGES. and IF, whilst Teken gave a smile which had the 'keep your voice down' feel to it. "ehehehe, sorry, I got a bit loud there…" she muttered in apology, lowering her head again before she continued. "My name's Cecil, and yeah I know her." She replied, her right hand cradling the bottom of the object strapped to her back. Her eyes flashed with a nostalgic light to them, though it only remained that way temporarily as she looked back to her. "How do you know her?"

Before IF could respond, MAGES. then cut into the conversation. "This topic seems like it would be best discussed elsewhere. Perhaps a change of location, like say somewhere isolated and away from prying eyes, should be in order?" she suggested, gesturing to the number of eyes on them at the moment. There was another reason why she had mentioned this action aside from isolating their conversation from prying eyes, too, for instant she heard that this girl, Cecil, mention the name Helen, MAGES. sensed some disgruntlement from many of the Applicants. Applicants who would hten make snide and rude remarks about her where they thought nobody would hear them, something which caused MAGES. to frown. It seemed to her that, like Nico, Helen herself wasn't exactly the most popular amongst these Applicants, which also implied that it was similarly the case for a majority of the Spec Ops Program. If there was a saying called like father like son, then there should be a like mother like son expression too, if this is any indication. Why these people didn't seem to have all that much fondness for Nico's mother did intrigue her, but there was a different problem the Mage felt needed to be tackled first. Should they talk more about this woman in public, then the Mad Magician worried about how things might escalate from there.

Glancing around and noticing the same things MAGES. had, IF quickly came to a similar conclusion as her friend. Not to mention she thought about the same points as the Mad Magician unbeknownst to herself, plus some of her own. For example, she quickly realized how it seemed that this place wasn't the best for confiding confidential information with all these eyes on them. These young Nobles looked like real chatterboxes, meaning that if they heard anything particularly 'juicy', then shit would go down FAST… and she respected the older woman far too much to let that happen. "Alright then, lets take this talk somewhere else, so some people don't try to eavesdrop on our asses." IF declared, getting nods from ther companions before she looked towards Cecil. "Mind if you come with us? What we need to discuss isn't something bozos like the ones looking at us should here."

"Hm!" Cecil replied, firmly nodding and positioning herself so that she had her fists pressed against her chest with her features showing a determined look to them. Whilst she may be new to the ways of the city, since coming here and passing the first test, Cecil had seen just how the Applicants acted, and thus understood fairly well just how they would be in terms of personality. She could easily imagine them as gossiping teenagers who'd spill out anything which they found interesting to hear and had NO desire to have them discover her secret weapon so soon. At least, not until she had passed the Spec Ops Exam and become an Agent, as at that point they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. "Right, lets go! I'll follow you guys, since, well…" pausing in her words, the blonde girl chuckled bashfully, rubbing the back of her head. "I don't know my way around yet, so I'd get us lost."

Tekken smiled at the look Cecil had, nodding her head in agreement. "Its ok, I understand how you feel, I'm not that good with places like this myself." She admitted, before IF turned on her heels and began heading off, MAGES., the Martial Artist and Cecil soon following her.

* * *

Later on, the four-woman squadron soon found themselves in one of the women's toilet rooms, one which had been pretty much deserted when they had arrived. This had been somewhere MAGES. had sensed a lack of prying eyes, so she believed that it would be the best place for them to talk in private. Although, as a precaution, and something which she had learned the hard way NOT to forget about doing, the Mad Magician also made a few complex Barriers with her Magic, concealing them inside whilst also separating them into a small pocket dimension. This would allow them to not only talk freely, but should anyone come inside they would inly see an empty woman's toilet room, allowing them to carry on unaware of the four other presences in the room. For good measure, MAGES. had cast several anti magic and perception barriers as well, to minimize the chance someone would discover them.

A bit excessive which Cecil had commented on, but to the three other girls absolutely necessary. Their own experiences had taught them that.

"Now that we have some privacy ladies..." IF began, moving to one of the sinks and sitting on the Bench there, crossing one leg over another. "Lets get this started. So Cecil, care to tell us how you know Helen?" She queried.

Tekken then added in a quickened manner something when she noticed the slightly caught off-guard look Cecil sported upon hearing that question. Well, it wasn't the question per say which surprised her, but perhaps the way it had come about. As long as she had known her, Tekken felt that IF wasn't the most indirect person around unless absolutely necessary. Her background as a childhood mercenary could be the reason for this, but anyways she was getting off track here. "I-Its okay, we'll tell you how we know her afterwards, ok?"

When hearing this, IF glanced towards Tekken and looked at her like she had grown a second head, wondering why the hell she would have to give up such information. However, instead of just verbally questioning her, the brunette, upon thinking about it some more, she decided to roll with it. It was proper etiquette to give and receive, equivalent exchange one could say, so she could handle this. Plus, if this girl had Helen's approval then she must be somewhat reliable, something which she felt the others considered the same way when she looked into their eyes and they shared a glance with one another.

"O-Okay then..." Cecil started off, gripping the hem of her Skirt nervously as she fidgeted in discomfort. Being around people like these three kind of unnerved her, but she quickly forced herself to keep calm. After all, she would be surrounded by such people often in the future should she pass, so she would have to get used to it at some point. Starting now sounded like an ideal time, so with a quick inhale and exhale, Cecil resumed her story. "I... I met Mrs Dawson a while back, actually. Just after my village had been burned to the ground. Over half of us got reduced to nothing thanks to those flames, and I myself was someone training to become a proper field agent in the future, so I was one of the few left who could fight off the cause. Tracking it down, I soon stood before something I had never seen before..."

"A Demon...?"

Upon hearing MAGES. question her, Cecil looked at her in stunned surprise, not having expected her to say what Cecil had been meaning to before stopping. After all, when she had told her fellow villagers after everything settled down and they were put as refugees in another one, they didn't believe a WORD she said, not even after showing them her secret weapon. So, why did these girls believe her so easily?

"H-How do you...?"

"Lets just say we here have some... personal experiences with these things, so when we heard the rumours about your village, we didn't dismiss them as fairy tails." The Mad Magician explained with IF and Tekken nodding to confirm her words. With how the existence of Demons wasn't as well-known as Abnormals, since upon seeing one a human would just identify them as an Abnormal instead, even Spec Ops Agents would though their assumptions wouldn't be too unfounded, since they pretty much had the same natures as Abnormals these days. "Please continue."

Nodding her head after blinking a few times, Cecil did indeed continue, this time with a bit more confidence than before. "W-Well then, yeah, a Demon. I know because no other Abnormal I'd heard of had the kind of... well, 'feeling' that this Demon had. Abnormals feel somewhat like normal monsters in that they have animalistic bloodlust, but this Demon? It felt like bloodlust and wrath incarnate, I'd never felt anything like it before. It called itself... Berial, and it didn't even give me the time of day till I rushed at it and tried to take it down. It was a hard, long fight, and I almost died at the end, but I instead managed to defeat it... or so I thought." Cecil explained, shuddering as memories she didn't want to think about returned to the forefront of her mind. Memories of blazing flames, burning houses, dying screams and worst of all, the furious roars of the Demon who caused it all whilst it tried to hack her to pieces. If it weren't for her training, then Cecil felt like she would have been butchered seconds into the battle, her first TRUE taste of the cold grip of death.

It wasn't a nice feeling, obviously.

After taking a gulp, Cecil trembled a bit more when she remembered the most VIVID part of the entire ordeal, and the part which changed her life forever. She gripped her right arm with her left, a tale which did not go unnoticed by the rest of them as she spoke. "Well... when I thought that the Demon had been defeated, I let my guard down, something which came back to bite me. It... It must have had some grudge against me for beating it, but when I let my guard down, it 'imploded' in on itself, becoming nothing but this massive ball of fire which shot forth towards me. I got caught by surprise by it, so I didn't react in time and it hit me, knocking me down. After that, I blacked out, but the last thing I saw before I did was nothing but searing fire covering everything. After that, its all a blur, but I do remember being in so much pain that I felt like I would die at any moment. It went on for almost an eternity during my unconscious state that it became the only thing I'd known."

Upon hearing this, IF winced in sympathy, whilst Tekken herself frowned in sadness and MAGES. furrowed her brows, each of them having their own thoughts and opinions on Cecil's story. Not only did it sound tragic as all hell, what with her village being burned to nothingness by a fire Demon with half of her village's people becoming ashes, but from what she had described there was only ONE possible explanation for it... one which they did NOT like at all. Looking back at the blonde girl, IF crossed her arms beneath her chest, deciding to voice her forming opinions when she sensed that neither of her comrades were going to do so. "Then let me guess... you woke up and shortly after you met Helen?" she questioned.

However, Cecil shook her head, surprising the brunette as she answered. "No, I didn't meet her for a few days, because before that I woke up with this..." she began, reaching behind her and pulling off the bandaged object from her back and holding it out in front of her. "On my back. I'll not show it off right now, cause whilst they might not look it, these Bandages have been imbued with sealing Spells for it since at the time this thing kept releasing an aura which kept people away from me lest they want to be turned into charcoal." Cecil explained, sighing afterwards before strapping the object back onto her back. Well, strapping wasn't the right word since IF sensed how it just reattached to her back, similar to a magnet connecting to a magnetic surface. "Those few days were the stuff of nightmares for me. I... I lost my home... a lot of friends, my aunt and uncle, and my parents nearly got burned alive trying to help me. Instead, they got put into comas and were it not for a few surviving relatives, they would have been left behind as Abnormal food..."

"Tch, heartless bastards..." IF cursed under her breath when she heard that last part, clenching her trembling fists which was the sole physical sign of how she currently felt at the moment. She could understand why the Villagers would do something like that, since with their status as refugees they would need to pull their weight in their temporary residence to help get their lives back. Having two comatose people would be like carrying dead weight as much as she loathed to admit it, but with how these villagers were so ready to just toss her parents aside like that... it really grinded her gears. Come on, this was a hurting girl's few remaining relatives! Take them away, and she'd have nothing left! IF definitely felt glad she wasn't human anymore with how despicable she had seen and heard of humanity being towards their own kind. First Nico, now this girl, heck even Noire and Vert in a sense.

Guess there was no limits to how low they could potentially sink, something which DISGUSTED her.

Cecil then concluded her tail, although the trio could tell there were still some details that she didn't inform them of, but none of them pressed on THAT front. After all, talking just this much had to have been a major toll on the girl. "Then, I met Mrs Dawson, not long after my most recent visit to my comatose parents. She'd heard of my situation and came on over to the village me and my comrades were resting at, and informed me of what... this thing, was. She answered my questions when she said she had answers to them, and also took me as one of her students." By this point, a smile shot forth onto her features, her sullen and depressed gaze from earlier throughout her tale vanishing into the wind. "She'd took to teaching me everything she knew about handling weapons like these, even recommended me as a last-minute Applicant for the Spec Ops Exam, reasoning that I would be able to quickly earn lots of cash for my village and comatose parents should I become a Spec Ops Agent. After that, I prepared myself as much as I could before this day, came here and afterwards is history." she finalized, sighing in relief with a hand on her chest. A low exhale escaped her afterwards as well. "Whew, never thought getting that off my chest would feel so good..." she mumbled, before looking to the rest of them.

"I see... well, that explains a few things." IF remarked, taking in her tale in its entirety. Sounded so much like the backstory of a tragic Shonen anime if she were honest, but then again tragedy seemed to be commonplace in Gamindustri. Though, despite that she couldn't help but commend the girl on her bravery in handling her situation. She may look like a rookie currently, since she kinda was, but IF bet that with time and training, Cecil could become a splendid Agent in her own right. Heck, from the looks of things IF bet that she would transcend the limits of humanity and go into the realm of monsters, just like herself and her companions. "Guess I'll tell you how I know Helen, then. Me, I knew Helen through meeting her alongside the Party I'm in. You could say me and her are... well, acquaintances, though we only met because I'd met her son. Afterwards, me and the Party occasionally heard from her, and she recommended me as a Spec Ops Agent after some... incidents which forced my hand."

"... By son, do you mean DEATHSTROKE?"

"?!"

When Cecil questioned IF on that, she didn't do so normally. No, in fact, IF practically jumped when Cecil stood in front of her instantly whilst leaning close to her, her eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky. Kind of weird since her eyes were blue, but whatever. However, she also adopted a rather... fangirlish pose, something which slightly worried the brunette, but she decided to worry about that later. "Y-Yeah, what about him...?" she queried.

"I'm a HUGE fan of his! He's like my all time idol!" Cecil proclaimed, jumping up and down whilst squealing in excitement, completely catching the brunette, as well as the other two girls, completely off guard. "There's so many Spec Ops who seem more powerful, and so many of the girls in my village are fans of the more widely-known ones, but I can't help but like him the most! He's so much like an underdog character, and that's something I really admire about him! I've even followed every bit of news about him, no matter what he's done or how he's portrayed, he's the best in my eyes!" Cecil ranted, her eyes now LITERALLY stars as she had a massive, dopey smile on her face, looking like she would burst at any moment. "Of course, there's also the fact that he dresses right up my alley... I've always been a hidden fan of edgelord characters in games, when people talk about that blue hedgehog mascot from Planeptune, I think of his black and red counterpart. When playing games like Undersight, I tend to go for that hooded guy with the shotguns, so yeah, you get the picture."

'Whoa, whoa-whoa-whoa, hold the phone here!' The brunette shouted in her mind, completely taken aback by the blonde girl's words as well as the intensity behind them, even MAGES. looked surprised as evident by the slight widening of her eyes and slight parting of her lips, whilst Tekken looked absolutely dumbfounded. It wasn't an unexpected reaction, since who would guess someone like this country girl from Leanbox turned out to be one of Nico's FANS?! They weren't stupid, Nico may be an underdog but there WERE a small amount of true fans behind him, aside from all the fangirls whom tried to hound him whenever they had an opportunity, so the fact that Cecil turned out to be someone who idolized him wasn't as surprising as the fact that she idolized NICO, not a more well-known and popular Agent. Still, this marked IF's, and by extension the others, first encounter with one of his fans, something which she had once envisioned it to become one big cat fight, but now... "Huh... so your a fan of his, then. Okay, I can take that." IF remarked, nodding to herself. 'Her being a fan of his surprised me, but at least she doesn't hate the guy like a lot of people do. Feels kind of refreshing, if I'm honest.' she thought afterwards.

"You said you're a fan of Nico's right?" Tekken questioned after she got over her shock, which had been the most intense out of the female trio, to which Cecil nodded in resolution. "Then I guess Helen must have REALLY taken to you, since your supporting her son of all people." IF blinked, and she soon realized the truth in the Martial Artist's words. Of course Helen would take a strong fancy to someone who liked her son, if there was any fast way to getting inside the Head of the WDD's good graces, it would be putting oneself on the supporting side of her one and only adoptive son.

Cecil nodded as well, a happy hum escaping her lips as she recalled THOSE particular memories. "I guess Mrs Dawson had been testing me, but the moment that she heard I was one of his fans and I passed a hidden test of hers, she quickly took a liking to me. Her husband, someone who I'd only met once, had to come over and pull her away from me lest she crushed me with how tight her hug had been. I almost saw the faces of all my dead friends in that moment..." she explained, a sheepish look forming on her features. She then looked back to IF, switching back to an excited fangirl posture as she relayed the following question to her. "Say, if you know him, can you tell me... what's DEATHSTROKE like? As in, what's he like as a person?"

Now, IF COULD have just stated her opinions on how Nico acted and potentially fulfilled or crushed Cecil's dreams and ideals about him. Heck, she even had to spend a moment to think about it, but in the end IF decided to go at this from another approach. Smirking at the rookie of the group, the brunette stepped away from the sink before responding to her. "Well, better ask him yourself, cause if I know him as well as I think we do, we might see him at the end of this Exam. I CAN say he'll be intrigued by you if his own mom approves of you, maybe enough for him to track you down himself." she told her whilst mentally adding on 'At least this way I won't make any potential obstacles for myself later on if I do this... Nep, Compa, I have a few rivals for his affection already. If I let her and Nico meet face to face, maybe then things could stay professional between them or she could become a proper devoted follower, heck if she does discover his Ghoul side and accepts it like we have all the better.' In essence, IF pretty much diverted the attention the blonde potential Agent had for answers towards something else, so she didn't have to deal with fangirlism… as well as possibly create problems for her later down the line.

"Mou, Mrs IF's just diverting the question..."

"Heh, I'll plead innocent here."

"With how things have turned out, I believe that it is no longer required that we converse in private." MAGES. suddenly cut into the scene, breaking the two from their short but silent staring contest. Directing the attention of the three others to her, the Mad Magician then tapped the ground with the butt end of her Staff, a feeling of waves crashing down on them washing over the three girls as the spells and Barriers she'd put up undid themselves. As a result, they were no longer in an isolated dimensional space, but properly within a girl's toilet room. Turning on her heeled boots, MAGES. proceeded to head towards the exit, glancing behind her and delivering her next line smoothly. "I have kept track of the time since we came here, and by now it is 15 minutes before the second half of the Spec Ops Exam. I suggest we all return post hasts, so that we do not miss it and end up potentially failing the Exam." she advised as she left the area.

Soon enough, after glancing to each other, IF, Tekken and Cecil nodded in unified agreement, as well as an unspoken agreement to have the new girl tag along with them for the time being as they left the toilet room to follow after their fourth comrade.

* * *

By the time that they returned to where the other Applicants were located, the four girls quickly noticed a change in the situation. If they HADN'T noticed the change in the atmosphere upon their arrival, then they would have been dubbed morons by other Agents, since the difference was SO clear even crystal couldn't compare.

"Hmmm, looks like people are waiting to get started..." IF commented to herself, though the rest of them heard her. Seeing as how all the Applicants weren't chatting any more and were patiently remaining silent whilst waiting for the next section to start. None of the Noble Children had started any commotion save from the ones whom they had run into previously, heck a lot of them seemed to have formed their own little packs like animals herding together for safety in numbers. Seeing this, IF couldn't help but let out her stated comment, causing her fellows to nod in agreement.

Looking at the various people, Tekken offered her own two cents into the matter. "Everyone seems to be REALLY pumped for the final stretch. They remind me of the participants of fighting tournaments I took part in back home." she remarked, remembering those battles fondly. Beside her, Cecil nodded her head in agreement, and like Tekken she too looked to be shaking from excitement at the prospects before them. Now, Tekken may have competed in martial arts tournaments back in the day, but she didn't do it all that often as she preferred sparring with her animal friends back within the warm embrace of the wilderness. If it hadn't been for her befriending MAGES. and a few others, then perhaps she could have become as socially awkward as Noire the goddess of awkwardness and anxiety herself. However, since she had come to this dimension, there hadn't been any kinds of such tournaments for her to partake in, even though Leanbox held a substantial amount of martial experts who practiced all kinds of different styles. She'd known this for a while thanks to meeting a couple dozen herself to get fighting experience, and in addition to that Tekken no longer felt as safe in the wilderness as she once had, thanks to the Abnormals.

MAGES. hummed in acknowledgement, looking around and practically scanning the Applicants with her calculating gaze. "Of course they are, and their intentions are as clear as night itself..." she stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest whilst positioning her Staff horizontally in front of her, trapping it within her chest's embrace. "With how intense the first part of the exam was, its not a surprise to assume that they are wary of how the second part of the exam will perform. They each have had a taste of what its like in the world of the Spec Ops Agents, so I would be able to assume that they can finally see it for what it really is, that their world is ENTIRELY different from normal people. Perhaps that's why there's so few cases of Spec Ops retiring, they truly can never return to having a normal life. The world they're in will follow them till their very deaths." she theorized, humming thoughtfully as she presented her own findings to the group, well, it wasn't anything physical but merely an amalgamation of what she had seen and her own deductions.

As a scientist, she'd rather have more data for this hypothesis, but this would be all she could amass currently.

"That makes sense... " IF began, before she glanced over at a nearby clock strung high up on one of the building's walls, noting down the time in her mind. "We got about 7 minutes before the exam starts... so we may get a visitor in the form of some staff member soon." she remarked whilst informing the rest of her comrades just like MAGES. had done before her.

No sooner had she said that, did something happen right before the front of the assembled Applicants. In front of them, at least 6 meters away from the closest person, a loud screech sound echoed throughout the building as suddenly the ground erupted into a spiralling vortex of searing, volatile infernal fire. The flames spiralled inwards and formed a cocoon, persisting for at least a couple minutes before they sunk back down into the ground. When it did this, it revealed two people standing in its place, and upon seeing them the brunette's eyes widened in recognition of one of them.

"That girl..."

Indeed, one of them turned out to be a very tall woman, one who looked to be in her early to mid twenties who had a very STERN look on her features. The woman had black hair which she tied into a low ponytail which fell back to her waist, with brown hard and cold feeling eyes. In terms of attire, one could DEFINITELY see the professionalism and formality which oozed off her frame, as she wore a formal white shirt, with a black business overcoat and matching skirt which hugged her slender, hourglass frame. If anyone of them thought that this woman wasn't someone who fought n the battlefield from this, IF would have called them an idiot since her eyes CLEARLY saw that her body had not a SINGLE trace of fat on it, instead it was all well-trained muscle, born from countless battles out there in the field. On her chest, she wore a green tie, with her legs covered in dark black stockings similar to the ones which MAGES. herself wore, and high heeled shoes. Whilst she didn't seem to carry any weaponry, IF had no doubt in her mind that she commanded the mastery of several including hand to hand combat.

However, beside her stood someone IF recognized. The girl in question stood with her arms crossed, looking over the Applicants with a mixture of annoyance and boredom on her face. he stood at a rather short height, probably the same height as Cecil, with black hair which ran down to her knees in length which had an ahoge in the centre, her eyes having a brown complexion to them. She sported an all black attire consisting of a trench coat, shirt, pants and boots with a Katana being strapped to her hip, though IF quickly became focused on the pendant around her neck. For some reason, the brunette could IMMEDIATELY tell this wasn't one of the 'normal' kind of girls.

"... I assume you are aware of that girl's identity, windwalker of Gamindustri?"

Looking over to MAGES. when the Mad Magician asked her that, the brunette gave a sharp nod in response. "Yeah, I do... her name's Shana, a Spec Ops Agent of the upper echelon in terms of power rankings, although she's one of the newest Agents there. I remember reading up about her and some of the other Agents, including the woman next to her, during my studies. With titles like the 'flame of heaven', 'Crimson haired, Burning Eyed Hunter' whilst bearing the Codename CRIMSON, her previous battles have identified her as at least Small City Class, if she pushes herself then it can be higher. As for Chifuyu, she's known only by her Codename BRYNHILDR but its rumoured that she has a connection to Helen herself, though these rumours haven't been confirmed since anyone who tried met with a... rather humiliating punishment by her hand. She may not be as destructive as other Agents, only in the Lower Echelon, but she's defeated quite the amount of Abnormals in her time, and she's even started unknowingly racking up a significant Demon kill count as well. If THOSE two are here for the Spec Ops Exam's second half... then a LOT of these people are going to be going home defeated." IF foretold, crossing her arms and clutching the upper halves of said limbs with her hands. Judging by seeing some of their veins bulging, MAGES. as well as Cecil and Tekken quickly noted that the brunette must have GOOD reason to be wary of these two. They trusted her judgement, even if Cecil didn't know her all that well, since for her to be someone whom her idol travelled with must mean that she had STRONG competency as an Agent.

"... Looks like Ibiki's gotten soft since I last saw him, if there are THIS many of you here still." The woman commented, her voice and tone as cold as ice as she cast her similarly feeling gaze across the rest of the group. Immediately, her body language allowed her to gain the attention of everyone present, even the minority of the noble children who had risked their hides by eyeing the younger black haired girl with a mix of fear and lust. The woman's eyes landed on IF and her group, and though she didn't change anything outwardly her gaze lingered on them for just a second longer. "No matter, by the time I'm done with the lot of you hopeless rejects, the number count shall be at least under 10." she stated, her tone darkening at the end, causing the Applicants to shudder in unison.

Even IF and the her party weren't an exception to this.

Having had enough scaring the crap out of the Applicants (part of her felt surprised by the amount of soiled crotches she saw), the woman flicked some of her hair behind her before placing her hand on her hip. "Alright you morons, listen up! I am Chifuyu Orimura, and I will be the proctor for your next and FINAL test!" she bellowed, her loud voice akin to a drill sergeant which echoed throughout the vicinity. "Its going to be my misfortunate job in overseeing your sorry asses to see who amongst you actually has some balls or not. Listen to what I will say, as like that TAI head I'll ONLY be saying this ONCE, with no questions! Understood?!"

"YES MA'AM!"

Instinctively, the entire room shouted that out when Chifuyu demanded their undivided attention almost like she had forced them to do so without any chance for them to question her methods. Seeing their silence and that she had all eyes on her, Chifuyu nodded to herself and crossed her arms underneath her... rather sizable bust line (if they weren't so terrified of her, some of the guys might have stared at those things all day long, even with the supposed hell they'd incur afterwards). "Alright then, I shall now explain the second half of the exam to you all, so listen up you morons! The second half is a mix of team battles and a battle royale! 8 teams priorly formed shall each be placed within simulated environments of our choosing, and shall fight each other till one team is left standing! The winning Teams have a higher chance of passing the exam at the end of the day, however if their performance is satisfactory, the losing teams can still pass! This applies in the opposite case as well, should the winning team perform to less than out current standards, then they will likely receive nothing from us at the end of the day, in which case they will FAIL and will have to wait 15 years before they can retake the Exam!"

Upon hearing her say that last part, stunned and downright mortified looks spread across the Applicants' faces, whilst a heavy and ominous pressure slammed down onto each of their shoulders brutally and without mercy. In essence, just like with the first half, the second half may have different functions and rules, being a more practical test and all, but in the end it had JUST as great a minefield-like feel to it. If they made any missteps and failed the Exam, the penalty of which would be JUST as bad, if not worse. If any of them had even the slightest feeling of being safer or thinking that this next test would be easier, it got erased completely out of their minds by this point. Applicants snuck glances towards one another, gauging their potential adversaries for any signs which could indicate their ability in battle. Only a select few of them, IF and her party counting amongst these, managed to do so in a subtle manner.

But it wasn't over yet, as the girls soon found out thanks to Chifuyu continuing her speech. "When its time for the exam to begin, you will each be sent a message on your devices, this message will not only include a link which will transport you to your simulated battlefield, but it will also show who your teammates are and the enemy! Nothing else about their abilities will be given, you'll have to fend for yourselves, you got that maggots?!" she yelled, getting a unified positive roar from the Applicants as they slowly but surely transformed themselves in terms of personality under her influence. "Furthermore, there will be a special element introduced halfway into the separate battles, and should you try to tackle that element then depending on how that is tackled it can either raise or plummet your chances of passing! I expect ALL of you to be fully prepared for whatever trials you may face in there, so no slacking off, you hear me?! Even if not, respond!"

"YES MA'AM!"

BEEP-BEEP!

A beeping sound came from her waist, causing IF to glance down and pull out one of her phones. She wasn't the only one, as beeping came from literally everywhere around her, prompting every one of the Applicants to reach for the sources, their mobile devices. Even Tekken and Cecil had one, though in hindsight that wasn't so surprising as they all looked at their main screens. On those screens, hey each showed message icons in their own ways, which prompted each of them to open their messages up. When they did, they saw a list of names, including their own, alongside several others and a Team number with the rules and regulations that Chifuyu had just explained written down on them.

'So... these are my teammates, huh...?' IF thought as she looked at the list:

* * *

Team Number X

Members:

Applicant Number 23: IF

Applicant Number 220: Tekken

Applicant Number 221: MAGES.

Applicant Number 236: Cecil

* * *

Upon seeing who she would be put on a team with, IF glanced to the others with a small smirk forming on her lips. "Heh, looks like we're buddies, then." she commented, to which they each responded with smiles and smirks of their own. MAGES. looked like she wanted to unleash some magic already as she instantly began making battle plans in her mind. Tekken's body trembled as she looked like she was holding herself back to do some shadowboxing, something the brunette had discovered was a habit for her whenever she got excited, although if the excitement levels were low she could usually repress it. As for Cecil... "You nervous, kiddo?" IF questioned knowingly, seeing the complicated expression on the blonde's face.

"...A little bit, if I'm honest..." she replied, after a pause in speech. She made to grip her right forearm but stopped herself, something which the other three noticed but again, didn't comment on just yet. There was a time and a place for everything, and if they were to bring it up now, each of them believed that some eavesdropper might hear them and cause a living hell for the poor girl. Heck, whilst IF called her a kiddo, in actuality she merely called her that due to their difference in experiences and mentality, cause in all honesty she was actually rather close to IF's own age, that being 20 years old. So yeah, IF definitely had reason to call Cecil a kid, cause that's what she saw before her. "Its just... you guys seem like such a close knit group, and me, well... I feel like just..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but none of them needed her to since they figured out her worries from the get go. "Now no need for that young one." MAGES. commented, drawing Cecil's attention. "We may look it, but in all truth this is our first time fighting alongside one another like this, though myself and Mrs Martial Artist here have fought alongside a Spec Ops Agent in the past." she explained, causing the blonde girl to become stunned, though she wasn't done there. "This will e a first for all of us, I am sure, especially since we ALL have our own hidden tricks up our sleeves." MAGES. commented, sneaking glances towards her teammates whom nodded in response, knowing where she had been going with that one. "So there's no need to feel like an outsider, if anything you'll fit right in with us."

"... Alright then. pat-pat!" Cecil eventually said, before she repeatedly smacked her cheeks with her hands. Afterwards, she pumped her fist with a face filled with resolve, no longer looking anything like the nervous and unsure one beforehand. "Yup! I'll do my very best, you guys! Count on it!"

IF nodded at that, a pleased smirk on her lips when she saw the girl's determination. "Good, now then... according to this message, we have a route to our designated battlefield simulation. Looks like we'd better prepare ourselves, cause we'll be fighting for our futures here." she remarked, and boy was she not joking about that, especially if one thinks about herself as well as Cecil, if her hunches were correct. Her case on its own was self-explanatory since its been stated many times at this point, but if her hunch about Cecil was right along with her desire to make money for her destroyed village and comatose parents... yeah, they had their fair share of stakes here.

"Then, what are we just standing around here for?! Lets go already!" Tekken bellowed excitedly as she rushed off down the pre-designated route her Phone had shown her. Glancing towards those who remained, IF rolled her eyes at the martial artist's excitement whilst a lopsided smirk formed on her lips. "That girl... anyways, lets go catch up, Tekken sometimes has tunnel vision so we'll need to stop her from getting lost." she commented, getting a nod from MAGES. and Cecil before they each dashed off after their friend... as well as their possible future.


	195. Chapter 164 - Spec Ops Exam PT 3

**Note: To any who are curious, Lemons will be taking place, but only late into the story. There's still a TON of work to be done before then, so please be patient. For now, enjoy this chapter which I slaved away making.**

* * *

 **Chapter 164 - Spec Ops Exam PT 3**

After a rather blinding flash of light, IF slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times to clear her vision as quick as possible. 'Ugh, now THAT was a trip. Guess MAGES. was right about this simulation technology…' the brunette tought, massaging her temples with her right hand alongside her ocular-based actions. This resulted in her being able to sharply identify her surroundings in a few seconds once she lowered her hand and looked around, and when she did so the brunette found herself standing in front of one of the HUGEST forests she had ever seen. Her eyes shone with wonder whilst her jaw slightly dropped at the sight, though she quickly made note to examine everything she could before things truly begun. The trees themselves looked like they were as tall as skyscrapers, the wilderness remained so thick that she could hardly see anything remotely deep inside of it, and lastly, she could hear the sounds of countless lifeforms scuttering throughout the entire place. It looked to be the afternoon judging by the position of the sun, whereas its bright rays failed to illuminate what lay deeper inside the forest. The darkness concealed the multitude of differently shaded greens, browns and blacks that the trees, leaves, branches, vines, bushes etc consisted of. Glancing behind her allowed IF to see a metallic fence, and when she traced it to her right flank the brunette theorized that it surrounded the entire perimeter of this forest. Not too far from her was a river which ran straight through the forest, and with a quick jump IF just barely managed to notice a roof deeper inwards, which caused her to realize that there was a tower located in the exact centre; whereas she also calculated the forest's radius being about ten kilometres in any direction from that centre.

'So… this is the battlefield which was chosen for my team and our opponents to do battle in… the so-called 'Forest of Death…' the brunette thought, landing on the ground with a THUD and in a kneeling position as she looked up at the forest, all the while she recalled what had happened leading up to this scene. Catching up to Tekken hadn't been as easy as they would have liked given how fast the black-haired martial artist was, much faster than the brunette had estimated. Not only that but they as a group, once they'd caught up to her, got lost a few times thanks to the deviation from the pre-determined route. It had been a fortunate encounter that MAGES. had found their route once more and guided them back to where they were supposed to be. After their little trip, the girls had arrived in a… rather spacious looking room, complete with a set of pod-like structires lined up along the sides and the back of the room which were hooked up to the walls by wires and pipes. Looking at them had made the brunette remember those kind of stasis pods which were used to keep people in cold sleep during trips through outer space, but she couldn't think that way for long. The reason for that had been due to how she had been the first to be ushered to one of the few remaining empty pods (them being the second last group to arrive) by a worker in a baggy green jumpsuit and strapped inside.

The worker, who was a male, had then proceeded to inform her that the simulation would be made to be as real as possible, meaning that anay abilities, weapons, armour or skills she had would be replicated inside the simulation, whilst if she was dealt a crippling or fatal injury then she would be ejected from the simulation back into her true body. Furthermore, everything inside the simulation, such as hazards like animals, fauna, etc would be able to damage her not just the enemy teams, making it feel like an actual battlefield. It had seemed simple enough at the time (whilst it also amazed her that such technology was even a thing now, probably thanks to Planeptune's contributions), though that would NOT have prepared her for the freaking rollercoster ride into it that she had experienced during her transportation here.

Still, looking around the place IF couldn't help but be amazed with how… real, everything looked. Not just the sights around her, but the sounds, the smells and the sensations beneath her boots felt all perfectly real, like she was ACTUALLY in this weird ass, yet dangerous place. Part of her wanted to relish in these sensations, bathe in the sweet smell of the nearby river, absorb the sounds the river made; however, the brunette didn't let that distract her from the real objective here. The objective for this battke wold be to take out the opposing teams, and each of them save for one team had a head start on hers already. Who knows what kind of traps they might have set up, or what kind of abilities they had?

Just like what Ibiki had told them back in the first half of the Exam, they needed accurate intel and FAST, otherwise things here could get REAL dicey alright.

Nothing in her mind said that this would be easy, no way in hell. IF wasn't nearly arrogant enough to think that her condition as a BOW would allow her some smooth sailing on this Exam, that wasn't how it worked, according to Chifuyu. If she were honest, this test felt a lot like a more practical version of Ibiki's, a kind of 'alright you got the lesson done, lets see you put it to use' kind of deal, and if that were the case then this should be an ideal proving ground. If she wanted to pass, she had to SHOW she had the skill necessary to do so. As strange as it was for Spec Ops Agents to be put into teams, it had to show that whilst they greatly favoured independence over teamwork, they didn't completely neglect it either. As long as they can keep fighting, anything would be ideal. Shaking her head, the brunette scowled as she activated her RYOKUGAN, trying to see if she could pick anything up with it, but unfortunately for her the density of the Forest made it so that she either couldn't or there wasn't anything there to begin with. 'Heh, in that case, then the only way for me to get anything done would be to use one of my other abilities…' the brunette thought whilst kneeling down and inspecting the ground before her by running her hand along the soft grassy surface, her eyes narrowing in contemplation.

'The others will soon be here with me, so I should probably see if I can glean any kind of information with my ZEN SHIYA here. It was said that these battles aren't going to be recorded, instead we are simply given free reign to fight according to our own desires whilst everything which happens here, is stated to STAY in here, meaning that even if someone knew what I can do they wouldn't be able to report it to anyone. Not to mention that any staff members are sworn to secrecy about this stuff unless the Agents themselves agree to share intel on their powers out in the field.' IF thought, smirking as she raised a fist to her eye level, clenched it, and then drove it down into the ground in front of her. This allowed her fist so sink deep into the dirt beneath her boots, reaching up to her wrist whereas she then began ejecting Biomass out of her limb to form the ZEN SHIYA. This action was meant to spread it out beneath the entire forest, a forest of 10 kilometers in any direction if one stood at the centre, however for someone like IF who'd been saving up massive reserves of Biomass for this occasion, she would be able to do this several times in a row and still have power left to spare for other things such as combat, or survival. Recon would be where the ZEN SHIYA would come in, and by the time her comrades would get here IF hoped to at least have SOME information ready for them.

One could only hope in her situation, anyways.

* * *

Several moments later, IF heard several flashes of light behind her, glowing out so that it reached both sides of her peripheral vision. This caused IF to nod silently to herself, standing up from her previous crouching position before turning her head to look at the sources, finding her comrades MAGES., Tekken and Cecil to be standing there. Like how she'd been, it seemed the three of them still had some disorientation going on judging by how befuddled they each looked. You guys alright there? Got here safely?" She questioned, approaching them whilst pocketing her hands in her Coat pockets.

"Uuuuuu… My head… it aches like its on fire…" Cecil moaned painfully, putting both hands on her forehead and rubbing her temples to soothe the apparent headache she had been put under. This would mark her first time in experiencing a simulator dive like this, and so far, she didn't like it. Mostly due to this headache which thrummed within her skull, slamming into the interior as hard as a thousand jackhammers repeatedly. If this HADN'T happened to her, then she would have likely enjoyed it more, but right now she could only focus on her own plight.

She wasn't the only one though, something which would be apparent in the next few seconds.

Tekken became the next to speak as she glanced over with one eye open, the other closed, towards their newest member. "Yeah, I can feel you there, girl… I have one too, but Its not too bad…" she stated, having been doing the same thing as Cecil only slightly less so. Essentially, whilst it seemed that Tekken had a headache going on hers was significantly weaker than the blonde's, something IF attributed to Tekken having experience with head damage before.

"… Really. They did say to us that there was a chance of Headaches from the transportation into the simulation beforehand, you two. Did you forget?" MAGES., the one who didn't have any signs of headaches and looked pretty much fine, stated with half-lidded eyes at them. This caused the two girls to glare enviously towards her, wishing they were in her shoes right now. Ignoring this, MAGES. looked around their surroundings with a calculating gaze. "So, this is a simulation, hmm…?" she mumbled, tapping the ground with the butt of her Staff. "Seems particularly solid, with the sensors imitating our senses operating perfectly, along with how everything functions without flaws making everything look so real, li we're actually in this place instead of a computer program… not bad." It wasn't often that she found herself impressed these days, especially after seeing the things which her crazy-ass-hell-and-perverted Master had been able to do, but when she did it usually meant that the subject had a particular interest to her. However, the Mad Magician soon shifted the topic after sighing, turning her head to face their fourth member. "In the interest of time, I would like to ask you for any information you have gleaned, Mrs IF."

Upon hearing the Mad Magician's words, IF narrowed her eyes and began to explain what little findings she had managed to glean. "Well, I haven't got much intel yet, but from what I have gathered the main battleground seems to be in this large ass rainforest behind me." She started, gesturing over her left shoulder behin her towards the dense forest. This caused the others to glance that way to take note of it, Cecil becoming rather stunned but quickly focusing back on the brunette's explanation. "10 kilometers in every direction you can think of with a tower in the middle. I guess that's how they're planning to observe the matches, and with how we are allowed to do whatever we please with the non-disclosuire agreement they have going on, whatever we do will be kept secret, so if any of us want to use our powers we can simply go buck wild."

"I see…" MAGES. hummed thoughtfully as she took in this information. Her mind whirred to life with calculations, theories old and new, as well as battle plans in a similar state to the theories swimming in a spiralling whirlpool within her brain. Eventually, she spoke up with the voice of a general leading his men into bbattle. "In that case, we better head inside the forest itself. Trying to map it out would take too much time and we do not have the appropriate resources for it. We should focus on finding somewhere isolated and easily fortifiable to construct some form of encampment. Judging from the state the simulation room was in, I can believe that the other teams are already on the move and perhaps have had their own encounters already, so they will be too distracted with each other to worry about us." She explained, causing the rest of them to nod in acceptance before turning on their heels and dashing straight inside the forest…

Little knowing what awaited them inside.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Inside the tower at the centre of the massive forest, it turned out that IF's hunch about it had been right on the money.

The reason for this could be described akin to a front. Outwardly, the tower didn't look all that interesting as it simply looked like a bunch of huts one would see in a poor, underdeveloped village stacked on top of one another. Furthermore, these huts seemed to be made from wood, the walls and windows of each one being coloured a mix of red and blue to hide this fact from prying eyes. Though this may as well have been in vain since the roofs of each 'hut' consisted of wooden planks arranged in a diagonal anglekind of like a slope. Also, it went from biggest on the bottom to smallest on the top, meaning the biggest hut stood on the ground as the tower's foundation whilst, as one ascended it, the tower gradually slimmed down.

As for the INSIDE of the tower… different story altogether.

Like a mask being peeled off, once one got inside the tower (which would only be possible for staff members and Spec Ops Agents due to the amount of concealed security on the premise), it looked like one of those super techy secret hideout places one would see in action movies or those from secret agent ones. The tiles were made from metal and square in shape, the same being said about the walls and ceilings. There were dozens of different rooms scattered throughout the Tower, each with the purpose of allowing staff and Agents to view the Exam Applicants and the general map of the area at their leisure, equipped with futuristic-looking tech. Although nothing seen here was allowed to leave to the outside world, there was STILL a need for security so that the Staff could properly conduct the Exam and check to see if its actually working properly.

In the top room at the very peak of the Tower, a group of Spec Ops Staff members sat at various monitors across the room's edges, each of them clad in similar attire to Chifuyu herself (of course this wasn't true for the few males in the work staff, but the females were like this). Said woman stood in the centre, with her arms crossed and her face stern (some workers would wonder if she was always like this and thus didn't have a life, but never said it out loud for fear of retribution) as she eyed the main monitor carefully. The Main Monitor outshined the rest due to how it practically took half the space in the room horizontally, whilst displaying different screens showing different teams doing their own thing. Some did battle with other teams, others kept to themselves and discretly gathered information about one another so they could plan accordingly, having taken Ibiki's advice to heart. The sounds of typing filled the room constantly whilst the workers silently did their jobs, keeping their eyes glued to their screens like a bunch of otaku nerds being transfixed by a good anime/hentai.

"So… these sare this year's batch of morons, huh…?"

Just then, a flash of fire appeared beside the black-haired woman as a feminine voice rang out. However, Chifuyu didn't let out any signs of acknowledging the new arrival's existence, although said existence didn't need any physical confirmation for this since she knew from past experience with this woman that her arrival had already been acknowledged since she first appeared. That said, from those flames, appeared the same black-haired girl which had been by Chifuyu's side back when she had been announcing the rules regarding the second exam. She stood there, armed and ready for combat whilst also copying the older woman's current posture as she eyed the main monitor. It wasn't long though, before she shook her head in both disappointment and disgust. "Looks like idiot Nobles are trying to throw their dirty little mits again…"

"Yet your task remains the same, Shana." Chifuyu commented without glancing down at the smaller girl, having already foreseen the girl's response to the sights before them. Needless to say, she wasn't the only one who felt this way though, as Chifuyu herself alongside the majority of the staff had similar feelings of condescendence towards children of Noble Houses. Just because they had some stupid epiphany from one of their own didn't change their overall opinion of them as unworthy rejects of society who deserved nothing, but top grovel on dirt, get kicked by monsters and then die the worst kind of death possible. "They may be maggots, but its your job to weed them out so only the ones with potential are chosen. How many have caught your eye so far?" she questioned, although the way it sounded implied that it was more like an order than anything else.

She of course, knew the deal with Shana. She, alongside a couple other top tier Spec Ops Agents, had been chosen specifically for the task of taking part in this Exam, though not as applicants since they had passed a long time ago. Each of them was tasked to oversee the different simulations which were taking place at this very moment in time, their tasks being to judge those they deemed worthwhile to pass into the Spec Ops Rankings as well as those unworthy and thus, had the honor of giving them the boot out of the Exam altogether. It was a system which had been employed since the foundation of the Spec Ops Program which had been set up so that those within could weed out the weaklings in order the truly talented individuals. Only the absolute best, one could say, but the problem with that was that thanks to the Nobles keeing a tight leash on its growth for so many years, it made it so that the quality of potential recruits kept getting worse and worse. Not only that, but with how so many of the Leanbox populace had either perished or had gone missing thanks to the various invading forces, it only made looking for recruits that much more difficult. They may in fact have to lower their standards in the foreseeable future, just to get more into their ranks and keep up their current rate of progress.

But for now, this was the system she was working with, and if she were honest, Chifuyu preferred this one, and would rather see it continue.

As for Shana. The black-haired woman DEFINITELY got the impression that her hate for Nobility shone through all of theirs, so seeing so many of them trying to worm their way into the Spec Ops really must have sickened her to the core. Be that as it may, it was unprofessioanal for that to cloud their judgement in a situation like this, but Chifuyu had heard how Shana had been chosen for this task more tan once, as she herself may be one of the newer members of the Program but she had once an apprentice in the past. An apprentice whom later became her equal in both standing and, in the program, so she would be able to disconcern who would be worth recruiting and who wasn't. Case in point, as Shana eyed the various screens showing the battling Applicants, her eyes scanned them with intense scrutiny with a judging sensation hidden behind her eyes. After a short while, the smaller blackette arched a brow as she noticed something. "Hmmmm… Looks like there are a few, after all…" she remarked, catching not only Chifuyu, but also the rest of the workers off guard too. Shana ignored them though, instead she just raised her right hand and pointed to one of the screens. "Look."

Curious, it seemed that Shana hadn't pointed towards any of the fighting teams, the older woman realized, which prompted a spark of curiosity to ignite in her chest. It seemed that Shana didn't even bother to give any of the fighting teams a glance, as though she had written them off from the get-go which helped fan the flames of curiosity she had experienced. Chifuyu used her gaze to follow the direction that Shana's hand pointed towards, to which it landed on the screen showing a group of four young girls, between their late teens and early 20's if she had to guess. However, a couple seconds passed before even her eyes widened by a small fraction, something flashing behind her crimson eyes before it vanished right afterwards. "Those are…"

"Yeah, THOSE four." Shana stated nodding her head as she once again crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her eyes intently gazed at the four girls, one brunette, a blunette a blonde and a blackette just like herself. "Out of these pieces of Garbage, at least THEY show some promise, but I'll not hold my breath." She said, before turning on her boots ahd heading towards the room's exit. "Let me know when the time's right, and I'll head out." She called back without looking back at the older blackette, before she finally stepped out of the room with the automatic doors sealing shut behind her.

'So… even Shana, the Spec Ops codnamed CRIMSON with the title of 'Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter', also known as the 'flame of heaven', sees potential in them. I guess that's to be expected, since she pretty much looks up to VALKYRIE. I wonder then, just how they will perform… Only time will tell then, as much of a cliché that sounds…'

* * *

"Phew, we got our encampment set up, and whats better we didn't get attacked! Yay!"

"I wouldn't get so excited about that Cecil; something tells me that we should be even MORE cautious because of that very reason. The fact that we deliberately left ourselves open and nobody took the bait worries me somewhat, and if I'm being honest, its agitating me a little."

"What the Windwalker believes is correct, youngling. It is peculiar that we managed to get this far into the forest AND evade most trouble with as much ease as we did. Perhaps its because the other groups are focusing on one another first, but it seems that there may be something more to it than that."

About 10 to 20 minutes after they had set in, IF and the girls travelled deep into the forest and found a nice little section where they could build a small encampment for themselves. Well, encampment could be debated as to being the right word to describe it, cause in actuality all they did was tear a few holes into soms trees surrounding a tall clearing and making sure each hole could be well-hidden by the many branches and leaves protruding outwards. IF, Tekken, MAGES. and Cecil managed to pull this off in their own unique ways though, not really paying much attention to anything else other than their assigned tasks… well, that was what it looked like anyways. In truth, IF had prepared some early waring systems in the form of insertingher ZEN SHIYA into the ground beneath the trees and had it become large enough for them to be informed of tresspassers onto their territory well before they could get close enough to cause actual harm to them.

That had been the plan which the brunette had discussed with MAGES. about, although she had worded in a way in which only the Mad Magician could figure out since they had a new member on the team who wasn't exactly privy to their past encounters. In a sense, what Cecil felt back before the exam began had merit to it, she WAS an outsider in their group and so far, they had been secretly conducting tests to see if she had the trustworthy nature within her so tey could share their stories with her. After all, not everyone could be trusted even if they were teammates, these four girls coulsd tell this from what they had learned of the world around them. Tekken herself had little problem with the trust department, though that likely was due to her fear of guys playing a part whilst Cecil clearly had the genetailia for being the opposite gender. The only reason SHE hadn't spilled anything was due to MAGES. and IF telling her not to, and as much as she didn't like keeping secrets, the Martial Artist could see their points and thus had reluctantly agreed to their unspoken requests.

Hearing their words, the newest member of the story cast nodded her head in understanding, before she looked around the place and tried to figure out why it could be that they were mostly ignored. "Well… this might sound obvious, but maybe it's the natural wildlife and traps which are the cause. Although there may be teams willing to face one another, I don't think they'd be tupid enough to go in without any prior knowledge, plus a large forest like this HAS to have its own natural hazards, right?" She suggested, holding an index finger over her chin as she gazed dow at the ground below, sitting in her little hole and hiding from view with large leaf-covered branches. "I kept an eye out before, and I saw some… exotic looking creatures as we passed them by, like centipedes, lions and tigers… so…"

"That makes sense, and I would know." Tekken proclaimed, joining the conversation. Like Cecil, she too sat in the hole she'd made in the tree, though sh sat in the Japanese sitting position looking down at her hands as memories of her time training in the wilds came back to the forefront of her mind. "Whenever I train with my animal friends, I always keep myself on the lookut, since I could wind up in the territory of dangerous predators. Here, with all the Abnormals coming around, I have to be EXTRA careful lest I wanna become something's chewtoy." There may have once been a time where Tekken hadn't seen the Abnormals as much of a threat to her wellbeing, but since the Ghoul and Hellverse incidents that tune had QUICKLY flipped itself on its head. "I'm not sure on WHAT this place might be, but if it's a simulation then it has to be based off of something akin to a real place, right?"

MAGES., upon hearing their words nodded thoughtfully to herself, agreeing with their statements. Unlike the previous two, she sat on top of a particularly thick branch which was near her hole. Fortunately, she had decided to add in some extra detection spells throughout their surroundings for extra surveillance. Not that she didn't trust IF's own detection abilities, but she was just used to doing so whenever she went out to gather materials for her projects… projects which had been quickly upgraded in terms of scale due to accessing Abnormal materials upon successfully defeating them. IIt wasn''t like the others didn't know either, since she told them whilst setting up some communication spells between them. "I concur with both of your statements, but you do not need to speculate for I already know what this place is based off of." She explained, causing surprise and shock to spread through the Group, and when she felt their gazes on her, MAGES. promptly continued her explanation. "If I'm correct, then this must ba a simulation of one of the many locations which the Spec Ops use for their training grounds, although why we aren't at the actual place must be due to the fact that its infested wth enemies or something by now. However, I do recall this place having the nickname the 'Forest of Death' due to the dangerous creatures which inhabit this place. Its an ideal place for Spec Ops Agents to train and hone their skills, since they would have to adapt to some dangerous sityuations lest they want to perish like any normal person."

Hearing the Mad Magician's words caused shudders to go down their spines, the other three warily looking around as if by instinct. Which turned out to be especially true in IF's case… though her case had a bit more complexity to it than that. With the name 'Forest of Death' it painted a rather… grave picture in which what this Place would be known for, and its ultimate fate as well. This may be a simulation, but so far everything had been almost scarily accurate in its realism, which could imply that the dangers this place possessed would be perfectly replicated as well. That didn't bode well for the girls, since this place served as their biggest obstacle to advancing into, he Spec Ops Rankings, not the other teams. Speaking of which, if the other Teams were aware of this place's nature, then no wonder they didn't attack them whilst they set up camp.

Then again though, these were still Nobles, so perhaps they could be giving them too much credit there…

"Well, whatever the case may be, it's a fact that so far we have some time on our hands, albeit an unknown amount." IF stated knowingly as she cupped her chin, sitting cross legged on a thick branch. With the information that they had so far, although a lot of it was speculation/deduction and past research at this point, it would be safe to assume that they wouldn't be able to stay in one place for very long. This encampment may serve as their tomb or the instrument of their defeat if they weren't careful, so they had to make a move and fast, but it also had to be well-thought on, otherwise they could step on something nasty and end up with the big L. Not something ANY of them wanted to experience right now, for their own reasons. "Alright then, lets start with…"

Just when IF began to speak, her eyes widened along with MAGES. when their individual detection methods alerted them, alerted them to an approaching set of people. They moved through both the trees and close to the ground according to the ZEN SHIYA and detetion Spells, and the way they did so gave away thatthey knew they had been detected. Before she could speak about it to the rest of them, IF found the blunette to have beaten her two it. "Looks like we've finally got some company." The Mad Magician commented, humming thoughtfully as she thought of how to counter this inevitably. Eventually, she glanced towards Tekken, the most eager out of them as she looked practically like a vibrator left on its maximum setting. Heck, she SO wanted to record the mix of pouting and impatience which had formed on her face, along with the 'Muuuuu!' which escaped her lips. "Hmmm…" After drawing it out just to tease her friend, MAGES. finally concluded it in her head. "Well, if this is the case… Tekken, you go and greet them. We have-"

FWOOSH!

"Gotta go fast!"

A faint gust of wind blew by when Tekken practically BLASTED off towards the direction of the incoming 'guests' without letting her finish. The wind settled down as did her hair, the Mad Magician closing her open mouth and then chuckling in amusement. IF stared at her blankly whilst she'd done this. "You knew she'd do that, and you did it anyways…" she remarked, trailing off as she and Cecil glanced at each other… before they burst into chuckling fits themselves.

"Why of course, what good friend would I be if I didn't tease her THIS much?" MAGES. retorted, smirking as she glanced in the direction which Tekken had left. "Since she's gone ahead of us, we'll stay here and conserve our strength in case we get some other visitors. That way each of us get a chance to stretch our legs when the opportunity arises." She explained, before she heaved a sigh and clicked her fingers, a magic circle appearing by the side of her ear. "Now then, with the comm set up between us, lets see how Tekken will perform for us, shall we?"

* * *

Further from their position…

"You sure we're going the right way? This place doesn't feel too good…"

"Of course, what you doubt my sensing abilities when they've gotten us this far?"

"Well… they DID put us in range of that snake nest before, and then there was that field of quick sand…"

"Shut up!"

"O-Okay!"

A group of four men jumped from tree branch to tree branch, the ideal way for them to travel if anyone asked them. The men themselves didn't look anything special, if anything they looked like generic ass hell NPC's trying to make it big in the world instead of sticking to their intended roles. Out of all of them, only the leader of the group seemed to be the most notable one, which wasn't saying much in comparison. The Leader wore a suit of large, crimson purplish coloured Heavy Armour to show his wealth and status, whilst at his hip was a long sword and his back a torso sized shield. He stayed in the front of the group as if to display his importance and that HE was the one in charge to his lackeys in an obnoxious and self-centred kind of way. Like their leader, the other three didn't have that much in the way of armour, rather they wore some gear made from leather, which made them look less like soldiers and more like hunters or something with a similar profession. For weaponry, they each sported a pair of swords similar to their leader's only his looked more decorated and extravagant, whilst theirs looked plain and boring.

'Tch, damn servants… the only reason they dare talk back to me is due to the rules surrounding this place…' the leader, who obviously seemed to come from a Noble Family, thought with a sneer as he continued their advance towards one of the teams his sensing abilities had picked up. 'Really, what is it with the Nobles and these filthy peasants who think themselves superior? We're the ones who are better, so they should be kneeling before us and begging us to let our heirs into their ranks! These Spec Ops eat our funding like its groceries, they borrow our rightful property to conduct their business, and most of all we even allow them to be graced with our presence! Therefore, isn't it only fair that they compensate us accordingly?!'

It looked like the opinions of the Spec Ops Agents got reflected largely in the Noble'smind too, not like either party knew this. The Noble had been one fo the many who didn't have a properly decent opinion of the Spec Ops Program, but really whats new about that at this point? Born into a rich and comfortable life, living with every wish he had ever wanted granted, gave him a nilistic view of things. So what if things were looking bad for them, so what if people were dying left and right, as long as it wasn't happening anywhere near him, then he couldn't give two shits about it. Though, if anyone thought this to be anything new, where had they been throughout the rest of the story? In the end, this NPC pretty much served as this story's version of a generic asshole Noble who wanted nothing to do with the world's problems, thinking them not his problem.

In any case…

'They're close, I can feel it… Looks like my senses weren't playing tricks on me after all, then. There IS a team holding up here, and it does seem like they've noticed us… well, whatever, I'm sure that I'll be abel to persuade them to join my side once I let them know who I am. People may think otherwise, but there's NOTHING one can do when against the influence of nobility, there's nothing we can't do or barriers we won't cross to get what we want! If there's any weak lnks in the team, I'll just use them as a hostage so they will be easier 'convinced' to follow me. Like father always told me, use everything you have to your advantage, and you will go far in life.' The Nobe thought with a sickening smile spreading forth onto his lips, already imagining the look on the faces of his enemies once he corners them, and if they were women then maybe he should have some fun with them, get some of this stress relieved from his system…

Wait, what was that shadow rapidly-

POW!

* * *

POW!

The moment that she slammed her fist into that grinning leader's face sent electric jolts through Tekken's body, the girl practically beaming at the chance to finally let loose after so long of just waiting around and not doing what she loved the most. 'Yes! A hit! A clean hit with nothing else! A plain, ordinary hit!' she sqeuealed in her mind, temporarily forgetting who it was that she had hit or even the fact she had hit someone at all in favour of relishing in this seet relief which exploded inside of her. Finally, she got to punch someone! She hadn't gotten to punch someone, or anything at all up until now and it was reaching a point where she could hardly contain herself, proof being when she dashed off before MAGES. (Tekken may not have shown it, but she DID feel a bit miffed at being teased like that by her friend, said friend whom OBVIOUSLY knew how she was in terms of fighting) could finish her speech.

'Mou! MAGES. can be so mean! I'm SO going to spike her drink with something later!'

After that thought, Tekken found herself slowly coming back to reality from the high of her first hit. As a result of her attack, whomever she hd just punched got sent crashing into the ground below, which sported just enough space for single combat to be a thing although there wee also vines and ranches of varying thickness swerving about. Probably could be used as platforms themselves at some point, as both the punched victim and the blissfully ignorant Matrtial Artist fell down to… well, fell to would be a kind way to describe it. The reason for this being that whilst Tekken landed in a crouch like a professional olympc gymnast, the Noble fell flat onto his back, a shrill cry of pain resleasing itself from his lungs.

It was at that point, that Tekken finally managed to acknowledge the presence of those whom she had hit beyond 'just some simple punching bags for stress relief'. "Oh! Hey there!" she cheerily greeted, waving a hand energetically as the Noble flailed about like a chicken with its head cut off. "Sorry bout that, but thanks to you I feel WAY better now! Thanks for letting me hit you, its been a while since I punched something and I was getting, well, you know… stressed. Name's Tekken, nice to meet you!" she questioned, tilting her head in the Noble's direction, though question marks popped in and out of existence above her head when she saw the state the Noble had been reduced to by her own hand. "Hm? Why are you flailing about like that? Come on, lets fight!"

'You were the cause of this, iditot!'

That thought came from the three servants whom landed on the various thick vines and branches, landing in a triangular formation behind their leader who slowly recovered from the sneak attack dealt to him. Though, whilst they dared not show it for fear of what the Noble would do them, deep down each of the servants felt a bit of sadistic pleasure in seeing him get hurt the way he did. To them, they weren't as confident with the whole confidentiality thing this Exam had going on as others would be, knowing the ruthlessness of their leader who inherited that from his father. Still, they each knew their place, and since this Exam pretty much demanded it, looked like they would have to fight, and so when their leader got up the lackeys readied themselves to draw their weapons and attack whenever they were commanded to.

"You...!"

"Hm?"

"You... Bitch... how dare you...! How DARE YOU ASSAULT MY BEAUTIFUL FACE, YOU WITCH!" The man yelled out, though it also had a bit of a scream mixed in as he pointed his finger at her. His eyes shrunk with an insanely ferocious expression on his face, not unlike that of an animal. "YOU DARE TO HIT THE HEIR OF THENARDIER, ZION?! THIS WILL NOT STAND, I WILL NEVER LET IT STAND, DO YOU HEAR ME, WENCH?! TELL ME WHICH FAMILY YOU ARE FROM AND I'LL BE-"

POW!

Instincts screamed at him to move, and out of habit of always trusting them, he obeyed. Good thing too, for the moment that the man hopped to the side, a large blast of a mix of things, light being the main force whilst sparks of... something arced off it, shot past him and into the distance behind him. Everything that it touched got incinerated upon immediate contact, so when the beam vanished practically nothing remained but a long fissure with boiling edges and small smoke trails rising upwards here and there. "Y-You..."

"Oh, sorry, I just thought you were all like 'I really want my face punched in, so lets get this started already!' she proclaimed with a smile... a smile accompanied by a dark shadow over her eyes whilst her form radiated a malicious aura. Her fist, which she had used for both the light attack AND the sneak attack (her Devil Arm Beowulf had only briefly appeared for the former) just now. Plus, when he had been yelling just then she had that urge to just punch something, his face looked like a punchable target, so in the end, she'd wondered: why not?

Obviously, the Noble known as Zion Thenardier did NOT like that, not one bit as he gave a loud and frenzied war cry as he charged at her, closing the distance for a sword slash aimed directly towards her heart. However, Tekken smirked as a bloodlust expression formed on her face, and as the blade cascaded towards its target, she simply thwacked the blade aside with her left hand and clenched a fist, delivering a right hook with it soon after. She didn't stop there though, as after he stumbled back from the blow to his neck (power level restrained so she didn't accidentally kill him), Tekken crouched and hopped into a spinning low kick, knocking him off balance and into the air. By the time his body had become horizontal, perfectly parallel to the ground beneath him, Tekken had risen into a straight back kick which slammed into his side. This hit had been a ferocious one, as the sounds of bones breaking under the Armour resonated throughout the surroundings, whilst Zion's face contorted into an ugly exression and his underlings winced at the blow.

Because of said blow, Zion got sent flying across the battlefield, tumbling across it until he reached the opposite side, and once he stopped did the man start doing something else: howling in intense agony as he gripped his side. He flailed about just like he had before, only it looked even weirder since some movements aggravated his injury more than others, with tears of pain and fury streaming down his face.

"AAAARRRRGGGHHH! MY HIP! MY HIP-MY HIP-MY HIP-MY HIP-MY HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!"

"Wow... the leader's baling out like a baby..."

"His father won't be very happy about this..."

"When is his father ever happy though?"

"True..."

'Whoa... what a cry-baby, did he really expect to get through this with no injury?' Tekken wondered, snapping out of her funk temporarily when she saw the miserable sight before her. 'I even held back, too... awww man, is this guy going to be one of those pushovers? That Armour didn't even last a second against my kick!' the martial artist whined, pouting as she began to realize that these guys likely wouldn't be able to give her the thrill which she had been hoping for. Only just one hit and this guy looked to be down for the count, whilst his lackeys just remained there, watching with stunned awe. 'Really... I wanted to fight someone strong, darn it! Why can't that happen right here?!' she whined mentally, looking like she was about to stomp on the ground in frustration.

Seeing as these four were a bit preoccupied with their Leader, Tekken groaned as she reluctantly decided to end it here. After all, since that guy looked like he couldn't fight anymore just from that one injury it would seem that she wouldn't get the chance to stretch her legs as much as she wanted, much to her dismay. "SIGH# maaaaan…. I was hoping for a challenge..." she whined, rubbing the back of her head whilst aiming her free hand in their direction. She then summoned Beowulf onto it then clenched her fist, feeling the Devil Arm changing up its power. After countless hours of training, she had become able to partially manifest Beowulf onto one of her arms, as well as awaken all of its abilities which made her want to test them out. Unfortunately these guys didn't seem like they would be worthwhile opponents anymore, and she had gotten her hopes up when she had launched that light blast earlier. Such a disappointment...

And then the Devil Arm unleashed a blast of pure white light rays when she punched forwards.

* * *

"Hmmm..."

Up in the monitor room, Chifuyu hummed as she watched the proceedings, a stern frown on her face especially when she saw Tekken dispose of Zion Thenardier along with his minions. 'So, that incompetent flesh bag's out of the running, good riddance... however, this can potentially impact us negatively wit the Thenardier household. Its Lord and head, Felix Aaron Thenardier, had once been one of many son's competing to be head of the clan, has become a Duke so he has great political influence. Hearing that his son failed the Spec Ops Exam will be a sure-fire way to get his irritation...' she thought to herself, nearly falling to the urge to rub the bridge of her nose in frustration at the building headache. Not to mention the pitiful display by his heir didn't make things better, in fact it hadn't been much of a fight, more like a one sided beatdown from the former, though Chifuyu couldn't really expect much else. Zion Thenardier, born as a Noble of that same name, may have had SOME decency in swordsmanship, but he didn't pay training much heed and as such, he was considered to be nowhere NEAR strong enough to be qualified as part of our ranks. Hopefully this would serve as a much needed wakeup call, but she doubted it.

Still, it seemed that Tekken shared her disappointment as she soon left once the unconscious forms of the men she'd wiped out vanished in white flashes, letting her know that they had been transported out of the simulation. Watching the monitors, Chifuyu saw how she communicated through some sort of magic circle probably a communication spell of sorts, with the rest of her team to relay the results of her beatdown. It looked like the rest of them seemed almost dumbfounded that someone so weak would have been allowed to take the Exam, but they didn't seem to ponder on it for long, since they soon detected more teams coming to their position. Apparently, it seemed that many eyes had been on Thenardier's position for a chance to knock him out of the running, and since these upstarts in their eyes took their chance from them, its only natural that they would want a piece of them.

As such, more fights happened between them and the girls, whom each followed commands issued by either the brunette or the blunette, the two taking turns to devise their strategies to throw their opponents off their games. It helped that the two seemed to be on a similar wavelength with each other, not just from their communicating, but in how they directed the flow of each encounter. 'This could only come from fighting together on the battlefield, to a point where they share an intimate knowledge of each other's thoughts in fighting, their movements, abilities, everything which helps them survive and establish their identities. As for the other two, it seems they too possess the ability to survive on the front lines, and have placed their entire trust onto their comrades. The only way they could do this would be to cast aside any and all doubts and unnecessary thoughts, just to focus on the battlefield.' The woman thought, nodding her head. Although her expression didn't chance, Chifuyu did admit to herself that these four weren't mediocre like Shana had said. 'Looks like Helen's got the eye for talent, as does Shana, it seems... Still, they have a long way to go, there's a few too many risk taking and guesses, and the only reason why they're winning so far is because they have subpar opponents. Should they have some adequate adversaries, then...'

"YAHOOO! CHIFU-CHAAAAAAAAAN!"

"?!"

All of a sudden, a commotion exploded out across the Monitor room when the doors to it slid open, letting someone joyously bounce through who then proceeded to collide with the stern woman too fast for her to dodge. The person turned out to be a woman, one in her 20's at that whilst standing at just under 5 foot. The woman herself sported a mane of waist length green hair which was messy and uncombed. Her entire body was wrapped in bandages, with a tattered maroon cloak with droopy ears attached to the hood, which left little to no portion of her form uncovered. She also wears a floral scarf around her neck. Both her eyes remained cloaked in darkness thanks to her bandages and tattered cloak's hood, but just from her mannerisms one could TELL just how hyperactive this woman was. "Hehehehehehe!" The woman giggled cutely, almost disturbingly so as she bounced up and down whilst hugging the other woman, who just gritted her teeth and tried to push her face away to little result. "Hey there, Chifu-Chan, long time no see! How's it been? You been doing well? Has your brother been eating his greens like a good little boy?"

"Cut the small talk, Yoshimura." Chifuyu stated, scowling angrily as she finally managed to pry the woman off her. Or rather, the woman known as Yoshimura Eto, simply let go of her and hopped backwards, placing her hands behind her back and leaned forwards to try and imitate a cheeky young schoolgirl. Whilst the two had this interaction, the rest of the workforce looked at them in shock, surprise and confusion wondering what the heck was going on yet not voicing their complaints. The moment that they saw Eto enter the place, each of them quickly made sure not to invoke her ire, especially given her reputation within the Program. Out of all of them, only a select few dared to challenge her head on, and one of them happened to be the woman standing as their boss in this Exam simulation. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be judging exam applicants in another simulation?"

Hearing the taller woman's words, Eto hummed with a 'mou!' escaping her bandaged lips. "Why so glum, Chifu-Chan? I thought that we had something special?" she remarked with a whining undertone to indicate she had a pouting expression on behind her bandages. She even put her hands on her cheeks as if to make the bottom half of a heart gesture, whilst tilting her head to the right. "Didn't the last few trysts we went into mean anything to you?" she questioned cutely, prompting Chifuyu's brow to twitch at the false implications. Now any NORMAL man would get some... very lewd ideas when hearing the words Eto mentioned, but to those who knew about Eto and her... habits, would feel a mix of morbid curiosity and fascination. Some of the men shuddered in their seats, as if they had the 'privilege' to bear witness to these... habits of hers. There was a reason why she and Ibiki seemed to have a good professional relationship going on with one another, and if anyone dared to be in the same room as them together... well, church bells would ring.

Eventually, though, Eto seemingly caved under the hard stare Chifuyu gave her, sighing in boredom as she patted her cloak down, ridding it of any imaginary dust that it might have accumulated. "Ah, you're referring to those bugs, right?" she remarked, still chipper though a sense of mocking condescendence and scorn along with a slight bout of insanity slowly slipped into her voice. The thing was, Eto herself had been placed in one of the few other Simulations going on other than this one. The number of Applicants even when put into teams made it necessary for several Simulations being put up and running at the same time. Eto had been one of the 'special elements' introduced into the Exams, her purpose? Whelp that'd be obvious at this point. "Well my dear, that's a simple question to answer... I 'squashed' the lot of em." she replied, all too happily at that which caused each of the workers alike to become pale and begin sweating bullets, heck some of the men even covered their crotches as if phantom pains erupted there. "They were SO boring, too! Like, none of them had even a shred of decent oomph to them, I couldn't even FEEL their attacks!"

'Of course they wouldn't, its YOU we're talking about here...' Chifuyu thought to herself, knowing JUST how difficult it would be to even scratch this woman let alone force her to take something seriously. As a Spec Ops Agent of the Upper Echelon, Eto had the large City Class designation down pat, though if one asked her then that threat level could be a bit higher than that. Originally she had been at least large Building Class, but as of recently she had been growing a LOT stronger in terms of raw fighting prowess. Likely due to the influx of Abnormals which have been causing everyone grief.. To Eto, Chifuyu would be willing to bet she saw all this as just another all-you-can-eat buffet to raise her power to new heights. 'If ay of them could have touched you, then I'd personally give them a medal.' In any case, seeing as she was here, Chifuyu got a good idea as to why and how this had been possible, and just the thought of it only gave her a bigger headache. "Then, let me guess... as much as this makes me want some aspirin, you left your post after dealing with your exam applicants, came into this simulation for whatever reason, and figured you'd join in on the fun? Oh, their names are IF, Tekken, Cecil and MAGES. respectively. Yes, that period is meant to be there." she questioned whilst adding that last bit of info as an afterthought. There was a bit more to it than that, but it summed up her thoughts on the matter well enough.

Of course there must have been SOME resistance or some attempt to rein her in, but considering how volatile this woman could be, Cifuyu could guess how that would have went since she stood here before her...

"Yup, I get it girl! Also, now that I think about it isn't it close to the time for that little fire bird to be going out there, too? I think I'll give her a hand, cause judging from the monitor..." Eto paused as she saw footage of one of the fights between IF and a team of four, the brunette obviously holding back and keeping her opponents at bay long enough for her companions to succeed in whatever plan they had. Though, it wasn't long before Eto's calculating gaze picked up on the signs and deciphered the intricacies behind the plan these two had concocted for their fights, and when she did so she did a sharp intake. "Hmph, not too bad I guess..." she mumbled under her breath. Turned out that the plan they had actually had some decent effectiveness to it, the plan they were currently going with was one where one of them, usually either Tekken or IF herself, found an isolated place close to a Team or two, then unleashed a large energy surge which would be picked up by their team's sensor. The enemy would then come to see what was casing the surge, only to find nothing but a barrage of Artillery Spells she recognized from Lowee's Magic reservoir to bombard them from another position. A position which kept changing and they took turns every time this plan was enacted, so one time it could be IF, then it could be Tekken, or even Cecil who had a rather... unique feel to her. They all did actually, which only made her all the more curious about them. "Anyways, gotta go! See ya later, Chifu-Chan!"

With that, Eto hopped back to the entrance and left the room with a lively spring in her step... all the while, each worker heaved a sigh of relief, the sensation of a blade at their throats vanishing with her.

Meanwhile, Chifuyu sighed to herself whilst looking back to the Monitor, her eyes shimmering with complex emotions behind her stern façade, which had been significantly damaged thanks to Eto's presence. 'You brats better make it. As they say, out of the frying pan and into the fire...'

* * *

Back with the Applicants...

"Looks like things are proceeding well..."

MAGES. was the one who said this as she stood atop a tall branch with her eyes closed, the tip of her Staff pointed forwards with the rest of the weapon in a diagonal position. As for her companions, IF had engaged their fifth team so far, whereas Cecil and Tekken had their sixth one being tracked and ready to attack at any moment. They just needed a call from herself to let them know that IF had finished her task and had returned to her side, so they could begin their play. On the other hand, the Mad Magician had just finished launching another volley of her Artillery Barrage Spells which had been pretty much one of the major phases behind her attack strategies aside from sealing and detection spells used to both hide her team as well as track their enemy's progress. Thing was, she wasn't using the Artillery Spells a their full power, not even close actually, in fact if she were to use their strongest output not only would she only be able to launch a couple, 4 at the most and only a few times due to the consumption of her Mana reserves, but the blasts they would leave behind would resemble that of nuclear warheads. To be more specific, the strongest kind known as the atomic bomb, she knew this by experience since she'd tested it out.

Most of the destructive power came from this Staff she currently wielded, the weapon which currently emitted a sickening, twisted crimson aura over its form with energy crackling along the tip, as if begging her to release more of its power. There also emitted a sensation off insane madness from the staff as it trembled within her grasp, madness and insanity in a rather potent form... a PERFECT weapon for someone with the moniker of the Mad Magician, if one asked her anyways. MAGES. knew for a FACT now, that if she hadn't been using this particular Staff, she would likely have never racked up the demonic kill count that she had for her research, research which had hit a dead end when regarding this thing's origins. However, she DID know that this thing's nature pretty much was the EXACT kind which Nico had with his various weaponry: a Demonic Weapon...

A Devil Arm, its name being Wabbajack.

She'd only acquired this thing by chance, upon stumbling across an underground Dungeon filled with all KINDS of puzzles, creatures and hazards which could have killed her if she weren't careful. MAGES. may not be an adventurer but rather a scientist/researcher type of girl, but that didn't mean she had stupidity running through her veins. That had been the only reason why she hadn't been ripped to shreds, reduced to ashes, disintegrated into nothingness, or made a mental slave to the Dungeon like she'd seen a few corpses from previous adventurers who tried to get in here, forcing her to put them down. MAGES. managed to brave SO many traps back then, which resulted in her finding a statue which had this Staff in its grasp, built almost as if it were carelessly handing it out to whoever would dare try to grab it, as if to say 'here, take the damn thing already!'

She'd done so, and BOY did she have mixed feelings regarding it.

Thanks to fighting for so long with this thing, MAGES. herself had deduced much about the Staff's powers: powers which were so volatile, wild and maddening to control that she doubted anyone else other than her could even TRY to control the damn thing. It had caused her no small amount of headaches over the many months of practicing with it, and only recently had she FINALLY managed to make it completely obedient to her will. If Demonic Power itself was something difficult to control, then the Staff known as Wabbajack felt goddamn nigh IMPOSSIBLE to control. It had madness amongst madness, it felt absolutely insane and more than once nearly drove her over the edge into a pit where she wouldn't ever be able to return from. Then again, none of those things stopped her from learning more about it, which may in fact prove to the Mad Magician why the Staff even listened to her at all. Her previous classifications of its powers when she met up with Nico before the Gala (you know, the destruction, restoration etc) had been just so she could classify how absurdly BROKEN this Devil Arm really was.

Seriously, the following abilities were what she had discovered the Devil Arm was capable of using:

Fire manipulation

Lightning manipulation

Ice Manipulation

Force manipulation

Healing (can heal others or oneself by infusing energy ino her from any source, including others or itself) Heal Other

Can disintegrate foes into nothing

Transformation (very versatile, depends on the whim of the user)

Summoning: mudcrab (really LARGE crabs), daedra (type of demon), rabbit, chicken, chickens that explodes after 20 recorded seconds and transforms back. summons only last one hit before dispersing. Like transformation is very versatile, nearly no limits aside from user.

Mental/ Debuff Manipulation: Invisibility, Fury, Fear, Drain stamina, Paralysis, Unequip target's armor (great for armoured humanoid targets like those Damn World Eater Soldiers)

Can even be used as a bladed weapon dspite lacking a proper edge, leading to possible decapitation

Reanimate targeted dead body (possibly no limits there, MAGES. theorized) with double health.

Can teleport enemies away from her but she has to be able to SEE them, not sense.

… So yeah, anyone NOT get why this Devil Arm's power wasn't broken yet? And people often asked her why she usually operated solo...

But back to the topic at hand, since MAGES. found herself getting off track. The plans she and IF launched into motion kept succeeding in one way or another. They'd so far managed to take out 5 of the other 8 teams with clever planning, predictions, and a little bit of luck as well. Sometimes her strikes would miss, mostly due to either her mixing up h calculations, or one of the enemy members actually having a brain and figuring out their attack strategy before telling his or her comrades and the rest of them running off. Of course, in latter case two of their Groups' members would then take them out one piece at a time, so things still proceeded to move along in their favour. It actually surprised her how much progress they had been able to make in such a short amount of time, the proof of which being the many pillars of smoke which were scattered throughout the entire battlefield, a byproduct of MAGES. and her artillery spells. She had to be careful though, cause if someone managed to calculate where the spells had come from alongside the locations of these smoke pillars, it would then create a path which MAGES. had used to set up the barriers she'd did at the beginning. Then, all they would need to do would be to open an entrance through the barrier and they would be in her group's territory.

If she were frank, MAGES. felt this to be a little TOO easy at times despite the severe risk behind it all, and as such she kept wondering what this supposed 'special element' could be that Chifuyu Orimura warned them about. That had been her sole worry about this Exam, as no matter what she tried the Mad Magician couldn't figure that part out, probably due to how tightly lipped a lot of these Agents tended to be about information like that. It made her wish she could read minds or something, but even as broken as Wabbajack was, that was one of the few things it COULDN'T do. 'At least IF's nearly done with our fifth team, now...' the young Mage thought to herself, a bit weary from all this thinking but otherwise just as ready to fight as the rest of her battle junkie team. 'Still, once the sixth team falls, that means there will only be a couple teams to go. However, that's where things get tricky...' She thought, narrowing her eyes a bit in concentration whilst she cupped her chin in-between her index finger and thumb.

The problem she had foreseen was to do with their strategy, or rather the fact that they weren't the only ones utilizing this strategy. With how many times she'd tried between battles and tactic switches, MAGES. had yet to identify where the last two teams were located, which implied to her that they had been playing the role of observer this whole time. This didn't bode well nor did it sit right for the Mad Magician, for if these teams had seen how theirs operated, its possible that they would have found a strategy to counter theirs. 'If that is indeed the case, As long as we can keep up with this pace, then we shall be able to deal with the remaining teams eventually and pass, without having to get introduced to this special element...'

...

...

...

… Why did she get the feeling she had just jinxed herself?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

… Oh, that's why.

In one instant, MAGES. whole world trembled as something large, fast and impactful slammed into a space not too far from her position, at least a couple dozen meters away. Shocked and stunned by this, the blunette accidentally dropped all Spells she had been maintaining in favour of shielding herself from the shockwave and debris which succeeded in blowing her off her perch on the tree. Falling down to the ground below, MAGES. noticed this and gritted her teeth, already reacting when she got reminded of her nearly falling into a portal in the Hellverse Dungeon. She absolutely REFUSED to make a repeat of that mistake, so she twirled her staff and aimed its tip below her, releasing a steady stream of flames which weren't big enough to cause a forest fire, but were just enough to slow her descent. Kind of like jet thrusters aimed downwards to create lift in a way, and it ended up succeeding since the Mad Magician landed without much harm. Twirling her staff again, MAGES. stabbed its backside into the ground beside her, eyeing the space before her to see what had the gall to attack her like that.

At first, she couldn't see anything due to the cause being shrouded by a smokescreen, although this didn't last very long thanks to the cause quickly rectifying the situation between them. It flung something out, like an arm or some sort of appendage, and that ended up dispersing the smokescreen... only, for MAGES. to quickly wish that she didn't have to see it when she saw the GIGANTIC creature now leering at her from over 30 feet away. Standing on all four white, spindly limbs, stood what could only be described as a white beast, with several massive blades protruding out of its shoulders which extended longer than her entire body. She could count four in total, each of them sporting real sharp edges for cutting purposes. Out of its upper back, grew many gross-looking appendages shaped onto a massive, crystalline plume, looking just as large as the blades it wielded. The creature's arms and legs remained spindly, yet its body looked disproportionate to them in how massive it was, easily towering over vehicles at least, and at best a single story building. Finally, its face, and by GODDESSES that face looked like the stuff of nightmares. It consisted of a large, mask-like head with four horns and a single eye in the center of the mask with three markings on the left cheek, right cheek and the forehead, as well as a large mouth... a mouth which currently hung open with a long tongue hanging out supported by strands of drool connecting between its jaws.

'Holy... this is a most troubling of opposition...!' the Mad Magician grimly thought, a matching flat line on her lips whilst her eyes narrowed into a resigned stare as she readied her Staff, already prepping to use Wabbajack's power. As someone whom had seen and fought against many demonic creatures in her time in this Dimension, MAGES. could definitely say that the sheer BLOODLUST created by this beast reminded her of the Greater Demons of Khorne, something she felt she wasn't nearly a match for as of her current state. If it were a pure magic battle, then she didn't think she would lose, but Greater Demons usually had strong magic resistance to them which limited how effective her Spells were, pretty much disabling her strongest weapon against them. Fortunately as horrifying and dread-inducing as this creature felt to her, MAGES. did believe this was not a Greater Demon, so she could still take it on. She intended to try to disintegrate the creature before it could attack her, her nerves already settling into a 'how can I beat this thing and live?' state instead of 'oh shit I'm going to die, oh shit, oh shit!' state. She made to point it towards her opponent, but she then noticed some... odd shifting from the plume of those grotesque appendages on its back, something which quickly rung alarm bells inside her mind. These alarm bells quickly made her shift from an offensive strategy to a defensive one, making MAGES. sweep Wabbajack across the ground in front of her, causing frosty vapour to escape its tip and hit the ground, quickly causing ice to sprout forth from it. This allowed her to form a wall of ice as thick as an oak tree's trunk to counter whatever triggered her instincts... or rather, that's what she hoped, but instead the creature's Plum unleashed a barrage of crystalline Projectiles, each of them seeming to have enough power to create a multi foot deep crater within the ice causing her to pale significantly. 'Oh no...!'

SHATTER!

It didn't take long for MAGES. to see her ice shatter like fragile glass before their might, forcing the Mage to put up a barrier in front of her in a weaker attempt to defend herself. Only, it only succeeded in knocking her flying backwards, through several trees and into the tenth one. When she collided with that tenth tree, sharp pain exploded from her back as MAGES. gasped out, slumping down on the ground as she hissed, gritting her teeth to bear the pain. 'Ugh! That was...!' she thought, before instincts caused her to look upwards and, as her eyes shrunk into dots, MAGES saw that the beast had already closed the distance between them, several hundred feet worth to be exact. It even had raised its right arm with its claw in a swiping position, intending to swipe and possibly cleave her head off. 'No...! this cannot be...!' she thought, quickly making to raise another Barrier, this one arguably stronger with how much Mana she put into it, to save herself from being decapitated. It wasn't like she was very good at dodging from this distance, plus the creature had proven to be MUCH faster than herself.

BOOM!

Bringing the claw down in a second, the creature saw how it created a massive explosion upon impact with the cold, hard ground beneath it, tearing through anything and everything which stood in its way without any thought of mercy or restraint. The explosion also got accompanied by a shockwave which uprooted much of the forest land, leaving a large crater behind in its wake. However, as it removed its claw from where the Mad Magician lay, it saw nothing but empty space instead, causing it to growl as it looked around for the source... only to jump backwards when a barrage of icicle Shards and Fireballs fell down on the space where it stood. Looking upwards, the creature glared at the airborne MAGES., whom glared right back at her monstrous adversary.

"It appears that... you're the 'Special Element' that we were informed of..." Those were the words she had spoken, reflecting quickly on how she had to use the propulsion of both the attack and the barrier's defensive ability to get further back, then used another barrier spell to propel herself upwards above the forest. It had been a close call, and if she had made even ONE mistake of any level, MAGES. feared the worst. Of course she could have healed herself with Wabbajack's power, along with teleported the creature away from her, but at that point she had been so surprised and caught off guard that neither of those two options had made themselves known to the Mad Magician. That would be changing now though as she eyed all the debris caused by the fight so far, even as the Plume on the creature's back showcased those same signs she'd noticed before when it made to launch those projectiles. "You made a mistake regardless, in making all this Debris, though..."

With that said, MAGES. raised Wabbajack and pointed it down at the space below, letting its power out once again. As a result, every piece of uprooted debris such as trees, bushes, branches, anything not tied down really, it suddenly vanished from sight before MAGES. raised Wabbajack above her head, where the debris reappeared. All of it surrounded her as the creature growled at her ferally, its lone eye trembling with madness and bloodlust as its Plume shook harder. MAGES. narrowed her eyes at this, obviously not liking what that could imply. 'Could it be that it can create bigger barrages than this? If its like that, then...' she thought, quickly swinging Wabbajack down towards her opponent. 'I'll just have to strike first, and beat this adversary to the punch!'

Just as the Debris fell down towards the Creature's position, resembling a shower of meteors in a way, the creature howled as its Plume practically EXPLODED, releasing dozens upon dozens of Projectiles upwards towards the incoming assault. The Debris shower MAGES. had launched using Force manipulation fell towards the barrage, and the two forces collided with one another to result in another smokescreen separating the two of them, although MAGES. knew that she had to act fast when she began to fall, unable to keep herself in the air any longer. As powerful as Wabbajack was, flight was also something which it couldn't help her with, causing the Mad Magician to release a frown onto her features, her hair whipping about as she placed one hand on top her Witch hat so it didn't get blown off. How it hadn't before now was a mystery she didn't bother to think about for the moment, not with things being as they were. 'Tch, looks like I have to invest in some manner of flight magic sometime, as mobility will greatly affect my ability to respond to-'

"GIGYAAAAAA!"

Before she could finish that thought, MAGES. eyes widened in shock and horror when she saw a looming shadow behind her, quickly causing her to twist herself around to come face to face with the HULING form of the massive beast she had been fighting, its lone eye trembling as it gave her a savage grin, a sharp contrast to the rapidly paling skin MAGES. sported. How the heck did it get up here so fast?! MAGES. had no time to think about this as she held Wabbajack out and shot a fireball, creating another explosion which separated the two. Quickly, she made several smaller ones and used them to propel herself away from the scene, heading right back to the massive clearing which the beast had made earlier.

When the woman arrived, MAGES. acted once more, shooting a fireball beneath her to get the lift to help her flip about into an upright position, stabbing Wabbajack into the ground and sending its power into it creating a sheet of ice she used to slide along it. The woman then had the sheet sprout several protrusions behind her, forming an arch which halted her mobility, causing the Mad Magician to heave a sigh of relief at her halted motion, before she hardened her gaze and swung her Devil Arm, dispersing these magical effects from the battlefield. 'Whatever this creature is... now that I think about it, this reminds me of something... something I viewed once before in my Crystal Ball...' she thought as a hint of suspicion blossomed in her chest.

"MAGES.! Girl, you alright? We heard the spells collapse and some fighting on your end, is everything alright?"

Suddenly, the woman smiled, heaving a sigh of relief when she saw a Magic Circle appear beside her head, a communication Circle and judging from the voice, she realized it belonged to her old friend Tekken. After this brief exchange, she could not help but be happy at hearing her voice for once, so MAGES. promptly answered the Martial Artist's question with a bit of strain in her voice. "I am... unharmed, Tekken." she said, not bothering with the chuuni behaviour for a moment due to focusing on the battlefield. "It appears that we may have to contend with that 'Special Element' after all... I was just attacked by something, injuries are minimal at best but the beast has not gone down yet."

"Ah! IF figured something like that was the case, me and Cecil did too! Don't worry, IF's on her way to lend whatever support she can. She saw the destruction and felt it necessary to aid you, you may be strong but if something happens to your Devil Arm, much of your power goes with it, right? Although i'm in a bind, me and Cecil can handle it." Tekken queried at the end, something which MAGES. indeed confirmed. Like she mentioned, her power largely came from Wabbajack as, aside from it having its own powers, it functioned also as a medium for her own Mana. Should it become damaged or unable to be used for her battles, then MAGES. would suffer a HUGE blow to her abilities and fighting potential. As such, she agreed with IF's decision to head on over here, it felt reassuring to have an Agent like her by the Mad Magician's side.

"I see. In any case, how's things on your end? You say your in a bind..."

"Not good, sadly. Some girl with a Katana and blazing red hair which is raining Ember's trying to take me and Cecil out. We're holding our own, but i'll be honest, its going to get dicey."

Hearing this, MAGES. scowled, not liking this. Judging from the sound of it, it seemed that the attacker's identity was the Spec Ops Agent CRIMSON, also known as Shana. If someone like HER was here, whilst this creature was attacking her, then there HAD to be something up. Was this REALLY just the 'Special Element', or was there something more to it? "Copy that. Looks like this element's more complex than expected." MAGES. eventually replied with, shaking her head. "In any case, focus on fighting your opponent and i'll do the same here. We'll not let this stop us from passing this exam, got it?!"

A loud exclamation of agreement was returned to her before MAGES. cut the transmission, looking back to the direction of the Beast's previous position with an owl-like gaze. 'Now that things are like this, I can't hold back any longer. I'll have to find a way to destroy this creature instantly before my Mana reserves run dry. One thing about wielding Wabbajack is that if I have insufficient Mana to control him, then he tends to have higher risks of going berserk on me, so I have to use its power first to exhaust it so that doesn't happen. Learned that the HARD way...' she thought, shaking her head.

"NGH... NOT BAD... GIRLIE...!"

"?!"

All thoughts halted when MAGES. heard a feminine voice, or rather it SOUNDED like one but it also had something distorting it as well, come from within the forest. One second the space before her remained empty, but the next the massive beast seemingly appeared out of nowhere, almost like it shimmered into existence there and looked practically unscathed from her previous efforts, much to the Mad Magician's irritation. "You can speak?" even so, MAGES. had to ask this as she readied her Devil Arm defensively, mentally preparing herself.

"YUP! NICE TO MEETCHYA, MAGES.! NAME'S ETO, BUT CALL ME CANNIBAL! JUST DECIDED TO POP IN AND SEE IF YOUR WORTHWHILE, WHILST BIRD GIRL OVER THERE HACKS AT YOUR PALLY PAL-PALS! I HOPE YOU CAN ENTERTAIN ME, SO I DON'T GET BORED AND END UP RIPPING OUT YOUR ENTRAILS! GYAHAHAHAHAHA!"

...

...

… At this point, MAGES. could only groan to herself whilst facepalming. She may need more aspirin at this point.


	196. Chapter 165 - Spec Ops Exam PT 4

**Chapter 165 - Spec Ops Exam PT 4**

Flaming crimson red hair...

Eyes blazing a matching crimson red light...

Embers falling down from said hair in a constant, steady shower...

Yup, it was official, Tekken currently had found herself facing off against a genuine article. A TRUE Spec Ops Agent on the field of battle. It had become clear to her shortly after she had barely managed to dodge a sneak attack in the form of a massive torrent of spiraling flames, not a single thought of subtlety given acknowledgement to, only to look at the source and barely summon the entirety of Beowulf to parry a series of fiery Katana slashes which could have ripped her asunder (they'd almost done that on more than one occasion, thwarted only by last minute movements by her). Only afterwards with a burst of Light from Beowulf did the two separate from one another, ending up standing on opposite side of what could only be described as a burning wasteland, a wasteland which had once been a brilliantly lush forest, now reduced to an infernal mess by these scalding hot flames. If she hadn't been exposed to flames of Hellfire-like Caliber, the Martial Artist doubted she would have been able to fight as well as she had.

Currently, the black haired girl stood in her Martial Arts stance, Arms and Legs clad in her Devil Arm as her opponent stood there in her own. She had her arms up and in front of her like a boxer, with her right leg in front and the left behind it, keeping her gaze focused on her opponent. As for her mentioned opponent, the girl before her had her sword pointed diagonally downwards towards the ground, her Katana wreathed in flames which almost seemed to dance in worship along the impervious steel. She stood there silently, gauging Tekken as well which prompted the two to emit a silent, tense atmosphere between them, accompanied by the crackling of the surrounding flames. All around them, fire danced like dancers at a party, trees having collapsed and turned into masses of charcoal, leaves and greenery becoming nothing but piles of dust. Smoke rose into the skies above, scarring them eternally and filling the air with lumps upon lumps of ash.

Yet, none of this remained present in her mind...

'Not one... I can't see any openings even if her stance is this lax...' Tekken thought whilst analyzing her opponent, her fists clenching within her Devil Arm's embrace. Fortunately the weapon kept sending her calming sensations, so she managed to keep herself from going completely into sweaty mode, as her lips tightened into a thin line. Looking this girl up and down, Tekken could not find any openings in her stance, nor any chances to get in a proper attack. Odds were she would have to make one, but if the short exchange they had shared was any indication, then it would likely be more than a little difficult for her to attempt such a thing without risk of losing a limb or two. Just looking at her screamed to her that this girl had no problems with butchering and killing an opponent without mercy, not to mention her eyes showed a strong clarity to them, like she truly had embraced her role in life and had no qualms with whatever she had to do on a daily basis. An opponent like this, Tekken always found to be the most difficult of opponents to face on equal grounds, let alone defeat. MAGES. might have a better time handling her what with her ranged prowess, Magic expertise and multiple element manipulation, but since Beowulf used Light as a weapon to primarily augment her attacks, Tekken found herself at a severe disadvantage... Just the way she liked it.

A small smirk slowly crept onto her face, causing her cheeks to scrunch up as her body practically trembled in excitement (her body actually shuddered in joy when she got hit by remnants of scalding flames earlier, that had been a fun time and it didn't seem like her opponent noticed) and anticipation for the upcoming fight. This had been EXACTLY what she wanted this whole time, to be more precise Tekken felt THRILLED for this opportunity which, to her, resembled a golden goose inside a massive treasure vault. The chance to fight a truly strong opponent, her blood as a Martial Artist BOILED within her veins at the elation! She could hardly contain the excitement bubbling inside, heck inside the back of her mind she heard a faint maddening laughter, laughter she wanted to mimic but she restrained herself. Seeing her current situation only made her feel all the more relieved that she had this fortunate encounter for if she hadn't met CRIMSON here today, then she would have felt nothing but disappointment, the absolute worst feeling for any prideful warrior.

Just then, a light cough reached her ears, and the familiarity of it snapped Tekken out of what could have been a bloodlust induced rampage spawned from her desire to fight someone strong. Glancing over to the source, Tekken remembered something she had forgotten, and that had been that she wasn't alone right now since Cecil had remained with her. 'Shoot, I almost forgot that Cecil's still with me! Can''t go losing myself then, cause if I do i'll endanger my teammate...' she thought whilst narrowing her eyes at said teammate. From what she could see, it didn't seem Cecil had coughed due to the ash in the air, it just seemed like something minor, of little significance since no other changes got observed about her fellow Applicant. 'If that were to happen...'

"You're not going to attack?"

Suddenly, Tekken heard the soft, yet high pitched and threatening voice of the Spec Ops Agent Shana, whom stepped forwards and launched a wave of flame from her flaming blade. The embers which fell from her hair almost looked mesmerising to watch, but the Martial Artist refused to let that distract her, as similar endings had befallen a fair amount of people she had met randomly, like an Abnormal would hypnotize a certain group of people with its own means, lure them into an isolated area then POUNCE on them for the killing blow. Tekken herself almost fell for that trick a few times, but she had managed to pull through at the last moment, until she had a resistance which border lined immunity to mental manipulation, with only few things which could work on her. Quickly empowering her right leg with Beowulf's Demonic Power, Tekken launched a scissor kick with a loud war cry, slicing the damn thing in two and letting two fiery trails land on the space behind her. "You had the eyes of someone wanting to strike me down before I got the first hit in, so what happened? Aren't you going to fight me or shall I... convince you?" Shana questioned lowly, the flames of her Katana dancing dangerously along its metal.

A part of her wondered why the hell Shana wasn't attacking her right now since Spec Ops Agents didn't usually waste time on the battlefield, but that part quickly got silenced as she leveled a heated glare her opponent's way. "What, and let you just attack my companion like that? Like i'd let that happen!" she bellowed, stomping her foot onto the ground. As a result, a chunk of charred earth arose from the stomp's pressure, allowing her to launch a snap kick to launch it right at her opponent. What also became apparent, was that as the kick got launched, a few sparks of Crimson lightning crackled and danced along her foot whilst it neared her intended target, something which Shana indeed noticed but didn't put much thought into. She still didn't see Tekken as someone worthy of her time after all, but then again this was simply the case of the strong warrior underestimating the underdog, so really what was new at this point?

Said opponent merely rolled her eyes in slight annoyance, slicing through the piece of dirt in a reverse slashing motion, which gave way for Tekken to have closed the distance between them in the midst of a sausage spin into an overhead knee to the top of Shana's head. Said blazing redhead simply raised her flaming Katana horizontally and blocked it, resulting in two opposing forces colliding and releasing a humongous shock wave, blowing away anything and everything not nailed down around them. This didn't last long though, as Tekken managed to flip back, land on the ground and then twist into a spinning kick instead, amplifying it with a larger amount of Beowulf's power. Sensing the power surge, Shana stomped her left leg into the ground behind her to build up fortification, before pointing her Katana forwards with its blade pointing forwards, its edge facing up towards the charred heavens and her right hand poised to thrust the hilt's backside. She then slammed her hand into her weapon and created a thrusting motion with her Katana, causing their two strikes to slam into one another for a second time to cancel each other out, once again.

"… Hmph, sloppy." Shana bluntly stated whilst the two stared each other down as their attacks locked them together. Tekken scowled at the words she used, already figuring out the meaning behind them as the crimson haired samurai girl tore away at her with just her words alone. "Your technique's only good when fighting beasts, you get riled up too easily and you didn't even think about planning for an eventuality like this. What makes you think someone as primitive as yourself is worthy of being one of us?" she mocked further before she clenched her fists around her Katana's handle. This also came with the following action of her Katana unleashing a massive eruption of flames, one which Tekken dodged by jumping backwards just a COUPLE seconds before she could get incinerated. She'd already had ONE instance of having fire up in her face, and that had resulted in her nearly being crippled for life, so she'd rather not make that mistake again.

However, the attack didn't end there as Shana twisted her Katana to the left, and suddenly the erpuption before her seemed to shift itself, contorting into some very… odd ways, yet it didn't take long before it split itself apart, forming thousands of small fireballs. Fire balls which blazed brightly like miniature suns whilst burning brightly, their size rivalling one of her hands if she had it ungloved. Bringing her Katana down, Shana launched the barrage out towards her opponent, her eyes shining with a ferocity which matched the element she wielded to extreme degrees. They fell down upon Tekken without mercy, showering her position like rainfall with the intent on reducing her to a smouldering pile of ash, the Spec Ops Agent whom made them not wanting to pull any punches with her. If Tekken couldn't survive this, then she wouldn't have been cut out to be one of them anyways, and Shana would have proven her point.

What she didn't expect however, was for Tekken to get into her fighting stance once more, her eyes burning with determination and a desire to prove the girl wrong. She then reared her right fist backwards before throwing it forward, Beowulf coursing with power as evident by the bright white glow that it emitted. "ORA!" She yelled, her Devil Arm-covered fist slamming into one of the fireballs, quickly dispersing it due to herself having the superior firepower, pun intended. It didn't' stop there, though…

"ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA- ORA-ORA-ORA-!"

A large war cry erupted from her mouth as she rapidly punhed away at the fireballs which would have hit her otherwise. She didn't have time to check for Cecil to make sure she was alright thanks to this, but as she punched Tekken just HAD to pull a Nico, and go all 'ora-ora' over the place, as every time she did so Tekken could just FEEL the bbadassery filling her up inside, causin an excited look to appear on her face as she howled out like a frenzied demon, her arms flailing about like she had many of them moving all at once. The way they moved, followed by how her hair fluttered about behind her head, gave her a thrilling sensation which could only come from fighting someone who truly wielded strength greater than her own.

'Well then, guess I should stop holding back…'

With that thought in mind, Tekken closed her eyes and paused her yelling, although her arms continued moving as if they were moving in accordance to their own will, rather than hers. With her eyes closed, Tekken mentally directed her focus inwards, reaching deep inside the depths of the abyss, which was her subconsciousness, reaching for the one thing which had been unused in this entire Spec Ops Exam. Something which she had, at first, thought as a damn curse meant to remind her of how weak and feeble, she had been, only for it to turn out to be something completely different entirely. When Nico had heard the story of how she had gained her Devil Arm in its fully awakened state such as right now, she had once thought of telling him about THIS power as well, she thought as she finally connected with what she sought. However, in the end Tekken had decided against it, seeing as this power wasn't something which felt necessary for the world to know about, and the less people knew about it the better. Not to mention that, if she knew him as well as she thought she did, then Tekken believed Nico had already picked up on it when they sparred, she wouldn't be surprised if that actually turned out to be the case.

Once she connected to it, a surge of sensations flooded her mind in one big burst, threatening to overwhelm her with their presence and invoke a certain response out of her. Rage, malice, wrath, bloodlust, all these things in their purest form assaulted her mind like a force consisting of race cars, the road being her brain, in an attempt to reduce her to a creature of pure instinct. For a while, she had wondered how the powers which Nico and her friend MAGES. felt like, even when they had described them as violent and savage, as if one false move would force them down a dark pit from which its not easy crawling your way out of. But, ever since obtaining this power against her will, she definitely found her answer… and BOY did she have a massive surge in the respect stat for those two for being able to harness this kind of power with as few issues as they did. Heck, if the rumours were to believe then they likely weren't the only ones who had such powers anymore, and THAT had been a thought which chilled her to the bone even today.

But, back on topic…

The conflict within her mind lasted a few seconds, the signs not being visible to the naked eye. Even if they were, they wouldn't be very noticeable due to her current situation of trying not to be roasted alive (at least its physically and not verbally, because Shana showed she could do that with EASE). However, afterwards the power settrled down, like a rowdy little brat who'd calmed down after experiencing a horrible tantrum which annoyed every adult in a 20-minute radius. Once that happened, Tekken took control over it, slammed it under her and forced her will onto it whilst circulating the power through her body, the power responding to her mental willpower. 'Alright, Tekken… time to take this next step… ideally I'd rather show this only with my important comrades whom I know I can trust instead of a stranger like Cecil, but beggars can't be choosers…'

This surge of Demonic Power wasn't unnoticed by Shana, whose syes slightly widened in surprise at the sight. "You…!" she muttered in complete bewilderment, looking absolutely dumbfounded as the showe of Fireballs neared its end. Her instincts screamed at her to remain cautious and coupled with the many demonic experiences she had in her lifetime resulted in her following those instincts. Her eyes hardened as Shana got into the same trusting stance she had launched previously, her gaze sharpening as they briefly flashed a brilliant orange, though this didn't last even a second before they retuned to normal. 'With a quick search with my SHINPAN revealed to me that this girl… she possesses an extraordinary amount of Demonic Power, and only now is it 'waking up' in a sense. That must mean what power she's been using so far must have come from those weapons on her limbs, so essentially she has been using none of her own power and instead relied on an external power source…' She tought, rapidly analysing the informations he had gleaned from her multi-purpose Skill, SHINPAN. Shana, as someone whom had idolised Helen for such a long time, quickly figured out the true nature of these weapons, and so whilst she lacked the finer details which Tekken must know, Shana didn't dare take this situation lightly. Instead, she decided to use this as an… opportunity, if one wanted to be accurate. An opportunity to learn more about the demonic subjects so she had a better idea of how to take Demons down. Knowing more about one's enemy was an essential means of defeating them after all.

Shana wasn't the only one though whom had figured out what was going to inevitably happen, either. Over on her end, Cecil (whom had refrained from fighting due to Tekken having told her not to interfere) stared at Tekken in pure shock, as well as buddig disbelief at what her eyes were telling her. At first she didn't dare believe the sight before her to be the case, but as the power started building around the Martial Artist, she had to force herself to accept it as reality. "Tekken… is this really…?" she muttered, the low level of her voice, even below that of a wisper as she felt a special… something, a sensation of sorts, resonate within her right arm. One which made her reflexively cover it with her left hand. Not only that, but also the object strapped to her back also began to shake and tremble, almost in a way of warning her of what would be happening, in which case Cecil found herself starting to ask herself questions, questions not just reating to how Tekken herself cam eot access these powers… but also questions which were aimed at herself

All the while, Tekken built up the power within herself until she felt it about to burst, in which case the young girl grinned as she opened her eyes, revealing two crimson lights shinin from them. "Heh, now then… I hope your prepared, because this is just about to get FUN!" Tekken screamed, and with a mighty war cry, the black-haired Martial Artist reared her head back… and screamed.

Oh, how she screamed.

"GUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOO **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!"**

Tekken screamed with all her might, the energy building inside of her chest practically exploding out of her in all directions in the form of a massive, destructive crimson energy wave. The energy wave expanded outwards like a dome, its inherited violent and chaotic appearance belittling its true nature which forced both Shana AND Cecil to jump back lest they get blown across the battlefield. Both of them landed a fair distance away from the epicentre of the energy wave, which had extinguished itself at about 40 meters away from the one who created it, whi just stood there… clad in a pure crimson aura which hid her form from view.

That Aura soon vanished and gave way to Tekken's current state of being… which actually changed compared to what she had before. Now, Tekken stood at about 6-foot-tall, taller than she had been previously with demonic-looking tattoos spreading up her stomach, across her shoulders and down her arms. Down to her forearms remained mostly human, save for the slight bulkiness increase, but once one lookd at her arms, from the shoulders down they were covered by this black skeletal armour which went to her hands, elongating her fingers into long, thin skeleton claws. The same could be said for her feet, too whilst hanging down from her waist was a long black waist cloth. From her head, two devilish horns protruded out and pointed forwards, whilst in the middle of her forehead there lay a third eye which the flesh had parted ways in a vertical manner for it to be exposed, showing a single crimson iris with a slitted pupil. Then, from her back, two MASSIVE bird wings with feathers blacker than darkness itself erupted forth, spreading themselves open wide as if to bask in their newfound freedom before they curled back inwards, ready to be used at any time. These got followed by an extra set of wings beneath them, these ones being black on the outside but with a completely blue interior.

Finally, her main two eyes, which remained closed for this transformation, opened up to show two crimson irises and slitted pupils, just like the third eye on her forehead.

"Whooooooaaaaaaa…!" Cecil gasped at the sight of her friend's new form, a form which practically RADIATED massive amounts of power just from the slightest of movements. She saw how crimson lightning circulated around her body, her body which had its clothes extend so that they covered the same amount as they did in her human form. Essentially, she still wore the same outfit, just her body had gone through some… mutations, if that could be used to describe how Tekken looked like right now. "That form…" Cecil didn't expect something like this, nor did she expect it to be so… beautiful, for lack of a better word. She didn't quite understand it herself, but seeing Tekken in this form before her, Cecil didn't find herself being repulsed by the demonic form like she had been back in her Village when that Demon attacked. In fact, she felt nigh on mystified by it, her eyes never leaving her form as the aura surrounding the Martial Artist flickered and crackled in a dangerous, volatile and chaotic manner.

Shana, meanwhile, didn't have the same reaction as she held her sword in the traditional kendo grip, placing her right foot forward in front of her left. Her fiery eyes narrowed sharply at her newly transformed opponent, her instincts screaming at her to be VERY wary of this person. 'This form… although its power is imposing, I can feel that there is much more to it that hasn't been unlocked yet, like she's holding something back from view so far.' She thought, a scowl slowly emerging out onto her features as a light bead of sweat formed over her forehead from the thick tension in the air. "So then, I assume that…"

 **"Less TALK, more FIGHTING!"**

Instead of continuing the conversation however, Tekken glared heatedly at her opponent as she flared her wings out, flapping them once and shooting straight for her opponent. She managed to close the distance instantly, causing Shana to reflexively go for a strike to her heart only for the transformed girl to pivot to the left and end up outside on Shana's right flank. She then reached forth and grasped Shana's neck in her right claw, howling as she took to the skies till, they were at least at 50 meters above the ground, before shooting right back down and slamming Shana headfirst into it.

SMASH! BOOM!

Pain exploded like a bomb going off through Shana's form upon impact, causing her to gasp whilst coughing up some saliva. Fortunately for her that she had been made of some sturdier stuff, otherwise she would have had to suffer a lot worse from this move. 'This… this speed!' She thought in amazement and dismay. 'Its… it surprised me for a brief moment, but it definitely caught me off guard nonetheless! Guess this form gives her increased speed and possibly agility as well, which leads me to think it enhances her strength as well!' she thought quickly, like in just under a second due to her training. Thinking fast gave time for counterattacks, something she had used a LOT In her time as a Spec Ops Agent.

Tekken didn't stop there, either though, as she stepped back and kicked Shana in the side, causing her to gasp as she got sent flying across the battlefield. However, Shana quickly righted herself and swung her Katana towards the approaching Tekken's neck, intending to decapitate her. The transformed Tekken didn'tsee this blow as much of a threat, as she swung her right claw to try and sever the girl's limb clean off, only that served to be her undoing when, in an instant, the blade lit itself up in flames once again just as her claws were a couple inches away from making contact with Shana's flesh. "HIEN!" The crimson redhead called out as her blade's flames erupted like a volcano's, explodinga d unleashing a circular wave of fire in Tekken's direction.

Seeing this attack coming, Tekken quickly reacted by changing her flight path, halting her motion and flapping her wings to ascend upwards. This allowed her to escape the wave, and when she looked down her eyes widened slightly when she saw how Shana's back erupted in flames as well, forming a pair of fiery bird wings akin to that of a phoenix's, which flapped once to propel her upwards after the demonic Martial Artist. "Heh, you're not the only one who can fly!" Shana bellowed, instantly closing the distance between them and endig up directly opposite her with her Katana reared back for a horizontal cleaving strike. Tekken crossed her arms to block it, and an erution of flames leapt forth from the Katana upon impact, knocking her backwards a couple meters, but other than some rapidly fading burn marks on her gauntlets Tekken remained mostly fine.

Aside from wanting to smash that girl's face in even more, that is.

 **"HAVE a TASTE of THIS!"** The woman bellowed as her third eye opened itself wider whilst Demonic Energy began building within it. Shana didn't like the look of that, as she quickly created a wall of flames in front of her for defence, not nowing what would be coming but not wanting it to hit her. Rearing her head back, Tekken howled as she bobbed her head forwards, her Third Eye letting loose the energy built up within and firing a long, thin yet concentrated energy beam straight towards Shana's position. To her satisfaction and pleasure, Tekken grinned evilly when she saw it impacting the flames and creating an explosion, one which utterly consumed the space in front of her as well as everything within 20 meters of their shared airspace.

 **"HMPH! Nothing MORE…"**

FWOOSH! PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW- PEW-!

 **"?!"**

However, that grin soon got wiped off her face when a HIEN suddenly shot through the smoke…. Accompanied by a whole barrage of firey beams which came from the top and bottom. **"TCH!"** Tekken quickly flipped herself over onto her back, flapped her wings and flew backwards to avoid the beams, grimacing all the while. Behind her, the fiery beams slammed into the spot she had once occupied, the HIEN advancing through them and seemingly absorbing the flames. As a result, the whole thing increased in size as well as width, making the woman realize how avoiding it by going to the side or backing away wouldn't help things. Therefore, she formed another way to get out of its way and then, Tekken twisted into an aerial ascent to avoid the HIEN by a hair's breadth, ending up several decades of meters higher.

Just as she stopped moving and made to look down again, Tekken sensed danger coming which caused her to quickly twist into a reverse side hook kick, ending up blocking a swinging fery Katana with her leg's shin. Looking towards its source, Tekken's infernal gaze settled upon the equally fiery gaze of the Katana's wielder, Shana snarling at her whils their attacks struggled for dominance, neither giving nor taking ground due to being mostly equal in strength. This stalemate didn't last long though, for the two quickly broke it off and got some distance between them, Tekken already having prepared the same beam attack from her third eye that she'd used before. Once it launched itself, instead of just blocking it like she had before, Shana scoffed as she flew to the side and descended down low, resulting in a down to rising arc which would end up in Shana being behind her opponent. Before this happened though, the demonic energy beam cut a deep, long gash through the simulated battle ground itself, leaving behind nothing but flames and charcoal in its wake.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-!

… As well as a trail of explosions mixed with harsh fire and heat.

'Tch, best not let that hit me directly otherwise I'd be in some deep trouble…' the crimson redhead thought as she shot towards Tekken's rear from below, swinging her Katana in an upward swing. However, Tekken managed to glance at hr, perceive the incoming threat, and hopped higher into the air at the last second, flipping backwards to avoid the swing. After she got upright, Tekken dashed forwards into a spinning helicopter kick, one which Shana strafed backwards to avoid wbilst raising her hand to the air above her head. "SHINKU!" she called out, and from the space above her hand a fiery magic circle manifested. From her body, a surge of fire erupted, shooting upwards as it formed a massive arm tipped with an equally large hand. That hand then swung itself down onto Tekken, fist clenched as if to try and bonk her on her head for being naughty, and whilst Tekken tried to defend herself b crossing her arms above herself, her wings mimicking her actions it ended up with her getting smacked down into the ground below.

BOOM!

The ground shook with the collision made to it, alongside the skyscraper sized dust cloud which rose to the air to greet its creator. Shana, meanwhile, didn't let that distract her for she didn't sense Tekken's presence disappear with her SHINPAN, and instead prepared her next attack with the time she had bought herself. Gripping her Katana in both hands, Shan held it underneath her right armpit, letting flames start gathering around its blade in the form of a spiral. By the time a couple seconds passed, her attack had been completely prepared, and it just so happened that Tekken emerged from the dust cloud RIGHT at that moment, causing a smirk to spread across Shana's lips.

"Now, FALL! DANZAI!"

Following her callout, Shana's Katana released a fire blast in Tekken's direction, one which looked significantly larger than the rest of the ones she had used previously. Seeing it coming down on her, the young Martial Artist growled under her breath as she clenched her fists, crimson Lightning arching around her limbs. 'Tch, that looks pretty dangerous… I'll have to go a bit further then, hopefully I don't go overboard…' she thought to herself, a phantom laughter echoing inside the depths of her mind which she ignored in favour of prepping her next attack. Rearing her right fist backwards, Tekken gritted her teeth behind her lips as the attack came down on her, just short of touching her form when she finally struck.

 **"HAH!"**

With that cry, Tekken thrusted her right arm forwards and, thanks to her arm being covered in crimson lightning, thousands of long, thin streaks suddenly launched off it and into the fire blast, creating a stalemate between the two which didn't last long. In the end, the Lightning won out due to it still being connected to Tekken and thus able to receive constant energy supplying, whilst the fire blast lacked this advantage, and as such it got split in half, the streaks soon speeding towards the disintegrating fire blast's creator who formed a wall of fire in front of her. Unlike the last one though, this attack remained intact upon collision, and since she could sense that the piercing power of her Lightning wasn't going to cut it (she likely would have ran out of Demonic Power which maintained her current form before breaking through), Tekken cut the power from it and instead chose to engulf her entire body in crimson Lightning, generating an electrical field around herself, before she shot forwards or rather that was what it looked like to the casual observer.

"?!"

Shana's eyes widened at the speed displayed, but a quick use of her SHINPAN allowed her to sense that it was actually teleportation through the usage of Lightning. 'Tch, teleportation, too?!' she thought as she swiftly turned with her Katana raised, blocking a Lightning covered fist in a jabbing motion (she barely heard the word CHIDORI being mentioned, so she figured that to be the technique's name), creating an explosion of Lightning which sent Shana flying across the airspace. As she rolled through the air with her centre of balance gone, her danger senses spiked as Shana unleashed a HIEN in the direction it came from, managing to stop a series of streaks Tekken had fired at er long enough to regain her balance using the momentum, and then clash once again with the young demonic woman.

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-!

They went, constantly circling around one another as they exchanged blows at high speeds, Shana with her own strength whilst Tekken's got augmented by the Lightning Field she had generated. The latter of the two switched things up, using her whole body as a wweapon such as her fists, her elbows, shoulders, knees, feet, legs etc. She even fuired off a few short ranged and weakened variants of that beam attack from her third eye whenever Shana was least expecting it, only to be met with near-second dodges from the crimson redhead every time.

Coming in for a sausage spin into a downward axe kick, Tekken's Lightning covered foot got blocked by Shana's flaming Katana, unleashing streaks of both elements upon collision. Shana then switched to a thrust from that very position by shifting the angle of her weapon, allowing the Katana to gather ower whilst shooting towards Tekken's stomach area, said Martial Artist quickly sussing out her opponent's intentions. As a result, the three eyed woman swiftly fired a beam from her third eye at the Katana, using it to reangle the blade's thrust to underneath her left arm. This caused Shana's eyes to widen slightly in surprise, whilst Tekken smirked sadistically, her eyes shining brightly with malicious intent as she raised her left arm and SLAMMED its elbow right into her back, causing her adversary to gasp… and then Tekken frowned as her opponent got knocked down only by a few meters before righting herself. **"AWWWW… and THIS was WHY I hoped THAT had SPEARED you AND ended THIS…"**

"Pft, please!" Shana scoffed, wiping away the spit which came out of her lips with the sleeve of her coat, the right corner of her mouth twitching upwards whilst flames began to condense around her Katana. "Like something like that would have pierced me, if it had I'd fail as a Spec Ops Agent." She stated. "Now then, since we've done warming up, I'll see if you can take me seriously."

Tekken's three eyes narrowed darkly at that. If she were in her human form, she likely would have trembled at the thought behind the fact that Shana had been holding back until now, but in her current form that wouldn't be an issue. Whereas she had been a battle-crazed masochistic girl in her human form, this form had the effects of altering her mind, as shown throughout this battle. She could no longer feel any form of satisfaction behind being dealt pain like she had in her human form, no all she felt was a desire to get her claws on that pretty little neck Shana had, then ruthlessly tear it off the rest of her body. Right now, this battle served as a means of keeping her focused, but she also had to keep herself from losing control and going overboard, something which would prove taxing on the mind due to the stress of battle. Still, aside from that, she also felt one other thing than her destructive urges, proof being her mouth twisting into a downright psychotic smile. **"WHAT an INCREDIBLE coincidence. SO was I."**

* * *

Down below, standing in the midst of a desolated, burning battleground, young Cecil stood there silently whilst her head reared itself towards the heavens above, keeping track of the battle occurring above her. The young maiden's eyes danced across from one side to another, keeping watch of both fighters and their various lightning/fire based attacks as they literally filled the airspace around them. If anyone tried to fly right now, the blonde girl didn't doubt that they'd be either burnt to a crisp from Shana's flames, or be speared clean on through by the many Lightning attacks Tekken sported.

'Geez, these two... they're fighting on a whole different league than me...'

That was her sole thought on the matter as she stared, completely mesmerized, up to the fighters above. If any onlookers would be able to describe this as a fight between angels, they would be sorely mistaken since to her, it seemed like just the opposite. Also, just how else could she describe the battle taking place above her? There was literally noting she had in her short time on the battlefield which could compare to the sheer scale of the battle taking place, to the point where she slowly got the feeling of being like an ant staring up at two potential 'boots' which could squash her with absolute ease. As Cecil watched the fighting up top, she gradually shifted her facial expression into a pout, one which became increasingly pronounced as things went on. 'Mou… this sucks, I came all this way and yet I've just been tossed aside, left as a mere spectator...!' she ranted in her mind, well, it hadn't been that way in the beginning, more of a realization which only dawned on her up till now, but it then became that way by the end off her thought process.

Now, don't get her wrong, Cecil wasn't someone who would rush into things blindly, she wasn't foolish enough to do something that unbelievably reckless. Plus, even if she was, she didn't exactly have a way to climb up the air to the level which the others were currently at, not to mention the mobility issue. As such, Cecil remained perfectly aware of the fact that, as she was right now, she wouldn't be able to take part in this battle. If they took it back to the ground, maybe she could lend a hand despite Tekken having told her not to interfere, but sadly reality was a cruel mistress. As such, she wouldn't be able to do much of anything at all, just remain here like a useless little lamb unable to change anything on her own...

No, this wasn't how it was supposed to be!

Wasn't the reason WHY she wanted to be a Spec Ops Agent to change things? For her village and her parents?

Yeah, that's right, she did want to do that! So, why then?! Why was she just lounging around here in acceptance when she SHOULD be thinking of ways to support her comrade?!

Thinking back on it, Cecil always liked Spec Ops Agents more than the military, much like the majority of the girls and women in her Village. Most of them liked those guys due to how 'cool' they were, how they always conducted themselves with professionalism and idolized them as if they were superheroes. Furthermore, they just seemed like they got more work done right than the military, plus those guys were mostly under the pockets of various Nobles and had been proven as such with more than a few case examples, so not many people respected the military much nowadays. Many of the girls her own age fawned over the most well-known ones as she had mentioned before, as well as fantasized what it would be like to end up being saved by them as if they were their handsome princes here to whisk them away like in children's fairy tails. At one point, even Cecil herself had that fantasy, she HAD been a young girl back then and girls tended to fantasize about these things at that age, an age where they would blindly love anything related to prince and princesses in these imaginary fairy tails only made so that the children had something to look up to.

However, as she'd grown up, Cecil had to drift away from that mindset the more she began to 'see' the world for what it truly was. In her village, crime wasn't really uncommon, nor was it drastic enough to warrant anything extreme. It may have had the above average rating in comparison to other villages, but on the whole people usually had content lives there, especially since it was close enough to MICROSOFT that Spec Ops Agents there would be able to get here easily to solve the more drastic cases. That was how they usually interacted with the young maidens known as fangirls, where most of the Agents either stayed professional with them or outright flirted with them, those ones being the ones Cecil detested. They didn't fit her ideal of how a Spec Ops Agent should be, an ideal she had forged thanks to the stories she'd heard from her father about them. To her, the ideal Spec Ops Agent resembled someone strong, dark, with an air of mystery surrounding them, of someone who knew the true nature of the world as well as went through countless hardships yet still kept moving forwards with their heads held high. As such, Cecil always had pretty high standards for them, and most Agents didn't really live up to them which had at multiple points in her life, made her wonder if her father had lied to her about how they were in his eyes.

Then, she'd started looking through the various newspapers and asked around for any kind of Spec Ops Agents from the local taverns and bars and stuff, see if there were any hidden 'gems' at the advisement of her father, to see if his stories really were just that or if there had been some truth in them like he'd claimed. At first, Cecil didn't have many expectations or confidence going into this task, since she had seen quite a few Spec Ops Agents growing up, enough to make her... not as fangirly as the rest of the girls in her village. She figured that she wouldn't find anyone who'd fit the criteria which she had built up over the years, but then. she'd came across a small article near the back of one of the many Newspapers she'd cycled through, an article so small and made to look so minor, that it wouldn't be a surprise if Cecil would have dismissed it. On that day though, she hadn't, and because of that...

She first learned of a Spec Ops Agent she had absolutely NO clue about:

DEATHSTROKE.

What happened afterwards? Well, she didn't think more on that since her thoughts got interrupted by a huge explosion, one caused by Shana firing a DANSAI at one of Tekken's eye beams, in which the former used this to her advantage to circle around and collide with her opponent to enter a slashing fest, then kick her away before she could gather Demonic Power into her hand for that CHIDORI thing of hers. Tekken did of course retaliate by throwing out a bunch of Lightning Balls her way, but Shana created a wall of flame which blocked them, prompting the demonic Martial Artist to teleport via a flash of Lightning behind her with her whole body engulfed with the stuff. She then proceeded to spin around rapidly and repeatedly, becoming a practical Lightning Tornado which drew the other girl in, and once Shana was forcefully pulled close enough, Tekken wailed on her with a series of punches enhanced by her crimson Lightning, forcing Shana to block or parry them if she didn't want to get electrocuted, easily kicking away the kick the former launched as a sneak attack before shooting her with a few lightning bolts to stagger her, then helicopter kicked her downwards. Like before, Shana didn't fall down too far, showing off her experience with aerial combat.

The sight of which caused Cecil to scowl angrily, although this just made her look cuter honestly, as she quickly saw an emerging problem. Tekken and Shana weren't holding back their attacks, with just one of them landing outside the barriers surrounding this simulation and creating explosions which could destroy entire mountain ranges. Even so, it looked like neither of them were giving it their all, and for a while that confused the heck out of her until Cecil figured it out, that if they DID go all out then the damage scales may be too big to be recorded and endured by the simulation, and as a result it would likely fail and the Exam would be forcibly finished before it could be truly completed. Cecil saw proof of this when she saw slight cracks forming in the skies above them, not to mention it didn't help that far from them the sounds of magic attacks and explosions detailed how intense the battle between IF, MAGES. and whomever they were fighting had become. If anything, Cecil found herself impressed at how this simulation had even stayed so operational for this long with so many powerhouses colliding like this.

'Wait, that doesn't matter right now!' Cecil thought, rapidly shaking her head which made her hair swerve about in a wild, frantic manner, perfectly mirroring the urgency she felt in her chest as she looked back up into the battle in the skies. Seeing as how it had reached a stalemate and wasn't likely going to end soon, made her eyes harden and lose any sense of doubt or anxiety they could have had. 'There's no time for me to waste! If I don't do something, then this battle may be forced to a draw, and THAT wouldn't look good for anyone.' she thought, gripping her right arm with her left hand. 'I may not be able to fly, but... there IS something I can do!' Glancing at her arm, then the bandaged object still strapped to her back, Cecil closed her eyes briefly, then opened them with a sharp gaze and nodded in resolution to herself. 'Mrs Dawson told me not to use it unless necessary, but right now I think this situation qualifies as such!' With that in mind, Cecil swiftly reached behind her and hoisted the object strapped there out of its holding place, placing both hands on it and holding it out in front of her. The moment she did so, Cecil winced when she felt her right arm suddenly erupt with a sizzling pain, throbbing as if it were its own living organism being exposed to an enormous heat source. 'I may not be able to fly, but there's more way to clip a bird's wings...!'

With that, Cecil gritted her teeth and gripped the objects bandages, sending a mental command to it and proceed to start the beginning of the end...

For this pathetic stalemate that is.

* * *

Inside the monitor room...

"Mrs Orimura, we've got more cracks coming!"

"Reinforce the barriers! Divert all unused power to maintaining the simulation!"

"What about the teams? Are there any left?!"

"They all gave up when they saw Eto come into the scene, Mrs! Only those four girls are still in this!"

Yeah, there was chaos.

Alarms blared all over the place, small bell icons on ever worker's monitor whereas the alarms themselves sounded like the generic horns one would hear in these kinds of facilities. Not only that but even in the centre of the forest, the massive tremors and the cracks in the skies above could be both felt AND detected by their systems. Countless problem, warning and error messages kept popping up with each tremor, forcing countless efforts to fix them and maintain the Simulation to be made, yet each of the Workers put in 110% effort into their assigned tasks. Mostly so the Exam could be completed, but also due to the fact that if they didn't they'd be... disciplined lets just say, by a combination of Chifuyu, Ibiki AND Helen herself.

Nobody wants THAT nightmarish combination, nobody.

Meanwhile, Chifuyu herself had a slight bead of sweat as she rapidly gave out commands and orders to the rest of the staff she supervised, all the while looking at the Monitor which showed two screens. Both screens showcased the two battles taking place, IF and MAGES. vs Eto, as well as Shana vs Tekken. The first battle was proceeding... well, as one would expect from a psycho like Eto whom had, through repeated 'eating' had developed strong magical resistance, had been pitted against a Mage of all things. Chifuyu wasn't foolish enough to ignore the rumours, rumours that Eto had hunted the greatest number of Mages from both Maghda's Coven and Mages from Lowee who'd try to occasionally sneak into Leanbox to stir up trouble, she practically LIVED to torment those poor fools who thought that because they stayed within their little hidey holes all their lives that they would be safe from the outside world. They'd DEFINITELY get a rude awakening from that ideal, and their last ever in this mortal world, although with recent events Chifuyu had doubts about calling this world a Mortal one at this point, since it now had begun getting filled with these immortal monsters and deities who couldn't be matched by ordinary means. Even with IF's help, said girl can't do much to Eto due to A: Eto having strong physical resistance thanks to her current form as well as her eating, and B: the fact that the one codenamed CANNIBAL moved around so much whilst bombarding her with ranged projectiles like there was a hack on her which made them seem nigh unlimited. Well, even Chifuyu didn't know how many Eto could sustain, and she didn't WANT to either, since fighting her when in that form of hers was a goddamn nightmare.

As for the other fight... well, that one had a whole LEAGUE of surprises to it. First off, she had expected Shana to eventually take the battle to the skies, since out of a majority of their Agents, Shana specialised in Aerial Combat the most,, due to her upbringing requiring her to be like that. Furthermore, her fire abilities seemed to have grown beyond what Chifuyu had expected since they last encountered one another, which only showed that she had been taking her training seriously since the last time they met, likely so people wouldn't look down on her for being so young in their rankings. Aside from here, there was that masochistic girl Tekken, and she knew that the girl had masochistic tendencies from a few of the fights she'd seen her throw herself into without any hesitation. First, she didn't seem all that much when compared to Shana's greater experience, power set and overall combat ability, her gauntlets and Greeves set definitely packed a punch during the initial fighting, but once that... that THING she became emerged from her body, Chifuyu had to suppress the migraine she felt at the thought of how utterly crazy things had become thanks to this revelation. The fact that there was someone who could do something like THIS, something similar to that one rumour about there being a guy who could attain a similar transformation, utterly baffled her and made her question the reality of things that she knew it as. This only got worse as Tekken and Shana constantly collided with one another, trying to one up each other's powers with their own as Tekken showcased remarkable manipulation over that crimson lightning of hers, such as shapi9ng it into various forms like Spears, fists, lightning bolts, beams (excluding that eye beam, that one had its own creepy factor to it), heck she even used it in a form of electromagnetism to pull Shana in close sometimes, although it didn't always work. Using it to amplify her martial arts techniques seemed like her main attack strategy however, the rest seemed more like add-ons to her, ways to diversify her limited skillset.

Nonetheless, watching these fights gave her ideas, ideas on what these potential Spec Ops Agents could be given Codenames for.

* * *

Up in the air, Tekken growled audibly, like a feral animal with her eyes rapidly expanding and shrinking back to their normal size. Her form slouched over slightly whilst her arms hung themselves in front of her, her wings constantly flapping to keep her afloat at this high an altitude. Furthermore, her current demonic form couldn't be said to be at 100% right now, for her shoulders had long fiery orange gashes running through them, small ones forming 'paths' down her sides and hips, whilst her legs and arms had just randomly positioned ones which came from blocking so many of her strikes. Furthermore, the flickering aura surrounding her resembled a dispersing ember, a flickering flame on the verge of dying out... Something which actually defined how she currently felt right now quite well. Obviously, this battle had taken its toll on her, as despite her repeated attempts to electrify this little brat, rake through her flesh and tear out her organs to hang them out for all to see, Tekken had definitely taken a beating in this fight, to the point where she feared she might not be able to go on for much longer. That didn't sit well with her, especially since she worried a bit about how MAGES. and IF were doing back with whomever they had been fighting, due to the explosions happening out the corner of her eye which she barely managed to see with her peripheral vision despite the dust clouds rivalling multi story buildings in height. Whomever those two had been fighting, they packed heat, and whenever she realized this about an opponent MAGES. fought, she worried about the Mad Magician's status... even if right now she focused more on getting even with the fucker who was currently beating the stuffing out of her...

Literally.

'This isn't good...' she thought, already feeling the tension of the looming situation she had fallen into. As much as Tekken behaved like a Demon of Khorne in this form, the blackette knew one thing about it which contributed to one of the few flaws it presented. Using this form's power may be essentially like unleashing an Overdrive Skill like the one Nico used but on steroids, however its one limitation was that it consumed a LOT of Demonic Power to maintain, guzzled it down like the most ill-mannered of guests at a party wolfing down their food without an end in sight. As such, this form was now nearly upon its time limit, as she could feel her power reserves dwindling rapidly. Throughout the months since she got this form, Tekken had trained it extensively so she could decrease the consumption rate or at least increase her Demonic Power reserves, however to her dismay the progress could be described to be as slow as a turtle. In the time it took to get her this far, Tekken bet that someone like Nico could train to keep his DDD Form for another couple months. Even so, despite this weakness this form had to be her strongest trump card by far, as it allowed her to unleash the full extent of her Demonic Powers, with her human form only capable of a weakened, toned down version of what she could do in this one. Aside from the eye beam, THAT stayed exclusive to this form. 'Guess I got so worked up that I wasted too much time here...! If I don't end this quickly, then I may not last much longer...'

It wasn't her who noticed this change though, as much to her inner dismay, Shana also noticed when she caught sight of her state. Through a scan of her using her SHINPAN, it revealed to her the extend of Tekken's decision and a knowing look formed on her face. "I see... I figured something like this had to be the weakness to this form of yours..." she commented, mentally smirking inside. She may have not looked it, but Shana herself felt like she had used up to 50% of her power so far, not bad for a rookie if she said so herself. Part of her did worry about this Demonic presence she sensed inside of the rookie since Demons tended to cause chaos and destruction wherever they went. Something which the surrounding destruction showed the proof of, albeit some of it had been of her own making, but in Shana's defence her strikes had been more on the defensive side since her fighting so far had been a bit of a mix between offence and defence, the latter becoming more prevalent over time. The destruction she had seen easily made Shana classify Tekken in her current state to have reached Mountain Class in terms of the Spec Ops power rankings, and by that she indicated that in her mind... "That form may be powerful, but like a Drive Skill it excessively consumes a lot of energy to maintain, which explains why you relied on that external power source in those arm and leg weapons for the majority of our fight's beginning. You wanted to save it as a last resort before you had to fight someone seriously, as once that form vanishes, a majority of your power will have been spent along with it." Shana remarked, a calculating tone in her voice as she eyed the demonic Martial Artist up and down, noting her damaged state from their fighting. "Doesn't look like you have any healing factor, either, unlike a lot of people I know."

 **"GEEZ, you're ANNOYING, you KNOW that, RIGHT?!"** Despite her current form's situation, one thing which didn't change was the viciousness which took over Tekken's being, a snort escaping her lips soon afterwards as an angry smile followed suit. Anger, bloodlust, malicious intent, those things dominated her being at the moment thanks to this form, and due to her weakened state she slowly but surely began to lose the strength to keep herself in line, especially since internally Tekken felt like the scraping claws of the Demon inside were wildly raking away at her mental barriers meant to shield her mind from total dominion by the malicious entity's hands. She of course, had prepared for this, but even then Tekken could never have known just how difficult it was maintaining her sanity with this thing constantly trying to make her... like it. The woman's eyes shone with malice and bloodlust due to the twisted nature which occupied the driver's seat in her mind at the current present. **"DAMN tsundarian, I have NO clue WHY these FILTHY weebs LIKE such ARCHETYPES!"**

Hearing that caused Shana's brow to twitch angrily, as well as a tick mark to form on her forehead whilst flames erupted around her due to her anger. "Don't call a superior such names, brat!" Shana roared, gripping her Katana tightly in an attempt to stop herself from neutering the applicant out of sheer spite. She then saw how Tekken made to say something else, but quickly made to halt such statements before they could even leave her mouth. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" With anger making her eyes only see red, Shana howled as she raised her Katana up above her head, letting a MASSIVE amount of fire erupt from it like a volcano, forming a fireball large enough for it to overshadow practically the ENTIRE forest. The flames roared and screamed like they were alive, reflecting the furious demeanour of their wielder who looked down at her opponent like she were a spirit of vengeance crawling out the depths of hell to drag Tekken back down into the raging infernal realm of damnation. Seeing it, Tekken's eyes widened in shock at the fact that despite everything she had thrown at the young girl, she still possessed this much power left, and according to her senses when she briefly used them, Tekken discovered that she STILL had plenty left to spare, which pretty much summarized the massive gap in fighting prowess between them. Even if she were to go full out with her Martial Arts and Beowulf, Tekken doubted she'd be able to pull out a win. "Just lay down and DIE why don't you!"

'Guess... this is it for me, then...' Tekken thought as she slowly stood upright, trembling a bit as she did so. Her eyes shone with a determination to fight back till the bitter end, absolutely REFUSING to lay down like a little bitch and die. Giving up wasn't in her vocabulary anyways, plus she'd gotten this far as both an applicant for the Exam as well as a warrior pursing the martial path. She refused to turn her back on the path she had forged for herself, the fact that this was merely a simulation having vanished from the blackette's mind, although in reality this wouldn't have mattered anyways, for be it in reality or a simulation like this, Tekken's views on her path of martial arts would not change. Nope, not one BIT. 'Still, if I can at least wound her, that might be enough to give my comrades an edge in fighting her, since like me she also doesn't seem like she can heal, and if she has Items in her inventory then it means that she has a definite amount of them, she'd run out eventually if we shower her with big enough attacks.' Tekken thought as she gathered what power she had left into her third eye, which began to shimmer and glow brightly with crimson lightning sparks being released from it. 'I'll not die on the ground snivelling like a coward! This Martial Artist will do what she can till the very end!'

With their thoughts and opinions set, both Shana and Tekken reared their strikes back, determined to end this with one final blow which would decide the outcome of the battle. Both wouldn't back down, both were determined beyond common sense to win this battle, determined to prove to the other who was the absolute strongest in this little fight of theirs. Neither of them would accept true defeat unless they absolutely WRECKED one another, something both of them saw in each other's eyes, that being the sole thing they could agree on.

 **"YOU ready, TSUNDARIAN! This TIME, you PERISH!"**

"Hah, that's my line, battle junkie! You're dead meat!"

 **"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"**

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Both let out their loudest battle cries, making to fire their respective attacks at one another...

"Oh no you don't!"

… When out of nowhere, a third party intervened, bringing everything between them to a halt without mercy.

"?!"

 **"?!"**

All of a sudden, both parties eyes widened when, out of completely nowhere, a hand, one MASSIVE hand which exceeded the size of Shana's fireball so it instantly dwarfed Tekken as well, suddenly appeared above them. It loomed over the two in an imposing, nigh tyrannical manner whilst looking like it wasn't even truly there, like a ghost or an illusion. However, such thoughts soon vanished from their minds when the hand slammed down on the two of them, forcefully pressing them into the ground and dousing the mighty fireball, directing the explosive power behind it into the ground and away from them. The sounds of something cracking filled their senses, but thanks to the shock of what they had just experienced, both girls ignored the cracking for the time being. Instead, as the hand vanished from their forms after pinning them to the earth for a few moments, they instead looked towards the direction that one feminine voice had come from before their faces literally met dirt.

'What the... heck?! What was that?! That hand just came out of nowhere and practically curbstomped that fireball like it was nothing!'

'For a hand like that to extinguish the flames of heaven themselves, just who could...?'

Tekken (whom now had reverted to her human form with her Demonic Power utterly extinguished), and Shana (whose wings were now gone, extinguished by the spectral hand) thought these thoughts whilst looking to the source of the female voice, although the former in a moment of haziness from the forceful suppression of her bloodthirstiness, found the voice to be quite familiar despite being unable to place a finger on its identity. Finally, their eyes gazed upon the cause of their fights sudden halting, and when they did so... they discovered that it had been Cecil, who stood before them with her left arm hanging beside her and her right laid out as if she was slapping her palm onto the ground before her. Tekken, seeing this, made to inquire as to why Cecil decided to interfere and ruin the fight for her, a moment of residue influence from her Demonic Power actually, when her eyes fully focused on her right arm just as Shana's had...

And that right arm DEFINITELY didn't look the same as it had been before.

Now, gone was the human right arm and glove which covered it, no longer existing actually. Instead, taking its place was something else entirely, its shape causing both girls to go absolutely wide eyed and slack jawed. Her right arm... up to the elbow, it lacked anything human, and instead took the form of a crimson coloured reptilian-esque clawed limb instead. The arm's palm and last two digits of each finger glowed a brilliant orange colour, bright enough to illuminate a night sky, whilst each one was connected to orange streaks that ran along the back of the forearm, connecting to a vaguely star shaped glowing patch on the back of the hand. The back of the hand and the backside of the arm also looked to be covered in a reddish coloured hide, one that lead up to an extended elbow. On the front side of the forearm were bright orange streaks. Lastly, the entire arm radiated an aura of power, an aura which did not lose out to the aura belonging to the Demonic form which Tekken had taken previously.

"Cecil... is that...?"

Tekken tried to say something, but then Cecil reached with her left arm towards something she had impaled onto the ground beside her, drawing the blackette's attention towards it, and boy did her shock increase afterwards. For what she reached for was actually a weapon, a weapon which Tekken quickly identified (due to the length of it and referencing it to the bandaged object making her realize that the two were one in the same) as a sword. Though, this sword looked much unlike that of ones she had seen before, though then again she had seen quite a few monstrous-looking swords in her time in this Dimension, Nico's Soul Edge being a decent example. This sword also would count amongst that list due to how it sort of resembled a single-edged sword with a knife-like hilt construction, being about 1 meter in length. What was MOST unique about the blade was how it sported a motorcycle-like grip with a matching lever over it. The young girl held the massive blade in her left hand, like it were a baseball bat since she held it over her shoulder like a gangster. Her Arm's aura intensified as if it sensed the Sword having been put into her waiting hand whilst the weapon itself radiated its own aura of power, making Cecil look like someone caught in the middle of two opposing forces, yet acted as the medium to keep them in line.

Shana's eyes glowered at the other girl, gritting her teeth in anger and frustration, her pride having been damaged by the sneak attack launched on her. "I see... so that's how it is..." she muttered, scowling as she held her Katana in one hand this time. For a moment, she had been just as puzzled as Tekken had been with this newest change, but a quick use of her SHINPAN identified a few things which helped her figure out what was going on here. "So, you too have been touched by demonic powers, that arm... its a mutation of sorts, probably a side effect of something, something which I see that sword may be to do with." she remarked, pointing her Katana at the other blade. Its relatively thin size compared to that of the other sword almost felt laughable in comparison, if it hadn't already displayed frightening power beforehand. Not to mention that the blade also radiated an aura which identified it as something similar to what Tekken had used in the beginning of their fight, not the same shape but the same NATURE. At this point, she found it safe to assume they both belonged in the same category or something, if they even named them anything at all. Her fiery eyes narrowed at the abnormal-looking arm, and saying THAT would be an understatement. "If I had to guess, I'd say that you used some spell to hide it from the world, at least up until now."

"Well, your sorta right... yet not at the same time." Cecil answered, rolling her eyes in Shana's direction. Idly, she glanced over at Tekken, her eyes flashing for a moment. In that moment, the martial artist swore she saw something in those blue orbs... something like... an apologetic look? She wasn't sure, since it was gone before she could properly identify it, but pretty soon those thoughts left her mind thanks to what happened next. Gripping the sword's hilt, Cecil growled as her arm's aura glowed brighter, Shana's SHINPAN telling her that energy was being channelled through the blade itself. As a result, the massive sword, became wreathed in crimson red coloured flames much like that of Shana's own powers. However, unlike hers, Cecil's felt much more akin to the wild and chaotic nature of the Hellfire a Demon would command, not to mention how, when she revved the sword's handle, the blade's flames quickly intensified and shifted colours, increasing the temperature they possessed by turning from red, to orange and finally white. The moment that they turned white, the immediate surroundings of Cecil acted like they were being burned alive, sizzling sounds erupting all around her, though Cecil herself remained unaffected.

"But lets not get into the technical stuff, since we DO have a fight to win..."

After saying this, Cecil paused and gave a condescending smirk, her eyes shining like the flames which covered her sword. She then twirled a full 360 degrees, swinging her sword in a reverse under arch motion which ended in it going upwards. However, this resulted in a literal WHEEL of white hot flames being released and launched straight towards Shana's position. Quickly, the said Spec Ops Agent jumped to the side to dodge it, intending to summon her wings and get some distance from the girl, only for Cecil to rear her arm back and thrust it forwards. This resulted in a spectral arm, much like the reptilian claw in shape with an orange fiery colour, to appear and launch itself towards Shana, grabbing her, raising her up slightly and then slamming her into the ground like someone playing whack-a-mole. Brought a few chuckles out of the girls due to the comparison, they'd admit that. Afterwards, Cecil's flames reverted to a crimson colour, catching Tekken's attention whilst Shana missed it due to groaning whilst stumbling back onto her feet. Regardless, Cecil smirked as the spectral arm vanished, letting her jump forwards and rev her sword again, turning the flames orange as she used them as a jet to propel herself forwards like a spinning top, resulting in an overhead smash which, upon contact with a hastily raised Katana from Shana, caused the girl's feet to buckle as a crater large enough to fully house a double decker bus formed beneath her.

'This... this is...!'

Not one to let this advantage slide, Cecil kicked Shana in the jaw, one which she barely dodged by tilting her head back, allowing Shana to back flip into a similar attack aimed at the same place. However, just like her, Cecil flipped backwards to, her sword's flames once again returning to their crimson state as she stabbed it into the ground, creating a small fissure which soon halted her, Cecil revving her sword again to make the flames turn white once more, and then following it up by yanking the blade out whilst swinging upwards, creating a line of white flame pillars which raced towards Shana's position. Shana in turn, responded by launching a HIEN at them, cancelling both attacks out in explosions of white and orange flames... only for the blonde girl to launch her Spectral Arm through the smoke, grab Shana and pull her over to her position, her sword having been reared back for a reverse swing, the handle having been revved again for White Flames to manifest over the weapon to allow her to rapidly spinning top swing into Shana's form. Barely raising her Katana in time to block and reinforcing it with her flames, Shana gasped when the full force of the enemy blade slammed into her own, causing Shana to be sent flying backwards. This didn't last for long though, since Cecil grabbed her whilst she was still flying back with a spectral arm, pulled her in close, then brought her still white flame-covered blade down on Shana's stomach, smashing her into the ground enough to make a human sized crater, although no white flames formed on her due to her obvious resistance to fire. Kicking her away so she didn't try anything, Cecil hefted her sword onto her Shoulder.

"Why not take me out on a (date) spin, me and my beloved Berial, Eh? Mrs Spec Ops Agent san?"


	197. Chapter 166 - Spec Ops Exam PT 5

**Chapter 166 - Spec Ops Exam PT 5**

BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH- BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-BOOM-CRASH-SMASH-BASH-SLAM-ROAR-FWOOSH-!

The sounds of chaotic battle filled the ears of the blue haired Mad Magician, occurring al around her and practically embracing her entire being, making her a true central piece of this twisted, crazy battlefield. She described it as crazy, much more than what she herself was used to, due to how many times she had comeclose to death, had her leife flash before her eyes only for some last-minute actions to save her skin, and generally having to fight with every one of her senses operating at their maximum capacity. Her heart thumped wildly against her chest whilst madlypumping her blood through her bloodstream, causing her cheeks to take on a flushed, crimson hue whilst her breathing became wild and erratic. She could hardly find any moments to catch her breath due to the chaos happening around her forcing her to remain on the move, lest she end up losing a limb or perhaps something even worse than that.

Still, it was a fact that, at this moment in time, she wasn't just fighting as a Mage or the Mad Magician, but also as a fighter on the front lines, something which she hadn't really done before not even when she helped her friend and Nico during the whole Hellverse situation. Part of her often wondered if this was what it was like for people like Tekken, IF, Nico etc, basically those who relied on physical ability, whenever they fought one another, and if this was indeed the case MAGES. could certainly respect those kinds of people. She recalled a time in her childhood where she had looked down on those who fought as warriors on the front lines, finding it to be boring, barbaric and completely ugly to the point where it repulsed her. How naieve she had been back then but, in her defence, she had only been a child at the time with no battle experience of her own. Usually she kept a fair distance between her and her opponents so she can bombard them with Magic, as that had been a surefire way stay alive and survive the trials of life, especially when she got tossed into this Dimension which LITERALLY reminded her of an infernal hell due to everything going on inside it.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BURN! SMASH THEM TO BITS-YES! YES, YES, YESSS! RIP OUT THEIR ENTRAILS, FEAST ON THEIR GUTS, HANG THEM UP TO DRY LIKE NICE LITTLE DECORATIOOOOONNNNSSSSS!"

Soon those thoughts then left MAGES. mind when Eto, in her pure bat shit crazy psycho state which she'd fallen into, uquickly behgan wrecking the entire battlefield. She did so by growing dozens of appendages, some wih eyes and mouths on them which smashed about and destroyed their surroundings without mercy, pummelling them into dust. They moved about madly, wildly and without any semblance of tact to them, retty much like savage beasts yet even so, MAGES. and her comrade IF (whom hadn't taken much longer, just a couple minutes to clear about 40 minutes worth of distance) had to jump about like wild chickens if they didn't want to get obliterated.

Though, compared to herself, IF had a slightly easier time since she could just regenerate what she lost, something which the brunette took advantage of by letting some of the appendages hit her and sever pieces of her body, of which she would then form into Replicas and have them strike down the appendages from any blind spot they could reach. Of course, Eto had wised up quickly to how they worked and often targeted their heads to disable them, but in those cases IF just spread out Tendrils and assimilated what Biomass she could.

It… honestly made her wonder just who out fo the two was the real monster, here.

"Windwalker of Gamindustri… you've become quite the terrifying woman, you know that?"

Whilst forming an ice pillar with enough thickness to rival a skyscraper in front of her, MAGES. commented that as she saw her companion land beside her, sliting to a halt whilst her left arm had split into her Tentacles. Her Tentacles helped her deflect the Projectiles which Eto had launched at her into their immediate surroundings, though thanks to the repeated barrage being launched form her Plume at them it seemed that they moved so fast that they may as well be invisible to the naked eye. All the while, the brunette glanced over to her friend's direction, her eyes glowing poison green with slitted cat pupils. "What, me? Nah, if anything you're the greater monster out of us two, causing weather phenomenon for her attacks." IF retorted sarcastically… all the while a piece of her jaw got blown off by a stray projectile. She regenerated soon after, but the brunette acted like she didn't even realize it happened, since she had gotten used to having pieces of herself gone already.

MAGES. only sweat dropped at this.

"Let us… just meet on the middle and say we are both monstrous."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. So, you got any idea who we're dealing with?"

"Sure, you too?"

"Yup."

Both then spoke in unison, glancing towards the rapidly approaching monstrosity as it made to smash their icy defence. "Eto Yoshimura, the One-Eyed Owl."

Eto Yoshimura, codename CANNIBAL. It was a no brainer what this woman was aside from being a sadistic, crazy psychopath: a One-Eyed Ghoul, just like Nico was. However, jjuding by her reputation and how she was viewed by the media whenever reports came in about her deeds, nobody DARED to treat her the same was as they did their friend. Mostly due to how extremely vicious, volatile and utterly POWERFUL she had become ever since forcing herself into the Spec Ops Program. Like, she may not have taken any Exams like the rest of them, but she had the sheer ability to prove herself worthy of being one of them, eve if that sounded completely the opposite of what the relationship between them was. In actuality, Eto herself held the cards as a Spec Ops Agent, having got an unimaginable amount of incriminating material on the Program according to what they had researched about her, which she had threatened to expose to the public unless they were to let her into their ranks. Of course, they agreed whilst discreetly hiring assassins or covertly making quests which said Abnormals were where Eto was and hid her identity so the other Agents would see her as one of them and thus, try to kill her. However, eventually they had iven up on such things since al that had done was simply made Eto more powerful, since she ended up cannibalising Agents left and right, feeding them to her inner Ghoul. Aside from this stuff, they didn't have much info on her background or what her childhood had been like, but both MAGES. and IF could tell for certain that it wasn't necessarily… normal, one could say.

Still, Eto was regardless the same Species as Nico, a One-Eyed Ghoul, a Hybrid of Ghoul and human. Well, this was until the moment Nico lost what remained of his humanity after becoming a DPU, yet still tried to remain 'human' and even reerring to himself in a way which implied he still had SOME humanity left, when it was actually the opposite. Judging by how he acted after spending time with their friends, IF and MAGES. deduced that he had stopped doing such things, embracing the monstrosity inside of him. Backi to Eto though, as a Hybrid of these two species, she held GREAT power on the battlefield.

"HEHEHEHEHEHE, HOW FUN! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN, YES-YES-YES! RING AROUND THE ROSES!"

As one of the few half-Ghoul Hybrids still around due to the persecution of them all those

years ago, Eto inherited of the Ghoulish abilities, along with the enhanced prowess due to the hybrid vigor. From what they'd seen so far, IF and MAGES. could not dispute this fact much, if at all as Eto SMASHED through the icy defence and forced them to separate from one another, as Eto launched herself towards MAGES. to strike with her projectiles, hooting and howling wth maniacal laughter. It had already been shown from the strength those projectiles possessed, but her strength levels definitely surpassed the superhuman level, what with one time how when MAGES. managed to create a Fireball as large as a multi decker bus, she simply swatted it aside without any effort, reducing a large portion of the forest (as well as a bit of the circular barrier) to dust. Another example MAGES. could think of would be when she practically headbutted a Glacier she'd made the size, weight and thickness of a Skyscraper without issue, sending it flying right back towards her position and nearly trapping her had MAGES. not been trying to perfect a fire-based technique to compensate for her inability to fly.

It had already been established in their minds, but both IF and MAGES. found that her Kagune belonged to the Ukaky Variety, due to the fact that the Plume launched projectiles at them like a machine gun. Not to mention she seemed to be EXTREMELY good at controlling the damn thing, what with how she manipulated it into different forms whilst forming eyes and mouths when necessary to try and trap them so many times up until this point. Furthermore, as if her broken skill with it wasn't creepy enough, she just HAD to refine it to where the whole damn thing acted as if it were an extension of her own freaking consciousness, meaning that it didn't take her much effort to wield it in any way she chose. This made sense, since according to IF's studies, the Kagune's potential depended on one's mind and intelligence, the smarter one was then the greater its potency would become, aside form training it physically of course. In addition, Eto had shown them how she too could create detachments from her Kagune, similar to how IF had done with her Replicas by creating weapons, traps and other such things to keep her Replicas from getting too close or blocking them with fleshy walls whenever they tried going for ranged offensives.

"A POCKET FULL OF POSIES!"

However, that would end up being NOTHING in comparison to her ultimate weapon, one which they had caught a glimpse of when Nico had used his back at Halo Mountain, albeit unlike his this one seemed to be a completed version: her Ukaku-based Kakuja. With this thing, whilst her Kagune covered all kinds of ranged battles, her Ukaku seemed to be her solution to close quarters combat. Worse still, thanks to it being a completed version of itself, Eto kept her consciousness intact unlike when Nico unleashed his incomplete Kakuja and practically became a rambling mess unable to identify anything beyond simple enemies. Additionally, like her Kagune Eto showed how she could manipulate and evolve her Kakuja further by spawning more appendages, eyes, mouths etc, things which even spoke in incoherent sentences as if mimicking what she thought and felt at that one moment. If one were to doubts its potency, well, one-time MAGES tried to trap her in a crater that was several hundred feet deep by striking a suitable spot on the ground with Lightning and Force Manipulation, then when she had fallen, MAGES. had formed ice in place of the earth, meant to pin Eto down there until the exam would be over or that they passed… only thing was, the creature just damn blasted right through it and continued raining Projectiles onto her ass.

"A TISSUE-! A TISSUE! WE ALL FALL DOWN!"

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

All this, alongside superhuman a durability (she remained unfazed from being viciously impaled by IF's blades and Axammers for one), superhuman regeneration (quickly repairing her Kakuja and Kagune in seconds after the two girls rarely managed to get the drop on her and sever pieces of it) and superhuman speed (in which th girls could barely track her movements due to being so fast despite her Kakuja's large size)… yeah, Eto was NOT someone they could afford to underestimate, especially MAGES. whom Eto seemed to almost be FIXATED on killing for some reason, something which MAGES. honestly wished she didn't have to go through to the point of being freaking traumatized by it (the things Eto said she would do to her pretty much mortified her beyond belief like licking the backs of her eyeballs whilst they were still in their sockets).

Poor MAGES., she just can't catch a break here…

"Say, how are things over on Tekken's side?" IF suddenly asked after 10 minutes worth of fighting where she managed to regroup with the Mad Magician, watching a small armyof 20 Replicas close in on Eto and make some complex moves to keep her in one place. All for IF to manifest her Tendrils to spew Eto's Kakuja blades with highly destructible acid, all the while she formed her Whip to slice through some area and inject Biomass particles through their Stingers, allowing the blades to explode as well as melt where the Biomass didn't reach. Despite this, IF knew for a fact that this wouldn't keep Eto down, proof being seen a few moments later where she regrew her blades nearly instantly and tore through her Replicas like they were swiss cheese.

Hearing her question, MAGES. glanced over in the direction of the place where she had last sensed Tekken's power flaring about, something which made her narrow her eyes in concern. "I've been… sensing some odd power readings in her direction, and I'm unable to contact her for some reason, likely she is so focused on battle that she's been ignoring my attempts…" she replied, mentally groaning at how tunnel-visioned Tekken could get whenever she's in an exciting fight. It was one thing with physical fighters which still annoyed her, despite the newfound acknowledgement she had for them as a Mage, their desire to fight so much that they ignored everything else. Of course, she knew those who fought like that but didn't let it give them tunnel vision, but it still nonetheless bugged her whenever she encountered the opposite kind. "Looks like Tekken may need some backup, soon." She stated ominously, causing IF to arch a brow at her which MAGES. responded to by shaking her head. Nothing against Cecil, but MAGES. wasn't aware of the scope of her power, plus she was just a new recruit in the whole fighting situation, practically an inexperienced greenhorn. That had been the foundation for IF's response, something which wasn't exactly difficult for the Mad Magician to figure out.

"Alrightie then, still think we shouldn't be underestimating Cecil, but we'll deal. Anyways, in that case you leave this gal to me then." IF eventually stated, nodding in the approaching Eto's direction since she'd just finished taking care of the Replicas. IF's arms shifted into her Blades as she also formed her Armour, her Tendrils readying themselves for battle. MAGES. made to respond negatively to that, but a look from IF stopped those words in their tracks. "Look, I'm the only one out of us two who can keep her at bay, and If I'm not mistaken you've been feeding your Devil Arm your power to keep up its own reserves, right? Well, you've only got enough for a one-way trip, so let me cover for you." She stated, to which MAGES. wanted to retort again, but this time she stopped herself. IF wasn't wrong after all, as between them she had the better power set to dealing with Eto who had strong magic resistance, so it only made sense for her to handle her herself.

…

…

…

…

…

"…Very wel. Good luck." MAGES. finally spoke, showing that she had conceded to IF's request. Well, it was more of a demand, but whatever, she didn't think of it like that as MAGES. aimed her Staff down below and shot a burst of repelling force towards it. This force contained a significant amount of power, enough to launch MAGES. up into the air, in which she then proceeded to fire off a steady stream of fire from the Staff's tip after angling it so the tip pointed behind her and she rode the Staff-shaped Devil Arm like a witch's broom, using Repelling Force to keep her balance on it lest she fall down in to the wilderness below. 'You better stay alive, Gaminduastri's Windwalker, otherwise a shadow of unavoidable doom shall be cast upon us all…' the blunette thought as she remembered the absolutely MURDEROUS look Nico sported when she met him in the Hellverse. Guy was just that damn protective of his comrades, so if one of them got hurt or worse…. She feared for Gamindustri's safety.

Meanwhile.

"HAHAHAHAHA! RUNNING AWAY, ARE WE?!" Screeched Eto, who made to launch a Projectile at the retreating Mad Magician fast enough to create a sonic boom upon its launch. However, IF didn't let that happen as one of her Tendrils shot forth and latched onto it, coiling around the projectile and instantly halting its motion, pulling it back to her waiting form and crushing it. "OH? YOU WANNA BE MY DANCE PARTNER? I'LL ADMIT, I'M INTRIGUED AT WHAT YOUR INNARDS LOOK LIKE, MRS SHAPESHIFTER CHAN!" The mad Ghoul bellowed, cackling with her voice echoing across their surroundings.

"Heh, see that's where you're mistaken about something…"

"OOOOOHHHH?"

Turning to look back at Eto with a smirk under her helmet, which if it could incite death it would have killed the Ghoul a thousand times over, IF rolled her shoulders as she saw Eto coming in for a lunge, her maw open wide. However, before she could clamp down on the brunette, IF aimed her Tendrils down at the ground between them and had all 12 proceed with spewing acid by the galons. 12 streams slammed into the ground, with their corrosion property like thousands of ravenous ants digging into their prey, which resulted in the ground being turned into a 30 feet deep and wide crater in a manner of seconds, much to Eto's surprise.

It wasn't hard to imagine what happened next, as the large Ghoul quickly fell into the pit which IF had made, and before she did so she had even tried to slice away at the brunette with some extra appendages she had generated. However, IF merely swatted them aside with her blades, then shifted them into duel Bio Cannons, slamming her Tendrils into the ground beside her (6 on either side) to propel her above the crater. Eto growled under her breath, her Kakuja's Plume of grotesque appendages elongating as a sign of her being about to fire Projectiles. She then did so, firing a heavy volley of large crystalline projectiles at her opponent… wholm just spewed them with acid to melt them into nothingness before they could even touch her.

"Your words implied that you even had a chance of touching me, now that it's a one-on-one fight."

Aiming her dual Bio Cannons down at the downed Kakuja, IF's smirk became downright NASTY as she prepped her next volley, before pretty much going to town.

* * *

CLASH-CRASH-BANG- CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG-CLASH-CRASH-BANG- CLASH-CRASH-BANG- CLASH-CRASH-BANG-!

Whilst riding her Staff-shaped Devil Arm like a broomstick, something which Wabbajack did NOT seem to like if the emotions of indignation and fury being sent through their link were any indication, MAGES. expected a lot of things when she would inevitably arrive at where Tekken was currently located. She expected to see her friend brutally battling it out like that one animation video she had once seen on youtube which referred to these drawnyellow and black stick figures duking it out as if they were a set of combat gods. That had been the biggest one out of the many she had within her mind, but MAGES. also anticipated seeing her friend struggling to keep herself in the fight like a mouse trying to avoid the pitchforks of humans or claws belonging to a cat, since according to her knowledge Shana codennamed CRIMSON wasn't someone whom the blackette could take on in the Mad Magician's eyes. If anything, that girl had a LOT of untapped potential, just like herself and Tekken, something which she had foreseen upon her first meeting with the Spec Ops Agent. She found it to be so due to how her senses informed her of the COLLOSSAL capacity to store her power which Shana possessed, heck she could practically describe it as looking into an entirely new dimension. She could possibly fill up the space with several world class Demons should she attempt the Ascension Ceremony and STILL have space left to spare. Furthermore, MAGES. had intimate knowledge of Tekken's power levels, including that of the demonic form, Tekken's own version of the Devil Trigger which she had seen Neptune and Noire develop on their own adventures through observing them via her crystal ball back at her apartment. As such, the Mad Magician feared that even with the level of power Tekken had reached, she would not be able to take Shana down.

So yeah, MAGES. expected a lot of things up till this point…

But when she finaly DID arrive, what she found completely SHATTERED those expectations.

Arriving at the battleground, something she could tell due to how charred and covered with flames it had been, MAGES. hopped into a front flip whilst retaining her grip on Wabbajack's staff. She then fell towards theground, pointing her Devil Arm downwards to shoot out small thrusters of fire to slow her descent until she could safely place her heeled boots on the charcoal-coloured dirt. Once she had done that, MAGES. looked up from her landing and expected to see what she had been thinking about before… but instead, a completely DIFFERENT sight greeted her.

"Hm? How curious…"

Instead of seeing Tekken fighting the good fight albeit on the defensive side of things, MAGES. saw her comrade lying on the ground stomach first, her body covered from head to toe in injuries of varying degree of danger-inducing. However, instead of looking towards MAGES. as she proceeded to walk on over, her heeled boots tapping against the charcoal dirt, Tekken held her gaze forwards, looking to the fighting between Shana and… Cecil? MAGES. arched a brow as she saw the two viciously duking it out, with Shana resorting to pure swordplay which the blonde rookie reciprocated, wielding a sword she had not seen on her person before. 'No, wait, I'm wrong, that sword must have been the object she had been carrying all this time…' the Mad Magician thought, nodding to herself at figuring it out only a few seconds after seeing it. Not only that, but from what her senses told her thatsword had a demonic origin due to the chaotic energy signature she detected from it. Perhaps it was a Devil Arm?

That seemed to be the most plausible explanation, MAGES. realized when she thought back to the backstory Cecil had given to them back when they first met. IF hadn't been the ONLY one whom had sensed the whole 'abnormal' situation surrounding the blonde rookie, as an expert in magical matters herself it would be stupid of her if MAGES. didn't notice anything, she just never brought the subject up until now. "I see that things have progressed down an unknown path, then…" MAGES. spoke as she stood over Tekken by her side, to which the blackette blinked as she snapped out of the reverie she had been in, so she could turn her head and look up to the Mad Magician.

"O-Oh, MAGES.!" She exclaimed, her eyes showing that she only realized she was here just now, something which got followed by a sheepish look and a matching chuckle accompanied by a strained chuckle from the Martial Artist as she rubbed the back of her head. MAGES. swore she saw her body shudder in slight 'pleasure' for a moment but didn't comment on it since there were more important matters to attend to. "Y-Yeah, you could say that… geez, you seeing me in this sorry state really doesn't make me feel so good…" she remarked, shuddering a bit more whilst biting back the moan which threatened to escape her. Afterwards, she glanced back towards the fight between Cecil and Shana as it took on a whole new form, completely unlike what the fight between the Spec Ops Agent and herself had been like. It… sort of humbled her, but if she were honest, Tekken also felt both confused and frustrated at the same time seeing this, despite knowing that she had forced Shana to unleash and, by extension, exhaust about half of her total power. "But, well, things have gotten quite… out of hand, I'd say." She stated. "Thing is, apparently Cecil's not only a Devil Arm wielder just like you and me, there's more to it than that."

Now THIS got the Mage's attention. "Oh? Please elaborate."

"Well…"

* * *

Once again, Shana and Cecil clasked together, the former holding her Katana in a two-handed style akin to Kendo, which could also be said about the latter. Their blades grinded away at one another, causing sparks to fly between them as the connection points for their weapons gradually gained an orange glow about them, the sounds of metals grinding away at one another filling their surroundings. However, neither of these things remained important enough to be given much thought to within their minds, instead all they focused on was each other. Breaking off their little deadlock, Shana struck first by going for a thrust towards Cecil's left eye to try and blind her, only for that attack to turn out to be a feint for a diagonal slash towards the girl's face. However, Cecil didn't fall for it as she stepped backwards to avoid the blade, then twirled into an overhead slam which Shana raised her Katana horizontallyt to block, before twisting the connected weapons over her head. Cecil then thrusted out with the sword's hilt, slamming it into Shana's gut and then kicking her away, for the young flaming haired warrior to only take a couple steps back.

Shana quickly recovered from this and twisted a full 360 degrees, going for a reverse slash to her neck which Cecil held the bassive blade vertically in front of her, blocking the strike so she could then bend backwards and angle her blade sideways, pushing the Katana away from her before going in for a wide swing towards Shana's chest. Something which the girl dodged by jumping into the air above her and then coming down in a forward front flip, bringing her Katana down on Cecil's head. Cecil responded by twirling around till she stood by the landing girl's rear flank, using her momentum for a diagonal swing towards her back, finally landing a blow onto Shana who gasped in surprise at the strike's force, feeling it tear through her coat, flesh and bone. This didn't last long however, as Shana launched herself up into a back flip, making it so that her head was paralleling Cecil's so she could constantly slash at her, something which Cecil responded in kind to till CRIMSON landed, then the two hopped away from one another, landing with a full 20 meters distance between them. Both girls held their breaths evenly, despite the wounds which they had sustained throughout the course of their sword fight, with Cecil looking like she'd taken much more damage than what Shana had. Said Spec Ops Agent, aside from the gash on her back, had only a few minor scratches on her cheeks, neck, and arms, whereas Cecil had more 'bloody' injuries on her neck, chest, shoulders, hips, legs, arms and face, each with their own level of depth to them.

"Let me guess, you've only recently gotten that sword, so you're not exactly used to it, are you?" Shana commented with an observing glint in her eye, as she pointed her Katana with her right hand at her opponent, her eyes narrowing into a fierce glare afterwards. Their fight had been going on for a fair while now, and whilst it looked like this battle was going in her favour, Shana still didn't let that influence her by making her grow all cocky and stuff, especially with what she had seen so far. In terms of swordsmanship, Shana could safely assume she was the superior one between them, which only made sense since this person had the movements of a rookie who hadn't truly experienced what it felt like going through life or death battles every day. If they were to talk powers, Shana would also say she was the superior one of the two, although she had little clue as to how those powers of hers worked. Whenever she tried to use her SHINPAN to determine that Sword's properties, Cecil would quickly switch from using her sword's abilities to some sword fighting techniques, making it so that she didn't find out the truth behind that weapon's secrets. So, whilst Cecil appeared to be a rookie, it DID seem like she had the potential to survive on the battlefield if her rapidly growing skills with the blade were anything to go by.

On the other side of things, Cecil chose not to respond, although that pretty much said everything which Shana needed to know. The blonde girl, meanwhile, mentally frowned to herself, knowing just how crucial her situation had become. Whilst she had sensed MAGES. arriving onto the scene without IF, something which made her guess she had stayed behind to keep that other person off their backs, Cecil knew for a FACT that MAGES. didn't have the necessary power left in her to combat Shana as weakened as she had been. Most of it had left her either to fuel that weapon's own reserves when they reached an undesirable level, something she had seen a few times during this whole battle royale, or she had used it to perform some of her own Magic Spells like those barriers. Her blue eyes hardened into a gaze made from stone, refusing to let any of these thoughts slip in so that Shana wouldn't be clued into her thought process. Even so, she evenly replied to her statement without much in the way of life in her tone. "Debatable." She said, levelling her sword in a two-handed kendo stance. "And stop calling him a 'sword', his name is Berial." She replied, sensing Berial's agitation for its identity not being paid the proper respect to.

"Whatever." Shana responded simply with a roll of her eyes at Cecil's claims, ignoring the looks of intensity which she sported which likely were supported by that Demonic Weapon, if the aura surrounding it flaring like a child being furious at being mocked was any indication. Instead, Shana just held her Katana at the ready to continue fighting, and with a mental calculation quickly done alongside a quick scan of her body using SHINPAN, Shana identified that she had about 40% power remaining since she had been using the last 10% to reinforce her blows against this opponent. She didn't always use her strength in large, over the top ways all the damn time, that to her wasn't something which defined the use of power. Nor did anyone ever truly 'deserve' her respect. In her opinion, respect was earned, not given, with a few RARE exceptions (a contradictory opinion, she knew, but she stuck with it regardless). Shana, as someone who had reached this level of power through effort and training, she only respected people who did the same, for only with that kind of path can one truly say they have 'EARNED' the right to wield power. To her, that was what it truly meant to be 'strong', and anything less than that would have no acknowledgement from her whatsoever.

The moment that Shana's Katana lit up in her flames of heaven, did Cecil launch her own attack, revving Berial up to the third level and making some white Flames coat the blade. She then swung it in an overarching motion in her left hand above her head, before bringing it down and launching a large wheel of flames at Shana. Said Spec Ops Agent raised her sword up into the air, and thus remained there whilst the attack got close. By the time it got within striking range, Shana let out a loud war cry as she brought her flaming Katana down, splitting the attack in half with ease whilst leaving two white fiery trails on either side of her. However, Shana didn't let her guard down as she quickly adopted her thrusting stance, then proceeded to thrust forwards.

Good thing too, cause Cecil, whom had followed after the fiery wheel attack, had already closed the distance between them, so if Shana's strike landed, she would have gained a TREMENDOUS advantage, since the tip of the Katana had gotten close to going through the girl's left eye. Fortunately for Cecil, she had come prepared for this to happen, and as such she raised her right arm's demonic looking limb and summoned its larger spectral arm, having it grab onto the fiery Katana with its larger palm. Shana's eyes widened at the sight of this, and when she tried to pull her Katana out the hand-held fast onto it, refusing to let her go. As a result, Cecil grinned triumphantly, launchin repeated thrusts towards Shana's unprotected sides and delivering quite a few gash wounds there, before she lifted the sword and by extension its wielder, up off the ground before smashing her right down into it. She didn't let the arm release here there though, as Cecil twirled a full 360 degrees, taking the redhead with her, before with a loud war cry Cecil tossed her opponent towards one of the craters which had been made prior to this.

Flipping through the air, Shana landed on the crater with a crouch, kneeling for a split second before she got back to her feet, glaring heatedly towards Cecil as she slashed horizontally and launched a DANZAI at her, causing the blonde to roll to the side to dodge it then use the momentum to get up and break into a sprint towards her position, revving Berial to the second level and forming orange flames instead. She then twirled around and allowed the flames to be used like propulsion thrusters, making her resemble a spinning top, the same move she had used previously, as she slammed into Shana's form… or rather, she slammed into and destroyed a wall of flames which the redhead had erected. 'Tch, just a bit too late, huh…?' the blonde thought as she summoned her spectral arm and crossed it in front of her, allowing its forearm to block a fire blast aimed to incinerate her into dust. Whilst she did so, Cecil glanced downwards at the space around her, seeing some growing circular shadows scattered throughout, and when she found a strong heat source above her shoulders her eyes shot open wide as she looked upwards, seeing a shower of fireballs coming down her way. 'Shoot! Gotta think fast!' Thought that, a course of action quickly forming inside her noggin.

Revving Berial to its third level, Cecil slammed the blade into the ground beside her, and hen she did so the flames along the blade combusted, creating an eruption which forcefully propelled her through the air and out of the shower's way. Just in time too, because a mere split second after she had escaped did the shower of fireballs hit the ground, causing all kinds of differently sized explosions with heat packed in them enough to utterly DECIMATE her defences. Whilst she flew through the air, Cecil thought that she would be safe to land… only to get a REAL wake up call when Shana's form shot through the air towards her from the flames, her back having formed those flaming bird wings she had used against Tekken in her battle with her. 'Crap, I forgot about those!' Cecil thought as a sense of panic took over her mental processes, reflexively bringing up Berial to her chest in some kind of defensive move.

A move…

Which ultimately failed in the end.

Case in point, when Shana's Katana got swung towards her, its form erupted with flames, and it slammed into Berial with immense force. Because of her lack of stance as she was still in the air Cecil cried out as she got sent flying across the battleground, bouncing more than a few times whilst flickering flames covered her form, remnants of Shana's attack no doubt, until she crashed and slid to a halt. Shana didn't stop there though, as she then launched a couple HIEN attacks her way, for Cecil to quickly call upon her demonic right arm's power and form its enlarged spectral version in front of her. The whole thing managed to withstand the flames behind the attacks, though the eruptions which happened on it caused Cecil to wince to herself, scattered embers sometimes landing on her flesh and charring it horribly.

Landing on the ground, Shanna stood over Cecil's prone form, having kicked away her demonic arm which had lost its spectral form when her attacks had ended. Her Katana wreathed in flames, Shana pointed it down towards the fallen girl's neck, causing her to gasp slightly as she then spoke. "Now then, looks like you've lost. Your power has been exhausted, you don't have the opportunity to use any of those abilities of yours since, as you may have noticed…" As if to accompany her words, the flaming Katana suddenly intensified, flickering embers flying off it and onto Cecil's body. "The moment you make any suggestive moves, I'll instantly incinerate you into dust. So, tell me, do you concede?" she questioned, although with the coldness Shana spoke with and the way se gazed downwards at her opponent, it seemed as though it was more of a demand than a question. In her mind, she felt that Cecil had no other options but to surrender, since through their fight she had noticed that Cecil had been using ONLY those strange abilities, nothing else. It made her assume that she didn't HAVE any other abilities than these, something which irritated her if she were frank.

To think, that there were STILL some people who thought that having such little ability considered them deserving to be part of their ranks still existed... people like that were the kind whom Shana absolutely LOATHED the most, more than even the pathetic excuses for human beings known as the Nobility. Her hand clutched her Katana tightly, enough to sport bulging veins as fury burned within her at the revelations she had about the blonde's power level. This girl, she reminded her just TOO much of how there were so many people who just thought their agency was nothing but a joke, a sham which could be used easily to fulfil their whims. This was one of the major things which ticked Shana off and made her want to incinerate every damn faker that she saw with a blaze of her flames. Though, whilst she hadn't been allowed to do that since, even with their tense nigh hostile relationship the Nobles were a major source of funds for the Agency, Shana DID have the pleasure of 'correcting' the assumptions that getting into the Spec Ops Agency was a piece of cake, even if that earned her some ire from the Nobles since some of them got promised an easy pass into the program due to their connections. She sometimes managed to get in the way of that arrangement, and as such she, along with some other Agents who felt the same way as her, had been the reasons why the Spec Ops still had SOME level of competency left.

To her, this girl seemed just like all the others, seeing this test as merely a game and not for what it really was, so she expected the girl to surrender at this point since her options had been limited from the very beginning…

"Heck no!"

… What?

Surprise briefly flickered across Shana's face as she heard Cecil's declaration, surprise which felt great enough that she didn't even have the ability to contain it as it practically blindsided her. That surprise quickly got suppressed though as Shana proceeded to glare down at the downed girl's form, her Katana slowly eding closer to said girl's throat yet… nothing. No change occurred in the defiant girl's features, not a single one. Shana bet that the girl felt goddamn TERRIFIED right now, so what the hell was with this emotional response? "... Come again?"

"You heard me! I'm not quitting and that's final!"

"Is that so? You do know-"

"Heh, and you think that'd stop me?!" Cecil yelled, cutting Shana off before she could continue her speech, something Shana found herself a little... impressed, if majorly irritated, at. Seemed like the audacity of this girl had a LOT of correcting to be done, but before she could do anything Cecil continued. "Isn't it a Spec Ops job to keep fighting till their last breath? Its meant to be so that no matter what, Spec Ops are considered 'monsters!' who never surrender and never run away from a challenge? Aren't they supposed to be prepared to die?" Cecil shouted, once again proceeding to stun Shana as well as Tekken and MAGES. with her words, having never seen Cecil so fired up before. "Well, that may to be what YOU think an Agent might be, but to me that's EXACTLY what I think an ideal agent should be, and that's the kind I will become! In life, the loser isn't the one whose defeated, the loser's the one who can't get back up afterwards! I don't care how long it takes, after every defeat I'll always come back swinging, no matter the circumstances!"

As she heard Cecil's proclamation, Shana just stood there, looking down at Cecil with her Katana inches away from slitting her throat, completely dumbfounded by what she had said. Not to mention the fierce intensity in her gaze, one which lacked any kind of fear or defeat as it held her own, a gaze which Shana had seen more than a dozen times on... herself, something which stunned her all the more. Those eyes... those eyes filled with blazing determination, unshakable desire to do what she had proclaimed to do despite the odds stacked against her. Shana honestly couldn't believe it, that she had encountered someone else who had such eyes, it had been so long that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to stare at such eyes other than when she looked in a mirror. Thinking back to her past, Shana could barely recall a time when she saw others have that same expression, with only a few exceptions, her previous apprentice being one of them. Those eyes... those eyes which flared with a passion unblemished, a desire unshakable...

Now that she thought about it, during their fight Tekken herself also had those eyes, even as Cecil intervened before she could strike Tekken down from the skies like she had intended to.

Some sounds caused her to glance to the side, her head facing towards the direction of which MAGES. had just arrived from at which point their eyes met. Shana, upon seeing that gaze MAGES. had, realized it to be the same as what she had seen from the previous members of their group, not to mention that the last one, the brunette she remembered being called IF, she had similar eyes whenever she had fought the other Applicants. Those gazes... back when she had been viewing the monitors by Chifuyu's side, Shana had seen them back then and that had been the cause for intrigue for her, not just their impressive display of tactics and abilities. The eyes which she believed every Spec Ops Agent should have... she now realized that they were present in this group of four, their drive to succeed and fight till the end, not caring about their possible deaths, it was the genuine article. It wasn't fake like so many others whom had taken this Exam before them...

The revelation of this nearly made her burst out laughing in relief, relief that she had finally found some actual DECENT potential in these four, and with a quick SHINPAN towards the space where Eto had been located (Shana's gaze had glanced up in that direction too), she discovered that IF and her were still fighting. Seemed like it would be a stalemate which could last a while, if her opinion was to be considered. Though, in her eyes... Looking down at Cecil once again, Shana's lips remained in a tight line, eyeing Cecil for a while with her gaze of smouldering embers...

Before a smirk gradually formed over it.

"A good answer, Applicant. No, your name was Cecil I recall..." Shana stated, much to Cecil's surprise as a similarly feeling 'eh?' escaped the Applicant's lips. Slowly stepping back and withdrawing her Katana, Shana turned away from her whilst her weapon vanished in a flash of flames. Glancing back at her whilst walking away, Shana looked to Cecil and her group who just looked confused with what her angle was, something which to be frank, amused her a little inside. "In any case, congratulates you two. The exam as I decide, is now over. The Simulation will end momentarily, and when you wake, you will be given a notification." she told them, before flames concealed her form and vanished, taking her along with them and leaving the three girls alone in the burning wasteland.

"Eh?... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

* * *

A moment or two later...

IF, Tekken, Cecil and MAGES. all opened their eyes and found themselves out of the simulation, the pods containing them having been opened up whilst they had been slumbering, recently if the steam surrounding them had been any indicator. Groans of discomfort and irritation filled the air as the squad of girls managed to stumble out of the machines, nearly falling flat on their face against the metallic floors beneath them had they not used the pods as support for them.

"Ugh... my head, shoulders... my everything hurts..." Cecil whined, holding her side in one hand as she used the other to hold onto the pod, slowly getting to her feet whilst glancing over to the others. Part of her honestly felt a bit relieved to know she wasn't the only one under some form of pain or discomfort, but another part of her felt sorry that they were. With a sympathetic gaze hidden under a layer of twisted discomfort, Cecil spoke to the rest of them. "You guys alright?"

An answer came in the form of MAGES., whom held her Wabbajack up and proceeded to use its power. As a result, the four of them became surrounded by a lime green glow which came from a light shining from the Staff Devil Arm's tip. That glow soon vanished, but before it did each of them felt their pain and discomfort vanishing out of existence. "It is... good that we managed to... succeed... hopefully." MAGES. remarked whilst leaning on the Pod, just short of sitting on it. She let her Devil Arm vanish into her Inventory before she continued addressing the rest of them. "Whilst we fought those two... I managed to reach out with some detection spells, and it looked like we were the only ones who managed to get this far into the Exam. The rest must have perished as collateral damage..."

IF nodded in agreement, not saying anything yet since Tekken, whom had copied Cecil in falling flat onto her backside, beat her to it. "Speaking of those two... they were TOUGH!" She proclaimed, breaking into a fit of coughs afterwards before heaving a heavy sigh. Even as her body had been healed of its injuries, it didn't mean her stamina and Demonic Power reserves had the same luxury. She felt like they would need some time to rest and recuperate once this was all over. "Those two definitely were the genuine article, real Spec Ops Agents..." As a Martial Artist, being in this state after fighting against such powerful opponents could not be a better activity, she felt as Tekken looked towards their resident BOW. "Say, IF, how did the fight between you and that other Agent go?"

"Eto?" IF responded, getting a nod from MAGES. whom confirmed the name for the rest of them. "Well, like I though it was pretty much a stalemate. Whilst Eto had considerable fighting prowess and greater destructive power, I myself had my broken ass regeneration helping keep me in the fight. She couldn't find a way to really kill me. As much a freaking psycho as she was, I still got the feeling she was holding back and trying her hardest NOT to try and go for lethal blows." IF explained, sighing afterwards. "Lets save the talking for later, cause right now I just want to go home and fall asleep for a week... that is, if Nep lets me." she shuddered when she recalled some of the times Neptune tried to prank Nico with fog horns to wake him up, only to either find he had already awoken or accidentally used them on her instead. It was more of the latter to her though, no matter how many times Neptune protested otherwise. She'll NOT be letting Neptune live that one down.

The other three girls nodded their heads in agreement, with MAGES. then voicing their agreement. "I concur, a session of RnR sounds like just what we need as of tis moment. Mrs Demonic Arm wielder, would you like to join us?" MAGES. offered the blonde member of their little group, electing a surprised sound from said blonde. "It seems that ou have more of a story to tell, as do we all. Therefore, shall we converse it together as a sleepover? I do believe that will be of great use to us." she suggested at the end, although judging by the gazes she received, MAGES. pretty much figured it would be happening no matter what. Good thing that she had extra sleeping bags prepared just in case something like this were to happen, sometimes she loved her own foresight.

"S-Sure, if that's alright with you."

"Excellent. Now then, what's say we head out? resting on a bed sounds much comfier anyways."

"Got it." IF responded, before taking out one of her phones and proceeding to text the members of her Party, finishing after a few seconds. "Just let the others know I'll be joining you guys, so we'll save the reunion stuff for a couple more days. That'll give us time to sort things out." she stated, getting nods of acknowledgement from the rest of them. Having a suitable reunion with the rest of the gang sounded like something they would need ALL their energy for, so if they delayed it for a few more days then things will REALLY get interesting. Not to mention that they will have time to receive their notifications (something IF had also checked on Shana's recommendation to find that she had indeed received one, one which told her, and by extension the rest of them when they checked, that they would be notified any time from now till nightfall if they passed or not) and then prepare whatever would be necessary from then onwards.

As such, the group of girls then left the room after being escorted out by one of the Spec Ops Staff... although IF had to refuse the offer to take her commemorative photo along for the ride since she didn't want to EVER think about being that close to Nobles ever again.

* * *

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

"Hm? Hmmm..."

 **'Interesting, looks like you have a message.'**

'HAHAHAHAHAHA, WONDER IF ITS A STEAMY PHOTO OF ONE OF THOSE BICHES, EH?'

'One of these days dude, one of these days I'm so gonna... Oh? Looks like my timing was off, it seems here that HER Exam's done and she's going to be resting with Tekken, MAGES., and this 'Cecil' person. Probably a comrade of hers...'

 **'Apologies, then, I had thought I'd calculated the time right, but in the end even I can be wrong,'**

'No worries there, we can just use this time to explore a bit... as well as confirm a few hunches I've had regarding Lowee. I'm a bit curious as to how that Exam went down, but I can keep that sated for a few days, though it'll just make me more excited for seeing the girls again.'

'HA! PUSSY WHIPPED ALREADY? DO I HAVE TO STRAIGHTEN YOU OUT AGAIN LIKE THE LAST FEW TIMES YOU DOZED OFF?'

'No, and fuck you I was the on who wiped the floor with YOU, as I recall. Anyways, time fuckery is a hard thing to keep a track of anyways, so its only natural that something like this happens. Besides, while we explore, we can give my newfound prowess some test drives on some nearby Demon Camps.'

'YEAH, NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT, AHAHAHA! LETS SHOW THESE FUCKWADS JUST WHOSE THE TOP DOG AROUND HERE!'

 **'For once I can concur to this strategy, but for now I believe it would be wise to set ourselves up with some accommodation, perhaps a camping spot or something. Since you want to surprise the others, that would be the ideal solution.'**

'Yeah, I'll do that. Girls, Aiden, Ivan... Hope you've been doing alright, even if its not been that long for you guys.'

* * *

That afternoon...

"AHHHHHHHH!" A loud relieved sig of bliss escaped young Cecil's lips as she found herself snuggling into her sleeping back, a look of pure bliss forming on her features as she rubbed her face against it. Herself, along with MAGES. and co, had finally arrived at the Mad Magician's apartment which she had shared with Tekken, and safe to say, they could not be any more relieved. "This feels so goooooood! Its been a while since I last slept in one of these." she said, squealing afterwards with the urge to roll around from side to side though she resisted. Since the sleeping bag was quite bigger than her, Cecil had some wiggle room so she could have done so, but in that case she would have looked more like a child with her petite frame so she didn't.

She wasn't the only one enjoying her sleeping bag though, as a certain Martial Artist did the same as her, though she didn't mind rolling from side to side in hers. "Yeah. I can definitely relate... the warmth provided by these babies is the best...!" Tekken proclaimed happily, unashamed to act as childish as she pleased. Having spent so much time training in the wilderness kind of lowered her shame meter, if one got the meaning there, so she didn't mind acting younger than she actually was. "When the heck did you get these MAGES.? I can't recall you buying them from any nearby stores...?" She then questioned, pausing in her actions whilst looking backwards at MAGES. whilst laying on her back.

Said Mad Magician sat on the side of her bed, a single person sized one whilst crossing onto her legs. Speaking of legs, the girls had each discarded a few layers of their clothing as substitutes for PJ's, with the rack filled with their individual coats, whilst opposite the door to the bedroom they resided in had a wardrobe filled with racks, racks which they had put their footwear in. As such, Tekken didn't have that much to worry about save for her corset, and she'd switched out her pants for some dark purple shorts that matched the purple lacy bra. IF had discarded her coat and boots, taking off her top to reveal a black undershirt with some matching panties. Cecil had stripped down as well to reveal a pale blue bra/panty set (although she felt a bit inferior with all of the beautiful ladies surrounding her and their substantial chest sizes, MAGES. being the mental support she needed), whilst MAGES. herself wore only her stockings, black lacy bra and panties, once remarking that she liked her stockings so she preferred to keep them on when she slept.

MAGES. did NOT appreciate the sudden yell of STOCKINGS made by Tekken at her words, earning her an irritated glare for her troubles.

"You wouldn't have known, for I had departed on this urgent quest whilst you had been rendered comatose from training especially brutally." MAGES. replied, crossing her arms and glancing at the Martial Artist with one eye closed and the other sporting a deadpan look. "I understand you like indulging on your pain fetish, but please do try to keep it in moderation." Tekken quickly blushed crimson when she heard those words, whilst Cecil gave her a rather scandalized look which only made it even worse for her. When she'd asked her how the heck she could stand something like that and Tekken frantically tried to deny it (that flustered expression she got made IF and MAGES. smirk in amusement, in all honesty), the Mad Magician then looked at the rest of them with a knowing look in her eye. "To think, we would get this far... it seems that the hands of fate have been working us to the bone for this victory..."

Her words caused IF to roll her eyes, the BOW not being the biggest fan of fate, case in point being her condition. "Heh, speak for yourself girl, I've defied fate once before, remember?" She retorted, to which she got an understanding nod from the blunette. "Anyways, now that we're all here, shall we get some rest, or shall we do some talking first? I don't care which honestly." she stated, although if someone were to ask if she was nervous or not, then she would respond with a positive. IF had a LOT of pent up tension on her shoulders, worry about whether or not she had passed the Spec Ops Exam. After all, her safety pretty much relied on her passing the exam, since joining the Spec Ops allowed her some degree of freedom from the Guild, which would let her use her powers more freely and people wouldn't be as critical about it since it was widely known that Spec Ops Agents were generally more monstrous than even Abnormals. However, she kept a tight lid on it, since she knew how each of them felt the same way, just on different levels. She bet that out of the four of them, herself and Cecil had the biggest worries about passing the Exam, MAGES. and Tekken wouldn't be as affected by it in comparison.

"Well... Honestly I think i'd like to talk about a few things..." Cecil spoke, drawing their attention as she lay on the ground stomach first, the sleeping bag's warmth being one of the things which calmed her thumping heartbeat. A second passed as she gulped down her hesitation, as no matter how much she hesitated it wasn't like she could hide it any longer. Plus, she hadn't really been in this very long, and she had already revealed her greatest trump card, so perhaps she wasn't really that good at keeping secrets. In any case, the eyes of her comrades showed her they knew what she was talking about and wanted her to continue, so she did, placing both arms in front of her and resting her chin on them. "Well... as you saw back then, my right arm... its not exactly normal. I'd honestly hesitate to call it my own arm anymore." she remarked, glancing down at her right arm. Currently it was in its human state, but when she narrowed her eyes at the limb the whole thing became covered in crackling crimson electrical energy, transforming into its more... demonic form in a single second.

"That arm... let me guess, it came from that sword you wield?"

When IF questioned that, Tekken curiously blinked in her direction, wondering what she meant. However, MAGES quickly caught on to her intentions as evident by the slight widening of her eyes in disbelief, something which increased when Cecil meekly nodded her head, the sword she called Berial appearing in a flash of fire over her back. "Yeah... you see, when I first defeated that Demon, it did something to me and I wound up with this sword, a sword which had the name Berial. I don't know how I knew it, but I just did from the first moment I laid eyes on it when I awoke. However, that wasn't all... it happened a couple days later, but one day I heard of a couple Abnormals called 'Yian Kut-Ku' had been sighted advancing towards the village where my own's surviving population resided, so I went to stop them. During the ensuing battle..." Cecil paused as she held her demonic right arm up to her eyes, flexing its claw whilst a larger, spectral orange version manifested. "This thing took over my right arm all of a sudden, and whilst I had been shocked at the time, I had to quickly focus on my fight to take them out. As such I accidentally used this things' power to defeat them, and when I did so... something from one of the Kut-Ku's got absorbed inside it. No idea what that was, but I did feel some sort of 'wave' wash over me at the time."

"I see..." MAGES. commented, humming in thought as she processed this information about Cecil's arm. The Mad Magician pondered for a while, trying to come up with an idea as to what this could have been, though she soon recalled something she had discovered during her research into her Wabbajack. "Now that we're talking about this, I remembered something I found during my research into my Wabbajack one day." She said, getting their attention as she manifested the aforementioned weapon onto her lap. The long Staff lay there, looking seemingly dormant if the thin level of Demonic Power didn't prove the opposite to be the case. "I learned of the existence of 'Devil Arms' and how they tended to chose only the most capable of wielders. If they were to chose someone unworthy, they would possess them instead, however if your story is accurate then I would say that you went through something of a mix between the two outcomes..."

Cecil, after hearing that possible theory, looked down at the demonic arm as she willed it to return to its human form. "Yeah, that seems about right, cause before I blacked out after defeating that Demon, which now that I think about it also went by the name Berial, I felt something akin to thousands of bugs trying to eat away at my right arm, and it had hurt. A LOT. I would sometimes wake up briefly from the pain, then black out again, until I finally fully regained my consciousness with my sword, Berial and likely a Devil Arm, by my side. Ever since, I took to training the limb in secret, giving it the name 'Devil Bringer' since this arm has a versatile skillset." She explained whilst putting the arm back under her chin. "From what I've seen so far, this Devil Bringer of mine summons not just a Spectral Arm, but it also helps me detect when Demons are nearby, has its own source of Demonic Power which I can use, helps store my items, equipment and gear, along with packing quite the punch when I activate it. Since I got it, it can sometimes cause enough discomfort that it drives me nuts, but other times its quite the effective fighting weapon... though I still don't know the full extent of its power." she explained.

Thanks to her finishing her story, Tekken, IF and MAGES. mauled it over in their minds, committing the name 'Devil Bringer' to memory. The name kind of fit actually, as they bet Cecil named it that way due to its ability to summon that arm to bring her enemies close to her for an up close beatdown like she'd done to Shana a few times back when they fought. Still, despite the potential death which Cecil had narrowly avoided, it seemed that she had come out of it all the better, and with more than a few perks unique to her. One could say that she had just as much monster in her as the rest of them, something which the three of them shared an equal agreement with when they each met each other's gazes. If someone like her didn't pass the exam, each of the girls would call BS on it.

"And you still aim to be like the Agent you idolise..." IF remarked, a small chuckle escaping her lips which drew Cecil's gaze to her. "Honestly, as childish as it sounds, its also nice... and kind of inspiring in a way. You managed to keep your head on straight through all this relatively well. I know many who would just freak out without getting anything done in your shoes..." she complimented, the young blonde looking down meekly with her face sporting a flushed hue. "Hahahahaha! C'mon girl, you gotta relax here, we may end up being fellow Agents in the near future." she commented, chuckling.

"... You think we'll have passed?"

Just then, a question which had been on the backs of their minds suddenly got asked by Tekken, whom had taken to looking down at the ground beside her with a nervous, conflicted expression on her face. At once, the atmosphere which had once been lively and jovial, turned downright serious in an instant. The thought that one of them may not have passed whilst the rest did, or even none of them passing, still felt like a very real threat to them, one which they had tried to distract themselves from with small talk and some questioning about one of their member's backgrounds. None of them had gotten the idea that they would be passed as a group, although judging from how they usually conducted things none of them thought that individuality didn't have a major part to play, teamwork may be decent but individual ability was what REALLY saved lives in this current twisted world.

This horrible, ugly and downright disgusting Gamindustri.

"... To be honest." After a moment of tense silence in which each of the girls had been thinking about the possibility of failure, IF suddenly broke it, shifting onto her back as she placed her hands behind her head, looking up at the ceiling above. "I'm a bit apprehensive too, probably the same as the rest of you all. But, even so..." pausing after pretty much confirming what they all felt inside to some degree, IF allowed a small smirk to form on her lips. "Its been a blast regardless, eh? Who else but us could say that they fought against some top-tier Spec Ops Agents and lived, even better managed to make one of them approve of us if only slightly?" she questioned them. Even though she said that, IF wondered a bit about Eto, as whilst Shana had been the one who'd conducted the exam as the 'special element' whom apparently also had a say for when the Exam ended, Eto seemed like she had just been... well, there, and just for the thrill of it too. Made her wonder just what kind of purpose coming into their Exam possessed for her, but then again that psycho was a bag full of cats, one could SMELL crazy off her. "I'd say that even if we fail, we still had an experience none of us could ever truly forget, cause I sure as hell won't."

Hearing those words stunned the others for a moment, even MAGES. hadn't expected such a response. But, the more that they thought about it when they managed to regain their mental faculties, the more her words began to make sense. Even more so knowing that out of the Applicants that they had been sent in with, they had been the only ones to actually make it out of there in relatively one piece. Not like the others were dead or anything, but they DID make it much further than anyone else in their group. This revelation, it caused something to click into place within them, and when it did IF's amused smirk appeared onto their faces as well, even Cecil who arguably had the most on the line. "I see the truth in this logic you have proposed for us, Gamindustri's Windwalker. Perhaps this easy going wind of yours is what will end up giving us the wings necessary to soar into the heavens above." MAGES. proclaimed, getting looks from the rest of them.

"There you go with that chuuni talk, MAGES., what you never get tired of it or anything?"

"What a foolish question, even I as the Mad Magician would not fall to something as lowly as that."

"Yeah, I can see that. Oh yeah, IF, Cecil, get this: MAGES. here once attended a convention which had been held in Lastation, and presented a potion which caused people to enter laughing fits for several hours whilst calling it the... oh yeah, that's it 'the immortal elixir of the eternal cringe'."

"... You know, I can actually see that happening."

"Hmph, it was a rush job. That Elixir had been meant to sooth backpains, but it turned out beyond what I expected, which is only natural compared to the all-knowing knowledge that I seek."

"You mean Doc P supplies?"

"You hold your tongue! Just mentioning it will cause the organisation to learn of its existence in this holy land!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Pft!"

After staring each other down with a sharp, fiery intensity burning in their eyes, each of the girls couldn't help themselves and erupted into laughter. Their laughter filled the atmosphere, turning it into a more wholehearted version of itself, something which the others quickly learned to appreciate. How long had it been since they had been capable of laughter? As of recent times, things had been so bad that they hadn't really been able to have such happy moments, everything had been all doom, gloom and depressing things. In the end they decided to appreciate this moment for all that it was worth, since none of them knew how long they would have to wait before they would have another one like this. In essence, they felt like soldiers joking about with one another before going to a long-lasting world war, this moment of peace and happiness could only last so long, so why not enjoy it whilst they could? Sure as hell seemed like a SPLENDID idea to them.

VRMM-VRMM-VRMM-VRMM!

…

…

…

…

All of a sudden, their merriness practically froze, each of them tensing up when four vibrating phones reached their ears. Shock, disbelief and tension filled the air as the girls slowly turned in the directions the four buzzing sounds came from, their phones (well, one for IF since the rest had been put with her coat) which lay beside them. None of them had dared to put them out of arms reach, due to the importance behind their use this one night, so upon looking at them and discovering that they had messages, each of the four girls held their breaths which threatened to quickly leave them like partners breaking up after a long relationship, slowly reaching out and picking up their individual devices. They then proceeded to open them, and once they did each selected the message icons on their Phones...

What they saw would forever change their lives from hereon:

* * *

 _ **TO IF**_

 _ **CONGRATULATIONS**_

 _ **Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.**_

 _ **Your codename will be as follows: MAMMON**_

 _ **Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent**_

* * *

 _ **TO MAGES.**_

 _ **CONGRATULATIONS**_

 _ **Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.**_

 ** _Your codename will be as follows:_ _HERMAEUS MORA_**

 _ **Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent**_

* * *

 _ **TO TEKKEN**_

 _ **CONGRATULATIONS**_

 _ **Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.**_

 ** _Your codename will be as follows: VAJRA_**

 _ **Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent**_

* * *

 _ **TO CECIL**_

 _ **CONGRATULATIONS**_

 _ **Out of all the Applicants we have assessed, you have proven yourself resourceful and worthy. You have hereby been indoctrinated into the Spec Ops ranks from hereon in. This position cannot be revoked nor will retirement be possible for you, for you have entered a world of monsters who will not hesitate to strike you down. Remember: they are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you, you will be WORSE. Rip and Tear, until it is DONE! Below you will find a set of instructions for how to set up your Spec Ops ID, however we have taken the liberty of designating your Codename. This name cannot be changed, and will stick with you throughout your years of service. Congratulations.**_

 ** _Your codename will be as follows:_ _INFERNAL_**

 _ **Please enjoy your new life as a Spec Ops Agent**_

* * *

Silence...

Pure silence...

The whole room remained silent as the girls read the messages, messages which had confirmed to them that they had done the very thing which they had been fretting over. It was done, they had completed the Spec Ops Exam and had managed to join their ranks. The fact that they had been designated Codenames proved it to them, if the message didn't prove it enough already. At first, none of them thought this was even real, that this was some sick joke or hallucination playing tricks on them. If it was, then it was a sick, twisted joke and they would go out to punish the one responsible, and yet... no matter how many different detection methods they tried, none of them found anything of the sort. This allowed them to finally process what had just befallen them, the fact that their hard work and painstaking preparation had all but certainly won out in the end. The silence remained deafening...

…

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…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

… Until a loud cheer escaped their lungs together which followed with a joyous celebration into the night, the thought of sleep no longer present in their minds.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **WHEW, THERE! We've finally done it, boys! The Spec Ops Exam is now finished, and things have gotten settled down for the four heroines if you count Cecil amongst the group, which you should considering what she had shown throughout this exam. Cecil's a character from a side story of Monster Girl Quest, a game about monster girls who do... things to men to suck out their life force and kill them. She seemed like a decent fit, plus she was recommended by a fanfiction person called Sandshrew Master, so shoutout to him. Anyways, Cecil's backstory's kind of unlike the rest in that A: she's a Leanbox native unlike most of the party, B: She's actually the one character who came the closest to being possessed by a Devil Arm yet still passed by the skin of her teeth, and C: is one of the more 'loyal' fans Nico has. One might call her a fangirl, but honestly I wanted to showcase something positive for a change, that there were those among his small fanclub that see him as a person rather than just a sex symbol.**

 **Furthermore, Tekken's power set has been expanded, and don't worry THAT whole can of worms will be explained in later chapters, I can assure you of that. Her power set actually is inspired by multiple things, one of which is the series she personifies, the Tekken franchise, whilst the other is from Ninja Gaiden's series. I'll let anyone who gets it right be mentioned in the next author's note, so review this chapter if you can. In any case, that power set will also imply what I have planned for Tekken's power trip in the future, whereas MAGES. herself is set down a different path. Those two represent two opposing concepts: power, and knowledge. MAGES. is codenamed after a certain Daedric Prince if you catch my drift, and Tekken's been named after her lightning abilities too, whereas IF and Cecil got named from their powers as well. Hope you all like the Codenames I chose for them. Now, next few chapters will be some reunion and slice of life based, just so I can prepare for the next arc, and probably do some character development since some characters will need it more than others.**

 **But before I do that, I just want to let you all know that II will be posting something new that I've started working on, something which I'm sure will surprise you. Its a fanfiction about a series called Senki Zesshou Symphogear, a series which I have recently gotten into and have bee developing ideas for a fanfic about since there are so few good ones out there. Hopefully I'll be able to write about it in a way which helps other writers do the same, cause this series is majorly underrated in my eyes. What with five seasons and it being an original series, its actually done quite well, and is filled to the brim with interesting songs. Hopefully you'll like the main series as well as my fanfic. You'll know which one it'll be cause it'll be on my profile soon after this chapter is released. So, go check it out and review if possible. I like hearing some feedback from my work, as you all will know.**

 **Hope you're all doing well, and i'll see you next chapter.**

 **Peace Out!**


	198. Chapter 167 - The LONG awaited reunion!

**Chapter 167 - The LONG awaited reunion!**

A brilliant morning day awaited the residents of MICROSOFT, with the sun shining as brightly as it always did and the skies remaining devoid of clouds. The sounds of birds chirping filled the atmosphere as flocks flew overhead, resulting in a morning which could put any troubled heart at ease whilst the residents slowly began to awaken to the beginnings of their day. Children would get up to some morning breakfast from their parents, teenagers would be going out either to schools or finding work, adults with working jobs would go out to those jobs whilst those in the Noble Houses would go about whatever businesses suited their fancy. Occasionally, one could even hear the sounds of various house pets like dogs, cats, or pet birds as they each did their own things. Despite the looming threats which gripped the City and those whom knew of them with a sense of terror and fright, one could say that a sense of normalcy stil existed within this city, something which anyone would be thankful for if they had ever gone through some kind of traumatic or hellish experience.

Speaking of said experiences…

"Um… I-IF?"

"Yeah?"

"Um… Th-Th-This might sound w-w-weird to you, but… a-are you sure its okay for…?"

Let's look at this from an outsider's perspective, shall we? Since its been a while since the story's last update (at least a couple months, apologies!) so we all need some kind of clarification about the scene. The two speakers, one of them mumbling in a shy and meek little voice whilst the other spoke with a confidence which underlined a sense of strong femininity, sat together at a café in MICROSOFT, one which had been located close to one of the City's entrances which got equipped with a Checkpoint as of late to make sure that any sleeper Agents of Chaos or… other interested parties didn't make it into MICROSOFT, courtesy of Leanbox's CPU having implemented some security measures, although the WHEN in that statement wasn't realy known to the populace. The Café itself had an outside section, which had been the section which these two sat in. Since it was early in the mourning, there weren't a lot of customers, so it would be a GREAT choice for a meetup to happen.

One of them, a tall brown-haired woman who wore a large coat and hourglass figure, sat sideways on her chair, her left side pressing against the chair's back as she crossed one thigh high stiletto heeled boot covered leg over the other whilst calmly sipping some tea she had ordered. She also liked the fact that there was hardly anyone here in the mornings since she didn't get as many stares, and the few customers here had been of the female gender with only a couple or so giving her some… looks. Heh, not like she'd be judging unless they actively tried messing with her, though. Meanwhile, opposite her and sitting on her chair normally, a smaller blonde girl in her mid to late teens sat like she were trying to look as small as possible. Occasionally, she would shuffle about and rub her hands together inbetween her thighs, not even having touched her own cup of coffee. The blonde girl wore a cape over a black and golden outfit which clung to her form which, despite looking rather petite, had quite the appeal to it which did not lose out to anyone. If the brunette woman had a mature adult's beauty, then the blonde girl had a budding young woman's beauty.

Although at the moment, that blonde girl looked like she was about to combust right now.

Looking towards her, the brunette's lush green eyes became filled with emotions similar to the expression 'You're really asking me that NOW?' as if shehad heard something unfathomable. "For you to be here? Please, Cecil, you've got more rights to be here than you might think." She replied, smirking to herself as she said so, though she hid it when she took another sip of her tea. This morning, she had gotten a text from her fellow party members, something she hadn't realized that she had been looking forward too (even the annoying ones, much to her surprise), one which told her that they would be meeting at this specific location. The one whom had sent it turned out to be their so-called 'Leader' although whether or nor their little group even NEEDED a Leader at this point tended to be debatable amongst them, since pretty much all of their group now had pretty much left their humanity behind to enter the path to becoming powerful existences. However, back to the topic at hand, indeed she had confirmed through texting on one of her phones that she would be going, to which their 'leader' had responded with a happy face (she didn't doubt she would have tried to pull one of her own 'special' faces there) and a message saying that the rest had also agreed to this… though their leader must have been curious when she had mentioned about bringin an 'interesting case' to their little meeting. She felt herself SO looking forward to what would happen inevitably.

However, sadly for her, Tekken Codename VAJRA and MAGES. codenamed HERMAEUS MORA wouldn't be coming to this meetup as the former had stated that she had some stuff she needed to take care of, stuff which the latter had stated to be helping her out on. A pity, but then again, she didn't mind since they had their own lives to live.

"Bu-But, IF!" the blonde, Cecil the newly appointed Spec Ops Agent codenamed INFERNAL whined in protest, obviously not seeing how her fellow Spec Ops Agent could be so calm right now. Especially since she herself felt like she had intruded on something special or important. Heck, when she had first heard that the brunette before her had been messaged by her party members and agreed to have a meetup, Cecil had expected her to just up and leave since she didn't have any more reason to be around her, heck she'd even prepared to find some small apartment then work her way up the Spec Ops ladder from there! That had been her primary goal once she had succeeded, since once she'd gotten herself sorted, she could go out and start earning money to send back to her fellow refugees to help them rebuild their village. So, when she had heard that the brunette had stated she would be taking Cecil along for the ride, the young blonde had almost felt her heart leaving her chest like it had been smacked from behind by a golf club. What the heck? What was her fellow Agent's angle?! "Th-this feels like I'm intruding on something personal… and its not like I know anyone here, so its…"

Hearing these protests from her fellow Agent (damn did it feel good to actually say that for once) IF codenamed MAMMON rolled her eyes once again, shifting so that she sat on the seat normally with her left foot placed on her right thigh. "Hey, none of that pointless crap now, do you hear?" she chastisized lightly, though her lightearted tone completely contrasted her words. "Besides, the crew's actually interested in meeting you, from what little I gave about them. Don't want to ruin the surprise after all." IF explained, chuckling in amusement when she recalled the 'enthusiastic' (read: downright interrogation mode) replies that she got from the rest of the gang save their sole male member about Cecil. She'd only mentioned about Cecil's name, her newly acquired Spec Ops Agent status and the fact that she was a girl, but that was apparently enough for the others to get all riled up about it. Part of her had debated about inviting the members of Team RAIL over as well since it had been a while since she had seen them as well, but in the end, she decided to just have this as a Party only meeting as controversial as it was. She didn't doubt that Lucy and Vert would work together to tease the life out of the rest of them, those damned vixens (IF would never admit it to anyone but at that moment a shudder had ran down her spine when she heard about their newfound 'friendship', knowing just how Lucy was as a person). "And besides…" just then, something sparked like a lighter being lit in her mind, and just like that a rather devilish smile formed on her lips which the brunette Spec Ops Agent directed at the shuddering Cecil who found that look rather… predatory. "Doesn't this mean you'll be meeting Mr idol himself soon?"

POOF!

For a moment, Cecil's features looked similar to what one would look like when saying ' has stopped working' as she had to process that little titbit of information, since she'd been so caugt up in her own nervousness about meeting the group which IF had fought alongside in many tough battles as she had described, that she didn't even THINK about the very real possibility of meeting the one Spec Ops Agent she had idolized more than any other. But the moment that she finally DID comprehend this fact, her face literally went up in flames as it turned a cherry red, steam rising from the top of her forehead as she repeatedly opened her mouth to say something, anything nly for nothing to come out and then close it again. She repeated this over and ovr like a broken record, looking so absolutely WRECKED by the new revelation that IF just HAD to bark in laughter, holding her gut with her arms as she bent forwards, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she resisted the urge to smash her fists onto the table. If she did then the brunette didn't doubt her BOW enhanced strength would smash it into pieces of rubble. Not a good way to start a reunion, she'd say.

"Chillax, girl, chillax!" She finally managed to say after managing to regain some control over herself, the fact that some of the few customers alongside some staff members were starting to eye at them helped out somewhat too, as she wiped away the tears with an index finger and thumb before looking back at her. "You're going to be fine, plus my party is chock full of misfits anyways, so you'd have ZERO problem fitting in, to be frank." She commented, cracking an easygoing grin as fond memories surfaced in the back of her mind, memories to do with times when things weren't so chaotic… before the whole Okada and Mundus fiasco which had pretty much defeated them in every way possible. 'Yeah, those were some good times… heh, it almost makes me miss that little idiot and her random pudding spiels…'

"Heeeeeeey! Who are you calling a little idiot there, Iffy?! I know you were, its written all over that mug o'yours!"

'… Like I said, MOSTLY.'

All of a sudden, IF's ears twitched when a loud, boisterous and feminine voice suddenly broke the tranquil atmosphere the Café had, the brunette's eyes closing as a reflexive sigh escaped her lips. She knew that voice, she knew it all too well, though who would have guessed SHE were the one whom managed to get here first? Shaking her head whilst ignoring whatever Cecil's reaction was (likely still in shock over her 'incoming' meeting of her beloved idol), IF glanced towards the entrance where she saw a petite young form standing there, eyeing her with a look that was a mix, a mix between anger and amusement as she stepped inside the outdoor section of the café. "#SIGH# Whelp, guess some things CAN get you up early, you lazy bones… wait, hold on." IF began to say, only she then began to notice… something off about the new arrival. Her eyes widened when she took in the new sight present before her, her jaw almost dropping in surprise. "Holy hell, Nep, what happened to YOU?!" she shouted, pointing towards the newly arrived purplette CPU of Planeptune, Purple Heart AKA Neptune. "You look like… well, NEW! Like, again, holy hell!"

"Hehehehehehe!"

A sly, mischievous giggle escaped from the Planeptune CPU's lips, one which would NOT be too unfitting on a gremlin's face as Neptune stood before her brunette friend. What IF had been so stunned by about her though, was the fact that she had underwent a BIT of a makeover… and by bit, she meand a significant one. First off, gone was her short hairdo, instead it being replaced with a set of waist length liliac purple hair with bangs that reached down to her collar bone. Her eyes, D pad hairclips and collar remained the same pretty much, but that's where things started to change. Over her outfit, she now wore a white trench coat which looked to have been modified to be able to fit her petite frame. Beneath that, she wore a mostly white one-piece parka dress that had a purple hood, strings that look like controller plugs, and two huge white and purple pockets with liliac circles on them. The sleeves had two light lilac stripes going all the way down while the front of the parka only contained one. The ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the parka have white and purple stripes. The zipper emblem and the back of the parka has a purple letter "N" to represent the first letter of her name. Unlike before however, she had changed her stockings and now wore some completely black ones, with her parka dress covering somewhat a black coloured Skater Skirt with some frills on the trim, and her had become ones similar to the ones MAGES. usually wore, their heels adding to her body's height. Another thing to note is the fact she wears a white and purple gun holster on her left thigh that matched the rest of her outfit.

All in all, one could DEFINITELY say Neptune looked much unlike her previous self.

"You're not the only one who went through a closet change, ya know Iffy!" Neptune proclaimed, placing her hands on her hip. On her left side, Soul Calibur manifested in its Katana form, whilst Murasama did the same thing… only, there was something different about it, something which IF couldn't figure out at the moment. Neptune then gave her a massive grin, her head tilted slightly as she leaned on one of her legs, proclaiming a 'haha, look at me! Pay all your attention to me!' aura. "Now, don't I look good or what? I know my fans all like my small cutsy side, but I figured that it'd be fun having a womanlier appeal, y'know? Now I've got this smoking hot sexy bod, though I've always been sexy if the way fans liket to lewd me is any indication. Mwahahaha, no need to be jeally, Iffy smiffy. I'm sure Nicky will spend some time checking you out too." She stated with a childish wink, looking her friend over and noting the changes she had gone through since they'd seen each other last, not noticing the tick marks forming on IF's forehead.

With a loud exhale, IF placed a hand on her forehead as she contemplated striking Neptune in public, either a bonk on the head or a gut strike since she knew that unlike table kun down here, Neptune could take such abuse… though she 'refused' to think about that one show where that one glasses girl seemingly violated poor table kun whilst lusting after a member of some royal family that would later get axed off. "Get real, Nep. Its not like you haven't grown in… some areas." She retorted, before she smirked smugly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, empathesizing her own breasts (something which she felt OH so glad to do to her since she'd been wanting to for ages now). This elected a low growl from the Planeptune CPU as she stared at the larger breasts that IF now had thanks to her constant mutations over her time as a BOW. Though she could just transform and get herself a better hot bod that way, it was the principle that counted right now! "By the way, I thought Compa would be with you... you didn't up and leave her behind at the hotel again, did you?"

"Hey! What do you take me for, Iffy?! I'm a-palled that you think I would do-"

"Hah… haaaah… haaaaaaaaahhhh… Right… haaah… haaaaaaah… here, Iffy…"

Just as Neptune made to defend herself, a low, tired voice called out to them in the middle of taking some heavy breaths. Now, if it wer a guy then they would likely be a bit more defensive but would hold their judgements back, more on IF's side anyways since Neptune herself didn't know the meaning of the word tact. Turning towards the source which, again, turned out to be at the Café's entrance. There, stood a young girl with her legs bent and holding a piece of the entrance as a means to steady herself, looking like she had ran a marathon or something of equal length… though when she looked up and noticed them, her form straightened as a bright smile formed on her face (which coincidentally stopped the accusing look IF had given Neptune who could only rub the back of her head and laugh nervously). "Iffy! Its so good to see you again!" she exclaimed, jogging up to them as if she had a sudden surge of energy, catching the brunette off guard with he proof being when she jumped on her seat... for multiple reasons.

"You too, Compa? If people keep showing up like this, I'm going to think every one of us went through a damn makeover or something."

"Hm? Oh, this…?" the young Nurse-In-Training commented as she glanced down at her new outfit, one which took on the form of a… hybrid, a hybrid between a healer and a priestess-like design. Its primary colours seemed to be white, blue and golden, with there being a healer's cap on top of her head. A pair of brown belts crossed over one another like an 'X' around her waist, connecting to two large pads which covered her hips down to her feet as a form of protection. The outfit exposed her shoulders whilst having a long skirt which split into three trails via two long slits to show off her legs when she moved. This also allowed one to see the white stockings she now wore, with her feet being concealed by some heeled boots shaped like the ones Neptune wore but more of an armoured knightly appearance. Looking back to her friends, Compa gave a small, shy smile with a bit of pink taking over her cheeks' colour, her hands mixing her fingers together as she glanced nervously towards the ground. "Well… I just wanted to have a change, is all…" she began, until she then looked up at them with a determined smile, as if her previously meek demeanor hadn't even been real in the first place. "But don't think I'm going to just stay on the sidelines anymore, Nurse Compa's going to be stepping onto the field with her own two feet!" she proclaimed boldly, giving them a salute whilst winking and cutely sticking out her tongue.

"Wow didn't expect that. Looks like one of us has started growing a backbone, huh?"

"Yup, our sweet little Compa's finallygrowing up. #SNIFF, SNIFF#... brings a tear to my eyes, you know. Heck, even her determined looks make her so cute…"

Both IF and Neptune smiled to each other when noticing the bright determination radiating from Compa's being… with the latter wiping away some fake tears as if she were a parent watching their young child ascend into adulthood. This prompted a small sweatdrop from the Nurse-In-Training as she watched her friend and Planeptune's CPU be all overdramatic like that, something which she didn't think was trly necessary… but then again, this was Neptune here, who says she did nothing without some flare to it? The three girls all looked at each other in silence for a single long, tense moment, and in that time, one might assume that they would break out into a bunch of fisticuffs… until each of them broke into a fit of excited giggles, that is. These giggles… when one heard them, they would be able to literally FEEL the joy, happiness and relief exuding from them, emotions which would make one wonder if these people had went through some kind of trouble or stressful ordeal in order to make such sounds. They wouldn't even BEGIN to comprehend just how meaningful this moment would have been for these three young warrior maidens.

Afterwards, IF stood up and walked over to them, standing before the makeover given Compa and Neptune, whom looked at her with beaming grins on their faces. She returned those with a slight smirk on her features, raising her right hand with her left still pocketed inside her coat, and thrusted it forwards. The same thing was done by the other two, and as a result a light gust wind and a shockwave ripped through their immediate vicinity, slightly making Cecil's hair flutter and her clothes rustle. Once the breeze settled down and the shockwave dissipated, IF's smirk turned into a wide, almost toothy grin as her eyes lit up in excitement… the kind of excitement a bloodthirsty warrior would feel before entering a bloody battlefield. "Heh, good to see you all again… looks like we've all gotten stronger, just like we had intended."

"Hehehehehe."

"Hmhmhmhmhm, yup-yup!

Both Compa and Neptune nodded their heads in affirmative mannerisms whilst grinning back at her, a sense of comradery blossoming between the three warrior maidens. This one fist strike, it carried so much weight to it, feelings of a lengthy wait as well as all sorts of frustrated remnants of emotions, all of it and what couldn't be conveyed by words all rushed through the trio at this one moment. After what had felt like an eternity, the three of them had reached this point, a new level of power which had dwarfed what they had once been like before the Halo Mountain incident. That fist exchange had all but proven this fact as, like it was said, when warriors who were highly skilled clashed in battle, they could hear each other's thoughts simply through an exchange of fists.

At this point, Neptune then shifted the topic of discussion to something else as she looked around, noticing a distinct lack of people around them. "Huh, so fiew of us are here…. Well, I guess i'm not the only slob around, then. Anyways, looks like we're only one member short. So, we're only missing one other, huh?" She questioned as they lowered their fists down to their sides.

IF nodded her head, pocketing her fist inside her coat like its partner whilst leaning on one leg. "Yup, he mentioned he might be the last one here, though he didn't say why." She explained, before she then continued by addressing an unasked question between them regarding the lack of main characters and few NPC's around. "Noire and Vert have their own things to do, though the former did say she would be returning to Leanbox shortly. This was said to be a quiet place in the mornings, so it'd make the ideal place for a meetup without too much idiocy distracting us. Team RAIL isn't coming either, so its just going to be us for now. Figured this would be the best thing to do for our little reunion over here." She explained, ticking off the points that she needed to talk about in her mind one after the other until she had finished.

"Ah, I see…" Neptune began, before proceeding to hold herself whilst wiggling on the spot. "Man, this Nep can't wait to see her hubby again. I bet he's gonna be all 'hubba-hubba' over this hot bod, maybe ignite that 'flame of passion' I know he has for his little Nep." She proclaimed, a dirty old man giggle escaping her lips at the end with all the perverse thoughts and fantasies circling through her mind regarding what they would do… in private of course. Though, before IF could deliver any offhanded comments or Compa could rightfully scold her (possibly add in that their last party member would be ogling her for once), Neptune then looked around to see Cecil sitting there quietly, and the moment she did so the blonde girl tensed up like a burglar being caught by security. "So… THIS is the newbie that you mentioned, eh Iffy?" Neptune questioned, suddenly appearing by Cecil's side as she looked her up and down from multiple angles. Seriously, her eyes literally looked like the buttons one would see on a computer terminal randomly flashing about as she 'calmly' gauged the threat level of this new arrival. "Hmmm… hmmmmmmmm…"

"U-Um…"

A few seconds of being analysed like some picture up on a museum's display later, and IF gave a groan as she picked Neptune up by the back of her parka dress, lifting her up in that same hand as she stepped back a few times. "Hey, ease up on the little one, alright Nep? Don't just assume her to be an enemy right off the bat." She remarked in a scolding tone whilst Neptune flailed her arms and legs about like a wailing child… without making much of a sound by the way. "Anyways, yeah this is her, name's Cecil, a newly appointed Spec Ops Agent like me." IF stated, nodding her head in Cecil's direction. Well, to say that she hadn't expected something like this to be Neptune's reaction to her presence would be a lie, but IF had hoped that somehow, some way, their pint-sized amnesiac CPU would have been a little more levelheaded in this situation. Guessed that was her fault, she'd set the bar too high for the little midget.

After all, no matter how much she changed physically, Neptune was still a brat in her human form, through and through.

"Ah, so you're Cecil… eh?" Compa then made her own move, suddenly appearing on Cecil's opposite side as she leaned sideways, a small and polite smile on her face. The blonde girl meekly nodded, not trusting her voice as she shuddered. IF hadn't told her much about the other girls which she had been in a party with, and so if one of them had been… like that (Neptune) then what about the others? That was the thought process currently cycling through her mind at the moment, something which the young Nurse-In-Training picked up on fairly quickly. For a split second, Cecil thought it'd be a repeat of the same thing from earlier… however, that got dashed when the Spirit girl then blindsided her by pulling her into a tight hugh. "Awww, you're so cuuuuuuuute! You look absolutely adorable, you know that?" she proclaimed, pulling back slighty after a couple seconds so she could look at the blonde Spec Ops Agent with stars in her eyes.

The only thing Cecil said in response (not wanting to get into her insecurities about her appearance and height) was a nervous laugh.

What followed this little interaction would be best described as a game of 20 questions, one in which Neptune (whom had calmed down after IF 'convinced' her with a fist to the noggin) and Compa sat down on opposite sides to the blonde Spec Ops Agent before proceeding to ask her questions to get to know her better. Things started off nice and civil, especially when Cecil mentioned about being from a small village which got mostly annihilated by a fire Demon, heck they'd each grown rather curious about how Cecil developed her own demonic power set, especially when she'd shown her Devil Arm and Devil Bringer to them (discreetly for the latter of course, she didn't want to risk causing mass panic in the Café despite its lack of customers). Upon learning that she was a certaion someone's fan and idolized his way of doing things, Cecil feared the worst since the duo had become silent and ominous, fearing that they would try to do something to her that she couldn't even begin to imagine… only for them to pather gently on the shoulders and expressed their relief for her. Something about her 'being one of the 'safer' people to let into the group' for some reason. Cecil did NOT know why they axcted like that or why IF had rolled her eyes like she were a mom watching over her two rebellious children, but she didn't WANT to find out. They DID congratulate her on passing the exam afterwards though, and soon enough Cecil oddly found herself… warming up to them.

They DEFINITELY weren't like the no-good hussies which Cecil had grown up to be used to, proof being when Neptune sussed out her insecurities about her appearance and height but told her that it didn't matter, that she was just as much a warrior as the rest with Compa nodding her head in agreement. Cecil could… she could see why the Agent she admired most could stand to be around them, both girls just had so much 'goodness' in them that it would be nigh-impossible NOT to dislike them, despite the… quirks that they had to their personalities. If she could show she could get along with them, could she perhaps show her idol that she was worth getting to know? Maybe even receive some pointers from him on how to be a better Agent? That way, she could restore her destroyed village in no time! Her family wouldn't have to live the way that they do! Though for some reason, IF had to make a comment about her being 'unusually mature' which prompted a childish outburst from the purplette about her 'being able to be mature too!' or something along those lines. Maybe it was a bit of their group dynamic that the blonde hadn't seen yet, who could say really?

In any case…

"Moving on…" IF began as she held her Phone out, having been looking at it whilst the girls had been questioning (read: interrogating) the new girl she had brought to the mix. This also served to garner the trio's attention, though what REALLY got them going had to be the thing which left the brunette's mouth next. "Turns out that a certain someone we've been waiting for has finally arrived at the city, he's… actually nearby." she commented, looking up to where the girls were… only to see a stunned and bewildered Cecil having sat there with no Neptune or Compa in sight. The brunette could only sigh at this, holding her forehead with her left hand whilst feeling like she could potentially grow a headache from those two. "… Let me guess, they skidaddled the moment they heard me say that he's nearby?"

Cecil nodded her head in response, and that was all the answer which IF needed. "Alright then, shall we head out too? Odds are, those two will get lost since Nep has a directional sense as bad as a certain gren haired pirate swordsman sometimes." She suggested, standing up from her seat and making to head to the entrance.

"A-Ah, sure!"

Cecil soon followed with a small nod and a confirming response, yet a small smile formed on her features at the thought of finally, FINALLY meeting her idol after so long of dreaming what it would have been like.

* * *

After leaving the Café, IF and Cecil walked down the streets to MICROSOFT's entrance, where supposedly the last male party member would be located according to the text message the brunette had received from him. Thanks to it being morning still, it wouldn't be likely that they would encounter any opposition from any unsavoury people, but then again one couldn't be too sure considering just how scummy people can be, both IF AND Cecil knew this to be a FACT of life itself. With how long it would take to get to said entrance, it would be plenty of time for the young blonde girl to ask IF some questions she had begun harbouring since she had met Neptune and Compa. "Um, IF? Quick question, but…"

"You wanna know if Nep and Compa are into Nico romantically?" IF responded, having figured out the question herself after analysing the younger Agent beside her. Though, she wasn't exactly surprised since it was a common trend that girls were able to stay in touch with feelings much easier than guys. As such, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that they could tell when a girl is in love or romantically interested in someone, heck IF had seen groups of female civilians gossiping about such topics, even a few Agents, more than once herself, so she had some experience in telling the signs of such subjects before they actually came up. Upon getting a nod in return, IF looked back to the pathway ahead, a slightly wistful smile forming on her lips as she thought on how to answer. Eventually, or rather after a few minutes, she responded to Cecil's question but with some backstory first. "If you want to know anything about it, then believe me when I say that guy has the 'curse of the harem protagonist', in that he has a bit of a knack for attractingthe ladies." She explained. "A lot of the time, I see how girls sneak looks at him when they think nobody is going to notice, but he doesn't try to be a player about it. In all honesty, knowing what I do about him, its actually kind of sad that he has such a thing."

"Sad?"

IF nodded when Cecil mentioned that word in confusion. "Yep, I won't say much since its his story to tell, butlets just say that the guy's been through hell, more so than a lot of people these days. Growing up how he did… it must have affected him mentally as he couldn't pick up signs that a girl was into him, and then there were the girls whom were… quite zealous in their pursuits, I'm talking about the WORST kind of girl, aside from those damn thots… Fangirls." Upon saying that word, both girls shuddered, shivers rushing up and down their spines at the HORRIFYING implications. "So, don't be sad if he's a bit on guard around you, spend some time learning about him and earning his trust, then believe me when I say you'll have an insanely loyal companion by your side." If anyone were to ask IF why she was giving advice to one of Nico's fanclub, well, she'd respond that she had already proven herself to be unlike the majority of them, especially in the Spec Ops Exam when she showed herself as not just some dumb bimbo whom only wanted to pop out a few brats from the more successful of individuals.

"R-Right, got it, teach!"

"Hm? Why are you calling me your Teacher?"

"Because you've been helping me out a lot, of course! I mean, lets list the things you've done for me: looked out for me during the Exam, and are even helping me with your advice? How can I not call you a teacher?"

"… You know, now that I think about it, you have a point."

"See? Hehehehe…"

With that, the two girls continued their conversation, chatting and joking around with one another, something which honestly amused IF, someone whom felt herself not the kind of person whom could socialize as easily as someone like Compa. The more she thought about it, the more she began to see the potential of her and Cecil becoming close friends, maybe even Neptune would join in, she could DEFIINITELY see these three getting on with one another. However, as much as she liked the talk, she still couldn't help but place finding Nico's location at a greater level of priority. The reason why they had left the meeting spot to go find him, instead of just remaining there to wait had several forms, one of them being that they weren't damsels in distress who just waited upon ayone to get things moving along. However, the main reason was that, according to the message, IF believed that trouble likely will be waiting for him since he had mentioned there being some 'untrustworthy individuals' near his position, something which had activated the 'must protect my man' instincts in the brunette. She bet that, if Neptune and Compa had read the message they would have felt the same way too, since they were in the EXACT same boat that she herself had found herself in regarding that red-haired doofus.

Speaking of that doofus, IF wondered what the heck he was doing right now? Thinking about him caused IF's eyes to glimmer with an excited yet apprehensive light as a bunch of thoughts erupted within her mind regarding the red-haired Spec Ops Agent, thoughts regarding their relationship and the things that have happened over the last few weeks. If she were honest, the brunette found herself growing rather excited for the chance to see him again since it had been a long while since they last seen one another… last time being probably just after the Halo Mountain incident when they all learned about his hidden Ghoul side. 'Man, its been that long… I've been so focused on training and prepping for the Spec Ops Exam that I've been neglecting trying to meet up with him…' IF realized mentally, a frown of concern soon spreading across her lips although she hid it from Cecil whom had begun humming happily, excitement radiating from her being regarding her impending meeting with her idol. IF could also sense some underlying nervousness in her smile, but yeah, the excitement mostly concealed it from the untrained eye.

…MMMM…

"Huh?" IF then paused mid stride, her eyes blinking several times like an owl's as Cecil noticed her lack of motion before asking her what was wrong. Snapping out of her surprised demeanor, the brunette Spec Ops Agent hurriedly reassured her companion that she wasn't acting up or anything weird like that. "O-Oh, its nothing, I thought I was hearing things, cause I swore I heard a noise just now. Sounded like something rumbling, if I put my mind to it…" she replied whilst getting into a thinking pose as she glanced down towards the ground, only serving to confused the blonde girl more since she hadn't heard anything just now. She'd been too busy in her own little world to hear anything just then, so one couldn't really blame her.

…RRRMMMMMMMMM…

"Eh? I just heard it again right now…" IF mumbled when she once again heard that sound, and this time it seemed to be a bit louder. So much so that Cecil (whom had fnally heard it) adopted a frowning expression as she looked around in confusion, wondering where the hell the sound had come from. Out of reflex, the two girls stood behind one another, back to back, in order to continuously cover each other's blindspots. Furthermore, whilst gradual the sound did increase in volume over time, so much so that any doubts relating to their sanity for heariong things quickly got wiped clean out of existence. The more she heard the sound, the more IF tried to disconcert what it might be… until her eyes widened when it clicked inside her mind a few seconds later. "It's an engine! An extremely loud, rugged engine at that… and judging by the sound its making I'd say it'd be a motorcycle Engine…" she mumbled under her breath. She knew this to be the case due to her being a user of a Motorcycle herself, so the brunette had the right to call herself familiar with this kind of engine sound. However, that still didn't change the question regarding the identity of the vehicle it was a part of… as well as the potential rider of said motorcycle. The more she heard it however, the more a sense of familiarity began to grow within her like some kind of parasite, though IF definitely didn't think it actually WAS one due to the 'might makes right' nature of the cells within her body.

VRMMMMMMMMM! VRMMMMMMMMMMM!

Now, the sound could be heard by just about anyone now, even a normal person would be able to hear it. It now had a strong sense of a rugged, aggressive nature, as if it were malice in physical form wanting to absolutely dominate everything in its path, something which only some equally aggressive control from the rider's part coulc even HOPE to control. IF and Cecil quickly began looking around for the source of the sound, trying to locate where it came from in case it were an assassination, all the while the brunette tried to discover what it was which made her find the engine sound familiar to her. 'Its… now that I think about it, I HAVE heard this sound from somewhere, since my job takes me to so many places, I usually take my own personal Motorcycle for a ride, giving it to trustworthy repair shops for maintenance.' IF thought with her brows furrowed along with her narrowed eyes. 'Yet, this engine sound… I know its not mine, but I DO remember hearing it a few times before… wait… oh shit, is THAT it?!' her eyes then widened when she figured out the vehicle and rider's identity as flashbacks of a time when she raced against a fellow motorcycle user came back to mind. The moment that they did so though, IF had to release an amused chuckle, getting a confused question out of Cecil. "Oh, its nothing Cecil. Just thinking about how that guy's trying to show off right now."

'Eh? What does she mean by…?' the blonde Spec Ops Agent wondered, confused on why IF suddenly seemed like she had figured everything out whilsts he herself had been left in the dark… something which had caused her to want to pout in annoyance. Before Cecil could formulate a verbal response to that calm and composed remark, suddenly a silhouette leapt off one of the buildings above them, shooting through the air as if it were a bird with wings. Its form looked long, slightly large, and it shadowed the sunlight which came from the Leanbox morning sun, making both IF and Cecil look up towards it with only two words coming out of their mouths: "Holy shit…"

Pretty soon though, the stay up in the air had to end when the laws of gravity finally took hold on the Motorcycle, gripping it like skeleton hands in a graveyard trying to pull down hapless victims into the depths of the earth, as they proceeded to drag it back down towards the hard ground below it. However, the Motorcycle simply landed without much issue, not even a falling off on the rider's part as said rider stomped one left leg into the ground before, using it as an anchor, twirled the vehicle a full 90 degrees left, creating a curving cloud of dust which shot out into the space behind him or her. This of course, allowed the two maiden warriors to finally take a look at the Motorcycle in question... with Cecil's jaw practically dropping in shock and amazement whilst IF shook her head, a hand on her forehead and the other on her hip with a small chuckle escaping from her lips. 'I knew it...'

The Motorcycle in question... well, one could say from the moment that they caught sight of it, had the whole 'demonic' feel going for it. It took the form of a black motorcycle made from pure black metallic Armour, with a front faring that possessed multiple 'horns' which protruded forwards on both sides of the 'head', bat wing-like decorative extensions to the side faring and double-sided serrated blades extending from the point where the front fork met the wheel. Furthermore, the wheels themselves looked like they were made from solidified orangish red flames themselves, with more flames rolling off them as if they were bonfires. Not to mention that the whole thing had various hidden 'slots' from what IF could tell, slots which she couldn't figure out the purpose of for the time being but that wasn't something which kept her attention for very long. Nope, not at all.

Instead of the (admittingly kick ass) ride, she focused more on the rider himself. He didn't wear anything like a protective helmet, exposing some black well-styled hair with matching black eyes. In fact, black turned out to be the dominant and ONLY colour on his outfit too, as he had a black hoodless coat reaching to his ankles, with a furry tunic covering the majority of his upper body. The coat split open at the waist, exposing some matching skin tight trousers and slim knee high boots, with the coat itself having rather tattered looking ends. Furthermore, the coat's sleeves ended in black feathery tuffs, leaving his hands bare save for some riding gloves. Around his neck (which had a tight collar on it thanks to the coat) was a black spiked choker, whilst his trousers had multiple belts going down them. All in all, this guy looked like a mix of edgy and... well, a bit of a fallen angel with all the feathers falling down from him, likely due to the tunic and cuffs. Therefore, this guy should have been treated as a complete stranger, someone whom nobody (not even you, readers) has ever seen in this story so far.

Yet...

"Hey there, Nico. Had a bit of a makeover?"

IF suddenly spoke those words, causing Cecil to stare at her like she had grown a second head whilst the black dressed male hopped off his Motorcycle, said vehicle seemingly demonstrating sentient intelligence by rolling alongside him like a loyal guard dog protecting its master.

"Wait! I-uh-wa-wha?! THAT'S NICO?!"

Cecil shrieked that, and if any readers were beside her at that moment, then they would likely be in the same boat as her. The poor girl just couldn't believe it, from what she had heard Nico, Codename DEATHSTROKE, had a MUCH different appearance to this... this person! She didn't want to be disrespectful since so far he hadn't warranted anything to make her want to be such a way towards him. In fact, he looked completely unlike him! So, how could IF refer to him by the name of someone like Nico when he looks absolutely NOHING like him?!

It just didn't make any sense!

"... Hmhmhmhmhm, yeah, its been a while, hasn't it IF? Heard you just passed your Spec Ops Exam recently, congratulations. Though, I have to apologize for not being able to help you out some. Oh yeah, you mentioned about a makeover, so I assume you mean this current state I'm in."

Just then, the boy adopted a rather sheepish expression as he rubbed the back of his head nervously and with a slight sense of a timid demeanour, scratching the side of his cheek with the same hand which had been on the back of said head. All the while he answered to IF's statement. Gone was the intimidating and downright menacing posture which had been there before, replaced by someone whom felt like one could approach him and appreciate his company... all black edgy attire excluded.

"Pretty much, so could you share that story, and what's with the Motorcycle beside you? Looks like she's alive."

"HE. HE'S alive. Yeah, apparently this baby likes to refer to itself with the male gender pronoun instead of a female one. But yeah, there's a bit of a story for him, this form I'm in, and a whole lot more. But first let me disengage it for a moment."

A brief conversation took place whilst Cecil struggled to process things happening before her, and then the apparent 'Nico' raised his right hand to click his fingers. An audible 'CLICK' sound spread through the air like a soundwave, reaching their ears and driving Cecil out of her thoughts as if she were being shoved without mercy. This allowed her to see the following event happen before her very eyes, with the whole entirety of the male's form seemingly crack in every place possible... then disintegrate into nothingness from the head downwards, revealing the Nico she had seen from his most recent photo: the red hair, the blue eyes the two of which making him look like an otome game character, the long black high collar and hooded Trench Coat, the black shirt with the red skull, the belt, pants with belts, boots, leather gloves, everything she had remembered finally returned to its proper place.

'... What the heck...?'

That question may as well have been asked out loud, for it became written all over the poor confused new Agent's features. She had NO idea on what had just happened, and this time she wasn't the only one in confusion. IF had joined her in the confusion club, though she had put hers aside for the time being. "Well, I guess you would rather explain when the whole gang's here, but lets start with the elephant in the room." IF began, before appearing beside Cecil who 'eep'ed, grasped her by the shoulder and reappeared right back where she had been originally standing. "Nico, meet Cecil, Cecil, meet Nico." she simply stated, performing the introduction before either of them could react as she lightly ebbed the girl forwards.

"Ah! Ahhhh, um, uh..."

Stumbling forwards slightly, Cecil flailed her arms to get some balance, barely stopping herself from falling over in time. Relief spread through her when she did, before she realized that she currently stood before her idol... prompting her to shoot up into a straight line. This allowed her to see the curious, yet wary look in Nico's eyes as he examined her from top to bottom, causing her to shudder under his gaze. It looked so much like he was going to rip into her and teacher insides apart from the inside out, making her both frightened and nervous... although, this was EXACTLY the kind of reaction she had dreamed him having whenever she thought about how they'd meet in real life, back in her village. With how she had remained silent so far, Cecil quickly stammered out a response for fear that Nico might do something that she didn't want. "A-Ah, its a pleasure to meet you, sir!" she bellowed, before lowering her head to him in a deep bow. "The name's Cecil, codename Infernal! Just passed the Spec Ops Exam, its my greatest pleasure to meet you, sir!" Yeah, she used sir twice, what she was nervous okay?! She didn't know much about what to say in this kind of situation! 'Oh god, what was that? Was that a good enough intro?! Did I mess up?! Darnit IF, I wasn't ready, I dunno how to handle this! I hope he doesn't hate me for that bad intro, please don't hate me sir!' she cried in her mind.

Poor girl felt like a nervous wreck about to be struck down...

Meanwhile, Nico himself stepped backwards slightly, his eyes slightly wider in surprise at the greeting she had given him not to mention the pure honesty he had sensed pouring fourth from her being alongside the genuine fear, anxiety and nervousness which he had assumed came with meeting some big shot in some organisation. This girl gave that kind of reaction to HIM of all people! HIM! What the hell?! He seriously had no idea what to do in this situation, since when IF had mentioned to him in one of her texts that she wanted him to meet someone who was a 'fan' of his, Nico hadn't had the greatest opinion of it, even if she had assured him that he wouldn't regret it. Well, he definitely could say he didn't expect THIS of all things, to the point where he felt just like how this girl must be feeling! 'Biko, Byakko, are you seeing this? What the hell, what's happening in front of me right now?!'

 **'Interesting... This is a most interesting discovery. It appears that, like finding needles in haystacks, we've come across a genuine fan of our work, Nico something that I never thought I'd see happen in this lifetime given the fact there are way more well known Agents out there. One could say that we've found a rare if not legendary class Item in an MMORPG Game. Like you've noticed, I've seen into her emotional state and it seems that she is genuinely nervous to be around us, like a NORMAL fan would be around their idol.'**

'OH SHIIIIIIIT DUDE! LOOK AT HER, THIS HOEBAG'S A LOOKER, AIN'T SHE?! SHE'S A FAN WITH AN ACTUAL BRAIN, TOO, HECK SHE'S EVEN GOT SOME OF THAT DAMNED DEVIL JUICE INSIDE OF HER JUST LIKE WE DO! C'MON KING, YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT AND YOU STOP GLARING AT ME, CRAZY OLD MAN! I SWEAR, IF YOU TRY TO SICK EREBUS ON ME AGAIN LIKE YOU AD THE KING NORMALLY DO I'LL CALL MY ULTIMATE TRAP CARD, JOJO REFERENCE, ETC: OURANOS TO BEAT YO ASS!'

 **'... You would dare.'**

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, LIKE THE MEME SAYS: TRY ME, BITCH!'

Mentally, Nico winced at the bickering of his alternate personas, something which had become almost like brotherly squabbles over this long time since they had been able to be fully accepted by Nico himself. Ever since that day, it seemed that a bit of... jealousy had been triggered by the Archdevil Arms Erebus and Ouranos, who would have liked to have been included on that little talk they had about Nico's new direction in life. However, not long into getting into their training in the Inferno Hell, the mass abundance of quality Souls there made it to the point where the two have developed a bit of a rivalry with one another to see who could eat more souls than the other. A rivalry which included many spars inside his Inner World, some of those spars becoming so heated that continent level attacks got launched around like they were little more than bug bites, making it nearly impossible to find any form of peace in there.

Now it seemed that the two Personas were starting to use their rivalry as a means to threaten one another...

Oh joy.

In any case, Nico returned to the real world and noticed the young girl before him shuffling about like she were on stage with a bright light shining down on her for all kinds of people to see. "I see... Its nice to meet you as well, then, Cecil." he began, mentally stopping himself from adding things like 'Mrs' or 'Miss' since he didn't want to sound too formal. Especially with the part where she mentioned how she had passed the Spec Ops Exam this year, something which had AUTOMATICALLY garnered some respect from him. Passing that test was NOT an easy thing to do, especially if what he had heard from civilians and disgruntled Nobles on his journey back here had any merit to them. The thought of Shana whom had been known to be a pretty harsh proctor whenever she would be selected conducting the exam sent shudders down his spine... though the one whom he REALLY got the chills thinking about would be Eto herself. 'I must hope beyond all hope that she doesn't try to influence Compa or the girls... note to self, never allow them to meet her outside of this exam, EVER.' He mused mentally, though he did admit to himself that she did write some interesting novels under her pen name Sen Takatsuki, dark novels but interesting ones too. Especially the 'Black Goat's Egg' which he found especially interesting to read. "Congratulations on passing the exam, I heard its been especially brutal for the applicants this year... though I get the feeling a lot more unrest and negativity will be thrown the Spec Ops Program's way now that they excluded a majority of the noble's children from the exam."

"A-Ah, right!" Cecil exclaimed, still looking pretty flustered but upon noticing that Nico himself... didn't look like the coolest Ice cube in the freezer since he too had a slightly flushed look on his face, she mentally sighed in relief knowing that he had been just as flustered as she felt inside. "Well... permission to speak freely?" She questioned, getting a nod from the dude. At that point, her entire demeanour began to change, gradually becoming more and more determined along with a slightly cynical and disdainful gaze forming in her eyes. "I don't think its anyone's fault but their own, if they lack the ability to fight the odds in that Exam, then there's no way in Gmindustri's history they'd survive on the battlefield Spec Ops Agents frequently. I mean, aren't Spec Ops Agents supposed to fight the hard fight as long as possible, to jump into battles howling and screaming like they were mad people possessed?"

Now, if what she had been like before had piques Nico's curiosity, then NOW she had his attention when her demeanour, her words and the sheer passion (no lies according to is lie detecting skills and her emotional state didn't have much negativity in it right now either, big plus in his book). A light of intrigue erupted within his eyes as he smirked in a pleased and impressed fashion towards her. "Indeed, that is definitely the case, heck those analogies are pretty spot on if you ask me. I've mentioned this several times in some talks back in the past but Spec Ops Agents are the monsters that kill other monsters, we don't turn away from the abyss we instead jump straight INTO it. Not to mention that I completely agree with you on those things you said about one's ability needing to b of high standard to fit in with us, its really annoying to se people think they have it made when they join us only to get one shot killed out in live combat."

"Yeah, that does sound quite annoying, doesn't it? I mean, there was a time, when..."

"Oh yeah, I remember that case, a real drag if you quote a certain pineapple haired lazy strategist, though if you ask me a REAL example would be..."

In no time at all, IF sweat dropped as she gave a dead-eyed stare, since she had became witness to the skin being shredded off from the tension between these two Agents, all whilst Cecil and Nico lost themselves in a conversation about their shared hatred of Nobility. Though considering how scummy these people tend to be (even if there were VERY few exceptions), its not hard to see why they're so universally hated. The conversation even turned into one detailing a few renegade Spec Ops Agents when Nico realized that he was falling back into his old habit of only dissing the various Nobles and making the Spec Ops Agents look like damn saints when in reality that would be far from the truth. In essence, their conversation boiled down to the world in general being full of untrustworthy assholes which makes finding decent comrades all the more impactful. When you find someone you can trust in a world full of lies, deceit and downright demonic-class evil, one could only IMAGINE the levels of action one would go to in order to preserve that comradeship... even if some cases those comrades end up betraying you and running off with their tails between their legs.

Still, if there was one thing that IF felt within herself, it wouldn't be relief in knowing that Cecil and Nico weren't going to be tragically turned into enemies or something, in fact it had been the exact opposite. 'Wasn't this supposed to be our reunion? So, why the hell am I the one being the third wheel here?' the brunette wondered, her brow twitching in slight irritation, though she masked it with her usual cool and aloof smirk and gaze. She crossed her arms underneath her chest as she walked on up to them, even as she trembled at the seemingly little world the two had become lost in as Nico and Cecil discussed their own interests, breaking down the barriers between them. If one were to look at these two from an outsider's perspective... one wouldn't think that they had just met for the first time.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Just then though, Nico blinked as he looked over to IF, his eyes shining with a sense of sheepish curiosity. "Since its the early morning and we sorta did have a scheduled meetup goingon, you haven't eaten right?" he questioned her, to which the brunette responded negatively since she hadn;t beenable to get something to eat indeed thanks to this little meeting. Plus she had stayed over at Tekken and MAGES. house last night, so she couldn't really mooch off them since it wouldn't feel right.

Though, considering her current condition as a BOW, it wasn't really necessary for IF to eat the same way as normal humans anymore. "Nah, i'm good, don't worry about me." she responded, although the fact that Nico had thought about her just then after willingly pulling himself out of that little world he and Cecil (whom then became a little flushed in embarrassment at what had happened) had fallen into, kind of abated her indignation. She would have mentioned about Neptune and Compa...

"By the way IF... I just noticed, but... Sorry if this offends you, but you look absolutely drop dead beautiful."

… POOF!

"Wha?!"

… She suddenly got caught by surprise when Nico gave her an honest compliment about her looks whilst also giving her a comfortable hug, as if to show her just how affectionate he wanted to be with her or something. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets as her face became living flames with how flushed it became, that combined with the sheer happiness that she felt when she got genuinely praised by her crush alongside the sheer warmth he gave her, nearly made her melt in his arms. 'Goddamnit, Nico! What the hell are you thinking, blindsiding me like this?! I was just thinking about clobbering you, then you pull a fast one on me! This is nuts, do you know what you do to me?!' she screamed in her mind... all while snuggling into his embrace and returning it with her arms wrapped around him.

Cecil watched on at the seemingly little world the two generated, slightly surprised at first, but then quickly got over it. She knew for a fact that IF likely was one of the girls whom had a thing for her idol, it had been written all over her face when she'd mentioned about that fact whilst talking about him. Call it women's intuition, but she had sussed it out pretty much right away... though she found herself surprised that Nico seemed to have some reciprocation to those feelings, since most of the things said about him didn't mention about him being this... affectionate towards those whom he worked with. Not to mention that, whilst harems were indeed quite common and she had grown up in a Nation where they were the most prevalent, Cecil hadn't really seen one in practice before. Plus, the two seem to be quite content, and she had only just met the two recently so who was she to judge? Though, at some point she'd like to grill IF for... details, what she was curious! She'd like to know what to expect if she ever found a boyfriend!

"By the way, we can't really have a meeting up without getting the whole gang back together, so we gotta go find Nep and Compa."

Hearing that after the two separated and mentally fawning over how adorable a blushing IF looked, Nico couldn't help but deflate a little, a groan escaping his lips which was assisted by a hand over his eyes whilst he got a sensation similar to a migraine inside his noggin. "And where are they, again? At the meeting spot?" If there was one thing that the preteen was good a in his mind, it would be dragging people into her antics, especially someone like Compa whom just liked being nice to people so that they would not treat her like how she had been in her childhood. Knowing what he now knew about her, it somewhat amazed him that someone out there had managed to craft a mask which even HE couldn't have seen through.

"The moment you sent the message that you were having some trouble at the checkpoint to the City's entrance, Neptune quickly left and took Compa wither, likely getting lost in the process knowing her. By the way, since your here, you obviously must have been able top deal with the issue you apparently had been having, but how? Is there a story there?" IF questioned, mentally chuckling in amusement as Nico's sour mood deepened in further thanks to Neptune. They could both see this as Lastation 2.0, when the preteen had managed to ditch them and make Nico search over half the city for her only to find her sampling the products of a sweet shop. Sometimes the things they put up with from that girl, and now she's likely roped a noble young Nurse-In-Training into her antics, too.

"That girl, she's really going to be the death of me... #SIGH#, well, you're right about the story part, as apparently there was a Noble's child whom, after failing the Spec Ops Exam's first portion, took it out on some of the Guard at the checkpoint, blackmailing them into unfairly demanding payment from any who try to seek entrance into MICROSOFT. Probably wanted to nurse her bruised ego-yes it was a woman, I'd checked." He explained, before quickly clarifying when he noticed the looks Cecil and IF gave him during his speech. "Anyways, I dealt with them and that's that, though I almost didn't notice them threatening me for some reason, I guess I was just too lost in thought..." he remarked further, humming thoughtfully. Back then, he had simply been strolling towards the entrance to the Capital of Leanbox, eagerly talking with Biko and Byakko about his impending reunion with their Party, so much so that he hadn't even noticed the presence of Guards near him trying to get his attention. By the time he did when one tried to physically restrain him, all Nico had done was blink and they had been knocked flat on their asses, on of them being unconscious. He hadn't even realized what was up at the time, so he'd asked what had happened and, likely afraid of what he'd do, the Guard had explained the situation to him. He of course didn't doubt that he'd heard the end of this little incident, but he didn't place it too high on his priority list. "Now then, shall we head off to see if we can find those two? I swear, Neptune I can see fooling around, but dragging Compa into it? I'mma have to-"

"NIIII-NIIII!"

"NIIIIIIIIICKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

GLOMP!

"UGH!"

Just as Nico made to turn on his boots to go out and search for the last few members of this Party, the redhead teen suddenly gasped when he felt two weights slam into him from behind, almost knocking him over from the impact that they landed on him as well as their combined weight (something he REFUSED to mention out loud as, according to his experiences, women were quite sensitive about their weight), though he'd managed to keep his balance. Immediately, Nico sensed several arms wrap around his neck from behind, and quickly became aware of their identities when e sensed two familiar divine-like energies flowing through them. "Neptune, Compa!"

"Hehehehehehehehe! We found ya, Nicky!"

"Yup-Yup, we did, we did!"

Both girls, Compa and Neptune, slid down from his back as they giggled merrily, absolute joy just shining like brilliant lights from their beings. They then twirled around him as he turned to face them, allowing him to notice their new appearances causing his eyes to go wide with shock and surprise, almost doing a few double takes at the sights presented to his blue eyes. "Holy hell girls, you've changed!" He exclaimed, and not just from their appearances either, he could sense that their powers have grown tremendously too! Compa's felt way purer and more concentrated than she had ever had it before, heck he could sense nothing but sheer POWER overflowing from her being, and she hadn't even donned her Astral Dress yet! Neptune, her Share Energy and Demonic Power reserves seemed to have swelled in potency and purity since he'd last helped her train, not to mention he could sense something Demon-related within her Murasama… Nico didn't know what to feel about something he'd given her having something Demonic inserted inside of it, but he had to admit that it was kind of like how he'd given her quite literally a Devil Arm in the form of Soul Calibur. "Damn..."

"Whadya think, Nicky? Does this Nep-bod look absolutely irresistible to you now? Do you wanna have any M rated stuff with me soon? I took a page from your book when you changed your look way back when, and for similar reasons too." Neptune commented, doing some poses with her new outfit, and Nico would NEVER admit it, but some... thoughts did try to sneak their way into his mind seeing those poses. So much so that he refused to look at her any longer... though she didn't need to see his fact since the rising steam from atop his head gave away the cherry red tone that he'd sported. "Hehehehehehe, you LIIIIIIIKE this, don't you?"

"Stop mimicking that blue angel winged cat, Neptune! But... yeah, you look absolutely stunning."

"Mou! Ni-Niiii…!"

Just then, Nico looked towards Compa and got an eyeful of her outfit too... and if he thought his face had been red before, the sheer redness which assaulted his entire BODY may as well have turned him into a human tomato. 'Goddamnit, what the hell?! How can these three ladies look so absolutely gorgeous and still not have a boyfriend?! Seriously what the hell?!' He shrieked mentally, and whilst he didn't say anything like he did with Neptune, his face and body language spoke volumes, causing Compa to beam happily at the knowledge she had that effect on him. 'I mean, its relieving in a way since I don't have to pull out Ebony or Ivory to shoot off any dicks that dare to approach them, but still! How can they look so goddamn lovely, are they really freaking angels?!' Whilst he shrieked that inside his mind, outwardly Nico tried to keep a cool, calm façade... although the redness spreading over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose wasn't much of a help. "Where did you two come from? IF told me you guys left the meeting spot..."

"Oh! Weeeeellll…"

"Nep-Nep kinda got us lost."

"COMPAAAAAA! You said we would say we were getting some pudding!"

The moment that Nico asked that question, Neptune became a bit nervous as she sheepishly chuckled, making to make some kind of excuse before Compa intervened and drove them straight down into the rabbit hole... something which the Planeptune CPU did NOT appreciate in the slightest. After giving Compa the stink eye (of which she merely responded with a cute wink whilst sticking out her tongue, something which IF had to refer to her as a little minx for under her breath) the young Spirit girl glanced behind her and pointed to an alley way. "We got lost, but travelled through that alleyway and ended up here on the main street. We did have a few weirdos who tried picking us up, but..." pausing after that last bit when she sensed some KI and bloodlust beginning to radiate from Nico's form, Compa smiled sweetly whilst patting his shoulder... along with a dark and creepy aura of her own, shadows over her eyes and a LITERAL hanya mask floating behind her. "Lets just say some ball crushing got initiated."

"Yup!" Neptune agreed with a happy nod... and a similar expression on her face only instead of a hanya mask, she had a literal demonic head similar in shape to Soul Edge's INFERNO Mode floating behind her. "Nobody but Nicky has access to this Nep-bod! Any who try will learn exactly what happens when a few oranges are smashed from every angle by a sledgehammer." she explained... though the implication would cause every male nearby to suddenly grip their precious areas with phantom pains and tears of pure unadulterated terror in their eyes.

"...I approve."

Nico giving his thumbs up (instead of doing the same as any NORMAL guy) just got some eerie giggles out of the two, to which he joined in with a dark, menacing aura forming around him with the silhouette of something... something black but hideous at the same time, floating behind him.

"Hihihihihihi…"

"Hehehehehe..."

"Ufufufufufufu…"

IF and Cecil sweat dropped at the trio, whilst wondering if these were really humans at all at this point... well, that was more Cecil since IF knew the answer to that question already.

"... Does this happen a lot?"

"Don't even get me started, Cecil. This is actually kind of tame for us."

"... I share my condolences."

"Thanks, someone has to be the straight man of the group."

* * *

Later...

"So ladies, wanna start this off, or shall I?"

Nico Neptune, Compa, IF and Cecil all sat together, outside of MICROSOFT in a large green expansive plain. Next to nothing else could be seen in their entire surroundings, not even a silhouette of the city, this plain was just one big, wide open area with next to no signs of life around. It could have the potential to be the grounds for a massive scale mass army battle if one thought about it. Light gusts of wind occasionally blew through the area, rustling through their clothes in a calm, gentle manner. Unlike back in the city, the atmosphere here held a much more... natural kind of calm serenity, whereas in the city the calmness there felt like it could change at any moment, since there were other people around.

After the whole laughing schtick finished, Nico had suggested that they take their little talk outside, and to bring Cecil along for the ride since he had sensed that, judging from the Demonic Power nesting within her body, that she was similar to them in that she was sort of a monster herself. Whats more, was that since Neptune, Compa and Nuco themselves had started some stuff in the tow, odds were that they likely would be inviting trouble for themselves eventually so leaving the Capital and laying low for a bit sounded like a decent idea... that and Nico would rather talk about this stuff somewhere where no human eyes or ears could track them. Whilst a plain didn't seem like a good idea at first glance, not only did Nico have his Archdemon out as a lookout in the airspace above, but he also had 'other methods' which he had refused to elaborate on when the girls had questioned him about them. Nobody had disagreed, and as a result the group of five now found themselves here, after having filled Cecil in on the basics of what they were including Nico's Ghoul side and DPU powers (something which he had been hesitant about doing, but she didn't seem to mind much and promised not to tell others unless with their permission since this secret could potentially kill everyone she loved... though it had helped that she'd told them the origin of her abilities too) with Nico asking who wanted to start first in their little catch up session.

"Me! Me-Me-Me-Me!" Neptune suddenly shot up her hand the very instant that Nico finished asking his question, waving it about from side to side so fast that her arm looked like a blur to the naked eye... although the rest of them could still track it with varying levels of success depending on the person themselves. When nobody bothered to contest her for the chance to go up first, Neptune cheered happily as she swiftly pulled her twin Katanas Murasama and Soul Calibur off her waist, then set them down in front of her since she sat in the Lotus position. "Whelp, first off I kiiiiiiiinda, well, sorta noticed everyone looking at my red Katana here." she began, chuckling in amusement. "Man, if someone like me could notice your 'discretion' you guys might want to up your game a bit!"

A twitch of the brow came from IF as she withheld the urge to smack the preteen for her comments, though veins did bulge on her fists, which pretty much convinced the preteen to continue on as she grasped Murasama's sheathe and held it out before them horizontally by its trigger beneath the hilt. "The thing is, this baby's kinda like a Devil Arm not but sorta not really. Its kinda hard to explain, but whilst I was out training I found myself attacked by a Greater Demon. Can't remember its name though, but it was a nasty one, so I fought him. Took me several days straight, having to manage my HDD which is now capable of being used for 24 hours now and my Devil Trigger which can be used for 48. Oh, and before you ask Nicky since I see your mouth beginning to move, I mostly extended it by simulating the Share Energy with my Demonic Energy... for the entirety of the last few weeks by the way. In the end, I beat the baddie and when he tried to take my Soul or something, can't remember off the top of ma head, I kinda raised this bad boy up in front of me by reflex..."

"And its Soul merged with the blade, right?" Nico questioned, and after grinding Biko for some answers, he soon figured out what had happened. "Huh, so its really like a Devil Arm then. If what I'm guessing is right, then it seems that the Soul of that Greater Demon chose to inhabit that sword, turning it into a demonic weapon similar to said Devil Arm. Now that I think about it, during some of my research into the Chaos Gods, there were records of weapons being imbued with Demonic Power and the very Souls of Demons themselves, the Hellblades those Bloodletters use being a perfect example. So what you have isn't a Devil Arm but just a Demonic Weapon with the powers of a Greater Demon. Judging from the aura I'm sensing from it... looks like you fought a Bloodthirster, then." Made sense since Khorne had eyes for Leanbox, and likely wouldn't take too kindly to other Gods trying to steal his prize. "Well... that explains why Murasama now feels like its coursing with power that feels like its one step away from going on a furious rampage."

Neptune nodded as she put the blade back on her lap, the weapon trembling with untapped emotion when she did so. What kind of emotions nobody would be able to tell for sure, though considering the kind of Demon inhabiting that blade the others could definitely guess. Not to mention Nico worried about what kind of effects the sword could now have on Neptune, and he had a right to worry. For you see, from what he had studied about Demonic Weapons, it was apparent that they were both similar AND different to Devil Arms. A Demonic Weapon like the Murasama now, was said to be a mighty artefact of Chaos, a blasphemous union of the matter and the spirit. It is most often given as a gift from the Chaos Gods to their favoured mortal servants. As the name implied, a Demonic Weapon was one which a Demon's Soul was bound to. Most of the time, they're for close quarters, although Demonic ranged weapons were said to have been encountered. Quite often these Demons were bound into the weapon as the result of a punishment rendered by his patron Chaos God, but at times exceptional mortal servants of Chaos manage to entreat a Demon to assist them in their exploits of slaughter, and the Demon binds itself willingly to its bearer.

A Demonic Weapon is a sentient item that grants tremendous power to its wielder. The weapon itself would often be quite destructive in its own right, and nearly all Demon Weapons allow their bearers access to their daemonic senses, heightening their perceptions of their surroundings. The bound daemon, if it has not been driven to insanity by its imprisonment, can also counsel its bearer or even manipulate him. Bound Demons of Tzeentch were apparently particularly fond of and apt at this according to some of the lore books on them. These things also seem to be highly coveted by the Chaotic forces as a sign of some sort of twisted prestige, a true mark of the favours of their Gods, and the bearer will soon see their personal flock swell with eager underlings. However, like all things in this world, this power comes at a dangerous price: the bound daemon cares neither for mortal frailties nor limitations, and will rebel if its bearer does not use it for constant slaughter or the fulfilment of whatever the Demon deems to be its own personal goals. If the bearer does not succeed in controlling this weapon, they'll be killed as soon as the weapon finds a better prospective wielder, quite often by the contrivance of the Demonic Weapon itself, as it withdraws its support at a critical moment.

So yeah, Nico had AMPLE reason to be worried. Neptune had better keep an eye out for that weapon, in case it tries to rebel against her, something which a Devil Arm is less likely to do... mostly due to the more symbiotic relationship they have with their wielders. A Devil Arm seems like a much fairer deal, whilst Demonic Weapons were like wielding ticking time bombs ready to go off... Yeah, if THAT guy were here, Nico would say THESE were true walking bombs not his Devil Arms, especially since the Archdevilification process can be somewhat predicted by Biko and himself. Furthermore, wielding a Devil Arm is like... well its like having a conversation buddy whom will give you trials by fire when reaching a certain point, before and after that remaining a strong sense of loyalty to those they deem worthy. Even if they are fierce killing machines who do not shy away from massive gore fests, something Nico had seen PERSONALLY back in the Inferno Hell.

"Yeah, well, it was a REAL chore getting this thing to listen to me, I'll tell ya that much. Had to slay an entire army's worth of Demons which conveniently came to me to avenge their leader. Had to deal with them, satisfy this guy somewhat, so it was a win-win for me." She explained, storing the now seemingly partially sentient blade back inside her Inventory. "But aside from that, I just did a load of fighting as slick Blood Heart, the uber serious and sexy Purple Heart and as the ever-lovable Mascot of the Neptunia Franchise: Neptune! Improved my Crystal manipulation, beat up loads of baddies, I'm a total badass!" she proclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and then holding her head up in pride as if to say 'praise me more! feed my ego and let my superiority known to the whole world!'

"Um, can I go next?"

"Sure Compa."

"Hey! Gimme more praise you guys-NEPU!"

"Sorry bout the brat there, go on Compa."

At this point, Compa had decided that it was her turn to go next, promptly raising her hand up like she were a student in a classroom wanting to answer a teacher's question. After Nico responded positively to her with a small kind smile, Neptune had trod to interject, but sadly for her IF didn't let it happen and instead gave her a nice bonk to the head, nearly making her go 'everybody do the flop!' towards the ground beneath her. Once that had been done, IF urged Compa to continue like she HADN'T been interrupted by the preteen whom had begun nursing a comically large bump on her head with fake tears in her eyes. Nodding to her friend with a smile, although part of her did indeed still worry for Neptune's health, Compa began to speak. "To start... I'll start with my Angels. Before, I've been only able to summon one Angel at a time as any more and I wouldn't be able to handle them. It took some training, but I've become able to summon at least 2 Angels at one time, but that's my current limit." She explained, clicking her fingers as bot Sandalphon and Camael manifested together, floating in their own auras on opposite sides of their user. The point proven, Compa clicked her fingers again and they vanished into her again, before continuing. "Aside from that I've been practicing against the many Demons and Abnormals to get better at using my Various Angels... though..." Her smile then fell when she trailed off as her eyes glanced towards the distance to her left, her eyes becoming melancholic as a gust of wind blew through her hair. "I can only use them after assuming my Astral Dress still, whilst I also discovered something new about me being a Spirit..."

Holding up her right hand, Compa looked towards a space in the far distance, her eyes narrowing slightly as, from her, a slight wave of energy erupted from hr like some kind of radar or sonar wave. It wasn't very large though, and if they weren't so sensitive to different energies then the others likely wouldn't have noticed it. However, as Compa held her hand out, the scenery at the space she looked at began to distort, shifting and moving about in a rather unnatural fashion like time and space itself was being messed with unnaturally. The Clouds above them began to spiral inward as if being drawn in by some kind ow whirlpool, with what looked like areas where space seemed to bend inwards as if it were being sucked up by something. Everyone could only watch, curious and nervous as to what had just started by Compa's hand... until al of a sudden, a black mass came into being from the centre of the inwardly spiralling clouds, growing in size and mass until it slammed into the ground below, unleashing a HUGE wave of dust and smoke similar to a shockwave from a highly explosive attack. Fortunately the girls remained safe, thanks to a quick flick of a newly summoned Soul Edge in its default form by Nico's own doing, a flick which carried enough force to split the shockwave in two and ensuring that they didn't get even scratched by any debris.

Clenching her fist, Compa stopped whatever it was that she had done, allowing the mass to dissipate... revealing nothing but a crater in the distant ground which looked to be large enough to... at leas swallow up a small village. Something which caused Cecil to tremble in nervousness a bit since it reminded her of her own village and implied what could have happened if this ability was somehow used on it... not a pretty sight, seriously. "Yeah..." began Compa, lowering her hand as she looked down at it nervously. "Turns out, I've got the ability to summon something which me and Lucy coined 'Spacequakes' these natural disaster-like things which pretty much destroy large areas like an AOE Skill effect on steroids. Its... got a lot of BOOM to it, and I can make one large enough to destroy a large City at best according to my and Lucy's calculations, though we both agreed that I'd better only use it if necessary due to it targeting everything indiscriminately."

"I'd say that's a good idea, Compa…" IF mused after she got over her shock first, with Nico following after by shaking his head to clear it of cobwebs, and then Neptune before finally Cecil recovered, both in the same way: by picking up their gaping jaws and inserting them back into their mouths. "With the way people are these days, not only will your Spirit Powers be seen as heresy by the masses, they may just end up calling you a Demon just like the ones belonging to Chaos. Best keep that one on the down low and hope you don't ever have to use it." She remarked... though internally she couldn't help but need a moment to reorganize her thoughts on this matter. Like, holy hell, Compa's now got some punch to her! Judging by what she had seen just now, what had happened was a manipulation of space itself, something which she had once believed only to be possible through some kind of Magic. Now, here comes her friend who can do It just by thinking about it, it seemed. Furthermore, it looked so much similar to the remains of a nuclear warhead without the radiation poisoning, or even the remnants of some massive bomb having gone off, she thought whilst looking at the destruction left behind by Compa's Spacequake. With how powerful she had become, it almost seemed impossible to believe that there had been a time when Compa had been the weakest link in their little group... now she's swinging massive weapons about, slaughtering Demons like its nothing and now is able to bend space to her whim! Sheesh, its always going to be the quiet ones... and she thought HERSELF, Nico and Neptune had been rather OP...

Now that she thought about it, nearly everyone they'd known had become somewhat OP over time...

The brunette shuddered at what might happen if any of them decided to fight one another, like if they were brainwashed or something.

"Well then, I guess its my turn now." Nico began after looking across the other girls and noticing nobody else wanting to explain what they've been doing these last few weeks as training. 'Well, considering that an entire mini arc was dedicated to IF and Cecil, those two don't surprise me...' He thought whilst breaking the fourth wall (though in all seriousness, was there even A fourth wall anymore?). Whilst he spoke, Nico sensed his Motorcycle riding up behind him, letting him lean on its side for support and comfort as its wing-like extensions trembled visibly, almost reflecting joy in being of use to him. "For starters, I guess I can explain what's happened to my Motorcycle here."

"Yeah!"

"Oh please do!"

"Wait, it wasn't like that before we met? Huh..."

"Now THIS is what I've been waiting to hear!"

Neptune, Compa, Cecil and IF each answered this in their own ways, showing various emotional responses to this story they would soon be told. Chuckling to himself at these whilst mentally fawning at how beautiful they sounded (by goddess, how much he missed them, he can't believe how much he had missed these girls after all this time), Nico began to speak. "Well, to quickly recap for our new member here, this little bad boy of a Motorcycle Cavaliere, was once my Skimmer which I had called Ember." He began, stroking one of the bat wings tenderly. "But, after discovering a place where I could train for much longer than I should be able to in Gamindustri, a place called the Inferno Hell, I came across a powerful Sky Class Demon, one which also had amazing strength and affinity for Lightning for itself, called itself 'Cavaliere Angelo', and we fought. I beat it after a short while, but afterwards its soul kinda did the same thing with Neptune's whole situation and tried to take over my ride... but ended up getting absorbed into it instead since Ember at the time had been a Demonic Skimmer thanks to my imbuing it with my power. As such, I decided to rename him after the Demon I'd slain. This absorption caused it to transform into the form you see now... although it now has some 'additional' features too. Here, I'll show you."

Taking a pause to get things ready, Nico walked around the back of Cavaliere, before he grasped it by its Handles and pushed a hidden button at the base of both. The moment that he did, the handlebs slid towards the spot where the gas tank met the seat and the Motorcycle ITSELF proceeded to split in half. The tires then opened up into large spiked blazing buzzsaws, ones which rotated constantly and with high speeds creating sparks of electrical energy that mixed in with the flames. Turning back to the girls after performing some moves with these two massive Buzzsaw's, Nico grinned happily, and with a little pride too, when he saw the pouty expression on Neptune's face. "What's wrong, Neptune? You look a little put out..."

"Its no fair, Nicky! Why do you always get the good toys?!"

"Hehehehehe, cause that's the trend of the main character, girl." Nico responded to her complaint, playfully flipping the Buzzaws into the air and watching them recombine back into Cavaliere's Motorcycle form. Neptune once again pouted, and would have made to stand up and give him a piece of her mind for trying to take the main character slot from herself, but... She didn't thanks to the Motorcycle riding in front of its wielder and opening up 2 of its 'slots', showing two… rather damn sinister and hellish looking guns coming out and pointing forwards beside the hood, both aimed towards Neptune herself. Heck, the wing Extensions then spread outward as if prepping for flight, and then became these long plane wings made entirely out of orangish red flames, reminiscent of what they had been when it was still Ember. As for the Wheels, they sunk into the Motorcycle and became thrusters, with two slots opening on the back to spit out two additional thrusters shaped like skull heads. "Yeah, this bad boy's now REAL protective of me, as not only can it still shift into its flight mode as you can see, I was even able to insert some of my ranged weaponry into it, allowing Cavalier to manifest them and use them as if they were its own. There's one more form it can take right now, but I'll save that for when we're actively in combat."

Each of the girls stared in awe, their mouths hanging open to show just how utterly gobsmacked they had become, as Nico pretty much began showing off at this point, laughing a little as he rubbed the hovering Motorcycle's hood affectionately to calm it down. All before Cavaliere returned to its Default Bike form yet remained by his side still, much to the teen's amusement. "Oh yeah, I mentioned the Inferno Hell, didn't I? Well, you can thank that place..." he began, before clicking his fingers like Compa had done before, and for something only IF herself recognized to happen. A black mist seeped out of his being, quickly covering him and transforming his appearance, making him look just like how he had looked when the brunette had happened to meet him with Cecil. Pocketing his hands inside his long coat, Nico then proceeded to explain. "You may call this the 'Blackening', a side effect of a new ability I managed to obtain in the Inferno Hell, inside a place called the Slaughter City. Basically put, this ability's similar to Compa's GABRIEL with how it can improve people's ability. but this bad boy actually covers a large radius around me, essentially an AOE ability classified as a 'Domain'. Think of this like a major AOE ability which targets everything around the user with differentiating effects. This particular Domain can be classed as pretty much 'close to a physical manifestation of the murderous aura obtained from endless slaughter in the Slaughter City's Hell Slaughter Arena'. The killing intent is absorbed and condensed into a domain, which can be released at any time." he explained, clicking his fingers and dispersing the Blackening effect to return him to normal. Perhaps he could call that form his 'Blackened Form' for now, so he could categorize it better.

In any case, it was a fact that the Inferno Hell had been a MAJOR source of growth for Nico's powers. A place rich with all kinds of energies for developing and cultivating one's abilities. Not to mention it had its own civilisations, rules and nature to it which seemed even more extreme than the current Gamindustri's. To be frank, Nico felt rather at home thee, probably due to the ability to fight whatever he wanted, it being created by his predecessor Sparda, and so much easier to understand with not having o worry so much about politics. As long as one recognized your strength there, you would be revered as the next coming of god or something similar. Even those who tried to steal from one such person would be considered goddamn idiots and discarded for whomever they'd targeted to deal with, no matter what kind of background they may have had. No restrictions, just raw unhinged violence... a barbarian's wet dream if one asked Nico. Achieving this 'Domain', which was also called the 'Deathgod Domain', allowed Nico a great supportive benefit to his group. The Domain itself provided an imposing manner and pressure formed from killing intent which can leave the opponents unable to display their full strength, but the user himself can exhibit one hundred twenty percent of their strength. With the growth of one's spirit which is achievable by constantly killing anything in one's path no matter their race, the proportion of weakening the opponent and strengthening oneself will also increase.

Right now though, with all the killing Nico had done since gaining this ability (although THAT part took some work in and of itself plus he'd only stumbled onto the Slaughter City by accident), the Domain could still only affect his opponents at least by 10%, despite its long range of coverage. Plus this Blackening had been a side-effect of this Domain, though thankfully he had learned how to use this without triggering said ability. So, as long as he kept killing not only would he absorb the Souls for his Devil and Archdevil Arms, his Demon King Seed too, but the killing intent will strengthen this Domain ability's Prowess... although he wasn't sure why, but he got the feeling upon gaining this ability, that it was meant for something... something more. The only way he'd be able to find out would be to strengthen the Domain itself, something which the young DPU would be MORE than happy to attempt.

Aside from this, Nico had done much in the Inferno Hell, like improved on his Kagune's power and effectiveness. Thanks to the Gourmet Cells from that Four Beasts creature, Nico's Ghoul side had underwent a rather... interesting mutation, one which evolved his entire Kagune to a whole new level, with a sense of lethality that it didn't have previously/ Though he still couldn't utilize his Koukaku properly without shivering like a leaf whenever he used it (forcing it causing him to throw up), he could at least fight with it for about 2 minutes now, so he was slowly helping his Ghoul side get over the trauma of that defeat Mundus had dealt them. In addition, he'd moved a step in the Great Way of the Buddha, reaching the next stage which was the fifth, multiplying his physical ability ten fold. He hadn't started on the World God manual just yet though, he had been waiting to reunite with his comrades before THAT one would be utilized. However, Nico DID manage to finally get to the tenth Stage of the Star God's Broken Shadow, along with increasing his fusion rate with the Golden Crow Blood to 85%. not much longer before he reached the absolute perfect fusion state for it, which would allow him to practice using the techniques in the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World to their fullest once he'd mastered them. Not to mention that he'd finally mastered the second half of the Extreme Mirage Lightning Skill, resulting in his speed increasing by leaps and bounds once it activated. His Kakuja wasn't making much progress though, but at least he had his DPU Form which he had finally gained a better ability with, to the point where he could stay in it for over a week now by his and Biko's calculations.

Then there was THAT..." Hmmm, he should be here soon..." the male murmured under his breath as he looked to the side, something which the girls found odd.

"What is it, Nicky? Whose coming?"

"Not someone you'd might expect." Nico replied vaguely, and before any of them could question him more, Nico noticed something from the horizon which made his eyes sparkle with delight, "Ah, here he comes now." he mentioned, pointing into the distance. When he did so, Neptune and the others looked towards it... only to notice what looked like a flaming red meteor-like thing shooting straight towards them at high speeds, speeds even a dozen Bullet Trains may not be able to match. They couldn't even get up to defend themselves in time, before the thing crashed into the space before them, causing the girls to cry out as they got sent flying backwards... only for something invisible to grab onto them and pull them back as the dust got wiped away by Nico's Soul Edge (which had been on his back the moment he first used it on Compa's shockwave).

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet..."

The moment that Nico began to speak was when the dust finally settled completely, revealing a figure standing tall after having been kneeling for a few seconds then stood up like a soldier in the army. He stood tall with his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking over them like a military instructor did with his trainees. The person... looked like an exact copy of Nico without the so-called 'Blackening' effect taking over him, much to the shock of the girls, something which Nico himself smirked at since he'd predicted that the stuff that he had gone through would have definitely knocked their freaking socks off. The Nico look-alike stood at the same height as himself, wearing a black sleeveless hoodie, with a crimson red long Trench coat over his form, his legs concealed by black baggy pants and brown leather boots. Not only that, but his coat had a black flame design along the bottom, with similar designs on the ends of the sleeves whilst his hands got concealed by black riding gloves. The coat had a high collar with a hood as well, whilst it split into three coat tails at the bottom. Just by standing there though, did the person radiate a sense of 'heat', one which surrounded him and expanded outward, making the girls think of this person as more like a camp fire than an actual being. His crimson hair had been styled into a mess of spikes on top, with his blue eyes shining brightly like two brilliant and dazzling azure blazes. "... My Primal Twin. He's essentially a Shadow clone of myself but without the dying after one hit weakness. Bad boy's got a mental connection with me so we can communicate over vast distances, and though he's not physically strong, there's more than one way to fight a battle."

As if those words were some kind of signal, Nico and the others witnessed this 'Primal Twin' hold its hand up and a brilliant Hellish blaze erupted from his hand, forming a Javelin which he tossed up into the air. From his surroundings, many balls of Hellfire manifested into being, spiralling around him whilst their flames roared with violence and chaos in their mannerisms... all before they were launched at the Javelin and erupted into a spectacular eruption of infernal might. From there on, the Primal Twin of Nico then proceeded to showcase Hellfire manipulation in a multitude of different ways, from creating constructs similar to Neptune's, to even converting the flames raw heat into a more plasma-based substance and making an armour out of it, the level of skill this thing had with manipulating flames seemed almost uncanny. Unnatural even, especially when one time it even managed to create a firestorm above them which rained death down upon their surroundings, then disperse it with a simple click of its fingers before too much damage could be dealt... leaving quite the destructive sight in its wake. "Yeah, this guy was made from my Hellfire, and as such anything with the flame element to it is a natural fit for this guy. Though, due to how these guys are made, I can only make one right now, and the moment one is made, the Primal Twin can't be dispelled or anything. They CAN be killed however, so I'll have to be careful on who this guy goes up against. Since his body is naturally attuned to Hellfire, it also means he has strong Demonic Power Reserves, however at the moment they are merely continent class based, so he's kind of weak right now. When he's near MY level though, this guy will mean REAL business."

There was of course a reason why Nico had been so forthcoming with all this information and the revelations about the changes made to his arsenal, for anyone who wondered on why he had been willing to share so much about it. For one, he wanted to showcase to the girls that he appreciated them, that he trusted them enough to risk letting them know of this information. Not to mention they were in a fairly open setting with next to no life nearby (something he had confirmed by having Urthemiel up in the skies watching) so the chance of spies watching them was minimal at best. Furthermore, with everything he had told them, Nico felt it only right that they know what he had been up to since they hadn't seen him in a long while, plus he had left without much warning thanks to the unexpected trip to the Inferno Hell, guy couldn't even contact them to let them know he was okay, and Nico was NOT about to try and hurry back when he could instead train to gather the strength needed to be of more use to the group. In essence, he told them this because he wanted to show that he was willing to risk trusting them, even Cecil whom he had just met... though in her case it was more to do with the recommendation from IF, AKA one of the girls he cared so much about. Showed just how much they had influenced him as a person, huh? Now that he had indeed told them all this though, Nico didn't doubt that there would come a time when someone might try to kidnap them again, but if they did try then they likely would have to bring a large armada or something since these girls had now officially become colossal TITANS in their own right while he had been away... something which he could not even BEGIN to express the pride he felt towards.

"... Aw man..." Neptune then began to whine after a short silence had passed between them, filled with the amazement and awe the girls had at seeing what Nico had done to grow his power to the level that it was. Well, whilst he didn't say much about himself and instead focused on what weapons he had upgraded, even showed some new ones, none of them were foolish to think that he had remained the same as he had been before Halo Mountain. The way his Energy felt, it felt much more concentrated, controlled and PURE. It didn't feel like it would go wild and rip him apart at any moment anymore, although it still had a sense of chaos and disorder to it. No, it felt like he had become the sole master that it would listen to, not to mention there didn't seem to be as much disarray between his Ghoul and Demon powers no more, to them... it looked like Nico had become a whole new person on his own tier. "And here I thought we had gotten stronger than ya, Nicky... turns out you've gone further ahead of us again." she moaned, a bit of frustration entering her tone as she addressed him. If there was one thing which each of the girls had agreed on before this little training montage, it would be that they had wanted to ascend to a similar level to the main character of this story. They don't want to be just damsels who rely on someone else to do the dirty work for them, that wasn't the kind of lady they were. No, they weren't like the damn female Nobles in this Nation, they were more like warrior maidens, Valkyries who would fight eternally on the battlefield themselves. But, here their object of affections as well as their goal to surpass stood, even stronger than ever,... one could say this proved to be more than a little disheartening.

Hearing these words, made Nico's eyes soften as he clicked his fingers, allowing his Primal Twin to shoot up into the skies with thrusters made from his Hellfire, thrusters which formed from his hands and feet, much like that iron-made armoured Avenger who'd used a certain gauntlet to save his universe. "Hey, no worries Neptune, you're plenty powerful at the moment..." he began, stepping forwards and placing a hand on her head, giving her the most disgusting thing possible for any Otaku or weeb: a head pat. Several actually, to the point that Neptune actually looked up rather bashfully with a tinge of pink to her cheeks, showing the most adorable expression he had ever seen. "You guys haven't been the only ones whom have been getting stronger these last few weeks. I'm in this little journey of ours just as deep as you Neptune, so of course I wanna get stronger, so I can stay by your side as a fellow comrade... and potentially get back at that asshole Mundus, something I'm sure we ALL can agree on." At the mention of Mundus, Neptune's eyes hardened into a steely look, similar to Nico's as he removed his hand at last. The same could also be said for the rest of the girls whilst Cecil remained quiet, knowing that this 'Mundus' person seemed to have a history with them. "Anyways, speaking of getting stronger, why not see if we an test our new level of power out?"

"Oh?" upon her hearing that, IF raised a brow in curiosity as she and the rest of them stood up to hear what the redhead male had to say. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"Well..."

Nico grinned, he grinned so wide that his featured turned into that of a Devil, with his Kakugan quickly activating to showcase his Ghoul side's activation. Not only that but his Demonic Power began to rise to the surface, forming a crimson coloured cloak around his body. He reached back and drew Soul Edge, the blade absolutely THROBBING with energy as it released a wave of bloodlust from its being, all the while Nico donned his Armour and had Cavaliere return to his Inventory. The moment that his demonic crimson and downright EDGY Armour appeared, Cecil nearly jumped out her skin, potentially realizing that perhaps maybe it wasn't a good idea to be so close to the male right now. "How about we do this like old times and fight it out? All of you against me, or maybe we could twist it with a free for all?" He suggested, gesturing to their surroundings as his bloodlust gradually increased to greater heights. "We're all alone in this place, and its a pretty spacious area so we won't have to worry about holding back, sounds fun... right?"

...

...

...

...

In that one instance, EVERYTHING changed.

'Are they... really going to fight? Here?' Cecil wondered, her eyes widening and shock sinking into her being as she stepped backwards, taken aback from what she had just heard. She may be new to the group, but right now she could feel the ABRUPT change in the atmosphere between the girls and Nico. If there were a comparison, it'd be similar to the centre of a Lion's den, and not long after he had spoken each of the girls gained similarly dangerous looks on their faces. Compa had a bight sweet, sweet smile... all while her face had shadows darkening her eyes. She ended up donning her Astral Dress, summoning METATRON and GABRIEL whilst ascending upwards into the air, her body crackling with her Spirit Mana. Neptune smirked like an eager samurai ready to fearlessly jump into the battlefield whilst she summoned her Soul Calibur, transforming into her HDD form which made her expression all the more terrifying. Vapour and Crystal manifested around her, forming all kinds of constructs in her general vicinity. IF meanwhile said nothing, simply donned her Armour and shifted her arms into Dual Blades, sprouting her Tendrils as well as her Wings, summoning a few Replicas as well.

… Yup, nobody needed to ask how they felt about this.

Something large landed behind her, and Cecil quickly turned around about to unleash her Devil Bringer to strike it... when she saw that it was Nico's Archdemon Urthemiel. The massive creature snorted down at her, having landed beside her whilst eyeing the small human like she were an ant before it... which, in a sense, she kind of was. However, it had a job to do that it was given mentally by its master, so it would do that job to the best of its ability. Looking at the beast, Cecil noticed that its eyes shifted, going from her to its back... almost as if to say 'get on already, mongrel!'. Was it telling her to get on its back for a ride? Cecil felt that way, and whilst she had been taught how to ride a horse when she was younger, she hadn't experienced it with anything winged... but hey, how hard could it be? Not wanting to waste time talking since the killing intent between the group was beginning to rise, Cecil quickly jumped onto Urthemiel's back, gripping onto whatever she could for leverage so she didn't fall off. All the while, the Archdemon set about mightily roaring as it flared its wings and took off to the skies above, quickly rising to a height where it would be able to keep the mongrel safe from the upcoming carnage.

Meanwhile. Cecil wondered if she had made the right choice by joining this band of misfits...

And then the chaos started, with that question becoming MUCH easier to answer.

* * *

 **Chapter end!**

 **Whelp, hello everyone! I'm BACK! After a while of writing my Symphogear story, I'm back to where I began, in the Neptunia fandom! Plus, what better way to start my return than to give you all a nearly 20K long Chapter? I'd certainly say that's a nice treat after all the waiting I put you all through. Thanks to any who reviewed and faved/followed, its really appreciated. As for the ending, come on, did you REALLY think these battle hardened warrior maidens would accept anything else than a spar after Nico proclaimed himself stronger than them? A fight would be inevitable... and a destructive one at that, that poor plain... Anyways, here's a couple things I want to point out.**

 **In terms of appearances, Neptune's changed herself to look like a white and purple version of her adult self from Ultradimension, all whilst taking on the coat, skirt and stockings of Yue from Arifureta. I've been getting into that series recently, having read the full web novel till the main story's completion. A great story, one with a harem protag whose actually a proper BEAST of a man who doesn't actually behave like a stupid wimp. Wish there were more like him. Not to mention Compa's new outfit is the same as that show's Kaori, the healer who (spoiler by the way) becomes a real badass later on in the story after a... out of body experience. Nico meanwhile, his 'Blackened Form' is actually similar in appearance to Tang San from the Soul Land Manhua, since I found that one to be quite good with the art choices. Now, the reason why the girls have changed like this, is because I want to separate them from their canon selves completely, so now they look NOTHING like their original counterparts but instead their own people... also its similar to when Nico wanted to change himself so as to better symbolically represent his coming into his future acceptance of his Ghoul Side. The Girls are literally 'throwing their past selves aside' in a symbolic sense, making way for these new selves to take their place. Whilst this doesn't mean they'll change personality wise... there will be SOME changes to them that were as a result of their defeat and post training montage.**

 **As for their powers, Neptune sealing a Greater Demon of Khorne into Murasama was actually a last minute change I decided to make, simply so that the weapon isn't forgotten and can actually be something useful as long as Neptune keeps it aware of whose the boss in the relationship. Demonic Weapons in Warhammer are truly fickle things, kind of like people (men and women alike) who move from one partner to another at the drop of a hat. Therefore, me doing this lets me bring THEM into it, as well as showcases just how different yet similar they are to Devil Arms. So yeah, Neptune's Murasama is now a Demonic Weapon capable of standing alongside the rest of her arsenal, wonder how that can play out in the future. As for Compa, well, her developing the ability to summon Spacequakes is pretty much expected at this point, since she's pretty much a Spirit right now, a Spirit with multiple Angels but a Spirit nonetheless. Its also quite a destructive ability, so her CURRENT mindset would make it hard for her to want to use it unless absolutely necessary. Date A Live Fans will know what I mean by this. Her strength will only get better with time and training too, something VERY necessary in this cruel world which only listens to one's 'power', so look forward to what I have in store for her BEYONE just being able to summon them all at once. Then there's the big boy himself, Nico, and MAN was he a long one to write. As the MC of this story, you have to see him getting stronger by leaps and bounds, especially with him constantly fighting in another dimension filled with things that want to kill you, eat you, or maybe even all three at the same time. Not only does he have new weapons, Ember changing into Cavaliere being inspired from Devil May Cry 5 (BANG, BANG, BANG! Pull my Devil Trigger!), the Blackening from the Soul Land Manhua, and the whole Primal Twin thing from Desolate Era... yeah him being OP is an understatement. Not to worry though, the Villains of this story will ALSO have just as much threat level to them as the heroes grow in strength.**

 **Anyways, that's all for now. I hope to make the next few chapters filled with character interaction, lore and world building, all as a calm before the storm kind of scenario, which is going to be the prelude to the next arc: the LOWEE Arc, and BOY do I have plans for that one! Hehehehehehe… Finally, hope to see you guys then, and to enjoy this chap! Read and review please, it makes me happy seeing this story get attention.**

 **Peace Out!**


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